10:18 <banana> Bob's farmhouse, reconstructed again and surrounded by foxholes, is full of guests. 10:20 <banana> Aster and Badawi he expected, but you've got some allies too: a pair of wizards. 10:20 <banana> 'Zebek' is a confident looking man with a neat beard, who's striding around the field peering into ditches and asking endless questions about aliens. 10:20 <Crion> Aster hopes Badawi and Bob are willing to humor him. 10:22 <banana> He's brought 'Egret', a heavyset woman from his guild(?) with a strong local accent. She's more interested in the weapons and will home in on anyone willing to discuss firearms. 10:22 <Crion> Again. 10:22 <Crion> Mages. 10:23 <banana> A bit later you'll be joined by the other hunters and the principal - but for now there's a bit of time to get to know each other and to review the defenses. 10:23 <tom> All that remains of the obstacle course are a few errant rails bolted to the walls in places where removing them would be a major pain in the ass. The targets, the stations, all that shit's been packed up into the space under the stairs. The downstairs bedroom's blocked off, as it's not finished. The rest of the ground floor's been renovated, or at least done over well-enough to be habitable 10:23 <tom> by a human who doesn't consider heating and basic comfort to be luxuries. 10:23 <Quaker> Would she like to handle the recoilless rifle? Badawi doesn’t really want to use it herself, and Bob is manically fixated on his homemade weapons. Besides, they probably have some kind of charm to make it extra-useful. 10:24 <tom> How's the weather? Any snow, or just more rain? 10:26 <tom> If it's more rain then the fighting positions are merely well-hidden behind the dying grass, instead of blanketed over with a layer of snow into indistinct bumps and divots. He'll insist they'll be dry on the inside, and heated, even, if you're willing to put up with hexamine tablets. 10:26 <Crion> If Bob has a scoped designated marksman's rifle for Aster, he'll be familiarizing himself with that, and making sure his FNC is properly cleaned, functional, and so on. Otherwise he'll be doing whatever final tidying and setup is required before the aliens arrive. 10:26 <banana> The weather's shit. Light rain already and the clouds on the horizon are far heavier; BBC Weather says a storm is coming tomorrow. 10:26 <tom> As it is, Bob's sitting in his kitchen with a cup of coffee while the two wizards make the rounds; they're plainly visible in the drone's greyscale camera. 10:27 <tom> He'll come out to chat if they don't head inside; he's been out there overnight already. 10:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's taken it upon herself to make sure everyone who needs to be there is there. Who still needs transport? Just Reveille? Did her bandmates get cold feet? 10:28 <banana> The wizard Egret makes cooing noises over Badawi's very large gun. "Aye, I can treat him right. You've got a c-pack in the paraphernalia there? This thing will either pierce the main armour of your tripods or, if they're on implausible materials, we can use it to break apart any hardpoints and connectors." 10:29 <hrolf> Rolf needs transported as well. 10:30 <banana> Willie and Rolf find the whole band waiting in the afternoon, at Reveille's villa - but they're also arguing with each other. 10:30 <tom> There's a rack of weapons just off the side as you come into the farmhouse. There's Badawi's SVD, sighted and ready if Aster wants to pick it up. A few more rifles, mostly FN's, a few pistols. Nothing on offer is handcrafted. He doesn't want to embarrass the client by looking unprofessional. 10:30 <Quaker> Badawi is wrapped in a poncho and overcoat and thick leggings and scarf and a hat with flaps, looking like a little fluffy multicolored animal that’s holding a rifle. “A c-what?” 10:30 <VoxPVoxD> She'll make sure to pull the passenger seat back all the way so he has some room. "Did you ever fight armour back in the day? As a soldier or a hunter?" 10:30 <hrolf> Rolf: "Nah, the provos and provo-adjacent night creepy crawlies didn't exactly 'ave access to APCs or the like." 10:31 <Quaker> She’s packing a little camp stove and some blankets and food, and binoculars and radio and a flashlight, into a backpack. 10:32 <tom> Bob comes out in his heavy jacket, cradling his mug of coffee to keep his hands warm. "These your wizard friends, Badawi?" 10:33 <banana> It's a multifaceted fight. Should Lindsey, the youngest one, be kept out of it? Should anyone other than Mary, whose Calling it is, have to risk themselves? (Mary's the only one who seems to think she should be going alone). Charlie is yelling at Paola Anna about how she can't defend herself, with the latter retorting that at least she won't set everyone on fire... 10:33 <banana> At least they haven't got Lindsay (with an a, the manager) involved - he and Gordon are, wisely, nowhere to be seen. 10:34 <Quaker> “They are. The non-Diamond ones I mentioned at the retirement home. The Venturer’s Guild.” 10:34 <banana> Egret: "We can be provisional friends. I like a good fight, and sounds you've got one." 10:35 <Quaker> She slides a window open. “Zebek, come inside. Someone needs to take this machine gun.” 10:35 <tom> "Cool. Don't get killed on our account. If you want you can chill in the house with the client until things go bad." 10:36 <tom> Bob beams at Zebek. "The trenches aren't for the Tripods. They're so I don't splash anyone with friendly fire." 10:36 <Crion> Aster smokes and watches the rain. Coming from the sky. There's a space for them to land -- where they want the tripods to land -- but if they're capable of just doorknocking them, well. 10:36 <hrolf> Rolf nudges Willie, sotto voice: "Bit of a catfight going on, hey?" 10:36 <hrolf> "Meow." 10:36 <banana> The other mage does so, but: "I've never shot anything larger than a pistol, Aggie. The main thing I can do to your tripods is rust them, as well as keep this whole thing contained and mend wounds we might suffer." 10:37 <banana> Zebek: "On that containment point... d'you mind if I ask, have you or your client heard anything about the coverup?" 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's too dispirited looking at them to get angry at Rolf's sexism. "Do you wish to herd them or shall I?" 10:37 <tom> "Cool. I want to keep some of the scrap." He winces. "Can't believe we didn't get to keep a raygun." 10:37 <tom> "You mean the bombing." 10:38 <hrolf> Rolf: "Be my guest. Best for anyone wif a bellend to stay out of these kind of situations I've found." 10:38 <banana> L-Plate: "I'm perfectly capable of kicking an alien in the balls. In fact, I'd enjoy it." 10:38 <banana> Reveille: "The last ones didn't have balls, and these things might be robots." 