Log:Artic Assault Under the Mountain

Three Dots and a Dash 2021/02/03 	 Grant Victory Anthem Baker

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Last time on "Agents of Starguard"...

Our heroes found the tunnel leading into the base's garage was a trap. A mysterious voice told them they were prepared for their arrival, just before a noxious gas began to fill the long tunnel. Rushing to the bottom, Grant opened a portal for the heroes to bypass the thick blast doors at the bottom and escape the poisonous gas. They now find themselves in a large underground garage and cargo area.

It has an 8m high ceiling, and is 35m by 25m. It looks like a large storage area of garage, with another set of doors straight ahead and twenty-eight meters away from the gate's opening. Also twenty meters away is the welcoming committee. A four meter tall bipedal Siege Mech, accompanied by three human sized robots. Based on their chassis, these models are...definitely not top of the line. They're relics. The weapons, however, are modern. They begin to whir and prepare for motion as they sense the gate opening.

Agent Jack Baker just established a barrier to help protect the team after they get through the gate. Just in time, as the Minute Mechs begin to raise their blaster arms toward the heroes.

The three take aim at the heroes, specifically starting with the Starguard Agents: Grant, Victory, and Baker.

A splash of laser fire strikes the barrier, which holds.

Grant can't help but flinch a bit and lets out a relieved sigh when Baker's barrier spares him. Its only momentary when he realizes he can't do much more than actually take that fire.

Victory hurries around the barrier to try to close the distance toward the robots. If nothing else, he's hoping to draw their fire.

The SiegeMech plods forward, clearly unmanned. It's hand pans right to left to survey targets, and focuses on the first person to clear the barrier: Victory. Its arm raises with a few heavy weapons. There's a small blue flame light before one nozzle, but instead of using that, a small missile whirs out from the forearm and rockets toward him.

Victory gets his shield up in the way of the incoming missile, and it clearly takes the brunt of the explosion, leaving him looking mostly unscathed.

Grant grunts as Victory takes off one way. He furrows his brow and takes a look beyond Baker's barrier in time to see the missle being launched for Victory.

He pivots and tries to intercede but he's not nearly fast enough.

Seeing Victory get hit and come out unscathed only makes him feel lucky- so he uses the opportunity to run cover, that is to say, to get out in front of the line of fire so the other Agents can actually affect the field.

He breaks out into a run around the barrier as well- hoping to get just one foot in front of Victory so he can be a more tempting target.

He's starting to think that flying with Starguard is going to be a whole lot different than flying with a squadron. He was hoping for my plays being called but he'll wing it if he has to.

"Up and over!!" Anthem cries as the lasers score against the barrier. Victory goes one way, and Grant another, and he takes the high road -- flying, of course!! -- straight for the middle MinuteMech!! KaPow!!

Zoom, yes -- but no pow! Anthem's steering at top speed is a wee erratic, it seems!!

Grant takes the opportunity to say to Victory as quietly as the din of battle will allow, "Sir- I know you're partial to that shield, but I'm not much use offensively- so remember I'm here to soak up whatever you can't."

Victory says to Grant, "I think you'd be better served covering Baker than covering me. I appreciate the thought, though."

Baker is pleased when his kinetic field holds after the barrage. Great, now maybe he can ... watching everyone else run out from behind the shield? Alrighty then. "Shield coming down!" he warns, now really just for himself, and shifts his focus to one of the smaller robots, reaching out with offensive kinetics this time.

There's the sound of screeching metal as Baker's telekinetic force begins to dent the armored chasis.

The grasped Minute Mech tries to break out.

It fails to escape. The other two scan the field again to decide on targets. One shoots at Baker, the other goes for Grant.

Grant finally feels the chain of command in action!

"Yes, Sir!" He announces before bee-lining it for Baker, he's barely pivotted when they're fired upon. He lunges a bit and intercedes by blocking Baker's blast with a open palm and gets his elbow up in front of the other aimed for him. Both blasts richocet off of Grant's nearly impervious hide.

He tries not to look surprised that that worked out so well for him.

