Zurean Invasion: Search and Rescue

[Seasons of Music]

"I'm fine... I just need some time to absorb energy and i'll be fine. Really. I've probed the area. There doesn't seem to be any hostiles here, unless those invisible humanoids turn out to be our enemies."

Jasper pushed himself up to a sitting position, back leaning against the ruined pillar.

Maybe i shouldn't have exerted myself like that. My energy level will probably not return to my maximum capacity anytime soon.

Whatever. It was most probably worth my effort. Afterall, this is the first translation of this attack from theory into reality. Those dragons seemed pretty powerful. Now that they're gone, Kamin and Sol should be able to hold the fort.

Wait, let me take a peek.

Jasper's mind blanked itself out. In the place of the stray thoughts, there came an image of hostile troops making their way to the hangar.

Crap.

"Kamin, are the three humans (i assume) deeper inside the rescue squad? Because i think Sol and you will be required to defend this place. There is an extremely high probability of us being surrounded and this place being bombarded.

Could you aid me in recovering my energy?"

I should begin my calculations now, if not i will not be in time to finish it.

Running through Jasper's mind was information like no others have ever seen before. Input from his clairvoyance was quickly run through a series of calculations. He began the time consuming process of kinetic pumping.

It's hard to concentrate without energy. I hope that no hostiles will interrupt this.

(OoC: 111th POST )

[NPC Controller 3]

Catherine Ludwig Bostock, R.T. Vehicle Hire-Purchase Co. Ltd.[/u]

"I'm in here, good thing, too, so I don't have to eventually resort to drinking this carton of spoilt milk here."

Standing up from where she had been sitting, she dusted off her coat and made her way out of the pantry, to come face to face with three most peculiar individuals.

A man in a runic blue robe, and two females, one a mighty warrior, and the other seemingly a shy maiden, though it wasn't too difficult to tell that she was far more than that.

"Thank you for coming, for that I am most grateful. Shall we depart?"

[Phagetthree]

"The pleasure has been ours, my lady. There has been a minor skirmish by elements of the enemy with the other half of our forces below, but I'm confident that it has been dealt with."

Fishing out the compact device that would summon the mighty beast of transport again, Faranella figured that the one and only button on it would probably perform that function, and so she jabbed it with her index finger.

Unaware that it was actually a two-way communications device, she passed it over to the Doctor.

"Will you help me hold on to this, please? Thank you."

Waving everyone on as she headed back down the way they had come, her grip on the Soul Keeper shifted uneasily as she eyed the mutation on her arm.

It's showing no signs of abating... What manner of curse is this?

[NPC Controller]

Catherine Ludwig Bostock

Eh, a communicator...?

"Uh, sure."

Catherine took the device from the thoroughly ironclad Faranella, unravelling and inserting its hidden earpiece into her left ear. The small device had been designed to be thoroughly tangle-proof, and was perfectly streamlined; as a result, people had had problems finding the speaker while on the move. Not for her, though - she used these a lot.

"Catherine Bostock, taking radio duty. Do you hear me, over?" She spoke softly into the mic.

The answer came almost immediately. "Loud and clear, Captain Bostock. So they've got to you then? Old fiesty woman, you really are."

Oh, I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Well well, if it isn't 1st Lieutenant Dagwood. Last time I saw you, you were still wearing diapers, too. What was it, two years ago?"

"Hey, I'm not the one stocking pads in the office pantry. Blitz Regia en route, eta 10 minutes. I'm bringing a few Pigeons with me, so get your stick ready...ma'am."

"Roger, over. And I know you keep that pink Care Bear in your closet drawer, so don't go thinking you've got one over me, Lieutenant."

The radio clicked off. Catherine pulled out a small handphone-like object from her pocket, then made after the others.

[schrodinger]

At least I've managed to do this much. At least I didn't put myself through that for nothing.

Backtracking through the hangar to where they'd entered from, Venser released a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding in when he saw Jasper up and about. They were nearing the entrance of the hangar now, where they'd originally split up when the dragons had attacked them, and he could see the other three members of their party standing amidst the remains of what he could only surmise were ex-dragons.

"Shall we make a move, then? Ms. Bostock is present and accounted for, and I think none of us are the worse for wear. At least, we won't be after some judicious healing here and there."

[Seasons of Music]

Calculations are complete.

Jasper formed a spherical air pocket with a radius 0.5 meters, preventing anything, be it particles or energy, from escaping. With his telekinesis, he began to agitate the air withing, forming a swirling ball of air. The air currents were obvious, as the dust within revealed the movements of the air.

Contamination

It doesn't look very serious though, afterall my calculations did work with some capacity for slight errors.

The process was what he termed "kinetic pumping". Japser continued to pump the air within with energy, exciting the particles within. The air molecules began to ionize, causing the air pocket to begin glowing with unnatural light.

It seems successful.

Plasma.

Japser compressed the plasma into a curved blade averaging 10.47m by 0.1m by 0.5m, which he swirled around his body.

