Battle in the Western Seas (Scene - Completed!)

[Karl Jak]

A short distance due east of Command Point 1, a flotilla of unmade dreadnaughts drifts in the oceans. Their sensors and other equipment has detected strange signals in the nearby area, but they've been unable to pinpoint anything in the region.

Unfortunately for them, they are a premium target for the Fleet.

***

Characters Involved: Phantoon + Ken'ichi + Nothing There

Notes: You are joined by a large naval group consisting of four aircraft carriers, five heavy cruisers, and numerous smaller vessels. The carriers naturally house jets and other aerial fighters. The Unmade force is smaller than yours but still very volatile. They'll swarm their own fighters, and the battle will mostly be in the air before the ships move in close to determine supremacy over this portion of the ocean.

Enemy NPC Characters: None (this means there aren't any 'enemy Bonds' to use the same terminology as with PCs)

Length of Scene: This Scene will last for 48 hours.
Post Count/Size: No limitations.
Other Stuff: Others MAY join this scene if they move along this path.

Good luck.

 

[Karl Jak]

Undeleted and adjusted -- Welcome, @Ridley

Welcome @Amalia Eckern and @Lilith

 

[Ridley]

The abyssal sea left Ridley disgusted. It was not the longstanding darkness in the depths below - darkness reflected in their invisible forms. It was not the metal and flesh falling from above to pollute what should have been a more natural place, filled with a simpler conflict of prey and predator.

It was in part, the unmaking’s grip already showing beneath the sea floor, and as a grouping of coral, Twisted and wriggling with tentacled appendages, reaching out with senses too simplistic to fool as it hungered for Phantoon’s invisible form, the Space dragon hardly had time to command before the eldritch entity lashed out, dashing the colony into fragmented bony chips and wisps of darkness fading through the water.

No, it was the fact that among them, above them, and even beneath them, in lower places still, the unmade walked here with impunity. The natural order had been improperly tainted with the weakling Darkseid’s vision of servile unity, and yet he saw no true resistance from the natural beings within these waters.

This was true even among the sentients of the area - Karl Jak, a man Ridley hated to admit was both Shrewd and decisive - had spared no expense in corralling the unmade, and yet he lacked support from the other inhabitants of this world.

Ridley found himself disgusted most of all by the Skylanders - their cowardice and delusions had been amusing for a time, when he had first saved Nausicaa from the unmade hordes. If they choose not to prove themselves worth saving, despite their technology and power…

Well, he might have to handle them himself, one day soon. Better they add to Ridley’s power, than to Darkseid’s, especially when they’d been so enlightening on the value of their lives.

“I must say,” Phantoon’s unnatural voice writhe through Ridley’s mind as the invisible titan and it’s concealed wielder spoke. From within Phantoon’s magically enhanced form, his words cut into Ridley’s head like frostbite. “I believed you far less… thoughtful in the past. Has this world changed you? Or were you simply concealing your thoughts from me?”

Ridley glared from within the great beast. “I have not changed, Parasite!” Ridley spat back, fully aware that despite his covered nature, he was still in control here, with the help of Karl Jak’s little collar. “focus on your job!”

Phantoon’s response was a low cackle, though whether it was at Ridley or at the destruction they were about to unleash, Ridley didn’t know, and he didn’t care to discern, for the sake of their continued partnership.

Instead, he directed, as a conductor would, and Phantoon’s eye briefly flashed a glow of purple, as concealed hands were brought up in an embrace towards the sun, and blue balls of flame glowed throughout the ocean depths, the will of the wisps ignoring the Water’s attempts to smother them, for they were no mere ignited matter, but the soul-stuff of the galaxy set alight.


From beneath the unmade fleet, Phantoon had the perfect Angle to strike, and with Ridley’s direction and understanding of naval vessels, he knew exactly where to strike in order to dismantle this fleet.

From the depths, an unnatural light echoed from beneath the waves, heedless of the battle going on above as Phantoon’s power, and from the depths below the unmade fleet’s only warning of this impromptu barrage was the azure glow that filled the waters beneath the ships, the ocean itself lighting up in warning… a warning that came far too late, as Phantoon started to tear his way through the unmade fleet from below.

