2194/No Castrum Standing

No Castrum Standing
Date of Scene:	09 May 2015
Location:	Peak Castrum, Coerthas, Hydaelyn
Synopsis:	The Castrum within Coerthas has been invaded by a surprise attack. It seems the Dravanian Knights are after Legatus Aries' head. Can everyone save him in time? Or will it be to late?
Cast of Characters:	522, 530, 552, 573, 583, 636, Lyria Mason, 691, 768, 774
Tinyplot:	Dragon's Bane

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Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Morning sun reaches over the snowy peeks of the high mountains around Coerthas. The mighty Castrum stands upon one of these mountains high above, with only one road leading to and from the mighty fortress.

Steam hisses out of ventilation pipes and rises from the black steel walls being fade heat to keep them from being iced over. The massive doors electronically sealed, with guards on the walls and automated turrets at ready for what is to come.

Beyond the walls, hard plastic like mats can be found over the steel ground, all but where the aircraft are stationed or storage bins are kept. Several buildings line the area with florescent soft blue lights that mark them with automated doors and a security pass needed to even gain access, along with the needed keypad information.

Vanguards stand at ready, though idle with their massive back gears turning slowly to keep the Ceruleum warm within. Garlean soldiers here carry out their PT jobs and others stand on ready, waiting for the Dravanians to come. The XIV Legion are easy to spot in the group, as their armor is black with red, while the III Legion wears a solid white with some gray, including that the Centurions have the fur coat shoulder capes to full on fur capes.

Though some teasing can be heard if listening in or observing as a group of XIVth troops jog to stay warm, not handling the thinner, cold air well and some of the IIIrd Legion giving them a minor hard time as they sit on the crates in the shade. All in good tease though, obvious by a bit of laughing on both parties sides to kill the tension in the air.

Beyond the several buildings and steps leading to other structures built into the mountain is the main command tower rising high above it all. Hooked onto it are several dozen Juggernauts always ready to launch when needed. The people who decided to stay here, be they Confederate, Union, or other wise, were given temporary access to the backrooms under the Towers shadow, kept to basic access on ground floors and the mess hall which serves everything from scrambled eggs, coffee, tea, different style toasted breads, and even different assorted meats.

Though for those who didn't get up at the crack of dawn, they might find the pickings slim and the hot drinks all but almost gone. Then they may get stuck handed basic meal packets, which taste alright, but not as good as a hot meal in this freezing cold.

Above all of this, casting her massive shadow over the land is the mighty Dreadnought. Aboard her everything is aflutter of movement as people make sure she doesn't freeze up from her long night stays and everyone remains on the ready to move at any sign of Dravanian activity.

The main bridge has had eyes on the skies for some time, radar pings are constant and information going back and forth between them and the tower. If there was to be an attack from the air, everyone would be swiftly aware of it... and Gaius Van Baelsar, along with Aries Van Polus can only hope the old girl was enough of a deterrent to keep the Davanians away.

Though Gaius had already voiced his concerns about the Dreadnought being idle in one place for so long. The stabilizers would eventually start to get weighed down by the cold and other issues would start to come up and the Dreadnought needed to move to break that formation up, but she could manage a bit longer... she could stay right where she was--- just for a touch more.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
In a back area behind some containers makeshift table had been setup, cards were being dealt in a poker like style with Garlean currency on the table, along with whatever other cash anyone had on hand, given out in the Multiverse it all became Credits anyways. There was a comm-radio that had been makeshift up to pick up some Multiverse frequencies that was playing Green Day's "Do You Know The Enemy", as the poker game went on.

While the Centurions of both Legions were aware of the game, they didn't seem to interrupt it as it was out of the way and even they as officers knew-- tension need to stay broken and morale needed to stay high in this damn, frozen wasteland.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen remained at the Castrum, having planted down some additional defenses in the form of landmines. He also picked up a brand new order. His armored coat finally was finished. Long, with a lighter version of the Garlean armor and a mix of black and red in color. "Too quiet...We should stay alert." He says to a nearby soldier.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk has barely slept. Walking the outer wall, either atop it with the guards, or on the ground. She's nervous, but the only indication would be the twitchy flick of her tail as she walks, and the twitching of her ears back and forth. The Miqo'te keeps largely to herself, though does stop to chat with groups of Garlean troops if they flag her down. She offers kind words, and soft advice, as well as potions to help keep the XIVth legion's troops warm. Simple warming potions one could buy from many reputable shops.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu was waiting.

    He sits in the room he was given at the Castrum... not really a new thing for him, this quality of accomodation. He wasn't one of the Garleans, but that was fine. He only wanted to be nearby in case the Dravanians attacked. He sits there, as patient as an ancient statue. His eyes remain closed and his breathing as slow as a glacier. He's sleeping there, while sitting, it seems like. The dragon's ageless qualities can be felt in this moment, where he barely moves at all for hours, sitting in the same spot.

    Waiting for the war to reach this place.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane is /freezing/. Thus, she and some of her men are out on PT, in full armor and a fur cloak she nabbed from one fo the locals. She's barking orders, her quiet voice amplified by a megaphone.

"Foreward! Julius, stop slacking off! Disgraceful! What if the attack comes in ten seconds, and you don't even have your belt on properly! Get your tail /MOVING/ Trooper! Hup hup hup! Faster! Faster! Left-right left-right!"

The poor mi'qote Julius looks utterly harried, while a few others are looking on in sympathy. Emperor help /anyone/ in her unit who complains about the cold.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
In contrast despite being reptillian Mantigora is pretty unphased by the frigid temperatures. Granted she does have the advantage of nanotech to keep her body in it's comfortable biological parameters, and isn't exactly coldblooded, either. But she's done her share of times on the bitter cold wasteland that is the non-sunned half of Mikros, too, and actual training helps.

Still, some could probably see her constant pacing as much as keeping moving warm as it is repeatedly prowling the perimeters of the walls.

Skuzzler on the other hand has the advantage of fur and an environmentally sealed exo-armor to keep comfortable while helping the Galerans make sure all those turrets are properly working.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Thing had caught Lyria's attention once more on this world, so here she was. She had been busy drowning under work from Mr. King and Mr. Greene. However she was free of that. She'd move come to help where she could and she nows it might be best to lay in wait much like Ryu is doing. She's here with Remora and mhas manged to hide herself, as she did expect the Dravanians would be coming, sooner or later.

Soundwave (552) has posed:
There are no overt signs of Soundwave or his cassette agents. No looming robots that could almost be mistaken for super-advanced Garlean technology, a fact that is still of endless bemusement to the Decepticon Spymaster. No, for the calm before the storm? He has a different trick up his sleeve.

A fully-armored male Centurion in the colors of the 14th Legion meanders around the Castrum, possibly either a Hyur or Pureblood Garlean. Not aimlessly wandering, he's moving too purposeful for that, but seeming to be memorizing the layout and the placement of defenses both machine and man. He walks stiffly, almost marching through the snow with his arms crossed behind his straight back with clear military bearing. Unlike other members of the 14th, the cold doesn't seem to bother him /at all/, despite the fact he has no additional furs or cloth to keep him warm.

He does pause for a moment to listen to the song on the radio. Not a bad choice, but not one of his personal favorites. Well, if none of the /actual/ officers have a problem with it, neither shall he.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
Dorian should really not just go randomly picking up jobs. It's true that these worlds are fascinating. But when things like THIS await him on the other side ... he should really be more careful what worlds he just traipses into. Especially when he wanders into something like THIS! From what he'd heard? The last time something in this world went pear-shaped, there were dragons everywhere! ONE Thedan dragon was a major undertaking. This ... this is something else entirely.

The smart thing would be to let these superfactions handle it and stay out of their way. There's probably not much one man can do in all this. Not even one as talented and smart as Dorian! But ... that wouldn't have been right. He's here, now, and this conflict is going on here and now.

His Syndicate identification had been enough to get him in, though he'd needed to be cleared through security first. For weapons he carried only a staff, and aside from his radio and a few personal effects, he had little else to speak of. Certainly nothing that would constitute a security breach to keep.

