Re: Clinch River: Gotei, Rollout!

Sun Apr 24, 2022 3:24 pm

Amon went to work right away. He didn't even hesitate, didn't even think about anything but putting in the codes. And unfortunately they were a pain in the ass to put in, ten digit codes didn't even exist anymore, shouldn't even exist. Amon messed up the first two times but got the hang of throwing the numbers into the security pad, if only they could have been shorter. There was a slight vocal skew of choice words regarding the length of each line of numbers. He asked himself why it couldn't be any easier but unfortunately that was the fact of life.

Amon laughed when Hanako asked her a question, and something along the lines of, "Stupidest shit I've ever seen." He was trying really hard not to lose his cool, as things were heating up behind Amon he tried his best to enter the numbers in without losing focus. That's four times he failed. Finally he simply started over, which may have been a bad call but he also wasn't sure if the numbers had to be put in a certain way either. He was overthinking it, plain and simple. In rapid succession he was working his way down the list, between skimming and quickly putting in numbers, he was bumping them off the list one by one.

That was when something bad happened, Amon was about to put in the second to final codes when grey matter splattered on the paper, covering up the numbers he needed. He drew a sharp gasp as a hand covered his mouth, followed by a massive, "Fffuck!"

Amon slammed his forehead into the keypad in frustration, the paper now ruined and wet from the remains of the undead. And then he heard a light chime, followed by a clicking noise of the door before it cracked open. With a massive, "OoOH! Amon quickly opened the door and shouted, "Get in, now let's move!"

Mon Apr 25, 2022 1:29 pm

.Hayden Cemplus

When the impaled zombie stood upright once more, the shinigami reverted to what had been working: cleaving off the head. His hand lashed out to shove the body away from him, and he brought his foot to the cranium and kick it in the opposite direction. Hayden had begun to feel the effects of his labor now. Not too exhausted, but he did feel like a breather would be nice. The waves of these undead abominations they were cutting down seemed infinite, and he had lost count how many times the same ones seemed to be standing before him. Things were beginning to feel hopeless…

He heard Hanako's question, and that seemed to snap him out of the more depressive train of thought. Not that the new one was much better. He couldn't help her plan, unable to utilize kido to that degree of mastery. "Unfortunately no, at the most you'll get a single weak spark. Maybe a flicker if I shout a few words. Kido isn't my strong suit," Hayden answered, annoyed that she had a good plan that may not be functional after he admitted his lack of ability to her.

But nonetheless he kept fighting. In another attempt fueled by curiosity, he cut a head off, then cleaved his sword into the falling skull from its left side, two pieces of the head falling to the ground in a splash of grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid. He swept the mess aside, and hoped the three pieces wouldn't rise again.

Hayden couldn't help but internally rejoice as he heard Amon tell them to get moving, glancing to Hanako. As they retreated to the door, the man was sure to make it a point to be the last one out of the room by jutting his left arm out in front of her, his sword raised towards the horde as his free hand reached over, hit the keypad on the other side, and helped the mechanisms slam the barriers shut by pulling with a flat hand pressed tightly to the door.

And when he figured he was safe, he let both arms drop, his breathing growing heavier with the adrenaline beginning to die out.

"Is this a bad time to bring up hazard pay?" The shinigami jested with labored huffs, his shoulders sagging.

END POST.

Tue Apr 26, 2022 8:27 pm

Clinch River

To the backdrop of Amon's curses and mutterings as he thumbed through the series of codes, Hanako was certainly left with ample time to ponder this peculiarly resilient enemy that they found themselves facing. Thinking back to her first attempt to employ some form of energy against them, and then the realisation that they were still continuing to heal as the creatures remained in proximity to the Shinigami, it did seem that they might well have been feeding off their very essence to a lesser degree than the energy.

Hayden sated his curiosity once more by striking down another of the creatures and bisecting its head, noting that - though the creature did fall - the body itself seemed to be trying to regrow the detached limb though at a drastically reduced pace compared to some of the other regenerations that he had seen. Still, taking all that time to appreciate the biological abnormalities of his foes was only giving them more time to overwhelm him. And they might well have, had Amon's cursing not reached its apex, only to be rewarded with the sound of the door opening.

