[IC] The War of the Three

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Silana Delacroix~

@KoL - Speaks to Victoire
@Lonewolf685 - Agrees to a truce with Suparna, after insulting once more.

"Hmm... The Whitering Queen, Silana Delacroix? I thought that it could be you that I sensed by the sheer power of your aura, but I couldn't confirm it while fending off the Heavenly pests. You mustn't bother, the pleasure of such a meeting is mine."

Silana offered the Vampire a smile. She was glad at least someone here had the proper respect for her. As such, Silana would give her the same in return for the most part. She again, ignored Chirada's fury. She had no reason to acknowledge her still, and if she ever thought one of the living could ever bring her to her knees, then she would find herself sorely mistaken.

...she wondered if it was even possible to make Chirada her puppet? It would give her so many more options as far as undead goes. She wouldn't ask Chirada, such a thing would be a sign of weakness. She'd have to find a maggot filled corpse and bring it back with her. Find a way to make it listen to her, instead of Suparna. Alas, such a thing for later, however. Bigger concerns were needed at the moment.

"You must speak of the Queen of Carrion, Suparna Wolgen. While I do agree that she's not one of the most finesse, we are outnumbered and outmatched on this skirmish, every asset we can gather is very much appreciated, if we still want to walk away victorious."

The Lich frowned tilting her head slightly in curious displeasure. The suggestion that she even have to work with that disrespectful creature was absolutely disgusting. However, she could not deny the Blood Countess' logic. Infighting among themselves was the least efficient way to do anything. And since she loathed to be inefficient at anything, then this was the best course of action. It seems that a temporary...truce, with the filthy maggot was something that she was going to need, then, as much as she loathed it.

Silana simply watched with mild interest as Chirada devoured an enemy unit. Such a crude, thought admittedly effective method of killing someone. She supposed the maggot had a few notable tricks up her sleeve, and those tricks would be filed for later in case a confrontation ever occurred. It would be good to always have information on anyone one had a potential of fighting.

"Even those who devour the humans, are among the living." She chastised Suparna for her short shortsightedness. "All things - humans, the light, and even the dark will one die succumb to death until there is nothing left but bones and rot, and their rulers...those of the undead." She of course, included Victoire in that filing. It wouldn't be wise to attempt to make an enemy out of the Blood Countess. "Which you are conveniently not~"

She offered Suparna a smile nonetheless, though it was far from a friendly one. Saying her bit on that though, she turned back to the Blood Countess. Antagonizing Suparna wasn't beneficial, would wouldn't help anyone. "Apologies, Victoire, Suparna. I am perhaps a little overexcited at the prospects of bringing this fortress to its knees. I shall restrain my tongue from further insults in this operation, if you restrain yours."

The Lich turned to face everyone that had gathered.

"A plan then." She continued. "Do you have a suggestion, Victoire? The Maggot has made it easy enough to track our target."

Gwynn Maoilriain

@Lonewolf685 - Speaking to Regia

Mistakes had been made, and the situation was bad.

That much was apparent. She had completed her objective of freeing the prisoner. That should have at least given Diana sometime to at least run some distance! But what did the dragon do? She only stood still, and protected the asset. Which was fine, but if that's all the dragon could manage, then she might as well be worthless to their cause. The fact that she had gotten seen in the first place was a mar on her record.

She felt the cold of Regina's sword press against her neck, and the injector tube restrain her arm, a small pain as she was pricked and was injected with a frigid liquid. She grunted in pain, having to drop her sword.

"Your haste has cost you, Valkyrie. Surrender now before more harm comes to the Queen's Treasure and your own kin."

As the Machina's eyes glared at her, she too glared at the Machina Defiantly. Surrender? Her? No honorable warrior would ever surrender! It would be better to die on the battlefield than to ever accept humiliating imprisonment. She would have likely said so as well, if these had been demons. However, despite her distaste for humans, they weren't all irredeemable. She had...somewhat amicable relations with humans in the past...so hopefully this wouldn't be any different.

"...very well." She still glared at Regina, unflinchingly. "I will surrender under the assumption I will be treated with the respect a warrior of my standing is due." With this, she dropped whatever resistance she may have been given. She could use some rest, really. Taking a missile to the face had honestly taken its toll on the valkyrie and her body ached all over. It wasn't going to kill her, no, but a brief respite, a moment to catch her breath would be very welcome.

[Pyromania99]

Hider

Machina, Angels and Demons. All were wretched in their own way. The Machina were too cold and calculating, planning things by the numbers thinking little of others. The Angels too head-strong and blinded by their own arrogance to accept others. The Demons too self-centered and chaotic to even consider wanting to help them of one’s volition in most cases. Where does that leave one of blood from both Angels and Demons forged by the hammers of Machina? As it turns out, escaping to the one place where they were likely to not kill her on sight now. Hell.

---

It was a battlefield unlike any she had seen before. Powerful figures from all sides of the conflict showed their impressive skills. Dangerous roses, explosive shells, roaring guns, pillars of light. . . Krinsa was young by standards of Angels and Demons and hasn’t been tested for nearly as long, so to make up for the stark contrast in skill she improvised with her own training with the guns and other specialized weapons of Machina. . . As outdated as they were in comparison to the more recently created weapons they still preformed their job well.

”Such much power in one place. . .” Krinsa couldn’t help comment to herself as she dropped the magazine in her Long-Range Rifle and reloaded another. At first she was going to go in with the rest, but seeing how the flower-field appeared and how that giant mechanized monstrosity mowed down the angels as they got close. . . Krinsa didn’t want to take her chances at first when she brought this rifle from a safe distance. One where she wouldn’t get half incinerated by light or blasted by a stray shell from the giant moving fortress. It was easy enough to take shots at unsuspecting humans, angels, and machines as she whispered, ”My apologies,” with the first shot she took.

Still, things changed when the Elicitor began digging underground. . . How a behemoth like could go underground so easily was a mystery to Krinsa, still, it made her job a bit more. . . Personal? As in, she needed to go down to the underground and make her own entrance. . . At the least the rifle was out of ammo, so she needed to move in closer to use her normal weapons. Setting the rifle on the ground, Krinsa called her wings out. Compared to the pure white color of the opposing angels, her wings were black as pitch.

With a large flap, Krinsa took to the sky from her elevated position in an attempt to follow the large fortress underground. Of course, it couldn’t be a simple as that. . . There were still angels aerial around the entrance and four of them noticed her. Krinsa could see they were unworried about her and merely wanting to get rid of a possible hindrance. Unbeknownst to them, the Fallen Angel had a secret weapon for their kind as she pulled out the two hand-held weapons on her side, the Exploiters. That’s what they were called back in the day at least. Models would have likely changed and gotten better, but this was still a good weapon against these angels with melee weapons.

The fight started in a head-on, a perfect start for Krinsa to hit something at even a far range. Aiming at two of the angels in the middle, shot took a shot with each weapon. Luckily the recoil wasn’t bad, but the small sound of a miniature explosive hitting an angel’s wing seemed to herald pain as a hole showed on it and the angel started to lose altitude. The angels thought on what happened and started to fight more defensively. Perhaps luckily for Krinsa, her weapon was as hard to guess where it would aim for her as it was for the enemy to guess where it would go. She fired a few wild shots off from both guns one exploding into another angels stomach downing him and another smacking into one other’s head, but failed to explode. ”Tch, another dud.” Still though, a bullet was a bullet and it did it’s job of at least knocking the angel out of the fight. . . Not that Krinsa could tell if he was dead or alive. At the very least it was now a one on one. . .

“You coward! You fight with the weapons of your enemy? Face me one on one in honorable combat with your sword!” The remaining angel said. He was a brave one to be sure. She could just pull out either of her guns at any time and end it. . . But fair enough. She holstered her Exploiters and pulled out her Arcshock Blade but kept the electricity off. Surprise was a good element in a fight. “Now die for your atrocities demon-spawn.” The Angel said as he rushed into combat spear pointed towards the Half-Angel.

