Mundane World War: S3

[17:40] * ChanServ sets mode: +o Oxford
[17:44] * Oxford changes topic to 'Pakollinen evakuointi voimassa. Kaikki asukkaat on ilmoittauduttava kerayspisteisiin.'
[17:47] <@Oxford> For hours, the incessant blare of the megaphones droned on and on, letting up only when one of the four light trucks carrying them passed around a hill or went over a particularly rough bump. The Novgoraadi countryside has become noticeably less populated by liars since their arrival.
[17:49] * Lecia is now known as Alathea
[17:49] <@Oxford> The trucks maintain a box formation with the crystalline entity at its center, staying roughly half again outside of the being's range. When it moves towards them, the one approached backs off and the others veer closer in order to keep the formation intact.
[17:52] <Alathea> Good, good. ...What? 'You're just killing everyone?' Well, that's all well and fine. If everyone's a filthy liar, they can all die. ...Thinking of the inordinate amount amount of liars...exactly what are these things trying to do again? Does it even know?
[17:55] <@Oxford> The message coming from the megaphones is in the local tongue, and difficult to dechiper. As it moves, the entity has passed through several villages that seemed deserted - only the lingering residue of untruth remained to indicate the nature of the former inhabitants.
[18:00] <Alathea> ...Strange. ...Still, if it was chasing the stink of a larger group of liars anyhow, perhaps that's alright. ...It's not moving, is it?
[18:04] <@Oxford> The odour of the larger concentration of filth is still in the same direction it was before, and is growing stronger as the entity makes progress towards its goal. After a few futile shows of resistance, the liars have stopped sending their forces to die and withdrawn beyond sight, aside from the encircling trucks.
[18:06] <Alathea> They could not even shoot at it without suffering for their impudence. Those that resisted thus far by shooting it have either died outright, or in rare cases, became seriously wounded. There aren't any exceptions to that rule. (Naturally, they were cleaned up.)
[18:12] <Alathea> The voices, affixed to crystals (and lightly glowing their respective colors now) make idle comments in the meantime. "Long road." "Lots of bodies." "We didn't exactly come knocking to bring this scenario about..." "But, when you think about it, maybe she wanted something like this after all." "Talking with the truth hanging over our heads is kind of terrifying." " Word. Maybe one of those people can understand us, but just won't talk?" "Well, if they talked, they'd probably end up dead, so...hey! If anyone can understand us: good job not showing it!" Annoying, but useful. They might fear the truth, yes, but they've respected it thus far.
[18:15] <Alathea> ...To be fair, the truth has resulted in a lot of deaths. Even those that would remain truthful might end up a bit paranoid. It's worth fearing, since fear is oftentimes a way to make people listen.
[18:17] <@Oxford> As the floating crystal bobs to the top of a low rise, it can sense the city ahead of it, laid out in a wide depression along both banks of a meandering river. The golden grass waves gently for miles in all directions, and in the center the city sits as if dropped into the pristine landscape by some bored god's whim.
[18:21] <Alathea> ...Of course, lying has resulted in the deaths of their souls. So, of course, they needs be cleansed. ...And, it believes this would be what it had seen. A stain on an otherwise beautiful landscape.
[18:25] <@Oxford> Looking more closely, there are a few roads snaking across the landscape, both into the city and to bridges on its north and south ends. The roads are thick with traffic, backed up for miles as the stinking liars impede their own escape.
[18:37] <Alathea> Good, good. They don't normally make it easier, but since they do...cutting off the bridges as soon as possible should greatly hinder escape attempts, and just wrecking the road in the meantime should help a bit as well. As great as it would be to just go straight to cleaning house, preperations must be made. Spray the cleaning agent before wiping it with a cloth. Or at least water or something.
