Broken Stars [ IC / PG-16 / Not Currently Accepting / Co-hosted by Kyng ]

[encapturer]

If darts aren't going to work, Daena needed to use something... larger.

 

As the Therist flailed around, destroying the machinery a choice piece of metal alloy fell next to Daena.  It was about the size of her head, sharp andth jagged in all the right places.  It even still had an electrical charge from the looks of things, with the sparks coming out of the loose wiring.  It was perfect.

 

"Keep it busy!" Daena called out to the others, as she loosened the straps around her waist, allowing the large tube on her back to fall to the ground.  Fortunately, Sirius had already engaged the monster, having chopped its arm off, his and Creed's actions giving her the time to get to work.  Removing the straps completely, Daena circled around the tube, her 'Universal Shooter' as it was called, and flipped two switches and slid a lever all the way up.  The shooter responded with a hiss, as if something was opening.  Lifting the tube straight upwards, she positioned it over the broken machinery and dropped her weapon, placing the machinery inside it.

 

"Alright," Daena said to herself, pressing a now glowing button on the side of the tube.  Clanking noises came from inside the tube as air escaped from the top of it.  And then, Daena waited.  Each moment she was on edge as she watched Sirius and Creed continue to fight the enemy, for she could do nothing until her weapon finished its adjustments

 

"Finish it!  Now!" Sirius said.  In the process of pinning the Therist to the wall, Sirius had taken a nasty bite from it; Daena could only begin to imagine how painful that was.  Fortunately, a very satisfying *Ding* came from the Universal Shooter.  Three metallic sticks sprang into place on cue, two was to be used as a stand found on the rear (or top as it were), and one was to be held by Daena to aim and fire the weapon, more towards the center of the weapon.  Tipping the shooter over backwards, the weapon landed on its stand with a loud *Dunk*, as Daena proceeded to raise the front of the weapon to aim it at the Therist.

 

"GET OUT THE WAY!"  Daena yelled at the top of her lungs.  The last thing she wants to happen is Sirius to be caught in the line of fire.

[Nexev]

Thanks to Toliets U-Grade nannites she was able to hear Daena's loud cry. "Alright you take Vana back to base, we need to move fast before some [redacted] alarms start getting reinforcements to completely jack victory straight from our feets. However I am going to round up that paladin's group, no sense in little them [redacted] around all day looking for the file we already got." With that Toliet sprinted away, heading to the place where the two teams split and using Creed's trail of victims to quickly reach the the group. Which was fighting... some weird blob thingey from hell. "The [redacted]?" Toliet swore. However she had time to complain about the oddity of the situation once everyone was safe and she could enjoy a nice steaming mug of sweet reliable alcohol. It's a shame she still didn't have her weapon, it would have been a simple matter of knocking Paladin away from the threat area if she used her jump horizontally by bouncing off the wall but at this point Sirius could only move if he chose to himself. However she atleast could use her powers to assist in the attack.  "The blast will be true, the fires will burn as bright as the dawn of the first day, its wrath as terrible as the dusk of it's last. The evil with be vanquished, cast aside like the ashes of yesterday. Victory is dancing at our fingertips." Toliet intoned, using her powers to make such an outcome slightly more likely. It wasn't much probbably but eh, she just fought two dudes she deserved a break.

[a bad post]

The Will-o-Wisps dissapated shortly before the captain had exited her room, the danger having been eliminated. Unfortunately they left all too soon. Although, thankfully, Vana was unconscious for the entire ordeal, or she may have gone into shock again after being shot at for the third time in two days. Her eyes fluttering open Vana sat bolt upright shortly after Cael had knocked the captain unconscious, it took her a few moments to assess were she actually was.

 

She remembered it all though; the guard, the shot, and pushing Cael out of the way... Pushing him out of the way, Vana quickly whipped her head around looking for the boy rapidly, as if he were the only think that mattered. Finding him a short ways away in the captain's room, Vana sighed in relief. 

 

She furrowed her brow, what was this feeling she felt? She poked at her heart, as though if she touched it, she could understand it better. It was an odd feeling, but not unpleasant, and Vana smiled a little. 

 

It was then that Vana's eyes fell on the captain, curious of the red fluid fluid running down her body, Vana picked herself up walking unsteadily in the high heels, she knelt in front of the captain. Turning to the others, "Help... her?" was all she said with a simple cock of her head, unaware of the battle going on in the room a short ways a away. 

[ListenToLife]

The combined effort of the bullets and the scalpels seemed to annoy the Theriste sufficiently, causing significant damage to the beast itself. Strangely enough, both seemed to work much more effectively than his poison, which should've been causing delibitating pain to the creature by now. Not that it mattered, Creed's quick sublimination allowed Sirius the opportunity to assault the beast, giving a multitude of damaging wounds to the beast. And yet it still would not tire.

 

Though it did fascinate the doctor. Sirius' sword cleaved through the creature easily, like butter, and removed the creature's 'arm' with impunity, giving Nicholas a good look at the creature's physiology. And what he saw was...nothing. The creature was...nothing. It was shadows and darkness. From the looks of it, some plasma-like substance with rapidly changing viscosity, manipulated by the creature's conscious itself. His disease didn't take affect because...there was nothing for it to effect. No flesh for it to 'eat'. There were no nerves either, or bones, or any generic piece of physiology, explaining why it felt no pain, and why it didn't follow the traditional 'rules' of a body. Seemed like Nicholas didn't have much to go on for deducing its weaknesses.

