indy logs

<Antioch|GM> ...
*** Mode #WDIndianapolis +v tubes|Gauss by Antioch|GM
<Antioch|GM> ptttaktaktaktaktaktaktak
<Antioch|GM> All of a sudden, in the middle of Dragon's briefing about the armbands, their functionalities, and the divisions and grouping of capes by power and capabilities, the sound of rain hitting the craft interrupts -- for a moment, it sounds like machine-gun fire.
<Antioch|GM> The Tinker turns up the speaker volume to compensate, but it's readily apparent. They're close enough, and low enough, that the coastal storm swirling around Leviathan is buffeting their ship such that its occupants can feel it shift in the turbulence, ever so slightly.
<Antioch|GM> Then the bay door opens, and Dragon's voice gets even louder.
<Antioch|GM> "Aerial ranged and support."
<Antioch|GM> Axis and Warpath are already prepared, and they glide out of the door one by one, straight into the face of the oncoming gale, Warpath tracing solid, glowing red in his wake.
<Antioch|GM> In her seat, Pain Train is hunched over, pushing her right thumb out to form a divot between her thumb and her wrist, emptying out the white-powdered contents of a dime bag with her other shaky hand, muttering something inaudible to herself. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss has finished humming "Highway to the Danger Zone" and moved on to "Don't Stop Me Now", although it's practically impossible for anyone to hear it other than him over the noise. No matter. He glances over at Pain Train. Well, that was one way to prep for an Endbringer fight. Probably not even a particularly bad one, as far as these things go. Not that he really knew anything about
<tubes|Gauss> that. She doesn't really look like she wants encouragement like Bath Boy, though. Also, it would be near-impossible for her to hear him over the howling wind. James would be out of his seat and bouncing off the walls if he wasn't literally strapped down. He can hear Brandon telling him that this was insane, that he was going to die, that he didn't need to commit suicide by Endbringer
<tubes|Gauss> to prove he could still change the world, that he didn't have to prove anything to anyone - but he did. He had to prove it to himself. Make a difference all the way. No half measures, no cutting corners. He wasn't committing suicide, he was proving he was still alive. He'd been blown up, spent /months/ under the knife, in and out of consciousness. World destroying monsters? City destroying
<tubes|Gauss> storms? Killers of men and capes alike? Pff. Whatever.
<tubes|Gauss> He's breathing deeply, in and out, and practically vibrating in his seat, tapping what's left of his hands and bouncing his feet. He's ready to go, the adrenaline hitting a peak. ||
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<Antioch|GM> The craft empties further, cape by cape. Pain Train's "Artillery" with Van Helsing, while Ace of Space, Bath Boy and Princess December are something about area control -- he misses it, too inwardly focused on his own thoughts and adrenaline, then on and on, and he's one of the few left in the craft.
<Antioch|GM> "Second Line," the craft announces. Several capes stand. Acacia, Anthem, he recognizes those Protectorate capes. Scrimshaw, one of the SPEC mercenaries. Only two capes remain where they are. Lionheart and Holmgang.
<Antioch|GM> They must be waiting for the frontline. ||
<Antioch|GM> ** Ace of Space, Bath Boy, Goldenrod, and Princess December
<-> Azrael0037 is now known as Az|Away
<tubes|Gauss> Was he supposed to be front or second? They weren't very clear. Gauss thinks about who does what. Well, Lionheart had some kind of invincibility. Holmgang did that dome-thingy, though he wasn't real clear exactly how durable he was. Gauss is pretty sure his power mostly involves punching things, but he's also not too keen on banking on being able to ramp it up enough to trade punches
<tubes|Gauss> with Leviathan. He figures the aura thing is closer in effect to Acaia's root-armor-thingy, and stands with the Second Line. ||
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<Antioch|GM> Acacia's armor immediately starts growing over her, bursting out of her skin and shredding the fabric of her bodysuit as she descends the craft's ramp, Anthem following behind. The roar of the storm and rain is muffled by a dull buzz, and he realizes that Anthem's armor is projecting a sonic field that disperses the raindrops before they touch her. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Following in their lead, Gauss reaches for his power. He waits to get a look at the battleground before he flares it. ||
<-> soulpelt|Wink is now known as soulpelt|
<Antioch|GM> He's close enough that he can see the churning shoreline through the deluge. Tinkertech levees intersect with organic walls, thick corded vines quenching themselves with seawater, entwining yards off the coast, forming massive breakers, a barricade for the looming silhouette of Leviathan – there's far too much rain to see him outright, but his figure lurks in the distance, floodlights from nearby building rooftops focusing
<Antioch|GM> their glare in his direction. Flying capes hover above a beachhead, one hurling blasts that strike the waves much like the inverse of a pebble dropped into a pond. Where it hits, the ripples quieten, but only briefly.
