IN WHICH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF NOTE HAPPENED
===
The night that befell the survivor's campsite was quiet. Except for the soft humming of the Clockwork's internal designs.

After a series of hectic days and sleepless nights, Keep found himself having a difficult time falling asleep. He looks to the other side of his pod and sees his sister Caite, fast asleep in a fetal position, wrapping around her Drakon sprite for warmth.

Seeing as there was nothing for him to do, he steps out of his pod for some fresh air. But not long after he exits, the chittering growl of his Maskeraith partner signals her coming after him.

"Oh, did I wake you Escha? Sorry dear, just go right back to bed," he says before letting out a sigh, " I'm just... in the mood for standing, I guess."

"Krrr," adds Escha, before then floating towards, and then landing on, Keep's bare shoulder.

He wore a sleeveless version of the Spiral Order's standard issued undershirts and a pair of green-striped boxers. The air tonight was cool, but stagnant, so he was okay with simply wearing such light clothing outside.

"I see you're calling me on my bull. I accept your bull and raise you my sad excuse," Keep muses, with a rather forlorn smile.

"It's a little too... peaceful at the moment. It's like, I have this foreboding sense of impending doom that I just can't seem to shake off."

"Krrr,"

"...You have such a dirty sense of humor dear. What do you mean by 'I need to get laid'? No- to begin with, what business does a battle sprite, an artificially-intelligent creature incapable of procreation, have to ask me such a thing?"

"Krrr,"

"To.... To take some edge off, you say? T-That's..." Keep pauses to awkwardly clean his sunglasses.

"I am so very glad that I am the only Knight in this whole camp who owns a sprite language converter module. I-If anyone else could understand half of the things you say, why I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to ship you back to the lab for re-programming."

"Krrr."

"...Yeah. That goes naturally, as if I'd ever let anyone do that."

"Krrrrrrrrr,"

"Hmm? What's that Escha dear? I should go get my Fang of Vog back from Caite? The one I lent to her so that she could try to learn close-combat? The one that is, for all intents and purposes, belongs to me and the one that I forgot to unbind before giving to her? Which is why she ended up never using it at all in the end, THAT Fang of Vog?"

"Krr."

"...Now you're just being weird. I'm not talking as if I'm choosing my words carefully so that, should anybody eavesdrop onto this conversation, they'd be able to understand the entirety of it.

"Escha, dear... I think you're being a little TOO paranoid."

"...."

Several wolvers lay in the grass, peacefully sleeping. A lone phantom-swarm creature sits with them, peacefully drawing.
All is well with the world.

Wait. That's not right. Let me try that again.

Several wolvers lay in the grass, "peacefully sleeping". A lone phantom-swarm creature sits "with them", peacefully drawing.
Strom pokes down onto a gash on the wolver he is sitting on with his pen, using the crimson liquid as his ink. He looks down at his dark-leather book, scribbling the scene into a page with descriptions of what happened:

- Trailing new Material; Was interrupted
- Found a growling-creature pack, probably attracted to the trail I had been following; the scent of the trail is metallic, quite distinct when compared to the fresh grass
- Dispatched growling-creatures.

Strom scribbles a bit into his book, depicting the scene.
3 Alpha Wolvers lay together. 2 are headless. 4 regular-sized wolvers lay in a pile, Strom is sitting on them. Trees in the background. Bush all around. A "clear" sky, or at least as clear as it gets when using Wolver blood as a medium.
He flips back at least two other pages. The same scene with variations in viewing perspective have been scribbled onto them.

One of the Alpha Wolvers twitches. Bits of pink and black start to emerge from it, one of its eyes opening to be the telltale Eye of the Swarm.
Strom walks over to it and his gauntlet launches out, extending to inhumane limits, grabbing the wolver's head and crushing it with an audible "crunch". The pink and black fades from the rest of the wolver as it falls limp once again.

"..." Strom steps back, his gauntlet moving back to him. He opens his hand, and brings it to his opened helmet, dropping some sort of pink shard into the pitch-black space. He closes his helmet and looks to the sky.

