[center][h3]Arahabaki - Humanity’s Mastery[/h3]
Level 5 Sandalphon (64/50)
Geralt’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Karin’s [@Zoey Boey], Pit’s [@Yankee]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1133[/center]

While both Sandalphon and Geralt were smaller, they still made the most of long strides as they left their battleground with the business team behind. Despite her inclination to check in with the other teams and confirm their status, the archangel suppressed the urge to reach out to them for now, since she could not discount the possibility that some could still be fighting. If they needed her for guidance or emergency healing, they could always call, and she drew some comfort from the fact that none had. Only when Roxas and Goldlewis contacted her first did she engage in communication, though she couldn’t be as helpful as she would have liked.

Other than that, she left the Seekers undisturbed. As a veteran correspondent, she knew just how disastrous an innocuous distraction could be when paired with the worst possible timing, and no matter the battlefield, it paid to assume the worst. That said, she had no reason to doubt her new allies’ capabilities so far. Those she fought alongside in Zone 09 last night, as well as above the Neuron headquarters in Veles, had proved themselves quite capable. Once she completed an operation with the whole crew she’d have a much better idea of where they stood in terms of competence, and how she could help even the odds. Although, with the fight against Midgar’s guardian just around the proverbial corner, the time for constructive criticism had probably passed.

Of course, she and the others hadn’t reached the big, bad boss just yet. Sandalphon doubted that Arahabaki’s security system would place any intruders right next to its core, so everyone had a lot of ground to cover before they reached their final battle. The archangel and the Witcher navigated across the archipelago of elevated computer modules, and the unpredictable conveyor bridges that connected them, as fast as they could. As they gradually approached Arahabaki’s center, the different pathways began to coalesce like river tributaries, growing closer and finally connecting. Though Sandalphon paid attention to where she was going, she kept a sharp eye out for any of the others. This meant that when a few of her allies finally appeared -an elegant woman with distinctive ringlets of long blonde hair and a young man with angels’ wings- she spotted them immediately. Reaching up, she pinched one of the mouthpieces that dangled beneath her halo between her thumb and index finger, then held it up to her gray lips.

“Pit, Karin, do you read me?” she asked. “We’re on your right. I’ll jump so you can see us.”

Using Vault, she flung herself into the air, then began to slowly float down. This also gave her a chance to survey the array of modules up ahead, and her all-seeing eyes mapped its layout in an instant. “We’re getting close to the center. I see a possible rendezvous point up ahead, just in front of a large staircase. Let’s reconvene there.”

After another minute, different conveyor bridges brought the two pairs together on top of a tall, octagonal module. Though most of the spiritualistic decorations around Arahabaki belied some mechanical function, this particular tower seemed more like an actual rest stop than anything, with benches against the railings on the sides without bridge connections and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/KX6cCB8.png]strange artifact[/url] floating in the middle that gave off a soothing blue light. When Geralt and Sandalphon got close to it, the beacon shimmered and topped off their health through unknown means. “How useful,” the archangel murmured, appraising the others’ condition. “It looks like we’re all in good shape. We met with some resistance on the way, but as you can see we were able to claim victory and subsume their power.” It turned out that Pit and Karin managed to get here unopposed, if one didn’t count turrets, lasers, and mines as opposition. “We’ll continue together then, but please stay alert. It’s very unlikely that we’ve seen the last of what Shinra has to throw at us.”

It did not take long for Sandalphon to be proven right. When the four set off, they climbed the massive staircase leading off from one side of the rest stop, which led to a much larger, higher-up module nearby. Since the area where she wound up featured a below-average elevation, Sandalphon was grateful for more of a vantage point with which she could get a grasp on Arahabaki’s layout. Climbing the stairs took some effort, but when she and the others reached the top, they found themselves on a large square module. Very tall, ornate computer towers stood on its four corners, greatly resembling pagodas. Along the railings between them were poles that supported drooping arches of bundled red cables, giving this area a particularly ceremonial look, like some sort of festival ground. As far as the archangel could tell, this mega-module appeared to be some sort of processing center, one of three that ringed Arahabaki’s central pillar if she had to hazard a guess.

Her speculation came to an end, however, as a loud noise from Arahabaki’s ceiling high above signaled another emergency deployment. When she looked up, Sandalphon spotted the first of three more drop pods headed her way. In a few moments, this place would become an arena. “Incoming hostiles,” she warned the others. “Prepare yourselves for escalation.”

