"Sergeant Janssens, reporting in" Henri replied to Qinshe's query, "I am fine and going to help with the evacuation. Over."
Henri moved out to the PoW camp, where the others were already helping with the evacuations. Henri himself took one of the injured to carry on his back. Travel through the storms was not easy, but everyone needed to hurry. The helicopters wouldn't be able to stay long in this extreme weather.
Henri put carefully his patient down and looked at the sky. The storm was certainly a powerful one, something not easy to tame, if it could be tamed. Still, Henri wondered if he could lessen its strength by removing ambient magic from it. He could reach very far out, but perhaps the bubble could provide a small, windless spot. "Fighting in Shade"
Nothing. The storm was pure nature. Huo Ren's sun had caused disruptions in the atmosphere, but didn't effect anymore. Leonidas would be of no further help, so Henri shut it down again, just in case the PLA made another attempt. They had seemingly left the area, but you can never know with Arms-Masters.
He was of no use as a fighter now. All he could do was to try and help as many people towards the ridge, where the helicopters hopefully still waited. It was a kilometer journey through harsh winds, but what could you do? Henri took the injured soldier back to carry and continued with the others.
Henri took deep breaths, as he tried to calm his heart. The heat from the false sun burning in mirage space was nearly the end of him. Not that the area here wasn't hot in its own right. Some water helped with the dehydration, but the burns had to be dealt with later.
Outside the boat the battle was still raging. Henri found himself a hiding spot by some trees and took out his binoculars. He could see at least three additional Arms-Masters, maybe more. It seemed like PLA was greatly devoted to this artificial drought project of theirs.
Fighting these Zodiacs wasn't easy. Henri could fly, and his neutralization field only had a reach of twenty meters across. He could lay a trap, but that would require co-ordinating with the others, and Nico was far too busy trying to fight two Arms-Masters simultaneously.
However, Henri still had his guns, and was in a hiding position. The spearman was too close to Nico, but the other, armed with gourds of some kind, possibly bombs, would make for a good target.
He took aim with his rifle at the man in white and red, and fired.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, much more literally than Henri would have preferred. Huo Ren had turned Christina's Mirage Space against them, rapidly turning the area into a giant pressure cooker.
They would need to get out of there. But simply deactivating Mirage Space might ruin whatever plans Christina and Ernesto might still have. Of course, leaving Mirage Space as it is was also dangerous.
Henri was already feeling dizzy from the heat, and the sweating was getting excessive. That meant heat cramps were advancing. And the other two were already in danger, being in close proximity to this solar spearman.
No, no more pondering. Henri needed to act before they all died there. Luckily Huo Ren seemed distracted by Ernesto and Christina. There was the opportunity. Henri took his rifle and moved as much behind Huo Ren as he could. Hopefully the Arms-Master was susceptible to bullets.
However, should plans fail further, or Henri feel like throwing up, he'd try to use Fighting in Shade. It might be for the best to shut down Mirage Space anyway at that point.
This was not a good situation to be in by any means. This Huo Ren fella had the power to create artificial suns, after all. Or, well, technically they were only fireballs that resembled suns. A real sun much smaller than that, say, the size of a pea, would kill all life in a radius of thousands of miles or so. Henri couldn't remember exactly, what the description in that children's science book he read as a boy was, but the memory of that made him conclude Huo Ren didn't create real stars.
Not that it made the Arms-Master any less dangerous. Plasma is a deadly substance. Currently the greatest saving grace was that Huo Ren seemed to want to do things personally. The soldiers were kept back. For a moment Henri considered if killing Huo Ren was a good idea. After all, his death could mean that the PLA soldiers would swarm in. Then he remembered that Huo Ren was already blasting them with fire, and remembered they didn't exactly have a choice in the matter.
Besides, this is where Henri's strength lied. While Leonidas offered some protection from conventional arsenal, it was ultimately an Anti-NA weapon. It had helped with one Chinese elite Master, it would help again.
Henri released Leonidas, but didn't activate its power yet. For now, he simply observed the situation, and hoped the boat didn't stop flying before reaching ground. Foolishly, he hadn't considered the need for parachutes.
Henri took a final look at his camo face paint. The first part of the mission was more stealthy than average, and the gear worn matched accordingly. The other arms masters were still making their final preparations, so he had time to make sure the boat was ready to go.
The boat wasn't one Henri was used to, but he did have some rudimentary knowledge on how driving watercrafts, and the controls didn't seem that different from baseline. Also, for this group he was the one who could be trusted with a vehicle like this out of all the Arms Masters on board.
"Fuel tank" He said aloud as the checked the tanks. It was full. "Check"
"Motor" He tried the motor a couple of time, and it worked. Henri shut it down again. "Check"
Finally he went to the front of the boat and tested the radar. It showed the expected dots. "Radar...Check."
