DeviousMe

"Well, you certainly seem excited." Borea remarked to the massive tanker with a wry smirk as they walked, "I don't suppose it'd make you feel any better that you've been requested to lead one of the expedition's subdivisions, hm? Specifically, the super-powered one."

Not waiting for his answer, the woman went on, intent on finishing the conversation before they had reached the rest of the group, "Aside from a duo of robots, you're the most experienced one around, and we know you can keep a level head under a great deal of pressure - and there's going to be no end to that. The Rikti you'll be encountering most likely won't be soldiers this time. They'll be just ordinary people; people who think we're the murderous invaders threatening their civilization. In their view, the Omega Team is still a terrorist group. I don't imagine you'll be greeted any differently than we might welcome a party of Al'Qaeda..."

--------------------

"That would be a welcome change of pace." the Dark Watcher remarked sullenly, casting his sunglass-hidden gaze over to the rumbling portal assembly as he spoke.

"Ah, there we are." he gave a satisfied nod as he saw three more well-armored Rikti approach, turning back to the group, "As we are already on the matter of guides - Cher'tak, I think you'll be glad to know you have backup. There is a large chance our groups will be separated at one point or another, and we can't take chances on this one."

By this time, the Rikti trio had reached the assemblage of people. The first stood clad in an armorsuit of silver that could have been that of a Chief Soldier, had it not been for the rounded shoulder components that more closely resembled those of a communications officer. The second wore the set of armor belonging to a Chief Mentalist, and the third's suit matched that of a Chief Soldier to a tee, though he'd presently removed the helmet from his head, holding it tucked under the right arm.

"For those of you who don't already know," the Dark Watcher introduced them in the very same order, "meet the rest of our guides: C'Kelkah, our dimensional travel scientist. Her work has been paramount in creating a stable gateway. Lk'Onik, our Psi-scout, whom most of you should be familiar with already, and Sah'Teece, one of the negotiators who helped solidify our peace."

"That doesn't go to say my presence will be making this any easier." the former negotiator added, his Mark III translator giving the synopsis of his thoughts in flawless, albeit somewhat monotone English, "Hro'Dtohz has just about everyone back home believing that Nemesis' actions are a lie and that all our evidence is fabricated. Still, I want to do what I can to help."

Lk'Onik gave a silent nod, the Rikti most everyone had given the nickname 'the shy one' knowing full well they and all other Traditionalists had been branded treasonous traitors at the hands of Hro'Dtohz. Judging by his quiet demeanor, he seemed somewhat out of place here. Those who'd fought with him, however, knew his bashful exterior masked an impressively strong and calculating mind underneath.

"Fluctuation reduction: complete." C'Kelkah then told them, her unique armor apparently incompatible with the new translators as well, "Preparation state: final. Exclamation: Huah!"

"Good to hear." the Dark Watcher retorted, "We will depart as soon as this division is fully assembled, then. I take it all of you are prepared...?"

[u]OOC:[u]

Okay, I've received quite a few questions about this, so I think Imma answer them here rather than send the same PM to several people. I'm hoping that'll also clear up things for any newcomers we might have.

1. Vanguard is dispatching an expedition to the Rikti homeworld, this much yalls already know. Being an organization uncaring for their operatives' backgrounds, there is no preference for hero, villain, or anything in-between here. So long as you're willing to fight and do as they say, Vanguard'll have ya on board.

2. Obviously, creating a conduit to the Rikti homeworld isn't something exclusively proprietary. There are a good many people and factions around with the same capability, so the Vanguard gateway set up in Portal Court will not necessarily remain the only access point to the Rikti universe as time moves on.

3. People are welcome to drop characters into this from any angle. Do you share the vision of the Lady Grey and wish to help the Rikti who've been duped by Nemesis? Or are you just along because you've some vendetta with the Prussian Prince of Automatons? Then again, maybe you've sworn revenge on the Rikti instead and just joined up as a farce, or perhaps you're part of an organization with much more sinister plans in mind.

And there are just a few of the viewpoints your character(s) might take. There are a great many more. While a core plot stands here, the angles people may take on this are nearly limitless, so don't feel restricted into thinking the expedition will be all there is to this thread. Who knows, the Rikti may not be the only one in danger.

[u]End OOC Comment[u]

The harsh beat of rotor blades cut through the night sky like thunder, the rapidly approaching duo of MI-26 HALO helicopters speeding over the streets of Peregrine Island like massive hornets stirred up from their nest.

They flew in formation, one behind and to the side of the other, their periodically blinking position lights outlining rough, deep-black shapes against the cloudy night sky as the two descended on the Portal Corporation campus.

Portal Court
Peregrine Island
0556 Hours ZULU - 12:56 A.M. Local Time

The place already brimmed with activity. Longbow personnel could be seen flitting in and out of the bright-white cones the quickly erected spotlight towers blasted into the court, assisted by the PPD's Kheldian division in securing the area..

In the rear of the facility already stood the helos Freedom Corps had landed, the red-and-white paint jobs of their MI-26s leaving no uncertainty as to which of the large rotary aircraft belonged to what organization. The jet-black Vanguard helicopters certainly wouldn't be confused with their Longbow counterparts.

Light from towers, vehicles, and aircraft alike bathed the whole campus in illumination, several spotlights having been trained on the sit of the former portal to White Plains. Already, the massive rings rose there once again, turning slowly as the gateway awaited its final activation.

Wind whipped the ground savagely as one of the Vanguard helos touched down on the helipad near said portal mechanism, its turbines only idling at the bare threshold of takeoff as he helo commenced its drop.

Pebbles jittered and the earth rumbled, two Vanguard tanks rolling down the aircraft's rear ramp at speed, taking up their pre-planned positions near the reconstructed gateway. They weren't taking any chances on this one.

No sooner had the second tank left the cargo hold than the first MI-26 revved its turbines back up to speed with an infernal roar, wheels lurching off the landing pad to make room for its companion as quickly as possible.

Several more armored vehicles rolled off the second aircraft, and though they weren't even half the size of the tanks who'd come before, their automated missile batteries packed a punch no recipient of their ire would ever forget. From high explosives to incendiary tips and toxic gas, the munitions these devilish contraptions could employ were staggeringly fiendish in both nature and number.

Several Vanguard personnel disembarked from this helo as well, some coordinating the placement of armor around the portal while others checked in with Longbow forces setting up a security perimeter. Borea and Levantera couldn't have been clearer in their orders - if someone didn't cut it, they wouldn't be going.

