The bots wind down from combat in stages: first, they remain at high alert, armed and ready to kill any stray opponents or repel any second waves. Then, they briefly fan out, actively investigating for additional threats. And, finally, they tend to their own. Indeed, there are no casualties and only a single bot seems to have sustained notable injuries. The canine BF dashes to the battered knife-bot's side and, unexpectedly, begins to lick its face with something resembling a tongue. Just as unexpectedly, and with many a pop, the dents in the bot's frame correct and repair themselves^[1]. Aside from the stains and surrounding bodies, it's now difficult to tell that the bot had ever been in a fight.

As the squad assembles and prepares for the ordeals ahead, Buffalo's voice crackles through the device.

"Officress Astrid, query: you did not suffer any casualties?" It's a strange question by bot standards. But, then, Buffalo possesses a superior processor, designed for command and analysis; perhaps this anomaly is the result of some higher intelligence, as how particularly intelligent minds are riddled with eccentricities.

What makes it even stranger is that it doesn't wait for a response.

"Affirmative: your description matches the hostiles my team encountered. Report: the hostiles' weapons may have been pilfered from the Armoury. If possible, avoid damaging them. Over."

"S'pose we'll do the smart thing and collect 'em then!"

Blue says nothing, but makes his distaste known by sticking his tongue at the communicator. Of course, this does not make his distaste known to Buffalo, who cannot see it.

"Affirmative: that would be nominal. Instruction: delegate all delicate cargo to Pawn-series bots, such as Unit Charles. Out."

The crackling halts abruptly, leaving Astrid and Blue to the bots and their harsh, mechanical constants. Trying to follow the bots' activities is dizzying; they secure the area like ants scrambling over a picnic. The humanoid bots hold their weapons close, checking corners and crevices while the canines sniff the cobbled ground, exploring a sensory world that Astrid and Blue couldn't fathom. But one bot, usually impossible to miss for its chaotic fluttering, is nowhere to be seen: Vampire, the little bat-bot. Could it have been destroyed in the combat? Such a tiny being could've easily fallen somewhere unseen...

"Conscript Wolfe, Officress Astrid, report." The shrill voice comes from nowhere, as sudden and startling as a cat's hiss in the dark. It seems that, at some point, Stalker had appeared directly behind them. "We have located the Armoury."

A spider's gaze is a difficult thing to follow. But if one does, and does right, they might see it there, some six blocks away. It's a massive edifice, yet only a small part of a larger structure - a barracks of some kind. Its importance has been marked by the previous scouting party by red paint, slathered above the crumbling doorway.

"Unit Vampire-04 was sent to scout the structure, as per standard protocol. Its return is estimated at T-minus two minutes."

Its report delivered, an awkward silence follows. Stalker shifts its feet - all eight of them - in a manner that might almost be interpreted as nervous, were it not a spider and a robot. It turns stiffly to look between Astrid and Wolfe.

"Additional report: you are both exhibiting unusual body language. Analysis: my sociological diagnostics indicate that you appear - stressed, flustered. Query: are both of you well?"

---

1. Minor Healing (BF-01)

Blue Raspberry looked around at the scattered bodies of the strange attackers while Astrid pulls back the hood of one of them and talks to Buffalo through the communicator. They take a moment to stick their tongue out at the little device as if Buffalo would feel their dislike through it, but probably not.

"I can carry the weapons!" they called out to Astrid after hearing Buffalo's voice saying to leave it to the robots. They wanted to prove they could be helpful on this mission despite the big robot's earlier objections and current instructions. This was a perfect opportunity! Carrying things was as easy for the ooze as breathing, these weapons would be nothing! They could make up for kind of sort of maybe causing Astrid to drop the communicator and breaking it a little. They could prove they were a competent conscript, not an organic like Buffalo called them before!

They looked at Astrid with pleading puppy-dog eyes. "Please, you know I'm real good at carrying things, right? I'll just stick them all under my shirt, no problem! See?" they begged, untucking the front of their shirt from their pants and holding the bottom outward.

