Suddenly, a pulsating red light filled the dropship interior, coating everyone inside in a fluorescent crimson. Leaving Aurelia fuming and haughty, as she so often is even without being teased mercilessly, Wren began to prepare her equipment, sitting in her designated seat and buckling the seatbelts across her torso. The belts jostled only slightly as the ship descended toward the surface of Libra, as Wren’s heavy armor pulled it tautly against her.

As the dropship tilted extremely toward the planet, hurtling down fast, Wren found her adrenaline aligning with those of the common soldiers of the U.D.F. with which they were seated; as they shouted and laughed enthusiastically, her own heart began to race as she imagined the potential combat and enemies they would face. She grinned maniacally and punched the shoulder of a nearby grunt. Though Wren knew that she and her squad would not be joining the main assault on the Mordrem, she figured their mission, stealth-based as it was, would inevitably involve those who would resolve to keep the information they were seeking safely in their possession.  And any opposition to their mission meant [i]war[/i].

The ship started to slow itself and level with the ground, and everyone unbuckled themselves. Wren and her team gathered around the Sergeant as he presented a map showing the location of their objective. She was only barely paying attention; watching the other soldiers prepare their land Rover made her even more pumped for action. Her Electric Frenzy began to whir and zip around her excitedly. They all crowded into the Rover, and were instantly thrust down into the murky bogs of Astral.

After a few tense minutes of Wren’s lightning spirit zapping her fellow Guardians, a glob of mud splatted without warning against the side of the vehicle, causing it to rock and crash-land straight into the marshes. Wren barely managed to grab a hold of her seat, but she watched Selene fall out of the Rover and into the muck. Urgently, she jumped out, wanting to make sure she was all right; grabbing her by the forearm and helping her up, she looked back toward the vehicle and saw the disgusting, fish-like creature clambering over the top, its claws digging into the metal roof. Its sharply-fanged mouth foamed and spat, and its milky eyes swiveled dizzyingly.

Wren was absolutely [i]elated[/i], and swung back her baton in her clenched fist, extending it to its full length. Her Engulfer was nearly as eager as she was, and it lit up her eyes in glistening flames. Suddenly, the Lurker backed up a few inches from the group, squinting its bulbous eyes at Wren and shrieking. She found this behavior to be rather odd; though she figured this creature was blind, it seemed to be aware of the heat emanating from her.

[color=gray][i]Of course – it’s afraid of fire![/i][/color] Wren realized.

[color=008080]“Everyone!”[/color] she shouted, flames erupting from her baton in ribbons, [color=008080]“Let [i]me[/i] handle this one...”[/color]

Sprinting and leaping up onto the vehicle, she pulled back her weapon and swung it hard at the Lurker; it crouched down, barely avoiding contact but being scorched by the fire, and opened it salivating maw. A giant ball of slime began to swirl in its yawning mouth, and it blasted out instantly. Wren, thinking quickly, ripped off a sheet of metal from the roof of the Rover and used it as an impromptu shield. She jumped up again for an aerial attack and slammed down onto the vile creature, piercing its right arm. Thick, black blood spat everywhere, and the Lurker wailed in agony. Wren wrenched her baton from the creature and raised it, ready to attack once more, but this time it had already formed another slimeball and shot it at her, drenching her in the foul ooze and knocking her off the Rover; she landed on her feet, wiped the ooze from her eyes, and prepared herself for another assault.