Tickticktick... Tickticktick... Tickticktick...
The sound of fingernails rapping in impatient rythym echoed through the small, dimly lit room, made to seem even smaller by the tall towers of books stacked against every wall. A winding path led from the single door through the literary debris field to a cleared area in the exact center of the room. A small hardwood table and two straight-backed, uncomfortable looking chairs occupied the space. The trio of candles providing light stood upon the table in a triangle formation, a basin of perfectly clear water placed precisely between them.
Tickticktick... Tickticktick... Ticktickti-...
The fingers paused in their incessant beat, the white of bone gleaming dully in the candle light as the lone occupant lifted his hand and dragged a single boney finger through the water, setting it into an unnatural swirl. A harsh blue light joined the mellow glow of the candles, twin points of the new color appearing reflected in the swirling water like a pair of sapphires seen under a rushing river. But mere gems did not hold the glimpse of a cold and calculating mind like these did; mere gems did not stare back into the soul of those beholding them.
Tick... Tick... Tick...
The sound of bone on bone, finger slowly rapping on naked jaw as the owner of those two sapphire eyes stared into the water, sheer force of will and barely muttered words from vocal cords long since turned to dust bending the liquid to his purpose. Within moments the water stilled, once again perfectly at rest, but the water wasn't simply water any more, it was a tool.
From the point of view of an eagle, the attack of the Chinese sorcerors upon the rebel train was laid plain as day, rock and stone meaning nothing to the energies worked upon this tool. Nonexistant lips curved into a grim smile and the lights of the candles bent as well, darkness and light flickering over his bare skull to expose his ever present rictus.
With a curt wave of his hand the image in the water vanished and the candles puffed out as though snuffed between immovable fingers. A deft twist of his hand caused a burning blue rune to appear in the air, followed by another and another until the spell was ready, waiting, then cast. The room dropped into blackness again, his armor seeming to welcome the color that was it's brother.
Deep in the reccesses of the Dark Sovereign's tower the ancient being known as Archlich, Overmagus of the dimension formerly known as Malleus Mundi V2279, took what he believe was one more step in the long road to reclaim his power, but which could end up being so much more.
****************
"-and it is our belief, General, that the rebels will likely be dead by this time and should prove little threat to the initiation of our plans," finished a small, fat little man who had the annoying tendancy to gulp like the frog he vaguely appeared to be.
Situated in the temporary command post for the first wave of invading Amerika Korps, 'General' Toy Dispenser had been standing as still as a statue for the entirety of the chief of staff's briefing. The man was visibly unnerved by Dispenser's presence and the android could only wonder how such a simpering fool could have survived so long. He was clearly good at something of use, but Dispenser couldn't be bothered to root through his personnel files just to find out what it might be.
But then something much more interesting happened and the android slightly cocked his head to the side, as though listening to something no one else could hear. The chief took this as a sign of approval and almost continued when a breathless aid dashed into the conference room that the meeting had been taking place in. Several dozen pairs of eyes turned to appraise this new comer, as most of the higher ranking officers and their staffs were here at Dispenser's request.
Frowning at the younger man's evident lack of exercise (the comms room really wasn't that far away from where they were), a female Oberst snatched up the note the aid had closely clutched in his hand. Reading silently to herself, she smirked after she finished and looked up at the rest of the room.
"Seems like our rebel friends are more alive than we thought," she said, passing the note to the man next to her. "A patrol heard a large explosion from-"
"One of the older subway stations," interrupted the android from his seat at the head of the table, his head now staring directly at the now uncomfortably shifting woman. "It seems as though the rebels were both more alive and much closer than we all thought. Normally I would have someone executed by now..."
The chief of staff paled even more and stealthily pulled out a hankerchef to dab at the sweat on his brow. Dispenser didn't even bother glancing in his direction as he continued speaking.
"...but this is not a normal situation, for any of us. I will require a mechanized infantry unit to follow my team in and assist with mopping up. I trust you can effectively decide which men can be spared."
Pushing back his chair, the legs grinding loudly against the thin beige carpet, Dispenser stood and began making his way to the door. Officers and aids alike hastily moved out of his way, but someone managed to recover enough of their nerve to ask a question, causing the android to pause just before exiting.
"Herr Dispenser!" called a gruff, Germanic officer from his seat near where the android had been sitting. "Where are we sending them and how will you arrive there?"
"The coordinates will be transmitted to you once I am in the air. And I believe the SZBV has a chopper I can commandeer."
With a brief glance to remember the face of the officer who called out to him, Toy Dispenser strode out of the room, his retinue of robots (minus Small Toy) gathered around him as he went to pit his authority against those of Teivos' elite.
OOC: Hehehehehehe. Devious, toss me a PM if I got any names or titles wrong.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
"Why are we slowing down?", she asked with a small hint of alarm. "We're not there yet are we?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Kruger raised an eyebrow at this, taking a solemn glance outside as he rose and headed toward the nearest intercom, mumbling in response, "No...no, we are not."
Of course, he never quite made it there.
[ QUOTE ]
"To be holding on to something." he snapped. Then the train jerked as if it had just been derailed...
