Jenso got a wide grin on his face. "YEAH!! IT WORKED!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, as the beast fled the battlefield. He rose his arms into the air in cheer happyness. Onweer's plan worked perfectly, the beast had succesfully been beaten. The beast was not quite dead, but it didn't matter to him. They still managed to get it to retreat. As such, Jenso considered it a victory. He took some deep breaths for a moment and lowered his arms. Due to the adrenaline that pumped through his veins due to the sheer intensity of the battles, Jenso hadn't noticed, but he ended up using up a good chunk of his energy. And now, that adrenaline was fading, and the exhaustion was taking it's toll.

He overlooked the entire field to look at the remaining Junkers and Divers. He smiled. It seemed that many had survived the serpent's onslaught, besides the six Divers that were killed earlier and the one Diver who was too slow to get onto any nearby rock. But now, he was unsure what to do. The Xena Serpent had messed up Luke's plan. They intended to take the ATV after beating the Junkers. But then, the serpent's appearance forced everyone to work together. Jenso didn't feel like fighting any of the Junkers or Cmas personnel anymore. He did not know what to do next, and looked at Luke for guidance with a concerned look.

As the battle with the beast came to an end, Cecil lowered his gun and looked at the people who had come up to the rocks with him. They were a mix, both junkers and divers(though, more of the latter). It was the same down in the field, and Cecil wasn't sure what was going to happen now. He wasn't sure what he wanted to happen now. He couldn't turn around and shoot one of the people he had just lifted to safety.

He hesitated before climbing down from the rocks. No one else seemed to be fighting yet, so maybe they would walk away with some kind of truce. And it really would be walking for everyone, with the ATV in the shape it was in.

He came up to the group, his gun facing politely at the ground, his expression blank. He looked to Yvette for direction, but she didn't seem to know what she was about to do either.

Yvette made her way over to Onweer and patted her on the shoulder confidently, muttering the words 'nice work' with an ounce of regret. Something told her that compliments would go straight to the girl's head. The last thing Yvette wanted was an ego to put up with. Especially with Luke standing 15 feet away. Shortly after the snake's defeat though, there was a standstill throughout the crowd. What in the world were they to do now? A look of utter confusion crossed Yvette's face. Her mouth hung open, lost for orders or explanation on what'd just happened.

"I got this one, doll," Luke grunted, clearing his throat and straightening his posture, as if he was about a give some kind of speech. Oh no...

"Great effort everyone! Especially you there, Girly," Luke pointed at Onweer and granted her one quick nod, before spinning back around to the Divers and Junkers that looked for safety on the surrounding rocks. "Quick thinking, lot'so wit and, er..." Luke paused and turned back to Yvette, who was glaring at him in sheer disbelief. Luke ran his right hand through his hair and huffed a generous breath of air. What a humiliating display, and he hadn't even gotten started yet.

"If you're quite done with that, I'd ask that we respectfully agree on a clear stalemate. Wouldn't you- No, of course you wouldn't," Yvette spat, quickly clasping her right shoulder as a pang shot through her arm. Luke looked around again, a little lost for words. This certainly wasn't how things were supposed to go. People were supposed to die, and he didn't recall a damn snake anywhere in the schematics of his plans. "Or would you rather have more blood spilled-"

"Yea yea, I got it Evee, shut your mouth already. Jeez, it's always a fucking hassle with you." Luke turned away from her, somewhat disturbed by what she'd just said, or was it because of what he'd just said? He cleared his throat and rose his hands into the air. "Oi, if you hadn't noticed, this has turned into a complete cluster fuck, so uh. Yea, we're done here," He announced, turning to Jenso and shrugging. His expression sunk for a moment, as if you say 'well we tried!' in the most aloof way possible. Yvette's eyes were wide since she'd been told to shut up, and didn't shrink back to their state of seemingly infinite fatigue until he'd finished.

