[IC] HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

[Wraithblade6]

@RavenTLark

Mithias nodded. "Yes, of course." If it happened again, she could ask her questions, but if it happened again, he wouldn't be waking up.

Somber, Mithias sought out the beings he was looking for.

[thewizardguy]

@Tyki@supertinyking
At the location, the two scout forces discover a rather unexpected sight. Babylon IV, the massive flagship of the United Empire, was floating freely through space. It's drive seemed to have been cut, and there were a number of holes in the hull. However, the external damage seemed almost superficial to the huge ship, and the force fields were fully functional. The weaponry seemed to be fully operational, and there was no sign of any other ships or opponents within the system. Scanners would detect, however, a massive power source in an adjacent solar system, easily readable even across vast distances.

The broadcast clearly originated from Babylon IV, although no further communications were initiated. There was no hail, no priming of weapons, nor even the usual automated warning message. The entire scenario defied all logic.

Nathan, unlike the Sergal, would of course realize what the power source in the adjacent galaxy was. The readings were familiar from the reports he had previously received, although it seemed to have moved hundreds of lightyears since the last patrol. It was Ygdrassil, the ancient bastion of the God Emperor, before Matt had lost control of the Plot Hole. He would further recognize trace amounts of Plot Hole energy within Babylon, indicating perhaps that this cataclym came as a result of tinkering with the ancient weapon.

[Tyki]

@thewizardguy

After exactly three minutes of silence, babylon is subjected to immensely thorough life scans, scouring the entire ship for crew (as well as explosives cause they just ended a war) while the two wing ships move in to either side of the great, hulking metal floating through space

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy
Nathan pressed a few buttons on his ship, him being ejected to the floating super ship, him passing though the force field with a bit of teleportation trickery, he begins to explore the ship.
"Attention allies, do not enter the ship. I have this covered. Do not approach the energy source, it's beyond your control...I'd retreat for now." He warns the sergals who had shown up.
Obviously, something big is happening, and he was going to put an end to it.

[thewizardguy]

@Tyki
As the forcefields are still in place, the scans find layers of disruptive signals blocking their scans. It would be impossible to retrieve an accurate reading from outside the shields. However, from what information they could gather, it was clear that there were multiple life forms on the ship. Any greater details than this were impossible to discern.

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking
Working his way through the shields costs some effort, but Nathan is able to push himself through. He then rapidly finds one of the holes to enter, stepping into the massive hull. The first thing he notices is that the standard lights are off, and only the red emergency lights still function. The hallway is wide enough to drive a truck through, reaching far into the distance. It would most likely extend for several miles. The sides were lined with hundreds of doors, leading Nathan through a perfectly ordered grid of rooms connected by hallways. He was currently in an area dedicated to weaponry, and most rooms he explores are filled with power generators, munitions loading mechanisms, and occasionally storages for maintenance drones. Around the area he first explores a wide variety of turrets and self-defence systems have been destroyed, appearing to have been ripped apart. However, in later areas no destruction has been inflicted.

He can sense no magical sources of energy within the confines of the ship, excluding the faint presence of the Plot Hole. However, his senses do detect noise and heat coming from the depths of the ship. It was clear that he was not alone here, and that whatever was responsible for the destruction of Matt's defences was still around somewhere.

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy
"Hmph, as I thought." Nathan says, as he moves though out the ship, running extremely quickly. His main objective was to make it to the bridge, and hopefully, get to the bottom of why this powerful vessel was left a ghost ship. One again, he tries to contact the Sergals.
"Retreat, you don't know what is on this ship, nor do you know the power of that energy reading." Nathan warns, his message being jarbled and minced by the shields, the sergals getting nothing.

[Tyki]

@thewizardguy@supertinyking

Rather than run away, three seperate ships are launched from the main frigates, a boarding part being sent in with seperate missions, getting past the sheilds surprisingly easilly before moving out, one team meeting up with nathan and simply running past him, rifles at the ready.

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking
As Nathan penetrates deeper into the ship, he discovers the soruce of the disturbance. The Tyranids. The same mysterious creatures that had attacked the clone worlds mere days previous. However, perhaps even more disturbingly, was the twist. What he found was a hallway coverered in blood, and filled with Tyranid corpses. The hallway was filled with hundreds of the bodies, as if a tornado filled with lightsabers had moved through a swarm. They were cut, burnt, stabbed, occasionally nearly liquefied. And based on the stats he had received on the Tyranid, whatever did this was immensely dangerous.

@Tyki
The Sergal troop that followed Nathan was treated to the same scene. However, the other two each found themselves their own issues. One of these troops (referred to as #1) entered an area that seemed completely undamaged. Upon entering this area, several large turrets slid out from the roof, even as an automated message played.

[This ship is in emergency mode. All intruders will be exterminated. Lay down your weapons, and surrender.]