[/ QUOTE ]
The Krieger tumbled just as many other things and people that hadn't been secured at the impact, and thus spent the time it took the spirit to claw its way into the car to get back to his feet. Once there, however, he regarded the unwelcome intruder with a distinctly sour visage.
"Geisterjägerprotokoll*!" he barked into the air even whilst he jammed a fist against the intercom and called the locomotive, wanting to know of the crew there what was happening there. He didn't ask why the train had stopped, the reason painfully obvious - what he wanted to know was what would be needed to get it moving again, and his soldiers were more than competent enough to puzzle that one out.
Those in the last car meanwhile drew their sidearms and discharged their magazines, jamming clips of ammunition comparable to ghostslayer rounds into their chambers instead of the normal armor-piercing bullets. Naturally, this meant that these sidearms were now less effective against armored physical targets, but the gray-garbed soldiers were more than willing to sacrifice that for the capability to deal a good deal more damage to these ethereal beings, even if they tried to avoid the fire by phasing out of the physical realm. Moreover, the rounds themselves were still just as deadly as normal gunfire, something the soldiers noted to make due point of once they got their sights on the people doing the chanting.
For now, however, they satisfied themselves by just opening fire on the intruder already in the car...
((*Germ.: 'ghost hunter protocol'))
--------------------
[ QUOTE ]
"Jesus I hate his stupid Bloodport. Hey gents, how can I help you...?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Grab him!" the cyborg's eastern-European-sounding tone declared as he threw an arm in Vlasta's direction, getting into gear only instants after the orange being with intent to pursue with all due fervor. He didn't even seem to note than none of the VB officers followed.
In fact, they'd spread out a bit from the entrance and joined the bar guests here and there. A few even seemed to be making bets with the patrons. It seemed that this scene had taken place here more than once already.
In the kitchen, a cook hastily cleared the running Vlasta's way, smiling benevolently while he pulled a watch from his coat...
--------------------
The Molvia was indeed ready and waiting by the time Toy Dispenser made his way outside. The regional Commander's aide may not have been the most courageous man, but he was one heck of an organizer; something his boss somewhat lacked, and thus needed a capable administrator for.
"Drustevník Sombal, reporting DS Wolf's unit at your command..." the bald man of African descent that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse had seen earlier with the cyborg gave the android a firm salute, helmet off and in his other arm so he could be more easily understood. He motioned to the armored soldiers behind him and the helicopter, "...and ready for departure. We apologize for the mess on board, but the quick recall from the hospital allowed us no time to clean up the blood."
Toy would quickly see what the man meant upon taking a look inside the helo. The paramedics had made a mess alright, though the trail of partially coagulated blood wasn't really so obscenely huge as the Drustevník had implied. In any case, it did not impede the aircraft's function.
"Wolfgang will not be joining us." the man added to explain the missing cyborg, "He's off with a pack of VB chasing you-know-who again..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Legion had suddenly zipped by the Kommandant's head, probably to useit as a shield. The power drone was immensely delicate, a two year old could disable it by sneezing too hard. Regardless, it immediately started to boost its combat booster in order to aid all allies nearby, very slightly increasing their density in order to make them tougher while increasing the power of their weapons or attacks.
"The cyborg is equipped with Ghostslayer bombs. These cause some physical impact damage, but we have released the module from his body to be used at your convenience." And indeed, a module had suddenly spurted a small amount of bile before rolling out of one of the cavities in Egregore's chest dropping to the floor. It was deceptively simple to use. A manual activation button spawned a ghostslayer bomb, which would explode after the first sufficient impact. Of course, whereas Egregore had special equipment to specify where exactly the bombs materialized, anyone who picked the module up would have to deal with randomly positioned explosives.
Flashpoint Zeo was laying into the huge ghost with a will, flaming sword leaving blazing trails in the air as he once again displayed that odd grace that characterized his swordsmanship... and the phenomenal speed that leant itself to part of his name.
Isabel's attack struck first, true to blaster form. There was a noise like a crystal chandelier hitting concrete from three stories up, and a dimly-visible bubble that had been shielding the ghost vanished.
The Tanker and the bullets struck as one, great gashes and gaping 'wounds' opening in the ghost, splattering the traincar liberally with ectoplasmic ichor that oozed slowly down the walls and whatever else it hit before fading from view, except where it hit Flashpoint Zeo... against his burning shields, it simply hissed out of existence. It was an unpleasant, slimy mess, but 'evaporated' quickly, leaving no trace it had been there.
As the assault continued, the massive ghost split into two smaller, more 'normal'-looking Ancestor Spirits, but otherwise it gave no indication it cared it was being attacked, or even knew the attackers were there.
The train slowed still more- lacking metahuman assistance, the assault against the ghosts in the forward cars wasn't going as well- the ghostslayer rounds were significantly less effective against the still-shielded Infiltrator Spirits, as they hadn't yet been subjected to Isabel's tender mercies.
Then Flashpoint Zeo paused, sword upraised, as he stared into the darkness of the tunnel behind the train. The chanting was building to a frantic crescendo as the phantasmal mists tightened and chilled, cooling to the point that there was a very real danger of frostbite to anyone not adequately dressed for sub-zero weather.
"Giant ghosts least of problems." the tanker said after a moment. "If train not moving again soon, are completely screwed."
