WEEK 3: DECOMMISSION

[dropoffs]

WEEK 3 EMERGENCY

HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED.

 

ALERT: EMERGENCY IN SIM & GRAV ROOM. 1 HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED. LOCKDOWN SEQUENCE FAILED. SYSTEM REBOOT FAILED.

LIFE SUPPORT STABLE. CLIMATE CONTROL UNSTABLE.
SIMULATION PROCESSING & VALIDATING SYSTEMS OVERLOADING.

WARNING: PROCEED WITH CAUTION CAU░̴░̵░̴░̵░̴ C░̴░̴TIO░̴ CA░̴░̴ION AS̴C̴E̶ND CAUTI░̴N C̴░̴░̴░̴ON EIKO̴N C̴AU░̴I░̴░̴ CA░̴T̵I̴O░̴ DOMINAN̷T̸ CA░̴░̴░̴░̴ C░̴UT░̴ON CA░̴░̴I̵O̵N̴ A̴E̴THER C░̴░̴░̴░̴ION CA░̴░̴░̴░̴N CA░̴░̴░̴N D̸R̴E̶A̶D̶WYRM...

MANDATORY CREW DEPLOYMENT IN CASE OF NEEDED REINFORCEMENTS. SR. CREW DESIGNATIONS PLEASE BE ON STANDBY. CRE

As the clock begins to wind towards 1:00 PM, things on the ship are... quiet. Some of you are with the convicted in the brig, waiting, waiting, and the Senior Crew among you are just as tense. A few sit in the brig alongside you, while others wait outside. Hope against hope, right? That maybe something can be done.

A pair of pneumonic hisses, different in pitch this time—and the convicted is simply gone. The Eudora's AI calls out across the ship for a state of emergency in the Sim & Grav room. Even if you don't make your way to the location willingly, you find your feet taking you there.

The eerie, orange glow of the empty space greets you, filled with a faint, pink haze when you first arrive. You're brought to the main, largest room, used for large group simulations and zero gravity runs, where a sweet scent lingers as the pink haze fades. However, it is not empty... And it is not blank.

When the crew enters, they find themselves in the center of what looks like a massive tapered dome, spindly and tightly wound where they can't get a glimpse of the outside scenery. Its crystalline walls are a light pink in color with fiber grooves running along it. The floor is clear like glass and what they see below are threads of light and clusters of crystal stamens.

A voice echoes, "Return home, Dion... It's time to show the world the true power of Sanbreque."

Instantly, the protective shimmery barrier covers the crew in asylum when Dion appears in the arena with his lance. Only two may cross to the world beyond.

NAVIGATE
LOCATIONS STATUSES PROFILES AUDIENCES REPORTING PRIVATE CONVOS MURDER SUPPLY SHOP COMMS DOSSIER

Comments

[murdergate]

[ he hears that crunch and it rattles through his own bones.

nodd breathes.

he cannot focus on the pain of that loss, not when it is him versus dion in this form. ]

Dion.

[ the air around nodd shimmers and then he's zipping forward--somehow midstep his feet leave the sandals behind. he pulls his arms to the side, spins, and a wave flows out from his fingertips, creating a ring of water around himself. a shield of his own. ]

Come on. Hit me!

[agamid]

[ Alright, gay boy, bring it on. (Dion is also gay, but Bahamut is undefined.)

His claws dig into the Mothercrystal bracing himself before he's launching into the sky yet again. This time, he catches sight of Twinside spread out underneath the crystal, flickering between images of joy and ruin, and for a moment, underneath the anger and the rage, he feels a chord of despair strike through him.

—But it's brief, light gathering in front of his wings once more to send a torrent crashing down toward Nodd and the crystal. ]

[applebough]

[ Sometimes your passion for living comes through like friendship is magic animes.

Yuri is alive.

The huge flaming bird, once snuffed out and tossed to the side, has a brief twitch of its wings. It isn't even a second later that the bird explodes into a tall column of flames that eventually turns into a flaming cyclone that aims to zoom and tackle Bahamut down with all its might accompanied by a loud SCREEEEEEE--

Nodd also gets an additional flaming shield just in case. ]

[murdergate]

[ the torrent crashes towards nodd who has planted his now bare dogs right onto the crystalline floor. he moves his arms in gestures too quick for the eye to follow, the orbiting water adjusting in tandem to absorb the direct impact of the blast. what gets through singes and sears the sleeves right off of nodd's undershirt. (we're all anime now.)

then a squawk of justice as yuri arises, reborn. still a bird. ]

Wait right there!

