Genesis Crisis: Resurgence IC

Caltha - Palace Gates

- Ariana -

Ariana felt slightly embarrassed that her temper had ruined a chance to let their opponents talk, but it couldn't be helped.

"Well, I don't know a better way to distract than hurling ice at someone," she said

There was no more time to talk. Annabelle and Lorrin closed in on her, the former obviously the attacker and the latter the support. Ariana's eyes flickered between the two of them, deciding on her approach. As long as Lorrin was there to support her, Annabelle would have the upper hand. Better take him out first.

“It seems you don’t have what it takes,” Annabelle said, stalking toward her. “I mean what are you trying to do here? Throwing a fit?”

With a flick of her hand, a magic circle appeared before her. “Mudo.”

Ariana stayed still, allowing the circle of darkness to envelop her. Let Annabelle think she had the advantage. Get her in close, then bypass her to get to Lorrin.

Listening for Annabelle's footsteps, Ariana waited until she was sure Annabelle was in range. Bringing a hand up, she conjured a circle and swiped her hand at it.

"Mabufula," she whispered, casting a solid wall of icicles around her. When Annabelle struck, she'd make a break for it.

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Caltha - Palace Garden

- Alexei -

Ehlana went to work, and Alexei was right in sync with her. When she went for the guard on one side, he went to the other. Grabbing the stunned man by the neck, he slammed his head back into the wall. As he slumped to the ground, Alexei already had the next man in a choke hold and smacked his baton down on the back of his head. Catching hold of the unconscious body, Alexei spun him around and tossed him at the last guard, sending them both toppling over. As the last guard struggled to hove off the body, Alexei brought his boot down and knocked the man out.

"That's five," he said, nodding to Ehlana as the others shuffled in.

"Well done, it seems these guards are going to have long beauty sleep" said Nadenka, inspecting knocked out guards.

"And a very unpleasant waking," Alexei mused. "So, now it's your turn."

He picked a com off one of the guards and tossed it over to James.

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Palace Hallway

- Rise -

Rise and the others stole through the palace, tensed and on their guard.

"I think something already been started. The guards are very thin here than I expected it would be..." Luke commented.

That should be a good thing, but Rise still felt uneasy as they closed in on the Council Chamber. Alina's distraction should be in full swing, and James and his group should be closing in on the jammer. All that was left was to get their friends out of here.

"Everyone ready?" she mouthed as they huddled in the shadows of the pillars outside the chamber.

Aegis

- Lisa -

As her feet landed on the ground, two metallic balls shot from Lisa's outstretched hand, zipping through the doorway behind the others. She visualized the layout of the room as they swirled past both Alexei and Ehlana, homing in on their target. Just as her line of sight cleared, Lisa closed her hand, and the balls came to an abrupt halt before crashing into either side of the guard's skull. As they drifted away again, he slumped to the floor, unconscious at Ehlana's feet.

With her part done, she turned back towards the door, continuing to keep an eye out for the group that had been behind them. Getting surrounded would definitely put a damper on the whole silent infiltration part of the plan.

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- Alina -

From the moment her feet touched the ice, Annabelle began to slow. It would be barely noticeable for the first few seconds, but prolonged exposure to the cold would dull her reflexes and hinder her movements. With her own Bufu strain, Ariana would have greater resistance to the cold, but in time, it would affect her as well. Alina would need to keep that in mind if the fight drug on for too long.

Kurik and Lorrin seemed less enthusiastic about entering her domain. Fine by her. Alina would simply take it to them instead. "You just told me that my words mean nothing to you." She sneered at Kurik. "Perhaps my actions will hold more weight."

Planting one foot behind her, Alina twisted her free hand to point downward at an angle. "White wall." She drug her fingers upwards, and rather than raising in front of her, the wall materialized as a bank of snow beneath her feet, carrying her towards Kurik at an accelerated pace as Belo's bullet sailed behind her. She'd actually forgotten the man was there. If she wanted to avoid getting hit, she'd need to remain mobile. Or, perhaps she could interpose one of the man's allies between him and herself.

As she raised her rapier into an attacking position, she flicked her wrist, tossing an icicle at Lorrin in passing. "Bufu."

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- Marcus -

As the others took their places, Marcus slowly closed his fists, allowing the knuckles to crack. Luke was right. There had been too few guards along the way. That meant that either Alina's distraction was in full swing, or they were walking into a trap. The funny thing about traps though? It only takes one person to trip them.

Taking a deep breath, Marcus allowed the magic to flow through his veins. His muscles contracted, tightening around his frame, and time seemed to slow down until all he could hear was the dull pound of his own heartbeat. At a glance, everyone else seemed to be in place. Now or never.

On the exhale, Marcus shot forward, like an arrow loosed from the bowstring. He closed the gap to the doorway in three steps, and with both arms outstretched, he crashed into the wooden double doors, splintering both of them at the hinges as they toppled over into the room.

"Knock, knock." He muttered as he surveyed the damage and looked for guards.

- James & Ehlana -

While Nadenka inspected the guards, Ehlana took a few steps back and leaned on the wall next to the door frame. From this angle, she would notice soon enough if someone was coming.

