Riverside 19

[Felandria]

[VIGIL Arrival - Team Felandria]

"I could cover all of you now, but not much bigger than that. But I could still project spot coverage when you're very large, covering one direction, or blocking attacks.
Alice suggests.
Besides, they may want to avoid the collateral damage of crushing buildings with a truly gigantic Fel.

Oh, no, I’m not looking to go full kaiju, thinking more like double current size.

If you can do spot coverage, it would be great, protect yourself and my important bits, and we can make a beeline.

Felandria pulls out a wand.

I can cast Detect Thoughts on both of us, allows us to communicate silently.

Are you fast? Because even huge I can go at a reasonable clip.

[Shadowcaller]

[MERC Riverside Office]

"'Some people'? Who are you referring to exactly?" Dena didn't wish to stay on the phone for longer than necessary but she felt like she needed to straighten out some things with Dipsnig first. "Am I supposed to leave people behind? Since there are still quite a few of our members out there."

[Outside the Drill Tank]

"You're not a part of our command chain so you can do whatever you wish. We expect AMEN-leader Zefir to make tactical sound choices, so there is no reason for me to get involved." The pit lord remarks.
He then looks to Zefir. "They have? Lord Sargon must be aware then. I'll tell the troops right away, we must keep VIGIL out of the city."

(Will post everywhere else later on when everyone posted.))

[Morty]

[MERC Office - Kids]

"There you are!" Iknika exclaims when she sees Eliseo and Hekta. "That was a fine mess you've run off and left us in."

[MERC Riverside Office]

"We need to evacuate, but leave some people to observe and help," Dipsnig says. "I've sent Cassandra there, she's at the edge of the city." Then Cassandra herself makes her report. "About time Vigil showed up. They're good at breaking things, but I'm not sure if they're good enough for all that. We should try to help them if we can. Whoever stays there will get a big, fat bonus when this is over."

[Deathkeeper]

[MERC Office]

"Yeah! We had to deal with being yelled at by spooky people while you were making out with your creepy girrrl-friend." Koshal huffs from behind Iknika, being mostly kidding but really wanting to rib Eliseo a little now that they have someone watching them and keeping him from worming away again.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Outside the Drill Tank]

Zenon bows once more, his grin predatory.

"Very well, then. I'll be in touch." He sweeps out of the HQ, and heads for the Gardens alone and on foot. The drill tank is best left for the attack on VIGIL, after all, and he can scout better by himself. He ducks into the shadows, and becomes little more than a dark blur, one that will reappear in the Gardens.

[The Lotus Gardens - Scouting]

A dark blur flits from one bit of cover to the next, finally appearing to phase back into a humanoid form atop one of the taller buildings near the center of the gardens. Zenon looks around carefully, assessing the Gardens' defenders. He's doing his best to stay inconspicuous, as he was ordered to, and this is kind of fun. He hasn't played a game of hide and seek like this in a long time. Even the Devourer seems to be enjoying the change of pace. He really should do this more often.

[Recaiden]

Oh, no, I’m not looking to go full kaiju, thinking more like double current size.

If you can do spot coverage, it would be great, protect yourself and my important bits, and we can make a beeline.

Felandria pulls out a wand.

I can cast Detect Thoughts on both of us, allows us to communicate silently.

Are you fast? Because even huge I can go at a reasonable clip.

When Felandria asks if she's fast, Alice stops moving forward to laugh in surprise.
This is judged to be bad and frivolous and she quickly stops herself.
"Yes, Felandria, I'm fast." she replies, wondering what the giantess considers a 'reasonable clip'.

As for the wand, Alice nods. What she doesn't know is that detecting thoughts is likely to be a particularly poor way for the two to communicate. To the spell, Alice is three people. One is a shrieking cacophony akin to playing static on maximum volume or listening to a tornado. It will take a great deal of practice or insight to find the pattern within (which happens to be grumbling about (but accepting) the necessity of mind-reading). The other two are more comprehensible, but still alien, spicily precise and still as the pair consider the available information about the demons and the best pattern of resource expenditure, respectively.
To Alice, Felandria isn't thinking at all. Her head is an empty glacial expanse of imponderable vastness. Things might be happening, but clearly nobody is home.

Alice half-crosses her hands and then separates them, fingers splayed. A nearly translucent soccer-ball bubble of geometrical panels encloses her, and similar fields form up around Fel.

[UncleWolf]

The Lotus Gardens - Sleepover

"No, I won't be, remember?" Jezebel asks, leaning her head back on her lounge couch's armrest so she can look back at Cessie. "If I give up this power like I should, I'll be back to being purely mortal." She reminds her friend before looking back at her drink and giving it a small swirl. "I must admit that I'm not particularly keen on doing so even if it is the...better choice. In part because I would have no access to anything to lengthy my lifespan anymore."

During the Invasion

(This part is a bit of a mess, I admit, but I'm trying to keep it in a timeline sort of way rather than each scene separate)

The Lotus Gardens - Ladies & Gent => Eastside City Hall

Jezebel is about speak but grimaces as dark purple lightning crackles around her head once more, leaving her panting for breath. "The Warp...it is back. For now." She murmurs, sounding a little dizzy before composing herself. "First, we establish a foothold. And we'll do that at the Eastside City hall." Jezebel decides. "And now that my psykers will be working, I have a message to send as well." She adds before ripping a portal open in the air to City Hall. She steps through with her sword in hand even as the air around her head glows softly. The "goddess" begins to speak as she takes in the damage around her and her message is heard throughout all of Eastside...

Riverside Broadcast

The same halo of energy that surrounds Jezebel's head begins to glow around half of the psykers in the Lotus Gardens as she uses their own powers for herself. Her voice, clear as crystal itself, reverberates through the air. "I see before me...folly." She says calmly, chastising those who would choose to invade. "I am Jezebel Tel'Vree of the House Tel'Vree. Goddess of the Gardens and Mayor of Eastside. I do not expect answers as to who is invading or why, but I will give only one warning and one alone."

"Leave now and you will not be eradicated. Continue and I will scour you and your forces from this city with flame and holy retribution."

"To those citizens who are listening, I ask of you a heavy burden. Keep yourselves and your loved ones safe. If you seek shelter out of your homes, head towards the emergency shelters or The Gardens. You shall be protected. Those of you who wish to fight, do not do so alone. Hunters and Masks will be roaming the city to put down the invaders and to point EMS to those who need help. Hunters, if you seek to gather, come to the Eastside City Hall. I will be there."

"Citizens of Riverside, rest assured that I have not forsaken you. Stay strong, and should you do nothing else, pray to give us strength in this hour of need."

Eastside City Hall

Once her broadcast is over, the glow around Jezebel's head(and those of her psykers elsewhere) fades and she reaches up to activate her comm. "All psykers who are able to walk and fight, team up and begin mobilizing according to standard procedure. Take out their air support." She commands as she casts her sword aside and draws a heavy looking gun from thin air. It is her personal Melta, a heavy gun capable of firing lances of super-heated plasma a short distance. This particular one seemed to be made of silver, white marble, and decorated with an angel making up the barrel with her wings folded back to provide some armor to the weapon itself. It almost seems to...squirm in her hands, but it was likely just a trick of the light. Now that she'd given away their position, Jezebel was more than ready and willing to fight and hoped her companions were too.