To underscore Flashpoint Zeo's words, a whistling roar, like a train whistle going off in the middle of a train wreck, sounded from behind... in fact, from just outside the blast zone of the ruined station. An otherworldly wind stirred the freezing mists, setting up swirling eddies in the frozen air. A moment later, a second roar, much like the first, but deeper and nearer, answered the first.
Dimly, muffled by distance and fog, the sound of sprinting feet could be heard, sharp 'tings' like a cascade of tiny bells where metal-shod feet struck the freezing railings. Occasionally, when the spectral winds shifted, the hissing of frozen air whipping past something huge and scaly could be heard.
The ghosts redoubled their efforts, completely ignoring the puny humans that blasted them, a couple of them even reaching out to dig long arm-blades into the tunnel walls to bring the train to a shuddering halt, shattering squeals echoing off the tunnel walls as the ice-slicked wheels fought for traction along the frozen metal of the railings.
With a wordless roar that came close to echoing those drawing rapidly nearer, Flashpoint Zeo rammed his titanic fire sword straight through the head of one of the smaller ghosts struggling to hold the car in place, dissipating it in a cloud of fire and ice that cast a brief flash of warmth over the car. Then he scooped up a trio of ghostslayer bombs in one shovel-sized hand.
"Isabel, with me. Must break shields before arms effective against ghosts; positive energy seems adequate for task." the big tank announced, then hopped out of the traincar and blurred forwards, bombs in hand.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
"Drustevník," curtly nodded the android as Sombal intruduced himself. A brief glance at his record was all Dispenser needed to reassure himself that this soldier and his men would handle themselves admirably.
Motioning for the Drustevník and his men to follow, Dispenser hopped up into the Molvia, his retinue following closely and dispersing themselves about the interior of the craft in order to spread out their weight. Combat Toy squeezed itself into the back and loomed there, grumbling quietly to Mini Bot who grumbled back in it's much higher tone of voice.
"This is satisfactory, Drustevník Sombal," Dispenser said as he moved aside to let the SZBV troopers clamber in. "As for the good DS Vlasta, I have one of my drones near his location. DS Wolfgang should be able to catch him this time."
Dispenser's almost-monotone voice grew distinctly chilly at those last two words, but the any implied displeasure was put aside for the moment.
"We shall likely not be requiring his assistance, in any case," continued the android as he transmitted the coordinates of the rebel train to the pilot of the Molvia. "The rebels will be already under assault by a rather idiotic splinter of the Chinese People's Socialist Revolution. The reason they have for assaulting the rebels does not matter. We shall divide, conquer, and eliminate two thorns in the Dark Sovereign's side at once."
"As long as you meat cans think you can keep up," laughed Combat Toy with a rumble, his eye strip flashing a brighter red.
Dispenser's exasperated reply to the drone was cut off as the Molvia's engines warmed up and soon, they were all airborne.
*******************
Small Toy hadn't followed the two Horsemen into the bar, rather it had detatched a small, independant surveillance drone that even now lurked in a shadowy corner of the ceiling. With the real time information from this sub-drone, Small Toy was able to see and hear most of the conversation Famine, War, and Vlasta had. They didn't seem to be talking about anything very interesting though, so the heavily modified battle drone had been more than willing to sit through another boring spy mission and then get back to real work once the Horsemen were cleared.
Small Toy recognized the orange-skinned Vlasta of course, it was hard not to have this highly effective, if annoyingly free-willed soldier, come under Toy Dispenser's notice more than once. But until Wolfgang showed up, Small Toy didn't feel it necessary to assist in bringing the alien in. Now that the cyborg had shown up though... Well, that changed things.
Tensing its legs, the battle drone leapt from the roof of the building opposite the bar and neatly sailed across the street to land with a light thump on top of the bar. It was unlikely to have been seen, its non-reflective paint ample protection against the casual observer it had to worry about here.
Scampering across the roof, the stubby legged drone accessed public records for the bar's schematics, then took up position above the back door. A soft clink heralded the release of a small but effective flashbang from it's internal grenade magazine. Listening carefully, the drone would drop the flashbang a second before Vlasta opened the door and hopefully give Wolfgang enough time to actually catch the runaway soldier for once.
Small Toy was sure it was going to be a novel experience for the cyborg as it chuckled softly to itself.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
"Isabel, with me. Must break shields before arms effective against ghosts; positive energy seems adequate for task." the big tank announced, then hopped out of the traincar and blurred forwards, bombs in hand.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Right", the blaster agreed as she lifted off the ground and flew after Flashpoint as best she could, since he was after all faster than she was. Not to mention she had to stop every few seconds to fling destruction at the various ghosts assaulting the train. She shivered slightly in the unnatural cold, hoping they could get away before she caught frostbite or some magical varient thereof.
Valerie meanwhile had switched rounds like the others and was, to put it bluntly, giving them hell. She followed after her extradimensional sister, though via more conventional running rather than through the air, stopping every few paces just like Isabel was to silence the now unshielded ghosts (The ones that the others inside the train hadn't already got, at least) with a burst of gunfire.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
[ QUOTE ]
"The cyborg is equipped with Ghostslayer bombs. These cause some physical impact damage, but we have released the module from his body to be used at your convenience."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Danke*." the Kommandant returned with a wry smile, breaking open a crate and sliding the high-tech-looking metal gauntlets inside over his gloves, "But I prefer these."
