2020-03-17: The Trials of the Enigmatic Facility

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  • Log: The Trials of the Enigmatic Facility
  • Cast: Ethius Hesiod, Lunata Croze, Elhaym van Houten, Ambrosius, Josephine Lovelace, Fei Fong Wong
  • Where: The Enigmatic Facility
  • Date: March 17, 2020
  • Summary: Unusual activity has been attracted at a mysterious facility, seemingly related to a series of recent heists. A handful of the Black Wolves -- plus Ethius and Ambrosius -- make their way inside to investigate.

DG: A party led by Ethius Hesiod is now entering The Enigmatic Facility.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Breaching the Perimeter *>====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The shoreline of East Blackrock is a maze of broken crags. Jagged shoals of
 basalt jut up from the surf like teeth, ready to tear into ships that stray
 too close. One might think that finding a safe place to weigh anchor would
 be the most difficult part of the approach, but one would be wrong.

 The entire island is a fortress. The core of it is a massive metal
 structure, and it looks as though it was grown, rather than built. Armored,
 curving spires reach to the sky, towering over domes and archways and open
 fields. Even the most rudimentary Gear sensors can pick up multiple metallic
 anomalies in the surrounding cliffs--gun emplacements made from Hyadean
 biometal. A complex network of shield generators, turrets, and roving drones
 stands between you and the heart of the base, and you're going to have to
 plan every move with care.

 The one saving grace is that some of the defenses appear to be offline. Have
 they succumbed to the ravages of time, or did Odessa take them offline
 somehow? If the latter, how did they know?

 Even stranger, something in the base seems to be broadcasting a signal. When
 decoded, it reveals a logo: a stylized red-and-gold flame composed of
 several Hyadean runes, and a motto.

                           YOUR CHALLENGE IS ACCEPTED

                         DIE, SO THAT NEW LIFE MAY GROW

                       IN HER NAME WE CLEANSE THIS WORLD

                               The Legion of Ash
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Wound==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    One thing has become ever truer in recent years: the less accessible the geographic feature, the more intrigue and trespassing it invites. It isn't the jagged basalt shoals alone that make this locale interesting - no, any telescope enthusiast may have spoken at length about a strange-looking metal spire island. They aren't going anywhere. It looks dangerous, the world can take its time checking it out... except word has gotten out that Odessa has already decided to come welcome themselves inside. As Odessa is actively at war with basically everyone ever, that means the need to go there has gone way up from 'whenever rich people with means are bored enough' to 'WE BETTER GO THERE RIGHT NOW'
     And so, East Blackrock is host to a whole number of would-be infiltrators. Take for example, one Ethius Hesiod, who has found decent person-sized basalt spike cover. The faint hums of Hyadean technology - ambient sounds increasingly familiar following the Metal Demon re-emergence of some time back - give way to (brief, if one wants to keep their head) sightings of defensive structures and drones... as though it were an active base.
     Has Odessa already harnessed the secrets of what's inside?
     Ethius takes a peek through an already activated Spectral Lens to check for any specific connected mechanisms. He goes quiet a moment later, staring blankly back into cover, then back out again.
     "...There is a space where activity is absent." That sounds like 'there is an opening' in common tongue. "We may have happened upon the route Odessa has already taken. It appears without hazard."
     'Appears.' For those on Gears, though, there's a signal being broadcast - a weird one, with some encryption that might be worth trying to decode.
     From on foot, the way seems as clear as can be, but what of the signal?

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Lunata's not really been involved in the whole story between Odessa and the attack on the Museum and everything inbetween, but Odessa in general has been on her mind-- and when she heard that Hyadean technology is also involved...

    Well, she feels kind of little as one of the ones who still feels some conflict on how she should feel about that.

    Her Gear is still her temporary one -- a squat, 12-foot green Gear with several rotating scopes on its faceplate, draped in a tawn-coloured cloak and armed with a knife and lantern.

    "I'll probe that point," Lunata transmits over the comms as her Gear whirrs to life and starts skating over the surface, taking short hops and piling on over--

    "Hmm? A transmission..."

    She looks towards the motto for a moment.

    A pause.

    "Uh-- this is-- I mean--" she sounds flustered for a moment. "This is totally not my edgy poetry or anything, okay? Someone's trying to defame me! I don't know anything about this!!"

    ...

    She might have misunderstood the nature of the transmission.

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

It's a dreadful place. Isolated, remote - a true island fortress. Infiltrating this place is a perilous venture - it would have peril on its own from its forbidding remoteness, and now there is the question of whether or not it is occupied by the forces of Odessa, that militant movement that is running like poison in the arteries of the world's heart.

And against something like that... There are HOPES and FEARS.

HOPES and FEARS will be played by giants of iron.

HOPES is probably Vierge. Vierge has seen, to put it mildly, favorable days, although scavenging and supply connections have restored some of its previous pink lines. The right side of the chest, though, still bears that lacquer-coated set of signatures and messages of determination that went into the struggle against the being called 'Mother'.

AND INSIDE OF IT:

(turn on your radios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BpIBTmNHNw)

Elly van Houten gently bonks the flickering screen of the signals computer. "Okay, it's working," she reports. "Ugh... ...It's decrypting that transmission into an image... And, Lunata, there is text--"

A couple of seconds pass.

"-- Well, at least they're not wasting any time telling us to die... I suppose they're talking about "Her" and using Hyadaein letters. It might have been built during the Metal Demon war... But this Legion of Ash thing is new to me."

"At least there isn't any approaching aerial traffic..."

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Radar Pulser toward her party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Some of them may have arrived together, as a team. But there is one that machine that arrives separate, on its own. It appears, at first, a shadow beneath the waves - like a great serpent swimming through the waters.

Its true nature is only revealed when the first of the island's defenses. It rises - a tall, slender thing, steel-blue in color with a pair of long, flexible arms tipped with massive claws. It moves more like a beast than a machine, with an appropriately bestial face.

Its arms raise and the claws split apart, revealing a number of fine-tuned manipulators that rush toward the armaments and generators that bar their path. The Hyadean defense structures will find themselves being rapidly reprogrammed to recognize the Golem as an ally - assuming that the island's new occupants haven't made any changes to their programming.

Within the Golem itself, its pilot observes a decoded signal. Ambrosius considers it impassively, recording it for later.

Why is he here? That's a good question - he has yet to contact any of the others currently infiltrating the island, but neither has he shown any signs of aggression.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Mending Manipulators toward his party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie hadn't been involved. With most of her attention of late oriented towards finding the site of the ancient ruin the fragmented records in the Karlsefni had mentioned, she has been paying attention to little else. And most likely, it would have stayed that way--

    If there wasn't something about this heist that made her ears prick up when she'd heard tell about it. If anything, it reminded her of a similar incident (similar enough at least) involving a Dragon Fossil skull that Riesenlied had lent her...

    ...and which, despite Josie's happy-go-lucky ways, still kind of pisses her off.
    Maybe it's unrelated.
    Maybe it's not.

    But on the off chance there's a score to be settled here...

    "Hey, Little Bear!" she remarks to Lunata (or rather, Lunata's Gear), shortly upon arrival.

    Someone definitely gave Josie a lift. Maybe it was Fei or Elly. Maybe it was someone else entirely.
    But given the weight of that thing she's lugging about, a little rowboat is probably out of the question...?

    She casts one wary eye Ethius' way, perhaps recalling his effect on ARMs, nudging the cannon over just a fraction of an inch.

    This has the side effect of making the lights on it go off as something inside the weapon starts drawing power. The lights are pretty and sparkly and play across the outer perimeter in a nearly prismatic display.
    It might help detect some of the surrounding tricks and traps. Maybe.
    "Damn-- well, it's probably fine," the archaeologist remarks, on the matter of the cannon starting to power up. "Probably'll need it soon-like."

    There is a pause.

    "Got a signal, kiddos? What's up?"

    A pause.

    "Telling us to die, huh. Well, they sound like the friendly type."

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Superfluous Lights toward her party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

What about HOPES and DREAMS??

Fei is in the Weltall. He is kind of in awe at just how impressive this whole fortress is. And it sure seems like fortress is the right word here.

