After hearing the screams of the first wave of apocreans he cut down, swarmbane forced Lyn to sheathe him. Leaving lyn with only her Winter Grave, Sarah, and her Grey Owlite Shield that came with her Heavenly Iron set when she obtained swarmbane.
"Crap, this is what I get for having a "living" sword," An apocrean struck Lyn in the back after she said this, "Crap, Sarah! Throw up a shield!" A heavenly bubble formed and pushed back the apocreans that were surrounding Lyn. But with so many attacking her, it wasn't going to last long, Lyn's eyes began to glow blue, so did her Winter Grave, she fired a charge shot that mowed down a group of apocreans, she rushed in pummeling devotees with the blunt end of her gun, slowly pushing her way away from the group. (Inadvertently) {Someone's gonna have to get her if you want her to come, her mother's pendant has thrown her into an energy powered rampage, if you don't get out quick.... Starstrike is gonna happen, and you'll be caught in the crossfire}
Outnumbered (RP). Anyone is welcome anytime.
(So, I just finished another hiatus, so what's happening in haven?)
[[@Tech-Star
It started here, or perhaps here. But basically, all knights have been teleported to an underground shelter situated in Haven after they were temporarily knocked out. The time is 8:00am.
Creos sent a troop of 50 Apocrean followers (which are technically now under the command of Syber) to attack the group, so when your character wakes up, you can just use the "sound of the incoming conflict" as an excuse to wake up your character and/or for investigating the noise via a Ladder which leads out of the shelter, and is just a couple of paces (presumably) away from where Gwen and other players are situated.
Some characters are already in the fray (Scorpio and Lyn), because they advanced past the group. Others (Luke, Gwen and Pippin) are situated almost directly out of the shelter, with Gwen preparing some sort of large-scale move. All other characters (excluding Isphea) are unconscious in the shelter.
You should probably just read from #515. There really isn't much going on per post, so it'll only take a couple of minutes to catch up.]]
---------------
Strom:
[[As to keep this post having meaning in the actual RP thread, a movement from Strom will take place here shortly.]]
(Thanks Ember-Break. These hitasus. Well. I'm just going to assume that the Dark Part and his party of Trojans are just sitting outside the Silken Queen's building waiting for something. If Snakey-One already posted a reply to that then I'm sorry and I'll retcon their location.)
Auto woke up and looked around.
"What the Cradle has happened now?"
He reached for his Argent Peacemaker and got up, looking around.
"Hallo?"
Dark Part sat on top of a Trojan's head.
"Well gentlemen- no, you guys aren't even close to gentlemen. Well troops, let's hope this isn't a trap where I give someone extremly powerful soldiers. Then again I might be able to steal some Trojans from here... Interesting."
((You can still catch the antagonist meeting yourself with Dark Part. Haven't seen Almond-Riddle/ Keepscaite in a while.))
"Welcome inside, Armerio! Glad to see you! How was your day?" The Apocrean (Armerio thinks he's a knight) said. "I hope you are undamaged from the ruckus outside?" *
@Ares-Hsg When there is a star by the statement, it means Creos wants Armerio to respond.
"I hope you are undamaged from the ruckus outside?" his host asked. Armerio was slightly miffed by this statement, as it seemed to imply that whatever was happening on the other side of the town could terminally harm him anyways. He strode in, followed by Sicarius ((he's invisble, and has been invisible since a couple seconds before you arrived to greet Armerio)), while his undead squadron remained to the side, waiting for their master to call, if he should. Armerio had considered ignoring the question, but opted not to open hostilities so early.
"I am fine. As it is, I reached Haven on the other side of town, and therefore did not run into your so-called ruckus. I am a bit curious pertaining to its cause, however. But, that is not even the matter to be discussed by us. And I recommend we get into that before I grow weary of these transparent pleasantries," he responded, with a hitch in his otherwise pleasant tone. At that moment, the door burst open, and a knight clad in standard 5* Spiral gear stood in the doorway. He proceeded to stride in swiftly and confidently, saying
"Spare the formalities and state your business," he said, then continued with some contempt. "As I would like to know what business a knight of the Spiral Order has summoning, or rather inviting, me back to this accursed place."
***
It had been a long 24 hours for Vargas. After slaughtering the group of Vanguards, it had occurred to him that Haven's resistances had probably crippled. He had received all the information about its downfall from one of the Vanguards that had trusted him at first, and had begun to ponder what he had been told. Bringing down the remnants of the Spiral Order in Haven would be immensely satisfying, that much was true, but what would he do once he had? Conquer the rest of Cradle? Try to find a way to return to Isora? Create his own order?
He decided that was bridge he'd cross when he reached it.
When he was close to Haven, he rested in the Gloaming Wildwoods, beside a fresh Snarbolax corpse. Sensing a disturbance, he immediately shot at the source, and found it was a knight, no a dead knight, who bore some sort of document addressed to him.
*Another Vanguard,* he noted, with some satisfaction, then read the document. It seemed to be some sort of invitation, with some others he didn't recognize. But it seemed to concern the downfall of the now fragile Spiral Order and the takeover of Haven, so Vargas was agreeable with the sentiment. The next few hours were a blur as he commenced traveling and he noticed nothing until he got to Haven.
*It looks so normal," he observed, considering what happened to it. He then approached the bunker specified on the invitation, and without regard for the door, or the undead army a few meters away from him, he burst in. Striding in, he noticed that the summoner appeared to be a knight of the Spiral Order, which almost triggered Vargas's temper. But he controlled it to an extent, and he tried to keep the contempt out of his voice as he said,
"Spare the formalities and state your business. As I would like to know what business a knight of the Spiral Order has summoning, or rather inviting, me back to this accursed place."
((In case you didn't see, I took Vargas in the discussion thread, post 405 I believe))
"Ahh! Another guest has arrived! How fabulous! How are You Vargas? Oh, and Armerio, no need for the bodyguard (Creos is telepathic). I promise that I won't hurt you." Creos said. "Now, let's get down to business. I need allies. This scuffle could turn into an all out war if handled incorrectly, so I need you two to finish this skirmish before it goes all out crazy. Vargas, how do you feel about a little knight killing?"*
"Why does everyone have a mega mode?"
Luke ducked another swing and stabbed the offender in the stomach. He pushed the body of the Apocrean off of his blade and raised his shield to intercept another swing. The enemy blade slammed heavily against the defender, biting into it and staying there. Panicking, Luke unhooked his shield and swung at the Apocrean with a two handed swing. The blade bit deeply into its side and it crumpled. With nothing focusing on him at the moment, Luke caught his breath and brought out his Blackened Shield.
"How's the portal going?" He called back in Gwen's direction.
Suddenly a bullet slammed into the ground between Luke's feet. Scrambling back, Luke ducked behind a wall and scanned the rooftops.
"Sniper!"
* * *
"Portal? Who can do stuff like that?" Syber thought to himself.
"Sir, two of the allies lord Creos requested have arrived, Armori and Vargas.
"All right, I'll meet with them shortly I want to see these knights for myself."
"Yes sir. Shall I send a guard?"
"No thanks, I want to as silently and quickly as I can."
