illinois ♔ and the message coming from my eyes

[spellfile]

WHO || Andrew, Zero, Han, Rocket, Klaus
WHAT || The Knights investigate some strange events  around a farmhouse in Illinois
WHERE || Metropolis Kansas
WHEN || April 20th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

The route to the Moore residence is a secluded, gavel-topped county road that meanders through fields and farmland.  The roiling stormclouds and lack of city lights make the countryside seem unusually dark and forbidding.  A battered mailbox on the right side of the road indicates the Moore farm, and a pothole-filled drive leads up to the farmhouse.  On the right side of the long driveway, nestled among the snow, lies what appears to be a small family graveyard.

Beside the dilapidated house, stands a large German Shepard tethered on a leash, barking furiously as they pull up.  An older man stands on the porch looking highly displeased.  The man says something to the dog, but the barking continues unabated.

"You can just turn right around and head back the way you came," he yells from the porch.

Comments

[spellfile]

[ rocket would notice that their hands seem to have been altered to BE more human than the ones they saw outside. which fits with what zero says as he stares at them weirdly for a long moment. ] Are they casting a spell? [ he looks up at the others, baffled. ]

Those are somatics.

[asuma]

[Klaus doesn't really have any interest in machines that aren't actively trying to murder him. Or his team, I guess... He's not too interested in computers in general for that matter.

Ancient looking tomes/books/scrolls, on the other hand? Yes please. He will break off from the group to check out the nearest rack (spot/search/idk: nat 20 so does it matter?). Later, nerds.]

[spellfile]

[ they appear to be hundreds and hundreds of arcane texts: some that he would recognize as bogus, but others genuine. they range through a remarkable number of topics and spells, with no seeming pattern between them. ] The hell's going on down here?

[beatupgrass]

I dunno, but I don't think we oughta let 'em finish whatever magic they're tryin' to make, do you?

[badexample]

[Andrew will just start to edge towards the computers on the other side of the room, because he assumes that maybe the answers will be there. Not sure if there's any obstacles between him and his destination. Computer use 39 if he can get there to try to sort out what the fuck this whole thing is all about.]

[parsecs]

[Han eyes zero.] Can you stop 'em using that trick you used outside? Or should we do it the old fashioned way? [Aka shooting them.]

[spellfile]

I'm outta that spell, but I've got a few other options... [ andrew steps into the mainframe room, where a large, sleek-looking computer dominates the chamber. a keyboard, monitor, and other input/output devices are collected to one side of the unit, and text scrolls rapidly across the monitor. by the other wall stands a complex device that resembles a photocopier. atop its glass surface lies an ancient tome, face down, illuminated by a greenish light. the device is making strange, haunting noises that vaguely resemble some kind of human language. the lights in this chamber are flickering in the same bizarre manner as those of the rest of the complex.

as andrew enters, a flat, mechanical voices says: Time until ritual completion - 45 minutes. New target acquired. Within proximity of O.S.C.A.R. unit. as he peers at the monitor, he'd see a disturbing as fuck sight - the screen pulses with odd glyphs, demonic faces, and words written in a strange language. a clock at the bottom of the screen gives the countdown of 45 minutes. ]

[parsecs]

Ahh, kark it. [AND HE TAKES OFF RUNNING TO TRY AND HELP ANDREW.]

[spellfile]

[ robot-3 stops off its hand movements when the voice seeks, following han into the room and stopping right behind him. .__. hi ]

[asuma]

[I guess Klaus will stop his perusing when shit starts to go down. He's not going to take off running after Andrew though, because Han seemed pretty capable and Zero was still waiting in the fucking wings or whatever. So he will hang back to make sure that Zero doesn't get eaten, and rocket doesn't get stepped on idk. There were too many squishy people on this mission for his liking. He's keeping an eye on the other three robots in the meantime. We should probably stop being so split up across this map tho.]

