Alexei PavlovAlexei ignored the overly serious ensign and listened to Clarity's problems "I didn't cut any wires... not on purpose anyway" he protested defensively "Sounds like something's got into the computer systems, leave it to the computer guys" he waved away the problem casually, but her next sentence made his eyes widen. He didn't think Clarity would lie about something like that "I've seen a lot on my travels, before I joined the coalition, but never ghosts. I have heard tales though. As for lizards-" suddenly he was interrupted by the voices of the space pirates from outside "Be right back, someone's threatening to shoot me" Alexei changed the channel quickly and radioed Brianne "Hey Commander, we need backup at the shuttle, there's this important looking pirate guy and seven of his girlfriends threatening to kill us" he told the commander quickly, no tone of alarm or danger in his voice, before putting the phone away. Slowly, he meandered out of the ship, placing his hands in the air but keeping the unflappable casual demeanor as he grinned at the pirates with a cocky smile "Hey sephiroth wannabe, you look like you got a good thing going on with all those chicks" Doctor Walter Beowulf SaturdaySaturday applauded for the pirate who was now shooting plasma at him "Ah, smart man. You understand the basic laws of the interaction between energy and gravity and oh sh-asterisk-t" Doctor Saturday flailed to the side to avoid the plasma, but one bolt struck his arm, burning through the jacket and searing his flesh. He quickly grabbed his arm and returned the gravity to normality suddenly, landing with grace behind a crumbling wall "How very dare you! You've ruined my best jacket!" he shouted over the wall with indignation. Taking his hand away from the wound quickly he noticed the glove was stained with blue blood "I know the forces acting on everything from electrons to galaxies, yet I have no idea how to fix my own body" he muttered indignantly, before teleporting to a slightly safer location further away. "I can play cat and mouse with these guys forever, but I'd rather the dog gets here so I don't have to"
Solomon glared at the male witcher "How dare you accuse me of this act? I didn't kill him, I merely brought him back" Solomon explained indignantly "You should be thanking me really" he suddenly turned to Veera as she spoke, all traces of whimsy and humour gone, replaced with bitterness and anger "I didn't get to choose who lived and who died, why should you? You're staying. So is the mage. you, though, big-mouth..." he turned to Keenan "...go" the undead holding the witcher let go and retreated away slightly, leaving a path for him to leave the castle "Go on then, toodle off to wherever you wish to go, and bring back some friends" he spun away from the witcher and turned to Veera and the mage boy "There is no such thing as a happy ending, understand? I realised that a long time ago. Life is not fair, and neither is death. I hear them. I've always been able to hear them. At first, I couldn't tell whether voices were the dead or the living. And all they ever spoke of was torment, over and over, the dead are just echoes of the living. You can guess what that would do to a young susceptible mage, I lost all empathy for the living, I became cruel and sadistic to express my inner depression and frustration. But you don't want to hear about my past, I'm sure. It didn't get interesting until I met... nevermind" Vyle turned to Ana with an abruptly soft expression "Of course that is not my plan... but if I have to lay down my life to save countless others... I'm honestly not sure what I would do. It used to be the case that I would not hesitate to do so but... I have recently found... purpose in life" he said, smiling affectionately at Ana "So let's hope it doesn't come to that" he stated, squeezing her hand momentarily. Eventually the trio could see a village in the distance and they began to head towards it. It was only when they got closer that the vilage began to show little signs of life and Vyle's eagle vision could see decomposing bits of body everywhere "... behold... the village of Pontarsfork" he said bitterly with a scowl, gesturing at the empty village "Solomon's been here... we were too late" Willow rode along on her horse dramatically. Violet simply watched sternly "Try again"
Nicholas NightwineNick smiled back at Alarick sympathetically "We'll get back soon enough" he comforted. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." The werewolf said before it abruptly attacked them "Oh, No worries!" Nick exclaimed with a surprised expression, but keeping his calm. He pulled out his bolas and chucked them at the werewolf's legs as it snapped towards Morrigan "For what it's worth, I'm sorry" MasqueMasque watched casually, craning his neck upwards as Ash was catapulted into the sky. He immediately turned and jumped onto a tree, hugging it with his arms and legs and scrambling up the side. Twisting his head round, he glared at the mound of Earth with the fairy under it. He was safe now, he was safe as long as he wasn't on the earth, but how would they defeat the fairy? If only they'd let him keep his gun... Augur HQDoctor Bishop watched the battle with boredom, until suddenly Black Bishop approached him with a message from Paragon. A brief discussion later, and the doctor pulled the mic to him again "Battle's over, both of