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DemetrioMachete

DemetrioMachete

Messiah of the New Night
The sting of wintry air bit at the naked mouths of many in the Romoshi town of Jinso. Besides complaints of the cold, their lives were peaceful enough. The snow had stopped falling for a time, allowing for shoveling efforts on the main roads to commence. Despite knowing their enemy was far across the sea... The local militia was in a state of unease. Armed with their curved blades, and wrapped in furs and armor, they patrolled the town with diligence.


. . .


4 MILES SOUTH OF JINSO


The sounds of metal feet crunching on snow broke the silence of the rocky hills. From their repetition, there was certainly more than one.


Imperial soldiers, aboard their Magitek Walkers. The walkers themselves were a mechanical terror; bronze in color, covering all but the head of the host. Like a mechanical exoskeleton, their limbs could operate the suit like it was their own body. On the left hand of the walkers was a Mythril blade, capable of being used like a sword, spear, or with some spinning, like a drill or saw. On the right hand was a monstrous looking cannon, no doubt where the terrifying magitek offense would be fired. On the back.. two thrusters, most certainly how they managed to leave the Imperial lands.


"Hold up." a firm, male voice called out. His walker stopped moving, as his companion followed up. 


"Jinso is just up ahead.. So let's establish our plan, now."


"Are you sure this intel is good?" a brash female voice asked the male. "I find it hard to believe that Emperor Grendel would know of a Magi living in some foreign city."


"If he was not 100% sure, we wouldn't have gotten to use the walkers.. Or bring our Elite agent, now would we, Tina?"


"Hm.. no, Rex, I guess not. Still, Id rather not be out in the cold any longer than I absolutely have to. I say let's rush in, find the Magi, subdue them, and leave with them. Quick and efficient."


"I like the sound of it," Rex replied to Tina. "But the walkers aren't exactly stealthy.. Expect resistance." to this, Tina groaned, spinning her Mythril blade impatiently. She then spoke up.


"Once we're all ready, let's move out! These backwater Romoshi don't know what their up against!"


@ThatGuyWithSouvlaki @Enuky K @RachelLS
 
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Another magitek walker was present with the soldiers, but it was guided by no imperial soldier. Dr. Ingrid Follette was rather an imperial engineer. She followed steadily along with the soldiers while making little contact with them. She was busied with the duty of observing the innovational magitek walkers.  As the imperial soldier mentioned, their use in this mission was special indeed. These walkers were still under development, and this was why Madam Ingrid was sent with the soldiers. She was to provide necessary maintenance, emergency repairs, study the machines, and above all else keep out of the soldierss' way while she did so. 


Ingrid was scaling the cold mountains a short distance behind them. She was relieved to learn that their destination was near; it was bitter cold. The brunette engineer couldn't hide her quivering lips in these conditions, but she did not let the cold interfere with her observations. Despite her lowly ranking among these soldiers, Ingrid was thrilled by the opportunity to study this magitek technology in real use. The woman was a leading engineer of the Empire, and much of the magitek technology was designed by her and her teams. Engineering was her passion, and she strove to unlock all of the capabilities of magitek. 


She approached the two soldiers who were conversing and upon hearing the female's criticisms of the walker she spoke up finally, "these walkers are evolutionary. I can assure you my teams are making improvements to them every day". It didn't show, but the twentyseven year old doctor took negative criticism of her work personally. 


"Nothing can stop us with magitek", she assured them as they ascended further through the mountains. 


@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @ThatGuyWithSouvlaki
 
'Look, whatever you think I did, I didn't do it, KAY?'


Shiki sat with her legs crossed on the stone floor, both arms leaning out of the prison bars, bony fingers drawing circles in the dust. Her hood was down and her short brown hair was covered in dust and dirt. Her left eye was bruised and she had a cut that bled freely under her chin. She was tilting her head to the side, looking up into the face of a guard who had his hands on his hips staring down at her.


'I didn't do nothing Zan, he's lying.'


'He said you robbed him Shiki,' Zan said with a sigh, shaking his head.


'He wanted me to have his money, he practically begged me!' She gave a playful smile, holding onto the bars so that she could lean back, her body hovering close to the floor, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, like a child on a swing watching the sky.


'He said you broke his fingers.'


Shiki pulled herself forward, her face pressing into the bars, her lips pursed in mock thought.


'Uh maybe. That might have happened.'


Zan slapped a hand on his face, closing his eyes as he pinched the top of his nose.


'Shiki,' he said with an exasperated sigh.


'He was being an asshole Zan, ask the barmaid. He wouldn't leave her alone. I literally had to pry his fingers off her.' Shiki gave Zan a wink and a wry smile before shouting to the rest of the room, 'Isn't that right cutie pie!'


'Im gonna kill you, you crazy...!'


Shiki closed her eyes and tilted her head from side to side, a small smile on her face as a chorus of expletives echoed across the jail cell, all gunning for her blood.


'Quiet!' Zan shouted, banging his hand on the wall loudly until the yelling subsided. He gave Shiki a wary look.


'You didn't have to fight the whole pub Shiki.'


Shiki shrugged her shoulders and lay back on the floor, raising her legs so that they leaned against the bars.


'What can I say? I have a flair for the dramatique.'


Shiki threw her hands in the air like a magician, pretending to sprinkle confetti across the floor. Zan rolled his eyes and walked away, batting the end of his sword across the jail bars of the cells as he paced along the corridor.


