Welcome To The Machine [Incursion PvE]

Aster Rose Baelor · Sep 25, 2017

Objective: Investigate the Contingency
Companions: 3 members of the Wolfsglaive (link in signature)
Gear: Items in signature + Saviour Class Tatical Vest and accompanying Phrik SAPI + a first aid kit.
Route: 2 (@Zircon)

Unsure of what to do or how she could even contribute, Aster watched the holoprojection of the droid make its speech in silence. Not brave enough to choose a button and make a decision for the group, she turned to glance at [member="Ylva Solveig"] and [member="Caelag Vass"], curious as to what they made of this situation.

Minutes passed as she waited for someone daring enough to make the decision, each breath becoming more difficult than the last. Her lungs burned and pain spread though her body causing her to collapse.

"Aster!" the vice commander exclaimed, catching the teenager before she could hit the ground. Unsure of the cause of her condition, he frowned. "Aster, what's wrong?" he exclaimed, his voice filled with worry.

"Ch...est h...hurts... body-" the teenager wheezed her expression pained and her complexion pale. Her weak voice drowned out by the holoprojection's words.

"Kark!" the vice commander exclaimed once the droid had finished speaking and pushed Aster to the floor and using his armored body to shield her from the projectiles.

Surprised by the lack of projectiles hitting his armour, the vice commander looked up to see that an enigmatic figure had taken the brunt of the attack. Although he didn't know what the man's intentions were, he was grateful for the man's selfless actions. Standing up, he scooped Aster up from the ground and cradled her in his arms as she struggled to breathe, then opened his mouth to speak to the man. "Thank you," he said simply, his brows knitted into a frown as he watched the teenager's condition deteriorate.

[member="Vindica"] - [member="Kor Vexen"] - [member="Vaylin"] - [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] - [member="HK-36"] - [member="Venthis Zambrano"] - [member="Nima Tann"] - @ Anyone I missed.

Aryn Teth · Sep 25, 2017

Aryn Teth

The Maintenance Hallway, Contingency Facility.

Team: Lightside

Objective: Investigate the Generator [member='Diamond']

The fact that his blaster shots seemed to do nothing to the turrets annoyed Aryn to a degree, further annoying was the fact that the blast doors closed behind them. He was confused when the turrets moved back into the ceiling, standing up from the slight cover that he had taken to look around, something had to be wrong, and he kept his blaster ready, expecting another attack soon enough. Of course, his concern was warranted as the turrets soon returned, though as they blasted the irritating and intensely loud sound, he did little more than curse and cover his ears, attention diverted from the gas that was no entering the room.

His attention was diverted by the other mechanical voice which came soon enough, one of those in the room along with him, warning every one of the gas as he turned his gaze up. Quickly, he took hold of the respirator from his flight suit, hanging around his neck as he shifted it up over his mouth. He felt briefly light-headed, but soon enough was breathing clean air again, reaching back as he began to work on getting his full helmet on as well, momentarily cursing himself for not already wearing the full regalia of his flight suit when he had arrived - but then again, ground missions had never particularly been Aryn's speciality.

When the helmet was on, Aryn looked around the room once more to what people were doing, raising an eyebrow as he saw the actions everyone was taking. Some were working on getting them out of the room, others were still clearly intent on destroying the turrets. The pause in the sound was the only thing at that moment which pleased Aryn to any degree as he glanced around. There was a brief argument over how to get out, and Aryn found himself in agreement with [member='Kaili Talith'] as she insisted against the use of explosives. He watched as the others began to get to work on inspecting the turrets, and sighed as he moved to assist them.

"Y'know, not how I expected this day to go." He said to no one in particular, reaching up towards any of the turrets he could reach, attempting to get as close a look over all of them as he attempted to strip them of any obvious panelling, and reveal any secrets within.

Jsc · Sep 25, 2017

Solving puzzles in the generator room. Blast.

Everyone started probing away. Some with guts and some with smarts. Either way it didnt matter. After smashing two, lever-less, turrents during the scuffle, Jess needed a moment to clear her head.

"Ugh. Why? I dont... I just..."

She couldnt finish that sentence. Something about the gas in her lungs and the spider oil on her neck. She couldnt focus.

"Gas?" she heard the others say, "...Gas."

Then she remembered. She had been exposed. But was it already too late for her? She couldnt tell. She just needed a moment to rest. Her head was still spinning.

The Jedi girl leaned against the wall. Trying to focus. Trying to figure out why the Force hadnt warned her sooner.

Trying to figure out what was happening to her inside.

Darth Bellum · Sep 25, 2017

Vexen let out a vocoded sigh as he watched a Twi'lek haphazardly pick a random button hoping that it was the correct one. Low and behold her error in judgement led to consequences as more drones arrived, and like the initial wave that they had all encountered, flew at them in a suicidal attempt. The explosion of twisted metal would shower the area, sending glitter, confetti and shrapnel in all directions. Though his armor could easily handle the dangers of shrapnel attempting to harm him, the same might not be said for others in his company, particularly the ones who were foolish enough to not bring respirators or pressurized suits to protect them from such hazards such as poison. Had the circumstances been different, he would have let the Contingency's little trap do its worst to them, but their survival in this situation relied on them all staying alive and at the very least having to divide their resources among as many people to minimize the impact it would have done to a smaller group.

