??? (Lukas, Verus)

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#1
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 His curiosity assuaged, the sonar spike was retracted, and the PT rose to its feet.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....
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
0
16
Somewhere in the UK
#2
Warning: Foundations Compromised. Triggering tremor alarm.

Warning: Patrol units #6 and #8 have left contact.

Warning: Internal breach. Triggering intruder alarm.

Warning: Impossible Ingress detected. Possibility of Guardian infiltration. Triggering silent alarm.

Warning: Alarm Monitoring Station Empty. Triggering monitoring station alarm.

Warning: Current volume exceeds decibel safety level. Noise feedback alarm triggered.

Warning: Alarms not responded to within standard period. Employee Negligence alarm triggered...
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

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Jun 18, 2018
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#3
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

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Jun 15, 2018
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#4
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…
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
0
16
Somewhere in the UK
#5
"Warning: Unidentified Elemental detected. Moving to yellow alert, redirecting security PTs."

"Warning. The Granzon is being activated. Isusing evacuation orders for all nearby personnel. Executing Recall of AK-002-2."
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

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Jun 18, 2018
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#6
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

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Jun 15, 2018
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#7
“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…
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
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16
Somewhere in the UK
#8
"Moderately. They feed on the pilot to power themselves, alongside anyone nearby. Try to keep it from eating the staff if you can... kill them before it finishes eating if you can't. They're better off dead than in that thing's stomach."

A rare note of disgust tinged Xander's voice. His own information on the subject was incomplete, and in some ways biased by the actions of one particular Chokijin. This one as a matter of fact, although its very public death had slowed any recognition. Not when it was far more likely to just be a recreation or another creature entirely. It wasn't long before every person of note in the Granzon's section of the cradle was fleeing or already long gone, internal shutters slamming into place in a futile attempt to contain the fight.

It might not stop either should they choose to take the fight elsewhere, but defining an arena felt safer than encouraging them to roam free. Which still left one seemingly-invincible Masouki, who seemed dangerously.. reasonable.



"This shell has held off every major government and society to date. It allows me and my staff free reign to continue our research as the world burns around us. The cradle may not be the tool that forestalls our end, but the ingredients for that hope will be born within its halls. Perhaps they already have, and we simply need to make the connection."

Xander's voice would echo out over the local PA system, in lieu of an easier way to communicate. If Scatheloc wanted to make this conversation public he would return the (lack of) courtesy. Tian Di was on hold for the rest of this conversation. As the former.. high sacrifice of Volkruss, her involevment in the conversation would be at best a distraction to her fight for survival. There was a touch of anger to his voice, the repeated mockeries being made of the Earth Cradle striking at his pride. It had been designed as a way to wait out the end, but the end had proven stronger than any concrete or metal could truly stop.

One by one the guns on the Browels fell silent, new orders demanding they stand watch but cease wasting ammunition. Nagazadd's seeming immunity to conventional weapons was not something that could be bypassed at this precise moment, and ceasing fire would demonstrate the good faith he was requesting from the Cult.

"I would be more inclined to consider your offer sincere if not for the Chokijin rampaging on the far side of the base. Call off the beast, and we can talk. You must have more to offer than just hope, or you wouldn't have been able to break in here."
 

VeraC

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Jun 18, 2018
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#9
Xander’s words more or less confirmed the knowledge Tian Di had learned from Lao, which helped little in the current situation. The man’s heartlessness towards his staff was something not unfamiliar to Tian Di, and barely gave it a notion; not that it mattered anyways as the nearby staff had all but evacuated.

Her strike made true, cleaving through the enemy’s legs. It was a short-lived moment of victory though, as even with severed limbs, the Chokijin remained as vicious as before. A rabid beast at best, its reckless abandon possibly a far stretch from the original, however that may have acted. Tian Di raised her sword up horizontally to block the encroaching arms of the beast, at least keeping it from restraining the machine directly. While she would’ve preferred to use the Granzon’s more deadly weaponry to end this quickly, she wasn’t sure how her benefactor would take to localizing a black hole in the middle of his base.

That said, the beast’s incoming head gave Tian Di a perfect target to aim for, as the head of the Granzon rose to meet the Chokijin’s and from the crystal-like embedment in the forehead of her machine, a brilliant yellow beam lanced outward, aimed straight to pierce right through the mouth of her enemy, which would hopefully pacify whatever creature this thing truly was.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#10
Scathelock listened to the master of the Earth Cradle's words attentively. Indeed, his entire being now seemed to be focused around this conversation - and even as the ultimatum was delivered, a broad smile split across his face, like flesh yielding to the blade of an axe.

"You're right, dear Xander. Shell is far too plain a term for this monument to hope!" - He clapped his hands eagerly, barely able to suppress an almost child-like glee as he spoke rapidly - though it seemed, not entirely to the man, his eyes flicking back and forth, as though at unseen things lurking on the fringes of his vision.

"...Yes, it's as I suspected. You are the perfect candidate. The "hope" we have been seeking! Oh, what a joyeous day! Praise Gizos Gragios, to ordain this meeting... his strength and wisdom is truly without peer!"