Syber moved outside and climbed the ladder to the top of a building. Looking around he heard the sounds of a scuffle by the garrison. He moved silently from rooftop to rooftop till he reached his destination. He was positioned on one side of the battle, looking down from the enemy's side. He remained out of sight, and peered at the battlefield. The knights were defending their position, cutting down the mass of Apocreans. They would soon be out if reinforcements arrived. One knight was dressed in Snarbolax hacking at anything within range. Another was wielding a tundrus and plowing through her own salvo. The others remained more defensive, and for me a perimeter around the summoner of the portal.
Syber took some binoculars and zoomed in on the girl, she looked familiar. A memory of a throne flashed through his head, the snow suddenly disappearing. He shook his head, it couldn't be her.
"Sharpshooters, focus fire on the portal summoner."
((A bullet or two will be heading Gwen's way, any defenders may want to intercept or stop them.))
"And second off, I am not a knight. I am the last pure Apocrean. Does that settle your loyalty issues?" Creos answered. "I called you here because of.. said skirmish."
Pippin:
Three Apocreans quickened their approach on Pippin before she decided to react. They were a meter away, give or take. Now was the time to strike. Pippin moved her forward foot and kicked with her other one; the kick not only gave forward momentum, but also activated the repulsion feature to her Grip Mods, making the ground practically friction-less as she slides towards her foes -- she ducks down low as she does this, not to avoid blows, but to prepare the forward motion for a horizontal slash.
The Apocreans notice her movement, and are quick to react, each of them slashing downwards, as if to slice her into thirds.
The instant before being slashed by the three, however, Pippin taps her toe down, re-activating the Grip-Mods original purpose and practically gluing her to the ground. Their activation sends cracks into the ground, and the momentum is instantly felt flowing up her body and into her arms, which she gladly embraces. Her hands' Grip-Mods hum as they keep hold of the cleaver. If the handle was weak, chances are, it'd snap. But it doesn't.
With a blindingly fast speed, Pippin releases all of the pent up momentum with a forward horizontal slash, colliding with two of the knights swords... And breaking right through them. The final knight managed to halt his progression in the air by shooting a foot down, which was a good choice, because if he hadn't, he'd find his upper torso on the ground like the other two. But the slash doesn't end there.
As the slash comes across, the green mist catches onto the knight, and he's unfortunate enough to breathe the fumes in, sending him into a coughing fit. It's not fatal, but it gives enough time for Pippin to follow up her slash.
Pippin uses the horizontal momentum to spin around fully, releasing one hand from the grip and holding the side of the blade to tilt it downwards in its rotation, turning the next attack half-blunt, half-edge -- which is more than enough to decapitate the now-fallen and coughing Apocrean. Pippin uses her arm-strength to cast off the rest of the momentum, and jump back towards Gwen, to continue defending her, before hearing Luke muttering something about people having "Mega-Modes" -- a comment she can't help but agree with as she eyes up several more approaching Apocrean knights.
The next thing he shouts, however, is heard loud and clear.
"Sniper!"
Pippin makes the short connection that the next target would most likely be the one who looked the most out of the ordinary, and the one who wasn't moving. Gwen. If Pippin could talk to whoever fired the initial shot, she'd have to thank them for not just aiming at her right away.
Pippin swings her Cleaver around and buries its frontal edge within the ground in front of Gwen, creating a mock-shield.
'That should provide SOME protection, at least... Just our luck that miss "Keep 'em off me" decided to not hide behind anything!'
She then holds both of her hands outwards, her Grip-Mods spurring to life once again. Activation of the grip mods is usually quite energy-conservative, but if they're activated without anything being held onto, the drain of Mist energy in the air is the spectacle. It was if she had activated Vacuum cleaners on both of her hands, with the air being drained into the wrists of her mods -- and the mods rapidly increased in heat.
It was well worth it, however, and as two bullets are fired from somewhere far off (Pippin was never the greatest at discerning the locations simply based off of the shots from snipers), they immediately hone in on Pippin's hands. Instead of bursting through her mods, however, they end up stuck within a small field just a hair's width away from her hands, they then begin to crunch under the pressure until the fired bullets are just tiny specks, and Pippin deactivates her mods, waving them about to let the heat out. Using them in that way again is going to hurt.
"Great job finding out they exist, but it doesn't help much if they can still fire! Where are they shooting at?!" Pippin shouts at Luke before looking around.
'If only we had a counter-sniper of some kind... Beardy would have helped a lot with that.' with that thought, she practically grinds her teeth against each other in seething rage.
'If only he wasn't ASLEEP.'
---------------
[[Just noticed I didn't actually write up anything for Strom. Whoops. Man, he's getting behind. I'll write on him soon. SOON. But he's not exactly mandatory for the plot right now, anyways. So I may just have him wander around in a solo-arc for a while once I move him.]]
((Warning: This might be long. Even for me.))
*Apocrean?* Armerio thought, raising an eyebrow. Sicarius had uncloaked, to Vargas's surprise, as Creos had exposed his presence. Telepath or not, why Armerio needed to help himself was beyond him. After all, this was simply a poorly planned uprising, from what he had seen (which, admittedly, was nothing). He then proceeded to address Creos.
"Is that all you needed me for? Such a powerful member of The Swarm should not be trifled with, Apocrean. I feel a bit used, but I shall send help regardless. My escort of 40 undead soldiers should be enough to wipe out your infestation." He then made a hand signal, and his escort briskly mobilized and set off towards the battle. Turning to his servant, he ordered,
"Find the leader of the Apocrean troop, I believe him to be a knight of some sort. Inform him that the undead troops are mine and are there to aid his soldiers."
Sicarius bowed, cloaked, and set off on his assginment. ((Colray, Syber will meet him the next time you post, and please don't shoot the messenger.))
***
Vargas had settled down once he heard Creos mention he was an Apocrean. The prospect of knight killing seemed very enticing to him, as they were trying to, in his eyes, revive the very same order he wanted to bring down. He addressed Creos, as a bloodthirsty knight, but also as a stickler for etiquette.
"I accept the alliance, though it may only be temporary. However, before I enter the battle, I must meet the commanding officer."
***
If Ares was a vampire, he'd be in a blood rage right now. He had taken the offensive, headstrong in his charge through their ranks. He stabbed the first oncoming Apocrean in the chest with his CIV, drew it out and swiped at another. He was rapidly circled by about 5 Apocreans, including the one he had stabbed in the chest. Rapidly he swiped at the closest one, but it dodged, which created a little space. Ares shot the dodging Apocrean in the head, and used the space creating by the first Apocrean's dodge to avoid hits from the other 4 Apocreans. He cut at the hands, severing the hands of two of the swiping four Apocreans. Glanced by shots fired by one Apocrean, he was hit full brunt by the second and third volleys, but managed to dodge the fourth. He cut the two offending Apocreans in the stomach. This turned out to be too much for one of them, which was the same one Ares had stabbed in the stomach before.
"4 on 2," Ares breathed. The Apocreans looked confused for a moment, and Ares and Chomp struck. He shot the closest one in the head with his Cryo Driver (again) three times, freezing it for the impact yet to come. He cut open another's chest and cut it's arm even further along. He weaved through two Apocrean sword strikes and threw his CIV into the chest of the only healthy Apocrean, killing it instantly. Then he drew it out and ran. All 3 Apocreans were unknowingly in the blast radius. And Chomp's Firestorm incinerated them. Looking up, Ares gave Chomp a thumbs up. Then he heard the call.
