Zarkun

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

After finishing up cleaning his weapons, the SPARTAN-IV could only stand to be in the quiet for another few minutes before, with a groan, he geared up and headed out. Well, specifically, he grabbed his knives and his pistol and headed out. Once his door was closed to his room and the lock had engaged, he turned to his handler as they approached and shook his head. "ONI can stuff it, Sergeant. And be sure to tell them I said exactly that when you have to report that I wouldn't allow you to accompany me on MY home planet." The handler, stunned by the way Lucas bluntly handled his approach, doesn't even try to follow him as he heads for the room of Aegis' Swords commander, pausing just in time to hear the SPARTAN-III finish his sentence.

"Rest assured that you're being watched by ONI even now, but that doesn't mean they're looking out for your safety." Ryker's snort likely caught the attention of the pair as he joined Ben in the doorway.

"Lad, if that isn't the understatement of the day, I don't know what is." Offering a bow to Vael, the SPARTAN-IV removes his helmet and offers a smile to him. "If you're up for it, Commander 'Virisusai, I was about to head down to the seaboard for some fresh seafood. Thought I'd stop by and see if you wanted to join me."

Fenixtear - A Fairy Tail RP

Damian Gerard|Fenixtear Guildhall

@Sanguine Rose@CitrusArms

"Interrupted by a drink or not, that was just dumb. Kid wouldn't last a minute in special forces..." Continuing his muttered speaking, he returns to cooking and making meals for patrons. Meanwhile, as Trinity continued playing in the main hall, Carmilla eventually stood and stretched before gently nudging the musician's leg and then lightly tugging her towards where Damian was. She was attempting to communicate that she was sure the young woman would be safer with her pack members, who were in the kitchen rather than in the hall proper. After a few tugs, she would rejoin Jaëger at the kitchen door, laying on the opposite side of the large male and resting her head on her paws once more.

Damian would glance over and smile at his wolfen companion and nodding to Trinity if she followed. After a few more minutes of silence, he would finally speak up. "So, do we actually know how all the guild members would like their steak or should we get a poll going? Otherwise it's gonna be medium rare across the board. Just saves time and effort." Admittedly, cooking for such a group was somewhat intimidating to Damian, but he had been in far more intimidating situations in his life, this was hardly the worst one. Jaëger turned to look at the swordsman and yipped softly, eliciting a sigh from him. "Yes, you'll get yours raw, as will Carmilla. Jeez..."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

The medical procedure and subsequent debriefing had all been decently run of the mill, all handled for SOP, though there had been special additions to Aegis' SOP to account for the non-human members of the team and ensure that the confidentiality of it all remained. However, after a week and a half of waiting for a final decision on the team's fate on the Chorus of Thunder, it became too clear to Lucas that they would likely either sit in limbo for months or end up on "temporary" reassignments for their respective governments. That first week and a half turned into more weeks and soon enough, his hunch proved true.

However, Spartan OPS didn't want to risk loosing any face with the Swords of Sanghelios and the willingness of Spartans to work with them, so when they asked for a volunteer to go with Vael and the other Swords members, the SPARTAN-IV was the quickest to step forward and offer to go. The months after that had been pretty standard, even by human military standards. Patrols, raids, inspections of Forerunner sites ahead of scientific teams, all pretty standard, if with a bit more Unggoy curiosity on his side of the fight than he was admittedly used to. During this time, he got to know Vael'Virisusai, Yalu'Suumko, Tar'Mdalak, and Grikgar far better than he had when they'd first met in Sydney before Aegis' first mission and he thought their teamwork had improved considerably since. As of now, he sat on his bed in his room outside the UNSC headquarters in Sydney, Australia once more, his armor off and sitting on an armor stand while he cleaned his rifle.

Nearby, sitting on the nightstand, was his twin energy knives and the twin standard issue ones he carried as well. He'd already sharpened the blades of the two standard issue and done the maintenance he could on the others. His wrist mounted blade was attached to the forearm of his armor, but he'd done maintenance on it as well. Humming, he only glanced out briefly as the sun snuck through the clouds. Already a week and they were still waiting on the rest of Aegis, but that didn't bother Ryker any. In fact, he had enjoyed his time in Sydney, not having to worry about guard duty, well. The sights were plentiful and he'd never been to Australia in his down time before.

