World Tree MUSH

    It was always the same after a Catastrophe. The sky lingered as an angry colour for sometimes months after the event, initially a blood red like the clouds, but eventually just a permanent and hazy orange. Supposedly it was something to do with originium particles in the air, or dust, or... Something? Lappland had never really been one to pay attention to the ~science~, in the end. In fact, right now she isn't even one to pay attention to what's going on in the ATV she's in. You see, she has fallen asleep in her seat, just so happening to be beside a certain nervous Feline. Not only has she dozed off, despite the rumble of the ATV crossing the dusty barrens, but she has ended up leaning into Jessica's shoulder in a thoroughly inelegant fashion, cheek squished in and mouth slightly open with fangs visible. She seems content, at least!
    To be fair to the wolf, she doesn't need to prepare as much as anyone else might, being that she has swords rather than guns, and the journey towards the ruins of Chernobog give plenty of time to prepare. Rhodes Island itself is not far from the deployment zone, acting as a warning to anyone wishing to come within range... Although it's quite quiet. Most avoid the ruins of Catastrophe-stricken cities due to the taboo of certain things, which means the only thing the little salvage team will have to deal with... Are things that used to be citizens.

    There are ways to protect against oripathy. Simple masks and protective wear suffice when a Catrostrophe is not actually happening! Usually, even less is needed, but in situations like this a mask is a good idea, even if it isn't strictly necessary. Not that Jessica is wearing a filter yet, because she's in the ATV! With... a wolfgirl leaning on her. A known violent wolfgirl. The tiny feline Ancient is trying very hard not to move, looking awkward and embarrassed but...nobody wants to wake her up from a nap.

    Jessica just happened to be where Lappland ended up snoozing, probably.

    Rubbing her neck, Jessica mumbles, "Um... we're almost there." Meek and quiet, at least at first, trying to rouse Lappland without too much disruption. In the meantime, she cranes her neck to try to look out the viewport to see who else might be here.

    Well, if a mask is sufficient, then a bandana around the face should also work! This is the thing that Josuke has chosen to do to protect himself. He's wearing that brown outfit -- brown V-neck sweater/pants and the lime green turtleneck. And of course, the blue bandana tied over his nose and mouth. Also gloves and pair of his usual Bally's loafers, both brown.

    He's here on a motorcycle -- one that he actually didn't steal this time, wonder of wonders; there's the SPW symbol on the gas tank. He's been asked to take some pictures of the place, and make some observations -- he's not here for any of the stuff that could be looted.

    There's a figure trudging her way in the general direction of the ruins with a bandanna wrapped around her mouth, a figure with a robotic left arm and leg, wearing light armor and elbow- and knee-pads. A figure with a high-tech five-foot-long curved sword on her back, with a gleaming white blade with a black edge, and mint-green running lights. A figure wearing dorky glasses and dragging along a wheeled sports-bag bearing a logo of a mountain and the text "Monadnock A.G."

    "Yes, wearing that bandana is definitely a good idea," says the sword; it has an electronic girl's voice. "The particulate matter in the air definitely has something nasty in it."

    Lex nods. "Yeah, I pretty much figured," she says. "We definitely need to see if there's any survivors of whatever just happened here, and all that!"

    "Up to you," Lightshard 18 replies. "Hang on, there's a couple of different vehicles converging up ahead."

    "Ah!" Lex turns, and picks up her pace, making her way in the same direction as Josuke and the Rhodes Island ATV.

    Thankfully, Lappland has ever been a 'light' sleeper. That is to say, despite being able to sleep through the rumble of the ATV's movement, she's still able to wake from even the meek voice of someone like Jessica; she's tuned to rouse if she hears a voice, among other things. Despite thiss, her waking is as inelegant as her nap was, eyes blearily opening as she blinks, "Mmmuh?" comes the initial response, before she straightens up and rubs her face with a hand. "Oh. Right. Damnit. We're on a mission. Here I was dreaming I was just using a cute girl as a pillow." Grumble. Yet there's a certain hint of a smile that indicates this is partially put-on... Just to tease Jessica, of course.
    Whatever is going on in the back of the ATV, the signal that their insertion point is near chimes, and Lappland ends up yaaawning mightly before checking to make sure she's all in check. "Mm. Cool... Roving through junk for a few hours. Guess it's an excuse to shower when we get back." Of course, a second chime sounds out a few moments later, and the wolf perks! Going up to the pilots, she... Flashes a grin. "Oh, hey! Jess! Look! Dumbasses out in the barrens! Should we shoot them, or pick them up and leave them inside Chernobog?"

    Phew. Jessica definitely looks relieved when Lappland wakes up, but... poor cat is always teased and bullied! The wolf's words make her blush and get all flustery, trying to distract herself by buckling up her jacket and tugging her mask on. "Hn!"

