[Interim Two] Reprise

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“Correction: I do not.” Marie’s voice stated from the doorway, a faint hint of green fading from her eyes. “I only decided to do a bit of information collecting. It seems like things paid off.”

Romulus turned briefly, and saw the Scientist standing in the doorway, aim unchanged, holding the gun about a good meter away from Reman’s head.

Then you understand why I had to do what I did, do you? Or are you just going to believe Amperia saving their ass over an experiment going terribly, terribly wrong?

“I understand you cleaning up your experiment, Romulus,” Marie started as she walked down the steps. “My missing link is why you began your experiment in the first place. Why you collected him, as well as…”

She opened her notebook. “Subject Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Theta, and Lambda. And then me, of course.”

Collected?” Romulus began laughing hysterically, before shouting; “You were VOLUNTEERS!” His trigger finger grew itchy as he wanted to cease this conversation and end Reman.

“Well, I don’t believe I remember ever signing a waiver or anything...I suppose someone ‘volunteered’ me in,” Marie answered as she began to draw lines of polarized atoms of water in the slush beneath their feet.

That’s because you were a project worker. You worked under me. And I’m done with this prattle. The glory of science is not to keep this senseless killing and this untamed murderer alive to hurt the populus. Science was never meant to kill, it’s glory lies in those who benefit. Nobody benefits from a monster.” His finger slid briefly off the trigger, starting the process of hurtling the bullet down the chamber.

“One last question before you do, Romulus,” Marie interjected.

His grip was steadied but for a moment. In that second, 100 volts and five amps of power jolted through his body.

“Ever heard of a voltage transformer?” Marie’s question came across, after the shock ended.

Romulus grip slipped under the compression of his muscles, and the bullet flew off course, striking the mechanic’s headset, dead on, cleaving it in two. Reman mustered as much strength to run as he could, briefly in shock at the situation he awoke to.

“I lied, by the way. I do trust Reman -- at least more than I trust you, especially after you so kindly gave me just enough information to draw conclusions of what we should really be worried about,” Marie continued.

Trying to shrug off the barest effects of the amperage, Romulus caught up with Reman and held him up by the collar.

Under his restricted breath, Reman talked with every ounce of air he could muster out of his lungs. “I- I know you probably don’t trust me but I- I still do. I don’t believe him, and I don’t know if you do, but-” Reman was caught strangled by his captor, and slowly but surely his feet were being removed from the ground as gravity started doing more of the work than the actual choking did. “Please- Believe in me- f- for a moment!

Shut up.

“The Beast doesn’t matter anymore, Romulus. Someone’s after the source of the keys. The people in Bivona -- they were after SARCOM. Arcadia’s banks of military research.” Marie stated. “You’re cleaning the wrong person here.”

This goes far beyond those wretched folk. I’m making sure nothing gets past me anymore. The first time I let down my guard, the medbay was-” Romulus tightened his grip. “QUARANTINED.” He said with gnashing teeth.

The… Driver…” Reman uttered, as he reached out to Romulus’s holster, slowly removing the yellow key from his belt, letting Romulus focus on strangling him, as he semi-limply tossed the key towards Marie.

As it landed on the ground with a thud, Romulus briefly looked over at the new spot it landed at. Even further enraged, he knew she had a choice. “Don’t you DARE.

I… Trust… Y-

Marie looked at Reman, pausing for a moment. Then she looked up at Romulus.

“For the glory of science, you say...” Marie answered.

You pick that up and you will NEVER go back to having a peaceful life.

Marie’s hand bristled with electricity, the key itself melting a small puddle around it. She picked it up off the ground. “Sorry, but I signed that away the moment I jumped on this ship.”

Click click click.

You have no idea what you’ve just done.” Romulus put down the monster he sought, as Reman fell to the ground coughing and gasping for air.

“You can’t possibly have forgotten the original meaning of the phrase, can you?” Marie replied. She took the driver out of her pocket.

Click. Ka-chunk.

Process System Ready.

“Therefore...for the glory of science it is.”

Romulus took out the veteran and loaded it with the Inferno key, Pointing it not at Reman, but straight towards Marie. He flicked a lever on the side and the standard rings of flame ejected from the core of his body. Hazard labels were plastered on the outside for a purpose no longer relevant.

I know the meaning of it. I was the one who coined it.

“That’s a lie, I’ve read our history books. Besides, this is mine anyways.” Marie slid open the cover, inserted the key, and closed it back down, the driver coming to life. The seams of the driver filled with yellow, before turning into a pale blue. The vents hissed, releasing the sharp smell of ozone into the cold air.

Voltage: Standing By.

Before or AFTER I was purged from them?” Romulus made nothing of the sudden change in color the key underwent, simply thinking it was a state of the driver.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it means whatever you make of it.” Marie replied, raising her arm up at Romulus.
 
ISS Downrider
Commons Area

Keith half-heartedly threw aside the VR headset as he returned to reality. What an... eccentric experience. In truth, he was caught off guard by the realistic first-person recording he experienced. It brought back memories the ex-sergeant would rather have kept buried, and as such, it was no surprise his attention to the documentary was completely stolen away. In the end, Keith awoke back in the Downrider with trembling knees and ragged breath.

Kneeling down on the ship's floor for better balance, his eyes darted back and forth between the commotion brewing outside and his own hands, in a panicked search for something that wasn't there—phantasms from the past, perhaps. Finally, the informant reached for his bandolier, weakly grabbing at one of his stun grenades and pulling the pin with his teeth. "I'm fine, I'm..." he said, lobbing the flashbang outside. "I just need some rest."

He pulled his hood down over his eyes to shield them from the blast. That should buy everyone some time...
 
ISS Downrider

One of the first things rhea saw as she finally came back to reality and reacquainted herself with her suroundings, was a conspicuously explosive shaped object being hurled across the room, as she lifted the headset off herself. Her pupils quickly shrunk to pinpricks, as she decided to quickly hop onto the ground, and with a mighty jump- assisted by crystals shoving her upwards and forwards- to hop to the other side of the room, and behind some furniture.

