Red Blizzard

[UnStellar]

Instantaneous teleportation. In one millisecond, a hundred of Revenge's cultists were here. But this wasn't just another scouting run, this was special. It was lead by a blindfolded man named Surge. He was a Vice Prophet, and the Steward of misery. Under his command were three more Vice Prophets and a dozen Precious, all in white robes. Most chilling however was the blue emblems on their clothes; the sign of Misery. Revenge's special operations branch. The rest of his army split into ranks, and they waited patiently.

These snows wouldn't remain ivory for long.

[K2]

They had teleported right into a planet-wide blizzard, one of the defense mechanisms of the planet. They would find the harsh climate allowed for hardly any visibility and would quickly lead to frost bite.

[UnStellar]

A wide barrier surrounded them, and moved with them. A handful of the recruits held it up with minimal effort, and the bodyheat trapped in the barrier kept them warm as they strode forward in a random direction. It blocked out the harsh weather. One of the Precious glowed with a blue light, and hovered off his feet.
"What do you see Ajos?" One of the white robed Vice-prophets asked.
"I see one of their facilities in the west. It's a clear path to there, through the blizzard." Ajos replied.
"Do they see us yet?"
"I'm not sure. But their defense may blind them as well."
"We'll lay low for a second." And they all stopped at once. Some tinkered with technological backpacks, others meditated, some conversed lightly. The barrier acted as a screen blocking their magic signatures. And it reflected light in the blizzard, hiding them all.

[K2]

Of course, the facility had detected their arrival when they originally arrived, before the barrier rose, but they had likely dismissed it as an anomaly because of the snow storm -- or maybe one of the operatives were out in the Blizzard working. Still, the facilities were likely on a bit higher alert now, just in case. They were still unsuspecting.

[UnStellar]

After a nervous ten minutes, the operatives were satisfied that their approach had gone unnoticed. They set to work immediately launching their attack. Surge and his Vices used dig spells, slicing cleanly through the permafrost and creating tunnels. Nine of the Precious crawled behind them, and fifty of the common Disciples did the same. They moved towards the facility at a steady pace. The fifty remaining Disciples divided into three squads, and each of the Precious commanded one. The barrier dropped, exposing themselves to the environment and whatever sensors the Anrufe outpost was using. The squads teleported closer to the outpost and to three different areas, surrounding the compound.

The crawlers kept moving, the three Vice-Prophets casting signature cloaking spells just in case the insulation of the soil wasn't enough. The three squads formed up, their thick cloaks gave them some warmth.  Squad Agony was to the Outposts 9 o'clock position, they had 16 Disciples and a Precious who specialized in healing. Her name was Serenity. Squad Brave was at the 12 o'clock position of the outpost, with 17 disciples and a Precious who specialized in buffing. His name was Kren. Squad Chastity was at the 4 o'clock position, also with 17 disciples and a Precious who specialized in summoning. His name was Azure.

Agony set up a nice defensive grid, 9 Disciples standing in slightly crouched positions in a fanned out line. Serenity stood immediately behind the line, well the 8 Disciples behind the front line started lobbing arched spells. Most were like mortars, detonating with furious energy. Some tossed Incredibly bright lights like flares that focused on facility, this acted as a flare for the other squads and would blind personnel inside the facility. Hopefully the mortars would start harming the blinded and caused property damage. The whole squad started moving forward at a steady pace, never breaking formation. They started at about 200 yards away and were closing briskly.

Squad Brave Took advantage of Agony's flares and mortars and decided to make a stealth strike as planned. They used a similar fanning charge, the front line setting up barriers that would block damage, sensors, and appeared as camouflage. They started at 200 feet but closed to 150 quickly, then Kren cast a spell that made them all faster. They got to 100 feet in half the time and were moving quick.

Squad Chastity remained stationary at 200 feet, and Azure started conjuring rhinoceros like beasts that charged the facility. They were very large, standing over 10 feet tall and had armor plating. They closed the distance fast and started tearing at the walls of the fascility. Four Disciples stood around him, aiding his spells and acting as meat shields. Five other Disciples took to the sky, one on a nifty hoverboard, and closed the 200 feet before any body else. They held a high altitude and acted as overwatch, telepathing messages to Kren, Azure, Serenity, and Surge. The eight remaining Disciples in Chastity started to charge a spell together, it would be very powerful but would take a little longer than the others. By charging together, they were greatly increasing their powers as their Taints worked together.

(1/2 posts for Corrupter Beam)

[K2]

After a nervous ten minutes, the operatives were satisfied that their approach had gone unnoticed. They set to work immediately launching their attack. Surge and his Vices used dig spells, slicing cleanly through the permafrost and creating tunnels. Nine of the Precious crawled behind them, and fifty of the common Disciples did the same. They moved towards the facility at a steady pace.

Of course, most of the Anrufe facilities on the planet WERE underground, and even the ones that were not certainly had the capability to descend into the ground. There was a lot of infrastructural buildup in the underground itself. The Anrufe had used this underground development during the battle with the Lorcar on this world. It was common knowledge that the Anrufe preferred underground bases -- heck, their main base had started off as an underground cavern.

So, what would the tunnel diggers run into? The first line of defense -- energy barriers blocking their descent.

