Centros: The Metal Army [Archive]

[Mizagium]

Things had almost gotten better until they now rapidly flew out of control, Perish barely managed to see the wave of acid around the Clanker before it had crashed into them.
The only thing Perish knew for the next few minutes was just how painful acid could be, even with her dramatically dulled pain receptors. It was worse than the time she'd been burned at the stake, because at least fire needed air to burn and charred skin got in the way, acid just kept burning and burrowing through.
Worse part was it left little to work with in terms of regeneration.

When Perish finally managed to regenerate her eyes, she was in about as much of a mess as the Clanker was, only she didn't get the luxury of a mercy-killing.
And the link... she was able to feel quite a lot of what the Clanker was feeling in the last moments of its life... it made her a little sorrowful.
She broke the blood link and slid off the Clanker's corpse, hitting the ground with a small crunch as one of her shins fractured due to the acid corroding most of it.

Quite a lot of her armour was melted away and in some areas it went right to the bone, exposing ribs and biceps and fingers, even half her jaw was exposed.

"Well that was fun..." Perish said so dryly it could have drained a lake, airily shaking her limbs a little to knock some annoying pieces of her armour off, slumping to the ground to sit and rest for awhile before looking up at the 'defenders', "Now what? I suppose I get put in a box and sunk to the bottom of the ocean or somethin'?"

Her body slowly regenerated, any excess blood in the area drained over to her to do so while she just sat there expectantly.

[Mizagium]

After managing to avoid the Clanker and the acid that had washed through the town, Esfir simply stared. Their enemies(?) were just standing around, not really knowing what to do. The entirety of Heroes' Refuge was destroyed. Which means...

"MY SHOP!!" She shrieked as she ran to its remains. She quickly grabbing what little equipment wasn't destroyed. Slowly making her way out of the ruined town, Esfir grieved over the loss of her creations.

"All of you! You are going to pay for destroying my shop! My beautiful creations... Gone!" She still had most of her tools and some weapons. That was about it. She sat on the ground and sulked.

[Mizagium]

"I don't know about you guys," Jeff said to, well, anyone that was listening. "But since the town is...gone, I don't have a reason to be here. I've got the origin of my powers to find, so...I'll be leaving now, if anyone want's to come along." He started lazily walking away. Like, super slowly.

-

"It's going to happen soon," The Mechanist King voiced ominously. "The loss of the town...and my forces will be a signal for the vultures. Salma will strike soon. But that is a threat within; I can only imagine the powers of threats without."

Rurik glanced out over the horizon, but saw only clear skies. "I've been meaning to ask this for a time now, my lord, but what makes you so sure Salma will indeed betray you?"

"Because that is why I recruited her."

"Sir? I...don't follow."

The king sighed, and rose to stretch his metallic legs. "You're a worldly man, Rurik. I brought you into the fold because of that. You've been most places. The mountainous Northyros, the chivalric kingoms of Esteros, the megalopolis of Southros, even the wasteland that is now Wessos. But...perhaps in all your travels you've heard of the Chrysalis?"

Rurik narrowed his eyes. "I have heard...stories, my lord. A prison, they say, beyond the bounds of this world. Terrible criminals are kept there, the kinds that are the stuff of nightmares."

Slowly, he nodded. "It is indeed a prison. It houses criminals from...other dimensions. I came across it in my studies some years ago, while I learned to master the Breath of Life. And...I went there." He ignored Rurik's horrified expression. "No, I suppose I never told you. But Salma and Evennia...they were both imprisoned there. Sisters. I needed generals who were willing to obey me - which I got in you and Khilbron - or desired power - Salma and Evennia. I always suspected she would turn on me. If I were her...now is the right time."

"What about Varesh?"

"I don't know. She will side with whoever is most likely to win, I think."

Rurik inhaled deeply. Exhaled. "Interdimensional criminals...sire, I fear you may be in over your head."

"I have been floundering for years, Rurik. But I can only stay afloat for so long. Send word to Khilbron in the north. Tell him to abandon the Northyric border and return to the Tower. Send word to Varesh as well. I will order the factories to up their production rates. When she strikes, I will be ready."

