Nondescript News

[Teddy]

"Well, they seem to have it well in hand here, miss angel." Corvus mutters before the thing starts trying to get back up. "Or, you know, not."

"Clearly she's underestimating us if she's thinking it's more than a match for any one of us~" Shadow say, swaying in the air. "Of course, working together will just make things much easier~" Shadow flares an unholy green, ghostly runes floating around him and Corvus. As the projectiles streak up to meet them, the runs catch them and they're just... Gone. No explosions, no nothing. "Aww~ I think it's cheating us!” Shadow gestures forward, some of the green moving away from him to focus on Colossus, mostly on its shielding. “Come on~ I know you’ve been itching to grapple with something hundreds of times your size Corvy!”

“Tch. Shut it, or I’m gonna tear off each of your damn limbs before starting on anything around here.” Corvus shudders as his wings start to pull into his body and he regains his muscle mass before streaking downwards, his own aura beginning to blaze a horrifically bright blue as he begins to streak downward through the hail of projectiles. One hand grabs ahold of a missile and puts it over his shoulder, while the other clenches into a fist.

“Just to break the shielding? Cake.” The entire blazing blue focuses around his fist as he nears the colossus, slamming it into the barrier with all of the force of a bomb. “Move! You’re in my way, bastard!”

[Raleigh]

Hm? *Raleigh turns to look in the direction of the sensation as his eyes shift to a silver color. It would appear he is looking for traces of life energy or even souls currently. Even as that happens he reaches into his personal weapons space and withdraws a iklwa short spear with what appears to be a spiral horn for its point.* Purification might be a handy trait for a weapon to have at the moment so I think I'll use this. Battleground contains limited space so strength is probably higher priority than speed. *Makes a note to key his daggers to be a backup weapon.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*The Ruined City*

As John Doe ascends the crater, the CTC soldiers become more keenly aware of something watching them. Some even think they see red, slitted eyes watching them from the shadows but as a squad goes into a building to investigate, they suddenly disappear! John Doe at last appears over the ledge but he seems to show no outward reaction to the armored woman or the other CTC soldiers. However, the drones crackle and suddenly fails before he enters a nearby building and descending without concern.

As the man disappears into the building, the P-series SIBLING arrives and touches the souls within the black material- to say they're warped would be an understatement. It's like someone took the souls and put them in a meat grinder before being pounded into the substance of the black material. Despite the current of raging emotions and fractured psyches, the SIBLING can likely piece together a little about the souls inside the material. They were once the inhabitants of the ruined city and they were forged into the material in a single, dark moment. It's difficult for the SIBLING to maintain the connection for long, as the emotional impact is jarring enough, but the huge number of psyches and how they hunger for life drains her even more.

The P-series SIBLING staggers on the psychic sensations, one of the technicians moving to catch her as she sags weakly. She soon waves him off, however, getting to her feet as she disconnects the link. "Something immensely powerful happened here to cause this... this whole area, and everyone that lived here, has been twisted by it," she murmurs. The technicians glances at each other, and one shakes his head. "It's starting to seem like one of those situations where you just wish you could launch of a bunch of nukes to try and sort it out," he mutters.

The sudden failure of the two drones following John Doe causes some consternation amongst the CTC soldiers, but the arrival of one of the drones from outside of the barrier at least brings up their numbers back to two. The information it brings, however, causes some grim discussion on the comm channels. "All right, let's get ready to mount up. If we need to evacuate, we'd better be ready to do it quick," Lieutenant Darius mutters.

As a squad of troops suddenly vanishes, however, things go quiet for a moment, before the troops begin mobilizing. "Hold up! All right, get the heavy weapons trained on that building -- I want to bring it down, if necessary. Send in two of the EDUs, two V-series and an E-series to check on the troops. We've still got their positional telemetry..."

He doesn't bring up that their biomonitors have apparently flatlined.

From the second vehicle, two armored anthropomorphic robots disembark, along with three more of the girls in full-body armor. They cautiously advance on the building, weapons ready.

