Oct 03 20:01:24 108 PA - Assaulting a Coalition Outpost

From Chronicles

Oct 03 20:01:24 108 PA.

LANDING STRIP

Bartholemew arrives at the designated meeting point, truck loaded with whats needed and ready to carry the crew to where they need to get to.

Considering the magnitude of the fight they are likely to face, Sage has the appearance of a walking arsenal with the weapons that she carried. She's even shared some of her arsenal with the woman she walks near as if she were a bodyguard of sorts.

It's midday, the proper meeting time out here at the Landing Strip where so many of these types of missions begin. Gabriel is there, clad in armor and jet pack, a few rifles and such, leaning up against the side of a battered, tracked truck. It's cloudy and the drizzle is just enough to be annoying without being able to do much about it, as hats and coats often seem too heavy at this point.

Rubidia walks beside Sage with her bow on her shoulder and grenades on her belt. In comparison Sage would be Rambo, and Rubidia is the little Asian scout that’s good with a butter knife, sort of.

The drizzle is much easier to ignore when in full environmental armor. This is not a common state for Leonard, yet very appropriate for the current situation. He arrives on foot, conserving his reserves for more militant uses. Upon his right shoulder, the ever-watchful Edgar is perched. Above the other shoulder, a glowing sphere, roughly the size of a basketball, hovers, pulsing with stored mystical energies. Interestingly enough, the only blatant weapon on his person is a vibro-sword sheathed on his belt.

Jaxain arrived early himself, and is over by Gabriel checking over his new gear and adjusting straps. He doesn't appear armored, but he looks pretty damn loaded for bear aside from that, with at least two rifles visible. He nods a greeting both to those present and to the new arrivals. A little rain never hurt nobody.

Bartholemew gives a nod to all as they show up, "Howdy everybody." Giving a look at the battered old truck Gabe is leaning up, "That what we all plannin on travlin in?"

"Hey." Sage greets the others simply, before she looks over to the truck that seems to be the mode of transportation. "Well, it might be old enough to be considered unworthy of attention." She comments with faint amusement.

Gabriel looks up with a smile and shakes some of the wet out of his short and graying hair, his helmet currently hooked at his side. His gauntleted fist bangs on the battered vehicle. "No, no. I just bartered with a guy. Job done for truck use, but I promised I wouldn't destroy it. Just brought it along in case you didn't bring yours, Bart. You get to ride the pole position, so to speak, this puppy will stay home." Mixing metaphors is just fine. After greeting all, he makes a few short statements, beginning with thanking everyone for coming, then pointing out, "This is a very, very dangerous mission. We're going up against seasoned Coalition troops with an obvious special purpose. We're vastly outnumbered, out intelligence isn't entirely clear... and to top it off, I can't promise you that it will be anything more than a goodwill mission. Not like there's someone out there to pay us for victory. So, mull over that for a while before I get to my next point." He then goes silent, back to fixing up his gear.

"Ugh." Rubidia remarks, looking at the dirty decrepit truck. "Can I call for the limo service instead? I mean I know we want to go in low profile, but we do draw the line somewhere no?"

"I assume that everyone is otherwise prepared?" Leonard hopes that the query is merely rhetorical as he reaches those gathered about the vehicle. "How near do we plan to ride? We don't want to give them only one target to shoot at, inconspicuous or not." Noting the concern for the vehicle (of one kind or another), he adds, "As an alternative, we do not need to use a vehicle to travel. As I recall, the base is not far from the village I visited. We could simply walk from there."

Jaxain nods along with Gabe's speech, his face grim. "No problem." He says quietly, though he is certainly a bit more nervous than he tries to sound. He smiles at Rubudia's joke, but makes no comment other than that. "That might not be a bad idea." He says to Leo. "It's just too bad we don't have a way to infiltrate the base."

Bartholemew chuckles, "I'm all good to go. Gotta do a good deed once in a while. Don'cha? Let the guy keep his tractor, we'll take mine. Don't worry Rubi, you can sit up front with me." Quite a bit more up to date, Triax Type B Hover Vehicle, for those that know such things by looking, but still should be inconspicuous, it's just a work vehicle. Giving a questioning look to everyone, "Anyone gotta plan for this little party?"

Gabriel nods quickly to Leonard. "Yes, we'll drive out to the same point that the four of us disembarked before, then hoof it in. Derwentwater seems like a peaceful enough place, so I assumed that a stopover would be appropriate for a few minutes of rest." Then he turns and gives Bartholemew a solid nod. "As for the plans for the party, and running it, Bart is actually the one with the most recent eyes-on intelligence. As such, I've turned over 'command' of the mission - if you'll accept that term - to him. I'll chip in when I can, as the only other military man here - no offense intended. As for getting in though? Again, I'll defer to Bart, but Sage, you seemed to have some information about the village people?"

Sage makes a faint noise of amusement about the transportation before nodding to the decision about taking Bart's ride. "Well, this might be one of the few times we do something to protect our own city despite them not seeming to care at this point." She replies, seemingly to leave the topic of the payment untouched. "As for a plan, I imagine we would do well to try to get help from the villagers since they have abilities beyond that of normal people... and they're bound to run into issues with the Coalition no matter how sneaky they think themselves to be." She comments, "My visions suggest they would ask us why they should help... and another that suggested they will help." She comments, "Leonard is able to communicate with them easily enough. We will need to be careful around one particular little boy as he can drain e-clips and such."

Rubidia smiles at Bart, clearly approving of the upgrade. "You're hired." She voices in approval, moving closer to the soldier when her brows raise at the mention of a plan. "Well I don’t know a lot about this stuff but I remembered you guys mentioning a radio tower. Anyone here good with radios?"

Leonard tips his head to Sage and her words before nodding. "The villagers attempting to hide from the CS in plain sight, as best as I can tell. It would be safe enough to stop near there, but I wouldn't expect their aid, nor do I think that we should endanger them by drawing too much attention their way. The boy's ability to drain energy is another good reason not to move too close nor linger."

Jaxain shakes his head, at little relieved to have something approaching a plan coming into place. He moves closer to Bart, nodding his head in recognition. "I'll follow your lead, boss, just tell me where to go." He grins at the other man. When Leonard speaks he frowns slightly, "You do not think we can gain their aid? Surely they must know their very survival is in question, the very first time a Dog Boy strolls through town."

Bartholemew nods in acceptance, "S"long as nobody objects." looking to everyone gathered, a clear grin given to Rubi as she approves. "I have a plan, but it's only based upon my ability. And it includes dealing with that comm tower. Why don't we hit the road and discuss it along the way." Bein no one seems to object, he makes the first move to load up. "Everyone got a radio?" he calls out to everyone.

Sage briefly considers the words spoken by Leo, "Yeah, I suppose no matter what happens there'll still by Whykin and if they help us too much, we could be the ones that brings them into danger if we force their hands." She replies, "Assuming they can stay hidden." She pauses, before shrugging. When she looks to Bart, she taps the side of her helmet lightly. "Built-in. And, I guess we might as well get moving... otherwise, we might end up planning with a round of drinks if we linger too long here." She takes a breath and lets it out.

The older man listens, feeling for a moment as if he'd suddenly spoken over top of Sage, but it passes. He's quite interested in the seemingly drastic difference in opinion between the psychic and the mage regarding the usefulness of the wilderness village. For the moment, he leaves it to them to discuss, and offers some military advice. "I see a few things to deal with. First is the issue of reinforcements. If they can contact Whykin, we're screwed, or at least the mission is. Thus, the initial hit should be the repeater that Bart reported on, up on top of the tall ridge; apparently they built themselves in a comm shadow for some reason. Idiots." Gabriel shakes his head at the helpful folly. "Then there's the issue of defense. Probably expect mines in the cleared area, and possibly even some perimeter defenses. Booby-traps." There's a shrug, and he holds his hands out as if these are obvious thoughts. As for the radio question, he just taps the helmet of his Crusader EBA, where the good people were nice enough to include a radio. "Like Sage said - we can talk as we roll."

Rubidia hops into the truck, turning on her radio for easy continued conversation. "Well I was thinking about that. I have my computer with me. If someone's good with a radio it could be hooked up and jam all their frequencies with a music broadcast."

"I don't know that we could," Leonard affirms to Jaxain, "and even if we did... What would a few brave souls with barely a rusty piece of armor or rifle between them accomplish other than getting themselves killed?" He subsequently nods his agreement to Bartholemew and Gabriel in turn. "We can plan further on the way, but, yes, the radio tower should be top priority. Once we stop, I'll also need to make a momentary detour. I've invited an acquaintance to join us, and expect that her aid will be appreciated." He moves to board the truck, as well.

Jaxain nods to Leonard, "True, if they are mostly helpless then we should not risk endangering them, but if they are more than they appear..." He lets the words hang, looking at Sage. He then blinks, realizing that he does not have a radio, nor has he ever owned one or know how to use one. "Ummm, no, I don't have a radio..." He grins sheepishly, feeling rather foolish for not thinking of it beforehand. He makes his way towards the vehicle with the others.

Once everyone is loaded up, Bart hands out communicators to those that are in need and revs up the engine of his truck and heads out. Bein not everyone can be inside the cab, he uses radio to talk to everyone. "Alright folks, party's started. I got the tower covered, CR-1 Rocket should do the trick. Just gotta knock down the antenna for the most part. As for the village, the majority of us should skirt the outside of the village and let those that think they can get some sort of help, do so. What ever that may be."

"I'm not that good with a radio myself." Sage replies to Rubidia's idea, "I should probably learn one of these days." She adds before shrugging and climbing into the vehicle. She considers the plan as they unfold. "I think there may be SAMAS patrols as well. Might have to keep an eye out for that, but I do have some thermal imaging with telescopic that could probably tell if they are around."

"Vixen's back?" Gabriel asks Leonard with an interested tone, but quickly drops it, as he apparently decides that she probably wouldn't qualify as that kind of assistance. Rubidia gets a thumbs-up, even though as she's in the cab and he's crouched in the bed with his L-20 wrapped around his arm, she can't see it. It's mental. "Your computer have that kind of range, Ruby? A thousand yards is a long way. I can't even shoot that far. As for the villagers, if they can help, they should help. They may be innocents, but sooner or later someone's going to come after them, and if this outpost isn't eliminated, it would probably be the 'sooner' of the two. But that's just my opinion. I have.. used villagers before." His radio then falls immediately silent. The rain is really starting to pick up now, and the dirt road will start to become slick soon.

Rubidia looks heartbroken at the mention of the rocket launcher for the radio tower, abolishing her contribution. "But that won't stop their local radio." She says, grasping for a means to be more than a shiny light.

"No," is Leonard's radio answer to Gabriel. "Unfortunately, she is still occupied with other projects. She could very well disable their communications in some fashion. As it is, it's better to simply bring the tower down. Missiles, explosives, disintegration... whatever it requires. Without it, their personal transmitters will likely be blocked by the ridge. As for the SAMAS, Edgar can help in keeping an eye on the skies.'

Jaxain is mostly silent, being a newer addition the the group, and for the moment is content to listen to the wisdom and experience of the (seemingly) veteran campaigners. He has very little idea what to expect on this mission, though he is determined to do his best to help how he can.

Bein a hover vehicle, the mud ain't all that bad to maneuver through, hate to be standing outside though. Bart replies, "I agree with Gabe, if the villagers can and are willing, we should use every resource possible." Not commenting on Rubi's comment, but he does get a smile at the thought. "Leonard, did you already have a good relation with the villagers?"

"As long as we don't feed the strange kid with energy, they seem to be friendly enough... maybe we can meet them away from the kid." Sage comments, "It'd be interesting if we could sic the kid's energy sapping on the Coalition's clips... but I'm not sure if there's a safe way to do it."

"Bart, I think that distance is going to be the first factor in taking out the tower. Your missile has the range, obviously, to fire from the treeline. But we could try - try - to keep ourselves hidden just a little longer if I might be able to go around to the north side, get up top on my 'pack, maybe bring Jaxain with me for defense. Slap a bunch of grenades to it, demo it and be gone. At least, in an ideal world." Gabriel doesn't seem to mind that he just recruited his friend without so much as a heads-up. "After that, the issue becomes clearing the.. clearing. Heh." He then bitches that, "The range on these modern weapons sucks, I just want you all to know." Rain continues, and the trees close in, as they do."

Rubidia crosses her arms and glares at Bart, her mind reaching out to his as she seems to silently pout over being ignored. She certainly plays the petulant child perfectly.

Leonard considers Gabriel's wisdom. "Why not plan for both? If you can reach the tower unnoticed and destroy it, all the better. If things do not go well," such as, say, being reduced to constituent atoms, "Bartholemew can still use his missiles." Leonard is not a military genius, but it seems a good idea to have redundancy. "Also, my acquaintance could also help in that, if necessary."

Jaxain nods at Leo's comment "That sounds like a good plan, Leonard." he says, before turning back to Gabriel and smiling beneath his helmet, giving him a thumbs-up since he is in the back of the vehicle near the other man. "Yeah, man, that sounds good! Can you carry me with that thing, is that what you mean?" He has no problem trudging along underneath, but he certainly won't be nearly as fast.

Bartholemew replies to Sage's comment of the kid, "Only those who think they can get through to the villagers will enter the village. The rest of us will circle it to meet them on the other side. This way, no worries bout the kid." His reply then goes directly into a response to Gabe. "That's an idea Gabe, an like Leonard mentioned, I can be back up there. Now the clearing, any thoughts. I got nothing special for that, cept try an make it across without bein spotted. Any fancy magic that can get us across and over the walls?"

"We could just take the e-clips away from the people that speak to the villagers to make sure that the kid isn't a factor there." Sage offers, "And, no magic spells around him either if possible." She adds, deciding not to single out anyone. "As for getting over walls, I might be able to help one or two people over a wall. Unless Leo has something better."

Meanwhile, in the cab, Rubidia screams at Bartholemew telepathically: "HEY! STOP IGNORING ME ALREADY!"

The radio is quiet for a moment before Gabriel speaks again. "Yeah, Jax, unless you weigh more than you look, we can hug like lovers for a while and make it there. Getting over the walls? I don't have any ingenious thoughts on that one, just yet. There's the gate, but that's a hike for anyone who doesn't want sore feet, I suppose. Jax and I will split off at Derwentwater and go south around the back side of the ridge. No flying, just a good endurance hike under the canopy. Sage's idea's a good one, about dealing with the villagers. Creepy kid." He clicks off, then adds, "Oh, and I won't be transmitting until the tower blows, or I'm dead - in which case I won't transmit either. I don't know if their comm is good to intercept, but just in a bad place to transmit. Mother Nature's kinda helping." Indeed. The rain is becoming a storm, complete with wind, as the road becomes even narrower.

Rubidia continues to glower at Bart until she sees the sure sign that she finally has his attention. "As I've been trying to say, blowing up the tower won't stop the radio communication inside the outpost, just the maydays. Allowing them to coordinate and communicate."

"If the wall was described accurately," Leonard notes, "getting over it will be much less an issue than getting /too/ it. Opening a rift is not especially accurate, and I don't think that the other means of teleportation known to me have enough range to reach the wall or within from outside the range of their weapons. We could end up miles away, or dead in their sights. Neither would help us any." A sigh is heard on further talk of the village. "I don't want to involve them, or delay us in attempting to. Removing the outpost is the task at hand, and I intend to do that. By myself, if necessary."

Jaxain smiles and shakes his head, "Nah man, I'm packed pretty light." It's true too, without armor he is probably among the lightest in the vehicle even with his weapons. "A little bit of snugglin' followed by lots of death and danger sounds like a good first date to me." He is quiet at Leonard's speech, noting the ominous ending, but not having anything of use to add.

Bartholemew is startled by something, "Huh?! Wha?!" his eyes falling on the annoyed starlet just as he drops his communicator to the floor of the cab. "Damn! Um, the radio, not sure on that. I don't have equipment for that."

"She does have a point." Sage replies before taking a moment to consider the implications of that. "Not sure how we can counter that..."

"Do a lot of damage as quickly as possible, unless someone can jam them. Ruby, I could take you up top instead of Jax if you want access to the transmitter up close." Gabriel remains brief this time.

"I have a transmitter with me that’s good for a mile and a half, just not the skill to hook it up to their system. So if someone here is good with a radio, we should be able to connect and broadcast so they cant." Rubidia explains, sounding a tad exasperated.