[Mizagium]

Magnus could only shake hi head in wonderment at the sheer destruction...and the three men standing before him. Originally he'd recruited eight of the town's civilians to help him fight off the Mechanist King's army. These three were the only survivors of the battle. Quite frankly Magnus was surprised any had made it out.

"Damn good job, boys." he congratulated them with a smile. they returned it with weary grins.

"I joined this whole thing to protect my town." one spoke up. He glanced around. "...not quite sure if that's what I did here." he grimaced.

"You're too trigger happy with the explosives, Leske." the second man chuckled.

"Well, we've been through hell together, boys...er, sorry but I'm afraid I don't even know your names." Magnus said sheepishly. He'd been too frantic to find recruits to care about those details before the fight.

"I'm Leske." the first man, a wiry man with short blond hair barely visible through the grime that covered him. "This is here is my cousin Desmond," he nodded to the second man, a dark-haired fellow with oddly grey eyes. "And this is-"

"Ash." the third man spoke up, cutting Leske off. "A pleasure." his grin was wide and displayed a row of white teeth that contrasted with his dark skin.

"Magnus." the mage said, feeling the need to give his own name for the three unlikely survivors. "It's been....well, an honor." Magnus chuckled. He turned to leave. The three mooks survivors looked at each other....and promptly followed him.

"The thing is..." Leske began. "We don't really have a home....or a town any more. I don't suppose we could tag along with you?"

Magnus' first instinct was to refuse, but he held his tongue and considered it. He supposed it wouldn't hurt. After all, having some minions-err...comrades could be useful. "Very well." he said after a moment. Leske grinned.

"Awesome. So...what exactly happens now?" he asked for all three of them, obviously the spokesperson of the group. Magnus sighed.

"That...will be a bit tricky." he turned to view the other fighters.

Magnus watched the others begin to collect themselves, recovering from the battle in their own ways, be it crying over the loss of their shop or very slowly walking out of town. Either way, the only important thing was that it meant they were distracted.

Good. Magnus would rather not have to deal with another confrontation so soon.

He turned and ducked behind a large building that still seemed in relatively good shape, motioning for his three new followers to....well, follow. They did so, somewhat confused.

Magnus inhaled slowly and held out his arms. "What happens next is my last act in this place. I'm leaving as soon as I can." he muttered. He began chanting under his breath.

The air wavered and a portal began to form. A familiar hissing sound began to come through. Magnus nodded. "Yes, it's over. A bit rougher than anticipated, but the plan can still proceed."

another hiss.

"Alright. Establishing contact now." the portal began to widen.

[Mizagium]

Chase, realizing that nobody was going to strike him down, stood up. With the Mechanist King's army defeated, he would assume Chase had fallen with it. For the first time, he was free to choose what he wanted to do.

He chased after the boy, keeping pace with his rather slow movements.

"I'll come with you, if you don't mind."

The intrigue of seeing the world had him all giddy. Changing back to his mana upgrade, Chase raised his arms in a dramatic fashion, levitating both of them out of the hole, and back into the town.

The sheer destruction was a saddening sight, but when Chase's internal radio clicked on, playing a slightly down beat instrumental song, it helped add some much needed atmosphere to the...uh.

Whatever.

"Well," Chase said, looking at the boy "What now?"

[Mizagium]

Perish was rather perturbed when no wrath was brought down upon her, and the only person that actually appeared sad that the entire town was decimated was one woman.
A rather awkward scenario, considering Perish didn't exactly know what to do now. She wasn't complaining, mind, as the prospect of getting stuck in a box for the next century or two was an incredibly dull one that she'd be glad to miss out on.

At any rate she'd need to figure out what to do now as she no longer desired to follow this crazy King who'd sic a monstrosity like the Clanker on their enemies, as she didn't approve of getting squashed by anyone else's actions.

With a careless shrug Perish climbed to her feet and dusted herself off, knocking some more damaged armour plates off and stretched a few muscles as they regenerated. It was time to find something else to do; maybe she'd try toppling that Chromium tower, or just forget the whole situation altogether.

She wandered over to the woman grieving over her shop and gazed over the wreckage. Perish could probably set up a bunch of undead workers to fix some things but a shop without a town was a pointless endeavour, so she wasn't sure what to do here.