”You full-blooded angels are always so annoying when it comes to that. I hardly want to. . . Whatever, you’re not listening.” Krinsa muttered as she prepared for his piercing strike. As the distance closed and the angel was about to reach her, Krinsa parried the blow with her blade up slightly and delivered a kick to the man’s stomach. It gave the spear angel pause, enough so for his opponent to jump on his back and hold a blade to his throat. ”Surrender, drop you weapon and fly away. Or I will kill you.”

The Angel scowled as he said his last. “Never.”

”My apologies then, but I cannot allow any to get in my.” She slit his throat there and kicked off as his body fell to the ground before diving for the hole the Elicitor left behind. There were a few hazards including the falling debris and the hazardous looking blood. . . . But she made it through. The Half-Demon made touchdown on the top deck. There was still fighting going on, but the biggest part was between a the metal monster and an angel. They both looked tough and she didn’t want to be a part of it. Instead, she snuck inside the fortress through a blasted open door.

She walked down the hall on high alert and retracted her wings. As she turned the corner the first thing she saw was a bottleneck for many men with guns to fire down. They fired at her but missed as she ducked back behind cover. Instead of going all out, the better option in her mind was to send floating down the hall an orb of darkness. The guards were flabbergasted at what they saw at first. It was a medium sized orb the size of a human torso. It did little other than make it’s way toward them. They knew demon magic could do a number of things so they were unsure of what to do. It mattered not though, as Krinsa shot the orb with a bullet from one of her Exploiters and it exploded, knocking their cover back and killing the few in front and knocking the others out.

The Half-Breed continued on quickly, but carefully. Hoping for little hindrance outside the spare armed soldier.

[Lucius Cypher]

Warboss Grafdakka Destroya

A bright explosion engulfed Grafdakka, more powerful than the last. The steel titan could not feel pain, but even he knew this explosion had damaged him, though not so critically that he was concerned. His enemy had flown into the air to counter the attacks of the angel, giving Grafdakka some time to prepare. The Elicitor was now completely underground, going deeper and deeper until it reached a depth deep enough that none could follow them easily. Grafdakka repositioned himself near the stern of the Elicitor in preparation of what he had in mind, anticipating the approach of more enemies should they arrive. And sure enough, they came as fast as lightning.

Grafdakka had only seconds, if even that, to prepare. But from what little he knew of his opponent, he knew that he was an angel who used lightning to strike fast and strike hard. Indeed, there was no chance for Grafdakka, as fast as he was, to keep up with that sort of extreme speed. So he needed to anticipate the attacks. When the lightning came in, Grafdakka countered the only way he knew how: By sawing it. His saw, made of a holy metal savaged from angel blades, would absorb the holy bolt as it rushed right towards him. Before the angel might have been able to direct lightning wherever he pleased, but this time Grafdakka was prepared, using his saw as a lightning rod to absorb his power into the spinning blade. But Grafdakka knew he couldn't contain such power for long; he didn't hurry he was liable to lose this limb. So there was only one thing he could do: Release the energy. But if he had to, he'd do it on his terms.

At the stern of the ship, Grafdakka jumped off. He fell, hundreds of feet towards the ground in less than three seconds. And upon impact, he smashed his saw into the ground, allowing the holy lightning and all that was in it to spread through the dirt beneath him. But that wasn't the only thing he did. After he jumped Grafdakka had fired all his bunker buster rockets into the top of the tunnel, collapsing tons of dirt behind the Elicitor as it continued forward. It would have to leave Grafdakka behind, tons of dirt seperating him from the fortress, but that was fine. At this point, Grafdakka would make the final stand against the angels and demonic hordes dropping into the tunnel.

A massive explosion destroyed his left arm, his saw, and nearly caused Grafdakka to stumble onto his back. He maintained his balanced but the damage was done. His only weapons left was his body, legs, and twin-link Gatling. Grafdakka wasn't expecting to survive this. But that was fine with him. He'll die fighting.

"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH."

---

Francisca Labrys Seax Luxuria

Fran was having a bit of a rough time. Between the angel's striking her down everything she got a good height, to the fortress's own weapons forcing her to retreat, Fran wasn't making much progress. "Oh poof! These people make it so hard!" And if those weren't bad enough, the entire thing started digging underground. Underground! How was it even doing this? Fran didn't know, but it wasn't long before she'd end up getting caught in Victoire's own poison smog, so Fran would have to give up her attempts to reach the bridge and sneak inside. Which was easier said then done of course. Though Fran found an entrance she could break down, nothing but steel walls between her and wherever she needed to go. Some walls were thin enough that with a few chops she could get through, but others didn't fall even after twenty. "Damn. Either I'm getting weak, or these are some tough walls..."

Fran tried to look for other paths, though stealth wasn't really her forte. She thought maybe she could follow the trail of corpses to her destination, but along the way she found nothing but heavily fortified positions of Machinas. One or two she could handle, maybe even five if she got the drop on them like she did the angels, but these guys were ready down. She'd need overwhelming force or a distraction.

As Fran was debating a plan, some blood pooled near by her. Fran didn't remember killing anyone yet, though she supposed it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see some of these corpses get a bit leaky. But no, this wasn't just a mundane occurrence: a voice spoke out through the puddle, which revealed itself to actually be a portal. And from that portal was the voice of none other than the Blood Countess, Victoire Bordeaux. "My mistress! What an honor for us to meet like this!" Fran gave the portal a curtsy, though it was lost as the countess simply ordered Fran to group up with them. A small squeal of delight emerged from Fran's mouth, happy that she wouldn't have to try and sneak or fight her way passed all these Machinas. Surely she'd find an attractive human among the defenders and become distracted if she had to do things the hard way, and well... Fran loved getting her jollies off, but work was work.

Diving through the portal, Fran arrived at Victorie's location. And to her surprise and pleasure, Suparna and Sil were here too. "My lovely lolitas! Oh this will be exciting! The great Blood Countess, the Withering Queen, Queen of Carrion, and of course the Whore Princess of the Uterine Sea, ready to show these soulless abominations the duality of pain and pleasure!" Fran exclaimed in a chipper tone. Fran wasn't normally a team player, but with people like this, they surely couldn't fail.

[LokiLeo789]

Raziel, The Holy Bolt

~BGM~

---

Traveling at the speed of lightning, Raizel found himself thinking ahead, looking for ways to counter his enemy, and even counter his enemies counter. That would prove to be a life saver for general, as he found himself face to face with Grafdakka's saw. Despite the situation, the Seraph did not panic, instead, he made a split second decision, to exit the bolt. Raizel knew the consciences of such an exploit, it was fool hardy. It would have been smarter to take the saw in his intangible form, and simply be absorbed, but he couldn't leave his angels, not without a leader.

Even before a blink of an eye, Raizel exited the bolt, tumbling outwards onto the deck, unfortunately, not before the saw severed his forearm completely. Raizel screamed in pain as he crumpled to the floor, and Grafdakka abandoned ship. White-hot blinding pain beyond anything he could have imagined rushed through his body, bombarding his mind without circumvent. He was amazed he remained conscious. It was really a quite agonizing experience. Every moment was felt as if he stuck his whole hand in lava. Unfortunately, Raizel didn't have time to worry about his arm, dozens of undead angels had came galloping at him.

Raziel, on his knees, stared at his reanimated allies, the light in thier eyes showing the threads that they hung by. They were alive, slowly being eaten from the inside out, but thier minds were kept intact, by some kind of parasite. Some were naked, particularly the females. At that moment, with the earth rushing past him, his right arm lost, and undead angels after him, Raizel did not feel fear, nor shame, nor peace. At that moment, all he felt was primal rage, the will not only to live, but to crush all those who defiled his comrades.

