Galverica Chronicles, Chapter 1 - "Murder, Mysteries, and a Monster Mash"

[Armored Bishoujo]

Everything seemed normal...well, relatively normal as you stand before Fortunicus Manor on this night of overcast that spoke gently of thunder but didn't deliver any further threat. Just what the hell was taking those four legendary heroes so long to deal with one silvery-haired maniac? Something was definitely wrong here, and it didn't take the loud crashing sound coming from just inside to indicate that.

Nor did it take the strange creature crashing into the outside through the main doors to tell you something was amiss. The right door was ripped clean off its hinges and the other door was flung open, revealing the strange combatants inside.

Anyone who knew of the markings on the shoulder and hip plates would note that one of the forces was Honorable Necromancer Ghost's own undead soldiers. These consisted of the common skeletal fighters and zombies that Ghost usually relied on. The ones they were fighting couldn't be identified by anyone. The creature that was knocked outside lashed around with its four prehensile tentacles wildly for a short moment, then rose from the ground and hovered there, relying on the tentacles to keep it flying. Six beady eyes were focused on the combat inside and it started launching stinger missiles from some egg-shaped extension that hung from its abdomen.

There were several more of them inside, and one was getting shot at by two streams of automatic fire from something on the ceiling, which could only mean that the four heroes had somehow broke into the manor without tripping the automated security system, two machinegun turrets on the ceiling.

Great. The perfect start to your otherwise normal evening. If you intend to find out what happened to the four heroes, it would seem necessary to deal with the bizarre missile-flinging monsters and ceiling-mounted turrets duking it out before you. And probably the undead as well, if they try to attack you, too.

Main Quest: Find out what the hell is going on.

Objective Sequence
- First, neutralize the six Strange Creatures and the two Machinegun Turrets. Ghost's three Skeletal Fighters and four Zombie Wretches shouldn't be hostile towards you, but just in case they are, deal with them as well.
- Then, locate Dashing Blademaster Ralshad, Angelic Priestess Selphina, Honorable Necromancer Ghost, War Alchemist Vashne, and Lazarei Fortunicus.

Battle Zone: The main hall is pretty large, having more than enough space for the battling monsters to keep their personal entanglements to themselves. A large staircase starts in the middle of the room, rises to the back, then splits into two smaller ones that rise to a walkway on the second floor that goes around the entire room. The turrets are high on the ceiling, unleashing their automatic fury on the unknown creatures and zombies, using a lazer sight to target anything that moves. There are two doors on either side of the first floor, and two small hallways on either side of the second floor. There also seems to be a third turret down the small hallway on the second floor to the left, but with the walls and walkway, the lazer sight can't find any of the action occuring on the first floor.

[Tarrin]

Gaberiel looked at the swirling combat of mele and ranged fire, it seamed like a chaotic waltz of death, "I'll take the high road" he announced in his james earl jones esk voice, the deep tones bringing calm to his companions as he unferled his wings and launched himself into the air.

His targets were the guns on the roof, spiraling upward he mistakenly crossed the soght of one and it opend fire tracing his path as he tried to get in closer to take out the first of the weapons that were makingg their job harder.

Feeling the wind from the bullets wiz past his wings and head Gaberiel threw a corkscrew into his flight path, the gun opened fire again thistime the bullets impacted into another gun and it dropped from it's housing smaching on the tiles below barely missing Zinx as it did so.
"Umm Sorry" was all that Gabe got out before a second and third gun joined in the fun of tring to shoot him down.

[xravi]

“Then I, good chap, shall take the low road.” Bran grabbed his twin axes and ran towards one of the strange creatures. The pinelope shot one of its’ stinger missiles at Bran. He looked down and saw the stinger that was stuck in his chest. Strangely, it did not hurt that much. Bran lightly tossed up the axes and caught them. He jumped up and slammed his axes against the Pinelope’s body causing it to hit the floor. The creature’s two tentacles lashed out wildly as Bran backed up. Then Pinelope got back up hovering in the air again.

[Armored Bishoujo]

The Skeletal Fighters and Zombie Wretches were completely outclassed. Two of the skeletons were destroyed due to numerous stinger missile hits, and the third was searching for its missing head to no avail. Two zombies were also down, one with a hideous-looking crater where its face was, the other missing most of its upper anatomy and slumped against a wall. A third was missing an arm.

The Pinelopes were splitting their interests between the remaining turret on the ceiling and the newcomers.

[PhasmaRok]

Pyre winced at the crashing inside, and again when the doors of the mansion exploded outward -- a minor groan of pain escaped his gritted teeth as the gunfire inside rushed out and began stabbing into his ears. If someone didn't take out the guns quickly, he was likely to be in need of an extra-strength aspirin. Or an entire bottle, more likely.

Even through the pain of the gunfire, the oddity of the strange creatures reached him. Their appearance was rather akin to the love-child of a wasp and Cthulu.