The boat was ready, now for the Arms Masters. "Okay, everybody! Roll call!"
Henri called the names of the group that would join him and he checked their names one by one.
"Okay, now for the equimpent." He told, going through them one by one.
"Weapons..." The group showed guns, knives, grenades, all the mundane weaponry "Check. "
"Support gear"Next came medipacks, extra ammo and assinged visors[color=00aeef]"Check.
"Noble Arms."Henri activated Leonidas, and the other Arms Masters did likewise with their own"Check. " With that check, the Arms disappeared again, until later use.
"Finally, let's see if we all have watches synchronized." Everybody presented their watches. They all showed 6:27, as was needed. "Check."
"Okay, everyone, on board!" He told as he took position at the front. With everyone in place and the motor running, the boat began its journey up the Mekong River.
Muscular, yet lean, Henri is 187 tall and weights 85 kg. On his right shoulder there's a badge depicting Canis Major, symbol of the Laelaps-unit.
Name:Henri Janssens
Age:27
Nationality:Belgian
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:Leonidas
Noble Arm Rank:
Power: B Speed: B Range: D Persistence: C Precision: D Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Counter, Void, Melee/Short-Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Leonidasis an Anti-NA weapon. It was born out of Henri's reserved nature and distrust of Arms Masters.
Phalanx Leonidas' passive default power. Any NA attack upon it is blocked. However, it only works on its own surface area. Anything else goes right through, so Henri will have to grouch, if he wants to spare his lower body from an attack larger than Leonidas' surface.
Fighting in Shade By placing Leonidas above his head, Henri forms a bubble of 20 meters in diameter around himself that nullifies NA attacks within. However, it offers no protection from mundane arsenal whatsoever. Indirect NA attack (such as telekinetically thrown rock) also passes through. The protective area of the bubble is also indiscriminate in its nullifying effect, suppressing enemy and ally NA powers alike(though it doesn't unsummon said noble arms, only allowing arms masters to theoretically use their NA as regular weapons, if said NA can be used as a regular weapon, or the Arms Master knows how to use their NA as a regular weapon). As such Henri needs to keep a distance from other Arms Masters, both for the efficiency of allies, and in a case of enemy Arms Master, Henri's own safety. The field activates immediately after Henri puts the shield up and says the Password "Fighting in Shade". The field shuts down when the shield is lowered or Henri no longer has the strength to do so. 30 seconds is the maximum, after which Henri needs a breather. Breathers increase in length the more times Henri uses the power. Henri can put Leonidas up without activating the effect. Misc Abilities: Henri is a trained soldier, skilled in firearms, engineering and survival tactics. These come useful if and when he needs to keep Leonidas dormant.
Personality: As a professional soldier, Henri attempts to not let emotions get in the way. He's not made of stone, however, and can connect with other people, though he's not sure if he should.
For Henri, powers should only be given to the responsible. As such he tends to be distrustful of Arms Masters, particularly the young ones, who for him are likely to misuse it. At the same time, he wishes that the young would be allowed to grow on their own and make their on decisions, something granted to him, but not many others.
Although highly trained and prepared, Henri still feels some nervousness. He is out here to prove the capabilities of the Laelaps-unit, so much is at stake.
Henri doesn't trust either Seven Virtues or Downward Descent, seeing the former as liars and the latter as nutcases.
Likes: Routine, good food
Dislikes: Deceivers, power-seekers
Fears: Loss of close people, Powerlessness
Bio: Henri grew up in the Flanders region of Belgium. Though his home country was relatively peaceful, the chaos of a world with Arms Masters reached there. At a young age, Henri decided to become a soldier, and excelled quite well in the Belgian Defence Force. Something unexpected happened after a year the Big Three appeared. Henri was summoned to Berlin along with other soldiers across the EU to form a special task force to deal with the increasing Arms Master threat: The Laelaps-unit.
Trained to fight Arms Masters and granted Noble Arms by the Paragons of Science (when the soldiers weren't Arms Masters already), the Laelaps-unit was designed to keep the Europe safe and stable. Henri himself received Leonidas, an anti-NA shield born from his distrust of Arms Masters.
The original first mission of the Laelaps-unit was to act covertly in studying the supposed Downward Descent infiltrators among the influential people of Europe, but the Chinese and Russian Crises forced the unit's reveal ahead of schedule. Henri was sent to the Philippines to assist ASEAN forces. This will be his baptism in fire.
Current Goal: Finish the mission in the Philippines
Henri listened carefully to the briefing. To be honest, while this wasn't exactly the European mission, he had desired for a chance like this. And granted, this wasn't his first big mission by any means. The naval invasion had that honor.