Without a moments hesitation, the general palmed his severed arm, and pumped hundreds of volts into the wound. The tissues under the skin started to boil and bubble, but soon burnt, turning the whole area black. Words could not describe the pain, but Raizel was not only pushed on by his own power, but by the will of the heavens. Quickly, Raizel rerouted the electricity into his body, empowering himself so the pain would only became a dull ache, and heightening his senses, and capabilities.

Despite he enhanced condition, Raizel barely dodged an incoming spear to the face. The world went in slow motion as he observed the spear tip. Hundreds of maggots crawled along the blade, ready to devour his body if he so much as touched it. He couldn't be hit by them. Without a moment to lose, Raizel whipped out his holy blade, Lepída tou Lightning, sweeping it in a wide arc to cut the torso of the undead angel, running clean through.

Lightning arced of the blade as Raizel broke into a dance, cutting, slicing, dodging. He held no place for his fallen comrades in his heart, thier judgment would be swift and gratifying. This was where Raizel thrived, it was his forte, swordplay, or in this case, butchering. Thinking that it had found his blind spot, the undead angel jumped at him, spear outstretched. Unfortunately, it was mistaken, as the laws of the universe would instead throw the reanimated corpse back into a wall. Thankfully, Raizel wasn't alone and the deck, angels that had managed to hold on, jumped into the fray. One, unfortunately found itself with maggots eating at his hand, the angel and grabbed a reanimated fighters neck. Without hesitation, Raizel severed the angels head from its shoulders, and did so for the rest of the corpses. Judgment had been swift, but that battle had been far from over.

While the deck seemed to be near empty, with angels and man fighting in the distance, Raizel found himself alone. Resting on his blade, he went on to calculate his odds. Things looked grim, for the angels of heaven.

---

@Lucius Cypher,@Legion02
Whomever is outside to see this.

[Ryonara]

HIBIKI & SHIZUKA

The sisters took Bastion and Diana out of the cargo hold to somewhere safe. And the only place they knew that was safer than the cargo hold was the brig. They had facilities to hold onto demons and angels of great power, not to mention a lot of heavy security. Of course Hibiki was almost certain that one of the traitors were there, and they might sabotage the defenses. "We'll have to make sure these two are safe first, and then we'll plan a counter attack. So no heroics just yet, okay sis?" SHizuka only nodded her head, more focused at the task on hand. She kept her sense sharp for anyone friend or foe, knowing that the former could easily be disguised as the latter.

Fortunately the drones Hibiki sent out came back, and with all their equipment too. The sisters were able to gear up quickly, the maidens now looking like proper soldiers. As they were about to resume marching Shizuka took Diana's sword. "Sorry. I'll give this back once we're done here." Shizuka could tell that this weapon was blessed somehow, as The Iron Maiden armor was weakening it's power. If the demons were really on board than Shizuka would need to get rid of the armor to be at her full power, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. Being at full power meant she was in dire straights, or worse, something happened to Hibiki.

But there was something else the Drones told Hibiki that distressed her. They had picked up a powerful demonic aura not too far away. Certainly too close for the two girls to run away with their guests. If they made too much noise they would easily be found, and even geared up like this they wouldn't be able to fight something as strong as these readings indicated... "Change of plan's sis. There are powerful demons near by, we need to head back with the Sorcerers. I'm getting four different readings... They'll be too much even for her to handle. Right now the safest place would be with her after all." Shizuka nodded her head as she set up her Cerberus rifle. "Let's go."

Soon the four returned back to the cargo hangar where Regia, the other angel warrior, and some from the Bondage and Discipline Unit. Most whom were stuck in Hibiki's sticky trap. "Eh heh... Sorry about that. Sis, if you would please?" Shizuka went to help free the caught members while Hibiki approached Regia, the prisoner and the Queen's Treasure far away from the Valkyrie's reach. "I have troubling news, Arctic Sorcerers. My drones have picked up a powerful demonic reading near by. Only a few, but each quite powerful. They must have used our traitors to figure out where the Queen's Treasure was at. What should we do?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Lonewolf685@TheWindel@KoL

[KoL]

~Victoire Bordeaux~

@Lonewolf685, @Lucius Cypher, @Rune_Alchemist, @Flamelord

"So, now that we are regrouped, let us proceed with forming a strategy to achieve victory, despite any personal grudges we may." Victoire took the command, or at least, the lead role naturally as she walked down the bat infested corridor, extending her hand forward as the flying menaces were unmade (terminating her previous summon), their very essence coagulating in a ball of pure darkness, held on the vampire's grasp. "Right now, we need information more than anything else. There are live humans nearby, at least one must know what we need." Victoire said as her senses caught the presence of a blockade not very far from their location, probably their best chance to acquire intelligence.

"Francisca, go forward and deal with them but, leave anyone that seems like an engineer or commanding officer alive. The rest is yours. You may indulge on your debauchery how, leave them alive, unharmed is optional, but don't control them, or turn them into undead, or whatever else any of us can do. Also, be mindful that we have little time to spare." After she instructed Fran and the others, Victoire turned to her more magically oriented allies. "You two, provide support for the time being. Francisca is our only frontline asset at the moment, we'll need to make sure that she stays in proper shape while we do our advance. Naturally, I'll be following suit as well."

"Summon: Darkness Hunter."

"Provide cover to Francisca, even if at the cost of your existence." Victoire used the gathered shadows to summon a couple of shadow wolves and sic them as advanced support to help Fran hold out, as they got ready to advance.

~Diana~

@Lonewolf685, @Ryonara, @Rune_Alchemist, @TheWindel

I'll post for her later, for the time being there's too little to do right now with her, anyway, since she's following her captors quietly and not resisting.

[Lonewolf685]

Aqua Regia

@Ryonara - Responding to Hibiki and advising to prepare for battle.
@Rune_Alchemist - Capturing and releasing Gwynn.
@TheWindel - Stuffing the Treasure back in the Chest.
@KoL - Being Stuffed with the Treasure.

"I will surrender under the assumption I will be treated with the respect a warrior of my standing is due."

Regia watched the Valkyrie could through a series of internal decisions, Gwynn's face an open book to the Machina's facial pattern recognition software. It was evident her first gut reaction was that of disgust and certain dismissal of the very idea of surrendering to an enemy, an understandable reaction even for the emotionally subdued Machina. What followed was a series of rapid, miniscule twitching of facial muscles that would be recorded as part of an ever expanding file kept on the Valkyrie, which lead Regia to believe that Gwynn would do as she had said for the moment.

As the unharmed disciplinary Machina flanked Gwynn on either side, Regia released her arm and lowered the sword so they could hold the Valkyrie in place while Regia contemplated their next move. In this intervening period, the Machina Shizuka approaching once more while her sister and the other captive were elsewhere.

"I have troubling news, Arctic Sorcerers. My drones have picked up a powerful demonic reading near by. Only a few, but each quite powerful. They must have used our traitors to figure out where the Queen's Treasure was at. What should we do?"

"Acknowledged, unit Shizuka. This is a troublesome report even with our added reinforcements." Aqua Regia turned to the entrance way, seeing the detained units that were a mix of GRNTs and the a half a dozen more of the Bondage and Discipline division with their Mecha Cats in toe. Following behind them would be Hibiki, Bastion, and a bound Diana, likely finding it prudent to not wait in the hallway for the demons. "Units Shizuka, Hibiki. We shall be defending the Queen's Treasure here in an established position. You will store the Treasure back in her container, and drop the Dragon as well. The risk of another plasma discharge is not acceptable at this juncture. All units, prepare to repel imminent attack. Leave no entrance uncovered, reports indicate vermin and carrion are being utilized by the Demons."