Fei kind of hovers around near Vierge and the Weltall is probably FEARS for the moment rather than DREAMS. OH WELL.

"Oh...you mean 'Mother'?" Fei asks. "Man, this is a really awkward remembrance of sommeone who betrayed her own children and bragged about it and then died because what did she think was going to happen?"

He still sounds pretty proud of getting Mother to admit that. And luckily nobody can see his face either.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Breaching the Perimeter.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Breaching the Perimeter *>====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The shoreline of East Blackrock is a maze of broken crags. Jagged shoals of
 basalt jut up from the surf like teeth, ready to tear into ships that stray
 too close. One might think that finding a safe place to weigh anchor would
 be the most difficult part of the approach, but one would be wrong.

 The entire island is a fortress. The core of it is a massive metal
 structure, and it looks as though it was grown, rather than built. Armored,
 curving spires reach to the sky, towering over domes and archways and open
 fields. Even the most rudimentary Gear sensors can pick up multiple metallic
 anomalies in the surrounding cliffs--gun emplacements made from Hyadean
 biometal. A complex network of shield generators, turrets, and roving drones
 stands between you and the heart of the base, and you're going to have to
 plan every move with care.

 The one saving grace is that some of the defenses appear to be offline. Have
 they succumbed to the ravages of time, or did Odessa take them offline
 somehow? If the latter, how did they know?

 Even stranger, something in the base seems to be broadcasting a signal. When
 decoded, it reveals a logo: a stylized red-and-gold flame composed of
 several Hyadean runes, and a motto.

                           YOUR CHALLENGE IS ACCEPTED

                         DIE, SO THAT NEW LIFE MAY GROW

                       IN HER NAME WE CLEANSE THIS WORLD

                               The Legion of Ash
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Wound==========================================
=====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 1 *>=====================
=====================< Results - Breaching the Perimeter >======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Superfluous Lights                  1   Wits    Effects: Enlighten and Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Spectral Lens                       2   Wits    Effects: Enlighten
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Mending Manipulators                1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Radar Pulser                        1   Wits    Effects: Cleanse
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Wound(2)
Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - Demolition *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The walls of this chamber are almost as heavily-armored as the base
 exterior. Writing near the entrance reveals the reason why:

 PROVING GROUND 8-D: STRUCTURAL DEMOLITION

 In the very center of the room rests a latticework of glowing golden
 biometal. As you approach, it flickers, emanating streams of light. Over the
 course of a few seconds, the light reshapes itself into a military
 structure: a bunker, heavily-armored and bristling with machine guns. It
 might be made of exotic matter, but it's as durable as the real thing.

 Above some sort of control booth, a timer starts ticking down. Destroy the
 bunker--and a succession of other military structures--before time runs out.
 As you work, though, some sort of recording turns on. A woman's voice
 speaks, calm and composed.

 "--stealing glory that should rightfully go to warriors."

 A man responds, his voice fiery, yet bitter.

 "Glory? /That's/ his excuse? Well, I fully expect him to face off against
 one of those /things/ the next time the Elw unleash them; /then/ he'll get
 his precious glory. Then he'll... he'll see. What Eitri and her people are
 doing here will save Hyadean lives. If he doesn't like that, then he can go
 to Siegfried and tell him he wants more of his people to die--"

 The recording ends.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    On the ground, between Ethius looking for connected mechanisms and Josephine putting lights across the ground... there's nothing on the ground that can impede them. No traps... pressure plates, tripwires, none of that. Not even a door. It is exactly as open as it looks - a stark contrast to the (at present) unspoken hazards of the journey here.
     The signal is decoded in time. It speaks to the incredible (over)confidence of a now fallen army that they never updated their signal encryption for as long as they have - the words ring clear. Their challenge is accepted. Die, so that new life may grow. In her name we cleanse this world.
     But who is the 'we'? There's no signs of any other life here other than any pre-identified parties that might have coordinated, and at least a handful of confirmed Odessa. It could simply be that nobody turned that signal off.
     They make the journey inward. Ambrosius, who is being a sneaky one but also holds the perspective of having once worked towards a mutual goal with Mother's forces, can know one thing as he takes a look going in. These weapons have an effective range that can, and by all rights, should be opening fire on them... but aren't.
     Perhaps this 'Legion of Ash' was willing to forego pragmatic effectiveness to welcome would-be infiltrators to an honorable TOUR TO THE DEATH.
     ...It may mean that Odessa has yet to figure out how to subvert the fortress' defenses themselves, but the question does still remain - what is even in there that they'd want? (Aside from the obvious.)

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Why DOES Elly have the decryption codecs for this code? Elly wonders this herself for a moment, glancing towards the signal coming from Fei. "... I mean," she says, "yes - though I'm sure she thought it was a better idea at the time."

They progress forwards, and Elly resolves this to her satisfaction. This location was probably under supervision by Solaris, Elly reasons, and they may not have bothered to neutralize the site. That's hopeful, Elly thinks, although she doesn't say anything about this because she has learned that, when it comes to the Gebler surface forces, under no circumstances do you have to "hand it to them."

They move forwards. Inwards.

Nothing shoots at them right away.

"... Maybe someone neutralized the long range defensive," Elly begins, before the half-open lattice-laden space that they enter - still not yet fully immersed in the structure of the Legion of Ash's secret base - glitters and produces a range of machine guns.

They open fire on the primary RF frequency emitter in the area, to wit: Vierge.

RATATATATATATATATA

>99!
>82!
>69!
>78!

VIERGE FRAME HP: 5472/5800

"... This isn't good," Elly says, tense but surprisingly non-freaked out, probably because the machine gun barrage seems to be cyclic - perhaps the system is playing by the rules, or is shooting real bullets, not made-up imaginary virtual bullets on the internet. Elly shifts her machine around to lead with the left side - bringing up the rod to guard herself from -

>45!
>41!
>35!
>39!

VIERGE FRAME HP: 5312/5800

"-- Does it think I'm in charge???" Elly exclaims, even as she sweeps the left hand around. This fist is glowing BROWNISH-RED, which teaches her to GRASP EARTHWORKS - the open space furrows in a broad pattern of inverted crescents, providing sheltered trenchworks for those not blessed with Gears to surge ahead under cover.

As this begins, a transmission echoes out...

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Ether Amp toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Talk about making lemonade out of lemons," Josie mutters, watching the way the lights from the accidently activated cannon scatter across the ground. She then calls out, "Looks good here!" Good enough, anyway, and unlike the saying goes, close can be good enough in horseshoes and in expeditions into unknown ruins of uncertain (well, Josie would put it roughly at about 1000 years back maybe) origin.
    Which may be related to a certain heist, for all that the place appears as silent and dead as any crypt.

    "I wonder if we're the first in, or if others have been first," she remarks, hoisting the absolutely oversized ARM with a grunt. "Gotta... put wheels on this maybe," she mutters, before soldiering on after the rest of them.

    Fortunately, the Gears take point.

    This is very fortunate, because something opens fire moment's after Elly's report on the matter, which is the point where Josie does the pragmatic thing and drops the cannon and falls flat alongside it.

    She only raises herself up after a moment, whereupon then there's another round.

    "...Pretty regular," Josie notes after a few moments of watchful listening while flat, "for defenses. If there's someone up there, they're either a few screws loose, or way too green. ...And somethin' tells me it's none of the above." Another pause as the rounds discharge. "You'd think even security systems'd have a better sense of... hmm."

    Actually, if this reminds her of anything, it reminds her of...

    "Tempo's regular. Return shots when the coast's clear!" she shouts, on her belly as she attempts to use a bit of fallen 'masonry' (a metal chunk of something) to angle her ARM upwards.

    Speaking of:

    "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

    Josie, on foot (or on belly, as the case may be), is hardly privy to the transmission the way the Gears are given the rather loud report of her ARM.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Their individual paths lead them to his room. Ambrosius observes, for a moment, the others who had made their way to this point. He recognizes most of them, and judging from the way that this place is reacting to them, he has to assume they are not among the ones that have taken up residence here.

He sends a brief signal their way - a greeting, or perhaps a sign of a temporary truce. He has no quarrel with them today.

