Adam's shield shined once again, repaired to the point where there was not a single scratch. He walked into the medical tent and took a quick treatment, as many others were more severely injured.

"That arm of yours should be back to normal in one or two days." Adam thanked the medic, and walked out for something to eat. He was a fast healer, so he would probably be fighting again by tomorrow.

Adam finished his pasta without many words, paid the chef, and headed back to his quarters quietly. Just as he walked inside, he felting a large vibration coming from his back. Pulling his shield off, Adam found the jagged blade he had taken from the Void Gremlins.

You and all of your filthy kind will die.

"Filthy, huh?" Adam handed the blade off to a technician, not knowing what else to do with it, and then hung up his own things in his tent.

He sighed. He was too reckless today, getting a huge gash in his arm. He called for the reinforcements, he shouldn't have been surprised. He crawled into a fetal position on his bed, and sleep came quickly.

Yuuki giggled softly and smiled. "You're a nice guy," she remarked, and began walking side-by-side with Carter.

"There!" Alec pointed. He fired a clip into a Mortafire, then offered a hand. "Need some help getting there?"

Vincent nodded, "If you could get me up to that point until that small Garrison are in range of giving me covering fire, I can set up this beast and we can get into business". He readjusted his shoulders to get the bag back into a carrying state, and cocked his 2nd Gun he had brought along for personal protection. The Rustic styled Firerm looked liked a heavily modded Punch Gun. It had a Drum-fed ammo holstered near its handle, bearing some similarity to the Autogun lines. The Barrel seemed extended from the Punch's original and given a basic set of sights.

"This is something I designed in Emberlight, to help clear out pesky Warrens. No name for it yet, other than a good life-saver. It uses shells full of a material pretty commonplace around here, sharpened for a bit of extra edge". Loading a drum into a slot by the handle, he clicks it into place and brings it resting on his shoulder, held by his robotic arm.

"Oh, and before I forget-", Vincent hands Alec a Remedy Capsule, "-This is for that banged up Guardian you were with. Seemed he'd been afflicted with something fierce from those bandages, so I hope that helps". Vincent then salutes him, and signals he's ready to get going as soon as possible to the hill.

OOC: Sorry guys, my Steam account wasn't working until now :/.

A Remedy Capsule? Hmm, this person was quite prepared for the battlefield. Launching a charged shot at the Gremlins, Alec motioned with his free hand. He dashed towards the cliff slightly, fighting with a gun in his left hand and a sword in his right. Cutting a path through the enemies, he was careful of the Void ones. Strange, but the Void and the normal Gremlins seemed to be not fighting each other. Were they working together?

Alec's thoughts were cancelled by one-two-three Void Thwackers swinging at him. He immediately dashed back, and the four began to circle around each other.

Don't have time for this...

He quickly glanced around and saw that the path he had cut was now within range of the knights on the cliff.

"Go!" He yelled at the Tech. "I'll handle these peeps!"

He hoped he was right.

As one, the Thwackers lunged forward, swinging their axes in a manner so they covered all of Alec's frontal area. He dashed upwards, and slammed the trigger. Pulsing orbs of blue light bounced harmlessly off Gremlin Void Shields. They seemed to be strengthened by The Swarm. As he came back down, he dashed back, out of their range. Both sides cautiously advan-

Boom. One Gremlin exploded, his pieces fading away. One Gremlin whirled around as the other kept his eye on Alec. Explosions were blocked by the Gremlin facing away from him. Of course. Glaedr. While his Maskeraith led away one Thwacker, Alec saw the other sheathe his hammer and draw out... a Stable Rocket Hammer? Fudge. As if this battle wasn't hard enough already.

It lunged, teeth bared. Alec was low on his Striker Dash, so he absorbed the blow on his Grey Owlite Shield (conveniently taped to his left arm). Sparks flew. He slashed at the Thwacker, who blocked it on the hilt of his hammer. Slamming on his Valiance, the blasts seemed to have no effect. The Gremlin was obviously stronger. Alec was soon going to be overpowered. In desperation, he kicked the foe in the stomach, knocking it back. It backflipped and landed on its feet.

What the hell?

Alec shot at it while using the normal Trooper Dash to avoid another struggle. It simply hissed with rage and lunged again. Alec put away his Valiance. It was useless. Instead, he drew out his Combuster. Seriously. What would a toothpick do to this insanely overpowered creature? Poke a small hole in it? Alec charged both weapons at the same time. Maybe he could break through the Gremlin shield...

