The Hounds. (An Original Text-Adventure style Quest)

>sure let's buddy cop this thing. Teth grabs Glimmer and rushes to find the other couriers

>Rest of the team decide if they think they could handle whatever is attacking people with only half their numbers or not. If so Sombra and Cinder I say help find the other Couriers while our little gun bunny and the feline head towards the post master since he's the quickest and the mail-mon can give credit to his claim. If you guys don't think you could handle what's attacking the couriers while split up then everyone but Teth and glimmer head over to the post master.
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 11.
>sure let's buddy cop this thing. Teth grabs Glimmer and rushes to find the other couriers

>Rest of the team decide if they think they could handle whatever is attacking people with only half their numbers or not. If so Sombra and Cinder I say help find the other Couriers while our little gun bunny and the feline head towards the post master since he's the quickest and the mail-mon can give credit to his claim. If you guys don't think you could handle what's attacking the couriers while split up then everyone but Teth and glimmer head over to the post master.
"I can escort Glimmer to the other couriers." Teth proclaimed.

"Me and Cinder can help find them." Sombra stated. "We'll split up into groups of two. Tyco, take our mail friend here and get to the Post Master, tell them what's happened."

"You got it boss" Tyco nodded as he shouldered his weapon. "One escort mission, coming right up!"

"I can show you guys the routes everyone was taking last I saw them." The feline uttered as he took out a map and started adding somethings with a pen. "There, that should be them." Sombra nodded as she looked over the map. The group seemed to be in the center one of the routes, the others being the other roads running parallel to the one they were on. Teth looked over her to see the map himself.

"The thing that attacked this courier went East. Glimmer and I can head that way while you both head out west. If we run into that thing, we'll be sure to take it out." The Hound uttered.

"That's assuming it's only one and acting alone." Cinder uttered with a frown.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, right now we've got to get going." Sombra stated, fist slamming into her hand. "We'll go West, Teth goes East, and Tyco can go back to town to the post office." Sombra declared. "Let's move out people, we don't have forever."

---

No longer slowed down by the rest of the group, and thanks to Glimmer having a spell that let her glide, Teth was able to make good time to the first courier on their route with a dead sprint through the woods. Not factoring in powers and factoring in this damn collar, in terms of raw running speed, Teth wasn't going to be beating Tyco in a race any day of the week. That being said, he was still plenty fast all on his own, moving at a speed normally reserved for on-road vehicles even with the constant bobbing and weaving through the woods. Glimmer, though speedy thanks to her glide spell, was having a bit of trouble keeping up, but ultimately she managed.

The second courier they found was a little farther along the road than the first one they met. They were just starting to wake up on their own from being knocked unconscious. A quick healing spell from Glimmer helped fully bring them to their feet, though they weren't any worse for wear than the first individual they'd found.

A quick check in with them confirmed a similar story as what happened to the first courier: Walking along their route when all of a sudden they were attacked and knocked unconscious. A few more details started being revealed, however. Namely, the assailant seemed to use some sort of knockout gas in addition to physical assault to take him down quickly.

After making double sure that they were able to start heading back to town on their own, Teth and Glimmer got ready to head on out for their last courier.

"You can really book it, you know that?" Glimmer huffed as she dodged tree after tree to keep up with Teth. For his part, he simply shrugged, though the action went unnoticed.

"Used to be faster." He stated simply.

"I could believe it." Glimmer said when her scarf came to life, pointing in further up north-east, where they needed to go. Purplish-pink. "Mechana." Glimmer called out. As the pair got closer, the sounds of battle began to catch their ear. Coming out of the woods, they saw the fight in progress.

Standing there, holding his own against his foe, was a Thrash Snake in a mail-Mon uniform. His opponent: Some kind of Mechana, it's form vaguely skeletal yet sleek. A cloud of pink mist was emanating from it as it attacked the Thrash snake with its claws. Likely the stuff that knocked the other two they encountered unconscious. It held no effect on the Poison Type, however, though it was clear that the serpent was tiring. Who knows how long they'd been fighting each other.

