Highway/Wilderness

Malachi stood next to lia, he opened his pack and took out one of the capsules. He clicked it and tossted it to the ground. What came from it was an ammo satchel. filled with fresh mags. He buckled the pouch to his belt. and stood quietly next to lia.

Saber crouched under brush, already knowing what was on the other side. She waited for her Master to do his Recon, then give the order to attack. He could make the plan, if he was competent enough. However, if they stayed her a long time, then he was the coward she thought he could be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aya kept her guard up, looking around.

"Oh, he'll betray us. That's happend to me oh so many times. Just expect it. Hold loyalty to no one- but your friends. Even then, tread lightly. I've seen this world for a very long time. I know how it works, what makes it tick. Greed. That's what civilization brings. Remember that. People will destroy the world for a little bit of cash." Brea looked up at the sun. Mid day. Great, it'd get hot soon...

Having slunk off with the others, Nova was currently lying prone underneath some of the shrubbery overlooking the highway below them, the long barrel of the sniper rifle poking out and her lithe legs the only indication to a passing observer of her presence. She scowled through the scope as she witnessed a group of black-uniformed humans wielding large halbierds battle against-

What ARE those things? she thought in revulsion as she flicked the safety of her canister rifle off.

***
Merrik's situation was looking desperate. Already, nearly half of his unit had been cut down by the beasts and, even though his men had been inflicting further casualtties on their Chaos aligned foes, they were losing ground, stamina and luck.

He heard a cry of pain to his left as the standard bearer fell to the ground clutching their colours; a Beatman leering over the unfortunate soldier before cleaving him in twain and wrestling with two quick-thinking soldiers for control of the banner.

As he began trying to carve a path to the skirmish taking place over the banner, he bellowed, "Recover the colours! Recover the colours!" His men surged forward with redoubled vigor; honour had to be satisfied and the loss of their standard would be a blow they may not recover from - if they were not wiped out first, that is.

James sighed, watching the scene unfold. There were massive monsters killing humans in some medieval battle. It seemed the humans were trying to protect their flag. Something he could understand. The Marine Corps had a lot of pride. Of course they no longer carried flags into battle.

The Marine had seen enough, he crouched and shouldered his M4A1 Carbine, looking down the Holographic Sight and lining up a shot on one of the beasts. He fired off two rounds.

"Uhh, Quarian? I want you to circle around these guys to your left around fifteen meters, select the stragglers. Fish? I want you to move up five meters and hit the guys not locked in combat. Saber, move up and help the humans. Try not to get shot."

---

Andrew nodded as Aya said basically exactly what he thought about the situation. The man reminded him of Mr. Burke of Eulogy Jones, the leader of Paradise Falls.

"I dealt with many people like that back in the Wasteland. I prepared myself for them to turn on me, then when they did? I won." The Knight then thought of Mr. Burke... he really hadn't done anything to him. Just asked him to blow up Megaton, basically. So Andrew smeared the man's head across the bar. Hell, the patrons didn't even give a shit.

Malachi nodded and made his way to his destination. He lifted his pistol and aimed at the head of a charging beast man, "May you find peace in the embrace of the gods.." He fired a round into the beast's head. The gunshot echoed across the battlefield. He then spoke in the language of the old ones, a bolt of purple fire jolted from his hand, engulfing two more of the creatures.

A series of gunshots echoed through the immediate are as purple lightining arched towards the nearest Beastmen. As the foe found itself on two fronts, Merrik raised his bloodied sword and yelled, "For Sigmar and the Emperor!"

Repeating the battle-cry, the battered and weary Empire soldiers charged once again.

***

As her allies opened fire, Nova targeted the nearest hostile and fired, sending a round crashing into the Beastman's head and out the other side.

Lia nodded, ignoring that the man knew what she was but not who she was, she was lucky to get that much. She followed orders, about 15 meters in a circular motion, swinging around. She shouldered the rifle before lifting her left hand and causing a group to glow blue and levitate before she fired, missing at first, but adjusting the shot now that she had a better idea of the sights and fired again, dropping one, then another, and finally the last one.

Saber nearly disappeared from James's side, a testament to her extreme, unnatural speed. She picked a spot with plenty of bloodshed, coming at the enemy from the side. Hopefully, she could herd them into her allies with weapons. That is, if she forced them back. And they would indeed be forced back; they would not forget the day her sword flew at them, though they would never see its spender. She manipulated her other Noble Phantasm invisible air, the thing that hid her sword, and lashed out against one of the beast men sending it flying. It was a good few feet, and sent it down to its ass. Good enough.

