Dragon Caught in the Rain

The situation was quickly growing out of hand. This thick jawed fish things were now leaping out of the water and onto the boat repeatedly. One of the girls that helped roseria had one stuck to her arm which was wrapped in a kind of robot like suit so it didn't break skin but from her cry Roseria assumed it hurt. She looked around for a safe place to keep Karah while she helped them stop this madness but her vision was blinded by the rain and constant lightning. She looked at karah who was holding onto her wet skin tightly burrowing her head into roseria's sternum just under her breasts. Roseria patted karah and spoke to her calmly which she assumed would get to her above all of the chaos.

"Karah calm down it's going to be okay, just calm down." She said with a gentle smile as everyone on the boat screamed and cried.

Karah was looking at her then nodded and began to wipe tears away and go to help protect the boat from the fish creatures. Just as Roseria began to calm down the girl with the robot suit was snatched from the edge of the boat after shooting something. At that same time Karah was thrown backwards by something big that swung at the water as she tried to paddle the boat to a safer place. Roseria looked at karah briefly but her back was turned. She went up to her and tightly grabbed her shoulder.

"Karah I'll be right back." She said then she backed up and jumped off the other side of the boat to help the girl who helped them. She wasn't doing this to do a good dead, she knew that doing this wasn't going to change a single thing she did over the past 300 years, but this girl saved her and karah which is something she would never forget.

It didn't take long for roseria to find the girl and she quickly began to freeze the area around the woman in an attempt to help her free herself. Roseria hopped that she hit te mark but she wouldn't be sure until the girl freed herself, if she freed herself.

Perhaps it was a sign of good things to come, or just a natural course of events. Anyways, the storm that had ravaged the boat and the people aboard was finally going away. The downpour or rain and fierce lightning were going away. The departing storm would make one less thing to deal with in these efforts to save the crew and passengers of the sinking ship. Though by this point, it was the lesser threat. These strange and vicious fish and the parasitic slugs they brought with them were much worse. There was also that large object underneath the lifeboats. Probably the source of these things.

The crew and passengers were scattered about in lifeboats. Protecting any of them from the creatures that could strike from the ocean beneath them was a task of great difficulty. Forcewave was kept occupied by the ones just attacking the boat he was on. All these people that were dragged under the ocean by the creatures, they were brought to the object underneath. What was it though? He was tempted to go down there to find out. Though the trip to it would be frought with danger. His powers did not work as well as they should while underwater.

As he continued to try and take out every creature he saw, regardless of which boat they went after, he was interrupted by Xiao. She asked him for something. To use his powers on her so she could transform. Wait, yeah, she could turn into a dragon. He had read her file and it had mentioned that as one of her abilities. Probably why she was called the 'dragon girl'. Sure made a lot of sense. Would a minor shock work? Hopefully. Would the fact that his form of electricity was quite unusual have any impact on this? It had shown to have different properties at some points. Nonetheless he hit her with a minor dose of his psionically produced electrical energy. Hopefully it works.

Forcewave turned his attention back to dealing with the creatures. Suddenly one attacked him from behind and knocked him into the ocean and was dragged under. He held his breath as he tried to resurface while fighting off the ones biting at him and trying to pull him towards the large object below. He was starting to get a better look at it now. It was metallic structure that resembled a vessel of sorts. It wasn't a submarine however. It was shaped more like a generic alien spaceship. Then why was it underwater? Were there aliens hiding under the ocean? Forcewave managed to finally get away from the fish things and resurface. He wasn't anywhere near any of the lifeboats anymore though.

The amphibian fish they faced seemed capable of manoeuvring in the dark, making their approach difficult to detect, especially in the dark waters. However, their handlers, the dark humanoid silhouettes, had blazing green eyes that broadcasted their approach to Violet and any other in the water. One of them finally began approaching, a menacing outline beneath the water, approaching Violet, expecting this prey to be weakened and helpless enough to be dragged off.