It looked like Lisa had the same notion.

Meanwhile, James caught the com that Alexei tossed him. Quickly, he hooked it up to his tablet, trying to pinpoint where it received its signals from. It didn't take him long and once he found it, the com disappeared in his pocket. It could be handy to know what the enemy was saying.

"Done," he said. "Is the hallway clear?"

Ehlana nodded. She couldn't hear anything.

"The jammers are set up in the central security hub," he explained in a low voice and showed them the layout of the palace on his tablet. "It's two stories up in a room in the far east wing."

At a sign from Lisa that the hallway was still clear, they departed the room.

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- Lenka -

Lenka stood behind the others, her hands gripping the silver chain tightly.

She nodded at Rise's question. Yes, she was ready. She had to be. They were here to rescue their friends afterall.

In a sudden move, Marcus burst through the door of the Council Chamber.

Feeling stunned for a moment, Lenka recovered quickly. No more surprise then.

"C'mon, we quickly have to get in there," she said, giving Luke and Rise a light push from behind.

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- Kurik with Lorrin & Annabelle -

It was a good effort from Belo. Unfortunately, he missed as Alina just decided to move as he fired. He gave him a nod to keep trying and then turned his attention towards Alina. She had decided to fall into step with Ariana and attack as well.

Even though his posture was relaxed, Kurik was ready for Alina's attack. With incredible speed, he dove to the side to avoid the icicle shot at him. Landing softly on his feet, he went on the offense, heading towards Alina. Just before reaching the range of her rapier, he snapped his fingers, taking advantage of the boost from Lorrin's spell.

"Tentarafoo."

"Shibaboo."

He cast in quick succession while he moved around Alina and her great wave of ice until coming to a stop behind her. He could feel the ice underneath his feet, but his barrier from earlier still kept it at bay for now.

Meanwhile Annabelle didn't even acknowledge Ariana's reply. Or she simply didn't care.

When the other girl cast again, Annabelle dove down, using the ice to keep sliding towards Ariana. She raised her ax, obliterating the ice crystals that burst from the ground. Lorrin could not have time his boosting spell any better. With added speed and agility, Annabelle wasn't just able to negate the slowing from the ice, but instead was able overcome it and use it to her advantage.

Without fear, Annabelle entered the blackness surrounding Ariana just as it began to dissolve, trying to reach and disarm her.

After sending out his boosting spells, Lorrin had given up his spectator position. He was not about to underestimate Ariana or let Annabelle take her on by herself. And he had to trust Kurik that he could handle Alina on his own.

He moved to Ariana's right side (from his point of view), but careful not accidentally get her right between himself and Annabelle. Lorrin pulled his sword, breaching the ice crystals that Ariana had used to surround herself.

Caltha - Palace Gates
Belobog Volkov

Belobog nodded to Kurik, and he quickly moved away from his position to the place where he could take cover, and he ready his weapon once again to fire away at Alina one more time.

This time, Belobog waited for Alina to come to his line of sight, so that he could fire at Alina as quickly as possible.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Nadenka Orlov

Nadenka followed the others to the other room; it looked like their job was going very smoothly, then again, she did not let her guard down as they were unwelcome guests.

She was just amazed how Alexei and Ehlana were somewhat getting used to Kaddathians as well; perhaps, they were already looking at the future of Arusia and Kaddath?

In any case, she followed them without problems as herself always exercised.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Luke Jaron

Luke actually wanted to jump in to see what was going on, but it looked like Marcus decided to do it before he could do so. In any case, he continued to move forward with others, his eyes being sharp as well, looking for anything that might be strange.

Especially with the news of Alex had become a redcape, he could not help it, but be little tensed up. Then again, in him, he could feel his determination in his heart. "Hang on, Alex." He muttered it to himself.

Caltha - Front Gate

- Ariana -

Ariana dropped to he ground, shielding herself as Annabelle's ax send ice crystals shattering in every direction. Smashing her way through, Annabelle carved a path right for Ariana, who braced herself until Annabelle was right on top of her.

"Bufula!"

The ice crystal burst from the ground in front of Annabelle, knocking her back. Ariana sprang from her place toward Lorrin, making his way from the other side, and stabbed the blade Alina had given her down at his sword arm.

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Caltha - Palace Corridors

- Alexei -

With the enemy com in hand, James made quick work of deducing the jammers' location. Alexei raised his eyebrows, nodding as James gave everyone their new directive.

"He's good," he said to Ehlana, though his tone loud was loud enough that he might as well be speaking to the group. "He'd have done well in Arusia. Quick with technology. Looks like he doesn't get much sunlight either."

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Caltha - Grand Council Chamber

- Rise -

Rise nodded as she received confirmation from the others.

"Okay, let's-"

Before she could finish, Marcus shot forward and smashed right through the double doors.

"-smash right through the door." Rise dropped her head back against the wall. "Dammit, Marcus."

No time to mourn their loss of surprise. Lenka gave her and Luke a push to follow after Marcus. Quickly, Rise turned and signaled to Raidon and Kokonoe, who hung back in the shadows.

