(11:52:26 PM) ***Annandra approaches the newly-recoloured Faestrider, rolling her shoulders; her fingers itch and her heart is singing right now, and the broad grin on her face easily shows her nearly childish, giddy glee at having such an engine of destruction at her fingertips.
(11:57:20 PM) Ikiryo: The strider kneels...putting out a hand, palm up.
(11:58:07 PM) ***Annandra takes a deep breath and steps onto the hand, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to look badass.
(3/6/2017 12:06:55 AM) Ikiryo: She hears the sound of musical laughter, the clash of weapons ringing.
(12:07:41 AM) ***Annandra takes a deep breath and smiles, biting her lip a bit... "Alright then, how do we get started?"
(12:13:39 AM) Ikiryo: The hand starts to lift her up...as she feels silver lips on her ear. "We already have~" Annandra believes she is being molested by a warstrider.
(12:14:40 AM) ***Annandra blushes a bit. Well, she's been molested by worse things, and at least the strider is hot. "Oh, good," she murmurs. "Can't wait to see how this feels...
(12:14:42 AM) Annandra: "
(12:17:03 AM) Ikiryo: She feels a silver tongue run along her ear, feeling the tracery of brass on it as the warstrider lifts it up towards it's chest.
(12:18:54 AM) ***Annandra shivers again, biting her lip and giggling a bit. "Mmmf... on the first date?~"
(12:20:35 AM) Ikiryo: "My story isn't one of chaste heroes~"
(12:21:53 AM) ***Annandra lets out a little laugh. "No worry about that here, I guess," she murmurs. "Though I'm not a slut at least. Is that someting that's going to need to change?~"
(12:23:05 AM) Ikiryo: "You are not?~" She tongue teases her ear...and the figure retreats into the hand as the chestplate of the warstrider flows apart to allow entrance.
(12:26:47 AM) ***Annandra shivers, going to step in. "I have a girlfriend," she murmurs, figuring out how to get settled into the cockpit. "Though to be honest she probably wouldn't mind; she's a Librarian, and more experiences to record is more data for her, which she loves. Aside from her it's been... uh, maybe three other people, though all pretty recently. Two of them I was out of my mind at the time."
(12:26:54 AM) Annandra: "And the other I'd had a crush on for years.
(12:26:54 AM) Annandra: "
(12:31:00 AM) Ikiryo: "Oh, she sounds like she's got some fascinating stories~" Annandra is settled into a silver and brass harness around her body...feeling the straps shift themselves to wrap around her.
(12:32:54 AM) Earthflame [[email protected]] entered the room.
(12:34:22 AM) ***Annandra flexes a bit, getting used to the feel. "Oh, she does. I could get lost in some of her pages..." She smiles and sighs happily. "You'd probably like her, I think? Or at least the fiction section of her. And the history section."
(12:37:28 AM) Ikiryo: The straps get a bit tight around some parts of Annandra as the Fey slides out of the silver and brass plating, giving her a kiss...Annandra feeling her feed on her emotions, heightening them.
(12:38:32 AM) ***Annandra shivers, letting it happen and kissing back, getting even giddier. "Alright, this feels great... though I feel like 'tank top, flak vest, and bdus' isn't really appropriate attire, huh? I should fix that, yeah. Yeah, that can get added to the list, mm..."
(12:39:41 AM) Ikiryo: "It would help the story, yes~" She smiles "I'm always willing to help a story~"
(12:40:07 AM) ***Annandra laughs. "Oh, are you a tailor, too?~"
(12:41:19 AM) Ikiryo: "Of cloth, among other things~"
(12:41:59 AM) ***Annandra chuckles a bit. "Well, it'd be damned rude of me to refuse an offer of help from my new partner, huh?"
(12:42:42 AM) Ikiryo: "Lovely. How much can I do?~"
(12:49:25 AM) ***Annandra thinks for a moment, biting her lip. "Part of me wants to say go crazy, but I feel like that's not the best idea. Just makes ure I'm still recognisable as me, huh?"
(12:50:19 AM) Ikiryo: She pouts at Annandra...
(1:04:13 AM) ***Annandra blushes a bit. "It's not as good a story if no one recognises the heroine, right?"
(1:04:36 AM) Ikiryo: "Of course not...but I wouldn't do that already~"
(1:08:14 AM) Annandra: "I mean..." She thinks a bit. "I guess you're the expert. Just try to be vaguely reasonable?" Says the Khornate Daemonhost without a trace of irony.
(1:16:11 AM) Ikiryo: She leans foward...and kisses Annandra passionately, silver and brass metal flowing over...and even into the girl...
(1:18:18 AM) ***Annandra gasps at that, closing her eyes and kissing back with a soft shiver, letting it happen...
(1:20:22 AM) Ikiryo: Feeling the metal slide through her, as soft as silk...her emotions being driven higher and higher...
