The sounds seem to be coming from above. Heading up the next floor, the sounds of fighting become easier to trace - they're comming from the entryway to the North of the crystal column, which is spinning significantly more slowly now.
Aibek nodded to Mihara and Azri while continuing to cautiously approach the sounds. The witchwolf paused uncertainly when they noticed the changes to the crystal's spinning. With whoever-but-at-least-says-they're-strong-enough-to-bind-a-devil-and-is-stro ng-enough-to-corrupt-and-control-the-constructs-here still possibly about and likely had more than one plan for violently expressing their issues with them for whatever reason they had them, Aibek found the pretty much any change worthy of note particularly before heading towards what sounded like combat....
As Aibek moved down the corridor, with Ayreth taking the rear guard, the noise grew louder from a set of double doors. Oddly, there was no shouting or screaming, only the sound of metal striking metal along with a faint popping noise occasionally.
As the party approached the doors exploded outwards and one of the corrupted guards flew through the entryway, skidding along the floor in a spray of sparks before stopping.
A shape fills the doorway, like one of the Tower Guard of Khalharum. Or at least something based on it. This one is much larger than usual, filling the doorway, and is glad in an ancient style of armour. It seems to be using massive spiked gauntlets as weapons.
It stands for a moment, then vanished with a Pop! back into the chaos of the room behind, where several combatants continue to fight and seveal more litter the ground.
"Huh. Think they're on our side?" Azri asked, holding her Staff out rather prominently as she pointed a finger towards a corrupted guard and sent a bolt of scorching fire its way.
It, ah, did not land.
Mihara creeps up behind the party, careful to remain unseen of the combatants. "That would certainly be a refreshing change of pace."
Aibek paused as the doors crashed open, amber eyes followed in confusion as a corrupted guard went sliding into view and then back to the large construct before they disappeared. This was...interesting. Aibek glanced back to Ayreth with a shrug and a smile before they nodded with a chuckle in agreement with Mihara's comment.
After a moment's thought, and a look to the others, Aibek started to walk with their incorporeal steps as they pulled the shadows close around them towards the now open doors. If there were guards who were still fighting for Khalharum, well, then they had a responsibility to them...and really, Aibek had done far more reckless things than walk head first into a hall with combat.
It was a messy combat, with both sides attempting to teleport into a position that would give an advantage only for the other side to teleport away into a new position. Neither side seemed to see Aibek, but despite the similar abilities the old ones - led by the giant - seem to be slowly winning, as they outnnumber the Corrupted ones.
Nigrum takes his time to pick out some corrupted guards to study. Waits for a chance when they would be with in range after teleporting and flings himself at his target.
"A few of these just tried to kill us and everyone above. Why not break them."
Tsui comes flashing out in a side long slash.
Azri pointed to a different corrupted guard and sent out another burst of fire. Why did it only work once a day on any given foe? Because reasons. ...That nobody had ever figured out. More to the point, though, she just liked throwing fire at things that bothered her. "Try to save any useful bits if you can. Recycling is good!" Azri told Nigrum.
for
Aibek continued to walk around the room with a quiet experienced grace as they watched the battle. They particularly had interest in watching the larger one and keeping track of how the others, including the not corrupted guards, were doing.
Aibek did their best to keep moving, taking a swipe at a corrupted guard who had straggled too far from the main combat areas and too close to the shadows...
It doesn't take long to tip the balance of the fight, with the Ancient Guard quickly overwhelming there corrupted counterparts with your aid. Spare parts galore litter the floor as the giant Guard hauls the final one off its feet, only for Nigrum to shorten it by a head as it struggled.
The largest Guard looked down, looming over Nigrum, as the most obvious of your group. "Mark detected. Symbol not. Thou art not allowed in these quarters. Identify."
Nigrum grunted. If they could find a symbol worth his attention he wouldn't be the only one lacking.
"Nigrum is my name, General of Khalharum. The others have symbols. You must not be connected to Nexus if your out of the loop."
He points with a thumb to the others behind him. He wasn't taking his eyes off this one as he studied him. Wouldn't be the first stubborn construct around these parts.
Glowing red eyes flicked to the others. "Not presented? Unacceptable. Rulers do not hide." It considered for a moment. "No connection. Correct."
Mihara steps forth, the Diadem proudly sitting on her head.
"Surely, being accompanied by multiple companions bearing Symbols should be sufficient to grant the General passage, would it not?"
She flashed her companions a confident smile. This was not the first time she dealt with such questions of authority.
"Nigrum is presently acting as regent General until a suitable Symbol can be located for him. How many authorizations does his presence require?"
After glancing around at the damage left behind from the combat, Aibek watched the interaction between the large construct and Nigrum with interest from where they stood. Aibek considered what the construct said. Aibek didn't see themself as a ruler nor saw a reason why it would unacceptable for one to ever hide, but saw no reason to argue about such an opinion...the no connection issue did raise many questions in the witchwolf's mind.
As the fighting seemed done for now and this might actually be a real chance for information and answers though the last time it looked like they could get answers did not go so well...but this giant one seemed fully in control of themself so far and willing to talk a bit and Mihara was already asking them questions so...curiosity won again.
Aibek moved to join Mihara and Nigrum cautiously, looking up at the construct from behind the tinted goggles "You and yours fought well against those corrupted. I am an Aibek, he is with me and the others. What is your name and...what do you know of what is going on here?" Aibek started as they tried to hold back their swirling ideas slightly for now...
"Authority...accepted." The machine looked at the two councillors. "As ye command, councillors, so shall we obey." The glowing red eyes moved back to Nigrum. "General."
Looking at Aibek, the machine paused. "I am designated Prototype 85612. This test facility has been attacked, indeed, by corrupted alternates. Function and exact origin is unclear. Does this mean the city has fallen?"