Leonard agrees with Gabriel, once again. "Those of us not attacking the tower, specifically, will be assaulting the outpost, itself, then? I can close the distance quickly enough, and conjure defenses against whatever firing positions they have. Affecting their communications aside from destroying the tower is beyond me, however." He is not the most technologically-inclined.

Jaxain shrugs, willing to go along with whatever is best for the team, and nods as Ruby answers. "Sorry, I'm not all that good with hi-tech gear." He looks at the others, then back outside as they get ever closer their destination.

Bartholemew struggles a bit to regain his radio from the floor, kicking it around a bit until he can reach it. Between that and the storm building, it makes for a rough ride for those in back for a moment. When he does finally have his radio in hand, "If no one can hook up the device, then we still need to beat the clearing. We could try an assault from along the bottom of the ridge coming up from the south, fewer guns can come to bear on us from that vantage point. I could also play sniper on the heavy guns. I think I have the range to hit 'em from the edges of the clearing."

"If I end up being close to their leaders, I can probably cause some havoc by virtue of my abilities... but I guess it'll depend on how things go." Sage chips in, "I could wish I was better at technology... but, I wouldn't be who I am now if I was." She shrugs faintly.

Gabriel can't help but chuckle over the radio a little, even though he knows that there's probably going to be some wrath involved. "Hell, Ruby, here I thought that you actually had an idea! I know radios, but I don't have the skill to do a technical patch like that. We'll just blow the damn antennae and worry about their local control when and if it becomes a problem." He seems to have made up his mind for everyone on the issue. "Yeah, Leo, if you can do anything just to simply let everyone else close to within weapon range, but without tripping over mines I think that would be a good idea. Or I dunno, gates, coming up along the walls from the edges. That's very difficult, but potentially - in a way - less lethal than an open minefield. Look alive people, this is about where a bunch of assholes jumped us last time we were picnicking." The truck rumbles along, the rain continues to fall. He tightens his grip on the olde wilderness rifle. "You said cleared to a thousand yards, Bart?" he asks as a clarification.

Rubidia sighs, hitting the epitome of lament as the group turns out incapable of capitalizing on her idea. "Ok then, Looks like a regular shootout instead. When things get going I highly recommend no one hang around within 30 feet of me if I'm lit. And if I get surrounded I will drop a blinder, that’s 120 feet. Keep it in mind."

Bartholemew replies over the radio, "Yup, bout a thousand yards, my new toy can shoot about that far. Three thousand feet is about a thousand yards. With my other gear, I'm sure I can get close enough to hit most of 'em that will be a problem and stay outta sight. It'll give ya a chance if they spot ya on the way in towards the walls." With the warning his attention falls to outside the vehicle to keep an eye out as he talks.

Leonard turns his attention outward at the reminder of their location, although he still comments on the defenses. "If they are weaker to the south, that is where we should strike. The wall was reportedly easy enough to clear with a jet pack or even rope. Worst case, I can open a portal /through/ it, if needed."

Jaxain raises an eyebrow, looking at Rubidia and considering what her words could possibly mean. Lit? Huh... well, he supposes he will find out soon enough. "Ok, so back to the other plan, Gabriel and I take out the tower. Afterward, if there is a concentration of fire on a certain point you can just drop me in the middle of 'em, and provide long rage cover yourself, or if things are well handled we can both snipe from afar." He looks at Leonard, "Can you open one portal to the wall, then another though the wall? That would surprise the pants off of them, and give you a low profile entrance." Jaxain pages: hehe.

"Last time we ran into the guys around here, there were mines worked into the road..." Sage comments, keeping an eye on the road itself to see if she can pick out something that seems odd or a little off. "We were able to keep driving even with the damage inflicted by the mine, though." She adds.

"Think we're approaching the drop point, Bart. Everyone get ready to hike," Gabriel says over the radio. Indeed, he goes so far as to nearly get to his feet in the truck's bed. Now the wind is even picking up, blowing leaves onto the wet and muddy road. "If someone can get eyes on the gate, it might be a good idea. Of course, all of this comes down to timing too." He just waits for the truck to stop in a mile or two.

Rubidia is probably the fastest one here, walking faster the most people run as she gets out of the truck. But unfortunately she does not do so with any look of awareness on how to move without getting noticed. Otherwise she'd probably make a perfect scout. In lieu of that she merely sticks close to Sage for the moment and awaits direction.

Leonard is quick to disembark and attempt to get his bearings. While not especially quick, he moves with determination and purpose. "Just to be clear, Gabriel and Jaxain will be coming from the north-east at the tower on the ridge, and the rest of us will move around to the south to wait for it to go down?" His helm turns to all with the question.

Jaxain stays on the truck for now, following Gabe's lead. "Where to from here?" he asks, having no other questions at the moment.

Bartholemew pulls up to the drop off point, facing the vehicle back the other way for a fast get away if need be. After climbing out the vehicle he says to everyone, "Up to you folks, I can be your eyes and guardian angel, or I can ground pound it with you all. Either way is fine by me. I'm thinkin as guardian, we can do more precise damage. I can always catch up when the fight hits the other side of the walls."

Once the truck is settled into place, Sage climbs out to get her body used to being outside of the confines the truck imposed. "Having a guardian might be good." She comments, "Might help us adjust to changes in the situation." She adds, "But, I'm not a military mind." She notes before she starts to get her bearings. "The wagon path that leads to the village is over there." She comments gesturing in the direction.

OFF OF THE KINGSDALE-WHYKIN TRAIL

Gabriel looks from Leonard to Sage as he readies himself to move through the woods. "Have we made a decision about the villagers? If you don't need us, then yeah, we'll just start southeast now, pull in around the ridge and wait, give you guys time to make it there. But I need a good estimate of time. Talking to Derwentwater would obviously slow it. We'll have to eventually break comm silence, but I don't want to do it when we're all miles apart." Then a hand is waved at Bart. "Don't know what you've decided to do about clearing the wall, gate whatever, either. But the pot shots are a good idea; hit the important stuff first and all." He shrugs. "Right now? I just know my end of the job. This weather's fantastic." A hand is held out as large drops fall through the canopy.

"Edgar can also provide some eyes in the sky, so to speak," Leonard notes. With that, the raven leaves his shoulder to take flight. If the weather bothers it, the avian does not let it show. The man's steps pause as a belated revelation is made, and he looks to the two military men. "It is just the tower that needs to be brought down, yes? Not any other buildings that may be on the ridge? If so, we may not need to split up at all." The idea formed late, but better then than never.

Jaxain hops off the truck as well, stretching and wiping some of the rain off of his coat. "Ok, ready to go!" He says, then he stops and tilts his head to the side at Leo's words, wondering where this new information might lead.

Bartholemew grabs his gear to play sniper from the truck, buckling on the ghillie suit over his light urban armor before heading out. Slinging his rifle over one shoulder and his rocket launcher and pack of missiles over the other. Wrapping a belt of grenades round his waist. "Haven't done this kinda hoofin it for quite some time." he chuckles. Once loaded he locks up the vehicle and follows those who know where this village is. "Might not need to take out buildings, but there is a Triple A Battery and Rail gun setup that could prove issue if left able to be manned." commenting to Leo. "Things could still change, depending on the villagers."

"Well, if we're thinking about getting help from the villagers... someone can be the designated anti-social holding the equipment." Sage suggests, "It's kind of up to Leo since he's the only one that'll be able to communicate with them easily." She adds, looking to the mage in question.

Gabriel decides that moving toward the village is at least getting closer to the base, even if they aren't going to stop there, and he motions the rest like herding small children down the path. "Talk on the way, guys." That's all that he has to say on the subject for now.

Rubidia moves to follow closer to Gabriel. He so strong wanted her here after all. Maybe he can advise her. "So what can I do?" She asks, trying to shed her frustration from her earlier failing and find a new pedestal to sit on.

Bartholemew trudges along following along, the weather not too big a deal for the seasoned soldier, marching seems to come second nature to him. "I'll stay with the gear, let the magic and psi folks handle the social call. I'll meet ya on the other side of the village, give ya plenty of time to talk and convince em to help."

When Sage recalls Leo's mention of getting a helper, she turns her attention towards the others as they depart and she makes a quick little jog to catch up to where Rubidia remains. "I actually have an idea for you, Rubidia." She announces, "You and I can speak with the villagers. Perhaps a little star power can charm them over." She offers.

Gabriel smiles at Rubidia, and though it's obviously not visible, it's likely heard. It also confirms much of what the other lady on the trip just said. "*You*, my dear, are a shining star, and now is a moment to shine. You mentioned blinding people? Blind them! Particularly anyone at the heavy weapons. You kind of float, right? Maybe you could clear the minefield." There's a chuckle, as he says, "Hell, even just doing the whole bright-and-flashy thing would distract them for a while. I doubt they've seen those like you before." He unzips his travel pack just enough to pull out one of the maps that he'd made and distributed, showing the road, village's approximate location and the placement of the outpost. "But right now, we're here, so you've got time to think of how you want to glow. Hope you didn't wear your high heels for this one." He gives Bart a solid nod of recognition, and asks, "Up to you Sage, I can talk to the good folk of Derwentwater if you want, or just go around and be on my way."

Rubidia looks at the map and her jaw drops shaking her head slightly. "It's going to take this group four hours to cover that. I'm supposed to wait around for that long? Boring. I can cover that in twenty minutes. I could recon the base and beat the rest of the group to the village that is halfway there. Why don’t I do that, for the sake of my sanity? I mean this traveling stuff is already wearing on me, and I'm sure I'm wearing on others too."

Jaxain seems more surprised by Rubidia's statements of speed and boredom to do more than just look impressed and surprised. He walks with the others.

Bartholemew looks to Rubi, "Why don't ya go check out that village then, and get to talkin. By the time we get there, ya should have em eatin outta the palm of your hand."

Sage is likely the more familiar with the singer's talents, even if she might be prone to protective underestimation at times. "If you do talk to the villagers, Rubidia, you will feel a number of probes. They don't seem to do any harm, though." She mentions, "But, if you're feeling less sociable right now, perhaps it may be best to get some scouting done... she would do it faster than the rest of us coordinated."

After listening to the short conversation, Gabriel suggests, "Whatever the outpost has, I doubt they'll be really listening in for general chatter in the area. We're going to start bending southeast from here, because the storm is a great help for the noise and camo, but it'll make the march slower. If you run into trouble, call 'Have Green,' if you join up with the villagers, call 'Castle Bravo.' 'Cadillac' once you're in the general area near the outpost. 'Fusion Run' when you're actually in place - wherever that may be. When I hear that, Jax and I will set up to take out the tower, and you can brief us real fast over a local band." He looks to all the others as they continue in. "Sound like a plan?" Apparently Rubidia is being left to her own devices, with Sage's assistance.

Rubidia nods to Bart and Sage. "I'll do both. I just need some space to clear my head, I had invested too much emotion into my other idea I guess." She notes with some consideration to her abrasive attitude as she turns to head out. "Shield your eyes." She advises before bursting into brilliant light that one might mistake for a small sun with its intensity. Looking at her hurts. And then she is gone, though visible making her way south for a few moments. She is fast.

"Holy sh..!!!" Jaxain exclaims. "Did you see that?!" The others had a moment's time to blink at the expected light. Jaxain, being new to town has yet to see one of the woman's sparkling performances, and is quite mesmerized by the show. In fact, he's even slightly night-blinded by it; thankfully his own natural reflexes kept him from any lengthy harm.

Bartholemew shrugs as he shields his eyes, "Well I want everyone to use their strengths, so if speed is yours Rubi, go for it. Do your thing and be careful. We'll catch up eventually." He gets it all out, even though Rubi is gone long before he finishes. Shrugging again he says to Gabe with a bit of a chuckle to Jax, "Sounds good, then we'll wait for the fireworks." having seen the light show before.

Sage seems to have gotten rather used to when the light show would begin as she has her eyes away from the light before it has a chance to make much impression on the matter. "I've seen that many times." She murmurs, not really needing to see what is looks like as if she has the imagery in her mind's eye. "I dare say if we were all as fast as she, we could give the Coalition a real headache." She mentions, "Any place in particular you guys want me as this unfolds?" She keeps moving towards their current direction.

Gabriel is barely on the edge of being out of the group, with Jaxain in tow. "Dammit, I hope she only goes to the village like that. Don't need a fireworks display for the Coalition." He hesitates only momentarily to rebalance his gear.

Leonard maintains his dislike of involving the villagers, but will not stop others from attempting. It grants him time to further consider his idea. He finally explains, "Edgar can disable the radio tower, and inconspicuously, rather than you and Jaxain splitting off. For now, while Rubidia investigates the village, I will contact our ally and make her aware of the current details. Sage pages: No, I imagine curing cancer would call for a more elaborate one. ;)

"What's an Edgar?" Jaxain asks, boots up to the ankle in mud as he's about to disappear with Gabriel.

With Leonard speaking up about the Comm tower Bart looks to him questioning, "You sure he can do it? He is just a bird." not sounding as if he believes a bird can do it.

"He isn't just a bird." Sage comments simply, "And, while I don't necessarily like asking the villagers for help... I will point out that it would probably be better to warn them something is about to happen either way."

Gabriel comes back into the throng after Leonard has said his peace. "Wow. Nice parrot! If this works, I'll buy you a very fashionable peg-leg." Apparently he's seen enough to believe. "You know, this dimensional stuff you do... is there any chance that you could grab one of their soldiers and, ah.. I dunno, bring him out to me? It seems like having someone 'on the inside' might be useful, if I could get back in, and.. actually being on the inside is something that I've done rather well over my lifetime. Hopefully before any action occurs?" With the radio being - for the moment - someone else's problem, he's moving on. Also, continuing to move down the wagon trail, as it's better than blazing a trail through the trees when everyone else is suddenly changing plans. The comment about the villagers lands largely mute on him except for, "Expecting panic?"

"Oh, I'm quite certain that he can do it." Leonard chuckles, and resumes his steps. "Your assumption is one that I expect any CS sentries to also make. I will return shortly with our ally. Please be polite, and not attack her." That warning given, he moves off to locate one possibly bored Chokespawn, en route to his travel to their staging area south of the outpost.

Jaxain still seems interested in the bird and the shiny woman. This expedition is finally getting really weird.

Bartholemew comments on the villager topic, "Most I'm lookin for is that the villagers might know something we may have missed. If anything more, that all bonus." He doesn't say anything more, content with trudging along through the mud, and content with Leonard's confidence.

"That could help too, yes." Sage agrees before glancing to Leonard with an askance look. "Something tells me it's a good thing Cel isn't on this little trip." She comments quietly, before shrugging. This situation is likely going to get rather interesting as things go on.

Gabriel asks once more, but differently, "If I can get inside, I can plant grenades, overload weapons and such. Well, I can *try* to do all of that. But no one's going to let me inside unless I look like I belong there. If no one can grab one from inside, perhaps someone can be flushed out. I don't know. Maybe it's a stupid thought anyway." A smile to Jaxain. "Sorry, no hugging, apparently."

A momentary flash of light from the direction of Leonard's departure suggests his further departure to ...elsewhere. If his claim was truthful, and all goes well, he shall return as stated.

Jaxain looks confused for a moment before he get's Gabriel's reference, and he smiles at the man before returning his worried gaze in the direction Leonard had gone. He wonders what the cryptic magic user meant... “Getting someone from the inside would be great, but pretty tough. If we want a distraction it might be a good idea for you to start sniping from one direction while we infiltrate from another.” He shrugs.

Bartholemew nods to Jax, "I plan to get a vantage point to be able to hit most of their defenses. See how it goes though." the brief flash off to the side catches his attention out of not expecting that light show.

"If one were drawn out, I could perhaps convince him to give himself up..." Sage comments, "But, we'd need them drawn out first." She comments to Gabriel's potential plan. "And that's assuming it can be done without alerting everyone else."

The older Gabriel seems to be getting grumpy. "Look, we need to move. I want to get there before daylight and hopefully before the storm's over. It's -" he checks his watch "- eleven-hundred hours right now and I'm not sure how fast we'll move. Just get to the village, and decide on the spot what you want to do. Warn, ignore, ask for help, whatever. The plan was looking good right up until it started to unravel again." He stomps forward down the trail, obviously expecting to be followed. Maybe not stopping even if he isn't. "Jax, you coming?"

Jaxain never stopped, and was right behind Gabe the entire time. "Yep!" He says from close by, matching the old guy's pace, though with difficulty. "Ready to rock, man!"

