Mission Log #2

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How It Works

Welcome to the first mission log in Annexed!

How Mission Logs Work: There will generally be two main missions per month, with different focuses tailored to different skillsets (usually stealth vs. fighting, though other skillsets will be tapped on). Each mission will be posted in phases, with a prompt for the start of each phase. The plotting post will give you a rundown of what the missions are, how they might go, and what might be discovered. Characters may partake in whichever pat of the operation they choose, whether it's a large prominent part or a more supporting role. Characters may participate in both missions, and as many phases as they wish.

Mod Guidance: Players may request occasional scene-setting when they hit a point where they're unsure what might happen next in a log or what their characters might encounter. There will be a "Mod Guidance" comment that players can reply to in order to request this kind of scene-setting.

Completion of Missions: There will be a submissions comment for anyone who's threaded out a portion of the mission. Once a thread has been completed at least halfway, please submit your character's progress and plans for the thread to the submissions thread. These submissions are the main way that the mod will decide how the mission went in the next month's wrap-up post, so they are very important!

Plotting Post: Here!

The Magic of Sensors

After last month's failed attempt at setting up sensor networks in the jungle outside the city, the Sylphid are taking a new tack. Still intent on expanding their territory and disrupting the magical spell that keeps the Witches hidden from their sensors despite being chipped, the Sylphid are trying to use magic to create a new type of sensor network.

For many years, the Witches have relied on an area-of-effect magic spell that disrupts the chips and feeds false information back to the Sylphid sensor network about where Chipped rebels are and their biodata. Over the past week or two, the Sylphid have been sketching out the leylines in the jungle and through the communities outside the city limits to set up a new magical sensor network that will disrupt the spell protecting chipped Witches from detection.

This means that, if the network is successful, the new sensors will be able to pick up and identify chipped rebels, both old and new. This could be very, very bad for missions and a massive blow against the Witches, allowing the Sylphid to locate and capture chipped Witches.

The Witch will be calling a general meeting at the Command Center where she will explain the situation and the proposed missions to stop it.

Mission A: Disrupting the Leylines

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Recon, battle.

This mission will focus on recon and battle with the Sylphid. The leylines outside the city have been sketched out with a magic-focusing paint that amplifies their magical output. Operatives will be armed with cannisters of spray paint that have been treated with samples collected from the Troop, and taught disruptive and magic-dampening runes that they can then graffiti the leylines with to cause a disruption to their magic. They will also be outfitted with a sort of hoverboard for faster and more agile movement.

PHASE I: LOCATION
Last month, the Sylphid made some attempts at setting up sensor towers in the jungle outside the outskirts of Zephyr, and were thwarted by the rebels, with a lot of help from the new extrauniversal arrivals. While there has been some celebration of the new arrivals for their considerable help in stopping this particular mission, the job is not over. The Sylphid are determined to set up a sensor network outside the city to expand their territory and their hold over the people who don't live in Zephyr.

One of the major sticking points the Sylphid have with the rebels is their magical ability to disrupt the feed of the chips they've implanted into all non-Sylphid citizens of the Broken World, and the ability of this same magic spell to feed back false information on the biodata and location of chipped rebels. In order to combat this, the Sylphid have been experimenting with a magical solution - new magic-oriented sensor towers that will operate throughout the jungle and settled areas outside Zephyr and which will, more importantly, disrupt the magic spell that hides chipped rebels. This would result in the Sylphid knowing the exact location and identity of every chipped rebel, and the only response the rebels would have would be to remove the chips from every one of their number, seriously hampering their ability to operate inside Zephyr and other Sylphid-claimed areas...such as the new area claimed by this sensor network.

The Sylphid have been hard at work clearing the jungle around the leylines in the area outside of the city of Zephyr. In these cleared areas, they have been marking the leylines themselves with a type of glowing blue paint that enhances the power of the leylines, which they are using to power and maintain their new magical sensor system.

Phase one of the mission involves finding these leylines, avoiding Sylphid detection, and mapping them out on a leyline map to be provided by the rebels. They will also need to destroy or deactivate electric fences, especially in inhabited areas.

⇝ Uninhabited Areas: Many of the leylines are specifically chosen to be in less populated areas of jungle, to avoid disrupting the lives of civilians in the area too much. These areas will have been cleared of foliage all along the length of the leyline and the area will have been painted with wide swatches of glowing blue paint. Wherever this paint is applied, the leyline will glow along the ground, letting out quite a bit of light. In these areas, characters will encounter a variety of dangers, including wildlife that will not hesitate to attack them, and aggressive sometimes carnivorous plants, besides the Sylphid guards that are constantly patrolling the leylines with their golem automaton dogs, which are programmed only to hunt strange scents, including the scent of magic, and attack intruders. Occasionally, in high wildlife areas, the Sylphid have erected electric fences that must be disabled or destroyed for Phase II to succeed.

