Payback Time

[thewatchers]

PAYBACK TIME
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The daemon base was large, a massive obsidian skull carved from the base of a black, foreboding mountain within the Outlands and surrounded by a forest of dead trees. This was inevitable, as accompanying faculty could explain. As much as it could influence the human world, the Outland was heavily influenced and shaped by human thought and culture. Weaker daemons, such as those within the base, would find their personality, forms, and even desires inexorably shaped by the thoughts of humanity and what was perceived humans would expect and fear.

The focus of the two main assault groups would be the clearing of the main hall and the lower dungeons. The groups will be divided as follows:

Main Hall:
Ky
Mav
Kanata
Tyzias
Gunvolt
Bumblebee

Main Hall Support:
Toki
Kano

Dungeon:
Valvatorez
Goro Akechi
Ren
Minako
Naoki
Keith

Dungeon Support:
Ekkehardt
James

Control Room Supervisor:
Yang

To get through to the fortress proper, the students will have to make their way through the forest. This is an open log, even for those who didn’t sign up and will consist of clearing a path and fighting off living trees and mimics in the form of any number of objects that would otherwise be expected in forests such as rocks, brambles, bushes, and other foliage..

The Main Hall is lined with massive rooms full of daemons such as the banquet hall, treasure vault, and throne room where the daemon lord resides. The Daemon Lord is the target here, and he’ll be well-guarded. Beware! Many of the rooms are trapped with mimics taking the form of treasure chests, braziers, boxes, barrels, and just about any other item.

The Dungeons are where captured humans are kept and tortured. The objective is to free the humans and defeat the Jailer, a powerful Daemon who runs the chambers. Students should beware, doppelgangers are said to be commonly slipped in amongst prisoners to ferret out rebellion and will be hidden in with those who are to be rescued.

The Control Room is located in the Citadel, with a massive monitor visualizing the area with floor plans and video feeds. All students and faculty will be wearing small cameras that will record live footage, and will be wired with a communication earpiece that will let those in the Control Room communicate freely. Students working in the Control Room will be able to relay data and information, and use the powerful supercomputers to analyze items on the ground in near real-time.

code bases by tricklet

Comments

FOREST LOG - OTA

[thewatchers]

The forest leading to the Daemon Fortress is unlike any earth-dwellers have ever experienced. The trees themselves, although blasted, gray and dead are yet alive with a malevolent wrath beyond that of humanity. Even the stones and brush rise up to attack the students as they fight to clear a path into the fortress itself. Clearing the forest is where a brunt of the operation is taking place, should the raid fail the attack parties will need a path to retreat so a majority of Daybreak’s forces have been stationed here.

MAIN HALL - Ky, Mav, Kanata, Tyzias, Gunvolt, Toki, Kano

[thewatchers]

The Main Hall is a place of surprising opulence. Although the decor is decidedly malevolent, the daemons preferring artwork depicting humans in various stage of torture at their hands, the arrangements are nevertheless at least somewhat “tasteful” (to a definition of the word) and surprisingly clean. Treasure, spoils of plunder, no doubt, line many of the rooms as daemon patrols stalk the halls, alert to the incoming attack from the forest engagement. Should the daemons be engaged head-on, they will summon their allies, so some degree of stealth will be necessary, although if the odd patrol goes missing, that certainly wouldn’t be a problem.

DUNGEON - Valvatorez, Goro, Minako, Ren, Ekkehardt, James

[thewatchers]

The dungeons are easily identifiable by the pained screams of the captive humans held within. The sight within is certainly horrific, humans dressed in pitiful rags covered in cuts, scars and welts, malnourished and weak. The torment here seems to be entirely for the pleasure of the daemons, no information is extracted, no value is had. The implements of torture are decidedly medieval in design, with racks, shackles, whips, and other similar accoutrement plentifully stocked in the depths. That said, there are few corpses, the daemons do seem to care enough for their playthings that they keep them alive. Unfortunately, the bodies that are found are typically the very young or very old, their bodies unable to take the strain from the daemonic torments. Patrols are scarcer down here, and its distance from the Main Hall (and the furor from the attack) means that calls for reinforcement will go unanswered, meaning Daybreak can fall upon it like the fist of a wrathful god.

