"Hooooooh! What a show!" Edmund shouted to himself, clapping himself. "Remind me to praise the boys down at the weapon development branch, will you?" - The mecha did not reply. "Thanks girl." He continued. His sensors were still picking up an incoming object of some sort. It lacked a heat signature, so Edmund assumed it was a projectile of sorts, and by the looks of it, it was a rock. A rock. Yes. A rock. Stone. Rock? What?

Such brittle material was no match for his mighty Hellhound. Her very skin could take a nuclear blast head on, what could a fucking rock hope to accomplish? She would stand there, and it would merely bounce off, like a rubber ball. Any moment now. Three, two, one, brace for impa-.. It stopped. The rock, and by extension, the stone pillars all stopped in front of him. Like it was sentient. A thing, with thoughts, and brains and feelings. Rising up from the ground, standing on top of a hand-shaped stone construct of sorts, It spoke. Using words, verbally, Edmund could hear it. Why? What? How did it talk? It was a fucking rock. What was it saying? Something about something, something important? Huh? Edmund hit mute, it could talk all it wanted, he was here to clean the planet, and it was in the way. His way. His path of destruction. His vacation.

"You're in my way." He growled over the speaker system, loud enough for anyone within a mile to hear, as he pushed the left and right joystick towards each other. The humongous steel giant swung it's left and right arm together, intent on flattening the shit out of the little bump in the road that was Erde. If the blow met it's mark, whatever remained intact, would be -eaten- away by the huge drills on the center of it's club-like fists. Edmund immediately flipped open another missile tube, and let loose another volley upon the yet-to-be-destroyed part of the city, in the same pattern and approach as before. His mecha was fully equipped to deal with multiple threats simultaneously, and he would not let himself be prevented from carrying out his mission by some walking piece of dirt. Once he crushed it beneath his feet, the only 'threat' against him would be removed, as far as he was concerned.

The outcome was not as Erde had expected, he honestly hadn't expected him to surrender. His expectation was that the giant machine would attempt to strike him with a punch. This was not the proper defense mechanism for that assault so Erde tucked his arms into his side, pulling them backwards quickly. The titan slid backwards on the hand and onto the tip of the middle finger, the two gigantic metal crushers ground the rest of the hand into a fine brown-black powder before his eyes. So that's how strong it is, capable of decimating stone with little effort, unfortunate, Erde would have to use a stronger material to stay the progress of this giant.

As the second volley of bombs was blasted at the city his towers actually fell, all three of them. That was irritating, he would have to start again. Though once he was finished he would actually focus solely on creating his construct. That was the primary thing on his mind, and now that it was destroyed Erde was angry. Not seething, nor was he greatly enraged. This was little more than an inconvenience in the seemingly indefinite existence of the titan. But back to the pressing matter at hand.

Right now Erde has to get away to actually have the time to draw out some of the stronger material. With one quick backwards jump Erde was falling to the ground, as he fell he watched the thin trickle of water from his face fall slower than he was. It was trailing after him in a neat little line. Though his focus was on stopping the enormous metal construct he was mentally distracted with this little line. Not that it really mattered, what was this enormous metal contraption going to do? Kick him? It's own weight wouldn't allow for a kick, it would unbalance it and that would spell its ruin.

A rain of fiery death. Thousands of Necropolians lost their lives as exploding spears of mass destruction came descending from the skies. Surely, their gods had abandoned them. Buildings were obliterated in an instant, shelters collapsed, hopes and dreams were removed. War had come to Necropolis, and it had sent an agent of chaos to do it's dirty work. War is hell.

Genocide watched as his foe plummeted towards the ground below, narrowly escaping his initial attack. He smiled. That was the end of that. His sensors had already calculated Erde's downwards trajectory, and he knew that with only a flick of his wrist, he could end his existence. But for what purpose? Erde had not done him any wrong. Not a single attack had been thrown his way. Heck, he was even given a chance to leave peacefully. Perhaps the elemental was a decent person, a friend. Could they be friends? Edmund didn't have many of those. It would be nice, to have someone to confide in, to trust. There weren't any of those around nowadays. Only his girl, his machine. In time, he would place such trust in Erde, and they would be best friends forever!

..But he would be betrayed. Erde would break his trust! The fucker would stab him in the back! Destroy everything he had spent so many years building! Genocide would have none of it. He would destroy his enemy, before his enemy could destroy him. There were no allies!

He thrust his hand forward, sealing his enemy's fate.