⇝ Inhabited Areas: In the more inhabited areas around the leylines, the disruption to everyday life in the area is severe. Roads have been closed down where they coincide with leylines, and the Sylphid have forcibly bought out several family homes, which have been demolished to accommodate the leyline painting. This is definitely an important mission as far as the Sylphid are concerned, and they are obviously willing to do whatever is necessary to complete it, including displace their own citizens. There are a large number of guards with canine automatons in these areas, patrolling along electric fences that have been erected to keep out passers-by and which must be deactivated or destroyed in order for Phase II to succeed.

PHASE II: DISRUPTION
Once the leylines have been scouted and mapped, and the electric fences have been taken care of, a somewhat chaotic and decentralized phase of the mission will begin. Characters will be given weapons, a hoverboard, as well as several cannisters of spray paint that has been treated with spore matter from the Troop, which was cloned in the Witches' labs from samples provided by kind volunteers from last month. These cannisters, when used to spray paint runes that will be taught to every rebel involved in this mission, will be able to disrupt the boost in power that the Sylphid have given to the leylines. This will decrease the energy that the leylines put out and degrade their magical power to the usual, which will be insufficient for the demands of the Sylphid sensor system.

There will be an opportunity, before heading out, to customize hoverboards with regular spray paint and stickers. This is really for no reason other than morale and hyping characters up for the fast-paced mission, but will give characters a chance to quickly interact, make last-minute plans, and get hyped. Coffee, energy drinks, and sugary treats will be available for a quick fuel-up! Characters will be told at this particular meet-up that there is a specific troupe of Witches who fight and do recon on hoverboards called the Skyclad, who have an almost roller-derby style culture, and trade badges based on cool tricks they pull off on hoverboards, or other hoverbattle maneuvers. Characters with an aptitude for hoverboarding and who pull off cool tricks or other maneuvers may be gifted with badges and may eventually ask to join the Skyclad.

Characters will be asked to use the hoverboards to fly along the mapped leylines as quickly as possible and graffiti runes every 20 feet or so, in order to fully disrupt their amped-up power. At first, they will be mostly undetected, and will be able to move quickly and easily.

Or, at least, in theory they should be able to move quickly and easily. There are still some serious dangers in both areas. In uninhabited areas, this will include the leftover rubble from the clearing of the areas such as giant brush piles, stumps, and still-living remnants of carnivorous plants, all of which will pose a serious obstacle course even for the most proficient hoverboarder. That's not even counting wildlife and encroaching living plants that are already trying to reclaim cleared areas, with predators hunting in the much easier terrain presented by cleared areas, and carnivorous plants putting out feelers for new soil that isn't shaded by the much taller trees of the jungle. In inhabited areas, there will be more guards with their canine automaton companions that could alert the Sylphid to the mission very quickly, as well as piles of rubble from demolished houses providing obstacles to their hoverboard paths, not even counting bystanders who might be trying to get items from their ruined houses.

Be quick and move light, fair rebels, because this mission is a rough one, still stealthy or not!

PHASE III: BATTLE
Unfortunately, some missions that start off as stealth missions are simply doomed to become battles. Such is the case with this one. About a third of the way through graffitiing the leylines, the Sylphid will catch on to what the Witches, led by the Skyclad, are doing, and send out reinforcements for the existing guards. These reinforcements will come bearing drones armed with magic-seeking missiles that will target the cannisters carried by rebels as they hoverboard along the leylines. These drones are extremely agile and well-armed, and will transform the previously stealth mission into something far more like an aerial dogfight with the hoverboarders.

The hoverboards are capable of reaching a maximum height equivalent to a 30-story building, and the drones have a similar height limit, so there's a lot of room for people to do in-air fighting. Taking these drones out is particularly crucial because this phase of the mission will be taking place around the same time as phase I of the second mission, and the drones will be capable of locating and attacking vulnerable Tians casting location spells in areas around the leylines, searching for sensor towers. At this point, while still working on graffitiing the leylines, the hoverboard fighters will also be providing a distraction for the drones and guards that are flooding the cleared areas of the leylines.

The drones aren't the only dangers of this battle, though. The hoverboarders will be pursued by Sylphid on fast-moving hover-ATVs armed heavily with guns that shoot both bullets and bursts of energy. They will also be armed with EMP-type weapons that can cause the hoverboards to completely malfunction. And along with the hover-ATVs will be the magic-sensing canine automatons that might just catch anyone who gets too close to the ground - as they might when trying to continue their graffiti attack on the leylines.