However, the dark figure’s approach was cut off as a wall of ice materialized around her prey. This gave Violet precious time to escape; else they would find another way to take their prey. The dark figure beat against the ice and swam away to rejoin his group.

It was becoming more and more apparent that an ominous presence was approaching the metahuman group that was fighting back. More of the glowing eyed figures swam around in circles, roughly nine of them now, these dark sea elves attacking from the highly advantageous darkness of underwater. They launch another volley of poison needles at Forcewave, having decided his abilities to be highly desirable to obtain.

On the lifeboat, Xiao screeched in pain as the shocks invigorated her out of the numbness induced by the venom. Sufficiently motivated, she began her transformation in the boat, but knowing there were stunned and speechless civilians in it, she fell into the water to complete her change, her mass visibly growing.

Below, the craft’s lights began to be directed to the surface, pale emerald searchlights scanning the waters for some unknown purpose. Those who could see in the dark could tell that the collection of victims had ended, and in the now calm sea, the craft below began to power up and rise.

Saved for the moment, Violet pulled herself back aboard the boat and finally removed the fish from her arm. There was a lot of damage but she had been through worse. It seemed like they had gained the attention of their attackers which would mean all of this was going to be over soon. "Damned if we don't go out without a fight!" Violet called out as her cross bow appeared in her hands.

Xia had dropped into the water, for a moment Violet thought about going to 'rescue' her but when she saw that the mass that was once a woman growing she knew that something big was coming. Violets helmet equipped to her, its systems booting up but failing to send any sort of signal out for help even from AIVAS. 'Damn, AIVAS is supposed to be accessible around the world what gives' Suddenly a volley of more needles were launched at the boat. Violet quickly equipped the Bubble shield and activated it. The force field surrounded the group but it would only last for a few minutes. "When this thing goes out you can be damn sure they'll attack. Don't give them the satisfaction of an easy kill."Violet was ready to die, but she was going to fight her hardest to live.

When Roseria began to surface again after helping something caught her leg and yanked her under just as she was going to climb into the boat. The water began to wobble and there was a slight singing sound that came from below. Roseria was startled when the lights from below began to get larger and closer. Roseria instantly knocked off what was latched on her and swam quickly to the girl from earlier. She crossed her arms in the form of an x and without hesitation swung them across another rapidly. blades of ice lashed out and rushed to the sea creatures that were on there way toward them. Roseria then gestured to the life boat and when she was sure the girl saw her she began to head there but her swim was cut short as something big grew inside the water.

Forcewave was separated from all of the lifeboats. This was not a good place to be. It may only be about twenty feet to the nearest one, but it seemed like miles to him. The aggressive fish things were everywhere and the swim back would be wrought with danger. A lot of the passengers had already been captured and brought to the object below. Most of the lifeboats were empty. The few people still present were struggling to survive. Much like he was. He began to swim towards the nearest lifeboat. Perhaps instead he should swim down to the ship and enter it somehow. By this point, it would probably be safer. He would be able to walk instead of swim, and there might be less dangers present since they might not expect somebody to get aboard. He'd be alone down there though. Unless he got the others in on this little plan as well.

He reached the boat and began to pull himself upwards to climb in it. He was tired, and the exhaustion made his efforts strenous. As he took a moment to breathe before trying again he saw them. Not more of the fish creatures. A different kind. These ones were humanoid in appearance and had glowing eyes, and they were heading right towards him. They were swimming alongside the predatory fishies. These things may just be the occupants of that ship. Forcewave put his hand under the water and sent out some electrical waves. They weren't entirely soluble, but they did arch towards the aliens. Forcewave then climbed into the lifeboat and put a barrier around himself. He then tried to find the others. He wanted to inform them of the idea he had.