(1:21:29 AM) Annandra: She wasn't even sure they could get higher, but her new partner seems convinced on making her wrong; she exults in it, feeling her desire, her rage, her lust, her love, her hate; all grow stronger, stronger...
(1:22:24 AM) Ikiryo: Her soul being fed on...being polished like a gem...
(1:23:36 AM) Annandra: She shivers at that feeling; but it's not like she doesn't have spares, right? A little laugh bubbles up at the thought; a Daemonhost's soul is only as strong as it's will and emotions, she's heard... strengthen it and sharpen it? Like tempering a blade...
(1:24:02 AM) Ikiryo: Impurities being wiped away...
(1:26:10 AM) ***Annandra shivers as she feels it happening; maybe this was a bad idea, but... the sake of a story. And it's for her friends, her people, her home... that steels her resolve. She's tired of being afraid... she's tired of running away. A weapon doesn't run; it cuts, and cuts, and cuts again...
(1:30:12 AM) Ikiryo: And a hero doesn't back down from a fight...she's the hero of this story...
(1:32:48 AM) Annandra: Of course a hero doesn't back down from a fight; and really, she never should have been... She can live this, she knows it. She can do this...
(1:33:56 AM) Ikiryo: She can save them, this story...she can give it a dramatic ending!
(1:35:15 AM) Annandra: A hero, leading a coalition of forces, united in purpose; saving a world in a dramatic showdown... what a glorious tale it would be, wouldn't it? Finally, something to be remembered for...
(1:38:49 AM) Annandra: She feels her body change, too; not as much as before, but definitely cutting a more heroic figure now; maybe a little curvier, but nothing so excessive as before. Her hair's shinier, though still cut around her shoulders; her eyepatch has burned away again, her armor and pants and shirt; replaced by a pilot's suit, skin tight (tight enough her piercings are being shown off--if she could be embarrassed right now she might be),
(1:40:53 AM) Annandra: red and bronze. On one shoulder is a squadron designation--I-I, First Pilot of First Squadron. On the right would be a Knight House's symbol; Annandra's... well, she technically is a noble, isn't it? A horned demon skull and an octopus frame the center; Tranquility, a globe of the world of her birth, is in the middle of the pair, superimposed over a symbol of Khorne.
(1:42:09 AM) Annandra: Under that is a scroll; 'E Sanguine, Victoria'--Bloodshed Makes Victory. The built-in boots of the pilot suit have very slight heels on them; more to aid in mounting and dismounting and to add an inch or so to her height than to make her sway and swagger.
(1:46:08 AM) Ikiryo: The fey pulls back, sliding part of herself from Annandra's lips, even having changed the girls voice along with her body and mind...
(1:47:10 AM) ***Annandra shivers a bit, licking her lips; her voice has lost that aching, gravelly tone. It's louder, clearer; the sort that carries over a battlefield. "Khorne's teeth I feel fantastic~"
(1:48:04 AM) Ikiryo: The fey smiles in front of her. "I made sure to put your symbol on my shield~"
(1:49:36 AM) Annandra: "Mmm... Thank you~" She says with a grin--leaning up to kiss her warstrider's avatar on the lips softly. "This really is a wonderful partnership~"
(1:51:05 AM) Ikiryo: "Of course, it will lead to a glorious story~" Outside the warstrider has a large kite shield and a rapier at it's side.
(1:52:02 AM) ***Annandra laughs and grins. She flexes a bit in her new, better-fitting harness; seeing about picking up that shield and rapier. "Not my standard loadout, but more heroic, I'll admit. Let's put us through our paces..."
(1:54:54 AM) Ikiryo: As she moves her arm, the warstrider moves...and a moment later, as far as she can tell she IS the warstrider. Those are her hands lifting the rapier and shield...
(1:56:28 AM) Annandra: She shivers at the feeling; of power and speed and weight. She flexes her new arms, clasping shield and sword; she takes a step and marvels at the way the earth shakes. Excitement runs through her, and she laughs; deep and powerful and clear. She starts to move, to test her limits; to get used to range of motion of arm and leg, of speed of response and flexibility.
(2:02:11 AM) Ikiryo: This body...it's as agile and fast as her own body was, if not perhaps moreso and so very quick. She could easily keep pace with an armoured car at full speed
(2:03:23 AM) Annandra: That just makes her giddier; she laughs again and goes into a sprint, then a slide; she tests all her tolerances, getting what feels like the best workout she's had in years doing so.
(2:04:55 AM) Ikiryo: Feeling her metal body shifting more naturally than any metal shoot, as flexible as flesh.
(2:06:08 AM) Annandra: "Amazing," she says with another laugh. "Oh, there is only one way this possibly get better," she thinks aloud once she feels the workout done. "Ah, but that's for later... I think we still have some time, hmm--I've been meaning to go tak to the local Angels. Maybe they'll even give us the time of day. Shall we?"