 

Daena gathered her weapon to fire at the creature, willing Sirius to move as he impaled the Theriste, trapping it against a wall, receiving a nasty looking bite to the shoulder in return - the Doc would have to check that out later. Almost instantly, one of the people from their other team - 'Toilet' - burst through the doorway, taking a quick look at the situation. She muttered something which Nicholas didn't quite catch, but he knew better than to disregard it; that woman seemed to have some skill with her vocals, some sort of power. Obviously she was using its influence.

[Kyng's Old Account]

Sirius began to grind his teeth in order to contend with the pain that the Therist was inflicting upon him. The 'teeth' of this beast as sunken deep into his flesh, so much so it probably had even dug into his shoulder plates. Trying to keep his cool he had heard Daena shout out, following his word to finish this thing with a really, really big bang. He didn't know what this weapon would do, but he knew from common sense that its size wasn't that large for cosmetics. He smirked, hoping that Stjarna, his sword, would be able to sustain the blast.

 

Facts was he had a very strong emotional attachment to the sword. It was his most loyal ally in terms of battle, and in general use. He recalled how it was a good make-shift axe when firewood was needed for the tribe to deal with the harsh winter cold, and was proud how fine the steel was tempered. But, he knew the blade had not experienced explosive power before. It could sustain flame, a constant stream of heat, but Sirius wouldn't be able to predict just what would happen to his sword after this incident.

 

He didn't have time to complain, and after giving a sharp elbow to the Therist's face, he held Stjarna tight and placed his feet firmly on the wall, before whispering "Good luck" to his sword, and then by using his voice to activate Acceleration, he bursted from the wall and flew behind Daena, landing on the floor injured from the bite, grasping it tightly as he managed to sit up and watch from the perspective he had, next to the door. Sirius smiled when he looked at what he saw, and was very happy with his work.

 

Right there was a Therist, a creature of absolute savagery, pinned back against the wall by the might of the steel that was of the Starsteel, but he saw this blade as the reification of the free man against the forces of oppression. He saw liberation, and hope. Maybe it was hallucinations caused by the bite, but he was marvelled.

[encapturer]

I've always wondered what it felt like to fire something out of this at full power...

[hr]

Once Sirius leaped out of the way, there were nothing else standing in between Daena and the Therist.  Besides *that sword*, but she had no time to worry about things like that with her - or rather, everyone's life on the line.  With her right hand aiming, her left hand rest on that same button she used to load the weapon.  Daena braced herself, and pressed the button.

 

*THUM!*

 

The junk of scrap metal flew out at an almost impossible speed; Daena feared that she would be off mark due to her inexperience in using the 'Universal Shooter' in this manner.  Fourtunately, for everyone involved, Daena had a little help; a few words of 'encouragement' from Toilet helped steady the aim.  Daena herself would not immediately see the damage the attack did; the recoil from the shot sent the shooter tipping backwards, curiously landing upright.  Daena herself was thrown upwards herself before letting go of the grip, landing on her back.

 

The machinery struck the Therist in its upper chest, breaking through the wall and taking the creature with it.  A few moments later, its legs fell off.  Then, another wall. The Therist-machine projectile tore through this wall as well, though thanks to the impact the sword Stjarna came loose and landed on the ground.  The head of the Therist came off soon after.  At the third wall, the projectile finally was halted, leaving only the remains of the Therist which seemed to begin to... decompose into darkness, for lack of a better word.

 

With the Therist defeated, Daena struggled a bit before pushing herself upright, face to face with the destruction her attack caused.  She chuckled to herself, a weak smile forming on her face.

 

"Heh, so that's what 'Maximum shoot' looks like."

[Sweetie Belle]

Daena fired at the creature, launching it through several walls before apparently killing it. Pieces of its "anatomy" were left behind, melting along the rims of the holes in the walls. Creed made his way to one and looked at it. It began to bubble and fade, but not before Creed decided to touch it. He took two fingers and scooped up a piece of the creature. It was soft like peanut butter, but was a little bit thicker. It smelled oddly sweet, like a light strawberry scent. He would have licked it, but it seemed to fade away into his skin. The source had dissipated as well. Creed felt a warm, tingling sensation through his bloodstream.

 

[I am detecting an unknown substance in your system. I recommend immediate action.]

 

"Negative, Visor. No action required." Creed said quietly. Part of the creature was now coursing through his veins. A black, unknown power was becoming a part of him. Creed didn't know whether it was good or bad. Deadly or not, he felt a very noticeable change beginning to occur. How it would manifest itself was unknown.

 

Creed looked on the floor and noticed that the unconscious guards were no longer unconscious. The skirmish has thrown them around so violently that all four of them were soaked in a massive puddle of blood. "Visor, scan for life signs among the guards."

 

[Negative. All four are deceased.]

 

Creed was slightly peeved at the fact that he didn't have to have held back. "Ah, well," he said to himself, shrugging it off. Creed stepped over the bodies towards the medic. "I guess it's story time, right? I don't suppose they have any cookies and milk for us?" 

[Nexev]

Chapter 5: Aftermath:

Toliet gave a whistle. "Well that is one [redacted] of a way to skin a cat. Or whatever that thing was, sortof ugly." Toliet gave a small kick to the body, frowning slightly as she did so. "Wonder what the [redacted] it was doing here."

