[Nexus] Outside XXIX

[Zefir]

[Thessaloniki - The Walls]

Zefir looks up seeing the preparations he starts to hurry as well. He loads the rocket launchers with normal ammunition. Then he lays down the one rocket launcher under the wall while shoulder the other rocket launcher. The sheeps is placed aside as well.

"That could be fun."

[Mr. Moon]

Thessaloniki - Outside the Vents

Finally, up ahead, looms a large and grand looking temple. "Is this it?" Mollad calls out.
"It better be!" Comes Tavish's reply from ahead.

Their goal now in sight, the two ice elves pick up their pace. Armour clanking loudly with each step, they make their way down the road leading up to the temple. Briefly, Mollad wonders just which deity this one is to. Has to be one she's never heard of. Some sort of fire god, judging by all the open flames around it.

But that wasn't important right now. The two of them pound up the steps, coming to a stop before the doors. Mollad steps forward, reaching out to open them, but is stopped by a hand on her's.
"Hold," says Tavish. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?" Mollad says, before frowning and closing her eyes. There it was. Voices from inside.
Opening her eyes, Mollad opens her mouth to say more but is silence when Tavsih holds a finger up to her lips. "You brought your grappling hook, right?" She asks, pointing up at one of the windows.

Nodding, Mollad drops to one knee. She shrugs off her satchel and unhooks her crossbow. Reaching into her satchel, she pulls out a three-pronged hook with a long, narrow end and a coil of rope tied around tall, thin, loop at the end. Setting it in the firing slot of her crossbow, she brings it to bear and offers the end of the rope to Tavish. The older ice elf takes the rope, walking off to tie it to a nearby pillar.
"That should be enough length," she says softly.
Mollad nods. She holds the crossbow up, takes a moment to aim, and pulls the trigger.

Thessaloniki - Inside the Vents

Those gathered inside the temple may be able to hear a clanking sound rapidly approaching, and then suddenly stopping. Muffled, low voices speak to each other, but it's near impossible to make out what they're saying. A few moments of silence, before something whistles through the air, through the window, and falls slack. A three-pronged hook on a rope. Something or someone pulls it back until it snares on the ledge of the window.

Legion Transport - 80 and Sammy

Clambering into the transport, Sammy sits down next to Eight. She towers above him, even though he's not exactly a short kid. "I'm... not really from th' Nexus," he shrugs as he admits this. "Allen 'n' me, we're from a dif'rent place. Pretty far away. Lot of strong people there, but not anyone as strong as in th' Nexus. But I know first aid!" he beams.

[horngeek]

[Thessaloniki - Wall]

Rose shrugs. "Hey, I wouldn't give the only weakness of the shield out to mercenaries either."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Thessaloniki - Walls]

"If we're going to be working for them, we need to be able to trust that we'll learn about stuff when we can plan for it," one of the newcomers points out. "Not after we're getting shot at from behind. Or in this case, shot at from in front because someone shut down the shields. Either they accept that we're helping them, or they don't trust us to keep our contract and they shouldn't have hired us."

[horngeek]

"It's not a matter of trust. Their own rank-and-file soldiers might not have known about this. Or, they just didn't have a chance to tell us. A lot of us signed up pretty shortly before this whole thing started.

And the third reason, which I'm leaning towards: no one higher-up realised it was a problem. Happens more often than you'd think."

[Eadin]

Above the Sea

Blood takes his hat off with a smile and gives a bit of a bow before trying to set the hat on Eadin's head. "Keep it. Consider it repayment for the troubles." He tells her before he begins walking towards a stairway leading down. "As for why we're out here, we're on a long course for some treasure, but needed a short stop to pick up just a couple days' more supplies."

"Erhm, thanks," She says, adjusting the hat so it doesn't crush her precious lillies. It's far too big for her, but the gesture is nice. She follows the captain to the stairs. "Treasure, huh? Didn't know there were any close by. Nothing in the reef from what I've seen."
She seems pretty interested in this treasure. Girls love shiny things and hydriads are no exceptions.

