[RPBT]: Vex (Soulcorruptor) vs. Ralph Faiz (Izanagi)

[Noblesse Oblige]

Battlefield:
Great Tree Forest
The area is covered in miles upon miles of forest, some as large as skyscrapers. At the center of the forest is the Great Tree that gives the forest it's name. Taller than the tallest skyscraper (it stands at 1 km tall, the tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa is only ~830 m) and as wide as a Baseball Stadium, it towers over and commands this forest. Footing is key, as the terrain is treacherous, and some of the branches are decaying, and can be prone to breaking off.

Rules of Engagement:
- All rules as stated in the RPBT Rules and Guidelines
- The match ends when:

• 20 post limit is reached (it means at maximum the thread should have 21 posts, including this one.)
• One of the combatants has been defeated
• Time limit is reached (The battle will end on 19 July at 1:00 PM)

Ready? Engage.

 

[Izanagi]

A large unidentified object crashed into the heart of the forest, disturbing the serenity that it once had. It's insignia was unfamiliar and not of this world, animals and other fauna scurried to other places clearing the epicenter of the crash. The mysterious object began shifting as its contents stepped forward. A black, sleek machine made of red lines and optics clicked and sealed its bolts as the Ragnum 251 surveyed the area it had landed.

"Elise, looks like we've arrived first," Ralph said as he looked down to see that miles of trees were littered around the mighty forest and as he looked above, The Great Tree Forest commanded its majestic presence before the mighty Emperor of Machines.

"Affirmative, Ralph. It also appears that I am still able to access the WLN through your suits despite the signal being relatively average... So far, I'm unable to locate anything beyond animals. It's also strange but we may be - "Elise added.

"We aren't from this world, I agree. I'm also nervous...This place has something that isn't even logical in terms of the reality that was in any Outer World sector or The Oriental Frontier chart," he said. Indeed, he was right in deducting that he had arrived to an unknown place and was clearly far from home, the tree that was in the background was not of any breed he could detect in Linisium and the animals are notably potent in substances and elements not known to him, one could even theorize that the place bore some unknown kind of power yet even he refused to acknowledge 'Magic', stories of his childhood, to be real in this setting.

Ralph took his steps as he explored the place, scanning for any unknown hostiles. He ensured that his mask was sealed to prevent any of his comments being heard from external forces.

"How's the 231 and the 249?" he asked.

"3 copies of every models are placed all around during the temporal shift, thus bringing to our arsenal at least 8 suits in dormancy and 1 active which is ours, I believe that they've scattered all around this large tree and also sealed from any use," Elise said. As Ralph pressed on a branch, he failed to realize that it was one of the old decaying ones as he tripped and fell further downwards. He countered this by activating his flight capabilities and flew upwards above the thick forest to catch a glimpse of The Great Tree.

"Scan for our other two suits along with the back up copies of each modules," Ralph commanded. His optics began searching the forests and he caliberated his sensors for the elements that make up the pods and his own suits, yet he was confounded that most of his main sensors have been failing.

"Shit... It was a bad move flying upwards, underestimating this shrub. It's filled with unknown signatures that I can't explain and are jamming everything that I feel its almost impossible to comprehend," Ralph swore as he dove back down to the forests and decided to resort to low level flight to find each of his suits the old fashioned way.

"Fortunately, it appears that short range scanning is working," Elise said.

"Switch to it while I sweep the forests for our back ups, we may need to reactivate the 249 and 231 along with their copies and 251's copies as well. I feel we're in for a fight soon," Ralph said cautiously as he scavenged the illogical forest. He had to prepare for the worst and with just one suit, he was not sure what threats lay ahead and once Elise is out of range, it'd be impossible for him to leave this place alive. It was time to rely on his instincts and the possibility that his suits may be vulnerable in these parts unknown.

 

[Soulcorruptor]

Vex was strolling through a forest he suddenly found himself in, it was strange to him and yet there was a familiar presence. There was a feel of magic to the place and it told him that this forest was very old, ancient even. As he walked through the forest he soon happened upon a large tree looming before him, it stretched into sky seeming to reach on forever.
"I have no idea where I am, but I need to be cautious. This forest can probably kill me if I don't respect it enough. Now let's see this giant tree seems to be the center of this place, if I were to try and climb I might be able to see how far out it goes and plan from there. Though on the other hand if I trek in one direction now I could just wander and aimlessly find my way out."

