[IC] Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

[Lennon79]

From his position high above the base, Duncan couldn't directly see the intense combat within, but from the panic and confusion on the upper levels, he had an inkling of how things were going. It was soon time for stage two of the plan. 'Extraction team, you are go. Secure the vehicle and park outside the rear entrance.' He paused a moment to survey the area, casually downing a confused soldier on patrol, before continuing. '... Area is clear, Kein. Keep it snappy.' Down in the carpool, Kein was psyching himself up. His team had an easy job, all things considered; nick a car, be the getaway. In truth Xerox could have handled the task alone; no-one else had the same mechanical skills after all and hotwiring a military vehicle was a damn sight more difficult than a commercial car. The plan erred on the side of caution though, which he understood. They would have a rather sizeable force pursuing them. When Duncan's order came in, Kein sprung up from his hiding place and sprinted toward the last remaining guard in the carpool, naginata arcing wide overhead. The cut was quick and clean, the soldier's torso collapsing and falling away from his legs in eerie silence. Once the rest of the team caught up, he turned to Xerox. 'Alright man, pick a car and work your magic. We got maybe ten minutes till we gotta leave.'

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Oh man, oh fuck man, oh fuck. He only had three more days before being transferred and then this shit happens. The soldier was sweating profusely in his thick uniform, kneeling behind an overturned desk with his rifle trained ion the stairwell. The Major had ordered them to abandon the lower levels and every one in them, leaving God knew how many men to be slaughtered by who, SeeD? Terrorists? Or was it Esthar? It didn't matter now, not when they had massacred so many good men so quickly. Whoever they were, the Major had said, they were probably more than the garrison could handle. That's some fucking amazing peptalk skills, you gorrila-necked bastard, the soldier thought bitterly. Wiggs was a terror as a CO, spartan and uncompromising toward his subordinates; he would have brought back whipping if the General Staff hadn't put their foot down. Rumour had it that the Major wasn't entirely human anymore, like he was a cyborg or something, but what he lacked in social graces and basic humanity, Wiggs more than made up for in sheer brute force. He had executed so-called spies before with his bare hands, crushing skulls like eggs; if there was anyone on the base that could push their mystery attackers back, it was him. But as far as the soldier knew, Wiggs was lounging in his office, doing God knew what. Prepping the base to self-destruct, I bet. Cunt. A sudden burst of gunfire at the bottom of the stairs was cut off by a loud scream and then silence. His heartbeat racing and hands jittering in terror, the soldier sighted down his rifle and watched the stairs intently.

[akirashadow]

Jake didn't get very far before someone had blocked his path causing him to instinctively raise his dagger. Seeing who it was he lowered the weapon away from the resistance members gut. "Resistance faction huh?... oh yeah you're the more formal one." Jake returned to Tyler in acknowledgement. When the motion was made to help deal with the wound Jake tried to resist. "Look that isn't necessary, we get the job done first then deal with injuries." His objections however were made in vain as Tyler persisted. He could soon feel the difference, the make-shift sling of his coat was no longer becoming heavier from the gradually weakening state. "You know what? Turns out you're not half-bad after all." Jake stated before turning to look behind him to see if anyone else was approaching. "You've kept pace well enough for an outsider. Lets just say you've done better then I would expect. Oh and thanks for the arm by the way." Jake stood for a moment as though contemplating what to do next. "Seeing as you're here might as well maintain your usefulness." Jake stated as he began to continue through the compound motioning Tyler to follow. "A gun wielder huh? That might come in handy" Jake stated as he waved his dagger sarcastically pointing out his limited ability for any form of ranged combat. His destination was now not really decided, the route he was walking would eventually lead toward the front of the compound and the stairwell. The lack of troops had made it abundantly clear that there wasn't anything of much importance on this floor.

[Little_ninja]