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> Anyone who has, or is, a bellend. Ah well. Work mode. "Hello hello! Good morning. It sounds like you're working out who's coming to support Reveille?" 10:39 <tom> Bob taps his visor, and the winged drone swoops up, and up, lazily spiralling to frame the property from the safety of the low-hanging cloud cover. 10:39 <Quaker> “Then Rolf can have it. You’ll want to stick close to our client, then, if you’ve got some healing magic with you. They’re basically a bunch of babies.” 10:40 <banana> Zebek to Bob: "I do, I do. If it's what we think, an attempt to cover up these attacks.. then maybe they've talked to you or to the subject of your protection? It'd be a more direct route." 10:41 <tom> "We talked, and no, he was evasive on the subject." Bob's face is grim. 10:42 <hrolf> Rolf: "Fewer the better ladies. Smaller blast radius." 10:46 <banana> Charlie Miracle: "M&M's small." 10:46 <banana> Reveille is indeed shorter than most of the others. 10:47 <tom> "We didn't ask Jannie to do that, if that's what you're asking." 10:47 <banana> Reveille: "Linds, if you really want to come you can. But what I'm planning to do is spend a night in some sort of shitty farmhouse - hey, guys. Willie, Rolf, if it's not shitty I would be delighted to hear that." 10:48 <banana> "Anyway, the idea is that in the night or the morning, agents attack - and I or we keep hiding. These guys are the experts." 10:48 <tom> It's not shitty! After Bob got done moping he spent all morning fixing up the ground floor for the kind of people who actually go to spas! 10:48 <tom> He can pout about that later, though. 10:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I would rate it average or better as a farmhouse. But compared to the places you normally spend your time I don't rate it at all." 10:48 <banana> She addresses the hunters again: "...of course if you need my help in the fight, you'll have it. No suicidal defenses necessary." 10:48 <hrolf> Rolf: "Anyone 'ere wif actual combat experience? If not I would suggest stayin put 'ere." 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> "Mr. Hughes has decades of experience with the Human Office; I have never regretted following his advice on matters of tactics." 10:49 <banana> Paola Anna scowls at Rolf. "Not.. intentional combat." 10:50 <banana> Charlie: "DisAster should go. Just she and Mary." 10:50 <banana> Paola Anna: "You've changed your tune." 10:50 <banana> Charlie: "Paola Anna should stay inside, safe, but she can scout for you. ESP." 10:50 <banana> "It's gonna be more useful than any of us trying to fight a robot." 10:50 <Crion> Aster's spent the morning plinking if Bob's got the spare ammunition. Either way, he's mostly reaffirmed that he is nobody's idea of a target shooter. 10:51 <hrolf> Rolf: "Sure, why not. As long as she stays out of the AO." 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That sounds good to me if it's acceptable to Reveille. It is ultimately her decision." 10:51 <banana> Aster's target practice ends with a bang. His last shot, reasonably on-target... explodes into confetti. 10:51 <banana> Everyone else is inside, so he's the only one who sees all the little bits of paper drifting about - each of them has writing on it. 10:52 <banana> "Good luck!" "Best wishes!" "You can do it!" "Get well soon!". Motivational. 10:53 <Crion> What the fuck? 10:53 <banana> Reveille gives the other two older bandmates a hug each. "I wouldn't mind having a friend along. And I'll make sure she stays inside." 10:53 <tom> Aster will find the coatroom brimming with ammunition in all calibers. Bob leads Zebek and Egret into the heated living room, where he's set up an impromptu command post, complete with monitors haphazardly strewn about feeding back from the drone and his security cams. 10:53 <Crion> Fucking Jack. 10:53 <banana> L-Plate: "It's just... these things are getting so dangerous. I know you guys are better than the people from Serco or whatever, but they don't stop." 10:53 <Quaker> “Egret, you help me carry the Gustav up the hill to the foxhole. You’ll be next to me.” She’s got enough things for the two of them to spend a cramped but reasonably comfortable night in the fighting position. 10:54 <banana> Egret: "Sure, sure. Lemme just make it a bit lighter. Do you get into these situations a lot?" 10:54 <banana> Zebek, hands on hips, gazes around the monitors. "When you say 'he', Mr. Goreman..." 10:54 <tom> The foxholes are concealed under a waterproofed lip, covered up with grasses to fade into the hillside. Not a lot of space, but at least it's dry. 10:55 <hrolf> Rolf: "Well, marm. It'll 'it a peak and then resolve itself. We just 'ave to withstand the worst." 10:55 <Quaker> “He means the Tetrarch, Zebek. Had to meet him for some personal reasons the other day.” 10:55 <banana> Reveille: "The way they're so impersonal about it makes it hard to take offence, really. Just a matter of not dying." 10:55 <tom> "It was for a different thing. Talk to Badawi." Bob turns to get himself some more coffee, and returns with extra mugs if they ask. 10:56 <banana> Zebek: "Well, take care. Moving in exalted circles and so on." 10:56 <Quaker> “Not terribly often, no. This client is a bit of a handful.” 10:56 <banana> Egret squats to lift, but when Badawi takes the other end of the mounting point it feels more like foam than steel. 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> Mary and Paola Anna in the back of the Volvo, then. Does Reveille have any music she wants in for the ride? 10:57 <banana> She does, and it's not by Waistcoat Colony. 10:57 <tom> The coffee table has a map of the property splayed out across it, crisscrossed with red lines indicating firing angles from fixed positions spread in a rough pentagram around the farmhouse. 10:58 <banana> Once ensconced, with a small suitcase but no guitars, Reveille hands forward a pouch to whichever of Willie and Rolf is in a position to take it. "Here, for you and the boys and Ms. Badawi." Then she plugs her phone into the stereo. 10:58 <Quaker> “Neat trick.” 10:58 <tom> Bob sips from his mug and gestures to the diagram for Zebek's benefit. "I'm sure you've guessed how we're gonna play it." 10:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's very interested in the sound that's going to come out of her speakers. 10:58 <tom> "The real risk is they go smart, land at range and use stand-off weapons." 10:59 <banana> The little cloth bag contains dozens of blue and pink pills. A party favour. 10:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's driving, so Rolf should take the ohohoho fuck yes 10:59 <hrolf> Rolf accepts the pouch and sniffs it suspisciously. "Wos this then?" 10:59 <banana> On the road to Tintwistle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b2T8K2D-ps 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Ahahahahaha. 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Shoo-in for Client of the Year. 11:01 <banana> Zebek Trajan: "Yes. Do you think they can do smart? From everything you've said, these are sort of.. facade entities. Alien as a presentation, maximum drama because going loud is the point." 11:01 <Crion> Well. It wasn't going to be the Victus Indomitus. 11:02 <Quaker> “If they were smart, they wouldn’t have landed in the middle of a highway.” 11:02 <tom> Bob: "I've killed a lot of people who thought I couldn't do smart." 11:03 <banana> Reveille's her usual chatty self on the drive over, but Paola Anna is quiet, seeming to meditate. Possibly powering up. 11:03 <tom> "We're gonna play it safe. We don't fire until they're in the kill box." Bob draws his fingers over the filled-in arcs over the farmstead. 11:04 <tom> "Once we pop the ambush, we need to drop them before they can fry us with heavy weapons." 11:04 <VoxPVoxD> Chatting is nice. Willie's happy to talk; there's a lot she doesn't particularly need or want to think about just now. 11:04 <banana> Egret: "What've you got for altitude? The ones in War of the Worlds had their cabin up above handgun range." 11:04 <hrolf> Rolf leans over and waves his hands in front of Paola Anna's zoned out face. "Alright miss?" 11:05 <banana> Paola Anna: "Hey, what? Shove off." She looks more closely at Rolf. "Ohhh." 11:06 <tom> "I've got a sixty-millimeter mortar with a special payload mix. White phosphorus and thermite." 11:06 <banana> "Yeah I know you. You're Benni's guy. He's not going to be there, right?" 11:06 <tom> He smiles broadly. "Shake 'n bake." 11:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "I don't fink so ma'am. Like I said, small blast radius." 11:06 <Quaker> “We can use heavy weapons until they dismount or their vehicles are damaged. Then our small arms should take them out.” 11:07 <tom> "Try to take them alive. It'll help when we negotiate the peace treaty." 11:07 <Quaker> “Where is the client going to stay in the house? Is there a reinforced area?” 11:07 <tom> Bob smirks. 11:07 <banana> Zebek laughs. "If they want to be taken to our leader, they're in for a shock." 11:08 <tom> "I got the anti-ballistic plates up in the walls of the living room." He knocks on the doorframe next to his seat on the couch. "Realistically if they're firing on the client, they're already past us and the traps." 11:08 <Crion> Once we're done here, assuming he's alive and ambulatory, Aster's heading back to the BBC station to see what Savoy's...whatever she is has found with the weather satellites. 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Anyone watching the drive can see Willie's green Volvo pulling up. 11:09 <tom> "Willie's here." Bob juts his chin at one of the cameras. 11:10 <Quaker> “That’s our cue. Don’t want a crowded house. C’mon, Egret, let’s boogie.” 11:10 <tom> "Stay on comms," Bob lifts his mug. 11:10 <Quaker> Hehe. Get it? Crowded House? 11:10 <banana> Zebek: "Oh, good. I look forward to some of that old-fashioned hellfire." He'll go outside too, to meet the van rather than to position a gun emplacement. 11:12 <tom> Bob is briefly alone in the farmhouse. 11:12 <tom> "Fuck." 11:12 <tom> "I wish I had some meth." 11:12 <banana> Would he settle for MDMA? 11:12 <tom> Would I 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> Relatedly, as they're pulling up, Willie says to Rolf: "Keep those out of Bob's sight until the tripods are handled." 11:13 <Quaker> On their way up the hill, Badawi looks at the distant van. “Not going to lie to you, Egret. I’m glad I’m out here instead of dealing with that headache down there.” 11:13 <Quaker> “Thank you for coming to help us.” 11:13 <banana> The gun wizard(?) doesn't seem enormously interested. "Drama with the team and the client?" 11:13 <hrolf> Rolf: "'e's a druggie? Slows your reflex, do enough of this fing over time. Get you killed in this business." 11:14 <Quaker> “You ever talk to a wannabe rockstar?” 11:14 <banana> "Eh?" Egret covers her forehead with one hand against the drizzle of warm rain and peers down the hill. "Holy shit. That's Reveille and DisAster." 11:14 <Quaker> “Like, one that’s pushing forty?” 11:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm sure he's aware. Thank you for being discreet about it." 11:15 <Crion> Aster will put down the DMR, pick up the FNC, and do a walkthrough again. They shouldn't become so focused on tripods that they blind themselves to more circumspect infiltrators. 11:15 <Crion> He'll give Willie and Rolf a clipped wave as he passes. 11:15 <banana> "Agostina, I'm fiftysomething and I think Waistcoat Colony is cool as hell. You're working for celebrities!" 11:15 <Quaker> “Celebrity just means somebody starts looking at everyone else like the help.” 11:16 <tom> Bob has one (1) beer, there, alone in the living room surrounded by blinking machines and prepares to go fucking insane. 11:16 <banana> There's a new band member here with Reveille, one Aaron hasn't met... spanish woman in a two-piece dress. For some reason she smirks at him, specifically. 11:17 <tom> That's where they'll find him and his plastic smile as they come into the living room, although he's had the sense to bin the empty bottle. 11:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's "Hello hello!" cuts across the yard. She carries her own bag in as she strides up the drive, looking far more confident and poised than she feels. 11:17 <Crion> Aster, in thick pants, a tight sweater, boots, body armor, and a rolled up balaclava, all very dark navy or black, will frown very very slightly at her, but otherwise ignore the gesture. 11:17 <banana> Egret: "They've gone that way? Real shame." 11:18 <banana> Reveille's the one who's quiet now, taking in the modified old house, the fortifications, the slippery ground. The Dark Peak is everywhere around you, and it's quiet. 11:18 <Quaker> “You kidding me? We had to talk her into being here in the first place. After the damn meteor hit the freeway. She wanted to keep going like nothing changed, while all the little people scrambled to sort things out.” 11:19 <banana> Zebek, to Willie: "We meet in circumstances." To Reveille: "Madam, or Mistress if you prefer." 11:19 <tom> There's a stew in the oven for Reveille when they get here, and the fridge is fully stocked. 