Bartholemew chimes in maybe a bit sternly, "Listen, the plan hasn't changed. Comm tower is being handled. We're gonna find out about the villagers. Assault will come from the south along the bottom of the ridgeline. I'm gonna position myself to take out the big guns along the walls. An so far that's all we've decided so far. If anything, the bird has made things easier." Never does he stop his pace, if anything he just picked up the pace and starts moving ahead of the others following the trail.

Sage hadn't stopped her feet either, but she does add a little more pace to her steps as the old soldier seems to develop a little burr about the plan. "Guess we'll make any adjustments based on what Rubidia finds." She comments simply, before falling silent as her focus shifts to their little march/jog towards the village.

Gabriel grunts as he considers remaining options. "I hope she turned out the lights before burning past the base."

The air is suddenly alive with calls on standard and non-standard Coalition frequencies in a strange code that sounds in phrases such as, "Ublureak mominguarpok erksinartok takiyok kreayok! Ogiarput!" The voices are very excited.

IN AND APPROACHING THE VILLAGE OF DERWENTWATER

Rubidia arrives in the village like the coming of a goddess to her worshipers, or a demoness, depending on how they regard beings composed of light. Though she cuts it out once inside to keep the fawning or arming to a minimal and pulls out her translator to see what they make of her.

A hundred yards, give or take, ahead of the travelers on point and nearly the same off the trail, a new tear in the multiverse forms. As Leonard implied, aiming a self-generated rift in a scale less than miles is similar to attempting to snipe a single soldier with an ICBM. He was reasonably close, this time, at the least. The tear expands to at least twice the man's height, which is more than enough to allow him passage yet a rather snug fit for the being that follows him.

Stepping through the tear after Leonard is a twelve-foot tall, pointy eared, red-eyed, toothy, tailed and muscled being. A gurgoyle, for those who recognize such things. It carries only a sword, a knife, a club, and very unusually a form of ancient grappling hook that looks nasty to tangle with. When it speaks, it is in Demongogian, and sounds like a deep growl. Strangely though, the way that it carries its head and shoulders makes it look almost... sheepish.

Jax, at least somewhat familiar with rifts, is still quite impressed by the one that opens now and his jaw drops within his helmet. "What the..." he says, shaking his head to clear it. "Hey, Gabriel, what was that message you figure?" he says, though his attention is instantly drawn back to the portal as.... a giant stone looking creature steps out. "Uhhhhh...." He says, starting to reach for his swords (which are no longer present) before he remembers Leo's words. "Hi?" He ventures.

Bartholemew points to his radio with some excitement, "This is the stuff I heard last time I was reconning the place. Anyone understand that?" That excitement is traded for an attentive look as the Rift appears in the distance unexpectedly. Unused to the display he instinctively unshoulders his rifle. It's not until this instinctual reflex passes that he remembers Leo was getting help, hopefully this beast is the help. Scanning the distance with his telescopic sights to be sure.

Sage may touch her weapon, but she's seen Leonard rift into a place before to give the Rift the benefit of the doubt. At least she can be sure it wouldn't be the Coalition. The arrival of Leonard is confirmation enough, but the giant slab of supernatural beast that follows him does draw her attention. "Yep... definitely glad Cel isn't here."

Gabriel has an odd view of things. Perhaps coming from a totally different world gives him a very strange edge of sorts, in that not much phases him. Not much phases him like this, because usually there's not much he can do about it anyway. He does offer a, "Wow." But then, "I think that our little performer tipped them off. They wouldn't have suddenly broken into the airwaves like this for no reason." He frowns inside his helmet and punches once at the sky. "Now it's time to really hurry, folks. Might not have time to chat with the villagers. We'll see. I'm sure that the situation has greatly changed."

"We return," Leonard begins, before introductions are in order. A gesture is made to the much larger being, "This is Chokespawn, and she will be demonstrating her courage and hunting talents for our benefit." His other hand subsequently gestures to his humanoid companions while his words shift to Demongogian, to do the reverse with the gurlgoyle. Names are recognizable even to those unfamiliar with the tongue as he expresses that they are all allies in this. The sudden (to him) change of events and urgency cause a short comment before he also turns to move with haste. "In that case, we'd better hurry." With any luck, Edgar will be able to soon be near enough to update him on anything happening at the outpost.

As the villagers don’t drop to their knees but don’t take up weapons either Rubidia starts to explain why she's there and what's going to transpire tonight. She makes no plea for aid, merely saying that if there are warriors that wish to fight for assured freedom, now is the time. And if there are none then perhaps they should take what precautions they can. As the hornet's nest is already stirred, and about to be clubbed.

Chokespawn, as she is apparently called, is a very polite gurgoyle, even doing a.. well, not quite a bow, but obviously some kind of gesture of gentle, non-violent greeting. She speaks to Leonard, who is apparently the only one who can understand her.

Jaxain mutters a few mystic words as they travel, casting a simple spell to allow him to understand languages. "Ok, someone wanna see if they can repeat the message from memory?" He asks, looking around, "Or from a recording?" He looks at the gurgoyle and says, in Demogog, <<Nice to meet you. Name's Jax, as I am sure you were just told.>> He looks at the others, "I might be able to get the message now."

Bartholemew doubles his pace, used to forced march conditions, though the storm doesn't make it easy. "Good to have ya back Leo, your friend too. Welcome aboard Chokespawn." that’s about all he offers as he passes by in his onward march to the village.

"Nice to have another friend this day. Thank you for coming Chokespawn." Sage greets simply, but the urgency of the matter has her picking up her pace to make it to their destination faster. There isn't much time for pleasantries if they are to accomplish anything here.

Gabriel is jogging and perhaps considering using the 'pack, if things weren't so fantastically concealed at the moment. "Hi, Choke. Better listen to Leo, I don't know if the people we're coming up to are going to be as regularly accepting as we are. Thanks for helping though." Language barriers be damned!

Rubidia smiles as quite a number of men step forward to fight with them and smiles warmly, thanking them for their sacrifice and promising it is not made lightly or at all if possible. She then leads the division of about fifty able men to the north side of the village to reunite with the others.

Leonard takes note of the invocation Jaxain uses, which serves as inspiration. Before breaking into a heavy hustle, he does the same, imparting the ability to the gurlgoyle. Language barriers could be a fatal hindrance. "You will be able to understand our language, now, and speak it, for a time. We must hurry. Our enemies may know something is coming, now, and be preparing to fight." After a few moments of the hustle, he adds, "If you could help some of us to travel faster, please do." Himself, included, as he has not had the chance to use the treadmill at Harry's nearly as much as he should. Added, on the radio, "The minefield may now be gone, but they're preparing for company." That might explain a few things.

Chokespawn is huge, but surprisingly gentle, grabbing Leonard and Sage both, one arm each, and hefting them up so that they can ride her back, shoulders or whatever they can grab on with. Then starts trudging off at a pace that the other three will be hard-pressed to keep up with. "Sorry, it's not soft," she says sheepishly. It will be only a moment before the group finally bursts near the village, Ruby and her gathered men, who are unbeknownst to the adventurers, but beknownst to us.

Jaxain keeps up with the rest of the party, and decides to ask again. "I guess nobody can really remember what the radio said?" He asks again, looking around and with a special glance at Sage. Psychics have good memory sometimes, and a few are able to totally recall anything they hear. He then shrugs, if they can't translate the message with luck it will repeat. "Woah!" he says when he sees the gathered, waving at them and taking off his helmet briefly to beam a smile at those gathered.

Bartholemew is surprised by the news that our element of surprise may be gone, "What?! Who took out the minefield? We haven't even gotten to the village," picking his pace up as best he can to stay with the gurgoyle.

Sage makes a brief noise of surprise when she's grabbed by the large creature, but seems to realize soon enough that she isn't being harmed by the motion so far. When she's deposited on the shoulder, she's a little too busy finding a way to secure herself. "I have an idea." She comments simply before she gives into a childish sort of cry of 'whee!' as she gets to ride the way to the village.

Whee? Sure, why not. Gabriel can't help but smile as he tries to keep up. "Chokespawn, we're going to open into the village, I can see their lights. Maybe you should hang back a little and let Leo introduce you properly. They might love your kind, or they could see you as a mortal foe. I guess Ruby definitely got the attention of the folks at the base. Like I said, things change. Just went from a beehive to a pissed-off beehive."

Rubidia timidly raises her hand at Bart's question as the two groups meet. "That would be me. But I learned a bunch of stuff to make it worth it, if not having to contend with mines isn’t.. There are two hundred soldiers there, 150 light, fifty heavy. A dozen hovercycles, which are under repair. The walls are thin but capable against today’s weapons." She lists, counting each off on a finger. "Oh and I convinced fifty villagers to help us fight for freedom too. Does that even out?"

Leonard would normally agree with Gabriel, but the situation makes itself the exception. Time is a major concern, and the warning of their arrival at the village comes almost nearly as, well, their arrival. "We need to keep moving! The more time they have to prepare, the worse it is for us." The loss of prepared surprise also has him signal Edgar to deal with the radio tower. Destroying it after mayday calls defeats the purpose. Following shared senses from the bird that is not, he reports, "The tower is smoking, damaged, and hopefully out of commission."

The radios are indeed not calling out as nicely, but they are still transmitting, though broken-up and staticky.

The gurgoyle hurries on as suggested, apparently still having quite the capability of making her own decisions about her own safety. The villagers? They aren't so hot on seeing her. They aren't openly hostile, but they start to fade away, like very slow mirages.

Frowning under his helmet, Jax doesn't know quite what to make of the new details, but the rest of the team seems confidant so he, helmet removed, jogs closer to the villagers and tries to beam them his best reassuring smile. "Hey!" he says, using his translating language to hopefully be able to speak with them. "Glad you guys could join us."

It's either midnight or twelve in the morning, and the storm has become a very crashing one for a late September in Missouri. The winds are strong, strong enough to make the individual raindrops painful to those uncovered, and even speech needs to be shouted for the unassisted. Lightning splits the sky. Chokespawn has emerged from the trees, stopped, and dropped off her charges in the form of Leonard and Sage. Bartholemew, Jaxain and Gabriel puff in shortly thereafter, and remain clustered together. Rubidia is standing with a group of fifty men (and a handful of women) who are armed with barely more than pitchforks and common hunting rifles. Only three energy weapons among them, and a spattering of vibro-knives. They haven't started in shock at the gurgoyle's appearance, but they are beginning to slowly shimmer out, perhaps questioning the wisdom of listening to a perky, pretty girl. The radios continue to have choppy chatter.

Bartholemew gives a shrug giving into the inevitability that this couldn't come easy, "Guess it's gonna have to do, better get there before the swarm decides to come lookin." Like the gurgoyle, he keeps makin his way in the direction of the conflict. "Don't suppose ya can rift us to the outpost from here Leo? We still got ten miles to hike in this storm."

Rubidia notices the unsettling of her charges and turns to the people to reassure them. "She is an ally, fearsome, ferocious even. But willing to fight for the same freedoms you'd said you valued with your lives moments ago. Does such a creature decrease that value? Does it make the safety of your families less paramount? The monster we go to face is far more deadly and ruthless. So make your choice. I for one know that this monster is here to help me stay alive."

While the vehicle of her transportation is likely a one of a lifetime experience, Sage does take one thing from it that she may look into later. She takes a moment to consider the scene before her. The villagers seem to be strangely armed for the task at hand. When she notices some of them seeming to fade away, she glances towards Rubidia as the other woman speaks up. She wanders over towards the woman to stand near as a sign of support.

Jaxain is just there, keeping pace with the others. Nothing special to add at this moment, except a simple and obvious statement, made quietly. "We need to get there fast."

"To the outpost? No," Leonard's tone suggests that he is notably less than thrilled, but I could get us closer, possibly past the southern end." His faceplate turns to take in the villagers. "By 'us,' I mean a half-dozen, not an entire militia." Maybe it's for the best that some are departing.

The big gurgoyle hangs back, likely bright enough to realize that she looks like a threat. With the magic that had been cast upon her, she calls, "I am here to help, with promise of freedom. I yearn to be free, so I will help." Nice words, but the deep and guttural tone is possibly intimidating.

Gabriel of all people is the first one to ask. "You are.. mages? Psychics? Please don't disappear, for your sake and ours. It's quite noble that you want to fight, but it's a very dangerous thing you're looking to do." He crosses his arms as he nears the two women. "So, is it magic then? Because pitchforks won't help." The villagers seem to murmur among themselves for a while, then the little girl, Maiden Mary, rushes out and gloms on to Sage's leg, looking up at her with big eyes. Gregory makes to grab for her, but she squirts past.

Bartholemew replies quickly to Leonard's response, "I say do it then, We can't take the time to march ten miles, by then they could fix the Comm tower or set up a field unit. We could end up walking into a death trap of SAMAS buzzing in from Whykin. We'll take who we can and hope for the best."

Rubidia raises her brow at Leonard and Bart. "Half a dozen? that leaves one of us behind, before you even consider them helping. Cutting yourself short a little prematurely I think. I'm going to run ahead try and hassle them some more to buy you guys an hour. Make it an hour. I'd be running if you portalled anyway." She notes, and then she's gone, but not lit this time.

Sage bends down as best she's able in an attempt to impart a gentle hug to the little girl. She makes no move to hold the girl in case the others might think her likely to hold the girl captive. "Nice to see you too." She comments to the girl whether she can be understood, before looking towards the others. "Do as you feel is best." She says simply.

Jaxain thinks for a moment, and looks at Leonard. "Can you do it twice, if you we can only take so few on one go? Against so many, we will need some kind of advantage, especially since we seem to have lost surprise." He looks at Gabe. "You could bring us to a sniper position with your jet pack while they travel by portal, and we can harass them until the rest arrive? I can shoot 3 or 4 thousand feet, especially if we can get a position near a ley line. If we focus their attention on our position, the rest may have a better chance of surprise."

Leonard nods to Bart and takes a few steps back from bystanders to focus. "I will /try/ to bring us as close as possible to where we wish to be, while avoiding the clearing. If others want to come on foot for support, we could certainly use the aid." He stops short to snap at Rubidia. "Wait a moment, and you'll save yourself the run." Leonard's attention then shifts fully to Edgar, as the one on the scene. Through their connection, it is as if Leonard were present, enabling enough familiarity to open a rift in the vicinity. Hopefully, it is in the vicinity best for them, rather than the Coalition. The sphere at his shoulder fades into nothingness as he draws upon the last of its stored energy. Once more, the fabric of reality is torn asunder, bent to Leonard's will. "It is stable enough for all of us," he pants from the effort, waving to his initial companions and the gurgoyle, "but only just. We need to go!" Not only does he have no desire to discuss plans while their enemy powers up who knows how many powered armor, robots, or aircraft, but he can't keep the rift open forever.

Rubidia arrives on the ridge to find a handful of troops to welcome her. No chance to duck and cover her arrival as they turn and give her a look with some hesitation. Capitalizing on it she tosses a blinder as she lights up herself. Unfortunately they all seem to recognize the device and look away before three of them return fire on her. One hitting her right between the eyes, only to see the blasts bounce off her harmlessly as she runs at the two techs trying to use their personal radios to blow the whistle. Her laser sword drawn to slice said device.

The commotion from above has apparently gotten the interest of people below. The radios are crackling in that odd language, and commotion in the base is the rule - orderly combat commotion. The three guards, perhaps simply believing that they had missed, fire again, and the techs continue to call into their walkie-talkies, giving an excellent description of the situation. Chalk one up for combat engineers.

Gabriel asks Sage, "You've seen this girl before?" Meanwhile, little Maiden Mary looks up wide-eyed and says, "Please, I'll come!" Then darts off toward Leonard's rift, quickly followed by her parents, the remaining crowd cheering. Gabriel shrugs and dives for the rift as well. "C'mon, guys!"

Jaxain dives through the rift as well, giving one last glance up at the direction the bright woman went before he passes through to the other side.

Bartholemew gives a shrug, unshouldering his rifle, to run in through the opened rift, trusting the Shifter's ability to pick the right spot to drop em off at. "No guts, no glory. Ain't that how it goes?"

Sage nods briefly to Gabriel before being taken by surprise when the little girl decides to go along. Whether she has any commentary on this seems to be swallowed by the situation of having to go through the portal before it closes. Now exactly how she envisioned this part.