Escaping without further protest, the trio were able to squeeze into the corridor behind the door and pull it shut behind them. There was a beating against the door for a while, the crunching sound of flesh ramming against reinforced steel before things finally began to calm down. Still, there was a question quite unanswered. Amon had not been able to input the correct code and yet the door had still opened.

It was dark in this narrow passageway ahead of them, much like the winding tunnels through which they had approached, and there was only one way to go now unless they fancied their chances heading back into the horde. With that came the realisation that they had also been cut off from their point of entry, but how would they proceed? The mission was still ongoing, and whatever they sought was still yet to be located.

A Saviour? | END POST

Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:16 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Clinch River: Gotei, Rollout! - Page 5 6EdIfMt

With a reassuring sound the door behind them closed and locked. It had sprung open just in time and hanako slipped through just after Amon, spun around on her heels as soon as she crossed the threshold and reached out, to pull the door close as soon as Hayden was through. With combined forces it slammed shut quickly enough so none of the creatures were able to follow.

For a moment Hanako was completely still. The situation had changed so rapidly that even the dull sounds of mutilated corpses hurling themselves against the steel seemed quiet. This whole situation had been really troubling. She had the strong feeling that everything that had happened in the room behind that door was no coincidence. It was all too convenient that just when they reached a room that had only two exits, and was thus easily sealed, exactly that happened and they had to fight their way through an energy eating zombie horde. Also whoever the figure in the observation room had been was surely involved. The same as before applied here: the figure had disappeared conveniently after it had alerted the zombies to their presence. However, there was nothing any of the three could do about that now.

Hanako smiled a small smile when she heard Hayden. His breathing indicated that the continuous fighting had taken a much greater toll on his power reserves than it had on hers. Hanako was still relatively fine.

“Sorry, wrong Division.” She said. “But I will definitely suggest a bonus for you to your lieutenant when we get back. That was good work back there, from both of you.”

Since she had her back to the door when it opened Hanako was oblivious to what had opened the door. She assumed Amon’s relentless, albeit foul-mouthed, efforts were to be thanked.

If Hanako was honest, she was pretty proud of the team the three of them formed. Despite his flippant to bordering on rude demeanour, Amon was someone to be trusted and relied on. Even if there were some that put manners and behaviour on level with competence, now that Hanako had stood with him in battle for real, she gave even less about outward appearance. She wanted someone she could trust would watch her back and not stick a knife in it at her side, not someone who talked sweet.
And Hayden…when they had started the mission he had seemed a bit insecure and quite frankly, Hanako had been worried. Now he had held himself in battle against rotting nightmares and not yielded to fear. Quite the opposite actually. For the moment, Hanako had forgotten which Division Hayden belonged to. But when they were back in Seireitei she might have to look it up and try to entice Hayden away.

Now that it was dark again, Hanako had to hold her sword very close to her eyes to see the mixture of blood and disintegrating flesh that covered the blade. What was more, she could smell it. Without much hesitation she wiped the blade clean on her Hakama, even though she stained it in the process. A Hakama was only a piece of fabric, it could be washed or replaced, if necessary. Bakumusha, in contrast, was a sentient being and had saved the ass that was covered by said fabric numerous times and Hanako always treated him with the respect he was due.

Once again she began to let a faint blue energy dance over the sword. It emitted its ghostly light, so faint that only the immediate surroundings were peeled out of the blackness. Hanako noticed that, although they had been fighting numerous enemies, she had expended very little of her energy. It still seemed enough so that the zombies were able to feed on it, but she was still good enough that the light caused her no discomfort.
Even so, Hanako still began to worry what else would await them in this dungeon. These creatures had been weak, compared to the power of Shinigami, but nonetheless they had been very dangerous. The whole situation could have gone dramatically wrong if they hadn’t been as careful.

“Come on, we have to go on.” she said. “We have lost a lot of time.”

With that she began to wander into the darkness, still careful, but at a considerably faster pace than before.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Sat Apr 30, 2022 12:01 am

Once in the door was slammed shut, allowing Amon to go just a foot or two away from Hanako and Hayden and squat slightly. His hands were holding his upper torso up as he held them against his knees, trying to clear the complete chaos that had just happened. He thought zombies would be awesome... But not these kinds of zombies. Not Dawn of the Dead bullshit either, but zombies like the Walking Dead to stuff, that's what he was aiming for. Then again, he wasn't surprised it was screwed up, but the notes he checked and everything pieces together with botany, so perhaps a plant based parasite that evolved? That was what he was leaning toward.