Victory hurries over toward the Siege Mech, getting behind it before going ahead and striking it with his foot. He eyes the back of it, intending to jump up onto it, but it was too far away to pull it off quickly.

KLANG! It's a solid strike, but doesn't budge the SiegeMech.

The Siege Mech's upper torso spins towards Victory. "Initiating capture of target: Victory," it states from a crackling speaker somewhere within its interior. It extends its other arm and with a cha-CHUNK, it fires an expanding electro-net toward him and the general space he's standing in.

"Look out!" Baker spies the launching thing (though the announcement of intent might have also helped just a -little-). His currently-held and slightly-compressed robotic friend suddenly flies through the air to bat the netting out of the way. It isn't caught, itself, just used to swipe the net away, since it was in hand. So to speak.

Grant says to Baker, "Slick shot, Baker- see if you can keep that up. I've got yer six. These here robots don't even tickle."

Victory jumps up, intending to get onto the back of the SiegeMech and hold on.

"Com'on now, y'all. We didn't come to stir up trouble but seems y'got enough t'spare 'round here. Why don't you all give up before someone- namely you bunch- get hurt? We're a bunch of highly trained commando types with wild and outlandish super-whatzits. Not sure it's a fair fight." Grant says as he stands his ground in front of Baker, waiting for the more senior agent to make his next move.

Victory manages to get a hand hold on the back of the robot, and holds on. He hesitates to see how it reacts to the change of situation before he does anything further.

The SiegeMech isn't very agile, and it certainly can't hold a candle to Victory's athletics. It's upper torso rotates a full 360 as its speakers crackle, "Scanning." It's not the smartest tech in the world. Functional. Tough. Not using the latest sensors. Up close now, Victory can see some small writing in Russian along its backplate: Krasnyy Osada Alfa. "Target not found." It finally swivels to Grant and Baker and lights up its flamethrower, blasting out a cone of flame at them.

Grant attempts to hold the line.

He holds his arms out to either side to make sure Baker is covered & stretches his personal field between his extremities.

Grant grunts against the heat of the flamethrower- and while he doesn't feel it enough to actually break his resolve, or stagger him.

With teeth clenched he looks over his shoulder at Baker and gives him a confident nod. "I'm fine- you just g'ta breakin' that ol' toy bot, would ya?" He asks the other agent.

Baker is once again shielded by Agent Shields. "Thanks, and will do!" The bot he has isn't the only one on the field, so he tries to see about getting two bots with one... bot? Namely, he attempts to slam the held bot into the another one (not the mech, since Victory is all over that one. Literally).

SMACK. Two robots, one mind. Baker's, that is. There is metal-on-metal as he smacks one bot into the other. He's rather impressed with himself, as he's not done the twofor option before. It might even be worthy enough to impress the Warrior Goddess, herself, he thinks... if she were here and not likely buried somewhere else deeper in the bowels of this frozen fortress in a frozen wasteland.

The club-bot looks in really bad shape. Sparks fly but it's still functional. Even if its off-arm looks like it's barely attached.

The wrecked MinuteMech manages just barely to break free of Baker's mind as it raises its one good arm to fire at him. The one it crashed into rises up and targets...the Minute Mech that struck it. The last Minute Mech turns and sees Victory on the back of the Siege Mech. "Target acquired," he states as it raises an arm blaster at Victory.

Victory sees the attack coming...and he angles his shield, directing the blaster fire back at the bot that's firing.

The Minute Mech is struck, but not overly damaged from its own blaster. Victory's shield absorbed some of its energy possibly.

Baker is avenged as one Minute Mech attacks its body. Minute Mech 3 is blasted onto its side. There's a few sparks and a jitter of movement before it remains still.

Baker takes the blast. Fortunately, his personal kinetics absorb the vast majority of it, though the impact forces him backwards with a stumble.

Anthem has to get the knack of doing heroic things such as diving in the way of blasts /while/ flying. He rebalances himself, then soars forward to clobber the Big Nasty Mech.