At this point, the Contingency was just insulting both him and the others by not taking them seriously. He raised both his hands up as drones flew out and began beeping, this time prepared as he raised his hands up above his head to create a Force bubble around a pair of drones that were about to spray small clusters of people below them, clenching his fists as he minimized the bubbles, crushing the drones before they could explode and compacting them into harmless balls of metal, maintaining the bubble to contain the explosion in the event that crushing whatever mechanisms that might have triggered them weren't destroyed initially. As the drones began to explode, one that had made its way over him would explode, showering him as the shrapnel pinged off his armored visage, doing little more than scratching up the surface and coating him with colorful bits of paper and glitter. Once he was sure the worst of it had come to pass he would lower his outstretched hands to let the crushed and compacted balls of what was now scrap metal fall to the ground harmlessly.

All he had done with his action was to minimize some of the harm that would have been done while providing cover for those currently working to detoxify the poisons in their body without having to break their focus. He looked over at [member="Vindica"] who had done a similar job to cover one of the Wolfglaive that was using his body to protect one of the younger individuals in the group, [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] who seemed to be succumbing to the effects of the poison. Based off of her reactions, it seemed it was targeting respiratory functions, most likely to incapacitate them and allow for the traps to do their work. Clever, but predictable given the enemy they were dealing with. He would speak in a stern, vocoded tone, " Consider that you would have sacrificed one of your own soldiers for the error of another's mistake by being here child. Our enemy won't spare any niceties in harming even the youngest among us. Take heed so you don't end up wasting lives because of your lineage. As for the rest of you....Try to make an informed decision before trying to put the rest of us at risk... " Though the Wolfsglaive's armor could have easily taken blows from shrapnel, it might have not been the same case if it were something more lethal than small bits of sharp metal.

He would give one look back at Vindica before turning his attention back to the [member="HK-36"] 's response. It seemed the droid had finally been able to speak some bit of decent logic and reasoning. He made a sound alternative solution with trying to unlock the blast doors but he was sure it was not going to be made that simple. He glanced up at the shield emitters that the droid claimed he was going to destroy but did not see any visible ones to target. Curious but he would see what could be done in unlocking the door first. He did agree for once with the droid so far that the button was likely one to the direct right of something; whether it was to the right of the door, the holoprojector or room was however still up for speculation. It could even be very possible that the answer was the opposite of what Zircon had been telling them and could have been on the left. Too much time would be spent trying to figure that out, so perhaps trying to unlock the door via the Force was their best option. He would step forward to offer his assistance with Vindica if he required it.

[member="Zircon"]

Vaylin · Sep 25, 2017

Location: Main Terminal Area [ Route 2 | [member="Zircon"] ]
Objective: Survive & Progress
Team/Allies: Dark Side - Sith Empire
With: [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Venthis Zambrano"] | [member="Darth Venefica"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] | [member="Ylva Solveig"] | [member="The Slave"]

Vaylin was suspicious the moment the drone had flown towards the holoprojector. The Zabrak had lashed out with her lightsaber, trying to take it down before it could reach it. But the small machine had managed to evade it and hit the button before it disappeared back to where it had been.

She inhaled on instinct, and immediately felt her throat begin to burn.

The Zabrak focused on the Force, on controlling her breathing to stop any more of the poison from entering her lungs. Aria Vale was not the type of master to completely look at Jedi lessons with scorn. She saw at least some merit in what she had once learned, and had insisted her apprentice keep some of those lessons in mind. A few of them fell within the aspect of Control, such as keeping her breathing levelled when a safe air source wasn't available.

It gave her enough time to scramble at her belt, searching for the rebreather she had attached there. Once she had reached it, Vaylin quickly brought it to her face and attached it. She had never been more thankful for Enyo, allowing her to keep the item after they had raided the enclave not too long ago.

But it wasn't long after that, when one of their number went to press one of the buttons. Vaylin had moved to stop [member="Nima Tann"], but was too late.

She paused, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Vaylin quickly summoned the Force to her hands, raised them up and formed a barrier as the shrapnel descended upon everyone in the room. Although she did duck a bit when the glitter inevitably fell over her after she dropped the barrier. Now her armour was covered in both the gunk and glitter.

A second later [member="Vindica"] shouted, and while the Zabrak didn't voice her own frustrations she was in agreement with the man.

She went to speak, but barely a letter got out before she winced in pain. Her voice as coarse, even though the rebreather, throat feeling like it was burning.

"L-leave the buttons for now, find a different way to get through the door." She motioned towards what [member="HK-36"] and [member="Kor Vexen"] were doing. "The Contingency and this Zircon are making us dance around like puppets. For all we know, none of these buttons will open the door and we're just wasting our time playing their game."

A thought occurred to Vaylin in that moment, reminding herself of a tactic she had used when the Sith Empire had retaken the Time Foundry. She reached out to everyone's minds in the room, and spoke to them.

"Whenever we don't touch a button they send a drone out to do so instead. When that happens, destroy it. Lightsaber, lightning, rifle or whatever. Just take the damn things down whenever they appear."

Kurayami Bloodborn · Sep 25, 2017

Generator room ( [member="Onyx"] [member="Diamond"] )
Allies: [member="Muad Dib"], [member="Kaili Talith"], [member="Allyson Locke"], [member="Audren Sykes"], [member="Aryn Teth"], [member="Jessica Matthews"], @Everyone else

Kurayami had missed a few of the last shots, which ended up being a blessing it seemed. The calm, emotionless voice ensured them that there was a quieter room ahead, and that a lever hidden in one of the turrets would unlock it. Well that was good to know now. There was a part of him that was wary of trusting the Contingency given that he had done some reading up on them recently, or at least he had on his way to the shuttle and then a bit more on the ride here. Droids, yet able to use the Force...Shards perhaps? If that was the case then it might explain some of the game like aspect that seemed to be emphasized herein. It was becoming more clear that this was not an infiltration, no there was far too much pre-planning for that. The Contingency had long expected this outcome, now they were herding them towards...well what end exactly was unsure, but it wasn't likely to be a good one. When the idea is to purge the galaxy of all organic life it usually isn't a good thing awaiting the organics trapped in a maze like mice.