Ocean of Sinbad
"Yeah it's...kinda hard to explain. The dragon chooses you, you don't choose the dragon."

"It chooses you? How does that work? There are barely any dragons here for all I know. What if it doesn't find you?"
They're almost at the shore now.

[happyturtle]

Thessaloniki Walls

"You weren't told because it's the temple!" Felis snaps at the mercenaries. "It shouldn't have been necessary to guard it. Stop bickering and prepare to receive the enemy if the barrier falls!"

Felis is the nephew of Governor Octavius, and while he doesn't hold military rank and so isn't technically in their chain of command, part of his family's wealth is going towards paying the mercenaries. That might incline them to listen to him.


Thessaloniki Palace

Vita receives the information from both messengers at once, hearing one speaking to her brother as the other speaks in the room she's in. "Uncle! What orders for my brother?"

[The Bandicoot]

[The Palace]

The dog tiltsits head. Only message I was given was to prepare at the wall in case Galus and my master do not succeed in clearing the generators before they are damaged.

Both dogs step back into the shadows and reappear back by Flarg.

[The Vents]

It's done. They've been warned. he looks around. I am out of invisibility dust but if there is a shadow I can teleport into it and I can do it quickly.

[Morty]

[Thessaloniki Walls]

Dipsnig sighs and shakes his head. It's worse than I thought. If they managed to infiltrate the walls and might pull down the barrier, we're all in deep crap. We need to launch a counter-espionage operation.

[Thessaloniki Barracks]

When the soldiers begin to mobilize, so does Wenomir, looking for anyone he might know among he defenders.

[Rebonack]

[Thessaloniki - Palace]

There's no dog here. Mostly because the Palace is warded against people just teleporting into it. While The Legion may not have teleporting tech things from the Nexus most certainly do. And Thessaloniki has dealt with the denizens of the Nexus often enough to know that letting them poof into important places uninvited is a pretty terrible idea.

And yes, no teleporting includes no shadow-walking.

Anywho!

When Vita relays the message from the wall the High Priest appears to be utterly shocked and dismayed by this turn of events. "But... but how? At Vulcan's greatest place of strength."

"There is little time to worry about that now, Plutarch," the Governer replies before pointing at his general. "Theophilus, mobilize any troops we have from the Barracks and send them to the temple. Even if we can't save the generators we can at least destroy the blasphemers who would defile that holy place."

General Theophilus nods, "As you will, my lord," he replies as he as several other men urgently depart the war room.

"Vita," Octavius sighs, his tone dour. "Tell your brother to stand his ground. May Vulcen have mercy on all of us."

[Thessaloniki - The Barracks]

"Alright everyone! MOVE!" Silas calls out to those still in the barracks. "Enemy forces have infiltrated the temple. And we're going to root them out. We have minimal information on the size of the contingent, but if they came up through the vents somehow it must have been small."

Soldiers and mercs begin clamoring to ready themselves for the coming battle!

[Thessaloniki - The Walls]

"Enemy transports in range! Open fire!"

*THOOM!*

Those artillery cannons open fire, sending burning death streaking through the sky toward the enemy transports! The fast-moving craft are pretty darn hard to hit, but even a near miss is enough to damage them due to the shrapnel and concussive force of the blast.

The enemy draws closer...

But the barrier still stands.

[Thessaloniki - The Vents]

"We don't know what we're dealing with here," Gaius comments as he gently closes the eyes of one of the dead priests. "But I have my suspicions. We can't risk anyone going off on their own. That would be almost certain suicide. We go together."

With his rifle at the ready Gaius sets off toward the generator rooms, the distant sound of hissing steam and the rhythmic whirring of machinery his guide.

But then comes another clank!

Of the grappling hook kind. Gaius turns toward the sound with a start, only to breath a sigh of relief. More help from the outside. Probably mercs. Thank Vulcan.

