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[AzyWng]

Having very little experience with weapons or combat, Johan Fired his weapon at whatever enemies were closest to wherever he was already aiming.

[_DivideByZero_]

"Disruption through firepower."

Get some explosives on the dragon. If possible, get more data on "grey figure." Ally or enemy?

It would be difficult to conjure a sizeable quantity of explosives out of thin air. But Solj did generate some thermite rounds earlier... after setting a simple airburst fuse he fires a couple of rounds to test the waters.
[6+5 -> 1+1] Not a good effect on target... the thermite spray nullifies whole regions of amethyst purple glow--but it backfills at the same rate it vanishes. (no ammo used)

Perhaps it is a question of quantity...

Solj reviews his targeting data in the milliseconds before each shot. It seems the gray figure exercised some kind of mystic ability, earlier in the fight to create smoke and burn a book, and recently to freeze a book.
And she looks like a person. She paces toward the party, dual mallets hanging from her wrists.

"Lasso's out of commission, swapping strategies! Anyone knows who's that?" Gilles shouted, letting go of the cable and starting to spring towards the dragon and books, one arm still keeping Solj aimed at the dragon. The Absalom hardsuit wasn't exactly fast, but when it went going in a straight line, it was about as destructive (and graceless) as an ancient Terran rhino.

As Gilles got closer, the powerful servos on the suit whirred, allowing him to make a short leap, which he used to execute an overhead double-fist smash at the dragon.

Heavy attack: SLAM the dragon.

Coming to the rescue, backed by a hailstorm of covering fire courtesy of the confused Johan, is Gilles. Performing a running leap, [8 -> 6] he plows into the dragon, his fists slicing through effortlessly as if whisking away the clouds. Up close, it becomes readily apparent that the dragon's form is actually composed of small amethysts, hanging in the air, suspended by a web of invisible energy as versatile as it is flexible and easily parted by a local concentration of force.
Many of the crystals stick to Gilles' armor. His arms bear glowing streaks, having made contact with the amethyst cloud. But as soon as he emerges out the other side, Gilles hears a sound like hail pattering off the roof of his suit. Crystals rain down upon him, condensing into a pile of semiprecious gravel.

The dragon has lost coherency; and with that, the books forming the dragon seem to lose their ability to regulate the crystal formation--they fall to the floor, pages open, all the paper between the covers replaced by thick amethyst growth.

Having very little experience with weapons or combat, Johan Fired his weapon at whatever enemies were closest to wherever he was already aiming.

Undecided, Johan lays down a barrage of covering fire. (or what has the effect of covering fire, given that he likely doesn't know the term)

This has the effect of disrupting the books' attacks, but ultimately his fire is too innacurate to score any hits.

(in lieu of an attack, you disrupt everyone else's actions. Since enemies don't get an additional counterattack for this, you apply full Reflex to all of them)

[6 ->> 0] {3 -> 0} The skeletons in the ball bearing field struggle to get up, their lack of coordination posing a tremendous challenge. The book controlling them floats steadily behind the mob, apparently without a sense of humor.
[6 ->> 1] {3 -> 3} The skeleton with the assault rifle actually takes cover to minimize its profile! Lo and behold, it misses all of its shots again.
[6 ->> 4 (wow)] {3 -> 1} The Iron Guardian is struck by a burst of light, and crumbles into iron filings, magnetized, so that they constrict into an unrecognizable blob. The book behind it still floats.

"Real smooth.

You've got zero grace."

Raioyris shudders as his pandora cells rearrange to produce a bioluminescence about his exposed skin, like a luciferase.

"You know I used to have a lot of falling dreams.

Never landed though."

Then, with darting eyes Raioyris locks onto the rouge spirit and takes a wide swing at its legs or a few shots with his 92FS.

Raioyris' cells begin to concentrate phosphorous near the border of his skin, catalyzing the production of exotic molecular arrangements whilst sorting out those lacking bioluminescence. [3 -> 1] Given a few seconds of falling, his skin starts to glow a pale green.

{9 => 4} {9 -> 7} He earns no response to his question and is instead met with another blow, this one straight to the gut. He rebounds off a wall, leaving a glowing smear intermingled with dark streaks of blood. Left with no other choice, Raioyris shoots himself in the side, aiming around vital organs, splattering glowing Pandora Cells all over his opponent: a slender figure, having shed the form of a human child, now a tall and narrowly-proportioned creature without hands. Instead, two long, barbed whips once again lash out at Raioyris' body, drenching themselves in both glowing and non-glowing blood.
Raioyris hits the floor, breaking every bone in his body. But the creature of the night, instead of finishing him like a seasoned predator, immediately lifts him by the neck. Suddenly all pain fades away, and he feels his bones mend, snapping into place, although they continue to burn with excruciating pain.

[Caellath]

With the situation looking less dire, Gilles took a moment to assess targets and Johan's situation. "How's everyone doing?" he asked whilst aiming a foam shot at one of the books.