 

"Wait shoot, I forgot," Toliet said snapping her fingers "Almost forgot to mention, guys we can head back. Toys, Shy Guy, and I already got the file thing and took down it's guard. I suggest we make like horse turds and bail before Creed sends reinforcements here. Fighting has its place and all but honestly it's a night mission and I'd rather sleep then crush enemy skulls, also helps that leaving now will guarantee we don't screw this up." Toliet gave a shrug. "However with the captain and her head guard taking a dirt nap and this whatevathingey dead as disco you can also say this is the best moment to raid the stronghold, and I won't deny that. Some of the weapons here are extremely high tech and it may be worth it to try to see what we can keep from Creed and give to the rebellion. But personally I think we shouldn't push our luck, so what are we going to do?"

[encapturer]

Daena pushed herself up, with her stamina now returning to her.  A better look at the damage revealed all; the four guards seemed to be dead, due to being in close proximity to all of the fighting no doubt.  The remains of the Therist were bubbling up and evaporating into a black mist.

 

[I]How ominous.[/I]

 

Toilet began speaking about the option to continue to raid for further supplies.  Daena shook her head.  "It might be a good idea to raid the place, but who knows if more of those... things are around,"  Daena said, motioning towards the remains of the Therist.  She walked over to her shooter and pressed a button on it, causing all of he supports to fold back into the machine.  "I vote we get out while we're still alive."

[ListenToLife]

Nicholas had ducked behind the table just in time to avoid the rubble explode from the wall as Daena fired off her powerful weapon, causing a path of destruction for the next couple of rooms. The rubble itself managed to all but shatter the table, which was not meant for such impacts, if any, and Nicholas did sustain a multitude of cuts and wounds, many of which would normally be rather serious. Not that it did much harm, for even as he slowly rose up, they were already healing, the skin becoming as fresh and soft as new - not even a scar. However, a grimace of slight pain did flash across his face for a second. 

 

When it was gone, he too moved towards the wall, but was not as idiotic as Creed, and did not touch the material directly. From what he could tell, it seemed similar to the stuff he had already collected, but this was much fresher.

He took a scalpel and lifted it to his nose, taking a sniff and analysing it quickly, before placing it in a seperate vial, where it proceeded to bubble away into some sort of gas. Intriguing.

 

He then moved over to the nearest of the dead bodies and quickly looked over him, nodding solemnly at the death, before glancing over at the other three. Of course, Goggles had a smarmy comment for him, but the Doctor was more than prepared.

 

"You wanna hear stories? Sure. No need to take a seat, it'll be quick." He stated, clenching his fists slightly, before sighing and pointing towards the furthest guard. "That guy died from a shard of the door when it was shattered by the creature. Wooden impliment to the eye at high speeds, puncturing the eye and causing severe internal bleeding. Though he died quick enough for there to be little suffering, due to high trauma to the frontal lobe. He was dead before the fight even started."

 

Nicholas' finger moved towards another guard, one lumped against the wall opposite the wreckage caused by Daena, who was bleeding profusely from his chest. "That's a more obvious story, as you can see. Rubble from the wall sent off with such a high kinetic energy to shoot straight through his ribcage, literally shattering his heart, as well as puncturing the left lung. Died quickly but painfully, unable to even make a sound to grab our attention."

 

His finger then moved over to one of the guys who had been behind Nicholas's table; the one he hadn't checked, who was much closer to them. "Another simple one, death from the machinery flying around when that...thing flung it all around. Notice the mechanics surrounding him? He was electrocuted; 'fried to death', the remnant electricity from the mechanical components stopping his heart. Wouldn't have even noticed."

"And that guy." Nicholas's finger now moved behind him, and he turned slightly so the body was within his peripheral vision. "That guy was pretty much unharmed by the fight, even I took more injuries." He took a moment to register any confused faces. "Yep, unharmed. And yet he's still dead. Why? Because of you." The doctor's finger moved over to Creed. "He vomited and, being unconcious, it caused him to choke and die of suffocation. I needed more of a close up analysis to deduce this, but it was still pretty obvious. His story is that you are a murderer." Nicholas then moved to the body and crouched next to it, lifting up the still slightly warm hand, though the pulse was long gone. A thin, golden band wrapped around the man's fourth finger. "A murderer of a married man, most likely with kids. This man could've survived had you not rushed ahead." Nicholas stated, rising again, moving past Creed and towards the door, waiting for the other's decision on where to go.

 

"I vote we leave. I've had enough of this place, and if no-one comes within the next 5 minutes, then they're almost so incompetent we wont need any advanced weaponry."

[Kyng's Old Account]

Sirius simply looked up to the rest of them from the feel, holding his wound. He had no idea where Toilet's team had disappeared to, and quite frankly the thought wasn't the first one in his head. Listening to Toilet's useful words, for a change other than unpleasant oral diarrhea, he was at least content with the fact that they had found the file. As such he staggered up to his feet and took a deep, calming breath, trying to ignore the rest of the banter going on and to keep his head together. He was feeling rather light-headed from the bite, probably due to shock, and a loss of blood. Nonetheless, he had work to do.

 

"Creed, that thing's skin is a poison." Sirius weakly spoke, as he showed him the acidic burns on his gear. "You need to get that out of your system, as soon as possible. Otherwise, you're likely to get seriously ill." He said this with a chuckle, shaking his head at the thought. It might be nice seeing this reckless soul halted and weak for once, maybe then he'd actually listen to other people.

 

The Doctor's regard did somewhat tee him off. Scolding Creed was fun, but the fact was, War was merciless. "With all due respect Doctor, upon your premise, we murdered that Therist too." He chuckled again, softly. "We're all murderers. Any kind of killing we do goes against the laws of the land, since we are de facto against the land's laws. But, maybe I'm just being a pessimist." This lead to Sirius sighing, and looking around. "We're gonna have to get out of this place. I don't trust the likelihood that this Therist came in alone."