There was time later to take stock of the situation and see who needed beating up- or... she could just let the others handle it, afterall she was pretty sure they were going to be either shooting guns around, or, be using those ridiculous things from before... if she had to, she may well take one for herself just to not be helpless when push came to shove, but... well, she'd rather not use things that are so obviously just experimental, probably bad for your health level weapons.

When she finally landed on the other side of one of the couches, she curled down and covered her ears, closing her eyes, ready to wait out the explosion. If the worst case scenarios came to pass, she supposed she could probably, maybe help... But, she didn't really want to just slam somone with her powers so quickly after seeing the rather savage demises of those explorers at the hands of one using powers so similar to her own. "O-osco... help?" She murmured, almost too quiet for anyone to really hear.
 
Hey uh, I’d be careful where I’d tread riiiiiiight around now, because ho boy I’m seeing some thin ice for miles.” That voice was familiar; just that mix of the insane and ominous, like a true twenty sided die whose fate remained undecided. Out from the metaphorical shadows; came the intercepting madman, Juryrig himself. He twirled a headset around his left index finger, and that was the only thing he had on hand.

The alchemist glanced down at Reman, and couldn’t help but wolf whistle at the guy. “Y’know, if I had no dick… Nah, nah I ain’t gonna go there. Fun thought, though.

Upon closer inspection, the growth on his arm had reached all the way to his shoulder, revealing a kind of thin, wispy fur underneath his overalls, glowing green with unknown energy. “I don’t- really know what to- GHK!

Romulus kicked Reman further away as he prepared to fire his weapon.

Armourize.

Marie responded in kind. “Check.”

The flashbang flung out into the crowd, and with a gentle tak, burst in between the two driver users. Reman tried to cover his eyes as best as he could from the blast.

Romulus quickly tapped his trigger to initiate the transformation, the rings around his body forming an undersuit before compiling the projectiles exiting the gun’s barrel into armor, letting them fling forward before growing and merging with areas of his suit. The whole thing together with a nauseating hiss as thick black smoke poured out of every crease it could find its way out of. Anyone who was inside the observatory could recognize it as the mysterious armored knight who had entered earlier to assist in taking down the Breaker-Type.

Marie simply pulled back on the levers on the side. An explosion fired out from the barrel of the driver, ejecting fast clouds of echyllis forwards and backwards, the forward one quickly materializing into a web of electricity, bouncing off of the rings Romulus’s driver emitted, before heading back, forming large rings around Marie as her clothing melted away into a bright light, before generating a bodysuit layer underneath.

The one from behind Marie turned into pieces of armor, clamping on from behind. Around her head formed what appeared to almost be like a crown, and on her torso was a chestplate and shoulder guards. Her legs were covered by guards, and as the light dissipated, a pale blue light drew long lines of silver across her armor.

Meanwhile, Juryrig had crouched beside Reman, looking at the corrupted arm. “Hm… Fascinating bologna, Reman, very fascinating. You want this arm, still?

Y-Yeah. I’ve had mutation before but, not like… this. It’s like something’s trying to make its way out.

The alchemist said the following with a straight face, as opposed to his ear-to-ear grin: “I know. I’ve had my fair share of ‘mutation without consent’ like this.

Reman touched it only briefly before the scales lined themselves with spikes. He recoiled and drew his hand back before laying on his back to rest. “He said something about a beast… and he only freaked out when he noticed I saw that one area… that one I saw in my dreams and nightmares before… The park…

Yep!” Jury changed attitude with unsurprising speed. “I’ve heard this had been happening since that bracer of yours came off the first time. Makes me think it could be centralized in that arm, or alternatively the renegade transmutation is just everywhere. If it were in the arm I would LOVE to cut it off! I’m sure someone will be willing to buy pieces of transmutated flesh.

L-let me-” With a lurch of his arm, he clamped the ground involuntarily. In a ghastly, rough voice as if thrown out by something otherworldly, Reman released his grip and held onto juryrig. “Wh- S h OW yoU.” In Juryrig’s vision, he gained a brief view of the vision Reman saw right before entering the simulation, but instead of just the park, a great and terrible tower of obsidian black and deep purple loomed in the distance, lead by a path of light and lit by nothing but the cacophonous purple haze around it.

The alchemist gripped onto that arm; the ‘brother’ was forced to see this vision, and that scared him. Juryrig, on the other hand, eyed down at Reman like a hungry predator, restrained by a collar bounded to a concrete wall with iron chains. He did not like having that forced upon him, especially if it hurt his brother.

I aamM the PRo Gen iTOr, aN d I wanT to eSc aPE. I waS th e FIRst. I aM sIgm-” His voice got cut as reman went out like a light, and passed out for the fifth, maybe sixth time on this trip. The Cyclone key in his pocket was glowing in response to the sudden outburst, as if it was repressing the entity within reman, and the mutation slipped down just slightly as the spikes retracted from his arm.

Quietly, Juryrig nabbed the Cyclone key, and took a look at it. “Well… ‘Progenitor’, your ‘firstness’ really showed. Can’t even take over a host right,” he mumbled, and not to anything in particular.

Once jury retracted the key from contact with reman, the mutation started to act on it’s own, trying to not take the key, but to take it further away from the host.

... Fascinating.” Juryrig caught up to the body, and stuffed the key down Reman’s pants. Could he have just put it in the pocket? Yeah… Yeah.

Reman woke up briefly afterwards, choosing to ignore the uncomfortableness of the whole situation. “This… Is unlike any dream I’ve ever had before… I saw… The park... A tower…” Reman had regained control over his faculties but could barely move. “There was someone there. He spoke to me and opened me up like I was- He said he was the first of something, he- he- He was hooded, and he bore a bunch of empty key husks… But not like the ones milled here. They are more rough and coarse, like they were carved out of something… He pointed towards the tower...” Reman broke down in tears, unable to describe what he saw in that brief moment of semi-lucidity.

Jury had nothing to say, not right away, anyways. His attention wasn’t focused, not until a moment after Reman stopped explaining.