The Lady Grey couldn't help but be somewhat relieved, the sisters having yielded to her authority. She'd have to have a word with them once the initial operations had commenced. Vanguard was already under fire from a good many directions, and the organization couldn't afford any internal strife.

"Lady Grey!" the dark heroine perceived a shout from the side as she stepped off the aircraft, prompting her to turn in the direction of Security Chief Unai Kemen running toward her. Judging from his hurry, the man had news.

"We're all set up here." Kemen started as he reached Lady Grey, visibly out of breath. Understandable, considering he'd been chosen as head of security for this entire facility. The circumstances of his hiring were still somewhat shrouded. Nobody knew the reason he'd been asked to perform this duty, least of all Kemen, and Statesman himself had encouraged the man when he'd at first refused the position.

"As expected." Lady Grey gave answer, "There is something on your mind."

"Right, right..." the security chief waves a hand about for a moment, still catching his breath, "How'd you pull this off so quickly? I mean, usually it takes us months to change just about anything around here, what with the government breathing down our necks at every turn. And now this...frankly, if I didn't know better...I mean, it's almost like back when Webb was running the show around here."

"You can thank Incandescent for that." the woman replied, "She's holding down the fort at the UN for us."

It wasn't the whole story, but Kemen seemed satisfied with it. Like the rest of the Vanguard leadership, he knew well of Incandescent's efforts in the muck of politics. There was a reason many people regarded her as Vanguard's toughest member, after all. A good many heroes would've rather faced a world-eating monster than slug it out with politicians any day.

"I take it you're ready for powerup then?" Lady Grey wanted to know as she and Kemen made their way to the reconstructed portal, "If so, I'd prefer it done immediately. We don't know how much of a lead Nemesis has on us, and I'd like to get after him at once."

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with his mention of your 'pretty little head' now, would it?" the Dark Watcher threw in his remark as he joined the group, prompting a downright vicious glare from Lady Grey.

"I've work to do." she told them within moments, "If anyone needs me, you know where to find me."

Kemen stood visibly confused for a bit, one of his eyebrows a good way above the other as he turned to look questioningly at the Dark Watcher.

"Nemesis upset her greatly not too long ago." the mysterious man in black explained, "We need to keep reminding her this operation is not to be a personal vendetta."

"Ah." the security chief gave a nod, then turned to the technical staff that manned the portal generator and shot a loud whistle in their direction. No sooner did he have their attention then he raised a finger into the air and performed a sign of spin. The technicians understood immediately.

They initiated startup.

A sound of thunder rushed from the gate, the roar of heavy machinery following the same second. Fingers flew over keyboards and system panels, measuring, adjusting, correcting, and controlling every aspect of the sequence. The massive gateway that had formerly sent heroes to White Plains surged with energies once again, thundering and roaring as the gateway vortex in the center of its rapidly rotating rings forged itself a route across dimensions.

For a small amount of time, all activity in the area ceased, their air heavy with anticipation. Rifles of Vanguard and Longbow personnel alike rose to take aim at the coalescing gateway, and the automated missile batteries swept watchfully to and fro, ready to engage anything hostile that might come from the gateway at a moment's notice.

However, it all seemed to have been for naught. Slowly but surely, the initial storm of noise and light settled down to a dull roar, the portal stabilizing without incident. A collective sigh of relief hung almost audibly in the air.

"That's it, then." Kemen took a deep breath, turning to the Dark Watcher again, "No telling where exactly the thing ends up, but it's definitely a Rikti supply line. I just hope Lady Grey's wrong and there won't be any trouble from the bad guys right here. You got any advice for us?"

"Should I?" the Dark Watcher's shoulders moved slowly in the gesture of a shrug, "It's been a while since I last visited that world."

"Well yes, but you should at least know something still." the security chief protested, "I mean, you described your experience as 'harrowing' - wasn't there anything to that?"

"Of course it was harrowing." the Dark Watcher gave a rare chuckle, "The food was absolutely terrible..."

"Freeze footage."

The screen's motions ceased immediately, obeying the commanding voice of the Lady Grey without fault.

Vanguard Compound
White Plains
0229 Hours ZULU

Slowly but surely, the darkened lighting of the subterranean base's conference room returned to normal, the finely crafted wood of the long table lined with large chairs of black leather for the attendees of the meeting fading back into normal view.

"I'm really not seeing the point in this." Levantera offhandedly slid the manila folder across the polished wood yet again, then crossed her arms and let her gaze wander to the ceiling, "It's not like we don't already know what happened. We should be working on a plan to use what we know, not sit around and mull over it."

"I have to agree with Lev there." Borea gave a shrug, leaning back a little further in her chair, "There's nothing in this footage we haven't seen already."

"I disagree." came the deep tone of the Dark Watcher. His chair sat empty, the mysterious hero clad in black preferring to stand by the transparent interior wall (as always), his sullen stare directed half at the floor, half at the meeting of the Vanguard leadership, "If there wasn't something there we'd missed, we wouldn't have been asked to take another look at it."

"Precisely." Lady Grey intoned as she rose from her seat, placing the palms of her hands firmly upon the table, "We have to face the fact that we got lucky here. This could've just as easily ended in tragedy. I see a lesson that we have to be more watchful, and this is where we start."

"Not that I'm disagreeing with that..." Serpent Drummer scratched the back of his head, leaning forward to take another look at the files spread all over the table, "but Nemesis plan or not, there's no way he could've possibly pulled a win out of this one. I'm sorry, but I'm just not seeing it."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to help." smiled FBSA Agent Maxwell Christopher as he entered the room, decked out in formal attire for the meeting. The duo of Vanguard operatives who'd opened the doors for the man said not a word as they let him and one of their Wizards pass, then gently shut the double doors again. The Dark Watcher's head rose for a moment, hidden eyes following the Vanguard-armored escort with odd suspicion for a moment or two, but then settled to stare toward the floor again.

"Sorry I'm late." the agent from the Federal Bureau of Super-powered Affairs apologized as he took a seat. The man seemed visibly stressed, running his hands through his surfer-like brown hair a few times, "I looked into a few more things, and I must've lost track of the..."

"We can discuss tardiness later." Lady Grey raised a hand to stop Agent Christopher, "I take it by your statement that you've insight into the situation. State it. Time may be short."

"Of course." the FBSA agent gave a quick nod, turning to Gaussian across the table, "May I have that file? Thank you...now, as I assume you've already noted from the footage, Nemesis boasted his plan to be that of achieving immortality by uploading his mind into the Rikti mental network."