Behind Blue Raspberry, the pawn bots awaited Astrid's orders after hearing Buffalo's words through the communicator, but looked ready to follow the larger bot's advice.

Being called out for feeling flustered catches Astrid off guard, and she scoffs to try and cover it up. "Wha? Pff! No, nope, definitely not feelin' stressed. Not one bit." Lies. All lies. The last five minutes were very stressful for the twelve-year-old suddenly put in charge of a whole mission and feeling the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. It's really throwing her off, and she can't figure out what the difference between this mission and the one in the Lightning Fields is. She really wanted to impress Miss Veliky last time, and she does this time too. Maybe it's because last time wasn't set out in this manner, and things were shouldered between herself and Some Guy and Leni. This time Miss Veliky specifically put her in charge, and she finds herself doubting her decisions and thoughts. Plus Buffalo doesn't think she's capable, and she wants to prove him wrong. There's a lot of pressure to do things well. 

Wolfe volunteers to store the items, and Astrid looks at them with an unsure expression. They haven't put their armor back on, and she's worried they'll get hurt trying to protect the Blixtbots^TM just to save face. Plus if they have everything stored in their seemingly infinite ooze stomach, what if something happens to them? Astrid takes a sudden deep breath and paces back and forth, trying to make this decision on her own. Is she overthinking it? What if she decides wrong? 

Charles and Spicy Pawsage sit to the side watching Astrid spiral into a mini bout of anxiety. The hellhound trots over and nuzzles against his master, tail wagging. A confident, happy doggo, he is. Charles approaches shortly after and looks Astrid up and down. "Mistress Astrid, report: You seem more flustered by Unit Stalker's observation than moments ago. Analysis: You seem to be doubting yourself. Report: This is similar to your interactions with Conscript Da in the past. Query: Why do you exhibit these behaviors once again?" 

Looking up at Charles, Astrid shrugs and throws her hands down. "I dunno, Charles. It's just happenin'." Spicy Pawsage licks at the bits of creature blood on her fingers, a tasty snack for the hellhound.

"Query: May I posit a suggestion?" Charles looks at her with an emotionless stare, but this is one Astrid has learned to read in some capacity. She shrugs again and nods. "Recommendation: Trust your instincts. You have been on many adventures with Conscript Wolfe and made decisions together that have overall yielded positive results. Report: This mission is no different than previous missions except in the number of additional units. Analysis: You will yield excellent results for Mistress Veliky exactly as she expects you will."

Astrid looks up at him again. Sometimes this nannybot really has good things to say, the logical processing seeming emotional at times. "Aye... I s'pose yer right." She looks around at the situation and decides that Wolfe is going to be a great defender of the artifacts. The ooze carried around an entire treasure chest secretly for months, after all! Her voice comes with a commanding tone. "Wolfe! Get yer armor back on. If it gets scratched, I'll polish it right up like I always do. Keep yerself safe, and keep the spoils safe!" For any confused bots, she adds on, "I ain't plannin' ta let none of ya get smashed up by bad guys, but I trust Wolfe te get outta here safely with me and Charles and Spicy Pawsage. We'll keep the valuable lookin' stuff stored in their...erm... special storage pouch! That'll be our best chance of success fer this mission."
 

Astrid's confident commandments ripple through the squad in the form of robotic chirps and buzzes. Blixtbots™ possess no concept of morale, but their programming favours clarity above all else; Astrid's voice, now empowered by a clear mind, sets the squad into immediate action. Like a well-oiled machine, they gather the weapons into bundles and form a line in front of Wolfe, delivering their cargo one by one. It's fortunate that they lack the necessary processing to question Wolfe on his 'special storage pouch.'

At last, something actually happened according to plan. Just in time, too; fluttering erratically over the sundered rooftops is the Vampire bot - the party's effective scout.