The mecha stood it's ground. It would not deliver a kick, nor a punch, not even a blast from any of it's weapons. Instead, the deciding factor of Erde's final demise, was it's 400 feet long, 35 feet thick steel tail that came sweeping forward like a scorpion's sting at fast enough velocity to reach Erde long before he hit the ground, and launch him far up into the sky, granted he survived the impact itself. It swung itself upwards at 85 degrees. Aiming itself square at the center of Erde's body, though the size of it was bigger than him.

Genocide quickly peeked over at the energy cannon's statistics, it would be fully charged soon. This fight was over.

Yes, there was no punch. Nor was there a kick. However a follow up was to be expected, Erde knew it was likely to come but the chances of it happening? Well they weren't very slim, but Erde's an optimist for all the enigmatic behavior he portrays. The tail would strike him, there's not much Erde can do about being attacked in this position. Instead, what he could do is take the strike in the least devastating way possible. With a slight twist of his body he took the tail to his chest and grabbed a hold of it with his fingertips, the bronze caps flattened against the metal structure and gripped on like suction cups. Erde had honestly not seen the tail before, and this was not part of his plan. Though it did put him into an advantageous position.

The titan's body sprawled against the metal monster's tail, gripping it tightly as it was not yet finished with its swing. Erde held firm to the tail and was hoping that it wouldn't open fire on its own body. If that were the case this might prove to be more difficult than it should be. However, as soon as the swing would finish Erde was going to erupt into a hasty climb up the tail to get to the body. If that succeeds, well, Edmund's going to regret his decision to not retreat.

The sheer horror of the second onslaught froze Ysolda in her tracks. She had fought demons, monsters, other Exalts, and had dealings with the Mask of Winters... but this was destruction on a level even above that which she had seen before. In nearly seven centuries, no single entity had been quite so large or imposing. Even Juggernaut, the Mask of Winters' behemoth, was not so destructive. This had to cease. The elemental creature was doing what it could, but it was having trouble. The Solar looked around once more at the calamity that this titanic machine had wrought, and closed her eyes. She took a step forward, positioned her hands out before her in a circular motion, and then brought them to her chest. Her rage and hatred for this massive enemy welled up within her until it seemed to suffuse her very essence.

"I don't know if you can hear me or not, but you have one chance to stop this madness." Ysolda sincerely didn't want to use this spell, for it invoked the true name of Ligier. Every Exalted occult master knows about Ligier the Green Sun. The defining soul of the Demon Prince, Malfeas. Ligier once had another name, however... when Malfeas was a Primordial instead of the demons’ home and prison. To invoke his true name was to dabble in that which caused the Primordial War in her homeworld of Creation, so many centuries ago. Unfortunately, such a foe who is willing to engage in mass destruction must be met with equal power if they are to truly be beaten. Such was the unfortunate truth of the matter.

At this point, the caste mark on Ysolda's forehead glowed like the sun. But what was more, she was engulfed in a brilliant bonfire of essence that burned from her feet to at least a foot above her head. The ground beneath her feet would be left faded, as if exposed to intense sunlight for many days. So intense is this blaze, she would be visible for several miles. The initial burst of light was such that any nearby entities might even be temporarily blinded. Lastly, the light produced is bright and steady enough to read by, out to a distance of around eighty yards. It was now that the power of a Solar Exalt would be shown to the Multiverse.

Her God-Forged Champion of War changed as well. It was enveloped in her anima, just as she was. This manifested in a secondary layer of energy surrounding her. This armor layer was different, however. It was somewhat darker, yet still golden in color. A large red cloak draped behind it, seemingly made of ethereal feathers. Furiously glowing silver eyes shown from behind a heavy helm. To onlookers at a distance, it would look like a knight was about to fight a large monster. However, this knight was monstrous itself, towering over two stories. By comparison, the immense machine would probably barely register Ysolda a threat, being that it was over one-hundred times her height. Such would be akin to a person registering a hamster as a threat.

Without a moment of hesitation, the mecha continued the swing of it's tail upwards, bringing Erde, who had managed to cling on to it like an insect, up to head level, 'standing' toe to toe with Genocide himself, who was well out of sight behind several feet of thick armor plating and layers upon layers with wires. 50 feet away from the snarling teeth of the Hellhound. Numerous digital eyes and sensors were locked on the elemental, Genocide wasted no time, and slammed his fist down on a big red button as the elemental was brought before him. The energy cannon was fully charged. Perfect timing.

