lostcarnival | ⇨ POLARIS 3.0

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⇨ POLARIS 3.0

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yukio is a liability in this fight. The chip in his head means he could be taken over by her at any time and could turn his weapons against the other members of the Carnival. But this is the big fight at the end of the story, like something out of a battle manga, and there's no way Yukio would just stand back and watch it happen.

She may be thirty feet tall and covered in metal and smoke, but Yukio is a sniper with a magical energy knockout rifle, so he uses it, getting into position and firing off a shot at her head.

It probably won't work, but it's worth a try.

For what it's worth, Rin sticks by his brother. No one knows him better, and if the Mother does decide to play dirty and take his body over again, he wants to be nearby so he can make sure she doesn't hurt anyone.

Or make him hurt himself.

Rin protects Yukio, but Nosh wants to defend Rin. She breaks free of her Pokéball and charges in, unleashing sonic blasts from the beats of her wings, a powerful Boomburst.

Uh.

No thanks!

Herbert blinks at the arachnobot shape that's just busted through the wall like an equally creepy if larger version of the Kool-Aid Man and then turns around and walks back into the tuck shop. He's not fooling himself that it's much safer in there than outside, but it makes him feel better to be out of the way. Getting under a counter of the shop, he wraps his wings and the boyfriend blanket around himself. Sorry, Lambert, he requires it.

The door's still open, so he has a very slight angle on the battle outside. Barely, but enough to see if everything's about to be on fire.

Ignatius hears Peridot, though it seems like he may not have needed all that much convincing. As soon as he sees the signs of the Mother breaking in, he's taking a step back and trying to access his magic - specifically, to spin himself some armor. He isn't completely sure how his power function anymore, so all he can do is attempt what he'd normally do and hope that it still works.

He raises a hand and waves it down his body, his physical form turning white and malleable, its outer edges forming a silhouette of new armor. The light disperses, and he's left in an entirely new gladiator-style set, with vapory white flame in the places where fur lining would typically be. He seems a little surprised like it's not quite the aesthetic he was expecting, but he doesn't let it stop him.

Receiving Gongenzaka's message, he summons the weapon that seems most appropriate: a glowing white spear, with a flaming aura that feels both hot and cool. The unfamiliarity of it causes him to hesitate, looking overwhelmed, but there's no time for hesitation.

"I'll keep her busy," he says, and leaps into the air to meet her, spear blazing.

Edited 2018-11-10 04:56 (UTC)

Yuya's seen enough Fae to be big. But when he snaps his attention around and scrambles closer to the edge to witness what just happened, he freezes. It's overwhelming, and for a moment Yuya feels like there might not be a lot of hope.

He looks back to Ignatius, as he summons the armor and a spear. Gongenzaka's message reaches him shortly after, and his eyes widen as Igantius bolts out.

He looks to Rita. "So, uh... you have any ideas?"

When the Mother of Invention stopped possessing Sans, it seemed... too easy. Somebody as powerful as the ruler of this place, stymied by something as little as sleeping powder? That, or maybe because Papyrus accidentally promised some kind of bargain with her. But that didn't bear thinking about, and he quickly and loudly concluded instead she must have left to pay attention to something more interesting. The almost immediate explosion of white light across the grassy field and distant water had seemed to confirm it.

But it turns out, not so. Papyrus isn't halfway across the skyway, with his sleeping brother slung across his back, when more lights start appearing on the far wall. Papyrus stops stares, squinting into the distance, in time to see her entrance.

It's big and obvious enough to see even from here, as she's big and obvious. And seemingly a robot, which he should have seen coming, and hopefully busy enough being very large and scary that she's not going to try getting in his brother's head again.

"Hey, uh, Sans?" He jostles his brother far more insistently, as much as he ever would have for a nightmare. "Now would be a very good time to wake up, if that's a thing you are doing! I think I need to go fight, and you shouldn't be left here alone."

It hasn't been long since he left Sans with his brother, just a few sparse minutes, but Tyki's made his way over with the intent of not drawing too much attention to himself just yet. He doesn't leap down from the skywalk just yet but finds himself near Eruka, his ears alert and raised as he takes in the sight of this monstrous yet beautiful fae. That's certainly some modification and he wonders how long she's been like this.

