2017-05-28: Escape From Adlehyde

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DG: You have created a party! Your Digger status has been reset! As party leader your presence is very important! If you need to leave, please first promote another player using +party/promote <target>. Remember to set your tools before setting out with +tools/load.
DG: Kahm Yugh has created a party! To join, type +party/reset and then type +party/join Kahm Yugh.
DG: Fargo Foobach has joined your party!
DG: Loren Voss has joined your party!
DG: Cardia Ortell has joined your party!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has joined your party!
DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has joined your party!
DG: A party led by Kahm Yugh is now entering The Battle of Adlehyde.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.

=====================<* CHALLENGE - The Demons are Here! *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The Metal Demon attack on Adelhyde has left the city in chaos. The Demons
 and Adelhyde's troops are fighting everywhere, with the ebb and flow of
 battle changing what parts of the city are safe and which are battlefields
 by the hour. There are thousands of civilians trapped here, as well as a
 number of Drifters who were visiting the city for the festival. The party
 may simply have been at the wrong place, at the wrong time; they might also
 have returned to the city in an effort to save those trapped within.

  Chaos erupts immediately as a group of civilians being chased by a large
 number of Metal Demon troops lead by a particularly large and spike covered
 warrior comes around a corner, and heads right towards the party! There's no
 way to avoid this fight - within moments the Demons spot the party and come
 right towards them. There's no choice but to fight, and perhaps save some of
 the people being chased.
=Dungeon Conditions: Overwhelm================================================

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

With the Golem Barbados securely stowed in the transport craft Gebler had prepared, the deployed aerial squadron had but one mission left: Escort both the target and the wounded troops back Bledavik.

That plan went went awry no less than three minutes after the fleet of ships took to the airspace over Adleyhyde, encounter heavy fire from the metal demon units occupying mounted to stop them.

Gebler hardly sent half-rate pilots to perform an extraction mission in the middle of the battleground-the squadron intuitively clusters around the transport carrying Barbados and converges their fire to break through the aerial blockade, but not without taking a few hits to some of their constituent units. One of them, carrying many soldiers and at least one asset who'd directly assisted the operating on the ground, takes a direct hit to its thruster matrix and falls out of formation, beginning an inevitable, violent descent towards the city below.

Red warning klaxons begin to punctuate every breath taken around the ship, the PA blaring with measured but urgent voice of the ship's pilot.

"We've lost power to our thrust matrix and can no longer sustain left. Emergency crash landing is imminent-all stuff to secure themselves and brace for impact!"

'And how the hell do you suggestion I do that?' Thought Captain Kahm Yugh, who was in the middle of receiving treatment in the ship's medbay for his wounds when the entire damn world seemed to shake and shudder with the attack that had doomed them. "You heard the pilot." He fixed his gaze on every staff and patient in the room, "Brace for impact, we're going down!"

For this part, the Captain manage to secure himself to a wall-mounted railing with his belt as the ship begin to tilt at an extreme angle, sending supplies and the less fortunate tumbling over themselves. Kahm grit his teeth, and reached for the his pack of sonic grenades just as the hull shuttered with another ambient explosion, this one tearing open a section of wall and exposing them to screaming chaos of the outside.

He got one fresh look at one of his grenades sailing over the edge before all else became a momentary blur of steel and debris.

On the ground, an imposing metal demon warrior turns a corner in pursuit of some scrambling civilians just in time to see the APC bearing down on it's head.

"...." 

DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Sonic Grenade toward his party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

Fargo Foobach is a mere -Lamb-, but he still rates lesser medical field care from Gebler, particularly when his wound was dealt fulfilling Gebler interests. The cut across his chest was wide and shallow. He is more concerned with the damage to his vest and shirt than to himself - the cut could be mended, but the blood that soaked into them cannot be washed out with Black Tie resources.

Fortunately, he is a Suit. The clothes on his back no longer correlate directly to the respect he gains in the gang - just look at Samuelh. It's the principle of the thing. He wears white for a reason.

He is carefully folding the aforementioned shirt when the blast hits, currently wearing nothing but pants, shoes, bowler hat, and a clean white bandage around his chest. Fargo falls into stance instinctively, keeping his balance. While the Gebler agents were the medical priority, he calmly took a small handful of gauze and a roll of bandage, stepped out of the way, and handled it himself.

The -Lamb- is less inexplicably skilled with understanding how to secure himself onboard the dropship than he was with field medicine, but he moves quickly and coolly, settling his white jacket on over his tightly sculpted body - rare on the surface, where size tends to be respected more than anything else - before reaching for a strap on the wall.

Fargo simply hooks his arm into it and hold on with the other, bracing himself between two shelves and closing his eyes in quiet focus. If someone's feeling romantic, they could imagine him imparting his Burning Yamato Spirit to the crashing carrier, turning the entire thing into an intentional karate kick. Hikeeba, the ship shouts, dropping onto the Metal Demons without ceremony. 

DG: Fargo Foobach has used his Tool Molotov Cocktail toward his party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly had been wiped off and hit with a couple of rounds of regenerative-type Ether, which stopped whatever interior bleeding she had been experiencing. She feels, in this moment, not sore - no, not thanks to that big old near-overdose of anesthetic compounds - but... hollowed-out; empty. She wonders if it's how gloves feel, but:

She looks at Kahm with glassy eyes.

Brace for impact.

They're:

Oh no.

Elly deals with the impact by, apparently, being completely relaxed; the impact actually whip-snaps her up to the point where she looks like she's taking a couple of staggering steps forwards, and she throws her hands out to brace herself as the rest happens. The wall rips itself apart less than a foot from where she had been half-reclined, and Elly looks over her shoulder.

The haze in her mind suddenly erodes heavily. Staring outwards at the Metal Demons and the chaotic crowd, Elly makes a little squeak in her throat in a very military way. Meanwhile a jettisoned sidearm gets picked up by a civilian who shoots it at a Metal Demon, probably winning him the booby prize of 'knowing too much.' 

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Sidearm toward her party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

?"Use the cover! Use the DAMNED COVER!" Kaspar shouts from the co-pilot's seat, fingers itching to grab the controls from this clearly addlepated pilot. Instead, he thrusts a finger out the window at all the lovely buildings and trees and-- hell-- other ships all around them. "You just-- come on! Fly lower, you idiot!" The pilot ignores Kaspar and his excellent advice, consistently flying high above the buildings and leaving the ship open to enemy fire.

Honestly, the pilot probably has the right idea; flying that low would be reckless at best, and fatal at worst. At the same time, of course, all that cover... but it would really take an exceptional pilot to take advantage. Kaspar is not exceptional. Absently, he rubs at his bad leg. "You DO know that we're carrying important cargo, right?" he mu32tt2 

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

"Captain, hold still."

The extraction is underway. They accomplished what they came here for -- the retrieval of one of the Golems -- now it's time to get out.

Loren had been among the luckier ones in the strike team; even more fortunate as he's effectively the ranking officer on board at the moment in terms of the support/medical team. Captain Kahm Yugh, though, on the other hand...

Recoverable, but still serious had been his assessment once Kahm had been directed into the medbay. Kit partially unpacked on a nearby stainless steel surface, he's in the middle of applying medigel to the worst of the wounds, brow lined in deep concentration.

They take a hit. The ship suddenly undergoes a sickening lurch as alarms blare. A bottle of pills goes rolling off along the floor to get stuck against the wall; a loaded hyperdermic -- a narcotic -- slides right off to spin dangerously across the floor of the medbay. "Oh, of course," Loren groans, staggering as he attempts to brace himself against the shelving -- all the more tricky for having been slammed against it just moments before. Somehow, he still has the gel in hand.

Hopefully, the magnetic locks on the cabinets will hold. Otherwise, it's going to be unpleasant in here shortly.