"Dayum," he managed, watching the Pinelope right itself and take once again to the air. "And I thought my last apartment had some fugly bugs..."

Getting into a fight with the Cthulu-bugs did not appeal to him, but it seemed to be a case of either fighting them or going after the turrets. Going after the guns would mean sprouting wings... and probably ripping off his ears to get a little relief. Standing back and letting the others do their thing might have been an option, but he doubted they would appreciate him standing back and playing cheerleader while they did the risky stuff. A berserker, a troll, and a winged guy with a giant sword were not high on his list of people to annoy.

His baton-swords felt slightly reassuring in his grasp as he drew them from their sheathes -- at least he was armed now. Bran solved his problem of the bugs height by bringing one down, albeit temporarily. He charged foward with a battle cry that he hoped didn't sound as terrified as he thought it did. As Pyre reached the berserker, he used the man like a booster, running up his back and launching at the rising Pinelop.

"'Scuse me," he said as he took a running leap from the man's shoulder. His sword lashed out as he reached the pinnacle of his arc, managing to slice at some of the monster's beady eyes. The fundamental flaw in his plan struck him as he plummeted down, landing on the floor of the mansion in a decidedly undignified manner. Survival instinct took over as Pyre flipped himself over and saw the remaining eyes of the Pinelop glaring at him. Before that moment, he would have sworn that it was impossible for a bug to look pissed-off.

Seconds later, he was scrambling across the tiled floor as stinger-missiles thudded into the ground behind him.
"Didn't think this through, DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH!"

[dementedmongoose]

Twig watched the funny little man run up the other little man. "Heh, funny little man needa learn ta splat bugses." With that said, Twig hefted his club off his shoulder, and jumped in. Spotting a Pinelope, Twig flung his massive club at it. Swearing loudly as the Pinelope dodged, Twig charged, jumped, and grabbed it with his bare fists, his weight pulling it down. "DIE, UGLY THING! YOU NOT HURTS MY FOODS!!"

[xravi]

Bran quickly went over to Pyre trying to help him. “Well, lad, you seem to be in a bit of a rut.” Bran helped him up forcefully and turned around to see twig throw down with a Pinelope. “We still got this one to deal with, stand back lad, I’ll take care of it.“. Bran grabbed an axe an threw it at one of the creature’s eyes, causing the axe to rend a gushing wound. The Pinelope reacted in pain and anger, sending out stinger missiles at bran.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Both the Pinelope Twig jumped on and the one Bran threw an axe at went crazy, emptying their payloads as rapidly as they could. If they were launching fireworks, this would be a hell of a display, and it definitely would wake up anyone sleeping around here. The missiles mostly found the stairs, walls, floor, and the paintings on the walls. Lazarei would have been quite pissed, except he wasn't showing up. Nobody else was, either.

I mean, there you guys are, making a huge racket complete with lots of small explosions, and there's not even a butler or maid there to complain about how long it would take to clean the rapidly spreading mess up. Yep, something was definitely wrong.

[h4x.m4g3]

Zinx had been doing what he did best, staying out of the way and controlling RIA. Which had been scurrying its way up the walls and now on the ceiling cutting a whole into one of the automated turrets and scurrying inside. RIA used its sharpclaws to cut some wires, attaching them elsewhere, before suddenly stopping.

Meanwhile Zinx was busy running away frotm the manic spray of stinger missles and muttering multiple obsenities at his current perdicement

Several small probes extended from the tip of RIA and attached to the end of some of the wires, controlling the electrical impulses that controlled the automated turret. Zinx let out a little whoop as he gained control of the turret and turned its sights off Gabriel and towards one of the unwounded Pinelopes.

[dementedmongoose]

OOC: Friendly \/\/arning, my w key is giving me trouble, and I can't just tap it a little harder to get it, I have to slam the bloody thing, so I may just not deal with it and pretend the key got hit. So Twig is officially Tig to me.

IC: Twig swore very, very loudly as several dozen missiles plunged into his lower half. Not just the legs, but the abdomen, hips, groin, everything. Unfortunately for the Pinelope, pain causes trolls to tighten their grips. And that's exactly what Twig did. His grip tightened to such a degree as to pop the poor bugger's innards into outards ith a sickening crunch. Flipping his grip on the Pinelope, Tig swung it at another Pinelope like a club.

[Armored Bishoujo]

In rapid succession, four of the Pinelopes went down due to the combined assaults of the latest additions to the battle and the turret Zinx took under his control. The only two still alive were the one Twig was using as a makeshift weapon and one that had sought shelter under the second floor walkway out of the turret's lazer sight, but it had definitely taken its fair share of a beating and the majority of its missiles was exhausted.

Suddenly, the headless skeleton fighter and two zombies went limp and crumpled like sacks of potatoes. The necromancer who animated them, most likely Ghost, must have either become incapacitated, or worse.