For the time being, he waits with the others wherever he can find a spot that it's not ABSOLUTELY FREEZING! See, the problem with all this? Dorian doesn't much like the cold. Yet another reason why he's been asking himself exactly where in his mind did he think it would be a good idea to throw his lot in here. An unknown world, dragons, and COLD! At least he has the white cloak over his leather armor. At least it's warm. But maybe not warm enough. "One would THINK something that breathed FIRE would go someplace WARMER for a precision strike," he comments in an irritated tone. His arms are crossed over his chest, partially for warmth. "Seems to be something of a conflict of interest, I'd say."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Soldier, while a normal trooper and thus not in heavy armor like the Centurions nods in agreement to Garen. "Aye, thankfully we have the Dreadnought." His gray eyes gaze up to it. "...though I hear that Gaius may have to let her fly for a bit due to possible freeze up in the vents."

Mhik would get thanks from the members of the XIV Legion, not seem bothered by her appearance, book, or otherwise. Gaius' men after all were all a mix bag of cultures and races. Purebloods, halfbloods, and even those of Elezen, Miqo'te, and other assorted races. Where the IIIrd Legion consisted most of Purebloods, but it had its Elezen and the humans as well.

Aries and Gaius were no where to be seen at the moment, though if asked where they were-- it seems they have taken residence and conversation up in the higher tower command. As Dorian grumbles about the cold, one of the Third Legion Centurions leans against the wall as he lights a cigarette, with his helm attached to his belt. "Hard to believe at one time this place, Coerthas that is--- was a land of fertile green grass, tall pines, and running waters. The weather was always beautiful here... and sure it snowed in the winter, but not like it is now. Eternal winter... all thanks to one mad man."

The Centurion then chuckles as he gets the cig little and then takes a drag from it before flicking the ashes to the side. "But what crazy world doesn't have their mad men, hm? Thankfully it is only Coerthas and not the rest of Hydaelyn." The man looked human, all but a strange white oval-like stone or something at the center of his forehead. His eyes a frosty blue and with a very minor tan; Perhaps blame the constant need of the armor. He offers Dorian a cigarette from the pack, "Like one?"

Things remained quiet for a bit longer, till there was a strange flicker in some of the lights. Then the sound of the generators powering down. The automated weapons powered down as power was dropped and suddenly the field for the Castrum also went offline a a flicker of the blue could be seen discharging and fading away.

This caused the both Legions to stop what they were doing and stare for a moment, before one of the Tribunes of the Third Legion forced a door open and barked out over the comm, including out over the main courtyard, "Get that damn back up generator online!"

Then there was a call over the comm for those who could hear, >>"It has been fried!"<<

>>"Both of them!"<<

"...what?" then there was a low rumble, "...sabotage.." The tribune says softly, before quickly slamming his fist on a button next to the door. This kicked off the whaling of the alarms as the old fashion motors spun up. (If you ever heard a tornado alarms of those 50s atomic bomb alarms, same sound)

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
AT THE TOWER...
The lights suddenly went down and Gaius looked upward about then. "Well then."

Aries cants his head, before reaching over to place his own helm. "Bastard is smart, like the lad said. Don't come in through the gate, don't fly in..."

"Come in from underground. Can we get down?" Gaius asks quickly following Aries, who snatches up his double ended Warhammer staff, charging up the ends of the hammer.

"There is a storm shaft we can take down. No saying where those blokes are."

"Affirmative."

BACK ON GROUND...
As everyone hustled, several shots can be heard being fired before a few of the Third Legion were sniped down. Then there was flick of smoke grenades that came racing in covering the court yard quickly before gun fire started to scatter across the area.

Those Dragon Knights moved through the fog, firing down anyone not quick enough or slicing their necks open from behind. On their shoulders were marked clearly 'VII'.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1TJe0lbSWU

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen remained in place as the lights went out and took a moment to access the situation. It was true they were likely going to be pincered. Yet something still felt strange. "Right...secure the courtyard as ordered. I, however, suspect this attack has more to go." He admits. He reaches up and draws that sword of his. If the enemy wanted to use darkness and other tactics like that, so would Garen. He made his way along, watching and waiting to strike someone and 'extract' information in the Imperial way, meaning beating them to within inches of their lives.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
It takes all of two seconds for Yari's harrassment to turn into orders as smoke bombs go off in the courtyard. Some of her archers and gunners take up what little cover as can be found, a few tables kicked over and other general methods of watching out for bullets. The woman drops the megaphone, dropping and rolling as a shot very nearly catches her between the eyes, popping up behind that table the other soldiers had been playing at.

Bullets fire into the smoke, but it's covering fire at best. A few handseals, and Yari gets back up. Sucking in air, she spits out a wave of black water, aether turning it into a small flood that might catch a few in the crowd! It does /hell/ on the vision of they get it in the eyes, too. Otherwise? She and her men are setting up a defensive perimeter, though at the mention of a pincer, their formation tightens.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    The sirens alert Mihk first, then the growls of the Dravanians outside the walls comes next. In a flicker, her book is open, and a red gemstone placed upon the two-page geometry inscribed upon the paper. She writes in glowing yellow ink, then tosses the gemstone out to the ground, where it resolves into the glowing golden form of Topaz Carbuncle. "Healers, gather to me. I shall provide cover while you work." she states, then channels magic through her tome again. A blue, hexagonal honeycome 'bubble' forms around her in a fairly wide area, about 50m across. It won't hold under direct fire, but should help fend off strafing runs and stray shots.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Once the fighting breaks out, Ryu uncoils from his seated position in a smooth motion and begins moving, building into a sprint where he doesn't much care if he bowls over anyone along the way. He doesn't do it purposefully, though, and pauses briefly if he knocks a soldier on his arse to help them back up. His movements have him sprinting to reach the Courtyard in short order--

    And he finds the nearest Dragon Knight and stops his sprint with a huge uppercut with a closed fist, which whips around into a powerful kick to try to kick the potentially airborne target into another of the Dravanian knights.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is also coming out of hiding at the point Ryu does. She's got much the same idea, Remora follows along with her as she moves to strike. While Ryu is making his manouvers to start air juggling the enemy? Lyria's got some other plans in mind she takes up a bit of an odd stance shfts her body in a strange almost dance like stat turn the air against he advancing enemy soldiers attemping to knock them down, break ranks and otherwis disrupt their formation.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Smoke grenades? Oh, they think they are so smart. So clever. So sneaky.... Good, she disliked easy prey.

But a smokescreen can work both ways.

It didn't even take the smoke, as soon as the ceruleum power had started to flicker Mantigora had stepped back against a wall and activated her optical camoflague. Tactical hardware fired up, syncing with her predatory senses to quickly accomidate for the lack of clear sight.

A Dragon Knight walks not two steps past her firing through the smoke when Mantigora strikes. Though not physically, as she uses her analytical scanner to ping several of the Dragon Knight guards from her seclusion. Suddenly heavy gunfire pierces the smokescreen, though focused only on the couple of Dragon Knights that Mantigora digitally tagged to avoid friendly fire. But wait, how is a turret even firing!?

Oh, that's not a turret, that's an Artillery Bot, being operated by the mad Chua Engineer cackling away as he sits on top of it. "FOOLS! You think we not plan for you screwing up technology?" Another volley of fire from his 'mount' peppers the courtyard below, their allies safe from getting caught in the barrages thanks to Mantigora's targetting feeds. "Now technology SCREW YOU! Fwuuuhahaha!"

Soundwave (552) has posed:
The Centurion pauses mid-step and looks up as the lights flicker and die. He can easily hear the radio conversation concerning the generators, and his arms lower to his sides as the alarm howls to life. He does not move from his place as the two Legions hustle to battle stations, instead slowly turning around as he picks up the sound of footsteps that are certainly NOT Garlean boots.

As the smoke grenades bounce in, the Centurion is fully obscured by smoke. A Dravanian Knight attempts to grab him and slit his throat... only for the Centurion to grab both wrists and simply hold him in place. This Centurion is far stronger than any Garlean soldier has any right to be. "-You will regret coming here.-" The ominous rumble of Soundwave's melotone from the Centurion form holds no threat, only a cold statement of fact, and a deft twist of the Dravanian's arm drives the knife into the draconic's own throat.

The Centurion immediately bolts out of the smoke, ducking Dravanian firepower as he dives behind the same cover Yari hides behind. He taps the side of his helmet as his head tilts skywards again. "-DEPLOY!-" Two robotic condors soar from the uppermost reaches of the Castrum, screeching as they initialize strafing runs on the Dravanian Knights from the air, and a snarling black shadow pouncing the rear guard from behind is the only warning they get of Ravage's involvement.

But where are the two humanoid Cassetticons...?