"Ⱥħ." A moment of silence passes. "₩-₩ĦȺŦ ĦȺVɆ Ɨ ɃɆɆ₦ ĐØƗ₦Ǥ ₩ȺSŦƗ₦Ǥ ӍɎ ŦƗӍɆ ĦɆɌɆ?!" He brings his arms to his head with slight "clang", looking around for the reason, as if someone would come up to him and give him the answer:
"You're easily distracted by random things. Get a move on, ya bum."

"Ŧħaŧ'ȿ ɨŧ... ₦ø ₥øɍɇ ᵽɨŧ-ȿŧøᵽȿ. Ɨ ₥ưȿŧ fɨnđ ŧħɇ ₥aŧɇɍɨałȿ!"

Strom closes his book and continues in the direction of the campfire... Until he sees a flower along his path, which he immediately starts drawing.

"Sø łønǥ aȿ Ɨ'₥ ħɇɍɇ... Ɨ ₥ɨǥħŧ aȿ wɇłł... ₦ø. ₦Ø! Ӎưȿŧ ȼønŧɨnưɇ."

It's going to be a long walk.

Syber yawned and stepped outside of his pod, he leaned against it as he listened to the others. If a phantom was seen around, than he'd better tell Beck to watch out.

---------------------------------------------

Beck looked through the scope of his rifle, Syber was awake. He tapped out a message What's new? and sent it, the coded message would only go to Syber.

Someone Might've seen a phantom, watch your back

A phantom? That's interesting, they weren't supposed to be able to get up here. Mayber he'd track the thing down if he saw anything. He shrugged and brought the rifle to his eye, watching the campsight as an unseen observer.

Keep takes a good look at Lyn, top to down.

"...Did I miss the memo about a dress code?" He asks, turning to his sister.

She, on the other hand, had frozen. Her expression was locked into a twisted mix of awe, shock, and despair. Her entire body shook, and cold sweat formed on her skin.

Suddenly, her legs gave out under her.

"H-How...? How could this have...?!" she falls further, going into a four-legged position, "How could I have allowed this to happen?!" she cries out.

"...Caite? Are you okay?" Asks her brother, reaching a hand out to her,

-but she slaps it away.

"Don't touch me!" She yells at her brother, "I... I have been shamed...!"

At the moment, Keep is genuinely worried about Caite.

"Look at her! Just LOOK at HER!" she yells exasperated, while pointing at Lyn.

"Look at that DRESS! This early in the morning! Totally unsuited for the outdoors!" Caite puts her hand back down, and angrily takes a handful of the ground's dirt.

"And the worst part?! It looks great on her!"

In a manner most dramatic, she pulls a pose like she's about to go super saiyan.

"Hahahahahahhahaaahahaaah! Here I stand before you, armed with naught but slacks and a sweatshirt, and I proclaim my defeat!"

"..."

"..."

"...."

A long moment of silence passes.

"....heh."

Slowly, Caite stands back up. She tucks a tussled lock of hair behind her ear, stares her down, and then she points a finger at her.

"But know this! Though you may have attained victory in this battle, know that the war has not been won! Prepare to receive your comeuppance!

"But for today, I thank you young lady. For you have renewed my resolution, I will never again taste a defeat so crushing."

She turns away from the camp, before shedramatically sweeps her hair in the wind as she returns to her pod.

"..."

Another bout of silence envelops the camp.

"...I'd like to apologize for my sister. She doesn't like to share her spotlight."

Lyn paused a moment completely confused at what the heck just happened.
"Did I offend her?" She asked... "Like severely and deeply... Should I be worried? Ah nevermind that, who put this freakin dress on me!"
At this moment Sarah floated in completely confused and darted to Lyn.
"Prrrrr. Mew Mew! Prrrr..."
"Oh so it was YOU who did this... Why thank you Sarah, apparently I look good in this dress, also there is this..." Lyn pulled out her sword and gave it a few swings. Swarmbane hummed and thrummed with each swing, then something totally unexpected happened.
"Woaaaah. A little more careful if you please, I am a valuable piece of equipment you know!" Swarmbane protested.
"What you can talk!" Lyn shouted.
"Yes now put me back in my sheath, I wish to sleep." Swarmbane replied. Lyn sheathed Swarmbane.
"Prr... Prr Meow!" Sarah stated.
"I agree wholeheartedly," said Lyn "A snob indeed."

P.S. I began typing this before the post above appeared... So umm yea...