[Tarrin]

Gaberiel ducked low, one of the turrents seamed to change targets once again opening fire on a penelope, deciding that dodging was getting him nowhere Gabe made his tactics differ.

dropping from the air he landed on the railing of the nearby stairway, he watched as both turrets swiveled around to find him, they passed over him not recignising him from the fact that he didn't move.

As they turned away from him he lept once more into the air his sword arcing into the closest turret sending sparks and pieces of the machine onto the foolr below.

[Armored Bishoujo]

The remaining Pinelope rose as high as the second floor and was about to launch a salvo of stinger missiles at the nearest concentration of enemies, except-
"Signature Technique...Sundering Swarm!"
A barrage of crescent-shaped energy waves smacked into it in rapid succession, quickly mutilating it and destroying its payload. It looked like the fight was finally over when Twig's captive Pinelope had given up its fight and its ghost. Soft footsteps were heard on the carpeted hallway above, followed by a voice that seemed slightly muffled.
"And just to add the cherry to this already monumental cluster fuck, the DPS decides to arrive while the corpses are still fresh for a change."
A woman finally appeared on the second floor walkway, looking down on the group. Her head, arms, and legs were completely covered in armor and a thin bodysuit covered her from the neck to her pelvis, leaving her shoulders and thighs bare. "Or I'm mistaken. You all definitely don't look like Domestic Protection Service to me. I'm assuming you're the cavalry, then?"

She dropped from the walkway to the ground floor, revealing her weapon: a two-handed axe as tall as she was. "If that's the case, you're quite late. There's at least three corpses in that bastard's bedroom back up there. The fourth...well, that chick's delirious and I wasn't able to do anything for her. Just look for the door in that hallway that has a hole punched through it."

[Tarrin]

Gabe stood onthe second floor railing watching the girl, "And just who might tho be?".
Gabe's blade was held in a non threatening reverse grip, he wanted to know more of their new "Friend" before stepping into any possible trap.

[Armored Bishoujo]

"Sarel." The woman said simply. "It's not my real name, but I haven't used my real name in years."

The woman moved over to the mess that was made of the front doors. "My boss sent me here to collect something that Lord Fortunicus has. After finding his body, the undead started their invasion. Then the four heroes arrived along with those weird creatures...it's just one screw up after another. I'm not getting paid enough for this."

[Tarrin]

"So Fortunicus was already dead when you got here" Gabe looked the woman up and down sizing up her abilities and her manerisims to see if she was telling the truth.

"If that is so, Then who killed the four heros ?" something smelt to the fallen Angel but jumping to conclusions wasn't his style, then neither was letting someone get away with something that could possibly be dangerous to him and the rest of the group here.

[Armored Bishoujo]

The woman slung her two-handed axe on her right shoulder. "Not all the heroes are dead. Only at least two, with one of them still on the verge if she isn't gone already."

"I tried to figure out what the hell happened, but the near-dead woman wouldn't talk to me. Just kept gibbering on and on unintelligently. I wanted to put her out of her misery as an act of mercy, but..." She shook her head. "Well, maybe you can talk some sense into her. Try not to move her. She's got quite a wound on her side and I'm afraid her organs would spill out if I jostled her just a little."

[Tarrin]

Gabe rushed into the hall the girl had come from, he would never let a comapnion fall if there was something he could do to help.

Moment's later he was kneeling beside one of the four hero's his hands hovering slightly above her wound his prayers to his god on his lips, he hoped his deity would hear his words and allow him to heal this chamipon of good.
His hands started to glow with divine light now he would see if he could heal her and make some sence out of this chaos.

[h4x.m4g3]

"Well Miss Sarel, I wish you the best of luck in your travels. But I do believe that is my cue, until we meet again." Zinx gave a slight bow, holding one hand out as RIA dropped down from the cieling and into it, the previously occupied turret exploding due to a miswiring that resulted in it overloading (on purpose). Zinx began to walk off following Gabe down the hallway, as RIA scurried up his arm and onto his shoulder facing backwards to keep an eye on the strange woman they had just met.

[Armored Bishoujo]

The room Gabe entered was a study and sat in a state of disarray. The desk that stood on one side of the room was turned over, the countless papers and documents scattered across the rich carpeting. The luxury chair that sat behind it was leaning against a wall. Some of the glass frames that displayed the shelves of books behind them were cracked or completely smashed. The real violence wasn't as apparent as one would expect. No blood splashes on the wall. Just three obviously dead bodies and one girl slumped up against a bookshelf, breathing rapidly as Gabe was treating her.

