World Tree MUSH

    The city of Meridian in the Kingdom of Carja is a monument to the amazing building skills of the Carja people. Though primitive in dress - not to mention literal sun worshippers - it is a popular site for those who wander through, as their architectural techniques are far in advance of what their other technology would hint at. In this land, robotic creatures wander the landscape, performing strange tasks but largely not seeking out human habitation... even if they sometimes get very aggressive when interrupted. It's still a very blossoming land, full of wild nature more than civilization.

    Not far from the tall spire housing Meridian, villages dot the fertile valley nestled in the desert landscape. Farmers make their living here, and they've had a surprisingly rainy season. Fortunately the aforementioned skill at building means that aqueducts, dams, and resevoirs are plentiful, and few villages are in danger of anything more than minor flooding. Normally.

    Vines are dropping more regularly of late, hinting that something is up. That something seems to be happening now, as a plume of an explosion has occurred in the distance... near a dam. This has let loose tons of water to roar down the channels toward some of the villages. Most have drainage and embankments to avoid damage... but not all of these have been finished, and one village in particular is in incredible danger.

    A danger made all the worse by the mist from the cascading water parting, revealing the massive form of a robotic creature like an elongated T-Rex. Its lighting courses with red, and atop the being, a humanoid figure, blurred and shadowy, is /riding/ somehow. It too is headed for the village.

                            "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"                            

    Streaking in from Stage Right, despite there not actually being a stage right, is a jet-propelled figure in a vest and a pair of pants with some sandals on. He leaves in his wake a trail of ruby-red flames after him as he goes right in for the Thunderjaw's... well... for its Jaw! 

    Natsu has no particular reason to be here other than his own wanderlust and his ongoing quest to try to find more members of Fairy Tail. Still, the Dragon Slayer is not one to sit idly by and watch a village get trampled by a rampaging monster! He might charge them later, like any good monster-slaying Wizard would, but for now the focus is on helping people! And he estimates himself a pretty powerful combat presence and probably way more equipped to deal with this monster than the average villagers or hunters in the nearby village. 

    As his fist makes impact with the monster, he grins widely, "Hey you big jerk! Why don't you focus on me instead of those other people! See if you can choke down a dragon, big guy!"

    Meridian isn't HER home, but it is A home for Aloy. She has a house there! And the Sun King keeps trying to get her to become queen. Yeah, flattered, but no thanks. It does serve as a convenient base to stage exploration from though, so Aloy is here pretty often... and seeing the explosion in the distance, she knew something was up. That isn't a normal event here in the Carja lands.

    What can Aloy do to help? Well she COULD attack the Thunderjaw, but... someone is already doing that. This gives her breathing room to try something else! That is, she's going to be heading for a herd of Striders, while tapping on her Focus. "Hello? Anyone nearby who can pick up on this thing? We have a problem with a village in danger." Might as well try to coordinate...

    And in the meantime, Overridden Striders, horselike robots with nimble footing, are galloping into the village, offering mounts to the villagers to help the evacuation.

    Once again YoRHa units 2B and 9S are on their assigned mission to scout out other worlds on the Tree. Once again they begin their search for possible locations for the humans of earth, living on the moon, to migrate to in the event that the planet can not be reclaimed from the machine lifeforms.
    Their quest leads them to Carja.
    "Wow, 2B. I didn't know humans could engineer or design cities like THIS." 9S says, looking awed even from behind his blindfold. "And I hear they worship the sun here too. How weird is that?" He says, probably earning him a dirty look from a local or two.
    "Yeah." 2B replies, non-committal, as she surveys the city and its people. "... It's kind of beautiful." She murmurs under her breath.
    "What was that, 2B?"
    "Nothing."
    Sadly their wanderings and musings do not last long when the hear the explosion. The androids turn their attention in the direction of the dam in unison.
    2B frowns. "That can't be good." 
    "That's not good at all." 9S confirms when he sees the mounted mechanical T-rex heading towards the nearby village.
    In an instant the YoRHa units are sprinting.
    "Hey! All you humans need to leave! Now!" 9S shouts, waving his arms frantically in an attempt to get people to start moving away while they move toward the source of the problem.
    That Thunderjaw.

