Re: Grand Battle S3G1! (Round One: Vio Maleficat)
01-04-2011, 02:49 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
"you have engineering experience?"
Tor was taken by surprise as the words formed directly in front of him. He looked to his left to see Dr. Nyoka looking back at him inquisitively. Kerak and Murdoch were further ahead; the former was apparently scratching something onto his staff.
"I... Yes, I do. Engineer on a starship for quite a few years."
"could have - maybe would have - done the same if levian cybernetics existed at the time. generator probably irreparable, unless you know something i don't."
"It's a lost cause. We can at best shut it down, or at worst wait for it to fall apart. Probably violently."
Words began to take shape in front of Tor, before losing cohesion and pulling back to the serpent's waterfield as she stopped in the middle of the hall. Her display flashed a warning to her: "Possible threat detected. Scan information stored for review." Tengeri quickly pulled the scan result up, revealing the segment of the sauropod's staff he had been scrathing on. On its own it was virtually unreadable - the dinosaur had abominable handwriting. Fortunately for the Leviath, the computer core was able to compensate and provide the accurate text in a readable format. "Tengeri: I've eaten snake before, and it didn't taste that good. Maybe if I cured her properly? She tried to drown me once. She's on the list.... Tor: Meat that cooks itself? Investigate further."
"Something wrong?"
"looks like our sauropod friend wants to eat us. probably not a major threat - may be good idea to find a nonsentient form of food or ditch him altogether."
"Eat us. He wants to [i]eat us."
"he described you as 'self-cooking meat'."
"And we're letting him follow us?"
"seemed non-hostile at first. probably harmless, really. may be advised to use some caution."
"...Which way did they go now?"
Tengeri noted that the magician and the dinosaur had continued on without them in the few minutes they had stopped. Consulting her map, she decided there was a faster way to go than to trace their path. They had already descended to the floor below and were steadily moving further away.
"grab on, going to catch up. will retract waterfield somewhat."
The water around Tengeri's back lowered to a depth of about half a foot, distributing evenly around the rest of the field. Tor watched for a few moments, sighed, then grabbed hold of the cybernetic plating behind her head. Without hesitation, Tengeri shot off toward the large hole in the floor, turning sharply and descending to the halls below. At the far end of the hall, she spotted the other two round a corner. She began to speed in that direction, but was stopped short by the sound of hysterical laughter. To her dismay, a large, smiling, huge-headed clown with huge claws on its hands burst out of one of the inner laboratories. Tor instinctively dropped from the serpent and readied himself for whatever ridiculous and improbable attacks the clown would bring. The clown responded with a giant pie, having several huge spikes sticking out at random angles. Tor barely jumped out of the way as it was thrown at him, and the pie skidded down the hallway to a halt.
"Maybe shutting down the generator at this point isn't such a good idea."
Tengeri was scarcely paying attention - she was too busy focusing on her own attack, gathering a large ball of water above her. Tor looked back to find the pie flying back at him, a large, toothy grin suddenly plastered on it. He could scarcely dodge, before running back the other way. The deadly pastry was slowly overtaking him; he couldn't outrun it. Tengeri quickly diverted the built-up high-pressure stream of water at the confection, blowing it to pieces and sending out a rain of very sharp shrapnel, barely avoided by the Telpori-Hal. She then turned her attention back to the clown, which was occupied in creating an army of very vicious balloon animals. Tor took purchase of a large spike, promptly bursting a fire-breathing balloon dragon that had charged him. He then threw it at an equally ferocious balloon wolf, deflating it before it could bite his leg in half. The serpent compressed another sphere of water and launched the stream at the clown's oversized head, which burst like a balloon (unfortunately eliminating the water she had thrown as well). To her disgust and slight horror, the head almost instantly regrew, laughing all the while. Before anything more could happen, the clown and its balloon army stopped in their tracks and slowly dissolved into dust.
"they've stopped around the corner. let's go."
