DragonRage

Lexiel takes a deep breath through her nose. "Grease, leather, and... ozone. Hey, Edmond. I do hope your night was less exciting than ours."

Alexandria finds something large, heavy, and unimportant, and throws it at the source of the blasts to try and flush out whoever it is. She'd try to get close, but chasing people down isn't really something she can do very well.

Team Roof The battle continues! Kagari keeps singing! The protective song is maintained. Genji and Ana would probably be a lot less impressed if they hadn’t met Lucio. Bridgett begins charging Mithral Buster! Boom spell incoming! Venus shoots TILT again, dealing 17 damage! This time, the bullet looks like it actually penetrated the armor. Auto-Support activates! Hikari continues to shoot TILT, dealing 8 damage. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have broken through the armor this time. Ana prepares an action… Genji slams a handful of shuriken into TILT with such force that they punch right through her armor, dealing 17, 13, and 16 damage. Tarukaja has 1 round remaining. Dragonblade is charging… Hikari uses Tarukaja on herself and Bridgett, giving them +6 to their main attacking stat. She then prepares a Helix Rocket. TILT seems rather surprised that she’s actually taken damage, but apparently has a plan for that. “I need healing!” She yells. “I need healing! I need healing! I NEED HEALING!” A woman in the standard Vishkar uniform comes jogging out of a side passage you all could have sworn didn’t exist a moment ago, a slender staff in her hands, a tin foil halo resting on her head, and a very put-upon expression on her face. However, before she or anyone else can react a steel meat hook on a long chain, with railroad spikes hammered into it for extra traction, comes through the wall, wraps around her waist, and pulls her away with a scream. You can hear her banging on walls as she is swiftly, painfully dragged out of sight. All that is left, aside from terrified echoes, is her staff, which clatters to the ground. Predictably, TILT does not take this well. “No! No! No! I need healing! I neeeed it! I. NEED. HEALING!” She begins glowing with an orange light, which burns off the rest of the ooze as she charges forward. “GIVE ME YOUR HEALING!” She swings her hammer with wild abandon, catching Genji, Venus, and Kagari for 25 damage each. “You’re all weebs, you hear me? Weebs! I cannot be beaten by scrubs like you!” Ana uses her prepared action. She shoots Kagari in the back! Kagari immediately begins looking much less hammered, and recovers 10 HP. “Don’t worry, young one. I’ve seen worse. You’re going to be fine.” Nanoboost is charging… Session activates! Hikari covers Ana while she heals Kagari with a Helix Rocket to TILT’s face, dealing 17 damage. However, it seems that TILT’s aura of, well, tilt soaked up some of the force of the explosion. Friedhold launches a swarm of conjured bugs at TILT, which eagerly burrow through her aura, crawl into the cracks in her armor, and start biting and stinging, dealing 8 damage. Initiative: Status:

Lexiel is out of nuyen, and she sure didn't order this, but good gods does she need a drink. So she drops a gold piece on the counter, slides it toward the bartender, mutters "Keep the change," and slams the drink back. Gold spends everywhere, and she doesn't lose much by being generous. "Ah, for the days when I could drink for more than the taste. Suppose it's healthier this way. If I could drown my troubles I'd've likely as not fried my liver by now. If I even still have one..."

"Ah, I am Harbin, the greatest wizard in all the land!" Harbin introduces himself. If Lucius didn't recognize the other man before, he would now. The whole exploding tanning vat and rain of pee incident was very memorable. "The magistrate of this town asked me to assist the noble guardsmen of this tower against the forces of darkness which plague the land! Being a great and charitable wizard, I agreed to lend my talents of woodcraft and sorcery to this fine cause. I believe I have served for... almost a year now? I am unsure how long I spent on sabbatical in the basement with those delightful myconids. Lovely fellows."

I also have a tertiary!

