Day 156 and 157, maybe even day 158 | The Mancer Observatory Part Deux

[freedom_engineer]

Who: Colin Starfury, and everyone else who wants to come.
Open: Open to all, but be warned, it's at least two in-game days of event.
When: Starts on day 156
Where: The Mancer Observatory
What: Time for round two! The observatory needs to get plundered, and a giant plant needs to be dealt with.
Format: Action by default, but prose won't be turned down.
Warnings: Don't get sloppy, this is a dangerous expedition. The wrong move can result in injury, maimery, or even death.

[The last time they'd come out here, they'd had to turn back before they'd gotten everything they wanted. This time was going to be different. This time, they had experience with what they were looking at. This time, their objectives weren't uncertain, they were quite well-defined. And this time... they had less of an exploratory force, and more of a solid strike team.

This time, Colin wasn't going to settle for the group coming back with their tail between their legs.

They had muscle, they had brains, they had information, and they had the tools they would need. So of course, Colin was just waiting for Murphy to rear his ugly head and cause trouble. He hadn't smacked Murphy around recently, and it was high time that the universe be reminded what a Starfury with allies was made of.]


THREAD LINKS

Day 156 - Getting started.
Day 156 - Settling into the hangar.
Day 157 - Plant Hunters
Day 157 - Salvage hunters
Day 157 - After the plant fight.

Comments

[earthandpine]

The first thing it said to me was to call me, "a foodthing that can speak."

It's carnivorous and doesn't want to eat us only because it already ate someone this morning. There's a slim chance that person may still be alive. We need a way to free the person in it, so no attacks that would hurt them further. The plant is also guarding a core.

[Already brisk and businesslike, her voice sharpens into warning when the plant speaks again and begins to move.] It's also getting very suspicious, just in case that movement wasn't enough to tell you. We need to act now.

[coolerthansora]

[Roxas eyes those shifting vines and then looks back at the buldge where someone may or may not be being digested.]

Can you try to tell it we're just passing through? Maybe we can get close enough to cut them out before it realizes.

[earthandpine]

[Rosethorn can try talking to the plant, she's just not sure what good it will do at this point.]

We are unsure which of the buildings nearby is most likely to have what we need. We're trying to figure out our next step.

[Both individual statements are true, Rosethorn supposes, even if the combination is not. The buildings have nothing to do with their next step.]

[blackblooded]

[Crona is waiting, waiting to get closer. Stealth attacks aren't really the meister's style, and without blood spilled, Crona can't attack from multiple directions at once.]

[windgod]

[Well...Ippo had seen enough of the gods work to be sufficiently convinced of their existence, so he figured he might send out a prayer. He sent out a quick and quiet prayer to Yudrig that his feet be swift and his fists would strike true. He made no suspicious movements, but he tensed his body to move at a moments notice; he was Japan's foremost in-fighting boxer after all...if there was one thing he was good at, it was getting in and out of someone's personal space quick...he'd just never tried it with a giant plant before. Whelp...there was a first time for everything he supposed.]

[bastionpc]

Decide that outside, then. Or I may change my mind about being full.

[You guys have about thirty seconds to decide what to do before this plant starts grabbing people to eat.]

[amnesiadragon]

I can probably get in a cut pretty fast...

[He's not as fast as Scias, but even without being transformed he's light on his feet.]

[earthandpine]

[Rosethorn doesn't know the fighting capabilities of the group she's with, which makes it hard to judge which of them is best for an initial attack. The uncertainty brings her short temper to the surface, and she snaps at her companions.]

Whatever you're doing, do it now! We don't have time for any dithering! It says it might have room to eat us after all.

I can drain away some of its energy, but it will notice that. Attack now or it will attack first.

[With that, she readies her own power to steal life away from the plant, withering it, as soon as there's a sign of attack from anyone with her.]

[blackblooded]

[Crona moves, races toward the plant with Ragnarok held low and to the side to cut through vines. Get in close, then the real attacks can start.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu heads in as well, attempting to cut above the bulge so he can work on getting the person out.]