With the signal to go, Xerox casually walked along behind Kein, tapping the right side of his glasses, near his temple. Sometimes he would tap, sometimes prop it up and then hold it. Kein spoke up "Alright man, pick a car and work your magic. We got maybe ten minutes till we gotta leave." "I don't even need that long." He spoke in a bored manner, walking towards the biggest vehicle. A military car was not anything exciting to play with, breaking into and hot wiring was quite simple for Xerox. However, first of all he needed to set something up, or he could actually make a mistake. His glasses were custom made, able to change the spectrum of vision given to Xerox. No-one in SeeD knows about his glasses. Dang it. Don't tell me they are acting up now ... Come on. Change to freaking x-ray and then adjust the level. No, god damn it, not infrared. Not UV. Ah finally. X-ray. Damn it, I really need to fix this thing. Set on so damn high... His thoughts trailed as he noticed something in the vehicle. Quickly, he turned around to look at the other vehicles. There was one. Only one, they could use. Guess he was prepared for this type of thing. "Don't touch any of the cars." Xerox ordered the rest of the team, as he took the time to run over to the only usable car. It wasn't very much different visibly, however, there was one thing that was different on the inside. It wasn't rigged with explosives. Just slightly out of my area of expertise. Xerox made a mental note, propping up his glasses once more to fix the view he had. That debacle took a few good minutes, but now that he was there, it would take only a minute. Taking a good look, he found the security alarm for the vehicle and deactivated the wire. Lifting the hood, he was able to manually start up the car from the engine, getting the battery to initiate the engine. Lowering the hood, it was time to enter the car. Sliding underneath the car, Xerox pulled out the floorboard, climbed up and unlocked the doors, before reattaching the floorboard. "Come on guys. We should get going already." He called over the rest of the team, propping up his glasses from the bridge, returning normal vision to him. As he adjusted the seat, to be ready to drive, he looked over to see the team astonished and dumbfounded. They could not believe the time it took once he started, nor the method he did it with. "What are you staring at? Come on, let's get going to the extraction point." Xerox hassled the rest of the team to get in, so he could prepare for extraction.

[SwordfishKnight]

The burst of gunfire leapt from the barrel before Gracelyn had a chance to stop it. She flung out her sickle and it dug it's way into the soldier's neck, but not before the gunfire reached her. The first bullet missed. On the second and third however she wasn't so lucky. The second bullet grazed her shoulder, leaving a groove in place of where it had been. The second one dug straight into her arm, prompting a grunt from her in pain. She instinctively held Jericho back from going around the hallway, and in the split second she did, she had been shot. Quickly ducking behind a wall, she tore some cloth from her shirt and wrapped it around where the shot had hit. Hopefully it wouldn't get infected, but it was always a possibility. Instead of pulling her sickle back, she let the chain trail around the corner, waiting for someone to tug at it and be distracted.

[Zarkun]

Jericho hugged the wall and waited until Gracelyn was done patching herself up to pull out his pistols. "Right, they dug in on the second floor. Of course it can't be so simple as walk up the stairs and straight to the major's office." Going to the end away from the gunfire and took a running start, sliding out around the corner they'd been taking cover around and firing both pistols as he saw the Galbadians. Still, he took return fire, with a round grazing his cheek and another putting a hole in his cloak. After a couple seconds, the sounds of return fire stopped and Jericho stood, looking around. "Clear."

[Kissu]

For a mercenary and a loner type, Jake didn't seem like such a bad guy, Tyler figured as he nodded his head at the other male's instruction and followed close behind, gun toted at the ready. "I'm not exactly a firearms specialist, but you can count on me to watch your back uhh, Jake was it? Sorry, but it seems kinda weird calling you 'Sir'", Tyler smirked. "I'll save that crap for the G-Army general shitheads. And speaking of..." His words trailed off as he glanced around their surroundings. "If memory serves, we should be approaching the stairwell if we keep heading straight but...sounds like a ruckus up ahead." He punctuated his words with a brief pause that was filled with yelling and gunfire that echoed in the distance. "Your friends playing hell, no doubt. Should we rendezvous with them? Or play the distraction to our advantage and go for the Major?" He blinked a bit at his own words and halted slightly in his movements. "Sorry, guess that came out a little more callous than intended."

[akirashadow]

The had not got far before the gunfire began to echo towards Jake and Tyler. "I presume that this stairwell is over where that's all happening. I'm quiet surprised, they got there quicker than I had initially expected." There was a brief pause whilst Jake contemplated what Tyler had asked, as though giving it serious consideration to try and run it alone. "Unfortunately my job is to assist Balambs new finest only, as much as I do feel I owe the major a not so pleasant visit. Whilst I'm within these walls I'm under their orders." Jake continued to make his way to join up with the other SeeD members having decided that given his state it was best he reconvened with them. "Following orders... this must be a first eh?" Jake muttered to himself as he followed the hallways with Tyler's guidance. Just shy of the stairwell where the other SeeD's were gathered was an unexpected sight, although one that Jake more than happily greeted. "Well would you look at that..." Jake whispered. " A lone straggler trying to play hero... this ones mine." Jake held the only dagger he could in his un-injured right arm as he slowly approached the soldier. It was almost as though he was having second thoughts, the soldier approached enshrouded with his nerves giving Jake the much needed time to quietly close the gap between them... "Gotcha!" Jake had leapt up on the soldiers back, using the moments surprise to drive his dagger into the soldiers right arm, who in response had lost partial grip on his gun and fired several shots into the floor, stumbling with the SeeD latched onto his back, ramming against the wall to try and throw Jake off. "Hold still!" Jake twisted the dagger in his distorted state from the close proximity to the gun shots as he tries to pry his own weapon free. The struggle was creating its own ruckus, but was shortly lived, ending as Jake un-gracefully fell through the doorway of the stairwell atop the dead soldiers body. Seeing the other SeeD's he quickly scrambled up to his feet. "Well that certainly didn't go how I planned it." Jake counts over the SeeD's in his head. Although some of them had sustained injuries it appeared no one was seriously hurt. "So the Major's room is up there huh?... Who wants to go first?"