Rubidia at least knows she missed, as more laser blasts bounce off her with no effect at all. Another swing, probably too late now. But maybe she can get 50 or more soldiers chasing her down the mountain. That will help the others.

Leonard did not expect the child to dart forward for the rift, but Rubidia's departure means that it won't prevent any of those he planned for from using it. "I will be right behind you," he informs Chokespawn, gesturing to the tear in reality. Leonard must go last, as it will close behind him, so he delays slightly to let her lead before stepping through.

The gurgoyle enjoys the novelty of something that she'd just experienced only days before, and jumps into the tear in space-time.

Gabriel isn't nearly as easy about things as the gurgoyle. It is *not* his first experience with rifting, and the last one ended up with the twenty-five hundred people under his care all dead. That sucked. Fortunately, this is far more gentle as he materializes to the south of the clearing and the ridge

Little Maiden Mary comes running through like a badger shortly thereafter, looking around for Sage most likely.

Up on the ridge, a few things take place. The guards decide that battering a woman with the butt-end of their rifles might work, the techs continue to radio in very accurate descriptions, and from below... five odd 'THUNK' noises come, followed by small grenades arcing up over the ridge then descending among the group of people.

Bartholemew's first reaction to coming out of the rift is to orient himself and assess the situation visible, all in a split second, cause that’s all it takes to catch a laser in the chest if you're not careful. First things first, he moves immediately in the direction of any kind of cover nearby even if it's lying flat on the ground a few feet from where the Rift left them to give the situation a secondary assessment

Unsure of what type of situation is available, Sage looks to assess the situation and find the little girl to make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble right off the bat. She has no way of knowing what the girl is capable of, but protective instincts are hard to suppress.

Hark, the light upon the mountain. It be a sign from god. Or not, regardless Rubidia instinctively jumps to gain some distance as grenades start falling. She didn’t flinch at the rifle butts.. Of course when a grenade hits her in the head to bounce off with a spray a tear gas she has to kick herself for being silly before she does another charge at a tech.

Jaxain comes up in a low crouch after diving through the portal, and moves to the side to make room for others. He makes a few final adjustments to his gear, and then looks around to assess their situation.

Chokespawn comes through the portal, making a clearly deliberate move to ensure that her long tail cleared the gateway.

Leonard is the last through, but even being the one creating the rift doesn't preclude the need to reorient himself. If they are in cover, he will move towards the clearing to obtain a better view. If the opposite, he will do the opposite. His primary concern now is the defensive firepower pointed in their direction.

SOMEWHERE IN NORTH AMERICA: COALITION OUTPOST CONDOR

"Nice job, Leo," Gabriel says as he instinctively unslings his L-20 and moves north toward the clearing. "Wow," he says after looking past the trees. "Glad that we didn't walk through there. Really blew the shit out of it." Indeed, the clearing - or what had been a clearing - was a very well mined minefield. So well that it's more of a huge series trench of now.

Above, one of the techs curses Prosek's name as he dies. Why did they issue him this partial-cover flak jacket instead of body armor like everyone else? Perhaps he doesn't have time to think all of that before Rubidia's laser sword cleaves him diagonally across the neck. The guards, however, are not amused. They charge like the front line of an American football team, just to tackle the annoying woman.

Bartholemew scans the activities of the fortress through the enhanced optics of his MOH as he hastily creeps off along the edge of the tree line west to find himself a good vantage point to set up. With the Minefield blasted he looks for a good trench that will provide adequate cover and plenty of targets.

With Mary seemingly easy enough to find and coaxed into following her, Sage is able to concentrate on other things as she moves to slip out to find a spot in the trenches that have been created. She readies her TW rifle as there doesn't seem to be much cause right now to use up any costly ammunition for the time being. Once settled into a trench, she considers the area to see where she might be of best help.

Jaxain has is MOH on as well, using it to scan the surroundings and find the best path of approach. He moves over near Bart, staying low. "Ok, we gonna just shoot from here to start, or you gonna stay here and snipe while the rest of us circle?"

All three guards had managed to launch themselves at Rubidia and end up flat on the rocks. A tech continues to yammer away - God only knows how much the main antennae is transmitting. One of the guards manages to shake himself up in time to yank a vibro-knife from his sheath and shove it point-first at the intruder.

"Only two rail guns on this side." Leonard looks to Chokespawn and the others. "Time to rush the gauntlet, I'd say." Neither he nor the gurgoyle have any weaponry capable of stretching the three to four thousand feet to the wall. He begins to move forward, pace quickening as he goes. Edgar circles in the sky across the clearing, near the southern wall, continuing to be Leonard's eyes and rather inconspicuous ally.

The gurgoyle seems content follow Leonard's orders to the letter. "Tell me where to go and I will go there. Tell me what to destroy, and I will destroy it." She looks out, keen eyes wandering. "There are many people in helmets along the wall, and few of them are looking to the top of the ridge. I don't know what those things are -" she points to the rail guns "- but they look ready to be used. Is this like fighting gargoyles?"

Rubidia probably looks easier to hit then one would think. Until one gets within thirty feet anyway. Inside that range it hurts a lot to look at her long enough to aim a strike. And they probably can't see her well enough to see she's a pretty small girl either. Her aura gives more of a linebacker impression, and it's painful to squint long enough to realize that is far from true. So suffice it to say all three grunts charge right past her. As one recovers to face her with a vibro-knife she laughs, batting it aside with her free hand before slicing at him with her sword.

Gabriel has perhaps once more had enough. He strides up to where he can speak to Bart and still be concealed. "I don't know about you, but my radio's still fucking running! Stupid bitch thought it would be a bright idea to ring the goddamn doorbell or something. If you have a rocket, just fire at it the damn thing, would you? I don't have anything that can hit it from here, either."

The guard up fighting with Rubidia seems unimpressed as the laser sword scratches his armor. Stupid Wilk's crap, never know when it will just fault out anyway. The other tech is up and moving away, putting safe distance as he describes the scene. The two other guards also lunge with knives.

Down with Sage in her chosen trench, Maiden Mary jumps up girlishly, raises her arms high and bounces up and down a few times. "C'mon, it'll be fun," she squeaks, then starts to skip toward the imposing wall all by herself, little flowery country dress all soaked by the storm.

Bartholemew replies to Jax, still looking for that sweet spot, "You guys work your way forward, I'll try and knock out the gunners. They're distracted, use that to your advantage." That’s when he sees his spot off a ways in the clearing. Relying on his ghillie suit to keep him off any thermal scanners, he creeps out from the safety of the treeline to prowl over to the trenches that will put him in range of just under 3000 feet, leaving Jax to move on his own towards the fortress with the others.

It doesn't take Sage long to realize the inherent problem of having a little girl within the battlefield. There doesn't seem to be a good option for her, before she lets out a soft noise and moving after the little girl. If anything, she might try to sneak ahead of the little girl.

Jaxain nods to Bart, "Got it." he says, crouching down and making his way towards the wall with Leo, Sage and all the rest. Where it goes from here, he will see soon.

Leonard shakes his head in answer to Choke. "No. They will try to hurt us from far away. We need to get close, quickly. There, you can tear them apart at your whim... dammit!" The last is in reaction to Gabriel, as Leonard thought the antenna down. He isn't the tech wizard of the family. Nor is he fleet of foot, but he moves towards the wall as quick as he's able. A simple telepathic directive to Edgar, and lightning will strike the same place a second time.

It's tough to tell exactly which lightning bolt it was, magical or natural in the storm, but the transmitter explodes, showering the area with high-speed metal fragments, likely including enough to knock Rubidia off her feet, though not to harm her. The long-distance chatter immediately ceases. The gurgoyle rushes off toward the wall - moving faster than even the fleet footed Rubidia managed to do.

Crap out? Wilk's does not crap out. Rubidia knows this well as she had them make her speakers for her custom. So logically she is not looking concerned about her sword failing as the two grunts charge at her. Actually she looks at bit tired of all the charging and missing. And as if to appease her the two charging grunts don’t miss, knives cutting into some sort of barrier above her armor might look immune to them too. Perturbed she locks gaze with one and even brighter light is emitted to blind him.

Gabriel mutters a, "God bless," over the radio to whoever or whatever took out the antennae. "I hope it was soon enough." Then he crosses himself reverently and engages his own stealth suit, crawling forward into the ex-mine field. Whoever makes these things does a good job. Beyond two-hundred feet, and in the rain? If he were the idiot type, he'd just stand up and walk. He offers a suggestion. "Perhaps if Chokespawn can yank out those rail guns, she can hold their attention long enough for the rest of us to get over the walls and in among them? Much better than being outside the walls."

Above, as the area is shattered with splinters of metal, two of the guards manage to land blades on Rubidia. It might not be much, but it's probably good for their morale. One of them manages to hold up a hand just in time to shield his eyes from one of her bright flashes.

Meanwhile, Mary is running and giggling toward the fortress like the closing credits of Little House on the Prairie, except that it's a muddy field of trenches and people are trying to kill other people. She seems remarkably unconcerned. "C'mon, Sage!" she calls into the noise of the storm.

Bartholemew gets into position, lying in the mud of the trench. Setting his Rocket launcher next to him at the ready, he chooses to start with his rifle. First target he lines up is a heavy rail gun emplacement on the eastern side. It's the weapon itself he's aiming for.

It seems that her attempt to slip in front of the little girl is only amusing and cause for moving faster, Sage isn't sure whether to laugh, cry, tackle or pray. "Coming." She assures the little girl as she begins to pick up her own pace. Who wants to live forever anyway?

Jaxain is keeping pace with Sage and Leo, just hoping for the best. At this point it seems like speed will win over stealth anyway, though he still does his best to remain unseen without undue sacrifice to speed.

Leonard no longer has to worry about leading the charge. With any luck, this will also include not being the first fired upon from the southern defenses. For now, he can do little other than keep moving. Extensive magical preparation now could easily leave him unprotected and drained when he needs it most.

Chokespawn has almost reached the wall at this point, just a blazing pseudo-demon, claws already up and out, ready to leap at the first weapon as soon as she's in range.

Ok so now the soldiers have something that might eventually hurt her. Should she take steps now or play immune? For the moment she's content to keep the game the same, though she is now going for blinding attacks instead of sword strikes. Sword strikes will be easy when they can't see her at all.

Just to be careful, Gabriel is still going easy and slow, even though the running gurgoyle and cheery little girl seem to have other ideas. "Let 'em go, I guess they seem to know what they're doing, guys. But if you can't hide from thermals, move carefully. I've no doubt that Plotkin's guys are experts. I doubt they'd set up a spot where simple darkness was good enough for an ambush."

Up on the cliff, two of the guards drop all of their weapons and grasp at their armored eyes. They're remarkably calm, speaking well to their training, but momentarily stunned as well. The remaining guard is surprised enough to hesitate, and the tech is looking around for something useful to do, some kind of weapon that might hurt the annoying woman. As the antennae seems to be destroyed anyway, he lifts the only grenade that he has from his belt, and chucks it. Screw the guards, their armor will probably hold.

Down bellow, Mary is skipping and dancing forward, just enjoying herself. "Ready? Ready, Sage? You gonna watch, huh, huh?!"

Bartholemew lines up his shot, making sure the cross hairs are lined up just perfectly. Once that sweet spot is found, he takes a breath and exhales, holding his breath just as he squeezes the trigger to fire off a quick laser shot at his target.

The railgun farthest to the east in the whole compound, the one partially overlooking the gate goes up in a rather uneventful explosion. The clock is now running.

"It would seem I don't have much choice but to be ready." Sage replies, becoming unsure of whether she'll be the one looking after the girl or if the girl will end up being something beyond her expectation. She keeps the payload of her weapon in reserve for now. Bart has his job and she has hers.

Jaxain nods, listening to Gabe's advice and keeps his pace slower and safer, moving form cover to cover to keep his thermal profile low as he approaches. "You gonna snipe from out here, or rocket up to another position?" He asks of Gabriel, wondering what the man's plan entails.

One less railgun to worry about is wonderful. Leonard continues to hustle towards the wall in the gurgoyle's wake, rather directly rather than cautious... with one exception. An incantation is uttered on the move, blending him further into the already dark night. Thermal sensors are less a concern than others, as the bodysuit under his armor is well-insulated.

Indeed, things do get very interesting down below. Chokespawn lives up to her promised word, and makes a massive jump, a good forty feet, at least, and as she clears the wall, and just rips the remaining southerly railgun off of its pintle mount all together. Then she's in among the armored infantry, and the flashes of laser and plasma fire join those of the lightning.

As the grenade lobbed at her falls slightly short Rubidia glowers at the tech. If looks could kill he'd be dead. Blind will have to do for now to ensure he doesn’t do that again.

After short consideration, Gabriel answers Jaxain with, "I'm going to get close, and hope that the lady gurgoyle gets inside. Bart, how many grenades you got on ya? Anyone with something heavy, not frag. If I can get a few inside the ammo dump, we might get lucky with some sympathetic explosions, wipe out a large chunk of Coalition soldiers in one fell swoop. Or, I can drop you in, Jax and you could do it by hand?" Hmm, perhaps there's hope, as the man offers a quiet chuckle. "Hey, good job with the beast, Leo."

Up on top, the tech goes down, blinded. The two blind guards lash out with their knives, and the one remaining tries to plant his in the intruder's chest.

Then there's little Mary. "Watch, Sage, watch it's reeeeealy preety!!!" Her tinkly bell voice is audible even over the thunder. She's closing fast on that wall, in the same general area that Chokespawn just cleared.

Bartholemew grins after the first railgun goes down, he even blows it a kiss as it goes, just before taking in his first breath. "Ooo lookie here, there's another one." he says softly to himself as he brings the barrel of his rifle to bear on the next railgun in line on the wall. Unfortunately his new target is torn from its mounting by the Gurgoyle in its attack forcing him to move down the line to the third rail gun. In answer to Gabe's call, "I got plasma and Heavy HE."

It certainly seems fate is kind when it comes to providing other targets for the Coalition to focus on. Sage continues to move after Mary, "Remember this place is dangerous." She finally ventures, hoping the girl won't suddenly come to this realization now that they're much close to the source of that danger. She keeps an eye out for when she'll need to protect herself against attack. Once the likelihood comes, she'll raise a psychic field around herself.

Jaxain shakes his head, "I can get over the wall myself without even slowing down." He says with confidence. It's not that tall. "You got any grenades I can borrow, or do you figure my particle beam can set off the ammo? I think that's the best plan, I can infiltrate while you all cause a distraction."

Leonard considers the wall that looms ever nearer... slowly. In retrospect, rifting in the clearing does not seem such a hindrance. At the very least, it would mean less jogging. He continues on, without any invocation to delay him.

Inside the compound there's just a lot of trouble. Chokespawn is good to her word, and while it's obviously unknown just how much damage she's doing, the occasional infantryman can be seen being lofted into the air, or even being hurled over the wall and landing dead or mostly-dead in the trenches.

Rubidia smirks as the knife stops dead a few inches above encroaching on her cleavage. "You lose." She remarks with that, another blast of light coming from her eyes to take care of the last guard.

The guard up top manages to block out the light very deftly, and turns the defense into another lunging attack. "We're going over, bitch!" he yells as he attempts to bowl both of them off the mountain.

Down below, the fast moving Mary is now screeching with laughter and gesturing wildly to Sage, who is apparently her favorite person at the moment. "Watch, watch!" She then turns to the wall, having come to nearly within only one hundred feet of it. Thankfully, the gurgoyle is offering up an excellent distraction to everything going on outside. Not for long, however. Little Maiden Mary lowers her hands then lifts them and gives a little and very playful-looking shove. A moment later, a fifty-foot long portion of the reinforced wall just blasts apart as if it had been hit by, well... a giant's bus being driven by Danicia Patrick, who despite the fact that she usually finishes close to last, is still a point of attention. The important thing is the wall blowing down and open for anyone to jog inside. Of course, it got a lot of attention, undoubtedly.

Gabriel offers up, "Whoa. Ah.. yeah, Jax if you want to get in on that, go for it. Hunt for officers. Bart, I'm going to steal your grenades." He starts to move in the sniper's direction, hiding in shadows just to be extra safe with his stealth suit.

Bartholemew came to destroy equipment, that’s what he intends to do. Lining up his shot just perfectly he takes his breath, exhales and hold. Zap! In less than the blink of an eye, quicker than the speed of thought, the laser rips across the field towards its target, another rail gun, the closest.