"Sniper!"
Ares instantly realized what their main focus would be, and threw his Grey Owlite Shield over the Cleaver that was already there, and activated the bubble.
"Where are the damn snipers!" he yelled. Stabbing into another Apocrean, and cutting its head off while ignoring the fact that it slashed into his foot. He looked around, scanning the horizon, and saw something that made him feel even worse. Swarm Zombies. Which meant Armerio was here.
"Swarm Undeads, coming from the left!" he screamed.
((The army Armerio sent is comprised of 40 undeads, 30 zombies, 5 deadnaughts, 3 phantoms, and 2 Almirian Crusaders. And remember the stuff regarding his army is in post 502 http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/105450?page=10#comment-972909 (Idk how to hyperlink on this))
Swarmbane jolted to life, forcing himself into Lyn's hands and making her jump into the middle of Armerio's army, she and swarmbane and Sarah all fought hard, killing 22 zombies, 2 deadnaughts, 1 phantom (COMPLETELY HE"S GONE FO GUUD ANTI_SWARM POWERS FTW), and were working on an Almirian Crusader. Lyn hacked and slashed but she couldn't get through his shield, the crusader swung, Lyn dodged to the left, but he struck her right side, a deadnaught then swung in suit, hitting Lyn on the right side, Lyn collapsed to the ground screaming, the pendant burst out with mist energy, Lyn suddenly turned to Sarah, her eyes a blinding blue.
"Sarah," Lyn said in a voice Sarah hardly recognized, it was Lyn's mother's, "you need to go, warn the others to get out of here, they are running out of time, tell them the snipers are to the (Whatever direction Colray chooses they are here). You need to warn them, Swarmbane will protect us." Lyn stopped talking for a moment and then in her own voice said, "Sarah, no crying," she wiped a tear from Sarah's eye, "You need to go... Now! Go Sarah quickly!" Both began tearing up as Sarah flew off to point out the snipers, and to warn them. Lyn drove Swarmbane into the ground creating an anti-swarm repulsion field, it would protect her from the undead, but if the apocrean came... that was it. Lyn continued to cry, she was worried for her friends.
Off in the sky a pinpoint of blue could be seen rapidly growing, Haven was about to be ... Starstruck.
"The leading commander is, well, a knight. I expect you to follow your orders or you get to see the inside of this." Creos taps his face as he speaks. "Now go! I have some work to do." Creos said as he started building an obelisk. "I hope you fair well."
"I'll see if I can spot them!"
Luke shot again, then paused and scanned the rooftops. Nothing revealed itself, and a prone sniper wouldn't be very easy to see. Suddenly he saw the next shot, a small flash of purple appeared from the top of a building on the far side of the garrison. The bullet screamed past and where it hit he didn't see. Squinting his eyes, Luke was able barely make out something that wasn't attached to the building rooftop.
He took in the building, it was the building that a forge knight usually stands by. (Let's call it.... An Armory?) The armory next to the laboratory was where the sniper, maybe more, were positioned
"I see him! Up on top of the Armory!"
Then an Apocrean interrupted him and he stumbled back from its blow. Luke lunged forward and scored a deep cut on the cultists leg. It fell and Luke finished it off with a stab. Finding another target, Luke raised his blaster and started taking potshots.
((The sniper bullets are again heading for Gwen.))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syber left, he wanted to see these allies for himself. Creos's minions were almost depleted, and he wasn't willing to send in his team just yet. Especially with somebody like Unit one on their side, they would need lots of help.
He moved to the bunker and knocked on the door.
((Syber wasn't informed he was the commander of those Apocreans but ok. After there are about 20 left, they will retreat into a defensive group. It will be harder to melee them, even in mega-form. Ranged weapons are probably better for this situation.))
The rip in spacetime grew larger and larger until at last it became wide enough for knights to cross through, but Gwen would have to stabilize it before it became safe for travel. With the Apocreans closing in on them, they had little time to lose. She kept the hole open with power from one hand and began setting up a stabilizing gravitational field with the other. Once finished, they would have fifteen seconds to pass through before the portal closed.
"Now go! I have work to do! I hope you fare well," Creos had dismissed them. Ordinarily, Vargas would never stand for this, but there was something special about this Apocrean, whatever he was doing.
Armerio had heard the dismissal, and would argue, but was suddenly aware that his advance force's numbers had been cut down dramatically. But how? If only he still had the connection to Ares's mind. His own mind reflexively reached out, and surprisingly, made contact with something.
"He has been corrupted again," Armerio breathed. This was a stroke of pure luck, as the Swarm energy present in Ares's mind now was enough to boost Armerio's own powers quite dramatically, and maybe even grant new ones. But first, to see what was happening down there. He reached into Ares's mind, and the Swarm corruption, oddly enough, tried resisting him, but it was futile, as he could control it anyways. Minor disturbances aside, he saw that one girl, a battle sprite, and a Nightblade? had taken down most of his army. But she was currently injured. Good old Deadnaughts. But how had she managed to kill them with a Nightblade? Armerio dug deeper into Ares's mind, and found the gold he was searching for.
The sword, apparently Swarmbane, was the spirit of The Core present in a sword.
*It may hurt regular Swarm, but Armerio was not regular Swarm. Or at least he would be no longer,* Armerio thought grimly. Ares had been foolish to think he could keep this from Armerio for long. With much protesting and futile resistance, in about 10 seconds, Ares's Swarm corruption of Armerio had been transferred, and suffice it to say, Armerio was a new man.
All his weapons had been transformed to their 5* counterparts, and their damage also added a Swarm bite. His powers were mainly amplified greatly, but there was one totally new power. Armerio found to his surprise, he had developed a slight telepathic ability as well. Using one if his remaining Almirian Crusaders, he saw that there was a girl in the center of the knights' resistance, making a portal.
"Not on my watch," he murmured.
There was a knock on the door, an Armerio opened it to see a knight standing there, presumably the commanding officer of the force out there.
"Good day to you sire. I believe you need assistance? Well Vargas and I are all you should need," he said. Vargas nodded in agreement.
((All Armerio's abilities mentioned in the Discussion thread http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/106177?page=6#comment-972350 are buffed.
They are all increased by 100% with additions being:
His Swarm body regenerates extremely slowly, in a limb limb torso limb limb head fashion. One per hour.
He can also create Swarm sources.
Otherwise: his time-related stats for corruption are cut in half, and his physical stats are boosted 100%. So Core energy is only a slight weakness for him now. Have a nice day.))
"Yes well, nice to meet you, I'm Syber." He jumped right to the matter.
"As easy as it seems to just go out and crush them which I'm sure you two can do, their portal is literally open right now and I suggest we find out where it leads. Do any of you have any idea where they would be headed?"
If they had a helpful answer, his old friend was ready to move, at the moment Beck was waiting in the obsidian nexus, able to send himself to a multitude of places below Emberlight.
"If not then I suggest we get to the portal as soon as possible."
((I have a bit of a question for Thinslayer and others in the discussion thread soon.))