[Lennon79]

Gunfire. Screaming. Explosions. Fires raging in the night. A village torched, a den of traitorous snakes purged from the glorious Galbadian Fatherland. His Excellency the President would be pleased and Wiggs was always happiest when Deling smiled. The implants hurt less. More gunfire, another scream. The sickly smell of blood brought Major Arnholt Wiggs screaming back to the present, back to the small box room that served as his office and his prison. They were close now, so close he could taste the traitors beyond the office door. They lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike out at His Excellency but Arnholt was always there, always waiting, always ready. The garrison had failed, were probably all dead now. It didn't matter. They didn't matter. All that mattered were the traitors about to kick down his door and President Deling's last order. 'Root out and destroy all traitors in Timber. Leave none alive.' It was time to carry out His Excellency's order. Maybe then... maybe the implants would hurt less. Major Wiggs reached the door in two heavy strides, raising one massive armoured boot before him.

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Silence reigned for a time after the SeeDs dispatched the last remaining soldier and prepared to breach the Major's office. Duncan's concerned voice broke through into their communicators. 'Sitrep guys, how are we doing? I've got thermals on one figure in the office, it's gotta be the M-' In an instant of fire and confusion, the door exploded outward, flinging shards of flaming wood toward the team. An unnaturally large shape shot from the opening, moving faster than any human should be capable of. Before the other SeeDs could react, it grabbed one of the support team by the throat, yanking the dumbstruck young woman into the air. The figure whipped around like a hurricane, tearing flesh and breaking bones by sheer force, and threw the lifeless corpse back toward the rest of the team. As the dust settled, the hulking form of Major Wiggs became visible. He was large, fully a head taller than the tallest man and built like a bear. Freakishly large muscles rippled beneath a tight-fitting Galbadian uniform and he was bedecked in the latest infantryman's armour. The beast took a heavy step back, bracing himself and unloaded with his gauntlet's built in machine guns, raking back and forth across the tight corridor. Killing Wiggs would have been a nightmare at the best of times, but taking him alive would take every trick in SeeD's arsenal.

[obitokizuke]

Marking this)

[Little_ninja]

With the rest of the team in the car, Xerox drove towards the extraction point, the rear entrance. Arriving with time to spare, the radio came to life, with Duncan's voice. "Sitrep guys, how are we doing? I've got thermals on one figure in the office, it's gotta be the M-" Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard. The extraction team exited the vehicle to look and see some of the smoke coming from the window. There was concern amongst the team. Switching the vision of his glasses, Xerox saw through the building, seeing a figure of a large man built like a bear whip around a body of a comrade. "This looks bad. Duncan, the extraction team is in position. May I request to support the others?" Unsure of if he would be given permission, Xerox started to prepare himself, getting his giant spanner from his ESS and a deployment shield bracelet. If permission was granted he would move out to support the kidnapping. If not, he would stand by.

[akirashadow]

"No one huh?" Jake sighed, slightly disappointed though he could understand why they'd choose to look out for themselves. "Alright then guess I'll go then." As Jake was about to step forward he heard the crackle of the radio about to receive comms from someone else outside the compound.
"Sitrep guys, how are we doing? I've got thermals on one figure in the office, it's gotta be the M-"
The message was cut short at the same time the door to the major's room was all but completely destroyed from a single kick. Jake had quickly raised his wounded arm in an attempt to shield his eyes and face from the wood shrapnel launched in their direction. In the confusion and chaos in the few moments that followed one of the support members lives had been brutally cut short.

"Well this isn't going to be easy..." Jake mumbled to himself as he looked on at the Major, there wasn't really much time to contemplate tactics as he quickly pulls his wounded arm free of the makeshift sling and un-comfortably un-sheathed his second dagger. He moved his arms so that they crossed in front of his chest, blades pointing outward towards his target. 'Alright Kensei, if it becomes us or him you make damn sure that its him.' The discomfort quickly transcended into pain as the SeeD rushed the target. The power of darkness behind him Jake struck out with his daggers in swift succession, the blades and strike types smoothly flowed, but each swing was easily dodged by the target. That was until there was a soft resistance against the blade of one dagger as blood dripped down onto its blade. Jake smiled, only to be greeted by one in return from the Major. "oh sh-" Jake was cut short as the gauntlet made impact with his chest like a sledgehammer, his padded leather clothing barely softening the blow as he was thrown back against the wall. The mercenary had only a brief moment to shake off the daze, just narrowly getting a protect shield in front of him deflecting the shot rounds that followed.