    But in another second she has to speak up. "Huh? Wait no, don't shoot just everyone! Maybe they're lost or seeking help or... um..." Or just dumb. The idea that they are offworlders and wouldn't no any better doesn't hit Jessica yet, but the mercenary does know her clients. "I'm... pretty sure the Doctor or Amiya might get a little upset if we just started shooting people without talking to them first! Maybe they're refugees from Ursus."

    She also knows Lappland though, and just to make her feel better, she adds, "But if they're leftover Ursus forces then I guess you can do what you want." Meek and nice? Yes, Jessica is those things. But she doesn't much like Chernobog.

    Josuke's just sort of snapping pictures with a small disposable camera (he doesn't quite know how to work one of those sophisticated cameras) -- the sky, the ground, the terrain, etc. What he's doing seems to be pretty harmless. Though as the ATV and Lex head closer to the area, he turns to take a picture of that too. Because why not?

    Though after he takes a couple pictures of the vehicle, he puts the camera in a pocket and goes to meet the vehicle. He's unarmed, which becomes visible when he raises his hand to wave at the ATV. And to Lex, too!

    Lex waves back to Josuke, and changes her course to head more directly towards him. "HEY!" she calls out, her voice sounding markedly scratchy and androgynous. She stumbles slightly as she gets closer, but quickly regains her balance. "Uh. Hi?" she says, in a slightly more normal tone. "I, uh. Wandered through the wrong Vine, kind of thing, or something. I'm Lex Brando. Any idea, uh, what's going on?"

    Her sword speaks up. "Lex was wondering what sort of disaster occurred here," she says, "and whether there was anyone in need of rescue. I'm Lightshard 18, by the way."

    Huff. Teasing as she was, being so swiftly struck down is still going to make even Lappland a little huffy. Yet Jessica does manage to soothe her with that suggestion, earning the Feline a grin and a wag of her tail~! "Okay, okay. Fine. We should probably swing by and check these people out, though." The fact they could be offworlders hasn't occured to the Lupo either, but then... She hasn't really made an effort to explore the rest of the new opportunities available to her, yet. Patting the shoulder of the one driving, she directs them to swing by Lex and Josuke's position before heading to their disembark... Could thing Josuke has the sense to approach! As he gets closer, Lappland perks. "Hey, look! Isn't that one of the ones that tried to steal from us that one time? Ehehe~! Vengeance!" Lex's presence alongside Josuke does not seem to factor into things, because... Well. She wasn't one of those thieves...!

    "Oh no," Jessica has less of a grudge, because she knows Josuke is an offworlder... and Lex likely is too! The catgirl sighs into her mask, but keeps her gun out, the pistol at the ready even if she isn't waving it at Lex and Josuke. Looks like the meek one will need to speak up here!

    "What are you two doing out here?" She says in a clearly worried tone. "Chernobog was destroyed in a Catastrophe!" Though she hasn't quite gotten used to the idea that other people may not know that's a Capital C. "It's really not safe!" She gestures to the massive city on treads not too far off.

    "Hi!" Josuke greets Lex. The stumble is noted, and he makes to move to assist her. Though once she rights herself, he relaxes. The introduction is offered, and he returns, "My name's Josuke! Good to meet you!" He's a friendly sort, isn't he?

    As for what's going on? "I'm not really sure..." he begins. The sword suddenly speaks, and Josuke's eyes go a bit wide. "Oh wow... your sword talks?" Though he did understand it, so he notes, "I'm not really sure. I just know something big happened here, and the area's really messed up." He points up at the sky. "It's not like this everywhere, I don't think. Just this particular area, whatever happened really screwed this place up something fierce."

    He looks up then as Jessica calls out -- he's unaware what Lappland's thinking. "Huh?" Yeah, none of those names or words are ones he's heard before, at least not in this context. He pulls out the camera, indicates it. "My boss just wants me to take pictures of the area, that's all," he explains.

    Lex smiles to Josuke, though it's not visible behind her bandana. "Yeah, we saw this in the distance, and Lightshard 18 didn't detect anything too radioactive, so we decided to come and look," she says.

    "No, I don't talk," says Lightshard 18, trying and not entirely succeeding at keeping the amusement out of her voice.

    Lex nods to Jessica when she and Lappland greet them. "And I just kind of stumbled in here when a Vine got redirected or whatever," she says. She pauses at that warning. "What kind of catastrophe?" she asks, on cue.

    "And why do you pronounce the capital C?" asks Lightshard 18.

    "Because it's a magical radioactive shitshow that literally annihilated a city on wheels," Lappland responds as the ATV's ramp deploys and gives the offworlders a method of entry. "Iii remember you from that battle with Reunion," she wold says, addressing Josuke. "Are you going to try stealing more crap from us?" Squint. "Only reason I don't kick your ass now is it'd upset the cat!" Does... Does she mean Jessica with that? This seems to be confirmed as Lappland glances at her and flashes a smile toothy smile. "We could leave them inside the ATV, Jess. Or drag them with us into Chernobog. Some extra hands wouldn't hurt, riiiight?"

