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[h3]--Pyrrhic Victory? Nay, Tis' a Testament to Human Resilience--[/h3]

[@BrokenPromise] [@Ponn] [@Crusader Lord] [@FamishedPants] [@SilverPaw]

As the blood deluge swarmed right at her, a part of Valkyrie's mind recognized that Breacher was trying her best to keep her as safe as possible while also not disrupting her aim. However, there was no time to express gratitude, there wasn't even a time for a grunt of acknowledgment for the next few milliseconds would determine if the gambit of risking a shot instead of immediately hiding behind cover was worth it or not. 

[color=ff991c][b]"...!"[/b][/color] Alas, the brown-haired sniper esper didn’t even get the chance to examine her work as Breacher promptly grabbed her right after she pulled the trigger, a toned arm wrapped around her midsection and pulling her back while the ex-policewoman’s other arm held up the riot shield, bracing for impact against the red tsunami. The plan was to figuratively roll with the punches and just allow the wave to safely push them back until their backs hit against a wall or something, it’d significantly mitigate the potency of this all-or-nothing spell. However, as one famous Prussian general once said, "No plans survive first contact with the enemy", and the saying couldn't be truer the moment Arzendale's blood wave smashed against Su's shield.

The crimson liquid magically froze upon contact like a nigh-instant process of coagulation, forcing Breacher to either embrace being anchored in place or let the shield go, the latter was obviously out of the question so anchored they were. [color=ff991c][b]"..."[/b][/color] Valkyrie winced, but otherwise silent, focused on making herself as small a target as possible for the benefit of Breacher and the detriment of Arzendale. More and more frozen blood saturated them like platelets attempting to cover a wound, and in stark contrast to that moment of aiming for the fanged monster's head just now, everything was transpiring in a blur of sanguine tide. 

By the time things seemed to slow down a bit, Valkyrie found herself in a world of crystalline red, her back pinned against Breacher's armored torso, still with an arm holding her belly. Teslic Gauss was stuck with absolutely no room to move her arms and it quickly became clear that they were entombed in this red ice coffin. Valkyrie's orange irises shifted left and right for a moment before it came to her that they would need assistance sooner than later, as silly as the problem of literally being stuck was, it's still a serious matter. She could still hear muffled commotions from outside though, although she couldn't exactly discern any spoken words.

Right, her current situation sucked, no doubt about it, but there's no way she'd just resign. Even when she could do nothing, she'd still do [i]something[/i], no matter how meaningless the attempt seemed to be for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. To that end, Valkyrie simply took a single breath then held it, remaining perfectly still - an easy feat for a sniper - as she spaced out her breaths for as long as she could. She was the trained marksman here, she had specific training to be breathlessly still, Breacher didn't, it behooved her to accommodate the taller esper. After all, she'd be dead right now if not for the horned shielder, the least she could do was return the favor.

..........
......
...

Amongst the cacophony transpiring outside, she heard muffled noises of something sharp mercilessly slicing through flesh and bone, this was soon followed by Arzendale's voice... then as if on cue, the blood coffin encasing her and Breacher simply melted away. 

Without pause, Valkyrie took a deep breath as she separated herself from Su, raising Teslic Gauss to aim at anything hostile that was still moving. A quick glance revealed a few things: One, Arzendale was gone, two, Centrocious was too, and three, Lenore was still around. [i]Good.[/i] Valkyrie adjusted her aim and-... the fake nun blinked away, just like that.

[color=ff991c][b]"..."[/b][/color] Twice now that her targets simply vanished, twice now they've eluded her; Viper and Lenore, she'd remember their faces, their voice, and one day, she'd put a bullet through their skulls. However, she also came to realize that blinking away sure was convenient, it was no wonder why the maneuver was employed regularly. With self-directed little nods, the brunette made a mental note to research more about this Blink note for the immediate future. 

Right now though, hmmm... it seemed every melee-centric member of the team were quite worse for wear, a noticeable contrast from the mostly-fine state of their ranged comrades. That, and she was running on fumes too with only barely enough mana to maintain her transformation. It was a hard-fought battle for sure and while it's a shame for the hostages, no one here was under the illusion that their lives weren’t already forfeit, the only right thing to do was to make sure their deaths wouldn't be in vain. 

With a small sigh, Valkyrie spoke into the comms, [color=ff991c][b]"Orders, squad leader?"[/b][/color] she inquired to Breacher (and also Binky if she's listening), coldly professional for she'd never humor these abominations with even a shred of her emotions. 

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21 | Female | G.E.M.I.N.I. | The Faceless
Teslic Gauss | Long Gun | Physical | Nibelung Valesti
Northern Sentinel | Government Agent
Electromagnetism | Lightning | Static Shock 
[Paralysis (4), Speedster (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Push (2), Pull (2), Piercing (2), Bend (0)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | Max Mana: 500

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: E | CHAOS: D | Current Mana: 16
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