2019-02-27: Hunting the White Whale
- Log: Hunting the White Whale
- Cast: Lunata Croze, Shalune Amira, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Great Aveh Desert
- Date: February 27, 2019
- Summary: Lunata, Shalune, and Jacqueline descend into the Stalactite Caves one final time to track down the unmanned Gear that has thwarted them multiple times before. Will revenge be had this day?
===========================<* Great Aveh Desert *>============================ The heart of the Republic of Aveh is its great desert. The rolling dones and blistering heat here are infamous, and all but the most foolhardy would ever dare to cross it on foot. Most do so via the great rail lines running north to south, east to west, leading as far as Krosse and Adlehyde. The ones who do cross it on foot will find the heat isn't the only danger. Mirages can lead men astray, oases are few, and great and terrible beasts sink beneath the sands until they find their prey. DG: A party led by Lunata Croze is now entering Stalactite Cave. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Just Dropping In? *>======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
It's a known fact among natives that there are areas in the Great Aveh
Desert where the bedrock is less-than-stable, and that those who wander or
raise a ruckus can discover these sections quite by accident, often sending
the involved parties plunging into the depths of the sea of sand, usually
never to return.
Whether it's just bad luck on your part or you're intentionally seeking such
an opening, you've found one of those little weak points in the Great Aveh
Desert yourself; the drop down into the cave below whether purposeful or not
is quite the fall even for a Gear or similar machine. Now your task is a
relatively simply but potentially daunting one: negotiate the fall without
breaking anything.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"No more. This has gone on long enough."
The situation has grown dire in the Yggdrasil. The effects of a long, vain quest for vengeance has affected many crewmembers.
The door creaks open, and the harsh Aveh sunlight filters into the dark corners of solitary;
Franz the Dolphin's silhouette is unmistakable.
Lunata lifts her head up from where she's seated behind bars.
"Just cool your head a while, okay? It's fine. We don't catch every threat out there. It's all about prioritising."
The door slams shut as the helmsman leaves with a heavy sigh. This whole saga has been disastrous to the technicians...
"Hey--"
"No, I'm not budging even for a taco. You hear?"
Red eyes glimmer in the dark.
"W-what're you--"
Lunata's lips trail close and open as she whispers dark temptations:
e n c h i l a d a s . . .
NOW
"This is the last trip," Lunata mumbles to herself as she descends down a familiar point in the Aveh Desert. The Rephaim itself has taken a couple of dings from the Siege of Krosse itself, so this extra excursion's really put it through the ringer.
"I'm going to crush that White Whale and be free once and for all. Ready?"
The sinkhole begins to gorge outwards...
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Wings of Rephaim toward her party's challenge, Just Dropping In?.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Even Shalune seems a little run ragged by now, her expression a bit of a flat deadpan as she and Big Shal work together to safely manage the fall; the pink-haired mechanic is visible as a tiny blob on the back of the Little Dipper, maneuvering her way down amongst the rivulets of falling sand in a steady, spiralling path that's half instinct and piloting skill and half sheer experience. Beneath her, the golem takes the fall with aplomb, raking a hand down a sandstone wall to gather some purchase as Big Shal slides down a steep slope.
One of the golem's hands goes to a compartment at its side, and just in time - when the machine lands, it's in the midst of a sea of sand and dust thrown up around her. There's silence for a moment, then the twelve-foot golem steps out of the billowing cloud, and lowers the makeshift giant-size goggles away from its eyes, offering a thumbs up to Shalune as she descends onto the scaffolding at Big Shal's back.
"... I mean, uh-- not to put a damper on it or anything, but do we have a different plan this time? I'm startin' to think there's more sandhole than desert."
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Just Dropping In?.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline had her concerns about that unmanned Gear. It attacked everyone who fell into the caves beneath the desert, regardless of why they were there. Undoubtedly it was protecting something, but Jacqueline didn't see that as a good reason to go lashing out at everything.
If she ever found the person who put it there, she had every intention of giving them a piece of her mind.
So, here she is again, with Lunata and Shalune. Lunata seems...just a little bit obsessed. But can Jacqueline blame her? In a way, isn't she, too? She was right here along with her, after all.
"Ready!" Jacqueline says. She's found(or maybe made) a sturdy pillar of stone, around which she's tied a steel cable. It's the same cable that she used last time, even if it didn't quite go the way she wanted it.
"Alright, I'm going to step in and very carefully try to lower myself down..." She says, taking a step into the sinkhole. They might have advanced warning this time, but it didn't make it any less treacherous.
Shalune asks about a different plan. Jacqueline nods from the safety of her cockpit, even though there's no chance she'd be able to see her.
"I've given the Jaeger an upgrade to its radar...hopefully this'll give us a bit more in the way of advanced warning this time." Jacqueline comments. She has the manual sitting right next to her. She's given it a very thorough reading.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Just Dropping In?.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Just Dropping In? *>======================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
It's a known fact among natives that there are areas in the Great Aveh
Desert where the bedrock is less-than-stable, and that those who wander or
raise a ruckus can discover these sections quite by accident, often sending
the involved parties plunging into the depths of the sea of sand, usually
never to return.
Whether it's just bad luck on your part or you're intentionally seeking such
an opening, you've found one of those little weak points in the Great Aveh
Desert yourself; the drop down into the cave below whether purposeful or not
is quite the fall even for a Gear or similar machine. Now your task is a
relatively simply but potentially daunting one: negotiate the fall without
breaking anything.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure===================================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 1 *>======================== =======================< Results - Just Dropping In? >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 0 --(25)--> 25 Fail Wings of Rephaim 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 0 --(25)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 0 --(25)--> 25 Fail Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Conditions: Injure(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 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.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Do we have a different plan this time?