The Krieger pumped his fists and the gloves crackled with neon-green energies. Moments later, he was already at one of the split-off ghosts and gripped the thing with fervor, tearing it to shreds with his not-so-bare hands.
"Waschlappen**." he remarked disgustedly, spitting on the remains. He didn't even seem to have broken a sweat, exuding calm and confidence as any good leader should.
However, in reality Kruger was much less composed than he let on. The lack of response from the locomotive crew (not to mention that no one had stopped the train; something common sense said one should do on an iced-over track) probably meant that everybody at the front of the train was already dead.
[ QUOTE ]
"Giant ghosts least of problems." the tanker said after a moment. "If train not moving again soon, are completely screwed."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ja." the Kommandant growled grimly after the roars had subsided and he'd picked himself up for the second time, then bent down to open another crate, "They will be."
He wasn't really worried about whatever came their way. From the sound of it, the source was just outside the blast zone of the ruined station - and they'd put nearly 50 kilometers between the train and that by now. Even though the second one had been closer, chances were it would still be a good while before it got here.
"Valerie, I am going to the engine!" he shouted to the woman who'd already guessed what the Krieger would order next while he rooted through the box's innards, "You are in charge!"
Apparently, he'd finished with the crate now, for the man rose again while the box began to hum a quiet resonance. Almost immediately, the temperature returned to normal, the chilling spell that had caused it no longer getting through. Unfortunately, all other spells in the area now broke down as well, the rebels' version of the Odcarovat they'd copied from Teivos' forces unable to differentiate between which magic it should do away with and which it shouldn't.
Kruger didn't let him bother this though, heading up the train and seeing with satisfaction that his soldiers had by now figured out that energy broke the attackers' shields, a number of soldiers having armed themselves with LEFPRs to crush the ghosts' protections while the ones with anti-spectral projectile weaponry took out the ones that had been unshielded.
The Kommandant himself didn't need to do much, though he did get the opportunity to splat another spirit when one got too close to him before the soldiers could take that one out. With grim determination, he made his way up the train and entered the engine car.
What had happened? Why hadn't they answered...?
((*Thank you. **Wash rag.))
--------------------
"We'll see who has to keep up with whom." the Drustevník's pearl-white teeth grinned at Combat Toy while he held on for takeoff, then turned back to the red-and-black android to update him on the situation, just in case he didn't already know the details.
For instance, the explosion he'd been told of hadn't been the first indication of the rebel base - that had been a teleportation the 34th had traced to the western outskirts of the city, on the other side of Independence Port - but was rather believed to be the result of the division's assault thereupon, since it had occurred at about the same time.
"Whatever they exposed that base for, it's probably important." Sombal went on, "Should I have the 34th informed that they should not destroy it before we arrive?"
Of course, in this the Drustevník was mistaken, for he did no yet know that Toy Dispenser probably didn't want to head to that base after all. If the Overmagus had informed him of this, the assault of the CPSR upon the train was taking place almost fifty kilometers from there, in one of the old high-speed supply tunnels the Americans had dug back during the war...
--------------------
((Can't really post a reply for Vlasta until Khell edits and Soviet posts. So until then, yay for Teivos, who let me add his borrowed cast to my whitwiki page. 
))
((Edit: freakin' English and its lack of letters.))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Vlasta was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of red mist that swirled torrentially around him before forming into the fully-armored War once again.
"Hey man what gi--" Was all that Vlasta could hear of the horsemen before the Mercenary suddenly reverted to grunting in pain as the flashbang exploded right beneath him. His hands went for his ears, hesitated, and then covered his eyes, and the heavily disoriented Horseman stumbled backwards a bit.
"Holy [censored] what is going on man!?" War's barely audible cry could be heard.
---
Famine casually strolled over to one of the VB troops.
"Hey guys...What's, uh, going on with that whole thing out there?"
Unfortunately, Kruger's actions had a number of highly unintended consequences; while the anti-magic zone prevented the air in the immediate vicinity from chilling, convection was still dropping the air below the freezing point.
The ghosts were being blasted apart with almost contemptuous ease... and then, when either of the smaller fragment-ghosts took enough damage... they promptly reformed into one of the huge Infiltrator ghosts.
The final unexpected consequence was that, when the anti-magic field brushed across the Tanker, he simply dropped, laying so still he appeared to be dead, the flames flickering out. Then fire fountained around him, a towering pillar of writhing flame that scorched a perfect chrysanthemum shape on the tunnel roof before receding a little. The unnatural mists were blasted away, and a roiling transition point formed- a glowing barrier that on one side was frigidly cold, and on the other, a furnace blast of heat and light so hot that the sides of the traincars were beginning to soften.
Strange, serpentine shapes could be seen in the fires, and a roar of challenge sounded, ringing through the tunnels, answered by the same, bone-chilling whistling roar that had been heard earlier... much, much closer than it had been. The Chinese forces were moving, and moving fast. Teleportational flashes could be seen, rendered faint by distance, far behind. The attackers were already barely thirty miles away, and closing with impossible speed.
