((Collab Post between Letter Bee, Sniblet, and Creative Chaos; Gerlando has also allowed his OC, Nil, to be used as an NPC by Bee.))

[b][i]CNS[/i] Shangqiu - [i]Engine Room - 10/11/2022, 19:18 UTC+8[/i][/b]

Battle cries screamed out from the entrances, and Noel had to applaud the enemy’s fearless courage as they charged in, laying down covering fire that indicated not a disordered rush but [i]tactics[/i]. 

As he deftly leaped around the flying bullets, somewhat constricted by the room’s confines, he took out his [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floro_MK-9]Floro MK-9[/url] that was strapped to his side and shot into the middle of the group of sailors, incapacitating one but invigorating his comrades.

These men knew how to fight Arms Masters: numbers, coordination, and tactics. 5.8x42 cartridges unloaded, their bullets flooding the hallway in the attempt to strike against the fast-moving Indra, mixed occasionally with the pistol fire of the captain behind them.

Everything alike shattered or ricocheted against her wings, folded defensively in front of her from the moment of contact. Though it blinded her, in narrow quarters and with a long Arm, it made little difference to whoever would get hit.

[color=DB7093]”Well, this is suicidal,”[/color] she… mumbled? It was difficult as ever to place how she spoke like this. With her spear readied, she rushed down the hall, exploiting the time it took the attackers to realize that they must aim down - only her legs were visible.

The Chinese Sailors did the same against Nico, but two were also firing tasers at the guy, bear in mind that the entire group of infiltrators was already wet from the sprinklers. 

[color=AntiqueWhite][i]Wait, these guys got intel on me? Well, maybe not enough. [/i][/color]Nico cut away the taser wires with an inhuman level of finesse, using every swing to deflect gunfire, running at full tilt. Despite his best efforts, several shots connected. Most glanced off his body, the more shallow wounds healing in a small burst of sparks. 

What few bullets could manage to find their target hurt like [i]hell[/i], but he simply moved forward, devoting as much energy as he could to maintaining his stride. The moment he reached the net shooters, he took a deep breath and focused his senses, rapidly slicing through the barrels (and possibly a few fingers) of the assailants within the reach of his blade.

Nil now launched copies of her staff at high velocity, decapitating an enemy sailor with the sheer force of one of her supernatural projectiles. At the same time, [i]the ship was moving on its own[/i], even though the controls were nonfunctional. Something Occult was at work here, and Noel was the first to realize it.

"The ship is sailing back to one of the battle groups!" The First Lieutenant shouted as bullets whizzed past him, veered away by his Noble Arm's passive power. "Something is controlling it and it isn't friendly to us!"

Callie's portal had faded due to her own distractions. And they had to call her fast as the enemy still streamed in. Nico managed to sever the fingers of the Chinese Sailors using the Netguns, but now six had surrounded him - Two swung machetes at him, two more tried to get under his defenses with thick-bladed knives, and two tried to taser him.

As for Indra? Nil's burst of firepower had cleared a path towards melee, but now two enemies shot at her exposed legs with pistols, two swung machetes at her wings, and two more tried to taser her.

Indra didn’t respond to Noel’s assessment. She said nothing further. She was stuck in the fast-moving and wordless world of combat - no real thought, just crisis instinct tempered by training, just muscle memory, just the half-light. A hasty look around found four immediate threats: the machetes would catch up sooner or later but were not presently doing anything that mattered. A sweep, a slice, a jab - she smelled blood and death in a way that she never had before, but anyway - [i]keep all of your enemies in front of you, track their aim, shuffle your wings[/i] - did she just get shot?…

She checked the distance to the farthest wall. For a mad, confused moment she considered throwing her weapon to blast out the hull. If she could think straight, or breathe, she would’ve had no such idea. She might instead spend more time interrogating why the sailors are swarming like ants defending their hive, tens of men entirely ignoring the unhesitant slayings of their comrades and friends to fight hand-to-hand with Arms Masters. She began that thought earlier. Now it was far gone. [i]Where possible, block shots meant for your team too[/i]…

Her adrenaline wasn’t visible from outside. To a viewer, her motions looked refined, deliberate, and close to dancelike. Her wings seemed the most active part of her, acting as shield, as mobility, and occasionally as a bludgeon, softly glowing, whirling and beating, never still from instant to instant.

There were another dozen streaming in, firing back with assault rifles and submachine guns to suppress Nil and Noel, the latter who now hurled a shard of ice - A duplicate of Hannie's power? - To pierce another foe through the heart.

Nico decided to prioritize the machete-wielding soldiers, parrying their blades with Helios Rod and cutting through the weapons in the process. He overlooked one of the knifemen and got stabbed for his blunder. He let out a loud scream before rearing his large fist and punching the assailant in the head with an explosive strike, tossing his sword to the ground a few feet behind him, a sun-shaped rune appearing where it landed. He cracked his knuckles and started swinging at the soldiers surrounding him, trying to move as fast as his hands could allow him.

