2530/Birdcage Assault

Birdcage Assault
Date of Scene:	26 June 2015
Location:	Brockton Bay
Synopsis:	Tesla coordinates a strike against the Birdcage.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, 22, 368, 522, 554, 569, 707, 750, 768, 799, 812

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Defiant (554) has posed:
     It's a desert. A wide expanse of nothing worth noting. The midday sun beats down relentlessly, matching the intensity of the Confederate forces as they sweep past the initial responding capes. The ones who were fast enough to get there first. Usually, they'd be the heroes.

     Today, they're just the first to hit the dust - incapacitated or worse.

     Alongside the Confederate forces, there are a trio of individuals in large suits of power armor. That's Tesla's asset, by the sounds of it, a local group with a vendetta towards the prison warden - the Dragonslayers. They've come loaded for bear and their leader, Saint, has been a fountain of useful intelligence.

     The defenders begin to arrive. On the horizon, little dark dots appear. Dragoncraft - first a few, then several, then what must be a dozen of giant armored mechanical dragon-jets. Around them are a few local capes, the ones who are flight-capable on their own power. And then there's the Union responders. The question is, for all the power that's coming in, will it be enough to prevent Tesla's plan?

     The Birdcage, inside the largest mountain in the local area, looms over the coming battlefield like a reminder of why everyone is there. Inside, dozens if not hundreds of villains are unaware of their coming liberation - unless Tesla can be stopped.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
The plan wasn't as elaborate as one might expect. Capitalize on the Protectorate already being weakened from the battle with Behemoth with the cunning and bravery to strike the one place no one in this world expected anyone to have the audicity to. Turn loose a multitude of supervillians to farther disrupt this world's social and political structure, including the ally and mentor of the Dragonslayers in return for their assistance. Confinscate any Tinkere technology Tesla can get her hands on for herself.

There was just the matter of getting inside.

But as the saying goes, either you go loud and go full, or you just go home. What would be the point if she didn't make her mark from the start, after all?

It was possibly the specialty weapon platform tromping across the desert that set off any early alarms the fortified prison had. Not that Tesla cared. It's massive clawed, spider-like legs chugged across the desert with little issue, undetered by the arrival of other craft in the distance. The midday sun glinted off glistening black metal, particularly the massive cannon that was mounted atop of it, with Lunessa sitting at the gunner controls.

Tesla Armadia herself stood on the command deck at the front, with Shardcore's bulk looming behind her, the warmachine's weapons already armed and ready. The sight of the approaching craft just made her smirk a bit, and while the machine didn't stop its march she did politely wait for them to get into range before she picked up a mic to speak into the projective sound-system of the vehicle, loud enough to be heard over the clatter of the machinery stomping its way towards the prison.

"Attention prison defenders. This is Major Tesla Armadia of the Confederacy... and I highly suggest you save yourselves farther trouble and suffering by simply going home." The sound of the clawed feet slamming into the sand over and over seem to punctuate the looming ominoucity of her words. "Your numbers are already shallowed thanks to Behemoth. Do you really want to lose more over defending this giant rock in the middle of nowhere... Oh, of course you do." Her voice takes a mocking tone. "Because you are 'heroes'. It's what you do. Obnoxiously so." Pause.

"On second thought, let's skip the pointless formalities." Tesla tosses the mic away, and motions with her hand.

A smaller turret on the front of the lumbering machine swings to life, pumping off a flurry of shots to send the Cape defensive line trying to form up in front of them scattering. Those that do get hit will find the shots to not be bullets, or lasers, but some kind of superhuman adhesive that once splattered only gets tougher and more stretchy the more the victim struggles, effectively neutralizing most manners of superstrength or augmentive hardware. The stuff was made to hold down the likes of the Hulk originally.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Not far behind the mechanical machine that was Tesla's brilliant creation, was a Garlean Reaper; A Magitek Armor that was heavily armored with black sheets of steel and cermet, with an engine pumping Ceruleum, cockpit control buttons, switches, and a steering wheel, on two legs that moved at a pretty good clip. It had a hidden cannon inside the armored 'mouth' that was covered over unless activated and hidden machine gun ports along side at the 'hip' section.

The man behind the wheel was none other then Legatus Gaius Van Baelsar. Leader of the Fourteen Legion of Garlean Empire. His own armor black as the very machine he rode in, with crimson red 'cloth' like material that was actually woven kevlar.

He waited for Telsa to give the word and when she did, he moved the Magitek armor into full gear, using it to assist with bombarding any ground defenses with bursts of machine gun fire and with the 'mouth' armor sliding up and back, releasing a heavy cannon burst that exploded like someone released a rocket.

While it may not deal with the heavy defenders, the Reaper was capable of dealing with some of the more unfortunate souls that may not be able to tank bullets and explosives. Though Gaius had no plans to ride in this machine forever. Eventually he would sacrifice it and get to his more true love of combat which was more of a personal affair of fighting, but for now--- this would do.

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    There is something to be said for Tesla's speech. Lacking in grandiose theatrics and simply driving her point home, before opening is... Essentially how all hostile ultimatums should be made. Simple. Effective. Violent. Following the three basic tenets quickly earns Tesla a place that appeals to the Warsmith Honsou's taste for mayhem, as he observes the beginnings of the incipient battle from the staging area of the Iron Warriors.

    With the Battle-Barge Warbreed parked in orbig over the planet, bringing down supplies, men, and slaves proved to be easy enough, and in record time, the deployment of Chaos Space Marines, slaves, and machinery soon formed a beach head for Honsou's forces. After all, a prison stated to be so impenetreble no one has ever gotten out is... Appealing to an Iron Warrior. The desire to crack that shell, to form a breach and be able to boast the honors of claiming another fortress that has claimed to be undefeatable.

    "Well, she's direct." The Iron Warrior at his side grunts. A Massive man in power armor, Cadaras Grendel shoulders his meltagun with a grunt, observing the Chaos slaves digging trenches, forming assault parties, setting up machinery and artillery with an efficiency and precision rivaled by few, belching out a sky blackening smog in no time.

    Honsou looks over his desployment, smug in the knowledge that it would put the finest Forge Worlds of the Imperium to utter shame, finding it acceptable. "Eh. I'm only here to see how the Confederacy fights, and how their foes stand to the challenge."

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    This world is just so much fun!

    Originally attracted to this world because of the recent appearance of Behemoth, an all-but-unkillable force of destruction called an Endbringer, Hisoka found this place intriguing and oh-so-useful. Fighting an Endbringer... well, that might be a bad move. The killer jester has little interest in unstoppable forces of destruction any more than he'd want to punch the sun. But there's just sooo much else around here that's potentially amusing.

    Take, for example, the delightful habit of the local capes - and THERE is an amusing term all on its own - in hiding their identity. Such a delightful practice and so very very convenient. It makes it very difficult in all the confusion to tell him from the cape that's SUPPOSED to be where he is. Taking Newton's place was a simple matter of mask and costume. And of making sure Newton wasn't present, of course. No need to tell anyone here what REALLY happened to Newton. From what he understood from a conversation with Saint, that cape doesn't much like Newton... or any of the other Protectorate goodie-goodies... so no one's going to care when it turns out it's not the telekinetic Newton that shows up on a dragoncraft. No one except for the other capes on the dragoncraft he's riding on that is, and they don't really count.

    The assault craft nears, preparing to join the line of defenders. As it nears the ground, near to a dozen capes leap out of it, not waiting for the craft to land. Some of them are graceful, some manage the landing with minimal harm. Some... some just scream, hit the ground with a wet thud, and stop moving entirely. It really doesn't look like they'd actually PLANNED to jump out of the dragoncraft.

    There's really no sign what caused them all to jump. There's no one left on the craft, and it continues flying by remote. Possibly it was done by one of the capes that managed the landing with grace, but ... well, there's nothing obviously distinguishing one from the others. Not YET at least.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Is there a better way to get back in track after several months of being dead by helping break out some prisoners? Possibly not. Besides, as a fellow scientist it was pretty tempting to assist Tesla on this idea of hers, so a certain serpentine witch had graciously accepted the invitation to rain some chaos on this world.

    It's hardly the first time she's freed criminals, after all.

    While the commanding officer of the Confederate strike force is riding on something grand and heavily weaponised, Medusa herself has opted for... her broom. She is a smaller and faster target as she soars up above the spider-like monstrosity, and she narrows her eyes slightly as she sees the defenders arrive. Her gaze moves to the nearby mountain. It is tempting to head in that direction, she must admit.

    It only takes seconds to clear matters with the Confederate Major however, and then... the witch is off, leaning forward as she grips the broom, tucking her knees in tight against the broom handle as she rushes through the air, directly towards the mountain! Though make no mistake, the witch is highly alert, watching the defenders with some quick glances to the side to make sure she isn't going to fly straight into any attack. She was dead for half a year, she's in no rush to die again so soon!

