Date: 5:32:09 PM, October 1st, 2017.
Metal Man (GM): Recap
The New Questers discovered, after finally encountering Mad Molly and completing what had begun, that there was a certain... reason behind what Mad Molly did.
She wanted Autumnus dead. She'd repeatedly tried, only to be thwarted.
She had Judge Dredd come to Alsa with the Magna Cannon--only to be defeated by Borne and (indirectly) by The Arbiter's interference and lose said cannon.
She had wanted Omnus to simply destroy Autumnus using his abilities and taking over the Time Cops--but it proved less effective when Omnus became distracted by his own goals.
Ultimately, Mad Molly claimed she was the victim, and that she merely wished to destroy all of the "bastards who come from outside of time to ruin things."
She also wanted to live forever.
And noted that her powers, in turn, involved a dark pact with a God of Death.
That she would only renounce once she had finally seen the end of Autumnus.
With all of this in mind, the group fled back to the present, since Alt-Nonna was detected trying to close the gap and attack.
Continuation
The group is in the present, just outside of Alsa, with a more-or-less blank slate as to what to do.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well... Chronomentia aside... it seems if we want to destroy Autumnus, we can try to get that cannon we almost used on Omnus and try to drive it over to where he is and blow him to bits. Of course, it's not that simple... his ships and all of that jazz."
King Demon: *Sighs* "Ah, finally back in the proper time. Did I mention I hate time traveling?"
Nonna: *Rises suddenly* "Huh? What?"
Kumiko: "Ugh, my head..."
Valron: "Add to it, well... Isn't the damned thing still kind of a mess right now?"
King Demon: *Looks to Nonna* "Oh, Dracula's up." *Smirks.*
Valron: *Glances over at Nonna as she gets up* "Oh, hey. Have a nice nap?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yes. Presumably if we turned it on now, it might explode. In fact we refused to use it out of fear it was a trap.
It could, in theory, still be one."
Louisoix does literally that for comedic effect.
Nonna: "Hmm, thanks."
Louisoix: "Not that I needed to do that, mind you."
Nonna: "Well, the Magna Cannon could potentially work, but even she said it was uncertain. More a hunch than a certainty."
Valron: "I thought it wasn't so much out of fear that it was a trap and more that we... actually really didn't need it when we dealt with Omnus. Comical overkill at that juncture, given my ship's lightning cannons were more than enough, apparently..." *Shrugs.*
Nonna: "And something else comes to mind. Right now the galaxy is somewhat at peace... because of our uneasy truce with the Time Cops.
It's true that destroying Autumnus will solve a lot of people's problems, and he's become rather unstable as of late."
Valron: "Mind, I do have Reconstruction, though I'm not entirely sure how far-reaching the effect is, given the last time I used it on Time Cop tech it opened a window into the past. Mind, one that we couldn't interact with, but..."
Nonna: "If we were to want to destroy him with such a weapon, it would require that war start again. This isn't like Omnus, either. Everyone and everything will be dragged into it."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Unlike Omnus, Autumnus has been in control of the universe for a very long time. Therefore he is less likely to have any interest in breaking what's already there.
The issue has always been that he won't let go of Erastia.
Which in turn involves those secret... things buried on it, and whatever Fringe is.
If that weren't a problem, we wouldn't really have the greatest reason to fight him."
Nonna: "He's not the sort we could realistically sneak up on and assassinate either. We'll be dooming many innocent people by attacking him."
King Demon: "That's usually what happens in a war."
Valron: "Add to it there's still... that one entity. The one I feel may be the very person Autumnus is fighting off while doing half the other strange bullshit he's tangled up in."
Kumiko: "Another war... great. Welp."
Nonna: "And leaving a power vacuum, which could easily be filled as Valron said."
King Demon: *Sighs* "Much as I hate to say it, maybe we should concentrate on one problem at a time. Issue is, which one do we concentrate on first?"
Nonna: "And right now, our biggest trump card is something we don't even know will work."
Louisoix: "Hence that whole 'you will become the Time Cops' stuff we keep hearing, I suppose. If we create a power vacuum you'll likely fill it because who else do we trust."
Nonna: "Not to mention, there's still others out there, such as that other me."
Valron: "Yep. And there's Kales somewhere out there in the universe, provided he hasn't gotten out of that black hole yet..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "From my perspective, we may need to see if there is a solution to do with Autumnus and Erastia. If that could be resolved, then we could focus on the other threats. Otherwise, the center of our operations is currently on the edge of Time Cop space, parts of it are off limits for reasons we don't understand, and a potential superweapon of theirs is sleeping on our doorstep."
Nonna: "The only question is, what could we give him in return?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "The Erastian Central Authority robots we sent after him could probably be dealt with. If they are still threatening him."
Valron: "And if it'd be something we'd be willing to part with, for that matter..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Additionally, he has whatever it is he is fighting. We can probably destroy whatever it is for him, or aid in it, if it happens to be truly evil."
