"Probably through the tunnel there," Seril said, turning and pointing to a gap in the left side of the tunnel, further down the ledge the Magma Dragon had guided them to. "I can sense a strong electrical current emanating from that direction anyway, so I believe our friend was correct in saying that the terminal is nearby."

===Newport, Great Britain===

Now that was a neat trick, Michael commented telepathically to his subordinate, while wondering whether or not he should light up another one of his cancer-sticks. This guy seems to have the ability to make himself incorporeal at will, Zhatsuroth. Do you have a method to chaining him to one form, or will you need my help should the need arise? I'd be happy to help.

"You know these things?!" Matt shouted. He stepped in front of Helena and brandished his fist at the demons.

"Y-yes," Alasea replied, beginning to stutter. "I, uh, we h-h-have a problem!"

The Barons of Hell roared and charged, stomping forward at them--one towards Alasea, the other towards Matt and Helena. Swallowing once, Ileyna opened herself up to her power and retreated back, holding her hand out as Alasea brought her sword up to bear.

Matt's enemy attacked first--instead of swinging, blue-green fire blazed to life in its claw, and the Baron flung it across the short distance at the former Core host before stomping after it.

===Command Center, Aube===

"Enemy confirmed: mutant Cyraeth detected!" a technician shouted, bringing up the relevant Essence-gleaned information on the beast. The titanic monster hovering over the ocean served as the main air assault and troop transport vessel for Ziatoch's unholy forces. A monster bred and genetically modified to become a living airship, capable of overwhelming defensive power and a master at surprise attacks.

"God help us," Patrick murmured, slumping into his seat. They no longer had the manpower needed to take such a monstrosity out from the inside--its barrier was too strong for conventional attacks to penetrate. They may have to deploy Project H1 against it... but it wasn't ready yet.

"Sir!" came a voice over a sound-channel, a corresponding window displaying "SOUND ONLY" appearing at the corner of the main screen. It was the voice of R.D.. "What in God's name is that thing outside!?"

"A mutant Cyraeth," he replied. "Those bastards breed monsters into giant vessels. We've got no way of taking it out."

"That's fine," came the surprising reply. "Luckily for us, I have a way of taking it out."

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

"You do, sir?" one soldier asked as R.D. cut off the transmission.

"Yeah. Get me outside and I'll take care of that flying eyesore," R.D. said, letting his helmet close back up around his face. "Killing something like that... that'll take the power of the Drake of Braves. Let's move!"

"Roger!"

A backhand from Matt knocked the fireball across the room, grazing the chamber that protected the Essence. He shot his fist back in and leapt at the Baron, knuckles aflame. "Burn Knuckle!"

Hugo activated the G-Stone again and deployed his Laser Options. "Helena!" he shouted, as the Options began blanketing the other Baron in laser fire. "Help Matt out!"

She was pale, but snapped into action, launching a bolt of flame at the Baron Matt was attacking.

Snarling, the Barons of Hell shrugged off the incoming flames and lasers as if they were nothing--which, in Helena's case, was true, being a fearsome denizen of the Burning Hells. Stomping forward, it swung it claw out in a vicious backhand at Matt, one that would reach Matt long before the boy's attack would reach it.

The second Baron swung a large fist downwards at Alasea, who gracefully pivoted out of the way, slicing upwards with her sword--the attack barely glanced off the beast's thick skin and muscle, and it didn't even react to the attack--instead, twisting around, the beast smashed its fist into Alasea, who barely got her sword up in time to defend against the strike.

With a shriek, the blow knocked the girl backwards into one of the barricades, causing her to teeter over and fall backwards over it. Grunting in pain, she pulled her legs back from it in time, so that the energy blast flung by the creature didn't scorch her as it exploded against the reinforced plate of metal.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 31, 2009 at 14:25:40.

Caught by the backhand, Matt flew at the wall and his body crumpled against it before sliding down to the floor.

Hugo pointed his pickaxe at the Baron that swatted Matt. "Capture Option!" This time the Option unfurled like a swirling bolo, to intertwine the beast's legs and hopefully topple it.

The Baron of Hell that Hugo targeted did not pay any attention to Hugo until it tried to move. Noticing its legs slightly bound, it snarled and turned towards the direction of the cable. Plasma fire manifested in its claw once more, and it threw the blast at Hugo with a roar.

Alasea could hear the Baron of Hell stomping towards her as she pressed her back up against the barricade, Ileyna right next to her. Holding her sword out forward, Alasea concentrated and crafted a ball of light at the tip of her sword, one that grew bigger and brighter as time passed. Suddenly, she shot up and spun around, aiming the Aura Strafe right at the demon, who halted its advanced. With a yell, she fired, blasting a beam of bright white energy across the room and into the demon's chest--it recoiled a few steps with a snarl, slightly burned by the attack.

===Area K, Innerpeace===

Much to Gatz's relief, Seril did not pay him any mind as she turned and followed Sera through the tunnel in the wall.