Well, aside from the whole 'crashing into Adlehyde' part of things the very near future holds for them.

He grabs for his kit, gathering it up as a few more tools crash to the floor to slide or roll away as appropriate. Gritting his teeth, Loren grabs for another nearby railing and closes his eyes tightly.

The ship pitches. ...And that, complete with the howling sound coming in, is probably a hole in the torn in the hull.

You know what? ...He's just not even going to open his eyes at this point. Why bother? 

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Solarian Medical Kit toward his party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

he mutters. "You could at least TR--"

The worst happens. Kaspar is already reaching for the controls to swerve out of the path of a shot the pilot didn't quite see coming, but it's too late. Far too late. The ship goes down in flames, landing heavily on top of one of those horrible monstrosities. Shouting angry curses rather than screaming, Kaspar slams against his restraints, then against his chair, then against his restraints once again. The cockpit shatters and the pilot is impaled on his own console, blood and brains spattering the cramped space. The remains of the pilot spatter Kaspar, and he curses even more, adding "wipe brains out of eyes" to his checklist. To the top of it. He measures his moments, staring down the maw of the metal demon as it tries to rip apart the shattered cockpit and finish him off.

One: wipe brains from eyes. Disgusting. Vision: cleared. Two: asses trajectory of fall. If he pushes that way... no, he'd rebound off the debris and directly into the demon's mouth. The other way should get him to the ground. Three: left hand, unsnap restraints. Freefall begins. Four: shove right with good leg, angling for the gap between debris and demon. Hup. Good. Five: right hand, draw handgun. Falling quickly now, straight past the demon's snapping jaws. Wait. Wait. Now. Six: fire. The single bullet goes straight down the beast's gullet. Seven: land.

It hurts. Kaspar curses even louder, then starts rolling to escape the trampling feet of the metal demon. 

DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

Healing Cardia is something of a give and take situation: The medics are able to bandage her up a bit, utilize Ether to heal some of her injuries, but the damage done to the more mechanical parts of her body is a little tougher to mend by just waving your hands around and invoking Science Magic. For her part, she's quick to settle into a seat and let others receive their treatments while she gives a hard look at her limbs. Then, they're hit.

'Brace for impact!'

Quick to belt herself in and hold fast to the restraints, she's suddenly thankful that she kept her helmet on for this part of the extraction. As the APC drops-- plummeting toward the Metal Demon-- all hell breaks loose, from a mess of medical equipment to Kaspar's daring deeds and Elly trying to keep herself as steady as possible as one side of the carrier's hull suddenly vanishes.

The buckle is jammed-- she tugs at it a bit before using brute strength to rip the clasp off the strap and do it the old fashioned way, getting to her feet and stumbling about with a hand thrown to her ribs. She moves toward the hole-- toward Elly-- checking on her before taking the gun from her side and aiming out into the city. She's not firing at civilians, but definitely trying to hit any demons still lurking and advancing at that weak point. 

DG: Cardia Ortell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Demons are Here!.
DG: You pass the challenge, and take 7 Exhaustion! You have 7 total Exhaustion.
DG: The party led by Kahm Yugh has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.

=========================<* CHALLENGE - A Heavy Door *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 There are a number of back alleys in Adelhyde that can be used to help evade
 the fighting on the main streets. Not all of them are readily evident, and
 some inns like to install gates or doors to ensure that vagrants don't have
 access to those back alleys. This is one of those doors - and the sounds of
 fighting are getting closer. With this good of a shortcut available,
 property damage is a secondary concern to a quick escape. Beware - as the
 battle progresses, the Demons are on the lookout for Drifters moving through
 the city, and escape will not be as easy.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

As the party collects itself after the traumatic landing, an alert ping comes over the surviving personal comms devices.

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "Dropship survivors, this is Adjutant Hawwa--wait, the tacnet is resynching your cameras."

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "Oh, thank the Emperor, you're alright!"

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "Though... only most of you."

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "Listen, the carryall is almost out of the conflict area. I've ordered aerial forces to stay active so we can route another dropship to your location, but we're being forced to withdraw. The dropship will likely have to land outside the city."

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "I'm charting possible escape routes on your maps. I'm afraid there's no way to avoid the fighting entirely."

<CODEC> LtC. Myyah Hawwa transmits, "Come back safe, all of you. Please." 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Well: That was horrible. Fortunately the downing of the craft did not seem to wax too many of the -Lambs-, although there's a lingering smell in the air that suggests the number was significantly more than zero. The Metal Demons are engaged, and there is the advantage of surprise: They didn't expect THIS to happen today.

The one that strives to bite into Kaspar thrashes, growling in whatever the hell they say among themselves. His bullet goes flying down the creature's throat and with a gurgle of quicksilver, it dies - or at least, goes still.

Elly stands near Cardia when she moves forwards. As Cardia opens fire Elly operates on ancient instinct for a moment and grasps Cardia's hand with her own, as if they're forming a monitor pair in primary school. It passes, though, as Elly shakes her head violently, and then ducks as a stabbing spear nearly clips her skull. That demon dies too, under Cardia's loving embrace.

Then peace reigns for a moment. Two moments. The sector seems secure. Quiet, anyway.

And then comes the voice! Sweetly electronic and in an intact earbud! This cuts through the remaining fog in Elly's awareness. "Loren! Mr. Foobach! Please, hurry," she calls to them, even as it becomes clear that there are some Problems.

Which are mostly of the city on fire problems. Somewhere the Ties may be happy, but even they probably don't want to walk through what is about one good tornado away from becoming a short-lived but horrifying firestorm. In the other direction SOMETHING is making huge grinding sounds, and even if it's a false alarm, that might be a sound you want to take some Gears with you to address.

But there's an alleyway between some buildings that aren't very on fire. Easily spotted. Easily entered. And then once you hang a slight left

THE DOOR. Big. Steel. Rusty.

That distant grinding noise is getting slowly but surely less distant.

Elly, staring dully at the door, blinks several times. It's familiar. It's familiar in a way she can't articulate.

Elly addresses this by narrowing her eyes and shooting the door with a sudden shrieking ball of flame.

Other people may have better solutions. 

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Heavy Door.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

Kaspar rolls onto his side, barely avoiding the monster's legs again. Without his cane, getting to his feet is going to be difficult-- and trying to get around once he gets up? Forget it. Fortunately, the thing seems to be in its death throes, and finally stops thrashing. He's able to pull himself to a seated position against a wall, and takes the opportunity to examine his surroundings. Many of his comrades-in-arms have survived, thank the Emperor. In front of him, the metal demon's glistening claw twitches once more, then is still. Kaspar narrows his eyes, quickly measuring, then fires his handgun into a joint of the foot twice, forcing the claw away from the rest of the dead creature. It could be useful. A spear, thrust past Elly's skull, clatters to the ground next to him, and he grabs that as well, using it to lever himself to his feet. He taps it on the ground a few times, then hits the wall. It'll do. For now. With a quick acknowledgement of Adjutant Hawwa's orders, he moves on.

Carrying the claw under one arm, he limps to join the others in the alley just in time to witness Elly trying to set a metal door on fire.

"Hn," he grunts, hobbling forward. Squinting at the jamb, he quickly jams the metal demon's severed claw into a specific point in the frame, then steps back. He points. "Hit that. Door's weakened. Should pop it open." 

DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has used his Tool Improvised Tool toward his party's challenge, A Heavy Door.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Holding on one-handed -- while still holding onto a container of medigel while attempting to cradle his kit (what parts of it haven't spilled onto the floor, that is) -- to a helpful bit of railing while undergoing a crash landing is as it happens not the best-laid of plans.

Also now apparently among the things that weren't a very good idea: taking off his helmet earlier.