[Legion Transport - Eighty and Sammy]

As Sammy replies Eighty's excitement and curiosity seem to melt away into an expression of shame and dread. "...oh... I thought... since you were in the camp..."

There comes a metallic *PANG!* as Eighty's handler cuffs her in the side of the head. It's doubtful the Wyvern could have been hurt by that, but she winces away none the less.

"You brought a non-combatant with us? Mars confound it Eighty I've never had the misfortune of baby-sitting a Wyvern that's more of a screw-up than you," the rather angry sounding man berates her. "That kid is your responsibility, do you understand me? If he dies that's blood on your hands."

"...yes Centurion..." they Wyvern replies, shrinking away at the man's booming voice. Despite her mass Eighty suddenly seems very small.

Several other soldiers nearby snicker at the display.

[Legion - C&C Tent]

"Wonderful. Well, you heard the call to arms," Legate says hastily as she herself is likewise gearing up for combat. "Get moving! This is no time to dawdle, we have a city to take."

[happyturtle]

Thessaloniki - Palace

Vita puts her hand on her Uncle's shoulder and relays the message to her brother.

---

1
Thessaloniki - Walls

"Orders from the Governor!" Felis bellows, holding his rifle in the air for attention. "Stand and prepare to hold the walls! For Thessaloniki! For Vulcan and glory!"

He's desperate for action.

---

1
Table of combatants:

((I know there are errors or omissions. Feel free to update in your IC post, or to request changes in the OOC thread))

Spoiler

Show

Thessaloniki:
{table=head]Player|Character|Location
Earl of Purple|Narahar|Gates
Moon_Called|Moon Called, Keval and Sevran|Gates
Moon_Called|Tavish and Mollad| Heading towards the vents
Horngeek|Rose|Walls
Hipho|Flarg|Vents
C'nor|Alteration squad|Walls
Happy|Vita|Palace
Happy|Felis|Walls
Rebo|Octavius|Palace
Rebo|Gaius|Vents
Rebo|Silvanus|Walls
Rebo|Silas|Barracks > Vents
Shrimp|Leeh|Vents
TS|RU1|Side Gate
Zefir|Zefir|Walls
Morty|Wenomir|Barracks
Morty|Dipsnig|Walls
Rebo|General Theophilus|Palace > Barracks
[/table]

Legion:
{table=head]Player|Character|Location
Moon_Called|Allen|Transport Naptime
Moon_Called|Sammy|Transport 80
TS|Oogy Boogy Man|
Wolfy|Slaanishi Team|Transport Slaanesh
Rebo|Wyvern XIV|Transport Slaanesh
Noodle|Marciano|Transport Mag
Magtok|Mystery Meat Squad|Transport Mag
TE|Triplets|
Murkus|Teq Vraal|
Rebo|Wyvern 80|Transport 80
Rebo|Legate|C&C Tent
[/table]

[Lord Magtok]

Legion Transport - Mystery Meat & Marciano

Haz glances at the halfling, and then at the whispering soldiers. Lovely, everyone seems to think that they're someone important. Best act the part and maybe we'll get some free human shields out of the deal, right?

The clone clears his throat. Best explain his situation to the men here so he can figure out what his team ought to be doing, then. "Yeah, so-"

In less than a moment though, he's immediately cut off by a screeching maniac. Ugh, typical. "EVERYTHING IS NIGHT! EVERYTHING IS NIGHT AND I CAN'T FEEL MY EYES!"

After a moment of silence so HazMag can make sure that the raving sorceror is done raving, he speaks up once more. "Ignore him. He's a wizard."

I know there's not much time left, Haz, but you could tell them at least a little more than that. Waving your hand and just saying 'wizard' doesn't explain anything!

"We showed up late, just before the alarm went off. Can I get a sitrep before we hit the walls?"

