4915/Border Crossing

Border Crossing
Date of Scene:	21 December 2016
Location:	Core Tellus <CT>
Synopsis:	Will and friends try to cross into Iskandria. The Iron Church attempts to hold a peace conference, but someone thinks it's wise to drive an airship into the fortress instead. Victor Xix gets political cred, Mel Brock hurls a bunch of ragtag adventurers into a monster-infested swamp.
Cast of Characters:	William Pauwel, 571, 1051, 434, Lyria Mason, 961, 941, August Kohler, Staren, 1088, Lezard Valeth, 513
Tinyplot:	CODE Chaser: Shattered Judgement

---

William Pauwel has posed:
    One does not merely walk into the Expanse. Even before moving onto full war footing, Iskandria kept a close watch on the few roads that pass into its territory. They notably /don't/ keep a close eye on the marshes, because the wildlife do a decent enough job of that on their own. If there is a man willing to brave the river-dragons and emperor hippos just to sneak into Iskandria, Will doesn't know him.

So he's trying to get through the easy way. It just so happens that the easy way is also the hard way.

    The target is the fortress of Eastgate. While one could ostensibly bypass the fortress and, say, rappel up an aqueduct onto Iskandria's elevated highway network, but Will would really rather not be eaten today. Instead, he's squatting beneath a load of wheat and grain, alongside EVERYONE ELSE HE'S DRAGGED INTO THIS MESS. It rolls inexorably up towards a checkpoint at the foot of Eastgate's fortifications-- and the garrison of soldiers posted in and aroun the walls. Many of whom appear to be... Robots. Apparently Iskandria is filling the holes in its personnel with mechanical replacements.

    "Okay," Will whispers to his co-conspirators, "So once we get close, everyone needs to be as quiet as possible, y'hear? We don't need anyone askin' questions, and iff'n they do, uh."

"Well. Run for the swamp, I guess?"

Will is good at plans.

    Something seems amiss amidst the fortifications, however. The guard is agitated. Strange shadows hang over the eastern horizon. Shadows that grow larger with each passing moment.

Now what could that possibly be?

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Illegal border hopping?!

    Sign Maaka up! She's here, cloaked like some kind of interstellar alien big game hunter. She may not be a charity case when it comes to getting jobs done, BUT William is a friend. She makes exceptions for that stuff. At the moment, she's listening to WIll's briefing as she gets her sneak on, already having bypassed the fortress and using her grappling gun to reach the aqueduct. Comms make it easy for her to not miss anything William's saying as she goes all sneaky sneak.
        <<I'm on the highway. They haven't spotted me yet. Where am I headed?>> she asks via comm, making sure to be as low as possible.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Millium is here.

     Why? Who the hell knows. Probably because Will asked real nice as a fellow Chaser and she couldn't look away. But hey, that's done now! And here they are...planning to waltz right up to Eastgate like they weren't trying to illegally enter Iskandria. But hey, all in a day's work, right? The blonde girl is squatted down, nodding along to explanations to THE PLAN.

     "Okay, so... we're just going to stay here and ride through? That's it?" She squints and then peers aside out at the path ahead. Discreetly! Robots. ...Plenty of robots. Hope they don't have something cheap like HEAT SIGNATURE SENSORS. "...Is this reaaaaaally going to work?"

     Taktaktaktaktak.

     That's the sound of fingers dancing across a keyboard. Next to Millium, her babysitte- I mean, associate quietly comments. "No. This isn't going to work. Nevermind how wildly stupid this is to begin with." She ceases her typing, adjusting the receiver on her ear and closing her laptop. "But it's not my job to stop you morons. I'm just here to observe." She waves a hand dismissively. "Just don't get yourselves killed. That's just more paperwork for me."

     Cold.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A-ko's normally not the type to do something like this, but in this case she's found herself going along for some reason. Call it a gut instinct or something, but she's here, and she's ditched her school uniform for a more casual attire. This makes it easier for her to sneak in during a situation like this, although she's starting to regret coming here. Nevertheless, she's not about to back out that easily. Instead, she decides to stick with it in hopes that this turns out OK.

"Honestly, as long as B-ko doesn't show up," A-ko mutters to herself, "Then I suppose things will be OK." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair, listening to what William has to say. The thing about running for the swamp as a last resort seems more like a clear giveaway they're up to no good, but A-ko isn't about to call him out on this. He's the one leading the operation after all. "Let's just hope they don't try to question us, then?"

Lyria Mason has posed:
So far as most of the world Knows Lyria is just an Adventuring sort from Galendia, and honestly? Something like border hopping is small on her family list of things that have been done. It's bes to not get caught, right? So that's what she intends to do in the guise of Serpent. Glad in a dark green body suit, with a full on helmet iwth voice warper she should be good. She has left her signature drones at hom and tails after William and the rest.

<<Serpent here, roger and slipping by a border this is going to be fun. I haven't been spotted yet either.>>

HEr bike's nothing speical it's the cheapest hting Serpent could get her hands on after all. Given the nature of this mission.

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     WITHIN EASTGATE

     Victor Xix is not particularly interested in the man talking right now. Sure, the Iskandrian diplomat is saying all the right things that Victor imagines a church official should want to hear, bowing and scraping to Victor and his companions like a good prole. Sure, the fortress is a well-crafted bulwark of war, as expected of the Iskandrian elite. But the man isn't actually talking about war, and that's where he loses Victor completely. The massive Original Greaver is sort of staring distantly at the wall, letting his companions Lezard Valeth and Vatol Halftail take the lead, because frankly, Victor assumes they know how to do this 'diplomacy' thing better than he does.

     The Iskandrian Official himself is dressed in a typical Iskandrian toga, with a typical Iskandrian badge of office and a short gladius for protection. He is a brown-haired, dark-eyed Greaver with a lizard tongue, strange furred hands, pointy ears, and a nervous smile. It is hard to imagine why he is nervous - it is probably the fact that he's trying to speak of political dealings to a terrifying wizard, a rat-man, and a shirtless giant lion-shark in a cape on behalf of the Iron Church.

     "So, as you can see, my lords, our nation's conflict with Evance is a righteous one, though...troubling long. As you can imagine it has led to some very uncomfortable conflicts in recent years. We are happy to have such, erm, honored representatives of the Church to help us when the delegates from Evance arrive. Surely, the fact that you are at our back will lend us substantial weight in the coming days - the Iron Church's power is well-known and well-respected, and anyone who travels with its Savior must indeed be at least as great as he."

     Victor visibly Looks Bored at this, instead stopping to inspect a vase. The diplomat tugs on his toga. "Well, then. Would you care for a tour of the fortress, my lords? Of course, we've locked down visitors for the time being...wouldn't want anyone sneaking in to assassinate any of the delegates, of course! Ha, ha..."

     "Ha ha," Victor says, "That is, indeed, humorous."

