Assualt On The Citadel: EC vs The Guardians

[3kul]

EDIT: Please ignore this post, it is incorrect due to confusion in regards to my location. It has been replaced by this post.

[s:2e7f149132]"Sorry, had to release my stored magic. I may have given the rest of the EC access to the inside of this place, unless of course the Guardians see my creation first."

"Let's hope that they don't." HollowEyes replied, looking upwards. The room that they were in was actually pretty small, all there really was in it was a huge stairwell. Listening intently, he was sure that he heard some of a conversation followed by a gunshot, then the slamming of a door. HollowEyes was trying to figure out what this meant when he was interrupted by Cloud.

"What's happened to my ear! Damn your Locust Fiends and your inability to control them properly."

"Oh, uh..." HollowEyes was attempting to think of a better excuse than 'it was like that before, wasn't it?' or 'I'm sure that it was a Guardian plot of some kind' when a distant squawk interrupted him. It sounded almost like... "My Security Penguin!" HollowEyes exclaimed, feeling everything come together now - one of them had made it through to finally execute his orders, although evidently Whiteoak was now far less asleep and helpless than he was before. "<Bring the penguin to me!>" He shrieked up the stairwell, bringing about more groans from his fiends. The penguin was the only edible thing that they'd found, and the only reason that they hadn't eaten it yet was because they were fighting over it.

A few disgruntled locust fiends brought the security penguin down to their master, muttering away angrily amongst themselves. "<What else is up there?>" HollowEyes asked them. "<Not much.>" "<It leads outside.>" "<We're in an empty tower.>" "<There's a door, but it's closed.>" "<We can't get in.>" The fiends kept interrupting each other, unable to say more than a few words without thinking of some new detail to mention, despite the apparent uselessness of the place that they'd just entered. Was this why Whiteoak had let them in?

"Alright you," HollowEyes began, reactivating his third eye as he spoke to the security penguin. "There's been a change in plan, forget what I told you earlier. Wait for me to think a moment." He thought for a while, not entirely sure of what to order the penguin to do. No doubt Whiteoak, whom he assumed was in this tower, would not trust the penguins anymore. The penguin was not especially useful as a hostage either, as even the soft-hearted Whiteoak would probably consider it to be an unavoidable loss, justifying it with the thought that the EC would kill the creature no matter what.

"<You lot, carry Cloud, the penguin and I up the stairs!>"

The fiends obeyed, and carried HollowEyes and Cloud up the stairs, saving them the time and energy that it would take to climb them. It seemed that, just as the fiends had told him, there was a very locked door and a passage leading outside. From the looks of it, it was the top of the front gate. He now turned his attention back to the penguin. "Alright, we're going exploring so follow us quietly and from a distance. If a Guardian approaches you, squawk loudly in surprise to warn us. When they ask you what you are doing, you will tell them that you were following us, but were too afraid to attack us alone." That story would fly pretty well if it needed it, HollowEyes thought, though the warning squawk would probably let he and Cloud know about the Guardian before they had a chance to ask it any such questions.

"<Alright, some of you stay by this door here. Make as much noise as you can to let Whiteoak know that he's surrounded. Then another bunch of you hang below them, a little way down the stairs. Wait quietly, and if he tries anything that gets the better of the first lot, you go after him. If all of that goes wrong, try and find me to at least let me know about it.>" His fiendish had gotten a lot better lately, as he'd had more free time to practice it. Since becoming SiC he'd been able to force pretty much anyone to do any job that he didn't feel like doing, unlike back when he'd been a more low-ranking member. "<The rest of you, get out there and help the Council members. If you can find any, kill whatever Guardians you see.>"

About 20 locusts begrudgingly remained behind, 10 screaming and laughing by Whiteoak's door and 10 sulking below it, leaving the remaining masses to swarm outside to follow the order that sounded like a lot more fun. HollowEyes assumed that they'd search for Guardians before they bothered to help any EC members, but at least it would let the EC know that he was inside.

"Come on Cloud, let's check out where this leads us." He said to Cloud, making his way out onto the landing as stealthily as he could (which, for a guy with four swords for arms, wasn't too stealthy at all really).