The ship meets the ground and Loren loses his grip on the railing, pitching across the medbay to slam into the opposite wall. He crumples to the floor -- or what passes for the floor -- before slowly picking himself back up. His gaze is a touch unfocused as he braces himself against what now passes for a wall. A brief discharge of ether follows, centered on himself. Loren exhales sharply, pushing off from the 'wall'.

Which is itself followed by a familiar voice through his his intact earbud. "Lieutenant Commander-- We're... alive." Somehow. That's the good news.

It's followed of course by the bad news. It would be a good idea to move now, as Elly's shout suggests. Loren shakes his head muzzily, before heading out through the now very useful hole in the hull.

"Oh, good," is his announcement upon exiting, his gaze tracing the burning sideline. "Everything's on fire." And there's nothing for it but to break through. He glances in the opposite direction from the alleyway, where Elly's standing. "Not that way," he says, squinting into the hazy heat-distorted distance. "Van Houten, did you--"

Approaching her, he gets a good look at the expression on her face. Even coming in from the side, he can see that she's not all there. Right, the narcotic overdose. "It hasn't worn off yet--"

He practically jumps as she unleashes a burst of fire ether, right there at the door. It's not the finest moment of his career as a soldier so far. Neither is the particularly forceful and inelegant arc of earth he dredges up from almost beneath his feet, temporarily serving as a sort of wall between her and him before it too slams into the door. 

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Heavy Door.

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

Hey, did you know it's better to stay relaxed in a crash? Fargo doesn't!

The impact with the ground is one of the worst things to happen to him in his life that weren't done to him by his father. Every one of his limbs are painfully jammed, and the hand of God tries to twist him out of where he has locked himself. He grits his teeth, joints groaning in protest.

When he finally gives way, it's right near the end, and he only staggers across half the medbay, stopping himself against a table. He draws in a breath, centering his heat, flicking glances around. A few people are down, but Fargo is accustomed to the death of grunts. A shame, but also unresolvable.

He flinches briefly when Myyah Hawwa begins speaking in his ear, unused to radio technology he doesn't hold in his hand. He puts his finger to it unnecessarily. "Yes," he says simply, before hearing Elly up ahead, past the horrible tear in the side of the carrier. Fargo brushes dust from his pant legs and quietly tucks hair under his hat again before moving for the hole. He checks his wound - no new blood. Excellent, he may yet salvage the jacket.

The Black Tie just kind of emerges from Elhaym's side as she hurls her fireball, not flinching away from it. "People here," he says, "put too much importance on doors." Kaspar limps up and jams a claw into it. Fargo nods to him in acknowledgement. "A door stronger than the wall around it is useless."

Pushing his sleeves up, he steps forward and puts his hand on the end of the claw. "Don't stand too close to me," he notes to Kaspar. His face starts to pale, his arm reddening, the corded muscles of his forearm flexing as he pushes in on the ersatz crowbar, looking to try and lever the whole damn door out. His pant legs ripple as heat shifts the air around his legs. 

DG: Fargo Foobach has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Heavy Door.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Despite his modest service record on the surface, Kahm had not been through many crash landings. They were generally not the kinds of things you wanted to experience more than once, or at all, and this one was no different. There was a terrible, violent shudder as the Captain felt himself jolt against inertia-his arm pulled so hard he was worried he'd pop the socket or worse-and a tumble when he cut himself free of his belt with a handy survival knife, narrowly escaping from the wreckage of the craft through the whole the earlier blast had torn through the hull.

He came out half-dressed, half-bandaged, and with his sidearm loosed. Fortunately, the ship itself seemed to have taken care of their welcoming party, and the Captain will reconnect with the rest of the group in time to get Myyah's instruction though his comm link (Miraculously, it had stayed in his hear.

"Roger that. This is Captain Yugh." He responds, maintaining calm and measure in his voice despite their dire situation, "There have been some losses, but all the members of my squad survived the crash, along with a few more. We'll do our best to make our way out through one of the routes, but our supplies are limited. Any support you can offer would be appreciated."

In the meantime, the city is in flames and chaos and it was unknown whether that fact would be in or against their favor. The sounds of crunching doom some unknown distance away hurries Kahm into the backways and alleys of the city along with the rest-best chance to lose anyone who saw them go down.

While others try to assail the locked door with less conventional means, Kahm opts for the latter: A discarded lead pipe left on the ground. He'll use it to help Kaspar in his endeavor, putting a little more of his back into it then he probably should. 

DG: Kahm Yugh has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Heavy Door.

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

Cardia seems pretty steady considering all that's going on. Maybe it's the helmet keeping her face hidden, for all the damage that it's taken since they've landed. Making sure Elly is all right, the cyborg hurries to regroup with the others.

Hand lifting to the side of her helmet, Myyah's call is received with no vocal response-- just silent understanding.

The door is set on fire, improvised tools are used, and Fargo attempts to lever the door with the impromptu crowbar. Unhooking a small device from her belt, Cardia unfolds it, reaching over her shoulder and placing it just below the base of her neck. Mechanical arms snap out and cling to her shoulders like some kind of a magnet, then hums with the ambient sound of Ether being channeled.%r The rush is ... welcome, after all of this. Her arms twitch a bit, fingertips clicking against the heel of her hands as she advances on the door, the pipe, and the crowbar. She speaks up, her voice muffled, metallic, and full of reverb within the enclosure of the scarlet-eyed helmet.

"If I might?"

Cardia seeks to join the fray by using her bare hands, fingers curling into the gaps created by the claw and pipe and physically force the door open with her bare hands-- and a hiss of heat being vented from the small pack connected to her back. 

DG: Cardia Ortell has used her Tool Ether Supercharger toward her party's challenge, A Heavy Door.
DG: You pass the challenge, and take 5 Exhaustion! You have 12 total Exhaustion.
DG: The party led by Kahm Yugh has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Fargo Foobach has drawn a new Challenge.

=======================<* CHALLENGE - The Rooftop Road *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Sometimes the best escape is going upwards. There are enough buildings close
 together here that moving along the rooftop will allow the party and anyone
 accompanying them to make good time and avoid the worst of the fighting
 below. However, there are still gaps that need to be jumped, and anyone who
 falls will face a dangerous scramble to rejoin the party.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

Elhaym van Houten's fireball smashes into the door. It has little direct effect on the metal, but the blast shakes it, cracking the walls, creating a space that Kaspar ably spots, jamming a Metal Demon piece into it. From there, an officer, a gentleman, and a godless machine girl (that keeps happening huh) begin to haul on the entire assembly. The temperature around Fargo rises as the metal bends and stone cracks under their efforts.

It's Loren's fear wall that does it, another impact on the door causing several bricks to shatter as the three strongos finally tear it out of the frame rather than breach its over-paranoid locking mechanism directly. A rush of heat greets them - there are fires here on the lower floor, preventing a simple passage through.

Fargo brushes his hands, walking into the building without much concern. Indeed, the fires bend toward him and start to diminish as he performs a similar kata focusing on his chest to the one in the fight, though with a much less dramatic effect. "Too much of a risk to go into the street, I think. This fire won't cause any structural damage yet." The man's no stranger to the highest of ways. He turns toward Kahm, speaking directly to him: "I believe there will be a route if we go up. I often use such methods when trying to move unnoticed."

He glances at Kaspar. There's no pity in his gaze - just a calm calculation. "We may have to be resourceful, but this should work for all of us." Fargo turns toward the stairs and starts going up. If Kahm balks, he can just call it scouting.

The next building is lower than this. Fargo goes to the third floor and simply wrenches the window from the wall with a jerk of his arms and a burst of heat. He checks if anyone is in fact coming along before ducking through and hurling himself toward the next roof, one hand on his hat. The air distorts around him as he creates his own updraft - every little bit helps. 