CONTROL ROOM - Yang, Toki, Kano, Ekkehardt, James

[thewatchers]

The main control room lies within the Citadel, a massive network of monitors and machinery. Reminiscent of NASA’s main control room, technicians and seers work in tandem to acquire accurate information from the cameras and scrying efforts to ensure the flow of information. Those manning the control room will play support to those in the field, using their analytic abilities and the technologies in the observation deck to aid their allies. All support staff have direct audio contact with their assigned team at all times.

[infestedcouncilpresident]

Kohaku slowly walked through the forest as if in a dream, her eyes half closed. If anyone spoke too loud, she shot them a dirty look and told them to shut up. It was downright annoying to anyone around her. But on the other hand, every couple seconds she would point at a random rock, or fern, or tree branch, or old rusty shield, and say "Mimic."

She had her hearing at it's MOST sensitive. Everyone's voices were booming in her skull, but when they were quiet she could also hear the heartbeats of every living thing like distant drums. Mimics were living things, and no matter how carefully they disguised themselves, she could pick them out with ease.

Enough to put up with her snappish behavior, she hoped.

Last-Minute Sign-Ups

[thewatchers]

Both Main Hall and dungeon can take up to 6 students, if you wish to join one you may sign up here and be added to the log. These slots are first-come-first-serve.

[gaiarage]

jumping in dungeon if yall don't mind!

[bejustorbedead]

Ky crinkles his nose at the artwork, not exactly fazed by the subject matter but finding it distasteful nonetheless. Sword in hand, dressed for battle, he addresses the group in a soft voice, just loud enough to be hear as he watches the patrol from their position.

"They'll be on alert, and as we've seen at the dance - they're hardy. If possible, we'll avoid the bulk of the patrols - take advantage of their movements and the intel our support will give, and save our energy for the leader. But if we must engage, do it fast and silence them before they can raise an alarm.

Understand?"

[marmoron]

signing up to join the crew in the dungeons!

[shockingblue]

The entire hall was something of an unholy mix of disquieting gaudiness and horror. The amount of golden treasures that the daemons had accumulated was more wealth than GV had ever seen, with the boy wondering just how much they'd stolen and pillaged... especially with the choice of decor. They deserved every bit of what was coming to them. And this time, he was prepared to deal with their resistances.

The boy flicked with a couple of small switches on his pistol, then looked to Ky.

"Infiltration over open battle's a good plan in my book. Cut the head off first and we'll send the rest of them into disarray."

It was a common tactic used in QUILL operations, based on what he had studied of them and experienced personally. And when it worked, it tended to work spectacularly. Loss of chain of command either left forces in a panic or squabbling to establish a new one.

[thewatchers]

Go ahead and join in.

[thewatchers]

Approved, go ahead and join.

CTRL;

[yokeye]

OPEN BROADCAST
-- I saw this forest in a vision! Well, several visions, but the point is there are daemons and one of you is going to get stabbed straight through with a lightning sword! I don't know who, you were just a shadow! Oh! And someone else gets impaled with a tree branch, and then someone else has their heart ripped out by a tree! It was me in the visions for both of those events, but I'm not there, so obviously that part was wrong, and maybe all of it's wrong, but watch your hearts! Although you may not die because it was still beating somehow in the tree branch hand thing and maybe it's only like a metaphor! --

[arcadianvampire]

Valvatorez was no stranger at all to the world of daemonkind, even if for the past four hundred years he largely kept to the mortal realm. Not that he hadn't gone back plenty of times, but there were reasons why he preferred staying on Earth itself than wandering the Outlands... and not just because of his reputation as a betrayer to daemonkind itself.

