[center][h2]Geralt of Rivia [/h2]
Spire 04- Orca Space Complex
Lvl 15 Geralt (129/140) -> (132/150) 360% -> 385 % OL Charged (Lvl 3)
Word count: 1,301 words [/center]



As the end of the hypertube approached, Geralt shifted his weight to push himself as far ahead of the stagecoach as he could, not wanting to get crushed if he didn’t get out of the way in time. The rapid but contained deceleration from the reverse arrows was appreciated as well, curbing his momentum safely rather than sending him skittering across the room violently. He quickly shuffled away from the exit to the hypertube as the stagecoach and the others exited it, watching to make sure they all made it in one piece. A quick heal from Sandalphon ensured that they were all in good condition to carry forward, as well. 

When Sandalphon gave her analysis of the area around them, Geralt spoke up quickly. “I’ll go through the cargo system. No point waiting to see if the gate’s open.” As Ed set up the Creature Creator, Geralt had an idea, releasing Tirn from his Pokeball. “We can use something from him, as well.” He alerted the others, bending down to rub the Shieldon’s plated head. “Just gonna grab some sheddings, alright?” He soothed the Pokemon, running his gauntleted hand down its back. A few scales shed off from the impromptu brushing, and Geralt offered those to the others to use as they saw fit. 

Returning the Shieldon to its Pokeball, Geralt left the others to make his way to the cargo sorting system. It consisted of passageways floored with conveyor belts that slowly dragged even massive cargo containers along their paths. Lasers like the ones in the office above Vauban blocked a number of points, some static in large groups that would block all access, and others moving about to scan the height of the passage by its lonesome. The placements seemed sporadic, and by the fact that the lasers seemed to be unable to harm the cargo containers that were pulled along the conveyor belts, that was likely by design to trip up any would-be intruders like him. 

The first laser was an incredibly simple single laser node, slowly moving up and down. He simply walked along the conveyor belt like a treadmill, waiting for the emitter to rise above his height before quickly dashing past it. Next were a few sets of lasers that were lower to the ground, though still high enough to reach the head of an average-sized person. These were even simpler, with Geralt simply jumping over and past the lasers, his massively enhanced strength making the maneuver child’s play. 

Beyond the pair of lasers, though, was a dropoff into an ominous red-lit area. Whether this was an incinerator or simply a security checkpoint, Geralt stepped off the conveyor belt floor to the side, facing a new belt that continued perpendicular to the first. This belt had a set of lasers that covered the entire corridor, permitting no leap over, no ducking beneath, and no charging through. However, the solution for this was simple as well: he hid behind a cargo container as it passed the laser grid, harmlessly bypassing the deadly beams. He left that conveyor belt, taking a short fall of a few feet onto the next, now moving the opposite direction to where he was going initially. 

This conveyor belt rose at a fairly harsh angle, at least thirty degrees, and at the crest was a mechanical sorting arm that reached out to grab him. He shuffled backwards, bumping into a moving cargo container. It jostled him and prevented retreat, but the Witcher ducked below the pincers of the sorting arm, which stopped before hitting the container and automatically widened to accommodate for the newly-detected load, the whole arm adjusting itself to move the large container rather than the much-smaller Witcher it was originally targeting. 

The rest of the sorting system continued as such, for not much longer as Geralt avoided lasers, sorting arms, and drop-offs that threatened a broken ankle if a fall was taken poorly. As he reached the end, the control center opened before him. 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/gX1JBfA.png[/img]

Within were a few Naytibas, and Geralt sighed softly. Of course there were. Still, he’d dispatched the creatures before, and as the droid and heavy droid advanced, he transformed into LCCB Assistant Manager to try and get used to his new shield. His pistol shots did fairly minor damage to the infected machines individually, but the buildup of Tremor quickly overwhelmed the base droid, staggering it and leaving it wide open to further damage. 

The heavy droid reached Geralt by that point, hefting its blade and swinging at the Witcher to try and overwhelm his guard. He activated the trigger mechanism on the Black Steel, electrifying it for a brief moment, but long enough to negate the blow from the heavy droid and knock its attack pattern off. He felt a surge as he gained Charged Defense as he shoved the shield forward, knocking back the heavy droid and leaving it open for a moment to a few shots from his pistol. Backing up to reload as the heavy droid attempted to attack again, he fired at its knees to try and force it to lower its guard. Instead, the infected machine charged forward as the other droid recovered. 

Cursing, Geralt backpedalled as he stowed the pistol and pulled his shield aside to cast Aard with his free hand. With the Naytibas destabilized for a moment, he transformed into Ardor Blossom and surged forward, claws tearing into infested steel and rending the basic droid to pieces. As he turned to face the heavy droid, pain blossomed across his side as its superheated blade sliced him, dealing massively increased damage due to the Identity’s lack of armor. He leapt backwards in concern, adrenaline dumping into his veins as his breath quickened. Not quite a panic attack, but as his eyes narrowed and his stomach twisted, Geralt remembered the experience of a single blow nearly killing him and snarled. 

The heavy droid advanced behind its shield, not pressing its luck after getting a hit off. He transformed again, back to his natural Identity, the wound hidden beneath his armor now. Drawing the electric katana he got from Monsoon, he advanced with a feinting slash that triggered a guard from the Naytiba. With agility far beyond his opponent, Geralt danced past its guard and cut at and through the arm holding its shield, bringing the katana back up to deflect an incoming slash before slicing it across the heavy droid’s body and stunning it for a split second. Without resistance, he stabbed his blade through its chest, crushing its knee joint with a kick and carving through its torso to split it vertically, the Naytiba overwhelmed by the damage and dissolving to ash. 

Grabbing the Spirits from both machines, he crushed them and took a look at the resulting materials. 

[center][hider=Items Obtained][b]Crude Electric Device[/b] x2
Resembling a car battery, these devices can electrify metallic surfaces or gadgets they're placed in close proximity to. When such a surface is electrified, any devices that come into contact with the object will be destroyed, including drones, charges, and any similar technology of a small size. Entities, mechanical or not, that come into contact with electrified objects will take constant low DoT and suffer a speed penalty

[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/bjgpoPo.png]Aluminum Robot Tentacles[/url][/b]
A miraculous combination of organic design and inorganic material. Can be attached to the back and manipulated via electronic or neural signals. Due to difficulty of control, mostly in terms of responsiveness and multitasking required, they are practically useless in combat[/hider][/center]

The batteries were quickly set aside as he more closely examined the Robot Tentacles, frowning as he studied them and frowned. The hand-like manipulators seemed like they would lack somewhat in dexterity, but he could see some of the others making use of these for tasks requiring many inputs. If he could make any sense of them, he could even use them to handle alchemical ingredients, though he doubted it was worth doing so.

“Sandalphon, I’ve reached the control room for the gate. I’m releasing the lock.” How was he able to do this without sufficient technological acumen? 

A large button that was labelled ‘Gate Control: Open/Lock’. It seemed that whoever built this place had at least made it easy to get through the gate if an emergency occurred. Given what was going on around them…it seems they were ready, but not for the right threat. 

With the gates opened, Geralt left the control center and made his way back to the others, new gear in hand.