The fifty remaining Disciples divided into three squads, and each of the Precious commanded one. The barrier dropped, exposing themselves to the environment and whatever sensors the Anrufe outpost was using. The squads teleported closer to the outpost and to three different areas, surrounding the compound.

Of course, at that precise moment, the Anrufe knew about the attack. They were having a hard time, for the moment, tracking the underground movement -- actually, they didn't know that there WAS any underground movement at the moment, though their defenses were online all the same. They did, on the other hand, have an easier time tracking movement outside the certain above-ground facility that the squads were attacking. Defenses were quickly prepared and the compound literally began to sink into the ground.

Agony set up a nice defensive grid, 9 Disciples standing in slightly crouched positions in a fanned out line. Serenity stood immediately behind the line, well the 8 Disciples behind the front line started lobbing arched spells. Most were like mortars, detonating with furious energy. Some tossed Incredibly bright lights like flares that focused on facility, this acted as a flare for the other squads and would blind personnel inside the facility. Hopefully the mortars would start harming the blinded and caused property damage. The whole squad started moving forward at a steady pace, never breaking formation. They started at about 200 yards away and were closing briskly.

The spells had started as the base had started sinking into the ground. To hold off the spells from stopping the defense of the base, the first priority for the Anrufe, mages appeared around the outside of the complex, some distance away from the attacking squad, and formed portal wards -- but not in the form of barriers. Instead, every time one of the attacks would get too close, a portal would open to absorb the shock of the enemy spell and send it back at the enemy from behind.

Of course, a handful of the spells were too quick for the portal wards, and a great amount of damage had been inflicted on this outpost by the time it was completely underground.

The stealth squad's advances would go unnoticed so far.

Squad Chastity remained stationary at 200 feet, and Azure started conjuring rhinoceros like beasts that charged the facility. They were very large, standing over 10 feet tall and had armor plating. They closed the distance fast and started tearing at the walls of the fascility. Four Disciples stood around him, aiding his spells and acting as meat shields. Five other Disciples took to the sky, one on a nifty hoverboard, and closed the 200 feet before any body else. They held a high altitude and acted as overwatch, telepathing messages to Kren, Azure, Serenity, and Surge. The eight remaining Disciples in Chastity started to charge a spell together, it would be very powerful but would take a little longer than the others. By charging together, they were greatly increasing their powers as their Taints worked together.

(1/2 posts for Corrupter Beam)

This attack would be harder to hold off. Before the beasts could reach the facility, they would find themselves stepping into trap pits full of ACID Nanites that began to devour the skins of the beast, starting with their limbs. This would no doubt create enough of a distraction for the Anrufe to raise barriers around the beasts. No doubt, the beasts could charge the barriers and break through them in one of two tries, but that would be easier said than done with ACID nanites eating them alive. Literally.

Alas, the base did reach the underground, though, and when it did, it was time for the real fun to begin. The mages, numbering in total of about forty, formed a square formation around the area that the outpost had been before going underground. The radius of their formation was only a few yards at the most, but they hardly felt cornered -- in fact, this was part of how they were going to achieve victory.

Casting a new spell now, the collective raised three large boulders from the snowy ground and set them on fire, launching them towards the squads. A path of steam raised up in their path, marking their trail as a result of the heat coming into contact with the extreme cold, but seeing as this was magic, a bit of snow wouldn't put out the fire by any means.

As for the Disciples in the air? Well, they weren't the only ones who had hover technology. The Anrufe had hover chairs (OOC: Why I requested them I will never know but I finally get to use them =D) which quickly came flying towards the Disciples on the hoverboards. Only, the hoverchairs were unoccupied.

[UnStellar]

So, what would the tunnel diggers run into? The first line of defense -- energy barriers blocking their descent.

The Cult was a relatively new development and didn't have a whole lot of knowledge of the factions in the area. Although this move surprised them, it only really helped their original combat plan.  Change of plans. Surge voiced to his Squad Leaders, Stay on the surface, draw their attention. A pair of Disciples teleported beyond the barrier, Dig spells still active. Hopefully they would simply bypass the barrier and continue towards the now underground facility. If it worked, the rest of the Dig Squad would be given the all clear and continue on with them.

The spells had started as the base had started sinking into the ground. To hold off the spells from stopping the defense of the base, the first priority for the Anrufe, mages appeared around the outside of the complex, some distance away from the attacking squad, and formed portal wards -- but not in the form of barriers. Instead, every time one of the attacks would get too close, a portal would open to absorb the shock of the enemy spell and send it back at the enemy from behind.

Agony Squad was relatively unharmed by this manuever as they kept moving forward, the explosions occuring at their previous positions. Those that were hurt were healed by Serenity. Squad Chastity however suffered the brunt of them as their stradegies had been to remain stationary, and two of the fireteam charging the Corrupter Beam were killed. The fireteam scattered, cancelling the charge. One of Azure's meat shields was critically injured.

This would no doubt create enough of a distraction for the Anrufe to raise barriers around the beasts. No doubt, the beasts could charge the barriers and break through them in one of two tries, but that would be easier said than done with ACID nanites eating them alive. Literally.

The Rhinos held up well. Even in areas not covered by armor, their skin was incredibly thick. No doubt they would soon be eaten away, but they held on for a bit. Long enough to crash through the barriers and keep running.

