[center] [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EzBhbowvv4Q/TqwVa050yPI/AAAAAAAAAJg/nSrqD77gyjI/s400/Senza+titolo-12.jpg[/img] [b][u]The Wall[/b][/u][/center] [quote] [i]~It broke through the ground at Sovereign's most outer edges, rising at a pace that was sure to destroy anything near it. It continued to rise and rise, the titanic cage that uttered its name as it grinded against the walls of the crust of Aeros. As it stopped it's descent, moments before the last few emergency shuttles either escaped or crashed to their doom, the land vibrated. The sky flashed a bright blue, signaling the activation of the aerial barrier that sealed all life in, and kept all life out. It was a last ditch effort to quarantine the city. But Sovereign would survive, because Sovereign was strong.~[/i][/quote] The calm and ominous silence was replaced by the whistling winds as they picked up speed, as if a last ditch effort to warn the mercenaries of what they were up against. The dark clouds seemed darker, the ghostly fogs seemed ever so haunting. It was as if every force of nature was telling the mercenaries to turn back. Sixty two mercenaries. Sixty two mercenaries stood, their armor worn, their faces ashen, their hands blistered, and their bones aching. They stood and stared for a time that felt like eternity. The wall taunted them, teased them and beckoned them to try their luck. And they stood their ground, not taking a moment to ponder the choices. There was no choice anymore, only consequence. --- "That's about fifty or so, what do you say?" Lide asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice. He offered Nekros the binoculars, but Nekros simply stood there, staring back at the men. Lide raised a brow before returning to his binoculars, "You scared?" he asked, somewhat irritated by Nekros' silence. "I can taste your fear, Lide," he said with a cold and harsh undertone. "These [i]sixty two[/i] men stare death in his face, yet you, standing behind the strongest defense known to mankind, dare to tremble in the wake of failure?" Lide felt a lump in his throat, and he swallowed forcefully. It wasn't often that someone told him he wasn't allowed to be scared. "If this wall falls, you're done, Nekros. DONE." --- [i]'Why can't I stop shivering?! STOP, DAMNIT! STOP SHAKING!'[/i] Kisheto grit his teeth and kept his eyes forward, a look of sheer focus and determination on his face. Despite his attempts to mask his nerve, his body gave it away. Vates noticed this and gave his comrade a nod, "Don't worry, it's just adrenaline. You'll be glad you have it once we get moving." Kisheto looked at Vates and nodded, "Right. Just adrenaline," he said to himself reassuringly. Hector took a deep breath and focused, gripping his rifle tightly. "What are we waiting for? Let's do this, Hector!" said one of the mercenaries next to Hector's side. Hector shook his head, "Wait for it..." --- "What are we waiting for, sir?" asked one of the men operating a large core-powered ballista. The device was drilled into the guard tower recently as a makeshift turret. It had a gunner's seat, which was where the bolts were both loaded and charged up using a pump-like system to destabilize the lightning core within. Within any moment, the soldier could charge the lightning core and fire off a piercing bolt of lightning; he simply needed the order. Lide cleared his throat and shook his head, "Just, just wait, private." --- Nekros turned his head slowly, his interest being caught by what he witnessed before him. Two sides, locked in a contract of war, taking turns sizing the other up in the hopes that one would strike so the other could claim to be retaliating. He scoffed in pity. These men, both soldier, mercenary, and citizen alike: they feared war. They feared killing. They feared death. "Pathetic humans..." he spat. Tightening his grip on his scythe, he thrust his arm to his side, his robe swaying in the wind. He then raised his free hand slowly, and seemingly out of nowhere, a flock of crows swarmed his body, charging forward until he reappeared at the base of the military camp. The gathered mercenaries held their ground in wake of the haunting sight of what appeared to be the grim reaper. Nekros began chanting words inaubdible to the men. As he did so, he weaved unrecognized symbols in the air with his free hand. The men itched to fire at him, the sight of his demonic ritual more unnerving than the wall and what possibilities lay beyond it. Suddenly, a large, crimson trigram appeared in front of Nekros with a bright red flash. As it erupted from seemingly nowhere, hundreds of crows burst from its center, all screeching and taunting men from both parties. The air around the camp turned crimson as the clouds began shifting to a jet black color. The winds picked up speed, and instead of sunlight, a mysterious crimson glow filled the atmosphere. "Paar sapos mur NEKROS!" With a long swing of his scythe, Nekros cut the crimson trigram in half, and just as he did so, the ground beneath the entire area shook. The mercenaries began backing up a step and the soldiers behind the camp flinched at the tremors. Suddenly, the ground split as a fault line tore through towards the Mercenaries. The men in the path of the large fault line had to jump out of the way or risk falling through to Aeritus knew where. "HOLD YOUR GROUND, HERMANOS!" Hector yelled as he aimed his rifle at Nekros' head. As he pondered shooting, a second chorus of shrieks filled the air, and multiple red orbs of light, about fifty in number, shot out from the fault line. Nekros was raising his hand slowly, as if beckoning the demons from the gates to oblivion. As the orbs crashed into the ground, they morphed into humanoid figures, and finally, revealed themselves to be reanimated spirits of warriors from the pst. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" "ZOMBIES?" "HOLY SHIT" All the men knew now was fear. Their minds were locked by the horrors of necromancy. Nekros simply raised both hands to his sides and let out a terrifying roar, causing the reanimated corpses to [url=http://i55.tinypic.com/zk3ggi.gif]charge forward.[/url] --- Hector held his ground and felt his men shaking as the corpses of ancient soldiers charged their way, "REMEMBER MEN, UNITED WE STAND! DIVIDED WE FALL!" The corpses broke into a full sprint, nearing the mercenaries at a terrifying speed. "TODAY IS THE DAY WE CREATE HISTORY! TODAY, THE GLORY IS OURS!" he yelled, instantly feeling his men strengthen their poise. Kisheto took a deep breath and nodded, "FUCK THE POLICE!" he yelled. The corpses were mere feet away, in a moment in which time seemed to freeze. The horrific undead nightmares leapt in the air, slowing time as they did. The mercenaries felt their lives flash before their eyes, their visions to be replaced by the image of ghostly corpses descending upon them. Then, Hector fire the first shot. --- "RAWRARGH!" screamed Vates as the monsters closed in. Pushing off his back foot he charged forward to meet them with a sword in his right hand and his kinetic gauntlet preped on his left. As he reached the closest zombie he quickly slid to the left of it, catching its leg with his sword and throwing it off balance before blasting it into two other zombies with his gauntlet. He squinted as they exploded in flash of red, his comrades having quickly stepped in and finishing the felled foes. A quick vision alerted him to a swipe from behind and with a quick spin Vates parried an incoming blow, forcing the blade to veer off to his right and leaving the opponent wide open to a sword swing to the throat. Quickly stepping back from the exploding beheaded corpse, Vates frantically looked around him in an attempt to judge the situation. Hector slammed his forearm into the closest zombie, slamming him to the side as he kicked his other foot forward to shatter the ribs of another oncoming corpse. Hector felt the heat radiating from the small red flare that resulted when he destroyed the reanimated corpse. The man to his side quickly stabbed the back of the corpse that had fallen towards him when Hector hit it with his forearm. As he removed his blade, he spun, cutting of the head of a zombie in front of him. Hector began pacing forward as he parried a spear thrust by swinging his sword to the side. He grabbed the spear and pulled the soldier towards him before jamming his blade upward, through the zombie's skull. Kisheto had fired off two bursts of his GS-9 when the zombies came within reach. The first burst simply cut through one of the zombie's legs, which didn't do much to stop it. However the second cut through the zombie's head, and through another one's heart behind it. When a zombie managed to reach his close quarters range, he slammed the butt of his rifle into the its head, causing it to stagger backward while Kisheto empited out the last of his clip into the zombie's skull. Kisheto was keeping up with the men's pace rather well, as the line of sixty two men gradually [url=http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/4325965/sparta-300-o.gif]paced forward[/url] in their assault. The mercenaries were relentless in their attacks, their fear quickly melting into an anger. Suddenly, their frustration and their hatred poured out into their hands and through their swords. A year had passed, a year of their life in toil and misery, suffering to break free from a prison. Today was the day that they brought and end to that year. The zombies were combat ready, their spears sharp and their strikes true. But the mercenaries were more than a cluster of powerful men wielding powerful weapons. They were one unit, brushing off the prickling attacks of the reanimated soldiers. [i]"They keep coming Edward. You need to push forward towards the source"[/i] Janus advised as Vates yanked his blade from a zombie's skull. He turned and started to fight his way towards Hector, whom unlike Roebuck and Kisheto, he could actually spot in the choas. Suddenly he felt a cold hand grasp his shoulder and was viciously swung round to find a blade aimed at his face. The zombie was about to thrust when a plasma bullet blasted away its upper body. "Fuck me!" he exclaimed, unable to tell where the shot had come from. Hector picked up his pace, sidestepping and weaving past a couple zombies as he slashed his sword left and right. His strikes caused the zombies to falter, and the change in the zombies momentum opened up a window of opportunity for the mercenaries behind him to finish off the wounded zombie. "AGH! FUU-" Kisheto's eyes