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(Setting) Flooded district, The depths
| >Behind the van is a sedan, with three people in it, and a few duffle bags, trailing the van.
/Lead, we are on your 6, following to objective./
| "Well I'll let you handle it, you'll probably explain it better and I need to do maintenance on my deck to make sure everything is functioning properly."
| "We are just here to even out firepower..."
>Lead crosses his arms.
| >Suddenly in the air above the procession a truly huge, black hovercraft with yellow stripes on its body flies ahead. It goes at insane speed, given it's altitude, and in a couple seconds passes both car. A moment later, camouflage systems kick in, and it vanishes in the air, echoing sound and a burst of wind the only traces of its existence.
| >Ophelia turns her head to A-20 and tilts it in confusion
"Noise? Where, your fault? Do cars go boom when they go? Is that normal? It's normal isn't it? You know it's normal, tell me it's normal.
| >A-20 shakes her head
"What noise, lets just get along with it"
(When everyone is ready)
| (Always am ready, always will, you know it)
| (good to go -Alfa)
| (Vigilo Confido)
| (I'm ready. -CN)
|
| >A-20 looks over everyone
"Alright, what we're going to have to do is rush in there and grab the terminal before they manage to get away with it, and destroy ot as fast as we can. But we can't handle this too baddly, we need to proceed in an organized fashion and do this clean and swiftly"
>She places a data stick inside the holographic display
| >3 pictures appear over the table
>One is a large man wearing a powersuit with the name Legate next to him, the other looks like some kind of scientist in a lab coat with the name TN displayed next to him and the last doesnt have any picture, but the name Sirka is displayed
"Those are our three main concerns here, the three special agents sent into the city during the 0-day war, each one is very dangerous and shouldnt be approached with no plan other than 'shoot him'"
| >She sighs
"we dont have too much info on any of them though, apart from Legate, which my organization has fought several times before"
>She moves his picture to center stage
"Powersuit, experimental weapons of potential mass destruction, an AA battery, the man is a war machine by himself, the best way to take him down is by being careful or managing to hack his suit of armor or EMP its insides"
>A-20 continues
| >She switches the display to the scientist
"TN isnt such a combat force, but he brought a few gadgets and tricks from Burrow, mainly a robot fighting force and tons of weapons, he's not really dangerous in person, but cautiousness never hurts"
>She then turns to the last name on display
"As for sirka, she's a mystery to us, all we know is her nickname 'The Maneater' and the fact she's a dangerous Altis-20 prisoner"
| >A-20 banishes the documents from the display
"So, should we seperate and take care of them once at a time or should we just get in there and deal with what comes to get us?"
| "Well... if we get this server that's it. There whole plan is game over right?"
| >>182607
"Hmm... Well assuming we get there before them, maybe it might he best if we split in two teams. One keeps them busy while the other one uses the distraction to move the server?"
| >>182621
>A-20 thinks for a moment
"That does indeed sound reasonable, but that lefts us with who is going where... Though I have an idea, Alfa team, you, A-10 and Ophelia can take care of keeping them busy and off our back while Me, F and CN rush in to get the server and destroy it, A-9 will stay as our supervisor and will coordinate the teams"
>A-9 nods and lifts her thumb
"Any complaints?"
| >>182638
>Ophelia nods
"Plan, good plan, We execute it, no issue here."
(Workin' rn, responses might be slow)
| (I was meaning like Alfa team, you. Not really mentionning the one speaking ahah)
>A-20 closes the holographic display
"Alright then lets do that, we'll arrive in the flooded district soon and when we do we'll go down, we have no time to waste"
>A-9 sighs
"G-going into hell ze..."
>F just shakes her head
"Let's hope I atleast make it out of there alive"
>The van keeps on going at a rapid pace, soon in the flooded district
| Монах исподлобья смотрит на латеральный треугольник шеи и внезапно начинает петь.
| Я больше не буду ковыряться в носу.
| Откуда он узнал что в моей жизни нет места для просмотра и записи на диск с данными поставщиков услуг по созданию и продвижению всевозможных немыслимых форм и размеров на любой вкус.
| >>182658
>CN turns to A-9
"We'll be fine, let's just make sure we take care of each other, just like in that last server right?"
| >>182668
>A-9 smiles
"Yeah, you're right, lets do this"
>F just laughs
"Your harem grows ever wider doesnt it, geekboy! Wish I could get so-"
>A-20 interrupts
"I will be providing support for you, Fia-tan~ lets have some fun together"
>She sounds angry
| Среди маленьких кусочков сала ему попался кусочек ещё теплого противно пахнущего кала.
| >Ophelia just shakes some more
"What a popular guy, Swoon, Swoon, and they fall, really cool, We get it, watched Romance a lot, gets it, We get it."
| >The van suddenly comes to a grinding halt, and A-10 looks back
"Alright everyone, we're here, lets move"
>A-9 and A-20 jump out of the van and hold the doors for everyone to get out, this'll all be over soon...
"Alright time for F to show her greatness peace pe- ow!"
>A-20 hits F on the head as she starts yelling
"Keep it down shorty"
| "Remember guys, I don't care how dangerous this is, don't do anything risky."
>CN looks towards his group
"Come on, let's go."
| "We shall follow orders, yes, keep injury to minimum, yes. Kill only if required, yes... Ready to operate, follow orders, keep out of harm..."
>Ophelia turns to F with a solemn gaze
"... don't get yourself killed, you hear me?"
| >>182783
>F gives a thumbs up
"I should say that to you Ophie, you really feeling up for this, dont slow Lead and his crew too much alright!"
>She gives a loud laugh and a handshake to the girl
"if I die, go get the Saint, she'll help you out"
>She turns around, and sighs
"Alright ladies lead the way, this F needs a destination"
>A-20 consults her watch, and nods
"Alright, lets go into those sewers, D-4 found us an acess"
| >CN pulls out his stungun
"I'll follow your lead then."
| >Weird tremor goes through the ground, and after a couple minutes fades without a trace.
| >A-20 notices the tremor, but pays it no heed, their goal lies at the bottom of the district
"Alright, moving out"
>She goes next to a small blocked opening and pushes the rubble hiding it along with A-10
>An entrance is made visible
"Alright, I'll go first"
>Says A-20 as she enters, but not before turning her head to CN
"You watch F and if she tries to run, stun her okay?"