((There may be a mistake or two here as I don't quite get the description of where we are, but I'll be sure to edit it if that's the case.))[/s:2e7f149132]

[TheBlackSoul]

"Lunagon, We have intruders in the stairwell, so I activated the extra levels of security. You are now locked in, but you should see the escape hatch opening. Continue to target and shoot as long as you can, but if the time comes to fall back, turn control over to the Central Command System, and I'll meet you there, ok? And don’t open the door for penguins, some of them are under their control, and remember, you have a camera and a security rifle aimed at the outside of your door, be careful.”

"Okay..." answered Lunagon. Apparently, he would have to figure out how to use this set of weapons on his own.

Looking up amongst the top of theset of buttons before him, he noticed a red row right across the top. He pushed the first one of these, and the cameras abovehim began to show various pictures of what the outside of the Citadel looked like.

Those weren't of much help (except that he spotted that pain-in-the-arse Brawn, which he decided to deal with personally later), so he pushed the second button. This showed what was happening inside the Courtyard, which, right now, he couldn't be of much help there.

And so he continued, until he saw an image that was slightly disturbing...

This was the bottom of the stairwell, which showed him a strange creature with arms like a propeller, accompanied by something in a cloak, carried by locusts.

They seemed to be heading up the stairs leading to Whiteoak's chamber.

Was Whiteoak aware of this? He hoped so.

[Netdroid9]

*Net was beginning to get rather annoyed. The communicators were jammed, or broken, or whatever and he had no clue what was going on. Not only that, but he was freezing his genitalia off standing in the snow while 3kul and the others were probably already sipping fine wines in the Guardian citadel after completely annihalating the enemy, watching him on their screens and laughing... Laughing... Gathering his mental might, he prepared for the longest-range mind-speak he'd ever done.*

~WHY AREN'T YOU TALKING TO ME?!?!?!?!~

[3kul]

~Complaining even though it's not you on the front lines, Net? Grab yourself a freakin' kleenex, you pansy.~

The familiarly cruel and spiteful mental voice of the Council's second Parasitian member would have carried loud and clear through Net's head, as she'd been speaking through minds since the day that she was born. She'd never bothered with communications devices before, seeing no point when mindspeak was so much more secure. ~Ignore him.~ She mentally muttered to her twin brother, much to his confusion, and she continued talking to Net.

~I can't be bothered fighting the Guardians, not when they're hiding like rats in their crappy little stronghold there, but I guess I'll help you out a little since you seem so desperate for it. 'Course, even if things get so messy that you wind up killing yourself I probably won't help you, so you can think of me as more of a device than a helper.~

Far above the Citadel, the Temple of Nothing drifted lazily, Little Sister peering through one of the windows with her many eyes. Her many fangs curled up in a grin, she watched the chaos unfurling beneath her. It was interesting, but it could be better in her opinion. ~One would think that when you've got two of any weapon in the world, you'd have a bit more guts than what you're showing - where're your famous copycat blades Net? Forget 'em back at the Cave?~

She looked about, carefully checking on each mind that lay below her. ~Whatever, if you don't want to use 'em I can't force you, but you probably won't get far without them. Byule and Cloud are in there somewhere - they probably won't get too far with the Citadel so tightly locked like this, but it's further than anybody else has gone.~ Little Sister pauses for a moment as she looks about to see how everybody else is holding up. Repeating herself slightly, she broadcasts the following mindspeak message to everybody around the Citadel. ~The rest of you haven't gotten too far though, quit being such morons about this - kill the Guardians that're out there and then get the ones inside already.~ She made it sound so much simpler than it was, but then again, Little Sister's mind usually operated in a fairly simple manner.

((As I recall we're not supposed to use multiple characters, so I'm using LS as a tool rather than as a person in this. I could just as easily have created a talking satellite or something, but I like this better.))

[Netdroid9]

*Net muttered something to himself, then promptly shut up as he recalled what had happened to the last EC member to insult Little Sister. Net debated whether to stick with the girl-child and defend her or risk losing her to the guardians by joining the front line as LS had advised, but eventually decided that sending in some cannon fodder would suffice. The battlemonkeys were equipped with genetically modified scent receptors, so they could still communicate over long distances without modern communication technology (albeit in a rather crude fashion), and Net quickly leveraged this to instruct the Battlemonkey Army.*

Disengage the outer security systems and aim for the ventilation shafts.