Reman regained his composure enough to speak again. “There was… A chimera there. It was… Familiar… It seemed connected to the figure. I knew the armor dragged a creature from somewhere, but I couldn’t have possibly imagined…

The beast? Of course you couldn’t.” Romulus broke his streak of silence, staring down the armored assistant. “That chimera was let out the moment you decided to go back to The Nothing. And as for that who was talking. That was Sigma. The man who decided one day to show up at my lab and present to me the first key. The catalyst for me wanting to start project round table. He said I could use it as a tool, but it instead became an instrument of warfare.” He materialized his broadsword in one hand only, it’s flaming blade hovering inches above the fallen snow, carving an indent that wasn’t there. “It’s an anchor to that world.

... Alright, I want to get this outta the way: who the heck is going to trust some guy named ‘Sigma’ with dubious tech in the first place?

He wasn’t anyone I knew, but we were starved for artifacts from arcadia. It was a research assignment that spiraled out of control. The armor there is a testament to what we have here. A spiteful remnant of two families who fought until there was nothing left.

The madman of the group stroked his copper-colored hair back, and chuckled. “More Juryrigs, lovely. And you’re going to gut Reman for that, right?

That was my mistake. Reman’s was that he gave in.

...” Juryrig glanced at Reman, and shrugged. “Yeah, the guy’s got a point. You’re a wuss.

Romulus took his first step forward as he sprinted towards Marie, drawing his blade so he could try to swipe at her midsection. “I’m doing this FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

Marie dodged, rolling to the side. “So your answer was to become a monster worse than Arcadia ever was?” she asked, tapping on her driver.

...No weapon.

“Hey Juryrig, can you conjure something for me?” she asked.

Conjure, eh? I think I could make something for you, darling~” Juryrig says, leaning on nothing. “I always carry paper and chalk, but what could you possibly need during these trying times, I wonder…” He wiped out his paper and chalk, and began to scribble, write, and draw with haste and fluidity. “La de dum, de dayum dum…

BREAK!” Romulus shouted, and the driver responded in kind, lighting the blade up like a gigantic blowtorch, as he prepared to swing the massive blade towards Marie.

A reflex in Marie made her push the button on her driver, as one of her macros automatically drew a line from her location behind Romulus, routing her leg to strike Romulus from behind, before heading away. For a moment, her senses stretched, going to near-lightspeed. She vaguely remembered her leg flashing out, striking Romulus, before she skidded to a stop, leaving a trail in the snow. What?

Upon collision of any ordinary weapon to this armor, it would just discolor it’s surface, but the collision of the two knights sent waves of every color imaginable through the suit, cascading in even lines and surfaces, bending at precise angles in patterns small and unfathomable before vanishing just as fast.

Reacting in kind, he swung out in a huge circle, surrounding everyone present in a towering ring of fire, leaving the bare ground exposed as if it was isolated. Romulus knew he couldn’t beat voltage’s speed, but he did know what would slow Marie down enough. He switched his key to Zone, and in a flash, his armor converted, the shoulderpads, chestplate and helmet changing form in the barest way, as the greatsword reformatted itself into two sentry drones, located on opposite shoulders.

I’m sorry, but it has to be this way. I’ve tried countless times.

- And then I carry the four and the titanium bosmiate plasteel… Should do the trick.” Juryrig folded up the blueprint into a paper plane, and tossed it at Marie’s general direction. “SUPER STICK, DEPLOY!”

The paper plane drifted down, and stuck itself in the ground behind Marie; eh, it was close enough. A second after, a pillar of flame erupted, forming a geyser alchemical power that stretched high above, ripping the ground and snow apart and forging a polearm with fins and a sharp point. The pillar died, and the alchemically created spear landed back down, its point embedded itself into the divet in the earth that its birth made, making its tesla coil pommel indirectly more prominent. It hummed from just being close to the Voltage user.

... Alternatively you can call it Electro Spear or something. ElectriDick? Shock-N-Awe? Name needs work.”
 
ISS Downrider

Dahlia grunted as she came back into consciousness not fully in the position or state she went under in. And of course, the Overseer was gone. The Captain looked around the cabin, but was sent onto her back in alarm as the blast of a flashbang grenade seeped through the doorway. "WHAT THE GREAT HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE?"

The Captain climbed to her feet, making her way towards the doorway.

Tundra - Not Too Far Away

A rather strange grouping of souls stood on a nearby ridge overlooking the entire debacle that was unfolding on the cold tundra in front of the ISS Downrider. They were dressed in rather fashionable if not overdone black and white robes, generally matching in scheme. They sat there,watching through a pair of inconspicous binoculars, One of them, a dark skinned man with notable grey stubble broke the silence. "So, is it him? The scientist?"

A younger and skinnier man with olive skin broke in, mouth full of sandwich. "No shit, Gallo, We've been following his signature for a few weeks now. The madmans willing to go into a rage just about anywhere these days."

An older woman spoke rashly, silencing the two. She kept her baggy eyes glued to the binoculars, watching the back and forth banter that had become muffled over the distance. "Shut your traps before I boil the both of you. This is interesting..."

The sandwich man huffed, flicking a switch on the immaculate devices that ran up his calves. It seemed he didn't care about the old hags shallow insults. "Whatever floats your goat. What about that other one... thing. They don't seem to the Institutes pet project."

Gallo looked down at the scanner on his lap, rubbing his temples. "Still, an unmarked echyllis signature. Arcadian, Clef?"

The younger man, Clef, shrugged. "Do I look like a machinist? I'm the breach man."

The trio sat in silence for quite some time, watching.

...

...

"So, are we gonna intervene or what?" Clef broke in.

The old hag grunted, but the noise gave in to a chuckle. "In a minute, this is a little entertaining. Get your gear in check."



Tundra - Bivonan Standoff

As Romulus' drones whirred with energy, he heard the rather chastising voice of the Overseer speak up behind him. "What part of 'and we’ll all get along fine' did I lose you at?"

Unfazed and remaining steady, Romulus responded to the overseer. "Maybe you don't truly get the gravity of this yourself, overseer. I'm sure you were able to see the beast manifest itself once more. My actions are self explanatory." Romulus reached quickly for his gun holster, aiming to try and use it for Zone's portals.