The mages, numbering in total of about forty, formed a square formation around the area that the outpost had been before going underground. The radius of their formation was only a few yards at the most, but they hardly felt cornered -- in fact, this was part of how they were going to achieve victory.

Casting a new spell now, the collective raised three large boulders from the snowy ground and set them on fire, launching them towards the squads. A path of steam raised up in their path, marking their trail as a result of the heat coming into contact with the extreme cold, but seeing as this was magic, a bit of snow wouldn't put out the fire by any means.

The Rhinos came straight at the formation. The nanites were almost through their skin, but they had enough adrenaline and momentum to hit the line, hopefully scattering and breaking them. They had enough fight the continue piledriving through.
 
Immediately after the Rhinos crashed through the line and started losing steam, Serenity cast a mass teleport on Agony, dodging the boulder, and they appeared in a new formation thanks to her strategic teleport. Inside of the mages formation, they appeared in a mini-circle with Serenity in the middle. Serenity cast a regenerative spell on the rhinos, who starting regenerating flesh faster then the nanites could eat it away. They were winded and it would still take a bit before they were back at full strength, but they started circling back anyway. Serenity yelled, "Buddy up!" And the relatively well-trained Disciples immediately knew what she meant. Each of the 17 in the circle accepted a role, and it alternated every other man. One offense, one defense, then offence, then defense, etc. Essentially, each man now had a "buddy" who had the opposite role of their own. If the circle were to split, these "Buddies" would stay together in their new roles. Essentially, this would mean the entire circle was balanced to dish out and receive.

It took a second for each man in the circle to figure out their role however, and they were unable to attack immediately as they organized themselves, leaving a quick moment of vulnerability.

The boulder impeded Brave's charge just enough to delay the strike as the Rhinos hit, but their forward camouflage barriers deflected it, and one apt Disciple created a portal which intersected it's ricochet course and sent to an unknown corner of the universe.  Despite the speed bump, Brave's bullrush came to fruition, filling the small gap between the rhinos strike and Agony's strategic move. They dropped their stealth and slammed into the 12 o'clock position of the mage's formation, all 18 engaging in hand-to hand combat, grappling wrestling, punching and striking. They used magic to make the blows more intense, some simply buffing their strength, other forming claws, some punching with fire or electricity, etc. Kren's speed buff stayed in place, and their punches and movements were much faster than most. Kren joined in the fray himself, tackling a mage and jolting him with massive amount of electricity instantly. He started glowing red with Tainted energy, in fact, most of his squad was.

Chastity was largely the most useless, having taking casualties. The disciples that had been disheveled by the mortar blows panicked and scattered at seeing the boulder coming at them. The tripped over each other and another 2 Disciples were unable to get out of the way, dying but stopping the boulder. Azure took a second to scream reassurance to his squad, and though short 5 men bringing their numbers down to 12, they started to move to reinforce their more succesful comrades. Azure started to summon Zerg Skeletons, which were bare skeletons with rusty swords, spears, axes. They wren't very strong, but they were very fast and many could be summoned at once. His spell summoned twenty instantly, and they were clearing the distance faster then even Brave was, but they weren't there yet. Two of Azure's three remaining meat shields copied his spell, but with less effectiveness, making only ten apiece. They ran towards the battlefield, a second wave to Azure's first. His third meat shield continued to organize what was left of the squad.

As for the Disciples in the air? Well, they weren't the only ones who had hover technology. The Anrufe had hover chairs (OOC: Why I requested them I will never know but I finally get to use them =D) which quickly came flying towards the Disciples on the hoverboards. Only, the hoverchairs were unoccupied.

The Disciples, three of which were flying of their own accord, took a different approach to attacking the chairs. They Corrupted them quickly (the simpler the technology, the faster it is corrupted) and transformed them into twisted crab-like crawlers. They could still hover, but now their sharp pincers could slice and dice the Anrufe Mages. Their obviously competent AI was corrupted as well, and the Disciples unceremoniously dropped these creatures onto the Mages below them. The Hoverboard rider started reporting to Surge.

Looks like hell down here sir, we're hanging in there. Kren's squad is getting a bloodlust worked up, looks like, and Serenity's doing good. Azure's supporting from a distance, but his squad doesn't seem to be cooperating.

[K2]

The Cult was a relatively new development and didn't have a whole lot of knowledge of the factions in the area. Although this move surprised them, it only really helped their original combat plan.  Change of plans. Surge voiced to his Squad Leaders, Stay on the surface, draw their attention. A pair of Disciples teleported beyond the barrier, Dig spells still active. Hopefully they would simply bypass the barrier and continue towards the now underground facility. If it worked, the rest of the Dig Squad would be given the all clear and continue on with them.

Of course, this was the most basic way to bypass a barrier, and the Anrufe would obviously expect it. The diggers would find that, on the other side of the barrier, the soil suddenly became very... Wet. The soil around the underground complex had been soaked with Resistance-Type Shielding Liquid, which, seeing as the soil had absorbed the liquid, meant that the dirt they were trying to dig through was effectively a shield of its own now. As they tried to dig, they would find it not only ineffective but painful as the repulsion of the soil had a particularly vaporizing affect that would begin burning the skin of the diggers who would find digging no longer an option.

