[IC] The War of the Three

[Flamelord]

Tatiana Lorenz

Looking over to bastion, Tatiana shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not sure he can do subtlety at all," she pointed out. "I'm just more annoyed by the cliche." Sure, she understood the irony of it and what have you, it didn't change the fact that everyone and their mother used Ride of the Valkyries when charging into battle and frankly it was annoying. There was plenty of other stuff one could use for a dramatic entrance, so why limit yourself like that?

With that she watched as the transports flew along, skirting the battlefield and drawing closer to the deployment zone. Before long the transport began to rock, both the result of enemy fire in general, as well as the shockwaves from the bombs that were deployed. Trust in the demons to ruin things, since this meant they weren't going to have the nice distraction that otherwise would have been provided by them being around. Oh well, she wasn't going to cry just because her job got a bit harder.

She nodded as the mission was outlined, checking things over and committing it all to memory. Time to do their job and get this done with. "Understood," she confirmed. Time to go do what she did best.

Glancing over towards Bastion, she was surprised to hear the comment but nonetheless flashed her a grin. "No promises," she called out in turn as the Machina moved to leave. "We'll just have to meet up back home." It wasn't like she would be gone forever if she died. But there was no more time to talk, as Bastion was gone.

Then it was her turn to jump, and she stepped up to the open doorway before leaping out without hesitation. She fell swiftly, thrusters firing off in controlled bursts to angle her fall and target the specific spot that she wanted to land. They burst into full life at the last second, slowing her fall to land with a few steps rather than slamming into the ground, and she found herself standing in the Angelic fortress. A rifle found itself in her grip as she waited for Marquis to arrive so they could get underway. She wanted to see how tough these Angels were

@TheWindel@KoL@Ryonara@Mega Birb

---

Tartys

Glancing over at Omega as he arrived, Tartys nodded in agreement. This was going to be tricky, no two ways about it. But needless to say defeat wasn't an option, and she was already turning her mind to figuring out what to do in this scenario. "We could let them make a small breach and then cut them down as they come through. That will let us keep them from being able to swarm us." Risky, but it was an option.

And then everything blew up.

The flash lit the air, forcing Tartys to look away momentarily lest she be blinded, and when she was able to look again it revealed the Demonic force decimated, its heart having been ripped out by explosives. The rest of the demonic force was stunned for a few moments longer than that, and then proceeded to fall into infighting amongst themselves as a result of whatever had just happened. Which was useful as the angels began to rip into them with a renewed vigor. It seemed that the demons had been surprisingly removed as a factor in this battle.

"Agreed," she replied with a nod, twirling her spear as she followed after Omega towards the other conflict. The Demons seemed like they had all they could handle now, which meant they had to focus on the Machina as the greater threat. "Who can fathom the minds of soulless robots?"

They did a good job, but all too soon the robot things landed, and she stepped back as she readied her spear to fight. these things had tough armor, that much was clear, and it meant that they would have to do a bit more damage than they might expect to take the things down. "I have this one," she informed Omega as she turned to face the one at his back, dealing with the situation at hand.

These things might look tough, but as her gaze swept her opponent she realized where the weak spot was. No matter how powerful they were, they couldn't do anything if they couldn't move. Bright lights traced themselves in the sky, hovering off the tip of her spear as she muttered holy words to provide her with power. She let it build to a crescendo before lashing out, holy bolts jumping from her spear to slam into the joints of the strange machine, targeting its arms and legs. If she could take those out then this thing would be effectively crippled, and easier to finish without her magic.

@Lucius Cypher@Awesomoman64@KoL@LHudson

[Mega Birb]

Torag Draken

Torag elected to bring up the rear of Heaven's defense force for the moment, having positioned himself behind the amassed battalion of angels at the gates of Heaven. Just as he reached the bright, glowing portal that would bring them all to Alt Signia, he noticed a younger angel, clearly a greenhorn to the war. She held her spear in her hands tightly, knuckles white around the shaft of the weapon and sweat rolling down her face. The commander for the battle stopped and pulled the girl to the side with a certain sternness. "Death comes cheap in the Nexus, there is no need to be afraid, young one."

The girl froze up when Torag pulled her to the side, nodding to his advice and relaxing slightly. "Aye, sir. Just... first battle is all." She rolled her weapon in her hands, her knees buckling when she dropped it. She quickly bent over to pick it up, the plate-skirt she had flaring and her helmet falling from her head. The hair of an averagely-beautiful angel fell out, causing Torag to shake his head in disapproval. "Sorry, sir..."

The draugr sighed and stood the girl up, thrusting the spear into her hands and closing them onto it. "Hold that tight and keep it loose in your hands. You want to be able to stab and block in quick succession, and keep the chin strap on. It's there for a reason." He dropped the helmet onto her head again and secured it with a strap, then took his leave through the portal to the battle field...

Upon his arrival, he saw the demonic lines explode violently and two giant mechs crash into each other, exploding into a mess of loose metal and bolts. Based on the shogan-like appearance of the attacking beast, Miyu had betrayed the forces that enslaved her and unwisely put her in charge. He cracked his knuckles and took Bloodletter from his back, spinning the scythe and pushing his way to the forefront of the angelic lines. In the distance, he could make out the forms of Jorm and Juno tearing through what was left of Hell with ease, and two of his close allies engaging a set of crudely made robots with saws. With surprising urgency, he forced his way over to Omega and Tartys. "Greetings, friends. Let's make short work of the Machina's toys!" He gripped his scythe tightly as one of the two Killa Khans approached, saw and sword waving madly as it went. With a mighty heave, Torag met the bot with a devastating upswing, piercing the metal plates protecting the inner circuitry and lifting the amalgamation into the air. He carried through with the motion, slamming the Khan into the ground with a dull thud and ripping his weapon out in a downward motion, completely disabling the machine.