Looking around he saw only one of them. Where were the others? Then the lifeboat started to shake. Not from the fish creatures or the other ones, but from the ship underneath them rising up to the surface. It was drawing closer to them. It would probably be easier to board now. Forcewave strengthened the barrier around him and dove back into the ocean. He swam down and reached the top of the ship, and found an entrance. He forced his way through it and arrived onboard, not knowing what to expect.

In dragon Form, Xiao could now perceive her enemies in the water well. The Dark Sea Elves turned their weapons on this new monstrosity, the others becoming trivial compared to the attention the monster drew. Half their number began immediately to flee. Xiao’s passing caused them to be stunned, left to float in the water as vulnerable targets, as she raced towards the ship. A giant figure on the bottom detached from it, and swam up to face the dragon and her allies, to protect the ship as it made its escape attempt.

A giant crab came into the dragon’s view, and their battle was ferocious; Xiao brought her claws but found no purchase against the crab’s shell, unable to reach its weak points. A lobsterman was mounted on its back, but it was unable to shoot the massive back-mounted sonic cannon at Xiao. Instead, the crab clamped down on Xiao’s tail and one arm, causing her to roar in pain below the waves. Xiao brought the fight to the surface, hoping her new allies could help. The crab’s weaker underbelly was visible, but the battle was chaotic, as the two massive monsters fought each other claws and fangs fighting pincers.

Forcewave would notice, just as he boarded it, the Alien submersible craft was already starting to move away, unknown to him that the abductor ship already filled to capacity. Inside the craft’s main hull was a truly alien environment, a twilight lit by the viridian glow of holding tubes embedded in honeycomb slots. The air was breathable, thankfully, though smelled of the sea and of... sea creatures. The ship was not terribly large, and likely only held a third of the passengers from the cruise liner. Still, there was no way of knowing if there were... others.

Below were the spawning pools of yet unborn Fang Spawn; their large, translucent egg sacs numbering in the dozens, with room for dozens more, the ones already deployed in the initial attack. The immature Fang Spawn’s bellies still bloated with yolk, their eyes closed... not an immediate threat, but their hatching would be a huge problem.

The doorway to the craft’s interior in the far wall of the holding pens opened; the craft’s defenders emerged, the pale viridian light illuminating the aliens. They were large, 8-foot tall crustacean humanoids with claws, their carapace dark. Giant claws protruded from their top torso, while two smaller arms held an alien weapon. When one looked at them, one could only think Lobstermen... armed with alien rayguns. Truly cruel, they crouch and take cover behind spheres of liquid containing their captives, using the human stock as meat shields.

They spoke in a garbled speech, one truly not of this earth, nor this reality- the Dark Speech of the outsiders, whatever it is called, carried an insidious and sinister tone. The two Lobstermen aimed their ray guns at Forcewave, but no projectile came- rather, the air around it distorted, as it carried a super concentrated blast (int 6 power) of sonic energy that would almost instantly deafen unprotected targets, and could literally vibrate objects – and living things- to pieces.

Xiao was a dragon and she was locked in battle with what Violet could only describe as the beast of myth, leviathan. The battle didn't seem to be going in the dragons favor for the shell of the beast was thick and strong enough to repel her razor sharp claws. The bubble shield returned to the equip, it served little purpose now that it seemed the aliens had collected their share of humans. Violet felt powerless, she was a human amongst titans. A dragon, a gigantic crab, and aliens to boot. It made everything she accomplished feel so insignificant.  

'What can I do?' She fought to herself, watching in awe as Xia wrestled the crab to the surface. The field guy had disappeared to board the ship, she thought about joining him but God only knew where that thing was going and she couldn't just leave Xia to fight alone. The other hero was taking out sea creatures with ice abilities so they were covered for the time being. Then, carefully observing the stomach area of the crab, she could see scar tissue. 'The belly must be soft...if that is the case then.'

