"We're not leaving anyone out here anyway," Ramirez stated. "It's too dangerous. Once you're able to move, Helena, we need to leave for the vault immediately."

A thick wall of vines and fat leaves concealed Helena while she fully reverted back to normal and dressed. Matt was pacing along with Hugo when she made the signal.

"Let's get moving," Matt said, withdrawing the vines. "You think you can throw flames, Helena?"

"I'll try," she said.

Ramirez nodded and made a hand signal to his subordinate to bring up the rear. With Helena ready, he continued leading the way to the vault, as more sounds of warfare permeated through the base.

"I hope R.D. is doing okay," Alasea said quietly, looking back down the hall they had walked through.

===Level 12-A Storage Hanger, Aube===

"Flank'em!" one of the soldiers shouted across the hanger bay, ducking behind a dislodged crate. Gunfire erupted down the hall, and a demon screamed, followed by the screams of three or four human soldiers. The sounds of fire erupting followed, drowning it out. Turning back around the crate, the soldier made a quick aim and fired his ZF-1's rocket launcher, which quickly eradicated a group of Imps.

A stream of blue energy globules flew through the air, slamming into a couple of Imps and quickly destroying them. The soldier that had killed them pulled back and reloaded his plasma rifle, slamming a new energy cell into the weapon. Before he could attack, the demons countered; their fireballs hitting the crates and causing them to explode violently. The soldier screamed as the blast killed him, sending his plasma rifle skittering across the floor.

Two of the doorways at the far end of the hanger burst open, and eyeless, spherical monsters with gaping mouths floated out and over the wreckage of a destroyed Falken that had been undergoing repairs before the attack. The flames from the burning vehicle illuminated the Cacodemons as they screeched and looked around for their targets. The soldier cursed, then started to get an order.

"Alright, we need to keep these bastards confused," he started saying to his subordinates. "Alternate your attacks and keep--"

A demon overhead screamed, and the disintegrating body of an Imp was flung off of a catwalk, turning into embers and dust before it could even hit the ground. Something clad in shiny blue armor and streaming blue-green particles of light, screaming a loud warcry, flew down from the catwalk, pulling back an armored gauntlet swathed in raging blue fire. R.D. swung the Godhand straight into the first Cacodemon's forehead, crushing it in an instant, and the monster erupted in flames as it died.

More demons lashed out with tentacle-like limbs at R.D. as the first Cacodemon was slain, and his pivoted around as jets in his boots ignited, making him look as if he was skating in the air. His hand flashed out as he grabbed a surprised Cacodemon.

The leading soldier watched in awe as R.D. gracefully shot forward, skating over the ground, before he flung the Cacodemon at his tentacled opponent with a roar. His hand sweeped out and fire erupted around the two monsters, incinerating them both.

"Look out!" another soldier shouted at R.D. as the remaining Cacodemon opened up a toothy mouth and spewed volleys of energy blasts at him. His head snapped around and he ducked under the first couple of shots, and the thruster mounted beneath the Nova Reactor ignited, launching him forward at the enemy. He jumped over the burning wing of the Falken and shoved his armored feet against the wall--somehow, he continued to skate along the side of the wall, even as more energy blasts impacted it in a futile attempt to strike him down. Angling around, R.D. pushed off and landed on the floor, still rocketing--straight at the enemy.

"Grrraaayyyhhhh!"

R.D. roared angrily as the Cacodemon's shots went wild, and he swung with the Godhand, catching the demon with an uppercut in the roof of its open mouth. A shockwave of power erupted from his fist, shredding the demon apart in a violent display of blood, gore, and fire that rocked the storage hanger.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 28, 2009 at 21:26:50.

"I'm sure he's fine," Matt said.

"We're here," Ramirez said, stopping at the familiar doorway that would lead them into the vault. "I hope all of you are ready for this."

The soldier quickly accessed the vault and opened the doorway motioning for them to get in.