Steeling herself, Rise whipped out her fans and led the way for her, Lenka, and Luke into the council chamber to join Marcus.

"If you survive this, I'm going to kill you," Rise growled in Marcus' ear.

"As expected."

Rise whirled about as a voice sounded from the throne. Maxim stood up, eyeing them all with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Alina Grey was a diversion after all," he sighed, "to rescue your friends. You're all very... predictable."

Rise glanced to the back of the chamber. Bound to the pillars were Jax, Keynes, and some others.

"You're... Maxim?" Rise asked, stepping forward.

Maxim nodded. "And you're Aegis. I've studied you all. Your success in toppling the previous regime was... inspiring."

Rise narrowed her eyes. "Inspiring enough to try it yourself."

Maxim's only response was a tired smile.

"I can appreciate how hard maintaining your control is," he sighed. "I confess, I'm ill-suited to this sort of life. I'd be far happier spending the hours in my laboratory than trying to hold onto a throne. But, I'm sure you understand, sacrifices have to be made."

"Yeah, your life is so hard," Rise snarled, raising her fans. "You can surrender if you want, but feel free not to. I wouldn't mind dropping a meteor on your head."

"You can try," Maxim said quietly. "But then, I can't guarantee your friends' safety."

Bringing a small device to his mouth, Maxim let out a harsh whistle that reverberated through the halls. In response, a loud thunk from the other end of the hall caused Rise and the others to turn as the monstrous Blackcape creeped into view, it's head bowed low.

"Your friend, Alex," Maxim whispered. "He suffers so. I can't imagine what tearing his friends apart will do to him. Surrender, all of you... and I can put him to rest."

As he spoke, three Redcapes crept from around the throne, stalking toward the group.

"Or I'll have to put all of you to rest," Maxim said, eyes narrowed.

Aegis

- Lisa -

"You think he doesn't get much sunlight now?" Lisa chuckled at Alexei's words as she motioned for the rest to follow her out into the hallway. "You should have seen him before Rise got ahold of him. The poor guy practically glowed in the dark."

At the end of the hall, she drew up short, holding her hand up for silence. Two guards came around the corner, just in time to have Lisa plant her palms in the center of their chests. One drew his weapon, and the other made as if to yell for help, but there was no sound.

Wide-eyed, the first dropped his weapon and reached for his throat, clawing at some invisible collar. With a look of horror, the second did the same.

A moment later, they both collapsed, seemingly cushioned by the air around them for the last few inches of their silent falls. "Come on. There's a balcony in the library up ahead, and we can use the staircase in there to get up to the next floor."

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- Alina -

As Kurik slipped past her attack, diving to the side of her, Alina tracked the man with the gun in her periphery, or at least she did until a wave of colors washed over her. With an opponent of Kurik's skill level, she couldn't afford to be distracted by someone taking shots in the background. That left her with two choices, eliminate the lingering threat or create a situation where he couldn't make himself threatening. As she felt chains encircling her legs, this became even more of a problem. With a whisk of her rapier, she deflected the crawling chains before they could rise any further, but that wouldn't make her any more mobile.

Turning towards Kurik as best she could, Alina dipped her free hand towards the ground. The cold around her intensified, causing a thin mist in the air from the rapidly cooling water vapor. She suddenly jerked her hand upwards, as if throwing something in Belo's direction. "Glacial Axis."

Spears of ice consolidated and thrust upward from the ground in a cone that would spread all the way to Belo's position and beyond. The width would also be wide enough that he couldn't outrun it, assuming she'd thrown it directly at him through the glowing haze of Kurik's spell. His only option would be to take shelter behind something solid, potentially leaving him encased in ice anyway.

Of course, Kurik could probably reach his comrade to save him, but that would require putting himself in danger too. Closing her eyes and focusing on the sound of Kurik's feet on the fozen ground, Alina exhaled, forcing more cold into the chains. It would only take a couple seconds for them to become brittle, but she would need to react blindly before then.

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- Marcus -

Marcus groaned as Rise and the others followed him into the room. What was the point in springing the trap if everyone else simply followed you into it? A quick glance behind him told Marcus that at least Raidon and Kokonoe had realized as much. Maybe that would be enough. He had to hope so as the dark mass of writhing tendrils trudged towards them.

Unlike the previous Redcape, these seemed more subdued, but he had no doubt they would be just as strong. As for Alex, well there was no telling what kind of power a Blackcape might have. Marcus ground his teeth, considering his options. Kokonoe had a cure on hand, but was she prepared to deal with this many potential victims?

- James & Ehlana -

"Yeah, but it's his technology," Ehlana replied, not really caring if James heard or not. "I wonder if he'd grasp our technology just as quickly."

James rolled his eyes at Alexei's and Lisa's banter at his expense. If he was being honest, he couldn't exactly find a good counter argument. It was most likely true. So he refrained from answering.

Thankfully to Lisa their next encounter with two guards ended mildly.

Ehlana lead the way to the library and quietly opened the door. She looked around in the dark room.

