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Justice


The princess was found, so it would seem. Though, the sounds coming over the communication spell seemed to indicate that she didn't have time for pleasantries. Morden requesting a status update was easily arranged.

Probably found the princess stuck inside an escape pod. Going to try to get her out. Reconvene back at the truck when it's safe.

She had a brief thought.

Don't feel like you have to fight the bots there. Withdrawing to a safer location is valid.

Now came the hard part: dealing with a civilian she couldn't (or rather, shouldn't) muscle.

"Albreich sent me." Justice lied without a hint of hesitation. Actually, was it a lie? Coincidences were a powerful thing as she had come to learn today. If that dying honorguard that Kali heard was Albreich, then it was technically the truth. Either way.

"I'm going to say this one time, so listen closely." Her tone was loud and harsh, but she didn't have enough leeway to pretend to be comforting. "Your ship crashed. It made a minefield of mist. Do not cast spells or everything will explode. There are automatons who will make this area explode. We need to leave. Now. Then we have a proper conversation. Now either slip through the door or I'll pry it open and carry you out, princess."
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She'd done it. She'd made a cat.

Silje managed a brief glimpse of its whiskered face, the feline smile on its lips, before it all melted down into inky goo — and shot towards her. She gasped, stomach lurching so violently she feared it might jump up her throat. The world shook and spun, and then there was no world at all. Just the distinct sound of her aegis, cracking.

The next Silje knew, she was lying on her back, blinking up at a smoke-filled sky. Gerard's voice came from somewhere nearby. Physically nearby. Val was there too. Silje wanted to wave at her friend and laugh at her oopsie, but her head was spinning, she felt sick, and she wasn't done mourning her cat.

Being attacked by murderous robots did make the grieving process faster, though. Silje turned her head in time to see one of the robots swinging towards her, only for Morden to intercept it with a drop kick. The robot staggered backwards. Somewhere off to the side, the rest of the squad was engaging the other robot — or so she assumed, as per Val's orders.

Speaking of, Silje hadn't really paid attention when they'd been taught how to effectively and clearly communicate on the battlefield, so all she gave in response was a quick, chipper: "Okie!"

She stretched, pulling herself to sit. The robot Morden had kicked was difficult to look at: just behind it, a mist pocket thrummed with the intense colours of an inferno, reds and oranges and yellows.

... Hm.

"Mordie! Can you kick it back again? Just a teeny tiny inch, and then—"

Silje watched the red hues dance. Under her gaze, they started to crackle and expand hungrily, phantom fire waiting to be unleashed. And once the robot crossed that threshold...

"Boom."
Hidden 7 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by vietmyke
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Gerard Biserus


"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Gerard continued to repeat as he scrabbled out of the way of the incoming bots and pulled himself off the ground. Luckily, the rest of the squad was quicker to recover themselves. Splitting up into two ad-hoc groups to face down the two threats, Gerard quickly threw himself behind the relatively smaller form of Val as she began to open up on one of the robots with her weapon. Glowing mist projectiles streaked across the air like tracers, each shot making Gerard brace for a resulting explosion to turn them into dust, but thankfully nothing of the sort happened. "Mist pockets are still everywhere! Watch where you're moving!"

Valerie's projectiles left small, fist sized dents against the front plate of the mech's armor, ricocheting and streaking away as they bounced off its armor- though she at the very least seemed to have grabbed its attention. Short its cannon, the mech seemed to resort to its secondary weapons- a heavy fist, as it stomped towards the smaller WARDEN. It didn't notice until too late that Kalina was flanking it, turning as she jumped and struck at its optics. Housed inside the heavy blue-metal alloy and set into its shoulders, the mech was better protected than it would've otherwise been, Kali's strike ripping apart its outer armor and sinking into the head unit- two of the eyes flickered as the edge of her blade met vulnerable mechanics underneath, but before Kali's blade could get any deeper, a heavy metal hand grabbed her leg and haphazardly flung her out of the way.

Turning to face Kalina, the machine staggered as a heavy chunk of metal struck it in the back, followed by two more. Standing a short distance behind Val, Gerard's face was straining as he lifted chunk after chunk of debris and launched it at the enemy robot. While the impacts were heavy, the damage was seemingly minimal. Another shot from Val's gun dented its shoulder and drew its attention again, the damaged machine struggling to maintain focus on a target. As the machine refocused its attention on Val, Gerard reached behind the robot with his telekinesis, throwing Kali high up into the air towards it, chunks of metal flying up into the air with her to be used as handholds and places to kick off of.

"Hit it again! Same place!"

Collette Van Skymning


"W-what? He did?" Even without seeing her face, it was obvious how doubtful her tone was, but as Justice had bade, the princess in the dark did seem to listen quietly as the WARDEN laid out the situation. There was silence for a single, long moment, but eventually the glow within seemed to dim and then wink out, though her mist presence seemed to feel just as strong as before. In the dark, the shaky voice returned.