"Trrrnnn... ooooofff..." came a scream from the flames. If one had exceptionally good vision, one could perhaps make out Flashpoint Zeo in the heart of the flames... although the figure was distinctly smaller and slimmer than the massive Tanker.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Next thing he knew, War felt an impact, and then found himself on the ground with a faceful of cyborg, who of course remarked, "Wait a minute - you're not Vlasta."
"No [censored], Sherlock." came the voice of the person in question from behind (or more correctly, underneath) War's back, having not stopped running at the mercenary's arrival, who thus had ended up just behind him and just between the cyborg and him when the former had pounced, "Now get off me. You two are heavy."
"Serves you right." the metal Caldok bantered before he rose, pulling War up with him by a hand and apologizing to him, "Sorry about that. You just appeared so suddenly I couldn't stop."
"Oh, to him you apologize, hm?" Vlasta complained groggily while he was picked up next, the cyborg knowing full well not to let go of his shoulder now, "And since when do you toss flashbangs anyway?"
"Wasn't me." he cyborg chuckled with an innocent shrug, causing Vlasta to take a look about. He didn't find Small Toy of course, for though the flashbang had ended up behind him, and his implant compensated well, he still saw more than a few spots. Thankfully, the ringing in his ears had stopped more quickly. Eventually, the cyborg had mercy and pointed out the mechanoid upon the roof.
"Traitor." Vlasta shot the drone a grumble and a glare, which caused the cyborg to chuckle yet again.
"You have your allies, I have mine." he merely remarked in an artless manner.
"Fine." a sigh passed over Vlasta's lips, "You got me. This time. Now let go, I have business to discuss..."
--------------------
"Oh, nothing much." the VB officer replied casually, "Wolfgang's attention slipped again is all, so now he's on the chase again."
Nothing the confused look he got from the mercenary in return, the man's eyes widened and he tapped his forehead forcefully, "Oh, my bad. You're one of the three...right...uhh...well, you see...oh wait, here they come. He caught him. Rats, there goes my bet."
Several more of the bar's patrons seemed to have the same reaction, though a few had apparently bet on the cyborg, and were thus rather glad to seem him victorious. Vlasta was of course not one of those, though he took it in stride, and seeing both War and Famine rather lost opted to explain to them, motioning the latter to join the trio that the former was already part of while he leaned his back against the bar.
"This is Wolfgang Wolf." he indicated the cyborg, who had by now sat down on a stool and was in the process of looking over the selection, "My bodyguard."
"A thankless job." the metal Caldok somewhat pouted for a moment, then went back to finding a drink.
"Eh, he's right." Vlasta crossed his arms with a shrug, "But sometimes I just need my space. Anyway, before we were so rudely interrupted..."
Wolfgang glared over, but remained quiet.
"...I was about to say: allow me to help with that. You see, I kind of run this place. As much as my staff lets me, anyway. What were the terms of your contract that you had in mind...?"
--------------------
Needless to say, Kruger was baffled - nay, horrified - by this upon his journey up the train. Against all logic and expectations, weapons specifically designed to eliminate spectral entities such as these weren't doing exactly what they'd been built to do!
The Kommandant of course didn't understand. From his vantage, this just wasn't making any sense. What the hell was going on here? He knew for a fact he'd seen Flashpoint Zeo dissipate one of the smaller ghosts with one stab of his fire sword - and yet the their anti-spectral rounds, which should've been more effective against the thing they'd been designed to target, were practically useless? Moreover, if the shells weren't a threat to the ghosts because they could just split and re-merge ad infinitum - even shooting both splits at once didn't get the soldiers even a single victory - why had they even carried those shields in the first place?
Either way, however, he did not return to the rear car. He'd left Valerie in command there, and he believed in her competence. Whatever happened back there now with him not around, he trusted her to make the right decision. He entered the engine car, looking around, trying to find the people that should've been running the train.
What had happened? Why hadn't they answered...?
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
"Trrrnnn... ooooofff..." came a scream from the flames. If one had exceptionally good vision, one could perhaps make out Flashpoint Zeo in the heart of the flames... although the figure was distinctly smaller and slimmer than the massive Tanker.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isabel stopped dead in midair, the ghosts all but forgotten as flames raged around the fallen tanker. All that punishment he laughed off before, and now he just drops for no apparent reason? Not good, very not good... Isabel flew into the maelstrom of flames, desperately hoping that her personal forcefield would hold them off long enough for her to get in, grab the now not so massive tanker and get out again.
------------------
Kruger may have had confidence in her, but Valerie had little confidence in her own leadership. There was a very good reason why there was someone else commanding her squad, and it had little to do with the other woman having been there longer. Hanging back and barking orders wasn't her thing, fighting was her thing. Thus that was what she continued doing, leading by example as it were.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Toy Dispenser tilted his head slightly at this new information, absorbing it and waiting for Sombal to finish speaking before saying his piece.
"You are correct, Drustevník," he said with a slight nod. "Have the 34th secure the base, but do not enter until one of my drones arrives. It would be a complete and utter waste if they set off a booby trap or disturbed some fragile piece of evidence. As for where we are going..."
Dispenser turned his head toward the front of the super-heavy helicopter and almost instantly a flash of coordinates would appear on one of the pilot's screens, detailing a certain point almost fifty kilometers away from the base they were currently heading for.