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
The soldier that speaks to Dorian about Coerthas gets a look. "Here? That seems unlikely." The wryness leaves his tone then ... he DID research this place a little before coming here. He turns to face the soldier with the cigarette, and says, more politely, "I had heard. Complete global cataclysm, at one man's whim. That's a frightening thought. But I know the feel. Thedas is in a similar situation..."

The offer of a cigarette is politely declined with a raised hand. "But thank you." He doesn't even smoke a pipe, and he isn't sure what's in there. The people here are used to the stuff in them. Dorian isn't. There's no telling how it would affect him.

Dorian looks up as the lights begin to flicker. "Looks like your 'company' has arrived." He says, with false lightness. The lightness fades quickly, though, and his next remark is said with a dry air. "Or sent advance guards." Either's likely to be the case. The alarms are loud, but Dorian merely winces, without offering complaint. They're SUPPOSED to be loud. That's what alarms DO.

Dorian goes where the nearest battle is. Likely that Courtyard. And as soon as he sees enemies, the staff is retrieved from his back and there's lightning being thrown into the nearest grouping of enemy soldiers. It should jump between at least a couple of targets.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Partly from curiosity regarding the Dravanians, partly out of boredom, and partly out of a desire to return the favor Ryu had given a week or two ago, Cory's decided to hang with the dragon-boy soldier's efforts at least for a fight or two.

    Although instead of picking lodgings, she's been in the outskirts of the place in the snow and the cold. While some take shelter, she instead... shivers outside as a test of endurance, for much of the night.

    The wilds are down one meaty creature and one tree. The former was food, the latter was a weight and later a training target.

    People on the battlements were recently treated to quite a spectacle as the Saiyan woman walked into full view carrying the tree in one arm, only to hurl it unfathomably high up then delivered a flying kick faster than the eye could see!

    The tree broke apart and came down landing inside the Castrum courtyard, toppling into... a neatly arranged pile of chopped wooden planks. Well, there'll be enough wood to keep the hearths burning for a good while! (someone might do well to tell her that they probably don't need it in these parts...)

    She's just shoving the whole pile off towards storage when the lights flicker. "Uh...?"

    Fog and shots from nowhere, life forces snuffed out like nothing, THAT gets Cory to full attention. "They ARE attacking!"

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Many of the field medics here had combat expertise, but they didn't mind Mhik adding some support of her own, as they aided in firing down below. The Dragon Knights were tougher then what some ran into the Stone Vigil, their armors glowing softly against the fog.

This was obvious, as Ryu went bowling into one and he actually flipped around in the air, landing down by the Dragon. Then with a flick of his own sword, a massive wave of energy went rolling right for Ryu, cutting the very ground in its wake for him.

The Dragon Knights caught by Yari's 'spell' are blinded but one of them leaps over the others, coming down with a lance slamming the ground, sending a blue plasma wave right for her and her group!

As Lyra dances among the Dragon Knights, a few of them are tripped up, but get back up to their feet, her own blade blocked by a few others, as one goes right in to catch her blade. "Nice dance." She says, though impossible to tell gender by that armor they wear. "My turn." Then breaking the blade connect, goes to step around and swings her own gunblade in an upward cleave, before following in with a twirl slash.

Mantigora and Garen stalk and will find a few stepping up explosives among the mist, right up against some crates. However both will have to becareful as they hear a stomp of a mechanic foot, before a whirling sound. Soon a Cermet drill fires out for them both--- someone has tampered with the Vanguards!

Thankfully the crazy alien gerbil's own firepower takes down a Vanguard, but another of the Vanguard's turns toward him and the missile bay opens up and launches several missiles in his direction!

Soundwave twists the Dragon Knights arm successfully however, only for the Dragon Knight to laugh a bit, until the knife blade drives in and the Dragon Knight falls, his armor actually /exploding/ in a blue fireball. Thankfully Soundwave moved away, but that was something to note of!

Also thank you captian Obvious Cory as she shouts out and soon finds a Dragon Knight willing to greet her obviousness with a dark laugh, "Right are miss! Now say Good night!" Then starts to open fire on her with his Gunblade.

Those who know their tech may recognize the fact these gunblades were the same as the Garleans, only with slight modifications.

Dorian gets a chuckle from the Centurion as he tucks away the pack. "I was here back then, including when the attack happened... but you are right about that..." However this conversation quickly ended as all hell started to break lose. The Centurion quick to put out his own cigarette and toss on his helm as Dorian went to join the fray!

Dorain's chain lighting does its job, but as he will see-- Cermet is a horrible conductor and there is a flicker of blue around their armor as it seems to handle the magic. Oh curse that Magitek. Though a few are stunned, another at the end of the chain is not as he uses a crate to get up in the air and try to make a swipe for Dorian!

MEANWHILE....
Aries had gone missing, but Gaius quickly meets up with several of his own men, along with some of the Third to go into the back rooms. Mostly to dispatch the soldiers moving into their and including making note of a disturbing fact-- they were setting up explosives.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk looks to her Carbuncle, and nods. "Sic 'em." she says, causing the little golden creature to leap into the fray, latching onto the helmet of one of the Dragon Knights below, claws scrabbling at the cermet with Earth-hardened claws. Mihk herself draws Aether into her book, and looks down to a group of glowing shapes in the fog below. She makes a gesture, and the fog surrounding them turns from harmless obscuring smoke, into an all piercing choking Miasma. Their suits may protect them from it, but it'll eat away at the armour with the noxious acidic nature of the gas cloud.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Oh hey, Yari has company! There's a quick acknowledging tail-thump to Soundwave's boots, before she's back to yelling orders.

"Watch your fire lanes! Get some eyes on the sky, too! Archers, gunners, covering fire! Melee, get into a phalanx! Push them back, and don't get caught alone!"

Amidst the chaos, a blue wave goes for Yari and her men! A majority of them manage to duck behind cover in time, but one or two get hit and go down with heavy thuds! Though wounded, they seem alive. Yari acts in an instant, flashing hand seals before the veins in her eyes go red, and she moves. Rolling out from cover, she slides underneath the wave of energy, tilting her head back. Her helmet gets cut, ruined, but she manages to slide down enough to only have a light wound on her neck! It bleeds, but no arteries.

Then she dashes into the frey, body low! Gripping her sword, she spins, drawing her blade and spinning about into a whirlwind of gunscabbard-powered armor-cleaving death. KABLAM! Meanwhile, some of her own medics get the wounded dragged back towards Mihk and other healers.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The Dragon Knight responds with mid-air agility, making Ryu quickly try to correct his footing in response. The magitek soldier soon lands, and the white dragon watches the blade move, and swerves out of the way of it, narrowly avoiding being maimed by the blade, which nicks his scales and dribbles blood down his form. He hisses in surprise, like a sizzling furnace, and whirls about on the Dragon Knight viciously. This time, though, he plants his feet, and flicks his eyes to search for, perhaps, a power line in his armor or something of that kind.

    When he twists his body, the stones beneath him might buckle and crack. But instead of punching the Dragon Knight, he straightens his hand and tries to drive very sharp dragon claws through the armor. It doesn't stop there, pulsing light magic through the armor's Ceruleum lines, if he finds his target. And once he's done that, he hops back, anticipating an explosion.

    "I don't have time for you," he growls at the Dragon Knight unhappily.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen carefully cracks his neck as he spies the soldiers setting up the explosives. The drill was a surprise, but he was glad for Skuzzler in that moment. He carefully stalks his way up to the closest soldier and aims to jam that sword straight through a soft spot in the armor, and into the man's spine with goals to sever it. The next closest one would find a chiss boot flying for his face.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is now moving after the knights she wsee she's got a few of them down. She does however see the blade coming in for her and now she's got an actual dance partner her own cltuass is drawn with lightinf speed as she moves to deflect the first slash and twist out of the way of hte next one.

"Ah so someone of actually skill was in that formation? Very well, let's see how long you last against a child of the first flood!?!"

She'll attempt ot rapdily counter attack with a series of slashes of her own.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "--HYEEEEKGH?!" Cory whirls about, startled that someone managed to sneak up on her so easily!

    "Yakgh--" The stream of nonsensible startled yelling continues once she realizes bullets are coming her way! Black eyes go wide and muscles fire on pure reflex. Both her hands become a blur, zipping left and right and zig-zagging about for each shot. It becomes quite apparent that she is in fact SNAGGING THE BULLETS from the air before they hit her...