As they entered into the dungeon, Valvatorez's face and eyes initially appeared impassive, almost uncaring to the screams and wails of the abused prisoners. He scarcely batted an eye as he saw the severity of the wounds inflicted upon them. Outwardly, by all accounts, the vampire appeared almost ambivalent to it all. The intensity in his eyes never appeared to change either; he appeared as focused as he did on the way in and with the march through the forest. It might almost appear eerie that he'd look so... callous about the matter.

But that's just what he looked like. In a quiet moment, when he was sure they weren't going to be attacked immediately, he turned and addressed his team. His voice, however, when he spoke, was quiet, but passionate. It seethed with a daemonic fury barely contained.

"Burn this sight into your minds, my students. This is what we fight. This is what daemons who lack pride and nobility will do to innocent lives. Even if I still was a Tyrant, I would find this utterly repugnant."

And that's when he was more uncaring toward human life. It wouldn't take much to imagine how he feels about it now... and given what motivated his change, to say it strikes at the very core of his being would be underselling it.

"If any of you still have any inkling to show mercy, turn around and leave now, because there will be none for the daemons here today. They will all breathe their last in this fetid gaol, and we will save these people. But remember these souls are depending on you. Do not be reckless with your anger. Use it with focus and discipline, and send each one of these bastards back to the pit they spawned from."

The vampire tersely drew his sword.

"Work together. Stay together. Don't split the group. Listen to the support team, and follow my orders. And I will be here to protect and support you all... but this is your show. Show these fools what the sword of justice is capable of. Are we clear?"

[deuteranope]

Maverick is less sure about the plan -- sneaking around he can do, don't get him wrong, but the trip in general has left him agitated and ready to swing a bat. He probably even grumbled about it on the way over. Confident as his talk was, walking into the heart of daemon territory isn't exactly high on his list of 'fun school trips I expected to take'. It's tough, being afraid of all this weird Outlands crap but also wanting to be useful. And aggressive.

"Reckon it'd be easier to take at least two different fucking routes, right? Smaller group, less chance of someone fucking it up for everyone. And hey, things get dicey, they can yell 'distraction force!' and bring hell on their heads while the others get a move on."

OTA

[yokeye]

|| 01. ARRIVAL

[The control room is gigantic. Somehow he didn't think it would be this huge; or that there would be so many monitors and consoles with buttons and data screens. A few of the larger monitors near the walls seem to be holographic and transparent with displays of maps and trajectories and continually updating statistics of some sort. Banks of less futuristic computer screens display the visuals from the field operatives' cameras. There's too many blinking console lights, changing screen displays, and general commotion in the room for him to focus very well. He's going to monitor a team and guide them through a daemon fortress to take out the like king daemon guy. How? This is impossible. He's going to get people killed.]

I can't do this!

[Toki whispers it to himself and walks right back out of the room. Returning a few minutes later, he's still unprepared, but determined to prove himself somehow. Maybe. He freaked out a little in the hallway and made the questionable decision of taking more sedatives than prescribed. At least he'll speak slower for a while, and not panic for the first hour or so.]

Okay~! So ready for this. Where do you want me?


|| 02. DURING

[Toki recognizes the forest instantly. He's seen it enough times over the last few weeks. There's no frozen people or little girl with antlers, but this is definitely the dead trees. People are going to be hurt, he's absolutely certain of this. They needed to be warned appropriately.]

That was enough detail, right? Do they need more?

-

[Later, he's now focused on the team in the Main Hall. The audio comes in static-y sometimes. He switched his earpiece out twice, but it keeps happening. He's now going on the assumption it's Ky's fault, or Gunvolt's, and the equipment isn't malfunctioning. He can't stop paying attention for one minute or something's going to go wrong. Like now. It took him mere seconds to swap ear pieces, looking away from the monitor for less than that, and now there's bad decisions being made.]

