Event #14: THE GIFT OF BLESSED SILENCE

[vivalamods]

Event #14: THE GIFT OF BLESSED SILENCE

Though the vote was contentious, the Corsairs have decided to capture the facility. This will require an enormous mobilization of forces, but it is fortunate that the Corsairs are on they fight, unbeknownst to the Empire, on their own domain. In a real sense, the Vault has been preparing for this moment for decades.

The forges burn bright as rail and cannon are brought to bear. This ambitious plan will see Skysplitters placed across the continent as a crack strike force tears through the facility and kills or captures its personnel without putting the site itself to the sword. An operation both forceful and delicate, difficult, but hardly impossible for the Corsairs’ finest.

Missions:

Build the Rail, Ignite the Powder: The Corsairs, working under the cover of night, will need to establish a perimeter around the research facility.
Description: The continent of Bavrecht is usually where the Adamant Curtain, a major airship Legion, makes its base, testing munitions on the continent with constant carpet bombings. Their schedule is a bit irregular, but there are times where their bombing isn’t active. The Corsairs will need to take this opportunity to encircle the research facility and quickly erect temporary rail lines and set up Skysplitters to keep the airspace clear.

Rip Down the Curtain: The Corsairs will need to drive away the Adamant Curtain when it returns.
Description: The Adamant Curtain airship legion is a minor legion primarily concerned with munition testing. Their airships shuttle back and forth to gather new test munitions from the mainland and rest before returning to bombard the continent, and even then often in staggered groups. The Corsairs seek to employ one of these gaps to set up their perimeter, but once they return they will need to then destroy the legion so they can’t provide aid to the research facility or, in desperation, destroy it.

Laboratory Conquest: The Corsairs will need to enter the research facility and sweep it of hostiles, one way or another.
Description: Log Leader required. The Corsairs will be pitted against the 13th Legion Legatus Dr. Emric Folken and his legion of scientists. While not frontline combatants, they have any number of horrific abominations and weaponry available to bring to bear against the Corsair forces. Defeating them in their home turf will be a herculean effort indeed.

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[theriflespiral]

'Blunt' is a relative term. One does not have to slice if the blade is wide enough to sever the spine from a single piercing strike, placed perfectly near where the jaw meets the skull; such a blow, made with precision, along with a single shot, is more than enough to shatter bone and attendant nerves.

One.

Two.

The bolt-action shudders with the force of her cycling the chamber, rattling dangerously, and she cusses, but she's free. "Help on the way--"

Of course, she can't get away with that when her allies are the backstop.

[straykitty]

Those with sharp ears, especially in the din of combat, might have heard silent, layered incanting from Renne's direction. Though it took her a bit, her new glove allowed her to beautifully layer spellcraft in a manner she was never able to before, and the timing could not be better.

"Aegis Shield. La Forte. Chrono Drive. Crescent Eye."

A burst of myriad colors explodes around the Corsairs as they begin to feel invigorated. A shield descends, creating a barrier to absorb incoming damage as if it never occurred. A flame kindled in the heart, boosting offensive power. Time acceleration to speed movement. And a sudden sixth sight to alert to incoming danger, even outside of mortal vision.

[singlemilletgrain]

Natalia's ghouls gnash their jaws for a few moments after being dismembered before falling silent. Thus is she free to aid whom she pleases. As Renne casts her spells, Shu feels a surge of strength within her - already boasting the strength of a minor god (even if somewhat lessened by her presence in this world), Shu finds herself capable of overpowering her adversary and forcing it away. She does not go in for fistfights, as a general rule, but she finds herself forced to snatch at her iron shield and swing it as hard as she can.

This does not destroy the enemy, but it does at least momentarily stagger it, forcing it to the ground. Shu follows by laying the shield flat on her enemy's head and then stomping it repeatedly with such force that the metal of the shield dents.

She really should have paid more attention to Da ge's endless martial arts lectures.