An faint, green explosion alerted Alec that Glaedr had defeated the other Thwacker. However, his sprite telepathically communicated that he was out of quills for a few minutes. He sighed. His swords were nearly fully charged. The Gremlin lunged. Alec blocked, straining with all his might.

Come on, just a few more seconds...

Alec dashed above the Gremlin, kicked it in the head (which did virtually no damage), and landed on the ground. The Gremlin stumbled back, and Alec unleashed his charge attack, lunging. Both swords cut deeply into the Gremlin, and the explosions sent it to Kingdom Come. Except, you know, it was still alive.

What the - that does it. Screw this.

Throwing caution to the wind, Alec channeled his exponentially increasing annoyance into a charge at the still alive Gremlin. His momentum and rage barely let his strength overcome the Void Thwacker's. This Gremlin must have been an elite. With a flourish of his left hand, he stuck his Combuster into the Gremlin's arm, severing it. He shield bashed the other arm, making it drop the hammer. Putting both weapons in front of him, he dashed straight into it for a hundred or so feet. Except, you know, it was still ali-

Screw this.

If Alec couldn't beat it, he might as well disable it. Avoiding the creature's Voidified (TM) claws, he brought his Acheron down onto its legs, slicing them off. With a twirl of his Combuster, he sliced the remaining limb. Alec then proceeded to calmly stab it several times his Acheron. Still alive, it gave no indication of pain. What a jerk. Alec beheaded it with his Combuster. For a few seconds the eyes still glowed red. Then it faded.

Whistling, Alec sheathed his Combuster and looked around for Nights, who probably needed this Remedy Capsule.

Luna woke suddenly.

...VOG! When had she fallen asleep? She was going to go back out to fight, but before that-

A sharp pain assailed her stomach, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in quite a while. No time for that now... but... something had woken her up. What was it?

On the small box that served as a table, her comlink let out a steady crackling. Her attention drawn to it, it came to her that she had turned it off in the morning. Someone must have sent a message through it, just enough to start its incredibly annoying static. Which was why she was awake now (she should never have been otherwise, she told herself sharply) and why she could don her armour, snatch up her weapons and dash out of her tent in a heroic pose, a sleepy Athena at her shoulder.

Which way... ah, yes. She swung around and jogged off in the direction she could hear loud noises coming from, hopefully the direction of the battlefield.

As she drew closer, she was able to make out figures, and she had been right. The scene in front of her did look a little like a battle.

One knight embedded a clip in a Mortafire, and held his hand out to another, who appeared to be a tech. The tech nodded, and hefted an odd-looking gun. He handed something to the knight, and saluted.

Another knight - a Guardian! - fought until she dropped her sword and shield. (Luna noticed that the sword was a Gran Faust; she must have been cursed.)

With a shock, Luna realized that a number of the enemies past the barrier were Void monsters.

What on Cradle was the Swarm doing here?

---

As she stared, the knight dashed off (a Striker - of course), inviting the tech to follow. He ran up against a few Void Thwackers, and while he appeared to have a little trouble, he dispatched them quickly. He then eyed the battlefield, presumably looking for someone.

That brought her attention back to the Guardian, on whom a number of Void enemies were marching. A Void Deadnaught froze the Guardian, who was frantically throwing bombs at the monsters. A Black Kat flew to her, spoke with her and summoned a Carnavon.

Oh come on, Luna, don't just stand there!

Feeling rather nervous at the sheer number of enemies, she leapt over the barrier and charged into the fray, in the direction of the Guardian who looked as if she could use some assistance.

{Annnd there it is, for what it's worth. I'll use these brackets for OOC. :3}

Adam woke up. Can't sleep today... He looked at the time. Forty-five minutes. That was a nice nap.

His attention turned to his shoulder. It was healed and usable, save for a massive scar. That's not leaving, is it... Adam frowned.

Adam re-equipped his belongings, and walked towards the barricade. Sounds of battle were still going throughout the camp. Guess no one's sleeping here...

He unsheathed the twin blades placed in his Aegis. Hardly anyone used these, as their Leviathans "were more effective". Adam hated people that judged things immediately. That wasn't saying that he did not judge.

Over the barricade, and into the battlefield, Adam spotted that old geezer and Nights again. Really? Hmm... He spotted a technician carrying a somewhat-makeshift-looking weapon, and another knight heading towards them, sporting... Trooper equipment! Lovely. They seemed to be fighting more Void creatures.

This looks fun... Adam ran in with his twin blades and his shield on back.

OOC: "It's just a flesh wound!" Can't believe you didn't reference to that.