Tengeri and Tor continued down the hallway at a slower pace, the latter worn out from combat and the former having exhausted nearly half of her waterfield. The two rounded the corner, finding the magician and the Deinonychus waiting for them.
"Where were you guys? You weren't that far behind," the former questioned.
“Chaos things… took a detour… a lot of running… too much running," Tor gasped. Tengeri conceded with a nod.
“Well, alright,” the magician cooly stated as he walked ahead of the others. “I don’t think we need to be running anymore, it’s not like anything is actively chasing ussaaaaaaaAAAAGH!”
In an instant, the floor gave way under him and he fell into a dark, seemingly-bottomless pit. The others watched in shock for a few tense moments before the dinosaur broke the silence. "...He'll be fine." However, Dr. Nyoka couldn't simply let this happen. The magician's lifesigns hadn't disappeared; he was still alive despite having fallen close to 200 feet, by the sensors' estimate.
"i'm going after him. i should be able to make it down unharmed."
Tengeri switched her HUD to display the status of her cybernetic systems. The basic ones all reported normal (water level at 27%), but there were several more, mostly untested, at the bottom of the list. She focused on one prominent name: "Hypermanipulator System". There was no possible way she could simply jump down; a fall from that height could kill her, even if the magician had gotten lucky somehow. The walls of the pit, strangely enough, were apparently made of a not-particularly-hard rock. The doctor would have to climb down. She switched on two of the four hypermanipulators, the most she had previously tested.
Tor and Kerak watched as two compartments on Tengeri's sides opened, and two metal appentages ending in large, flat spikes snaked their way out. Each was a length of about four feet, and possessed free, omni-directional movement. They were manufactured primarily for the minority of Leviaths who lacked telekinesis, possessing versatile, nanite-based tools for various purposes. Without a word, Tengeri leaped into the pit, stabbing the incredibly sharp spikes into the rock wall. She climbed down quickly, noting that the opening above had resealed itself; a spacial rift closing. After a couple minutes of climbing, Dr. Nyoka reached the bottom of the shaft, a large, open cave filled with unusually large, glowing mushrooms. It was one of these that Murdoch had the fortune of landing on, managing to cushion his fall despite the unlikelihood at such speeds. The room (but not the caverns it led into) was encompassed by a small, self-sustaining unity field, with small amounts of chaos seeping in - no doubt what allowed a minor defiance of the laws of physics.
Tengeri detached from the wall and swam to the large mushroom Murdoch observed her from, retracting the manipulators as she came to a halt. "Astounding! I didn't know you could do that!"
"i have several systems i have not used, and don't plan to. manipulators unnecessary on Levia - planet entirely covered in water, no landmasses."
"Then why do you have them, may I ask?"
"long story. but i suppose there's time to tell it now. we're safe in this room, at least for now."
"...Where are we, exactly?"
"underground, beneath the facility. mapping out cave system - select few areas have small pockets of unity. source unknown.
"anyway, i'm a cyberneticist in the neramis science coalition - alliance comprised of 23 member species. my implants are my life's work. necessary after explosion of plasma conduit on generator in facility- critically injured. nearly died. one heart, several vital organs destroyed. heavy burns. saved by implants. could say more, but no need. difficult to communicate this way - cannot speak due to throat damage, nanites repairing damage rapidly. should be able to speak shortly."
"I'd rather not tell you my story. Brings up bad memories." The magician shuddered slightly. "So anyway, what are we going to do now? Just sit here and wait it out?"
"not a bad plan. then again, also need to turn off generator. might explode, cause multiple deaths."
"Isn't that the whole point of this battle to the death thing?"
"not going to pander to fool's demands. need to find escape. not sure how, but cannot simply allow everyone to die."
"I'm not really into killing either. I suppose you're right, if we can manage to find an escape somehow!"
"could be dangerous ahead; hope you're ready." Tengeri swam off toward the room's exit, the cave ahead growing darker and darker. Soon, the only source of light was the red glow of Tengeri's core, and the slightly brighter glow of Murdoch's entire body.