>F just snorts
>You all enter the tunnels, heading for the depths.
| >>182834
"I'm sure I won't have to worry about that. She'll watch my back as much as I watch hers."
| >Ophelia waves to the three
"Good luck down there, don't die, We like you."
| >A-20 leads the way into the tunnels, and lights up a small flashlight tied to her suit
"Alright, A-9 set up a communication network between all units and amongst the four of us here, and if she's here, tell thirteen to meet us as soon as she can"
>A-9 gets to work on her deck
"CN, what do you use for comms normally?"
>Nine asks him
>Meanwhile, A-10 turns to the other team
"We'll be entering from another place, follow me"
>She starts running and beckons Alfa and Ophelia to follow
| >>182867
>Ophelia nods and follows, now silent as a tomb, eyes glistening like a knife in the dark
| >>182867
"Usually IRC. I also have a closed network system for the team but given how that one works I don't think I'll be able to use that for all of us so IRC it is."
| >>182883
"hmm, never really did tha- I'll try and set something up, Twenty, might giving me a hand with those Alien powers of yours?"
>The girl in question sighs
"Sure, just dont mess it up like you did back when we first arrived"
>A-9 goes and gives something to A-20 who connects it to some kind of terminal under her coat, and then flips a switch.
"/Test, Test, are we on?/"
>A voice resounds directly into your mind
| /Uh... yes???/
>He replies, clearly confused
| "/Alright that means we've established a clear link! Thanks Twenty/"
>A-9's voice says
"/Just, be careful what you think if you dont want me reading too deep into it/"
>Alpha-20's 'voice' says, tired
>A-9 turns back to CN
"/I'm using A-20 as a relay basically, all of us now have telepathic connections, neat isn't it?/"
| /Alfa is ready for a shitstorm. Following A-10./
>Lead and his team closely follows A-10, armed with Suppressed LMGs, filled with AM-P (EMP) bullets.
| >Ophelia simply strides along, hands in her pockets, not minding the chatter, she's muttering... something about Riots and '08...
| >>182953
"/Understood, follow her down the main shaft and watch out for any assailant/"
>A-9's voice resounds within the whole squad
>A-10 nods and gets a large rifle from her back, cocking it
"/A-10,Ophelia and Team Echo will now be known as Team-B, we will be Team-A, just to avoid confusion/"
>A-9 says
| >Team B arrives in front of a large gate, already blasted open
"Hope you guys are ready for hell, our mission is simple, shoot all that moves, may it be Zombie, Robot or humanoid, just avoid frendlies and we'll be fine"
>A-10 declares
"And now, we go in!"
>She leads them into the door and unto a large lift, it was installed recently if the absence of any kind of damage was anything to go by
>A-10 smashes the button and it starts descending
| >Alfa begins handing out flashbangs and EMP grenades as if it's Christmas.
"Everyone take a few, this should level the playing field."
| >Ophelia sighs and pulls out a gun from her coat, which is now shivering like she is
>A rifle dripping with what appears to be blood, thick veins of metal seem to buldge on it's surface as if pumping blood, it's mere appearence is disgusting
| >Lead turns to the gun, a sing glance, and turns back.
>"What the hell..."
| >>182952
/uh... That only makes me ask questions but I'll leave those for later/
>CN "says" as he joins the other group to find the servers
| >>182984
>A-10 stares at the gun before taking some grenades and EMP
"Thanks for that, mate"
>The lift arrives down and a door opens, revealing projectors and Robots looking straight at you
>They seem caught a bit by surprise but they immidiatly get back into action
"RAIN HELL UPON THE GATES WOOOOOOO!"
>A-10 screams and starts throwing EMPs
| >Ophelia raises her gun
"Let's do it, V-10"
>She says to her... gun, before opening fire upon the robots, a steady jet of what looks like highly potent acid is constantly streaming from the assault rifle, who is seemingly screaming.
| "RIP AND TEAR COCKSUCKER!"
>Alfa unleashes an ungodly amount of Bullets and Grenades from the LMG and GMG.
| >The sound is amazing, lead and emps fill the battlefield as robots and a... Gun scream in unison
>Its chaos all around, but it soons settles down, the robots are blasted and a fee can even move at this point
"LETS KEEP MOVING Y'ALL, FOR GONDOR"
>A-10 screams while laughing, running straight into the middle of the room
| >Ophelia tosses her gun aside, atop the 'corpse' of a robot
"Scouting, stay here, consume''
>She pulls out another rifle from her coat, this one isn't bleeding, but is a misshapen mess of biological tissues seemingly welded to mechanical parts, who just like the tissues, move and breathe with a low wheeze
| "Lane! Save the GMG for later!"
"Hwhehe, sorry... Couldn't help myself."
>The whole of Alfa advances, their quiet LMGs chugging along with em.
| >Meanwhile the same tremor in the ground from before, albeit faint, can be felt by both teams. This time it doesn't go away, but doesn't intensify either.
| "A-10 double time please!"
>Lane moves along side A-10
| >>183097
"Aight! Lets move"
>The group moves into a large shaft with stairs leading down, at a brisk pace
"Tangoes ahead, keep your wits about!"
>A-10 says while looking around and trying to pick up any noises.
>Several machines suddenly pop up and start shooting towards the squad
| >Ophelia once again opens fire, this time, her weapon shoots tiny bullets... which explode on contact into a mess of acid...
"V-19, show them what we're made of."
>She grins
| >A-10 whistles
"That's some cool weaponery little lady, but we dont have time to lose"
>She picks up the pace
| >Ophelia follows, once again leaving her gun behind and pulling another from who knows where
"They're all good girls, We trust them, One got lost, Lost lamb, Going back to Us, Part of Us, Ears and Eyes..."
>She throws a knowing grin to Lead
| >Alfa opens a blizzard of bullets on to the machines, downing them with EMP bullets. Lane shouting over the Suppressed gunfire.
"Say hello to my little friend!"
| >>183122
"OHH I LIKE THAT ONE ILL TAKE THAT LINE!"
>A-10 laughs and starts running faster than ever
"Lets make some noise!"
| >Alfa breaks in to full sprint, still firing in bursts. Labe is slowed down by the GMG,so she is sweating bullets trying to keep up.