With that done, he moves in. The claws on one hand reconfigure themselves, taking a form capable of shearing through steel like paper. With a swing of an arm, the Golem aims to rend right through a large portion of the structures before them.

If this facility wishes to test them, then so be it.

As for the recording... it's certainly an interesting one. He has to wonder it is meant for them, or if it's playing in response to something else.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Rending Claws toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    There is a pause on Lunata's side as she flabbergastedly says, "Er-- I mean, nothing. There's totally no poetry or anything like that... ha ha."

    A glum look that can't be seen through machines and saying, "Still Little Bear, huh..."

    A pause, as she kind of tries shifting attention a little as Elly speaks, then the others. "I mean... I don't think these people would've known, a thousand years ago or so, right? Mother was still like, THE big shot everyone believed in..."

    Before long, though, machineguns start tearing out at them--

    She listens in on the recording for a moment.

    "What... 'things' are they talking about? The Golems?" A pause, as Elly's fist glows with a power that calls out to her. "The east is earthing brown!"

    A pause, as she charges on ahead with a blade drawn. Josie tells her about the tempo of the machineguns, but, uh--

    Well, this is Lunata, who's coasting on pure instinct and skill rather than anything like brains; she's slipping on through by just strafing straight past the machinegun shots using terrain as she aims to slash into one.

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

AN HONORBLE TOUR OF DEATH. Is. Uh. Definitely athing.

A thought occurs to Fei as he hears the Hyadeans speaking over the comms. What is Hyadean medicine like? They didn't seem to have a science department that didn't have the word 'mad' in front of it, and that includes Kalve lets be real here. His player is assuming he can understand the story beat of this dig room. Sometimes Hyadeans speak AMERICAN ENGLISH instead of Hyadean for some reasons! And the Elw too! And the Crimson Nobles and Seraphs! It's really weird how common AMERICAN ENGLISH is!!

Weltall gets pelted by machine gun fire. Fei just kind of stands there and takes it for a bit before adding, "How's the Vierge holding up?" He asks moments before he dives in and gets to comboing defensive emplacements with GIANT ROBOT KUNG FU.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Black Box toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius lingers a fair distance away from the Vierge. He casts a look towards Josephine as they progress inward but seems to have little to say other than 'I can confirm we are in speaking distance.' It may be more unnerving about just how little immediately triggers his over-tuned Things I Like To Burn senses, for just how little stands in the way.
     He stops walking when he takes in the lattice shapes. A part of him recognizes in what configuration these sort of lattice shapes, but struggles to articulate beyond the sudden gesture to sweep an arm back towards Josephine in warning and -
     Something manifests. Machine guns, that all open fire on Vierge outright. He sweeps his left arm inward to quickly slurred syllables to Symbologically conjure up the invisible-to-unaided-eye shield to greatly dampen any potential ARMs fire impact.
     He follows through the trenches created by Vierge in terms of practicality regardless, as a transmission plays out.
     "...I cannot tell from this angle where the chamber generates power for these constructs," Ethius remarks. "...It is entirely possible there are redundancies in place. We understand the people of Hyades to have valued martial prowess," as is what the voice-over appears to be arguing about, "what makes this system work would not be so easily subverted by a single focused point of force."
     How he can keep up that tone of voice and expect to be heard over WEAPONS FIRE (including Josephine's huge gun) is... well, never mind that. He has taken note of the rhythmic way in which the machine guns fire, and so prepares a higher-yield heat spell of some fashion once he believes there is an opening in which to attempt to warp the structure.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Demolition.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - Demolition *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The walls of this chamber are almost as heavily-armored as the base
 exterior. Writing near the entrance reveals the reason why:

 PROVING GROUND 8-D: STRUCTURAL DEMOLITION

 In the very center of the room rests a latticework of glowing golden
 biometal. As you approach, it flickers, emanating streams of light. Over the
 course of a few seconds, the light reshapes itself into a military
 structure: a bunker, heavily-armored and bristling with machine guns. It
 might be made of exotic matter, but it's as durable as the real thing.

 Above some sort of control booth, a timer starts ticking down. Destroy the
 bunker--and a succession of other military structures--before time runs out.
 As you work, though, some sort of recording turns on. A woman's voice
 speaks, calm and composed.

 "--stealing glory that should rightfully go to warriors."

 A man responds, his voice fiery, yet bitter.

 "Glory? /That's/ his excuse? Well, I fully expect him to face off against
 one of those /things/ the next time the Elw unleash them; /then/ he'll get
 his precious glory. Then he'll... he'll see. What Eitri and her people are
 doing here will save Hyadean lives. If he doesn't like that, then he can go
 to Siegfried and tell him he wants more of his people to die--"

 The recording ends.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 2 *>====================
==================< Results - Proving Ground - Demolition >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Black Box                           3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rending Claws                       3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Ether Amp                           3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               20 --(20)--> 40                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Reckless(1)|Weaken(2)
Effects:
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Vierge keeps drawing fire! It's horrible! The paint, bro! THAT PAINT JOB WAS CHERRY!

"I - I guess that would make sense! Did they not have Gears back then? I guess if they only had some of the larger Hyadians to be a matching force, Golems would have bee absolutely decisive--"

Elly answers Fei: "It's not too bad. I think the limbs are about as good now, with the magnetic coating -"

THOOM! K-BOOM! The group moves forwards - bunkers are cleared, especially as the Gears themselves begin to move as well. Ambrosius rips down several entire strands of the meshing, even as Lunata lunges forwards to unleash the hell that comes from being a Lu Type pilot --

Guns! Heat! The meshwork begins to fall downwards; the glowing yellow protomatter peels off, sparkling and sparking as the machineguns fade from consensus reality. One of the strips of diaphanous alien material drapes over Weltall and Vierge's heads and shoulders for a moment, fading to red as it withers, contracts, wraps...

But it's fragile.

At least, once it stops being that red string...

"Josie - are you alright?" Elly transmits out once the sound of war fades.

"I think someone else ought to move into the van here... I can continue fine, but I don't like the look of some of these plate cracks..."

CHERRY PAINT, BRO...

"I suppose they weren't as unified when they were in that position as they were later," Elly speculates. "Like the hard core of an army that had lost its other forces..."

DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Sabotaged Transport Claw *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Lines of a strange, metallic substance mark the walls of the base. In some
 places, they seem to unzip, revealing metal rails--tracks for some sort of
 transit system. The actual transport machinery includes claw-like clamps and
 mounting struts, which are afforded a great deal of maneuverability thanks
 to the mutable nature of the rails they're mounted on. They're large enough
 to pick up a Gear, and fast enough to transport it from one end of the base
 to another within ten or so minutes.

 They are also not immune to sabotage. A low humming noise heralds the
 arrival of a dozen such claws, racing towards you on wall-mounted rails.
 They reach for you, trying to grab you and drag you around. Unlike certain
 other hand-based monsters, these are more focused on damaging you and
 blocking progress than on dragging you all the way back to the dungeon
 entrance. A small mercy, perhaps?
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    There is still a lack of a proper door they need to punch through. There is a large open door beyond where the fortification materialized, but even that appears to be lacking in any damages beyond the ravages of time, and the hall beyond that is... is it damaged? The strange walls seem to have been... torn open? Unzipped? There is a gradual opening, a widening that reveals intact, thick metal rails. What appears to be exposed structural architecture is soon revealed to be a rail.
     It is revealed courtesy of an approaching mounting struts of some sort of harness, with claw-like clamps in which to fasten a Gear in place. (The first one to think to step inside will see it gently reconfigure and contour around one's Gear.)
     "...A form of conveyance," Ethius remarks. He lacks a Gear, but he has a separate idea. After wrapping a harness around one wrist, he signals to another Gear to help lift him up so that he can drift from a higher altitude. There is a large gap ahead of them - this seems the ideal way forward if there is any to be had. There's even more rails stretching out beyond, which could carry significant numbers together at once.
     ...They could also, as the case may be, be ridden by barely-tethered six-fingered claws to a loud, chaotic humming. The claws are sharp and pointy. Because they are six fingers - four outward, two on either side, there is no middle fingers.
     "Countermeasures," Ethius remarks. HE might be safe since he's not directly using a rail, but that's only a 'might.' They flail less with precision, and more with the intent to just swing their sharp pointy grabby fingers everywhere.
     Oh, maybe they're all middle fingers. This sort of behavior makes that math work.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Weltall is blue colored unfortunately. No hilarious joke there! EXCEPT THAT HE IS SO BLUE. BECAUSE HE'S A SADSACK!! Or was, really, these days he manages to not be super sad and is indeed sometimes pretty happy... Or very happy even! He may always be kind of a sensitive dude though. Even before the village burned down he was kind of the quiet reflective type (who would go to your house) ((and eat your food)) (((and not be the slightest bit ashamed))).

