Super Robot Wars: Calamitous Dawn

[sippinggp]

Bastilla Char
Creepy Ship in the Desert



Bastilla looked on his new partners with an odd sense of curiosity. It would take some time to adjust to all this, and he had hardly accepted that he was trapped in some new universe. Despite that, he stuck close to his companions, the Gaia Gear's arsenal ready and waiting for another horrifying creature to emerge. And then there was that twinkling light, whatever it might have been. His Newtype senses were blaring, telling him to run away, and to stay away from these strangers.

But for once he had decided to ignore these instincts. He was someone who could help, and his Man-Machine was more than capable of dealing with Aliens, even if he had no clue what in the world(s) they were. Nothing is too strong for Gaia Gear and Bastilla. He led Metatron, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of those caught up in a mad war between Z and the MHA. This was... similar. If not similar then it was still something he felt he should be doing.

"So, let's say we find these people. What's the plan after that? Like, where the hell do we take them? Have you guys found something other than this big ass wreck here? Because I haven't seen anything but sand. I highly doubt we have the resources to feed and give water to like, a ship crew, let alone ourselves. I've got maybe a week's rations, I don't think I could stretch that to that many people."

He was thinking ahead, as he was oft to do as a leader, and he really hoped they had already thought of that. Otherwise, they would be pulling them from the creepy structure only to have them death march through the desert or fry on a Man-Machine.

 

[TrickOLF]

Shinkai raises his hand goodbye to Kane while Stella just stares with just the smallest hint of satisfaction now that the distractions were gone for a brief moment as the super robot pilots were ushered out before she gets onto business.

"Right then, as what we were originally here for-"

Orban closes the door, removing the Mazinger pilots from the likely very dry and boring official business the two consultants had with the Colonel. As they were led by Orban deeper into the base, they would then be greeted by the hotel Steiner was talking about and he was not exaggerating at all when he called it that:

The hotel really did look the part, though a bit weathered; likely due to the paint and maintenance budget being prioritized for the actual military structures in the base itself, speaking of; given the worn facade, the hotel seemed like it had been around for quite some time, telling that the powers that be decided not to tear down or repurpose the structure as a barracks. As the trio got closer, they would see some people milling around outside the hotel, clearly not military due to a lack of uniform and the fact that they were drinking beer and smoking fags right out in the open, but at least one of them looked like they were wearing a pilot suit of some sort underneath a flight jacket.

"Well, here we are. Thalerhof Airbase's mercenary quarter."

So we went to a hotel, pretty swanky, if I do say so myself. It was then that Orban spoke up of what this place was.

"Mercenaries? Huh...explains the outfits." I said as I took in the scenery. "They look like you just bought them off."

Kane would be escorted out as he follow Orban, as he stare at the mercenary quarters, he honestly didn’t like the sound of Mercenary but given that a better way to say isekai than being called a Isekai.

“Seems like a nice place?” He said, as he turn to to Tyzell, answering his question.

“Hey don’t worry, it takes practice to pilot a Super robot like Z, if you ever need tip or advice, ya can ask freely.” He said with a nod.

It was then that Kane put up his hand for assistance, and like hell I wasn't going to seize on it.

"Thanks, man. I think I got Z's movement down, I just need to make sure I can get them to maximum fighting efficiency...and of course, not chip the paint while doing it." I quipped with a smirk.

 

[sir_fire]

So we went to a hotel, pretty swanky, if I do say so myself. It was then that Orban spoke up of what this place was.

"Mercenaries? Huh...explains the outfits." I said as I took in the scenery. "They look like you just bought them off."



It was then that Kane put up his hand for assistance, and like hell I wasn't going to seize on it.

"Thanks, man. I think I got Z's movement down, I just need to make sure I can get them to maximum fighting efficiency...and of course, not chip the paint while doing it." I quipped with a smirk.

Orban responds to Tyzell's claim. His tone a bit torn as he clearly had some reservations about having mercenaries inside his country's military facilities.

"Well, they're not exactly what you'd call heroes or proper military; but compared to the raw recruits that most of this base's personnel are made of, they're better to have on hand in a combat scenario than without. Helps that quite a few of these outworlder mercenaries have special abilities and mechs as potent as they are strange, but not the ones currently staying here as far as I know. Until the both of you showed up at least."

And then a sharp smacking sound is heard as a Merc gets the living daylights slapped out of him after he tried hitting on a pair of female cadets, prompting ridicule and laughter from his fellows and for Orban to breathe sharply through his nose at the disgraceful scene.

"If you want to ask, this isn't Oberst Steiner's idea. The Hotel and the hangars closest to it are being leased to the UN by the Austrian Airforce to squeeze as much out of this place, as this used to be a civilian airport and is and always will be a low-priority area even with its proximity to my Country's biggest airbase..."

 

[sir_fire]

@The Ancient Purple @Sigismund @sippinggp @Cavaliere @Crimson Dragoon



Entering the Enginarium was indeed a tight fit, especially through the empty engine nacelles where the antennae of the other mechs nearly scraped against the "ceiling" and the pitch blackness ahead, seemingly without end like a bottomless pit making sight, even with floodlights and IR vision, unreliable.

But braving the mounting claustrophobia and the inky void wasn't the worst of it, for whoever was brave enough to follow Valrin in his noble task would start to hear whispers and chittering, steadily getting louder and more cacophonic as they went deeper into the heart of the beast. The voices were heard not with their ears, for their machines did not pick up any auditor signatures, but with their brains, the "voices" echoing throughout their very essence. While they babbled nonsense, the mere act of hearing the ghostly whispers felt deeply wrong, a violation of their very souls and what's maddening is that the louder the cacophony got, the more the voices started getting clearer...

"Over here, help!"

"I can give you power!"

"Your soul and your life will be saved!"

"The secrets of the universe will be yours..."

"Hey does my voice make me sound fat?"

"Silence you daemonic curs! I cannot focus! The fools coming for me, they're walking-"

████████████████████████████████

That voice... The one right before the burst of "static" that physically hurt to listen to and threatened to leave a lasting headache; "listening" to it didn't feel like a vicegrip or a haze upon their very souls and brains... Was that Laurentius? As unpleasant as the "static" was, it at least cleared the airwaves so to speak; making the intrepid explorers be able to think in silence again, hinting that whatever created that noise; it was bad enough that the rest of the Warpspawn inside the ship were too scared to reach out while it was up and about...



Regardless, the group had reached their destination: The ship's Enginarium, and fittingly enough; it was huge, the entire place dimly lit with the soft, bluish glow of the main reactor core situated right in the middle and more than big enough for the other members of the group aside from Valrin to comfortably take off and fly around to an extent despite the architecture being largely designed around human-scale use. After preliminary scans were made, several portions of the Enginarium were revealed to be alight with radiation, lethal amounts of it; indicative of major fuel leaks and sadly, Laurentius' silver mote was well within one of them, dimmed considerably since the last Valrin saw of it...

Unknown to the others, however, the Mechanicum Questor would know that this level of radiation was well within the tolerances of the Emperor's Angels of Death, leaving little more than a minor sunburn by their standards, furthermore the electromagnetic interference about the area was nowhere near enough to jam a dedicated vox signal and combined with Laurentius' last thoughts, undoubtedly pointed to him being attacked.

 

[Sigismund]

Bastilla Char
Creepy Ship in the Desert



Bastilla looked on his new partners with an odd sense of curiosity. It would take some time to adjust to all this, and he had hardly accepted that he was trapped in some new universe. Despite that, he stuck close to his companions, the Gaia Gear's arsenal ready and waiting for another horrifying creature to emerge. And then there was that twinkling light, whatever it might have been. His Newtype senses were blaring, telling him to run away, and to stay away from these strangers.

But for once he had decided to ignore these instincts. He was someone who could help, and his Man-Machine was more than capable of dealing with Aliens, even if he had no clue what in the world(s) they were. Nothing is too strong for Gaia Gear and Bastilla. He led Metatron, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of those caught up in a mad war between Z and the MHA. This was... similar. If not similar then it was still something he felt he should be doing.

"So, let's say we find these people. What's the plan after that? Like, where the hell do we take them? Have you guys found something other than this big ass wreck here? Because I haven't seen anything but sand. I highly doubt we have the resources to feed and give water to like, a ship crew, let alone ourselves. I've got maybe a week's rations, I don't think I could stretch that to that many people."

He was thinking ahead, as he was oft to do as a leader, and he really hoped they had already thought of that. Otherwise, they would be pulling them from the creepy structure only to have them death march through the desert or fry on a Man-Machine.

"It depends what remains of the ship when we are done. These ships commonly house tens of thousands of people permanently, with water refreshment systems and supply caches of food across the several sub layers and sections of the ship.

