If we lose it's over. This is the battle. This is the last stand.

[cityship]

Down in the city, behind a holographic wall, an epic battle for the whole of Stacy was taking place.

The Yeerks had dug out a portion of Stacy's 'brain' and built a machine that would let them wipe it clean, let them take her over and control her. It would also probably destroy the coordinates that would let the rest of the crew find their way home, but the Yeerks didn't particularly care about that. They knew their own coordinates, that was all that mattered.

Bumblebee, the Doctor, and the Master had found the machine, following the directions of the very unfortunate Yeerk that had wound up in the Master's hands. They'd brought an unconscious West with them and were shortly confronted by Sub-Visser 7, the leader of this particular batch of Yeerks. Scorpius had apparently attempted to first team up with and then betray the Sub-Visser -- what the result of that was, the Sub-Visser hadn't said.

But between two Time Lords and an Autobot, they should have no problems taking down one baseline human, right?

Well, that was before he'd brought out the Taxxons. Giant, flesh-eating alien centipedes, driven by a mad hunger to devour anything that couldn't run away fast enough. They weren't very sturdy, and they would immediately fall upon any Taxxon unfortunate enough to be injured, but there were hundreds of them. And they just. Kept. Coming.

And over all the fighting, the machine that would wipe Stacy's brain was slowly charging up...

((OOC note.))

Comments

The cavalry arrives! [Everyone]

[cityship]

The good thing about the Taxxons is that the group coming to help could hear their spindly feet and rustling bodies through the wall, as well as they nasty hissing noise the creatures made. Something like "Ssssssssreeeeeeeeeessssssnyaaaa."

It causes them to charge through the holographic wall as soon as they realize it's not solid, and start the counter-attack, mercifully reaching the Doctor, the Master, Bumblebee, and West before the wave of Taxxons hit.

Re: The cavalry arrives! [Everyone]

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Huh. Giant centipedes. I was way off the mark." Danny said, deep freezing one of the Taxxons.

Re: The cavalry arrives! [Everyone]

[its-keeper.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't have to be this way, you guys!" Will objects, even as she lets loose with a bolt of lightning that sends a Taxxon spasming helplessly on the floor.

"Jeeze, is usually isn't this way," she adds, mostly to herself as she winces. The Taxxon will recover. There's no way that was enough voltage to kill it. But there are so many others behind it, and they're all screaming for blood - screaming the way refugees scream for food.

"This would be a great time to find out I can make feasts appear out of thin air," she mutters, firing off another blast to cover the brains.

The Machine! [The techies and their immediate bodyguards]

[cityship]

The tech-heads have a hell of a job ahead of them. The machine is complicated, destroying it will cause it to discharge anyway, and multiple panels and compartments need tweaking and rewiring for them to power the damn thing down.

And the clock is ticking! They only have mere minutes before the machine discharges and destroys Stacy's brain--and their way home.

The people closest to the tech-heads need to keep the alien beasts off their backs.

Re: The Machine! [The techies and their immediate bodyguards]

[stingslikeali.livejournal.com]

Lucky for Bee, he's inedible, which means he can go toe-to-toe with the Taxxons without the danger of being devoured. "How many of these slagging things are there!?"

Re: The Machine! [The techies and their immediate bodyguards]

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime is knocked back near him.

"Lots of aliens!" he says. "More than the usual amount of aliens!"

He flies back into the fray.

The Charge! [Jono, the Doctor, the Master, the tech-heads]

[cityship]

They're making progress on depowering the machine, but they need a massive counter-charge directed to the superluminal subquantum particle aether array. None of the weapons or devices on any of the crew members is capable of producing a strong enough blast of energy.

Is there any crew member among them that can produce that much raw power?

Re: The Charge! [Jono, the Doctor, the Master, the tech-heads]

[twelvevoltman.livejournal.com]

Allen looks up from the crossed wires and coding to get a look at the rest of his crewmates.

"Who feels like being a humanoid battery? Anyone? Is there a Black Vulcan in the house?"

Re: The Charge! [Jono, the Doctor, the Master, the tech-heads]

[psi-flames.livejournal.com]

He heard that.

Jono looks back over his shoulder, then upwards for a moment before giving a mental sigh. What's a Black Vulcan? he asks, blasting more of the attackers before he steps back toward the machine.

At least it's not faeries this time.

The Trapeze Act! [Billy]

[cityship]

The techies need to cross-connect the positron cable to the main power supply, but the cord is waaaay up there at the top of the array--which is starting to get swarms with Taxxons, and the panel is down here. Is there anyone capable of running and climbing along those narrow metal beams, yanking the cord, and getting it down to the panel without getting eaten?

[morphitudinous]

The mission?: Safely retrieve the positron cable hanging far above their heads and connect it to the main power supply.
The stakes?: Total and permanent separation from home.
The complication: A horde of Taxxons, centipede-like omnivores with a thirst for blood, are swarming around the key to their victory.

From where Billy stands at the base of the machine, the positron cable dangling above them seems a dimension away. But this isn't the time for doubt---that positron cable is the crew's single ray of hope at the moment, and it's his duty to retrieve it. Even if that means reaching into the metaphorical jaws of the lion's mouth and pulling out its dangling tongue. And without the power of the Morphing Grid and his trusty blue armor to protect him should the Taxxons prove too strong, he's going to have to be more evasive than ever before.

He focuses his attention on the first rung on the disjointed ladder of beams and wires and grips it securely, hoisting himself onto the beam. With a swiftly calculated twist, he's on his feet, carefully maintaining balance and already crouching to make the leap to the next beam.

Billy's consciousness is a barrage of physics calculations, precisely-executed shifts and flips carrying him towards the positron cable and its hungry guards. The fear of the consequences of failure lingers as he draws close, glowing-red eyes locked on him miliseconds before the struggle begins.

