Well it's 2am and I haven't slept for about 30 hours now. You know what
that means? That's right! Now is the ideal time for me to be writing.
Nothing beats writing when caffeine is the only reason you are even
conscious. For some reason I can't write at all during daylight hours.
The trio of hunters jogged through the light rain on their way to Ermintine enterprises the laboratory owned by the eccentric and somewhat disturbing Asrith Ermintine. Kilili was complaining loudly.
"It's bad enough we have to go sneaking into a lab that we know nothing about, but do we have to do it in the rain?"
"Yes" Psilo snapped, "Now shut up"
"But I'm wet and cold and wet too!" Also she was coming down from the sugar high and was feeling pretty tired.
"You said wet twice" Ryzada politely pointed out
"Well that's because I'm twice as wet as I am cold"
"Whatever" Psilo was not impressed by this logic "We're almost there anyway so you can dry off then."
"What? When we're lurking around in a tightly guarded lab that we aren't meant to be in? Kilili snorted, "I don't see why it has to rain anyway, this is an artificial environment!" Kilili continued to complain about the unfairness of her situation right up until the moment they reached the lab. After that she had recovered from the sugar crash she had experienced.
The lab was a tall building, dark and ominous. There was a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning lit the artificial sky.
Kilili looked up at the foreboding building with its barred windows and stone gargoyles. There was another flash of lightning and the rain was coming down heavier than before.
"Could this place get any creepier? It's like a movie, with all the stormy weather and the dark surroundings, couldn't we do this in the daytime?"
"No Kilili we're doing it now because it's easier to sneak in the dark." Psilo readied her weapons for a break in.
"Asrith knows we're coming, so we won't need to sneak about" Ryzada sighed
"How do you know that?" Psilo regarded her suspiciously "Because all of this" Ryzada paused as another flash of lightning lit the area "Has been set up to look like a movie, as Kilili said"
"I knew it" Kilili nodded
Ryzada continued, "Asrith likes old horror movies, they're his favorite ones, so he prepared all this just so he could have a bit of fun."
"You know this much about him?" Psilo was still suspicious
"Well I guess you could say he's a friend of mine, I was born at these labs."
"Just as I thought" Psilo exclaimed, pointing a finger at Ryzada.
"What?"
"All your friends are mental patients!"
"That's not true!" Ryzada protested, then she thought about Crimson and his collection of electrical components, some of which were entirely useless. Then she thought of Tatsu who arranged everything by type and alphabetical order. "Well okay, some of them are a little odd but look at your friends!"
Psilo looked over at Kilili who was readying a rifle that was longer than she was tall. Kilili grinned over at the two as she shouldered the weapon.
"There is nothing wrong with any of my friends." Psilo lied.
The three of them walked cautiously up to the door, which swung open before Psilo could begin her attempts at hacking through the electronic lock. As soon as they were inside the door slammed shut behind them, causing Kilili and Ryzada to jump a little. Psilo was not scared in the slightest.
"Pathetic parlor tricks." She shrugged "I hope the good doctor has something a little more impressive for us."
A Holographic image of a figure reclining in a chair appeared in front of them. It was Asrith, this was obvious from the lab coat. He also seemed to have acquired some dark sunglasses from somewhere. One of his hands absently stroked the robotic cat that sat contentedly in his lap.
"Ahh ladies I have been waiting for you." The hologram said speaking in a rich, clear voice. "For those of you who haven't met me, I am doctor Asrith Ermintine, Inventor, genius and your host for this evening."
"Decided against torturing us with that horrific accent of yours?" Ryzada said scathingly
"Ah that, yes that wasn't working out you see, I believe this new image is a much better side of myself to be presenting to the world, wouldn't you agree?"
Ryzada rolled her eyes "Next thing you know he will be using words like "exquisite" and making terrible puns."
"Delightful as this is, I have other matters to attend to. I hope your new playmates will keep you entertained." With that the hologram disappeared.
"WAIT!" Psilo yelled "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH SKYLA!" There was no answer. "Dammit" Psilo kicked the wall.
"What did he mean by playmates?" Kilili wondered
Ryzada groaned, "He was waiting for one of us to say that."
Two doors appeared, one on either side of the small room and from out of them stepped a pair of metal monstrosities. They were hulking masses of armor strapped onto a bipedal beast. Through the gaps on the armor Ryzada could see deep purple fur and she recognized the gait of these abominations. Gigoboomas.
She drew her daggers grasping each hilt firmly "Asrith you idiot, what have you done." She muttered as she ran forwards.