With a thought, the equip materialized a large, shoulder cannon. The LNR 'Guilty Light' (INT:4). One of CRDIs most powerful weapons, the Guilty Light was a pinpoint at vehicular laser cannon. Throwing it onto her shoulder, Violets HUD pulled up a aiming screen and she aimed for the stomach. squeezing the trigger, the cannon charged up and then unleashed a brilliant red light of destruction aimed to blow a hole through the chest of the crab beast. The recoil from the cannon nearly threw Violet off the boat. The video link to the Guilty lights targeting system disappeared from her visual screen and Violet looked to see the damage she did.

Roseria was above the water now and she was standing on a small island of ice. She was constantly raining down thick shards of ice causing a change in the oceans color. She jumped into the air as more creatures appeared and tried to harm her. She flipped backwards and opened her fan swinging it to her left causing her to go into a full 360 when she was right side up. A twisting wave of ice and wind rushed towards the island she was on. The island shattered and the wind hit the water, splitting it into a giant crater that grazed the water.

"Dang aliens...wait where's Karah?" She asked herself as she turned back to the life boat.

She hadn't heard her call her or scream at her for a few minutes now.

He was, in. Now he stood there within the ship's interior, soaking wet and kind of cold. Forcewave looked around the inside of this structure. Definitely alien looking. It was like totally out of this world in here. He took his first breath from inside the ship. He could breathe, but it sure did stink of fish in here. He plugged his nose with his left hand as he viewed the surroundings. Massive test tubes lined the walls of this part of the ship. Inside them were the captured passengers. They were already all being held in these things. These aliens work fast. How would he get them out though? Was the control system in here too, or was it somewhere else. In another room perhaps. It might be in the main control room. Wherever that could be. He might have to do some searching.

Forcewave was walking around the room looking for the control system when he heard it from below. He looked down over the railing to see a pool full of eggs. It was like he was looking down at the eggs from that horror movie series. These were probably the things from earlier. More of them. Just what they didn't need to deal with. Nor would they. Not if he did something about it. It was a shame to have to kill these things before they even hatch, but he had to prioritize here. These aliens needed to be stopped, and this would be a damaging blow to their operation. Forcewave blasted the pool and the energy electrocuted the eggs, thus destroying them.

Hmm, where were the others? Were they still fighting in the lifeboats? It looks to be like that. They could have been captured though. It didn't look like there had been any new arrivals though. Did they even notice he had come down here? Maybe they thought he had been captured too. He might be down here alone for a while.

He was looking for the controls to these tubes. Still no sign of the thing though. It was looking like he was going to have to explore the ship for it. Suddenly he heard a noise. He looked to see the doors had opened and in came two of what seemed to be this ship's occupants. Two scorpion-crab-man things. Yeah, aliens, this confirms it. Or some really elaborate costumes, and setting. They also carried guns of some sorts. Forcewave knew what was coming. Damp clothes aside, he was ready for this. The shots came, and they were not what he was expecting. He didn't see them so much as hear them heading towards him. Sound based weapons. Forcewave generated his energy and used it to block the incoming blasts. Now what though? They were using the tubes as shields. He would have to either draw them out, or think of something to outsmart them.

Over the receding rain and lapping waves, the two titanic beasts roared and clawed at each other. The people in the lifeboats were crying out in panic, as the unreal event played out, dragon and crab vying for dominance. Xiao roared at the crab, clawing again at a joint, when Violet’s laser weapon connected and flash cooked the flesh in the belly, causing the carapace to erupt. With the crab’s underside compromised, Xiao’s used her bony tail to strike at the weak spot, making the crab shudder in pain and causing the sonic cannon to come loose.

The lobsterman detached his entire turret and abandoned the crab, but once it and its massive armament were in the water, the device powered up again, and in a fit of final defiance aimed it at the dragon above. Violet was the closest, followed by Roseria. The dark sea elves she fought began to retreat, but not without taking Karah with them.

The water boiled over as John’s power surged through it, flash-boiling the Fangspawn eggs. A most foul odor wafted from the water, most nauseating, as the many chemicals and nutrients within reacted. The embryos came loose from their mounds, the giant greenish-blue hard boiled eggs floating around the water.