<Antioch|GM> His power flares to life, a crackling red cowl of pure energy engulfing his body, magnifying his strength many times over, every simple movement he makes sparking with power. The rain doesn't touch his skin - it's reduced to steam in contact with his aura, and he's soon surrounded by warm, churning mist as he moves to meet with the other Second Liners. ||
<-> FossilLord is now known as FossisDead
<tubes|Gauss> Holy shit. Gauss suddenly has way more juice than he's ever had before. And he's still got more room to go before he hits the peak, he's sure of it.  He nearly stumbles from the extra strength. It's an absurd thought, but he's going to have to close the distance, or a find a place to vent, or odds are he might take out some of his erstwhile allies. Close the distance with that thing
<tubes|Gauss> off in the distance.
<tubes|Gauss> Him. It. Whatever the fuck it was. The monster. Gauss feels a shiver go down his spine, and he feels like laughing, so he does. At least he'll be dry. ||
<Antioch|GM> Mid-laugh, in a flash, it's begun. The Endbringer lunges forward, plowing through the vine wall like it's made of straw, countless gallons of water sloughing off in his wake in torrents. The water echo.
<Antioch|GM> The defending heroes' reactions are quick to match, and a few activate their powers in preparation. Hands down, sand flares red-hot, cooling to glass. Three forcefields rotating about one cape, picking up in RPM. No need to close the distance. Leviathan will do it for you. ||
<tubes|Gauss> He can barely even hear the rain over the blood thundering in ears. For all his bravado, he might shit himself. Gauss flares his power. He'd need every scrap he could get to survive first contact. Good thing swimming was part of the physical therapy. ||
<-> Thaliaway is now known as Thalia
<Antioch|GM> His power kicks into an even higher gear, and thin arcs of lightning trail from raindrop to raindrop, fizzling out after a certain distance – the capes surrounding him give him a wider berth, at the sight of that.
<Antioch|GM> Then he watches the frontliners do their work. One launches a freezing bomb at the Endbringer's feet, ice crumbling without meaningful resistance, but others capitalize on the moment – a flying cape slams full-throttle into his chest and Leviathan's tail lashes out for stability, ripping the Tinkertech levee to shreds in the motion. A meteor's worth of tangled scrap metal crashes into the Endbringer, golden rings phase over
<Antioch|GM> his limbs and constrict them – if they're buying time, it's on the scale of seconds. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss glances around, unsure what to do. Would there be a valiant charge? Was he supposed to cover someone with a bigger impact? He tries to hold on to the manic high from earlier, but it's hard going in the face of the monster, not even going toe-to-toe with the heavyweights, but outright ignoring them. Where was the right thing here? He might as well be giving a ticket to a hurricane
<tubes|Gauss> for illegal dumping.
<tubes|Gauss> He gets more angry at the faltering of his own will than anything else. There were millions of people behind this thin line of capes. Every second they bought here was a life saved. Every second was worth the effort.
<tubes|Gauss> He knows he has to have a limit somewhere. He saves the next flare for when the monster gets closer, prepares to fire it up even more. If he popped, at the very least, he needed to make sure it all hit Leviathan. ||
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<Antioch|GM> The Tinkertech levee starts knitting itself back together, devouring scraps from the tangle of metal that struck Leviathan moments before, reconfiguring itself so the waves pouring off of the Endbringer aren't reflected off of it and redirected back towards shore -- they're contracting, forming a rising barrier primed to encircle the Endbringer.
<Antioch|GM> Another delay, another one or two seconds bought.
<Antioch|GM> The frontliners take action, and he can see Holmgang's domes erupting from the sand, small stumbling stones from Leviathan's perspective. The Endbringer crashes through the levee, into the beachhead, and melee combatants in the front line throw themselves into the fray. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss glances around again, seeing if anyone else in the second line is moving. If not, he holds. Last thing he needed to do was charge forward, fuck up some strategy, and get himself and a whole bunch of other people killed. He feels like he's drowning and boiling at the same time in the thick cloud of steam around him. Probably only a trick of the mind. He'd be drowning for real soon
<tubes|Gauss> enough if he wasn't careful.
<tubes|Gauss> Couldn't be any worse than getting blown up. ||
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<Antioch|GM> The cluster of capes at Leviathan's feet is too crowded for more melee combatants to throw themselves into the fray, but as Leviathan fights, he moves inexorably closer to Rio proper, and the second line repositions themselves, moving to interpose Leviathan's path. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss follows everyone's lead. Jesus christ. It was fucking huge. Why the hell was he here? Why the hell was anyone here?