*The Wastelands*

As the Zone Troopers approach the Colossus, the arsenal ships' missiles streak overhead, hundreds of explosions ripping at the glowing, crystalline barrier of the mech. As the impacts continue to amass, increasing layers of barriers seem to form as the outer layer seem to glow red with stress, but eventually, just as it's about to break, anti missile systems come online as chaff is launched and anti missile lasers strobe before the mech, slicing the warheads and missiles into pieces before they have the chance to complete the barrage. As the explosions eventually implode on themselves in the barrier, the Mech seems to disregard the approach soldiers and flying trio as it lowers itself to fire it's powerful main weapon. The head begins to expand as the arrays extend from the head, and the targeting the arsenal ships out at see. As it begins to amass energy and focus it into a spec of pure incredible power, something golden streaks from the sky above, rending a chunk of the head off and causing the spec to de-stabilize. Before the arsenal ships meet an untimely doom, one of the four primary targeting lasers seem to fail and the spacial distortion becomes uneven. The spec warps and suddenly warms the upper left portion of the head, ripping a large portion of the head off as the sky burns red.

As the Steel Talons arrive, the head is smoking and burning. But while the Colossus seems to have sustained terrible, terrible damage, the huge optical array mounted at the front of the head swivels to the sky, up at the trio of new arrivals. Kriega glows with holy fury, essence streaming from her armor like a fountain.

With menace in her voice, she shouts to the brothers. "Get down there and help those soldiers out- it won't use it's main weapon with damage like that, but it's still more than a match for any of us alone! Wear down the shielding and look for an opening to damage the shielding units built into the legs!"

Almost on cue, the Colossus rises from its prone position, secondary weapons systems coming online, as missiles streak from their launch tubes at the airborne trio while gauss cannons and lasers open fire at the Steel Talons' newly arrived platoons and airships.

As the Steel Talons' attacks streak out, numerous small barriers warp into space, deflecting many of the projectiles either back at their own forces or at Kriega and the brothers.

*CTC Base*

Alarms continue to blare loudly around the base as the Colossus burns the sky red with its misfire and the battle unfolds between it and the combination of forces arrayed against the mech. Though the near miss of the burning beam of light that briefly turned the sky red is jarring, the Steel Talons, the angel, and the brothers have bought the CTC some critical time- especially given the unusual spell form being constructed by the armored mystery at the base. Of course, the fact that the CTC fleet is unharmed is also a great boon, especially should they seek to lay supporting fire from the coast while they strike camp.

The CTC command post continues to function, even as Major Durant moves to board her waiting aircraft. The major pauses, frowning as she monitors the tactical situation. "That mecha is preparing to fire it's main weapon..." she murmurs, bringing up its predicted firing solution on her cybernetic head's up display. "It's going to fire... through the ground?"

"TacCom predicts a 77% probability its target is the fleet! Straight-line projection through the intervening planetary mass..." Elly confirms.

"Are those spatial distortions? It can't be a FLOSS weapon, can it?" Durant mutters. "Send this to the fleet, ASAP! We need to get this information to the high command!"

Even as messages flash at the speed of light to the fleet and beyond, the mech's head is abruptly damaged by the angel's attack, lighting the sky red with discharged energy. Echoes of the shockwaves wash over the base, and Durant grits her teeth. "That was too close. Start the evacuation!" she orders. "Pythagoras should be here shortly. And have the first Lancer open a window, so we can get updated visual observations of the combat zone!"

Elly nods, and backs up, closing the aircraft's hatch. As sono as it's sealed, the transport lifts up into the air on its contragravity engines, turning and flying seaward with a soft hum. Meanwhile, the first of the ground-effect transports starts up, heading seawards with the first group of evacuees and their cargo.

The white-haired soldier watches for a moment as the aircraft, takes off, and then turns to walk back towards the heart of the base. "It seems I've got my own duties to attend to first..." she murmurs, making certain Durant's orders are spreading throughout the remaining forces in the base. There's a brilliant flash of light, followed immediately by a massive thunderclap, as one of the base's surface-to-orbit laser weapons fires a shot aimed at the clouds above the mech closing on the base. The massive laser, designed to strike targets in near-earth orbit, fires a massive blast of white-hot plasma through the cloudy skies over the mech -- perhaps a warning shot to deter its advance.

