⇨ POLARIS 3.0

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 115
Where: Polaris
What: On the morning of day 115, a couple hours before the technicians would come to pick up the test subjects, the escape plan will officially come into effect. If your character has been left out of the loop up till this point, feel free that someone hastily explains the plan during the initial phase! The meat of everything else will be played out via megathreads and any private toplevels people want to make.
Warnings: Probably violence.

PEER REVIEW↴ The plan starts with getting everyone out of their cells. Childermass is going to be using his Gilded Mark to enhance his shadow movement abilities, unabling him to teleport himself and other people out of containment. If your character has other ways of escaping they are free to pursue that, but on a base level, it can be assumed that everyone gets out thanks to Childermass. (Thanks Childermass!) Once everyone has been removed from their cells by some means or another, they will be forced to split into teams as swiftly as possible, as the moment people start breaking out, negative attention from the staff will start building. The area is poorly guarded at first, but as people become aware of the breakout, more will arrive. Gild, speaking on behalf of her inside plant, will say that those that 1) want to get their stuff back, 2) want to find Ignatius, should get the assistance of their allied Deltas to access sector A5. From there, they will have to access Polaris's storage in A3, a neighbouring sector, and find access to C2, the station where Ignatius is being held. They should expect to be met with armed resistance, but with any luck allies will be there to assist them. In general, characters will be most effective if they back one of these major objectives: ► TEAM LOOT: This team is trying to get back the items and pets that were confiscated when the group was brought into Polaris. Their objective, according to their allies on the inside, is to get to A5, and then make their way to A3. The important thing is being able to locate their stuff among a sea of other items, and to make it through security in order to reclaim it. Gild's plant has said that they will assist with this. After getting these items, Team Loot may wish to merge with Team Rescue. ► TEAM RESCUE: This team's primary focus is to get to A5 and then make their way to C2. If desired, they may wait for or join with Team Loot, or they may strike out ahead in order to take advantage of the element of surprise. The key factors are obtaining a way to access C2, as well as being prepared for armed conflict with the technicians guarding it, as well as possibly the Mother of Invention herself. Though, the ideal is that Gild will be distracting here at that time. ► TEAM DISTRACTION: This team can do their thing wherever they please, as their main intent is to sew general discord and distract the staff from the teams doing more important things. They should be prepared for armed resistance, but what tactics they pursue beyond that point are highly variable. ► TEAM FORTRESS: This team is attempting to set up a protective base of operations in the original sector in order to survive the conflict and protect their noncombatant comrades. How they accomplish this is also highly variable. Other objectives may exist, of course, and can be made with their own separate top levels. Chunks of these megathreads will have to be played out in summary form, so when characters are simply trying to get from place to place and specifics aren't necessary, feel free to stick to that format. Assume that everyone is already out of their cells for the purpose of the megathreads. Here is a shitty map of how the sectors connect, from a side view of the central Polaris hub.

Comments

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya purses his lips in a thin line before taking the vorpal sword after he sets his current blade aside. Ignatius can reform parts of himself, so this isn't permanent... but still a little fucked up.

"All right." He levels the end of the blade with Ignatius's arm. "Then I'll cut right above the metal."

Ignatius gets a brief second to protest if he's going to, before Syrlya presses his crystal hand further along the hilt and then puts his weight into cutting down Ignatius' arm in as fast and forceful of a move as he can manage. Hopefully, it's enough to manage it in one attempt.

[moonfang]

Zangetsu, meanwhile, keeps his senses sharp and his blade drawn, guarding their makeshift entryways while his companions work hard to free the Conflagration.

He casts his senses out in every direction. Does he pick up on any souls coming nearby?

[anti_nonsense]

One all the tubes attached to the limbs are disconnected, Rita's attention returns to the rest of the team, who are working on cutting off the metal stubs and disconnecting the rest. There doesn't seem to be anything for Rita to do here, so she merely places a hand on Ignatius's shoulder and, perhaps ironically doing what Herbert wanted her to do earlier, tries to focus her magic to send some warmth into his body.