Still under the spells protection he throws an eager glance to the other SeeD's. It would appear much to his dissatisfaction that team work would be required here after all. But as it stood Jake was isolated, if he tried something as foolish as that a second time he wouldn't get off so lightly, but he had at least drawn attention to himself. "ah.. so Major Wiggs... that's quiet some strength you have there. I can tell your men weren't exaggerating." Jake beckoned at their target, although he couldn't really be classed as a threat, he still currently needed the wall behind him to stay on his own two feet. The Major did not look to impressed about the wound he had sustained, if anything it had only pissed him off more. Jake quickly did a mental count on his stocked spells there wasn't anything particularly impressive, only spells that might buy him more time if necessary.

[Zarkun]

Jericho had been near the door when the Major had caused it to explode out and had dove for cover when he heard the blast behind him. When he stood, he looked at the bloodied body missing it's throat on the floor then at the major, then at the Galbadian SEED attacked. As Jericho moved to support, he made the mistake of letting the Major find an opening and Jericho winced both when the Major's punch landed, and when the SEED hit the wall. That's gonna hurt in the morning. Taking advantage of the Major's momentary distraction, Jericho glanced at Gracelyn and nodded, then move his arm like he was throwing a hand full of knives, though instead, icicles flew out, every bit as deadly. "Blizzara!" Jericho moved in behind them, his scythe cleaving through the air and connecting with a shield the Major grabbed from a nearby suit of armor and Jericho barely avoided the fist that came next. Flipping away, Jericho unleashed a flurry of spinning blows, all of which were blocked or dodged. That was fine though, Jericho was just a distraction. Gracelyn would be delivering the blow.

[Shiinen]

Music!

Balamb Garden

---

...Water. The soft cascades of water against the ears. No sound of submerging. No sensation of breathing. An endless fall into a sea without an end.

What was it like to hit the bottom?

The single question in mind was all she heard as she looked up with empty eyes. Oxygen had long left her body, and yet...The asphyxiation had not yet hit as she continued this drifting. Further, further into the dark, further away where the rays of the sun couldn't hit her. Further down where she couldn't be heard no matter how loud she screamed. It was...ironic, in a sense, to think about it. An irony unlike no other as her vision darkened once again.

Her family was dead. Burned in fire.

Yet, here she was, drowning.

Which was worse? To feel your skin peel away and melt from the bone? Or to claw helplessly at the water surrounding you and taking away your precious air?

Have you not slept long enough, little dreamer?

The voice of the being above mortal comprehension. The one that took hold of her eyes and voice when the time came. Flashes of beings came along -- her parents, smiling with her little brother on her father's lap. Her classmates, all able to talk with such ease as she hit behind her little doll and her quartet of orbs that swelled with potent magic-

Duncan. Her Instructor.

She had been talking to him...What made her drop like that?...

Even now...in this water, she was worried. Was he...alright? Were her classmates safe? How was everyone? They would be mad at her for not being with them, wouldn't they?...

Those eyes brightened a bit as that sick feeling came over once again. That feeling that someone she cared about was going to be lost...

It started again.

The helpless clawing. The asphyxiation finally kicked, making her choke on the water that suddenly made itself present as she tried to swim against the current. It hurt to even try...but...

What if someone actually needed her for once?

More strokes to get out. More struggling. That was it. Struggle. Struggle. Struggle until her heart gave out -- her whole life was what it had to be, even with her family was gone. She had to keep going even when she wanted to die like this from this desperate guilt, this unsatiable pain. She had to keep going. And with each waking moment of this realization, the pain only made her get closer and closer to that surface as she swam up from her sleeping float.

She had to struggle for every damned thing she was worth to keep what was important to her.

---

The first breath was revitalizing, bring her body back to life as she nearly fell out of the bed and off of the IV machine that she was hooked onto. The next made her want to scream as her body begged for more of the oxygen that it had apparently been denied by her as she had been in this coma. The third had her shoot up as she looked up. Hair a mess, orbs finally springing to life and encircling her, eyes particularly glowing as Visionary repeatedly moved images of her squad and Instructor in a town -- a familiar one at that. Flashes of them in...

Timber. They were so far out-

"BLIZZARA!
It rang in her ears. Almost as if it had been cast next to her. But it wasn't her or anyone else...

One of her classmates. A fight?...

She needed to get there.

And she bared her teeth as she yanked her arm from the IV, bared the pain as she forced herself up and looked down at her body. She needed to get dressed, needed to get ready...
"Where do you think you're going, Munashii?"
The doctor. Damn...The cranky woman herself. Yet, this time, Eika couldn't comply as she grabbed Nom-Nom and gazed at the woman with determined eyes -- a gaze that showed that she was awake and more than ready to go out and to what she needed to.
"I can't stay. Not even if I just woke up."

