[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Production[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Level 5 Goldlewis (76/50)
Roland’s [@Archmage MC], Partitio’s [@Dark Cloud], Goldlewis Dickinson
[b]Word Count:[/b] 765[/center]

A massive crash the trio of Seekers plowed through the glass front of the Production head office with [url=https://i.imgur.com/h7FXRwd.png]Goldlewis and his coffin[/url] in the lead. He, Roland, and Partitio slid to a stop amidst the shattered glass, leaving behind the [url=https://i.imgur.com/FahMcmV.png]jump pad[/url] they’d forcibly twisted to point in the right direction from the cooling center’s upper balcony, and looked around. The interior of the Production center’s [url=https://i.imgur.com/YpD6reS.png]pinnacle[/url] turned out to be quite futuristic, full of hexes and glowing lights around the spot where the Seekers landed. There even seemed to be a technological throne up here, floating off the ground with the help of anti-gravity. When he turned his attention down the stairs, though, the top floor’s design took quite a turn. Most of it appeared to be a big, empty square that this section with the throne looked over, almost like a colosseum arrayed before an emperor’s personal viewing box. Of course, he couldn’t miss the huge woman standing in the way, either, whose back had been turned to the windows until their sudden destruction caused her to whirl around.

This must be Rekka, Goldlewis knew. Though her reputation preceded her, seeing her in person was something else. Her bulging white collared shirt, little round glasses, and loose red-and-yellow striped tie were the only pretenses she bothered making about being an office worker, and even then she wore a sleeveless red longcoat with giant zippers over it. Her ostentatiously-patterned gloves and pants, her lace-up boots with red steel toes, and her giant golden belt harkened to her true calling: wrestling. In her voluminous side-swept hairdo were spiky, colorful streaks in red, yellow, and white, and little fangs visibly poked upward from her lower jaw. Most incredible were her height and brawn, very comparable to Goldlewis himself, but having already removed her gloves he could also see her enormous mechanical forearms. With those added on, she looked even less like a [url=https://i.imgur.com/eO3tiqI.png]wrestling businesswoman[/url] and more like a [url=https://i.imgur.com/tjVtSF4.png]gargantuan grappler[/url]. “HEY!” she exclaimed in a thick Texan accent. “The hell’d you do that for, you lookin’ to throw down, too?”

“Now, hold your horses, ma’am,” Goldlewis told her, holding out his hand. “Couldn’t ya give us a chance to talk things through?”

“Well now, ain’t this somethin’! Another big ol’ southerner!” Down in the middle of the arena stood Sundowner, just as big and bald-headed as the veteran remembered him from last night. He shared his grin between Goldlewis and Rekka. “Welcome to the dance floor, partner. Me an’ this belle were just about to have ourselves a good old-fashioned hoedown, heheh.”

Rekka sneered. “I ain’t one much for dancin’, but if you wanna couple tickets to the gunshow.” She flexed her arms, bursting out of her sleeves. “I’m more’n happy to oblige!”

Goldlewis only gave the two a stern glare in reply. “Southerners we might be, but if even half the stuff I’ve been hearin’ about your companies is true, you brutes ain’t any kinfolk of mine.”

Sundowner laughed. “Hah! You sure you’re up for this, old-timer? Ah, well.” As Goldlewis watched DespoRHado’s leader grabbed and ripped off his enormous trench coat. Beneath lay a hulking cyborg mass of black armor, red lights, and little gray plates almost like scale mail, all overlaid by another coat, this one of sleek white atop gray hexes. His forearms in particular bulged with heavy white braces that glowed with blue light, and when his black mask extended around his mouth, white clasps also closed around his eyes like goggles. Out from behind him unfolded six red-and-black plates on mechanical arms for even more protection, creating an formidable powerhouse somewhere between [url=https://i.imgur.com/RzcwlIm.png]scourge of the south[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/CfnrK9N.png]titan of the north[/url]. Laughing, he drew two gigantic machetes, one in each hand. “The more the merrier!”

“You’d do well to address me as ‘sir’,” Goldlewis snapped at him, hoisting up his coffin. “And this ain’t my first rodeo, hoss.”

“Finally ready to CRUMBLE?” Rekka leaped from the raised section, sailed over Sundowner’s head, and came down on his other side with a superslam. Then she turned and pounded her fists together. [i]BANG_BANG[/i]. “Then let’s GET IT ON!”

Without hesitating Goldlewis jumped down. He’d come here expecting a fight, but now this was personal.

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jynTNYSKNuk&ab_channel=Crimson][img]https://i.imgur.com/h9Nttas.png[/img][/url][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-soaO2lf6Q&ab_channel=CaseTech279][img]https://i.imgur.com/3iq2JzA.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Research and Development[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Geralt’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Tora, Sandalphon
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1391 (+3)[/center]

Macaron mulled over Sandalphon’s words as the team jogged up through the server room’s spiral staircase. “Huh, so you’re essentially working to reform DespoRHado from the inside?”

“Essentially,” the archangel replied, conversing second-hand with the engineer through the communication glyph still affixed to Midna. “I have no personal or idealistic stake in the PMC itself, nor any connections with its major shareholder, Senator Armstrong. With the exception of Khamsin, who is more of an upjumped grunt, and Samuel Rodriguez, who joined due to his belief that ‘the victor is justified’, the Winds of Destruction form a tight-knit group. The rest of the organization is merely a tool, including myself. I believe they think I am merely a high-functioning machine myself, which is not the case, as my somewhat stoic manner might imply.”