Armerio read the memories his new Swarm energy had shared with Ares, for any possible clue to Syber's question. Then this statement rose to the top of his mind. It was the girl making the portal, saying,
"Now that I have everyone's attention, I shall introduce you to my plan. We will be traveling to Apocrea itself to deal with the Apocrean Elders directly. I've only been down there once..."
Armerio replied,
"They're going to Apocrea."
But when she did, she simply fell. Lyn tried to speak, but simply coughed up blood. Her vision became hazy.
"Help!" She shouted but her cry was stopped short as Swarmbane fell innate, the barrier fading. "Help please... please.." Lyn fell to the ground upon saying this... (HEY GUYS... YOU READY FOR...... DEUS EX MACHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Across the battlefield rose a Vanguard, clothed in white and gold robes, Lyn recognized him instantly as Mark. But it couldn't be! Mark was dead, Lyn saw it with her own eyes! But this was clearly not the case, for across the battlefield rose a squad of vanguards. It was Mark and his friends. Though as the charged through the Apocreans and undead, she noticed something. They were, strange somehow. They all had a golden glowing aura around them. Then Mark reached her, his eyes as beautiful as ever. He spoke to her, but not in his voice, it was Swarmbane's.
"Lyn," he said, picking her up and healing her as best he could, "I'll take you back to the others, but I must stay here... I trust you will be safe." At this The vanguards solidified into one soldier, Swarmbane. He threw Lyn a great distance back towards Gwen, and drew himself, he began drawing all the apocreans to him, and he fought them off.
"Swarmbane," Lyn said, a single tear in her eye. Sarah floated down and hugged her. Lyn drew her Winter Grave and fired a few times. She turned to Gwen.
"We need to get out of here... soon."
The blue speck in the sky was now roughly the same size as cradles moon appears the surface, the comet is getting closer, much closer.
"Yeah? Alright, I'll send word. I'll start moving my team down there. Vargas, as you are not in command of anyone other than yourself, please feel free to try and slow them down now. Armerio, you should get your army down there as well. Other than that, I'll see you at the castle."
Syber left immediately and activated his com unit. "Sheogerath I'm going to need you to move the team down to the obsidian Castle, a knight in my gear will be waiting for you, he'll tell you what to do until I get there."
"Affirmative, is this where the knights are going?"
"That's correct, now move out!"
Pippin:
As the Grey Owlite shield whizzed towards her cleaver, Pippin outstretched her hand to the handle and activated her Grip Mods once more, but only for a moment. When the shield hit the cleaver, it stuck fast to the grip on the Cleaver, staying in place as two more sniper shots bursted against its protective shield. The shield's energy turned red, and without an energy supply from a Knight, its regeneration from the Mist in the air by itself would only be able to last for one more bullet before it became just a regular piece of wood -- albeit a very decorated looking one.
"Swarm Undeads, coming from the left!" came the shout of the one who threw the shield, resulting in just another thing to add to the growing list of annoyances which have happened to Pippin thus far.
Even the good news of the location of the Apocreans, noticed by Luke, wasn't enough to keep Pippin's anger from being visible on her face. Two Apocrean worshipers, better armed than the ones she had fought with before [[Apocrean Initiates, this time]], approached on her left and right, as if they were a river pouring around the cleaver/shield. Pippin unsheathed two shortened Red Sabers at their approach.
One of the knights (the one on her left) was going for an uppercut initiated from his/her right side, the other (on her right) aimed for a downthrust also starting on his/her right side.
'This whole situation is just a load of... Waking up in Haven? Defending some portal-making chick? I didn't sign up for this!'
Pippin lowers her left blade to meet the Apocrean's uppercut, and raises her right to meet the other's downthrust. Pippin's grip mods activate on the ground to keep her perfectly rooted in place as she does this. Sparks fly through the clash, but her dedence stays strong against the two attackers.
'This is just a whole load of...'
Lyn landed a couple of paces away, causing the two Apocrean attackers to stall a moment to register the arrival of another knight. And that moment was all Pippin needed before she bumped both of their blades back. She followed this movement with a quick rotation of her abdomen, pivoting perfectly as it was still rooted to the ground, throwing her right Red Saber into the head of the Left Apocrean's head, deactivating her Feet's grip-mods, and backing up a step to jab her left Red Saber deep into the chest of the other attacker.
As the Apocrean dropped to the ground, Pippin turned her head to meet almost face-to-face with the corrupt knight. Their height meant that they were probably only around Pippin's age. Her grip mods whirred once again, and Pippin cur upwards through the rest of the knight's torso through the top of their head. The upthrust propped Pippin's head upwards, where she noticed what seemed to be some sort of giant energy-ball hurtling towards their location.
'SH1T.'
A moment later, she stepped to her other Red Saber, still impaled in the follower's head, and unsheathed it, blood dripping from its edge. She then turned to Lyn, tossing her the blade.
"If you want to get out... Then we're going to need to defend her 'till we can." Pippin points shortly towards Gwen, unsheathes another small Red Saber and then turns to the right side of Gwen, where a line of Apocreans were lining up and forming a short circle around her -- at least 6 for that side. Gwen's left is facing a similar number of knights, completing the circle.
"We have no other choice."
[[Lyn's gonna have to help defend now. She's open on all sides, and Pippin can't defend that much while Sniper fire is under way -- in fact, the sniper fire's going to tear through the Owlite shield momentarily. That portal had better finish soon.
((I'mma practice this "show not tell" business again. Prepare your eyes.))
With the rip in spacetime now sufficiently wide enough for a person to pass through, Gwen opened her eyes to gaze at it. A glorious violet light resplendant with crimson stars stared back at her. She took a hesitant step forward, and was immediately smacked by a roaring gale. Unable to look at it straight on, she slowly placed her right foot forward with her arm outstretched to brace against the wind. Her left foot soon followed but could not take the lead. Knowing she would have to place a forcefield in the center of the portal to hold it open, she realized had no choice but to press onward.
Closer and closer she inched to the otherworldy gap until it came within arm's reach. She turned her head away and gasped for breath. This is it, Gwen. Don't mess this up. Her eyes narrowed and hardened as she turned once more to face down the gale. Her hair whipped furiously about her face, and her Grey Feather cloak clung desperately to her sides.
Gwen's pale right hand, white-knuckled and raw from the strain, pressed firmly against the hurricane wall. The portal shuddered and sparked in reply, almost throwing off her concentration. She fought to bring her left arm to the edge of the portal and gripped the invisible edge. Her heart immediately took a tumble into her gut as the magnitude of the task before her began to dawn on her. Don't screw up. Don't screw up. Don't screw up, she chanted to herself in her mind before her left hand began the arduous task of weaving a stabilizing forcefield around this freaking hole in the universe.
Her fingers struggled to weave their magic against the wind, but it was merely a breeze compared to trying to stand against an angry hurricane wall, and slowly, but surely, her hand made a semicircle around the portal. When it reached the bottom, it occurred to Gwen that it would best to swap hands, and that's when her heart took another tumble. Just keeping her hand against the opening to hold it open was a mighty feat already; how could she be expected to replace it? Yet, without any other choice, she steeled her nerves and tried to bring her left arm over to the hole.