"A-alright, I'm coming out."

There was some struggling, and some grunting, but eventually, through the bent and battered doors of the escape shuttle, a thin, somewhat battered and disheveled woman clambered out. Perhaps not having been buckled in properly, the woman looked dazed and a bit injured, but capable of climbing and casting spells at the very least. Her long dark hair was a mess, but her eyes were a bright green, appearing to almost glow faintly in the mist filled dark. Anyone that had paid any amount of attention to intel sheets on the Vangar Royal Family could easily confirm this was indeed Princess Collette Van Skymning, youngest child of the Emperor.

As the Princess looked up and spotted Justice, she gasped and took a half step back towards the wrecked escape shuttle. "W-WARDENs? What are you doing here? Where's Albriech? How-"

A bow of light materialized in her hands again, though it was obvious at a glance that she wasn't looking at Justice, rather she was looking past her at her comrades behind them fighting in the distance, and another robot crawling out of the rubble, this one turning its attention to the lone WARDEN and princess. A blast of lightning flew towards them, narrowly missing the two women, and striking the door of the shuttle. Luckily, at this distance, they were more or less away from any of the large Mist Pockets. Large, fearful green eyes glanced at Justice for instruction, now seemingly fully onboard with the idea of leaving now and talking later.

Back with the Barghests


As Morden charged his target bot, it leveled its arm cannon at him in an attempt to gun him down. The barrel crackled and charged, but the large WARDEN was already on top of it, cannon firing harmlessly into the air as the heavyweight impacted with it. The blade sank hilt deep into its robotic skull, the light in its eyes instantly winking out as it staggered backwards. Hoping for a kill, Morden might have been surprised as he hit the ground, a wild swing from a heavy fist connected with his chest, his hefty defenses the only thing that stopped the robot from caving in his ribcage.

Seemingly blind, the robot now lurched forward, cannon arm stabbing into the ground harmlessly next to Morden as it continued to swing and strike wildly, looking to find Morden and then mulch him with repeated blows. Just behind the two of them, Silje had found a mist pocket, and instead of warning them to stay away from it, she seemed to be actively agitating it, all the while encouraging Morde to push the robot back just a bit. The mist pocket reacted strongly, flickering hungrily as it seemed to grow even more in intensity. Primed and ready to be set off- so long as the young WARDEN had a way of stopping it from spreading.
Hidden 7 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by Izurich
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--Petrified Forest - Crash Site--

She didn't know what's worse, an engagement amidst volatile vapors or an urban site full of civvies, on one hand, they wouldn't have to worry about civilian casualties but the mist pockets posed more a danger to the WARDENs themselves than any civilian could, on the other, the war had already claimed enough lives as it was, wouldn't adding more to the tally defeat the very purpose of their duty?

Yeah, the latter's probably worse. Still, being the lesser of two evils didn't make the situation any easier. One wrong move and they could turn this crater into a gaping abyss along with everyone in it, including...

Tch... why now of all times? ...the princess, yeah, no offense against Justice but Valerie could appreciate being blissfully ignorant for a bit longer, until the mechs were dismantled at least. With the knowledge of a political VVIP being in the danger zone, the stakes were raised a few notches, if they screwed up here, they could very well sabotage Rassvet's chance at acquiring an invaluable bargaining chip, "Copy that, Justice." She responded via their telepathic intercom, "Understood, we'll make an attempt at neutralizing the mechanoid threat, if that fails, we'll withdraw."

Now onto the matter at hand, with Morden and Silje handling the other bot, Valerie noticed that her shots were quite effective, no, not at penetrating the sturdiest parts of the mech's armor, she already suspected those smaller projectiles wouldn't be effective against these walking panzers, instead, they managed to divert its attention to her, good. The opening she bought allowed Kalina to use her gunblade to penetrate its armor and actually damage it, but it wasn't down for the count yet as it retaliated by tossing the taller white-haired WARDEN away. Fortunately, Gerard was there with his makeshift projectiles to redirect the machine's attention to his (and Valerie's) direction.

"..." Then, recognizing what Gerard wanted Kalina to do using his telekinetic boost, Valerie renewed her grip on Haylel as she braced the mist-powered weapon against herself, its sights carefully aimed at the mech's right knee joint. At the same time, the indigo veins - both on the weapon and its wielder - intensified as the horned WARDEN began charging up. The glowing, rotating part of Haylel’s barrel spun faster, chokeful of mist...

Then she pulled the trigger.