"Onweer please, if you would be so kind as to gather our soldiers and reassure them of their safety. I've little energy to do either, right now," Yvette whispered to Onweer, patting he shoulder assuredly. She then glanced at Karida irritably from atop the ATV, before heading towards the hatch herself. Luke frowned and jumped off the giant wreck, approaching Jenso.

"Good moves there, flame-boy. You've got a lotta courage on those shoulders! I gotta learn your name," Luke said softly to Jenso. It came off as a little rude, but the famous Diver never did bother to memorize a person's name until they'd impressed him. Luke then turned his attention to Cecil, who'd made his way over to the wrecked ATV on his own. "Sorry about the uh... Yea," Luke called out, waving one of his hands at Cecil dismissively. "No hard feelings!"



"Focus your efforts on the supports! Bring this cave to th-" The officer's speech was cut off abruptly as a whizzing bolt of arcane energy sliced through his throat, nearly separating his head from his shoulders. Nearby CMAS mages turned to him momentarily, only to witness a fountain of blood gushing from his jugular before he fell to his knees and crashed against the ground, immobile. Most of the soldiers disregarded it and headed towards one of the 4 main support pillars that held Diver's paradise together. If two or three of those things came down, this little respite would be no more than a coffin for a collection of defeated ideals.

Near the center of Diver's paradise, between both of the entrances and two of the supporting pillars, Tinon was overlooking the entire battlefield from inside his residence, tapping into the minds of the Divers that found themselves deadlocked within. "272 divers, 800 CMAS officials," He murmured to himself. "It seems that our hopes lie in Luke's quick return." Tinon's wife, and Luke's sister, Laura Juuno, was already channeling a message to her brother across the vast expanse of no-man's land that divided them. "He won't be able to clear that distance quick enough, darling," Tinon urged, moving across his bedroom towards Laura. She jerked away from his touched and glared at him angrily.

"I will not sit here and leave my brother ignorant!"

Jenso frowned as Luke attempted to give another speech. He certainly respected the man, but giving speeches wasn't his strong suit. Soon after however, Jenso smiled as most of the tension of the situation began to vanish, and the two sides came to an understanding. Luke's plan had failed, there was no changing that. However, he was glad that the battle was over. As Luke walked over to him and asked for his name, he gave Luke a confident smile. "My name is Jenso, sir!" He said in an excited tone.

"So, uhh..I don't really have anywhere specific that I wanna go, so I guess I'll keep following you for now. If you don't mind." He added, looking at the many Divers and Junkers. It seemed that nobody intended to keep fighting, but he'd keep his guard up none the less. He pulled out a flask of water from his backpack, and took a gulp before storing it again. He sighed in relief. He could certainly relax for a while. He wondered what would happen next. Would the Divers continue to follow Luke after all this, or would they go about continueing their own business?

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

"Hurrah!" Par said to himself as he brought down the enemy commander...only for the CMAS troops to keep moving anyway, towards the support columns of the underground settlement. That would not do. Rooftop-hopping to the next tall structure, a tannery that was close to the third support column (first and second were being guarded by Luke's brother-in-law and wife), Par then looked for any support, any knots of resistance.

He found it in several parties of Divers who had the same idea he did; to defend the third support column...but who were being cut off by CMAS fire teams! Par fired a few shots towards the enemies' way, trying to clear a path for his fellow Divers to make their way towards the column, as well as inconveinience the approaching enemy. But even if his shots hit, he would realize that with the enemy being able to act without any officers...sniping won't have any effect.

It was time to move up close.

Climbing down to an alleyway, Par withdrew his Sniper Rifle, strapping it to his back, and drew his pistols, and drew his pistols. Moving in the general direction of the support column, trying to sneak past the CMAS troops and any Diver who might mistake him for one of them, Par began to sweat; he was not built for long-term physical exertion! Nevertheless, he pushed on; he was named after 'Diver's Paradise', after all.

Should he reach the support column, he would find what cover he can, such as a large rock or a stack of crates, and prepare for the onslaught...