The three corpses belonged to Lazarei, Ralshad and Selphina, and it didn't take any close examinations to see how they died. Lazarei's neck was bent at an impossible angle. Well, impossible to have it that way and survive, that is. Dashing Blademaster Ralshad was face down and had a clean hole from his back to his chest that seemed to ignore his armor completely, as though a cannonball was shot at him and didn't even slow down on impact. Angelic Priestess Selphina was missing her head. And the head wasn't anywhere to be found in the room.

The person still alive was the necromancer Ghost, who had one of the sleeves of her robe ripped off and tied around her midsection as she sat helpless against one of the wall to wall bookshelves. The makeshift bandage was soaked in blood and her face was paler than usual, which was definitely saying something. Her spellbook which was an inseparable companion to her lay uselessly on the floor, the pages splotched in blood. Gabe's healing seemed to help her regain a little of her composure. "...Vashne...where's...?" Ghost mumbled, her eyes swimming.

[Inbred Chocobo]

A ship that looked a far ways off had started to close in towards the mansion. It looked like a pretty extravagent ship, no expense spared for weaponry of what it looked like. The ship came flying in fast, and suddenly was slowing down, suddenly hovering over the mansion. A man dressed in what many would think of a halloween costume went floating down, hanging onto a rope to slow his decent.

He landed with a thud in front of the mansion, and with a smile "Looks like I am late for the party." And charged in. Only to run into Sarel, which he made a quick stop. "Looks like I have found the prettiest booty this place has to offer."

[Armored Bishoujo]

Sarel smiled under her helmet. She knew this guy's face. Not his name, though. Her boss considered using him and his ship to help in smuggling, and maybe they did that kind of business together. Sarel didn't care for details on things out of her idiom so she didn't bother to research this...character. But if he was here...

"Man, when the heroes wind up in big trouble, you can sure count on their friends to swarm out of the woodwork. Just like in the fairy tales."

[Inbred Chocobo]

"Don't you know that all stories are based on facts?" The Captain replied with a smile. Then the realization of what was all around him got to him. "So where are the heroes anyway?" He went on, hating to put aside the pursuit of females, but he was here for the heroes after all.

[Armored Bishoujo]

"Well, you'd probably want me to get straight to the point."

Sarel put up the index and middle fingers on her right hand. "Clearly dead."
The ring finger joined those already up. "Nearly dead, but probably already there."
And the pinky. "Missing, though I think she's in the basement or something. It's the only place I haven't checked in the entire manor."

She then pointed upstairs to the secondnd floor hallway on the left. "The corpses and soon-to-be corpse are in the room with the door that has a hole punched through it."

[Inbred Chocobo]

The Captain reached into his pockets, then tossed a flare to Sarel. "Do me a favor and shoot that flare outside. When the ship closes in, tell them to send a med team to that second floor." The Captain suddenly seemed a lot more serious than he should have been. It might just be how he handled the news of the dying heroes. "If they don't respond, tell them your mother was a crawl-daddy's baby spewin' barrnacle." The Captain then started walking towards the basement in a brisk walk. He was hoping the last hero was still alive, and that his med team could save the third.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Sarel looked intently at the flare. "Well, they would probably fight me if they saw me, but I just can't let good people die."
Sarel proceeded outside and lit the flare for the ship to land.

The basement was made for functionality without a hint of style. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all a boring grey color that must have meant no decorators were allowed in here during or after its construction. But one wouldn't be drawn to comment on the lack of decoration because there was something more interesting.

This was where Lazarei Fortunicus did his dirty work. Rooms filled with scientific equipment, some machinery, computers, and steel slabs where the real work was done. On some tables lay machine parts, most of them Autekma weaponry and core parts. Others had conspicuous blood stains. Others had documents and notes and photographs all scattered across their surfaces. There were also glass tanks capable of holding something as large as a human adult, all of them empty. Message and writing boards were on the walls, many of them with hastily-removed information. Cabinets, drawers, and shelves were all devoid of materials, many of their recent contents smashed on the cold floor.

Finally, there were some closed metal double doors...which suddenly shuddered from an ear-splitting roar that was thankfully muffled by them being closed. Vashne couldn't be found anywhere else.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"You have got to be kidding me." The Captain mumbled to himself as he looked at the door. The roar gave him a pretty good fright. How the hell was he suppose to survive this if the best ones that came first have already died. Well, there was a chance that maybe there was more than one thing alive behind there. "Only one way to find out." The Captain said to himself, probably making those watching him think he was crazy as he laid a hand on the metal doors.

Then he pull them open, and looked inside.

-----------------------------------

The pirate ship hadn't gone far, just far enough that anything that came out of the mansion couldn't get it. But the second that flare was lit, the ship headed for a landing. It landed in a clearing in front of the mansion, and someone was looking over the side shouted. "You arn't the captian. How did you get his flare?"

[Armored Bishoujo]

Three things faced the pirate captain when he entered the room. One was Vashne Leinfell, looking both surprised and relieved to finally see a friend. Another was a woman with brown hair and, oddly enough, a set of wolfish ears and tail. These two were facing the originator of the inhuman roar, pounding relentlessly on a viewing pane.