[Astolfo]

Cael watched in complete shock when he ran to the other group and found them facing a Theristes. [i]"Oh… wow…"[/i] Standing dumbfounded, knowing of the race's - of sorts - deadly capabilities, he blinked a couple of times, before standing back to use his massive lance-like weapon.

 

Seeing Sirius, the swordsman cut through the limb of the shadow creature, he squinted his face, trying to confirm the fact. [i]Alright. At least this is a lower rank. Thank the gods of Teleia.[/i] However, immediately after, the warrior impaled the violent beast to a wall, suffering a bite in retaliation as it squirmed and shrieked with enough force to hurt Cael's ears.

 

Seeing the ranger - Daena - lock and load what appeared to be a massive cannon of sorts mounted onto her. Standing away from what its trajectory path would be, assuming weight and velocity from factors such as the size of the weapon, he prepared to attack in case it failed.

 

Hearing a strange, disturbing, creepy whisper, Cael looked peripherally and noticed Toilet chanting some phrase of sorts. It might've been understandable, if it were not for the alien-like resonance throughout, creating a strange feeling as the words permeated the air.

 

Barely noticing Vana waking up to the side and asking some question, apparently about the captain, he ignored her, knowing the power of these monstrous creatures which couldn't be ignored. Noticing some scalpels embedded in the creature, he peered curiously at Doc. [i]What kind of doctor is he supposed to be? A monster-hunting one? Psh.[/i]

 

Hearing a huge explosion though, he started, when he realized the cannon Daena was using fired. The massive recoil blew the weapon back, as well as its user, landing a few feet away. Whipping around to see its effect, he was completely wordless. The weapon had near vaporized the Theristes, and even now, it was dissolving into a trademark deadly toxin which could kill within a few hours. 

 

The toxin would cause excruciating pain enough towards the end to drive even the toughest veterans to little baby girls, bawling for their mama. Without contact though around a minute after it forms, it dissipates though into a harmless and odorless gas.

[hr]

Seeing the foolhardy Creed pick up a rather large chunk of the rapidly dissipating body - which would not become harmless for around another fifteen seconds - Cael winced out, and was about to yell when he realized it was too late. [i]This fool is going to die unless he gets immediate help. Fragging ridiculous idiot. He was even about to lick the goddamn thing. What the fragging hell is he thinking?[/i]

 

Noticing the doctor having just come out from behind his fortunate barrier of - the now splinters - of a desk, he went to notify him when he realized the Doc seemed to be occupied. [i]At least the Doc knows how to handle foreign substances. Even so, it's not a good idea to do it, but I don't blame his curiosity. He [b]is[/b] a doctor after all.[/i] Listening closer to the speech-of-sorts the Doc seemed to be lecturing Creed, he stumbled back in guilt when he realized what it was about.

 

[i]We… I… the Starfell… We're taking away people's lives… their livelihoods and natural abilities of things if not the lives themselves… The shot I knocked the captain out probably killed her by now. I can justify that, but I'm still a murderer. Are we better than any of the "scum" we so despise? Probably not. But belief is a powerful thing isn't it, eh? We believe in our cause, and we'll use any means almost to achieve success. It might be a good goal, but we're still not any kind of Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes. There's no black and white here. It's all gray. All gray… And who says we aren't a darker gray?[/i]

 

Sighing, Cael turned away, feeling sort of empty. Noticing Sirius moving around again, he peered at him. He seemed pretty heavily injured, but seemed to be speaking, so Cael listened. Realizing it was about Cael having taken in the poison, he turned away, but when he replied to Doc, he listened again.

 

[i]We all are murderers, eh? That's true, and I wish there was another way to do it, but there's no way around some things. History is written in blood, and this era will have a flood of it…[/i]

[hr]

Hearing everybody discuss whether or not they should raid deeper or escape when they can, Cael evaluated all decisions and agreed with escaping.

 

"There's no way that guards won't have noticed by now, and from the looks of it and judging by the fact it's a Theristes, a full-blown invasion is about to start. We need to get out now! Doc, Creed needs urgent attention, and plain R-Gen nanites won't do crap about it. It's already infected him. Do you have any cleansing or purgatories? We need some for Sirius too. The other wounds are fine, but that bite is nasty, and it being contaminated isn't helping either. Any way we can do something about it on the run? Or quick?"

 

Almost as if were trying to punctuate his speech, unearthly shrieks by the hundreds started tearing through the castle, followed by more human screams and the sounds of battle, with disturbing sounds as well. The clatter of armored troops could be heard as well, and some were obviously headed in the general direction of the Starfell, but most were headed towards the battle near the front of the castle.

 

"Never mind that right now! We need to get out. Sirius, can you run? Creed, can you run? Cause if we don't get the hell out of this place, it's going to be a lot worse for all of us. The guards are focused towards the front, so let's see if we can break out through the motley group around the corner and make a hasty escape! Doc, we need help as soon as we can though for the two though still! C'mon, we need to move! To the safe house everyone!"

 

Forming his gauntlet into M1 - his blaster - Cael got ready to fire at the charging group of men, and then suddenly froze. [i]These men… Do I have any right to kill them? Do I even have any right to injure them? I can't think of them right now though. The Starfell need to live to see another day, and we need to get out - through these men - to do so. In our current condition, we can't risk windows. So…[/i] Shutting his eyes, Cael whispered one last thing before expelling what would be a salvo of destructive, concussive, searing light…

 

"I'm sorry…"

[a bad post]

Vana received no reply from Cael, so proceeded to try to help the woman anyway. Seemingly oblivious to the raging battle Vana knelt down cupping her marbles in her hand as the gave off a faint glow. A flower-like shape formed around her and the captain, vines curling around the latter, stopping the bleeding, which caused scars to form were the captain’s wounds were due to their unnaturally fast healing. Once she had done all she could Vana remained there kneeling for a few moments longer to see if she would wake up… the captain did not. Her complexion retained the same pallor, as though she were dead… maybe she was dead. Vana felt something inside of her that seemed to tell her she should feel sad, or upset at the loss of life, but instead she felt nothing.

