[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img] [b][color=ea590c]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,883 (+3 exp) [b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 6 (16 cells) [/color][/b][color=ea590c]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/ (59/60) [b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - Krat Zoo [/center] There was a series of explosions behind Edward, but he was entirely focused ahead with a great deal of concern of what they were going to run into, and a secondary but still very large concern that they’d run into, or rather over, Heismay. Fortunately, the man was not made into roadkill beneath paws, hooves and wheels, and the other end of the tunnel turned out to be a safe zone of sorts. A few bushes and lit lanterns where all that greeted them rather than any more hulking or lurking horrors, for which Edward was very thankful. As the Reindrix slowed and then stopped, the man released his deathgrip on their reins and pushed himself out of the seat. He was winded after the fight, even if not as much as those who’d been running and fighting, but he still put in the effort to check on all the stagecoach pullers for injuries, self or enemy inflicted. Fortunately they were mostly ok, baring the one that had rammed the mandril, which had a few light scratches on it that he used his feather staff striker to repair. After that, he checked the bushes for any sign of blight, before letting the Reindrix have a munch on the leaves as they so pleased. As it turned out, there’d be some opportunity for the people to eat as well as the beasts soon enough, though unfortunately Edward did not have any food on him to add to it. At the moment. As it turned out, there was an opportunity to gather some to be found in the botanical garden, which was absolutely overgrown with plants, some of which turned out to be edible. Edward, wanting to stretch his legs as much as anything, had joined the party on this little expedition without any golem forces accompanying him. Upon finding out there was succor to be gathered however, he changed his mind about that. [color=ea590c]”You go on ahead, I’ll summon up some forces to sweep the area for everything edible rather than waste the time of more valuable hands on the endeavor. I’m sure the people back on the Avenger will appreciate any excess fresh produce we can gather as a result of that automation[/color] Edward said to the others, before finding a spot to perform the rituals necessary first to recharge his mana fuel cells, and to then craft the golems needed for the job. Bronze and Copper would do. With the dense foliage and presence of explosive plants, inferno hounds were a poor choice, naturally, while cannons would cause collateral damage. Plus, the spear and helbard wielders were most suited to having their swords turned into plowshears. Or rather polearms turned into scyths, as spears were used as clumsy knives to cut the stems of tomatoes, ground cherries, and popcorn plants, while the helbards were used to hook around and pull down the star brambles. Of course, this was Galeem’s world, and so Edward’s dream of using automations for peaceful purposes rather than war was always a distant fantasy. The toothy plants weren't exactly an issue, polearms were perfect for dealing with these statically positioned foes, but the Arche Puppets were another matter entirely. Edward had audibly noted interest in these machines already, and though he’d avoided them while with the other seekers, now that he’d split off he was ever so interested in testing their capabilities. Plus, his golems weren't exactly capable of stealth anyway. Their motions where, to Edward’s eye, nothing short of [color=ea590c]”Remarkable fluidity”[/color], as the one he’d sent a copper golem squad to engage artfully parried spear thrusts with its reinforced arms. Naturally, having seen the likes of Blazermate, Ramattra and so on, he was aware that his creations lagged behind other worlds, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t respect craftsmanship when he saw it. He was especially impressed how, when it failed to make any headway against the wall of spears with its kicks, it backed off, baiting his golems into the sight path of another puppet, after which the two worked together to encircle the spear formation so that one could attack from the flank. Unfortunately for them, once it became clear they were going to win, Edward broke his passive observation, aimed his magelock pistol at the one flip kicking a golem, and squeezed the trigger right after casting Designated Target on it. The round punched straight through the cranium of the machine, dropping it as the sound of the shot echoed through the garden. Which proved to be a problem, because the other puppets quickly came running. [color=ea590c]”Very clever creations these”[/color] Edward noted more with interest than concern, as he commanded his 2 other copper golems forwards to form a proper wall of spears rather than a lone flankable block. The first pupped didn’t charge this, nor did the second or thirds, and Edward, unwilling to risk setting fire to the harvest, allowed them to do this rather than unleashing his real firepower. Soon enough the dozen or so former forest patrollers had formed up into their own formation opposite his wall [color=ea590c]”Is that everyone?”[/color] Edward asked, rhetorically, before declaring [color=ea590c]”Good. Now, let's put you through a proper stress test, shall we?”