OSC-01 continued, completely tranquil by the potential threat the man was making. "If you're looking for my understanding, Romulus; What I see is a man with an ego too large to face his past mistakes, so he'd rather eliminate it with the life of an innocent than put forth the humility to fix it." The Overseer paused, coming across as almost sympathetic for the gunman. "And that nature can be self destructive. Come now, this is something we can settle in a myriad of ways. Why not drop that arm and deal with this in the best light."

Dahlia peeked out of the doorway to the Downrider in the aftermath of the flashbang, started at the standoff that was building outside. After a few seconds though, she squinted.

"I appreciate that, but I let him go a while back, and look at what happened. What realistically am I supposed to do?" Romulus took the gun from his holster and aimed it at the ground, thinking of a way to gain momentum fast enough to keep up with Voltage's speed. "I bet you also know more than you let on. Do you know about that sick, twisted mistake I made yet, or did you miss that whole conversation?"

The general sympathy washed away, replaced with a tinge of annoyance. "They didn't pick the title of Overseer for vanity, I heard- But the worst mistake is the one you're on track to make. So drop that knock-off reactor you call a gun, or face me."

"Y'know, I like your style. Unfortunately, unless I act now, Reman's fusion level will climb uncontrollably until that mutation consumes him, there will be not much left to regret if I don't do something now. I may consider the latter if you intervene." Romulus aimed the gun into the sky to try and create the other portal.

With the pronounced stamp of hard dirt, the Overseer stepped forward into Romulus' view. There she stood with a weak arm, a feather missing, and no weapons drawn. As he rose the unorthodox gun to the sky, OSC-01 clenched her metal palm over the barrel, looking the man dead in the eye with her own floating only a few inches away. She spoke sternly as she held both the gun and the armored man there. "If this truly is the way you want to go about this..."

The intensity of her gaze waned, looking down. After a moment, the Overseers grip on the barrel loosened and let go. "Then by all means," OSC-01 spoke as she pulled her hand away, curling it close to her chest as she stepped back from him. "Don't let me stop you."

Romulus paid no mind, and just looked back briefly. "Good, despite my demeanor, I'd rather no harm come to the crew, if someone's in my way then-" He returned, squeezing on the trigger. The gun hissed and jolted from the energy release- but nothing else happened. The projectile never appeared to leave the barrel, as if it misfired. The only difference was a shift of weight in the barrel.

Romulus turned around with an incredulous look. "What? The hell did you just do?" Romulus tried to read the display briefly, it just seemed as if the projectile system itself outright was tampered with. Trying to check, the machine had no known diagnostic to properly tell what happened. "Wh- How?"

The Overseer looked on, raising her good hand in general ignorance.

"My armor isn't gone but you seemed to have... Jammed the gun entirely..." Romulus was more confused than ever. Thinking it'd probably be fine if he fired another bullet, as if it was a jam, he could likely fire through the spare energy from the other bullet. He squeezed the trigger again, curious but cautious of the result. The energy built up in the back of the gun and jolted upon its release- this time with catastrophic results. In a single second of violent vibration, the guns barrel overheated. With a sickening crack, the sides of the barrel split and bloomed, releasing a burst of uncontrolled flame and shrapnel as a different projectile was slung into the air.

The fired rod spun and sank itself into the dirt a few meters away. It was a metal capsule created from embossed white arcandum, housing a clean green Echyllis crystal that burned bright like a flare in the tundra. The engraved markings at the head of the rod told the story loud and clear- an Oakland Heavy Industries ECL-Reactor Fuse.


"Good," commented the Overseer as the usual amount of sharpness returned to her voice. "Now we're even."

With that, the Overseer lunged to the side, slinging their good arm around to strike Romulus in the back of his head with the blunt feathers that orbited around her balled fist.
 
It's Heckin' Cold In This Here Tundra (For most people, anyway)

A copper haired alchemist picked up the cylinder that fell to the wayside, using metal tongs with handles made of some alien moisturized wood. "Oakland... Now would you look at this, brother; we got ourselves a real national treasure."

Juryrig pocketed the tube away in his coat, as well as the tongs. "Well, a national treasure to the nation of Juryrig: population of two."

Naturally, he flicked his coat, and proceeded to watch the fight for his amusement for a moment, and then proceeded to write up alchemical programs.

"... Would it hurt to try and help?"

"Yeah, bro, it would. Don't ask such a dumb question."

"But we know what Reman's going through, it's just like us!"

"Ho oh no, it's nothing like us! At least I'm not trying to smite your metaphorical rump to the Shadow World, like 'Progitinator'... God I really can't take that thing seriously, but you get the point, Thomas."

"... Okay... But you totally get the feeling we're being watched, right?"

The alchemist, whom had been think-talking to his host all this time, chuckled before resuming to think-talk. "Oh totally, bro. That's why I'm drawing up alchemical programs for more Boy Scouts. I'll even give them a head start by going slow."
 
Marie grabbed the spear from the ground, testing its weight. It was well-balanced, and more importantly, made exactly as to how she'd like it. Interesting...?

Weapon bound.

No time for questions now, though. Now was the time she needed to finish off Romulus, as his driver was having issues. She activated her speed again, her afterimage barely a jolt of lightning, straight to Romulus's flank. Exactly at the moment of arrival, her mind began to arrange the ions in the air. Two thin and long parallel strands, on both sides of Romulus, trapping him between them. Just wide enough for the spear. Behind Romulus was a coil of ions as well, arranged perfectly into a spiral loop. She pulled on the lever, just under the bracer.

"You lose, Romulus Aurum."

Full Charge.

For a brief moment, the air crackled as oxygen was torn apart by the energy, transformed into ozone. For a brief moment, one could see the lines of ions in the air that Marie had drawn. In that briefest of moments, Marie's form crackled with electric energy as she threw the spear down the improvised barrel at such a quick speed that it appeared as a bolt of lightning, flying skywards, leaving a BOOM in its wake.
 