Invisible air strained at the use, revealing tiny hints of metal along her blade, as it had been stretched "thin" by its use as a weapon, and not a sheath. She redirected her attention to an approaching beast man, raising its rusty sword against her invisible sword, sheathed in air. She brought the two handed weapon of hers down in a wide arc, going straight through the excuse for a sword, through its measly armor, and right through its bone and flesh. With the strike finished, Saber looked away from the now cleaved in half corpse, at a few more beast men that approached.

The Servant raised her hand, and formed a gun like signal with it, the "barrel" pointing at one of the best men. She needed for them to fear her; they would not recognize a gun(She assumed this) so a little mage craft wouldn't hurt. She activated a trace, taking a few precious seconds, leaving them a good eleven feet away from her. She fired one 'bolt' of fire, that looked slightly like a very slow tracer round, but with bright red hue. It struck the lizard man in the eye, incapacitating him; for now. She did not know how hardy these being were. Its eye melting and boiling out of its sockets as it screamed in agony told her a little, however.

With the other one closing the distance, she used more energy, and focused it into a "Gander" shot. A Irish curse put to the max, to actually cause corporal damage, instead of a simple curse. She fired off a pitch black orb of tiny energy, the orb hitting the lizard man in the leg, ripping it out from under him. A small amount of gib flew out on impact, with a healthy amount of red blood. She stepped back, waiting for more to make their attack.

(Kill count = 2| Injured/Incapacitated Count = 1| Humiliated Count = 1)


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"Plenty of people who want you to kill others because they can't. Wanna manipulate you to do something they themselves are to weak to do..." Aya could hear a few gun shots at the battle, but she worried little. They were competent enough, it seemed.

As Merrik and his men continued to lay into the Beastmen (one of hi own men houtng omething on the lines of "Kill the goat-heads!" (a reference to the Beatmen's physique, he believed)), a roar from the side caught his attention. He barely had enough time to raise his shield before he was bowled to the ground, his sword clattering onto the cobbled tones and he nearly broke his arm on impact.

Strugglng to his feet, he aw hi opponent: a mightier, stronger and taller Beatman, clad in what looked like scavenged Empire plate armour (if the dried blood was anything to go by) armed with a scavenged greatsword - which the beat wa somehow able to wield one-handed - and with an oak wood hield drenched in blood was clutched in it's other fist. A large kull of some beat decorated it's head and some kind of taberd formed from human skin draped his shoulders.

To his horror, Merrik realised that this beast was the leader of the raid ("And a tough one at that." he reflected bitterly) as, with a roar, the Beastman whipped hi sword around into an attack posture; he was almost daring Merrik to attack.

Picking up his sword and with a roar on his lips, Merrik charged.

The Quarian shifted slightly before noticing one of the creatures with a larger sword and better armor prepare to fight the leader. She couldn't get a clear shot and be sure she wouldn't hit the man too so she looked toward another group toward the outskirts of the battle and made a quick hand gesture. The group of beastmen were twisted and twirled in the air as the small group was clustered together and became an easy shot for anyone.

Malachi put round after round into the group of floating beast men, along with casting curses of pain and pestilence so as to fell the enemy. What surprised him was how Lia had managed to lift the creatures into the air. Did she practice magick as well? No, probably not, from the sound of her world, the stars were in such a position that only the lowliest of spells could be cast, low rank curses, jinxes, love potions, and slight divination at the very best. He turned to an injured beast man, the creature was sprawling on the ground, braying in pain. Malachi placed his large webbed hand on top of the creatures skull, and spoke in the tongue of the old ones. As he spoke, a wriggling mess of tentacles wormed and slithered their way from the sleeve of his robe, each covered in suckers, beaks, and teeth. They slowly wrapped around the beast man's head, muffling the creature. Then there was a loud crack and a tear, followed by a horrid slurping, gurgling sound. The tentacles receded back into his sleeve, and there was nothing left of the beastman's head. He smiled and turned to plant a round square in a brayer's chest, downing the lesser creature.

"Saber! Kill that fucker!" James shouted out, pointing towards the heavily armed beast while turning and firing at the floating Beastmen. He wondered why they were floating, but didn't bother asking. The Marine then shifted fire back to the stragglers, the attacking force was obviously losing now.

---

Andrew nodded at Aya, before looking back around. "I know what that's like. The people who are alive in the Wasteland are either cowards, or extremely deadly. The majority is the former. Although I have met a few of the latter in my time." The Knight thought back to Fawkes, the tough sonuvabitch was hard to take down. He'd seen him take down a Deathclaw in HAND-TO-HAND.