'Listen up! Ya'll be staying here until I say so! And I don't want to hear a peep outta any of you, you get that?'


A chorus of muttering carried on as Zan walked out the room, leaving Shiki and the pub patrons alone.


Shiki heaved herself up and patted herself down, sweeping off the dust that covered her clothes. Zan loved her really. Most people did. Well, maybe except the guy with the broken fingers. But he would learn to love her. Probably. She pulled out a bobby pin from her hair and set to work on the lock.


'Hurry up Shiki,' a gruff voice called out from the cell next to her.


'Art can't be rushed darling, art can't be rushed,' she replied, her tongue poking out in concentration, her little fingers working as fast as they could.
 
 
As their Engineer arrived from the flank, the Male soldier, Rex, turned his head towards her, his own Mythril blade spinning impatiently. 


"Yeah? Magitek got us across the sea. If only those shoddy ass boats could do the same this war would already be over. Same with the air.. why is that?"


"Emperor Grendel hires idiots to engineer things to go on the water, and the air." Tina replied to Rex, exasperated. "Our only competent workers are the ones that make our Magitek, and our Tanks. Speaking of.." now Tina turned back Ingrid, Tina's smirk becoming apparent. 


"Staying out of the scuffles, darling? Thought you knew more about your machines than us."


"Enough bickering." Rex cut in.  "The engineer is here to fix what is damaged or breaks. Two swords and two blasters are all we need to kill these bumpkins and take that Magi. Now let's move." With Rex on point, the two soldiers began marching their walkers onward to Jinso. Soon, the town would fall under attack...


@Enuky K


Amongst the patrons, there was a short man, seated in the center of his cell. Miraculously, he had managed to stay out of the brawl with Shiki, but ended up arrested for being there, anyway. Personally, he felt it was discrimination against his appearance.


He had dusky skin, with a short stubble and bald head. He was a few inches shorter than Shiki, and slightly more scrawny, from malnutrition. Or disease, maybe both. His most prominent feature though, was his right glass eye, a solid milky white. It made him appear monstrous, like a one eyed gremling. His name...


"Oy, Miss! Ye will let Milkrat out of cell too, yes?" ... was Milkrat. Milkrat the Scavenger. Never was he educated, always mocked for being scrawny, but he always found a way to get his pockets lined with money. "Milkrat not bad, Milkrat good! Yes, yes!" he stood up, slightly hunched, waiting with eager hope that Shiki would also release him.


@RachelLS
 
Within the walls of Jinso, just on the outskirts, a man covered head to toe in brown furs worked diligently, hammering away on wood with his hammer. Scattered all around him were the furs of various beasts; prey, predator and monster alike. This was the work of a fur trader, whom bought and sold the warm hairs of critters that had been killed. The hard work and his furs kept him warm, and his blood in motion. At the same time, the cold temperatures prevented him from sweating too much. He worried that if he tainted his furs with sweat, they would grow odorous, and no one with a working nose would buy them, then.


An hour later, his stall was finished. He lined his various furs up, and hid the extras away. The most prominently displayed furs he had, were those of a fox, a bear, and the largest of all, a Yeti. They were priced by their size, with the Yeti pelt being the most expensive at 100 gold coins.


"What good will the warmth of your homelit fires do ye, when you're out on the roads!?" He shouted out, pitching his merchandise. "Grab yourself some beastly furs! Nestle 'em around your body, and you'll never need no fires again! Or if ye got some of yer own, I'll buy em off you! Get yours furs, folks!" Now, he waited.. who would come 'round, and buy his furs?


@transcendantviewer
 
A ruggedly bearded man of impressive stature makes his way down the street, his long hair obscured beneath his fur-lined hood. A thick, bear-skin cloak billows around him in the bitter wind as he stops before the pelt salesman. "I would like to sell some of my own pelts, if that would be adequate." he says, removing the heavy pack from his back and pulling out several beaver skins and the majority of a deer pelt.


The man stood impressively tall and possessed a strong physique, despite obvious graying in the fringes of his long beard. His voice was fair and showed no rasp from age, his hands calloused from years with a blade. Upon his back, a heavy Greataxe suspended in place with a leather holster made from animal skins stitched together.
 
Click. Ah that magic sound. Shiki gave a wide smile as she pushed open the creaking door with a flick of her wrist.


'I do declare, that I am, the best at everything,' she exclaimed, skipping out her cell and giving an extravagant twirl to no one in particular. She did so enjoy the sound of her own voice, she had to admit. She smoothed down her red corset, tapping her black leather heeled boots on the ground.


'Shiki,' the voice from earlier growled menacingly, causing her to roll her eyes and her face to scrunch up in annoyance. Why were people so demanding?


'Yes, yes Kylo, I'm coming,' she answered in a sing song voice, making her way over to his cell. On the outside was a mechanism to open the door and it swung open easily. Kylo was leaning against the prison cell wall, a toothpick in his mouth, his silvery grey hair tied back in a pony tail. His black suit looked a bit dusty and torn on the bottom; probably from when she threw him on the pub floor while making a scene. He peered at her with sullen grey eyes.


'Took you long enough,' he said, striding past her. 'We need to hurry, we haven't got long.'


'After you your majesty,' Shiki grumbled under her breath, following behind him in a strop.