When Kaili spoke up, Kurayami made no response aloud, given that many nearby would be unable to hear him anyways, and simply holstered his pistol. There was a reason he had speed loaders with him. He did manage however to catch as Master Matthews slid down a wall nearby. The effect of that gas that had been leaking into the room. He usually had a spare rebreather with at least a small tank of oxygen attached for emergency use if his helm was breached or the enviro-seal was compromised. He walked over to her slowly and knelt next to her, pulling it from the pack on his back and securing it to her head, activating it after doing so.

"Ya know ma'am an old saying comes to mind, 'Ain't no rest for the wicked.' So how about we save nap time for after the insanity, hmm?"

It certainly wasn't a slight against the Jedi Master, just him trying to keep himself from losing what sliver of sanity still remained through a bit of dark humor. No one could ever accuse Kurayami of having great comedic timing, but that was of little concern to the Grey. He sighed, hoping that the gas wouldn't take too severe a toll on those who were affected. He tried to think back to the lessons Raylia had given him in healing, but he had never really picked up much on that end of things, yet again he could feel his anger reaching a boiling point this 'Contingency' had chosen the wrong group to experiment on. He hoped he could at least count on the others long enough to end this threat one way or another. If his end was to come here, he could only hope that it would not be in vain.

HK-36 · Sep 25, 2017

[member="Zircon"],

HK turned towards the openings as drones begun to fly out from hidden compartments, however not all of them would be swift enough to circle over their heads as HK's hands snapped to the holsters holding his two heavy magnetic revolvers loaded with neuranium pellets and lifted them up,

Ssst-khrk, ssst-khrk, sssst-khrk,

Numerous shots sounded out, much more silent that one would expect from a heavy pistols, the shattergun fired their pellets quietly thanks to built-in sound dampeners and utilizing magnets, only sounding out the hiss of air as the pellets cut through it and the whirring noise of the revolving chambers rotating after each shot. Some of the drones were popped before they could truly come out, at least those heading in the direction of HK, spraying oil and their contents of glitter and confetti on the inside of the openings they were crawling out of and the nearby walls. They would still rain shower of shrapnel, to which the droid reacted by raising his left hand and materializing an oval localized Abregado Combat Shield in front of himself, forming a magnetized barrier between him and the shrapnel shards. Some of the sharpnel would bounce off, clattering upon the floor harmlessly, some of it moved fast enough to drill their way through however, physical projectiles were always a weakness of these shields, flying through and jabbing into the hard chitinous plates of the armored biot HK wore. Thankfully they would be slowed down enough that they did not deal any significant damage, they would be now more like splinters in his armor that HK had to pull out.

Once what little glitter and confetti that survived would float in his direction, HK wrapped himself in his heavy black cloak, allowing the substance to glide into the material before straightening up and with one gusto movement flapping it aside to throw the glitter and confetti off of it and onto the floor, or whoever was standing close enough to him.

And now, with a flourish, he holstered his revolvers once more.

[member="Vaylin"],

At the Zabrak's words, HK quipped,

"Honestly I calculate we are still doing what we would naturally do in such a situation and the Contingency is only claiming that we are falling into their plan."

Looking over towards the door HK would then add,

"I do not think we should rule out using the buttons to open the door just yet, we should still have someone try to figure it out. Trying to force open the door might take too long or simply be impossible even for Force users and droids as sophisticated as me."

As he spoke he glanced over to [member="Aster Rose Baelor"], glad that their younger member was still alright and back to [member="Nima Tann"],

"Consider what I said about the literally right button being correct one and try that next, and maybe mark the button you already pressed. It would be better than just pure guess work."

HK suggested before focusing back on the door.

As [member="Vindica"] went to focus his Force presence upon the hidden mechanism HK spoke out again,

"Be careful, the mechanisms we need to manipulate are in close proximity to gears and cogs for other traps, one mistake and you might accidentally set off more of them."

The machine warned him before motioning to the other side,

"There will probably be more locks on the other side as well. We do not need to fully force it open, if we merely unlock it then hard part is behind us."

When [member="Kor Vexen"] stepped up to join them, HK would nod to him at first simply, before looking up at the energy shield projector hidden above them,

"A year or so back I came to speak with an admiral from one of the newer incarnations of the Confederacy. The man trapped me in a ray shield, but as he proceeded to taunt me he did not realize that a pellet from a shattergun is small enough to sneak within the ray shield's energy funnel and pierce the projector above. All I had to do is take my shattergun revolver, point it straight up, and the man pissed himself when he saw that I was once more free right in front of him. Smaller shields like that are a type of circuits you see, they need a point of output and point of input to function, if we can knock one out, the shield should collapse."

The droid would point up to the metal above the door,

"This shield is better designed, its projectors are hidden behind metal and the shield itself, I doubt I would be able to pierce it quickly enough with shattergun shots alone. However, even energy shields cannot stop the Force. About 15-30 centimeters above where the energy shield disappears in the metal, perpendicular to it in the direction of the door, that is where a line of its energy projectors is housed. If you could crush them or rip them apart, the shield will be down, even if we would not be able to unlock the door, we could continue cutting through it."