"Back where I'm from, people call me the 'Lone Wanderer'... but I had one companion who I loved more than the world..." Andrew attempted to make conversation, reminiscing.

"I saved him from a bunch of these Raiders in this junkyard. His name was Dogmeat. He was a German Shepard. The smartest, most loving, loyal dog I've ever seen. I loved him. He, uhh... he succumbed to the Wasteland..." The Knight looked down at the ground, before looking back up at the forest.

"Yes Master!" Legendary Servant Saber lashed out again with invisible air, forcing the leader of the Beast Men to face her, as she raised her invisible sword, ready for a battle.

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"Mmmmhmmm. And people have a tendency of using me for my special talents." Aya kept her gun lowered, as she heard the battle begin to dull.

"Haha, what do you mean by 'special talents'?" Andrew laughed slightly as he looked over at Aya, his gaze lingering a second longer than it should have before he continued his watch around the forest.

The Quarian's body was wreathed in a blue glow from her use of her biotics before she fired a few more shots, missing completely with one burst and only nicking a beastman with another. The wounded one turned and charged the Quarian, but as she squeezed the trigger again in an attempt to kill it, she only received a faint click that she would not have heard, over the battle, without the enhanced audio receptors. She didn't have time to reload and she didn't have a secondary weapon, so all she had left was her knife.

Lia dropped the rifle and yanked the long blade from its sheath on her right greave. Within moments the beastman was upon her, swinging the sword at her. The Quarian ducked under the blade and swept the beastman's foot from underneath him before slamming the knife into the creature's throat. With it now drowning in its own blood as the red liquid filled its throat, she pulled the knife free and wiped it quickly before sheathing it and recovering the rifle. She replaced the empty clip with a fresh one and started to search for another target.

Clutching his chest after the Beastmen's leader knocked the wind out of him, Merrik crawled to his feet as an unknown woman managed to get the beast's attention. He noted that seveal of the Beastmen were beginning to retreat, but others were continuing to fight both the new arrivals and the rest of his unit.

Picking up his discarded sword, he raced towards the Beastman leader, his blade lancing towards the beast's spine...

***

With most of the skirmish beginning to move away from her, Nova got up from her hide, slung her rifle over her shoulder and cloaked, the only sign of her presence being the glowing psyblade she had clutched in one hand as she ran towards the Beastmen.

Malachi walked through the battlefield, gun blazing and a grotesque flurry of tentacles spawning from his robe's sleeves. The hungry tendrils sought out anything they could wrap their slimy selves around. two beast men were grabbed, pieces of skin and muscle gnawed at, bones broken and limbs ripped apart. He watched as Lia glowed an odd blue hue. [i]Thats rather odd...[i]

Lia made another hand gesture and a beastman was torn to shreds by a miniature contained black hole, the blue aura that wreathed her body was beginning to weaken a bit and she was beginning to feel fatigued. Before she could fire her gun, she noticed Malachi on the battlefield, weapons in hand, but there were...tentacles, grotesque, squirming tentacles, extending from his robes, tearing and rending at the remaining beastmen. She was shocked to say the least and stumbled back, falling over a large tree root that snagged her foot. Before she had time to recover, another of the remaining beastmen were upon her, trying to get at her as it lacked a sword. The creature straddled the weaker Quarian's torso as it held her hands down. She pressed up, forcing the beast to press down to hold her in place before she suddenly jerked her arms, and the beastman's, away from her body as she launched her head forward, slamming the beastman's face into her visor with a dull crack as flesh and bone met reinforced glass. She brought her left arm back and brought up her right leg, shoving up and to the left to flip the beastman before she jerked her arm free and jammed her thumb into the eye of the, now on his back, beastman. It let out an unearthly shriek as the Quarian's thumb was jammed into one of the eye sockets. Once she was free, she pulled the knife free of its sheath again and slashed across the beastman's throat.

The lone mage sat cross legged atop a small hill, somewhat close to a series of screams and metallic clashes. Amongst these noises, a small dakka, dakka, dakka could be heard, most likely emitted from the rifles of the newest arrivals. Slowly, without a sign of concern, Thom stood up, using his aesthetic purple staff to keep him upright until he reached the sure balance of his two feet.

He unsheathed his sword slowly, enchanting it with a combination of fire and lightning. The blade glinted orange and purple, roaring and crackling with energy in its own, quiet way. A deep breath prepared him, exhaling as the blue flash carried him from his almost peaceful spot on the hill to between fleeing beasts and fighting beasts.