It worked.

His mind devoid of the calculations he no longer needed, he had some remaining mental capacity to direct his ability to enhance his movements with telekinesis, aiding him in his movements because in his weakened state, he couldn't walk 100m without stumbling.

I need to heal soon, or my body condition will be exacerbated by overexertion.

"Could someone heal me now?"

[Mathus]

Some distance away from the hangar

Unknown to the team, a squad earth users had already surrounded the building from a distance.

"Strong enough to destroy the dragons eh? Troops, prepare to bury them!"

Placing their hands onto the ground, they waited for the signal.

"On my command, GO!"

And instantly the entire hangar was encased in a giant cube made of earth.

"Sink it now!"

The earth shakes as the giant cube slowly sinks into the ground, stopping only after the cube was completely submerged.

"Send in the dragons and deal with any possible interference while I get the commander."

---

"Erm, Sol? Yeah, seems like uh, Jasper helped us take out the dragons, so I think it's fine if you go ahead first. You're better than me for close combat - I'll cover our exit."

"Seems that we don't have to go any further, they've already found the target. Let's go back."

Turning to face the hangar entrance, he saw that it was completely covered with earth.

"What in the- Woah."

The sudden tremor threw him off-balanced. It last for a few minutes and Sol stood up.

"An ambush?"

Sol approached the sealed exit, but a stego-dragon grew out from the wall. Followed by another one, two normal dragons and a two-headed dragon.

"Looks like we are not done yet."

[Seasons of Music]

"An ambush?"

"Looks like we are not done yet."

"What the hell? Did they seal the entrance? Can we just break out of here?"

Jasper probed outwards.

What the hell? Just how much earth did they use to seal this entrance? I'm detecting more than 1km of earth blocking the entrance now!

Could it be....

We're all underground?

That explains the tremors.

Now what the hell?

It was then that he noticed some forms of mass that looked suspiciously like dragons penetrating the blockage as though they phased through it.

One, two, three four, five. What the hell? (OoC: JAKIRO! TWIN HEAD DRAGON FTW )

Five dragons? And we had so much problems dealing with three.

Perhaps it was better to see if the dragons were there only to intimidate and force their surrender, but Jasper did not feel like waiting for a chance to counterattack.

Offense is the best defense, afterall.

Like a coiled snake, the plasma which was snaking around his body like an over-affectionate cobra whipped out at over 500 meters per second, breaking the sound barrier almost instantaneously, which elicited a sonic boom not unlike a whip cracking.

The plasma was directed towards the massive earthen dragon which materialised first. It coiled around the dragon, before it contracted, aiming to reduce the dragon into multiple plates of earth.

The whipblade of plasma sliced through the dragon with hardly any resistance before it retracted and resumed its curling about Jasper's body. Pieces of stone and earth hit the floor amidst a cloud of dust.

Jasper quickly expanded his telekinetic shield which would automatically detect any physical objects whose movements were directed at the motley group of seven humans and reduce their velocity to zero.

Although if those dragons hurl themselves at the shield, I doubt I can hold them off.

"Venser! Sever their link to above ASAP! I can't protect us for long!"

[Phagetthree]

More dragons.

Faranella wished that the enemy would come to her in the form of demons, or at least humanoids, for she was far more accustomed to those. Dragons? Not so.

Whoever they are, they know we're trapped, and instead of facing us honorably in combat, they would rather send these golems, their puppets, instead.

They threaten us, attack us for no reason, and seek to sow nothing but chaos and destruction.

They are no different from what I've faced before, cowards and heretics.

Readying herself, she let adrenaline fuel her as she started to dash towards the largest dragon amongst them all, the two-headed one. As she neared it, she saw the others moving too, no doubt surprised by her audacity.

Ducking a clumsy swipe by the dragon, Faranella put a burst of energy into a forward lunge, bringing the Soul Keeper to bear as her armor too contributed its innate strength to her, which would give her swing extra momentum and power.

Her back towards the dragon with her sword arm across her chest, and in mid-air, Faranella twisted, severing one of the heads completely, and while she completed her twisting motion, brought up her left arm and punched the other head with full force, shattering it into rubble, yelling as she did so.

"THIS IS THE JUDGMENT OF THE RIGHTEOUS, SCUM!"

Landing on her feet, she wavered for a moment as she caught her balance, and summoned one of the Essences within her blade.

"LET YOUR MAKERS KNOW, THAT THE END OF DAYS IS UPON THEM!"

Caught up in her mad fury, she channeled the energy the Essence granted her into a massive explosion of might.

Retribution:

Strike all enemy targets within close proximity of her with energy from her empowered armor and weapon, dealing high amounts of damage but consumes a Soul Essence.

With the two-headed dragon completely wiped out from existence, Faranella turned her gaze to the other four, no, three, as another had been cut to neat slabs by a shimmering coil of energy.

Not noticing the that the blight had crept some distance up her arm, she bellowed to her allies.