[18:37] * TemporalMech ([email protected]) has joined #WorldWarBurst
[18:39] * TemporalMechanic ([email protected]) Quit (Ping timeout: 240 seconds)
[18:40] <@Oxford> As the outsider descends the long, shallow slope towards the city, the quartet of megaphone trucks suddenly breaks off, scattering in all directions. Ahead, it can make out a thin gray line of tiny figures standing beside what look to be artillery pieces. A droning buzz from above grows steadily stronger.
[18:45] <Alathea> ...Ah, this looks like resistance. But will it actually be resistance? Or just worth a gold sticker. Star? Nah, just a square. The echo not in charge of baggage (that's red) takes a look up! Annoying buzzing? That's the echo's job!
[19:03] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Alathea, Red, Blue) - Plain - Outskirts (4 VII-Sukellpommi*) - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan) - River'
[19:08] <@Oxford> The long row of artillery seems to stretch the length of the city. Above, what look like four over-sized fighters circle high over the outskirts.
[19:12] <Alathea> Well, they're trying, anyway. The weaponry is to be destroyed...so first, it commences the inital assault! ...And by 'it', I mean 'Red and Blue'. they both fire upon the VII-Sukellpommis! A pair of large, sharp shards to strike vital points!
[19:16] <Alathea> ...Once they get in line to fire them.
[19:17] <@Oxford> The spikes arc upwards towards the bombers, but fall short of their targets. Height is the bomber's advantage at the moment, and to counter that, the echoes must rise to meet their foes.
[19:18] <Alathea> "Aren't those bombers?" "And what do they think they're going to do? Bomb us?" They chat and chitter as they rise, attempting to blow off their misfire.
[19:19] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Alathea, Red*, Blue*) - Plain - Outskirts (4 VII-Sukellpommi*) - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan) - River'
[19:19] <Alathea> The main body, however, doesn't waste time. It rises, and proceeds ever forward. It's getting in front of them!
[19:19] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Red*, Blue*) - Plain (Alathea) - Outskirts (4 VII-Sukellpommi*) - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan) - River'
[19:22] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Red*, Blue*) - Plain  - Outskirts (Alathea, 4 VII-Sukellpommi*) - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan) - River'
[19:25] <@Oxford> The massive crystal races forward, bearing down on the city like a freight train the size of an ocean liner. The artillery in the distance lights up, tiny flashes of light in the distance, followed a second later by the thunder of their firing, and a storm of shells.
[19:43] <@Oxford> The shells rain in, bursting on impact with the massive floating orb in a massive series of explosions. The ground trembles beneath the bombardment, and the blastwave flattens the grassland a hundred metres in every direction. So much dust and smoke is thrown into the air that the entity seems to disappear behind a shroud of falling earth.
[19:43] <@Oxford> A cheer goes up from the direction of the artillerymen, but it dies on their lips as the smoke clears and the behemoth continues forward unabated, two small cracks showing in its crystals.
[19:44] <Alathea> Granted, however, it did look a fair amount smaller...
[19:46] <Alathea> ...but, as the dirt contintues to fall, it is revealed that large amount of it had indeed broke off and shattered, hanging in the air, a huge amount of crystal debris. Quite possibly more than it even had to begin with, though it's hard to tell when it's all shattered like that.
[19:47] <Alathea> ...The mass of crystals then rise, their sharp ends turned towards the artillery, and then they come down like a hailstorm of magic enhanced knives.
[19:47] <Alathea> ...And as it does so, the crystalline being just seems to grow back, still barely hindered!
[19:50] <@Oxford> Even from a distance, the screams of the men rise across the field, as shouts for medics and replacement crews mingle in the air. Ambulances pull forward from prepared positions, and more men charge from a trenchline to take their places at the guns, but the return fire is noticeably slackened.
[19:52] <@Oxford> Above, the bombers wait for their chance. As the smoke clears, the have a clear picture of their target, directly below them and moving on a steady course. The flight leader orders them to begin their bombing run, and the dive bombers peel off into a steep descent, one behind the other.
