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If there was anything worthy to take note of regarding the Guild Future Society, it was the fact that their identities were currently unknown. For some, this would raise many red flags and for others, this would raise many curiosities. For now, however, all that mattered is that they held the information and the drive that could be responsible for saving Guild City. And it would be during the early morning hours that the second emergency broadcast would be sent. The broadcast would include no visuals and would only communicate through a monotonous and robotic voice. It was another stress call to those who would be willing to act. To those who would be willing to unify and serve Guild City.

The broadcast itself would ripple through the morning anxiety with the following message:

"It has been three hours since the walls of Guild City has been breached by an unknown threat that we have chosen to classify as 'KBots'. With their strength and size, they were able to breach Roleplaying Discussion and march their way through Spam. As a result of the efforts and dedication of the peacekeepers within the sector, Spam was able to repel their attack. . they were pushed into Free," a deep sigh that was transmitted as static could be heard, "Free did not stand a chance and neither did its Interest Check. Both were compromised approximately an hour ago," a pause, "And now, it is with deep regret that I inform you that the very center of our city, General Interest Checks, has been breached. With the following areas being ravaged, it will be fair to say that Guild City has not seen a crisis like this since Guildfall. There are people within these areas that are trapped inside and cannot be reached. Bodies and debris line the street. This is not a test. This is an emergency. And the Guild Future Society is calling out to anyone who can hear this, who can act: we need you. Your city needs you. We need more than just unification now. We need action. And that is why we are calling out to everyone. To everyone who can act: take whatever weapons, powers and friends you have. Head to General Interest Checks. Fight with us there. We will fight even if you won't. We will save this city. We hope you do, too."

And with this information being released, the task was given to a ragtag group of individuals: to do anything in their power to reach General Interest Checks. Location did not matter. Age and gender did not matter. Race did not matter. All that mattered now was that the war had officially begun.

The BKS HQ was not what you would have expected for that of an Organised military group. Too the average onlooker it looked like a bar where war veterans hung out and reminisced about their prior tours of combat. It looked like something a biker gang would hang around in with the flags of several parts of Guild City. One thing seemed to symbolise that it was much more than that. A shield displaying the Bot Killer Squad Logo.



There were a few grizzled war veterans sat around the bar drinking away the memories of past wars, a few men in leather jackets were playing pool on the only table that still had four legs. Then there were some BKS Soldiers sat way in the back by a Gun display case. A BKS soldier is highly skilled in Guerilla warfare, no one would even know who were BKS soldiers were unless they were pointed out. the only thing that may tell you that they were BKS would be the Shield patch that they wear on their right arm. The only thing in the building that would indicate that a Military organisation was present would be the basement. However the basement has to be accessed by a secret entrance. If you pull the trigger on the Smith and Wesson revolver three times on the gun case, the walls will part leading to the basement.

The basement is a clean white tiled room, on the right wall is a Gun rack. A collection of weapons from the many different universes that the inhabitants of guild city came from. You have your general conventional fire arms. you got your M416 Assault Rifles, your M249 LMGs. You got your plasma cannons and your energy weapons. many other arrays of weapons were also displayed on this rack. In the centre of the room was a large rounded table where the many Officers and Recruits of the Bot Killer Squad met to discuss tactics and missions. on the far wall was a fairly large screen that would display the many briefings from the missions. At this point it had just finished playing the Guild Future Society's message.

The Commander slammed her helmet down onto the table and placed her blacked out sunglasses upon her head.

"Right, Recruits, Officers listen up. we got alot of people in general interest that need our help. We've been training for this for years. Lets go out there and show those damn dirty bots why they shouldnt mess with Guild City and the BKS." She shouted loud enough for the Soldiers to hear but not loud enough for the bar patrons to hear.

Malkus crept closer and closer, quieter than a mice. Yet he never really got close to the camp; he kept moving through the bushes, trying to find the one bush or tree that was close enough for him to just dash out of, grab a bit to eat, and then split. This shouldn't be that hard; Malkus had done this plenty of times before, with even less cover. Hell, he has swiped a man's dinner right from underneath his nose once, in broad daylight, and escaped because of his speed and certainty. So what was it that was making a job like this so hard? That was a foolish question of course.

Because he didn't want to steal their food. Of all the things in this camp he wanted, he just wanted to be with Sona. A vision of fantasy flashed in his mind. It was a simple one: Malkus and Sona, playing their songs in the woods, on the open road, at the setting sun. They would break bread together, share a drink, and occasionally even got into trouble. It was a simple and innocent fantasy-

"Wait, what the fuck? I already did this."

"Malkus" suddenly turned into an amorphous black blob. This blob, Lucius, stepped out of the forest, headed to a nearby door, and left the green house. Just another one of his character's life happening before his eyes. It was a strange feeling to say the least: Like a Dream, but more lucid. Imagination that wasn't just in Lucius's head. Either way really, the blob had to go. Not because he didn't want to stay, but because he had to wait for the other "Characters" to go. After all there was only so much he can do by himself.

Lucius was in the casual section of Guild City. It was hit by KBots not too long ago, but recently it seemed like they've been cleaned out. At least for now. Lucius was only somewhat aware of their existence; his typical commune between his various characters rarely had him walk the streets of Casual like the rest of the plebes players. So the threat of the bots were largely something he ignored, not that he would have cared if they did ever come to bother them. Word on the street was that there was some sort of cracked bot killer squad of some sort, taking up tax money to counter the bot invasion. Seemed like a waste of time to him: As far as Lucius saw, there wasn't much of a threat anymore. Though he supposed that like any special forces, they have to be kept and maintain in the event of a new invasion. After all, the training and funding wouldn't do them any good to a threat that's already struck.

But now that Lucius was firmly Out-of-Character (Henceforth known as OoC), he quickly became bored. Unfortunately last he checked all his characters were waiting for a reaction from other characters, thus Lucius had to sit patiently or find something to occupy his time. And with all this talk of bots, might as well do the community a service. So the black blob look for an empty road to stand in, making sure there wasn't any traffic. Once he was certain he was alone Lucius's body shifted and change, first producing a set of legs, then the rest of the body all the way up to her masked, red haired head. Lucius transformed himself into Cinder "Flex" Firestorm, a very old character of his from a time long forgotten. From his legs he even created Cinder's signature motorcycle, in all it's spiky, Mad Max-esque glory. While Lucius lacked the Killer Weapon Cinder originally had, he was still a tough woman with a bitching motorcycle. Sometimes that's all you need.

Now ready Lucius rode off into city looking for bots or trouble. Either would be fine with him. Because Bots weren't the only thing causing a ruckus here in the Guild City.

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"No!!!" A cry reverberated through the city block, emanated from a civilian huddled into a little ball on the sidewalk. She cowered in fear from her imminent demise, a compilation of metal and circuitry that effortlessly towered over her, with one of its extremities already poised for the kill. Without the slightest form of conscience the KBot mercilessly brought down its appendage, as if it was backed by Fate's will itself. The civilian shrieked, resigning herself to whatever future, or rather lack thereof, lied in store. Everything went dark, but her thread of life would not be cut just yet.