Even as the CTC base prepares to try and make its stand, however, new reinforcements arrive -- three massive gleaming blue tetrahedrons come floating across the shoreline, proceeding steadily towards the giant mecha advancing westward.

[??????? ?? ????]

Meanwhile... the mysterious woman's shadow finally chooses this time to approach her openly. "Who are you?" the young, dark-haired woman asks, looking the armored figure over.

*She looks over at the young woman, sighing. A hand reaches up and unclasps the throat of the cloak, the disruption pattern fading as she does so*

"It is always to much to ask...You may call me Shiori. And you are?"

**
At the Ruins
**

*the woman shakes her head, an annoyed look across her face* "Nothing is ever easy"

The sudden failure of the two drones following John Doe causes some consternation amongst the CTC soldiers, but the arrival of one of the drones from outside of the barrier at least brings up their numbers back to two. The information it brings, however, causes some grim discussion on the comm channels. "All right, let's get ready to mount up. If we need to evacuate, we'd better be ready to do it quick," Lieutenant Darius mutters.

As a squad of troops suddenly vanishes, however, things go quiet for a moment, before the troops begin mobilizing. "Hold up! All right, get the heavy weapons trained on that building -- I want to bring it down, if necessary. Send in two of the EDUs, two V-series and an E-series to check on the troops. We've still got their positional telemetry..."

He doesn't bring up that their biomonitors have apparently flatlined.

From the second vehicle, two armored anthropomorphic robots disembark, along with three more of the girls in full-body armor. They cautiously advance on the building, weapons ready.

"Lieutenant, it seems we do not have the time I had anticipated. Evacuation should be your primary concern at this point, not confrontation, the threat that...thing represents is at the very least Level 12 and you do not have the sufficient forces at your disposal to combat it. Your life and the life of those under your command can be considered the walking dead if you engage. I had hoped to prevent that if at all possible, but it still might be possible to save some of you. Allow me to...distract this thing while you and yours focus on evacuating...and that includes the other one you were with. ALL priority must be to remove him to a safe location."

*She checks that her sword is clear in its scabbard as she begins to walk after John Doe*

"The rest of my forces will be here shortly to either assist you in this, or will say a few words for your forever damned souls and complete the mission in your stead. I cannot compel you to obey me, only offer you salvation, if only a sliver of it."

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*She looks over at the young woman, sighing. A hand reaches up and unclasps the throat of the cloak, the disruption pattern fading as she does so*

"It is always to much to ask...You may call me Shiori. And you are?"

"I am commonly referred to as 23-671C. But I suppose you could call me Kuroneko," the young woman says.

"Lieutenant, it seems we do not have the time I had anticipated. Evacuation should be your primary concern at this point, not confrontation, the threat that...thing represents is at the very least Level 12 and you do not have the sufficient forces at your disposal to combat it. Your life and the life of those under your command can be considered the walking dead if you engage. I had hoped to prevent that if at all possible, but it still might be possible to save some of you. Allow me to...distract this thing while you and yours focus on evacuating...and that includes the other one you were with. ALL priority must be to remove him to a safe location."

*She checks that her sword is clear in its scabbard as she begins to walk after John Doe*

"The rest of my forces will be here shortly to either assist you in this, or will say a few words for your forever damned souls and complete the mission in your stead. I cannot compel you to obey me, only offer you salvation, if only a sliver of it."

Darius lets out a sigh, and nods. "All right, then." He signals to the other soldier, and turns to begin walking back to the vehicles. "All right, team, it's time to pull out. EDU-1 and -2, see if you can retrieve the bodies. Everyone else back to the vehicles."

"Sir?" the soldiers asks, glancing at him quizzically.

"Another damned D-class..." Darius mutters. "You can tell just from the attitude. Ah well. Let's see..." He clears his throat. "Yo, Raleigh. We need to pull back at this point. It's been requested that you accompany us. I know you're likely powerful enough to do something on your own, but you did offer to help safeguard us, and we'd appreciate the assistance in getting back to our base."