"A plan our operatives stopped, yes." Levantera sighed, "We know about Nemesis too, you know. His plans within plans shtick and all that. It's been figured out and stopped."

"I don't think so." Agent Christopher shook his head, slapping the file back onto the table, "I've been working on the Nemesis case for a long time now, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that this wasn't the end of it."

Silence hovered thick in the room. Now he had their attention.

"I don't pretend to know everything about this madman," he admitted, "but there is a key fault here. As it stands, his plan couldn't have possibly succeeded the way he wanted to pull it off. Think about it - just waltzing into another world and ta-da, that's it? No, too easy. The Rikti are smarter than that, and we all know it. Hacking into their mental net, if you want to call it that, is something even Nemesis would need a large amount of time and resources for; something he wouldn't have if he just jumped into one of their portals."

"So what are you suggesting?" Lady Grey's eyes narrowed, wrapping her head about the implications of this.

"I'm not suggesting anything." the FBSA agent gave a helpless shrug, "I'm just saying he's pulled the wool over our eyes again. Made us think his plan failed when really it was just a cover for another scheme."

"No." the Dark Watcher spoke, raising his gaze from the floor as he stepped toward the table, "It's still the same idea."

Lady Grey gave a nod. She already pursued the same train of thought. With all that was known about Nemesis, it stood to reason that a true scheme sat under all of this, entirely different from what had been uncovered so far. However, reason was easy. Nemesis knew that.

All the evidence pointed to it. Not a shred could counter the argument - exactly how it should appear. Nemesis wasn't running some third underlying scheme; he was still on the very same one, his quest for true immortality. After all, if everyone thought he'd already failed, there wouldn't be anyone to try and stop him. They'd all be looking for the 'true plan', leaving Nemesis to work utterly unimpeded.

Now he just needed a way to the Rikti homeworld.

"Get word to Portal Corporation!" Lady Grey's arm shot in the direction of Gaussian, who sat near the conference table's phone, "If we hurry, maybe we can still...!"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." the Wizard who had entered with Agent Christopher interrupted, causing an immediate shift of attention. All eyes fell on the only man in the room who presently donned a full Vanguard uniform, masking every last form of his body.

"Yes, it's me." the Wizard gave a nod to the Dark Watcher, then turned to Lady Grey, stepping forward to place another file on the table, "A few hours ago, an Arachnos contingent attacked the Peregrine campus in an attempt to kidnap several researchers. Luckily, Citadel happened to be on-site and prevented the worst of it."

The folder passed from person to person, but the Wizard simply went on as if all of that didn't really matter. Indeed, in relevance to the truth, it didn't, "Sadly, it was only a guise to pin the blame on them."

"Automatons." Gaussian stated sharply, the file making its way into his hands, "The operation was staged."

"Exactly." the Wizard gave a nod, "Officially, the attempt failed. But with Nemmy involved, that's almost never true."

"What did they take?" Lady Grey wanted to know.

"Nothing." was the answer, which caused a bit of confusion, until the armored man added, "They punched through to the Rikti world."

"But I thought that was sealed off!" the FBSA agent exclaimed in shock, "How'd they do that?!"

"The barriers are weak at present." the Dark Watcher answered coolly, his expression not shifting in the least, "Give the gateways at the Portal Court enough power and the right coordinates, and it is possible to break into one of the conduits the Rikti have been laying from their world to ours."

"And with just about all their military force here with us..." Serpent Drummer gasped, prompting him to stand, "Good lord, if he gets enough hardware over there...!"

"Not an option." Lady Grey slammed her fist into the table, "We're mobilizing ASAP. Everyone, get this to your divisions. And inform Incandescent. We need to launch a task force immediately."

"To do what?" Levantera protested, "Protect those monsters? Lady Grey, with all due respect, are you out of your mind?!"

"They are not monsters." the Dark Watcher answered instead, "You know that better than a great many people."

"But...!"

"I will take your protest into consideration." Lady Grey ended the argument, "But regardless of what the Lineage of War has done, we know the fault for this war is by extension ours. We, the forces of justice, the heroes of this world, did not prevent Nemesis from wreaking havoc and suffering on their people once already - I will not stand idly by while he does it again. And neither shall you."

"Yes, madam." Levantera forced all emotion from her face, giving an almost military nod as she stood, "Borea and I will inform the Shield immediately."

"Thank you." came the retort while the sisters prepared to depart the conference room, "I'm counting on you."

"No sweat." Borea gave a stern nod, "You'll always be able to."

"I guess I'm kind of in the way then." Agent Christopher mumbled while he rose as well, watching Gaussian and Serpent Drummer depart the room to alert their divisions, "I guess I'll..."

"No." Lady Grey cut him off, stepping over to the man, "We're going to need you to get this back to the FBSA and alert the heroes of Paragon."

"She is quite right." the Dark Wacther agreed, "Vanguard alone will not be able to succeed here. Not only will we face the machinations of what may be the most dangerous madman this world has ever spawned, but also a people who think us their mortal enemy out to destroy them all. This may be humanity's greatest challenge yet."

"That means we'll need all the help we can get." Lady Grey finished, "Do you understand?"

"Completely." Agent Christopher gave a nod, then departed as well, the Dark Watcher in tow, "I'll do everything in my power."

"I'm sure you will." Lady Grey whispered as the doors closed yet again, leaving her alone with the Wizard.

"You have other worries." the mysterious woman commented. It was a statement, not a question, "And why didn't you tell us this right away?"

"You wouldn't have made the same decision if you'd known one before the other." replied the Wizard, "And yes, I am worried. If Nemesis succeeds, then...well, I think you've already figured out what'd happen then."

"Genocide." Lady Grey sat again, her face emotionless, but her tone appalled, "Worse, if word of this gets out to certain people here...there are a good few organizations who'd rather take the route of exterminating every last Rikti to stop Nemesis instead of taking him on directly."

"I know." was the Wizard's retort, "And should he succeed, I'll have to order just that."

Lady Grey looked up from the table, aghast at the proposition, "You can't..."

"I'd have no other choice."

"Now you listen to me…" the inexplicable heroine rose with a fire in her eyes, stepping over close to the man to glare directly into his masked face, "I don't care who you are, I will not let anyone slaughter innocent people! Is that understood?!"

"Madam, you forget yourself." the Wizard growled, stopping Lady Grey in her tracks, "You follow my orders here, not the other way around. Or would you rather I go back on my end of our little agreement?"

"No." the woman whispered, her gaze lowering, "No, I wouldn't."