*Net hoped that by clogging the vents, he could flush the Guardians out of their citadel and into the open where they'd be sitting ducks for compulsion waves, or at the very least lose some of their advantage against the rest of the council. Or, failing that, he could at least make the place a hell of a lot smellier.*

[TheBlackSoul]

Lunagon decided to let Whiteoak deal with the funky sword-beast and focus more on what was happening outside.

This time around, he took a better look-and in addition to the reptile-beast, he caught a glimpse of something past a couple of snow mounds.

It was too far away to be seen clearly, and he didn't know how to zoom in, but he figured he needed to examine it a little more...

Just then, the half-vampire noticed a joystick to the far right of the control panel with the buttons.

I wonder what this does...

He grasped it, and moved it around some. The result was that the cameras changed their pointing directions, resulting in a clearer view of the battlefield.

If he pushed the stick forwards, he found that he could zoom in, and pulling it backwards achieved the opposite.

Taking this in, he focused on the thing he spotted a few minutes earlier, and found that it was actually several things-some humanoid, a girl-child, and a group of monkeys.

He had managed to figure out over the course of the fight that monkey = enemy. If he had any doubts that this was a friend or foe, those doubts were removed at the sight of the monkeys.

Now, how the hell was he supposed to shoot?

[Shine]

Feeling fairly confident that the extra layers of security would give him a bit of extra time, and knowing that for the moment, at least, Holloweyes and Cloud were isolated in the stairwell and had no direct access to the rest of the Citadel, Whiteoak turned his attention else where.

Reaching out with his mind, he found a familiar personage. He had faced Netdroid9 at least once before, and this familiarity helped him focus his mind.

He used his empathetic abilities to share with Net feelings of awe and respect, and to share a sense of self confidence, but with verges of suspicion. Using telepathy, but ever so quietly, whispering, almost like a inner voice in one's head, he shared with Net's mental awareness:



"Yes, everthing is going well... We've really got them on the run now... those Guardians will know of your wisdom, and your cunning, and your truly amazing leadership.

We are doing VERY well. the battle monkies? a stroke of genius. You really are somthing to be feared.
BUT
that Holloweyes...
have we noticed how fast he has moved up the ranks?? humm?? How he enjoys the power that SiC gives him. ?How long will number 2 be acceptable to him. He's in there now getting all the glory, He's going to come out the champion. Is he going to try to take the top spot?? I wouldn't be surprised. We had better watch our back.
Better yet, wouldn't it be a bit of good luck if an "accident" happened to the parasitian??
Oh, and don't trust a THING that Little Sister says to you, they are in league and plotting for your downfall. they will most likely lead you to your untimely death.
Yes thats it, they are plotting against you already. Perhaps we should do something about that blatant disloyalty, no? yes!, indeed,

It is time for Holloweyes to DIE and secure your continued position of importance and power.
DEATH TO HOLLOWEYES!!
?hummmmm but just how should we do it.
NETDROID 9 the MOST evil of all, NO EXCEPTIONS and NO TRAITORS!!
Holloweyes must Die, but how??.........."

Whiteoak gently slipped away from Net's awareness, leaving just small, but potent bits of fearful feelings lingering for Net to feel, if he listens to the voice in his head.

[Furnace]

Furnace briefly got a bit of relief after one of his fireballs hit and melted the plasma gun that had been firing at him. It was short-lived however as others started firing at him as well, one only just missed his head as he managed to jerk it out of the way.


~WHY AREN'T YOU TALKING TO ME?!?!?!?!~

The spirits voice echoed painfully through his head, making the Dark Fire Dragon roar in frustration before he leapt off the ground and swept his wings down to become airborne and allow him to dodge the plasma blasts easier. He was quite a big target after all, and he had to concentrate on performing twisting, looping acrobatics to avoid some of the fire that was aiming at him whilst returning his fireballs.