The commander turned to the field again, watching as holy blades clashed with the steel of man in a fight to the death. For one reason or another, he felt that this would quickly become something of an ultimatum, where the fate of the Nexus would be decided with a single action. While he was distracted with this though, a mech took a stab at him, aiming for what would be his heart. The undead grimaced as the blade simply bounced off his heavy armor, leaving the slightest tear in the white fabric covering the plates. Refusing to waste time at the moment, he kicked the bot over and sent it rolling indefinitely, silently hoping it would collide with advancing troops or other bots.

In that moment, a large bullet pinged off his pauldron, bouncing to the ground a leaving a dent in the thick piece of armor. The shoulder guard began to slowly repair itself while Torag searched out the shooter. High above the field, in a Machina transport that was now circling the area, he caught the slightest hint of scope glare, and a grimace coated his face again. "Keep your heads down! We've got a sniper!"

@Flamelord@Lucius Cypher@Awesomoman64@The 42nd Gecko@KoL

---

Marquis

Marquis idly listened to the banter filling the transport most of the notable unites had been placed in, not really having much to say. They all knew the mission and exactly what was at stake here, though this pre-mission conversation was always a welcome change of pace. Things were always so hectic in the Nexus, someone killing someone else, a war being fought, and chaos reigning supreme. This was the reality of the situation for so many, and it was a little sad to think about...

The AI snapped out of his thoughts as Grafdakka jumped from his transport, along with Endian and a host of smaller amalgamated drones. To Ride of the Valkyries. He opened up a line to the Warboss, thoroughly disappointed in the lack of originality. "Is this truly necessary?" He sighed audibly, the sound of a robotic breath filling the comms for a moment. "At least it's a British orchestra. The American ones are always too bombastic..." He shook his head as his squad mates began to jump from the aircraft, leaving Marquis with a perfectly mobile perch to eliminate targets from. He was to enter Point Hephaestus itself upon the successful infiltration by Bastion, the STLTH Units, Hibiki, and Shizuka, and then destroy the location if the metalworkers refuse to submit. For the moment, he launched a clockwork owl to follow the group silently, providing Marquis with a view of exactly what was going on. He moved to the edge of the bay doors before crouching and drawing Bindlebane, the gun lengthening and developing a powerful scope at his command as he readied himself for what he did best. He peered down the scope with his singular, cyan eye, picking a few targets to take out. The first was a heavily armored being in the Angelic lines, the second was the angel to his left. As he squeezed the trigger for the first shot, the carrier hit an amount of turbulence and threw his aim off a little to the left, sending the projectile for the tank's shoulder rather than the forehead. "Keep it steady up there, pilot!" He resettled into his position and lined up the second shot, his back opening up and cooling off the main CPU to ready for the next attack. With all the calculations made, wind and velocity accounted for, he took a shot at Tartys in an attempt to remove her from the battle. There was little that could throw the shot off on his end at this point.

@TheWindel@Lucius Cypher@KoL@Ryonara@Flamelord

[KoL]

Eclipse Princess
^{Current Location: Alt Signia, Outer Ramparts}

"Ho? You avoided that, uh?" A smirk was formed on Juno's lips as Henry managed to avoid what was supposed to be unavoidable. However, it turned into a scowl a moment later as she noticed the silvery glint in his eyes.

"Another doll, why do I keep being thrown to fight against them?" Juno thought out loud as Miyu attempted to escape her. The electricity both from Henry's attack and from the robot's discharge coursed harmlessly through Juno's aura, discharging itself in the air as it's supposed to just as Juno teleported once again, avoiding the scimitar and appearing right on Miyu's path, bring the mech to a sudden halt as she gripped it by actuator that made for the machine's the Achilles tendon.

The mecha piloting angel would find that, no matter how much power she put on her machine's engines, it would not be enough to escape Juno's grip. In fact, the force Juno put on it was enough to dig into the mecha's armor damaging that leg's ability to walk.

That was when Fran came out of the blue, riding a missile and threw her axe at Juno. Not so distant, Graf aimed a powerful beam of energy on all of them. Things were getting insane quite fast. However, Juno had the perfect idea about how to deal with it.

With a mighty swing, Juno spun in the air once more, taking Miyu's mech in a speed-of-sound merry-go-round, slamming the machine on both Henry and Fran fast enough for none of them being able to dodge (using a bit more of force than she probably needed, just so that Henry could understand how far apart the two of them were in terms of power). "If you want to fight that chunk of metal so badly, let me give you a push!" Juno said as she let the three of them go, rocketing toward the ground at dazzling speeds, right in the path of Grafdaka's and Endian's laser barrage.

To finished her assault, Princess called back the black hole she had created a moment ago, just as it was about to go critical. In her hands she had now a ball of burning plasma, barely contained by the collapsing gravity. With a final teleportation, Juno flashed right over her enemies heads as mech, laser, lightning and missiles all met one another. She let gravity do the rest of the work for her, falling right in the middle of their little menagerie as she let go the powers that kept the plasma contained. The resulting liberation of energy being enough to take down a sizeable portion of Alt Signia's outer ramparts along with a few machine fighter jets that were coming close for a bombing run.

As the monumental mushroom dust cloud began to settle most of the Angelic vanguard stood wide-eyed, wondering how come Imperator Deva let such a destructive brute like Eclipse Princess come to a battle were the objective was to protect a position? Even then, none could negate her power since she could single handily take on five enemy commanders, saving the rest of the Angels a lot of stress, making the battle way more easy to win.

---

^{@TheWindel, @LHudson, @floodtalon, @The 42nd Gecko, @Mega Birb, @Awesomoman64, @Ryonara, @Flamelord, @Lucius Cypher, @Lonewolf685.}

[Lonewolf685]

Suparna Wolgen

---

All things considered equal, Suparna wasn't surprised the majority of the Demonic army was annihilated by forces among their own ranks. This wasn't because she was the sort to shake her fist ruefully and screech 'I told you so' at the fools who put stock in a very recently acquired prisoner, as Suparna gave Miyu the benefit of the doubt out of pure disinterest in her ultimate fate. No, Suparna was a creature with an uncanny sense for that oft ignored mental talent known as pattern recognition.