Onweer was panting heavily after the feat, feeling her knees shake with the effort of keeping her upright. Her arm was still outstretched when the beastly snake exploded and the sight of it sent a tremor down her spine. With a jerk the woman bent over and threw up, the sight of the gore turning out to be too much on top of her growing fatigue. She fell to her knees, scraping the skin and was surprised she didn’t black out. It actually made her bare her teeth in a victorious grin. CMAS had tried so hard to block her arcane network and they had but she still had it in her. It felt like her insides would rip to shreds and she definitely didn’t want to do anything like that for the foreseeable future but at least she’d survived.

She received a few compliments but they didn’t matter and instead of gratitude sparked anger. “If CMAS had done their job right all your recruits would be like me and half of them wouldn’t be dead right now.” She didn’t mention that this was just a faction of what she had been capable of before the same organisation decided to fuck up her powers and almost cost her her life just now. Because she had been terrified and still had the divers to worry about. Yvette’s request caused her to scowl at the woman and tell her, as restrained as possible, that she can surely handle at least that by herself. Her eyes darted accusingly at Brian, who’d proved doubly useless but then rolled to the heaven as the divers’ leader started his speech. Probably the worst she’d heard in her life, including the inhuman snarls and barks of drilling instructors back in Hyznia.

Onweer was still kneeling over the ledge of a rock when a memory struck her like a ton of bricks. She rose her voice enough to reach Luke with her body still being at a safe distance. She was suspicious now and wouldn’t dare approach him, her hand nervously gripping the staff at her side. “’Evee’? Always? You two know each other?”

Luke turned back to Jenso and shook his head. "I don't care, kid. I'm probably heading back to er-" Luke stopped himself short of mentioning the Paradise with so many Junkers in the facility, and huffed a nervous breath, motioning uncomfortably towards the ground with his eyes, "It aint important. Do what you-" Luke stopped at Onweer rose her voice to catch his attention. He froze in place, glaring at Jenso's feet as he tried to concoct a response within the boundaries of his thick skull. "Ehm.." Brian, who'd meekly chased after Yvette after her last order, stopped at the edge of the ATV's top hatch. His eyes turned towards Luke when Onweer spoke, the gears in his anxiety-riddled brain finally unclogged and free to spin. Nobody addressed Yvette so informally without backlash. Come to think of it, Yvette fell far too easily to Luke's initial attack. Where was the urge to defend CMAS's honor? Brian was filled with a brief surge of confidence. He eyed the ATV's hatch for a moment before inching closer towards Onweer before nodding in agreement. Luke turned towards Onweer slowly, gently nudging Jenso away. "Inn't everyone familiar with one of the CMAS's most adorned mages, Yvette Eridal?" He barked nervously, "I mean come on! I may not respect all yer fancy policies in the least, but I aint ignorant of yer top ranked officers!"

"Even Haley Corisan, Johnathan Yumi, Uldrich Von Tiro?" Brian spoke up, his voice cracking for a split second as he spoke the last name. Luke happily granted him one strong nod and chuckled.

"Hah, of course!" Brian eyed him in shock for a moment, and turned to Onweer. Luke shuffled in place and turned away from the ATV again. Most of the surrounding Divers were already gone by now, falling victim to their cowardice and leaving only Jenso and Luke behind. 'C'mon Jenso' Luke murmurred to his fellow Diver, looking to get away as quickly as possible. Yvette had nothing to add, remaining inside of the ATV silently. Brian tapped Onweer's shoulder with the back of his hand, hoping that the woman wouldn't lash out at his in spite of his earlier cowardice. Most CMAS officials knew of people like Yvette, Haley and Jonathan. But Uldrich?

That man simply didn't exist.