It was just barely humanoid in shape until it was realized the creature had four legs. The bulk was ultimately focused in the giant arms and torso. Its meaty hands carried four razor-sharp claws, each prehaps eight feet long. The head was no more than a stump that joined the oversized shoulders together and just happened to bear two thin slit-like eyes, nothing else. Unlike the body and arms, the legs were bony in appearance, not beefy. The claws that emerged from the feet were able a foot long, and really thick. The coloration was a deep brown from the head to a pale sickening green to the feet. Twice as wide as it was tall, the beast must stood roughly twenty-five feet tall and yet was still hunched over.

One more strike and the viewing pane shattered, scattering pieces as far as the two girls.
"Now we're in hell." Vashne said amiably.
"I told you to just leave me alone," The wolfwoman said.
"I told you not to run away from me." Vashne shot back.
The beast roared, more to shut them up than anything else. With the protective window destroyed, the roar possibly reached the pirates outside.

-----

Hearing the ravenous call of the experiment in the basement, Ghost somehow found the strength to resist falling unconsious. "What the...? We're in trouble."

-----

Sarel shrugged lightly at the question. "I guess he thought it was my taste in gifts."
The roar reached her ears. Sarel turned sharply to face the manor. "What in the hell was that?!"
She reached over her shoulder and pulled free her two-handed axe, taking up an offensive stance.

-----

Boss Fight: The Juicer
Strategy: Obviously, physical strength and pure rage feul this experiment's nasty ability to crush people into bloody stains on the dusty floor. You'll want range. Just hit it with all the long-distance magic and weapons you can muster. It's attacks are fast in spite of huge big its arms and claws are, but prehaps someone with the right reflexes could keep from being pulverized and still go toe-to-toe.

[h4x.m4g3]

"What the hell was that?" Zinx asked mostly to himself and partly to the others in the room. His train of thought was interrupted as a 2nd roar errupted. "Stay here, I'll check it out.' The words came out of Zinx nervously, he wasn't the type to walk into a fight, or to volunteer to go headlong into danger, but Gabe was predisposed with Ghost and he found that to be important work.

Zinx made his way to the basement, and seeing the Autekma and macinery spread out among the various table, the words came to his lips without thinking "Jackpot". He scanned the various pieces figuring out their functionality and if they were operable, then his eyes reached the Captain, Vashne, and the Wolfgirl all staring at the same thing. He followed their gaze and once again spoke without thinking, which while not very common for him, seemed to happen more frequently ever since he joined up with this group.

"Oh shit."

[Armored Bishoujo]

The Juicer lashed out at the wolfwoman with one of its enormous claws. Crouching down, she was suddenly eight feet in the arm as the arm swept under her, splashing violated air against her back.
"What the hell is this thing?" Vashne asked.
"Master was obsessed with creating the ultimate lifeform," The wolfwoman explained calmly. "He wanted to create something powerful enough to destroy the Macrolossus."
"Then he was a goddamned fool." Vashne observed. "Nothing that lives on this entire planet could possibly be strong to take down the Macrolossus."
"You could try telling that to him. Oh, wait. You guys killed him."
"That wasn't us. His Majesty wanted Lazarei alive but since we failed in that, I want to bring you to Capital City Serulea instead."
"Does it look like I have any choice? I'm just his mistress so I don't think I can tell you much."
"Good, we've got a deal. We'll have to do something about this monster. I've got a friend who might still be alive upstairs and I'm not escaping without her. What's your name?"
"Mifu."
"Alrighty, Miss Mifu. Let's see what we can do about Lazarei's attempt to mimic the legendary might of a thousand years ago."

[Inbred Chocobo]

"Are you pretty ladies going to stand there and talk all day, or shall we get moving?" The Captain shouted as he pulled out his pistols. They looked archaic in style, and style that the captain wanted, but they were much more functional than that. The Captain pointed both barrels at the creature's face, and pulled the trigger. The shots went out with there nice little own bang, and the lead bullets shot towards their target.

---------------

EDIT (No, I didn't forget the ship.)

The guy looking over the ship stared at the mansion for a bit after the roar. Then he noticed Sarel taking up an offensive stance. "So why did the captain really give you that flare?" He shouted down towards her to make sure she could hear him.

[Armored Bishoujo]

The Juicer simply stood there and took the bullets to the face. Dark crimson burst free from where the rounds impacted on its strange flesh. However, the Captain's efforts were rewarded with a direct hit on its left eye, and the resulting howl could not possibly have been louder. It seemed that the whole manor shook this time.
"It's time to get out of here." Vashne said, and both girls darted for the Captain. The Juicer wildly flung its massive arms about in a flurry of unchanneled rage. Once it managed to gain control of itself, it shielded the remaining eye and started to advanced on the four of them. "Captain, your ship is here, right? I think we're going to want the extra firepower."