 

Vana returned her attention to the captain’s body, and poked it a few times, as though all it needed were a little push, and she would rise back up just as she had been a few minutes ago. When again the captain didn’t move Vana tilted her head a bit. Why had she done that? Why help this woman, she wore the uniform of the enemy? These thoughts swirled around inside Vana’s head making it hurt.

 

Getting up Vana found were the rest of her comrades were the red-coated boy was picking up a pitch black substance. At this everyone seemed to grow upset, and attention was immediately focused on him… before they leapt to another conversation Vana couldn’t quite understand. The conversation was quickly interrupted by the sound of screaming men, and a moment later Cael fired his arm cannon at the men running down the hall way. Vana screamed covering her hears and shutting her eyes tight at the loud sound and flash of light.

 

A single tear dripped down Vana’s cheek as her subconscious registered was had happened, but she did not. Wiping at the tear she stared at in curiosity, as if it was an alien object, and she wanted to where it had come from.

 

“What… now?” Vana struggled out, here vocal chords straining from the amount of talking she had been doing.

 

Ripping off her boots, after finding them to difficult to walk on Vana ran for her life, doing her best to drown out the horrifying screams of both beast and man. 

[encapturer]

"What... now?" Vana asked.

 

"We should run."  Daena replied, as she reloaded her sleep darts; not that they will be of much use at this stage of the game.  Retracing her steps wasn't hard... but dealing with soldiers was.  While the others fought whatever soldiers the group came across, Daena help usually with a dart here and there, but not much beyond that.  That, and she kept her mist running for the benefit of the two infected by whatever the Therists were made of.

 

"I wish these guys would run, too..." Daena said to herself while Cael blasted a group of soldiers.  "This place is lost."

[Nexev]

"Well this seem's like as good a cue to skeddadle as any." Toliet said trying not to think too hard about the mangled corpses the blaster made, it was the logical move, but not the most pretty one.  "I will take the more direct route if you don't mind, people may start to admire my craftsmanship so if you move quick I can probbably bye you some time as a distraction. Besides me and my crazy demolition plan I suggest we keep in groups. I will meet with everyone at the base. Of course if you want to tag along that will be aces of spades as well." Air rushed into Toliet's lungs as she inhaled deeply. Running towards the wall, Toliet unlieashed her lethal linguistical assualt.

"BEEP BEEP OUT OF THE WAY!"

As these mighty words were emitted from her mouth, turned in such a way to concentrate all wordpower on one point, they collided with the wall, and the wall after that, a proverbial battering ram of pen turning the sword into a crying baby. Toliet ran through this defense breach while the soldiers were caught off guard. Using a nearbye guard's face as a improntu springboard, Toliet leapt high into the sky, blending in with the night sky, by the time she landed she was well enough away from the scene of the base. After getting out of what she guessed was the range of the guard's firearms, Toliet waited to see if any aid from her was necessary for any of the others.

[ListenToLife]

Nicholas sighed, responding to Sirius' comment with suitable lack-luster. The man did have a point, even if the Doctor opposed it himself. "sure, war comes with casualities. Why do you think I'm a doctor? So I can help those casualities." He explained, as the rest of Toilets team came up from the corridor. "But any violence that can be avoided, should be avoided." He finished, before moving out of the doorway, so the others could leave the room. He took up the rear, glancing back at the dead men for a moment, giving a soft apology, before leaving with the rest of his team, unholstering his gun.

 

As they ran down the corridors, squads of soldiers appeared around them, rushing around towards the scene of the main battle presumably. Indeed, the battle itself could be heard clearly now, with dying screams of men puncturing the ears of the Starfell. Nicholas took little notice, giving but simple pity to the men caught in that slaughter, recognising his lack of use to the situation. Instead, he continued behind the group, defending the rear from the occasional lone soldier behind them, slow to wake for the Theriste assault. None of his shots were fatal; instead they were fired with professionalism that merely temporarly maimed the soldiers, leaving no permanent damage or fatal wounds. 

 

He sighed at his own lack of conviction, as the others unleashed lethal attacks, and battered the enemy out of the way. Perhaps it was kinder to kill the men, rather than let them be food for the Theriste. But Nicholas didn't have the heart for it, not yet. He had seen enough men die before his eyes; he didn't want to cause any more.

 

Nicholas followed the main group of Starfell, keeping close to both Sirius and Creed incase either ended up needing his attention sooner than expected. But for now, they just avoided any main fights, keeping out of the path of any Theriste especially, and aimed to escape, exiting the castle grounds without causing too much of an alert among the fighting factions inside the castle.

 

When they had gotten a safe enough distance away from the castle, the Doctor pulled both Creed and Sirius to the side, pulling two syringes from a pouch and injecting them into the upper arms of each 'patient', before either could protest.