"It's empty," she said quietly and walked up the stairs to the balcony of the library almost soundlessly. It was dark an empty here as well. Ehlana stepped up to the door that would lead back into the hallway and listened. It sounded quiet.

"All good. Ready?"

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- Kurik with Annabelle & Lorrin -

Annabelle cursed and buried her ax in the icicle that shot up towards her. She managed to avoid the worst of it, but it also forced her back, leaving Ariana free to escape the circle.

Ariana promptly took her chance and ran off, right in the direction of Lorrin.

However, Lorrin was ready for her. As the blade touched his arm, he grabbed her arm at the wrist and twisted it.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, pulling her arm straight and pushing down on her shoulder to knock her to the ground. "You're not going anywhere." Following this movement, he pushed his knee into her lower back.


Kurik saw Alina eyeing Belo. With a quick flick of his hand, he cast a spell to help Belo out.

"Marakukaja."

It wouldn't completely protect him, but it would lessen the impact.

Not wasting any more time, he rushed towards Alina. His spell wouldn't keep her in one place for much longer. After casting such a huge spell she would need at least a few seconds to recover, even if it was boosted by the current environment. He just had to be wary of her rapier.

When he reached her, he dropped down, sliding past her. This had two advantages. Alina would be back in her position between him and Belo and he was close enough to cast directly at her, even if it moved him in inside the range of her rapier.

"Poisma."

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- Lenka -

Lenka stopped after entering the room, taking in the scene before her. She could see Jax, Keynes and some other bound to pillars while someone called 'Maxim' walked towards them.

He send a black mass of tendrils towards him that turned out to be the Blackcape. No. Alex.

"Are you an idiot?" she hissed at Marcus and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Why'd you barge in like that without clueing us in to your brilliant plan?"

Three other Redcapes stalked towards them.

The sound of Lenka's chain reverberated through the air, buzzing with electricity when the Redcapes came too close. She quivered a little bit, whether from fear or anticipation she didn't even know herself.

"Haven't you hurt enough people?" she asked Maxim, her voice filled with indignation.

Caltha - Palace Gates

- Alina -

Ariana cried out as Lorrin’s knee drove into her back. Grinding her teeth in pain and anger, she felt cold fury sweep through her and into Lorrin’s knee like sudden and painful frosbite. Lorrin jerked his knee back instinctually, and Ariana rolled out of the way.

She had an opening. She could probably get a good hit on Lorrin now, but-

Her eyes caught sight of Kurik moving in to attack Alina, restrained by a curse strain spell. Ariana gasped and darted toward them, throwing out her hand.

“Bufu!” she cried, sending an ice crystal flying like a dagger at Kurik. It probably wouldn’t hit, but hopefully, it would give her enough time to reach Alina and help. If they were going to survive this, it seemed like they were going to need some teamwork of their own..

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- Caltha - Palace Halls -

- Alexei -

Alexei barked out a laugh at Ehlana’s retort. It was good to see her returning to normal. Maybe the others wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but he could. She was prickly as ever, yes, but in a good way.

“Unforgiving as ever,” he said, grinning.

He followed Ehlana into the library and up to the balcony, the others treading behind. Alexei paused to search for Nadenka and give her an encouraging smile before turning his attention to the door.

“Hey,” he said in a low voice so only Ehlana would hear. “We might run into Belo again. And we probably won’t be able to talk our way out this time. Are you okay with that?”

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- Caltha - Council Chamber -

- Rise -

Maxim stared down at them as Lenka’s words reverberated through the chamber.

“Haven’t you?” he asked. “That’s the thing about wars and rebellions. The damages and loss, the morality of it all... it’s all rather relative, isn’t it?”

He sighed and sat down in the High General’s chair.

“We aren’t so different,” Maxim mused. “You fought against an unjust system, to right the wrongs of society as you saw them. I’m following that example. Healing the harm done to someone precious to me... and paving the way for an equal society for Arusia and Kaddath alike... is that really so wrong?”

Rise looked away from him, her eyes fixing on the Blackcape.... on Alex. It averted its eyes and shrank away, as though ashamed even in this bestial state.

“When you started turning people into monsters, it became wrong,” she said coldly. “There’s one thing I’m sure of, and it’s that the ends don’t always justify the means.”

Maxim smiled, though it was decidedly frosty.

“They say it’s the victors who define history,” he said. “Your defeat of Arzei Adalia proved that much. Let’s see who’s truth will survive today.”

Maxim tapped the device on his wrist, and a shrill, piercing noise like a whistle echoed through the room. The Redcapes writhed and shrieked before pouncing at the group. The Blackcape writhed as well, though it seemed to only crawl a little nearer, its face turned away. There was no telling when it might attack though.

“Someone guard our backs!” Rise ordered as she sent a volley of fireballs arcing toward the Redcapes. Hopefully, in all the chaos, Kokonoe and Raidon would be able to sneak in and free the prisoners.

Luke

“But history will always be revisited, and re-interpreted.” Said Luke, rushing to the back, “And I am not going to leave this part of history determined by one man’s sorry master plan.” Luke had his over limit activated and with it, he shouted “Matetrakarn!” Luke’s barrier was formed and pushed incoming tendrils that was coming towards the group. He stared at Maxim, “If it has to be remembered, it should be remembered that different people coming together to kick some senses to your head. This is not the only way!”

