"" "Very well, then, we shall split here. I'll fight alongside the Thaumaturge's legion while you take spearpoint as you requested," Farris said to both Saef and Eve before pointing back at the Celestial army and then at Even once more. "Take some backup with you. Once you find any intelligence, send a messenger back to us. Your kind excels at mobility. This is a task you are better suited for."
"The Divine's Grace be with you."
Once Farris finished her reply to Eve, she turned around to Saef and his troops. "As I said, I shall fight by your side again. I trust in your wisdom to lead us to victory." she observed as they engaged in the pursuit of the unknown sniper, following closely behind. Farris searched for any more intruders that might have slipped by their perception, taking a moment to say "Perhaps it's unnecessary to state this; nevertheless I'll do what must be done," she began, "if it comes down to it, let the Angel of Fury perish by the carelessness of his own actions. We may support him if the opportunity presents itself however we should not squander our ability to win in order to back up a being as reckless and prideful as that one."
"" Victoire didn't spend time once she walked into the darkness of the catacombs. Her vampire status commanded reverence of the rageful dead making her crossing of the dark tunnels far easier than it would be to the other members of the Demon army who would soon enough find out that the darkness was crawling with resentful wraiths and restless warriors. Their very bones refuse to give away but that was exactly what Victoire was counting with.
As it would turn out, the catacombs were an amazing defense for a being of the darkness such as Victoire. Nevertheless, even that wasn't enough for her. As she walked and teleported around the dark tunnel, Victoire spread her roses thought them. The demonic plants spread their roots through the earth, seeking any crack in the stonework to gain access to the nutrient rich soil of the Graveyard and quickly taking small portions of the tunnels here and there as their mistress weaved around the battlefield seemingly at random.
"Beauty born from Death: what a graceful dichotomy," Victoire said to herself as she leisurely paced towards her objective, the grand basilica that dominated the Graveyard's landscape while delighting herself with her beloved rose hip. A dichotomy indeed it was as the deadly roses bloomed and choked everything in their way, following every of their Mistress' steps. [1st D. Rose Radius: 60 meters] [Catacombs Random Coverage: 0.1%] *Ack, deleted this by mistake. Thankfully it was just a set up post
**phew~ thanks God I had another tab open and could recover it. I won't bother with formatting, though, I'm too annoyed that the guild even allows these screw ups to happen
Saef respectfully bowed his head at Farris' words. He would gladly have her by his side in the fight ahead. The idea of leaving the fiery Angel to his own devices left a bitter taste in his mouth though. He might not be outright leaving the man behind but the chances of survival were low for a warrior acting his own.
His tinted visor turned expectantly towards Evelyn as he spoke into his comm. It wouldn't be very helpful if his troops moved out before the scouts after all.
"Get ready to move out. General Evelyn will be scouting ahead while we make our way to the Basilica at the center of this place. Gladius and Longsword that includes you. Join up with the company but keep an eye out for that sniper."
The two squads in question had been about to open up on the retreating figure of Utada with a pair of squad automatic weapons. The heavy laser weapons would have cut through the dead trees with ease. Assuming they were normal trees that it is.
Nobody had been caught in the android's trap. Since she was still well within the range of their high powered weapons there had been no need to give chase just yet. At the Captain's words though, the two squads ceased fire. A few grumbles emanated over the squad level comm net but they did as they were told. Gathering up the deployed weapons they turned and headed back to where 2nd Company, First Heavenly Mechanized Division was gathering to move out.
The Harvester nodded to the queen and descended the stairs of her throne room. There was much to process about this datascape and HR-513 would have to get in touch with the being known as "Krieg." Once the datascape was fully charted HR-513 would have the valuable information needed to accept the position of High-Cartographer. With that, the vast stores of knowledge held within the Machina database.
Some time later, HR-513 learned of the battle to be begun in this other world. The Harvester decided that he would bring a large amount of mass with him in case the warp connection did not allow for objects to be brought into that world from the other. HR-513 entered the dying world in all his 10 meters of metallic glory and took in the new information at his disposal. "Interesting." He said aloud. There he saw Machina soldiers and equipment moving about busily preparing for battle. Up in the sky he perceived his ally Maceroy ascending into very high places above the graveyard world. "Probably observing for weaknesses in the enemies' ranks." He thought to himself.
HR-513 turned towards the dead tree that was The Machina's landmark for arrival. The Harvester began clanking towards it and as he got close a bright blueish light formed a miniature warp cyclone around the tree. Within seconds, the tree had grafted unto The Harvester's body. He was "wearing" the tree as camouflage. His metal form from before would stand out too much in this gray dying world.
He walked forward, following Maceroy's perceived path. From his position above he had a much better idea of where to move. Harvester fired a single shot from his warp cannon below Maceroy to get his attention."I shall observe the battles taking place and learn as much as I can about their abilities. When anyone happens to become expired I will absorb them onto myself."
"Owoo! Safe!" Sapphire threw herself onto her stomach, in some strange parody of penguin locomotion, arms forward. Her goal was to just barely manage to smooch the skeleton's fractured skull that Farris had just smashed with a shield, before the eldritch light of undeath left its eye sockets. Unfortunately, she could not seal lips in time with all the ones Saef's disciplined squads gunned down with their tight fire lanes.
"Mmm... This is no good at all, you guys are killing.. er, life-ing? Redeadicating? all the food... But you can't not or else they'll eat you.. Hmm.. No worries, I'll just eat somewhere else! Good luck you guys!" Sapphire set about thinking for a moment, her pointer finger tapping against her lips, and tail swishing lowly, before she boldly declared her new plan that apparently took so much thought and effort to achieve with finger held triumphantly skyward. She then promptly wandered off to find her way underground, following her nose that told her where to find the restless dead.
Sapphire Pink herself descended into the catacombs, seeking out greater and greater concentrations of the undead, still wrapped in sparkles that seemed to shield her from the deleterious effects of their touch, as her weightless flitting avoided their increasingly lethargic blows. As she gathered more and more energy from first kisses, and then slight grazing touches, eventually, wisps of pink could be seen (all the more standing out in the dark catacombs that Pink was a literal beacom within), floating from adjacent tombs she hadn't even entered to join in Sapphire's nimbus of energy she was building up. The more and more energy she gathered, the faster and further she could gather it from. Soon, she was the center of a hurricane of the these threads spiralling around her, draining from the rich psychic energies of this place even as Victoire drained its rich soil.
~~Undead "Smooched": 1 Ghost, 1 Skeleton, a Couple Zombies, and .1% of the Catacombs Undead~~
Atarah
"Alright, Serah! Let's show 'em what we're made off!" Atarah smiled, fangs bared wide (why did a bird have fangs? Chalk it up to demonic influence), and Serah gave a slight squeek in appreciation. She surveyed the battlefield, ready to rush forward and give battle! The explosions out there looked lovely!
Then, looking behind her, she noticed every demon worth anything that she could see had decided to descend underground instead of joining the fray. "Er, um.. I guess that's fine too. I mean, I could be said to be a specialist, in underground combat." Atarah's smile seemed a bit less enthusiastic, with a few twitches at the edge of her lips. Then, she gave up the facade entirely and sighed. "Fine, we go underground and do sneaky spooky stuff.. I'm sure we'll get to dramatically pop from underneath the ground later.. Like Hell bursting forth from the pits." Atarah gave Serah a little pat before following the other demons underground. As a zombie reached for her, she halfheartedly caught its skull in her talons and then smashed it back through the stone slab it had pushed aside to reach her, and back into its coffin, now sans intact skull.
"So, you guys got a plan? I can imagine the vampire can do neat stuff with the dead, but can you guys do neat stuff with them with ice and.. bees?" She asked Apia and Ghelgath.
