Dark Age IFF Entry
[b]Damascus Base - Purge Underground[/b]
"Are you kidding me?!" Durein, from one of the few safer spots in the room, couldn't believe what had just happened. X, the saviour, the kid they had followed down here and were doing everything they could to protect, just up and left mid-combat. He did what none of them could do; he teleported out. Presumably to safety. Wherever he was, X wasn't his problem anymore. Now they had to make it out alive.
The situation was grim. Two of his men were pinned to the ceiling. His medic was MIA under some rubble. One of X's guardians wasn't very useful against the large Devourer, and the other one was dead and used to heal the monster. One of his team was dead. And the last member of his team, possibly their last chance to survive this encounter, was in a blind rage. That he was hoping to use to his advantage. Haringoth's attention shifted back to Damien as far as he could tell, meaning he was free to do whatever he needed to do.
Durein's special ability let him create swords on demand, of any size he thought useful. While Lyliba and Haringoth squared off in what he could only call a battle of superpowers, he created a small arsenal of throwable blades. Taking aim at the edges of webbing that bound his men, he let his weapons fly. They lodged into the ceiling well enough, but more importantly, his men fell to their freedom.
The large spider didn't take to kindly to having his future food be set free, but he had his hands full with the chaotic foe before him.
Lyliba was blind with fury. X had taken off with her family's jewel, leaving her all alone for the first time in years. If she had picked up some of the calmness of her siblings, she would've reasoned that after getting out of this hole in the ground, she would've found X and the jewel in time. Instead, she was furious at the spider for perhaps permanently severing the connection between her and her family.
When the Destiene family were coming into their respective magical specialties, they learned their bodies limits as a magical conduit, nearly working it to death and them to oblivion. Back in those days, they vowed that so long as they shared a body, they wouldn't use their full power, except to save their lives. Without one of her siblings with her to calm her down, though, she ignored that vow they made years ago, and now wielded the full powers of magic that she could. A purple aura radiated about her, her powers growing into more than she could safely command. But she didn't care, as she summoned forth a technique of her own creation. The [i]Wings of the Nephalem[/i] was a pair of wings, inspired from some artwork she'd found around her home. She thought them beautiful and deadly, a combination she delighted in. What looked to be the wings of an angel, aglow in a bright white light and coursing with magical energy, separated into eight tendrils with four on each side and each more than twice her length. Though these wings did not grant her flight, her combat abilities grew substantially.
Rushing at the beast, she flung three of her tendrils to strike Haringoth head on. Meeting her wings with his fist, the two bounced off of each other, dead even in power. They clashed again, the result confusing and intriguing the monster before them. One more such attack led to Haringoth's arm being caught, constricted by four of her tendrils. Instead of trying to throw him with her grab, she let herself be tossed, using the vernier to direct her movement and her wings to push off from the ceiling. Falling towards Haringoth, all eight of her tendrils came to a head. Like a magic missle, she crashed into Haringoth with all the force she could. His newly repaired body was left with a scar across his chest. As he tried to steady himself, he only a flash of light as Lyliba sent her wings at him as a potent magical blast, further injuring the great beast.
"Just fracking die already!" she screamed as tears fell down her face. Leaping at the large spider, she raised her left buster, firing the core she had been overclocking there with all the power it contained. Her attack left Haringoth standing, sporting a new hole to breath out of through his chest and the wall behind them. But he refused to fall just yet. While he was busy trying to assess the situation and his next move, Lyliba dashed to his side, trying to find a way onto the great beast to gaurantee a headshot for her final blast. She never got the chance to get up, as another leg appeared out of Haringoth's side, styled after the HELM series absorbed much earlier by one of the other devourers. The sudden grab caught her off gaurd, and Haringoth was quick to snatch her up, intending to make her a meal to pay back the damage she'd wrought upon him. He was in for a case of indigestion as Lyliba's second shot fired into his eagerly awaiting second maw. The monster was lifted up from the force of the blast, his maw damaged and leaking. Lyliba was left thrashed but alive in the blast zone, surprised to even be alive. The magical energies continued to run through her as she fought for consciousness. Tybalt came to her aid, picking her up and taking her to where Durein and the others awaited. Haringoth was far less of a threat, and they'd gotten their second wind.
"Lyliba," Lance asked, "can you get us out of here?"
"Gimme a second to breathe would ya?" Haringoth didn't seem like such a threat with the large hole in him to her, but she knew better from experience. Focusing herself, she moved the earth itself into the room from where she'd fired the first time. A solid pillar of granite fell from the ceiling to them with a deep hole in it.
"Get in," she told them as their enemy watched from across the room. "Down boy," she wheezed as the toll of her outbursts were wearing her down. A separate pillar shot off, through the devourer's chest, and into the floor. Temporary immobilizing him, Lance, Durein, David, Tybalt, and Lyliba climbed in to what would be their land elevator. With the strength she had left, she moved the earth once more, shooting them to the surface far faster than the Purge's elevator had brought them down. Haringoth was left alone in the ruined room.
----------
Or so they thought. Artema was presumed dead because nobody could find her body, and nobody could find her body because her body had knocked her into stasis. Well, her auto-repair systems did the best they could and once they'd finished, she awoke. Her rifle was missing, but her side-arm was still with her. This was very important, for as she stirred, so did the behemoth in the room with her. The lights showed her the remains of the battle, with one big change. While Haringoth didn't have an auto-repair system capable of fixing him as he was, he knew he could fix himself to some degree after another meal. Using Granity's special ability, he bound the granite to him like an armor plating, then dispelled it to lighten himself again. Now it was just he and Artema as far as he knew, and the only thing standing between them was her pistol...