[Top Floor, Haven City. Prison of the Spiral Order]

Sitting in a black room, only a small amount light breaching into the small ten by ten cell. The woman inside, dressed in a full body fire suite, sat looking at a flip top Litter. Slowly she sat there flicking it open and closed, open and closed. Walking by a Doctor and Guard stopped and opened the slid on the door. "THey want her out there now? She is a ticking time bomb...But then again I don't make the rules." The Doctor said as he looked at a note book with all her current information. After a moment the door Opened and two guards walked in going to either side of woman picking her up off the ground as she seemed to just sink into the space between them with no resistince. She was still flicking the liter open and closed, open and closed. "Ms. Floga. How are you feeling today?" No responce came, just the sound of the Litter no longer being flicked open and closed. "Ah, well I see. Can you look at me?" She did nothing but be a limp body in the hands of the Guards, her head facing down. "Come now, no need to be sad. We are letting you out today. Doesn't that sound fun?" Looking up the woman, who was missing her helm at this point because the guards took it off, looked up showing her face. It was normal, nothing really majorly wrong save for her left eye. It was solid white with burn scar all around it from when she was young, her right eye was red like normal. However she did not say anything but tilted her head slightly looking at the Doctor. "It turns out you got a free pass out of here. Don't you want to go see your parents and friends?" With that said the woman let her head hang once more, not a word said.

Looking up at the guards holding her aloft the Doctor stepped back as the sound of the litter being opened and closed picked up again. Placing the helm of her suite back onto her head they sealed her back into the suite and slowly walked the Firebug out of the Medical Prison to Haven. It was a good ten to twenty minute walk. Once there they reached the center of the Haven they sat her down and gave the woman her weapons. Four standered Fire Bombs, One Rocket Hammer based of Warmaster Seerus', and one modifed home made Flamethrower. The weapon she favored was the Flamethrower as she picked it up and looked it over, since it was a based of Grimlin Flamethrower only more condenced with a tank on the underside holding around three hundred flame units as well as the one she had on her back attacked to her belt giving an extra two-hundred. Onces she had everything placed away the Firebug stood up and started to wonder around to the elevators where she wanted to go down. Wordless she moved around waiting for some orders or something to do. As she walked, she did not realize her Communcations device was turned on thus all she heard was static and it was starting to make her mad.

((Will wait here for some orders or something that effects #123, she tends to just wander around with out orders looking for something to burn.))

Alec covered his ears as the gun shredded ranks of Void creatures. It wouldn't last for long, though. He fired a few Valiance shots at the enemies. The Deadnaught, having not very good ears, charged. Alec barely cleared it. The cacophony was deafening. A Skelly lunged at hi-

Boom.

That does it. We can't survive here for long.

Alec flipped open his comlink, and pushed the emergency distress button, activating the signal to getoverherebeforeIsliceyoulikefrenchfries.

I look and see the advancing army until Alec jumped on 1 of the crusaders head and killed it. I then see another knight coming, probably to help and then Alec gave me a remedy pill and said "I would suggest using your Guardian Shield." I put away my Shivermist Buster and put my Guardian Shield on my other hand. I pulled the shield up just as someone was making tons of noise and the Dreadnaught took advantage of this and charged at us barely missing me and Alec. The Black Kat said "Don't worry, I can tell if they are rushing towards you, I can help protect you." I see a Void Skelly dying from the direction of the loud noise and to make matters worse, that machine broke through the ice but it also shot through me. I felt so much pain and it also prevented me from walking. I couldn't take any more bandage out since the first bandage around my ribs would fall off. The Black Kat got shocked and said "When I see that Jerk who shot you, they are going to get hurt back." The Black Kat shot 3 curse bullets in the direction of the bullets. Another knight came in to help with the fight and it was Adam. I saw Adam dealing with more Void Skelly's and even some Void Crusaders. The Void Dreadnaught noticed my weakness and started to charge at me. The Black Kat said in a loud tone "CARNAVON'S, PROTECT NIGHTS!" The 6 carnavons that the Black Kat summoned created a wall and they all started to spew their curse breath at the Void Dreadnaught. The Void Dreadnaught started to suffer pain when he got cursed but killed all the Carnavons in the make-shift wall. The Dreadnaught walked back, re-charged at me again even though he was still suffering pain. As he was getting closer, the Dreadnaught threw his spear towards Adam. When the Dreadnaught hit me, my shield was still up but it was breaking fast and the Black Kat sneaked behind the Dreadnaught and bit him. The Dreadnaught took damage but didn't care until he knocked me away with his shield. I tried to move but my shot leg didn't help and the bandage around my ribs fell off too. I see the Black Kat constantly biting the Dreadnaught and summoning Carnavons to do the same and spew curse on him. I look for the remedy pill I was given but it was nearby the Dreadnaught who then crushed it. The Dreadnaught fell onto the floor with low HP but a sword could hit it now. I then see the remaining Void Crusader rushing towards me. I quickly changed to my Shivermist and threw just enough so I didn't get frozen. I started to limp away in severe pain and dropped a Dark Briar Barrage for the oncoming Void Crusader...