The Lotus Gardens - Psykers

Those watching will see a small number of individuals, perhaps a dozen, begin leaving the Cathedral as they make their way to the borders. Most are supported by a pair of more mundane guards, but as they travel to their positions they seem to regain their strength. It wouldn't be long before they joined the fight.

Eastside - Sarah

The fleshy mutant groans as she grips the jagged edges of the wreck of a car she'd made in order to pull herself up. She finally gets to her feet and collects her thoughts when the first lightning bolt strikes her and knocks her to the ground after throwing her against a building. While her previous wounds had been knitting shut, the bolt leaves burns across her body and makes her roar

...right before a second and third flatten her again and once more. The mutant is left dazed, burned, and in a lot of pain, but she still seems to be alive after that even though she's certainly had her rage forcibly quelled.

Southside - The Empress

After seeming to mull over a decision for a few moments, The Empress simply picks up her sword and shield and begins walking deeper into the city. She only gives a single silent gesture to her guards posted upon her walls as she starts making her way towards The General's headquarters at a leisurely pace. She doesn't seem like she's attacking, but she's certainly got something in mind.

(Nova, your part is delayed for now, but my questions in the PM might not be too relevant after this post)

[Gullara]

[MERC Office - Kids]

"Maybe you should've listened to me in the first place." Eliseo says nonchalantly, like only a teenager who's full of himself can. To that end, he grins at Koshal. "What? You jealous or something?"

---

[Westside]

The captain swoops down to land in front of the wary-looking folks, and signals the tank to halt.
"We're trying to get a handle on the whole...demon situation. What's going on here?" he demands. No need to introduce themselves.

[Westside]

A goblin woman with red hair and some kind of glowing device on her chest takes the lead, stepping closer to the captain. "What do you think? We're getting people the hell outta here." She looks at the soldiers assembled before her, and then to the northeast. "What are you doing here? There's the demon situation." She points where she's looking, at the three infernals towering above the buildings to the northeast.

Not far off are a pair of trolls, a bugbear, and two humans. They're all armed and looking pretty tense. Which probably isn't surprising considering the whole situation.

[Felandria]

When Felandria asks if she's fast, Alice stops moving forward to laugh in surprise.
This is judged to be bad and frivolous and she quickly stops herself.
"Yes, Felandria, I'm fast." she replies, wondering what the giantess considers a 'reasonable clip'.

As for the wand, Alice nods. What she doesn't know is that detecting thoughts is likely to be a particularly poor way for the two to communicate. To the spell, Alice is three people. One is a shrieking cacophony akin to playing static on maximum volume or listening to a tornado. It will take a great deal of practice or insight to find the pattern within (which happens to be grumbling about (but accepting) the necessity of mind-reading). The other two are more comprehensible, but still alien, spicily precise and still as the pair consider the available information about the demons and the best pattern of resource expenditure, respectively.
To Alice, Felandria isn't thinking at all. Her head is an empty glacial expanse of imponderable vastness. Things might be happening, but clearly nobody is home.

Alice half-crosses her hands and then separates them, fingers splayed. A nearly translucent soccer-ball bubble of geometrical panels encloses her, and similar fields form up around Fel.

To Alice, Felandria isn't thinking at all. Her head is an empty glacial expanse of imponderable vastness. Things might be happening, but clearly nobody is home.

Felandria will dispel the thought spell, because it's giving her a headache, and do the thing she said before, as she grows larger, to around 26-27 feet tall.

Okay, we're ready, we have a direction, time to run.

And Felandria starts running towards the objective.

One thing she has been focusing her magical training on was speed, since larger creatures supposedly move slower, she has spent time and money on ensuring that her speed scales with her, so she runs as fast as she would if she were just a reasonably athletic, normal sized but tall woman, but obviously she covers more ground now.

Hopefully Alice is as fast.

[Celticbear]

Vigil Arrival - Team KalAnikaXavouirKittyAwesomeForceTeamLightning

Xavouir, seeming to have been in a stupor this entire time (probably because he wasn't paying attention) says, Sorry, Kitty and I were getting into an argument. She says that she doesn't know why we're saving these people, I says that people like to live, she says that people die anyway, I says that people like to make more people so living as long as possible helps this, Kitty says that's gross, and then I says shut up we're here. I'm usually quite talkative.

[Recaiden]

Southside - The Empress

After seeming to mull over a decision for a few moments, The Empress simply picks up her sword and shield and begins walking deeper into the city. She only gives a single silent gesture to her guards posted upon her walls as she starts making her way towards The General's headquarters at a leisurely pace. She doesn't seem like she's attacking, but she's certainly got something in mind.

The Empress will quickly encounter a squad of the soldiers guarding the borders and be ordered to halt and explain herself.
There's four men pointing blaster rifles her way, one shouting, and another radioing their superior about this.
Even if there weren't an invasion going on, she would hardly get to travel around the city without making a fuss.

[Westside]

A goblin woman with red hair and some kind of glowing device on her chest takes the lead, stepping closer to the captain. "What do you think? We're getting people the hell outta here." She looks at the soldiers assembled before her, and then to the northeast. "What are you doing here? There's the demon situation." She points where she's looking, at the three infernals towering above the buildings to the northeast.

Not far off are a pair of trolls, a bugbear, and two humans. They're all armed and looking pretty tense. Which probably isn't surprising considering the whole situation.

"Those big guys are just a distraction. If you want the real trouble, look up." the captain scoffs. "And you'll be getting the hell out yourself, I expect?"
Most of Southside's soldiers are more tense than they really need to be. This guy seems pretty relaxed.

[Team Felandria]

Felandria will dispel the thought spell, because it's giving her a headache, and do the thing she said before, as she grows larger, to around 26-27 feet tall.

Okay, we're ready, we have a direction, time to run.

And Felandria starts running towards the objective.

One thing she has been focusing her magical training on was speed, since larger creatures supposedly move slower, she has spent time and money on ensuring that her speed scales with her, so she runs as fast as she would if she were just a reasonably athletic, normal sized but tall woman, but obviously she covers more ground now.

Hopefully Alice is as fast.

So that puts Fel as running about as fast as a car on the highway. Alice breaks into a gallop after her, but couldn't hope to run that fast using only her normal strength. No one of her shape and size could. Luckily, that's not all she has to rely on. As her augmentations come into play she gets faster and faster, keeping pace with Fel, catching up to her, passing her.
Hopefully there are no sharp turns coming up on the way towards Victorious.