Louisoix: "That might work."
Valron: "Hrm. I wouldn't mind doing ECA cleanup, at the very least."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "And as far as I can tell, he has no interest in the Outliers that are chasing us in continuing to be a thing."
Valron: "They could be useful in further upgrading that robot I have lying around somewhere around here."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "They are all Time Felons, possibly of higher rank due to how they distort reality. If we deal with all those threats and Autumnus continues to lose his mind... well I'd hope we'd be powerful enough to take him out at that point."
Nonna: "In the end, it comes down to war, eh..."
King Demon: "I just realized, if he's supposed to be able to see all and know all, does he see and know what we've been doing? What we ARE doing now?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Time Cops have proven to not be omniscient. Aribar proved it when they repeatedly failed to catch me on Alsa. They can look through time but it's like searching a really huge stack of books."
Louisoix: "Right, its not like he's god."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "And there's no organization or anything to it. And any time he spends on that, the other threats to him are acting freely.
Omnus came much closer to being omniscient."
Nonna: "So I guess I will contact him and see if he's sane and reasonable enough to accept a deal."
Valron: "Sounds good to me."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "At this rate. He has, mysteriously enough, held up his end of the truce, so... His word is, as much as I hate to admit it, not entirely worthless."
Valron: "He can be reasonable, though he's just... ...I'm not exactly sure what the right word is, really."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Eldritch."
Valron: "Something like that, yeah."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "There is a part of him that isn't human. So he doesn't really operate on our principles...
And even AI like Omnus can't defeat it outright."
Nonna: "So, dismantle and remove the secret weapons facilities on Erastia, give full control of the planet back to Xavier. In exchange, we could offer him something such as disposing of that enemy he's been struggling with, and remove various pests he's been beset by."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yes. He can keep those secret weapons, too, so it's win-win. We won't use them against him--he gets them back. Mostly because if we actually have a problem, I'd much rather use the Sword of Light than an unwieldy moon-destroying pistol."
Nonna: "Right. Wish me luck." *She goes to Comms.*
King Demon: "A moon destroying pistol?" *Smirks at the sound of that.*
Nova: "Requesting an audience with Master of the Time Cops, Autumnus..."
Nonna: "..."
Metal Man (GM): It takes a while, before he then shows up in frame.
Autumnus: *R* "So I see, there are much things to be spoken. Ye who travel the seas of time hath cometh back with a full keel of information."
*R* "Wither thoust direction? Seest the leylines of the universe?"
Nonna: *R* "I'll cut to the chase. We found out about your weapons stores on Erastia, and that's why you're reluctant to give the full territory back to us. So, I propose a deal."
Autumnus: *R* "Damn. I was going to sit here and speak to you in arcane gibberish until you hung up, but you happen to have said something I'm actually interested in."
*R* "Tell me the deal first. I am loath to hand information away for free."
Louisoix: "As you know, we have a knack of being buzzkills."
Nonna: *R* "You decommission the sites, remove the weapons and even keep them if you wish, and surrender the remainder of Erastia to us. In exchange, we could step in to quash things that are bothering you currently."
King Demon: "Yes, you do." *Smiles to Louis.*
Autumnus: *R* "Oh, how amusing. I can let you and my other enemies fight and destroy eachother, and in return, I get all of the things stolen from me by Omnus returned to me."
*R* "There is a single complication in that plan..."
*R* "And it's called Lyx."
*R* "I would have proposed it all first myself had there not been a troublesome rat sitting in the way."
*R* "The one who gave you all the things to get you where you are... he wants those for himself. The moment I try to take them he will attack me. Possibly with the very things he's learned from trying to break into the labs."
*R* "He's been using you like tools, a distraction from what he's been doing... he's been fighting me this whole time."
*R* "And he's much smarter than Omnus, because he has no real faction, he just tricks people."
Nonna: *R* "So, you want us to do an extra thing. But that will cost you extra, too."
Autumnus: *R* "I guess if you convince him to get out of my way, somehow, despite the fact he's been using you as his spearhead, I will be in your debt. I don't expect you to get his ear, though. You are very much his puppet, not the other way around."
King Demon: *R* "Then it seems that perhaps it's time to cut some strings."
Nonna: *R* "As for what that cost is... I think you could stand to dismantle at least some of the weapons you'll be removing from Erastia."
Autumnus: *R* "I am all the weapon I ever need. The weapons were made by other fools during a time of need. Most of the fools who made them died."
*R* "I will destroy all of them, because they could only really feasibly be used against me at this point. The enemy they were meant to kill is already dead."
Nonna: *R* "Then we have a deal?"
Autumnus: *R* "Yes. Of course, you'll have to deal with Lyx instead. I'll be watching, so I'll know when you've dealt with him rather than needing to tell me first."
Nonna: *R* "Over and out. So... guess we gotta deal with this Lyx figure.