11:20 <banana> Mary: "Hey. You're an associate of NH? Appreciate the help." 11:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams at the Assemblyman. "So very good to see you! Reveille, this is Zebek Trajan, a professional adventurer and capable magician. I'm so pleased he's agreed to help us." 11:20 <Quaker> “Hey, would your guild like the MAG after all this? It’ll be a bit hot, and it’s a bit heavier than what we need on the regular. Like a favor in return for a favor.” 11:21 <banana> Zebek: "At any given time there are a dozen weird-arse things going on around this county that could really use an adventurer's attention. Sometimes we manage to get people to them in time - happy to be here." 11:22 <banana> Egret, still looking down the hill: "I will respect the hustle." 11:23 <hrolf> Rolf sticks close to Reveille, on edge and scoping the area like the attack could happen any moment. Which it could - he's never put any trust in the enemy doing what and when you expect them to. He sizes up Zebek, looking him up and down. 11:23 <banana> Aster's perimeter inspection turns up a few things worth noting - the gap in the hills doesn't line up too well with the traps there, so they could do with a reset. More tarps could be useful if it's going to rain through the night. And... a psychic presence, following him about as he goes, inspecting the same things he's looking at. It would be imperceptible to those without training. 11:24 <banana> As people head inside, to eat and find quarters and prepare for an attempt at sleep, the Free Council mage watches Rolf in return. "Hello." 11:24 <Crion> What's it doing? He's tried to feel Jack before -- back at the hotel, the first time they 'met.' Is this him? 11:25 <Crion> Or is it one of these damnable mages? 11:25 <hrolf> Rolf nods back. "You one of Badawi's lot?" 11:25 <tom> He loses his nerve. By the time the guests are done talking out on the porch and head inside, Bob's gone out the back, lugging a pair of heavy satchels on his shoulders. 11:27 <tom> Or, at least, that's how he's hoping- 11:27 <Crion> Hmmm. Not the mages... 11:28 <Crion> Too subtle for magery. 11:28 <Crion> The woman. 11:28 <Quaker> Once they reach the top of the hill, Badawi puts the heavy weapon down next to the foxhole and starts to get the blankets and camp stove out, pulling a thermal blanket over the top until a small hole is all that’s left to see. 11:29 <banana> Reveille: "It's not a bad place for a party. After we win, sure, but you could get people out here. Can't believe you've got the utilities all working." 11:29 <Quaker> She pulls out her walkie-talkie and keys it. “Badawi here. Got Egret and the rifle up on the hill.” She thinks for a moment and keys it again. “Probably a good idea to keep Zebek and Rolf apart as best you can, down there.” 11:30 <banana> Zebek: "I'm my own man, or my husband's. Agostina's your mage-whisperer, is she?" 11:30 <Quaker> To Egret: “You alright with Spaghetti-os? Or I’ve got some clam chowder.” 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie comes into view of the house just in time to see Bob's flight, and any pretence of not thinking constantly about Monday evaporates. "...Bob's our design mastermind; he's just gone out to inspect the perimeter he built, I suspect." 11:32 <banana> Paola Anna: "Bombs in the ground and guns above it. Eyes in the sky. This is really happening, huh?" 11:32 <hrolf> Rolf hears the crackle and Badawi speaking over his earpiece and makes a face. "Yeah she's our POC wif the universe-botherers. One of you lot says I'm awakeable of somefing. Imagine that, me being a woke. Haha" 11:32 <tom> Bob hefts the heavy bags into the fighting hole, around the base of the heavy steel mortar, itself secured on a heavy-duty bipod, both feet set into the gravel lining the pit. 11:33 <tom> He checks his visor for the drone feed. "Check in, all positions." 11:33 <banana> Reveille: "You remember the bar, yeah? We've got to assume this real. The communion..." she hesitates. 11:33 <banana> DisAster: "What's it telling you? Anything that will help the guards?" 11:33 <Crion> Aster into comms: "This is Aster, out doing a walkthrough. I've got a psychic presence here with me. Ask Reveille to ask the new woman in her entourage what the hell she's playing at. Over." 11:34 <tom> "Solid copy. There's extra headsets in the kitchen. Dinner's in the oven." 11:34 <banana> Reveille: "Just that I should go along quietly and I'll end up happier that way. Living up to my full potential. Some real dogshit like that." 11:35 <Crion> He doesn't mind having his ass stared at, but if this woman's a mole for Cosmos it's better to figure it out now rather than later. 11:35 <Quaker> Badawi keys it again: “Here on the hill. Settling in for the night.” 11:35 <Crion> That said he doesn't just want to open up with the Talon module on her. 11:36 <banana> Zebek: "It can happen, even late in life. If you see a guestbook in your dreams, you'd be well-advised to sign. Shall we?" He's heading back inside, having taken a look in the van out of curiosity. 11:36 <banana> Paola Anna to Willie (and whoever else has come in for dinner): "Okay, I can hear him say that." 11:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Hmm?" 11:37 <banana> "Tell your ProAster I'm just getting the lay of the land. I'll be up watching, for the tripods." 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will get Aaron on the comms. "Aaron, Paola Anna wants me to reassure you she is remote viewing with no ill intent. She's here to be an eye of the sky for us." 11:38 <Crion> Aster: "...Understood." 11:39 <tom> Bob settles down into his hole for the night and rips open a pack of hexamine tablets with his teeth. It goes into the stove as he's pulling the camoflauged tarp up overhead to keep out the rain. He goes through his drone feed on his visor. Click: "The more the better." 11:40 <tom> ...He tabs over to his messages. <alright honey i gotta work. ttys goin dark> 11:41 <banana> "I'm a Violet," the bassist explains. "That's Bogdan's classification. We have farsense, the ability to roam, mentally and pick up on things. I'd still like a bed if you have enough, and I'll look like I'm dozing, but if you put some kind of alarm or signal by my hand I can warn us when something's coming." 11:43 <banana> Mari: <Good luck, B. Sumi wanted to check in with you after the thing, she says she told you so but she told me, make sure he's ok. So.. when we've got time :)> 11:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We'll see to that." 11:44 <banana> After the spaghetti, Egret says: "Thanks, Aggie. Zeb and I are going in the camp hole - we'll be out at a moment's notice." 11:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, on comms: "Should I keep Kaga close or does anyone keeping perimeter watch want the support?" 