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Ryker could hardly believe he was watching them actually acquiesce to the requests of a terrorist just to take him alive, especially given they'd already killed non-combatants in an effort to reignite the war between Elite and Human. But then, their team lead was a medic and their first priority was always saving lives, not taking them, Spartan or not. {They'll pop out of some other hidey-hole eventually, the URF always does. Regardless, Team Lead, we need to get that weapon out of his hands BEFORE the shuttles above get too far away. Grikgar is in position to jump him, just give the word.}

Speaking from personal experience from during the war, Unggoy were much stronger than they looked and an unaugmented human being would struggle to actually stop them from disarming them. The encounter had been...unexpected, just a lone Unggoy looking to relieve themselves when Lucas had stumbled upon them, but the following fight, in which the Unggoy had easily disarmed and almost killed Ryker with its bare hands, had proven to the now SPARTAN-IV that any of the former Covenant races were more than met the eye.

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Well this wasn't the situation that the SPARTAN-IV was expecting to find himself in at this point, with their target holding himself hostage to get his people out alive. Ryker had already reengaged his active camouflage, and had taken aim to try and knock the pistol out of his hand, though his position on the edge of the landing was less than ideal. Still, an answer had to be made as the team moved. He wasn't sure that matching hostage with hostage was a great plan, but it did offer an opportunity and he saw Grikgar flash his IFF to indicate his position. The little Unggoy was smart, pity there wasn't much of a way for Lucas to support him, though he did know that they'd all been issued combat knives and if there was one thing the former ONI assassin knew, it was that a surprise prick from an unexpected source that would often turn things in your favor.

Turning off his external speakers, Ryker spoke strictly to the members of Aegis. "If we can coordinate everything right, we can disarm and detain him without having to meet his demands. Grikgar is in a great position to catch him off guard with a knife to the leg or even leaping on him. All one of us needs to do is get that magnum out of his hands." He then remembers the SPARTAN-III...Ben. He had hopefully found a good spot by now. "We could also blow off his arm with that Anti-Material rifle of yours, Ben."

Phoenix Wing: New Dawn

Jane Addeson|Within the Fabled Hall

@Sho

Walking alongside Belius, the Energy Blade wielder chuckled at his question. ”I don’t imagine that there will be much of a pool since it is just an exhibition match, nothing like the GMG. But still, if it’ll help the town, I’ll contribute.” She smiles mischievously. ”Plus, what about a pot between the two of us? Showiest spells? Best combat style? Spell with the biggest boom?”

James Avelane|A Pupil's Arrival

@BlackMaiden@Joshua Tamashii@Lunarlord34

Chuckling at Amaya’s statement, James followed her, Joshua and Cody as they all moved towards the new Arena Indominus, watching the way the town was coming alive in a way that was far beyond anything that the Paladin had seen in the last two years. Now, he was familiar with the city’s history and how closely tied to the late Fairy Tail mage guild that Fantasia Festival was over a hundred years ago. Apparently, it was so tied to it, when magic was ostracized after Zeref’s attack in Crocus and the subsequent attacks there after, the festival was forced into a lull as no one would attend something tied so strongly to something that was now a taboo.

However, seeing the way that the town revitalized the festival and brought it back, almost without a second thought for the matter, well, as the stadium came into view and they began to enter it, James couldn’t help but smile largely as his helmet vanished so he could watch the event.

Jake Ronan|Dinner for Two

@Joshua Tamashii

True to his word, Jake got cleaned up and then found his girlfriend before the pair headed to the train station to head for the coast. The ax wielder smiled at Pyrrha as they walked. ”Got anywhere that might come recommended? Admittedly it’s been awhile since I had fish.”

Jack Goran|A Meeting of Masters, Old and New

@MarshiestMallow@Cello

Jack’s smile could have lit up a room with how large it was. ”You mean a chance to see a piece of both Magical and Town history resurrected and shown to the world as a way to remind them magic isn’t evil? Did you even have to ask?” As Priscilla voiced agreement with his sentiment, the Fire God Slayer could only grin wider.

”Indeed, dear Jamie, lead the way.”

Hunter Jorgenson|Call of the Wild

@Lunarlord34@hatakekuro

Sure enough, when Ashlyn arrived at the train station, Hunter was sitting on one of the platforms, chewing on a piece of jade stone he must have brought from the guild hall in one hand and playing with a rubber ball with the other. Spotting the fire mage, he beckons her over to join him on the platform. Once she was close, he tossed her a small pack. ”Extra rations, we might be out there awhile based on the intel I just got from the Rune Knights. Seems the target has claimed a rather large swath for territory.”

