TheMerlin

Broken Skies

With a wordless howl of rage, Lucina leapt forward and brought her battleaxe down in a cleaving vertical strike meant to split the Belisian in half. His words had cut more deeply than any sword ever could, but in the moment it took to cover the distance between them, Tyrhallan had already dashed passed in the blink of an eye and entered the wheelhouse.

Lucina immediately turned to pursue, but was interrupted as a flying beast swooped down from the sky and its rider, another Belisian, swung a mace into her helmet, knocking it off.

"Go forth, I will back thee!" the knight, one of Sarban's group, shouted at Tyrhallan while dismounting and pressing the attack with blow after thunderous blow.

"You cur!" Lucina roared as she defended herself with the haft of her weapon, being slowly driven back.

Meanwhile in the wheelhouse, the helmsman of the frigate, a young man clad in a grey cap and uniform, struggled with the controls as the entire ship suddenly began to drift off course, listing to one side.

"It's not me!" he shouted as he heard the door open. "It just started turning on its- oh Terra!"

As soon as the helmsman noticed Tyrhallan standing in the doorway, he reached for the holster at his waist and drew his sidearm in a panic.

Broken Skies

@deia876lat

"Aw shit!" Nena yelped as the collision knocked her into the hold, sending her stumbling into the group of refugees gathered within. Collapsing into a pile of arms and legs, she fought her way free only to see the bow of the frigate filling the doorway, squeezing out the twilit sky as it moved closer and closer with relentless ease. In the growing shadow of that behemoth, Nena was certain that this was the end and she closed her eyes in acceptance of her fate.

"I'm sorry Petra," she whispered as the people around her muttered their own final thoughts or shrieked in terror, all wrapping their arms around each other in one last embrace.

And then... a miracle happened. With an ear shattering bang, the frigate was abruptly thrown off course as though the hand of Gaia herself had slapped it aside. The dim light of dusk poured into the hold once more and a tense few seconds passed before the air quaked again like a thunderclap.

A stillness settled and Nena chanced a look outside of the hold as the other refugees remained huddled together. What she saw was a pillar of light as bright as the Aether, standing where the tattooed girl had been. It shined so brilliantly that it hurt to look upon and Nena had to avert her gaze, but even to the untrained eye it was clear that there was magic at work here of a scale too large to comprehend.

The very air seemed to ripple in waves in every direction and though it only lasted for a moment, Nena could have sworn that she saw the black of night, true night as she averted her eyes. In the shadow of that blinding light, it was like a blanket of darkness as told by the old stories with grains of starlight scattered across the sky, more than anyone would see within a lifetime of perpetual dusk.

The vision gradually faded as the light subsided, growing dimmer and dimmer until Nena could turn to look and see the tattooed girl standing on the remains of the deck, her hands thrown up defiantly against the side of the passing frigate.

"Hey are you... are you okay?" Nena called out to her hesitantly, not sure what she had just witnessed but certain that the girl was at the heart of it.

---

@Omni5876

Arn grunted at the playful address by Leo. “Yes we are in a tight spot. However, now that you are here we might have a chance. I need you to be the bait. I assume your speed is adequate to keep ahead of the firing line of that machine gun. I will come out of the opposite side and blast them off the side with a surge of water”

"Huh, never thought I'd take orders from a mage," Leo replied as he risked a peek around the pillar, ducking back as a fresh burst of suppressive fire ripped through the air and whizzed past like deadly mosquitoes. "But yeah, I think I can manage."

In truth, Leo was no quicker than any other knight in terms of movement speed. Certainly not fast enough to outrun bullets. Only Tyrhallan was capable of such speed and he would most likely have little trouble dealing with the current situation, but Leo was confident in his reflexes and now that he knew what to expect, he would not be mowed down a second time.

"What about you though?" he asked the battlemage, seeing signs of exhaustion in Arn's face.

He shrugged his shoulders at the knight’s question regarding his welfare. “I could be better, have been worse once or twice. I don’t think I have any serious wounds and I am sure that the troop medic will loose his top trying to patch me up.”

He quickly and efficiently used a roll of gauze to pack and dress the wound. There did not seem to be any arterial bleeding but there was no need to take a chance. After all, there was no telling how long it would be before they were able to safely evac.