"Wow, it looks smaller from the outside." Miyu commented as she took in the grand sight of the Nexus and Jorm.
Noticing that Helena's word had been true, that she had been able to bring the Daimyo with her by sheer force of will, she flitted herself into its hand, letting her have a seat on her ride down. "How's my little mech doing today?"
"Status fully operational."
"Great. First thing I'm doing when I figure out how things work around here is granting you sentience. Let's see how that works out!" Glancing over to view the other people who had come along. Ananta and some kids.. ~I think I sent her a heated rock once?~ And a girl with a mech. Well, heh, that was kind of funny. "Hey ho, I don't suppose you're a scientist?" Miyu waved at the other girl.
The weather itself bent to Zak's might, the sky rolling and rumbling as he let loose intense waves of heat which clashed against the intense waves of cold that were naturally present in this environment. It didn't take long for the wind to pick up as a storm brewed, all that was missing was a little bit of a rain for this to turn into a proper battle scene. Luckily Henry had that covered. "Looks like we got an intense storm picking up Jim, with a 100 percent chance of rain! We here at the station would suggest all families pack up and get out of the area, because this is gonna be one doozy of a storm!" Henry spoke in the tone of a weatherman as his Silver Eyes began creating water vapor to go along with the rapidly evaporating snow to send up to the sky. Eventually the storm truely began as a torrent of rain began to pour upon both Zak and Henry, up until the massive hole in the sky appeared and Zak was bathed by some holy light.
"Oh neat. You turned into a candle. Well you know what they say about bright flames." Just as Zak sent forth his spears of flame, a sight that would make any other man shit his pants, Henry opened a massive Gate of Tartarus behind him and angled upwards, releasing hundreds of swords and spears to intercept every bolt of flame Zak had thrown. Henry then jumped up as hard as he could while simultaneously flapping his own pair of wings, not quite cracking the ground but definitely displacing a large amount of air upon his ascent. "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." Henry threw his SMGs into the Gates and once again drew his blade.
With that being said Henry flew towards Zak, Silver Eyes burning as the storm grew even heavier and more and more water poured down on the both of them. Suddenly he braked in mid air and flung his hand forward a massive torrent of water appearing out of thin air and shooting directly towards Zak.
Ghelgath stops to hear a strange buzzing sound coming his way from behind him. Approaching him is a girl inside a bee costume of some sorts, followed by small regular bees that seemed to buzz all around her. His right eyebrow twitches as he tries to make sense of the new girl. He isn't the biggest fan of these stinging little vermin, but he can manage them so as long as they aren't buzzing in his eardrums. He simply gives a simple handwave as he "welcomes" Apia tagging along.
"Uh, sure, sure." he replies nonchalantly as he continues walking down the corridor, "Feel free to come along."
He then begins mumbling to himself very quietly for a second.
"Just don't get in my way..."
But not more than a few steps, he's stopped by another new ally. It was a fallen female harpy with dark red feathers and amber-yellow eyes... although something about her physiology made it seem as if she was missing something. It doesn't seem as if she's capable of regular flight... at least normally. She might as well be called one of those flightless harpies, the dodos, unless she actually is one... Oh and she also has a googly-eyed rock companion. Wonderful. Regardless it didn't truly matter about who or what she is, it's better to have allies than to go alone.
He just hopes that both are competent enough to survive the battle.
Speaking of battle, the proto-harpy wondered if there is a plan in motion. Just then a zombie bursts from the darkness, only to get swiftly decapitated as Ghelgath slices it with his frozen battle axe.
"That's a veeeeery good question," he responds in a slightly sarcastic tone while turning towards the two girls, "Well in this case we'll just have to find our way out of the catacombs and... well, find some enemies to kill or somethin'. Of course, we better do so sneakily and catch them by off guard if we want to live through the battle."
He then turns back down the corridor while trying to search for an exit. He just hopes that bad luck won't fall for his ass this time.
Once Marie finds herself out of the catacombs, the bounty hunter doesn't hesitate and begins moving around the gloomy graveyard. She stays by the nearby forest to cover her approach as she scans the battlefield for any potential opponents nearby. The crunch of the snow below her for every step wasn't the best way to go about sneaking around, but it was a minor consequence when traveling in snowy environments. Then again, she's wearing a lot of crimson so that doesn't truly help. Of course, there's also another option for travel... and that option is through the trees. The bounty hunter quickly opens her scarlet coat and digs through a seemingly black void of nothingness, as she takes out a small pistol of some sort. It shoots a grappling hook as it sticks to a thick branch of one of the trees. She quickly pulls herself up while using her rocket heels to propel herself faster and lands on the branch, being careful not to fall several meters down. She fires her gun again as she swiftly hovers onto another tree and repeats the same process as she travels through the trees like a silent phantom.
After a few minutes of brisk travel by trees, Marie finally gets to the edge of the forest. She soon quickly finds a watchtower over looking the graveyard and swiftly lands inside the balcony. The Bounty Hunter ducks behind the wall as she exchanges her grappling gun for another weapon... this one being a sniper rifle she calls Owl's Blight. She peers over the wall to check for any nearby opponents, only to quickly see some action going on in the distance. Two opponents were in her sights, one seemingly controlling the power of fire while the other seemed to be throwing water at it. Not wanting to miss the action, she loads three rounds of armor piercing bullets from her hammerspace and quickly jams them inside the gun before slowly perking her head above the wall and pointing her scopes to get a closer look at the fight. As she looks through the scope, she can clearly point out the combatants as the angel Zak and the demon Henry. Looks like the two are already in battle. She's a little hesistant in joining the fight, although considers that Henry has this battle in the bag.
If only she knew he switched sides...
Marie continues to quietly eye the battle from the high ground while occasionally taking several breaks to look around for any other intruders. If no one comes to her position soon, she'll get up and start moving again...
Eve nodded as she looked at her lance, thinking quite hard about taking it with her. A few moments passed before Eve rocketed up into the skies without it. She didn't need a lance right now, it would only weigh her down. Besides, she wasn't doing anything other than scouting for people like Farris and Saef.
Her wings cut through the air like butter, flapping through the skies like she was someone of true speed. She had shown that speed with Ciel's assistance, and this was just the same situation, except without the hurricane... well... it WAS like that, until she noted the appearance of a storm not too far away from her location. She dove down towards it, causing her wings to leave streams behind her as she noticed something else. Eve squinted at the sudden appearance of a blinding light in her face, realizing what must be going on. Zak must be there.
She shot through the clouds and pulled up as she saw Zak and Henry duking it out in a battle, the snow beneath them nothing more than puddles in the wake of this rain. She noted everything as she propelled herself back upwards into the skies, looking around at anything she could. Everything was largely barren, right now, but that was subject to change for all she knew.
"Yes, Bees. It's a taboo concept, I understand." Apia responded to the harpy beside her. She held her rod firmly in hand as she followed behind Ghelgath, flying very slightly off of the ground. The flap of her wings was largely silent, excluding the very faint buzz the two other demons would hear in their ears.
Suddenly, a bee rushed up towards Apia's ear, and she stopped dead in her tracks, reaching down towards her legs and pulling a stinger out of... nowhere, it seemed. She threw the sharp object towards something behind Atarah, hitting it square in the head and taking it down efficiently. It was a zombie, unsurprisingly, and it's was just impaled by a bee stinger.
"Got one. Sorry, miss...?" It had just occurred to Apia that she did not know this harpy's name. It might've been an odd time, but it wasn't too bad to ask for a name.