Amon said a bit cautiously, "Hanako..." He stopped and thought, before continuing with the group and finally saying, "Yeah... Thank you, you did good too."

It was clear the Shinigami was about to say something else but changed the course of action. He'll admit to a particular thing later, but he meant to say, "I'll be real with you, we may have been screwed if I didn't use my head... Literally. I'm not sure of I hit in the numbers right or if that pad had an electrical short, but the passwords were completely skewered when that grey matter hit the bottom of the paper." But he didn't want to be a prick and take any sense of accomplishment away, at least for now they'd get to figure out what was further into the facility. Lord knowing they were needing all the energy for whatever was ahead.

Wed May 04, 2022 12:04 am

Clinch River

The trio took a long moment to gather themselves, each taking time to enjoy the solitude that separated them from whatever horrific monsters they had narrowly escaped before the darkness of progress beckoned them forth once more. With Hanako leading the way, with Bakumusha's light illuminating enough of the corridor ahead that they could avoid tripping over themselves, the path began to turn and wrap around itself. The stench of blood and gore now mixed with that offputting feeling in the air, that unsettling air that something was not quite right. It made the experience altogether unpleasant for the Shinigami and yet there was no other option but to head forwards or wait to be inevitably outflanked or outlasted.

Eventually, they came across another intersection, where two other tunnels joined with their current one, but there were no easy signposts to spot to navigate from this time. There was a single monitor though, embedded in the wall at their side of the corridor and, as they drew closer, there was a buzz of static before it came to life. There was a face on the screen now, still mostly shrouded in shadow but the build was certainly comparable to the person that they had all seen above them in the large room before. They didn't seem to be looking directly at the group, instead, it was like they were also focused on something else that was just out of sight. Then, a woman's voice called out from speakers that could not be seen but did appear to be the figure in the image.

"Thank God, ###'re alive. I was worried #### the door wouldn't open in time, "

There was a genuine note of concern to the voice on the other side of the screen, as chopped up and jarring as it was to hear a voice echo from technology well over a century old.

"Are you the rescue team, then? I #### up hope a few decades ago but maybe the signal finally made it out of #### hell. What's the plan?"

A Saviour? | END POST

Thu May 05, 2022 5:31 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

When the screen came to life Hanako sheathed her sword. Even the old, half-broken screen was putting out several times more light than the weak, energy conserving, grey flicker she produced. It was fascinating that anything still worked in this ruin. More fascinating was that these zombies seemed to be not the only ones still alive down here.

The person seemed to be human or a humanoid soul. Whatever and whoever it was, Hanako couldn't see the face clearly. It looked as if it could be the mysterious person from behind the glass, but Hana couldn't be sure. If she was she would like to have a stern talk about her banging on the glass and probably alerting the zombies to the presence of the group.

However, that was not important right now. They had made it out of the room and were safe for now. Also, the distorted and partially interrupted words didn't sound like someone with malicious intent. She looked at Amon and Hayden, trying to read from their faces what they were thinking about the situation. After a moment she turned towards the screen.

"Yes we are." Hanako said, slowly and clearly, not knowing if the ancient systems would even transmit her voice.
"How do you know what happened? Are you in control of this facilities' systems?"

Hanako found the choice of words of the mysterious woman strange. She had thought that Amon was to thank for getting them out. Had the woman watched them all along?

"I'm afraid we are not a rescue team." Hanako said after hesitating for a moment.
"We had no idea someone was in here. But we did indeed pick up strange signals. We are sent to investigate these signals."

Hanako sighed. She had no idea who this person really was, but if she was a human trapped in here they had to try and get her out. After all, one reason for their existence as Shinigami was to protect the human world, wasn't it? Again Hanako looked at her companions, hoping for some input from the two.

"I am sorry I can't tell you we're here for you. But we're here anyway and can take you with us.
However, we also have a mission. Something must be in here, some…artifact. We have to find it. Can you help us?"

Hanako was painfully aware of the risks involved here and could imagine what the others would probably say. But there was also a chance here to cut this mission short and end it successfully.