DG: Fargo Foobach has used his Tool Red River toward his party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

Kaspar grunts is discomfort as the wall spouting from the ground pushes him into the alley wall. He directs a glare at the medic, then brushes dirt off his jacket. When Fargo comes by, he has to squeeze past the Lamb to give him space to work. He limps back a few more steps, still brushing at his uniform, the the dirt he feels there after the gangster Lamb's touch isn't the kind he can easily wipe away. Kaspar shudders, briefly fighting off a wave of nausea.

At least this one is making some attempt to be useful.

"Yes, that's... precisely the way," he says, trying not to grit his teeth. The pilot (or tech, depending on who you ask and what day it is) manages to turn his stiffness into a salute as Kahm appears and lends his muscles as well. "Captain."

Cardia's cyborg body elicits twinges of jealousy in the injured man. He rubs absently at his leg again as he watches her mechanical bits go to work. He sucks in his lips in unconscious resentment. That could have been him, all cybered up and strong and capable. Should have been.

Not the time. The door bursts open, revealing... stairs. And fire, of course, but fire's nothing to be afraid of unless you're very unlucky or very stupid-- which, to be fair, Kaspar is at least one of those. He returns Fargo's calculating look with one of his own, then reaches into his jacket to get his pills. His fingers squish into something soft and wet, and he makes a little sound of disgust. Pulling the piece of the pilot's brain out of the pocket, he flicks it away, then pulls out his actual pills. Knocking a few back, he dry swallows, squares up, and tackles the stairs. It's not pretty, but he manages to make it to the top without falling too badly, or crying, or screaming.

At the top, he looks out the new hole in the wall. Now they want him to jump. "Well, shit," he mutters, gritting his teeth. He begins to calculate. 

DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has used his Tool Painkillers toward his party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Loren's look and words sink into Elly's mind somewhat belatedly. The reason she doesn't try to burn down the metal door any more is because she is struggling with a wearied psychic store of energy to not have her face crumple up and to let out sobs.

She's managing the second part.

Looking like she's fixing to burst into tears is probably not going to help anyone right now. Fortunately the hot breath of a burning building means any spilled tears dry up immediately. Rather than speak to Loren, or ask him what he meant, or make a piteous sound, she walks into a burning building.

Behind Kaspar. She doesn't try to push past him and indeed it would probably be an absurd spectacle, especially all the times when Elly finds herself reaching up as if to catch him that don't actually come to pass.

Of course, this is one that Elly can't help with. She does cant her head at the swift passage of Fargo Foobach, though she did not quite see how he did it. Nonetheless it is obscurely inspirational. "Grossekatze, I'm going to get into position," she tells him, before stepping back a few paces in order to get up to a good solid run and -

Leap!

Did Elly have a plan beyond 'try to leap the gap?'

No. 

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Kahm returned Kaspar's salute with a nod and a word, since he was unsure of the co-pilots, "Specialist. Don't sweat the landing. It could've gone worse." Like Fargo, he absently notes the man's...condition with a quick, silent regard. Creativity indeed.

The door is opened and a blast of heat greets them. Kahm lifted his hand against the blaze, falling back to Loren's position and speaking with a muted voice while Fargo took point. "Lieutenant.." He spoke with a quiet practicality, considering the facts: Kasper's disability, Elhaym's mental state. "I'm going to do my best to get us all out of here alive, but we both know i'm wounded badly. If the situation grows even more dire, you're authorized to take command as a medical officer. Don't hesitate to prioritize the squad over me if I become a burden."

No pressure.

The Captain then set off after Fargo, meeting the Suit inside and hearing his counsel with a moment's consideration. Not too long ago, he would have balked at hearing anything at all from one of Kent's man, but now the words of Black Tie leader seemed to echo in quiet reminder of their last meeting.

You can trust fire.

"Alright." Kahm nodded, "Check it out, and we'll follow."

The Captain ascends the stairs not too long afterwards, thankful to find his field rations still on him and consuming one to restore a bit-just a bit-of energy and stamina lost in the freaking craft going down. At the problem presented by the window, he takes one look at the roof, the distance, and another to Kaspar. "Specialist.." He sighs, "You'll need to muster a bit more bravery before this is done." He shoots a look to Cardia, "I'll handle the catch."

And with the, Kahm leaps out the window in accordance with Fargo and Elly. 

DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Field Rations toward his party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Elly hadn't been aiming for him, he realizes, a few moments too late. But her condition under these circumstances -- especially these circumstances -- doesn't bode well for them.

Even if it's unfocused, the rising wall of earth still meets the barred door, still manages to make their point of entry that much easier. Without a helmet to hold any part of it back, the sudden blast of heat roiling out through the doorway causes Loren to squint. It's on fire inside. "Great," he mutters flatly, briefly closing his eyes.

'At least he's useful', might just be the all-around assessment here, regarding Fargo, as the surface-dweller takes point. Though consider Loren a little bit intrigued as to how Fargo's managing such fine control over the ambient flames. It's certainly not ether use; a mystery for later.

Assuming there is a later, at this point.

He's taken all of one step before Kahm pulls back to his side. Loren glances upwards. "Sir?"

The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The Captain wants him to assume command if anything happens -- to prioritize the rest of the squad before even the Captain's safety. It's understandable logic -- Elly's in an altered state. The technician's disabled. Kahm is injured. So is Ortell. That really does only leave him. It just... makes his gut twist in anxiety. Fail, and this, all of this, is on him and his family. Loren stands that much straighter, his shoulders tense and his gaze dead-ahead. "...Understood, sir. Successful extraction is of the highest priority."

What else could he say?

Lingering just a moment longer outside -- enough time to take a breath, to remind himself just who he is and the force of his pedigree -- Loren follows Kahm inside.

Upstairs it is, and out onto the roof once Fargo again makes use of that most unusual ability of his. Shoving the medigel at last into his bag once he's out through the window, Loren resecures the bag, and eyeballs the distance of the leap. "Long drop..." he comments, leaning over the edge before glancing over at Kaspar. Then down, almost pointedly. How is this going to work?

Elly leaps.

Perhaps like that.

"I'll back her up." Kaspar's his responsiblity now too. Nothing else for it -- Loren backs up and takes a run for the edge, lifting one hand to steady his glasses as he goes. 

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

A warning blips into the corner of Cardia's vision-- she's put too much stress on the chassis. Combined with the damage her mechanical parts have taken, she can't do that too many more times without making her limbs just ... flat-out break down, and that will make things a little awkward for everyone. As the team files inside, she pauses just long enough to take a glance down at her hand, flexing it open and closed to the sound of creaking leather.

Hold together, damn it.

Well Kaspar, you too can get a body rife with cybernetics, all you have to do is just get crushed in heavy machinery and subjected to a ton of bleeding edge scientific and medical experiments. And then just hope you don't start rejecting some implants, or else things might get a little awkward.

Fargo goes ahead, followed by Elly, Kahm, Loren, and then Kaspar makes it up to the hole in the window. Stepping halfway out of the hole, she snags a pistol-sized pack from her belt and aims upward, cracking the shot into one of the last stable supports of the building they're in. She gets an arm around Kaspar in the next movement.

"Hold on," the masked woman says.

Clicking her thumb and pushing off from the wall, Cardia reels out the cable and swings, putting a hard kick off the wall and crossing the gap with the grumpy man in tow, coming in toward Kahm and attempting to almost toss him right into Kaspar's arms before she comes down on the roof with the heavy ka-thump of her bootheels and the added weight of her cybernetics. 

DG: Cardia Ortell has used her Tool Grappling Wire toward her party's challenge, The Rooftop Road.
DG: You pass the challenge, and take 7 Exhaustion! You have 19 total Exhaustion.
DG: The party led by Kahm Yugh has passed this challenge! The party gained 26 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Loren Voss has drawn a new Challenge.