The battlefield was lit up with a bright light, a thick beam of red swirling energy gushed out of Hellhound's gaping maw, tearing through it's teeth without warning. It was 30 feet wide, perfectly round, and traveled in a straight line. Likely going 'through' Erde, and slamming into the city with blinding speed. Only after it had penetrated several miles down into the ground in an instant, did the sound of it firing emit, like a thunderclap following a lightning strike. Erde was it's primary target, but it emitted for a few seconds, and Genocide wanted to extinguish a secondary target that had presented itself not too far from his position. He hadn't identified it, but it was radiating a bright light that was next to impossible not to notice. The beam itself would continue for 2-3 seconds more, so he used the opportunity to pull the beam down onto Ysolda, phasing her body out of existence if she was hit directly.

And for good measure, Genocide also let go the remaining missile tubes, and showered both the previous city targets once more with missiles, making sure to include Ysolda's position in the radius, but not his own. 1200 explosive spears of death shot up, and descended down upon whatever survivors still drew breath within the ruins of the broken city. Compared to the time he fought at Snek, this was a god damn training mission.

The enemy did not cease its onslaught, and so Ysolda had little choice. She must invoke the true name of Ligier and end this madness. However, as the immense machine attacked the elemental creature, so to did it continue attacking her. This was to be expected of a foe so large, of course. The large beam of red light tore through the sky as if rending even the heavens asunder. This energy then shredded downward through the earth and right toward her. To make matters worse... just before the beam hit, Ysolda could make out yet another volley of the explosive projectiles being launched from the titanic foe. Seemed things were heating up. Good. She would hate to be the only powerhouse present in this skirmish.

Gritting her teeth, Ysolda summoned up her will and combined multiple charms into one simultaneous action. She would combine the "Seven Shadows Evasion" and "Flow Like Blood" into a technique that could flawlessly evade multiple attacks. First, the laser. Ysolda, despite being encased in a large suit of armor composed of hardened essence, was even faster and more nimble that in her normal form. This was due in no small part to the strength of the armor itself. Slamming her foot into the earth, she rocketed to the side at the last instant in a burst of dust and debris. The beam of light carved deeply into the ground where she was standing not a second prior. Such an attack would have spelled certain demise, had she not evaded it... even with the enhanced defenses her Anima Banner and God-Forged Champion of War afforded her.

The peril had not passed... for there was a volley of many missiles overhead, all screaming downward in an attempt to snuff out the life of the Solar. But Seven Shadows Evasion and Flows Like Blood were miraculous charms indeed. As she rushed her foe, the missiles rained down upon her. However... each one that struck would not find its impact point to be Ysolda, but the rock and earth where she stood mere milliseconds prior. Her movements were so accelerated by the charm, that she appeared in multiple places at once. Each image lasted for less than a second, and each new grouping of images was closer to the behemoth than the previous group. The debris thrown up by her rapid movement, combined with the explosions of the missiles, conjured up a truly hellish battlefield. One that was further highlighted by the intense light emitted by the Solar Exalted's anima.

Ysolda would then utilize the superior speed of her current form and the movements from her evasion to position herself at an extreme angle to the mechanical foe. She would, in fact, use its size against it and hide on one of the machine's leg-plates. Landing firmly against the behemoth's leg, Ysolda slammed the fist of her essence-armor into the metal to create a grapple point within one of the wide grooves. She then resumed her incantation of the spell she would use to end this nightmare.

"Ligier. Ophidian deceiver. Your name I invoke for the power it holds. By the primordial's defeat my enemies are yours. By the primordial's defeat, my will is your will. It is now that I command you to lend your power to me and obliterate the fate of those who stand in my way. Condemn them to eternal torment within your realm of terror and rejoice in knowing they share your pain everlasting!" The winds howled wildly and the Solar's bright golden anima became tinged with a sickly green color as Ysolda continued her incantation. Soon, this place would be a wasteland devoid of all life. This may in fact include her own death at the hands of her own incredible and destructive spell... but that would be a small price to save these beings from this mechanical horror. Soon, all would know the power of Ysolda Corinthus.

She would not go silently into the night. She WOULD bring this monster down with her.

( Motes Spent: 9m, 2wp. 0 Personal, 9 Peripheral. Motes Remaining: 0/34 Personal, 68/80 Peripheral. Remaining Willpower: 6/10 )

With one quick motion at the sight of the monster's mouth exploding he grabbed his core from his chest and pitched it like a baseball in the general direction of the enormous automaton. Erde's consciousness flew over the shoulder of the metal monstrosity, his vision spinning as he flipped around in the air. He watched the massive laser decimate his body and blast towards the city. The titan's mind was full of thoughts about how he would have to gather more bronze to reconstruct his old form. And his plants had just died, that's frustrating as well. The chunk thudded to the ground a few dozen yards behind the feet of the great machine. If it was stepped on it would only get buried beneath the dirt, otherwise it's just an unassuming rock with a couple of old and worn engravings. It will take a little while to rebuild a body, so Erde is totally out of commission for a while.