He knows participating in this fight makes him both an open target and a possible problem for the carnival but he can't ignore this one, not like the Manor, and he wants to see how it plays out most of all even if they fail. It's a thrill he can't shake, the need to known outweighing the risk and gamble.

Others are starting to fight and Ignatius was already leaping in. There's a Tease in one of his hands, already ready to manipulate it into a shield if need be. He really wants a cigarette right now.

Rita watches as Ignatius charges off after their foe. She's tempted to immediately go on the offensive herself, but the thought of getting controlled again makes her hesitate. Fortunately, that gives her a chance to catch Gongenzaka's message and Yuya's question.

She cups a hand under her chin as she answers him. "It won't be easy to break through that exterior of hers..." There are a few known techniques for using magic to break armour, but Rita doubts most conventional methods would work here. "I still have that mark you gave me. We could use it to boost a piercing attack of some kind, or..."

Wait, didn't she see someone hack through some incredibly strong metal wall not too long ago?

"Peridot!" she yells, looking to see that the gem in question is still nearby. "Do you still have that sword you were using earlier?"

Peridot stops concentrating on the metal chassis for the moment, ears pricking up as Rita calls her name. She turns to look at her, and then briefly, back at the Mother. She's probably pretty distracted by Ignatius at the moment, but even so, Peirdot doesn't want to risk shouting any information loud enough for her to hear. She bounds over to Rita and Yuya, making sure to keep a wary eye on the fae battle as she goes.

"Of course I do," she hisses urgently. The usefulness of the sword in this situation certainly hasn't escaped her attention. "The problem is I can't just go flinging it at her without some kind of plan in place first. The last time I tried that on a winter fae, she grabbed it from me and used it to totally mess up Jasper!"

And this time around, she doesn't have the Athenaeum's power of narrative to back her up in getting it back. A 30ft tall octo-bot with a magic sword that can slice through anything sounds like something they should very much try to avoid.

So that's a concern. Rita turns to look over the Mother's monstrous form as she thinks.

"What if you had the power of another fae boosting your flinging...?" she ponders. Then, without waiting for an answer, she reaches out to grab Peridot's wrist. "I'm gonna give you something. You have to accept. If you see an opportunity, call on Gild to give you strength."

Peridot will get the strange, spiritual sensation of being presented with a question: to accept or deny. Should she accept, there'll be a faint sense of magic being passed between them as a gold sigil briefly materializes, slides down Rita's arm and up Peridot's, and then vanishes again.

Yuusei has been sorely absent from a lot of the commotion going on, catching some of it by ear but otherwise electing to just not for a hot minute.

That election vanishes when the Mother appears in all her massive mechanical glory. Yuusei is all but awestruck by her appearance. Awestruck and horrified.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Herbert ducking back into the safety of the shop and follows quickly after him. He doesn't plan on being long.

"Herbert!" he calls with a sharp whisper. "If anyone ends up severely injured out there, can I bring them to you to take care of?"

Herbert is already curled up and hiding but...yeah, he hears Yuusei.

"It's not as if it's safe in here from...that," he responds, hoarse and quiet, half visible to Yuusei from his location. "But fine. Yes."

As Ignatius leaps to confront the Mother, Eruka blanches.

“Is he trying to get us all killed?!” Only Tyki can really hear her on account of being close by, and she turns to him with naked fear in her expression. She’s sensitive enough to magic to feel that there’s a lot of it in the air right now, like the static potential in the air before a storm.

“Why is he fighting her? We should just go.”

Peridot will feel that she has some hold on the metal, but it'd be hard to push against the Mother's own force of movement unless it was in a key moment. It's essentially just like having moderate telekinesis - she could sway movements, but probably not stop or create them outright. Meanwhile, Yukio's rifle shot will hit the Mother's head chassis and not do much but make her blink.

Meanwhile, Ignatius is getting in close, trying his best to draw the Mother's full attention by not giving her the chance to do anything but defend from him. He's smaller than her, but that's fine - size is an abstract thing for fae, anyway. He concentrates his energy into his spear, and focuses on trying to pierce that armor of hers.