Elsewise, we have been here longer and nothing within range of any of our long range sensors have indicated life or water until this ship crash. The Omnissiah saw fit to purge this taint from existence, and has put us on a path where we will have no other choice.
Steel yourself further, for worse no doubt lays inside.

By the haps, this close to the subbridge I have made contact with a small fraction of survivors, taint unconfirmed, but have made contact that we need to breach the enginarium"
Thus with a wrech of Ignus's Claw, I stepped inside.

@The Ancient Purple @Sigismund @sippinggp @Cavaliere @Crimson Dragoon



Entering the Enginarium was indeed a tight fit, especially through the empty engine nacelles where the antennae of the other mechs nearly scraped against the "ceiling" and the pitch blackness ahead, seemingly without end like a bottomless pit making sight, even with floodlights and IR vision, unreliable.

But braving the mounting claustrophobia and the inky void wasn't the worst of it, for whoever was brave enough to follow Valrin in his noble task would start to hear whispers and chittering, steadily getting louder and more cacophonic as they went deeper into the heart of the beast. The voices were heard not with their ears, for their machines did not pick up any auditor signatures, but with their brains, the "voices" echoing throughout their very essence. While they babbled nonsense, the mere act of hearing the ghostly whispers felt deeply wrong, a violation of their very souls and what's maddening is that the louder the cacophony got, the more the voices started getting clearer...

"Over here, help!"

"I can give you power!"

"Your soul and your life will be saved!"

"The secrets of the universe will be yours..."

"Hey does my voice make me sound fat?"

"Silence you daemonic curs! I cannot focus! The fools coming for me, they're walking-"

████████████████████████████████

That voice... The one right before the burst of "static" that physically hurt to listen to and threatened to leave a lasting headache; "listening" to it didn't feel like a vicegrip or a haze upon their very souls and brains... Was that Laurentius? As unpleasant as the "static" was, it at least cleared the airwaves so to speak; making the intrepid explorers be able to think in silence again, hinting that whatever created that noise; it was bad enough that the rest of the Warpspawn inside the ship were too scared to reach out while it was up and about...



Regardless, the group had reached their destination: The ship's Enginarium, and fittingly enough; it was huge, the entire place dimly lit with the soft, bluish glow of the main reactor core situated right in the middle and more than big enough for the other members of the group aside from Valrin to comfortably take off and fly around to an extent despite the architecture being largely designed around human-scale use. After preliminary scans were made, several portions of the Enginarium were revealed to be alight with radiation, lethal amounts of it; indicative of major fuel leaks and sadly, Laurentius' silver mote was well within one of them, dimmed considerably since the last Valrin saw of it...

Unknown to the others, however, the Mechanicum Questor would know that this level of radiation was well within the tolerances of the Emperor's Angels of Death, leaving little more than a minor sunburn by their standards, furthermore the electromagnetic interference about the area was nowhere near enough to jam a dedicated vox signal and combined with Laurentius' last thoughts, undoubtedly pointed to him being attacked.

What seemed to be the Grey Knight's words rang out as a warning.

While pushing my own senses out was a dreadfully bad idea, psychically amping Ignus's senses may show more to the area. His killer would certainly not be far, and most likely hiding.

So as I gaised out, trying to find anything through Ignus's dark age sights enhanced by Psykana, I spoke out:

"Stand firm and ignore the Whispers. They are spirits seeking to lead you to damnation, and the aberration that slew the Knight that lies there is still lurking about in this place. The radiation is of not effect to it. You must have faith, for even a guardsmen Lazgun will do more damage to a Deamon than a Volcano Lance if the latter has no faith, if they cling only to logic and rationality, these monsters from beyond, from a realm where the mere concept of causality, effect or time has no meaning beyond a joke used to torrment the souls of the damned.
All that will save you is faith in the Machine God.

Abandon all hope for all that leads to is eternal grief at what may have been ,

Abandon all dispare for that way only leads only to doleful cities,

abandon all anger and joy for they only create a forsaken race and feed the sin that now eats away at reality before your very eyes.

Abandon your flawed reason and logic as you know it. Divine Omnipotence gave down the technology, knowledge, and highest wisdom through faith in flesh and steel."

 

[Crimson Dragoon]

Bastilla Char
Creepy Ship in the Desert



Bastilla looked on his new partners with an odd sense of curiosity. It would take some time to adjust to all this, and he had hardly accepted that he was trapped in some new universe. Despite that, he stuck close to his companions, the Gaia Gear's arsenal ready and waiting for another horrifying creature to emerge. And then there was that twinkling light, whatever it might have been. His Newtype senses were blaring, telling him to run away, and to stay away from these strangers.

But for once he had decided to ignore these instincts. He was someone who could help, and his Man-Machine was more than capable of dealing with Aliens, even if he had no clue what in the world(s) they were. Nothing is too strong for Gaia Gear and Bastilla. He led Metatron, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of those caught up in a mad war between Z and the MHA. This was... similar. If not similar then it was still something he felt he should be doing.

"So, let's say we find these people. What's the plan after that? Like, where the hell do we take them? Have you guys found something other than this big ass wreck here? Because I haven't seen anything but sand. I highly doubt we have the resources to feed and give water to like, a ship crew, let alone ourselves. I've got maybe a week's rations, I don't think I could stretch that to that many people."

He was thinking ahead, as he was oft to do as a leader, and he really hoped they had already thought of that. Otherwise, they would be pulling them from the creepy structure only to have them death march through the desert or fry on a Man-Machine.

He raised a good point. What were they going to do with them, assuming they succeed at clearing out this ship and they survive the ordeal? There really was nothing else in this desert and they appeared to be too distant for any communication with actual civilization. Still, there might be a solution, if only temporary and assuming things go correctly enough.

“The ship itself should have resources we can salvage for them, well, assuming the relevant areas haven’t been already decimated. And also assuming there would be enough of a ship left after this. Yeah, I know this isn’t ideal but the only other option for them is probably worse. So let’s try to pull this one off somehow.”

He then proceeded deeper into the wreckage, the surroundings becoming darker and more claustrophobic.

@The Ancient Purple @Sigismund @sippinggp @Cavaliere @Crimson Dragoon



Entering the Enginarium was indeed a tight fit, especially through the empty engine nacelles where the antennae of the other mechs nearly scraped against the "ceiling" and the pitch blackness ahead, seemingly without end like a bottomless pit making sight, even with floodlights and IR vision, unreliable.

But braving the mounting claustrophobia and the inky void wasn't the worst of it, for whoever was brave enough to follow Valrin in his noble task would start to hear whispers and chittering, steadily getting louder and more cacophonic as they went deeper into the heart of the beast. The voices were heard not with their ears, for their machines did not pick up any auditor signatures, but with their brains, the "voices" echoing throughout their very essence. While they babbled nonsense, the mere act of hearing the ghostly whispers felt deeply wrong, a violation of their very souls and what's maddening is that the louder the cacophony got, the more the voices started getting clearer...

"Over here, help!"

"I can give you power!"

"Your soul and your life will be saved!"

"The secrets of the universe will be yours..."

"Hey does my voice make me sound fat?"

"Silence you daemonic curs! I cannot focus! The fools coming for me, they're walking-"

████████████████████████████████

That voice... The one right before the burst of "static" that physically hurts to listen to and threatened to leave a lasting headache; "listening" to it didn't feel like a vicegrip or a haze upon their very souls and brains... Was that Laurentius? As unpleasant as the "static" was, it at least cleared the airwaves so to speak; making the intrepid explorers be able to think in silence again, hinting that whatever created that noise; it was bad enough that the rest of the Warpspawn inside the ship were too scared to reach out while it was up and about...



Regardless, the group had reached their destination: The ship's Enginarium, and fittingly enough; it was huge, the entire place dimly lit with the soft, bluish glow of the main reactor core situated right in the middle and more than big enough for the other members of the group aside from Valrin to comfortably take off and fly around to an extent despite the architecture being largely designed around human-scale use. After preliminary scans were made, several portions of the Enginarium were revealed to be alight with radiation, lethal amounts of it; indicative of major fuel leaks and sadly, Laurentius' silver mote was well within one of them, dimmed considerably since the last Valrin saw of it...

Unknown to the others, however, the Mechanicum Questor would know that this level of radiation was well within the tolerances of the Emperor's Angels of Death, leaving little more than a minor sunburn by their standards, furthermore the electromagnetic interference about the area was nowhere near enough to jam a dedicated vox signal and combined with Laurentius' last thoughts, undoubtedly pointed to him being attacked.