*Beep*

"Huh?" Genocide growled. A distorted voice roared over the inter-com. "HQ to Genocide!" - What!? Headquarters? He was on down-time, why would they-.. "Come in Genocide!" - He sighed, in the distance the hundreds upon hundreds of missiles crashed down upon the earth, and shattered it, leaving nothing but a massive crater in it's wake. "Genocide here.", the energy beam he had fired had vanquished both of his foes, as far as he was concerned. "Return to base." the inter-com commanded. "Return to-.. What? Why!? I'm on a fucking mission he-.. " - "Your down-time is cancelled. We're launching a preliminary assault on the Angar-Ryllan armada, a hit-and-run if you will. You're on the first wave."

They really wouldn't let him do his own thing, would they? Sheeshush. He was having such a good time and all. "What about the mecha?" He asked. It wasn't easy peasy getting that massive steel construct around, especially not after entering orbit. "Leave it. You will be compensated for it's loss." - Huh, they must be desperate to go to such a length to get him to join that assault. Expecting one hell of a battle, no doubt. Great. "Angar-Ryllan, huh?" Edmund said. "I suppose I haven't got a choice. Departing now, I'm done here anyway." He flicked a switch, and he was dropped down into the pod-jet below. It was about this time that Ysolda was half-way through her chanting.

Edmund put on his seatbelt, pushed the joystick forward, and pulled a red emergency lever hanging from the ceiling. A winged escape pod shot out of the mecha's mouth like yet another missile, before it's engines roared loudly and propelled it into the distance and up into the sky at 1500mph, leaving nothing but a smoketrail behind. Well, that and the mecha itself.

Not that it mattered, because excactly three seconds after taking off, Edmund pushed the self-destruct button, and the mecha and it's three nuclear reactors, both it's primary and the two located within it's drill-fists, detonated instantly in a humongous blast of unparalleled destructive nuclear power. Would be a shame if Ysolda and Erde happened to be next to it when that happened.

Ysolda's chanting was interrupted by a loud hissing sound and the roar of fire that erupted from the head of the large machine. It was initially similar to the explosives that the thing had launched at her... but almost instantaneously she realized it was both larger and faster, not to mention oddly shaped. It resembled the sky-ships that the Realm would send against the forces of the North, back on her home plane of Creation. She would have to be sure, and activated one of her only sense-enhancement charms "Spirit-Detecting Glance.". This would allow her to see if there was any life force within the sky-ship.

Indeed, the pilot of the extremely large Warstrider (what Mechs are called in Creation) was fleeing the scene. Unforgivable... Unheard of... He would end so many lives and then flee the presence of a Lawbringer?! While unable to hurl the spell she had initially been preparing far enough to strike the coward, she could use her anger and hatred to curse his very existence. Her anima actually died down for a moment, then flared back up with hints of a foul black and crimson throughout the gold, silver, and purple. She would not be taken so lightly... and this bastard would forever remember the day he met her.

A single word, imbued with all of her negative emotions toward this horrible person, was spoken and empowered with a significant amount of essence. The man, woman, or creature at the helm of the ship would hear murmurs of this word within their mind... and almost immediately feel the effects of the black curse. Its strength would soon start to falter, its mind would weaken and wither, its stamina and durability would chip away, its social skills would crumble, and even things that it had learned in life would become harder to grasp. Ysolda had heard of other beings using this curse in Creation. It was a terrible thing that damaged everything about a person, but fatalities were rare.

Unfortunately, just after Ysolda uttered the foul curse... the machine whose leg she was clinging to began to explode.The immediate blast tore through the mech itself and rended it into many large pieces. The large plate that the Solar had been holding onto slammed into her body with extreme force. Her anima and the God-Forged Champion of War absorbed the majority of the impact force, but she would definitely be sore in the morning. Then came the heat, the shockwave, and the main force of the multiple simultaneous explosions. Already pressed against the leg-plate, the Solar was sent careening into the air.

The plate itself became red-hot from the nuclear force as it tore through the sky, further pressing the endurance of Ysolda's defenses. She was holding up, but the heat was getting to her. Blisters were starting to form on her skin almost immediately. She would survive the burns thanks to her medical abilities, but then the shockwave caught up with both the plate and the Solar. It hit her body with the force of a building falling on her. Half a second after its impact, Ysolda would choke up blood, which spattered on her face due to the extreme velocity at which she was traveling. Not even her armor and anima could absorb all the force that the explosion created.