The orders had been given, and with them the room exploded into a flurry of activity from the subordinate troops as they rearranged the cargo hold into the ideal fighting position. Crates of various sizes, from waist high cubes to reinforced cargo containers that were stacked to provide multiple levels for the GRNTs to fire from in an overwhelming wave of bullets and the occasional directed energy weapon that would prove an adequate threat to even a cadre of demons.

The first was organized as a three crate high wall, with a gap built in between them one container width in length. Behind the walls the Bondage and Discipline were ready to engage in melee and to release their cats to pounce and bind their enemies. The second wall was only slighter longer than the gap, meant mainly to block line of sight to the Treasure box that would once again be storing Bastion as well as an added Dragon. Just as the first this one was three containers tall, but the containers were turned so that the doors faced the cargo hold entrance to provide a thicker surface to withstand greater attacks that may otherwise harm the treasure box. Machina efficiency, a connected system to distribute tasks and orders as required, and their mechanized bodies made this transition from storage to reasonably defensible position possible, and Regia could allow herself a smile of pride at their work.

Regia was going to take her position between the forward walls, the tip of the spear to break the demon advance, when she noticed the metaphorical nail that had yet to be hammered down. The Arctic Sorceress approached and picked up the Valkyries fallen sword, ushering the two units holding her to re-enter the formation with a casual wave of the blade. Valkyrie, you have surrendered under the pretense we treat you as a warrior and worthy of the respect of your rank. Demons will be upon this position momentarily, and if we fail here then I will not be able to uphold this agreement nor protect my Queen's Treasure. In this instance it is prudent I arm and return you to the battlefield to perform your duty. Eliminate the Demons, and the Machina will not soon forget the honor of the Valkyrie Gwynn.

The Holy sword was planted into the ground between them, right before the Valkyrie's off hand as her sword hand had likely been crippled by the injector freezing it with a dose of Liquid Nitrogen. That it hadn't frozen solid and shattered from the barest contact was a courtesy from a smaller than average dosage being applied. Regia unslung her rifle from the mag lock and took her position at the tip of spear, a concerto of charge bars being yanked raising in salute to their effort. Hopefully Shizuka and Hibiki found a position that suited their tastes, though Regia thought the one with the holy sword would try and move towards the front. A temporary alliance of convenience had been struck, and if Gwynn wished to uphold her honor and kill demons in the process, then Regia hoped she'd wait till after the demons were dead before engaging in duplicity of some sort.

[Skyswimsky]

"What a shitty day." The Combat Pilot sighed. Was he a survivor? Or just a coward? Though, honestly, cowards turned out to be survivor's more often than heroes. What was he supposed to do? Stay inside his Knight Arms until the moment it sustained so much damage that even the Nanomachines couldn't do any more miracles? Yeah, maybe... hell no. He had a family to return to. Sure, he might have triggered this or that deathflag BUT who believed in stuff like that anyways? Right, only an idiot!

Taking another swig from his cigar, he sighed. Despite not believing in such bullshit as fate and whatever he couldn't deny it was a miracle that he made it safely onboard their oh-so great Battlefortress and, even more so, managed to survive until now! It was actually rather surprising how easily some of those demons and angels died through a well-placed shot of his Qual-Support Revolver V.72.X, though, ultimately, ammo was still a thing and that he only had one more shot left didn't make it any easier.

Shaking his head in disbelief he stopped for a second. The Bridge was surely out of question and considering they were under the motherfucking earth right now he couldn't do with any of the escape pods either. Jeez, was he seriously trapped in there? Maybe his best bet of action would be the living quarters and hiding inside some cabinet? All the Pilot Guy wanted to do was survive, triggering even more death flags by swearing to himself that he would spend way more time with his daughter after this was over. Whatever the ca- "Shit."

He could only hope that it wasn't too late as he felt the presence of somebody approaching, he had to think quick. One bullet, how many enemies? The only course of action was probably...more cowadrice! Dropping the cigarette on the ground he simply put himself onto the ground, to the side of a wall, as quietly as possible. Heck, thanks to his more-or-less broken Combat Visor he didn't have to close his eyes for the sake of playing dead!

---

Where was it?
Where was it?
Where was it?

With each passing second, each passing moment, the unnatural silence inside the steel-clad giant became quieter and quieter. Suyi didn't know how much time she had left to accomplish her goal. Despite the circumstances and the corrupted abominations that kinda seemed to be on their side any enemy she had met so far was fighting until their death. Or, at least, gave her enough of an fight that not killing them was not an option. Of course, Suyiketsu didn't have the tiniest bit of a bad conscience as she slaughtered those weaker than her, she wasn't that pathetic, but the Oni Princess still knew it was probably not right. Though, ultimately, for her goals she just needed somebody to answer her some questions.

Thinking more logically about it the first obvious choice for any kind of super secret weapon, that for whatever reason wasn't used to decide the outcome of this battle, was probably the cargo hold, being cargo and all, however hiding it in such an obvious place also sounded utterly retarded. Something more secure, a special location, was the place Suyi had to find, a location only known to the higher ups probably. That, ultimately, left the white-hair only with the option to just check out the cargo bay or find one of such bigshots and take him hostage. But maybe, just maybe, somebody was so stupid to think 'You can hide a tree inside the forest' and the weapon was really inside the cargo bay! Though, in that case chances are that it was most likely also compromised by now.

Still, wherever the weapon was didn't ultimately matter as long as she couldn't find it. Just why couldn't there be a map with a big "You are here" dot just somewhere? Continuing her way while thinking about a better alternative, the Oni suddenly stopped. Something smelled... wrong. Despite the damage the Elicitor took she traversed more unbroken parts right now. So why was it that suddenly, the odor of smoke similar to their Smoke Pipes back home entered her nose? Turning around curiously, the Oni was about to find out as a single Bullet connected with the side of her head.

---

"Phew, close one. Damn addiction, literally nearly killing me in unexpected ways." Were the words Suyi heard as she stumbled a few feet back. She got shot. If it had been something special, who knew what would have happened? Alas, the revolver bullet simply stopped as it made contact with their even more resilient bone-structure, simply dropping to the ground considering the skin wasn't that thick around the skull.

"E-Eeehh? F-" Of course, Pilot Guy wasn't that much of a mook that he actually managed to notice the sound, allowing him to barely dodge the oncoming sword strike by pure instinct. "I GIVE UP!" He yelled before his buttocks even reached the ground. It was a desperate attempt, really, but the only choice he had left.
"...?" Realizing he was actually still alive, the cold steel only pressing against his throat and his empty gun taken from him in quick fashion, it could only mean the horned humanoid demon showed him mercy! Whooo! Breathing in relief he spoke up. "You demon's sure are fast."

---

"Shut up and only speak when I ask of you. If you value your life, human." Suyi responded cold, her wound already closing. Realizing he didn't say a word and apparently waited for more input, the Oni Princess continued. "Do you know where that secret weapon of yours is?"
"No."
"And you're not lying because?" She pressed the blade closer to his throat.
"Because 'I value my l-' Owh owh owh owh! Stop! I need my neck! Yeah, look. Do you really think they would tell a nobody like me? I mean, it's supposed to be secret and all, so if everybody and their mother knew where the heck this weapon was, neither Angels nor Demons would have a problem finding it, isn't that so?"

He... wasn't wrong, and Suyiketsu didn't feel like he was lying, which was good enough for her. Still... ."You do know where the cargo-bay is, right?" - "Yup." - "Then tell me." - "Sure! Just let me tell you so I lose all my value as an hostage and you can just kill me! Though, then again, you could just kill me the moment you arrive there... ." - "Do you even realize the situation you are in? Stop talking to me so casually and just spill it out!" She sighed, even if he didn't tell her she wasn't planning on killing him. Yeah, this whole hostage-business was more annoying than she thought. "Look, you ha-" - "Watch out!" Without hesitation, the pilot guy pointed behind her, the Oni's eyes following his finger just to see @Pyromania99 a what looked like another one of the Machina's fighters.