Michael frowned at the sudden change in output that Power Incarnate was starting to use. Sure, while his powered up states made him even more dangerous, it also made him that much more easier to detect. If Draco hadn't alerted his superior to them already, that is.

While drawing out another cigarette, he contemplated calling Zhatsuroth back to his side, just in case things got out of hand. Just as he was bringing up a small flame to his mouth, shadows fell across him and the entire building, and good portion of the entire city. Slowly, he looked up, into the underside of a gargantuan, manta ray-like creature of mottled green skin. It left a peculiar deep humming sound as it hovered, drowning the city in blackness as its wingspan obscured the sun.

Uh, Zhatsuroth, we may have a problem, he communicated over their telepathic link. Somehow, there's a mutant Cyraeth flying over the damn city.

Michael lit the cigarette and took a drag off of it, before removing it from his mouth. He stood up a bit straighter as he watched as the mutant living vessel slowly traveled over the city.

... you should probably finish that battle quick or retreat.

Helena watched Hugo fly past as he was knocked aside by the fire. She stared at the Baron, backing away.

"Hammer of Gaia!"

Matt leapt over Helena's shoulders, brandishing a massive hammer of cobbled rock. He brought the head down on the Baron's skull in one mighty swing, and the impact shattered the weapon into fragments that stuck and bounced against the fortified walls.

There was a resounding shockwave as the hammer of stone smashed against one of the two Barons of Hell, causing it to roar angrily as it staggered back, many fragments of stone embedded into its pale skin. With its feet tangled up by Hugo's Capture Option, its legs didn't move right and it toppled backwards, knocking one of the barricades down with its immense weight.

There was a scream across the room, alerting the others to Alasea's predicament--the second Baron, enraged by her attack, had grabbed the girl by the throat, and had flung her hard into the wall. The wind was knocked out of her as she impacted, and she slumped against the wall. Slowly, the demon advanced on Alasea, only for beams of blue light to slam against its back. Growling, it turned and looked at Ileyna, who had her hand out in front of her, ready to fire more of her beams at it.

"Get the other one!" Matt said, and he leapt at the fallen Baron, tipping his fist with a massive, spiked gauntlet of stone.

Hugo stood and ran back into place. "Pin him against the wall!" he shouted at Helena. He fired the Force Option at the second Baron to lead the attack.

Ileyna hovered backwards out of the way, moving close to the Essence's download chamber, while the Force Option did its work. Alasea was buffered from its effects by the Baron of Hell, but despite the crushing waves of force emitted by the sphere, the demon barely moved. With a roar, it swung a backhand at the device, then moved to intercept Helena.

As Matt's gauntlet came crashing down, the immobilized Baron of Hell's claw swept up and caught it neatly, causing the spikes to pierce through and into the creature's hand. Blood flowed down its pale arm, and with a grunt, the demon attempted to fling Matt backwards before reaching down to tear off the Capture Option.

This time Matt flipped as he was flung, and landed neatly. "Bad move!" He bent down and punched the floor, releasing a piercing wave of rock that sliced toward the Baron. "Tetonic Crushwave!"

Now Helena unleashed the power she had been building in a concerated beam of heat at the second Baron, pushing it into him. The damaged Force Option swept up and returned to Hugo's pickaxe.

Edited by The Helldragon on June 1, 2009 at 23:53:52.

The Baron of Hell was smashed against a second barricade as the shockwave attack struck during its attempted rise, causing it to bulge inwards and leaving a spattering of blood as the twisted metal bit into the creature's side. With a furious snarl, it staggered upwards and roared, swinging a fist full of plasma at Matt in a ruthless counterattack. Blood flowed freely and was strung out across the metal floor in a wide arc with the sudden movement.

The second Baron roared as the beam of flame tore into its side, charring at the decayed flesh. Even as it sizzled and blackened, the creature began moving, ignoring pain as it stomped towards Helena--only to roar again as the Megami Tsurugi cut a clean line down its back and into its hip. It swung around as the heat beam dissipated, and Alasea barely managed to duck and roll away under the swing.

===Level 9-A, Hanger, Aube===

Cacodemons floated ominously through the destroyed hanger blast doors, looking around without any visible eyes. As movement flitted across their vision, they screamed and released yellow-hot blasts of plasma across the room. A rocket flew out from behind a crate and exploded within the mouth of one such demon, obliterating it in a shower of gore and ash.

R.D. darted out of another pile of crates, arming both his Plasma Rifle and Blaster Rifle, skating just over the concrete floor as two soldiers opened fire with flame throwers to lay down cover fire. Using the HUD to guide his movements, R.D. targeted two more Cacodemons as he shot out from the flames, propelled by blue-green particles of light, and opened fire.