Team Roof Hikari’s auto-support triggers! She activates Rakukaja, giving herself, Ana, Bridgett, and Kagari +6 resistance. Kagari begins singing Knight of the Firmament! A magical barrier of sound surrounds the group. Genji is rocking out; most of the other team members are less sure what to make of it. And TILT is most displeased. “This is not Hasselhoff! Your taste is atrocious! I shall crush you!” Bridgett raises Morning’s Arrow and fires a volley of four magical bolts at TILT, dealing 8, 9, 9, and 7 damage respectively. She goes a little pale as they bounce off of TILT’s eldritch armor with little visible effect. “Haha! Bring me another!” The crazy woman shouts. Venus raises Whisper and fires a shot at TILT’s runes, dealing 12 damage. However, the heavy armor holds up very well against the bullet. Session Triggers! Hikari blasts at TILT with her heavy pulse rifle, dealing 13 damage and blasting a few pockmarks into TILT’s armor. Ana fires a sleep dart at TILT’s exposed head! A shimmering, translucent helmet materializes just before impact, and the dart is unable to penetrate it. Genji, having observed that TILT has very good armor, prepares an action. Hikari uses Tarukaja, giving Bridgett and Genji +6 to their primary attacking stat. “Hahaha! You are weak! You need more damage! Be like me! I HAVE GOLD DAMAGE!” TILT exclaims. She rakes her hammer through the air, sending a wave of fire at Kagari, with Bridgett and Venus looking to be in the blast radius. Genji leaps in front of Kagari and draws his wakazashi! “Honki o misete miro,” he murmurs as he somehow not only blocks the gigantic fireball but sends it hurling back at TILT, dealing 30 true damage, blasting off most of the ooze on her armor, and sending her staggering. Dragonblade is charging… “I don’t speak Italian! And that move is bullshit!” TILT informs Genji, rallying rapidly. She crouches and braces, raising a huge blue rectangle to cover herself. Friedhold gathers electricity and blasts at TILT and her barrier, dealing 7 damage! The barrier shatters like a window hit by a big rock, and (int 15 vs con 10) the projector on TILT’s left wrist begins spitting sparks. She tries to reactivate it, but the device appears to have been disabled at least temporarily, and TILT does not seem to know how to fix it. Initiative: Status: Team Basement Between the three of them, Sachi, Wyvis, and Isobel have successfully restrained all the security guards in the barracks.

Taylor pulls out his A-Comm. He then proceeds to scan the area for electrical fields. Batteries don't last forever, after all.

Lexiel re-enters the Psychadelic Pirate, her narcojet rifle now covered in glowing runes projected a few inches above the weapon's surface that hum faintly with electricity. "Hello, Halley. Today is the day! We should probably regroup with the others. Do you have a way of contacting them?"

Since Lexiel hasn't felt the need to sleep since her ascension, and would rather not leave herself vulnerable in this place, she finds somewhere where she can keep tabs on her comrades while they rest or whatever. Then, she scratches mana-conducting runes into the narcojet rifle and attached bayonet, and charges them with her signature red, blue, and white mana. Take some essence of order, add a little chaos and lightning, and tie it together with the quiet fury and watery chill of the raging storm, and infuse it into a very good tranq gun. Whatever the result of this turns out to be, it's gonna be frakkin awesome.