The sound of metal clashing denoted hope. She felt plumes of dust being kicked into the air lightly pinching her body. As she slowly creased open the eyelids which she though were doomed to forever be frozen shut, her gaze settled upon her savior. It was a girl, clad in armor that glistened in the sun's wake. She challenged the bot's servos with a lone arm bearing a shield of the same material, and the warrior showed no sign that she was losing the battle. The civilian's savior held a sword out to defend the crumpled girl. She could see her face clearly reflected in its pristine finish. As a retort to the provocation, the KBot raised its other forearm, intending to do the same unto the warrior.

The civilian was about to shout a warning, but before she could do so, her ears picked up whizzing gradually increasing in intensity. Two propelled grenades arced through the air and impacted into the bot's arm, sending it flying in the completely opposite direction. Without a moment to spare, the warrior forced its other forearm into the air with her shield and lead her sword through the KBot's torso in one deft moment. Her slice was clean and flawless, and after a few moments of silence the bot fell to the ground, its upper portion completely detached.

Hervor slipped her sword into the sheath fastened around her waist guard, then turned herself around to face the civilian. Her opaque visor met the eyes of a soul that just barely escaped death's embrace. With the girl still in shock, the warrior gently placed a hand trained to brandish harvingers of war delicately onto her shoulder, as if she would fall apart at the slightest touch. The civilian whirled around as footsteps quickly approached them. What she saw was far from what she had expected.

Two figures stopped near them: a girl sporting high class apparel that would definitely be defined as en vogue with strawberry blonde locks, and a boy wearing a hoodie and black jeans with hair of pure blonde. Both of them appeared to be young adults. It wasn't their contrasting vibes that caught the civilian off guard, it was the fact that they were both carrying assault rifles. ”It would be very much obliged if you could make your way to a safer area. Just follow the street down to the border,” The new girl directed the civilian's gaze with a pointed finger, speaking in a gentle yet commanding pitched tone, ”The route's clear, so no need to worry about any more of those things.” She threw the rifle's slash around her shoulder and paced her way over to the civilian, whose vision was complete glued to the affluent maiden. The girl crouched down and smiled compassionately, ”You're a brave soul. You are here on this planet, destined to live a great life. Please don't ever falter again. Promise me that, 'kay?” All the while this heart-warming scene played out, the boy remained quiet, his attention diverted past them.

Smoke climbed high into the sky and conflict echoed throughout the district. They had to get a move on. ”Rachel.” Rachel, far too used to that certain tone, replied with her usual stock answer without even a delay in dialogue, ”I know, I know, jeez Cipher, can't you spare a little time?” To be frank, time wasn't something on his radar. He would move at the pace he pleased, but remaining stagnate in such a scenario was foolish. Rachel reluctantly got up and motioned for the civilian to get going. She wished offer thanks to her saving grace before taking her leave, but the warrior seemed to have evaporated into thin air, as if she was never there. Unable to grasp the situation, she instantly made a beeline in the direction Rachel had instructed. ”Well, glad we arrived just in the nick of time! So, are we gonna regroup with your friends? I wonder how they're doing~?”

Right. The Old Fucks. They weren't exactly the tightly knit bunch. He didn't intend to make that a priority, but having some help from who he knew for sure were competent individuals wouldn't hurt. An explosion a few blocks down dragged Jedly's mind back to reality. Peacekeepers around the entire area were holding out as long as they could, but it was up to people, or rather entities like him to really turn the tide of the war. ”If we run into any of them, I'll be sure to link up. Until then, let's focus on pushing back the enemy.” The two readied their rifles, and after taking a moment to check that of his cards were in order, they set out towards a nearby engagement. General interest check was probably only the tip of the iceberg for the two.

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Kilo remained as stoic as ever as his pen flew furiously across hundreds of pages that has quickly taken up the space on his once clear desk. His work load had drastically increased since the bot invasion, and since the S.E.S was stretched across all of Guild City, it was only appropriate for its members to participate in the fighting. Now he was stuck with the job of funding Cohorts in many of the sectors who were helping with relief aid, helping the injured, and erecting temporary lodgings for the helpless, all from inside the red zone. Although the S.E.S had not exactly seen much of the fighting in the past, they took pride in helping in the logistical side of things, helping those of all backgrounds, race, age.

In the end, the igniting of a full scale war proved to be a logistical nightmare. Kilo was forced to mobilize Cohorts in Roleplaying Discussion, who were eventually forced to fall back due to being overrun. With the KBots attacking the home base in Spam, the organization was able to hit the KBots with the full military might of the Society. The organization was soon able to push the enemy out of Spam and into Free. With communication down, Cohorts inside Free were overrun, but with a Expert Tactician like Delta Nea, they were able to successfully lead 3 Cohorts back into the center of the Free Interest Check.

Kilo made sure to give her a field promotion to Tresais, creating a temporary Legion that would occupy and help fight in the General Interest Check, which he was trapped in because of a meeting that was supposed to take place hours earlier between him and the main Cohort stationed there.

Every S.E.S member was trained to fight, preparing themselves for the day when the may have had to forcefully change the way things were. Ending the prejudice between sectors. All S.E.S members were outfitted with Organization masks and magically enchanted male and female uniforms, and AR-1s. Supplies such as vehicles, ammunition, food, water, and any relief aid items were sent to Nea's Legion in GIC (General Interest Check), from Cohorts in surrounding sectors, but with KBots on the rampage, it difficult to get supplies on the inside.

Kilo sighed and slid further in his seat. Liberating Guild City from its cultural and racial barriers was one thing, fighting a war against souless machines was another. The S.E.S had lost many of its comrades today, a loss that would be honored by pushing on and destroying the KBot threat.

With a final huff, Kilo got up from his seat, and as he did so Beta Meek followed in his wake, who was a half-demon who's past was unknown, but found his way high into the S.E.S ranks.

"Where are you headed Preeminence?" Beta Meek asked as he followed Kilo out of the make shift tent that served as his office, on a street in front of the Guild Future Society HQ in the center of the, were a legion of 500 S.E.S members, resting from the days fighting and the few moments of piece that was granted them in the center.

"The transmission sent to us asked us to help protect FIC, that is what we will do. This will be the Defensive Checkpoint." Kilo said solemnly. They would be the last line of defense. Hopefully reinforcements would come.

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Wrrr, thump, wrrr, thump, wrrr, thump… were the rhythmic sounds of a quadrupedal bot creeping toward the blockade of Peacekeeper Units. It’s lamp was waving over the streets and alleys to its left and right like a fourth eye scanning them for traces of life. Its crab-like legs moved like pistons, cracking the asphalt with their every fall. Three red orbs were focused on the blockade ahead of it and the heat signatures that littered it. Its round head seemed to revolve, tilting left and right, and its eyes swiveling as though the machine was constantly processing new information and actively scanning their position.

“Everyone hold your fire until directed otherwise,” the platoon leader instructed. “It may be a bot, but they have proven to be rather sentient. I don’t think it’s dumb enough to take us on alone.”

The vanguard suddenly stopped as its lamp flicked in the direction of a parked hover vehicle. As the white light poured in through the windows, the Peacekeepers were able to see a young woman peeking through the window at the colossal machine. The soldiers’ faces paled in dread.

The platoon leader turned to his team and exclaimed: “I thought you evacuated everyone out of the sector!”

“She was hiding, Sir. We must have not seen her!” one of his soldiers replied.