You've mentioned him a few times, but..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Lyx is an enigmatic figure. He taught Kit how to use a Time Device. He helped us defeat Psycho Illian.
He helped us get into Erastia in the first place."
King Demon: "But who, or what, exactly is he?"
Nonna: "So he's on the same level at least as a Time Cop commander."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "A rogue Time Cop Coordinator who after that battle against me and the Alsan Questers, went rogue and began to do whatever he felt like."
Kumiko: "Interesting."
King Demon: "Huh... must have been before I joined, I don't remember him."
Valron: "He's... a uranium elemental or something, if I recall right."
Nonna: "...So I guess I'm not going near him without protection."
Louisoix: "That's a pretty odd elemental."
Metal Man (GM): Showing up pretty much out of nowhere is Lyx, who appears to be made out of a dull, shiny metal. Literally like some sort of person made out of said metal. He appears about 10 feet behind Nonna and makes a silly face at her.
Lyx: "I control my radioactive nature, Nonna."
Nonna: "Okay."
Lyx: "I couldn't help but overhear that conversation, what with him using the official line to talk to you. He wanted me to hear that. Presumably he wished for me to throw a fit and attack you, but to be honest I couldn't be bothered. You don't know who I am, so how would you know or care?
I've been too busy destroying his yes-men this whole time."
Valron: "Aahh. I see, I see."
Lyx: "He's half correct about me. When the Questers didn't know better, I had them help end a plan by The Arbiter, Illian, and Ael to try and control all of time. The other half is bullshit though. You wanted in to Erastia so I let you in. That was it."
Nonna: "Anyway, I have something to propose."
Lyx: "Of course. That's what I came to hear. I've been watching and seen you have to chase that rude Mad Molly person down. Doesn't she know the courtesy to visit and save everyone the time?
What a rude person she is..."
Nonna: "The way I see it, Autumnus wants you to cease bothering him... as an independent entity."
Valron: "...Are we gonna have fun with exact words? Because I like where this is going already."
Lyx: "The likes of him forgets that as a Time Coordinator I always had some degree of independence. We often become de-synced in time. If we had to work on exact lines of battle we'd all fail to enforce any regulations. But if we wish to take his law and twist it in a knot, all the better."
Nonna: "So what would it take for you to temporarily join us and become a 'Quester'?"
Metal Man (GM): He begins to crack up laughing, which, as a metallic elemental, sounds a bit like a xylophone.
Lyx: "I foretold the Questers would become the next Time Cops... of course, why would I resist the best way to accidentally make that come true by becoming a Quester first? I will be honest. Ever since the war between you and him went quiet, he was able to put all of his forces into fighting me, so. Even if I decide to ignore you and continue on, I'm not getting very far anymore.
Since you are willing to work more as equals, I wouldn't mind assisting you more directly. I hate to say it but you don't have anybody who has all the information in one place like me.
I saw that whole thing you had to do to painfully figure out Mad Molly. It was like pulling teeth."
Valron: "It was a bit of a mess, yeah."
Lyx: "So yes. I wouldn't mind. I can help give you more relevant information. Not that your buddies over there are useless. It's just... that Illian isn't the Time Traveling one who knew everything, and Borne... he's just been a victim of multiple realities. I am a Coordinator. I can help coordinate whatever it is you're doing.
You seem to have arrayed yourself against my enemies anyway.
Those Outliers are basically more of the sort we defeated when the Psychotic Illian was destroyed.
I need to help teach Kit more about the Time Device, anyway.
It's inconvenient to steal moments of time when you yourselves are ALSO warping through time.
Once I tried and bounced off of the time field you were generating. It was hilarious to anyone who could have seen it."
Nonna: "Glad to have you with us. We have a fully stocked kitchen!"
Valron: "...If you need to eat, anyways." *Shrugs.*
Lyx: "Good. The radioactive potassium in the bananas shall help me stay energized. There is a certain amount of metabolic processes in which I can convert other radioactive substances into uranium.
Since I decay ever so slowly.
Technically all people do, but... it's more literal with me.
Thousands of years, millions, yes, but still. When you warp through time as much as me, it becomes a problem.
I don't really feel the effects of Chronomentia... I age much slower as you would guess.
...I do try not to remember too many alternate timelines though."
Nonna: "If there's anything else you'll want or need, we have resources and facilities."
Lyx: "The only reason I'd need to stop Autumnus from taking those weapons, by the way, is that they were my only way of stopping him that didn't involve your help, anyway. My original plan was you'd open up the planet and I'd be able to fetch them.
Then I discovered they were full of Omnus bodies.
No thanks. Autumnus can open those up and deal with them."
Valron: "Yeah, we've had enough of Omnus for a while. Especially considering I had one hell of a front-row seat to watch his defeat from, for that matter."
King Demon: "Enough of a lot of people, really."