"you have engineering experience?"
Tor was taken by surprise as the words formed directly in front of him. He looked to his left to see Dr. Nyoka looking back at him inquisitively. Kerak and Murdoch were further ahead; the former was apparently scratching something onto his staff.
"I... Yes, I do. Engineer on a starship for quite a few years."
"could have - maybe would have - done the same if levian cybernetics existed at the time. generator probably irreparable, unless you know something i don't."
"It's a lost cause. We can at best shut it down, or at worst wait for it to fall apart. Probably violently."
Words began to take shape in front of Tor, before losing cohesion and pulling back to the serpent's waterfield as she stopped in the middle of the hall. Her display flashed a warning to her: "Possible threat detected. Scan information stored for review." Tengeri quickly pulled the scan result up, revealing the segment of the sauropod's staff he had been scrathing on. On its own it was virtually unreadable - the dinosaur had abominable handwriting. Fortunately for the Leviath, the computer core was able to compensate and provide the accurate text in a readable format. "Tengeri: I've eaten snake before, and it didn't taste that good. Maybe if I cured her properly? She tried to drown me once. She's on the list.... Tor: Meat that cooks itself? Investigate further."
"Something wrong?"
"looks like our sauropod friend wants to eat us. probably not a major threat - may be good idea to find a nonsentient form of food or ditch him altogether."
"Eat us. He wants to [i]eat us."
"he described you as 'self-cooking meat'."
"And we're letting him follow us?"
"seemed non-hostile at first. probably harmless, really. may be advised to use some caution."
"...Which way did they go now?"
Tengeri noted that the magician and the dinosaur had continued on without them in the few minutes they had stopped. Consulting her map, she decided there was a faster way to go than to trace their path. They had already descended to the floor below and were steadily moving further away.
"grab on, going to catch up. will retract waterfield somewhat."
The water around Tengeri's back lowered to a depth of about half a foot, distributing evenly around the rest of the field. Tor watched for a few moments, sighed, then grabbed hold of the cybernetic plating behind her head. Without hesitation, Tengeri shot off toward the large hole in the floor, turning sharply and descending to the halls below. At the far end of the hall, she spotted the other two round a corner. She began to speed in that direction, but was stopped short by the sound of hysterical laughter. To her dismay, a large, smiling, huge-headed clown with huge claws on its hands burst out of one of the inner laboratories. Tor instinctively dropped from the serpent and readied himself for whatever ridiculous and improbable attacks the clown would bring. The clown responded with a giant pie, having several huge spikes sticking out at random angles. Tor barely jumped out of the way as it was thrown at him, and the pie skidded down the hallway to a halt.
"Maybe shutting down the generator at this point isn't such a good idea."
Tengeri was scarcely paying attention - she was too busy focusing on her own attack, gathering a large ball of water above her. Tor looked back to find the pie flying back at him, a large, toothy grin suddenly plastered on it. He could scarcely dodge, before running back the other way. The deadly pastry was slowly overtaking him; he couldn't outrun it. Tengeri quickly diverted the built-up high-pressure stream of water at the confection, blowing it to pieces and sending out a rain of very sharp shrapnel, barely avoided by the Telpori-Hal. She then turned her attention back to the clown, which was occupied in creating an army of very vicious balloon animals. Tor took purchase of a large spike, promptly bursting a fire-breathing balloon dragon that had charged him. He then threw it at an equally ferocious balloon wolf, deflating it before it could bite his leg in half. The serpent compressed another sphere of water and launched the stream at the clown's oversized head, which burst like a balloon (unfortunately eliminating the water she had thrown as well). To her disgust and slight horror, the head almost instantly regrew, laughing all the while. Before anything more could happen, the clown and its balloon army stopped in their tracks and slowly dissolved into dust.
"they've stopped around the corner. let's go."