11:44 <tom> Bob wraps himself in his snuggy comforter, crouched between the little stove and his mortar. Just listens to the rain tapping on the roof of his emplacement for a while. 11:45 <Quaker> Does she mean like…a literal hole…? 11:45 <banana> Zebek, meanwhile, bids farewell to the guardians and their guardees and walks outside to meet his colleague halfway across the field. Badawi and anyone who's watching will see him raise his hands to the rain, then a rope ladder drops out of nowhere - they ascend it, and vanish. 11:46 <Crion> Aster: "Send it out, but order it to only talk business. I don't have time for the usual nonsense. There's tarps to fix." 11:46 <Quaker> Oh. Well, hopefully it’s comfortable. Badawi starts to get comfortable in her foxhole. 11:46 <tom> Bob goes back to his Bingo card and crosses off Wizard Bullshit once more. 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> To the demon: "Find Aaron. Be professional." 11:48 <Crion> Aster: "Oh, and Willie, your armor should be in the farmhouse. It's the...body armor." 11:48 <Crion> "You should know it when you see it." 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Kaga: "Very well." 11:48 <banana> Paola Anna goes for her weird magic lie down. Reveille's being increasingly left alone and gets a little pouty about it. "Should I sing for my supper?" 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Thank you very much!" 11:50 <hrolf> Rolf: "I'll grab some protec as well I fink. Kevlar could come in 'andy." 11:51 <Crion> Aster: "Yes, there should be a set for you as well, Rolf." 11:51 <banana> Not much of an audience, but... she does. Mary's evening song is calming, far more folk than pop - probably an actual folk melody you've heard before, with her own improvised lyrics about safety in numbers and how they'll be protected in the coming battle. 11:51 <banana> Her slightly raspy voice works well without a mic. 11:52 <Crion> When the demon arrives, Aster directs it to keep watch while he does final fixes, then does one more walkthrough, directing the demon to use its own powers of perception to ferret out any advance scouts should they exist. If and when he's satsified, he'll retreat to his shooter's nest; the demon can return to Willie at that point for further assignment. 11:52 <VoxPVoxD> Once she's got it - ooh, very serious. This is really happening, isn't it? She's happy to keep Reveille company for the evening. 11:52 <Quaker> She picks the last few rocks out of the dirt and tosses them out, and then sweeps the bottom of the hole clear and level with her boot. She sits down on the firiing step and digs a little divot out for her radio, and puts the stove on the bottom of the hole along with a little lantern, and then finally her sleeping bag. She makes sure the thermal blanket is tugged down snugly over the entrance, and the binoculars handy. 11:53 <banana> It does seem to be really happening. Aster's check in on the weather earlier confirmed that a major storm is expected - does Cosmos have influence over the weather? Just how mighty is its wrath? 11:53 <Quaker> She goes over her rifle, cleaning it a bit and just making sure everything is ready one last time before she sits down and draws the bag around herself. She brought some light reading. 11:53 <Quaker> On the radio: “How’s the weather forecast look?” 11:56 <tom> Don't make me say a storm is coming. 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie strongly entertains the idea of switching places with Bob so he doesn't have to sleep in the rain. Throws a dinner party for it, busts out the nice wine glasses, the works. But a suspiciously Aaronlike voice in her mind points out that not only would that be embarrassing and stupid, it would absolutely fail. Still, the idea is left fishing for its own excuses about other places to 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> be tomorrow before she lets it out the door around midnight. 11:57 <banana> The storm comes, nevertheless. 11:59 <banana> There's snow in it as well as slush - barely on the edge of freezing, great hunks of rain coexist with the occasional flake, which gets washed away as soon as it touches dirt. Heavy air is whipping down the valley, turning the farmhouse site into something like a wind tunnel. How did the former owners ever grow food here? 11:59 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe it was a dairy farm. 11:59 <Quaker> If it starts to snow, Badawi sighs and gets out to dig a little channel around the foxhole, and line it with stones. She finds a branch and stands it up under the thermal blanket so it’s in a bit of a pyramid shape, so the water will run off and not in. Around midnight her stomach rumbles, and she gets out the stove, a small pan, and her treasure: a can of Spam. 12:00 <banana> The sun's not even fully up. Visibility is awful. But Santerini 's hand is on the bell, and it rings through the house and through your radios. 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's eyes fly open, and meet Kagemenauch's as he stands directly over her. 12:01 <Crion> Aster's been up for half an hour, has done his coffee and toilet, and is prepared. 12:01 <banana> Someone gave Paola Anna a headset. Her voice is a bare whisper- most of her consciousness is simply elsewhere. "It's coming, on rocket-legs.. from the northeast. Down the mountain." 12:02 <Quaker> Badawi has been up for a half-hour or so. She makes a cone with her hands and yells into it. “Egret! Come on!” 12:02 <tom> Bob, clicking on: "I read. All positions, ready up. Ears in." 12:02 <Crion> Aster: "That should give us a good target profile. I'm going to keep eyes close in case anything comes out of the woods." 12:02 <banana> Violet Child: "There are three parts. It's humming in my head... I can't get too close." 12:02 <Crion> Maybe they can pick the thing off with good effect on target before it's inside rifle range. 12:03 <Crion> Ha ha. 12:03 <hrolf> Rolf gets his gun out of the holster. 12:03 <banana> The air outside opens gracefully, creating a column of calm amid the freezing torrents. Mages descend it, not exactly bright-eyed but alert. Zebek's got a little sleeping cap on with a bobble. 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> :3 12:04 <banana> Reveille, who wasn't wearing a headset, is still asleep. 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wakes her up gently. "Mary. It's time." 12:05 <Quaker> While she’s waiting for the mage, Badawi tests her NVG-sight on the rifle. All right. Shit weather and lighting but the scope should be fine. 12:05 <tom> "Maintain cover until they're in range. Let them walk into the trap." 12:05 <banana> Mary Morgan: "nnnngnb. 