It was only to be expected that some catastrophe would once again occur which decimated their army, just as it was all too fitting that Suparna herself avoids this fate by flying above it in pursuit of the objective with a compatriot in toe, only for said compatriot to be drawn away by a battle in the vicinity of Grafdakka. There was even poisonous gas being released on the masses, though they lacked the beauty of Victoire's roses, and Alt Signia had yet to rise on four legs and walk away, but Suparna was more then comfortable treating this like a second go at the Elicitor.

Henry slipped from her grasp and went in pursuit of the traitor, but the Queen of Carrion paid no mind the short term gratification of vengeance when there was still an objective to complete. Without Henry, the chances of stealing the goods were all but nil, but there was still a chance that Suparna and Chirada could infiltrate the base and destroy the goods from Ruthria to eek out some success in this operation. The blazing conflagration that was the remnants of the Demon Army, which were being picked off by forces leaving their battlements unattended, and the ever attention grabbing aerial assault from the Machina meant that no one had the time to consider the group of Angelic skirmishers escorting a captive Chirada into past the battlements.

Nor would any on the perimeter detect the faint traces of demonic taint among the radiant Angels as Suparna's maggots dug into their brain stems and controlled them from the inside, guiding her into the base towards where Suparna believed there was ample storage space for those supplies to be stored. It wasn't a hard deduction, as Miyu had been using genuine maps for the actual planning stage of this botched operation, and Suparna had made sure to give it more than a once over for her role.

Now Chirada's beak parted, revealing the blackened eyes of Suparna staring out from the inside.

"Good enough..." Maggots poured out of Chirada's opening, dispersing among rubble and crawling into any exposed pipe or duct on their way to the objective, forward scouts so miniscule in size and power they may as well be undetectable unless clumbped together or right before someone's eyes. They'd expand her awareness and make it easier to evade any eagle eyed patrols, allowing the controlled Angels and lone survivor among the Demons progress forward unopposed...for the time being.

@KoL @TheWindel

[The 42nd Gecko]

@floodtalon@KoL@Lucius Cypher

Miyu

Miyu slammed her face into the cockpit, at speeds that would literally have killed her, if the acceleration wasn't already ripping her physiology apart. Ouchies. Deads.

[Gardevoiran]

Bonesword

---

Riding on the Machina airship was less than pleasant, to say the least. Every robot on that ship was just a stone-faced pile of bolts, and while there were a few humans, they all showed a sense of distrust to the skeleton. He didn't blame them, as the airship was going to go and fight in a battle where every side would be losing some soldiers today, so there was that. There was also the fact that a demon was helping fight in a war against his own kind, which was rather odd to say the least. Nonetheless, they arrived at the scene of the battle, where a large advancing force of demons was approaching.

He heard the plan from the commander and shrugged it off. He wasn't a fan of the fighting with the group, as it made it difficult to do anything with staying inlines, and if one person went rogue, he did not want to be the guy to die from a rogue operative. The skeleton followed with what he saw from the warrior and her companions, as he jumped off the ship as well. He may not have any way to land safely, but it felt like he was skydiving, which was surprisingly fun. A distance aways on the ground, a large patch of green bushes appeared, and was landed on safely by the swordsman.

He began to press forward, even when a large population of the demon defenders was wiped out by the explosion of monumental proportions. He began to cleave through any stragglers with his blade while still running quickly through the horde that was in the desolated battlefield. Soon, he would find that he was in the presence of a large battle between higher ups on all sides of this battle. Even Grafdakka was involved, which Bonesword actually like for comedic reasons. He began to call for a Bloody Harvest, as plant life began to sprout around him for defensive purposes if the time came when he needed them.

[Flood]

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

@The 42nd Gecko@KoL

---

Henry dodged the massive Mech leg swung by Juno and he began flying towards Miyu again, ignoring her in favor of retrieving his property. However, fate was not on his side as evidenced by the massive plasma explosion that blew off his left arm up to the bicep and his entire left leg. Henry screamed in pain as his blood rapidly began to exit his body, which was not what he wanted at all.

He stared at the his missing limbs and began to construct some makeshift replacement limbs to keep him going until he retrieved his bodyguard. When he finished up, Miyu was almost gone, he had one chance to catch her and make her regret the past ten minutes. He reached into the Gates of Tartarus and pulled out a surface to air missile launcher, designed to accept a variety of missiles. He then pulled out one EMP missile, which would explode once it had reached a certain distance, releasing an shockwaves which would scramble any electronic systems within 20 yards of the initial explosion.

Henry aimed carefully, waiting for the smoke to clear so he could get the absolute best shot possible. Then he fired directly at Miyu, not caring if it hit or not. He took off after her, drawing The Cheater's Blade so he could pry her out of that Mech once it hit the fucking dirt.

'You're mine, whether you like it or not.'

[LHudson]

- FLOS - THE FLOWER OF DEATH -

He was finally there. The field, the smell of fire and death, angels and demons and machina, all beginning to swirl into a miasma of slaughter. It was where he wanted to be, where he needed to be, on the front, cutting them down, and continue cutting them until he finally found what he was looking for. He was too far off the Gates of Hell, but this attack, this assault, it was where he would start.

Almost immediately in fact, as the whistles of war from above got louder and louder. Flos only had to glance upward to see what was making it, a machine, an abomination, pure blight catapulting itself towards death itself. It clearly wanted death, and so it shall receive.

A quick gust of his wings blew himself back, just in time for the creature to land and cover the small area with field of dust. He slowed himself down and took a knee. He focused his attention to the source as he clutched one of the sisters. His right arm reaching out, and the Final Gaze made his presence known. The blade welcomed the black sheep's hand, and in the span of a few slow seconds, faced the flaming machine. The sister took her position on top of the right arm, and Flos waited to them to make the first move.

"Finally, I'm home."

