The Temple of Wind

[umslay]

Who: Ales, NPCs, any Heroes here to fight
What: Confronting the Archfiend of Wind
Where: Outside Trano Golsaucia, Trano Golsaucia, Temple of Wind
When: May 15th
Notes: Toplevels will be unlocked as progress is made. Replies will be made at least once a day. See the OOC plotting thread EDIT: OOC dungeon information

Mingle at the Camp
Approaching the Temple
The Flying Fortress
Ales Mansay, the Archfiend of Wind
???

Comments

[sullenstallion]

[Things would feel a lot better for Dylas if this were all taking place during the day; being a Vampire, just being in the sun is a little draining for him, but he does his best to hide it. He walks close to Midna, his body not making a single sound as they move.

Any second now, he thinks, ears twitching as he scans the landscape. His body feels both tense and fatigued at the same time.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade is staying in the middle of the group where he has someone protecting him from all directions. All jokes about being a frail old man aside, it would be bad if their healer was the first to be taken down.

For once he's not making any sarcastic remarks. Better to avoid any unnecessary chatter for now.]

[umslay]

[The plains are silent save for the constant wind that has permeated the land for the past five years. The sky fortress hangs in the sky quietly as if it were a benevolent part of the landscape. Saori and Ira would realize that things were not as peaceful as they appeared.

Saori is the first to spot a large, white quadruped walking through the plains, camouflaged by the landscape and the snowy air. The Snow Beast has spotted Johnny and is headed towards the half-demon. Ira, soon after, senses that this "Beast" has a taint of darkness. Strange, considering that it is metal.]

BOSS BATTLE: Snow Beast
Guardian of the Ruins of Trano Golsaucia, designed and built by the Archfiend of Wind with the assistance of the other Archfiends. It has prevented the scavengers from entering and taking the metal they sell for a living. Getting past it will unlock the way to the Temple, and it appears that the Heroes have decided to fight for it.

[The Snow Beast, having detected an intruder, fires two Laser Bullets at Johnny.]

[not_most_days]

[Out of a sinking sense of obligation, Mary came to this fray as an Assassin. She couldn't be sure of who the Archfiend was but she had her suspicions of who it could be, and if she was right then she wanted to do this properly. But here and now part of her wondered if perhaps she should have come to this as a Sky Pirate to offer the group the aid of her smaller craft.

As the Snow Beast came into view that thought came to mind again, but now it was too late.]

That's....bigger than I was expecting.

[A ship to ship battle is out of the question now, so that leaves infiltration. The snow gear she wears is heavy and slows her a bit but at least she's not dying this time. Using her crystal of invisibility she makes her way towards one of the giant machine's legs, aiming to climb it if she can.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[...All right, executing an ambush might be a little tricky.]

Really now. I know they said it was big, but this is just overcompensating.

[He quickly casts Gift of Crystallis to give the entire group Haste, Regen, Barrier, MBarrier and Aura.]

IGNORE THIS TAG

[not_most_days]

[Jade just might hear a snort in response to his words as someone invisible shuffles through the snow nearby]

NEVER IGNORES

[acceptedoblivion]

[Tricky, but not impossible. Ira heaves his blade onto his shoulder, shaking his head in an effort to not second the amusement he can hear from the shadows.]

You know, for a robot, this thing definitely reeks. But you know what they say about giants...

[He smirks as Gift of Crystallis goes off, Dualcasting Dark Firaga at both of the Snow Beast's front legs. Specifically where they join with the main carriage.]

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny is limber enough as a maxed Dragoon to leap out of the way of the laser blast, but he almost doesn't because he's too distracted by what the Snow Beast looks like. It's really the last thing he expected.]

What the fuck? A Star Wars robot?!

[Johnny was always more of a horror movie guy over sci-fi. But now he's thanking his lucky stars his uncle forced him into watching those movies when he was little. It takes him a moment to shake off the surprise, but he's struck with some movie inspiration that just might help. Time to use Rope's End and bring this thing down. Time to get as much rope as he can and get swinging around it.]