It might not amount to much more than a comforting gesture, but it's all she can do at the moment.

[periphrasing]

She's kind of grossed out, but Peridot pulls the plug as asked. After that, all she can really do is stay out of the way and watch.

[npcarnival]

The plug doesn't come out of his neck easily, but it does come out of she's willing to be rough with it - which seems to basically be what Ignatius is asking for, so alright. Then, it's a matter of the sword.

Ignatius chokes on a scream as Syrlya cuts off the rest of his arm, the Vorpal Blade sharp enough to slice through his arm and lodge itself into the bed beneath. He makes pained sounds through his teeth, breathing heavily, but when he looks at Syrlya he is not dissuade.

"Keep going," he insists, and tries to focus on healing and reforming that arm. The molten, ashy sludge that Herbert is familiar with bubbles from the open wound.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya's expression remains firm as he draws the sword back out of the bed with a jerk. He spares Ignatius a look and a single nod, to show that he understands before he circles around to his legs. It'll be the same method for the rest of the limbs, since it seems to be working.

He hasn't heard any warning from Zangetsu, so they must be in the clear... but it's always a gamble for how much longer. He spares the occasional glance to Ignatius' arm to see how quickly he's regenerating.

"Rita, do you still have Lambert's glove?"

[npcarnival]

Zangetsu still sense some presences running around the floor above, but none coming immediately in their direction.

[anti_nonsense]

"Hm? Yeah," Rita answers Syrlya, still holding a hand on Ignatius's shoulder. She raises her other hand, showing the wristguard in question, hanging somewhat loosely over her wrist. Considering it was made for Lambert, it doesn't fit her at all.

[periphrasing]

"Hey... I made that!" Peridot interjects. What the heck is the point of my making magic armor for him if he isn't even going to wear it? Jeez.

[chronosynthesis]

"And it is still storing some--" There's a grunt disrupting his sentence as he takes off another end of stubby limb. "Some of Ignatius' power within it."

So hopefully Peridot can put together why he's bringing it up--if Ignatius can get that power back, maybe he can speed up his regeneration so he has the strength to deal with the power cells (without blowing things up). And, like, have an arm.

[scientificist]

Meanwhile, Herbert has been bandaging each limb as Syrlya cuts off the metal attachments. The wrappings are firm enough against the open wounds to hopefully stem the flow of blood but not so tight that he can't bust out of them if necessary. Which, honestly, Herbert is hoping he does. If Ignatius could just immediately regenerate all of his limbs and walk himself out of here, that would be ideal.

Once he's done with that, he moves onto the crown device, starting out by just cutting the wires going into it with his scalpel, and then trying to work out how it's actually attached to his head. Are there any visible bolts or is this something like Rita's implant?

[moonfang]

He'll keep a close bead on the presences above, but won't let it distract him from all the other sides.

"How's it coming in there?"

[npcarnival]

By the time Syrlya is done, Ignatius is looking pretty faint. He's now mostly free, besides the wired crown, though his body had been completely mutilated by the process. The crown is rooted into his skull with wires in a few different places, but otherwise not attached. As Herbert works on it, Ignatius rolls onto his side, breathing shallowly and trying to summon up enough energy to repair his arm.

Fiery energy swirls in a shape approximating a limb, but he seems to be lacking the strength to make it something solid. His skin is still an ugly purple, and despite being disconnected from the blue tubing, his eyes are still hazy purple. It's still in his system, and it doesn't seem like it's going to resolve itself quickly.

But he wants to get up. He wants to get out of here, but like this he can't even stand. He looks at Rita, whose had her hand on his shoulder this whole time, but he's only now finding enough clarity to put it all together. With jack removed from his head everything is quieter.

"You made it," he says foggily, like he's about to pass out.