AND NOW CLAWS. THE CLAWWWS....!!

Weltall elects to provide its own countermeasures by realizing it can fly and just sort of hovering above the mess.

Fei cranes his ears as if listening fore things to be said and eventually is like, "Huh. I sort of expected weird snippets of the past to just be continuously thrown at us. This is kind of a welcome break!"

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Remembered Flight Engine toward his party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "Well, uh... for Hyadeans... they have their Dragons, right?" Lunata guesses, not terribly knowing about the depths of the history. "Like some of them are just born to go big." A pause. "That must be really awkward. All in the name of Mother, I guess."

    She sighs and complains, "Why is it always the 'everything for war' ruins? What if we found out about an 'everything for cooking' ruin one day?" not knowing that she just set herself up for 2020's cooking dig.

    The claws appear, and Lunata answers it in the only way 'Little Bear' knows how--

    "I'm gonna blow them up!"

DG: Lunata Croze has used a Brute Basic Action on her Agility Basic Action!

        An enormous mass of missiles come out of her six-tube pod, alongside rounds and rounds of her assault rifle and
even her blade if one of them comes close enough.
DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    There is indeed a glance towards Ethius that seems to indicate that, yes, they are in speaking distance, and that she is opting not to speak to him at this time.

    She can barely hear him over the report of the cannon.
    But she can catch one key word, being:

    'Hyadean'.

    "Sunshine might wanna know about this," she murmurs, that remark almost certainly lost under the roar of the big gun.

    ONCE THE DUST SETTLES

    "Doin' just peachy, Red!" Josie calls out, once the sturm und drang has ended. She clambers back up onto her feet, using the ARM as a prop as she levers herself back up into that upright posture. "Oof. Lucky me; if this thing hadn't triggered on outside, I'd've had to wait another, guh, three minutes before firing."

    She really needs to do something about making this easier to carry.
    But on the bright side, she's going to get really buff on her left at this rate.

    She takes a moment to consider Elly's comment that someone else needs to take point.

    Her response is to duck her head in a mock-bow and say, "After you!" while pointedly looking at the other machines.

    "Check out that damage," she remarks, as they move along. "...At least, I think that's damage. Wait, no."

    She sees it in much the same moment as Ethius.

    "That ain't damage. Shit. Wait, what are-- shit. Wait just a second there, Owl--"

    She may be slightly slower on the draw, but she picks up the idea here quickly enough.

    "Time to move it, lessen you wanna take a short trip backwards!" she calls out, before making her best attempt to leg it on through here without getting scooped.

    Given how much the Nostos Cannon slows her down, this may be easier said than done.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius continues on without a word, and soon enough they arrive at a place where what appears to be metal rails carry claws. For the purpose of transportation, he assumes.

...He gets an idea. As one of the claws moves to grab hold of his Golem, one of his Golem's own claws grasps it, to prevent it from moving forward. The other hand rises, the claws unfurling as manipulators shoot out. If this transportation system ranges throughout the entire facility, then perhaps it can be used to their purpose to move forward quickly.

...Or, perhaps it will simply destroy it. It seems as if it's been sabotaged once already, with how they're flailing about, there's no telling how much more it can take.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Weltall's blue

da be de da ba die

and we're in need of a Fei

wait that doesn't quite rhyme

But we're in need of a Fei

da ba de da ba... day

"I suppose this place wasn't just abandoned intact, then," Elly says, a moment before a gigantic claw reaches towards her and --

Vierge leans backwards with sudden speed, the actuating moments in its arms, its shoulders, its hips, and the floating joint in its waist that helps give it that distinctly feminine agility as well as probably making it possible for Elly to just blast off the entire lower half of the thing and flit off into the heavens, MOVING - with a certain spark of crackling lubricating fluid -

"Don't tempt Fate, Fei!" Elly cries out. "These claws could go anywhere -- ah -- welll, not that claw." That last part coming, of course, after Lu Type warfare is unleashed anew.

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Magnetic Coating toward her party's challenge, Sabotaged Transport Claw.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
===================<* CHALLENGE - Sabotaged Transport Claw *>===================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Lines of a strange, metallic substance mark the walls of the base. In some
 places, they seem to unzip, revealing metal rails--tracks for some sort of
 transit system. The actual transport machinery includes claw-like clamps and
 mounting struts, which are afforded a great deal of maneuverability thanks
 to the mutable nature of the rails they're mounted on. They're large enough
 to pick up a Gear, and fast enough to transport it from one end of the base
 to another within ten or so minutes.

 They are also not immune to sabotage. A low humming noise heralds the
 arrival of a dozen such claws, racing towards you on wall-mounted rails.
 They reach for you, trying to grab you and drag you around. Unlike certain
 other hand-based monsters, these are more focused on damaging you and
 blocking progress than on dragging you all the way back to the dungeon
 entrance. A small mercy, perhaps?
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Exhaust============================================
=====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 3 *>=====================
=====================< Results - Sabotaged Transport Claw >=====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Remembered Flight Engine            3   Agility Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Hot Air Sack                        2   Agility Effects: Resilient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Magnetic Coating                    1   Agility Effects: Quicken and Rally
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               40 --(20)--> 60                Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Slow(2)|Weaken(1)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The idea of being taken down by claws doesn't really grab anyone as a great idea. Fei has no problems engaging the flight engines in adjusting his position. Since the claws don't know he can do it - not that they seem to know anything other than grab and wriggle - they can't do anything about it until he forgets it's a thing.
     The claws are also not very good at catching things below Gear scale, it seems, and Josephine especially is treated to the sight of two wriggling sharp fingers digging into the ground right at either side along her path. Ethius is only barely out of reach of the rail nearest to him, having to draw back a leg to avoid it being sliced right off.
     Ambrosius gets up to Gear wrasslin'. His Gear wins. Now they have a wriggling friend along for the ride, kicking up all sorts of horrible screechy noises until the rail the claw is on suddenly drops from stress and re-connects to a lower line.
     As Elly rounds the evasive maneuvers following Fei's rediscovery of Weltall's flight capabilities, it comes up to Lunata to just deal with this decisively. With missiles! So many missiles--
     Oh no! The missiles are caught! All of them! The claws continue down the rails as if running away with their prize thinking they're making the heist of their lives. Well, it was.
     Because they explode.
     That seems to be that, thus far. The rest of the rail ride takes another minute or two before they come to the next place that can be considered a stopping point.

DG: Lunata Croze has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - Mobility *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Some portions of the Hyadean structure lie open to the sky. This one is vast
 enough to contain a small village, and cordoned off with high walls; despite
 its age, the metal flooring gleams. Words are etched into the tiling at the
 entrance, in Hyadean script:

 PROVING GROUND 4-M: COMBAT MOBILITY

 As you quickly find out, the Proving Ground is still quite functional--the
 ground beneath you shudders violently, as though a localized earthquake just
 hit the compound. The Living Metal-infused plating rises from the floor, and
 reshapes itself into familiar obstacles: coils of barbed wire, crevices,
 military-issue barriers, walls of varying sizes. The wall on the far side of
 the field slides open, and a bright red light ignites atop it--the color
 this facility seems to use for "success". To get to it, you'll have to run
 the gauntlet.

 This is no easy task. Not only does the ground keep shaking, the obstacle
 arrangements grow more difficult as you approach the door. As you navigate
 the course, voices speak over the comms--an ancient recording. A woman
 speaks.