The Anrufe was also now well-aware of the diggers because they had bypassed the initial underground defenses, but the Anrufe was not sure how many diggers there were, seeing as not all of them had crossed the barrier. Preparing their defenses accordingly, the Anrufe's defense network was put on high alert. A message to Ground Island was also sent informing them that the planet was under attack by an unknown enemy with unknown numbers.

The Rhinos held up well. Even in areas not covered by armor, their skin was incredibly thick. No doubt they would soon be eaten away, but they held on for a bit. Long enough to crash through the barriers and keep running.

Even with the barrier disposed of, the nanites kept eating the Rhinos, but they were able to give the base quite the amount of damage before it finished sinking underground. So much damage, in fact, that good portions of the South Wall were collapsing, and the Resistance-Liquid Soil was sinking into the base. The hole was a major vulnerability, because, should the diggers get through all the defenses the Anrufe had to stop them from getting to the base, they would have an open door. To remedy this, mages began to form a barrier to patch the damaged wall up.

The Rhinos came straight at the formation. The nanites were almost through their skin, but they had enough adrenaline and momentum to hit the line, hopefully scattering and breaking them. They had enough fight the continue piledriving through.

About ten of them did die from the massive impact, though the rest were capable of forming a barrier that would stop the rhinos from crushing them. This barrier protected them just as the Nanites finished devouring the rhinos. The mages had lost a fourth of their fighting force on the ground. They readjusted their positions and prepared for more, now casting a spell that they had learned from fighting some mages on the planet Violet.

They created a portal maze. The three squads would find getting to the square formation, now consisting of 30 mages, harder than they had hoped, as any wrong step could send them back to the start of the maze -- or worse, right into the system's sun. And the portals were, of course, invisible.
 

Immediately after the Rhinos crashed through the line and started losing steam, Serenity cast a mass teleport on Agony, dodging the boulder, and they appeared in a new formation thanks to her strategic teleport. Inside of the mages formation, they appeared in a mini-circle with Serenity in the middle. Serenity cast a regenerative spell on the rhinos, who starting regenerating flesh faster then the nanites could eat it away. They were winded and it would still take a bit before they were back at full strength, but they started circling back anyway.

When the mages noticed the rhinos regenerating, they were not too worried. There were two reasons for this -- the nanites were reproducing as they consumed, so the nanites were growing exponentially, just as the rhinos regrew exponentially. Two, they had a trick of their own -- ancient summoning crystals that the Starclan and Aralangs had used, something they'd acquired from both factions at one point or another. Many of these crystals, of various colors, shot up out of the ground near the rhinos, and from them, huge, square doorways began to open near the rhinos.

The boulder impeded Brave's charge just enough to delay the strike as the Rhinos hit, but their forward camouflage barriers deflected it, and one apt Disciple created a portal which intersected it's ricochet course and sent to an unknown corner of the universe.  Despite the speed bump, Brave's bullrush came to fruition, filling the small gap between the rhinos strike and Agony's strategic move. They dropped their stealth and slammed into the 12 o'clock position of the mage's formation, all 18 engaging in hand-to hand combat, grappling wrestling, punching and striking. They used magic to make the blows more intense, some simply buffing their strength, other forming claws, some punching with fire or electricity, etc. Kren's speed buff stayed in place, and their punches and movements were much faster than most. Kren joined in the fray himself, tackling a mage and jolting him with massive amount of electricity instantly. He started glowing red with Tainted energy, in fact, most of his squad was.

When the squad was able to intercept the mages before they raised their portal maze, the mages were obviously a bit stunned. They managed to finish creating the portal maze just in time as the enemy squad ambushed them, tearing into them easily with the element of surprise. The mages were quickly and easily killed. Of course, the squad that had made it to the formation of mages, while outside the range of the portal maze that the other two squads now had to face, would still have to deal with the giant gates and ACID nanites.

The most heavily afflicted squad, Chassity, would, of course, get caught in the portal maze as well.

The Disciples, three of which were flying of their own accord, took a different approach to attacking the chairs. They Corrupted them quickly (the simpler the technology, the faster it is corrupted) and transformed them into twisted crab-like crawlers. They could still hover, but now their sharp pincers could slice and dice the Anrufe Mages. Their obviously competent AI was corrupted as well, and the Disciples unceremoniously dropped these creatures onto the Mages below them. The Hoverboard rider started reporting to Surge.

The Anrufe, while not expecting the Corruption, had expected some form of tampering, and small, explosive devices at the center of the chairs activated when the tech began to be tampered with. The explosions would hopefully be large enough to take out the Disciples in the air, or at least knock them off their hover boards and disorient them.

[K2]

The Cult was a relatively new development and didn't have a whole lot of knowledge of the factions in the area. Although this move surprised them, it only really helped their original combat plan.  Change of plans. Surge voiced to his Squad Leaders, Stay on the surface, draw their attention. A pair of Disciples teleported beyond the barrier, Dig spells still active. Hopefully they would simply bypass the barrier and continue towards the now underground facility. If it worked, the rest of the Dig Squad would be given the all clear and continue on with them.