[Hattish Thing]

Transport Mystery Meat and Maricano co

Marciano looks awfully confused. There's three 'o' you? An' tha' ones insane....Wha' th' 'ell are you doin' 'ere anyway?! Marciano wasn't expecting anyone he knew to be here. Which could be bad for him in the long run. Well....apparently we're off t' slaughter a bunch 'o' rebels. No' th' first time I've 'ad t' do this either. Kinda fun really, tha' is if ya don't ge' sho'. But I got meself me tank 'ere. See this thin' Magies. Grantaire! Bring out th' tanker! Grantaire brings out a very large cube out of his magical bag. It looks very heavy. This thin' transforms into a full size steam system tanker. Seats 6 people. If ya wan' ya can ge' inside with me. I plan on gettin' in with it. Blast apart th' gates or whateva.

[ThirdEmperor]

Legion- C&C Tent -> Transports

"Right! A nod to his brothers and all three set off jogging towards the nearest transport, looking far too cheerful for three unarmored, barely armed and mostly mundane humans about to head into a battlezone. Guess Riv musta removed their sense of self-preservation when he was rooting around in their skulls.

[Mindfreak]

"It chooses you? How does that work? There are barely any dragons here for all I know. What if it doesn't find you?"
They're almost at the shore now.

Ocean of Sinbad
"Well you see, there's this pact that was made long ago, that Eragon amended. It ties Urgals, Elves, Humans, and Dwarves of Algesia to dragons. From there, the dragon chooses them while the it's still in its egg."

[Zefir]

Thessaloniki - Walls

All seems to do nothing and then the turrets start fire.
Zefir just shrugs and joins the shooting. Taking good aim at the transporter he fires all four rockets each aimed at another transporter. The rockets are standart rockets able to destroy a tank with a direct hit, but do near no dmg if they miss.

After that Zefir goes to recharge his weapon.

[Morty]

[Thessaloniki - Walls]

Dipsnig's ears droop and almost press themselves against his head at the noise. Ugh. He's going to have to find somewhere else to be useful. He begins to climb down from the walls.

[Thessaloniki - Barracks]

Wenomir follows with the rest of the soldiers and allies, trying to get to the front of the formation.

[horngeek]

[Thessaloniki - Walls]

Rose draws back on her bow, the arrow starting to glow with a light reminiscent of the Sun as she does so...

And then she releases, a ray of light shooting out of her bow towards the transports.

It's very likely to find any weak spots on a transport. Windshield, engine intake, gun port...

Oh, and then it explodes in Solar Essence. Should cause a fair amount of damage, at least.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Thessaloniki - Vents]

More assistance is always welcome.

Leeh doesn't bother to waste time turning back to check who it is.

He's too busy trying to spot any sign of the enemy through the walls. Unfortunately one would imagine that the area around the generators is probably somewhat hotter than the rest of the place, and therefore it'll be hard to pick out any targets...but he might as well try.

"Unless you can see through walls, I suggest the rest of you stay behind me and let me lead the way. With luck I might be able to spot how many there are before we reach them, maybe figure out a plan to take them by surprise." He says quietly, before heading at a brisk, but careful pace, making sure to stop for a moment and check before turning round each corner he comes to.

[Earl of Purple]

Thessaloniki- Gate

Defelent is waiting for the enemy to close. He can't see through the gate, so has no idea how soon it will be before they arrive, nor how many are coming. So at the moment, he's doing a bit of pacing. He hasn't been involved in a siege before.

Hopefully the wards took; they'll create a wall of blades made of pure magical energy between them when anybody goes through them.

[Rebonack]

[Thessaloniki - The Gates]

Dippy might notice a fellow dressed in unusually muted attire speaking with a number of mercs who look to be quite the band of cut-throats, assassins, and infiltrators. They're probably planning something!

Should he get closer-

"-they'll almost certainly have a command bunker in their camp somewhere. If we can get down there and destroy their equipment it'll throw their forces into chaos. Even if they breach the city we might have a chance to escape with the Governor in the confusion."

Oh. And the priest's wards totally worked. Whoever leads the charge will be in for a nasty surprise.