The exasperated woman looked ready to hit her with her clipboard at that, even if she knew she couldn't exactly stop her from going at this point with that fire in her eyes.
"And why is that?"

"...Because my classmates and my Instructor need me. And I would die for them."
Words spoken with a resolution that didn't need to be questioned, she ran right past the woman to get to the dorms to get changed. The first step had a water spell cast to wash away at her body as she stripped off the clothes from before, fire mingling in to keep it heated and soap inexplicably handed to her by her Doll. A set of potions -- five regular, give Hi-Potions, and three Phoenix Pinions, were stuffed into her pack with an Ether given to Nom-Nom to hold. A change of clothes to something fresh, and she didn't even bother to glance at the others calling her name as she sped out and right through the exit gate of the Garden. The guard even called to her as she jumped through the smaller gates, but to hell of she cared to explain herself.

That quartet flew right by her side, and with a jump, she was more than intent to surf her way there as she landed on two of them and used the other two to push herself up to keep her body from falling forward.
"Fire...Ah...Fira!"
Junctioning a mid-level spell into her orbs-
"Thundara!"
Correction. Two. But for what reason? Simple. To propel the orbs forward, to make them go faster, to cover land quicker.

Because even if her family was dead, and she couldn't save them, she had people that she could. And goddamned if she wasn't going to risk her life trying.

Because they were the people that she would die for, without any more hesitation.

[Lennon79]

Back at the safehouse the radio chatter was getting intense. Yoko paced up and down the briefing room frustrated by her own uselessness; Mr Lerwick had ordered her to remain behind, both to command the remaining SeeDs still at the base and to ensure continuity of command should anything happen to him... And it sounded like something was happening, though the confused chatter on the airwaves gave no hint as to what. She eyed the remaining SeeDs within the bunker with a calculating gaze; the non-combat team couldn't be sent out, competent fighters though they were, and most of the remaining SeeD soldiers were all but unknown to her. Rapidly deciding that she needed more information to make her decision, Yoko approached them in their barrack room. 'You can probably hear the radio from here... things aren't going well.' An analytical gaze slid from one to another, taking note of their weapons and perceived attitudes; it didn't help much. 'I'd like so send a few more to support the assault team. Two volunteers please, ideally people with the restraint to not kill the HVT.' Yoko's gaze lingered meaningfully on one older SeeD, who at least had the grace to look embarrassed.

---

Laying prone on the other side of the complex, Duncan could barely see through the windows into the tight corridor where the team was fighting. Dialling his sights in a close as he could, he fired a few careful shots, scoring at least one hit; from what little he could see of Wiggs though, he doubted the soldier even felt it. As his radio crackled and Xerox's voice broke in, Duncan was already diving from the tower and heading for the entrance. 'Go, meet me at the front door. Leave the others to keep the engine hot.'

---

Only two traitors had stepped forward to resist him; pathetic. The massive hulk dodged to and fro, flowing through a dozen flashing blades like water; for a man of his size, Wiggs was unnaturally graceful, with a fluid gait reminiscent of a striking viper. Nevertheless one strike got through, a line of bright red drawn across one arm; Wiggs smiled. The pain was good. Refreshing. He repaid the favour, launching the traitor off his feet with one fist. The traitor tried to taunt him, unaware of how little the Major cared for the men under his command; the only one he treasured was His Excellency. All others were expen- He was almost too late, sensing the attack from his rear just in time to shield himself from the icy blades and counter another wretched traitor. The two of them sparred for a time, trading blows and dodges like a hurricane, but Wiggs smiled once more. If this one had expected another to come to his aid, he was mistaken. The Major took a heavy step forward, flinging the shield toward the traitor like a spinning blade before kicking off toward two more who hadn't joined in yet, two filthy women traitors who were about to die like dogs. His gauntlets glowed bright orange and blue as he swung for the first of them, one wreathed in flame while the other crackled with electrical power.

[Kissu]

Mei Song

Unlike her brother, Mei was held back at the safehouse with the remaining SeeD, her youthful face pinched into an expression of worry as her fingers wrung together anxiously. The life that seemed to radiate from her had faded in the wake of the mission, leaving behind what merely appeared to be a scared seventeen year old girl. Her eyes darted up from the floor as the woman known as Yoko spoke up and suddenly addressed the non-combat SeeDs, prompting Mei herself to look over at the remaining group.

She was still amazed that the Faction had been able to employ such a quantity of SeeD to begin with, and it filled her with a little hope that the mission would go without a hitch with so many people waiting on the sidelines, ready for action. Not to mention that would mean that her brother's safety was secured as well. "You heard Mrs Ono!" Leaping up to her feet with a sudden gust of energy, Mei placed her hands on her hips with a lighthearted play at leadership. "Our boys and girls need a hand out there! Only the strongest and bravest need apply!" She shot them a wicked grin. "And I'm your employer too, so whatever I say, goes!"