Keep it offa me! Trust me, enough rope and this should work!

[pole_position]

A star... what?

[Pyrrha isn't sure what Johnny is getting at, but he seems to have a plan, so she nods and turns back toward the Snow Beast.]

All right. I'll do my best to hold it back.

[It's a big target, but hopefully she can bring her Magnetic Semblance to bear to slow its reaction speed and give Johnny enough time to suceed in his plan.]

[shinra_dog]

[Reno shook his head, bewildered.]

Hell if I know, but if he knows what it is, let's go for it!

[He'd ask what Johnny meant later. For now, the robot beast was going down. Reno made a Clone of himself, which sprinted forward to help distract the machine. Thanks to the Gift of Crystallis, he can catch up and start climbing one of the legs with Ceiling Walking. He won't attach any explosives to it, trusting Johnny's plan, but he is going to make sure he's a real pain in the ass.]

[The other Reno stayed behind, keeping an eye on his teammates.]

[needsteaplz]

It's machine from a classic movie series. Topple it, and we're good to go.

[At least one person can join Johnny in getting their mind blown by the sight of the walker. With Jade's buff, Saori and her clone quickly join the fray. Seeing how several have started their attempts to disable it, someone should focus on stopping its firepower. She ran ahead of the others.]

Kenichi's gonna be jealous when I tell him this.

[The two cast Fire Ninjutsu where the cockpit should be.]

[umslay]

[Each attack makes it mark on the touch armor of the Snow Beast, though the machine does not take it as a sign to give up. Detecting the rest of the Heroes, it fires a long series of Laser Bullets at the group standing back.

As for those who are replicating Shadow of the Colossus, it lifts the leg that it sees Reno clone climbing, stands still, and shakes him violently. It follows up with a Stomp, shaking the ground near that foot. Johnny, Mary, and Reno would be affected.]

[not_most_days]

[Mary was watching the lumbering monstrosity carefully as she approached, and so when it raises its foot she's ready to react, rolling as the ground quakes. It's not a perfect recovery or evasion, especially thanks to the snow. but at least she manages to keep herself from being knocked prone.

Once she's back on her feet she makes for a different leg than the one Reno is climbing, using her own Ceiling Walking and Parkour to swiftly make her way up. Hopefully any snow clinging to her is working as further camouflage.]

[charming_jerk]

[ It may look easy in the movies, but the heroes in Star Wars had the scriptwriter on their side. It was going to take a few tries to get rope around the snow beast's legs, especially with it stomping at them. He goes flying off into the snow and takes some damage, but he's not down yet. He pops back out of the snow bank gritting his pointed teeth, and Leaps at the machine. Instead of attacking, though, he goes back to Rope's End to keep entangling it.]

[jadethenecromancer]

[Jade blinks away with Vanish, leaving the spot where the laser bullets hit and reappearing a long distance away from harm. Now that he can see what they're dealing with, he's less concerned about being protected.

Casting spells at the legs would be risky with the others climbing them and Johnny swinging around, so... Perhaps Jade's better off running distraction and helping Saori take down the cannons until they need healing. He aims a Thundaga spell at the cockpit.]

[umslay]

[The Snow Beast halts shooting at the group with the Thundaga striking it at a short distance. In a panic, it sways from side to side in an attempt to knock off Jade and the others.]

[not_most_days]

[Mary holds on. This swaying is nothing compared to climbing the rigging in the storm. The movement slows her but between her personal training and her job abilities she keeps climbing and soon she reaches the underside.

The make of this thing is wholly alien to her, but she knows a hatch when she sees one. Reaching into her coat she pulled out a device she'd not yet find a use for, but maybe now the technology would be a match. Pointing her sonic screwdriver at it she held down the button, making the tip light up as it whirred. She gently turned it and moved it around the hatch, hoping to get it to open.]