It immediately snapped back. Gwen could have sworn she felt it crack. She winced, huffed, and tried again. It came within a few inches of the hole before it again snapped back. "OH COME ON!!" she cursed aloud, and tried once more. Finally, she placed her left hand firmly atop her right. Her breath hastened. Her arms stiffened. It was now or never.
Success! Her left hand snapped into place. Gwen exhaled long and hard; the hard part was now over. She finished tracing the forcefield around the other half of the portal, ending the weave at the peak of the semicircle. She had been pressing so hard against the wind rushing out of the hole that, when she finished the portal, she immediately fell through it and conked her forehead on a pristine obsidian floor.
"Ow."
She carefully shifted her legs and felt the floor with her foot. Finding a steady footing, she pushed off the floor and steadied herself in the darkness. Crimson lights dotted the sky, but they shed no light on her surroundings. She turned to look back at the portal, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it only a few feet away. She was half-expecting to have fallen out of the sky.
Gwen peeked out of the portal and shouted, "COME ON! IT'S OPEN!"
Luke uppercut another Apocrean, ducking a swing from another and going into combat against it. Parry here, block there, stab! Luke withdrew his sword and looked up Gwen's call. A swirling hole stood in her place, their escape! Luke twisted and fired a shot towards the Apocreans and swarm knights before dashing at the portal. Once he got closer, he turned and aimed the pistol towards the snipers, he tried to shoot at them, hopefully tell them that they knew they were there then have them back off.
"The portal won't stay open long! Come on!"
He reloaded, the mist energy from his armor swirling into the blaster as he cocked the mechanism and brought it around for firing. He squeezed off a few more shots and decided to try the portal.
He moved in front of it and jumped through it, not knowing what to expect. On the other side, Luke landed in a heap on the ground. He quickly got up and out of the way of the others coming through the portal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beck put down the bullet cartridge and picked up a small rag to clean out the rifle.
"Sir, a blip has been picked up in the scanner."
"A blip?"
"Yes, it may be the other end of the portal."
"Alright, send a harvester to check it out."
"Roger."
Beck went back to cleaning out his gun. More likely than not, he was going to see some combat, most of the knights here would. So far, Syber's advance squad handmade it, and we're situating the harvesters to defend the castle. Once Syber's team got there in a minute then defensive positions could be held longer, especially with some firepower. He paused from cleaning his rifle, and looked out the window, he couldn't see anything but the dark sky. But he knew what the land looks like, foggy, grassy, and a giant graveyard.
Lyn stood up with a groan she jumped through the rift and began firing at the disciples trying to get in. She drew the Red Sabre Pippin had thrown her, it was a children's toy compared to most weapons.... but it would have to do. She slashed and fired furiously slowly backing away from the portal, then she heard something and turned around. Apocreans.... more than she would like to see were running around wherever the heck they were, probably trying to find them.
"Well, there's no going back now," Lyn steeled herself for the hell that was about to come.
Back in haven, the blue moon had grown to the apparent size of the sun, it was getting close very quickly now.
"Grab on Vargas," Armerio barked. Vargas obeyed the Swarm creature without hesitation. For the next 6 seconds they were a complete blur as they raced to the battlefield. There was some mysterious group of Vanguards who were fighting Apocreans, but that was not their primary concern.
"Vanguards," Vargas tensed up.
"No Vargas, relax. The portal is our concern," Armerio replied calmly.
Because, who wouldn't be calm when your enemies were about to escape through some freaking hole in reality. This shit probably happened everyday.
He put a Swarm bracelet around Vargas and said,
"That bracelet will not possess you. I need you to take the remnants of my army and defend the portal. Once I have established an area in the Apocrean castle, I will transport you and whatever is left to meet with the rest of my army. So don't die."
Armerio pressed his palm to the ground, and Vargas stepped back, apprehensive of the Swarm magic that was to happen next. A rune appeared on the ground, and some distance away, directly in front of the portal. In a matter of seconds, Vargas was surrounded by 3 Deadnaughts, 2 Phantoms, 2 Almirian Crusaders, and 8 Zombies, all standing in between the resistors, whoever they were, and the portal.
((They will not dodge your shots. Do NOT fire at them if you want to make any progress. The Undeads are now also only slightly weak to the Core energy manifested out of the Core. Almirian Crusaders will shoot their Howlitzers at you to maintain your distance from the portal.
Vargas, now, will go toe-to-toe with any knight who gets within 5 feet of the portal, so if you have your character get close to the portal and he's not occupied, he will strike at you or shoot you. He is a swordsmaster and marksman so keep that in mind.
And remember, the portal closes SOON.))
***
Ares turned around, the whole situation with Lyn's sword was hard enough for him to understand, not to mention the loss of his Swarm mind. It crippled him momentarily, but the Vanguards had drawn the Apocreans' attention, so he was spared death by Obsidian. But he had seen Armerio on the battlefield somewhere, with another knight, but Armerio had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. He heard Gwen shout something a few moments before, and turned around to see the portal open and right there. For the time being, at least, and naturally, time was fleeting. Grabbing his shield from on top of the Cleaver, he yelled
"Forget about the Apocreans and rush the portal!"
Then he remebered the snipers. He had seen one of the knights firing at them and fired several Hail Driver charge attacks at them. He took out his Divine Avenger and turned around. Suddenly a Vanguard, no... Vargas had appeared with the remnants of the Swarm Undead.
"Well aren't we lucky? Of all places they appeared in front of the portal," Ares said. He whistled, preparing Chomp for combat. He fired a few Hail Driver rounds at them, but they either shielded or took the hit. It was next to suicide to try taking on so many of them at once, but Ares had to do something. Taking out his Gorgomega ((I'll edit if it's tHe wrong name, doing this from the phone)) and proceeded to Shield Bash the masses. It knocked away the Undeads for a brief time ((9 seconds before they return to normal)), but Vargas was not fooled. He sidestepped the Shield Bash, and fired at the weakened Shield Bubble, which proceeded to break. He tackled Ares to the ground, and brought his Leviathian Blade down to Ares's throat. Ares parried with his CIV, saying
"Vanquishers were always better."
"Foolish knight, the weapons of this accursed order are all I will need to send you to the otherworld. Kiss your chance at seeing Isora again goodbye," Vargas replied.
Vargas dashed to Ares while firing his Valiance. Ares dodged and tackled Vargas to the ground. He took out his Sentenza and fired a point blank shot to Vargas's helmet. A bracelet on his arm glowed purple, and Vargas seemed to take much less damage than expected, as he immediately pushed Ares off. The adversaries circled each other warily, Vargas mindful to keep himself between Ares and the portal.
((So the bracelet not only connects Vargas to Armerio, but cuts the damage he takes in half. At this rate the undeads are 4 seconds from returning to normal.))
***
Armerio had only needed to go one floor down. It was a simple matter for Sicarius and him to speak to a Pit Boss and arrange a portal for them to go to Apocrea.
In a matter of seconds, they were in the Apocrean castle.
"Ok, so who's in charge here?" He asked.
Scorpio barely notices the people going through the portal. Vengeance. He seeks it out. Where is Creos? Thinks Scorpio. That bastard will pay. He goes through the portal, starving for revenge.
Creos goes outside of the bunker and said to the cultists "Who would like the honor of having their soul join with the Apocrea!"