ISS Downrider

Rhea, after... most of the fiasco left and the interior quieted down a but, hopped up to follow Dhalia out of the ship, quickly pulling on shoes, and her coat as apropriate to avoid freezing to death in the brief time she'd be outside. "Dh- uh... Captain, what's going on is, all the people with their weird, experimental suit weapons, are pretty much crazy and all in different ways! And now, they want to kill each other for... I Can't remember, but its probably stupid." She finally caught up- and, after some deliberation, decided to let the captain walk first, but stuck very close behind her. She didn't actually NEED to stand infront of somone to try and save them from a disaster so long as she stuck fairly close!

Though, as she watched the fight between them revving up, she didn't feel quite brave enough to intervene- not the smallest of reasons, was that she was not in one of those crazy suits. The others being, she definitely wasn't ready to try her luck at nonlethal combat. She sure was confident in her skills not too long ago, but most of these people are all using some crazy technology, have some strange ability, or are simply good at what they do, and admitedly, though she liked to brag, most of the time she'd just find more effecient, creative ways to run and hide.

"... is uh, this the part where you threaten to not pay them and then strand them?" She asked, from behind the captain, the thoroughly wrapped up in winter gear smol peering out at the surroundings, shifting uncomfortabely as, it looked like the fight against romulous was going a little too well.
 
Outside the Downrider

Romulus for a brief moment was distracted, time enough to be struck directly by the bolt of lightning, creating a small flash of light as it collided with the armor. As the dust settled, his suit was covered completely covered in that spectral cracking, and for a moment he was incapacitated. Marie's attack unfortunately wasn't quite enough to release him from the suit, as from the feet up, the cracks started to retreat slowly but surely.

Unable to retain his balance, he fell to one knee, and plugged the veteran back into the suit. As soon as it merged to the holster, he pulled the trigger, and watched as the suit started lighting up white-hot. The 'wings' on his back flared up as he pressed his right palm into the ground. The circle of fire that had all but dissipated started flaring up again, and this great wall of flame started closing in on everyone.

Reman would not have been able to stand if these people who came to his aid could have been hurt in any capacity, and thus he made up his mind. Reman slowly got up, still exhausted from Romulus's outburst. As if propelled by some greater force, his arm and body emitted a deepened purple, and his key shone as bright as it had during his nightmares.
 
Upon exiting the simulated world Oliver shook his head and peered out from under the headgear, and quickly regretted it due to the unruly crew being as weird and unruly as usua. And now flashbangs were involved. Once they’d all gone outside he finally sat up properly and made himself a sandwhich pulled right from the ether or wherever his magic powers came from, he didn’t give a shit.

moving outside with his hands in his pockets he stood behind rhea and the captain, apparently the only semi sane people here. “I mean, if that doesn’t work i can drop a 100 ton block of cheese on them, more shares of the commission fee for me.” The merc said casually while standing beside the other onlookers.” Hey kid, you still hungry?” The human said, recalling how eagerly she’d accepted the offer earlier which he was never able to deliver on, on account of him being lazy and paying no attention to half the crew.
 
ISS Downrider

Aradia's head was spinning from the info dump as she slid the sleek headset off of her red-covered head. Not only that, but there was a situation brewing... Outside? Outside, at least. She popped some knucklejoints as she stood up, working the stiffness out of her body from sitting still for too long. She'd joined the group of somewhat-normal people, which included the captain and the shortest person on board, and also that cooking guy who sometimes seemed to disappear. Speaking off, more food doesn't sound like a bad idea for later...

"So... What's going on again? Something about an experiment?" No stranger to magical light shows, this one in particular wasn't anything special to Aradia. "...Do you want me to try interrupting this, Dahlia? I could shut down their powers but I doubt they'd take kindly to that, and I'm pretty sure that they can fight without them. Probably."
 
ISS Downrider

Dahlia waved a hand at Rhea, motioning for her to calm down. "Go stir the rest, we might have a mess on our hands." The captain tilted her head to the side, covering her eyes as a plume of fire rocketed towards the sky. She slowly shook her head in frustration, slowly peeling the arm away. "That might be a good idea, shut them down and shut them up before they blow up something we don't have insurance on."

The Captain never did disclose if there was really any insurance to this trip or it's equipment.

Tundra

OSC-01 fell into a defensive stance as Romulus was struck down by the lightning bolt. They cast a nasty eye at Juryrig as he plucked the wayward core from the soil, but was soon distracted by the flaring walls of fire closing in on the group. As the Overseer swung her good arm down, the front-most feather in it's orbit buckled and unfolded outward, extending to a usable polearm in a single clean snap.

The Overseer had the opportunity to strike the man down, but there were other priorities at hand. Priorities that could not be easily ignored.With a surprisingly deft roll, the Overseer was behind Juryrig- not with any intent to harm. Instead, the Overseer's limp arm hung behind the alchemist, moving him forwards ahead of the enclosing firewall.

The firewall began to flicker, however, as an ominous crack of thunder rippled through the air. It was as if something was burrowing through the space around the grouping itself. OSC-01 immediately dropped the chivalry, the butt of her polearm slamming against the ground with a loud chant. It couldn't be them, it had been too long. The Overseer was completely disconnected from the situation, two bright pink pricks of light following some invisible force as it enclosed.

---

OSC-01 threw Juryrig to the ground- completely defensively of course- as a purple fountain of light erupted from the ground ahead of Romulus. The flames surrounding the group were blown away like a candle, leaving nothing but smoke and ash in their wake. The booming voice of an elderly female broke the air was a trio of unfamiliar faces broke through the admittedly-for show wormhole. "ROMULUS AURUM!"

The trio of newcomers were in clear view now as the strange rift they appeared from had diminished to a mere glow highlighting the cracks in the dried tundra ground. The three were dressed in a variety of strange black and white robes, matching in material and color. The first and pronounced of the three was an aged but tall woman bundled up in multiple layers of black and white cloth with a silver medallian hung around her neck. The entire lower half of her right arm was covered in an immaculate silver machine, forming an oversized gauntlet. Despite its size, the hag threw it around as if it were nothing- a feat given her visibly aged skin and grey hair.