It's a close call with Victory riding the Siege Mech's back, but Anthem is able to avoid him and strike at an angle to hit the mech. There wasn't enough speed in his charge, as he bounces off the armored machine. Victory is rattled a little, but has no trouble hanging on since the Siege Mech is still standing firm.

The effort did put a shallow dent in the Siege Mech's armor.

Anthem goes *KRRUMP!!* into the siege mech, but the big thing is, apparently, too big and sturdy to move when Anthem is still on wobbly flight-legs!! The athletic gent floats back a bit, shaking off the effect of having plowed into the thing without moving it.

Victory sees the fuel line going to the SiegeMech's flamethrower...and he thinks he can pull it without actually getting his hand caught in any gears. He reaches in and tries to pull it out, to disable the flamethrower. The bot appears to be dumb enough that it'll try to use it even without adequate fuel.

The line is pulled and rips free from the tank within. Liquid gasoline leaks from the tank feeding the line, pouring down the Siege Mech's innards and pooling on the ground. A little liquid sprays from the line when it first breaks, but Victory manages to avoid getting hit.

The Siege Mech is still unaware of Victory on its back. It rotates toward Anthem and lowers its flamethrower attachment at him. And then nothing happens as the fuel line leaks at its feet.

Anthem crooks an eyebrow, one hand up and spread, other fist cocked back. He glances down at the out-thrust flamethrower with its little pilot light, then down at the gasoline around the thing's feet. "I have a sneaking suspicion things are not going to end well for you," he says.

Victory calls out, "Fuel line is pulled. If someone has a match, go ahead and use it...as soon as I'm off its back."

Grant thinks he should have brought a light, but he didn't. He shrugs in Victory's general direction but attempts to open a portal to his side that connects to a point beneath Victory's feet.

"Victory! Drop straight down and I'll get ya over here!" Grant shouts hoping to be useful to Victory's escape as a bubble of spacetime shifts and warps between his outstretched arms.

Beneath Victory a similar bubble opens connecting the two points seamlessly.

Baker can't make fire, and isn't going to try and 'borrow' the mech's fire until Victory is clear. So he focuses on lucky #1. He even brings back his old pal #3 to help, in a sense. Rather than grabbing a resisting target, Baker just collects bits and pieces of spall from the robot carcass to himself, then accelerates them at #1.

Minute Mech #1 is quickly filled with holes from the accelerated components. They effectively shred it, leaving it sparking and twitching spastically in repeat cycles. It's barely functional.

Both the Minute Mechs are in rough shape. The first more so than the second. After some calculating, it begins to charge at Baker, leaving pieces of it falling off in the process. The second Mech tries to pick another threat, and seeing Victory on the Siege Mech still, it begins charging its laser to overload as it aims it at him.

Victory JUST manages to let go from the bot in time, and drop through the gate before the lasers could potentially hit him.

The laser misses Victory by inches as he drops away and down. The blast pierces the Siege Mech and ignites the leaking fuel within. Victory's vision is filled with orange and yellow as flame erupts just as he passes through the portal, escaping the flames as they blow up and outward rather than down.

The swift Anthem also escapes the wave of flame. The two Minute Mechs do not as the blow back and shrapnel from the Siege Mech hit them. After the chaos of flame and black smoke dissipates, all the mechs are just burning, inanimate metal skeletons.

Anthem stares for a moment at the fiery destruction as he slows to a halt next to Grant. "That was ... energetic," he says, then frowns down at his fists.

Grant holds his portal open fearlessly, knowing he may be caught at ground zero but he has not intention on leaving anyone to laydown on a pyre for him. They're here on a rescue mission.

The heat and flame roil through his portal before he can close it, licking over him hungrily but Grant Shields is made of sterner stuff than that!

Victory tumbles...and rolls to his feet. "Got some details on what we're dealing with. That was an old surplus Soviet bot. Cold War era. Never deployed, as far as I know. I think...these guys have a bunch of old retrofitted hardware."

Anthem looks up at the old 'bots, a frown still upon his face, but then he nods in firm resolution. "Right. Still tough, still dangerous, but not top of the line. Let's go see what else they've refurbished, shall we?"