Mission B: Sensing the Sensors

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Stealth, recon, some battle.

This mission will focus on stealth, recon, and possible battle with the Sylphid if discovered. Tian characters will be taught a simplified location spell and a spell to shut down the magical sensors that have been set up and accompanied by one or two Heba companions for protection while they locate and shut down the magical sensor towers. They will be pursued by canine-like golem automatons that run on magitech and must be taken down with magic and weapons, along with their handlers. These automatons can be stalled out with magic, but with the appropriate tech knowledge can be reprogrammed into domesticated pets.

PHASE I: LOCATION
While there were advance lessons for any adventurous Tians who wish to participate in both missions, the bulk of the training in location and disruption spells for Tians participating in the second mission will be conducted while the first mission is being done, so it's fresh in everyone's minds. They will be trained in the use of a simplified location spell - generally, a location spell is beyond the level of most newly-arrived Tians, but the Witches have created a lower level version that will be well within the grasp of anyone willing to study it. This spell will only be able to locate the traces of magic done by Sylphid, which has a slightly different signature than regular Tian magic, and Tians will be told that the sensor towers will be giving off very powerful magical traces, which they can then follow to find the sensor towers.

Once the training is complete, Tians will be able to either choose a Heba protector or be randomly assigned a Heba protector and sent out into the jungle fully armed with their weapons of choice along with plastic explosive, and with camouflage gear and either hoverboards or hover-ATVs to cover more ground. Stealth will be an incredibly important part of this mission, as the spells that the Tians were taught require a great deal of concentration and quite a large amount of time - up to five minutes per cast - leaving Tians extremely vulnerable while casting unless they interrupt their spells. Interrupting spells can leave the Tians with a pounding headache and full-body shakiness.

Tians will be able to locate several large clusters of sensor towers, located on different leyline webs, placed approximately a 20 minute walk apart. Each cluster has a circular sensor range with a radius of about 50 miles, with each tower within the cluster channeling magical energy from its leyline and contributing to the cluster's combined power and range. It is a somewhat delicate balance and a truly impressive bit of magic, with each cluster consisting of about 10 towers arranged in the general shape of a pentagram, and the range of the cluster decreasing by 5 miles with every tower destroyed.

Once the clusters are located and identified, characters will be tasked with adding these locations to a shared digital map that will be accessible via every character's device. Adding these locations aids the hoverboard mission to continue to distract enemies away from the clusters, allowing Tians more opportunity to destroy the towers without interruption.

⇝ Cluster A: The first cluster is located the furthest away from the Witches Camp, along the northeastern border of the city of Zephyr. It is situated in deep jungle, dense enough that the cleared areas around the leylines are the only method of access to the towers, and require a hard, fast 2 hour long ride on the hover-ATVs or hoverboards provided. Dangers in this area are primarily from the jungle itself, with rough terrain, wildlife, and predatory plants abundant.

⇝ Cluster B: The second cluster is located about 50 miles south along the eastern border of Zephyr, situated in a jungle area, though less dense than the area around Cluster A. There are various directions of approach to this cluster, with the jungle being penetrable enough to approach from angles other than the cleared leylines. The dangers in this area are also primarily from the jungle itself, though there are guards with canine automatons in this area as well.

⇝ Cluster C: The third cluster is located about 50 miles away from Cluster B, at the south border of Zephyr, and is situated in an area that is partially settled. Most of the settlement in this area is farmland that's been cleared out of the jungle and is generally quite rural, so there aren't a lot of civilians to run into. However, there have been several farmhouses that were forcibly bought out and occupied in this area, which means that teams may run into angry civilians as well as guards with canine automatons.

⇝ Cluster D: The fourth cluster is located about 50 miles away from Cluster C, at the southwest border of Zephyr, and is situated in an almost suburban settled area. In this area, many houses have been forcibly bought out and demolished to make room for the towers. These towers are not difficult to locate, but are heavily guarded by well-armed Sylphid with canine automatons and in this area in particular, the guards have started to rebuild the electric fences, which will need to be deactivated and moved before teams can truly pinpoint the tower locations.

PHASE II - DISRUPTION
Once the towers are located, teams will be asked to, on a command, start to deactivate the towers, preferably with one Tian on each tower in every cluster casting a spell to deactivate it at the same time. The spell that the Tians must cast is very complicated, bordering on slightly too complicated for the level of magic that the new arrivals are capable of and will require at least 15 minutes of full concentration, and leaves them very vulnerable to attack from wildlife, Sylphid guards, drones, and other dangers in the area. They will be relying heavily on their Heba teammates to protect them during this vulnerable time.