Taxxons, here's your prey! Catch it if you can.

[cityship]

Sssssrnaaaaaa. The crew is doing the best they can keeping the damn things off the whole rig, but a few are still getting through and over here, there's no one to fend them off.

In fact, while he's standing on a thin metal bar, with nowhere else to go but forward, really, one of them manages to climb up on the other hand, and it starts inching out cautiously, trying to reach him.

Whack a Taxxon! [Sparhawk, Samus, Chief, Gwen]

[cityship]

While everyone is fighting ferociously with the bugs, there is one small group that has claimed an area of ground and is basically destroying every alien in their path. The quick trip to the Possessions lockers for extra weaponry and ammunition before they'd all gotten into all this is now certainly paying of.

In fact, Samus will find, without Stacy's interference and her systems rapidly failing, that her suit is unlocked, even.

Re: Whack a Taxxon! [Sparhawk, Samus, Chief, Gwen]

[prettycoolguy]

The Master Chief is doing what he was meant to do. Roiling seas of enemies are nothing new to him and the assault rifle, as it happens, is well-suited to wounding Taxxons enough that their own cannibalistic, ravaging hunger keeps them distracted.

"Reload!" he warns as the rifle clicks empty, it'll take him a second to slam another clip home. Be advised!

Re: Whack a Taxxon! [Sparhawk, Samus, Chief, Gwen]

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Oh and don't mind Samus over here. Hordes of aliens, or giant insects rather, were really not all that strange to her. And, out of instinct, her immediate thoughts were to equip her power suit regardless of it being a fruitless effort as discovered when she first woke up on this ship.

Right?

Apparently not, in a flash gold light, there stands Samus fully clad in one intimidating very suit. The bit of initial confusion was soon replaced by overwhelming relief that she had her suit back, regardless of the circumstances and followed by an intense focus on the situation. This is basically what she was raised to do.

Charge a shot, fire, rinse and repeat. It's just second nature to Samus.

The Jerk! [Paco, Cybil, Jaime, anyone else who wants to take down the Sub-visser]

[cityship]

Paco Controller's getting away! Or...no, actually, he's trying to hit people from his ledge with a Dracon beam. That kinda sucks of him.

Sub-visser 7 has to be taken down!

Re: The Jerk! [Paco, Cybil, Jaime, anyone else who wants to take down the Sub-visser]

[flunkingspanish.livejournal.com]

"Glad to see you're still alive, Jaime!" the Sub-Visser shouted, firing at the super hero in question. "I was really hoping to make Francisco here be the one to kill you!"

Re: The Jerk! [Paco, Cybil, Jaime, anyone else who wants to take down the Sub-visser]

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

He's more careful this time, ducking and dodging when needed, firing back and only narrowly missing to drive him to take cover and throw him off balance (it's difficult to aim without the scarab's sensors guiding it).

"Annoyed to see you're free, Yeerk. I'm guessing your bonds lost cohesion when I temporarily croaked. Thaaat's okay. I got better, and Paco--because that's his name--won't mind me kicking your butt a little to take you down again."

Boy, he's being awfully distracting. It's almost as if he's being a distraction...

BRAWL! [Everyone who wants in]

[cityship]

It's brawl-time! Kill them creepy-crawlies! Ruminate on the morality of it! Quip! Get flung around the battlefield!

SPLASH PAGE FIGHT SCENE!

Re: BRAWL! [Everyone who wants in]

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

Morality nothing. It's the worms or Zuko's limbs, and Zuko is one hundred percent certain which he likes more. Watch your footing, everyone, all this slime is making the ground slippery.

It's hack-and-slash funtimes for the Prince of the Fire Nation as he and his swords go to work on the Taxxons.

Re: BRAWL! [Everyone who wants in]

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Mai is right behind him, ducking and weaving as she hurls knives and shoots bolts from her nifty little wrist-launcher, pinning Taxxons to the ground or cutting them open like wet tissue. Where does she get all of her knives? No one's sure, but she never really seems to run out, either. She's watching Zuko's back and it's an odd feeling. She's never really fought alongside him before and in this fight there's more on the line than Azula's ambition. It's their lives. It's Zuko's life.

The Aftermath! [The Master, the Doctor, but then everyone]

[cityship]

They're winning, maybe. They have a chance now. The tide is turning, the number of Taxxons is dwindling.

But the last step must be taken, the last button must be pushed, and when it is, will they win? Will it work? Will the machine power down and leave them imprisoned but with their coordinates home safe?

Or will Stacy's mind and the numbers that are the addresses to their home universes be destroyed with it in a blaze of energy?

[kindofscary.livejournal.com]

There's a clunk as the Master falls head-first into the body of the machine. There are several curses and the fizzing of his rewiring task before his head re-emerges through the lasercut hole.

"Doctor," an arm waggles over the melted lip, "Done in here. Should be able to power it down without taking this flying ninth symphony with it."

After the Fight

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime was going to react in horror to the Doctor dying, really he was. Then to shock to the new guy in his place. Then he wanted to go to the Infirmary after Danny-possessed-Paco.

But as the last Taxxons lay dead on their little battlefield, as the machine lay smoking, he notices that one of their number is missing--someone he thought had been at his back.

He notices that someone else is going down into a tunnel, possibly after them. Their apparent victory isn't enough to keep him from being curious, so he follows, quietly and cautiously.

The tunnel leads to the Yeerk Pool, and what he sees there shocks him more than anything has so far...

Re: After the Fight

[ihatefire.livejournal.com]

Cybil has a Dracon beam pointed at Ax's chest, and she's too many paces away for him to move quickly enough to hit her with a tail-strike.

"You shouldn't have followed me, Andalite."