She invoked even further reflexive defenses, honed by her centuries of combat experience. "Iron Skin Concentration" was a poor name for the charm, as it implied one needed to concentrate. However, it was simply an ability that could be activated with but a thought and a small amount of essence. This further increased her defenses against the damage of the shockwave, the heat, and the force of the large plate pressing forcefully against her body.

After a few seconds (that felt like an eternity), she was launched free of the explosion itself. Her body was burned, her organs were damaged by the shockwave, and the plate she had somehow been sheltered behind was quickly approaching the ground. She had no choice but to slam into the earth at high speed. Her anima and God-Forged Champion of War would absorb a large part of the force. To further lessen the damage, a blast from the Medium Essence Cannon on the GFCoW's shoulder would break up the solid rock and earth into a softer area of pulverized dust and dirt just before impact. It would pain her severely, but she would survive. She would live to fight another day.

Nearly dead, covered in burns, bruises, and dirt, and unable to save or avenge the lives of the people in the city that was now a few kilometers away... Ysolda had no other option but to lay there and allow her medical charms to speed her healing. The combination of "Wound-Mending Care Technique" and "Instant Treatment Methodology" would save her a lot of time in healing, especially given that not an hour prior, she had used "Body-Mending Meditation". She would be back on her feet in as little as an hour. The pain during healing would be no less pleasant, but survival was not always a pleasing journey.

( Motes Spent: 33m, 4wp. 0 Personal, 33 Peripheral. Motes Remaining: 0/34 Personal, 35/80 Peripheral. Remaining Willpower: 2/10 )

End of "Scene" effects: God-Forged Champion of War dissipates, Anima Banner reduces intensity and returns to normal.

Edmund had just plotted in the course for the Paradiso asteroid defense field when the bombs went off. He could hear his mecha erupting into a humongous explosion in the distance behind him, such a shame.. He really liked tha-..

Guttural whispers filled his head. Dark and brooding, filled with hatred and malice. His head started pounding, he could feel blood vessels pop, and the crimson liquid pour out of his eyes, ears and nose. "..Hound!?" He cried out. The whispers were inaudible, but many. Repeating themselves over and over. It didn't need to make itself known, Edmund knew what it was. A punishment. For destroying his companion, the Hellhound, leaving it's body to die on unknown soil so abruptly. He should have known better. She would never leave him alone, not for as long as he lived. The pain increased. He started shaking. Clawing at his own face, he screamed for forgiveness, but there was none to be given. His eternal friend was most displeased with his behavior, and it would remind him of the terrifying power it held over him once more. Darkness came upon him, as if someone had taken away all the color and light of the world. Edmund could no longer see, his eyes were reduced to nothing but two eternally blank white orbs of sorrow. He screamed, blood mixed with tears, he broke his hand against the cold metal panel, and eventually passed out from the pain of punishment. In the last conscious moment, and epiphany struck him. He knew what she wanted.

He knew what he had to do.

As the vessel departed for Paradiso, Edmund fell into a deep slumber. A soft smile upon his mouth. Hound had embraced him once more, and he would never leave her again.

Explosion roaring and rattling about him the titan cemented himself against the ground. Powerful waves of heat and energy blasted across his core, a piece of enormous shrapnel implanted itself in the earth beside him. Erde, though, was left unharmed among the explosion. As the dust settled so did his mind, a composure of thoughts to try and piece together the odd situation that had just taken place. An enormous metal construct came, killed thousands, and then died in a ball of flame and fury. Though one thing tickled at his mind, something he heard from the woman he met before.

Something foul.

A word of power? If so a hateful one at that.

A last resort spell, of course. Cruel, hateful, and pure evil.

Disregarding the foul word he began the quick process of rebuilding a body for himself. The stone rose to a vertical axis and spun to point away from where his 'face' would be. A few strands of clay and silicate were ripped from the ground, they warped themselves into position around the core and turned into a thick cement. Following them was a layer of stone, small and large rocks wriggled from the ground below and began clattering together into a vague humanoid form. Finally a layer of dirt exploded from the ground and clasped itself around the rocky form, creating a more natural shape about him, making him seem more humanoid. He was faceless at this time, no real distinguishing features beyond his earthen form. He was a blank slate without the bronze skeleton that previously held him together. What's more is that he would have to regrow his plants from scratch, and that would take a great deal of time.

Regardless, he moved on to bigger and more important things. The woman from before, in the city, was wounded. Erde needed to check up on her and see her condition. The ground split and a small circle of stone rose upwards under his footing. The ground shut around it and Erde zipped off towards her. The ground shook in waves around him, Erde needed to get to her quickly. The Titan was unaware of whether she was alive nor dead, and he needed to check on her.