"Come, then! Let us be rid of them and find a way out!"

[schrodinger]

"I'm not sure I understand you, Jasper, would you care to be a little clearer!?"

Jasper's inscrutable order was punctuated by the sound of multiple large lizards straining against his shield, which Venser found to be decidedly not conducive to their discussion - and rather worrying, to boot.

Clearly not. I'll do you one better, compadre.

The facts were these: The dragons were magical in nature - a fairly obvious observation, one might remark, but it meant something to Venser that they had been summoned or otherwise magically created, because that placed them under the purview of several laws governing their existence and conduct. Laws that he knew inside and out.

The dragons had a master, of course they had a master, that was plain to be seen from their unnatural aggression towards the unlucky seven, but that implied that somewhere in their inner workings, in the unseen contract that bound their beings to this world, was a name, a person, with the power to command them as he (or she, indeed, magic was an equal opportunity kind of thing) wished.

Now the plan was (as Venser mused to himself, having rapidly deduced the aforementioned facts as soon as he'd laid eyes on the dragons) to find that name, and replace it with his own, giving him ownership and therefore control over the unruly behemoths. Ambitious, unorthodox (the same laws of magic also allowed him to forcibly extradite them from this world with the proper spell), but most certainly very effective. And also very much within his means.

Taking advantage of their momentary standstill, he dug deep within one of the dragons (not the one Jasper had ravaged, nor the one Faranella had assaulted, what would be the point of that?), searching for that name, sifting through the various properties and features of this particular dragon. To his trained eye, magical creatures looked like moving wireframe blueprints, their individual components highlighted to him as he gazed at them.

Hmm.

It was called a 'stego-dragon', apparently, the work of an impossibly imaginative naming committee, and it was truly a marvel to behold. It would be an even greater marvel to own, however, and Venser set to work erasing the name of its current master, replacing it with his own, but taking special note of the fellow, because he really had to swing by some day and congratulate him on his handicraft (and talent in naming creatures).

Done.

He checked off against the numerous confirmations required to finalize the change ("Have you read the terms and conditions of this being, and do you accept them?" Yes, even though he had no idea what they were. "Are you sure you want to alter this field?" Yes, why else would he have bothered?), and disengaged from the dragon, now standing inert and servile, its eyes taking on the cerulean shine of his spellwork.

No words were exchanged between him and his newfound servant, and none were needed, for it responded to his mental command with aplomb, slamming the remaining dragons into the walls with its bulk and tearing into one with its teeth. Much as he enjoyed watching the mandibular mangling, Venser realised this probably precluded the possibility of him gaining control of that one.

Oh well.

"Everyone, don't attack the one with the blue eyes! It's on our side!"

[Seasons of Music]

Always the unexpected. Venser seemed to be adept at managing the unthinkable. Somehow, with a method unbeknownst to him, Venser had managed to wrest control of one of the dragons, turning it against the others.

"You've gotta be kidding me! Please teach me about magic!"

Jasper exclaimed loudly, just how a typical brainless teenager would, albeit being one who was ostensibly infinitely more adept at brain usage.

"Even if we destroy these dragons, we still have to get out of here! By the way, we're stuck underground."

The dragons straining against his shield which was impeding their mobility began to tire him out.

I can't keep this up anymore

"Shield's down!"

Just like how a Star Wars fan would phrase it

His subconscious noted this fact, before moving on to dispel his telekinetic shield.

While the remaining two dragons under the enemy's control were pounded by a seemingly more intelligent converted dragon, Jasper gathered the plasma, before rocketing the glowing ball upwards through the ceiling and up almost a 100 meters, clearing ground level before falling back and curling around Jasper. However, this let loose an avalanche of soil and rock, which tumbled towards everyone's heads, threatening to bury them alive. Cracks on the ceiling spread out like horizontal lightning, while earth began falling, as though the giant maw of a monster has begun to close.

"If we are to escape we'll have to do it fast! I'm afraid I made a mistake!"

Maybe I should have let Venser teleport us out or something. This is getting bad. The light at the end of this vertical tunnel seems to be worse than if it were a train.

(OoC edit: Jasper rapes himself first so that he doesn't have to spend time upgrading his phone's dick software.)

[Mathus]

"If we are to escape we'll have to do it fast! I'm afraid I made a mistake!"

Great, now it's raining debris. Just what we need to make things more difficult.

Retreating further into the hangar for cover, Sol decided to just support the team with range attacks.

Let's see, I should try out that new weapon I was planning to use.

Replaced his weaponry with a bladed bow and some explosive arrows. He took aim at the nearest normal dragon's head and shoot.

I think that's what Kamin did that destroy the previous one.

Upon contact, the arrows obliterate the head, leaving behind a dead headless dragon. Noticing that it had suddenly stop raining debris, he shifted his sights to the hole that Jasper created only to find that it is slowly resealing itself. Deciding that the destruction of the dragons was a higher priority than escaping, Sol prepare to take aim at the currently regenerating 'stego-dragon', but then he noticed that more dragons had enter the hangar to replace the fallen ones.