     The diplomat looks wildly at Lezard and Vatol for help.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Mel Brock is not hiding with the group.

    Mel Brock is hiding waaaay, way up that-a-way. Miles and miles in the sky, high enough to be out of sight of the ground without special equipment and well above the altitude airships around here are generally capable of reaching. Sitting in the Chaser, hovering silently, arms folded over her chest and eyes closed.

    There were probably vehement objections. Strictly speaking, neither the Iskandrians nor those they're at war with have ties to the Commonwealth, and thus she doesn't technically have a horse in this race. But that's all the more reason for her not to do the sneaky, lawbreaking thing, and instead go up-and-over in a way only a space cop can.

    This, of course, also puts her in a much better position to see what the shadows on the horizon actually are.

August Kohler has posed:
August Kohler is here, and like usual, the redheaded German is by Will's side ocmplaining, though whispering. "This is the faux Roman robot army people, isn't it. God damn it. Ugh, if we need to lead them off, I'll use my Persona to lead them in one direction and then retrieve it. Let's get this going." And his complaints are way less than previously (he's not even complaining about the wheat thing!). He's acclimating to Will's dumbass plans.

So, August sneaks along with Will, glancing at the others. Claire is there. He can tell just from her talking who she is, and he makes sure not to say anything to her just yet, because he likes living. He glances at the strange shadows. "The hell?", but waits to see how the others react.

Staren has posed:
    It's time for a...
                               STEALTH MISSION!                                
    So Staren has taken a page out of Finna's book, and is riding in the wagon as a Perfectly Ordinary Cat. A shorthaired black cat with a little sea green bandanna around his neck, but still, that probably just means it's someone's pet, right?

    He's still hidden though. But if anyone makes a bit of movement, or a noise, and an inspector gets suspicious, he can emerge from the hay so they see that it's not people hiding, just a Perfectly Ordinary Cat.

    This is a good plan.

Vatol Halftail (1088) has posed:
Vatol's suggestion was to kill everyone and take their things. They haven't done anything of the sort, however, and they've been here for a number of minutes greater than five.

This is displeasing.

Vatol came himself. He almost sent a lieutenant, but he decided at the last moment he'd check it out personally. The rat-man is following the diplomat in his brass armor and carrying something glaive-like, the suit bearing an oxygen tank-like Warp energy condenser and sealed up to his nose. His helmet-mask is up, though; it's apparently a concession to diplomacy. Under it, he's got a narrow muzzle and a white-furred snout, with clever little eyes and -- weirdly -- short, curving horns coming off his head.

He's also got a cape. The cape was probably a toga presented for officiality. It's the cleanest thing on him.

"Yes... yeeees... tell me," Vatol pauses, trying to figure out what the diplomat is and settles on, "mutant-thing, have you heard-heard the word of the Horned Rat? Very important in Church politics, he is, yes-yes."

ELSEWHERE IN THE FORTRESS

A group of Skaven gutter runners skulk around with enormous loot-sacks and take everything shiny they can get their hands on. So far, they're pretty sneaky about it.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard also looks slightly bored, but it's the carefully manufactured, somewhat dismissive assumed boredom of someone who /knows/ he's better than the person he's speaking to and doesn't really care to hide it. "Righteousness is the term people use when you're telling people that all the lives you're using is worth it. The people believe anything they hear because they /want/ to believe that those lives were lost for a reason." Lezard simply says, walking along. The Necromancer of Midgard stands out amongst the assembled like Tim Curry amidst a bunch of Girl Scouts doing a Christmas pageant. Which means Vatol might or might not be the Grinch.

"Your embattled situation is well known. While this fortress might look imposing, how secure is it really against a serious attack? Are you truly prepared for everything your foes could possibly hurl against your walls? And of course, should the Church choose to side with you and then you fail anyway, it would cost us dearly..." He sighs, shaking his head. "I would like to hear some form of assurance that you are serious about this 'war' you have undertaken."

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Look, the other plan involved crawling through swampwater," Will hisses under the cover of so much grain. "And I'd rather take chances with the fortress than anything that might be waiting down below." Because at least the Iskandrians MIGHT not kill them if they get caught. Gigators definitely will. He looks at August, then, and... squints? It's hard to tell. He has a visor on and there's a few inches of grain between them. "You- you do know we've got a couple days of hiking 'fore we get to where the thing's pointing us to, right?"

August, did you remember to pack your galoshes?

No?

WELL IT'S THE LEECHES FOR YOU THEN.

    But then there's news of some kind of... shadow on the horizon. Several shadows. Will furrows his brow, then goes about as white as a sheet. "Uh-- Just a heads up, but this might be bad."

Bad how?

    Well, from the vantage of literally everyone who isn't surrounded by fortress walls OR a whole bunch of grain, one might take notice of the distinctly airship-shaped things that are now only a few minutes out from the East.

                          MEANWHILE - IN EASTGATE                          

    "Ah, apologies, lord..." The diplomat gives Vatol a look like he's HONESTLY NOT SURE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THIS GUY, "Horned... Horned rat? I'm not sure I understand-- Oh!" Lezard! He asks a very important question. "Yes, of course. You see there on our walls, those marvels of Iskandrian ingenuity and exploration. We call them the Steel Legion, as they are both... Well. Both a legion and made largely of something very much like steel. I am told that it's actually quite advanced stuff. Very impressive stuff. We have thousands of them, and more are being constructed by the moment! Indeed, Iskandria is unmatched on land."

But...

What about the air?

"Oh, hold a moment, lords," the diplomat smiles at the vessels rolling out of the horizon. "I believe our other guests have arrived."

                                BACK OUTSIDE                                

    Will's cart creaks towards the checkpoint. He quietly shushes at his companions as the cart is surrounded by a hubbub of activity. Muffled by the grain, they can hear something about 'shipment manifest' and 'just grain from the east' and 'mandatory inspection.'

A minute passes.

And then something yanks a great pile of grain right out from on top of them. Will looks up. An Iskandrian soldier looks down.

"No wait I can explain--"

And then there's an explosion. The cart is blasted into the air, flipping end over end before landing in a broken heap just inside of Eastgate's main passage.

The wagon stirs. Will's head pops out of the heap amidst a band of stunned Iskandrian legionnaires. He blinks into the air, cusses, and leaps out of the wheat. "IT'S GONE BAD, Y'ALL! RUN FOR IT!"

                          MEANWHILE - IN EASTGATE                          

Everything is going to hell.

    Not exactly, of course. Hell is full only of sinners. War doesn't give a damn, and neither do the cannon shells raining down from the sky. Instead of a delegation, the airships have brought death. Enormous shells bombard the fortress. One explodes in an airburst just over the walls, scattering man and machine alike. A warcry goes up to defend the fortress-- or die trying.

Looks like someone doesn't like the idea of 'peaceful negotiation.'