The frenzy, the nervous energy, seemed to dissipate as quickly as it came on, as Scathelocke gave a shuddering sigh. Having regained his composure, he addressed Xander once more:

"Now, let there be no further delays. We must prepare the ritual immediately. But first..."

A plume of golden flame erupted in the hand of the Nagzadd. It lifted it towards Xander, its strange light oozing into the surroundings, casting everything in a strange, pale light, like waning daybreak from a dying sun.

There was something... entrancing about it. Even though Xander had never seen its like before, but the very sight of it caused something within his mind, his body, to stir. As though, after thousands of years, it were being beckoned. And then, to Xander and Xander alone, there was a voice.

A presence, speaking directly into his mind, that boomed and echoed with such force, such unshakeable might, that it brooked no argument. He had never heard it before, and it spoke in a tongue he had only ever glimpsed in the yellowed, cobweb-strewn texts of Crescentia - yet it was intimately familiar to him, and not a word of its meaning was lost to him.


FCE3DD78-6255-4B3E-9619-B3E59657E631.jpeg

"ꂦ' ꌃ꒒ꍟꌗꌗꍟꀸ ꀤꉓꃅꂦꋪ / ꅏꍟ ꉓꍏ꒒꒒ ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꃅꍟꍟ
ꌃꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍏꈤꉓꀤꍟꈤ꓄ ᖘꍏꉓ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꌃꀤꈤꀸꌗ ꀎꌗ / ꌃꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ᖘꋪꂦꎭꀤꌗꍟ ꂦꎇ ꀸꍏꅏꈤ

ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꎇ꒒ꍟꌗꃅ / ꓄ꂦ ꌗꍟꋪᐯꍟ ꂦꀎꋪ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒
ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌗᖘꀤꋪꀤ꓄ / ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꂦꀎꋪ ꌗꅏꂦꋪꀸ

꓄ꂦ ꅏꍏ꒒ꀘ ꂦꈤꉓꍟ ꎭꂦꋪꍟ / ꀤꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꒒ꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꀸꍏꌩ
꓄ꂦ ꌃꋪꀤꈤꁅ ꌗꍏ꒒ᐯꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ / ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟꌗ꓄ꂦꅏ ꍟꈤ꒒ꀤꁅꃅ꓄ꍟꈤꎭꍟꈤ꓄

꓄ꂦ ꋪꍟꈤꀸ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꀎꈤꎇꍏꀤ꓄ꃅꎇꀎ꒒ / ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꋪꍏꎭᖘ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌃ꒒ꍏꌗᖘꃅꍟꎭꂦꀎꌗ
ꀸꍟ꒒ꀤᐯꍟꋪ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꀘꀤꈤꀸ / ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꃅꍟꀤꋪ ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄ꎇꀎ꒒ ᖘ꒒ꍏꉓꍟ

ꍏꅏꍏꀘꍟꈤ, ꍏꈤꀸ ꍏᐯꍏꀤ꒒ ꀎꌗ”​

Scathelocke gave an approving smirk, and turned his attention to the battle raging in the distance, the Nagzadd hovering in place to affix the dark blue machine in its sights, two yellow eyes peering out from its armor as they narrowed into slits.

"Now then, just a little housekeeping before we depart..." Mused Scathelocke, savoring the moment.

"Destroy the Granzon."

Meanwhile, the murderous Chokijin surged forward, even as its ever-expanding jaw was halted by Tian Di's desperate defense. Drops of acidic saliva plopped onto the surface of the Armored Module, causing its paint to hiss and boil threateningly, the thing's foul breath reeking of corpses as a tongue snapped at her face hungrily.

A flash of light - the Gran Beam lanced out, piercing the back of the creature's head straight through, and for a moment it stiffened before its vast carcass went limp, collapsing on top of Tian Di with all its weight as the enormous tongue lolled out across blood-stained teeth, a gorey, foamy mass slopping across the ground beneath it.
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
0
16
Somewhere in the UK
#11
Normally such an argument would not have touched Xander's soul. Hope. Hope. Nothing to offer except thoughts, prayers, and one particularly impressive elemental. Useful, perhaps, but nothing compared to the Granzon. Especially not when they were limited by some ridiculous cultist-


ꍏꅏꍏꀘꍟꈤ

Xander's eyes lost all focus, and to any observers it would seem as though he was staring blankly at thin air. It was not just the speech of the giants flooding his mind, but memories. Of a blade forever sealed. Of himself ripping it out. Of Crescentia burning under his feet. Things that could never come to pass, had come to pass in another time. Another possibility. A plan that had been cast aside as unfeasible reasserting itself.

Some part of him was screaming, warning him of the dangers of this path. It was swiftly silenced. This was his purpose, what everything he had created was leading him towards. This was the secret his Ancestor had hidden from him! A betrayal millenia in the making, only now allowing him to connect the pieces together. Conclusions asserting themselves that would take months for him to truly understand, but one facet was undeiable - they filled him with something that Xander had not truly felt in quite some time.

Hope.