So, they intend to trap us here till we ran out of energy and die huh?

[Carillus]

Oh god.

A maddening rush of elemental dragons was coming in from the roof, a commendable - if slightly worthless, since Venser had already somehow managed to find a way to bring them under his control - effort to overrun them with sheer numbers.

Kamin clicked her tongue impatiently, an extremely calm move for a person who was getting rather extremely frustrated with the ridiculous jail cell of a hangar they had found themselves boxed in and a host of magical constructs that were about as smart as hamsters.

I mean, seriously, if they want to see what real magic is like, by golly I'll show them.

"I can't take this anymore. We're leaving this place - through the damn front door."

Kamin seethed through her teeth.

These damn dragons were in the way. She pointed a finger at the closest, and uttered a quick incantation under her breath.

No more finesse, I'm breaking out with raw power and I'd sure like to see what you can do about it.

The surroundings dimmed as magical energy from the surroundings was drawn into a rapidly glowing ball of light at her fingertip.

"Irefir convecta Ssivam, Ucefs hist Rapas!"

The ball leapt from her hand and then exploded, sending a huge shockwave of magical energy searing through the air. It was a magical attack designed to counter only elemental magic familiars - light was, after all, the purest element in certain theological circles - and this it did perfectly well, sending the numerous dragons slamming into the walls of the hangar. Oh sure, they were still in one piece - but now that the Band of Misfits was temporarily free of dragons breathing down their necks, she could put her plan into action.

Kamin quickly turned to the people around her.

"Alright people, I'm sick of this dumb game. I'm going to punch us right through the ceiling all the way to the surface, but I'm going to need your help."

"Jasper, I need a TK ball shield just large enough to get us all inside. Just strong enough to survive, oh, ten meters of reinforced concrete. Step on it, we don't have time.

"Venser, if you don't mind. I'll need you to trace my next magic, and help me duplicate and, if possible, triplicate its power.

"Sierra, I'm going to need you to help Jasper keep us in one piece by creating a water wall above us later.

"Sol - uh, don't break anything.

"Faranella - I'll need time, so please help me to hold the worms off in the meantime.

"Ms Bostock - Tell Blitz to position herself right above our coordinates. I'll fly us right in her back door."

Kamin raised her rifle in the air once more - a rallying call that seemed to have become her signature, though its real rallying power was questionable at best.

"Any other better suggestions? If there aren't any, we'll go with this."

[Seasons of Music]

"Any other better suggestions? If there aren't any, we'll go with this."

"My body condition is steadily deteriorating and I don't think I can withstand the force from an impact with the roof. Furthermore, my ability is powered differently, as it is the opposite of any magical power, therefore there isn't anyone here who can power me up, so to speak. Perhaps it would be more prudent to get Sol to build us an aerodynamic capsule?"

With these words, Jasper launched the plasma ball upwards again. This time, it merely created a crater about 10m in radius, before falling. Jasper directed the falling plasma at the dragons by exerting a small amount of force in their general direction. The glimmering sphere of ionized air burst against a couple of dragons, losing its form and splashing across the ground. Jasper released the plasma from his control, conserving energy for their escape.

Taking a couple of steps towards Kamin, Jasper gestured at the others.

"Unless you intend to bubble and hearth, get over here quickly!"

[schrodinger]

"Less whine, more spine, amigo. Ask Sierra for healing if you're feeling peaky, but don't let it cripple you. Under these conditions, deadweight is dead useless."

Pulling energy from deep within himself, Venser broke his concentration to snap at Jasper, irritated at his protests. "Body condition" this, "powered differently" that, the pillock had any number of excuses to shirk his task - even when failure meant an unpleasant and imminent end to their continued existence.

Perhaps you should have thought ahead and not blown all of your load in one place, blockhead!

But speaking of blockheads, there were a few more of them that he was concerned about. Maybe they'd actually listen, too.

"Look at me."

He didn't raise his voice, but his message carried across the cramped confines of their pseudo-grave, borne to his audience on susurrations of magic. His words, designed to seize magical constructs specifically, went unheard (and therefore ignored) by those around him, but on the dragons the effect was far more noticeable.

They were on him. It was on.

Drawing on as much power as he dared, he flung his mind in several directions at once, tearing into their cores, undoing their rudimentary notions of loyalty, of duty, rewriting whatever sentience they might have possessed into unthinking obedience to their new master. Him.

Mine, you're mine, bastards -

It was agonizing, it was arduous, it was solving complex equations written on juggling balls bouncing off the walls a web of thought as strong as steel

It was over in a second.

It felt... good.

A fleet of behemoths knelt at his feet, and he exulted in the sensation of triumph, drinking in their unquestioning servility, their silent thrall. A trickle of moisture on his lip. He hadn't noticed the nosebleed or the pounding behind his eyes, but the moment he realised their existence, it was as though they'd been there forever. No matter. Pain was in the mind. All in the mind. He just had to find his center and it would all go away. All away.