After another moment, the drop pod slammed down, its bright green thrusters flickered out, and its doors slid open. This time the carapace did not release another team of four, however. Instead a familiar man could be seen inside, idly rolling a silver coin across his knuckles. After a moment he flicked it with his thumb, the steely [i]ting[/i] ringing out across the silent festival grounds. Then he caught it in his palm and stepped out from inside the drop pod with a ghastly, red-eyed, purple creature at his heels. Hideous teeth bared, it trotted alongside its master, its collar connected to him via an arched energy beam. [url=https://i.imgur.com/Q3zkkX4.png]The man[/url] ran a gloved hand through his stylishly coiffed blonde hair as Darkstar bared his teeth. “You’re the same group from last night, aren’t you?”

“Rufus Shinra,” Sandalphon said flatly, one hand on her gunstaff and the other ready to reach for her rifle. “I’m honored.”

“Yeah, you should be honored. It’s not every day I welcome visitors in person.” He coolly inspected his foes for a moment, then gave them a wry smile. “Still, I’m a busy man.” Darkstar snarled, and as Sandalphon pulled out the Eye of Sol, Rufus whipped out a beefy carbine that he split into [url=https://i.imgur.com/7GQBusr.png]two guns[/url], training them on his foes. “Let’s make it a morning to remember.”

[center][h3]Arahabaki - Humanity’s Justice[/h3]
Level 6 Goldlewis (138/60)
Susie’s [@Archmage MC], Sakura’s [@Zoey Boey], Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1251 (Not on purpose)[/center]

Goldlewis and Susie exited the fortress-like walled module and proceeded across a winding bridge, which at least had the good grace to not convey the two backward. This one traced a serpentine path up, down, and around the open air, snaking between several stone monoliths. The veteran had to admit that even with some of the strange places he’d been to over the years, this one really took the cake. Its construction and aesthetic, so culturally identifiable and yet so alien at the same time, just struck him as incredibly surreal. Like some artificial intelligence had studied Japanese architecture, then attempted to recreate what it had seen. This supercomputer, he knew, stored the knowledge and facilitated the communication of an entire civilization, and he wasn’t just seeing it, but walking and fighting on it. If he wasn’t on a mission, and this place wasn’t so dangerous, he might have liked to wander around for a while just to absorb the brainchild of whatever demented creativity created this place. Unfortunately, he and the others had a job to do, and they could neither dilly nor dally.

While riding the conveyor, he did take a moment to tap the glyph from Sandalphon in order to contact the Seekers’ coordinator. “Come in, Halo.”

“This is Halo,” Sandalphon replied immediately, still happy to use the codename from yesterday. “What do you need?”

The speed and intensity of her response made Goldlewis chuckle. “Oh, nothin’, we’re fine, I’m just checkin’ to make sure y’all are too.”

“Oh.” For a moment, the archangel sounded genuinely taken aback, which involved more emotion than Goldlewis was used to from her. Just as he suspected, she was more used to being the one who considered others, and not the one who received consideration. “How thoughtful. Geralt and I are well, thank you. Be advised that we did both undergo fusion.”

“Gotcha,” Goldlewis replied, spotting some turrets up ahead. “Over and out.”

He and Susie bashed through the next section together, taking turns to demolish various turrets with their long-distance attacks. They seemed to be set up in the form of a gauntlet to funnel enemies through choke points in order to accumulate maximum damage, but neither of them planned to play by the defenders’ rules. Once they dealt with that, the two continued through the chain of technological ‘islands’, past heat sinks that radiated overpowering warmth, storage vats of emergency coolant, and all manner of gizmos styled after Shinto shrines. They even found a bright blue [url=https://i.imgur.com/KX6cCB8.png]gizmo[/url] floating inside one of the shrines that healed them when they approached, and though that meant that the bacon agaric might have been unnecessary, the existence of health-restoring checkpoints in Arahabaki was useful knowledge to have.

Aside from the turrets, mines, and a few other rather optimistic methods of keeping out intruders, the trip toward the pair’s destination went smoothly. A little too smooth for Goldlewis’ liking, in fact. He reckoned that this must be the calm before the storm, since he couldn’t possibly imagine that the people thrown his and Susie’s way were the extent of Arahabaki’s resistance. Part of the way through his journey to the center, Goldlewis caught sight of movement in the distance, and after slowing down for a better look he realized who he was looking at. Nobody would wear that much black, or a collar that high, other than Zenkichi. Despite his lack of peripheral vision, he and Sakura had evidently trounced their opposition and even gotten ahead of their less speedy allies. “Hey!” Goldlewis bellowed, waving his free arm as he barreled across a ceremonial courtyard. “Wait up!”

The four quickly came together, exchanging brief accounts of what they’d run into. It sounded like Zenkichi and Sakura ran into a fully-kitted team too, albeit one composed of unscrupulous scientists rather than soldiers and war machines. It also sounded like they’d managed to get through with less fatalities, although Goldlewis wasn’t sure whether or not he should count Jack-8 and Jacqueline for the purpose of that comparison. Regardless, a win's a win, and with more battles sure to come the four could be that much more certain of future victories by working together.