HK explained before looking at Kor once more,

"Say, your helmet, does it have an HUD or does it have cybernetic implants?"

The droid would look over to Vindica once more,

"Or yours?"

Omega · Sep 25, 2017

Enyo Typhos said:
[member="Incursion"]

Enyo had her own thoughts about the Contingency's present strategy, but kept those to herself. Whatever they were. Same applied to the behaviour of the organics and the speechifying droid in their midst. She was not fond of excessive talking.

A pink haired HRD took her place at the console. Enyo disapproved of her outlandish hair. Garnet's comment still amused her slightly. "Very organic. But so is Sapphire. She acts awfully operatic. Literally. And Zircon is an illogical gloater," she remarked dryly. Her disapproval was evident. Maybe Amara should dye her hair pink just to troll her robotic sister.

It would be silly of you to trust them. I don't. Trust is a luxury commodity I can only afford in small amounts, she thought. Outwardly her expression remained serene and sort of bland. "Since the facility has yet to erupt in violence, is there a task for me?"

Garnet said nothing as they walked to a viewing platform. There they could see the full extent of the ring and the shell around the star.

“It is very organic, but we are not droids, nor are you, Enyo. It’s this place though, it affects everyone differently. You’ve not been here long enough to feel it….”

She stopped, glanced at Enyo. “There is a task you can perform. There is a device which requires two to activate it. One side has proven destructive to our kind though. I feel your unique makeup will allow you to successfully activate it.”

Enyo Typhos · Sep 25, 2017

[member="Vaylin"]

Before she departed the monitoring room she had been in, Enyo caught a glimpse of what was going in the far away rooms by looking at a computer screen. What she saw did not impress her. The organics and their droid allies were largely fumbling about like without any sort of plan. That was par for the course. One of the Contingency bosses was childishly gloating like a B movie villain, there was gas and...glitter. It was ridiculous. She had a clear philosophy when it came to opposition: Get rid of it. Instead of playing pointless games and speechify about your alleged superiority.

Amidst all this she perceived a familiar presence. Vaylin. Enyo's Force senses were quite weak, so she did not sense the Zabrak woman until the alien reached out to her. This made things a bit awkward. You'll, see that was all Enyo could reply with. It was a very ambiguous response.

"You mean it turns everyone into childish, gloating imbeciles with delusions of grandeur?" she asked rhetorically after Garnet had spoken. "Probably not the place to launch a campaign of domination from. Your bosses are fools." She looked upon the ring, then turned to face the other unit. "What will this device do? For that matter, what will the machine do? Did they tell you everything? Do they even understand it themselves?" she asked seriously.

[member="Incursion"]

Rekha Kaarde · Sep 25, 2017

Allies Team Lightside: [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Archim Calixis"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Onyx"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | [member="Jessica Matthews"] | [member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Diamond"] | anyone I missed I'm sorry.

Rekha had not helmet she was breathing the gas she felt for certain this was the end of it all she waited for it. If it was going to take her she'd meet it head on. However after a few moments instead of writhing in pain though she felt uplifted, even high.

She heard a voice that she knew she turned around, "KAILI how are you? Hey you didn't return my call?" Rekha would sound a bit drunk unnoticed by her but those around her would certainly assume that.

"But hey...we need to find that opener. So look for something out of place on a turret it's probably something that well you look at it and think eh...bad mold, bad frame bad something" Rekha brought her eye level down, while putting it up high would make the task more difficult she had a feeling these games were going to progress into difficult that this was something else...team building? for later.

"Walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way....hey give us kiss!" She looked up just over her head studying how each one looked compared to the next. She stood staring at this one it looked different in that it had a single red rivet well the head of the rivet was red and it only had 5 rivets. Now she was no genius but she was a pilot and she had to calculate coordinates all the time so she had a love affair with numbers. 5 is a prime number, now if she was a droid what would make sense to her, numbers, digits, formulas. So...maybe that was the way in. Maybe she had bad eyes today too. But she wanted to contribute...so...here was her contribution.

"Hey did you guys notice that one turret up there?" She pointed "But isn't it a little different from the others?" Could be something could be wishful thinking but hey she was willing to try anything to get out of the room.

Xevek Nekonis · Sep 25, 2017

Location: The Generator Room [Route 1]

Objective: Regain Focus

Enemies: [member="Diamond"] | [member="Onyx"]

Pain. Pain had become his entire world, reality fading away until nothing but suffering remained. Training underneath the searing suns of Iridonia whilst bare of all protective cloth had taught him initial pain. Broken bones, split skin and spilled blood through training had taught him a refined version of pain. His body, broken and battered after a failed Hunt, left at the tender mercy of the harsh desert plains as he fought to drag himself back, teeth clenched and the taste copper burning at his mouth had served to teach him that he had yet to learn the limits of pain. Event after event following - his descent into slavery and the numerous tortures he had been placed under every time he refused to bow or break, the feeling of punishment when he first became Sith and Darth Ophidia had seen fit to teach him sense through Lightning, the lose of his left arm in an explosion that had burnt everything from the shoulder down into ash, the feeling of his skull caving inwards and the realisation that he had awoken to find himself missing an eye - had taught him deeper and greater depths of pain. And, yet, despite this fact, the suffering he was subjected to now was worse, worse in every way as his mind scrambled to focus itself.