[Raleigh]

To Darius:Ah poo, and it was just getting good. Be there in a moment. Watch out for rubble. *He dismisses the spear and points a hand above his head.* Fastest way up is through after all. *Firing off a rather large makai realm powered blast he begins to plow through the levels and even building above him to reach the surface.* I suppose I could have just flowed through the material but its less fun that way.

[Anonymouse]

"Squeak squeak..."

(Focusing on the Ruins this post since I'm still waiting on Funny Hat + Funny Accent)

Looking up into the building above him, Raleigh notices a black void of a soul approaching him. It's hard to even tell if it's a soul at all, but it seems to be accompanied by many, many other souls. The other souls are the ones he can tell are approaching more quickly, as the void seems to be taking its time with seeking Raleigh out. At least that seems to be the case since he doesn't detect anything else with his supernatural vision.

Receiving the message from Darius though, Raleigh explodes through the core of the building like a rocket, smashing through concrete and steel re-bar like they were rotten wood. However, just as he's about to pass the level the void is his progress abruptly stops, impacting something which leaves him lying a few moments later on the ground as though waking up from a really bad night of binge drinking with no recollection of what happens.

As he inevitably rises from the ground, he notices a man standing before him. As the blur over his mind clears he gets the distinct feeling being like a caged animal. As he speaks to Raleigh with a deep voice, he extends a hand to Raleigh with a professional smile on his face.

"At long last we meet, I am John Doe, and I have been waiting to see you a long time now."

*Above Ground*

Outside the building John Doe entered, the ground gives a sudden loud THUD the building thrusts up from the ground around it a good two or three feet as the armored woman with the CTC is about to enter. The soldiers with the woman all hear a soft popping noise in their ears before the building goes silent. The woman however gets the feeling that her quarry may be in serious trouble at that moment; the SIBLINGS with extrasensory abilities get a similar impression as well as a far off bell tolls in the distance inexplicably.

By the crater P-series sibling 'hears' the souls of the black material 'scream' soundlessly, even though she isn't even interfacing with them directly- they silence as she feels a soft thud in the ground and likely sees a building nearby shift upwards slightly.

As for the the EDUs and the three armored suited girls step out of the vehicle (and pause with the words of the armored woman?) someone spots a pair of red gleaming eyes in the building the squad disappeared into... and then another. And then several pairs more. There's suddenly a series of loud yowls which cut through the otherwise silent city before they charge out- a whole mob of bipedal cats (wearing boots) and wielding all sorts of random objects as weapons- bats, fish bone swords, spears of wood, and even a few with the weapons from the missing soldiers (with one even wearing a helmet of one of the soldiers- not that it fits at all), and cans of cat food which they lob like grenades at the EDUs. And just splatter cat food all over them to no effect at all.

Though many of their weapons seem harmless enough, these angry, murderous felines seem to mean business as they charge at the CTC and the armored woman.

"Squeak squeak...!"

[Raleigh]

Ah, greetings. *He reaches out to shake hands with the person who has appeared there.* Its always a pleasure to meet an entity that uses such monikers. I always enjoyed John Bull and Anne Ominous myself when I play the role. Any reason for your soulful accompaniment? *Monitors the goings on outside while conversing and thinks to himself that this is familiar and if he needs to send for some nightmares to help the CTC.*

[Funny Hat + Funny Accent]

*The Wastelands*

As the Zone Troopers approach the Colossus, the arsenal ships' missiles streak overhead, hundreds of explosions ripping at the glowing, crystalline barrier of the mech. As the impacts continue to amass, increasing layers of barriers seem to form as the outer layer seem to glow red with stress, but eventually, just as it's about to break, anti missile systems come online as chaff is launched and anti missile lasers strobe before the mech, slicing the warheads and missiles into pieces before they have the chance to complete the barrage. As the explosions eventually implode on themselves in the barrier, the Mech seems to disregard the approach soldiers and flying trio as it lowers itself to fire it's powerful main weapon. The head begins to expand as the arrays extend from the head, and the targeting the arsenal ships out at see. As it begins to amass energy and focus it into a spec of pure incredible power, something golden streaks from the sky above, rending a chunk of the head off and causing the spec to de-stabilize. Before the arsenal ships meet an untimely doom, one of the four primary targeting lasers seem to fail and the spacial distortion becomes uneven. The spec warps and suddenly warms the upper left portion of the head, ripping a large portion of the head off as the sky burns red.

