[Nexus] Home 13: Insert Silly Title Here

[Meredit]

[Char's House]

"You've seen telephones!" Meredit smiles. "Those are the little electronics we use to send messages. Char has one and I do too. We can get you a little flip phone."

"Twister is a game you play on the floor with silly instructions. You all pretend you're a gymnast and try not to fall over. But sometimes it means you are trying to balance on one hand and one foot and the top of your head."

She realizes this doesn't sound very fun. Meredit gets off the couch and makes a few pretend Twister moves. "Right foot touching the couch! Touch your head to the ground!" She ends up with her tummy pointing up and one arm stretched way out to keep her balance.

"Then your phone rings and if you can't answer it you lose."

"And I left mine in my knitting bag way over there." Meredit tries to point at her bag but her arm wobbles. She has to use her foot to point.

[Terumitsu]

[Riss' Quarters]

Resting in the indentation caused by her weight upon the yielding surface of the artificial pool, Riss had settled so that she would have just a little space between her and the other fey. It wasn't that she had found their experiment to be unenjoyable. Quite the contrary, in fact. It was just that while carnal indulgences were pleasurable, the fact remained that the muse found herself feeling strangely unfulfilled. Not to mention tired although it wasn't the pleasant sort of exhaustion she normally experienced. If anything, she felt it was somewhat similar to speaking with a new person although that wasn't quite right nor as intense.

Still, slightly pushing a smile, the muse sat up and unsuccessfully tried to pull her hair out of her eyes; the hand she used stopping to rest on an antler. "Well that was certainly an interesting adventure." she said, her tail's tip slowly twitching from side to side.

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

"Mm, it was fun." Mimi says with a lazy little smile on her face. Sure she's sure she had no idea what she was doing, but it wasn't as awkward as she was expecting. And Misha is definitely good at this, she has to admit.

[UncleWolf]

Trisha's Cabin

Michicora accepts Trisha's hand and blushes as well, not really sure what to say. She couldn't deny it, that was for sure. The way she was smitten with Trisha couldn't really compare to any other relationship she had in her entire life. Not even with her god.

She looks down, only to realize she was naked again, how in the world did she forget that? She takes a deep breath and squeezes the champions arm, nodding. Even if the words were there, she very much felt the same thing. But things were started to get awkward so she felt like switching the subject. "So what kind of advantages does that give you in a fight?" She asks with a smile. Battle was always a good subject *nodnod*

Trisha's Cabin

Trisha looks down with Michi, but she just smiles and tries to push Michicora down so she can lay on top of her as she ponders. "Well, I'm not sure yet. It's one of those things that you figure out over time. Some of the abilities are instinctual, while others aren't. Chances are that I've been stripped of most of the old ones, but I do feel much the same. Just a bit warmer physically." She says, holding her hand up between their faces. "My blood is still black though, so I doubt I've changed too much."

[Shadowcaller]

Trisha's Cabin

The elf swallows, once she's pushed down. She did like when Trisha took the initiative. "No... you still feel the same, smell the same..." She started to run out of things to say though. Talking had never been her strong side.

She desperately tried to reroute her thoughts back to the conversation and not everything else about the champion she was currently focusing on. She hadn't got much better at this since the first time. "Yeah, you're still the same Trisha." She manages to say, smiling foolishly at the champion. That was another thing she had to get used to, smiling and feeling her self-control slip from time to time. She was pretty sure she was making a fool of herself, but she knew Trisha didn't care. If her behavior made her hear Trisha's laugh again, it was totally worth it.

[ThirdEmperor]

Fortress Mountain

"Can't, schmant. I can do whatever I durn well want." And to make his point, the pliers twist sharply as the next piece of shrapnel is drawn out. "Seriously, shaddup already, 'fore we get tired of hearing you yap. Ain't no room for dissent in this man's army." His work done, Day tosses the pliers aside and wipes his bloodied hands on his pants leg, before picking up needle and thread. "While you're at it, hold still, 'less you want the scar all zigg-zagged."

"And you guys! I want full schematics by tomorrow, an' I'll be talking to you each over the next day or two, so I know what you're good at. Specially Mr. Space/Time, sounds a lot neater than some boring ol' apocalypse."