's there a queue for the toilet?" 12:05 <Quaker> She picks up her binoculars and looks northeast. Can she see anything in that direction? 12:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "All clear." 12:06 <banana> Zebek (still unrained-upon; he just steps between the snow and water, never quite touched) wanders the field, finding a raised place to stand that's safely between trapped zones. Egret treks (wetly) up to Badawi's foxhole with the heavy weapons. 12:06 <hrolf> Rolf walks over to the gun and examines it critically, running his hands over it. He grunts, satisfied, and presses his earpiece's button. "Gettin on the big one. Gimme a direction and the all clear and I can start blastin." 12:07 <banana> Badawi sees... clouds covering everything, pouring off the Peak. There's something moving in there, something large enough to see at this distance, but it's very far away. 12:07 <Quaker> “Trail mix down in the rucksack if you’re hungry. Sleep well?” 12:07 <Crion> Aster: "I'm up top and can spot with this rifle scope for the rest of you. Possibly more useful than firing myself." 12:07 <banana> Paola Anna: "It's like a war machine. But they're singing." 12:07 <tom> Bob tabs over to the drone on his visor, taps through the command menu. Far above, the drone swings north on its circuit. 12:08 <Quaker> Into the radio: “Movement to the northeast, I can see something large coming towards the farm.” 12:08 <tom> Click: "Find cover. This is it." 12:08 <banana> Egret: "Not really. We've only got bunks, and I was excited." She squats down and starts checking the weapons. 12:11 <VoxPVoxD> Ears in. Armour on. Demon, knife, and shotgun all at the ready. 12:11 <banana> Paola Anna: "I'm joined by a Predator." She sounds tired. "We have it now.. three minds, one for each leg, clambering. Um.. you see that, little bird? Direct your cameras to the break in the escarpment. It's like less than half of a spider." 12:12 <Crion> The DMR is combat-ready, but Aster's using the scope as a spotter, not a shooter. At least for now. 12:13 <banana> Insider, Reveille returns to sit by Paola Anna's bed. "Sorry about the cryptic. The more we get in our own head, the less sense we make. But I think the basic idea is coming through..." 12:13 <tom> Bob sends the drone down beneath the clouds to see for himself. 12:13 <banana> As is the drone feed now, to Bob's visor and to the security screens inside. 12:13 <Crion> Three minds. 12:14 <Crion> Well, crippling it with one good Talon module application was always too much to hope for. 12:14 <Crion> He's really going to be testing the maximum range on this thing. 12:15 <banana> About a kilometer and a half out from the farm is a three-coloured war machine. It is a little like a spider, but there are only three "legs", each of them wide-bodied mechanical things terminating in a pair of spikes. At the top, the three upper spikes join together in a kind of cradle around which blue light crackles. The overall effect is as if three croissants were given the Terminator 12:15 <banana> treatment and then welded into a 6-meter high siege engine. 12:15 <banana> The 'body' of each 'leg' is full of equipment - portholes, whirring things, cameras and a central orb of opaque glass. 12:16 <banana> The metal of each is heavily tinted - one purple, one yellow and one white. 12:16 <tom> He props the satchel up against the wall of the foxhole and pulls out an oblong shell; a crude, ugly thing, scored with weld lines and capped with red plastic, which he rips free before dropping it into the tube. 12:16 <banana> Its trilateral movement means that its scuttle is also a spin, but it's advancing at a rapid rate. Should be on you in minutes. 12:16 <tom> Click: "Viscon." 12:17 <Crion> Aster: "Sighted at 1500 or so. Nowhere near rifle range. But--" 12:17 <Crion> "Okay. Closing." 12:17 <tom> "Energy shielding." 12:17 <banana> Paola Anna: "When it slows down I can try and get inside." 12:17 <hrolf> Rolf: "Let me know when. Me trigger finger's itchin'." 12:18 <Crion> Aster: "Bring down any psychic shielding it has and I can use the Talon module. 12:18 <Crion> " 12:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Is opening a connection like that a vector you can be counterattacked along? We need to be mindful of Mary's exposure." 12:19 <tom> Bob dips down into the foxhole and slips his eye onto a rangefinder. The dial turns in his fingers as he brings the alien war machine into focus. 12:19 <banana> As the massive form emerges from the storm (it's about as wide as the farmhouse, and twice the height), it's entering the range of your more powerful weapons. But barrels and blades are also starting to bristle from its three crescent-shaped bodies. 12:19 <Quaker> Badawi contemplates the orb through her sight as it moves forward. “Maybe some kind of command module?” To Egret: “Keep the Gustav trained on it, but we won’t fire until we get the signal.” 12:20 <Crion> Aster: "800 meters contact CONTACT--" 12:22 <banana> There are actually three orbs, one in each massive leg! Like the metal part of each, they're three different shiny colours. They do look like obvious weak spots, unless it's TOO obvious. 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie and the demon are sharing a foxhole. Willie watches from behind the earthworks. This is so fucking cool. It's too cool; it feels totally beyond her power to personally affect. She watches the war machine advance in silent awe. 12:24 <banana> A brassy song blares over the noise of the storm. It's staticy in the way you get on an institutional PA system. Singing in a foreign language, and then it's abruptly replaced by speech: "Come out, Child of Indigo! Come out, and let your partisans be spared. We only want to talk." 12:24 <banana> Its autocannons and railguns begin to rev. 12:29 <tom> Bob flips the lid off his foxhole. "Engaging target." 12:39 <tom> BLOOP 12:39 <tom> There's a puff of smoke from Bob's position, then a whistle. 12:40 <tom> The shell comes screaming back down onto the striding alien machine, splashing off its shell into a cascade of furiously burning sparks that burrow and snarl into its vital systems. 12:40 <banana> The music stops. 12:41 <Quaker> Badawi keeps sighting the machine through her scope, but it’s not the right time for her to take a shot at it. On the radio, she keys in: “Machine gun, target those orbs on each leg.” 12:41 <tom> The entire machine is backlit briefly by flames as the squealing molten metal streams off its exterior plates. 