Psilo and Kilili readied their weapons too. Psilo drawing twin mechguns and Kilili aimed at one of the creatures down the barrel of her rifle. They both opted to fire at the one on the right, leaving Ryzada to hold her own against the left. A hail of small photon bursts streaked across the room, punctuated by the larger and more powerful blasts of a rifle. There was little visible effect. A large percentage of the mechgun shots were simply reflected off of the polished armor and those that did strike true seemed to dissipate harmlessly across its surface. The same held true for Kilili's rifle fire.
"Alright, screw this" Psilo yelled and drew her partisan, Kilili flashed a quick smile and exchanged her rifle for a brand. The two ran forwards and assaulted the monstrous creature head on. Psilo swung her pole arm over Kilili's head, and Kilili used heavy-handed strokes with her brand in an attempt to cause damage. It was a wasted effort. Every blow seemed to be easily absorbed by the creature as it continued in its relentless advance.
Ryzada was having her own problems as the Gigobooma that she was squaring off against was similarly immune to her attacks. She, however, was not immune to it. The photon enhanced claws smashed into Ryzada's chest, scoring deep lines in her armor. She climbed to her feet and assumed a defensive stance. Her enemy swung for her again, only this time she was ready for it, she ducked the blow and stepped under it. She slammed her dagger sideways into the beast's flank, by pure chance the blade hit between the armor's joints and succeeded in drawing blood. The Gigobooma showed no sign of having felt the weapon being jammed into its abdomen and aimed another blow at Ryzada, which she dodged with difficulty, having to abandon her blade in her hurry to move out of the way. She yelled over to Psilo and Kilili "They don't feel any pain! You have to strike a lethal blow!"
"No problem" Kilili called back, She moved a fraction of a second too late to avoid the vicious swipe that was aimed at her head. Only the positioning of her MAG saved her life, she thanked it as she flipped back to her feet. She drew her brand back and thrust it into the Gigobooma's belly.
"Well that's one down" She said cheerfully "Now all we have to do is-" She was cut off as a fist connected with her jaw, she looked up angrily, a trickle off blood ran down the side of her mouth as a result of a cut lip.
"YOU BLOODY BASTARD!" Her mood instantly changed from cheerful to immensely angry. Psilo looked on in amusement. Kilili sidestepped another blow "HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME BLEED!" Her yelling didn't affect the metal clad horror at all. But her furious assault did. Attacking with a speed and fervor that almost singed the air with its energy Kilili began to hack at the Gigobooma, small chunks of shiny polished armor were flicked through the air as the tiny ranger unleashed her wrath upon the metal giant before her. Inevitably Kilili started to tire of the vigorous attacking and her reflexes became to slow to allow her to dodge a huge backhand swipe, she flew backwards and skidded along the ground, she climbed to her feet shaking and breathing heavily. A resta technique from Ryzada healed the majority of Kilili's injuries but she knew that there would be a few bruises by tomorrow.
The Gigobooma Kilili had been battling against turned its attention to Psilo Who sighed and readied her partisan. Instead of holding it in the standard, battle ready, two-handed fashion, she gripped it in one hand and leaned backwards. When she judged her enemy to be close enough she shifted her weight forwards and thrust with the partisan as hard as she could. The blade pierced the creature at a point somewhere between were its ribs ended and where its guts began. So great was the force of the blow that it severed the beast's spinal column and with a vicious twist, Psilo cut the Gigobooma in half. It fell to the floor in separate pieces, the top half still clawing its way towards Psilo. Until all the blood drained from its body and the thing finally stopped moving.
Now knowing the easiest way to stop their enemy, the three fighters converged upon the remaining monster. Unfortunately the same tactic did not work twice. Instead of skewering the Gigobooma, as it had done to its predecessor, Psilo's thrust resulted in the partisan's destruction as the handle snapped and Psilo's arm was numbed to the shoulder by the impact. A new plan was needed.
It was Ryzada who thought of it. Obviously this thing was animated in the same manner as Asrith's cat. Which meant that it was preprogrammed to do all this. That was why it didn't react to pain, it wasn't programmed to. So if something unexpected were to happen, the program wouldn't know what to do. She yelled to Psilo and Kilili
"Stay back please, I need it to target me."
Psilo and Kilili were confused by this request, but complied. Ryzada could risk her life if she wanted to, it was her choice.
As far as Ryzada was concerned, this was no risk. There was no way her plan could possibly fail, Asrith was the one who programmed the Gigobooma, and if she couldn't outwit Asrith there was something seriously wrong.