Shoot foam at the closest still-active books.

[AzyWng]

"I, ah, haven't died horribly yet! 'Yet' being the key word," Johan shouts over the... laser machine gun thing...

This time Johan actually tries to hit the book that controls the skeleton. He tried not to hold down the trigger, just to let off a few shots at a time.

[WunderKatze]

Raioyris flashes an annoyed look,

Heavily drawing upon his mage skills, Raioyris supplants the current reality.

A heaven of glaring stars and violet nebulae spans across what was blackness. Behind Raioyris an intense silver moon rises completely silhouetting his form.

Raioyris' eyes open wide and bright, staring straight into the spirit. In a murmur he starts a series of incantations, "An elegiac weave, this tomb of spirit; Vessel, to gather and bind as soul; Distant carnal calls, anathema; Gifting ardor, our finest member; Ad hoc grace, groveling flesh; Our color: king and death."

A ghastly knight of black steel and purple cloths floats up from the floor passing through the spirit and solidifying over its body, trapping it. Raioyris' arm outstretches leaving the thick eclipse shadow, its fingers wrap into a tight fist. "Rest per aspera."

[Egan_BW]

"Surviving. Would  you mind if I get a bit more violent with the tomes? I feel like I'm holding back, not just knocking them out of the air."

Pick a book and hit it with thermite. Single-shot, make sure it hits.

[Caellath]

"I'd rather keep as many as possible in one piece, so yeah, I'd actually mind unless it's to halt some immediate danger. It looks like we're about to finish things here unless there's a sudden wave of reinforcements." Gilles replied to the talking gun, scanning the field once more to make sure his first evaluation was correct. It did seem to be, at least.

[_DivideByZero_]

Three books left. It seems all that's left is crushing what little resistance there is.

With the situation looking less dire, Gilles took a moment to assess targets and Johan's situation. "How's everyone doing?" he asked whilst aiming a foam shot at one of the books.

Shoot foam at the closest still-active books.

Gilles aims at the book that's now clearly in view--it's not the closest, but it's the most obvious. He hits once and the foam expands instantly. Many pages are torn, but the book is still in better shape than the others.

Some of the pages are... blank?

"I, ah, haven't died horribly yet! 'Yet' being the key word," Johan shouts over the... laser machine gun thing...

This time Johan actually tries to hit the book that controls the skeleton. He tried not to hold down the trigger, just to let off a few shots at a time.

[7+5 -> 2+4] Johan pulls himself together and fires more laser beams. Surprisingly to him, the beams are not invisible as they are in all those games featuring space combat. The air pulses orange, if only for a split second, but the human eye can clearly see it.
He hits the book dead-on with a blast. The book does not explode like the iron skeleton did--it's an electrolaser, remember? Books don't conduct electricity.

The book simply catches fire, ignited by the beam, and slowly burns on the ground. The skeleton drops its weapon.

"Surviving. Would  you mind if I get a bit more violent with the tomes? I feel like I'm holding back, not just knocking them out of the air."

Pick a book and hit it with thermite. Single-shot, make sure it hits.

[6+5 -> 3+1] The round explodes upon contact with the book. Unlike the others, which went down instantly, this one just refuses to die. It slams shut and steam pours out of the crater in the center of its cover, but the violent chemical reaction has taken its toll, and it seems unable to deal with even the relatively small amount of thermite per round. It soon drops to the ground and is engulfed by flame.

...

And there you have it. Two crystallized books, three burned to a crisp, one frosted over, three in decent condition, and one with many of its pages torn. The skeletons all fell apart, but the rifle is in good condition, and many artifacts of the battle are still present.

The man in the power armor grabs the spear in his side, and pulls it out, no blood on its hilt. He walks down to meet the human stranger, who turns out to be a close friend.
"You idiot, you could have gotten everyone killed," she says, smiling, but exhausted.
"Would've still been your fault," quips Power Armor. "We should introduce ourselves now, eh?"

Raioyris flashes an annoyed look,

Heavily drawing upon his mage skills, Raioyris supplants the current reality.

A heaven of glaring stars and violet nebulae spans across what was blackness. Behind Raioyris an intense silver moon rises completely silhouetting his form.

Raioyris' eyes open wide and bright, staring straight into the spirit. In a murmur he starts a series of incantations, "An elegiac weave, this tomb of spirit; Vessel, to gather and bind as soul; Distant carnal calls, anathema; Gifting ardor, our finest member; Ad hoc grace, groveling flesh; Our color: king and death."

A ghastly knight of black steel and purple cloths floats up from the floor passing through the spirit and solidifying over its body, trapping it. Raioyris' arm outstretches leaving the thick eclipse shadow, its fingers wrap into a tight fist. "Rest per aspera."

The suit of armor rises up and entraps the spirit, whose body melds with the shadow cast by the silver moon.

Or does it?

