??? (Lukas, Verus)

GEAR · Jan 19, 2023

October 31st, OE 102
Earth Cradle, England
Alkahest HQ
10:18 PM

Clank, clank, clank.

The labyrinth interior of the Earth cradle rang with the sound of mechanical feet, as a pair of machines strode through its outermost extremes, searchlights sweeping through the murky darkness of the disused sector. Far in the distance, a festive mood had taken the offices, lit with cackling Jack-O-Lanterns, ghosts and ghouls, casting a curious orange light in the backdrop as the two Huckebein Ms began to slow their pace.

One of the two glanced up, eying the clusters of hexagonal Machine Cells teeming just at the edges of the dome's interior. No matter how he worked for Alkahest, he thought, those things would always give him the creeps.

"We're missing the party, man." He sighed, looking wistfully back at the twinkling lights.

His companion, the one leading the way, stopped and held up a hand for silence.

"Shut up for a second."

The lead Huckebein dropped to its knees - and a complicated looking apparatus on its right arm extended, a metal spike slamming into the ground. Sonar waves began to travel out, forming a picture of the surroundings in the dimly. Being the last ones on duty, they'd picked up an unusual reading from what must have been the absolute last place anyone would ever think to look - so unusual it demanded investigation.

Right when their shift was about to end.

"Have you seen this place's foundation?" Said the second machine;

"Absolutely nothing is getting through hundreds of meters of reinforced titanium! This place was meant to survive the end of the world!"

The lead unit sat in silence for a minute as the sonar filled out. Nothing. Whatever had been making those... tremors, for lack of better term, had finally stopped. His curiosity assuaged, the sonar spike was retracted, and the PT rose to its feet.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, man. Let's head back."

"Hell yeah, moth-"

Krrr-krr-krr-krrrrkkk...

They heard it first.

A terrible, ear-splitting grinding of metal and bone. As though something enormous was gnashing steel plates between its teeth with relish. A horrible splitting, tearing of armored plates as easily as if they were tissue paper, as two massive, cruelly curved claws erupted from beneath their feet, closing about them like steel traps snapping shut about unwary prey.

A pair of leering red eyes peered at them from the darkness below for an instant. Almost as if it were enjoying their fear, before - with a pair of terrified screams, they were yanked out of sight and down, down into the depths, swallowed whole until even their shrieks faded away into still, oppressive silence....

Lukas · Jan 26, 2023

Alarms had begun triggering from the first sign of a possible breach in the earth cradle, bathing a dozen monitoring stations red as klaxons blared. Wails in a dozen sounds and sizes forming a peculiar orchestra of danger - performing for an empty stadium. Halloween had left every desk empty, even those assigned to their posts slipping away to follow the siren songs of merriment.

Even Xander had taken some time away from his desk, dressing up in festive garb to suit the occasion. A long grey cloak, a pointed blue hat, and a silver scarf to boot. His usual walking stick temporarily discarded for a much larger wooden staff to complete the ensemble. All with the same effort put into it as his usual suits, and significantly more whimsy.

"...Once again, happy Halloween to all of you. I know we've had a difficult year so far, but I believe things are looking up. We have opened doors long sealed shut, and brought about dreams of a brighter tomorrow!"

He raised a small glass of whisky, quiet cheers filling the room from a small crowd of engineers and researchers. He'd made the same speech a few hours prior to a roomful of executives to much louder applause, but they were always more.. .sycophantic. Those actually working on his mad designs were trusted - obligated - to be frank with him, and few who had worked on machine cells could truly look him in the eye afterwards. Forcing through work on the Granzon alongside his personal projects had stretched them to the limit, and part of the point of this party was to show that he cared. That they too would share in the bounties he had found and ripped from the world's vaults.

One sip. All he was able to get before a small vibration interrupted him. A notification on his watch.

Listing every alarm that had gone off in the past ten minutes. No shock touched his face, but the room was soon filled with a beleaguered sigh. His almost-full glass discarded carelessly onto a table of refreshments.

"Unfortunately, duty calls at the worst times. Enjoy yourselves, I will return once this distraction has been dealt with."

This was a matter for security, not a room full of overworked engineers. Once he was safely out in the hallway Xander began sending out orders, abruptly cutting the celebrations for lower-ranking employees. Speakers fell silent, lights abruptly turned red, and his own pre-recorded voice interrupting their lesser revelries.

"Attention, security teams. An unknown object has breached the Cradle. All parties and celebrations are suspended until it is destroyed, captured, or otherwise removed from the premises."