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
     Bitter Medicine scowls, which is to say, he's in his usual spirit come cross-factional entanglements. The conversation between himself, Defiant, and Dragon outlines their personalities as neatly as any other interaction between them. Bitter, the grim pragmatist, willing to make an ugly decision in the name of efficiency. Not just efficiency, but sending a message--using the Confederacy's own tactics against it. "We could just kill the prisoners," he says. As casually as one might ask for a spanner, he suggests it.

     "No," says Dragon. "Absolutely not." Bitter Medicine isn't surprised. "Out of the question." She of course raises the points of Lung, Glaistig Uaine--capes with a theoretically infinite degree of survivability. But why should /all/ of them live to help the Confederacy and contribute to the decline of this civilization, when the numbers can be reduced to an acceptable few? True to his name, the Exalt replies.

     "It would deprive the Confederacy of allies."

     Again, Dragon refuses. She won't reduce their lives to 'pragmatic calculus.' Disappointing--she above all, should have the most excuse to. "Suit yourself," he offers flatly. Defiant argues that perhaps Dragon /should/ reduce their lives in such a way. Quietly, the Exalt agrees, but says no more about the matter until the Dragoncraft arrives. At such a time, he shoulders his way to the loudspeaker unit.

     "Dissidents... at the behest of Dragon, I won't be killing any of you." Pause. "But you'd be surprised what you can live through."

Cory (768) has posed:
    Chikorri's arrival is heralded by one heck of a lightshow! At first she's just a speck on the horizon, but one wreathed in shifting light like some sort of comet or meteor. When she finally does get into proper range of the crisis she comes to a grinding halt with her arms out to either side and hands clenched into fists. It's a CONFIDENT stance, with those fists both raised. Raw power swirls and churns around her in thick white 'flames.' The display's enough to set her hair and gi ruffling fiercely, such is the wind cast by her aura.

    "Okay, what jerks think releasing super-powered criminals is a good idea? I'll beat the notion out of 'ya!"

    WHAMPF! She ends ups lamming both fists together - resulting in a small shockwave.

Defiant (554) has posed:
     This is bad. Dragon's not sure how the attackers got so close without her knowledge. Co-ordinating the defense, she gives Defiant's armored shoulder one last squeeze before turning back to her work.

     Defiant wastes no time. He heads right for Armadia's gargantuan vehicle, obviously intent on ending the attack by decapitating it - and, knowing him, it's probably quite literal. The man stands tall in green and gold powered armor, like a high-tech knight, with a clear draconic theme - etchings of scales, claws, teeth, etc. Spear in one hand, shield in the other.

     About halfway there, the man leaps, heading straight for the command deck of Tesla's warmachine.

     "That's the cyborg, Defiant," Saint tells Tesla over a communications link. "Spear and shield and certain parts of his armor can disintegrate matter. Still working on locating Dragon."

     Elsewhere, Gaius hammers away at some of the defending capes. Turns out, bullets and explosives work remarkably well. Armor shatters, some defensive powers fail and colorful costumes are rent apart. That is, until Gaius' weapons seemingly bounce off a tall, athletic cape woman, all in black and with a helmet that hides her features. She wears a wide, heavy cape - and only the best of the best wear those. Alexandria, the overall second-in-command of the Protectorate, begins hammering her fists into Gaius' machine. She's super-strong and, apparently, dead set on finding out how to stop the machine through sheer kinetic force.

     "Saint here," he says to Tesla once again, "We've located Dragon. We're ready to move at your discretion, Tesla."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
While Armadia ostensibly planned this operation to coincide with an ebb in the available Protectorate forces to protect the Birdcage, one of the Protectorate's Union friends is in singularly high dudgeon for a different but related reason: she had been *JUST* about to start the next (probably final) stage of a major boss fight in one of her games when Tesla announced the Confederacy's presence and intentions.

As anyone who knows Xiaomu could tell the Confederates, interrupting one of her gaming sessions is a REALLY BAD IDEA.

So the sage fox is barreling towards the Confederate lines, perched on a large, fast-moving chunk of ice whose pace is roughly the opposite of 'glacial'. "REJOICE, YOU FATUOUS MORONS!!" she yells in a far-too-cheerful tone, "YOU GET TO GO HOME EARLY!!"

She does not yet draw her handguns; she wants to get closer first.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    Okay, so she's coming up a little late, but that's because she doesn't usually have any fancy technological systems to drive her. So instead Rebound does things the old fashioned way, hopping in step by step. Of course one hop for her can cover an extreme distance, so she still arives in quite a timely manner.

    She stops, landing on a rocky outcropping not far from where the battle appears to be kicking off. Peering across at all the Confederates that are arriving, the kangaroo considers her options. Keep them from the prison, that seems to be the objective. So she waits, crouching down, ready to spring once somebody presents a nice, juicy target for her to ambush from behind. If she can sucker punch (or kick as it were) one of the Confeds, that'll make her job easier.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe can get the logic about the killing all the prisoners, she knows some people in this nightmare just got screwed by the system or the curse of having powers they had issues controlling there. There's not much sympathy here but enough to draw the line at turning this into a charnel house. She hears about the seige works being set up? That gets a eyebrow raised on the face of the purple haired Alf. She had to wonder just who were they after or was this a general confederate recuitment raid to grab as many of the jail birds as they could? She didn't know but she was inbound to stop it. From her armour to firey fleather like wings she could be mistaken for some very unhappy Angel of sort as she drops on in from the skies.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
"And this is why expending valuable time on making demands which would never be met is a waste," Tesla comments to no one in particular as fighting breaks out between invaders and capes. The Union would not be far behind in attempting to prevent aid... but everything was according to plan. No situation was out of the ordinary yet, and even if such a moment did arise, there was a good chance the mastermind had some contingency ready for it.

"Duley noted, Saint. Good hunting and good luck, give your mentor my regards when you locate him."

The chugging monstrousity of a machine comes to a stop finally, and for good reason. The clawed feet instead dig into the sand deep to reach the firmer ground beneath, anchoring itself in preperation for the upcoming recoil. Even as the cannon is raising into position as Lunessa applies her expert gunnery skills to the artillery, multiple panels of the body of the machine open up and disgorge the mad scientists own forces. Humanoid bionic wolves, gun dones, and even some of the cybernetic raptors she and Styraco developed together are all dispatched to join the fracas and defend the machine as it readies. Shardcore adds his own firepower to the efforts, turning his massive beam launcher and gatling cannon on the Dragoncraft with targeting based on the information Saint gave Tesla to employ.

Defiant takes a more direct approach, leaping towards the command deck of the weapon platform.

But the first greeting he'd come face to face with is a metal fist as the waiting Tesla swings at him as soon as his form rises over the railing. This is one mad scientist that doesn't shit around with getting involved in the fighting directly.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
And admist all this chaos, the cannon fires its first shot, the decks of the machine rattling beneath the noise as the hypervelocity shot hurtles it's resonant demolition munitions at the Birdcage. Shells designed not with explosives, but powerful sonics designed to use resonant frequency to shake apart the foundation of the facility at it's very molecular core.

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    The question of who is responsible for wrecking a handful of capes 'from the inside' is answered fairly quickly, as it turns out. The capes that survived the unexpected crash-landing are all looking around, trying to decide just what was responsible for the invisible force that grabbed them and literally flung them bodily out the craft's assault door. They come to the obvious conclusion. The telekinetic. 'Newton' looks just so unruffled too... of the survivors, he's the only one not frantically looking around, and he's one of the few who landed flawlessly.

    Behind Newton's mask, the killer clown begins to grin. Without warning, his costume tears off of him into ribbons and shreds of cloth which go flying in all directions, revealing another costume beneath. The killer thus revealed resembles nothing so much as a jester, wearing odd clothing decorated with card suit symbols. Even his face, once the mask tears free, has card suit symbols painted or tattooed beneath his eyes.

    He stands there for a moment in the middle of the explosion of cloth, posing with one hand twisted up behind his head as he weirdly arches his back. Then that smirk broadens as he sends out a second explosion, this time of cards snapping from all about his body into the bodies of the capes who survived the initial attack. The cards are deadly, like little sharpened knives or throwing stars, and the only capes likely to survive the attack are those with invulnerabilities or heavy armor.

    "So weak." the jester finally speaks, bringing up a hand to place on his forehead, not quite facepalming but as if he were feeling faint. "So blind. So.... trusting." he grins. "I had hoped this would be interesting..."

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    With the siegeworks belching out smog and churning weapons production as they are, Honsou overlooks his setup with silent approval. He gives no indication of such to his men. They are fodder. Beneath him and not worth his attentions. They'll all be killed sooner or later anyway.