As they proceeded onward, the voices kept getting louder and more…intrusive. They scratched away at Daniel’s mind, trying to seep their way in and poison his thoughts. They threatened his focus and resolve, halting for a short moment, but he fortified himself and attempted to shut them out. The voices didn’t quite go away, but they weren’t worming their way in either as he continued with the task at hand.

Then there was one last voice that demanded silence, and a loud noise that can only be described as static followed.

“Gah!”

It was painfully deafening, but it didn’t have the perverse effects the other voices carried. If anything, it actually made them go away, making things blissfully silent. For the moment, at least. They then reached the reactor, and the sensors indicated there was a heavy amount of radiation all over the place, lethal amounts. An indication of major leaks. The place was large enough for the Aeolus to fly and maneuver in to an extent. Not as much as Daniel would like, but better than the enclosed spaces earlier.

“So now what?”

 

[Mazin Kiryu]

Orban responds to Tyzell's claim. His tone a bit torn as he clearly had some reservations about having mercenaries inside his country's military facilities.

"Well, they're not exactly what you'd call heroes or proper military; but compared to the raw recruits that most of this base's personnel are made of, they're better to have on hand in a combat scenario than without. Helps that quite a few of these outworlder mercenaries have special abilities and mechs as potent as they are strange, but not the ones currently staying here as far as I know. Until the both of you showed up at least."

And then a sharp smacking sound is heard as a Merc gets the living daylights slapped out of him after he tried hitting on a pair of female cadets, prompting ridicule and laughter from his fellows and for Orban to breathe sharply through his nose at the disgraceful scene.

"If you want to ask, this isn't Oberst Steiner's idea. The Hotel and the hangars closest to it are being leased to the UN by the Austrian Airforce to squeeze as much out of this place, as this used to be a civilian airport and is and always will be a low-priority area even with its proximity to my Country's biggest airbase..."

Kane staring at the mercenary that got slap, as he then looks back at Orban as he nod silently.

“Sorry to hear that, After-all I image at the current state of this world problems, you rather want all this to be over with and get some peace and quiet?”

Kane said, as he cross his arm and kept looking around, analyzing the environment and it people at the current moment.

 

[sir_fire]

Kane staring at the mercenary that got slap, as he then looks back at Orban as he nod silently.

“Sorry to hear that, After-all I image at the current state of this world problems, you rather want all this to be over with and get some peace and quiet?”

Kane said, as he cross his arm and kept looking around, analyzing the environment and it people at the current moment.

Trying his hardest to ignore the chaos and antics of the mercs around, Orban then takes the pair indoors, towards the receptionist's desk, where a middle-aged woman greets the trio with a heavily lidded stare after they interrupted her very important task of solving a sudoku puzzle as she takes a drag from her cigarette and blows a puff of smoke at their direction.

"Lt. Orban."

"Frau Henrietta."

Henrietta glances at the two young men Orban has brought with him, already knowing what they're here for.

"Papers please."

Orban inhaled deeply, stuffing his chest, standing straight, and raising his shoulders. He was trying to emanate an authoritarian mien that was very clearly forced and unfitting of his person.

"I'm afraid you will have to wait for that, they haven't fully submitted their documentation and they aren't even registered yet. But since they need a place to stay-"

"Ah ah ah. No entry. Aren't those the rules? No documentation, no pass, no lodging."

The woman refuted, wagging a negative finger to him. Her indifferent tone and casual expression, indicating she was having none of the lieutenant's act.

"But-"

"No but's. You're always the one nagging me about strict rules and protocols. I'm afraid I don't make them, I just follow them."

She continued. A sign of a smile that was smug, triumphant, and spiteful all at once flashing into her lips for a beat.

Orban's index fidgets with the collar of his shirt as he frowned for only a moment before reasserting himself.

"Ahem. These two are under our custody and they have no else to go."

It was only then that 'Henrietta'- Directed her gaze once more unto the duo, gauging the two of them from head to toe in an instant.

"What about the brig?"

"They have done nothing wrong."

"Aren't they trespassing on government property?"

"Of no fault of their own."

"And why dump them on my lap?"

"They're going to be staying here regardless."

"By the way, does the Colonel know about this?"

"Yes. He ordered me to do so."

A pause as Henrietta drills holes through Orban, who reacted by returning the gesture with an awkward stare of his own, even going as far as breaking off into a succinct glance over his shoulder then back at the woman.

"...What?"

Henrietta finally exhales with a long sigh.

"Figures. Gaston's way too lenient with these things."

Henrietta then scoots back on her office chair and fetches a single key from the key rack bearing a key chain with a room number on it, placing it over the counter for one of them to take.

"We're a bit short on vacant rooms today so I hope they don't mind sharing. One room, two beds, and a bath."

"Much appreciated."

Orban responds, gesturing for either Tyzell or Kane to do the honors of taking the key.

"Oh and by the way, don't think I've forgotten about that chocolate torte you owe me for-"

Orban cuts her off with rapid, anxious waving hands.

"We uh... We'll talk about that later."

He turns to whisper to the Mazinger pilots.

"Let's get a move on!"

And then he ushers them towards their rooms as Henrietta watches them leave with a toothy grimace before getting back to the task at hand: Finishing her puzzle.

 

[sir_fire]

"It depends what remains of the ship when we are done. These ships commonly house tens of thousands of people permanently, with water refreshment systems and supply caches of food across the several sub layers and sections of the ship.

Elsewise, we have been here longer and nothing within range of any of our long range sensors have indicated life or water until this ship crash. The Omnissiah saw fit to purge this taint from existence, and has put us on a path where we will have no other choice.
Steel yourself further, for worse no doubt lays inside.

By the haps, this close to the subbridge I have made contact with a small fraction of survivors, taint unconfirmed, but have made contact that we need to breach the enginarium"
Thus with a wrech of Ignus's Claw, I stepped inside.

What seemed to be the Grey Knight's words rang out as a warning.

While pushing my own senses out was a dreadfully bad idea, psychically amping Ignus's senses may show more to the area. His killer would certainly not be far, and most likely hiding.

So as I gaised out, trying to find anything through Ignus's dark age sights enhanced by Psykana, I spoke out:

"Stand firm and ignore the Whispers. They are spirits seeking to lead you to damnation, and the aberration that slew the Knight that lies there is still lurking about in this place. The radiation is of not effect to it. You must have faith, for even a guardsmen Lazgun will do more damage to a Deamon than a Volcano Lance if the latter has no faith, if they cling only to logic and rationality, these monsters from beyond, from a realm where the mere concept of causality, effect or time has no meaning beyond a joke used to torrment the souls of the damned.
All that will save you is faith in the Machine God.

Abandon all hope for all that leads to is eternal grief at what may have been ,

Abandon all dispare for that way only leads only to doleful cities,

abandon all anger and joy for they only create a forsaken race and feed the sin that now eats away at reality before your very eyes.

Abandon your flawed reason and logic as you know it. Divine Omnipotence gave down the technology, knowledge, and highest wisdom through faith in flesh and steel."

He raised a good point. What were they going to do with them, assuming they succeed at clearing out this ship and they survive the ordeal? There really was nothing else in this desert and they appeared to be too distant for any communication with actual civilization. Still, there might be a solution, if only temporary and assuming things go correctly enough.

“The ship itself should have resources we can salvage for them, well, assuming the relevant areas haven’t been already decimated. And also assuming there would be enough of a ship left after this. Yeah, I know this isn’t ideal but the only other option for them is probably worse. So let’s try to pull this one off somehow.”

He then proceeded deeper into the wreckage, the surroundings becoming darker and more claustrophobic.

As they proceeded onward, the voices kept getting louder and more…intrusive. They scratched away at Daniel’s mind, trying to seep their way in and poison his thoughts. They threatened his focus and resolve, halting for a short moment, but he fortified himself and attempted to shut them out. The voices didn’t quite go away, but they weren’t worming their way in either as he continued with the task at hand.

Then there was one last voice that demanded silence, and a loud noise that can only be described as static followed.

“Gah!”

It was painfully deafening, but it didn’t have the perverse effects the other voices carried. If anything, it actually made them go away, making things blissfully silent. For the moment, at least. They then reached the reactor, and the sensors indicated there was a heavy amount of radiation all over the place, lethal amounts. An indication of major leaks. The place was large enough for the Aeolus to fly and maneuver in to an extent. Not as much as Daniel would like, but better than the enclosed spaces earlier.

“So now what?”

@Cavaliere @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

With no choice but to follow the incredibly obvious trap and bait in the form of Laurentius' fading signature, the Geiger counters mounted on the quintet's machines began to rapidly spike as they moved deeper into the Mercury's heart, towards their ultimate fate.