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Aaaaand they're under attack. Mel begins swearing profusely in the Chaser's cockpit.

    She also begins slinging her hands over the controls with practiced ease, switching on target-tracking programs and starting to get a basic sweep of the battlefield. She'll have to descend further in the atmosphere to get higher-quality sensor feeds, but so long as she doesn't go down into visual range, they shouldn't see her as a threat, right?

    Well, okay, so she's also powering up shields and weapons. Just in case.

Staren has posed:
    Staren-kitty is exposed along with everyone else! This wasn't part of the clever plan at all! He yowls as the cart goes flying, hanging on for dear life... When it lands, he stops digging claws into the wood and returns to normal form, manifesting wings and flying 'that way' low along the ground alongside the others running.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Welp, so much for stealth! Maaka was going so unnoticed too, using her cloaking device to keep her undetected while she tries to get a good look at the situation from afar, just in time to avoid getting shelled from above by the airships. "Shit. Here I was hoping to go in without shooting for a change." She grumbles, then produces a sniper rifle.

    She takes cover behind something while she takes note of the Iskandrian soldiers closest to William's position. Sighting them down, she counts on her thermal optics and suppressor to help guide her shots and hide them as well as she opens fire, shooting with pin-point accuracy that's almost scary in this kind of weather.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Everything is quiet.

     Is this stupid plan actually working? Is Claire actually wrong? Can it be!? But hey, Millium would take it! For once everything is going to go without a hitc-

     The wheat is YANKED UP. A soldier stares in. Millium smiles sheepishly and stares up, waving cutely. And then EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. Kablam! Up goes the cart! And into the air goes Millium!

     "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screams comically, sailing along with Claire flying through the air looking stonefaced all the while. Because she knew. /She knew./ But did anyone listen? Noooooo. Gotta do the stupid thing because that's what Chasers do, right? With her laptop hugged to her chest, the guild operator doesn't even bother flailing.

     And that's because Millium's got her! She manifests Code SERAPH, bracelets and anklets flaring to life and orbiting with a harsh blue glow of energy. And immediately, she loops an arm around her babysitte- partner's waist, and takes controlled flight, floating up higher to get away from the blast radius of the bombarments.

     "GOTTAGOFASTGOTTAGOFASTGOTTAGOFAST!" The blonde girl rapidfire speaks speeding to attempt to get the hell out of dodge. Claire just dangles under her arms, expression dour as she opens up her laptop and types one handed like this isn't a horrible act of war.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A-ko thinks for a moment this might actually work. That is, until someone tugs up the wheat, and going with instinct, she grins nervously while sweatdropping. (Or at least she would if she could.) Then things really get crazy. They're under attack? Well, so much for being stealthy about this. Regardless, no point in waiting around here.

As the cart becomes upended, A-ko quickly jumps out of it and lands on both feet, skidding to a halt. "Oh no, this is bad!" She says.

Fortunately, being a superpowered schoolgirl means she has extremely fast feet. Meaning that she's quick to dash out of range of the bombardments while trying to find a place to take cover at the same time. "What do we do now?" She calls out to the others, hoping someone has a good idea, other than just running away.

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     War. War never changes. Even diplomacy is merely a social means of conducting war, after all. Evance (at least, Victor presumes it is Evance) has decided that it is an unacceptable one. That is fine. Unfortunately for Evance, the Warmaster is present, along with two people he is quite sure are extremely competent warriors.

     The massive Greaver turns, his tattered-and-burned red cape swirling behind him as he faces away from the diplomat. "Stay here. Lock down your soldiers. Do not permit them to leave the fortress. We will handle this. In exchange,"

     Victor considers this. What to ask for? What would the Pope want? What would the Iron Church desire? He tries very hard to think outside the box. Then, finally, he settles on a demand.

     "You will permit the Iron Church to construct its churchs and cathedrals within your walls." Yes, that seemed appropriate.

     The ancient Warmaster Greaver starts walking up the stairs with a pace born of rapidity and discipline. He is perfectly, absolutely disciplined - Lezard and Vatol would immediately recognize that there is nothing /about/ this creature that *isn't* disciplined, right down to his breathing as his huge feet climb the tower.

     When they reach the top, the massive Greaver immediately does what he does best. With a casual, unhurried, unworried maneuver, he proceeds to pick up the cannons on the tower and move them around to face the ten airships that have engaged.

     "This," Victor considers, "Should be sufficient."

     Like a line commander on a ship, Victor walks down the line of cannons, lighting each one with a strike of one of his iron-hard claws against smooth stone. Each blow digs a great gaping gash in the rock in the process, but hey - he's holding back.

     "I will draw their fire. I trust your magics will end it."

     Victor draws his tattered cloak around himself as the cannon bombardment goes off. He scans the ground for ground troops-

     -aha. How interesting.

     "Resolve it quickly," Victor adds, "That task I requested of you may come to fruition sooner than imagined."

August Kohler has posed:
"I meant retrieving the Persona, not the piece. ...Do we even have /supplies/ for days of hiking?" August rubs the bridge of his nose, until he overhears the sounds of soldiers coming. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a tiny piece of mirror, and waits. And then, they get spotted. August stares at the mirror, waiting for the cue to summon his Persona...

And everything explodes! As the cart flies into the air, August secures himself, gripping tightly onto the cart, until it lands and crashes. There's a groan, some German cursing, and a rise from the wheat. "GOD DAMN IT. Run for it!" After clarification on radio, he turns to A-ko to make sure she gets it. "Run northwest, specifically!"

And then August is making a beeline in the same direction as Will, running as fast as his legs will take him. Mirror shard clutched tightly, but not tightly enough to shatter. He'll need it.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"The Steel Legion may be quite impressive to grunts, but the people who will actually cause you problems will not be so intimidated." Lezard replies. As if right on cue, Lezard then proceeds to comment, "Besides, not all of your foes will assault you on the land."

He turns to peer at the horizon...

And a moment later, the Manus Catalyst erupts from Darkness near his hand, flicking through the air. A cannon shell that would be a direct hit upon Lezard's position smashes into a mystic barrier, radiating crackling energy from the point of impact. "Well." He says offhandedly. "It seems the other delegation has chosen to make my point for me."

Valeth turns to join Victor and Vatol (TEAM V, ASSEMBLE), heading up the tower.

He takes position some distance behind Victor, allowing him to do his job of tanking the shots. Lezard has no arguments with these tactics. "Let me know if there is anything I can do to assist. I have not witness your magic." He says to Vatol, before he raises the Catalyst. "LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNIIIIING BOLT!" He cries, hurling powerful strikes of lightning, gleaming blue-white and deadly, from the tower towards the airships. Every strike seems to recirculate into Lezard's growing circle of sorcerous power.