<tubes|Gauss> Oh, yeah. It was the right thing to do. Fuck it. Gauss stands ready. If Leviathan charges again, he's going to flare his power again and go up swinging. Nobody was going down if he could help it. ||
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<Antioch|GM> The Endbringer's tail scythes through the capes in front, and shortly after, a whipcord of water slashes at all the capes still upright, swinging wider than the tail, and the second wave moves to defend themselves against it.
<Antioch|GM> "Get down!" a voice shouts from somewhere in front of him, as his armband rattles off the names of the capes that were just downed. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss hits the deck. ||
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<Antioch|GM> He doesn't so much sense something swinging overhead as he feels the water turn to steam, roiling off of him, practically disintegrating in contact with his aura. By the time his vision returns, his surroundings lit by the red glow of his power, some of the capes nearby have already picked themselves up, ready to engage the Endbringer, filling the gap left behind by the downed frontliners. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Shit. Here it comes. Given the effect his aura had had on the water, he might have been able to take that hit, but better not to find out. Gauss picks himself up off the ground, stepping forward to fill the gap, then jogging, then running, opening up the valve on his power again. Given the pace so far, he was only going to get one swing at this. Better make it count. Gauss feels a yell
<tubes|Gauss> start to rise, and gives into it, because he was literally about to try to uppercut fucking Leviathan. ||
<Antioch|GM> As he moves, he feels his aura start to solidify, transform into something he can warp and mold to his own will. Instead of the soles of his shoe hitting the glassy shore, now he's towering above the ground, aura a massive, corporeal suit of armor.
<Antioch|GM> Above the crackle and the storm, he can hear repetitive bass thrums, ear-poundingly loud and surely louder were they aimed at him, sheer force of sound disintegrating the water sloughing off Leviathan and pooling at his feet. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss is heady with power, with adrenaline, with terror and sheer mania, drunk on it. This was it. This was it. This. Was. It. Enviromentalism, poverty, hunger - What did any of those matter, when there was a monster fight in front of you, as distinctively evil as anything could ever be. Every natural disaster, every plague, every famine personified. Except this time, he could fight
<tubes|Gauss> back. Gauss flexes, feeling his aura harden and shape itself. He doesn't go for anything fancy, morphing it into something firmer, something sharper around his hands and forearms as he steadily continues the advance. Gauntlets of sharp edges and points, of hard plates. He forces himself to keep pace, to not rush it. Every second the monster spent walking towards them was one more second
<tubes|Gauss> civilians gained to escape, one more second for Scion to arrive and drive the bastard back. Maybe even kill it. James'll fight for those seconds. ||
<Antioch|GM> And then he's face to face with the watery bastard himself -- well, face to gut. Even with his aura, he's still shorter than Leviathan's lanky, clawed arms.
<Antioch|GM> There's a flurry of gold flecks storming in the area -- his power burns them almost straightaway, but they're clinging to the Endbringer, accumulating, glinting from the floodlight's illumination. Closer to his head, he's struck with projectiles, none of which do any meaningful damage -- and then a massive chunk of metal slams into his head, doing no damage whatsoever, but immediately deforms to cover it like a skintight sheet
<Antioch|GM> of aluminum foil. ||
<tubes|Gauss> Gauss is yelling at this point. He's not sure when he started. Someone apparently already has the face covered, so Gauss goes in at the bastard's knees - fucked up as they were, he still needed them to move. He slugs his best hook at them, whatever that counted for. ||
<Antioch|GM> ((Brawl, please.))
<tubes|Gauss> $roll 1d6+4
<[ATM]> tubes|Gauss [1] +4 = 5
<Antioch|GM> It's like punching a wall, for all the good it does. The water pouring off the Endbringer vaporizes on contact, but the blow doesn't even seem to scratch the surface. Leviathan doesn't even react to it, focusing instead on the metal clinging to his face. ||
<tubes|Gauss> You've got to be fucking shitting me. He couldn't even get the fucker to notice him?!? He'd had less fucking impact on the monster than the walls he'd had to wade through to get here. Gauss goes for a hard stomp at the ankle, or whatever you call it, putting all his weight behind it. The face thing seemed to be working, if he could get the monster's attention- ||
<tubes|Gauss> ((Not before adding some cleat-spikes to the 'boot'))
<Antioch|GM> |||
<-> Antioch|GM is now known as Antioch
<-> tubes|Gauss is now known as tubes