    Wizards have a knack for finding trouble. It would seem today, Li-Ming is no exception. Having wandered the entanglement of vines somewhat it's by pure chance that she arrives and with scarcely any time to take in the situation as an explosion looms in the distance.

    "Of course, yet another crisis." There's the unmistakable rumble of an onrushing flood as well as that of a huge, charging beast. Decisions! Though it would appear that the charge has been met already, she breaks into a run to join the fray and offers a warning shout, "Beware, young man!" She pulls back an arm as if to throw something, then swings her balled fist down.

    There's a moment delay, hopefully enough to let Natsu stand clear and less hopefully offer the mechanized beast and rider a chance to slip away. Just a moment later, though, the rumble of water and violence is joined as a firey missile roars into being and streaks down from above toward the thunderjaw. On impact, it happily explodes.

    Well... the people are in for a treat. Thunderjaws are dangerous, and it makes a strange mechanical 'roar' noise as it stomps toward the nearest embankment, trying to make the situation WORSE. It's a good thing that someone stepped in to stall it! Or flew in, here. A flaming fist SLAMS into the head of the mechanical monster, jarring it to the side and sending laser bolts blasting into the side of a rocky outcropping instead. Just as it is swinging the head up though, a fiery bolt blasts into the side, making the massive frame shudder and stumble. It's also on fire right now, which can't be good!

    That was a hell of an impact, but the tail whips around, slapping toward Natsu. At the same time, a shadowy lance is hurled by the figure on the back toward Li-Ming, the two operating in tandem to take down these threats. But... for the time being this has kept them from making the situation worse.

    9S is trying to rally the villagers, who are confused and hurrying to gather things while some are not sure where to go. Fortunate for them, the Striders trample through and shake, waiting for riders. Some get the idea, and with 9S waving them toward higher ground... well, it STARTS to get organized. Mobility and guidance, but 9S being a very strange stranger isn't helping things.

    The rumble of the water is approaching... very fast. Oh dear.

    The impact of a tail whipping around at him cleanly connects with Natsu. It sends him sailing backwards, rotating in the air as he tries to course-correct himself. Luckily, after a few moments, a blue blur with a pair of white wings zips by and grabs Natsu by the back of the shirt, "Hey! Happy! Nice catch!" 

    "Aye!" The cat calls back happily, flapping its wings and helping Natsu to right himself in the air. 

    "Take me back around over him!" Natsu calls out before Happy swings around, carrying Natsu high up into the air and floating in a circle over the Thunderjaw. 

    "Alright guy! Take this!" 

    Natsu inhales a deep breath, fire rippling around his body as he does so. 

                              "Fire Dragon Roar."                                

    A column of fire that less resembles a dragon roar and more looks like a flaming orbital laser descends upon the Thunderjaw and the person riding it. The sheer force of it is enough to crater the ground around it. The heat and flame is enough that it can actually melt the ground and stone itself from the force and blowback of the flames. 

    And all of it is directed at the Thunderjaw. 

    Eventually, after a solid 15 seconds or so, it subsides and Natsu slowly closes his mouth. Smoke pours from the corners of it and coronas of flame still ripple in the wake of the attack.

    9S isn't that strange! Is he? He's just an android in the shape of a young boy, yelling that humans need to leave, now. Okay maybe that is a little strange, but the two androids and their pods aren't stopping to really help with the evacuation much beyond that.
    They're going for the giant machine dinosaur to do what they know best.
    2B's katana is drawn and ready. So is 9S'. And they rush the dinosaur and realize they aren't the only ones doing so.
    "--You're here." 2B recognizes Natsu. And Li-Ming as well. But now isn't the time for pleasantries. "9S... Do something about the machine." She orders her Scanner unit.
    "Got it-- Everyone! I'm going to hack the machine and try to lower it's defenses!" He annonces as his Pod floats to his side. He rests a hand on the floating boxy construct and begins to focus, attempting to breach the Thunderjaw's circuitry remotely and cause it as much internal damage as he can.