Sandalphon went quiet for a moment, switching to another team’s line to give them some advice before switching back. “Despite my purely functional role in the organization, I recognized that the sheer amount of resources at its disposal means that it could achieve great things for Midgar and its people if it were more intelligently, morally, and efficiently managed. That is why I concocted this scheme to slowly shift the balance of DespoRHado from cyborgs, whose enlistment involves a great deal of cruelty, to androids, as well as to slowly assume more power and authority. Shortcut, on your right.” She paused again to speak with another team, during which time the Seekers used her shortcut to exit the server room and enter one last testing chamber. “I did by working harder and for longer hours until the easiest option for them was to simply give me as much responsibility as they could. I also overemphasized the threat Vandelay posed to DespoRHado, though, hoping for an opportunity just like this to expedite my plans.”

“Pretty smart,” Macaron mused. “Y’know, we’re a lot alike, I think. Both stuck with a job in a terrible company that we know could be so much better. At least you had the wherewithal to take action.”

“It’s never too late to begin,” CNMN pointed out. As the team stopped in front of one of the walls, the robot knocked on it with his fist. “And you can start with this wall, sir. According to the schematics I dug up, Zanzo’s personal laboratory should be just on the other side.”

Macaron nodded, filled with determination. “I’m on it!” He got ready, flexing his fast, and punched. “HM!”

He, Geralt, Midna, Tora, Mayer, her Robotters, and Clara all burst into a big [url=https://i.imgur.com/ZaZch0L.png]metallic room[/url], warmly lit by the glow of the facility’s power-sustaining magma core behind the glass on the other side. The sudden, tremendous noise and commotion came so unexpectedly that Zanzo, standing in front of the glass, instinctively adopted an exaggerated pose of surprise before course-correcting into a more normal one. ‘Normal’, of course, being relative for a man such as he. Clad in a sleeveless lab coat lined with gold and crowned by an absurd circular collar, he boasted arms and legs of shiny blue metal and a hairdo almost as wild as the look on his face. The cord connected to his head, vibrant green like his mohawk and goatee, thrashed around like spider legs as he gesticulated.

“So you’ve finally found me, DespoRHado dogs!” he exclaimed. “Well, you may have made it here, but here’s where your merry little journey…wait.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not the ones who’ve been tearing up my labs!

Tora laughed nervously. “Uh, yes, that not us in slightest, meh…”

“Well then, who in the world are-” Zanzo blinked as he recognized Macaron, even if only just. “...Oh, you! I was meaning to send you an email or something, but this works, too. So listen, even though I pulled money from the employee bonuses to help fund my latest AWESOME idea, it wasn’t enough, so I’m gonna need you to-”

“You did WHAT!?” Macaron clapped both massive hands to his head in dismay, just about falling over.

Zanzo raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter, you feeling alright? Just so you know, sick days need to be submitted four months in advance. Ah, we’ll talk later. As for you…” He squinted at Mayer, clearly not remembering her in the slightest. “Uhh…keep up the good work with your, uh, ferrets or whatever.”

Mayer crossed her arms, a little offended. “They’re clearly otters, my guy.”

“I said ‘or whatever’, didn’t I?” Zanzo rolled his eyes indignantly, which happened to land on Clara. “Wait, what’re you doing here?”

“Um, I work here?” Clara scratched her head nervously. “A-actually, Mr. Zanzo, I was hoping to talk to you about these things I heard about called ‘child labor laws’...?”

The green-haired inventor groaned. “Ugh, for the last time, you don’t technically work here if I don’t pay you!” He shook his head. “The bottom line is, where’s Mon-”

For the second time Zanzo got interrupted, this time by a giant blue HG-0M unit smashing through a different wall. It slumped down in the debris, offline, and from the hole leading to the AR labs stepped a lone figure. He possessed an almost completely cybernetic body, its exterior black with a slight bluish tinge, painted in DespoRHado red but with glowing green rings on them, three on each bicep and thigh, one on each forearm and calf, and two in an X on his chest. Around his waist hung a belt with two huge sais in the back beneath two sheathed katanas, and on his thighs lay knife racks. His only visible skin was his lower face, since a rounded module with three vertical green lines covered the rest, and a mix of black an white hair spilled out from the back. Part [url=https://i.imgur.com/qMkiisH.png]vicious nihilist[/url] and part [url=https://i.imgur.com/OkuyWz3.png]enigmatic swordsman[/url], he climbed down the HG-0M unit and slowly approached the others.

Though surprised once again, Zanzo recovered quickly. “...So you’ve finally found me, DespoRHado dogs!” he exclaimed. “Or…dog!”

“I am Monsoon of the Winds of Destruction,” the newcomer declared, his voice coarse and snakelike. “I learned long ago that this world, and all its people are diseased. And yet I’m always finding greater depths to which they can sink.” He glanced at the Seekers, frowning, then back at his primary target. “Zanzo…feasting on the weak and powerless, feeding them in droves to your machine of development without a shred of remorse. At least you’ll be able to die,” He drew his sais, spinning them slowly in his hands. “With a clear conscience.”

Zanzo posed with one hand covering his face. “Spoken like a true lackey. A measly little footsoldier like you couldn’t possibly understand what it takes to be a genius!”