    Taking pictures? Jessica's ears flatten at being asked her opinion on things, putting her on the spot. "Umn..." Well... "If he wants to take pictures, there are still places that don't think Catastrophes happen! It'd be good to have them know what's going on here!" So that's approval for Josuke at least. Lex... might be along for the ride, but a talking sword is unusual enough to have her staring while she tries to figure out how to make this not break out into violence right away.

    Better answer her question. "A... Catastrophe. Originium fell from the sky and ruined the city. They knew it was coming, I don't really understand..." She sighs, then remembers Lex might not know what she's talking about. "It's a kind of toxic mineral? So um, here I think we might have a spare mask. It's pretty okay if you don't touch it directly but there's some in the air in the bad spots." She looks at Lappland nervously for some reason.

    Josuke eyes the sword, though his words are also amused. "Okay, so I'm crazier than I thought," he quips. No, he knows he heard the sword speak, and Lex seems to also be able to hear it speak, so he's not actually thinking he's crazy. Well, not for that.

    He stays quiet when questions are asked of the approaching natives, since he figures they'll know more about what happened here then he does. And maybe they'll explain it!

    Though then... Lappland accuses him of stealing! "What?! I didn't steal anything here!" he insists. "The Vine just dropped me in the middle of... whatever was going on!" Then there's the mention of 'extra hands'. He pauses, crossing his arms over his chest and looking a bit grumpy. Though despite that? "Though... if you guys need some extra help, I don't mind helping," he offers.

    Aha, there's some information! "Oh wow... yeah, that's not great," Josuke notes. "Is this enough to protect us from it?" He indicates the bandana as he asks the question. At least he's taking it seriously. And! "I'll bring you back some copies of the pictures, so you can use them to prove to people that these things do happen," he offers.

    When Lappland starts getting belligerent, Lex's good hand slowly starts moving to the handle of her sword as she glances between her and Josuke in confusion. She lowers it, however, when Jessica gives her explanation. "I'll help!" she says, in a tone of voice which suggests that there is no question whatsoever about this. "And yeah, better protection is better. My bandana's sort of made for that, and I've also got gloves, but yeah." She shrugs. "I'm Lex Brando, this is Josuke, and this is Lightshard 18."

    "Hi," says Lightshard 18. "So, is this just a search-and-rescue slash investigation, or are we expecting some form of hostilities?"

    "What?" Lappland asks, smiling at Jessica again, her tail swaying in light amusement. "Worried I won't put my mask on, considering my infection spread? Or are you worried i'll do something unpleasant to these two?" She straightens up and moves to what was her seat, tugging out a mask from beneath it and putting it on. "See? No need to worry about me, I promise. Ehehe~!" Nothing said of worrying for anyone else... Either way, assuming Josuke and Lex are ushered onboard, she pats the driver to finish the journey to the entry point. Through the viewports, the enormity of Chernobog is made apparent. It really was a moving city. Not only that, but it looks like it's been through a war, stricken and damaged as it is, while being covered in various dark crystalline growths from the originium's fall. Not just that, but there are what look like glowing orange cracks in some of the rounder lumps along the surface... Yet not at the entry point itself, which proves to be a former cargo dock that is in decent condition.

    Jessica pouts at Lappland, "I'm worried it'll get worse. Infections don't spread like that, not for oripathy." The latter is for the other two, so they know Lappland is safe to be around. But... she hands over masks anyway. "The bandanna is probably enough... and just being out for a while won't be too bad even without a mask, but I'd rather not take many chances of it transferring offworld!"

    As they approach the city, Jessica points it out to the other two. "See those growths? That's the originium. A lot of people will want to harvest it. We'll get some too probably, but I'm going to be looking for other stuff." Being uninfected herself, she does try to limit her exposure.

    Josuke nods to the introduction from Lex. "Thanks," he offers to her. He'll get into the ATV, yes -- he'll pick up the motorcycle later. So he'll be looking at the place as they approach the once-moving city. "Whoa. That stuff just... fell from the sky? And it did that?" He seems more than a little awed at this.

    Ah, that mask will be useful! Though Josuke will wait to make the switch until they're in the ATV. "Thank you," he offers to Jessica.

    Pointing out the originium growing from the destroyed city draws a 'hmm' from Josuke. "That's -- uh, we shouldn't touch that, right?" he asks. "I remember you saying that last time, that it's dangerous for offworlders to touch?"

    Lex settles in the ATV, and immediately gets to work replacing her bandana with the offered mask. "Righto," she says, getting a pair of thick gloves out of the bag and putting them on. "Don't worry, Lightshard 18 detected the stuff in the air before we got into the zone with the stuff in it." She peers out the window curiously; now that things are a bit calmer, it becomes more obvious that she looks a bit ... drained.