widened at the sound of tearing metal and flesh. He glanced to his right to witness two zombies double team a mercenary, piercing right through his body with the enormous spear. The second zombie blocked the strikes of the other mercenaries with a large shield, as the first zombie quickly withdrew his spear, only to replant it within the mercenaries head. Kisheto gasped, and suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his face as a spear nearly pierced through his head. Instead, he was spared with only a cut to the cheek. The mercenary to his left grabbed the spear before the zombie could pull it back and shoved it downward, allowing Kisheto to kick off the spear and jump into the air. He came down hard, thrusting his mercenary blade into the top of the zombie's skull. As he was pulling it out however, a second spear flew towards him. He didn't have time to react, but the man to his right did, stepping in the path of the spear and firing off a few shots of his GS-9 as he fell to the ground. Kisheto gasped and cursed as he ran to the man, but another mercenary pulled him up, reminding him of his priorities. Kisheto swallowed his shock and continued charging forward, his anger nearly doubled at the loss of a comrade. --- [center][youtube]4RIlLjutKSI[/youtube][/center] "FIRE!" Lide commanded. Three separate ballistae both whirred to life, giving off a high pitch ring before jerking back and launching three bolts of lightning energy at the mercenaries. The first two bolts hit the targets spot on, impaling two mercenaries before exploding and killing two other mercenaries with electricity alone. The third was aimed for Hector, but he fell to the ground, barely dodging the piercing bolt. However, the explosion caused him to quiver as he was hit by a weakened electrocution that spread out from the inital blast radius. He barely had time to hold up his sword, blocking an enemy blade that would have cut his head in half. "SEND OUT THE VANGUARD!" Lide yelled. In response, the men echoed his orders along a line of soldiers until the Vanguard was finally notified. Twenty Vanguard soldiers suited up and marched towards the main gate of the camp, which opened slowly, exposing the nightmare that took place before them. "CHARGE!" yelled the first Vanguard, causing the entirety of the squad of bulky soldiers to sprint forward. --- "VINCE, LEFT FLANK!" Roebuck called out, causing Vince to almost involuntarily spin to the left and kick away a zombie that threatened to pierce his side. Roebuck had picked up the sword of a fallen comrade and began spinning and lunging in a sort of blade dance. He had managed to cut down the largest number of zombies, as he focused on the offense whereas the rest of the mercenaries were carefully balancing their damage and protection at all times. As he tore through three more zombies, he felt a spear pierce through his left arm and impale him to the ground. He cried out in pain, and he struggle to remove the spear with his right arm. Without any weapons, he was defenseless against two zombies that pounced on him the second the spear hit. He cried out in pain as they repeatedly stabbed, withdrew, and stabbed his body in a flurry of attacks that seemed more ruthless than necessary. Kisheto tackled the first zombie and then got up and pushed the second one to the side. He diverted his attention back to the zombie he had tackled, and he simply kicked at its head while it attempted to get back on its feet. With a final stomp, he crushed the zombies head and then whipped around to counter a spear jab from the other zombie. He pulled the spear out of the zombies hands and lunged it into the zombie's mouth. "ROE!" he cried as he noticed Roebuck laying on the ground in a bloody mess. Roebuck shook his head and coughed while pointing forward, "F-fight.... fool...." As Hector struggled to regain his stance a zombie quickly circled round to his flank and attempted to thrust a spear into his back, but was stopped by Vates who jumped on its back and snapped its neck. Going back to back with Hector, the duo were able to exchange a few quick words in the heat of battle. "We need to push towards the host! I don't think this is going to stop until we take him down!" Shouted Vates, hoping that that his leader could hear him over the chaos. Hector grunted as he kicked off a Zombie and sliced the throat of another, "GOT IT! GIVE ME YOUR SWORD AND GRAB A SPEAR!" he yelled back at Vates. Vates quickly planted his sword in the ground beside Hector before rolling towards the corpse of a fallen mercenary and grabbing an electric spear. Before charging back into the frey he took another look, horrified to see how many of them had fallen. He thought he was about to witness another die when he saw yet another plasma shot come out of nowhere, this time taking out two zombies at once. He was unaware they had any sniper support. Hector had taken the sword from the ground and doubled his attacking speed. He performed a blade dance similar to what Roe had attempted, except twice as efficient. Hector tore through the zombies, and gave the mercenaries a much bigger breathing space to work with. --- "They're getting fucking slaughtered" Vortex swore under breathe before taking another shot at one of the zombies. Rather than