Luke ready himself for another attack from Redscapes, ready to dodge their tendrils.

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Nadenka

Nadenka smiled back at Alexei, “Be careful.” She was ready like everyone else so that she could do her part in helping with jamming device. It was clear that there were going to be some resistance, and she knew fully well it was not going to be easy. But with Alexei and new allies, they might pull through.

Well, that’s what she hoped.

___________

Belobog

With the training he had been with Kurik, it was not hard for him to notice who was going to be Alina’s next target: it was himself. However, noticing it was not going to cut it as the area of effect was larger than what Belobog had faced before, thankfully, Kurik noticed it too and the shield surrounded Belobog in time to push him further from the range. It was close one.

However, as he was not using his sniper rifle, his reach was too far and whatever ice formed by the spell blocked his sight. “She’s out of my sight, continue engage, I will go around and position myself.” He spoke to radio, and he ready himself to move in again.

Aegis

- Lisa -

Lisa nodded in response to Ehlana's question and slipped out into the hallway. Taking a calming breath, she drifted up to the ceiling and hugged the stones as she traveled the length of the hall to the door that housed the security center. From her vantage point, she couldn't see much through the doorway, but at least she had some idea of what to expect.

The others would be turning the corner soon. So, she would need to start with the two guards posted at the door. Pulling out several of her metal balls, she let them drift downwards, spiraling to gain momentum before driving into the temples of both guards.

As the slumped to the floor, Lisa peeked through the door. The room inside wasn't too large, but there were at least a dozen armed people inside. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the others making their way down the hall, and she moved to meet them.

"I didn't get an exact count, but there are at least ten of them in there. Right before we enter the room, I can buy you all a few seconds of confusion, but it will probably make some noise. So, we'll need to be quick about this."

Motioning for them to follow her, Lisa moved back towards the cracked door. Flexing her outstretched hand, she turned it palm up, and air began to swirl around it. "Wind amp." The swirling increased, drawing air from all around her, and a low howl began to echo through the hallway. Even if they knew it was coming, no one inside would be able to do anything though. Throwing the door open, Lisa threw her arm forward. "Garudyne!"

The air in the small room exploded, throwing everyone standing off their feet and some of them into walls or equipment. At the same time, several of the windows in the hallway behind them shattered, something that would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention. "Now!"

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- Alina -

As Kurik slid past her, the chains around Alina's feet snapped and shattered, falling to the ground in frozen shards. At this range, he would feel the full strength of the frigid air swirling around her, but Alina herself was only just getting over the effects of his previous blinding spell. Had he gone in for the kill, he might have made it. Taking the time to re-position himself past her was the mistake that gave her time to react.

"White wall." It was weak, given the amount of power she'd just dumped into her previous spell, but the goal wasn't to block Kurik's attack, although absorbing some of the brunt might not be a bad secondary effect. The wall crashed down over him like a wave, which would immediately freeze, given its current proximity to Alina. There wasn't much anyone could do once they were totally encased in ice.

Gritting her teeth against the sudden sickening feeling overcoming her, Alina surveyed the damage caused by her spell. Would her enemy be caught in her trap, or would they need to continue this pointless battle?

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- Marcus -

Marcus couldn't afford to respond to Lenka's question, even if he felt the urge to do so. Right now, he was focused on the prisoners. No one besides him would be able to reach them before the Blackcape did some damage, but when Maxim gave the creatures a command, it didn't seem to move. Did Alex still have some control of himself, or was the command only intended for the Redcapes?

He glanced at his friends as the Redcapes approached, torn between defending them or the prisoners. Everyone with him was capable of defending themselves though. Marcus had to trust that they would be okay and deal with the bigger threat.

Gritting his teeth, Marcus leaned forward, preparing himself to launch forward. As the Redcapes closed the gap, he put one hand on the ground, pressing his fingers into the carpet. "Rattle my cage..." In a similar fashion to how he'd knocked over the doors, Marcus shot forward. This time was different though. He was barely visible as he traveled to his intended target, and less than a second later, one of the three Redcapes was an unwilling projectile that had been launched at the Blackcape behind it.

- Kurik with Annabelle & Lorrin -

Lorrin jerked back, cursing under his breath.

"Dia." He quickly healed the damage.

"Tarukaja." He added when he noticed that Ariana would rather take a shot at Kurik instead of him.

Meanwhile Annabelle had also reached Ariana and intercepted her path towards Alina.

"I don't think so," she said, her black eyes locking on Ariana. "Mudoon!"

Black tendrils shot out of the ground, attempting to bind Ariana and keep her in place.

At the same time Lorrin had also moved over towards them. "Makarakarn," he cast around Annabelle and himself in case Ariana decided to make liberal use of her ice magic.


Kurik was so focused on Alina, that he didn't anticipate the ice crystal from Ariana. In the last second, he dove to the side, unable to dodge it completely. It felt like part of his side was hit, maybe a bit frozen.