    "Interesting," says Lightshard 18. "And according to my admittedly cursory and limited scans, it's dangerous for anyone to touch, not just us." She pauses. "I think I might not necessarily be useful here. I'll stay in your arm if you don't need me, Lex."

    "Okay, sure," says Lex.

    Lightshard dematerializes into a mint-green glow of pixels and what appears to be Elvish computer-code, which then disappears into Lex's robotic left arm and leg.

    The fact Jessica outright comes out and displays concern for her actually gets Lappland's eyebrows to arch in a moment of surprise and confusion, argent eyes looking at the Feline as she goes about being so... Worrisome and caring in equal measure. Blowing a sigh as she runs a hand through her wild hair, the wolf shakes her head slightly and moves to disembark once the two newcomers are masked and ready. "We haven't detected any other looters around... But there's bound to be things still living inside there. If you can call it 'living'." The wolf takes one sword in her right hand, at the ready as she looks around once down on the docking platform itself. After a moment though, she looks over her shoulder and at Jessica. "Hey... Jess..." Pause. Frown. She looks away again. "We should probably all stick together." That may not be what she intended to say, but it will do!
    This part of the massive landship is fairly intanct, and that is likely why it was chosen as the entry point. It seems that Reunion chose other vectors of entry for their assault; the attack that ultimately fully doomed the city, and not a small number of people besides. Which brings us to an answer for Josuke and Lex! "Hey, pretty boy." She lifts her sword, pointing at something along the hull. It becomes apparent that a black mass is... Creeping along, the orange cracks proving to be the inards of a black carapace. "That was most likely a citizen, once. That's what happens when you get infected. Originium causes Oripathy, causing the blood and organs to slowly crystallize until... Pop. You end up as an Originium Slug. It's a pretty nasty way to go, but at least when you hit THAT point you're gone. No need to worry about being bored crawling around everywhere! Ehehehe~!" The wolf looks over her shoulder, grinning brightly as she flashes fangs. "So don't get infected, 'kay~?"

    Jessica nods sagely at the advice, getting a serious look. She also readies her pistol. "They can be dangerous, too," she points out. "Um... humans seem to be a lot more resistant to infection than us Ancients, but I don't know if that's something unique to our world. The doctors still haven't had much data and um... we can't exactly ask people to get infected to test."

    Probably a good policy.

    Jessica seems to try to reassure, but urge caution just because of the consequences! She will clarify, "The masks are for any particles still in the air. Just wear gloves if you pick anything up. Or at least wash your hands thoroughly. You just don't want it getting into your bloodstream!" She has that in a worried, caring tone... completely at odds with how quickly she turns and just pops off a shot at a nearby slug, halting its movement with a large splatter. "I'm going to look for munitions."

    Lightshard 18's observation of the stuff gets a nod from Josuke. "Thought so. I don't think a pair of leather gloves is going to be much protection from it, yeah," he agrees. Definitely needs to make a mental note about that. Last thing he needs to do is bring that infection back to his world.

    He'll follow the others into the destroyed city, keeping his eyes out for trouble. What was said about things 'living' here makes him a bit nervous. And it's for good reason, it seems, since Lappland points out a... 'slug'? Josuke gives a disgusted look. "Oh, ew!" he grouses. "That's horrible..." Though he's also wondering if Crazy Diamond could turn them back? Probably not -- by that point, they're basically dead. Besides, it wouldn't do anthing for the infection.

    Jessica's advice on how to deal with the stuff gets a nod. "Yeah, good idea to keep it out of the lungs, then -- that goes straight to the blood," he recalls. But of course, he has to ask the question anyway. "...So these people... they're fully gone by this point? My Stand can sometimes heal people. It might not be able to fix the infection, though, since... well, it's an infection. My Stand can't cure disease."

    Suddenly he remembers Tonio... But that can be asked about later. He might not even be able to fix it -- he couldn't fix Okuyasu's dad, after all. There are some diseases he just can't fix.

    Lex stares at the Originium Slug for a few seconds. Then she rematerializes the sword on her back. "Y'know what, skip that." She doesn't sound afraid; just ... focused. Prepared. Determined, perhaps.

    "Agreed," says Lightshard 18 coolly. The edge of her blade flickers with a mint-green glow, then goes back to being black for the moment. "I presume a five-foot-long sword such as myself is a sufficient length?"

    Lex looks curiously at Josuke. "What's a 'stand'?" she says. "And also, was that a capital letter, kind of thing?"

    "Hah," says Lightshard 18.