As the darkness cleared away in the face of their floodlights and minor detours being made due to some sections being swamped with contaminated, radioactive coolant that was simply too dangerous to ford even with a mech; they'd finally lay their eyes on Laurentius in the flesh. And It was not a pretty sight: The Gray Knight was covered in cuts and burns and he crucified into the floor by stakes made of scrap iron and a large glaive was driven through his stomach; well, what remained of them as he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and his legs were bent in the wrong direction and yet despite that, he still had the will to raise his head towards the light and to send out a mental warning to the quintet that approached him.

"Fools...! This is a trap!"



Suddenly a horrible groaning noise is heard as a nearby coolant tank lurches and then falls towards the quintet, threatening to crush them all along with Laurentius. If any were to take a look back at the giant tank coming to squash them or simply use their boosters to jet backwards, they'd see... Something riding on top of the thing. It was hard to make out any details due to the figure being wrapped in a cloak of shadows, but it was vaguely humanoid, give or take the same size as Valren's Knight and it had glowing crimson eyes, crimson eyes that looked towards those watching it with hunger and glee. And then the tank crashes on top of the Gray Knight, cracking open like an egg, creating a tsunami of near sub-zero coolant that threatened to turn the armor and mechanisms of the quintet's mechs from hardy steel into brittle candy.

 

[Crimson Dragoon]

@Cavaliere @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

With no choice but to follow the incredibly obvious trap and bait in the form of Laurentius' fading signature, the Geiger counters mounted on the quintet's machines began to rapidly spike as they moved deeper into the Mercury's heart, towards their ultimate fate.

As the darkness cleared away in the face of their floodlights and minor detours being made due to some sections being swamped with contaminated, radioactive coolant that was simply too dangerous to ford even with a mech; they'd finally lay their eyes on Laurentius in the flesh. And It was not a pretty sight: The Gray Knight was covered in cuts and burns and he crucified into the floor by stakes made of scrap iron and a large glaive was driven through his stomach; well, what remained of them as he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and his legs were bent in the wrong direction and yet despite that, he still had the will to raise his head towards the light and to send out a mental warning to the quintet that approached him.

"Fools...! This is a trap!"



Suddenly a horrible groaning noise is heard as a nearby coolant tank lurches and then falls towards the quintet, threatening to crush them all along with Laurentius. If any were to take a look back at the giant tank coming to squash them or simply use their boosters to jet backwards, they'd see... Something riding on top of the thing. It was hard to make out any details due to the figure being wrapped in a cloak of shadows, but it was vaguely humanoid, give or take the same size as Valren's Knight and it had glowing crimson eyes, crimson eyes that looked towards those watching it with hunger and glee. And then the tank crashes on top of the Gray Knight, cracking open like an egg, creating a tsunami of near sub-zero coolant that threatened to turn the armor and mechanisms of the quintet's mechs from hardy steel into brittle candy.

The Aeolus approached the energy signature, dodging whatever radioactive hazard was in the way, to find a heavily armored man. His armor was a burnt, carved up wreck. It didn't end there, of course. He was crucified and stabbed through the stomach with a glaive. His legs were twisted as well, and his right arm was lopped off. Whatever did this to him clearly wanted to make an example.

Even so, he still managed to shout a warning to all of them. The entire thing was a trap. It was an obvious thing, really, all of them knew something would be waiting here. But they all wanted to get rid of a potential threat anyway and, perhaps, actually help some people in need.

Metal screeched, and Daniel saw a gigantic coolant tank falling on the group. The Aeolus's boosters flared, jolting it backwards to avoid being flattened by it. Something was on that tank, a giant silhouette wrapped in shadow, the only thing truly visible from it were glowing red eyes. The bloodlust from it was obvious, even to one devoid of a sixth sense such as him. The tank made its inevitable collision, crushing the armored man beneath it, and it shattered. A wave of hazardous coolant rushed towards the group and the Aeolus took flight. Its beam rifle was aimed at the red-eyed hostile, and a bright bluish-white beam of high energy particles blasted straight out of the barrel, with Daniel hoping it'd lance straight through the threat.

 

[Sigismund]

@Cavaliere @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

With no choice but to follow the incredibly obvious trap and bait in the form of Laurentius' fading signature, the Geiger counters mounted on the quintet's machines began to rapidly spike as they moved deeper into the Mercury's heart, towards their ultimate fate.

As the darkness cleared away in the face of their floodlights and minor detours being made due to some sections being swamped with contaminated, radioactive coolant that was simply too dangerous to ford even with a mech; they'd finally lay their eyes on Laurentius in the flesh. And It was not a pretty sight: The Gray Knight was covered in cuts and burns and he crucified into the floor by stakes made of scrap iron and a large glaive was driven through his stomach; well, what remained of them as he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and his legs were bent in the wrong direction and yet despite that, he still had the will to raise his head towards the light and to send out a mental warning to the quintet that approached him.

"Fools...! This is a trap!"



Suddenly a horrible groaning noise is heard as a nearby coolant tank lurches and then falls towards the quintet, threatening to crush them all along with Laurentius. If any were to take a look back at the giant tank coming to squash them or simply use their boosters to jet backwards, they'd see... Something riding on top of the thing. It was hard to make out any details due to the figure being wrapped in a cloak of shadows, but it was vaguely humanoid, give or take the same size as Valren's Knight and it had glowing crimson eyes, crimson eyes that looked towards those watching it with hunger and glee. And then the tank crashes on top of the Gray Knight, cracking open like an egg, creating a tsunami of near sub-zero coolant that threatened to turn the armor and mechanisms of the quintet's mechs from hardy steel into brittle candy.

Without thinking, I pressed all of my will and power into the Ion Shield to extend their power to the entire thin opening that sperated us and the coolant.

My soul, my will, my very mind flowed through Ignus's systems, ancient data and code flowed through my soul as if my own thoughts. I pressed upon ancient mathatics, changing the formulas to fit my will.

The Ion shield that formed, instead of being the thin gold standard, was a sickly thick royal Purple with the power of the Warp truly enhancing it. I pushed further, expanding the shield to make a door, the enegry fully extended and formed an artificial hull to replace the missing area.

Only a fraction of the wave would hit the shield, so with my remaining focus in my mortal body.

An unaugmented blast from my Lighting Canon joined the sparse fire that preempted my shield being raised. Luckly Ion shield allowed for fire from behind the shield

 

[Mazin Kiryu]

Trying his hardest to ignore the chaos and antics of the mercs around, Orban then takes the pair indoors, towards the receptionist's desk, where a middle-aged woman greets the trio with a heavily lidded stare after they interrupted her very important task of solving a sudoku puzzle as she takes a drag from her cigarette and blows a puff of smoke at their direction.

"Lt. Orban."

"Frau Henrietta."

Henrietta glances at the two young men Orban has brought with him, already knowing what they're here for.

"Papers please."

Orban inhaled deeply, stuffing his chest, standing straight, and raising his shoulders. He was trying to emanate an authoritarian mien that was very clearly forced and unfitting of his person.

"I'm afraid you will have to wait for that, they haven't fully submitted their documentation and they aren't even registered yet. But since they need a place to stay-"

"Ah ah ah. No entry. Aren't those the rules? No documentation, no pass, no lodging."

The woman refuted, wagging a negative finger to him. Her indifferent tone and casual expression, indicating she was having none of the lieutenant's act.

"But-"

"No but's. You're always the one nagging me about strict rules and protocols. I'm afraid I don't make them, I just follow them."

She continued. A sign of a smile that was smug, triumphant, and spiteful all at once flashing into her lips for a beat.

Orban's index fidgets with the collar of his shirt as he frowned for only a moment before reasserting himself.

"Ahem. These two are under our custody and they have no else to go."

It was only then that 'Henrietta'- Directed her gaze once more unto the duo, gauging the two of them from head to toe in an instant.

"What about the brig?"

"They have done nothing wrong."

"Aren't they trespassing on government property?"

"Of no fault of their own."

"And why dump them on my lap?"

"They're going to be staying here regardless."

"By the way, does the Colonel know about this?"

"Yes. He ordered me to do so."

A pause as Henrietta drills holes through Orban, who reacted by returning the gesture with an awkward stare of his own, even going as far as breaking off into a succinct glance over his shoulder then back at the woman.

"...What?"

Henrietta finally exhales with a long sigh.

"Figures. Gaston's way too lenient with these things."

Henrietta then scoots back on her office chair and fetches a single key from the key rack bearing a key chain with a room number on it, placing it over the counter for one of them to take.

"We're a bit short on vacant rooms today so I hope they don't mind sharing. One room, two beds, and a bath."