Before long the corridors and hangars of the Earth Cradle were swarming with displeased and slightly drunk staff members, armed and ready to vent their displeasure on whatever dared to attack on All Hallow's eve. Perhaps it was merely nothing, but nobody was willing to admit that out loud. And on a night like this, every shadow seemed to hide something lurking...

VeraC · Jan 27, 2023

Tian Di had managed to slink through the shadows of the evening's festivities without any staff dragging her into the middle of the chaotic night. The holiday was somewhat of a foreign and strange concept to her, having never celebrated it during her time in the cult.

Just what was so appealing about dressing up as scary characters and celebrating 'spookiness'? Having had a god of destruction haunting her presence for sixteen years complete with a 'destined death', she frankly had quite enough scariness for one lifetime or two.

She gradually made her way to the hangar, where her 'coffin' awaited her. It was the sole reminder of her past self, the death that awaited her, which she somehow managed to overcome.

She climbed up into the cockpit and sat in the chair, slumping into the chair and taking a breath. She could still feel the pain, the body-wrenching agony she experienced as Volkruss attempted to rein command over her body. It was something one could hardly forget, her soul having teetered at the edge of life and death.

Shivers ran down her head to toe as she recalled the past events; an uncomfortable feeling, yet somehow… liberating. A reminder of where she came from, what she survived, and where she is now.

It was then that she could feel it.

The subtle reverberations of the tremors, that machine slowly carving its way towards them, whatever it may be. She felt uneasiness in her stomach, and closed the door to Granzon, engaging the systems of the blue machine. Once it had warmed up, she opened the comms to Xander's communication device.

"Is this some part of the Halloween festivities?"

There was a tinge of sarcasm in her voice, half-knowing the answer already.

GEAR · Jan 30, 2023

Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the Earth Cradle, the air began to buckle and warp unnaturally. As if something, or someone, were exerting the smallest fraction of unimaginable power, forcing the laws of physics to bend to their will.

A form billowed into existence, seemingly from nothing, its presence announced by a soft, powdery BANG of dispersing mana. A demonic tail flicked out behind a looming, grotesque, statue-like figure, two yellow eyes peering out of a legless, armored silhouette.

Within the confines of the Nagzadd Kai’s cockpit, Scathelocke gave an eerie smile as he listened to Xander’s broadcast, a chuckle escaping his lips as the chosen scion of Gragios surveyed the realm of man.

“A brighter tomorrow, is it?” He asked, quietly.

What an auspicious day this was, he thought. His heart sang at the opportunity that had long been denied to him. Gragios was indeed a great and merciful God!

The Spirit Machine narrowed its eyes, claws wriggling in anticipation as it watched the chaos unfolding from afar.

It was time to test if that old blood still held true to its progenitor.

“Yes. I suppose it is…”

The seismic shakes only grew in their intensity as the intruder continued its egress, boring through the underside of the base as easily as if it were passing through water.

Every few moments it would pause, as if sensing the air, looking, feeling something out - and then change direction, before eventually settling on a specific target:

The Granzon.

Before Tian Di, an enormous hand erupted from the earth below - not quite simian, not quite beastial or machine-metal flesh - but something all of the above.

It grasped the pavement, and lurched into view, exposing its hideous shape for the entire world to see, bathed in the artificial spotlights of the underground city.

A cracked, leering face of bronze leered over a yawning, distended jaw full of malformed fangs, it’s misshapen body a mixture of man and beast, fur and scales intermingling to give it a patchwork appearance - as though it had been melded, fused together in an unholy admixture.

Yet, there was precious little time to ponder the Chokijin, as it’s back rumbled grotesquely - and a pair of enormous claws burst forth, lunging forward on long, skeletal frames, towards Tian Di as the monster wheezed a horrifying, hideous laugh that echoed all across the cavern…

Lukas · Feb 6, 2023

Finally some good news. Another threat, another hostile entering into a place they really should not have been able to touch. But for once, Xander could say that the threat he was dealing with made sense. An Elemental. Not one of his, presumably some ancient machine dragged out of the pits of hell. If it was anywhere but his doorstep he could spend weeks digging through archives to find mention of it.

Perhaps he still would some other time.

"Shunt all recordings to backup drives, make sure we keep a record of everything it does. Oh, and have someone run a few comparisons. See if there's anything like it in the archives."

As soon as he hung up, another call sounded. Tian Di was important enough to deserve her own procedures, the device ringing for a second and automatically connecting rather than wait for him to answer. It required a confirmation before she could hear him, but ensuring her own message was immediately received could be the difference between life and death. Not that he needed the message this time, but telling her to cut loose couldn't hurt. His curiosity urged him to advise holding back, taking them alive...

Stupid risks. Handle the problem first, see what you can sift from the ashes afterwards. Spend all day poking at the corpse once you're sure it's not going to rip your face off.