(Since Beta said there's not much he can write for her, I'm going ahead and posting.)
Approaching the charred woman was a rather grizzly sight to behold, even with her armor she had received many deep wounds and painful looking burns. He slowed himself and stepped down off of his pedestal, carefully stepping towards her he knelt down. Her wound were terrible, a lesser being would have died in the blast. Erde was impressed to say the least, that was a massive explosion from the metal monster.

The titan pushed himself back up onto his feet and looked upwards, watching something tear through the sky. Its explosion had left quite a large hole in the clouds, a trickle of sunlight actually fell down through. It was nice, despite the discord left behind from Edmund's violence.

Erde looked back down at Ysolda and began to think.

Something in his very core compelled him to do what must be done.

With one quick motion he put his heel on her burnt chest, the dirt and stone warping a bit to flatten out on her. "You commited a heinous action. A truly evil deed." A short pause as he oriented himself to see her face a bit better. "The balance of power has been tipped in the favor of evil. As I am a natural being or balance and order it is in my code to act upon such extremes."

Leaning in a bit towards her, showing his currently faceless head to her. "In my domain, balance must be maintained. Therefore you must die." Erde's body flucuated slightly, tightening his stones internally to provide a more rigid skeletal structure. "Speak your last words."

After some time, the elemental creature made its appearance once again before Ysolda. It had taken some time, and she was nearly back to full health... but then the creature stepped on her and started to talk about how she had tipped the balance and how she must die. She was told then to speak her last words. Really? This thing was threatening her? Some asshole comes in and eliminates a city... then explodes his warstrider with a force comparable to her most powerful spell... yet SHE is the evil one for cursing his existence. Ysolda had always known that lesser elementals could be dim, but this one was just stupid.

"You claim I am evil, yet I am not the one who took the lives of hundreds... who scarred the face of a world... who callously killed and maimed until feeling I was beaten, then fled." She did not move, as the elemental stood above her prone position, and could attack the instant it felt she was once again a threat to it. That said, if attacked while speaking, the Solar would simply skip her speech to the creature. "Yet for my part, defending this bleak realm as best I can, you label me a blight upon it. You know nothing, creature. Nothing of me, nothing of what I am, nothing of what I can do." A smile crept onto her face as she finished her sentence. "So if you're going to kill me for that, then by all means, try. If you'd rather learn more, then step back and allow me to get to my feet."

Should the earth elemental choose to make good on its threat and start pressing down to crush her, or mount a different form of offense, Ysolda would merely open her mouth. Humans are unable to SPEAK the Word of Ten Thousand Birds, part of the song that all the birds of Creation sing when they gather in one place, but can channel the power of the word through their essence. In a burst of energy and multicolored light, Ysolda would suddenly transform into a flock of birds. This sudden expenditure of Essence would also re-flare her defensive anima, lending the flock a moderate resistance to being attacked. These birds would scatter into various directions and fly off into the dark horizon of this world, far from those who claim neutrality but practice tyranny.

However, if it chose to let her stand... she would be both grateful, and continue on as if the threat had never occurred in the first place. She'd say "Yes, I cursed that being. It was a foul thing to do, but no fouler than the actions he took. I am unable to perform such a spell more than once in a lifetime, so you needn't worry about it happening again." She would dust herself off and crack her neck a couple times before resuming. "That said, I need to either find a way to help any survivors. That, and maybe figure out where the warstrider pilot fled to." She'd then motion toward the ruined city. "Shall we see if we can restore order for these beings, or no?"

The ball was no longer in her court. The wheel of fate was turning, and Erde would determine the direction it rolled.

( If Erde attacks: Motes Spent: 10m, 1wp. 0 Personal, 10 Peripheral. Motes Remaining: 0/34 Personal, 25/80 Peripheral. Remaining Willpower: 1/10 )

( If he does not: Motes Spent: 0m, 0wp. Motes Regained: 12. 12 Personal, 0 Peripheral. Motes Remaining: 12/34 Personal, 35/80 Peripheral. Remaining Willpower: 2/10 )

"Justifying evil actions based on the actions of others is a mortal concept, spellcaster. I personally went to slay the metal beast for it bore evil will in my domain. Had you stayed behind you would have never faced my judgement. However, you followed me and your sole action was to spit a foul curse upon it. Your attempts to justify yourself to me fall on the undeniable truth that most organic life is stupid and petty. Yet it views itself above all else. Most cruelly the planets that gave the very life's blood that flows through your veins." There were no pauses in Erde's speech, just a slow deliberate tone about it. Every word was spaced a half step away from the others to make the impact of each ring true. "If what you say is true, and that you can demonstrate something to prove yourself unworthy of my scorn. Then do so, show me your proof. Return the land to how it was before the metal beast, and then save the wounded."