Forcewave, all alone on the enemy vessel, met more resistance as another of the lobstermen got into the steamy water. With the concealment provided by the steam and the dead Fangspawn, it moved swiftly through the water, intent on flanking the metahuman, to attack him from below. The lobstermen in cover redoubled their attacks, occupying his attention with suppressive fire, the air whinning and screeching with the sonic weapons’ unholy noise, putting John’s barrier power –and hearing- to the test. The swimmer intended to bring him into the water, their claws easily ripping through the techno-organic platform he was on. Despite all the carnage though, the captured humans remained in a catatonic slumber, encased in slime, cut off from all sensation.

The vessel though, shuddered from John's last power surge. They were still on an alien ship after all, and even their technology relied on electricity...

The Guilty Light successfully weakened the crab underbelly enough for Xia to kill it but the sonic cannon mounted on its back had unlatched and fallen to the ocean. In a last ditch effort it seemed like the lobster man was attempting to take Xia out with the crab. With a thought, the Guilty light disappeared and Violets cross bow appeared. An arrow materialized as the cross bow pulled its own string back all while Violet raised the weapon up with the butt against her shoulder. Her aim was swift, and she squeezed the trigger launching an arrow at the lobster mans head. She didn't stop though, for she fired off several more arrows aimed to dismember the lobster before it could do damage.

"Hey Dragon Girl!" Violet called out, pointing towards the enemy ship. "Your buddy is onboard on his own, let's go!" Violet sounded angry, but that was how she usually sounded while giving out orders. They had people to save and she'd be damned if she let something as ridiculous as lobster men get the better of humanity.

As the enemies Roseria was fighting fled something huge fell on top of her. Just when she thought it couldn't get worse a valve opened and air pushed her further down into the water. As roseria regained her balance in the water she noticed something move in the distance. It was karah and she was fighting to get away from the creatures. Roseria swung her hands and shards of ice along with a few tendrils slid through the water skewering a few of the aliens. Roseria began to swim towards karah but more aliens appeared and attacked her and karah.

Karah was taken into the ship and roseria was rammed onto the top of it. Roseria fought off the aliens but she was in their territory so it wouldn't be easy to kill these things as long as she stayed under water. As she fought the aliens the ship began to break surface and rise above the ocean. roseria was now able to properly show her opponents her power and within seconds blocks of ice incased them and she was now pounding onto the top of the ship. Ice exploded into the air as she finally broke a whole but then the hole expanded and she fell into the ship and into some weird water.

Forcewave was the only one who boarded the ship where all the captured passengers had been taken to. There he had found a room full of containment tubes where said captured passengers were being held, a large pool with more of the weird alien fish creatures as before, and the aliens. Of course he would find the aliens here. Why wouldn't he? At least he wasn't having to swim around or stuck in a lifeboat anymore. Being outnumbered and having to deal with those powerful sonar cannons wasn't much of a relief though.

The first wave of their attack with those weapons came, and he was able to withstand it. Just barely. The second wave was coming, and it was worse. Not only was there another round of soundwaves ripping through the air towards him, but another one of the aliens was attempting to attack him from behind via the pool below. Forcewave acted quickly to counter this. He pulled out his hookshot and fired it at the roof. It attached itself to the ceiling above. Forcewave then pulled himself up to the ceiling with it. As he was being pulled up he summoned a massive burst of energy to redirect the incoming sonar pulses towards the water below and the alien in it. It was somewhat successful, though he still felt some of the impact of the sonar pulses, it was nothing he couldn't handle. As he was pulling himself up towards the ceiling, he fired another blast of electrical energy that hit the floor between the two aliens firing at him, and split in two in order to try and hit both of them.