Taking a ragged gasp of air (he'd been holding his breath and hadn't even known it) and stifling the flow of blood with a handkerchief (his pockets were always equipped for such an eventuality), he walked towards Kamin, convincing himself that he was staggering only slightly (in the same way a drunk would feign sobriety for dignity's sake).

"Take your time, Ms. Kamin. They're in no hurry."

Neither was he, but if it came to that he could do his part whilst half-asleep - replicating spells was hardly an intensive task. It was just... the goddamned pain.

[Phagetthree]

"At your command!"

Faranella turned to face the oncoming dragons, only to realise that they were under some kind of trance, tracing their "gaze", she saw they seemed to be looking at Venser, but no hostility could be detected within their movements.

"... and I don't think I can withstand the force from an impact with the roof..." Rambled a more recent addition to the team.

Yelling across the hangar as Faranella jogged back to their side, she slung her sword and prepared herself. She couldn't help but note that Venser was acting a little... odd, but put it out of her mind.

"I will cast the shield, then! I can only hope it will hold out as well as you hoped that his will."

Drafting her leftover adrenaline into providing additional energy for her new task, Faranella's brow knitted in concentration as she channeled the vast energy required through to her sword hand. Slowly, but surely, the golden glow intensified and she once again projected a shimmering globe of gold around the team, and just to be sure, she drew another Essence from her blade, reinforcing the shield and giving it a more solid appearance.

"The shield is up, but how will we escape? The ceiling is so high..."

Gauntlet still up and maintaining the shield, Faranella gazed upwards at the top of their confines. Though her new found comrades also worked relatively well as a team, she couldn't help but reminisce about her former comrades and friends.

Will I ever return to my reality? Am I still able to?

Clenching her blackened fist, the relative quiet in the hangar proffered no answer.

[Carillus]

"'How will we escape', you ask?"

Kamin walked to the centre of the group, and motioned for the rest to press closer to her. Turning to Catherine, she enquired on Blitz Regia's position. Upon recieving the affirmative that yes, Blitz was currently directly above them, she turned to face the rest.

"This is how we escape. Venser, I'm counting on you."

With a few quiet utterances under her breath, she started to pull light and magic from the surroundings, the already dimly lit hangar steadily getting darker and darker as light quanta was steadily sucked into a tiny, sparkling disc that had been forming on the ground directly under her.

She felt Venser's probing catch her magic signals, and the signature crackling of the hairs down her neck as a harmonisation spell started to force-feed magic into her system, the thaumaturgical equivalent of a turbocharger. As the disc grew, a dim buzz started to make itself evident, not unlike the drone of a thousand vuvuzelas heard through a soundproofed wall.

Almost there...

Kamin's magic capacitance was already reaching its limit. Her head started to throb, her knees felt weak, she felt lighter than she ever had before. Wait for it... wait for it...

Now.

"Eccresto Delasica Vendolin Warschenct!"

For a moment, the buzz steadily grew. Then the disc exploded under them.

With all the force of a giant solid-fuel rocket, the massive beam of light magic below Kamin's feet shot the group toward the ceiling at an acceleration that would have put any vehicle the world had produced before to shame.

"Brace yourselves! Faranella, I'm counting on you!"

The shield slammed into the concrete ceiling, sending a massive shower of dirt and dust into the hangar. No doubt, at the surface, they would have experienced the equivalent of a magnitude seven earthquake.

The sudden deceleration upon contact jolted the entire group, but Faranella's shield was still holding. Pounding through dozens of feet of pure, compacted earth and concrete with brute force, Kamin steadily drilled through, willing Faranella to keep the shield going for as long as she could.

And finally, with a last burst, they were out. Kamin cut off her magic, with the entire group coasting hundreds of metres into the atmosphere, held together with nothing more than Faranella's shield. Blitz Regia was directly above them.

"Well then, we're out. I leave the rest to you." Kamin muttered to no one in particular.

She fainted.


OoC|| lol fail

[RaineScarlet]

((OoC: I'm back. >_> Just pretend that Sierra was spacing out by the hangar.))

Earth, then air. The group was freed from their underground prison, thanks to a near-suicidal attempt by Kamin, and now they were all flying towards the drop ship. Something told her that they were all in a dangerous position--flying without control, about to either crash into the drop ship above, or fall back down to earth.

Isn't this what they'd call a lose-lose situation...? Perhaps I may be useful after all.

Sierra frowned at the thought of putting her mutation to use, but decided that this wasn't a good time to resolve internal conflicts.

Come, spirits. Envelop us, protect us, guide us.

The moisture from the air around them condensed into wires of water and surrounded the group like a liquid ball of yarn, ready to move each group member like puppets. It was like flying, only they were suspended on the droplets of water that floated throughout the atmosphere. Sierra flexed her fingers, and the upper part of the yarn ball reach out to attach to Blitz Regia, and started to pull the group in slowly.