[windgod]

Alright...I really hope Yudrig heard me!

[With a slight shift of his body weight onto the balls of his feet and a sideways glance at the Yudrig charm hanging from his wrist, Ippo was off like a bolt of lightning. He was going to have to use every ounce of training to weave through the vines coming at him, but at the very least his goal was clear; get in, grab the core, and get back out. He didn't trust the laser attachments on his gauntlets not to accidentally hurt the person inside the plant...so it was up to the others to make sure things got done. For now, he was going to do what he could...and when it came to slipping inside an opponents guard, well he could do that with the best of them.]

[bastionpc]

Liars!

[Once it's hit, the plant starts to swing its vines wildly, trying to knock everyone in the room down. There are easily half-a-dozen vines moving about the room now, though there would have been more if Crona had not cut some of them off.

It looks like Ryu and Ippo have the right idea, though. The plant's vines can protect it from a distance, but up-close it is vulnerable.]

[coolerthansora]

[Seeing the others take off ahead, Roxas gives a quick nod to his Samurai and they both take off to bring up the rear. The Samurai's swords are already out, and Oblivion appears in Roxas's hand as he runs. The two Nobodies focus on keeping those vines back while the others work to free whoever's trapped inside.]

[windgod]

[Side to side, up and down, duck and weave...Ippo's body had become a blur of movement as he wove his way inside of the Plant's defenses; occasionally stopping to smack an incoming vine with his gauntlet hard enough to sever it with the lasers that shot out before getting back to his movements. It wasn't long before he was right there in front of the core, and throwing every single caution straight into the wind, he snapped his hand out to grab for it. Even if he got it though...he still had to make it back in one piece; that would be the trick of it.]

[earthandpine]

[Still doing her best to wither the plant itself, Rosethorn throws a seed packet own to the ground.

More vines burst from the earth as she forces them to grow far too quickly for their own good. These ones, though, are not lashing out or reaching for anyone in the group. Instead, they're reaching for the plant's vines, trying to intertwine and hinder. Rosethorn aims them away from any fighters on her own side, which limits their effectiveness somewhat, but they're better than nothing. She's not throwing any plants with thorns into the fight here. Too much danger to her own companions. Those aren't for close-in battles. At least, not ones involving allies who aren't plant mages. Her own vines would never hurt Rosethorn, but accidents could happen with others.

She doesn't speak to anyone else in the group, but a muttered prayer might be audible if anyone is close enough.] Mila and Green Man, preserve us.

[Counterintuitive as it might be to ask the blessing of earth gods when destroying a plant, they're her gods as well.]

[blackblooded]

[Ragnarok's blade slices cleanly through the vines, but then there are more, more than Crona can keep up with, and so the meister stops trying to cut through the vines and moves to protect others instead.

Crona is the sort of fighter who has never learned defensive moves, and is probably going to be injured or captured eventually.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu does his best to try to make more cuts, to break open the belly of the plant. His instinct is to try to just burn the thing, but he knows that most people don't resist fire as well as he does.]

Come on!

[coolerthansora]

[Roxas isn't big on defense either. He's the sort of fighter who relies on speed to avoid an attack rather than defend against it, and he is weaving pretty well, but when he notices only Ryu seems to have made it close enough to try cutting out the plant's victim, he silently sends his Samurai ahead to help.

The Samurai doesn't have his speed, but it does have an incredibly inhuman flexibility, able to distort its body to slip between the vines. Its swords have a long reach, too, so it can get at the bulge from farther away than most of the others.

Sending the order was enough of a distraction for Roxas to miss a beat. A vine grabs him about the ankle and, for the moment, he's down.]

[bastionpc]

[The plant can clearly tell it is in danger now. Instead of trying to attack, it is trying to curl up on itself, to draw its remaining vines in and try to force everyone away.

But Ryu is making progress, and has managed to cut a hole in the plant. One or two more slices will be enough to free the person.]