[UncleWolf]

The Lotus Gardens - Zenon

Zenon will quickly come to regret teleporting on top of the Cathedral for his senses will immediately be overloaded. There is a great deal of power welling forth from the Cathedral, the heart of the Gardens. It is a holy power, but also dark and tainted by blood, sacrifice, and foul design. Divine power has been mixed with sorcery, psykery, and warpcraft to forge the warped reality and spells that hold control over the Gardens. The psykery is a mixture of sorcerous power granted by another realm and mutant psionics, but the Warpcraft is the shaping of the energies of another dimension through ritual and runes.

To Zenon, it will be the equivalent of falling into a crate of flash-bangs for the power and energy of the area is enough to block out sensing anything more precise until he adjusts.

Southside

The Empress doesn't raise her weapons threateningly nor does she remove her helm before speaking. She does half however. "I seek to ask your General whether you all will be mobilizing to assist the invaders or defenders of the city, or if you all are staying out of it. That is all."

[Shadowcaller]

Spoiler: Quotes

Show

[Lotus Garden Border - Infernals]

This is not ideal. She's supposed to drive Ilpholin away from Wrath of the Godless, and instead she's practically dancing with the thing.
"I'm Omiko, an Associate of the Malicious, Evil, Nefarious variety. I understand you are a demon who's gotten out of line." She charges in, thinking to pass between the Infernal's legs and catch up to Ilpholin.
The nymph is half-right about the cabon's willingness to fire into the fray. Though if you could look closely at her gun-arm, you'd see it powering down from 'Maximum Strength' to something a little more giant-rock-monster friendly (there's no stun setting, just 'kill', 'kill more slowly', and 'warning shot').

Amyria smiles nervously as the infernal rounds on her. No more sparks are coming, let alone lightning; she needs time to recharge.
Well, she had a plan at the start of this, didn't she? Before the lightning and the rockets? A crazy plan that was never going to work? Forsaken Light is right where she wants it, in a sense.
"Okay, good giant rock monster!"
She turns and runs, heading down the street westward, towards the river.

The swarming flying things go largely unnoticed, but one scout dragonling perched on the roof of a nearby store looks up and tries to identify that odd glow they have.

[Northside]

The invisible spectral eye demons go undetected for the few moments the angels are near.
And then the obelisk is...gone. Recalled elsewhere. And at just the same instant they regain contact with the units inside the city (the lost scout stalker and worker are given new instructions: first, get underground). So it wasn't a complete waste. They disrupted the barrier, or got the enemies to spend energy protecting this thing instead of blocking communications, or something.
But this is still fairly bad. They are not unfamiliar with teleporting enemies. But the countermeasures involve air support, worm-ships, war queens. Things they don't yet have available here in the Nexus.

They move towards the road and the city, thinking there will certainly be demons to fight in the interior, once they make it in to northern Westside/western Northside.

[Lotus Gardens Observation Deck]

Mister Squiggles skitters about a foot to the left, before clamps extend out from his six back feet and plunge into the observation deck, anchoring him to the structure. The spider's remaining two legs two legs throw open the crate to reveal heavy silver shells designed for mortars. Grabbing one, he loads it into the long cannon-like tube extending upwards from his back. Feeling as confident in the trajectory as he can get, he fires.

THWUMP!

[Lotus Garden Border - Infernals]

"You're deluded. I'm clearly not a demon and AMEN is dead. You're five years out of synch." Clearly Omiko was a time traveler too.

Oh now Ilpholin had the Infernal's attention. Well whatever. With Mister Squiggles' signal, Wrath of the Godless' attack played right into her schemes. With communications, and more importantly satellite access down, the mechanical genius could only calculate so much. But direct communication between the duo remained, utilizing equipment in the Xar'cha residence and their personal implants. A work around they planned for some time ago to protect themselves from the ire of unstable individuals and groups who like to claim dominion over space. So Ilpholin used herself to guide the shot, becoming the target point with minor adjustments to take advantage of the Infernal's height.

Now she simply turns on the dime to duck back under the massive creature's stomp. Darting beneath its legs to get behind it certainly came with the risk of getting shot at once more by fire and lightning, so her arms raise up as shields. For the plan to work at all, she needed to use the infernal itself as cover and- GAH! What the hell was Omiko doing?! There wasn't supposed to be any other foot traffic here. There's a high probability Ilpholin just crashes right into the cabon, but even if she doesn't, Omiko's appearance causes Ilpholin to slow down too much. While Wrath's stomp doesn't land right on her, the pressure and heat from it landing far, far too closely behind her hurts quite a bit and propels her forward even faster than she expected.

Punctuating her yelp of surprise is the whine of the mortar shell as it falls onto the scene, trajectory taking it straight at Wrath of the Godless.

If Ilpholin had just waited until a few moments ago, when that barrier went down, all of this excessive risk taking would have been wholly unnecessary.

[Vigil Arriving]
North of Riverside

Awen hops out of the shuttle. She then nods, confirming she heard the orders.

Awen is, of course, a woman who is covered such that her skin and hair are completely hidden by clothing; even her eyes are hidden behind a veil. Like most everyone else here, she's wearing a silver protective amulet; she's also wearing a cheaply made wooden religious symbol. Quite possibly she made it herself. She's got a purse, obviously, which is filled with random poisons and potions. It goes without saying that a perfectly normal red fox is following her.
As to her appearance...she's the normal height for an average man. Probably much shorter than the average Nexusian, however. There's not much else that can be deduced about her, except that she's a little uncomfortable and anxious.

Except, then...
She grabs the silver protective amulet and holds it in front of her. She rubs a finger on the surface, and it starts to ripple like water. She quickly pushes the broom in her other hand into the shiny surface...It's a tight fit but the broom vanishes. This way, her hands are free for whatever they'll encounter. It's much easier to run with free hands.

As she goes towards Riverside with her team, she mentally runs through all sorts of different scenarios and what she could possibly do in them. She doesn't want to get cornered and helpless like she did last time.

The Lotus Gardens - Sleepover

"No, I won't be, remember?" Jezebel asks, leaning her head back on her lounge couch's armrest so she can look back at Cessie. "If I give up this power like I should, I'll be back to being purely mortal." She reminds her friend before looking back at her drink and giving it a small swirl. "I must admit that I'm not particularly keen on doing so even if it is the...better choice. In part because I would have no access to anything to lengthy my lifespan anymore."

During the Invasion

(This part is a bit of a mess, I admit, but I'm trying to keep it in a timeline sort of way rather than each scene separate)

The Lotus Gardens - Ladies & Gent => Eastside City Hall

Jezebel is about speak but grimaces as dark purple lightning crackles around her head once more, leaving her panting for breath. "The Warp...it is back. For now." She murmurs, sounding a little dizzy before composing herself. "First, we establish a foothold. And we'll do that at the Eastside City hall." Jezebel decides. "And now that my psykers will be working, I have a message to send as well." She adds before ripping a portal open in the air to City Hall. She steps through with her sword in hand even as the air around her head glows softly. The "goddess" begins to speak as she takes in the damage around her and her message is heard throughout all of Eastside...

