Archivist Rescue

[beholding_archivist]

WHO: Jon is there, but YOU ARE THE HE-ROWS!
WHERE: Temba Shopping Center
WHAT: Cool Big Battle Scene aka Spider Smash Party aka That Action Mingle while Jon gets eaten by spiders. Tag one another, have fun and be awesome!
WHEN: Night #1 of the Spider Invasion Event
WARNINGS: Spiders. Violence. Injuries.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: [[ Given the setup of this log, Jon obviously isn't in any position to interact with anyone. This is for your characters to shine and fight alongside one another. So mingle and have fun and don't worry about actively dragging Jon out of there or taking him to safety. Someone will do it even if it's not played out and he ends up unconscious at the safehouse and will have a prompt for that in the log where he isn't being eaten <3 ]]

A loud, metallic clatter gives Jon away as he stumbles through a graveyard of what may at one point have been clothes racks, now devoid of any fabric to carry and left to rot along with the shelves and changing rooms of the store that used some sort of winged fish-creature for its logo. Cursing under his breath, Jon pushes the metal skeleton that has half fallen onto his shoulder away before casting a quick look over said shoulder towards the half-crumbled entrance of this particular store.

Outside, he can hear them, drawing closer yet again. Countless bodies, eight times as many legs and mandibles eager to bury themselves into his flesh again. Coming to the shopping center has been a mistake. He hasn't known more massive insects have built their nest here and now he's stumbling away from their growing number after narrowly escaping a single one of them surprising him two stories down. The bite in his leg still hurts.

The rubble blocking off most of the entrance gives a shudder and Jon freezes, "Shit shit shitshit shit!"

Hobbling deeper into the store despite the lack of light, Jon pulls out his phone and quickly posts a call for help on the network:

'someone help me please
i'm trapped
shopping center
second floor'

If anyone tries to answer to that text message on the network, they won't be getting a response, for as soon as Jon has sent it, the spiders break through the rubble and in what little light there is all he can see is a stream of large, swift but mostly silent bodies drawing inevitably closer. He turns back around and tries to run again, swearing and pleading to find another door out of the store.

Maybe he's lucky to find that backdoor. Maybe he's lucky to find that small corridor leading him back into the main part of the mall. Maybe he even believes that about as long as it takes for the first, dark, heavy and many-legged body hits him square into his back and throws him to the ground, quickly followed by many more. And while Jon's initial scream is cut off by the impact with the floor, but another is quick to follow when the first sharp leg stabs him into his side, tearing into flesh and skin as easily as the mandible of the next creature digging into his shoulder when he tries to struggle his way out from the growing mass of legs and bodies. He winces audibly when a leg narrowly misses his head and knocks his glasses off, sending them clattering to the floor and out of sight.

What Jon can vaguely see, however, when managing to peer past those creatures pinning him down, is that by now the entire mall is crawling with these beasts...

Comments

Loki - OTA

[tricksterofasgard]

Having been rudely awoken by a pair of large insects attempting to take a bite out of his ears, Loki has his very own reasons to be up and about this night. That he is actually near the mall when the call for help reaches his phone is pure coincidence, and while Loki isn't necessarily out for heroic deeds, there is a chance here to make his little story more believable. And an opportunity to take his sweet vengeance on even more of these nasty beasts.

Taking his first steps into the long abandoned building however grants Loki a short moment of regret towards his decision. It's mainly regret towards his lack of an actual weapon. "Oh, brother, I know you would love this, wouldn't you." Loki mutters to himself through half grit teeth and wordlessly summons a couple little icicles to hover over his hand, small, sharp and certainly about as deadly as Loki needs them to be. Then he lets them dart off, one at a time, each frozen projectile hitting a spider, instantly encasing it in ice and shattering into millions tiny pieces the very next moment.

His eyes spring away from his targets, however, as he is sure to have seen non-arachnid movement not far away. Good to know he's not the only one here.