Matt charged into the vault, glancing around. No monsters popped out to surprise him. Good. The Omega Essence was still hovering in place in its chamber.

Another explosion rocked the facility; this one sounding much closer than the others. Ramirez and his subordinate looked back down the hall in surprise, then swore. "Damn," Ramirez growled. "They're already here!"

Before any of them could move to help, the other soldier swung back and slammed his hand against the keypad. The blast doors slammed down suddenly, various locks spinning into place to reinforce the doorway, even as more explosions happened, each one sounding closer.

===Central Command, Aube===

"We're getting reports that Willard Company has arrived at the Vault," one of the officers shouted, holding an earpiece up to his ear.

General Dagenais nodded. "Engage the Vault's primary defense systems!" he ordered.

"Engaging the download vault's primary defense systems!" one female technician announced, both to the rest of Central Command and through the intercom to Matt and the rest. "Vault level descending into the barricade chamber!"

===Download Vault, Aube===

As Ileyna settled her feet on the floor, the glow fading from her body, the entire room shuddered as something disengaged. With a cry, the girl stumbled and fell down onto her backside. With a moan, she rubbed her injury and stood back up, pushing her beret back into place. As the shuddering stopped, Alasea looked around to see the entire room actually descending.

"What the?" she muttered, looking around in shock.

"Engaging the download vault's primary defense systems!" said a female voice through the intercom. "Vault level descending into the barricade chamber!"

The descent increased its speed, allowing them to steady themselves around the protected Omega Essence. Within moments, it slowed again, coming out of the shaft into a large, circular room of white-gray metal. There were four large doorways, closed off with blast doors, on one side, and numerous barricades around the chamber floors at varying levels. Behind the group, the pillar-like download system settled and locked into place, keeping the Essence out of normal human reach. Hexagonal plates of energy began manifesting around it, forming a tight forcefield around the system and the Omega Essence contained within its pod-like container.

===Central Command, Aube===

"Barricade chamber is secure!" the technician announced. "Sector S-17 has been breached by enemy forces! All personnel have evacuated from the area and lockdown is commencing!"

"Good work," the General stated. "Have reinforcements rendezvous outside the barricade chamber and await further orders. What's the status on Special Officers Larown and R.D.?"

Two of the monitors opened up new windows, displaying video displays of the two in question--Jared spun the Will Knife in his hand before slashing, cutting through the arm of a large, vicious-looking Megademon, while R.D. was seen picking up a discarded Plasma Rifle before using it to wipe out a small group of Imps in a storage hanger, along with the help of some soldiers in the area.

"Special Officer Larown is currently in Sector M-1, clearing a pathway to reach Colonel Patterson," came the report. "Special Officer R.D. is engaging enemy forces in Level 12-A."

"Sir!" came a horrified sounding voice. General Patrick looked in the direction of the stricken officer at one of the terminals. "We've detected new forces arriving from 9 o'clock!"

The officer punched in a quick command, bringing up a large image onto the main screen. The General's eyes adjusted to the sight, and then went wide in shock.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 29, 2009 at 2:37:45.

"Uh... I get the feeling that he does," Seril said to Geetz as they traversed through the lava tube. The Magma Dragon was looking back at them, and snorted once, releasing hot steam from its nostrils as it did so.

===Newport===

Waves of darkness pierced through the rooftop of a building, licking up like flames before spreading outwards in a circle, giving off a gaseous effect as it boiled upwards. Shadow condensed and rose up, quickly forming a large, oval-like aberration that burst open at the top and shrank, leaving a pair of figures standing on the rooftop.

As the darkness bled away, Michael stepped forward from Zhatsuroth as he held a hand up to his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun. While he looked out over Newport he subconsciously wove an anti-detection field around himself and the cursed Power Incarnate. A couple miles away, in the distance, the two of them could see the beginnings of a battle against a shadow-creature, one that to Michael's inhuman eyes, looked incredibly familiar.

"Well, looks like I was right," he said to his new subordinate. "Looks like there is some fun brewing here."