Lunata has a quiet pause, then growls:
"I'm going to just keep firing until every gun and hardpoint on the Rephaim's dry and then I'm going to claw and tear it into pieces until it can't possibly cobble itself back together."
uh, yikes.
Still, that anger goes a long way-- to getting them in trouble, as Lunata doesn't even realise how fast she's divoting down and getting her wings just *stuck* in the quicksand and there's an angry snarl as she plunges down and they all go
*p e w w w w w...*
(like that one sfx from ff4, you know the one)
"... this sucks," Lunata grumbles as the Rephaim's eyes gutter back online from where it's buried in sand afterwards.
Jacqueline, being wiser and more prepared, at the very least doesn't get dumped into the sand like Lunata does; it's rough going, though, with how finnicky sand is. And Big Shal is... as Big Shal does. Who knows about the exhaustion it feels? Only Shal does....
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
================<* CHALLENGE - Sand Also Flows Like A River *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Sand rains in short showers through the minute gaps in the stone ceiling of
the caves; this is just about a given. But 'downward' is not the only way
the sand runs in here. In sections, the sand has gained enough substance and
weight that, combined with the slight downward sloping of the rock, it
really does flow something like a river. A fast river.
Worse, it's gotten quite deep -- if you weren't in a Gear or a similar
machine, it would be downright impossible to ford without help. As it is,
you might be able to cross here, but you'll have to do it quickly, before
you can find out why hanging around in the sand in a machine is not
recommended by most mechanics.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline takes it slow - very slow. It takes a lot of time and a lot of the Jaeger's fuel, but she does manage to make it a good part of the way down before the pillar she was using to hold her line gets dislodged. It falls in, landing below her...and without her safety net, the Jaeger ends up falling too.
It isn't a very long distance, but it's still a crash that leaves her a little dazed.
"I-Is that...rushing water...? Is everyone alright?" She says, then shuts her eyes tight, shakes her head, and forces the Jaeger into a standing position...at which point, she realizes her mistake.
Not water.
"Sand?" Jacqueline gasps. It's rushing, much like a river would...and even worse, she spots a familiar white Gear sinking into it, getting dragged along by the current.
"Lunata! Hold on!" Jacqueline says, picking up the cable, swinging it, and hurling it over to the Rephaim.
"Shalune, are you there? Are you alright?" Jacqueline asks. She tries to hold on to the cable...but it probably won't be long before she's dragged in, too.
On the bright side, there's a ledge on the other side that looks like it might lead further in. It's better than getting washed away...or letting too much sand get in your Gear.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sand Also Flows Like A River.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune absolutely knows about the exhaustion Big Shal feels, since she's the one who eats up part of it thanks to the synchronization with her ARM. Already, her hand is straying for the pocket of her coat that contains the bag of peanuts, but she leaves it alone after a moment's internal war.
"That sounds a whole lot like the previous plan," she grumbles as she straps herself into her 'piloting' harness instead, then fishing in her bag for a shawl to tie across her lower face-- but lights up when Jay actually turns out to have an answer. "Ooh, that's good! I tried figuring out some countermeasures, but I'd still need to get onto the dang thing to use them."
Of course, no sooner has she strapped in than she sees the predicament the Rephaim has gotten itself into, and before she's really aware of what she's doing or how worried she is, she's already sprung up and back onto the Little Dipper.
Behind her, Big Shal also picks up a surprising burst of speed as the golem hooks one end of the line to find a new support to tie it to; ahead, Shalune sweeps low to the rushing sand, wincing a little at the sheer sound of it and quietly thanking the Guardians for heavy duty gloves as she grabs the line and swings her scooter in a tight spiral, looping the wire more securely around the Rephaim's limbs.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Little Dipper toward her party's challenge, Sand Also Flows Like A River.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata groans for a moment as she whips her head about, looking towards her radar and noticing that most of her cameras are just dead and jammed from sand filtering through. "How's sand moving like this?!"
She grapples onto her controls and strains against them as she hears Jacqueline calling to her--
The camera picking upt he cable as she reaches for it. She misses.
"Grrrh--"
She yanks on the lever further as she guns for the throttle. "Come on, you useless thing!"
Big Shal and Shalune emerges at the same time as the wire gets hooked around her as the time her wings come back online; a blue-hot burst of vernier fire erupts into life and hopefully starts lifting her up out of the sand.
"Go!"
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Wings of Rephaim toward her party's challenge, Sand Also Flows Like A River.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
================<* CHALLENGE - Sand Also Flows Like A River *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Sand rains in short showers through the minute gaps in the stone ceiling of
the caves; this is just about a given. But 'downward' is not the only way
the sand runs in here. In sections, the sand has gained enough substance and
weight that, combined with the slight downward sloping of the rock, it
really does flow something like a river. A fast river.
Worse, it's gotten quite deep -- if you weren't in a Gear or a similar
machine, it would be downright impossible to ford without help. As it is,
you might be able to cross here, but you'll have to do it quickly, before
you can find out why hanging around in the sand in a machine is not
recommended by most mechanics.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire=====================================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 2 *>======================== ==================< Results - Sand Also Flows Like A River >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 25 --(3)--> 28 Pass Wings of Rephaim 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 25 --(3)--> 28 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 25 --(3)--> 28 Pass Little Dipper 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 10 --(20)--> 30 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Tire(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"We'll see if we can't make an opening...but be careful, okay?" Jacqueline requests as Shalune suggests countermeasures that require getting into the Gear.
