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They were moving, and the Mist was slowly coming back. It was gradual, and like Gerard had noted, there was only so much to go around. The others would, no doubt, do their own thing with it, and that was why Morden didn't use [i]his[/i] magic. They advanced out the door, and Morden swung a left around the door, unloading a quick burst of rounds into a guy who'd crept up with the intent to drop another flashbang in. Center mass, he dropped. It wasn't a terribly devastating caliber, he'd likely be fine. Morden wheeled around and kept himself between the defectors and his squad, in true Vanguard fashion. Though, today was a day where he was [i]only[/i] Vanguard, not Battlemage.

[color=a90000][I]CLEAR.[/i][/color]

Morden's singular method of casting a spell was to make himself stronger. To wield the Astral Mist was to drink from an ocean, and Morden was a whale among sharks. The Mist was thin here, too sparse to supply them all with what they needed for anything big. But compared to him, their spells were microscopic. If he took in Mist, he wouldn't leave enough for them to cast anything that could get them through this. Their channel would cut, and there likely wasn't even enough for Morden's spell to [i]activate.[/i] It'd just cripple them all.

This rang of the situation with Ivan. Betrayers, all of them. What right did soldiers have to cast judgment?

Unlike before, the answer was clear enough now. It was life or death, same as usual for a soldier.

He stepped free of the doorway, and now they had a foothold. Morden pointed his submachine gun at the stairwell, inching closer to it with the squad behind him. More spooks could come up and join the fight, while they cleared this floor and hunted down Dirk. [color=a90000][i]I HAVE THE STAIRS, ESCALATION HALTED. PROCEED AT WILL.[/i][/color] It was psychic communication, but the [i]rage[/i] in Morden's mind was as clear as any rage in his voice. Like screaming over a loud thunderstorm and being heard plainly as can be. There was a corruption snaking through the upper ranks, something that could have dismantled Rassvet from within.

And Morden wouldn't take it lying down.