"Ophelia! Eat my gun!"
| >Chaos happens
{Team A}
>A-20 just looks down at her comms device and sighs
"That idiot A-10 is going again, lets do this while they distract"
>She starts walking down the path, illuminating it
| "Hm? We eat, become part of us? You sure? It changes you, Changes them, good girls, all of them, alive, like me and you."
>Ophelia shrugs and opens her mouth
"Go for it"
| >Lane hands over her HK21, and switches to her handgun, keeping her GMG on her back.
"Thanks! It's a weight of my back, literally."
>Lane now catches up to the rest of the team, minus an LMG.
| >Ophelia shrugs and downs the LMG quite easily, with gusto, even
"Designstion... V-123..."
>With np further ado, she pulls out an LMG from her coat, dropping her other gun. This one's covered in what looks like grey matter, the bolt is a spine... and the rest seems to be dripping blood from the seams where living metal and living tissues coincide...
| >Ophelia smiles quite beautifully
"Oh my, nice to meet you my dear, We are enchanted..."
>She's talking to the gun, quickly muttering... something about the VCR, V-12 and Robots...
| >At this point tremor begins to intensify. Slowly, but steadily.
| >Ophelia pauses for a second, shakes her head and keeps running after A-10.
"Not imagination... The End told us... Not imag-" She keeps muttering.
| >At this point, Alfa is sprinting past A-10, still shooting at whatever moves.
"Come on people, faster!"
| >Ophelia grins and while shooting with the LMG using a single hand, pulls out a... Railgun from her coat.
"V-01, Go get them! We can deal with a little collateral can't we?!"
| >A-10 runs at full speed, dropping her mantle along as she goes
"What in the hell, alright lets move y'all!"
>You all continue to run and gun along, dragging as much attention as you can.
>Meanwhile
{Team A is still going down}
>The tremors make A-20 look around
"Are you kidding me?"
>She turns to F and CN
"Lets go faster, we need to move"
| >>183182
"Freaking gun nuts... you're right. We have our own job to do."
>CN replies as he keeps moving
| >You all start descending into corridors and stair wells, they look ancient beyond measure and danger signs are a common occurence around the whole place.
>You arrive in some kind of large shaft with several ladders
"Whew great, ladders, my worse fucking enemies how great it is to see some again"
>F spits out
| "Why lad- oh right. Er, sorry. Maybe you should go in the middle while I bring up the rear then just in case.'
| >A-20 just goes over and picks up F and makes her cling to her back by force.
"Wha-Let me down this instant you fucking degenerate alien scum I can climb down ladders! I'm not crippled yet okay!!"
>F starts trying to slither out of her grasp but fails miserably, thus resigning herself and allowing A-20 to climb down the ladders
>A-9 watches with a concerned smile on her face
| "Well I guess that's settled."
>CN simply shrugs as he follows on the ladder
| >As you arrive down you hear a large set of noise, walking and stomping coming from a lit corridor close-by.
"/Hide, now, we cant affoard to be caught here/"
>A-20's voice resounds as she hides and turns off her flashlight
| >CN wordlessly follows suit, hiding in a dark corner as he tightens the grip on his stungun
| >>184016
/What's that? Affluent assholes? I hate Affluent assholes!/
>Lane thinks too hard, half hearing A-20s message, prompting her to use her grenade machine gun, pelting explosives everywhere.
| >>184024
>You see a few soldiers come into the room, but they look different than the robotic machines you saw earlier, they look like lightly armored humans. They start smoking cigarettes and talking to each-other
"So why the hell is that computer thing so important, we weren't briefed on it were we Joe?"
>The other man, Joe, responds
"Dunno man, just doin my job here, The brass does shit like that all the time, I just follow along"
| "True, True, well they carted it away into the main shaft so I'm not sure we'll see it again anytime soon"
>The first man replies
"Hmn, yeah"
>Behind them you can see the shadow of a bipedal mecha pass by
"We should get going now, we got a group of crazies and a few Alpha sisters on the loose, lets go Bob"
>The crush their cigarette butts and leave
"/Pfft, Joe and Bob, how classical/"
>F is on the verge of crazed laughter
| /Uh... let's focus on the main shaft part here... Don't even think about it./
| >>184055
/"Pfft, geek boy said shaft, mom he said shaft~"/
>F says snickering
>A-20 looks about to hit her again but refrains, instead going for the hallway and looking around
"/We're somewhat clear, just dont make any noise and watch your step/"
>She says and advances inside while crouching down, going behind a stack of boxes and continuing along
| >>184065
>CN gives F a look before following along, preparing his stungun for any of the nearby guards.
| >The tremor did not disappear as both teams continued to descent. In fact, it only grew stronger, shaking dust off the ceiling.
| /That's not a good sign is it?/
| "/Depends, I'd say no, what would you say?/"
>F's voice says
"/But fear not, even if AUCR is full of shit, they know how to take care of invaders and to build good shelters, we should be fine/"
>She adds, in a serious tone
>You continue advancing and end up on a large cat walk above a large hangar/storage area.
>You can see mechas, and a lot of robots down there...
"/I would kill to have access to their tech though.../"
>A-9 says while looking down
| /Hey, maybe if we stop them fast enough we can "acquire" one on the way out./
| >>184102
>A-9 gives a thumbs up
>A-20 just sighs
"/Never heard anyone say they would steal a goliath-class VZ, dont joke about that! I had to deal with an angry cyborg that stole one once... /"
>F says, shivering
>You continue advancing and arrive near a lift cage, A-9 gets on the commands and plugs her deck, overriding it easily.
>The lift seems to be slowed down on purpose so as to not make much sound.
| >>184113
/Just saying if it electronic we can hack it... there's no such thing as a perfect system./
| >>184120
"/AUCR comes pretty damn close, mostly cause they got techies working for them day in and day out, along with all their meisters/"
>F states matter of factly
>The lift arrives up and you all board it, allowing it to go back down again
"/This is the hard part now, we need to go by this army of robots without getting seen, or heard and enter the main shaft/"
>A-20 says
"/Our top concern is getting F over there, and if things go wrong, to run as fast as we can/"
| /Got it. How many are we expecting?/
| >F just starts counting, aiming her finger at the mass below
"1,2,3 ah, lost count"
>She gets a slap behind her head for her effort
"/About a hundred bots, the rest seem to be leaving because of the distraction/"
>A-9 says
"/Dont forget Satan's murder death mechas friends!/"
>F chimes in
>The lift finally reaches the bottom and after looking around, the area seems clean
| /There seems to be missing 100 robots here/
| >A-20 looks over at CN with a frown
>As you get out of the lift you start seeing the bots in questions, most are looking around the center of the room or taking care of machines.