The pupils of her brown eyes shrank against the blinding light. Tears spilled down her cheeks and a terrified whimper left her quivering lips. Out of pure fear, she screamed and the vanguard turned from the Peacekeeper units to the vehicle.

A young private was tense with fear and concern as he watched the KBot target the vehicle. He abruptly stood from behind the blockade with his rifle.

“Private Jacobs, stand down!” the platoon leader ordered.

“We can’t leave her to get killed!” PVT Jacobs growled before he recklessly jumped the cement barricade.

“Private Jacobs!” the platoon leader furiously screamed after him.

The vanguard was impaling the vehicle with its massive forelegs. The civilian within had quickly fled to the other side of the vehicle and was able to dump out of the car onto the sidewalk before the KBot could completely crush it beneath its bulk.

Screaming, she pushed off the ground to her feet and made an aimless break for it. Unfortunately, in the wrong direction away from the Peacekeeper Forces, making them groan on the inside. The vanguard turned toward the fleeing girl and before it could sprint after her, PVT Jacobs started firing burst rounds at the bot. When the vanguard whirled around to cast its swiveling red eyes on the soldier, PVT Jacobs stopped, his eyes growing wide in panic as he immediately realized that he was isolated from his team.

The KBot took advantage of the opportunity as its legs rapidly marched over to the private. Several soldiers motioned to shoot, but the platoon leader quickly ordered, “Hold your fire! You might shoot him!”

Shit! Why didn’t he listen? The vanguard had been more interested in them from the start. It saw them as the greater threat to its existence and here it was about to take one of their numbers.

The platoon leader raised his rifle and peered through the scope taking precise shots at the vanguard's round head. The KBot didn’t seem at all bothered as it engrossed itself in trying to crush the soldier beneath its feet. PVT Jacob was breathing erratically as he fell, crawled, rolled, and dove out from beneath the machine’s legs that bit into the earth like spears. He was lucky to be alive, but he knew it wouldn’t last. All it took was for one slip up and the machine would crush him.

A few shots deflected off the machine’s face to spark against the street nearly hitting PVT Jacobs.

“Damn it!” the platoon leader roared as he near threw his rifle on the ground in his frustration. He had to get his soldier back. It was suicide. He knew that he was going to risk the machine, but what kind of leader would he be to just let his man die?

The soldiers were shocked when they watched their commanding officer jump the barricade next.

“Sir!” they cried.

The vanguard stopped trying to crush the soldier. Its tri-eyes immediately focusing on the lieutenant. The platoon leader tensed in fear as he felt the machine’s gaze. Opening fire on the machine, the KBot abandoned its interest in the private to charge the officer. The A.I. knew that the pawns were unimportant. To take out the team, it targeted the leaders in their most vulnerable positions.

“You want me? Come and get me!” the lieutenant screamed as he continued to pepper the bot’s face with burst shells.

Private Jacobs panting and on his knees, gazed upon his platoon leader in horror. “NOOO~!”

“RAAAH~!” the officer screamed as his life flashed before his eyes.

In that moment, PVT Jacobs's eyes rose to see the underbelly of a great animal soaring over his head. The black equine landed in front of him before it leaped into the air once more, thick black hair and mane waving like a banner. Its mighty horn lead the way as it passed over the vanguard and landed on the machine’s back. Chains shot down from the armored rider on its back, piercing the android’s joints with its claws.

The lieutenant collapsed back on his rear when the vanguard’s mantis-like claws halted a foot above him. Immediately, he crawled backwards out from under the machine. PVT Jacobs rushed toward him, and together, the soldiers retreated back behind the barricade.

Wrrr! Wrr! Wrr! The machine wildly whirred as it tried to move its great arms.

“Who is that?” a soldier questioned.

The platoon leader returned to his position, his heart still racing as he gazed upon what appeared to be a mounted knight on the vanguard’s back.

His black eldritch helm burned with green fire through the eye sockets and mouth. The helm’s black mane seemed to ripple as though every follicle were alive. The helm resembled the skull of a devil that had once been, baring lengthy bull-like horns. The knights gauntleted hands grasped the chains and the dark unicorn started to walk back down the vanguard’s backside. The long hair that draped its large hooves swayed and swished to its movements as the horse flared its nostrils and bore its yellowed and jagged teeth against its bit. As the black knight drew back on the chains, the KBot’s arms rose higher, lifting it and exposing its belly.

The platoon leader immediately noticed this. “FIRE!”

Rifle and machine gun fire started to rapidly pelt the android’s belly and the creature emitted an eerie scream as though it had actually felt pain.

REEEEE~!

Chunks and shards of metal started to break off its armored carapace to clatter to the floor. Its body sparked and head and eyes started twitching and shaking as its processors started to freeze and shut down. When the dark unicorn was back on the ground, the knight retracted his chains and like a reel they snapped back to his sides. The KBot’s body struck the street with a thunderous thoom! shattering it beneath itself. Its legs kicked and scraped at the ground and its head continued to jerk in its death throes. The machine had been too stubborn to be brought down so easily.

In its broken and malfunctioning state, it started to crawl toward the barricade. Legs twitching and shakily biting into the street, it pulled itself, dragging its hind legs. The Black Knight dismounted from his steed and reached a hand behind his head to grasp the hilt of his short sword. The sword hissed and ominously sang as he drew it free, lowering it to his right side. Throwing his weight forward, he broke into a starting sprint before he launched into the air. The armored man spiraled over the back of the KBot before he dropped before its red eyes, plunging his short sword through its dome-like head. Electricity sparked around the black sword as its eyes swiveled and soon the lights faded from them. The machine slumped over, morphing into the pile of junk it was.

The black knight rose off a knee to return to his feet, sliding his sword out from the vanguard’s skull. There hadn’t been any blood as he would have liked, but he knew that he was dealing with a unique enemy.

The lieutenant suspiciously eyed the knight. “Who are you? You saved my life and the life of my soldier. I am in your debt.”

You were in my way, was all the Black Knight said. His voice left his helm on a ghostly echo.

The platoon leader blinked. “We are the Peacekeeping Force here in the city. We can’t afford to allow any of those machines to get passed this barricade. We could use your help.”

The Black Knight had walked around the inactive husk of the KBOT and raised his boot before he Spartan-kicked the dead machine toward the barricade. The pile of metal sparked, squealed, and slid until it bumped into the cement wall of the barricade.

“Add that to your pathetic wall and stay the hell out of my way.”

The platoon leader glanced at the KBot that had just become a part of their defense. It was a good idea, but he wasn’t going to tell the knight that. He merely frowned. Did he really think he could do this job alone? Whatever. The officer looked to his men.

“Send up a SPOTREP and give me an ACE Report pronto!” he ordered, resuming his duties.

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The broadcast was more than harrowing for Cynder to hear. It only went out only an hour ago and the announcements haunted her. Sure, she was likely in no harm at the moment, but her paranoia spoke otherwise. Even though the KBots had yet to reach Casual, she wanted to curl up in a dark corner of her apartment and cry while waiting for the end. Sure, she had the Zodiac Killer Ted Cruz and the OldFucks that were out there somewhere to fight with if it came down to it, but there was no way in hell that she would personally stand a chance against the bot.

Still. . .