=====================<* CHALLENGE - Barrage from the Sky *>=====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 3          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Defying the danger of moving in the air above the city, a group of flying
 Metal Demons have spotted the party and swoop down to strike. Rather than
 dropping down to attack, they drop satchels of explosives mixed with spikes,
 metal ball bearings, and other nasty debris that explode when they hit the
 ground. With the demons in control of the sky, the party has no choice but
 to run as fast as they can and attempt to dodge the incoming bombs until
 they can reach the safety of a building - or the demons run out of
 explosives.
=Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Most of the group manage to make the gap, whether by exploitation of a helpful updraft, athletic prowess or the handy assistance of a grappling wire and a little bit of cooperative effort. Most of the group, anyway.

It occurs to Loren, about mid-way through his leap that

he's definitely misjudged his timing. Rather than land on the edge of the roof, he smashes into it with a grunt, flashes of red dancing before his eyes. He reaches, a touch blindly, with his left arm for a grip. Which immediately screams a protest up his nervous system, reminding him of all the metal demon swordstrikes he'd had to parry earlier with that arm. Getting up over the edge is hard. He might need a hand.

There is no particular notable warning against the backdrop of roaring flames, distant (and not-so-distant) shouting, occasional explosion and sudden scream, and the general destruction of Adlehyde save for a whir overhead. Wings, as it happens.

The first definite sign that they've been noticed is the abrupt explosion of a chimney the next building over. Shards of metal go flying through the air.

The metal demons missed that time. But as the ensuing volley of bombs will quickly demonstrate--

--They're pretty keen to correct that mistake.

Whether aided or not, Loren spares a second to glance upwards, hand pressed against his ribs. One demon hoots in exultation as it hurls down another bomb. Necessity is the mother of decision-making, too.

"Run! DON'T STOP!"

Nowhere to hide. Not with explosions like that. No time to stop and correct the problem with the demons being overhead at all. There's only dead-ahead, as far as he can see. 

DG: Loren Voss has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Kahm hits the roof and instinctively ducks into a roll, coming up just in time to intercept Cardia and Kaspar with a muted *whump*.

Ow, his bandages did not like that, but everyone seems to be in one piece so that the airborne metal demon squad can see them and blow them to bits.

"We've been spotted!" Kahm shouts confirmation to Loren's warning, leading by example and tearing off. He'd honestly be trying to help Kaspar as well right now were it not for the fact that his injuries were more likely to get the tech killed as save him: There's a noticable gait to the commander's run as he half-leaps, half-hobbles over obstacles and rooftops while the sky demons rain death. Hopefully Cardia could handle things on her end.

Gritting his teeth, Kahm tore into another field ration to try and subside the pain that was slowing him down-it wasn't as effective as the speed drug administered to Commander Ramses, but the low-level stuff in them was better than nothing. 

DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Field Rations toward his party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

As he goes, Fargo feels a pulse of pain from his chest. He clears the gap, skidding into a kneel, touching his wound again. "Tch." The heat he's losing is worse than the pain and the blood still dripping into the gauze.

He stands and turns, seeing that Loren isn't quite going to make the jump. Fargo turns, one hand on his chest as he steps over and crouches, reaching one hand down to the Gebler soldier. Is it better to fall than take the hand of a -Lamb-? He doesn't really think about it. Fargo doesn't read social atmospheres well.

If Loren does take Fargo's hand, he learns two things for certain - the man is quite strong for his size, and his hand is... beyond feverish. In his medical opinion, Fargo should be dead, but life is crazy.

Likewise, if Loren doesn't take it, he doesn't appear particularly insulted, though he defaults to hard to read. There isn't much time to react either way before the bombing begins. "Tch."

The Black Tie spins toward the direction to the next nearest building they have to head toward, and slowly breathes out, risking a bomb as he performs a quick series of gestures - arms crossed in an X, slowly pulled down, hands rising and cupping that spot on his chest most of his motions center around, pushing outward. The temperature near him becomes outright dangerous as he sheathes himself in his Heat Haze, turning him into a rippling white smear in the air, jacket flapping in the distorted winds. He pulls off his hat so he doesn't lose it.

Fargo Foobach puts his head down and sprints, his shoes leaving clear footprints behind him as he melts the rooftop just, you know, just a little bit. He stands out like a pennant, and he takes a wider curve than the others - he moves fast enough that he'll arrive right along with the others, and hopefully he'll draw some of the bombing away. 

DG: Fargo Foobach has used his Tool Red River toward his party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly doesn't want to make Loren uncomfortable but she doesn't want to see him drop to his death, either. That wispy sense of being on the edge of music is fading in the light of, you know, everything. She steps forwards -

whistle

THOOM!

Elly's head snaps around as the sense of deja vu within her mind intensifies with sudden drastic speed. It isn't a dreamlike thing: she has been here before, hasn't she? It's not the training course, it's something else.

Thankfully, Mr. Foobach is doing it already. She is thus able to abandon Loren in the moment, bursting into a run. Being repeatedly punched in the lower torso by a karate man from the moon hasn't hurt her legs, and she isn't feeling any pain at all right now. I'm going to fall, she tells herself, even as the Emperor tells her in a kindly tone about a meter behind her left ear, "No you won't - just see it through; I know you can."

Of course, the Emperor isn't there. Right?

Elly worries about this while vaulting between a narrow nook of buildings, pausing mostly to twist round some planks from a stack and then screaming when a shrapnel bomb goes off near her, one hand raising up to guard her face--! 

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

Kaspar says nothing as Cardia flies him across the gap, then attempts to mitigate the damage of crashing into his Captain as much as possible, but there's little he can do about momentum and gravity. He takes the hand up, wiping a hand across his mouth to hide his grimace of pain, then puts one hand on his knee to catch his breath while he leans heavily on the pilfered metal demon spear. "I hope... there's a stairwell... down," he huffs, doing his best to conceal just how much that hurt.

Of course, there is not a stairwell down just yet. There is an aerial bombardment. Kaspar pushes his cap back for a moment to glower at the metal demons in the sky, then reaches for his handgun. "Yeah, this is about my luck," he growls, popping a few more pills and limping towards the next rooftop on his improvised cane. He doesn't hustle, or leap, or run. He moves exactly as many steps as he needs to move at exactly the moment he needs to do so. Coming to the edge of the rooftop, he fires his handgun once, dislodging a chunk of debris that was holding up a fallen bit of wall. The wall topples, bridging the gap almost perfectly, and Kaspar hobbles across with the bearing of a king, firing his handgun twice more to prematurely detonate bombs that had the temerity to get too close. He's in the zone. It's almost impressive to watch.

The comedown is going to be brutal. 

DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has used his Tool Painkillers toward his party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

Cardia manages to steady herself, but Kahm seems to not take the hit well. Standing steady, the cyborg twists and pulls hard, clicking a release lever that retracts the grappler head and starts reeling the cable back in like the crack of a whip. Scarlet lenses flick back to glance to Fargo, Loren, and Elly to make sure they're all well-- or at least, well enough here.

Weapon fire starts raining down on them from above. "Go!" she calls, metallic and harsh as she steps closer to the edge of the rooftops while Metal Demons swarm from on high. Cardia drops to one knee, targeting reticles blipping through her vision as she starts taking shots at the invaders; shifting footing, staying within a reasonable distance of the others.

Then, as one passes low, she sees an opportunity.

The magnum is in the holster in a flash, aiming the grappler and firing into the air. The pressurized cable reels out, flaring in an arc through the air with the intent to catch one of the fliers on it's underside. If she can get it, Cardia hooks the cable around her arm, heels digging in, and tries to pull really hard, intent on trying to bring the thing down out of the air!!