"Is everyone alright?" She asked, brows furrowed in worry. It was also her way is slyly breathing at everyone in order to heal them, since she could still feel restorative mana bubbling out each time she exhaled.

[Phagetthree]

Having borne the brunt of the feedback from having been blasted through layer upon layer of solid earth through her shield, Faranella felt far from okay at the end of it. Suspended half a mile from the surface, nausea nearly got the better of her as she gagged.

Something's coming.

With over a decade of experience perfecting and honing her martial prowess, both in and out of the battlefield, Faranella's instinctive sense of danger was far sharper than most others. Somehow managing to whip about while suspended, she brought up the shield again, just in time for a massive collision between it and a furiously whirling object that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Hrnn!! ...Gah!"

Already weakened from the previous encounter, her shield was no match for the projectile as it dissipated into forlorn strands of gold, while the object continued its course, straight for her.

She gasped as it impaled her left upper torso, shattering her breastplate as it drilled itself through, leaving a veritable spray of blood in its wake as it broke cleanly through her body, destroying her heart. Eyes wide with shock, trickles of blood adorned her face through her eyes, nostrils and wide, open mouth.

Having sustained enormous damage, her breastplate, or what was left of it, crumbled away from her body and hurtled toward the earth. Her mind unwilling to accept the present reality, she stubbornly stayed conscious, even with the ample amounts of pain wracking her body.

I... I-I've failed.

Just as it seemed that death would take her, the corruption refused to let go. Moving like fire on a field, it spread, crawling up the rest of her arm, up to the shoulder, and moved to cover the entire wound, regenerating it in a grotesque parody of a human body, where the latter would have been of healthy, wholesome skin and flesh, the former was a black mass, like a rotten tumor, but hard as steel.

Faranella could feel her gut wrench as the invasion rewired her insides, sealing off blood vessels, and rerouting them back to where her flesh was still whole, it even made a portion of itself into a heart, to keep her alive. Clearly, it did not want her dead, but she still felt very much in control as she instinctively flexed the arm.

A-Amazing! Even the apothecaries of the Order cannot perform such a miracle!

Looking at the Soul Keeper, she observed a strange phenomenon, there was an extra Soul in her blade, and only then did it strike her.

I'm dead...?

[NPC Controller]

Catherine Ludwig Bostock, 185th Digital

Surprisingly, after experiencing the vertigo of having been blasted at near-supersonic speeds through solid earth and floating, as she was, close to five hundred feet in the air, Catherine was feeling none the worse for wear.

Must have been all the gee-training back at base.

Just as she was contemplating the slightly disconcerting fact that Blitz was not below, but above them, and that gravity tended to work downwards, the sudden boom of supersonic air being rent through sounded painfully in her ears.

Behind...?!

She whirled around - or, well, as best as she could, given that she was floating and had close to zero control over where her flailing limbs would bring her - to see a massive mist of blood floating through the air, spray emanating from metres off to her right where Faranella, suspended by the force of what had most probably been the source of the sonic boom, was missing a good part of her torso.

Oh god no...!

Panicking, Catherine looked around, suddenly very aware that these people, all of whom she'd never even met, had just risked their lives - she could be dead, oh god - to rescue her from what would most likely have been a rather safe place to be for a while yet. She looked around dazedly, struggling, thinking of anything, anything at all that she could do.

We need someone to get her! Someone who can fly! Oh, what about the one who flew us out? - Wait, she's out. Oh god no, another one- He's bleeding...!

Hopelessness. That was what she felt. Hopelessness and wanton despair that these people had risked their lives just for her, and just a few moments before she had even been engaging in casual banter with Jennifer, like it was just another day at the office rather than a battlefield raging over land. Their land.

Strangely, the last thought was a calming one. Her raging thoughts settled, her mind cooled.

Yes. Cool down. Think about it rationally.

Floating five hundred feet in the air, she suddenly remembered that Jennifer had brought three Pigeons with her.

They've given their all to save me... now it's time to repay the favour.

[Blitz Regia, do you copy?]

[Loud and clear, Catherine. What's going on? I don't see you.]

[We're directly below you. I need you to split-S down to one hundred feet ASAP, below where you are now. Release the Pigeons for me, and hurry.]

A brief pause from the speaker that lasted all of a hundredth of a second.

[...Roger. Godspeed. Pigeons free.]

Catherine smiled gently, and opened the small handphone-like object she had been holding tightly in her grip.

Don't fail me now, little ones.

Pigeon 01 - NTRAF UAF-004 "Wasp" Unmanned Aerial Fighter

The familiar electronic transmissions that had been guiding the Wasp along with Blitz Regia was suddenly cut off. Temporarily blinded, the UAV searched for another beacon, waiting for further orders.

It recieved a response from a small transponder several metres below, and acknowledged by means of remote username and password full administrative control by a certain Catherine Ludwig Bostock.