As they went to leave, a chorus of voices called out, trying to appeal to her, pleading to let them out.


She ignored them with a wave of her hand.


'Ya'll be let out tomorrow, get over it; do you good to have a night away from the pub. And if you come looking for me, I won't be so nice next time, you hear?'


The guy with the broken fingers spat on the floor in front of her. Shiki turned to look at him with a dangerous smile. He had seen that look before and it made him recoil back, away from the bars.


'Don't make me let you out darling,' she said sweetly, pressing her face into the bars, letting one arm sidle through to shake a lazy finger at him.


'Shiki!'


Kylo was getting impatient with her now. She blew the cowering man a kiss and turned to walk away.


'Oy, Miss! Ye will let Milkrat out of cell too, yes?'


She turned to look at Milkrat; poor unsuspecting Milkrat, caught up in the fray for no other reason than because he was there. Since being in the city, she had seen him slinking around, always managing to coin his pockets... somehow. The guard were aware of his ways and that was likely the reason he was here now. Giving a sigh, Shiki moved over to his cell and unlocked the door. She had a soft spot for people like him.


'If I'm letting you out, you best be useful,' she warned, pushing her body against the door as he walked past her. 'Keep a look out for us, aye?'


The three made their way up the stairs as the patrons in the cells behind them shouted for the guards attention. They could hear grumbling behind the jail door.


'What did I say?!' the voice of Zan shouted. They could hear him fumbling with his keys.


'You ready?' Kylo asked, stopping and leaning against the wall so that Shiki could stride ahead.


Shiki didn't even grace him with an answer, annoyed that he would question her as such. The jail door opened and she stood face to face with Zan who had his mouth open, ready to spit obscenities to his prisoners. His eyes widened and he reached for his Katana but not quick enough. With a quick motion, Shiki grabbed his arm and twisted it so that he twirled round, his arm behind his back, his back to Shiki. With her other arm, she grabbed his Katana out of his sheathe and smacked him hard on the head with the hilt, resulting in a sickening 'crack' sound. Zan automatically fell to the floor in a heap, a small line of blood trickling down his forehead. Shiki pursed her lips together, and leant down to kiss him on the cheek.


'Sorry Zan,' she said, and she meant it. He was one of the good ones. But that meant nothing when she was on a job.


The three walked into the guards office, and Kylo made a beeline for Zan's desk.


'Keep an eye out,' Shiki ordered Milkrat, grabbing a pick and walking over to a chest in the corner. The other guards would be on patrol outside and it would only take one to alert the others. They needed to be quick.


@DemetrioMachete
 
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@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @transcendantviewer


The frizzy haired engineer became red in the face at the soldier's taunting. Her eyes narrowed; she believed she did know more about the Magitek suits than any of the soldiers there. Ingrid knew the machines inside and out, and was confident that she could in fact overpower any of the soldiers if put in that situation. She was reflecting about challenging the others in a suit battle when Rex began to speak.


Ingrid faced the male and nodded, shaking the bitter thoughts away from her mind. She then turned to the path ahead and continued scaling the mountainside. The team had a mission to accomplish. There were rumors of another wayward magi living in Jinso, and it was up to them to secure the being for research. 


As the group covered more ground snow began to fall. Finally, the faint lights of Jinso were visible in the distance. Ingrid began to wonder just where the soldiers would place her while they infiltrated the city. Deciding now was an appropriate time to find out, Ingrid asked Rex. 


"Where will I be stationed during the mission? I'll have to check all of your suit's fluids and gauges before we enter the city", she added,  
 
Rex halted the group as Ingrid asked her question. It was a good question indeed.. where would she be, while they were tearing Jinso apart for that Magi? Of the two soldiers, Rex seemed to be the more rational one. Tina glared back at Ingrid for what she presumed to be impeding the mission, but before she could give Ingrid a piece of her mind, Rex chimed in.


"We might as well do that now, you think? We're about one mile out, now.. as for when we actually get to Jinso, maybe you could stay between Tina and I. Myself on point, Tina on our 6. You would be in the middle, shielded on two sides, and able to safely make repairs while we cover you. Sound good? You got a better plan?"


"Screw plans! Why do we need to strategize against these backwater Romoshis!?" Tina seemed infuriated. Rex leaned real close to her, his face stern.


"Because, Private. A golden rule of war is to never underestimate your enemy. Even against a platoon of rats, you should take precaution to avoid their bites, you'd catch a disease." Tina's eye twitched... such a ridiculous analogy, she thought. But she couldn't argue with her Sergeant. She was lacking the words to do so. "Whatever.." she grumbled, shifting behind Ingrid and briefly powering down her suit to a stable level. Steam rocketed out of the Walker's shoulders, as the knees bent down. Rex followed suit.


"Inspect." Rex commanded.


@Enuky K


The furman's eyes briefly widened at the stature of the man coming with his pelts, though quickly, he regained his composure, and began to inspect what he had to offer.


"I see you got some beaver, oh, and deer.. rare, this time of year." he said to bearded mountain of a man. Quickly though, he tried to come up with a price to give for all of it at once. Beaver, to him, was worth a few copper, and deer was certainly some silver. On top of that, this man selling them to him looked like a savage out of one of his old children's books, what with his stature, his beard, and the massive axe on his person. It was intimidating.


