TSW 6: The Swarm

[18:34]	IcePickLobotomy	The sky is dark and the stars glimmer against it. The silverly light of the moon makes the beach look as though it's made of powdered silver, and the sea-water caped in the same. Behind you the harsh flood-lights of METI's support and defensive staff splash across the legs (Or treads) of your outriders. Above lights dance as the F-19's from the Enterprise circle overhead.
[18:39]	Arina	sits quiestly in her cockpit, eyes locked on the display and watching the Intruders' approach.
[18:40]	Kasra	After having some aspirin, Kasra seems to feel better, and hums to himself while running a last check on his readouts.
[18:48]	IcePickLobotomy	It comes into view quickly. It resembles a diamond no longer, now having rounded out to a tear-drop shaped jewel. It slows and the outer layer breaks apart into hundreds of shield-shaped forms that swarm and flitter around it. The INTRUDER itself maintains it's shape, but appears to be cast out of amber, with a large green orb perched upon the tip.
[18:50]	Mary	shivers in her cockpit, her senses heigthen and fearfull about a repeat of what happend the last time.
[18:50]	JohnH	"What you guys want to bet we have to break that little ball?"
[18:50]	Arina	"That seems to be the pattern."
[18:50]	Kasra	"Arina, be careful out there. You don't want to wind up like me after the last fight, do you?"
[18:50]	Arina	nods to Kasra.
[18:50]	JohnH	"Kasra, I don't want to end up like you after /any/ fight."
[18:51]	JohnH	raises a giant fist to lightly hit Kasra's oversized shoulder
[18:52]	Kasra	"Well, that's what makes me a hero, isn't it." Kasra attempts to twirl his sword to emphasize the point, and you hear a strangled noise over the comms as he nearly drops it from the unexpected punch.
[18:52]	IcePickLobotomy	"Intruder approaching the 1st defensive line." Walker's voice is calm over the radios. "Initiating operation in 30 seconds."
[18:54]	Arina	's Outrider's immense sword is held in front of her, point resting in the surf and hands resting on the pommel. "Let's just kill it and be done with the matter."
[18:54]	Arina	lightly kicks it and swings it up to settle on her shoulder.
[18:54]	Arina	"02/A ready."
[18:54]	Kasra	laughs lightly. "That would be the idea, Arina."
[18:55]	Mary	aims the repurposed Artillery peace that weights heavy in her hand at the oncomming horde. "Lets see how you like that.."
[18:57]	Kasra	mumbles about this being better than bow and arrow.
[19:01]	Mary	whispers to herself as she squezes the trigger as she feelt her connection with the weapon sharpen as a soft rose gold envolped the weapon "And he spread them with his thunder..." escaped her mouth as a whisper as
[19:02]	Mary	As the artillery ammunition started to fly on its way before it embraced by the dawns pink glowing hit the are of the angel and its dreadfull progenity
[19:04]	IcePickLobotomy	The Spawnlings, still clustered together as they had just started to spread apart, die as a whole. A few survive, but too few and too small to be a meaningful threat.
[19:04]	Arina	"... Good work, Mary."
[19:04]	RobinE	"holy crap"
[19:05]	Kasra	"Excellent shot, Mary! But keep that gun ready."
[19:05]	IcePickLobotomy	The Intruder moves forward, seemingly unconcerned as more of it's progeny form within it and pull themselves free.
[19:07]	Arina	"... Mm. Has more. All right then."
[19:07]	Kasra	"Well, no surprise there. But again, Mary, keep it up!"
[19:17]	Kasra	"I don't believe this will work, but..." Kasra fires a shot, aimed generally for the center of mass.
[19:19]	Arina	"It's a cooperative effort, every bit counts."
[19:19]	IcePickLobotomy	The INTRUDERS AT field springs to life, rather than deflecting the shot, it weakens it and it harmlessly splashes against it's exterior with a flash of matter/anti-matter annihilation.
[19:20]	Kasra	"Huh. That's interesting..."
[19:20]	IcePickLobotomy	It floats forward, now withing Arina's reach. The swarm swirls around around her. . . .
[19:22]	Arina	grins as the Intruder closes in, and steps in, sword slinging off 02/A's shoulder and cleaving down towards the creature.