you are needed. Paragon himself wishes to talk to you. You should consider this a great honour" he said, before signalling for Black Knight to open the doors and lead the demon and the werewolf through the headquarters. Eventually they arrived in a large room, an office, mostly plain. Behind a large desk sat the man himself, wearing clothes that looked like they belonged in the victorian era, and a hood and mask, which included a pink visor, to hide his face. Sitting in front of the desk was a very overweight man in a dirty suit "Please, take a seat" Paragon gestured. The fat man grinned a toothy grin at the pair, showing off perfect white teeth. Black Knight leaned against the wall of the office, eyes on the pair. White Queen & Black RookWhite Queen shrunk away slightly from the powerful figure, trying to keep her calm in this intimidating situation. Black Rook stared slack-jawed at the goddes, before turning to the vampire expectantly. She sighed inwardly, he obviously expected her to do the talking. Standing at full height in a regal pose, White Queen faced Gaia "You know why we are here, don't you? Hestia did, it seems everyone except us is omniscient. But I suppose you wouldn't have asked if you didn't want an answer. We were sent by Paragon. We seek knowledge"
Ashleigh turned to Veera with a sadistic smile "As long as you don't turn on our troops, be my guest" she said "Right now, let's get moving people!" she clapped her hands and soldiers gathered in formation, Ashleigh sat atop her horse, Anthem by her side. Requiem went to join the pilot in the kamikaze ship, they would eject and land right in the base hopefully. Eventually, the soldiers were in formation and ready to charge. Ashleigh nodded to the pilot, who began the flight. With luck, no, with good planning, this plan would work.
Alexei Pavlov"Taking a nap is always my priority" Alexei quipped to the pilot with a cocky smile. After a moment, he took out his phone and lazily had a look at the screen, before having a look through the contact list. He eventually found what he was looking for under "Blue Chick", and rang the number "Yo. You doing anything interesting?" Doctor Walter Beowulf Saturday"Ah! You've found me! Or did I find you?" Saturday exclaimed before ducking briskly behind a wall as the pistols fired at him erratically. There, on the floor, a gun! Perfect. One of the other pirates must have dropped it. Saturday picked it up with a grin, briefly poked his head around the corner, and threw it at the pirates. "Perfect" Saturday exclaimed when he was back around the wall. Unfortunately the gun did not hit any of them, because Saturday was incredibly unathletic. "Time for plan F" Saturday lifted his hand slowly. A pebble in front of his began to rise, along with several others. The bullets that shot around his location curved upwards as they flew. As Saturday concentrated, a few larger stones began to disobey the rules of typical gravity and float upwards, hanging in the sky. "If that's not a beacon for Brianne to find me, I don't know what is"
Solomon stood suddenly and merrily skipped around Veera, along the hordes of undead that encircled her "You are a smart woman" he said observantly as he skipped, black rags flowing behind him. He went full circle and arrived back at the table where he stood next to the cloaked figure, gripping its hood "Anyone else would have tried to strike me down in a rage, after discovering what I've done to their friend" he pulled back the hood to reveal the unmistakable face of Aaron, but sickly and pale, with glowing blue eyes. There were stitches around the neck, where it had been reattached by a careful hand "He's my friend now. You should hear what his soul says to me, you should hear how he talks of you. He hates you. If it weren't for you, he'd be alive, and his sister would be alive... oh didn't you know? Kaer Morhen's been destroyed, with your old master and this poor boy's sister inside. Oh I'm sorry, am I giving you too much to think about?" Solomon laughed shortly, before turning his attention to the other witcher "My my, you can see through masks? Or are you just making a stupid comment out of rage? I think the latter is true" he suddenly turned back to Veera, leaning forward, hands behind his back. "These idiots, followed you blindly and fell right into my trap. What did they think would happen? Ignorant wretches, I should kill them both. But... I think I will show a little mercy. I'll let one of them go. But ohhh... which one?" Solomon pretended the think for a moment and leaned against the still figure of Aaron, who didn't move a muscle. Suddenly he acted like a thought struck him and he turned to her with a sadistic smile "I think... I think I'll leave that up to you" As soon as everyone was ready, they set off again, following the path of Solomon's army. The boy asked what their plan was, and Vyle thought for a moment "Solomon is weak. He is a weary old mage, he has no prowess in combat and he dies just like anyone else. But he's smart. He's a trickster. And he's slippery. His undead are weak, their only strength is that they do not go down as easily as mortal men, but they're mostly made up of peasants and shambling corpses. On their own, they're no challenge. But together, they're nigh on unstoppable. An undying horde, Solomon could wreak so much havoc with that if he so wished, let's hope he hasn't already. But they