12:41 <banana> At the top of the machine, where the three legs tie together in a cat's cradle of tubing and structural components, the shell-blast rips through the more fragile parts. Black liquid blasts out into the sky and the crackling lights begin to arc randomly down the legs of the tripod. It keeps moving, though. 12:42 <Quaker> To Egret: “Wait until it’s 400 meters out.” 12:42 <hrolf> Rolf is watching through a pair of binoculars. Into the earpiece, to Badawi: "Wot, all three at once? Which one's the priority?" 12:42 <Quaker> “Any one.” 12:42 <tom> The wet metal surfaces of the Tripod scream as it steams, all its moisture evaporating off from the hellish heat. 12:43 <tom> "Doubtful. Re-engaging target." 12:43 <banana> The thing stamps forward in enormous arcing leg-movements, turning as it goes - and you're now in range of some of its guns. Barrels jutting out of the leg superstructures spin madly, twisting like eyestalks to focus on the building and lumpier parts of the hill. In the storm and with everyone under cover, it's more or less random who's endangered. 12:44 <tom> Bob lunges back down into the cover of his foxhole and snatches a second shell. 12:53 <tom> Hey, that's funny, why's the air feel charged? 12:53 <tom> Oh, right. 12:53 <banana> Streams of gunfire pour through the air. It's still at long range, but.. there are quite a few high-caliber bullets. Zebek dives out of the way of some shots; ordinarily a feat beyond human prowess, but he got really lucky with the timing. 12:54 <banana> Projectile after projectile spatters against the poor old farmhouse, ripping up the walls and denting the piping, but it stands. Bob's muddied and snow-eddying position is turn up completely. 12:54 <banana> *torn 12:54 <tom> The others can see over the drone feed as the ground around the foxholes goes up, and the whole position is briefly obscured in smoke. 12:55 <banana> The thing's still a long way away. Egret, tersely: "I'll hold on the Gustaf, but-" she gestures, sharply. The air thickens around the two of you, becomes like treacle. "Keep the end of your barrel outside the glasslight. Reaction chamber is immune." 12:57 <banana> Zebek tramps through the thickening mud to where Bob stands exposed. "Good shot, lad. I'm with you." His presence is comforting and somehow (magic) inspiring. Bob feels able to take on either a solecism or a mechanical monster. 12:58 <banana> Reveille looks up at Willie. "We goin' out there? Say the word." 12:58 <tom> Finally, after what seems like a lifetime, Bob clicks onto the radio: "Displacing! Cover me!" He moves to grab up the mortar and his satchel and make for the next emplacement. 12:58 <Crion> Aster, behind a sheet of thick metal as the house pounds around him: "Those ballistics have...normal ballistics. 'Space aliens' indeed." 12:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Not yet." 13:01 <tom> Bob doesn't have time to thank Zebek- he's frantically shoving spare shells into the satchel- but he does grunt something in the affirmaive. 13:02 <Crion> Aster, eyes downrange, one on the scope, one on the field: "Rolf, begin spinning up. You've got the front leg at 600 meters and closing, will enter your window shortly, windage north by northwest at...7 km/h" having to convert this on the fly is maddening "fire when ready." 13:04 <hrolf> Rolf is already winding it up without needing to be prodded. He speaks into the earpiece: "Roger that. Going for the front leg." 13:09 <hrolf> The things shakes and shudders as it starts up. It takes all his strength to keep his position and maintain aim. And it's facking loud. 13:09 <hrolf> The thing shakes and shudders as it starts up. It takes all his strength to keep his position and maintain aim. And it's facking loud. 13:09 <hrolf> BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA 13:11 <Crion> Aster: "Clean hit clean hit lay it on--" 13:11 <banana> The frontmost leg of the tripod shakes and begins to come apart under the fire of the heavy fixed gun. There's a lot of metal in place, and a lot colliding with it - bits come off and catch fire, flames that sizzle out immediately in the snow. There's as much lead heading downrange as there was coming up from the thing's own long-range guns. 13:11 <banana> Internal tendons snap and whine, and the thing stumbles a little. But it continues on. 13:13 <tom> Back in the living room, the monitors light up with the heavy gun's tracers, filling the darkened valley with light and sound. 13:15 <banana> Paola Anna: "サーボボットを使用してください！ 栄光の最初の腕に必要な修理。 " 13:24 <VoxPVoxD> The guns thunder forward and back. It's too big, it's too metal... Willie's not prepared for this. She looks back at Mary and Paola Anna. Fuck. Fuck! 13:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Stay here." It's Willie who speaks with the voice of the pit. Kaga's ears perk up. Willie runs into no-man's land, with the hound beside her. The knife comes out. She bleeds fire. Giving it a running throw like a cricket bowler, the firebolt arcs from the tips of her fully extended fingers up, up, up, and directly into the tangle of oozing wires at the heart of the machine. 13:28 <VoxPVoxD> Holy shit that felt good. 13:28 <Crion> Aster: "Ladies and gentlemen, it appears the motherfucker burns." 13:29 <banana> Flame arcs and *catches*, feeding on the ongoing thermite reaction. An inferno spills down the sides of the war machine, the one which is... towering right over Willie now. Any of its legs could crush her with its weight alone. 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> Five days of stress and heartache and fear, the lingering burn of every drop of bile and every sour coffee— gone. Her throat closes around the hunger that's hung there since the dragons bade it so. 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> She is in complete control. 13:29 <Quaker> Up on the hill, Badawi keeps her sights over the orb on the white leg, even as the thing is hammered by fire from the machine gun and literal fire from Willie. It might not be something critical, but time’s run out. To Egret: “Shoot it with the Gustav.” She pulls the trigger. 13:30 <Crion> Aster: "Now get the fuck back to your line, Willie. Moving fast inbound -- ready the trap --" 13:31 <tom> There's a trigger in Bob's hand. He flips the cap off and thumbs the button. 13:33 <banana> Badawi's shot is true. There's another burst of the brass music in the air as the missile flies - and cracks open the front leg's orb. Choking green gas spills out, heavier-than-air stuff that displaces the air and gets in Willie's lungs. There's a cry from inside - "The air!" 13:34 <VoxPVoxD> Chlorine? 13:34 <Crion> Aster: "Chemical weapons! Gas on the field! Shit!" 13:34 <VoxPVoxD> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yw5jkAHgME 13:34 <tom> "WILLIE!" Bob screams. 