A discrepancy manifested on Echo's scans; a brief moment of ambiguity as the signal flickered and the ping distorted. Notes out of place on a melody, fingers tapping the keys a blink too late and the cohesion of a composition holding yet unintentionally altered. It was for a flicker or two, the signal distorting as if by a fumble but that was all the sender needed. Electronic data interference manifested on the platform's HUD's and digital systems, crackling as an external presence attempted to tamper with their systems and processing capability. It was hardly the work of a digital warfare expert yet it was clear they weren't trying to cripple Echo. If they peered past the veil of interference, they could trace the signal back to the very building the silhouetted figure was in along with another notable piece of information. The unknown entity was marking their direct location, painting them functionally. Emanating from the opposite end of the settlement, an immense pulse reverberated not through the air but the flesh of realspace itself. Ilshar, Salvator, and Ahzahrizerahni would feel it; worming currents of power frenetic and wild as if running from the yet unseen threat, one that was near yet not immediately visible. It was not a pure ethereal current; it did not writhe and mold as a living thing mght but was rigid and logical in how it flowed and coalesced. A triplet of THUD's emerged from the opposite end of the settlement, black football-shaped blurs shooting through the air, and slamming around the treeline where their local allies were located. While the squad was distanced sufficiently to avoid fragmentation and blast force, they could hear the buildings nearer to their allies shuddering fearfully before the explosive salvo. Coms crackled but muted half-stutters and gargled tarrhaidim speech spilled out, too fragmented to discern. A few stray shots cracked out as their allies began to move, stumbling near the treeline as they attempted to circle around the right side, aiming at wherever the presumed grenades had been launched from. Rapid footfalls, vegetation-hinge doors creaking, the sounds of wet dirt kicking up, the sounds subtle but not unheard amidst the longer distance engagement happening along the treeline edges. They neared, fast enough to be sprints, heavy enough to be armored. Before they could manifest down the long, wide stretches of settlement their first glimpse of the enemy manifested in the windows. Through the curtains and the shadows, the bodies of rifles could be seen and the flat, unexpressive face-obscuring visors behind them. Three were visible, one in each the three houses facing the door they had seen the footprints on. One house directly opposite of it, another two off to its sides facing them diagonally - along with the building the silhouetted figure was in. Immediately, they began to fire. Windows and transparent biofilters shattered and crackled as automatic rifle fire tore through. Multiple rounds slammed into Echo, violently pinging as they bounced off and flashed through the air, their energy-field generators shorting out. Even with the jacketing-fields on them, they were not enough to damage him. The others however might not be so lucky, even with the abundant cover around them. From the house to the northwest where the silhouetted figure had been seen, another weapon joined into the symphony; this one too launching bullets. Heavy, loud, crackling suppression-sprays of bullets. The entire window and much of the surrounding walls were torn open in a spray of dust and fragments as a stream of heavier duty rounds ripped through the corner of another structure, the wall of the house they were facing, and right towards the squad. It was enough that the bearer of the weapon could be seen, pausing to observe them after its hellish burst of heavy duty rounds. [hider=Visual reference of enemy within the northwest house] [img]https://i.ibb.co/xhHMSKB/Robot-with-a-big-gun.jpg[/img] [/hider] As this hellish ambush continued, the ethereal pulse tangible to Ilshar, Salvator, and Ahzahrizerahni cased for a moment, the sensation draining as water seeping away into a hole. It was not dissipating; a flash of a second later and it flared like a ray of heat from a crackling fire. From the treeline opposite to where they had entered the settlement, a spiking burst of blue, pink, and white flared above the treeline, vomiting a massive glob of blue-white ethereal power high in the air... Descending in a long arc of descent right towards Echo...