Par was successful in making his way towards the support pillar, where several other divers had already stationed themselves. A couple Divers turned to Par, but spoke nothing, gripped with anxiety at the CMAS fire-mages approached in a neat line of 10-20 men and women. They all began to channel their arcane energy, eyes set on the giant stone pillar's center of gravity. Behind them, a line of 12 riflemen were poised to strike down interfering Divers, and even further behind them, a second squad of Fire mages and riflemen split off towards the North Eastern Pillar, where Alvios and several other Divers stood as its only defense.

Jenso looked up at the boulder where Onweer was kneeling over. "Hey uh...we might have died without your plan, so um...thanks." He said, feeling somewhat awkward to thank a Junker. He walked around Luke as he began to move away, stopping in front of him. "Actually, she does raise a good point. While we're at it...how DID you know when and where the ATV would pass through? And what's with this Survey Group 'Alpha'? Does that mean there's more groups?" Jenso asked Luke, without even bothering to whisper. Truth was, Jenso had forgotten about the suspicious things that Luke had done. He chose to put his full focus on this ambush, and had disregarded it.

However, when Onweer began to question Luke, it all came back to him. And now, Jenso wanted answers. If Luke was hiding something, he wanted to know. A lot of lives were lost during this whole encounter, and he wanted to know the truth. He was unsure how Luke would react, so his muscles tensed up. It was quite possible that the man would panic and lash out, depending what he had been hiding. Jenso wasn't exactly angry towards Luke, but this whole suspicious deal just didn't feel right with him.

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

Par took a Mana Grenade from his belt, before biting off the pin and rolling it on the ground towards the formation of CMAS Magi and Riflemen. If he were lucky, the other divers, and their attempts to defend the support column, would ensure that the grenade was unnoticed until it reached the tightly packed group of enemies, and then explode, taking out at least three to five people (closely packed formation, remember?) and blowing a hole in their line.

But if that didn't work, he would try throwing another grenade the proper way the moment the other divers seemed to rally and offer another distraction. And if that in turn didn't work, he would keep rolling and throwing grenades until the CMAS force killed him or he succeeded.

Luke, get here in time... were his thoughts.

That little idiot! Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?! It probably didn't even matter, actually. Even if Jenso hadn't spoken up, there was quite a bit of suspicion surrounding Luke already. Hopefully he could contain the situation, but if he couldn't...

"I uh- That isn't exactly how..." Luke stammered and grabbed his face irritably. Turning his entire body to Jenso, he looked a little angry with the Diver, but within seconds, his expression changed to one of utter terror. Luke staggered back and lost his balance for a few moments, the top half of his body bobbing back and forth a few inches until he finally regained his composure. Luke grabbed his head and mouthed the word no a few times, before audibly shouting, "No!!!" He paused and looked at Jenso for a moment. He had no time to be interrogated right now. Luke spun around and began running away from the scene, weaving between the rocks as he picked up considerable speed, heading back in the direction that he and his 24 divers initially came from.

Jenso's eyes widened as Luke dashed away from the scene. He felt somewhat bad about all this, but he just wanted the truth. And now, Luke was going to get away. 'Oh no, he won't..!' He thought, dashing after the fleeing Diver. He moved as fast as he could. He considered to attempt to strike the man's knees with his powers to stop him from escaping, but he quickly disregarded the thought. Despite his suspicious behaviour, doing so just seemed...wrong. But what was Luke hiding? He needed to know, and he couldn't afford to lose him.

He kept a close eye on Luke's pace as he followed after him, hoping his speed would be good enough to keep up with him. He tried to avoid being seen however, as Luke probably did not want to speak to him any more. He used the rocks as cover in his approach, dashing further to the man's right side as he attempted to catch up. The last thing Jenso wanted to do was resort to violence, as he did have a good deal of respect for the man. He didn't seem like the worst person around, and perhaps he had good reasons to act the way he did. And the fastest way to find out the truth about all this was for Luke to simply tell him.

Onweer felt sick, now more with dread than because of the fatigue. She wasn’t sure what Brian was playing at but by the look on his face it seemed significant, and the look on Luke’s face practically screamed “suspicious”. His own follower seemed unpleasantly surprised and posed some very tough questions the leader didn’t seem to have an answer to.