[periphrasing]

Ohhhh that doesn't look good. Peridot stiffens in alarm. Rita needs to release the magic in that gauntlet, but she's confident that the girl is clever enough to put that together for herself. While they're having their heart to heart, she scrabbles over to the limb Ignatius is trying to regenerate and tries to help by adding her own fire to it, breathing a steady stream. Which probably looks really stupid? But? Maybe if she can help him regenerate this limb, it'll stabilize him enough to buy them some time while they figure out how to work the power cells.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita looks down to meet his gaze. It's weird to think he might actually be happy to see her, but...

"What, didn't think I would?" she asks, managing a confident-looking smirk.

Seeing how much he's struggling to reform that first arm, however, she frowns. She'll try removing the bracer from her wrist and placing it on his chest. If he had any limbs to affix it to, she'd try that first, but... yeah.

"Here. Some of your power was absorbed into this, back when we fought before. If you can absorb it back, maybe it'll help."

[scientificist]

"We're trying to stabilise him," Herbert tells Zangetsu over his shoulder, and then turns back to lift the crown off and drop that away as well. There are still a bunch of severed wires coming out of Ignatius' head but he'll deal with that later. Or Ignatius will. Either way.

He eyes Peridot's fire which doesn't seem to be helping all that much and throws away nearly that entire idea. Potentially other jumpstarting options are still in the books but not that particular one. Alright. It's hard to know what will and won't work when it comes to fae and fae magic. All of it seems fairly arbitrary and mystical to Herbert.

"I'm getting more supplies," he announces so that Peridot doesn't lose track and shut him into the eggspace by accident. He hurries back in, on a quest for his healing draught.

[npcarnival]

Ignatius looks at the bracer, taking a moment to realize her meaning - yet, as the metal touches his flesh, he can feel the buzz of his own magic. Painstakingly, he lifts his spectral arm and lays what could be fingers over the metal. Energy activates, and then releases. The arm solidifies, burning away the bandages - though the flesh still seems cold and muted in color.

With one arm partly healed, he grabs the power cell they removed in his hand, clenching it tight and trying to pull his energy back out of it. He shakes his head slightly.

"I... can't," he says. "If it went off... it could destroy everything here..."

He holds it close to his chest anyway, like he wants to take it back into himself.

"In the other place... I managed to overload a cell at the end of its cycle... drawing from me... it destroyed everything. Killed changelings. She captured me again anyway, but before she could stop me... I gave pieces of my strength to those of you I could reach."

"I don't have anything left," he says. "This... This poison, is eating at me from the inside."

He feels so cold.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya remains taut with the last limb cut free as Herbert dives into the egg space for more supplies. At least, until Rita gives over the bracer, and Ignatius manages to draw his power back to recreate his arm. Then his shoulders relax, lowering the vorpal blade. He listens as Ignatius explains, and it makes sense enough that he won't press him to try. He's seen the volatility of Ignatius' power. He won't assume Ignatius is having baseless worries about his own powers.

When he brings up his shared power, however, it brings Syrlya's mind back to a conversation he had with Strange. 'Someone will have to give it back'. His gaze drifts around to everyone else in the room as he considers it. His strength has become vital to theirs as long as the Mother of Invention steals it away. Rita, Peridot, Zangetsu... they really need that little bit of magic they have right now.

"Then take it back from me." But he doesn't. He hates being without it, but if he steps back and thinks about it he can acknowledge his magic is doing little else for them compared to everyone else, and Ignatius needs the strength to escape.

He moves the blade to his crystal hand and hovers the still plant one over Ignatius', looking slightly expectant for instructions on how to give it back.

[npcarnival]

Little does Syrlya know, but saying that was all Ignatius needed. He puts his hand to Syrlya's crystal one, and he will feel a flushed warmth rise to his cheeks and then disappear through his and Ignatius's connection.

