+ For Glory! For Death! +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE & Unwanted Guests
Where: The Grounds & The Palace
When: August 27th to 29th
Rating: PG-13 to R for fighting, violence, and death
Summary: Attackers from other realms threaten the Asgardian palace and your very lives! This is where you fight or flee, the place for all your combat mingle needs.
The Story:

+ Day 3 : Rock Trolls and Ogres +



Rock Trolls and Ogres are strong, tough and surprisingly fast, with great muscular bulk. Their sight is keen, and they hunger for human flesh. Fortunately they are lacking in tactical skill, and few to none will manage to break through Asgard's protective barrier to enter the palace. ( x ) ( x )

+ Day 4 : Frost Giants +



The Forst Giants will scare off yesterday's attackers almost entirely, bringing a greater threat to the palace. They are faster and stronger still, and skilled in cryokinesis. One touch by their hand might freeze a warrior whole, if they don't stop the spread of cold on time. Several of their numbers will manage to break through Asgard's protective barrier to enter the palace. ( x )

+ Day 5 : Dark Elves +



The Dark Elves are the last and greatest threat to Asgard. They rely on stealth and deadly energy weapons, their strength and craftiness yet unparalleled. They are weak to iron, and any warrior would be lucky to discover this weakness on time. They infiltrate the palace from the caves, and nearly all of their numbers will attack from the inside. ( x )

Comments

[waverides]

( the fact that he doesn't use her full name almost makes gideon miss it until the request actually comes. there's a frown and gideon looks down at where she's been monitoring the situation )

I'm here, Doctor Palmer.

( she'll let him explain )

[shrinkage]

I...

[ oww it hurts to say-- possibly because he's only recently made that clinch will-save against the asgardian-loyalty-fever. ]

How's your connection to the suit? Think the remote pilot is ready?

[waverides]

( here would be an "eyes wide" moment, though the realisation of what he's asking hasn't dawned on her. for now she just believes that he needs her to take over for a time )

I believe so. ( which, really, she means "we won't kniw unyil we try" but she's going for optimism. immediately she starts mentally stretching, and though gideon knows the suit well and the connection is there she wants it yo be secure -- stable )

I've located an area that may provide a tactical advantage to those on the ground.

( for flying in, shooting and distracting. that's the plan, right? )

[shrinkage]

It is a place where an explosion wouldn't hurt our people?

[ totally innocent question, of course. purely concern for their allies! ]

[waverides]

( silence. recalculating. redirecting )

What is your suggestion?

[shrinkage]

Sarah and I got sort of penned in, and we need help getting out.

[ we. help. ray is team live for his family, officially. ]

The thing is, I'm not sure the suit's going to survive unless you overload it.

[ which means frying it. and probably a really terrible explosion. ]

[waverides]

( there's a moment of silence. it's likely nothing, just gideon calculating the best time, area, flight height. it could also be a slight hesitation based on her destroying the suit. it eas his choice, as it had been before, but it had not been easy for him then )

Currently I can't do it. Not with you still in the ATOM.

[shrinkage]

Oh-- yeah, shit...

[ a rare curse from ray, but he makes quick work of the thing. he'd made the sort of improvements that helped within wonderland-- readying it for remote pilot, making it more functional piece by piece.

he doesn't ramble as usual, fearful that letting words out might lead to the ones that would result in him making the wrong choice, here. ray simply works to piece the suit back together with the rudimentary structure in place. were gideon not gideon, he'd have had to make far more extensive changes to it. but an artificial consciousness that pilots a ship with more moving parts than ray could design? yeah. she's got this. ]

OK, I'm out. It's all set if you want to give it a test.

[waverides]

( gideon does, with the suit flying a foot or two into the air before landing again )

Are you certain about this course of action, Doctor Palmer?

( because if she does this-- )

[shrinkage]

Well. There's a chance the armor will be OK.

[ and it's so slim probably only gideon can actually calculate it. ray's voice is nowhere near actually hopeful. ]

I need to get out of here with Sarah. Together. No more sacrificing things that matter.

[ certainly, gideon's seen his worst fears in his dreams-- losing sarah when he could've done something. now, though, a different sort of terror has overcome him: pushing sarah away himself. he makes a very bad and stupid joke to bring his tone back around: ]

Besides, I can build another one. Just sell off a bunch of memories! Easy peasy.

[waverides]

No, Doctor Palmer.

( whilst gideon understands that the suit is important she also knows that sarah is equally as important, if not more. people are more important than things are -- she'd seen example enough of that with rip )

You will not sell your memories. They are worth more to you than your suit.

( she will work to build him something new rather than allow him to do such a foolish thing. as if in response the suit flies upwards, circling them before the first blast comes. attention. distraction )

[shrinkage]

[ softly, fondly, ray laughs. not his usual nervous chuckle and not something he uses to make someone feel comfortable and welcome. honest laughter, modest and truly felt. ]

I know, Gid. It was a joke. Promise.

[ his tone melts a little as he watches the ATOM peel off. he'd learned this lesson already back home, but in wonderland it feels different. this is a choice-- one he was making for himself for once.

bittersweet doesn't begin to cover it. ]

Thank you, Gideon.

[waverides]

Of course.

( he doesn't need to thank her. it's what teams do. it's what she does )

You'll need to move quickly.

( as it currently stands they don't have long before she'll have to destroy the suit )

[shrinkage]

We're ready for your go.

[ maybe someday they can talk about teams and family and all that. right now, though, he's ready to book it. ]

[waverides]

Go.

( there are a few more blasts, trying to clear a path before the suit swoops down, flying into the enemies. it needs to be close, to get them, and to be as far away from ray and sarah as she can do. gideon needs them safe.

and then it comes. the signal. the activation. the blast. how effective it is only ray can tell her. she's cut off and, temporarily, unresponsive. what ray can't see is the effect that the self-destruct had on gideon.

she can't focus. her processing capabilities are overwhelmed from the reverberations of the shockwave, an almost feedback being sent back to her from where-- how she'd been connected. it processes as pain, and a lot greater and deeper than the headaches that gideon had previously experienced. her head is ducked, hands having to rest on the console she'd been working on to keep her upright, firmly holding the edges. it's too much.

for all that ray can't see to notice this her may have been able to catch an indication of it verbally. not a cry in pain as a human might give, but a gasp --and the start of a word that had been halted, as if something had overloaded )