Using the dagger that she had left lodged in the creatures flank as a foothold Ryzada half climbed, half jumped onto the Gigoboomas head. Crouching, ready to move, she awaited the critical moment in this plan. If Asrith HAD considered this eventuality then this was going to hurt. The beast swung its paw, this was the deciding moment. Ryzada jumped as high as she could, straight up.
It worked, as Ryzada had been hoping, the programming instructed the beast to attack the target. Which it did. Unfortunately for it, the target wasn't there and its fist connected solidly with the side of its head. Ryzada landed back on the beast's shoulders and made ready to jump again. She timed her movement to match the Gigobooma's swings. Since the thing was not capable of feeling pain, it didn't even notice when it smashed its own skull cavity in. Ryzada dropped to the floor and dusted herself down.
"And that, ladies, is how it's done" She bowed, smiling to herself.
Psilo clapped sarcastically. "Very well done, now incase you failed to notice, we have a lab to search and we are only just inside the door. So lets get moving" The party started to proceed down the corridor but Kilili dashed back to the fallen Gigobooma and crouched next to it, her actions obscured because her back was turned to her companions. When she jogged back to them, she had something shiny on her shield arm.
"Kilili?" Ryzada asked "Is that what I think it is?"
Kilili nodded "Well it seemed to protect them well enough didn't it?"
"Gross"
"It's not gross, its just a bit of metal, it'll be fine once I get all the blood wiped off."
"Gross" Ryzada repeated
"Whatever" Psilo didn't care at all "We need to get moving, it's obvious to me that this doctor Asrith is quite insane and therefore the sooner we rescue Skyla, the better."
"She is way too serious don't you think?" Kilili whispered to Ryzada, yet again she was in high spirits after a fight.
"I heard that Kilili" Psilo muttered
The three made their way towards the door at the end of the short corridor, leaving the atrium behind them covered in purple blood.
Wow that took long enough to write, I guess it's because I wanted to solve the fight without the use of deus ex (had enough of that in the last chapter) I think it was satisfactory, apart from making Asrith look pretty stupid. Oh well. Oh yeah I now have a Guard Wave! Awesomeness! Only one more level till Ryzada can equip the thing, that's right, she's lvl 100 (a halfway decent character) uhh sorry mini-Bert, honestly forgot that you submitted a char if it's any consolation I will put Kinami in.
The trio of hunters jogged through the light rain on their way to Ermintine enterprises the laboratory owned by the eccentric and somewhat disturbing Asrith Ermintine. Kilili was complaining loudly.
"It's bad enough we have to go sneaking into a lab that we know nothing about, but do we have to do it in the rain?"
"Yes" Psilo snapped, "Now shut up"
"But I'm wet and cold and wet too!" Also she was coming down from the sugar high and was feeling pretty tired.
"You said wet twice" Ryzada politely pointed out
"Well that's because I'm twice as wet as I am cold"
"Whatever" Psilo was not impressed by this logic "We're almost there anyway so you can dry off then."
"What? When we're lurking around in a tightly guarded lab that we aren't meant to be in? Kilili snorted, "I don't see why it has to rain anyway, this is an artificial environment!" Kilili continued to complain about the unfairness of her situation right up until the moment they reached the lab. After that she had recovered from the sugar crash she had experienced.
The lab was a tall building, dark and ominous. There was a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning lit the artificial sky.
Kilili looked up at the foreboding building with its barred windows and stone gargoyles. There was another flash of lightning and the rain was coming down heavier than before.
"Could this place get any creepier? It's like a movie, with all the stormy weather and the dark surroundings, couldn't we do this in the daytime?"
"No Kilili we're doing it now because it's easier to sneak in the dark." Psilo readied her weapons for a break in.
"Asrith knows we're coming, so we won't need to sneak about" Ryzada sighed
"How do you know that?" Psilo regarded her suspiciously "Because all of this" Ryzada paused as another flash of lightning lit the area "Has been set up to look like a movie, as Kilili said"
"I knew it" Kilili nodded
Ryzada continued, "Asrith likes old horror movies, they're his favorite ones, so he prepared all this just so he could have a bit of fun."
"You know this much about him?" Psilo was still suspicious
"Well I guess you could say he's a friend of mine, I was born at these labs."
"Just as I thought" Psilo exclaimed, pointing a finger at Ryzada.
"What?"
"All your friends are mental patients!"