>Suggest something for Teth to do.
>Suggest something for Glimmer to do.
 
>Teth, how do poisons and drugs effect you? Because if the answer is not much or not at all try to sneak up on the bot as quickly as you can and show it the meaning of hammer time. If you think that thing's smoke could knock you out then just set back and hit it with some ghost fire.

>Glimmer, you're the mage, attack from a distance and support Teth the the thrash snake.
 
>Get into melee range and get pressure off the courier, this thing may try and grab the package and run if it realizes its outmatched.

>That knockout gas is still around, have Glimmer use her abilities from a distance so she isn't effected by it..
 
[Sorry for the lack of updates recently, folks. I got work today, a Saturday (Which is normally one of my break days) then a bunch of other things happened and I got home later than I'd like. Taking the opportunity to relax and unwind before continuing tomorrow. I hope you all understand.)
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 12.
>Teth, how do poisons and drugs effect you? Because if the answer is not much or not at all try to sneak up on the bot as quickly as you can and show it the meaning of hammer time. If you think that thing's smoke could knock you out then just set back and hit it with some ghost fire.
Mundane poisons and drugs hold no effect on him, which was both a blessing and a curse. You'd need some really out there stuff to affect him. That being said, he isn't entirely sure how this gas will effect him. At best, it won't effect him at all. At worst, he's going to start feeling drowsy, due to his suit no longer being air tight. Just to be safe, he decided to hold his breath for a while. It's not like he needs to breath anyway, being half Aetherling. The benefits of being part cosmic horror.

>Get into melee range and get pressure off the courier, this thing may try and grab the package and run if it realizes its outmatched.
Summoning his hammer in one hand and a ball of Ghost Fire in the other, Teth got to work. He threw the ball at the creature to soften it up, leaving a scorch mark on the place where it'd hit. The machine looked from its fight to see the incoming threat, causing it to break off from the courier by giving him a sucker kick to the gut and focusing on Teth.

The Hound was fast, but this thing was fast as well. His swings were always near misses, never being able to connect with the target. Teth frowned. In Oros parlance, Teth's huge frame marked him as a 'Warrior' body type. It meant he could hit very, very hard and take hits that even other Oros would balk at. It also meant he couldn't hit things as well at long range or be quite as skilled at arms as Oros of other body types.

Still, he didn't need to kill this thing. There are two other fighters out here, he just needs to bog it down enough for them to come in to help him finish this thing off. Silver-lining, it seems this gas doesn't work by skin contact, so if he held his breath, he wouldn't have to find out if it could affect him or not.

[]Stomp the ground to get it on uneven footing.
[]Focus less on hitting it and more defending from its attacks.
[]Write in.

>Glimmer, you're the mage, attack from a distance and support Teth the the thrash snake.
>That knockout gas is still around, have Glimmer use her abilities from a distance so she isn't effected by it.
Staying out of close combat, and thus the gas, the Cast Dragoness huffed as she got to work with doing her name sake. First order of business: A perimeter spell. The mystical barrier surrounded a sizable area and reached twenty feet high. Unless this thing was a good jumper, it wasn't getting out any time soon.

With that out of the way, Glimmer got to work with her other repertoire of spells.

[]Lightning Strike. Call down a bolt of lightning from the heavens.
[]Fire Ball. Self explanatory, a magical classic.
[]Mystic Lance. A magical lance of energy that acts like a spear.
[]Trip Weed. A spell that causes plant life to trip up the opponent or even hold them in place.
[]Write in.
 
[X]Stomp the ground to get it on uneven footing.
Push come to shove I think Teth could just Eat something to recover, so him doing a bit of bleeding to bash this thing should be fine.

[X]Lightning Strike. Call down a bolt of lightning from the heavens.
This feels the most precise and the least likely to hit the courier unless the machine does something clever.
 
[X]Stomp the ground to get it on uneven footing.