"Now then, I dont profess to have a lot of experience with this type of toxin, but most toxins are related in someway or another." Nicholas explained, placing the syringes into a different pouch, and pulling his back-pack off his back, ruffling through it and occasionally pulling out specific items, such as pills, liquids and other items of an unusual nature. "The treatments for toxins generally relies on an antidote, which is specific to each toxin. However, if I can isolate the type of toxin it is, and its effects, I can give antidotes for similar toxins I may have come across, and use them to temporarily hold off the poison, while I analyze it and figure out a way to truly remove it from your system." He lifted up two vials to the moonlight, squinting slightly as he discerned the difference between the two liquids.

 

"Any nausea? Dizziness? Loss of breath?" Nicholas asked the two, almost absentmindedly, without turning his head.

[Sweetie Belle]

Instead of running, Creed made his way into an adjacent room, through the hole that was made during the fight with the creature. This room was a closet, filled with a plethora of different weapons. Most of them were firearms, however, which Creed did not care for. Catching his eye was an intricate sword that was hung on the wall. His current, wooden one had a large crack along the length of it, presumably obtained during the fight with the creature. This new one seemed to be made of a hardened steel, making it exponentially more durable than his other one. Best of all, it fit into the already existing sheath. Almost. The new sword was slightly wider than the old one, as well as being heavier. Satisfied with his new find, Creed exited the room through the door into the hallway. There, he was met with the sight of a small army of soldiers, as well as Cael obliterating a decent number of them.

 

"I guess it's playtime," Creed said to himself, sublimating. He rushed directly into one of the soldier's lungs, before rematerializing inside of him. He regained his full size, and burst out of the soldier's chest, killing him. Soaked in gore, Creed drew his new sword and began slaughtering soldiers left and right, disregarding the need to escape. All throughout his fighting, the creature made its way through his blood faster and faster. His veins turned visibly black, especially on his face.

 

Having slaughtered almost every soldier he saw, drenched in their blood, his eyes caught one last soldier trying to escape. The soldier wielded an assault rifle and was pointing it at Creed, albeit with a trembling hand. Creed thrust his sword into the body of an already dead soldier, and spread his arms.

 

"Shoot me. I dare you."

 

Creed began to walk slowly towards the soldier, who began shaking more and more. When Creed was only about a meter away from him, the soldier closed his eyes and pulled the trigger, unloading the entire magazine at Creed. Creed reacted by sublimating, causing the bullets to pass right through him.

 

"Too bad, you could have killed me if I hadn't done that." Creed said as he returned to his normal form. The black in his veins seemed to pulsate, although it was slightly dimmer. The soldier fumbled to load a new clip into his gun, but not before Creed snapped his neck.

 

"And then there were none." Creed looked to see if anyone else was watching, but the rest of the team had already left him behind. "Visor, where did they go?"

 

[0.72 kilometers to the east.]

 

"Alright, that's my destination."

 

His trip back was rather calm and boring. While walking, Creed's veins returned to a normal color. After a little less than 20 minutes of walking, Creed finally caught up to the group and was met with the doctor jabbing something into his arm. Creed reacted my sublimating his arm underneath his jacket, causing the syringes contents to squirt onto the other side of the sleeve. He then pulled the needle out and threw it at the doctor.

 

"I don't take too kindly to people poking me with things," Creed said, drawing his sword, "Especially you." Creed's animosity towards the doctor triggered a response from his body. His veins once again turned black, as he pointed the sword at Nicholas.

[Nexev]

"Oi, [redacted] for brains,  might want to simmer the [redacted] down." Toliet said as she dropped from the tree branch she was using as her perch landed aproximetly 3 yards behind creed. "Now you may be acting like a little 8 year old so this is hard for you but I want you to listen. Stop your [redacted] tantrum and take a long look around. You are surrounded and your actions will give you little friends. Take your toy and run the calculation, you have a cowboy gunner, a kid with some super gun, a expert swords man, a girl who summons fire, the bad[redacted] who took down a thersite, a  and a angry little [redacted] who can shoot things faster then the speed of sound. What are your odds against us? Not very good, and thats why your twitchy, your scared, and you should be. Because I dont have to kill you to break you oh no, first im going to break your legs." Toliet took a step towards Creed. "Then I am going to break your hands." Another step. "Then your little talking toy." Once more a step. "And then I will use that shiny little stick you got your paws on to cut your hands, and that will be your meal." Toliet picked up her pace. "Your bones will shatter, your live begging for sweet death, your ego to stepped on to let you handle a [redacted] squirrel without breaking down into tears. Should you follow with your little temper tantrum I will do all of this to you and more. The only two things and I mean the ONLY two things that could save you is if you backed off or if I never find you." Toliet was right infront of Creed, the gaunt rocker looming over the man, Toliet gave a tooth filled smile, at this proximety if he followed through with his action he would be incapable of dodging a shout, reaction only works so fast and sound moves so much faster, and if he turned around to attack HER, well the good doc will have a nice open backside to stick his favorite needles. "I already found you."

[encapturer]

Chaos.

 

Complete Chaos.

 

The arrival of what Daena assumed were more Theristes seemed to catch the whole facility off guard.  While most of the soldiers seemed to head to other areas of the building, a few soldiers spotted the group; they were dispatched by Cael in a dazzling destructive display of his powers.  Daena herself ejected her current cartridge and inserted her Gale module onto her wrist mounted weapon.