The cultists immediately stop battling and rush towards Creos to see who would get the honor.
"How about you all have the honor! I would hate to be unfair!"
(@Colray you can choose if you withhold any of them from death or if you tell any of them to specifically die.)
[[@Flame-Shinobi
Apocrean disciples shouldn't be "pouring in" the portal, because Pippin is still guarding it quite closely.
@Ares-Hsg
Basically, Vargas and the undead-things all appeared in front of the portal Gwen made, right? I figure that's probably the case, but it's also possible you're talking about some other portal Armerio created -- I'm just asking to be 100% clear.]]
---------------
Pippin:
"COME ON! IT'S OPEN!" came a shout from Gwen -- half within the portal as she peeked out.
'Took long enough...' Pippin thought in a huff. Lyn quickly jumped into the portal, meaning Pippin would have to defend the portal while everyone else got through... Thankfully, all the knights were accounted for with the exception of one, who took his shield off of her cleaver.
Pippin quickly joined him, breaking her cleaver out of the ground, and turning to see... New enemies.
Before she could say anything to the knight, he dashed in with a Shield bash and initiated what seemed to be a Vanguard... The other undead around him stood tall, probably recovering from whatever transport-leap they just took for the time being.
'So... There's a giant meteor heading down here, a portal that's about to close, and now a bunch of undead between us and said portal? Great. That's just the cherry on the pie, isn't it?'
Pippin dashed behind Ares while holding her cleaver to her side before she was only a couple of meters away.
"Knight whose name I don't know! We need to do this quick, Gwen might be able to close the portal from the inside! Run to the portal!"
Using her forward momentum, she jumps over Ares in order to gain an Arial attack on Vargas. Only one of her hand's Grip-mods are on the cleaver, her left hand (Vargas' right side) is loose, and is held at a clip on her hair. If the attack misses, she will activate the clip, giving her a shield-bubble. Her feet's Grip-Mods also start activating while she's in mid-air, so as soon as she lands, she will be able to root herself to the ground if necessary.
Syber on the other hand was not informed of the portal shortcut, so he was taking the long route of the lift, while he was waiting in the lift, a thought came to mind.
"Any Cultists alive in Haven please report to the obsidian castle, there are those who wish to harm your home!"
((Out of the... 18? surviving cultists that are crowding Creos, 9 detach and make their way to the castle. Do with the others what you wish. The rest of the cultists within Haven will be moving to the castle, give me a number for the amount of grunts plus 9))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok so who's in charge here?"
Beck finished up his rifle and moved to welcome his new guest.
"That would be me, I'm here till Syber gets down here, you can call me Beck. My team has located the portal, and I've sent a harvester to scout it out. How much manpower you got?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suddenly a Hail Driver bullet exploded in front of them, freezing over their sniper rifles. Scowling, one withdrew the rifle and started chipping ice off of it.
"We should probably meet Syber at the fortress now, that thing up there looks like its heading here." The spotter said, looking up at the meteor.
"Ok, let's move,"
((And yea Ember it was this portal))
"That would be me, I'm here till Syber gets down here, you can call me Beck. My team has located the portal, and I've sent a harvester to scout it out. How much manpower you got?" another knight, sadly Swarm-free, said.
Armerio grinned and said,
"You might want to step back a bit."
Armerio pressed his palm to the ground and let his Swarm influence flow into the rune. It was going to have to be stronger than usual to transport this many. He had decided to do this now as only Ares and a girl were left in Haven, and Ares, with that battle sprite of his, was strong enough by now to hold his own against Vargas and the Undeads, Armerio would have to see about modifying Vargas's abilities, if he was up for it. He muttered a Devilite summoning incantation, and stood up. In seconds, Armerio's full troop (now consisting of 75 undeads, and Vargas), was in the castle.
"Is this enough?" he asked, with mirth in his tone.
***
Ares hadn't even heard the girl running behind him, he had thought she went through already, while he had started battling Vargas. It was an impressive jump, and she would have been sure to hit Vargas. If he hadn't disappeared. It seemed that Vargas and the remnants of the Undead army had been summoned elsewhere, most likely Apocrea.
"Well, that just happened," he said. Whistling, he called Chomp out of his impending Firestorm and to his side. He told the girl,
"Well, you first. If the portal closes on me I know another way."
((Once Pippin enters the portal, just assume Ares goes through right after her. Unless it closes of course. Regarding Armerio's troops, they are divided into 5 squads of 15. Each squad has 2 Almirian Crusaders, 2 Deadnaughts, 1 phantom, 8 Kats and 7 Zombies. He will send out 1 or 2 squad(s) at a time, so the only way you supposedly bite off more than you can chew is if you make your character go into the bulk of army. I don't care who you are, if you do that you're at least getting corrupted.)) ((And thanks for pointing that out Ember, good looking out))
"Ah! So you are the nine who wish for the honor! You shall have it! Close your eyes, and you will become pure like the Apocrea!" As the nine cultists closed their eyes, Creos opened his face. Then, he feasted.
[[You said " 2 Almirian Crusaders, 2 Deadnaughts, 1 phantom, 8 Kats and 7 phantoms" so... 8 Phantoms? Or did you mean 7 Zombies?]]
---------------
Pippin:
With the disappearance of the knight she had attempted to attack (as well as the Apocrean cultists and other Swarm Undead), Pippin simply deactivated her Grip mods and held her repeater over her shoulder.
"Well, you first. If the portal closes on me I know another way." said the knight who she had just jumped over.
"I'll take that as some semblance of courtesy, then." Pippin said more to herself than anyone else. She approached the portal -- but before entering, she turned to the knight.
"Courtesy aside... You should come in before that lands here." Pippin points upwards to the energy-ball, covering almost the entire sky. She then hops through the portal (presumably) followed by Ares.
On the other side, Pippin crushed her cleaver into the ground. Whatever ground this place had... It wasn't normal. She then looked around.
'All knights accounted for...' a wave of releif passes over Pippin before she notices other creatures moving towards them.
'Aaaaand some dark tentacle creatures. Great.' Pippin readies her cleaver once again. Her grip-mods were cooling off well, but the air in this area... Who knew if it supported any Mist.
---------------
[[Does the Apocrean Realm have any Mist Energy floating about (or at least a bit less than in regular Cradle)? That could lead to some interesting combat if it didn't, especially for gunners.
Also, because we're in another realm, unless someone calls for Strom to come back for whatever reason, assume that he's just wandering the clockworks looking for a way to get back to his graveyard (He wouldn't be able to get back right away because the elevator leading directly to it was broken when he went down it waaaaaaay back in post #48). If we don't end up using Strom at all, I might just use him in some sort of Fan-Fic to detail the events which happened afterwards. We'll see.]]
Can I use Armerio to call him? I've wanted to for a while but I wanted to see what you'd do with him first, then I got busy today so I just remembered to ask you. Remember Armerio can control Swarm infected or affiliated creatures, so it'd be cake for him.
[[@Ares-Hsg
Strom cannot be controlled by Armerio. Transported, yes. But not controlled.
Why can't he be controlled, despite being a Swarm affiliated Creature?
Well. That's a secret. One of Strom's many secrets.