A sound that could only be described as a release of concentrated plasma erupted through the air as a densely potent indigo beam shot out of Haylel. Unlike Valerie's previous projectiles, this particular one was larger and longer, crackling with purple sparks and leaving behind a comet-like trail. It was only thanks to Valerie's Citadel-forged body and empowered Aegis that she could endure the recoil. A common infantryman - if they could even effectively lift the weapon in the first place - would find themselves flat on their back, torso bruised and ribs cracked.

If everything went according to plan, the shot would rip through the mech's knee, but dissipate harmlessly on the ground behind it. Now she could only hope that her eyes didn't fail her aim.
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Justice


Before Justice had a chance to respond, a bolt had struck beside her. Lightning was always gross. The mist would stretch and groan as a pathway would form. Suddenly, crack--it would rebound and leave nothing but a bolt of electricity. Perhaps it was for the best that a robot had come to intrude. Justice wouldn't have to spend any time immediately.

"We're running." Justice said without an ounce of hesitation. While Justice was confident she could fight it on her own, she didn't want to fight alongside the princess. She knew of the strength of the Barghests. She could, at least in her own belligerent way, trust in them enough to fight alongside them. The princess? She'd not only have to watch the robot, but her own back. Not to mention, she didn't know what the princess could even do.

Well, it was no time to think about the reasons. Justice immediately hauled the princess onto her shoulder and began to sprint away. Such a measure was only temporary. But she'd only fight if she had to. Until then, she'd either regroup with the Barghests after they hopefully finished their fight. If not? She'd put the princess somewhere for safekeeping and then deal with the robot on her own.

"Got any violent talents?" She asked in her sprint.
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Kalina Kovalic


"Ow." Kalina grunted tonelessly as she found herself picked up and flung by the leg, crashing into the ground some ways away. The situation was still strange, all around. All available intel suggested that Vangar didn't employ autonomous units. What changed? Surely they weren't stupid enough to employ prototypes to defend one of their royals. Which would suggest they were used by the other faction that had apparently conducted a mutiny? Questions for later.

She made use of Gerard's telekinesis, hopping from foothold to foothold while midair. Kalina had nearly closed the gap back between herself and the robot when she noticed Valerie taking aim below. She recognized what the other girl was up to, of course. After years training together, how couldn't she?

"Valerie, Kalina. Moving to follow up."

The instant Valerie fired, Kalina surged forward in a burst of speed-enhancing magic, closing in on the robot in one last leap and latching on to it with her free hand. She slashed twice at the head unit, two gunshots booming, before making a thrust towards the vulnerable electronics and pulling the trigger, aiming to detonate an explosion inside of the bot's armor.
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Somehow, the robot survived getting that sword buried through its skull. Morden noted that even when blind, it still had the potential to hurt someone. He dropped low and hooked his arm around the machine’s neck, and was just about to “strangle” the damn thing when Silje pointed something out. There was a volatile pocket of mist behind them, fuming and growing violent. Silje was as unhinged as he was convicted, but she had practical ideas when it came to wrecking things. He understood her plan in a loner, and that was why Barghest was not to be trifled with. They were a well-oiled machine. So Morden rested his other hand on the blade in its head, and started to spin.

It was too heavy to pick up and throw like a person, but Morden’s brand of magic allowed him to leverage physics in the ways both power armor and infantry could without making a compromise. He had no trouble dragging the robot horizontally, so whirling it in a circle became easier as he picked up momentum. Morden’s feet closed together as he began whirling in a circle like a tornado for all of one second. Then, hearing metal tear around the robot’s face, Morden let go with one hand. The blade was rippled clean out as the robot caught just enough air to skid into the mist pocket, skidding across the ground right where Silje wanted.

The momentum caused Morden to stumble backwards, but he managed to stay on his feet. He could’ve just dragged it into the mist pocket the easy way, but that would’ve put him there in it. And explosions weren’t very comfortable.

Boom.

Silje took care of the rest.

They’re too strong for brute force, he said, telepathically. I recommend aiming for weak points. The head, the arms, disable them first and worry about neutralizing after.

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Morden caught her drift without further instruction, and Silje watched in giddy awe as the behemoth of a WARDEN spun around with the bot. It reminded her of a dance, a violent, turbulent tango. Silje made a mental note to ask him for lessons sometime. She'd always been told she had two left feet, but with speed like that, you didn't need feet at all.

Her companion let go of their target, and Silje refocused. The robot skid, unable to stop itself, and the battlemage watched its form get splattered with colour as it crossed into the pocket. It was like watching the birth of a painting from a master's brush, but a million times as fast. Everything happened in seconds.

Right. A painting. With frames. The instant that thought popped in her head, lines of mist gathered around the pocket as if framing it, trapping in both the robot and the explosion. Hopefully — no, for sure — it would hold. She didn't know much about a lot of things, but she knew mist, knew how to mold it, and she was nothing if not determined to preserve her little artwork for the brief moment the explosion lasted.