Lillian was still suited up in Epsilon, the hatch closed, and a fitting song playing. She wasn't sure where the music was originally from, but she didn't mind it. She looked off towards the destination and saw it arriving in her view. Incredibly fast.
She heard a snap one second, and the next she found herself next to the only others that took Helena's offer, though that seemed to be limited to someone she vaguely saw. It was one occasion, but still. She asked if Lillian was a scientist, and Lillian calmly responded to her...
"Well, I find m'self to be more of an alchemist, t'be quite honest! Whatta bout 'cherself?"
"Gyaaah! How'd these guys get behind me?" Atarah recoiled to the side in shock as zombie after zombie surprise attacked them. "I mean, I've got a technique that senses opponents and everyth-" CRUNCH "-ing?" Atarah looked down at the source of the noise to find that the decapitated zombie head Ghelgath had separated from its body had bitten down on her ankle, or what passed for an ankle on a harpy. The only apparent effect was shattered teeth, as the zombie might as well have been biting into a boulder. Made of Adamant. But it nonetheless clung to her, even as she started hopping around the room shaking her foot. "Get off get off get off!" Regardless of her flailing, and the bone shards prying free from the zombies ruined jaw, it refused to give up. Finally, Atarah simply plunged her foot into the floor, smashing the head against the rock.
Finally regaining her "cool", Atarah calmed down and addressed the question, "Wait.. You want to know my name? Haha.. This is it!" Atarah literally danced for joy, jigging in place a bit. Someone actually wanted to know her name? And these looked like bigwigs! Atarah's joy in moving up the world was plainly visible. Then, striking a "dramatic" pose with both hands held high clenched in fists, she declared, "Tremble before the mighty Atarah! Oooh, and this is Serah, it's great to meet you! What's your name?" Her probably practiced in a mirror proclamation quickly stopped as she introduced the blob nestled in her feather with googly eyes and held her hand forward to shake on the meeting and ask Apai's name. "I didn't mean to be rude about the bees or ice, I just don't know why we're all going underground. Is there something important that we can take advantage of down here?"
Once again, explosions attract attention. Turns out that the rather flashy flame angel was about as sneaky as a bag of bricks to the head. His giant pillar of light and massive amounts of fire being tossed around drew a lot of attention. As did the completely random and obviously magical storm that formed over the Basilica.
Well at least we know where some of the enemy combat power is located. Time to head right towards the highly deadly contest of who can be more obvious.
Thankfully the surrounding area was mostly free of trees. This was a massive graveyard, not a forest. Trees took up grave space. There were some larger mausoleums that blocked line of sigh but nothing too bad. It made for a quick advance as a full company of powered armor clad infantry whooshed away in a rush of quantum particles.
Magically enhanced and mechanically augmented muscles propelled the paladins quickly through the graveyard. The occasional boost from a jetpack provided extra speed and an element of unpredictability that made them very difficult targets for anyone looking for an easy kill. Onboard computers took in the data feeds from the passive sensors and automatically shared it among the company. So far the only thing showing up were the spirits and ghouls that inhabited this dreary place. Easy enough to avoid with foreknowledge of their locations.
As he ran alongside his men Saef repeatedly glanced up at the darkened skies over the Basilica they were heading for. His magically sensitive eyes were picking up a star of power within the swirling winds and pouring rain. Taking a risk he sent a mental command to his suit, the sensors in his helmet reading his brainwaves and activating the digital binoculars. The Thaumaturge momentarily stopped his charge so he could see the scene some forty kilometres away.
A Demon soared through the air above the strategically important battlefield position. He was locked in combat with the aforementioned unsubtle angel from the look of it. All nice and out in the open. Not a single piece of cover within easy reach. The distance was on the far side and the storm would have blown any unpowered physical projectile far off target. A full company of computer assisted soldiers firing directed energy weapons was a different matter though. Especially with the heavier weapons that had been brought along.
"Company halt." He called out over the comms. "New priority target. Forty kilometers ahead. Center of the storm. DEWs only, I don't trust that the rockets won't be intercepted at this range. Enemy capabilities are unknown but be prepared to book it in case they can fire back."
Soldiers around him ceased their forward rush and looked towards the now marked spot on their HUDs. Individual soldiers got into their preferred firing positions. Some stood, others kneeled. Those carrying SAWs readied them. A few glanced longingly at the anti-tank missiles carried by some members of the company. High explosive shaped charges that were magnetically launched at high speeds before igniting the onboard rocket and seeking their target out. They were highly effective weapons in the right hands but at this range Saef figured that the flying demon would be able to notice and destroy them before impact.
"Fire."
Hundreds of pulses of blessed light filled the air. Shooting towards Henry en mass. Hitting was an uncertain proposition at this range, those firing relying on their computers for the sub-milimeter adjustments needed. It was at the edge of the laser pulses lethal range as well. Some energy bled off into the atmosphere as the deadly packets traveled. Go too far and they lose too much energy to be effective.
Those problems were at least diminished if not negated when the entire formation let loose on full auto. Dozens of pulses from each infantryman and hundreds from each SAW. Heavy sniper bolts made themselves felt as well. Suffice to say that the airspace around Henry suddenly got very hot.
Farris halted her march at the same time as Saef's platoon. Even though the clash between Henry and Zack was taking place dozens of kilometers away from their current position, Farris had a clear picture of the forces involved in their clash. "I did not anticipate that he was this powerful," she said, regarding Zack, "It's a tragedy that such might is wasted in an undisciplined mind."
Turning their attention back to Saef, Farris noticed how he readied his men for battle. As soon as the soldiers were given the order to open fire at Henry, she stepped forth. "I may not have any ability that has such a long range," she said, drawing her sword, "nevertheless, allow me to assist you, Thaumaturge,." With a sweeping motion of her blade, Farris summoned several small holy crystals standing in the path of some of the shots from Saef's troops. The prism shaped objects captured the energy pulses for the soldiers' weapons, refracting them in all sorts of odd angles as well as using their own magical power to replenish the power the lasers lost due to the extreme long range shot. A literal web of woven light flashed in the skies for a moment. Right after it, the two-thirds of the lasers that were meant to hit Henry head on had been deflected in such a manner as to cover nearly a full half circular radius, coming from up, down, left, right as well as the ones that were already aimed at him.
Victoire continued to set her roses underground as she continued her catacombs tour while monitoring the battlefield with her blood senses, tracking any living beings that made their way through the massive Graveyard. To assist in the surveillance effort, Victoire released a dozen or so shadow bats to find exits to the catacombs and scout their immediate vicinities, while keeping to the shadows. Their place was to serve as the Blood Countess' eyes, not her fangs and was one of the only ways she could keep track of the Machina without easily revealing her location. She used this knowledge to set two more rose fields outside of a couple of entrances to the catacombs that were as far away from any interference she detected as possible. It was in Victoire's best interest that no one found about her roses until they had the time to grow to critical size, after all.
However, she didn't even need it to feel the massive battle taking place close to the center of the area, but what intrigued her was the fact that she sensed a very known Demon over there, one that Victoire didn't see coming to the battlefield along with the remainder of Hell's forces. The fact that there was only one way for each faction to reach this place and that Henry wasn't at the Demon's base camp when they began their march outwards roused Victoire's curiosity.
That said, Victoire's attention at this moment laid on how to silently take down two pests that could ruin her plans. One of them was the harpy crisscrossing the skies in search of god knows what. It was a good thing that Victoire planted her roses far away from this creature's current route but there was no telling what could happen if the harpy were to randomly change her course. The other one was some form of Angel that invaded the catacombs in a far away place. It was unlikely that she and Victoire would cross paths but the vampire made a point to stir as far away from that area as possible, not setting any roses over there in other to keep her stealth for as long as she could.