-----

Sarel turned away from the manor and moved closer to the ship and tell them what they needed to do. "The Necromancer Ghost has been critically wounded. The Captain wants you to get her to safety on this ship while he goes to find the War Alchemist."

Another roar, this one even louder than before, erupted from the basement. "I think that means you'd better make it quick. I'll show you the way."

[Inbred Chocobo]

"Yeah, they should be parked outside if Sarel did her job." The Captain replied. He then motioned them to follow him. "We don't want to stick around and see what happens when that thing comes." The Captain then started moving, but he glanced behind him to make sure they were following.

-----------------------------

The man looking over the side nodded. "Lower the ramp!" He shouted back into the ship, and in a second the side was suddenly flipping over. Then a ramp extended from the moving wall, and a ramp was in place.

Three men came running down. One of them was the man Sarel was talking to, the other two had medical supplies and a stretcher on them. "So where is she?" The first one said as he approached Sarel.

[Armored Bishoujo]

"You, go with the Captain." Vashne said, urging the wolfgirl Mifu along. She then turned to Zinx. "Doctor Xantho? Let's get the hell out of here."
The Juicer was drawing closer.

-----

"Right this way. Let's hurry."
Sarel lead the three-man team into the manor, up to the second floor, and then into the room. The scent of blood was still pretty thick in the air. Ghost managed to raise her tired eyes and spot Sarel.
"You..." she managed to say without coughing up blood.
Sarel motioned for the others to stand back so the Captain's team could get Ghost to the ship. "Now's not the time for us enemies to be fighting, Ghost. Just leave yourself in their care."

[Tarrin]

The roars coming from below tugged at Gabe, however the power flowing thru him to keep Ghost alive was what was needed and so he concentrated on that.

Then beside him the Captains team had appeared and Gabe stood back not missing the obvious animosity between ghost and the young lady that had been discovered leaving the mansion.

As the medic team started their work Gabe grabed Sarel's arm and yanked her to face him, his face held no emotion and his words were matter of fact, no blame was held within them just questions that required answers.

"Who exactly are you and who do you work for" the questions kept coming as answers were given. "What part did you have in the champions fall?" Gabes grip loosened so as not to hurt the woman.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Sarel answered Gaberiel's questions with a bored tone of voice. She didn't even bother lying as she doubted this guy would know anything. Even if he did, it didn't really matter.
"I am Sarel. I am an elite assassin and espionage expert."
"I work for the Koltmire Devotion, a secret organization based here in Galverica Kingdom. Ghost and especially Vashne can tell you all about it, if that alchemist bitch is still alive."
"I didn't have any part in their fall. I was sent here to pick something up, but I can't find it."
Sarel thought about saying how handsome he was, but decided against it.

[Tarrin]

The fallen angel could sence that the woman in front of him was telling the truth, another earth shaking roar echoed from the celler.

Deciding that his comrades were of the utmost impotance he ran out of the room, diving off the railing and plumeting towards the flood below, a meter off the floor Gabes wings spread out allowing him to touch the ground running.

Reaching the door to the celler Gabe could see people bolting up them towards him.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Sarel didn't have any reason to stay longer and left after Gabe. Vashne and Mifu found their way to the first floor. The three met in the main hall of the manor. It was not a meeting of old friends.
"What the hell are YOU doing here?!" Both Vashne and Mifu shouted at Sarel. Then the two turned to each other. "How do you know her?"
"That's a good question. Ask me again some other time. I have a headache." Sarel responded with her hand on her helmet in tired frustration.
Before Vashne could get her spear ready, Sarel had already activated her Recall spell, vanishing before they could do anything.
"You." Vashne said, turning to Mifu. "On the airship. Now."
"Where else could I go to escape a vicious monster?" Mifu smiled weakly, running out to meet the airship.
Vashne looked towards the basement. "I hope it's a way to escape a vicious monster."

[h4x.m4g3]

Zinx stared at the monster for a moment, then at the Autekma. Then back up at Vashne who was now running at him. It was in that instant that Zinx decided he liked his life more than Autekma and took off running, racing towards the front door. RIA perched itself on his shoulder looking backwards not at the three warriors behind him but past them towards his inspiration to run faster. He didn't stop to talk to Sarel and only managed to catch the words on the airship and escape. He decided this was a good ideal and began to climb aboard, panting heavily.

[Tarrin]

"Vashne your spear" called Gabe "I'll try to slow this thing down as u get your asses on the ship" waiting for the spear Gabe launched himself into the air.