This one, however, followed by no means any standard regulations in terms of dress-code, meaning she was probably more of a big-shot. Maybe too much for Suyi to handle? "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" She shouted, quickly grabbing the Pilot Guy to put him in front of her, her weapon on his throat. "If you value the life of your comrades, drop your weapon!" She now repeated herself. "You have my word that I will make sure, to the best of my abilities, that no harm will either come to you or him." - "My name's-" - "Shut up!"

[Legion02]

Azaezel

Azaezel could do nothing but watch as the bloody countess finished her spell and the blood spread over the ground. Resurrecting the thorns his apprentices had so skillfully laid to ashes. Grinding his teeth, he doubted between aiding his people and attempting one strike on the bloody countess. It was a difficult decision for the Arch-Angel. For one, raising and training a Lord Arcana took nearly a thousand years. Their mastery over Holy Magic was nearly unparalleled. For the angels, they were the elite mages. But then again, the bloody countess was certainly a foe that required a cost to take down. The doubt would have cost him his peoples’ life if Raziel did not intervene and scorched a part of the flowers. The decision had been made, and Azaezel turned around to drop a ring of burning holy fire around his people. Protecting them from the trap of thorns. He then beckoned them to rise up to him.

Azaezel, in the time given to observe the battlefield from his high vantage point, witnessed how the fortress began to burrow down into the ground. He also witnessed the Valkyries getting torn to shreds by the foul cannons of the metal titan or the vile roses. “What is your wish?” asked the first arriving Lord Arcana. My wish? Azaezel thought, somewhat dazed by the battlefield’s size and ferocity. My wish would be to bring dominion back… To raise the banners of the angels high once more… My wish… I wish my wife back. A spark of sadness threatened to corrupt his heart. But Azaezel would not be laid low by something as human as emotions. Instead, he turned the drop of sadness into a storm of righteous fury.

He realized the battle was very much lost. Their advantage: the sky and the maneuverability of their wings was getting negated by the fortress. He witnessed Raziel fly down towards the metal monstrosity. Why he did not know. What he did know was that there was a suspicious lack of commanders on the ground. With Raziel gone, Azaezel looked for the Valkyrie commander: Gwynn. But she was nowhere to be seen. As leader of the first wave, he assumed she was still on or in the fortress. Much like their infiltrator. On the demon side, though, the greater demons had vanished. Once more, Azaezel had no idea where. But an opportunity like this was far too precious to waste.

As demon hordes began to usher towards the hole in the ground, Azaezel’s voice barked his orders: “Ruin the hordes of Hell! Unleash your righteous fury! Leave no vile creature alive! Kill them all! Slaughter them like the savages they are!” With a cheer of reignited hearts the flying mages, high above the battlefield, began their magical bombardment again. Burning away corruption and demonic presence. Eradicating stench and evil flesh. Proud, Azaezel watched how even the apprentices hurled bolts of fire of various sizes. Some even managed to cast an arc of lightning, sniping away at the demons. But his Lord Arcana were the real powerhouses. Hurling massive balls of fire that exploded upon impact. Some even summoned their beasts. Wolves, eagles, and other white, magical creatures sprang forth and descended upon the demons. Causing as much havoc as possible.

Satisfied with his well-trained mages, he rose up higher. His wings still radiant from the charged power, he began to summon up a Greater Holy Seal. It would take time, though, to finish up the seal. But once done the legion of Hell would be very much eviscerated. Reduced to ribbons of troops fleeing from the battlefield at the witness of such a powerful beast among them. The Lord Magnus of the Ordus Evocator was not one that would leave this defeat as devastating as it looked right now.

[LokiLeo789]

Raziel, The Holy Bolt

~BGM~

---

Raizel's severed arm began to ache as he gazed about the battlefield, the deck of the Elicitor. The world around him appeared like hell on Earth; the grass no longer showing due to the torrential rain, bombs and shells attacking it through the day and night. Clouds closing in on him, threatening to suffocate him in their glum, grey state. All the nerves in his body begged and pleaded for him to stop. Mercy no longer an option. Even as the relief started to replace his ever-growing anxiety, his voice relentlessly rose, filling the thick atmosphere, yelling our orders. Dirt, soil and soot began to mock him, slowly climbing higher and higher up as the Elicitor attempted to sink deeper.

Hundreds of angel, demon, and machina lay about, lifeless. The living, barely numbered in the forties, truly a sad outcome. Firmly grasping his blades hilt, Raizel had to come to terms with the situation. They had lost. It wouldn't have been practical for them to continue the fight, not with the remaining forces. If they pushed on, they would die, if they pulled out, they ran the risk of possibly being obliterated in thier next confrontation. The mission had been to retrieve the artifact, if the machina or the demons got thier vile hands on it, no doubt it would spell defeat for the angels in the long run.

Raizel would have to make a hard decision, and it was in fact, the most plausible one he could come up with under the current circumstances. He would fall on a simple combat doctrine; Scorched Earth.

With his mind undoubtedly made up, Raizel took to the air. Confused, the surviving angels followed him with grim determination. No doubt this battle would scar them, and harden them. Raizel expected to leave the enormous whole and find silence, instead, he found himself grinning at the bombardment of holy magic that was fired at the demon hoards, the hoards who were long since abounded. In the sky above, Lord Magnus floated, weaving a complex spell of holy destruction.

"Glorious." Raizel mumbled to himself as he gazed in awe at the archangels' ingenuity. That initiative pushed Raizel forward, forcing himself to fly ever faster to reach the heavens. The sky was a blanket of grey, like a great grey carpet, for the destructive shells of man had darkened the sky all the more.

Standing right were he left them were dozens of Valkyrie staring solemnly, as the events had demoralized them greatly. Raizel couldn't have that. "My lord, what is your wish." a Valkyrie murmured, attempting to hid her dissatisfaction for the battle. The general stood silently for a few seconds, could he do this? Yes, yes he could. "Take courage my daughters, for the judgment of the heavens shall be swift upon out enemies. We will make a reply to the ones who are taunting us, with the holy light of the sky's!" Raizel proclaimed. Instantly, understanding dawned upon the legion, and instantly they broke off.

In the clouds directly above the Elicitor, the Valkyrie division formed a circle, lances pointing at the metal fortress, engulfed in divine energy. It was only a matter of time before the destructive force of the heavens rained upon the Elicitor. Raizel would watch for atop a thunderous cloud, as a cherub tended to his arm.

---

@Legion02
Whomever is outside to see this.

[Pyromania99]

@Skyswimsky

The halls were rather loud. Every now and then a bunch soldiers would pass by Krinsa. Of course she hid in a nearby room as best she could. As soon as they passed she kept on. After all, there was no need to alert them to her location. Every now and then she ran across a random soldier that she quickly silenced. Honestly, she was kind of wandering around aimlessly at this point. She didn't have any maps to tell her where to go so as for now, she figured wandering was the best course of--

"If you value the life of your comrades, drop your weapon! You have my word that I will make sure, to the best of my abilities, that no harm will either come to you or him." It was a demon. . . She had two horns on her head and a sword. She was pretty in a "I'm holding a hostage" kind of way. Not that Krinsa especially cared. She merely stopped to observe her for a second.

Then first thought Krinsa had overall was, "I have no idea who this man is." The second. "For that matter, you are a demon. Why do you oppose me?" She did the opposite of drop her weapon as well. She drew both her guns and aimed them at the Oni. "I'm sorry, human. No, hard feelings." She called out her wings quickly just to make a point at the least. The black feathers were definitely something that showed wasn't exactly an angel and the wings themselves showing she wasn't even a human. Hopefully, it would deter her technical ally from doing anything rashly. "Did you still want to fight? If you do, I won't hold back even if you are one of my allies."