The harpy took priority, no questions asked.
A moment later, Victoire contacted, Marie, Atarah, Apia, and Gelgath telepathically. "I have found a harpy scout flying over the battlefield, likely trying to spot any enemy assets. If there's any of you willing to engage her in battle, I can teleport you right in her path. The faster we take down that Heaven's scout, the better it'll be for us to move around unhindered. Furthermore, be aware that another angel of unidentified species has entered the catacombs to the northeast of our initial location. The being is very far away from us, so we can avoid it for the time being and set up a trap when it's more convenient, don't do any pointlessly brash actions. One final question: Did any of you see Avaritia get into the battlefield with us? I feel something suspicious in the air here. I cannot put my finger on it, though. If any of you can confirm Avaritia's status, please report back. I'll keep us linked," she said before falling silently, waiting for any replies.
This was going to be a complex battle, with many unknown variables, but that wasn't anything that Victoire couldn't plan for. As long as she kept her a level head, everything would be alright.
[D. Rose Radius: 120/30/30 meters] [Catacombs/Underground Coverage: 0.2/0.1 %]
From his position above the battlefield, Maceroy felt the slight shockwave from a weak energy weapon, glancing down and slowing slightly to espy a warp cannon shot a substantial distance below him, dissipating just a short distance on from there. So, the Harvester had arrived. And where was he right... now... ah. The moving tree was a bit conspicuous, honestly, but as the harpy considered it, perhaps not so foolish as one might imagine: it didn't matter as long as it was just Maceroy and HR-513, and if he stayed still whilst enemies were around, they might never realise he was there to begin with. Who'd think to attack a tree, after all? At least, who'd think to attack it until it hit them with a burst of warp energy strong enough to tear their body in half. A slight chuckle escaped the harpy as he continued to glide forward, the morbid thought as amusing as how easily the titanic machine could put it to use.
...he'd wondered about developing his own energy weapons beforehand, he briefly recalled. The thought had been dismissed, under the assumption that HR-513 would back Maceroy up regardless, but say there was a situation where he couldn't rely on the otherwise-reliable machine? Really, it would be sitting on his laurels to pretend the possibility wasn't there, but he'd put so much effort into so many other projects to date, that the idea of going for something so basic when variants already existed had seemed nearly insulting. In hindsight, more insulting would be a sucking hole in his chest... well, questions for later. If anything, he supposed he ought to ask the Harvester for an energy sample if he was going to try something like that. He'd speculated for some time about equipment much like the Harvester's warp cannons, drawing from that same source of power to devastating effect, and it wasn't like he'd run out any time soon, after all, politeness be damned.
Speaking of which, the battlefield, ground and sky, was starting to look a little less inviting, a storm beginning to form over the central basilica. Several kilometers off, some form of aerial battle was raging at full power between angel and demon, and it was immediately obvious how out of his depth Maceroy would be in such a fight - the much-maligned Prince of Greed's portals were easily recognisable, even from here, and those flaming lances weren't exactly inviting either whoever was creating them. More intriguing was the hail of energy shots coming from... elsewhere. Not the Machina's weaponry, either, since he'd yet to see hide or hair of any significant fighters other than himself and HR-513, and he'd assume they would all enter from the same side of the field as himself. What a bother that was. And when the entire goal was to drive out the other factions, troop support was desperately important.
On the other hand, the ability to take out those same troops from on high... well, that simply supported the same end goal in a more direct fashion. An effort to cut off the head of one's armies by assassinating their commanders, rather than by beating the body to a pulp. And was that a flash of red he'd just seen leaping into a far-off watchtower on a trail of smoke? Considering his options, he drew out and pressed the alert button, and not a second later, a miniature facsimile of HR-513 appeared just above it, accurate down to the most minute detail. As accurate, one could say, as the machine's memory banks.
'HR-513,' Maceroy murmured quietly, 'I don't believe I'm wrong, but just so I can confirm: did you see somebody red leaping into the watchtower just yonder?'
'Yes,' he responded, matter-of-fact as always. 'A cursory scan of captured images suggests humanoid, dressed in red rather than possessing red skin, likely possessing artificial or supernatural means of rocket propulsion. Other details aren't clear from this distance.'
'That'll do nicely, HR-513. Thank you, you're grand,' Maceroy responded, smiling slightly. Had he been concerned about his reliability before? Why? 'If you wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for me, I think it's fair enough that I pay them a visit. I'm sure you'll realise if anything serious starts happening.' With all said, the mini-Harvester vanished into the ether, and the device was returned to Maceroy's pocket, before he upped his flight speed, first taking a huge aerial step upward to evade notice before continuing to fly toward the tower. Whilst he kept an eye out for any stray shots being taken in his direction, nobody seemed to be looking for him, and in just a minute or two, he reached his destination, hovering as quietly as possible a hundred and fifty meters or so above the watchtower's balcony. And lo, the red spot from before now rendered itself as the proposed humanoid figure, possibly feminine, with what seemed to be a sniper rifle... possibly Machina, then? But he wasn't exactly foolish enough to ask first. It'd become obvious as they fought, and if they were, they'd both likely see sense enough to cease their battle and be on their way.
So, on to phase 1 of the attack plan: surprise them. Aiming his weapon downward with both hands and folding his wings around himself, Maceroy dropped toward the red-clad sniper like a relatively silent stone, trusting in gravity's inevitable pull to drag him down and his own hyper-fast thoughts to keep him aware of the distance, running the equation vi=√(2gd) through his head at the same time to calculate impact velocity. With any luck, she- yes, that was a feminine figure after all- would be too focused on whatever was in her sights to notice the relatively minimal sound of him falling toward her, faster and faster - at least until he activated his drill roughly ten meters above her to give it the time it needed to spin up suitably, and by then he'd be falling at a rate of 52.41 meters per second, much faster as he flapped his wings once for a sudden speed burst, and those last ten meters would take less than two-tenths of a second to traverse anyway. Still not as fast as he'd like, but more than enough to skewer most beings through their torso and into- or through, given how old it was- the rock beneath, with his own enhanced physiology keeping his body from shattering too, not to mention crushing some other part of her flat under his weight at that sort of speed. Even if she somehow dodged out of the way pre-emptively and took aim, his wings were like a shield of steel - that is, probably not enough to perfectly block rounds from a sniper rifle, but more than sufficient to keep him from taking mortal harm whilst he got away from any potential fall hazards to begin the battle proper, and able to guard from every angle as necessary.
Here is the first post from a while ago if anyone is confused:
Maen wriggled his feet in the cool dirt, enjoying the feeling of grass between his toes and the breeze on his skin. New sounds assailed his senses and his eyes widened in amazement at all of the new things to behold. He stared around him spinning in a circle attempting to take it all in, seeing the rolling hills and blue sky, dotted with strange white puffs that seemed to float by themselves.
A concerned look flitted across his face as he realized that there was no moon in the sky, instead there seemed to be some kind of fiery orb that made his skin tingle and his eyes burn. Though it slowly seemed to be falling into a patch of colors he had never seen before. He turned away and saw beautiful pillars of some brown material that was rough to the touch, they were holding up grass.
He peered closer and realized that instead of the strange green hairs on the ground these ones were shaped in a variety of ways, rounding out at the bottom and coming to points at the top. He took one is his hand rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, exploring this new and strange world. The green object left his hand wet so he wiped it on his chest.
He looked towards a group of the strange brown pillars and saw some four legged creatures bounding across the ground, their coats look soft and warm with white spots mottling their brown fur. He started towards them but as he came closer one of them wrenched it's head towards him and bounded away, the other ones followed and soon they were lost in the vast forest. Overwhelmed by these new sights Maen sat down on the ground and stretched, attempting to collect his thoughts while enjoying the feeling of the green hairs on his bare skin.