((OOC: Current situation is: 1 cut arm: can't use that arm for weapons or shield. 1 shot leg: Much harder to walk, can't run and most of the time is limping. Lastly, hole in ribs: Any enemies that deal Status conditions will target that area since it is cut open. Also, the arm is the only bit bandaged...))

OOC: Hava, the new Biotech, is in the first portion of the post.

Hava picked up a device that was too complicated to describe and marked a few notes on his E-Pad. The Void Bunny was hissing with resentment. It clearly did not like being in a cage all day. Hava glanced at his readings again, eyebrow arched. That shouldn't be right...

Hava immediately took the cage and Bunny and put it in front of a much more powerful version of the device. Same readings. Oh Vog. The Swarm was about to finish off Tier 3. It only needed to corrupt one more thing. Emberlight.

"NO!" Hava leapt out of the lab and straight into Ozlo's HQ, midst protests from a dozen secretaries. He dashed into the captain's cubicle, panting.

"Well. If Hava the practical is scared out of his wits, something terrible MUST have occurred."

"The Swarm...attacking Emberlight...7 hours to prepare. Dozens of Trojans and Deadnaughts. You have to...have to evacuate."

Ozlo stiffened. "I can't send anyone down there. The elevators are haywire. It would be suicide." He pulled out a tablet-like device, and opened an application.

"Yes...There is still one team of people down there. They'll have the best chance to get back to Emberlight in time. They're escorting that Biotech. Olivia I think." Sighing, Ozlo opened up a channel with them.
_____

(Meanwhile)

"Quite a merry band here, I see," Alec noted as yet another person dramatically revealed himself. "Don't mind the help that much, though." The two cleaved through Skelly's and the like, splitting up. Alec went after the Deadnaught. It was busy attacking Nights. What the heck was up with that? Everything was trying to kill this Guardian tonight. Next thing you know, the chef'll stick an ice cleaver in her. He stuck his blade into the Deadnaught, causing it to whip around. Just on time.

Boom. The Deadnaught whirled around. Slash. Turn. Boom. Turn. Slash. Turn. Boom. Turn.

This is kind of boring, don't you think?

Hey, we're still alive. I'm not complaining.

Eventually, the Deadnaught got cheesed off and charged Glaedr, not caring that Alec was beating the tar out of it. Glaedr cloaked, his form vanishing from sight. The Deadnaught paused, confused, then charged Ale-

Boom. It faded away, revealing yet another knight, who had dramatically revealed herself. Alec took his sword and trotted over to Nights, who was slumped on the ground, face contorted in grotesque expressions. A nearby crushed capsule informed him of her current situation. Casually, he stood guard, and talked to the Kat.

"Oh look, at Black Kat! Not hostile, either. What's your name?" Alec rummaged around, and found a 3* material which he handed to the Kat.

I see someone distracting the Void Crusader which resulted in the bomb hitting him. I see the Void Crusader running away and when I looked, I saw the Void Dreadnaught crumbling. Alec started to walk towards me and started to talk to the Black Kat "Oh look, a Black Kat! Not hostile, either. What's your name?" *Alec gives The Black Kat a 3 star Material* The Black Kat said "Hello Striker, my name is Elite Mew and I am the last remaining Black Kat alive. I am here because The Swarm has created a Top 10 list of Knights they want killed and here's the list." *Elite Mew gives Alec The Swarm's Wanted list* "If you look at it, 3 knights here are on the list, you, Astran and Nights who is Number 1 on the list which is why The Swarm is after Nights. Also, I owe Nights a favor since she saved me from another knight with a customized poison weapon. Granted, she wasn't a good healer but she did save me and even gave me a sleep vial to remove the poison. When I woke up, I was in better condition and I saw Nights asking if I was OK. Anyways, after Nights healed me, I delved deeper until I saw The Swarm and a piece of Paper blew into my face which is what I gave to you. I looked at it but it didn't seem to be much but it changes automatically. Today, I noticed the swarm list change and saw Nights as number 1 and needed to find her and protect her. I came just in time to help Nights and this is where we are now. I am going to be Nights pet like you have a Maskeraith as a pet." *Elite Mew eats the 3* Material* I look around and see another knight coming but when I turned around, I saw the Void Crusader from before charging at me. I charged pull out the Shivermist and charged it up. I tried to throw it backwards but it failed and landed a little bit behind me but it should just stop the Void Crusader from hurting me...