[Lonewolf685]

Suparna Wolgen

---

@KoL - Strongly Disagreeing With Victoire
@Lucius Cypher - Giving a Potent Present In Case of Emergency
@Rune_Alchemist - Ignoring

It was a great irony that a being such as Suparna wasn't a team player either, but she could at least find some satisfaction in having Fran join their little party. The succubus was one of the more pleasant demons that Suparna interacted with, Suparna often she was an interesting fellow regardless of position or locale. "As pleasing as it is to find my succubus has not fallen in battle or lost herself in fornicating Angelic warriors, we still have a task to complete and our saboteurs could have only redirected this fortress for so long."

The Maggot was clearly following Silana's example and ignoring her as best she could, knowing that if they continued to try and interact they would only tear each others throats out before they had even finished their objective.

Though now Suparna found herself with new found issues in the form of Victoire and her bizarre demands of them. "Excuse me? What on this blasphemous Nexus do we need more information for? My maggots rode atop your very bats to find what we are searching for. It is within our grasp and you wish for us to delay in order to capture some Machina on the off chance they know a little bit more? Preposterous! I have you told what our objective is, where it is, and that is was being contested by both Angels and Machina. If we wait any longer we will lose the element of surprise with every encounter and only succeed in depleting our resources!"

Her words came out in an explosion of vitriol that had been rapidly building over the course of this battle that was only bringing her one fresh misery after another. At the rate they were going they'd never be able to claim their objective and flee with the squishy human before the Elicitor can reawaken its defenses and they become the prisoners. "Enough of this foolishness. Your command has been abysmal and it continues to be so! This battle is lost and I will not waste my time dying for your folly."

Suparna said all she would to Victoire and turned to the only one here she could consider worth the effort of saving. Wrapping her fingers around the succubus' breastplate, she forced her lips against Fran's in what appeared to the observers as a rather deep kiss, which in part it was. The intent of this, beyond staking her claim as superior to the other lolitas, was to pour a glut of maggots down Fran's throat as a parting gift. Parting a hairsbreadth, the maggot patted Fran's cheek before whispering lowly, "If you need to jump ship, or happen to find yourself bound without any pleasure from it, they will dig you to freedom."

There was nothing left to be said to Silana or Victoire, not even a parting word of advice or heated exchange as had been with Fran. In a flash Chirada was upon her, scooping her into the cage of bone where it snapped around her completely before whisking the both of them back the way Silana had travelled and through the original bulkhead whose door was torn off its hinges. The tunnel they emerged into was pitch black, but such was the womb of all maggots.

They flew upwards till stone was buried beneath dirt and dug through the softer material to freedom, miles crossed without seeing the sky as they withdrew from this battlefield and hoped for better fortune in the next.

[Skyswimsky]

@Pyromania99

Well, that was awkward. Suyi heard, and already saw, a bunch of demon's that pretty much looked like humans without apparently even being connected to them in the slightest. Though, without those corrupted wings and all that technological shenanigans it was hard to discern that apparent Demon from a simple human.

Easing up a bit, Suyiketsu was still a bit skeptic, maybe this was just some sort of ploy to take the hostage from her? Then again, listening to herself it sounded super silly and stupid. Lowering the empty gun she had stolen from the Pilot and aimed at the other Demon in response to her own weapons she also removed the Sword from the Pilot's throat.

"My sincerest apologies." The Oni Princess now started anew. "I misjudged you, by appearance, to be an ally of the Machina." With that out of the way, it was actually not a bad idea to team up then, or was it? Considering she was still a demon, they weren't usually fond of taking hostages - yet alone trying to uphold a certain amount of dignity by not just butchering their prisoners.

"My name is Suyiketsu Yomi, current ruler of the Oni Clan." Sounding rather prideful of her position as an unwilling leader of a bunch of misfits, she continued. "I am sure you're looking for that super weapon just as I am, any clues?" She was well aware that, despite having common enemies, demons were stupid enough to fight amongst each other - even in an event like this. However, considering she was short on time there was no way she was going to waste time trying to figure out if her opposite could-be-ally was truly still an ally.

Pilot Guy, in all this time, was actually wise enough to not say a word, very well aware of the fact that he could just die any second!

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Silana Delacroix~

@KoL - Agrees with Victoire's plan
@Lucius Cypher - Gives Fran the cold shoulder for fraternizing with the enemy.

Honestly? Silana was a little upset. She knew of Fran's extra curricular activities with Suparna, at least a little. What she didn't realize though, was just how...maggoty the queen of carrion was. She watched with mild disinterest as Suparna seemed to make an attempt to 'claim' Fran as her own. Not that she particularly cared about the company Fran kept usually, but there was a really huge burning desire, to crush this vermin under her boot.

But such a thing would be a detriment to their current objective, and it seemed as though Suparna was leaving regardless. She shot a cool, quick, glance to Fran glaring slightly at the succubus making her own displeasure known. Her and Fran, would need to have a talk about that maggot.

As long as Fran decided to fraternize with her, they were done. But that would be discussed later.

"Hasty..." She simply replied as she watched Suparna leave, quickly turning to Victoire and ignoring Fran. "Alive?...hmm. Doable." She said to the vampire. "I will refrain from using any heavily corrosive spells. Fear and debilitation are my specialties after all." Taking a hit should be doable as well, as long as it was a purely physical attack. Of course, she didn't mention this, since she would likely end up letting Fran get roughed up just a little. She was a jealous little thing sometimes after all, and she had to make her displeasure quite obvious.

"Hmm...suppose I may be losing this flesh for a little bit...heh." She smiled faintly, obviously excited at the prospect of making some mortals tremble in their boots at her true form. "Do take the lead, Succubus."

Gwynn Maoilriain

@Lonewolf685 - Speaking to Regia, agrees to defend against demons.
@Ryonara - present in the Cargo Hold.

Something seemed to be happening. The humans and Machina were fortifying this position heavily, from the looks of things. Nothing surprising, as this was still an ongoing battle. Demons? Or her angelic brethren coming to assault? She dearly hopped it was the latter but seeing as how things had turned out, she could only assume it was the demons. Pitiful really, that these humans thought they could stop the demonic hordes without them.

Perhaps she could escape with the treasure during the confusion. Not exactly the most honorable thing to do, but retrieving that was their objective. Besides, the safest thing to do with it would be to make sure it was taken far away from here. Not be in plain sight. Well...the machina had confidence she gave them that. It was a welcome confidence as well. Something Gwynn could find admirable.

Honestly now though, she was tired. Her body ached and her good arm was crippled. Any further fighting on her part would be...well, suicide. So, she let herself be held by her captors...at least, until they were apparently dismissed.

Valkyrie, you have surrendered under the pretense we treat you as a warrior and worthy of the respect of your rank. Demons will be upon this position momentarily, and if we fail here then I will not be able to uphold this agreement nor protect my Queen's Treasure. In this instance it is prudent I arm and return you to the battlefield to perform your duty. Eliminate the Demons, and the Machina will not soon forget the honor of the Valkyrie Gwynn.

...hah...rest was for the dead, wasn't it?

As she was released from her captors, she seemed momentarily unsteady on her feet. With the brief lull in fighting, the adrenaline rush had been wearing off, and well, she ached all over from the obvious wounds. Still, she managed to stand as tall and proud despite the wounds as she looked at Regia, giving her a rather pointed, though weary look.

"I will help, if only because the objective falling into the hands of humans is preferable to it being corrupted by demonic filth." She replied, looking down at her right arm as she tred and failed to find some feeling back into it, wincing slightly in the process. "Though...my condition is not the best. I am unsure how effective I will be in this battle." She sighed, shaking her head and turned her gaze to her shield arm. She wouldn't be able to effectively use her equipment at this rate, and she'd have to get rid of her shield if she wanted to fight these demons effectively...so she did.