Of course, this was the most basic way to bypass a barrier, and the Anrufe would obviously expect it. The diggers would find that, on the other side of the barrier, the soil suddenly became very... Wet. The soil around the underground complex had been soaked with Resistance-Type Shielding Liquid, which, seeing as the soil had absorbed the liquid, meant that the dirt they were trying to dig through was effectively a shield of its own now. As they tried to dig, they would find it not only ineffective but painful as the repulsion of the soil had a particularly vaporizing affect that would begin burning the skin of the diggers who would find digging no longer an option.

The Anrufe was also now well-aware of the diggers because they had bypassed the initial underground defenses, but the Anrufe was not sure how many diggers there were, seeing as not all of them had crossed the barrier. Preparing their defenses accordingly, the Anrufe's defense network was put on high alert. A message to Ground Island was also sent informing them that the planet was under attack by an unknown enemy with unknown numbers.

The Rhinos held up well. Even in areas not covered by armor, their skin was incredibly thick. No doubt they would soon be eaten away, but they held on for a bit. Long enough to crash through the barriers and keep running.

Even with the barrier disposed of, the nanites kept eating the Rhinos, but they were able to give the base quite the amount of damage before it finished sinking underground. So much damage, in fact, that good portions of the South Wall were collapsing, and the Resistance-Liquid Soil was sinking into the base. The hole was a major vulnerability, because, should the diggers get through all the defenses the Anrufe had to stop them from getting to the base, they would have an open door. To remedy this, mages began to form a barrier to patch the damaged wall up.

The Rhinos came straight at the formation. The nanites were almost through their skin, but they had enough adrenaline and momentum to hit the line, hopefully scattering and breaking them. They had enough fight the continue piledriving through.

 About ten of them did die from the massive impact, though the rest were capable of forming a barrier that would stop the rhinos from crushing them. This barrier protected them just as the Nanites finished devouring the rhinos. The mages had lost a fourth of their fighting force on the ground. They readjusted their positions and prepared for more.

Immediately after the Rhinos crashed through the line and started losing steam, Serenity cast a mass teleport on Agony, dodging the boulder, and they appeared in a new formation thanks to her strategic teleport. Inside of the mages formation, they appeared in a mini-circle with Serenity in the middle. Serenity cast a regenerative spell on the rhinos, who starting regenerating flesh faster then the nanites could eat it away.

With the ambush made by Agony Squad, the mages responded quickly and decisively. Namely, they ran like hell. They had to get their bearings straight. Many of them were killed by the ambush, but a good number got away, teleporting to another area on the planet before entering one of the underground bases. Whatever the enemy had been trying to achieve by attacking the mages, it'd worked, one might say.

The ACID Nanites, left behind in the wake of the mages losing their stand, would continue multiplying as the rhinos continued regenerating. In time, they would grow tired of the rhinos and start seeking new sources of food -- namely, the disciples of Revenge themselves.

The Disciples, three of which were flying of their own accord, took a different approach to attacking the chairs. They Corrupted them quickly (the simpler the technology, the faster it is corrupted) and transformed them into twisted crab-like crawlers. They could still hover, but now their sharp pincers could slice and dice the Anrufe Mages. Their obviously competent AI was corrupted as well, and the Disciples unceremoniously dropped these creatures onto the Mages below them. The Hoverboard rider started reporting to Surge.

Looks like hell down here sir, we're hanging in there. Kren's squad is getting a bloodlust worked up, looks like, and Serenity's doing good. Azure's supporting from a distance, but his squad doesn't seem to be cooperating.

The Anrufe, while not expecting the Corruption, had expected some form of tampering, and small, explosive devices at the center of the chairs activated when the tech began to be tampered with. The explosions would hopefully be large enough to take out the Disciples in the air, or at least knock them off their hover boards and disorient them.

[UnStellar]

OOC: Bastard, I just realized you're using my trick against me! XD

The soil around the underground complex had been soaked with Resistance-Type Shielding Liquid, which, seeing as the soil had absorbed the liquid, meant that the dirt they were trying to dig through was effectively a shield of its own now. As they tried to dig, they would find it not only ineffective but painful as the repulsion of the soil had a particularly vaporizing affect that would begin burning the skin of the diggers who would find digging no longer an option.

The disciples screamed in agony and quickly informed their superior that it was a no go. They teleported back quickly. Surge expanded the dig spell, which was sort of like a barrier that beat back the soil, and formed a sort of room for them. his strike force milled calmly in this now formed room. Surge, a Wave Sage, started to emit pulse waves to map out the soil. The frequency moved through the soil like air, and pinged off the solid underground base. Bingo, he know the exact distance. Another ping, of a different frequency, passed through the wall facing them and revealed the caved in wall. They now had a good knowledge of the inside of the facility.

The ACID Nanites, left behind in the wake of the mages losing their stand, would continue multiplying as the rhinos continued regenerating. In time, they would grow tired of the rhinos and start seeking new sources of food -- namely, the disciples of Revenge themselves.

The Rhinos made good distance from the main group before most of them was eaten away. They fell, but the Nanites now had a decent distance to travel before reaching the Disciples.

The Anrufe, while not expecting the Corruption, had expected some form of tampering, and small, explosive devices at the center of the chairs activated when the tech began to be tampered with. The explosions would hopefully be large enough to take out the Disciples in the air, or at least knock them off their hover boards and disorient them.