It seems to catch her off guard, at first. She wasn't expecting Ignatius to be ready to fight, based on what she saw, and Creation's effects are still new to her. Yet, as Ignatius dives in and she is forced to ward him off, her expression lights up with absolute glee. They exchange blows, and finally one of her arm claws manages to grab Ignatius around the waist long enough to slow him down.

"You achieved fusion!" she says. "Such perfect equilibrium...!" She tries to bring him in close, just to look at him, but he wrenches at her mechanical fingers and pushes his way out. She grabs him again with a second arm. "How did this come to be? Was it the final push I gave you? "

"Let go of me," Ignatius growls, emitting a localized blast of raw elemental energy that shatters the mechanical fingers holding him, sending burning and frozen shrapnels of metal to the ground. She seems surprised, for a moment, but then just looks fascinated as Ignatius puts himself between her and the mortals he's trying to protect. She glances at him, and then the people watching.

"You're still trying to protect them, aren't you?" she observes. Her still functional robot arms raise, revealing laser blasters in their centers. "Well, why don't you try this?"

She fires randomly into the assembled carnival members, not trying to hit anyone in particular but instead to inflict as much chaos and raid wide damage as possible. Blasts will feel freezing to the point that they burn, and will be strong enough to launch people into the air and make craters in the ground.

Steven had been watching the entire Ignatius scenario from a polite distance, still recovering from the paralysis caused by his encounter with the staff members that caught him on his way to find his gem. He has his gem now, but it's still separate from his body, which is more than a little weird - he's used his plant magic to grow himself some clothing, and also to rope it into place with vines.

He's been feeling a bit foggy mentally as a result of everything, but when the Mother emerges, the chance to rest is over. He yelps as she begins to fire, leaping into the fray and summoning up as big of a shield as he can manage to shelter others behind. If you wanna duck behind him for safety, now's the time to do it!

"Quick, get behind me!" he yells to anyone nearby.

Edited 2018-11-10 23:22 (UTC)

Peridot lets out a little grunt of surprise when Rita grabs her arm. She accepts, of course, without even really understanding what she's agreeing to. She stiffens as the power flows into her, momentarily gripped by fear and uncertainty until, just as quickly as the sensation starts, it vanishes.

There isn't much time to contemplate that experience, or to ask Rita any follow up questions. Those laser blasts are coming in quick. Peridot is well used to hiding behind Steven in situations like this, so when he shouts out a warning, she's probably one of the first to dive in and take advantage of the cover.

"I'm going for the arms first," she says to anyone immediately close enough to hear her. "If anyone wants to try and cover me, that would be appreciated."

Reira, suffice to say, is not at the front of the chaos. That would be ridiculous, terrible, and over all unwise.

She is however within that tuckshop area. Before she can say much of anything to Herbert and the others in that area, she hears the sounds of on-coming chaos up ahead. With wide eyes, she immediately thrusts her arms forward and ducks her head, raising as large a shield as she can.

It can't exactly fill up the space of the entrance to the place- but it can at least protect...her? And maybe help divert a bit of damage that makes it this far back in the first place.

Gongenzaka meanwhile had been trying to get to the others near the fight. Key word trying- once the blasts come down, and immediately he brings his arms up to defend himself. It takes focus not to move, but by holding his stance, the force created from the blasts up ahead fail to drive him off and into the air.

...They do not fail to hurt however, and he grunts in pain as chunks of dirt scratch against his flesh arm and metal one alike. Boy, this Sucks. From his stiff position he tries to reach out to someone among the 'front-lines'- Yuuya, or anyone near him- Any luck on a plan??

He flashes the image of his mark. He's still got that if they need it! Though after a pause, the image of the mark dissolving into a magnifying glass scanning over the Mother comes to mind. Could it be worth using to seek out a decent point to focus on?

(She's Kinda Big.)

Yukio's shot does nothing, so he shifts his choice of weapon from rifle to bow. He turns sideways to limit his profile and manages to fire off two energy blasts aimed at a shoulder, in hopes that maybe his shots will find an underprotected joint.