    "We might as well stick together. 'Round here, should be easy to find a bunch of the storage containers, probably find your munitions. If we can find anything else, we take what we can, and mark the rest for extraction." Lappland suddenly sounds rather reasonable! In an entirely bored way, because... This is not why she remains with Rhodes Island, at all. Still, it's a living, When Josuke asks aloud, she pauses in her walking to look over her shoulder at his. "Once the body is overtaken by the infection, they're dead. What's left is just a mindless blob that has the need to make more itself... So don't let it graze your skin." Jessica's shots at various slugs does at least get the Lupo to smile, tail swaying in light amusement; death always cheers her up! "Ehehe~!"
    Once inside the landship itself, it is... Cavernous? The depot must have largely been an automated operation, given the mass of conveyors and lifting claws, the odd forklift truck the only indication any living work was done here. There's still some low-level lighting in the place, but not enough to keep the entire massive assembly lit.

    Jessica has been offworld, and knows mobile cities aren't normal in other places. So she can say more. "Yeah, this is a huge place, we don't want to get separated!" She's also not shooting every slug she sees, apparently keeping it to just the ones that are a 'threat' of some kind. "These are how we survive, by making our cities move. A few remote places in the world don't see Catastrophes much at all, so are stationary cities." Another sound of fretting.

    As for Lightshard's question, Jessica gestures at Lappland, "Mn, most people use swords and spears! I've seen a lot of people use firearms in other worlds, but here you really need special training. And the ammunition is expensive, that's why I want to pick some up if we can find it. It's really cutting into my snack budget!"

    Lex asks about his Stand, and Josuke nods. "Yeah, that's definitely a 'capital letter' thing." Then he manifests the Stand behind him. It's a large, muscular, pink humanoid figure, male in appearance, covered in crystal-blue armor. There's a few tubes connected between the back of the head and its back. The being wears a severe look on its face. Josuke hooks a thumb back at the figure. "That's my Stand -- <<Crazy Diamond>>!" he explains.

    Lappland's words get a nod. "I thought so -- <<Crazy Diamond>> can't bring back the dead. So at this point... they're probably too far gone." Though not letting it graze him? That's going to be a bit tough. Fortunately, since Jotaro and he went after Bug-Eaten and Ratt, Josuke's been carrying ball bearings in his pocket.

    So if he happens across any of these 'slugs' while he's following the others, he'll be handing off ball bearings to his Stand to fire at them. Crazy Diamond can flick these ball bearings with the speed of small arms fire, so it should be strong enough to deal with the issue without him having to get close. He's not eager to find out if he can get this infection via his Stand coming into physical contact with the stuff.

    Jessica's words of ammunition and special training gets a tilt of his head. "Is it some special kind of ammunition?" he inquires. "Otherwise, you might be able to get it cheaper off-world," he suggests. He's not a gun guy, so he doesn't know this stuff.

    Lex draws her sword as they enter; the edge glows a more steady green, and stays that way. She holds it with the comfort of someone who's held a sword hundreds of times before, she's just not completely used to this sword yet. ... And then she holds the sword in one hand as she adjusts her glasses with the other; somehow, she's able to hold this great big five-foot-long sword without any difficulty. She isn't going after any Originium Slugs yet, though, since they haven't gotten too close for comfort yet.

    "Good to know," says Lightshard 18. "... Out of curiosity, was there an Atlantis in this world? -- Or are we even on one of the various standard iterations of Earth?"

    Lex peers at Crazy Diamond. "Huh. Nifty," she says. "Cool ability, too, are you sending those ball bearings, as fast as, uh ..."

    "Small arms fire, if my readings are correct," says Lightshard 18.

    "... Wow," Lex says softly.

    "The fact you still *have* a snack budget is the bit that surprises everyone," Lappland remarks, while glancing at Jessica. "Maybe it's the cute kitty charm that keeps the money and snacks rolling in?" She's teasing, but there is a genuine air of thought behind it, too. Although the appearance of Crazy Diamond is definitely interesting, the wolf only seems to treat it with a certain degree of scepticism or outright boredom. Again... No fighting. "Terra's firearms are powered by Arts, which are channeled through Originium... Which is only on Terra, as far as we know. It's expensive, because of all the risk surrounding Originium. It's important, but it's deadly. So... No, probably couldn't get our particular brand of ammunition 'cheaper' off-world. I guess you could try teaching Jess how to shoot one of your fancy doo-dad guns, though! That'd mean more snack money, right? Ehehe~!" While she's speaking, she almost casually flicks her sword, sending a burst of white, icy energy through the air and hitting a slug that was creeping along a wall nearby. It freezes, falling to the floor and shattering. "Oh, oh. Jess! I think one of the container rooms is through here." So far, nothing seems expressly nasty, and the slugs are at least obvious thangs to their angry orange glowing bits.

    Lappland already explained about the ammunition, but Jessica further clarifies, "A lot of them seem to have a lot less um... punch than Originium firearms, but it might be good as a backup weapon..." Then again a lot of her training is in how to trigger the explosion, so maybe it'd be harder.

    She's confused at Crazy Diamond, but not surprised at all by the ice blast. "Oh good you can do that. Slugs are pretty slow and direct, so just be careful and don't get overwhelmed!" She nods firmly.