"Anyone want to add something? Comments and thoughts?" She whispered to her colleagues.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mon May 09, 2022 12:48 am

It caught Amon off guard that there was a television set still working in this dump. They had started to move when the voice sounded off in the eery darkness that it made him jump slightly. The trio were gathering around the old box as a female spoke through it, Amon looking around the three just to make certain they weren't followed. Not that he could see shit.

"Well... So much for feeling special," Amon replies offhandedly crossing his arms. He looked between Hayden and Hanako to watch their expressions, see how they feel things out. With a sigh he stepped back as Hanako was busy conversing with the stranger, taking everything in he possibly could for just even the briefest moments. Naturally, he didn't trust the lady, nor did he trust the situation. He waited answers, and as an American citizen he deserves them after all of the secretive shit the US Government has done before. Them dirty bastards!

When Hanako and Hayden had stepped away as well, Amon immediately answered almost inaudible, "Personally? No, the United States Government has done a lot of shady shit in the past, especially with whatever operations they had going on here. Unfortunately they could be key to getting this whole shebang done and over sooner than later... We can bring her, but I wanna know what exactly they've been doing here and why they are fucking around with whatever is here to boot. The moment she turns bad, we murk her, no if's, and's, or buy's... Lord knowing who exactly this person is or what they're capable of."

Thu May 26, 2022 6:48 pm

Clinch River

As the image on the screen seemed to slowly render, the quality of the lighting did increase to the point where more details could be made out. The woman had short, black hair but the majority of her facial features were masked by a mask that covered the bottom half of her face. Industrial in nature, perhaps, but it certainly seemed like an intense piece of filtration equipment. It certainly wasn't helping with the challenge of understanding some of the words she was saying.

"Oh, I understand. #### will probably want the AZ. It infected all those ####### in the lab, drove them crazy. I know where the ##### is, but the head scientist locked that area down when the outbreak first happened."

There was frustration clear in those green eyes that now danced between staring directly into the monitor and back across the room. She was trying to process something, far too many variables to consider.

"Are you ##### Shinigami? Perhaps ##### is a chance then. Take this left and head down the ####### until you reach the main Botanical Research Centre. ### will meet you there."

With a sudden flicker, the light went out as the screen turned once more to black. The trio were plunged into darkness again, and a choice was there for them to make. How would they proceed? Left, towards where the mysterious woman was guiding them, or onwards into the depths alone?

A Saviour? | END POST

Thu Jun 02, 2022 4:32 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

"It drove the people mad?" Hanako echoed. Not only did it drive them mad, it made them more or less immortal. The more they'd been attacked, the faster they regenerated. If this really was the artifact they were after it needed to be contained. And hopefully the R&D division was able to find a way to end these zombies for good. From Hanako's point of view, right now there was no way to finally kill them. After all they were even able to use the energy the three shinigami gave off with their Zanpakutos sealed. It was probably not unreasonable to believe that even a simple fire could be converted by those creatures.

"But yes, it sounds as if that is what we are looking for."

There was something strange about this woman. This whole facility looked as if it had been deserted and in this state for years. Yet she didn't seem to realise it. Something in her whole behaviour didn't fit with someone trapped in this dark hellhole for a small eternity. On the other hand she was wearing a mask, which felt like a sensible precaution for a mortal. Maybe the decay if the facility went faster than they all thought? Or the woman wasn't as sane as she pretended to be.

When she talked again she revealed that she knew what Shinigami were. That was at least something.

Hanako was just about to answer her to confirm that they were indeed Shinigami, when the screen went dark again. A little bit frustrated she closed her mouth again. Nice talk…

She turned around. The trio was standing in darkness again. Only slowly did her eyes get used again to the faint grey they were walking in what felt like days. Even though they were standing right next to her, Hanako could see Hayden and Amon only as grey shapes without much depth.

"I don't see that we have much choice." She said quietly. In fact she didn't see much at all.

"I suggest we follow along. This woman could be a chance to get to this artefact. But we should be wary. Something with her doesn't sit right with me."

She nodded towards Amon signaling him that she was right there with him and his suspicions. But she also saw the potential of the situation.

"We need to pick up the pace. We lost a lot of time back there."

She added. She would wait if one of her companions had any objections. If not she'd turn in the direction the woman had given and start heading down the passage as fast as was safely possible for the trio.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]