[19:22]	Kasra	"Careful. We'll be joining you soon."
[19:22]	Arina	"No rush, keep it back here as long as we can!"
[19:23]	Kasra	"Well, that's why we're moving up."
[19:24]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina: As you swing, the swarm rushes forward inteprosing themselves between you and the Intruder. Your weapon glances off the hardened exterior of it, though the swarm is much reduced.
[19:24]	IcePickLobotomy	More of the spawnlings disgorge themselves from the creature, replacing their fallen numbers and more.
[19:26]	Arina	hums to herself. "Mm, that makes sense..."
[19:26]	IcePickLobotomy	A detachment of them close in around Arina, and strike. Dozens of blue bolts fire forth from the swarm at her.
[19:28]	Arina	hisses, trying to get the sword back in time to defend, but doesn't make it, as the bolts splash off her AT field.
[19:30]	IcePickLobotomy	A portion of the Swarm moves forward to the Beachhead.
[19:40]	JohnH	levels his rifle at the rounded mass hovering above him and his the trigger a mighty squeeze
[19:40]	JohnH	*gives the trigger a mighty squeeze
[19:41]	Mary	"They swarm you, I can't hit them without hitting you! "
[19:41]	IcePickLobotomy	The same AT Field Kasra saw flickers into life again, and again your rounds burst harmlessly against the INTRUDER's exterior.  The Swarm increases further, and a cloud of them move past the Beachhead and surround Mary. They open fire.
[19:43]	IcePickLobotomy	The INTRUDER moves forward, now hovering over the beachhead, the swarm with it.
[19:44]	Arina	"Use something else for now! It's getting too deep to just blow the area away."
[19:52]	IcePickLobotomy	The radio crackles to life, one of the support staff at the staging area, a Russian from the accent "It's too close! We're pulling back before they kill us!" Text flashes across your HUD. [NEW SECONDARY OBJECTIVE. DEFEND SUPPORT PERSONAL AS THEY RETREAT TO THE SHELTERS. MEDIUM PRIORITY.]
[19:52]	Kasra	"We'll do what we can. Move fast ground crew."
[19:53]	RobinE	"hold on there big guy," Robin says as she gathers up a 'net' of barriers that she hurls onto the angel.
[19:53]	Arina	"Yeah, withdraw, it's pushing through damned fast!"
[19:54]	IcePickLobotomy	Still more of the swarmlings pour forth from the Intruder. This time it is RobinE who they go after.
[19:56]	Mary	screams out and holds her chest as something burns her , trying to dig into her heart.
[20:01]	Kasra	trundles around closer to the entities flank and begins to focus his field into a negating pattern.
[20:01]	RobinE	"Looks like I kicked the beehive," Robin says through her flaring AT field.
[20:02]	Arina	"Good, could do with some kicking."
[20:02]	Kasra	"Attack me. Easy target here, draining you energy, focus on me."
[20:02]	IcePickLobotomy	The Swarm responds, going after Kasra now.
[20:15]	JohnH	takes the opportunity to squeeze a few more rounds out towards the intruder
[20:16]	IcePickLobotomy	Portions of the swarm interpose themselves between John's shot and the INTRUDER. THe round fail to connect.
[20:19]	IcePickLobotomy	The entire swarm stills a moment, before it bursts into a flurry of motion. All of you are swamped by the blasts, though most fail to hit you.
[20:23]	Arina	growls and bats the cloud of shields around her away before setting off to dart past the existing combat line and towards Mary.
[20:25]	IcePickLobotomy	The INTRUDER stills a moment, then, bolts of electricity arc along its surface. The bolts dart within the swarm, riding from them, into those of you who are within in it. . . .
[20:27]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina: You can only watch as the world goes white a moment, the harsh crackly of electricity arcs along the other OUTRIDERS via the swarm. The blast levels the immediate area, leaving only the OUTRIDERS and the Intruder.
[20:28]	Arina	gasps. "Everyone, status?!"
[20:28]	Kasra	"Doing fine for now. And the swarm seems to be gone. Move in."'
[20:29]	Arina	"Mm, roger."