Monsoon smirked. “Now there’s a pretty meme. Exquisite!”

“Besides,” Zanzo continued, “Who’s to say I’ll be the one biting the dust? I can [i]stand[/i] up for myself, you know…” Robotic outlines began to appear around him: a [url=https://i.imgur.com/dPPfvrR.png]lithe sharpshooter[/url], an [url=https://i.imgur.com/3nOTvrR.png]airborne medic[/url], a [url=https://i.imgur.com/FlEvzEU.png]massive obstacle[/url], and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/kTaphHp.png]deadly warrior[/url]. Tora blinked in surprise at what looked disturbingly like Strikers, wondering if the Seekers didn’t have these two that outnumbered after all. As Zanzo’s shoulders shook with laughter, they formed up around him, striking a dynamic group pose. “So if anyone’s dying,” Zanzo declared, dramatically pointing right at Monsoon. “It’s YOU!”

[center][img]https://thenerdstash.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/hi-fi-rush-how-to-beat-zanzo-boss.jpg[/img][/center]

“Looks like we’re doing this!” Mayer declared cheerfully. Her Robotters tensed up, ready for action, and she raised her Short Circuit. “Good luck everyone~”

“Ohh, man,” Macaron moaned, reluctantly raising his fists. Tora readied his hammer and shield as well, saying nothing. As much as he wished that Poppi was here, he knew he should save the pining for later. For now, it was time to fight.

Monsoon turned up his nose. “The wind blows. The rain falls. And the strong…” He brought his facemask down to cover his lower jaw, his sais held tight. “Prey upon the weak.”

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-rj8HVW3PQ&ab_channel=Crimson][img]https://i.imgur.com/6uUhXjQ.png[/img][/url][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw7qog-z4p4&ab_channel=CaseTech279][img]https://i.imgur.com/ofJIqAe.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Security[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Pit’s [@Yankee], Benedict’s [@Dark Cloud], Giovanna, Sandalphon
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1569 (+3)[/center]

For once, no complications arose to make the Seekers’ commute any more difficult, so they arrived at Security Wing 2 with no issue. The L.I.F.T. came to a safe stop at the platform and the team disembarked promptly. That vehicle would be going no farther, however, as Giovanna could see the wreckage of another L.I.F.T. on the tracks ahead. When she and the others advanced across the station toward the security tower proper, they found the smoldering, smoking wreckage of many Vandelay robots, be they armed combat bots like SBRs or harmless workers like TECs, PGRs, or VA-SERs. The handful of dead cyborgs and androids left no doubt as to what happened here. “Looks like the DespoRHado crew made quite an entrance,’ Giovanna remarked.

As he ran patch the scrap, Chai gave it a good look. “It’s weird not having to do a fight myself for once.” He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching him, though.

“Just get to the door. I’ll hack it open, and we’ll make our way…” When 808 and the others got closer, Peppermint saw that the console had already been smashed and the doors frozen solid, then smashed open wide enough to admit someone -or several someones- inside. “...through.”

Giovanna spotted movement through the opening.  Down the hallway, what looked like a figure in a tan trench coat and hat ducked around a corner, disappearing from view. She launched into action and ran after it, barely stopping to squeeze through the gap. “C’mon!”

After a few twists and turns through the halls, encountering no enemies but never quite escaping that sensation of being watched, the Seekers reached the interior of Security Wing 2, emerging onto a semicircular balcony. Within the tower itself lay a massive cylindrical space, dimly lit, with columns of green code flowing up and down the black sections of the walls. If Giovanna had to pick any one detail that she liked the most, though, she had to go with the tower’s rotating central pillar and the utterly absurd number of eye-searingly bright red lasers projected outward from it.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QZncxfu.png[/img][/center]

Both Chai and 808 shared an expression of terrified shock, and Giovanna was only marginally better at hiding hers. “You’ve gotta be kidding,” she complained. “This is serious overkill.”

“Korsica’s office is at the very top,” Sandalphon informed everyone, displaying a readout of the tower’s interior. “There’s a way, but you’ll have to contend with those lasers, as well as any resistance on the way up.”

808 locked onto a disc-shaped lift directly ahead of the team. “Well, what about that?” Peppermint asked. When Chai walked over, the cat-orb popped out into the shape of an actual cat, and laid its paw on the control mechanism. “...Looks like it’s still operational.”

“It better be, dude!” A TEC unit that had been sitting out of sight by the door piped up. “Korsica disabled elevator access to keep that weird chick from gettin’ up to her, but she, like, found a way anyway. Just about fried my circuits gettin’ it working again, man.”

Giovanna gave a wry smile. “Wow, is getting somewhere gonna be simple for once?”

As if on cue, the Seekers suddenly became aware of movement on all sides. Over the edge of the balcony clambered at least a dozen strange black robots, their red-eyed pods ringed by three very humanoid arms apiece. There came a sound behind them as the trench-coated figure dropped down behind them on bizarre hand-legs, its head lolling weirdly, before it cast aside its coat to reveal three more [url=https://i.imgur.com/9IUKiuq.png]Dwarf Gekkos[/url] stacked on top of one another. Four others formed up into [url=https://i.imgur.com/dsD1xjC.png]pairs[/url] as the DespoRHado drones spread out to surround the team.

