[center][url=https://imgur.com/7doaecd][img]https://i.imgur.com/7doaecd.png[/img][/url] [hr][/center] [quote=@Ponn] [color=Gold]“Okay, guys!”[/color] Dana called as she followed after Penny. [color=Gold]“Let’s show these jerks what Team Radiant Storm can do!”[/color] There was no doubt that this would be their greatest challenge yet, but Dana was confident they would be up to the task. They would [i]have[/i] to be. [/quote] Penny couldn't suppress a smile. Dana acting right at home in a Gunslinger Alexis episode. One could only hope the universe shared her optimism. [quote=@Plank Sinatra] The true horizon was her smile - Nicole's face, her hot commodity, and the girls behind it, and the smile drawn across it, protecting all she loved from the dark. [color=ec008c]"Vi faccio vedere come lotte un Hastano!"[/color] She turned back to Penny, grinning with the kind of sisterly ease she knew they needed. [color=ec008c]"You heard the lady,"[/color] she said. [color=ec008c]"We show them what [i]we[/i] can do. And don't start telling yourself we're blind. We're not blind at all - we have home field advantage."[/color] [/quote] Penny gave a smirk [color=39b54a]"You just know what to say, don't you?"[/color] she says, running towards the incident. And she had had time to work on her own little war cry... [color=39b54a][i][b]"Time to bring forth the thunder!"[/b][/i][/color] she says summoning a bright spark of emerald electricity in her hand, one that travels all over her body in a bright flash, leaving her in her Parma as her massive Gladius manifested in a bolt of green lightning. [color=39b54a]"Let's show these creeps they're not welcome here!"[/color] It was corny as hell, but it was hard not getting swept up in Dana's cheerfulness and Nichole's confidence. [quote=@Inedible] Nova Lux is big. Even not taking into account the adjoining Officer's Academy the sprawling grounds of the Ars Magi school seem excessive. There are gardens, dormitories, grand halls, lecture rooms, faculty buildings, and other military facilities. Lots of very wet space to go through to get to the medical wing. The gale seems to act in direct opposition to the three Ars Magi making their way across the campus, wind tearing against their magical armor and rain crashing around them with deafening force. Through the thick, dark fog they can dim lights through Nova Lux's windows and a large flame rising into the darkness in defiance of the torrential downpour around them.[/quote] Penny is just glad she's been around the campus enough to familiarize her with the place, otherwise she would have been lost already. Having to run against the wind wasn't helping them any, either. As it stands, they had to hurry to the intrusion site. And they had to hurry; already there were signs of battle, and she's worried her fellow students might be in danger. [quote] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/O80zTQz.jpeg[/img] [b]𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚊 𝙻𝚞𝚡 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚐[/b] [b]𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟷𝟽 𝙰𝚅[/b] [b]𝟷𝟷:𝟶𝟶 𝙿𝙼[/b] [i]Dana Noel, Penny Grenoble, Nicole Cognoscenti[/i] [hr] [/center] [center][b][color=red]|[/color][/b] Music: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pait6MArKHk][b]Paradox Alter[/b][/url] [b][color=red]|[/color][/b][/center] The fire is where they're going. A second explosion rumbles through the campus as a plume of light makes their destination even clearer. The fire burning in the distance is an angry red, a stark contrast to the pale blue Nox diffusers sucking up the toxic clouds rolling over the school grounds.[/quote] Penny flinches for a bit, feeling the front of the shockwave even at that distance. She wonders very briefly how fierce the blast was if they could feel it from this distance. She shakes her head, dismissing the idea. No time. They had to reach there as quickly as possible. She doesn't slow down, moving forwards without leaving her teammates behind. [quote] Within another minute Radiant Storm is approaching the garden plaza in front of Nova Lux's medical center, the concrete and cobblestones lit by the ominous blaze of the three-story marble building in front of it. The windows of its top level have been shattered, the heavy doors replaced by a gaping hole. "Team 3, Team—reporting—" The comms become a crackling mess of static, disjointed voices fighting to rise to the top. "—back—" The light of the fire cutting across the building illuminates something in the center of the plaza, just off the cobblestone path and pressed against the shattered base of a splintered oak tree. It's Amanda Wagner, the blonde girl's thin frame slumped against the bark. Her pale hair is stained crimson, as is the side of her face and the usually pristine white clothes that make up her transformed armor. The next member of her squad, Priya Khatri, lies about twenty feet away and closer to the fractured entrance of the building. The girl's golden blade is embedded next to her in the cobblestone and one of her legs is torn open. She's moving, though. Her slender fingers are still curled around the hilt of her gladius, her arm dragging her injured lower half backward. One of her hands is pressed to her ear, listening to the bursts of information that occasionally cut through the static. She must have heard enough to know reinforcements are on the way because her head lifts unsteadily in the direction of the approaching Ars Magi. "---closer." Her voice breaks over the radio, and she raises it when they're close enough to hear her choked call: "Dont!"