Donnie's Ether pistol blasts several holes in the torso of his enemy, but as before, it refuses to go down. It does, however, relinquish its hold on his staff from the sheer kinetic force of the energy blasting bits of its body away. If he can manage to get the blade end facing the correct side, perhaps he can chop away some limbs, sever the spine, or otherwise nullify it.

Around them, the Corsairs, with the burst of power they've received from Renne, are similarly mopping up the last of the frontal assault. ...Or perhaps, the first assault.

"Is everyone well?"

Shu calls out in concern, still stomping. She is not sure when she needs to stop. She also really doesn't want to see what's underneath her shield right now. This is the least dignified kill she's ever made.

[purplexing]

It's like he's hit with a massive caffeine rush, his senses sharpened as he feels recharged. Donnie yanks away his staff as he spins away, holstering his pistol so he can have both hands free to wield his choice weapon, spinning it as he reforms the Ether-echo of his glaive's head, several times larger than the first.

He sidesteps before the undying thing can swipe at him again, pivoting to swing his weapon clear across what remains of its torso to sever it in two. His hands pass the staff's length hand over hand to keep it in motion even after he's completed the horizontal arc, bringing it up and around to hack off the offending creature's limbs to prevent it from keeping up its attacks before he swings it down and through the thing's head itself.

His breaths are short and quick as he still feels the energy buzzing through him, but there's nothing more to strike at right this moment, and he doesn't quite trust saying anything without tempting his gag reflex, so at best he flashes a shaky thumbs-up in Shu's direction.

[straykitty]

"Aura Breath. Refreshing Veil."

Still weaving supportive magic, this time Renne covered the Corsairs in gentle healing winds to close their wounds and purge any impurities from their system, as well as bolstering them against any further ailments.

[theriflespiral]

It's a single burst of speed to get to the door, another few seconds to defeat the lock with an application of ice magic in the moist air. Natalia takes the brief time on the hoof to reload, snapping the cycle on the bolt-action shut.

Regardless of this, she keeps her bayonet affixed. "Ready to secure magazine."

Their best hope was to defeat them in detail. None of them could afford to let the Imperials mass.

[singlemilletgrain]

When there is no more movement - or at least, minimal movement from the thrashing creature below her, Shu finally stops stomping on its head and smoothly reaches over to pluck one of the pieces of Natalia's snapped blade from the ground. She hides what she's doing from sight with her crouched body, then gently tosses the sharp metal away.

"You must rest."

She attends to Donnie first, fussing and insisting on looking him over head to toe before applying a refreshing wind around his body to perhaps relieve some of the nausea. It has no healing properties whatsoever but it has a faint smell of mint.

"Can you continue on?" Her eyes are creased in worry and what she does not speak but that she expects Donnie to understand is 'there will be others like this.' Whatever was happening in this facility was... barbarous.

Natalia, as she breaks into the facility, is met by the buzzing of fluorescent bulbs that are half-shattered. The interior is a mess. The hallway stretching out before her is filled with signs of combat, though there is no one to be seen now. Donnie and Shu, having infiltrated earlier, had apprised the others of the situation. The facility housed four sectors, each of which required its own key card to enter. The prisoners from each sector did not mingle. As the battle had begun, Donnie had released as many of them from their cells as he could to catch the guards off-balance. It was unclear how successful that endeavor had been.

"You are here."

A voice quietly speaks from beside Natalia as someone steps out of what is clearly an Ether-powered form of invisibility. From the garments, a prisoner. Donnie and Shu would recognize this as the man whose Ether Donnie had released from binding earlier.

"The Corsairs?" This is less a question and more an expectation. "I fear it has not gone well. The guards were one thing, but... it seems they were expecting you all. They set... " He struggles with the right words. "...creatures upon us. We had to run."