Even if she was reluctant to admit it, Free was her home before Casual. The fact that Free had been compromised was a soul-crushing realization and deep in her stubbornness and fear, there was a spark. A spark of courage that was waiting to be ignited. Though it would take all of her spirit to move, she eventually gathered all of the boxed Kraft Mac N' Cheese, hot chocolate packets, bandages and bullets she could find around her apartment before stuffing them into a backpack. There was hesitation as she wondered what the hell she was doing and while she stood paralyzed looking at her Canadian presidential candidate weapon, she knew exactly what she would do.

She would go to General Interest Checks.

She would surmise all her strength, her courage and her ability to heal in order to join the front lines.

And so, the Beastman threw the backpack over her shoulder and snatched up her weapon as she headed for the door. Stepping out into the hallway and then into the cool early morning air, she was greeted by the lack of chaos in Casual's sector. Well, this was a good start, she decided. There was always a chance that she could run into the KBots while moving and that's why she would travel carefully and quietly. If it came down to it, she'd shift into a deer and run away.

Now where is Luci and Jed?

The Commander took steps out on to the tarmacked runway of the BKS private airport. All along the runway were several Osprey VTOL troop transport dropships.



Over 1000 troops stepped onto those transports including the Commander and her Lieutenants. Many of them would not return to their homes. 100 men, women and other assorted species made their way onto the VTOLs. Once all her Soldiers were aboard the VTOLs (Of which there were 10 full VTOLs prepared and ready to embark) She began to make her speech to the many brave soldiers who were about to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Men, Women and other Species of the Bot Killer Squad Hell Jumper Division. Today we make the first retaliation strike of the Bot War. We will be dropped off in General Interest and be fighting on the frontlines. We will be in the thick of it and we will not rest until they are pushed out of General interest. Myself and Lieutenant Commander Krinos will drop with half the VTOLs at the South of General Interest while the Lieutenant of First Platoon will take the other half and clear out the North sector. Good Luck Soldiers and the First rounds on me when all this is over. Ooh ahh" a resounding ooh ahh rung out from the airfield as Commander Kurai walked onto VTOL-Chrome One.

Lucius rode through Casual rather easily; it wasn't very populated by bots as far as he could tell so there wasn't much to do. As far as activities went, Casual was, well, casual. Sure it had it's share of haughty-ass "High Casual" bastards who couldn't qualify for Advance, or those strange weebs from Myriad who are only in casual so no one has to admit that Free actually has an RP that has lasted more than a month, but all in all it was an alright place to be if you actually lived in Guild City for fun. And that's what Lucius lived for, though he kept the more pathetic reasons of his existence here to himself. Because Casual, much like the Old Fucks, had only one consistency: No one gave a fuck.

That's why when the bots invaded, the only people up in arms were those Bot Killers. Even though Guild City made a big announcement about the invasion, one look into the private worlds of it's citizen's and at most you might get one or two players annoyed at the bots. But you'd hardly see any who cared enough to even report them to mods. If the mods were doing their jobs then bots wouldn't happen. If the mods did their jobs then the bots would be cleaned up. The fact that the bots weren't gone might be cause for concern, but once more one has to remember: No one gave a fuck.

Lucius himself was one of those apathetic citizens who couldn't care less if Guild City burned or not. He was there when the first Guildfall happened, and while he was initially distraught at the lost of his community, a month after he was quickly back on his feet. he had met his old friends, found new ones, and even knew a few new cities he could crash until things got fixed. Even now, if Guild City should be turned to ash, Lucius was certain he could escape the destruction and still find his friends. With them they could rebuild, start anew, and ultimately everything they lost would just be dust in the wind. That's why Lucius didn't care. There was nothing invested here; he had no stake in Guild City's well being. By all rights he had nothing to do with this place. He wasn't that big of a personality here nor was he involved in anything that required his constant vigilance. Thus everything to him was just... Meaningless.

Meaningless fun.

And that's why he was heading into the Casual Interest Check. Not because out of some obligation to stop the bots. Not because there were lives that needed to be saved. But because he knew that at the end of the day, this Bot Invasion was like a Zombie Apocalypse Roleplay; there was no real tragedy, not future to worry about, just an endless horde of faceless enemies and those willing and able to kill them en masses. It was a shitty thing, sure, but it gave Lucius a reason to ride out and act like a bone-a-fide badass, instead of having to work his way up to power and never get to use it like in other RP's he was in. This wasn't a real threat, just a game.

Lucius's game started when he was roughly half-way into Casual Interest Check and was considering hitting up the Free Interest Check when he spotted his quarry: a lone K-Bot. An N-Variant if Lucius remembered correctly. Big, bulky, tough, but kinda slow and lacked range weapons. Your classical pure fighter type. Against the common citizen it was a threat to be sure, but against any mage worth his salt it may as well just be a rock with a mean face on it. Lucius created a revolver in his hand and fired two shots at the K-Bot to get it's attention. While the revolver bullets were certainly of high caliber and would have killed an armored player in two shots, Lucius's small arms were useless against a machine this size. His bullet's didn't even pierce it's armored plating. But it did get it's attention.

"Ayo! What's you and a oily stain got in common? Come 'ere and I'll show ya!"

Lucius's currently vibrant red hair seemed to flare up as he revved the engines to his motorcycle and charged the K-Bot. Flames spewed from various pipes and exhaust ports on his bike, making it look like it was catching on fire. The K-Bot raised it's plates to crush Lucius, but he moved quickly underneath it before it could even start to slam down. Lucius fired twice to the K-Bot's underbelly, doing a bit more damage than before, but still failing to do anything that would adversely affect the machine. Turning to a stop Lucius actually waited for the K-Bot to turn at him, it's machine eyes glowing red before charging. "Toros toros!" Lucius gunned it down the street with the massive bot following him, trampling anything in it's path.

Wasn't long before Lucius spotted two more K-Bots, also N-variants. One seemed to be in the process of breaking a bridge while the other was wandering. Lucius rode towards the wanderer hoping to goad it into chasing him as well. He tried to fire three shots at the K-Bot as he rode towards it, but his revolver only fired two. "Right, six bullets only." Tossing his gun away (Which then turned back into a black mass as it splattered against the asphalt) Lucius instead created a scimitar. Unlike most depictions the blade was rather thin, since this variant was meant for cavalry rather than infantry. In this case, he chose this sword so he can ride closer and slash the K-Bot's legs. The bot didn't know what hit him when Lucius rode right underneath it and slashed at it's underbelly. And frankly the robot wouldn't have noticed Lucius's attack, because his sword shattered about two seconds into cutting into the robot. It left a nasty scratch on the K-Bot, but even a charging slash on the back of a motorcycle going roughly 70 MPH didn't really cut deep. At least when the other K-Bot ran into the one Lucius attacked did it pay attention to the red-haired rider. "Lez go lez go! I eat dinner faster than you dim bulbs!" Lucius then proceeded to the bridge with the K-Bot trying to destroy it, hopefully being chased by the other two as well, causing as much mayhem and destruction as two K-Bots could do.

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The next broadcast to come was markedly different from the first two. The announcement panes hung strategically around the city flickered, their displays switching to show the personal symbol of Terminal, one of the Guild City Staff Members. The audio clip that played was a synthesized and garbled, albeit still affected voice rather than a neutral robotic monotone.