(2:06:50 AM) Ikiryo: "How would we reach them?~" Getting something this large there...might be tricky.
(2:12:36 AM) Annandra: "Mmm... well, finding an established portal is probably trickier than usual nowadays, now that I think about it, and if I just ripped open one--I can't realy do SUBTLE magic--that would cause... concern, and I doubt it would be big enough for us, hmm... we MIGHT be able to take a wayfire there, if any are still kindled..."
(2:15:24 AM) Annandra: "Well, it cant hurt to try; I know where one is on this side of things. Shall we go see?"
(2:15:36 AM) Ikiryo: She feels a voice speak, in her own mind.
(2:15:39 AM) Ikiryo: 'Of course~'
(2:16:06 AM) ***Annandra laughs again. "Let's go, then~" She says, and strikes out towards where she had that duel with Khaira...
(2:17:29 AM) Ikiryo: It's nearly a full hour before she reaches there, the old ruined castle all about her.
(2:18:47 AM) ***Annandra keeps an eye out for trouble; she tries to see if she can fit the faestrider into the courtyar where the Wayfire was; she can't remember if it was open to the sky or not. THe whole thing's a ittle blurry in her memory still.
(2:21:40 AM) Ikiryo: It is, fortunelty. She can spot the sword planeted in the fire down below.
(2:23:36 AM) ***Annandra maneuvers into there, flexing a bit. She kneels before the wayfire, taking a deep breath. "Alright, let's see here." It's a simple magic, taught to any traveller on Tranquility; she reaches out to touch the flame-beacon, to feel the places she has been before...
(2:28:43 AM) Ikiryo: ...and almost all of them are gone. A few, very out of the way ones...the castle she's at now, the high heavens and leoric's castle.
(2:30:22 AM) ***Annandra lets out a breath and closes her eyes. "So many unkindled," she murmurs. "So much darkness." She flexes a hand, seeing if there's enough power to warp her to the HIgh Heavens...
(2:31:42 AM) Ikiryo: There is. There is still deep power...but almost nowhere to send it.
(2:32:55 AM) Annandra: "The well's not dry, though. This much power... it should be able to take us both. Hmm... and if we tap into it..." She muses. "Something to bring up to the others, huh?" She starts channelling; the benefit of the wayfires over the even older waypoints is that you can't be interrupted by the one quilbeast you forgot to murder, at least.
(2:34:32 AM) Ikiryo: ...and the world about her shifts. For a moment she is surrounded by endless runes, structured order magic that her warstrider clearly doesn't like.
(2:34:53 AM) Ikiryo: And then she finds herself in the middle of a white stone plain...a gold and white city ahead of her.
(2:36:51 AM) ***Annandra grimaces at that; it was always al ittle disconcerting for her to take the Wayfires; at least with the revelation of her heritage she found out why. She stands up in her strider, looking ahead at the plain, staring at the city. THe last time she saw it, it was under siege... how times change. She sheathes her rapier at her belt and puts her shield on her back; thus disarmed, she starts...
(2:36:52 AM) Annandra: her approach.
(2:38:57 AM) Ikiryo: The city is silent as she approaches it. No divine seige weapons on it's walls, no signs of guard legions of angels. Nothing to indicate that it expects an attack.
(2:41:18 AM) Annandra: Which is... even odder to her. She approaches the gate; calmly and carefully. "Angels of the High Heavens!" She calls out, voice echoing. "I, Annandra von Schneider, call to you! In my position as the last bearer of the Horadric Texts, in my status as battle-sister to the Angels Simiel and Shamshiel; as one who fought with word, tome, and blade for Tranquility and for your own city..."
(2:41:53 AM) Ikiryo: ...nothing. No replies, no messanger angels.
(2:44:44 AM) Annandra: "I call for a meeting--if not with your Council, then with Simiel and Shamshiel!" She pauses, seeing the lack of response. "Do I speak to an empty city? Or a city of cowards? What happened to the people who claimed to uphold Valor, Justice, Hope, Wisdom? Do you cower afraid, or have you passed into the eternal night like so many before you?"
(2:48:14 AM) Ikiryo: ...and yet, silence continues to reign.
(2:48:38 AM) Annandra: "... Hmm." She shrugs, and reaches out to touch the gate; worse comes to worse, she tries to open it.
(2:51:02 AM) Ikiryo: It slides open at her touch, revealing an empty street...a glint of something metal in the distance.
(2:51:52 AM) ***Annandra frowns, taking a step into the street; on guard, but not armed yet, she starts to stride down it at a moderate pace, keeping her closest eye on that glint of metal.
(2:55:30 AM) Ikiryo: As she approaches down the street...she nearly walks into a barely visible barrier of holy magic. It would have done heavy damage even to a warstrider. It's blocking further entrance.