"Well... I'd like to point out that the acid wasn't my idea," Perish said, raising a skeletal finger to raise her point figuratively and literally in more ways than one. Though her finger quickly regenerated not long after.
"Maybe you should stick to caravans, less chance of getting stomped on by an 'invasion'," Perish suggested to Esfir.

[Mizagium]

Samson had dived behind a whirring machine to take cover from the tidal wave of searing acid. Seeing the coast was clear, he stepped warily out. The town was ruined, the scalding acid had destroyed everything in his path. That loudmouthed "lawman" had wiped crime clean from the town, but took most of the town with it.

Samson wanted to care, but the town really meant less than nothing to him. Looking around for his opponent, he realized he must have fled while Samson was distracted.

Samson walked towards a crater in the town wall the acid had made. Without glancing back he slipped out and back into the forest.

[Mizagium]

Esfir looked up at her enemy turned... Something. She sighed and thought over the suggestion. "A mobile shop would be a good idea... That way, if something like this happens again, I can get the hell out." She stretched and groaned. "Girl, have you seen that wretched mage Magnus? He owes me."

She grabbed some cloth that was sturdy enough to be used as bags and began packing any tools and metal she could find. Gears, scraps, parts of the robot army, anything she could get her hands on. Turning back to the girl, Esfir decided that now would be a good enough time to introduce herself. "I am called Esfir Ivanovna Vladimira. What are you called?"

[Mizagium]

The day seemed to be full of miracles, as Perish not only didn't get buried for centuries as punishment, but the only person who seemed to care the town was gone wasn't attempting to take her grief/anger out on Perish! The necromancer was quite surprised.
Though upon her mention of the mage, Perish immediately looked around for her old opponent as though expecting one of those strange sword to pop out of nowhere and impale her. But the mage was no where to be seen either.
She wasn't sure whether she was glad about that.

And then the woman introduced herself and caused Perish to reel back a little as though off balance, before simply nodding in acknowledgement.
"That's quite a mouthful, I just call myself Perish," Perish introduced in turn, gazing around a little awkwardly as she attempted to regenerate her clothes to appear a little more formal, "I haven't got anything to do now that Mr. King decided to treat me like a pawn, so I don't suppose you need a bodyguard or something?"

[Mizagium]

Jeff nodded his greetings to the robot with color-changing abilities. "I had...a vision after the battle. I have to go south and west. There's a place close to the land called Wessos that I have to go to." HE flourished the sword, finding it easier to call upon this time. "These powers showed up when I arrived in this world. During the battle, a voice called to me, promising to reveal their origins." He shrugged. "So I'm going to this place."

After a moment's pause, he considered the robot. "So what about you? What's your story?"

[Mizagium]

The portal widened some more than ceased movement. Magnus lowered his arms, though didn't relax. The portal began to snap into focus, and Magnus could see movement through it. Slowly figures began to take shape.

"Uhh...sir?" Desmond asked hesitantly. Magnus said nothing, keeping his eyes locked on the portal. It began to waver and ripple as something began to come through.

A figure stepped out of the portal. Magnus inhaled sharply and let out a long sigh. "They would send you of all people for this." he said. The man cocked his head to the side in confusion briefly.

"I go where the Council sends me, Magister Magnus." The man said evenly. Magnus could feel the man's stare, even though his eyes were covered by a blindfold.

"Septimus."

"You have performed your task well. The council is pleased."

Magnus snorted. "I couldn't care less how the council feels." Septimus sighed, shaking his head slightly in exasperation. Honestly, Magnus was always such a handful.

"Regardless. The link has been established, and our advanced troops are set to come through." Septimus stepped around his fellow mage and glanced around at the remains of the town. "....I thought there was supposed to be a town here?"

"Er, there was."

"......I see."

Magnus sighed again. Of all the Magisters they could have sent for this, it would be Septimus. Magnus knew it was on purpose too. Those council bastards getting back at him for all the years of insults and semi-harmless pranks. It wasn't that Magnus disliked Septimus overly much. But...

"I'll give the order." Septimus said. He turned and faced the portal briefly, touching his right hand to it.

After a moment he stepped back, and the portal began to waver again. Magnus stepped out of the way, his three new followers doing the same. After a long moment, waves of black-armored soldiers began to pour out.

The Northyros invasion army took it's first step onto Centros soil.