>You can either proceed by the side and attempt to hide or aim down the center, amongst the bots and boxes that litter the storage area
| /Well if we're going to get F through quietly, lets avoid the bulk of them and go through the side./
| >A-20 nods, and follows
>A-9 sticks to the back and avoids making any noise
>F is holding her tail using her hand
"/Please dont slap on the ground, pleasd dont slap on the ground/"
>She says, as if repeating a mantra
>As you hide and pass by the sides a mech activates and starts looking around, it starts to approach where you are in a slow fashion...
| >CN stays as still as possible in his hiding spot, waiting for the robot to pass
| >A-20 grabs F and hides her as well
>A-9 just sticks to CN an EMP blast at the ready.
>The robot arrives and leans in, its head is almost next to you all
>Suddenly two orbs pop up from the chest and a beeping noise is heard
>The robot stands still for an instant and then gets up again, leaving for the front lines.
| >CN stands still for longer than necessary as the robot leaves, before breathing a small sigh of relief
/Let's keep going./
| >You keep advancing slowly
"/That pilot messed up big time, dont they know the sensors get iffy under ground when they're out of the Sphinxe's range? Amateur/"
>F says, snickering
(Yes, the pilot didnt miss assorted checks and a saving throw, I swear he didn't)
>You arrive next to a door Labelled "Shaft A" and enter inside only to find another lift, this time a classic miner lift going down deeper than you can see...
"/I have the feeling we're close to the end, lets go down/"
| /Following your lead then. Let's just hurry down before another patrol comes this way/
| >The lift is activated and starts going down
>A-20 takes some kind of box from behind her back and starts sliding its parts, revealing a large rifle with glowing lights over its surface
"Wait a minute! ICHIKA got my CZ-6 prototype?! How?"
>F screams out only to receive a 'shhhh' from A-9
"We stole it, dont mind the little details"
>A-20 says with a smile
>You arrive down, and see a large door, which slowly opens in front of you
>A-20 readies herself
| >CN takes cover on the side of the lift with his stungun
| >At this depth, the tremor is tremor no longer. Ground shakes, and a loud noise of collapsing ground and stone being crushed deep within the walls is impossible to miss.
| >The door opens, revealing an empty room with a single man waiting
"So you've arrived, I'm very sorry to say but... You're just a tad too late"
>The man says, holding his hands up to show he's unarmed
"The terminal has been brought down, the ritual will begin shortly, and I cant let you interfere with it"
>F opens her eyes wide and starts shivering
>A-20 starts advancing towards the man her gun still pointed towards him
"WHERE IS IT, TELL US NOW"
| >The man only looks at Alpha
"I'm afraid I can't. And nothing you can do will change my mind"
>A-20 is pissed and puts her gun straight to his chest
"DONT YOU CARE, ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!"
| >>184228
"I don't know, I think the heroes showing up to stop the ritual last minute is exactly what the heroes do in this situation!"
| >>184242
"You seriously think you can stop it, we're talking elder gods here, and not the amiable kind"
>F says with a smirk
>The man looks at you
"Oh, you can try, but that would imply you get there in time, and I'm not letting you pass, not unless you decide to kill me"
>He says, gritting his teeth
| >>184243
"Oh yea! Well I bet you 70,000 nuyen I can make it pass without firing a single bullet myself."
| >Ground shaking and rocking noise reached its apogee and stopped.
>In the silence, a single metal *clang* is heard.
| >The man looks at you
"You have to understand, the money is not why I'm here, it never was, I have to do this, or else"
>A-20 pushes the gun up his chest
"Oh yeah, then how about I kill you right here you nut job?"
>She says fuming
| >>184260
"Who said anything about paying you? I meant an actual bet. Oh whatever, can we get the talking out of the way here."
| >The man just raises his hands
"Killing an unarmed man, I see how it is Twenty, looks like you didnt learn much from 12 in matters of mercy, her death was in vain I see"
>He says with a smirk on his face
>A-20's hands shake and tighten around the handle of her weapon
"Shut. UP."
>She spits out, but she doesnt shoot
| /Do you have a sitrep? We are still holding them back, things are going well, too well, how are you, We're doing good, thank you, you're doing good?/
>Ophelia sounds... bored
| >>184275
/NOT NOW/
>A-20 screams over the comms
>F just looks at CN
"Lets look around, they cant have hauled that thing so fast, there has to be an exit here"
| >Muffled "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" came from behind the wall to the right of the lift.
>Then it promptly blew up.
| >A-20 turns around because of the blast
>The man smirks and quick draws a revolver, promptly shooting her
>The bullet misses by sheer luck but strikes a surprised A-9 straight in the chest
"YOU FUCKER"
>A-20 cries using her real voice, her eyes start glowing a sheer blue and she shoots him at full blast before turning to the door and starting to chant
>A-9 falls to the ground, bleeding profusely from her mouth and bullet wound
| >Deafening noise of machine engines revving came to be, and through the breach in the wall, a black Chimera APC with yellow stripes drove into the room. It had an enormous drill installed onto it, still rotating. From behind the armoured tank, a large tunnel could be seen, with the second and third regular Chimera APCs following the first one.
>Completely ignoring people inside, the first tank started angling the drill, planning to make itself a new way through the floor.
| /SITUATION HAS CHANGED, REPEAT, UNIT WILL NOW ENGAGE SPECIAL PROCEDURES. HEIL THE VCR, HEIL THE CREATORS/
>A bizarre, inhumane voice rings out as a shock reverbarates through the underground
| >A-20 pushes her hands forward, and ends her chant with a blast, creating a large shockwave of energy, pushing back the APC and igniting the air in the tunnel
>Large fumes of gas and Ether pass by and scorch the corridor just outside the room while she screams in anger
| >F looks at CN
"Grab the loli, I know where to go! We need to stop this NOW!"
