ten_fwd | [Away Mission:] Day 3, Alemar III (Final battle)

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[Away Mission:] Day 3, Alemar III (Final battle)

Something strange begins to happen underground. Those pretty, glistering crystals that twinkle from the walls and ceilings start to move, sinking down into the rock, and disappearing from all sight. In each cave and cavern, every arching ceiling and cramped tunnel, they all vanish.

The main cave where the visitors were brought during the tour feels darker now. It has weathered the trauma of the last three days better than some places, but that's all about to change.

[ooc: And welcome to the kickoff of our final leg of the Alemar III plot! Day 3 has officially begun, which means all team posts moving forward should reflect that. Below, this post is split into two sections: the first is for any teams or individuals who want to establish themselves as being in the main cave for the final action of the plot; the second is for our teams of fighters and all who wish to assist them. Bear in mind that the historians and empaths won't step in to reveal what's going on until the next group post; this is primarily for the last battle and gathering all the fractured teams back together. If you're not sure where your group is, check in with your plotting e-mails or the plotting post; if you don't want to join the main group until the fighting stops, the next post will also have a place for your characters to enter and reconnect with friends. If there are any questions, leave them in the plotting post and a mod will get back to you asap!]

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After many long hours of tireless effort, the damage is just beginning to be undone. Rocks are being cleared from caved-in passages, relief has been sent from the Enterprise, tunnels that lead out and rejoin the main passages or crawl to the surface of the planet have been found. Ordinary travelers are proving themselves heroic.

Aboveground, systems are being repaired. The elevators took a hard hit, and some won't be back on-line at all, but the doors are pried open and the repair work continues. A brave soul can climb down the open shaft to get to the main cave below, if a lift can't be accessed.

The main cave has weathered the last few days well, and the small group of Enterprise visitors have been safeguarded against attacks from the Crystaloids thanks to the two bands of fighters who've warded them off. Unfortunately, that's all about to change.

The ground begins to shake.

The walls rumble, pebbles and pottery and tools left from the archaeologists rattling as the shaking intensifies.

There is a horrible sound, and the ground opens up and splits, crystals pouring from the open wound. Just as the visitors have been learning about what the Crystaloids can do, the Crystaloids have been learning about the visitors. This time, they don't simply take on one shape, they take on three.

A terrible, nine-foot-tall quadruped clinks together on the right side of the room, its paws a nest of bitterly sharp claws. Its large head boasts a maw of equally deadly fangs. To the left side of the room, the Crystaloids join into a long centipede, but its legs are long and bowed like a spider's, and its tail arches over its back the way a scorpion's would. At its head is a pair of pincers, big enough to trap two full-grown men at once, and the high-pitched hum of the crystals sound like an awful hissing noise. By the time the crystals have stopped joining, it has to be twenty-feet long, and it moves quickly.

Finally, in the center of the room, out from the new hole in the ground climbs a shape much like the Almarians and humans and those of their ilk, so tall that its giant head nearly touches the ceiling. It's broad and strong, slower than the other two shapes but twice as powerful, crystals forming two mean fists. The Cyrstaloids have poured all their hatred into this shape, forming their impression of the cruelty of man.

Without prejudice, each terrible monster moves in to harm the unlucky people gathered around.

A swipe from a horrifying leg decides his fate: the Blue Ranger is battling a centipede. And it's clearly a losing battle, no different than before: his weapons, good as they normally are, are useless. His only hope is to somehow use the crystaloids against themselves...and that's looking like an impossibility right now.

He's on the run, parrying with the two halves of his lance. Thankfully, they're holding up, but this is quickly turning into being cornered. Bad news, he thinks, bowing his head and gritting his teeth.

He desperately waves an arm toward anyone else---the problem with the secrecy oath is that he has to keep voice recognition to a minimum.

A - Henshin! - CycloneMetal
When the walls began to shake and shudder again, his stomach sank. Not again. He was already exhausted. He'd dealt with some marathon fights before, but this was a little absurd. Still, he smirked a little to himself. Things were looking up for the first time in days and all they had to do was hold out a little longer. Surely the Enterprise knew what was going on by now.

Without seeking cover, like the Rangers, he pulled his belt out again. "Round two, Philip," he told his partner. This time, he went straight for Metal, since that was the most effective. This was tedious and exhausting, since most Memory Breaks were just absorbed by the crystals. A creature that better withstood a finisher like that than normal attacks was unheard of for him. Well, there was a first time for everything.

The silver Memory joined the materializing green and in another swirl of dust and debris and crackle of green and silver energy, there stood Double in Shotaro's place. "Now, count up your sins," he said, pointing at the nearest of the creatures, the quadruped. He reached behind him for the staff off his back, and leapt in swinging.