"Much appreciated."

Orban responds, gesturing for either Tyzell or Kane to do the honors of taking the key.

"Oh and by the way, don't think I've forgotten about that chocolate torte you owe me for-"

Orban cuts her off with rapid, anxious waving hands.

"We uh... We'll talk about that later."

He turns to whisper to the Mazinger pilots.

"Let's get a move on!"

And then he ushers them towards their rooms as Henrietta watches them leave with a toothy grimace before getting back to the task at hand: Finishing her puzzle.

Kane stares quietly as Orban and Henrietta spoke, before grabbing the key and nodded.

“thank you very much, I will try not to be much of a bother” he said as Orban wanted to leave quickly, as he wave goodbye before following him.

“I’m guessing you and the mistress got history?” He said, maybe wanted to see if Orban could relax, and talk a bit about his personal life,

 

[Cavaliere]

"So, let's say we find these people. What's the plan after that? Like, where the hell do we take them? Have you guys found something other than this big ass wreck here? Because I haven't seen anything but sand. I highly doubt we have the resources to feed and give water to like, a ship crew, let alone ourselves. I've got maybe a week's rations, I don't think I could stretch that to that many people."

William Liam Tinmall
<<<Ø>>>
The question took him by surprise, but it was probably the most sensible concern that was expressed that day.
Between alternate dimensions, demons from the Far Beyond, sound and psychic powers existing, normal logistics was a refreshing distraction.

"I could see if any of the parts are salvageable, repair as much as I can? If that fails, use the escape pods, if any?"

Liam eased his foot from the pedal, making the Null slow down from the hurried jog to an easier pace, taking the time to look at the structure that they were walking in.
From the outside it was massive, but the inside was cramped for their machines, and... he just realized they were all piloting something at least 20 meters tall...
Great Scott he was an idiot...

"I don't know how this ship is constructed really, or if any of it can be brought back to working order, but it anything fails there is enough space to convert it to an outpost to resupply?"

@The Ancient Purple @Sigismund @sippinggp @Cavaliere @Crimson Dragoon



Entering the Enginarium was indeed a tight fit, especially through the empty engine nacelles where the antennae of the other mechs nearly scraped against the "ceiling" and the pitch blackness ahead, seemingly without end like a bottomless pit making sight, even with floodlights and IR vision, unreliable.

But braving the mounting claustrophobia and the inky void wasn't the worst of it, for whoever was brave enough to follow Valrin in his noble task would start to hear whispers and chittering, steadily getting louder and more cacophonic as they went deeper into the heart of the beast. The voices were heard not with their ears, for their machines did not pick up any auditor signatures, but with their brains, the "voices" echoing throughout their very essence. While they babbled nonsense, the mere act of hearing the ghostly whispers felt deeply wrong, a violation of their very souls and what's maddening is that the louder the cacophony got, the more the voices started getting clearer...

"Over here, help!"

"I can give you power!"

"Your soul and your life will be saved!"

"The secrets of the universe will be yours..."

"Hey does my voice make me sound fat?"

"Silence you daemonic curs! I cannot focus! The fools coming for me, they're walking-"

████████████████████████████████

That voice... The one right before the burst of "static" that physically hurt to listen to and threatened to leave a lasting headache; "listening" to it didn't feel like a vicegrip or a haze upon their very souls and brains... Was that Laurentius? As unpleasant as the "static" was, it at least cleared the airwaves so to speak; making the intrepid explorers be able to think in silence again, hinting that whatever created that noise; it was bad enough that the rest of the Warpspawn inside the ship were too scared to reach out while it was up and about...



Regardless, the group had reached their destination: The ship's Enginarium, and fittingly enough; it was huge, the entire place dimly lit with the soft, bluish glow of the main reactor core situated right in the middle and more than big enough for the other members of the group aside from Valrin to comfortably take off and fly around to an extent despite the architecture being largely designed around human-scale use. After preliminary scans were made, several portions of the Enginarium were revealed to be alight with radiation, lethal amounts of it; indicative of major fuel leaks and sadly, Laurentius' silver mote was well within one of them, dimmed considerably since the last Valrin saw of it...

Unknown to the others, however, the Mechanicum Questor would know that this level of radiation was well within the tolerances of the Emperor's Angels of Death, leaving little more than a minor sunburn by their standards, furthermore the electromagnetic interference about the area was nowhere near enough to jam a dedicated vox signal and combined with Laurentius' last thoughts, undoubtedly pointed to him being attacked.

What seemed to be the Grey Knight's words rang out as a warning.

While pushing my own senses out was a dreadfully bad idea, psychically amping Ignus's senses may show more to the area. His killer would certainly not be far, and most likely hiding.

So as I gaised out, trying to find anything through Ignus's dark age sights enhanced by Psykana, I spoke out:

"Stand firm and ignore the Whispers. They are spirits seeking to lead you to damnation, and the aberration that slew the Knight that lies there is still lurking about in this place. The radiation is of not effect to it. You must have faith, for even a guardsmen Lazgun will do more damage to a Deamon than a Volcano Lance if the latter has no faith, if they cling only to logic and rationality, these monsters from beyond, from a realm where the mere concept of causality, effect or time has no meaning beyond a joke used to torrment the souls of the damned.
All that will save you is faith in the Machine God.

Abandon all hope for all that leads to is eternal grief at what may have been ,

Abandon all dispare for that way only leads only to doleful cities,

abandon all anger and joy for they only create a forsaken race and feed the sin that now eats away at reality before your very eyes.

Abandon your flawed reason and logic as you know it. Divine Omnipotence gave down the technology, knowledge, and highest wisdom through faith in flesh and steel."

As they proceeded onward, the voices kept getting louder and more…intrusive. They scratched away at Daniel’s mind, trying to seep their way in and poison his thoughts. They threatened his focus and resolve, halting for a short moment, but he fortified himself and attempted to shut them out. The voices didn’t quite go away, but they weren’t worming their way in either as he continued with the task at hand.

Then there was one last voice that demanded silence, and a loud noise that can only be described as static followed.

“Gah!”

It was painfully deafening, but it didn’t have the perverse effects the other voices carried. If anything, it actually made them go away, making things blissfully silent. For the moment, at least. They then reached the reactor, and the sensors indicated there was a heavy amount of radiation all over the place, lethal amounts. An indication of major leaks. The place was large enough for the Aeolus to fly and maneuver in to an extent. Not as much as Daniel would like, but better than the enclosed spaces earlier.

“So now what?”

The whispers...

Liam was not a psychic, not a Coordinator, or any of the special labels that were floating around since the Convergence.
He was a normal person, however, even he could feel that the air around them wasn't right.

Heavy, twisted, an anomaly, Tempting...

But they were not why he was here, he kept telling himself, he was trying to help people, save them from these very voices, knowing they were Demons.
Then why did he fly too close to the portal, if not for more Knowledge...

"This isn't right..."

Valrin spoke of faith with the fervor of a zealot, but he didn't know if he should truly trust what he said: faith couldn't make your weapons stronger or protect your mind, those seemed more like application of their powers.
Something he wanted to study later...

When they arrived in the massive engine room, he launched a scan with the Null powerful sensors, trying to check if there were any nasty surprises around.

@Cavaliere @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

With no choice but to follow the incredibly obvious trap and bait in the form of Laurentius' fading signature, the Geiger counters mounted on the quintet's machines began to rapidly spike as they moved deeper into the Mercury's heart, towards their ultimate fate.

As the darkness cleared away in the face of their floodlights and minor detours being made due to some sections being swamped with contaminated, radioactive coolant that was simply too dangerous to ford even with a mech; they'd finally lay their eyes on Laurentius in the flesh. And It was not a pretty sight: The Gray Knight was covered in cuts and burns and he crucified into the floor by stakes made of scrap iron and a large glaive was driven through his stomach; well, what remained of them as he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and his legs were bent in the wrong direction and yet despite that, he still had the will to raise his head towards the light and to send out a mental warning to the quintet that approached him.

"Fools...! This is a trap!"


Suddenly a horrible groaning noise is heard as a nearby coolant tank lurches and then falls towards the quintet, threatening to crush them all along with Laurentius. If any were to take a look back at the giant tank coming to squash them or simply use their boosters to jet backwards, they'd see... Something riding on top of the thing. It was hard to make out any details due to the figure being wrapped in a cloak of shadows, but it was vaguely humanoid, give or take the same size as Valren's Knight and it had glowing crimson eyes, crimson eyes that looked towards those watching it with hunger and glee. And then the tank crashes on top of the Gray Knight, cracking open like an egg, creating a tsunami of near sub-zero coolant that threatened to turn the armor and mechanisms of the quintet's mechs from hardy steel into brittle candy.