    The others are going after that Thunderjaw, and Aloy could help them! She looks pained, "The launchers on its sides are dangerous! Watch out for the tail when it finishes shooting!" Calling a little help is all she can do, because she resolves to get these people out first. The group going after the Thunderjaw are keeping it busy and don't seem about to die, but with them so distracted, there's no hope of diverting the water.

    The village might not survive.

    "This way! You and you, take those striders! You three, head that way, not here! Make a line! Tear down the gate, it will give us another exit!" Aloy leaps up where 9S was shouting, using her reputation in the kingdom, and her analysis of the patterns people were following, to try to guide the evacuation faster.

    Lovely. The meteor connected but it only seems to have annoyed the huge mechanized beast. Although setting it on fire certainly isn't the worst possible outcome. The retort comes, though, and she's sent scrambling to ensure her clearance from the beastlike war machine's tail swipe. Which puts her right in the rider's line of sight.

    She does her best to mount a defense, a shield crystalizing in the air to steal some of the shadowy projectile's energy and at least stop it from leaving a mortal wound as it connects. She'd spare a glance for Natsu but anyone that can punch a massive creature in the face and stop it charging will probably be fine. Right? Whatever the case, she points with her right fist and cups her gauntleted hand behind that, as much to shield her eyes as to help shape the beam of arcane violence she directs to the rider. While she's not immediately pinpoint accurate as she steers the shrieking red beam, it's not strictly necessary when there's little to no possibility of accidentally disintegrating an unintended target.

    Her beam is quickly joined by Natsu's tremendous fire attack and soon 2B has also arrived. She turns her head and lifts a chin toward the familiar blindfolded warrior. "Do you need a clear path to the rider?" You know. Since she's channeling a dangerous murderbeam she might like to know if she needs to present a window for an attack.

    These things are TOUGH! The Thunderjaw stomps right through the flames Natsu is hurling, seemingly unaffect- wait, no. It's glowing red in places, and sparks are flying. Internal fires are burning, and it's definitely taking on damage, letting out a roar in a mimicry of pain. A foot stomps close, and a wide spread of lasers tries to catch Natsu and Li-Ming. Glitching pulses run through it from 9S trying to disoriennt the robotic creature, and finally the disc launchers fire... slamming into the ground to harm nothing of import.

    The flames caught Bellerophon as well, who shrieks angrily before the beam connects. Between the two, the rider is staggered, sliding down his mount. Since the Thunderjaw is ON FIRE and shedding plating now, it stops heading toward the village in favor of just chasing after Natsu. Bad for Natsu, but good for the village!

    The water isn't slowing though, is it? This is bad. Aloy is hurrying to clear the village, and after some initial confusion, a more swift evacuation occurs, as people start to leave behind their belongings.

    "Natsu! The Water!" Shouts the cat on his back, "Stop fighting and save the people!" 

    "AUGH! RIGHT! Happy! Take me around!" 

    Happy, like an ace fighter pilot, weaves and ducks between blasts of lasers in the air. With the Thunderjaw following him, Happy and Natsu dip around towards the incoming rush of water. 

    "Ugh. Rushing water! What'm I, Gray?" Natsu grumbles as he looks down at it. Gray... or Juvia... or even Lucy would all be better candidates to full-on Halt the water. Natsu is, unfortunately, only going to be marginally effective. But he will do what we can. 

                              "Fire Dragon Roar."                                

    Natsu takes another deep breath and then exhales another massive blast of fire. This time, it is directed towards the rushing water to try to slam into it and vaporize it into clouds of steam in an instant as he rakes the massive blast of fire up along the length of the incoming water to try to hold it at bay for a bit.

    Does she need a clear path to the rider?
    How so desperately 2B wants to say 'yes' to Li-Ming right now, but in the midst of hacking, 9S looks up.
    "2B! The water! The village! The humans." The Scanner calls out. And for the first time in all her experience as a machine made for war, the Battle unit hesitates.
    Though she keeps moving on her feet to evade any reprisal from the Thunderjaw, she...
    Chooses to let it go after Natsu.
    2B's entire feelings on this situation can be boiled down succintly to a single curse.
    "Damn it."
    The android hisses, clenching her blade tightly. "Pod! Do something!"
    [Analyzing.] The boxy construct says before it presents her with an idea. [Through use of this pod unit's FFCS, a means of diverting the water can be achieved.]
    "Do it!"
    [Affirmative.]
    This is when both pods swoop away from the Thunderjaw. One pod splits open and reveals a mini gatling gun- which it starts to use to mulch the earth and try to form a channel for water to go. While the other pod forms a massive hammer out of hard light and starts pummeling holes into the ground for water to flow into.