Team Roof "A great crusade you say? Of course! All crusaders require a crusade," The woman exclaims, "I would gladly- You don't recognize me?" Her expression abruptly darkens as Kagari's words register. "Are you even crusaders at all?" A screen appears in front of her face, and the computer-savvy among the group would recognize a quick internet search being performed. "You haven't liked, commented, or subscribed! You're not crusaders! You must be those pathetic, weeblord Hanzo mains! Bob told me you would come for me!" "Wait, what?" Genji attempts to cut in, "Do you know my brother?" But the bearded woman ploughs right over him like he hadn't spoken. "Bob told me you would come to steal my glory and my adoring crusaders! But I shall not be defeated by your honorless ways!" She stands up from behind the desk, rising to tower over everyone in the group, clad in chunky, industrial, bulky armor, its every surface swirling with misty, oozing runes that evoke the somehow distinctive taste of purple. A massive hammer of dripping, purple ooze takes form in her hands as she strides toward you. "Foolish deceivers! Throwers and quitters and players of Junkrat on attack! Your wicked ways shall not avail you! For I am TILT, and JUSTICE SHALL BE DONE UPON YOU!" "Oh no," Ana states with a sort of horrified detatchment, "That is Crusader armor on a lunatic. Everyone, spread out, and keep her from focusing her attention. If she gets enough space to charge, we'll be scraping you off her shoulder armor." "So there is one crusader among you," TILT exclaims, "It shall not save you! Your team comp sucks! Where's your tanks, noobs? Initiative: Character Status:

"A drink? Urza's bones, yes," Lexiel sighs, "I'm honor bound to keep this lot out of serious trouble. Well, to the best of my abilities. They do not make it easy. Wait, is something on fire? I smell smoke."

Team Quiet is now known as Team Basement Neither Isobel nor Wyvis are exactly trained for stealth. The first guard they approach wakes up almost instantly. At first, it looks like he's going to struggle and raise the alarm. But then his eyes pass over the Overwatch-issue communicator his would-be captors are wearing, and the sigil etched into each. He immediately relaxes, affects a huge yawn, and lies back down, rolling over in just such a way as to present his wrists for easy access. "I've got a case of handcuffs under my bed," He murmurs, "Just... try to only take out upper management and architechs if you can. Most of the boys... we didn't sign on for a massacre." The other guards are similarly cooperative; the ones who aren't are 'convinced' by their comrades with a light tap to somewhere sensitive. Team Loud and Team Ninja are now united as Team Roof "Who are they? You do not know? But your dress is nearly as outlandish as my own, crusaders," The oddly dressed woman grins bombastically underneath her false beard, "Why, the YouTube comments section of course! Only they can teach me to become a crusader of crusaders! Only they can empower me to wreck all the noobs! Well, them and the outer god living under my mattress. I call him Bob. He's been very helpful."

"Freedom!" Harbin gasps, "Sweet, sweet freedom! I'm free! I feel so happy I won't smite any of you! I... I think I might have misidentified some of those mushrooms." Harbin proceeds to dash for the nearest window, where he pukes his guts out. If there are any passersby, he's practically guaranteed to hit at least one of them, because that's how Harbin's luck generally runs.

Team Loud Those of Team Loud who choose to enter Vishkar Tower through the rooftop door find themselves entering a spacious, well-lit office covered in tasteful wood paneling. Kagari and Genji are inside, speaking to an Indian woman with a bad blonde dye job, an eye patch, and a strap-on Santa beard. Only her chin and above are visible from the large, oaken desk she is presumably sitting behind. "More crusaders!" She eagerly greets the newcomers, "My fanbase grows! Just as they told me it would! Come, my crusaders, bask in the glory of my presence!"

Bellona curses internally, but pastes a smile on her face before addressing her comrades. "I think bee guy is the God of Sloth? Not sure why he decided to help us; I think he might have owed somebody a favor. He did seem pretty concerned about what Ansuz was doing, though. Regardless, we don't know what the status of Merlin's team is. Ansuz was waiting for us, so they knew we were coming. Merlin's group probably got ambushed too. We have to stick to the plan and draw off as many of the guards as we can so the other team has the best possible chances to survive. They don't have as many battle-mages as we do, so they could be in serious trouble unless we can take the heat off them. The God might help cover us with his bees. Or he might not bother because that would be work. We have to do this."