Waiting for the beast to emerge thru the door he held his weapon ready, When the beast emerged he would plung down hopefuly skewering the beasts eye on the end of Vashne's spear or if the soear didn't come on his own blade point.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Vashne looked a little protective of her spear, but decided that Gabe could probably do the most damage. "Just a moment."
She reached inside her clothes and produced something. It was a transparent flask that contained an unidentifiable solution. It didn't look healthy to have around, glowing a malevolent red color.
"Stand back, this stuff burns hot." Vashne said, and without waiting for everyone to get clear, she tossed the flask upward, aimed her spear, and lunged with expert precision, shattering the flask with the tip of the weapon. Almost the moment when the liquid coating the point, a bright, hot fire reached about seven feet from the spearhead before shrinking to three, and the heat given off could be felt just outside. Vashne then offered it carefully to Gabe. "Careful. Alchemical fire is always a two-edged sword."

One could only wonder how the spearhead wasn't melting as the blaze continued to lash upward.
As though attracted by the heat, the Juicer erupted into the main hall, finding it easier to crash into the room through the right wall instead of trying fit through the hallway.

[Inbred Chocobo]

"I need all guns, cannons, artillery, anti-aircraft, lasers, chainsaws and can-openers on the portside now!" The Captain shouted at the airship as he ran out of the mansion and up top. There were plenty of weapons already pointed, but with the way the men were moving, there were all kinds of more weapons being aimed.

-------

The medic team worked fast, giving Ghost sedatives and taking care in putting her into the strecher. The roars from the basement had caused them to pick up speed in the movement, and in the next instant, they were heading towards the ship.

Luckily they were out of the mansion after the beast burst through, and so the man not holding the stretcher turned back to look. He was stunned for a second as he watched the hulking beast. He then turned and ran to the ship, shouting "Captain! Captain the thing is in the main hall!"

[Tarrin]

Gabe had only just readied the spear as the Juicer crashed into the room, dust from the rubble cascaded thru the room as the Juicer looked around for his prey.

Gabe readied his spear, he suddenly switched target as he noticed the original eye he had planed to skewer was already missing, with a few powerful strokes he hurled himself spear first at the abomination.
Speeding as he was towards the large beast he tried to keep aware of the large armes that were flailing around as it looked for his companions.

Now only a few meters away from the Juicer it had noticed him, two great weaponous arms slammed together to swat at Gabe as though he was a fly.
The angel was ready for this move and tiped a wing slughtly soaring down then pulling back up as he drove home the spear hoping he had hit the right area he continued to rise the spear jagging for a moment as it tried to slide free from its new home.

The spear slid free after a slight moment, Gabe was glad for that as he'd hate to tell Vashne that her spear was broken.
Gabe climbed to the roof and readied the spear once again incase the beast was still an immediate threat.

Turning his head slightly Gabe looked to see if the others were safe yet or if he needed to continue with his attacks.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Another roar that violated the air later, the Juicer was clawing at its horribly damaged face.
"I wonder if I owe them kisses for saving our lives?" Vashne wondered, but she wondered too soon. The Juicer wasn't done with them yet.
Hunks of discolored meat fell from its massive arms and oversized torso and sheets of skin slipped down from its legs, revealing what Vashne only presumed to be true: Lazarei had scrapped all those Autekma in the basement to improve upon his masterpiece.

Vashne swore and ran, managing to get down the front steps of the manor and dive for cover as the air was suddenly filled with vulcan rounds. The Juicer made its away outside. The face was completely gone, replaced by a small mechanical head with a red lens that locked onto Vashne.
She could see the four vulcan cannons that the torso was equipped with, but she also noticed a bazooka and grenade launcher combination mounted on the shoulders. And the two cannons rising from behind it meant that it was packing dual mortar cannons as well.
"Gotta be a weakness somewhere," Vashne said, backing towards the ship. All Gintekma and Autekma had Infernal Cores that powered them, red glowing spheres that had been introduced into this world by the Gintekma as the main power source of those kinds of mecha. She also noted that the lower torso was burdened with ammunition racks. She couldn't see the core, but if the ammunition racks were ignited...

[batgirl]

OOC: Good place for me to jump in...

BIC: Atalanta stood outside the manor, shouts and struggles erupting from it. "If Ralshad went in here, may Hera have mercy on him." She looked at Dexus, who cocked his head to the side as he stared at the house. "Well...shall we go in then?" The large wolf nodded, and she flared up an energy sword as she approached the front door. However, as she got to the door, she could hear a high pitched whining. As she placed her hand on the knob, the door swung open and a woman almost bowled her over running. Atalanta looked inside and saw a hulking monstrosity of flesh and steel come at her, the whining sound coming from large guns firing. She jumped into a bush for cover as it continued firing. The woman who had come out of the mansion was backing towards a ship. She looked familiar as well, but Atalanta couldn't place where. "Hey! You!" she said to Vashne, "what in Hades is that?"