"One gold for all of it. Whaddya say?" Hopefully, the fur trader thought, this would be enough to tickle the Barbarian's fancy.


@transcendantviewer


The expression on Milkrat's face when Shiki let him out was nothing short of ecstatic. It touched his greasy heart.. he felt like he had made a friend. Milkrat told himself not to let Shiki and her companions down.


"Milkrat do good... Milkrat promise." he murmured to Shiki, as he began following her.


As Shiki subdued Zan, and he fell to the floor, Milkrat immediately went to empty his pockets, lining his raggedy self with his silver coin. As he was told to keep an eye out, Milkrat saluted Shiki and Kylo, and covered his glass eye, while watching with his other. His ears were trained.. he could hear heavy footsteps, but he didn't know if they were from his companions, or from potential hazards. He trained his left ear at the nearest door, listening in.. if he could tell someone or something was coming from there, he would immediately signal to Shiki.


@RachelLS
 
"One and a half would be fair. That's no ordinary beaver pelt, my friend." the large hunter replies, gesturing to the odd chunks of bone protruding from the beaver pelt, indicating that it was in fact a dire beaver that he'd slain.
 
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@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @transcendantviewer


Ingrid




Ingrid felt the hairs on her neck stand when Rex laid out his plan to her. Her? In the midst of combat? Unacceptable! "I'll have you know, Emperor Grendel will not be happy if anything happens to his chief engineer", she grumbled under her breath. She hoped the soldiers knew what they were doing. She glared at Rex then as he commanded she inspect the suits. The engineer did not appreciate being spoken to in such a way. After all, she was no soldier, she thought bitterly to herself as she did as the soldiers and lowered her suit. The engineer unbuckled her suit and climbed to the ground, grimacing as her shoes met the wet snow. 


She circled around Rex's suit while inspecting its various gauges and parts. She carried a small notepad, and occasionally jotted down notes as she did so. Once finished with Rex's suit, the brainy brunette did the same to Tina's. "All systems clear", she whispered when she was at last satisfied. Without inspecting her own, the engineer climbed back into her suit. She rose its legs and joined her position between Rex and Tina. 
 
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"Goodness, youre such a coward..." Tina criticized Ingrid, but Rex cut in before she could say anything more.


"Enough chit-chat. Our attack commences now." With that, the walkers marched on...


. . .


The fur trader inspected the beaver pelts with a trained eye. He could see the bone protrusions.. but never before had he seen a dire beaver. He looked back up at the barbarian with a quirked eyebrow.


"It just looks to me like you did a shitty job skinning the beaver. One gold." that was what he wanted to say, but again. This guy was big and terrifying, and the fur trader preferred to have his head attached to his body.


"The best I can do is one and a quarter. Not carrying enough silver to give you half. Deal?" That was what came out instead. Hesitantly, he began reaching for the coins.. He gripped them within his coat, awaiting a response.


@transcendantviewer


. . .


Minutes later, the guards roaming the borders of southern Jinso spotted a platoon of Walkers, three in number, approaching the city. Wary, they placed a hand on their sheathed blades, and stood their ground. They knew their neighbors in Fyelli possessed walkers like this, but nonetheless, if these were Fyelli soldiers, this would have been an act of war, without permission to enter Romoshi territory. When the walkers were in earshot, one of the guards shouted out.


"Halt! Have you permissions to tread on the lands of Romosh!?" at first the guard was met with silence. The walker in front raised its gun arm, and before the guards could find cover, a destructive red beam of energy was fired, incinerating them and the walls they guarded. People within the walls saw it; a massive beam of fiery light just busted through their stone walls. Many thought it a monster attack, but nonetheless, they began to panic and run for their homes, while more soldiers rushed for the South wall, their katanas drawn.


Rex smirked as steam rocketed out of his walker's shoulders, and he began marching forward. This walker was more powerful than he thought. That fire beam melted through solid stone!


@Enuky K
 
From the chest Shiki had been searching, she was able to find her and Kylo's weapons and as she was equipping her Katana's to her back, Kylo shouted from across the room.


'Got it!'


He pulled an open envelope out of the desk drawer he'd been searching, his gaze and stance triumphant. Shiki was already on him, snatching it out of his hand. Her previous jovial manner had disappeared as she ripped the letter from the envelope, pulling it open and staring at it intently.


There was a silence.


'Well?' Kylo asked impatiently, stepping towards her to look over her shoulder at the letter.


Shiki who had been absorbed reading suddenly stopped scanning the paper and turned round to shove it into Kylo's chest, evidently annoyed.


'Nothing,' she snarled, stomping past Milkrat and over to the front door. 'This whole thing was a waste of time.'


She rested her hand on the door handle, a pained expression on her face, her eyes closed. She took a deep breath in and went to open the door but it suddenly flung open onto her, knocking her back onto the floor. A panicked looking villager stood in the entrance, staring wildly round at the three criminals. He was out of breathe and his face was white.


'Walkers... nothing like we've ever seen... red light...South wall...' he managed to say between breaths. He stopped talking as he realised they weren't guards, giving them a confused look. Shiki was up and off the floor by this point, one hand slowly reaching for a katana, her eyes giving him a warning look. He took a step back, obviously terrified and ran off with the rest of the crowd. It was at this point that Shiki could hear screaming from outside.