 "I hadn't expected it to adapt so fast. A Gigas Unit would still be
 struggling to normalize its gait, even with feedback."

 Another woman answers her.

 "That's the inherent advantage of our neural architecture, Sub-Commander.
 It's making connections. It's learning from its mistakes in a way our
 software can't. And there's something charming about it--it's like neonates
 drilling with practice ARMs."

 The recording ends.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Tire===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    There's a wince as the claws prove themselves adept enough to grab her missiles which, Lunata has got to admit it, she's really impressed. Except it doesn't sound like those automatons have a plan afterwards and explode anyway.

    ... points for trying?

    "They really... clawed every bit of utility they could get out of those," she winds up remarking.

    She winces to Josie and says, "If you need a ride, even on the shoulder, just ask, okay?"

    There isn't much time, because as they proceed, the ground suddenly shudders violently and... the plating rises, reconfiguring into--

    Coils of barbed wire, crevices, barriers, walls... it seems like it's an obstacle course.

    And a recording too.

    "What's a Gigas Unit...?" Lunata slumps. "Ah, whatever... if it's mobility, well, I'm gonna have some fun here!"

    She hits the clutch, shifts gear (yes her Gear has Gears, and a Gearbox!), and hits the pedal to the metal!

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius isn't sure if taking the claw made things faster, but it at least allows him to conserve some of Nimue's energy for the path ahead. When the claw finally gives in, Ambrosius lets his Golem drop and proceeds forward with the others through the next passageway.

This one leads to an open area with a view of the sky. Ambrosius can't help but wonder if there was a point and purpose to that, or if even they simply needed to sky out into the sky at times. Either way, it does provide for some fresh air - not that they get much time to appreciate it, with the way the ground begins to shudder with the force of an earthquake as an obstacle course begins to form.

It is now that he speaks aloud for the others, for the first time.

"...They were testing something here." He observes. The question is - what were they testing? It seemed to possess better adaptational ability than a 'Gigas Unit', though that was a question in and of itself.

This obstacle course must be one of the tests they presented to it, whatever it was. It poses a slight problem - his Golem isn't intended for on-land manueverability. It was at its best in the water.

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    It's a little bit of a close call there.

    But better close than dead-on, in Josie's estimation, at least.

    "Still good!" she calls back, pausing a moment to catch her breath. "Just give me.. a moment..." she breathes, before straightening and soldiering on.
    All of one step, as it happens. "Fengalon's--"

    Fengalon's what will have to remain a mystery, as Josie's next action is to call up to Lunata:

    "Now'd be a great time for that lift, kiddo!"

    And assuming that happens, she has a moment to glance backwards at the one who has followed, the one who, with everything that had happened before and the Golem's silent approach, she had not noticed.

    "Who the in the Guardian's green hell are you?" she asks, of Ambrosius and his Golem. "If that's a Gear, I'm a monkey's auntie!"

    Before more recordings echo out into the chamber. Josie turns at the sound, as if attempting to spot from whence it comes.

    Much like Ambrosius, she's come to similar conclusions.

    "Gigas Unit... huh. Is that what they were testing..."

DG: Josephine Lovelace has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

What is a Gigas Unit, Fei thinks. Ughhh.

It's a little harder to just fly through this provinng groound since there's all the obstacles in the way and flight maneuverability is a bit different from ground mobility. So Fei drops down and lands on foot to run through the obstacle course, leaping and sliding as need be. In his gear. It's honestly a little unreal at how well Fei controls a gear. It's less like he's piloting a machine and more like he's temporarily become a giant metal man and it's just doing what he wants it to do.

With manual controls. That's the real weird aspect of it all.

"Oh thank god," Fei says as Lunata asks that question. "I was wondering that but was too nervous to ask it--"

DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

A gigas unit...

"Something larger? Were they developing those Dragons here? It wasn't ever quite clear to me how much of the Hyadaen life cycle was like being born, the way we were... and how much of it was manufacturing," says Elly, even as she takes a moment to degauss the ambac interface in Vierge.

It makes a satisfying shhhCHUNK sound as the screens blur for a moment, then tune back in. It satisfies Elly on some obscure interior level.

"Do you think that was the entire purpose of the base?" Elly answers Ambrosius. "That space with the machine guns... I think that was some kind of flexible challenge. I didn't think it would be necessary, and I was focusing on everyone else, but it would have been a useful space for practicing maneuvers against a weapon type or other assault..."

Elly is about to speculate more when she picks up on Josie.

Elly's mouth hangs quietly open for a few moments.

Anyway, Vierge scoots forwards with sharp and elegant motions that are accompanied by the occasional electrical crackle along the joints and plates of the arms.

Did she, in her turn, forget how to fly?

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Magnetic Coating toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    It's rough to be on one's own two shoes when the ground violently shakes, because the ground is also hard metal - but as Ethius touches down he gets his quarterstaff drawn as a makeshift walking stick just to keep upright. Then, it shows the obstacle course ahead. An obstacle course meant for larger figures - Gears. He turns around as Josephine expresses surprise for who's there. Ethius just stares. He stares so much that maybe it shouldn't be noted any more. Let's talk about when he blinks instead.
     There's the voice-overs.
     "Something referred to as a 'Gigas Unit' presumes it is very large." ...That part doesn't need explaining, as is the norm with him. He blinks. "It would seem the collected Gears are within the ballpark of the unit's size." IF this is meant to test something at the scale of a Gear, he reasons that much smaller figures - like himself and Josie - may have more freedom of movement with the appropriate boosts.
     In Ethius' case, he has that Hot Air Sack he can refill again and try to drift his way through. All the better to watch Weltall's unnatural agility, which seems sort of quaint when the voiceover was discussing its struggles with its own movement.
     Getting airborne and drifting will help with not being shaken up by the constant shakes.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Hot Air Sack toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - Mobility.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
=================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - Mobility *>==================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility   |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Some portions of the Hyadean structure lie open to the sky. This one is vast
 enough to contain a small village, and cordoned off with high walls; despite
 its age, the metal flooring gleams. Words are etched into the tiling at the
 entrance, in Hyadean script:

 PROVING GROUND 4-M: COMBAT MOBILITY

 As you quickly find out, the Proving Ground is still quite functional--the
 ground beneath you shudders violently, as though a localized earthquake just
 hit the compound. The Living Metal-infused plating rises from the floor, and
 reshapes itself into familiar obstacles: coils of barbed wire, crevices,
 military-issue barriers, walls of varying sizes. The wall on the far side of
 the field slides open, and a bright red light ignites atop it--the color
 this facility seems to use for "success". To get to it, you'll have to run
 the gauntlet.

 This is no easy task. Not only does the ground keep shaking, the obstacle
 arrangements grow more difficult as you approach the door. As you navigate
 the course, voices speak over the comms--an ancient recording. A woman
 speaks.

 "I hadn't expected it to adapt so fast. A Gigas Unit would still be
 struggling to normalize its gait, even with feedback."

 Another woman answers her.

 "That's the inherent advantage of our neural architecture, Sub-Commander.
 It's making connections. It's learning from its mistakes in a way our
 software can't. And there's something charming about it--it's like neonates
 drilling with practice ARMs."

 The recording ends.
=Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Tire===============================================
====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 4 *>====================
===================< Results - Proving Ground - Mobility >====================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       0 --(18)--> 18                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  0 --(23)--> 23                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       0 --(23)--> 23                 Fail
Hot Air Sack                        2   Agility Effects: Resilient
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           0 --(23)--> 23                 Fail
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        0 --(18)--> 18                 Pass
Rush                                0   Agility Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   0 --(18)--> 18                 Pass
Magnetic Coating                    1   Agility Effects: Quicken and Rally
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               60 --(10)--> 70                Fail
Conditions: Slow(2)|Tire(2)
Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1)
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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.

    Josephine comes up to the Tonberrian's shoulder, and Lunata presses a few buttons to make a scaffolding usually used for maintenance come up on it. It's a tiny Gear, all things considered, about the size of Big Shal, but big enough and mobile enough for Josephine to latch onto, and a heck of a lot better than trying to navigate... THAT... on foot.