[20:29]	IcePickLobotomy	Slowly, the Intruder moves forward. [FIRST DEFENSIVE LINE BREACHED. FALL BACK TO SECOND DEFENSIVE LINE.]
[20:29]	Arina	"How's the evacuation going?!"
[20:30]	IcePickLobotomy	". . . . They. . . They didn't get out in time. They were caught in the blast."
[20:30]	IcePickLobotomy	Walker sounds subdued.
[20:30]	Arina	"... I..."
[20:31]	Kasra	"Make it count then."
[20:31]	Mary	"No..."
[20:37]	RobinE	remembered she does actually have a gun, she takes a shot at the angel but it goes wide.
[20:38]	IcePickLobotomy	And then the swarm over the water surges forward, heading for RobinE, bolts of blue-energy striking at her outrider amid the glassed rubble.
[20:46]	Arina	grits her teeth, closing in on the Angel with a thrust of the Outrider's skyscraper-sized sword. "That is 0x1dit0x1d! We've had more than enough out of you!"
[20:48]	IcePickLobotomy	It's AT FIeld flickers, before Kasra breaks it back down. It's amber-skin cracks sending truck sized shards spraying out across the battlefield.
[20:49]	Arina	"Everyone, pile on!"
[20:50]	IcePickLobotomy	Perhaps sensing the danger, more of it's spawnlings form and begin to swirl around he Intruder. Meanwhile, those around Robin continue their attack.
[20:50]	IcePickLobotomy	Only for the bolts to miss or fail to find true purchase.
[21:01]	Mary	looks at the thing so close to her and then lets the artillery piece fall down, leaving a dent in the road next to her before she leans foreward and picks up the gun that was leaning against the building next to her, a much more short ranged weapon, and then ires the Oversized shotgun at the INTRUDER
[21:06]	Kasra	Seeing the angel moving past, Kasra lets off a salvo of bolts.
[21:07]	IcePickLobotomy	The Intruder ignores them as they harmless detonate off it's hardened surface, the white-flashes blinding Arina for a moment.
[21:07]	|<--	JohnH has left irc.systemnet.info (Ping timeout: 120 seconds)
[21:08]	-->|	JohnH (Thunderbir@SystemNet-2FD170B0.hsd1.wa.comcast.net) has joined #TSWIC
[21:09]	IcePickLobotomy	More numbers are added to the swarm around the Intruder. The Swarm around Robin shifts to Kasra.
[21:10]	IcePickLobotomy	Only for the bolts to miss or fail to do appreciable damage.
[21:14]	Mary	seems to be misguided as quite a number of the pellets miss her target and hitt the open air crashing down somewhere towards sector 7 before some of them finally connect
[21:15]	IcePickLobotomy	This time the Intruder allows the shots to connect, punching shallowly into it's body. Meanwhile, Kasra finds that the swarm is now doing damage.
[21:24]	JohnH	knows that good old fashioned bullets will work and just keeps firing
[21:24]	IcePickLobotomy	Part of the swarm moves to intercept and absorb part of your attack.
[21:26]	IcePickLobotomy	It soon replaces its losses. Meanwhile, Kasrsa still finds himself under the unceasing assualt.
[21:29]	RobinE	only has enough focus apart from the AT net to shoot one shot. she aims for the Intruder and fires.
[21:30]	IcePickLobotomy	The shot craters into the Intruder, sending more cracks spiderwebbing across it's surface.
[21:32]	IcePickLobotomy	And again the swarm around Kasra fires away.
[21:35]	Kasra	Guarding himself as best he can, Kasra moves to the nearest umbilical port and fumbles to plug back in.
[21:35]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm that had been attacking Kasra rejoins the Intruder.
[21:38]	Arina	sweeps her sword through the clouds of spawn, trying to kill as many of the damn things as she can with each wide arc of the blade.
[21:40]	IcePickLobotomy	While the blow fails to do much, the Swarms retaliation does little as well.
[21:40]	IcePickLobotomy	It's numbers grow.
[21:46]	RobinE	takes another lonely shot at the intruder.
[21:47]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm stills again. Kasra finds that the night sky disappears before he is overwhelmed by the torrent of plasma.