are puppets to his will. Once he is dead, they will fall. Do not be drawn in by his tricks. He won't lie, he'll tell you the truths you don't want to hear, but you must stay strong. He'll act all whimsical and harmless, never let your guard down. We will kill him, even if we die doing so" Willow listened impassively as Zack explained, apart from anger crossing her face at the mention of witch hunters. The anger wasn't entirely fake, she resented having to work for those zealots but a job was a job. "Thank you for leading me here, and everything you've told me. I hope Zephyr is safe, but I suppose there's no way now to track his movements. I will not stop the search though" She thanked the man gratefully, and rode away. A sly smile crossed her face as she rode. Perhaps she had not found Zephyr, but she had found something more important to Milosh. She had seen the tracks on their way, there was nothing else it could be. The walking dead that had plagued the city of Oxenfurt during the battle, and their sinister master. If there was one thing Willow believed in with a passion, it was that the dead should stay dead. Violet rolled her eyes as Annabelle performed a round-about way of fulfilling the task "Do you think you're clever, girl?" she said sternly "If I wanted you to do that, I would have asked. You must develop, you must gain new skills. It is imperative to succeed as a mage, to fully understand your element. Watch" Violet suddenly turned to another cairn and raised her arm, fingers splayed, as she focused on the pile of stones. the pile shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, pebbles where once had been stones. "If you can crack rock, you can crack metal. Focus on the stones, focus your energy, concentrate, and you can break any barrier. Try again" Violet pointed at an old statue of some ancient king "We will not stop the lesson until you've got this sorted"
Nicholas NightwineNick, relieved at having succeeded, walked with Morrigan into the clearing, where they met the others. It wasn't long before the warlock, Ash, made it clear Nick wasn't wanted with them. Although looking at Alarick, he was probably right. Nick nodded to Morrigan "See ya, I hope I get to talk to you some more" he said as a way of farewell, before walking over to Alarick "Hey" he greeted tentatively "Are you alright? It seems we're going to be together in the next trial" MasqueMasque's anger slowly waned as Gaia calmly returned his mask. For a moment he just stared at her, eyes full of hate, behind his hands, before turning away and placing the mask back on his face. He did not grace the fairy queen with a response, and merely stepped back trying to avoid attention "Fine" he said bitterly, drawing out the word. Doctor BishopDoctor Bishop was getting bored, he'd expected this to be a more interesting fight, but nobody was hitting anybody. He nodded to Black Knight, who readied her stele, and reached for the microphone "Please co-operate with the test. Demon, if you do not fight back we will have to force you. And Grayson, try to hit him" White Queen & Black RookParagon's agents arrived in a jungle clearing and looked around bemused. White Queen stood up, brushing the dust off her clothes with indignation "So this is where the Mother of Fairies lives now? I'm not impressed" White Queen scoffed at the wilderness "What were you expecting, magical flowers and mushrooms everywhere?" Black Rook responded bitterly, the portal had left him with a slight headache. "Do we wait for her? Or is she expecting us to find her?" the vampire looked quizzically at her companion, who simply shrugged indifferently. Rolling her eyes, she began to turn away and head into the jungle, when she thought she saw something, or someone, approaching.
MasqueMasque smiled as the vampire who may or may not have been real complimented his work, and he took the painting off the easel. Just as he was about to make a comment, he was interrupted as he saw the vampire reaching towards his face, and something fell away from his vision, and there was a crunch, as something broke in its hand. For a moment he just stared, uncomprehending, until he saw the remains of the elegantly carved mask broken into pieces on the ground. What The Fuck Masque suddenly let out an ear splitting scream and his hands flew to his face to cover it. The howl of misery echoed through the jungle, then paused momentarily as Masque took a ragged breath. The scream started up again instantly and he continued like that for some time until his throat was sore. Amidst his grief he had fallen onto the forest floor, hands gripping his face so tightly the knuckles were white. He was silent for a minute, before he suddenly stood and ran. He held the painting in one hand, the other hand clutching his face. Blood began to ooze from under his fingers and run softly down his face to his chin. As soon as he entered the clearing and laid eyes on Gaia he threw the painting at her. He gazed at her with intense hatred in the red eyes that could be seen peeking out between his bloodsoaked fingers "I. WAS NOT. FUCKING. HIDING!" he shrieked at her "AND I'M NOT ASHAMED! FUCK YOUR EQUALITY, THAT MASK IS WHO I AM! IT'S THE ONLY WAY I CAN TELL WHO I AM! NOBODY KNOWS ME BY MY REAL FACE! I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKING HELP IF YOU'RE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! SEND ME BACK HOME!"