Edited by RisingDragon on May 29, 2009 at 12:04:56.

Frowning, Michael looked back at his surly companion. "You know, Zhatsuroth, you really should learn to lighten up," he said, putting one hand in his pocket and fishing out a pack of cigarettes. He casually took one of the cancer-sticks out of the box. "Once we find what I'm looking for, we should be able to get rid of that curse of yours."

Bringing the cigarette up to his mouth, he created a tiny flame and let it. He took a long drag off of it and blew smoke into the air before taking it from his mouth to speak again. "So try to be a little more enthusiastic about this. I doubt many of your previous masters would've been willing to free you from your bondage."

Sector T-6

Patterson and his six men quickly ran down another hallway, turning at max speed as the army of imps from behind chased, their need for blood driving after the humans. Patterson shouted out an order and suddenly he and six men turned, took firing squad positions and rained hell onto the approaching imps. They reloaded with the trained quickness like any elite, adrenaline driving their bodies. The next wave of imps came upon them. Again however, hell rained with the bullets tearing through flesh and bone and destroying what came into them. They then stood and ran once again. Again the beasts clawed from the ground, their maws wet with appetite of human flesh.

"Sir, I'm out of ammo!"

"Aye, sir, I am as well!"

"Me too!"

"I'm out too, just keep pushing, use the butt of your gun or throw your empty magazines at them I don't care, we have to get out of here alive!" Patterson ordered. A man was then screaming behind them, his body pierced by a claw from below. They were catching up them now. They even took out perhaps the only man with ammo. Patterson looked forward to see the welcoming jaws of an imp. With a roar, Patterson swung his assault rifle into that jaw, knocking it to the side. They ran past.

Sector T-5

Patterson sealed the door behind them as they entered the sector. They were given a moment to breath then off they went again, kicking down tables and chairs as they went, anything to hinder the imps behind them.

"I can hear something up ahead, we may just make it people!" Patterson called and a weak cheer came up, with the hope of some sort of rescue.

"Just keep running and we can make it!" Patterson encouraged as they continued through the cubicals of sector T-5.

"You ready?" Hugo asked.

Matt just stared at the door. "Bring it on."

This was gonna get loud.

"Everyone, come over here," Alasea said, opening herself to the powers of the Pillar of Dawn. "I'll see if I can rejuvenate you. We can't be tired if there's an attack."

===Level 10-C, Perimeter Hallway, Aube===

Here, there was natural light, coming through the long plexiglass window running along the side of the hallway, showing the exterior base of Aube, and the terrible war being waged in the skies and land around it. R.D. didn't watch it, though--as a Vulgar's energy blast struck his shield, he decided he had much more important things to do. A rocket flew past him, fired by a soldier, and detonated against the side of the wall, killing several of the demons at the end of the hallway.

Lowering his shield, R.D. squeezed the trigger of his Plasma Rifle and tore into the remaining enemies with searing bolts of blue energy. Lowering the weapon, he spared a glance back at the soldiers with him.

"We're getting another report," one of them said, listening to the recon specialist in the group. "Looks like things are worsening now. The enemy's brought out one of their living battleships."

"Living battleship?" R.D. asked, sounding incredulous. "Please tell me you're joking."

"There it is!" Another soldier said, looking out the window. R.D. turned to get a good look.

At first, there was nothing, except a small glimmering patch of green hovering over the ocean, but it began to expand as... whatever it was... disengaged its cloaking ability. More and more of the creature was revealed, causing R.D. to step backwards involuntarily.

Pale, putrid-looking green flesh was spread out across the body of something that looked vaguely like a manta ray--large wings were stretched and pulled back along a lengthy, bulbous body, creating a crude, arrowhead-like structure. Massive organs pulsated within the wings, keeping the beast aloft. Vestigial limbs hung uselessly from the underside, slightly curled inwards towards the beast's belly thanks to atrophy. Strange, multifaceted panels cut through the creature's flesh at various intervals, shining in different colors depending on where the light struck it. A large, pulsating red crystal growth was centered in what R.D. assumed was the head.