"Then you have to keep up your side of the deal." the Wizard stated coldly and turned to leave. However, he stopped once more before departing, "Please understand. I am not an unreasonable person. But I cannot afford to lose what we've worked so hard for - even at the cost of another world."

"Then tell me. Tell me what you're doing here. Tell me what it is you need to succeed."

"I can't." the Wizard sighed, "If I did, it would never work."

And with that, the doors closed one last time...

They say there always stands some manner of cosmic irony in how very different two sides of a single thing could be.

One take for instance a certain crippled starship in a once-ordinary spot of the human settlement known as Paragon City. With shields spanned wide above, the vessel lay peacefully, a picture of tranquility.

Underneath, however, a battle raged. A battle, some say, that would decide the fate of the world. Fought underneath the massive discus, in the broken, filthy sewers of what was once the neighborhood of White Plans, the climactic clash of good and evil had already deviated from what was considered the norm.

It would deviate a great deal more.

"How do you like them apples?!" the mechanical voice of Lord Nemesis roared along with a powerful force bolt from his gear-tipped staff, the Prussian Prince of Automatons taking matters into his own artificial hands amongst the cacophonous thunder of combat - an amalgamation of shouts, all manner of superpowers, and the constant chatter of Rikti energy blasters and Nemesis Army gunfire.

"My, my, my!" he bellowed as a ball of fire splashed against the funnels of the mechanical man's steam-driven armorsuit, "Such delightful impertinence! A pity you have to die."

The arch-villain struck back without mercy, sending heroes and Rikti alike to scatter, his strangely dressed soldiers and steam-powered mechanoids taking the massive cavern with unbelievable storm.

But the costume-clad heroes did not relent. They knew what was at stake here, their courage driving them on and through the pain. He might strike them down - but they'd never, ever surrender.

"I do not say this to many, but you have gotten my dander up!" the mechanical lord's chuckling echoed over the rage of battle. But his laughter soon turned to anger, his forces driven back by the unrelenting heroes, "I commend your puissance, but I cannot let you stop me!"

The battle drew on though what seemed an eternity of vicious combat, but as more and more of the madman's army fell, the heroes closed on the mastermind himself, giving all they had to stop this maniac once and for all.

In the end, they prevailed.

"Your victory is hollow." the mechanical madman rasped as the armor lost power, the massive construct sacking together to its knees, finally collapsing onto the ground, "I am Nemesis! I am...eternal...!"

Hotaka gave Jake but a grim smirk, "I may be old, but I'm certainly not behind the curve, young man. Your signal may be secured every way you wish, but that doesn't mean it's not radiating energy."

"He's got a point." Baalial shrugged, "People might not know what it says, but so long as they can pick up whatever frequency that thing used to send, all they'd need is two locations with a known distance between them to pick it up. Then they could easily triangulate the location...or at least, that's how I'd do it..."

"Ah, at least someone still has manners." Baalial chuckled, brushing imaginary dust from his suit as he turned to Rachel, "You must be Pstorm. There wouldn't be any private quarters about that my associate could use for a little meditation, would there?"

"I'll be fine." Hotaka waved him off, "Probably just sprained it anyway. What is important..."

He looked about a moment for Jake, approaching the youth upon spotting him, "There you are. I suggest you deactivate your emitter, and quickly. This may come off as paranoid, but if your tracker can pick up that signal, it stands to reason that the enemy can too..."

"It's not my spine that's got a kink in it." Hotaka returned with a sneer as he joined the group again, causing Baalial to utter a bit of a snicker. He could well imagine what Ryuu felt like at the moment.

"Hm?" the demon turned his attention to Jake as the youth tossed the device into his clawed hand, "Actually, that's probably not a very good..."

But he was already gone. Typical. Baalial just hoped the Masters of Mayhem didn't have the means to track Jake's transmitter - if so, he'd just given away the location of the rebel base for all to see.

"That could be bad." Hotaka commented, his mind already heading in the same general direction as the demon's.

"Quite." Baalial gave a nod, "Not that there's anything to be done about it now. Let's just hope we're overestimating the enemy again."

"Right." Hotaka sighed, looking skyward, "Well, I'm pretty sure I broke my wing back there, so it looks like I'll need a lift."

"Wouldn't be the first time." the demon smirked, spreading the leathery appendages of his back and unfolding them to full span. They'd take a bit longer to follow the others to base, but they'd get there eventually...

"Your efforts in all honor," Baalial stated mildly as he managed to snatch the speeding hero from the ground. He might've been a fast runner, but without his feet touching floor, he wasn't going anywhere, "but I do advise you to stay back. Otherwise you might get..."

A sudden crunch from Mt. Rubble overpowered the demon's voice, a large section of boulders sacking together and into one another, as if the layers supporting them from underneath had without warning liquefied. A cacophonous, bestial roar accompanied the thunderous grinding of rock against rock, but the former still stood nearly eclipsed by the latter.

"...hurt." the demon finished calmly as the spectacle came to and end, releasing Psycho13 back onto his feet, "My apologies if that made you uncomfortable."

Spitting vehement curses in what had to be a mixture of at least seven, half-millennia-old oriental tongues, Hotaka could now be seen walking out of the hole, batting sand and dirt off his robes in the fashion of someone who'd just fallen into a vat of coal dust.

Aside from that, he exhibited no visible injuries. Indeed, not even his clothing had been singed.

"Like I've been hit by a truck, what do you think?" Ryuu grumbled in answer to Baalial's unspoken question, "I'll not be able to fly right for hours."

Leaving his associate to grumble about the 'kink in his back', the demon returned to considering the situation, "Why yes, a ride would be most appreciated. We're still somewhat new here, and don't really know where anything is yet..."

Manticore Automaton: "Sarcasm engine failure!"

You might also not have known that you posted this in the wrong forum section. This should be in the CoH general discussion.

"Ehwhat?" Baalial's serpentine face performed the equivalent of a quizzically raised eyebrow, "What're you people talking about? He's not dead, just under a ton or two of boulder. All I said was that it smarts because I know from first-hand experience."

"Si, gringo." the same Spanish-accented voice form earlier garbled out of the demon's briefcase, followed by a tumble of rotten flesh and dirty bones - the parts of the chain gun-wielding zombie from before.

Once the undead man had pulled himself together (more or less, at least), he gave the poncho and sombrero a toss, now clothed in a fine black business suit. Where he'd left the vulcan cannon, however, was anyone's guess.