13:35 <banana> It does smell of swimming pools. In fact, that's all she can smell. 13:35 <Quaker> Badawi works the bolt. Nice! Then she hears shouting and sees a green cloud spilling out of the thing she shot. Uh oh. 13:36 <hrolf> Rolf: "Who made this fing, the fahcking Huns?" 13:37 <Quaker> She moves out of the way so Egret can put the recoilless rifle on the lip of the foxhole. “Does Zebek have anything that can cure poisoning?” 13:38 <banana> Egret: "Zeb!" To Badawi: "Yes. She'll be okay." You both understand that this is a reassurance rather than a fact. 13:39 <banana> A chemical hellfire is spilling down the legs now from the cat's cradle and failing to mix with the spouting gas. The tripod staggers more heavily. Its forward momentum will carry it to the farm, but it might not be pivoting anymore after that with one leg in this shape. 13:39 <VoxPVoxD> Fuck that burns. Her eyes water. Hard to breathe... but it's just an astringent tickle on the high she feels. 13:41 <Quaker> “Mm.” She puts the sight back over the thing, but she feels a weight settle on her shoulders. Did she just gas her own team? 13:42 <Quaker> “Shoot at the cradle.” 13:42 <tom> He drops the mortar, goes for his mask- fuck it, there's no time! He grabs the satchel, loops it up over his shoulder, and dashes into the gas. 13:43 <Crion> Aster: "Bob, what are you -- Bob. BOB!" 13:44 <tom> The tip of the shell gleams through the choking fumes as Bob tears the cap off with his teeth and hurls the charge straight up into the cradle. 13:44 <Crion> Falling in love is such a fucking liability. 13:48 <tom> The shell erupts into a shrieking rain of thermite, spalling and spinning out through the sensitive alien machinery joining the Tripod's legs at the base. 13:51 <VoxPVoxD> !!! 13:52 <tom> Bob strides forward through the gas, unhooking the respirator from his harness to throw it at Willie. 13:53 <banana> The massive war machine whirls forward, pivoting around the damaged leg to slam another one down into the farmhouse. The bulk of it settles.. just where you wanted it, in the trap zone - but Bob and Willie don't have time to worry about that; the other buckles and then sweeps, slamming into their chests. 13:54 <banana> Inside, Aster sees an enormous spike of purple metal pierce the ceiling and then slowly grind all the way down to the floor, scattering thatch and beams. However, the reinforced old house put up enough resistance that it's slow moving. He can easily move out of the way as it jerks about, searching for Reveille. 13:54 <VoxPVoxD> The leg knocks Willie into Bob. More disorienting than painful, but it makes it easy to take the rebreather at least. Her eyes water and sting as she looks up at him; it's mostly the chlorine. 13:54 <Crion> Fuck! 13:54 <Crion> But. 13:54 <Crion> Now they're close. 13:54 <tom> He goes flying, skidding out in the mud and gasping for air. 13:54 <Crion> He boots up the Talon module. 14:00 <banana> The great mass of the tripod's three... pods descends, and another weapon slides out of the smoking ruin of the cradle. This thing is just a barrel, no apparent action, but there's a spark inside... 14:01 <banana> It expands, and nothing comes out. It's hard to look at, light twisting the eye. Badawi and Egret feel a gravitic pull; bits of the farmyard, too, are ripped up and sucked in. 14:02 <banana> The singularity hurtles, expanding and fading, across the field towards those standing upon it. This mostly means Rolf, who feels his bones deforming as it sucks and the rain howls, and Zebek, who steps in front of the thing laughing. 14:02 <banana> The light-bending effect hides the mage, and then he and it are gone entirely. 14:03 <Crion> Aster's view is obscured by the giant pillar of alien walker leg, but his ears still pop. 14:03 <hrolf> Rolf grits his teeth and maintains a tight grip on the machine gun, firing away through the pain. BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA 14:04 <Quaker> Badawi drops her rifle for a moment to help Egret load the shell. She snaps the rear of the barrel back in place and cranks the lever secure, and thumps the mage’s shoulder. “Shoot it! Now!” 14:04 <banana> The full weight of the thing comes down on the fortified zone. 14:04 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY 14:04 <tom> There's a series of explosions. 14:06 <tom> The heavy-duty weather balloons erupt from concealed silos scattered about the field, and the snakes of cables hidden in the grass spring up with a tensioning squeal as they wrap around the Tripod's legs. 14:06 <banana> Colorful balloons rise majestically into the blasting storm. They clash entirely with the tripod's own painted, burning metal. 14:07 <banana> Cables enmesh it, the termite boils down the spikes, and it begins to come apart entirely. 14:07 <banana> That music starts up again, an oddly familiar tune - and again there's tripartite singing, although one of the foreign voices is beginning to choke. 14:08 <banana> Over the notional P.A. comes a cry: "We are beset! Separate the glorious arms!" 14:08 <banana> A response, as another of the orbs pulse: "For the honour of the Milky Way!" 14:08 <Crion> They've got minds. 14:08 <tom> The cables go taut around the monster's legs as they scramble, dragging along the weight of the heavy lines along with. 14:08 <Crion> That means he can hurt them. 14:09 <banana> Despite the thing's bluster, it's seriously collapsing here. The cradle more or less entirely goes, and one leg crashes to the ground, immobilised for now. The others stagger and come apart... forming arms and kind of spin-wobbling in place. As it devoltronises, you're facing two damaged pods and one (white) which is lying in an expanding cloud of green gas. 14:10 <banana> Cables snap, balloons burst, the separated legs are HEAVY - but they get tied up and parts come off and electricity buzzes everywhere. Neither of the two standing legs has the singularity cannon. 14:10 <tom> Bob: "GET HHHHHUKKKK OUTTA THE FUHHKHHKHCKIN GAS-" 14:10 <Quaker> Badawi: “At the yellow pod!” 14:12 <tom> It's not even fucking December- 14:16 <banana> Egret fires out of the 'glasslight' bubble. The massive recoilless rifle... does not recoil, but the back wall of the foxhole is blown apart by the overpressure. The Carl Gustaf's rocket propelled projectile slams into the standalone yellow... unipod? Which is still playing weird music at you; an enormous chunk comes out of the thing, leaving it barely standing, and that's not all: 14:17 <banana> The mage's shot left something weird in the gaps. Translucency seems to to run through the yellow metal in veins, like an infiltration of glass. Great hunks of armour are levered off, leaving it largely unprotected.