    Oh, good. Natsu and 2B are delaying the water, giving the village another few precious minutes it looks like. Aloy isn't sure how to move things more quickly though. In frustration, she taps her Focus... and gets an idea. Scanning the area she sees some of the explosive flame cannisters stored outside the village... and what they are near.

    In one smooth motion, she draws and fires a flame arrow, setting the cannister to explode upward... and toppling the wall, forming a ramp upward. This won't save the village at all, but it does give an easy and swift trek to the top of the rock, providing another evacuation opportunity via the terrain.

    While doing her best to avoid being scorched, blinded or worse by the spread of lasers from the Thunderjaw, Li-Ming continues to press her assault against the rider for a few beats until Natsu and his familiar break away. Along with the enraged, superheated machine-beast. "Troublesome beast, just die!"

    With everyone else set on helping in other ways, she keeps on the heels of the robot saurian, though as she gives chase, slowly losing ground, she changes her approach. "Apologies, but make a path!" She stops throwing deadly red death beams around and begins conjuring a series of small, localized clouds of pounding hail and sleet. Nominally, to twist and torture the heated armor hide of the Thunderjaw but mostly, her aim is to lay a slick, treacherous path to perhaps make it lose precious footing. Perhaps it may even land in the riverbed and offer precious mass to help stem the flooding - if briefly.

    The Thunderjaw has a chance to recover... sort of. Bellerophon leaps back to the top, steering the beast back toward the village, only to encounter a sudden hailstorm befitting recent Georgia weather patterns! The creature makes a throaty rumble as it tries to charge forward, and ends up faceplanting in the dirt, with a wrenching sound of plating tearing off!

    Bellerophon doesn't take this sitting down, turning another lance toward Li-Ming. The nephilim gets that dark spear sent streakinng toward her while the Thunderjaw precariously rises. Now it is cold, muddy, and ON FIRE.

    The channels dug in are going to help... when the water reaches them. It is delayed by a sudden explosion of steam! Not only are hundreds of gallons instantly evaporated, but that tiny speck compared to the tons of water behind it has a much more significant effect... the sudden expansion roiling out, causing a splattering wave that diverts the stream. It comes back together eventually... but goes the long way around, and is slowed by the indentation the 'explosion' caused.

    And the village suddenly has another option! The children and some of the less athletic are quickly filling up this space, but that's not a problem, is it?

    "YOU TWO!" Aloy calls out to 2B and 9S. She leaps atop a house. "Go through the houses to make sure nobody was left behind, I'll finish evacuating the stragglers!" She turns toward Natsu. "Fire man! See that rock formation? BLAST IT! It will slow the water a little more! Then go back to the Thunderjaw, it hates fire!"

    Finally she turns to wave the stragglers toward safety. "The rest of you follow me!" She just hopes Li-Ming can hold off the other two until Natsu arrives to help again.

    "You got it!" Natsu says to Aloy as he cracks his knuckles, "Happy! Drop me now!" 

    "Aye, sir!" Obligingly, the blue cat lets Natsu go and then soars higher to get to a safe altitude. Natsu is sent plummeting towards the ground at a massive speed. Specifically towards the rock formation that Aloy pointed out. As he descends towards it, his body coats in flames, making him look more like a falling meteor than a person. 

                            "Fire Dragon Sword Horn"                             

    With a descending headbutt and a subsequent explosion, Natsu slams forehead-first into the rock formation to send it tumbling and flying down into a ravine to create a dam for the water. 

    He stands up after this looking... absolutely uninjured. Which is surprising for a dude that just headbutt a bunch of boulders.