[X]Trip Weed. A spell that causes plant life to trip up the opponent or even hold them in place.

>let's knock this thing down and tie it up.
 
[X]Stomp the ground to get it on uneven footing.

[X]Trip Weed. A spell that causes plant life to trip up the opponent or even hold them in place.
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 13.
Teth raised a leg high before bringing it down hard enough to crater the ground he stood on. The shockwave rolled through the ground and practically lifted the machine he was fighting, making it lose its footing long enough for Glimmer to send out a spell. The magical weeds sprouted from beneath the ground and tripped the machine mid-aid, causing it to inelegantly come falling down face first.

To its credit, it was able to catch itself before it could ungracefully slam into the earth with its face plate, but it did not have the skill to also maneuver out of the way of Teth. His free hand shot out and took hold of one of the machine's legs, lifting it up and holding it in the air.

It tried to reorient itself to attack its enemy's arm, but this plan was quickly dashed as Teth smacked it across the head with his hammer. Again and again, he hit the dangling machine like some sort of twisted metal pinata. The courier grunted as he got back and went in to help wail on the thing while Glimmer stood back and observed the ensuing bash off that was to take place.

The Mechana realized its deteriorating situation and made a snap decision. It's decision: To snap off the leg being held by Teth and scramble away.

To the surprise of those present, the machine had enough strength in its remaining leg to actually manage a leap towards the top of the barrier Glimmer had set up. Looks like it decided to stop fooling around and just escape.

Glimmer hastily called down a bolt of lightning on it while Teth unceremoniously stomped the ground hard enough to eject a sizable rock into the air and slam it at the escaping machine with his hammer. Both hit their mark, but did little more than cause the machine to gracelessly tumble through the air before slamming into the ground. Already, it was working hard on reorienting itself to make a break for freedom. Glimmer, for her part, dispelled the barrier.

Teth.
[]Leap over and land on the thing.
[]Chain dash towards it and stomp it down, holding it in place wit ha foot.
[]Write in.

Glimmer.
[]Lightning Strike.
[]Trip Weed.
[]Write in.
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 14.
With few other options to get to the machine in time, Teth decided to go for a leap. With the barrier out of the way, the Defender did not have to worry about height, simply distance. As such, with a little help from hits armor's incorporated thruster systems, Teth practically pounced towards his target, aiming so as to land on it feet fist.

As he was doing so, Glimmer summoned another instance of Trip Weed. The magical roots surged through the ground and arrived at the target at about the same time as Teth. The Hound slammed into the machine, one foot pinning it to the ground by its chest. Before it could begin trying to fight him off, Trip Weed rootes covered the machine's limbs and pinned them down, keeping it immobile.

"I'd recommend not trying anything funny." Teth stated, pressing ever so slightly downwards with his armored foot while also increasing his mass. Cracks began to form on the thing's chest plate as his armored foot left an indentation where it was pressing.

"Uh." The courier groaned as he headed over to meet with Teth. "Thank you, both of you. I've been fighting this damn thing most of the day." The Thrash Snake hissed as he cracked his neck.

"Are you alright?" Glimmer asked as she drew near, preparing a healing spell.

"Mostly." He stated. He eyed the approaching Cast Dragoness the closer she got. "I'd recommend not coming too close, ma'am. That gas it was pumping is a knock out concoction. Could feel it trying to make me drowsy the entire time we were fighting." Glimmer nodded as she gave the machine a wide berth and instead cast her healing spell from a safe distance away. "Now, what's up with this thing."

"It would appear this machine has been stealing the packages sent out to you couriers." Teth explained. He paused as he looked it over. "Though, I don't see or sense any of them on its persons. I can tell you still have yours in your bag." The Thrash Snake nodded in affirmation, but did not move to reveal it.

