[Center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200425/12aedc10afb0415009c007e9d88847c2.png[/img] [Sub].:⋮Bulldozing⋮:.[/Sub] [hider=Summary] (23)[color=](32)[/color] | (23)[color=](36)[/color] | (23)[color=](31)[/color] | (13) | (4) (Metal & Lightning & Gravity) | (Regen & Prime) (Bile) | (Tooth and Claw) | (Elemental) | (Enhanced Uniform) | (Imortality) (Monstrous Metamorph) | (Legacy) | (Enhanced Weapon) | (Dual Weapon) | (Gifted) (ManaFont)|Solo (Redirected Magic) | (Second spec) | (Transport) (Broken reincarnation) | (Nonstandard limbs) | (Debt) [/hider] [/center] The Engine felt a brief spark of satisfaction as she finished tearing the Lion to shreds. The fact that it continued to pursue her was a mixed blessing. The damage it inflicted on her was wide spread and significant. Some of that was because she had refused to face it, but their last exchanged told well enough that standing to face the beast wouldn’t have helped her get off lightly. Still, she directed seething cloud of nanites she had slaved inwards. Her physical stability was in the yellow, and her mana reserves were nearing the red. A moment or two to repair and refuel was all she would need before she resumed her task of stopping the artillery that was still pounding away at the city. And for the moment it was safe enough, as there was nothing save the remnants of the devastated APC and soldiers were nearby for the moment. A surge of magic, strong enough that even with her deadened senses she could sense it. Put an end to the though of catching a quick moment. She recognized the work of the portal witch on sight, but that did nothing to relax her. If anything, it was more reason to be on edge. A belief that was proven to be correct not event a moment later. Even before the portal fully opened The Engine could recognize who it was that was planning on stepping on to the battle field. That changed things; not significantly, at least not as far as the Engine was concerned. She was only out here to inflict as much damage as she reasonably could to the forces of Wonderland before the evacuation was complete after all. Something that sounded like it was more or less finished, if the intel coming in from her surveillance points were accurate, but she would wait until a more directed update before acting on that information. Which mean that she now had a very small window of opportunity to launch an attack on Wonderland’s HQ. The reintegration of the nanites was rushed, expedience now taking priority over efficiency. Her refueling, and sudden retooling, was complete just before the Queen of Hearts began speaking. As the enemy queen opened her mouth to speak The Engine lashed out. A metal ball twice the size of a bowling ball rushed past the Red Queens head with the force of a cannon shot. Seeming to simply be a missed attack, but only if one assumed that the Red Queen had been the target. She hadn’t been. No, the Engine had aimed at the closing portal behind the Wonderland’s leader. And there was just enough time to see her bomb punch into the wall on the far side of the portal before it closed. She had no idea how effective it would be, but she infused it with as much [b][color=9e0b0f]Importance[/color][/b] as she could before she threw it. That and it had twenty of those augmenting crystals settled into it as well. Shifting her attention away from where the portal had been The Engine spoke up, cutting off the Red Queen again. [b][u][i][color=#F80406]I[/color] [color=#F1080C]͟[/color][color=#ED0B0F]h[/color][color=#EA0D12]a[/color][color=#E60F16]̵[/color][color=#E31219]̷[/color][color=#DF141C]v[/color][color=#DC161F]͟[/color][color=#D81923]e[/color][color=#D51B26]̕[/color][color=#D21D29]̧[/color] [color=#CB2230]̀[/color][color=#C72533]n[/color][color=#C42736]͡[/color][color=#C02939]̨[/color][color=#BD2C3D]o[/color][color=#B92E40]͘[/color][color=#B63043]͞[/color][color=#B33346]͘[/color] [color=#AC374D]r[/color][color=#A83A50]̵[/color][color=#A53C53]̛[/color][color=#A13F56]e[/color][color=#9E415A]͟[/color][color=#9A435D]̧[/color][color=#974660]͠[/color][color=#944863]a[/color][color=#904A67]s[/color][color=#8D4D