Burny McBurnyface, she would call it.
Hidden 6 mos ago Post by vietmyke
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Gerard Biserus


The bots' outer shells were certainly tough, but they were damaged- and the Barghests were able exploit what available weaknesses there were. The robot that Val and Gerard were targeting was having difficulty picking a target, perhaps prior damage from the crash or just the cycling attacks from the Barghests were dividing its attention. It didn't notice Kalina coming from above until it was too late. As it turned to face her, Val's empowered shot took out its knee, sending it to the ground. With its broad shoulders, its arms swung ineffectually, failing to grab Kalina as she latched on and struck its head again, armor plating shattering under repeated blows. It froze up suddenly as Kali's final strike hit something critical, and the steady hum of its electronics falling silent.

A few yards away, Morden had successfully tossed the second bot into a mist pocket, Silje detonating the pocket moments later. Gerard felt a vein pop and he was about to scream at the rest of the group to start moving away, but Silje, predicting the response, erected a barrier around the pocket, sealing both the resultant explosion and the bot within. The robot disappeared in a wave of concussive force and fire, its silhouette disappearing in a bright flare of light. Like a fire without oxygen, the explosion quickly ate up what mist was available, and as the flower of flames faded, all that remained was the burnt out husk of the robot. While it maintained most of its shape, its metal plating was slagged, its joints were fused solid and no lights remained in its skull.

"Dare I say it," Gerard chuckled, taking a moment to quickly collect himself. "But that wasn't too difficult at all!" The smile quickly fell from his face as in the distance, Gerard noticed a few more chunks of debris starting to shift. Another robotic hand ripped out of bent metal scrap as it tried to pull itself out of the wreckage. In the darkness beyond, Gerard could spot bluish lights grouped together in lines of four- at least a half dozen more starting to find their way out of the wreckage.

"Justice found the Princess right...? Gerard called out as he took a nervous step back, gathering several pounds of dirt, ash and dust with his magic before crashing it into the ground between them, forming a impromptu smokescreen. "I think regrouping and a tactical retreat back to the truck might be a good idea."

Collette Van Skymning


"Alright, okay, let- Wha?!" The princess let out a panicked cry as Justice unceremoniously threw Collette over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and began sprinting away. Another lightning bolt flew towards them, striking the ground where Justice stood just a moment prior, while another arced across the air and hit the ground a few feet in front of the two, sending dirt and small bits of rock debris scattering across the WARDEN's face and arm. A small fist ineffectually beat at Justice's back for a moment but quickly stopped as Collette realized that even on her shoulder, Justice ran faster than she did on the ground.

"V-violent?" Collette asked, though in the dark and on her shoulder, Justice couldn't make out any of Collette's facial details. A few moments later, Justice could feel the mist welling around them as the princess conjured a bow of light in her hands. The positioning was a bit awkward- but since it wasn't a real bow it didn't need the same sort of space that a regular bow would require. A bright arrow of white light flashed across the dark, striking the robot in the chest. Without waiting to examine its effectiveness, a second and third bolt of light flew towards it, one striking the robot's face as the other crashed into the dirt. Another bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of Justice as the robot returned fire, its weapon still working, but a bit less accurate than before.

"Its slowing down! I think!"
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--Petrified Forest - Crash Site--

Charged up and aimed at the less-armored joint, this particular shot was designed to harm, not distract, and her gambit paid off as the energized beam tore through the warbot's knee, immobilizing it. This effectively eliminated any risk of meaningful retaliation from the machine as Kalina swooped upon it once more, her weapon slipping through its plates to reach the critical systems within, disabling it. Meanwhile, nearby, Morden and Silje's combo of magical might and mighty magic succeeded at nuking the other robot into nothing more than smoldering slags. Thus, the squad had neutralized their assailants...

...only for more of them to stir awake, reactivating like some kind of mechanical zombies. In hindsight, it was to be expected as it'd be far-fetched for merely two or three warbots to overpower the royal entourage. Whoever commandeered these things truly wanted the princess dead. Indeed, two mechs might arguably be not difficult at all, but a dozen? The risk of engaging them rose from 'manageable' to 'suicidal'.

"Yes, she did." Valerie nonchalantly responded to Gerard's rhetorical question, turning around the moment he earthbended an opaque plume of ash and dust to separate the squad and the bots, "What he said, squad, retreat and regroup at the parking location." The WARDEN commanded as her legs began moving, sprinting as swiftly as she could back to where they came from. As she did, she kept her weapon drawn, aegis active, and venous-esque power flowing, just in case.
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Kalina Kovalic


"Acknowledged. Moving to comply." Two of these automatons had been enough of a hassle to deal with, even half-scrapped as they were. Another six? They might actually take casualties against those odds. Kalina disengaged in good order, reloading her gunblade's chamber as she ran. Her magic kicked in as she sprinted, pulling ahead of the pack.

