epidemiology | EVENT ★ THE BATTLE FOR OSKA

THE BATTLE FOR OSKA

A message is sent to teams Audentes, Unicorn, and Ambrosia via magitek early in the morning, alerting all users to expect to be rifted back to Oska in three hours. Shortly after that comes a message from the Queen of Terra Felis, requesting that recruits stop by the palace briefly to receive her blessing. Any recruits who oblige her will find that her blessing is actually a very physical gift: a feeling of peace that washes over each person as soon as they step into the palace. This feeling will persist for the next 12 hours, and comes with a boost to either strength or speed for the duration of it. It's the Queen's way of wishing her departing guests good luck.

Then comes the rift, and finally, Oska.

ARRIVAL

Oska isn't doing well. The devastation is immediately apparent in the blistered and blackened stone of the castle, completely blasted apart in some areas. Plantlife about the castle has been completely shredded, entire trees reduced to splintered stumps. The area recruits are rifted into is temporarily safe, guarded by team Mariposa, all of them of a large, fiercely warlike species, each heavily armed. There are only five of them, but that's enough to defend the little corner of Oska set up to receive the incoming teams.

The largest, most battle-scarred member of Mariposa issues no orders, but fills arrivals in on the situation: there are several models of robots focusing on the destruction of the castle. Hear that distant, repetitive thud? The largest robots, the 15-foot (457cm) models, area busy hammering at an interior wall, trying to break into the Mechanical Room. They're the main priority -- but don't lose track of the flanking and defensive models, they're there to cause whatever carnage they can while the largest ones tear down the castle itself. Basically, take out every robot you see, as fast as you can.

Those who can't fight have another, even more important job. There are defense nodes scattered throughout Oska, some inside the castle, some outside, even some in the village. These are small panels that blend in with the scenery. They each need to be opened up and rebooted with an access code put in via number pad. When every single node has been rebooted, the cloaking device will fully activate throughout this entire dimension, getting it permanently off of Zymandis's radar once more. Any recruit who volunteers for this job will have a map of each node location sent to their magitek. The robots don't seem to realize the importance of these nodes and usually ignore them, but will attack anyone they see working at one.

OPPONENTS

The biggest models are the PW15s; with sledgehammers at the end of their arms, they're programmed just to break down and tear apart foundation. They're currently working on busting their way into the Mechanical Room, where the TIMELINE.exe is kept. They must be stopped. Without the TIMELINE.exe, ALASTAIR is left aimless and adrift. These machines work ceaselessly at their task, and can only be distracted by focusing temporarily on a target right in front of them. Otherwise, they will ignore any attacks on them and keep working on the wall in front of them until they are torn apart themselves.

PW15s are guarded by the Shielders. These are the basic eight-foot (245cm) models, but each comes with a large light shield it will use to defend itself and the PW15s. They stay behind these impenetrable shields and fire lasers from safety, but don't have very advanced programming. They will swivel around to face their target, leaving themselves open to attacks from behind. Tag teaming these robots is very effective.

Airbombers can be tricky to navigate, as these robots fly. They're light and fast, but shots from their canons don't do much more than issue small but severe burns. The real danger is in letting one get directly overhead, as once it has done so it will release two to six bombs, which do great damage to people and property upon impact.

The last model to look out for is the T15, which is small but tenacious. These are no bigger than a large dog, and will scuttle quickly forward until they've spotted a target. At that point they plant themselves and begin to fire a concentrated beam of laser at whatever they've spotted until it has stopped moving. These models have very simple programming and few defenses, but are impossible to dissuade from firing while their target is still in sight. They have no sense of object permanence, though, and even ducking behind scenery will confuse one into thinking it's eliminated its target.