    But not without cost. "Gah--" Both her hands are getting bloodied quickly, and eventually the bullets sting too hard for her to keep up. She topples backwards and takes a shot to the shoulder that leaves her GROWLING.

    "you're SO paying for that one!"

    One breath, two breath, and.. with a thunderous *CRACK* Ki bursts around her with a brilliant white light, thick and fiery. It's harmless though - merely the excess leakage of the power she's gathering in her body and focusing for... "HROOOAH!!!"

    She doesn't even bother getting up. Instead she slams a bloodied hand to the ground and SPRINGS up feet-first, aiming a heel for the Dragon Knight's chin with enough force to topple a train engine!

    Should that succeed in sending him skyward she follows up by moving faster than the eye can see, appearing BEHIND the rising warrior and SLAMMING an elbow for his back!

    ... with enough force to knock him back into the courtyard...

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
Dorian is not the kind of Black Mage that the Dragon knights might be expecting. Instead of running away from the airborne soldier, or falling to the strike immediately, he brings his staff up to parry. That might have been a bad move though. He hadn't been counting on the soldier's strike to be so strong, and the impact pushes Dorian to the ground with a grunt. He's prone ... perfect time to strike!

Except the mage is ... suddenly not there anymore. Blue streaks of magic seem to push him up and out of the way in time to be missed by whatever attack the Dragon Knight had intended to finish him off with.

Now standing and out of the way, Dorian thrusts a hand forward at the area the Dragon Knight stands in. A massive fireball explodes from the ground of the general area the Dragon Knight stands in. They may not register pain, but that's a lot of fire, and a lot of force from the explosion!

Mantigora (583) has posed:
It's only a combination of superior senses and highly augmented reflexes that Mantigora is able to notice the drill being fired and diving out of the way. She rolls with the maneuver and comes up on one knee, just in time to see Skuzzler's artillery fire disable one of the Vanguards. Still she frowns. Last thing they need to be fighting is on two fronts, against their own supposed assets. With a growl she extends her armblades and runs towards the remaining warmachines, even as one turns and fires missiles at Skuzzler's perch.

"Huh. Idiots actually know sabotage. Maybe slightly -less- idiots." Observation aside, there's an explosion against the ramparts from the missiles, and a Chua flying backwards in smoking armor. Fortunately he gets up and shakes himself off.

The ArtilleryBot is not so lucky, clattering to the courtyard in a sparking heap.

Skuzzler stomps back up to the rampart, pulling out his oversized Launcher cannon as he spots his partner on the move. "HEY, STUPID ROBOT THINGS!" The engineer fires a couple of Mortar rounds at the Vanguards to get their attention. "UP HERE, INFERIOR TECHNOLOGY SLAVES!" He sure has a loud voice for someone so small.

But other than firing off mortar rounds he's mostly a distraction, as Mantigora darts around behind the Vanguards and aims her blades for the knee joint of one of it's legs. Both to cripple it and maybe make it fall over on the others.

Trying to disable them from the fight without completely destroying them. Repair later, sure. But it'd be bad form to completely ruin ally assets just because they were turned against you.

Soundwave (552) has posed:
The Centurion chuckles at Yari's tail-thump to his boot and taps his helm in return acknowledgement, his form flickering like static just for a moment. It seems Soundwave is putting his new Holomatter Avatar through its paces today!

As radio transmissions bounce back and forth, the Dravanians don't wait for them to get their acts together. The blue wave washes over their cover, knocking down a few of Yari's men, and a low unpleasant rumble emits from the Centurion. "-Initializing Stage Two.-" He pulls a microcassette tape recorder out of a pouch on his hip and tosses it high over his cover like a grenade, his Centurion form disintegrating in a wave of static.

The Earthen device suddenly explodes in size and shape, reforming into Soundwave's 30-foot-tall robotic form as he lands at a crouch on the ground with an earth-shaking KABOOM. His rifle appears in one hand as his shoulder-turret spools up, firing a wave of missiles into the encroaching Dravanians!

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw continue to fly above, focusing their laser fire to target the usual weak-points of the Dravanian's armor -- joints, lights, possible fuel lines, seams, anything that could possibly work. Ravage, however, recloaks and bounds after Garen and Mantigora to assist them, ambushing any Dravanian that gets in his way!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Yari comes rushing in at her attack and his lance quickly blocks the spin, but the gunshot nails him in the shoulder. He stumbles back a step, but quickly swings in with the lance, before turning around and leaving a wrist bolt of plasma at her. "How does it feel to serve an outdated, Legatus? You could always join us, Au Ra... instead of wasting your talents with him or that to be dead Empire!"

Ryu is successful in his attempts, but even as the armor starts to burn blue, that man actually charges at him with a roar, just as his armor explodes, pieces of it may go flying by Ryu. He also may spot something in the distance a flicker of light: Aries... but just as the old man is seen, he is gone again.

It was up on one of the higher levels and there was several catwalks that went there, along with a few building roof tops, but also several of the former Seventh Legion could be seen starting to break down doors and trying to take over control rooms along the way.

As Garen goes to stalk up one, the man quickly turns himself and blocks the attack, but the other does get a boot to the front of the helm which does make him stagger back. "Just who do you think you are blue boy?" The Dragon Knight asks before he goes to shove Garen back. "Because if you think we are some low life grunts-- you are /very/ wrong..."

Lyria strikes out and the woman moves with the flow of the strikes, a few parry moves as their blades impact with a clash of sparks, before one of Lyria's slashes cuts a part of the armor. "Hm." The woman says with some approval before she side steps the final strike and tries to go in for her own counter of a impale of the blade!

Cory's knuckle impact into the chin of the Knight, sending him into the air, before elbowing him with extreme power into the courtyard. If these were like the knights who attacks Ishgard-- this would be no problem, only she may see that knight turn over onto his back and start firing plasma fire up at her. As Gaius said--- they feel no pain. They were trained to ignore it--- and to ignore every ounce of human fear. Nael Van Darnus--- knew how to make monsters out of men....

Though the fact he wasn't getting right up was... perhaps a good thing.

The Dragon Knight follows up on their attack against Dorian, his blade slamming into the ground with enough force to crack the metal. Only to see a blue energy where the man was, "...Fu..." The words were not finished as he was impacted by a fire ball and thrown into one of the metal storage crates. Hard enough that the crate dents and he crashes to the ground.

That is when then blue liquid could be seen running out of the cylinder crate. Blue liquid heading for the remaining flames....

Soundwave transforming was not something they expected and by sheer size he knocked a few of them back, but they didn't stay down for long, opening fire with their plasma gauntlets. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw did claim a few and Ravage got a chance to pounce on the one who Garen knocked back to keep the man down!

Mantigora's counter attack the Vanguard's was successful, knocking the machines down. Thankfully an annoying distraction was an easy one to deal with.

MEANWHILE....
Gaius and his own are in a bit of a bind with the Seventh Legion there, however the Legatus reaches into a pouch and throws out two small 'tapes'. This causes a few of the Seventh Legion members to pause, even as they surround the Legatus and his men. "Some new toy, Legatus?" They sneered.

"I call it more of an insurance plan. Rumble--- Frenzy. If you will please."

Garen (530) has posed:
    "Could have fooled me." Garen replies. Even as he's shoved back, the clever agent was already plotting. He flipped his grip on his sword and went at the soldiers. He was pretty darn fast, striking from all angles and aiming that sword for all vital and weak spots.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Mhik's attack does eat at the armor, but she has to be careful as others of the two other Legions are in there as well! Though as the magic attacks, flickers of blue can be seen from the Magitek armor of the Dragon Knights.

Her carbuncle though does pounce on one and which holds on the Dragon Knight goes to swipe it away, with a bit of damage done to the armor.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
The flames from Dorian's spell would extinguish themselves... but not the flames from any continuing explosions. And when that liquid starts leaking out of the crate, Dorian's lip curls in distaste. he has no idea what it is. But rather than do nothing, he asks about it. "Quickly now. Blue liquid. What is it?"