    [Analysis: This is not working.] Pod 042 says in his smooth masculine tone.
    [This pod concurs.] Pod 153 says in her lighter feminine voice.
    [Suggestion: Break off from current attempts and further aid in the evactuation.]
    [Agreed.]
    Between that assessment and Aloy calling out to them, 2B and 9S exchange a glance."Go. Do it." 2B orders the pods, before the androids break off from the Thunderjaw. 2B blitzes in a sprint, hitting top speed in no time, despite wearing heels, and starts darting from house to house while 9S and the pods... Kind of eat her dust.

    Now it's properly chaotic. Not in a good way, Li-Ming muses as she continues her relentless push on the attacking robot dinosaur. Whatever comes of it, she can't let it interfere with the evacuation or the work 2B and Natsu are doing to help with the water. Her face sets with grim satisfaction as her efforts pay off and the massive not-beast finally loses control and crashes into a heap.

    Though the storm of pelting ice persists, the area it covers is scarcely large enough to cover the rider and mount. Easily escapable with enough traction, at least! As she prepares to follow up, the rider's throw is sudden enough that her hurried defense is only enough to keep the lance from directly striking flesh. The armor protecting her left arm rings and she hisses, fingers going numb from the blow.

    She may actually need someone to have a look at that later.

    "Coward. What is your aim, attacking this place?" She doesn't advance, instead starting to circle as she separates into three identical copies. Though she hopes the rider may be fooled, she's not so certain the mount will even react to her two mirror images. "You have failed, fool. Now begone!" She pantomimes another throw and after another short pause, the air is split with the roar of a shower of fiery projectiles, each considerably smaller than the meteor from earlier in the fight.

    And down Natsu goes. Not fallen in battle, but SLAMMING INTO A ROCK to cause the wave of water to splash against it, redirect, and then back on the original course... delayed another fraction. Of course there's less of it too, because Natsu is burning so hot steam is rolling away from where the water nears him, too, making for an intimidating effect.

    Maybe this helps Li-Ming, because it means the rider has to think for a moment about incoming support. He's still in decent condition, but the Thunderjaw is shedding plating and even showing some internal damage, limping some as it rights itself. The mirror images do appear to help though, as a disc launcher fires and blasts... right through one of the images. It's Bellerophon who sees how little of the villagers are left in there, and grunts softly, "You have saved them." He doesn't sound upset at this, merely stating a fact. Kicking the plate behind him, the Thunderjaw creaks into a withdrawal, smoking and limping toward the horizon.

    With Aloy's help, the stragglers are rounded up, and 2B finds a huddled few in two different houses to usher them out. The villagers have one of their own speak up, "I think we can handle it from here, there aren't many left. Go!" She waves to 2B and Aloy to get out of there. The wall of water is approaching rapidly, and will flatten the homes... but though it will be cutting things close, it looks like no lives will be lost.

    Aloy nods, leaping onto a Strider. "Sorry we couldn't save the village itself, but where there's life... there's hope." Her eyes narrow. "Looks like we have a Thunderjaw to hunt." She kicks the Strider into motion, galloping it up toward Li-Ming and hopefully to rendezvous with the others.

    "Thanks for the help," she says, as soon as everyone is about. "I have a place in Meridian if you need to relax after this. I'm going to take these villagers to the next town for them to have a safe spot to rest, then plan on hunting down that Thunderjaw."

    Were it not for other pressing matters, the wizard would pursue this mysterious antagonist. Counting herself lucky that one of the disc weapons slams through one of her illusions, causing a sudden but brief scream to issue forth before that copy vanishes. Time to move!

    Just as she's about to wind up for a teleport, Aloy rides up. She's grimy and wet, looks more than a little wound up but a nod goes out in greeting. "Hail, friend."

    Once everyone's together, she flexes the fingers of her left hand and grimaces. "Agreed. Do you know what or who that was? The rider seemed oddly calm about being foiled. Another machine?"

    Aloy shakes her head, "No... I don't think so. I haven't seen anything like that." She pats her mount. "I will ask Avad, maybe he has heard something. Or Nils. I don't think the rider was from this world, he didn't seem like anything I've met."

    Li-Ming frowns, "Nor I, not quite." Though a shadowy figure is alarmingly similar to some things she's familiar with. Though certainly not astride some manner of mechanical beast. Headshake. "I'll remain for the time being. Perhaps there will be something more to do here."