Danger had coiled around every sense, the Force whispering it's warnings. But, even as it had screamed at him, he had heard but a whisper. A whisper that had fallen to the back of his mind as the strangely muted twisting vibrations of the Force passed out from his attention. Despite all he had experience, despite all that he had taught himself, he had ignored those muted warning, he had ignored the fact that they were muted in the first place, and followed a group of others in what may well have been a death chamber.

And he hated that, hated how weak and foolish he had been, how quickly he had reverted to his inexperienced years as just a child. And, yet, he could not hate himself. Muted just as the Force had been, he could not hate himself. He knew he should but couldn't. The pain, it was too much, too fierce, too overwhelming. He had not listened and now he suffered.

He had come to this location, believing that this would be a subtle incursion against the Contingency, but, the words that had barely made it too him through pain and the piercing, ringing, shattering noise that had made its home within his head of the Shard that had called itself Diamond had made the true situation clear. They were not the predators slowly approaching the unaware prey. They had not been the hunters that stumbled across a barely-there, almost-gone trail and followed it towards their bounteous reward. No, they were the prey, the weaklings that had been so easily herded, so easily corralled and forced to play the games of those that they had come to stop. There were at the mercy of the thrice-damned machines, now. They danced gleefully out of reach, words slithering through the air laden heavy with taunts. This was their game and the group that had come to confront them, instead of dictating the rules, didn't even know them.

Unsteady hands finally found purchase on the flat ground as the Zabrak pushed himself up from where he was lay, curled up in a ball, on the cold floor. Scars burnt and they stretched and twisted, muscles ached through he knew not why, as his tall form slowly uncoiled itself, his weight beginning to press down harshly on his palms. The muscles in his one arm shook and quivered weakly as he grit his teeth, fighting against the urge to collapse. With the ringing still in his ears, he finally managed to leverage himself enough so that he was able to collapse against one of the walls; sitting down this time instead of laid out flat upon the floor. However, no satisfaction rushed through him. No relief, just pain, endless pain that was only now beginning to dull.

Blinking unsteadily as the room and people swirled before him, he slowly brought a hand up to where wetness stuck heavily against his skin as he began to feel his breathing begin to go scratchy. Touching two claw-tipped fingers to the skin beneath his right eye, he blinked in confusion and then slowly dawning realisation as that incessant, dull, piecing ringing continued bounce about his skull. His fingers were coated in his own blood. A rolling chuckle, one that he was sure didn't sound the slightest bit steady even if he could not hear it himself, would echo out from the back of his throat. Sonic weaponry: that was why his thoughts were still hazy and he could barely hear anything. With his hearing and balance compromised, let alone the light-headedness that added to the pain from the poison that he could faintly recall hearing Diamond speak of, he was more than compromised right now.

Grunting softly to himself as he lightly shook his head, physically grounding himself in the here and now and preventing his thoughts from continuing to spiral around one another, he stared at the hazy, gathered forms before him with an odd sense of detachment. The fact that there was apparently a mechanised hound now in the room was more than slightly confusing, but, he shrugged it off as either an illusion his own mind was concocting - although that was doubtful considering the fact that other seemed to be noticing it also - or something that was actually there - backed up by the fact that people were interacting with it. But, nothing else was out of the ordinary, nor did it seem like his condition was worsening any, so, swallowing heavily around a scratchy throat and using the wall behind him support, slowly pushed himself to his feet.

For a moment, the world swam before his gaze, black spots encroaching upon his vision, but, grunting softly beneath his breath, he pushed passed it. He was compromised, yes. Would he be of any use in finding a way out of the room? No. But, he refused to let himself sit off to one side and do nothing. At the very least he would stand. However, as he went to take a step, his legs seemed to collapse before him and he ended up sat against the wall once more, head pounding and vision blurring. Muttering growled curses in both common and Ul'Zabrak under his breath, directing them towards both the situation itself and the thrice-damned Shards that seemed to delight in playing with them, he resigned himself to just sitting there, waiting as the cold, frozen rive of rage and Darkness that curled within his chest began to spread outwards, correcting any flaws and damage that he may be suffering from. Until that was done, it seemed like that he would be playing the role of the invalid, half collapsed against the wall as he waited for himself to be even able to stand.

Nima Tann · Sep 25, 2017

Location: Main Facility Terminals
[member="Tempest"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Zircon"] etc. etc.

By the time she pressed the button, she felt like a great danger was upon her. Was that the wrong button? Her first instinct was to move back, but yet another surprise was waiting for her. Suddenly, metal tentacles emerged and restrained her with a tight grip, preventing her to escape the harm's way. Nima struggled to save herself from the situation, but it didn't help at all.

And then, she was struck by electricity. If she didn't wear armor, it would be fatal as it was quite strong, but she could feel the heat inside rise to disturbing levels very quickly. Her helmet's HUD was acting very weird, she was seeing static. She couldn't control her breath. Unwanted memories came to her mind, making her panic a bit as she tried to find a way to escape the grip.

...

With all her strength, she tried to ignore the pain from the several burn wounds the trap caused and concentrate on the Force, aiming to push herself with a great speed to the other side of the room. When she let go of her power, suddenly she flew back with the impact of the push, firstly the machine didn't let go and slowed down her speed in a painful way, but then it loosened its grip as it was stretched way too much. Nima fell to the ground and immediately went for her helmet to get it off.