Royal Rumble in the Arena’d Jungle

Featuring Damian “Blades” Gerard, Roseletta “Black Rose” Griffonbane, Nolan “Ashen Ghost” Waltz, and Penny “The Phoenix” Hoft

As the four S-Class mages entered, more or less, their respective locker rooms, the sounds of the crowd could be heard even inside. Seemed that the revival of the Fantasia Festival with an opening fight with all the S-Class mages of the best known guild in the country had drummed up quite the crowd. Damian stretched as he waited near his entrance, humming a quiet song to himself as he did so. He hadn’t yet unlocked his Alpha power lock, that would wait until after he was on the field, but he was not any kind of slouch. He glanced in the direction he’d seen Nolan led off in and smirked in spite of himself. Wonder how he handles putting on a show…

”Can’t they just shut up?” Seriously, he could hear the bloody crowd from all the way in the locker room and he knew that they were going to only get louder, probably because Damian will try to make a hype speech or something. Well, at least his opponents were going to actually put up a fight this time; it’s been boring as sin without having someone to give him a proper bout for these last two years. Well, he couldn’t say that these few years have been fruitless at least. His training had pushed him to new heights with his ability to control his magic, body, and mind. There was never a moment where he wasn’t training. Nolan stood by the entranceway and stretched his arms upwards. ”At least this’ll be interesting.” The slayer muttered to himself.

“Man, everyone is really hungry for this battle, it is weird getting this attention”Spoke rose to herself hearing the chantings of the excited voices of all who came to see this legendary battle of sorts. She rubbed her neck slowly moving out of her locker room adjusting the pitch black scythe on her back slightly as she walked into the arena. The years have really changed the young woman from being reserved and not so showy to taking up the old offer of becoming an S rank now that she felt more in tune and not so scared of her own magic. She was ready to show the true reason she used to fear her magic. Maybe this time she can show the beauty she had found within the darkness these past two years.

Penny shifted, trying not to let her anxiety get to her. Fighting had never been something Penny was overly interested in, but she couldn’t deny that this display would be beneficial to the people of Magnolia- and those of the rest of fiore that had travelled to see this. She moved her weight from one foot to the other, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to rely too much on her Phoenix Song, lest she put the whole crowd to sleep or into some other emotive state. Still, she had been fighting with fire a lot longer than she had with her Phoenix magics. A part of her couldn’t help but let the crowd's anticipation get to her, and she moved once more. They wanted a display worthy of S class, well, she could give that.

All at once, the four S-Class mages received a prompt via telepathic mage to head out, while at the same time, the crowds cheering and conversation changed. A rhythmic tapping started as the four mages walked their tunnels and then came out into the arena, appearing as the main singer for the band that was up there started singing. The announcer came alive for real at the same time. “Ladies and gentlemen! Today we have quite the show for you as the four S-Class mages for the best known mage guild in the country clash in an epic battle royale!” The crowd roars in approval as Damian pulls his Ares Blade from the air, his magic circle turning black as he spins the blade and swings it to his side, the force sending out a gust of air felt by the other S-Class mages and the crowd. “From the north tunnel, he wields the blackest ash to turn the brightest of days into the darkest of nights, the Ashen Ghost himself, Nolan Waltz!” The women got particularly rowdy, but it was clear the crowd as a whole knew his name.

“From the East, she walks the fine line between light and dark, using the shadows to bring those who would do wrong to light, the beautiful Black Rose, Roseletta Griffonbane!” More hoots and hollers, even applause and whistles. The announcer was clearly someone who covered events like this regularly. “From the South you have the Firebird, a mage who brings the legend of the Phoenix to life with her flames and Phoenix Song, the Phoenix herself, Penny Hoft!” Once more the crowd loses it, with a small number of them throwing flowers around the four mages.

“And last but most certainly not least, from the West you have the man who’s blades bring evildoers to their knees, who wields a sword so powerful, it's said to have come from a legendary dragon and magic to match, the Blade of Phoenix Wing himself, Damian Gerard!” As the crowd cheers once more, Damian smirks and holds his Ares Blade above his head before sliding into an Iaijutsu stance, ready to begin. The Ares Blade was a katana after all and he’d learned alot about wielding them over the last couple of years, as well as growing stronger, so finding where all of them stood amongst themselves was going to be interesting.

Meanwhile, Nolan just looked at the announcer with absolute contempt. What is with this cheesy shit that was coming out of that Freddy Mercury looking ass? This was just too much; not even the announcers from the GMG were this obnoxious. ”Shut it blowhard.” The God Slayer said coldly, unsheathing his scimitar with hardly a flourish though, it was to be expected from him. After all, he was not exactly someone who was known for showmanship, but hey, there were probably some people who were into that attitude of his.