For now, though, they need to worry about Lunata. Lunata can't quite reach the cable...but Shalune comes in for the save, working with Big Shal to hook the cable onto the Rephaim.
From there, Jacqueline pulls. The Rephaim won't be able to sink in any further...and as Lunata pulls on the throttle and the wings come back online, it'll be enough to let her lift up, leaving molten sand in her wake that is soon swept away by the current.
Jacqueline breathes a sigh of relief.
"I'd heard it was possible, but I always thought it was a metaphor...I didn't realize they were all being literal." Jacqueline says, shaking her head. "Let's...not figure out where it leads. I'd rather not slip in there if I can help it..."
The Jaeger, unfortunately, can't fly.
DG: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Let Sleeping Bats Lie *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The caves beneath the sands are home to many things that seek to shelter
from the heat of the day. Among them, bats. You're aware of this now if you
weren't already, for ahead (and above) is a vaulted cathedral roof of a cave
ceiling absolutely studded with bats. There could easily be several million
of them here, making this quite possibly the largest bat colony in Filgaia.
They're all asleep right now, but if awoken are likely to panic and nearly
quite literally flood out of here.
The obvious way through is across and directly under the bat colony. But do
you really, really want to deal with a swarm of several million tiny bodies?
Best to stay as quiet as you can and find the careful way through.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Weaken===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Wah!" blurts Shalune as she nearly gets a very close-up view of the Rephaim's engine wash; she immediately stamps on the back of the Little Dipper, sending it into a sudden and abrupt climb before sweeping around and back towards her golem, who has found her way to the other side of the river of sand and is waving a genteel, peaceful hello.
Settling back onto the golem with a sigh of relief, Shalune makes a bit of a face as she pulls her shawl back over her mouth, trying not to scrape her microphone at the same time. "Y'know, I always thought water was real scary when it absolutely came down to it, but I'm gonna say sand beats it out," she grumbles, glancing between the Jaeger and the Rephaim as she sizes both machines up and tries not to think about how much sand she's going to have to clean out of them later.
As she does so, Big Shal starts to maneuver into the next of the caves. Most of the time, the ceiling is a dim gold, as scraps of light filter through some of the falling sand - here, the ceiling is a pure black instead, picked out by the occasional pair of eyes and the odd flutter of settling wings.
"Aww... that's right, this was a nesting spot," Shalune whispers as she searches in her pack, frowning as she tries to think of ideas to soften the impact of their Gears trekking through. Eventually, she lights up as an idea strikes - and she takes out a little box from a side pocket, setting it carefully on her golem's head and opening the lid--
--to a tiny, soft lullaby twinkling its way out of the beginner-made music box. ... ... Shalune looks so damn proud of herself, and Big Shal too.
DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Bag of Tricks toward her party's challenge, Let Sleeping Bats Lie.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
The Rephaim gets out of the sand river with a guttural groan of its metal joints as it receives a lot of abuse from a whole lot of particularly fine particles. Lunata suddenly flashes back to the importance of having proper dust filters, and realises why now.
"Agreed," Lunata haggardly responds to Shalune.
She floats on forward with a squint of her eyes and says, "... oh, we've been here before. Yeah, uh..."
A pause.
"Aren't they attracted to noise? Oh well, whatever..." as she mostly--
Well, she opts to just float very close to the ground, because gliding in the air is more quiet than stomping on it.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Agreed..." Jacqueline replies with a grim nod, echoing Lunata and Shalune's sentiments. She could handle water, but sand was a different beast entirely.
She follows Shalune as she leads the way on the other side, but her attention is largely on her radar as they proceed. Unfortunately, the bats are far too small to pick up on her radar. She only notices them when Shalune points them out.
"...Oh, yeah...hm. Well, let's see, where was that..." Jacqueline says to herself. She looks to another set of manuals, picking one and looking through it, eventually landing on a section about reducing the Gear's output while still remaining mobile.
It was largely meant for evading enemy detection, but it served her well enough last time in attempting to sneak past the bats without waking them up.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Maintainence Guidebook toward her party's challenge, Let Sleeping Bats Lie. DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Let Sleeping Bats Lie.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Let Sleeping Bats Lie *>====================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
The caves beneath the sands are home to many things that seek to shelter
from the heat of the day. Among them, bats. You're aware of this now if you
weren't already, for ahead (and above) is a vaulted cathedral roof of a cave
ceiling absolutely studded with bats. There could easily be several million
of them here, making this quite possibly the largest bat colony in Filgaia.
They're all asleep right now, but if awoken are likely to panic and nearly
quite literally flood out of here.
The obvious way through is across and directly under the bat colony. But do
you really, really want to deal with a swarm of several million tiny bodies?
Best to stay as quiet as you can and find the careful way through.
=Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Weaken===========================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 3 *>======================== =====================< Results - Let Sleeping Bats Lie >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 28 --(5)--> 33 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 28 --(0)--> 28 Pass Maintainence Guidebook 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 28 --(0)--> 28 Pass Bag of Tricks 2 Wits Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 30 --(20)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Injure(2)|Tire(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Watch Your Step *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you well know for yourself, the stone ceiling of the caverns are rather
less than solid. But it's not just the short sharp rainfalls of sand coming
down from above that you should be concerned about -- there are also
considerable amounts of sand underfoot, particularly right here where you're
piloting your machine now.