The turrets seemed to be fairly simple weapons. Two barrels per turret, each attached to a tank of unknown substances. Potentially some form of acid or flame thrower. However, it would undoubtedly be designed to deal with intruders as efficiently as possible.

The #2 group had instead found themselves in Tyranid territory. The group's sensors picked up several large life forms closing in from around them. They had been surrounded, the Tyrranid making use of their hyperadvanced senses to outmanoeuvre the Sergal. Within moments, they would be swarmed by gaunts.

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy@Tyki
Quickly, Nathan matched the sergals sprinting ahead, himself moving quite faster than they could. Then, he sensed it.
"One of your squads are in an ambush. I'll go after them, you keep going to the bridge, and get the data there..but if you tell me there is nothing, you better prey that the swarm gets you first, because I'll do far worse." Nathan barks to them, before bolting towards the sergals almost under attack, slashing though doors, dodging turret blasts, and other dangers, making his way to them.

[Tyki]

@thewizardguy

the sergals coming across the automated defenses just sort of blow it up as it begins warning them, their scans reading the remnants from the turret before marking their maps to be able to spot them within a radius before they came across them and move on, taking out the turrets when they get within firing range (which is actually remarkably far).

The second group took up a defensive position as they advanced, the tyranids popping up sporadically with either ripper swarms or hormogaunts, all the larger life-forms staying further in, the tyranid infection having been spreading rapidly since their arrival, leaving the ship's defenses being assaulted from inside, the rippers doing a number on the various wires and tubes while the hormogaunts destroyed the drones.

The swarm stirs at the smell of fresh bio mass, hormogaunts and termigaunts pouring out of the walls and under the grated floors to rush at nathan and the seragals with him, teeth nashing and blades flashing, the sergals doing their best to gun them down but there were only five of them against a horde of hungry tyranids. Matt, on the other hand, was not quite so luck as he was trapped in his safe room, the first four levels of defenses having already been breached by the tyranid spore clouds, eating away at the ship through the vents and slowly making their way to him as he's able to see the largest creatures to be right outside his position, leaving him nothing more to do than cower and pray for help to arrive quickly

[supertinyking]

@Tyki
As the sergals were being overran, an entire hallway of tyranid were destroyed, explosions ringing though, as Nathan emerged from the flames, untouched by them.
"With me, we're saving Matt, now. Either keep up, or get left behind to die, your choice." Nathan growls, not stopping for long, now him making a b-line for Matt, using his powers to slice, dice, explode, and destroy the tyranid in his path, his soular abilities being unhindered by their armor plating, and their regenerative powers. It was truly a sight to behold to the sergals, as to them, the tyranid drop dead near Nathan, him doing little more than being near them, at least to the sergal naked eyes. Nathan kept going, not waiting for them, as he now made a b-line for the only other human on the ship he could sense, Matt.

[supertinyking]

@kishin asura@ShadowVentus
The group there had pieces of the puzzle, but could they put them together in order to read out the story of what they've discovered so far? Let's find out....The laughing is ringing within their minds, nudging them, telling them they needed to figure out..something.

[supertinyking]

@Wraithblade6 @RavenTLark@thewizardguy
The two ventured back into hell, only to see an argument erupting between the Corests.
Ozzy, and Eruka are both for finding Bob's daughter, seeking to use her to finally get Drac back, but Bug and Lisa are very adimantly disagreeing with this, wanting to go about it in a way Drac would be happy about. It's obvious this will lead nowhere, quick, unless outside forces were brought in.
Alice, Mithias, and Raven were these outside forces....how would this go, is anyone's guess.

[thewizardguy]

@Tyki
Sergal weaponry exploded against Voidsteel, as the turret instantly unleashed a massive blast of flame. The entire hallway was engulfed by the fire, as the Sergal were blasted backwards. The flames tearing at their shields, it was only through their incredible combat discipline that they were able to continue firing at the turret. Using their sensory arrays and instincts they were able to pinpoint the source of the flame, and another volley destroyed the turret. The shots had breached the Voidsteel armoured plating, and destroyed the internal wiring that controlled it. Luckily, the tank had not been breached.

Having had no way to dodge and no cover to hide behind, the Sergal had been forced to resort to their natural endurance and shields to protect themselves. Regardless, they had taken a significant amount of damage. Those had not been normal flames, as highly flammable experimental liquids had been added into the mixture. The heat had been enough to melt steel, and had the Sergal not been shielded, they would all have died instantly. Even with the shields, the front two among their number had taken burns that would end up being lethal if not treated properly.

[Extermination mode activated.]

Suddenly, the Sergal's readings spiked. Radiation was filling the hallways, and high amounts of it, too. Their shields would protect them while they were up, but if some damage were to take down their shields they would very rapidly die a gruesome death. Furthermore, the turrets had been designed so as to flip down from panels in the roof that were indistinguishable from the rest. The Voidsteel would make it impossible to detect the turrets with scanners, as well. This entire defense system was a well thought out high-tech death trap designed by an insane genius.