“Well, as much as I am not one for flashy displays or allowing myself to get praises, I will say it is quite humbling and honorable and maybe I should have allowed this from the start.”Spoke Rose, trying her best to seem humble as she looked at the crowds raising a hand to wave at all of them, trying to seem like someone to would enjoy having fans. She barely got used to having a literal family now she has fans and a showcase to display her skills. Almost overwhelming “Let's start this thing off right ya?”she asked with a smile removing the scythe from her back, twirling it around the fingers of her left hand watching the other three closely.

A show… that was what the crowd wanted, and perhaps it was what Magnolia needed. There would always be scars in this city- and indeed all over Fiore, but perhaps they could forge both to be stronger then they were. The first step was banishing the fear that was held against magic users, still. Penny flicked a glance around the stadium, and for a brief moment she was sure she heard little Faith screaming out their names. A brief moment of fancy, but it did make Penny smile as she waited for the announcer to call out her name.

Flash.

Well, she had plenty of light at her disposal with Fire and Phoenix Magic, that was for sure. She slowly turned- her gaze slowly moving over the crowd as flame began to whirl around her, the fire coalescing into her Phoenix Form, her eyes closing a moment as she fought the innate urge to let lose a few notes of song. Who knew what it might do, to the crowd already so riled up. She crouched slightly, picking up one single flower from the group that had been thrown around them all. For a brief, brief moment Penny held her breath, the flames barely flicking along the flower before they engulfed it- but the flower didn’t burn.

With a slight upward throw, it floated into the air, seeming to hover there. She shifted, the flames around her dying slowly, and she turned her gaze to the others, crossing her arms across her chest. ”I’m ready.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

If Ryker had ever wanted to go kick the shit out of a Jiralhanae more than he wanted to kick the shit out of this fleet they'd used to track the rebels, he couldn't remember it. The insurgency had already had a history of being a pain in the ass for the UNSC, especially since they had this idea that the UNSC were only full of villains, but giving them access to some of the Covenant tech that had given the Alien conglomerate an edge...yeah, that was not fun. In his personal experience, ONI was the one to beware, but as he exchanged shots with a pair of Insurgents taking cover behind a couple of crates, he decided he could reminisce later. He only had a brief moment to recognize the weapon their target pulled, but it was long enough to cloak and dive, hopefully, out of range of both EMP and any shrapnel.

Landing at a roll, the SPARTAN-IV brought up his DMR and fired a quick two tap at the leader, aiming mainly to knock the grenade launcher out of his hands and force him to either high behind his shield or fall back into the pelican. {Grikgar, think you can damage one of those engines on the Pelican? We can't let him get away.} He had been firing from where he'd landed until a stray shot hit him and his shields shattered, shutting down his cloak as well. "Aw, come on..." He dove behind the nearest piece of cover as an array of assault rifle fire strafed after him. This was now a bit of a shit show, but it was what it was, and at least the EMP hadn't completely drained his shield like it had several of his teammates.

Fenixtear - A Fairy Tail RP

Damian Gerard|Fenixtear Guildhall

@Sanguine Rose@CitrusArms@j8cob

Damian smiled and nodded to Ria as she walked away. "Aye, I can handle things back here for a bit. Not like the place is gonna spontaneously combust on us." Well, OK, that wasn't true. The former soldier still wasn't ENTIRELY sure what kind of magic the person who'd burnt the dishes and scorched the kitchen area so badly before used, but he was fairly confident it wasn't something that was going to cause spontaneous combustion since nothing had caught fire while he was in there. After that, the he couldn't hear much aside from the occasional laughter from the main hall and Trinity's music, which Jaëger was still listening to. He even started humming a sea shanty he'd heard once on a visit to Fiore's coast a few years back to himself when he instantly felt the atmosphere in the main hall change. Spinning around, his Ares Blade forming out of instinct more than conscious thought.

Jaëger was already out the kitchen door and next to Carmilla, his hackles raised and his fangs bared as the two let loose snarls in the direction of the intercepted Tone and the one who'd intercepted his cheap shot. Damian walked out behind the pair, slightly slower than his wolven companion due to dismissing his weapon and taking a moment to gauge the atmosphere. However, as he approached, it was clear that his guild mate, whoever it was, was irked. "Hey, now, come on." Fortunately, he'd arrived in time for the introductions.