I did consider Strom being transported by Armoerio, but then simply acting on his own -- as I had taken into consideration what would happen if they ever encountered one another. But... Considering the area Armerio is currently (The Obsidian fortress), if I made Strom act on his own, chances are he'd be stuck in the Apocrean realm indefinitely.
I'm on the fence about whether I should allow Strom to be summoned regardless of this fact, however... For now, I'll say no. Perhaps, if Armerio gains some sort of deeper, more in-depth desire for the Swarm to come to him... Like if he's brought to a desperate moment and wishes to summon an exceptionally strong ally from the Swarm -- then I may agree to the summons. Yeah. That sounds about right.
Until something like that occurs, I will say "No" for now.
~~~
Also, for the umpteenth time, use the Discussion Thread for posts that do not contain any character-movement. Otherwise, I have to make a post here just to tell you (and that's "you" as in "anyone who still does pure OOC in this thread") to move the OOC conversation to the Discussion thread -- or risk you not seeing my reply at all.]]
Whoops!
Yay Character Movement! ((Smh lol))
Sicarius had stayed behind on his master's bidding. Armerio was concerned about the fact that the knights had cut through the Undead (and Apocreans, to a lesser extent) ranks so effectively. He had tipped the balance when he gained enough power for them to be only slightly weak to Core energy materialized on the outside, but he wanted to further tip the balance in their favor.
To do that he needed to recruit any strong knights or Swarm affiliated entities allied against the very idea of the Spiral Order.
Sicarius was currently in the Graveyard that served as the army's base. He had traversed the Clockworks long enough, he was allowed a short rest. Albeit a short, eerie, cold and lonely rest, rest was still rest. Especially in these times.
*Maybe in Emberlight? Moorcroft Manor? Yes I could resurrect Margrel. So one stop at Moorcroft Manor. Vanaduke and Darkfire Vanaduke are dead, but maybe a Rabid Snarbolax or two will lend assistance. Project R was a bust, and we do not need the aid of gremlin mechanics. What about the Dark Part of the Dark Gunner, if he's still around. Maybe even the Silken Queen if we're lucky. And the phantom, Strom, all these would help.*
So in the end, Sicarius had gotten his wishlist to:
Strom
Margrel
The Rabid Snarbolaxes
The Dark Gunner (if present)
((Also if anyone wants to make a character for this, no prob, i'm hoping to have about 5 active characters for Sicarius to recruit. Influences when Armerio summons them too so..))
Creos was annoyed. The portal was closed (Is it? I assumed Gwen closed it). Creos would have to find some other way to get to Apocrea. Luckily, he was Apocrean, so he knew a few tricks on how to get to Apocrea. First. Make an obelisk. Second. Touch the obelisk. Third read the runes on the obelisk out loud. Fourth. Step into the portal that the obelisk has created. Fifth. Unbuild the obelisk. Sixth. Enjoy the smell of you home dimension.
That's a nice theory. There's just one problem: obelisks need obsidian, and Cradle doesn't have any.
((Gah, I thought I had posted something earlier in response to armerio's army! I guess it didn't go through..))
"I hope that'll be enough, remember they have an aspect of the core on their side."
An Apocrean appeared behind him, "it's them, the harvester confirmed it's them, it's engaging now."
Beck nodded and looked back to Armerio, "Position your forces at strategic points around the castle. The council members are meeting in here, their location I'm not going to say, you never know if anyone is listening."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syber sighed as the lift clicked at the nexus. Time to see what Beck has been up to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
((A question or two in discussion thread
He can make an obelisk out of the his third weapon. The shards of obsidian and stuff.
The Apocrean had obviously neglected something in giving his order, Armerio mused.
"You do realize this is my first time here right? I don't know any of the layout beyond this room. I need information to position my squads strategically," he said.
The members of his army were jostling for space.
***
Ares and Chomp had come through right after Pippin. Apocrea. It was weird looking, all the Obsidian, the Harvester coming their way, the Apocrean runes.
The Harvester coming their way. There was a Harvester coming their way.
"There's a Harvester coming our way!" He shouted, drawing his Hail Driver.
The Harvester, having received permission to engage, flashed its eyes as it got closer to the small group of knights. How these were a threat didn't make sense to it, but it kept moving and prepared to release some tendrils through the ground.
A static filled image of the harvester appeared in front of the knights, signifying its arrival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke drew his sword, the harvester looked quite intimidating, he wondered how to fight such a large thing.
"How do we fight it?"
"You don't... I, I do," Lyn said, "Gwen and a few of you guys need to kill their leader. I can stay here with anyone willing and hold off troops they send. Gwen, choose your people and..." Lyn rolled out of the way of some stray tendrils, pushing Gwen out of there way too. "Go!" Lyn shouted, charging a Winter Grave shot and having Sarah fire her lazer.
The harvester, disappointed that it hadn't snared anything, prepared its gaze when a small laser bombarded it from one side. Shying away from it, the harvester swung it's gaze towards the small flying creature that dared attack it.
One Harvester was trying to off them all. One. ONE.
"It's just one. We can kill it and force the issue at the castle!" Ares exclaimed. Chomp, who fired a Firebolt at the Harvester, agreed with the sentiment.
Ares felt disrespected. Only one Harvester. He charged his Hail Driver and aimed it at the disrespecter in question, firing the charge shots and 3 more shots to follow up, then he pouted.
"Only one Harvester. Seriously."
***
((I was hoping for a layout of the castle, but here goes))
Armerio surveyed his squads. They were placed very strategically, from weakest to strongest. The first squad was lined across the path leading to the castle, ready to catch the knights unaware, almost invisible in Obsidian. The second squad was placed right outside the castle, in the graveyard in position to rush the knights in the path should Armerio give the order. Now, for the inside of the fortress. There were a decent number of Harvesters in each room, so Armerio could afford to be a bit more selective in where he placed them. He left the first room in the castle untouched, he needed the vaster rooms.
There was one set of stairs leading to the second floor, in a room to the right of the first room. He put his third squad, replete with Swarm source and turrets, in that room. Then, he put the fourth squad in the room where the stairs led. After that room was a maze leading to four different rooms, one of which led to the council room. His last squad, again with Swarm Source and turrets, were placed there. In the council room, he hoped Sicarius would find enough allies to make a decent enough group.
What could go wrong?
***
Vargas was always silent before a great battle. Today he would kill those that represented the order that wronged him. On this thought alone, he slipped into a silent, violent, meditative state of mind.
While the harvester tried to catch the annoying seraphinx in its gaze, a fireball slammed into its side. It calmly turned its focus on the dragon, before being hit again with an icy shot, this one staggered the harvester, and another three pelted it immediately after.
It made a screeching sound, filling everyone's HUD's with static, and released a pulse of energy into the ground, kicking up a small layer of dust. Before anything else happened, it suddenly swung its gaze at Ares, hoping to catch the puny knight by surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok, do we just pelt it?"
Luke asked aloud, and fired a shot or two at the thing. When it screeched, Luke clutched his ears and stabled back from the sudden static. It swung it's gaze towards Ares, and all he could think to say was,
"Look out!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syber stared up at the giant castle, and walked forward briskly to meet up with his team. In one of the halls, one of the team snipers joined him, his name was Slink.