((OOC: Had no idea for Black Kat's Backstory...))

The gun blazed bullets, until it started to tucker and rattle more and more. Vincent lifted his goggles with one hand, then turned down to the Knight loading the belt ammo into the gun, who now had stopped to wonder why the gun wasn't eating it. Vincent shouted at the top of his lungs, still being deafend by the noise of its firing.

"IT'S OVERHEATING! TELL ME ANY HIGH PRIORITY TARGETS TO TAKE DOWN WHEN ITS GOOD TO GO AGAIN...".

The Knights nodded, his hands shaking from the constant vibrations of the ammo-belt being fed into the death dealing machine. He looked over the barricades, and noticed a fairly wounded Crusader, a crumbling Dreadnaught, and a host more Skeletons and Infected Gremlins moving in. Looking back to Vincent, he gave a shake of his head.

"ALRIGH-*cough* Alright. The Gun's cooled down, and's ready to go again. Whats the situation around camp?"

Vincent looked over the front of his gun, and saw a good number of Void Skeletons drudging themselves up the hill. The Gun's heavy chorus had drawn their attention, and it wasn't suprising. If shouting had drawn their attention in the 1st place like a dinner bell, this would surely have been like a Claxon. Cursing the swarm's attraction to loud noises, he dismounted from the gun, and told the Knight aiding him to move it to the sloped entrance into the garrison.

"Help me reposition this, before those swarm creeps make it up the hill. We have to hold this point".

With all the muscle and servos they could muster, they dragged the Large gun to the entrance point. Resting it against some barricades to the left, Vincent took up position once more. Noticing just over half the ammunition was used up, he had to fire in bursts to improve accuracy. He pulled down his goggles once more, and gave the Knight the signal to start feeding in ammunition. The Gun stuttered back into life and began to once more gun down the slow advance of Swarm.

Luna was just about to get into the fight when...

Not again! The Guardian was hanging on to the level by her sword, and a large gremlin (Warmaster Seerus?!) was attacking her.

Luna charged off in her direction, firing her Supernova to get the gremlin out of her way. She knelt at the edge, and extended her right hand to the Guardian, still firing at the gremlin with her left.

"Here, grab on!"

I kept hanging on and heard the sound of a Supernova shot at the Gremlin. A knight puts there hand out and said "Here, grab on!" I tried to grab on but my cut arm made it impossible to grab on. I then hear Elite Mew screeching from a hammer blow. I said to the knight "I can't grab on, my arm is cut which is making it impossible to grab on." I then hear the hammer charging up and it slammed into my Gran Faust which made me lose even more grip. I struggled to hang on and looked down to see some Silversaps on the level below but they were a long distance away. My hand around the blade started to get hurt and I saw a dark orb spinning around. I thought "So, I am really injured, the swarm is after me, Warmaster Seerus is after me, Elite Mew might die..." The bandage around my cut arm fell off because I wasn't good at wrapping bandages. The cuts I had started to bleed again and my eyesight started to go blurry...

((OOC: Boredom makes weird story parts doesn't it...))

The Void skeletons had slowed the advance, like the Swarm were focussing their attention on a point further up the field. Letting the remaining Knights fire their Pistols, Vincent packed up his Loud Support Gun, and the limited ammunition it had left. He put away all the supports back into his larger bag, and waited for an opening to get down the hill to find out what the swarm were up to. While holding out for his chance, he started loading up the drum for his Personal, shell firing, Firearm and contemplated his thoughts to himself.

"Alright, I'll take the 60 or so rounds left and use those to pick off the swarm focussing on whatever theyre focussing on, then provide support with whatever Knights are left with some of my Proto-Chargers"...

Nodding to himself, and being given the goto from a knight by the entrance way, Vincent ran off a bit faster than he had, thanks to the decrease in available resources. He held his Shotgun infront of him, and stopped every so often to incapacitate any Void Skelly that got a little too close for comfort. As soon as they got blasted to the ground, they slowly began to arise again. Seems like the swarm was a bit more determined in its goals than it previously had been. Vincent got to the battlefield at the base of the hill, and saw a few Knights in the distance fighting of a Brute of a foe wielding what seemed to be a pair of Rocket Hammers. After a bemused silence, Vincent suddenly exclaimed,

"...Well that's not good"...

