Asuras

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Can confirm elf tiddy is more engrossing than bright lights.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

As the crystals began to crumble of their own accord, and an unnatural sound burst from between the cracks, Annabelle prepared herself for the worst, and hoped for the best. Carpenter returned to her side with a quick jolt of speed, hopping around the corner of a hole in the wall, and she spread her stance, one hand hovering over her sheathed sword. She doubted her ability to fight a goddess, but if the entity so choose to, she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Her forearm shot up to her eyes, and she averted her gaze as the blinding light enveloped her whole body and the room around her. She grit her teeth and a grunt of shock escaped her, waiting for the wave of brightness to wash away. When at last her sight returned, and the room was left with silence and one new, small body, she stood straight.

Annabelle waited and watched for the strange girl from the heavens to speak. What she didn't expect was the shock of the girl. Visibly recoiling as the girl shouted, Annabelle's hand quickly darted to her sword, briefly but hesitantly afraid that the horned girl was angered. When she appeared only simply frightened and confused, her grip relaxed. She looked to Ciel and Cecilia in turn, before speaking.

"M-miss... Er... H-hello. Are you alright? Do you know where you are?" she asked, mustering a light smile.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Chariot had already rushed over to Thunderer's side, scrambling to look over the large gash that had cut a quarter-deep into his calf. Bending a knee beside him, the kuranta's eyes contorted into one of worry. An injury to the leg, at this time in the simulation, was probably the worst possible thing they could have experienced, save the elimination of a teammate itself.

The sky of the city boomed once more, and another red beacon rose from the horizon into the sky. A warning of impending difficulty. Chariot's eyes were cast up as the alarm droned for a brief moment, before turning back to Thunderer. She didn't have her healing Arts charged quite yet, but she was already focusing on it. They had to move, and so she opted to simply pick the poor Operator up and haul him herself.

With a quick but trained maneuver, Chariot hoisted him over her shoulders. Though they were of equal size, she didn't seem to mind the weight much as she began moving. "Sorry about this friend," she said to Thunderer. Nodding to Thrones, she began off down the street, slower than her compatriots thanks to the doubled load she had. Nevertheless, through heavy breathing and strained legs, she persevered.

The group continued through the city, after several minutes of running and jogging, checking corners and diving through buildings, they at last made it to the true skyscrapers that the Scouting team had initially observed. Indeed, numerous skybridges connected the fake city here, and once they were inside would at least shield them from the watchful eyes of gunships.

Through the doors they went, and once inside were faced with the spirit of a massive corporate lobby, as well as a set of four operable elevators at the other end of the room. No doubt with someone on her shoulders, Chariot had a definite opinion as to whether or not they should use them.

"Maximum occupancy...?" she muttered to herself, scanning over the wall where the elevator doors stood. There was nothing as far as plaques went. Another shortcoming on the computer's end. "...Alright. We should probably split up then. I don't want the simulation to decide we're too heavy with all this gear for just one car."

The sound of roaring thrusters drew her ears back to the lobby entrance. Through glass panes stretching across the entrance, the team could see what appeared to be a VTOL of some design which had suddenly descended into a controlled hover mere feet above the street pavement. Mere seconds later, five more androids dropped from the side of the gunship, landing gracefully on the ground. Without pause, they raised their weapons; firearms.

A hail of bullets stormed into the building, piercing through the glass panes and shattering them in turn.

"Get down!" Chariot yelled, dropping to her knees. Desks, short walls, and other common objects to a lobby as theirs shielded them from the gunfire that surged a mere foot above their heads. She quickly settled Thunderer onto the ground of the lobby, turning in her crouched stance to the others. The gunfire seemed as if to go unabated; they either had bottomless magazines, or they were staggering their suppressive fire.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Her horse isn't a hamburger >:[

@Click This

We'll have the final say about that one.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Oh. That certainly sounded like a viable option. Annabelle's eyes drifted to the various crystals around the room, and the vague notion of some kind of "lock" came to mind. The presence of these strange structures certainly started to make more sense in her mind. Wasting no time, she retrieved her sword from the holster at her lower back, and set to work alongside Carpenter. It didn't take much effort to shatter the fragile structures, even for her tiny familiar. A sword crashed through the air, sending fragments flying about, while the little red blob simply opted to root itself into the floor and punch out with a flat cylindrical shape, impacting the crystals even quicker than Annabelle could herself.

In short work, they'd dismantled a good number, and by then Annabelle had noticed the changes occurring to the imprisoning blue crystal. A smile washed over her face, and she continued the shattering with increased fervor. Eventually, all that she could see within the room had been shattered, with Carpenter working to search for any smaller formations that might have been hidden in the nooks and crannies of the cavity.