The round shield fell to the ground with a clatter as she picked up her sword with her left hand, moving to take a position near the front of the defenses. She may not be in the best of conditions, but she wasn't about to stay behind like a coward.

"My shield protects very well from demonic corruption and spells...if any of you have need of it, feel free to use it. I am currently unable too." With that said, she lowered the faceplate on her helm, concealing her face and covering all of her body save for a small opening near the chest, in holy armor. Any sort of demonic trickery that they attempted to do through contact, would be more than a little difficult to accomplish.

"Likewise, if any human gets injured, I can heal them...somewhat, and if any corruption spreads stay near. I can combat its effects well enough to keep your men fighting."

With that said, she took a position obviously near the front where she could clearly be seen by the demons. Chances were, she'd be the first thing any demons saw...so she stood, stalwart at the front line, an aura of calm healing radiating from the Valkyrie. It was mostly for her own benefit, as she was more than a little wounded. Would it help? Well, if she could return the feeling into her right arm it could, but for now it hung more or less limply at her side, unable to be moved without severe pain.

[KoL]

~Victoire Bordeaux~

@Lonewolf685, @Lucius Cypher, @Rune_Alchemist, @Flamelord, @Shyla Nesthorn, @Skyswimsky, @Pyromania99, @Ryonara

"Uhh... some persons just can't be satisfied." Victoire sighed deeply as Suparna took her leave in the most ungracious and inappropriate way possible, before turning to Fran and Silana once more. "This forces us to change plans once more. Without the Maggot's support we are at a clear disadvantage on this scenario. We will have to make do with blunt tactics."

Victoire released her wolves on the nearby Machina defensive position, supporting Fran's advance, while rounding the humans on the corner. "These will do as fine meat shields, that is, if they wanna live, but this one... I shall take." Victoire pulled a female human that wore an officer's uniform, drawing her on a tight embrace, ready for a vampire's deadly kiss. As the girl was forced to her knees, to better match Victoire's height, the vampire forced her hands inside of the human's shirt and skirt, feeding of the girl's blood and lust, sating both her vampire and succubus hungers. "I don't have time to create slaves now so, I'll be merciful to you and not turn you into an undead, as long as you allow me to use your radio, to send a message through this ship's intercom." The officer didn't had much choice on it, really. Being killed is something one can come out of, but being turned into an undead is a sentence that last for eternity here on the Nexus, anything was better than that.

Owing to her word, Victoire let the human go, with little but a perforation in the neck and pair of wet panties as she broadcasted the following message through the whole ship,using the intercom system. "Attention all Sleeper Agents and Demons inside this fortress, the Prize is being held on the Cargo Hold, on the ship's lowest levels. All of you who remain loyal to the Armies of Darkness, converge there immediately and assist in crushing the remaining Machina resistance. Don't kill any humans on the way, I repeat, don't kill any humans on the way there. Round them like the cattle they are and force them to the Cargo Hold as well. Spread chaos through the enemy, force them to think if they are shooting friend or foe, if you can do this, victory is ours..." Victoire sighed deeply before saying the last piece of her rallying speech with as much faked enthusiasm as she could, "For... King Rufus!"

~Diana~

@Lonewolf685, @Ryonara, @Rune_Alchemist, @TheWindel

"Hmph!" Diana complained as she was bound to Bastion using steel cables and both of them were unceremoniously thrown inside the container, before being locked in. She could try to break the cables, that's for sure but, the tension would harm Bastion for sure, if not outright kill her. With this to take into consideration, Diana was truly bound, unable to do anything to harm an innocent, specially a girl like Bastion, that didn't looked like she had nothing to do with this War.

Bastion, on the other hand, was rather displeased with the whole ordeal and thrashing around, complaining "Hey, you can't do that to us! Who do you think you ar-Hmph? Hemph! Yhmph! Sthmph!!!" That is until she had a piece of cloth from her torn jacket stuffed inside of her mouth, got tied to Diana and stuffed in the container along with the dragon girl.

Well, at least now both of them would be able to stay together just as they wished, not?

[Flamelord]

Endian

The Machina commander worked quickly, text scrolling past her vision as she wirelessly interfaced with the sealed off networks, attempting to pry them open. It was difficult work though, if only because she had to be cautious of potential traps and the like. It would not do to infect herself with a demonic virus while trying to repair the damage that they had done to the Elicitor.

At the same time there was plenty of stuff vying for her attention. For example, the demons who had infiltrated the ship and were headed towards the cargo hold where the treasure was located. The controlled Machina were making themselves a nuisance as well, attacking loyal Machina and smashing what systems they could reach to aid the infiltrators.

Endian had to work quickly, and she focused in on what was most important in this fight, to complete the mission. Internal defenses were needed to keep the Demons away from the Treasure, which was the important part of this mission. If they couldn't succeed, they would all suffer for it.

With a few quick commands at the end of a long process of hacking the internal defenses were freed from demonic control. She hardly needed to issue orders though, as one of the demons hijacked the comms to speak herself. There had to be an ulterior agenda, but for the moment Endian could not tell what that was.

---

Outside, automated commands were issued, and guns fired. Radar sweeps flew out before guns retargeted and fired, providing covering fire for Grafdakka even with a casual disregard for the wellbeing of the giant. He knew what he was doing, and any systems he needed would be made available for him.

Other batteries locked on and fired, missile launchers emptying their payloads in barrages that honed in on the arranged angels undertaking their bombardments, threading the needle of the tunnel that had been entered to soar into the sky. This might not prevent the bombardment that was coming in its entirety, but they could certainly well try. Any damage avoided was good for the Machina
@LokiLeo789@Legion02@Lucius Cypher

---

Back inside, internal defenses activated, once opened doors slamming shut again and reinforced as electrical currents were run through them to activate armor that would make punching through harder. Internally placed turrets perked back to life and began to fire at designated targets, proving deterrents and nuisances that would serve to buy the Machina time. This would include the demons as targets, autocannons hammering away at the Oni, demons and the others as they advanced.

In the meanwhile Endian issued her own orders. 'Defend the Treasure at all costs. Failure is not an option.' Here in the Nexus death was cheap. The humans would would be rewarded for their sacrifice when the time came. As for herself, she finished what she was doing and turned on her heels, heading towards the cargo hold to intervene personally. They did not have much time.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@Lucius Cypher@Ryonara@KoL@Lonewolf685@Skyswimsky

[Ryonara]

HIBIKI & SHIZUKA

Hibiki nodded her head and saluted Regia, ignoring the fact that she identified her as the wrong sister. Shizuka was preoccupied dealing with the others, putting the queen's treasure and the intruder back into the box where they'll hopefully be safe. After those two wwere secure the sisters went about their duties as maids: preparing the room for their guests.

Thanks to their armor, the sisters were able to move heavy furniture rather easily, turning them into makeshift fortifications. The demons typically don't use a lot of range weapons except magic, so creating a defensive cover against them might prove useless. No, instead the sisters would try to use the furniture to coral the demons into a kill zone; create a sort of cage to trap them in so they could be dealt with easier. Hibiki did most of the work: she was ordering Shizuka where to put things and using her drones to fortify their position. She also laid various traps in the form of more sticky mines, which would trap any demons who stepped onto the clear adhesive. Hikibi also placed turrets positioned where they'll have a clear shot at the entrance, as well as any walls that the demons might breach. There was one past trap that Hibiki had placed around the room.

Knowing that the demons had used some sort of corrosive acidic fog against the Eliticor, Hibiki imagined that they would use a similar tactic here. Dealing with gas weapons were difficult for Hibiki, but she had one solution in the form of Warding Wind bombs. Normally used to knock enemies or deflect things like arrows, a Warding Wind should also be able to clear an area of any toxic fog that the demons might use. The only issue was that the Warding Winds made it hard for anyone inside the wind to shoot back, and they only lasted a few minutes. If they couldn't defeat the demons and survive within those minutes, it would only get worse for the Machinas.