"Sukukaja!" For the moment, Kurik had no other choice but to retreat a little, given the amount of snow about to crash down on him. Using the boost of the spell, he got to his feet and quickly moved out of the proximity of the ice avalanche and away from Alina to avoid begin encased in ice.

"I've had enough of this!" he said. "Makajam!" With a determined gesture, he cast it towards Alina. Though he was farther away, he could definitely feel the effects of the lingering cold.

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- Lenka -

Lenka snorted in disguist at Maxim. His words sounded hypocritical. She didn't really belief that he was aiming for a society where Arusian and Kaddathians would be equal.

The Maxim sent the Redcapes to attack them. Lenka could see that he used a small device on his wrist. She was torn. If she attempted to destroy it, would that turn the Redcapes into a frenzy, like she'd seen before? On the other hand, it might help Alex regain the little control he had in his Blackcape form.

Marcus dashed towards one Redcape while Rise attacked the second one.

Lenka ducked away from the tendrils of the third one that had gotten past Luke's barrier. Her whip lashed out towards the tendril and wrapped around it.

"Zio"

She sent a lightning bolt through her whip into the Redcape, causing it to recoil.

Lenka knew Kokonoe and Raidon had stayed back. That meant hopefully they would attempt to free the prisoners, but she refrained from looking over there, in case that would give it away.

Dodging another tendril, she slowly began to make her way towards the High General's chair.

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- James & Ehlana -

Ehlana turned to look at Alexei, his eyes reflecting the little light that ran through the hallway.

Her face turned serious.

"He's not a bad person," she finally said. "He's just misguided, same as we were. We'll have to make him understand and let him see that there is another way apart from Maxim's selfish plans." Her voice was dark same as her eyes. "And I'm prepared to knock that into his thick skull, no matter what it takes."

Ehlana turned abruptly around and walked down the hallway until they reached the door of the central security hub.

A few seconds later the doors burst open and with a massive amount of wind and noise all the people inside were knocked over.

"Subtle," Ehlana murmured and hurried inside. The first guard she encountered was already unconscious. The second one was getting up, looking dazed. Mercilessly Ehlana knocked him out. This gave a third one the opportunity to stand up. She raised her baton just quick enough to counter his blade.

James meanwhile rolled his eyes at Lisa. Again. "What's with you and destroying everything?" He remembered the incident at Ergo Research where Lisa had uprooted a large part of the forest in search of the Arusians.

After the other had stormed the room, he also hurried inside. Quickly he moved to one of the computers and plugged his tablet in. While the others took care of the dazed personnel inside, he started to work on turning off the jammers.

Caltha - Palace Gates

- Alina -

Before she could reach Alina, Ariana was cut off by Annabelle once more. The Mudoon spell ensnared her, and dark tendrils shot out of the ground to bind her painfully in place. Crying out, Ariana struggled as Lorrin also approached, casting the Makarakarn spell to deflect any magic.

Ariana wilted, helplessness setting in. What could she possibly do now? There were two of them, trained for years to fight in a way she hadn't.

She glanced up, saw Alina struggling against Kurik, and bit her lip.

No, she couldn't give up. Not now. There had to be some way to get free, to turn the tables!

She felt magic coursing through her veins like being plunged into freezing cold water. Maybe she couldn't harm Annabelle and Lorrin directly, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything to the environment.

"Come on, come on," she whispered, dragging that power upward through her. She needed something special, something no one had seen yet. A power that was hers and hers alone.

"You'd better get ready!" she called out to them. "Cause I'm done playing around! This is my Overlimit - Winter's Waltz of Hazy White!"

Wind began to whip around her, particles of snow appearing within it. In a matter of moments, it began to gust into a blinding snowstorm that covered the battlefield in a total whiteout. Somehow, despite the frenzy of wind and snow, she could see clearly through it as though in the eye of a storm.

The Mudoon spell fell apart. Ariana leaped forward, her feet skating across the surface of the snow as she ran toward the two soldiers. Their Makarakarn spell wasn't going to stop this! At full speed, Ariana drove herself into Annabelle, tackling her to the ground. As the two rolled apart, Ariana disappeared back into the cover of the snow storm, skating around to drive a kick into Lorrin's back from behind.

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Caltha - Palace Halls

- Alexei -

Alexei grinned at Ehlana's thoughts on Belo. "Good. We're in agreement then."

After Lisa blew open the doors with a gust of wind, he and Ehlana rushed in to take out anyone left standing. They made quick work of it, and before long, James was at work trying to turn off the jammers. Alexei nudged Ehlana and motioned in James' direction.

"You might be able to help speed that up," he told her. "I'll keep watch."

He walked over to join Lisa keeping watch by the doors.

"It's a little unnerving the things you Kaddathians can do with magic," he told her. "But... impressive, I admit."

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Caltha - Council Chamber

- Rise -

Maxim surveyed the battle below, watching as Aegis struggled to fight against the Redcapes without harming them too severely. Surely, they couldn't have expected to come here without a plan to undo the transformation.