Sage isn't quite so mirthful as the little girl as it seems to be inevitable that things will change for the worse. Yet, this girl seems to be oddly at ease with the whole situation. She's stuck close to the little girl as they've gotten close to the wall. The wall falling gives her pause, "Huh..." She replies after that pause, "Nice trick." She comments simply before she brings her psychic body field up before she prepares to help out with a little chaos as she begins towards the wall. The little girl likely wont stop there, after all.

Jaxain nods his head, "How about this. I'm gonna approach the wall from another point. I can leap over it easily, and nobody will expect that. Tell me where you think the commanding officers will likely be, and how I can find them, and I'll make them my target." He looks over the field. "Would they be in one of those buildings?"

The radio discussion concerning the ammunition storage, grenades, and the entertaining combination of the two sparks a morsel of inspiration in Leonard. He is still en route to the wall (or, rather, the suddenly sundered portion of wall), he need not necessarily be within to contribute. "Gabriel, Jaxain, let me have one of the grenades or charges. The largest, preferably. I can get it where we want it." He will slow or speed up, as necessary to close with one of the two. The aerial avian dives at Leonard's behest, to better examine the structure.

There's a great snarling that can even be heard over the crashing thunder, and three soldiers go flying into the sky, straight up as if a party-popper had just gone off. Though likely the outcome is less joyful on their end as the gurgoyle sunders on.

"I'll pass, but send your friends after you." Rubidia remarks as the guard misjudges his tackle and bowls right past her. His momentum apparently to much as he continues right off the edge for a 700 foot plunge. She almost pauses to see how many curses he can call at her before the splat. She'll get another chance to count as she makes take up blinded guard number one to try and throw him over.

The guard that still remains free lashes out with his knife, blindly trying to hit something, but not willing to take the same blind leap of faith on a nearly eight-hundred foot high ridge.

Little Mary is hopping up and down vertically as if she'd just thrown a horseshoe properly. "Yay! Now what, Sage? They keep saying that I'm just a baby at home." She 'hrmphs' a little at that, but surprisingly seems to await some purposeful instructions. Still and not surprisingly, much attention has turned to this newly blasted area. No one saw anyone coming, and there's still chaos, but as these are elites, it's likely to sort itself out very soon - and possibly be very bad for anyone they see.

Gabriel looses three grenades from his bandoleer. "Leonard, take all of 'em if you want. Good Triax plasma. Hate those fucking Jerries, but they do make good stuff." They're just resting, ready to be taken by whomever or whatever it is that's going to grab them. Jax is offered, "I believe there's a part that's actually carved into the hill, that's probably where the officers would be right now. But I bet they'll have heavy infantry there to keep out people like you." He reaches around and pulls off the big SSL. "I can start to pick off the wall guards from here. Looks like Mary's gotten some attention, though."

Bartholemew lifts his rocket launcher, leaving the rifle to sit in front of him. With the breech, a building becomes visible, not sure what it may be, it still needs to come down, so he targets that building which happens to be the barracks. Unfortunately with all the activity, it's probably empty right now, but maybe can give them a new air conditioning system for when they all leave.

There's a large explosion of the missile, and the wall looks a little cracked, but otherwise it's impressive but ineffective.

"Well... it seems like we're going to be playing for a little mischief...." Sage comments, getting one of her blinder grenades handy. "How easy it is for you to do that?" She asks softly, "And, we'll be doing a little hiding... since your parents will likely get quite miffed at me if we have too much fun."

Jaxain calls out to the little girl, "Hey, can you collapse the cliff partly in on them? We need to reduce their numbers, fast, or we might be in trouble!" He's finally getting close to the wall, but still a little ways away. "Or, at the very least, collapse the buildings if you can!"

Leonard is the someone that takes the grenades, quickly followed by a warning over the radio, "Stay clear of the ammunition storage!" A repeat is made, this one magically, and meant for Chokespawn. Even Edgar makes an effort to maintain some distance, while still peering his ebon eyes through the open door of the structure. Safeties are then released, followed by a n incantation spoken with both precision and haste.

The armory goes up in a huge explosion, smashing flat most of the non-armored buildings in the compound. A huge number of troops are wiped out on the spot. The light infantry are heavily depleted, but the heavy infantry squads still remain. Not surprisingly, everyone is quite distracted and likely will be for a few seconds before looking back for whom to fight.

Rubidia drags the guard kicking and screaming to the edge. "Relax. There is a slim but very real chance you'll survive this. Which is not the case for me plunging my sword in to your chest. So break a leg!" She consoles before sending him on his way to inform his superiors of the situation first hand.

The guard plummets off the cliff, and though no one can see what happens to him, it probably doesn't end very well. The other guard reaches into his pocket and pulls out something the size of a pocket communicator, but with a central button. Apparently the man was wearing a suicide belt to guard the spire, because he goes off like a grenade.

Down below, little Mary was about to answer Sage's question about her abilities, but instead is fascinated by the blast - actually quite surprised. Surprised enough to run back to Sage and cling as if she were trying to hide under her mother's apron. Still, she manages, "Oooooo..."

Gabriel is still thinking. "Nice job, Leo. That has to have helped. Jax, you've got a better shot now, though they’re really going to be pissed."

There's no word or evidence of the gurgoyle at the moment.

The large outpost isn't in bad shape or good shape. Its wall has been breached across a fifty-foot area in the south, and its ammunition depot has gone up, killing many soldiers, but despite the smoke and flame, these elite men and women are clearly not done fighting. Indeed, they are organizing themselves to fight off an attack. At the moment, it's mostly the light infantry, though a single squad from heavy infantry, clad in heavy Coalition-issue body armor, has reached the walls. Local radio calls are organizing themselves among the troops. Elite troops who are likely to have good weaponry and equipment.

The storm continues to flash, bang and rain. What had once been a low defensive clearing is now crossed by low trenches and pits, generally only two-feet deep at best, despite the command-detonated mines. They weren't installed to blow down. Bartholemew and Gabriel are distant from the walls, but inside long weapon's range, slightly to the left of the breech. They are concealed by both their own stealth ghillie suits (at least, that's how they're supposed to work) and being down in shallow trenches. Jaxain is moving forward, but at a rather unfortunately slow pace to approach the southern wall or possibly the breech, and likely quite visible if someone looks. Leonard has just passed Gabriel's position in order to retrieve the bundle of grenades that were very useful a moment earlier. Sage and Maiden Mary, however, are right on top of the base, barely more than one-hundred feet from the hole that little Mary blasted through the reinforced steel. The only person who wouldn't spot them would have to be a truly blind man.

The explosion that causes Mary to get closer to her gives Sage the ability to use her hands to control the girl's movement a little with her hand. "Right then, time for hiding part first..." She comments before urging the girl to move with her towards the closer side of the wall that could be used for cover. "We take care of the curious, then we do mischief." She explains to the girl in hopes to prevent the girl from thinking she'll be treated too much like a baby. She has a psychic body field around her, a rifle in one hand and the blinder grenade in the other.

Jaxain has no reasonable chance to reach the walls before being complete annihilated by counter fire due to his slow running speed, and takes cover as best as he can, muttering an incantation over himself to help deal with any stray plasma bolts that might find him. He readies his sniper rifle, takes aim, and gets ready to shoot at the buggers up ahead.

Ooh. Ahh. Pretty explosion. Aesthetically artistic or not, it is a pleasant sight to Leonard. The danger of fallout, whether debris or retribution, is less pleasant. To that end, his focus shifts from offense to defense with a pair of incantations. The first conjures forth a writhing mass of slippery appendages to engulf his form; the second enchants the former against lasers and other energy sources.

There's no evidence of Chokespawn at the moment. Perhaps she's gone further inside.

Rubidia has done about as much for her defense as the can at the moment. So she continues with offense, turning to the sole remaining tech to grab him and almost send him tumbling after the others. She stops just short, holding him at the Brink when she asks. "Want to live?"

Gabriel hunkers down further into his protective trench, bringing up his big SSL rifle and laying out his combat bag, opening it so that eclips are readily available. There's not much time to make any further suggestions or snappy comments except for the obvious. "This is only a small portion, even that blast must have left more alive than we can see."

Up on the ridge near the trashed antennae, the man's detonation was quite spectacular, even enveloping the brightly lit Rubidia for a moment. The tech is one of the elite of this unit, and has kept his cool despite the situation. "Yes," is his answer. However, he also ticks his head to the side for a moment in a strange motion, and grins evilly. Nothing happens. He continues to grin. "You're dead, bitch. See ya in hell."

Little Mary doesn't seem entirely pleased as Sage ushers her along, crossing her arms petulantly. But she moves as told. "You're not my mommy!" Then, "It's kinda hard." Whatever that may reference is left to her.

"No, you're right... I'm not... if I was, I'd be carrying you like a loaf of bread the other way." Sage replies, before nodding to the comment about the hard part. She'll keep moving for the time being, trying to get out of the firing angle the heavy unit will have on them. "We're going to have some unpleasant attention soon, I suspect."

Leonard, now further protected, does little other than move, and at the best pace he can manage, for the breach. While he is chivalrous enough to believe in ladies first, he's not about to leave Sage and the child to face whatever troops remain by themselves.

Gabriel watches as the psychic and her tiny charge move for the wall, and a mage of all people plays infantry. Not having much further to do at the moment, his only actual clear shot is at the heavy unit, and they're at extreme distance. He lowers the SSL, peers through the sights for what probably seems like quite a length of time, utters "God guide my hand," and fires at one of the heavy infantry.

One of the units farther back continues to move forward, to the left edge of the breech, not having a useful shot, or at least not choosing to take one at the moment.

Rubidia lets the tech drop at his warning. "Suit yourself then." She notes as she quickly pulls out her bow to assess a new target. Not even taking time to put her sword away, it's just off and in her drawing hand for the moment as she lines up one of the rail guns below. She releases with a simultaneous blast of light.

It's a very impressive blast of light, and it very impressively slams into the ground outside of the walls, not even near the outpost. To be fair, the flashing lightning and blowing wind might make it difficult for anyone, even a special person, to see adequately all the time. The bow's laser impacts one of the weapons and causes some serious damage, leaving it smoking and sparking, but it may possibly still be useful. It's tough to determine from this distance and in these conditions, particularly if you aren't a very technical type.

One of the heavy infantryman's head just explodes as Gabriel's heavy sniper laser slams into the targeted helmet. Sometimes time is worth the effort. The others look around, judging the shots versus easy targets and a young girl who has no business being on the battlefield. However their choice is made, the four remaining soldiers fire a volley of light rail guns at the psychic as she closes in on the protective shielding offered by hugging the wall. Sage being the psychic, though they obviously don't know the woman's name.

Another light unit is hurrying to the wall, but due to angles and position below the actual fighting positions, they don't yet have a shot. But they will in a few seconds.

Up on the roof, the five infantrymen make a split decision as to who is important as a target, which effectively depletes their efficacy as a unit for a moment. Only three of them act, chucking grenades out of their pump action mechanism in Sage and Mary's direction. Good idea to keep shooting at someone who didn't die under a hail of railgun fire.

Bartholemew takes time to reload his rocket launcher while the others push forward, using the trench for complete cover against any shots fired wildly in his direction, it's not a fast reload being a team weapon. Discarding the old cartridge from the launcher onto the ground, good thing there ain't no littering fines, he gives a look down the tube to be sure there's no debris that will interfere before putting in a new missile. Filling it with a new missile, he looks over the edge of the trench to see where any trouble may be, and where his friends may be. Catching up on the situation from reloading, he switches again to his rifle to pick a target in the gap. There are plenty to choose from and he simply settles on one light unit shooting at Sage to hopefully even the odds for the psychic and child. With target picked, now he just needs to line up his shot just right.

Jaxain watches Leo's advance and shakes his head with a smile. Then he takes aim at one of the helmet of one of the men firing at Sage, and pulls the trigger. He's faster than Leo, and can still catch up to him if necessary. "Hey Gabe, what do you think about giving me a lift to the fight, if things get heavy? It will take me forever to get over there."

The blast from the grenades that strike near Sage washes toward little Mary, bowling her over like a crazy tumbleweed. She gets up to her hands and knees, a frightened look on her face, and her dress in tatters, shaking like leaf. "Sage?! Help, I'm scared!"

Gritting her teeth, Sage realizes she isn't going to get to the wall in time before hell descends on her from the infantry. At least she only has a little damage to her actual armor before she was able to get the field back up. "Mary!" She calls out, before moving to gather up the girl and haul ass towards the wall, diving if necessary to get behind the coverage of the wall before the next round of fire can happen.

Following the hail of railgun fire and explosions, another cry is made. "Sage!" Judging by tone and volume, Leonard is fearful, as well, though the concern is not for himself. He has many acquaintances, but the list of those dear to him is rather small. A certain psychic ranks rather high on that list.

This would not be the first time that someone dear to Leonard was in a position between himself and Coalition troops, and the last did not end so well. Of course, in that instance, Leonard was fleeing. There will be no such thing, this time, but there is still the fear he will not be quick enough to make a difference. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to... well, he'll get to that momentarily.

Further words are all but spat from his lips, a mixture of invocation, invective, expletive and more. Around the mage, the temperature drops several degrees as ambient energy is siphoned within. For the third time, unnatural lightning is spawned, though this does not come from the sky, but within the man. It coruscates about him and appears to lift him from the ground while empowering him. The slender, otherwise unimpressive human grows several feet in height and proportionally more bulky.

As Leonard transforms into the hulking electric monster, a number of the units currently on the line flail. The one immediately on the wall withdraws, the one further back hesitates, as does the heavy unit. Only the soldiers on the roof appear to be mentally intact, and the radios suddenly crackle with calls in the clear to look out for the giant scary thing. Warning helps keep people from being frightened, if they know there's something scary coming.

Back in the trenches, Gabriel had hesitated, trying to to decide between continuing to snipe the heavy infantry who'd just so badly mauled Sage, or grabbing Jax and throwing him over the walls as he'd been asked. Thankfully, Leonard helps solve the problem, and Gabriel calls, "I'll get you in a moment, Jax. Just keep shooting." He'd love to leave now, but leaving his weapons behind on the battlefield doesn't seem like a good idea, hence the unfortunate pause to strap them back where they belong.

The unit that had been coming forward to the wall turns back into the compound. Not fleeing like madmen, having been well trained, but certainly out of the fight for a while. Not that they can go very far without abandoning the base completely.

Rubidia was going to consider dropping everything to try and get to Sage, but even she isn’t that fast. Luckily she does see Leonard stepping up for it so she hopes that will be enough as she aims a shot at the other rail gun below her.

The second rail gun goes up in smoke this time. The previous one still appears to be, well, who knows. At this point, however, the guns aren't manned very well, as the attack appears to be coming from the south.

The four remaining members of the heavy unit continue to withdraw, and rather quickly, too. As they run, they just throw their rifles over their shoulder and each one blindly unleashes a long burst of grenades at Leonard, or what used to be the being known as Leonard.

It seems that the tech's call might not have been just bluster. Three hovercycles rise from below where they'd previously been unable to be distinctively selected from the others under repair. They all rise toward the summit, armed with dual machine-guns, basic though they might be. There's no talk about it, just action, and they open fire, being well within range of Rubidia.

The folks up on the roof don't seem overly concerned, and can be heard calling for reinforcements over the radio. At this point, even if Sage had been a favorite target, she's out of their line of sight. However, no one can miss the electro-man wading toward them. There is no indecision among them this time as they level their advanced Coalition rifles at Leonard and like their infantry brethren, each fire a burst of four grenades. Unlike the others, these guys actually have the presence of mind to aim.

Down below, a heavy combat 'Borg lumbers out from the barracks, carrying a huge and unusual looking crossbow. It seems confused as to what exactly to shoot at, however, having been warned of Leonard's presence and Rubudia's as well. Still, the angle just isn't right to hit the shining woman at the moment, and it takes time to hurry to the wall, soon to be in place to see everything, including the base of the wall itself near the breech.

Jaxain nods to Gabriel's words, "Got it, I'm ready for pick up ass soon as you are," he says, making sure his gear is snug before taking aim and firing twice upon the easiest targets that present themselves: the guys on the roof.

One of the men up on the barrack's roof takes a hit, and certainly doesn't enjoy it, but manages to shrug it off and remain on the line.

Bartholemew lines up on the Deadboy's helmet, the man's intent on Leonard making him a good target. Just as the guy gets his volley off on the now enlarged Leonard in his fury, Bart lets his rifle rip.