Eastside City Hall

Once her broadcast is over, the glow around Jezebel's head(and those of her psykers elsewhere) fades and she reaches up to activate her comm. "All psykers who are able to walk and fight, team up and begin mobilizing according to standard procedure. Take out their air support." She commands as she casts her sword aside and draws a heavy looking gun from thin air. It is her personal Melta, a heavy gun capable of firing lances of super-heated plasma a short distance. This particular one seemed to be made of silver, white marble, and decorated with an angel making up the barrel with her wings folded back to provide some armor to the weapon itself. It almost seems to...squirm in her hands, but it was likely just a trick of the light. Now that she'd given away their position, Jezebel was more than ready and willing to fight and hoped her companions were too.

Eastside - Sarah

The fleshy mutant groans as she grips the jagged edges of the wreck of a car she'd made in order to pull herself up. She finally gets to her feet and collects her thoughts when the first lightning bolt strikes her and knocks her to the ground after throwing her against a building. While her previous wounds had been knitting shut, the bolt leaves burns across her body and makes her roar

...right before a second and third flatten her again and once more. The mutant is left dazed, burned, and in a lot of pain, but she still seems to be alive after that even though she's certainly had her rage forcibly quelled.

[MERC Office - Kids]

"Maybe you should've listened to me in the first place." Eliseo says nonchalantly, like only a teenager who's full of himself can. To that end, he grins at Koshal. "What? You jealous or something?"

Felandria will dispel the thought spell, because it's giving her a headache, and do the thing she said before, as she grows larger, to around 26-27 feet tall.

Okay, we're ready, we have a direction, time to run.

And Felandria starts running towards the objective.

One thing she has been focusing her magical training on was speed, since larger creatures supposedly move slower, she has spent time and money on ensuring that her speed scales with her, so she runs as fast as she would if she were just a reasonably athletic, normal sized but tall woman, but obviously she covers more ground now.

Hopefully Alice is as fast.

[MERC Office]

"Yeah! We had to deal with being yelled at by spooky people while you were making out with your creepy girrrl-friend." Koshal huffs from behind Iknika, being mostly kidding but really wanting to rib Eliseo a little now that they have someone watching them and keeping him from worming away again.

[MERC Office - Kids]

"There you are!" Iknika exclaims when she sees Eliseo and Hekta. "That was a fine mess you've run off and left us in."

[MERC Riverside Office]

"We need to evacuate, but leave some people to observe and help," Dipsnig says. "I've sent Cassandra there, she's at the edge of the city." Then Cassandra herself makes her report. "About time Vigil showed up. They're good at breaking things, but I'm not sure if they're good enough for all that. We should try to help them if we can. Whoever stays there will get a big, fat bonus when this is over."

Outside the Temple of Bane

((That's fine. Easy done.))

The explosion startles the cleric, and she drops her sword, which dissipates into nothingness before it hits the ground. Her wings would have lifted her clear from most of the blast, had she not had her sword in the beast as it went boom. Her armour flashes to ward off most of the blast, but the force of the explosion combined with the fact she already wasn't touching the floor throws her a long distance. She's alive, but stunned, slumped at the bottom of a wall and not moving.

Two men and a woman, in civilian street clothes with steel breastplates and helmets hastily buckled into place, rush to where Fazimah lies. The men are carrying a stretcher for moving the wounded, with short swords at their waist, whilst the woman carries a large shield and a heavy falchion. Another, similarly equipped group rush to where the soldiers were, hoping there's some left alive to move into the temple where there's healing.

[MERC Office - Kids]

Dena only stops once she is on the other side of the secret door and then closes it right behind the children. Too bad it opened from the other side, or she could have blocked it better.
She then turns to the kids and claps her hands together. "Alright, you've had your little adventure, but unless you want to clean up here, I don't think there is anything else for you in this office." She says with a broad gesture at the furniture which they manage to break even more.

Hekta only seems to have heard Koshal's suggestion however, which she sticks out her tongue in disgust at. "I ain't got that mad lust you people have. And you tied me up and chased me! We are even now!" She protests.

Dena turns to Koshal. "Speaking of which, you could go to the Lotus Garden instead. They offered to cover for your destroyed cellphone, Koshal. Just ask for a woman named Sarah." Then they would finally be out of her hair.

The Lotus Gardens - Sleepover

"That doesn't sounds like you at all, Jezebel. Not having a backup plan in case things go wrong. Surely you must have considered some options." Cessie remarks with a wry smile, but then leans back in her armchair, adding. "It's not like I have..." She lets out a sigh. "But I don't think I could take the same path as you or Arik, Jezebel. Giving part of your humanity up is not a sacrifice I could ever make, and I don't mean to put that sacrifice in a negative light. Just not that it is something I myself is not willing to give up."

---

[MERC Riverside Office]

There was that 'some people' again, but she guessed Dipsnig didn't know the members stationed in Riverside as well as she did. "I'll station 'some people' here. Anything else?" Holding the phone between her head and her shoulder, she starts putting on some proper pants. The skirt she was still wearing was not meant for tunnel hiking, and who knew what they might find down there?

[Lotus Garden Border - Infernals]

As Forsaken Light comes towards the mayor, it suddenly slows down as she can see a number of pit soldiers approach it from the skies. One of them raises it's palm towards the mayor and utters runic words of power. If this spell, since that is what it is, works as intended, it will cause otherwise permanent magical effects to malfunction and even cease entirely for a few seconds.
The rest of the pit soldiers are seeking cover behind the infernal which is now moving in a slow pace towards her. They're switching weapons from rifles to long swords.

A few land on some nearby roof tops to cover the others back as the start amassing around the mayor, the legion still approaching her from above. The dragons can detect that the glow comes from an energy that is collected collectively by the swarm. It seems to be soul-related somehow, like it was fueled by the pure life force of living (or once living) beings.

---

It should be noted that silver specifically prevents demons from regenerating and stops magical effects. It does not have any special effect on the infernal but it is still a explosion strong enough to cause the Wrath of the Godless to fall over. The sheer weight of the infernal hitting the street causes large cracks to appear in the cement and the entire ground around it to shake.

But even fallen over the infernal radiates intense heat and if Ilpholin or Omiko aren't crushed by the fall, then being so close to it might cause them to get burned all over.

Seeing this, the pit soldiers are spreading out and seeking cover behind buildings as one of the legions start to descend towards the fallen infernal.

Eastside - Sarah

There are no more shots fired for now, though one of the pit soldiers suddenly lands some distance away from Sarah. Then, as the rest of the group watches it, it raises it's rifle-like weapon and a long stream of fire is launched towards Sarah.

Eastside City Hall

Cessie arrives here along with Adir and Jezebel and they are immediately spotted by the eyes floating around the city.
"You're luring them here, Jezebel? Is that truly wise? You saw what those meteor-things did to northside. What if they have more of those?" But rather than to wait for Jezebel's answer, she looks at a point near her and with a flick of her wrist a large harpy-like creatures appear on the spot. It soon spread its wings and immediately takes to the skies.

She had other questions too, but there were immediate concerns and there those who were not.