In large enough quantities under certain conditions, sand can become almost
like a liquid in behavior. To wit: the footing's bad here and you may slip
or slide, or worse, depending on your machine. Negotiating this may be
tricky.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Weaken==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"They're really good at hearing," amends Shalune, "So that means a lullaby will be especially effective, right?" She looks deeply pleased with her own reasoning - but at least her eyes gleam with the same grin that's in her voice as she rubs at the back of her own hair, thankfully smarter than that. "Or, well, it's worth a try. Not like it's gonna do much compared to a bunch of Gears stomping through, and Big Shal doesn't have snowshoes or sandals or anything."
The Jaegar cuts its output and its noise, and the Rephaim glides through the air with its spooky action. "Ja~ay, we've really gotta sit you down to get that memorized sometime. You can't do evasive maneuvers while you're flipping through an index," she comments - but by and large the group are through without too much of a problem. If anything, it's the Rephaim that ruffles the bats the most, as the trailing wisps of its wings and verniers cast a blue light that seems to agitate them.
And Big Shal, stomping along with only the sound of a penny whistle to accompany it, is somehow unmolested. Shalune positively radiates smug.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"Aw, give her some slack. At least she's reading the manual instead of-- just--"
A pause, as Lunata tries to think about how she'd phrase it.
"Learning by... doing." Yeah, that sounds... good. How else do you explain 'absorb the sheer muscle memory of different situations as you do them through the dead souls of those that have come before you in the Wheel'.
"Still. Would you have ever imagined you and I would become Gear pilots?" Lunata mumbles. "Don't know if Shalune counts."
She gets a bit of trouble with the bats, because let's face it, the Rephaim is loud; but she manages through as she--
SLIPS AGAIN
"MRGRGRGR"
Lunata thunks her head against the seat headrest to go, "... careful here, it's real slippery."
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Wings of Rephaim toward her party's challenge, Watch Your Step.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"I think I'm more of a Gear helper," Shalune agrees after a moment. "A Golem helper maybe? I guess I'm equal opportunity on that front," she natters quietly, a bit relieved to have the three of them together once more, even if one of them is still sounding significantly grumpy. "Aw, but I don't think that learning by doing is bad, per se. I mean, it's more or less what I do, so I probably shouldn't ma--ake too much fun of it--"
The hitch in her voice is thanks to the way the ground suddenly gives way with one of Big Shal's steps, sending her and her golem both pitching to one side. Shalune looks fine - she's strapped in, after all, and used to much more jarring feats of agility than this - but for all that Big Shal has an expressionless face it seems a little put out by the sudden incline.
Fortunately, Big Shal's size works to its favour; nimble in comparison to a full-sized Gear, the golem shifts its weight and places a hand carefully up to try to block Shalune from the worst of the sandstorm that's thrown up in their wake - several moments later the machine has launched towards the Rephaim, clinging onto its leg for purchase.
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Watch Your Step.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"A-ah, sorry...there's a lot of switches here and I'm pretty sure half of them don't even do anything..." Jacqueline replies, and then nods as Lunata comments on her reading the manual. "Yes! I have learned a lot, and I can do all of the important features just fine."
She gives a warm-hearted chuckle, then.
"Never. It still feels a little strange, even now..." She comments...and then thinks for a second. "...Though, I always figured Shalune would be handling some kind of big machinery."
It's at this point that the Rephaim slips again and Jacqueline puts her focus back on the task at hand.
"Looks like this place is looking to turn into another sandriver..." She observes with a frown. Unfortunately, this time she doesn't have anything to toss her cable around. She'll have to do it the hard and slow way - by walking through it very, very carefully.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Watch Your Step.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Watch Your Step *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you well know for yourself, the stone ceiling of the caverns are rather
less than solid. But it's not just the short sharp rainfalls of sand coming
down from above that you should be concerned about -- there are also
considerable amounts of sand underfoot, particularly right here where you're
piloting your machine now.
In large enough quantities under certain conditions, sand can become almost
like a liquid in behavior. To wit: the footing's bad here and you may slip
or slide, or worse, depending on your machine. Negotiating this may be
tricky.
=Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust, Weaken==========================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 4 *>======================== ========================< Results - Watch Your Step >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 33 --(0)--> 33 Pass Wings of Rephaim 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 28 --(0)--> 28 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 28 --(0)--> 28 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Weaken(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
How does Lunata just slipping lead to a use of her Gear tool?? It's because she's winging it, you see--
"Yeah... I'll buy that," Lunata mumbles as she uprights herself (her actual person; she's just ab-crunching on her seat at present, basically), then the Rephaim starts following suit as she looks to Big Shal, bobbling up nimbly as the Jaeger follows suit.
"...yeah, what's up with that? I would've thought Shalune would be the Gear pilot."
DG: Jacqueline Barber has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Herd Mentality *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Things live down here, in the semi-darkness and the cool and largely dry
cave complex. As a rule they've either become masters of keeping moisture in
or exploiting whatever moisture they can find. The latter is the problem of
the moment -- a herd of giant detrivorous sandsnails, eagerly clinging to a
thin stream of water oozing from the rock, are blocking your path.
Unlike the carnivorous kind, these are largely harmless to people (even on
foot) but very slow and stubborn: they don't like to move much or often.
Fortunately, you're all in Gears or something similar so it should be
possible to simply move them, but rest assured, the sandsnails will resist
you every inch of the way.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Stupify============================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Well, thankfully, they don't have to pick themselves up off the ground again. Jacqueline breathes a sigh of relief. Toppling in a Gear was never fun.
Unfortunately, they get to the end of it only to find that the path they had taken before seems to have been blocked off by fallen rocks. Except...looking a bit closer...they must be a creature of some kind. Durable rocky formations have grown over their shell due to their largely immobile nature, and they seem to be clinging to the stone where water is slowly but surely oozing through.