Between helping Hibiki move things around, Shizuka was thinking about how to approach this battle. Obviously she would stay by her sister's side. They were making a cage of sorts to trap the demons in. But Shizuka knew that wouldn't be enough; once the demons learn that they are heading into a trap, they would only enter some other way, probably breaking through the wall or something. If that happened then the kill zone they made would be useless, and they would have to fight the demons up close. That's when Shizuka noticed that one of the angel's had left her shield for one of the others to use. Apparently the angels were going to help fight the demons. Shizuka didn't like this idea, but she couldn't complain. So what Shizuka did was pick up the shield and strapped it onto her back for easy access.

That's when the two sisters heard an announcement over intercoms. They knew where they were at, and now they were going to use their own allies has living shields! "Those scum! Using prisoners as shields, those... Argh!" Shizuka was angry, starting to pace around while trying to figure out what she should try and do now. She didn't want to end up killing her own allies my mistake. Firing blindly at the enemy nearly made her kill the Queen's Treasure, so Shizuka needed to think carefully about what they should do. Gripping the sword on her hip, Shizuka had one idea...

Hibiki felt she made as much preparation as she could. They had some defensive positions to hold, traps were laid out to catch the demons, and Hibiki made sure to go around and inform her allies where the traps were so they didn't trigger them this time. She checked her equipment, made sure her guns were at a full charge, and limbered up. Hibki stayed silent about the announcement over the intercoms. One on hand she was glad that her traps are nonlethal and meant to control the area, but now she worried that her own allies would be fodder to her defenses. At least her turrets won't make the mistake of shooting down her allies, but the rest of the traps were far less discriminatory.

And there was one last thing to do. Hibiki went up to the Valkyrie they had captured, bowing her head to her. "I know this may mean nothing to you since we are still enemies, but I want to thank you. When we survive this battle, I hope that maybe tensions between the two of us would be easier. My name is Hibiki, by the way. My sister over there is named Shizuka. May I know your name?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Lonewolf685

[Lucius Cypher]

Warboss Grafdakka Destroya

Things were chaos. Utter chaos. The Elicitor was in a state of both underground and surfaced at the same time, or at least that's how Graf perceived it. Honestly, it was hard to tell with all these blows he's been suffering. He took a moment away from the fighting to do a damage analysis on himself: scorched hull, effective destroyed jet pack, on fire, out of ammo for his rockets, and his Gatling guns were starting to melt from the heat. If he had some support he could easily have gotten to fight for much longer. But unfortunately, Grafdakka was the lone defender of the Elicitor now. Well, on it's hull anyways. Most have moved inside to defend against the demonic invaders, and Grafdakka would have relished the chance to do the same. However there were only so many places he could be, and time was of the essence.

It was time for Grafdakka's final show.

Endian had given Grafdakka command of some of the remaining artillery batteries on the Elicitor, but those alone wouldn't be enough to stop the enemy. Weaken them, perhaps, but something... Bigger was going to have to happen. One missile won't be enough. A hundred misses might not be enough. But Grafdakka alone could handle it.

"LOAD THE THRONE."

The throne was a special missile. The Throne lacked a warhead, and it had only one purpose: Catapulting Grafdakka towards the enemy. It was huge, and had enough thrust to send him miles away. It was fast too, allowing him to dodge even the swiftest attacks. It only had one job, and that was to delivery Grafdakka to his enemies. From there he would be their final package. Taking a seat upon his mechanical throne Grafdakka was merged into it; there was no getting out of this now. Once he was shot out there would only be glory or death. He gave some final orders to whomever were manning the armaments: once Grafdakka had left and they had reached a safe level, collapse the tunnel behind them. Use everything they had. Soon the rocket's flared as Grafdakka was launched out of the Elicitor, through the tunnels, and into the skies. As he flew out, lights shined from Grafdakka's eyes and holes in his hull.

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"

@LokiLeo789@Legion02

---

Francisca Labrys Seax Luxuria

Fran was sadden and surprised. She loved Suparna, but to think that she would leave just on the climax of their battle... It was unfortunate indeed. But her loving kiss was not only pleasant but helpful. Suparna's maggots would surely be useful if this mission turned out badly, which it may without Suparna's support. Now this only left Sil, Victoire, and whoever else were still within the Elicitor. Their odds were still good, and Fran wouldn't lose hope just yet. They just needed to kill everyone, capture some prisoners, and get out of here. And the machinas were already doing the last part, so the demons just needed to do the first two. Easy.

But now it was time to go. The final confrontation awaits, and Fran imagined that there will be many surprises in store for her. Plus watching Victoire play around with the officer made Fran visibly aroused, her blade ready to pierce the enemy. "Oh Blood Countess, you know how to please a girl..." Fran was eager to simply enjoy the primordial vampire right now, but Fran had to hold it. She had to keep her pleasure in place for now, and wait until a more appropriate time to indulge herself. So in the mean time Fran walked over to Sil, pressing her body against the smaller girl with a hug. "I will achieve victory for us, my sweet Lolita. And if not... Then I shall suffer whatever punishment you desire." With a farewell kiss Fran flourished her axe and went on her way. Victoire's shadow wolves followed her, and they would be the first to die should anything come out to fight Fran.

The girl started to hum. That hum became a tune. And those turns turned into lyrics. "Wanna join me, come and play~"

@Rune_Alchemist@KoL

[Legion02]

Azaezel

Uninterrupted, Azaezel managed to finish his summoning. Multiple layers of magic rings collapsed downwards, until the final two became one and the entire circle glowed a bright, golden color. “Come forth! Lion of the heavens! I summon thee, Zodiac Leo!” Azaezel finished and from the glowing circle a figure formed, falling down. With every meter it dropped it grew in shape, until it almost hit the ground. Two still glowing wings unfurled themselves and the golden shape began to become physical. With burning wings and a mane of gold the Celestial flew over the battlefield. Until it found, at random, its prey. Landing in the middle of the big group of lesser demons it already crushed several under its legs. With a deafening roar the massive lion began its onslaught upon the demon horde. Fiery wings flapped away the demons trying to mount it, and the periodic lift off made sure that those who managed to crawl on its back swiftly fell to their death.

Azaezel, watching how his summon tore through the demon horde couldn’t help to crack a final smile. They had lost, sure, but his lion would claim the lives of many demons. Even if they came back, they would forever fear the painful dead he gave them. And with that, he was satisfied enough. He descended back to his troops. “We leave.” Was the only thing he said, before all shapes turned into pure light again. Pale pillars engulfed the forming orbs of bright golden light and lifted them up. The angelic mages had done what they could.

[Pyromania99]

Krinsa sighed lightly as the Oni let down her guard slightly. Really, it would have been bad to have a fight between demons on this Machina vessel. Then the Oni asked if Krinsa was looking for the superweapon as well. . . Well, whatever it was suppose to be. Superweapon, artifact. . . Well, it didn't matter. Krinsa didn't especially pledge herself to the demons out of Loyalty or anything so if they failed to get this thing, then, well, whatever. Still, she'd try where she could. Then, however, a somewhat familiar voice came over the intercom of the vessel. . . Orders, orders, orders. Really now. . . "It's your lucky day now, isn't it human?" Krinsa had to ask almost jokingly to the human the Oni held hostage. "So then, our target is the cargo hold? Hmm, not that I know exactly where that is. . ."

It was around then that the turrets in the surrounding areas hummed back to life. Krinsa turned quickly to one that was close to behind her. It started firing at the woman as she quickly aimed both guns at the emplacements and fired, quickly exploding the device. . . Not before recieving a few shots to her arm, near up by her shoulder. One embedded itself inside, but the others nicked her barely. "We should move, Horned-One."

@Skyswimsky