[21:47]	Arina	"Kasra! Damn it..."
[21:50]	IcePickLobotomy	Kasra: Your skull burns, you can feel your eyes melting under the heat as the metal dribbles down your neck. . . .
[21:51]	Kasra	You can hear Kasra choking gasps for air rasping as he urges you to continue the assault.
[21:53]	JohnH	bolts back to the second defensive line, massively regretting his inability to help the overrun Kasra
[21:55]	Arina	growls and slams the flat of her sword into the swarm of shooting mini-Intruders. "Get the 0x1dhell0x1d off."
[21:55]	JohnH	"Guys, split up, i think it's going to zap us again!"
[21:56]	Arina	"Kasra get out of that swarm!"
[21:56]	Kasra	"Get clear!"
[21:59]	Mary	moves her gun ans the car sized bullet drops out of the ejection slot, smashing a telephone pole as she turns amd aims, and then sees the lighting building up and moves away from them closer into the city
[22:00]	Kasra	After a moment of silence, you hear Kasra speaking, almost inaudibly. "It's all...I've ever dreamed of."
[22:01]	Arina	"Kasra, 0x1dget out of there0x1d!"
[22:02]	Mary	"The small ones guide the lightning and act as batteries giving it juice!
[22:02]	IcePickLobotomy	The electricity arcs onto the swarm. . . It's too late.
[22:05]	IcePickLobotomy	The light is blinding. Kasra is still alive, but left standing in a molten crater.
[22:07]	Arina	growls, deep in the back of her throat, and hammers down with the sword on the Intruder, dropping the entire weight of the Outrider on top of it, concentrated to a sword-thin edge. "Your mistake!"
[22:07]	Kasra	"This is Nariman...still here."
[22:08]	Arina	The sword's vibration reaches a fever pitch as it bites into the creature and 0x1dsettles0x1d there.
[22:12]	IcePickLobotomy	It's surface shatters, sending slpinters of amber everywhere, followed by a deluge of a liquid that rapidly hardens in contact with the air, leaving a massive depression on one side.
[22:14]	IcePickLobotomy	Kasra: You feel something shift. Your AT slid off the Intruders.
[22:15]	Mary	aims at the angel and with a pumping motions a new blast is unleashed and it flakes against the Intruder
[22:18]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina: You can see how the swarm forms within the angel's center, and move to the surface, growing in size as they do so. You can also see how the newly spawned cloud makes a bee-line for Kasra, already opening fire.
[22:20]	Arina	"Damn it, leave him alone!"
[22:37]	Kasra	lurches forward, towards the intruder, and launches a flurry of attacks with his good arm.
[22:37]	IcePickLobotomy	A solid gold barrier erupts between you and the Intruder. You slam into it and it dims slightly.
[22:37]	IcePickLobotomy	Another Swarm pours forth, and the one around Kasra shifts to Arina.
[22:38]	IcePickLobotomy	However it fails to do anything
[22:38]	Arina	pivots around her sword, preventing them from getting a decent shot at her Outrider.
[22:41]	JohnH	"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE" John Yells, emptying his magazine into the largest of the flying mass
[22:42]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm interposes itself between the blasts and their progenitor. Flashes of white light mark their deaths as they die in matter/anti-matter annihilation. THe rest of the rounds harmlessly splash against the gold barrier
[22:43]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm around Arina fires again.
[22:44]	Arina	blocks with the flat of her sword, angling in on the Intruder with a growl. "Good, focus on the right target at least..."
[22:46]	Kasra	"Ehheh. No, by all means...fire on her for a bit, the right target is slightly fatigued."
[22:47]	Arina	"Kasra, I'm the right target, you dork."
[22:49]	RobinE	"c'mon" you hear Robin mutter to herself as she fires another round at the intruder.
[22:49]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm replaces it's lost numbers, while Arina continues to suffer under the hail of plasma
[22:51]	Arina	doesn't seem to be suffering very much at all, as with impressive speed she keeps up with every single shot, lips curled in a snarl. "No one else, you damned monster."
[22:58]	Kasra	Emboldened by the reprieve from the swarm, Kasra hacks savagely at the intruder, and skillfully sends a shot from his rifle careening off harmlessly into the sky.