"Prepping for immediate exfil. I'll have the truck warmed up by the time you arrive, boss." She stated cooly to Justice over Gerard's squad comms.

Kalina made it to the truck ahead of the others, popping the door open and jamming the key into the ignition, twisting. The engine rumbled to life, and she immediately held the brake while slamming her foot down on the gas. If she couldn't do a donut in a truck, then she didn't deserve her defensive driving certification.

The truck whirled around to point away from the crash site for a quick exit just in time for the rest of Barghest to reach it, Kalina already revving the engine.

"Everyone in. Gonna be a bumpy ride out."
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Justice


"Then keep firing," Justice unceremoniously replied to the princess. "I'm steering clear of any pockets of mist."

Of course, she didn't fear the bolts that were fired at her. They kicked up dirt and dust as they barely missed, but Justice was confident that she could block any shock that would otherwise strike her. However, it was apparent that the princess' talents were not sufficient to fully stop it; the shocks still came, despite the audible crack of two arrows meeting metal.

So she ran even faster. Really, the princess was nothing. Out of all of the Barghests, she probably put in the most effort into the basics. And a sprint while carrying extra weight? That was the most basic of basics. Justice had always carried extra weight during boot--even when she'd get punished for it. Though, those punishments usually were more weight and longer runs. They could hardly be called punishments.

Fortunately, her companions had listened to her advice to retreat. As she crested the craters and hills, she saw the rest of the Barghests running back to the truck. Though, she could infer that they were probably overwhelmed. Thankfully, Kalina had already started preparing their escape. With a great leap, she hopped onto the back of the truck with the princess. Of course, she unceremoniously rolled the princess onto the rough floor bed before turning around. What she saw was lightning. But that didn't mean that it was the only trick that the robots had. If their truck was damaged, then that would complicate things. Even though she wasn't a defensive specialist like a mage who specialized in barriers, she was confident in being able to divert any shot the robots could take.
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An explosion seemed adequate in dealing with these machines. Silje's barrier contained it enough to make an interesting death for the one that Morden had tossed into the mist pocket. Sure enough, more of them were dying thanks to Val and Gerard, and of course Justice and Kalina ere already on the retreat. Morden was more than just a meat shield, he had a functioning brain in that impossibly thick skull of his. He knew when they were outmatched- One off-duty squad versus an unknown number of these things, all of which were in different conditions. The odds didn't favor them, so Morden started off to cover the retreat. As more of the machines rose from the wreckage, he swiftly moved to clobber them. Less to harm them, more to keep them on the backfoot as others ran off to grab the truck, especially since there was a hostage and-or diplomatic figure in tow with them now. The princess was on that airship...

Were they intent on a fake negotiation?

Morden quickly hopped in at the rear end of the truck, in case something caught up to them and he had to jump back out to beat something silly.

"Go!"
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All pretty things really were fleeting, Silje thought, as the last few flames burned out. They left behind a half-melted husk, a few smudges of colour clinging to its metallic frame. It didn't look like it was about to swing at them anytime soon anymore. Cut open the head, and it was all but a glorified trashcan.

... Hm, now there was an idea! Could they keep it, maybe? Her room back home could've used a bigger bin.

"We did it, Mordie!" Silje cheered, running up to the goliath, about to launch herself to cling to his arm, when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. More robots. She grinned, spinning around towards them, ready for another go — only to realize she was the only one to do so. The rest of the squad had taken care of things on their end, but were quickly backing away now.

"Aww, do we have to?" she whined at Gerard, kicking at the debris scattered around her feet. He didn't need to reply; the fact that everyone else was already gunning it to the truck said enough. She wasn't about to get left behind. Besides, she really wanted to meet the princess — whose discovery she had missed earlier! Maybe she should've paid more attention to their communication channel?

...Nah!

Silje slipped into the truck next to Kalina, trying to peer at herself in the rear view mirror. Her hair was a wild mess, her face covered in dirt. "Kali, how do I look? If you were a princess, would you be impressed?" she asked from probably the only person even more clueless about these things than her.
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Collette Van Skymning


"W-what are those things?!" Collette yelped as Justice sprinted across the ground, the bow in her hands bouncing unsteadily as she tried to aim and fire while being slung over a shoulder. Arrows of light streaked towards the robot, several missing or hitting it ineffectually before Collette finally scored a another lucky headshot on it. While it didn't seem as though the headshot downed the robot outright, the residual light seemed to have messed with its sensors enough that the thing finally ceased firing, seemingly no longer able to get a proper target.