Outside the Temple of Bane

Both the Malechenar soldiers are wounded, laying on the streets unable to get up after the explosion which knocked them off their feet. They can hear shouts from other soldiers, followed by what sounds like gunfire and another explosion.
In the distance more hollow hounds are approaching the temple.

[Attempting to enter Riverside]

Anyone attempting to enter the city, regardless if they're 'angels' or VIGIL members, will have to contend with the swarms that have located themselves in the outskirts of the city. Three swarms gather up together in the sky (forty meters into the air) and there appears to be a pure white energy gathering between all the tiny members of the swarms. After some delay a beam of destruction is unleashed from the gathered swarms. The beam is smaller than in the reference but is leaving the same trail of destruction and moving in the same way across the landscape. It is focusing on the largest concentration of angels and moves after them if they would attempt to get away, moving fairly fast.
They seem unable to keep firing this way for very long however, the initial beam only lasting a few seconds after being fired before they simply stop.
When the beam has been fired, the swarm simply start to descend towards the surviving angels.

---

As for Felandria and Alice, one of the swarms, which is coming from the black clouds above them, is heading straight towards them. Like with the other swarms there seem to be a white energy running between each of the members as the swarm the two VIGIL members. Yet they don't appear to be doing anything to them just yet besides clouding their vision with their bodies.
It is shortly followed by another swarm which prefers to stay in the air above them for now.

Vigil Arrival - Team KalAnikaXavouirKittyAwesomeForceTeamLightning

Anika looks over the city, even from afar she could tell this was bad news. And were those infernals? Just like the ones the burning legion used... but larger, just like the ones the used during the invasion. "Guys, I think these attackers might be related to the demons of my world." She remarks, not really sure what she is supposed to say about Xaviour's tidbit of information. This was hardly the time for philosophical discussions, or any discussion really. "That means, uh, well, I am not sure yet but it might be something we can take advantage of in the future. For now... maybe we should sneak into the city? We could dive into the river, you guys can swim right?" She looks between her team members.

[Triumfens Handth]

"Besides, you should start the first ritual now. VIGIL is here." The demon king interrupted.

Tellysandra nods. "I know, don't worry. I'll- *yawn* start it right away." She got up from her seat and then marched off to her makeshift ritual chamber on board the ship.

[Nova_Eclipse]

The Lotus Gardens - Zenon

Zenon stands very still for a few moments after he materializes. The sheer amount of power in the area came as a surprise to the Devourer, and its senses take a few moments to adjust. Once the bright flash and overwhelming taste of the powers that have shaped the Gardens have been managed and subsided, he'll finally move quietly to a point overlooking the area, frowning as the massive headache induced from the sensory overload finally subsides. Powerful though he may be, he can still be caught off guard. Unfortunately, standing on top of a fount of power like this has an unexpected side effect: he now needs to manage the Devourer's hunger in order to maintain his cover, a process that leaves him a bit distracted for another few moments, though not distracted enough to not begin noting movements of people and things around and below him. He's had to suppress the ranges of many of his supernatural senses, but he should still be able to note anyone who passes within about 100 yards of the Cathedral, though he won't be able to tell if they've got supernatural abilities of their own until they use them due to the amount of filtering he's had to put on those senses. Still, some warning is better than none, assuming no one saw him while he was disoriented.

[Gullara]

[Westside]

"Those big guys are just a distraction. If you want the real trouble, look up." the captain scoffs. "And you'll be getting the hell out yourself, I expect?"
Most of Southside's soldiers are more tense than they really need to be. This guy seems pretty relaxed.

[Westside]

"We're awaiting further orders." The goblin replies, none too impressed. "Who are you?" She asks bluntly. Why there's some sort of armed squadron here still doesn't add up. This is one of the most quiet parts of the city right now.

One of the humans pulls out her phone and holds it up to her ear.

[Felandria]

As for Felandria and Alice, one of the swarms, which is coming from the black clouds above them, is heading straight towards them. Like with the other swarms there seem to be a white energy running between each of the members as the swarm the two VIGIL members. Yet they don't appear to be doing anything to them just yet besides clouding their vision with their bodies.
It is shortly followed by another swarm which prefers to stay in the air above them for now.

Felandria comes to a halt as the swarm approaches.

Ugh, I hate swarms.

As far as Felandria knew, there were two types of damage that seemed to hurt swarms the most, and since casting acid above herself and Alice seemed like a really dumb idea, the solution was to cast a Fireball at it before it got too close.

[Zefir]

[MERC Riverside Office]

"'Some people'? Who are you referring to exactly?" Dena didn't wish to stay on the phone for longer than necessary but she felt like she needed to straighten out some things with Dipsnig first. "Am I supposed to leave people behind? Since there are still quite a few of our members out there."

[Outside the Drill Tank]

"You're not a part of our command chain so you can do whatever you wish. We expect AMEN-leader Zefir to make tactical sound choices, so there is no reason for me to get involved." The pit lord remarks.
He then looks to Zefir. "They have? Lord Sargon must be aware then. I'll tell the troops right away, we must keep VIGIL out of the city."

(Will post everywhere else later on when everyone posted.))

[Outside the Drill Tank]

Zefir turn away from the demon as he speaks to AMEN members and henchman.

"Be aware, Vigil has arrived. The henchman will assist the demons in keeping them out." he says. "Everyone try to complete your orders and report back immediately. We will nee deveryone to keep them off."

He then goes over to the henchman.

"Move north and assist the demons. you are free to fire at any Vigil member you find."

With that a proper number of tanks and henchman move north to clash with the Vigil.

[Attempting to enter Riverside]

Another line of defense will form soon as around a dozen drill tanks move up to the northern City border. As soon as they get in range they fire up the tanks cannon. They aren't that accurate, but they may be dangerouse if ignored.

[VIGIL Arrival]

Wenomir steps forward to lead his own team. He's clad in his usual armour, but he's packed some extra tools. Grenades filled with silver shrapnel join his silver daggers on his bandoleer. He's also carrying a weighted, spiked silver chain and a satchel with some tools - a few hooks, needles, knives and manacles. He draws the Answer and focuses, turning it into a greatsword... which takes a very particular shape. Wenomir is perplexed, but it doesn't last long.

"I can hear you, Mia. We've just arrived in Riverside in force and we plan to deliver a counter-attack. Any information you can give us will be useful."

[VIGIL Arrival]

"I can send you the results of my Scans. I just know that there are no demons in Southside." Mia replies. a bit of silence follows and the sound of someone working in the background.
"I can only tell you that I have a great weapon here that could bring the infernals down. Sadly it's range is limited. It would need the infernals closer to Dmside. I say one kilometer would be enougth. Otherwise I prepare some troops, but we haven't thought about attaking units here befor."

[Riverside Scan]

The floating scanners will continue there way through Riverside. Scanning the area as they pass by and sending those data to DMside.
Those in Southside will obviously avoid the troups shooting at them, which result in morre scanners going north east and west.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Bane, North Northside

The soldiers are carried up to the Temple, where they and Fazimah are fussed over by several individuals before an imposing man wearing a suit of shiny black full plate and carrying a mace with a head shaped like a black fist. He'll head to his underling first, his hands glowing as he heals her injuries, before heading to the strangers. He'll try to heal them, too, channelling energy from his god to cure their wounds. Hopefully it works, but it's not a guarantee.