As the Tians are casting their spells, they will be inundated with several types of dangers. Not only will there be wildlife and predatory plants in the areas around most of the clusters of towers, there will also be Sylphid guards with their canine automatons and their drones armed with magic-seeking missiles, or on hover-ATVs, heavily armed. Heba protectors will have to go into overtime protecting their vulnerable Tian counterparts as they cast spells to deactivate the towers.

Beyond this, Tians will be dealing with a mental onslaught - as the Sylphid built the towers, they built in a magical defense system that will flood the minds of Tians with visions of their worst fears and memories. These spellcasters will have to fight to keep their concentration as they are bombarded with terrifying and anxiety-inducing images, visions, sensations, scents, and sounds. Any interruption of the spell will result in a pounding headache, nosebleed, dizziness, and full-body shakes; completing the spell will leave the Tians quite exhausted.

PHASE III: DESTRUCTION & SABOTAGE
Relatively more straightforward than most of the other phases of this mission, the final phase will still be difficult. After the towers are deactivated, they will be tasked with destroying the structures, which are 50-foot-tall metal towers with a glowing ball situated at the top. The glowing ball will cease glowing after the tower is deactivated, but will still need to be destroyed, or else the Sylphid will be able to quite easily reactivate them.

This is where the plastic explosive comes in. Every team was well-stocked with a large amount of plastic explosive, enough to destroy two towers completely. This will need to be set up while the team is still being beset with all the dangers already described - jungle dangers, guards, canine automatons, and drones. The automatons and drones are both able to scent out magic, so exhausted Tians will still need to be on guard even as they try to recover from the difficulty of casting the deactivation spells.

Thankfully, the hoverboard team from the first mission should still be on duty, providing they aren't engaged elsewhere with distraction or have left the first mission to participate in the second mission. The Skyclad and anyone else still on hoverboards will gladly swoop in to help protect vulnerable teams from the remaining dangers in the area.

NAVIGATION

Comments

[twelfthsong]

It is not like this on the TARDIS, it's different.

[ And he'll stand by that. He's never had motion sickness on the TARDIS, not once! At least Tech is there to keep the peace. Kind of.

Time Lord physiology is a great thing in many respects because even the chip can't stop it from helping him stabilize. Within seconds he's fine, straightening up to pull out a pair of binoculars to keep a closer watch on the sky in case any Sylphid's dropped by to surprise them that way. ]

Nine minutes is plenty of time. You could take a stand up cat nap. [ With his eyes trained upwards and on the jungle's horizon he speaks to the both of them but for different reasons. ] Are we ready?

[ He had taken the equivalent of an energy stun gun begrudgingly and he was only planning to use it in order to get them out of a sticky situation if it arose. But he hoped that wouldn't be the case. ]

[tech_nically]

I anticipate that things will get busy all at once. If they haven't already figured out our intentions, multiple system failures spread across their network will definitely get someone's attention.

[He tucks his tablet away, tipping his visor down to get continual readouts while freeing his hands up. Notably he has a pair of guns, but he draws only one for the moment, checking the settings.]

Ready as can be.

[A glance is cast in Clara's direction then.]

Anything else you need from us?

[makemeasong]

[ Clara cracks her neck back and forth and rolls her shoulders like a footballer getting ready to go on the pitch. ] I'm ready. [ With another glance at the Doctor to acknowledge the seriousness of the moment, she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. ]

I'm starting now.

[ Turning back to the tower, her eyes close as she begins to concentrate, focusing on her breathing. In and out, just as she learned. When the ritual begins in earnest, everything fades away around her. The words and movements begin to feel like second nature, like everything she's learned is coming from somewhere else and she's detached from it. The noises around her fade away as if she's alone in a room, the jungle far away.

If anything gets through the Doctor and Tech, she won't even be aware enough to defend herself. The only thing she does sense is the niggling feeling in the back of her mind that there's a large price to pay for this, one no one bothered to mention to her. There's a foreboding, a sense of dread, but she keeps going, feeling as if she's on the outside watching herself. ]

[twelfthsong]

[ A younger version of himself would be more reassuring towards Clara either giving her some kind of hand squeeze or indication that she was more than capable of the task at hand and that he and Tech would protect her and keep her safe. But he isn't that type of Time Lord now. He was an idiot without a blue box just trying to do the right thing. But he was also tired of all of this.

The tiredness couldn't break his dogged determination to keep people safe though - and wasn't that why he was here despite his dragging feet and heavy hearts? He settles for a nod towards Clara as she sets to work and he starts his own timer, counting down to 15 minutes until the spell's completion.