[/quote] The scene is nothing short of a battlefield. Penny had seen the result of Void incursions in her home city of Siscia, but only after they had been turned back and the damage cleared up. She had seen the broken remnants of human cities, forgotten reminders of the World That Was, before the Void and the miasma arrived. But she had not seen anything quite so brutal, so [i]visceral[/i] as this. Wounded Ars Magi, some not moving or responding, splayed around in gruesome display. Amanda was bloodied and out cold, or was she dead? Only Priya was showing signs of movement. This all felt [i]wrong[/i] to Penny. A skilled team cut down in as much time as Radiant Storm had to deploy. Where were the others? Where was Blair? It seemed inconceivable that one as stubborn and combative as her would be taken down so easily. Penny moves forwards, trying to help the wounded, practically not hearing what Priya was saying, and almost certainly unaware of the danger that lay in ambush... [quote=@Ponn] [color=Gold]“Watch out, guys!”[/color] Dana cautioned the rest of her team. [color=Gold]“There’s a sniper in that second floor window!”[/color] she added, pointing out the enemy Ars Magi’s location with a gloved finger. [color=Gold]“Let’s keep her pinned down while we get Amanda and Priya to safety!”[/color] Not wasting another moment, the golden gunslinger rushed forward, a massive glowing star positioned on her arm like a shield as she fired several auric energy bolts at the shadowy sniper. While Nicole was officially the team’s leader, Dana’s overwhelming concern for her fellow Ars Magi refused to permit her to wait for even a moment before charging to their aid. Indeed, the sight of her friends’ wounded forms called to mind not only Noah, Dima, and the other officers she’d met on Aiya’s yacht, but also Crystal and the rest of Team Kheper. Then, of course, there was Lada, the eccentric scientist whose lab was [i]inside[/i] the now set aflame medical wing. Dana had no idea how any of them were faring, but she only hoped they were all okay, and if not, that they at least had comrades-in-arms poised to come to their rescue… [/quote] It takes Dana's warning to stop Penny from falling into the ambush herself, and the golden gunslinger's preemptive attack alerted Penny to the location of the sniper. It was a harsh and unpleasant surprise, but at least they knew where the attacker was. First things first though; they had to get the wounded out ASAP. [color=39b54a]"Nichole! Try and aim for the sniper! I'll help Dana get the wounded out of there!"[/color] she calls out, and moves to follow Dana to the medical wing. [quote=@Inedible] Jagged lines of energy cut through the oppressive darkness, the vivid yellows from Dana's pistol contrasting with the angry red flames lighting up the night. The fire shows impressive resilience even in this downpour, rising high in unnatural defiance of wind and water. From somewhere inside the building come the cracks and crashes of some unknown battle still raging inside. The girl in the window remains in place, her arm tightening just a few inches to put the Norban briefly in the blue-tinted sights of her rifle. She takes a breath and pulls the trigger. There's a crack, but no impact follows. Radiant Storm's ray of sunshine, while she charges toward her fallen comrades, might be forgiven for thing the sniper had missed her shot from the covering spray of energy. She did not. Those that hesitated can see the pale white bullet–a perfect sphere, like a musket shot–come to a jarring halt mid-air about five feet behind and above the dark-haired witch. The girl in the window grits her teeth as a spear of auric power cuts across her cheek. She shoots again. The second bullet hits the first, one crack followed by another as the projectile ricochets off its partner and straight toward Dana's back. [/quote] It's her hesitation and turning to tell Nichole to cover her that gives her time to notice a few things. First, despite Dana's preemptive strike, the sniper only barely flinched, the shot meant for the golden gunslinger's head only arrived late, not wrong. Second, to Penny's dawning horror, the enemy had recovered, and had fired a ricochet shot at Dana's vulnerable back. [color=39b54a][b][i]"DANA! GET DOWN!"[/i][/b][/color] she cries out, using a burst of speed to tackle Dana and knock them both to cover, hopefully.