He shook his head and looked away from the forest, first noticing that in every direction there was sprawling grasslands and wide open fields, some with strangely straight rivets in them. Weird metal objects lay scattered on some of these fields along with colorful sprouts that seemed to just come out of the ground. He looked next to one of these strange field and noticed a plume of smoke coming up from behind one of the hills, seeing nowhere else to go besides the vast dark forest behind him he set out towards it.
Approaching the smoke he caught the scent of something delightful that set his mouth watering, he sped towards it and came around the hill. On the other side he saw a hut that seemed to be made of the same strange brown pillars he had seen earlier with a rectangular section cut into the side that had a weird circular stone on it, the top of the hut had a stone tube jutting out of the top that seemed to spew forth smoke.
The delicious smell was coming from inside the strange hut, he walked up to the rectangular section in the wall and touched it. It was smooth with a pattern of straight lines starting from the top and going straight down, he pulled back his hand and rapped solidly on the wall. A hollow echo sounded out, he liked how it sounded as it reminded him of how the stones sounded back home.
While he went to knock for the third time the door opened wide and revealed a creature clothed in strange fabrics with what looked like pieces of straw adorning its head, the creature looked at him, it's eyes widening as it peered up and down his body. It's mouth opened and a horrid noise tore from its throat, in a strange guttural language it turned around and called for something, it's small stubby legs carrying it quickly to the back room of the hut.
When it exited again Maen was still standing still at the front door confused at why this creature was running around awkwardly, he tried to calm it saying "I mean no harm strange beast." he paused remembering a much more important question "Are you the thing that smells so sweet?"
Unhearing or not understanding, the creature charged at him this time though another creature came from the back room it had just been in, this creature was larger and more defined, it's shoulders were wider and it wore less cloth than the straw headed thing. Behind the large two legged creature stood a small one, it's squat legs and arms quivered as it made a strange squealing sound.
The small creature in the back bolted back into the room it had come from while the large one and the straw headed one charged Maen. The straw headed one had a shining triangular weapon clasped in it's hands, it looked almost like glass and just as sharp. While the large one in the back was holding a stick with four prongs on the end of it, they both looked angry and afraid. The one with the glass-but-not-glass stopped short of him and held the the thing threateningly as it continued spewing strange sounds, the large one came up to Maen and shoved the straw headed one back holding out his stick as though trying to scare Maen away.
Maen held his hand out and tried to push the creatures aside to get into the hut and towards a strange black bucket that sat over a tiny version of the thing in the sky, this bucket seemed to be the source of the smell that had drawn him here. As he shoved the straw head aside the large one lunged at him with the pointed shining stick, as soon as it made contact Maen's skin dissolved into smoke and the creature fell through him, his momentum kept his stumbling past Maen and out the door.
Maen walked towards the metal bucket and the smell became stronger, he looked inside and saw a pool of delicious smelling broth bubbling and steaming. He reached into it and scooped some into his hands, he brought his hands to his lips and drank. The boiling stew soothed his throat and left a comfortable warmth in his stomach.
Satisfied he had found the source of the smell he turned back around to see the weird creatures staring at him in fear, their awkward grunting noises becoming louder and more frantic. The large one charged at Maen again and tried to spear him through the chest, and again his body dissolved into smoke leaving the thing to stumble behind him.
Maen's ears perked up as he heard a familiar noise, he looked around frantically trying to find the soundless song that echoed through his very soul. The noise he had heard so many times, that had soothed him and kept madness at bay. He peered around panicked and confused as to where it could be coming from, as the moon wasn't there the last time he looked. He saw a hole in the wall that led out into a world with a black sky. That can't be right, the black sky is gone. The sky is blue here, with the false moon and the white fluffs..
Everything was so different here, how could it change again so suddenly, he raced past the straw haired thing and the large one, and through the hole in the wall he had come through. The air was cool and the sky was black, but this sky had points of light dotting it, thousands of them. Yet none compared to the bright and perfect moon, it's majesty could not be marred by these pretenders, it's perfect beauty still calling to him from so far away. He smiled knowing that she hadn't forsaken him, "Why did you leave me, why did you stop singing to me for so long?" he whimpered.
It's strangled song, sad and melancholy echoed through his very being, until it was interrupted as the straw haired thing thrust his stick through Maen's head. Silence. He listened closely, yet the perfect silence dragged out into an eternity. The music was gone again. He closed his eyes and turned his head back towards the moon, a red tear slipped from his eye as the silence consumed him. His sorrow turned to anger and he turned around, his green, moon crazed eyes boring into the creature behind him, "Why..." he asked "Why would you stop the music?"
Silence.
"WHY WOULD YOU STOP THE SONG?!" he roared and reached out, but not with his hand, with something deeper, something darker.
It roared inside him like a beast uncaged, it's rage unknowable and terrible. It reached out to this puny creature and crushed it in it's grasp. Yet crushing it wasn't enough, it tore deep into the things body finding where it's life beat in it's chest. It tore it out and rent it apart, spraying red liquid across his face and the grass nearby. The large creature cried out in anguish and charged, but his cry fell on deaf ears as the darkness lashed out again, grabbing the thing by the chest and lifting it into the air, it would take it's time with this one, learn all it had to know, and then tear it apart.
The dark tendril fanned out splitting into multiple appendages, each one sinking deep into the creature tearing knowledge and memories free, drinking deep on all this thing had to know. Maen decided he wanted to know what these horrid beasts thought, why they assumed they could interrupt him and his music. A word bubbled to the top of his mind, the word that this beast used to describe itself.
The creature held this word in reverence as though without it, it would be less, "Humanity" the word echoed as though it alone could define it's horrid existence. He would find out this creatures thoughts, he would understand it and all of it's kind. And he would bring them death.
It would take time, but then again, what was time to a thing as old as him.
He dropped the body heavily. It hit the wooden floor with a wet thump. The man's chest rose in erratic patterns, his skin was sunken, and it looked painful to breathe. Maen had kept him alive during the process of absorption, he had taken nearly all of his important memories. The language these creatures used came easily to him now, and he spoke to the beast.
"Goodbye, human." he said the word like a curse.
The man struggled limply and made a strangled noise. A shard of strange glass appeared from nothing. It was three sided and ragged, the edge was sharper than seemed possible, and the air looked to be cut away as it moved, leaving a strange black line behind. It shot towards the man on the ground, but no sound was made. It thudded deeply into the man's throat.
He went rigid, then slowly relaxed as blood pooled on the polished floor. Maen let out a sigh. Then something strange happened. Tiny gray wisps leaked from between the man's lips, like he was breathing smoke. They rose slowly into the air and stopped. They started to spin slowly and the air whistled by quietly.
They moved like an upside down whirlpool and started to disappear behind a tiny fold in the air. Almost like they were going somewhere behind the world, towards wherever spirits went. Maen shed his physical form almost instinctively and followed after, his body compressing into smaller amounts of pitch dark smoke. He was caught up in the ethereal whirlwind and shunted straight through the portal with the spirit of the dead man.
His world twisted and skewed strangely, until everything was a blur of grey and freezing cold. It changed suddenly when it all became white. He landed in The Graveyard. Around him were... he looked through the man's memory... tombstones, and trees. There were... crypts of grey stone, and the ground was covered in snow.
Maen took physical form again, his smoky body elongated into the approximation of a human form, and skin was slowly layered over it. Soon he stood naked in the snow, the biting air nipping chilly at his bare skin. He hopped from foot to foot and let out a small squeal.
