In such times as these, the duty of the Sentry was cut and clear. Above the survival of the Inferno Worms and Breachers, above its own survival - and above even the integrity of the Gateway it sought to protect, it needed to stop the team from accessing it and discovering the secret it held. Its rings were no longer orange, but such an intense shade of yellow that they were practically white, and the heat pouring from their surface was so intense that it could truly be mistaken for a miniature Sun. There could be no mistaking that the Sentry was winding up for something big - the question was whether they all could see it, and realise that its last resort would be to take them all out with it in a giant detonation of its remaining energy.
Vega did. In its moment of weakness she vaulted through the air and passed straight through the rings, immune to the blistering fire that would have sheared anyone else to pieces, if they'd have even made it close enough to touch them without succumbing to the pure blinding light of the rings, or the heat rippling from its surface that made even the most determined minds falter. Her knife digging deep into the blistered, shrinking core and excising the stone that made its core like a still-beating heart that needed to be torn from the veins and arteries that it supplied. It took three, maybe even four cuts before her raw strength could handle the rest and rip the thing free - at which point the giant ball of flame that made the core of the Sentry began to wither even faster, the flames of its surface turning dim and feeble as without its core to power it, the Sentry began to collapse inwards. Like a sandcastle doused with water.
Its rings, however, were another matter entirely. So much energy had been funnelled into them that even with nothing left to properly sustain them, their release, even uncontrolled, would be massive. Perhaps the Sentry had anticipated this all along, exposing its central mass knowing that it would no longer be necessary to carry out its duty - or perhaps it simply could not have known Vega would perform such a brazen act ass to leap straight through its defences, which would have scorched any other mortal to bones and ash. They would never know now. Yet none could have predicted the perfect coordination between Vivian and Vega without so much as a word spoken, for as Vega tore away the core, Vivian utilised her Three Sheets to the Wind and Rising Lightning to leap above the Inferno Worm seeking to ambush her - which quickly dove back into the safety of the ground, seeking safety and easier prey - and slashed away at the rings with her Brightgleam-coated sword, finding them thick like cables filled with the concentrated power of the Sentry, yet each slash tore through the currents and dissipated parts of the energy. One slash after another. Her swordsmanship skills and endurance meant she kept moving again and again, sped up by Vega's song to keep up with the output. The white, almost blinding glow visibly eased back to a bright yellow, then further still. If it exploded now, it wouldn't even seal the Gateway.
Praetorum's coordinated assault was, likewise, a thing of beauty. As Vivian avoided the Inferno Worm that sought to rise up and skewer her, Praetorum's earth manipulations redirected the one threatening Varlum, and a well-executed slash from his Brightgleam-coated halberd dug deep into the hardened plates of its armoured body, stopping short of cleaving the thing in two outright as it shrivelled and crumpled around the head. Unfortunately, his attempt to take out the other in much the same manner instead bounced off the surface, redirected by the squirming coils and slash-resistant outer plates - but leaving a sizzling mark upon its side in the shape of the halberd's head, thanks to the touch of Brightgleam water on its cursed hide.
His companions had a better vantage point from atop their Scalvwing to plan their attacks, with Ricky in particular showing off superior skills in marking the rapid movements of the Breachers and striking them with Runes of Night to temporarily blind them - which finally seemed to succeed in stopping their advance somewhat, as without the guidance of their eyes to march to their target they began to unknowingly veer off-target. Sap's draining trap successfully caught one and began to drain its endurance, yet likely found much more than it was anticipating - the Breachers were, after all, made for taking punishment and attacking tirelessly to break through impregnable defences like those of Storm's Edge. Still, with both Rams hindered by blindness and one slowed by Sap, it would be almost too easy for Varlum to pick them off by collapsing the ground beneath its hooves and sending it screaming into his waiting arms, to be suffocated by the swallowing of the earth and crushed into a lifeless heap through a combination of the earth's collapse and Varlum's incredibly strong grip. The free Ram, blind but not deaf, thrashed its head and finally slowed its momentum, seeking to lash out at anything nearby that might attempt the same trick to it, or simply gore anything close in its blind panic.