[sullenstallion]

[Well, being in the laser group kind of sucks. With haste already affecting him, he activates Fists of Wind to further increase his movement speed. His only goal with this is to pick up Midna and hopefully move fast enough to get both of them out of the way, heading to the left and keeping their distance from the enemy the same. Good luck, everyone else.]

I'm not really supposed to punch that thing, am I?

[umslay]

[No one was technically meant to punch the Snow Beast. They would normally die before they had the chance to get close enough.

The hatch took some time prying open. Each edges was bolted down tightly to prevent the snow and wind from entering, but she eventually managed to open it up just wide enough for her to get in.

There was barely room inside for a human, even considering that there is no seat. The walls are lined with Ancient computers, some beeping, some humming menacingly. There is a terminal at the front that has a continuous stream of data pouring into tables and graphs.]

[needsteaplz]

Looks like Mary managed to get it open.

[Saori still had Eagle Vision on to keep tabs on the heroes climbing the legs.

She had almost forgot her own pre-battle tactics chat when Jade cast Thundaga. Quickly she and the clone corrected that and cast Raiton Ninjutsu for some thunder attacks.]

[shinra_dog]

Yikes!

[Both Renos exclaimed. As the clone was tossed from the "beast," it used a Smoke Bomb to leap back on, further up than he was before, and continued climbing. In the meantime, the Reno stuck in the Target Group just tried to get away from the lasers.]

Shit, shit, shit...

[Between Smoke Bombs, the two redheads hopped and dodged across the battlefield. The clone reached the hatch after Mary and Saori and looked inside.]

Those look delicate.

[The cockpit might not have been big enough for a pilot, but Reno's EMR fit in perfectly to zap the computers with a lightning Electroprod. Real Reno ran toward Johnny, ready to move him out of the way or help him with the rope -- whichever was needed first.]

[umslay]

[The Snow Beast halted in its tracks. The control room which Reno and Mary were shook, electricity zapping between terminals. Saori's attacks aided in short-circuiting the circuitry in the legs.

The Snow Beast doesn't attack.

However, the din of the weapons is gone and thus removes the sonar mask that had hidden the shouts of the people behind them. Sleighs pulled by Chocobos - the ones from the refugee camp - were rushing at the Heroes standing far from the Snow Beast.]

Hey! Hey! [The man standing at the front of the pack waves his arm excitedly.] Oh my god, I can't believe it!

[A woman riding a Chocobo pulls ahead of the pack and skids to a stop, spraying snow on those that ran up to her. Ira and Lydia would recognize her as Mevanwi.]

We were waiting out here to see what would happen. [Judging by her surprised tone, she hadn't been expecting it to be this successful.] I think...is it still online? We can salvage parts from it.

[not_most_days]

[Mary winces as the harsh smell of burning electronics fills her nose. Part of her was wondering if this 'beast' could be hijacked, but stopping it and letting the salvagers take it over is a nice outcome as well. In all honesty she'd just be trying random settings on the sonic screwdriver if Reno hadn't done something.

Taking a moment to show off she stands up...upside down thanks to Ceiling Walking looking 'up' at the sleighs below.]

Hopefully they're here to help...

[jadethenecromancer]

[That was all it took, then? This battle wrapped up quite neatly, all things considered.

Better safe than sorry, though. Now that the hatch is open, Jade has a way in too. He uses Vanish to teleport upward and grabs onto the corners of the hatch, hoisting himself through. With Translation and a maxed Programmer Job, he should be able to check what's left of the computers and make sure the Beast isn't running any back-up systems that might present unpleasant surprises.]

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny is a little disappointed he didn't get a change to trip the thing, but at least the snow beast was done with. He's not very mechanically inclined, but maybe there was a chance they could find out where this thing initially came from.]

Is there a way to like, trace its signals? See who's commanding this thing and find out where they're hiding?