[ the water disappears in a gush of steam as nodd races toward yuri. a leap and he lands on her back, gripping at fiery feathers with hands and toes. ]

Can you take me behind his head? Please--!

[agamid]

[ Yuri learns how to bird real fast apparently, and the Phoenix's flames cyclone around Bahamut, tearing another thunderous roar from him as the fire scorches his scales and wings.

He draws them in toward himself in an effort to escape, torpedoing to the side in an effort to extinguish them, momentarily distracted from both Yuri and Nodd.

thanks hei for this last minute bahamut icon you're a real one ]

[applebough]

[ The Phoenix nods in response to Nodd's request, refreshes the fire shield around them both and takes to the skies with the monk in tow. Sometimes, when you're reborn, you're just stronger than before. And know how to bird instantly.

It swoops in to circle around as fast as it can to get Nodd to the back of Bahamut's head, letting Nodd drop at a safe distance. ]

Hold on tightly when you get there.

[ You know what Phoenix has? Talons! Bird feet. It swerves to the front of Bahamut and attempts to clamp its talons around Bahamut's neck with a high-pitched screech once more. ]

[murdergate]

Yes, yes, that's it.

[ nodd holds on as they ascend, scrambling up to the Phoenix's neck. ]

You keep attacking him. You can do it.

[ you be that bitch, yuri ]

Don't worry about me. Take us both out if you have to.

[ she won't feel the light pat he gives her, but that's fine. he drops onto the back of bahamut's head, near the top spine. he runs on hands and feet, scrabbling over thick plates of dragon scales. ]

Dion. Dion, I know you're-- [ he falls on his ass, slides, but manages to crab-cling along bahamut's browline ]

--in there. You can hear me. You don't want to hurt anyone! I know that! You are a good guy. I lied. Just listen to me this one time and I'll never bother you again!

[agamid]

[ oh god nodd is on him with his bare feet he's being toe touched

But anyway, Dion has never considered himself separate from Bahamut. They are, as far as he's concerned, one in the same. Like his anger, his joy, his likes, and hopes, Bahamut is just one other part of him.

Bahamut's strength is his strength, and Bahamut's atrocities are his atrocities.

He listens, shaking his head to dislodge the intruder, but the words fall of deaf ears, rage swelling in its place as his wings snap out once more. His teeth snap and sink into the soft skin of the Phoenix's belly before she has the chance to put distance between them, holding on tight as he sends all three of them crashing back down toward the crystal. ]

[applebough]

[ There's a blend of a human scream and a bird's screech with the bite, but the Phoenix doesn't give up. It's trying so hard to wreck Bahamut's neck as it flaps its wings, trying to get its singing feathers inside Bahamut's eyes too. Godspeed Nodd, since you're literally right there.

They crash down onto the crystal, but it still stays conscious through the pain and spits fireballs at Bahamut's wings too. The Phoenix is bleeding out pretty badly. ]

[murdergate]

Dion!

[ clutching desperately with all ten fingers and yes, all ten bare toes. he falls along the front of bahamut's face. ]

You don't want this! You don't want--

[ the plummet is too much. he's such a little guy. nodd goes flying but once again, that shimmer and his descent seems to slow. he points his feet downwards and an invisible force lowers him at a less miserable pace onto the tangle of kaiju. he crawl-scrambles some more until he can make it to the juncture of bahamut's mammoth jaw and give it several quick hits, anything to undo the clamp upon yuri. ]

[agamid]

[ They crash back down onto the crystal, the entire arena shuddering and creaking as the petals start to crumble on the outer rim, crashing down in the castle and city below.

Nodd's hits hard into Bahamut's jaw, forcing his maw open and sending him staggering back from the monk and the Phoenix with a reptilian hiss. And for a moment, the wyrm stays put, eyes fixed on the bleeding sight of the Phoenix, and on the ant-sized monk next to her.

He flies up, but he doesn't fly straight (lol), his head whipping from side to side, his own teeth momentarily ripping the scales from his wings until he finally tosses his head back in another scream.

There's a moment of silence before, ever so slowly, motes of light begin to appear in circles ahead of him, growing larger and larger as he readies the attack of his esteemed colleague, Donald Duck: Zettaflare.