Noel had to hand it to the PLA Sailors; they were contemptuous of cowardice. Now he had to up the ante.

A snap of his fingers and a burst of force blasted three foes onto the walls; he had duplicated the power of a volunteer named Lucy who had fought in Lingayen, then went back home.

For a brief moment, the enemy quailed, allowing Nil to shoot a volley of copies of her staff that took out another three Sailors. This allowed Nico to get a few blows in, taking out four of the six men who had surrounded him, but the two remaining had clear shots to hit him in the legs with their tasers. 

As for Indra, she managed to take out another four men, but like Nico, two more remained to taser her in her exposed legs. She realized then, in a brief flash of inspiration, that one of the best ways to incapacitate an Arms Master was not to concern oneself with directly harming them and to simply inflict pain. It was only her legs. They were covered up by her uniform. But whether by luck or good aim, the electrodes just about got her, and tasers [i]hurt[/i]. She clenched her teeth hard and got one last hit in, shoving one of the men who got her with her spear’s haft, before dropping to her knees.

But then, some Arms Masters are even tougher than that. Down on the ground now, it was much easier for her to cocoon herself completely, sweeping the wires away as she closed her wings into a rough ball. In here, she had a second to breathe - maybe even to think, if she didn’t mind letting her team down with her inaction. Just… take a second to recover, and plan how she’ll come out…

And even as they were winning against the enemy crewmen, the ship kept sailing toward the enemy’s northwestern battle group.

On seeing the teasers get fired, he promptly activated one of his less-used tricks: the Vanishing Step, disappearing from the place he was standing. He reappeared where his sword had landed when he previously threw it aside. The moment after he picked up his blade, he lunged forward and aimed a decapitating slash at one of the taser-wielding sailors before turning to stab the other.

The Sailors were starting to fall back, their Captain howling curses at his own men before Noel silenced him by using his other copy of Hannie’s power to flash-freeze the man. As this caused the foes to begin a hurried retreat, the sixteen-year-old was finally able to receive Callie’s call and say, “Roger that - Can you whisk us away from this Corvette now? This ship is sailing by itself towards the enemy battle group; we’ll be surrounded by the foes’ ships within five minutes, maybe four.”

Then to Nico, who had managed to behead and stab the last of the sailors who had surrounded him, and Indra, who had received a reprieve as the enemy was routing, Noel said, “Do any of you need help? I have a copy of one or two healing powers ready…”

Indra hesitated a moment, then emerged from her cocoon with a whipping and a whirling, rapidly searching her vicinity for further danger. Everybody still standing here, she knew by name. Uh. That guy was missing his head. Um.

[color=DB7093]“Uhh.”[/color]

She’d- sort of expected to move on from that part faster. There was no head on his neck. There was not much neck, either. It was… and…

Indra was shot in the calf about 60 seconds before this moment. And at this moment, it hit her. She shivered and took all her weight off of it and that didn’t help and suddenly it felt like her [i]other[/i] leg couldn’t support her either and her weapon slipped out of her hand and

It never hit the floor. With a weak groan, her knees buckled, her wings flicked out of being, and she settled, in an unbalanced, sideways kneel, on the blood-soaked steel, with fluttering eyes. Some Valkyrie.

After finishing the job, Nico kept his eyes shut for a while, catching his breath before finally looking around at the people around him, Helios Rod smoking softly from the blood on its blade. Te looked at the decapitated body and gave a silent prayer before walking to pick up Indra, supporting her on his good shoulder despite being stabbed. [color=AntiqueWhite][i]Thank everything this was at night. I’d have been dead.[/i][/color]

He didn’t voice the thought out loud, but it ran through his head for a bit as he looked at Noel when he heard the offer for healing. [color=AntiqueWhite]“Get Indra back up first. She hasn’t got legs right now. After that, I’ll take some of that healing while I’m still conscious.”[/color] 

Most of his more superficial wounds were rapidly healing, smoke coming from all of the burns and bullet scrapes across his body. It almost seemed like he was on fire, as Nico carried Indra to Noel on shaky knees, trying his damnedest to keep his eyes open despite the stab wound in his side.

A little behind the group Nil shook her head as she was fortunate enough to only receive a grazing bullet, she would then stand by the corridor the PLA sailors retreated to, standing guard in case some were cheeky or foolish enough to return.

Noel nodded at that as he walked closer to Nico and Indra… before copying two uses of a Healing NA he had seen used a few times. 

Light shone down on Indra’s legs, regenerating the remaining flesh and blood, and in just a few minutes, the Swedish ‘Valkyrie’ had a new functioning pair of limbs.

Then he healed Nico with a copy of another Noble Arm that can repair injuries; [I]Nemo’s[/i] Reversal.

Breathing hard, Noel spoke, “Now we wait for Callie.”

[@Nimbus]