"Where are we- oof!" Any protestations from the princess were quickly put on hold as the young woman was dumped into the back of the truck, spluttering and coughing as her body clattered against half of the things that Gerard had so haphazardly thrown into the back earlier.

As Justice stuck her head back out the back of the truck, she was greeted not by blasts of lightning, but the rest of the Barghests squad scrambling up the side of the crater and to the waiting and relative safety of the truck. Luckily for them, while these robots seemed to be dense and hardy, they didn't appear very fast- that and the damage that most of them sustained meant that while a team of olympic athletes were sprinting away from them, the robots were hobbling after them like a paraplegic death squad. At this distance, even if they fired their weapons, there was enough distance and reaction time for the squad to dodge or throw up barriers. Seemingly safe from immediate conflict, Gerard took a half second to catch his breath, hand on his side as he pulled out of his phone. No service, still, but it didn't stop him from turning on his camera and taking a few pictures of the robots before grabbing the edge of the truck and pulling himself up.

"By Gaia, these fuckers really don't give up, do they?" Gerard asked, legs swinging over the edge as he settled himself.

Finally able to collect herself, Collette let out an eep as another few folks, seemingly around her age began to climb into the back of the truck, the bow in her hands shedding a faint white light to illuminate its interior. Now, seemingly out of imminent danger, the girl had a second to take a good luck at her would be saviors. Her eyes slowly went from the scars that adorned Justice's body, to Gerard on his phone, the mountain of a man that was Morden, then to the comparatively diminutive size of Valerie and the crate of supplies she was sitting next to with the prominent dull blue sword painted on it.

"Y-you're all Wardens?" she cried out in half surprise, panic notably rising in her voice. She knew the girl who'd grabbed her was one- if only from the logo on her tanktop, but she wasn't expecting to be literally surrounded by them. They were all so young too, probably no older than she was.

"And you're a Vangar Princess," Gerard chipped in unhelpfully, "Now that we all know who eachother are-"

Gerard's voice trailed off as he looked up into the sky. There was a faint rippling, as if the air was falling in on itself. Seemingly pulling itself out of thin air, a ship materialized into the sky above them. The night-time sky suddenly filled with the looming silhouette of a leviathan sized ship comparable in size to the largest of Rassvet airships, though not with the same shape. Clad entirely in deep, dark metal, and bulbous and rounded in shape, with the barrels of weapons sticking out all around it like a sea urchin or porcupine. If the Princess was an overabundance of the natural Mist they were used to, the craft above them was on the other end of the spectrum, cold and foreign and uncomfortable. It produced a metallic groan, a noise that reverberated across the ground and seemed to worm its way into their heads, a rattling and scratching that effected their mist sensitives more strongly than others.

Objects began to be jettisoned from unseen launch ports, they came soaring towards the ground like meteors but as they approached the ground, the blue lights of counter thrusters could be seen. Standing within skeletal frames appeared to be robotic entities similar to those they'd just fought moments earlier. The landed into the broken ground some twentyish meters from them, throwing up clouds of dirt debris into the air as they did. And with another metallic groan from the ship this one at a slightly lower frequency like buckling steel, dozens of glowing eyes stuttered to life around them. And one by one they stood up from their personal craters and methodically and slowly made their way towards the group, joining their already damaged brethren. Up above, Gerard saw a flashing orange light from one of the ship's spines.

"Kali drive! Get us in cover!" Gerard shouted. No sooner than his sentence had finished the ground some fifty meters to their left exploded, the resultant explosion showering the truck in dirt and stone chips. The ship's position put it between them and Sapple Springs, though it was all open ground between here and Sapple Springs anyway. North took them in the opposite direction of the small town, but would eventually open up into an actual forest with tree cover to break line of sight.
Hidden 6 mos ago 6 mos ago Post by Izurich
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Izurich 7/8 Weeb

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--Rassvet - Petrified Forest--

In contrast with Silje's obnoxiously loud ignorance, Valerie boarded the truck with stoically silent discipline, her diminutive frame leaping into the large vehicle while her arms deftly maneuvered her lengthy weapon to not collide with anything as she did. "..." The WARDEN turned her slitted purple eyes toward the back of the truck, confirming the truth in Gerard's sentiments, well, what could they expect from mindless automatons? They were the so-called 'perfect soldiers' after all; fearless and tireless, nothing would stop them from fighting short of outright destruction. Fortunately, with nothing of value left in the crash site, the squad didn't need to entertain them any longer.

After everyone had boarded, Valerie shifted her gaze to the vehicle's newest occupant, confirming with her very own eyes that she’s indeed Imperial Princess Collette van Skymning, the would-be scapegoat of her country's rotten machinations. Betrayed by her own nation... I know nothing is beneath those imperial scum, but I have the feeling Her Highness here doesn't know any better. Between the princess' behavior and what Valerie knew of her, Collette stood out like a naive wide-eyed idealist to the horned WARDEN. Peace talks, how adorable, at least now she knew that no good deed goes unpunished when it came to dealing with Vangar.