"I think... that's all of them," Annabelle said, turning to the fallen goddess crystal. The image of a crack forming upon the surface where Cecilia's spear had struck gave her a measure of certainty that they would succeed with this puzzle, and an eagerness (and perhaps a hint of fear) warmed her spirits.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

With some careful planning, luck, and spontaneously acquired demolition expertise, we can force the floor the crystal is on to collapse and tilt, rolling everything off the side and out into the streets.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Thrones' infusion of anti-gravity into the three armored drones at the forward team proved successful, and even beside the assault that Mule and Vlad wreaked upon them, were already seeming off-kilter; their footsteps found difficulty in gripping the street as they moved about and took swings at Mule. Her shield impacted into something that reflected sturdiness, but the strength required to push them back betrayed that hardened nature. The armored droids were tossed backwards onto their backs with ease, and the moment one of them had hit the ground, Vlad secured its arm, and swiftly tossed it in an overhead swing. It's own weight and the speed that it unnaturally flew it added up to a caved-in chest plate which rapidly disabled critical components of its functioning.

Another tasted the blunt steel of Mule's axehead, bending the side of an armor piece just before it too was swept off its feet. The electronics beneath fizzled and cracked, but it remained operational, leaving the rear-guard now with two more armored droids that were way in over their heads.

While Thunderer might have been able to fend off the remaining standing droid, he failed to notice the unconventional approach of the second; crawling on the ground, it chopped outwards with its arm hand, swinging a machete into the back of his calf. Before it could do more harm, Strix's keen eye saved him from losing a virtual limb. Two shots easily knocked out their core systems, and they fell crumpled beside Thunderer.

Her third strike was a master-stroke of teamwork, and perhaps a bit of luck. It slammed into the head of slowed armored drone tussling with Dragoon, knocking the head piece to the side and exposing a portion of its neck,normally hidden by a jutting piece of armor that hung from the lower side of its box-like face. Dragoon's spear found purchase in that vulnerable spot, sinking deep past a glimpse of thin armor, pistons and joints. It crackled with electricity before its knees gave way, crashing to the ground.

Strix's fourth shot impacted the other armored droid, which had only just then pushed off the slab of debris that fell upon it. Though it was dented in many parts and had sheared cuts in its armor from the heavy stone, it remained capable of standing her bullet. Yet, disoriented, its visual systems seemed to make it difficult for the robot to go straight after Dragoon.

Feral had a straight shot back to the group in the alleyway itself, which attached back to the street where the right was happening, albeit several yards behind where the debris had crushed the Arts droids. The armored drone which was approaching Dragoon had its back exposed to the Guard, unawares of her new presence.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

I was going to suggest giving it some sunlight, but I guess throwing it off the roof would also achieve that.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Annabelle was entranced by the sight of the girl, not especially for her good looks or extravagant attire, but for the peculiar situation of it all. An imprisoning crystal, a horned girl, and all seemingly descended from the very heavens. As far as her imagination could help her, the raven-haired girl was convinced that this 'meteor' had carried with it not a treasure or rare material, but a fallen cosmic being. A girl from beyond the stars, or even the moon perhaps. Whatever she was, she was not of this world.

That she was encased in crystal and seemingly mid-defensive position spoke to Annabelle of a fight which had gone awry for her. This, coupled with her having descended in a flash of light gave her the idea of a punishment. She spoke up, standing by Ciel as Cecilia moved to touch it.

"It is almost as if... she was cursed to be imprisoned here. Encased in this crystal, and cast to our realm. Maybe she's a goddess?" Annabelle proposed. Her looks and attire certainly seemed to reflect as much, anyways. "We should be careful not to upset-" Annabelle's voice caught in her throat when the light went dark and a chill cracked into the air.

"C-careful Cecilia!" she called out, extending a hand as if to draw her away. This thing was dangerous, perhaps even angry. Annabelle was not keen on disturbing it, but she also held the same sentiment as Cecilia, if only out of a concern for the rest of the realm as well. If this trapped young girl was a powerful being, she certainly did not want some dirty and arrogant empire to offend her, and bring ruin to the land.

"Maybe... we can try waking her some other way. Maybe she can hear us if we shout?"

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Much as Annabelle's imagination would have loved it to be otherwise, Carpenter would have been a poor rope to use in getting up the tower. The little familiar was flexible and quick, but not very good at maintaining shape when it came down to tugging a whole human body straight upwards. Not at the length that was needed, anyways.

Thankfully Cecilia was well ahead of her and came with rope of her own. As Artemisia was still mounted, Annabelle took it upon herself to be up the rope first. Grabbing hold, she worked her way up, hand and foot. Carpenter suddenly morphed into a long, twisting shape, snaking up the rope much faster than she could ever hope to climb as a mere mortal.

When she had finally made it up, Annabelle huffed. No doubt such an inefficient modem of climbing was tougher on her stamina than if she'd simply had the ability to magically leap, like Cecilia. That would be nice to have. She stood herself up after pulling onto the platform, dusting her hands of the abrasion from her grip. As she turned, stepping away from the ledge, she found herself gazing out over the ruined city. They'd been a long way, and no doubt there were many others still gunning for the prize. At least being off the streets meant they'd be far safer from further interruption.