Division: 185th Digital. Classified ability: SSS+. Full manual pilot acquisition granted.

The Wasp's AI-controlled mini-fins, placed within the air intakes and along the fuselage of the plane to stabilise the vehicle in the air, ran their system through a manual override, relinquishing all control to the subject who had taken over. This was not a built-in functionality: Somewhere along the lines, the dim AI of the Wasp had somehow associated the name "Catherine Ludwig Bostock" with "exceptional piloting skill", and had, on its own accord, provided this extra functionality.

The other Wasps in the Pigeon team, recieving the transponder signals as well, deactivated their artificial intelligence control in a quiet process that took less than two hundredths of a second.

The fuzzy logic program took over, preparing to absorb information from the sensors, preparing to take in as much data as it would be able to in this flight.

Even AI knows when it is truly outclassed.

[[OoC: From here, I dunno, someone follow up. She's a real good flier, but I'll leave what happens next to you guys. Don't wanna go doing all the shit now.

Yes, free reign to control what she does with her three UAVs within logical means and based on what she's thought so far, use her as support for your character if you will. Blitz is on her way down to a hundred feet.]]

[schrodinger]

Ah...better. Much.

As he breathed in the clouds of energy flowing from Sierra, Venser felt the throbbing in his head ease and whichever blood vessel had burst in his nose reknit itself, bringing his nosebleed to a halt. He was thankful for the salve to his suffering - spending the rest of their excursion with a migraine that felt like a perpetual lobotomy in progress was not his idea of a good time. Taking control of that many beings in one shot had taken more out of him than he'd expected, but it was well worth the effort.

He'd had to send his new pets underground, of course, to avoid becoming collateral damage in the wake of Kamin's improvised propulsion system, but they were better off down under anyway. He doubted they could do him any good when he was so far off the ground - decidedly out of their element, as it were.

He was in the midst of giving them further instructions when the proverbial shit hit the fan around him. A lance of some sort had found its way into Faranella, and she wasn't looking too good.

Wounded or worse. Kamin's unconscious, too. We have to get somewhere stable - this is no place for triage.

"Sierra, reel us into the plane now! Someone needs to attend to the injured immediately, and these aren't exactly ideal conditions for a medical examination."

So someone was out for blood. There would be time for reprisals, later, there would be time for the fallen to be avenged sevenfold. But right now, ensuring the safety of the group was paramount, because whoever had sent that first spear was still out there, ready to take more potshots at them.

[RaineScarlet]

Sierra swallowed nervously.

"W-will do," she answered Venser, and began to pull the group towards Blitz Regia.

The hole that had been blasted through her water barrier was slowly reconstructing itself. If they hadn't been so high up, where water was scarce, Sierra would have easily been able to intercept the lance, but as it stood, Faranella was gravely injured. Sierra wanted to heal her, but doubted that fainting in the middle of a song spell while being the one holding the group up in midair was a good idea.

"The drop ship... it needs to open," the Undine said. They were nearing the spot where the hatch would open. And while she waited...

Might as well gather more water around, just in case another attack occurs.

And soon, there was a cloud.

[Phagetthree]

Her mind reeling from the potential ramifications of her current situation, and still doubled over in pain, Faranella existed in a state of catatonic shock, eyes dilated and with blood still dripping from her face.

'Bodies without souls are the Undead, they do not feel emotion, nor pain, and most lose their cognitive functions along with most bodily functions, basically, they are walking corpses.'

Hours spent in attendance of sermons, lectures, and viewing texts in the library had given her a wealth of information about the undead, demons, and the like. But none of it could describe her current state.

'The Undead require a powerful sorcerer to direct them, more often than not, it is a necromancer, also the one to raise them in the first place. Without a guiding force, the Undead are useless, and revert to whatever primal instinct still remains in their mind, or simply collapse.'

Knowing that she was still in full control of her senses, actions and thoughts, Faranella could not recognize herself as an undead, even as her Soul glimmered mournfully on the Soul Keeper.

'However, there are greater forms of the Undead, those who still retain their free will, and all memories that were with them before being turned. These are usually either powerful spellcasters like liches and banshees, or great warriors that, through tremendous strength of will, resisted the call even while their bodies were twisted and deformed. Though repeated attempts by the summoner will eventually bind their allegiance to them, their thoughts and will are still of their own, and hence are usually assigned as lieutenants or field commanders. Luckily, these are rarely encountered.'

Faranella closed her eyes and concentrated, searching for a call, a beacon in the darkness, that might have been from the necromancer that had turned her.

Nothing.

Be rational! How could any necromancer even be here? And even if so, how would he turn you while you were in the air?

Finding no tell-tale call, Faranella rubbed her neck in confusion as she glanced down at the sword again.

The runes, they're gone!

Whatever that was left of her armor was now nothing more than ordinary reinforced plate armor, for the holy runes engraved on it had faded, leaving only the etchings behind. In her panic, she attempted a basic healing spell, but there was no golden glow, no spark of life.