Lexander limped along, being held up by the others. He reflected that this was the only situation they would ever help him along. Soon enough they came across a soldier from Kaynta who began to question them. As Koldo spoke, Lexander began to slowly realise what he'd always suspected. This man was an absolute idiot Seriously. His story made no sense, especially considering Lexander was the only one who looked even vaguely disheveled and Koldo stated they'd been attacked by titans. He looked up at the soldier with a raised eyebrow that the others wouldn't have been able to see, and smirked slightly, rolling his eyes. To convince Koldo he was keeping up the act he fell to one knee and yelped as though hurt, before struggling back to his feet. Galadorn sighed inwardly, Flame truly knew nothing about her job. He stared out at the city as the queen and Kala spoke, and responded to her glances with supportive smiles. Suddenly the queen invited Kala to breakfast tomorrow and Galadorn jolted, frowing at the pair "Uh... but... tomorrow... Kala... I had something planned for the morning..." Galadorn stammered, trying to sound formal since they were at work, but struggling to keep control. He'd been planning something in secret for a while now, but he couldn't tell Kala or that would ruin everything "I mean... I guess it's your choice"
Alexei PavlovAlexei grinned back at Brianne, he knew she wasn't as uptight as she seemed. At the mention of a weapons check, he did nothing more than glance at his weapon. It looked alright. "So I get to just stay at the ship? Cool" Alexei shrugged. As they landed the others exited in a military manner, weapons ready. After a couple of seconds, Alexei left, hands in pockets, stretched, and looked around "Wow, someone really wrecked this place" he said to nobody in particular, before starting to head back into the ship once he was sure the commander was gone "Hey wing-chick, wake me if anything shows up okay? Thanks" he asked Yvette casually before flopping onto one of the seats in the shuttle, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.
Alexei PavlovAlexei met the commander's glare with a raised eyebrow "Hey it was a good question, which is a rarity for me" Alexei protested with a shrug. The mention of space pirates made him bolt upright and eyes widen, though he quickly tried to return to a casual act. No, it was unlikely they'd be any pirates he knew, it would be fine. "I'm perfectly fine with carrying it in my lap, especially if they bite, I like someone feisty" he grinned, before getting into the shuttle. He flopped onto a seat and propped his feet up. "Don't be so serious, military man" Alexei said to Dietrich, who looked just about ready to shoot anything that moved "It's only space pirates, and it's only our first mission" Doctor Walter Beowulf Saturday"Five came within sight of Doctor Saturday. The second they saw him, they would open fire" "Oh really? That's not very nice. I was hoping they were here for a tea party" Saturday said to thin air "Five. And I have less than a second once they see me? Easy" Saturday straightened his jacket and stepped out from the rusted archway he'd been behind, coming into sight of two of the pirates, who turned an raised their guns the moment they saw movement. "boop" Saturday said, as they began to open fire. But just as the plasma blasts were about to hit, he disappeared, with another "boop". The bolts harmlessly hitting the wall. The pirates exchanged a confused glance before walking forward, under the archway. Saturday, from his new position on the roof of an adjacent building, sighed. "Why are all these people so stupid?" he asked the thin air, before hopping down on top of the archway and landing with elegance. The archway began to creak and groan precariously, and as Saturday tapped his cane upon the rusted metal, it finally gave way. The first pirate never had a chance, a strut of metal instantly impaling him as the structure collapsed. The second tried to run, but was caught underneath a plate of falling metal. His head and an arm poke out from underneath the debris, and he could see a pair of beautifully polished black shoes walking towards him. Looking up, he could see the perfect white mask of Doctor Saturday staring down with an amused smile "Sorry about that, I just don't really appreciate people trying to kill me. It's one of my pet peeves, you know? Kind of irrational, I am aware" he rambled to the man calmly, before he noticed the man had abruptly died from his injuries "How rude, you can't just die in the middle of our conversation" he protested. Before turning and walking away to find the other three.