B - Giving backup - LunaMetal

Not only was Shotaro busy knocking crystals off of the creatures, but he was also keeping an eye on his fellow fighters, such that he could. They were all in this together, and a part of getting everyone back to the ship meant no one should get overwhelmed. Luna and Metal gave enough flexibility to hit get out before reprisals came. For the most part, anyway.

Spotting someone in dire need of help against that scorpion's tail, he swung the staff in their direction. The yellow end of it extended like a whip and wrapped around the end of the crystals. He gave it a sturdy yank. Even if it was still too strong to stop the movement entirely, it was just enough. "You okay over there?" he called over.

C - In over his head - HeatJoker

It was time to take the fight to the giant in the middle. "It's your turn," Shotaro said, crouching briefly before he launched himself high in the air. He kicked up off the figure's shoulder as he switched Joker from the belt to the Maximum Drive slot on his side.

"Joker Grenade!" Shotaro and Philip called out together. Double split in half right down the middle, each half pummeling the chest and head of the giant with explosive kicks.

But they didn't get to finish. A massive hand swung up and swatted them out of the air. Double crashed against the wall of the cave. On impact the bright colors of Double faded to grey and dematerialized around Shotaro. Fortunately, the angle of the swat did not leave him tumbling too far. Even so, he tried to roll to keep from injuring himself on the stones too much.

Finally, he came to a stop at the bottom of the wall, panting and flinching. Okay, that hurt. That thing in the middle was not to be underestimated. He reached for his fallen hat before starting to get back on his feet again. "We're not finished yet..." he muttered, both to himself and to Philip. Try as someone else might to convince him to sit the rest of it out, he wasn't going to hear it.

Back upstairs, Philip pushed himself off the floor. "Don't be stupid, Shotaro," he said aloud for anyone around him to hear. "It's abundantly clear that you're in no shape to fight. Stay back for now."

He pushed himself back up onto his feet with a groan. While the hat was incredibly dusty from all the abuse it'd taken these few days, he still took a moment to brush some of the worst of it off. As he caught his breath, he flinched a few times. That impact hadn't done his ribs any favors. Okay, maybe a short breather was in order. He wrapped an arm around his middle, just above the belt. Concentrating on breathing made it easier to ignore pain in the rest of him. He smirked though, somehow. "My reckless partner telling me to back off?"

Heading down an elevator shaft without any equipment and nothing to break your fall could be considered reckless self-endangerment. Nobody gave Steve that memo.

He's been working with a team of exceptional people getting the systems back on-line, but there was a lot of debris that had to be cleared manually, and that meant climbing down there to clear the way so the actual elevator car could move again.

"I've reached the floor!" he calls up. "I'm going to get these doors open and see what the damage is like down here!"

He swings his shield at the crease in the elevator doors, wedging them open just enough for him to slip his fingers inside and pry them the rest of the way open. Nobody really knows how many people are alive or dead down here, and Steve means to help where he can. He steps into the cave without hesitation.

As the crystal giant looms in, the hum of metal cutting through the air can be heard before Steve's shield pting!s off its head. The Crystaloids let off a high-pitched sound and recoil in time for him to catch the shield and throw it again mid-run, aiming it so that it bounces off the monster's neck, the nearest wall, and slams back into the creature's middle before returning to his waiting hand.

He stops in front of Shotaro and offers him his hand. "You OK?"

For a guy that had just taken a hit that would have normally killed a man, he was in remarkably good shape. He reached to pick up his hat before he accepted Steve's hand to help him up.

"Yeah." But he still flinched as he tried to catch his breath. His breathing was a bit shallow and quick, on account of the pain and broken ribs that were a couple days old now. "Nice shield you've got there." He gave Steve a bit of a grin. Even if he was in no small amount of pain, his spirit was still healthy as ever.

"You've broken at least two ribs and you haven't eaten since we left the Enterprise," Philip pointed out sharply. Remember, partner; he can feel your pain when transformed. "Furthermore, it's obvious that Double's attacks are useless at best. You should at least rest."

If only he could get down there, and if only he had Fang...

Aeryn wouldn't say she's fond of any of the people she's been stuck in these tiny spaces with for whole solar days, but when she says she's going to help people get out. She'd going to help them get out, or she's going to go down swinging. Even strangely dressed mute people who show up in the odd costumes like this guy.

"Dodge!" She yells once, when it stops, starts shaking and suddenly attacks at the blue soldier with its sharp barbed tail. Trying to miss him even as she's taking shots at the tail itself.