Cocking his shotgun once more, he set off toward the group, hoping to provide some more support to bring down the 'Big Boss'.

Seerus's eyes gleamed as he smashed both hammers rapidly and repeatedly onto the ground, creating the blast network like effect that effectively cut Nights and that other girl off from the rest of the group. Or at least that's what the Void Gremlin thought. Alec appeared right next to the man (who seemed rather capable at combat) , and analyzed the situation. Not looking good.

Boom. The Warmaster easily backflipped over Glaedr's quills and slammed his hammer at the sprite, causing the Maskeraith to retreat.

"All right," Alec muttered to the male. "Hold on tight. I've got a plan to get us past these ridiculously overpowered explosions." He suddenly dashed into him, knocking the man over the explosions towards Seerus. A nanosecond later, Alec followed, slashing at Seerus. The Gremlin leapt back, and Alec pulled the man to his feet, holding his Acheron in front of him, his Combuster at his side.

"Get ready," Alec mumbled. "On three, I charge, you help rescue the Guardian."

"1, 2, 3!" Alec didn't bother checking if the man was running towards Nights, he was busy dealing a low undercut at Seerus, who parried with a hammer. He stabbed with his other hand, lightning fast, and the blade slid past his other hammer into the Gremlin. Unfortunately, Seerus was still alive, and cheesed off. The Gremlin dashed into Alec's shield, pushing him back a dozen feet.

Fudge. This isn't going well.

Alec opened up his comlink and opened a channel to a random Biotech. He couldn't survive against a skilled opponent he barely knew about.
_____

Hava suddenly got a call on his comlink. He scooted out of Ozlo's HQ, and answered. "Hello?"

"I need you to analyze Swarm figh- fudge! Glaedr look out! I need you to analyze Swarm fighting habits. Right now. Seerus has been corrupte- By Vog! How the heck do you dash with both hammers?"

"Analyze duels with Swarm fighting habits. On it."

Hava and Stug burst into the Lab, opening up applications and programs in the blink of an eye. Stug analyzed a dozen prerecorded one-on-one Swarm fight scenarios at once, while Hava linked up to the caller's camera to analyze Seerus's moves in comparison. Sweat trickled down his forehead as on his computer, an alert showed the knights in Tier 2 slowly being pushed back, casualties soaring. The Swarm, by comparison, was taking over more and more Gremlins. It had a nearly infinite supply. On the camera of the Striker, he saw Seerus smash his hammer repeatedly into the Striker's shield, nearly propelling him off the cliff.

Damn it. I need to quicken my pace.

"Aha!" In 25 out of 27 single duels with Swarm creatures, the Void entities had enormous strength (the other two were Dust Bunnies). This led their blows to be able to dent the strongest shields with ease, but maybe...

Hava opened a channel towards the knight. Alec Prelude. Huh. He heard that name before.

"Alrighty," Hava said. "Here's the only way you'll survive a duel with Seerus. He has strength that can't be matched, and endurance that only blows his strength can beat, so you have to..."
_____

"Use his momentum against him. Since knights have never done that before, it should be fairly easy to do so." Alec, profusely sweating from physical exertion, gazed at his opponent, who was not a bit fatigued, despite having been kicked, stabbed, and bashed repeatedly. He yelled at the others,

"Make him hurt himself! Use his momentum against him! It's the only" *pant* "Only way to defeat him."

Seerus dashed with both hammers, intending to crush Alec's face like a pancake. Alec slowly stepped aside one inch. As Seerus rushed past him, he dash-kicked the Warmaster in the back. Hard. Seerus was sent flying much farther than he intended and crashed straight through a boulder face first. That can't be good for his dental. Glaedr launched a shower of quills into him, but waited to detonate them. As soon as Seerus lunged again, the Maskeraith detonated them, sending him flying into a cliff wall. Ooch. Seerus backflipped and landed facing the merry band of six (himself, Glaedr, Elite Mew, and the two people he didn't know.)

Alec couldn't keep this up for long, though. Soon The Swarm would adapt. He had to eliminate the Gremlin before it could, regardless of whether or not it took his own life. When Seerus missed again, Alec dealt him a stunning kick that nearly sent him off the cliff edge. But the Warmaster drove his hammers into the ground, stopping him from propelling off into thin air. He tossed them at Alec, then materialized two new ones in his hands. He lunged again.

The Striker, also, had come to help. Seerus had cut them off from the Trooper, but the Striker got him over. The Striker then engaged Seerus, and fought while apparently in conversation with someone else.