One... Two... Three. Go. Suddenly the piano music rose in volume as it echoed throughout the castle. The floor shook. Paving stones cracked and crumbled and were pushed away as the floor of the grand hall began to buckle and bend, becoming like the surface of a stormy sea. And from the ground, buried beneath, they came. Before they could react pale hands gripped the legs of Keenan and Kruez, bony fingers empowered by the dark magic that ran through their bodies. They were the ones lost in Oxenfurt and Pontarsfork. They were the risen dead. A wall to the side of the hall crumbled and from it out pounced more of the undead, flesh barely hanging onto bones, eyes glowing a pale blue. A pack pounced onto the male witcher, and held him down. No matter how hard he struggled, he wouldn't be able to free himself from the grips of this many undead. The mage boy recieved a similar treatment, grabbed and held down by various undead who came out of the floor in droves. But none of them touched Veera. "Come one, come all, welcome to the grand ball" Solomon intoned deeply. He was sitting at the table suddenly, as if he'd been there the whole time, out of sight. One undead, in a black hooded cloak with silver and steel swords, approached and stood by his master protectively. Solomon gorged himself on the pork. "This is delicious, would you like to try some?" he asked Veera with false generosity. Keenan and Kruez were still held down by hordes of the dead, but now some of the undead were dancing to the rising piano music. Wraiths twirled and stepped elegantly across the ballroom floor, while it filled with more and more undead. Outside in the courtyard more undead were rising from where they'd been hidden in the ground. The empty castle was quickly becoming populated. Vyle led the group out of the fog until they were a fair distance from the city, outside the fog, then glared back at it "I want to come back here, when this thing with Solomon is all over" he said with certainty "Speaking of Solomon..." they crested a hill, to see a wide trail of footprints and churned mud leading south-east. Fortunately it wasn't a huge trail, Solomon didn't seem to have a great many soldiers "We should follow this path, it'll lead to wherever he is now. Stay close Ana" Willow smiled and faked relief "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me" she graciously thanked him, and followed as he lead. Violet did not respond and simply walked away, gesturing for the girl to follow. Eventually they arrived at the same courtyard they'd been in previously and Violet lead the girl to a small clearing where there in the middle stood a cairn, a few rocks piled on top of each other. "You know how to create, that is good. But do you know how to destroy? Both skills are valuable for many different reasons. Destroy this cairn"
Darklight Disturbance Arak'Un, the Palace: Rayyad was comforted by Tessa's words, at least she was standing up for him. They once more begun to head towards the palace but he was suddenly stopped in his tracks. Rayyad turned suddenly towards the girl named Alice, and his eyes were glowing blue and his face was contorted into a psychotic grin "Yes indeed girl, Rayyad is lying. Thank you for noticing" Rayyad intoned with a deeper, echoing voice. Suddenly he blinked, and his eyes were back to normal. He looked incredibly anxious and tears began to fall down his cheek. For a moment his lip trembled "...why?" he asked the girl "Why did you have to question it? Why can't you just accept the lie? Everything was going perfectly fine until you had to point that out!" Rayyad was stepping away backwards slowly, he was afraid of the group, he realised. He had only just met them, and they were already questioning everything. Conrad and Tessa had never questioned him, they'd accepted the lies. And the lies never had to be revealed, if it weren't for this stupid girl. Lord Arval Galaharram crept through the city, sword drawn, his clothes spattered with spider blood. His expression was far from the bumbling nobleman they'd met earlier, now death and determination filled his manic eyes. He heard voices. He recognised the voices of the adventurer's society members, but there was an unfamiliar voice. As he crept around a corner, he saw him. The dark skinned Hirokiri shaman. And he was speaking in a deep voice and his eyes glowed blue. Arval retreated back around the corner and inhaled deeply. He closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer to The Father, The Mother, and The Son. He would be the one to take down this criminal, he would win one for Tyrrus. For the Queen. Rayyad suddenly felt someone grab him from behind and hold a sword to his throat "Don't move! Dark shaman!" came a voice "Or I'll kill you where you stand! Worry not my friends I have captured him!" Rayyad's eyes darted around with fear, but there was blue glow slowly encroaching into those green irises... Big Game Hunting Fordington, Wizard's District: As Sanderson frantically reloaded he watched as Aedan hopelessly smacked the drake, to no effect. Likewise, Bryce missed once again as he swung his battleaxe. But through sheer strength as he struggled, Bryce managed to dislodge the creature's jaw and the frost that crept up his arm dissipated. The drake backed away, hissing, its blue eyes fixated on Bryce with cold determination. It opened its mouth wide, frosty magic swirling its its jaw as it prepared for a frost blast, when suddenly its skull shattered into thousands of bone pieces, and the body slumped to the floor. Sanderson stood, his eyes filled with rage, as he held his still smoking gun. Abruptly, he put on a smile and walked to the others "Good show old chaps! We showed that beast who was boss, didn't we? And thank you Aedan for protecting me! Good job too Bryce, considering your exhaustion right now!" he ruffled the hair of his companions with a grin.