As the Hollow Hounds approach, a different man in full plate- not as shiny or ornate as the first guy's, but still the second best armour in the temple. He's carrying a spiked war-hammer. As they approach, he takes off his helmet, revealing a half-elf with one gold eye and one red one. He inhales deeply, and when he breathes out again, he spews out a billowing black cloud of toxic black smoke. The Festering Gloom should at least weaken the Hollow Hounds, acting by draining their life or animating energies, rather than traditional poisonous gas.

[Recaiden]

[Lotus Garden Border - Infernals]

"You're deluded. I'm clearly not a demon and AMEN is dead. You're five years out of synch." Clearly Omiko was a time traveler too.

Oh now Ilpholin had the Infernal's attention. Well whatever. With Mister Squiggles' signal, Wrath of the Godless' attack played right into her schemes. With communications, and more importantly satellite access down, the mechanical genius could only calculate so much. But direct communication between the duo remained, utilizing equipment in the Xar'cha residence and their personal implants. A work around they planned for some time ago to protect themselves from the ire of unstable individuals and groups who like to claim dominion over space. So Ilpholin used herself to guide the shot, becoming the target point with minor adjustments to take advantage of the Infernal's height.

Now she simply turns on the dime to duck back under the massive creature's stomp. Darting beneath its legs to get behind it certainly came with the risk of getting shot at once more by fire and lightning, so her arms raise up as shields. For the plan to work at all, she needed to use the infernal itself as cover and- GAH! What the hell was Omiko doing?! There wasn't supposed to be any other foot traffic here. There's a high probability Ilpholin just crashes right into the cabon, but even if she doesn't, Omiko's appearance causes Ilpholin to slow down too much. While Wrath's stomp doesn't land right on her, the pressure and heat from it landing far, far too closely behind her hurts quite a bit and propels her forward even faster than she expected.

Punctuating her yelp of surprise is the whine of the mortar shell as it falls onto the scene, trajectory taking it straight at Wrath of the Godless.

If Ilpholin had just waited until a few moments ago, when that barrier went down, all of this excessive risk taking would have been wholly unnecessary.

It should be noted that silver specifically prevents demons from regenerating and stops magical effects. It does not have any special effect on the infernal but it is still a explosion strong enough to cause the Wrath of the Godless to fall over. The sheer weight of the infernal hitting the street causes large cracks to appear in the cement and the entire ground around it to shake.

But even fallen over the infernal radiates intense heat and if Ilpholin or Omiko aren't crushed by the fall, then being so close to it might cause them to get burned all over.

Seeing this, the pit soldiers are spreading out and seeking cover behind buildings as one of the legions start to descend towards the fallen infernal.

Omiko is prevented from making any witty retort by Ilpholin's literally running into her just behind the Infernal's crashing leg. She does her best to grab the nymph (with two normal arms, one mechanical claw, and no fewer than four newly-sprouted mouths) and keep her from getting away. If they're crushed beneath a falling burning-rock-golem, so be it. She can take it. Most likely, though, Ilpholin's momentum knocks the two of them out of the path of the falling titan and all they have to deal with is the collapsing ground beneath them and the amount of getting burnt that they're doing.

She has to note, while falling, that she was too late. The infernal went down.

As Forsaken Light comes towards the mayor, it suddenly slows down as she can see a number of pit soldiers approach it from the skies. One of them raises it's palm towards the mayor and utters runic words of power. If this spell, since that is what it is, works as intended, it will cause otherwise permanent magical effects to malfunction and even cease entirely for a few seconds.
The rest of the pit soldiers are seeking cover behind the infernal which is now moving in a slow pace towards her. They're switching weapons from rifles to long swords.

A few land on some nearby roof tops to cover the others back as the start amassing around the mayor, the legion still approaching her from above. The dragons can detect that the glow comes from an energy that is collected collectively by the swarm. It seems to be soul-related somehow, like it was fueled by the pure life force of living (or once living) beings.

Hmm. Necromancy, or something like that. Power from everyone they kill, possibly?
Another spell. Antimagic. How interesting that it-
The former mayor dissolves, broken apart into vast numbers of rat-sized coin-colored dragons. Their magic sight shuts off, their destructive breath catches in their throats. For the moment, they mill around in confusion, unable to think straight.

[Attempting to enter Riverside]

Anyone attempting to enter the city, regardless if they're 'angels' or VIGIL members, will have to contend with the swarms that have located themselves in the outskirts of the city. Three swarms gather up together in the sky (forty meters into the air) and there appears to be a pure white energy gathering between all the tiny members of the swarms. After some delay a beam of destruction is unleashed from the gathered swarms. The beam is smaller than in the reference but is leaving the same trail of destruction and moving in the same way across the landscape. It is focusing on the largest concentration of angels and moves after them if they would attempt to get away, moving fairly fast.
They seem unable to keep firing this way for very long however, the initial beam only lasting a few seconds after being fired before they simply stop.
When the beam has been fired, the swarm simply start to descend towards the surviving angels.

---

As for Felandria and Alice, one of the swarms, which is coming from the black clouds above them, is heading straight towards them. Like with the other swarms there seem to be a white energy running between each of the members as the swarm the two VIGIL members. Yet they don't appear to be doing anything to them just yet besides clouding their vision with their bodies.
It is shortly followed by another swarm which prefers to stay in the air above them for now.

Felandria comes to a halt as the swarm approaches.

Ugh, I hate swarms.

As far as Felandria knew, there were two types of damage that seemed to hurt swarms the most, and since casting acid above herself and Alice seemed like a really dumb idea, the solution was to cast a Fireball at it before it got too close.

Alice keeps running for a few moments after Felandria stops, only eventually looking back and stopping to help her fight the things. She sweeps both hands up, trying to swat them away with the force-fields and throw the things away from them and towards Felandria's blast of fire.

---

Now, those angels don't fare too well.
The beam cuts across the vanguard of scouts where they cluster at the front, cutting through them one-two-three and tracking a fourth perfectly as it tries to dodge.
Where they aren't completely incinerated, the remains fade away, turned to energy and gone.

The survivors spread out slightly as the swarm comes down.
The archers return fire; such tiny targets! The surviving scouts will leap up and bite at the swarming things, fully expecting that any they catch will be crushed to powder between their teeth.

[Westside]

"We're awaiting further orders." The goblin replies, none too impressed. "Who are you?" She asks bluntly. Why there's some sort of armed squadron here still doesn't add up. This is one of the most quiet parts of the city right now.

One of the humans pulls out her phone and holds it up to her ear.

"Just concerned neighbors, ma'am." he replies. Clearly, they came here too early.
He give a signal to his troops, prompting them to turn to head back the way they've came.