[Hattish Thing]

Fortress Mountain

"Can't, schmant. I can do whatever I durn well want." And to make his point, the pliers twist sharply as the next piece of shrapnel is drawn out. "Seriously, shaddup already, 'fore we get tired of hearing you yap. Ain't no room for dissent in this man's army." His work done, Day tosses the pliers aside and wipes his bloodied hands on his pants leg, before picking up needle and thread. "While you're at it, hold still, less you want the scar all zigg-zagged."

"And you guys! I want full schematics by tomorrow, an' I'll be talking to you each over the next day or two, so I know what you're good at. Specially Mr. Space/Time, sounds a lot neater than some boring ol' apocalypse."

She says nothing, too busy gritting her teeth through pain.

The others nod. Fiddlestick yaps out. Um....okay? I....alright. My name is Fiddlesticks...but...uh...I guess yo can call me Mr. Space/time?Okay....um...yeah. You vant schematics tomorrow? Okay....plus, ve'll have ze finished product, provided we can find a decent heavy-duty car engine in zees pile...

[Dark Elf Bard]

[Char's House]

"You've seen telephones!" Meredit smiles. "Those are the little electronics we use to send messages. Char has one and I do too. We can get you a little flip phone."

"Twister is a game you play on the floor with silly instructions. You all pretend you're a gymnast and try not to fall over. But sometimes it means you are trying to balance on one hand and one foot and the top of your head."

She realizes this doesn't sound very fun. Meredit gets off the couch and makes a few pretend Twister moves. "Right foot touching the couch! Touch your head to the ground!" She ends up with her tummy pointing up and one arm stretched way out to keep her balance.

"Then your phone rings and if you can't answer it you lose."

"And I left mine in my knitting bag way over there." Meredit tries to point at her bag but her arm wobbles. She has to use her foot to point.

Quiet runs over and takes a phone out of Merdit's knitting bag!

[UncleWolf]

Trisha's Cabin

Trisha can't help but give a little giggle. "Perhaps. We'll just have to find out ourselves, won't we?" She asks before leaning down to try and give her lover a long kiss. If Michi doesn't object, it is likely that one thing will lead to another and Trisha will keep her quite busy for a long time.

[Slii Arhem]

[Riss' Quarters]

Resting in the indentation caused by her weight upon the yielding surface of the artificial pool, Riss had settled so that she would have just a little space between her and the other fey. It wasn't that she had found their experiment to be unenjoyable. Quite the contrary, in fact. It was just that while carnal indulgences were pleasurable, the fact remained that the muse found herself feeling strangely unfulfilled. Not to mention tired although it wasn't the pleasant sort of exhaustion she normally experienced. If anything, she felt it was somewhat similar to speaking with a new person although that wasn't quite right nor as intense.

Still, slightly pushing a smile, the muse sat up and unsuccessfully tried to pull her hair out of her eyes; the hand she used stopping to rest on an antler. "Well that was certainly an interesting adventure." she said, her tail's tip slowly twitching from side to side.

[Riss' Quarters]

"Mm, it was fun." Mimi says with a lazy little smile on her face. Sure she's sure she had no idea what she was doing, but it wasn't as awkward as she was expecting. And Misha is definitely good at this, she has to admit.

Riss' Quarters

"For me too." Misha says as she lays back dreamily. It may not have been perfect, as she considered some of the other times she and Riss had had together behind the curtain, but it was certainly something to remember. The nereid undulates a bit on the water's surface, causing waves to rock out from her to the edge and back.

"You know, this is almost more comfortable than a bed." She changes the subject suddenly. She honestly doubts that this will ever happen quite this way again, but it was an experience of its own, and she doesn't mind all that much that it will be unique, now that it's done and over with.

"Hm, I don't really need to sleep all that much, and this is taking pretty much zero concentration right now. I could keep this up all night if you two wanted to sleep on it with me." She pats the water gently, letting her hand create ripples to indicate what she meant. It's true, if keeping this effect up had required any effort she probably would have dunked all three of them early on during that curtain.

[The Alexandrian]

[Doubt thou the stars are fire.
Doubt thou the sun doth move.
Doubt truth to be a liar.
But never doubt I love...]

"You don't need to ask, Spec. I freely volunteer, as I have done since I met you; I am sworn to do whatever is necessary to keep you safe, and that oath was given with full knowledge of what it entailed.