Yuri and Nodd have mere moments to react as the light finally gathers into something blinding, and the full brunt of Bahamut's magic is upon them. ]

[applebough]

[ The Phoenix knows it has to act quick, but it doesn't have the time. It can't fly itself and Nodd away from the Zettaflare as much as it'd like to.

Live.

Live. Live. Live. Live. Live. Live. Live. Live.

Thanks to Metis's regen healing, the Phoenix has a split second before it gathers its power and energy to try and contest the Zettaflare with Flames of Rebirth. ]

[murdergate]

[ as the zettaflare shoots downward to consume nodd and yuri both, in the very nick of time, nodd transforms into--

fucking nothing. haha.

he was thrown to the side when bahamut relinquished the phoenix's throat and has enough time to kip onto his feet before that final attack bears down.

nodd spins in a full circle on one heel, summoning the water ring once more. he circles his arms in the air and it widens as it drifts off of nodd to orbit yuri.

the phoenix's flames have a better chance of matching the flare. this might help guard her when they're worn.

nodd comes back to his breathing.

it's some distance, there likely is no eye contact possible, but he seeks bahamut's gaze all the same. he clenches his hands together, and holds them tight in front of him. ]

[agamid]

[ He thinks back to a similar scene, a voice he barely remembers hearing: He would burn the world.

And sometimes he thinks that he would. There has only ever been wars to fight, the Blight to fear, and snakes in his house vying for his father's throne. Sometimes he does wonder if there is any redemption to be had, and good left to save. If there was any reason left, after all that he had given his life to had been reduced to nothing.

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

But the Flames of Rebirth are brilliant when they rise up to meet his light, the magic of Nodd's water much the same, and he watches them from the sky. Watches them struggle to live and to reach out to him all the same. He thinks too, of all those that had faced him the night previous. He as feels though it's long past the time of his surrender, and yet...

He hesitates, ] I—

[ And the light of Zettaflare reaches its crescendo, exploding where they meet the Phoenix's flame before continuing undeterred, crashing down on the area, and turning the entire horizon a brief, brilliant white. ]

[applebough]

[ After the light is gone and everything is visible again, Yuri is there, human again, lying face down on the ground. Her wounds aren't healing.

Yuri is ▓▓▓▓ ]

[murdergate]

[ nodd watches the most brilliant light he's ever seen descend upon him. he stares into it, hands clasped, as dion's flare engulfs them all. yuri as a phoenix, then yuri as a woman. metis, who'd only wanted to help, now another victim of bahamut's wrath.

his skin burns, his hair fries, his nails bend and crack. ]

I forgive--

[ Nodd is ▓▓▓▓ ]

[agamid]

[ Bahamut remains in the sky, his head falling back to let loose one last cry before he descends, figure growing steadily smaller as he approaches the crystal.

Until it's just Dion, there on his knees. ]

I...

[ The bodies of Yuri, Nodd, and Metis lie there ahead of him, and he closes his eyes to block the sight, words forming on his lips, ] F—

[ Forgive me.

... But he can't ask for what he knows he doesn't deserve.

So he takes his lance, holds the blade to his throat, and cuts through.

Dion is dead.]

[dropoffs]

[ and just like that, the execution is over. the simulation glitches out, and it's the eerie orange glow of the room deactivated, and there, in among the fallout... are your friends.

dion is dead, final syllable dying in his throat, as he falls now, slain by his own lance, blood sluicing out thick and dark. the battle, long and hard, still thrums in and about the surrounding area, the room still pulsing with the heat of overflowing data, sweltering.

meanwhile, the party lays on the ground, nodd burnt so thoroughly it's hard to tell if he's even still breathing, yuri now in humanoid form once more face down on the ground and motionless from her injuries, and metis suffering from the blast as well, curled up on the ground, fingers barely clasped about their staff.

the pink haze floats through the disengaged sim room again, fainter now, before it and the sweet scent fades completely and one of the mundane screensaver modes of the sim room kicks in. it's now just a room, as if nothing happened. ]

PLEASE RETURN ALL DECOMMISSIONED CREW TO THE STASIS BAY.

[ the eudora's toneless AI announces this request, and then the barrier flickers, and the senior crew will be allowed passage to retrieve the three bodies from where they fell to rest. io rushes forward the moment the barrier lets senior crew past, and with the utmost care they move in to gather the bodies of the barely still living, one by one with the gentlest touch. once your companions have been removed from the battlegrounds, to be taken to the medical bay for emergency healing, the barrier flickers - then disappears, and everyone is free to go. your I.R.I.S.es will ping once. happy sunday! ]