"...we shall be heading for the rebels themselves," the android continued as he turned back to Sombal. "They are currently on a train inside one of the old American supply tunnels under attack by a force of Chinese magicians that my Lord has been tracking since they entered the country on behalf of the Sovereign. Equip your men for anti-spirit combat and be ready for extremely heavy resistance. There is a seperate detatchment of 34th coming to support us, but most likely it shall be over and done before we arrive."
"We'll be reaching the specified point in five, sir!" shouted the pilot over the copter's intercom. "I'll get you as close as I can, but this bird's not going to fit in that tunnel!"
Stiffly patting Sombal on the shoulder in a poorly mimicked gesture that likely did nothing to reassure as it should, Toy Dispenser moved toward the cockpit.
"See to your men, Drustevník. I must guide the pilot in and tell him to watch for dragons."
*****************
Small Toy waved cheerfully when Wolfgang pointed it out, clearly enjoying it's part in helping the cyborg. Once the three ducked back inside, however, it subsided into a passive crouch once more and gazed around the area like a mechanical gargoyle.
New orders from it's master arrived shortly and at once it began bounding from rooftop to rooftop, making a beeline for the abandoned rebel base at a quick pace.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Okay, wow, Rebel... of all the things I thought Isabel might have done, that wasn't one of them >.>
And honestly, I'm not sure if I can think of anything that might have been a worse idea 
))
Isabel was smashed aside by one of the coils that was becoming clearer amidst the flames with an impact like a Mack Truck and a crash that was audible even amidst the roaring of the flames.
Flashpoint Zeo moved forwards slightly, and it became clear that he wasn't trapped in the flames, he was the source of the flames. Stretching out an arm, he pointed in the general direction of where the anti-magic field was coming from.
Another unearthly roar that managed to somehow include almost-words "Mmmmmmmgiiiiiccc bllllllllckkker... stttttttttpppp iiiiiittttt...." the tank managed.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
"Dragons?" Sombal raised an eyebrow, "I thought it was griffins? Or do you mean Z-?"
Too late. The android was already gone. The Drustevník scratched his bald head, looking to his troop. The pat on the shoulder had indeed done nothing to reassure as it should. Anti-spirit combat? As in ghosts? They weren't equipped for that. Lord Teivos had left tátna Zbrojovka on basically a whim and in haste - they'd barely had time to grab their guns when Wolfgang had ordered them to move out.
"Hey, don't worry." one of his unit told him, her tone carrying a light, but distinct eastern-European accent, which made it stand in stark contrast to his north-African one. Sitting in the harnessed bench along the helo's side, she held up her LEFPR, the high-tech-looking weapon bearing some resemblance to a Vanguard 'Redding' Rail fused with a phasor rifle, "We still have these - and I haven't met the spirit that did well with a plasma beam up its nose."
Sombal couldn't help but smile at this, then put the helmet of his ZUB back on. She was right. They may not have been specifically equipped for this, but standard issue was standard issue for a reason: it generally worked...or it was cheap. But the Sovereign wasn't one for cheap.
In the cockpit, the pilot listened closely as Toy guided his understanding to where the rebels were while the copilot informed the 34th of the mechanoid's new orders.
"Not a problem, Sir." the helmeted aviator nodded to Toy Dispenser, reaching for a touchscreen keypad on the center console, then linked his helmet with the intercom again, "Coordinates locked. Standby for jump. Hit it, Burt."
The copilot tapped the contact plate, and with the characteristic sound of air rushing into a suddenly appeared vacuum, the Molvia disappeared from the skies over Independence Port...
--------------------
Some distance further, on the old outskirts of western Paragon, the command tank of the 34th Panzers received an incoming transmission. The commanding Oberst turned his attention to it, choosing to activate his SLI's communications suite and linking directly to the vehicle instead of answering manually. Heck, in the tight jumble of red-lit metal that was the inside of the APTH-1, he imagined he wouldn't be able to find anything anyway. They'd just gotten these things.
It didn't take him long to pass on the orders to his division. While he didn't really agree with Toy Dispenser and would've rather just shelled the base with bunker busters, the mechanoid was still an Armádny Generál of the Pozemna Armada. What he wanted, he got, and if he wanted an untouched rebel base, well then he'd get one.
The Oberst quickly commanded a perimeter be formed, then split off a few of his fastest tanks - ULA FTBs - to head over to the position the Molvia had sent and had likely already teleported to. Capable of well over 100 km/h, the Forward Battle Tanks would be there in less than thirty minutes...
--------------------
((*points this out explicitly to TeChameleon* ))
Kruger had entered the engine car, trying to find the people that should've been running the train.
What had happened? Why hadn't they answered...?
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
(( Never good to be too predictable, hmm? ))
Isabel tried to duck under the coil of flame that smashed her aside, but she wasn't anywhere near fast enough. Hitting the side of the train with an audible crack, she knew immediately that she'd broken something. Hopefully not something vital, she thought to herself as she struggled back to her feet.