[4 -> 0] {9 ->> 2} The darkness inside the suit of armor creeps out from every opening, pouring out of the eyeslits and joints, oozing black all over the surface. It spreads like liquid helium crawling up the walls of its enclosure, covering the surface of the suit, wrenching it out of Raioyris' control.

Raioyris feels a warm glow on the back of his neck. The floor glows solid white.

[Caellath]

"I suppose that's the brave gal who told you to move on while she delayed whatever was going after you. And yes, I'd benefit from an introduction; I still don't know your name, Power Armor. Mine is Gilles Charron." he replied, all of his suit's unoccupied arms checking for areas where the slag could still be peeled off without damaging the thick layer of ablative paint.

Chat with the bozos and begin looting procedures.

[WunderKatze]

"To maintain such a form without a word.

Perhaps I was wrong about you."

If the spirit can be found:

Raioyris gestures and the knight bounds to capture the spirit in its arms while Raioyris chops at its legs with his blade.

If not Raioyris slips into the knight to boost his constitution against its surprise attacks.

[AzyWng]

"Thanks for the assist, my name's Johan, yours?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"Thanks for the assist, my name's Johan, yours?"

"I suppose that's the brave gal who told you to move on while she delayed whatever was going after you. And yes, I'd benefit from an introduction; I still don't know your name, Power Armor. Mine is Gilles Charron." he replied, all of his suit's unoccupied arms checking for areas where the slag could still be peeled off without damaging the thick layer of ablative paint.

Chat with the bozos and begin looting procedures.

The paint has boiled over in those spots where drops of slag landed, but the sharp cooling effect lent by the liquid polymer's thermal transfer characteristics has kept the slag from fusing to Gilles' suit.


"My name is Havelock, and this is Aria. The man I carried to your friends was Arthur." Aira raises a brow, but does not interrupt.

"We are step-siblings, from an orphanage. We were born outside the sanctuary, you see, all of us to parents. All of us are Azure, although it wouldn't be obvious just looking at us..." he motions toward the giant gash on his stomach. "Care to explain, Aria?"

"To maintain such a form without a word.

Perhaps I was wrong about you."

If the spirit can be found:

Raioyris gestures and the knight bounds to capture the spirit in its arms and Raioyris chops at its legs with his blade.

If not Raioyris slips into the knight to boost his constitution against its surprise attacks.

[4 -> 0] The knight does not obey.

Raioyris, that was the wrong move. Do you know that this spirit is one that thrives in the dark?

I sense a powerful presence in those objects masked by darkness. I have brightened the moon behind you; your backside is free of her influence.
I suspect that her body is that much more powerful when she has total control over it, when it enters the dark.

And you've guaranteed her that.

{9 -> 4} [Disrupt 5 ->> 0] [Dodge 8 ->> 0] Raioyris suffers another hit, an uppercut from his own suit of armor, sending him flying into the sky. Low gravity hangs him in the air for a precious few seconds.

[WunderKatze]

Raioyris smiles, "I said gifting ardor didn't I? Maybe I should have said ardere to cue you in a bit better

Terrible place to hide. In that suit dwell the glimmers of my spirit, a true flame."

Raioyris ushers flames forth from the suit (heavy please).

[Caellath]

Gilles sighed. Aesthetic damage to his suit was to be expected with his line of work, but it didn't mean he'd ever grow used to it. "Please do explain, you've piqued my interest." he replied as he retrieved the lasso that'd been cut off.

[_DivideByZero_]

Gilles sighed. Aesthetic damage to his suit was to be expected with his line of work, but it didn't mean he'd ever grow used to it. "Please do explain, you've piqued my interest." he replied as he retrieved the lasso that'd been cut off.

Though exhausted, Aria begins to tell. "Being born without a Locus, and with no way to install one, our peers never expected us to be successful adventurers,"

"However, it is possible to get a Locus without surgery, if you take a sample from an existing locus, and swallow it. The problem is, it often settles in the stomach, and without a connection to the nervous system it's quite difficult to control."
Havelock points to his wound. "Happened to me and Arthur."

Raioyris smiles, "I said gifting ardor didn't I? Maybe I should have said ardere to queue you in a bit better

Terrible place to hide. In that suit dwell the glimmers of my spirit, a true flame."

Raioyris ushers flames forth from the suit (heavy please).

[4 => 2] [Constitution: 4 -> 0] {Disrupt: 3 ->> 0} Flames pour out of the suit, illuminating the surroundings, and causing the arms to blow off in a violent eruption, revealing the creature's arm-whips bathed in light--but even still, they appear only as shadows. {3 -> 1} Then, a dark wreath of flame emerges to one side, averting Raioyris' gaze to track the incoming attack. A metal fist hits him on the back, the flaming gauntlet torn from the armor, surfing across the ground by a conveyor of shadowy hands. He falls to the floor.

The shadowy monster ekes out a giggle.