'Come on,' she shouted, leaping into the bitter cold, into the throngs of people who were running away from the South Wall. Throwing herself against the crowd, she dodged in and out, trying to make her way through. It was as she was sprinting to what she thought was a gap that she was knocked sideways and into form of a ridiculously tall man covered in furs. Shiki automatically fell to the floor, completely balled over.


'Ow,' she grimanced, rubbing the back of her head. She looked up at this tall impressive man with an evidently annoyed expression. 'Oi! Meathead! Why are you just standing there? Gimmie a hand!'


@transcendantviewer @DemetrioMachete
 
The tall man gestures towards the Yeti pelt as he speaks. "To be defeating beasts in the alps, you must have plenty of gold and experience. Do not short-change me, friend. And for your information, I couldn't remove the bones. Otherwise, the pelt would be ruined. The bones add greater protection when worn as a cloak or armor. Now the price is 2 gold for the beaver and 1 for everything else. Do not take me for a fool."


@DemetrioMachete


The tall man feels the woman slam into his side, causing him to recoil slightly. He looks from the fur trader to the woman and leans down to offer her a hand to her feet. "My apologies, miss. But in these streets, one must always watch where they are going. I am Ülfgarr Stormrender. And who might you be?"


@RachelLS
 
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@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @transcendantviewer


Ingrid


Ingrid was nervous about stepping into the line of fire. When the walkers were greeted by a pair of Jinso soldiers she felt her blood pressure spike in her anticipation. However, her fears quickly dissipated as she witnessed the glory of her achievements. 


With virtually no effort, the two walkers next to her were able to create impressive breams of concentrated magical energy that obliterated the soldiers in their way. Now the three terrifying walkers continued onward, destroying the wall and marching right into the city. 


The engineer was proud to see her walkers dominate the city. She knew her design was good, but this exceeded her expectations, she thought as people of the city began bustling away in mobs of panic. Ingrid's hershey hues sparkled as they marched on, and secretly she was beginning to enjoy herself. It seemed she really was safe there after all. 


The imperial soldiers were destroying nearly everything in their path though, and it made her hope that the citizens of Jinso would give the magi up quickly. It could save their city, she thought. 
 
Rex stomped into the city, with Tina and Ingrid following suit. The first thing that greeted him were guardians rushing at their walkers. With a brief hand (exoskeleton) motion, Rex motioned for Tina to break their single file and get an angle with which to aim. Four soldiers were rushing him with their blades. Another four were staying back, readying arrows. With her teeth bared in a malevolent grin, Tina's arm cannon began to glow and crackle with electricity. In the next instant, a blast of electrical energy burst out, flying past Ingrid and Rex, overwhelming two soldiers on the right side. They fell to the ground, convulsing as the lightning continually electrocuted their limp bodies. Rex's mythril blade began to spin as the other two soldiers rushed in, katanas brandished. Before they could land a blow, Rex's spinning blade was swung, quite literally disarming one of them, who began to scream and flail as he saw both of his arms hit the ground as the red mist cleared. This caused the other soldier to tense up, allowing for an opening; wherein Rex lunged forward and clotheslined him with his arm cannon.


Before the sergeant had a chance to be smug, he found his armor being pelted by four arrows. All of the arrows, despite their velocity, bounced off of the armor of the walker. This sobered Rex's awareness, as he charged up his arm cannon, and a white light began to emit from it. Instinctively, the archers in its direction ran for cover, but there would be no dodging this. A missile was released from the cannon, flying towards the building where they had taken cover. The missile exploded violently, and the building collapsed, ruining the archer's cover, and resulting in who knew how many civilian casualties. 


"Look at them run... despicable for a warrior whose primary characteristic is honor through death.." Rex commented, utterly disgusted by the Romoshi archers. He only stared daggers at the other two archers, perched atop two buildings. Upon his glance, they tensed up, trying with their shaky hands to ready another arrow. It was then that Tina readied her cannon, and as Rex had done previously, launched a fire beam upon them. The archers' bodies were incinerated, and the buildings caught in the blast were melted down.. the screams of the inhabitants could be heard from within.


"Who gives a rip," Tina replied, as steam jettisoned out of her walker. "If they ain't magical they're not worth the gossip."


@Enuky K


. . .


Okay. This was beginning to irritate the fur trader. Was this mountain hick really trying to scam him? As he brought up the Yeti pelt and his experience.. it clicked on him. Yeah, he had murdered this beast, with just a few arrows and his dagger. He was about to start threatening the Barbarian, when someone else came along, and it threw off his attention. His eyes widened slightly as she ran into Ulfgarr so harshly that she got knocked over. 


"You in a hurry, or something?" the trader asked Shiki, before he heard it. Ulfgarr and Shiki would hear it, too. The sounds of the energy beams decimating the Romoshi defensive. This turned the fur trader's look of curiosity into a look of alarm. 


"The bloody hell is going on in town? Is there a monster attacking!? The hell was that noise!?" With instinct guiding his actions, the fur trader clutched a hand on his dagger, nearly one foot of serrated steel.. he gazed back into the town, and saw the troughs of townsfolk running for their lives, either out of the town itself, or into their homes. Even if it wasn't a monster, it was something bad if the town was sent on full panic. 


"Make way for Milkrat! Out of way!" a raspy voice came from the crowds fleeing, as a short, dusky man with a glass eye was practically booted from the crowd, and reunited with Shiki. He looked around, glancing curiously at Ulfgarr and the fur trader, before whispering to Shiki.