Nicholas NightwineNick grinned as she managed to free his arms "Thanks" he could now reach his stele that hung on his hip. His legs were still held though, no matter now much he tried to struggle. Struggling, he leaned forward, arms outstretched. He rattled the cage door, but it wouldn't budge. "Huh. Let's give this a go" he said, biting his lip as he struggled to write a rune of unlocking on the cage. As he did so, the door swung open "There we go, happy now Gaia?" MasqueMasque carefully, taking his time and resisting the urge to go all in, cut the vampire with the knife. With the knife he applied the blood onto his paintbrush, he approached the canvas. For a moment he just stood there thinking, before he began the first few curving lines of red that would eventually become his masterpiece. "This would be easier if blood came in more colours" he muttered, as he worked. At certain points he returned to the vampire to get blood on the end of the paintbrush "Be patient, you can't rush artwork" he hissed in response to Valister. Eventually, he had created an image from the blood, a red visage. It was a portrait of the vampire, a flattering one, with surreal swirls of blood surrounding him. "What do you think?" he asked uncertainly, and looked up into the sky to get a response from Gaia. Agents of Augur"You... you know about our master?" White Queen said with surprise, and glanced sideways at Black Rook. He just shrugged. "Whatever the case, thank you. And we'll certainly not underestimate her" she said, and headed towards the portal. Black Rook looked away grumbling as the warlock made him the offer, and followed the vampire. "3...2...1..." and they headed through. Gord Gottwell/AbyzathiladGord wiped his mouth as he exited the hotel, followed by an ensemble of vampires and werewolves. It was difficult getting them to work together, but Gord had offered them something they both desired. He looked up and down the road with an air of authority and shifted his sizable weight along the street. Eventually they arrived at the apartment building in which he had the penthouse suite. As he approached the elevator he gestured rudely for his guests to take the stairs "You won't fit, idiots. Don't try to flatter me, I know I'm huge" he laughed unpleasantly. As he approached the room he stopped suddenly. "That smells like fairy" he muttered to himself with a grin "How delectable" he slammed the door open and stepped in heavily "If you're here for dinner you're late. But I wouldn't mind seconds" he yelled. "I assure you, I have no intentions of eating one of your meals, or becoming one of them" a mechanically adjusted voice called out. Gord turned on the lights to see a fairy in body armour and a helmet sitting on his mahogany tabletop. ParagonParagon casually swirled his gun around in his hand and didn't look directly instead at the demon, instead gazing out of the window that stretched from floor to cieling "Good views from up here" "You think that armour will protect you? So do lobsters" the obese man said as if he wasn't listening to the fairy "I haven't had fairy in a while, so you'd better give me a good reason for being here" "Do you know who I am?" Paragon answered. He would be the one doing the questioning here, not this gluttonous demon. He threw his gun into the air and caught it again absent-mindedly "You're a hell-damned nuisance!" the demon lunged as he spotted the opportunity, but Paragon pulled out his other gun and fired off a warning shot that narrowly missed the demon's face, stopping him mid-lunge "They always forget about the second gun" he commented "I don't know who you are and I don't care" the demon grumbled, licking his lips "Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Paragon. The Leader of Augur. my agency is behind everything, and we see everything. Our organisation is made up of all races, but I find myself still underpowered in comparison to the great leaders of the races here in New York. In this time of chaos, where the Mortal Instruments have been lost and claimed, where downworlders, and even nephilim, turn on themselves, we need allies" Paragon stated calmly "And you want to ally with a demon?" Gord grinned "Temporarily, at least. Despite your brutal reputation you do have quite a following, and a lot of power yourself" he said, still not looking at the demon, but he could see him grinning out of the corner of his eye. No doubt the demon would try some method of tricking Paragon into getting more out of the deal "If