___________________________________________

Tyler Song

Tyler followed Jake's lead as the decision was made to rendezvous with the other SeeD members, and it wasn't long before their target finally made his appearance.

With a loud crack, the Major emerged from his den with a powerful force, mutilating some hapless girl before tossing her aside like garbage, his face alight with an almost inhuman fury. However, the more damage he seemed to sustain, the wider his grin became. Tyler had never seen such a disturbing sense of glee in a human being in all his life (although he had heard stories of the vile man,) and the very sight of his bloodthirsty destruction chilled him to the bone.

Still, they all had a job to do, and living up to their professional reputation, the mercenaries sprung into action, slinging magic and weaponry at the Major in a vain attempt to retaliate against his brute strength. Capturing him was going to be a difficult feat, to be sure, but it wasn't impossible. Not yet.

Tyler played his part in the battle, although his bullets rattled uselessly against the Major's thick hide in an attempt to slow him down. If it bothered Wiggs, he showed no sign of it as he warded off both Jake's and the scythe guy's attacks.

And then, something in the Major's eyes changed as they flickered over to the two prominent female members of SeeD. The bald woman and the brunette.

Tyler could see his fists crackle with the elements of fire and lightning as the Major charged towards the two girls, and for a brief moment, he could see Mei in the same position, cowering in fear as the hulk of a man crushed her with his fist and-

His feet bolted before he could even finish the line of thought, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stepped right into the line of fire, shielding the targeted female SeeD as he raised his gun and squeezed the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

In a matter of seconds, Tyler could see his bullet graze the cheek of the devastating super-soldier, but the image quickly faded in blinding white as one of Wiggs's fists collided into him in retaliation. Flames scorched into the side of Tyler's face as he screamed from the burning agony, his body blown back by the force of the punch as his back hit against the wall, causing a chunk of debris to fall on top of him.

The room started to blur and the ringing in his ears started to grow louder as Tyler fluttered in and out of consciousness, whilst the battle before him raged on.

[SwordfishKnight]

As the major rushed towards gracelyn, she crouched into a ready stance, ready to pounce. As he barreled towards her, she bent her legs, ready to jump.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

She flicked out her sickles to the walls behind the major, digging them in deep.

"The second worst mistake you made was thinking that you could charge us without repercussion."

She rocketed herself at the right moment, using the chains she had dug in to propel her. Her boots came in direct contact with the major's face, leaving such a lovely imprint. She flicked herself up and over, yanking the blades out of the wall, and landed on her feet behind him. She took a stance, hrr body straight and her finger pointing towards the large ape man.

"The first mistake was trying to injure my friend! Come on you freak of nature! Show me what you got!"

[Zarkun]

Jericho spun away from the flying shield, and time seemed to slow down as it passed his face, his reflection that of a man who's both determined and suddenly unsure his opponent is even human. And then the shield was gone, burying itself in the wall down the hall. Too close. Can't let him do that again. Spinning his scythe, Jericho launches himself forward and slams his shoulder into the still stunned man, actually making him stumble from the surprise of it. He quickly backflips out of reach though, knowing all too well what happened to most people who stayed too close to him for too long. Using another spell, he fires it at Wigs once more with the intent to freeze him in place. "Blizzaga!"

[Shiinen]

The blaze of fire and lightning that left her at the entrance of Timber was one that sparked the attention of more than one patrol. It wasn't any sort of stealthy landing, and she didn't intend on hiding her presence as she landed on her feet and began her paced traverse through the streets of the town. Shots glanced from the quartet of orbs that came as initial contact was made from the soldiers, only inspiring her anger as eyeballs within the spheres opened up and frantically stared at a group of five that'd found her. In the way...In the way of her finding where they were as her Guardian Force pushed flash upon flash of someone being slammed against the wall, as the resonating call of another ice-based spell rang through her ears even though she wasn't there. A battle against something harsh, brutal...yet, too hazy at the moment to see right...And she wasn't there yet.

She needed to get there.

Which proved to be the reason for such hostility as the first of five soldiers that questioned her presence ended up smashed to the ground with a Blizzara spell to the face and brute force of an orb to follow up. Maybe she'd slept for so long that the common courtesy of "questions first, murder later" had inevitably left her conscious for the time being in favor of ending the little trip that she'd made to get all the way here.

"OPEN FIRE!"

The kill order given, once flick of her finger pushed ice magic through her quartet. In a swirl of the four orbs, a simple blizzard spell created a cage of ice around her to keep the bullets from hitting at the cost of shattering it instead. More than enough time to send one of the soldiers to the ground with armor melting into skin with the force of a Fira spell at such a proximity. The next attempt was an Aero spell junctioned at her -- though...