Syber raised a hand.

"Count me in. What kind of supplies?"

"As much as I'd love to come, leaving my sister while she's in such a.... delicate state, is generally a bad idea."

Strom opens the eye which had been peering into the group's campsite just a moment before. Strom sighs.
Even if the ability is quite harmless, it takes a while to focus on the right area for the Swarm Eye to materialize. But there's nothing holding back a re-make of the eye someplace else.

Strom opens his leather book and writes a personal note not to make the Swarm Eye so easy to hit. It wouldn't take him long to reach the camp itself... But why would he jump into that? Intel is important. Any past-life treasure-hunter would know that.
Strom looks in the direction of the camp, thinking about the amount of time it'd take to walk there.

"Ħ₥... 25 ₥ɨnưŧɇȿ øf wałҟɨnǥ ŧø ǥɇŧ ŧø ₥ɏ łøȼaŧɨøn... Ⱥnđ ŧħɇɍɇ'ȿ nø ŧɇłłɨnǥ ɨf ŧħɇɏ'đ aȼŧưałłɏ ₥øvɇ ŧħaŧ faɍ awaɏ fɍø₥ ŧħɇɨɍ ȼa₥ᵽ..." He thinks for another moment... Then starts walking for the camp with one eye closed. Another Swarm eye blinks into existence in the nook of another tree near the camp, ready to listen in on any other decisions made by the soon-to-be scavengers.

"5 ₥ɨnưŧɇȿ øf wałҟɨnǥ. Ŧħɇn Ɨ'łł ȿɨŧ ønȼɇ aǥaɨn. Ɨ'₥ ȼłøȿɇ, ƀưŧ Ɨ ₥ưȿŧ ƀɨđɇ ₥ɏ ŧɨ₥ɇ... Søøn. Vɇɍɏ ȿøøn."

Strom walks silently through the woods. Wary that he might not be the only one with sight from far places that might ruin his fun.

(Flame, stop saying actions for other players' characters. There's no way that misfire could have been that lucky as to hit Strom's ethereal orb form, let alone hit it in the first place. You can't damage a Phantom when it's in it's orb form.)

Grell watched the events unfold with mild amusement. "Right.... I think I'll stay to watch our current supplies." He crossed his arms and leaned against his pod. "Anyone else staying, be my guest."

Elsewhere....

Caite went to one of the pods littered around the camp. This one in particular, housed the supplies that were already there in the first place. One of the things in there, was an Alchemy machine.

It was perfectly functional.... however, it was no longer connected to the server on Haven. That meant that knights could no longer simply input recipes and let the Alchemy machine automatically craft things anymore.

Another problem was that recipes, in their base form, are nothing more than a memory card, the contents cannot be read by the naked eye. You also cannot use the Alchemy machine to read the contents. Everything was automated by the Haven's server, before the Swarm's invasion, it was convenient.

Now, it was just plain annoying.

However, Alchemy machines aren't completely useless now. You can still place equipment inside them and modify them manually. Though, unless you knew the contents of a recipe by heart, Alchemy machines are only good for maintenance.

Unless... you happen to be an oddly creative, and at the same time, extremely persistent person.

That being said.....

"Welp. There's a first time for everything."

...The term 'trial by fire' has never been more appropriate.
---
There you go. Now you can get new gear in the camp.

@Flame-Shinobi: I... I just said that the machine no longer produces anything automatically anymore. So, unless Lyn was standing in front of the machine for hours on end, and probably also destroying a number of her items, she shouldn't get instant results like that. Besides Caite is usong the machone at the moment, and will probably continue to occupy the machine for days, so where is she? And...

....I thought you were leaving the camp with Coryn and Nyroc? What are you doing in the supplies pod?

Syber watched as Lyn tried to figure out the Alchemy machine. Then he turned to Nyroc and Coryn.

"So are we leaving?"

(Hey Ember, if you want to do something we could mix something up with Beck and Strom.)