He took a deep breath and he said in a gruff voice. “Ok, I am ready when you are. I hope you do not get shot.”

"Right back at ya," Leo replied as he held up his sabre, ready to break into action. Yet just as he was about to make his move, the entire airship quaked and sent him stumbling forward with uncontrolled momentum instead.

"Oh sh-" he had time to say before stopping himself from falling, realizing how exposed he was now to enemy fire.

Much to his relief however, most of the Vaimese soldiers had been flung off their feet from the impact, including the machinegunner. Leo thought to finish them off with an air slash while he had the chance, but then another thunderous blow rocked the deck and sent him tumbling forward head over heels.

"Was that from us?" he asked after landing in a roll, his reflexes keeping him from falling flat on his face.

Broken Skies

"Run."

As the Belisian whispered in her ear, Lucina flinched and huddled up into a defensive posture, fearing an imminent attack. When the following blow struck her in the back of the head however, it bounced off as harmlessly as a pebble striking the face of a boulder and in that instant, Lucina learned everything she needed to know about her opponent. Rather than launching a counterattack however, she merely turned to face him while calmly lifting her battleaxe free from the deck with a squeak of metal.

"Run?" she said as she held her weapon loosely in both hands, regarding Tyrhallan with clear disdain. "Run? You are not even capable of wounding me!"

Though the two were of her similar height, the Belisian may as well have been facing a giant for all the ki empowering Lucina's body and the disparity in strength made clear by his earlier attack only served to enrage the Vaimese captain.

"To think that my men fell to one such as you... I expected to face a fellow warrior, but you are a mere assassin. A blade in the dark that can only strike with speed and stealth, and you dare to accuse me of cowardice?"

Pointing her battleaxe back the way she came where she had followed the trail of bodies left behind by the Belisian, Lucina continued with barely suppressed rage in her voice, "You did not even give them a chance! On my life, I swear I will kill you!"

As she raised her axe to strike however, the frigate jolted violently as though it had collided into something, knocking it askew.

"What was that?" Lucina had time to say before the entire ship quaked again, forcing her to stumble onto a knee. Then with an accusatory glare towards the Belisian, she added, "More trickery?"

Broken Skies

@deia876lat

The next few seconds seemed to last an age as Nena waited for the girl to grab her outstretched hand while the towering bow of the frigate loomed ever closer. Much to Nena's surprise however, the girl only shook her head in response as she continued trying to move the refugee ship out of the way.

“I CAN’T!” She cried out through gritted teeth. Her head nodding towards the opening that lead down into the ship’s hold.
“More…people…on board.”

You've got to be kidding me, Nena thought as she looked in the direction pointed out to her then back towards the girl, her tattoos glowing brighter and brighter with each passing moment.

“Get…them…OUT!” She said as the skin on her arms started to show cracks.

Still drained from her assault upon the Vaimese frigates earlier, Nena was reluctant to push her limits any further lest it meant endangering herself. She was a mercenary after all, only in it for the reward and she had already accomplished her task of slowing the enemy down. Then again however, she was not so black hearted that she would ignore the girl giving her all to protect the people on board the falling airship.

"Gaia's ass, fine," Nena said as she jumped onto the deck of the barge. "Petra, get ready to catch us!"

The roc swooped down beneath the airship as Nena ran passed the girl and into the hold, shouting out to everyone gathered below, "C'mon folks. Cavalry's here, now get your asses moving!"

Just as she spoke however, a sickening lurch of screaming metal sounded behind her as the frigate finally made contact, relentlessly plowing through the side of the barge as though there was nothing in the way at all.

---

@Omni5876

After numerous interruptions and lengthy pursuit from Vaimese soldiers, the Silver Spider had finally made his way to the rear of the frigate where he saw Arn taking cover behind a pillar. The battlemage raised a hand and Leo raised his own in return, mistaking it for a greeting, but then he saw what was around the pillar and realized what the gesture actually meant.

"Oh sh-" Leo had time to say before a barrage of machinegun fire rained down upon him, most of the bullets bouncing off his armour before he could bring his sabre up to defend himself.