"Heh heh... made it out with lots of coins.. pretty gold and silver.. hee hee hee..." as the sound of another beam being launched, and the red light burst from ground to air, Milkrat cringed at the sound, looking up at it in sheer terror. 


"Evil light!" he screamed, tugging on Shiki's shoulder. 


"Oh, mother of Dis.." the fur trader murmured, reaching behind his table and taking up his bow along with a quiver of arrows. "Tell you what, feller," he said to Ulfgarr. "Help me kill whatever's doing that," as he pointed to the red beam, as it dissipated. "And I'll not just give you all my coins, but whatever the hell else you want. My furs, a round a drinks, a hug.. shit!" With that, he ran off into the town, seemingly determined to kill whatever the "evil light" was.


@RachelLS @transcendantviewer
 
Ülfgarr chuckles and draws his heavy axe, taking off towards the light along with the trader. "You just stay behind me, friend! I'm sure we'll do just fine!" he says, taking the lead.


He charges forward with great speed, brandishing his weapon at his side for a wide, sideways heavy swing. Serpentining around buildings, following the sources of the loud echoes from the discharge of power, Ülfgarr eventually circles around the machines and surrounding troops. Picking his target, he rushes towards it with all his might, leaping and bombarding the highest point on the walker he could reach with the heaviest axe swing he could muster. The heavy, curved blade of his weapon tore a deep groove into the hardened glass pane, but was thoroughly embedded in the hull of the magical mechanization; the blade mere inches from Tina's face, clean through the window she'd used to see on her port side.


@DemetrioMachete
 
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Shiki went to reply to Ulfgarr and the trader but the sound of the energy beams stopped her in her tracks, making her wince from the impact, her ears ringing. Milkrat was upon her then, screaming 'evil light' in her face and it took all of her self control not to punch him to calm him down.


'Milkrat, get a grip mate,' she growled, pushing his hand of her shoulder. She was on high alert, her eyes scanning the vicinity, looking for the attackers. Her hands were already reaching for her twin katana's that were sheathed on her back. As both men took off towards the light, Shiki could see Kylo swanning towards them, his form easily distinguishable against the panicked crowd, his hood up, his grey hair framing his face. He had taken out his two short barrelled muskets and was walking lazily towards her.


'Any idea?' he said, nodding towards the chaos. He like her was eyeing his surroundings warily but he didn't seem panicked. It made Shiki wonder, not for the first time, what he had seen in his life to be so calm in situations like this.


'Nada, but I'm guessing we're going to find out.'


She turned to look at Milkrat who was quivering beside her.


'Are you much of a fighter?' she said, eyeing him up and down, obviously highly doubtful. An idea popped into her head and her trademark grin appeared on her face.


'Tell you what, I'll make you a bet,' she said, twirling one of her Katana's round her wrist, causing Kylo to give a loud grown and set off at a run.


'Come on Shiki!'


Sighing, she followed but not before shouting behind to Milkrat, 'If I kill it, you better give me half that coin you stole! I'll come looking for it! I promise!'


Kylo was already out of sight but that didn't worry Shiki. Passing through the crowd, she came to the edge of the city and finally clapped eyes on the three walkers and the path of destruction before them. An armless man lay screaming in his own blood, men lay on the floor, convulsing as electricity pulsed through their bodies; death and destruction were everywhere. Buildings torn apart and that was only from these three walkers in-front of her. How on earth had they caused this much damage? Before Shiki had time to take it in, the bear man from before, Ülfgarr was already upon the one walker, his axe embedded into the walkers helmet. Seeing such physical force only just crack the glass, Shiki took a moment of consideration, wondering which way to approach them only to see Kylo standing before the male walker, muscat's out and loaded, his eyes firmly set on what was ahead of him.


'Kylo!' Shiki screamed, setting off at a run, circling round the walkers, both Katana's out and ready to strike. Kylo fired and it hardly made any impact, the walker's armour seemingly too hard to damage. Maybe there was some way to get through the joints of the armour... Shiki was behind them now, staring at the three walkers. Kylo was still in-front of them and she hoped that he would have the sense to move.
 
Ingrid


As the attack on Jinso intensified, Ingrid watched on in amazement. Magical beams of electricity were wiping out buildings in seconds, and people were running about in sheer panic. It wasn't long before they faced resistance, however; and soon a wave of Romoshi warriors were upon them and striking. Arrows were being shot from all directions, but it was no match for the magitek walkers. The arrows were snapping into pieces as they collided into the metal figures. 


The three imperials continued their way deeper into the city. It seemed that nothing could get in their way, until Ulfgarr came charging into Tina's suit. The attack was unlike the attempts of the romoshi warriors, and it was easy to see that this man was no soldier of Jinso. Instead of attacking from a distance, he went head on while swinging an axe into the side of Tina's suit. A thick cloud of steam fell over the area as steam poured out of the suit from the axewound. 


Tina's suit shook from the weight of the attack, causing the suit to struggle to keep its balance. Ingrid twisted around to find the source of the steam, but it was hard to see the exact location of the attack. 


"Hold your ground", Ingrid called out into the steam cloud. She stepped closer to Tina where she could see the suit, and could see the axe was still lodged into it. Ingrid hurried to Tina's aid, with her suit she ripped the axe out of the thick window and tossed it aside. She scanned the area, but couldn't see Shiki from behind through the steam. Finally, she spotted Kylo. 


