Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"Yeah, they'd just be sitting there. Think he only had four left."

Erevne waves a guard over to you.
"...Perhaps it'd help if you were led to the bedroom?"

 

"Are they the only ones?"

 

I search the house for proper kindling.

 

Shadow Stephanie stealths over to the portal to look for any kind of generator from the other side.


"A what?" Victus asks.


Aqui sighs, before looking for any other incoming enemies.

 

"I would do too, if she wasn't so strong."

 

"Yes it would. Thank you for your kindness."

I head to the chambers with the guard

 

"Yeh. At least, if there are any others, then that's news to me. Let the queen know, too. She's outlawed them, except for those four."

There isn't much to see on the other side, but the closer she gets, the more suspicious her foes get of her.


"A Teregecygian. It's... sort of creepy. Think of some amorphous creature, but then make it practically unkillable. You have to, like, vaporize all of it or it regenerates. They don't even care if you split them up into, like, fifty pieces. They'd be back the next day."


Things are a bit quiet as the remaining defensive mechs regroup.

There isn't any, but you're on an island with dead trees and some grass, it won't be hard to gather a bit.

"Well, she'll be weakened after the fight, if not dead. If she gets away, we find her and take a bite out of her."

Erevne nods, waving Reiglynn closer to her.

"Surface dweller, eh? What's it like up there?" The guard asks, escorting you down the hall.

 

“Oh? Huh...”
Voidfiller moves back away from people, relaying some information to me.

Meanwhile, I keep hastily walking towards Mantis territory in the forest.

 

Shadow Stephanie sneaks back away, thinking about ways she could close the portal.


"Like some kind of necrotic slime?" Victus asks.


Aqui just waits on guard, remaining in her larger icy self.

 

After a moment, you get to a few huts on the fringes of Mantis territory, the Matriarch's studio in sight.

________________________________

Perhaps there's a way to destabilize it?


"Yeah... but their homeworld's alive. That's some regenerating hunk of dirt and metal for ya..."


Her holomap shows that the forces that were attacking her branch turned to flank branch 2, which happens to be where most of the combat's going on.

 

I make my way to the Matriarch’s studio, being careful of stepping on paint.

 

Shadow Stephanie gets out of sight, before summoning a mage crystal and firing a bolt of explosive magic toward the portal.


"Most worlds are alive." Victus comments.


Aqui decides to follow her map to branch 2.

 

I'll start gathering then.

 

She's asleep again, though done with her painting.

It's blocked by an enemy mech coming through.


"But are most metals alive?"


There's no guide there, unless she wants to brave the transition planes.

After a minute of snapping twigs and ripping up grass, you've got enough kindling for a few fires.

 

Shadow Stephanie pauses, before trying again.


Victus shakes his head.

"That's why bringing them to life can produce...different, results. I wouldn't doubt these metal creatures you speak of know only to kill." Victus says.


Aqui puts a hand of her ice form through one of the planes.

 

No effect, a few mechs firing stray shots her direction.


"Not all. Most, but not all."


The ice can't go through the wall.

 

Shadow Stephanie moves out of the way quickly, before observing the portal's structure to figure out a way of shutting it off.


Victus decides to grow a few vines around his burns to tend to them.


Aqui melts down her icy form, before filling the nearest air vent with water, using it as a means of faster travel through the vents; dragging the water along with her.

 

There's still no obvious fix.
There's still one shadow doing nothing.


The mech pilot just waits, sighing.


It still takes her three minutes to get there... sort of. She shows up at a kitchen.

 

Shadow Stephanie just ponders.


Aqui looks at her map.

 

A few needles interrupt her train of thought.


She's in between branches.