Its exhaustive flapping brings it to a hover beside Astrid and Wolfe. It emits a dual click before beginning a series of incomprehensible whirrs, beeps and chitters.

That is, incomprehensible to a living being. Once it's completed its mechanical speech, Stalker turns its attention to the commanding duo once more.

"Conscript Wolfe, Officress Astrid, report: Unit Vampire-04 has completed its clandestine survey of the armoury. It stated that the remaining hostiles have garrisoned themselves within. It was able to identify 19 separate hostiles, including one that appears to be in command of the others. Tactical analysis indicates that the probability of success for a direct, overt assault is approximately 79%, but with a 58% chance of multiple ally casualties."

A pronounced clank foretells another bot's approach. BF strides beside them, looking up with a click of its neck.

"Conscript Wolfe, Officress Astrid, report," it begins, "tactical analysis is based solely on mathematical projection. Our odds of success can be improved with organic tactics. Query: the full strength of Alpha Squad is at your disposal. How would you like to proceed?"

Blue Raspberry was a little surprised by Astrid's sudden change of attitude. She was definitely more assertive now. But, this seemed like a good thing. She had her usual confidence back, and Blue Raspberry was happy for her. They gave a sloppy salute to her in response. They'd been worried about the damage to their armor, but they would listen to what Astrid asked them to do. If she said wearing their armor was important for them to do right now, they'd trust her judgement and go along with her plan.

"Yes Ofsti- Ofister... Astrid!" they called out and looked around for somewhere to put their armor back on in private. They found a large rock they could hide behind out of sight from all the bots.  The robots had witness Blue Raspberry shift from a giant bird back to their humanoid shape, but they still felt oddly exposed. They didn't want the bots to see them put their armor back on for some reason. With their armor and cape reequipped, they emerged and saw the robots gathering all of the stolen weapons and lining up in front of them for the ooze to store.

They realized it may have been a better idea to store everything before putting their armor back on, but they came up with a solution. they placed a hand behind their back and let some ooze emerge from their gauntlets, which collected and formed into a blue cloth bag that was still connected to their hand, a small extension of them to take the items in through.

"Alright! Yeah, Just put it all in my, uh, special storage pouch!" they called out and the robots began to deposit the goods which seemed to simply vanish into the bag, unaware they were practically throwing the things into the ooze's mouth.

With everything stored away, Conscript Wolfe walked over to Astrid and listened in on the report beside her. They just gave a thumbs up, pointing to themself and a confident smile.

"I'm at your deposal too!"

---

Shaping Putty
Space Pocket

It brings Astrid some joy and pride when Blue Raspberry gives a salute and plays along to her being in charge. If there's one thing she needs right now it's someone she can rely on, and Blue has always been that oozeson for her. With their armor back on and the Blixtbots^TM loading up their seemingly endless storage stomach, Astrid keeps an eye out for any more attackers. When Vampire returns and offers a series of beeps and clicks for BF to report, she listens with a furrowed brow and takes stock of the squad they have. 

There's BF the dog-bot who looks like it can bite, Bishop with a heavy crossbow and climbing capabilities, Fisher with a trident, Gutter with throwing knives, Knight with a whip and shield, Rook with a longsword and stealth capabilities, and Lag Switch the stuttery dog-bot with a nasty bite. Their non-combatants are Moonlight the lantern, Pawn and Charles for carrying capacity, Stalker the invisi-spider, and Vampire the scouting bat-bot. Then of course herself, Blue Raspberry, and Spicy Pawsage. 

A war tactician Astrid is not, but she's been in plenty of short-to-mid-range battles. So how can they take advantage of their mid-to-long-range fighters? Her thoughts turn back to her first adventure fighting a Kruthik tyrant and a hoard of bugs. They all scattered with the leader gone. "Hm, well if there's a boss, we should take 'em out quick. Dependin' on how tough they are, could be somethin' fer me and Blue ta focus on." A slip of the tongue; she doesn't even realize it as she continues. "They're probably gonna have a lotta weapons and maybe armor from the armory. We should probably try ta avoid breakin' or damagin' any of it since that's some of the stuff we're after, yeah? Blue can scoop up as much as they can while we're fightin', but maybe that'd be good fer Charles and Pawn ta focus on. BF and Lag Switch can keep 'em safe ta the side and away from the main fight. Maybe sneak 'em in somehow."