~The rest of you haven't gotten too far though, quit being such morons about this - kill the Guardians that're out there and then get the ones inside already.~

Little Sisters voice then made itself quite apparent, though quieter, and it managed to distract the dragon long enough that two balls of plasma scored a direct hit, one on his right foreleg and the other on his flank. An acrid smell of burning flesh, flesh that wasn't supposed to burn, filled the air as the ammo stuck to the dragon and caused both surprise and pain to register across the dragons mind.

~TOO BUSY DODGING PLASMA RIGHT NOW!~

The Dark Fire Dragon sent back to both of them, obviously annoyed.

[3kul]

Little Sister didn't feel guilty about Furnace getting hit, for his pain amused her. She was more annoyed with Net, for he'd turned out to be more of a coward than she thought he was (keep in mind that Little Sister isn't really one to strategize too much ). She sifted through her small collection of Blackstar goods, wondering if she had anything useful for Net to borrow (she'd charge him for it after the fight).

There were a few useful things, but nothing that she'd trust with Net for more than 30 seconds, so she resumed watching the fight. Whiteoak's mind was behaving strangely (well, compared to the others), but as she couldn't quite figure out what he was doing she didn't say anything about it. No point in complaining if Whiteoak's got a few screws loose.

((Simply put, LS is reacted to Furnace with minimal involvement. I intend to keep her out of this fight as long as I'm using HollowEyes.

It seems that a few people are currently away/not quite as active as usual due to thanksgiving and other reasons, so perhaps now might be a good time to take a short break and allow our two independent overseers to check over the thread and give us their opinions. I get the feeling that this is fast heading to a stalemate, and I for one would like to see an outsiders opinion on how everybody's faring.

On top of that, we have more than a few Council members feeling out of the loop on this, and it's hard to catch up when our assault is such a popular topic. I don't know if you Guardians have the same problem or not, but perhaps a bit of time to sort things out might be good for you too (it would be nice to have an advanced understanding of where things are in the Citadel, if only to prevent future confusion).

We will select one overseer and you may select the other - ideally they'll be people who have plenty of spare time at the moment. Of course, in saying this I'm assuming that we're running by the same rules that GBE set out, though if we aren't please correct me.

[Cloud]

((This post is to get me out of harms way since I'll be gone for a week. I just thought this was a cool way to do it I'm also assuming I'm on the walls of the Citadel now but I can't be sure. If anyone wants to correct me go ahead, but I won't see it ))

A beeping erupted his train of thought, which before was fantasising about Guardian served for breakfast. He rolled up his sleeve to show a watch, but unlike anything seen around these parts. Pressing a button on the device made a small blue light shoot onto the ground in front of him. A holographic projection of a man, battle scarred and looking distressed, wearing golden armour of some unknown material.

"We need your help, Cloud," The man said, "The fate of this world hangs in the balance."

The transmission cut off suddenly. He raised his head towards the sky and made a high pitched whistle. He looked towards HollowEyes who was looking very puzzled.

"My world is in danger, I must go and protect it," Cloud said hesitantly, "I'll be back shortly."

A great dragon descended from the sky towards the Citadel, the many weapons of plasma stopping short by an energy field of immense power.

~Friend Cloud, it has been a long time,~ the dragon spoke in Cloud's mind.
~That it has. Come, let us depart from this world in order to save another~
~I have been restless for a good fight~

The dragon hovered in front of Cloud and lowered its great head. Cloud jumped onto the dragon's neck and slid down onto its back. The great dragon beat its wings and left the scene of battle behind. With a flash of blue the dragon disappeared to parts unknown.

[TheBlackSoul]

((I don't know what the other Guardians think, but I'm quite happy with pausing the fight for a little while. Frankly, I'm beginning to lose interest in continuing.))

[Shine]

((I'm going on a business trip for a few days anyway, very limited internet time, so I would re-group for a bit,
but you know what happens around here when a thread loses momentum, it takes some effort to re-start it.))

[3kul]

((Perhaps, but I have a feeling that one or both groups will be able to come up with a few tricks during the break that would get them eager to post again. ))

[Shine]

Guardians! ! !

To the Forums

-to get creative for "Round 2"

[3kul]

We have selected Abidusray as one of the overseers, and are still waiting for you Guardians to select the other.