As the Steel Talons arrive, the head is smoking and burning. But while the Colossus seems to have sustained terrible, terrible damage, the huge optical array mounted at the front of the head swivels to the sky, up at the trio of new arrivals. Kriega glows with holy fury, essence streaming from her armor like a fountain.

With menace in her voice, she shouts to the brothers. "Get down there and help those soldiers out- it won't use it's main weapon with damage like that, but it's still more than a match for any of us alone! Wear down the shielding and look for an opening to damage the shielding units built into the legs!"

Almost on cue, the Colossus rises from its prone position, secondary weapons systems coming online, as missiles streak from their launch tubes at the airborne trio while gauss cannons and lasers open fire at the Steel Talons' newly arrived platoons and airships.

As the Steel Talons' attacks streak out, numerous small barriers warp into space, deflecting many of the projectiles either back at their own forces or at Kriega and the brothers.
"Squeak squeak..."

*Against the heavy armor plating of the Predators and Bismarks, the gauss projectiles fared poorly in penetrated those thick skins. Likewise, the Thermal Superconductors which served Roughneck II Assault Frigates was also used in the construction of the armor for the Land Dreadnaughts and Assault Airships. However, those gauss cannons reaped a considerable toll among the lighter-armored Drebins and the Zone Troopers. The lasers proved to be less effective, but they too inflicted noticeable casualties. In the end, three IFVs burned furiously as over a dozen more infantry dropped dead instantly, in many cases missing entire torsos.*

<We're taking heavy fire and have no cover! Dreadnaughts! We need support fire immediately! Strikers! Form up on me! Concentrate your fire on just one of those legs. Maximum Power to the Rails! Medics, attend to the wounded!>

*Their wrath was swift. Instead of the scattered fire covering a wide range of angles, it became a blizzard of epic proportions as superheated steam from the Storm Rail shots collected around the gathered company from the sudden increase in velocity and rate of fire. At the same time, the remaining IFVs swarmed about the trio of Land Dreadnaughts like Destroyers protecting Battleships in a covering screen. At times, the swarm of seventeen vehicles would form a line to charge the war mech, only to break off as hard-mounted rocket pods released twin flame trails at the massive target. All the while, their Medium Shockwave Cannons kept up a constant barrage of Essence blasts. The Land Dreadnaughts advanced steadily towards the machine with their twin Heavy Storm Rails thundering strong enough to shake the ground beneath themselves.*

----
"Targeting calculations complete. Firing Barrel One and advancing on Combat Zone."

*The seas parted as a stream of plasma advanced in the wake of a blazing comet streaking towards the War Machine. Underneath the ocean waves, the original Massively Armored Reclamation Vehicle grinded its way to dry land. Few things could hope to match it. Was the War Machine capable? The MARV wished to know.*

[??????? ?? ????]

"I am commonly referred to as 23-671C. But I suppose you could call me Kuroneko," the young woman says.

"so a black cat is crossing my path. Are you here to bring me bad luck?"

*Above Ground*

Outside the building John Doe entered, the ground gives a sudden loud THUD the building thrusts up from the ground around it a good two or three feet as the armored woman with the CTC is about to enter. The soldiers with the woman all hear a soft popping noise in their ears before the building goes silent. The woman however gets the feeling that her quarry may be in serious trouble at that moment; the SIBLINGS with extrasensory abilities get a similar impression as well as a far off bell tolls in the distance inexplicably.

By the crater P-series sibling 'hears' the souls of the black material 'scream' soundlessly, even though she isn't even interfacing with them directly- they silence as she feels a soft thud in the ground and likely sees a building nearby shift upwards slightly.