@Colray (which I somehow initially read as Colery, like Celery.)
"Hayul yeah." is what I'd like to say, but that's me as a person who has a rough idea of where all the characters are. Beck's currently hiding a ways away from the camp (Or... That's what it seems to look like. close enough to monitor Syber's movements anyways.), while Strom is waiting for the scavanger-party to leave the camp. If Strom moves too close, he'd be detected, which isn't his intention. But I really, really want to 'cause I'm itching for combat to start.
Anyways... unless Beck decides to move out to meet Strom, Strom won't be initiating combat, as that'd ruin the "divide-and-conquer" strategy that he currently has going on.

tl;dr: Strom's gotta wait on Nyroc n' friends to move out. If you want a Beck vs Strom 1v1, then you're gonna have to initiate. If Beck can find Strom that is.

Caite barely registered the sound of knocking metal coming from somewhere. But she was so absorbed in her current work, that she ended up ignoring the sound.

She will probably continue to do so for the next couple of hours.
---
Keep is currently sitting on a log. Not really doing much.

I had originally thought the scavengers would be staying on the current level, so I'd attack them while they came deeper in the wood. But now that I think about it, this'll be a better combat-situation. In camp there're 5 people if I counted right... Keep, Caite (who is currently indisposed), Nyroc, Grell, and the Great Chat-Ninja Isphea. The Hunter may also be approaching. TIME TO START.
-----
"Ɨŧ ȿɇɇ₥ȿ ŧħɇɏ'ɍɇ øn ŧħɇ ₥øvɇ..." Strom speaks almost inaudibly as he watches the scavengers leave the camp and set off for a nearby hill.
Given the amount of time he had to lie in wait, Strom successfully drew the remaining 5 members of the camp with striking accuracy -- especially Caite, who caused a great enough commotion to remain vivid in his memory despite now being inside what seemed to be some sort of Pod-structure. Strom couldn't understand how the odd-creatures he and other speaking monsters referred to as "knights" qualified those things to be building-type structures, even if it was just as a makeshift-camp.
She was also the only one who he was able to hear the name of -- and thus the only one with an actual name-plate drawn onto her page.

"Ɨ ǥưɇȿȿ ɨŧ'ȿ ŧɨ₥ɇ ŧø ₥øvɇ, ŧħɇn. Ⱥnđ ɉưȿŧ aȿ Ɨ ħađ ǥøŧŧɇn ɨnŧø a ȼø₥føɍŧaƀłɇ ᵽøȿɨŧɨøn, ŧøø..." Strom slowly crawls out of the bush as to not make much noise, then stands up and makes a light jog to the camp for the sake of concentration and noise-management. He still has one eye closed, monitoring the remaining inhabitants of the camp and making sure that any returning members of the scavengers don't go unnoticed.

" Ɨ ħøᵽɇ ŧħɇɏ ǥɨvɇ ₥ɇ ɇnøưǥħ aȼŧɨøn ŧø łaȿŧ aŧ łɇaȿŧ a ȼħaᵽŧɇɍ... 2 ɨf Ɨ'₥ łưȼҟɏ." A pulse of Magenta flows through the large crystal lodged in his chest. If Strom had retained a face of some sort when he became a phantom... He'd be smiling ear to ear.

~10 minutes until Strom reaches the camp, so long as no unforeseen developments cause him to halt his progress.

If it's left up to me for a move to hit... I'll roll for it.
3 bullets, 3 numbers. 89, 76, 63. +5 each for the initial shot -- as a sneak attack. Min was 50 'cause you're a seasoned sniper (but that didn't end up mattering).
94, 76, 63.
------
"...!!" Strom manages to hear the first shot (as he was anticipating things wouldn't go just as planned -- that's why he's been hiding up until this point), but cannot react in time due to his Swarm Eye still being in effect. It is the same for the second.
The two bullets make contact with Strom's chest. The first hits the crystal, causing shards to shatter off of it, but not going deep enough to crack it. The shards scatter on the ground before Strom. The bullet is vaporized after the contact, melting down after touching the rest of the crystal for a couple of seconds.
The second would have hit it as well, if the damage from the first didn't push Strom back a bit and make it go off target, hitting closer to Strom's right-shoulder instead, vanishing into the black and disappearing.
The third bullet on the other hand, does not make contact.
It misses as Strom opens both of his eyes, renewing his concentration to just himself and closing off the Swarm Eye at the camp, causing it to fade into nothingness. Within a split second Strom darts into the cover of the tree nearest to him.
He then turns to the the location of the stray bullet, now lodged into the ground, allowing him to discern the approximate location of his attacker... Or at least the direction they're hiding in.