-- Or if everything goes horribly wrong she might just end up dangling from this thing on a grappling wire over a burning Adlehyde. We'll have to see where it goes. 

DG: Cardia Ortell has used her Tool Grappling Wire toward her party's challenge, Barrage from the Sky.
DG: You fail the challenge, and take 19 Exhaustion! You have 38 total Exhaustion.
DG: The party led by Kahm Yugh has failed this challenge! The party gained 16 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
DG: Kahm Yugh has drawn a new Challenge.

=======================<* CHALLENGE - Non-Stop Escape *>========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
  One of Adelhyde's gates is in sight - once beyond the party and anyone
 accompanying them will be in the clear, as those holding the line against
 the Metal Demons outside the city will be able to cover them! The Demons and
 a squad of the Adelhyde Guard are fighting in front of this gate, and the
 guard seem to have the upper hand. However, if the party waits for the
 battle to finish its likely more reinforcements will arrive to help the
 demons - the best course of action may be to hit them from behind and
 decisively turn the tide of this part of the battle!
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

So, based on past experience, Gebler can now say two things are assholes: Birds, and metal demons shaped like birds. The skybound enemies seem to take great joy in the sport of trying bomb the routing Solarians (and Fargo) to smithereens, taking pass after pass to harass the group with their cruel explosives. Pillars of flame rise up from the roofs, sending out shards of broken earth and brick like shrapnel Kahm takes a spray for this on his good side, which is now as poor off as his bad side, grunting his pain and listing to the side as another explosion blew him back and tossed him on his stomach.

Get up. He thinks to himself, all the while knowing-trusting-that Loren would do as he'd commanded in this situation. There is a moment of opportunity: The Captain is down, and the rest of them are still up.

Maybe it won't matter, because in the next moment the building they're on breaks under the damage of the demons's assault and lists to the side off it's foundation, carrying them none-too-safely to street level. There is literally no sort of training Kahm can call on for himself or anyone else in this situation other than 'Be ridiculously lucky', so he pulls himself up and tries to keep steady as the whole structure goes down, taking an opportune moment to leap and land on one of those canvas-covered merchant stands he thinks he may have bought meat on a stick from once.

"Re-group and focus!" He'll shout out to his fellow miraculous survivors, "City exit at six o'clock!"

There it was, an way out of this madness. Beyond it, reinforcements from Gebler and hope. Only a skirmish between the remnants of the Adlehyde Guard and the demons stood in their way. Kahm held no hesitation about what to do.

"We're breaking through." He ordered, readying a sonic grenade, "Demon or guard, it doesn't matter. Prioritize your own lives."

He lets the grenade fly and explode overhead of the fighting mob, hopefully disorienting them enough to shoot and fight their way through to sanctuary. 

DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Sonic Grenade toward his party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

Kaspar looks up briefly as Cardia swings past, dangling from a metal demon. He frowns. "Well, it could have been a good idea," he says, turning his attention back to the task at hand-- a building what's about to collapse. Sighing in frustration (and, of course, pain), he jams the spear into the side of a chimney, rips a strip of fabric off his half-cape, lashes it to his belt and the spear, then... lies down on his back, grunting as he does so, and planting his feet against the chimney. Then, he counts.

The building lists to the side and begins to fall. Kaspar continues to count. The roof tilts suddenly, sharply to the side. Debris rains down around him, crashing to the ground. But not Kaspar.

As the building collapses, the chimney goes from vertical to horizontal, and Kaspar rides it out until he is standing atop the bricks, no more than six feet above the ground. Walking out to the center of the chimney, he stomps on the spear with his good leg. The chimney groans in protest, then snaps off and slides perilously to the ground. At precisely the correct moment, Kaspar grits his teeth and does a little hop, landing precariously on the ground as the chimney shatters behind him. It looks cool for three seconds, until his bad leg buckles and he, too, collapses to the ground.

Muttering, he pulls himself back to his feet and grabs a piece of rebar as a new substitute cane. He's really going to have to look into a collapsible model for future emergencies. Grumbling, he makes his way towards the fray, following the Captain. Kaspar draws his handgun, grimly searching for targets. He can feel the drugs beginning to poison his body; it won't be long before he crashes hard. A countdown begins in his head then-- this one counting the number of steps he knows he can manage before the drugs, the injuries, and the fatigue conspire to fell him. In order to make it through this battle and to the gate with enough steps left to get outside before he falls, there are only one or two possible paths he can follow. Paths of least resistance.

The tech raises his gun, sighting carefully, and takes a step. He fires. And again. And again. Just as Kahm said, it matters little who or what he shoots: it only matters that they're in his way. 

DG: Kaspar Grossekatze has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

This is the sort of thing that could make people grow suspicious of a man. Fargo's gambit didn't work as he intended - the Metal Demons didn't give a shit about one man peeling off when they could instead continue to pelt the masses. "Tch."

Then the building gives way, the roof next to him sloughing apart. The Man in White skids to a stop before pitching into a new hole, looking down, his hand flying to radio. "We're not high up," he says, urgent but calm. "Keep your cool and don't panic." Probably not something he has to say to soldiers, but certainly something he has to say to shitty gangers with highly combustible shit on their backs.

Fargo chooses a spot and drops, landing on a sharply sloping chunk of ex-wall. The descent scuffs the soles of his shoes past easy recoverability. He still has enough from the flames earlier to maintain his Heat Haze for a few moments more, and he says again over the radio: "Don't check your fire."

"You won't hit me."

Fargo comes off the debris hard, dropping an entire floor. He hits and rolls, fouling his jacket with dust and sand - nothing unrecoverable - staggering to his feet on the move. He clamps his hat onto his head again to free his other hand and pushes his way into the battle in the wake of Kahm's sonic grenade.

There are weak people, and there are strong people. The weak have it bad enough already. The strong people? Well, they chose to be strong. If you kill them, that's on them.

Art of the Hot Body: Supernova

Guards and Demons alike, if they didn't notice the destructive arrival of the Gebler forces on-scene, certainly notice when Fargo presses into their midst, a bullet from Kaspar whizzing past him. He makes a wide, circular motion with his arms, stance wide, hands stopping near his chest, palms facing each other. It is a visible effort to push in, shoulders shaking, until his glowing hands touch.

All of his stored heat erupts outward in a bright white flash, displaced air cracking and billowing outward in a spiral. Flash-burning is a pretty bad way to go, for flesh or metal.

Fargo staggers through, shivering, body heat wildly out of control. "H-h-hole," he says. "M-made an opport-tunity." 

DG: Fargo Foobach has used his Tool Molotov Cocktail toward his party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

The erupting bomb near Elly sends shrapnel cutting through her general shoulder/upper arm area. The uniform's ballistic plastic is enough to keep it from actually shredding a muscle group but now she DOES have something to cry about later.

She doesn't feel it, quite. It's a swimmy experience. Even so, she rises upwards, moving ahead, because there isn't any kind of thing to do other than that. Not unless she wants to hide in a hole and wait to die and she can't do that.

Why can't she? She doesn't know.

Either way they're moving ahead. There are enemy troops ahead of them and at this point everyone is an enemy troop. Half in shock, dazed, and tilted on ketamine, Elly pulls out her sidearm and starts dumping the magazine into the cluster of people, taking a deep steady breath as they get forwards, as she closes distance, as -

Sweet Lord who taught him to do that! Flame licks forwards, hot air caressing Elly's face again. "M-Mr. Foobach!" she declares. The head of steam she was building up is dissipated, but then maybe it wasn't needed.

But then, the drugs may be wearing off. For better or worse.

(worse) 

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Sidearm toward her party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

There are places where death would be preferable to accepting assistance from a surface-dweller. This is not one of them -- all other reasons aside (and there are many of them), he'd made a promise to the Captain to see this through. Though he hesitates briefly, Loren grabs for the offered hand.