[Mizagium]

"Ahem," Leon nervously cleared his throat as he eyed a few more people stepping onto the land of Centros. "That's probably my cue to leave. I probably shouldn't be here, lest I end up bringing myself into more trouble!" Leon took a moment to recall all the battles and wars he had been in (only a few of them having been his fault) and decided that he would steer clear of any major conflict for the time being. He proceeded to recall all of the injuries he had received during those battles, reaffirming his decision.

"Wait up!" Leon called out to Jeff, struggling to catch up with his agonizingly slow pace. "I have decided I will accompany you and help you on this origin finding journey of yours." Without giving an explanation (or even an introduction), Leon began to walk by Jeff's side with relative haste, eager to leave the town before anything bad worse could happen.

[Mizagium]

Phase found himself waking up on a makeshift bed of cloth on the ground, covered in a blanket. His head felt like it'd been set on fire, especially at the point right above his left ear, where his horn had been grafted on. The last thing he remembered was getting crushed by a giant Metal Foot right after throwing Jeff. A few dozen other people were lying around him in similar conditions, A few IV drips distributed here and there. Break was arguing with a man in a white labcoat not too far away.

It wasn't hard for him to piece together what happened.

Carefully, he stood up, and only then found out how much getting crushed would actually hurt. He walked over to Break, his (mostly shattered) bones cracking with every step.

"It's nice to see you're back, Phase," said Break rather nonchalantly. "Pay up, Doctor." she gestured towards man in the labcoat. Begrudgingly, he dropped a few coins in breaks hand and walked away to examine a patient.

"Did I miss anything?" Phase asked.

"Only the best parts. The Kid took down The Clanker, there was a Bone Dragon, The town got flooded in acid. It was pretty fun, actually," Break said with a small, fake grin on her face. Truthfully, she thought everything had been quite twisted, actually, like looking at gory pictures. She tried not to dwell on it too much.

Phase sighed. "Just my luck. So, where's my sword?" He asked.

"It got lost. I suppose you'll have to get another one." Break took a look around her. By looting the towns small clinic, and clearing a small area, she'd managed to set up an improvised hospital among the rubble. She counted herself lucky to have found a doctor among the towns escapees, but couldn't help but feel a bit proud at what she'd done.

"Let's get out of here," She added. "Let's join up with that kid and that girl with the guns and follow them until we get something figured out. Sound good?"

"...Whatever," Phase answered.

With that, the pair left behind the Doctor and headed towards Parish and Esfir, who were the closest.

"Hey, you people! Do you mind if we Tag Along?" Break asked the group.

[Mizagium]

Chase paused, unsure how to answer. Nobody had really asked him such a question before.

"Well, I'm a creation of the Mechanist King. I don't think he'll miss me." he kicked a nearby rock, agitated by the thought.

"I'm not sure what to do now. He obviously didn't care about my me, so going back would be...dumb. I figure I follow you, we could have some cool adventures. I've always wanted to see the world anyway."

His mood brightened, he turned to walk away.

"I didn't catch your name, I'm Chase."

He wasn't used to dealing with people. Or conversations.

[Mizagium]

Esfir glanced at Perish, then to the newcomers and sighed. "I do not care if you join me and my new... Comrade. But there is one condition." She looked at all three of them, making sure they knew she was serious. "I will need you to assist in making a mobile shop. And quickly, as it seems Comrade Jeff is going to leave soon, and I am not sure whom I wish to follow. Or if I will go somewhere else." As an afterthought, she added, "Can one of you track down the other magic user and either bring me the money he owes me, or bring him to me so I may beat him with my wrench."

She scowled but immediately began to work on a beaten up wagon she had found. It would do until she was able to get her hands on more supplies. Using the spare parts from some of the robot army, she was able to create a makeshift engine that would allow the wagon to move. Looking at the other three, she asked "What are you waiting for? The return of the Tsar andTsarina? Get moving."

[Mizagium]

Perish, as a necromancer, had the privilege of being lazy when ordered to do manual labour and legwork since she could just create mindless minions to do the job for her. It was quite a perk really, as some things just got very old when one lived for such an incredibly long time.
Without moving much, Perish managed to conjure a pair of skeletons and a dozen floating skulls the size of a fist. The skeletons did the lifting and carrying, the skulls zoomed off to latch onto anything with a magical signature.