Through all of this, Genna held back and planned. The Oasis that she used, thankfully created a small distance away from the bulk of the fighting between the Breachers, Inferno Worms and of course the Sentry, doused her clothes and skin in equal measure until she was soaked from head to toe, a rather sorry state to be seen in for certain - but certainly a better look than being burned to a crisp. Perhaps even more unorthodox than her methods for self-preservation came in her strategy to avoid the Sentry entirely and seek the Gateway that it protected. A bold move, to be certain, especially since she lacked the proper understanding of stealth to avoid kicking up dust and stones as she stepped - little details that did not go unnoticed by the superior detection skills of the Sentry, even if her body became difficult to accurately detect thanks to the improvised camouflage she made from her painting talents. The wet, dripping trail she left in her wake also didn't help.
Through it all ran Yeva. As fast as she could, passing both through the paths of the Breachers mid-charge and close enough to the Inferno Worms to feel the spew of heated rock as they erupted from the ground. The giant fire-snake only adding to the cacophony wreathed by the Flameborn, indistinguishable from them in fact to anyone not familiar with the FireForged, snapping at anything nearby with a ferocity that begged for confrontation, yet lacked the physical presence to back it. Her whistle clenched between her lips and squeaking with every breath, further drawing attention to her presence. No weapons in her hand, nor armour on her body, nor a drop of Brightgleam to protect her, nor abilities activated to shield her.
All of these things happened simultaneously. Vega tearing the heart, Vivian's slashing of the rings, Varlum disposing of one Ram and Praetorum's dispatch of one Inferno Worm. When these things were done, they left Vega, Vivian, Praetorum and eventually Yeva standing almost directly before the Sentry itself, next to the holes drilled in molten stone that remained of the Inferno Worms. Behind them thrashed the one remaining Ram, momentarily distracted in its own panic. Even further back sat Varlum, still cuddling the corpse of the Ram it had killed. Somewhere behind the Sentry, on the opposite side of Vega, Vivian, Praetorum and Yeva, Genna crouched and hoped to remain unseen.
In its last moment, the rings of the fading Sentry erupted. Though it could not explode as it had hoped and seal the Gateway, it sought in its final moments to kill as many nearby as possible to disrupt and demoralise them. Varlum, underground and far away, went entirely unnoticed. The Scalvwing and its two passengers were simply too far away. Vega, already within the safety of the rings, hid in the blind spot that even the Sentry itself could not have anticipated. Yet its death throes hurled bursts of molten flame like pellets of buckshot at Vivian, bouncing harmlessly off the Spiritborn Armour she covered herself in; at Gennadiya, who was hurled backwards by the sheer force of the attack and left with no small bruising from the simple impact, but thankfully left unburned thanks to the very generous coating of Brightgleam water she'd thought to use beforehand; at Praetorum, who took no small beating, scalded even through his Defiance-caressed armour by its ferocity but at least somewhat protected by his toughened hide, and the effects of Honoured Shield. Burns and welts formed over his right arm and right leg, discomfort and pain lancing through the right side of his midsection - moderate and surely not forgotten, but treatable.
Yeva was not so lucky. Though of them all she was perhaps one of those most likely to spot the creature winding up, she had returned to the middle of the battlefield at perhaps the most inopportune of moments. Her Adunih cloak provided no protection, she held no shield to hide behind, nor items on her person to counteract the volley. With the whistle squeaking between her lips, there was no chance of the Sentry missing her, and without the skills to avoid it, there was no chance of her evading the volley that soon came for them all, but her most of all. The fire that engulfed her was so thick that it was almost liquid, shrouding her from view. By the time it had finished, the rings had dissipated completely into wisps of smoke, the last remaining memory of the Sentry existing in the black gem in Vega's hand. And a pile of black, crumbled bones.
By the time everyone recovered from the barrage, the remaining Ram was long gone. Its duty failed and the tenuous hold of the Sentry's control lost, it fled into the Stormwastes as fast as it could manage and disappeared as easily as it had manifested. The Inferno Worm seemed to dig straight down and never resurface, eventually disappearing from Prae's earth-sense. They were alone once more. Alone with the Gateway.
| ! | Message from: Squirrel |
This concludes the thread. I will provide a review shortly detailing the full extent of the injuries sustained, the loot awarded, and the contents of the Gateway, which you may choose to explore in a separate thread, but are under no obligation to do so. In the meantime, I have locked the thread.
Yeva is now dead. If you wish for her to become a Ghost, or wish to use a Succession Package to start a new character, please make the appropriate ticket in the PSF. |