"...Oh! These are giant sandsnails... I'm impressed, you really don't see these around that often. They prefer cool, dark places, and they never come up to the surface...they're perfectly harmless, though, and some people use them to find new sources of water, since they tend to congregate around them." Jacqueline says in a rushed, excited tone. The sound of flipping pages can be heard - she must've opened up the Lifeweaver's Codex.
"...Oh, but I guess we can't really get through when they're in the way like this, huh...? They're very stubborn, though..." She comments. She frowns, folding her arms in front of herself.
She doesn't want to shoot the snails themselves, so she draws the Jaeger's sidearm and aims just past them before firing, sending off a shot that sends a shockwave out that'll hopefully dislodge some of them...or at least spook them into retreating into their shells to make them easier to move out of the way.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Breaker Shells toward her party's challenge, Herd Mentality.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Hmm... well, maybe it's like a hairdresser. Y'know the saying, when you've got to choose between the messy one and the neat one, you go to the neat one because the messy one must have done his hair real good," Shalune natters blithely, then perks up. "Maybe it's like that! ... besides, I'm not really all that great at piloting, y'know?" she admits sheepishly. "I like working with Big Shal more."
Big Shal detaches from the Rephaim's ankle after giving it a pat of thanks; it lands in the midst of the stream, and Shalune leans over the side a little to peer at the array of giant snails with open curiosity. "Ooh... er-- wait--" she adds as she realizes the golem is a little penned in, carefully pushing against one of the creatures for a moment before it lowers its hands as if worried it might be being rude.
The mechanic frowns to herself for a moment, glances to one side to take in the shape of the snails... and then seems to light up as they remind her of something. Hunting in a pocket of her coat, she pulls out a slim stone plate, crossing her legs underneath her as she makes a show of concentrating upon it. Her grasp of the Material summon is still rather shaky, but she can at least draw out a little of Dinoginos' power - and ahead of the trio, down the tunnel, plods a small replica of the Guardian.
It lets out a tinny roar, not quite as impressive as it could be, then starts advancing on the snails, trying to corral them out of the way.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"I've... never heard anything about hairdressers like that," Lunata remarks in confusion, not quite following or whether Shalune's gotten the roles mixed up or what. Though she probably hasn't had to go to a hairdresser in a while because her hair doesn't exacty grow anymore.
"... Sandsnails?" Lunata comments as she pulls on up with Jacqueline. She stares at them with a quiet face that she makes, before she looks to her own console...
"... Shalune"
She looks down and pops a button open.
"Shalune, did you install a..."
It's a button with a ~Snail~ picture on it.
A snail has more bones than a human being; humans have 206 and the snail has 230 bones.
press
Normal body temperature for a snail is 102 degrees F.]
"did you install a snail facts button??"
She grumps as she starts moving along with tiny Dinoginos and pushing it until she gets something useful--
Snails come back to full alertness from the sleep state faster than any other creature.
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost Shalune Special toward her party's challenge, Herd Mentality. DG: Shalune Amira has used her Tool Material - Dinowhatsit toward her party's challenge, Herd Mentality.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - Herd Mentality *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Things live down here, in the semi-darkness and the cool and largely dry
cave complex. As a rule they've either become masters of keeping moisture in
or exploiting whatever moisture they can find. The latter is the problem of
the moment -- a herd of giant detrivorous sandsnails, eagerly clinging to a
thin stream of water oozing from the rock, are blocking your path.
Unlike the carnivorous kind, these are largely harmless to people (even on
foot) but very slow and stubborn: they don't like to move much or often.
Fortunately, you're all in Gears or something similar so it should be
possible to simply move them, but rest assured, the sandsnails will resist
you every inch of the way.
=Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Stupify============================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 5 *>======================== =========================< Results - Herd Mentality >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 33 --(13)--> 46 Pass Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost Shalune Spec 4 Brute Effects: Sacrifice, Efficient, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 28 --(13)--> 41 Pass Breaker Shells 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 28 --(13)--> 41 Pass Material - Dinowhatsit 2 Brute Effects: Resilient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Stupify(2)|Tire(2)|Weaken(1) Effects: Resilient(1)|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 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: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Calamitous *>=========================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you progress through a broken sand barrier, there is a sudden roar of
engines from overhead. If the sound along weren't enough to suggest the
source, its sudden appearance from behind a series of stalactites will.
It's a Gear. Quite possibly the largest Gear you've ever seen.
This absolutely enormous white Gear barrels for you, jets flaring. Whoever's
piloting the thing isn't or refuses to answer any hailing -- and in fact,
for those knowledgeable about the construction of Gears would note one
particular thing: there doesn't seem to be an entry point for a pilot. Is it
autonomous?
But such academic questions may be best left at the metaphorical door: it's
firing rockets and you had best defend yourself.
(OOC: The GM for this round should hold on posing the aftermath until the
next card is drawn.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Reckless=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I-I can't say I've heard of that particular phrase either...but I can see your point. You two do make a great team together." Jacqueline replies.
But then, sandsnails. And what's more...Lunata apparently has a Snail Facts button now. Truly, this may be what tips the encounter in their favor...or at least give them something entertaining to listen to.
Jacqueline has to hold back a giggle at Lunata's response, but fortunately it doesn't affect her aim any. The shot lands right where it wants her to, dislodging some of the snails and causing others to retreat into her shells.