"The Guild City Staff Moderators are now working on a new weapon to deter the invading bots. A Hunter-Killer-Algorithm, which will use the existing Guild City superstructure to eliminate every bot and prevent them from returning. However, the development period for the HKA is projected to require an extensive amount of time. If more of Guild City should be overrun, a reset of all affected City Sectors may need to take place - which would result in the loss of all Citizen infrastructure.

"In the interests of preserving aspects of Guild City's Community and Culture, the k-bots must be driven back, and overrun areas must be reclaimed. If the line can be held for long enough, the HKA can be deployed without having to reset any part of the Guild City Superstructure.

"I have been personally tasked to direct and assist all efforts to oppose the forces of the bots. To that extent, I will periodically be requesting any available Guild City Citizens to obtain registry data for select k-bots in certain overrun areas. Beyond that, I will stand by to receive calls. If provided with coordinates and target registry data, anybody who is fighting against the k-bot hordes may call for use of the Modkit. This is a stopgap measure, but may be able to tip the balance for those brave enough to engage the enemy.

"At this time, I am now prioritizing the procurement of registry data for any and all L-Variant K-Bots in the General Interest Check Sector. Multiple groups of them, supported by N-Variant K-bots, have been reported near the sector borders. Their destruction and removal is imperative to prevent the invasion of other sectors. They must be stopped before they can begin to bombard neighboring sectors. There are three groups of interest - one located near the sector border for Casual Interest Checks, one near the boundary of Tabletop Interest Checks, and one nearing 1x1 Interest Checks."

The announcement panes' imagery shifted to show visual depictions of the L-K-Bots, as well as contact information for Terminal for the purposes of calling for use of the Modkit.

How long have I been doing this? Long before BKS came to exist. Back when the Bots were simpler, more easily managed, I was a solitary sniper out there, protecting Guild City. Sure, there were others, but they were amateurs at this. They didn't see the horrors of Guildfall, the empty abyss...I lost part of myself that day, a part I will never get back. I remember taking on a couple of Bots, I had run out of rounds and I was weak from using ice magic beforehand, so I resigned myself to my fate. I was ready to die there. But then she came, Commander Kurai, she gave me a third chance at life. Ever since that day, I have followed her faithfully, my loyalty never swaying. I was there when BKS was formed by her, I was there when the citizens jeered at her and called her insane. They laughed, but we knew the truth, we both knew what was coming long before anyone else did. We saw the war that was about to erupt in our very city. Now? Now there is no laughter from those naysayers, now they beg us for help, they plead. Were Commander Kurai any ordinary person, she would have likely turned her backs on them and let them suffer. But she wasn't that kind of person, she had honor, and that is why I remain loyal to her and BKS. Why do I do this? The answer is simple, there is someone in this city I want to protect more than anything else in this world. I do this to ensure she stays safe.

Krinos had listened to the Commander's speech, his large sniper rifle strapped to his back, longsword on his hip. It was four hours into the initial wave, and reports had come in from all over the place, even he himself had been out there when it all began. He had been out on routine patrol in Introductions when he spotted a large force that seemed to be moving through the area, upon engaging, he had come to learn that these Bots were not the typical ones BKS had been dealing with beforehand. They were far worse. He came back to the present when the orders were given out, following the Commander to VTOL-Chrome One, waiting until every soldier was on before he climbed in. He folded his wings and took his usual position on one knee, unslinging his rifle and holding it in his clawed hands, prepared to scope the dropzone once they arrived. "Soldiers, listen up! Don't underestimate these soulless bastards, they are not like the ones we've handled before, they are more advanced. They move in groups and their armor is thicker than normal, they also seem to have a sort of hivemind to them, they react to what their visual scanners and audio receptacles pick up. If you find a stray one, do not kill it! It's death will give your location away, and the group it's linked with will come at you with full force. You. Will. Not. Survive. Remember to work together with your squads, use your strengths to cover another comrade's weakness. As planned, I will find a suitable location in which to provide all squads with support fire when necessary, so don't be foolish and try to play hero out there. Play it safe, come back alive. You have someone or something to protect? Think of whatever or whoever it is before you act. That's all I have to say." he said.

He looked at the Commander and nodded silently, his mind wandering once more to her. He prayed she was safe, sitting in her house, away from all of this. He refused to let those machines anywhere near her, he would kill them all, end this war here and now before it consumed the whole city. I hope you are safe, my love, and that you are not in danger. I swear, once this war is over, I will return home to you once again. So please, please, don't let yourself be killed while I am gone. he thought to himself. Krinos kept his emotions from ever showing on the outside, he was almost similar to the Bots in a way, or at least, that's what most people would see him as. And he let those people assume as much, never telling them otherwise. His mind snapped back to the present again, "I believe we're approaching Dropzone One, Commander." he said, looking out at the ruins of the wall. This sight didn't even phase the hybrid dragon, he had seen far worse in the earlier hours of the assault. He stood, moving with the first squad, looking back at the Commander. "Take care of yourself out there, Commander." he said before jumping from the aircraft.

He landed with his squad, "Alright Charlie Team, our job is to provide overwatch for the other squads. Our destination is there." he motioned with his rifle to the half damaged tower east of their position. Without further delay, they moved forward towards the tower, not coming across and Bots so far. However, that changed when the base of the tower came into range, there appeared to be a small group guarding the entrance. "Shit, seems like those bastards have the same idea. We need to clear them out before the other squads are discovered out there! You two, take the right, and you two take the left. I'll provide cover. On my mark..." he waited until they were in position before slowly turning around the corner with his rifle aimed to peek at one of the Bots. "Engage!" he ordered. The two teams moved up the sides of the ruined buildings, eventually reaching the ends and firing at the machines, Krinos laying down support fire and picking off vulnerable targets. Midway through the engagement, he caught a flicker of movement on the tower's top floor, causing him to raise his rifle. "Sniper! Everyone get to cover, now!" he shouted, retreating back around his corner. He swore under his breath, "Stay in cover, I'm going to try and take it out!" he shouted. The remaining Bots were now putting pressure on his squad, forcing them to fall further back. He lowered himself into a prone position and slowly moved out around the corner, aiming up at the tower. He grinned, the Sniper Bot seemed distracted by one of the two groups, allowing Krinos the chance to end it with a well placed shot.

Once the Sniper was down, he helped to eliminate the rest of the Bots, regrouping with the rest of his squad. One of the men was supporting another who had been fatally wounded, "Sniper got him when we were falling back, there was nothing I could do for him." he said as he carefully set the soldier down. Krinos looked down at the dying man, "You fought bravely, Soldier. Your death will not be in vain, now go, rest. You've earned it." the hybrid said. Once the soldier passed, Krinos looked at the tower before holding a hand out, "Give me the comm device." he ordered. Soon enough, a soldier handed him a special comm device made especially for him, "Charlie Team to Commander Kurai, we've reached the base of the tower. Unfortunately, our friends were here before us. We engaged them and cleared them out, however, we lost a soldier in the fight. Proceeding to our objective point now, Charlie Team out." he said. He looked at the remaining men and led them up the tower, reaching the top. Krinos moved to the sniper and looked at it before kicking it off the edge of the tower and to the ground below, Damn soulless machines. he thought as he began to hunker down and provide overwatch. "Squad Three, there's a group headed your way, I'd suggest an ambush from the buildings behind you. Use the second floor for cover, heavy gunner, sit on the first and wait for your comrades to open fire. Once they do and lure the Bots into the open...tear the shit out of them." he said.

