Time: Break of Dawn
Darkness.
The sounds of battle that scorched miles of earth had come to an end. Time had passed since the struggle at Camp Hope and now another battle loomed. This was it, for the first time since their return. It was time for the Starcalled to rattle the world again. Not on the defensive, but on the offensive against machines that ravaged their home and shall not be tolerated any longer. Not even crickets dared break this silence as if the world watched in wait for what was to come.
A glint of light.
The sun peaked its head, spreading its rays ever so slowly across the land. Over the distant northern heights, over the forests all around, and over the statue of the Immortal Heroine. Soon, a weapon of war will be placed here and moved into battle once again as the sun inches it's way to the peak of day.
"...Sorry. Apologizing for things now. Look at me."
A metal hand rested upon the great kneeling statue of a lost Starcalled. The hand belonged to an averagely-sized figure. Cloaked with hood pulled back and long ponytail swaying gently in the brisk morning air. The arm exposed was lean and unnaturally smooth for human flesh, more a blur that resembled what could be seen through a badly focused lens than actual skin.
The sunlight reached her and lit her aglow. Her other hand rose to her face and her eyes glanced at what lay in it.
"Vintergard. I don't know much about it, but I know that what happened was uncalled for and..."
Her mouth stopped moving as she spoke to the statue as if it were able to talk back. The look on her face showed that she knew it could not. Upon her steel palm was shriveling strings of light. The threads twisted almost as if trying to escape like entangled worms of ether or sentient bowl of ghostly spaghetti. Her gauntlet closed over them and the light went out in her fist. Fragments of that light scattered into the morning like pollen from an ethereal flower.
"Tossing a stone into a lake. What happened to just going for a swim? At least got him to play his hand. I just... everyone and their dog is gathering here. That one's design is so... yeah... you too."
Her eyes shifted slightly and she spoke in a hardened tone.
"I know you're lurking there. Strange to be eavesdropping somewhere like this.."
"I prefer cats myself and, hey, I'm not the one talking to a statue. She's long gone, kinda like... ya know. You must be really lonely."
The voice carried on the wind seemed to come from behind the statue.
"I like to clear my head sometimes, less thinking once it comes out of your mouth. What are you..."
"I dunno, what are you? I'm surprised you aren't going ham just from me being here."
"..."
"Aww, I sorta was looking forward to a good time while I wait. Tsk tsk, look, I was just hanging around for a rendezvous and thought I'd come to check out the nutjob talking to the immortal stiffy here this early in the morning, kehe."
The long-haired pinkette's body ceased its shimmering and became semi-transparent as she turned away from the statue now.
"You sure like to interrupt people when they talk. Not that I'm surprised with who you involved yourself with."
"Hey, I'm being nice here for once. I can see you've been through some shit. I have an eye for it see? Your meddling is just going to lead to more disap-"
"Too late! Already did."
Pulling up her hood, a smirk crossed her face as she faded away.
"Pfft... Welp. So much for charity."
Time: Morning
The ground rumbled as a huge pieced-together machine rolled up to the assembled Starcalled. Smoke came out of it in areas and it made many concerning noises but it was intimidating indeed... in a certain double-edged way.
"Mecha Goose!"
Nin shouted the name over her mouth speaker to the people calling it a robot duck. Which felt completely inaccurate to the scientist. The machine had been a carefully labored-on design of Nin's for about a year now. Even with arguments against it, she had stubbornly refused to make it any shape besides a goose. The reasoning was something she refused to say. Using the tinkering and gadgetry of pre-Dragonfall with whatever scraps and information she could gather from Adventurer's Guild members (such as @Moonsong @Zelrius @Kamala Graham @Ayna Nietzsche) collecting around the Magia dystopia. After recruiting @Tetsunosuke the final preparations moved forward much more quickly.
The goose was nearly the size of the Immortal Heroine, but of course... shaped like a legless goose. It had a multitude of wheels attached to its sides and a buzzsaw attached to the front below the neck. Allowing easy traversal of the western woodland. The saw had to be run by 2 different crew members that swapped responsibilities to lessen energy consumption. The wheels each were powered by magitech and had one person conducting maintenance there as well.
This was all besides the actual attack team. The goal was to ensure they could go in firing on all cylinders. So this time extra manpower was supplied. Protecting Camp Hope was highly beneficial in making that possible.
The beak of the goose would act as the bridge to get the Starcalled onto the walls once they had arrived. With them exiting from the tightly closed steel "eyelids"
As everyone was preparing to board the cramped war machine. Nin would take note of each of them and check their name on her clipboard.
"Mhm... mhm... ah yes... good. Everyone onboard? If you want to do any sort of preparation during the ride, go ahead. The Mecha Goose is built for stability but not acceleration. There are ports that you may use to attack things or whatnot. "
She adjusted her glasses and frowned.
"Just please, don't miscalculate your problems. For every multiple division from the required total, I will be tasked with reporting that subtraction and salvaging the remainder of the quotient. Sigh... what I mean is, don't cause damage to the Mecha Goose."
The boarding plank was pulled up and the latch closed. The Mecha Goose's saw went to work chopping its way through the forest and moved along the walls of the capital. Sentries alerted and several Magia defense squads emerged from the tops of the wall and hidden in the foliage...
The Mecha Goose shall embark.
The Mecha Goose shall run amok.
The Mecha Goose shall persevere.
Soon you will have to do the same.
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