This'll make things easier for the other two. Fortunately, they're not quite able to tell the difference between Shalune's tiny Dinoginos and the real deal, making room for the Guardian with surprising speed(for a bunch of snails, anyway). Rephaim's presence works wonders, as well, forcing others out of the way as the two move forward. Eventually, there's a corridor that should lead right through them.
"Good work!" Jacqueline says brightly. "Fortunately, they're not the type to hold grudges..."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"What? They're cute! Kind of!" puffs Shalune defensively once Big Shal has extricated herself from the collection of snails. "--besides, I was trying a few things to see if they'd work, and it sorta did. There's actually an encyclopedia volume snuck away in that new arm," she grins foolishly. "I could make a button for all sorts of things, so long as their name is between Rust and Spiral Tower." There's a pause. "There wasn't space for any more."
Her enthusiasm dies down when they reach a familiar cave - not that there's a lot of landmarks to really go off of, but Shalune can feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising, and recognize the incline down into the darkness. "... okay. We're here. Let me-- let me try to set up a few things. Don't know if they'll work against anything that size, but-- anything's good."
She puffs out an uncertain breath, then hops off the back of the Golem as it helpfully holds up a bag for her to take. 'Some things' turn out to be a collection of mining charges and what looks like a bundle of heavy, metal netting - she puffs a little as she heaves it onto her shoulder, using the Little Dipper to fly up and attach it to the roacks on the ceiling of the cavern they're in.
It looks rather woefully small compared to the sheer size of the Gear they're hunting - but evidently Shalune isn't done yet, attaching the explosives to the net and prepping each of them before retreating.
Slowly, she puffs out her cheeks and hunkers down on the back of Big Shal, wincing a little as she feels the pot's energy thrum as Big Shal builds a protective cockpit around her. "... okay. Ready here. Hope this doesn't make a real, real mess."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"Rust? Spiral Tower? What?" Lunata blinks a few times, then just chalks that up to Shalune oddity. She's seen strange things, after all.
But there's a familiar presence, and a familiar cavern as she answers Shalune's very prevalent sense of preparation by--
Gunning on ahead.
There's a red-hot flash of anger in her eyes as the white Gear she's hunting emerges from over an outcropping, as if on schedule.
She's gunning for her verniers; the flames gutter out, then rev, to-and-fro as she jukes left and right and scowls out a hundred and ten as she abuses her motors.
"Just die already, die! Get splintered into a million pieces!" Lunata shouts, near the top of her lungs.
Her assault isn't so much a work of art as it is a berserker's blitz--
A nearly random peppering of vulcans from the Rephaim's body and head, and there goes a beam saber that she hurls much like it were some kind of javelin--
Calamity's rockets come flying in a salvo and Lunata's response is to grabs one and hurl it back, roaring as one of the Rephaim's foot sheathes in Ley energy in a manuever that can only be described as an extremely rude dive kick.
"GO TO HECK!"
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Rephaim Full Burst toward her party's challenge, Calamitous.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline quiets down soon, as well, her attention turning to her radar. There's a new blip on it. A big one. And it's heading right for them.
"Make your preparations quickly. It's closing in, fast!" She warns. "200 sharls away and dropping!"
And soon enough, there it is - the massive white Gear they're far too familiar with by this point.
Lunata flies into a rage and rushes the Gear, attacking in a berserker's blitz. Jacqueline frowns slightly. It's...definitely concerning, but warning her against it would only cause problems.
Besides, she can use this.
While Lunata has its attention Jacqueline tries to sneak around back, swapping out the Breaker Shells for a different form of ammunition as she moves. Once she's in position she takes aims and fires, trying to puncture the Gear's fuel tanks.
Only once she's fired and the Gear notices her will she speak.
"It has to be receiving commands from somewhere...maybe the person responsible can hear what's going on." She comments, then flips on her speakers.
"If you can hear us, give me a sign! We need to talk about your reckless and irresponsible behavior!" Jacqueline shouts.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Amplified Speakers toward her party's challenge, Calamitous. DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Calamitous.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Calamitous *>=========================
|Type: Climax |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
As you progress through a broken sand barrier, there is a sudden roar of
engines from overhead. If the sound along weren't enough to suggest the
source, its sudden appearance from behind a series of stalactites will.
It's a Gear. Quite possibly the largest Gear you've ever seen.
This absolutely enormous white Gear barrels for you, jets flaring. Whoever's
piloting the thing isn't or refuses to answer any hailing -- and in fact,
for those knowledgeable about the construction of Gears would note one
particular thing: there doesn't seem to be an entry point for a pilot. Is it
autonomous?
But such academic questions may be best left at the metaphorical door: it's
firing rockets and you had best defend yourself.
(OOC: The GM for this round should hold on posing the aftermath until the
next card is drawn.)
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Reckless=========================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 6 *>======================== ===========================< Results - Calamitous >=========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 46 --(0)--> 46 Pass Rephaim Full Burst 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 41 --(0)--> 41 Fail Amplified Speakers 1 Combat Effects: Embolden and Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 41 --(0)--> 41 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 90 --(0)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Reckless(2)|Stupify(1)|Tire(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has passed this challenge! The party gained 0 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: Shalune Amira has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Time For Round Two *>=====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Win, lose, or a draw -- the Gear's still standing whatever the outcome. As
battered as it is (and as your own machines may be) it seems no less than
intent to keep going. The Gear must be preprogrammed somehow or remotely
controlled -- no sentient pilot would push a random conflict so relentlessly
with so little regard for their own welfare and that of their Gear.