[20:04] <@Oxford> The bomber pilots feel their field of view narrow as the dive drives blood from their heads, giving them tunnel vision. When the entity fills what remains of their sight, they jam on the release switches, trusting their plane's automatic stabilizer to pull them out of the dive just a few hundred metres from the ground.
[20:06] <@Oxford> One of the divebombs is released too late and drops after the pilot is already pulling up, but the others are on the mark. Two penetrate the creature's defenses, and the bombs - designed to sink ships and destroy bridges - pound on the otherworldly orb. The bombers, keeping low to the ground, peel off in all directions, their job done.
[20:07] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Red*, Blue*) - Plain(2 VII-Sukellpommi)  - Outskirts (Alathea) - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan, 2 VII-Sukellpommi) - River'
[20:08] <Alathea> ...Note to self, they can put up a resistance. So this might take some real effort, after all. ...Should make it more satisfying. Still though, the shards, with minds of their own, chase them down regardless.
[20:13] <Alathea> The echoes, miffed at their failure to connect earlier, attempt to at least get one of the bastards, whether or not he can actually fight back at this point! May they leave scarred, hopefully!
[20:20] <@Oxford> One of the planes seems to have taken some damage during its dive, and as it races away from the larger sphere, the red echo's shards rain on it from above. They pierce the wings in two places and take a chunk out of the tail, and the pilot has to give up some speed in order to pull the now-unsteady aircraft up enough not to worry about maneuvering around obstacles.
[20:22] <@Oxford> Pure chance saves the bomber. The climb throws off the other echo's aim, and the blue-tinted shards lance into the field ahead of the fleeing plane.
[20:25] <Alathea> "Get good!" "Oh shut up. He was lucky and you know it. And you threw off my aim!" "I nearly shot him down! "And if you were less obnoxious about it, maybe I could have finished him. Ugh."
[20:26] <@Oxford> As the two orbs argue, the limp form of a girl is shaken by their movements. Her eyelids flutter, but do not open.
[20:28] <Alathea> "Did she...?" "Oh, now I get it. You're not weighted down by her, you're busy paying too much attention to her every movement!" "Uuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhh."
[20:29] <Alathea> The judge, jury, and executioner (all in one package) of truth approaches the more threatening and numerous combatants, caring not for the planes when there's a much greater quantity of those that would defend liars right here.
[20:29] <Alathea> It approaches them. Like, actually approaches them. Gets all up in their ranks.
[20:35] <Alathea> Brandishing sharp appendages, it opts to stab here and there. There's plenty of bodies, it's bound to get something.
[20:37] <@Oxford> A lone artillery officer stands at the top of an emplacement, waving his men back as the gigantic sphere bears down on their lines. He doesn't leave time to escape himself, and spear of crystal erupts from his chest and lifts him off the ground. Confusion crosses his face, and then he goes limp, still stuck to the rampaging ball of death.
[20:41] <Alathea> The echoes turn their attention to the murderball in the distance. "Well, at least someone's having fun here. Why can't you have fun like boss, over there?" "Stop making noises." "You're about as much fun as Cille herself right now, you know that?" "...That's low. Right, but low."
[20:45] <@Oxford> The guns at the ends of the line struggle to rotate enough to fire, but with the orb almost on top of them, those at the center can hardly miss. Two sharp reports ring out, and send armour-piercing rounds directly at the gigantic sphere.
[20:51] <Alathea> The two rounds...tear right through it! From here, they can clearly see the crystal being shattered right off of it, only for it to hang into the air and come back down with a terrifying speed, directly at those that would shoot it, or even so much as aim. It isn't quite the storm that the previous barrage was, but it'd certainly get the job done. For a moment, they might even catch a glimpse of its fleshy core, before it's coated once again by a (thinner) layer of the black mass.
[20:52] <Alathea> ...This was getting distressing. It wanted to kill the people in that city, but if more resistance shows up, it might have to do some long term planning strategies, like R&R.