Also, it would not be the first time I have had a bounty on my head, and I have lived for thousands of years despite that. To kill me is hardly easy... Besides which, do you think that if they take you, and you have to go back, when to do so would cause you so much pain, I would not be hurt by your suffering?", she asks quietly, gently stroking her girlfriend's hair, and planting a soft kiss on her cheek, smiling gently at her.

((This looked much longer before I posted... Oh well.))

[Sparrow's Fall]

"I love you, Trium, and I daresay that I don't even come close to deserving your love. I open my eyes every morning and I can't believe that I have been blessed with your affection for one more day. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank the gods for the day we met."

Spec attempts to caress Trium's cheek with a hand, teary eyes looking up to her's with love that knows no bounds. She wishes the tyrant, time, could cease and she could be forever lost in them. She attempts to take Trium's hand in her own. When Spec is around Trium, her world is brighter. Trium gives Spec the faith and the strength to try to change, to try to be a better person.

Trium gives Spec hope. Spec sees Trium as all that is good in the world.

But were Trium to die for her sake, her own life would not be worth living anymore, save to kill every single blood-stained hand that ripped out her heart and tore everything that made the world beautiful away from her.

Trium might be willing to make that sacrifice, but in doing so, she would condemning Spec to a fate far worse than death, such is Spec's devotion to her.

"You have to promise me that if I'm in danger and you think you'd be gravely wounded if you were to rescue me, don't do it. Save yourself. Just knowing that you're alive out here somewhere will give me all that I need to break free of their fetters and find you again."

"If I'm recaptured, you might suffer, but if you die, everything that we are will die with you and there will be no light left in this world for me. I will become darkness, if you die."

-------

Fortress Mountain

Number #64 continues to struggle, spitting the sodden ash back at Clarissa's face and trying to claw her eyes out, or failing that, dig his nails into her face and tear. Whatever keeps her distracted long enough for his brothers to scramble back, and for Daedalus to take aim.

A pull of the lever and a pressurized wave of subzero chemicals flood over them. #64 is dead within seconds, the cold sinkin down through his skin, freezing the water in his veins, bursting the heart in his chest and turning his brain to iced jelly. Needless to say he won't be providing Clarissa heat much longer, although for the moment his body might mitigate the brunt of the attack. For the moment. Not for long.

[Fortress Mountain]

Clarissa counters Number 64's (I keep thinking Kids Next Door whenever I read that name) attack by attempting to force his arms to his sides or, at the very least, grabbing his wrists and restraining him to the point where he won't be able to do much more than scratch her with his violent, suicidal flailing!

And then oh boy! Here comes the unfun part!

Ice beam!

Clarissa attempts to shield herself with her wings for a moment! And after that moment, they are, regrettably iced over.

Oh crud, oh crud! How is she going to get out of this one. There's nowhere to hide! There's nowhere to...

There is somewhere to run!!!!!

An exhausted Clarissa slides her knees up to her new ice statue's chest as her fingers freeze over. She then attempts to flip it off of her and roll backwards in the same fluid motion.

Since the elevator didn't stop when it reached this floor, that means that the elevator shaft is clear of traffic that might block her descent, or so she assumes.

If all goes well, with the momentum of her roll and Mr. Frozen, the chilled Clarissa with frostbitten fingers might be free falling...erm, plummeting down the elevator shaft to warmth shortly!

She might have survived, if only by the skin of her neck.

Day should be able to ice her back and wings when she rolls away to adventure and excitement, if he so chooses. That would smart and make Clarissa a very cross and disabled fighter!

[Terumitsu]

[Riss' Quarters]

Though rest did sound like a good idea at the moment, there was something the muse still needed to accomplish before she would allow herself to sleep. Plus... I could use a moment to just clear my head, I think. Making her way back to solid ground, the muse stood and stretched before heading over to the corner where her shower stood. "While I'd usually join you in a heartbeat, I've got something I should probably get done sooner rather than later." Riss said, starting the hot water. "It has to do with showing Magtok what I've been doing lately as well as something I've come up with on my own time. I probably won't be gone more than a few hours at the most, though."

Going about her cleaning ritual at her normal quick pace, it would be only minutes until the water was shut off with only a faint mist of steam to indicate she had done anything at all. Grabbing a towel for her hair, she made another reminder to try to requisition a few combs and brushes as she went about drying herself off. "I'll be back after that, though, so I suppose I'll be able to join you then." the muse said with a faintly tired smile. There would be some time before she was fully ready and dressed to leave so the fey wouldn't have to bid her a brief farewell just yet.