Scarcely had they come to that consensus, though, before enemy reinforcements were dispatched. More pods rained down from on high, and with his crew Goldlewis closed in on the nearest one. If the reinforcements turned out to be another team of four, this would probably go more smoothly than last time, but by that same logic Goldlewis figured that this couldn’t possibly be another team of four. They had already proven themselves, and it was onto the defenders to up the ante. And once the pod came down and opened its doors wide, Goldlewis was proven right.

Strangely, the man who exited the pod didn’t look like a fighter. Of average height and build, he sported a brown goatee, sideburns, and well-combed hair, and he wore a navy blue suit casually over a simple white shirt. To both Goldlewis and Zenkichi, however, this was no ordinary businessman. No, he was [url=https://i.imgur.com/KbGXHnu.png]Akira Konoe[/url], head of Public Security for the Shinra Administration and the second most powerful man in Midgar, higher in station than either Truman Zanotto of Psych-OSF or Rufus Shinra, boss of General Affairs and the president’s own son. His ordinary appearance belied a staggering amount of authority, not to mention history. For Zenkichi, this also happened to be a man who’d almost brought Japan to its knees, nearly succeeding in establishing his dominion over the minds of every citizen with the power of the collective consciousness.

“A warm welcome to the terrorists and traitors who’ve been sabotaging Midgar in its darkest hour,” he declared, wasting no time. “As if crushing Vandelay, crippling Neuron, and tearing the OSF in half weren’t enough, now you’re here to take Arahabaki, the beating heart of our city’s infrastructure. Its life’s blood! It’s because of [i]you[/i] that we don’t have the manpower to keep Midgar safe. Working with murderers like Jena, and psychopaths like Karen. How many must die before you’re satisfied?” He raised his fists. “Well, your rampage stops here. In the name of justice, I have vowed to exterminate evil!”

At that moment, something huge fell from the sky, hitting the ground with enough force to send out a shockwave that knocked the Seekers over. Goldlewis hit the ground with a grunt, the wind knocked from his lungs, and as he struggled to fill them he raised his head and saw a huge [url=https://i.imgur.com/nwQr3KM.png]machine[/url] of black, white, gold, and red. Konoe was walking toward it, speaking as he went. “There are no real heroes left. So…why not make our own?” As he climbed a golden staircase of hard light toward the machine’s cockpit, gilded silver armor constructed itself on him piece by piece. “The world needs someone willing to fight for its people’s justice. A hero to lead them, to unify them. A hero like me!” 

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/3d2bekw.png[/img][/center]

Konoe took his place at the machine’s controls, and its lid closed as the Seekers rose. With titanic tread the Zephyrus Mech plodded forward, shaking the ground with every step. It lifted its fists, tightening them with grand determination as it projected Konoe’s voice. “And if I’m the hero, that makes YOU the villains!”

[center][h3]Arahabaki - Humanity’s Freedom[/h3]
Blazermate’s [@Archmage MC], Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Roxas’ [@Double], Giovanna[/center]

With the help of their respective wolves, Giovanna and Midna left the technological rock garden in their rear-view mirror. After wrapping her arms and legs around her mount’s neck and sides respectively, Gio awarded herself a much-deserved break and let Rei take over, relaxing in her green fluff as she bounced along to the tune of padded footpaws pattering across plastic. The two were spiritually in sync, after all, and the same bond that allowed them to fight like one being let them navigate the treacherous obstacles of Arahabaki’s module network with barely a word between them. Though Midna’s changed form burdened her twilit wolf more than usual, the shadowy beast managed to keep pace as the duo progressed toward their goal. Naturally the duo didn’t pick the right path every time, or get through the hazards unscathed, but their speed and agility meant that they were never waylaid for long. Still, Giovanna couldn’t rest easy; this infiltration was far from over. Sooner or later, she knew, the other shoe would drop.

First, though, the two had a happy accident. Without meaning to, they stumbled right into another pair of Seekers lost in the maze. Rei and Giovanna’s sense of smell helped facilitate the chance encounter, but Gio couldn’t say for sure (and Rei couldn’t say, period) who they’d run into until they met Blazermate and Roxas face to face. The reunion took place at an intersection of bridges, in a sort of large gazebo, where metal lanterns shone with immense amounts of data. “Oh hey, it’s you.” By now, Gio knew very well what the medabot was capable of, and after Rei pulled up alongside the team healer to make things easy. “Patch us up?”