"It's not like those things are that easy to kill, you know." the zombie chuckled, his tone now without any accent at all, "Those eggheads back in Japan called him Ryuu Hotaka for a reason, after all. I mean, when'd you ever hear of a little cave-in doing in a-heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy...!"

The undead man's head came down no less than a hundred meters away, Baalial having chucked the cranium quite far once he'd beheaded the zombie.

Even as the head still filled the air with curses and complaints, the body took off running to recover its lost part, which of course resulted in an immediate sprawl upon the ground, brought by courtesy of the closest rock.

"My apologies." Baalial told the group, "Balthazar is a fantastic secretary, but I'm afraid being quiet is something he neither mastered in life nor death..."

It wasn't hard to see.

They were too slow. Even an amateur could have seen that by now. They'd underestimated the speed of propagation that a chemical explosion could exhibit in free air. Numbers were irrelevant now. The detonation moved at the worst sort of speed: too fast.

That wouldn't do.

Before anyone knew what had even happened, the cavern went black. The overhead lights had given up their ghost a while ago already, but the detonation's flames had provided ample illumination.

Until now.

Gale-force winds whipped from the suddenly created shadows and rushed ahead and out, snatching all still in the passage with them and launching them out like an oversized pumpkin cannon.

Then came the explosion.

"Ouch." Baalial commented in a dry manner, "I've had that happen to me. Hurts a lot."

What he meant wasn't immediately obvious, but to a keen observer appeared rather quickly.

Hotaka wasn't with the group anymore...

Dang. Well, I guess it's been some time coming now. Not to mention I was really looking forward to yalls big idea. Thought it had potential. Ah well, gotta go where the wind takes ya. Ciao.

((Show offs? I dunno, it seemed a good idea considering there's a speeding wall of fire rushing at the group in the style of a Death Star explosion. ))

The androids quickly found they had a rather severe problem with their intentions to 'calmly follow' the group.

They'd been immobilized.

Twilight's Black Hole may not have been a fully developed spatial singularity, bit its gravity-warping properties had more than enough power to lock its targets down for the duration of its effect. The androids were going precisely nowhere.

"Good idea." Baalial retorted to Steve's idea, taking off like a rocket and storming his way out of the caverns with a keen display of aerial mobility. Apparently, his large wings weren't quite as bulky as they looked, for he even turned back in mid-flight, yelling to Hotaka, "Play ball!"

Ryuu simply smirked in response, then twirled about and threw the first civilian like a baseball with wildly flailing arms and legs. Not a moment later, the second followed, and amazingly the two individuals described an almost perfectly straight trajectory, landing nowhere else but in the arms of the demon waiting outside...

((I know how you feel. *pokes Funstuff* ))

SPOILER

Well, once you know the original reason for the Rikti invasion, Hero One doesn't really come off as 'the unredeemable bad guy' anymore. After all, the Rikti were convinced enough that the Freedom Phalanx attacked their world to start an all-out war. No hero who they managed to convince of this wouldn't give his very best to help them whipe out such powerful and utterly ruthless slaughterers of their people.

"I wish I could." Acid replied to Breaker as he slipped into his usual outfit. He seemed to drift off then, as if his eyes were looking through the walls of the helo, "Time and space, well...they've always been somewhat elusive to me. I think I'm starting to get the hang of time, but space...that's probably gonna stay a book with seven seals for a long time still."

"Oh, I'm sorry." the reptilian blinked, throwing his jacket over his shoulders as he turned back to the former villain, "I start babbling sometimes. But you'll understand what I mean when we get to Cap. Just keep in mind that you're really not seeing double..."

"And I thought I was forgetful." Acid remarked with a quirked glance at Power Breaker, unclasping the latches of the Bane Spider boots, "You don't remember me, do you? And yes. You would be too if you had to shove an arm down your pants along with a leg of yours."

The analogy of course wasn't completely accurate, the reptilian's long tail not exactly what a human would consider an arm. Still, it was a limb, and in order to hide it had to be coiled around one of Acid's legs in the suit of armor. Considering it had originally been an extension of the spine, it wasn't very comfortable.

"Kind of odd, actually." the reptilian remarked as he wound his way out of the armor, then reached for his traditional ensemble lying on one of the crates the helo carried, "Technically, this body shouldn't have that amount of feeling at all. Eh, whatever. I guess that comes with the territory..."

Big.

Really, really big. At first, that’s all I could describe it as. The train had climbed over a hill, and now the thing sat there in full view. It was some manner of structure, a tower of insane proportions. I had no idea how far away the thing was, but it must’ve been at least a kilometer. Still, the dark, narrow cone already reached high into the sky. It had no tip, instead terminating in what looked like a flat surface. Rings of truly titanic spikes rose in regular intervals from the building’s surface, growing smaller with altitude, meaning the largest rimmed base of the structure.

No, that wasn’t right. Something else stood there. It was hard to make out at first, but as we approached closer and closer, I could see a web-like structure emerge, an assembly of triangular holes like one might see on a playground. The odd formation encircled the tower completely, reaching down from what appeared to be a third of its total height at close to a forty-five degree angle. When I focused on the circle it made with the ground, I immediately realized why it had been so hard to see. The thing was transparent! The holes weren’t holes at all, nor was the assembly what it appeared. I caught my mind drawing more and more parallels to a gigantic greenhouse, but here was no green underneath. Just permafrost and part of the huge tower, that was all.

Wait, no. That wasn’t all – and by the time I noticed, I didn’t know if the idea frightened me more than the fact that it had taken me this long in order to realize it.

“Are we…?” I turned to Rimsey, discovering his face pale as a ghost. Chances are I wasn’t looking any deal more confident.

“Quite right.” he gulped, staring in disbelief at the seeming impossibility ahead of us. The train tracks were floating. Either that, or they stood composed of a material that defied the laws of gravity, physics, and just about anything else. All I knew was what I saw – and I saw a pair of metal tracks run what must’ve been more than a dozen meters above the ground, without any cross bracing or support structure at all. I turned back to the rear of the train to see where they’d come off the ground in the first place, and it really was no great mystery. In fact, the explanation stared me right in the face with what felt like a most annoying smirk. The one someone gives you when you’ve just done something incredibly stupid or warranting a very audible, “Duh!”

The hill we’d just climbed hadn’t been a hill. It had been the rim of a crater. A frighteningly big crater. I found myself looking back at the odd tower, estimating it at perhaps a hundred meters tall, maybe more. A great many glinting lights dotted and rimmed its dark surface, its color some unidentifiable mixture of murky blues. Despite the clearly visible beams of both stationary and oscillating spotlights mounted on the lower portions, not one of them came close enough to reveal the thing’s true color in the night.

