(BGM: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2pLPjTriQ"]A Little Faster - There for Tomorrow[/url]) Rachel managed a small smile as Sinna asked her for a favour and kissed her goodbye before she left. The girl turned around to give her parting words. “Well, I can't say no if you ask me like that, can I?” She replied with a wink before engaging her suit's stealth technology and vanishing on the spot. At the back of her mind, however, she was wondering just why Sinna would personally ask her to protect this one man. No doubt the CEO of Gold Corp was an important person, but there was no reason why he would was important enough that only Shadow was sent to protect him, without letting the rest of the team know who he was... unless... Rachel pushed the thought out of her mind. It didn't matter if Sinna had family here, it only made it all the more important for her to ensure they made it to safety. She could not fail Sinna the way she had failed her parents and herself. The heroine soon found herself meeting the man face to face as he stepped out of his office building with bodyguards in tow, trying to get to their car. Finding a good opportunity to break stealth, Rachel whipped out her submachine gun and let loose on the shadows nearby, decimating them and clearing a path for him. “I'll see you to safety, sir.” The man simply nodded and that was all the permission she needed as she jumped onto the car roof and magnetised her boots, keeping herself firmly attached to the vehicle while it moved. Each time one of the shadows closed in, Rachel put a quick burst of fire into it for its trouble. Many were busy fighting the dragons or targeting other civilians, but she could only focus on so many targets at one time. The rest of the people on the street, she'd leave to the rest of the Titans. Shadow cursed as she loaded her last clip into the gun and sprayed the horde ahead of the vehicles. It was empty in ten bursts. Fortunately for her, the car turned into the property right at the moment. Demagnetising her boots, she jumped off the car and landed deftly, whipping out her staff and quickly splitting it in two, the energy blades at each end springing out as she engaged the shadows in melee, using the gate as a choke point. Every stroke was a testament to her lethal efficiency, a stark difference from two months ago when she had only just barely survived the battle with her parents. She was Shadow - a proper heroine now, not some naive vigilante - and she would make sure the shadows Spinning on her feet, she ducked beneath the swiping claws of one of the shadows and cut through it and its comrades on either side, using her own momentum. Bullets whistled over her head and downed the shadows directly behind the three she had just destroyed, and Shadow took it as her cue to move out of there and get to the roof. “This is Shadow.” Rachel briefed Sinna through a private channel so the other Titans would not have a clue, as she suspected the mage might want. “Mr Tudor is safe. Is he the only family you have in the city?” She didn't wait for an answer to the question, but instead teleported herself onto the roof and pulled out her sniper rifle next. Sinna had been correct about the roof being an excellent vantage point. Rachel could see most of the streets dead ahead. Even if looking through a scope narrowed her vision, she was able to quickly identify and prioritise her targets – shadows attacking civilians were taken down first until the poor souls on the street could make it to shelter or behind the lines of police officers trying to contain the situation... [i]was that a mech?[/i] “I've got a mech in the city... You guys have any ideas who that is?” Shadow asked quickly to inform the whole team. “It's not labelled as police or any organisation's property... but it seems to be on our side!” --- (BGM: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EEtGLLDhNY"]The Crush - Miracle of Sound[/url]) Lily did a quick scan of the surroundings the moment Knight landed in the city. The different groups trying to organise and mount a defense of the city were filling her speakers with chatter, but she got the gist of the situation. It seemed as if the police were the ones most in need of help, so that was where she sent her mech. Behind the line of police cars, the men in blue were trying their best to fire on the shadows while letting the civilians get behind them. It wasn't easy, since the shadows were both fast and behind the people they were trying to protect. Unfortunately for the police they didn't have the elevation to get a proper angle to fire on the shadows without endangering the civilians. That was why Lily made sure all her mechs had some flight capability. Time to shine! She thought to herself as she hit the play button and music started playing. The roar of Knight's jets could be heard well before it arrived, hovering over the heads of the policemen. In order to prevent them from mistaking her for another threat, Lily made sure to fire at the shadows the moment she appeared. A few of them raised their guns and aimed at her but got the point quickly enough before they tried shooting her down. Not that their pistols and shotguns would do much against her armour, anyway. The minigun mounted on Knight's shoulder roared to life the moment Lily had cleared the last of the civilians and landed, giving the shadows something else to target. It swiveled from left to right to left again, and the shadows quick dispersed in a cloud of smoke. “The Titans have arrived in the city.” Her AI, Sebastian, announced. Lily made a quick note of it and hoped the teen heroes had enough sense to assist the rest of the city without any protection. For now, she focused her full attention on thinning out the enemies in the area and helping the police consolidate their perimeter, her blood starting to rush through her veins heatedly from the excitement and thrill of being in her first battle. The music blasting in the cockpit only served to add to the feeling as she fired and decimated the shadows trying to swarm her. [i]I wanna hear the roaring