Fortunately, none had penetrated or struck his head, but almost all the rounds he did receive were aimed centre mass and by the time he managed to scramble his way over to Arn's side behind the pillar, the armour plates covering his torso had mostly been shot off or dented in.

"Looks like we're in a bit of a tight spot," Leo grunted as he peeled away what was left of his cuirass, leaving his nerve suit exposed underneath. Though the artificial muscle fibres proved adequate against all but the highest calibres, it did nothing to protect against high explosives and Leo hoped to Gaia that the enemy had none on hand.

"There's more behind us," he said as he wiped away the blood trickling down from the side of his head. "Damn good shooters too. Better than pirates anyway. How are you holding up?"

Broken Skies

Bit of an incomplete post but it'll have to do for now. I'll add in Leo and Nena's perspectives tomorrow.

Broken Skies

“But if you must know, I am Tyrhallan Venray. Captain of the Vanguard.” He offered her a bow, though it was lacklustre, not taking his eyes off of his new obstacle.

"Tyrhallan," Lucina replied as she bowed in return. "I shall remember it as I send you to the Allmother, but you did not answer the question. Perhaps I should speak more clearly, why would you dare to attack us when you are so clearly outnumbered?"

“I dare because of Vaim’s own impudence. What else would you expect when a pack of wolves shows up ready to invade your lands? And hiding behind refugees to boot.” He rebuked showing his cold contempt as he continued.

Lucina fell silent for a moment, pondering the Belisian's words before continuing, "I see... Well my honour is a small price to pay to ensure the lives of my men. That is my only concern right now and I would do anything to make it so. Anything."

“Such is the coward’s way.”

Affronted, the Vaimese captain donned her helmet again and reached for the hilt of her sword as she replied in anger, "Make no mistake, Belisian. If I cannot protect my men then by holy Terra, I will avenge them and you will pay for the blood you've spilled already!"

“And I do not have time to play with you.” He said as he rushed her.

"Then I shall make this quick!"

Before Lucina could draw her sword however, the Belisian was already upon her in a flash and she hesitated... but only for a moment. Instead of trying to unsheathe her weapon, she threw a left hook with a gauntleted fist and drove forward with the right, both with enough power to blow away the rain like a shotgun blast and outright decapitate any ordinary person.

Though her speed was certainly no match for Tyrhallan's own, she clearly had the advantage in strength and was intent on making full use of it. If both attacks missed, she would only need to close her arms around her opponent to end the fight right then and there. If the Belisian was wise, he would see this immediately and avoid being grappled at any cost.

Broken Skies

Well the way I thought up Eilis is basically that she is a conductor, like metal for example, normally when she was unbound (the tattoo's) she wouldn't have problems calling forth and releasing magic. As much as metal can conduct heat. However too much heat and you know what happens.

@deia876lat

Okay, forget everything I said. That's a much better analogy than what I had, we'll go with that. To bounce off that idea we could also say that every time a mage uses magic, they get a little bit of feedback in the form of, say, waste heat or something. Too much and it burns them out from the inside like what would happen at birth if they couldn't achieve balance between their own soul and their connection with Gaia.

Or instead of just heat, we could also say that a little bit of what they cast goes back to them. Eg. slight recoil from telekinesis, a cold feeling from cryokinesis, a mild buzz from electrokinesis, that sort of thing and it gets worse and worse the closer they get to their limit. This feedback can be lessened through training, but never entirely mitigated so it's not a matter of stamina and focus, or running out of mana but more rather gradually losing the ability to do it safely like an overworked muscle.

So it's like you can have as much coffee, sugar and stimulants as you want, be all wide awake with energy to burn, but if that muscle hasn't had time to recover, it will tear and it will hurt. Except for mages, it could go from 0 to 100 real quick because of the forces they're working with. They'll experience pain at first, an early warning sign of reaching their limits, then once they get past the point of no return, fwoosh. You end up setting yourself on fire instead of the other guy. Or get frozen into a popsicle. Or get blown away by your own telekinetic push, etc.

How's all that sound? Oh and I'll have to put off posting til tomorrow again, I kinda got a bit carried away with all this.

Broken Skies

first off.... @deia876lat cat fight! lol

@Omni5876

Also, correct on both counts. A mage doesn't run out of mana so much as they run out of stamina and focus. It's like trying to keep your eyes open for as long as possible without blinking while holding your breath. That's more or less how a mage experiences using magic.