Lyria Mason has posed:
The idea of leeches is not a happy one, seriously however she's quite happy she's in a full body suit over whateverr other clothing she has under it. Yes she was ready to go through muck Bismark knows what else. nothing ventered nothign gained as she kpe going but she was not going at too high speed she knows she needs to not get them alert. Then as she nears the border and everything goes to hell in a handbasket? She floors it on her bike and is going to try to press through she sighs for a moment now as any chance of talking is dead and there's now a full on battle going on now!

<<This isn't boring!? Why is it interesting why did this have to be interesting!>>

Vatol Halftail (1088) has posed:
Vatol was getting less and less interested right up until a particular item of note. "Steel Legion?" He follows the gesture, looking towards the walls. He squints, scratching at his jaw with one hand absently. "Rrrr... interesting... very-very interesting." He's already planning to make off with some of their interesting toys.

There's a whistling, and then an explosion. The blast makes Vatol drop to a low crouch, hand tight on his glaive. He looks around in sudden alarm, practically sent into a panic from the first volley. The presence of his seemingly-unmoved compatriots is all that keeps him from bailing out the first chance he gets. Vatol makes an irritated sound and grabs his mask, fitting it and the helm over his face and sealing it to the rest of the armor. It gives his voice a slightly tinny quality.

The Skaven follows the weirdly-disciplined Victor towards the stairs. Another rat-man appears, practically melding out of the shadows, garbed in all black with a deep hood. Vatol exchanges whispers with him, a hasty, "Find their weapons and take-take what you can under cover of the attack," sending the rat-sneak on his way. He disappears by the time they get to the stairs, moving to rejoin the squad of skulks and tunnelers below them.

Vatol isn't breathing hard at all when they reach the top of the tower. He looks up at the airships, gaping behind the lenses of his facemask. His attention is drawn away shortly after; he eschanges glances with Lezard, making a gesture with his free hand and then reaching for his pouch. "Tcheh. I will show you what I am capable of!" He doesn't need the help of some /man-thing/. This is his chance!

The armored rat-man gestures twitchingly at the sky. He raises his eyes, speaking in hissing, chittering words. He sways in place, making jolting motions with his hand -- which isn't at all free. He holds a disk-shaped sliver of something, a green stone that seems to drink in light. It's thin, like a coin or a wafer, a token of some sort of malevolent material. The chaotic power held within it is palpable and volatile.

Vatol opens a catch on his mask and promptly eats it.

There is a screech. He thrusts his hand into the sky, fingers trembling. There's a flicker of green light and a swirl of the same, rising in a spiral from his hand. Clouds begin to boil out of a spot directly above him and high above, black and rumbling. They churn and swirl, and wind comes with them, building from a strong breeze to hurricane force in a matter of moments.

The unnatural storm spreads through the skies. The hurricane brings with it horrible winds, tipping carts and toppling trees. Flickers of the same green light appear in the dark clouds, with thunder like the rumbling of a dark god heralding a strike of sickly green Warp lightning that rakes anything high enough to get it's attention -- like, say, airships, or other unfortunates that might have taken to the air...

Finna (513) has posed:
There is VERY LITTLE Finna-Bird can really DO in this scenario. She's lucky enough to not be getting ZAPPED by Lezard's Captain Obvious spells and the other things flying towards the airships. The poor bird's in danger of getting caught in the crossfire and because of that she DUCKS AND DIVES as though going after prey, transitioning into a speedy soearing to the northwest along with the group... although with some zigging and zagging to avoid being TOO obvious!

William Pauwel has posed:
    Sudden Airship Strikes aren't entirely unheard of, but firing on what SHOULD have been a diplomatic summit is... Well, it can only really mean one thing, can't it? The diplomat stammers from the floor, "C-cathedrals and churches? W-wait, lord! I can't make that--"

"--decision..."

    Welp. Victor's already off doing his thing. Nothing really much that can be done now-- if Victor's upholding his end of the bargain, then either this diplomat go beg and crawl to the senate, ooooor he gets his head ripped off, his face lightning bolted, or something even worse.

Probably something worse.

That rat man is doing something that is quite frankly terrifying, after all.

    Many things happen in short order. Even as Victor alignes the artillery and Lezard sets up his shield, more shells continue to slam into the fortress' walls. Men and machines are sent flying in plumes of flame and blasts of shattered stone. The world is full of the scent of blood and brimstone! But then it... Stops.

    It's a bizarre sight, what happens in the sky between the fortress and the airships. Plumes of flame and black smoke burst in a blue sky as artillery shells somehow smash dead-center with the incoming bombardment. Of course, there are many airships, and so many, many bullets in the air. But even those that do make it past Victor's inexplicable artillery wall are screened further by Lezard's shield, blasting into the barrier with incredible kinetic force. Only a handful break through. One smashes again into a wall, sending it crumpling inward. Another crashes into the courtyard-- but we'll get to that in a second.

Because the sky is suddenly a very hostile place to be.

                         MEANWHILE - ON AN AIRSHIP                          

Captain Ohm of the fine vessel 'Cloud Emperor' also known as the R101 stands atop the deck, and quite honestly has a hard time believeing what he's seeing. Bolts of lightning blast into enormous airship hulls, creeping across the steelshod exteriors. Flame catches in one place, then leaps to another, but Evance builds its airships well. Of course, that doesn't help much when a perfectly clear sky suddenly turns into a raging, whipping hurricane. "Damn it all," the captain cusses, "What manner of weapons have these bastard unearthed this time?"

    Something explodes a hundred feet to the south. Ohm glares as he catches sight of a bolt of lightning creep into an adjacent ship's starboard cannonline, blasting the whole thing out of the wood. But that's only the start of their troubles.

    The storm builds. An arc of green lightning slams into that listing vessel. Something else explodes, and the vessel begins to list... Towards the fortress in the distance. "Damn and blast," Ohm hisses, "All hands, prepare to drop altitude! We need to get under this blasted hurricane, else we'll have worse than lightning to deal with!"

William Pauwel has posed:
                           BACK IN THE COURTYARD                            

    "Hold it right there!" One of the Iskandrians cries, before he's abruptly silenced by a sudden slug of sniper rifle to his throat. The rest of his command is nothing but a helpless gurgle, but someone else quickly follows up. The Iskandrians are nothing if not plentiful. "Hold it right there! Send the alarm! Evancian spies!"

Jumping to conclusions? Though it's pretty reasonable under these circumstances.

    Soldiers muster in the courtyard after the retreating Chasers. Will cusses up a powerful storm as beams streak by all around him. One slams into his back, burning a hole through his cloak and vanishing into the black plate surrounding his chest. "Go go go go go!" Will yells at the others, "We can deal with supplies on the road! Worst case, we hunt! JUST RUN!"

And then a shell explodes overhead.

    Will screams as he goes flying, rolling, then finally stopping against another toppled cart. The Chaser groans as he rises, fire scattered in the courtyard all around them. But the beams don't stop. Not from just from the Iskandrians, but... From the twelve-foot-tall machines that move in to fill their fallen numbers.