It rounds on the lot of you again, bristling with missile fire. The only way
to win against something as implacable as this, then, must be to destroy it.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune grits her teeth as the white Gear bears down on them - and then yanks at the controller in her hands. From above the calamity, there is a series of sharp pops as the net is lodged free and bears down upon the Gear - and while it can't hope to weigh the Gear down, it's not like that was even the intent. Instead, the heavy weights keep the net in place in time for the second set of explosives to trigger, impacting against the machine's side.
It would be a neat trick if the thing weren't hulking; as it is, it shrugs them off without much in the way of preamble.
Lunata doesn't strictly help, guiding the Gear away from the worst of Shalune's traps; the mechanic huffs, but can't bring herself to fuss too much when the Rephaim is undeniably having an effect in counteracting and biting into the Calamity's offence. Jacqueline's shots, delivered from a flanking position, barely bite into the machine's armor, but certainly serve to help pin it down in place for Lunata to get to work.
Her shotstaff brought to her shoulder, Shalune does her best to join in the assault - though she's decidedly lacking in heavy-duty ranged weapons, reliant on Big Shal to do her maneuvering for her. Still, it doesn't take a mechanic to realise:
"It's not slowing down!
"It's coming in aga~ain!"
DG: Shalune Amira has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Time For Round Two.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The last few times, they were either forced to retreat due to a cave-in, or they had to overpower it to make a path to escape.
...This time is different, though. It attacks them with renewed fervor, despite how much damage they(well, okay, Lunata) managed to inflict on it.
"...I wonder if it's as annoyed with us as were are with it..." Jacqueline murmurs. She sure would be frustrated if the same bunch of intruders kept showing up to cause trouble.
Even so, they'll have to fight against it. Unfortunately, her debilitation rounds weren't working before, so this time she swaps ammunition for her Breaker Shells. If it weren't an unmanned Gear she would be hesitant to use them, but that was one luxury she had here.
The Jaeger moves quickly to the side, taking aim with its sidearm and firing off a few shots. She aims strategically, attempting to take out its missile launchers to limit its ability to attack them from a distance.
"No response, huh...maybe they're not paying attention..." Jacqueline comments with a frown.
DG: Jacqueline Barber has used her Tool Amplified Speakers toward her party's challenge, Time For Round Two.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata is as much a danger to her team and herself as she is Calamity. At one point or the other, she even winds up stepping on one of Shalune's traps and collapses her Gear underneath a rain of stalactites--
"Not yet..."
But the flash of the Rephaim's irisoid eyes is seen underneath rubble, charging ever recklessly onward even as the ancient machine erupts into a shower of defunct sparks.
"It's been months!"
The Rephaim creaks, and one of its wings struggle to arch upwards. A final hiss accompanies its collapse in on itself, whatever arrayed mechanism meant to furl it utterly failing. The makeshift job that is the Rephaim's right arm -- usually loaded with one of Shalune's special tools -- has utterly fallen apart.
"I've spent everything... everything!"
The Calamity Gear continues to assault and batter them with missiles. One of them blasts the Rephaim square upon the shoulder and blasts a plate clean off. Lines of red-hot cracks plague the metal underneath.
"Rrrh..."
Lunata's final beam saber whistles through the air to the machine; that same trick isn't working, though, a hapless 'click, click' erupts as the head and chest vulcans run completely dry. A missile strikes again--
"For my sake..."
--and the Rephaim's head falls clean off, trailed by frayed wires and cabling.
"For our sakes..."
Lunata barely listens to Shalune's warning; she doesn't really understand Jacqueline's plan in the red haze that is her mind right now. Her jaw nearly pops, eyeballs bulging, pupils shrunk as she fully succumbs to her rage. Her muscles ring taut against the controls as she shoves her flightsticks past where they should move.
"Just..."
The smoke clears.
The headless Rephaim has taken position to raise its remaining arm and lift it high into the air, its singular beam rifle primed for one shot as the e-pac upon it threatens to explode from overload.
"Be..."
The final shooting.
"GONE ALREADY!!!"
DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Rephaim Full Burst toward her party's challenge, Time For Round Two.
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - Time For Round Two *>=====================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
Win, lose, or a draw -- the Gear's still standing whatever the outcome. As
battered as it is (and as your own machines may be) it seems no less than
intent to keep going. The Gear must be preprogrammed somehow or remotely
controlled -- no sentient pilot would push a random conflict so relentlessly
with so little regard for their own welfare and that of their Gear.
It rounds on the lot of you again, bristling with missile fire. The only way
to win against something as implacable as this, then, must be to destroy it.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=======================<* Stalactite Cave - Round 7 *>======================== =======================< Results - Time For Round Two >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lunata Croze 46 --(0)--> 46 Pass Rephaim Full Burst 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jacqueline Barber 41 --(5)--> 46 Fail Amplified Speakers 1 Combat Effects: Embolden and Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalune Amira 41 --(0)--> 41 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Lunata Croze 90 --(30)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Reckless(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Lunata Croze has successfully explored Stalactite Cave!
============================<* Stalactite Cave *>=============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - A Mechanic's Dream *>=====================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
With the Gear left behind you (one way or another) it's onward into the
recesses of the Stalactite Caves. In time your lights allow you to catch
sight of quite the prize, indeed.
Generally speaking, the 'wild' versions of Nomad Fix Bots, the automated
repair machines that are sometimes found in the pits under the desert --
remnants of mechanical support for fighting Gears in some long-forgotten war
-- are far too degenerate to repair in any capacity with modern techniques.
Something about the part of them that tells them what to do -- they get
stuck in a loop, repairing nearby Gears without end.
