The mood of the group turned gloomy when they awoke from their brief rest and approached Norton City. The view was a depressing one; smoke from the burning city blotted out what little daylight remained. The ominous hulks of Dreadnought Carriers loomed in and out of the haze like circling vultures. Depressing as it was, Thael kept his eyes firmly fixed on the sky. He wasn’t afraid of the ocean, per se. But thousands of meters of water sinking away into total darkness, home to Etro only knows what kind of creatures? That was enough to unnerve anyone, right? Thael shuddered involuntarily, then made his way over to Roy, and quietly slid his arms around Roy’s waist to pull him close. “I didn’t think it would be this bad,” he remarked quietly. Roy nodded mutely in agreement, placing his arms atop Thael’s. They didn’t say anything else, the sombre atmosphere stifling any conversation. And then something struck the boat. Thael jumped into the air like a startled cat, looking around wildly. "What was that? WHAT WAS THAT?" he asked, his voice several registers higher than normal. He drew his shield and spear and slowly stepped away from the edge of the boat and the dark rippling waters beyond. The cannon opened fire with satisfactory thunk, but then something straight out of Thael's nightmares erupted from the sea, long slimy tentacles lashing out across the deck. Thael screamed, and without even a moment's thought he bolted to the bow of the ship and launched himself at the approaching dock with a mighty leap. He just made it, and collapsed to the ground, shuddering in horror. The thunderous crash of the boat smashing into the dock knocked him flat on his face, and a smaller crash off to his left announced Olivia's collision with a shack. The creature was slinking back into the ocean, and Thael shuddered one last time before taking stock of the situation. Stormguards and a mech, practically on top of them. Lovely. Still, it was preferable to fighting horrors of the deep. -------------------------------------- Battle 2 Thael ducked behind a concrete barricade before the stormguards opened fire. This wasn't actually all that different from a Kyne-Holstein A2 scenario. In fact the KHA2 started with 8 hostile infantry and 1 mech,so this should be even simpler. They just needed to keep the mech distracted while they swept up the stormguards, then all focus fire on the mech. Thael silently nodded in approval as Olivia issued orders to that effect, but a sudden barrage of enemy fire cut her short and forced her on the offensive. A hole seemed to open in Thael's stomach as Olivia headed directly for the mech; she was going to get herself killed. Time almost seemed to slow for a second. Thael knew his friends were extremely competent, but they were still soldiers, and soldiers needed orders, especially in this kind of chaos. Olivia had never decided on a second in command, but that was a detail that would have to wait. There was no time for confusion. "Aaron, Mag, Jyn! I want those soldiers dead yesterday!" Thael's deep voice boomed over the sound of gunfire. "Kim and Fred, focus on diversion, keep the others out of trouble! And all of you, stay away from the mech until the infantry's down!" No time to assign specific targets. They knew what they were doing. He was already running towards the mech when Olivia slammed into the brick wall and slid to the ground. [i]She's ok[/i], Thael told himself. [i]The parameters have changed a bit, but it's still the same scenario, stay focused. Normally I'd engage the mech with Sunspear, but now I have a man down way outside my optimal engagement zone, and the mech is going to turn on her any second. So I just have to...[/i] The solution struck him midstride. As Thael's foot hit the ground, he launched himself into the air towards Olivia, landing in front of her in a flash of light. With a deep growl, he immediately turned and hurled his spear at the mech, aiming roughly in the direction of the cockpit. Sunspears appeared out of thin air, all directed at the mech, and they seared into its armor. The spear itself jammed into the mech's central mass, just below the cockpit, though the flanges on the head kept it from going too deep. Then Kat's water came rushing in from behind, wrapping around the mech and slowing it's movements. But the mech was already facing Thael and his downed leader; the pilot lowered one of the arms and pointed it at the two of them. In the split second before it opened fire, Thael slammed his shield to the ground and crouched behind it. Light flared from the shield, arcing into a glowing semicircular barrier just in time to catch the heavy-calibre rounds that came screaming out of the mech's gun. [hider=Summary] Thael yells at people to do things Thael uses Guardian Leap to come to Olivia's aide. Thael uses Sunspear, focusing all damage on the Mech. The mech counterattacks with it's guns; Thael uses Golden Aegis to defend himself and Olivia.[/hider]