 

[Amalia Eckern]

As they marched towards the ocean neither Amalia nor her bond spoke. Sure, after the battle Amalia had tried reaching out towards her bond, but the ancient spirit remained silent. She let it drop. She wasn’t the kind to pry and if the big guy needed his space then she would give it to him. Especially considering that Ken’ichi was the only thing keeping the unmade from ripping her to shreds. So, they marched towards the ocean and disappeared beneath the waves in silence.

“Ahh, the saltwater… it is… refreshing,” Ken’ichi finally spoke.

Suspended weightlessly within The Gashadokuro’s heart Amalia had practically fallen into a dissociative trance. THe gentle rhythm of the deep ocean currents mixed with the heart's predictable contractions had lulled her into a half-awake sort of state. But, Ken’ichi’s voice rumbled with an intensity that was hard to ignore.

She jolted upright, righting herself within her fleshy chrysalis and she said, “Hey, I wasn’t sure if you were still with me.”

“...Where else would I have gone?”

“Uhm… Well, I don’t know,” She stumbled.

“Hmm… I have been here the whole time,” He said, “Though… I find this world… hazy.”

“Yeah, I get like that sometimes too,” She agreed.

Even beneath the crushing weight of Opealon’s ocean The Gashadokuro stood tall. It moved ever forward, disrupting ecosystems with each mighty stride. They had not yet reached the truly abyssal depths of Opealon’s oceans and light still filtered in from above. Amalia was only faintly aware of the burgeoning fleet forming on the water’s surface. The shadows they cast on the seabed below formed a loose checkerboard formation and Amalia craned her neck to get a better view.

“You have… noticed our allies… yes?” Ken’ichi boomed, “Then you should know we are headed for… war.”

“I’d prefer to avoid war,” She answered, “If I can help it anyways.”

“War is not something that can be avoided…” He said, “Only delayed.”

“Well, still, I’m not here to get killed.”

“That seems… counterintuitive. This place is meant for those that kill… or those that are killed.”

Amalia stayed silent. She had left without so much as a goodbye to Juneberry, and Arbiter only knows where Nico ended up after they slipped out of the underworld. When Ken’ichi put it that way, when he laid out the bare facts of her current situation, she questioned herself. Of course she knew what Dante’s Abyss was - everyone did. But, when she had caught wind that it was taking place right on top of Nausicaa none of that seemed to matter. All that mattered was that it was an opportunity for closure.

But, what sort of closure could she possibly find? Her entire life had been nothing more than the byproduct of a fucking cult. She was a commodity. A weapon that didn’t even have the mercy of being mindless. She had moved on. Nausicaa and her childhood had sunk into the ocean and she had moved on. Or that’s what she told herself. That’s what she told herself every, fucking, day. And what did she do when she heard about the chance to unbury the past? She jumped at it. She leapt headfirst into a game for killers and monsters and she didn’t think twice. What kind of closure could heal that sort of dysfunction?

“You’re not a killer…”

She shook her head, “No, I’m not.”

“Then… why are you here?”

“I’m… I need to put something to rest.”

Explosions thundered overhead as the fleet began firing long-ranged weaponry. Ken’ichi spoke, his voice thundering louder than anything cannon fusillade, “You’re here for your parents.”

“How, do you know that?”

“Young one… I have been with you for quite some time… I know your history… and I know you”

“Oh…,” Amalia muttered, “I don’t really know anything about you, though.”

“For another time…” He answered and pointed towards an inky black mass in the distance. The unmade fleet slithered across the ocean like an oil spill. He continued, “But… know that I wish you to succeed… So, I will be a killer in your stead.”

“Th-thank you, Ken’ichi. Seriously, I appreciate it,” She said and looked towards the battle brewing overhead. It was then that a creature streaked across the sky. A swirling smudge of organic weaponry and body-twisting mutations, but at its core was something unmistakeable. Even beneath the waves Amalia knew who was tearing through the sky and she paled. Her heart raced. Even tucked within the protection of Ken’ichi she panicked. She panicked because Lilith was here. She quickly said, “We have to go. We need to leave now.”