The response gets a widening of his eyes. "Kaffas," he hisses. Quickly he brings his staff forward and thumps the end on the ground. The staff glows, and a sheet of ice begins to cover the liquid, trying to freeze it in place. Hopefully this will halt its approach to the flames. His mastery over ice spells isn't that great, but he knows this basic ability anyway.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora rolls a shoulder, then turns her attention back to the real fight now that the sabotaged Vanguards have been dealt with. Reptillian eyes narrow, and the Draken rushes back towards the ongoing fight. -Stay on the ramparts, Skuzzler. You've got the best vantage point for support.-

-Pfff. Fine.- Though really, he would rather not get down in the middle of the mass fracas anyways. Perfectly fine, being support, seeing as he already got to blow up something. Instead Skuzzler pulls one of the canisters off his BANDOLIER OF SCIENCE (seriously, this is a thing), and shoves it into the breech of his launcher. "No fear or pain, huh? Just mean I do -this-." He levels the weapon at a group of Draconovins and fires. The Bio Shell explodes just before impact, spraying any of the enemies that don't get out of the way.

If they don't register pain or fear, they may not notice the biohazardous discharge's ability to eat away at their armor and bodies, either.

Mantigora leaps into the fray not far from Yari, aiming to land on the back of one of the men harassing her fellow warrior and sink her blades through the shoulders of his armor. Grins toothilly at Yari. "Nice of horn-sister to save some for me yet."

Cory (768) has posed:
    "what the..." Cory's hands are bloody. This doesn't really bother her. The pain was startling, but the real surprise was that mere bullets COULD harm her at all. If that's so, then she can't take ANYTHING her opponent does at anything less than full seriousness. This is solidified when PLASMA comes boiling her way. There's not much time... but she clenches both fists at her side and gathers still more energy. The white aura churns and whirls, stoked even more fiercely... "KAIOKEN TIMES SEVEN!" ... and shifts to a thick crimson. Cory's barely-visible muscles bulge briefly as she extends a hand into the incoming blast and projects a thin shield. She's briefly engulfed, the Ki and plasma exploding into a wrathful blaze... but when the smoke clears she's still there, just horribly singed all over. The bleeding wounds have been scorched dry and half-cauterized... but she's still hovering in the air, just now... panting hard.

    Maintaining Kaioken's not the easiest thing in the world to do, after all!

    But she doesn't descend. Her opponent's not moving, which means either he can't, or is trying to lure her into a trap of assuming so.

    So she'll either finish this right now or call his bluff in one fell swoop.

    "yeah, you just stay right there..."

    Taking a stance in midair (oddly enough), she raises a hand high over her head. Golden Ki whirls up her arm and gathers over her palm, swiftly spinning, spreading, thinning, flattening... SHARPENING. All that spinning's accompanied by a shimmery hum-buzz noise that would send chills down the back of anyone familiar with this move.

    "DESTRUCTO DISK!"

    in a single smooth motion Cory hurls the disk downwards.

    If DODGED, it will undoubtedly burrow deep, deep into the ground before dispersing. If not, well...

    Ouch?

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
For her troubles in saving her men, Yari gets first a lance into the side as she leaves a gap open, followed by nearly getting her head blown off by a plasma blast! Her body flexes backwards into a dode roll, missing her by inches.

But then it's her horn-sister to the rescue! As blades sink in, Yari whips out her tommy gun and starts firing at the man! Covering fire! Aimed mostly at the legs. She's trying ti disable this one!

And then, she drops the gun in favor of a kunai! Fling! Aimed to pierce into that armor and into the shoulder with the poisoned kunai!

"Ah! Thank you for the save! Take him out, we need him alive!"

Meanwhile, her soldiers are still engaging the ex-garleans, and there's even melee breaking out so far.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is locked in a fairly interesting duel at this point but she's not about to give up here even as they trade bloes and she scores some hits, she sees a counter coming for her. There is no real time to think here, she need to act which she does she teists moving to try and deflect the other blade with her own. AS she makes contact she activates a stud on the guard of the blade causing it to rapidlyu vibrate in an attempt to damage or even cut through the other woman's blade!

Ryu (636) has posed:
    When the soldier explodes before Ryu, he frowns briefly at the sight of armor screaming past him in a blue inferno. He slides to a stop while he retreats, and then turns to track down another Dragon Knight while he's busy. But instead of just attacking, he would try to leap on the Knight's back with all of his draconic bulk to stagger him for a second, and then whip his arm up into the air--
    And drive it down into the neck plates of the armor, pulsing another flash of white energy from his hand. He has no intention of dragging out these fights any longer than he absolutely has to, and he fully intends to exploit the hell out of their very dangerous weakness.
    Ryu is a brutal war beast, it seems, carrying no outward remorse for these soldiers while he earnestly tries to kill them. It helps that they would just be his enemies either way.

Soundwave (552) has posed:
"Youse got it, sir."

The two tapes transform, growing in size to the 10-foot tall humanoid frames of Rumble and Frenzy, creating a metal wall between Gaius and the 7th Legion. Frenzy draws both of his guns and opens fire, while Rumble's arms further transform into massive piledrivers that are swung like hydraulic-powered punches at the enemy.

Meanwhile, Soundwave lifts his arms to block his face and chest, the Dravanian firepower pinging and ricocheting off of the Cybertronian metal. Though there is superficial damage in their wake, scorches and potmarks for the most part, it seems to be more of an annoyance to him than anything. He can't use sonics -- could affect allied forces as much as the enemy -- so he'll have to settle matters with more finesse.

He remains crouched, somewhat cowed to protect vital components, but his rifle shifts to train on the group firing on him. He fires, laser blasts lancing towards the same general areas of the armor where Laserbeak and Buzzsaw have been having some success targeting on their continued strafing runs. He's trying to take them out with as few shots as possible.

Ravage snarls as he rakes his claws into the enemy he'd flattened to the ground, as if trying to tear the armor off of him. "I smell explosives in the area." The radio confirms it, and he lunges to pounce the enemies still pestering Garen, hoping to pull their aggro away from the Chiss.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Garen goes for weak point strikes, the Dragon Knight he faces is quick to block the strikes, but one does at last claiming in the side between the plate armors. The Knight flinches a bit, before he reaches to take hold of Garen's neck. The armor already starting to glow with blue lines of light as it starts to crack. "Come join me in hell... Blue boy..."

If Garen doesn't act quick--- he may be caught in the Ceruleum explosion!

Thankfully Dorian's quick attention and question puts the Ceruleum at bay as it is held off from the flames. However while his attention is turned to it, a Dragon Knight comes up on him and gets ready to strike, only to be blocked and impales by the Centurion he was talking to other.

Dorian may he a loud 'KABANG' as a gun shot is fired behind him, which is the Centurion using the Gunblade to blast the Dragon Knight away so he explodes against a building. The Centurion then turns to look at Dorian, "You ok?"

Mantigora leaps in and strikes her blades down on the armor. It is resistant, and they don't bite down deep-- but it is enough and her weight on top of it to cause the man to stagger, until he activates a deal. Mantigora may notice a bit of blue flames around him. "DIE!" The man roars and if she does get off--- she too may find Ceruleum is nasty stuff when it goes boom! Seems like Yari may have deployed that Kunai a bit to late...

Cory launches her disk and it cuts right into the man, it isn't long till there is a massive blue explosion where he was and it throws a few Garleans off their feet who were trying to get out of the way, but at least that is another one down.

The Fur-ball of a friend of Mantigora's launches his biohazard weapon and several Garleans scatter, a few of the former Seventh Legion get caught in it and as they start to break down the ceruleum explodes creating a massive blue fire ball that roars up into the sky.

However some may start to notice that a few of the Seventh Legion were starting to fall back. Soundwave may pick it up on the comm that all explosives have been planted. How many--- that is hard to say...

Lyria blade slams into the other woman's, which starts to vibrate, the Woman roars out shoving against as the blade shatters, but with a flip, twirl, and a back flip. She pulls away from Lyria. "Nice fight. So long!" She does a mock two finger salute, before teleporting up to the wall and then seeming to /jump/ over it.

Though Lyria will have to deal with another one coming right at her! That was-- has no markings on him at all...

Ryu manages to do the same as before, knocking them aside as they explode under his power. These fall far more easily, as they too are not tagged. Seems not all here are of the Seventh Legion. Though Mhik will find one of the combat medics being knocked right over here as a draconic armored figure has made his way up there. "Hi there." There is a sick twistedness to his words.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
More men are taken down, more explosions, and several seeming to fall back. Even the ones Rumble and Frenzy go to deal with quickly are knocked aside and others just move. There is a beep however--- several beeps heard around the base. Explosives have been charged remotely...

Gaius can only look at the ones he is near and nod his head to one of his men to get to work on disabling it. "They were all a distraction." He admits with some disdain in his voice. "Cowards. The lot of them all."