"No." Azri said, holding up her Symbol for obvious viewing. "Unless something has changed in the last few minutes, the city is fine. Do you have an estimated origin, and are there any other corrupted alternates here you know of?"
The machines eyes dimmed for a moment. "The commencement of this facility was to defend against the encroach of the Whisperng One." Growing brighter, it added, "I cannot say how many of the corrupted things remain. They stumbled upon the place where we were stored, and attacked. Given there likely origin, if the city is stable, I would imagine more remain."
"Uncertain. 1200 years or so."
Aibek nodded as they listened carefully. There was more, a lot more, Aibek wanted to ask though updating their present situation pressed more on the witchwolf's mind, "Someone is trying to use this facility and the corrupted constructs to harm the people of Khalharum, our visiting guests, though it mostly seems aimed to harm the others here and I. Will you and yours be willing to help clear them out and check for damage they have caused? Hopefully once that is done, we can discuss connecting you all and the Nexus and the others...I'm sure there will have a lot to talk about." said with a small smile they could not hold back.
"Whispering One... do you mean the Whispering Tyrant, or something else?" Azri asked, focusing on what seemed to be the biggest potential threat to the city. She was pretty confident in her powers as a lich, but... uh... that guy was in a whole different league.
"If it is the wish, Councilor, we shall assist in clearing this facility." The bulky creature considered the other questions. "Yes, the Tyrant. Threatening Absolom. Some feared he would continue South." The impassive face turned to Ayreth. "City status?"
The constructs eyes dimmed once more - apparently a sign it was thinking - and it asked, "Then is it the Will the Council that this place to be used to defend, or to restore the Nexus?"
Aibek glanced to the others at this question. "I think clearing out the immediate threat is the priority, and that after that decisions on this facility can be made. I don't know if trying to connect with the Nexus now will do any good and I'd rather not before informing the Nexus first. Does anyone have any preferences?" Aibek asked, looking both to the other councillors and to the constructs in the room.
Well, [censored].
"I concur. We need to stabilize this area first - once we're sure the connections are safe, we can link you back up to Nexus." Azri said, pondering over what she'd learned. If they were lucky, these were just lingering forces following ancient commands. If not...
"Understood." With a gesture the other Ancient Guard started moving out into the facility, moving in twos and threes. It became obvious that these were, again, different to the normal Guard, with a variety of armaments and armour.
Nigrum goes around checking the broken ones for anything useful. He wonders if he can return them to Nexus for repair in order to bring them to their side. They could use any addition to their forces, if nothing else perhaps they could be used for replacement parts on the tower guards they already have.
Disabling and finding important looking items doesn't take too long. It was certainly likely they could be of use.
As Nigrum looked for items, Azri began searching for information - anything that might provide more information about exactly what they were up against. If the threat wasn't too active, that was alright. If it was an intelligently-directed invasion, though, she'd have some decisions to make...
"I'll go ahead and scout for remaining foes. Aibek, are you with me?"
Aibek nodded to Mihara. The witchwolf had little knowledge of constructs and felt Nigrum and Azri could well enough deal with them so the fallen corrupted ones would not be further trouble. Any other items of interest and possible repair to any non-corrupted would have to wait until the threat was dealt.
Aibek walked towards the door, glancing out for a moment, before looking back towards Ayreth, "Would you like to join Mihara and I or...?" Aibek asked as they waited by the open doors...
It is also obvious this is not something which has changed the origional version - these units were built this way.
The facility seemed more...alive, even with the crystal pillar at its centre slowly spinning down, with the Guard spreading through it.
As Aibek, Mihara and Ayreth moved out, they were greeted by one of the Guard. "Report - a disturbance has been located on the second level."
Nigrum is busy stacking the broken guards in a pile. Thinking about if he would drag them or pick up the lot and carry them to the surface.
"The kind that gets attention." Azri said, setting out for the second level at top speed. "The good news is that these twisted guards were probably made somewhere else, so it's not likely our are suddenly going to change."
Nigrum judged the parts would not slow him down.
"A gateway. The entry for the tainted. No other information available." The machine turned and headed upstairs.
One of the passages on this floor seemed to lead to some kind of living area. In what might once have been a kitchen, a portal of some kind swirled. Ancient Guard stood near the door, and their Corrupt counterparts stood by the portal proper. For whatever reason the two sides were not currently moving.
Nigrum stuffs what he can into his dimensional bag before joining the others.
"Do you have a way to shut that down or do I just break it?"
He asked to his comrades while studying the guards.
Aibek called up their thanks as the construct turned to leave. The shadow archon moved to follow quickly. A gateway...that was certainly something Aibek found of interest.
Aibek stopped among the Ancient Guards. They paused and considered what they could see of the room and the gateway. On hearing Nigrum's question, Aibek glanced to the general before returning their amber gaze to studying the room. "I'm hoping there will be a better way without risking that. The ones I've known of tend to have a lot of energy that can get...wild if broken without dealing with them first." Aibek said, mixed feelings of curiosity twisted by anxiety twisted with other things Aibek tried to push to the back of their mind as now was not the time.
Azri, too, took a moment to peer at the gateway - if they could shut it down, that could solve a lot of problems in very short order. Now, what could she learn about it?
"I wouldn't get closer to it, it's...not sure if it was made this unstable or is just getting that way, but I'd rather not see what it could potentially do to any of us..." Aibek warned, their gaze moving to see if there were any signs of a power source or other item on this side of the gateway not doing a very good job of stabilizing it here...
"Hmm..." Azri was willing to approach if need be, but there was no point in making a new body unless she really had to. "Most of these can be disrupted somehow..."