Broken Skies

@deia876lat

"Yikes!" Nena yelped as a laser beam ripped through one of the refugee ships nearby, cutting it almost in half as it blew apart the cabin. Evidently it did not take long at all for reinforcements to appear as the laser had been aimed at a passing mounted knight, swooping in seemingly out of nowhere. The knight was not alone as five others followed after, attacking the enemy frigates head on with guns, grenades and ranged ki attacks. Now that the battle was underway however, the refugees were being caught in the crossfire as the guns of the Empire roared to life and Nena was beginning to doubt whether she'd emerge unscathed as well.

"You boys are being too damn wild!" she shouted into the wind after the charging knights before spotting a figure in the corner of her eye, standing on the deck of the destroyed refugee ship as it drifted towards the frigate that shot it down. A mage, Nena realized as the figure held out both hands and moved the vessel ever so slightly to the side in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. That's not going to be enough.

"C'mon Petra, we need to help," Nena said as she urgently tapped the beast's neck and pointed towards the distant figure.

Petra made a sharp cry in response and swooped towards the falling airship at full speed, darting forward like a great feathered missile as Nena clung on for dear life. Within a few heartbeats they closed the distance and Petra spread her wings out wide at the last possible moment, braking into a stop midflight and hovering in place above the vessel with rhythmic wingbeats.

"Come on!" Nena shouted as she stretched out a hand towards the figure on the deck, a girl with glowing tattoos and a pained expression on her face as her limbs trembled with the effort of maintaining her magic. The bow of the Vaimese frigate was now almost directly on top of them.

---

@Omni5876

As soon as the Silver Spider landed on the deck of the frigate, he immediately met stiff resistance as every nearby soldier opened fire upon him with assault rifles and submachine guns. In a blur of movement, he cut through the nearest with a horizontal air slash then deflected every bullet he could not evade, or at least almost every bullet. A few had managed to slip through his guard only to bounce off his armour, but a single round managed to find its way to the side of his head and cut a graze across it.

The stinging pain caused Leo to smile maniacally as he continued deflecting gunfire, exulting in the moment while calling out to the Vaimese soldiers, "You fellas have got some fire in you, huh?"

Then abruptly dashing forward, the Spider was upon them as he sliced through bullets and bodies alike, leaving a trail of blood wherever he went. More soldiers appeared from below decks and Leo was about to cut them down too until an explosion sounded from the rear of the ship, grabbing everyone's attention.

Oh right, the objective, Leo thought as he remembered that he was not where he was supposed to be. Looking towards the front of the ship he spotted Tyrhallan for just a moment, moving stealthily towards the helm of the frigate before disappearing around the other side of a tower. Seems like he's got that one in the bag, which leaves...

Arn. If there was one thing Leo knew about mages, it was that they were vulnerable in a battle of attrition and no matter how skilled they were, Arn would be no exception. Moreover, Leo already knew the Crimson Rider was more than capable enough of taking care of himself, so with that in mind he sprinted away from enemy reinforcements and moved to assist the battlemage, half expecting to find him dead already.

What he didn't see however was an armoured figure behind him leaping through the sky in Tyrhallan's direction with battle axe in hand.

---

While Tyrhallan was looking through the door of the wheelhouse, lightning flashed behind him as an armoured figure descended from above, bringing an obscenely large battleaxe crashing down through the plating of the deck and striking with the force of a meteor. Where Tyrhallan stood before was now only a hole as the entire section caved in from the impact, collapsing into a pile of twisted metal in the corridor below.

With a stately grace of motion the armoured figure, clad in full plate with a sword at the hip, set their battleaxe aside, sticking it like a flagpole into the deck of the frigate before removing an ornately carved helmet, revealing brown hair, grey eyes and a woman's face.

Hider

"My name is Lucina Aurelia, captain of the Raiders Squadron," she said, addressing Tyrhallan while standing at the edge of the hole. "And you are either very brave or very stupid to challenge us directly. Who are you to dare the might of Vaim?"

You have met a challenging foe.
All actions towards Lucina Aurelia must be open ended.

Broken Skies

I'll try to post tomorrow. Ran out of time for tonight.