"What the hell is that!?" he demanded, even as the crystalline growth blazed with light and fired a destructive ray of energy. The beam cut through one of the turrets, tearing it apart in seconds as fire blossomed up into the sky.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 29, 2009 at 17:10:26.

"Why didn't you say you could do that before?" Matt asked, as he stepped over.

(OOC: Im in yer cities, confuusin' yer dudesss.)

"Because, Matt, we were on the move," Alasea stated indifferently, lifting up her hands and placing them on either side of Matt's head as she closed her eyes. "And for this to work I need you to stand still, okay?"

Alasea drank in the power of the totem she was charged with protecting, and opened herself to it. She channeled, weaving flows of power through her hands and into Matt. For a brief moment, he'd feel a sensation not unlike being doused in icy-cold water, as if it was being poured inside every fiber of his being. She released him after a brief moment, canceling the sensation and ending any discomfort, leaving Matt with a feeling of being entirely refreshed.

===Sector T-5 Station, Aube===

Quite suddenly, the wall at the far end of the station exploded, rending dozens of cubicles apart and showering the area with debris. Something hulking and brutish, as large as a car, stepped through the gaping hole in the wall, obscured by the smoke and the small fires that sprang up from destroyed equipment. Moving sluggishly, a pasty-white, corpulent being stepped clear of the smoke, peering around the room with beady eyes over its obscene-looking trunk covered in feeler-like vibrosae, and bloody tusk-like growths on either side of it.

The Mancubus let out an offensive sound as it spotted Patterson's team, and lifted up massive metallic cannons that had been grafted into its arms, ready to fire deadly waves of energy at them.

Before it could fire, however, thin, metal spears exploded out from its wide gut, covered in blood as they punched through. Dumbly, it looked down at the three harpoons that had impaled it, before a wide, blue blade of energy rose up behind it and swung downwards. The blade seared through flesh as it cut through, and the body began to disintegrate for a brief moment before the cannons exploded violently.

A black figure stepped through the inferno, looking at Colonel Patterson. Deactivating the beam bayonet of his Trikeros rifle, the cyborg Jared stepped forward and saluted. "Special officer Jared Larown reporting, Colonel," he said through the voice synthesizer. "Glad to see you're still alive."

===Area K, Innerpeace===

The Magma Dragon ignored what was said by Geetz, and instead finished the journey. He stopped near a ledge that would require his human-sized companions to jump onto--he himself was too large to fit through it. "This is as far as I can go," he said in his rumbling voice. "The pathway to the terminal is a short one, and there shouldn't be much danger along the way, if any."

"Thank you," Seril said with a bow. "We're grateful for your assistance."

===Newport, Great Britain===

Michael smiled a bit as he heard Zhatsuroth briefly chuckle. "Yeah, thought you'd see it that way. Now, come here," he said, taking another drag from his cigarette. "You can see the battle from this distance easily, right? I want you to study them for a bit, see what tactics are being used. You'll have to fight them if they turn out to be hostile to us."

He blew out a ring of smoke and was silent for a minute. "The shadow creature, Draco... he'll be hostile no matter what. He'll be tough, but I don't think he'll match your strength. The other four, though, they might be a different story. I don't think they're from around here."

Helena blew out a stream of breath. "Is it always that cold?"

"Well, all the same, I feel pretty good!" Matt said. "Thanks, Alasea."

Alasea smiled apologetically at Helena as she knelt down to rejuvenate Ileyna. "Yeah, sorry. I haven't fully mastered it yet, so its a bit of a shock."

Ileyna suddenly gasped as the rejuvenation hit, causing her to shiver and grip at her bolero. Her beret almost dislodged with the sudden movement, but Alasea caught it and straightened it before it could, and the younger girl gave the older one a suffering smile.