As Loren takes Fargo's hand, though, one thing is immediately clear to him, even beyond the man's noticably above-average strength.

Usually, Loren's expression trends heavily towards deadpan. He doesn't emote much on average, and when he does, it's usually muted. Here, the shock writ across his face is plain as day; his blue eyes widen.

He can tell at a touch, even through the insulation of his combat gear. Medically-speaking, anyone with a body temperature this hot should be dead.

He's helped up over the edge, shock muting in his gaze into something much more quickly approaching astonishment. No thanks are forthcoming, though -- Fargo might have saved his life, but Fargo is still a Lamb. He opens his mouth, as if about to ask something -- to judge by the look in his eyes -- but then the bombs begin to fall.

'This isn't a good situation' would be the understatement of the century. Chunks of the rooftop explode, spewing tile and assorted construction material into the air along with shrapnel from the bombs. An explosion too nearby sends Loren staggering and skidding along the tiles, listing to the side as he unfolds his shield a little too late to do more than soak up the remainder of the concussive force. Blood -- from an unlucky bit of sharp metal flung his way -- mixes freely with the dirt and dust plastered to his face and glasses. For the second time tonight he regrets taking off his helmet.

Right before him, Kahm, already badly injured, is knocked to the ground. In a second that feels like it takes up an inordinantly lengthy period to him, Loren stops.

Loren's heartbeat accelerates. Don't hesitate to prioritize the squad over me if I become a burden.

"Keep moving!" he shouts a second later, gesturing straight ahead and running. He makes no move to assist Kahm.

Leadership and its perks don't last long. Not more than two steps in, the building collapses. Loren shouts again, this time wordlessly. Masonry buckles and crumbles; beneath the architectural fury Loren brings the shield up and curls as much as he's able as he falls, attempting to protect his head and neck.

He lands of course awkwardly, an assortment of larger bits of rubble scattered atop the still raised shield under which he lies sprawled in the ruins. He shoves the shield's unwanted cargo off him in a display of force before rising, unsteadily. Everything hurts.

The Captain's voice breaks through the haze. Loren's eyes refocus. "...Understood..." 

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

But first he needs to handle a problem: his own increasingly battered condition. He slides a hand into the depths of the kit, pulling up and uncapping a needle that probably violates some medical ethics standards, somewhere. It looks unpleasant. He grits his teeth and closes his eyes, then jams it in. Through the softer material of the combat suit, through skin, muscle, up until he feels the 'pop' of the needle pushing into the bone. The fact that he twitches while doing this is probably understandable.

Not the best site for this, he thinks distantly, as he pulls the now-emptied syringe free with a groan to toss it aside, but right now he needs the narcotic circulating, and fast.

He stands there for a moment, clutching his upper arm and breathing deeply. Still hurts but...

Ether gathers around him, dulling some of the too-hot too clinging temperature of the air around him. It continues to drop steadily. Taking a step forward at last, Loren releases the pent-up charge, condensing the water vapor in the air and bringing it down in a rain upon the assorted group ahead, be the demon or guard. The shards of ice are sharp, merciless.

...Still hurts, but he doesn't much care about it now. 

DG: Loren Voss has used his Tool Solarian Medical Kit toward his party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

Cardia's heels dig in hard to the rooftop, the weight of her reinforced boots and cybernetics helping her-- but not enough. She goes sliding across the surface, panels and roofing breaking away and digging out ruts beneath her feet until she hits the edge-- then, clinging to the gun and the cable, her feet hit the small rise before breaking straight through.

There's no resistance-- she's just taken straight into the air, dangling from the wire as her grip tightens on the grapple gun's grip. Spitting a curse into the interior of her helmet as she dangles, there's no doubt that the body-cam footage of this is going to be analyzed and carefully used to describe What Not to Do in later training videos for Solarian soldiers.

Cardia considers her options. The creature is heading toward the gate, though not perfectly. Checking her options, the rooftops nearby, and the gate, the cyborg tightens her mouth into a line, then clicks the 'reel in' button, bringing her up closer and closer to the Metal Demon rather than further away. Hooking one leg up as she swings in, she's trying to lock the creature up in a tangle of limbs, pulling the Ether Magnum and plugging away at it with round after round. If she can get it to come down closer to the gate, she can at least try to get out with the rest of the team.

... Or, well, it might just be kind of an interesting landing. 

DG: Cardia Ortell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Non-Stop Escape.
DG: You pass the challenge, and take 2 Exhaustion! You have 40 total Exhaustion.
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Kahm Yugh has successfully explored The Battle of Adlehyde!

=====================<* CHALLENGE - It's Over - For Now *>======================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Discovery |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The party has made it out of the city, along with any civilians who were
 traveling with them. Outside of the city, the line is being held by parts of
 the Adelhyde Guard, the Yggdrasil Pirates and their Gears, as well as a
 number of Drifters who have set up defensive positions and safe areas for
 civilians to rest and prepare to move away from the city. For those who have
 escaped to Adelhyde castle, the fighting at the walls continues, but food
 and shelter can still be obtained. However, the fighting continues, and
 there are more people yet trapped inside Adelhyde City...
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

The effects of Gebler's incursion into this skirmish are immediate and devastation. First, the screeching sounds of the Captain's sonic grenade send man and demon alike into reverberating spasms, disrupting the pace of battle just long enough to give Fargo the opportunity he needed. Kaspar's bullets plug into bodies that stifle, fall, and are then incinerated in the blistering wave of scorching heat the tears from Fargo's body, blackening the earth and leaving naught but still-burning bones and molten slag seeping into the ground in their wake.

A hole indeed. Kahm did not reject the gift, his mouth set like a rock, "Move out!" He commanded!

The gebler squadron presses through, Loren's frozen rain bringing a secondary assault that further harries the fighting enemies and prevents them from clumping back around the gap in their line. Metal beasts stagger back in confusion with blades of ice lodged in their chassis while the bodies of men simply lay their, impaled and frozen to the ground. Elly's shots will manage to hit a few stragglers that get too close to their flank, but they are nearly in the clear now.

Above, the metal vulture that was carrying Cardia squawked and twisted as successive shots from the ether magnum blew successive holes in it's stupid, bird-shaped body, eventually losing another matter that the whole thing just fell out of the air. Hopefully Cardia knew what she was doing with that!

In the meantime, the crew leaves the wretched battlefield behind them, emerging out of the gates and into the Adlehyde hinterlands with a none-too-appeasing site awaiting them: Forces from the Yggrdrasil, augmented by ragtag forces of drifters. One doesn't think they'll be too kind to the people who just tore through Adlehyde's foes and defenders to save their own skin.

But there's good news: What the think doesn't matter!

As if on cue, whether by the fortunes of fate or the guiding hand of certain Lieutenant Commander, another squad of Gebler carriers touch down just beyond the gates and issue forth freshly deployed soldiers to welcome and bring the wounded back on board. Everyone (even Fargo) will find themselves to recipient of some manner of assistance should they accept.

Kahm, for his part, will defer treatment until everyone else under his command is seen to. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaspar Grossekatze has posed.

Kaspar's focus narrows to the corridor created by the joint efforts of the Gebler squad. Step. Rebar. Fire. Step. Rebar. Step. Rebar. Step. Rebar. Fire. The counter ticks down in his head. He's nearly at the gate. He's through the gate. The counter is in the single digits. Before him, a carrier hoves into view. Five. The ramp lowers. Four. Soldiers pour out. Three. A pair spot him, note his increasingly blatant reliance on the bit of rebar. Two. They rush over, reaching out, concern on their faces. One.

The soldiers grab him just as he begins to collapse. The rebar clatters to the ground. His gun is empty, dangling from twitching fingers. Carrying his tall, lanky form between them, the soldiers hustle onto the carrier.