    The gleaming silver fingers of his augmetic arm tap against the bland unpolished iron of his vambrace in a light stacatto of restlessness. His blood absolutely boils for the conflict to come, waiting for the honor and glories of the battlefield to be heaped upon him again, as the battle truly begins.

    The amusing sight of capes falling to their deaths, or getting booted unexpectedly from a transport earns a derisive snort. He'd never admit the amusement, but yet ahain it appeals to his casual sense of mayhem, as he half-listens to the vox-chatter in the communications array of his helmet, visor drinking in and analyzing the sights of the battle before him. A word in his ear informs him the artillery is ready.

    "Fire."

    It's Honsou's only order. It need be given just once, and the Iron Warriors follow it to the letter. the screaming howls of daemonic glee from the howitzers and cannons within the trenches fills the skies, the Daemon possessed cannons exultantly disgorge explosive shells, sailing screeching warheads through the skies with intent to start the arduous work of cracking the mountain itself.

    Until Tomoe descends from the skies like a Seraphim.

    "Who the hell is this and what is she doing interrupring my siege." The Warsmith grunts dryly. "Grendel. Kill her."

    That is an order Cadaras Grendel is all too happy to oblige, the giant power armored bulk of Space Marine grunts a reply and twists the battered mass of scars he calls a face into a grin, levelling his meltagun at Tomoe and squeezing the trigger in a searing blast of superheated ionized air in a shotgun cone at her.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
     Bitter Medicine leaps from the Dragoncraft, eyes on the witch, blatantly unaware of her iconic choice of transport--to him, it's just an outmoded method of housecleaning. Mid-way through his descent, he activates his Plasma Thruster Assembly. Jets of purple flame erupt from the soles of his jackboots, leaving a trail of cinder in their wake as the Exalt rockets through the air after Medusa.

     Looking over her shoulder as she does, the witch will easily spot all six feet and two inches of Bitter Medicine, scowling his way across the sky. His hand reaches for something. A weapon. Voidbane, his gyroscopic chakram, is held ready in the air, a silent threat. Silent, that is, until he unleashes it.

     Soulsteel isn't named as such for its pleasant qualities. Voidbane shrieks--too human to be called a trick of aerodynamics--and it banks. It banks towards the witch, with an almost hungry curve.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Onwards to the mountain, and Medusa watches closely as the opposing forces collides, bombs fall, capes and defenders descend on the attackers... and behold, somebody is coming after her.

    Medusa has little time to enjoy the sights of the battlefield as the purple flame drives the Exalt through the air after her. Hmmm, he wants to play, does he?

    Immediately the witch steers her broom over into a wide roll, obviously not disoriented at this motion. During this maneuver she does have to alter her course in order to avoid the curve of the thrown weapon, and Medusa tilts her head nearly against her shoulder as the deadly weapon threatens to graze her cheek. Her eyes widen, and she lets the broom dip down as she widens the roll and abruptly slows down, intending to surprise Bitter and let him overtake her, just in time for her to finish her roll before she uses her momentum to swing up underneath her broom, gripping the broom handle as she kicks out towards Bitter's head!

Defiant (554) has posed:
     Protectorate capes meet Tesla's forces head on. There's shapechangers, capes who blast away with powers, some in suits of tinker technology and others with far more esoteric skillsets. But they're outnumbered and, really, unprepared for an enemy that is fighting for keeps and isn't as predictable as an Endbringer.

     The Dragoncraft enter the fray, weapon turrets blasting away, letting out gouts of blue-white plasma breath. Some deploy forcefields to shield capes, others bite down with matter-disintegrating teeth and the flying draconic tanks are seemingly quite, quite good at what they do.

     In the midst of Honsou's trenches and fortifications, a man appears all of a sudden. He wears a blue-green skintight suit with a hood and cape and sleeves that drape over his hands. His hood glows with green light. Eidolon promptly grabs the first Space Marine he can find and vanishes again. When he returns, the Marine is nowhere to be seen. The man pauses, seems to concentrate, and begins seemingly /removing/ sections of the trenches, leaving perfectly smooth hemispheres wherever he gestures.

     Meanwhile, Gaius and Alexandria are in the thick of a fight. She's toppled the war machine, but Gaius has gotten clear. He aims his weapon and fires at the wreck and the pair vanish in the midst of a brilliant blue fireball.

     Defiant holds his spear ready, shield up to defend. He circles Tesla, looking for an opening, and thrusts his spear at her. The twin-bladed tip of the weapon is surrounded by a feint, grey corona. It hums menacingly and anything it touches vanishes in a burst of smoke. He charges Tesla, aiming to bash her with his shield!

     And it begins to rain hail - shells and explosives courtesy of Honsou. The Dragoncraft shield capes again, this time with their bulk, and they begin to fall, one by one. Some of them weather the volley, others are cracked wide open and detonate spectacularly. Beneath the awe-inspiring firepower of the siege masters, the mountain begins to crumble, filling the sky with dust and dirt. And when Tesla's shell impacts, specifically built for this exact purpose, the entire thing begins to come /apart/. The sound is piercing, deafening, and half of the mountain proceeds to crumble and vanish into an avalanche - exposing the prison beneath.

     "Understood," Saint reports, "Package delivered. Moving to locate Teacher now." He takes a brief moment to have a conversation with someone and then the three Dragonslayers activate their flightpacks and head straight for the Birdcage, now wide-open.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    Something catches the eye of the kangaroo. Some sort of little furry creature, several of them, who appear to be trying to set up some sort of mounted weapon emplacement on a nearby rock face. She can't let that happen, and she moves to intercept.

    Hopping from her position, she lands right in the middle of the group of those little furballs, "Hey guys." She says, as she grabs two of them by their heads and clonks them together with enough force to knock them both out. As soon as that's done, she quickly bounds behind cover and waits for them to begin to open fire on her.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe does look very much look the part of the Seraphim doesn't she? However Cadaras Grendal has other plan as Honsou issues the orders to take her out. She looks at the meltagun blast coming at her she's force to bank out of the way hitting the ground hard. She's able to do avoid getting cored like a tank, for now. That gun is seriously an issue she thinks as she now on her feet and pulls out not her sword and board but her Naginata. She then speed along the groun trying to get in close to Grendel and launch into several quick strikes before she'll fade back from him. She wants to get a feel for this guy before she does something crazy or gets in over her head. Which she may already be.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"HIGH SPEED XIAOMU!!" yells the sage fox as her ice-sled banks around the edge of a slope and picks up speed, heading straight for - well, it SHOULD be a Protectorate transport ... except somebody in the thick of it isn't dressed like a regular Cape, and is in fact busy trying to kill the capes around him.

Then the Birdcage gets blown open, and both Xiaomu and her ice sled go flying - resulting in Xiaomu attaining a higher speed than she'd anticipated.

She can work with this. She chooses to do so by doing a half-somersault in the air so that she's now flying feet-first at Hisoka's ridiculous hairdo - and just for the heck of it, she yells two more words just before impact:

"RIDER KICK!!!!"

And yes, she DOES pull her left leg up so she actually looks like she's doing one of those classic moves.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
     He's overtaken her. This was not his intention. It certainly wasn't his intention to get kicked in the face, but, here he is. This dissident can kick. Like a slow-motion fight scene, the Exalt's face moves aside for the force of the blow. Unlike such a scene, it isn't the blow that sends him sprawling to the mat. Not by a long shot, it isn't. His Sixth Dexterity Augmentation calculates a series of maneuvers to regain his balance.

     Like clockwork, the Exalt rolls laterally off of the blow, cutting his thrusters on and off in rapid succession. He rights himself, sporting a split lip, and reaches out a hand. Voidbane wails its way through the air after missing Medusa, landing safely back into his grip. Now, the witch is behind him--he flies upwards, activating his Chemical Fog Generator.

     Acrid, white, and billowy, clouds of tear gas erupt from vents on the Alchemical's body, a stinging attempt by the Alchemical to regain the offensive position.

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    Let it be known and said that to get a feel for Cadaras Grendel is like trying to get a feel for a tank. He's built like a wall, ten feet tall, covered from head to foot in dull grey ceramite, and is looking for something to kill at all times.

    "Hehhh heh heh... And just what are you supposed to be? Some kind of Sister reject?" He chuckles hoarsely, every footfall enough to shake the earth as he readies to fire again. But the quick lashes of sharp steel fend him off for a moment, the blade scoring gouges and slash scars in his already pitted and scarred armor. "I'm Cadaras Grendel. The legions sing my dark name for the atrocities I've committed for ten thousand years. And I'm gonna crush your skull like a ripe melon just to see it squish."

    Well he's not the most eloquent of men, but he does suit action to word, swinging his meltagun like a cudgel with intent to brain the Alf.