She willed The Gashadokuro forward across the ocean floor. Every fiber of her being propelled her bond in whatever direction was the fuck away from Lilith. She felt the seam between the realm of life and unlife and scrambled to tear it open. If she could just slip between the two realms they’d practically vanish. Lilith couldn’t find them there and they could leave. But, that took time. And just as they were about to blink from existence something slammed into them. She was sent end-over-end, weightlessly tumbling within her bond’s heart.

“No, no, no, no,” She screamed, “Get the fuck away from me!”

Instinctively she lashed out and her bond did the same. It clawed wildly into the abyss, catching hold of whatever had crashed into them and tearing it open. The great unmade beast roared beneath the waves as Amalia’s bond scratched and clawed its hide. Amalia’s heartbeat stuttered. It wasn’t Lilith that had attacked them, but rather an alligator-like monstrosity twisted by Darkseid’s influence. She righted herself, relief flooding her brain even as Ken’ichi wrestled with the beast. She stared into the endless maw of teeth and laughed. She could handle teeth, as long as they weren’t attached to Lilith.

 

[Karl Jak]

Update: You will break the enemy forces, prompted them to retreat with the small remaining fraction of their task force.

+1 Points to Amalia and Ridley

Nothing There/Lilith receives the equivalent of a Minor Injury

My hope is to get you 'new intelligence' (updated Map) by the end of today, and in the meantime, I invite you to collaborate on a resolution post to this scene. A wrap up post is not required but nevertheless recommended.

Take care!

 

[Lilith]

The small-scale skirmish at Command Point 1 had concluded. The corrupted cadavers were mostly disposed of, and the military station achieved relative normalcy. All of the monumental warriors performing for the televised warfare were deployed. Except for one.

BANG

BANG

BANG

Several mechs arduously repaired the walls of a hastily constructed containment unit quarantined from the rest of the base. Whatever was locked up in there, it wanted out now.

Lilith observed the conscripted employees as they tirelessly welded layers upon layers of metal fortifications, which lasted naught but a few moments before being scraped away like cheap paint. They had neither enough manpower nor makeshift patchwork to repress the danger for much longer.

A cacophony of screams assailed her ears, along with more banal expressions, originating from inside the ramshackle prison.

‘Help! Please someone help!’ ‘You have received one new message!’ ‘Send backup immediately! It's eating our whole team!’ ‘How may I help you?’ ‘Oh god, why…’ ‘Hhuuhh aahhuuhh…’ ‘Karl Jak! Karl Jak! Ka—’ ‘SYSTEM INTEGRITY HAS REACHED CRITICAL LEVELS’ ‘What is the nature of your emergency?’ ‘That's not Chris, that's—’

It sounded as though dozens of people were trapped in there with the monster, but each voice shared the same source. Could it be recordings played back over and over? For what purpose?

Lilith didn't waste time theorizing. She marched ahead to the precariously bolted entrance, scanning for a release switch of some kind, to no avail. During her unproductive search, the robot-piloting soldiers abruptly withdrew, relaying some indistinct orders to each other, and when she took notice, a densely reinforced door sealed shut behind her. Seems they were expecting her.

The clamoring babble abated, replaced by a squelching and crunching that could only be described as an animal carcass pulped under a hydraulic press. The steel ingress gradually lifted, arousing Lilith's anticipation for the the enticing esoteric horror that awaited her. Leaning under the rising gateway, she imbibed the gruesome scene within the squalid chamber. Gore tainted almost every surface, splattered with the vague suggestion of corpses that scarcely resembled anything that used to be alive. For the bodies she could recognize, their cause of death didn't appear to be whatever creature was supposed to be confined here.

Speaking of which.

A sole surviving employee listlessly wandered the cell, incoherently chattering to themself.

“I love you. I love you… I love you! I love you- I love- I- you love- you. I love you.”