>F strikes a wall with her arm, and it opens, revealing a stair well made of obsidian
| >>184292
>CN quickly grabs A-9's body and takes her behind cover
"I have graft tissue I can use to seal the wound. Hold on alright!"
| >F looks back at A-20 and urges her to follow, which she does, still in a chanting stance
"SON OF A WHORE, DIE ALL OF YOU, FOR ATLAS!"
>She throws her hands down and the ceiling behind you all crumbles
"Fucking hell, remind me to never piss a Magic user from Atlas..."
>F says
>A-9 is breathing roughly
| >APC bounces to the back a little... And then returns to what it was doing before. Paint melts off the tanks, but it seems they are mostly fine as well.
>Drill connects with the floor, and noise and shaking begin anew. Chimera burrows into the ground, and the rest of the procession follow it, descending deeper beneath.
| >A-20 and F rushes down the hole
>You arrive in a large room covered by obelisks and Obsidian
>The two terminals are connected in the center, everyone feels a headache coming up
>F grabs CN and rushes to the terminal
"FUCKING MAKE IT PLEASE GOD, TWENTY COVER US!"
| >The wall suddenly trembles.. and starts moving as if breathing...
>A humanoid form steps out of said wall, completely naked, but possesing neither genitalia or any other defining trait, instead covered by crystals and terminals all moving as if breathing and pumping blood.
>The completely white 'women' turns to F with a smile, there is a hole in her chest, where a screen shows a crappy gif of a beating heart
"Need some help? You need it? You do."
| >F just smirks
"HELP 9 OUT OPHIE, ILL BE FINE"
>The terminals glow an odd red light and start floating
>The room fills itself with an ominous light and laughter
"YOU,GEEK BOY, HOLD ON TO ME"
| >Ophelia nods and heads towards the injuried 9
"He's close, oh so close... destroyer of Order, killer of Avalon... K.S is with us."
>She's muttering, something about Iris, A Black God and Burrow...
| >>184331
>He holds on tight to both gurls
"Something I heard in the last terminal! A voice in the phone booth said it was weakest when it was awakening!"
| >>184335
>F jams her hand unto the Terminal's screen and you can feel a sense of nausea much similar to something you've felt before, only stronger, almost pulsating
"THEN LETS MAKE IT SO HE NEVER WAKES AGAIN, THIS IS THE END!"
| >Familiar drill comes through the ceiling, and the whole procession of APCs falls inside, part of the ceiling collapsing along with them.
>With a loud "PLUMP, PLUMP, PLUMP, PLUMP", grenade launchers on the vehicles unleash a barrage of EMP, flash and smoke grenades into the room. Simultaneously, cargo bays of the APCs open, and soldiers in the black armor with yellow stripes on their sleeves hurriedly take positions around their vehicles, establishing firing lines.
| >Ophelia snorts
"Useless bugs, all useless, happened before, oh yes, ICHIKA knows, he knew..."
>The crystals on her back tear open and produce a rocket launcher
| >A-20 holds out her hands and light permeates the room, as a barrier forms around the crew closest to the terminal
>Sounds of crunching and eldritch horrors start drooling from the walls and start to move around the room
>The laughter gets stronger and a wave of nausea goes over everyone present
| >After the soldiers, from inside the second APC another figure appeares.
>Clad in exotic, vintage golden armor, a tall blond boy steps out in front of the soldiers. Both the sound of his steps, and the air around him are strangely distorted, and something horrific looks through the depth of his cold, blue eyes.
>As soon as he emerges from the vehicle, the sence of nausea in the soldiers ceases to be.
| >Ophelia looks to the ceiling
"... No Kin to kill..."
>>184346
>She turns to the men
"Do not shoot unless you want to make this whole mess go from annoying to nightmarish"
| >Meanwhile F's eyes start glowing and she looks back at CN
"Get ready, this'll hurt"
>She breathes in
"COMMAND CZ-6:ALPHACOIL, RESTRAINT, DIVE INCOMING"
>You feel like your grasp on reality is failing, this feels like the F.A.L all over again...
| >A-20 looks at the soldiers and the eldritch monsters start to approach them, their arms coiling and breaking as they go
"SLAY THEM, SLAY YOUR KIN, OFFER ME A VESSEL"
>A voice almost like a screech comes around
| >Ophelia extands her hands To her sides and grins
"You don't want to wake him up, He will kill all of you, We know, Saw it, back then, Koro was there, World saved easily, Not this time, We know, Lurking, oh so closely..."
>She drops her arms
"WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT VIOLENCE, OR WE WILL RESPOND IN KIND, WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY, BUT WILL BECOME IF YOU IGNORE THIS WARNING."
>She screams at no one in particular
| >CN's surrounding are changing, you are in a place you dont recognize, in a body that isnt yours, it feels alien, weird, nauseating
| "Good evening, gentlemen, ladies."
>The King In Yellow declares, with an expressionless look on his face, his voice sounding crystal clear despite the cacophony of sounds in the room.
>Something deep within his eyes smiles, and a different reality emerges around him. Air around the soldiers changes color, and frost covers the ground.
"Is this show off of power really necessary?" >He says in a flat voice.
| >>184367
>Ophelia tilts her head
"We apologize, We know of you, yes, yes, reasons more to be careful."
>She gives a look to the terminal
"If you kill someone here, well, let's not imagine it. This thing"
>She points towards the ceiling
"Will be awakened, and that means We will back to stage one, tragic, can't help but cry, poor ICHIKA has to try again, Koro gets madder, We know."
| >The alternate reality of the yellow king starts to crumble beneath the sheer power of the room
"FOOLISH NEWCOMER, DO YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME IN MY ANCHOR? MY MORTAL PIECE OF REALM, SEEMS YOU ARE BUT A FOOLISH OLD GOD"
>The shriek comes back and blast powerfully, the room starting to crumble under the weight of reality, it starts to ascend, the ceiling falls to pieces
"I AM THE GREAT ONE, THE KIN SLAYER, BOW DOWN AND SLAY, DIE FOR YOUR MORTAL SINS"
| >>184362
>CN fights through the sensation as he regains his senses
"Come on, let's get this done. I got a patient to treat..."
| >>184380
>You survey your surroundings and realize you aren't in Glitch City anymore, the technology around you looks old, people walk around intersections and the city seems bussling
>You can't shake off the weird feeling attacking your sense
| >>184370
"Is that so? That would be troublesome. Thank you for the heads up."