6A]͢[/color][color=#894F6D]̧[/color][color=#865170]o[/color][color=#825474]͡[/color][color=#7F5677]͏[/color][color=#7B597A]n[/color][color=#785B7D]̴[/color][color=#755D80]͡[/color] [color=#6E6287]̧[/color][color=#6A648A]t[/color][color=#67678D]̛[/color][color=#636991]͠[/color][color=#606B94]͏[/color][color=#5C6E97]o[/color][color=#59709A]̸[/color] [color=#5275A1]l[/color][color=#4F77A4]҉[/color][color=#4B7AA7]͝[/color][color=#487CAB]̀[/color][color=#447EAE]i[/color][color=#4181B1]̕[/color][color=#3D83B4]̡[/color][color=#3A85B7]s[/color][color=#3788BB]̨[/color][color=#338ABE]t[/color][color=#308CC1]̴[/color][color=#2C8FC4]͢[/color][color=#2991C8]̀[/color][color=#2594CB]e[/color][color=#2296CE]n[/color][color=#1E98D1]̸[/color] [color=#189DD8]t[/color][color=#149FDB]̕[/color][color=#11A2DE]͏[/color][color=#0DA4E2]o[/color] [color=#06A9E8]͟[/color][color=#03ABEB]͡[/color][color=#00AEEF]o[/color][color=#03ABEB]̀[/color][color=#06A9E8]r[/color] [color=#0DA4E2]̴[/color][color=#11A2DE]b[/color][color=#149FDB]͞[/color][color=#189DD8]e[/color][color=#1B9BD5]͜[/color][color=#1E98D1]̡[/color][color=#2296CE]͢[/color][color=#2594CB]l[/color][color=#2991C8]҉[/color][color=#2C8FC4]i[/color][color=#308CC1]͡[/color][color=#338ABE]̕[/color][color=#3788BB]e[/color][color=#3A85B7]̸[/color][color=#3D83B4]̀[/color][color=#4181B1]v[/color][color=#447EAE]͜[/color][color=#487CAB]́[/color][color=#4B7AA7]͏[/color][color=#4F77A4]e[/color][color=#5275A1]͡[/color] [color=#59709A]̧[/color][color=#5C6E97]҉[/color][color=#606B94]͜[/color][color=#636991]a[/color][color=#67678D]͏[/color][color=#6A648A]n[/color][color=#6E6287]̷[/color][color=#716084]y[/color][color=#755D80]̸[/color][color=#785B7D]t[/color][color=#7B597A]̴[/color][color=#7F5677]h[/color][color=#825474]͞[/color][color=#865170]i[/color][color=#894F6D]̷[/color][color=#8D4D6A]̴[/color][color=#904A67]n[/color][color=#944863]̨[/color][color=#974660]g[/color][color=#9A435D]̢[/color][color=#9E415A]̶[/color][color=#A13F56]͞[/color] [color=#A83A50]͢[/color][color=#AC374D]́[/color][color=#AF3549]y[/color][color=#B33346]͡[/color][color=#B63043]͟[/color][color=#B92E40]o[/color][color=#BD2C3D]͜[/color][color=#C02939]̷[/color][color=#C42736]̵[/color][color=#C72533]u[/color][color=#CB2230]̸[/color][color=#CE202C]͢[/color] [color=#D51B26]s[/color][color=#D81923]͠[/color][color=#DC161F]a[/color][color=#DF141C]̧[/color][color=#E31219]͡[/color][color=#E60F16]y[/color][color=#EA0D12]̀[/color][color=#ED0B0F]͘[/color][color=#F1080C].[/color][color=#F40609]҉[/color][/i][/u][/b] Normally she might have been willing to at least humor her enemy. Normally she would use the time spent in conversation to regain her energy more fully. But this wasn’t normal, here and now it was The Engine unconstrained, not Penny. And that changed things. Unwilling to let the momentum betaken from her The Engine blitzed forward. Though the rush was more feint than actual assault. The artillery still needed to be rendered inoperational after all and that was something she could still accomplish. A flat out fight with the Red Queen would serve only to get The Engine destroyed at this point. And if things turned for the worse The Engine knew she had at least one ally near by. [hr] [hider=-System Status-] [Right] [color=00aeef] [External damage: 43%. Primary damage located at primary limb joints and lower chassis core. Secondary damage located along upper spinal struts. [Internal damage: 26% and holding. [Regen protocols: Initiated. Total damage threshold above acceptable parameters. External damage sites prioritized due to combat circumstances. Internal systems compromised. Affected systems shut down to prevent further destabilizations. [Mana capacity: 43% and holding. Situation Temporary; Nanite overflow currently buffering Mana loss. Capacity will begin falling shortly. [Gauss system: Limited. Core launch system damaged. Single round ready, but reloading systems offline. Loadout: mid-range, Full Spectrum. [Weapon configuration: custom. [CQC armaments- Primary: Default loadout. Secondary: 1-4 Set into twin mechadendrite positions. [Near field defensive barriers: Online, point to point interception pattern initiated. [Long range Las-casters: Retracted. Mana reserves to low for optimal use. [E-G Core: Online. Maintaining S.O. Mana recovery hampered. Stored E-G discharges remaining: 1 Time until full stock recharged: Undf. Recharging suspended until Mana recovery improves. [Hover systems: Online [Flash Forward Systems - S.S.S.: Ready. 