They repeated the phrase ad nauseam, vocalizing in disparate inflections and intonations that didn't belong to them. Of course, Lilith perceived the truth beneath their veneer. One terrifying abomination in human form to another, the difference was unmistakable. Before she could get a closer look, however…

Crack

Glass shards stung her feet. Apparently, someone had littered the floor with syringes. Whoever it was must've been shooting up tons of this stuff, but it failed to save them in the end. Oh well. She snagged a handful of the unused needles and went on her merry, opiate-overdosing way. Ain't no way I'm passing up free drugs.

She could juice herself up later. For now, she watched the disguised thing shamble about, its disarranged skeleton grating together inside its stolen body like an unsolvable jigsaw puzzle. It was as if an entirely alien organism had tried to recreate a human from ambiguous descriptions.

Well, there was only one way to unravel the monster's forbidden secrets.

Lilith strode up to the definitely-not-a-Syntech-soldier. “Hey you. Take off your clothes.”

Without warning, the creature molted its skin - or rather, its shell - discarding it as easily as snake to its dead husk, revealing the grotesque amalgamation underneath. The sentient mass of congealed flesh focused its abundant polychromatic eyes on the woman, slavering mouths drooling with unknown intentions. Its exposed intestines were like tangled wire, dripping some strange unidentifiable liquid. An arm awkwardly protruded from the top of its head, perpetually grasping at ambitions beyond its reach. It could almost be considered doglike, in a stretching-the-definition, extremely fucked up sorta way.

By all accounts, Lilith should've been mauled right then and there. But justice in this universe was as her sanity — completely nonexistent.

Instead, the creature's mouths yawned invitingly, its choir of tongues proclaiming in unison, “Together we are one.”

Lilith appreciated the monster's forwardness. “Alright, let's skip the foreplay.” She took a single step towards it, before a cocoon of tendons suddenly enveloped the two, inundating everything in dark red.

Warmth and moisture engorged every fiber of her being. She felt the nerves in her spinal column expanding in all directions, merging with a massive hull that responded to her mental impulses. The sensation awakened a primordial memory from the recesses of her brain, an infinitesimal conscience taking root in an inchoate extension of itself.

When Lilith opened her eyes, she found her vision amplified and branching out across numerous points, somehow processing every view simultaneously. Had she slipped out of her body and now wore the monster's, or was it wearing her?

Not important. They were ready to go out for an escapade of debauchery.

The giant ground meat chrysalis encasing the fusion swelled then collapsed as they bursted from the containment unit, the collective maws of their magnified flesh shrieking all at once.

“RROOAAAAAAGGHH!!”

Nothing There was here.



With the underwater support of the cosmic wraith and the monolithic skeleton, and the twisted assemblage of organs drawing the aerial offense's attention, the naval fleet managed to incur minimal losses while advancing deeper into Unmade-dominated ocean territory.

Enlisting herself in Syntech's nautical conquest had been a straightforward decision for Lieutenant Lena Ary. After the travesty that was Nausicaa's ruination, and the grievously inadequate recovery effort that to this day had Skylanders whispering treason against the nation, she jumped at the opportunity to demonstrate her marine prowess. From atop the balcony of the aircraft carrier's command center, she surveyed the flight deck with eyes as blue as the ocean she claimed superiority over, platinum blonde ponytail reflecting radiant sunlight like silky clouds.

Reaffirming the adjutant's preconceived notions, the Butcher of Hope themself came swooping in and colliding with a docked fighter jet, avoiding any casualties by pure happenstance. Lena tightened her grip on the railing, suppressing a sneer of revulsion, nearly boiling over below her calm and collected exterior. She was absolutely livid to be receiving assistance from that profligate, yet she had no recourse to assuage her ire. For one, the woman-mutant-hybrid was on the same side, not actively trying to eradicate the whole squadron at the moment - not that they could, anyways. Still, she remained leery of the fiend's selfish motivations. For the time being, she kept her objections to herself.

Really, history was just repeating itself. The seafaring pirates, despite their reliance on profane thaumaturgy, at least had some level of decency. In comparison, Karl Jak's titans were experimental, unpredictable, and had virtually zero redeeming qualities outside of their sheer power. They lacked discipline and allegiance, but she foresaw who would hoard all the glory at the end of this campaign.

“Tch.”