The Corrupted  chairs had been dropping and exploded harmlessly away from the flying Disciples, although some debris struck the Disciples below them. One member of Brave received a concussion, but the others received no serious damage.

Fluidly, the three squads merged together, Chastity teleporting towards them. Brave's men formed a large circle around them, and they all combined their powers and formed a dome like barrier around them. They were directly above where the facility sunk into the ground. Agony and Chastity set to work, activating Dig spells of their own. Surge telepathed some numbers to them, letting them know how far to dig. The two squads made swift work descending, and they heeded the warning about the special Shield Soil around the facility. Serenity cast a warding spell on them that would defend them from the burning, and they were prepared to act fast against whatever would happen.

Brave kept careful watch on the ground for the Mages to return, and the four Disciple on Overwatch started expanding their radius. The blizzard cut down visibility but they utilized a spell that showed magic signatures brightly, like infrared.

[K2]

OOC: Bastard, I just realized you're using my trick against me! XD

OOC: =D

The Rhinos made good distance from the main group before most of them was eaten away. They fell, but the Nanites now had a decent distance to travel before reaching the Disciples.

The nanites were deactivated remotely from one of the bases. They were now useless. There were other ways to fight the disciples of Revenge besides using nanites.

Fluidly, the three squads merged together, Chastity teleporting towards them. Brave's men formed a large circle around them, and they all combined their powers and formed a dome like barrier around them. They were directly above where the facility sunk into the ground. Agony and Chastity set to work, activating Dig spells of their own. Surge telepathed some numbers to them, letting them know how far to dig. The two squads made swift work descending, and they heeded the warning about the special Shield Soil around the facility. Serenity cast a warding spell on them that would defend them from the burning, and they were prepared to act fast against whatever would happen.

A pink goo-like substance quickly rose from the ground to meet them. Bubbling before them, the pink goo began to surround the diggers, coating the hole they'd started to dig. At the top of the hole, it began to form a sort of cover on the hole as well. Whatever this goo was, it was not only trapping the diggers in there hole, but it was surrounding them as well.

Brave kept careful watch on the ground for the Mages to return, and the four Disciple on Overwatch started expanding their radius. The blizzard cut down visibility but they utilized a spell that showed magic signatures brightly, like infrared.

From the horizon, a strange figure in a black cloak that covered his face and body entirely too well, was walking towards the group slowly, seemingly not bothered by the blizzard. His magic signature made him readily visible, and it was pulsing through the entire planet. This was one of the Anrufe's leaders, whoever he was.

In orbit of the planet, the Anrufe's ships, PeacefulCloud 3, arrived in orbit of the planet. Outside the range of the blizzard, they were able to get a better idea of what was going on and started to prepare for combat.

[UnStellar]

A pink goo-like substance quickly rose from the ground to meet them. Bubbling before them, the pink goo began to surround the diggers, coating the hole they'd started to dig. At the top of the hole, it began to form a sort of cover on the hole as well. Whatever this goo was, it was not only trapping the diggers in there hole, but it was surrounding them as well.

The diggers cast barriers on themselves that protected them, and Azure signaled to them all, DIVE BOMB! They obeyed the order and readied the spell, which was normally meant for water. They formed bullet like barriers around them, and used a contained magical explosion to sent them rocketing downward through the goo and soil.

From the horizon, a strange figure in a black cloak that covered his face and body entirely too well, was walking towards the group slowly, seemingly not bothered by the blizzard. His magic signature made him readily visible, and it was pulsing through the entire planet. This was one of the Anrufe's leaders, whoever he was.

The Overwatch screamed and broke the spell. His signature was so strong it hurt their eyes. Instantly they started relaying messages.

Heads up! Heads up! Heavy hitter on his way! He feels like a leader! they cried breathlessly to their comrades. From below the surface, Surge grinned. I feel him. He said simply. Everyone, get into their base. Brave, you're with me. We're going to take him down.

He teleported to the surface, in Brave's barrier. His backpack, a solid piece of Tainted technology, started buzzing and glowing red. The rest of his squad bypassed the barrier and divebombed towards the facility.

[K2]

The diggers cast barriers on themselves that protected them, and Azure signaled to them all, DIVE BOMB! They obeyed the order and readied the spell, which was normally meant for water. They formed bullet like barriers around them, and used a contained magical explosion to sent them rocketing downward through the goo and soil.

The goo seemed to have a rubber-like property to it, at least for the moment. Like a trampoline, the barrier bullets first sent the goo in many directions -- then it came back, sending the barrier bullets right back at the diggers.

The Overwatch screamed and broke the spell. His signature was so strong it hurt their eyes. Instantly they started relaying messages.

Heads up! Heads up! Heavy hitter on his way! He feels like a leader! they cried breathlessly to their comrades. From below the surface, Surge grinned. I feel him. He said simply. Everyone, get into their base. Brave, you're with me. We're going to take him down.

He teleported to the surface, in Brave's barrier. His backpack, a solid piece of Tainted technology, started buzzing and glowing red. The rest of his squad bypassed the barrier and divebombed towards the facility.

As the black cloak got closer to the barrier, he seemed to walk slower and slower, until, finally, half a mile away, he stopped. He just simply stood still, watching and preparing. Waiting. Who was going to make the first move? Him... Or them?