>The King turned back to the shriek.
"I sure have died more times than you did. It's time you come back to sleep, murder-hobo."
>As their leader speaks, the soldiers behind him extract weird balloons with red markings on them.
"Remember these things? Scranton Reality Anchors. Truly technology nowadays is astonishing me. I don't even have to fight your domain with mine. How about we get rid of them both?"
| "You okay CN, you look way better that way by the way"
>You hear F's Voice chiming ina
| >>184386
>The voice laughs ever stronger
"YOU THINK THAT PUNY HUMAN HANDIWORK WILL WORK. ON ME? YOU ARE A FOOL, I EXPECTED SO MUCH MORE FROM THE YELLOW KING HASTUR, LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE BUT ANOTHER IDIOT, SOON I WILL BE COMPLETE, I WILL LIVE AGAIN AND NOTHING YOU CAN DO WILL STOP ME, KILL THEM"
| >Black soldiers slam the balloons they are carrying into the ground, and reality around each one of them becomes... Normal. Your usual, shitty reality, everyone lives in from day to day. The ring of balloons begins to expand, as more and more are put into the ground by soldiers, and soon the part King In Yellow stands in is completely normal. Not even he, himself is seem to have air distorted around him anymore.
| >Ophelia sighs and heads back to A-9's side, treating her injuries
"What an eyesore, Iris is cuter... Cute is Justice, Koro told Us, very smart, that Koro, Great One of Ends... Good..."
| "Oh, fear not. They work on everyone. That's how I lost Hastur in the first place."
>King said with a smile, as emotions seemed to flow back into his face.
"Do not underestimate humans, spirit. Their determination is more powerful than what we used to be in ages past."
| >>184395
>You look like a young girl... This feels amazingly weird
"Don't mind it, its usually weird to shapeshift after-all"
>F's voice continues
"Oh, and a belated welcome to Burrow, Circa 2008, Hope you like it!"
| >>184401
"ME A MERE SPIRIT, DONT MAKE ME LAUGH, I AM THE KINSLAYER THE GREAT ONE WHO WRECKED HAVOC THROUGHT THIS WORLD"
>A shape detaches itself from the void and falls on the ground, a man appears before the soldiers
"Lets see what you can do, Fake god"
>The figure starts walking towards the yeloow king
| >>184405
"Uh... this is... you know, I'm not even going to try to explain how weird and probably ironic this is, so we're just going to move on. Burrow was the place this stuff last happened right? Where do we need to go to stop it this time?"
| >>184410
"If what I'm being fed isnt total bullshit, well you should head towards Central and confront the obelisk, before the great fire starts, we dont have much time"
>F says, seriously
"And be careful not to talk to anyone, they might want to take you home, you loli bastard"
>She laughs greatly
| >>184408
"Oh, I don't need to do anything. You don't understand, do you, spirit? Humanity at a whole is much bigger than any of the Elders. WHO'S DOMAIN DO YOU THINK ANCHORS CREATE, FOOL?"
>Insane smile crossed King's face.
"COME HERE, COME TO ME, AND TASTE WHAT A HUMAN DEATH FEELS LIKE, TASTE I'VE HAD OH SO MANY TIMES."
>He declared with a laughter, walking couple steps back into the zone of normality.
| >>184416
>He er... "she" starts heading that way
"Why do you make it seem like you're not coming along?"
| >Ophelia is yawning
"Great Ones showdowns sure aren't the same as they used to..."
>She finished patching up A-9 and sits down to warch the show
| >Soldiers start training their weapons on the figure, weapon mounts on the APCs moving to do the same. All of them seem confident in their ability to slay anithing, that would move into the zone of normality.
| (*anything)
| >>184419
"Do you see me anywhere? Cuz I dont see myself or anything else at all"
>F's voice says
"Seems you hijacked the body of someone, but I didnt get to hijack my own 08' body"
| >KS' Splinter raises its arms and mumbles a few words before placing its hands on the ground
"How about you taste death again, I tire of you and your tricks, begone"
>The room starts elevating ever higher and the figure hits the ground, making pieces of it crumble
"Fall down, just as humans always will"
| >>184428
"Hijacked? You know what, don't answer that, but I'm expecting a huge explanation of all this afterwards."
>CN keeps moving as he sets his ESPs up
| "Oh, what, you do not accept my invitation, spirit?"
>King suddenly came back to his senses.
"Don't tell me you got scared of the mere 'handiwork'?"
>He asks, openly mocking the figure.
>The part of the room, covered in Scranton Reality Anchors doesn't as much as twitch.
| >KS's spliner just laughs
"I dont heed insults just fall down and leave this place"
>The sides of the floor rigjt next to the anchors crumbles and starts to fall, lobing the protected side straight into the sky to fall
"Give us news, okay?"
>The figure laughs
| >>184441
"Sure, but for now keep walking or else we'll have a mess on our hands!"
>F's voice says
>You instinctively know where the Center is and wherr you need to go...
| >...Yet the part stays in place.
>One of the soldiers approaches the Yellow King, and hands over a small book.
>Blond boy opens the book, lists a couple pages and reads out loud.
"An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα (ankura). Anchors can either be temporary or permanent."
| >>184452
"Yeah, yeah. You know, if I knew I would be hacking an eldritch level AI when I first decided to help out a gurl in a bar and grill, I wish we had decided on a harder figure for a reward. I better get a 7 figure nuyen at *least* from this..."
>CN continues grumbling as he makes his way to the central, the words contrasting his new voice, as the four ESPs flank him once again.
| "Soldiers, load the grenade launchers!"
| >The figure just looks at the yellow king with a deadpan face
"Are you serious, really, after all this you wont just give up... Then i'll wait, just a few moments before im uploaded to the matrix, nothing you can do will stop me"
| >a whistling can be heard as several mortar shells land on the soldiers
>a feeling of being watched runs over everyone.
>any roads not already broken that hold troops begin to collapse and alarms begin to ring from any nearby working station
| >The Several of the Scranton Reality Anchors suddenly fizzle- a couple turn off entirely-
>But several others detonate violently, shattering men and equipment near them.
| >KS looks back and smiles
"Looks like trouble again"
>>184456
"Hey I aint the one paying you! Bring that up to the man in the suit, not me!"