The sergeant took a deep breath. He was letting excitement getting to him. Trainers had warned not to let lust for battle get to the head, because then things would get ugly. You couldn't afford to see enemy as a human, but neither could you turn yourself into a monster. No, the enemy was the Chinese government, not the Chinese people. Not to mention that there were hostages that needed releasing.
He looked at the surrounding arms masters. Many of them were still kids, and some of them even outranked Henri. Some had proven themselves at the Lingayen Beach, but not all of them. Sending a child to battle was something the First World was supposed to frown upon. But with Arms Masters, the rules were stretched. And he didn't really trust them. That's why Leonidas was an anti-NA in the first place.
And speaking of Leonidas, where would the officers place him? Evacuation? There were more people that could be fit within Henri's range, and real weapons were still a problem? Direct combat? He could neutralize even China's strongest Arms Masters, but Leonidas was indiscriminate, disarming allies, as well. The Lingayen Beach had shown his capability as a teleported assassin, striking and leaving. Some sort of co-ordination would be required.
Henri took the opportunity and asked. "How shall we be organized for the mission? I mean, what unit has which members and operation?"
"Wait! Who are... you?" But Henri's question remained unanswered, as the kid disappeared in pursuit of the masked man.
Henri considered the bottle in his hands. It seemed too simple to be the cure. Although, the boy didn't seem like the lying sort. Besides, if it was poison or the virus, Henri could simply not open the bottle, and nitroglycerin too dangerous to bring with you when jumping about.
Nonetheless, Henri returned to the trucks, where the police had managed to gain something of a control of the situation.
"Sergeant, what on Earth happened?" Captain queried.
"Some armsmaster gave me this." Henri said, presenting the bottle, "Claims it to be the cure for the zombies, though I can't confirm it."
"Take it to the headquarters in Truck 5" Captain ordered "The boys in the lab can figure it out. And be ready with that power of yours, in case the bottle breaks"
"Yes, sir"
After some preparations, the truck left for the base, with it hopefully the solution to this crisis.
Once the subject launched his plan, the cops opened fire. While Henri was shocked by the act, he couldn't exactly blame them. Civilians or no, they were infected and danger of spreading more. Besides, police had a reputation of aggressiveness, in and out of Philippines, so nothing new there. Still, they showed enough empathy to help the released hostage to safety.
"Okay, Armsmaster unit, get him!" Came Captain's order, and Henri, along with the four cops that escorted him before, advanced through the opening created by the salvo.
"What are you waiting for? Activate your power!" One of the team-mates told.
"Not yet" Henri said, "I've used it already plenty of times and I'm exhausted. We'll wait until we have the perfect change."
"Exhausted?" The cop asked, bewildered, "What kind of an Armsmaster are you?"
"One who knows he's not a god." Henri replied, not in the mood to argue.
After a while, they caught up to the assailant. Now the hard part. While technically sacrificing the hostage was an option, it wasn't one anyone would lightly take. Words would have to be used first.
"Just give up, already!" Henri shouted, "You cannot escape!"
So far things were in order. Zombies, though dangerous, had some predictable acting patterns, which could be used in herding them. Henri himself had recently taken a risk and lured a bunch of zombies in an alley with a chain-link fence, climbing straight over it and leaving the infected behind. Should suffice until the cops could come and take them.
It was around this time that the signal flare appeared in the sky.
"Units 5, 17 and 22 to the emergency location!" Came the order through the comm-link. Henri was assigned to unit 5, so he'd have to be there as well. Quickly he rushed to the center of action, where the three trucks were already being loaded by the cops.
"About time!" The captain noted Henri's arrival, and then stopped him from entering the truck. "No! You take the front seat next to the driver!"
Henri did ponder the captain's intentions, but orders were orders, so he simply replied "Yes, Sir!" And entered the front of the truck.
The convoy moved in a single file to the signal flare's direction, though the path was soon blocked by more zombies.
"Now, use that Arms trick of yours" Captain ordered.
Henri did as told and activated Leonidas. "Fighting in shade"
The infected in the front and sides of the truck regained their selves and, realizing a police truck was moving towards them, got out of the way with the best of their ability. And as the trucks moved forward, the field vanished and the infected became zombies again, but by that time a path had already been cleared forward.
Henri had to admit that it was clever from the captain. Cold, but clever.
In the area they reached, there was a full chaos going on. Quickly the riot cops exited the vehicles, Henri with them, joining the shield wall.
"Attention!" Captain spoke to a loudspeaker, "This is the police! Surrender now, and there will be no further trouble!"
It was unlikely to work, but protocol was protocol. The units prepared to make their move, and Henri put his shield above his head, just in case.
Festive
Gerlando
Fetzen
Lurking Krog
Kumbaris