“Aw, man. People really have to stop saying stuff like that,” Chai groaned.

“Everyone, on the lift!” Sandalphon urged them, her tone as imperative as it gets.

The team made a mad dash for the elevator, shooting, slicing, and kicking Dwarf Gekkos on the way. Right after Benedict hobbled aboard, 808 slammed a paw down on the controls, and the floor began to rise. It quickly peeled away from the tower entrance, and though a few pesky Gekkos clung on, most of them got left behind. Gio kicked one of the little UGs off like a soccer ball, and Chai happily took care of the rest in a quick game of whack-a-mole. Their ride carried the Seekers swiftly and safely past the huge laser grids, and in no time the elevator came to rest snugly inside a ring-shaped platform directly in front of a set of [url=https://i.imgur.com/ePZUvyl.png]locked doors[/url], with just the label that everyone wanted to see. They also saw that a nearby vent, and a needlessly large one at that, had been ripped off its hinges. “Mistral made quite the entrance. That’ll be your ticket in, too.”

This was it, the point of no return. If anyone had preparations to make, they had to make them now, and if anyone couldn’t make the jump over to the vent, they simply wouldn’t make it. Chai downed a small, bright green energy drink and rolled his shoulders. “Alright, everyone ready to rock?”

He grappled to the vent, and Giovanna followed him with a jump, airdash, and triple flying kick to close the gap. Soon she was sprinting after him beneath grates and jumping over pipes. “Remember, we need Korsica’s cooperation,” Peppermint reminded Chai as the team went along. “There’s no other way to get her SPECTRA password.”

Her reminder threatened his composure. “You keep telling me that, but we still don’t have a plan! What am I doing?”

Peppermint’s reply sounded less than confident. “...You’re gonna have to wing it, and…talk to her.”

“Remember the last time I tried to talk it out? Didn’t end well,” Chai muttered.

“What’s all this, now?” Giovanna commented. “You guys wanna try reasoning with a Vandelay boss?”

“Well, Korsica’s pretty reasonable. I don’t think she’s totally bought into what Vandelay’s doing. In fact, I think they’re keeping her in the dark,” Peppermint replied.

Sandalphon put Korsica’s file on display for Gio to see. “Level-headed, hard-working, responsible, no sense of humor. Prizes efficiency. All the qualities of an ideal boss. Compared to the caricatures rounding out Vandelay’s roster of bosses, she seems rather normal. It may be possible to communicate with her if you can keep Mistral from killing her.”

Giovanna pursed her lips. “I’ll keep that in mind.” A moment later, everyone came to a giant hole in the bottom of the vent. The voices of two women could be heard below, one with a Scottish accent, the other mostly French, albeit tinged by something else Gio couldn’t quite place. Without any hesitation Chai dropped down, and Gio followed right after him. They dropped down into a [url=https://i.imgur.com/UKyMF38.png]clean white room[/url] full of security screens, adjoining offices, and elevated sections, with a large glass circle in the center over machinery and ringed by blue light.

She also spotted the VIPS. Korsica was a tall woman in her early thirties, with poofy spikes of fuchsia hair done up in a ponytail, a red jacket with rolled-up sleeves and a big yellow collar over a white turtleneck, jean shorts, black tights, and white boots. Built into her attire were a number of segments of sleek, blue-accented white armor of an unknown, possible alien material, most notably her shoulder pads, her gauntlets, and the almost beak-like visor she wore like a baseball cap. She looked somewhere between a [url=https://i.imgur.com/5L6PrJc.png]consummate professional[/url] and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/4Y72dQV.png]graceful destructor[/url]. Opposite her stood Mistral in a tight, high tech suit, half black with vivid red DespoRHado branding and half white with bright blue tech lines, though the port-covered  apparatus around her neck and back was all black. The vermillion hair that lay over one eye grew straighter and blonder the longer it got, fanning out in the back to reach her waist. Around her danced a pack of Dwarf Gekkos. Though by all accounts a [url=https://i.imgur.com/qlwJf8D.png]purposeless killer[/url], her appearance also evoked an [url=https://i.imgur.com/MJ3OYZO.png]icy secret agent[/url].

“Great, more intruders,” Korsica groaned. “Like this wasn’t enough of a mess to begin with.”

Mistral smirked. “Our little chat was just about done with, anyway.”

“...Quite.”

“Wait, we’re fighting already!?” Chai exclaimed in dismay.

Both women moved at once. Mistral’s Dwarf Gekkos swarmed her in a massive dogpile, pulling off their own arms to jam them into the ports in her harness. Korsica drew her collapsed batons and leaped into the air to extend them, striking a pose surrounded by lightning. As she landed the Gekko cores rained down around Mistral, their arms both attached to her body and formed into a pole. With a smile the killer plucked a throwing knife from her leg brace and passed around the arms until one in her weapon took it and held it straight, creating a spear. Chai assembled his guitar, assuming a defensive posture, and Rei swirled behind Gio as she prepared to fight.