Meanwhile, in PeacefulCloud 3, troops were mobilizing to form a ground force. In the meanwhile, Raven fighters were released and made their way towards the hole where the original diggers who had formed a room had started. You see, the Raven fighters had their own ability. They were diggers as well. Usually used by the Anrufe to attack enemy planets, these were typical on Magiship types, and were now being used as a DEFENSIVE fighter -- at least, for this battle.

[The Blade]

Upon the bridge of PeacefulCloud3 a slight rent in the fabric of space would open up and a small white piece of blank material would be passed through. A few moments later and five Vionix stepped onto the bridge of the ship and knelt before the Captain of the vessel. The one at the front had midnight black PRPA on, with golden filigree around the edges lining the arms. This Vionix was one of the leaders of the Black Legion, simply known as The General. The General reached back and slid both of his blades out, they were shortsword variant Wavering Blades and were highly detailed with gold and silver lines. The neon-blue eyed male tossed them forwards to the feet of the Captain of the ship and stood with his hands raised. "Greetings, I understand that we are possibly the least likely person for you to trust at the moment but we are not like our squeamish brethren" His voice was cold and yet smooth, like icy silk. "But you have to listen to me, we are here to help."

The General cleared his throat and then shook his pale head, his pure blue eyes closing over as he started to talk. "We are the Black Legion, many years ago we were exiled from our home system because of our experiments into learning more about our physiology, the leaders of the Vionix were appalled at what we were doing and ordered us to stop. We were nearing a breakthrough though and ignored his warnings." The General sighed and dropped his arms, although he would raise them again if told to do so. "They found out and they exiled us, sending us away with a few ships and meager supplies. The Legion did not die though, we ravaged and pillaged to get what we needed and then we started to rebuild and repopulate with modifications of our own. We never forgave the Vionix however and instead tricked them, they were all too eager to hear about us and welcome us back. The Legion used that against them, we took their codes and we took their damned space station and now we want to help you, get back at the Vionix and the beings they have allied with." The General opened his eyes and glared at the Captain. "We offer you the support of the Black Legion and all of our soldiers and arms, let us take the fight to the Vionix" He thrust his hand out towards the Captain and nodded.

[K2]

"Hmph," the captain replied, glaring at The General. By now, obviously, every Anrufe on the bridge had their weapons pointed at the intruders. They would have fired right away had The General not discarded his weapons. The captain listened intently as he talked, and when he was done, he just laughed as he ordered, "Fire."

Every Anrufe in the room pulled their triggers.

Only... Nothing happened. The guns did not fire. The same pink goo that was currently attacking the soldiers on the ground now surrounded the Anrufe in the ship, and their weapons, crushing the guns before they could be used to fire, and trapping the now scared-out-of-their-mind Anrufe agents in place. They knew of one person who used this pink goo in their attacks -- KiaB, the first leader of the Anrufe, who had died about nine years prior.

Only this wasn't KiaB.

The pink goo continued to surround each and every Anrufe member in the bridge, including their faces, and it kept hardening, suffocating them all. To death. Including the captain. By now, the rest of the ship would know something was up and would try to get in to the bridge, but all the entrances were blocked, their teleporting would not work, and their portals would be surrounded by the pink goo before they could even form completely.

Of course, the Black Legion Vionnix would no doubt have no idea what was going on either. On the wall behind them, a figure spoke now, and it was as if he'd been there the whole time, unnoticed. This figure was Assassin, leader of the Anrufe. Well, everyone thought he was Assassin. Nobody knew that he was presently being manipulated by... Someone else. That, of course, did not matter at the moment. Whoever this was, it was the leader of the Anrufe.

The man would be notably different. His "skin" was nothing more than some sort of hardened white clay which coated his entire body. He had no hair to speak of. He was... Hardly humanoid at all. He wore the traditional black cloak of one of the Anrufe's leaders. His eyes were full of curiosity. These intruders had gotten onto the ship -- past the shields. That was remarkable.

"Please excuse the rudeness of my crew," he spoke, his pink goo beginning to surround the Black Legion weapons as well. "They will no longer be employed by our organization. You say you're interested in allying with me, hm? Excellent. What can you do?"

[The Blade]

The General's eyes widened slightly and he activated his PRPA as the fire order was given, all four of his soldiers done the same and they waited for the inevitable bullet impacts against their armour but none of it came. The General looked around at them all and cocked his head to the side "Interesting" He whispered and then stepped forwards and retrieved his weapons, locking them into the scabbards on his back.

Each of the four Black Legionnaires looked over the asphyxiated foes and then shook their heads and cast down their weapons onto the ground, three distortion rifles went clattering down, four distortion pistols and a massive railgun looking weapon that was in fact a downsized Flash Cannon. The Black Legion Men just stepped back and left their weapons, not wanting the same fate as what became of the Anrufe members.

At the sound of the voice from behind him, The General whirled around and his blades were in his hands faster than most would've been able to blink and he had dropped into a low combat stance. Once he realised what was being said though, he put down the weapons and slid them to Assassin's feet, letting them lie there. "I thank you for the save, I'm afraid that me and my men mightn't have survived if they had actually fired" The General shook his head and laughed quietly, although it was more in relief than actual mirth.