Lyx: "If you ever need something to be radioactively destroyed, I can concentrate my radiation to destroy things utterly. It's one of the reasons Autumnus doesn't fight me. It gives him headaches.
Sadly I can't figure out how to explode him, but, for similar reasons to what you have probably thought of, he is a load bearing idiot.
In the world where he dies early on, you instead see..." *Shivers* "God Empress Panzer.
No thanks."
Valron: "...I have many questions, but I don't think I want any answers."
Nonna: "That name keeps coming up..."
Lyx: "The simplest answer is that she plotted total control over the universe but gave up when she realized she couldn't actually recreate the Repliforce as she remembered it. She had managed to infiltrate the Evil Wolfman conspiracy and take it over for herself.
Autumnus stood in the way, but at the same time wished to destroy Alsa.
She blew up half of Autumnus and sealed the other half out of the realm entirely for a time."
Nonna: "If you're gonna destroy someone, don't leave them half-destroyed."
Lyx: "She had plans to destroy the other half, but in her depression of never being able to revive her beloved Colonel, she self destructed not long after."
Valron: "It kept him out of people's hair, add to it, given what we know... It may have been better in the long run that he wasn't entirely destroyed."
Lyx: "...Colonel was a idiotic fascist robot, anyway. It was all a pipe dream. She unwittingly thought the real thing was fake because it didn't match her nostalgia.
The tragedy of expectation vs. reality is very real."
Valron: "Indeed."
Nonna: "That's what happens when you allow someone's memory to turn into a pedestal."
Lyx: "She became so much more than the Repliforce. Thankfully she never made it all the way. God Empress Panzer reduced her world into a post-apocalyptic ruin after using her powers to destroy entire worlds for fun, just to watch people burn. I only briefly visited there to determine whether I should revive the now-dead Panzer.
I saw enough to know she should stay dead."
Nonna: "...I'm getting a headache just imagining the very possibility."
King Demon: "Ugh, Panzer..."
Valron: "...Eesh."
Lyx: "Well, my trace of its future suggests eventually she ticks off a version of Illian who destroys her and the reality along with himself as a result of all of that. That's why she isn't coming here to reap all of our souls, anyway."
*Grins awkwardly* "This is why I chose to help Kit Redgrave instead. The most she ever wants is for people to not die to pointless violent wars! Imagine how novel that concept is by comparison!"
King Demon: "Yeah. Shame peace never lasts forever."
Valron: "Yeah, just a bit more novel. Y'know, just a little bit..."
Nonna: "So, uh... Is 'Lyx' your name, or is it shortened? Or a nickname or codename or something?"
Lyx: "Lyx is my name. Time Coordinator Lyx is my full name. Elementals such as me aren't really born from others of our kind but rather form naturally where I come from. So the excess of names most people have are not useful for me."
Nonna checks something off on a notepad.
Lyx: "Most of my kind never actually become fully socialized. I'm an odd one that was captured and use for amusement park follies. Then I learned from the various guests there that there was a world outside of the hills I came from and escaped.
As you might guess, people couldn't really restrain me. Not unless they liked radiation."
Nonna: "Any friends?"
Lyx: "I was hired by Autumnus because he figured, as an elemental, I would get along fine with him, a planet. He was incorrect but the thought was nice enough. Well, Kit there technically counts, but hmmm... if I had to extend my reach to those I encountered otherwise..."
Valron: "...I still wonder how the hell one even manages to bring an entire planet to life. Let alone the ramifications such an act would even have, for that matter."
Lyx: "Eventually I do wish to be Xavier's greatest Rival. But, you know. In the positive sense. I have no interest in being Psycho Illian II."
King Demon: "Good. We don't need another one of THOSE."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "You better not be Psycho Illian II, otherwise I'll be Xavier Ridgecrest Caldon Bell Lachronikus Kairah Klik Obsidion Delacroix Ethelrad III, Devourer Of Infamous Introduction Names the Fourteenth Plus One Jr. Sr. Brother Uncle Grandfather Erastian King-Person The First."
Lyx: "...Yes, precisely." *Twitches.*
Valron: "...I'm sorry, what? I kinda blanked out once you got to 'Obsidion'."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, my alternate memories contained a lot of funny names, so I had fun with them. Also, is Autumnus going to do the thing? Lyx obviously isn't going to stop him now."
Nova: "I am getting a transmission from Erastia. It appears he is, in fact, removing the ancient labs."
Nonna: "Uh... the pact has been fulfilled! Or something."
Nova: "It appears he can be heard loudly grumbling about 'That stupid word-twisting...' something or another as he does so."
Lyx: "It wouldn't be him without being upset that I cease to be predictable. But you know, that's why everyone is dead other than him and The Arbiter."
Valron: *He simply smiles as Nova mentions the grumbling, though deep inside, he's probably laughing*
"Well, that wraps that situation up all nicely."
Lyx: "I kept remembering Dillinger and Ryll being so certain if they just did what they were told everything would be fine."