"Ħ₥... Ɇaɍłɨɇɍ ŧħan Ɨ ɇxᵽɇȼŧɇđ. Ɨ ȿưᵽᵽøȿɇ ŧħɨȿ wɨłł ₥aҟɇ a nɨȼɇ ᵽɍɇłưđɇ ŧø ŧħɇ aȼŧɨøn..." Strom looks to the crystals shattered on the ground.
"... Ɨ'łł ȼø₥ɇ ƀaȼҟ føɍ ŧħɇ₥ łaŧɇɍ."
If Strom was alive, he'd take a deep breath and steel himself before breaking into a run for the direction of the shots... But Strom wasn't alive, and he felt neither fear, nor pain from the impending threat.
And so, after the moments passing from the time he had taken cover and the time he spoke, he breaks into a high-speed sprint, weaving through the trees like the wind. If it had taken ~10 minutes to lightly jog to the camp... The speed he is running at would have gotten him to it in 2 or less. He focuses his eyes to the branches above as he runs, as if scanning each of them with deadly precision in the split seconds it takes to pass them.

62, 60, 02. 02 raised to 52.
-----
Three shots were fired. Only one met Strom's arm as he darted ahead. His arm blurred a moment before the bullet dissipated within him. The other two whizzed by.

"Ɨ ȿɇɇ ɏøư~!" Strom speaks just loud enough for the knight to hear him. And Strom slows to a stop within the clearing. He motions to Beck.

"Ƀưŧ ƀɇføɍɇ wɇ ƀɇǥɨn... Ɨŧ'ȿ a ŧɍađɨŧɨøn øf ₥ɨnɇ ŧø ɇxȼħanǥɇ na₥ɇȿ ŧø ŧħøȿɇ wħø ₥ɇɇŧ ₥ɇ ɨn ȼø₥ƀaŧ." He takes a deep bow, swiping one hand to the side, and the other behind his back, where it cannot be seen.
"Ɏøư ₥aɏ ȼałł ₥ɇ "Sŧɍø₥." Ŧħaŧ ɨȿ ŧħɇ na₥ɇ wħɨȼħ Ɨ ħađ wħɨłɇ Ɨ wałҟɇđ a₥ønǥ ŧħɇ łɨvɨnǥ."

He peeks his head up from his courteous bow. One of his eyes closed. A Swarm eye opening silently behind Beck.
"Ⱥnđ ɏøư aɍɇ?"

The purpose of this post has been fulfilled. Ignore it and move along.

"Ɨ ȿɇɇ... Ⱥ ᵽłɇaȿưɍɇ ŧø ₥ɇɇŧ ɏøư ŧħɇn, "Łɨønɇł." Ɨ'đ aȿҟ føɍ ɏøưɍ łaȿŧ wøɍđȿ aȿ wɇłł, ƀưŧ nøŧ ønłɏ ɨȿ ŧħaŧ ȼłɨȼħɇ, ƀưŧ ɨŧ'đ ałȿø waȿŧɇ vałưaƀłɇ ŧɨ₥ɇ... Ŧɨ₥ɇ ŧħaŧ'ȿ fɇɇđɨnǥ ɨnvɇȿŧɨǥaŧɨøn ŧø ŧħaŧ ŧɇɍɍɨƀłɏ łøưđ ǥưn ɏøư fɨɍɇđ. Ⱥnđ ȿø, Ɨ'łł ȼưŧ ɨŧ ȿħøɍŧ." Strom speaks cheerfully, as if he had just been introduced to a good friend's parents.

"Łɇŧ'ȿ ǥɇŧ ȿŧaɍŧɇđ." Somehow, despite keeping the same tone, the feeling behind his words becomes cold as ice. The Swarm Eye's look changes into what could be described as an "eye of glee".

Strom moves to the right after standing straight from his bow, revealing that the arm that he placed behind his back... No longer has his hand attached.

Strom used the blind-spot to prime his left hand at the maximum reach of 5m, giving it a total of 10m to accelerate and be launched directly at "Lionel." -- of course, this limit isn't known by anyone but Strom. Also, while conversing he's also made the gauntlet spin to an incredibly high speed. It's practically a drill.

