[color=f26522][h3]Gregory Irving[/h3][hr][hr][/color][color=f26522]“Shit.”[/color] Of course. Not only did she levitate, but she moved just as fast… or, more likely, faster than he did. Where was she? He looked around frantically, but the leaves hadn’t fallen enough for the moonlight to illuminate the forest. 

A hiss to his far right caused Gregory to flinch, but the sound that followed was much more frightening. Hinted at by a series of sharp cracks, he could not help but freeze as the ground shuddered beneath his feet from the crash of a toppled tree. Wide-eyed, he stared in that direction before his survival instinct screamed for him to do something. The urge to just leg it out of the forest was offest by a bout of hyperventilation, and he dropped to a knee as his vision swam. 

Just for a moment. [i][color=f26522]‘Yeah, and I’ll open them just to see my last moment,’[/color][/i] Gregory thought bitterly as he blinked his eyes furiously and tried to reco-

His head snapped up and Gregory squinted as he tried to figure out if it was just his eyes playing tricks. There had been a slight glow ahead… hadn’t there? Fumbling around him, he felt the rough surface of a rock and fingers dug into the soft soil to pry it loose. The crash of another tree caused him to flinch again, almost losing the rock in hand, but panic did not boil up and threaten to overwhelm him this time. 

Whether it was a display of strength, attempts to spook and panic him, a distraction, or something else entirely, it meant Miranda wasn’t currently breathing down his neck. Clutching the rock tightly, he marched forward with a stride that exuded confidence he did not feel. 

The hiss stopped Gregory in his tracks, and he tried to backpedal to no avail. Stumbling backwards ungracefully, he would have landed on his back if Miranda hadn’t seized him by the arm and promptly gave him the ragdoll treatment. The first bounce drove any semblance of breath from his lungs, and the forest floor tore at his clothes and skin as he rolled to a stop. Miranda slipped away into the shadows without a sound, but Gregory didn’t even take notice; a bit too preoccupied with trying to reorient himself.

Of course, the first words from the cuff were damning ones. [color=f7976a]"Temporary exception set by--Commander--Michael Kardos. Suppression module off."[/color]

They wanted him to fight then… If he couldn’t then he was worthless to them, that was why he’d been sent here after all right? 

The hiss meant he didn’t have any more time to think, and despite feeling battered and bruised he tensed his entire body. Forming the circle came easily this time, and the bisected rock floated behind him as Gregory threw himself forward, rolling amateurishly to spin around. A trail shed some sorely needed light into the forest, almost fully drawn as he curved it back towards the spot he had just moved from. Enough length left to make minor adjustments, but the projectile would be full-speed.

His free hand brushed the surrounding ground, feeling for anything else he could use as ammunition. His heels dug into the soil, readying to let him bolt the moment his path was drawn and the projectile launched.