[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/v82MYiG.png[/img][/center] “Assassination.” With but a single word whispered in the dark, a knife was pushed in the helpless avatar’s back, a small hand-- was it a girl?-- covered the young boy’s mouth. Thinking was hard, thoughts coming far in between each other as the blood ebbed from his, poison took the place of the displaced crimson fluid, burning his veins, bursting his heart, frying his brain. Death came shortly after, painful and silent as the serrated blade was twisted and pulled back, crushing bone and rending flesh, leaving a gash no heal could patch. Soon it was over, the young boy whose right to cry even for his last breath was no more. In his place stood a small pile of EXP Crystals which were quickly fetched by his executioner. “All’s clear.” Dusk Razor said drily to her allies over their party’s channel. “You sure are a scary person, y’know?” Argent Maiden commented as she got out of the tunnel, followed by a Level 02 Warrior, leaving Thunder Knight and Level 03 Sniper behind to guard their exit. “I think that a Berserker Healer is even more fearsome.” Razor snarked back, referring to Maiden’s infamy for enjoying to do her job directly from the frontlines, instead of hiding behind meat shields. “I’m not a-” Maiden dropped the issue as she began speaking, when the group noticed a duo of Bruisers running on the walls just above their head. “You know what, let’s do this and get away from here. I can show you who’s the Berserker Healer after we are back to our base.” Maiden twirled her staff, dropping into a combat stance just as their Tank took the spearhead of their formation. “And then you say you are not one…” Dusk Razor deadpanned, disappearing from sight as she activated her stealth ability once more. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/C7vHgRV.png[/img][/center] “So, you accept our terms without even trying to negotiate?” It was hard to discern if the expression on [u][b][url=http://i.imgur.com/zSoGBNi.png]Eclipse Princess[/url][/b][/u]’ face was one of bafflement or dejection, most likely a mix of both. Not only her chance to engage in a fight was cut sabotaged by her own hands, also she had to find a way to deal with Broker of Fortune that honored the words from before. “Ahem,” the Berserker straightened her posture before continuing, “very well then. If that’s your choice, abandon your current legion and accept this invitation to join our ranks. Once you have done so, join the left flank, that’s where we have taken the most losses, your machine’s help will be appreciated and rewarded. I’ll have Mint be the escort you requested.” Eris wasn’t stupid, of course she wasn’t going to send Broker to the back of the main forces, putting her on a tight spot would be the best way to test rogue’s newly acquired alliances. “Talking about this… Mint, you can come over here I’ll have you look for the safety of our newest recruit.” Princess turned to the convenience store, in time to get an alarming reply from Icy Mint. Someone had snuck behind them and was trying to attack the Sorceress even now. Not that it would be easy, mind you. “I’m coming to assist you! Get down here and leave the area with Broker of Fortune.” The dark night girl said before teleporting away. [center][h3][b]~Combat~[/b][/h3][/center] A little time before that. Icy Mint wasn’t surprised by Stinging Butterfly’s charge, after all she was looking for potential counter ambushes from the very beginning. Unless a stealth able Rogue came by, it wasn’t like she was going to miss any incoming threats. As soon as she was targeted and dashed by the unsubtle avatar, Mint’s first action was to call on Eclipse Princess’ support. “I cannot go there now, someone is attacking me. Let’s trade places, please.” As soon as she received the confirmation, Mint turned her full attention back to the fight. However, the moment of distraction left her with little to no time to dodge the first move from Stinging Butterfly. With the little reaction time she had, Mint attempted a sidestep causing the rapier to hit her in the shoulder, for a far less damaging attack. Not that a single hit from Butterfly was going to do much damage in first place, judging from his looks. Either way, Mint used the time she had before Princess arrived and performed another action. This time she took another step back, focusing her mind as she channeled the arcane power to cast a spell. “Minty Ballad!” the Sorceress called on her magic, summoning the Spirits of Winter to freeze all close to her, naturally hitting Stinging Butterfly, dealing some small damage and encasing him in a block of stiff frozen ice. “Here I come! Mint, get away!” A yell from above was the only warning that Princess would give and the only one that Mint needed, to know that she should use the rest of her movement to run the hell away from the incoming attack and rendezvous with Broker, leaving the rest of the fight for Princess as the two of them evaded this area on the tank. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img][/center] A moment later the ceiling of the crumbling building would be completely destroyed as Eclipse Princess fell from the skies, like a bolt from the Gods, impaling Stinging Butterfly’s icy skiff with extreme prejudice and power, very likely inflicting some serious damage thanks to both her Icarus Attack and Mint’s spell. “Do you want to be a true warrior and fight me, or your braveness is only enough to attack a lone Mage? Come and face me!” The Dark Knight yelled as a smile began to creep on her face, spinning her body as she attempted to kick some large chunks of debris on her quarry. Yeah, that was going to be a good appetizer which Eris would be sure to savor to its fullest, until the main course presented itself. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img][/center] Away from there, Warhawk would find that her tactic was likely going to be fooled by a mere strike of misfortune as Edel Faust bent down, holding her skirt against a sudden gust of wind. After all, she wasn’t all too willing to flash her avatar’s underwear to the pilot of a certain [u][b][url=http://i.imgur.com/fkDHryQ.jpg]40ft tall, bipedal war machine[/url][/b][/u] that was behind the building and came into the jumping avatar’s view as Warhawk reached the apex of her jump’s arc. Much more worrying was the auto-cannon that opened fire as soon as the enemy threat became apparent, unleashing a salvo of armor piercing, incendiary rounds against the leaping Berserker. If Warhawk couldn’t avoid it, things would get grin to her, especially now that Faust noticed the attack too and was ready to fight, after Warhawk was away from the mech’s lino of sight, already summoning four Astral Spirits to flank herself in a defensive formation… if Hawk survived, that is. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/IX7ee3k.png[/img][/center] It looked like the tide of war was finally going to change with the ingress of the Ebony Strykers into the fray. After all, the gathering of misfits and irregulars that became expressively popular over the past month, threatening to break the years long hegemony of the Ivory Masks over the world of Deep Ground Online and forever break the balance of power in the virtual world was indeed a force to be reckoned. The armored vehicles lent by their allies, the Cobalt Bruisers, as well as their war machines and generally superior numbers would turn the White/Green Alliance's advantage and save the day, right? … just no. [center][hider=BGM][youtube]https://youtu.be/7FQ5ER0kZ2k[/youtube][/hider][/center] The first proof of that was going to hit Rocket Lancer last and hard as he sailed through the skies. It came in the form of a hail of white-hot metal shot at high velocities from the muzzle of a Gatling cannon mounted on the underside of a camouflaged, heavily armed and armoured attack helicopter, one of the combat vehicles belonging to the Fanged Rangers. The thundering beast of steel rose from between the crumbling buildings of the Faded City, unleashing aerial death on those who dared give chase to the ‘fleeing’ troops, just like Lancer did. Another one of the same kind of helicopter was laying in wait inside an old warehouse, on the vicinity of the Blue City, waiting the order to attack. In a similar manner, the tank currently occupied by Strawberry Baby would see itself in a dire predicament as a mech came screeching its feet across the dilapidated tarmac of the Faded City’s street, using fast movement wheels, while unloading suppressive fire from a shoulder mounted rocket launcher. The pilot’s intent was evident as he heaved the machine’s left arm, equipped with a heavy pile bunker, aimed at the tank, if the attack connected, the battle would be over before it even began. If not, there was always other tactics to consider, given that mechs could run literal circles around tanks any day of the week. No one would be hit harder than the war machines that were about to make it to the actual war front of the Scarlet Harley’s siege, including Arms’s Slave personal vehicle as the thundering sound of the engines of a heavy aircraft roared into the battle zone. Six thousand feet above their heads, the source of the noise came into view as it aligned its arsenal of heavy arms at the Ebony Stryker forces. Nothing less than a heavy gunship, unleashing first a salvo of its twin 25mm Gatling cannons opening a gash at the ground as it exterminated a few of the loose war machines which were a tad too grouped. Next was the 105mm howitzer, aimed to intercept Arms Slave’s path by shooting down the buildings around him. After all, instead of trying to hit the semi agile machine, it was much easier to just drop a literal building on it, with a gun that could fire at targets a few kilometers away with near zero error, that wasn’t going to be hard, if they didn’t found a way to defend themselves. [hr] [center][@Flamelord], [@Mega Birb], [@Awesomoman64], [@Lord of Evil], [@Jedly], [@Lonewolf685], [@RoflsMazoy], [@TheWindel], [@Lucius Cypher], [@Ryonara], [@Caits], [@McFazzer], [@ReaptheMusic][/center] * Undisclosing this right away, there's a 3rd mech, but its location is not revealed at the moment.