It was useless to stop her, now.

A single orb slammed upon the ground without her conscious effort, soaking in the hostile winds and rendering it inefficient as the cutting blades swirled inside of them as a resulting factor. Confusion struck, with guns reloading to be fired as Eika pointed to the next of the trio remaining, a smile finally fell upon her lips as lightning build up and crackled between the three that weren't busy as her foot lifted up to rest upon the fourth. It was so...liberating to be awake. So calming to feel that rush of blood and beat of the heart that left her body feeling light.
"Thundara."

The shot of lightning through her quartet shot straight through one of the soldiers, leaving him to look down in sheer terror as a burning hole through his body bought him to shock, and finally to the ground. This sight? Perhaps too much for a "trained" war mongrel, prompting one of the two remaining soldiers to run off and leave the other one looking rather...pitiful. Oh, how sad it must be for a gun to be pointed, shot, and watch as the shots went in vain as those orbs moved like a swarm of bees to deflect them from their epicenter. One step forward meant one step back from him, until there really wasn't anywhere left to go except for eventual ground from a loss of footing. Kicking the orb up from the ground that she'd been moving inch by inch the hole time with the heel of her left foot, Eika let it drop down without a care on top of the man and directed the other three to float above him as she waited.
"Good evening. Now...Can you tell me where my friends are? A few students that came here from the Garden? They'll probably have on the uniforms, or you're causing them trouble. One of those few things. Or perhaps a man with a pet bitebug? Any of these ringing a bell?"
A poor show of a bravado came as he struggled to try and gain his freedom as she pressed her foot down on her orb and ice creeped from the orb to the surrounding areas of his body to keep him down. Such defiance! She'd think he might even try to hit her if she was so inclined to give him a chance...
"Why would I tell a lapdog where her fellow bitches are? Even if you kill me-"

A sight cut his words off, pronounced. Aggravated.

"Then I will."

But was it a spell to off him? No...No, not what she did to this one in particular. It was instead the gathering of the three orbs to rotate in a circle above the one that laid on him as she stepped off of it. It was the Extraction of everything. From the magic he had, tearing wind and ice spells from his body, to going beyond that.

Life.

Cure.

Protect.

Shell.

Simple support-based or healing-based spells. They all had sources, just like fire and ice and lightning. And in this case? She drew from their source. Not even the breath in him to scream as she tore literal life from his body to pull into those orbs, soft light after soft light drawn into the quartet without end until all that remained was a husk of the man that referred to her as a dog. A step over the body, and Eika continued on with a whistle in her step as she picked up the pace to a light skip. No need to have any more casualties as she began her journey deeper into the town, correct?~

[Lennon79]

A body flew through the open door before Duncan and the others, landing in a broken pile on the floor. He ran to the figure, horrified by what he saw; it was Freya, broken and bloodied. Whatever had done this to her was ridiculously powerful; one of her arms was snapped in two, the other badly burnt as if she had tried to block a Fire spell. But she was alive, Duncan was relieved to find. After casting a few curative spells on her to deaden the pain and slow blood loss, he led Xerox and Syrus into the next room.

---

The Major roared victoriously as the second traitor fell, unmoving beneath a pile of rubble, but didn't stop his juggernaut charge toward the two women. But the action left him momentarily distracted, enough for the traitor to set up a surprisingly effective counter that had the hulk staggering backward. The world seemed dimmer somehow, as if half the lights had suddenly shut off. Wiggs couldn't have known that the SeeD's attack had crushed one of his eyes and even if he did, it would hardly have mattered; there was still one traitor ahead, bracing for a fist fight. Barging in, gauntlets swinging, he was able to get a glancing blow in before the girl hit back, a series of lightning punches and arcing kicks that quickly put him on the defensive. For a long moment it seemed as though the SeeD had the upper hand, might even win... But it wasn't to be. Sheer brute force was the deciding factor as Wiggs finally landed a single punch, breaking through the girl's block to crush her arms with a burning fist. The body flew back like a ragdoll but that traitor was no longer the Major's concern; she could be finished at will. He turned slowly back to the others, a leery grin snaking across his misshapen features. For the first time he spoke, his voice inhumanly deep and laced with the stuttery sound of artificial modulation.

'ThREe doWn... MoRe to COmE. HUnnngerrr, kILLL. TrAAI... tors.'

The monsterous soldier took a deep breath and charged. Out of nowhere a spell blindsided him, sheets of ice encasing his arm and binding him to the floor. His inertia kept him moving forward and Wiggs crashed into wooden floorboards with an ominous shattering sound.