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     Victor observes the mages doing their work with satisfaction. Another round of cannonfire to knock any other shells out of the sky with startling precision, and Victor has concluded that he's more or less done with his aspect of his promise. He claps his hands together in the driving rain, as if dusting them off, and looks to Vatol and Lezard.

     "Let us leave these secondary objectives behind and pursue the real objective."

     With that, Victor hefts the Skaven up in one meaty arm and *bounds* off the tower.

     The massive Greaver falls, falls, falls, falls, falls. He falls like a rock, like a cannonball, like a bomb. There's a whistling noise as he falls, a shrill, shrieking whistling as the wind whips past.

     And then he hits the ground in the middle of the courtyard.

     There is a spectacular explosion of dirt, dust, stone, grass, and probably an ornamental statue. Fragments and clumps of filth rain down, along with the driving hurricane.

     As it clears, the massive silhouette of the original Greaver, nearly ten feet tall and half that across, his tattered red cloak billowing around him in the storm, rises from the crater. He sets the Skaven down next to him and climbs forth, walking forward towards the party.

     "Hello," he says politely, "I am Victor. It is my name, my title, and my profession. My colleagues and I have a request."

     "Please surrender your CODEs to us immediately and you will be permitted to continue existing." Victor cracks his meaty neck. His lips split, revealing the massive *weapons* that are his teeth.

     "Or do not. That is also acceptable. I do not believe it matters to us."

August Kohler has posed:
Somehow, things are exploding worse. Horrible sky storm. Even more explosions. Airships crashing down. And the Iskandrians now think that the party are spies and is attacking them. They need to get out of there, fast. So, August stares into his mirror shard. His reflection stares back. And blue energy surrounds him as he calls into it.

"PERSONA!"

In that spark of blue energy, something manifests. A large robotic soldier in military dress, with a gun for a leg and covered in burn scars. Immediately, that gun is pointed towards the assaulting soldiers, and with a silent click, begins spraying horrible fire, moving to create a massive wall to block the Iskandrians off. "EVERYONE, RUN!" And then, once the fire wall is up, bullets begin firing out of the gunleg, flying through the flames and wildly into everything past them.

August then moves to run forward and escape, the Tin Soldier breaking off to follow him.

And then there's a massive man of muscle and lion-ness carrying a man of rat-ness. August pauses, stepping back as the man demands them of something. "Now, hold on...explain exactly what the fuck you're talking about here. We have no idea what a CODE is." He's hoping to stall, while the Tin Soldier points his gun at the party and fires. Buffs slam out, as everyone's endurance increases. If shit goes bad...you'll be a bit less damaged.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Good news!

     They're still alive.

% Bad news!

     The Iskandrian defense force is onto them, and they are very very not happy!

     "CRAP." Millium curses as energy beams fleet through the air, multiple impacting against the spherical blue barrier that she's erected around her flying form, sending ripples running through it with each strike. One would notice that it was getting more and more transparent with every connecting shot though. It's not going to last long!

     "We need to get out of here and- WAUGH!"

     WHAM! Here comes Victor! That big lion shark man from out of nowhere! The resulting blast of debris and rush of wind are forceful enough to get through the barrier, sending Millium veering off course before she slams into the ground onto her back, arms wrapped around Claire's waist and keeping her from harm. She's been typing this entire time. Crazy woman.

     "....Ow." The blonde girl groans wearily, before letting go of her partner operator, who smoothly stands up and brushes herself off before retreating to the side, pointedly avoiding combat despite being capable!

     Lazy.

     As Victor introduces himself, Millium sits up, and then stands. "....CODE?" She asks, blinking a few times, and then looking down at the glowing orbital fragments around her wrists and ankles. "......." She folds her arms behind her back and hides one foot behind the other. It's a useless endeavor because the radiant blue light completely gives her away.

     "....What CODE? THere's no CODE here."

     A+ Deception Skills.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
Twelve foot machines? They might be a problem to the ordinary person, but not to someone like A-ko. Sure she looks small, but she packs an insane punch! She cracks her knuckles and says, "You want some of this? Come on!" That is, while she's dodging the various laser beams coming at her with immense precision. "I'm not the girl you might think I am, you know!" She continues to dodge the laser beams in an attempt to try to draw them away from her allies for the time being.

After doing a bit of dodging and dashing, A-ko attempts to leap into the air and strike the nearest one with a leaping side kick. Hopefully it's not harder than it looks, and A-ko should leave a bit of damage on it as she comes down.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Twelve foot machines are no issue to Maaka, as she takes a few shots at the robots. Of course, they're not the big threat after a few moments, when what feels like a thunderclap goes off amid the area. "Shit!" Maaka exclaims, in the middle of chambering a round in her rifle.

    She stops shooting, and looks from her hiding place in confusion as she watches the scene, and sighs. "Fuck it." She leaps over her cover, and lands with a muted impact thanks to her booster jets, slowing her fall as she approaches the others.

    "...uh." the armored cyborg looks awkward, unsure what to say other than nothing at all because that would make the situation worse.

    Millium and William kind of need their CODEs, after all.

Staren has posed:
    Staren flies low to the ground. Beams hit his forcefield, thank goodness, but it can only tank so many shots...

    And then the League shows up out of the freakin' sky. Staren's NOT ready for a fight today, and a flurry of radio conversation sorts things out. He doesn't know what a CODE is, but then the CODE freaking tells him. For the moment, he runs -- well, flies, after William. If he can get behind cover for even a moment, he uses the opportunity to shift to cat form out of sight. Maybe then they'll stop shooting at him!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard looks quite satisfied as he sees the chaos wrought in the skies. Especially as the airship begins to list. Lezard doesn't seem concerned at all about this as Victor turns his attention to the next, true objective: Relieving these visitors of their CODEs. Whatever they are. They sound interesting.

Lezard laughs, sketching runes in the air and fading out as Victor makes his entrance...

And that laugh resounds through the courtyard as Lezard Valeth, Sorceror of Midgard, fade in beside Vatol and Victor, dramatically whipping his Catalyst to one side. "One would advise capitulation. No one needs to die here." He pauses. "Well, besides the ones who already have, of course. Can't break a war without cracking a few airships, hmm?"

Purple flame alights in his hand, seething there. "Or refuse. I have no cares either way." He chuckles, the flames giving him a decidedly mad appearance as he dances it through his fingers deftly.

Vatol Halftail (1088) has posed:
The Warp Hurricane keeps spinning, howling high above. Vatol laughs, the sound metallic and somewhat... unhinged. "I feel it! I /feel/ it in my /bones/!" The rush from that token amount of Warpstone is intense. Vatol doesn't often indulge -- it's unnecessary, wasteful in most circumstances, more valuable to him for other applications beyond spellcraft. This time, though --

Vatol suddenly feels a jolt. Victor grabs him. Vatol looks at Victor, laughter abruptly cut short -- and then they're airborne. Vatol screams for a few seconds and then laughs again, too absorbed in the rush of energy to heed the danger.

