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Cam is watching a new recording of Atriama, tail swishing in the gap in his couch, and doesn't stop to pause the show when he feels a summons go by.
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from_scratch
Ugh. Cam wrenches himself away from being impaled, this would be a bad time to be on painkillers so he sucks it up, everything heals presently. Is Flechette ready for another sword? This is at least commanding the Simurgh's attention.
wormcan
Flechette is absolutely in favor of more swording, but is being rotated out with the rest of her team. Keeping the most effective people at the front for as long as the timers allow is a tempting strategy; it also has an unfortunate history.
from_scratch
Right. Fair enough. Cam follows her, looking over his shoulder occasionally to take potshots at the Simurgh with pathetic, conventional damage.
"D'you have a range limit when you're working on arrows?"
"D'you have a range limit when you're working on arrows?"
wormcan
"I have a time limit." Flechette retrieves her crossbow on the way back. "Normally I make it wear out when it'll be halfway through the target, but I could maybe make a weapon last long enough for someone else to hit her with. If you can get it over fast enough."
wormcan
"It works best if it's straight, so either rigid or at least under tension. There's no number for the cutoff, it just gets harder until I can't do it."
from_scratch
"If I hand you a string that's a noose around her wing and you yank -"
wormcan
Flechette shakes her head. "Wouldn't work. Anything with curves or knots in it is going to take longer than the sword trick did, and she handled that fine."
from_scratch
"One of those retractable dog leashes with a sword on the end for me to go stab her with?"
wormcan
"Worth a try. You'd have maybe fifteen seconds at most before I have to infuse it again."
from_scratch
Cam hands her a leash end with nanotube coiled around it and takes off and accelerates in the Simurgh's direction, with rockets attached to his feet for an acceleration boost when he's clear of anyone who might object to the fire, and when he's there there's a featherlight rapier in his hand with the hilt trailing tube.
whole_new_can
The bizarre combination of sword and leash counts as a single object, and is close enough to a straight line that Flechette can keep the blade infused. Whenever it expires she'll just add more with almost no time in between.
So the Simurgh severs the line. It snaps with no visible cause, and once the resistance is gone Flechette's end retracts.
So the Simurgh severs the line. It snaps with no visible cause, and once the resistance is gone Flechette's end retracts.
from_scratch
It doesn't retract very fast. As soon as the tension's gone Cam makes more line between the snapped bits, just enough to connect them again so they can retract taut. He's probably going to have to do that a lot but as long as the Simurgh's dealing with this she's... probably... not multitasking as aggressively anywhere else.
whole_new_can
Probably is a dangerous word around the Simurgh. She does seem to be focusing on him more than on anyone else. He can tell by the perfectly ordinary rock that cannonballs through Eidolon and into Cam. It may not deal any serious damage, but conservation of momentum is on her side. She's more than capable of bouncing him around for a while.
from_scratch
He can take some bouncing but it does make it hard to stab her. When he gets control of his motion again he approaches, intending to anchor himself to her with keratin.
wormcan
The next rock doesn't come. Instead, Eidolon yells "Back!" as he and the rest of the Triumvirate briefly switch from trying to deal damage directly to hemming the Simurgh in. This round of supporting combatants is headed by a second medieval-themed cape, and he's pointing a giant sword in their direction. Friendly fire is always a risk.
from_scratch
All right, fine, he won't get in their way. Would any of them like to hold this sword? No? Sigh.
wormcan
The silver and gold armored cape fires, this being what one does with a sword. The projectile doesn't strike any other defenders, but Cam's own unnaturally long sword twitches in his hand and the tip intersects the bullet. The projectile falls apart into several distinct speeding bullets, one of which is larger than any such bullet has a right to be and has the unmistakably dark black of deep Endbringer tissue.
They're all still moving, and the shot does in fact blast the Simurgh farther than anything since Legend last got in a good hit, but when she's back she has an indestructible weapon added to her cloud of surrounding debris.
They're all still moving, and the shot does in fact blast the Simurgh farther than anything since Legend last got in a good hit, but when she's back she has an indestructible weapon added to her cloud of surrounding debris.
whole_new_can
Neither does anyone else. The armored hero is apparently refraining from firing again.
Where this is going is just defense at first. The cannonball blocks incoming attacks like anything else, and just happens to be indestructible while doing it. There's very little difference when used offensively. But then the Simurgh floats it toward her, toward a space where a chunk has been torn or blasted from her largest wing, and slides it in. It's bigger than the hole was; the injury gets larger to accommodate it and then resumes healing at her normal rate.
Once the cannonball is in, the Simurgh's song gets louder.
Where this is going is just defense at first. The cannonball blocks incoming attacks like anything else, and just happens to be indestructible while doing it. There's very little difference when used offensively. But then the Simurgh floats it toward her, toward a space where a chunk has been torn or blasted from her largest wing, and slides it in. It's bigger than the hole was; the injury gets larger to accommodate it and then resumes healing at her normal rate.
Once the cannonball is in, the Simurgh's song gets louder.
wormcan
Yes! Definitely the stabbing!
The Simurgh has an objective now; she's meandering toward the cape with the indestructible Endbringer tissue cannonballs. He stands his ground until Alexandria shouts something and his armband starts buzzing. Pursuing him does also bring the Simurgh in Cam's direction, conveniently for stabbing.
The Simurgh has an objective now; she's meandering toward the cape with the indestructible Endbringer tissue cannonballs. He stands his ground until Alexandria shouts something and his armband starts buzzing. Pursuing him does also bring the Simurgh in Cam's direction, conveniently for stabbing.
from_scratch
Cam flies at her, sword and its leash tense for suitably destructive stabbing, and if he notices himself flinging away from the Simurgh he's going to be attached to her with keratin so she can't shake him.
whole_new_can
Possibly for exactly that reason, she doesn't try to shake him. Instead, the leash goes slack just at the fifteen-second interval since Flechette last imbued it and the Simurgh pushes the sword away in the split second while Cam repairs it. She pushes it with her hand, not her telekinesis, and her face is showing what might be contempt if it were attached to a human.
And suddenly her target is back—or at least his armor is; if he's inside it he probably didn't survive the sudden jerk from being pulled over—and he and his sword are blocking Cam's.
And suddenly her target is back—or at least his armor is; if he's inside it he probably didn't survive the sudden jerk from being pulled over—and he and his sword are blocking Cam's.
from_scratch
Well, that's inconvenient. Cam doesn't really mind stabbing the sword but he doesn't want to stab the dude. But he keeps trying to stab her - she's a bigger target than the human shield.