---

The three of them burst through the doorway, weapons ready at hand. The scene that greeted them was pure carnage... One very dead SeeD, their informant unmoving under a pile of rubble... and in the centre of the wide corridor, a gorilla of a man half frozen to the floor. Duncan paused for a critical second, trying to take it all in, but that one second was long enough for Syrus to act brashly. The Sorcerer dove forward, power accumulating around his fists; Duncan recognised it, the sealing magic cast on Eika during the test. If Syrus could seal Wiggs even temporarily... But that wasn't meant to be either. The Major's reaction was instant and over in a heartbeat. Before Duncan could even register what was happening, Syrus' unconscious form was battered out the window, broken limbs flopping around uselessly. The SeeD stood transfixed, horrified by what he had saw as the hulking mass pulled his frozen arm free of the floor and turned toward him, gauntlet machine gun raised. Duncan reacted, utterly thoughtless as he raised his paramagic rifle and pulled the trigger. A long arc of electricity hit Wiggs dead centre mass, eliciting a roar of pain... and something more. Suddenly the Major's movements were much slower, more erratic, almost as if... Xerox figured it out first. 'It's the implants! Hit him with Thunder, now!'

[Ogo]

Ramses Q. Reinholdt

“I fold.”

A slight frown formed on the large man’s face as he tossed his cards to the dealer. Waiting. It was always the worst part of a mission. Especially a mission that one was not involved in. In this case, Ramses was one of the unlucky few. Or lucky, judging by the sighs of relief that escaped a few of the team when they realized they weren’t heading out on tonight’s mission. With the main team having left, all that remained was the non-combat team, one of the representatives from the employer, the field adjutant, and of course, the B-team.

“Fold.” called the SeeD to his left.

Ramses wasn’t resentful for being place on base duty. Disappointed, but not resentful. He fully understood the ramifications should the mission not go as planned. So it only made sense for Lerwick to prioritize those with whom he had experience fighting alongside. Better squad chemistry lead to better results. Quicker operation time, less casualties. It just made sense.

“Ahh...dammit.” called the SeeD opposite him, as the fourth squealed in delight and claimed her pot.

So why did something seem off? Something in the pit of his stomach rotted, gnawing at him. Of course, the frequent, jarring radio traffic didn’t help matters. He had never been much of a pessimist, but something was going to go wrong.

He could just feel it.

As if the universe chose to confirm his fears, the field adjutant, Ms. Yoko Ono, had entered the room. Ramses could feel her unease before evening looking at her. And when he finally did, it didn’t surprise him to see her looking so grim.

'You can probably hear the radio from here... things aren't going well.'

Ramses closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair. He placed his hands behind his head and grimaced. He hated being right.

‘I’d like to send a few more to support the assault team. Two volunteers please, ideally people with the restraint to not kill the HVT.’

The look she shot the the SeeD beside him...shoot, if looks could kill, they’d have been a man down.

Ramses climbed to his feet and snapped to attention.

“Permission to speak, ma’am.”

For a moment, Ramses could have swore that Ms. Oko looked surprised. Wasn’t she expecting formality? Or had she already become accustomed to Squad A’s more aloof nature that this seemed foreign to her? In any case, the look lasted but merely a moment before she nodded.

‘Speak freely.’

Ramses sighed silently. How could he say it without seeming cold, heartless, or downright cowardly? He decided not to think about it. Whatever came out would be pure, unfiltered truth.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, I don’t think that’s a good idea. That group consisted of highly trained SeeDs, more than capable of a simple snatch and grab. If the situation has turned dire, I don’t think we could arrive in time to make a difference. In addition, should the group have already fallen by the time the volunteers get there, then they’ll surely be lost as well. Then what does that leave us? A non-combat team and a gutted support team? For the sake of the mission, I suggest we entrench here. Prepare in case our location is revealed or worse yet, attacked, and plot our next move. If they fail, we still need to be able to operate. The best thing we can do is hope against hope tha-”

SMACK! A sharp stinging sensation danced across Ramses’ left cheek and his head snapped to the right. It was about the response he was expecting, although he didn’t count on Ms. Ono putting that much force behind her punch. Still, it had to be said. He didn’t like the idea any more than she did, but rushing in recklessly would put everything in jeopardy. She was trained well enough to know that as well.

Kein.

Shit.

Kein was apart of the group. He hadn't just poked a raw nerve, he had stomped on it, grinding it into the dust with his heel.

Silence hung in the air. Ramses turned his gaze to each of the SeeDs in the room. The tension was tight here. Of course it was. He had single-handedly destroyed the morale of everyone in the room. That was the worst thing he could have said. He had to fix it.

“My apologies, ma’am. I spoke out of line. Allow me to volunteer for the support team. I’ll make sure they come back safe. They'd do the same for us.”

He still didn’t think it was a good idea, but if it WAS going to happen, he damn sure wanted to make sure it was done right.