THE FIGHT

The arrival of the three teams from Terra Felis do a lot to tip the scales in Oska's favor, but the fight still rages for a full day after their arrival. Team Kittypaw can be seen engaging throughout the grounds -- Uruz and Dagny fiercely defend the stables and the squidge garden, and are tired but nowhere near ready to give up. Cassie leads attacks into robot-heavy areas with gun-blazing gusto and seems to be having the time of her life, but even her energy isn't unlimited. Cherenkov and Crowley are on defense node duty, and can be spotted as a black or white streak on their way to activate the next node, avoiding the bulk of the fighting.

Anyone who needs a break will be instructed to visit the library. Not even the robots are a match for the librarians, who have made it their utmost priority to ensure that nothing unauthorized sets foot among the books. Food and pillows have been brought in, and the area can be used as a base for resting and refueling between fights. Between fending off robots, the librarians will still warily scrutinize anyone eating or drinking too close to a book. They've allowed it, but don't push your luck and get messy.

The fight drags on for almost a full, exhausting 24 hours, but just as dawn begins to come to the little scrap of Oska's dimension, a shimmering races briefly through the sky as the last defense node is rebooted and the shield is reactivated. Any remaining robots jolt and then go still, permanently offline. (Friendly robots might also feel a jolt, but are spared any damage thanks to careful programming.) The collective teams of ALASTAIR finally have a moment to breathe and relax. The fight is over.

AFTERMATH

There is a lot to rebuild and, unfortunately, some mourning to do. Services for those fallen in the fight will be held the following day. They are quick but heartfelt affairs, with friends of the downed recruits speaking a few words about what will be most remembered and missed about their comrades.

Overall, though, the mood is grimly triumphant -- they've just managed to fend off Zymandis, after all. Or at least, a fraction of Zymandis. There are quite a few murmurs of gratitude for the shields being restored in time to stop anything bigger from finding them.

The castle begins to slowly rebuild itself, rocks teetering their way back into place and tapestries slowly restitching themselves. Left to its own devices, it would probably take several years of this for the castle to fully restore itself. It very obviously appreciates recruits lending a hand to rebuilding, though. Suits of armor will bring workers little trinkets of gratitude, or food from the kitchen, which produces it in generous heaps. The castle's rebuilding efforts will even focus a little more strongly on the rooms of anyone helping out, down to any personal effects that were damaged in the fight or otherwise.

Welcome home, Audentes. Rebuilding will last for the full three weeks given until their next mission, and still won't be complete by the time they ship out. But still, try to relax before your next trip out.

OOC NOTES

This log will last ICly and OOCly for three weeks (with the initial battle lasting one day), with the next mission beginning on 21 May. Please use this post to plot amongst yourselves!

The other ALASTAIR teams in Oska at the moment are Unicorn and Ambrosia, who were with Audentes in Terra Felis, Kittypaw, Mariposa, who greeted the new arrivals, and Kraken, a 10-recruit team made of various aquatic and amphibious species who use the lake as their home base during the fight. More teams will be rifting in to help with reconstruction, after the battle is over.

Questions about this log can be directed here. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may also submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It would be less comfortable to sit in these srpings fully clothed.

[duh.]

Edited 2017-05-12 10:24 (UTC)

[Okay, cool. So this guy's big, but dumb.

He can live with that.]

Not the point, hairy dude.

[Philosophical discussions of this variety are not ones that most would enjoy having while also being exposed in the most physical of ways possible. At least, in his own world, not without another layer of intimacy.

He cracks a knuckle with an air of nonchalance, sure he has never seen this man around before, although he resembles some of the other warriors he's come into contact with in his time here. Achilles comes to mind.]

Why do you ask?

You havin' doubts or somethin'?

I have many doubts about a great many things.

[Odinson has no problem playing dumb muscle. He's used to being judged by other's standards.]

I ask because I do not know my own answer to that question.

[Doubt is dreadful, and Asher has learned the true meaning of the world over the past few months as luck would have it. In many ways, the team is one of the best and worst things to have ever happened to him, but he would not take this past nine months back for anything.]

Yeah?

