[b][i]Mission Three - Assault on Jinghong Dam[/i][/b]

[b]Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:10 UTC+8[/b]

As Cristina's Mirage Space faded and the real world was thrown into sharp relief, she'd find that Huo Ren had managed to evade what should have been a swift death - He had been yanked out by his buddy, Cao Bao, an Arms Master who might be a greater asset than most of the Zodiac (after Qingshe's departure) [i]combined[/i]. Why? Because Cao Bao had the ability not just to teleport people to his side across vast distances, but also to reconstruct their bodies to an earlier form, according to a 'blueprint' saved up in his Noble Arm. So now Huo Ren was far away, completely healed, and was now recuperating for the few minutes he needed to replenish his ability to bring on the fire once more.

Ernesto had been disoriented for a few seconds by the fireball hitting his eyes and momentarily blinding him; he would be back in fighting shape this round or the next, though. As for Henri, he and Cristina were back in the Mekong riverbank just in time to see Wei Rui, the spear-wielding 'Awakened' Arms Master, suddenly teleport in front of his brother, Han Rui, and parry Nico's sword using his spear's shaft. Apparently, the threat to his sibling had awoken a new power in the Chinese Marine; what glorious implications for any scientifically-minded observer.

And now, said sibling detonated the Noble Arm bomb he had been carrying, this time, the shockwave was smaller, more localized, and did not affect his brother or himself - Yet another new power. However, unless Nico used that 'checkpoint' power he had, the detonation would fray, break, or tear through anything he had that wasn't himself or his Noble Arm, something that anyone who knew him would assume he'd be keen to avoid, meaning that he probably did teleport back to the 'checkpoint', allowing the two Chinese brothers space to catch their breath and think up their own plan of counterattack...

[b]Jinghong PoW Camp - 10/25/2022, 22:10 UTC+8[/b]

The snowball, which was the size of a moped, was blown up by Stang, filling the air with cold air and slush that was scattered a second time by Marta's impact, which warmed up the place immensely. For a brief moment, Liu Xi and Sui Mang were caught by surprise by the other Arms Master's arrival, before the latter pursed her lips and said in accented English, [i]"Bring it."[/i]

From her spear came forth new threads that wove themselves into ropes tougher than steel, and kites of cloth that floated in the air as mobile shields; was this a new power, or a clever use of an existing one? What was new were her tactics of using the kites to absorb the next attacks, whether from Marta's fists or Nil's ever-duplicating staff, while using the ropes to try and grab the limbs and arms of the two ASEAN Arms Masters, even as her partner swung his sword of ice at them; each cut caused a cold crescent wave of slush to hurl itself at Marta and Nil, trying to keep the two off-balance.

Their intention was not to kill; that much was obvious. Considering Ai Chen's expressed intentions, it was clear that they wanted a prize to bring before their superior.

But the time to consider that was small... Because the Sun was rising again.

[b]Hills of Jinghong - 10/25/2022, 22:[i]15[/i] UTC+8[/b]

Huo Ren was with Cao Bao on the hills overlooking the PoW camps and the town below the dam. After a few minutes of rest and recuperation, he had created another Artificial Sun and flown it up, up where it would threaten any attempt to strike Jinghong Dam from the air, as well as block Qingshe's aim at Ai Chen, although he did slow down the approach of the Artificial Sun long enough for his occassional lover to either get some heavy-duty sunglasses or get out of the artificial sun's range. Not that he'd do anything more to spare her from the consequences of confronting Qingshe; less competition for Alonso and Makri that way.

He looked at his aide, a proper Arms Master instead of a weakling, and said, "[i]Shen Tu,[/i] what do your 'pets' say is happening below?"

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The response was, "Only nine hundred regular forces - forty-five percent of the two thousand who were garrisonning the facilities - are left. They have begun to fight the rebelling PoWs and Task Force Obsidian, but the ones in the camps are going to be overwhelmed; should we help them?"

Huo Ren shook his head and said, "No, write them off as lost. Tell your 'pets' on the Mekong riverbank to step in, [i]now[/i]; Noel Alonso and Nico Makri will be mine."

[b]Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:16 UTC+8[/b]

The soldiers on the riverbank were reduced to thirty men and women, but once the madness cleared up, they began firing pistols, assault rifles, and submachine guns at the now-embattled Nico, Noel, Ernesto, Cristina, and Henri; a few were even grabbing the machine guns and grenade launchers that had been strewn about the area and preparing to shoot at their much-hated enemy. Not just that, but three of the PLA Tanks, accompanied by three PLA APCs, [i]began moving by themselves[/i] as if possessed by poltergiests.

...Which considering Shen Tu's power as Huo Ren's aide, was a pretty apt comparison.

On the plus side, while Noel got a pretty grievous nerf, [i]Nico[/i] now had the advantages of Sun Stoke and Sunsetter at the same time, and found himself unwillingly empowered by Huo Ren's own ability. [i]This was his moment.[/i]

[@Lewascan2][@Gerlando][@Nimbus][@QJT][@Amidatelion][@Digmata][@Chiro][@Deide][@Creative Chaos]