Zero.

Kaspar smiles, pats one of the soldiers on the head like a fond parent greeting a child. His eyes roll back in his head. His muscles stiffen. Foam begins to form on his lips, dripping down his chin. One of the soldiers-- the one he patted-- puts a blanket beneath Kaspar's head, and he knows no more. 

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

Loren couldn't know the horrible timing of flinging an ice storm in on the heels of Fargo's Supernova. The former Drifter hadn't had cause to fight along with a Gebler force, and as a result, the intricacies of his combat style were a big question mark. Not so much a secret as unexplored territory, though Fargo, for obvious reasons, tends not to talk about his vulnerabilities.

He's at the head, fortunately, out of range by the time Cardia lands, but the frost that comes with the Ether assault gets to him.

He'll be just inside the carrier when the others catch up, sitting away from any of the cold metal. Not entirely sure what to do, a soldier tossed a heated blanket for water rescues to the -Lamb-. He's wrapped himself in it, hat pushed down to cover loss of heat from his head, shivering violently. His exposed hand is blue, like he's at risk of frostbite.

Fargo peers one eye out as Kaspar is brought in and laid down. "G-g-good," he says. The Man in White is trusted as the policing agent of the Black Ties for one important reason - every life in his gang holds meaning to him. Before this, the Gebler agents were employers.

Now, these men and women have struggled alongside him. They may not hold him in particular regard. He understands that. But that's not important. Until the boss says otherwise, they're gang now.

Fargo looks at Kahm when he arrives. "Y-your people," he stammers, forcing himself. "G-good." 

<Pose Tracker> Cardia Ortell has posed.

One shot, two shots, three, four, five--

Successive shots tear through the creature of living metal, pulling hard on the cable to steer it toward the city's ramparts. Holstering the gun, she grabs at the creature's wing, pulling down hard and sending it into a spin. Colliding with the surface with a crash of set stone and mortar, the second plunge to the ground is the worst one-- the one just beyond the gates-- as the ground rushes toward them rapidly.

This is gonna suck.

Holding tight, the Metal Demon hits the ground first with an aggressive crash, skidding across the dirt before Cardia is thrown clear and sent tumbling across the ground at speeds that would-- should-- rightly break half the bones of a human being's body.

Fortunately, Cardia is much less human and much more sturdy than others.

She twitches weakly first, her world a scrambled blitz of white-hot pain and optics attempting to reorient and clear up. Pushing up from the ground, she moves with a heavy limp, one leg dragging a bit and clutching her shoulder while one arm hangs limp. Hauling ass to the carrier, bleeding and sore and chunks of metal cut from her limbs and a tangle of pain and regret...

... man, she's never gonna hear the end of it from Loren. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

That transport is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Elly thinks, because it's a nicer thing than 'oh no all these people and people-like machine creatures we just cut through.' Fortunately, she is coming off the ketamine horse so she doesn't follow it up with: 'I wish I could marry it.'

Ten minutes earlier and she would have, though.

Staggering and bleeding, Elly is already shucking off the glove on the side where she got winged as she gets aboard. Soon enough there is anesthetic gelspray and binding and - "Oh, Mister Foobach--"

Elly presumes, naively, that he got hit with a water Ether in passing, or from a Metal Demon cryo bomb, or... or something. She looks with more concern if less exclamation towards Grossekatze and Ordell as they come in, either on blanket travois or by cyber-crawling (the hot sport of Whatever Year This Is).

She makes herself stay swimmily semi-awake until she feels the transport raise up from the ground. Then she tilts her head against a bulkhead and immediately falls unconscious. 

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

While Loren stands there, waiting for the intial effects of the dissociative to kick in, he's given a front-row seat to Fargo's display. Slowly, the medical officer exhales a low breath, eyes widening slightly.

Who knew Lambs could do that?

It's a sure thing that when the shards of ice hit the ground along the length of the 'hole' they immediately burst into steam. For Fargo, though, even this much chill might be too much.

Loren doesn't linger. He gives no shout of affirmation. There's an opening, so he runs through it after the others, drawing his sidearm just in case it's needed.

The pain hasn't ebbed. It wouldn't, under the effects of this drug. All it really does at this dosage -- and here Loren's putting a little bit of faith in his body's metabolism that it won't hit him too hard, like it did for Elly -- is dull the degree to which the mind cares about the fact that the body is suffering. This is fine, right now.

Loren is rapidly gaining a new appreciation for the pharmacodynamics of this compound.

He's aware, distantly, of an ether ARM going off overhead. Ortell, a part of his mind -- freed from the burden of focusing on pain -- answers, piecing together a potential version of events.

One that might be somewhat accurate when she lands. He picks up the pace. The Captain might still be in control, but he also still feels some obligation here. Definitely so when she rises, one leg obviously dragging. Alarm, particularly this close to the finish line, punches past the growing haze of dissociatives. "--Ortell!" He might not be in great shape himself, but at least he can still act as if it's nothing. Catching up to her, he offers her a hand.

Once Loren climbs aboard he sinks heavily into the nearest seat available, the effects of the dissociative beginning to take over, leaving Cardia to the tender mercies of the medical team on board here. He blinks, as if blearily. There aren't two of Elly, are there? And what in the Emperor's name happene to Fargo?

"Did I miss?" he asks, sliding off his dirt-encrusted glasses and attempting to focus. This is taking a lot of effort, apparently. 

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Kahm watches as, one by one, each member of his group is admitted and cared for. There is a look of brow-knitted concern for Kaspar and Elly, a shared look of fatigue for Cardia, and sheer inscrutability for Loren. Fargo speaks to him, and the Captain notes the Suit's condition before making the connection. Ah, Loren couldn't have known. "Yes." He says, nodding his head, "Yes, they are."

He takes a knee then, finally allowing his body to feel the full weight of fatigue and struggle it had suffered in the escape. His wounds had re-opened, aided now by fresh ones, and his bandaged quickly soaked anew with blood. Fortunately, staff are on hand to manage this-a few other field medics quickly attend to the Captain and mount him on a stretcher, intending to carry him to the medbay for further attention.

"Hold..." Kahm croaked, then spoke again with more force, "I said hold, damn you!"

They stop, clearly annoyed, as the Captain beckoned Loren over.

It was a strange thing to be thanking a man for abandoning you to your fate, but Kahm's eyes showed not a shred of conflict as he gave the Lieutenant an approving nod.

"Well done out there, Lieutenant. You have a good head on your shoulders, see that you keep it." Kahm coughed violently for a moment, and slipped what may have been one of his only genuine smiles, "Frankly, it's hard to believe Engil was your brother..."

Eyes closing, his voice trailed off, feverish in the last few syllables. The staff seemed more thankful than anything that the Captain had slipped out, makes their job easier, and continued on their way. 

<Pose Tracker> Fargo Foobach has posed.

Fargo, loath to explain to the entire boat a method that could be abused to casually own him, simply answers Loren with: "No." There's no bitterness, or anger. Just a statement. Loren definitely did not miss. 

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

He didn't miss. "Oh," Loren replies, a mixture of wooziness and blatant befuddlement. His brow screws up as he attempts to parse this. It doesn't. But maybe that's not such a problem, right now.

The Captain calls out to him from the nearby stretcher. Unsteady, Loren rises to his feet, bracing his hand on a nearby medic's shoulder.

At first, Loren looks blank, as if uncomprehending the fact that he's just been praised. Then, slightly, he nods.

And then, Kahm mentions That Name.

Loren immediately straightens, heat behind his gaze even in spite of the by-now full grip of the narcotic. His grip on the nearby medic's shoulder tightens, no doubt prompting a wince.

"...Indeed," he bites out, turning his head away as Kahm is carried away, directing the full force of his sudden wrath at a point between the wall and the floor.

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