epidemiology | EVENT ★ THE BATTLE FOR OSKA

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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

[Kid, every time Odinson meets you, you're trying to tell him about shit he can't do or that other people can do that shit better. It's rude.

Odinson therefore ignores the comment in favour of the second.] Broken ribs, bruises... 'tis nothing a day or so won't heal.

[ That's Genos for ya.... ]

A healing factor? I thought gods would be invincible.

[ See, see, his sensei can't even bruise. Genos continues to low-key doubt the godly claims, while he continues pushing stones and rubble on the side. The main idea being creating a clean passage between it... so more rubble can be transported later easily. ]

[He drops the rock with a solid thunk, and holds out his metal arm. He speaks with short, grumpy words.]

My arm was cut off. If the monster that did so had not taken it, it would have rejoined me without problem. Break every bone in my body and I will walk within a day. What need have I for invulnerability?

You'd still have your arm. [ That's it, that's Genos flawless logic at its finest. Could this comment offend someone? That didn't really cross his mind ]

But I guess I'm not the one to comment on that. [ Not because it was a dick thing to say, but because most of his body is artificial. Not just arms, or torso or legs. Even his face, even if human looking, isn't organic ]

[His jaw tenses, thinking of how exactly he had lost that arm.

But he's under control. He doesn't need to punch anyone for throwing shade]

Pain is not the enemy.

[ That sounds like "warrior wisdom" Genos is susceptible to ]

...but a natural companion in battle.

[ And yes, he goes and assumes the end of that sentence. Part of why Genos is so reckless in battle as he is, is because engaging combat-mode overrides and turns off his pain receptors. ]

In life. [He correctly grumpily.]

The mead I drink, the food I eat, the friends I cherish are worth all the more to me because I know what it is to feel pain and loss. [There's less vehemence behind the sentiment than there could be.]

[ Ugh, no. Keep it to the battle. Don't go into life stuff, don't bring the reality into this. ]

No reason to compare the two. Loss is more than just a pain. Pain fades, when you heal, or when you gain resistance to it.

[ There are many things Genos can be grumpy about, but this particular subject is always going to be entirely serious. ]

Loss is permanent.

[Frown.] Does loss not bring pain also?

[He has lost so much over his life.]

I consider them separate. The pain associated with loss doesn't go away.

[ It doesn't occur to him that it might fade as well, but Genos never really tried to get over his loss and heal.

Since he's talking, and on an already sensitive subject, he doesn't pay much attention to what he's actually doing. And while he tries to move a rubble of the way, he damages an already barely standing column, that now comes crashing down on them.

Way to make more mess. ]

[Odinson puts an arm up to deflect any column that falls his way.]

Are you hurt? [From the amount Genos was carrying before, he isn't too worried, but it's polite to ask.]

No- [ Genos didn't manage to catch what was falling on him, so it threw him out of balance. Partially buried under it, even. But he's back feet, dusting off his clothes furiously and inspecting himself ]

Scratched maybe, but not hurt. [ He turns to Odison to ask the same question but then he notices that he took care of anything falling on him, and instead it turns the question into a sheepish statement. ] You seem okay yourself.

[Brushing off the dust and pieces of castle that have caught on his robe, Odinson nods.]

That is well. And good also that it fell on us and not others who would be more injured by it.

[He surveys the added mess.] I hope ALASTAIR has no pressing need of us anywhere else.

That's a good point. Perhaps I should focus on unstable structures that require cleaning, rather than just the heavy lifting. [ The rocks can fall on him as much as they want. If worst happens, he can be repaired. And as he says it he hits one bigger fragment of a column still standing, to topple it over, and start the rubble-cleaning all again ]

As for ALASTAIR, don't count on it. We're probably going to be on a move for another mission rather sooner than later.

How often are we assigned to missions? When I arrived the Audentes were already in Woodhurst.

[Can ALASTAIR control when they get sent into a situation? Or is it only space that can be manipulated by sending them across timelines?]

Your idea is as good as mine, I was dropped right into the middle of Woodhurst too.

[ So yes, he doesn't have actual knowledge. Only extrapolation based on what he saw and heard ]

But right after driving back the attackers, it is not a time to lick wounds, but to strike back. I imagine we're a too important resource to be allowed to sit idly for too long.

Is it a case of being allowed? Or are there simply no other missions for us?

[how many timelines are there? How often are they in crisis?]

Perhaps the central command is still in disarray after the attack to commence a mission, or perhaps they want us to rest and recover before sending us off somewhere.

[ Genos shrugs, but he's curious about what might comes next. If it was his choice, he'd chase enemy forces, but he's not sure if that's even possible with how the timelines work ]

Or perhaps it's just silence before the storm.

[A wry smile appears.] We shall not be short of storms, of that I am sure.

[He's lived long enough to know that no plan to save the universe ever went smoothly. This would, no doubt, be a long fight.]

Perhaps that's for the best. Sitting idly would be quite unproductive.

[ See, it would actually be boring, but that's not the word Genos is going to use ]

Speaking of which- [Odinson hefts the boulder he'd been carrying onto his shoulder again.]

Let us hope they find something for us to do before we are forced to restore this entire fortress by hand.

[ That earns him a sort of snort-chuckle from Genos. The earlier tension from the talks about pain and loss, mostly gone from his mind by now. ]

I would also rather avoid such scenario. Architecture might be a fascinating subject, but I prefer it on paper.

As do I. [He adjusts the boulder a little.]

It was good to speak with you, Genos. Be well. [And with a nod, he's on his way again.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ THE BATTLE FOR OSKA

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