But it wasn’t so much him that bothered her, not even when he screamed and ran off with Jenso and some the other divers on his tail. Her main worries were Yvette and her henchman. Getting off her feet, she jumped down the rock, saying “let’s go check out on our leader”. As if to urge him forward, she patted the man’s back, simultaneously using her touch for a quick check of his mental images. As no violent intentions towards her were revealed, she could relax a little bit, hoping that he was indeed as surprised as she was at the sudden turn of events.

Onweer approached the ATV and for the first time hesitated on what to do. She had no idea what Yvette’s powers involved, but she had seen Karida in action and still had no idea of her own loyalties. A hostile approach was to be avoided, but at the same time she couldn’t stay if she had any doubt that all this was staged. She needed the truth, but it wouldn’t be as easy as trapping Yvette inside the ATV and threatening to light a fire underneath, burning her alive unless she confessed. It wasn’t an option because Onweer’s own arcane energy was almost completely exhausted.
So she went in the vehicle, using the confined space as an excuse to brush against Yvette’s arm and peer into her mind. The answer she wanted the most was to a harmless-sounding question but hopefully the images Yvette would reveal would finally reveal her secrets.

“So what’s the plan, boss?”

Brian huffed in agreement as Onweer patted his back, passing on an amalgamation of worried thoughts in a tightly-coiled blizzard. The man's anxiety came across clear, though there was no intent to harm or otherwise abandon his team, nor did he express any knowledge about Luke's intention, or Yvette's for that matter. As the two made their way back into the ATV, Yvette was hunched over in one of the front seats, with still unconscious in the cockpit behind here. She seemed to be mulling something over. Yvette abruptly turned her head toward's Onweer's arm brushing hers. She was on edge. "Plan..." She whispered to herself. From Onweer's probing, she'd be able to discern a collection of harried thoughts bouncing back and fourth erratically in Yvette's mind.

What was the CMAS's intention with survey group Alpha? Had Sydney Duvell caught wind of her betrayal. Even worse, Luke's earlier slip-up and the following inquiries, followed by his abrupt retreat... Surely her remaining officers were suspicious of it all. Who even remained now? Brian, Onweer, Cecil, Kenny, Karida, a couple other CMAS mages... Damn it! They were stranded in the middle of no-man's-land, and the parameters for their retreat back to Arcadia had not been met. Even if they had, would they be welcomed? The size of this Survey group was now becoming less and less reasonable. First the 24-man Diver raid, and then a giant serpent.. Did the CMAS know about this? And where had Luke run off to? They couldn't possibly be- "Our plan has not changed, Miss daybreak. We are still at least 7 soldiers strong, and have no reason to return to Arcadia prematurely. Our objectives would not allow it," Yvette explained, exasperated. "We'll regroup, and Kenny shall make the necessary preparations needed to get the ATV moving again..."



The Divers lined up behind cover surrounding the north western support column took note of Par's idea, and immediately unleashed a combination of elemental magic, and suppressing fire. Two rifle-men within the CMAS corps stepped forward and lowered their weapons immediately, and rose their hands together. The oncoming projectiles crashed against a translucent barrier that the gun-men provided, stirring up a magnificent display of blueish gray smoke as they were shielded by the CMAS's efforts. Par's mana grenade rolled under this barrier, but one of the fire mages took notice of it just before it exploded, and released his energy prematurely. It wasn't enough to completely suppress the explosion, allowing it to send him, and his adjacent allies flying behind their ranks, either in pieces, or unconscious with severe injuries.



"Fire mages, ready?" A second man of apparent ranking called out from within the group of CMAS mages heading towards the north eastern column. "Take it down!" Promptly, as the man shouted with every last bit of air in his lungs, the line of 20 mages launched their spells towards a focal point near the center of the pillar. The combined power of their magic birthed a raging inferno with explosive power that threatened the integrity of the pillar.