    But. Honsou is not unaware of the sudden confusion amid his ranks. One Iron Warrior does not simply vanish, and when that one trooper's signal disappears entirely from his helmet's visor, the Warsmith heaves an irritated sigh. Disruptions. Always distractions and disruptions. But the sight of an unidientified figure in the midst of his men sends his blood into a roaring fury of excitement, as the Iron Warrior turns upon Eidolon.

    "Well you've got guts." Honsou growls, strolling casually towards the Cape trying to dismantle his siege operation piece by piece.

    "So here's the deal..."

    Honsou proceeds, not to eposit some grand master plan of malice and evil, that exposes his deepest darkest intents... He just draws his bolt pistol and empties the entire magazine at him.

    "If that didn't kill you then I'll just axe you some questions about what you think you're doing."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
When the Reaper goes down and the engine is fired upon to explode, Gaius and the Super Hero he faces have vanished into the blue flames the ignite up into the air from the Ceruleum. With the ring if destruction with shells and shots being fired from the Confederate Forces, the Black Wolf is quite at home.

The Legatus is caught in a brutal battle with the woman who's own fists could best the Garlean steel and Cermet. With every swing, he had to be quick on his feet and move around her strikes to bring around his own Gunblade to strike. If anyone could see the two, it was an elegant dance of deadly desire.

Yet while the Magitek Armor Suit did keep Gaius on his game with the Alexandria, he was no young man and was not getting any younger. He was also a man who had his habits in battle and while he tried to not telegraph what he was going to do, you start to pick up the patterns in the mix.

This would lead to a misstep on his past and a heavy fist to helmet's edge. The sheer force, rattling the HUD to near static, the horn of the helmet shattered under the woman's fist and him sliding back and stepping around to keep from falling over.

Gaius twirls his Gunblade in hand, before he stares the woman down. While he hid it in his voice, he was tired. The woman was a titan, like fighting a Primal. She was-- a very worthy opponent and so he give her the chance. "Leave now and I'd not cut you down here. Continue to fight and I shalt make no promises you see another day."

"For my word is my bond... so what have you, warrior?"

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Once the walls are clearly breaking down, the artillery fire stops for a moment. Machinery can be heard churning within the platform and the cannon actually widens, spreading into four quadrents charging with energy. Having converted into a magnetic catapult in fires a different payload, a large pod, into the opening made in the Birdcage's side. This one smashes down into the ground and opens out, deploy several more of those small cat-gremlins into the facility. With their natural inclination towards breaking and stealing technology they're start dismantling anythign they can get their grubby paws on, which will likely eventually lead to cell locks shutting down, farther initiating the prisoner escapes.

Other Gremlynx aren't so lucky, as they get smashed together and tossed aside. Their assailant dives for cover as others open fire, little laser guns chunking away at the rock for a few moments and then stopping. So one wearing a hazmat mask can fire his acid gun and just -melt- the rock Rebound is hiding behind.

"Well well, look who came. The broken knight is here to protect the broken dragon." Tesla activates her own arm-shield, the two barriers slamming into each other as Defiant charges her, energy crackling like a enraged beast between the two forces. "Or is it to just protect your own dark little secrets?"

A mechanical screech rings out as Tesla deploys the dual energy-chainsaws from her armor's other arm, and pushes off with her shield to twist and swing those towards Defiant instead.

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    The feel of her foot connecting with the man's head brings a wicked grin to Medusa's face, and she finishes the roll as she hoists herself up on her broom. Though she does notice that while this is a motion that her brain remembers easily, her new body is still not as physically strong as her previous one was. It would be better to avoid direct combat if possible, as she won't be able to fight as well as she did before her untimely demise.

    The tear gas however is unexpected, and as she flies right through it, the witch can't easily avoid it. The effect is immediate, and Medusa clenches her eyes shut as she coughs and wheezes, finding it hard to focus on anything, especially visually! As she has trouble breathing it is also hard to use her magic... which means she has only one thing to do.

    Throwing her left arm out to the side, the tattoo on her arm comes alive, the ink bleeding out of her skin as one of her snake familiars materialises, hissing as it flies through the air towards Bitter Medicine and opens its massive maw to bite down on him unless he is quick to move away! But even if he gets away, that doesn't mean it will stop chasing him. No, the magical creature is intent on sinking its teeth into him, anything to keep the Exalt busy while Medusa regains her vision and wits. For now she is flying blindly, blinking in a desperate effort to clear her eyes!

Cory (768) has posed:
    BOOM goes the Mountain, leaving Chikorri stunned. She ONLY JUST ARRIVED and before she's thrown a punch, it's already a wash. What the HELL happened?! Disbelief at the chaos unfolding everywhere leaves her paralyzed until a few screams down below shake her out of it.

    With meteoric speed she touches ground, spreading a wave of sand and rocks.

    Coincidentally, she's right behind Hisoka as Xiaomu's coming in.

    "WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?!"

    Instead of going for a classic attack herself, she instead attempts to bind Hisoka in place by grabbing both of his hands and leaving him exposed for Xiaomu's assault!

Rebound (750) has posed:
    An acid gun? That's awesome! Rebound wants it for herself. As soon as the rock starts to melt down, she bounds again, leaping up and immediately taking several shots from their lasers. She manages to land and roll a little bit, hurting but not down for the count.

    She sweeps her tail to take out the ones with the lasers, and then grabs the last one with the gasmask on, holding him up into the air and pulling the acid gun out of his hands, "I need this more than you do right now. Go run along." She drops him, and then kicks her foot out to punt him through the air, before she turns towards where Defiant and Tesla are having their battle. She frowns a little bit and then leaps again, landing on the deck. She stumbles and skids a bit when she lands, but regains her footing.

    "Okay. No problem. Big guy has her distracted...So I bet that I can smash up some of this stuff good.." She has a stolen acid gun, so she starts to spray it on various important looking consoles. Some of this stuff has to do something.

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    It's a bit much to expect that someone as aware and as fast as Hisoka would remain oblivious of Chikkori even if she touches down softly, even if the sound of her streaking through the air is disguised by the scream of artillery striking the mountain. Just the wash of sand and rocks would be enough to alert him, even if he didn't sense the fighting intent of the newcomer. And yet... he doesn't move, doesn't turn. He feels the Saiyan girl's approach and seemingly goes entirely unaware of her actions until the moment she actually grabs him.

    A normal fighter would not let an opponent grab them from behind like that. A normal fighter would dodge or, if unaware, struggle the moment they're grabbed. Hisoka isn't normal. He just stands there. Had Cory tried to strike him he'd have probably tried to dodge... but a grab? He doesn't struggle or even flinch. He remains exactly where he is, no doubt encouraging Xiaomu to strike him at ultra-devastating-high-speed.

    Which should make his next move particularly startling, of course. At the last possible moment Hisoka bends awkwardly, throwing his weight and sudden burst of movement against Cory's static strength. He could get entirely out of the way of the charging Xiaomu even without moving Cory just by bending his upper torso, but he has more in mind. If he can get her to pull against him JUST like SO, she'll be in the path of Xiaomu as he avoids the high kick. FAR more amusing to do something like this than to avoid poor Cory's initial attack and the highly straightforward rider kick.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
     Bitter Medicine turns his back to the sun--it's probably a significant gesture, to some hoary old sage in Creation, who spends his days poring over omens and portents. To him, though, it's a tactical gesture. Time is Essence. He cuts off the tear gas to survey his position, and readies Voidbane. The witch is incapacitated--unable to pursue, unable to defend. The time is now to strike. He holds the chakram aloft, its dread jaws already beginning to spin hungrily. Puffs of steam eject from the weapon, and he winds up for a toss. How easy it would be, to just let it fly--to use Hungry Gear-Tooth Attack and simply take this wretch apart.

     Damnable Dragon.

     For only a moment does Bitter Medicine hesistate. It's all that's necessary to put the fight back on equal footing. Medusa's snake hits him directly, clamping down on his arm. Pure, adversarial hate flows from the Exalt, his free hand balled into a fist. He pummels the conjured creature repeatedly, then finally just tears it off. The stubborn beast's fangs won't leave without a fight, and end up tearing the sleeve from Bitter's trenchcoat. The Exalt tosses his serpentine foe down to the earth below, then sets his jaw and stares down the witch, knowing full well his hesitation has cost him an expedient victory.

     Bitter Medicine spits.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is quite the tank herself well in the meaning that she gets in the way of danger for others. This guy could have tank treads and not look out of place to the fairy warrior.. She's got a mountain of a man she smirks however at his comment.

"I'm afraid not I'm Tomoe The Iron Lily and I'm just an Alf warrior. We'll see about who crushes who!"

The guy seems ot have the power to back up his words as she's now caught in close combat. She knowst this quite well and she attemps to weave out of the way and counter attack. She knows she's going to have to likely break out the magic to really put a dent in a guy like this, but she's keeping him off the Prison and from making everyone's lives worse.