Erde took his foot off of her chest, stepping back and grabbing her hand, hoisting her back up to her feet. Speaking of the curse only lead to further frustration but Erde was going to let her 'prove her worth.' Though he was dubious about this situation. Every word she spoke was about helping those who were harmed, and repairing the damage done by the massive metal monstrosity. At the back of his head though he questioned whether letting her stand up was the best choice, she had even stated that she was unable to cast the curse again. Good, that information would stick with him. Due to his suspicion of her Erde kept his focus on the ground tight, should she dare to double cross him he would crush her. The very ground would split apart, like the mouth of some great beast, and the earth below would consume her. If she dared. However if she did not, and did somehow prove herself trustworthy, he would forget the incident ever happened. And balance would return to this area.

Beowulf of Trinity never could properly comprehend morality—though in truth, most concepts and emotions intrinsic to the human condition often struck the automaton as completely alien. They were eccentric— confusing to the God Machine above all else—though current former caretaker, Jurreal Maldor, had shown him much in the ways of Humanity.

Anticipation and joy; these two unique emotions Jurreal revealed to Beowulf when the manually-powered digging utensils of his tribe first unearthed him, for the wizened chieftain knew then that a defender had come forth from the heavens to shield them from the marauding daemons that prowled the Wasteland World’s boundless lands. Beowulf had made notes of the changes in Jurreal’s unique gait, such as the way his eyes ‘shimmered’ upon taking his first look at his metallic body or how his fleshy eyes secreted a bizarre mixture of salt and water.

And then there was fear and anger. Personally, Beowulf found these two emotions the most enticing and intriguing of them all. The first time the Machine God had been introduced to them had been when his caretaker’s primordial enemies first came down from the western mountains—just so they had done in the past—with their weapons held high and their voices bearing the songs and words of war and slaughter. The tribal natives ran for their ramshackle adobes, donning club and rifle in preparation for the mounting of ferocious defense of their homes. The primal aggression and unadulterated terror that radiated from Jurreal’s people’s bodies was truly overwhelming, breathtaking even (if Beowulf could even breathe perhaps), their vigor strong and their willingness to die even stronger. Their spirits seemed to take on a more savage demeanor with each death that they delivered to the enemy. Suffice to say, their emotions only intensified when Beowulf unshackled the peerless might of his particle weapon and electromagnetic rotary guns.

When Beowulf first exited the wormhole, the first thing that met his visual sensors was the current state of the metropolis. Perched upon a hefty mound of debris, the Machine God scanned the landscape before him, sweeping his great head from side to side. The muffled screams of the dying met his acoustic sensors; the crimson radiance of roaring flame reflected off of his armored body.

He was unmoved by the dismal vista, for such destruction was not unknown to him, but the sight of what appeared to be a gargantuan human male made of stone, wood and bits of tree seemed relatively…’out of place’ so to speak. Indeed, that was interesting—but only vaguely.

What did catch and hold Beowulf’s eye was the individual that the Tree Man, whom Beowulf had designated as Unidentified Entity-268, held under his heel. Her physical appearance contrasted well with that of one of Jurreal’s tribe. It was uncanny. It was confusing to Beowulf; he had sworn his most generous of caretakers’ people had been left on the Wasteland World.

Part of him wanted to act, though the God Machine knew that he now resided within foreign lands. His presence he did not conserve however; on the mound he would remain, his large body in full view of anyone that looked to his direction. In preparation for possible conflict, Beowulf began charging his particle weapon, cycling plasma through the magnetically-charged coil that spanned the length of his spine.

Oddly enough, the earthen beast let her stand. For all it'stalk of neutrality and balance, it was the same as any lesser elemental on her home realm... generally dim-witted and of simple yet unrealistic ideals. That aside, Ysolda was not one to break her word, no matter who it was to. As a Solar, doing so could have more real effects than her simply feeling bad about it. Ah, the 'Great Curse", as it was called. Handed down by the primordials as they were defeated. Another story for another time, perhaps. Dusting herself off, she would look around for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"Well. Being hurled such a distance and tossed around like a child's toy seems to have rattled my sense of direction." Sure, the big open hole in the sky above them, caused by the nuclear explosion, showed her the general direction she needed to go... but this thing was an earth elemental, and would know the exact spot she needed. "Take me to the center point of the conflict. Not of the final explosion... but of the conflict itself." Likely, the creature would wonder or even ASK why. As such, Ysolda continued to speak. "I must convene with the energy of the planet, and meditate on the state it was in before witnessing so much death. It will take a day at least."