    Josie asks who Ambrosius is, though. "Oh, that's Ambrosius," Lunata answers, as if matter-of-factly. "He's cool. Saved my life, once, back in Adlehyde."

    Fei moves on with preternatural grace and speed! As Lunata tries keeping up with him (and comes up short), there's a laugh as she says, "Nice moves, Fei. ... come to think of it, we kinda started learning how to pilot at the same time, back in the Yggdrasil a long while back, didn't we?"

    She's always felt that kind of kinship with Fei, given they both kinda fell into their Gears and disaster happened... at about the same time, give or take.

    You know, to the err of one massive incident aside.

    Elly comments about what they were developing, and the nature of this base; "Yeah... this kinda feels like one big training facility, right?"

    The Vierge doesn't have too much trouble, with how smooth and responsive that magnetic coating is. Somewhere, in some side material, there is a Vierge-III that was meant for Elly but never delivered and thus someone is hamburger because of it.

    Ethius gives his own assessment, and as much as the Hot Air Sack does give him an advantage in nagivating obstacles humans shouldn't be able to... it does take a bit of time, not out of any fault of his but just through sheer distance covered. Such is the struggle that Nimue discovers too, with how it's not advantaged in this terrain.

    But eventually, they all get to the end, where...

DG: Ambrosius has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
===============<* CHALLENGE - Malfunctioning Transport Claw *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Odd golden lines trace their way through most of the facility's corridors,
 ending just inside the larger room. In some places, these lines part to
 reveal claw-like clamps, mounting brackets, and other machinery. It's
 clearly some sort of transport system, and it could easily haul your Gears
 around.

 You've come across several transport claws, but there's one problem: the
 panel controlling them is nonfunctional, and the hatch leading to the
 emergency power conduit is sealed shut. It's going to take a lot of work to
 get it open. If you can activate it, though, you can use it to circumvent
 parts of the facility.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous, Secret==============================
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

"I am Ambrosius. For the time being, our objectives are the same." Ambrosius replies, as Josie questions him - he doesn't bother masking his voice, so she might even recognize it. He doesn't elaborate on the nature of his machine, though - but indeed, it doesn't look like any Gear that there's common knowledge of. But even if he hadn't answered, Lunata answers for him as well. It'll certainly help his credibility, at least.

"From the wording, I assume the 'Gigas Unit' is an inferior model to what they were testing here - a reference point, with meaning only to those individuals speaking." Ambrosius replies, on the subject of the Gigas Unit, before addressing Elly's suspicions. "The first chamber we encountered made me suspicious, but this obstacle course confirms it. I cannot say for certain that it was the entire purpose, but they have dedicated quite a bit of effort toward constructing these Proving Grounds. From the way they spoke of it... whatever they were training here possessed a learning capability not unlike that of the Hyadeans themselves."

It's a curious thing, and he wouldn't mind knowing more. Past the Proving Grounds, they find themselves in another stop alongside the transport system running throughout the base. Fortunately, these ones don't try to bar their path. They don't do much of anything, actually - the panel meant to control them is non-functional. There's an emergency power conduit nearby, according to writing on the wall... but the hatch leading to it is sealed shut.

"I shall assist." He says. He raises one of Nimue's claws, which unfurls into a series of manipulators. This time, it uses a focused beam to try and cut open the hatch. But, that might take a while - he'll probably need some help.

That, and someone's actually going to have to enter the hatch once it's opened to reach the conduit...

DG: Ambrosius has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius shakes out his hand as they collect towards the next point of interest. Generating that much heat around a hand, long term, is a recipe in burns and also pain. His other hand goes to his forehead as they come down to the transport system.
     "You only had estimates as to what lied within?" He asks of the Veruni - the whole logistics of someone on foot trying to converse with someone in a Gear doing noisy things aside - pointedly not completely outing his presence. The two of them are not on great terms.
     He finds the disclosure alone alarming. The uncertainty.
     "Thus far, the damages to the inner workings of this place appear to be from age and neglect - I am not certain that Odessa had to do much in the way of forcing to get inside." Ethius remarks. "Their forces must have moved with near-complete confidence about what they would find, and what they would have to overcome in the process."
     If the Veruni themselves don't know what's going on...
     He's not keen on seeing Hyadean weaponry proliferate any further than it already has, but for now, he chooses to conserve his strength. Once the way is open, he might be able to fix the conduit. (That he would have the skill and knowledge to do so is, like anything else about him, suspicious.)

DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    Josie hitches a ride on the small-size Gear (quite the sea change from the times she's caught a lift on the Rephaim, but frankly smaller is better sometimes). This is a positive improvement on navigating that obstacle course on foot!

    "Ambrosius?" She blinks, once, as if attempting to place the name. "Wait. Aren't you--"

    She quickly has other things to concern herself with than the precise identity and affiliation of a man she has crossed paths with time and time again.

    Chief among them Lunata's piloting. Which--
    Lunata manages the course with ease, and that's fine.
    Less fine, or at least, more rattled, is her tag-along rider, who is seeing stars by the time all is over and done with. She needs a drink.
    But that would mean letting go.

    "Ugh..." she utters, for a start, still perched atop the smaller Gear. "So lemme get this straight, kiddo... you knew this guy with an actual," she takes a moment to squint, perhaps mentally comparing the thing to the likes of the other Golems she's encountered over the years, then evaluating that versus the weird Gears she's encountered over the years, and decides to mulligan this a bit, "...whatever that is, and you didn't tell me?"

    Ambrosius, then, provides a little more context.

    "...Right. Right, that makes more sense," says the archaeologist, now crosslegged on the Tonberrian's shoulder. "So they were makin' some bigger deal. ...So, did it pan out for them? Or not?"

    She stands, once they come to that impass ahead.

    "Guess we'll find out. Little Bear, lemme get clear for this one -- don't wanna rattle your cage none," she says, climbing down (or rather, dropping the cannon down and then dropping after it ('it's fine, it probably won't explode')) and then

    producing a fresh power core for the ARM.

    "You all probably should get clear," she says, slotting it in.

    "On FIVE!"

    The cannon begins to glow green.

    "One!"

    "Two!"

    It's glowing blue.

    "Three!"

    "Four!"

    It's... gone to purple.

    "FIVE!"

    The cannon goes off. What hath god wrought.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Fresh Energy Core toward her party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "I guess that makes sense... here I'm curious about what it is but they're already trying to phase it out," Lunata remarks as she exhales and looks up to the camera that's pointing at Josephine to make sure she's doing fine.

    Josephine clarifies that she knew Ambrosius and him having... whatever Nimue is, and didn't tell her? "Well... yeah," Lunata remarks. "I mean, what's one kinda funky Gear over another, right? I don't tell you about a lot of things cause they don't come to my mind!"

    But there isn't a lot of time to jib because Josephine climbs down and--

    "Yeah, uh... I don't wanna get in the way of that one."

    *NOSTOSSSSSS*

    "I kinda miss the Rephaim now... n-not because I like big guns or anything!"

DG: Lunata Croze has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Training or testing? I know there's a nuance there," says Elly - who must, sadly, trail off there, for she only has a vague and faint half-memory of the nuances of the craft of assessment-writing and the development of correct instruments for determining and guiding learning...

For she was never an education major. Unless...?

"It's possible we're going the back way," Elly tells Ethius, even as Vierge positions itself to get a good angle on the hatch. The Gear's arms fold loosely, and Elly breathes in and out. She focuses - feels the amplifier there, feels her mind sort of... HOOK in, like the gears (lower case) of a bicycle... turn... turn...

"hhhAAAHHH-"

Shtink! A sudden coating of ice sheaths the metal of the hatchway and fills it with a sudden and profound induced reduction in temperature. Naturally, this would interfere in efforts to pour thermal energy into it.

Except...

For the science of thermal expansion...!!

DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Ether Amp toward her party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Malfunctioning Transport Claw.
=========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>=========================
===============<* CHALLENGE - Malfunctioning Transport Claw *>================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          |
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 Odd golden lines trace their way through most of the facility's corridors,
 ending just inside the larger room. In some places, these lines part to
 reveal claw-like clamps, mounting brackets, and other machinery. It's
 clearly some sort of transport system, and it could easily haul your Gears
 around.