It occurs to her that Charles steers well away from combat usually, so maybe it's best to keep him and Pawn outside, but not a bad idea to keep them protected, so she rescinds that. "Dog-bots with pawn bots fer protectin' outside of the battle. Vampire and Stalker can scout another entrance or a good place fer Bishop ta stake out and shoot the bad guys from above. Rook can probably take out a buncha enemies while invisible, at least three or four. Blue an' I can charge in and take a few down while we head fer the leader. But..." 

Astrid pauses and trails off. "I don't s'pose it's a bad idea ta try diplomacy with 'em. Much as I like ta fight, not everything's gotta be a fight. Any idea if they speak a common language?" The question's mostly directed towards the scouting bots.

Where the collective of Blixtbots™ are normally abuzz with the clicks and whirrs of their mechanical language, they listen attentively as Astrid briefs them on the plan. Though a ripple of commotion does go through the crowd at her notion of diplomacy; it isn't certain whether this commotion is positive or negative, but, given the bots' general disposition toward most things, it's more likely to be neither.

BF strides forward, its neck hissing and twisting at odd angles to meet eyes with Astrid.

"Officress Astrid, negative: it is apparent from cursory examination that the hostiles speak a native, undocumented language, but their knowledge of other languages is currently unknown. As is protocol when faced with humanoid opposition, an initial attempt at diplomacy was made when they first appeared, but was unsuccessful. Conjecture: either they lack understanding of the Common language or they were unwilling to communicate."

Its head swivels toward the armoury's edifice, lifeless-seeming from here. Its jaw jitters open and closed in a peculiar manner, like a person's chattering teeth, grinding its iron teeth against one-another.

"Clarification: of course, nonverbal communication and diplomacy are still viable, only with a lower chance of success."

Leaning forward on its eight tin limbs, the bookish Stalker chimes in with its shriller tune. "Officress Astrid, report: sociological analysis indicates that an attempt at nonverbal diplomacy would have a 28% chance of success."

Hearing the somewhat grim statistic, BF's claws clink on the dusty, sandstone floor as it quickly turns back to Astrid and 'Blue.'

"Clarification: as with tactical analysis, sociological analysis is based solely on Blixtbot™ protocols and mathematical conjecture. Despite having been programmed with data from several hundred diplomats and politicians, Blixtbots™ are, on average, weaker in social encounters than organic beings like yourself. Any organic tactics - or, as some prefer they are called, ideas - that you might employ could vastly improve our odds."

A clear-enough explanation if one can sift through the strange terminology and, at times, overly syllabic vocabulary. But, before Astrid can answer, the bot called Bishop - lugging its heavy crossbow like a dockworker carrying cargo - steps forward. "Officress Astrid, query: in your briefing, you referenced an entity called 'Blue.' Which unit were you referring to?"

Blue Raspberry listened to all of the conversation and tried to understand as much of it as they could. The robots used a lot of words they didn't know, but they thought they could at least pick up on the gist of what they were saying. They were a bit lost, trying to translate whatever language the robots were speaking and think of what to do. They didn't even register the robot asking who "Blue" was. They were kind of used to hearing the funny speaking from Charles, but it was overwhelming to be hearing so much of it from so many bots at once. Why do these things have to talk so funny? It was just another reason the ooze felt uncomfortable around them. But, that did give them a sort of idea.