Valerie let Gerard do the talking while she went on overwatch, making sure no threats would sneak up on them. "..." Though judging from what had just manifested in the night sky above, subtlety was the least of their concern, "Capital airship, I can't identify the model, but it looks like a giant floating orb." Valerie reported matter-of-factly; was this a prototype model? Vangar might be many things, but lacking in arsenal wasn't one of those.

"...?!!" However, before the 2nd Class could contemplate further, the strange warship produced an otherworldly howl like a perversion of a whale's song. "Nnngh...!!" The mist-sensitive gritted her teeth, using one hand to hold her temple as a severe migraine pierced her mind, though thankfully, it was brief. However, it was a mere warning of what was to come...

Right, she had seen enough, "Squad, be advised, we're dealing with the culprit responsible for those warbots." Valerie was about to ready her mist-powered rifle-cannon again when the flying porcupine unleashed a bigger, meaner version of even the most destructive projectile she could muster. "Tch...!" Frowning, the WARDEN silently seconded Gerard's suggestion, in fact, one thing immediately came to the forefront of her mind; that there was little chance this dingy truck could get them to cover in one piece, not even with Kalina on the wheel. ... Fuck, she didn't want to do this if she could help it, but in the face of certain death? There was no other practical choice...

It was time to send this rust bucket into a mist-powered overdrive!

Valerie stowed Haylel away in her mist pocket, then proceeded to jog to the front of the truck. "Silje, move!" Once there, she'd proceed to insist on switching places with Silje, even going as far as to pull the other white-haired WARDEN off her seat with her deceptively great strength if she had to.

Once the front passenger seat was free, Valerie would immediately reoccupy it, "Kalina, floor it, as swiftly as you can, don't mind the small arms fire and just focus on dodging those cannons." Valerie advised as her gloved hands grabbed the dashboard. Within a few swift seconds, glowing purple vein-like growths spread outward from her limbs to cover the truck like a cancerous infection. "Nnnngh...!!" As the vines grew and grew, Valerie began to tremble under the strain imposed upon her body, her pupils constricting unnaturally as purple-colored bloodshots covered her sclera.

Eventually, the Nephilim annexed the vehicle into her domain as the veins spread her influence into every nook and cranny of the truck, including its engine, drivetrain, and wheels. Immediately, Kalina would feel a sudden, inexplicable improvement to the vehicle's performance as it behaved more like a newly-assembled military transport than a dingy old truck.
Hidden 6 mos ago Post by Psyker Landshark
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Psyker Landshark return to monke

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Kalina Kovalic


"You're not even in uniform." Kalina shot back to Silje, her retort just as clueless as the mage's question. "Don't think wearing civvies is going to impress royalty."

Everyone piled into the truck, and Kalina gunned the pedal even as Gerard shouted at her to. First shot was fifty meters off against a stationary target. Even accounting for splash from the explosion, that was sloppy of the enemy's gunnery officers. She checked the rear view mirror as she urged the vehicle forward, briefly nothing the princess before focusing on what was important: the dreadnought airdropping more robots even as it fired.

"Hold onto something back there. And keep that prisoner secure." Her tone didn't waver even as she spun the wheel, whirling the truck around into a drift as she sought to throw the airship's aim off. The gambit paid off, as the next shot landed a good distance away, though she'd lost a chunk of speed doing so. Right. So that was about how much reload time they had between shots. Useful to know.

Kalina barely batted an eyebrow as Valerie dragged Silje out of the passenger seat, replacing her with herself and starting to juice the truck with her magic. Worked for her. No need to bother with tricks for the next few moves. She aimed for full speed in a straight shot forward, banking on the sudden change in acceleration taking Vangar's targeting off-balance. As they started to clear the crash site onto open road, Kalina made the executive decision to drift the truck around to head north.

"Making for the forest. We won't accomplish anything by dragging the town into the line of fire. Didn't spot any AA installations back there."
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"Yes, we are Wardens. And if you cooperate with us, you will not be harmed." Morden spoke in a tone that implied he wouldn't harm the princess. After all, he could not speak for Kali, and certainly not Silje. He was entirely unmoved in his seat next to the comparatively diminutive Vangar royal, as if he were affixed to the truck they were all thrashed about in. The resident tank of Barghest had a face etched in thunderous serenity, the eye of a raging storm that thought of the next move. Like a storm cloud blacker than obsidian, the flash of lightning could come at any moment. And yet, it did not.