Team Quiet The group makes it to the location marked as the security barracks with no further incidents. There were guards posted, but they seem to have fallen off a balcony. After being thoroughly perforated with shuriken. Sucker's bet Genji passed through here on his way to reinforce Kagari. Regardless, they now have free reign to enact their plans upon the sleeping troops inside. Team Ninja Kagari and Genji make their way up the tower, taking the stairs since the elevators are manifestly untrustworthy. As they pass the 43rd floor, though, the lights begin to flicker and the walls of the tower distort themselves, as though they were starting to lose power. Oh, and the walls start bleeding. Blood goes absolutely everywhere. Kagari scrambles for stable ground, but the moment she reaches somewhere safe-looking, the light and wall malfunctions cease as if they had never been there. The walls keep seeping blood, though. Assuming that Kagari is not disturbed enough by this to halt, the slime queen and the Overwatch agent keep going, past mysteriously absent guards (which Genji wasn't responsible for this time), until they reach a corridor lined with doors. All the doors lead to the same room, though, even the one they entered the corridor with. Inside the room, a single woman of Indian descent sits behind a desk. Everything below her chin is concealed by the desk, so the only distinguishing features visible are her spectacularly bad bleach-blonde dye job, obviously fake Santa beard, and eye patch. "You came!" The woman exclaims gleefully. "I knew you would come. They told me you would come. And now you're here! My adoring crusaders!" Team Loud There isn't much point in more combat posts, because Bridgett rolled straight sixes on her Valkyrie Breaker and basically cored the helicopter. You could fit the biggest pieces in a thimble. Team Loud is now free to do things.

"I shall remain here and defend the portal," Alexandria states, "My mobility limitations mean that by the time we reached our destination it would likely be time to return here. And someone must keep our exit open."

"Nooooo! My shroomy bretheren!" Harbin screams, "My only friends! Don't die now! Noooooo!"

Lexiel, having heard the Bullet press the doorbell but unwilling to enter a plague house, starts building up mana. Even if summons get sick they're expendable, so should violence break out she'll do her best to support her allies from the outside. With her keen hearing, she should be able to notice if they start shooting or stabbing.

Lexiel lands next to Visrii, looking quite confused. "Wait, you're here? Blast it- Er, where is here? I seem to have gotten a bit turned around."

With the lack of available help not really confirmed, Bellona heads back into the building without waiting for anyone. Once inside, she starts looking for valuable or potentially noisy looking things to smash. Distraction time! Let's make some noise!

Team Ninja "I suggest that we link up with the roof team," Genji suggests, "It is likely that the R&D lab's valuables will be heavy and difficult for us to carry on our own, and if we are ambushed while weighed down we will be at a serious disadvantage." Team Quiet Wyvis and Isobel make their way up the elevator shaft while Sachi hunkers down behind her shield, waiting for the trap she feels is certain to spring at any moment. It certainly 'springs', but not in the elevator shaft. There is an abrupt sensation of movement, like a giant is shaking the tower, before gravity in the server room abruptly shifts so that 'down' is toward the elevator shaft. Fortunately, Sachi has excellent reflexes (dex 22 vs 12) and is able to land on her feet. The gravity has apparently also shifted in the elevator shaft, but Isobel and Wyvis were in no danger as they had less than a foot to fall. [OOC: The gravity has shifted only in the server room and the elevator shaft, but Wyvis, Isobel, and Sachi do not know this yet.]

Team Loud The team engages the helicopter!

Team Quiet Isobel is able to recover the data with no problems or alarms. It's rather anticlimactic, actually. However, the three are unable to find another way out of the basement. It seems it's elevator or nothing. Team Ninja Kagari examines and ingests a piece of hard-light furniture. She discovers that light is apparently made of countless tiny particles that are somehow energy and solid matter at the same time. Vishkar uses electrical currents to stick the light particles to each other with some sort of magnetism. She finds signs that the lab she is in was used during the day, though it is deserted now. Also, Genji drops from a vent in the ceiling to land silently beside her. "Hello. I did not expect to find you so high in the tower."