As for the the EDUs and the three armored suited girls step out of the vehicle (and pause with the words of the armored woman?) someone spots a pair of red gleaming eyes in the building the squad disappeared into... and then another. And then several pairs more. There's suddenly a series of loud yowls which cut through the otherwise silent city before they charge out- a whole mob of bipedal cats (wearing boots) and wielding all sorts of random objects as weapons- bats, fish bone swords, spears of wood, and even a few with the weapons from the missing soldiers (with one even wearing a helmet of one of the soldiers- not that it fits at all), and cans of cat food which they lob like grenades at the EDUs. And just splatter cat food all over them to no effect at all.

Though many of their weapons seem harmless enough, these angry, murderous felines seem to mean business as they charge at the CTC and the armored woman.

*As she approaches the building, she stops to watch it bounce on its foundation* "Ah...well, there will always be those who stick their hands in a fire to spite conventional wisdom...this complicates matters. Lieutenant, just what kind of firepower can you call down to this area in the next five seconds?"

*She turns towards the CTC squad, only to stop, taking note that they are surrounded by a rather angry mob of cat like creatures. The tapping of her finger on the hilt of her sword suggests extreme annoyance*

"I don't suppose you two would like to arrive on time for once?"

*Seems to be talking to the air*

[Raleigh]

*The gateway Raleigh had left behind for moving materials flashes as three figures form standing within it. Ebony in a hybrid form along with the child (powered down) state Elenore and the ever handy Mower.* Ebony: Scarlet said to help them with evacuations. Good thing the viewing room works for any of us.

Elenore: We'll round up the chibi first I think. They haven't been reacting and their leader was injured. *Mower just nods its head.*

Ebony: Alright, I'll try to find whoever is in charge. Be quick since I can see a destructive array has been prepped where we are standing. Move as many of their troops as they will allow to our staging area before we lose this location. The boss would be unhappy should too many of them die I'm sure.

*The small emblem Raleigh had left behind continues to remain dormant and does nothing for now.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Outside the building John Doe entered, the ground gives a sudden loud THUD the building thrusts up from the ground around it a good two or three feet as the armored woman with the CTC is about to enter. The soldiers with the woman all hear a soft popping noise in their ears before the building goes silent. The woman however gets the feeling that her quarry may be in serious trouble at that moment; the SIBLINGS with extrasensory abilities get a similar impression as well as a far off bell tolls in the distance inexplicably.

By the crater P-series sibling 'hears' the souls of the black material 'scream' soundlessly, even though she isn't even interfacing with them directly- they silence as she feels a soft thud in the ground and likely sees a building nearby shift upwards slightly.

As for the the EDUs and the three armored suited girls step out of the vehicle (and pause with the words of the armored woman?) someone spots a pair of red gleaming eyes in the building the squad disappeared into... and then another. And then several pairs more. There's suddenly a series of loud yowls which cut through the otherwise silent city before they charge out- a whole mob of bipedal cats (wearing boots) and wielding all sorts of random objects as weapons- bats, fish bone swords, spears of wood, and even a few with the weapons from the missing soldiers (with one even wearing a helmet of one of the soldiers- not that it fits at all), and cans of cat food which they lob like grenades at the EDUs. And just splatter cat food all over them to no effect at all.

Though many of their weapons seem harmless enough, these angry, murderous felines seem to mean business as they charge at the CTC and the armored woman.

*As she approaches the building, she stops to watch it bounce on its foundation* "Ah...well, there will always be those who stick their hands in a fire to spite conventional wisdom...this complicates matters. Lieutenant, just what kind of firepower can you call down to this area in the next five seconds?"

*She turns towards the CTC squad, only to stop, taking note that they are surrounded by a rather angry mob of cat like creatures. The tapping of her finger on the hilt of her sword suggests extreme annoyance*

"I don't suppose you two would like to arrive on time for once?"

*Seems to be talking to the air*

Darius glances at the woman. "Without access to the rest of our forces outside, the best we've got is the anti-armor weapons on the vehicles. Probably enough to bring down a building or two, but that's about it," he admits, even as he toggles his comm. "Commence a fighting withdrawal! Lay down suppression fire to cover us!"

The vehicles immediately open fire, swivelling their point-defense turrets around to lash out with a barrage of laser fire. The EDUs, in particular, wade into the fray, the tossed cans of cat food bouncing off their force fields. Their arms glow as they synthesize gatling laser cannons, laying down additional stream of energy into the surging wave of cat-creatures.