Nonna: "Well, you've got Erastia back, Xavier."
Lyx: "Lot of good that did them. If it wasn't the Questers who took them out, it was Omnus... or Ael... or Evil Wolfman... or Illian..."
Valron: "...Y'know, what even happened to Ryll anyways? He kinda just fell off the map entirely, it seems."
Lyx: "Probably killed by Psycho Illian or something. He wasn't one to go along with the Ael coup plot."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It's a bit surreal that it was that easy... but then again... My memories are certain, the only way I tried to fix it in the past was going back in time and trying to kill the Time Cops."
Lyx: "Yes. You killed a lot of us. And then your memories got fried. Repeatedly. So you wouldn't try it again. So you did it again anyways."
Nonna: "A foundation built on violence will fall by it also."
Lyx: "Having an actual official diplomatic interaction is way more effective than, well, what you did then. After all, if he went back on it, he knows by default I would assist you and make a real mess of things.
I am, after all, holding back certain things. No offense but this relationship will eventually conclude after current problems are settled.
But if he were to go all in against us, well. He would have us both to face with.
Now, what was that, I overheard, you wanted to do something other than sit around and talk, I presume. Something about Erastian Central Authority and mechs."
Valron: "Yeah, something like that."
Nonna: "I suppose as a gesture of goodwill, we could have them cease some of their operations for the time being."
Lyx: "To be honest, they are ancient and rusted. I presume we should stop them. But as you yourself have suggested, we don't need to stop them forever. If anything, we should stop them, repair them, then hold on to them for later.
And it just so happens if they irradiate you, I can just absorb that away."
Valron: "I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on one, at least."
Lyx: "And if they hit me with radiation, they heal me."
Nonna: "Thanks. Being a squishy human does have its disadvantages, after all..."
Valron: "Could probably see if there's anything useful I could glean from it to upgrade my own Heavy Metal..."
Lyx: "There will come a time where you'll probably be needed to use your advantages to help me. Certain materials really mess me up."
Louisoix: "It certainly does."
King Demon: "Ah, are we gonna go get into a fight? I haven't had a good one in a while..."
Lyx: "Yes, against killer robots that have no real morals and no feelings."
King Demon: "We're going against my family after Eggman roboticized them?"
Lyx: "You may recognize some of your parents' mannerisms in these evil silver robots that fire explosions. Here, let me hand the location to your Sigmatroid SuperAI."
Metal Man (GM): Lyx takes out a holo-disc. Nova reads it and generates the map on the screen.
Nova: "Distant Autumnus-aligned space. Enemy Flying Erastian Central Authority Ship has landed on Autumnus-based planet and begun attacking everything in sight."
King Demon: "So... we're HELPING the Time Cops now? This is odd."
Nova: "I have received confirmation from Autumnus that we are cleared to fly there and program the flying ship to leave the planet."
Lyx: "It's the kind of help they'll probably regret later."
Nonna: "Helping them actually puts us in a better position. Is everyone ready to go?"
Valron: "Which is probably the exact reason Autumnus will probably regret it later. Leverage and whatnot, y'know?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, the ship's got the coordinates in it and I have my weapons ready."
Valron: "I'm good to go, in any case."
Lyx: "I made sure to look through time itself to make sure I would bring the right equipment for this one. Including my extra-large evil radioactive reactor shutdown wrench."
Nonna: "There's something I'd like to ask you after, Lyx."
Lyx: "As you wish. I am nothing if not informative."
King Demon: "And dangerous when unarmored. And yeah, why not? Everything I own is already on this ship."
Lyx: "Yes, the radiation is a bit of an issue."
Metal Man (GM): The Wing Fortress casually moves to the destination, warping through space. Soon, it becomes clear: an Earth-like planet is under siege by... a giant floating piece of Erastia with a city built atop it and rockets.
An ominous automated response is issued from the ship.
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "THIS IS THE ERASTIAN CENTRAL AUTHORITY. THIS PLANET IS WHERE THE ANTI-RADIATION GUN AND ANTI-TIME GUN WERE STOLEN TO. DO NOT INTERFERE."
King Demon: "Anti-radiation gun?" *Looks to Lyx* "No wonder you want to help with this."
Valron: "...The joke is, we already have both of those. They're on a wild goose chase."
Nonna: "Right. Let's clean up."
Lyx: "It is true. Technically working with you will get me the ability to see what you stole from them. It's in your possession rather than theirs. But if you should let me look at it, I would probably trade you something of value."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Opening a warp based on Lyx's coordinates."
Metal Man (GM): The warp to the Erastian City-Ship shows up.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Everybody should put on some sort of space suit or something, the atmosphere is ugly."
Nonna: *Protective gear on.*
Valron: "I don't really need to breathe, but at the very least some protective cover for my face would be appreciated..."
Nova opens a cabinet full of enviro-suits and masks.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm always ready, but that's just me."
