END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

[decohere]

Oh no... [at least... it's keeping that arm occupied?

Ava tries lunging for the other arm, 6 quick to follow because clearly the robot has the strength advantage, maybe between the two of them they can hinder it]

Somebody take the legs! [and then hopefully that'll allow Gwen to go for the head if they have the limbs]

[teethoftherisk]

[Siffleur peels himself off the floor and lunges for the legs, tangling himself up in them in only the way a cat can.]

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ Bastion rushes in after Siffleur, grabbing hold of the mech's left leg with their weakened manipulator arm, wrapping their gun arm around the leg as well since they can't shoot it. They plant one leg of their own on each side. ]

[sabigoe]

[ Being smaller than the rest of the group, Fio probably won't be able to do much by trying to grab the mech's leg... ]

Yeah, stay still... you... um... big dumb robot!

[ Just hops up and down, shouting. Like a little yappy dog. Maybe it'll be an added distraction? She thinks she's helping!! ]

[sailmods]

[VIOLENTLY PINWHEELING ITS ARMS AND LEGS WHILE STAGGERING AROUND TRYING TO FLING OFF THESE DAMN BUGS

this does mean that okie is getting a very solid shaking; the robot seems to have forgotten what it was planning on doing to him outside of that.

also, Clarke is here now. hi, clarke.]

[decohere]

[so proud of Siffleur doing what cats do best, getting under feet. too busy being flung about to notice Clarke quite yet, Ava's clinging on stubbornly, focusing the brunt of her weight at the joints.]

Try to trip it!! [maybe if they can get this thing off balance...]

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ Bastion's left arm twitches and their hand loses its grip, so now their gun arm bent around some protrusion on the mech's leg is the only thing holding them in place and the rest of their body is flopping around and slamming into it every time the bigger robot flails. It's loud, disorienting, and painful, but probably not much more pleasant for the mech than for Bastion. ]

[thismaskismybadge]

[ This is the weirdest possible demonstration of teamwork making the dream work that she could've ever imagined but hey ho here we go—

It's entirely likely someone's head is getting used as a jump-off point as she leaps for the thing's 'head', a move which involves a run-up and a dramatic flip or two where she judges the height she needs based on experience alone. ]

[sailmods]

[the scrabbling of the limbs turns inward, aiming for gwen. this mainly just ends with it bashing itself with bastion's body.]

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ OW. There's a crunch and a synthesized screech as yet another part of their armour crumples. ]

[teethoftherisk]

[The beautiful thing about being a cat is the reflexes, which are the only thing keeping Siffleur from becoming a red paste. He springs out of the way, launching himself back towards the rest of the group, narrowly missing Gwen on her own mid-air journey to slam a disembodied head on a robot's body.]

[thismaskismybadge]

[ Thank you Bastion sorry Bastion—

Gwen sticks her landing, which really means clinging half to the upper back of the robot with three limbs while the fourth places Jenny's head. ]

[sailmods]

[for a moment, the robot freezes entirely.




then, out of nowhere, a cardboard box lands at mach speeds onto Jenny's head, and, having immediately lost consciousness, she begins to

slowly

slide off the robot, like a slug falling from a tire.]

[mistertwister]

[ Okie, still dangling upside down from one of the robot's hands, catches Jenny's head before it hits the floor, but not before it hits him in the chin. ]

I got her, I- fuckin' ow- Got her!

[prince_of_beasts]

[ Alright, that's enough lying down. Dimitri coughs -- his sense of taste has gone along with everything else, but he can smell the blood that hits the back of his hard palate. His head still rings from the collision with the wall, the staticky blur of a concussion joining everything else he's deferring for later, but he's not too dizzy to lever himself off the floor. Even if he does have to brace himself on the wall. ]

Go -- [ His voice rasps, then cracks. He breaks into coughing again before he manages to raise his voice. ] G-go for the joints!

[teethoftherisk]

[Siffleur darts for Jenny's head, grabbing it as carefully as he can and taking her away from the machinery before she gets squished - either by the robot, or accidentally by Bastion while trying to fight the robot.

He quickly deposits here on the other side of the room, only a minor nick from one tooth on her forehead. Siffleur presses his wet nose against her cheek, and though it's unlikely, he tries a command anyway.]

Jenny wake up and open a door.

[stormpirate]

[agonal breathing. or maybe snoring. hard to tell.]

[teethoftherisk]

[His tail thrashes a few times, glancing back briefly as he sees Valdis come in and take out the robot, then turning back to Jenny's heavy breathing. It's a bad sound. It might just be snoring. But if it's not...

Siffleur huffs, paws her face to the side, and attempts CPR.

It's hard to do it without hands but he's going to do his best to get her enough air - or to have his cat breath wake her up.]

[stormpirate]

[agonal breathing but muffled.]

[teethoftherisk]

[He can't tell if he's helping at all. It's hard to get a tight seal when their mouths aren't the same shape, and he can't pinch her nose. Siffleur turns his head to call for help-

And catches sight of a headless body on the floor. Is that-

Huh. Well. He carefully picks Jenny's head up and carries it over.]

[sailmods]

[the robot continues its wild flailing, striking out almost blind at whatever seems closest, taking one massive step towards the newcomers -

until Valdis appears, and collides, feet-first, with the machine. then, it seems to stop moving entirely.]

[prince_of_beasts]

Or that.

That works too.

[decohere]

[laying splayed on the ground in a daze from being shaken and flung about, staring upside down...] Oh... an angel...

[sabigoe]

[ Just staying out of the way of the robot! Until it finally stops flailing. Fio does pause for a moment to acknowledge some of the new arrivals. ]

...Clarke? And Miss Valdis too?

[ Before she can start asking how the others managed to get free, she scampers over to Ava, shifting the toy spaceship underneath one arm while she offers a free hand to help her back up... ]

Ava, c'mon... I don't think we're done here yet.

[decohere]

[tries pushing herself into a sitting position, but the room is spinning a bit and there's at least three Fio's staring at her. Ava grins.]

Did we win?