The two V-series SIBLINGs move to try and safeguard the withdrawing soldiers, who back off, opening fire with grenades and electrolsers into the mass of cats. The E-series SIBLING is joined by her identical sister, and both unleash their railgun attacks, the ferromagnetic slugs glowing white-hot as they slam into the mass of cat-creatures at hypersonic speeds, shockwaves following in their wakes.

"so a black cat is crossing my path. Are you here to bring me bad luck?"

The young woman shakes her head. "No, my current mission is something different," she says.

[Raleigh]

Darius, I seem to be busy. Get your men out of here as fast as you can. If needs be I can provide some distractions though even from here.

((Ack, I already have 10 solutions to everything going on and I just thought up 6 of them since I got up this morning. Bah, I'll have to hold off on most for now though.))

[??????? ?? ????]

Darius glances at the woman. "Without access to the rest of our forces outside, the best we've got is the anti-armor weapons on the vehicles. Probably enough to bring down a building or two, but that's about it," he admits, even as he toggles his comm. "Commence a fighting withdrawal! Lay down suppression fire to cover us!"

The vehicles immediately open fire, swivelling their point-defense turrets around to lash out with a barrage of laser fire. The EDUs, in particular, wade into the fray, the tossed cans of cat food bouncing off their force fields. Their arms glow as they synthesize gatling laser cannons, laying down additional stream of energy into the surging wave of cat-creatures.

The two V-series SIBLINGs move to try and safeguard the withdrawing soldiers, who back off, opening fire with grenades and electrolsers into the mass of cats. The E-series SIBLING is joined by her identical sister, and both unleash their railgun attacks, the ferromagnetic slugs glowing white-hot as they slam into the mass of cat-creatures at hypersonic speeds, shockwaves following in their wakes.

"Then level the building. It won't be enough, but it will buy time." *That being said, she resumes her entrance into the building, her right hand idly toying with the basket hilt of the sword, her other moving in a blur to smash a heavily armored gauntlet against the face of a catminion who got to close.*

*Over the pitch of battle, the whine of an engine can be heard, something approaching at high speeds* "Reinforcements are here, get out if you can, or stay to fight and die gloriously Darius, it seems your part in this grand play is over" *as she enters the besieged/soon to besieged building, a rather large, off road motorcycle (like you might see in Advent Children) careens into view, a figure in blue highlighted powered armor at the controls, riding on the back, standing up with one hand for balance on the driver's back is someone in snow white armor, wielding a large machine gun of sorts, blasting fire and death towards the cat demons*

***
CTC Base
***

The young woman shakes her head. "No, my current mission is something different," she says.

"Don't let me stop you then" *She turns away from the woman, walking towards the center of the base*

[Anonymouse]

"Squeak squeak..."

*The Wastelands*

With projectiles and missiles firing every direction around the Colossus, it's a wonder that Corvus manages to grab just ONE missile and ride it back to the mechanized monstrosity without getting hit at least three dozen times. Regardless, as he approaches, the air before Corvus turns red and hazy before a barrier manifests visibly and slams into Corvus with equal force to his own attack. Ow.

Around this time, the CTC's surface to orbit laser fires its warning shot- but that doesn't seem to impress the Colossus continues it's slow yet steady march towards the CTC base. What DOES slow it down is when the blazing comet from the Steel Talon's MARV crashes into the barrier. This time, the barriers noticeably strain against the attack, burning white hot before the comet eventually is turned on itself in a huge conflagration of fire and light.

On the mech's legs, huge puffs of steam are released from bulbous mountings located at the middle section as it continues its forward progress gauss rounds and missiles continuing to be fired at the array of forces collected around it. However, some stray shots from essence cannons inexplicably pass through the barrier and strike the mech's physical body. It doesn't seems to sustain much damage, but Kriega seems to take stock on things a moment before projecting her voice.