(2:56:22 AM) ***Annandra whistles. "Well, look at this,' she says, taking a step back. "It's a barrier... yeah, I'm glad we noticed that." She frowns, looking it up and down and taking a sniff of it; trying to feel out if there's any signature of who made it...
(2:56:50 AM) Ikiryo: It smells...angelic.
(2:57:40 AM) Annandra: "Did they retreat, I wonder? It's... not like them. They loved war almost as much as Khornates. Most of them, anyway." She peers furthur down it, to see what that glint of metal was.
(2:58:19 AM) Ikiryo: It seems to be an angel, standing at guard with a greatsword planted in the ground in front of him.
(2:59:45 AM) ***Annandra quirks her head to teh side--well, her warstrider's head--same thing at this point, really. "You there!" She calls out, trying to get his attention. "Did my call from outside not carry this far?"
(3:03:23 AM) Ikiryo: It...doesn't respond.
(3:03:57 AM) ***Annandra frowns. She thinks to herself; 'What sensors do I have? Anything that can penetrate this shield?'
(3:04:34 AM) Ikiryo: 'I could allow you to bypass it, while I stay outside if you would like~'
(3:05:07 AM) ***Annandra nods, flexing a bit. 'Well, we need to know what's happening; as much as as this is amazing, I'm afraid we'll need to part ways for a time~'
(3:07:21 AM) Ikiryo: She nods, Annandra feeling her own body again as the warstrider's chest opens up. The giant hand rises up to meet her.
(3:08:30 AM) ***Annandra steps out, harness falling away. She blinks; she feels so... small now. the rush of power in that Faestrider was addictive--she makes note of that, but is sure it won't be a problem.
(3:09:27 AM) Ikiryo: The warstrider takes her in her hand...and throws her over the barrier. Everything goes dark for a few minutes.
(3:10:09 AM) Annandra: well, she can't complain too much about a fastball special; still, the death is annoying.
(3:10:38 AM) Ikiryo: Still, she's awake again after a few minutes.
(3:12:11 AM) ***Annandra gets up with a groan and looks around.
(3:12:51 AM) Ikiryo: She finds herself just on the other side of the barrier. The street leading up to a large open plaza. The angel is still standing there.
(3:14:20 AM) Annandra: 'Ugh." She stands up and makes sure all ehr joints are in the right place, then flips her hair back. The Daemonhost then strides forward--not drawin gher weapons or making an attempt to look threatening--towards the Angel.
(3:16:47 AM) Ikiryo: As she approaches it she sees it is standing at a formation of them. A dozen angels...a dozen more. All armed with holy great swords, a full legion of one hundred. They are standing behind a massive, modern tank. An Alacorn. A tank that could fight a titan and have a good change of winning...
(3:17:51 AM) ***Annandra frowns at that, taking a step back--that's not a fight she can win... she tries to see if they're moving at all, what they're doing... if anything.
(3:18:20 AM) Ikiryo: Nothing. The entire legion, standing stock still. Not the slightest movement.
(3:19:19 AM) ***Annandra frowns harder at that. She's carrying enough Daemonic essence in her that the entirety of Heaven should be mobilised... so she approaches, carefully, ,arms spread in the universal sign of coming in peace.
(3:19:36 AM) Ikiryo: Beyond the tank she sees another, and another. A trio of the massive tanks. Along with emplacement weapons, packed up to move.
(3:20:06 AM) Ikiryo: A lot of very modern equipment for the Heavens. The angels do not move as she approaches, not even turning to face her.
(3:20:21 AM) Annandra: "... What happened here?" She asks aloud. "Were they mobilising? Against whom? Why are they frozen? Where did they get this equipment from?"
(3:20:43 AM) Ikiryo: None of them reply to her or even recognise that she spoke.
(3:21:57 AM) ***Annandra lets out a breath. "Why... what happened?" She presses past them, at speed; maybe if she makes her way to the Council's chamber, she can find some explanation... or something. Anything.
(3:25:05 AM) Ikiryo: She soon finds her way to the council chambers...and smells something on the ear. A staleness that doesn't fit in this place.
(3:26:12 AM) ***Annandra frowns, taking a deep breath. Carefully, she draws her knife, and moves forward, cautious--trying to find the source of the staleness...
(3:26:37 AM) Ikiryo: The massive doors, as tall as her warstrider, are slightly open.
(3:31:45 AM) ***Annandra grits her teeth; that's something to feel cautious about. She steps forward, carefully slipping through...
(3:32:21 AM) Ikiryo: ...and just before she steps through, she spots an empty figure...much like the one she killed.
(3:34:23 AM) ***Annandra narrows her eyes at that, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She freezes for a moment, lurking; to see if it noticed her or what it's doing...
(3:36:29 AM) Ikiryo: It doesn't seem to have noticed her...but it is moving towards the door.