A younger, more cocky voice spoke up quietly beside her. "Hohohohohooo, you've done it now." The man had an olive complexion, with a single bang of blond hair falling from beneath his hood. The man was rather lithe, but had on two similar silver boots. They looked a tad heavy, but not at all bulky. In fact, the two boots looked rather streamlined.

The third man scolded the man in boots. Unlike the other two, the man was already dressed in some sort of armor that peeked from beneath his black tunic. It was incredibly light, more like an environment suit than anything else, and made of a somewhat reflective coating.


OSC-01's eyes fell flat, relieved that these were both not the threat she was expecting and seemed to be targeting the problem at hand. After a moment of silence, they broke the air flatly. "And who the bloodlet willow are you all?

The hag raised a gauntlet-clad finger skyward, not even looking at the source of the question. "WE are the guardians that stand between two sanctums, two worlds. Those who walk these rocks looking for the truth, and the great power that shall enable us to transcend these mortal bonds and breach that most true firestorm."

The cocky young lad by the name of Clef finished the speech. "We, ladies and gents, are the Biechelon Collective!"


The Hag threw a finger at Romulus, the ground around the trio cracking. The armored man spoke up, in a rather calm and smooth manner compared to his companions. "Your days of piddling are over, Aurum. For your heinous crimes and ultimate betrayal, Urane sends his regards."

The Hag continued, nodding towards Romulus and the Overseer. "We will be taking you, your research, keys, devices, and your rash keybot. Know that should you or your crew put up a fight, we shall retaliate with uptmost fury." OSC-01's eyes flared up in agitation as soon as she connected the statement to her. "What was that?"

Even more annoyed, however, was the captain. Dahlia had listened to about enough of this jargon, and that was the straw. The captain checked her hip for her holstered pistol, and tapped Aradia on the shoulder as she passed. "Cover me."

The somewhat foolish captain stomped across the tundra, unfazed as she puffed her chest proudly for once. "This ship and its crewman do not work for this 'Romulus', or whatever his real name is."

The hag and her cronies turned around in some surprise, watching as this short blue-haired girl dared to approach them. Even the Overseer was a little jarred. "We are the Downrider expedition, and this is my crew you're threatening. Do what you want with the double-crosser, but our findings and equipment aren't yours to pilfer." After a momentary pause, the captain made an addendum. "And neither is the Overseer."

OSC-01 gave a small wave of approval.


The Hag loomed over the captain, which caused Dahlia to shrink just a little bit. After a grunt, she continued. "Well then. We will be taking his and your research, keys, and devices. Know that should you or your crew put up a fight, we shall retaliate with upmost fury."

Dahlia had enough. Her blue eyebrows furrowed, glancing back at the hag. "The Vigali send their regards."

The Hag rose upright, somewhat surprised and annoyed by the mockery, like nails on a chalkboard. She mentioned something in passing to the others, before raising the gauntlet. "Ut vires Deûm Deitas."


---


The Hag slammed the gauntlet into the ground, causing a shattering cascade of hot orange energy to spew from the cracks. Far too close to the surface for magma, it was a collection of something else entirely. As she was engulfed in the plunge, Dahlia took a few retreating steps back. The Hag emerged as the cascade subsided, clad in white-hot armor that was far heavier and bulkier than the rest.

In the cover of the disorienting blast, the breach man Clef had taken off in an inhumanly fast sprint towards the ISS Downrider. The other man, Gallo, used the cover to slip away into the ground- literally. He was gone through another seamless portal.

The Hag raised her arm, now clad in industrial heat-retardant armor. Dahlia backpedaled as the Hag swung the gauntlet towards her, covered in a ball of hot, steel-like slag. The hit didn't connect with the captain, however. The Overseer was sent crashing away with the explosive interception as Dahlia was merely knocked away to the ground. The captain took the moment to scurry across the ground, fumbling to collect her pistol as the Overseer laid still on the ground, fully intact but dazed from the hit.

The Hag turned her attention back to Romulus as the ground cracked an moved beneath her. "We're not through, Aurum."

---

Across the way, Gallo reappeared. He slipped back into existence behind Marie. He was unarmed, however the silvery man held a hand against his cuff should this go the wrong way. "How'd you end up here of all places, Conroe?"


In the meantime, Juryrig started to smell smoke, and an intense heat in his pocket. It would appear that the unstable fuse he shoved into his jacket had seared a hole in the fabric and fallen to the ground, leaving the tail of his coat... on fire.


Oliver and Rhea caught a brief glance of someone approaching them at alarming speed. Clef leapt straight towards the Downriders side entrance, a green plume of energy surrounding his entire being like a sonic boom. Clef cleared the entry way in an upside down flip, traveling at such speed that any action seemed like slow motion. As he passed, the cultist gave the two a flick on the noggin, an action that at his speed resulted in quite the headache.


Clef slid to a halt within the Downrider commons room, now clad in steaming black armor, shaped and streamlined for speed. The deft cultists reared, green light ejecting from the flaps of his boots. He rocketed past the crew into the cockpit, and then back in an extremely precise chain of flips and good use of the walls as an alternate floor.

Clef landed at the first closet he came across- Keiths office. The armored man, completely unfazed by rest of the crews presence, knocked once. Then twice. And then eight times. "Housekeeping!"
 
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Tundra

Romulus turned around to hear a very, very familiar voice. "God damn it, NOW of all times? And no, this isn't my crew, as much as you'd like it to be." As if his attention was nearly all diverted from Reman, Romulus stepped out of the fight. It started as a slow jog towards the hag, then a sprint as he switched to zone, pulling the trigger inside the holster.

"Tell Urane the usual;" The suit shifted to a deep blue, as light began to radiate from Romulus's suit gauntlets. The moment he pushed his hands forward, a Gigantic wall of hard light enveloped the majority of the crew that were still in the outdoors. In an attempt to protect everyone, he gestured with his head for OSC-01 and the rest on the outside to get inside of the Downrider, before staring the Hag directly in the eyes.