Valron: *Takes a mask and puts it on* "Much appreciated, Nova."
Nova: "My dedication to user safety decreases unnecessary post-mission illness by 25%."
Nonna: "Do you think they'll stand down if you, as the new King of Erastia, order them to?"
Lyx: "Naturally I will bathe in whatever is wrong in that atmosphere. I will try to hang back some though. The side effect of me attacking things is a lot of a radiation."
King Demon: *Sure, protective gear GO!... making sure it has a holster for his beamsword, of course.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We can always try it. I'm not certain what they will think."
King Demon: "Better question is, will they RECOGNIZE him as the king of Erastia?"
Valron: "No. They're loyal to the old authority, who were... rather terrible people, to say the least."
Nonna: "Anyone crazy enough to declare themselves the King of Erastia will at least give them pause."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "If nothing else, they might focus on me as a target. Which might be useful."
Metal Man (GM): The portal is open, and Xavier steps in. Lyx moves to go in last, as he will mostly provide information and probably first aid to do with radiation.
Nonna heads out, too.
Metal Man (GM): Of note I am fading a little fast but my plan is to focus on more combaty explody stuff, so we'll likely get some started this session and go on to do even more next session, since I have basically put Lyx as "Plot fast forward button" XP
Valron heads on out as well.
Metal Man (GM): The area ahead looks much like a piece of Erastia. Only the whole thing is filled with sleek metal buildings and dark outlines.
Given it's in outer space, it looks like it's always night here. In the distance, the sound of laser fire can be heard.
The air is thin, it's a chilly 10 below freezing, and ominous red and green neon LEDs are the only real form of light out here.
King Demon: *Thankfully, he has his own internal heat source, so he's able to withstand the coldness a bit as he looks around.*
Metal Man (GM): This area is a bit of a dead-end, conveniently enough, meaning no likely threats coming from behind. Up ahead, though, is some large buildings that have Erastian signs on them, and some Erastian Automated Units wandering around, armed to the teeth.
Three of them mill about up ahead.
Nonna shivers slightly and looks around.
Valron doesn't seem all that bothered by the cold, himself. Ah, the wonders of being innately resistant to extreme temperatures.
Metal Man (GM): The buildings up ahead have a bunch of antennae on them. The place is entirely covered in wires and dystopian bits, indicating this borg-ized wasteland was most likely once a normal part of Erastia that was infested later on with the machinery.
Nonna: "So how do these guys operate?"
King Demon scans the area for any way to skip fights until they can get to whatever passes for a control room.
Metal Man (GM): Presumably it'd be possible to perilously climb up the side of the buildings and attempt to climb towards the biggest building using a series of daring parkour moves.
The upper areas aren't as well guarded due to a lack of hand railings or places for the huge, hulking robotic ECAU guards to reach.
And yes, it would most likely take both stealth and athletics to cross.
Valron: *W* "Want me to try and sneak my way up?"
Nonna: *W* "I can probably handle climbing and sneaking too. Up to you."
Valron: "I'll give it a shot. I'm sure I can handle climbing well enough, but I'm probably the best option for out-and-out stealth."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm about as sneaky as a fridge, but I can... ...use this extremely cheap mask that lets me turn into anything to look like one of them and walk right past them."
Louisoix: "Unfortunately, I'm not exactly great at stealth. Hell, people still somehow can tell I'm a robot."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *W* "This place is technically full of robots. Maybe you can fool them. Somehow."
Louisoix: "I mean, maybe."
Nonna: *W* "You handle the upper parts. I'll run interference down here."
King Demon: "I could try to fly up there, but it's not exactly the stealthiest thing in the world... not to mention the lack of atmosphere might mess with my control."
Valron: *W* "On it." *And with that, he goes to look for a good, inconspicuous place to start climbing up from.*
Louisoix: "Whew, we've been spared. I'm only really good at making things and then failing it to make flamingos instead. My calling."
Metal Man (GM): The nefarious dystopian sci-fi cables not only look cool, but are heavy duty enough to just climb up like a beanstalk.
Valron: *He gives the cables a tug to make sure they'll support his weight, and up he goes.*
Metal Man (GM): They definitely do. They're giganto-cables.
Only people they probably can't hold are Lyx or Xavier.
Who are both basically like walking trucks.
Valron casually climbs right up.
King Demon shrugs and gives it a try anyway.
Metal Man (GM): Up there on the precarious Mirror's Edge but More 1980's looking area is a bunch of metal scaffolds and pipes that connect the two buildings. Then there's just an out-and-out gap to jump across. After that is, in fact, the central control tower building.
Nonna sneaks on ahead of everyone else to check for enemies, and if possible, disable them before they can notice the less stealthy people.
Metal Man (GM): Demon manages to climb up to there as well.
King Demon: *W* "Huh... I actually succeeded at stealth for once!"
Metal Man (GM): As for enemies....
Valron looks down, deciding to make use of his current height advantage to scope out any enemies further ahead.