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-rj8HVW3PQ&ab_channel=Crimson][img]https://i.imgur.com/14bymjl.png[/img][/url][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB-xKoI8URA&ab_channel=CaseTech279][img]https://i.imgur.com/NtHDbgK.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Finance[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Blazermate’s [@Archmage MC], Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Karin’s [@Zoey Boey], Sandalphon
[b]Word Count:[/b] 751 (+2)[/center]

Moving quickly, the Seekers left the well-decorated overlook behind. At the end of the hallway they emerged into a [url=https://i.imgur.com/i3x2bTa.png]huge office[/url] decked out even more lavishly than the entryway, with fancy light fixtures, enormous framed panels around Japanese text, giant scrolling stock price tickers, and two rows of samurai-themed WA-ES units in display cases. At least, that had been the case before Khamsin arrived to carve a warpath across the room, awakening every single WA-ES in the process. Once inadvertently broken out they fought back against the marauding mech, a couple at a time doing dash-slashes past Khamsin while the rest shot sword waves from a distance. Though much less powerful and durable than the intruder, they made Khamsin work for it, and by the time his enormous axe ground the last one to scrap metal the soldier ended up a little short on breath.

“Looks like you made it,” Sandalphon observed. “Good thing Roquefort had some extra security on hand to slow Khamsin down. Be advised, I don’t have a lot of data on him. Just a general bad reputation. Smart, but short tempered, very money-minded. Described as a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

“Hah!” Khamsin laughed, stomping through the mess toward the desk on the far side. Blazermate remembered Khamsin’s war machine well from their encounter in Detroit: a an [url=https://i.imgur.com/GLQq7uh.png]engine of destruction[/url] blended with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/XOjAcGz.png]bovine titan[/url], every bit as imposing as it was enormous. “How’d you like that, little man? Looks like your last line of defense just broke down. Now all you got left is last words!”

The man seated behind the desk in front of him curled his lip. Though short, stout, bearded, and balding, something about the white-haired [url=https://i.imgur.com/PQ69cvu.png]Roquefort[/url] seemed off. Maybe it was how he just sat there as a walking tank with a rocket-propelled chainsaw axe wreaked havoc in his expensive office, or the strange blue glow in his eyes behind Galeem’s glaze of red, or the bright pink tie worn just low enough to expose some chest hair. His slacks and suit vest were an odd mix of purple and peach, with a fancy cape thrown over his shoulder, lending him the semblance of an [url=https://i.imgur.com/7t8vzB3.png]ominous dandy[/url]. “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” he told Khamsin, his voice a grouchy British growl. “It’d be a waste of time telling you, though. And do you know what time is? MONEY! And I’m not about to waste any more of that.”

With a last massive footfall the mech stopped in front of Roquefort’s desk. “I’m gonna waste [i]you[/i],” he declared, revving his axe like a motorcycle.

“Well then. You’ll have to tell me how it feels…” The glorified accountant slowly stood. “To underestimate someone.”

Roquefort jumped on top of his desk and, much to everyone’s surprise, howled. As his voice echoed through the chamber, a third of his personal shields discharged, slamming into Khamsin and inflicting him with paralysis. Then he began to transform. His mechanical body began to open up and reconfigure, his limbs lengthening dramatically as extra armor swiveled and clicked into place. Blue energy claws flared from new digitigrade legs and powerful arms, and as Roquefort smirked, armor closed around his upper body to form the torso of what could only be described as a giant wolf, tail and all. A mass of parts deployed upward and settled into the shape of a head, ears and fangs extending. Plates of purple and gray settled over a mesh of artificial sinew, orange with teal and white wires, and gray armguards plus a matching collar settled into place. Taking control of the exoskeleton, Roquefort turned his face, half-masked in teal plate, upward. An ear-rattling howl resounded from the mechanical intersection of [url=https://i.imgur.com/LG8nNAZ.png]apex predator[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/LBXBx0W.png]unchained berserker[/url].

“That explains that expression I mentioned earlier,” Sandalphon mentioned idly. “This may be somewhat difficult.”

“Shit!” Khamsin yelled as he got his mech under control, stumbling backward. Roquefort now stood as tall as he did, if not taller. He barely brought up his axe in time to block before his opponent swiped him with a massive claw and sent him skidding backward with a chuckle. Inside his cockpit, Khamsin gritted his teeth. “Laugh while you can, freak! I’ll be picking that ugly mug out of my chainsaw’s teeth!”

“Talk is cheap, jarhead,” Roquefort leered at him. “Put your money where your mouth is!”

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vp_4vc-btI&ab_channel=Crimson][img]https://i.imgur.com/FkcX2T8.png[/img][/url][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHeGZoWl0g&ab_channel=DJReAct][img]https://i.imgur.com/Lfn24FI.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Signal Tower[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Raz’s [@Truthhurts22], Roxas’ [@Double], Sakura’s [@Zoey Boey], Sandalphon
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1012 (+2)[/center]

After Sakura’s question about Strikers, the short ride up to the Signal Tower’s actual entrance grew quiet. The young Seekers weren’t anxious to broach conversation with this dangerous, self-assured stranger. Sandalphon, meanwhile, stood in the safety and privacy of her control center aboard the DespoRHado dropship back at Circuit Royal, with 2B and 9S newly returned from their flight mission for extra protection. In addition to keeping track of the other four missions on top of this one, including both their statuses and any conversations going on in her glyph’s vicinity, she’d continue to provide assistance to DespoRHado itself. The PMC’s cyborgs might not enjoy the archangel hovering over them, so to speak, but the androids still needed her support. Even after withdrawing all the androids she possibly could to the dropship, that meant a lot of balls to keep in the air, even for a juggler of her caliber.