"Go fuck yourself."

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

Reman was on edge, and not sure what to make of the situation. He had just thought Romulus was out to kill him for ruining his project. Suddenly there's more angles than he can remember, the man and the tower, these to be frank Cultists knocking the walls down to get a chance at harming Romulus's crew... Not everything's adding up in his memory. Something in his mind was not right, and he had to try and do something...

"Marie... Do we have a spare driver? Wait, never mind, hold up..."

Reman rushed back into the Downrider, only to see the man that was once outside of it clad in armor, and started to panic. But then, he remembered a little tidbit of what he had at that moment. If he could make it to the engineering bay fast enough and keep them out of it, there should be enough scraps and components to build something to channel Cyclone.

"GET DOWN!" Reman legged it to the man in armor, and with all the might he could muster with his Amalgamated arm, used aerokinesis to attempt channeling wind to push him far back enough to keep him away from the engineering bay.
 
Tundra

"Jury, this is bad! This is real bad, they can't handle this much on their own, there's a fast guy a strong old lady and a guy with PORTALS-"

"... You people..." Juryrig mumbled, and shook off his burning coat. The fires doused itself in the snow. His sinister grin twisted further, as if he were ripped straight from a whimsical, twisted cartoon. "Just when Marie is giving me some limelight, here you all are not watching for the monster under the bed..."

"Jury, you aren't serious. Jury. JURY!"

The alchemist dug into his ruined coat, grabbing a remote, deactivated all safety guards, and activated some special surprises from within the Downrider. His wonderful little pranks, made for his comrades, but... Well, nature has its way of being safe by being unapologetically unappealing.

His mouth opened wide, revealing a pooling, writhing ooze, and then his maw snapped shut. Juryrig is getting excited. He felt the adrenaline, the power, the twisted urge to upset everything that lay before him. Oh yes, time for mayhem with his own bare hands.

Juryrig, from his ruined cloak, brandished his Blunderbass, and then set to cover the coat in snow, only to put the unstable tube inside, and wrap it all up.

A Red Burrito from every Hell: Red Cloak tortilla shell, with one spicy unstable core and snow to keep the heat tame. With a little bit of alchemy, and formed one nasty explosive pill that was ready to blow if it hit something hard enough.

He loaded it into his Blunderbass, took aim at the Hag, did some simple geometry, and fired right at her.


ISS Downrider

Some beeps are heard in the engine room, commands had been received from Juryrig's wireless remote. The ship's sewage began to clog, seize, and exceed safe PSI levels, while alarms began to blare and wail, in a automated female tone:

WARNING! MELTDOWN! MELTDOWN! MELTDOWN! EVACUATE THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY! EVACUATE THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY!

From the walls all around inside the ship, brown sludge seeped through the cracks, until walls, floors, and ceilings came apart with a inglorious SPLRCH, causing human waste to cascade and and dirty the interior of the ship, the pungent smell of methane quickly overwhelming the life support system, which was among the systems that had shut down as the Downrider did whatever it took to keep itself from going critical.
 
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Tundra

The man knew her.

But she didn't know him. Nothing about him rang any bells. Not his face, not his voice...

"Doing what anyone in our profession would do when we're stuck against a wall," Marie replied, after bolting away from the man. "Field work. What was your duty in the Institute?"

The man seemed to be somewhat interested in not fighting, at least. Good time to figure out what half the firmware really meant in her driver. She slid her finger down a switch, and off in the distance, the spear that had landed disappeared into a fine cloud of charged particles. She slid her finger back up, and the spear re-appeared in front of her, constructing itself after a wave of her hand.

Cool, so she was right about how that worked. Nice.

What wasn't nice was how the man could phase through the ground. Her main concern currently was that no matter what she could do, the man could simply phase through it or whatever. She just didn't know enough about whatever he was doing, and he didn't know enough about what she could do. Ideally, she'd be fighting the old lady, and Romulus would be fighting this man, but...
 
The Tundra

"Just when I thought we could get some damn peace and quiet..," a human man, on his younger side- early-to-mid-twenties or so -muttered. He was crouched behind a rather large boulder. On his back was a large backpack, and on that was seemingly two metal plates, which featured handles on opposite ends. With one hand, he gripped the boulder to ensure he wouldn't topple over with so much top-focused weight; in his other was a small computer device.

The device seemingly sprung the life, its screen emitting a blue light as a voice spoke from it.

"If you hadn't noticed, Perry, there seems to be a fight going on," the voice from the computer spoke. "I predict your best chance of not dying would be to stay away."

The brown-haired human chuckled, shaking his head, "I know you care about me, Sky. But we're far from home, and damn it, I'm not going to sit around all day and do nothing."

He poked his head from the side of the boulder he hid behind, lowering his voice, "Who knows, maybe we can make some new friends. Something to take my mind off of mom and dad."

The voice on the computer sighed, "Just promise me you won't do something stupid. We almost died last time, remember?"

Perry chuckled, "Heh, don't remind me."

For now, Perry hid behind the boulder; from anyone not too focused on the fighting, and at the right angle, they would probably see part of Perry's equipment sticking out of the air...
 
ISS Downrider

Rhea nodded quickly as Dhalia told her to take off to the interior of the ship... trying her best to ignore the sounds of mayhem, explosives, and TotallyNotAVillain Speaches behind her. Making her way to the commons, and trying to get anyone's and everyone's attention

"Um, hi Oliver! I'd like a sandwhich, and also there's some fighting going on outside and-" ZOOMFLICK One green blur later, Rhea was kneeling on the ground, covering her face. When she finally looked back up, there was a sistinct red finger mark on her forehead.

"GAH- You- YOU!" After some angry tantrum stomping, she quickly proceded down the hallway- she was no slouch for speed herself! But... Hm, maybe something like THAT suit would be more her speed- NO! don't think about it. do NOT wear the crazy people suits. "I'm- ohh! All of you, completely insane people using drivers- i don't even know why the captain let the first few stay and now-"

Unfortunately, she didn't get to finish her 'I'm gonna kick your butt' speach, as the walls started spewing poo, and making the ground unecceserily slippery with feces! DISGUSTANG! Quickly, she jumped to the furniture, then to another piece of furniture... then the walls. Then jumped and grabbed onto things hanging form the cieling! And continued doing that, playing 'the ground is shit' as she tried to make her way to were she saw the crazy person go.