Metal Man (GM): Those above plus Nonna and those below can see three Erastian Automated Heavy Metals wandering around. Big, hulking things, they resemble even taller versions of Xavier with radioactively glowing in the dark reactors in their chests and in their hulkin' huge rayguns.
They seem to be scanning around at the fork in the road that appears right near the control building.
Those in the upper route 'merely' have to do that acrobatics + jumping mayhem to get over. Those on the ground would have to do stealth or something to get around that group of three EAHM units wandering around.
Nonna: *Stealth!*
Valron: *He examines the patrol route the EAHMs are on, making sure not to give them a chance to see him. He then gauges the distance he has to cross... before going to take his chance. And, if possible, he may cheat a little and try to Kinesis himself for a little extra boost, should that become necessary.*
Metal Man (GM): Despite the improved ability to see that said EAHM units have, they do not see Nonna.
EAHMs are on a quasi-random route, walking around in circles and overall trying to block the path of anyone trying to get into the control building from below.
King Demon sighs and shakes his head, grumbling slightly as he tries to fly/float past them unseen.
Metal Man (GM): Kinesis will be harder to stealth, so first, we'll see how Valron moves.
He manages to make the gap.
Demon also manages to get across, it's a bit harder for him but he manages it without having to fly, thus avoiding suspicion.
Nonna: *She transmits the current routes and what they mean to the others.*
Metal Man (GM): The next question is getting in. Once on the outside of the foreboding building, the question is mostly how to get in on either side. The ground area has a classic door with a keypad on it, while the upper area... well it has a ladder that leads to a sealed trap door of sorts with no obvious way to open it from the outside.
Nonna: *As well as a photograph of the keypad.*
King Demon: "..." *W to the others up there with him* "Escape route?"
Metal Man (GM): The keypad is 0-9, and is also 4 digits. It also has a specific bezel as it is attached to the wall.
The trap door, on the other hand, is more of just a bulky hunk of metal. It'd be incredibly loud to open it, but it's possible to force it open. There is, of course, some screws on the wall near it as well.
Valron: *W* "Hrm. Not sure. We can probably make our own, but..." *While he talks, he decides to make his way up to the trap door... particularly, the wall. Mainly to check to see if he could just kinda... sneakily unscrew the wall and just slip in that way. Maybe.*
Metal Man (GM): The screws are easily removed. Underneath it appears to be some sort of manual interlock for the trapdoor.
Seemingly accessible by reaching in.
Nonna: *Using Smash Dex* "Lou, I think your expertise is needed here. I've sent you an actively updated map showing where the patrol routes are."
Valron: *He checks the interlock, checking to see how it works. Hopefully, messing with it won't be very noisy...*
Metal Man (GM): It's the only thing holding it up, so you can just pull it open. But if you just did that, it'd probably slam open.
Louisoix: "Hm..." *He'd look at it* "Alright, I'll see if I can't make it there."
Metal Man (GM): You can, however, with Demon's help, hold the doors manually and attempt to open the door that way, using your arm muscles to slowly lower it open.
Valron: *W* "Hey, Demon. Could ya give me a hand with this? I don't want to alert every robot in the area to what we're doing."
King Demon: *W* "Ah, sure, let's see what we can do." *He'd climb up to try to help Valron.*
Louisoix: *And he'd attempt to use the map to get to Nonna's position.*
Metal Man (GM): Louisoix would go to try to walk in, using the path info.
Valron: *W* "Thanks, man." *Once Demon's in position, he goes to slowly lower the door open with his help.*
Metal Man (GM): Using that, he only ever comes in contact with one EAHM....
And manages to evade its glance.
Thus he reaches where Nonna is.
Meanwhile, Valron and Demon very carefully open the trap door, after releasing the interlock. The ladder there allows them to go further inside, into the dark depths of the control tower.
King Demon allows Valron to go first once more.
Valron: 'Demon and I have found a way into the control tower. I'm gonna go up head.' *And so, Valron goes to slip inside, giving a nod to Demon.*
Louisoix: "...well, thanks for the help with the map. What's the situation?" *He'd look at the keypad more closely.*
Metal Man (GM): It's a 0-9 keypad, 4 digit display, it's got a specific bezel as it is attached to the wall.
King Demon: *He'd follow Valron, closing the door behind him, as best he can.*
Metal Man (GM): The entire bezel and pad rocks a bit when you touch it. It seems to be a bit unsteady, like it's not fully attached to the wall.
Nonna: *W* *'That'd likely set off some alarm or another.*
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, after getting inside the top of the tower, the duo of Demon and Valron would quickly come upon the first room, or should I say the 'last' room, since it is 'top of the tower.'
The top room as it were, contains a giant control panel and a malevolent looking super-robot controlling it all.
The ladder is shielded from view of the occupant of that top room, and that top room robot is clearly coordinating a bunch of attacks on the surface of the Time Cop planet.