"There!" She called out, directing Tina and Rex's attention to this attacker. 


@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @transcendantviewer
 
@Enuky K


Ülfgarr corrects himself from the attack after having abandoned his axe. He draws a pair of daggers and smiles an unfriendly grin. "Now if you wanted to have a fight, you should have played fair. Now I have to rip you out of that fancy armor. And I don't enjoy hurting women." he says, sticking to the cloud of steam for cover. Without warning, he lunches forward into Tina's view, daggers at the ready to attempt and rip into the glass again as he barrels down on her with savage abandon. From his feral foot falls, it was clear that she wasn't dealing with any kind of reasoning being at that moment, but a monster of rage and savagery.
 
Tina's first reaction to her suit being penetrated was one of pure shock. She felt the blade of the axe scrape against her nose, a light amount of blood trickling down. With the mild burning sensation of bleeding came the discharge of steam, her walker seemed to stumble, losing coordination with her body. Now, instead of shock, she felt unhealthily angry. A low growl could be heard from within the slash mark Ulfgarr made, as her balance was restored. The mythril blade of the left arm spun like a drill, as the right armed cannon began to glow with a bluish white glow.


"You insolent wretch..." Tina called out to the savage that struck her. She was barely holding back her instinct to scream. Soon though, she gave in.


"WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH YOU THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT!!!"


In a sudden lunge she rushed at Ulfgarr, as he drew his daggers. Her bladed arm left a blurring trail behind her, it had moved forward for an impalement so quickly, as it pierced his diaphragm. In the same motion, her cannon arm acted as well. A white flash was released from the cannon, as a bluish white ice beam was launched at Ulfgarr. With all the strength of a Cone of Cold, the barbarian would be shown no mercy from the infuriated Tina.


@transcendantviewer


. . .


As Kylo's position was pointed out by Ingrid, Rex readied his cannon, as it began to glow with a yellow energy, and crackled with electricity. In the next instant the lightning beam was launched at Kylo, at velocities far greater than a bullet. In the heat of the moment that Ulfgarr brought, Rex had completely ignored the fact that Kylo had shot his Walker. 


Milkrat had followed Shiki back into the city. He didn't mention it, but he felt like he could help her kill the evil lights. Although his main talent was silent pickpocketing, on his person, he carried something... not so stealthy. It was a handheld bomb. When Milkrat saw the things creating the evil light, he would throw it at them. As he reached the scene of the fight though, the first thing he saw was Shiki's friend Kylo get enveloped in an energy beam. A loud roar of anger left the scrawny man, as he sprinted around the corner, and chucked the bomb at Rex. It went off at his feet, causimg him to stumble, as he lost his balance. The explosion was enough to damage the armor plates on the walker's leg, but not much else. As the realization that his bomb failed hit Milkrat, he grew scared, and tried to run away. Rex merely smirked, as he aimed his cannon at the fleeing Milkrat, and in the next instant, his entire being was engulfed in a fire beam. His screams were snuffed out as Milkrat's flesh and bone would melt or turn to ash right in front of Shiki's eyes.


@RachelLS


. . .


The Fur Trader followed behind Ulfgarr, an arrow readied. He dove and rolled around the last building, ready to fire when he saw the Walkers.. it made him tense up. Blazes, he thought. His arrows couldn't pierce armor like that! Before he could act though, he let out a yell as the same ice beam that was aimed at Ulfgarr also struck the fur trader. He raised his arms to protect his vital head and chest from the blast, but to no avail. His entire body froze up and was engulfed by the cold, leaving nothing but a frozen solid corpse.


@Enuky K
 
@DemetrioMachete


Ülfgarr buries his blades in the deep gash in the window, aiming with lethal intent as his body rapidly freezes solid. Frozen and immobile, Ülfgarr knows that this was his last battle and with his death knell, the savage attempts to slay the meister of the immense battle mech, stabbing furiously into the hole with all the life left in his frigid form. Frozen solid on the glass pane of the machine, the berserker's corpse obscures the results of the assault, but immense billows of steam escape the damaged mech.
 
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The steam had obscured Shiki's vision and for a moment she was left blind, standing in the chaos, waiting for her sight to return, her two Katana's trembling in either hand. All around her were the sounds of buildings crashing down, people screaming, dying. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to compose herself. What were these walkers? They seemed to be using some kind of magic.... the thought made her insides twist in her gut, memories of Nae threatening to rise to the surface.


'I don't know how to stop it!'


Nae's hands were covered in an electric current, pulsing across her fingers, zigzagging back and forth between her palms.


Shiki had stood in the doorway of her mothers quarters, watching Nae fearfully, unable to help her.


[SIZE=10pt]'You need to stop,' she whispered [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]fiercely[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt], moving towards her.[/SIZE]


'Don't!' Nae shrieked, raising her hands. The motion caused the currently to jump up and lash out, right before Shiki's feet.


'I don't want to hurt you!'


Shiki glared at her sister, and started walking towards her again.


'Then don't.'


Shiki took a deep breath and opened her eyes, focusing on the one walker who didn't seem to be attacking... maybe she was just supporting the other two? Shiki wasn't sure.


'There!'