"Cold! Cold! Cold! Not again, not again! I can't go to the cold again!"
He jumped away in panic and landed on a thick tombstone. He crouched there, hyperventilating, and covered his face with his hands. He hummed the song the moon sang to him, trying to calm himself. The cold seemed to retreat slightly, and he removed his hands.
"It's not the same?" he said quietly. "It's not the same! Safe! I'm safe!"
He giggled and flipped through the memories he had taken. It was just snow, the humans think about it like rain, just colder. Not dangerous. Just cold. Maen breathed heavily and grinned. He looked up towards the sky, it was gray and foggy. He couldn't see the moon, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. He imagined he could almost hear the whisper of her song.
He looked around again. Far away was a strange clash of lights, so far that they were probably miles away. They looked like the sun, and there were splashes of other colors as well. Massive doors opened and closed as he watched, and a volley of white lights refracted and beamed towards them from afar. Maen thought this world strange indeed. Who would want to live here? With the cold and the lights. No one would ever sleep.
He shook his head at the stupidity of humans. Even their ghosts were dumb, deciding to live in this place. He saw some of what he thought were humans nearby, they didn't seem to have noticed him, and they looked different than what he thought to be humans. Some were almost see through, and others shambled along. He saw one without any skin at all.
In his mind he thought these were humans. They had the right shape, almost, and he had only scant information about the other races from his time absorbing memories. The memories contained bits and pieces about angels and demons, but they were lacking physical description. And there was nothing on the undead. So it would stand to reason that he tie the undead into the same group as the hated humans.
He jumped away from the tombstone and landed in a puff of snow. He didn't notice the cold. He ran forward, the wind rocketing his steps, and summoned a storm of silent shards. The glass tore the air around him, leaving black scars that faded slowly. Maen landed in front of the translucent human, it moaned at him, but was quickly silenced by a hail of glass.
The spirit withered away and Maen dashed to the group of shambling humans. Their skin was white and ragged, and small patches of red were visible underneath, but Maen barely noticed that as he tore them in half with a great scything attack. He roared in triumph and a group of the skinless boney humans turned towards him.
There were three skeletons in front of him, but ten more rose from beneath the earth. Maen smiled even wider. His shards of glass rocketed outwards and formed a scintillating wall of death. The shards were spaced apart from each other and each one was facing tip forwards. The wall of glass rocketed towards them, streamers of endless black following behind. The skeletons were torn apart like paper. Bones were shredded to scraps, and the gray light in their eyes went out.
Maen didn't even realize he had started to sing. He danced away from the group of shredded creatures, and cast a glance around as he looked for more undead 'humans' to slay. Further away he saw a pack of the undead, over in the direction where the giant lights were clashing. Maen dashed forwards, his silent glass following behind like wings unfurled.
Steam billowed across the battlefield consuming the low ground in several feet of humid mist which slowly sprawled across the land as intense heat boiled the moisture forming in the air and pouring from the fearsome clouds overhead. Molten metal and fire rained across the graveyard as brilliant lances of holy flame and the silvery hoards of bladed weapons clashed in a clatter of explosions. Shock waves rattled through the crypts below, blowing flaming chunks out of the taller buildings near by. A sea of water formed in the sky, raging down in a torrent as it consumed Zachariah in a flood of fierce winds and roaring currents. Light brimming from the flaming archangel diminished beneath the surging water.
It seemed the fire had been extinguished for the moment, until a deep rumbling babble roiled from the churning depths. Bubbles spiraled through the colossal flood, swirling into a thick froth. Scalding steam exploded out of the water in every direction, shooting out in geysers as what was practically a tsunami at this point quickly began to broil. A piercing glow spilled out from the boiling waters, gleaming brightly through the raging waves of the sea Henry manifested until something welled up beneath the tides, causing them to swell. Fearsome energy detonated within the waters in a deafening bellow which resounded through the graveyard as a massive spherical shock wave of light and force rapidly expanded outward from the tsunami, explosively displacing the scalding water toward Henry and the surrounding area. Enormous tendrils of golden holy flames lashed out by the dozens, piercing through the water like fiery serpents from the brimming center. More and more of the evaporating water was displaced as the fiery serpents grew in number and girth, snaking out from the massive glowing orb of heat and light that was Zachariah.
Tremors shook the graveyard vigorously as many of the fiery tendrils stabbed into the ground, tearing chunks of molten earth and clouds of smokey dust into the air as they bored into the steam covered land. Thunderous pulsations and loud reverberating cracks of splitting earth broke out as fire melted the dense rigid soil below. The landscape for several dozen meters began to deform, rising into smokey mounds before releasing several volcanic pillars of white hot magma which began to flood the ground and stain the air. The once frozen grave laden landscape had become a hellish molten wasteland of burning undead and melting monuments in a hundred meter radius around the archangel, consuming the area in a harsh drying heat. Plumes of thick black smog peppered with coalescent embers rose from the glowing maws of the many small volcanoes that had formed.
Cutting through the thick veil of steam with a massive saber of arcane flames, Zachariah shot up from the sea of searing mist and holy fire. A fiery gaze lingered on Henry. There were no witty retorts for the demon. Only more purifying flames. Another Zachariah shot up from the steam, same as the first but with a spear, both brimming with energy and fire. Then a third emerged with a long pike in hand, forming a large triangle around Henry. They all hovered for a few moments, watching. Just as Saef's men unleashed their barrage and Farris began her deflection, the three archangels exploded into motion, swiftly darting around in random streaking patterns of light around Henry in a fiery blur of blinding light.
He who wielded the pike kept darting around at a distance, waiting for Henry to try and escape the triangle or turn his back. He who wielded the spear shot above and released a volley of projectiles with deadly accuracy to rain down on Henry. He who wielded the saber charged Henry, aiming to either clash with the demons blade, or take one of his limbs. Shooting downward from the evaporating ocean was a fourth and final Zachariah, who barreled down through the hot air and dove into the sea of lava that was slowly spreading from the volcanic geysers which now peppered the smoldering graveyard, his fiery form vanishing in the bright amber and gold glow.
Meanwhile, everyone ignored Sapphire Pink. She kept draining the suffering of all the undead beings within her reach, which continued to grow wider and wider. But seeing "wider" wasn't really measured in dozens of KM's yet, it was unlikely anyone would notice the potential scale of her actions just yet. So she scooted around the underground of the angelic "third" of the battlefield on a growing nimbus of energy sucking up suffering.
"That demonic energy is getting bigger. Wonder what it is?" If Pink could be bothered to study the war so far, she perhaps could have averted tragedy. Oh well.
~~Undead "Smooched": 1 Ghost, 1 Skeleton, a Couple Zombies, and .3% of the Catacombs Undead~~
Atarah
"Who's that??" Atarah had no idea who Henry was, being a new contender to the scene.
Shrugging, she cracked her knuckles, "Sure, let me at that harpy scout! Shouldn't be a problem!" Atarah was eager to get a little payback, however indirectly, at that Syphax guy. Maybe if she was lucky, it was Syphax and she could give him some payback for stealing her away from Serah!
But then, just after she stepped through Victoire's portal to intercept, a thought came too late to mind. "Flying".
"WAAUUUGH, HELP!" Her limbs flailed wildly as she plummeted like the rocks she was so fond of, on an intercept course for Eve. If Eve tried to catch her, or didn't dodge the grabby Atarah in time, fate would have it that Eve's disrupted flight path would take them directly on course to Marie and Maceroy.
Miyu laid back in the arm of Daimyo, trusting it completely to hold her stead as they landed. Ananta had kids on her back, so it must be a gentle trip.