you join us we can give you plenty of fresh bodies, not just human ones either, and you will be under the protection o Augur if nephilim ever try to hunt you down" "I would be a fool to deny this kind offer" Gord exclaimed with faux obedience "The only contracts being signed will be made by us" Paragon suddenly looked at the demon. He'd heard of Gord's famous contracts and would not be drawn into that trap "Come now, don't you trust me?" Gord said with a smile, but the usual alluring effects of his words seemed to be failing against this man. He either had a will of steel, or that helmet could somehow block the magic. "I trust nobody" Paragon retorted "Especially not a demon. Do you agree to the terms of the arrangement? You offer your services to Augur and we grant you protection and... satiate... your tastes" Gord thought for a moment more and licked his lips hungrily "I accept" "Good. I'll have administration write up a contract later. For now though..." he passed the demon an ordinary looking cell phone "Take this. It can be used to contact me or my agents. We have trackers and cameras on it, if it ends up in the wrong hands it self destructs" "I'm grateful for this gift, but I always prefer gifts of the edible nature" Gord smiled humourlessly "We'll deliver the first bodies tomorrow" Paragon sighed, rolling his eyes. He despised demons with a passion, but sometimes they had to be dealt with "Thank you" Gord smirked. Without another word, Paragon left.
Having deposited the injured soldier to where she was presumably safe, Timothy began to charge back into the battlefield. The enemy demi-god was here, and Kala was engaging him. The engines within Timothy whirred into life as he began to re-engage battle systems to take down the demi-god, and he raised an arm, ready to ... <ERROR> <CHECKING COMBAT SYSTEMS> ... <COMBAT SYSTEMS OFFLINE> <CHECKING ENGINES> ... <ENGINES OFFLINE> <RUNNING TROUBLESHOOTER> ... <TROUBLESHOOTER OFFLINE> <RUNNING BACKUP SYSTEMS> ... <BACKUP SYSTEMS OFFLINE> ... <VISUAL RECEPTORS ONLINE> ... The world came back into view momentarily, though Timothy's perception of it was blurred and obscured. Mistress was running towards him... the demigod was challenging their lancer friend... and there was electricity everywhere. It crackled around his arms, now splayed on the ground. The ground. That was a thing, he appeared to be lying on it. What was he doing here? This was very disrepectful to Ms Kala, and inproper. Yet... he could not move his arms... or legs. There was one other system still working though. "Ms Kala... save yourself" ... <VISUAL RECEPTORS OFFLINE> ... <SHUTTING DOWN> "Hmm" Ashleigh pondered. As she thought, her eyes narrowed and she bit her lip, an idiosyncrasy she tried and failed to eliminate. She examined the enemy camp. "There are three main obstacles to our entrance to the fortress. An AA gun, which means we can't take the shuttle in. It shouldn't pose too much of a problem to our infantry. Then there's the Artillery gun, which is much more of a problem. And lastly, of course, the wall itself. These make getting an army into the camp difficult." she though aloud to the nearby soldiers and Veera. Steepling her fingers, she turned her gaze to the shuttle that had brought them here and and a thin smile crossed her face "Yet once we're in, all three of those are useless, I doubt even the shards are stupid enough to aim their artillery into the camp... I believe I have a plan" she pointed at the shuttle, then at the artillery piece "We don't have any heavy weaponry to take down their defenses, because my idiot cousin didn't think to equip a siege with siege weapons. But we do have that. Have you heard of kamikaze tactics? I suggest we drive the shuttle straight into the artillery gun. Take out two birds with one stone, we can use the hole in the wall it makes to enter the camp. I assume there's ejector seats on the shuttle? The pilot should be fine. And I'm sure Jayce won't stay mad about the loss of the shuttle when I tell him I've taken the camp" Ashliegh put on her "I'm about to wreck some shit" face and turned back to the group "Any questions?"
Alexei grabbed a light machine gun from the walls as the commander instructed them to bring weapons, and equipped it. As she said his name, he turned, an eyebrow raised. "Heh, I think you're vastly overestimating my capabilities Commander. I'll do what I can" he responded with a smirk. When she asked for questions, he raised an arm "Yes. What are we picking up exactly?"