Vex decided to go for the later and walked in an eastern direction from the tree and while doing so noticed a rotted broken branch. It seemed to be recently broken by the looks of it as there was a slight color distortion between the branch color and the color in-between the cracks. Vex reached to his side to draw out his sword as he took a more crouched walking posture looking constantly to his sides as well as behind him, with an occasional peak above him. Moving forward more slowly now and with caution only one thought ran through his head. "Where ever I am, I'm not alone." he said to himself, and it was then that he heard a low hum, a noise not known to him and it seemed to be getting closer. Vex quickly went to the ground trying to hide as much of his body as he could with the branches as to remain unseen, and yet to try and catch a glimpse of this noise.

 

[Izanagi]

Sending probes seems to have been disrupting them from doing their work. Whatever the forest was doing, it was forbidding Ralph and Elise from getting a precise and comprehensive view of this ancient shrub of a forest. The oddly shaped mappings he and Elise could have mapped indicate that the paths are filled with unknown quantities of disruptive particles that constantly interferred with his scanning of the forest. Thankfully during the sweeps, he had managed to locate a back up pod of the 251 and two pods of the 231s, making it up to 3 accessible suits he can call for. He placed homing beacons redirected through his current suit's server so that they may be deployed at the appropriate moment.

"How's it looking so far?" Ralph asked.

"As per my records, the pods are able to nullify the particles disrupting our radar and scanners for every suit. I highly advise against going to battle for now until we know where the other suits are placed, " Elise advised. Ralph landed down and minded his steps as the terrain was extremely unpredictable and was never forgiving, giving both of them the impression that the great forest was against them for some reason.

"She bears great resentment on a certain scale, Elise," Ralph sighed, remarking the fact that whatever they did, the forest would not reveal its secrets to both of them. "It's scientifically impossible to pinpoint what exactly this forest is...it almost feels...magical," Ralph said in an irate manner.

"Ralph as much as I hate to argue with you, we cannot rule out the possibility that the forest's abnormality may be a result of something we cannot comprehend such as magic. Theoretically, it is another branch of science that still needs to be explored dont you think?" Elise asked the young man.

"Magic is never possible, Elise. Science is what answers all those mystical influences and nearly surreal situations back in Linisium. Magic is just a branch of sin even I cannot accept," Ralph said firmly as he scanned the forests.

Their contemplation was disrupted by a rustle through one of his scanners a few meters away from them. Ralph muted his external speakers and knelt down, utilizing the particles of mist and fog to cloud him and the suit.

"What was that?" Ralph said as he played back the rustle and the direction of origin, revealing a mysterious figure from that point.

"It appears to be another individual. Should we approach?" Elise asked.

"Hell no, not when we don't know what it is capable of or even if it has the forest on its side...Send a controlled 231, at least we know it can withstand punishment," He concluded. Elise's approval was met when she openned a 231's hidden pod a few yards from where they found it and a similar but green and golden tinted suit stepped out of it, remotely controlled by Ralph's Cybernetic friend.

"Move it over to where that rustle was so we can see what it is," Ralph said carefully. The mobile suit lifted itself from the ground and slowly flew towards the cause of the noise. Ralph and Elise waited patiently and Ralph himself was tense as well as excited by what they were about to see.

"Now let's see what exactly is going on with this forest..." he said as the controlled model 231 hovered to the target area.

 

[Soulcorruptor]

Vex was still lying in wait looking carefully as the mysterious person seemed to fly past him. He was still intrigued and bothered by it, it looked like a flying metal suit of sorts. His first reaction to seeing it of confusion. After all how could metal fly he thought to himself. But that was neither here nor there as he was broke out of his focus by another machine flying towards him. Not knowing how he was found he quickly got up and got his sword in a ready position drawing it across in front of him and his left hand just in front of the backside of the blade.

Since it didn't seem to be ready to attack quite yet Vex readied his blade in a more lunging position at his right side. As he started to close his eyes and inhale deeply a yellow sparkle began to glow on the hilt of his sword. It then flashed briefly before fading but in that moment Vex already began his attack. He lunged his sword forward sending a bolt of lightning at the machine as he rushed up closer to it he began to relax once again, taking another deep breath. This time the hilt of his sword let out a dim red glow and flashed briefly again. Using his left hand Vex launched a series of 3 fireballs at the machines backside, then spinning on his left heel he swung himself around and attempted to pierce the machine. Following through with his motion he placed his right foot on the back of the machine and pushed off.

Then using the brief moment of distraction he fled in the opposite direction. If he was outnumbered by these machine things he needed to get a better understanding of their numbers first, and hopefully with some observation find something that would be effective on them. He came across a withered tree spanning a creek, part of it near the top was hollowed out allowing him to climb inside. As he went towards the base of the tree the roots were still twisted enough to give him cover, using this he tried to relax some. He needed to recover a bit as he used two of his magic attacks back to back and in very quick succession. Now it became a game of waiting, would he be able to spot the enemy again and remain hidden? Or would on of them find him again and he still not have an idea how to handle them.