These skulls weren't fanged so their omnivorous teeth probably wouldn't even break the skin, but they'd sure as heck be annoying to shake off; they had a simple directive of chasing down anyone magical and chomping on them -simply to hold onto them rather than attempting to attack them.

"Not sure about the wisdom of tracking down that mage..." Perish muttered mostly to herself, "Our last engagement could have transpired into a mess if not for the Clanker."

[Mizagium]

"Jeffrey Valentine," he greeted. "But, Jeff is fine. Hang on. I think Esfir and that necro girl are coming with us." He stopped and turned around, waving at hand at the mechanic. "Hey there, need a hand with that?"

-

Elsewhere, a shiny knight in light blue armor stepped onto Centrosi soil. He stretched his limbs, hearing the armor clink against itself. His mace dangled heavily at his belt and his shield was strapped to his back. Zelmon observed the land. Somehow he had thought that coming from Essos to Centros would feel...different.

Alas. Things were not as different as he had thought.

"Now then...Where do I go from here?"

[Mizagium]

Magnus was slightly taken back by just how many soldiers were pouring through the portal. There were hundreds, possibly thousands by now. He recognized a few of the Magisters that led the battalions, but his main focus was on Septimus.

"You've moved up in the world if the Council put you in charge of this whole thing." he said dryly. Septimus didn't respond, instead watching -a rather odd thing to do since his eyes were covered- as the troops began to assemble.

Finally the portal wavered and closed, as the last of the troops stepped into Centros.

Now Septimus spoke. "We have successfully infiltrated Centros! We need to move quickly, the Mechanist King will no doubt learn of our presence here soon. Sweep the remains of the town. Set up a perimeter and contain any of the civilians left."

The troops moved to obey, streaming through the buildings and occupying what remained of Heroes' Refuge.

Magnus just sighed and turned away. "Leske, Desmond, Ash, we're leaving." his new followers nodded and set off after the mage as he began to walk away.

"Where are you going, Magnus?" Septimus' voice made Magnus pause.

"I've done my job, your invasion can proceed. Now i'm leaving. I have no desire to work alongside any other magisters."

"Your help would be very much appreciated here." Septimus didn't relent.

"Too bad. Besides, the others will probably be thrilled that they won't have to put up with me." Magnus snorted. Septimus paused. Well....that was true.

"Still." he insisted. "We...I could use your aid."

Magnus sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I'm not your master anymore, Septimus. You're a full blown Magister now. Do it yourself."

Without waiting for a reply, Magnus left, stepping around the corner back towards Esfir's shop. Surprisingly -or, perhaps not so surprisingly- she was still there. Along with the necromancer. Oh joy. Magnus cleared his throat to get their attention as he walked over. "Well..uh, sorry about the shop?" he grinned sheepishly. "More importantly, we should probably get out of here." Even as he said that, Northyros troops were beginning to make their way into the square.

[Mizagium]

"Comrade Jeff! I would love help! Load anything that is usable into the wagon: food, weapons, fuel, ammo, anything of value really." Esfir finished her work on the wagon she turned into a makeshift car and started the engine, nodding her head in approval. She then spotted Magnus and stormed over to him. Jabbing him in the chest, she said "You! You owe me! I should beat you until all your bones are broken and..."

That was when she saw many armored soldiers coming from an alley. She looked at the soldiers, then back to Magnus. "I have feeling you are involved with them." She glared, jabbed him once more, then turned on her heel and jogged to the wagon. "We discuss this later, magic user! Right now, I do not like the look of those soldiers."

[Mizagium]

Perish shrunk a little when the mage returned, absently calling off her mage-seeking skulls and hoping the mage didn't decide to start another magic-slinging match, attempting to look like she belonged there whilst overseeing her skeletons carry things to the strange-looking wagon.

"I can agree with that," Perish replied to Esfir's remark about the soldiers as she too was kind of staring at the people pouring out of the building, "Last time I was in a war I got melted..."

She floated over and sat in the wagon to wait, still monitoring her skeletons as they tirelessly worked to find anything of use and carry it back. At least serving on a merchant caravan would be significantly more pleasant than whatever war might've brought, and there'd be far less chance of her encountering vast quantities of acid.