just fire randomly she tried to pick off zombies that she saw posed an immediate threat to the mercs. She let her sights snap to a zombie that was about to thrust his blade into one of the mercs' face and blew its upper body off; she was about to aim away when she noticed who the merc was. "Vates?" she gasped, suprised to see him still alive. She kept her aim roughly on him as he fought along and began to wonder at how much he might haved changed. She fired a few more shots before hooking her rifle onto her back and with a big run-up she leaped off the tall building into the warzone that was spread out before her. --- Kisheto was now on a complete defensive, having been surrounded by zombies and disarmed. He was dodging spears left and right, grabbing them one by one and tossing them aside before quickly jabbing at the zombies. His hand to hand combat wasn't much against the zombies' thick skin and armor, however, and it wasn't until three mercenaries sliced the horde up before Kisheto could take a breath to recover. Kisheto looked around for any weapons he could use, desperate from some sort of advantage. His eyes instead met with a blue arc of lightning flying towards his face. He ducked, feeling the bolt graze the air above his head as it exploded behind him, killing two mercenaries and launching him into the air, shaking violently at the painful electricity coursing through his system. He hit the ground hard, his body steaming and his face covered in cracks that emit a golden light. He groaned, surprised to have survived the explosion, but he wasn't in the clear yet. A menacing growl caught his attention and motivated him to roll out of the way of a spear that instead lodged itself into the ground where he once lay. His ears were ringing and his head was spinning. Kisheto couldn't feel his body, but he still lunged forward and slammed his fist into the zombie's head in sheer irritation. What should have been a simple jab turned into an small explosion of golden light that glowed from his fist as it connected to the zombie's head, which was blown right off. Kisheto gasped and staggered backwards, bumping into another zombie. He didn't have enough time to turn around this time as he felt the spear pierce through his back and emerge from the front of his torso, right under his ribs. "AGHHHHHHH! NNNNN- UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!" he felt all sorts of pain and he wanted to continue yelling, but adrenaline overcame his body as he threw his body backwards and onto the zombie. The zombie fell back, giving Kisheto enough time to remove the spear and jam it into the zombie's skull. Vates and Hector continued to swathe through the mass of undead, their allies falling behind them with every few metres gained. Hope was slowly fading away. Hector swung at a figure to his right but it caught his arm and he suddenly found himself held off balance. "I'm here to help!" came a female voice, "I'm going to give you a window to end this battle... you better fucking use it!" As Hector's arm was released he was able to see the mysterious armoured figure before him. "Aye, do your thing!" he responded to the mysterious woman, unsure of where she came from. Regardless, help was help, and unless she tried to harm him or his brothers, he had no reason to fight her. "Give them hell, chica!" Vortex ran behind a few of the other remaining mercs and told them to cover her. She sheathed her weapons and raised her hands out in front of her towards the biggest mass of zombies. She looked as if she was holding an invisible beach ball, and slowly she began to bring her hands together. At first it looked like nothing was happening but as her hands got closer together the gravity in the centre of the zombie army began to shift towards a single point, dragging the zombies slowly in. With one last heave she clasped her hands together and suddenly a vortex violently tore open, sucking everything, including sound, into itself. Masses of zombies found themselves dragged into the singularity, seemingly disappearing into the abyss. It lasted only a few seconds before she dragged her hands back outwards and caused the vortex to dissipate. "Find and kill that son of a bitch!" she coughed, falling to her knees. Though no one could see it, beneath her helmet her nose was bleeding and she found herself completely sapped of energy. "Holy shit..." muttered Vates, shocked by what he had witnessed. They had no time to loose though, as if they didn't find Nekros quickly he might just summon more. Hector panted as he looked around, still amazed at the damage that the mysterious women had managed to deal. "YUGETO!" he called out pointing one sword towards where Nekros commanded his undead army, "ON ME!" He then broke into a dash towards Nekros, relentless in his assault. He swung both swords around as if they were acting on their own, finding their targets with utmost precision. Hector did not falter, though his lungs yearned for air, and his muscles strained, threatening to tear. "THIS IS IT!!!! CHARGE THE BASE!" -- Lide slammed his fist into a wall, "KILL THEM ALLL!" As the gate's opened one more time, a huge wave of infantry rushed out to join the military Vanguards that intended to defend Nekros. Lide grit his teeth, "We can NOT fail..."