"Maybe they just don't like robots! What if we just go in without any of them? Just me, Astrid, and Spicy Pawsage? Maybe then they might talk to us, right? And if they attack, we can handle it. We're both great at talking to people and at fighting!" Blue Raspberry suggested to the group, looking toward Astrid. "And the robots can, uhhhh, what's it called? Stand gourd? They can stand gourd outside and make sure none of them run away with any of the stuff we want from the armory! What about that? I mean, along with all the scouting and protecting Charles like you said.

Shifting her weight to one foot, Astrid ponders while she listens to the bots report back on whether or not the hostiles can speak a language. They must be able to speak something. Even the weird little trash scavenger could speak surprisingly enough. Either way, she's willing to give them an opportunity, especially after Blue makes the suggestion, so she nods. "We'll set up just ta be safe, same way as I described, but Blue and I can go in cautiously. Maybe if things go south, we'll be closer ta the leader so we won't hafta rush through a whole gaggle of enemies ta get ta the leader. I won't have too much of an issue tryna keep the leader focused on me, at least."

Then BF asks who Blue is, and Astrid long pauses, blinking a few times. Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot! She can cover, no problem. "B-Blue? Oh, that's me nickname fer Wolfe 'cause he's got blue hair!" she says quickly. Internally, Astrid kicks herself over and over for screwing that up. And after Blue Raspberry specifically came up with a name for this whole operation! They've been oddly nervous around all the Blixtbots^TM, and she figures that must be because they can be a bit uncanny, but what if it's something more?  Who knows. Hopefully, they buy the lie. 

"Anyway, we should get movin'! There's a lotta ground ta cover, and we gotta beat the other team!" With that, Astrid turns and starts to walk, offering Wolfe an apologetic look as she does. 

As a unit, the Blixtbots™ watch Astrid as she begins her march. Their crimson eyes track her movements like a flower tracks the sun. But they don't follow - not yet.

The bot called Knight turns its indivisible attention to 'Blue.' Nothing can be gleaned from its eyeshade-eye, but a whirring and clicking faintly murmurs from inside its steel skull. Normally, the bots' processors are silent; the only thing that could cause audible activity is a high degree of intense thought...

And then it stops, and the golem's voice croaks out.

"Conscript Wolfe, correction: I believe the phrase you are referring to is 'stand guard.' This phrase refers to the act of functioning as a guard. The phrase 'stand gourd' does not exist within my information banks."

...

With all said, it isn't long before the entire company stands before the towering double doors of the armoury. Marked above it in red paint, is a symbol that was left behind by the scouting party; its meaning, though only the bots would know this, is 'objective.'

A cursory examination shows that the door is both unlocked and unbarred, but the sounds of many shuffling feet and chittering voices make for enough of a deterrence - a deterrence that, perhaps unfortunately, cannot be heeded now.

The bot called Rook, carrying its crackling^[1] sword, approaches. Its movements are eerily silent when compared to the other bots; a close look shows that this quiet's permitted by smoother, more refined joints. It speaks, but its voice comes out at a much smaller volume than normal - their apparent equivalent of a whisper.

"Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe," it begins, "report: while we will follow your plan, allowing you to enter hostile territory unprotected would be a violation of a Priority Gold directive from Mistress Veliky. I will activate my cloak and accompany you inside; if diplomacy fails, I will defend you. Additional report: should combat occur, we will attempt to forgo the use of lethal tactics, but we cannot guarantee nonlethality if either of your lives are endangered."

Without awaiting a response - evidently, this is not a matter for negotiation - Rook allows a shimmering field to form around itself, mimicking empty space and making the bot completely invisible^[2].

Otherwise, the rest of the team appears to be adhering to Astrid's plan. With a grind, Bishop loads a bolt into its crossbow and, with only one free hand, quickly ascends^[3] the wall of a nearby building, with Stalker riding on its back and Vampire fluttering closely nearby. Meanwhile, the Canine-Model bots stand at the heels of Charles and the other Pawn bot, like loyal guard-dogs; Lag Switch^[4] rather jarringly appears to phase into Charles' leg, though neither bot experiences any discomfort. Knight, unassigned but no less prepared, stands ready to charge in at a moment's notice. At its hip is the lantern that Moonlight resides in. Fisher and Gutter stand at either side, less daunting but just as focused. Everything is in its place; the only question is whether or not those places are correct.