And after that point, everything went blurry for a while. She could only hear herself trying to calm down, didn't notice the droid mocking them once again, glitter or the hateful looks towards her. She came back to reality when she was directly adressed by [member="HK-36"]. Unfortunately, she already pressed the button before HK talked about his theory. It would help her eliminate a few of the buttons if she heard it beforehand.

"Right." She said, preparing herself to get up. It wasn't that easy, but she suffered worse wounds than this. Considering that the repeating video still existed, she looked at the screen once again to determine where they all were when they were first contacted by the droid. If HK's theory was correct, it would increase their chances of finding the correct button.

Evoros · Sep 25, 2017

Door #1 - Power Generator

"Glitter and confetti and shrapnel." Diamond repeated the words with amusement. "Well. They're starting to get the idea. Starting, anyway."

After all- too many had ignored her warning. They wanted to destroy the turrets, destroy whatever wore the Contingency's fingerprints. But causing thoughtless damage was a human weakness, so it was the one to be punished. They could not hurt the Contingency without hurting themselves.

They chose to anyway.

An explosion sparked across the ceiling at [member="Andorreth Vikar"]'s command. Several turrets ignited, turning to ash at the edges as they crackled out of function. Several turrets did not work anymore. Pity.

The lever hadn't been compromised, and neither had her plan. Really, he was only causing trouble for the humans locked in. And it would cause trouble for the humans locked in. Human error had to be punished, so they could understand how everything had led to this moment. They wouldn't die. Not yet. But they would suffer.

First, though, a mind reached through the turret systems, trying to piece together just what was attacking its targets. [member="Kaili Talith"] would find that the turrets - materials stolen from various planets, fashioned and brought to life at the Contingency's hand - connected to the blast door. Not the one that took them the way they came. That one would stay shut for quite some time. The one that took them further through the building, closer to the Machine.

And [member="Rekha Kaarde"] had hit the jackpot on how they linked. That turret had a lever embedded in its side. If it was activated, the blast door would open.

But everyone who had breathed in the gas would be slowly finding it that bit harder to concentrate properly. To see clearly. And the explosions in the air would only make it worse. Like things were faded around the edges. And shaking. Shaking ever so gently. Colours would mix. Vision would blur.

Could they open the door?

A few turrets got blown up, but not the one with the lever
Kaili Mechu-Deru'ed the turret systems and if she chooses, can realise they link to the door
Rekha spotted the turret with the lever and if she chooses, can activate it to open the door
Everyone who breathed the gas is getting funky vision - blurred, shaky, strange colours, etc.
Diamond is a meanie.

NOTE: Unless something major happens, this is the last round of posts in the current room. Get your posts in quick for those Evil Shard Fun Times™.

Zircon · Sep 25, 2017

Door 2- The Right Route, Terminal Path

Diamond had responded to Zircon. Seemed they were as amused as it had been and said something far too true. The shard said back, " Yes. It is time to end the fun and begin the lessons in seriousness. Luster and shine. Glory to the Contingency!" It then ended the transmission. There was a small matter it had to attend to first then it was time to for Zircon to stop playing with its prey. They felt secure so it was time to remind them they were nothing more than insignificant organics. It was the fate of all organics to die in the end after all.

The efforts on unlocking the blast door did not go as planned for those trapped in the room. Instead of the mechanisms for the door, they ended up triggering those for one of the traps instead. As the metal parts clicked audibly for the room, it would begin to be flooded with an invisible gas. The gas was not detectable by sight, sound, nor smell. It would barely even be noticeable how much it effected their breathing. No it had no effect on them at all and might as well be harmless. But for those who did happen to have the highly specialized equipment to detect it would soon come to realize what it was. It was a flammable gas that would ignite the entirety of the room into a giant fireball with explosive results at the slightest spark.

There was indeed emitters for the shielding where the cloaked droid had mentioned in the wall, but it would take some intricate force control to effect them without accidentally triggering a trap like those trying to unlock the door had done. It was possible however if someone dared to try. The poisonous gas had stopped pouring into the room by this point as well. Those who had not detoxified would eventually recover now but the worse they were effected the longer it would take for their body to naturally remove it.

Zircon returned its attention to the room and noticed the gas that had been released into the room. A laugh escaped its vocal systems as it noticed their potentially fatal mistake. Its image appeared over the holoprojector once more. " You organics should stop trying to be clever. It is not so hard to find the right button. Why don't you try to do that instead of releasing more dangers into your room?" It paused to give them a chance to think about what it had said to them. They certainly were trying to circumvent the potential dangers and instead had made things worse. A typical sort of situation for organics. " Some advise for you all. Your room will explode if you active one of your little glow sticks or fire a weapon of any kind. Heat is your enemy now. Believe me and listen or don't and die. It makes little difference to me. You should focus on finding the right button as the pretty purple one is doing. Be daring. Be smart. Be not organic." With that the image disappeared. Zircon flipped a switch and soon enough little spider like droids began to crawl around the room. On their backs in clear view were small containers of liquid tibanna gas. What they were there for was completely unknown but for now they just crawled all over the room with no signs of hostility towards those gathered there.

[member="Diamond"] [SIZE=12pt][member="Venthis Zambrano"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Ylva Solveig"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Kor Vexen"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Darth Venefica"]

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Ylva Heavenshield · Sep 26, 2017

I apologize for how long it has taken me to post...Hopefully I can cover it all!