 You've come across several transport claws, but there's one problem: the
 panel controlling them is nonfunctional, and the hatch leading to the
 emergency power conduit is sealed shut. It's going to take a lot of work to
 get it open. If you can activate it, though, you can use it to circumvent
 parts of the facility.
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous, Secret==============================
====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 5 *>====================
=================< Results - Malfunctioning Transport Claw >==================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       18 --(0)--> 18                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  23 --(0)--> 23                 Pass
Fresh Energy Core                   4   Brute   Effects: None
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       23 --(0)--> 23                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           23 --(0)--> 23                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Ether Amp                           3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               70 --(20)--> 90                Pass
Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Secret(2)|Slow(1)|Tire(1)|Weaken(2)
Effects:
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Ethius Hesiod 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> Ambrosius has posed.

"This facility was not in any of the databases I had access to, no." Ambrosius replies to Ethius. "It would appear to have been abandoned for quite some time. There are no detectable signs of Hyadean lifeforms remaining. Age, then, is partially to blame. As for the members of Odessa...you may be correct."

He doesn't confirm or deny Josie's concerns - though he does speak again on the subject of what was here.

"At this point, we have only conjecture." He replies. As she says, they'll have to find out.

And then, they get to work. In the end, Ambrosius's slow efforts don't amount to much - not because they don't work, but because the others decide to take a much more direct way of dealing with it.

Elly uses SCIENCE, and the hatch starts popping open! Josie also uses SCIENCE, except her science comes in the form of a massive cannon. Together, they're able to force the hatch open!

...Nostos also practically obliterates the power conduit within the hatch, but it's fine - anyone brave enough to enter the hatch afterward will find that its opened up a hole into the other side, where there's a working panel they'll be able to use to send them all on ahead to whatever awaits them there.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - The Crucible *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 At the heart of the facility lies the most massive chamber yet, a bubble of
 Living Metal armor more than a quarter-mile across. Bright signage
 identifies its purpose:

 PROVING GROUND 1: THE CRUCIBLE

 As your group makes its way forwards, an alarm klaxon begins to blare.
 Warnings flash across several reinforced screens in the walls: CRUCIBLE
 ACTIVE. The doors slam shut, sealed by reinforced bulkheads. Lights turn on
 in the observation booths, far above. A woman's voice--a disembodied
 recording--speaks, her tone almost ceremonial.

 "By the will of Director Etiri, this test of might begins. May the steel
 forged in this crucible bring victory to our people."

 The chamber shudders as the change begins. The ground twists upwards,
 forming obstacles not unlike those one would face on the battlefield. The
 walls slide open, revealing the glinting exoskeletons of Living Metal
 machines. Spindly anti-personnel drones detach from their racks, readying
 lasers as they scuttle into battle. Larger drones follow behind this wave of
 "infantry", a medley of automatons shaped roughly like ancient human
 fighting vehicles. More paneling slides away to reveal heavily-armored
 mortars, racks of missiles, and heavy-bore cannons. The artillery opens
 fire, a deafening rhythm backing up the melody of small-arms fire and
 vehicular weaponry. The Proving Ground has turned into a warzone.

 As the fight reaches a crescendo, three machines deploy from launch bays of
 their own. One is quadrupedal, and surrounded by a halo of gunnery pods
 attached to its body by flexible cables. Another is humanoid, and bears a
 pair of massive cannons where its arms should be. The third has an
 elongated, club-like left arm, and an array of turrets. The three Gigas
 Units attack relentlessly, caring not for their safety or for collateral
 damage.

 It's going to take everything you've got to make it out alive.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Maim==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The new path has a short drop down to a lower tunnel, but that's not insurmountable. What catches the eyes - and the sensors - is a massive open chamber. A bubble of Living Metal armor on a scale never seen. Even the ground fails to feel completely solid underneath one's feet, leaving noticeable imprints with both Gear and human footfalls. Bright signage calls it the first of the Proving Grounds. It is, in blue, THE CRUCIBLE.
     Then an alarm klaxon begins to blare. Flashing warnings about the CRUCIBLE ACTIVE... ating. The way they came in? That's not an our. Lights turn on overhead in observation booths. A disembodied voice speaks.
     The chamber shudders just as violently as that obstacle course did. They create structures already damaged by war, cover and clutter alike. The walls open, revealing all manner of threats. Living Metal machines of all kinds - anti-personnel drones with lasers... and that's the opening act.
     "We're being surrounded," Ethius remarks as he puts up the Symbological shield spell again after finishing that. A laser diffuses and splits around him, deflected as others move in to reinforce. Larger drones, looking like old human vehicles. Artillery joins up soon, of all kinds. There are explosions everywhere.
     It gets worse - three large machines soon show up. A quadruped with cable-attached gunnery pods, a humanoid machine with two air cannons instead of arms, and one with a huge club-like left arm with some extra turrets. They carve even more chaos throughout.
     "...It will only escalate," Ethius remarks. He looks over to Josephine. "We need to find a way to disable this chamber. Your weapon may prove most efficient." He looks up towards the observation booth area - the obvious point of attack. But they have to get in range.
     And they're not going to manage that unless the Gears here can cover their approach, in some form - and everyone involved will have their hands full in trying to weave and move through all of it. Even Ethius is showing an abundance of caution in his approaches, as if this very volume were enough to test his composure.

DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

The Crucible. This is their final destination - and now, it's active. As Ethius points out, they're being surrounded.

"I shall analyze the enemy before us." He says. And then, Nimue emits a pulse - analyzing the enemy before them, scanning it for any weakness it may have and determining the best course of action for fighting it. Ambrosius then transmits the gathered data to anyone willing to accept it - it should be a great help in clearing them out.

As for himself, in the current situation his unable to use his most powerful weapon due to the presence of his allies. But, there are still some things he can do.

The Golem Nimue raises its arms...and then, jams its claws into the ground. There's the sound of rushing water, and then powerful geysers shoot up from beneath the Gigas Units as they emerge, as well as some of the other larger enemies.

This should help draw attention away from those heading toward the control room.

DG: Ambrosius has used his Tool Battle Scanner toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"With Hyadeans," Fei admits. "I'm not always certain on the difference either."

The chamber shudders once more. It alters itself. The Proving Ground becomes a Battle Ground and Fei's breath tightens in as he inhales sharply.

"Well," Fei says quietly. "I figured it'd come to something like this eventually. Later than I expected, really."

He looks to Elly for a moment but Vierge still feels like it's in good condition. He allows himself a small smile. It's a gear, of course, but he can view the Vierge as an extension of the woman he loves, appreciate the fine movements and imagine Elly working within the cockpit to make such fine manipulations so.

Fei meanwhile is fast, precise, and brutal. He darts into the drones and strikes in a series of quick martial arts techniques with such ease it might as well be him fighting on foot.

DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Deathblower toward his party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    They're surrounded. There's a grimace from Lunata, but it slowly turns to a grin as she says, "Y'know......"

    She lowers her head. "Y'all invaded our town. Back then, I was just a waitress. Never had an inkling or even a wish to go into combat. But one thing led to another, and..."

    The Tonberrian's scope rotates, and flashes as a multi-layered HUD reflects on her eyes.

    "Right now, I feel pretty proud of what I can do in a Gear! Here goes!!"

    And much like in the claw hallway, the Lu Type Pilot doesn't hold back -- she's a shower of missiles and disappearing in the cloud of her own explosions, suddenly zipping in with the Tonberry Knife and slashing and carving her way through with an exclamation of:

    "Don't pursue Lu! Booooooo!!!"

DG: Lunata Croze has used her Tool Lunata's Glasses toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "If it's weird and it's a machine, you should definitely tell little ol' me," Josie retorts moments after dropping the cannon a few feet to a solid metal floor below, and just before going after it. This may put a sort of abrupt end -- for now -- for that little bit of back and forth.

    Because it's time to fire this cannon and--

    And, well, it does the job it was made for, and it does that job well. One foot planted on the back of the (slightly steaming?) cannon, a triumphant grin on her lips, Josie stands the conqueror...!