-- Don't touch that! It's not what you think it is!... I'm reading the information on it right now! I know what I'm doing! You're supposed to listen to- NO, YOU SHUT UP! This is -- Oh wait! Shit! Sorry~! I'm looking at the wrong data!... It's fine, you can touch it!... Once! I only sent you in the wrong direction once!... You're still alive, aren't you!? --

[He's doing a good job here.]


|| 03. AFTERMATH

[He's under the assumption none of his team were seriously injured or dead, but Kano was dealing with them half the time too and he may have missed important information on their overall status by the end.]

Everything went fine, right!? This is good? It's over? What about the group in the forest!? I stopped paying attention to them after a while, but no one died!?

[His hands are shaking and there may be a bit too much panic in his voice. He held off as long as he could; but now the built up stress of the mission is hitting him all at once.]

02 - forest

[onebetter]

[ James is just kind of staring over in horror as this broadcast goes out. ]

Well, they know what to look out for, but... [ He stares at the forest video feeds for a second. ] ... they might panic, too.

[yokeye]

[If his expression is anything to go by, James thought the broadcast was a mistake.]

That's why I wanted it detailed, because if it's too vague they might not react in time when the trees attack and go for the heart! Was that wrong!? Should they not be informed of potential impending doom and only certain impending doom!? We can delete it, right!?

[The mic is still on.]

Re: Last-Minute Sign-Ups

[thebreakfastbug]

Signing up for Main Hall

[prisoneroffate]

Joker follows quietly, a wicked curved dagger held loosely in his right hand and grasped by blood-red gloves. His massive coat shifts quietly around him with each step, and his eyes are set behind his white and black mask.

"No worries, professor. I'm here to take out the trash."

[foolishjustice]

Were he alone, Akechi would have drawn on the power of his daemonic contract, slipped in through the cover the shadowy environment offered him and picked off his opposition one by one before freeing the prisoners and burning this disgusting hellscape to the ground with Loki's fire. Even now, his darker Persona was calling for him to stop holding back and unleash his full power against this selfish depravity he so hated.

But he wasn't alone. Here, in view of other students and the faculty of Daybreak, he was just a simple Flame with no real practical experience and certainly no daemonic contract. So, despite his fury, he remained in his white and red outfit, a bow and quiver with a small number of orichalcum tipped arrows strapped across his back and laser sword in his left hand. It had been a struggle to hold back from showing his full skill on the way in, and even so, it was clear he had some experience with swordplay and martial arts. There's a look of clear anger behind his own red mask, in eyes that seem to lose their reddish hue in favor of brown when he dons this outfit.

"Completely. I won't let any other innocents suffer at their hands."

[onebetter]

[ And that mic will stay on because James is also in a control room for the first time ever and not quite used to the tech yet. ]

Couldn't you have found a more... factual way of conveying this? Like 'the trees might attack your chest, be careful' not 'one of you is going to have their heart ripped out, I saw it in a dream'??

[thewatchers]

Approved!

[gaiarage]

He's seen places like this before. He's been in places like this before. Not exactly the same, but the same in essence, places where daemons would lock up anything they didn't rip to shreds, to drain their energy or wait and decide what to do with them. Sometimes there would be beatings, sometimes torture.

A lot of times, there would be torture.

He rolls his shoulders, clearly impatient. As much as Val's spiel rings hollow for him, there's still a nugget of truth in there. This is wrong, and Naoki's going to fix it. He decided that the second he came in. Something writhes uneasy in his stomach.

"Let's just go." he says, finally, and starts off ahead of the group.

01

[spelleton]

Take a moment to get yourself adjusted to the control room, Mr Rikugou. [ He's not quite sure why Toki has signed up for this considering how highly strung he is, but he's hardly going to turn him away or tell him to sit in the corner and not to help.

He carefully doesn't mention Toki arriving, walking out of the room, and then coming back in again. Probably nerves that won't end with panic or fainting, he hopes. ]

Familiarize yourself with your station, and try not to worry about what's going on beyond that.