"I'm more of a mechanic, I excel at putting stuff together that other people built, but I'm an Angel, so I figure I've got at least a couple thousand years to expand my horizons." Miyu waved at the other girl. "Did the machina have access to life extendy stuff other than stuffing your head in a robot? I never figured that one out." Miyu asked, idly indulging her curiosity as they fell.
Fran joined the battle in these dark and dank catacombs, but her reasons for joining basically amounted to whimsy to distract her from her feelings, as she often does. However this time she felt no joy being here, and no particular excitement for the enemies they may face. Even as Victoire, the great and powerful succubus vampire, spoke to the masses of demons defending the catacombs Fran felt no lust for her as she normally would have. The fantasy was gone and now Fran was just aimlessly wandering the battlefield, tenuously siding with the demons simply because she knew no others. Fran wondered if she should have taken Helena’s offer to escape the Nexus or perhaps even join Henry in the Machina. But Fran didn’t think she’d find happiness that way either. No, there was only one real thing that Fran knew could make her feel better about herself.
Becoming more powerful.
It was always something Fran was capable of, but she simply had low expectations of herself and tried to enjoy her abilities she had now. But without wanton lust to fulfill her desires, and repetitive defeat due to facing enemies well above her abilities, Fran felt the need to improve herself instead of just engage in mindless indulgence. Reading that book gave Fran some ideas of how to improve herself, and of course fighting with some level of seriousness could also improve Fran’s skills. In this instance she wasn’t just going to go throw herself mindlessly at the enemy and rely on just her giant axe and a magic wand to keep her alive. She wanted to test her illusions and trapmaking skills, the real thing that she admire Victoire for.
After a brief warm up with one of the many demonic slaves they kept around, Fran walked through the catacombs looking for a fight. While she could follow the larger concentration of demons to where all the action was, Fran knew that the smart, dangerous ones were always going to try to find a way around. In particular Fran was looking for the mecha maids, knowing full well that infiltration is their strong suit. Henry was also someone to look out for since they were on opposing sides now. Fran briefly wondered if Iona was going to show up, but she doubt someone of her considerable power would lower herself to crawling through this dirt-invested ant hole. She’d more likely just crush the entire place underneath a meteor and have slaves dig out anything valuable.
As Fran wandered she received a telepathic message from Victoire. There was a harpy scouting above, another who had infiltrated inside, and Victoire wanted to know where Henry had been. Fran debated telling Victoire that he betrayed the demons, but frankly Fran would be surprised if Victoire didn’t already know that. He had always been vocal about his hatred of whoever sat on the throne of hell and of demons in general. Responding back to the psychic message Fran casually leaned against her axe.
”I’ll deal with the angel to the northeast. If you could teleport me near some hazards, I’ll make sure she’ll meet her end. As for Henry, last I saw of him he denounced Lucille and vowed to kill her and her daughter.” Neither a lie nor the truth. But if Victoire wanted more information from Fran than they could talk more later, if Henry was here then he was surely distracted by the next strongest thing on the battlefield right now.
Henry smiled as Zak's fire finally went out, only for that smile to lessen to a grin when he immediately reignited. Henry dodged out of the way of the scalding steam, letting out a small sigh as Zak said nothing in response to his witty commentary. Serpents of fire emerged from the vapor, revealing Zak in his ever blinding glory. It was hard to tear his eyes away from, so Henry made a Silver eye on the back of his head just in case Zak was going to try to attack with those tendrils from behind. That's when he noticed the artillery. "Oh fuck me." Hundreds of lasers, all being refracted in a glorious web of holy death. Then you had to take into account the fact that Zak was literally making the floor lava, Henry basically had no choice but to run for now.
His vision swerving back to Zak, he began cursing as he split into 3 different fire angels each with a different weapon in hand. There goes the running option. "You know, it's really rude to invite others to a dance for two." Henry had a cool facade plastered on his face, but he was really. He was gonna have to go at least 50 percent power if he wanted to come out of this looking clean. Henry clicked his tongue and prepared for round 2, forming a suit of armor around his usual invisible armor. Time to step it up with the Silver Eyes. It seemed instantaneous as what usually remained invisible suddenly became visible, a skull mask plastering itself over Henry's face as the air suddenly became breathable once more. This armor was special in that it's unique ability to siphon heat and convert it into magical energy.
Calculations began to run through his head as he figured out the exact angles he would need to open Gates from in order to survive, sorting through his inventory and placing everything in just the right spot so it would fall into his hands at just the right time. 'A heat seeking missile or two here, the mighty hammer of Mjolnir there, ooh that would be a nice deterrent if he fired anything too crazy. Shove a bunch of ice in one compartment so we can drain that boiling ocean and we're good to go! Oh wait, gotta make sure to use Sliske's hand for a gag at the end of this, just put that right next to the holy hand grenade.' All these mass organizations and minute adjustments all happened with a fraction of a second. Henry may be a fucking idiot when it came to social interactions, but when it came to the art of war he was the greatest mind of his time. That's what happens when you dedicate 400 years solely to learning how to steal and kill.
A Gate quickly opened on one side of Henry, catching most of the lasers meant for him and letting the rest calmly zip by. He then opened a new Gate above him, releasing those same lasers and letting them collide with the spears Zak had thrown from on high. He used some of the newly converted mana and strengthened both of his arms, blocking Zak with the Cheater's Blade in one hand, and calmly letting a heat seeking missile fall into his other, throwing it at the pike wielding Zak as hard as he could which was quite a bit faster than the normal speed of this missile. As in breaking the sound barrier fast. "Ya know, you're getting kind of boring now. The challenge is nice and all, but I miss that silly banter that we had going while I was chopping off your fingers." He turned to the sword wielding Zak and pushed up as hard as he could, looking to break his guard for just a second. A Gate the size of Henry's fist opened right in front of his torso and Mjolnir came flying out at Mach 1 speeds, looking to punch straight through Zak's stomach.
Eve was about to dive down and go into the area where she saw flashes of light, but she was hastily interrupted by something grabbing her ankle. It was another harpy, judging by the feeling of the claws on her leg, and she pulled Eve down as the two plummeted towards the ground. Eve, freaking out, began to flap her wings as she managed to pull upwards, not calculating for the new flight path, and slamming the two directly into the side of the stone watchtower Maceroy and Marie were at.
Eve opened her eyes after the impact, noticing that she was in a very... provocative position with the harpy that interrupted her flight path. She scrambled up to her feet, staring down at the other harpy and raising her voice. "What the fuck?! Why would you do that?!" While she was shouting, she noticed that her armor was split off and on the ground a meter away or so. There went that protection.
[Scouting the Battlefield - 50% Accomplished : Paused]
"Ye, but I wasn't int'rested in puttin' any robotics in m'self. I went down the alchemy route, makin' somethin' that should last me a good 'fitty years." Lillian climbed out of Epsilon and walked over to Miyu, sticking out her hand as a sign of greetings.
"Lillian. Former doc' of Hyperion. 'n this here is Epsilon."
Still, there was no response to feed into Henry's banter. Instead he was met with the wave of blistering heat that radiated from the divine weapon of heaven before him. Being so close to Zachariah was like being next to a star, the air waving off his body with sweltering heat as it fried. The insane temperatures in excess of 3000 kelvin burned so intensely they tainted the atmosphere with a shining hue. Looking into them was like staring into a welders torch, or gazing at the edge of the emerging sun during an eclipse. Moisture was sapped from the air, quickly evaporating the last of the torrent into steam which dissipated in the fierce winds. Eventually the cascading rain pouring down over the molten landscape began to peter out, exhausted by the calamitous heat which purged the air of water. It still rained from the clouds far above, but each droplet was quickly disintegrated back into steam before it could reach the battle.