[purplexing]

Donnie fingers the shredded leather of his jacket, slightly blood-stained, but he feels the pain from earlier vanish with Renne's magical healing, along with any bruises he'd gotten. It's only out of reflex that he tries batting Shu's hands away, if barely, but he finally allows himself a deeper breath as she calls up that breeze. He swallows, but meets her gaze as he nods. It's not going to be pretty in there, but he's intent on finishing what he's started.

So in they go. It's different actually walking the halls than sneaking through the ventilation, but Donnie doesn't like that he'd felt safer in the latter. He gasps at the sudden voice, looking around as he grips his staff tightly, but once the prisoner releases their invisibility, he lets out a breath. It's but a brief relief given what is said next. Donnie looks at them, grimly.

"I think we know what you're talking about. That was our welcoming committee," he says, grimacing. "If you can find the other prisoners, help them to the exit. We cleared out things but I don't know how many more of those creatures they might have."

[theriflespiral]

There's a moment where Natalia nearly takes a swipe at the fellow who was invisible, but... As the story started to come out, she nodded, and lifted her (painted) helmet's visor. "Very well. I shall advance accordingly."

She wasn't used to taking the van, but in her case, why not? She moved to make sure that if the exits the Corsairs hadn't entered weren't clear, they would be shortly. Man. The constant operations are getting to her.

[straykitty]

"It's possible I can gain access to their system and get us some kind of map," Renne says, stroking her chin thoughtfully as she looks over the laboratory. "There is, however, a faint possibility of detection. Shall I try?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"Yes... We could not hope to outpower them. I am sorry. They danced out of reach of any weapons we had and swooped down with such speed..."

The serious man shakes his head, his eyes skyward in recollection.

"I don't know where they scattered. I used my Ether and stayed by what I knew to be an exit in hopes it would pan out." Apparently, it did.

Shu frowns momentarily, puzzled by something he had said before being redirected by Renne's question. "Please. Anything that could gain us an advantage." Behind them, the Corsair troops were moving in as well. "We should secure each of the sectors. Donnie and I are familiar with the northeast. Perhaps we should head that direction while the other squads cover the rest."

[purplexing]

"Nothing to be sorry about. Those things are...something else."

Donnie tries not to look bothered by the growing potential that they'll run into more. He at least knows he can trust the abilities of the others present, and so doesn't want to disappoint nor slack on his own end, so he tries steeling himself for whatever may come.

"If anyone can pull up that sort of thing, it's Renne," he grins. A map would make things more accurate for them to find their way through the facilities and make sure they don't get boxed in. He nods at Shu's suggestion. They can't delay too long, not if the enemy's been expecting them.

[theriflespiral]

"I'll secure our back approach with a satchel charge." She pauses and looks back to the invisible man. "Will you need an escort detail?"

[straykitty]

Renne nods and connects to the system with a faint smile, using her modified ENC to attempt to crack into their system and see what she can recover while leaving the others to sort out logistics.

[singlemilletgrain]

”Ah, no.” He coughs and looks faintly embarrassed. ”I would prefer to stay unseen. You would… draw attention. Good luck. Please help the others if you can.”

So saying, he vanishes.

Renne will eventually find, after some effort, a map of the facilities, which are generally as Shu described. However, knowing the exact location of entrances and exits is helpful. There are also markings to show where the prison complex connects into the experimental and weapons testing facility in the core and helpfully, the locations of the guard stations. The other Corsairs fan out after being briefed on the situation, leaving Natalia, Renne, Donnie and Shu to cover the northeast sector.

It is strangely deserted. They will find that the cells have all been successfully opened by Donnie, a few scattered bodies - some of guards, some of prisoners, signs of general turmoil, but little else as they walk the halls. Each sector is comprised of many long, parallel hallways, each unlocked by a key card, each filled with about eight to ten cells. It is when they are pacing the last row of cells on the end that something finally draws attention.

In one of the now-open cells is a pile of bodies, at least ten, all in prisoner uniforms. Unconscious or dead, it’s not clear.

[purplexing]

Finding the doors unlocked is about the only relief Donnie finds here as they go. He can't help but get the sense that they're marching further and further into some predator's den.