Wait, night? Hadn’t it just been…?

I felt a lump in my throat as I looked skyward, the shine of said spotlights clearly visible on the underside of what had to be the darkest clouds I’d ever seen. They resembled a super cell to a tee, and for a few moments I honestly expected a funnel cloud to come down at any given instant. When no tornado appeared, however, worry turned to fascination. I looked all about, finding the ominous darkness not just above, but encircling the crater in the same fashion that its rim encircled the tower. It was clearly a blizzard, though not one I’d ever imagined possible, rushing about the site like a protective bubble, shielding it from prying eyes no matter the altitude of the observer. A chill ran down my back as I realized even radar and infrared couldn’t spot this place. The immense cold above combined with swarms of dense, icy particles made it practically invisible.

“Think they’ve got some manner of weather control?” Rimsey whispered to me, uncertainty in his tone, “I’d much prefer if you told me I’ve just gone mad.”

“Sorry.” I found myself smiling, having just debunked the same thought, “Hate to tell you, but I think we’re all perfectly sane around here. Koschev?”

“Not one of ours.” the Russian whispered, apparently still in denial that someone could get something this big into his motherland and hide it so well. He turned to me with a frightened gaze, “I speak the truth. I swear. This…this is…”

“Impossible?” I sighed, standing up to take a good look at the thing, “I think we might just have to throw that word out the window for the time being. We’ve got a steam engine that doesn’t need coal, a train that drives itself, floating tracks, a perfect storm…guys, I don’t know where to stop.”

“I don’t think we need to.” Rimsey remarked, looking at the boxcar behind us, “We just need to know where to start.”

“Kirov.” I answered, the Brit giving a solemn nod.

“Yes.” Koschev’s expression soured, his eyes narrowing as he cracked his fists, “The good doctor owes an explanation.”

“Agreed.” I nodded with a smile, “Especially you. Let’s go get ourselves some answers.”

“Uh, gents.” Rimsey called to attention, “I think we might have to postpone that for a moment or two.”

The reason became obvious literally the next second. With a rush of air, the transparent structure of the empty “greenhouse” stormed by, the train having entered the assembly. It quickly became apparent that the place wasn’t as empty as it had first appeared. Below the free-floating tracks, hulking figures milled about with unknown purpose, though they were very clearly preparing something. Exactly what would have to remain a mystery for now, however. With a high-pitched squeal, the locomotive’s brakes took action, slowing the train with considerable quickness as we entered what looked more like a seaside loading dock than a train station.

It was little more than a large metal platform attached to the side of the tower, jutting from the wall like the dual spokes of a tuning fork. The rails filled the station’s center gap, and an uncountable number of crates lay stacked all about in a strangely chaotic, yet at the same time very orderly pattern. Of course, that wasn’t the weirdest part yet – that came when the train had stopped and our little trio had made the decision to bolt from the back of the engine and into a thick pile of crates before anyone saw us.

“Are those…?” Rimsey gasped in disbelief as we watched the metal hulks go to work unloading the train.

“Robots?” I finished the sentence, “Well, if they’re not, they sure look a whole lot like the ones all those futurists rave about.”

It wasn’t entirely accurate, of course. Still, at the time that was my best comparison. The metallic monstrosities stood at least two and a half meters tall, built more like gorillas than anything else. They looked heavy and armored, and the arms that resembled cannon barrels sure didn’t make them look any friendlier. At their ends sat large, tri-fingered hands the machines used to grip the heavy crates and lift them as if they weighed no more than a few sacks of feathers. Their heads were even more impersonal. With no visible eyes, just a transparent-looking crimson strip instead, I didn’t even have any idea what the machines were looking at – and I wasn’t willing to bet my personal well-being on the idea that any of them obeyed Asimov’s robotic laws.

“Now what?” I whispered to Rimsey, the man giving me a helpless shrug in return.

“Not a clue. I don’t see Kirov anywhere.”

“Over here.” Koschev hushed us over of the other side of the crate pile, “At that gate. There he goes.”

He was right. In the wall of the tower stood a wide-open gate large enough to let a fully packed truck through. At that very moment, the doctor sauntered lazily inside, not a care in the world in his demeanor. I’d only caught a small glimpse, but Koschev affirmed it had been Kirov.

“He spoke to one of the machines.” the Russian told us, “Something about the last pieces arriving soon and that they should be sent to his office on the top floor.”

“Then it looks like that’s where we’re going.” I declared, pulling my sidearm from my overcoat. With a satisfying click, I readied it to fire, and then returned it to the holster. I didn’t really want to use it – personally, I doubted it’d have much effect against a robot in the first place – but it felt good to know it was there and ready to be fire if things got desperate.

“You don’t have to go with me.” I informed the two, “But I’m going up there and getting some answers.”

The Russian and Brit only smiled condescendingly. We were all scared, but we knew we had a job to do. Indeed, when I took a moment to think about it, there really wasn’t a time when our work wasn’t scary. Just this time around, we were up against some unknown third party instead of one another’s respective agencies. When things got right down to it, was there really that much of a difference?

“Yes.” slipped out of my mouth, much to my embarrassment. But it was right. There was a difference here.

“Yes what?” Koschev questioned inquisitively.

“Just came to a little realization.” I snickered quietly, “Maybe the enemy of my enemy wouldn’t mind just being my friend without a common threat.”

It was an answer worthy of a smirk. This time, however, there was no time to smile. With a heavy grind, the crates concealing us suddenly moved and ascended into the air in the powerful metal arms of a robotic duo. My heart jumped into my throat as the five of us just froze for a moment. I had no idea why they didn’t move, holding the crates above their heads like that, but I could certainly think of several good reasons we didn’t. I think Rimsey was the first to summon enough courage to speak up.

“Run?”

I gave a rapid nod of agreement, “Run.”

And so we ran. As if the cloven-hoofed prince of darkness himself licked right on our heels, we made a break for the gate…

"Please don't harass our personnel." Acid told Cedric with a sigh, "Things are already tense enough around here. It could start any minute now."

After everyone following had come through the gateway, he simply continued, "Okay guys, you're listening to Frost Fiend over here from now on. Just follow him to the airport. There's a Flyer from the BHL there that departs for Mercy about every fifteen minutes. Oh, and before I forget - do not, I say again, do not under any circumstances try and keep a low profile. Walk around like you own the place. If somebody so much as looks at you wrong, deck 'em one in the face."