Zachariah wielding the pike, continued to dart around as a heat seeking missile was hurtled in his direction at blinding speeds. It only took moments for the angel to realize the projectiles were tailing him. He passed a glance at the missile, matching its speed easily before focusing back on Henry. Fire spilled out in a small circular shock wave as the archangel suddenly changed direction, making a beeline for Henry, staring into the additional eye the demon had sprouted on the back of his head before leading the package right back to its sender. Light bled down the center of Zachariah's face as he split in halves, darting to either side of Henry to clear a path for the demon's own missile.
Zachariah wielding the flurry of spears continued to pump out more fiery missiles of holy flame, overwhelming the lasers shooting up from the ornate gates Henry summoned. More and more spears rained down, exploding if they came close to the demon in massive spherical balls of expanding holy fire meant to disintegrate his corrupted demonic flesh. Thunderous waves of force billowed behind the angel with each massive launch of the lances, kicking back smoke and dust in a large series of rings behind his radiant wings.
Zachariah wielding the saber parried with Henry, his blade faltering and flying out of the way as the demon push it away, spreading the angel's arms and prying apart his defense against the next move. The blindingly fast attack that followed was barely visible as it struck through the air at incomparable speeds, sinking into the fiery torso of the archangel, who looked down blankly into Henry's eyes unwavering. Instead of recoiling from the impact, the torso split apart, stretching open to fit the demon's weapon and then clamping down swiftly behind it in that same second once it passed harmlessly through the angel. Flames morphed out of Zachariah's body, reaching to take a hold of Henry. If they managed to get him, the fire would reach out over his body to consume the outer shell of his armor with arcane holy energy to boil him within like a pot of stew, or at least hold him in place for the attack from the other two Zachariahs, or rather other three after the one trailing the rocket split in half.
Hibiki left the front-line fight to the other Machina warriors. Hibiki had her own plans to take out key-figures leading the demon and heaven armies. That being said, Hibiki had only a bit of intel on the demonic forces stationed here. With Henry tenuously on their side he wasn't an immediate threat to the Machina either. She lacked the same information about Heaven's forces and suspects that she'll be seeing many new faces, so Hibiki would have to make sure to collect intel as best as she could.
One of the demon soldiers Hibiki knew was here was Victoire; she hasn't been seen in quite some time and it would be in her interest to take control of all the ancient and powerful warriors who once resided here. Not to mention the fact that the demons were defending this heavily fortified area would be perfect for a trapmaster like Victoire. Hence why Hibiki made sure to commission a protective barrier emitter that would withstand the effects of her roses. Having witnessed first hand how Victoire's roses turned the tide of battle, Hibiki made sure to be immune to their effects. Hibiki also would employ a device that would allow her to sneak among the undead known as "Zombie Musk", which effectively makes those with paranormal senses detect Hibiki as nothing more than an undead creature. Of course anyone with a brain could tell she was far to spry and intelligent to be undead, but this would be good enough for the masses of undead and demons who might have a passing awareness of Hibiki.
Another foe who Hibiki was on the look out for was the being known as Ghelgath Fenrir Calder-Berg, an ice based demon. Henry had mentioned him in his report and hasn't seen him in some time either, but from his portfolio Hibiki suspected that this "Lich King" may have an advantage fighting here too. His ice powers, along with the ability to create golems and soldiers from ice and possibly undead, was going to swamp their forces. Hibiki would need to take him out as soon as possible, less he start building his forces and overwhelmed the relatively smaller Machina faction.
And the last that Henry had mentioned was Fran. Hibiki was familiar with her as the demon who tried to offer some sort of an alliance to Shizuka at the Alchemist's Tower. She was a succubus with Illusion powers. Hibiki was rightful wary of such a power, knowing full well that illusions and traps can make for a dead combination. Hopefully Fran would continue to be careless and fool-hardly as previous reports have shown, but even animals can be cunning. However Fran was a low priority threat once her illusions were pierced, and nothing more than a regular demon soldier afterwards.
The name of the game was recon and air superiority. This battleground was far too large for ground forces to wander through aimlessly, and with the chance of undead coming out from the graveyard to attack their allies Hibiki couldn't afford to let their forces get bogged down. To that end she pursued aerial superiority and went back into her ADF-01. However instead of the previous nuclear payload, the ADF was equipped with a radar dish meant to provide live information about the battlefield below. Specifically it would be strong enough to scan and search for any activity below the surface of the battlefield; no doubt there were underground catacombs housing enemy forces. Aside from that the ADF was still equipped with the TLS "Excalibur", missiles, .80 caliber gyrojet rounds, and a rapid assault escape pod, when Hibiki will inevitable be shot down.
Hibiki arrived to the battle some time after most of the Machina forces had already began to engagement with the enemy. Hibiki was going to fly in fast and hot at Mach 2, her systems already locked onto enemy forces: Seaf and his company. She didn't expect heaven's army to employ more modern weapons, but that was not too much of a surprise. Perhaps they were rebellious insurgents from the Machina. Or possibly just intuitive enough to realize that heavy firepower doesn't need to come in the form of magic and Nexus nonsense. Either way when Hibiki was within 5000 meters fired her TSL at them before veering off to do another strafing run, also keeping eyes on Henry's fight with some sort of angel in case she needs to interfere.
Farris looked away from the clash between Henry and Zack, no because of the blinding lights, but because of a thunderous supersonic rumble, she felt stirring the still air of the Graveyard. True to her senses, the moment Farris turned around she was met with the Machina fighter jet nearly at 'point blank range' of them. "We are under attack from the Machina forces, ready your guard!" she barely had time to alert the others of the attack before the plane's nose flashed. Thankfully, the laser shot at them had a small delay necessary for its power cells to charge up, even that split second was enough to let Farris react and erect a crystal wall between them and the plane. Farris wasn't anticipating a laser so her barrier wasn't focused enough to deflect it, just disperse the energy by harmlessly refracting it.
"They are turning back for another shot. Look out for any ground troops they may be covering," Farris said as the aircraft turned around, motioning to strike then again. This time, however, she knew what to expect. Aside from being ready to defend them against the physical ordinance, Farris was prepared to deflect that laser cannon back at the plane in case it fired it again.
"Nothing that he didn't do a thousand times over," Victoire replied to Fran regarding the succubus' commentary on Henry. "Yet my intuition tells that there's something different this time around," she added before pushing the thoughts of Henry aside for the moment and focusing on the task at hand.
The Blood Countess teleported to another far away location and set up a couple more roses field in relatively well-covered areas. One was planted at a hillside, in the shade of a mausoleum and the other in a dry grove. Despite being closer to where Victoire sensed the presence of a few humans, thus she assumed to be close to the Machina base camp, those roses would have plenty of time to grow before being spotted from afar, being especially shielded from the apocalyptic battle taking place at the center of the Graveyard. Victoire set one more subterranean field, her trump card, in case the 'decoy' fields she has been setting above the ground ended up being destroyed because of some unforeseen Diabolus ex Machina.
As soon as she was done with these preparations, Victoire changed focus to try and prevent any android from stumbling into her traps. Splashing some blood on the ground Victoire summoned a pack of wolves as well as creating more shadow bats to spread around the gloom Graveyard. She let her familiars loose to track and scout ahead for any potential prey that Victoire could eliminate at once. If Victoire could find some living victims to feed off from, it would be for the best, if not androids were good as well. The Countess herself would stay hidden in the catacombs, for the time being. As soon as, or if her familiars found any prey, only then, she would decide how to proceed.
[D. Rose Radius: 240/60/60/30/30 meters] [Catacombs/Underground Coverage: 0.4/0.2/0.1 %]