The man who had previously been shot is neatly holed through the helmet. He simply drops, stiff and dead, his rifle tumbling from the roof and cracking upon impact.

Mary was quite surprised to be semi-tackled and hidden at the base of a sloped wall. She clings to Sage's leg at this point, yet somehow manages to seem to try to climb up onto her head at the same time, her little bare feet searching for purchase on the protective psychic field. "I want my mommy! I'm scared! Bring my mommy!" She starts to pout in the way that every mother and father recognizes is teetering on the razor's edge of laughing or crying.

A mad dash and dive for the protective cover of the wall, Sage takes a moment to gather herself. To her surprise and relief, the little girl seems to be doing remarkably well. She takes a moment to gather the girl to her and takes the time to murmur sweet nothings to the girl as she can't offer anything but her own motherly instincts for the time being. Soon she'll need to rejoin the fight but not quite yet.

As the latest to fire upon him, the five, make that four, soldiers on the barracks roof hold Leonard's attention. While others aim with precision, he merely unleashes, sending a trio of successive bolts of electrical anger their way. One for his mother. Another for Sage. The last is for himself, and the raw, violent glee of vaporizing book-burning, goose-stepping morons.

The massive electrical discharge blows into three of the four men and seriously chars their armor. Actually, some of it really isn't that bad, as far as combat goes. It makes them pay attention, that's for sure. The fourth guy is probably finding religion about now.

Back in the trenches, Gabriel is managing to not be mesmerized by the whole strange, truly screwed up situation. Electro-giant? Please, really? Superman and Captain America could kick his ass. He's done packing his weapons, but grumbles as Jaxain seems to be busy shooting, not preparing to get delivered to the compound as per his request. "Damnit, Jax! Meet me at Bart's. Bart, gimme every grenade you have, I'm going to play Huey and B-52 at the same time." With that, he's up and moving toward the other soldier's position, the storm blowing around him.

The other light unit continues to pull back to the center of the compound, where the other units, including the nearly intact heavy infantry platoon, is getting ready to sortie.

Rubidia was going to try and head over to the others when company arrived. And then they start shooting at her and she tries getting out of the way without success. And now heading back to the others sounds like a good idea again so off she goes at full tilt.

The four remaining mean of the first heavy unit continue to withdraw. They'll probably be out for a while.

The hover cycles easily keep up with Rubidia, even at her running speed. Plus, machine guns shoot a good distance. The pilots do just that. Now that they've reached altitude and can see her well, their full force is brought to bear.

Back at nearly the same moment he fires his 'cycle's weapons, one unfortunate rider is blinded. Somehow he manages to keep his wits about him enough to just come to a stop, hanging there in midair, thinking who knows what. Perhaps at least being happy that he isn't dead.

One of the light units has now completely withdrawn, unlikely to return to combat. The other fleeing light unit quickly follows suit. No one really knows where they go, but they aren't here.

The huge combat 'Borg carrying the crossbow reaches the wall, standing right above Sage and Mary. However, perhaps his own huge stature is a bit of a downfall, as he looks right past the two, at least for now. Leonard remains obvious, and he picks up the huge, modern-ancient weapon and yanks the trigger. A rather unusual mechanism causes a strange bolt to fly out toward the towering electric giant.

The bolt flies amusingly past everyone, landing in the muddy trenches like a badly-thrown lawn dart, not even doing anything interesting like exploding.

Jax, having followed Gabriel's orders to the word and kept shooting as told, puts down the apparent ire in the older man's voice to the hellish situation and smiles as he nods. "Got it! On my way!" He yells as he re-holsters his weapon and gets up, sprinting towards Bart to meet Gabe half-way. He mutters a few arcane words as he does, giving himself a bit more protection before he prepares to get dropped right into the middle of this huge mess.

Bartholemew gives a quick, "Aye!" over the com and begins to dig out all he has, the rest are just gonna have to do without his shots right now. Digging out a belt from his pack and removing one from around his waist, this'll give him quite a few to play with. Ten Heavy High Explosive and Ten Plasma grenades, all ready for Gabe when he gets to his position.

Mary pushes off of Sage and looks deeply into her eyes. "*Please* somebody get my mommy! Bring mommy!"

The storm continues to rage, which is a good thing, even though it makes the field of battle messy. Most of the previous units have withdrawn, but new units have come forward. Rather surprising actually that *more* units have yet to move into the battle, all things considered. Leonard is still in his electro-giant form, though having been drilled by a good dozen grenades at this point. Sage and Mary are clutching the wall directly beneath a heavy combat 'Borg armed with a crossbow, though he seems to have missed them, as he just fired at Leonard. A light unit remains on top of the barracks. A team of CR-1 rocketeers is close to the line, as is another light rifle unit. A new light unit that appears to be ready for hand-to-hand combat will reach the breach in the wall soon. Two hovercycles continue to pursue Rubidia, who is currently running along the ridge toward the direct field of battle. Gabriel, Jaxain and Bartholemew are essentially clustered together a good distance back, at least two of them well-hidden from thermals.

Rubidia continues her run, smirking slightly as her counter attack takes off one pursuer. But frowning immediately after as she feels rounds hitting her armor. She's cutting things a bit close.

The big animal out in the field is just simply the most obvious thing to shoot at. Even the flickering pretty thing up in the sky doesn't really seem to be causing much trouble, all things considered. But the Coalition does not like magic, and this is quite obviously magic. They particularly don't like it when it looks big and imposing. The new heavy unit moves forward and opens fire with light rail guns.

The men up on top of the barracks level their rifles at the big monster, apparently hoping that they can save their remaining grenades. It's not like they come in cheap Wal-Mart sized packs of thirty, after all. Having scanned the battlefield for other targets and not seen any, Leonard is still the favorite, and all five rifles fire at once.

Bartholemew scopes out the situation waiting for Gabe and Jax to get to his position for the grenades. Just poking his head over the ridge of the trench. He debates on targets available, and without hesitation he decides. With the belts of grenades next to him, ready for pickup and with things looking bleak right now, he chooses the 'Borg to come down next. That should dampen moral. Pointing the barrel of his rifle in the big Mech's direction to line his shot up.

Gabriel makes it over to Bart's trench, skidding to his knees and muttering a quick, "Thanks," as he grabs at the two straps of grenades and starts to fiddle with them. "See if I can't make these a little more useful." His tiny tool kit is removed, including good ol' duct tape, and he starts to work, splitting the grenades into four groups of five.

Leonard attempts to avoid at least one portion of the railgun volley, but the shots that are on target connect. Several penetrate the electric aura and blast away the majority of the writhing protection beneath. His tactics alter, slightly, away from electrocution and more towards... dismemberment? The sword as his side is drawn, and a loud incantation multiplies it sevenfold. The original leaves his hand to rotate around him with the facsimiles in a random orbital pattern, awaiting his whim.

Leonard still looks like an inviting target. Or more like, the only target, and the CR-1 rocket team makes the most of it. Six men, two teams - loader and launcher. There's a grunt of, "Fire" over the radio, and three missiles rip out toward the continuing giant, who is getting uncomfortably close.

Sage considers the little girl near her as she lets the girl go for now. It takes a moment to dawn on her, "Guys..." She chances breaking radio silence, "I think we might want to consider getting some of that help we left behind." She ventures, before realizing a cyborg is up above them. "Until then, I'll protect you with my life." She adds more locally, "Keep your eyes down." She adds, before she tosses the blinder up with hopes of looping it over the wall and averting her eyes. Her hand seeking out the other blinder grenade as there's bound to be more company coming out the breach at some point.

Well, the big old combat 'Borg was lowering that massive crossbow of his at Leonard again, but Sage's Blinder goes off right in his face. This causes him to stagger backwards slightly, and accidentally trigger the loaded bow. The bolt fires on a high and very beautiful arc, lit up by lightning before falling to the ground and doing exactly what it was designed to do - exploding, and in a big way. The crossbow is still in the 'Borg's hands, but he's out of this for now unless someone is within flailing distance.

The hovercycles haven't had enough of harassing Rubidia. After all, she was apparently the annoying thing that caused all of this in the first place! Their machine guns fire, their blind comrade long forgotten.

Mary is now actively crying, tears running down the sides of her face, running off the mud that has been caked on during combat. She gives Sage a childlike shove in anger, which will actually bowl the women over a couple of times if she isn't swift. Then, "Go away, I *hate* you!" She calls out and does another little girl "push" as if it were a hard, two-handed patty-cake. Another large portion of the wall just crumbles and flies, flatting a number of soldiers who were running to position themselves. "There! I want my mommy!"

Mary's little rant has caused a few soldiers to take pause, but the close quarters battle unit is still ready and wandering out of the old breech, swords in hand, just looking for a fight. They haven't spotted anyone yet, but now that walls are coming down, it's anyone's guess. Not that there's no shelter, just that it's far less obvious. These guys are not a happy bunch of soldiers.

Meanwhile, a little crab-like robot skitters out and into the muddy field, with a long cannon poised, swiveling this way and that like the nose of a very dangerous dog.

The light unit armed with energy weapons is now fully exposed by the new wall, and are simply taken by surprise enough that they do not respond for a critical split second.

Jaxain is slowed by mud, and has no time to do anything except follow Gabe's lead.

Six months ago if she were on this mission she wouldn't have stayed as long. As soon as her shield gave out Rubidia would have flashed home to relax with a cup of tea. But now she hesitates, someone she cares about is here, not home with tea ready. So she doesn’t go home. She points her destination to find Sage, wherever she may be. And with a flash of light Rubidia disappeared.

The heavy unit on scene turns to look at the newly crashed wall, and finds Sage and Mary, two people who obviously shouldn't be there anymore. But which one shouldn't be there the more-est? Probably a little five year old girl wandering into battle is going to stir up some serious shit. At least, that was Will Smith's attitude. They open up with their rail guns, all acting as one.

Mary goes down, face first into the mud, though her body doesn't actually seem to be ripped apart. He clothes? What little is left looks like... it passed through.

The men on the barrack's roof probably figured that their weapons just malfunctioned. No one walks away from laser blasts like that. They fire once more at Leonard.

Bartholemew would probably be in awe of Leonard's wrath if he wasn't looking at the Borg's crossbow through his own weapon's sights. It's not nice to play rough with the wizard, now I have to take your toys away, bad tincan. With that thought on his mind, he squeezes the trigger.

The 'Borg's crossbow goes up in a flash of splintering metal and springing strings.

"Thanks, Bart," Gabriel says, tapping the other man's shoulder after the shot is taken. The four grenade packs look like makeshift volleyballs. He hurries forward to grab Jaxain, and once clasped, launches into the air. "We might be pretty obvious now, if they're looking this way. Where do you want me to put you?"

Leonard could potentially engage the heavy team in front of him in melee combat, but why? He has more entertaining ideas in mind. Such as annihilating them via his effective, if uncreative lightning. Two blasts are fired, with the third directed at one of the annoying missile launchers. A new writhing mass of tentacles also forms about Leonard, although not of the shifter's will. A certain raven that is not has a vested interest in keeping him alive, even if the human is too overcome by rage to consider it.

Two of the heavy men go down, smoking. One of them, however, only smokes a little, and is still functional, though quite battered. Good bet they know who they're going to shoot at now. Yet of all the men, only one of them manages to stand his ground, his sneer nearly visible from behind his helmet. The remaining men cower.

Great, just what she needs. Sage has a petulant child that seems to like knocking down walls in what begins to seem like blatant attempts to get her killed. The girl gets shot the next and is probably dead. A bird yammering about a friend in her head. She tosses the last blinder like a hot potato at the newly revealed group of troops that have ranged weaponry. Then, averting her eyes from the grenade, she picks out one of the melee troops in attempt to sew a little chaos with the seed of fear...

The Blinder goes off and neatly catches the entire light infantry squad. Three of them drop their weapons, the other two hold onto them but stagger. The melee squad breaks into a run toward Sage as they watch her throw the grenade, and as elites, guess the likelihood of what just happened to their comrade who is now streaking out into the open field, scared of something that probably isn't there. If anything, their military resolve is strengthened.

The 'Borg just stumbles around, reaching around as if he thinks that he'll find a weapon somewhere. He might. But not now.

The hovercycles, having successfully chased off one attacker, turn on the next most useful one, which again is the sparkling Leonard. They have excellent range and speed. Opening up with their dual machine guns is not a problem.

Mary just lays on her face, unmoving.

The four remaining men of the close-quarters squad lunge forward, but awkwardly enough that they only get one swipe each, and a rather wild one, at that. They may each carry two swords, but rushing into combat causes problems.

The little gun-bot skittering around the battlefield continues to do what looks like searching. A robot brain is great, but they built the brains to be only smart enough to find targets, so it's a tad slow. The storm and such probably doesn't help.

The two men of the light infantry squad who had retained their rifles fire off random shots, just hoping to hit whomever had just blinded them. It's a decent guess of direction, considering where the wall just came down. The laser blasts fly off wildly into the night.

Jaxain looks around briefly as he hangs on for dear life (or something like that). "Leo seems alright... and kinda scary. Drop me near Sage, maybe I can give her and hand before things get too crazy over there." He smiles, "See if you can launch me right at one of the buggers, knock him on his ass with a nice kick." This said, he does a quick mental exercise and hardens his body so that he doesn't break anything in the upcoming impact. This might not be too pretty... depending on Gabriel's aim.

Down at the heavy unit, the one man still active glances, but the target is obvious, and almost to the point that he can't miss. There's a safe bet that more like him may be on the way, but he takes the opportunity. He raises his light rail gun, which soon belches pointed metal rounds at a significant velocity toward the furious mage.

Up on the roof, four men still survive and after a bit of soul-searching, determine that the CQB group has Sage and the dead girl well in hand. They turn their rifles back on Leonard. Unfortunately, all but one of them falls to the roof, horrified at what they're seeing. The other man, disgusted, aims at the oncoming foe. Having twice attempted to cause destruction with lasers, and twice failing, he rips off another burst of four grenades from the underslung magazine. Can't say that the Coalition hasn't finally found a good technological edge.

Anger gets one so far, and then it gets one killed, dismembered, or otherwise unpleasantly inconvenienced. Leonard's whirling blades cannot maneuver quickly enough to deflect a burst, much less multiples, and the recently-renewed protection (via Edgar) was already all but re-destroyed. That leaves damaged body armor, which fails under the concussions and shrapnel. The barrage of detonations snuffs out the electrical storm that was Leonard, and he drops, landing several yards to the rear... and to the east... and the west, near Sage.

No, indeed taking a blast of grenades like that is never a good thing. Leonard is shockingly somehow alive, but unconscious and landing back near the southern treeline. He may not wish to awaken from his near-coma, however, as all four limbs have been blown from his body. His face is shredded in a way that appears as if it might last. But as far as a doctor would be concerned, he is technically still alive.

Bartholemew does a quick scan of the battlefield after he takes out the metal man's big weapon for good. The duo jetting into the sky hopefully will distract anyone or anything that may have gotten a fix on his position. Searching the field for squad commanders he comes along the little crab like fellow, interesting machine, too bad it's gotta go. So he lines up his sights on the sneaky little guy probably out looking for him. He focuses his sights on the weapon portion of the drone, take that out, robot useless. He's not ready to give up the fight yet, after all, he's still waiting for that big boom from Gabe.

The little crab-like autonomous weapon system sparks, smokes, and crashes. It won't be giving anyone any further problems.

The combination of ghillie suit and massive storm seem to cover even Gabriel's low-flying jet pack. After all, he doesn't want to drop Jaxain from too high. As he nears Sage's position, he calculates a trajectory for a horizontal launch, taking into account velocity, altitude and wind resistance, then lets go. "Tuck and roll, Jax."

The rocket team, which is now down to only one rocket, is trying to reposition itself. The electric mage has been eliminated, dead for all they know. The other three men remain concealed. Only Sage is a target, but with the CQB soldiers around, they're bright enough not to fire.

As if it isn't bad enough to have one potential dead body near her, Sage is probably too busy to fully realize the part of another one that's landed near her. And, then another body seems to drop from the sky. She's already planning the old smoke escape but there's probably too many melee people close to her to do it right away. As they run past her, she brings up the rifle to fire stun rounds off at two of them.

The first shot is just wildly wild. In fact, it would be amusing if it weren't for the situation. However, the other round smacks into a soldier, and he falls flat on his back like a cartoon character. Three little bears remain.

The 'Borg is so disoriented that it just falls over and will continue to simply flail.