[Ryonara]

Hibiki & Shizuka

Soon everyone arrived to the meeting point including Bastion. Hibiki didn't really have the chance to tell her but she was glad that Bastion was coming along. She wanted to tell her that she won't fail her this time, but before Hibiki could get that chance Bastion already left. However it seemed like Bastion wasn't here to assist Hibiki with her operation but was one a separate mission herself. Admittedly Hibiki was rather intimidated by Bastion, knowing first hand what she's capable of as well as being the Queen's Treasure. But leaving Bastion along deep in enemy territory didn't seem like a very good idea to Hibiki. Turning to her sister, Shizuka's concerned look shared the same thoughts.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that. Marquis was providing covering fire from above which meant that for now Hibiki had Tatiana to help her and Shizuka. Fortunately Queen Eos also came through with some information, namely a more detailed map of the fortress. "Thank you!" She said to herself as she gave the information a quick scan. With this map offering a better detail of the area as well as the most up-to-date information about the battle Hibiki could get a good idea of what's going on. Grafdakka and Endian were doing their job distracting the demon and angelic forces, however it seemed that practically all the demons have already been destroyed. This would prove problem some since now the angels can focus their attacks on Grafdakka, depriving them of a much needed distraction. Even more worrisome a very powerful enemy has arrived, some sort of purple clad warrior, perhaps a Valkyrie. From what the reports showed not only was she quite agile she was capable of creating miniature black holes and teleportation. It reminded Hibiki of Victoire, and she didn't want anything to do with that.

Calling over the command communications Hibiki gave the air support quick orders. "Do not engage near Grafdakka's position. That is an enemy you cannot defeat. Focus on maintaining disruption and covering fire over the angel's fortress. Marquis keep an eye on that fight and tell update me on anything that happens." Unlike the other commander Hibiki couldn't afford to lose air superiority. It was her only backup plan if for some reason the teleporters don't work. The bomber jets did as commanded, quickly retreating the front lines to do strafing and bombing runs on the fortress itself. They mainly focused around areas where the Killa Kans were active, dropping gas bombs there to deal with the angel defender, or carefully shooting the angels with their guns. They didn't risk firing missiles less they hit their own troops.

With that out of the way now it was time for the infiltrators to be off. Using the information and map that Eos had provided her Hibiki sent similar data to everyone else so they could see what she saw. Hibiki was keeping track of enemy movements while being fed data by the recon plans flying in the distance, as well as whatever else Queen Eos would provide her. In the map that she sent everyone Hibiki highlighted a location. "Queen Eos mentioned that this area has a high concentration of power which would be the best place for us to put our explosives. For now we must continue to search for the storage hold but be wary of enemies as well as Bastion. I believe she's on her own mission here and we must do our best not to directly interfere." Hibiki released a few of her repair drones, small ball like robots who she doesn't actually need to repair anything right now. What she actually wanted them to do was scout, utilizing their small size and the chaos around them to search the area for the supplies they're looking for. Once they were gone Hibiki led the others into the Angel's fortress.

It wasn't long before the machina infiltrators were deep into the base. Sure enough most of the angels were concerned about the front lines, and with the bomber jets causing destruction elsewhere they divided up the angel's forces away from Hibiki and the others. It was also now that Hibiki's drones found the teleporter room so surely the supplies were nearby as well. But now Hibiki could also head in the direction of that power source Queen Eos had mentioned and during this chaos it may be the best time to plant the bombs. Hibiki made a quick decision and chose to head towards the teleporter room. If this fortress was being powered by something that strong then she was almost certain that it would be well protected. The teleporter room should be less guarded since normally only angel's have access to it, but with Shizuka on their side they could sabotage it. "Mark this location on your map. This way leads to the power source Queen Eos mentioned, but we'll come back for that later. Let's secure the teleporter first and then we can prepare the demolition later."

Following the path the drones had taken the team eventually arrived to their destination. There was a large, runic circle on the ground and surrounding it was various containers, no doubt supplies from Ruthria. However it wasn't as unguarded as Hibiki had hoped and there were at least five guards here. Nothing they couldn't handle, but they had to be quick and quiet. Who knows if they could trigger some sort of an alarm that would blow their entire cover. Two guards were flying in the air in decent cover, watching the only entrance into the room. Another two stood guard next to the runic circle on the ground and the last one was patrolling the area. Hibiki told Shizuka and Titania as much using hand signals, as well as how she intended to take them out: Hibiki would stealth inside and take out the patrolling angel when he was out of sight. Then she would take out one of the flying angels, as would Titania. Then they would need to deal with the two on the ground quickly, ideally before the other two bodies hit the ground. They'll have to move fast but this sort of operation is what Hibiki specilized in. Once they were ready Hibiki and Shizuka attacked.

@TheWindel@KoL@Flamelord@Lonewolf685@Mega Birb

[The 42nd Gecko]

Hapless Angelic Guards

"So, why are we guarding this again, Andrien?" Said a younger male guard, next to the runic circle to a more middle aged angel.

"Because we were told to." Was Andrien's exasperated reply. One got the feeling he had been asked similar questions many times.

The younger guard raised a hand to pull up on his collar and shifted a bit, resettling his armor on his shoulders. He let his spear hang loose in his hands till it was nearly falling off, while Andrien continued standing at full attention.

"No, I mean, really, what would another faction want with the teleporter?" The younger guard pressed again.

"Well, for one reason, they could cut off our reinforcements."

"Why would we need reinforcements? We've got the Eclipse Princess out there fucking shit up. I mean, have you heard those explosions?"

"For all we know, she could be dead, and those explosions could be Machina bombs. Which is why we should stand at attention and do our jobs."

"Oooh, ooh, are you guys talking about the Eclipse Princess?" One of the aerial guards flitted down, perching her elbows on Andrien's shoulders. "I heard she's actually unreliable and doesn't want to fight in the war and might betray us! Can you imagine having to fight her?"

"Nnnrr." Andrien growled.

"Naw naw, Eclipse Princess is totally on the level, I heard it was she just had something to wrap up before rejoining the war effort. Now, that Machina Angel, that's what a traitor looks like."

'Rrnnng." Andrien continued growling.

"Who? And no, the Eclipse Princess has tooootallly got to have something going on. I mean, have you seen her color scheme? Soooo edgy dark. She's gotta have something going on."

"GRRRR." Growling intensifies.