 

"Dangerous situation now," Daena muttered, placing her weapon a mere few inches behind Sirius before blasting him with concentrated mist.  "Can't have you collapsing here.... gotta escape first," she said, as she looked around for Creed.  Where is he?  Did he escape already? Daena mused to herself

 

At that moment, Toilet showed off her acrobatic skills after blasting a hole in the castle wall... by leaping off of a soldier's face.  While the other soldiers were focused on Toilet, Daena took the chance to make a break for it, running past the guards.  Around the corner was another guard who raised his firearm at Daena, who instinctively knocked it out his hands.  The soldier countered by punching Daena in the face, knocking her to the ground, and then moved to pick up his weapon again.  Daena took this chance to pull the vial she was carrying out - Dr. Hawkson's present, as it were. Unsealing it with her free hand and holding it behind the Gale Module, Daena fired a burst of air, now mixed with the airborne sedative.  The guard was taken aback by the sudden burst of air, and Daena was saved from any further struggle by a bullet sent straight into the guardsman's arm.

 

"Thanks," was all Daena could say as she ran.  As a precaution, she blasted herself with a bit of Invigorating Mist, in case some of the sedative got into her system.  If what she suspected about the sedative was true, this would be all she needed to stay up and about if the sedative was inside her.

 

[hr]

 

Once outside and safe, Daena focused her attention to Sirius, who at the very least still seemed to be in pain.  "Think you can make it back to HQ?" she asked.  Dr. Hawkson had begun to administer... something to Sirius, and proceeded to do so to Creed as well, who had just arrived.

 

And then it happened.

 

Creed... snapped.  And pointed his sword at the doctor.  Because he didn't like needles?  Daena was confused and angry that he would act like that to an ally.  However, Toilet was even more enraged, as he told Creed off with flair, Daena had to admit.  Once Toilet was pretty much right on top of Creed, Daena spoke up.

 

"Dr. Hawkson is trying to help you, and this is what you do?  Threatening him?"  Standing up, she turned to Creed and looked him in the eyes.  "What's in your body is an unknown.  You could die at any moment.  Hell, you could turn into one of those Theristes that's in that building in there.  Are we even your allies?  Or are we just people going in the same direction as you?  If you won't let us work together with you..."  Daena said, sighing.  "Why are you even here?"

[Sweetie Belle]

Toilet came increasingly close to Creed as she continued to threaten him. Her words had some force to it. Both of their faces were almost touching. The heat emanating from both of them was very noticeable. The tension in the air lasted for a good five minutes. Creed and Toilet stared each other down, neither of them saying a word. The only reason that it didn't go longer was that Daena had spoken up. He sublimated, and shifted his position away from both of them. After rematerializing, he thrust his sword quickly into the ground, landing dangerously close to Vana. He removed his goggles and hung them from the hilt of the blade. He pulled the carton of cigarettes out, as well as the lighter -- both of which he had taken from the guard earlier -- put one in his mouth and lit it. He let out a cloud of smoke before beginning to speak.

 

"I don't need a doctor to help me. I don't want a doctor to help me. Do you really think I'd let him, after what his kind does? How his kind will kick a street rat like me to the curb, in favor of a rich man in a suit with nothing but a sore throat? You think his kind cares about outcasts like us? What about our family? Do you have family, Daena? How would you feel if the only person that could help them was Hawkson over there, and he refused? And once he finally decided to, he gives you a lethal pill to give to them? How would you feel if you watched your parents die right before your eyes and there was nothing you could do? Would that make you feel happy? Would that have 'helped,' Daena? Whatever was in that needle is an unknown. But that creature -- the Theriste, you called it -- whatever's inside me right now, that isn't unknown. I know exactly what it is. It's something new. Its blood courses with mine. You say I could turn into a Theriste? Then let it be. It took the lot of us to take down just one. Imagine if it knew who it was fighting."

 

The blackness of Creed's veins grew darker and darker, and spread. The veins began to pulsate harder and harder, seeming like they might burst, and Creed began to sublimate only slightly, letting off wisps of smoke from his body.

 

"The only reason I'm with you is because you seem to know how to get to Rebirth. And his head is mine. He orchestrated my sister's death. She was the only family I had left. He murdered her. My only driving motive is vengeance. When I find him, I am going to personally mount his head on a wall. And whoever you are working for, Doctor, you will not stop me. And you, Toilet, I like you. Do not get me wrong; I do not trust you. I hate you the least. So far. That may change. But let me ask you something. You say you will break me. But how can you break something that is already broken?"

 

Creed's sudden change in tone and emotion caused the Theriste's influence to dissipate, returning his body to its normal form. His pupils returned to a normal size, and the blackness of his veins disappeared. He smiled at Toilet as he handed her a cigarette.

 

"Care for a smoke?"

[a bad post]

Vana came barreling out of the facility, hands on her ears, eyes shut tight as though it would stop all the horrible images coming to her head. Even outside the facility now she could still hear the shrieking Theriste as they tore through the soldiers.

 

Breathing very heavily she stopped a few feet behind Creed breathing heavily, Vana’s heaved up whatever food she had in her stomach, sick to her stomach from seeing so much blood.

 

Still breathing hard Creed’s sword was suddenly thrust in front her. Vana yelped and cowered away from Creed and Toilet who were now shouting in each other’s faces. Vana curled up in fetal position, again shutting her eyes tight, and covering her ears. Looking up she saw Creed yelling how he would have his revenge on Rebirth.

 

Vana knew that he was dangerous then, he could kill each and every one of them if it meant getting closer to Rebirth.  Could they afford to trust him, even if his reasons were noble. As the black retreated from his eyes and body Vana fixed him with her odd purple eyes as if studying him. 

[encapturer]

Daena grit her teeth as Creed spoke.  "You know what I meant by that," she replied to his comment about using the Theristes' power against Rebirth.  Still, he seemed to be the kind of person Daena had trouble dealing with; Creed was driven to the point of self-destruction.  Killing Rebirth was his goal, and he was going to see that through no matter what the cost.  And yes, Rebirth harmed them all; it was against his rule for the Starfell to even *exist*.  Daena herself feared to return home just for her family to revile her existence, maybe even to the point of attempting to kill her due to Rebirth's propaganda.  Or maybe they were dead already.  Or that her father was drafted into the army and she'd have to go up against him. 