That ridiculous cultist knew not what he had unleashed. But even as he awakened Xander, he was doing his best to bind the man. Bend him. A goal doomed to failure, but one command spoken now would be enough to affect him.

"Destroy the Granzon."
Xander's hands moved as if possessed, typing out a series of commands known to nobody but himself. An old contingency, one that predated the Granzon and to some extent the Earth Cradle itself. For all that the Machine cells could do, many limits still existed to keep them safe for use around humans. Removing them was suicide, an action that would doom anyone nearby. Perhaps even undermine the Earth Cradle itself.

MACHINE CELL LIMITERS REMOVED IN BLOCK G-26.
BEGINNING CLEANSE PROTOCOL.
EVACUATION ORDER CANCELLED, SEALING AREA.
Around Tian Di, the walls would begin to shift. No longer metal, no longer pretending to be solids. The very foundations of the cradel eating at itself, turning steel beams and concrete reinforcement into... liquid? Silver droplets falling like rain, bursting on contact with anything. Metal. Organic. Even the dust would set off these droplets of condensed annihilation, releasing a cloud of brilliant gas that rendered the offending substance into a silver haze.

Slowly at first, but quickly the droplets became a drizzle, and then a torrent - the very structure of the cradle tearing itself apart to destroy all that was within. And yet rather than shrink back, the walls were seemingly closing in. Growing ever thicker, abandoning the smooth sheet metal and forming dozens upon dozens of growing hexagonal plates to grow itself. Spread itself. Each plate only semisolid, droplets comprised entirely of machine cells collapsing off to form the rain that now threatened to doom both Granzon and Chokijin.

A betrayal this bold could never be walked back. Some subconscious part of Xander raged against this, but it was too late. Too late to fix it, too late for forgiveness.

But not too late for a reckoning. Within the depths of the cradle, something stirred.
 

VeraC

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Jun 18, 2018
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#12
With the Chokijin taken care of, there was a brief respite for Tian Di, putting the Gran Worm Sword away in its dimensional sheath. She took a breath and tried to open comms to Xander.

“Xander, it's taken care of. Is everything okay on your sid-”

Her question was cut short as alarms began sounding in the area, raising several questions in her mind, unknowing before it was too late. She had some very basic knowledge of the machine cells from her time spent in the Earth cradle and with Xander, but even basic was perhaps an overstatement. Explosions blasted through the room, sending reverberations all the way through to the cockpit of the Granzon. Just what was going on? What was causing this?

Questions filled her mind but there was no chance for an answer to come. She knew nothing of this and Xander wouldn’t respond. Was this the doing of that man who appeared? Had Xander betrayed her? Considering Tian Di and Xander’s agreement required the integrity of the Granzon, there was something illogical about this.

“...Betrayal?”

Was the initial thought that came to her mind.

But why?


Tian Di began tapping away at the controls of the Granzon, trying to figure out how to escape from this situation. She could warp out from here, but where would she go? She was doubtful the directory would take her back after having gone AWOL. Luna likely wouldn’t take kindly to her return either. Was there anywhere for her to go?



That was an option.

Not one Tian Di was keen on exploring, but compared to the current situation, it was better. Not by much, but better.

She tapped away at the controls and in the next moment, a wormhole opened beneath Granzon, causing the machine to fall downward and out from Earth Cradle. Where she was heading, only she knew.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#13
The Nagzadd Kai watched as the Granzon teleported away into its own wormhole, its eyes narrowing in indignation. At least the girl, he thought, knew a trap when she saw one. Such was to be expected of any of Archbishop Lao's students. How tiresome.

Breathing a sigh, he waved a hand before him, a scrying portal opening at his feet. It took only the barest of moments to locate the Granzon... and, what better location, he had to admit, to strike her down once and for all?

The Spirit Machine's arms moved in flowing, practiced movements - and with a burst of flame, a wide portal opened below it, one that looked down into the skyline of a distant city. Scathelocke gave a low chuckle as he disengaged its spectral armor, returning it to the realm of the living in preparation for transport. A moment's vulnerability, but necessary for movement of this magnitude.

"I'm not like our foolish teacher, Tian Di." He said, smoothly.

"If you think you can get away so easily..."

A curious... noise reached his ear. A rushing sound, like the churning of concrete at impossibly high speeds. Normally he wouldn't have paused, but it was perhaps the wet, alien nature - or perhaps the bidding of his wicked patron, that made him turn.

As the world, seemingly, reared up at him.

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A tidal wave - no, it was more like a fist of liquid, molten metal that rushed over him, slamming the Nagzadd to the floor - and he was greeted not with the reassuring BANG of metal meeting concrete, but a a soft sucking noise, as something held him firm in its grasp.

Not even he with all the power and wisdom granted to him by Gragios, could have predicted the way that it instantly dragged him down and out of sight, crushing the Spirit Machine's body like a tin can.

Nor could he ever have imagined the unspeakable agony, as the liquid substance dripped into the cockpit, into his eyes, his mouth, his ears. Coating it, choking him, strangling him, changing him.

The churning of the Earth Cradle was joined by his brief, shrill screams, before those two were silenced forever...

As the substance oozed into the portal below.