At last and with a heavy groan, the metal door swings open and the armoury is revealed. Two levels - a floor and a sandstone catwalk - are lined with massive racks of the strangest, most exotic blades and armours. Only, not all of the racks are full, as many of them have been pilfered; their treasures are now passed about and flaunted by the strange beings that prowl and dance about in droves, and whose yellow eyes fall on Astrid and Blue as they enter.

The vitriol is palpable. Vampire's report was accurate; at least nineteen sand-people hiss and yowl their disapproval, pointing curved blades intimidatingly, but don't attack quite yet - only make it clear that they want to.

Cresting the top of a set of sandstone stairs is a taller being, standing perhaps six feet tall but otherwise possessing all the same features. Only, instead of a dusty hood, its face is enshrouded by a mane of bristles - not its own, but a trophy from some desert creature. In its presence, the others go silent. It carries a peculiar sword with two blades, but itself is wordless. It only hunches, watches and waits...

---

1. Sigil's Blessing [Lightning Rune]
2. Invisibility (Rook)
3. Surface Scaling (Bishop)
4. (Ashlands Jackal) Lag Switch

(Blue Raspberry to go after Astrid this round per Tenerf)

It certainly is an awkward feeling not to have the whole team of bots follow her immediately. She wonders if she did or said something wrong, and part of Astrid is ready to turn on the bots if it means protecting Blue Raspberry. But things resolve, and they follow her. The walk through the city is a cautious one. They haven't heard from Buffalo in a while. Does she check in? Maybe not. They got this. Finally, they reach the armory and things start falling into place. 

With everything seemingly falling into place and her orders followed through on, Astrid gives one final look to the group of bots and another to Blue Raspberry. Her face has a strange mix of nervousness and confidence, like she's giving all this her best shot, and this situation will make or break the mission. She made a commitment not to lose any of the units following her, and maybe that was too big a promise, but she wants to do her best. Of course, she'd be the most successful with her best friend at her side, and she's glad the ooze knight is beside her.

The doors open, and Astrid takes a deep breath. Inside is open and full of dangerous pointy things. It occurs to her that they could've attempted stealth. Just send the ooze in to gobble everything up so there would be fewer weapons for the enemies to use if they did decide not to use force. Oh Avasha, there's a lot of them. Are they going to be able to talk their way out of this situation? Maybe not, but she has to try to give them a chance to surrender and avoid a bloodbath, right?

All eyes on them, she clears her throat. "Um, hi," she says with a squeak. That's not confident enough. Shoot. She clears her throat again and looks at the intimidating leader across the room. Okay. Okay. You got this. "Mister leader, I'm here with a team lookin' fer artifacts ta take back ta the surface fer um... science I guess? Yer folks attacked us earlier, and we kicked their butts, so I'm givin' ya a chance ta let us take what we came fer and go peacefully. I'm sure it's real weird havin' a buncha strangers on yer turf, and I'm sure yer not happy about us bein' here, that's why I wanna give ya the option ta talk it out!" 

Gods, she hopes that was decent. 

Blue Raspberry followed behind Astrid, walking into the armory and looking around at the gathered opposition around them. They also saw a whole lot of weapons all around. Were these what this whole mission was about? If they could just take these, then everything was a success and they'd beat Buffalo! They just needed to deal with these little guys first, whether that was peacefully or a fight was up to them. Though the ooze couldn't help but be a little curious what these shorties might taste like. They hadn't gotten to eat any of them before since they didn't want the robots to see. And now one of the bots was with them still, just invisible. Maybe they could try and eat one sneakily later if this did end up being a fight.