"Yes, especially Arachnos." Acid answered the unspoken question, "Until we get to the airport, that is. There it's considered common courtesy not to disrupt air traffic by starting a fight, both for the spiders and us. Anywhere else, they'll consider you free game, so you'd better do the same. So long as you act like you want attention, everyone'll just think you're posers who aren't worth any. It's when you're trying to stay unnoticed that you start looking suspicious."

"I'd suggest you take your own advice then, Sir." one of the Vanguard technicians chuckled as Acid began walking to the door, the staff starting to place the metal boxes back on the wall around the light gate, although not connecting them to anything yet.

"Oh!" Acid exclaimed, the hooded head looking down at the robes, "Right, almost forgot about that."

With a lazy movement, the heavy gray cloak had been flung to the floor, promptly vaporizing into thin air as if it had been nothing but a solidified cloud of smoke in the first place. Unlike real gas, however, not even a single trace remained of the disguise - a feat that likely eclipsed the reason for the rudimentary disguise in the first place.

Acid wasn't human. He had never been. His people were of obvious reptilian ancestry, his large pointed skull reminiscent of a saurian, the appearance close to a velocirapotor, complete with rows of fine, razor-sharp teeth of a doubtlessly carnivorous nature. The five fingers on each hand terminated in vicious claws, and a long, whiplike tail trailed behind the extraterrestrial of clearly a people of natural predators .

The slit pupils of amber-yellow eyes set deep into protective ridges of the skull, however, betrayed clear intelligence and the spirit of a creator, virtually destroying the first impression of the carnivorous beast.

Indeed, there the reptilian semblance ended as well. The deep-green, leathery hide that covered Acid from head to tail showed no sign of a single scale, instead being of an almost rubbery texture that would befit ballistic armor better than someone's skin.

Clothed in an assembly of mostly black and a little white, with dark cargo pants, matching heavy boots and an open, almost biker-like jacket that draped over the white T-shirt underneath, Acid stepped nonchalantly to the door of the DPO, seemingly not worried about a thing.

The three holsters hanging diagonally across the back of his jacket, however, suggested he expected otherwise. The (for a human) oddly pattered grips of the rifle-like weapons were as alien to the task force members as humans were to Acid. Still, that they were weapons was never in doubt...

--------------------

The counterfeit Executioner merely turned to the Vanguard personnel and raised a hand, performing a wind-up gesture with his fingers. A moment later, the helo pitched ahead and set itself into motion as the turbines powered the aircraft skyward. At the same time, the rear ramp closed once more, hydraulics gurgling as fluid shifted about in the lines.

A floor performed a slight lurch as the pilots stepped on the gas, accelerating their craft away as quickly as Arachnos stood comfortable with.

"Finally." Acid took a deep breath, the sound muffled beneath the Bane Spider helmet. He wasted no time unlatching the armor's gloves, tossing them aside like someone would a shoe that was too tight. Judging from the five clawed fingers beneath, it was fair to say the analogy was more than accurate - there was no way they fit into said gloves properly.

Along with the characteristic cracking of joints went the helmet, Acid forcing the thing off his inhuman head like an unwilling watch from a wrist. When he'd finally gotten it off, the tooth-lined mouth opened wide, inhaling and exhaling a great gulp of air in relief.

"Damn, I hate this junk." the reptilian commented, looking upon the helmet with ire as he tossed it aside with a glance at the Vanguard personnel, "One of these days, you're not going to get me into one of these anymore, and that's final."

"You're the one who squeezed into it, Sir." chuckled the woman as Acid split the armor of arms, chest and abdomen. The deep-green, scaleless hide underneath didn't show any signs of having been under pressure, the upright stature of the reptilian having spared him at least that much.

Still, getting his legs and tail out of these pants was always an adventure - and not a very enjoyable one...

((Pst - Hotaka already grabbed the civilians a few posts back. ))

I can’t remember having ever sworn more colorfully than during my mad dash up the ladder of the cargo car. Generally, I had little need to curse in order to express myself, but right now it was really all that fit the situation. Koschev and Rimsey probably weren’t too calm either, but the howl of wind over the train’s corrugated roof eclipsed anything short of barking into the other’s ear. Good thing we needed no words right now, working together like a well-oiled machine. The first to the roof, I wasted no time reaching for the hand of the Russian agent, pulling hard to get him up quickly. Rimsey followed even faster, only his feet on the ladder, a hand in each of ours as we pulled like regatta rowers.

Then we took off running. It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do considering the iced-over roof was a very slippery surface, but at that moment I don’t think any of us truly cared.

“What the hell is going on here anyway?!” I shouted to Koschev over the harsh, frigid wind, my left arm in front of my face to cut through the buffeting frost more easily, “I didn’t know the trans-Siberian had a huge gap in it!”

“It doesn’t!” he yelled back, head shaking vigorously.

Needless to say, those words made me feel worlds better. Like cauterizing a paper cut. So now we didn’t even know where we were. If we survived this, I was going to have a serious talk with my boss about getting information to agents in the field as currently as possible. Those satellite things had to be capable of more than just taking pictures.

“Just move!” Rimsey spurred us on from behind, our unlikely trio bolting over car after car as quickly as we could, trying our best not to fall, especially after each jump across a gap in the train.

I secretly thanked my lucky stars that the whole thing seemed to be composed of boxcars. While I still slid more than I was comfortable with, not to mention landed on body parts other than my feet several times, at least my momentum was never enough to actually go anywhere. Still, the rushing ground below those edges looked more than lethal, prompting me to stay away as much as was humanly possible. We ran and jumped, leaped and stormed, fighting our way through wind, smoke, and drifting snow to the front of the train. I could scarcely believe my own drive to get to the locomotive, ignoring virtually everything in lieu of my single-minded desire to stop this train.

Well, almost everything. What happened the moment I wished to leap into the coal tender threw my mind for such a loop I couldn’t help but take notice. Expecting a bed of coals to land in as I half-blindly hurdled through another snowdrift, I instead found only air where I expected a solid surface. With about the same sensation as someone having pulled the rug out from under my feet, I ended up with a painful three-point landing on nothing but a cold metal slab.

The blasted thing was empty!

“You alright?!” came a shout from above and behind, Rimsey’s voice pulling me from my wonderings and back to our predicament. There was still a gorge and a train that we should be making sure didn’t meet.