Liam had to keep himself from throwing up at the gruesome sight, but he didn't even have time to leave the controls to cover his mouth that he had to rush back to them, hastily pushing the Null back with the full thrust an Aile Striker could achieve.

"What was that thing?" He asked to the open channel, activating the combat sensors and readying the weapons. The Null'sface transformed, the mechanism integrated into the dual antenna dropping down, and new light flashing signifying the new cameras now in use.

 

[The Ancient Purple]

@Cavaliere @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

With no choice but to follow the incredibly obvious trap and bait in the form of Laurentius' fading signature, the Geiger counters mounted on the quintet's machines began to rapidly spike as they moved deeper into the Mercury's heart, towards their ultimate fate.

As the darkness cleared away in the face of their floodlights and minor detours being made due to some sections being swamped with contaminated, radioactive coolant that was simply too dangerous to ford even with a mech; they'd finally lay their eyes on Laurentius in the flesh. And It was not a pretty sight: The Gray Knight was covered in cuts and burns and he crucified into the floor by stakes made of scrap iron and a large glaive was driven through his stomach; well, what remained of them as he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and his legs were bent in the wrong direction and yet despite that, he still had the will to raise his head towards the light and to send out a mental warning to the quintet that approached him.

"Fools...! This is a trap!"



Suddenly a horrible groaning noise is heard as a nearby coolant tank lurches and then falls towards the quintet, threatening to crush them all along with Laurentius. If any were to take a look back at the giant tank coming to squash them or simply use their boosters to jet backwards, they'd see... Something riding on top of the thing. It was hard to make out any details due to the figure being wrapped in a cloak of shadows, but it was vaguely humanoid, give or take the same size as Valren's Knight and it had glowing crimson eyes, crimson eyes that looked towards those watching it with hunger and glee. And then the tank crashes on top of the Gray Knight, cracking open like an egg, creating a tsunami of near sub-zero coolant that threatened to turn the armor and mechanisms of the quintet's mechs from hardy steel into brittle candy.

Kazuki had been following the team through their venture into the ship in silence. The apparent risk involved with taking on this corruption of nature unknown to him made it incredibly risky for him to use his abilities into their full extent, choosing instead to concentrate on his psychic defense as he remained tense and quick on his feet inside his VARG's cockpit. Considering progress involved taking a clearly misleading bait into a potential ambush.

There was barely any time to investigate or even process the poor tortured sod crucified into the floor before he received the mental warning. An unnecessary one, given the full context of the situation they were on, but well appreciated nonetheless. In the very next instant, there was a blunt disturbance to be sensed in the air, almost as if a very heavy object was flung in their general direction.

The Shibuki instantly pivots in its feet, turning around to check for the source only for Kazuki to catch a glimpse of the enormous coolant tank. His reflexive reaction timing served him to quick boost out of the way, bringing his mech out of the coolant's path at the last moment, evading just barely. The mech's cameras were then brought into the next presence of interest: The black-cloaked humanoid shape with menacing crimson eyes. Good thing him and the others were already prepared for a fight.

Without any method to seal the coolant breach, Kazuki had to try and steer clear of it as best as he could while hunting for precise shots into the mystery figure. The Shibuki got a move on, strafing to the left so as to not make a stationary target out of itself and opened fire from their assault rifle, showering the black cloak's position with constant beam fire.

 

[sir_fire]

The Aeolus approached the energy signature, dodging whatever radioactive hazard was in the way, to find a heavily armored man. His armor was a burnt, carved up wreck. It didn't end there, of course. He was crucified and stabbed through the stomach with a glaive. His legs were twisted as well, and his right arm was lopped off. Whatever did this to him clearly wanted to make an example.

Even so, he still managed to shout a warning to all of them. The entire thing was a trap. It was an obvious thing, really, all of them knew something would be waiting here. But they all wanted to get rid of a potential threat anyway and, perhaps, actually help some people in need.

Metal screeched, and Daniel saw a gigantic coolant tank falling on the group. The Aeolus's boosters flared, jolting it backwards to avoid being flattened by it. Something was on that tank, a giant silhouette wrapped in shadow, the only thing truly visible from it were glowing red eyes. The bloodlust from it was obvious, even to one devoid of a sixth sense such as him. The tank made its inevitable collision, crushing the armored man beneath it, and it shattered. A wave of hazardous coolant rushed towards the group and the Aeolus took flight. Its beam rifle was aimed at the red-eyed hostile, and a bright bluish-white beam of high energy particles blasted straight out of the barrel, with Daniel hoping it'd lance straight through the threat.

Without thinking, I pressed all of my will and power into the Ion Shield to extend their power to the entire thin opening that sperated us and the coolant.

My soul, my will, my very mind flowed through Ignus's systems, ancient data and code flowed through my soul as if my own thoughts. I pressed upon ancient mathatics, changing the formulas to fit my will.

The Ion shield that formed, instead of being the thin gold standard, was a sickly thick royal Purple with the power of the Warp truly enhancing it. I pushed further, expanding the shield to make a door, the enegry fully extended and formed an artificial hull to replace the missing area.

Only a fraction of the wave would hit the shield, so with my remaining focus in my mortal body.

An unaugmented blast from my Lighting Canon joined the sparse fire that preempted my shield being raised. Luckly Ion shield allowed for fire from behind the shield

William Liam Tinmall
<<<Ø>>>
The question took him by surprise, but it was probably the most sensible concern that was expressed that day.
Between alternate dimensions, demons from the Far Beyond, sound and psychic powers existing, normal logistics was a refreshing distraction.

"I could see if any of the parts are salvageable, repair as much as I can? If that fails, use the escape pods, if any?"

Liam eased his foot from the pedal, making the Null slow down from the hurried jog to an easier pace, taking the time to look at the structure that they were walking in.
From the outside it was massive, but the inside was cramped for their machines, and... he just realized they were all piloting something at least 20 meters tall...
Great Scott he was an idiot...

"I don't know how this ship is constructed really, or if any of it can be brought back to working order, but it anything fails there is enough space to convert it to an outpost to resupply?"





The whispers...

Liam was not a psychic, not a Coordinator, or any of the special labels that were floating around since the Convergence.
He was a normal person, however, even he could feel that the air around them wasn't right.

Heavy, twisted, an anomaly, Tempting...

But they were not why he was here, he kept telling himself, he was trying to help people, save them from these very voices, knowing they were Demons.
Then why did he fly too close to the portal, if not for more Knowledge...

"This isn't right..."

Valrin spoke of faith with the fervor of a zealot, but he didn't know if he should truly trust what he said: faith couldn't make your weapons stronger or protect your mind, those seemed more like application of their powers.
Something he wanted to study later...

When they arrived in the massive engine room, he launched a scan with the Null powerful sensors, trying to check if there were any nasty surprises around.


Liam had to keep himself from throwing up at the gruesome sight, but he didn't even have time to leave the controls to cover his mouth that he had to rush back to them, hastily pushing the Null back with the full thrust an Aile Striker could achieve.

"What was that thing?" He asked to the open channel, activating the combat sensors and readying the weapons. The Null'sface transformed, the mechanism integrated into the dual antenna dropping down, and new light flashing signifying the new cameras now in use.

Kazuki had been following the team through their venture into the ship in silence. The apparent risk involved with taking on this corruption of nature unknown to him made it incredibly risky for him to use his abilities into their full extent, choosing instead to concentrate on his psychic defense as he remained tense and quick on his feet inside his VARG's cockpit. Considering progress involved taking a clearly misleading bait into a potential ambush.

There was barely any time to investigate or even process the poor tortured sod crucified into the floor before he received the mental warning. An unnecessary one, given the full context of the situation they were on, but well appreciated nonetheless. In the very next instant, there was a blunt disturbance to be sensed in the air, almost as if a very heavy object was flung in their general direction.

The Shibuki instantly pivots in its feet, turning around to check for the source only for Kazuki to catch a glimpse of the enormous coolant tank. His reflexive reaction timing served him to quick boost out of the way, bringing his mech out of the coolant's path at the last moment, evading just barely. The mech's cameras were then brought into the next presence of interest: The black-cloaked humanoid shape with menacing crimson eyes. Good thing him and the others were already prepared for a fight.

Without any method to seal the coolant breach, Kazuki had to try and steer clear of it as best as he could while hunting for precise shots into the mystery figure. The Shibuki got a move on, strafing to the left so as to not make a stationary target out of itself and opened fire from their assault rifle, showering the black cloak's position with constant beam fire.