Once the last traces of the fight against Erendira’s firing squad had been smoothed over, the four could get going together. The team-up went without question, and with Arahabaki’s core construct looming over an increasingly dense array of interconnected modules, it didn’t seem much longer until they’d run into the others too. Before they could reunite with the other teams, however, the Seekers’ luck ran out.

More drop pods fell from Arahabaki’s ceiling, though half as many this time compared to the first wave. Giovanna couldn’t help but wonder if that meant whoever was orchestrating all this had traded quantity for quality, but she didn’t want to jinx it. The first two pods fired off in quick succession, and after a moment’s delay the third began to descend as well, which happened to be the one headed her way. “Yeahhh, I figured that was too easy,” she complained. The pod descended to the module just ahead of her crew on the path they’d be forced to take. Gio sighed and slid off Gio onto her feet, where she jumped up and down to stretch her legs. “Well. Guess we’ll go and say hi.”

The four rode the next conveyor bridge and arrived at the largest module they’d seen yet. Situated pretty close to Arahabaki’s main pillar, it looked like a large pavilion, decorated with all sorts of artificial flora. Some appeared to be bundles of cables, wires, and so forth bound together in an approximation of plantlife, while others were just holographic. Power lines bound with red cords were arrayed like thickets of bamboo, and there were pagoda lanterns with vivid lights that hummed like bug zappers. In the middle of this pavilion stood a round bed of ‘grass’ around a huge, fake tree whose practical purpose could not be discerned, with a foot-thick braid of cable wrapped around its trunk. By now the drop pod had already landed, crushing one of the techno-flowerbeds. As the Seekers watched, it opened, and a burly man stepped out. At first glance he didn’t look like much, with a standard collared shirt, slacks, and yellow tie, accompanied by thick-rimmed glasses, a receding hairline, and plenty of blemishes. This was not just any man, though, and his frame proved it. ‘Swole’ didn’t do him justice; his clothes seemed liable to burst apart at any moment. Moreover, Giovanna knew his name, and anyone who’d paid any attention at all during the presidential debate would, too.

“Huh! So this is what Arahabaki looks like!” The [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ah63diu.png]musclebound politician[/url] commented, one arm supporting the other’s elbow as he held a smoking cigar. “Not bad! A little phony for my tastes, but I like the spirit!”

For once, Gio actually looked surprised. “Armstrong? The hell are you doing here? Wait, don’t tell me…were you secretly working with Shinra all this time?”

Armstrong turned, seemingly noticing the four for the first time. His lip curled in a smirk. “Hah. Don’t be stupid. I’m here for a little business. A hostile takeover, you might say. As a matter of fact, I just got done tearing the president in two.” Grinning, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mote of prismatic light that could only be a spirit. When he held it up, Gio could just barely make out the face of a [url=https://i.imgur.com/CoZJFsE.png]mustached man[/url] inside. More obvious were the bloodstains on Armstrong’s fingers, poorly wiped off. “...With my bare hands!”

Faced with that revelation, Giovanna found herself lost for words. Shinra, dead? The most powerful man in Midgar, and the architect of the current state of affairs, killed by his rival with neither publicity nor fanfare? Gio blinked rapidly, shaking her head for a second, then put her arms akimbo. “Huh. Out with the old, in with the new, I guess?”

“Oh yeah.” Armstrong laid his fist against his chest. “Shinra was a coward, and a weakling. A chicken-shit bureaucrat, hiding away at the first sign of trouble, and that limp-dick cabinet of his is just as bad. Midgar needs ACTION, not words. Strength, not committee! All that work setting up a damn police state, and they can’t even crush a couple tin cans. Pathetic! So I’m draining the swamp. In my Midgar, the weak will die, and the strong will survive to live as they see fit.” He spread his arms wide, as if before a crowd. “To fight and kill for themselves!”

Gio held up her hands appeasingly, more than a little concerned. “Whoa, whoa. You oughta save, uh, gems like that for the campaign trail, mister. The tin cans are out there, you know. Why are you in here?”

“Right, that!” Armstrong pushed up his glasses, then crossed his arms. “Well, right after I got done with Shinra, I saw he got a little message. So I patched it through, and I saw everything going on down here. Including [i]you[/i] people. You know, this whole draining-the-swamp thing would be a lot easier if I still had DespoRHado around to get their hands dirty for me.” He glowered at the Seekers. “I was watching, you know. I saw ‘em all get trashed during the raid yesterday, thanks to you punks and that angel bitch. So I figured I’d come on down and help myself to a nice big breakfast of revenge, served cold!”

Armstrong pounded his fist into his palm strong enough to send off a wave of air pressure as his hands turned jet-black, their veins bright silver. He cracked his knuckles, grinning. “So let’s start cracking some eggs!”