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

"Aw, okay, Riss." Mimi says, a bit reluctantly. She would've perferred if she stayed, but the pixie will have to live somehow.

She turns over on her stomach and watches Riss as she prepares to live. She'll never get tired of looking at her, that's for sure. "You just hurry back." Her face splits in a wide grin.

[Slii Arhem]

Riss' Quarters

"Please do, I hope whatever you do isn't too tiring, you look pretty beat as it is." Misha slowly slips beneath the warmed water without disturbing Mimi's place there, relaxing slightly in her element despite the fact that Riss is leaving and letting the sweat of their activities wash itself downstream.

[Terumitsu]

[Riss' Quarters]

Should probably get a hairdryer as well if I'm going to keep all of this for any reasonable length of time. Finally getting her hair dry, the muse finished up with a other minor hygiene practices before stepping out onto the surface of the pool once more. "I'll try to." she said to the pixie as she knelt down to try and pull her into a deep kiss. She wasn't simply going to leave without a quick parting gift at least. Once that kiss ended, Riss would then crawl over to Misha and gift her a similar kiss if she so desired although this would be accompanied by a rather light slap aimed at the nereid's behind. "And I'll try to get plenty of rest once I do." she said.

With her goodbyes more or less said, the muse would slip into her normal attire although she found her jeans to be somewhat more snug than they had been. Or rather that they had already been so recently and she was only now making a conscious, cognitive realization of that fact. Well, I was trying to get away from being completely boney so I guess that's some progress. "Well, I'll be back soon." the muse said with a tired but warm smile and a wave as she put a hand on the door. Unless either fey had something they needed to say before she left, Riss would be soon out the door.

[ThirdEmperor]

Fortress Mountain- Timeline A

Say what you like about Excelsior, but don't say they never learn.

Well, okay. Maybe they don't learn the big lessons. Like that pissing off godlings really isn't worth the trouble, or that throwing away minions like candy will very shortly exhaust your supply of minions and candy.

But they do occasionally learn the little stuff, and add a small measure of refinement to their bullheadedly arrogant schemes.

Which is to say, when Clarissa tries to escape from the cold by diving into the elevator shaft for the second time, Day's already a step ahead. The remaining duo of winged drones lock ranks between her and the open doorway, playing goalie against the onrushing eldritch being, while Day launches another ice blast at her retreating back.

Overlooking, I might add, the rather important demonstration of what happened to the last two soldiers to try this. Sometimes it pays to keep a few mindless idiots around.

Fortress Mountain- Timeline B

Minus the distraction of arguing with his patient, Day manages to get the second half of the treatment done in half the time, stitching the bulletwound shut quickly and cleanly. It won't be pleasant, and it's more than likely to leave a small scar, but he's working with the crudest tools possible here, so what else can you really expect?

"A'right, that's done." Shoving the tools back into his coat pockets, Day slips out of the chair and heads for the door. "If ya got any questions, ask my bros here." As if clarification is needed, he nods his head towards the two soldiers standing besides the door. "But FYI? They're totally gonna beat the stuffing outta ya if you're smart***** 'bout it."

[Hattish Thing]

Fortress Mountain- Timeline B

Minus the distraction of arguing with his patient, Day manages to get the second half of the treatment done in half the time, stitching the bulletwound shut quickly and cleanly. It won't be pleasant, and it's more than likely to leave a small scar, but he's working with the crudest tools possible here, so what else can you really expect?

"A'right, that's done." Shoving the tools back into his coat pockets, Day slips out of the chair and heads for the door. "If ya got any questions, ask my bros here." As if clarification is needed, he nods his head towards the two soldiers standing besides the door. "But FYI? They're totally gonna beat the stuffing outta ya if you're smart***** 'bout it."

Mr.s Brant grimaces through the process. I'm in no condition to work... She moves over to the group and begins to make herself a makeshift crutch from the pile. Meanwhile, the scientsits continue welding. Taking a few breaks. Soon, three hours passes by, and a new droid is there, on a table. Made of weak metal, it is equiped with powerful wings, tentacle-like arms ending in metal claws, and a cannon in it's chest. The scientists then just stand there. Uh....now vat....