She couldn't restore the lives of the sentient beings that were dead. But the energies of the land could be cleansed, any creatures of darkness that began moving in would find no purchase on the purified and restored land, and even crops would find it easier to grow. The magical prowess of a Solar Exalt was truly a wonderful thing. Just as capable of saving a life as it was of snuffing it out like so much devilweed. "If that is not what you expected, I must apologize. However, the conflict left me rather drained of my power." said the woman as she simply stared off toward the scarred landscape near where the large warstrider had been earlier in the day.

To answer her question about the center of the disaster he turned himself to the right, raising his arm to point towards the most devastated zone. The ground was almost completely glassed there, and the enormous shards of metal left behind by the giant beast were still smoldering with weak flames. In the distance something caught the titan's eye. It was atop the enormous metal scrap that was once the enormous death machine piloted by Edmund, it was a much smaller metal construct. The titan's head ripped open into what could be considered a parallel to a scowl, there were more of them. Ysolda would have to wait, Erde's job had only just started apparently. This one was not going to escape, not on Erde's watch.

Erde turned to face Ysolda and pointed to her. "Do not follow me." With that he turned himself around, Erde was in no mood to deal with this. He didn't even bother to be showy with his travel, the ground simply moved under his feet. Erde's featureless form sliding across the earth in an unnatural fashion, his arms at his sides and legs only barely parted. The titan was going to demand information from this one. If it decided to ignore him, he would destroy it.

Quickly approaching the new machine he did not rise to meet its eye, the last opponent taller than his stock form that he rose to meet destroyed his mask and almost his core. When he was only a dozen yards away from the metal creature he stopped, staring into the metal frame. Erde adjusted himself into a more natural standing position, and began to speak. "Metal giant, you are the second to appear here. I demand you tell me who you are. I demand you tell me what you know of the last giant who appeared here. Lastly, I demand you leave once you have given me this information."

Though Erde made demands of the great metal beast, it simply stood there and ignored his words. Perhaps it was just a statue, albeit an incredibly large and unnecessary one.The titan turned himself around and spotted Ysolda in the distance, and he wandered over to her. Now that the BoT was not considered an issue there was nothing keeping her from doing as she promised to do. Erde approached her and pointed to the center, the scowl of earth closing back into a blank and featureless mass of dirt and sand. "Fix this, and you will return balance. If you do not, then you wi-" Before he could finish the statement, as he was speaking to Ysolda she started shaking violently. As though she was having some sort of seizure, the kind where you foam at the mouth. It was so sudden and fast that even Erde could not react to what happened next.

The fragile humanoid form simply exploded into a disgusting red slop that flew off into every direction. There was no big bang, no flash of light, she simply liquefied in every direction away from her body.The earth titan said nothing, he simply stood there as chunklets of sorceress flopped off of his body.

Silence usually occupied Beowulf’s scanning processes. Though coming off as rather rude (Jurreal had lectured him multiple times on how discourteous it was to deliberately withhold acknowledging the quarries, concerns or statements of others), Beowulf felt slight justification for his less-than-stellar performance—though a meager measure of pettiness drifted through his electronic mind the more he dwelled upon it. Unless they were made by individuals that he knew personally, Beowulf wasn’t used to having demands made of him; it annoyed him to no end actually—a pet peeve if you will. The defining reasoning behind such feelings escaped him.

Perhaps he wasn’t as devoid of emotion as he had previously perceived. Well, that or his Caretaker’s own perceptions and sentiments had rubbed off on him. Prior to his departure to this strange new place, Beowulf had spent several years in Jurreal’s company, so such a theory couldn’t have been far off from the truth. Beowulf of Trinity wasn’t entirely sure if this was normal (or optimal) behavior. Odd? Different? Most certainly. Normal? Not a chance.

Beowulf was yanked free from his own thoughts when the woman he had observed perished before his eyes. At her death, sadness did not come, for she was a stranger, but the Machine God’s powerful suspicions of her association with Jurreal’s tribe still lingered aimlessly over him.

This was enough cause to warrant comment and, if it came down to it, appropriate action.

“Update: review of Unidentified Entity-268 has been completed, yet no formal designation has been given nor compiled,” said Beowulf. “As such, a temporary name has been assigned to Unidentified Entity-268; Unidentified Entity-268 has been informally renamed to ‘Walking-Stone’, and will remain as such until Walking-Stone discloses his, her or its name and/or designation at some point in the immediate future.”

Beowulf’s gaze fell on Ysolda’s scattered remains.

“Query followed by Aggressive Visage: Was Walking-Stone the cause for the human woman’s death?”