A hostile snarl escaped from the shadows of the leader's mane and their yellow eyes narrow. They turned to another of the sand people next to them and barked something in a language neither Blue Raspberry or Astrid could understand. Blue Raspberry tilted their head and looked at Astrid. At least it seemed like these people understood what Astrid had said.

Whatever was being discussed by the two slowly spread through the whole crowd until all of them were chattering with whoever was next to them. Some seemed more hostile than others, raising and then lowering weapons. Some seemed a bit more hesitant judging from their demeanor. The discussion abruptly stopped when the taller one suddenly shouted something and all the hooded faces turned to look at their apparent leader. Their leader stood up and said something unintelligible. All of the hooded figures turned to look at Astrid and Blue Raspberry.

"Um, is that a yes or a-" Blue Raspberry started to whisper to Astrid when they were cut off by an arrow suddenly sprouting from the eye hole of their helmet and their head tilted backward from the force. One of the hooded figures stood with their bow out and started loading another arrow.

The hooded figures rushed forward toward the visible intruders in front of them.

---

Helmet hit prevention

'Gone wrong' would be an understatement.

In less than three seconds, the sandmen are swarming toward Astrid and Blue! They leap down, from the catwalk; landing deftly, on the sandstone floor before dashing forward, with curved blades! Their howls fill the room; their glimmering eyes surround like dancing fireflies.

Landing with a bent knee, a sandman shines its yellow eyes at Astrid. It lunges at her, and its twin scimitars flash through the air-

sshhTINGG! Its swords are swung, only for a sword to materialize in their path, intercepting them! Rook appears between him and Astrid, its blade locked with the attacker's.

"Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, report: negotiations have concluded."

With a shoulder-charge, it breaks the clash and exploits the sundered defense with a pommel-strike to the sandman's skull! The sandman's eyes go lazy, and it drops both swords as the electricity^[1] extinguishes its consciousness like a lamp. Rook assumes a stance, ready to defend against whatever may come.

Clanks of mechanical footfalls, and clicks of mechanical language join the chaos as the Knight, Gutter and Fisher charge into the room. Their arrival is no turning of the tides, but still-valuable aid to the party's vastly outnumbered, side as a force that would've flanked the party is diverted and contested. But there is a dire consequence to the plan, as the bots' tactics are hindered by an aversion to lethal force. They will hold their ground, but only Astrid and Blue can truly push back.

The Knight sidles beside Wolfe. Its shield deflects^[2] a thrown dagger with a violent, ugly noise. Suddenly, Knight's chest splits in two, its tin pectorals separating to reveal a compartment containing a strange bottle. Knight hurriedly forces the bottle into Wolfe's arms.

"Conscript Wolfe, recommendation: drink this bottle of Blixt™ Kandy Korn. Instruction: in order to attain its benefits, it is recommended that you regurgitate as little as possible. Additional instruction: remain still for one-point-seven seconds."

This is its only warning before it grabs the arrow in Blue's skull(?) and yanks it free. With the gifts of both dubious potion and antiacupunctural treatment, it turns its attention away and blasts a sandman to the ground with a crack of its whip, leaving Blue to fend alongside Astrid.

The liquid inside the bottle is curious, sedimentary in its separation: yellow at the bottom, orange in the middle, white at the top, no matter how the bottle is jostled. Despite its nostalgic colours, there's something oddly... sinister^[3] about it. 

Suddenly, a voice crackles through the device^[4] on Astrid's side. "Officress Astrid, thi...s Da.......one..., que..." Some of its words are inaudible over the deafening noises of the battle. But, stranger and more disturbing yet, it isn't Buffalo's voice. After a few seconds it repeats. "Officress Astrid, this is Danger Zone-06, repeat query: we have lost contact with Unit Buffalo-01, and are unable to locate it. Do you know its current location?"

Just as the final word is groaned; and its ominous meaning, understood; the bristle-draped chieftain at the top of the stairs makes a terrific leap, landing on the floor with supernatural lightness. Its bristles rustle like a pine tree in a Summer storm, and its eyes shimmer with wit as it clutches its double-blade.