    "Atlantis? I... don't think so, but a lot of our nations are things that you don't seem to have offworld, even though I've been told our map doesn't look too different from many common worlds."

    Perking her ears up, Jess scoots toward the room indicated, but doesn't directly approach. She's definitely military, in the way she darts to cover, investigates, then rapidly moves again.

    Josuke, too, is not attacking unless he needs to get past one of the slugs. Since their aim is to make more of themselves, it makes sense that, if he has to get close, that they're not going to let him past without trying to touch him. Which would be bad. So he'll only attack them if he needs past.

    Lex's observation of the ball bearings' firing gets a nod. "My, ah... nephew taught me to do that," he replies. "He's older than me, though." Yeah, his family tree is... weird. "<<Crazy Diamond>> is a short-range Stand, so when these Stand-using rats showed up, I had to learn how to attack from a distance. Smartest animals I ever saw." A frown here. "Cost me one of my best pairs of socks, too." Truly the greatest crime!

    Lappland's explanation of the ammunition gets a nod. "Oh, I see. So it's not just 'some gun' and 'some ammo' -- there's something going on there," he realizes. "Yeah, I don't know if there's anything in my world that would equal that. I've heard of someone whose Stand was a gun, but I never met them personally."

    "So that's a no on the Atlantis question," Lightshard 18 says dryly.

    Lex falls in behind Jessica; she's clearly had a similar kind of training, if not necessarily military. It's as if the territory is unfamiliar, but she's doing the same thing she always does. Her tiredness almost doesn't affect her at all. "Wonder if it'd work on the Atlantean Grid's Sentinels and stuff in my homeworld," she says idly. "They're bulletproof, but swords and magic work better, a lot of the time, and stuff."

    She peers at Josuke, but doesn't comment on his family tree. "Sounds like there's a lot going on in your world," she says. "R.I.P. to your socks, too." She sounds so serious about this. It's not like she's more than a year or two older than Josuke, anyway.

    "Shit's weird," Lappland concludes without really specifying what she means. Her eyes are presently on Jessica, who is the polar opposite of her in demeanour, presently. Where the Feline shows restraint and genuine military training, Lappland demonstrates a thoroughly casual sort of indifference to her surroundings that one most wonder if she's even paying attention as she strolls towards the container room in question. Only the occasional flick of her sword downing a slug with a bolt of ice indicates that she's actually switched on. Which all comes crashing down when a scraping sound announces itself from the room, and the wolf is suddenly holding both her swords and flashing a predatory grin. In the murk of the storage room there is... A much brighter orange glow. It quickly becomes apparent it's also a *bigger* glow too; at least twice the size of some of the other slugs, and covered in angry looking glowing spikes. Then there's a skittering... ON the ceiling. Those are glowing orange spiders, right?
    "...Shit."

<< MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N4PSgvpd2A >>

    Oh... oh no. "Waaaah..." Tail droops and ears flatten, and Jessica steps BACK. Her pistol has been conserving ammunition up to this point, but seeing that glowing spider she ignores closer slugs, and quickly snaps off a few shots. "Don't get too close to the spiders! They're dangerous even if you kill them! Hit and run if you need to engage, but melee fighters really should just keep the slugs away from um... Josuke and I!" She needed a second to remember his name, but she did it!

    There's some real terror and worry in that voice, even more than the nervous catgirl often has already! "H-how far away can your ghost-thing fling those?"

    "It can get bizarre sometimes," Josuke notes to Lex's mention of a lot of things going on in his world. But Lappland's simple comment draws a snicker. "Yeah. It is. Just about everywhere," he agrees.

    But the wolf's sudden change in demeanor, when she's suddenly focused in on something, that gets Josuke's attention. It's probably an enemy! Fortunately Josuke is not arachnophobic. That said, no, he really doesn't like the idea of having to deal with giant spiders!

    Jessica has information here, and also a question. "Depends on what I'm using," he answers, stepping back with Jessica. "These, probably not very far -- pistol range. I've had <<Crazy Diamond>> fire off rifle bullets, though; I can make really long shots with those."

    "I couldn't've put it better myself," Lightshard 18 answers Lappland's comment, and Lex rolls her eyes.

    But then they suddenly have a spider to worry about. "Oh," says Lightshard 18 when Jessica gives her explanation. "Shit, indeed."

    Lex makes a face. "I'm melee-only," she says. "What I wouldn't give for Shinewanders to be real right about now ... I'm gonna be punching above my weight class again, aren't I?"

    "So it would seem," says Lightshard 18. "Shall we begin?"

    "Yeah," says Lex. She charges in towards the smaller slugs, and gives a sideways slash against the ones she passes by; her style seems to be careful cuts, getting a lot out of a little, rather than putting a lot of force into the sword. Fortunately, the glowing edge is clearly sharp enough to cut through the slugs' carapaces with relative ease.