The jungle around them is alive, humming with its own language and sounds. If he had more time he'd be exploring, indulging himself in knowledge he doesn't possess yet. Linear time is excruciating for him especially when it feels like he's just standing there doing nothing and he paces around the tower listlessly. Four minutes have passed when something disrupts the hum of the jungle. His head snaps towards the sound and he strides towards Tech so as not to shout. ]

Tech - do you hear that? Hoverboards? No, ATVs?

[tech_nically]

[Certainly there's any number of things that can go wrong. The only thing Tech's mostly concerned about is that the magic, given that none of them save for Clara have that specific link to it, and if anything happened, he's not sure what they might be able to do.

He watches as the woman makes ready to begin, looking past her around the rest of the surrounding area once again. Waiting is always the hardest part, but the clone seems to keep calm as he remains on the alert. His head lifts slightly at the sound, but it's the Doctor's movement that has him look in the man's direction.]

To low for hoverboards...

[His expression turns grim as he looks in the direction of the sound, pulling his tablet out and thumbing the screen active. He shows it to the Doctor, a vague aerial view of the area marked by their three signatures, red dots just at the fringes of the map starting to move closer in.

Tech gestures in the direction with his gun, nudging his visor down.]

Several vehicles inbound. We'll have more of an advantage if we can stop them before they break through the treeline.

[makemeasong]

[ To Clara, there's nothing except the magic she can feel flowing through her. It's more than what the witches could have ever prepared her for, but she keeps breathing and tries to ignore the creeping darkness. The ambient light behind her eyelids goes away, replaced by her own voice. When Clara opens her eyes it's only in her own mind, seeing herself standing there, a sneer on her lips as she walks closer and leans in close to whisper words of venom.

You're going to fail. And then he'll never want to remember you? Why would he?

Doubling down, the only visible change to Clara from the outside looking in, is her rocking back and forth in place as her lips move and she tries to keep her focus on the spell.

Give up. He's pushed you away. If you die here, he won't spare a single thought for you. You're already a ghost to him, a failure at keeping him alive.

Clara should know the answer to that question, she knows she should and thinks she does, but she can't stop to answer herself. The most she can do is double down on the ritual, which makes the assault from her antagonistic self even worse. ]

[twelfthsong]

[ The Doctor clicks his teeth as he examines Tech's tablet. They knew this would happen; it had been made apparent to them during their briefing. It was simply a matter of finding out what threats they'd face and he supposed, now they knew.

A part of him wistfully hoped that it would have been a canine automaton - but there was still hope. Maybe. Probably. No - he shouldn't be thinking about that right.

He casts a glance towards Clara who's gone from still to rocking back and forth. They had to protect her and that was more important than a canine automaton. Quickly he hurries over to their waiting hoverboards in the back of their ATV. ]

If we can tamper with their ATV machinery, maybe throw them off them or cause them to malfunction we'll be on even footing. Thoughts?

[tech_nically]

I can help with that. But I'll need to get close enough.

[His range isn't too far, but at least he won't have to be right on the things or in contact to shut them down.

He follows the Doctor's glance, consulting the rest of the treeline as he seeks out any other problems that might make themselves known.]

They're probably coming directly from the city if it's from that direction.

[Hopefully no one tries to get around them. Grabbing his hoverboard, he activates it before tossing it in front of him, jumping on. He'd never seen such devices before and had taken to it rather quickly. Pushing forward, he does a quick, small circle back to check on Clara before coming up beside the Doctor again. Once the man's ready, he zips off for the opening in the treeline.]

[makemeasong]

[ As the minutes go by and the ritual begins to do its job, the attack on her own mind grows more aggressive until it feels like she's being squeezed from all sides. The effort it takes to block out the worst of her fears is more than she thought it would be; her fingernails are digging into her palms so deeply that she's making herself bleed. Every word is like a stab to the heart; she isn't good enough, will not ever be good enough, and will only ever serve to disappoint. She's so pathetically human and weak she can't even get through one fifteen-minute ritual.

He hates you. You gave him lives he didn't want and now he hates every part of you, Clara Oswald. He faced his regeneration hating you for it.

There are tears silently making their way down her cheeks; the effort it's taking to block out her own voice is beginning to make her sweat and make quiet noises of effort that can't be heard over any particularly loud noises.

To her left and in the brush, so still that not even the leaves move, is a stealth soldier waiting to make a move, planning to attack the moment the girl is unprotected, backs turned to her. ]

[twelfthsong]

It'll be faster with the two of us so - [ He casts a glance back towards Clara, hesitating. Leaving her alone felt like a bad idea. The very idea made his stomach churn. What if someone had managed to circle around them before they had gotten here? Or got to her while they were gone? But no, the sensors Tech had pulled hadn't picked anything else up in the area. Surely they'd be fine. ] let's make it quick.