---

1. Sigil's Blessing [Lightning]
2. Kite Shield hit prevention [2 left]
3. (Witch's Brew) Blixt™ Kandy Korn
4. Talking Heads

Before Blue Raspberry even gets their question out, an arrow finds a home in their eye. Astrid blinks twice, shocked by what just happened. Things descend into absolute chaos. The onslaught begins, and there's a certain amount of absolute rage in Astrid's eyes as she looks back toward the leader in all of the madness. Blue, lacking a proper brain and skull, will be alright, she knows this, but that wasn't any less traumatizing. One gauntleted finger points at the bristly leader, and with a dark expression, Astrid angrily declares, "You! Yer goin' down, and I'm sendin' ya ta the depths meself!" Regardless of whether or not the creature can understand her, it doesn't matter. She's made her challenge.^[1] 

Rook and Knight defending them in the immediate moment, Astrid grips her war hammer in both and sends it flying forward towards the leader, but into the crowd of sandmen. It spins and full force slams into a group of them, striking them all with great weight and the electrical charge that's ever-present on the weapon.^[2] It doesn't quite reach the leader, coming up just short after being slowed by the bodies in between them, but ultimately it clears enough of the path for others to file in. She holds out her hand to receive her war hammer once again, and the weapon flies back through the crowd, this time striking the others in the back as it returns to her hand.^[3] Finally, there's an opening for the group to make some headway. 

"Let's go, bots!" Astrid charges into the fray, her Diplopia Armor giving her afterimages and making her incredibly difficult to perceive. 

---

[1] Challenging Mark [post 1/4]
[2] Arcane Soul 
[3] Always There

Blue Raspberry was pretty much fine even with the arrow in their face thanks to them being an ooze, but they were angry. Even if it didn't harm them much, it still hurt! They were about to reach their hand up and push the arrow the rest of the way into them to swallow it, when the robot, Knight, suddenly appeared next to them and pushed a bottle into their hands.

"What? What is it?" they questioned, but a hand gripped the arrow. "Wha- wait!" And the arrow was yanked from them with a slight spatter of blue liquid. "OW!"

Then the bot just went back to fighting and left the knight standing there, confused for a moment. A few sandmen ran up to Blue Raspberry, but arcs of electricity shot off of the metal armor and connected with their swords, making their arms go numb with a couple of shill screams and the swords dropped from their hands. Blue Raspberry turned to them and swung their empty fist at one, hitting them right in the face and sending them sprawling across the ground. The other backed away too quickly for them to strike out at, and pulled a new weapon from a rack on the wall. A long glaive with a large, curved blade on the end.

"Welp, I dunno what this does, but it does look tasty!" Blue Raspberry shrugged and uncorked the potion in their hand before shoving it, bottle and all, into the bottom of their helmet. It tasted obnoxiously sweet, so sweet that a normal person might have been disgusted, but the ooze didn't mind it. They kind of enjoyed it. They felt an odd feeling, like they had to burp but couldn't. Something the ooze had never experienced before. Their whole body made a gurgling noise for a few seconds before it suddenly stopped. "I feel kind of funny..." Blue Raspberry muttered as orange, yellow, and white goo began to seep from every gap in their armor and form into the shape of a massive, humanoid-shaped being with an equally massive hammer in one hand.

The candy-colored hulk let out a loud, gurgling roar and ran amok through the crowd of sand people, swinging its hammer and releasing arcs of electricity. The sandman that had grabbed a glaive was sent flying, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground with a thud. They lied there, certainly dead from the force of the giant, gooey hammer. But, after a moment, the residual goop from the hammer started to coat the dead body and the sandman rose from the ground, completely coated in the candy colors and began to fight the other sandmen around it.

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Lightning Armor
Witch's Brew- Summon Undead Hulk
Raise Dead (Undead Hulk)