"Alvios, what do we do!?" A diver called out from behind cover to Luke's right hand.



"...Understood?" Joshua said sternly, addressing Survey Group 1 with the utmost respect. Looking over the new survey group, he smiled and nodded respectfully before saluting. "You are Arcadia's first step towards a better tomorrow!" Joshua was rather convincing despite his personal distaste for what the CMAS had done with Survey group Alpha, it was almost sickening to behold. But with Sydney standing not ten paces away from him, he had no choice but to muster up as much charisma as possible when addressing these soldiers, lest he be sentenced to an unfortunate fate. If they could replace Sulfrax with such ease, it could be inferred that Joshua had very little job security as well.

Survey group 1 was twenty strong, and included the likes of Haley Corisan, Jonathan Yumi, and the steel monstrosity known simply as 'buttercup' within their ranks. Even previously popular Divers within the Paradise like Quicksilver Zay and The Man simply known as Dan were among their ranks, giving them far more presence than Yvette's squadron could have ever hoped to retain. Every last one of the Junkers here were powerful individuals, capable of unique magic, or advanced understandings of their specialties. Sydney was pleased with the result while he mulled over the details that Joshua had just disclosed to them not a minute earlier. They were to head south, opposite to where Yvette's crew had ended up, with the same objectives, as to avoid the groups attaining any unnecessary information.

"You will be dispatched this evening with a squadron of 3 Z-ATV's, operated by Dan, Harold Heiznar, and Hilary Heiznar. Please be sure to arrive at the southern gate in proper attire in a punctual manner," Joshua explained, eyeing buttercup worriedly. How would that thing even fit into a CMAS uniform? Who knew.

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

Par whooped as his grenade had an effect; there was an opening! As the CMAS' shield hopefully faltered, Par would then roll more grenades - two of them - towards the enemy line while the other Divers hopefully kept up their suppressing fire. When the explosion at the Northeastern Pillar boomed out, the Machinist/Merchant would grit his teeth, before taking out his Sniper Rifle and searching for weak spots in the enemy's barrier. Basically, he would follow up the stronger attacks from his fellow Divers with shots from his Rifle, with the logic that those stronger attacks would weaken the enemy shield and allow his bolts to come through, hitting the ones behind...

Alvios was in the front lines, but was focused less on the pillar itself, and more along the lines of protecting the Divers present. Diver's Paradise was extremely important, but his priority was towards the Divers. These were all CMAS forces, organized, focused, and numbered. The Divers were panicked, and some of them just not suited to fighting in groups. He wanted to win, but he also wanted to be prepared to lose and retreat, with as many surviving Divers as possible ready to do the same, if it came to that end.

He'd at least put that end off as long as he could, though. Luke would be pissed if Alvios took the safest route for the Divers, and he didn't want to disappoint. As he looked at the inferno surrounding the pillar, he made a risky decision, but one that might pay off. It was safe for them to sacrifice a single pillar.

"Divers! Turn and bear down towards the Northwest pillar! Pincer the CMAS magi over there; they're holding up better than we are! Head straight for the magi and riflemen, and tear down that barrier! Consider this pillar fallen! I'll hold this side off!" With that said, and many Divers wondering how the hell he planned on holding the entire force of CMAS beginning to surround the pillar, his body glowed faintly with Ki for a moment, before he lept up to the flaming portion of the pillar, and straight-up cut out a massive chunk of the blazing pillar, and with another strike of Ki, smacked it straight back at the group of magi that had cast the spell in the first place like a meteor. The entire structure shook and groaned audibly, but now Alvios was standing in the place of the pillar he had cut out, arms crossed, and the remaining flames roaring around him. He looked like a god among Divers and a demon to the CMAS.

"GO!" he ordered, giving the CMAS that had just attacked the pillar very little time to comprehend what was happening as he cut out another massive chunk and broadsided it into another group of the invading CMAS. Some debris fell from the segment of the Paradise above him, but he was using intimidation and surprise as the ultimate distraction for his allies. Plenty of Arcadia's magi didn't even believe in Ki. This was going to be a fine lesson.