[hadthehighground]

Non-arachnid indeed as there is a flurry of movement and light not too far away. The hum of a twirling blue blade is followed by the shrieks as it cuts through exoskeletons with ease. Leaving the bugs in pieces and oozing ichor.

The wielder of the blade was a robed figure with his hood pulled up. A hand out stretching to push several more of the insects away with an unseen power. The carnage inky continuing as he made his way through like a whirlwind, practically plowing through the creatures without slowing down.

Whoever this was they certainly meant business.

[tricksterofasgard]

The quick flashes of blue aren't lost to the Asgardian and neither is what that blade does to its opponents. An intriguing weapon to say the least. And wielded by a person capable of doing so, which is good to know. It means he's not surrounded by people unable to fend for themselves, which means: Less work for him.

Excellent.

Without proper weapons on himself, Loki remains bound to improvise, but in this ruin of a shopping center there is plenty to work with for him, and so he grabs hold of a bent metal-pole that possibly used to be some sort of advertisement sign, pulling it clear free from where it used to be bolted in place and using the pole to block the attacks of a few further spiders. With his other hand he hurls a quick energy blast to vaporize a small group near cloaked stranger. Just a little test to see how open the man is to teamwork. Not everyone approves of their kills being stolen.

[hadthehighground]

Obi-Wan had taken note of the other person nearby which he hadn't met or even seen before. His attention more on the creatures that keep coming at the both of them. Some hesitating at the light of his blade before lunging at him and meeting their swift end.

Though when a group of them about to make their attack are suddenly vaporized, that gets the Jedi's attention. He blinks once and turns to look in Loki's direction. A curious brow lifted as he's not entirely sure how the man did that. But regardless of the how, it certainly seemed useful and there was no hint that it bothered him. In fact, he gave a nod of his head in thanks before returning to the fray.

Teamwork is something this one can certainly do, and approves of.

[tricksterofasgard]

Great. That will make things easier - For both of them.

Loki again makes use of his makeshift weapon, but this time to bluntly smash a few of the large insects that have come too close. At least these are easy to squish, at least for the Asgardian. Even though their numbers hardly seem to decrease, despite how many he himself or his current companion slay.

"Do we know where they are coming from yet?" The Asgardian asks aloud, trying to make out a potential point from which the little beasts may be appearing. Of course they could well be just lurking in the very darkness around them.

[hadthehighground]

“Your guess is as good as mine, I’m afraid,” Obi-Wan said back. He hadn’t been in this world long and had hoped others might have answers. Unfortunately it seems everyone is just as confused as he is. They would simply have to improvise.

The Jedi’s lightsaber cut cleanly through several more spiders. Their sizzling carcasses left behind in his wake as he tried to make his way. Beads of sweat had begun to form on the man’s brow. He had been at this for awhile now and there seemed no end in sight.

[tricksterofasgard]

"Then I suggest we stop guessing and instead figure it out." Loki says adjusting the hold he has on the pole and marches past the Jedi, making sure to keep enough distance between himself and that blade while bludgeoning his share of unpleasant creatures, every once in a while picking up small pieces of metal to toss into further spiders. His magic may be of little use here and he lacks any proper weapons, but in this case brute force appears very much sufficient.

As he moves forward, Loki looks around, keeping an eye out for any way further down, to be precise. "Beasts like these tend to crawl up from underground dens." The Asgardian suggests, less worried about the call for help that has grazed the network earlier.

[doubled_speed]

Non-arachnid movement indeed. A blur of white and green, leaving a brief trail of blur until a spider jumping at Loki just explodes midair. Then Tommy's at Loki's side, looking annoyed.

"I was hoping to find someone that needs help. And here you are, looking like you mostly have this under control. Sad."

[tricksterofasgard]

"Of course I do." Loki remarks dryly, taking his eyes away from where the explosion has happened and to the young man that has appeared at his side.

Well, that's interesting.

Loki tips his head a little and puts on a faux frown as he sighs theatrically. "I will admit, however, that my attempts at negotiating their surrender has been met with rather stubborn resistance. Feel free to add some arguments of your own to convince them."

