16
GreggHL
Engaging hilarity engine/air intake
- Location
- Daejeon, Republic of Korea
The Destroyer flips, bouncing off its swept up back before landing in a crouch. It rises, stumbling back on its six legs before parting the plates underneath its eyes and letting out a glass cracking bass roar.
The eye at the center of its lower body flashes and it releases a gout of molten iron. It burns the air, bends grass, burns soil, and deflects off the armored fist of Jane Shepard.
Racing forward, the sundisc on her brow, she closes the distance as the Destroyer roars. Dirt and dust falling off its foot, the Reaper steps forward and drives its claw into the ground. Bent over, bass tones filling the air, it releasing the wave of liquid death just as she comes within striking distance.
The ground beneath the giant turns to liquid and then to glass. Angry red cracks spread out. The seismic shock can be felt for miles as the blast penetrates for kilometers into the planet. As the light clears, as the heat and force dissipate, the Reaper realizes a simple, terrible truth about the consequences of its act.
It never hit. Because it can now, through the smoke and haze, clearly see Jane as she grabs one of his feet, wrapping her arms around its claws and glowing like the rising sun.
She grits her teeth, roaring. But as with all things, the only limits to the Lawgivers are what limits they set themselves. The only limits are those they believe that cannot be surpassed. The foot lifts. Not by the volition of the Reaper, but by the will of the Exalted. A warbled cry issues forth from the destroyer as it rises. Held by one foot, held aloft, it can only roar as Jane swings it into the ground.
Molten metal blasts the ground where she was. But it was where she was, as she sails through the air. Golden sunlight gathers around her, gathering around her fist as the bass roar becomes higher and higher pitched.
The strike impacts upon the metal shell of the Reaper and sends shockwaves through the ground and sky. Clouds above part from the blast. The ground cracks, shudders, glass pulverizing and rising into the air as the Eezo generator is breached.
And then the air turns green. What was parched ground becomes black and rich, before stalks of grass burst through. The pillar of vermillion explodes from the Reaper, into the ground and into the sky, briefly tossing Shepard onto her ass as the tendrils of wood rise from it, pinning its remains to the ground as a tree taller than the Reaper itself rises.
Rich, thick leaves sprout. Vines and moss cover it- and the corpse of the Reaper- in a split second. For a brief moment, Jane spots what looks like faces within the tree- but dismisses it off hand. Still, she makes it a point to ask what the Hell just happened. Which she then promptly forgets, as the corpse of the Reaper shudders, and a red eye turns to her.
"Shepard." The voice is deep, rumbling. Thunderous and bass. But...young. Like Sovereign's, as if spoken by a child.
She takes a step back, one fist clenching. "You know who I am?"
"Harbinger speaks of you." The corpse shudders. Red lightning plays over it. "You have been Chosen. You resist. But you will ultimately fail."
She smirks. "Think I'm doing a good job so far. You're down, your big friend is next. And you're not dealing with me." Stabbing a finger at the dying, dead Reaper, she barely notices the color washing out, the warms around her from the flowing sunlight, "Because you're so focused on me that you don't even notice the galaxy uniting against you."
"This. Is the method. The Chosen unite. Against us." The red eye flickers. "And then the united force. Falls. The Harvest continues." Green vines wrap around the face, the eye. "Your victory. Is hollow."
Sunlight gathers on her fist. "It's the last victory you're ever going to see," she growls, "Tell your friends I'm coming for them." Stepping forward, she brings her fist back. "Better yet? I'll tell them myself."
The remains of the Destroyer shatter as the punch impacts. Where there was the black metal, more wood and vines appear, flash replacing them as the Reaper finally dies. Whether a side effect of the death, or simply something inside it being released, Jane does not know, or care to know. Instead, se gives one more parting glance to the forest sprouting where the Reaper once stood.
And turning, she races back to the battle. "This is Commander Shepard to all Eden Prime forces," she announces over her Omnitool, "And I am hereby ordering you to get that Reaper out of my sky!"
The eye at the center of its lower body flashes and it releases a gout of molten iron. It burns the air, bends grass, burns soil, and deflects off the armored fist of Jane Shepard.
Racing forward, the sundisc on her brow, she closes the distance as the Destroyer roars. Dirt and dust falling off its foot, the Reaper steps forward and drives its claw into the ground. Bent over, bass tones filling the air, it releasing the wave of liquid death just as she comes within striking distance.
The ground beneath the giant turns to liquid and then to glass. Angry red cracks spread out. The seismic shock can be felt for miles as the blast penetrates for kilometers into the planet. As the light clears, as the heat and force dissipate, the Reaper realizes a simple, terrible truth about the consequences of its act.
It never hit. Because it can now, through the smoke and haze, clearly see Jane as she grabs one of his feet, wrapping her arms around its claws and glowing like the rising sun.
She grits her teeth, roaring. But as with all things, the only limits to the Lawgivers are what limits they set themselves. The only limits are those they believe that cannot be surpassed. The foot lifts. Not by the volition of the Reaper, but by the will of the Exalted. A warbled cry issues forth from the destroyer as it rises. Held by one foot, held aloft, it can only roar as Jane swings it into the ground.
Molten metal blasts the ground where she was. But it was where she was, as she sails through the air. Golden sunlight gathers around her, gathering around her fist as the bass roar becomes higher and higher pitched.
The strike impacts upon the metal shell of the Reaper and sends shockwaves through the ground and sky. Clouds above part from the blast. The ground cracks, shudders, glass pulverizing and rising into the air as the Eezo generator is breached.
And then the air turns green. What was parched ground becomes black and rich, before stalks of grass burst through. The pillar of vermillion explodes from the Reaper, into the ground and into the sky, briefly tossing Shepard onto her ass as the tendrils of wood rise from it, pinning its remains to the ground as a tree taller than the Reaper itself rises.
Rich, thick leaves sprout. Vines and moss cover it- and the corpse of the Reaper- in a split second. For a brief moment, Jane spots what looks like faces within the tree- but dismisses it off hand. Still, she makes it a point to ask what the Hell just happened. Which she then promptly forgets, as the corpse of the Reaper shudders, and a red eye turns to her.
"Shepard." The voice is deep, rumbling. Thunderous and bass. But...young. Like Sovereign's, as if spoken by a child.
She takes a step back, one fist clenching. "You know who I am?"
"Harbinger speaks of you." The corpse shudders. Red lightning plays over it. "You have been Chosen. You resist. But you will ultimately fail."
She smirks. "Think I'm doing a good job so far. You're down, your big friend is next. And you're not dealing with me." Stabbing a finger at the dying, dead Reaper, she barely notices the color washing out, the warms around her from the flowing sunlight, "Because you're so focused on me that you don't even notice the galaxy uniting against you."
"This. Is the method. The Chosen unite. Against us." The red eye flickers. "And then the united force. Falls. The Harvest continues." Green vines wrap around the face, the eye. "Your victory. Is hollow."
Sunlight gathers on her fist. "It's the last victory you're ever going to see," she growls, "Tell your friends I'm coming for them." Stepping forward, she brings her fist back. "Better yet? I'll tell them myself."
The remains of the Destroyer shatter as the punch impacts. Where there was the black metal, more wood and vines appear, flash replacing them as the Reaper finally dies. Whether a side effect of the death, or simply something inside it being released, Jane does not know, or care to know. Instead, se gives one more parting glance to the forest sprouting where the Reaper once stood.
And turning, she races back to the battle. "This is Commander Shepard to all Eden Prime forces," she announces over her Omnitool, "And I am hereby ordering you to get that Reaper out of my sky!"
