[LOC] The Root

[seekingCylem]

Seemingly in response to Sascha's derision, none other than Baista Solkov himself appeared on the huskhub's screen. Sascha was pretty damn sure he'd seen this movie before. His stomach dropped out accordingly.

Keionx and Odette had already leaped into action. Aerona's lusus had grabbed her and was making for the exit. Sascha's own lusus was shrieking rapidly and pulling him back by his shirt. "No! Ma- Wait!" Sascha fought to stay standing as much as he was to comprehend the situation. The freak weather occurring in the office wasn't helping matters as Sascha's vision was obscured by a whirlwind of documents. The papers in his own hands threatened to tear themselves apart in the breeze. "But what about-!"

Sascha's words had failed him. He snarled in frustration. He crawled inside this building to loot it, and all he'd gotten for his trouble was a handful of equations developed by a catastrophic failure. Finding no way around it, Sascha turned on his heel and chased after the girls and the lusii. Odette would just have to find her own way out.  

[DraconicFeline]

Keionx hesitated - yes, Odette was right. The younger trolls needed to be escorted out. Someone needed to watch their backs... but the last time that Keionx had left Odette behind... The last time...

Rubble.

Fire.

But she trusted in Odette, and she obeyed the command. Without question but with regret. "Out." she answered, "To safety." She kept them moving at a steady pace, staying behind them to ensure that neither fell behind.

Please... Odette... she thought, pushing forward, forcing herself not to go back, Come out of there...

Keionx had no idea what sort of blast radius would be involved, but the moment she thought she might be at a safe distance, she turned back, presumably to back Odette up, to help her in some way...  

[zeflamigo]

Shoving all the gathered materials into her satchel, Odette zipped it up and made a break for it, running with long strides out of the room. She had the wind carry her faster through the hivestem, but she knew she wasn't moving fast enough. Looking for any quick way out, she felt panic starting to overcome her in time with the rapid beeping surrounding her.

She jumped through just about any gap she could find while still heading in the same direction, flying further up the hivestem if it worked to her advantage. Eventually she found herself at the edge of the building, a number of stories up. And— there below, her three adventure companions.

Odette took a running jump and was careful to brace for impact. The wind could cushion her fall, but only by so much. She shouted, mostly to alert the others as she fell through the sky.  

[Sypon]

Aerona looked with wide eyes up at the slim figure of Odette, leaping with her amazing powers from the hivestem. The beeping had grown softer, yet still more rapid since they’d rushed from the epicenter of The Root. Aerona could hardly hear the noise over her own ragged breathing. “B-birdy!” She whispered. Her eyes welled up with tears and she grasped Keionx’s hand before she could leave. “Don’t—“

The sound of beeping smeared into a single tone for a split second before an enormous explosion silhouetted the redblood in mid-air. Enormous billowing plumes of black smoke cracked open like magma to reveal an intense, hot core. It emerged from the center of The Root – very obviously Baista’s hive and bunker. The rushing air behind Odette pushed her far from the blastzone in a hot, forceful draft. Now, the rest of the scattered orbs surrounding the building had begun to fulfill the yellowblood’s contingency plan. All around the group, smaller explosions began to crackle and burst. The infrastructure of the building was being torn to shreds.

“A-aaah!” Tears ran down Aerona’s face. Sophitia immediately ducked over her, shell protecting the child from shrapnel that rained from nearby. “I want to go h-home!” She screamed.

Sophitia screeched a warning at the others. There was no time that could be afforded to staying – they had to escape, and quickly.  

[seekingCylem]

Sascha was finally beginning to appreciate Keionx's direct, no-nonsense attitude as she lead the kids through the remains of the Root. If the humming had been bothering Sascha earlier, the beeping felt like it was going to split his skull open. That would have been the least of his problems however if he didn't hurry the ******** up.

Bagwormother had made the right decision in choosing to leave her shell on the ground level in order to pursue her son. The full mobility of her ferret-esque body allowed her to dart under, over, and through each obstacle the group passed. Sascha, meanwhile, plowed right through whatever he could, and vaulted everything else. If he fell through the floor at this point, he'd just end up that much closer to the ground and away from the explosion.

Sascha had never been so elated in his life to feel the Hemisect breeze on his skin as the trio and their lusii burst through the doors of the hivestem. It was just enough of a second wind to send Sascha to the edges of the police tape just as the beeping melted together into one, sustained tone.

The heat hit Sascha before the shock wave as he instinctively turned around to witness the explosion. He stared wide-eyed as Odette sailed out the window, followed shortly by fire, smoke and debris. It had been obvious that she was psychic as well, and in less danger than another troll in the same predicament. However, the intensity of the scene was not lost on Sascha as she swooped down from the sky. She'd just barely avoided getting ******** incinerated for the sake of saving that troll's research. Without looking away or blinking, he rolled his own crumpled, dusty pages into a tube and shoved them into one of his pants pockets.

Sascha had been staring up at the collapsing building stock still all the while. It had been up to Bagwormother to shake her son back into the present and nearly throw him towards the street. He'd have time to be in shock later. She wasn't about to have Sascha caught standing near a crater holding illegal research when the military drones inevitably showed up. Sascha, for once in his life, obeyed without so much as a word of protest.  

[DraconicFeline]

Keionx held her breath as she watched for Odette. She wasn't a spiritual troll, and had never thought about calling on an ethereal force outside of herself to aid her, but she was very close to praying for Odette's life. If the hivestem exploded, and came down, and Odette was not free... it would be the second time. And, while it wasn't really Keionx's fault, she would feel it as though it was, and would feel she would need to answer to Vremea as though it was and...

And... a touch to her hand, an enormous explosion, and there she was; Odette, soaring through the air above her. Odette, alive.

There were more explosions, and Keionx, inspired by the sight of Odette, alive and flying, knew what she needed to do. "Move... MOVE!" She pushed at the lusus and the redblood, trying to help them get away from the destruction and mayhem and protect them both from it's aftermath.

Away from the blast range, she glimpsed the yellowblood fleeing with his lusus - good. "Art thou all right?!" she asked the redblood, seeking Odette in the smoke-filled sky. Was she allright?  

[zeflamigo]

Odette tumbled over the concrete, thankful for her cape keeping her less prone to getting scraped by the ground and debris. As soon as she could right herself, she ran away from the building, scanning the smoky area for the other three adventurers. "Keionx!" She shouted, spotting the teen on the sidelines. She made a quick dash for the girl, bounding up to her and grabbing her arm.

"Let's keep moving! The kids— the featherbeast! Are they alright?" She asked urgently, fear in her voice. Scanning the rest of the area, she saw the faint shapes of the children running away from the scene. Thank goodness, she could never carry a weight like that on her conscience.

The featherbeast, though, Odette wanted to see them. She had to know they were alright, too.

DraconicFeline

 

[Hivestuck]

The deafening explosion from The Root rocked New Hemisect's streets for miles around. Government activity reignited; within a matter of days the blocks surrounding The Root were scoured, investigated, and the damaged stem was promptly demolished. In its wake, a new construction zone with the promise of a reconstructed, fortified, and high-density hivestem rose.

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At this time, [LOC] The Root is now closed. Trolls who were previously roleplaying in this location may wrap up their roleplays, but new adventures may not be started. Thanks for participating!