[doubled_speed]

Negotiating. Tommy laughs and shakes his head. Surrender seems unlikely for just about anything after them.

"Things on this planet don't surrender. They take over. Or kill."

[tricksterofasgard]

The Asgardian gives a resigning shrug. "In that case we may be forced to end them, I am afraid." And he gestures for Tommy to have his pick among the next group of arachnids approaching them.

"How many can you destroy at once?"

[doubled_speed]

"Don't know. Never pushed my vibrations this far before," Tommy admits. "Not what they tried to make me do. You?"

He gathers his energy again and thrusts his hands out, starting to vibrate whatever he can before him. A few more spiders pop.

"Because there are a ton of these."

[tricksterofasgard]

Vibrations, huh? Well, that's good to know.

Loki makes a short, approving noise in response to the display, then simply shrugs. "I am admittedly less about quantity. My true strengths lie elsewhere." Quality, you see? He's much more suited for sneak attacks and infiltration than war cries and slaughter.

He takes a step forward and picks up a shard of broken metal from the ground before flinging it with practiced ease up and into a singular spider preparing to drop down on them from above and instantly killing at least that one before giving a resigning sigh. "They don't react to my illusions, I am afraid. Very much the mindless beasts they appear to be. Something must be controlling them and I am not sure I wish to learn what."

OTA

[on_repeat]

If the day felt off, the returning nightfall wasn't faring any better. Not with the stilted message that suddenly appeared over the network.

The urgency in those words, along with the sudden liveliness the dark brings with it, certainly kicks instinct into high gear. Echo hits the ground running, blaster shots cutting through the noise the second he actually sees the creatures crawling out of the woodwork like a nightmare scenario he can't wake up from.

Thankfully the path toward the shopping center isn't cluttered with arachnid bodies. He's just lucky find more of them inside of the multi-storied building.

The clone suppresses a filtered groan the further in he gets, lifting the barrel of the blaster and squeezing the trigger a few times in quick succession, moving onto other targets the second he's free of the ones trying to rush him. Seeing that he's not alone, priorities soon shift to providing cover fire for those who are present and within range.

Cooperative Mode: ON

[hadthehighground]

He saw the message too, and while Obi-Wan didn’t know exactly where this mall was, he didn’t have to guess when he saw a familiar armored figure making his way there. The Jedi quickly followed after him, knowing that someone was in danger and in need of help.

He lets Echo stay ahead though, watching the clone’s back until they finally reached their destination. As blasters started blazing, the Jedi suddenly leaped over his head from behind as the spiders were preoccupied with him. His lightsaber ignited as he came down on one of them and plunged the glowing blue blade through its back.

Several spiders then turned towards him, surrounding the former general just as he twirled his weapon and held it aloft in the Soresu stance. Just perhaps a bit of a smirk on his bearded face as he took in the situation. It was then that they lunged and the Jedi attacked, limbs and pieces of the beasts flying in every direction as he cut through them with ease. He was now counting on Echo to watch his back too.

[on_repeat]

The flash of arcing blue light surprises the trooper, the helm glancing up to follow the last part of former Jedi General's leap into the middle of a gruesome scene. Yet there's a stance he's seen previously, the man's expression perhaps a trick of the light saber before it practically dances across freshly flayed spiders.

With more on the way over, Echo wastes no time in doing what's expected of his station. Striding forward with blaster raised, he aims and pulls the trigger, trying to keep each shot precise so that he doesn't accidentally hit the Jedi.

Because this is how it's supposed to be.

[hadthehighground]

This is how it's supposed to be. Working together as a team rather than being enemies. The Jedi putting his trust in a trooper. Trust that had been bruised not so long ago, though it hadn't been the fault of any of them. Echo doesn't betray it either as he backs him up.

The Jedi moves with grace and speed as he slices through spider after spider, turning briefly to look back as the trooper blasts one that had leapt at him from the rear. A simple salute of thanks being given to Echo before he goes on his his merry way, clearing a path for them so that they could delve deeper in the mall turned nest. Obi-Wan motioning for his companion to follow him as he pressed forward.