"Are you kidding me?!" Durein, from one of the few safer spots in the room, couldn't believe what had just happened. X, the saviour, the kid they had followed down here and were doing everything they could to protect, just up and left mid-combat. He did what none of them could do; he teleported out. Presumably to safety. Wherever he was, X wasn't his problem anymore. Now they had to make it out alive.
The situation was grim. Two of his men were pinned to the ceiling. His medic was MIA under some rubble. One of X's guardians wasn't very useful against the large Devourer, and the other one was dead and used to heal the monster. One of his team was dead. And the last member of his team, possibly their last chance to survive this encounter, was in a blind rage. That he was hoping to use to his advantage. Haringoth's attention shifted back to Damien as far as he could tell, meaning he was free to do whatever he needed to do.
Durein's special ability let him create swords on demand, of any size he thought useful. While Lyliba and Haringoth squared off in what he could only call a battle of superpowers, he created a small arsenal of throwable blades. Taking aim at the edges of webbing that bound his men, he let his weapons fly. They lodged into the ceiling well enough, but more importantly, his men fell to their freedom.
The large spider didn't take to kindly to having his future food be set free, but he had his hands full with the chaotic foe before him.
Lyliba was blind with fury. X had taken off with her family's jewel, leaving her all alone for the first time in years. If she had picked up some of the calmness of her siblings, she would've reasoned that after getting out of this hole in the ground, she would've found X and the jewel in time. Instead, she was furious at the spider for perhaps permanently severing the connection between her and her family.
When the Destiene family were coming into their respective magical specialties, they learned their bodies limits as a magical conduit, nearly working it to death and them to oblivion. Back in those days, they vowed that so long as they shared a body, they wouldn't use their full power, except to save their lives. Without one of her siblings with her to calm her down, though, she ignored that vow they made years ago, and now wielded the full powers of magic that she could. A purple aura radiated about her, her powers growing into more than she could safely command. But she didn't care, as she summoned forth a technique of her own creation. The [i]Wings of the Nephalem[/i] was a pair of wings, inspired from some artwork she'd found around her home. She thought them beautiful and deadly, a combination she delighted in. What looked to be the wings of an angel, aglow in a bright white light and coursing with magical energy, separated into eight tendrils with four on each side and each more than twice her length. Though these wings did not grant her flight, her combat abilities grew substantially.
Rushing at the beast, she flung three of her tendrils to strike Haringoth head on. Meeting her wings with his fist, the two bounced off of each other, dead even in power. They clashed again, the result confusing and intriguing the monster before them. One more such attack led to Haringoth's arm being caught, constricted by four of her tendrils. Instead of trying to throw him with her grab, she let herself be tossed, using the vernier to direct her movement and her wings to push off from the ceiling. Falling towards Haringoth, all eight of her tendrils came to a head. Like a magic missle, she crashed into Haringoth with all the force she could. His newly repaired body was left with a scar across his chest. As he tried to steady himself, he only a flash of light as Lyliba sent her wings at him as a potent magical blast, further injuring the great beast.
"Just fracking die already!" she screamed as tears fell down her face. Leaping at the large spider, she raised her left buster, firing the core she had been overclocking there with all the power it contained. Her attack left Haringoth standing, sporting a new hole to breath out of through his chest and the wall behind them. But he refused to fall just yet. While he was busy trying to assess the situation and his next move, Lyliba dashed to his side, trying to find a way onto the great beast to gaurantee a headshot for her final blast. She never got the chance to get up, as another leg appeared out of Haringoth's side, styled after the HELM series absorbed much earlier by one of the other devourers. The sudden grab caught her off gaurd, and Haringoth was quick to snatch her up, intending to make her a meal to pay back the damage she'd wrought upon him. He was in for a case of indigestion as Lyliba's second shot fired into his eagerly awaiting second maw. The monster was lifted up from the force of the blast, his maw damaged and leaking. Lyliba was left thrashed but alive in the blast zone, surprised to even be alive. The magical energies continued to run through her as she fought for consciousness. Tybalt came to her aid, picking her up and taking her to where Durein and the others awaited. Haringoth was far less of a threat, and they'd gotten their second wind.
"Lyliba," Lance asked, "can you get us out of here?"
"Gimme a second to breathe would ya?" Haringoth didn't seem like such a threat with the large hole in him to her, but she knew better from experience. Focusing herself, she moved the earth itself into the room from where she'd fired the first time. A solid pillar of granite fell from the ceiling to them with a deep hole in it.
"Get in," she told them as their enemy watched from across the room. "Down boy," she wheezed as the toll of her outbursts were wearing her down. A separate pillar shot off, through the devourer's chest, and into the floor. Temporary immobilizing him, Lance, Durein, David, Tybalt, and Lyliba climbed in to what would be their land elevator. With the strength she had left, she moved the earth once more, shooting them to the surface far faster than the Purge's elevator had brought them down. Haringoth was left alone in the ruined room.
----------
Or so they thought. Artema was presumed dead because nobody could find her body, and nobody could find her body because her body had knocked her into stasis. Well, her auto-repair systems did the best they could and once they'd finished, she awoke. Her rifle was missing, but her side-arm was still with her. This was very important, for as she stirred, so did the behemoth in the room with her. The lights showed her the remains of the battle, with one big change. While Haringoth didn't have an auto-repair system capable of fixing him as he was, he knew he could fix himself to some degree after another meal. Using Granity's special ability, he bound the granite to him like an armor plating, then dispelled it to lighten himself again. Now it was just he and Artema as far as he knew, and the only thing standing between them was her pistol...