[Thessaloniki - the Walls]

The transports draw closer at an impressive clip! The squat, boxy vehicles are pretty darn fast, zooming over the rocky terrain with little difficulty. Though... The barrier is still up.

And the transports are simply too massive to ever have a hope to get through.

Then cannon shells. And rockets. And blazing arrows of doom!

The arrow strikes true, blasting straight through a window and incinerating everyone inside the machine in a matter of seconds.

[The Legion - Doomed Transport]

One of the soldiers pulls off his helmet and reaches inside, drawing out a picture of a woman. The image he places to his lips and kisses softly.

"That her?" the man sitting next to him asks.

"Yeah," he responds with pride only a newly wed can hope to match. "I sure can't wait to see my Pheobe again. We were childhood sweethearts, and our wedding day was three days before I shipped out. Isn't she the most beautiful gal..."

And then everyone inside is turned to ashes.

With no one driving the vehicle it careens out of control and slams into a large rock outcrop, acrid smoke pouring out of bubbling seams.

[The Legion - Magclones and Smelly Hobbits]

"Our primary mission objective is the capture of Governor Octavius," an important looking person explains. "However, our first goal will be to take this backup power station."

He points at a map of the city. Y'know. At the building that's probably the backup power station in question.

"Our operatives are working on taking out the city's main power supply as we speak. But the city's defenses inside the walls will still be active so long as the backup power supplies are running. We need to destroy them so we can get at that traitor Octavius."

[Halae]

Abandoned Mine

Now, if only Morty had gone to the Legion C&C Camp he would have seen Marciano...except he's in ratted clothes. But Marciano is at the mine! At the same time?! It seems that Marciano already knows how to clone something at his Laboratories....Which is odd seeing as he bought one for a steep sum at AMEN! Hmm...something's up. Anyway,

The group drove down the gravel path down a steep hill. At the bottom, dug into a large mountain, in the mine. TRhey'll see the same broken caravan and abundance of scavengers. Bugs fill the air. Nasty Mosquitoes. >.< There are three corpses around. One is missing its head and leg....the second one looks the best. It suffered a long cut across its stomach. It was a woman in life. Probably had family. But that's what you get when you work for Louv're Industries. The last one is only a skeleton...nothing but bone. Which should startle them. Marciano, Grantaire, and Rot's footsteps are easily seen.

[Abandoned Mine]

Jakus leans out of the window of his truck, looking down at the remains of the dead. The mosquitos won't botherim him, since his skin is too thick for them to get at in any places other than orifices. "Boss. Look at this."

He doesn't sound pleased.

[Morty]

[Abandoned Mine]

Dipsnig manages to lean through the window and frowns. What a mess. I wonder who they were. Mine workers, maybe? Whoever they were and whatever killed them, we must be on our guard... and there's a chance the guy we're after is dead too.

[Halae]

[Abandoned Mine]

"Our luck isn't that bad. Take a look at the footprints - three different pairs. Shouldn't be difficult to follow them, but this is still too convenient for my liking." Jakus will reach over to the glove compartment and pull out a canteen. Dipsnig will probably be able to smell the alcohol when Jakus takes a swig - this is strong stuff.

Jakus steps out, and will reach up to disentangle Furt from the back of the truck, "Come on, big guy. It's time to get to work for real this time."

[Slii Arhem]

Abandoned Mine

Furt, once hauled out of the truck bed, will begin pulling in the direction of the prints, the chain groaning under his weight. Jakus will probably be able to haul him back if he wants, but it's clear the rat-ogre smells something in that direction that he's interested in.

[Morty]

[Abandoned Mine]

Dipsnig steps out of the truck with his crossbow in hand, loaded. Kullervo hops out after him, his saddle and harness removed.
Luckily, whatever's down there is unlikely to be any scarier than the four of us. Let's go.

[Halae]

[Abandoned Mine]

Jakus Will keep Furt from going on ahead of the group, but otherwise won't stop him. The Rat Ogre and the Wolf are both equipped with much better senses of smell than Jakus or Dipsnig, and the big one seems to be following the trail anyways.