"I'd say kill this thing. It's probably keeping them in dimensional storage. Mechana tend to spill their goods out if they're destroyed." The Thrash Snake uttered. As if on cue, the machine's eyes began to glow and it's body began to spark. Teth's eyes widened as he sensed something building up in the thing: Some form of miniaturized nuclear reaction. It was already too far gone to stop by simply killing it, all that'd do is make it detonate early. Teth still wasn't too familiar with the durability of Mon, but he was confident that low levels like Glimmer and this Courier couldn't survive a direct nuclear blast, miniature or otherwise.

He could try grabbing them and making a break for it, rip the thing out of the ground and toss it into the air, form a barrier to protect everyone, or some combination of the previously mentioned. Whatever he did, he'd have to decide and fast.

>Suggest something for Teth to do.
>Suggest something for Glimmer to do.
 
>Warn Glimmer and Courier of the imminent self destruct

>Get away from the blast while forming barrier..
"This thing's going to blow!" Teth stated urgently. There wasn't a lot of time to get away as it neared detonation.

"Wh-" The courier began to say in confusion only for Glimmer to cut him off.

"Do we have time to get away?" The dragoness asked.

>I suggest that both of you throw a barrier around the thing.

"Glimmer, help me form a barrier, now." Teth uttered, just as urgently as before and answering Glimmer's question indirectly. With a nod, she got to work forming a barrier as Teth dug deep down and used his Aetherworks to form a shield around the damn thing.

A moment later, a blinding flash of light and muted roar emanated from the barrier. For Teth, it felt like a visious kick to the brain. And gut. And pretty much everywhere, actually. His Aetherworks was weaker than it normally was, as was himself in general, so containing the measly handful of kilotons currently rocking the inside of his barrier was putting a lot of strain on his mental being. He could recall a time where he could use his barrier to redirect blasts that could tear holes through stars. Now, he was was struggling to contain a metaphoric firecracker.

A part of him wished Sombra was here. Given what little he knew of this damn collar, it's undoubtable that her commanding him to throw up a barrier or some words telling him to reinforce it would have helped out quite a bit.

But she wasn't here, and as such the Hound was doing his damnedest to keep his concentration as the force of a nuclear blast cascaded inside the barrier he'd thrown up.

After several long, agonizing seconds, the explosion finally began to subside. As soon as he was sure that the nuclear reaction was done and over with, he let the barrier fall and allowed himself to come down to his hands and knees.

"Teth, are you alright!?" Glimmer demanded to know in worry. The dragoness quickly came over to his side, patting his armored back and looking at him with concern.

"I'll live." He grunted, more mentally exhausted than physically. Damn....He had a ways to go before he began to approach his old standards.

"You know, it provably would have helped if you had used your barrier to funnel the energies upwards instead of tanking it all." Glimmer uttered as soothingly as she could.

"I'll....keep that in mind next time." Teth said with a dry chuckle.

"What the hell kind of explosion was that!?" The Thrash Snake asked in shock. "It was like a tiny star! I never seen a Mechana explode like that!"

>Suggest something for Teth to do.
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 15.
>That Mechana didn't want something being discovered..anything left of its corpse or anything it was carrying?
A quick visual scan found nothing at the or around the site of the detonation. If it really was carrying anything, it was likely they were consumed in the blast. If it was carrying anything. He glanced at the severed leg he'd left on the ground, but by the time he looked, it'd already exploded in the normal Mechana way. Nothing around it either safe tufts of grass and the odd flower.

>nuclear... speaking of which we should probably leave the area before we all get irradiated.
Teth's senses were telling him that the explosion was relatively clean, however there was still enough radiation that he didn't want to learn how susceptible the locals were to its effects.

"We should leave. That detonation has lingering effects and I don't want to have to find out how resistant you all are to radiation." Teth concluded.

"Radiation?" Glimmer asked in confusion.

"That was a small nuclear explosion." Teth explained.

"Nuclear explosion!?" Glimmer stated in bemusement. "Nuclear forces can be harnessed to create explosives!?" Teth looked to her. Do they not have atomics here? "No! At most, there are some fission power plants in some cities! What's this about 'atomics'?!" The Cast Dragoness asked in increasing agitation.