[ QUOTE ]
Another unearthly roar that managed to somehow include almost-words "Mmmmmmmgiiiiiccc bllllllllckkker... stttttttttpppp iiiiiittttt...." the tank managed.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Huh?", she replied, still a little dazed. ...Magic blocker? Such a thing would be inside the train, she assumed. Lifting somewhat more slowly back into the air, she made her way back inside the train, through the convenient hole the spirits had ripped in the end carriage. Looking around, she spotted the device Kruger had been messing with earlier. Going over to it, she almost laughed as she noted it was clearly labelled as being exactly what she was looking for. Though she did hesitate somewhat as she realised the writing on the device was in German, yet she could still read it. She didn't know German... did she? Regardless, while she knew what it was, turning it off was another matter entirely. "How the hell do you turn this thing off?", she asked whoever was close enough to hear.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Kruger reached the front of the train to find the two engineers huddled in the far back of the engine compartment, one nursing a bloody, bandaged stump where his right hand used to be, the other still holding a pistol rigidly, clicking the empty chamber occasionally. Empty shell casings littered the ground around him, and, at the front of the engine car, huge blades jammed straight through the walls... and across most of the controls, just close enough to mangle the control surfaces, but not enough to damage the actual mechanisms... and as to the engineers' silence, well, the blade sticking straight through the intercom panel answered that fairly eloquently.
The two lead Infiltrator Spirits had apparently decided fingers were not enough, and rammed their blades into both train and walls, explaining the train's abrupt halt. They had remained largely untouched by the ongoing firefight, since they were too far forwards for the rear cars to get a clear field of fire on them.
-------
Behind, the unearthly whistling roar sounded again as the cold grew more intense. Judging by the sound, and the near-constant flashes of teleportational energy... and the incessant 'ping' noise of footfalls on the railings so rapid that they merged into a steady state of 'ping'-ness rather than discrete noises... the Chinese main force would arrive at roughly the same time as the Overmagus' squad. In five minutes or less.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Legion had followed Kruger, and even now floated behind him.
"If you can keep the spirits occupied, we can get the train moving again. We have the proper tools and technical knowledge."
The soldier closest to Isabel looked at her with a confused expression, not quite sure what she wanted of him. Luckily, at about the same time a certain Unteroffizier returned from the car ahead, though her visage wore much the same sensation in response.
"Turn it off?" she questioned incredulously, making a sweeping gesture toward the rear door, unable to look directly into the brightness that had become of Flashpoint Zeo, "We turn it off, and the mages turn us into popsicles. No, it will not be turned off."
Of course, if Isabel was determined enough, chances were the Unteroffizier could do little to actually prevent her from pushing a certain button marked with a circle broken at the top by a short, vertical line - the same symbol on the 'power' buttons for PCs and many other electronics on Primal Earth...
--------------------
The Krieger wasted no time, calling for a medic and ordering these to from the engine car and replaced. Then he advanced on the controls.
"Moving?" Kruger spat (figuratively) in disgust in response to Legion, "Absurd. We are not afraid of traitors. They want to be the dogs of the Sovereign, then they will die like dogs."
In the Kommandant's mind, there was no other explanation. Somehow, the Overmagus had taken control of the CPSR and was now using them as a forward assault force. This implied that the Chinese had become weak enough to be subverted - and such weakness was one thing Kruger could not stand.
After shouting a warning back down the train, he stopped the slipping wheels with a set of sure grips, then turned his sights on the closest forward door, tensing the fists within his anti-spectral gauntlets. The traitors would pay. Oh, how they'd pay. He'd...what was that?
A box that had fallen from an overhead bin during the last jolt caught the Krieger's attention and spilled its contents on the floor. Kruger couldn't help but grin. He'd forgotten they'd had those...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Listen to yourself." Legion said, still carrying on in their genderless and monotone voice. "If the sovereign does in fact have control over our attackers, would it not be prudent to launch a multi-pronged attack with his own conventional forces as well? We could be mere moments away from being annihilated by two superior forces rather than just one. We understand your...desire, but if you continue to act recklessly in concerns to the lives of everybody here, we will have to take drastic measures..."
Prompt: Resolving conflict with the exterior source. Preparing to modify prime directive. Source: Legion.
"That was so uncalled for." War pouted as they re-entered the bar, pulling back on his suit's hood to wipe the blood out of his ears and off of his neck while his world came back into focus.
"Don't be such a [censored] [censored], War." Famine snapped at the modern-day Blood Knight. He turned to face Vlasta again.
"Right..." He thought silently to himself for a moment. "Well, the thing is, we don't work alone. We've got what you'd call a bit of a network back home that we need to make sure stays above the fray. Namely, our fellow Horsemen."
"Death and Pestilence." War continued for him. "Our Master Assassin and Bio/Chem specialist, respectively. We've also got a truckload of staff we need to keep with us."
"If you factor in their help, and the combined aid of the Horsemen, including tactical oversight from our Overwatch command, Team Uriel, I'd be willing to put us on paper for no less than government positions in the new regime."
"High ranking government positions." Famine added. "Ones where we could do the work remotely and had little chance of being bloodily assassinated."
"And we demand Sovereign Rights to the entire landmasses of our world's Libya and Cuba."
"We also demand rights to select governance of New Cuba," War continued, "And let's toss in seeing that guy at the hospital."
"This is pretty informal I know." Famine continued again, "But you have to understand Death is usually the one who negotiates our work as a whole, so we're gonna have to run this by him anyway."