[ He grabs his sonic and hops onto the hoverboard, pulling on his goggles and helmet (safety first, kids!) before zipping after Tech into the treeline completely missing the stealth soldier huddled in the bush below them. Once the operative is certain that the hum of the boards are gone, they slowly begin their approach towards Clara.

Soon enough the Doctor and Tech find the three vehicles rumbling through the jungle. His voice crackles through the headset's built in communicator into Tech's. ]

The sonic can probably tamper with at least one of them. I'm ready when you are.

[tech_nically]

[Tech's got his own reservations about both of them leaving Clara, but if the bulk of their opposition is en route, shutting them down before they get to the clearing seems the best idea.

A nod at the Doctor, and off they go.

The clone stays low on his board as they go, the vehicles and their passengers coming into view on his helmet's overlay soon enough.]

Go for the one on the right. I can take the other two, they're close enough together.

[He signals the Doctor before breaking to the left, picking up speed. From the sudden movement of the bright silhouettes on his visor screen, it looks like they've been spotted. He hears a few shots go off, forcing him to weave a bit as he continues to eat up the distance between them. The vehicles ahead of him aren't exactly next to each other but one's at least another ATV-length ahead. The other bearing down towards the Doctor is just about parallel to the second.

Tech cuts right between the two on the left. There's strangely enough, no shout, no shots from him, but quite abruptly the ATVs seem to lose power and promptly skid into the ground like a silent EMP's gone off. The suddenness is enough to throw at least a couple of the Sylphid off their ride.]

[makemeasong]

[ As the ritual begins to wind down to its completion, the chanting becomes louder, the words coming out of her as authoritatively as possible. She's trying to hold onto her control as she feels that last surge of magic, knowing it's almost over. But so does the fear, and it latches on like a parasite, doubling down.

The Doctor lies, the Doctor leaves. He's never believed in you and now he's left you to die; why bother saving a failure? You've let everyone else die, perhaps it's your turn. Nothing about you is worth knowing, worth remembering or keeping. The Doctor keeps telling you and you keep thinking you're better than. You won't die so we will. You'll fail at this like you failed to make a difference in the Doctor's life.

Clara's words feel choked out forcefully, her fear trying to cut her off at the source. It feels like her mind is being ripped apart and she's shouting the words to the ritual, fighting back with her belief in the Doctor. She blocks out the hate, the words she refuses to believe. On another day it might've worked, but today, she's stronger. The Doctor has already made her feel like she can fight back by making her a sonic - he believes in her enough to make a tool no one else has ever had but him. The fear can't win, she won't let it.

As soon as the tower goes down, the fear dissipates and Clara opens her eyes, finding herself on her hands and knees panting. She's done and looks for Tech and the Doctor as a smile of success begins to make its way across her lips. Before it blossoms into anything bigger, she feels a pinch at her waist and looks down. There's an exit wound with smoke rising out of it, and with a delay, Clara realizes something's happened to her after all. Trying to stand, she stumbles and falls instead, legs crumpling beneath her as she falls onto her side.

The Sylphid comes out of the brush to finish the job, weapon out, ready to fire. There's nothing Clara can do, too weak from the ritual to try and fight back. She watches blood stain the grass and waits for the inevitable darkness. ]

[twelfthsong]

[ As arrogant as he could be the Doctor knew when his own abilities lacked. Without question he follows after Tech's order zipping to the ATV on the right. He readies himself to time his sonic with Tech's tampering, but only sees the ATV's stall out causing the Sylphid's riding them to pitch over the handlebars without so much of a shout or a shot from Tech.

He can't help but feel like maybe something latent had awakened in Tech similar to his own healing abilities. The other possibility was that it had just been something he had always been able to do. The Doctor couldn't remember if that had been the case, but there was no time to dwell on it. The ATV rider closest to the Doctor casts an alarmed glance towards his fallen companions before locking his eyes on the Doctor. He waves briefly at the confused Sylphid before pressing the sonic, firing a sonic charge towards the ATV's inner mechanics. The speeder shakes and smoke begins to pour from the panels before it runs straight into an oncoming tree knocking the Sylphid on it out cold.

There's a triumphant grin on the Doctor's face under the helmet and he can't help but let out a little whoop of delight. ]

You're going to have to tell me how you did that later.

[ With the Sylphid soldiers on foot or shaken from their fall, the Doctor zipped back towards the tower knowing that Tech would be right on his heels. As he nears the clearing his momentary triumph becomes a cold dread when he realizes Clara isn't standing there. Instead, an unfamiliar figure stands over something, gun drawn. ]

Clara! [ And then over the comms - ] Tech, hurry up! [ The Doctor kicks the hoverboard into a faster speed, and he all but leaps off, sonic drawn towards the figure. Sparks fly from the gun as it malfunctions in the Sylphid's hand and they look up in confusion revealing the bleeding body of Clara. ]

[tech_nically]

[Relatively painless. Tech's glad things worked according to plan. Coming back around, he's got his blaster out, stunning the soldiers that have managed to extract themselves from the ATV.