Rubidia is still sight seeing inner space, she'll be back soon.

The remaining main with the rail gun is equally confused like the rocket crew. In fact, like everyone right now. He can't shoot without hitting the soldiers around Sage.

The man on the roof has a similar problem, and just waits, hoping for a clean shot. He does stand full up on his feet at this point. Maybe elevation will help.

Jaxain drops like a stone, tucking into a rough roll just before he hits ground. Gabriel's aim was good, and luck is with Jax as he comes to his feet nicely, right beside the downed soldier. Jax quickly picks up the sword in his left hand, looking around for targets, then moves to help defend both Sage, and what is left of Leo's body. Now the sword guys have two targets! Weeeeee...

Bartholemew finds the last confused rocketeer on the battlefield and takes an aimed shot at him to try and finish the squad off.

The shot isn't enough to cause real damage to the man's armor, but it is enough to distract him. He lowers the launcher and scratches at the armor. Still on his feet, but momentarily - very momentarily - out of the fight.

God is smiling on Gabriel, and he's sure that all of his comrades believe that, too. No one seems to spot him. Why should they, it's noisy enough to cover the jets, and he's in the sky, where no one is looking. The thermal camouflage doesn't hurt. He does manage to do two things, though. He completely bypasses the active battlefield, grabs his two oddly-wrapped bundles of borrowed plasma grenades, and hurls them at the mouth of the command post built into the side of the mountain.

One of the makeshift bombs lands short, among a group of soldiers still getting their gear together. The other, however, flies right through the open maw and detonates in a massive explosion that belches fire forward in a way that would make a Hollywood action-flick director proud. All communications instantly go down, and the electrical systems seem to be on the flux. That's why they call it a command center. "Hope that helped," he says. Of course, now he's possibly a better target.

The rocketeer looks up from scratching his breastplate only long enough to turn his head as if asking, "Huh?"

Out in the field, a woman materializes from the treeline. It's Thea the Gentle. How she got here is anyone's guess, but she had promised to come and fight. For now it looks as if she's just going to tend to the fallen mage.

Well, there's some good new for Sage at last. The last body coming down around here is actually a live friendly one instead of something more grisly or another enemy. She doesn't have any compulsion not to shoot at the heavier weapon guys. She shifts her attention towards the compound and she picks out the guy with the bigger gun on the roof.

The two blasts are enough to make a significant crack in the rocket-wielder's carapace. Enough that he starts to run back into the compound, possibly looking to change into an undamaged suit of armor. He's out of the current battle.

The guys up in the hovercycles just mill around for a moment, possibly confused at the sudden lack of radio traffic.

Mary continues to lay on the ground, face down in the mud and debris from the blasted wall.

The guys of the CQB group are surprised as Jax lands near them, but as their attention was already on Sage, they continue to attack her, the remaining three.

Despite whacking away the last weak attempt, Sage's psychic armor gets raked over by the attacking sword men. Yet, it seems to hold firm for now.

Jaxain growls, somewhat surprised the remaining swordsmen ignored him in favor of Sage. Oh well, their mistake, he closes any remaining distance quickly, a *snick* sound coming from his right wrist as three large blades suddenly appear, shredding the end of his coat as they exit. He then unleashes a whirlwind of lightning quick strikes, attacking a single target until he punctures the armor and then moving on.

The slices make some very significant scratches, and grab the man's attention, that's for certain. He's definitely not going down, though.

Ah, good, a shot. The remaining heavy infantryman raises his light rail gun and lines up on the man who just started slicing away at his friend. Jaxain is the target of flying metal.

Up top on the roof, the rifleman has also decided that the annoying little swordsman makes a good target, unleashing a three-round burst from his heavy laser rifle.

Bartholemew turns his attention on the hovercycle pilots, training his sights on one of the pilot's helmet as they just mill about, lost without communications.

Gabriel zooms upward, grinning beneath his helmet as the flames outside of the command area continue to burn. His other two devices are dropped as he takes to the sky, doing little but going vertical and tossing them out to his sides.

There are two huge detonations among the group of gathering soldiers as they have slowed their gathering of equipment. The comm going down didn't help. The blasts among those who weren't entirely armored didn't help their numbers either.

Despite the annoyance of the sword people around her, Sage seems content to see if her own sword companion can't distract him. "That's right, just let my friend rape you up the backside." She murmurs as she turns her attention to sending a stun round at the railgun and then the rifle guy. Bringing peace one stun at a time.

The man with the railgun is stunned. He drops his weapon and starts to wander aimlessly.

Up in the sky, the hovercycles have now turned to look toward the interior of the base, as it's more than clear now that something is there. They head in, but apparently don't spot anything. At least they aren't shooting right now.

Mary looks like a little girl face down in the mud. A little girl who collapsed after taking a rail gun blast, yet whose body shows absolutely no signs of being shot, save for exit holes in the back of her dress.

The three melee combatants are once more split and slow as they possibly discuss something over the local radio. Probably deciding what to do with Jaxain or Sage. In the end? They go after Jaxain, and they're pissed.

Jaxain acts similar to before, wielding his blades with the finesse of a skilled fighter. If only his natural prowess matched his trained skill... He unleashes a flurry of blows, moving as he does to position the three combatants between himself and the opening in the base where all the sparkly painful shooting is coming from.

The man who had been attacked before takes a number of cuts, and goes down with parts of his body hanging in places that they don't belong.

The battlefield is a mess, the entire area, from treeline to ridgeline has been touched with destruction in one form or another. An autumn storm rages overhead, the thunder and blowing wind making hearing difficult, with the lightning and rain making vision difficult. All of the military firepower that has been unleashed has done nothing to help the situation. The blown clearing which then became a mass of trenches is now becoming just a soupy mash of mud and blasted vegetation. Other than the flashes of lightning and any hand-carried lighting, there is no illumination. The makeshift demolition bundle thrown into the carved out area of the ridge apparently took out their generation systems. All of their automated weapon systems and even static crew-served or large weapon systems are off-line. There is a huge gaping hole in what had looked like a seemingly impenetrable wall's southwestern corner.

Rubidia has departed the battlefield for parts unknown, after having done her part to buzz the compound lit up by a flare and eliminating a few soldiers up on the ridge. Leonard made quite the show, and through both attack and horror, had dispatched a number of soldiers himself. Unfortunately, the new Coalition grenades hit hard, and tore through all of his magical and technological defenses. Somehow, despite taking nearly half of a grenade's entire blast to his bare body, he has survived, though likely with some severe and permanent scarring. Plus, he is now without arms or legs, his remaining core having been blown back to lay near the southern treeline. Thea the Gentle of Derwentwater materialized out of the woods and is tending to the unconscious mage. How she arrived is unknown.

Sage has taken a number of blasts from grenades and some sword slashes, and is fighting back against three remaining melee combatants. Jaxain has just arrived, taken some sword damage, and is up and fighting as well, thanks to the aerial delivery by Gabriel, who himself is at this point simply jetting skyward after having dropped two additional weapons on a cluster of soldiers. Maiden Mary is laying unmoving, face down in the mud and debris from the walls that she single-handedly destroyed. After taking a number of rail gun blasts, her body still appears completely intact, though her clothing looks as if the rounds had passed through, holing the back of her dress. Bartholemew is laying distant in what is the increasingly muddy and uncomfortable trenches. Leonard's familiar is in the air, and the gurgoyle Chokespawn – looking almost as bad as Leonard – has returned, keeping her promise to continue fighting. Two interesting developments on the friendly front are the appearance of Gregory just south of the ridge, along the treeline, and somewhere around twenty-five villagers in the west. They remain armed with primarily farming implements, but perhaps Rubidia's warning has given them courage to attempt to take on a formal military. Of course, their rapid appearance may also be questioned. Perhaps further questions never hurt.

One rifleman remains on top of the barely-damaged barracks, looking to take shots in the direction of the roiling melee. Two hovercycles, the remaining of three after one having been blinded are in the air and in all likelihood searching for whatever it was that just destroyed their command center and killed a score of prepping soldiers from the sky. Below the barracks, one heavy infantryman armed with a light rail gun is also looking for a shot. Three riflemen and three heavy infantry are descending from the rallying point in the north, and may possibly have some difficult long distance shots at Sage, Jaxain, or Gabriel if he is found. Finally, one rocket duo of shooter and loader has appeared in the distant north of the compound. Their rockets have the range to hit anything around, but their low ground position, nearby soldiers and buildings will preclude their shooting at anything save for the villagers or Gabriel. Bartholemew is down by a missile and a load of grenades, in addition to a few shots from a sniper rifle. Gabriel lost his own destructive grenades to Leonard's clever use of them to destroy the ammunition depot.

It looks bad. But considering the soldiers dispatched by horror or death thanks to Leonard, those stunned or killed by Sage and Jaxain, those sniped by Bartholemew, those simply blown apart by Gabriel's makeshift bombs, the chaos caused by the destruction of the command post, and the unexplained appearance of friendlies, the situation is definitely not yet in complete doubt. The sudden appearance of the villagers is likely to cause the Coalition soldiers to take pause, if only for a few seconds. As has been said, "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill because they pissed me off."

Up in the sky, possibly praying that as the highest thing around Zeus won't choose to target him with a lightning bolt, Gabriel has a good position to look down at everything. The newly acquired thermal equipment certainly helps. "Holy shit! Bart, get that launcher ready, load a missile, load a missile!" Then, "Uh... there's people at the treeline. I'll try to keep this half-equipped group occupied." With that, he simply drops two of his own Blinders down into the mass off people, continuing to circle at roughly one-thousand feet above the compound.

Down below, the two grenades go off as promised, blinding at least two squads of men.

Up in the sky, Gabriel's acrobatics and attack maneuvers have not gone without notice. The hovercycles have finally found the source of the trouble, and they waste no time in trying to rectify the problem. They're at the edge of their normal range - but still dangerous, and both fire off bursts from their machine-guns.

Out to the west, the remaining men and women from the village, those who hadn't faded away of those who had promised and agreed to fight after hearing Rubidia, have simply... come out of nowhere, it would seem. They still carry their odd farming implements, and likely look like easy targets. If you can shoot at a really, really fast target, they are. Of course, you also have to notice them first, something that the Coalition certainly doesn't do at this point. These villagers however, they take off over the muddy trenches, faster than anyone would ever have imagine. They will be at the walls in only a few seconds.

The rifleman on the roof is still struggling to find a shot.

As their comrades keep dropping, the men of the melee squad - a dancing duo at this point - are scared. Scared enough to simply lash out at Jaxain as he's the person that's been giving them the most trouble. Unfortunately for them, their fright and anger makes them sloppy. Both bring their swords down twice, hacking at the shorter man.

The battered, smoking, and possibly dying gurgoyle Chokespawn rushes with her demon-speed at the newly entering light unit of three riflemen. She launches herself at a pair of them in a flying tackle. She made a promise to Leonard, and she will keep it unless released. If she wants to be released at all.

The two men, caught completely unawares from behind, go down under her weight. She'll likely twist their necks enough in an instant that they'll no longer offer any problems. The third man, having seen his comrades go down, pauses, then turns and runs back toward the mustering area where all of the explosions have been going off. This unit, thanks to a demon-summoning, is gone.

Thea the Gentle continues to do whatever it is that she's doing to Leonard, somehow keeping him alive. At least for now.

Little Mary is still laying flat on her face in the mud and debris, the strange combination of intact body, shredded clothes glaring at everyone around.

Gregory in the east, just like the materializing villagers, is blindingly fast. He starts off in the direction of the gate, and like the others, will be upon the walls in no time. He doesn't bother to make his presence known to the initial men and woman who had assaulted the base. He simply charges.

With the sword people deciding to actually attack the sword guy, Sage turns her attention back on the rifle guy on the roof. She fires off another stun round to see if she can't shut that man does for now. Then, with some time where imminent doom doesn't seem to be a moment away, she takes a moment to step over to Mary's body to roll her to a position where her face isn't in the muck and does a quick check to make sure the airways are checked in case the annoying girl is actually still among the living.

The stun shot grazes past the rifleman, ineffective. However, upon turning over the unusual little girl, it can be seen that her eyes are wide open and scared, lips quivering. It only lasts for a split-second, however, before she shouts in her little girl-voice, "Sage!" She starts to get to her feet.

Jaxain is watching the men facing him, smiling only very slightly. "How's the girl?" He asks of Sage as he parries incoming attacks, but somehow manages to loose his sword. As it falls, he swears and kicks up with his foot, spinning the blade up back into his hand just in time to stop the second blade. He moves sideways, making sure he keeps himself imposed between the Coalition soldiers and Sage, and mutters a magical incantation which covers his form in invisible armor, and counter attacking the soldiers facing him

The swords skitter across one man's chest plate, causing damage, enough to take note, but not enough to give him pause.

Leonard's form may be shredded, and possibly his mind shattered for the time being, but he is here in spirit as Edgar dives on Sage, Mary and Jaxain. A shimmering blue field of energy pops up around them like a half-dome camping tent, the two soldiers and everyone else quite alone on the outside and probably wondering what the hell just happened.

The new rocket unit that has popped up - if one shooter can be called a unit - is still paused, searching for targets. They can reach anyone they want, they're just having difficulty spotting them.

Gregory's sudden appearance caused the remaining rail gunner from the original unit to stop in his tracks, hesitating, just like the rocketeers.

The hovercycles may have just found their target, but little do they know, Bart has had one of em lined up in his sights for just enough time to have the pilot's helmet in the perfect spot to send a laser blast his way. Once the laser is let loose to cross the field, he lifts the rocket launcher next to him, "Sorry Gabe, had that one lined up, had to take it. What ya got up there? Missile locked and loaded."

The helmet cracks, just barely, but apparently having been enough to melt the innards, and the hovercycle falls out of the sky.

The new heavy unit of three gunners continues to head south, but slowly, having been taken aback by all of the action caused by such a small, ridiculously small number of combatants.

The machine-guns having taken out at least a third of his beloved armor, Gabriel has choices; try to outrun the remaining hovercycle, the rocketeers and flee, or attack and stay in the battle with hurt armor. He chooses to remain in the battle, not one to leave his comrades in a bind, unlike a certain flashy woman who came along on this mission. It takes him a moment to unlimber his big NTI rifle, but impact is more familiar to him than energy. Due to the motion, he only gets off one burst at the hovercyclist, but it's better than nothing.

The plasma-thrown weapons impact the cyclist's armor. Enough to take notice, enough to hurt, possibly enough to really piss him off.

Yes, yes getting shot does piss you off. The remaining Coalition aerial unit zooms in on Gabriel, both of them closing the distance rapidly. Both machine-guns belch flames.

The machine-gun bullets skitter all over Gabriel's armor, possibly wiping out some of that beautiful engraving that he'd had done to make himself feel more like he was back in 1959.

The men and women of Derwentwater were not idiots bent on attacking a Coalition base with farm implements alone. They hit the wall running - and pass right through it, doing what resembles an instantaneous shimmering of the mirage effect seen back at their village. They are soon in among the survivors, passing through them like spirits, yet causing not only great confusion, but somehow damage along the way as well. It's possible that the further grouping of organized units will be slow or completely absent. Not that the soldiers are all dead yet, just that they're too shattered and battered to form a coherent group.

The man on the roof is so caught up in trying to find an angle on Sage and Jaxain, and then surprised by the sudden appearance of a glowing blue energy field that he hesitates and his rifle actually slips out of his hand for a moment.

The two swordsmen just stand up straight as if they were considering wedding gowns, the energy field having been thrown in their faces.

Perhaps the cause of Gabriel's alarm is now apparent. A full-blown Coalition Skycycle is rising from some hidden area. Its one rider seems to be making no bones about attacking this attackers. The speed that he's gaining, the altitude, and the turn that he's making suggests that he's about to shoot on to Whykin. He escapes, and a further alarm is sounded. That would be exceptionally bad.

The gurgoyle, after standing to search for more targets, chooses the trio of heavy soldiers still remaining. Once more with fiendish speed she tears across the compound, hurdling bodies and equipment, aiming to tackle just as before.

Again, the demonic linebacker takes down two of them. The remaining man in this unit is not so easily surprised however, and keeps his weapon and his cool.

Now, now that little Mary has finally been turned around, she acts again. Every little girl, even really, really powerful ones will get frightened when they get shot and land face down in the mud. But now she's angry, too. A little girlie push follows with a loud, "Go away!" and the two swordsmen go flying backwards, bowled over and over like skipping stones. Somehow, Mary's powers weren't enough to kill them, but they're quite gone, unless they can somehow move as fast as her village friends.