“Peachy!” I yelled back as I got off my stinging rump, waving the two down. Already aware of the empty tender, they proceeded a bit more carefully than I, my demonstration of the alternative having been more than adequately convincing. However, my attention was already on something else entirely: the absence of a conductor. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“This can’t be good.” I remarked in a whisper to myself as I entered the locomotive house, already expecting someone to bean me over the head with a coal shovel at any given moment, “Who the hell’s driving the damn train?”

“We are!” Koschev declared decisively, gripping one of the many levers sticking out of the boiler, and then yanked the thing back with a raucous series of clacks, the restraining springs giving way as the lever moved through several positions.

Nothing changed.

I blinked twice and turned to the Russian with a questioning expression, a finger pointed at the switch he’d pulled. Koschev only nodded slowly, his eyes wide. Yes, that had indeed been the emergency brake.

“Now what?” I glanced about nervously, my eyes finding the front windows of the engine house, but not daring to look. Rimsey, however, seemed to have no such reservations, already peering through the flying snow ahead.

“Whatever it is, we’d better figure out that ‘what’ right quick. I’d say we’ve less than half a minute.”

“What?!” I lurched beside him, my eyes wide as they beheld the rapidly closing gorge. Had the train sped up? It must’ve! We couldn’t have been this close just a minute ago!

“We jump!” Koschev affirmed, reaching for our last resort. We all knew we hadn’t the time to release the boiler pressure or try every other method of braking. I didn’t know it at the time (though I couldn’t help but suspect it already), but that wouldn’t have worked any way we twisted it. This thing didn’t run on steam.

“Alright!” I stepped to the edge of the rear platform with the other two. A chill ran down my back as I observed the ground whizzing by like some demented tapeworm, the gray and white hues of the landscape alternating so quickly my eyes couldn’t keep up, “On three! One! Tw…!”

Without warning, a tremor surged through the metal under our feet, bowling us over backwards and into the engine house. The quickening chatter of metal upon metal combined with a sudden sense of acceleration of the passing terrain. The train had sped up again, and this time forcefully enough to ruin our balance. I usually pride myself upon my ability to remain calm in tense situations, but now I stood on the edge of utter panic. I simply couldn’t be! There was no way in hell the train had reacted to our actions! It was a train, for heaven’s sake!

“Brace!” was all Koschev still had time to yell before the engine sped onto the creaking wooden frame of the bridge fragment. Any moment now I expected to drop into the abyss below. My life flashed before my eyes as I tried to scramble up in defiance, refusing to die in a blazing ball of fire at the bottom of some Siberian ravine. I’d always said I wanted to go out with a bang, but I wasn’t anywhere near ready yet!

Of course, it’s always the same – first it comes different, second than you think.

From one moment to another, my world washed away into haze and obscurity, then bounced back just as quickly. A pulling pain racked my body from the neck down, and for an instant I almost thought it had already happened; that I’d been burned alive. A second later it was already over. My hazy sight retuned to normal, and the pain subsided slowly but surely. The first thing I perceived was that I still lay in the engine house. The second was a collection of Russian curses the likes of which I’d never heard. Koschev swore profusely where he lay, and as I caught my hands patting down my body to make sure I hadn’t lost anything, I discovered an already sitting Rimsey doing the same.

“What just happened?” I questioned slowly and in disbelief while I sat up, looking carefully about me in confusion. Everything was still there – the empty tender was still empty, the locomotive still sped down its track, and…

Track?!

I lurched up with that thought, forgetting about any lingering pain as I stormed to the edge of the rear platform and fixed my eyes on the ground beneath the train, kneeling over the edge while I held on with an arm. That’s right: ground. Complete with rails. Looking to the rear, I spied the wooden skeleton of the dilapidated bridge section receding into the distance behind the train. Only it wasn’t the same fragment.

“Hey, guys.” I motioned back to the duo of Brit and Russian with two fingers, not taking my eyes off the clearly different bridgehead, “You’re gonna want to see this.”

“No, I don’t think so.” I heard Rimsey from the other side of the engine house, shock and awe overt in his tone, “No way you can top this.”

A sudden sense of dread overcame me. Against my better judgment, I turned from back to front, laying eyes on what lay ahead of the train. To this day, I’m still not sure what opened wider – my eyes or my mouth…

The androids fired, and the undead man cackled sadistically as the guitar case snapped open with raucous clacks, hitting the ground like a ton of bricks.

A high-pitched whine filled the cavern as the multiple barrels of the vulcan cannon spun up to speed, then loosed a torrent of 20 mm shells with thunderous applause, saturating the air with lead. Muzzle flashes played brightly in the reflective sunglasses of the manically grinning zombie, the undead man stoically accepting the return fire without so much as a single flinch, even as the incendiaries burned into his rotting flesh.

Until Toy's comrades charged too closely to the enemy, that was (which took about all of three seconds) - and at 6600 rounds per minute, that was saying something.

"Allow me." Baalial stepped forward and into the androids' line of fire, the aura of felfire coursing over the demon easily dealing with the incendiary bolts.

Hotaka stood on the sidelines with a dire, suspicious expression. Already, he could hear the footsteps of Mayhem soldiers behind them, the remainder of the base's defenders apparently planning to fall into their backs while the androids held the line.

Then the first tremor hit. Pebbles danced along the cavern floor as the whole place trembled with a vengeance, the tall man shuddering at the (for him) extreme cacophony of the explosion. Trails of dust and dirt rained from the ceiling.

They'd pulled the trigger.

"Move!"

Hotaka's shout caused Baalial to twirl about, the claws of his arm thrown toward the tunnel they'd come from. The undead man gave a silent nod, leaping back a few meters and taking the passage under fire just as the Mayhem troop arrived.

In bursts a few seconds long, the chain gun’s chatter echoed from the rocky walls, the zombie yelling to the others with accent forgotten, "Get going! I'll hold 'em!"

Hotaka gave a decisive nod, leaping forward as Twilight ripped the androids blocking their path from this plane. Dodging a falling stalactite, the rock shattering on the ground just moments after he'd passed underneath, Ryuu tucked the first civilian under his left arm, then snatched the second off Arrow's shoulder as if said person was but a feather.

"Everyone on me!" he shouted to the others over cracking rock and dancing pebbles, "Move fast and stick close!"

Baalial didn't think twice, breaking from the now-harmless androids and following the robed martial artist. Hotaka knew what he was doing, and the demon had full confidence in him.

"Be ready." he whispered to Toy in passing as Hotaka took off toward where he knew an exit for a fact, reminding the mechanoid that a blackout (or some other manner of blinding everyone) would be necessary if the place came down on them...