"That's not true!" Ryzada protested, then she thought about Crimson and his collection of electrical components, some of which were entirely useless. Then she thought of Tatsu who arranged everything by type and alphabetical order. "Well okay, some of them are a little odd but look at your friends!"
Psilo looked over at Kilili who was readying a rifle that was longer than she was tall. Kilili grinned over at the two as she shouldered the weapon.
"There is nothing wrong with any of my friends." Psilo lied.
The three of them walked cautiously up to the door, which swung open before Psilo could begin her attempts at hacking through the electronic lock. As soon as they were inside the door slammed shut behind them, causing Kilili and Ryzada to jump a little. Psilo was not scared in the slightest.
"Pathetic parlor tricks." She shrugged "I hope the good doctor has something a little more impressive for us."
A Holographic image of a figure reclining in a chair appeared in front of them. It was Asrith, this was obvious from the lab coat. He also seemed to have acquired some dark sunglasses from somewhere. One of his hands absently stroked the robotic cat that sat contentedly in his lap.
"Ahh ladies I have been waiting for you." The hologram said speaking in a rich, clear voice. "For those of you who haven't met me, I am doctor Asrith Ermintine, Inventor, genius and your host for this evening."
"Decided against torturing us with that horrific accent of yours?" Ryzada said scathingly
"Ah that, yes that wasn't working out you see, I believe this new image is a much better side of myself to be presenting to the world, wouldn't you agree?"
Ryzada rolled her eyes "Next thing you know he will be using words like "exquisite" and making terrible puns."
"Delightful as this is, I have other matters to attend to. I hope your new playmates will keep you entertained." With that the hologram disappeared.
"WAIT!" Psilo yelled "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH SKYLA!" There was no answer. "Dammit" Psilo kicked the wall.
"What did he mean by playmates?" Kilili wondered
Ryzada groaned, "He was waiting for one of us to say that."
Two doors appeared, one on either side of the small room and from out of them stepped a pair of metal monstrosities. They were hulking masses of armor strapped onto a bipedal beast. Through the gaps on the armor Ryzada could see deep purple fur and she recognized the gait of these abominations. Gigoboomas.
She drew her daggers grasping each hilt firmly "Asrith you idiot, what have you done." She muttered as she ran forwards.
Psilo and Kilili readied their weapons too. Psilo drawing twin mechguns and Kilili aimed at one of the creatures down the barrel of her rifle. They both opted to fire at the one on the right, leaving Ryzada to hold her own against the left. A hail of small photon bursts streaked across the room, punctuated by the larger and more powerful blasts of a rifle. There was little visible effect. A large percentage of the mechgun shots were simply reflected off of the polished armor and those that did strike true seemed to dissipate harmlessly across its surface. The same held true for Kilili's rifle fire.
"Alright, screw this" Psilo yelled and drew her partisan, Kilili flashed a quick smile and exchanged her rifle for a brand. The two ran forwards and assaulted the monstrous creature head on. Psilo swung her pole arm over Kilili's head, and Kilili used heavy-handed strokes with her brand in an attempt to cause damage. It was a wasted effort. Every blow seemed to be easily absorbed by the creature as it continued in its relentless advance.
Ryzada was having her own problems as the Gigobooma that she was squaring off against was similarly immune to her attacks. She, however, was not immune to it. The photon enhanced claws smashed into Ryzada's chest, scoring deep lines in her armor. She climbed to her feet and assumed a defensive stance. Her enemy swung for her again, only this time she was ready for it, she ducked the blow and stepped under it. She slammed her dagger sideways into the beast's flank, by pure chance the blade hit between the armor's joints and succeeded in drawing blood. The Gigobooma showed no sign of having felt the weapon being jammed into its abdomen and aimed another blow at Ryzada, which she dodged with difficulty, having to abandon her blade in her hurry to move out of the way. She yelled over to Psilo and Kilili "They don't feel any pain! You have to strike a lethal blow!"
"No problem" Kilili called back, She moved a fraction of a second too late to avoid the vicious swipe that was aimed at her head. Only the positioning of her MAG saved her life, she thanked it as she flipped back to her feet. She drew her brand back and thrust it into the Gigobooma's belly.
"Well that's one down" She said cheerfully "Now all we have to do is-" She was cut off as a fist connected with her jaw, she looked up angrily, a trickle off blood ran down the side of her mouth as a result of a cut lip.