    Well, until it becomes clear that was almost a little too much.

    "...Well, as long as the door opens, it's fine," she determines, in the end. As soon as she's able, she lifts the cannon.

    "More data needed, huh? Now that's a phrase I could do without," she remarks, at considerable delay, on Ambrosius' comment on the purpose of this place. "C'mon. Let's go a'looking, eh?"

    A'looking, they indeed go.

    It doesn't take them all that long to go a'finding, at that rate.

    "Fengalon's..." Josie mutters, as the klaxons begin to sing out. Her gaze darts up to meet the text and there she frowns.
    Slightly, anyway.

    "Tch. Sounds like they didn't turn off the test, if I'm hearin' that right. They think we're..."

    That, or perhaps someone else turned it back on.

    Ethius makes his recommendations as the apparent drone machines drop on, and Josie fixes him with a long and level stare.

    "This time, we're on the same page, Owl. Just keep your funny business outta mine!"

    She drops the cannon, taking the moment to boot it (literally) into the proper alignment and... apparently also get it to start pulling power.

    "Give me some cover! It needs a sec!" she calls out, delivering the poor cannon another kick as if that might make it charge a little faster.

    ...Judging by the rate at which it runs from orange to a greenish-yellow, perhapts the 'boot' method has some merit.

    "--Okay! That's good enough. I'm gonna aim for the booth! Get out of my way!"

    The cannon lets out a loud report, mere moments later, hurtling what can be loosely termed 'a payload' for the observation booth, above.

DG: Josephine Lovelace has used her Tool Cannonfire toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Surrounded on multiple levels - the firepower comes in upon Vierge before Elly can react, the splattering of metal against the steel giant, however demure, rattling and making her suck in breath through her teeth. "Gh - !!"

It will only escalate.
We need to find a way to disable this chamber.

Josie's out there, tough and grizzled as she is; she's taking aim.

This is all just a test. A test for viewers long dead, Elly presumes; at best, those sealed in the depths here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRgfvaOSkSQ

Elly's eyes widen slightly. Her thoughts, still silently in tune with the Ether-mechanism psionic extension of Vierge's Ether amplifier, brushes against something else. Something that has been patiently sitting, packaged up and left to wait for this moment.

Can I? Elly thinks.
Should I?
Must I?

Elly thinks for a moment of Josie taking aim, and the decision is made.

"Go," Elly says - the feeling is like pushing her entire head through gelatin - "AERODS--"

Vierge's form seems to tense. A half-dozen glittering needles fall out from behind it. They thrill with power - the charge is partial but it doesn't need to be much. Vierge's arms spread as Elly articulates, "hwaahhh--"

The AERODs sweep forwards, diving down low to the ground, moving with impossible grace and firing scintillant bolts of refined monotonic Ether, searing beams of pure Force aiming to lance through machines of every scale and size and scope as they dive and form their own lattice. They start in an oval bracketing Josie and work their way outwards, leaving her safe as this enigmatic weapon, one the ancients never saw, does its gorgeous (if grisly) work!

DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Proving Ground - The Crucible.
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Proving Ground - The Crucible *>=================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 At the heart of the facility lies the most massive chamber yet, a bubble of
 Living Metal armor more than a quarter-mile across. Bright signage
 identifies its purpose:

 PROVING GROUND 1: THE CRUCIBLE

 As your group makes its way forwards, an alarm klaxon begins to blare.
 Warnings flash across several reinforced screens in the walls: CRUCIBLE
 ACTIVE. The doors slam shut, sealed by reinforced bulkheads. Lights turn on
 in the observation booths, far above. A woman's voice--a disembodied
 recording--speaks, her tone almost ceremonial.

 "By the will of Director Etiri, this test of might begins. May the steel
 forged in this crucible bring victory to our people."

 The chamber shudders as the change begins. The ground twists upwards,
 forming obstacles not unlike those one would face on the battlefield. The
 walls slide open, revealing the glinting exoskeletons of Living Metal
 machines. Spindly anti-personnel drones detach from their racks, readying
 lasers as they scuttle into battle. Larger drones follow behind this wave of
 "infantry", a medley of automatons shaped roughly like ancient human
 fighting vehicles. More paneling slides away to reveal heavily-armored
 mortars, racks of missiles, and heavy-bore cannons. The artillery opens
 fire, a deafening rhythm backing up the melody of small-arms fire and
 vehicular weaponry. The Proving Ground has turned into a warzone.

 As the fight reaches a crescendo, three machines deploy from launch bays of
 their own. One is quadrupedal, and surrounded by a halo of gunnery pods
 attached to its body by flexible cables. Another is humanoid, and bears a
 pair of massive cannons where its arms should be. The third has an
 elongated, club-like left arm, and an array of turrets. The three Gigas
 Units attack relentlessly, caring not for their safety or for collateral
 damage.

 It's going to take everything you've got to make it out alive.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Maim==============================================
=====================<* The Enigmatic Facility - Round 6 *>=====================
==================< Results - Proving Ground - The Crucible >===================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fei Fong Wong                       18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Deathblower                         2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josephine Lovelace                  23 --(0)--> 23                 Pass
Cannonfire                          3   Combat  Effects: Embolden and Liabilit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethius Hesiod                       23 --(0)--> 23                 Pass
Powder Grenade                      3   Combat  Effects: Fanfare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrosius                           23 --(0)--> 23                 Pass
Battle Scanner                      2   Combat  Effects: Embolden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunata Croze                        18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Lunata's Glasses                    3   Combat  Effects: Rally
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elhaym van Houten                   18 --(0)--> 18                 Pass
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Ethius Hesiod               90 --(35)--> 125               Pass
Conditions: Maim|Overzealous(1)|Secret(1)|Weaken(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 Ethius Hesiod has successfully explored The Enigmatic Facility!
==========================<* The Enigmatic Facility *>==========================
===============<* CHALLENGE - May Your Steel Serve Our People *>================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 As the remaining Gigas Unit succumbs to the damage you've inflicted, an
 eerie silence settles over the Proving Ground. It's broken a few moments
 later as the hangar doors rumble open, and retrieval claws deploy to
 retrieve the scrap for recycling. Something in the control booth transmits a
 brief, automated message to your party's Gears:

                                    VICTORY


 Data collected and routed to Director Etiri and senior JOTUNN Project
 researchers. Authorization for repair and rearmament granted. May your steel
 serve Mother and our people.

 Now that you're no longer being shot at, some exploration is in order. The
 control room is empty, though some remaining personal effects lie scattered
 around--among them, a full set of authorization chips. Beyond the final set
 of doors lies the heart of this facility--the hangar that once held the
 JOTUNN prototypes. Now, most of it is empty, and the broken husks of war
 machines hold silent vigil from the dark corners of the room. There's enough
 war material lying around to conduct some repairs, if you need to.

 Tracks in the dust lead deeper inside. Odessa went this way. It isn't long
 before you find them.

 A squad of Gears stand at the far end of the hangar. Most are conventional,
 by the standards of Filgaian militaries, but one sticks out--it's tall,
 well-armored, and elegant-looking, equal parts Dragonbone and conventional
 Gear armor. Graverobber has been repaired and overhauled after its
 appearance during a fossil heist in Ignas. Odessan troopers are loading
 something into a smuggler's compartment on its back: metallic spheres the
 size of wagon wheels, identical to the one stolen from the Meria Museum.

 Two women stand at Graverobber's feet--Polynya, and a shapely woman in a
 leather piloting suit. This is a theft in progress, and you might be able to
 stop it.

 	To Be Continued...

 Congratulations! You've unlocked some bonuses for the subsequent Gunslinger
 scene! If you're bringing a Gear to the fight, you can opt to begin the
 fight with 50 FP instead of your usual starting total. If you're using a
 Drifter-scale statline, you can instead ask the co-GM to attack the scene
 boss using a specialized character bit instead of using a coded attack. This
 latter benefit represents your character using specialized machinery in the
 boss arena to attack and sabotage the boss. Be sure to tell the co-GM which
 result you got before the scene starts to collect your bonus!
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================