"Good luck out there Krinos."The Commander smirked as the Lieutenant disembarked from the VTOL. "Staff Sergeant Walker drop the ramp and prepare to land." As the ramp began to drop the scenes of true horror filled the skies. There were explosions going off all around them. VTOL Chrome-Three, move wide your getting too close to the Explosio..." Chrome-Three took a direct hit and began to spiral to the ground, their screams were heard over the entire BKS comms. Fuck she thought to herself. They hadnt been on the ground yet and they'd already taken casualties. The VTOLs finally touched down and their troops departed. "First and Second squad your with me, Third Squad go and set up an ambush at charlie teams specified location. Fourth squad move to destroy the AA KBots. Alph team moveout." The Commander took the rifle off her back and motioned for her teams to follow her.

She began to fire at the incoming wave of bots. It was just the average KBots at the moment they hadnt begun to send in the other deadlier versions. first few waves of BKS soldiers that tried to take on the KBot masses were cut down, it was only when they had gone down that they changed their tactics. Some Squads took to the roofs to use their Anti-Bot weapons on their heads, or what would be classed as their heads. Some ran underneath them planting sticky bombs on their undersides, detonating and destroying them. "Krinos, the tops and undersides of them are the weak spots. hit their weakspots" she yelled down the comms. She fired a barrage at the head of one as she began to get her squads to push deeper into General Interest.

Kirin casually walked through the casual interest check with her blade holster touching her side every step she made, she was heading towards the shopping district so that she could eat a good lunch. Warriors had to eat either way and had to eat even better after helping the site out trying to fight these bots with her skills. This was the best place to train against mighty foes since there were a lot of them and she could progress further by going into a more bot populated area. But to be honest, these bots were nothing more than stupid AI that could only follow the command that they were given. If you knew their weaknesses it was all the same with every bot. If you fought enough of them it became easy, that is why Kirin wasn't hurt at all from her humongous fights all day. It became tiring though slicing through their thick armour sometimes. If there was just something easier to cut through it.

Kirin's senses tingled, she could feel the movements of the moments close by, the sound of their bodies moving, the chaos they brought to the town. It was all so close by. There might be some poor citizen running for their lives for those things, she had to defeat them, right now! Kirin made haste and headed towards the sound. Not only could she hear the sounds of the robots moving but also the sound of a blade, the rattling of bones and the sound of a motor cycle. That could be nothing more than a harley rider! The loud motor, the bones rattling from his costume and his blade? Well he could have been something like a retired knight or something that didn't drop the use of his sword yet. The wonders were the world not out yet.

Kirin climbed over the last few obstacles and slid down from a dirt hill before she landed onto the battlefield. The smell of gasoline and oil filled the air. She could see the one person fighting three robots. She was right on the motor though, he only seemed to be a undead harley rider with a passion for swords though. Kiring didn't hesitate and took action against the bots too. She ran towards a nearby tree and picked up a branch lying against it. It was about the right size for her hands to surround it and was about 4 feet long. It didn't look very straight but it would do. Kirin walked towards the back of the robot with the stick besides her hip holding it like it was sheathed. She had her eyes closed and looked rather calm even though she knew it was noticing her presence and was about to turn around, Kirin continued walking though without any form of action. The robot didn't seem to want to hurt her however, it was standing completely still. Kirin walked past it as she slowly pushed the stick down in her invisible blade holster again.

Nothing seemed to have happened at first but it was soon noticeable that the robot was leaking oil from multiple spots. that were suppose to be whole plates of armour. She exhaled her breath as the robot fell apart into a pile of scrap. Thick armour was cut in half just as simple as that. She didn't look back and opened her eyes again. Not only did the robot break, her weapon of choice was also broken. It shattered besides her and fell onto the street. She stopped for a moment and was somewhat startled by it. She shook her head a little and continued walking towards the next robot with one of her hands on her real holster. She had to find a weapon again before fighting this thing. The robots had already started noticing her presence and looked rather agroed at her for defeating their budy.

"Understood Commander, though it's near impossible for me to get their undersides from this high up, unless they were to get knocked over somehow." he replied, firing a round into the 'head' of a Bot attempting to flank the squad. Krinos turned his attention to Squad Three, seeing things were going as planned, though he set his rifle down as he heard a beeping come from his comm device. He tapped it twice, a dossier appearing on the ground beside him. He picked it up and read it's contents, nodding before setting flame to it to ensure no one else read the contents later. "Commander, I have received a mission from the higher ups that requires me to leave the area. I shall leave my squad here to continue providing overwatch, however, I would suggest sending a sniper up here to replace me." he said. He then made his way down the tower and to a safe place, "This is Lieutenant Commander Krinos to VTOL Chrome-Six, I require immediate pick up for transport on my location. I am well away from any AA guns, so you should be good to approach, over." he spoke. Once his transportation arrived, Krinos quickly boarded it, "Let's move, we're headed to Casual Interest, we need to clear out the area there and stop those machines from getting any further in." he ordered the pilot.

The VTOL took off towards Casual Interest, Krinos sitting down while his mind wandered once again. I won't let them get to you, Casual is our home...I won't let those soulless bastards get within one yard of the home we made, I will tear them to shreds before they get the chance! he thought. "Lieutenant Commander, we have to head around Free, there's too much heavy fire coming from there to navigate safely through." the pilot said, snapping him from his thoughts. Krinos nodded, "Understood, let me know when we near the dropzone, I plan to jump. Once I do, find a place to standby, we might need you for extraction once the mission is completed." he replied. "Roger that." the pilot said. Krinos was silent for the rest of the way, listening to the continuous explosions and gunfire going on outside. The jump hatch opened quickly, "Sir, we're not close to the dropzone, but I don't think we can risk getting closer to the M-Bot." the pilot said, pointing to the large bot moving towards the borders of Tabletop. Krinos cursed his luck, "Very well, this will have to do. I'll find some way else around, since my team isn't with me yet." he replied before jumping out onto the ground below. The VTOL took off in the direction it came from, leaving the hybrid dragon on his own. Right, now to find my team. If I remember correctly, we were supposed to meet close to the Casual Border and start our sweep. Judging by the limited destruction, I guess it's this way. he thought to himself, following a street going around from where the M-Bot stood.

---

---

The Guild Future Society HQ was a uniquely built base of operations. It drew inspiration from the western style, it was a two story building with white bricks and pale green roof. It had a wide yard surrounded by a steel-barred fence, which was surrounded a park with sparsely separated trees, the park was situated on the sides and around the back, which was also fenced. The road in front of the building was T-shaped, the top of the T ended in front of the HQ's gates itself. Right in the intersection in which the HQ's open gates where in front of was were the Defense Checkpoint was in process of being built.