[Sadness is apparent in the other's eyes, now that he looks closely.]

Tch. Can't say I blame ya, big guy.

How long've you been around?

A few weeks. I arrived as the mission in Woodhurst was reaching a critical point. [He was glad he'd arrived at a time he could be helpful, being immune to the infection.]

[Woodhurst was a terrible start, although now that he thinks back upon it, Asher can't say that any of the missions have been particularly easy. While some may have believed that caring for the squidges wasn't quite as taxing as their other endeavors, Asher had been thrust into the desert with nothing but the clothes on his back and the alien infant in his arms, made to brave a world he didn't understand or know anything about.

It was horrifying, for a mere mortal.]

That place sucked major balls.

[Ironic, seeing as he had been so excited for the mission in the first place. The horror and tragedy had beaten almost all of the enthusiasm out of him.]

You really wanna know what I think?

[He sounds genuinely confused.

Most people do not care for his opinion.]

Aye, I do.

[Odinson is still finding his footing within the team, and still meeting all the different team members. He has his own opinions on matters, but he believes that to be successful, he needs to get to know the others here with him.]

[He shoots the Norse god a look of doubt, although it subsides and his raised brows fall.

Asher thrusts his arms backwards, leaning on them for support. He has a habit of taking up space even when he doesn't need to, but in this situation it's barely a conscious decision.

Thor's gargantuan stature makes him feel small.]

No.

[He doesn't mean today, he doesn't mean now.

He means that if he were asked to join this band of foolhardy superpeople at the point in time he was plucked from, he would have said-]

No friggin' way.

[The only reaction from Odinson is raised eyerbows. That's seems a vehement response to a simple question.

The why isn't really an issue for Odinson right now. He can imagine any number of reasons someone might refuse to join a group such as this. They've only just met, and it may be something more personal, he doesn't know.

But he is interested in one thing-] Do you help our team now?

[What a difficult question to answer.

Yes, yes he does, although he struggles with the fact that he is entirely ordinary, ill-equipped for battle with the very few marketable skills he actually has. He is a novice even in his own field, merely a first year in law school.

A first year, although it has almost been a year since then.]

Hells yeahhhh! Or, well-

[He doesn't quite believe in himself so much anymore.

Still, it is getting better.]

I try to.

[Asher has heard many an argument regarding ALSTAIR'S mission, one of which is that it really isn't there business to interfere with what fate has in store for a planet, although he can't really get behind that.

Screw fate- She is far crueler than she needs to be.]

I may not really have been all about this timeline savin' shiz when I first started out-

[plz excuse??? he's white i don't know why he still does this]

But I'm down for the cause now, fo' sho. It kinda took me a while to figure out if it was somethin' I could get behind, but I'm with it.

A hundred and ten percent.

[As a Norse god, Odinson is literally one of the whitest to ever white. He has no platform from which to judge.

There's almost a smile on his face thought- 110%. Ha.] You must be ALASTAIR's biggest supporter.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not.

[He doesn't necessarily agree with all of ALASTAIR'S methods.

What pisses him off the most is that children are pulled onto this team and are somehow expected to be cared for, to be capable, and to contribute as much as their adult counterparts. Sure, the notion of "childhood" seems to vary in different cultures and world, but he can't help but still be angry.

Angry and unwilling to detach from some of the notions he grew up with.]

I can't say I'm D-T-F with every little thing that they do, but.

I do wanna help out.

[He doesn't want to keep feeling useless.]

Edited 2017-06-01 23:08 (UTC)

Dee Tee Eff?

[you humans and your acronyms]

[He clarifies without so much as batting an eyelash-]

Down to fuck.

[h u m a n s]

Has ALASTAIR shown any willingness to take criticsm or advice?

[Asher shifts beneath the bubbling water to cross one leg over the other.]

Yes 'n no.

How so?

EVENT ★ THE BATTLE FOR OSKA

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i'm so sorry he's so judgey

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