"That's what I'll tell the papers tomorrow. Nothing to see here, just a prank, we certainly weren't attacked by two unknowns in quick succession. If you can, find out how the driller got through the foundations before you destroy it. I don't want this happening a second time. Contact me again once it's dead. The containment teams may need some help dealing with our other intruder."

The Nagzadd's entrance into the Earth Cradle had not gone unnoticed. The first responders were some of Alkahest's own Masouki, hurriedly redirected towards the scene. A pair of Browels rounded the corner, launching their missiles at the Masouki while they scrambled to get a firing solution for their railguns. For once there was no fear of collateral damage - the Cradle's shell could take missile strikes all day.

From the inside, even.

Both machines were more a preview than a true response however. Deeper within Bergelmirs were already stirring. Awakening.

VeraC · Feb 11, 2023

As the monstrosity appeared from the ground, Tian Di looked upon the ‘thing’, pausing at first to recognize it, before giving a slight look of disgust. Lao had given mention of Chokijin before and this was easily identifiable as such, yet it was something far distorted from its original form. Was this another ghost of her past coming to haunt her?

“Are you familiar with Chokijin, Xander?”

She asked her benefactor before the enemy came attacking, its claws seeking to rend the Granzon apart.

Rather than try to defend or evade, there was little room for the machine to maneuver properly, though such issues were a nonfactor, as a wormhole opened behind Granzon as it stepped into the gate to dodge the strike. A second wormhole opened from behind the Chokijin as now the blue machine emerged, wielding the Gran Worm Sword. Tian Di swung down, aiming to chop off the beast’s hind legs and disable its movement. Given the thing’s patchwork formation, it seemed doable enough that it was structurally weak. Should she hit the right areas, the thing would surely begin to fall apart one way or another.

"Does that give you any idea on how it dug through to here?"

A momentary lapse for her to pause and ask him another question. She wasn't fully aware of a Chokijin's true power, but perhaps he knew more than her.

GEAR · Feb 11, 2023

“Good evening, Mr. Xander of Alkahest.”

As Xander and Tian Di spoke, there was an ominous crackle as a third party intervened in their communications line. The fair features of Scathelocke looked back at them, unblinking, as it materialized on their monitors. A faint smile played on his lips as he surveyed the two of them.

“My name is Flint Scathelocke… Prophet of the great God of Creation. Scion of Hope. Keeper of Secrets… Gizos Gragios.”

There was a momentary scream as rounds hurtled from the pair of Browels towards their target… and then silence, as they disappeared into the Nagzadd’s surface with a dull plop. The Spirit Machine didn’t even round on the two, so certain it seemed to be in the protective power of it’s Astral Shift, perched on the cusp of this world and the next, thumbing it’s nose at the laws of physics.

“Your curiosity and resilience have roused Gragios’ interest. As the end of this world, the end of all creation, draws nearer with each passing breath, only through Him can we - can humanity - be spared. Surely you understand the catastrophe of which I speak?”

Scathelocke paused, and there was a glimmer in his eyes as they hardened. Like sparks, dancing across dull, flickering coals.

“…the embodiment of death itself. Kali Yuga.”

The Nagzadd extended a hand towards Xander’s direction, palm up.

“Join us.”

There was not a hint of deceit in Scathelocke’s tone. Perhaps that was what most found… unsettling about him. That distinct sense that something inside him had, at some point, gone snap - and been replaced with something altogether alien, yet wholly certain in its own, nefarious purpose.

“Fight for a future of hope. A next chapter for all mankind of unending light and benediction, rather than accept being consigned to oblivion!

You cannot truly believe that this feeble shell will be enough to stave off Armageddon? A man of your talents?”

Meanwhile, Tian Di’s maneuver seemed to catch the wretched beast by surprise. It lurched forward, as if uncertain as to the location of its prey, before the Granzon rematerialized - blade flashing, darkness incarnate, as it hacked cleanly through the Chokijin’s hind legs.

A spray of foul, rotten flesh and water oozed out of the wound, as the monster rounded, it’s forearms now carrying its full weight as it brought its malevolent grin face-to-face with the object of its ire.

Two enormous hands, like iron bars bolted onto slabs of mangled metal, clamped inward about the Granzon, aiming to immobilize it as the nightmare’s jaw exploded outwards, a tangled mess of gnashing teeth and ravenous incisors, before plunging its face down on the Armored Module’s body, aiming to rip its head clean free as the first course of what promised to be a long, hearty meal…

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??? (Lukas, Verus)

GEAR

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Lukas

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VeraC

Member

GEAR

Administrator

Lukas

Member

VeraC

Member

GEAR

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