As his eyes roved over the combatants, he made a mental log of them and froze. Wait... surely, there were more of them from what he'd seen of their files. Then, where were the rest of them?

The jammers.

"Belo," Maxim ordered, quickly snatching up his com. "Get to the jammers and make sure they're secure. Now."

If they brought down the jammers and brought the rest of the Army in... Then it didn't matter if they won this battle or not.

Thanks to Luke's quick spell, the tendrils coming for Rise were knocked aside, leaving her target open.

"Agilao!" she called, sending a wave of fire smacking into the Redcape and driving it into the wall.

"Remember, the Redcapes are victims, too," she tried to tell the others, raising her fans as the Redcape recovered itself. "Try to be careful."

The Redcape facing Lenka recoiled at her Zio spell as she edged her way toward the High General's chair. However, the Redcape gathered itself up with a screech and pounced, its tendrils lashing out at her.

The Redcapes that Marcus launched like a cannonball at the Blackcape ricocheted off of it and tumbled out of sight. The Blackcape recoiled for a moment, hiding its head.

Then Kokonoe sprang out, Raidon following behind. She raced for the Blackcape, bringing up the wrist launcher on her arm.

"All right, kid, I think you've caused us enough trouble!" she said, firing off several darts of her cure into its squirming hide.

The Blackcape yelped and recoiled back, and Kokonoe skidded to a halt. Any moment now...

The Blackcape's body writhed, and with a terrible bellow it suddenly pounced forward, lashing out tendrils at Kokonoe.

"Move!" Raidon bellowed, tackling her aside. She fell back, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Raidon wasn't so fortunate. A tendril caught him in the side, hurtling him across the room into a pillar. He slumped to the ground, dazed, by Keynes' feet.

"Raidon!" Kokonoe yelled, scrambling back as the Blackcape stalked forward, enraged and lashing out everything nearby as the prisoners struggled in vain to avoid the tendrils striking all around them.

Aegis

- Lisa -

Lisa shrugged in response to James' question, looking somewhat sheepish. "I'll admit it feels good to just let go sometimes, but in this case, it was the best thing I could do to protect the rest of the group." She gestured towards the others as they moved about the room. "I have no idea how to shut down these jammers. So, if I go a little overboard with my own job on this mission, you can't really blame me, can you?"

As James moved to deal with the electronics, Lisa posted herself by the door. The exploding windows were sure to draw attention. It was only a matter of how far away the first responders were.

"My magic is a little more unnerving than most." Lisa responded to Alexei as her eyes scanned the hallway. "Wind is all around you, but you can't see it. People tend to fear things they can't see."

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- Alina -

Slowed by the poisoning, Alina tried to dive away from the next spell, but it was to no avail. However, as her magic drained away, the cold around her persisted. In fact, it seemed to be getting even colder. Alina blinked, unsure of where the chill was coming from until snow began to settle on her shoulders.

For a single moment, she glanced in Ariana's direction, and in the next, she could see nothing for the snow all around her. Thankfully, her opponent would fare no better. Using the smokescreen of the storm as cover, she shifted to the left of where her opponent had previously been, keeping her rapier at the ready. Hopefully, this would buy her enough time to get her magic back.

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- Marcus -

Nothing went right in the next few moments. Kokonoe's cure didn't seem to faze the Blackcape at all, and before Marcus could react, it threw Raidon across the room. Digging his fingers into the stone of the ground beneath him, Marcus shot forward again, putting himself between the Blackcape and Kokonoe.

He knocked aside a couple outstretched tendrils before one caught him by the ankle and pulled his feet from beneath him. Twisting in midair, Marcus grasped the tendril and hooked his elbow over it, jerking the creature off balance. With a howl, it let go, and Marcus tumbled backwards, immediately rising back to his feet.

Gritting his teeth, he launched himself at the Blackcape, shoulder lowered to plow into it. Before he could make contact, a bright light engulfed the Blackcape, and it simply disappeared, leaving him to crash through the open air where it had been and roll across the floor.

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- Keynes -

The shards of the shattered crystal that had sent the Blackcape away rolled across the floor, coming to rest at Kokonoe's feet.

"Get up!" He gestured wildly at Raidon with his one free hand, coated in blood from tearing out of the binding. "Get up and deal with the Redcapes in here! I've put Alex in time-out, but that's the last trick I had up my sleeve."

Belobog

Belobog hissed at the sudden cold air that burst out in the area, it brought him back memories of Aruisa's coldness he felt when he came out for the first time. Then the voice brought him back to earth, "Belo, Get to the jammers and make sure they're secure. Now." He clicked his tongue, "On my way." Belobog responded, he shouted at Kurik, he was not so sure if he could hear him through the winter storm. "Kurik, I got new order, see you inside!" It wasn't much, but Kurik probably knew what Belobog meant he would see him inside. If Kurik lose here, Belobog might not see him inside, but if he saw Kurik inside, it would probably meant Kurik defeated the two.

Belobog hoped Kurik wins... He hoped? 'No,' thought Belobog, 'He must win.' Belobog radioed quickly as he rushed towards the jammer. "All available come to Jammer site, we got rats in that area"

Belobog hoped there wasn't Alexei in that area... He hoped that he did not have to point his gun at Alexei.