Despite the distant sounds of explosions, the center of the city was fairly quiet. The HQ faced the south, which was the direction in of the FIC, which had been recently taken by the enemy. Kilo hated the position they were in, with Free and FIC sectors taken, Artillery bots could and would soon rip them to shreds. They had to push the invading bots back and pray artillery bots did not arrive. Either way, artillery bots would play a part in this fight. Unfortunately, the S.E.S lacked the long range weaponry to combat artillery. The GIC Cohort's armory was what was used to arm and resupply the members gather here today. Besides the uniform that magically created a full body shield for the wearer, the S.E.S luckily were in possession of a military grade UH Blackhawk as well as a AVGP, money could get you anything with right connections.

With the help of S.E.S members, the Civil Engineers were making good progress on the DCP (Defense Checkpoint), but it seemed that each explosion was getting closer and closer by the minute. Kilo sighed as he paced in front of his tent, which was situated in the courtyard. His Beta stood at attention, his eyes hard and his lips thin, Kilo could sense his general's apprehension. Kilo raked his hand through his hair, he needed to know what the situation was to the south. Kilo called the masked Tresais Nea to his side, who quickly preformed the S.E.S salute, which looked complicated, but once done, was easy.

Nea first, stepped to the side with her right foot, widening her stance, and at the same time brought two fists together, knuckles touching, arms bent at chest-level. Second, she opened the fists, palm out, and touched the tips of the thumbs and index fingers to each other so that the empty space between the two hands formed a triangle. Third, she closed the two palms together, thumbs still pointing away from the other fingers at a right angle, and then drew the “praying” hands closer so that only the thumbs touched the middle of the chest. At the same time she bent her head down so that the tips of the fingers touch the forehead, while bending the knees into a semi-bow. Fourth, she separated the hands, lifting them outward into a sweeping arc, and returns them palms down at his sides, at the same time as she straightened and brought the right leg back in, feet together.

"Preeminence!" she said affirmatively, gazing at him through her mask. Despite having his own mask on, he felt as if her eyes could see through his.

"Tresais Nea, brief a reconnaissance squad in your legion that you can vouch for. Have them take the UH Blackhawk and find anyone who maybe fighting bots on the City. Thier priority should be to find the BKS and its commander and try to make contact. Have her and her army get to the DCP here, maybe we can work together to fight the bots out of the city. Also tell her we can back them up as long as she gives the go ahead. You know what, I'll be joining them." Kilo explains quickly crossing his arms as he did so.

"Understood, Preeminence!" Nea said promptly, not daring to question his orders, out of fear of recognition, as she once again saluted him before walking off to do as she was told. Satisfied, Kilo walked back into his tent and took a seat behind his desk, resigning his mind to his fears for a few minutes before waking up to find a wolf-like beastman appeared at his tent entrance.

The beastman saluted Kilo quickly.
"Epsilon Aleani, reporting Preeminence." Kilo stood up out of his seat, grabbed his blade and walked out, nodding in approval to his underlings as he walked toward the helicopter with was prepped to fly, the Epsilon and his 5 man squad followed close behind. Kilo entered the aircraft first before the rest of the squad did. The helicopter silently ascended into the air, before flying towards the sounds of explosions.

Lucius bounced and drove through Casual Interest Check without a care for collateral, causing many cars to be trampled and buildings to collapse. To be fair he was also trying to get away from them and didn't think these things could break through brick walls so easily. For a short while he was almost scared. But that fear was quickly erased when he was riding down a street and saw a pretty girl. She was dressed in what seemed to be a Japanese school uniform, specifically the infamous black seifuku with killer black thighhigh socks. That absolute territory that no one could pierce. Fetishism aside, the girl was certainly a looker and Lucius wanted to stop by and talk to her.

He soared right above her head since he was moving too fast to stop, but quickly turned and slowed down. But it was during that short moment he tried to turn around that the girl seemed to have managed to defeat one of the KBot N using nothing more than a tree branch. Which promptly shattered, along with the Kbot. Lucius whistled and rode up to the girl, flirtatiously leaning against his handles. "Aaaaye girl, that was some nice work there. You sure know how to work that wood eh?" Looking at the KBot's facing them, two N-Variants, Lucius created another revolver for himself. Ineffectual, sure, but he knew he didn't need to kill the bots; just give this girl the opening to do so. "Name's Lucy by the way. I know this might be sudden, what with just meeting each other and all, but after we clean up here wanna hang out? Look for trouble? Think about it." Lucius winked, a pointless gesture since he was wearing a mask at the time, and rode off to attack the KBot's. He rampped off a slanted piece of rubble and fired a couple of shots at both, trying to get them to attack him. He was successful.

His naked torso glistened with sweat that poured from him as he executed a combination of punches, rendering deep, fist-shaped depressions into the sand-filled, leather punching bag as it swung to and fro with each strike. Every consecutive, resounding thud being accompanied by the rattling of the chain that supported its' weight which also kept his rhythm in time. Another sequenced assault followed soon after and another in quick succession, followed by yet another after that. Each punch landing quicker than the last and demanding more and more breath to be expelled from his lungs until, eventually, he was forced to release them vocally, loud grunts punctuating each hit. He'd been at it for just shy of two hours, or so he'd thought. The high-pitched beeping of his watch denoted that his allocated time was up. He exhaled, stumbling forward to hug the bag. Partly to steady its' frantic swinging but mostly to calm his breathing.

A glance toward his wall-mounted holoscreen showed news reports of the havoc being wreaked in the City by the attacking KBots, as well as the announcement from the Guild Future Society calling to the public for aid. 'A bit late for that now...' He thought to himself. As his heart rate began to return to normal, Kalas took a shower to wash away the sweat from his daily training session. He'd added an extra hour to this one, noticing the anxiety that had filled him when the first reports of the attacks had reached him. He'd heard nothing from the Council, though he was sure it wouldn't be long. It wasn't like I.D.R.I.S. to stand idly by whilst the City was being razed to the ground. He wanted to be out there, doing something, anything. But that was against his current orders.

He'd been laying low for well over a year now. At first it had been strange to him, not being able to move about as freely as he once did and having to move into some minimal, high-rise apartment in the middle of the Advanced Section. His neighbors had been annoying at first but it wasn't long before he was able to settle in. After all, the perky blonde-he'd forgotten her name on numerous occasions-who lived a few doors down had made it her mission to 'get-to-know-him-better'. Despite the obvious implications behind her suggestion, Kalas hadn't found it too unpleasant. Although she was starting to become a nuisance, asking questions about himself that he wasn't readily able to answer.

After stepping out of his walk-in shower and drying himself carelessly, he wrapped a towel around his waist and wandered into the open-plan area of his apartment that consisted of his kitchen, bedroom & living space. He strode toward the refrigerator, opening it and grabbing one of the partially empty milk cartons from the shelf of the door. As he threw his head back and began downing the remnants of the carton, he saw a blue, flashing light in the corner of his right eye. He stopped drinking instantly, haphazardly placing the unfinished milk back in the fridge before closing the door in a hurry. Kalas then rushed over toward the all-black electric stove, the source of the blue light and also the hidden location of the standard-issue I.D.R.I.S. Holo-Communications Display, or Holo-Com as it was often shortened to. The light indicated an incoming communication. He twisted a knob to the far left, accepting the call, before shuffling back a few steps and standing to attention.

As the tiny projectors hidden within the stove switched on, Kalas remembered to wipe the residue milk away from his mouth, quickly returning to attention. A holographic image smoothly materialized in thin air, depicting a shadowed panel of silhouettes. The I.D.R.I.S. Command Council. "Looking...comfortable, Commander." Came a man's voice, distinctly gravelly and aged, with a hint of military in it.