His head snaps up at the Doctor's shout, and he wastes no time in pushing his hoverboard forward. He's off of it in similar fashion, both guns out as he moves to flank the Sylphid. He nods at the Doctor to see to Clara, keeping a gun trained on the Sylphid.]

Back away.

[It's not a suggestion.]

[twelfthsong]

[ He's too furious to speak but his glare speaks volumes as he rushes towards Clara's side. He's a petty enough person to press the sonic once again, sending more sparks flying as it messes further with the inner working of the Sylphid's gun. It's the least of what he'd like to actually be able to do to the person in front of him but he has more pressing matters.

He's so furious at himself that he can't even bring himself to crack an ill-timed joke. He had known it was a bad idea but he had thought that they'd had more time. It hadn't even crossed his mind to consider that Tech's scan wouldn't have picked up on other possible distortion magitech either.

When he locates the wound it's thankfully a clean shot but he's quick to apply pressure to the wound in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. The soldier had aimed to kill but was either a lousy shot or had wanted some sick validation in one final blow. The thought sends another surge of anger through him but he shoves it aside before he can be blinded by it.

He has yet to heal a wound, but if he can bring equilibrium to minds surely he can stabilize wounds. There's a moment of hesitation, a niggling voice of doubt that tells him he can't save her - there's an awful lot of blood from one wound after all. Her skin is clammy to the touch and his hands tremble against the wound now slick with Clara's blood but the thought of needing her to be okay, to at least stabilize, courses through his veins. A golden, dust-like energy emits from his hands and he watches with baited breath waiting for Clara's breath to even out feeling the tug of tissue trying to stitch itself back together. ]

Come on, Clara. You haven't fought zygons to go like this.

[tech_nically]

[The clone isn't one usually given to emotions, but he's hardly heartless. Opposing sides or not, this Sylphid has shot an unarmed woman. He isn't outright furious, his temperament doesn't burn to extremes so much as simmer, which is why he's keeping calm as the Doctor works.

He's also realizing that the man in front of him isn't registering at all on his visor's overlay, which he taps to flip back up. That would explain some things, however not make for a better situation. There's no excuse for being sloppy, and he can't help but feel that they've failed Clara even when they'd insisted they would not.

The Sylphid's eyes flick between them, anxious, still gripping his likely faulty weapon despite the sparks that had startled him. His focus settles upon Tech as the clone comes closer to relieve him of the weapon. He anticipates the swing, unfortunately, the sudden desperation sharpening in the Sylphid's expression before his attempt to bludgeon the clone with his broken gun. Tech jerks to the side and steps inside the man's guard, shoulder ramming his chest. The Sylphid falls onto his back, winded, and Tech kicks the gun away, his own trained on the other before he stuns him as well. ]

[makemeasong]

[ She looks like she needs a hospital, her already pale skin gone the shade of paper. There's a thin sheen of sweat on her skin and she's tired, so exhausted that even without being hurt, she isn't sure she could move on her own.

The regeneration energy does slowly begin to work, though, damage both unseen and visible beginning to repair itself. The blood doesn't go anywhere, she'll still be a mess, but the wound is fixing itself. With great effort, Clara opens her eyes to half-mast; when she sees the Doctor right there, she knows she's safe and lets them close again. She's unaware that she shut down the tower, convinced she failed despite her success. When she tries to speak, her voice is quiet and the tone is apologetic, but the words are mumbled. ]

...sorry. 'm sorry. I'm sorry, I tried.

[twelfthsong]

[ When Clara finally speaks, relief joins the myriad of emotions running through his veins. But they aren't out of the clear yet. They still had to destroy the tower and get her out of there. None of that is betrayed in his voice though as it softens for a brief moment as he tries to reassure her. ]

You did better than try, Clara. You deactivated it.

[ His powers didn't fail him; she was stable for now. He keeps his hands there several moments longer before he removes them and gingerly picks her up to put her on the ATV. When he turns back to face Tech he notes the stunned soldier on the ground. He doesn't want to talk about what he's considering his own failure. They still had to get Clara back to camp. ]

There was nothing in the mission brief about bringing back a captive. Either way we should move them before we plant the explosives.

[tech_nically]

Given most of their objectives more or less say to kill them on sight, I don't think bringing back a captive would go much differently. How is she doing?