The walker had pointed to Kylo, and Shiki watched in horror as the male walker's cannon began to glow, with Kylo in it's centre. Suddenly it burst with electricity, straight into Kylo's chest and all Shiki could do was watch as Kylo was flung back, his whole body shuddering and convulsing, his eyes open and wide as he hit the floor. His neck had broken and it was turned at an odd angle towards Shiki, his body thrashing but lifeless, like a dancing puppet on a string.


A loud roar irrupted and Milkrat was suddenly there, running towards the male walker, throwing a bomb at it's feet. The bomb exploded doing very little damage, and as fearful realisation appeared on Milkrat's face, all Shiki could do was watch as Milkrat was enveloped by the cannon, his screaming face melting, his body and clothes turning into a puddle on the floor.


Bile rose up in Shiki's throat and she crouched to the ground, swallowing it back down, her body unsteady, her hands to the ground to keep herself from falling. She snorted in, holding her breath, a slow wave of anger building. Standing up, she pulled the hood over her head and began to run in and out of the smoke that surrounded the three... either from their own walkers or the debris of buildings, she was able to keep herself hidden. Reaching behind them, she spied the one walker, the one doing nothing but support, and she made a beeline for her. The armour was thick and obviously impenetrable but maybe the joints... Shiki ran towards the engineer, both Katana's in each hand, ready to attempt to slice at the back of the knee.
 
Ingrid


The engineer couldn't contain her sudden fear as she witnessed the barbaric Ulfgarr maul her companion's window with an axe. The steam was beginning to fade, but upon the man's brutal attacks a second wave of thick steam erupted from the other walker. Ingrid screamed and shuffled in the direction she perceived Rex to be in; she knew with Tina wiped out she was left open to attack.


It was then that a heavy clank against the machines knee caused the walker to shake. Ingrid let out another surprised shriek; she was so unprepared for battle. Fortunately, the katana was unable to sustain any real damage. 


Ingrid was being attacked, she realized in a split second as she hauled the heavy machinery around to face her nightmare. She was surprised, however; to find it was a short female slashing katanas at her. 


Nice try, fool. A sword is no match for my magitek, she thought to herself. A surge of newfound confidence came to her and she readied her walker for attack. She pressed a series of buttons and pulled a lever. A cannon began to hum and at its end a sparkling blue orb formed; it was preparing to blast an ice ray, and aimed at Shiki. 


"Eat ice!" She said. 


Suddenly, a shrill beeping went off in the suit. Ingrid scanned her controls, "shit", she muttered while trying to desperately to locate the problem. As she searched the ice beam was blasted into Shiki's direction, but just before the ray could smother Shiki in icy magi, everything froze. 


Right before Shiki's eyes was the massive ice ray, frozen solid like an icicle and extending from where it was attached at Ingrid's cannon to where Shiki stood. A mere inches from ending her life. A short distance away the walker stood, frozen solid and motionless. 


Ingrid's heart sank when she discovered her issue. It was her temperature gauge; her suit was frozen solid. The suit wasn't able to regulate it's temperature properly, and this caused its large metal frame to be unable to withstand the cold produced from its own attack. In a panic Ingrid began pressing buttons and playing with controls, but her suit was completely unresponsive. 


She was trapped, she realized as panic rose in her bbody. Even the glass encasing wouldn't budge to open. She began to fear the worst as she toiled away helplessly at her control board. 


@DemetrioMachete @RachelLS @transcendantviewer
 
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Tina tried to evade Ulfgarr's daggers from within the suit all she could as his body began to freeze. She felt a cut across her cheek, vertically, on one of her eyes, and a stab through the chin. All minor wounds, in the long term, but they all hurt.


"Why won't you die, meathead!?" she shouted in frustration, though soon, his last swing had been swung; and finally, his frigid body remained motionless against Tina's tattered visor. Mustering up her machine's fading motion power, Tina calmly pushed Ulfgarr off of her, not enough to damage his frozen remains, though. That, and the snow he fell on cushioned his fall. Ordinarilly, the hot-blooded Tina would have curb-stomped the body of Ulfgarr to vent her frustrations, but since the pain of his daggers began to settle as her adrenaline rush ended, all she could do was mumble, partially disengage her walker, and hold an arm up to her right eye. Her fears slowly settled in.. Yep. She couldnt see out of that eye...


@transcendantviewer.


Rex was alerted to the sounds of steel bouncing off Ingrid's walker. He quickly turned around, and surprise found the sergeant's face. Ingrid's walker had been frozen solid, and behind her, Tina's walker appeared heavily damaged. His attention then turned to Shiki, who had barely evaded being turned into an ice sculpture. An eye twitching, he raised his arm cannon at Shiki, then calmly twisted a knob, activating the voice projector.


"You're in between a rock and a hard place, little lady." he began, no indication of smarm on his blank face. "So if you want to live, you will comply with my demands. I am going to ask you one simple question, and you are going to answer it. Understand?" He would give Shiki a moment, before his question was asked.


"Where is the Magi?" in his mind, he knew he had to help Ingrid soon. Hoping it would work the way he intended, Rex began to charge up a fire beam, thinking the heat emitted by it would melt the ice encasing Ingrid's walker. The sarge's face was poised directly at Shiki, as he aimed the cannon away from her and up to the iced up Ingrid. Run, Rex thought to himself, and I will shoot you.


@Enuky K


@RachelLS
 
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