They hit the ground. Vatol gets released, landing on his feet with a clank of metal and a hiss from his equipment. He flicks a switch while he's in the dust cloud, and there's a thrumming from the tank on his back. The runes on the black blade of his glaive flicker and glow the same green as that lightning high above.

The Skaven steps up next to Victor, half his size, heavily armored and bristling with danger. His tail curls behind him, a glint of light as the sky flashes with Warp lightning shining off the metallic tip. He makes a fist with his free hand, the gauntlet on it crackling with energy. "Give-give the CODEs to us and live, man-things!" He sweeps his gauntleted hand through the air. "Weave another spell and we will not be so /merciful/!"

What? Vatol knows what mercy is. People beg for it all the time!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lasers? Oh dear Raiden! THERE ARE SO MANY LASERs and Serpent can not dodge them all. She's caught by several blast the smell of burning suit and flesh is quickly known to Serpent she does not like the smell of either. She stagger bck now and is moving to get her pistols out. She's trying to keep moving even as the fire keeps coming her way. This is too interesting this is very much too interesting times today! Then come a imposingman she doesn't know and something that isn't quite a mand glad in heavey armour and a sense of something that unettles Serpent she keeps her puistols ready but speaks.

"CODE?! I haveno idea on what your speaking of."

No lies here Serpent has no idea about the codes and it may very likely get her killed.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Things just went from bad to worse.

    Will groans, staggering to his feet. There's blood dripping from his forehead, trickling down the bridge of his nose. He cracked his forehead. But he's... Not concussed, thank heavens. Just staggered. He can get back on his feet, and that means he can run.

Well.

It would have meant he could run. Except... Not. There's something in his way. Three somethings. Will glares at the three figures ahead of him. Okay, maybe not all three of them. Just the one right in the middle. He knows that face. He knows that man. "You... You're the one from Caelondia. The one... The one that put me through that wall."

The one who's... After something that Will can't possibly give away.

    "Victor, huh?" Will drawls. His blood throbs against the inside of his ears. There's a look in his eyes. Victor would know it-- the desperation of a cornered rat. He looks beat to shit; fighting here and now would be suicide. "Sorry. Y'all're going to have to look somewhere else. This one here and I have a deal, and I don't mean to go back on it."

Which means... A battle to the death?

Will's arms fly into a flurry of motion. A gun comes away from its holster. A canister is ripped out of a knapsack. The world suddenly burns with brilliant, white light and incredible, blasting heat. "If y'all want it--" Will yells over the din as the caloric content of a fully charged fusion core is vented into the Solano's heart. Its barrel glows with incredible light, like a flashbang gone mad-- but it's the roiling sphere of supercharged plasma that blasts like a miniature sun out of its barrel that's really what's going to put out some eyes.

It rises, dissipating only slightly as it surges into the roiling, chaotic storm.

An arc of green lightning slams into the sphere.

It explodes. Clouds burn red and green, white and blue. A hole is torn in the sky.

And...

That's all he's got?

Nope.

"RUN!"

There it is.

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     As Millium makes her declaration and a bunch of other people also pull the 'WHAT CODE' thing, Victor's (still slightly burned) eyebrows rise slightly. "I am not easily insulted. I congratulate you on being the first in my memory to attempt it with any degree of quality." Unfortunately, he sounds more *entertained* than insulted.

     Victor's eyes slam shut the minute he sees what Will is about to do. He instructs the other members of the V-Team to do the same. He's seen this before - in fact, the last time he saw it, William *shot him in the eyes*.

     "EYES SHUT," he roars over the storm, not because he needs to but so that *the other side knows that he is well aware of what William is doing*. The roar is a primal, primordial thing, bestial in a way that most Greavers simply are *not*, simply aren't *capable* of.

     Victor lunges forward. He is not letting Will and the others get away without a parting strike. No, he may not be able to get the CODEs in one blow but he is going to make damn sure they aren't going to run the hell away so easily.

     Those massive claws flash in the lightning as he goes for William's face. Those same claws, just minutes earlier, cleaved through hunks of stone like it was water. What will they do to the flesh and blood they were made to rend?

     The answer may surprise you.

     Or not.

August Kohler has posed:
August Kohler knows he can't fight these guys. They'd kill him. But he hears the name of one of them, and it instills something in him. He's heard far too much of this man. So, he decides to bide time, facing Lezard. "Lezard Valeth, right? I have a question for you. Do you enjoy setting girls' houses on fire because they hurt your precious feelings? Do you get some sort of sick joy from it? Because you're a sick freak, and someday, I hope you die horribly painfully." He knows the risk of saying this, as he shuts his eyes close when Will fires the beam. Victor's coming at them, too. But August finishes it off. "Right now, you'd kill me, pretty easily. But you're not going to get your chance, so I'll say this."

And then, he waits until he feels things shifting, and everything about to go down. He feels a gash of claws strike against his chest, knocking him back, but the endurance buff keeps him on his feet even as he begins bleeding. "Fuck you, Lezard Valeth. See you in hell."

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A-ko knows when to fight and when not to. She pulls back and starts to retreat a little when she is signalled that Will is about to fire his beam. Thinking quickly, A-ko shields her eyes with her arm and closes them at the same time to ensure she's not blinded. She gulps a little, wondering what she's gotten herself into here this whole time. Ever since the beginning of the night, she wondered what she was doing, and now she's having doubts...

Vatol Halftail (1088) has posed:
The hurricane starts to calm, very slowly, as Vatol stops concentrating on it. It's still hellish, but it's winding down faster than any normal storm would. Small favors.

Vatol nearly gets blinded by the defiance of the one with the CODE. Fortunately, his ally-thing warns him ahead of time: 'eyes shut.'

He turns his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Skaven live their lives underground; being in the vicinity of that would have been bad. The tinted lenses of the full face mask lessen the effect, but don't blunt it all. Shutting his eyes still sting, the reddish glow through shut lids making his eyes itch. Vatol raises his gauntleted hand, still closed, and shields it with an overhand haul like he was going to throw something right after.

It fades. His eyes open, and he opens his gauntleted hand at the same time, flinging it forward. Something glittering leaves it. "DIE-DIE, MAN-THINGS!"

There's a crack of glass against stone. A plume of dark green fog explodes in the midst of the courtyard, a rolling bank of mist blossoming from the point of impact. It's hard to see in from the density alone; harder still since it burns eyes and lungs, blinding and strangling those caught in it like it was a mass of invisible hands.

Poison gas?!

There's a flash of un-light from the gauntlet not seconds after. A green gemstone that seems to suck in the plasma-light is set into the palm, and the energy that's been crackling through it is focused there. It rips out of it in the form of green lightning, stitching across paving stones and rippling towards Vatol's newest targets.

