DragonRage

"Activating communications uplink; accessing Walker Arms priority channel," A tiny turret pops out of Alexandria's shoulder, and shines an apparently harmless, purple laser dot on Gilgamesh's chest. "Hey, Zoe, you see this guy? He needs to disappear. What assets do you- Oh, really? Excellent." Speaking louder, the android addresses her allies. "Attention. Orbital Friendship Cannon strike incoming. Anyone who has some time would be advised to contribute positive feelings to the cannon strike to increase its power." The Orbital Friendship Cannon strike will arrive in 3 rounds and strike Gilgamesh, dealing 2d6 + Alexandria's intelligence base damage and suppressing two random defensive effects on Gilgamesh for 1 round before dealing damage. Every person who spends an action contributing to the cannon strike (no more than one per ally) increases the damage by 2d6 + their best attacking stat, and adds a property of one of their attacks aside from 'hits every enemy' to the cannon strike. Alexandria's intelligence is 8, and she can fire the cannon without lowering her Hard Light Shield since technically Zoe Walker is the one attacking, not Alexandria.

Yweniwa hops on her dinosaur and rides off after the group. Here's hoping they're alive when she gets there.

Yweniwa looks up from her careful study of the poisonous tree to discover that, much to her surprise, everyone has wandered off. And based on the tracks, they've split the party! Don't they know you never split the party? Yweniwa goes after whichever set of tracks looks like it leads to the least people. They'll probably need her help the most, and trying to explore this place alone sounds suicidal.

Rachel moves 1 square over, to where Aquila is, and uses Feel No Pain on him through her Triage passive, giving him two stacks of Guts.

"I didn't expect that to be so unstable," Yweniwa remarks, looking at the fallen tree with suspicion, "Something is very wrong here. It was almost like that tree attempted to crush you, Shamhat. Very odd, even aside from the alterations that seem to make it far more poisonous than it ought to be. Take this. It will not be pleasant, but it may help with the poison." Yweniwa uses her cure spell to try to help treat the poison.

Lexiel casts Wall of Denial, putting a mystical wall up in front of Jade! The wall has 45 HP and no damage reduction, but it can only suffer status or damage from weapons. As a construct of pure magic, it cannot bleed or be poisoned. The wall has been ordered to block for Jade, and will tank damage for him as long as it has HP left.

Alexandria uses her basic block. Shield Modulation causes it to apply before other forms of damage reduction. Her armor gives her DR 4/-. She can do this while keeping her Hard-Light Barrier up.

You thought you were about to get an exciting, complex turn of epic battles, but actually it was me! Mitsu! The goddess fires her Storm Sign and deals 50 damage to all enemies. Everything dies. Except Bel Lahmu A and Bel Lahmu C. Halley uses her Variable Sword on Gilgamesh, dealing 48 damage, reducing his damage by [level] for 3 rounds and disabling the last action he used for 2 rounds. Hikari boosts Walmond's DR by 7/- for 2 rounds with Rakukaja. Navin finds his initial target has been disintegrated by his waifu, so he instead mulches Bel Lahmu C. Walmond uses Healing Field to restore 16 HP to Grant, Mitsu, Navin, and Halley. Lambda finds that the only things left to taunt are Gilgamesh, who doesn't seem to notice/care, and Bel Lahmu A. Solomon finds that the only things left to mock are Gilgamesh, who doesn't seem to care, and Bel Lahmu A. Bel Lahmu A twitches pitifully on the ground, suffering from so many damage debuffs that it is actually unable to do anything except gently caress the hem of Mitsu's robes. Grant misses Gilgamesh completely. Bel Lahmu A dies of DOT from Sparkling Suppressor. Status: Initiative: A shadow passes over what sunlight remains in this dark and wretched land, and a chill runs down your spines, as something massive flies over you before landing with a deafening clatter of bones-on bones.

Yweniwa is utterly disinterested in the fight and the metal guy, but when the door opens she sees the strange-looking trees. Beckoning her dinosaur to follow, she heads out the door and walks over to the trees. (Knowledge: Nature! What's up with those trees? Ess and Syn of 6, Int of 2, being a Druid with nature spells as relevant experience.)