Coming upon a pile of bodies does not alleviate this thought in the least, a gasp catching in his throat as he steps back abruptly from the doorway. He glances uncertainly at the others, a silent inquiry of if he should check them. (He doesn't really want to.)

[straykitty]

Renne holds up her hand.

"Don't approach. It could easily be a trap, or undead or some other abomination."

She turns to Shu, deferring to her experience as the natural leader of the group.

"Shall I enervate the bodies with healing magic? It may produce some information, if nothing else."

[theriflespiral]

Along the way, she picks up one of the experimental new service rifles. She is nodding, satisfactorily, as she gently loads the magazine. Oh, semi-automatic action. How I missed you~ "Understood, taking up position, bayonet affixed."

For a moment, she looks in the cell behind them, suspicious, then turns back around. "Covering."

[singlemilletgrain]

A bit surprised that Renne is looking to her for instruction, Shu nods her approval. Her instinct, of course, had been to rush to help, but the much more pragmatic observation had stalled her steps.

If Renne attempts to use healing magic on the bodies, she will find that… absolutely nothing interesting happens.

On the other hand, something much more interesting happens behind them as the door they hacked to enter swings shut and locks.

A crackle precedes an announcement from a loudspeaker.

”Tch. Vexing. I was certain you do-gooders would walk right in. Ruined my surprise. Eheh. Ah well. When life gives you lemons, et cetera…”

The bodies, as Renne had expected, slowly rise in a twitching of limbs and unnatural contortions - like marionettes on strings.

”Some of you are Otherworlders, yes? In researching your worlds, I have found - yes, the most exciting phenomena. Do any of you know of vodou? Yes, a wonderful thing. A poison that enslaves mind and soul. But I have perfected it - yes, perfected it with Ether, eheh. Much more effective… much quicker. So inefficient in its raw form…”

The prisoners advance with jerking movements and dead eyes.

“Oh, they are still… erm. Hm. Themselves? What I mean - you will be killing them. They are in perfect health, you know. So… do enjoy. I have … more surprises to come. But your fellows - I will attend to them as well. Back very soon, yes, very soon…”

[straykitty]

"How vexing."

Renne charges her ENC and unleashes another Refreshing Veil, this one directly at the prisoners to see if she can start to nullify the toxins. Whether or not this succeeds, she then targets the speaker, trying to see if there is any way she can crack it and figure out where the broadcast is coming from. Should it be necessary, she can of course join the fight but her methods tend to be very lethal so she is loathe to do so.

[theriflespiral]

Natalia blinks. "Wetware, eh?"

She reaches to close the cell door. This might. Cause some issues, granted, but better a smashed finger on their part than many dead bodies. "Feh. They don't even have chrome or lotus."

"Donnie, please use your etherscope, if you've brought it-- if there's a better way to let the poison run its course, tell me."

[purplexing]

Donnie swallows as Renne points out the possibilities. Oh, that's a lot worse than what he'd even thought to consider, and he's sort of glad he'd refrained from going in at all.

But nothing happens when Renne does her thing, which...Donnie isn't sure what they were supposed to expect in the first place. The sound behind them has him spin around. Not entirely a problem since he can locally key into the lock's signal again, but the voice that comes up on the speaker makes him freeze.

There's something familiar about it. He's heard it a long time ago, he thinks. That's not nearly as concerning to him as what the voice goes to detail on with then. He's not entirely sure what the other prattles on about. 'Vodou'? But he doesn't need to be familiar with it when it's effects are being described right there and then.

His eyes widen as he turns to look back at the pile of bodies, now suddenly picking themselves up like they don't know how to properly use their limbs, or that nothing's told them which ways they should and shouldn't physically be capable of bending. The turtlekin shudders, stepping back.

"S-so they're not dead..?" And not quite like whatever was used for those soldiers in that lab, but no less terrifying. These were people they were trying to free, and the realization that they've failed these people so badly makes him feel like some bottomless pit's opened up beneath him.