Southside

The Empress doesn't raise her weapons threateningly nor does she remove her helm before speaking. She does half however. "I seek to ask your General whether you all will be mobilizing to assist the invaders or defenders of the city, or if you all are staying out of it. That is all."

Keeping your arms and armor on is understandable.
The one who was yelling and the one on the radio confer briefly.
"You can do that from here. Our priority is protecting our own city."
Including from The Empress.
"If another district calls for our help, or abandons their citizens, The General will consider taking action."

[Morty]

[VIGIL Arrival - Wenomir, Gary and Awen]

"Thanks, Mia. I'll see what we can do, but we're unlikely to be able to draw the infernals anywhere."

With that, Wenomir leads his team into Eastside, towards the Infernal that didn't just topple over. When the swarms start coming towards them, he snatches one of his grenades, removes the safety and throws it, hoping the explosion, silver shrapnel and lingering silver mist clear them out.

[MERC Office - Kids]

Iknika just glares at Hekta. This creepy little thing has caused them enough trouble.

"Listened to you about what? Whatever, let's just leave."

[MERC Riverside Office]

"No, I think I've got it as covered as I can from here," Dipsnig says.

[Murkus]

[Eastside City Hall]

Adir follows the women through the gate with his typical eccentric leap. One should always jump through portals, after all. He surveys the city around them with some trepidation. The stag perks his ears as Jezebel begins to speak, and can't help but feel a little admiration and confidence climb his spine. He stands with his legs slightly spread, right beside Cessie and just behind Jezebel. He looks at the sorceress. "I've never had people actually pray for me before. Wonder what that'll feel like." He casts his gaze forward again. "How long's it been since you were in a fight, Cessie?"

[The Toy Tinker]

Sticks produces a pad and paper and scratches down a few notes. He looks up at her at the further mention of compensation. "Yes, of course. I'll require a small fraction of your soul."

[Reinholdt]

Always jump through portals.

[Lotus Gardens Observation Deck]

While silver might not have any additional effects in this situation, it's also the only mortar ammo Ilpholin and Mecha Squiggles dumped their life savings into. They really don't have much choice in the matter at this point. So he reloads and begins a new set of calculations. It's doubtful the demons will let that trick happen again and will attempt at the very least to intercept another attack. So he'll have to switch it up and use a different option. Fortunately with the communication barrier down, it's much easier to calculate those options.

Any indication Mecha Squiggles might have had about Zenon's arrival is masked by the same thing that disorients the Devourer. The price of no longer being able to use one's own eyes and legs for information.

[Lotus Garden Border - Infernals]

It's true, Ilpholin had no intention of remaining there long enough to be crushed. She'll just have to use her momentum and take Omiko with her to get out of the way. It's just as well Omiko latched on as Ilpholin can concentrate on maneuvering as if they were one entity. Though she'd rather not actually be one entity as the shield arm held between them and keeping Omiko's mouths to herself is proving. Unless the mouths are also on Omiko's hands. Not much to do about that.

Flung to the side, Ilpholin rolls them away from the infernal. Maybe it's a stop drop and roll situation with all the blistering heat. Maybe she's just extremely experienced with shifting positions with arms intertwined like this and can keep up the momentum. For a little while anyways. Like any best laid plan, she didn't expect the ground to break up under her. She ends their roll some distance away, or attempts to at any rate, with Omiko pinned beneath her, head dangling over a newly formed crevice. Ilpholin's hair still smokes as the ends linger in flame and the left side of her face has seen better days with less burns.

"NOT. IN. THE MOOD!" Ilpholin rages, the arm not being used as the intervening shield shifting into a blade and twisting to slice off two of Omiko's grasping arms, one mecha and one normal. If Adir hadn't shot her down just earlier today, maybe the wild eyed smoking hot nymph be more open to Omiko's advances.

[5a Violista]

[Eastside]
Eastside City Hall

The masked Harley Martinez is actually there. Or, rather, she arrives there. (It's just her player was completely lost about what was going on, so...)

She hasn't received any messages from Mr. E regarding the invasion, she has absolutely no divided loyalties at all.

She is momentarily lost about what to do. I mean, sure, she could probably fight against demons and defeat some of them. It's just...she has no idea of the progress around the city or how she can help Eastside.


[VIGIL Arrival - Wenomir, Gary and Awen
Headed to Eastside

Following Wenomir's lead, Awen tries to run through how she can possibly help. She possibly overthinks it, too. "What should I do, Reynard?" she asks her fox. From so far away, there's not really much she can do with the swarm until they draw closer, but then they'd be really slowed down and it would probably be too late. Plus, all of those methods would really hurt Wenomir and Gary as well, so she probably should try to avoid them.

Let's see...she thinks. She could use their shadows to trap them. She could maybe try to use some ghostly mists to confuse them? Or maybe exhaustion would work better against them? That's about it, though...

She finally decides: if they continue trying to follow and chase after them, then maybe she could leverage all three of those ideas together. Of course, she'd have to try to slow them down as much as possible. She takes off her gloves and drops them to the ground (so her fox can carry them).

Awen stabs the underside of one wrist with her three of her sharp fingernails. Instead of blood, black thorns drip out and fall in her shadow. Then, moments later, hands come out of the shadows of those closest in the swarm. They reach out, hungry for the people who are casting the shadows, trying to grab them and bring them down.

Next, the witch's eyes turn completely black and appear to drip black tar down her cheeks. She keeps on trying to run behind the other two, but she does have to slow down a bit to concentrate on creating these spells. A slow haze drifts out of those shadowy hands; the haze tries to lull those who breathe it in to sleep, by playing a sad lullaby in their minds.

Of course, as soon as Awen does this, she reaches into her purse to bandage her wound, grab her gloves back from her fox, and then catch up with her teammates as much as possible. She has no idea if any of those magicks will be effective against the swarm of demons, but she can always hope, right? Maybe, at the very least, it'll keep them distracted long enough to be more vulnerable to Wenomir's grenade.

[Gullara]

[Westside]

"Just concerned neighbors, ma'am." he replies. Clearly, they came here too early.
He give a signal to his troops, prompting them to turn to head back the way they've came.

[Westside]

The goblin jams her hands in her pockets and watches the soldiers go. Weird, definitely weird, but they have bigger fish to fry right now. She turns toward the others. "What're you gawking at? Let's get moving. Yeah, still call it in before we lose contact again."

[5a Violista]

[Outside the Drill Tank]

Zefir turn away from the demon as he speaks to AMEN members and henchman.

"Be aware, Vigil has arrived. The henchman will assist the demons in keeping them out." he says. "Everyone try to complete your orders and report back immediately. We will nee deveryone to keep them off."

He then goes over to the henchman.

"Move north and assist the demons. you are free to fire at any Vigil member you find."

With that a proper number of tanks and henchman move north to clash with the Vigil.

[Outside the Drill Tank]

Maria, the grey witch, floats up in the sky looking around at as much of the city she can see. She speaks to herself, under her breath. "Far from paradise where the winds of war are blowing freely in my tired eyes run the bloody hosts of Ares' slaughter. After that hot gospeller has levelled all but the churched sky, I write the tale of a city's death by fire."