[Hattish Thing]

Abandoned Mine

Well, they enter the first area of the mine then! The mine is obviously very rich in gold. For it is a gold mine. A wagon full of gold ore lies on its side. Veins of gold are visibly due to being only half-finished. There are more and more miner skeletons. Some mutilated, others only showing bare bone. How unusual. Blood coats the dirt of the mine. An odd green liquid drips from the mine ceiling. A highly corrosive acid mixture. The liquid could be what melted some of those miners. The footsteps are dwarfed by larger clawed prints. The prints came from a very large creature. A blood trail follows the prints. It must have dragged someone down...A large part of the mine is blocked off by wood. Rot ands Marciano must have missed this, but now there's a whimpering in the air coming from one of the blocked oiff areas. Whatever is making the sound must have just woken up. It's the sound of a female woman it seems. They can't see what it's coming from, only the direction. H-Help! P-Please.....Someone....

(Rebo, I'm going to post after Magtok. So I'm not ignoring your post. )

[Mr. Moon]

Thessaloniki - Into the Vents

"Well?"
Mollad tugs on the rope twice, putting her full weight on it. The hook snags the window ledge, holds. Glancing at Tavish, she nods. Returning the nod, Tavish motions for the younger warrior to go up first. Loading a bolt into her crossbow, Mollad slings it over her back and does the same with her satchel. Wrapping both hands around the rope, she braces herself against the wall and climbs up. Plaster and rock chips loose under her thick leather boots, tumbling down and hitting the ground.

Grunting with effort, Mollad finally grabs on to the window ledge. Wrapping the rope around her right arm, the ice elf pulls her head up to peer down into the temple.

Her inquisitive red eyes are met with a scene that makes her ill. The bodies of priests lay strewn across the ground. None of them had weapons on them, at least as far as she could see. Mollad's eyes narrow in disgust and outrage. What kind of honourless drellakre killed non-combatants?
Standing amongst the corpses were several figures. Mollad reaches for her crossbow, before pausing. One of them looked like he was investigating the corpses. These must have been the people Keval spoke of. Releasing her grasp on her crossbow, Mollad holds out her hand into the air. She holds up three fingers then presses them together vertically. Her hand remains in that position for a brief moment, before closing into a fist. Then all five of her fingers flash open and close, before falling horizontal.

Bellow, Tavish interprets the signs. Three people alive. Many dead. She tugs on the rope once. Hostile?
Mallod holds up her ring and pinky finger, pressed together. Unlikely.
Tavish tugs the rope, three times this time. A brief pause, then twice. Alert of presence then enter.
Mallod makes a fist and bobs it up and down.

"Up here." Mallod says, pulling herself up into the window frame. She sits on the window sill for a moment. "My partner's coming. What's the situation?" Pushing forward, she drops down with a clatter.
Outside, Tavish adjusts her glaive, in it's resting place set in a sling over her back. She grips the rope and begins to climb up.

Transport - Eighty and Sammy

As Eighty's expression falls, so to does Sammy's. His prideful grin sinks to confusion and worry. But when Eighty's handler hits and berates her, his concerned frown twists into anger. He stands and turns to face her handler.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Sammy's voice cracks as he yells, turning his outrage into a high-pitched squawk. He flushes with shame and rage, but keeps going. "She didn't know any better! It's not her fault! You dragged her away before she could find out! Besides," he adds, "I'm from the Wasteland. I've been in dangerous places before. This isn't any different."
...
Right?

[Morty]

[Abandoned Mine]

Lord Below, what a mess. Here's to hoping that thing didn't dissolve Marciano with all his money... and then the plea for help can be heard. Dipsnig's ears twitch and he looks towards where the voice is coming from. Who's there? He asks sharply.

[Thessaloniki - The Gates]

Dipsnig smiles faintly and heads towards the group. Finally someone with the right idea. I thought everyone here was perfectly willing to just wait and try to push those guys off the walls.