For the great crime of covering the downrider in shit, this strange speedster, was going to get HIS shit pushed in. But... oh god... the smell... Oh well, there were worse things she'd smelt during those freezing days outside. "Oliver! I'm going to give somone a beating!" As she took off, going faster, gaining momentum, from behind, she was moving almost exactly like the stranger, but, slower? And refused to touch ANY of the floor.

As she did her physical gymnastics- she got an idea! knock the fast guy into the poo, and he'd be too slippery to do anything even slightly useful with his speed! She took a few, quick breaths as she got closer- her range was bad, and her reflexes even worse, in comparison to her opposition. She'd need to have the best Read of all time to get him down! But knowing that he was JUST THAT FAST, with every fiber of her being prepared, she was ready to try and make a bunch of crystals appear from the wall with a kickoff of said wall, to try and block off the corridor in an unexpected manner! She just hoped somone would be ready for the follow up...

"POO VANDAL! You'll pay for busting the sewage pipes!" She shouted, unnecessarily. And at the wrong person.
 
Oliver had been about to comply with the sandwich request when the two of them were flicked at high speed, causing him to groan in annoyance. Now a headache was starting up before he'd even used his powers, not to mention she'd run off and now he had no reason to make a sandwich. "Well, I never want to experience that again, and why the fuck does our ship smell like crap now?" He said with a sigh while rubbing his temples. With all this commotion Oliver had no idea who he was meant to be helping or cheering for, so he stayed put, outside the ship where it stank, but away from the fighting over yonder. No point him wasting energy on this when he could end up making the wrong call.

"Hey if you want that sandwich you better not come out of there covered in crap, I don't deal with filth."
 
ISS DOWNRIDER
-Crew Cabins-


Some may have wondered where the vulpine member of the crew had wandered off to. From past experience, the male tended to wander off at the most inopportune times, only to pop his ears up whenever it was deemed convenient for him. Needless to say, the simulation had left him a hint stunned. Never before had he experienced something along those lines, the opened faucet of information proving to be more than overwhelming for not only his mind - but his senses as a whole. while the others may have gone searching for the vanished overseer or sat there scratching their heads as to what they had just witnessed, it was Deimos who returned to his room to catalog as much as he could. Each and every detail he could recall - even the feeling like his mind was splitting in two as he was pulled out from the depths of the virtual reality that Osco had painted around the entirety of the crew.

The beastly people. Their manes and fuzz and feathers. To Deimos, they felt more familiar than any of the Elves or Humans back upon Ayenee's soil. Truly, seeing them slaughtered by the thousands amidst the bloodshed of war was enough to grab a hold of his guts and tear them out through his chest... But in the end it was all a simulation. A historical reenactment made possible by trillions of ones and zeroes dancing their tortuous performance of fire and brimstone. The fate of the sprawling kingdom that scholars have dubbed Arcadia. The one truly known as Avisten.

Was the need to take notes truly necessary? After all, Osco held each and every record on hand with ease, displaying it to everybody in high-definition. It was not like there was a test. Nor he would be unable to access Osco's knowledge on his own time. Maybe catch the later scenes without needing to witness those around him being torn limb from limb by rockets and swords.

It was the clatter of doors and the shouting of his fellow crewmembers that flitted his ear towards his door like a fuzzy satellite dish... but before he could react, the appalling stench of feces assaulted his nostrils. It was the walls. the godsdamned walls were leaking out the putrid ooze like a scene out of a cheap horror flick. It was times like these where he hated the lack of a second arm, leaving him forced to scoop up the tattered remains of his cloak and the scrap metal pieces that remained of his gauntlet after his little stunt in the observatory.

His boots clattered on the floor of the outrider as the smaller male bolted from inside, landing in the snow with a loud gag and a cough, he could swear every hole in his face was begging to scoop up as much fresh air as he could. "Could somebody... please..." The vulpine groaned out each word, dumping his armor into the snow while he wrapped himself in his cloak. "Fill me in on what the hell is going on?" Another loud gag. He suppressed the urge to vomit in time to see Dahlia, Osco, Romulus and company all dealing with one lone individual coated head to toe in heavy armor.

Truly, there were no breaks on Ms. Dahlia's wild ride.
 
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ISS Downrider
Archivist's Office

The sounds of trouble brewing outside were not lost even here, in Keith's little bastion of knowledge. Despite trying to focus on his work while awaiting the crew's infighting to end, it was quite difficult to concentrate with alarm system blaring throughout the ship... not to mention the apparent sewage leak. How absolutely disgusting; it even hurt to breathe.

It was then that an unknown voice shouted from the other side of the office door. "Housekeeping!" it said, and knocked on the door impatiently. The battle outside had grown louder, too—no doubt about it, this was an intruder. How did it know this inconspicuous closet was an archive? Keith sighed and replied, "Just a minute!" Of course, he didn't plan on giving up his notes, but the door wouldn't hold for long.

The informant closed his notebook with a 'thump', stashing it underneath his poncho alongside the Abspectra research papers belonging to a certain Romulus—his crewmate Caesar, as he had come to learn in the past few minutes. His old grenade bandolier had served him well, and soon he'd have to resupply, he thought as he pulled the pin on his last smoke grenade, letting it fall to the floor as it quickly burst into a fog curtain obscuring the inside of the closet.

He quickly thereafter pulled his hood over his head, his scarf over his face, and donned his goggles, setting them to an infrared setting. So long as he could see the intruder through their body temperature, the smoke would not bother him. Keith turned on his cloaking device and, wielding a pair of his anesthetic darts like daggers, reared to kick down his own door. One little prick of those darts... "COME ON IN!" he shouted, slamming his boot into the door with all of his might, aiming to send it flying at the intruder.
 
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