 

"So you're betting that mysterious substance back there will only do good things to you?  That it won't eventually kill your mind and body?"  Daena said.  She may be optimistic, but to her, Creed sounded downright delusional.  "Well, when you lose that bet, I'll be there.  I've seen this kind of thing happen too often in the sect, and we can't let this fail because someone turned into a ravenous beast."  Taking a deep breath, she took a glance back at Sirius, whose body was still trying to stave off his own infection.  Her eyes also fell on Vana, who had escaped as well, and seemed spooked at Creed's action, but now stared at him curiously.

 

She felt her own body start to relax, but figured that while they escaped the castle, the group was still not home free.  "I say we get back to that hideout," she said.  "We got what we needed, and I really don't particularly want to see another Theriste or three right now."

[ListenToLife]

Nicholas' teeth gritted violently as he resisted the urge to throw a poison over Creed. He didn't need to say much to actually turn the boy away - that job was taken by Toilet, it seemed - but he showed a blatant disregard for the sword in his face, pulling Sirius into a sittting position and beginning to treat him without a visible reaction to the blade.

 

"Nice to see there's trust within this little team." The doctor mused, sarcasm dripping in his words. "It's great to see people working towards a greater good, isn't it?" He sighed and pressed a smaller needle into Sirius' forearm, from which a small tube was linked. Said tube led to a vial with a strangely coloured liquid, one which didn't seem to focus right. Not that there was much chance; as soon as the tube touched the liquid, it seemed to leap into the tube like a living thing, and was almost instantly inside Sirius' bloodstream, attempting to wash out any of the remaining venom; any remnants of it flowing back down the tube, into the vial, where it was safe to just evaporate away.

 

Nicholas shook his head and stood back up, turning to face a more relaxed Creed, but still not one to be trusted. Superiority complex, if I had to guess. He diagnosed, sighing again and rubbing his temple as if massaging a headache. To overconfident for his own good. I guess that his new ability means he's never been hit, and so he assumes he cant be hit.

 

Nicholas again shook his head slightly and moved towards Vana, in an effort to reassure her. Creed had obviously scared her, with both his attitude and his throwing of the sword.

"I dont like you, kid." He stated, bluntly, handing a small pill to Vana from his pocket, to prevent more vomitting. "Dont get me wrong. You're useful, and you're a good fighter. But you have a really bad attitude, especially for a team like ours. And you dont seem to understand why we're all here. You're not the only one that wants to stop Rebirth." The doc explained, continuing his line of thought.

 

"I am here to help you. You dont seem to get that though. That thing, whatever it is, is a poison. You should get it out of your bloodstream as soon as possible. And that's what I was trying to do. I dont give a damn about what past you have, what sort of troubles you've been through, what kind of people you've met, how broken you are. Believe me, I've heard it all before, and worse. I've met people who have tried to shoot me, and I've still helped them. It's what I do. Now if you dont want my help, fine. But dont you even dare think of stopping me from doing my Job. I've got a million ways to kill you, and I wont hesitate to use the worst." Nicholas explained, his voice getting slightly more aggressive with each word. At his last, his hand rested upon the hilt of his gun, but he pulled away. In-fighting was not a good thing. He would not be part of it. 

 

As the tension in the air calmed down a bit, Nicholas leant himself up against a rock almost in the centre of the little group, close enough to everyone so that he would be able to get to them quickly if something were to happen. Though he definitely agreed that they should stay on the move, try to get back to homebase, and nodded along to Daena's suggestion. She was definitely doing well, that girl. A possible leader if they needed one.

[Nexev]

"There are more things you can break then just a head." Toliet said as she lit the ciggarette, holding the cancer stick  between her yellowed teeth. "You have spirit, souls, and all kinds of different bones. Just cause you are letting a pile of sludge play the game for you doesn't give you much in the way of invincibility  the thersite was filled with that gunk and it didn't end well for him." Toliet took a long drag from the cigarette. "Power is a lot more then some fancy tricks gotten from rubbing some weird creature who we still barely know jack about." Toliet shrugged. "But whatever, your a kid, you may grow out of this anyway. I know I did." 

 

"Anyway Daena is right we ought to get moving, we haven't had a solid meal since flippy over here lost his waffles. Drinks on me. However you," Toliet said pointing towards Cael, Deana, and Vana. "Are far to young to drink and Siruis is too injured to do it as well, so it looks like me, Creed, and Doc are the only ones with the fun drinks, but eh I am sure I can whip something up for the rest of you kids, it's safe to say we are in sore need of some bonding exercises."

[encapturer]

"I don't know whether to take that as an insult or compliment," Daena replied to Toilet's comment about drinking.  She does look younger than she actually is, but she's still too young in some places to drink.  "Guess it doesn't really matter... I really don't want to go through that again," she continued, musing to herself about a memory from the time she was with the sect.

 

The sounds of battle were quickly fading into the background.  Daena really didn't want to leave those Theristes on the loose, but with the trouble they had with just one?  Her own ability in such a frantic melee was negligible, and the only reason she was able to blast the thing was that Sirius and Creed working together to pin it down.  This isn't even counting the troube she had escaping a single guard when spotted.  Monsters are one thing, but a person... well, that's something different altogether.

 

Looks like I'll have to try to figure something out once we get back...