"Edgy? IT'S A DRESS! And it has fuchsia accents! The color that is as close to pink as you can get without being pink!"

"RRRRRRRRRGGH."

"Vampires wear dresses! And red is totally a vampire color, and when you do light red, that IS pink!"

"CAN WE PLEASE GUARD STOICALLY IN SILENCE!?! For five minutes, please, that's all I ask." It was hard to tell if Andrien was snapping angrily or having a breakdown. Maybe both.

"... Yes, sir..." They returned to their posts.

@Ryonara

[KoL]

Diana
^{Current Location: Alt Signia, On the way to Portal Room}

Diana continued to prowl around the edges of the battlefield, regardless of the ensuing chaos of the main skirmish. If there was a point to be learned from the previous battles, it was that victory lies in subtlety, not massive displays of power. Diana was sure that somewhere on the Fortress the Machina, and maybe even the Demons had already began their infiltration operations and she was the only one that could face them at the moment.

She had to do it... "Ew! What was that?" Diana shuddered as she her palm just crushed a maggot. "Those dwarves need to hire some pest control." Diana looked around and noticed that the tunnel she was crawling in was full of those disgusting critters and worse.

"Wha!? Where do you think you are trying to crawl, you creeps?" Diana slapped some maggots that tried to crawl up her thighs, however the damn things only continued to do it over and over again. The sensation of the slimy beasts rubbing against her skin with their tiny pointy teeth made every hair on Diana's body rise in disgust.

With a hurried pace, Diana tried to find a passage to out of the tunnel and, if possible the source of those maggots, since they clearly weren't normal. Soon enough she reached an intersection where the small pests were fighting something that looked like spy robots in a veritable critter war. "So, I was right, then- Gah, get away from me, you freak!"

"Anyway, now that I was busted without even doing anything... again. I guess that the best plan I have is to lead all of those Demon and Machina to a same place and take them down while the confusion lasts." Diana kicked an air vent, jumping to the main corridor bellow. Now that her whole counter-infiltration was jeopardized she had to rely on Plan B.

To Diana's luck no one had taken the route to the volcano's core, where the power to feed the whole of Alt Signia was taken directly from the flows of magma by a series of dwarvish contraptions. Once she arrived on the vault like chamber, that was bathed in an smoldering heat, to the point that the pipes which conducted the slow from of lava being glowing on a bright yellow light, Diana pulled all the levers that closed the facilities main gates —but left all doors open. If someone planned to take the resources by foot they would have to blast the reinforced gates, but Diana made sure to leave escape routes for the enemies that gave up on fighting as well as her allies.

"Now, to make sure no one will hijack the teleporter, or open the doors..." Diana reached for the deepest part of the the power house, the center plug. In fact it was little more than a burning, white hot plug made of tungsten that kept the lava flowing. No one would be able to touch it —or get close to it, for that matter)— without being incinerated by the heat of the lava that was too hot even for steel to contain. However, Diana simply put her hands on it and, "One, two... now!" with a mighty heave she pulled the metal rod with little consequence, given that her draconic nature along with the Shroud of the Dragonblooded protected her, and her possessions, from even the hottest of flames.

A low rumble shook all of Alt Signia as soon as the lava flow was halted and the power for the fortress, including the portal was cut. Diana wasn't aware of the cause, as she secured the center plug on her belt with a length of chain and went for the portal chamber, however, someone else was...

"FCUs Hibiki and Shizuka, this is Dawnbreaker. I have an emergency report. Thermal and seismic scans show that the lava flow on Point Hephaestus core was stopped. If nothing is done the volcano will erupt, current time estimative is of two hours and thirty six minutes until the first blast. Please, send this information to the other units." Came a sudden communication for Hibiki and Shizuka, through Eos' channel. Apparently someone else had thought that tampering t=with the fortress' power source was going to be a good plan. Who did it, was yet to be seen, however...

---

^{@TheWindel, @LHudson, @floodtalon, @The 42nd Gecko, @Mega Birb, @Awesomoman64, @Ryonara, @Flamelord, @Lucius Cypher, @Lonewolf685.}

[Awesomoman64]

Omega

Omega watched as the Killa Kan he shot at landed near him and returned fire ten fold what Omega had fired. Though the Killa Kan clearly was unaware who it was dealing with as every bullet simply whizzed harmlessly through the spirit who made no move to dodge. The bullet storm ceased for a moment giving the cowboy time to ask the machine, ”Ya done?” The response was more gunfire to which Omega facepalmed.

Ready to get back to the actual fight Omega began charging a shot he was sure would pierce the bot, but stayed his hand at the sight of Torag taking on the Kan himself. ”Why Torag, are you actually fighting with us this time?” he sassed not letting the carnage around them get to him, though this was becoming easier as the futility of the battle seemed less and less.

Before The Harbinger of Light could retort, a sniper's bullet ricocheted off Torag’s armor forcing him and Tartys to cover. Omega slowly turned his head to look at the transport vessel that carried the sniper and shook his head as if to tell him “don’t”. Clearly his warning had been missed or ignored as the sniper took another shot this time at Tartys.

Not giving a second strike Omega dropped to a knee and aimed his revolver at the open area of the vessel where the sniper was sure to be perched. Using one arm as a rest to steady the other, Omega began returning fire to the ship.

@Flamelord@Lucius Cypher@Mega Birb

[Flamelord]

Tartys

Things were going very quick, that much was obvious as Tartys dealt with her current opponent. Torag had joined the field, and the demons in disarray had only made their job easier as they could focus down on the Machina. and for the force they had brought, the Machina seemed remarkably undergunned. Maybe they were getting desperate, or just hadn't planned to show up. It asn't any concern of hers though.

She was just coming up when a massive explosion ripped through the air, perhaps bigger than the one that had been used on the demons before. It tore through the battlements, destroying emplacements and ripping through rock to scour the mountainside that was nearby. Even Tartys had to fight to keep on her feet with the shockwave. The light was blinding, and needless to say it did not do the culprit any favors as far as personal opinion went.