"Rumble, Frenzy. Thank you for you assistance-- Now I ask you another." The Garleans words grow more serious. "Find Aries Van Polus."

ELSEWHERE...
Clash of a lance strikes a the staff of a dual hammer, before the white armored, gray Legatus steps around and disconnecting the the staff obtaining two war hammers. Aries smacks the lance aside with a heavy shockwave that clashes in the air like lightning before the other goes to slam down with another shockwave that fills the sky.

The rubble of the ground exploding at where the two fight on a high ledge.

"Young man, you have learned little." Aries says with a cold rumble to his voice. "You fight with no control and you think you are wise to a battlefield you no longer understand."

The leader of the Knights thus far, flips over a strike that swings out for him before he lands down in a three prong crouch. "Is that you assessment, Van Polus? I could make one of you as well-- because I already know the outcome of this battle... and this war... The prophet has told us... our Lord will be victorious!"

The Knight races back in, and swing up to parry one of the hammers, before doing a swift kick to knock Aries against the guard rail and then follows in with a jump to slam the lance into the armor's shoulder digging it in till Aries yelps in pain. He then reaches up with the claw armored hand and yanks Aries helm off. To look at the old man in the eyes, as he pulls off his own.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
His dark hair blowing in the cold wing and his purple eyes staring down the man. "It is just a shame you have out lived your time..." Then throws Aries to the side with a roar, knocking the Legatus into a wall and then following it up with a hard kick to the head.

Aries is flung and kicked aside, his own weapons clashing to the ground as he leans on the railing, coughing out blood, before he chuckles. "...Foolish notions, lad... none can control their destiny and fate..."

"So you believe in gods then, old man?" The former Tribune asks as he walks toward Aries.

Aries pushes himself up, looking at Atilus, "...Once... once upon a time and I learned, man is foolish to believe they can contain that power. If nothing else that is what history taught me about the Allagan Empire... and something... something Nael Darnus will learn... that he is no god... nor is his master."

Atilius sneers before he runs right up and takes Aries by the throat, lifting up the old man, "SHUT UP! You know NOTHING of Nael! Of the Dravanians or Lord Bahamut!"

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen's grabbed up by the soon to be exploding soldier, but this was no mere soldier. This was an imperial agent, and he wasn't going to go down here. So, utilizing both the skills he was trained in by the Sith Empire and the aid of the House of El's acrobatic style, he grapples onto the arm. "Sorry, but I'm in no mood to go to hell just yet." He taunts. He sends a solid straight kick for the soldiers nose with intent to break it, and then he moves to snap the arm at the elbow. As if that weren't enough, he then aimed to use a mix of leverage and strength to further dislocate the elbow and break the grip...or pull the arm clear out, whichever came first. From there, he moved to escape the blast zone.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The dragon leaps away from the next fallen soldier. Ryu's eyes narrow as he lands at a slide, falling onto all fours and rumbling at the raw feeling of his hands and feet when he does this. He turns his head when he overhears the slam of weapons together, and knows, instinctually, what kind of battle that would have to be. He turns his head while it happens.

    He turns and begins moving quickly. His body glows with bright and powerful energy that glimmers throughout his scales. When he leaps, he launches off of a wall and toward the ledge where Atilus and Aries have engaged in battle. While he flies through the air, sensing the distraction of the enraged soldier holding Aries up like that, he concentrates his energy into forming a solid sword made of light, about the size of a man. The projection isn't very solid, but it's bound to be supernaturally sharp.

    And he swings in a massive overhead, aiming for Atilus' elbow in a surprise strike. After that, he tries to soldier-bump Aries away from the angered man and turns upon Atilus, preparing for the counter attack, if there's one to be had.

    "Only fools worship destruction," he rumbles at Atilus, having overheard his outburst on the way there.

    "Whelp."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is already calling for a medic as the man explodes, leaping back to avoid being caught in it herself. The mooks are retreating! Ordering her troops to mop up, and hearing Gaius' orders, she uses all of her ninja speed to catch up to one that's relatively away from the others! She'll attempt to stuff a flashbang in his armor in a reverse pickpocket before activating her helmet's filters! Then?

It's time to use ninja-chains to start binding up the man while he's alive if she can manage it!

Meanwhile, she starts calling for bomb techs, hunting around for explosives herself as her men pour bullets and arrows into the retreating soldiers. Leaping about like a proper ninja, Yari uses her armlet to try to detect the presence of explosives near the Courtyard and walls, her engineers scrambling as the other soldiers cover them!

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Now Mantigora could easily get away from such an explosion with her augmented reflexes. But that would leave the man to explode so close to Yari and her own forces.

Nope. Not gonna happen.

Mantigora drops off his back, but keeps her blades dug into his armor to drag him with her as she turns away from Yari's squad, despite the weight of his armor. Draken were naturally strong due to Mikros' high gravity, and Mantigora's was augmented beyond that to boot with her nanotech bioware. Then she leans over his shoulder, making sure he can see her sharp toothed grin. "Worse things than you have tried to kill me. You can go warm Isigrol's doorstep for your master. Alone." She plants a boot to his backside to push him off her blades, just as his powered armor detonates.

The explosion hurtle Mantigora across the courtyard and crashing into a stack of crates. But she soaked the explosion knowing Yari and her men might not be so lucky. The medic would find her lying in the heap of broken crates, scorched but alive. Her personal shielding and armored coat took most of the explosion for her. Not that it was any less of a doozy. "*cough* remind me not to do that.. too often."

Meanwhile, Skuzzler jumps down from his perch to help with the bomb issue, his ScanBot already going into search mode. A few taps to his arm controller and a differe Bot materializes next to him, this one looking like someone strapped an anti-grav and a pair of clamp arms to a TV set. The Diminsher Bot can use it's power syphons to drain the energy out of any explosives found, rendering them inert.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is dealing with whoimever htis woman was they manage to disenage and flee. She watches the mocking foe flee and now turns her attnetion to the sounds of movment she picked up over the chaos of the battle. She now turns to face her new foe and moves to stomp on the ground attempting to cause a platform of rock to rise up under her foe's feet and send him flying. She's got to wonder though about the other person? Just who was that?

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Soundwave ceases firing as the 7th Legion breaks ranks as if to retreat. He keeps picking up radio transmissions not of allied origin, talking about the last of explosives being set. This confirms itself by a ping of an arming signal crossing his sensors. "-I have picked up an arming signal, possibly to the explosives. I can attempt to jam signals for remote detonation, but there are no guarantees.-"

Upon receiving orders to proceed, he presses a button on his arm and locks down all frequencies not used by allied forces while monitoring the rest. He also starts isolating the signal from this 'Atilus', hopefully to jam him outright. With luck, that should prevent a remote detonation until the bomb issue has been dealt with.

The shockwaves catch Soundwave's attention and his chin lifts. "-Possible sighting of Legatus Polus.-" He transmits coordinates of the shockwave's origin over the broadband. "-Assistance possibly required.-"

The two humanoid Cassetticons nod once to Gaius. "Yessir!" They reply in unison, taking the shortest route back outdoors. As soon as they reach sunlight, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw swoop in and grab their shoulders with their talons, lifting them into the sky straight towards where Soundwave's ping had indicated. While Ryu attacks directly, the Cassetticons lay down covering fire on their way in.

Ravage, meanwhile, is running around putting ping-tags on any explosives he sniffs out. This should make it easier for those able to fully disarm the bombs to find them in the first place. Skuzzler's help is proving invaluable in this process.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk narrows her eyes as that Dragon Knight comes up the stairs. She adjusts her glasses, and flicks to a new page in her tome. "Greetings." she replies lowly, sending out a magical pulse to get her Carbuncle to return. It's a ways off, but using some sick parkour skills, gets back onto the wall top with minimal effort, scampering along the topside.

    "My name is Mihk Lihzeh. Though that is not something you should commit to memory, as you /will/ die here." she adds, as if disinterested in the fact he just murdered likely dozens of people to get up to her. The page of her tome glows, as does a circle of ground underneath the Knight, before it explodes violently in a burst of ice crystals, trying to encase him in them.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
The firing of the gunblade causes Dorian to wince. Apparently he hadn't noticed the Dragon Knight behind him! When the Dragon Knight is blasted away and explodes against a building far enough away from him, he looks to the Centurion who'd dealt with it. "Thank you. I didn't see that one, and I was more worried about this not exploding and killing everyone." There's no venom in his voice, only gratitude. The question is answered with a nod. "For the time being yes, thanks to you."