Ignatius exhales, letting the piece of his Heart settle back into place. He doesn't immediately reform his body or anything, but he starts trying to recreate his other arm. Energy swirls, burning up the bandage on that arm, but it doesn't quiet take form. His left aren't quite solid on the ends either, looking more like gradients of transparency than cut off ends.

"There were many of you to divide it between," he says, sounding a little more awake. "If I could restore my strength... then maybe..."

He trails off. Its probably useless to think about now.

[scientificist]

Emerging from the storage tent once again, Herbert walks right back over to Ignatius holding both the healing draught he bought from the Caravan months ago and a fancier healing bottle he noticed in the pile.

"Here," he says, holding them out to Ignatius. "Can you hold these to drink them? They're... potions." Even now that he's accepted the scientific nature of magic, he hates the way it feels to speak about alchemy.

[npcarnival]

Ignatius is eager for whatever help he can get. He nods his head, taking the smaller potion and drinking it - considering his chest is mostly concave you might expect it to just leak out the base of his neck, but thankfully that doesn't happen. It about the equivalent of taking a Tylenol. It helps with the pain a bit, but not much else.

He'll then take the fancier potion, feeling a bit more power within it. He drinks it, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, focusing on repairing himself. There's a not insubstantial flood of energy through his chest and out to his limbs, and the purpled skin around his core flushes red for a few moments before dulling again. Ignatius groans, reforming his other arm with a burning swirl of magic.

Slowly, he sits up, and works on his legs. It's incredibly hard to work against whatever the Mother spent all that time injecting him with, a constant fight against corruption, but gradually he will burn away the bandages Herbert placed and recreate a fragile rendition of his legs. He's lost a lot of the body mass he regained with his Heart - apparently his physical condition dynamically represents his spiritual health.

Also, notably, when he regrows his limbs, his beast claws are back. Looking close, it seems like there are patches of scales on his new skin as well. Now that he's sitting up, there is a familiar panel of metal set into his body, right over his tailbone.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya blinks rapidly as the sensation of heat travels up and down his body. Not usually having an internal temperature, it's strange and foreign.

"Ah--it was everyone who made a contract, was it not?" Or at least most of them? He steps back when Herbert returns, giving him room. "Aside from those retrieving our things, most of us should be reinforcing the Delta area. We need to head there."

He can probably collect more of his strength that way... and, more importantly, the sooner they gather together the sooner they can all get out of here. And once Ignatius has legs... that's their time to go.

"Can you stand?" He only waits briefly for an answer before giving off directives--if he can't, that's fine. They can carry him if they have to (Zangetsu can carry him if they have to). "Is it still clear, Zangetsu? Rita, can you look at your visor and see if the elevator is still open?"

[moonfang]

“We have company,” Zangetsu says grimly, lying in wait near the elevator. “The elevator might be compromised, I sense a couple of souls there. If Ignatius is stable, we need to go, now.”

[anti_nonsense]

When the bracer appears to be fully drained of its stored energy, Rita takes it back and puts it on her wrist, even though it still fits awkwardly. Maybe she'll give it back to Lambert, next time she sees him.

There's a grim look on her face as Ignatius describes his escape attempt. So he hadn't meant to kill all those people... It's only recently been sinking in, how incredibly destructive his power is, and how even he can't control the extent of that destruction.

So they can return their borrowed power to Ignatius, but doing so will make them essentially powerless, at least in the case of someone like Rita. Except... no, she still has one thing. "...Take mine, too," she suddenly decides, reaching out to touch Ignatius's arm, now that he actually has those. "I've still got another option I can use in a fight."

In the meantime, she'll slip the visor back over her eyes and see if there's any new and pertinent information to be seen.

[scientificist]

"Go where? If the elevator is blocked." Herbert takes one more very brief sojourn just to reach into eggspace and leave his scalpel in there, by the door. "Ignatius, will leaving, pieces of you behind...negatively affect your escape?"