"That was-gah!" While Tartys had been remarking about the explosion, she was unaware of being in the crosshairs of the sniper on the airship. As such, she didn't exactly have the chance to dodge. In fact she probably would have died, had it not been for the explosion that sent shockwaves through the air, and the black hole that someone had dropped on the field to alter the trajectory of the bullet. Rather than being killed she was merely grazed, sent tumbling with blood spilling. She wasn't dead, but needless to say she was not in a great place.

@Awesomoman64@KoL@LHudson@Mega Birb

---

Tatiana Lorenz

Tatiana turned back, only to see that Marquis was staying on the ship and sniping things rather than joining the fight down with them. Alright then, if that was what he wanted to do then so be it. She wouldn't worry too much and instead focused on the fight that was at hand, to do the job she had been called here for.

Listening to the commands of their commander and viewing the map that had been prepared, Tatiana nodded in understanding. "Got it," she confirmed after a moment. It seemed simple enough, and she had no desire to interfere in whatever it was that Bastion was doing. Though she had the feeling that it would be harder to do than to actually say. Well, with that in mind she headed off, following along with the others as they moved through the halls of the volcano.

Fortunately it wasn't that difficult, since most of the defenders were focused on the outside of the mountain. Tatiana had kept from flying in order to not give themselves away, but she had kept her guns at the ready on the off chance that she needed them. She hadn't, but it made her feel better as the group paused momentarily for the commander to go over some things. She nodded in affirmation as they were directed towards the teleporter room, in order to ensure their escape.

It turned out that the room was guarded when they arrived, unfortunate but not impossible to deal with. she prepared herself for a fight even as Hibiki laid out the plan, ready to follow it and do what had to be done to win this. So she stayed ready, and when the duo swung into action she did as well. Wings extended as thrusters flared, throwing her into the room at high speed, and at the same time she lined up the shot and fired in mid motion, striking at the flying angel with her rifle before twisting to shoot at the ones on the ground. The quicker they ended this the better, and she was glad that the training previously was now proving handy.

@KoL@Ryonara

[Mega Birb]

Torag Draken

Torag stared Omega down for a second following his sass, hoping the deadpan expression beneath his hood would get the point across sufficiently. He refocused on the current predicament by dragging the disabled Kan into cover and pulling it apart, attempting to salvage the thick, undamaged plates on the sides of the bots to use as shields and mobile cover. After a moment of wedging the armor off, he passed one sheet to Tartys and one to Omega. "Keep these angled towards their sniper, the armor on the Kan's is durable!" With that he stood from his crouched position, kicking over another Kan that was attempting an advance and sending it tumbling out range, back towards the Machina forces.

"I'm a liability while pinned, I'll move into the core to defend it from anything with half a mind to sneak by!" While he thought it unlikely, he couldn't afford a black mark like losing a stronghold on his reputation. Omega and Tartys would likely be able to hold the location, anyhow. He nodded to the two and made his way into the volcano as the landscape started to rumble noticeably, signalling an eruption soon. "Someone's here already... dwarves would never let this place fall." He started to follow the most direct path to the volcano's core, in something of a rush to reach the location. If that room fell to the Machina, they may as well take the battle right there. Given his bulk and relative lack of agility, it would take him a while to reach his holding point.

@Flamelord@Awesomoman64@KoL

---

Marquis

When his second bullet only grazed his target, Marquis let out a disgruntled noise. He was slipping, based on those two shots, and decided to swap to a less aware target for the time being. His plans changed, however, when a few bullets pinged the air craft near the sniper, effectively suppressing his dominance over the battlefield for a short moment. He ducked into the cargo hold to avoid getting shot, taking a moment to watch the infiltration crew via his owl. From what he could tell, they were getting very close to the core of Point Hephaestus, though seismic activity was going to start occurring.

This just became a suicide mission for them, unless they found the teleporter in working condition.

The AI poked back out after a moment, this time using the inner edge of the carrier as cover. He scoped back in on the targets he had taken shots at, and squinted in search of the armored one that had tanked one of his bullets. Unable to find that one, he opened a comm channel to both Hibiki and Shizuka. "I've lost sight of durable unit. I believe he's heading for your location, do not engage him directly. Shrugged off a shot to the shoulder like it was a rock." With the warning given, the robot decided on another target that had cost the Machina the victory in Ruthria; Henry Avaritia II. He peered down the scope of Bindlebane yet again, aiming to blindside the demon lord and hit him through the temple. Running the calculations as his heat sinks vented, he led his target a fair distance and accounted for the gravitational effect of the micro-black hole in the vicinity, along with the standard wind and velocity. A short moment later, the trigger was pulled and a large bullet was flying for where Henry's head would be in a moment. The bang was indistinguishable from the chaos enveloping the rest of the war-torn desert, and a projectile moving at such a speed wouldn't be noticed until it was too late. The demon's one hope, given he realized the death chasing him down, would be to abandon his chase of Miyu and drastically change his course.

@Awesomoman64@Flamelord@The 42nd Gecko@Ryonara@floodtalon

[Lucius Cypher]

WARBOSS GRAFDAKKA DESTROYA

Grafdakka tore through the empty air, his attack whiffing due to Juno’s interference. Miyu had gotten away, Henry dodged, and something knocked Fran down to the ground that wasn’t Grafdakka. Quickly turning around Grafdakka’s sight set on Juno herself. True, Henry and Miyu were his enemies too, but Juno was closer. However from her performance just then, Grafdakka knew she wasn’t just any normal valkyrie. He could easily cut down valkyries, with his chainsaw’s teeth made of angelic blades. But something about this one was stronger than the rank-and-file.

Endian knew what to do however. Reminded of her failures back at the Elicitor, Endian’s body began to glow as an explosion of light covered the area. This was a new feature Endian’s new body was given, a Dimensional Anchor. To put it simply, it prevented teleportation. This way her enemies cannot simply appear behind her, nor run away using teleportation. It affected a large area around her but also had the caveat that friendly teleportation didn’t work either. Fortunately neither she nor Grafdakka made use of such abilities, so there was no real lost.