King Demon: *W to Valron* "Wait for the others?"
Metal Man (GM): The bezel pulls from the wall.
It's plugged into an ethernet-cable shaped socket.
Complete with a tab with which it could be unplugged from the wall with... Erastian tech, everybody!
Nonna: *Dex* "You're up, Xavier. Be careful."
Xavier Ridgecrest puts on the mask and transforms into what looks like an EAHM as well, and lumbers towards the EAHM, slow as ever.
EAHM 1: "Unknown model EAHM detected. State your prerogatives."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Defend city against intruders."
EAHM 1: "You are not registered in the manifest."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Uhhh... ...the computer had an error."
EAHM 1: "Error detected. Please report to central control for error repair."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "...Sure."
Louisoix attempts to hack the keypad via the ethernet port by attempting to send a "Confirmation" response that would open the door.
Xavier Ridgecrest walks past the robot towards the control tower, out of sight of the EAHMs.
Metal Man (GM): A funny thing happens.
Louisoix unplugs the cable to try and plug into it and the door just... opens.
Technology, everybody!
Nonna: "..."
Metal Man (GM): Louisoix can take the keypad as a souvenir, if he wishes.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I got past the robot by telling it I was an error. How about you guys?"
Louisoix: *Does so* "Well, that was easy."
Nonna: *Dex* "How about you, Lyx?"
Louisoix: "High quality tech, this place. Could learn a thing or two. After you. Though I mean, really, after you, because if I go first we're going to get caught."
Lyx: *R* "Right, let me get over there..."
Metal Man (GM): Lyx walks straight up the side of one of the buildings and then hops across to rejoin Demon and Valron.
Valron: *W* "Nice of you to join us."
Lyx: *R/W* "Magnetic insoles are handy, but then again, I can also manipulate gravity... just that I'm radioactive so it's best if I stay out of the more direct route. I tend to show up on sensors."
Valron: *W* "Makes sense. In any case. I was planning on hitting the bot that was coordinating this attack with Disruption and seeing how that'd work from there. Got any other ideas you'd like to throw in?"
Lyx: *R/W* "My intuition suggests it's probably a tough robot, so while it would help the people on the surface, it'd also trigger some sort of alarm over here."
*R/W* "I'd suggest coordinating it with some sort of knockout to the entire grid here in addition to that robot."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "Maybe we can find something down here."
King Demon looks around for something that could cause a disruption... perhaps destroying the computer that it's working on?
Valron: *R/w* "Sounds good to me. Should probably wait on you guys, first."
Metal Man (GM): The entrance is... well, into a swanky looking techno-dystopian hallway of sorts, leading up to an elevator, which has one of those ethernet port like holes in the wall next to it and no obvious switches.
The computer the robot is working on has a heavily armored conduit powering/connecting it to everything else. A great, hulking, stainless steal shield built around it.
King Demon: *Internally curses, looking around the rest of the room.*
Metal Man (GM): There's a bunch of large racks full of computery bits, all leaned up next to eachother, including one near where the ladder you used to enter.
Nonna: *W* "Might as well get it over with..."
Metal Man (GM): It's not obvious if/how they're connected to the main metal-shielded thing, but they are pretty large and blinky.
King Demon: *Would inspect the one near them a bit closer.*
Metal Man (GM): The rack appears to be heavily loaded with components. It rattles a little bit just by looking at it.
Seems like the feet on it aren't all even.
Xavier, meanwhile, is staring at the elevators in the first floor.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Wonder how we can use this thing, it seems like it's shut, and there's just this weird port in the wall..."
King Demon: *W* "Guys, this thing is unstable." *He'd look to see if there's anywhere else the group can hide.*
Metal Man (GM): The gigantic metallic shield blocking access to the cables that connect to the central control console is also so tall you can easily hide behind it.
There's a stairway to go further down a floor, if you wish to just distract the central control robot somehow first.
I can probably pause on the lower half and let Demon and Valron do a few more before pausing them too.
No, unfortunately, but they line the walls in a circle around the outside of the room.
King Demon looks for a way to rig the racks to fall over; wondering if he can draw the robot away from the computer so they can get to it.
Metal Man (GM): They do seem to be pretty unstable.
King Demon moves behind the shield, preparing a fireball to launch at the rack.
Metal Man (GM): Nobody's in the way, so you certainly can launch it, when ready.
King Demon: *Would aim at the rack, and launch; trying to knock it over; if he can cause a domino effect, all the better... though he wishes he had something better to throw; like a part of a robot.*
Valron goes to hide behind the shield as well. He'll sneak out once the robot's distracted.
Metal Man (GM): You knock over the racks, causing a chain reaction.
They all fall over simultaneously, causing a ton of noise, shattering windows, and causing the lights to flicker.
The robot gets up and looks around, befuddled.
Aaaand... I'll pause here so you don't get too far ahead of the bottom group.
Session Paused