Now it's Gregory's turn to assist. He leaps for the man on the roof, and tackles him with blinding speed. Not having any other weapon handy, he simply grabs the rifle and pounds the man with it. It's clearly not hurting his armor, but he's not going anywhere.

To Sage's surprise, two unexpected things happen. The first being that the girl is actually fully conscious and seemed to be feigning death or unconsciousness. The second being the force field that pops up around them. "She seems fine to me." She comments before having the first real moment to look around to notice what's going on. "And, I think your Mommy and Daddy are here now... somewhere." She adds, glad to see that the swordsmen have been pushed away instead of her. "Guess we have some time to ourselves." She comments to Jaxian, before turning her attention back to Mary. "Here, let me find some clothing." She adds before she begins to take off her backpack to rummage for a shirt or something to put over the tattered clothing.

Jaxain blinks several times at the suddenly appearing force field, looking at Sage questioningly. "Umm, your work?" He asks, moving over towards the little girl. He puts the vibro-blade in his harness, and retracts his tri-blade before kneeling down before her. "Hey, Mary, are you alright? Don't worry, we will keep you safe," he says, his voice as calming as he can make it, a reassuring grin on his face as he reaches up and takes off his helmet. He hangs it off his harness, and reaches into his bag, retrieving some rations and a flask of clean, cold water. "Here, want something to eat or drink?" He asks.

The raven, essentially unseen by everyone save perhaps in the shattered mind of its familiar, dives on the crowd below. As the rocket unit seems to be the most dangerous to the rest of the group, a shimmering net of magical threads appears around them, encapsulating them nicely. Perhaps having surveyed the existing battlefield and determining it safe enough, the energy field that had sprung up over the three on the ground blinks out as quickly as it had appeared.

Bartholemew spots the Skycycle trying to take off across the skies. Raising his CR-1 he takes the shot on the Skycycle in hopes to stop it before it gets going. One rocket is prolly not going to be enough though, but who knows, might get lucky. With the rocket fired, he goes back to his rifle. "Fire in the hole buddy."

The armor piercing missile slams into the Skycycle just beneath the rider. It's not enough to destroy the cycle, but it's enough to cause him to lose slight control and flutter around for a time.

As the rail gunner seems to be the only remaining active and sane soldier on the ground, he grabs life by the balls and chooses to attack Chokespawn, the beast that just took down his comrades. It's point blank. He can't miss unless his weapon malfunctions.

"What?" That's probably the first word that goes through the man's mind as his first shot misses. Are you kidding me?" is probably the next thought that he has as his proud and mighty rail gun does very little impressive damage to the beast that he likely just made very, very angry.

The shots from his rifle were useful enough, but as he has no idea what's going on down below at the moment, Gabriel attempts to end this battle in the best way that he knows how. A good, old-fashioned sacking of the quarterback. He hugs his rifle to his chest, leans toward the cycle's pilot, puts his shoulder down, and just thrusts with his 'pack jets as fast as he can.

Boom! The cycle pilot is knocked right out of his seat, and begins his long plummet to the ground below. Gabriel nearly loses control of his own movement so much that he grazes the edge of the ridge, but remains in the air. His bell rung, he doesn't have the presence of mind to even offer the information that this problem has been taken care of.

Below, the villagers continue to run amok. Soldiers are being wounded right and left, going down for the count. However, the death toll caused by the villagers themselves is surprisingly low. The Skycycle regains it bearings, and once more begins to flee, lining up on a beeline for Whykin, gradually gaining the speed that it had lost.

Little Maiden Mary is so sweet, so powerful, and still five years old. She fusses and musses as Sage tries to help her. "I don't wanna wear that!" Further and similar phrases come out of her mouth, but she's eventually dressed, or at least covered as appropriate for a little girl. Face still caked in mud, she crosses her arms, tries to stare down her helper, and asks with five year old force, "FINE. What do you want to do now?"

Up on the barrack's roof, Gregory has seemingly pummeled the man into unconsciousness. Standing up and tossing him over his back, he seems to look around the base, shrug, and look for a good spot to hop down.

And just like that the moment of faux domestic bliss ends and the sound of fighting bringing Sage's attention back to the task at hand, she gets her rifle ready once more. "No that wasn't me." She replies to Jax. No obvious signs of soldiers, but the missile explosion does draw her attention to the hovercycle. The refusal of her help rolling off her like rain on a coat treated against water. Her brings her rifle to bear. "Tell you in just a moment..." She comments. She squeezes the trigger twice for stun rounds. She likely doesn't figure she can kill the pilot, but could possible stun it.

The man in the Skycycle is thoroughly stunned. The flying machine starts to simply circle in a wide loop over the area, its pilot apparently having had the foresight to wear a seat belt. It's shockingly gentle, and really doesn't appear as if the thing's going to come down through any natural forces until it runs out of fuel.

Jaxain frowns at the little girl as she completely ignores him, and then shrugs and downs half the water himself. "Don't know what you’re missing." he mutters as he stands back up, looking around for any obvious threats. "Hey, eye in the sky, you alright? Lemme know if there are any more bad guys who need some ass-kicking." He smiles up at the sky cycle pilot, shaking his head. "Nice shot, Sage."

Edgar the raven flaps around the battlefield, peeking here and there, apparently not yet seeing anything new to do other than taking out the Skycycle, which he chooses not to do, for whatever bird-brained reason he has.

Bartholemew points his rifle at the Skycycle, no time to reload the CR-1 for a second shot. He fires two quick shots at the out of control bike and pilot. Gotta knock this thing down in case he comes to.

After asking his question of Gabriel, Jax jogs over to the fallen rail gun troops, looking to arm himself for further danger. Sure he has decent swords, but when it comes to long range he's being left in the dust. He spots one that looks good, making his way towards it.

Bartholemew's first shot snaps off a few chips of armor from the orbiting Skycycle, not nearly enough to cause it to be knocked out of its odd loops, however. The next shot is unfortunately not even a shot. The heavy sniper rifle snaps, crackles and pops with electricity as some circuit goes awry. It's not going to be firing anymore on this battlefield. It's not irreparable, but it's done for now.

The storm continues, and the base is a mess of bodies, debris, smoke and flame. However, with one unfortunate exception, the tiny assault team seems relatively intact. Gabriel is still in the sky, as is one Coalition-issue Skycycle, floundering in amusing circles, its rider in place. Leonard is being seen to, with Sage, Mary and Jaxain gathered together at what used to be the southwestern corner of the base. Gregory is carrying a knocked-out rifleman over his shoulder, moving toward his daughter with a smile. The rest of the base is quiet, with most of the villagers still alive and standing over a good thirty men or so in various states of armor, alive but unconscious. Bartholemew is still in his rapidly-muddying trench on the maximum distance of shooting.

Gabriel shakes his head up in the sky and asks, "Uh.. anyone able to bring this thing down with.. umm.. brain stuff or something? Or pilot it, I can bring you up? Or.. worst case, try to tell me how to bring it down safe? I want to talk to the guy."

After asking his question of Gabriel, Jax jogs over to the fallen rail gun troops, looking to arm himself for further danger. Sure he has decent swords, but when it comes to long range he's being left in the dust. Picking one up, he tests the heft, looking around for further threats. Smiling, he aims at the sky cycle in the sky, about to snap off a few quick bursts when Gabriel's voice pipes in over the radio. "Huh, good idea." he mutters, feeling slightly dejected. "Anything I CAN shoot at out there?" he asks, putting his optics helmet back on his head.

Sage nods faintly to herself as she realizes her shots hit the mark. "Thanks." She replies before she begins to straighten up once more. Noticing Mary's father, she glances over to Mary. "Go to your Daddy, he'll be able to find Mommy for you." She offers simply, before considering the area. "And, what's the plan otherwise?" She interjects over the radio, "Don't exactly want to be around when someone gets curious about what might be going on out here."

Bartholemew responds to Gabe's call despite the frustration of his new toy taking a shit on him, "I can bring it down if you bring me up buddy."

Up in the sky, Gabriel begins a descent to Bartholemew's position, offering up first, "Great, Bart. Bring this fucker down, I wanna question him. I mean, the base looks like ours now, Sage. I've been scanning, and unless they're using some really whacked-out scrambling on highly-unusual frequency, there's nothing coming from Whykin to indicate that anyone's worried right now. Looking at how their comm was set up, they probably only checked in every hour or something rather than continually broadcasting their position." He then changes direction. "Better idea, I'll just grab the pilot. Flying thing can deal with itself." He heads off in that direction.

Jaxain watches Gabriel fly around like an avenging angel, smiling and wishing it was him. Sure he's got a lot to learn, but nobody is perfect. He moves back closer to Sage. "So if we wanna bury this place, what are you thinking?" He asks, not having been in on the original plan.

Sage glances towards Mary, "Well, if other people have similar powers to Mary, I imagine this place could be rumble in short order..." She comments, before pausing to consider something. She suddenly pauses as if a thought just occurs to her. "Where's Leo?! Where's Rubidia?!" She blurts out, looking around with a little helplessness. She finds a piece that looks Leo-ish nearby, "No..." She says simply, "Not Leo..." Her head hanging a little at the thought of another friend lost.

With the battle looking like it's winding down, Bart grabs his gear and leaves the trench to bolt up to the fortress. Running through the mud is not an easy thing to do however.

Up in the air, about one-thousand feet up, Gabriel takes his time to grab the Skycycle's pilot, ensuring that he's not going to drop him. As he backs slowly away carrying the stunned man, the cycle just continues to lazily loop, and will likely do that until it runs out of fuel. If it's nuclear powered, that will be a while. He checks the man's armor. "Hey, this is Major Plotkin himself, Sage! I wonder... his senior NCO is around here somewhere. If he isn't down, look out guys." As he descends, he also suggests, "Get into the base, search for whatever you can. Get into computers, grab code books, whatever. This is a gold mine. What's wrong with Leonard?" Meanwhile, Gregory has dumped his unconscious soldier to the ground and scooped up Maiden Mary. She's quite happy to be back with her daddy. Chokespawn is slowly moving toward Sage and Jaxain as well. "I have fulfilled my promise. Where is the mage?" she asks, quite politely, for a gurgoyle.

Jaxain is silent for a moment. He didn't know the mage well, but he had meet him once, long ago. "I... I am not sure. I think he got hurt, and hurt badly..." He defers, certain that the man is dead but not knowing if his magic could have somehow protected him. "I saw the biggest piece go that way." he says, pointing over towards the treeline. And with that, he goes about making sure nobody makes further trouble. He disarms and rounds up any survivors, more than ready to gun down any who resist. "Just tell me where to go, Gabriel." he says, reporting in whenever he sees anything of value. He's no good with computers, however...

Sage looks to Jaxain then towards the treeline, "Jax, can you take care of the searching. I'm sure the villagers could make it quicker work if they know what to look for..." Then she turns and starts to make her way for the treeline. Her friend might be dead, but she needs to see whether that's the case - if she can.

Bartholemew continues to move up to the fortress as fast as he can. The mud and rain slowing him down crossing that field. Eventually he does get up to the breech in the wall. Surveying the impressive damage momentarily before seeking out a new working weapon nearby. "You guys alright up here? Anyone wounded?"

Gabriel lands near the center of the compound and immediately removes the Major's helmet so that he can't come back to a non-stunned state and call for help over the radio. "You know guys, I'm the only one with the capability of moving fast on my own. Why don't you gather your stuff and head back. I'll see what I can get done with the villagers, and join you back in the city. Incidentally... let's all keep this quiet, okay? Just for now." He then offers Bartholemew a salute - as the only military man present - "thank you everyone. This was an important blow. I'll see you at home." With that, he begins to wander toward the crowd, Gregory, the barracks, what's left of the command center... anything he can get his hands on. As if Mother Nature approves, the storm is even beginning to clear.

With everything wound up it's time for the long march back. There's hadda be a truck or something in the base to take back, who's bright idea was it to march back? Before he heads back he asks Gabe, "Hey, keep an eye out for citizen paperwork, I need a set."

Following the battle, those who remained behind were faced with the Pyrrhic victory of having captured an entire Coalition outpost against vastly superior numbers and preparation, but losing one of their own. The base itself was shattered by gunfire, rockets, makeshift bombs, the shredding of bodies by a summoned gurgoyle, and most importantly the detonation of its ammunition dump, which wiped out scores of soldiers, put fear into the hearts of others and caused many to hesitate for important seconds.

After searching the compound and politely questioning the elite Major Plotkin – "politely" by CIA standards – it turns out that this first large advance was only part of a larger Operation Tantrum designed by General Rheevus back in Whykin. The intention? More land under Coalition control, and and an attempt at provoking Kingsdale into a swift war that the crown jewel city of southern Missouri would likely have lost. With the loss of his expert special operations commander, and the sudden violent actions taking place at Tolkeen, it is unlikely that Operation Tantrum will continue. Outpost Condor, as the ridge-placed base was apparently known, was the trial base, and a failure. After Gabriel's own interrogation, Plotkin was returned to Kingsdale, where he is currently being held in complete secrecy and further interrogated through magical and psychic means. Only the small posts ringing Whykin at the five-mile mark will remain.

A great deal of information regarding further plans in the Whykin Semi-Autonomous Zone was gathered, from computers to equipment, first-hand information and communication codes. In the air, the Skycycle continues to fly a lazy, large circle at an altitude of roughly one-thousand feet. A decision was made to purposefully leave it up there, just to confuse and annoy the Coalition.

The villagers were key to victory, and the adventurers simply fortunate that their allies were brave. If only someone had taken a moment to speak with them before running off and assuming that they were just bumbling farmers. The inhabitants of Derwentwater seem to be some kind of phase-shifting beings that can exist both on this plane and another at the same time. They move with incredible speed, and as Gregory told the adventurers who remained behind, were rather surprised when the men and women from Kingsdale asked for their help, then simply gave up on them and vanished before they could say anything. Their delay in arriving was only due to their own decision to fight as they had promised, and having to get there on foot, so to speak.

Some of the adventurers and even a few villagers attacking the base were less than amused by Rubidia's lighting it up like a flare, and her choice of action after the attack began. There may be some grumbling around the water-cooler.

The gurgoyle Chokespawn, summoned by Leonard, was released from her magic bindings, having fulfilled her promise to fight at the base. She came extremely close to being a dead gurgoyle, having been shot, grenade-blasted, bladed and caught in the explosion of the ammunition dump. The important fact though is that she did survive, and has now moved on to whatever greener pastures she was hoping to find in this new world.

Leonard, who gave up almost everything to successfully eliminate this compound, had all of his limbs blown off, and was tragically scarred after taking nearly an entire grenade blast to an unprotected human body. His survival is nothing less than a miracle, and the arrival of the speedy Thea the Gentle, then Sage's slightly belated arrival – due to combat concerns – did stabilize him enough to be taken back to the city, awaiting whatever fate he may choose.

The time given to examine the outpost with both adventurers and villagers also allowed time to gather a number of weapons and equipment from the Coalition's local arsenal. The villagers themselves were able to whisk it back to Bartholemew's vehicle prior the return to Kingsdale. That done, they followed up on Gabriel and Leonard's request to return the area to its natural state. In the end, the trenches were returned to common brush, and the trees of the original forest once more flourish, leaving no unusual open ground. They were able to return the entire area as if nothing had ever happened, with the sole exception of the command-bunker carved into the ridge. The men from Whykin are going to be very confused when they eventually come down in force to check in on a base that has stopped reporting in.

The closing of the mission was met with quiet thanks by Kingsdale's ruling Council. As had been hinted at months ago when Vixen had approached them, they surreptitiously recharged all E-clips and TW weapons, and repaired repairable armor. To help maintain secrecy, no physical objects lost were replaced.

Due to possibly severe consequences if this action were ever to leak out, the men and women who attacked the compound have been sworn to absolute secrecy. Speaking about the action will be met harshly; the Council can't risk starting their own war with Whykin if it seems as if there was any kind of support on their side for the assault. Explaining Leonard's predicament will require fancy verbal footwork and flat-out lies. If a citizen didn't know of the base, the Council demands that they never know of the base. Recharge and repair, a handshake and a slap on the back is what they can do.

It was a brave thing that helped countless beings remain free and alive. Certainly a good deed and something to be proud of.