This one, though looks more pristine than the others. ...Aside from the part
where it's in pieces and needs significant repairs, that is. Still, the
parts themselves are largely unscathed, so even if the machine might not be
able to be restored, these are certainly quite the exotic pieces for a
different project, and might fetch a tidy sum from the right person.
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"--Lunie!" yelps Shalune the instant the Rephaim's head falls off; she winces visibly at the sight, because even if she knows that the Rephaim's sensors are far more than simple mechanics, there's still an ingrained perception that a Gear is more or less the same shape as its owner. The idea of Lunata losing her head - and still going - is not one she wants to examine too closely.
Especially not when she can feel her own ire growing. "Why do you always have to go so far?!" she yells, rather automatically assuming that Lunata can't hear her but feeling the need to say it anyway; she huffs under her breath, then spurs Big Shal onwards and down after the pair of Gears locked together in the pit, the golem running under the cover of Jay's fire. "This wasn't even out to destroy the world! Just terrorize these sandpits! You made it your crusade yourself!"
She watches as the Rephaim gets pounded, hissing out a breath between her teeth as she lifts her shotstaff to her shoulder; her small fire can't begin to help against the Calamity's armor, but it's all she can do to try, keeping the reticle of her scope trained on the machine even as Big Shal lifts off from the slope in a gigantic leap.
(It isn't exactly a major feat of aiming.)
The disadvantage of being a genius mechanic is that you learn to recognize the sound of metal giving way; she can hear it now, a shearing and wailing that signals Lunata's final attack.
Heart in her mouth, she pitches the spent battery from the back of her shotstaff, slams another one home into place - and yells wordlessly as Big Shal drops on the Calamity with a shattering punch with all the weight of gravity behind it. Half of the golem's arm instantly gives away, but that's still enough to open up a rent on the white armor - and swinging her staff up just in time, Shalune braces against her harness as she tears a safety clip off the side of her weapon and fires a bright, solid line out into the interior of the mech.
The sound of the Calamity falling to the ground is akin to an earthquake, but Shalune has no time to worry about whether they'll be buried, or what they might find down here. Instead, she's leapt off the back of Big Shal to skid and slide and generally pinwheel her way down to the stricken form of the Rephaim. Priorities are priorities, even if someone is determined to force them.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
The advantage of a Gear, as it were, is that you're... well, inside the casing of several tons of metal. As such, Lunata's not exactly injured herself to the extent the Rephaim is...
Gao.....
But she might as well be.
Because Shalune's right.
She made it her own crusade. She made the Gear up to be her own nemesis, even though it didn't really do anything but potter around in these Caves.
There's a grimace in her as she slumps back, just wholesale shutting down the entire Gear after she decides she's sick of all the warning sirens.
She's so angry. Like some kind of errant knight impaling a windmill over and over again.
"So what?! If it's not one thing it's the other!" Lunata hotly expresses. "You don't know if it's the only one or just some kind of crazy prototype waiting to be unleashed on the world or--"
She slumps further.
"Ugh. Forget it. I'm so tired..."
But she can't stop.
Because nobody's stopping...
Nobody's stopped.
Except for herself.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
It's...a little terrifying to see Lunata really go out it. Jacqueline's a little stunned, and more than a bit of her attention goes the Rephaim's way, causing some of her shots to end up missing. Even so, it's still enough to give Shalune and Big Shal cover.
Jacqueline's quiet as she hears Shalune's yelling. A part of her can't help but feel she might've been encouraging this behavior. It's hard to watch the Rephaim take hit after hit, but it's even harder to listen to the sheer rage in Lunata's voice.
"L-Lunata..." Jacqueline murmurs. Her gaze shifts briefly to the Calamity as it, finally, falls for what she hopes is the last time, then turns her attention back to the Rephaim. Mindful of the fact that Shalune would doubtlessly be heading the same way Jacqueline approaches Lunata's Gear.
"Lunata, are you alright...?" Jacqueline asks. Lunata's shout to Shalune is all the response she needs, and it shuts her up for a moment. After a moment, hesitantly, she sends a look back to the Calamity.
"...It's...it's over now, at least. It won't be bothering anyone else, I think..." Jacqueline says quietly. "Let's, um...let's go back and give the report. Can you move on your own, or do you need some help...?"
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune grips onto one of the plates of the Rephaim, her eyes grazing across the poor machine as she tries to take it in in its entirety, tries to evaluate just how much in the way of repairs it's going to need. Another arm - as expected, the makeshift one didn't make it. Reattaching the head - and hoping that the odd shield will be able to pick up the reattachment, and not break for good. A thousand tears and burns and ablations. So much for that encyclopedia, too, an errant part of her thinks a little dazedly.
She pauses when Lunata answers her-- and it's obvious that she hears the other girl, given the way she stiffens and the way her fingers whiten in their grip on the metal. But rather than answer - rather than trust herself to answer, rather than ignite yet another fight in a situation she can't hope to change - she simply sucks in a shaky breath and keeps her focus on the plating.
"We'll need to gather everything carefully... I don't think it'd be a good idea to lift the Rephaim without having everything safe, just in case any gets lost in the sand," she mutters half to herself and half to the open air, falling back to the things she knows - fix the Gear, work through the problem. Try not to think about the rest of it. Don't yell.
Grimacing under the shawl still haphazardly wrapped around her lower face, she looks to one side, spotting a remarkably pristine 'wreck' tucked away in the back of the caves. While the rest of the machines around it are scattered and torn, one of them looks servicable - albeit requiring a bit of assembly. "--maybe--" she blurts, and swallows back a dry throat. "--maybe I can get that working. The more hands we have to get everything out of here, the better."