"We may lose our home, but we won't lose our hearts! Diver's Paradise is a place of freedom! Should it fall, we shall rebuild! And to the traitor who lead these CMAS dogs here, I thank you; now we can show you and your masters our strength!" Without Luke around, Alvios had to inspire them. The way to inspire was to speak from the heart. And with fire dancing before him, his furious heart was fueled by a single question:

Who betrayed Diver's Paradise to Arcadia?






_{And was Tinon going to be mad about him actively cutting apart a pillar to use as a weapon?}

The probe didn’t show much to Onweer other than Yvette’s own confusion and confirmation of some of her suspicions. And, quite honestly, she was exhausted. For now it was good enough for her to know that whatever scheme they were shoved into, it didn’t involve her imminent death as far as Yvette was concerned. “Well until you get it going, I need a rest.” She announced, then grabbed a pack of jerky and a canister of water and headed for a nearby tree. Her entire body was starting to ache with the strain of the magic she was executed and she had to let it rest and recharge.

Spotting Ebeneezer’s body on the way out she paused, looking at his still-open eyes. Did he deserve such a death, caught in what seemed to be friendly fire? No, he didn’t. None of them did. She bent down to close his eyes and poured some water over his body as a sign of respect. Approaching the tree she was wondering who her friends and enemies were in all this, and hoping that they didn’t know just how incapable of magic she would be for the next few hours.

The oncoming CMAS soldiers immediately began backing away when Alvios demonstrated his mastery of Ki for them to witness first hand. Many uttered faint gasps in disbelief, frozen in time when the Ki-master unleashed waves of his bright energy into the pillar's structure, taken aback not only by his unique powers, but the fact that he'd made their jobs even easier than they would have expected. Of course, his intention was not to help the invaders, but they would have no time to ponder what exactly the Diver legend was thinking as the large section of stone came crashing past their ranks, crushing their entire platoon in an instant and sending large chunks of debris every which-way. Most of the north western pillar's squad turned to witness this occurrence is disbelief. A massive chunk of the pillar's stone tore through their ranks like over-sized shrapnel, stopping just in front of Par and the north-western Divers as it crushed their barrier-conjurers without fail. Par's grenades had exploded prior, dealing minimal damaged to the barrier, but his follow-up shots with his rifle were enough to break what little formation they had left after Alvios' attack. "What the hell was that!? Luke was supposed to be gone! Who in the world-" A CMAS mage's voice was cut off as a round of A/A tore through his skull, fired by one of the Divers allied with Part at the north western pillar.

"Take that!" The nameless Diver shouted, "For the paradise!"

Alvios' speech echoed powerfully through the underground cavern, inspiring his allies and granting them a surge of morale. The remaining CMAS soldiers were torn to shreds by arcane weapons and melee prowess alike, clearing the northern attackers out in mere minutes. With Alvios defending this side of the Paradise, the attackers stood no chance, even in such great numbers. If only they had an arch-mage by their side...



"WHAT IS HE DOING!?" Tinon Shrieked from his windowsill, "I thought I told Alvios to visit the stockades south of Hyznia! Why is he still here? And why-" Tinon stopped himself and breathed deeply, mulling over the situation in his head. "Well, I suppose this is good. With Alvios around..." Tinon paused and turned to Laura, who was half-smiling at the reveal that Alvios was still nearby. Tinon's disgruntled facial expression melted away at the sight of his wife's assurance, but this wasn't over yet. "The southern exits have been overwhelmed... The pillars won't hold much longer-"

"I shall alert Alvios!" Laura shouted, falling into another trance. Within moments, Alvios would receive a psychic message, clear as crystal, from Laura herself.

Alvios, they need you at the southern pillars. CMAS mages are also pouring into the main square and destroying whatever they can. The Divers can protect everything else, but you cannot let those pillars fall!