The sudden arrival was a surprise to the monsters, yet not all noticed. Four broke whatever ranks they had and came for him. The first that seemed closest raised an axe and roared, a disgusting smell filling Thom's nostrils. He gagged for a split second, before plunging the enchanted blade deep within it's chest. It writhed around on it's feet for a few seconds, flames and lightning taking the place of the now removed blade.

Next, red and icy blue orbs rotated around the tip of the staff. The mage took to a lowered position, between upright and crouched, with the staff pointed towards a pair of oncoming Beastmen. His efforts were accompanied by a loud noise, similar to that of a Norse gale blowing in Thom's homeland. The staff's end flashed and the noise halted, followed by a short high pitched clink. Twelve, razor-sharp, deadly ice shards glowing red were released from behind the flash. Each Beastman fell over with mutilated bodies caused by the explosions from the shards that destroyed their organs upon their penetration of the skin. Hot, crimson blood was splattered amongst the dirt before the pair even hit the ground.

The final Beastman charged towards Thom with an axe in front of his chest. The weapon hefted by the mighty monster was almost as big as the mage himself. No worry: Magicks were at Thom's disposal. He hovered in the air, arms outstretched, muttering a few Norse words; Blessings to the gods were respectful and boosted the power of magic.

A shrill screech sounded from somewhere in the sky. By the time it sounded again, Thom was no longer visible to anyone. The orange, flaming bird hurtled towards the beast, leaving nothing but charred remains on the ground, the large axe resting atop the ash.

Malachi watched lia as she gouged the eye out of the beastman. He smiled and walked towards her, the battle basically over at this point. The tentacles receded back into his sleeves, settling in with the rest of his flesh, but he still kept his pistol drawn, just in case. He approached her, feeling a bit nervous. "Lia, you alright?" He asked her quite sincerely. Malachi, felt his face flush a bit.

Lia rolled over off the corpse of the beastman and was wiping her blade on the grass when Malachi approached her. She looked up and stood, adrenaline still coursing through her as she knelt to sheathe the blade. "I'm fine." She looked back up at him, "Thanks for asking." She felt odd, not being hated, but it was a good kind of feeling, she enjoyed it. With all the beastmen in retreat, she recovered the rifle which had been thrown away when she fell. She turned back, "What about you and the others?"

Malachi nodded, "Im fine thankyou, but i'm just glad to hear your okay really." he said rather sincerely. He looked at the beastman's corpse, "Hm, id say i feel sorry for the poor creature... but then again he tried to kill you..." He walked over to the corpse and spat on it. "May your soul fester in the underworld..." He growled at it. It tried to harm lia, it did not deserve a blessing into the next world.

Lia couldn't help but smile at Malachi's concern for her. She could tell what Malachi wanted fairly well, but the Quarian just did not think she was ready and she was not certain that Malachi would be the one for her. This would have to wait as it was anyway. They had something to do and the chaos of not being from this universe. It would all have to wait, at least for a while. She looked down at the corpse and then to the glove on her right hand, the thumb covered in bodily liquids from gouging out the eye. She took her hand and wiped what she could on a nearby tree and said, "We should get back to the others so we don't get lost or left behind."

"Go back to the pit you emerged from, abomination!" Saber thrust her weapon forward at a near untrackable speed, aiming directly for the beasts neck. She felt a strike hit the beastman in the back, as she pulled her sword out of its neck. The invisible sword was covered in blood, outlining it in a way, and making parts of it visible in crimson red. Saber turned to her Master in the bushes, the last of the beastmen now dead.

"Your orders have been faithfully carried out. Do you require my abilities for anything else, Master?"

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"Killing things. The usual." Aya seemed to be oblivious to the kinkyness of the conversation, though obviousily not on purpose. There weren't anymore regular gunshots- it seemed the battle was all but over...

Instead of going to rest upon his hill, Thom had appeared behind the fleeing enemy. Several Beastmen carried on fleeing, but also attempting to hit the mage. They were soaked with a huge spray of water. Carrying on their charge, purple orbs possessed the sharp, top-end of the staff.

The lightning was cast, branching out at the literal speed of light. It was barely even a second before six Beastmen were covered in sharp tendrils of electricity, causing them to writhe in pain. To finish them off, Thom lowered the Tesla staff to the centre of his foes. A faint clink could be heard, before a huge bolt of lightning shot out of the tip of the weapon, striking a Beastmen and branching out towards it's brethren.

All of the monsters fell to the floor, now laying limp, but not in puddles of blood and gore. From the staff, a wall of fire was cast in front of him, travelling forward for a few seconds before disappearing. Where they had once lay dead were now the cremated remains of Beastmen.