She's now trying to dance back just for a moment to start chanting but this has left her open to the Chaos Marine.

Defiant (554) has posed:
     Alexandria stares at Gaius from behind her helmet. She rolls her neck to the side, then to the other. Cr-crack. Her costume is rent in places from strikes courtesy of Gaius' gunblade but the woman seems to show no sign of slowing down. "You're welcome to try," Alexandria retorts, "Retreat or I'll leave you paralysed from the neck down."

     Well, /damn/. And, just like that, the battle is joined again, fist to gunblade.

     Honsou's cunning ploy of 'not talking' allows him to catch Eidolon offguard. The bolt pistol opens up and empties into the cape. The bolts detonate, only a mere fraction away from Eidolon's costume. Black scorch marks and little cuts from where the shrapnel made it through are the only sign that he was in trouble. Unlike most capes, who have one power that they wield like a hammer, Eidolon has four - evidently, he's settled on some sort of forcefield, that removal power and teleportation. So, what's the fourth?

     Eidolon raises his hands and, like a sorcerer, blasts at Honsou with crackling bands of green lightning. Ah, there it is. "Here and no further, villain," Eidolon intones behind his white featureless mask.

     Defiant's shield meets Tesla's own, forcefields meeting. "What did you do?!" Defiant roars behind his helmet - whether he's talking about the Birdcage or Dragon is hard to tell. "I will kill you for this," Defiant seethes.

     "A little extreme," Saint's voice crackles.

     "She was a /hero/! The woman I loved!"

     "She didn't feel anything, cyborg. Nothing more than playing a part, professing and acting out emotions she thought she should have. Only lies written in Richter's assembly code. Tesla, we're inside."

     The chainsaw blades swing in and Defiant drops his shield to the deck, ducking back, but not fast enough - perhaps he's in too much grief to fight at his best. The blades bite deep, the horrible screech of metal on metal, and great gouges are ripped through the green and gold plating, a pauldron goes through the air

     Defiant ducks back and pulls a gladius free from his belt, readying another strike with his spear. He leaps at Tesla, swinging the blade, thrusting the spear.

     All across the battlefield, dragoncraft at coming to a neutral stop. They land and appear to await for further orders. A large one, built for heavy warfare, pauses on the edge of Honsou's lines.

     Tesla's cat-gremlins pour into the Birdcage and, well well well, isn't it just a treasure trove of technology? There's all sorts of things in here, all ripe for the taking. Is that a gravity generator?

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    The snake is not about to let go, not until it is torn off with force. It is strong, but not stronger than most Elites, luckily. Nor is it venomous, even if it has a pretty nasty bite. Downwards it falls, though rather than continuing to plummet the snake suddenly turns back into ink, racing through the air to catch up with its mistress, who seems to have recollected herself somewhat, even if her eyes are red and her voice is hoarse as she seems to mutter something.

    She's still seated on the broom when she moves her arm, two fingers extended as she points them towards Bitter.

    "Vector Arrow!"

    At that very moment several black arrowed lines shoot out from behind Medusa, all aimed at Bitter Medicine, intent on skewering his torso in their erratic path!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Wha - ?"

There's no time for Xiaomu to alter her path of flight, and not enough leverage to do anything practical even if she HAD the time when Hisoka suddenly uses Cory as a shield. The one thing the sage fox CAN do is relax out of her kick and curl up to absorb the impact a bit more softly.

This may still knock Cory flying, or at least tangle the two Union girls up in an entertaining tumble. But Hisoka has only bought himself a small reprieve; Xiaomu will be even more ready to take him apart for that little embarassment.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "Wha-?!" Astonished, a wide-eyed Cory can only flick her eyes back and forth between the incoming Xiaomu and Hisoka. But she had one bit of warning that settles the outcome of this ploy.

    Indeed, a real warrior would've offered some struggle. The moment Hisoka chose not to, she knew he had a plan.

    Just not quite WHAT it was.

    So although she's left stumbling forward with Hisoka breaking away - and making off-balanced squawking noises - a plan sparks to life in those few seconds. A crazy plan.

    Xiaomu still slams head-on into Cory, softened and curled up or not. The blow's softened, sure, but it's still enough to get her grunting and sucking down on pain.

    But in those moments between seconds she puts her plan into action. "How about... ANOTHER... TRY?!" BOTH her arms grab onto Xiaomu. Instead of absorbing all of the force and braking against the ground, Cory SPINS and redirects much of what remains of it, HURLING the curled-up Xiaomu straight for Hisoka with all she's got.

    How's that for a XIAOMU CURVEBALL?!

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Is that a smirk at Defiant's outrage? Yes, yes it is. And since her helmet only covers her head and eyes, it's in plain view. "I didn't get where I am by being easy to kill, but you are more than welcome to add your effort to the attempts." Like a true supervillian she isn't insulted by the anger and threats, she is -thriving- on them.

The spear strikes her head on, but there is a visible crackle of energy across her own armor as she staggers backwards from the strike. The force of the blow did visible damage, but there is no disintegration, no crumbling and falling apart. Looks like part of her power armor includes a thin energy shielding that is preventing the effectiveness of Defiant's signature technique. Another preperation made thanks to Saint's information. "Though hasn't trying to kill gotten you into enough trouble?" There's a flash across Tesla's visor, that meets in the center and turns into a beam of sheering energy, aimed for one of the breaks already made in Defiant's armor from her previous attack.

Take what you can and break what you can't. That's the only thing going through the Gremlynx minds as they tear, in some cases literally, through the Birdcage. Several swarm the gravity generator, instinctively looking for the quickest way to disconnect and remove it.

A few acid shots just sizzle against metal, but then Rebound gets a lucky break as the final spray as the gun empties eats through some piping. The pipes burst open once weakened with a blast of vaporized coolant, and the grinding of moving parts wrenching to a halt from the lass brings the firing of the mag-catapult cannon to a stop.

This, however, has brought Rebound's presence to the attention of others. Tesla is a bit busy. Which would be why Lunessa drops down to the deck opposite the kangaroo woman a few moments later. "Finally, a victim I don't have to restrict myself from!" Her right arm expands out into it's assault rifle mode and the cyber-wolf opens fire at Rebound.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
     Bitter Medicine flies in reverse, channeling Essence for a charm of his own. "Gear Catches Gear Defense!"

     The chakram makes an excellent target shield. Bitter Medicine skillfully deflects several arrows with it, speeding through the air as the arrows chase after him like a volley of shadowed missiles. Even as his bare palm casts a dark arrow aside, the brunt of the assault hits him, tearing his trenchcoat to shreds and riddling his body with holes. Black liquid that seems to drink in the very light drips from his wounds--this must be what passes for blood. The ruined garment, having given all the protection it can, slides off of him in tatters, as does the upper section of the jumpsuit beneath.

     Bitter Medicine is pale. It's no wonder his trenchcoat seemed to be bursting at the sleeves. He's certainly no slouch in terms of fitness, but his arms--they're massive, and all thanks to what appears to be extensive augmentation. His muscles are a mass of hydraulic sinews and steel plating. No, not steel--Soulsteel. It's the same dark, bluish-black material as his weapon.

     His Soulgem sparks from the Essence expenditure. Flight is expensive. Well... best not to do things by half. The Exalt flares his ANIMA, and suddenly is flanked by a black thundercloud with flashes of purple lightning within. The neverending sound of boots on a catwalk begins to thud on. Clank, clank, clank, clank. Perhaps it's just reflections... but the Exalt's arms almost seem to have faces in them, where the Soulsteel can be seen. Long faces. Wailing faces. Whispers zip past him, carried on the wind towards the witch, and the air around him is filled with the most terrible, crushing sounds of despair--a chorus of moans that seems to match those perceived faces perfectly.

     A shriek pierces the moans, as Bitter Medicine returns fire with Voidbane. He is a one-trick pony... but it's a hell of a thing when your trick hungers for the Essence of animate prey.

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    The fact of the matter is... Grendel is a brute. A beast of a Marine, who survived since the Horus Heresy through a merciless combination of savagery, butchery, viciousness, and sheer determination. The man, to his very core, is nothing but a walking engine of malice. And right now, Tomoe has every single iota of the savage Marine's hostility on a singleminded course directly for her.

    "Iron Lily? HAH! Well aren't you just adorable." Growled as Tomoe puts her speed on, making him have to chase. He does everything he can to make her life miserable the whole way though, one-handing his melta with another explosive burst, he draws a new weapon into his other hand and thumbs the activation rune.

    With a puttering roar of bloodthirst, the chainsword in Grendel's hand shrieks its desire to taste Tomoe's blood. Or digital red pixels in her case. But he's coming at her with singular intent, if she surprises him somehow he'll probably end up hurting for it.