"CONCENTRATE ALL FIREPOWER ON THAT THING'S FRONT LEFT LEG, THE BARRIER HAS WEAKENED THERE"

After issuing her command, the angel then raises her hands over her head and gathers essence between them. In a flash, a large golden sword forms from strands of light. More light strands form around the blade of the sword before solidifying into a larger blade, over twice the size of the initial blade. Her blazing corona of essence diminishes slightly as Kriega continues to pour essence into her sword, calling forth more light to form an even larger blade over what she's already formed... Looks like she's pulling out all the stops against the mech.

Said mech seems to have grown tired of how its broad array of weapons have been ineffective against the land dreadnaughts as its head swivels slightly, leveling two large cannons on the side of its head at the dreadnaughts. Flares of plasma gather in the cannons before releasing twin flares of energy at one of the dreadnaughts, sweeping from either side of it, to across the front of it like twin blades of fire.

For now, the Colossus doesn't seem to react to the three tetrahedrons, but given the way red sensory lasers from it's massive, eye like optics module are sweeping all over from the present battle, all the way out to the MARC and the tetrahedrons it's likely its at least spotted the four advancing toward it.

*The Ruined City*

As the CTC vehicles and troops begin their tactical retreat, firing into the mass of murderous felines, the building with Raleigh and John Doe shudders. The felines, unconcerned with this regardless continue their attack despite many being blown away by the lasers and ferromagnetic slugs that rip through the mass, eventually blasting hundreds of the little beasts in every direction. With the arrival of the armored pair on the battle bike, even more cats are blown away, sending some of the little monsters scurrying for cover, mewling pathetically.

Despite their losses, more of the monster cats pour out from little openings throughout the city, charging at the retreating force and the approaching bike, with even some of the cats managing to jump one of the EDUs- somehow phasing right through its shielding and with unnatural strength, begin to tear it to pieces like a tin can. Catching one of the EDUs seem to distract the cats for a moment, buying the CTC time get the heck out of dodge.

Inside the building, John Doe clasps hands with Raleigh- which is when time seems to stop for Raleigh.

All awareness of anything beyond his hand touching John Doe's seems to vanish, leaving him in a dark void of nothing with only a faint light. The light glimmers for an instant before exploding outwards, creating an extraordinary number of objects- stars, planets, comets, and eventually life. the life begins small, but evolves into any number of incredible creatures. Some fight their way to the top, while others aren't so lucky. With time, these creatures fall by the wayside, declining and eventually perishing regardless. This continues innumerable times before everything goes dark- regathering into another faint spec of light before the process of creation begins again. This cycle of creation and destruction repeats itself numerous times- eventually Raleigh sees his on genesis, and fast forwarding to the present he sees himself again in the Ruined City, clasping hands with John Doe. And John Doe's left hand stuck in his chest, pulling out a red sphere that by all rights, Raleigh never knew was there.

Ripping the sphere out, an enormous blast of energy rips through the building, shattering it entirely and sending chunks of concrete and steel raining down upon the cat monsters, the retreating CTC forces, and the approaching bike. But the movements of the cats seem to stop, all of them peering at John Doe and Raleigh who has somehow fallen flat on his back into the rubble. Nearby, the armored woman stands, somehow uninjured despite the explosion that ripped the building to pieces.

John Doe looks at the red sphere in his fist, no larger than a tennis ball with a mixture of awe and triumph, his dark eyes having become unnatural black voids as he allows himself a faint smile.

To Raleigh, his body feels fine- no injury from having the thing ripped out of his chest or the subsequent explosion. His spirit and energies all seem fine as well, and yet... he feels like something very important has been removed from his very being despite such.

Placing the sphere into a small black box which looks less painted, and more like black of night, John Doe looks down on Raleigh his smile widening.

"I have to thank you for this, Raleigh, my master will be most pleased that I was able to retrieve this from you..."

The cats suddenly turn tail from the CTC and their new reinforcements, beginning to flee the opposite direction since their master seems to have accomplished his mission.

"Though, now that I have this, I no longer have any use for you. Nothing personal, it's just business..."

An odd looking saw with what looks like a wood frame and a guillotine down the center forms in his free hand which he raises, and brings down in an arc toward Raleigh's face.

"Squeak squeak..."