2 Charges. Becoming Tomorrow: 50 seconds remaining [S.A systems- G.G. Nanites: 5% capacity. Refueling system offline to conserve Mana reserves. Auto-deflect subroutines: Offline. Actuators damaged. A.W. Shot: Offline. [Snoopy: Third Eye Overwatch Protocol in effect. [Surveillance points: One through eight still active and receiving. [Response level: Phase four: Demon Calibration: Version 2. [Humanity.Exe: Compromised. [E.o.D: Engaged. [/color] [/Right] [/hider] [hr] [color=9e0039][u][i]“All units be advised”[/i][/u][/color] Penny’s crisp voice would call out from all of the headset she had passed out earlier. [color=9e0039][u][i]“The Queen of Hearts has joined the fight. I repeat, The Queen of Hearts has joined the fight.”[/i][/u][/color] [color=9e0039][u][i]“What’s the status on the civilian evac? Because we might need to leave and soon.”[/i][/u][/color] [hr] It was times like this where it was all to apparent that Tina and Ellen weren’t frontliners, as the moment Tina was hit Ellen was shouting out her name. Before she could anything Alex was already on the job of patching up her sister, assuaging her rising panic before it could make her things even worse. She was no more a doctor then he was, but she did know a fair amount about animals, both of them did, so she knew it was bad. “Thank you!” Ellen would say emphatically, Tina nodding a shaky agreement. It was a closer breath with death then either of them was comfortable with. Before Alex was able to fully take off, he would feel further Beast magics, further augmenting him. A pale shadow of what he himself was capable of, but more help would always be appreciated. At least that is what Tina and Ellen thought. As he raced off the sisters fell back into the shelter, neither willing to risk the open air anymore. Still one could hear the start of a more light hearted conversation as they descended below. “Why is it the good ones are always taken? [hr] [center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180715/d80bb0fbb433935c1613207a0d09ae3f.png[/img] [Sub] -=Ǝ Second to the right E=- [/Sub] [hider=Summary] (4) | (6) | (5) | (11) | (11) (Empathy & Illusion) | (Duplication) (Enhanced weapon) | (Dual weapon) | (Masculinity) | (Gifted) | (Eternal style) (Awareness) | (Enhanced transformation) (Enhanced transformation) | (ShineSpark) | (Transportation) (Excommunication) | (Vow: Kindness) [/hider] [/center] [color=fff79a]“I get what you mean.”[/color] Aurelio would say with a rare grimace. [color=fff79a]”This is the first time that I’ve heard about Beacon stepping aside in regards to a situation like this.”[/color] It was strange and perplexing to the young man. Even if he was one of the more vocal advocates for peaceful and non-violent interactions with non-Beacon members, he knew that there were situations that called for it sadly enough. [color=fff79a]“Only thing I can think of is that Wonderland isn’t lead by a dark magical girl, but that feels like a stretch to me.”.”[/color] He would offer up his best guess. Before that conversation could continue a rather unique individual would make their presence known. Being the gentleman that he was, Aurelio politely rolled down his window in time for them to hear Magical Dream Princess’ offer. One which the emotion mage was fully willing to go along with. He even started prepping some of his own magic to help everyone hit the right state of mind. But he didn’t trigger that spell, instead he turned towards Alicia with a raised eyebrow. She was given the lead on this mission, and he wasn’t one to try and gainsay her. She was a good friend after all. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t tempted though. The closer to Bolorton they got, the worse the atmosphere felt. Unsurprising for a battlefield really, but it hurt him nevertheless to feel.