After the conversation, the Striker yelled "Make him hurt himself! Use his momentum against him! It's the only-" he gasped for breath "-only way to defeat him." The Striker proceeded to put this plan into action, and there were some funny scenes.

But all too soon, the tide began to turn, and the Warmaster was lunging at the Striker. Panicking, Luna kept one arm around the Guardian, and pulled out a Valiance for a few well-aimed shots at the Warmaster.

Suddenly, Luna could feel a difference in the air. She felt a little dizzy, and shook her head to clear it - but nothing changed.

Come on, come on!

She tugged at the Guardian, trying not to stay panicky as that was not a good idea.

Alec stumbled back, dizziness taking over. Seerus smashed his hammers onto Alec's shield again, sending the Striker stumbling back. He took advantage to toss some bombs at Nights.

What the...

Glaedr looked around. Everyone else is affected too! You have to get out of here, Alec!

Alec shook his head and slapped himself. Hard. The fatigue faded, but Alec could feel it still at the corners of his mind.

If I retreat, Seerus will communicate my fighting tactics to The Swarm. It's the most valuable information we have. We can't let that happen. I'm taking him out, one way or another.

Alec woozily sidestepped Seerus and punched him, but his blow had little effect. The Warmaster slammed his hammers into Alec's stomach, sending him flying back 30 or so feet. Alec groaned as he climbed to his feet. His ribs ached like Vog. Gosh, he didn't know if he was going to survive...

Meanwhile, Glaedr shot all the quills he had remaining into Seerus, before getting smashed onto the ground. Seerus's eyes gleamed with victory, and he prepared to bring both hammers onto the Maskeraith. Alec's woozy mind solidified for just one second into pure, unadulterated rage. No one touches his Sprite. Using the last bit of Dash boost he had left, he slammed into the Gremlin at over 70 mph, sending both of them over the cliff. His elbow screamed in pain, and he used every last reserve of his mental energy to not lose consciousness. He repeatedly stabbed the Warmaster with his Acheron (still having a negligible effect), who was unable to bring his hammers into Alec while being grappled.

NOO! Glaedr swooped in to rescue Alec. Seerus threw a hammer at him, the Sprite barely clearing it.

Glaedr, go away! GO! The Sprite, reluctantly realizing he couldn't do anything, flew to the ground, intending to find a paramedic.

As the two began to near the ground, Alec grabbed Seerus's face and shoved it in front on him, intending for the Warmaster to take the direct hit. Maybe he could still survive if the Gremlin lived long enough to not dissolve before absorbing Alec's momentum. Maybe he could...his mind blanked from the strange effect that was spreading across both sides. He struggled to remain coherent. Seerus scratched Alec's face. Alec slammed his fist into the Warmaster until said Warmaster's eyes glazed over. His mind. Fuzzy. Hard to. Think.

They hit. Ground. Hard. No, soft. Soft like pillow. Furry man gone. He hurt. Ground soft. So soft...

Meanwhile, Glaedr was frantically searching for a friggin paramedic or someone else.

The shotgun guy! He was the Tech!

He frantically appeared in front on the Tech's face, sending a message telepathically:

Alec! Hurt! Badly! Hurry up!

He whizzed towards the cliff.

Glaedr responded immediately, eyes flashing with anger at The Swarm.

If you give the Spark and tell me how to use it, I think might be able to revive Alec. Name's Glaedr.

Or, I could levitate you down. I think I can get you down there, but I might have trouble getting you back up.

A third solution could be to toss the Spark down and hope he's conscious. I don't advise this one.

Glaedr flew down and nudged Alec.

"Soft...pillow...five more minutes..." Alec was really beat up.

Glaedr whizzed back up.

He's still conscious, but - WAIT! I forgot! There's some sort of energy field that's dazing everyone here! It's why Alec charged Seerus off the cliff. If you don't hurry, you'll get affected too! He flew back and forth frantically.

The knight nearby destroyed the bomb and gave Elite Mew her shield which looked customized. Elite Mew summoned another Carnavon but gave it a vile seal to block the air. Elite Mew said "Walk towards the explosions, the shield should protect us." The Carnavon pulled the shield up and blew up most of the shards on the ground with a few remaining but they wouldn't harm many people. The Carnavon then died because of the air and I was sicked up blood again and started to lose focus. Elite Mew said "Come on Nights, we need to make it back to the base." I try to look around and see a knight knocked out and it was the same one with the shield. Elite Mew picked up the shield with his teeth and placed it back to the knight. I started to lose balance without Elite Mew and fell over. Elite Mew said "Wow, this air is really affecting your balance." Elite Mew summoned more Carnavon's to get me up and they said "We are close to base." The Carnavon's died again and I noticed Elite Mew not suffering from the air and I said "How... how... are you... not getting... affected by... this air?" As we reach the base, I struggled to climb over it but I made it back." Elite Mew said "OK, we are back but Nights, you should rest and see about those injuries..." I start to limp through the base where all knights could see my bad condition...