Blue and yellow bolts of energy streaked across the hanger bay and shredded into the beasts, quickly eliminating them. As a Megademon burst out of a hallway, R.D. leaped up while still moving, using the Nova Reactor's propulsion thruster to close the distance and deliver a corkscrewing roundhouse kick into the creature's face, causing it to snarl as it recoiled from the blow.

"Get moving!" he shouted back to the others as he landed on his feet, bringing both beam weapons to bear as he unloaded them into the demon.

Matt took the blow in the chin and sailed up. He arced right into the chamber protecting the Essence.

As Helena took a step foward, pressing the beam, Hugo faced the first Baron. He pointed his pickaxe into the ground and released the Drill Option, which began burrowing into the floor.

Plasma exploded all around Matt when the blow struck, obscuring the attacking Baron in smoke for several moments. The horrible metallic screaming sound of a drill biting into the metal floor quickly caught its attention, and it turned to face the Mettaur, more plasma burning in its claws.

As the heat beam continued to burn into the Baron of Hell, to no avail, Ileyna lifted up her right hand again and rained more beams of light against it over the top of the beam, finally distracting its attention from Alasea. With a growl, the monster stepped out of the way of the beam and let it burn into the curved wall. At a quick pace, it stomped over towards Helena and Ileyna.

Alasea saw her chance. Her head hurt and her breathing was heavy, but she knew she only had one chance at ending this. Taking her sword in both hands, she spread her feet evenly and lifted the Megami Tsurugi up into the air.

The tip gleamed with sudden light as dark spheres of nothingness manifested in the air, shrinking as they were sucked into the blade and the space just above it.

Helena threw back her hands just as the beam began tearing into the wall. She bent over, taking in a quick breath, but her eyes widened at the sight befalling Alasea's sword.

Meanwhile, Hugo switched to his normal gun. He began firing at the Baron's knees, backing away towards the wall.

Black mist swirled in a slow circle around the tip of Alasea's sword, steadily speeding up as particles of strange light appeared, interspersed into the blackness. The Baron grunted as it flung the plasma bolt at Hugo.

Blue light speared through the air and smashed headlong into the projectile, knocking it backwards--bolt and beam struck the Baron of Hell head on, causing it to explode and the demon to bellow angrily.

Its partner, meanwhile, suddenly lunged-rapidly closing the distance between itself and Helena, swinging out a sharp claw at her, intending to cut her into ribbons.

Helena grabbed the Baron's wrists, and the two struggled to overpower each other. As the Baron bore her down, she fought back, transforming more and more.

Matt suddenly landed on the Baron's back, seizing him around the neck. With a loud cry, he drove his energy blade towards the Baron's neck.

The sudden displacement of weight caused Matt's target to stagger forward and growl angrily. Luckily for the monster, it barely had anything resembling a neck thanks to its hulking upper body, and the blade merely bit into flesh without hitting anything vital--its arms flailed around from the sudden flash of pain, and then one of them grabbed onto Matt's coat. Immediately, it tugged, trying to throw Matt across the room.

Sweat rolled down Alasea's brow as she concentrated, pouring more and more of the distant Pillar's energies into her sword. Her head throbbed like mad, even as another circle of strange-colored mist flowed around the developing miasma in a similar circle. It grew wider, causing a heat mirage-like distortion around its outer edges for any human that looked at it.

"Get away from her, you big bully!" Ileyna shouted, lifting up her hand as she fired another ray of Omega Essence energy at Helena's attacker. The beam cut through the air and slammed into the bellowing creature's jaw, causing it to falter a bit as it looked off at Ileyna with a seemingly sightless gaze.

Its just about time for us to leave here, Michael said through the link, frowning. I can take Donovan on his own, but we have no way of countering the combined forms of the Weapons of Destruction. I'm not willing to risk it.

The mutant Cyraeth creature continued its flight overhead, its hum drowning out any lower sounds. The monsters guiding the living vessel, if they detected Donovan, gave no sign of worry--the vessel did not deviate from its path, nor did it speed up or slow down.

Besides, we have no idea why that Cyraeth is here, Michael continued, sparing a glance at it. We currently have no way of piercing its defenses.

"Nyeh!" Matt clamped down on the Baron's arm. The most he got was a vicious shake, but he still held on, now in front of the Baron. "Helena! Punch him HARD!"

Helena threw back her arm, thick and layered, and swung at the Baron's chest, putting her entire draconic strength into the blow.

Even as the Baron that Matt had latched onto swung its arm up and back down at the floor, the second Baron bellowed as it fell backwards from Helena, its claw coming out of the weredragon's grasp. Settling back on one foot, it lunged again, this time snapping its jaws in an effort to bite at her neck.

Lightning crackled around the swirling vortex above Alasea's sword, which was spinning and rotating rapidly, growing faster and faster as the seconds went by. Her arms shook, causing her blade to waver greatly. But the Daughter of Dawn held on, forcing more power into the blade. This had to work. It had to. Zephyrs of wind were being sucked into the point as the maelstrom grew stronger.