[Tarrin]

Gabe threw the spear landing it three meters infront ov Vashne, he then started to spiral out of the mansion as the large rounds thudded around him.
Climbing as fast as he could Gabe found the rounds range and stopped to prepair for his next attack, suddenly an explosion ruptured near him as a large mortar shell exploded it's shockwave disrupting Gabes hover for a moment.

"Damn, I really hate those things" Gabe was starting to feel down his melancholy starting to take over, He had suffered bouts of this since the war and it was one of the reasons he had been cast down.

Shaking his head he tried to refocus but was unable to, another explosion near him got him moving enough to make him a harder target however.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Vashne reached forward and yanked her spear from the ground, sparing a glance to Atalanta. "It's big trouble is what it is," she said, standing her ground. She definitely didn't want to be close to the mechanical behemoth, but backing away too much might draw fire to the airship. The giant autekma they now faced seemed to be programmed to save ammunition when not engaging distant targets, so it went with its claws and legs when attacking Vashne while using the mortars and vulcans for Gaberiel.

She didn't know the amazon's name, but at least she knew it was an amazon. "Please help me keep this thing distracted until the airship captain's weapons are ready. Don't try to be a hero. Just buy them some time."
One of the Juicer's legs came down fast on Vashne, and she almost got away...almost. Her thin leather bodysuit was suddenly all she was wearing as the foot came away with the rest of her clothing.

"That was my favorite-" Vashne started to yell, and was then thrown back by the reaction of a number of potions, vials and flasks that she had stored in those clothes. The ground near the alchemist and the mechanical monstrosity was suddenly decorated by explosions, small mushroom clouds of noxious fumes, pillars of extremely hot fire, and stalagmites of solid ice. Vashne's body rapidly tanned in the heat of the flames as she fell to the ground, coughing. "It took me an all-nighter to make those. You big bully!"

[h4x.m4g3]

Zinx watched from the ladder that led up to the main deck of the ship the juicer, no longer looked biological, not with all that weaponry on its back. So much weaponry, so magnificent, the man who designed this had to be a genius and partly insane, I mean so much "power." Zinx said the last word out loud, snapping him out of his day-dream like state about the machine that was trying to kill him, and back to reality.

He screamed at the top of his lungs towards the Archangel "GABE! GET ME ON HIM!" he held RIA out in one outstretched hand as the other clinged tightly to the ladder. He knew he wouldn't be able to control it, he had no ideal how that machine worked, perhaps with a few hours of study he might gain some valueable information, but now was neither the time nor the place. However, all Autekma had to have a power source, and power sources could be cut, and it would mean he wouldn't have to destroy this fine example of engineering.

[batgirl]

Atalanta watched as area around the behemoth erupted in a veritable sea of elements. The Autekma was distracted by the explosions, which gave Atalanta an opening. "I'll do you one better then just a distraction," she said to Vashne. She stood and quickly created an energy bow. Pulling the glowing string back, a glowing arrow fit into the shaft. She let the arrow fly and began to fire off a volley of them, one after another.

[Tarrin]

GABE! GET ME ON HIM!"

Gabe heard the call of Zinx but really couldn't muster the energy to help him, after all life on this rock was bad at the best of times maybe they'd all be better if they got to see the heavnly host and enjoy the life that awaited them on the next plane...

What was he saying, Gabe was coming out of his bout and saw the Juicer attacking his comrades, suddenly a morter shell exploded infront of him, It obscured him from sight, a idea came to him and he folded his wings and plumeted down thru the departing smoke as if he had been hit and knocked unconcious by the impact.

[h4x.m4g3]

"Shit." Zinx muttered to himself as he saw his plan dissolving before his eyes. He hadn't been able to see Gabe before admist the chaos but the figure falling from the sky could be none other than. "Shit." he muttered again as he climbed down the ladder. Taking a few steps he ran foward before hurling RIA in the direction of the juicer, over the alchemical fires. The small metal object skittered across the floor as it landed, tucking in its legs to protect them. Zinx turned back to the task of ascending the ladder and trying to navigate RIA around without getting stomped on.

"Damn, now how am I gonna get up there." He said, regretting not thinking his plan out.

[Armored Bishoujo]

Atalanta's energy arrows didn't seem to be doing anything until-
BOOM!!!
Vashne managed to stand up in time to see the ammunition supply for the shoulder launcher go up in flames, knocking the Juicer off balance. She had to back up because her solutions were all destroyed and the fumes were starting to spread. The shoulder launcher on the right shoulder and the mortar cannon next to it were disabled. The energy arrows were slowly chipping away at its armor. Vashne assumed the core of the mecha would be imbedded in its chest, but if the Captain's airship opened fire, the Juicer might as well be considered scrap.
Gaberiel's feint didn't fool the Juicer, but Atalanta's assault had it too preoccupied to attack further. Two vulcan cannons turned on Vashne, who found cover behind an ice stalagmite. The other two turned on Atalanta. "Seek cover!"