[20:52] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Red*, Blue*) - Plain(2 VII-Sukellpommi)  - Outskirts  - City (Alathea, 45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan, 2 VII-Sukellpommi) - River'
[20:56] <@Oxford> The crews of the fleeing divebombers above the city look back at the mounting chaos in the lines. If that creature breaks through to the city, any civilians still trapped inside - hundreds, if not thousands - will die. But having already expended their bombs, the aircraft are essentially out of offensive weapons.
[20:57] <@Oxford> The pilots look over at one another, lock eyes, and slowly nod. There's only one thing left to do. Circling above the apartment blocks and factories, they turn directly toward the monstrosity and push their throttles to maximum, tears in their eyes.
[21:13] <Alathea> The planes crush the outer exterior on impact, the storm of metal and explosives actually bringing it to such a state that those that dare look upon it can actually see the inside, and the inside can't really cover itself any longer. An ugly core of twisted flesh, with only patches of the crystal remaining. The core...seems to have an apparatus for speech somewhere in that mess, for in response to this savage beatdown, it roars an unearthly roar. A roar of anger, frustration...and pain.
[21:18] <Alathea> Heavens be willing, IT IS TIME TO GO.
[21:19] <@Oxford> The other two dive-bombers are too far away to witness the explosion, but their radios give out a burst of static as their comrades make the ultimate sacrifice. The pilots keep their eyes straight ahead, not wanting to meet the eyes of the other, as they flee the field. Their crews are silent - guilt wraps its claws around their throats.
[21:21] <Alathea> "Kinda ugly, though." 12"YOU'RE ugly." "...Is that a sign you're back?" "Yes. Now go meet up with the big boss, I think it's coming this way."
[21:21] <Alathea> That 12 is blue!
[21:28] <Alathea> "That's in firing range of those scary sorts, though." "Shoulda carried her, then!" "Ugh."
[21:28] * Oxford changes topic to 'Ridge (Blue*) - Plain(Alathea, Red)  - Outskirts  - City (45. Tykisto 2. Pataljoonan) - River'
[21:29] <Alathea> As the beast laid bare opts to fight another day, the fully alive Red dives down to help cover the retreat!
[21:33] <Alathea> Blue, with no desire to endanger the cargo and every desire to follow Alathea out of there, opts to remain, and perhaps keep an eye out for any additional elements that might hinder the withdrawal!
[21:37] <@Oxford> The 2nd Battalion of the 45th Artillery lets out a cheer as the abomination begins to retreat. They race back to their guns with gusto, no longer disrupted by a monster in their midst. They open fire with everything they've got as the entity floats across the open plain.
[21:57] <@Oxford> The artillery line fires to protect the city. They fire for the friends they've lost. They fire to cleanse their lands of the horror that threatened them, and to send it back to whatever hell it crawled from.
[21:59] <@Oxford> The barrage doesn't let up as one of the smaller orbs throws itself in front of the larger one, and is ripped to oozing pieces. Their rounds find the core of the larger creature, sinking deep into exposed flesh and exploding outward. The fusillade continues as it sinks toward the earth, and again their target is obscured by the sheer volume of smoke and dirt thrown into the air.
[22:00] <@Oxford> But this time, when the smoke clears, their target is no more.
[22:05] <Alathea> Naught left but a chunk of twisted meat, with gaping, messy holes. The black crystal that had defended it earlier fails to grow back to protect it, and it remains on the ground, now entirely stil. Blue...isn't entirely sure how gone Red is now, or how long it will maintain this form. If it's to be sure of its own survival, it can't stay here...or leave Cille in danger, for the matter. It rushes to whence it came, still carrying Cille all the while, diving down in order to get as much speed as it can out of this and prevent any sudden vanishing mishaps. "This...is gonna be really fun to explain, huh."
[22:06] <@Oxford> /session