Dodging lightning might be tricky if you can't see it. With that gas tossed in the mix...

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    William does A THING!

    It's a bright and flashy thing too! Alexis' eyes adjust immediately for the makeshift flash bang, and once she hears Victor's voice echo 'EYES SHUT' as well, she realizes he's about to do something too. This is not going to end well.

    The cyborg has speed on her side, give her credit, and her boosters carry her to move towards Victor, her shoulder dropping to smash right into him like a football player, but sadly this turns out to be a very bad idea.

    She can feel razor sharp claws scraping into her chest, raking skin directly as Victor's talons penetrates her body armor. Needless to say they draw blood, and Maaka screams in pain as she tries to keep conscious. Already her armor's medical suite is trying to mend the damage to her flesh, but the armor itself might need some work done to fix the visible gaps made. Ow. OW.

    Gonna be a bitch to repair this.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The clouds open up.

    And a tiny point of red comes falling down through.

    Inside the cockpit of the Firestarter-C, Mel Brock is devoting a very small amount of brainpower to wondering what the hell she is doing. Most of it is turned toward the task of piloting her ship in a powerdive, keeping the nose straight down and flooring the metaphorical gas pedal. The instant she drops below the bottom edge of the Warp Storm, however, she kills all engine power, devoting everything to thrusters. Still falling downward, she turns the relatively small red vessel so that it's pointing away, southeast - and then switches everything back on. It's like a kick in the pants, and the Chaser takes off into the southeastern distance.

    A good ways out, it suddenly stops, and takes a sharp, banking turn, to come back around. Heading in a northwesterly direction.

    And then it accelerates.

    And accelerates.

    A white, hazy ring forms around its midsection, slightly tapered back.

    A crimson streak shoots through the skies over the fortress. As it passes overhead, the ground underneath Will's group suddenly tears itself up with a sudden lurch and intense G-force, /flinging/ itself and them up into the air in the wake of the red blur's passing. At this point, Mel is moving so fast that she very quickly out-accelerates the chunk of ground, and her grip on it dissipates in just moments. So now they're all freefalling, instead of being dragged up to supersonic speeds. That's... a plus?

    Of course, there is one other thing the speedy red craft leaves in its wake after it's gone. A very, very loud noise, from relatively close by.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     "Eheheheheeeeee....." Millium laughs sheepishly, scratching her cheek with a finger. "I guess that was pretty bad, huh?" She didn't even bother trying. Her CODE is glowing even more brightly as the seconds pass. But that's an open secret now anyway!

     Will does the thing!

     Millium closes her eyes while bright light flares out and lights up the sky. And once she hears that flash, she's got her eyes opened and ready to go! ... Only to spy Mr. Giant Lion Man going right for Will's. ...Or more like attempting to sweep everyone in the front line. Crap! "I'm sorry, Mr. Victor, but we've still got living to do!" She yells, stepping forward and slamming her fists together as azure energy builds up, forming into a spherical barrier.

     She reaaaaaaaally wanted to save her energy capacity for later, but it looks like there's no choice! Not that it does a fat lot of good. A single sweep of his claw impacts the barrier, stopped for a fraction of a second, in which Millium smirks. ...And then it cleaves through like butter. "What- AGH!" It's only by virtue of August's empowering spell that the blonde Chaser isn't cleaved in twain. Instead, it just cleaves across her torso, immediately straining white with a rapid flood of red.

     She flies back and hits the ground, SERAPH powering off immediately. "Ow.....oww......ooooowwww....!" She groans, rolling over and gripping her stomach as she feels blood dripping to the ground below. Thank her lucky stars she's alive at all.

     Claire, who seems like she knew this was going to happen, just curses under her breath and closes her laptop, tucking it aside as she kneels down to assist Millium. "Can you still use your CODE?" She asks, looking over that stomach wound. Millium hisses and nods, though she's already wavering. "Y-Yeah...I....I can! Just.....leave it to me...hheheh....ow....it hurts..."

     AND THEN HERE COMES MEL. Supersonic speeding through the skies above, and then veering northwest. They are all uprooted, and FLUNG RIGHT INTO THE SKY. Even Claire's eyes widen at this development, and she knew it was coming. One arm holds tight to her equipment, the other loops around Millium's shoulder.

     Okay, 45 Percent power. She's not got a LOT, but it's enough. Gritting her teeth from the pain, she spreads her arms, powering SERAPH back on. And the radiant blue light spreads, forming a protective barrier around the entire party against the wind force, as well as to serve as a cushion for their landing.

     They'll still tumble a bit, but they're not going to go splat!

     Small miracles.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Today is a day of storms. Whoever read today's weather patterns undoubtedly are regretting their life choices at the moment. Lezard, however, takes one glance at the sphere William produces. "You think you're going to-"

Victor interrupts Lezard's rant, and he blinks as if slapped before suddenly throwing up his cloak, Dracula-style against the colossal plasma flash. Were it not for Victor, that might just have caught him right in the face. He gets into grooves, you know?

A boy he does not know rants at him about a girl's house. As the cloak comes down, he smiles. "You're going to need to be more specific, boy. I've burned down a lot of houses." He replies. "You would not /believe/ how many people object to you when you are doing simple scientific research. Oh, and trying to kill a pantheon." He shrugs. "The sacrifices we make, hmm? But I will say this..."

Lezard's eyes narrow. "Hate me if you will. Despise my actions. Loathe me for what and who I am. My body is singed and blackened. My soul is stained. I have sacrificed things you can never comprehend in my pursuit of my goals. My corporeal form has been destroyed more times than I can conveniently count. Believe me, /it hurts/. But you /will/ respect me, or I will sever your body and soul and send you shrieking into Niflheim, to become a plaything of Hel."

The Manus Catalyst rises, and Lezard sneers. "As far as your closing argument is concerned? When you see me there... It will be when I am carving my name into your very soul and leaving you broken on the bow of the Naglfar. Now /run/, pathetic scamp!" Blackness rupts around Lezard, and a host of black spheres, each with tiny starlike eyes, begin surging after August at high speed. The touch of each one erodes physical form like acid, slamming into anything they strike with colossal kinetic force... Even as they depart loudly and quick.

Staren has posed:
    Staren runs. First of all, he has no idea what's going on and doesn't want to fight his new allies when for all he knows, there's a way to solve /everyone's/ problems. Second... He did not come prepared for a fight. Sure, he does have /some/ protection in the form of his armored labcoat and personal forcefield, and a bag full of guns, but the protection is far less than his armor, and under all those defenses, Staren is just a squishy human (half.) Sure, there's his infamous immortality, but his body is a pain to replace and, most importantly, he knows nothing about the abilities these three have to deal with that sort of thing. Their magic might just kill his soul or something, he doesn't know!