An explosion rocked through the base, somewhere close, causing Alasea to stand up straight. The sounds of battle commenced outside of the barricade chamber. "Looks like they're here," she said, taking the Megami Tsurugi in both hands. "I hope you're ready for this."

The sounds of gunfire and screaming stopped after a moment, and all was quiet--until one of the four blast doors bulged outward as something heavy slammed into it, causing the group to jolt. Another blow was delivered to the door, and then a third blow hit at another door opposite of the first one being attacked.

===Newport, Great Britain===

"From what I heard from the few goons that I was able to interrogate, the four fighting Draco rely a lot on teamwork... apparently they can accomplish some pretty impressive things that way," Michael said, taking another drag on his cancer-stick before puffing out a ring. "Are you sure you want to step in against both of them? Or would you like to pick a side and wipe the other out with some aid?"

"Look out, guys!" Matt shouted, and his fist burst into flame. He screamed a battlecry, and Hugo joined in with pickaxe armed.

Patterson ran up to the cybonetic solider and returned the salute quickly with a relieved smile on his face.

"Good to see a friendly face, Officer. I hope you're here to escort us to the vault." Patterson then said with a smile. There was a cry within the room, some imp. The men drew close, readying their weapons.

"Now would be a good time go to, Officer." Patterson then added.

Another shuddering blow struck against the doors, followed by a second one at the other. And then, quite suddenly, fire burst out from around the dented doors, causing powerful explosions that ripped the blast doors from the walls and sent them careening across the room--Alasea had to duck and pull Ileyna to her to avoid one.

Both clanged against the far wall and fell down with thunderous slams. The floor shook as something terrible entered the room, stepping out from the smoke. From a bloody maw, it roared, a terrible sound challenging them as it threw massive arms wide.

"Dear god," Alasea whispered, staring at the demon, even as a second stepped through from the other destroyed door. They easily towered over all them; both being almost twice as tall as an adult human man, and was covered in gray skin, as if it was beginning to decay from a lack of circulating blood. Their seemingly eyeless heads were practically surrounded by gigantic shoulders, leading off to thick, muscular arms that ended in clawed hands that were as big as their heads. Legs with bent back in the shin and ended in splayed talons that nearly cracked the floor. Putrid breath, like it had feasted on a thousand corpses, was expelled by their mouths, which looked as if something even more terrible had torn the skin around it right off.

Behind them, emergency blast doors slammed shut and locked, barricading them in with the horrific beasts. Ileyna, shuddering and pale, jumped at the sound, and took a step back. "W... what are t-t-those...?" she whispered.

Alasea swallowed a lump in her throat, wishing that she was wrong.

"The Barons of Hell."

"There's been a change of plans, sir," Jared said, letting his left hand fall to his side. "Willard Company's already made it to the Barricade Chamber and the lockdown's in effect. But it looks like the enemy's broke out another one of those living monster ships. I'm supposed to take you back up to the command center."

As the imps made their cries, Jared looked back. "We've got some supplies waiting for us back up in Sector R. We can restock there, just in case the enemy's refilled the path I cut through."



Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Even with the Curse of Power chaining the Nightmare Realm denizen to him, K'ril Zhatsuroth was still difficult to control. Even still, Michael wanted Power Incarnate to obey him out of a desire to, not through scorn because of use of the Curse itself.

"Well then, help yourself," he muttered, even though he already knew that Zhatsuroth had already departed for the battle. "Try not to make too big of a mess."

He flicked his cigarette away off the rooftop and hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his pants, waiting to see how events would unfold. Hopefully, this would be entertaining.



The Magma Dragon nodded, then turned his gaze to Seril. "I will inform the rest of my kind of what occurred at Atlantis," he growled. "Though I do not think they will believe that a mere child has become the Drake of Braves."

"Stranger things have happened," Seril replied. "We now exist during the Final Rise."

The Magma Dragon grunted. Without saying another word, it turned and plodded back down the length of the lava tube, intending to return to the magma from whence it had came.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 29, 2009 at 23:05:07.