Edited 2014-09-14 03:46 (UTC)

While it was true he was in rough shape, he also knew Double served as fine glue to keep him held together in a pinch. But Philip was right, and the second point was more annoying than the first. Hopefully someone had something that could make this battle into less than a marathon. He didn't like being outclassed on such a large scale.

He pushed his hat onto his head. He didn't answer right away, instead just concentrating on breathing in a way that didn't hurt. "Fine, fine," he answered, and glanced around for some kind of cover, just in case. "If it wasn't for the annoying neighbors, we'd be pretty close to getting out of here. Anyone on your end get in touch with the Enterprise yet?"

Marian is dirt smudged, her hair is knotted up tight behind her head with a scrap of clothe surrounded by a fray of loose strands, and her skirts are quite a bit torn up. But weariness and uncomfortably never has damped her spirit for long. Only her appreciation for skirts, a lack of food and proper facilities, and the inability to know how her friends are faring.

"I think I can hear someone," Marian said as the rocks blocking passages ways were pull back and their ragtag band made it into even clearer, larger areas. "Hello? Is someone there? Are you alright?"

That creeping buzz of a sensation hummed through her, again, making her shift her shoulders and look all around her. Before making her clench her eyes and raise a hand to her head, as a whisper swelled to a scream quickly again. Anger, and frustration. Pain, and betrayal. Thousands of voices. Strong, and only getting stronger each time, like they were all raised in one frantic cry.

Like it was coming through the floor and the walls and the ceiling. Like it was everywhere.

Thrumming steady, only to spike stronger now and again, from the oddest directions.

Blue Ranger obeys, hissing at the force of an impact. It's blunt, nothing piercing him, but still not good news. He scrambles out, his lance stabbing at potential weak spots along the way.

Nothing---but he does get himself kicked away. It hurts, but now he's free to regroup, standing near the officer he's spent so much time with lately. He nods once and moves right back into blocking blows again, trying to force the thing away from her.

Back to keeping the front end busy, he assumes.

By the time the third day -- or the second time they've drifted into sleep and woken again, it's hard to tell down here -- starts, Dylan is tired, more tired than he's been in a long time. He's barely slept, preferring instead to keep an uneasy watch for more visits from their crystalline friend of the day before. The itch of dust in his throat has long ago turned into a thirst that's pounding a headache, and the aching hunger's making it hard to move. That's on top of countless bruises and cuts and other small injuries from the earthquake and the fighting.

It's easier not to concentrate on it if he keeps busy, though, so once the group is back at it, they manage to move a few more rocks and this time, moving around gets them through to another part of the cave system.

Where they meet up with a very, very welcome sight in the form of another group from the Enterprise.

One that includes a face he's grown glad to see in a situation where fighting and thinking their way out of a situation is a likely outcome. He tries not to show too much relief (but the relief is there), but there's a little smile at one edge of his mouth.

"Tyr. Good to see those survival instincts are still working."

He's been edgy since the attacks had stopped yesterday, as the creature faded away, because they'd had no way of knowing what that meant, if it was regrouping to come back, why it had attacked them, or even just what the hell it was. He'd never heard of the crystals from the walls of a cave coming alive, and he's seen a hell of a lot of weird stuff lately.

Still, with more people here, there's a sense they are finally on their way out of here. Especially since at least one of them has come down through the elevator shafts. There are a lot of survivors, far more then he and Irian had feared, and some of them are faces Dylan knows.

Because things are never as simple as they seem, though, the cave starts shaking again.

"You've got to be kidding me."

He takes a step back as the hole opens up in the ground, as crystals flow out of it and start drawing together, not just into one huge monster, but three.

For a moment, Dylan just stares; he's weak, he's tired, and this is going to test the limits of his endurance on his third day since he'd eaten or drunk anything. Still, he draws his force lance from under his coat again and, before anyone has a chance to dash forward to attack the creatures, fires off a few effectors, the little drones whizzing home to their targets.

"It's never easy."

One of the advantages of Jack's particular ability is that wounds heal quickly, far more quickly than they should for anyone who isn't a fixed point in time. He's feeling very few ill-effects from what felt like half a cave falling on him just two days ago, all his wounds now either healed or healing.

Yeah. The regenerative abilities are amazing.

When the creatures appeared, there seemed to be a few people around who were, if not expecting them, not as surprised as Jack is to see something he's never seen before, and that's saying something when you're as old and as well-traveled in time and space as he is.

Even if there's no sign of Rose or the Doctor here to protect, Jack's still ready to fight. He has his Webley drawn in an instant, aiming carefully at the giant scorpion.

Which decided to take it as a personal insult and lurched towards him, swinging its tail even as it takes the impact of the bullets.