"Take it down a notch, Tone. Ronan's right, we don-fuck." It was already too late, as the other mage, Tone, tried to land several blows on the man who'd blocked his apparent sneak attack on Kaden. Both Dire Wolves moved around the fight cautiously, hackles still raised, but the snarls had been replaced with low growls instead. Damian continued trying to calm the situation as both Carmilla and Jaëger resumed standing where they'd begun, Carmilla catching that Trinity was growing uncomfortable and Jaëger not willing to risk Damian's or his guildmate's safety. "Come on, Tone, this is ridiculous. Just take a moment to calm down and think this through and Torys won't e-and he's down. Huh." Ronan had managed to both dodge and counter the magically sped up punch and put the unreasonable young mage in an arm bar. Seeing as that looked to be the end of things, Damian kneeled down and slowly rested a hand on both of his Dire Wolves.

"Ruhe. It's done." Carmilla laid back down and Jaëger tucked himself in closer to the Swordsman, but neither really relaxed, aside from no longer growling. However, even as Tone and Ronan went to their own business. Damian watched the younger man, a Dragon Slayer by his own admission and could do little more than shake his head as Trinity reached down to stroke Carmilla. Hot headed kid. Could have gotten both seriously hurt and in serious trouble if Ronan hadn't been nearby. Bloody hell... Turning to the musician, Damian rested a hand on her shoulder as he walked by. "While that was a moment of intense energy, it isn't uncommon in any setting. Just breathe, sister. Breathe."

Having said his piece, the former soldier moved back to the kitchen and resumed cooking, prepping things for dinner later that evening while also looking over some of the orders for food and starting those. If Ria should happen to come back into the kitchen, Damian would pause in his work and look at her. "So what's the Dragon Slayer's problem?"

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Lucas followed the rest of the team in nearly perfect sync, his DMR sounding off to get the targets out of range of the shorter ranged ARs and plasma weaponry. The team moved fast and hard, clearing corners and making their way towards the location of the rebel leader with ease. Sometimes I wonder if this was the kinda of thing that the SPARTAN-IIs had been created for. Taking out rebel bases and leaders for the good of humanity, well, the survivors of the war now. Though ONI would never tell anyone if it were. "Gotta maintain a good public image," they'd say. Sometimes they forget they don't have a good public image anyways... Upon reaching the lift after dealing with the last attempted ambush, which their motion scanners had detected before they ever got near it, the SPARTAN-IV was one of the last on.

The ride down was silent, though it was far from an awkward silence. This was the silence of men and women who were preparing to do a job that only they could do and when the lift doors opened, they stepped out to do that job. The marker tracking the rebel leader was easy to follow and his armor wouldn't be hard to bypass. Growing up, Lucas had paid attention to how armor from the centuries was designed and whether it was a suit of full plate armor or a Kevlar chest piece, the joints of the armor were almost always either exposed or the weakest point in the suit. The ODST armor that the rebel leader was wearing was no different, and the exposed knee joints were easy to see, even from here. But the man also had his entourage of guards, so going straight from him probably wasn't the best idea. Though slowing him down...

His decision made, the stock of Ryker's DMR found its way to his shoulder and he fired three times at the retreating forms of the rebels, though the las shot had a slight delay. The first two shots found the heads of the two soldiers most immediately blocking his shot to the leader, the two rebels both gasping in surprise as the bullets made impact. The SPARTAN-IV had had to wait a few seconds for the bodies of the two to fall before he'd fired the third shot, which was intended to pass through the back of the man's left knee. Not only would he fall to the ground from the sudden loss of his knee and kneecap, but he'd be slowed down considerably even with help moving from another person. Keeping his external speakers off, he spoke into the team channel. {VIP crippled, but he's still got help. Need to move fast.}

Fenixtear - A Fairy Tail RP

Damian Gerard|Fenixtear Guildhall

@Sanguine Rose@CitrusArms

The former soldier didn't hesitate to nod in agreement as he turned to go back over and check on the soup. "Be happy to. I'm sure Jaëger and Carmilla won't mind having to worry about me so frequently for it." Stirring the soup, Damian hummed a little tune to himself as he waited on it to be ready, stirring it occasionally. Meanwhile, Carmilla didn't move as Trinity disappeared out of the main hall area, leaving her drink behind the dire wolf who simply sat and watched the door while occasionally checking on Damian and her partner and Alpha, who was laying out of the way in the kitchen, supposedly asleep. It was Jaëger's favorite way to bait out traps and dishonest folk, and it worked pretty much every time.

When Trinity came back, Carmilla still hadn't moved other than to lay down and watch the door from a more comfortable position. The music didn't seem to bother her any either, though the dire wolf didn't move to give any real indication. Damian glanced out again to see how things were and simply smiled when he saw what Trinity was up to. Carmilla was horribly tone deaf, but he didn't have the heart to tell his guildmate the bad news. Jaëger, however, was now listening to the music, one ear cocked that way to better hear it.