With the Dimensional Anchor in place Grafdakka felt that now was time that he unleashed his full power. Originally he was going to wait until the demons and angels had focused their attention towards each other, and after much of his own forces had been devastated, but with the demon army practically wiped out and his own forces struggling to get a hold of the fortress, it was time to go all out. ”INITIATE PHASE ONE.” Holding Endian close and protectively in his arms, Grafdakka fell to the ground. He moved closer to the earth as endian’s hard light projectors spawned limbs that started to grab and graft scattered parts of machines to add to Grafdakka’s body. Some were from his Killa Kans and others from broken fighter jets. But most of it was Balrog.

Grafdakka had no real idea what was happening at the time. Endiand had grabbed parts of the recently exploded demon and added parts to him. But as he did so, a dark voice called out to him. A tainted corruption that neither Graf, nor Krieg, could quite understand. It was a profane power that sat on the edge of his consciousness, as the doorway to his mind. It had a question: Did Grafdakka want power?

”Yes.”

The corrupted demonic essence from Balrog’s remains summoned the demon back to battle. But as his original body was broken and scattered, Balrog’s spirit was signaled by Grafdakka’s being. It was a host, a willing body, for the brutish monster to inhabit. Grafdakka desired the power that Balrog was capable of and had willingly allowed himself to be his vessel. At the same time, hands of technalogical light shot out to grab Miyu while her damaged Diamyo tried to run away. These same hands moved faster than Henry’s missile, and they came bearing a message. It was a quick one in the form of a holographic projection of Grafdakka’s insignia, right in front of Miyu’s face.

”Be it heaven or hell, you will be a slave in both. But there is an escape. Accept my offer and stand amongst gods.”

Then a prompt replaced the signal saying [YES] or [NO]. Just like Grafdakka, Miyu had a choice she can make. It was obvious that she was being hunted down by the angels now if Juno’s hostile actions were any indication. Henry obviously intended to make Miyu suffer for her sabotage. And now Grafdakka was offering her a chance to ally with him, to escape her punishment once again.

Just as quickly as he had begun, Grafdakka’s eyes glowed with a faint golden hue, before exploding in a much more brilliant gold flash.

Meanwhile the Killa Kans continued to fight and destroy the base to the best of their abilities. Though unlike the original Grafdakka model they were made after, their bullets were not made of the holy metals that would allow them to harm angel and demons alike. However their saw blades were made of the same alloy as Grafdakka’s own. So when the Killa Kan that Omega was fighting noticed that it’s bullets failed to do him harm, it engaged in melee instead. As Omega tried to shoot down the transport containing Marquis, the Killa Kan jumped in the way of his shot to intercept it with his body while slashing down at the ghostly gunslinger with it’s saw blade.

The Killa Kan that Tartys was crippled easily enough, the damage it sustained from the artillery weakening it’s shieldings enough that even her magics could destroy most of its limbs. It’s arms had been blown off and it’s legs were only one good strike from breaking, but it would not give up. The creature’s body began to billow a great amount of smoke as it attempted to take out Tartys in a suicidal attack. Rising to it’s feet it charged at the angel warrior, guns blazing, and soon light pierced from the cracks in it’s body as it turned itself into a mobile bomb, one strong enough to break the very wall it was standing off if it wasn’t utterly obliterated at once.

Flos would have his wish granted as the raging Killa Kan first opened with a volley of bullets, followed by a made charge. Despite it’s immense size it moved far too quickly for a giant of its stature, clearing the distance in a few seconds. It struck at Flos with both arms, one claw snapping out to grab and slice him in half by the waste, while the other went for his head. All the while it too was only seconds away from self destructing, and short of being completely obliterated as well Flos it would do so regardless if it managed to harm Flos with it’s attacks.

All the while the rest of the Killa Kans where occupied fighting the angels defenders, sundering their defenses, or destroying their anti-air weapons to allow their bombers to regain air dominance. While they make have lacked the sheer power to contend with the forces of heavens individual champions, they could easily handle their soldiers and structures. A few zealous ones were even working they way deeper into the angels fortress, trying to meet with friendly forces in order to further spread chaos.

@Flamelord@Awesomoman64@The 42nd Gecko@KoL@Mega Birb@LHudson

---

Francisca Labrys Seax Luxuria

Fran’s axe had missed, not really a surprise on her part. She was certainly fighting a strong warrior! Calling her axe back to her hand Fran was going to give chase when she was nearly smacked by the leg of Miyu’s mech. Fran would have avoided it, or at least blocked it, had henry not had inadvertently knocked Fran out of the way doing his own evasive maneuvers. Being struck across the body by the limb the missile she rode on also struck the leg, causing ti to explode and sending Fran to the ground. Fortunately the explosion from the missile saved her from the explosion of Juno’s attack, and Fran was left only bruised and lightly beaten.

Taking out her wand of Infernal Healing she poked herself with it to regenerate from her wounds. As she put it away she had to figure out how to get back up into the air, as Fran lacked her own means of flight. But before she could, a skeletal warrior was close by. For some odd reason plants and fungi grew from his feet and everywhere he stepped. The skeleton certainly looked horrid enough to be one of the demon’s soldiers, but she’s never seen him before. Thus, Fran concluded that this skeleton must have been an enemy.

While she would have liked this skeleton to have some more meat on it’s body and perhaps a pair of breasts, Fran wasn’t going to miss out on a chance to score a kill. So while she was still a fair distance away, she hurled her greataxe at the skeletal fungi person, aiming to kill him in one blow with a sneak attack.

@Banana

[KoL]

Eclipse Princess
^{Current Location: Alt Signia, Outer Ramparts}

"Hmph!" Juno scoffed when her attack was less effective because the mech gave in way easier than she thought. That hunk of metal looked way sturdier. Was it a ruse? Or did Juno used too much force to try to get her point across?