((Waiting for more to respond on train before taking an action with Kruger.))
"Yes, about that..." Vlasta was visibly taken aback by all this, tossing a glance at Wolfgang, who merely shrugged and gave a shake of his head, causing Teivos to assume a thoughtful expression.
"Waaait..." he bobbed a finger toward the mercenary duo, "You've been talking to Mark, haven't you? Yes, you did, I saw you. What did that maniac tell you?"
A moment later, he thought better of that one and instead waved it off, "You know what? Nevermind. Let me set things straight: I'm not out to conquer another world. I didn't even want this one, but those Nazi morons just had to make trouble at every turn back when I just wanted to go home."
The cyborg cleared his throat.
"Fine, so at the time it may have been the 'world full of humans' concept too." Vlasta admitted, taking a look around the bar, "I've learned since then. Humans here are not like they were on Esertos. I see that. I appreciate that. They've helped me, so I want to help them. The only reason I'm invading the world you come from is because I want to kill the one they call Reichsmann. From what I've heard, he isn't a nice person, and probably a worse ruler, so I would be doing you guys a favor there anyway, right?"
Right about now, it probably dawned on the mercenaries - like almost everyone here, Teivos believed that when the Reichsman had left for Primal Earth, he'd gone of a rampage of victorious conquest. While the Nazis had finished their great war here, he'd taken the other place over as well, finishing at roughly the same time. The reason no one had heard of him was believed to be due to the anomalies that cut the two worlds off from one another in the recent past.
Of course, the Horsemen knew this wasn't true. But would they tell him this?
"Moreover, I have to be honest with you here." Vlasta went on before they could vocalize such a decision, not really expecting a response to the contrary; or any, for that matter. After all, in his view he'd just recounted common knowledge, "We probably won't be going anywhere for at least the next few days. The rebels crashed my entire gateway facility. It was pure luck that at least some of the experiments still went off...well, not good, but at least result-bringing."
"Like that one portal spitting out Poseidon." Wolfgang added, finally settling on a drink and downing the sizeable glass in one chug, "We were just tying to make a phonecall."
"Right." Teivos gave a brief nod to the cyborg, his mood sinking visibly at this mention, "The rebels are [censored]tards. I should've nuked them when I had the chance..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
"We turn it off, and the mages turn us into popsicles. No, it will not be turned off."
[/ QUOTE ]
"It's also causing that the blaster replied simply, gesturing out the window at Flashpoint's wall of flame. "And don't worry too much about the mages, they don't call me the Portable Apocalypse for nothing", she added as she located and push the power button, every bit the typical overconfident superhero.
Valerie raised an eyebrow at the name, but having seen the kind of destruction Isabel so casually threw around before in the sewers it did kind of make sense. She just hoped her sister was right about there being nothing to worry about.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
"Superior?!" Kruger harrumphed haughtily back at Legion, picking up the fallen crate and its spilled contents, "If these hedge wizards are so superior, let them face us instead of-!"
He didn't get any further than that. But for once, it wasn't outside influence that stopped a sentence.
"You...are right." the Krieger's words came out in a forced manner, the Kommandant very visibly holding his own pride in a monumental stranglehold as he spoke through clenched teeth, "This is no longer war. This is survival. What is necessary must be done."
With that, he dug one of the devices the crate held from its confines, then depressed the small black button atop the equal-hued gadget that resembled an oversized keychain LED flashlight, and tossed the thing toward the front of the engine car. No sooner had it hit the ground than it seemed to explode in a flash of pale-green luminance, and not two instants later the duo of Infiltrator Spirits clinging to the train's exterior very rudely and very forcefully found themselves sucked into the interior as long, streamlike noodles of ghastly energies.
And straight into the ghost trap.
With a click and a hiss, the innocuous little device locked and sealed after consuming the spaghettified specters, the formerly black button now a dull red to signify the trap to be currently occupied.
"Wait for my signal." Kruger instructed the little drone while he set a walkie-talkie onto the train's controls, clipping the second of that pair to his belt before he turned to head back down the train again, "We will not leave anyone behind."
With that, the Krieger rolled the cabin door shut and threw out another ghost trap, sadly this time catching only one of the merged spirits. Still, at least now the engine car was clear, and they had a means to rid themselves of these specters to boot. Escape they could not, and being thus trapped was to the Kommandant just as good as being dissipated - and on top of that, it required a whole lot less effort.
Heck, if the rest of the CPSR force didn't kick their speed up a notch and get here soon, chances were the train would be long gone...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Affirmative." Legion replied before floating over to the controls.
Conflict resolution with th exterior source terminated. Modifications to prime directive canceled. Source: Legion.
The red power drone's use in combat was a density module which helped to increase the density of various assorted things (mostly people) without slowing them down, allowing them to hit slightly harder and take a bit more of a beating than normal.
This was merely their tertiary purpose. Their secondary purpose was a personality backup for Egregore Device. And their primary purpose...If anybody were to open the engine room door, they would find the drone to be missing. But once th go-ahead came in through the walkie talkie, the train WOULD start moving unless any other physical impediments manifested before then.
OOC:
Not really. They just have good resistance to smashing and lethal, making it seem as though other attack types do more damage. Been a while since I've checked, so could be wrong.