    In the meanwhile however the Iron Warriors are readied for battle, emerging in force to start peppering the dragoncraft with bolter and heavier weapons, ready for a corpse grinding fight of attrition, Honsou squares off with Eidolon, lazily waving the smoke from the barrel of his pistol. "Well look at that. You're not dead." Rumbled in a chuckle as he holsters the emptied gun and unslings the daemon axe from his pack, gleaming metal fingers curling around the black weapon's shaft. "Now. I'd love to kill you. And I don't mind sitting here going at it if you want to stick around but in a minute you're about to have more pressing concerns."

    What could he mean by that?

    "Now." The Warsmith signals into his helmet. And then the skies are ablaze. A host of objects streak down from the heavens like a meteor shower that's coming a little too close, as the Warbreed in orbit above starts shunting obkects from its torpedo turrets. Massive oblong hunks of metal screaming down from the skies, red hot from re-entry before retrothrusters slow their descent. Ten drop pods the size of small trucks slam the ground with cratering force steam and sizzle before their doors explod open with--

    "KILL KILL KILL! MAIM! CRUSH! DESTROY! SMASH THE FALSE BELIEVERS! BREAK THEIR WALLS! SMASH THEIR FORTRESS TO DUST! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKUL THROOOOOOONE!"

    Ten lumbering figures emerge, one from each pod, at least fifteen feet tall bulky sarcaphogi on legs stride onto the field as a host of battle frenzied siege dreadnoughts seek to pound the walls of the birdcage with their hammers and drills.

    Honsou lazily slings his axe over his shoulder and flashes a vicious grin.

    "So how are we gonna play this?"

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    An open battlefield, like this one, isn't Hisoka's preferred thing. While he can kill the capes he rode with, he'd already decided they were inferior fools and not worth keeping alive. He hasn't made such a decision on the elites in the fight however. The fast-moving Xiaomu is intriguing, and the fiery-souled Chikkori at least seems like someone who might one day amount to something. She's not strong, but she's fast and apparently clever. Hisoka's the sort to enjoy playing with toys, though sometimes those toys get broken.

    As Xiaomu gets flung back at him, Hisoka grins. "I'm pleased to see you again so soon~" he croons, leaning to the side once again and grabbing hold of her as she swings past him. Only, his hands aren't what grabs her. What grabs her is ... seemingly nothing. He just twitches his hands at her, and an invisible force pulls her into half an orbit about him as he spins, the force letting go as she's directed BACK at Cory. He follows the Sage Fox too, leaping in to try to turn the fight into something that more throws fists at each other, rather than... well, than throwing each other at each other.

    Punching is fun, though flinging opponents around can be fun too. He doesn't strike with full force however. This is too much fun, and he'd rather not break his toys too soon. Nor does he want to show off too much of what he can do in such an open forum. He strikes with bruising force, not with killing intent.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    The bursting pipes and the sound of the weapon no longer firing gets a cheer of success out of Rebound, but it's short lived as she hears the voice behind her. She turns around in time to see that arm expand out into a machine gun and fire at her. She drops the acid gun in front of her chest to protect her vital organs from the shots, but still takes several rounds from the burst of gunfire. Rebound, however, is built out of tougher stuff.

    She throws the disabled weapon at the cybernetic wolf woman, and immediately follows after the weapon with herself. Bleeding or not, she's going to try to engage her up close and personal, laying into Lunessa with a series of blows from her fists and elbows, trying to keep too close to let that weapon be useful

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Cory rolls with the impact (so to speak) and throws Xiaomu at Hisoka. Okay, it's not THAT illogical a move, although the sage fox can't line herself up to make sure she hits Hisoka hard enough to make a difference.

... and then Hisoka *catches* Xiaomu, and goes so far as to *throw her right back at Cory*.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY NUTS?!" the increasingly-upset sage fox explodes - and suddenly her staff is being jammed into the ground beneath her as she flies; she gets the angle and her grip JUST right to swing around on her staff like Rey Mysterio dialing in his finisher -

Although unlike the American luchador, Xiaomu's trying to plant her feet in Hisoka's face, rather than her knees or anything else friendly to kayfabe.

Hit or miss, the sage fox 'dismounts' to plant her feet on the ground and retrieves her staff, wobbling a little. "Cory, teach this clown some respect, will ya?"

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Seems that the rude man has some defensive skills in addition to the offensive ones, huh? Medusa chuckles sinisterly as she gives chase on her broom, guiding the motion of the black arrows with her arm as they attack Bitter. And when his trenchcoat tears and his rather monstrous arms show? She can't help but arch an eyebrow at the sight, as well as the sound. "Well well well... and here people call /me/ creepy~?" she comments with no small degree of amusement. Though she does see him ready his weapon again, and she leers as she lets her broom drop down as Voidbane zooms by right above her. "I fear both of us could be fighting all day, dear... let's save that for another time, hmm?"

    With that said, the witch... turns her broom around and leaves? It certainly looks that way.

    Time has been bought for the Confederates today, and she's kept this man busy enough. After all, recovering from death is easier said that done.

Defiant (554) has posed:
     The fact that Defiant's blow doesn't skewer Tesla seems to cause Defiant a moment of brief shock. It allows for Tesla to nail him with the visor beam, punching through some weakened armor at his chest, and then straight out the other side. Falling to his knees, Defiant growls out something that's not quite a curse.

     And then, the cape rises, smoke curling from the hole in his armor, the hole that extends through numerous cybernetic enhancements. "Spare me the lecture," Defiant spits. "She didn't do anything to you! Or Saint! What's a few more deaths on my conscience?!" With a roar, Defiant hefts his spear.

     And hurls it like a javelin, right at Tesla!

     The gremlynx find it easy enough removed. The Birdcage was obviously built at various times with various schools of thought, much of the technology is modular and simple to remove. Oxygen scrubbers, some containment foam dispensers, atmospheric forcefields, sophisticated computer banks... Little in the way of security systems but, really, who needs them when there was no way in or out short of blasting the mountain apart?

     Teacher seems to be a fairly non-descript man in a sweater vest. Middle aged, receding hairline. Like his namesake, really. The Dragonslayers are busy retrieving him - and it looks like Teacher has been establishing quite the following inside there.

     Eidolon stands before Honsou, cape swaying in the breeze, hands raised. The arrival of the dreadnaughts and their cacophony of slaughter draws his attention and, for a moment, Eidolon appears paralysed. What will he choose - take time to stop Honsou at the cost of all those lives?

     Honsou finds Eidolon's weakpoint. More than anything else, the man wants to save people. He blinks out of existence and reappears atop one of the dreadnaughts, and focuses his 'vanishing' power, aiming to shift much - no, not all - of the dreadnaught elsewhere!

     The disabled dragoncraft full under the fusilade of Confederate firepower and, some of the capes, seem to decide that the battle is lost. Some are hailing Dragon frantically and getting no response, others are teleporting or flying away from the battle, some more continue to fight. But the battle isn't going well, and more and more forces keep appearing.

     Maybe those that are left can bloody the Confederate advance, however. Give them a black eye.

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    Hisoka MIGHT have been fast enough to dodge that kick, but he doesn't quite manage it. The agility and speed of the attack, not to mention the fine control, caught him literally off his guard. Besides, his momentum and his hands were fully committed to his own actions. He gets neatly kicked right in the face, though he SMILES after, seeming to not be in pain even as his face gets smeared by the attack. It only makes him smile more as he wades into punching range.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is getting the idea that Grendel is a brute she gets an idea this guy is just a monmster on two legs and she messes up? She's going to end up going down hard.

"Had the name before I even knew of your world existing. Still I wonder..."

She starts chanting now as she attemps to dance back golden runes surround her and is she speaking something akin to the local language of the space wolves home world? It could be but she's really mandling her noridc howver what happens he ends as she casts a light spell sending rays of light at the marine just as the chainsword cleaves into her she pulls back, craying out in pain but there's no blood. There's a horrible distortion of her body though wireframes appear at the point of impact and worse it's not recovering it's tearing through the living digital construct of this body.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory, too, is a bit astounded by the abilities Hisoka's displaying. "... No way. A psychic clown?!" the sheer absurdity of what she's looking at has lead to one hell of an expression. Her face is scrunched and screwed up between critical disbelief and amazement.

    But then Hisoka decides to go after Xiaomu and leaving Cory to herself.

    "That and more!" With another enthusiastic SLAM of knocking her fists together, she swiftly gathers Ki. The White aura she's been sporting smoothly shifts to a faint shade of red, then... "KAIOKEN... TIMES TEN!" It IGNITES into a roaring crimson fury.

    All of a sudden her movements become so speedy it's like she weighs NOTHING at all. This is untrue of course - she has around a thousand and a half pounds of weights under that Gi weighing her down, but it ain't affecting her too much NOW.