"YOU BLOODY BASTARD!" Her mood instantly changed from cheerful to immensely angry. Psilo looked on in amusement. Kilili sidestepped another blow "HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME BLEED!" Her yelling didn't affect the metal clad horror at all. But her furious assault did. Attacking with a speed and fervor that almost singed the air with its energy Kilili began to hack at the Gigobooma, small chunks of shiny polished armor were flicked through the air as the tiny ranger unleashed her wrath upon the metal giant before her. Inevitably Kilili started to tire of the vigorous attacking and her reflexes became to slow to allow her to dodge a huge backhand swipe, she flew backwards and skidded along the ground, she climbed to her feet shaking and breathing heavily. A resta technique from Ryzada healed the majority of Kilili's injuries but she knew that there would be a few bruises by tomorrow.
The Gigobooma Kilili had been battling against turned its attention to Psilo Who sighed and readied her partisan. Instead of holding it in the standard, battle ready, two-handed fashion, she gripped it in one hand and leaned backwards. When she judged her enemy to be close enough she shifted her weight forwards and thrust with the partisan as hard as she could. The blade pierced the creature at a point somewhere between were its ribs ended and where its guts began. So great was the force of the blow that it severed the beast's spinal column and with a vicious twist, Psilo cut the Gigobooma in half. It fell to the floor in separate pieces, the top half still clawing its way towards Psilo. Until all the blood drained from its body and the thing finally stopped moving.
Now knowing the easiest way to stop their enemy, the three fighters converged upon the remaining monster. Unfortunately the same tactic did not work twice. Instead of skewering the Gigobooma, as it had done to its predecessor, Psilo's thrust resulted in the partisan's destruction as the handle snapped and Psilo's arm was numbed to the shoulder by the impact. A new plan was needed.
It was Ryzada who thought of it. Obviously this thing was animated in the same manner as Asrith's cat. Which meant that it was preprogrammed to do all this. That was why it didn't react to pain, it wasn't programmed to. So if something unexpected were to happen, the program wouldn't know what to do. She yelled to Psilo and Kilili
"Stay back please, I need it to target me."
Psilo and Kilili were confused by this request, but complied. Ryzada could risk her life if she wanted to, it was her choice.
As far as Ryzada was concerned, this was no risk. There was no way her plan could possibly fail, Asrith was the one who programmed the Gigobooma, and if she couldn't outwit Asrith there was something seriously wrong.
Using the dagger that she had left lodged in the creatures flank as a foothold Ryzada half climbed, half jumped onto the Gigoboomas head. Crouching, ready to move, she awaited the critical moment in this plan. If Asrith HAD considered this eventuality then this was going to hurt. The beast swung its paw, this was the deciding moment. Ryzada jumped as high as she could, straight up.
It worked, as Ryzada had been hoping, the programming instructed the beast to attack the target. Which it did. Unfortunately for it, the target wasn't there and its fist connected solidly with the side of its head. Ryzada landed back on the beast's shoulders and made ready to jump again. She timed her movement to match the Gigobooma's swings. Since the thing was not capable of feeling pain, it didn't even notice when it smashed its own skull cavity in. Ryzada dropped to the floor and dusted herself down.
"And that, ladies, is how it's done" She bowed, smiling to herself.
Psilo clapped sarcastically. "Very well done, now incase you failed to notice, we have a lab to search and we are only just inside the door. So lets get moving" The party started to proceed down the corridor but Kilili dashed back to the fallen Gigobooma and crouched next to it, her actions obscured because her back was turned to her companions. When she jogged back to them, she had something shiny on her shield arm.
"Kilili?" Ryzada asked "Is that what I think it is?"
Kilili nodded "Well it seemed to protect them well enough didn't it?"
"Gross"
"It's not gross, its just a bit of metal, it'll be fine once I get all the blood wiped off."
"Gross" Ryzada repeated
"Whatever" Psilo didn't care at all "We need to get moving, it's obvious to me that this doctor Asrith is quite insane and therefore the sooner we rescue Skyla, the better."
"She is way too serious don't you think?" Kilili whispered to Ryzada, yet again she was in high spirits after a fight.
"I heard that Kilili" Psilo muttered
The three made their way towards the door at the end of the short corridor, leaving the atrium behind them covered in purple blood.
Wow that took long enough to write, I guess it's because I wanted to solve the fight without the use of deus ex (had enough of that in the last chapter) I think it was satisfactory, apart from making Asrith look pretty stupid. Oh well. Oh yeah I now have a Guard Wave! Awesomeness! Only one more level till Ryzada can equip the thing, that's right, she's lvl 100 (a halfway decent character) uhh sorry mini-Bert, honestly forgot that you submitted a char if it's any consolation I will put Kinami in.