All of a sudden, a strange energy force seemed to envelop the knights. It seemed to be the same anomaly as the one that had affected the knights at the battleground. A few people began to stumble, and the army began to retreat. A knight groaned, fell over, and hit his head next to Fatia, bleeding and unconscious.

A Swarm Dust Bunny appeared. Probably was scouting. Seeing Fatia, it gave a cry of rage and sprang towards the pyromaniac. Behind it, a couple more Bunnies sprang out of the ground as well. All of them charging at Fatia. These, though, appeared to be much tougher than a normal Bunny. Probably since it was Swarm. A nearby Sentry spotted them and sounded an alarm; luckily, it was not a loud noise (noises scared poor Snipes). Instead, it was a neural message that basically gave the person the information of where an enemy was and how dangerous it was. Finding that his Sentenza shots simply bounced off the critters, the danger level was classified as Stratum 6.

Meanwhile, the unconscious man was found and taken to a hospital.

OOC: DUN DUN DUN!!!

OOC: This is sort of like a catch-up for the situation on unlocking The Core and Artifact.

Feron sighed and leaned against his leather chair. The recent energy wave had left him feeling inconsequential. If they couldn't resist a weak energy effect, how would they cope with The Swarm?

"Any ideas of how this...radiation like energy arrived?" The Lieutenant was being healed by a Biotech. Again.

The Technicians scanned their notes. "No, sir," one of them replied. "However, sir, we think it may be connected with The Core. And thus the Artifact."

He continued. "The energy not only weakened our troops, it also seemed to repulse The Swarm. For now, at least. It seems to be a wave, like the spread effect of a dust field spreading across the world when a meteor hits a planet. It's passed Haven, but a few Swarm creatures, agitated, have popped up in the town. As of right now, Sentries are being dispatched to eliminate the threat. It's only a few Dust Bunnies. Nothing too big."

Feron closed his eyes from fatigue. He had hauled a Guardian Knight and himself to a hospital when the radiation had begun to affect them. Not good for your muscles. They were sorer than a Vanguard after getting hit by a 2-ton rock and surviving.

"All right then," he mumbled. "How's the Artifact?"

"Not much progress besides that the energy levels are equivalent to 20000000 Crystal Energy. We had already estimated it around that before, though. It's not nearly enough to get us off this metal hellhole of a planet. Oh, and we've determined it has a certain number of...well...energy barriers, I suppose. They're like a security measure. If we trigger one, it'll blow up Haven. And maybe Cradle too.

The commander waved his hand. "Keep up the research. I want to know how to unlock it by the end of this month. The Swarm's closing in. Next."

The Technicians saluted and exited the room, replaced by a group of strategists. They began to discuss tactics on combating The Swarm; Gremlins were already well-known. Suddenly, a beeping sound on Feron's armband alerted him of a message. From Ozlo. Opening it, Feron's eyes fell upon a wealth of information. The strategists looked at the reports in surprise, and immediately altered their battle plans, fervidly discussing.. A bud of hope spread in the Lieutenant's chest. Maybe they could pull this through.

I continue limping through the base and then Elite Mew said "The energy from before is now in the base." I then see the hospital but I fainted from weakness and before I lost my hearing, I heard Elite Mew said "Nights, don't collapse now, we are near the hospital..."

((OOC: Couldn't think of anything.))

Vincent paused for a moment before mentally facepalming himself.

"Right, Right, you can fly. This whole situation has got me a bit rushed myself. Alright. I can patch together these Proto Charges, then you fly me down. I have a feeling he'll need the both of us to help him down there".

He began to take out the Proto-Charges from his satches, and lastly took out the wrench he had picked up at the workshop. Piecing them together in an 'X' pattern, he left the centre module with a needle like point. Turning it around in his mechanical hand, he made sure there weren't any leaks or issues that may cause it to go wrong. This was a last chance sort of thing after all.

"Ok, Im good, ghost fella'. Hoist me down, and I'll give him this Modified Spark. Should hopefully work".

Vincent kept the charge held tight in his hand, while the other held his shotgun ready for anything unexpected on the level below. Even though he had felt the odd energy start to seep into his own way of judgement, he held firm for the time being, hoping it may not be as bad when he went down.