"Tell you what, let's get away from here before your hair starts falling out and I'll explain as we go." Glimmer glanced at the crater that'd been left behind before nodding.

"Yeah, let's....let's go."

---

It was several hours into their walk towards Rooksvale and the postal office there when they were met by members from the Post Office. The cavalry was here, but they were several hours too late. The Thrash Snake, unharmed alongside with his intact delivery package, was welcomed by his fellows with happy arms. Tyco had been leading the charge, and he'd been slightly disappointed that he didn't get to partake in the action.

"-I mean, come on, I had my gun loaded up and everything." The Gunny Rabbit finished whining, much to Teth's amusement.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to save you some enemies the next time we need help." The Hound chuckled. Glimmer had been quiet as she considered the explanation Teth had given her on Atomics. According to her, no artificial means of destruction on that scale had been produced by the Mon of this world. Only higher Standing Mon could produce results like that, clearing forests into fields or punching holes straight through mountains. There were a handful of Mon out there of such power as to make even these high levels seem like toddlers, but they were rare and kept to themselves.

"You alright?" Teth asked.

"I'm fine, just thinking." Glimmer stated. "The Mechana have abilities and types that can match the power of higher level Mon, but what happened back there, using 'atomics'....that's new." She frowned. "Very new. We have to report this as soon as we get to the Comms. Station. I know some people who could use the information." Teth nodded.

"Speaking of going to the Comms. Station, where are Sombra and Cinder?" Teth asked Tyco.

"They should be catching up soon." Tyco explained. "The Post Master said he'd like to congratulate us personally for our help, but that's gonna add some time on from getting to the Comms. Station." He glanced at the taller male. "You think Sombra'll want us to go back, or keep going?"

>Suggest something for Teth to do.
 
>well I haven't been around Sombra for to long but seeing how she's the sneaky type, I don't know how much she'd like being in the spotlight even if only for a little bit.
 
To the Comms. Station, Pt. 16
>well I haven't been around Sombra for to long but seeing how she's the sneaky type, I don't know how much she'd like being in the spotlight even if only for a little bit.
She seems more outgoing when interacting with people, but her not wanting them to get the spotlight would make sense all the same. Assuming the Mechana weren't already aware of what they did here, or even before that from as far back as the team finding Teth, news spreading of what they did would probably put a target on their back in the Mechana's eyes.

>Can you sense how close she is? Could be nearby already"
As a matter of fact, she's getting closer at that moment. A few minutes later, Sombra and Cinder were both coming out of the woods alongside other members of the Postal Office, Cinder looking tuckered out from sprinting all the way and Sombra being no worse for wear.

"Oh thank the Maker, you guys are alright!" Sombra declared. "I felt like something was wrong for a second, then it stopped. What happened?" Looks like she sensed Teth's worry about the nuke.

"We'll tell you later." Teth stated. "Right now, we need to know what our next course of action is. Tyco here says the Post Master wants to meet us personally."

"Hmm, that'd delay us from reaching the Comms. Station for even longer, but we'd be able to personally get a reward and possibly find more out about these packages." Glimmer uttered.

"I'm fine with whatever, so long as we do it as a team." Tyco uttered with a shrug. Cinder just nodded Tyco's way in response, agreeing with him.

"You're the Team Leader here, Sombra." Teth uttered. "What do you think we should do?"

>Suggest something for the Team to do.
 
*thinks*
Part of me thinks we can take the reward and let the postmen folk who's job it is to take messages and packages around do the reporting about the Mechana nuke-denial, even if Teth is the guy who knows the most about that stuff.
>Meet the Postmaster, try to keep it brief-you've got to get to Comms ASAP!...Maybe he might be willing to help?
 
>Think we should meet the guy if only because it might not be a bad idea to make connections with the guy in charge of the local mail. Incase we ever need to send something quick that can't be passed over the comms. Also ask what he knows about this new mecha.
 
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