[spellfile]

[ meanwhile, an electrical shock jumps out of the keyboard at andrew (atk 5), but he can easily jump away in time o__o ]

[badexample]

Jesus! [Andrew yells as he side steps the shock that moves for him. He gulps and glances at Han, but uh... the only way he knows how to make this stop is either to shoot the damn thing or to take control of it, so he's going to try to do the thing that doesn't involve destroying beautiful computer equipment that he can take back to the castle and use for good. (computer use 38 to try to shut this shit down).]

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket snarls and raises his guns firing shots at the first robot. (atk 16, atk 13, NAT 20, atk 12; I'm assuming none of those hit except for the crit, so that's 16 dmg)]

[spellfile]

[ immunize - pendulum

andrew moves back to the keyboard again... and as he puts his fingers on the keys, he's automatically shocked while he works (11 electricity dmg). as long as the pain doesn't knock him out or some shit, he actually sees what he needs to do, and starts shutting down the computer's processes. its security seems more alive than anything he's ever seen, and he has to continuously undermine new security measures that it slams up every second but he's beating it!

as rocket no doubt blows robot1 one away, zero grumbles a spell and casts an electromagnetic pulse centered on the other ones. all three of them... fail their will save, and immediately power down. zero shouts towards the room where andrew is: ] How's it goin' in there kid? Tell me you're gettin' somewhere!

[asuma]

[Color Klaus actually impressed for once. He doesn't hand out compliments very often, but Rocket and Zero both earned it.]

Nicely done.

[I know it's not actually his turn rn which is why he continues to do nothing but he needed to give credit where credit is due ok.]

[parsecs]

[Welp, that makes Han's job a lot easier. He trains his blaster on the computer, but he lets Andrew keep trying to disable it the way that doesn't involve shooting it for now.]

Hurry it up, kid.

[spellfile]

[ it's at that time that the side door opens... and out marches a large mechanical powerhouse, crafted of a strange, dull metal. the bulky robot stomps forward on stout, multi-jointed legs, and swivels a gun hanging from it through the door towards han... before firing off a ray that strikes him with a focused sound wave (atk 36, 5 sonic damage) ]

... Yeah, hurry it up.

[asuma]

[El oh el. Well, Klaus warned y'all that robots aren't exactly his forte, so he isn't going to be running up to that shit with fists of fury. But he will move to place himself between Rocket, Zero, and said robotic monstrosity since he can probably take a beating better than either of them, and if the last round of robots were any indication, they were probably best equipped to take this thing down.]

[spellfile]

[ meanwhile, the computer andrew is working on lets out a few death gurgles but the screen starts blanking out as he effectively shuts it down \o/

"RITUAL TERMINATED---"

now there's just this giant robot to contend with... ]

[badexample]

[Andrew throws up his arms in triumph! But is quickly like oh shit there's a robot uhhhhh... He goes to find his gun on the table next to him and raises it, looking at Han for some sort of confirmation before he just attempts to shoot it???

...and he crit fails, proving why he should stick to computer shit. sorry, guys.]

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket trains his guns on the robot and begins firing without hesitation. (atk 16, atk 12, atk 17, atk 17; dmg 7, 14, 6, and 8, respectively.) It's like he just loves having things to shoot or something.]

[spellfile]

[ all of those shots ping uselessly off its hull, sorry rocket :') and andrew just accidentally shot han so there's that.

zero curses some more and then sets about summoning up a vivilor, which forms out of shadowy code into a humanoid shaped creature with metallic skin.

also i just realized i accidentally skipped han last time so before the robot goes, han can go.... ]

[parsecs]

[WELL HAN'S GONNA SHOOT THE GODDAMN ROBOT. And he got a nat 20 so he's gonna REALLY shoot it hard. (dmg 58 with double penetration O_O.) Being shot by his teammate makes him want to take it out on robots apparently.]

[spellfile]

[ it's vulnerable to crits so he really does 87 dmg??? well, minus some for hardness. the robot sparks wildly but fires with both sonic disruptors at him (atk 25 & 27; dmg 14 & 4) ]

[parsecs]

[Han grits his teeth and shoots back (atk 20 dmg 13 if it hits). PEW PEW!]