"Glad to see you commander, your friend told us to fortify the castle and Armerio brought his force here already. They are in process of positioning themselves."
Good, at least Beck wasn't screwing around.
"Thanks for telling me what Beck's been up to, any details on the knights?"
"Yes, they have been spotted straight ahead about half a league. A harvester had been sent to confirm and engage their presence."
"Alright, tell them I-"
He looked ahead and saw Armerio,
"Hello again, got your troops assembled?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beck grinned, even though this was like, the underworld, it still had a nice view from one of its towers. He leaned his rifle against the wall and room his binoculars out of his pack. He scanned the plateau and spotted the tall figure of the harvester. He zoomed in and was able to make out small flashes as it engaged the knights. Chances of it actually wiping them out were pretty low, and it would be anticlimactic if they did all that work to make it here and then all perish to the first harvester? Pshh, boring.
He lowered the binoculars and turned to activate the communications device, not different from the one Nyroc and Coryn used to call him and Syber to their camp forever ago. He raised its antennae and activated the scrambler, finally flipping the on switch.
"Hello all Apocreans," his voice broadcasted itself to the comsets of every knight, Acolyte, and whatever else carried a com, "This is Lookout B reporting, I have a visual of the knights, anyone with a minimap or something similar will be sent their position! In a minute or two, thank you and have a nice whatever time it is."
((Who's ready for a fight? And wow that's a long post, from my IPhone too. Anyway, where's Thinslayer? Shouldn't Gwen be able to like, blow up the Harvester?))
Ares knew it was going to shift its gaze towards him ((You have to admit, the Harvester is moving pretty predictably)), but he didn't move. It was one Harvester. ONE. Before it completely swung its head towards him he had fired three charge shots and 3 more regular shots from his Hail Driver right at his eyes.
"I mean, how worthless are we if we can't kill one Harvester?" he asked. Then, Chomp put a Ring of Fire around Ares, who charged to the Harvester, and swung his CIV at its chest.
***
Syber greeted Armerio again. Armerio had to admit, he didn't mind Syber, he was alright, he seemed business-like.
"They were hidden. You passed them all on your way to this room. 75 soldiers, 5 different squads. The first is in the path leading up to the castle, the 2nd in the graveyard outside of the castle. The 3rd is in the room with the stairs leading up here, the 4th in the room the stairs lead to. The last squad is in the room connected to this one. I may also have more powerful allies coming in to this room. Maybe, maybe not.
Vargas sat stock-still, meditating.
[[Delaying practice for writing Language Arts test... By writing in an RP. Priceless.
Embrace the feels.]]
---------------
Pippin:
As the combat with the Harvester started, Pippin simply watched. Too many knights focusing on one thing would just clutter the area, so she'd keep out of it until someone felt tired of smacking the thing around. It was... How many against 1? Well. It doesn't really matter.
Instead, Pippin stood back a ways (a safe distance from the harvester -- enough to see the conflict, but far enough to not be within range of its tentacles/gaze) and started thinking.
'Why just 1? Were the Apocreans too few to mount an actual attack? The numbers in Haven seemed to be a bit large... But some guilds back in Haven while it was still functional dwarfed their size.'
'Just what's going on then...'
At that thought, Pippin remembers the one who had disappeared. A knight, and a small group of Swarm-Undead. What was up with them? Where had they come from? Where did they go? Pippin jabbed her cleaver into the ground and sat on its blunt edge near the hilt, treating it like a make-shift stool.
'Could they have been left behind on the other side of Gwen's portal?'
Pippin looked over to the group, then at the castle. Her stomach churned as if she'd eaten a bad meal, and she mutters under her breath.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
---------------
Strom:
Night had passed. Strom had been wandering the forest in this same stratum for almost a day, now; there was no sign of the knights he had been chasing. That wasn't a new realization -- Strom had figured it out a couple of minutes after he was defrosted. On foot, even if he was still partially frozen, he should have been able to keep up with regular knights on foot; finding no one, he decided to take a stroll back to the crater where the deceased knight lay.
His book found itself with quite a bit more landscapes by the time he reached the crater, but at the sight of the ground, Strom immediately put away his book.
The ground was hardening, losing the water that made it soft below to the air, and replenishing its Mist. The grass on the sides hadn't recovered, but given a couple of days... The damage would simply become a feature of this area.
Strom went to the center, looming over the knight.
"... ₱ɇɍħaᵽȿ wħɇn ŧħɇ ǥɍøưnđ ɨȿ ɍɇȿŧøɍɇđ Ɨ ȿħałł đɍaw ɏøư aǥaɨn, ҟnɨǥħŧ."
"... Perhaps when the ground is restored I shall draw you again, knight."
At that, the book at Strom's side opened, releasing sparks of tits influence. Sparks which were caught by Strom's hand, and snuffed out, causing the book to begrudgingly close its eye once again.
~~~
Light was breaking into the Stratum, now, and Strom had finished. He climbed the out of the crater, dusting off his gauntlets. If he had been alive, perhaps he'd have wiped the sweat off of his brow. Instead, smoke poured out of the gap in his helmet, and he turned from the crater, a Hammer impaled into the ground over a pile which lay in the middle. Large stones circled it, and Strom's face-plate lay at the center, as if looking to the sky where the knight buried below would have looked up himself.
Strom turned in the direction of his elevator.
It was broken, but perhaps he could follow the sight of the perimeter his graveyard from below and come across another.
((It is isn't it?))
The knight peppered him with more shots, and the Harvester saw it jump at him, bringing back a sword for an attack. It looked at the sword, and out from the ground, actually, all around the harvester, tendrils shot from the ground and grabbed everything they could find. Under the leaping knight, three thicker tendrils erupted and were around him in seconds.
One appeared in front of Ares, ready to move and block the sword swing. The other two spun around each other and aimed to wrap up the offending knight.
Again, the Apocrean made its signature screech. This close, Ares would definitely be affected by the noise.
Luke gripped his sword and ran to meet the closest cultist, it swung at him with its obsidian edge. Luke raised his shield and deflected the swing, stabbing at the enemy. His sword made contact, but was immediately batted away by another Apocrean coming from another side. Realizing he was being ganged up on, Luke retreated and switched to his gun. He shot at one, then blocked another's swing before shooting it point blank in the chest. It doubled back but didn't look very hurt. Luke retreated some more, before shooting at another. He might have to switch to his Avenger if things got rough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Apocrean sharpshooter looked through his scope at the unfolding battle. A couple of knights were making a stand by a bunker, nothing out of the ordinary yet. The shooter became aware of a strong presence, he paused and looked without the scope, before zoning in on the presence. A girl was summoning a portal with her own energy. Maybe it was their way out.
"Slink, tell the commander that there is a powerful ally on the knights side, she is summoning a portal from the looks of it."
The Apocrean without a rifle nodded, and activated his walkie talkie.
Without waiting, the sharpshooters prepared to give the knights something to worry about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke reloaded and looked up to aim, only to realize a cultist was swinging its sword right at him. He threw himself back and landed clumsily. He brought his pistol around and fired at the enemy, and it stumbled back with a hokle in its shoulder. Luke was feeling better about himself and drew his calibur to resume fighting.