With a moment to breathe at least, she gulped down her newest coffee and set the empty cup by the standing desk alongside the others. While the press arrived a while ago, the authorities appeared alongside them. Both of those posed a huge problem. Regardless of this raid’s outcome, the optics would be bad, but the Winds of Destruction went ahead with it anyway. They probably reasoned that DespoRHado had the power to simply do what it wanted, but Sandalphon didn’t think so. Peace Preservation might be content with the perimeter they set up, but the moment any Scarlet Guardians or Turks arrived, she’d really need to worry. Assuming they hadn’t already. The PMC’s dropship wasn’t exactly subtle, either. Sandalphon sighed, rubbing her temples. After this operation, DespoRHado as Midgar knew it would cease to exist. If she could pick up the pieces like she planned, no trace of the private military company once known as Desperado Enforcement would exist. Only the android element, derived from YoRHa, and whatever Unmanned Gears could be retrofitted with android intelligence. It was all a lot to deal with. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone better to do it.

After another couple seconds of thought, Sandalphon opened the line to Roxas again. “Come in, Skywatch. I was hoping I could speak directly with Samuel Rodriguez.”

Back on the elevator, the swordsman lifted an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

Sandalphon’s voice replied from the glyph. “You strike me as somewhat different, so I wanted to ask. For what reason have you chosen to cast your lot in with DespoRHado?”

“Oh my, how intimate. Is this not out of line with your operating procedures, ‘Halo’?” Sam joked, smiling slyly. “Relax, I kid. I don’t mind answering, it’s quite simple, really.” He leaned on the elevator’s wall, his hand rested on his scabbard. “I once waged quite the war. A one-man army, you could see. Dedicated to the pursuit of what I believed to be justice. Killing people who needed to be killed. I never fooled myself into thinking I was a good man, but I hoped that by the time I finally died, I’d have made the world a better place.” Sam scratched his chin. “That changed when I met Armstrong. I finally lost. My life, my mission, were in another man’s hands. And I learned that in the end, only the victor can decide what’s right. The loser dies, his ideals along with him, and the victor goes on to make his ideals manifest. I don’t know what Vandelay wants or believes in, but if he dies by my blade, it’s all for nothing, isn’t it? And if I should fall, DespoRHado made a mistake challenging him.” He glanced around at Raz, Sakura, and Roxas. “Remember that, kids. If your ideals are worth anything, you’d better prove it. You’d better win.”

By that time, the elevator was slowing down, almost to the top. With Sam in earshot, Sandalphon kept quiet, and left the implication of the swordsman’s words implicit: that if he could be beaten, he could be swayed.”

With Sam moving quickly at the forefront, the team entered the Signal Tower. Contrary to the building’s lower levels, which were still under construction as the Seekers had seen, the interior looked pretty close to completion. All done up in dark gray with red highlights, it funnily enough matched DespoRHado’s barding better than Vandelay Technology’s, but at least it matched Kale himself.

“Took you long enough,” he complained to the newcomers, turning around to face them from where he stood by the giant SPECTRA control terminal. “I have to say, a corporate takeover wasn’t on my itinerary for today. Shinra really got you guys feeling insecure, huh?”

Sam shrugged, putting his hand on his sword. “Vandelay, DespoRHado. It was always going to come to this. Town’s not big enough for the two of us, as they say.”

In the ensuing lull in the conversation, Raz took his chance to speak up. "Vandelay! We know about your schemes, working with Konoe and Calvert! We don't want to hurt you, all we want is information. We can protect you from guys like him" He pointed at Sam, who pretended to look indignant. "If you help us back!"

Kale looked surprised. “Kids these days,” he complained. “Always getting into stuff they shouldn’t. Well, let’s get this over with.” With a sigh, he threw off his suit and coat, revealing a sleek dark gray cyborg body with red accents, swathes of light gray and a bright blue reactor in his chest. He [url=https://i.imgur.com/mmrHLcp.png]raised his hand[/url] to shoot a hilt from his wrist, and when he caught it a crossguard extended to protect his hand while a blue beam sword blazed from its end. “Loose lips sink ships, after all.” Then a gray mask assembled on his face, bearing a single blunt horn on his forehead and no other features but a jagged grin, completing the parallels with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/6qtc38b.png]peerless swordsman[/url]

“Hah! I’ll take this dance!” Narrowing his eyes, Sam drew his katana and dropped into a half-crouched stance, ready for action.

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHeGZoWl0g&ab_channel=DJReAct][img]https://i.imgur.com/03xMDGO.png[/img][/url][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oStwVOZl6YU&ab_channel=CaseTech279][img]https://i.imgur.com/c0UqmMO.png[/img][/url][/center]

[center][h3]The Under - Pizza Tower[/h3]
Level 10 Nadia (234/100)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Rubick’s [@Scarifar], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2041[/center]

The slugfest with Pizza Head’s latest lackeys kicked off right away, and though action in the corner of her eyes told Nadia that her friends were busy lending a hand, at the moment she couldn’t afford to pay any attention to anyone’s fight but her own. In short order the very average-sized catgirl found herself staring down all three beady-eyed, slavering heads of an obscenely Big Dog all on her lonesome. They all seemed to want a piece of her, and as the monster plodded its ungainly, tumorous mass toward her the metal of its big, digger-like lower jaws jostled against one another to create a hair-raising chorus of loud clangs. Nadia grimaced. “Maybe we could talk about this?” she suggested. “Don’t wanna bark up the wrong three…”