She raises one hand in the air: a hand that has a rising star that she carved in it not long ago. A small, controlled explosion appears out of it and she rockets downwards towards the tank, then stops near Zefir soon enough to hear his most recent order.

Seeking clarification for her orders (because either she can't remember it or didn't hear it), she asks, "As the leader who knows the good places, where do you want me to go?" Her question is a callback to what she said the other day in the volcano.

[Darkcomet]

[Westside - Evolution Industries Power Plant]

The assistance from Evolution Security never came for the rest of Riverside. The division had already endured enough of their employer's agenda, and the company had been on a downturn, more and more poured into personal projects, yet none of them new or innovative, all derivative of past technology, adaptations and combinations, the spark that forged it all gone and replaced with cold, forced yet steady simplicity.

The truth was, the ghost in charge was not winning. His persistence could not last forever, death's call tugging ever harder as he clung to the physical plane. And now the same forces that reduced him to this state were at the door. Yet...they were helpful, in their own way. With the supernatural and metaphysical links to the outside world and the realms beyond cut, that call weakened. The demons had forced it out just the same as they did all else in their effort to sever the city from help.

Now it was time to use it while he could.

The decommissioned power plant sprang to life around him. He'd had to hardwire it into this chassis thanks to the lockdown interfering with insufficiently-powerful portal-based power beaming, but it wouldn't be long before his plan could become action.

[UncleWolf]

The Lotus Gardens - Sleepover

Jezebel gives a small yet uncharacteristic shrug. "No, no backup plan in place. There are things like making a copy of my mind and digitizing it to put into a mechanical body of course, but I would never enjoy that unless it let me feel still." The woman admits before taking a small sip of her cider. "And I never set out looking to get rid of my humanity, it just sort of...happened. And in a way, I seek to regain that. Even if it means giving up longevity for a while." She points out. When she next takes a sip, she nearly chokes on her cider as a thought hits her. "What do you think, Cessie?" She asks, raising a leg up so her robe falls away to expose her calf and slippered foot. "If I became a robot, I could go either mirror-finish chrome or jet black. Which would be better? There's always cherry red..." She asks, just to tease and make light of a particularly serious situation for herself.

During the Invasion

The Lotus Gardens - Zenon

Zenon might at least sense Jezebel's psychic broadcast portraying her position, but if he continues to try and scan the small area around the Cathedral he will find that there are easily well over two dozen people with active psionic or sorcerous abilities moving about. Two of them inside the Cathedral are particularly strong and one seems to sense his presence as it suddenly starts shooting upwards towards the ceiling. If it continues on such a path, it is surely just going to ram right into the stone ceiling...

The energy presence is heavily daemonic, aberrant and unnatural in the same way that the psykers(psionics) are but even more so.

Eastside - City Hall

Haley is left to her own devices unless she comes up to Jezebel seeking orders. In the meantime, Jezebel gives a small nod to Cessie. "Wise? Likely not, but I have more faith in our own ability to deal with potential masses of daemons than most others. Especially when my Hunters are arriving piecemeal." Jezebel points out, gesturing towards a street that Hunter Jones and his two battle-ready companions come down, guns at the ready until they get closer. "If they had more of the golems however, or the desire to use them, they'd have done so. It would have been far more effective at quelling resistance if they had dropped at least two on each segment of the city, but as far as my guards have seen Southside is entirely untouched." She points out. "But now it is time to prepare. We're going to need cover."

Without setting her Melta down, Jezebel steps away from the building slightly to a car parked on the street. She plants her shoulder against it, grips the bottom, and simply turns it on the side with some effort. If it hadn't been for the armor, she probably wouldn't have been able to do it so easily. The three Hunters pitch in as well, overturning another car, but after that Hunter Jones spots a bus further down the street and starts running to climb aboard. He'll be utterly exposed and in the open as he runs though.

Eastside - Sarah & Co.

The gout of flame doesn't reach Sarah as the demon will find the heavy weight of a particularly strong quarter-dragon landing on it from above. While Eric isn't all that heavy himself, he's carrying a heavy backpack loader and a truly massive heavy bolter which will add hundreds of pounds to his mass, which is all aimed at landing on the demon's head to crush it into the ground. Eric himself lacks wings despite obvious blue dragon heritage giving him patches of scaling, horns, and clawed hands and feet. He wears only a pair of pajama pants, having been caught while working and only having time to grab a weapon before being sent out.

He isn't alone either.

The flying demons will find a smaller figure literally skipping from rooftop to rooftop before launching itself into the air at them with (likely) startling speed. If the doll were living, the lack of clothes would be seen as indecent, but as it is her mostly porcelain and marble body is exposed to the elements. She stands a mere four and a half feet in height, and while she looks like something a toymaker would provide for a rather eccentric client, the joints of her body are made of dark purple flesh that writhes and pulses, and she even has hair of a similar material that goes down to her lower back in a single braid. As she leaps, her left hand twists, warps, and finally shatters into a single large daemonic claw that will try to swipe at the closest flying demon with the intent and capability to rip it in two.

Sarah however continues to be dazed as her mutant body works to try and repair itself.

Southside

"Will I be stopped if I choose to head into the city to fight?" The Empress asks out of curiosity.

[Nova_Eclipse]

The Lotus Gardens - Zenon

Zenon notes the positions of those with magical or psychic abilities, and his eyes change color to that sickly green glow, before the light begins flickering into small emerald flames. A portion of the Devourer entity caught Jezebel's announcement, and with no immediate trace of her power signature in the area, it's likely she is where she said she would be. Good. Time to report in what he's found so far, and with all haste, since he's about to have company, most likely of the type he won't be able to hide from...


[Outside the Drill Tank]

Inside the command center, a tiny black sphere appears with a small electrical crackle, before expanding to roughly the size of a softball. Two solid, flaming green eyes appear on its surface, before a maw filled with many pointed teeth also appears. The maw sphere looks to Zefir and Itholos, before speaking in a deep, gutteral voice that is still somehow reminiscent of Zenon's own.

"Am atop the Catherdral. The goddess appears to have left the Gardens, but there are a number of sorcerous or psychic soldiers here. One of them appears to have noticed me; will deal with the situation. Will leave this aspect manifested for communications."

The sphere's maw reverts to a hungry grin when Zenon finishes speaking, but its eyes project a holographic map. Zenon himself is indicated in the center, with the approaching entity coming from the Cathedral marked in red. Others are marked either in blue or orange, depending on whether they're psychic or a magic user, respectively.

[Recaiden]

The guard nods nervously.
"We can't let you through expressly to join the fighting."
Also, the Empress is to be stopped from passing through Southside in any circumstances.

[Deathkeeper]

[MERC Office- Kids]

"Ew, hairless mammals are gross. And you realize you're wrong right? She promised you that there was a way out of there. But you didn't get out, you got caught by Miss Dena. Story was made up." Koshal says, crossing his arms stubbornly.