The ship then began to shake violently. What was happening? Was it about to take off? Oh please do not let that be happening. Maybe it was the others trying to break in. Hopefully it is just that. Let it be that, let it be that. It was. He realized this when a bunch of ice came bursting in through the roof. One of the others fell through the roof and into the pool. "Hey, get out of there now." he shouted towards her. The alien was still in there, and that pool was not a safe place to be. Forcewave lowered himself back down to the floor and ran over to the pool's edge to try and help her.

Violet’s shots did not connect exactly as she intended. The Lobsterman survives, though the sonic cannon took damage, and misfired, releasing a beam that caused the water to ripple and surge violently, narrowly missing Xia and striking the crab. Its underside now cracked open, Xiao plunges her claws into its soft underbelly and rips out its biomechanical guts. The giant crab shudders and dies, though its claws were clamped around the dragon in its death throes, dragging her into the water despite Violet’s call. She struggles to break loose, and will need time to do so.

The lobsterman’s thick shell deflected Violet’s bolts, the weapon poorly adapted to firing in an aquatic environment. From her volley, only one managed to slip into a seam in its carapace of its neck, and the lobsterman seemed mostly annoyed than injured. It used its powerful tail to propel itself swiftly through the water, pincers at the ready to pinch Violet, ready to fight and die for their ship’s survival.

The ship meanwhile, shuddered from the electrical blasts and the ice formation, but it kept on going despite the damage.  The ship’s defences were activated, and automated sonic turrets shaped like tortoise shells emerged from the techno-organic hull, scoured the water for resistance, while a powerful sonic pulse rippled outward from the ship, stunning almost all immediate sealife in the vicinity and achieving a similar effect against the would be rescuers still out in the water. The ice formations began breaking up, but not before Roseria breached the hull and fell into the pool of dead Fangspawn eggs. Seawater began to pour in through the breach, and the ship begins to stall- then finally, starts to sink. An alien alert in the form of some kind of technicolor alarm that bathed the ship interior, as well as some strange alien sound. Like pulses and screeching.

The lobsterman in the pool below shuddered as Forcewave did the unthinkable and redirected the sonic energy; cracks formed all over its carapace and it let out a tortured cry of pain, slumping onto the platform from the attack.

The Lobstermen, seeing the ship taking on water, were about the retreat when Forcewave unleashed tendrils of energy against them. When the electricity struck them their carapaces turned bright orange as their flesh inside was flash cooked. But, in a display of truly alien resilience they manage to keep standing, but barely. For how much longer, one could not be certain. They continue pummelling Forcewave with sonic cannon shots, one of the aliens fumbling with his weapon to reload.

The aliens had lost, that much they could see. A fourth lobsterman emerged from the ship’s bridge, carrying... something... larger than their sonic cannons. This weapon was called a Disruptor Pulse Launcher, but these would be heroes would simply know it by the charging up sound it makes, followed by the projectile it released, flying in an impossible parabolic path towards Forcewave. On impact it would unleash an explosive blast of energy that would simply blow the whole ship’s ceiling open.  They were now cutting their losses would sink the ship and kill all the humans. These aliens were sore losers.

When Roseria fell into the liquid her instincts kicked in and she froze the water and crawled out of the thick substance. She climbed onto the hard surface just in time to be hit by an intense blast that exploded with immense force. She screamed out in pain as she flew back out the ceiling and into the open air. Her clothes were destroyed and karah was still gone but in her condition she couldn't do a thing. Roseria let a glistening tear fall from her eye as she resolved to freeze the ship in place.

"Polaris." She said quietly then a blue aura rushed out of her slowly dropping the temperature around her.

She turned herself in the air and a small orb of light blue appeared at her chest. She crossed her arms under it then glared at the evil ship. She swung her arms as if she was brushing dust off both arms and a beam of sub zero energy shot towards the ocean. After a few seconds the water was still, then the water erupted towards the ship and began to freeze as it rose in an attempt to grab the target hovering above them. Roseria stared in anticipation as she hoped the ship was caught and part of it was frozen in place so it couldn't escape.