    "The spiders explode on death," Lappland specifies, since Jessica is... Panicking. Understandably, of course. "I'm not going to let them lay a shitty little claw on you, Jess. Calm down." Surprisingly, that actually sounds genuinely nice, as far as Lappland goes! Of course, then there's more to worry about. "Ehehe~! You weaklings are aaall over my stuff! So you're our oppoents? Well... Please do your bestest job, or i'll be reeeeally bored! Ehahaha!" It's honestly jarring to those that don't know her, when the Lupo's desire to fight is roused. It's easy to see why so many people are actively afraid of her, even Jessica. "I won't even remember your faces! Whatever! Let's go!" Aaand she's off, leaping in with nary a care for Jessica's warnings, or her own safety. More than that, an icy aura begins to glow about her as she runs in, flicking her swords as she moves and sending out bolts of energy at two spiders at a time. What's so *concerning* about them rapidly becomes apparent; they violently explode on death, although those that are fully frozen by icy Arts do not. They fall and shatter in a comparatively harmless fashion. It quickly becomes rather more chaotic than allows for them to be picked off like this however, as the swarm of spiders starts to move and that super slug seems to rouse.

    Unfortunately, Jessica has no freezing attacks! "Wah... oh no!" As much as she panics, it doesn't seem to hurt her aim at least. It might be a little unnerving for Josuke and Lex though, with the catgirl squealing in terror and shooting her pistol at enemies WAY TOO CLOSE to them, but she has really good aim, trying to keep slugs away and capping at spiders when the explosion isn't a risk.

    "H-hey, um..." She looks at Lex and then Lappland. "We'll need to take care of the big one! Look for something volatile nearby!" Sure she can probably have everyone concentrate on it, but it'd be easier to just blow up a can of fuel if it doesn't hurt the supplies.

    "...Wait, exploding spiders?!" Josuke exclaims. "Oh, <<great>>!" He doesn't want them exploding nearby anyone, so he's going to be aiming at the legs to try to disable them instead. That way Lappland can more easily freeze them -- he's noticed that those didn't explode!

    He trusts Jessica's aim, even under pressure like this, so aside from wincing when the gun goes off close enough to him to hurt, he doesn't complain. That said, he's trying to stay behind her, so he won't have to put her aim to the test.

    Lex is picking up her speed as the slugs gather. "Kinda too distracted to look at stuff in detail and stuff!" she calls out, clearly not noticing that she said 'stuff' twice. She's starting to push herself to her relatively meager limits; already, she's starting to look exhausted. She does her best to keep up with the swarm of melee-safe slugs, but it's increasingly clear that she's running on empty.

    It is around this point that the spiders apparently show a brief moment of brilliance. That is to say, she start to actively drop from the ceiling and making a more concerted announce of themselves. More than that though, they're suddenly *a lot closer*, and it's actually enough to jar Lappland out of her frenzy, at least for a moment. Flipping away from one such rogue, she glances around at the varied stages of panic or exhaustion and... Hatches a plan! Her swords end up clipped to her hips and she runs, not-quite-tackling Lex and scooping her over her shoulder before doing much the same to Jessica over the other. Even with this, she somehow manages to fumble something from inside her coat and toss it to Josuke. "Pull the pin and throw it into the middle of them. Then duck. It'll make for quite the chain reaction, ehehehe~!" The wolf is speeding into the relative cover of some conveyor units outside the room as she laughs, depositing the two other girls onto their butts before planting herself down beside the Feline and wrapping an arm about her head to cover her ears, while she covers her own with her remaining arm.

    And one more shot goes off before "HYAH! Don't just grab me!" Jessica squeals, startled but not actually resisting. She's more worried about the problem about to erupt. "Oh no...." The tiny catgirl looks worriedly at Lex, also being carried, and flattens her ears. "Cover your ears!"

    That's going to be a good warning, probably. But it also cuts short any struggling the feline girl may have.

    What's worse than giant glowing spiders that can infect you with a disease that can turn you into a metal slug? Spiders that do all that... and drop from the ceiling! Josuke's having to avoid these things now, and can't really concentrate on attacking for now.

    That is, until Lappland tosses what Josuke assumes is a grenade! He's not sure what else 'pull the pin and throw' would be. But he nods, and does as instructed, tossing the device to his Stand to carry out the arming -- Crazy Diamond is more precise, so it's likely to find closer to the center of the group of beasties if the Stand throws it.

    And as soon as the device is airborne, Crazy Diamond disappears, then Josuke turns and runs for the area that Lappland ran to, hopefully getting into cover and putting his hands over his ears before the grenade goes off.

    Lex squawks and drops her sword as she gets picked up by a woman who's nearly a full foot shorter than her. Lightshard 18 clatters to the ground, then promptly rises off the ground and flies after them. As soon as she's put down, Lex clamps her hands over her ears, gritting her teeth!