Suddenly the enemies seem to be falling back? "That's never a good sign," he says, a worried edge to his voice. Looking to the Centurion. "Well if they're falling back, that gives time to find as many of the explosives as possible..." Just as these words leave him the shockwaves occurs. Dorian steadies himself with the staff he carries, and curses. "What the...?"

Notification comes of a possible location for an ally that's in danger, and Dorian curses. Looking to the Centurion, Dorian states, "I fear I'm not familiar enough with your technology to be of much assistance in dealing with the explosives. This is something that should probably be left to those who do. I'll see if I can't help your Legatus with his ... personal issues." Yes, he'd heard the conversation on the radio between Aries and the unknown man. To note, the word 'Legatus' rolls easily off Dorian's tongue, as if he was accustomed to speaking a language with similar sounds.

Sticking around long enough to give a nod to the Centurion who'd watched his back - and to hear any parting words he may have - Dorian then makes for the location of that shockwave. Though the note of someone being attacked gets a pause, and he looks in that direction. And once again, he curses. He's not going to leave an ally in danger, even if the allegiance is temporary. He's better than that. So he heads in her direction. As soon as he sees the Dragon Knight near where the medic is, he aims his staff in the direction of the Dragon Knight. A comet-like blast streaks past, not seeming to any actual damage ... but as it passes the attacking Dravanian, it will seek to set the armored Knight on fire!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Atilus continues to crush at Aries neck, those clawed fingers digging into the flesh. "You no... NOTHING.. about this war..." However the enjoyment of completely snuffing out Aries life is interrupted by Ryu who's strike hits true.

This forcefully releases the hold on Aries, which Ryu knocks aside and gets between them. Atilus laughs a little about then, as no counter is to be had. "Eh-hehe... You are so blind... blind like the Ishgardians... Blind like the Eorzeans... and even the Garleans. All tied up in their little war... in their little child like innocents of /what/ has happened... what /is/ happening."

His eyes go past Ryu to Aries down form, watching the old man try to get back up, leaning on the rail to do so. Before his eyes go back to Ryu. "But the seeds were sown... and we now have to play /clean/ up... or everything... EVERYTHING... will be for not."

However the former Tribune suddenly gets fired at from above and quickly back flips away, before using his boot to kick up one of the hammers. He has not forgotten his mission....

Turning his back to Ryu, ignoring the shots hammering down into his arm, he flips he hammer up and kicks it right toward Aries. The hammer slams into the rail next wave, causing a massive explosion of air on impact with blows out the Rail guard and knocks Aries away from and over the edge...

ELSEWHERE...
Others get on the move with the bombs disabling them and jamming them. So that should be less of a concern. Yari is able to blind one of the Dragon Knights who screams in pain about their eyes. She may be able to capture that one!

Mihk activates her spell and the circle glows under the form Seventh Legion, "Tsk. Eorzeans and your magics." He then jumps back as the spell activates, the frozen ice gleaming over his armor as the chest part freezes up. "I remember killing many of you on the Flats."

He then runs toward her, kicking the wall and then up the next to get to her. "Now come here and play dead kitty!"

Then he gets blasted back by a fireball and slides across the ground a bit with a grunt. "... augh.. I hate...magic..."

The Centurion with Dorian breaks away, giving his own best of luck. When the grunt is blinded, he takes a hold of his arms and actually slams him to the ground, before taking a steel cable and using it to bind his wrists behind him.

His gaze turns to Yari. "Go. Help the Legatus! I got this ruffian from here."

Cory (768) has posed:
    KABOOOOOOOOOM! Cory's not too pleased with the way others got caught up in that, but oh well, it's time to hurry!

    "Hope Ryu's happy with the help!" Unfortunately she's not smart enough to make much sense out of the battle below.

    But... she's smart enough to find someone is.

    Down through the air she goes, landing next to Ryu with both fists clenched at her sides and legs spread in a horse stance... then claps both hands together. "Go to hell! We don't have time for this!"

    power sizzles and crackles in her palms, then flares outwards as a thick beam aimed for the gut of the man assaulting Aries!

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk grits her teeth as her spell misses. She braces for the strike... but it never comes as Dorian lends some timely aid. She nods to him, then turns on the downed Knight. Instead of using her Tome to use more Magic... she unhooks and deploys the Hunting Horn strapped to her back. With a careful flick, she brings it up and over her shoulder... aiming to slam the heavy chunk of Wyvernian Monster down on the Knight's head.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen looks over and helps to disarm as quickly as he could. Once sure that things were settled, he looked back. "Ravage, take care of this please. I've got a sinking feeling..." He says. From there, he takes off towards any method to get up to a viewing point to access the situation.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
And while no one is looking Skuzzler shoves one of the deactivated bombs into his inventory for later study. Learn about the enemy by learning about their technology and weapons. And then turning it against them. This is how Chua handle war. There's a certain amount of karmatic joy in blowing someone up with a device that was originally their own design.

Mantigora is back on her feet thanks to Yari's medic, but she's not in good enough shape to aid in matters right now.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu leers at the man called Atilus, and tells him, "Thanks for informing us of your vague plans, you holier-than-thou psycho," evidently not terribly open to the argument this former Garlean seems to have toward him. "Because I don't think killing people and dragging the Dravanians into the war is justified, no matter how you slice it. Your leader is controlling them, and you, and none of you will actually say what you want... and if what you want requires this bloodshed... I will see you burn, and no one will mourn you." His head turns and he quickly speaks into the radio to make sure people know to catch Aries--

    "And the people you tried to destroy will keep living." Like Aries.

    When Cory lands beside him and takes a shot at Atilus, he takes advantage of the blast. He ducks onto all fours, and sprints toward Atilus in the attack's shadow, so that when Atilus tries to defend against the blast, Ryu is already moving toward him like a hungry beast, complete with claws. Just like their encounter from before, he tries to land on Atilus in a pounce...

    And his claws light up with white-colored magic auras, just before he tries to brutally destroy Atilus with several dangerous draconic claw swipes.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari tosses a quick salute! "On it!"

Meanwhile, Yari's remaining combat medic heads up to Mantigora! He'll start applying bandages, and a copious amount of potions and other fun chemicals.

"Thank you, Ma'am! You saved the Centurion!"

There's no way, even with her ninja speed, she could get to the falling Legatus in time! Thankfully, Yari's ever the curious lizard, and she's left a motorbike in the Castrum, originally intended for the engineers to study! Leaping atop it, she peels out, pushing the vehicle to its absolutel limit as she speeds for the tower!

Thank goodness that's one long ass fall. Handseals, and spitting up blood as her magic pushes her body to the breaking point, she nears the tower! Standing atop the handlebars, hair flapping in the wind as the castrum streaks by, she leaps high into the air. Super-Au-Ran reflexes have her running in a blurr up the tower as she's launched from her motorized perch, the bike crashing and shattering from the ludicrous speeds! Whipping around a grappling hook from her things, it catches the edge of part of the tower before she goes for Aries! Holding the rope in her and tail, she tries to bodily catch the man!

There's only one problem, and she realizes it belatedly. Yari is light and tiny. Aries is decidedly /not/!

She immediately radios for soundwave as she attempts to catch ARies mid air, and swing them both towards the tower, feet out to put bracing spurrs in an attempt to slow them down!

In the back of her mind, she debates telling Aries about the virtues of traditional Doman meals if they survive this. a

Soundwave (552) has posed:
Soundwave surges to his feet and /runs/ towards the outcropping where those moving to assist Legatus Polus have begun to gather. Long strides plus bigger scale means he can cover ground very quickly, and Yari's call only speeds his movements. He lifts his hands out to catch Aries and Yari both.

At the same time, he finds Atilus' particular blip on the allied channel and locks his radio down completely. There may even be physical damage to Atilus' radio from feedback and/or surging.

Meanwhile, Rumble and Frenzy drop onto the outcropping itself, flanking Atilus on each side while the two avian Decepticons peel away. "Dat's 'nuff outta ya," Frenzy sneers.

"See, we might'a held our fire a bit longer while th' Legatus was here." Rumble just grins. "Now he ain't." Neither Cassetticon wait for a reply as they resume firing, hemming him in while Ryu charges close.

