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Oh such horrid muck! Selene cursed beneath her breath as she floundered to recover with the aid of blueish fire. The already loosely flowing garments soaked in pestilent waters now slobbered and slithered around her body. Luckily, the fierce and trusty soldiers of her squad had been quick to act. The confrontation with the vile creature proved to be a short-lived endeavor. Wren had scorched their adversary with her fiery spirits and golden baton, Eric had gracefully unleashed puncturing and frozen projectiles from his trusty companion, Aurelia had let loose a hellish barrage of infernal spheres upon the defiant, and Cassandra had touched the skies and returned with such force that brought the enemy to its knees. The horrid creature uttered multitude of disgusting gurgling sounds, as if attempting to speak, while hemorrhaging from various cuts and gashes.

Selene thrust her blade into the emptiness of the marsh to relieve it of mud and muck. She gathered enough strength of body to propel herself out of the murky waters and into the vicinity above. The spirit of enmity within her enormous scarf quickly sprung to life and embraced the girl in shadowy smoke, sprawling and spurring her forth. She emerged from that dark refuge with a fierce display of rage and hatred, meeting the vile creature with a gaping maw ready to devour. That spirit of brooding and jealousy made itself known by growing and sharpening Selene’s canines, ready to rip and rend through flesh and bone. Alas, none of her efforts came to pass. The creature unleashed a hail of teeth-like corals that slammed into Selene’s body akin the indomitable force imposed by a vessel upon dormant ice. Once again, Palamecia crashed into the pestilent waters of the marsh. And the horrid beast escaped into some manner of sinkhole further away.

This time, however, Selene’s shadowy spirits assisted her away from the muck. As her dilated pupils returned to their normal state and her canines retreated similarly, she damned the situation once again. [color=00aeef]“Damn it, how did not someone see that coming?!”[/color] She waved her arms violently about. [color=00aeef]“Now we have to walk through this cursed marsh all the way to God knows where… Fuck!”[/color] She shouted while attempting to open the soaked envelope containing the classified orders. From what she could comprehend from the message was that it contained coordinates, which required a Global Positioning System-device. Selene balled the piece of paper up and tossed it at Wren. [color=00aeef]“Get into the Rover wreck and salvage the damn GPS… fucking geniuses wrote down coordinates that we can’t read without it,”[/color] Selene muttered.

Later, as the friends trekked through the marsh, they could see and hear the ongoing assault on the city of Astral just beyond the marsh. Wren had been successful in her endeavors to retrieve the GPS, so they were on their way in the right direction, which was leading them to an access point to the city sewer system. As if they were not wet and stinky enough, they now had to probably crawl and flounder through waste. [color=00aeef]“Oh, this is just wonderful…,”[/color] Selene muttered once again. However, before she could burst into another rant about the incompetent nature of U.D.F. Intelligence, a frail woman emerged from the massive drainage pipe that flowed its content into the marsh. A number of people were following her closely in ragged clothing, along with children and whatever they could carry. They were obviously refugees escaping Astral through the sewer system. Selene nearly cut the woman’s head of as she readied her blade, but instantly back off. One could smell the fear in the air.

[color=00aeef]“It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you,”[/color] Selene said.
“Help us, please,” the woman pleaded, “there are more of us coming, but they are stuck behind a cave in. There was a large explosion above us and our group was separated. I also think that I heard Mordrem screech, but I cannot be sure,” she continued.
[color=00aeef]“Look, ma’am, we’re not here for the assault, we can’t help you,”[/color] Selene said. The woman then clenched onto Selene, who cautiously resisted.
“Please! My little boy is in there, he is just six years of age! He was born in this hell and I can’t leave him!” the woman cried.

Selene glanced at her friends who stood behind her, as an indication to weigh in on the matter. Helping the refugees would set them even further off course from their mission, and perhaps cause them to fail it altogether, but ignoring them could potentially have worse repercussions down the road both physically and mentally.