Donnie jolts to attention when Natalia speaks directly to him. He tries to get his thoughts together, back into focus as he pulls his goggles down. He's prepped a lot since their last trip here, and all the more glad for it as he flips open the cover of his own ENC, tapping at it as he looks towards the twitching prisoners.

"If it's some internal exposure, I don't know how long they've been exposed to it, if it's recent or part of whatever experimental process they've been going through the entire time they've been imprisoned here," he says as he activates his goggles' overlay, attuned to getting readings on Ether presences. It's nothing too complex, but at best he can get live readings of levels and sources.

[singlemilletgrain]

As Natalia tries to activate the cell doors, the mechanism, alas, does absolutely nothing at all. Having observed the attempts to override his security systems, the good doctor appears to have taken complete control over anything electronic in his facility. Similarly, if anyone attempts to hack the locked door, they will find that it does not respond.

...Although they can certainly still blow it up, of course, if need be.

Shu has gone rigid with her version of rage, which mostly seems to manifest as a muscle working on the side of her cheek and clipped, precise tones when she speaks.

"Damnable."

Also, some minor SAT vocabulary. As Renne attempts to heal and Donnie begins to scan, they will find that the poison cannot be removed so easily. It is a sort of neurotoxin that additionally infects the ether streams latent within all living things. It may be possible to purge it slowly through careful work, but certainly not en masse in a combat situation. In other words, if they can work on an individual singly for a few minutes, they can be recovered. Additionally, the poison is likely to run its course by itself within about 24 hours with some individual variability, but that hardly seems useful.

Renne will find that hacking the speaker gets her machinery and tools filled with long droning diatribes about the contemptibility of man and how restrained genius cannot come to fruition in a society that is so barren of true intelligence and mental acuity, thus shall it be that in the new world of the empire, the unfit shall merely be mindless labor for those who are destined for greater things, which perhaps causes her some mental damage from having to listen to this.

In the meantime, as they perform these activities, the zombified prisoners begin to swarm. They do not move with the speed of the ghouls, but neither do they shuffle like the walking corpses of earth media. They have much the same strength and speed of... a normal human, which means they are not too difficult to combat. The problem, of course, is in whether or not they wish to engage in combat at all. The swarm has no compunctions about using basic weaponry such as knives and blunt instruments, biting with their teeth, gouging at eyes with fingernails, etc.

"Oh, yes. Erm, I believe a few of you enjoyed our ventilation systems earlier, mm? May I introduce you to our new vent inspectors? Very cheap labor, very cheap... But very hungry."

Overhead, there are rumblings of something skittering in the ceiling.

"They, er, do not care too much what they eat, mind... So perhaps, ah, your difficult choice may be decided for you. I am a generous man..."

[purplexing]

"...it doesn't look like there's going to be any quick solutions- it's completely saturating their systems by way of our natural Ether integration," Donnie reports grimly. "Maybe with time- but that's not something we have. Can we knock them out or somethi-"

Donnie yelps, bringing up his staff, a dull clang ringing off the titanium as the prisoners close in.

He makes a face at the voice's taunting. "You're just upset that you overlooked something in your excessive security!" he scoffs, but he throws a wary glance towards the nearest grating. How big would these things be? He could weld the thing shut but it wouldn't do much good if they're small enough to fit through the openings.

[theriflespiral]

"Spare me, you paperback Mengele." She gestures with one finger as she pulls out the meteor hammers. "Group the prisoners together, I can make sure they don't go anywhere. In the meantime..."

She hurls Peak and Valley towards the vents, covering the vents with thick, black ice. A temporary solution, but one that will last long enough for them to deal with the prisoners in a way that isn't simply, you know, the Russian way. "Let me tell you something, you hack. You're a janitor with a clipboard who has delusions of grandeur. I don't need a magic weapon to kick your ass, just more sense than God gave a shit-beetle!"