In the time of my greatest need, the Goddess has abandoned me.

Filled with shock and betrayal, Faranella turned to her ancestor's spirits within the blade. Silently communing with them, seeking their advice, their comfort, their love.

Nothing.

The blade, a great reliquary of knowledge in its own right, was silent. Where once the spirits within were eager to help her and offer advice and strength, they now remained silent, unwilling to answer the call of the one they now felt was unworthy.

Even my ancestors, my family, has turned their backs on me.

Assaulted by various emotions at once, anger, sorrow, self-pity, and regret, Faranella acted amidst the maelstrom of anguish. In her spite, she drew upon the new strength the corruption offered her, and drained the souls from the blade, including her own.

If they will not lend me their strength, I will take it!

She could feel their power, see all their knowledge, and learned their experiences all at once. She tore each soul within her into shreds, absorbing all she could, except her own. Now corrupted by the ruinous powers she had gained, she pushed her own soul back into the blade, and it warped itself in response, becoming wickedly curved, a scimitar, in reflection of her new self. Once pure, now twisted.

Covered in blood, with streaks of it adorning her face, clad in dirty white armor except on her upper body and left arm, with a black, revolting mass for the aforementioned arm and part of her torso, Faranella was quite a sight.

Will my newfound comrades accept me for what I am now? Will I be able to keep my emotions in check, so as not to jeopardize them?

Eyes still downcast as the group coasted toward the transport, Faranella calmed down slowly, contemplating what she had become, and what she would be after.

An enigma.

[OOC: Will perform appropriate edits to character profile later.]

[schrodinger]

Alright. Almost to safety.

It wasn't completely safe, of course, but the inside of a plane was infinitely preferable, in terms of security, to being suspended an indeterminate distance above the ground by strings of water. As they neared the dropship, a hatch in its side swung open of its open accord, allowing them access to its interior, an offering that was accepted with great enthusiasm by the party as Sierra's knitting project hauled them in.

Venser breathed a sigh of relief once they were inside (much easier to do without the wind tearing at him) and took stock of their situation. Two out of three of the people who could actually heal in their group were out of commission, which made it a challenge to keep things together - but that was how he rolled, anyway. First order of business:raise the unconscious. When he was feeling a little more ambitious he'd try his hand at raising the dead, but one thing at a time.

Retrieving his hipflask from its holster, he held it up to the light and shook it, watching as the liquid within shifted hues.

Athelas extract - no, not for this application. Thistle tea - no, not recommended. Not captured sunlight, or distilled crystaldew, or synesthesium - where is it? - oh hey, that vintage Benedictine - no, not that either! Maybe if I were trying to get her into bed instead of out of it, but that's another story entirely.

Ah, there you are.

He'd found what he was looking for in the endless potion cabinet that was his hipflask - bottled life, guaranteed to restore vitality to anything short of a corpse (it was supposed to contain 1% by volume phoenix tears, but maker's guarantees being what they were, Venser was frankly doubtful about the veracity of this claim). Hopefully, he thought to himself as he cradled Kamin's head with one hand and tipped a measure of it into her mouth with the other, he hadn't cocked it up and mistaken amortentia for bottled life (it was possible, the two liquids were similar in appearance, if not in effect) - or the results were going to be disastrous, if amusing.

Here's hoping that Alchemy module I took paid off.

[Phagetthree]

Sitting in a cross legged position against one of the walls within the transport, Faranella's shoulders drooped as she held her sword in both ends, balancing its curved tip on the floor, and her head looking down at her legs, as if deep in prayer.

There's no turning back now, all that I've done, it is an unforgivable sin, I have desecrated the souls of my ancestors, discarded the mantle of my faith, and most of all, am living with a corrupting force that is steadily consuming my body.

Having recovered from her temporal fit, Faranella now suffered the deep pains one would feel in the chest, after having committed a regrettable act, and being able to do nothing to reverse it. No trace of the Goddess's blessing now remained within her, she was on her own, half amalgamated with a foreign curse and marooned in a reality that was all but alien to her.

Nothing I can do about it. I cannot turn back time, and nor would I do something cowardly like that to escape my problems. There is no time to deliberate, nor to plead, nor to despair. Time to move on.

Renewed with determination, Faranella cast her past deep into the recesses of her mind, it was nothing to her now, just as she was nothing to it.

Taking a glance about the transport bay, she could see that most of the group was already worn out from their exertions, Venser was bent over the angelic figure, Kamin, pouring a concoction of sorts into her mouth, while the frail girl, Sierra, seemed thoroughly exhausted.

Judging from that lance that came from nowhere, I can only conclude that we're a long way from being out of the woods. I hope we can gather ourselves in time, before we are set upon again by hostiles.

Walking over to a window, she peered outside, watching three strange, winged creatures flying alongside their transport. Looking past them, down below, she could make out the tops of buildings, but nothing else seemed to be coming to disturb them.