The sound of gunfire punched the air and cackled off into the distance like booming thunder. Dmitry quickly summoned a translucent barrier between himself and the outlaws. He focused on casting his incantation until it completely engulfed the surrounding supplies, then immediately activated the conductive gears of his mechanical arm. Doing so alleviated his obligation toward stabilizing the spell, allowing him to concentrate more on the fight. 

[i]They're sure as hell reckless.[/i] If it weren't for their shoddy aim, they'd have damaged the very cargo they hoped to take back. Three T.A.C. officers hustled over from the opposite entrance way and immediately opened fire. The momentum of the outlaw's battle charge was momentarily halted, forcing them to jump for cover as their concentration of attack was now split between multiple targets. 

The leader of the pack was the most armored of the bunch. He wore thick steel coverings that made him look like an automaton. He was also glowing in various ethereal hues, suggesting that he had been spell-casted --- likely given defensive barriers and who knows what else. Dmitry couldn't hear what he was spouting to his underlings, but he sought to take advantage of their hesitation. He brought his pistol up and lined his shot at the leader's head. 

[b]Bang![/b] 

The leader's helmet shattered. He buckled for a moment and looked as though he was ready to keel over. However, as Dmitry predicted, the magics that were protecting him had sweltered at the strike site, deflecting most of the blow from the bullet and preventing fatal injury. Angry eyes of an org with an unkept mane of black matted hair glared in Kovalev's direction. 

Kovalev shrugged. "Got your attention?" The protective barrier sputtered frantically as each projectile clanged against it. Dmitry saw that a small group of the outlaws broke off from the main force to engage the T.A.C. officers, while the rest focused on him. "Good. Now let's just hope we have some early birds in my new unit that'll arrive earlier than scheduled..." Two humas with long swords shuffled onto the narrow docking bridge. Dmitry smiled. "Fish in a barrel, and all that." He mumbled, hip-firing two well placed shots into the oncoming assailants. Ethereal hues of magical energy sparked at where the wound sites would be. While no physical damage was dealt, the sudden jerk of opposing force knocked them off balance, sending them tumbling onto the wooden planks. Shit... they're spell-casted too? No way they have enchantments, I'm not sensing a power source on them that could generate these spells... must have a damn caster hidden somewhere...got to cast a scanner spell and mark the bastard...

Just as he was about to prepare himself for an incantation, Dmitry caught movement at his peripheral. Another gang of outlaws had arrived: two cronies with what looked like grenade launchers, and one man in a mechanical frame, armed with bulky hand cannons. 

"Are you kidding me?!..." He cursed. Dmitry glanced over to one of the large crates that imprisoned his automaton. [i]Yeah, they don't give a shit about the supplies... not if they're bringing in this kind of fire power...[/i] 

"Shit... I don't want to use Ivanov but I think I might have t-" He canceled the notion as he saw two of the outlaws drop to the ground, followed by another from the main force. He looked up and scanned the rooftops. His old eyes couldn't make out much of anything from where he stood, but instinctually, he sensed that another player had entered the fight. "Bout time the playing field started even'n up." He presumed that it was one of his squad mates. Dmitry only hoped that the rest of them hastily followed suit. His eyes went back to the frame pilot, whose hand cannons were now aimed directly at Kovalev. 

Dmitry holstered his pistol, then clutched his mechanical arm that continued to feed energy into the protective barrier. As he did so, he quickly assessed the battlefield. The two swordsmen he had downed clambered upright, and were now joined by three of their cohorts, who also brandished melee weapons. That makes five assailants approaching him through the wooden docking bridge. The outlaw leader, now staying back with his firing squad of four, who continued to pelt the barrier behind crate boxes in the centre area of the hangar bay. Two heavy artillery men, plus their frame suit pilot, getting ready to unload their firepower from the entranceway. And can't forget how ever many mages might be camouflaged from sight that are maintaining their defenses. On his side? One possible squad mate and three T.A.C. officers, two injured, and one scared shitless behind a crate. 

"This is going to be a looong day..." Dmitry mouthed his sorcery, streams of mana energy pulsed from his hand as it transferred over to his mechanical arm. The metal gears sputtered out steam as the protective barrier grew more dense. He gritted his teeth and braced for the incoming bombardment from the enemy's heavy artillery. "And where the hell is our airship!?"