Either way, the past was the past and Juno couldn't change it. Her attention was grabbed by the even bigger piece of soon to be scrap and the flying bolt that came inside of Juno's sight as soon as the cloud of dust began to settle. "Grafdaka, I see. I've been looking for a chance to-" Juno stopped her challenge abruptly as tried to teleport above of Grafdaka and finish her speech with an overhead swing, but found out that her spatial manipulation powers had been tampered with, somehow.

A brief flash of pure hatred was visible on Princess' eyes. For a moment, it looked like the faint outline of what appeared to be serpent scales grew besides her eyes, but as soon as they came they were gone. The only few she ever fought that could cancel her powers were beings several orders of power above anyone present on this battlefield, aside from Juno, that is. How did they managed to get such an outrageous power? So much was her rage, from recalling past humiliations, that Juno's power bled from her unconsciously, crushing debris with powerful gravitational fields.

"I see, it's just the teleportation, then. I still don't know how, but this is much better." Juno's smile became her usual self again. If they thought that sealing her teleportation was enough to take her down, they were very wrong. Furthermore, the sudden surge of golden light on Grafdaka's power made it evident that he wasn't the source, so it could only be that other robot. While Eclipse Princess could destroy it in the snap of a finger if she chose to, Defeating the enemy in their own game, before revealing how strong she truly always makes for a more interesting fight.

"This is going to get good. Crushing them, I mean." Juno smiled as she wiped some dust of her face.

Juno gripped her weapon with both hands, planting it against the ground. If Grafdaka wished to prostrate before her, she wouldn't complain. As a proof of that, Juno increased the gravitational push of the whole battlefield, the effect getting progressively stronger the closer you get to her. At the Range where Grafdaka and Endian were, they would feel as if they weighed more or less ten times more than normal, meanwhile Juno remained untouched by the gravity well, keeping her already impressive strength and agility while putting a severe handicap on theirs, as well as making all the parts Grafdaka was dragging to his body fall to the ground, as they suddenly became too heavy to move. Others on the outside of the fortress would only feel their weight increase a bit, but getting close to the warped space on Princess' close vicinity would be a herculean hurdle for anyone.

Still unsatisfied, Princess stomped the ground, sending a pulse of force that pulverized the scorched rocks bellow Grafdaka and she, forcing the giant to sink even further into the ground, as she levitated harmlessly above the veritable mire of finely ground obsidian.

"Come on, Machine! Don't you have those eyes? Show me what you can do! I'll be waiting to show you how that power is nothing but a delusion!" Juno lowered her stance, holding Raison d'Être parallel to the pulverized ground as her eyes squinted to a feral glare.

"It's time you learn where lies the end of all dreams."

BGM

---

^{@TheWindel, @LHudson, @floodtalon, @The 42nd Gecko, @Mega Birb, @Awesomoman64, @Ryonara, @Flamelord, @Lucius Cypher, @Lonewolf685.}

[The 42nd Gecko]

Miyu

Was the deads. Ooops.

[The 42nd Gecko]

@Lucius Cypher

Miyu

Was the deads. Ooops.

[Flood]

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

@The 42nd Gecko@KoL

---

Henry flew towards Miyu, speeding up rapidly when gravity suddenly increased drastically causing him to stumble in mid air. A bullet pierced through his wing, which luckily couldn't feel pain, and he went spiralling into the ground face first. After a few seconds of blacking out and cursing snipers under his breath he got up and dusted himself off with his hands. Henry began searching for Miyu once more and found her, in the process of being disassembled and joining with-

"WHAT THE FUCK!" It looked like Balrog refused to stay dead and had joined with some giant Machina monster. Which was about to assimilate Miyu's mech, including her nuclear reactor. His mind flashed back to minutes earlier when Miyu fucking nuked everyone and he bared his teeth. Not this time bitch. Henry took his sword, accounting for extra gravity and wind resistance, and launched it at the reactor like a javelin. The blade struck true and it sliced into the reactor like a hot knife through butter, prematurely detonating it before it could get even close to Baldakka. Grafrog?

Henry then began to trudge towards the thing, damn the Gravity was heavy here, and smiled. He began constructing steps up to the top of Grafdakka/Balrog and stepped onto them, latching several Silver armor plates all over the thing in an attempt to suppress anything not Demonic in nature.

"BALROG! IT IS TIME TO CAPTURE THE TRAITOR! LET US LAY WASTE TO THIS MOUNTAIN, REDUCING ALL TO DUST UNTIL OUR ENEMIES LAY AT OUR FEET!"

[Gardevoiran]

Bonesword

---

The plant life grew rapidly around the swordsman, slowing down a lot in a majority of areas, and then rapidly growing into a thick cactus in a very specific area, which thankfully caught a large axe before it managed to chop his life down to a halt. The cactus was split sadly, but the axe was halted and redirected to the ground. The skeleton warrior turned his head towards where the axe came from, two bright lime-green lights shining from where a humans eyes would be, and he stared down the succubus. It was clear that this skeleton had been provoked, and was ready to kill some demons.

"... you missed. Thanks for the axe, you wench." The skeleton prepared to grab the axe and wield it in his left hand, with his true weapon-of-choice armed in the right hand, but that axe was - to put it simply - TOO GOD DAMN HEAVY TO LIFT, so he simply held onto it tightly for the time being. Should this succubus attempt to summon her axe back, the swordsman was going to go with it and a sword would be plunged directly into the heart of a demon. Did the skeleton know how to wield a two handed axe and a sword at the same time? No, not at all, but he was efficient in throwing swords, which would be incredibly handy... if he had any spare swords, that is. If push comes to shove, sticks would suffice to be thrown as swords, after all, when kids were pretending to be knights, they would use sticks as swords, no?

The skeleton waited, going into a defensive stance. Making the first move would be near suicide, you'd have no plan of attack and wouldn't know how to fight if you could even do it. It'd be hard to defend with nothing to defend with either, but luckily a few saplings sprouted up and began to grow near the swordsman, becoming rather small trees quickly. Defensive treants were always useful, even in times of limited movement. A small amount of dialogue escaped the mouth of the skeleton before the next events were to happen. "You don't seem bad. If I weren't sworn to these humans, I'd like to know you better."

@Lucius Cypher