    Especially as she goes for the biggest ELBOW STRIKE to the gut this battle will probably see. WHAM!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
It doesn't take Xiaomu long to regain her equilibrium, and hopefully Cory's elbow strike will buy her that time. The sage fox is still a little off-kilter, though - and she's waiting to see if that elbow lands or not before she gets into striking distance of Hisoka.

Once that's been established, Xiaomu just raises her staff, the rings set into its headpiece jingling - and a wave of ice magic descends on Hisoka. Maybe not enough to freeze him solid, especially if Cory's still really close, but it should ice up his footing and leave him chilled to the bone ... hopefully.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
"As you wish..." Was his only reply to the woman before the battle commences yet again. For while the battle has been continuing on. Gaius has still found himself tangled up with a Titan, with neither wishing to withdraw from this match and both perhaps blind to the status at hand given if either one probably looks away or loses focus-- it could be the end for either one.

However Gaius takes that chance to check and it does cost him. A fist from Alexandria comes and manages to knock aside the Black Wolf's arm. The sheer force enough to cause his hand to lose his grip and the next blow, knocking him back. The Garlean Legatus impacts the ground in a roll, before he manages to roll back up his feet in a three prong crouch as he slides back.

Instead of picking up his sword though, he then stands tall and fires three rounds from his left gauntlet of plasma explosive in attempt to knock Alexandra back, before rushing in as the lines on his armor glow as it pulls in more power.

With a roar, he leaps forward and then goes to drive his fist, being empowered by the Ceruleum charge to slam into the powerful foe he has been facing. The fist rearing back with enough impact force to punch though steel. It was a gutsy move to make with such a dead woman, but maybe it would drive home the point.

She had already lost and this was now just a battle of pride.

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    No blood? No blood? The war spirit of the chainsword shrieks in impotent rage as it bites into the Alf and recieves nothing for its effort. No hot, slick, red life to coat its mechanisms, soak its gears, and slake its bloodlust. And with nothing to appease it, Grendel's chainsword shuts down out of sheer spite. This of course earns a curse from the Marine. But he doesn't need the weapon to co-operate. It still has razor edged teet. "Well come on 'Iron Lily'." Spat as he swipes the de-activated sword again. "Are you going to give me a fight or bore me to death?"

    The Dreadnoughts start pounding the walls. At least until Eidolon tries to make them disappear. And in the blink of an eye eight of them are gone, Two can't do the job as effectively, and it earns a shrug of heavy shoulder guards.

    Elsewhere, thousands of worlds away, a Dreadnought emerges with a heavy CLANK upon another world. The ground shakes, overgrown trees rustle and snap under immense weight as a gigantic tyrannosaurus rex pokes its head in curiously, before roaring at the insane chaos war machine looks up at it. And roars back while revving its siege drill.

    "I AM THOR-AXE THE IMPALER. AND I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU MY BITCH."

    "Touche." Honsou concedes.

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    Hisoka's never heard of Kaioken, times ten or otherwise. The sudden surge in Cory's nen aura catches his attention however. "Reinforcement." he says with a knowing look, before wading in. He doesn't have to know the name of her technique to recognize its nature in his own world's terms.

    He trades blows with Cory, having assessed the relative threat of her and Xiaomu and deciding to spare as much attention as possible for the Sage Fox. Not that Cory's weak, but as a Reinforcement user she's more easily predictable. He pounds several bruising blows at the Saiyan, taking the elbow in return and being slammed a few feet back. Even so, as much as that hit should hurt, he doesn't so much as grunt in pain. It's like he feels literally nothing despite being obviously injured.

    He's about to retaliate when the ice begins to form. "Transmuter." he says, beaming a broad smirk. NOW he understands Xiaomu, or thinks he does. Now he just has to defeat her power.

    Still moving towards Cory when the ice begins to grip him, Hisoka slips and falls. Only not entirely. He lands, fingers pressed to the ice, then sliiiiiides over the ice in a one-armed push-up position, his toes and fingers supporting and balancing him. As he reaches the edge of the ice with those fingers, he pushes up and balances on one hand before turning the vault fully, handspringing at Xiaomu. He's slightly slowed by the ice, but the attack could by no means be considered *slow* as he launches himself feet-first at her.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Now one Gremlynx isn't very strong on its own. However when you get a horde of them working together, it's like a pack of ants and able to move large bulky pieces of equipment with startling proficency. All while hissing and yowling at each other in their indecypherable meowling language, some clearly the 'leader' of groups growling instructions at the others. They're almost entirely focused on the technology heist, but should any escaping supervillains follow they are an easy lead out of what's left of the structure.

Rebound literally hurtles herself at Lunessa, despite the gunfire. That plus a kangaroo's power at jumping catchs the bionic wolf woman offguard, and a fist slams into her face. Lunessa whirls away with the blow, snarling as she comes back about to face, and a bit of... something that is quite clearly not blood dripping from her mouth. However once she's got her bearings back she's quick to react, kippuping out of the way of the kick that follows. "Fine, if you want to play that way..." Electricity arcs between the blades on the back of her hands, and she rushes back at Rebound with the 'claws'.

Despite his injuries Defiant's aim appears true, and there is a sickening rending sound of the spear tearing through metal.

Unfortunately for the Cape it is not Tesla shiskabobbed upon his weapon, but the hulking form of Shardcore that had slammed down in front of her at the last possible moment, halting his own attacks to protect his creator. The warmachine hunkers over, a massive hole torn through his middle section due to not having the fancier extra protections Tesla took for herself. Since he can just be rebuilt later, afterwards. But for the attack now, Shardcore has been disabled.

But his sacrifice allows Tesla to step around his off-line form. "Now you see that? That is how an AI is suppose to act. Dedicated, unwavering, only fufilling the purpose one was created to do so. And you..."

A power gauntlet clamps around Defiant's neck, it's augmentations allowing her to easily lift him off the deck. Her eyes flare behind her visor, and depending on how aware he is he can probably feel the joints of his own power armor locking up courtesy of her technopathic powers.

"How does it feel, to be only broken and alone once more? As easily as I could just end your life here and now..."

A pause.

And then Tesla chucks Defiant over the railing and off of her machine, knowing her jamming of his armor will last at least long enough he won't be able to use it to break his fall any.

"That would deny you of having to live with everything you have to suffer now."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
'Thinks he understands Xiaomu' turns out to be the relevant version of Hisoka's train of thought, because the sage fox quickly demonstrates that she's not to be underestimated. The somersault is easy to see coming, and the flying kick which comes out of it was fairly predictable as the next step from it.

So Xiaomu does the comparably obvious thing and jabs her staff's headpiece, as hard as she can, at Hisoka's presumed dangly bits - with ANOTHER wave of ice magic for good measure, but this strike is primarily physical.

Defiant (554) has posed:
     Alexandria laughs - it's a harsh, mocking sound as Gaius falls back under her assault. "It seems like one of us isn't going to see another day - and it's not me." She breaks into a run, charging after Gaius - only to eat a trio of plasma rounds squarely in the chest.

     Alexandria the Invincible, sure. She's strong, tough, nigh-invulnerable - but not immune to physics. The blasts knock her back, although she bends with the roll and climbs to her feet.

     Just in time for Gaius' fist to meet Alexandria's cheek.

     Alexandria's head snaps back under the blow and her face twists in an expression she hadn't felt in years - pain. Grimacing, Alexandria goes flying through the air, through a rocky outcropping, and coming to rest against a dragoncraft wreck with a loud clang. She staggers to her feet, and spits blood from her mouth.

     Alexandria eyes Gaius with hatred, her helmet askew. The ground ripples beneath her feet and, evidently, she decides that it might just be best to run for it. Maybe she's not brave enough to fight someone who can actually hurt her?

     Having vanished the majority of the siege dreadnaughts, Eidolon floats above the battlefield. He's tiring. Honsou might be able to see it in the hunch of his shoulders, the heavy rise and fall of his chest. Those are some impressive powers, sure, but who knows if he can keep that up for as long as he did. And, just like that, Eidolon blinks out of existence, heading elsewhere.

     Two members of the Triumvirate, two of the biggest names of Defiant's world, have /withdrawn/. Maybe for the first time ever!

Defiant (554) has posed:
     Defiant shouts out some incoherent triumph as he hears and /feels/ his spear bite into Tesl- No, something else. A machine, his spear having impaled it, and not even all the way through. Tesla can hear the deep, eletronically-modulated breaths that sound from Defiant's helmet. He squares himself up, fists clenched, at Tesla's approach.

     He's weak, grief-stricken, and his blows don't connect. Tesla has him in her clutches, powered gauntlet grasping him by the neck. Even in his full armor, she heaves him off his feet. He's already engaging the nanothorn fields in his legs, but Tesla silences his armor. Nothing responds.