Ravage nods to Garen and continues his work, gathering disarmed bombs.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
The expression on Dorian's face is absolutely murderous. To the Dragon Knight's words, he hisses, "Then please, allow me to end you in the more PHYSICAL manner you seem to prefer ... !" Mihk is too close to the Dragon Knight anyway - he runs the risk of harming her as well if he uses any magic with her that close.

So, following her example he raises the serpent-headed staff up and swings at the Dragon Knight. If Mihk's strike doesn't finish off the Dragon Knight, a several hard strikes to the chest with that staff should do the trick. Dorian may be of noble blood, but he is not above curbstomping an enemy! He's also stronger than one might associate with someone who relies so much on magic - he's no Champion, but he's definitely not a 'squishy Mage', either

"Careful," he'll caution. "They react to defeat ... explosively. I mean that literally."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is now wondering just what else is going on in the fight but she's got to focus delaing ith the hostile soldier she's got in her face. Well more correctly they been sent for a little flight and are out cold from the impact of such. She now is able to focus on the larger actions baout he now that she's managed to deal with things here.

She's now going ot be hunting for tragets of oppertiuny to cause as much havoc for the enemy as she can, while she's got hte chance and Remora's going to be there to back her up as well.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Dragon Knight Mihk and Dorian together ends and explodes as so many have done before, at least that was that! Explosives were now officially no longer a problem and that just left Aries and the former Tribune.

As everyone laid into the fire, Atilus raises up his hand and creates a Magitek protect shield. The blasts start to crack it but it has him distracted. That is until Ryu is right on top of him and pounces him down. The claws tear into him and Ryu bites down, the man can't get the dragon off of him.

This looked like to be the very end of Atilus at the hands of Ryu long last with only the chocked words of the Tribune yelling out, "LORD DARNUS!!" No one-- would save him...

Aries was caught by Yari, who was caught by Soundwave. The only remark Aries had to say in his half conscious, bloodied state with was a faint jokester grin, "...well... I never thought I'd be saved by such a beautiful lady in the fashion such as this." His eyes closed faintly. "...your mother would be proud..."

Soon the battle came to an end and all seem right. The Castrum was saved and while Aries was not in good shape, his life was spared....

IN THE SHADOWS ELSEWHERE...
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk3HC-mUfRg

The Centurion who took the man walks him through the pipe before he cuts the cable lose and allows him to run. "Tsk. Just when I was getting used to the job."

Another armored figure can be seen leaning on the pipe. Garlean armor, with gunblade at his hip, but the colors hidden by the shadows of the old tunnel ways. "Matters little. Things are still going according to plan."

"What does Deus Darnus want us to do next, my lord?"

"Wait... wait and slowly build up. We need aether, lots of it... and we now have an idea where to strike thanks to more knowledge on the Multiverse from both our allies of the Confederacy and from our spies elsewhere."

"You know I will not show my face again... and my family..."

"I will keep them safe. After all, that is my job." The armored man ceases the lean against the wall. "And in my power."

"Must be nice to be in your position. To see over all of Garlemald."

"Hmph. I do not like being under that Emperor's nose, but it does allow me room to do what needs to be done."

The Centurion tilts his head. "...what of the lookings into of the failed assassination on Van Baelsar's life? Have they come to know who yet?"

The armored man looks over his shoulder, "They have one looking. The Viper is getting warm, that I know-- I'll deal with her... in time." Then walks on and so does the other as they go their separate ways.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
"Suicidal explosion is no way for a proper warrior to go out," Mantigora replies to the medic. "When your commander's time comes, it will be in a proper glorious battle pathing the way with the bodies fellen before her." Trust me, this is a high level of compliment in Draken style. She just rolls her eyes at Skuzzler, but says nothing. He deserves something for being of actual help. It encourages him to be useful more often.

The medic would find bandaging is all that is really needed to make sure she doesn't aggrivate any wounds or dislodge anything. Otherwise her nanotech will eventually patch her back up from the inside.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
There's a fall, and sudden stop into the hand of a 30-foot tall robot. WHUMP! It's far better than the ground, but Yari does get a bit squished by falling Legatus. /Definitely/ Doman cooking time.

After managing to squeeze out from under him like an oiled eel, she's already working at getting his armor off. A glance to Soundwave.

"Good catch. Well done!"

Then she's blushing. "I...I am not that special! M...my scales are dull and thin compared to Mo....ahem, the Legatus'." Then she realizes he's joking. Yari actually /pouts/ a moment, only for her hero to speak again.

Her heart swells with pride even as she starts giving first aide, doing her best and ruining part of her uniform to staunch some bleeding. Once they're on the ground, the woman's full on keeping the older man's legs up in case of shock as she awaits Mihk.

"Save your strength. Rest." She says, though then he clonks out.

It's up to Mihk now!

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk glances to Dorian, "Explo---" She's caught by the edge of the explosion, and sent sprawling backwards with a /lovely/ shrapnel gash on her leg. She grunts a little, and channels Aether into a healing spell to staunch the bleeding, then rummages in her pouches for a healing potion, quaffing it and allowing a moment for the treatments to work.

    The wound heals quickly, and she starts off limping towards Aeris' position. She reacts to the call, and by the time she's half way there, her Carbuncle has finally returned to her side... carrying the empty helmet of a Dragon Knight like a proud dog returning a stick, and she is no longer limping, instead breaking into a jog to get to where she's needed sooner.

    On arriving, she assesses the wounded, and looks to Soundwave. She indicates to Yari, then sets a small bottle of red liquid down nearby, wordlessly making a 'drink' motion before tending to Aries. "Hey. Stay awake for me, come on. Tell me your name... and tell me a story." she says, trying to find a release for his armour, so she can cast her magic without the wards to block her out.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
Dorian had seen the glow of the suit and broke off the attack when it registered. He doesn't have time to cast a barrier, but he tries anyway ... and the explosion happens! The magic flows out, but not far enough to do much more than protect himself from the explosion's life-threatening capabilities.

It does not, however, keep him from being thrown back a distance, and the impact with the ground is rather painful. And quite surprising. Hopefully Mihk has her own ways of mitigating damage. It's going to take him a minute to collect himself, so he may not notice Yari for a moment.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari takes the offered potion with a wordless nod, devouring it. It noticably helps her own wounds, before she's over to the Legatus again. She'll help Mihk get the armor off, finding a few catches. She's busy in her work, trying to not get in the miqo'te's way while getting that heavy armor off, not yet noticing Dorian nearby.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Yari blushes and that makes Aries grin a bit, yeah. He was an old man, but he still /was/ a man. Seeing any woman blush was worth it. Yari gets his armor off for Mihk to do what she needs to do and it was easy to tell that though he was seventy, he was still pretty fit, tall-- but fit. His face also didn't have that many lines in it, as time had been good to him. On may mistaken him for youthful fifty year old really. Though his head was full of white hair and rough stubbles on his face.

The magic helps stop the bleeding, but like all Garleans Pureblood, they are empty wells to aether and take a great deal more to heal because of it. Magic having such little effect on them, while offensive seems to be far greater against them.

Mihk's own questions are faint in his ear, he does try to speak, but his words are faint whispers. Something about his name being and take care of Gaius.

It does help though, at least to the Garlean medics can get over and help get him lifted up to be carted to the medical ward on the Castrum, giving their deep thanks to Mihk and using a syringe of some kind to stabilize him a bit more for the haul.

It will be hard to say what his condition will be, but it is obvious...

...He wont be able to remain a Legatus.

That much Gaius can determine as he catches up in his brisk jog, to see him hauled by. The Legatus movements become slow, before his hand clenches tightly. The armor creaking under the sheer amount of force, but his voice hides his seething anger. "You have all done well."

"The Garlean Empire gives you thanks." He then turns to look at the group. His gaze goes to Mihk. "...and thank you as well, Lihzeh. I will owe you this debt in time." Then he looks to Yari. "Centurion. Gather the our other Centurions on site and do a sweep of the area. Make sure we have no hang abouts."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari lets out all the stress, the fatigue of combat in a breath. Her heart hammers in her chest after the rescue. Despite her body screaming for a bed, she pauses, considering the request of the man currently rather out. She coughs.

"At once!" Then she's on the radio. Several of her men are soon guarding Mihk and the downed Legatus.

She addresses them. "Anyone who isn't a medic that's been triple-checked or the Lord-Legatus gets close to Lord Aries, shoot them. I'll take responsibility if necessary."

Then she's off to sweep the place, already barking orders and tapping on her armlet.