Location: Unknown Facility, Route 2 - Terminal, right corridor ([member="Zircon"]).
Objective: Discover the origin and intent of the contingency for the Iron Empire.
Allies: [member="Aster Rose Baelor"], [member="Caelag Vass"], [member="Vindica"]

The first of the Contingency's traps to be triggered were well outside of Ylva's control; she of whom held no ability in the Force nor any technologies or armaments that would shield her from these poisons would be affected like many of the others, the lack of oxygen to her brain and the mix of chemicals being introduced to her body weakened her visual acuity and blurred the room around her, gradually her shoulders sunk as her arms and legs seemed to go a little numb as if her strength was being taken from her.

Standing beside those of [member=Aster Rose Baelor]'s guard, Ylva swayed a little against one of the wolfsglaives, turning back to look at him a little dumbfounded and confused at how she was suddenly so clumsy on her feet when typically her instincts were honed and sharp on a hunt. Frowning to herself, she stepped aside a moment and tried to take in a steady deep breath to recollect herself, this only leading her head to rush in euphoria and immediately blinking as the commotion of the monitors around them again called out for their attention, the volume of which was almost a scream in her dazed state of mind.

Droid like insects were the result of their groups tampering, buzzing out of the walls like some sort of horrific dream most girls hated to imagine, the room acted as if possessed by the machines, holes in the sides and roof, all around them releasing these little monstrosities and causing her eyes to widen in alarm, staring towards the roof in alarm. [Member=Vindica] was quicker than she, his senses and connection to the Force more than she herself had to manage with. She watched as the metal buzzards exploded above them, the small group of the Iron Empire being somehow, inexplicably protected from the shrapnel though leaving the masked male vulnerable, Ylva looked back to him in shock as the droids had silenced themselves and what remained were the complaints of their peers, survivors and so on. "You didn't have to do that..." She spoke to Vindica, as if to point out the obvious yet offer an underlying hint of appreciation in the glance that she shot the man, a mixture of vulnerability and admiration for what he had offered them.

The large number of peoples that were with them made things all that much more difficult, their differences and backgrounds that were so obviously foreign simply by the sound of their accents and mannerisms supported their inability to work as a group; not that Ylva could blame them for that considering she herself most often always worked on her own until the recent days having found herself in [member="Théodred Heavenshield"]'s company.

Again the voice of [member=Zircon] announced itself to the group and this time though she couldn't tell until the droid explained itself, a flammable substance entered the room. Almost as if to contrast what [member="HK-36"] had said earlier about weaponry, this actually made Ylva's all the more useful should they be pushed into a fight. Though the droids points were still valid in terms of steel against metals and the targeting of weak points and such, at-least her axe's or her bow wouldn't go and get everyone blown to hell. The affects of the poison initially released upon them were slowly dispersing, apparently by way of design in the contingency's taunting them, yet again her lack of special abilities or unnatural powers meant that she among them would be one of the last to recover; it was still in her nauseous state that she turned to hear the Princess complain of chest pains and look to her Guard trying to help her.

'Why in all the hells did I volunteer for this' she thought to herself, her mind wandering to think back upon the face of Théodred, that damned man who had run in on her hunt and subsequently changed everything for her. She'd grown soft, both for him and of herself, so much that now they were here and chances are they were going to die trapped in this damned iron maze before she'd get the chance to remind him how frustrating he was for it all. Naturally, he was to blame for all of this...-In her defeatism, it was that silent goading and blaming him that caused her mouth to twist in a half smirk, disbelieving of the place she found herself in; so too refusing to show fear should this be her final hour.

Caelag Vass · Sep 26, 2017

Route: 2 [member="Zircon"]
Objective: Investigate
Team: Lightside
Faction: Iron Empire

Caelag was getting fed up with everything. It was tiring, and the people were not getting anything done. Granted they were in Button Heaven right now, but even so they'd pressed one button and triggered three traps. These ratios were just not doing well at all. She was fed up with the astromech droid, frustrated with how the sith were handling things for the most part, and she was getting to the point she wanted to just start shooting these Contingency sooner rather than later.

The gas from the first trap didn't bother her, as her helmet's filter cycled out the toxin and even had backup oxygen in the event it couldn't filter anything, but it made her nervous for [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] and her health, as well as [member="Ylva Solveig"] who had no technology like hers. Still, it wasn't the gas that got to her, and eventually her systems gave her an auditory cue only she could hear, alerting her to the changes in atmosphere.

Finally she slung her weapon over her shoulder, using a large strap, and clicked her helmet's seals to remove it. It was starting to get cramped, and HK seemed to think she was a normal sniper. There was a reason she didn't miss. And it made finding the right button or cameras difficult for her. See, as she looked around she could see irregularities in the otherwise standard walls, and even to a certain extent the flow of energy around her, but the Miraluka's bandaged head betrayed her disability. Even if it was meant to be secret, she needed to breathe through something besides her helmet, at least for a little while.

A new threat came then, the threat of the room turning into a massive fireball, how delightful. She took slow breaths, hating that the air was effectively now dangerously combustive, but it didn't seem to be toxic. And as it went on, she looked around at everyone. Every attempt to subvert this trap failed, every plan had a contingency plan behind it to counter the counter... Their enemy believed organics idiots and fools. What would an imbecile do...

Her voice, a little softer than usual (given the presence of her princess) picked up for everyone to hear. "Did anyone check if there's a 'right' button on the console? One on the right?"

[member="Venthis Zambrano"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Ylva Solveig"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Kor Vexen"]

Jsc · Sep 26, 2017

A lever had been discovered in the generator room.