Bastilla Char
Creepy Ship in the Desert



Bastilla looked on his new partners with an odd sense of curiosity. It would take some time to adjust to all this, and he had hardly accepted that he was trapped in some new universe. Despite that, he stuck close to his companions, the Gaia Gear's arsenal ready and waiting for another horrifying creature to emerge. And then there was that twinkling light, whatever it might have been. His Newtype senses were blaring, telling him to run away, and to stay away from these strangers.

But for once he had decided to ignore these instincts. He was someone who could help, and his Man-Machine was more than capable of dealing with Aliens, even if he had no clue what in the world(s) they were. Nothing is too strong for Gaia Gear and Bastilla. He led Metatron, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of those caught up in a mad war between Z and the MHA. This was... similar. If not similar then it was still something he felt he should be doing.

"So, let's say we find these people. What's the plan after that? Like, where the hell do we take them? Have you guys found something other than this big ass wreck here? Because I haven't seen anything but sand. I highly doubt we have the resources to feed and give water to like, a ship crew, let alone ourselves. I've got maybe a week's rations, I don't think I could stretch that to that many people."

He was thinking ahead, as he was oft to do as a leader, and he really hoped they had already thought of that. Otherwise, they would be pulling them from the creepy structure only to have them death march through the desert or fry on a Man-Machine.

The retaliatory gunfire kicked up a cloud of dust and steam from the now-icy floor, after a few moments to wait for the haze to clear up somewhat, they'd find... Absolutely nothing but a scorched crater where their attacker was. At the very least they gave Laurentius as close to a proper send-off as they could given the situation by disintegrating him. Now for the matter of putting his soul to rest by bringing justice to his killer...

As the icy mist from the spilled coolant rose to form a shroud in the already dark reactor room, tensions rose with it, rising to an extent thick enough to cut with a knife… Just then, an indistinct shape in the darkness darts in and out of the corners of the quintet’s eyes as their radars went haywire, no doubt due to the radiation spike caused by the sudden loss of critical cooling to the nuclear fusion core courtesy of their attacker. Was the demon playing with them? No, it was gauging their reactions, looking for the perfect attack vector...

All of a sudden, Bastilla, Kazuki, and Valren would feel a tingling sensation on the back of their necks... Their foe is moving in to strike! Materializing from the darkness on the group’s blind spot like magic, the group’s demonic adversary throws aside its cloak of shadows as it brandishes its weapons for battle, its shade-coat fluttering behind it like malignant wings. The demon was clad in blackened chainmail, a ragged, flame-scarred tunic in the hue of dried blood, and a horned helmet that covered its entire head save for its glowing eyes. On its hands: A kite shield with a strange, brass and crimson-colored emblem upon its front that literally hurts to look at and a cruciform sword whose blade was encrusted with runes that glowed with the harsh orange tone of a roaring furnace.

The Demon Knight moved with an unnerving silence as it charges towards the nearest and most vulnerable target in reach: Liam's Null, shield raised to protect itself from the snap-shots of the others as it closes in, the demon then attempted to bash the mech in the face to throw it off balance and prevent it from properly reacting to its follow up attack: A rapid series of thrusts to the midsection that to the scientist would be likened to a GINN’s heavy sword trying to knife its way through its armor. While one stab wouldn't be enough, the monster knight delivered them with great haste and frequency.

While the rest of the quintet would be very motivated to rush forward and attack the cowardly beast that struck from the shadows despite wearing the armor of a noble knight, the demon was far from unaware of the rest of its foes even as it furiously attempted to take Liam’s life, as evidenced by the fact that it positioned itself and its victim in such a manner that the scientist’s companions would be hard-pressed hitting it without also damaging the Null in the process if they didn't do so with care.

 

[Sigismund]

The retaliatory gunfire kicked up a cloud of dust and steam from the now-icy floor, after a few moments to wait for the haze to clear up somewhat, they'd find... Absolutely nothing but a scorched crater where their attacker was, at the very least they gave Laurentius as close to a proper send-off as they could given the situation by disintegrating him. Now for the matter of putting his soul to rest by bringing justice to his killer...

As the icy mist from the spilled coolant rose to form a shroud in the already dark reactor room, tensions rose with it, rising to an extent thick enough to cut with a knife… Just then, an indistinct shape in the darkness darts in and out of the corners of the quintet’s eyes as their radars went haywire, no doubt due to the radiation spike caused by the sudden loss of critical cooling to the nuclear fusion core courtesy of their attacker. Was the demon playing with them? No, it was gauging their reactions, looking for the perfect attack vector...

All of a sudden, Bastilla, Kazuki, and Valren would feel a tingling sensation on the back of their necks... Their foe is moving in to strike! Materializing from the darkness on the group’s blind spot like magic, the group’s demonic adversary throws aside its cloak of shadows as it brandishes its weapons for battle, its shade-coat fluttering behind it like malignant wings. The demon was clad in blackened chainmail, a ragged, flame-scarred tunic in the hue of dried blood, and a horned helmet that covered its entire head save for its glowing eyes. On its hands: A kite shield with a strange, brass and crimson-colored emblem upon its front that literally hurts to look at and a cruciform sword whose blade was encrusted with runes that glowed with the harsh orange tone of a roaring furnace.

The Demon Knight moved with an unnerving silence as it charges towards the nearest and most vulnerable target in reach: Liam's Null, shield raised to protect itself from the snap-shots of the others as it closes in, the demon then attempted to bash the mech in the face to throw it off balance and prevent it from properly reacting to its follow up attack: A rapid series of thrusts to the midsection that to the scientist would be likened to a GINN’s heavy sword trying to knife its way through its armor. While one stab isn’t enough, the monster knight delivered them with great haste and frequency.

While the rest of the quintet would be very motivated to rush forward and attack the cowardly beast that struck from the shadows despite wearing the armor of a noble knight, the demon was far from unaware of the rest of its foes even as it furiously attempted to take Liam’s life, as evidenced by the fact that it positioned itself and its victim in such a manner that the scientist’s companions would be hard-pressed hitting it without also damaging the Null in the process if they didn't do so with care.

A daemon of Khorne backstabbing us? Well now I had truly seen everything. Proactive Nurgle cults, a Slanneshi cult that posed as a a highly conservative Nunnery, that one time with the Thousands Sons sorcerer being ... uncharacteristically straight forward, and now this.

Ranged shots were too risky to launch, at least the wave of coolant had dissipated under the massed fire and shielding.

So instead I pushed my will into the left hand of Ignus, and into his reactor and legs. Luckly, while in the way of ranged shots, I couldn't hit both with one strike up close. As large as my Claw was it wasnt that large. And could be corrected into the hull last second if he teleported away to try and make me strike Liam. I could also fathom that Liam wouldn't be so stupid as to activate his Jump Jets inside of this corodor, so moving my targeted area for the swing away from where he could feasibly move and to maximize the chance of hitting the Daemon was quite simple.

"Don't look at his shield, and get out of the way"

That was the only warning I gave before I charged towards the Daemon. Liam was not experienced with Melee combat I could tell from just this exchange.
The others were easiler to dodge, even in the cramped space. The Blood of the Omnisaiiah sparked forth from my Claw and illuminated the entire passage as a Light blue, with only the values hints of Lavender to counter the opposing darkness.

 

[sippinggp]

Bastilla Char
Creepy 40k Ship

Bastilla was shocked by the incoming coolant tank, and more shocked by the creepy fucking knight, who happened to have a shield of Bullshit™ that gave him a headache to look at. Suddenly, the Cultist was shouting orders, and before his headache had subsided and he had even a chance to react, Mr. Heaven's Gate shot ahead. It was all Bastilla could do to open up his mouth after not only the mental strain it took to try and guard his mind, but getting bumrushed by a Metal Douchebag in a suit of arm.

"What in the- Wait- WHAT!?"

Instinctively he aimed in the direction of the thing, and pulsed the Beam Rifle, a purple beam crackling through the air.

 

[Crimson Dragoon]

So their enemy was…a giant demonic knight. It was something right out of the distant past, its gigantic mech scale size aside. Of course, this didn’t make it any less dangerous. It immediately snuck up on them and attacked one of their own before they could react. As he was aiming, Daniel saw the symbol on its shield and felt a stabbing pain through his skull. It was a momentary thing, but enough of a distraction. Liam’s Gundam was being assaulted with a series of thrusts. Velrin (or was it Valrin?) charged forward, its melee weapon enhanced by some kind of power source. Probably didn’t want to risk hitting one of their allies.

Daniel, meanwhile, opted for something else. The Aeolus still hovered in the air and, as confining as this place was, there was just enough room to fly in. The prototype army mobile suit darted around, as much as this place would permit anyway, toward the enemy’s rear. The head vulcans spat out a hail of bullets to harass the red-eyed knight while the Knight Scion closed in.