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

Oh, a kiss! Mimi enjoys that very much. She lets her hands run down Riss' arms as the muse pulls away. When Riss does depart, Mimi gives her a little wave. "Bye."

Once Riss is gone, the pixie settles her chin on her arms. "I'm not really tired." She declares. Sure she was a bit physically tired, but it's not as if she could sleep. Now Mimi has to contemplate the prospect of boredom if Misha doesn't feel up to acting as her entertainment.

[Slii Arhem]

Riss' Quarters

With Misha's tush hidden beneath the water Riss will find it effectively unslappable, but the nereid giggles as she breaks off the kiss when she notices the attempt.

"That's fine. Want to snuggle a bit?" Misha proposes as she settles against the artificial bottom of the heated pool, only her head sticking out from the water. It might not be entertaining, but it's certainly something.

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

"Oh, you want to?" Mimi realizes she shouldn't be that surprised after what just happened, but it does seem a bit different. No Riss around for one. "Um, I guess we could." She blushes a little bit, despite willing herself not to.

[Slii Arhem]

[Riss' Quarters]

"Oh, you want to?" Mimi realizes she shouldn't be that surprised after what just happened, but it does seem a bit different. No Riss around for one. "Um, I guess we could." She blushes a little bit, despite willing herself not to.

Riss' Quarters

"Well yeah, you're important to me and pretty snuggly too when you aren't a tenth my height. Above water or under it? Your choice." Misha begins drifting along the bottom towards Mimi in anticipation of her choice. When Mimi actually vocalizes it she'll either soften the surface to let the pixie drift down or climb up to join her on the top.

[The Alexandrian]

[Fortress Mountain - Timeline A]

Woah! Where did those two guys come from? Clarissa could've sworn they weren't there a second ago! Goshdarn paratroopers and their sneaky means of entry!

Well, Clarissa can't do much about them keeping her from the elevator shaft for the moment unless the statue-projectile she launched knocks them off balance by smashing one of their faces in, but what she can attempt to do is attempt to wind her tails around Day's goons' legs and pull them apart and forward, perhaps ripping one or three of them off in the process as she tenses as her back is iced. She just needs to destabilize them and send them anywhere that isn't where they are right now. While doing this, she will continuously attempt to throw herself down the elevator shaft because cold and ouch and oh gods.

She's burning every single last ounce of all of her ungodly energy reserves in her ultimate, desperate, and wild attempt to break free of this hostile climate and descend into the depths of Excelsior.

Her strength must not falter. She must not fail when so much hangs in the balance.

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

"Heh, above water." Mostly because she's not sure she'd be comfortable underwater. When Misha joins her on the water's surface, the pixie shifts toward her and settles an arm on her side. Snuggling can't be all that complex, right?

[lord pringle]

[Char's House]

"Y'know summon the ghost for the board." Char then notices the twister game and is a bit freaked out.

[ThirdEmperor]

Fortress Mountain- Timeline A

Don'tcha remember? They helped No. 64 with bullrushing Clarissa out of the lift, then retreated from melee to avoid being frozen along with them. And now they're between her and escape. Real nuisances when they want to be.

Steel drawn, the soldiers slash and kick at the tails reaching for their legs, but they refuse to break formation to evade, costing one them dearly as he's grabbed, pulled into the air and torn in half. The second one managers to fend off the tendrils reaching for him, before charging at, trying to tackle her. The jet of freezing chemicals aimed to disable her tails should help with that.

And now there's a horribly familiar sound- The lift is on it's, rattling back sown towards the landing. It's the home stretch for Excelsior. All they've got to do is hold Clarissa back for a few more seconds and her route of escape is gone.

Fortress Mountain- Timeline B

About an hour into the construction, two more cloned soldiers stop by to deliver the additional parts promised- A high-torque combustion engine, a lithium iron phosphate battery array rigged to fuel a railgun, and an ancient combat droid, HK-51 model, with a reinforced combat chassis and the classic matte red color scheme. Not sure if that will change the finished product, but it's what they've got.

"Don't touch the brains and document anything you remove or change. If you have extra time, try to figure out how it works and draw up the schematics."

[The Alexandrian]

[Fortress Mountain - Timeline A]

Gorram expendable soldiers with no self-preservation instinct! >.< Clarissa doesn't mix well with enemies that don't care if they live or die! Fighting these guys is torture! Literally torture with all that coolant and junk they're so fond of shooting at her! They have a real penchant hurting her like that.

