[b][i]Chapter One, Desperation in Lingayen, Part Five[/i][/b] [b]Lingayen Beach, Municipality of Lingayen, Lingayen Gulf[/b] Callie's efforts met with success... at least initially. One after another, ammo went up in fireballs within segments of the ships of the Chinese fleet. It took a bit of adjusting and guesstimating early on, but her intuition generally held true. The beam of unbearable heat melted through steel like butter. Or, at least, it [i]did[/i]. Moments after the first explosion, Callie would find perhaps on a second glance that the ships she had targeted were no longer sinking or burning... nor in their original positions. In all but a flash, the Chinese fleet was being rapidly reorganized, huddled almost around one of the enemy aircraft carriers. Many ships were preemptively moved into several clusters of the enemy, no more than some 200 feet between each cluster. Suddenly, damaging the ships at all was a chore. It seemed that whenever a ship was targeted for destruction, it would suddenly undergo a rapid flickering effect, one that stopped any of them from having the beam burn through them again, the flicker seemingly making them whole again moments before they could go up in fireballs once more. Meanwhile, the beam of flame did not let up for a single second, seemingly not the slightest bit concerned with being used against its intended purpose. It was wholly focused on crushing the empowered resistance before it, and the small portals within its center did little to nothing to lessen the impact of such a titanic attack. [i]So this is my counter; the Dragon of the Zodiac himself,[/i] Noel thought, thanking God that the Zodiac was a [i]public[/i] team of Arms Masters just a few years ago. [i]Well, it seems I lured him out.[/i] He answered Lotus Squadron's message through a still-functioning radio: "Lotus Squadron, search and destroy for a lone Noble Arms Master, male, walking alone carrying a fancy spear. Once you find him, unload everything you have - something with concussive force is preferable. Avoid the second sun he is projecting if possible; we don't know its full properties." Sophist, meanwhile, yanked himself backward, flying away from the artificial sun, before saying to a small communicator, "This is similar, yet different, to an actual sun; a mix of occult power and actual astrophysics. However, the occult part means that its danger would lessen if we kill its wielder; actually, if we kill its wielder, I can use my gravity powers to wrench the second sun and throw it back at the Chinese Fleet, assuming it doesn't just fade into a wisp of hydrogen." He then mused, "Honestly, you guys should hope it [i]does[/i] fade if its wielder dies..." Noel snapped, "Sophist, make yourself useful and find any other Chinese A-Ranks running around; The Dragon has not come alone. The rest of you... Princess Fukuyo, your power is increased by nearby heat and fire; you're our frontline unit. Rin, support your liege. Regil, you're in reserve, but deploy your defensive 'Towers' at the very last moment. Lady Regina, you have full authority to organize Lucy and her fireteam, plus Nemo as Hannie is out of commission for now, into a reserve group for when the second A-Rank arrives." Then to Callie, Nil, and Henri, Noel spoke, "Callie, I appreciate you redirecting part of the beam to the Chinese Fleet, but I request that take some time to look for one of our allies and volunteers; he's Belgian and has a Shield as his Noble Arm. Make contact with him and ask him if you can teleport him to a few dozen meters above the Second Sun, where he can then activate his 'Negation-oriented' Noble Arm and literally drop down on that monstrosity with, well, negation. Then he is to deactivate said negation so that we can save him. Is that okay? As for Nil, keep her safe; she's hard to talk to but I don't wish her ill." All the while, the beam was still there, burning the barrier, which was now shuddering as though under apocalyptic strain as Ari, the one who was projecting it, was bending every bit of will to maintain the protective shell. Motes of light were already peeling off the barrier as one Lotus Squadron pilot sighted a figure just as Noel described walking towards the beach from the east... [@SkyHresvelg][@The World][@Chiro][@Aisede][@Renny][@MagusDream][@Lewascan2][@Vergil][@Sniblet][@Silverstein][@Conscripts][@Gerlando][@Senhara]