 

[TrickOLF]

Kane staring at the mercenary that got slap, as he then looks back at Orban as he nod silently.

“Sorry to hear that, After-all I image at the current state of this world problems, you rather want all this to be over with and get some peace and quiet?”

Kane said, as he cross his arm and kept looking around, analyzing the environment and it people at the current moment.

Orban responds to Tyzell's claim. His tone a bit torn as he clearly had some reservations about having mercenaries inside his country's military facilities.

"Well, they're not exactly what you'd call heroes or proper military; but compared to the raw recruits that most of this base's personnel are made of, they're better to have on hand in a combat scenario than without. Helps that quite a few of these outworlder mercenaries have special abilities and mechs as potent as they are strange, but not the ones currently staying here as far as I know. Until the both of you showed up at least."

And then a sharp smacking sound is heard as a Merc gets the living daylights slapped out of him after he tried hitting on a pair of female cadets, prompting ridicule and laughter from his fellows and for Orban to breathe sharply through his nose at the disgraceful scene.

"If you want to ask, this isn't Oberst Steiner's idea. The Hotel and the hangars closest to it are being leased to the UN by the Austrian Airforce to squeeze as much out of this place, as this used to be a civilian airport and is and always will be a low-priority area even with its proximity to my Country's biggest airbase..."

Trying his hardest to ignore the chaos and antics of the mercs around, Orban then takes the pair indoors, towards the receptionist's desk, where a middle-aged woman greets the trio with a heavily lidded stare after they interrupted her very important task of solving a sudoku puzzle as she takes a drag from her cigarette and blows a puff of smoke at their direction.

"Lt. Orban."

"Frau Henrietta."

Henrietta glances at the two young men Orban has brought with him, already knowing what they're here for.

"Papers please."

Orban inhaled deeply, stuffing his chest, standing straight, and raising his shoulders. He was trying to emanate an authoritarian mien that was very clearly forced and unfitting of his person.

"I'm afraid you will have to wait for that, they haven't fully submitted their documentation and they aren't even registered yet. But since they need a place to stay-"

"Ah ah ah. No entry. Aren't those the rules? No documentation, no pass, no lodging."

The woman refuted, wagging a negative finger to him. Her indifferent tone and casual expression, indicating she was having none of the lieutenant's act.

"But-"

"No but's. You're always the one nagging me about strict rules and protocols. I'm afraid I don't make them, I just follow them."

She continued. A sign of a smile that was smug, triumphant, and spiteful all at once flashing into her lips for a beat.

Orban's index fidgets with the collar of his shirt as he frowned for only a moment before reasserting himself.

"Ahem. These two are under our custody and they have no else to go."

It was only then that 'Henrietta'- Directed her gaze once more unto the duo, gauging the two of them from head to toe in an instant.

"What about the brig?"

"They have done nothing wrong."

"Aren't they trespassing on government property?"

"Of no fault of their own."

"And why dump them on my lap?"

"They're going to be staying here regardless."

"By the way, does the Colonel know about this?"

"Yes. He ordered me to do so."

A pause as Henrietta drills holes through Orban, who reacted by returning the gesture with an awkward stare of his own, even going as far as breaking off into a succinct glance over his shoulder then back at the woman.

"...What?"

Henrietta finally exhales with a long sigh.

"Figures. Gaston's way too lenient with these things."

Henrietta then scoots back on her office chair and fetches a single key from the key rack bearing a key chain with a room number on it, placing it over the counter for one of them to take.

"We're a bit short on vacant rooms today so I hope they don't mind sharing. One room, two beds, and a bath."

"Much appreciated."

Orban responds, gesturing for either Tyzell or Kane to do the honors of taking the key.

"Oh and by the way, don't think I've forgotten about that chocolate torte you owe me for-"

Orban cuts her off with rapid, anxious waving hands.

"We uh... We'll talk about that later."

He turns to whisper to the Mazinger pilots.

"Let's get a move on!"

And then he ushers them towards their rooms as Henrietta watches them leave with a toothy grimace before getting back to the task at hand: Finishing her puzzle.

So from what I'm hearing from Orban, these guys are basically Steiner "taking every capable guy they could get" and we're part of a unconventional new force.

Neat.

As we're led on through, we got to a woman...who was considering to throw us in the brig or out to the streets?

Jeez, woman, way to kick our dicks here, come on, we're Mazinger pilots, we deserve some respect in our name. More so Kane than me, but still.

Regardless, Orban managed to get through to this Henrietta person as we go on to our rooms...or room. Me and Kane are sharing one.

Nice.

"Well, I'm used to sharing a room. Long as I don't have to be the one cleaning up, I'm good." I quipped with a smirk.

 

[sir_fire]

Kane stares quietly as Orban and Henrietta spoke, before grabbing the key and nodded.

“thank you very much, I will try not to be much of a bother” he said as Orban wanted to leave quickly, as he wave goodbye before following him.

“I’m guessing you and the mistress got history?” He said, maybe wanted to see if Orban could relax, and talk a bit about his personal life,

So from what I'm hearing from Orban, these guys are basically Steiner "taking every capable guy they could get" and we're part of a unconventional new force.

Neat.

As we're led on through, we got to a woman...who was considering to throw us in the brig or out to the streets?

Jeez, woman, way to kick our dicks here, come on, we're Mazinger pilots, we deserve some respect in our name. More so Kane than me, but still.

Regardless, Orban managed to get through to this Henrietta person as we go on to our rooms...or room. Me and Kane are sharing one.

Nice.

"Well, I'm used to sharing a room. Long as I don't have to be the one cleaning up, I'm good." I quipped with a smirk.

@Garuga @sippinggp @The Ancient Purple

After Orban takes the pair to their room on the front end of the hotel, he hands them a note with a pair of phone numbers on it.

"If you need anything, just call. Use the 1st one, it's my desk number. Second is Col. Steiner's, but since he wouldn't appreciate being interrupted in his duties; only call him when you've got a very urgent matter. Oh and I'll be back for Tyzell's documents by suppertime. Don't worry about getting food for the first few days, they're on the house."

With that Orban leaves the two to their devices. However before they could get settled into their fairly spartan quarters, the two would see from out their window the Rayleonard consultants approaching the Hotel with a burly black man who looks straight out of a crime drama film set following behind them carrying three bags of luggage over a single shoulder with casual ease. Even from a distance, the two Mazinger pilots can clearly tell that the Redhead isn't a big fan of the place, something that Tyrone seems to heckle her over for as they approached.

Just before they entered the hotel proper, meeting up with Lt. Orban along the way, a merc approaches the trio; apparently, the same one who had gotten the taste slapped out of his mouth earlier and once again tried his luck with the fairer sex. Rather than the usual slapstick violence though, something stranger happens: He tried to get fresh with her, to the distaste of Shinkai and to a rather indistinct reaction by the big man. But after one more attempt to woo her and a few more moments, he backed off of his own will and the trio promptly went inside the lobby as if nothing had happened. Kane however could likely tell that the merc's body language was showing subtle signs of fear after interacting with Stella. Women can be really scary it seems...

Far off on the alpine mountainside, atop a cleverly camouflaged observation platform built upon a steep mountain face, an indeterminate figure clad in a ghillie suit crawls towards the ledge, lying prone on their chest. A pair of binoculars crafted with state-of-the-art technology clutched in their hands.

The figure quietly observes the entirety of the Thalerhof airbase from their high altitude vantage point, taking meticulous note of the settlement's layout and especially the new arrivals: The two Mazingers and the mystery box belonging to Rayleonard, which were now being put under lock and key by the base personnel to keep wandering hands and eyes from nearing them before relaying the recent developments to their companions through a headset.

"Wild Hunt actual this is Hugin, situation has changed. Two Einherjar and a Mimic have arrived in the arena. Requesting an alteration of mission parameters and a possible reroute of assets for counter-Einherjar operations."

"This is Wild Hunt. Mission Parameters will remain unchanged save for disarming the Mimic and retrieving the treasure, but your request has been approved. An Arbalester element will be dispatched at your convenience."

"Hugin acknowledges. This is Hugin to all units, mission parameters have changed. Rendezvous at grid point Crucio to rehearse for a revised entrance into the arena."

April 1st, 0010
P.A Thalerhof airbase, outskirts of Styria, Austria
1900 hours
10°C | 50°F Weather: Light Clouds, New Moon.

After the sun had set and night had fallen, someone began to knock on the door to the Mazin brothers' room.

"Tyzell, Kane? It's Lt. Orban. I'm here for the papers and uh well, bring you two over for dinner down at the cafeteria."