One could easily come to the conclusion that there was only muscle in the thick skull of his, that he was just a bruiser. A junkyard dog that did little more than what its master told it to do. It was not a difficult assumption to make, he was a Vanguard. There was war in his blood, and he was a wall in human shape. What more did he need than to be a meat shield? But that assumption was dead wrong. Morden was a warrior, but any society that separated warrior from thinker produced soldiers without the ability to think. And thus, Morden elected to use a different strength. He held out both hands in front of himself, and let his mist pocket open wide. In one hand, he produced a small black container. In the other, he produced a semi-automatic shotgun. A firearm as old as modern combat itself.

From the container, Morden withdrew a handful of shells, loaded with hardened sabots; razor sharp, metal darts launched by propellants to sink deep into armor that blunt force couldn't handle. They were often ineffective against power armor unless aimed in ways a sniper rifle was often used for, but these machines had something to protect in their heads. Something that left only so much room for protective plating. He loaded the shells with ritualistic composure. Red lightning flickered between his fingers, caressing the galvanized steel of his weapon like an ominous christening of a vessel.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

And eight.

His last shell was dropped directly into the chamber. Safety off.

"Continue straight ahead, ignore the ones we cross. I have them" With that, Morden opened the nearest window and hauled himself out until the upper half of his body was fully hanging out the side. He aimed for robots crawling out of debris, and aimed for their "Weakpoints" as best he could, going off of his understanding of human anatomy; Their equivalents to throats, eyes, and anything else that would, at the very least, slow them down if they tried to take a swing at the truck while they fled.

Barghest's retreat was punctuated by the occasional BANG of Morden's shotgun discharging its ammunition.
Hidden 6 mos ago 6 mos ago Post by Vertigo
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Vertigo watchful

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__________________________________________________


Kalina had a point, Silje realized, much to her shock and dismay. The clothes she was wearing now, ill-fitting and dirty, would hardly impress anyone! She'd heard uniforms were a big deal before, too; as in, some people had a thing for them. Whatever thing meant.

Had she packed her uniform? Did she still have time to change? An unfamiliar yelp from the back — where Silje had left all her stuff — indicated that no, no she did not. The princess must've already been on board.

And so was everyone else, faster than she could blink. Val practically inserted herself into Silje's seat, with no concern for the sacred concept of finders keepers. Or was it first come, first served? Or—

"Whoa!" Kali hit the gas, and Silje had to scramble to glue herself to the side of the truck before they swerved away from the crater and their pursuers — and right into an assault from above. It was heralded by a metallic sound so intense that it seemed to resonate within Silje's very skull, rattling her already unstable mind to a point that teetered on dangerous. Whatever was above them wasn't normal. Wasn't right.

One eye still closed from the throbbing pain, Silje made her way back atop the truck where she usually sat, witnessing from a front row seat how robots rained from the sky. Or from a huge ship in the sky, rather.

Then things went boom, and not by her hand. That was the final straw; if they died here, she'd never win over the princess.

Morden had the right idea, because it was also Silje's idea, and her idea was to retaliate. As Kali hit the gas, Val sped up their vehicle and Morden started shooting the robots before they could catch up, Silje focused her sights on the ship. She held out a hand, gathering mist from the very air that passed through her fingers as they drove faster and faster.

If the ship aimed for them, or if there was to be any more lightning or any of that stuff, she'd counter it with a blast of her own, hopefully moving the resulting explosion mid-air and away from them. Cover fire! Except really very literal.
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OwO what's this?

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Justice


"Robots." Justice had replied with the obvious to the princess without an ounce of further thought.

Their escape wouldn't be smooth. It never would be. Just her luck, huh? The princess, the robots, and now an unidentified enemy airship. An airship that haunted the air with shrieks and groans as if an otherworldly beast. As if an empty void of mist--a cold and brutal absence of feeling above them. Really, for a soldier who specialized in detection and melee, there wasn't much she could do besides firing a few rounds from her emergency gun. But that gun was for emergencies.

Instead, she just held on to both the truck and the princess. At the very least, she could prevent the princess from flying out of the truck or slamming her skull against the bed. Kalina's driving would do that to someone, especially a princess who was unprepared. Especially when the vehicle was being pushed even further by Val.

She didn't have much faith in Morden's shotgun, though. There were only so many rounds. He was already aiming at their eyes, so there wasn't much she could direct him to do instead. Silje's magic could do a little more, maybe. But she'd have to wait and see if it would really do more.

In an emergency, she'd try to deflect a round with one of her barriers. Though, the prospect of even deflecting a round from gunfire support wasn't something Justice had any faith in doing. The difference between small arms and a gunnery was like the difference between a squirrel and an elephant.

"So," Justice said in the middle of the blitz with little emotion, "would it be safe to assume that all of this shit is a third party to this war?"
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