[on_repeat]

Having the smallest amount of trust from Ben encourages Echo. They all knew they can't change what has happened, or what will take place, but this is a chance to make up for what his brothers were forced to do.

He strives to be on Captain Rex's or Commander Cody's level in teaming up with a jedi general. Improvising on the fly hasn't hurt his performance, however, and he begins to pick up on the nuances of Ben's movements, the patterns he weaves between each attacking spider. Getting a salute and a motion to follow cracks a grin behind the visor, hefting the blaster in the short space of calm so that he can follow after him.

It gets tricky trying to keep track of how many shots he has left, especially when he gets interrupted by a few more creatures suddenly dropping in from the sides. There's little time to react when one of them runs directly into him, biting back a curse the second it shoves him backward onto the floor. Trying to get to his feet, the clone jerks the blaster up, firing into whatever counts as a mouth on the thing.

"Would've been nice if I had a grenade right now!" He gripes in the middle of regaining his balance, continuing to back up as he shoots a few more rounds behind them.

[hadthehighground]

Filling in the boots of Captain Rex or Commander Cody would be a tall order, and Obi-Wan wouldn't expect that of Echo. Yet the trooper had proven to be a very capable soldier in his own right. It's due to that, that he trusts him enough to have his back. He had been one of Anakin's after all, and only Anakin himself and Ahsoka knew them better than Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan glances towards Echo as he's knocked back by one of the creatures. He would go to his aide if it wasn't for the fact that he had his hands full himself. Decapitating another spider before plunging is lightsaber into the middle of another.

"I know what you mean," he shouted back, glad to see the clone get back to his feet again.

"There seems to be no end to them, an we can only keep this up for so long. We have to keep moving."

If they were going to find Jon, they had to. Thus the Jedi used the Force again to push several away, again clearing a path, with Obi-Wan making a run for it.

Tommy | OTA

[doubled_speed]

The whole day had been miserable. There had been a ringing in his ears that kept Tommy angry and irritable. But nothing made him angrier than the many legged creatures coming in. Tommy moves in a blur, angry as he jumps over the creatures and out into the streets. Which they follow him into.

"Fuckers," he snapped, and gathered his powers into himself, thrusting his hands out to either side and pushing out, setting molecules and atoms to vibrating until the creatures around him exploded.

"What the actual fuck, Agrii! You're ruining lunch!"

Dammit, now he was going to have to find people now.

"Anyone around!?" he shouted into the square.

[on_repeat]

All right, that was a gross but relatively effective way of dealing with the monsters. Echo wasn't going to question it if it worked.

It took him a second to get back with the program, however, blinking before kicking things into gear again. "Over here! Behind you!" the ARC Trooper called back, aiming his blaster toward the next two or three spiders charging in after its freshly exploded kin.

Several plasma bolt rounds hit, instantly killing the first but only maiming the second.

[doubled_speed]

Tommy ducked away the second a voice called out. In that blink of an eye he was by Echo's side and frowned.

"Shit, man, this is all a mess."

He blasted another creature coming up to their side.

"IT's a fucking mess."

[on_repeat]

He's taken aback by the speed, flinching when Tommy takes care of the 8-legged thing in the same manner. In fact, he missed that one. But there's no time to comment about it.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Echo agrees, the grimace audible due to the lack of expression in his visor. He squeezes the trigger, bolts flying at another one that crawls out from under a section of the mezzanine. "There were too many of those things outside of this place. Where are they even coming from?"

[doubled_speed]

"No fucking clue. Not the city."

Tommy moves, stepping up to one and kicking it which sends the thing flying into a distant building.

"We need to get to a better position."

[on_repeat]

"Upstairs?"

Echo swings the blaster at a jagged leg that instantly fills in the pocket of empty space, pulling the trigger on its attached body shortly afterward. He starts moving back, giving a quick sideways glance to Tommy. "Better vantage point, at least."