[22:59]	IcePickLobotomy	The barrier dims further under your assault. The Swarm circles and waits, growing.
[23:00]	IcePickLobotomy	Meanwhile, the Swarm around Arina does not relent.
[23:01]	Arina	doesn't manage to evade it, but holds the damage back with her AT field.
[23:02]	Arina	slings the sword over her Outrider's shoulder, ducks down, and scoops up a lighter, handier sword which she scythes through the shieldswarms.
[23:04]	IcePickLobotomy	Both the swarms die, bits and pieces of their flesh soon piling around you.
[23:12]	Mary	looks at the wrong thing in front of her and then simply tries to pump it full of lead "Why won't you just die!"
[23:13]	IcePickLobotomy	The barrier stops the rounds cold.
[23:13]	IcePickLobotomy	The Intruder brings it's swarms numbers back up. And still fixates on Arina.
[23:14]	IcePickLobotomy	But to no avail
[23:15]	JohnH	realizes his clip is empty, so he drops his rifle and dives into the nearby sector to resupply.
[23:15]	JohnH	A gleaming sword is his prize
[23:16]	IcePickLobotomy	The Swarm grows further, though it seems unable to be be able to strike Arina
[23:17]	Arina	keeps the larger sword slung over her Outrider's shoulder and held up with its left hand, glaring at the Angel on her screen. "Keep on trying, monsters."
[23:20]	RobinE	takes a long deep breath before firing another shot "eat it!"
[23:20]	IcePickLobotomy	The golden field dimms further. You can see a few feeble arcs of electricity beyond it.
[23:21]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm finally manages to hit Arina
[23:28]	JohnH	takes his shiny new sword and attempts to christen it in the blood of the Angel with a mighty backswing
[23:29]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm breaks in a flurry, going after John, Arina, and Kasra, though only the first and the latter are actually struck.
[23:30]	Kasra	Moving towards the swarm, Kasra ducks under them, attempting to not lose momentum in the act of doing so. This is accomplished with practiced ease.
[23:33]	Kasra	Taking a pair of swings at the larger intruder proves fruitless, however.
[23:33]	[INFO]	There is nothing to tab-complete. Use F6 to cycle through the user list, input box and the chat output.
[23:34]	IcePickLobotomy	The now familar arcs of electricty leap forth, surging into JohnH, Kasra and Arina via the swarms around them.
[23:34]	Arina	holds it back via her AT field, and glares. "0x1dNot smart0x1d!"
[23:39]	Arina	darts in and starts using the lighter sword in much the same fashion as one of those experienced carpenters who can hammer in twenty nails in ten seconds, wailing away on the Angel as it's opened itself up.
[23:43]	IcePickLobotomy	The first blow shatters the barrier. A sound like that of a church bell ringing echos across the land, a sound so strong you feel it in your chest, and Arina staggers back. The second breaks upon the Intruder's surface, breaking another crater into its side.
[23:44]	Kasra	"Nice work! Someone finish it!"
[23:44]	Arina	drops the lighter sword on the ground, returning to a two-handed grip on the larger one with a disdainful look towards the Intruder on her screen.
[23:44]	IcePickLobotomy	( https://youtu.be/tvlpcu4bbc4?t=116 )
[23:46]	Mary	"Finally....FALL over so that it is over ! She calls out to him as she fires again, the Shell being ejected and hitting a nearby building embedding itself in it
[23:48]	IcePickLobotomy	Slowly, more slowly than before, the swarm reforms.
[23:53]	RobinE	fires another positron round into the intruder, but it seems to fizzle on contact.
[23:55]	Kasra	"You've fought well. You can die with honor." A simple back and forth slash pattern, a dismissal.
[23:56]	IcePickLobotomy	The Swarm interposes itself against the 2nd blow. And even as it dies, it's numbers are replaced.
[00:06]	IcePickLobotomy	More numbers join the Swarm, covering the Intruder.
[00:06]	IcePickLobotomy	And fails to hit Kasra
[00:07]	Arina	sweeps her sword towards the Angel in a wide arc.