Vyle's eyes panned the surrounding area slowly. He noticed Ana grabbing his shirt and a smile flickered across his face as he glanced at her. Slowly, and reluctantly, he moved her hand off his shirt. He didn't want the strange man to see any kind of weakness in them. "I see" he replied calmly "I suppose we shall be leaving you then" he slowly began to back away from the man, looking everywhere as he did. The mist unnerved him. Anything could come from anywhere. "Keep an eye out" he told Ana and Zephyr, quiet enough that the man could not hear, as they began to head away from the strange man. Willow sighed sadly and gazed into the middle distance with grief "He's on the run from witch hunters, you see. He escaped them once before, and they won't let him get away again. I need to find him before they do" she explained convincingly "You are right, most women wouldn't get far. But I'm not most women. I can protect him, I'm perhaps his only hope right now" she looked into the distance, her expression unreadable "You sure you haven't seen him? He's young, blonde. Was wearing dimeritium shackles for a while..." she paused, alarm crossing her face as she looked at the man pleadingly "Please, I know you don't trust me but I need to find him! You have no idea what they'll do to him!"
Alexei grinned at Clarity "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's not getting shot" he explained "Well I was hoping to have an uneventful day but I guess I'll get going" he left the room with a wave goodbye an meandered his way towards the armoury, taking his time. He wasn't used to being needed urgently. When he did eventually arrive he simply walked in, hands in pockets, and leaned against the wall. He gave a casual salute to the Commander. "Hey" He greeted the room in general. Sure, it wasn't professional, but Alexei was never professional. He was pretty safe in his job security, because he was the only one who could ever really be bothered to do the small jobs, and who knew enough about them. "So what are we doing?"
Nicholas NightwineNick could hardly react before he was suddenly yanked against a tree by vines. He instinctively tried to break free but his arms were trapped. His breathing rate increased, his heart pumped faster, he feared for his very life right now. What if they couldn't get out? Was this a test? He couldn't think straight but one thing stood out in his mind "Morrigan, you have, uh, plant magic right? Can you, uh, help me get out?" he hurriedly asked, stressed by the suddenness of this situation. He vaguely remembered reading something about this on the file he was given about Morrigan, he was given a file for each of the people who were going with him to Somalia. He wished he'd read them properly. MasqueMasque stared at the knife and easel that he'd been given Even the simplist of lies can hold the most complicated truth. Poetic. True. But what message could it be conveying. He slowly walked over and picked up the knife. Sometimes the purest of artwork, must be tainted by the blood of those innocent of the crime. That was more obvious. He slowly turned to Valister, knife in his hands "...Do you understand? This is a test. Do you understand? Will you... let me?" Agents of Augur"If you know so much you probably know where we're going, don't you?" White queen crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow "Somalia. Gaia's jungle. We need to have a chat with her" Black Knight rolled her eyes at the demon's comment "Look who's talking, the guy who got beat by a nineteen year old and his friends" she said "We're going to make you fight a werewolf. Only rule is you can't kill him. If you start to get out of control, I will make you understand the meaning of pain" she said, before leaving the demon alone White Rook guided Grayson along the corridors "It's a demon. Goes by the name of "Slavko", but that doesn't matter. Due to your upgrades, he should be no match for you. Remember, don't kill him" he said, before putting him in the room with Slavko and leaving them alone. Doctor Bishop appeared in a window high in the wall. The room was looking more and more like an arena "You may begin. We simply wish to observe"
Vyle glanced at the man. Now he looked closer, the man did carry a sickle. True, it wasn't the best weapon, but a weapon nonetheless. He glanced around the fog. Was it just him, or were there shadows moving in the mist? It was probably his imagination playing tricks on him. "We're looking for a man named Solomon. A mage. Creepy man, black robes, black mask. I think you'd like him" Vyle said passive-aggressively "He raised an army of the dead after the battle and headed away, but we're not sure where. Have you seen him? He's difficult to miss, always laughing and making monologues to himself" Willow rode slightly closer giving away nothing and remaining at a respectful distance. "Interesting. I see no instruments. What do you play, your horses?" Willow smiled sidelong at him "Or maybe you're a travelling choir, of a hundred or so people?" she laughed shortly "Let's dispense with the lies. I'm looking for a mage by the name of Zephyr, it is very important I find him before certain other people do" Violet knelt down to be on a level with the young girl "You should be glad that you get to just play all day girl, be grateful for Archon's generosity" She stated emotionlessly, a glare at the girl. Before she suddenly stood "Archon is busy today" delivering a reckoning to the dopplers. "However. I can teach you, if you wish"