And then a blast from her blows a crater in the ground right next to him and sends him to the floor, breaking his concentration. There's shattered flooring embedded in his leg and side and a laser burn to his tail, but he grabs for his bow and drags himself up again.

Edited 2018-11-10 23:44 (UTC)

Sans had been starting to come to as Papyrus shook him, but the loud explosions caused by the Mother's blasters startle him the rest of the way. He teleports a slight distance off of Papyrus's back as he wakes up, promptly landing on his back.

He looks in the direction of the sound, sockets wide as he scrambles to sit up. He has no idea how he got here.

"What the hey...?

"Yukio! Watch it!"

Rin dives out of the way, but Yukio gets nailed with shrapnel. Crap....

"We have to get more mobile, otherwise we're sitting chickens... Kuro!!"

(Sitting ducks.)

From nearby, Kuro darts, shifting to his giant form. Rin jumps on his back and calls to his brother, offering him a hand up.

"Can you shoot on the move?"

Syrlya stays out of sight until the blasts rumble, and there's screaming. With little time to spare he teleports back around to her front, in the crowd, narrowly avoiding getting slammed with falling debris as he ducks by Steven and drops the invisibility.

He looks over at Peridot from the other side of Steven, perking up when he recognizes the vorpal sword.

"I will. Her chassis is guarding her soul. If we can cut away through, then we can strike her soul with iron to kill her."

He points up to the skyways. "I was trying to get a better view of her, but from this level she's too large. Up there, however..."

Yuya watches from closer to the edge, which means he sees clearly the blasts coming around them. He staggers back, closer to Rita while Peridot bolts to Steven, and holds his hands up to project his shield over them as large as he can to take the debris.

They're on an upper level, though, and there's no telling how long the floor will hold under them under laser and possibly the ceiling collapsing. "We should move!"

Up here he can see just about everything including the smaller forms of others trying to make some dent within the Mother of Invention's body. A little bit of him is confused but he understands the most of it given Gon's projections though he's not aware that was him that did it.

"Go where?" is his honest answer, not sure if even he has clearance to teleport them out that high. "We can't run now that she's here." Or they could but they'd lose a lot in the process. Tyki personally wouldn't mind to some degree.

He growls a little at everything going on, his fingers flexing downwards as long wings unfold from around his fingers, the Tease in his hand manipulating and turning white to form a large shield in front of him. He's rarely on the defensive but he's dragging one up now due to those laser blasts. He snaps his attention towards Eruka and snatches her around the waist without much apology. She's being dragged behind his shield against his body whether she likes it or not.

Well, shit just went down for real. Zangetsu doesn't even have time to check on what happened to Ignatius before the Mother of Invention is just fucking busting through the wall. Whatever happened to Ignatius, it had completely changed the feel of his soul -- but by the same token, he's so much stronger. Strong enough to give the Mother a run for her money.

Power restored, Zangetsu takes to the air, jumping on the air itself and dashing past the Mother so he can get a good look at her. He lands next to Syrlya just as he mentions getting a better view.

"Need a lift, then? Ain't as glamorous as riding a dragon or something, but I'm a lot more maneuverable."

Speaking of dragons... there's a far different rumble, but only in Yugo's ears as the Mother of Invention shoots all of those laser blasts everywhere. Lots of shields going up and while Yugo doesn't have one, there's a certain spell in his arsenal, that while normally would be entirely useless here, feels different.

And a certain card spirit can sense it.

Enough of the sidelines. Enough of being helpless when their partner falls into peril! The feelings echo loudly and clearly enough for the teen that he reaches for the familiar magic and instead of a puny pet-sized summon....

Nay. It's an entire dragon- Clear Wing Synchro Dragon who immediately moves to turtle over Yugo to protect him from the flying debris. Then with a roar once opportunity strikes, returns fire at one of the mechanical arms with a shot of their own plasma blast.

"Woah...!" This is really new and confusing and exciting, but the ongoing fight and the strain he can feel to keep this summon going tells Yugo immediately there's no time to gawk at all.

Edited 2018-11-11 00:45 (UTC)

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BATTLE MAP HERE: https://i.imgur.com/c4AIsxP.png

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shoves two in one because one isn't really doing much :|

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