[/color] as the trees behind him shifted, the puppet’s gazes rose, and the two towering Bronze golems finally emerged from their distant hiding spot. There was a pause, and then the puppets rushed the spearwall en masse, hurrying to try and thin his force’s numbers before the bronze golems could close in. In response Edward shot one with his pistol, and then summoned his Reaver striker behind his spearlines. The oversized squid beast, towering over everything except the trees, raised its front tendrils and began to rain a swift series of tentacle strikes down on the puppets presently trying to kick their way through the spearwall. Some had taken the flanks however, and Edward got himself directly involved to prevent his spears being pincered. He charged one that pivoted away from its attack on the copper golem’s flanks to instead deliver a flip kick his way. Rather than dodge out of the way, Edward lunged forward, portal dodging through the attack, before halting his momentum with a flap of his wings. He then pivoted around, entirely aware of where the Puppet was behind him thanks to having his creation’s vision as well as his own, and delivered a 180 swing with his weapon. He did so not with anything so piddly as his onehanded warscyth however, but instead delivering a cleaving strike with one of Ganondorf’s armory stored greatswords he’d retrieved while the battle lines were being drawn. Not his usual style, but he did have the training, and the metal Puppets were, well, made of metal, and therefore tough. Just not tough enough to take a greatsword cleaving into them. Nor a sweeping helbard strike, which the Bronze Golem began delivering once it had reached the engagement, which swiftly cleaned up the remaining Puppets. As impressively designed as they were, their combat style was truly artful in its grace and sophistication, Edward did have to wonder why they’d not simply been equipped with weapons instead. It would have been much more practical. As it turned out, he’d soon enough find what looked like it might be an explanation up above. After gathering up the spirits, healing up his golems, and putting them back on harvesting duty Edward caught up with the others, who’d had their own relatively onesided conflict with the Puppets found on the raised perimeter. [color=ea590c]”I shall investigate the penthouse then”[/color] Edward said, in response to Ace investigating the other building, and Geralt sticking with Sandalphon. Once up out of the treeline, Edward abandoned the catwalks themselves, and simply took flight, making a direct beeline for his destination rather than winding his way through the aerial maze, leading to him making it to his destination without incident. Within, he found the possible reason why the guards had been so interestingly designed: an (inert) puppet hanging suspended above a private study of some sort, all of which indicated that they had been the product of a person with an academic mind rather than a military one. Edward might have the latter, but he could certainly respect that. Just not quite enough to not rearrange his mana cell usage to free up space for another Bronze Golem squad to be used to cut down the puppet so he could take a look at it up close and see what might make it tick. Or, might make it tick anyway, given it was presumably missing whatever spark had been animating the Arch Puppets. While they were at that, he let Sandalphon know about the study, given that she might also find the study of interest. He then also got to itemising the collected puppet spirits [hider=Items Obtained] [url=https://i.imgur.com/Y1vWeid.png][b]Legion Plug[/b][/url]: An essential component in the creation of sophisticated weaponized mechancial limbs. Rare among puppets, since the vast majority were never intended for combat. In the hands of a skilled engineer, it wouldn't take much more than this to craft an exceptional prosthetic arm [b]Vivid Ergo Crystal[/b] x3: A mysterious, bright blue power stone rich in some kind of strange energy. It can be absorbed by certain machines and turned into power [b][url=https://i.imgur.com/1365nzH.png]Goldweave Bolero[/url][/b]: A stylish, high-quality, and very expensive jacket worn by a female automaton. It is extremely flexible and, despite ostensibly being made of gold, surprisingly durable. While it won't protect its wearer, its embedded polymers can repair itself after sustaining moderate damage [b]Neuro-polymer Canister[/b]: A container filled with a highly advanced plastic material which is akin to conductive liquid silicon. Also known as Red Polymer, his specific kind is able to reproduce all the physical processes necessary to simulate neurons, making it extremely valuable for the creation of hyper-capable neural networks in advanced machines, as well as the integration of their components [b]Mind Map Copy[/b]: A storage drive containing a valuable deep learning protoform. These pristine 'tabula rasa' are useful for repairing intelligent machines that have suffered AI damage [b][url=https://i.imgur.com/BkmHdIg.png]Codename Zarathrustra[/url][/b]: An early working model of a pair of handheld orbital-application laser tools, Zarathustra requires the vacuum of space to properly function. Here on the planet it remains a sturdy manipulator suited for the handling of extreme low-temperature superconductors. When wielded on one's hands these lightweight gauntlets can deal electric impact damage at a fast rate [b][url=https://i.imgur.com/VrGJR2m.png]Metal Head[/url][/b]:The head of a machine with stunningly lifelike hair, if not for its metallic composition. While it lacks a face, with only a glowing slot on its front, the material composition of the faceplate suggests some sort malleability [b][url=https://i.imgur.com/NK71IXy.png]Refined Metal[/url][/b] x2: Dense, high-quality material, perfectly suited to crafting [b]E-Drug[/b]: A potent narcotic for artificial life forms. It disrupts visual and auditory feeds for upwards of half an hour, while also generating other random effects. Highly addictive [/hider] The results themselves were certainly interesting in and of themselves, but perhaps more the remit of the advanced mundane sciences in many cases. He did wonder if the crystals would be usable to power the winged puppet however, though fortunately resisted this temptation given the potentially violent result of powering it up. An experiment to do after they’d looked at/packed up all the research material found within the study.