Tengeri and Tor continued down the hallway at a slower pace, the latter worn out from combat and the former having exhausted nearly half of her waterfield. The two rounded the corner, finding the magician and the Deinonychus waiting for them.
"Where were you guys? You weren't that far behind," the former questioned.
“Chaos things… took a detour… a lot of running… too much running," Tor gasped. Tengeri conceded with a nod.
“Well, alright,” the magician cooly stated as he walked ahead of the others. “I don’t think we need to be running anymore, it’s not like anything is actively chasing ussaaaaaaaAAAAGH!”
In an instant, the floor gave way under him and he fell into a dark, seemingly-bottomless pit. The others watched in shock for a few tense moments before the dinosaur broke the silence. "...He'll be fine." However, Dr. Nyoka couldn't simply let this happen. The magician's lifesigns hadn't disappeared; he was still alive despite having fallen close to 200 feet, by the sensors' estimate.
"i'm going after him. i should be able to make it down unharmed."
Tengeri switched her HUD to display the status of her cybernetic systems. The basic ones all reported normal (water level at 27%), but there were several more, mostly untested, at the bottom of the list. She focused on one prominent name: "Hypermanipulator System". There was no possible way she could simply jump down; a fall from that height could kill her, even if the magician had gotten lucky somehow. The walls of the pit, strangely enough, were apparently made of a not-particularly-hard rock. The doctor would have to climb down. She switched on two of the four hypermanipulators, the most she had previously tested.
Tor and Kerak watched as two compartments on Tengeri's sides opened, and two metal appentages ending in large, flat spikes snaked their way out. Each was a length of about four feet, and possessed free, omni-directional movement. They were manufactured primarily for the minority of Leviaths who lacked telekinesis, possessing versatile, nanite-based tools for various purposes. Without a word, Tengeri leaped into the pit, stabbing the incredibly sharp spikes into the rock wall. She climbed down quickly, noting that the opening above had resealed itself; a spacial rift closing. After a couple minutes of climbing, Dr. Nyoka reached the bottom of the shaft, a large, open cave filled with unusually large, glowing mushrooms. It was one of these that Murdoch had the fortune of landing on, managing to cushion his fall despite the unlikelihood at such speeds. The room (but not the caverns it led into) was encompassed by a small, self-sustaining unity field, with small amounts of chaos seeping in - no doubt what allowed a minor defiance of the laws of physics.
Tengeri detached from the wall and swam to the large mushroom Murdoch observed her from, retracting the manipulators as she came to a halt. "Astounding! I didn't know you could do that!"
"i have several systems i have not used, and don't plan to. manipulators unnecessary on Levia - planet entirely covered in water, no landmasses."
"Then why do you have them, may I ask?"
"long story. but i suppose there's time to tell it now. we're safe in this room, at least for now."
"...Where are we, exactly?"
"underground, beneath the facility. mapping out cave system - select few areas have small pockets of unity. source unknown.
"anyway, i'm a cyberneticist in the neramis science coalition - alliance comprised of 23 member species. my implants are my life's work. necessary after explosion of plasma conduit on generator in facility- critically injured. nearly died. one heart, several vital organs destroyed. heavy burns. saved by implants. could say more, but no need. difficult to communicate this way - cannot speak due to throat damage, nanites repairing damage rapidly. should be able to speak shortly."
"I'd rather not tell you my story. Brings up bad memories." The magician shuddered slightly. "So anyway, what are we going to do now? Just sit here and wait it out?"
"not a bad plan. then again, also need to turn off generator. might explode, cause multiple deaths."
"Isn't that the whole point of this battle to the death thing?"
"not going to pander to fool's demands. need to find escape. not sure how, but cannot simply allow everyone to die."
"I'm not really into killing either. I suppose you're right, if we can manage to find an escape somehow!"
"could be dangerous ahead; hope you're ready." Tengeri swam off toward the room's exit, the cave ahead growing darker and darker. Soon, the only source of light was the red glow of Tengeri's core, and the slightly brighter glow of Murdoch's entire body.