    "Hang on," says Lightshard 18, floating right next to them in a nearly horizontal position which somehow seems like crouching even though she's a sword with no moving parts. "I don't have ears or hands --"

    While standard grenades would go off with a suitable *bang* and be done with it... Terra's grenades are Originium-based, much like their guns. So, yes. It goes 'bang', but in a rather more spectacular and bright manner that briefly illuminates the room in a blinding flash that they manage to avoid the burst of thanks to their cover. Even with their ears covered by hands though, they can still hear enough of the explosion to cause small ringing in their ears; it must be worse for the two animal-eared sorts. Immediately followed, there is the very noticable feeling of many smaller pop-pop-pops rumbling through the metallic floors... Must be the spiders, then.

    The explosion is loud, and though Jessica pinned her ears, it isn't like sshe can block it out completely. They are INSIDE after all! Whining, she rubs at her head as she squirms to get settled in behind cover, feeling the floor vibrate.

    "I really don't like that," she complains, but she draws her pistol to look over the edge, seeing if there are any stragglers that need taken care of.

    Josuke winces at the explosion -- that's still incredibly loud! Though yeah, the popping sounds are more felt through the floor than actually heard. Once the explosion stops, Josuke raises a hand to rub at one of his ears. "Ow..." he mutters. He doesn't have it as bad as Jessica or Lappland, but still, that didn't feel good!

    As Jessica stands up to look for stragglers, Josuke looks to the group. "Everyone all right?" he inquires.

    Lex pokes her head out from the cover. "Well, I'm not dead!" she says. And then she flops onto her back and groans. Looks like she's become completely exhausted! "... dead tired, though. That took a lot more outta me than I expected ..." She raises her robotic hand, and glares at it. "... it's these freaking prosthetics, they're powered by my own magical energy, and yeahhhhh." She adjusts her glasses.

    "... Yeah," Lightshard 18 says quietly.

    "Hey, hey. It's fine! It's just one grenade," Lappland assures, flashing a smile, even if it looks a little pained as she sticks a finger in one ear and wiggles it about a bit. Ugh. She likewise gets to her feet, spying the rapidly-fading plume of smoke leaving the storage room. "...Well, i'd say that means they're probably dead?" she suggests helpfully, managing a bit of a lopsided smile towards Jessica. "The containers should be fine. They're made to withstand worse than that... I think. Guess we should check?"

    "Mm..." Jessica scans about, pistol sweeping over the room, then motions to the two humans, "It should be safe, but don't touch any um... splatter. We'll detox you in the ATV, there should be a kit." Not foolproof, but with limited exposure it should be plenty for two humans. "We can go topside to get you a few good pictures, Josuke, and give you two a lift to the Vine."

    Once he's sure that the spiders are dead, and Jessica gives the all-clear, Josuke comes out of hiding as well. Lappland's words of the containers gets a nod. "Don't worry," he reassures. "If there's stuff broken, I can fix it." At this, he locates a piece of the grenade that he'd been given, and picks it up. And then he calls his Stand, a purple aura springing to life around him as the being appears again. "Watch."

    He transfers the piece of grenade into the Stand's hand, and an orange-gold aura appears around the Stand. The power of Crazy Diamond seeks out the pieces of the grenade, seeking to put them back together. If all goes as it should, the pieces should fly back to where they belonged on the piece of grenade, fixing and fitting themselves together. This should mean that the grenade will return to its un-exploded state and will be good for another go!

    Jessica's offer of more pictures, detox, and a ride to the Vine gets a nod. "Thanks, that'd be a big help," he agrees. "I do need to pick up my bike before I go, though."

    There's a pause after Josuke reassembles the grenade. "All right, I'm impressed," says Lightshard 18. "I wish you'd been around when Lex lost her limbs."

    Lex rubs her eyes. "Yeah, same," she says. "Getting a nifty Atlantean sword cost me an arm and a leg. Uh, any objections to me, uh, staying the night? I'll ... I'll figure out how to get from here to Hyrule ... once I wake up after that."

    "... I'll just stay in your arm," says Lightshard 18. Once again, she dematerializes into pixels and Elvish computer code, which vanishes into Lex's prosthetics.

    "Oh. Neat... I mean, I definitely remembered you saying that earlier or something. Definitely." Lappland is not good at fibbing, but she does at least make a good earnest smile and wag of the attempt. "SO HEY. Maybe go fix the cargo containers and NOT the spiders, then we can mark the stuff for pick-up and Jessica can find her ammo and it'll all be good. Fine. Great!" Technically this was nearly a literally-explosive disaster, and yet the Lupo seems happy about things. She's wagging her tail, she's grinning, she's strolling on beside Jessica in a non-chalant way. Yeah, it could have gone worse... Probably.
    "Hey, hey Jess? Got any of that pocky on you?"