"I apologise, Sir, I'd just stepped out of the shower when I noticed the call." He blushed, kicking himself for being dressed in nothing but a sodden towel in front of his Senior Officers.

"At ease, Alseif. This isn't an inspection. We have new orders for you." He perked up at that.

"I'm ready to go at a moments notice, Sir." He stated eagerly, finally glad to being doing something.

"No doubt you've been following the reports of the attacks, Mr. Alseif?" This voice was different, a woman's voice. Older than his but not by much and definitely not military, more akin to a politician's.

"Of Course, Ma'am." He replied, addressing the new speaker.

"Then you'll know that certain members of the public will be heading to General Interest to fend off the attacking KBots?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Although, I would have considered that option far sooner than now."

"Glad to know we're already on the same page, Mr. Alseif." She seemed impressed, though if she was her voice didn't show it.

"We want you to go to General Interest too, get a decent view of the situation there. If the GFS have called in the public for help, we need to find those who stand out during the fighting and monitor them. They maybe useful in the future if they can manage to repel this attack."

"Consider it done, Ma'am." He said, standing even straighter. Then the man spoke again, ending the communication.

"Be sure to take your personal Holo-Com with you but only activate it once you're inside the General Interest Section and only to inform us of your location. After that, keep it switched to its' low-power state. We'll contact you with new orders." Kalas began to salute but the man spoke once more.

"Oh and Commander...Feel free to call in the others at your discretion. You've been given Field Command and acting Executive Command until such a time where we can operate freely once again. Good luck, Commander. The hologram flashed into nothing, as he snapped a crisp salute.

It was time. Finally, he'd be able to leave this apartment and return to his work. He quickly scrambled over to his three-door wardrobe, wrenching open the double-doors on the left side and sliding his neatly hung clothing aside. He pushed a palm against the wood-grain panel which lit up beneath his touch before reveling a small keypad. 0437. He fingered the code in quickly and the back panel began to give way, sliding to the left into a thin recess behind the wardrobe. The small doorway opened up into another quaint room where, locked behind a bullet-proof glass cabinet, was his combat gear. His armour and cloaks as well as his twin-sabers; Osebon & Ahael. And finally, his poisoned dagger. 'They'll need re-oiling...' He thought, suddenly growing excited. He'd been hiding in the shadows for far too long. Now was the time to use them. Now was the time to act.

---

”Keep shooting! Don’t let up!” The squad leader’s voice had essentially devolved into a cry at this point. Hope was fading. Fast. He felt his heart lurch as another one of the Peacekeepers under his command was mercilessly crushed under a robot’s appendage, forcing a chilling crack to be echoed throughout the street. A rocket whirled over his head and struck the KBot on its side. It staggered uncontrollably for a few moments before collapsing onto an abandoned car, the light of its “eyes” dimming until only an inanimate corpse was left. Some men under his command gagged at the exposed sight of their former comrade. How did things go to hell so quickly?

Or the better question was, why did they let things go to hell at such an alarming rate? Golden Ages were always followed by an awakening truth: that bliss only bred ignorance. And had they been naive. Whenever one bot fell, more took its place. It was crucial that they held this point, but how long would it take before they would run short on ammunition, men, and morale? All of the above were declining quicker than anticipated, and it soon became evident that the only thing choking at this choke-point was the GFS.

With every robotic step forward, valor took one step back. The maelstrom of bullets deflected off of the bots’ chassis, completely unaffected by the Peacekeepers’ efforts. The futile pings ceased their incessant plight as a flash of pink raced its way into the battlefield. Under intense scrutinization, one would realize that it was a collection of hair, carried along by a girl wearing a godly dress outfitted with plates and metal lining. Her eyes refused to waver from the imposing threat, absolutely locked onto her target. She faced a duo of normal variants making their gradual assault on the GFS forces. Before they could react, the maiden had already scaled on of their frames and sunk her blade into its head. This wasn’t enough to kill the bot, but it caused some confusion between her two adversaries.

With an iron grip around the rosy hilt, she held out a hand to the other KBot. Teal irises met mindless circles of illuminated light before a translucent heart case, already opened, manifested itself to tower over its target. The KBot's head swiveled around just fast enough to watch the case clamp down, cutting it in half. Internal circuitry sizzled as the remaining half toppled onto its still living ally, causing the other bot to lose its balance. The pink haired girl dug her blade deeper, her teeth gritted as she did so. Even though this only irritated her opponent even more, she was only to preoccupy it until she was given the signal. ”Juno!”

The GFS squad leader wheeled himself around in the direction of the voice. Jedly and Rachel both had taken a knee and rested their fingers on their triggers. Juno lifted her head to the two, taking a brief moment to confirm that they were definitely prepared. She yanked her sword out from the head and proceeded to lead it through the bot’s metallic hide, all the while splitting wiring that seemed to dictate its left side. She sped her way back towards GFS Peacekeepers, who had been facilely captivated by Juno’s charms. Two grenades exploded upon impact and finally put the bot’s suffering to an end.

Jedly and Rachel reloaded new rounds as they made their way over to their allies. The former and the squad leader stared at each other in silence, until the man broke the silence with a dexterous salute. ”You saved our lives out there. I’m really hoping you’re not passing on through.” There were little bumps in his voice, a result of watching a handful of his men fall in the line of duty. A quick glance past the Peacekeeper and Jedly could count a handful of corpses, some of which were left in an incomplete state. The man held his hand out towards the boy amiably. ”Cipher.” He curtly replied, completely forgoing any social etiquette, before passing the soldier to inspect the street, quickly followed by Juno. Rachel managed an awkward smile to help soothe the mood. ”S-sorry about that. Cipher’s not that much of a conversationalist.” Her tuned in on the conversation her two comrades were in the midst of.

”...if we get Peacekeepers set up in the balconies over there and there, they should be able to provide sufficient covering fire from multiple angles. We should distribute explosive specialists evenly, and if possible…”

Juno was quite the strategist, but that must have been a given for the arbiter of love. She also had the charms as displayed by the abrupt boost in morale after her debut. ”Anywaaaaaaaaaaays… I think they’re coming up with an idea or two. Good job holding the line until we could arrive! And don’t worry, it’s not like we’re all going to die or anything!” Rachel tried to dip some comical relief into the dreary situation while patting the squad leader on the shoulder, but it seemed that her efforts were in vain. ”Eheh… sorry, bad joke. But in all honesty, don’t let it get to you. He may not look like it, but Cipher actually cares about people… I think.” She ended up trailing off at the end there, and received a light chop to the head as a result. Through her whining Jedly delved into laying out a plan.

”We will have some more support momentarily. Until then, we're on our own. Have some of your troops get into vantage points and make shots that will actually count.” He tone grew a bit deeper with the next line, ”I don’t want any friendly fire either, got it?” They were in another wordless standoff until they all noticed a band of robotic footsteps fast approaching. Jedly looked back at the squad leader one more time before motioning for Rachel and Juno to follow him as the vanguard. As soon as the first bots rounded the street corner, Juno bolted towards them while the other two opened up on whatever they could.

A bird's eye view would depict that N variants were funneling their way into the street in great numbers than expected.

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