sound When I walk I will shake the ground Don't make me miss the rush Take me to the crush[/i] The laser rifle in Knight's hand soon joined in the fire as Lily set the mingun to acquire any targets she wasn't actively engaging on her own. There were dragons swarming the shadows and fighting them as well, but there was no telling whose side they were on. If someone could summon that many dragons at once, they sure weren't a force to be trifled with, and it could simply be a distraction. There was no way Lily was going to find out who had summoned any time soon, and it was distracting her from her efforts, so she paid them no heed, only shooting down the few that got too close for comfort. She didn't notice when the sniper fire started, but it seemed one of the Titans was in the area and helping to clear the streets for the civilians. Lily was glad for the help. The sniper's firing from my three 'o' clock. Lily quickly calculated the sniper's position so she could figure out where to train her fire without endangering the shooter helping her. The shadows seemed to be backing off the police and civilians in the area for the moment, so Lily took a brief moment to ensure her mech didn't take too much damage or use up too much power or ammunition. Her laser rifle would last a good while but she had already depleted half of her minigun's rounds. She decided to conserve the latter in case there were any last minute surprises. --- (BGM: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNtcP6EXm3s"]This Will Be The Day - RWBY Vol. 1 OST by Jeff and Casey Williams[/url]) “Leave it to me.” Hikari replied to Sinna as she took to the roofs of the surrounding buildings and used her grappling arrows and agility to get to her target destination as quickly as possible. She found the turrets without trouble and took position on the roof. “I'm in position!” She announced to the team, taking a moment to scan the area and consolidate the enemy movements and concentration around the city. No point sending her teammates to anywhere that was already well defended or empty of their enemy. The shadows seemed to be everywhere and fighting both the dragons and everyone else in the city. Well, if the dragons weren't going to attack any humans it would make their jobs easier. “Gold Corp building seems to be holding down the fort with its security forces... the police and Grand Army are fighting in the east, northwest and southwest but they look like they need a little help.” Nightingale called out through the comms as she loosed her first arrow and down a shadow that got too close to one of the turrets. There were a lot of the enemy and she could only pick off so many at once without damaging the turrets. It was starting to remind her of her fight with the manas... No, I will not fail here! Hikari steeled her will as she picked up the pace, continuously firing and picking off her targets while seizing any opportunity to use her own magic arrows to take out as many of the shadows in one shot as she could,, at least without damaging the turrets she was covering. It didn't take long for her to find a rhythm and calculate the shots more efficiently, leaving her room to continue scanning her surroundings and keeping the team informed on any developments. “There's a bunch of civilians pinned down in the bank on sixth avenue!” She called out after spotted a group of shadows swarming the place after a flash of someone's coat disappeared behind the entrance. She was too far away to do any good for them even without the responsibility of keeping the turrets safe from attack. Hopefully one of the Titans could jump in. “I'm on it.” A familiar voice replied that wasn't there earlier. Yan was back. --- (BGM: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrkguvGFnrE"]What We Need is a Hero - Beowulf OST[/url]) After the battle with the manas, Yan had gone underground to train and lick her wounds. Years of serving as personal plaything to the leader of a human trafficking ring had proved detrimental to the development of her powers. Powerful as she was by mortal standards, she wasn't using her full potential as a demon. The quickest way for her to unleash her full power was to defeat other demons and absorb them into herself, so for the past two months she had been hunting down occult groups and tracking down lesser demons to slay and build her power. It was by pure coincidence that her latest mark had brought her to Eden. In fact, Yan had just finished off her opponent when the troubles started. While assimilating her conquest's power and replenishing her own magic, Yan was useless in a fight. Fortunately for her, one of her own acolytes was nearby and ready to serve. Some of the followers and worshippers of the demons she defeated and devoured had converted to her cause. While she sent a few to establish a few temporary safe zones for the citizens to hide in until the battle was over, she grabbed her closest acolyte into a deserted corner to had her way with the human girl until her own energy was replenished through their rutting and by drinking some of the acolyte's blood. She had just gotten dressed in her battle regalia when her comms buzzed to life and the familiar voices of her teammates rang out. They were here and it seemed today was the day the gang was reunited and would make their comeback. It seemed they were already getting into position to assist the defense of the city. When Nightingale alerted the team to the group in the bank, Yan took the chance to spring into action. She was closest and already in gear, so it took only half a minute for her to fly herself to the area and pour her magic into the dragon pendant around her neck. Her silver familiar came to life and grew the size of a bus, taking flight down the street and raining black dragonfire on the shadows, drawing their attention to the caster. Yan laughed as they rushed her only to be sucked into her own growing shadow. “Shadows? I was born of this! I am mistress of the dark! You want to kill me?” She laughed, filling her power growing with each shadow she devoured. “You're just food.”