It also explained why the local Tyranids were highly resistant to fire.

-------------------------------------------------

@supertinyking
As Nathan tears his way through the Tyranid swarm, taking only several minor wounds in the process, he makes his way towards what he believes to be the control room. Undoubtedly where he would find Matt. However, on his way there he finds himself suddenly sensing something nearby. Turning to face it, he sees another figure tearing it's way through the Tyranids. Powerful blades seems to slash through the hardened carapaces as if they were butter, as a humanoid drone marches through the swarm. Their weapons strike a reactive shield that destroys the projectiles and blades before they contact his surface, and those blows that do manage to land are incapable of dealing any damage. It was a scene of slaughter.

The figure was about 2 meters tall, and built slender and elegant. It was completely smooth, possessing no real exterior features besides sets of glowing purple lines across it's body, and the blades that emerged from it's fingers. It radiated an odd power, and Nathan could sense trace amounts of Plot Energy on it. He realized then that this was one of the ancient Hands of God, the drones created by the God Emperor to control his vast realm. Although it looked different from what he had heard and seen in recordings, the purple glow and smooth appearance fit the profile perfectly.

He was left with the choice of attempting to interact with the drone, or moving on.

[Tyki]

@thewizardguy

The sergals took up defensive positions, their sheilds making sure the radiation didn't touch them as the wounded were teleported out with planar buoys, creating a direct link to the warp gate target without being bogged down by matt's shielding, their teleportation systems having been refined to mastery before being worked over anew with their knowledge, making the only thing capable of blocking them being disconnecting from all other universes AND the void. The remaining sergals, however, were given strange weaponry not that distant in thought to the energy blades found amongst force users of various forms with personal arm shields that were entirely separate from their personal sheilds, making the front troops capable of taking heavy fire without flinching (albeit at the cost of their ranged weaponry) while the very back troops were outfitted with the same thing, leaving all areas covered as they advanced on their target, closing in on the central security station within the hour at their ridiculous pace, the fire power of the remaining systems not quite able to touch them as they rushed for their goal, not stopping to return fire.

@supertinyking@thewizardguy

The fight with the tyranids on the other hand was going quite well for matt's defenses, the hand of god cutting through the lightly armored forces present like they weren't even there, the rippers not even touching it, simply exploding against it's shields when they try, as the sergals followed nathan for the most part, approaching matt's door way and placing a few devices, backing off, and waiting before there's a small "ding" and the doors open, the sergals keeping the tyranid forces present at bay with the assistance of the hand of god, staying out of it's way as they fight, nathan being left to talk to the fallen emperor with the lovely melody of the death rattles of gaunts and rippers plays in the background.

[Wraithblade6]

@supertinyking@thewizardguy@raventlark

Mithias looked from one side of the argument to the other, and much to his dismay, Alice was siding with Ozzy. He grit his teeth and stood frozen. One traitorous flicker of an eyelash, and he might give away that Alice was Bob's daughter, so he didn't move or say a damn thing. Briefly, he risked a glance at her, to see if she was going to react to him. How he wished he could tell her not to, not to speak a word, not to acknowledge that she knew him at all, but instead to forget him as some trash left behind on that forsaken, frozen mountain they had both left behind, to utter not his unworthy hellbound name....

But of course she was going to recognize him and say that she knew him, and then he'd have to think of a very quick lie to cover up their history. In fact, how much did she know already? How much had she heard about this daughter of Bob? That Bob had been protecting the girl? That Mithias had been there? That Drac had appeared to attack the strange, sparkly man in the red top hat....

Mithias looked between the group. Among all who were gathered here, Mithias was the only one who supposedly knew what this daughter person looked like. If anyone was going to find her, they'd need him. He began edging away from Ozzy.

[RavenTLark]

@Wraithblade6@supertinyking@thewizardguy

Raven didn't want to intervene in a family fight, especially according to the fact this had nothing to do with her. She didn't even know what Bob's daughter looked like so she would never have the ability to identify the girl. Unfortunately the fight was getting to her, she personally thought that the argument was a waste of precious time. She silently used her powers and blended into the shadows so that she was one with the darkness that now surrounded her. In her mind she heard," Well, look who's being a coward."
Raven's powers wavered for a few seconds as she was distracted but she had been doing this for a while which meant that she was pretty good at controlling them," Yeah, you," she replied to her highly annoying father.

[supertinyking]

@Wraithblade6
As the fight continued on with the intruder and the baby, a strange purple light would envelop the crib, strange energy crackling around it.

[kishin asura]

@supertinyking

I start pacing and muttering to myself "okay... so as far as we know, the boy survived... maybe he's still around... But the biggest question now is why the fire was set in the first place..." I look around for any indication for that reason

---

"Damn. This is not going as smoothly as I had hoped." The intruder complains as she dodges and blocks. Occasionally counterattacking