"It is very human to think that one can hold monopoly over things as broad and universal as hatred," Yweniwa isn't really talking to Vratislav at this point so much as muttering under her breath at somebody not here, but Yoko's words most definitely attract her attention. "And you are clearly not listening. I know human ears are dull, but really. Destruction without purpose, I said, is why humanity must be given a firm, guiding hand. Occasional humans, I have found, may rise above their origins, and perform destruction only with purpose. Based on your words, yourself, Deadlift, and Evelyn at least believe yourselves in this group. For your own sakes, I hope that you are. I would not wish being foolish upon anyone."

"Human spirit. What a farce. Humans desire nothing but their own destruction," Yweniwa opines, "They must be ruled and led, or they will destroy themselves and everything they can get their greasy hands on. Humans are toddlers who grow grey and die long before they have a chance to grow up. The only spirit humans have is the spirit of destruction without purpose. To try to be something else... Well, no one can help what they were born as. For your sake, Deadlift, I hope you succeed in your goal and transcend your unfortunate origins."

"A computer? Psh," Yweniwa scoffs, "Those things are of dubious enough worth before an aberration from the void messes with them. Besides, the talking boxes don't make armies. Only meaningless drivel, memes, and porn. And that is when they function as intended."

"Good gods I wish this made the top five weirdest places I don't remember going to sleep in," Yweniwa climbs to her feet, leaning on her staff, "But I thought I'd finally graduated from the stage where I was a small enough fish to get Shanghaied like this. (Sigh). The more things change..." The elf raises her staff and brings it down on the stone floor with a loud 'crack!'. Motes of green, like swirling fallen leaves, whirl about her, and then suddenly there is a hefty, squat creature standing next to her on four legs. It isn't big enough to not fit in corridors built for humans, but it is big enough to ride, covered in leathery scales and hard, bony armored plates. "Not bad," Yweniwa appraises her new companion, "I shall call you... Percy." She scratches the huge reptile under the chin, and it rumbles happily, twitching its club-tail in a low, dangerous arc. "Who's a good prehistoric murderbeast? Ohyezyouare."

She's here~

Lexiel casts Lightning Helix, dealing damage equal to her synergy to Lesser Lahmu A and healing Isobel and LOTUS HP equal to her synergy.

"The defenders of Holy Terra shall not fall to a foul xenos toxin! We shall endure." Sister Rachel uses Chirugeon's Treatment to cure Nader of the Chryssalid's venom. "Our strength cannot be poisoned! We shall not falter this day or any other!"

Sister Rachel jogs over to the hole, and notices that Nader is in close combat with a Tyranid! "Emperor preserve us, Tyranids!" And if there is a bit of fear in her voice, who could blame her? Quickly readying her flame-based weapons, she triggers her jump pack and soars in an arc to land next to the armored Forenian in zone D5. "Nader! I have arrived to assist you! Those creatures are Tyranids! I do not recognize these warrior forms, but they lack the disquieting aura of a synapse creature. Without one of those, they will be dumb beasts, but no less individually dangerous for it. We will need to thoroughly incinerate the bodies, and ensure that there are no others where these foul creatures came from. They can usually fight even when dismembered or decapitated, so aim for the center of mass. I will apply a combat enhancement drug to help you survive close combat should the creatures reach us. It has proven a far superior alternative to martyrdom in nine of ten clinical trials." Sister Rachel deploys her medicae rig, and uses her Triage trick to give herself a bonus healing action. Then, she uses Feel No Pain to apply two stacks of Guts to Nader, each of which will let him survive a lethal blow with 1 HP left. Action Loadout:

Combat commences! Mitsu readies an action... Halley sprays down the Bel Lahmu and Greater Lahmu with sparkles! They eat a massive stack of minor debuffs. Hikari uses Rakukaja on herself, Mitsu, and Navin, making them tougher, and Tarukaja on Mitsu, increasing her damage. Bel Lahmu A slashes at Navin with its claws, dealing 2 damage! Bel Lahmu B slashes at Hikari, but she dodges it with a burst from her Raptora Armor's Jump Jets. Navin uses one-two punch on Greater Lahmu, dealing a punishing 60 damage! Sparks fly! Walmond tazes Bel Lahmu B (15 v 10), causing it to seize up and almost fall from the sky. It takes 6 damage. Lambda prepares herself to receive damage... The Lesser Lahmu swarm around Grant, clawing and biting at him for 8, 7, and 7 damage! Two of them break off to assault Mitsu and Halley, dealing 2 and 6 damage respectively. The Greater Lahmu impale Navin and Mitsu upon their mighty claws, dealing 8 and 7 damage respectively. Solomon adds 6 Slalom stacks to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh doesn't seem to notice or care. Grant gives Mitsu some incredible luck... Mitsu lashes out with her holy sword, dealing a devastating 78 damage to Greater Lahmu A! A red pulse of wrongness passes over the battlefield. Lesser Lahmu A grows wings and starts flying! Lesser Lahmu B and C, and Bel Lahmu B bud off duplicates of themselves! Lesser Lahmu D and Bel Lahmu A grow spiny, black shells, and appear tougher now! Greater Lahmu A's claws start burning white. Greater Lahmu B sprouts clawed tentacles like a squid! Lesser Lahmu E doesn't seem to have been affected... DOT effects trigger! Initiative Status:

Tor is going to set a trap, "Emergency Grav-Shield", which will negate one instance of ranged damage aimed at the user. Then, he'll summon "Stealthy Skyraider", a sleek, black, stealth starfighter, to give him a lift up to where the mysterious maybe-sniper is lurking. He'd like to make sure nobody friendly gets shot in the face. That would be bad.

Lexiel looks over the battlefield, and quickly comes up with a plan of attack that will (hopefully) work. "Ranged attackers, hit the flyers! If they're down, focus on the shiny asshole! Everybody else, get the enemy... infantry under control, and then do the same!" She also sends a radio message, which hopefully the enemy won't be able to intercept and at least some allies will hear. "I'm going to start setting up my summons to provide healing. They will need some protection, or at least a sufficiently large distraction." Lexiel summons a Soul Warden (1 mana, 1 round cooldown). The Soul Warden has 12 HP, and basic attack that does damage equal to her level. Whenever someone enters the encounter in any way, friend or foe, summon or otherwise, the Soul Warden heals all allies and itself HP equal to Lexiel's level. She orders the Soul Warden to stand somewhere relatively safe and try to look non-threatening (this is a nonverbal effect).

Alexandria raises her left hand, and her distinctive, glowing, hexagonal shield assembles itself from motes of light before her. "Should any of you be badly damaged or believe yourselves liable to attract a great deal of fire, you are strongly advised to seek shelter behind my shield. Please do not put yourselves at unnecessary risk."

"Hahaha! Flight systems green! Armor integrity eighty-three percent an' climbing! The minerals hereabouts are steaming shite, but they're enough! Ah'm too happy to get into an argument with the grease weasel! Ah'm back!" Tiffany's SCVs retreat back inside her spaceframe, and with a rumbling roar of rockets, the salvaged battlecruiser lifts off, hovering just above the treeline. "Whoa, so that's what the village looks like. Ah'd wondered. An Ah think Ah might see where the cultists are at. Looks like a stockade covered in way more spikes with skulls on them than any reasonable people would decorate with, anyway. Mah guns are still bein' repaired, but Ah could spot a drone to guide y'all to the site ta investigate and maybe deal with 'em permanent-like."

"Invisible, you say? I might have something for that." Tor casts the maneuver card Infrascan, which gives him and any allies he has (allied players, so it'll hit his IRL allies too) night vision goggles that can translate infrared radiation, aka heat, into a visible display. The card's in-game effect is to reveal traps and other concealed stuff until it's destroyed by enemies, so hopefully it'll help us see what we're really up against.

Tor doesn't wish for anything. He's happy with what he has.

I have level ups for Tor. +1 ranged. No description change. +2 close combat. Realizing that the Card Emperors have finally decided to attack him outside of a children's card game, Tor has added some equipment maneuvers to his deck, which can be used to create weapons and armor for himself or his summons to wield. +4 defense. Tor has altered his deck to include more defensive creatures and maneuvers, greatly improving his ability to deploy the classic Viking defensive tactic known as the shield wall. His enemies have stopped playing by the rules, and that means Tor needs more ways to keep himself standing while his summons do their thing.