In response Big Dog began to spin, instantly picking up enough speed to become a top-heavy gray and yellow tornado. “Oh boy.” Nadia crouched down to spring, ready if the cyclone stormed her way, but instead the monster let fly out a barrage of slow red projectiles. Though they moved at a leisurely pace, Big Dog belted out six at a time with enough spread to make their paths unpredictable, and they quickly began to pollute the air. The feral quickly backed up to the point where the shots could be dodged more easily, but at this distance, just a foot away from the rooftop arena’s edge, she couldn’t launch any attacks of her own. Well, except one. Nadia closed one eye and took aim with her bait launcher, patiently dodging a couple orbs until she got a clean shot. “Nice to ‘meat’ you!” Grinning, she pulled the trigger and slapped Big Dog right in the kisser with a succulent slab of raw meat. It did no damage, but it did distract the mammoth mutt, which stopped spinning to snap the sneak up. Nadia laughed aloud when its three sets of eyes bugged out at the sight of the burly tiger that manifested in front of it. As her summon savaged the beast with its claws, shattering one of its eight dog-head icons, Nadia dashed across the tower to take the fight to her target.

To her surprise, her tiger vanished sooner than expected, and it left Big Dog behind in much better shape than the feral would’ve hoped. Just how beefy was this thing? Without giving Nadia the courtesy of an answer, Big Dog started doling out missiles instead. It fired off three at a time in rapid succession, forcing Nadia to take evasive action as she made her approach. “Where the hell are these coming from!?” Exploiting the gaps, she managed to close the distance until she opted to cover the final stretch with a jump into blood-propelled airdash. A missile to the shoulder cut her flight short, demolished one of her eight bell icons, and sent her sprawling in a burst of smoke and flame.  It also hurt a whole lot, and Nadia’s vision swam as she tried to spring back to her feet. “Ow, ow, jeez,” she groaned, her hand on her shoulder. After blinking she noticed her body flashing still, which baffled and distracted her long enough that she only noticed another missile headed her way in time to block. Unfortunately for her, the chip damage chopped off another eighth of her lift, leaving her with just seventy-five percent left. “Nyaaagh!” she yowled, only barely staying on her feet. Those flashes happened again, but Nadia also realized something that worried her way more: her new wounds weren’t healing.

A chill shot down her spine as her gaze returned to Big Dog, already sending more missiles on their way. Filled with panic, Nadia dodged like her life depended on it, sprinting on all fours in a wide arc around her foe despite how close it put her to another fight. This was bad. Very bad. Her regeneration was everything to her, and if she couldn’t take hits like a champ, this could go south real fast. The Koopas’ brawl with Grovetender ended up cutting her off, forcing her to take her beast head-on. With no other option she charged toward it, narrowly avoiding its missiles, then went low to slide beneath its massive body and out the other side. On the way she dug her claws in, slicing into its belly, though it didn’t seem like the cuts did any damage when the monster’s body started to flash. Pained and confused, Big Dog started up another projectile spin, and a similarly confused Nadia ended up leaping to one of the tower’s decorative pillars to take shelter behind it, her claws embedded into the solid rock above a long fall. Though Big Dog pounded the stone with its artillery, the stone held for now, and the feral tried to calm the manic beating of her heart. “Holy moly,” she gasped. “Wh…why ya gotta treat me so ruff?”

After a few seconds she leaned out from behind her cover and launched another steak, then ducked back into safety. Big Dog naturally tried to fight its vicious assailant the moment it poofed into being, but its jaws found no purchase and its heads took a heavy slash in return. On contact another dog-head icon broke apart, leaving five, but that weird blinking prevented any extra damage. Nadia watched the whole thing, her mind racing. “Those things above our heads…” It appeared to Nadia like that reality-warping Pizza Head cast some sort of spell that redefined the rules of engagement, changing how the bodies of both Seekers and monsters reacted to injury. Now, instead of damage, it seemed to be all about hits. As she processed this, hindered by Big Dog as it resumed its steady destruction of her cover, a smile slowly spread across her face. This wasn’t the end of the world, not in the slightest. Raw damage was never Nadia’s strong suit; meanwhile, landing hits might as well be her speciality.

Newly fortified, she peeked out from behind the pillar and maneuvered her way to the most damaged part of its front. “Hey, ugly!” she yelled. “You got a face only a mutt-er could love!” Big Dog grunted and fired off another trio of missiles, and as Nadia scurried out of the way, they hit the perfect spot to blow enough from the pillar’s foundation to send it crumbling down. It fell toward the wide-eyed monster and smashed down on top of it with a prodigious crash, though that still only amounted to one hit. With a groan Big Dog shook its heads to get the stars out of its eyes, only to see Nadia sprinting its way. As she jumped into the air again more missiles rose up to greet her, but this time the feral used Charge to zip forward as a bolt of lightning, both threading the needle to zap Big Dog before she reformed behind him. “Watts up, dog?” She laughed and sprang into the air as the beast whirled around, landing with a graceful backflip on its shoulders a moment after its heavy jaws smashed the ground.