[Tech looks up from where he's been searching the unconscious Sylphid, holding up a small, boxlike device that had been clipped to the man's belt. He steps over towards the Doctor and Clara, gun still in hand as he keeps scanning the rest of the area.]

Here. I think this is why he didn't come up on my scans. I'll go move him and then we'll start on the explosives.

[twelfthsong]

Better to leave them out here then. [ They had been told about the aggressive animals and plant life but when they had clearly intended to make Clara suffer, not bringing them back as a captive and giving them a fighting chance was as much mercy as the Doctor was willing to give them. ]

She's stable. We don't have time to get her back up to full health or cleaned up but she needs to rest anyway because of the spell. [ His gaze tears momentarily from Clara to take the device that Tech had handed him. It's hard to say what it is by just looking at it but the sonic is able to help with that. ] More magitech - it's some kind of distortion device. [ He pockets it for the time being. Between the two of them they could figure out what to do with it - or the Witches would if they didn't already have something like it in their possession. ]

I'll help. [ With the two of them working together they're able move the man a fair distance away so that he won't be caught directly in the blast. With that done they turn their attention towards the explosives. Once he's planted and timed his, the Doctor straightens up calling over to Tech as he makes his way back to the ATV where Clara looks like she's passed out. ] Ready to go when you are.

[tech_nically]

[Stable is about the best they can hope for. Reluctant as Tech is to leave Clara alone again, at least this time they won't be going far, and the work is still far faster done between two. He doesn't make too much of an objection against leaving the Sylphid either. Any chance the Sylphid are given is still far more than what they've been giving anyone else they've brought here.]

All set.

[Tech is on his hoverboard again, coming down from the other side of the tower when he slows to a stop, looking first at his tablet and then turning his head to look at some point past the trees opposite them. He quickly turns and makes for the ATV.]

We need to get moving. I'm picking up multiple signatures heading this way. Are you all right with driving?

[He'll either ride alongside them or hang onto Clara if needs be, but if there's something coming, he'd feel better handling the defensive.]

[twelfthsong]

I'll be better than Clara was. [ It's in his nature to crack a poor joke despite Clara not being able to defend herself. And circumstances aside, he liked to think that Tech would agree that Clara's driving had been more than a little bumpy. But again, it wasn't the time or place.

After ensuring Clara was strapped in as securely as she could be, he nods at Tech before starting the ATV and heading back into the dense jungle.

The explosives detonate minutes later sending a reverberation through the trees and he barely spares a thought to the man they had dragged a ways off. It would have been foolish to think that the Sylphid would just let any of what they did go without coming to investigate. But they weren't the only ones that were detonating towers. With any luck, they'd be spread thin or distracted and their escape would go unnoticed. The thought of needing to get Clara back to base camp drives him, going as fast as he can on the ATV without jostling her too much. He needs to keep his eyes on the path ahead of them so he's relying on Tech to be his eyes. ]

Any sign of incoming Sylphid?

[tech_nically]

[Not that Tech had necessarily seen too much of a problem with Clara's driving, but he takes the joke for what it is. Once they set off it's just a matter of having his hoverboard keep pace with the ATV.

At least now that he has his helmet back, it makes it much easier to keep track of things without having to consult a tablet all the time, especially under the current circumstances.]

Not the Sylphid... [Not exactly, though he doesn't doubt they originate from them.] These readings are smaller- and coming in fast.

Wait-

[The first of them comes within visual range, and Tech doesn't hesitate to fire once he registers what they are.] Incoming! [One explosion heralds the sound of multiple shots as others come zooming into range, sizzling against trees as the ATV passes.]

Some kind of attack drones! [Tech calls out over the helmet comms, continuing to concentrate his fire on them.]

[twelfthsong]

[ Tech, please. The Doctor thought they were getting along.

He hears Tech's warning first which is shortly followed by high pitched whining. The conclusion he comes to is only a beat after Tech shouts his warning and shots are being fired overhead. The Doctor lets out a grunt, turning the handles at a sharp angle so he can try and dive into the tree cover, a set of missiles that come whistling through the air, narrowly missing them. The vines and trees take the brunt of it, leaving singe marks in their wake. ]

Why couldn't it just be the canine automaton we kept hearing so much about?

[tech_nically]

I'll try and lead some of them off.

[Tech breaks away from them, veering his hoverboard around as the ATV plunges into the trees opposite him. His shots take out a couple more, but he's quick to realize something.]

What- Doctor, they're still after you!

[But why? His readouts indicate the drones haven't lost track of them at all. Tech pushes the board forth again, breaking past the canopy, skimming the treetops as he continues from above. At least up here he doesn't have to worry about running into things, but at best all it's good for is to catch up. He drops back down into the trees, literally on top of one of the drones, shoving it downwards with another explosion.]