Luke Jaron

Luke was about to jump into help Kokonoe and Raidon, but Marcus was faster. Thankfully, Keynes was able to buy time for them.

Luke now got his mind focused on the redcapes, “Alright then, let’s do this!” Said Luke, dodging tendrils attacks and he rushed into that one redcape, giving his punch enchanted with his Kaja strain, force enough to send it flying to the other redcape. Luke tried to clear path for Rise and Lenka to attack Maxim with all they got without distraction from redcapes.

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Nadenka

Nadenka checked up on the soldiers; they weren’t dead, but they weren’t be disturbing them for long time. Just then, Nadenka realized something was heading their way. Probably she had heard something?

With three soldiers on his back, Belobog arrived. Belobog gave a sign to one soldier and the soldier shouted “Magarudyne!”

Three air balls went towards the area, Nadenka realizing what’s happening shouted. “Watch out!” Then there was another strain added to their attack. The wind that supposed to bring out tornados in the area soon burned brightly, now the area was attacked by blazing tornados.

- Lenka -

Lenka dove over and under the tendrils as the Redcape lashed out at her once again. She still felt hesitant to attack it.

She watched mesmerized as Kokonoe fired off some darts with the antidote towards the Blackcape and how it didn’t do anything. Their element of surprise was gone. Kokonoe and Raidon were both out in the open.

With only a split second to decide, Lenka changed her plan. Instead of making her way to the High General’s Chair and Maxim, she edged back in the chaos until she almost disappeared between the pillars.

Quickly she kneeled down behind Keynes and cut off the rest of his ties. Then she moved on to the next pillar where Jax was tied.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she undid his ties.

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- Kurik with Annabelle & Lorrin -

„I don’t know about you,” Lorrin said, “But I’m about ready to wrap this up.”

That a young girl, talented as she may be, had kept Annabelle and himself busy for this long was almost an affront to him and he was tired of her antics.

Annabelle nodded an pulled the dark tendrils tighter.

Suddenly there was a surge of cold air and wind and snow whipped around them. The temperature dropped even further.

Annabelle felt herself topple over without warning when Ariana tackled her. She could barely see Lorrin through the snowstorm, let alone Kurik and Alina, even though they couldn’t be that far away.

Lorrin fell to his knees, but his two boosting spells allowed him to ignore most of the damage. Quickly he dug his feet in and whipped around, lunging himself at Ariana. They both fell to the ground.

“Get over here, Annabelle!” he called out, trying not to let go of Ariana, even though she felt increasingly cold under his grasp. “And make use of that freakin’ axe!”

Annabelle fought her way over, looming over Lorrin and Ariana, the sharp edge of her edge glistening with ice as it drove down towards Ariana.


Kurik was breathing heavily. Now was his chance. Temporary as it may be, Alina had no use of her magic. He refused to let himself be distracted by the increasing snowstorm around them and resisted the urge to look over to Ariana.

Instead he dashed through the storm towards Alina. The ice crunched under his feet and he whipped out his sai. Contrary to their normal design, these were sharp all around. As he came closer, he could see Alina’s shape and adjusted his course, swinging with his left hand to push her rapier out the way while his right hand drove down to embed the sharp blade in her abdomen.

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- James & Ehlana -

Without another comment, Ehlana walked over to James who was getting a confused look on his face.

“I can’t read this,” he muttered. “How am I supposed to find the right settings to turn it off?”

He looked up when Ehlana approached.

She shot a grin in Alexei’s direction when she hears James’ words.

“What settings are you looking for?” she asked. She might not be able to turn off the jammers herself, but at least she could read what the code said.

“I need to get to the main frequency settings,” James said and held up his tablet. It displayed lines and lines of code all written in Arusian.

Ehlana chuckled. “You’re in the area of code that deals with the main framework.” She took up a pen. “This means frequency,” she said and drew a few letters. “It’s one of the last things they input, so it should be near the end.”

Suddenly there was noise from the entrance. Of course, their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed and Belo along with some soldiers arrived.

Ehlana looked up uneasy. She wanted nothing more than to jump into the fray. With a soft click she activated the metal bands around her wrists and ankles that would protect her from low level mental interference spells.

She glanced at the tablet again. It looked like James was getting closer, scanning for the word she had scribbled down with his eyes. Damn, he could read fast.

The room was engulfed in flames and Ehlana turned away nervously, ready to defend herself. Without warning she felt a hand grab her shoulder tightly.

“Is this it?” James asked, trying very hard to ignore the flames before they fried every circuit in this place. “Tell me what it says!” There was cold determination in his blue eyes.

Ehlana froze and blinked. She was beginning to realize why these kids had made it so far. Her eyes glanced over the code and she nodded. “Yes, that’s the frequency section. It’s denying passage for all incoming frequencies. As long as you can toggle them to yes, you can restore the original communication.”

While James went back to dealing with the jammers, the mayhem in the room continued. However, Ehlana only had eyes for Belo.

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