[00:09]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm interposes itself, slowing the blow from crippling, to damaging as you carve another furrow into the surface.
[00:10]	IcePickLobotomy	But it replaces its numbers quickly. And Kasra finds himself under fire once more
[00:10]	IcePickLobotomy	To no real effect
[00:17]	Kasra	As another burst of plasma is spewed towards him, Kasra seems to take the hit making no move to evade or lessen the impact.
[00:18]	RobinE	's feeble attempts at damage continue with another weak shot to the intruder
[00:22]	Arina	slams the sword into the Intruder, and then kicks the back of the blade to hammer it deeper into the creature's body.
[00:23]	Kasra	seems reinvigorated by his wounds and stabs downward with as much malice as precision, cracking the creatures carapace further.
[00:23]	IcePickLobotomy	It adds to the swarm, which quickly are used to shield their progenitor from Arina's blow
[00:24]	IcePickLobotomy	*Edit (No actually.)
[00:24]	Arina	(Edit out Arina's attack for the moment)
[00:32]	IcePickLobotomy	The swarm leaves as one and surrounds Kasra, leaving his Outrider aflame, and the pilot himself barely aware.
[00:34]	Arina	slams the sword into the Intruder, and then kicks the back of the blade to hammer it deeper into the creature's body. "Leave him the 0x1dhell0x1d alone!"
[00:35]	IcePickLobotomy	The last blow is too much, with a low onerous groan The Intruders body hits the ground, massive chunks falling to pieces.
[00:36]	Kasra	All that comes from Kasra's outrider is the sound of hyperventilation and the crackle of flame.
[00:38]	IcePickLobotomy	Thet it explodes in a massive burst of electricity that washes over Kasra, John, and Arina. but when it passes they remain, even if Kasra is slumped over in his plug, knocked out from the trials of todays fight. The Intruder is now a molten crater of concrete and glass.
[00:39]	Arina	holds it off with her AT field, breathing heavily as she brings her sword back up and prepares to bring it back 0x1ddown0x1d. "... Walker, emergency medical on Kasra, please!"
[00:39]	IcePickLobotomy	"Support staff are on the way. If you could move his unit away from the crater for safer recovery please? Rest of you, status report?"
[00:40]	Mary	blinks in shock on seeing the state of the Outrider and what happend to him from the glances that she registered while he communicated
[00:40]	RobinE	runs over to help move Kasra's eva.
[00:40]	Arina	ducks down and moves to pick up Kasra's Outrider and carry it to a better recovery location. "... 02/A, more or less nothing."
[00:41]	RobinE	"Robin here, not to banged up."
[00:41]	|<--	Kasra has left irc.systemnet.info (Quit: ChatZilla 0.9.92 [Firefox 44.0.2/20160210153822])
[00:42]	IcePickLobotomy	"Right. Looks like Kasra got the worst of it. . . again."
[00:42]	Arina	"... Yes. Out of... us, at least."
[00:43]	Arina	looks out over the damage.
[00:43]	IcePickLobotomy	Arina: The immedite area is a mess of molten craters and broken vehicles.
[00:44]	Mary	and her eva look undamaged exept for the partially scorched chest plate "Let me help you"
[00:44]	IcePickLobotomy	And more. The broken shattered bodies of the support personal, or what's left of them. A leg here, a hand there. No matter where you look, you can't find more than fragments of people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
[00:46]	Arina	's Outrider's hands shake and she averts her eyes in a rush.
[00:46]	RobinE	"you alright?"
[00:47]	Arina	"... yes."
[00:48]	RobinE	takes a seat and tries to relax.
[00:48]	=-=	Arkalest is now known as Arkaface
[00:49]	Arina	keeps glancing back towards the battlefield as she takes Kasra to a recovery location.
[00:51]	Mary	"Was.. Was ist last time just.. as bad?"
[00:52]	Arina	"... Not as bad, no."
[00:57]	Mary	shivers
[00:58]	Arina	"... I hate these things."
[00:59]	RobinE	"it's probably only gonna get worse."
[00:59]	Arina	"... Likely."
[01:01]	RobinE	sighs heavily "I hate them too."
[01:02]	Mary	"They are ..wrong nothing should be like that"