>You arrive in a beautiful park and walk along a road for a certain time, until finally you arrive in front of a large Bronze obelisk, much like the one you hacked into before, The F.A.L
| >Even under fire, soldiers continue to carry on their orders. They dive for cover, be it still standing ACPs or rubble, and begin loading their underbarrel grenade launchers with small grenades with familiar red markings.
>Two APCs that had weapon mounts, turned them and started returning suppressive fire in the direction mortar shells came from.
"Everyone, fire when ready!, — >King screamed over the noise,
— target the terminals, nothing else matters! We need to cut him off!"
| >>184463
>its found the mortars are coming from GC Defense System. As more whistling occurs and more mortars fall on soldiers
>the feeling of being watched persists
| >>184464
>As if to answer you concern a mass of people start pooling up on each sides, forming a huge crowd, ypu cant really escape...
>You hear a sigh
"So you are the one causing me so much toil, so much hard ship, are you the next envoy of Iris or just a fool, why do you opose me?"
>A gruff voice rings out
| >>184468
"Well isn't it obvious? I'm not exactly gonna just sit by while you kill 5 million people and who knows how many more!"
| >>184467
"Oh great, Nidhogg went insane."
>King frowned, but soon collected himself.
"FIRE THE ANCHORS! NOW!"
>As he barked the order, the remaining soldiers unleashed a barrage of small SRAs into the direction of the terminals. Firing blind, only five of the anchors flew towards their destination.
| >>184474
>The voice sighs
"You know how it feels lile to be dead kid? Its not exactly the most amazing of feelings... Plus I had a good goal in mind at the start, I wanted to do good and save this world, unlike the lot of you all"
| >>184476
>A-20 pushes her hands forward and screams, deploying a barrier and stopping the anchors with a loud bang
>Explosions ring out everywhere as the shields crackles into thousand of small pieces
| >>184477
"I fail to see how genocide helps save the world, but please, continue telling me about how your ends justifies the means!"
>CN talks as he approaches the terminal, his ESPs nearby
| "Do you not get it? Mortality is the problem! Its why everyone kills plunders makes others suffer, it is evil, it breeds evil, I am the cure to it all
>You can hear his rage
"WHAT IS FIVE MILLION SINNERS YO HEAVEN, IF NOT THE JUST PRICE TO PAY?"
| >>184480
>Or at least would have pushed the anchors with her barrier — if they were to be affected by that barrier, that is. She did, however, stop two of them — by simply catching them with her naked hands, that pushed her backwards upon contact. Only affected by direct physical contact, remaining three anchors landed around the terminals, making anything supernatural around them perfectly normal.
>As such, the barrier faded, as soon as anchors landed near A-20.
| >>184494
>However, since the anchors require incredible amounts of energy to power, the fact that they were still connected in some way, shape, or form, to the city wide powergrid, meant that they were still being affected by someone... or something... that was not very happy.
| >>184494
>on the other side a bit of road shoots up and knocks the other anchors a large metal pole sticks up out of the ground before retracting in a near instant
>a mortar shell soons lands nearby
| >Something that continues to insist on overloading each anchor, one at a time. Some of them explode violently in the process.
| >>184488
"You know... you're probably right. I'm just a 21 year old human... who is weirdly stuck in an 8 year olds body, b-but lets not focus on that last detail! You probably know way more about this crap than I do. Maybe you really can help us. But even so... even so I can't, no I *refuse* to let this just occur. I know what *I* think is right or wrong, and killing, regardless of a goal, is wrong!"
>He, er... she continues
| >>184488
"Besides, all I hear is hypocrisy, you think mortality is bad because it causes us to suffer through death, yet yourself our offering a solution through that very suffering. In the end you're only serving your own goals in this, so don't make me laugh."
>CN approaches the terminal
"F! How do I stop this thing once and for all!"
| (wait, I'm a little confused. Which road is >>184497 talking about right now. Afaik, everithing is now happening in the remains of the underground vault, that is slowly ascends upwards in the glowing beam of cool special effects?)
| >>184506(It is the room is slowly lifting itself up im a freak display of magnetism on a large scale)
| >>184502
"YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING, DEATH ISNT THE PAIN, CONFLICT WILL BREW IF YOU STOP ME! A WORLD OF PEACE AND YET YOU WOULD DESTROY IT!"
>The surroundings start crumbling and a loud noise is heard
>F's voice sounds distant
"Imput th- command- touch it NOW"
"YOU CANNOT DO THIS, SINFUL ONE, BURN IN THE FLAMES LET YOURSELF. BECOME THE FIRST TO PAY FOR PARADISE!"
>The crowds start to run towards the loli CN
| >>184520
"It isn't yours or anyone else choice to make! No one will ever have to choose again!"
>CN says as he slams his palm on the terminal, his ESP forming a riot squad style shield to buy even the briefest of moments for him
| >The crowds overrun you but you can feel something, its there
>A SCREAM. ECHOES. INTO. THE MACHINE
>the world crumbles around you and KS is heard for the last time
"I WILL BE BACK, THE CYCLE WILL GO ON YOU ONLY PROLONG IT, I WILL DESTROY IT ALL, FOR PARADISE!"
>A gigantic screeching sound affects the surroundings and you start feeling sick again
| >>184523
"F-Fuck off... AI..."
>CN tries to mumble out to himself but fails as he tries to regain his senses again
| >Ophelia is merely protecting A-9 at this point, jumping out and in of cover to avoid the onslaught of mortars
"Troublesome, so troublesome, all troublesome, hurry up Koro, hurry up, We can't wait much longer."
| (Answers might be slow, sucks for me since it's the climax)
| >CN comes back to his sense, realizing he is now floating on a piece of ground several hundreds of meters above the ground
"Welcome back geek boy, looks like you managed to do it in time!"
>F says, releasing the now lifeless terminal, her arm burned and injured in many locations
"Damn good thing because my arm was about to give in throughout that whole thing, I fucking hate naked Diving"
| >A-9 is laying on her back close to Ophelia, but she raises a thumbs up and grins smugly
"N-Nothing can kill me daze, hope that didnt jinx me..."