Yet Jess could do little about it. She clutched the oxygen mask of [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] and rose to find her footing. Using her hands to say thank you. Because her voice could not. So she nodded her thanks and breathed in cleaner air.

When she could stand and think straight again, Jess moved to retrieve her helm. A careful reminder that dispite the Force's invaluable strength? A human is still nothing but the sum of her evolution. And that death comes naturally to the foolish and the brave.

She flicked away the oil in her neck and redressed her dark helm. Handing the mask back to its wiser owner with a hidden smile,

"You have my thanks brother. ...Foolish is she who tempts fate and reveals only her own ignorance. I shall not forget the bridge between Gods and men again. We will need all our heads clear for what must surly come next."

Her eyes looked upon the far door even as she said it. The next room awaited.

Kyrel Ren · Sep 26, 2017

Location: On the way to the generator

Objective: Reach the Generator room

Allies: [member="Ara Zambrano"] [member="Castor Ren"] [member="Torian Pierce"] [member="Mishel Zanteres"] [member="Tmoxin Temi"] [member="Samka Derith"], Team Dark Side

Kyrel continued to walk towards the path that leads to the Generator room, having the rest of the group catch up with him and Mishel he remained ever vigilant of his surroundings his enhanced ears could hear the sounds of voices, explosions and some type of blaster fire up ahead. Nonetheless, he pressed onwards thinking of how he would gain the technology that was inside by any means and what possibilities it could hold for the rest of the First Order.

He continued to press forward, his hand slowly itching to reach for a lightsaber, he had a bad feeling of what would lie ahead when they started to catch up with the rest. So far they had not faced any enemies besides a few defenses, and that had left him wondering when the enemy would show it's face or perhaps not at all.

As they started getting closer and closer he could hear sounds of others coming up, he thought they he could even see a few beings being very close to the door, but something was wrong he could feel something inside him, as if something or someone was trying to take over him and use him, little did he know he would be in for quite a surprise the more and more he kept trying to reach the enemy.

Evoros · Sep 26, 2017

Impatience.

It was a human weakness, but so was wasting time. The groups locked down two pathways had been shown that sentience was a flaw that deserved punishment. Hopefully they understood why it had to be this way. And if not, well - was it their job to understand?

No.

They were pawns.

His move.

Amidst argument and struggle and confusion and uncertainty, two blast doors groaned metal as they slid open. One led to the power generator. One led to the facility terminal. And both, finally, were wide open. No games, no playing with their food. The path was paved, clear as the day. Here's the end. Come, try to stop us.

Nobody was trying to mess now with their heads. Nobody was trying now to punish them for being organic.

But that didn't mean the struggle was over.

They had just moments after the doors opened before everything went dark. Black as coal and lit only by the flickering of a few leftover lights. If they did not speak, after a crackle of electricity there would be nothing but the low hum of running machinery.

Those who'd been searching for the power generator, who had breathed in the gas, might manage to see despite the darkness. But what they saw would not be real. Maybe it would seem real. It depended what they saw - human minds were creative, after all. It depended if these creatures had some measure of resilience. If they could determine what was real through the haze of hallucination, then maybe they had meant something before their destruction after all.

And those who'd let themselves come into contact with the oil that greeted them upon entrance would only have it worse. Nothing so easy to place as a mirage - just a feeling of something very, very wrong. Maggots underneath the skin. Shame, dread, humiliation, fear, rolled into a cloying mess of discomfort; subtle at first then growing, growing with every minute the power didn't return.

They could still return the power. Access the generator. Access the terminal. Stop the Machine.

But they would have to move fast.

And the Machine was charging.

TL;DR:

The doors opened on both sides.
The power shut off and needs to be restarted from the generator/terminal.
The gas is now causing hallucinations; you're free to play with this however you like.
The oil/goo thingamabob is causing discomfort, and not much else.
Have fun!

HK-36 · Sep 26, 2017

[member="Onyx"], [member="Caelag Vass"], [member="Ylva Solveig"], [member="Zircon"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Venthis Zambrano"], [member="Astromech DD2-R8"], [member="Aster Rose Baelor"], [member="The Slave"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Vaylin"],

HK stood before the door as [member="Vindica"] and hopefully [member="Kor Vexen"] reached out into the door with the Force, causing accidentally for more traps to activate, spewing out flammable gas and then there were some drones with Tibanna or something. More importantly, however, the energy shield on the door would suddenly deactivate and the large heavy blast door would shudder and come to live, creeping up into the roof above them as the droid raised his hands triumphantly, proclaiming,

"I did it, I saved us!"

And at that moment with a flicker the lights would suddenly go out, the crimson glow of the machine's photoreceptors would still be visible, becoming even more intense in the thick darkness, shining out like two red flashlights,

"Well come on then, I have had enough of this chitty place."

And with that he would step forward to push deeper into the facility with whoever was willing to come with him and get some distance between them and the now explosive room.

Earlier in the main room before the two groups split HK would warn others that his scanners indicated whatever substance sprayed them was hardly an oil and seemed organic instead. Hopefully his warning was not ignored, as for the machine himself, he tried to get as much of the substance off of himself as he could, mostly being sprayed over his arm and cloak. If the weird black goo could affect machines it would have to go through the outer layer of armor that covered his body's armored plates and joints.

Welcome To The Machine [Incursion PvE]

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Master of Her Own Destiny

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Clear or Clouded Our True Colors Always Show

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The Flame Major

Disney's Princess

The World Eater

Two Faced

The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)

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