“Here’s a head-up for ya!” While Big Dog looked around, confused, Nadia extended her arms and looped them around its left and right heads. “No need to thank me, it’s the leashed I can do!” Big Dog bucked like a wild bronco, slammed its head, and even tried spinning, but even that good trick couldn’t dislodge her. “Get along, li’l doggy!” From on top of the beast Nadia could literally ride out its invincibility slashes, then jump up and stomp in its middle head the moment it became vulnerable. Six, seven! On the cusp of her victory, however, Big Dog wised up and shot Nadia in the back with missiles to knock her off, forcing her to retract her arms blearily. “Me-owch. Whoa!” The desperate monster reared up to come down on her with its jaws, and she scrambled to avoid its smashes. On the third smash, however, something occurred. She had way more hits left than Big Dog, so why bother? That very instant she fired off her heaviest Fiber Upper. “Nothing pupper-sonal!” The two blows traded, leaving Nadia at half and Big Dog at nothing. With a roar the monster died, pitching over onto the arena to slowly dissolve into ash. Nadia stood, breathing out a sigh of relief. At least her pain tolerance meant that she could live at half, provided no other nasty surprises came her way.

When she turned her attention to her fellow Seekers, she found the battle all but done. Bowser and his family had felled Grovetender, Artorias carved up the Dark Quartz Ogre, Rubick blindsided the Eyebrute, and the Octopath Travelers put an end to the Mawlek’s brooding. Everyone had survived, though the greater miracle was how none of the bosses’ stray projectiles hit Nadia’s allies in the middle of other fights. Nadia wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, however–she was too busy looking at Pizza Head as Ganondorf finally caught up to him. After Sectonia softened him up and Jesse put a whole lot of work in, the King of Evil cornered Pizza Head with his Strikers before swooping in to send him packing with a withering shadow blast.

[i][b]“Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”[/b][/i] Pizza Head wailed as he flew straight up. Right away he slammed into the ceiling of Pizza Tower’s hollow, leaving a crack, and when he peeled off he fell right back down to smash head-first into the tower’s roof, embedding his noisome noggin in the masonry. Instantly the environment reverted to normal and the icons above everyone’s heads disappeared. Nadia gasped in relief as her healing started up again, almost teary-eyed.

Pizza Head did not dissolve, however. He just stayed there, stuck upside down, but from his pockets spilled a handful of goodies. Geo, pizza recipes, a few precious gems like rubies and topaz, and even a few glowing [url=https://i.imgur.com/svZgsLC.png]purple ingots[/url]. Finally, a porcelain-white mask fragment plopped down neatly on the stack of treasure. Nadia snatched up a few jewels practically before they hit the ground, which promptly disappeared into her pouches. Hitting Pizza Head more didn’t seem to have any effect, so after trying for about thirty seconds, Nadia gave up. “Well, got what we came for!” she beamed.

[hider=Results][b]Party:[/b] Ms Fortune, The Koopa Troop, Primrose and Therion, Sectonia, Jesse, Ganondorf, Rubick, Artorias
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] +13 EXP
[b]Additional Reward:[/b] 2400 Geo, Neapolitan Pizza Recipe, Sicilian Pizza Recipe, Margherita Pizza Recipe, Caprese Pizza Recipe, Amber x [s]5[/s] 4, Opal x [s]4[/s] 2, Ruby x 2, Sapphire x 2, Diamond x 1, Eridium x 4, Big Dog spirit, Grovetender spirit, Dark Quartz Ogre spirit, Eyebrute spirit, Brooding Mawlek spirit, ⅓ Mask Fragment[/hider]

Once everyone recovered from the ordeal, the team could move on. The operative question was ‘how’. After reuniting with Barnabee, who had evidently gotten dogpiled by cheeseslimes and then fallen off the tower during the boss fight’s first phase, he confirmed that his noble kingdom the Hive and its most glorious Majesty lay waiting beneath the floor of this very cavern. Nadia sat on the edge of the cliff and peered around the Forsaken Lands, wondering how the heck she’d make the descent. At the very bottom of the Forsaken Lands lay what looked like a sprawling ruined city, many parts of it immersed in a dark, dubious-looking substance. “Tis the once-proud Termite Capitol,” Barnabee explained. “Once the largest city in the whole Underground, it has since ceded that title to the Home of Tears, owing to the calamity that befell it.”

By looking upward Nadia eventually figured out that what looked by daylight actually seemed to be coming from a gigantic, incredibly bright [url=https://i.imgur.com/C1cRjUm.png]root structure[/url] that grew from the ceiling, but that wouldn’t help. That incandescence gave rise to dandelions the size of trees that grew around the cavern like weeds, including a few by one side of this cliff. Gentle, three-eyed critters like alien manta rays, the [url=https://i.imgur.com/5kQZYyM.png]cave angels[/url] seemed to like them, and when one happened to brush by a dandelion it sent cottony white tufts the size of umbrellas floating slowly to the cave floor. Nadia also spotted what looked like floating islands in the open air, some of which featured strange structures like a [url=https://i.imgur.com/IbHX637.png]glassy globe pedestal[/url], but there wasn’t anywhere near enough to jump between. More than likely she’d end up scrabbling down the cliff face between the various ledges despite the [url=https://i.imgur.com/rBjfptd.png]bloated Booflies[/url] that floated around down there, but that looked like a hassle. “Quite the conundrum,” the feral muttered, kicking her legs. To be honest, it was pretty nice just sitting here, relaxing and enjoying the marvelous view.