Damn.

For a moment it looks like Jack's going to face another unpleasant death as the creature mimics his attempts to get away, but then somebody -- he has no idea who -- in some sort of weird armor leaps in and manages to grab the scorpion's tail with some sort of whip or something he's never seen before.

It gives Jack time to get away, to raise the Webley again and take a few more shots, though they don't seem to be doing much good.

And now he has to reload. This is not going to go well.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Harper was not going down there, he wasn't and he couldn't due to previous experiences. He was content in staying put at the top for any use that he could be up there. Every so often as more of the systems had come back online he tried the sub dermal comms. Harper wanted to know if Dylan was still down here.

"Boss?" He paused and thankful there wasn't such a bad squeal of static on the link. Maybe, just maybe this would work. "Hey, boss, can you hear me?" He waited. Hoping that there was going to be a reply.

Black Ranger was already on the way, jumping right over the swinging tail, dodge rolling back to his feet and swing his Power Axe as the barbed tail went after his friend. He quickly switched it over to its Gun Mode, aiming powerful shots at it.

"Mind if I join the party?" He asked rhetorically, switching modes once more to Axe. "Aeryn, try to keep the back and out of its range. Blue Ranger and I can keep up on the close combat front!"

Ranged fighters were meant to be in the back for a reason, but she was a great asset just now and he would hate for her to get hurt because of them.

He'd had the occasional squeal from the comms, but he hadn't been sure whether that was someone trying to contact him or just whatever was interfering with the signal in this place. He's been telling himself the slow return of systems to functionality meant Harper was out there somewhere, working on them, because he was not going to lose any of his crew here.

Not after everything he's pulled them thought already. Not after he'd lost his whole crew once before.

Eventually, though, early on the third day, the comms come to life with more than just a squeal. It's faint and it's full of crackling static, but the voice makes him start upright from where he's leaning against one of the walls for a moment's rest.

He presses his neck to activate his own implant.

"Harper!"

It's good to hear his engineer's voice again. Good to know he's alive and well enough to communicate.

"This is Dylan. I hear you. Where are you?"

Not very loud or clear, but after the resounding lack of communication with his crew over the last few days, he'll take the intermittent voice.

"Boss! Am I glad to hear you!" Harper grinned as he heard the reply. Not just the resounding static he'd been getting accustomed to.

"I'm still On the planet stuck at the top of the lift shaft, I'm not coming down there. There's no chance in hell I'm crawling down there either. I'm waiting up here." Harper's voice went in and out of the transmission but he didn't know that so just kept talking as he always did.

Sometimes spirit was the only thing that kept the 107th and Steve's Commandos going through the war, so Shotaro's grin doesn't look out of place to Steve's eyes. Even if he can tell this kid is hurting, that he's taken hits that would bring a man twice his size to his knees, Steve does him the duty and the honor of grinning in return.

"This old thing? Yeah, it'll do," he says, giving Shotaro's hand a bracing squeeze before he lets go. He nods over his shoulder at the battle, tone dry when he continues. "Looks like I've been missing all the fun."

Giant glowing rock monsters? Sure, why not.

His feet were still under him, his partner by his side (in a metaphysical sense) and there was lots of help with the crystal threat. Overall, he'd been in worse situations.

He wrapped an arm around his middle above the belt. "It's round two for most of us. I'm glad to see some fresh meat down here."

Giant glowing rock monsters weren't all that different from tyrannosauruses made out of junk and debris from a destroyed building. Right?

"These guys keep getting uglier." Andros retorted, joining the fight.Their best option at the moment was to stick together. Maybe if they defeated one, the others would go away. Or, if nothing else, they'd have one less to worry about. He didn't know how the others were fairing, if Adam and Billy had stayed morphed the last few days at least they wouldn't be that hungry. Problem was they weren't at full stregnth, bodily or team wise.

And these guys didn't seem to have any weaknesses. Besides the old hit it really hard and hope you damage it. At least the Crystaloids didn't eat their weapons. That got old fast.

"How you guys doing?" Andros asked, keeping his Spiral Saber out in front of him, gauging the enemy, moving and twisting.

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[Away Mission:] Day 3, Alemar III (Final battle)

Rejoining the Main Cave

Joining the Final Fight

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Pick a card, any card! - OTA!

C

Re: C

Steve Rogers | OTA

C!

Re: C!

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Lady Marian | OTA

Deanna Troi | OTA -- To The Groups/People With Her At Least

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Dylan Hunt | for Tyr (and OTA if you want to drop in later)

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B!

Seamus Harper | for Dylan

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Re: Seamus Harper | for Dylan

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Re: C!

Re: C!

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