Brian nodded as Yvette spoke, somewhat disgruntled by her order. Cecil, Yvette, Onweer, Kenny, Himself, and two other CMAS soldiers remained. It was true that their squad was still 7-people strong, but to what end would venturing further bring them? A gruesome one, he thought to himself. Without delay, not being held back by Yvette's orders, he followed Onweer out of the ATV, but not before glancing Ebenezer's body over with a hint of despair. It's funny, the man who once struck fear into his soul was now dead. Humans weren't very durable, regardless of what magical theory they abused. It was the ultimate truth, unfortunately.

"You can't possibly be ok with this," Brian asked abruptly, standing near Onweer after she'd reached the nearby tree, "This... This whole mission reeks of sabotage..."

Paradise 'Par' Rapids - Diver's Paradise

"We broke them! Or rather, Mr. Alvios broke them!" shouted Par as he strapped his Sniper Rifle behind his back and finally drew his Mana Pistols. As the last remnants of the enemy presence faded from the local area, the Merchant - Machinist - Diver faced his peers, and said:

"Half of you, can you come with me? Everyone else, guard the column!" that last part was said with an uncharacteristic firmness. And with that, the 19-year old boy ran for the central plaza, a party of nameless Divers following him!

A few minutes later, Par sighted the platoons of CMAS troops ransacking the central plaza, and began shooting his two Mana Pistols while charging; while some other magically-enhanced Divers charged straight into melee, exacting a bloody death toll among the enemy in revenge.

For Par, this plunge into a close-quarters battle was somewhat horrific, as people - not just the enemy - died around them. For a moment, he remembered what had happened to his parents, but that flashback passed when an enemy bullet grazed his shoulder. Rolling to his left, the young man fired back at the direction of the shot, as more Divers - or at least, it seemed like more Divers - streamed into the square...

Onweer sat on the ground and took a swig of water before opening the pack of Jerry and biting into it greedily. Only then did she acknowledge Brian'so presence but still didn't say anything for a few moments, sizing him up. He hadn't been much good in the fight and she'd assumed he was Yvette'so right hand but he seemed honestly peeved. Deciding she can trust him for now she offered him some of the food before leaning back on the tree.

"How could I be okay with it? Of course I'm not. But you should be careful whom you level such questions at, I'm not sure if everyone here feels the same as us. That said, what choice do we have? Become deserters and hope they don't catch us? Until recently the Divers were the only alternative to CMAS but if the leaders are now working together, how will you know who to trust? Or do you suggest we take our chances against No-Man's-Land?" She studied him curiously, eyes wide and dark like a bird's.

Brian immediately waved his hand in a dismissive manner to Onweer's offer. The occurrence beforehand paired with a storm of begrudging thoughts had ruined his appetite for quite a while. It wasn't the best reaction, though. The survey mage hadn't eaten since they'd left Arcadia, and despite having no urge to quell his hunger, wasn't feeling very up-to-snuff. He sat down in front of Onweer as she began talking to him, listing the problematic nature of their situation, things he had already known, with a curious glare.

"No, no, I don't-" Brian paused for a moment, holding his breath and placing one hand over his heart anxiously. "I don't think it wise to do anything against Sydney's will, but right now, I'm not exactly thinking very uh... Rationally? This whole thing, if somebody was behind all of it, I think I'd be more comfortable taking my chances against the wilderness. As horrible as it may sound, I um," Again, he paused, clutching his chest. Throughout his speech, Brian was only able to make eye contact with Onweer for brief moments, between fits of scanning his surroundings. The grooves in the tree, there'd been at least 15. They were surrounded by at least 16 large boulders. The birds that soared overhead didn't dare to come within 100 feet of Xena. All of it was pretty useless information, but Brian needed to do whatever he could to occupy his mind, lest he fall into a state of panic. With a deep breath, he exhaled the rest of his statement quietly, "I'd prefer that. I'd prefer it over walking towards my certain doom, at least."