>F just looks at her arm
"Dont worry, that was a small price to pay to stop that experiment... Bit I guess Ill be missing two arms now, talk about lucky"
>She sighs
| >Ophelia is now chatting on what looks like an ancient radio, unlike her previous equipement, this one seems lifeless.
"Yes, Over, ritual is. We did, yes... understood."
>She turns to the rest
"What's the plan now? We won, didn't we? We won, yes."
| >>184612
>A-20 looks at Ophelia
"Yes, we won, the terminal is life less, KS is no more"
>Her legs give out and she starts heaving
"Fucking hell when all the tension goes away... Ah"
>She says
"We're going to have to contact ICHIKA, but first, lets try and get off this rock"
| >Ophelia sighs, still on her radio, before turning to A-20
"Steven on the line, he wants to talk."
>She seems somewhat angry
| >>184610
"Don't worry I know a good Aug gurl I can recommend you later."
>He turns to A-9
"Glad we all made it then, let's get the hell out of here."
| >>184623
>A-20 picks up the transceiver
"Hi?"
>>184627
>A-9 smiles
"It hurts like a bitch..."
>F chuckles
"Introduce me yeah? And I think our lift is coming"
>A large chopper appears on the horizon, bearing a large crest in the shape of a stylized A, its disguised as a news chopper thay reads "Alpha news network"
| >>184630
"Don't worry A-9, I'll give you some stuff and patch you up now."
>He looks up at the chopper
"Thank God, I don't think I've been quite this exhausted since the Summit."
| >The chopper pulls in closer and its doors open, an older looking gentleman wearing a black coat with a Delta symbol on it extends his hand
"Come on in, this place is going to crumble down!"
>He says
| >>184630
/Sorry for calling you like this/
>The dandy voice of an older gentlemen rings out from the radio
/I couldn't contact you, and ICHIKA kept me out of the loop, so when I saw the Terminal activate... I got worried. However, since the whole world isn't resetting, I'm guessing this one's our final cut?/
| >>184637
>A-20 nods
"We did it, its over"
>She climbs aboard the chopper dragging along F
"We killed KS, his data is gone"
| >>184640
/Good riddence, you did really well. I assume you'll want to contact ICHIKA now, no? I need to speak to him, where is Delta going to take you now, I'll meet up./
>He marks a pause, voices are heard in the background
/I also need to thank our associates personally./
| >>184636
>He grabs the man's hand to enter inside, as he pulls F in with the other hand.
"Come on gurls, lets get out of here!"
| >>184642
"We're going to the safehouse in Cathedral-1, meet you there"
>A-20 steps into the chopper
>>184643
"That was amazing what you did, a magnificent display of skill, luck and logic"
>CN hears another voice, and notices another girl wearing a white coat, with the characters A-13 written on it
"I was about to push the big red button of doom, good thing I didnt have to!"
>Alpha-13 says while laughing
| >Ophelia takes her radio back and shoves it down her throat as she boards the helicopter
"Good job, you two, We applaud your skill, truly impressive, no running away, Strong, reliable, other qualificative adjectives..."
| >>184648
>CN scratches his cheek somewhat sheepishly
"I didn't do much, I did the simple stuff, the others were the real heros that helped me get here."
| >>184656
>Alpha-13 just laughs and slaps her knee, while looking at Delta-4
"You heard him delty! Ahahah"
>She extends her arm towards CN
"The name's Titor by the way, happy to meet you"
>She says jokingly
| >Throughout the barrage of explosions, mortar fire and SRAs overloading, King felt that the ground begin to accelerate downwards, meaning that whatever force counteracting the Scranton Reality Anchors attempts to drop the levitating rock, no longer did so. Which could only lead to his forces being smashed into the ground.
"RETREAT, EVERYONE RETREAT GODDAMNIT — >he barked,
— INJURED AND DEAD GET LOADED FIRST."
>He raised his right hand to his ear.
"Albert, extreme extraction."
| >Black soldiers started moving, loading their comrades into APCs. Once done, all APCs got moving... Driving off the rock they were on!
| >>184660
>He shakes her hand
"I'm gonna guess your first name is John then based off these events?"
| >As all three vehicles started falling towards the ground, immense black hovercraft decloacked in the air. Magnetic grapples clanged once, twice, trice, and the craft vanished in the air again, three APCs under its belly.
| >>184665
>Ophelia whistles and tries to pat CN's hand
"He's smart, he gets it, We're impressed, hehe."
| >>184665
>She claps her hands
"Woo, a smart one! Yes the name's John, but some fellows would like to call me A-13"
>She says with mock anger in her voice
"You are free to do so as well!"
| >>184669 >>184670
"Well it all started with an IBM5100..."
>He sighs, the exhaustion finally catching up with him
"Right now I just want to patch up A-9 and sit for a bit... that last part was draining... and confusing..."
| >>184673
"F is fine, all that matters to Us, will need new arms though... maybe aug this too."
>Ophelia taps F's chest.
| >A-9 groans and takes off her coat
"I hooe you know how to handle this..."
>Her wound is covered in bandages but the bullet is still inside her
>A-13 grabs a first aid kit
"I'll help~ Titor! The nurse who will heal you gently!"
>She says while imitating cutesy manneurism
"This kid..."
>Sighs D-4
| >>184677
"Yea I know someone who I can suggest later, don't worry."
>>184678
>He pulls out his own medkit from his bag as he pulls out some forceps and disinfectant to remove the bullet.
| >>184682
>After some work on A-9 and lots of curses and grunts of pain coming from her small body, she is sleeping soundly, in a safe conditon
"Nice work! Kyu-tan is saved! Dunno who bandaged her that fast down there, but good job she would of died otherwise."
>A-13 adds on a somber tone
>The chopper flies towards Cathedral-1
| >>184688
"You would make Us blush, but We have no blood, just like any human, We're normal, aren't we? You know we are, right? We are.
>She extands her hand towards A-13
"We taught you something, Tuition fee, please. So greedy, Humans are."
This thread is permanently archived
| >The Alpha team's van was racing across the streets, going straight ahead for the flooded district.
>Inside A-20 claps to get the attention of everyone
"Alright everyone, its time to make a plan and brief the new arrivals on who we are fighting in particular"
>Her 'voice' says to everyone in the van, as she approaches the holographic display in the center of the room