     "Then do it," Defiant spits, true to his namesake to the very end, "Kill me."

     And then he's falling. The only further sound he makes is the dull 'thud' when he hits the ground, so very distant below.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    The blades are sparkling with electricity, and Rebound knows damn well she's not immune to that. She ducks one and then goes to parry the second, only for the energy to arc from Lunessa to her, giving her a jolt through her system. She grunts and drops to a knee in surprise.

    Down on her knee, though, she sees an opporitunity, as she shifts to take Lunessa down with both of her legs at once, to pull the cybernetic wolf off her feet. Rebound is a gold medalist in martial arts, after all. She knows how to take advantage of situations like this. Assuming she gets the wolf off her feet, she's going to grab one of those legs and try to snap it, after all, knees aren't meant to bend in that direction. Though robot knees might be, she's never fought a robot before.

Cory (768) has posed:
    This is DEFINITELY the first time Cory's encountered someone with this kind of... ARTISTRY in a fight. Her soul SINGS witht he joy of a good brawl when Hisoka proves to be an apt meleeist. She's quick to engage him in a few rounds of flying fists and feet... and comes out of it with a few bruises from blows that got through her guard. She ends up backflipping grandly... and unfolding IN MIDAIR.

    Yup, back to flying again. "Watch out, foxy!"

    Well, warning Xiaomu is going to give Hisoka a heads-up naturally, but she doubts he can just shrug off what she has in mind even if he knows about it.

    If he CAN, well, that'll be impressive.

    There's a brief moment during which the girl smirks, but in the next ALL of her focus is on hyper concentration. Both fists take up spots at her waist, then... "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAYAY!!!"

    She alternates thrusting them out and pulling them back in like a flurry of punches, unleashing a stream of rapid-fire tiny blasts. A single one goes off like a small grenade should it hit anything, and there's a CONSTANT STREAM of them now bearing down on Hisoka!

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    Eidolon withdraws, leaving Honsou looking rather smug. While he feels somewhat cheated out of what probably would have been an enjoyable fight for him he'll accept that much as he turns back to his siege works, just in time to watch the rest of the battle. He's done his part. "Alright, I guess I've had my fun for the century." He grunts to himself."

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia leans over the railing a moment afterwards, staring down coolly at Defiant's form hitting the sands below. "Not to mention death would just be the easy way out for you. Something you definately do no deserve." And with that she turns and walks away from the edge, heading into the deeper portions of the partially disabled weapon platform.

The Birdcage was broken open, the criminals within free to do as they wish. The heroes of this world, even with the Union's aid, had been unable to fully stop the Confederacy. Defiant has been disabled for now, Dragon has been dealt with, the Dragonslayers had their mentor and probably new allies following him as well.

Chaos sowed, social structure upheaved. Mission success as far as her perameters were conserned. That the Gremlynx were successful in their hijacking of technology from the facility was just a bonus perk.

Lunessa hits the deck hard as her legs are whipped out from under her and bent at a bad angle. The fact that Rebound has the superior strength of a mutant does a nasty number even with the biomechanical augmentations the she-wolf has, earning a string of cussing that is mainly into her comm. Sometimes being designed to mimic the pinnacle of biological capability fused with technological strengths isn't an advantage.

That she's not completely out of the fight though is. "Time for you to get off." Lunessa deploys her shoulder cannons... but instead of shooting Rebound directly she uses them to blast the portion of deck between them, blowing it out and dumping the roo off the craft.

As once the Gremlynx have their loot on board there's a clatter and hissing from releasing locks as it simply discards its legs instead of trying to uproot them, converting the rest of the craft into an aerial transport to depart with tonight's victories.

Tomoe has posed:
Things were not going well sadly for those trying to keep the super villain prison locked down. She does however fin that she's not bleeding sh'es clearly in pain however. IT's clearly hurt her and she now has an opening. She had her spear she looks at him for half a second then Rushes him engaging an sword tech of som3e sort as her Naginata's plade seems top burst into flames as she launches into a combo of strikles at a faster speed then before.

"No that's not my intent..."

She keeps attacking rapidly and then attempts to dance away playing a dangerous game of keep away but this may end very badly for her.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    The snap of the knee is quite satisfying for Rebound. She leaps back up to her feet, only to have the ground under her feet blasted out from under her. She falls through the hole, scrambling to try to grab something, but missing and falling. She'll probably land hard, but she'll survive the fall.

    She's not going to let this stand, though. She's going to have her revenge on Lunessa and Tesla someday.

Hisoka (799) has posed:
    Were Hisoka in the mood to continue to rate powers, he might well consider Cory's attack Emission. Nen is a very powerful, very flexible system. It even accounts for someone whose primary strength is Reinforcement throwing a solid Emission attack. In the end though, different worlds, different rules. He doesn't need to describe everything Xiaomu and Cory do, so long as he is close to understanding their primary ability and their natures.

    Hisoka twists his body even while in midair, trying to avoid impaling himself on Xiaomu's staff and if possible avoid her ice aura as well. Of the two attack types, it seems to him that the aura's the more dangerous. That probably comes from his assumption that she's a transmuter, not an enforcer like Cory. Then again it could just as easily be that he's more concerned about being slowed down than of being injured.

    Indeed, Hisoka's weird agility and movements seem to make him almost defy physics. His body, in that somersault, seems to move more than simple gravity and momentum would make possible. He doesn't fly like Cory, but he doesn't seem entirely normal either. Which should surprise no one, really. End result is he sweeps past her rather than impaling his janglies on her weapon, using a foot to nudge the staff aside so she can't redirect it anywhere vulnerable. He hits the ground near Xiaomu, rolls, comes upright, and is abruptly assaulted with ki grenades.

    It's hard to tell how much damage those grenades do, due to the blast effects themselves. Hisoka's nen protects him from the worst of the blasts though, and after the first few concussions he dives to one side, away from Xiaomu and away from the stream of explosions. As Cory continues to pour out ki attacks he continues to move and withdraw, easily able to outdistance the attacks.

    In moments, he's a dozen paces away. Moments more, twice that. He smiles and waves, directing the wave at both humanoid girls. "You two aren't worth trying to kill here." he claims. Not dismissively though. Others weren't worth fighting, and he killed them without a moment's hesitation. These two are interesting and, whether he feels them an equal match or not, they're not people he wants to murder. Yet. "Take care, little banana, little peach~" he says.

    And no. Even as he withdraws, there's no hint given which of Xiaomu and Cory is the banana and which is the peach.

Warsmith Honsou (812) has posed:
    Grendel, like many Space Marines that have fallen to Chaos-- or not- suffers from a terrible affliction.

    Arrogance.

    Too busy chuckling darkly and assured of his victory, Tomoe's sudden surge and charge catches him utterly off guard. "What?!"

    The result is that the immense bulk of the Iron Warrior is put on the back foot, slashes raking his armor, a fresh wound slashing skin and adding to the already patchwork mess of scars that makes up his face, before he's flung backwards.

    Honsou simply steps aside as his lieutenant sails by him.

    "Grendel that's enough. We've had enough for the day. Everyone back on the Warbreed. I want my Dreadnoughts back."

    Looks like the Iron Warriors are going to be pulling out.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Gaius Van Baelsar watches as Alexandria leaves. He staggers a step, before he looks upward for a moment. His right hand he used to punch her like he did, flexes open and close, the armor creaking in protest for the hard hitting smack down.

Would that be the last time he see the female hero or would she one day come back for a round two, he was unsure, but at least he was able to keep her busy and out of the way. The Legatus then walks over to reach his Gunblade from the ground, pulling it free and resting it once more against his backside, before he at last walks through the blue fire to check on everyone else and the mission itself...

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
To be fair (hahaha) to Hisoka, Xiaomu wasn't actually trying to 'impale' anything - she was going for a blunt force strike; if she'd wanted Hisoka to bleed then she would've drawn her sword, or maybe gone for one of her handguns.

Be that as it may, Hisoka manages to elude her strike - gods alone know *how* - and while he takes some pummeling from Cory's assault, it's far from enough to take him down. And then he has the unbridled temerity to *nickname her* as he's retreating.

Xiaomu's only real comment at this point is a VERY angry growl ... but there isn't much of anything else she can do. The Birdcage was well and truly breached, the rest of the Union forces have largely gotten pummeled - the sage fox is one of the lucky ones on that front; she's not unscathed but her wounds are fairly light - and in general, the fighting seems to be over. Xiaomu turns to make sure Cory is basically all right, then starts towards one of the Union rallying and withdrawal points as quickly as she can go.

She still can't believe the Confederates interrupted a boss fight for THIS. Roundly and thoroughly kicking their backsides for it would have made it a little less frustrating.