It only takes 1.5 seconds for the hand to accelerate and make it to the reach-limit, in that time it's moving between the speed of a regular bullet, and the speed of a sniper's bullet. Any deceleration occurring between the limit and Beck's torso will be quite negligible, seeing as there isn't much distance between them at this point. The Swarm Eye continues watching Lionel from up-close as the Gauntlet whizzes through the air. Sudden moves will be noticed immediately, and will be known to Strom. There might be another reason why it's still there, but I'd be more concerned with the high-speed drill headed right at you.

While it moves at you, Strom enters a light-footed stance. He'll be quick to move as soon as you do.

Overall, Keep is a sub-par knight. He's not good, but he's not bad either. Despite that though, there is one field where Keep excels more than any other knight.

Stealth.

Keep ignores the apparent battle unfolding before him. Some kind of phantom was attacking a knight, that was all he needed to know.

With carefully measured breaths, footsteps lighter than any Gremlin Stalker, and the help of Escha's shadow cloak, Keep closes in on the phantom. The apparition (seemingly) none the wiser.

Fang of Vog in hand, he makes his move. With all of his power put into one slash, he aims at it's neck.

Gah, Syber would be useful here.

Beck threw himself backwards when the phantom is distracted and hit the dirt, rolling backwards and coming up out of melee range(for a normal person). And raised the rifle again, with the probable ally moving in, he raised the rifle and fired one shot before it clicked emptily. Realizing he had forgotten to reload it he dropped the rifle and lunged forward, his Dread venom striker coming out of its sheath aiming for the Phantom's chest.

(As a previous recon, Beck would have a recon cloak, although he can't hold both that and his shield, at this moment he feels his shield may be more useful.)

(Wait so the both feet are coming at me? Or one foot and then the other has strom attached? I'm going with the first until informed differently.)

Beck presented his shield to the first blow and caught it head on. The force of the kick knocked him back a good two meters and he hit the ground hard. He swore again and scrabbled for his sword. His fingers closed around the handle and he brought out a recon cloak. He hooked his shield on his back and stood up, looking at the ready to fight Phantom.

"Strom was it? Be seeing you soon"

He flicked the cloak on and dove to the side to avoid anything that may have been coming. Beck moves to the closest tree and starts up it as silent as the tree itself. Hopefully the newcomer can keep the Phantom occupied...

Keep was a little dazed from the explosion, and therefore could not react in time to the incoming projectile. The rocket-punch hits him square in the stomach and sends him flying a couple of meters (2-3m).

He couldn't afford to dawdle though, so he grits his teeth, spits the blood pooling in his mouth, and rolls himself upright again.

"Ɏøư wøưłđn'ŧ ħaᵽᵽɇn ŧø ƀɇ wɨłłɨnǥ ŧø ǥɨvɇ ₥ɇ a ᵽɇɨȼɇ øf ɇɋưɨᵽ₥ɇnŧ ŧħaŧ wøưłđ ałłøw ₥ɇ ŧø ȿɇɇ ɨnvɨȿɨƀłɇ ҟnɨǥħŧȿ, wøưłđ ɏøư?" He suddenly hears the phantom say.

...Wait what? Phantoms can talk? He wonders to himself. Before suddenly realizing that he was missing the point and should focus back on the matter at hand.

"..."

He ends up saying nothing at all. More because he doesn't know how to respond more than anything else. But with his hood and sunglasses on, he thinks that he's probably coming off as some kinda mute badass.

He takes a quick survey of his surroundings. The other knight was nowhere to be found. He wonders for a sec that the other knight might be Isphea, because that dude is like a freaking ninja.

Well whoever it is, they're probably getting reinforcements.

He considers retreating as well....

No, he tosses that idea away immediately. The phantom won't let him get away. So might as well wait here until help comes. With that plan in mind, Keep tightens his grip on his Fang of Vog, and charges forward.

...While charging his sword.

(So the ones who left are Coryn, Syber, and Lyn, while the ones who stayed are Nyroc, Isphea, Keep, Caite, and Grell. Right?)

Grell, despite being one to give orders rather than take them, hesitatingly obliged. Regardless, he unsheathed his Hawk Blade and prepped it for battle.