But if Clarissa is doomed to be frozen in this gods forsaken base, she's taking as many people as she can down with her, starting with her assailant.

Clarissa attempts to throw the body bits of the soldier she just tore in half at Day. Of course, that wouldn't be very effectual in and of itself...

Except that Clarissa impaled the torso with her one of her tails just before she hurled it at Day and they were subsequently encased in ice now she has to crawl to commit locomotion.

Clarissa roars with eardrum rupturing intensity as the torso bomb she lobbed probably explodes, sending splinters of bone and sinews of flesh in every direction, as if the corpse had been hit by a cannonball (as that is how cannonballs functioned as AOE weapons, however grizzly and inaccurate).

But this is only the first stage of her attack. A shower of bone may not kill everyone in the room, but this likely will disable them permanently. Oh yeah. She's bringing out the oscillating acoustic weaponry.

A series of sonic pulses explode out of Clarissa's throat as more of her limbs are likely iced and forced into a stasis. The varying pressure levels should prevent Day and his all too human supersoldiers from adjusting to the effect of the sonic booms. They might feel most organs in their bodies being forced to contract then expanding of their own accord scores of times within a handful of seconds, which may disrupt the flow of blood in their body, traumatize their lungs and diaphragm thus depriving them of oxygen, rupture capillaries, exert pressure on their brains (maybe), throw their hearts off rhythm, and basically destabilize their respiratory and circulatory systems and a number of other organs in their bodies.

She's not playing around with them anymore. She seriously underestimated them. She may be paying the price now, but she's not about to call it quits yet!

[Slii Arhem]

Riss' Quarters

Not complicated? Oh Mimi you poor naive fool. Snuggling is like tea time for grownups. There's big spoons and little spoons and you're not allowed to drool on anything or put your elbows in certain places, whether to ask for honey or milk...

Okay, that analogy got confused, but the point is that there's an etiquette to it that just happened to be forced on Misha during a gloaming game along with all the other ways to please someone physically, so this is going to be the most enlightening lesson into the intricacies of cuddling the pixie will ever have. Misha pulls the smaller woman towards her, trying to position the pixie so that her head is nestled deeply within Misha's chest and the nereid can curl over Mimi with her front pressed gently against Mimi's back.

Misha then starts humming lowly, a deep vibration following the beating of her heart.

[Gullara]

[Riss' Quarters]

Mimi shifts against Misha and tries not to put her elbow anywhere she shouldn't. "This is nice." She comments. The pixie can't seem to stop fidgeting, though. Just little things, like her wings twitching or her fingers drumming on Misha's arm.

[Slii Arhem]

[Riss' Quarters]

Mimi shifts against Misha and tries not to put her elbow anywhere she shouldn't. "This is nice." She comments. The pixie can't seem to stop fidgeting, though. Just little things, like her wings twitching or her fingers drumming on Misha's arm.

Riss' Quarters

Misha doesn't mind, and in fact lets her hands wander over Mimi idly to keep herself occupied, although her motions are more light stroking touches than random fidgeting.

"You miss her too, right? Even when it's only been a few minutes since she's been gone." She says, no other topics springing to mind for something to fill the otherwise comfortable silence.

[ThirdEmperor]

Fortress Mountain- Timeline A

The next few moments are all noise.

The 'bomb' exploding. Clarissa roaring. Day screaming. And all of it echoing back and forth in the stone confines of the cavern, until the cacophony of it drowns out the little sounds.

Like a muttered word or two. Which really, can make all the difference if the one muttering it is a mage. The air ripples, outlining an eggshell thin barrier around the soldiers. It doesn't stop the attack, but it alleviates the pain, lets their hearts and lungs regain a steady rhythm.

The lift jolts to a halt and a new sound joins, a blistering fast zipzipzip as dozens of tiny steel fragments tear out the gauss cannon's muzzle and fly towards Clarissa at hypersonic speeds. Gauging from how much shooting her did last time, at best it'll be a distraction, but a distraction's all they need.

An instant or two more and the stunned soldier nearest to her can regain his balance, take a second shot at that charge. And the other soldiers can move to flank. And at the same time, Day's knitting himself back together, gritting his teeth and trying not to whimper as his arm snaps itself back into place.