    He's been promised /not/ to be killed as long as he doesn't fight. That sounds good.

    Staren-kitty closes his eyes when Will says to, and once he can see again, keeps scampering away.

    He /really/ needs to have someone explain to him what is going on, after all this.


    AND THEN HE GETS FLUNG INTO THE SKY

    Is it true that cats always land on their feet? You won't find out today, because Staren changes form again and manifests his wings (best magic item) to keep flying away!

William Pauwel has posed:
    The storm is split. Mel is on her way. They can do this, Will thinks. They can /do this./

And then something goes 'splort' in front of him. Something that sounds like Maaka. Will opens his mouth to scream and snaps his face to look. That reflex, and Maaka slowing the blow, is about the only reason that Will's face isn't a fine mist in the air. Victor's claw cleaves a deep gash from the edge of the Chaser's jaw, just under one ear, up and across his cheekbone. He screams just in time to get hit by a blast of sickly green electricity that seems to... Sink into the strange black armor on his chest? It still gets him convulsing--

But fortunately, that's all it gets him doing.

    The poison gas is left far behind in the wake of Mel's whiplash flyby. Will screams as he tumbles through the air, gripping at the bloody gash across his face as the party is turned into a whole bunch of projectiles. Fortunately, Milly catches them! Unfortunately, she has a MASSIVE, SUCKING CHEST WOUND. Will hits the ground, bounces once, twice, and then ends up back-first in an enormous nest of marshweeds.

"D-damnit," Will curses. "Milly--- Milly are you okay?"

(The answer is probably no)

(Damnit Kohler why don't you know any healing magic)

    Even with the Chaser's departure-- the sonic boom scattered the soldiers and steel legionnaires just as badly as our plucky adventuring band-- things at the fortress are... still chaotic. Why? Well.

You remember that airship?

It's right there, coming at the walls.

It collides, sinking into the fortress.

And then someone inside hits the self destruct switch, and the whole thing goes up in a mighty and terrible explosion.

...The fortress, quite understandably, looks like it's seen better days.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is going to have to trust in her former Union Comrade, that Mel has a plan to bail them all the hell out. At least that's what she thinks that Mel is doing on the other hand she's coming in on and she can hear the sonic boom as Mel is doing he thing. She finds Victors claws, which might has well being blades coming for, she rpaidly draws her own blade and barely parries it the force of the stries are enough to push her back as she's trying to end up keepiong with the others for they can not say much longer, they have lost and she damn well knows it. The only way for things to get worse is for them to die.

Thids may very well happen with them getting killed this night.

That is very muchs till on the docket given the sort of people they are facing here.

Then they all go flying. Serpent does not care how this is working she will flap her darn arms to get tout of here she does keep track of everyone she can see. Staren, Mel, William, Alexis and Millium.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     They soar through the sky! They hit the ground! Millium's barrier goes pop! But she spares juuuuuust enough energy left to float herself just enough to not go rolling. Claire takes care of the rest, digging her feet into the ground and skidding forward till they come to a relatively rough stop.

     ".....Hu...h?" The blonde girl mumbles woozily at Will, blinking a few times to try and clear the haze. "Oh...yeah. Yeah I'm fine... toooootally fi-"

     Flump.

     Millium flops over facefirst into the ground. Oops. Claire narrows her eyes at this, looking off into the distance briefly at the sound of an explosion. ...Better add that to the report too. But for now, she turns Millium over and begins digging through her stuff for a first aid kit.

     If anything, she looks kind of miffed about having to deal with this nonsense, than the fact that Millium is UNCONSCIOUS AND BLEEDING OUT. But hey, life of a Chaser, right? Sigh. Get the anti-bacterial agent... and the bandages... Damn it.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    First, Maaka gets clawed. THis was a bad idea, and the fact Xix is utterly nonchalant about friendly fire just confuses her. Being flung across the air, at a 25 degree angle. She soars and lands like a sack of rocks, grunting in pain as she clutches her wounded chest. "...I'm gonna regret this, a lot." She grumbles, fumbling for the anti-bacterial equipment, as well as means to fix her wounds. Repair nanites gotta be somewhere...

    Shame about the armor. Like said before, she can't exactly fix that in the field.

August Kohler has posed:
It was never going to be that easy. The claws strike and blood gushes from August's chest. And then Lezard responds. August wishes he had time to respond back, but he doesn't, and is instead catapulted flying. He thought that being sent flying would prevent Lezard from counter-attacking. Nope, homing attack! The black orbs of energy slam into August's back and torso, causing him immense pain as his clothes burn away and his skin melts. Additionally, this isn't counting the fact that he inhaled Vatol's poison gas, burning his lungs away. Warp lightning joins in, striking his body as he goes flying and coursing through him.

"RRRRRGH!"

When he finally crashes, he's barely conscious, and only because of a mixture of his endurance buff (which kept him alive) and the sheer will to not let himself get knocked out from this. He doesn't move or speak. He's alive, barely, but he looks terrible, is going to need medical attention, and should probably be dead.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The Chaser is going so fast that by the time it decelerates and banks around, it's almost completely out of sight. And she's not cranking it up past mach 1 again; so it's gonna take a little bit longer for her to bring the vehicle back around to where August and Millium are. But she does so as quickly as is safe, and brings the craft down as close as she can. "Back seat. Reach under the middle, pull the bar you feel there. Should slide forward and fold out into an emergency bed big enough for both of them. There's room for you up front," she'll add for Claire's sake.

Staren has posed:
    So yeah, WARP HURRICANE. Staren just uses his wings in a quick burst when he reaches the ground for a relatively gentle landing. Others land around him -- Some people need medical attention.

    Hey, THAT he's prepared for!

    Staren pulls rolls of nanobandage out of his bag -- self-adhering bandages laced with antibiotics and medical nanomachines that speed healing -- and starts applying them to the wounded. They're no magic healing spells, but they'll hopefully stop things from getting /worse/ and keep them in good condition for proper medical care!

    How are they going to get medical care out here is perhaps the next question...

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Claire answers that question for Staren.

     Once August and Millium are loaded in the back, she plops down in the front seat available, taking out her laptop and resuming her typing from where she left off. "We're going. Try not to get killed now." She deadpans as her fingers race across the keyboard, not even looking at the others anymore.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will hauls himself out of the brush, his cheek dripping fresh blood. "Damnit-- that wasn't supposed to be so..." So much of a disaster? Basically a shitshow? GUARANTEED TO GET WILL ON EVERY WANTED POSTER FOR MILES? Yes to all of these. He growls, pushing him up to meet the others.

What he sees has him falling against the Chaser's flank. "...I didn't mean for... All this to happen. Nnngh," he touches at the fringes of his gaping face-wound. "...I'll... I'll be okay. I can go the rest of the way. It'll be alright. Mel, y'all take these guys and make sure they're okay, alright?"

Will is feeling the guilt. This is... unusual.