Upon the question however, The General looked around at the goo and sighed softly. "Well I can give you the Fire Storm Academy and we can do other things if you'd like to remove the goo so that we do not kill ourselves with it, apparently asphyxiation is a nasty way to go" He crossed his arms over his chest and the nodded towards his swords "Also, please be careful with our weaponry, especially the cannon and the swords, they weren't the easy weapons to create. Also, if I may be so prudent as to ask a question, who are you?"

[K2]

"Fire storm academy?" he asked, interest in his voice, "I was not aware that such a place existed. And you mean to say, you have taken it from the likes of... Hm. Who? The Narrikians? Who, exactly, is involved in this war that is being waged against us?"

The goo seemed to retract towards Assassin, disappearing into the soles of his feet, where his boots were absorbing the goo and breaking it back down into the base magic it had been formed from. The weapons were left alone, and freed from the goo's control. Assassin obviously felt he could handle himself should these intruders chose to attack. In the wake of the destruction that the goo had caused, there remained no sign that the Anrufe crew ever been there to begin with.

"As for who I am," he continued, "You may call me Assassin. I am the leader of this organization you seek to ally yourself with, the Anrufe."

[The Blade]

The General smiled and nodded "Fire Storm Academy, it was the replacement for the Wind Storm Academy that your own Anrufe took from the Narrikians and yes, that is who we took it from. Also, the Mechera and possibly the K Empire might be involved but we are uncertain about the latter so do not hold me to it" He raised his hands defensively and sighed softly.

The other four Black Legionnaires looked at the vanishing goo and smiled before picking up their weapons and then simply appearing beside The General, there was no magical style teleport or portal technology, one moment they were just standing behind The General and the next they were standing next to him. This was the thing that the Black Legion could do, spatially manipulate. "I am The General, my real name matters not to anyone anymore" He smiled once again and nodded before crossing his arms over his chest. "The other thing we offer is technology, some of the likes that you have never seen before and a good bit of it Narrikian as well, you would be able to find ways around the enemy technologies. We hope that we are of satisfaction to you, and that we may ally with you. We also have ships, albeit not many"

[K2]

"Fine," Assassin replied simply, "I would assume that your political goal is control of your political state. As admiral a goal this may be, understand this. The Anrufe will eventually crush the likes of the Mechera, the Narrikians, and the K Empire. And your comrades back home as well, should they continue to get in our way. When we do, we shall resume our operations of conquering, and we shall crush those who do not assimilate into our organization's rule. That said, we shall accept your offer of a partnership for the duration of this war. However."

A smile spread across his face, his first hint of emotion, even after having remained emotionless at the display of spacial manipulation. "After the end of this war has come, and after we have conquered all other enemies, should you chose to make our complete control of this dimension a... Difficulty, we will have no choice but to dispose of you. Clear? Now then, onto the subject of you proving your loyalty. We would be fools, after all, to share our knowledge and technology with you if we did not yet know you were on our side. Tell me. How well is your stealth?"

[The Blade]

The General listened to Assassin with a bemused smirk on his lips, his eyes reflected no emotion however for they could not, being a solid blue. "That is understandable, all we wish for is the planets that once belonged to the Vionix and nothing else." The four behind him narrowed their eyes at the mention of their more hated brethren and nodded along with The General. "Everything else you may have and we will not pose a difficulty to you, we wouldn't be helping you if we were just going to screw it up in the end" The General nodded once more and then turned to the four with him, all of them powerful captains. "You four, ready yourself to open up some Gates and we'll get more soldiers here."

The four Vionix nodded and then slung their weapons on their back and moved to the door. "Sir, if you would please open the door and grant us safety, I could bring more soldiers over. Also, about our stealth, we have almost no magical signature and we can block that. Our Teleportation skills take very little power so we can use it so as not to be found. Upon getting to where we need to go, I or my Captains can then open a Wormhole that bypasses most Anti-Teleport and Anti-Portal technology to allow soldiers to come through to where we are and even these wormholes give off a very low amount of magical energy, so our stealth is good."

[UnStellar]

The goo seemed to have a rubber-like property to it, at least for the moment. Like a trampoline, the barrier bullets first sent the goo in many directions -- then it came back, sending the barrier bullets right back at the diggers.

The soldiers became pinballs as they had launched with the bullets. But they tried again, this time using portal to bypass the goo and launch them straight at the base through the shielding.

As the black cloak got closer to the barrier, he seemed to walk slower and slower, until, finally, half a mile away, he stopped. He just simply stood still, watching and preparing. Waiting. Who was going to make the first move? Him... Or them?

Surge stared him down, pulsing singals to get a feel for the man and the terrain. Brave dropped the barrier and formed behind him, backing him up for the impending fight. Kren stood immediately to his right. With a smirk, Surge's backpack activated and started sprouting long metal rods. They onwound and started curling through the ground. He was setting up his wave grid.

Meanwhile, in PeacefulCloud 3, troops were mobilizing to form a ground force. In the meanwhile, Raven fighters were released and made their way towards the hole where the original diggers who had formed a room had started. You see, the Raven fighters had their own ability. They were diggers as well. Usually used by the Anrufe to attack enemy planets, these were typical on Magiship types, and were now being used as a DEFENSIVE fighter -- at least, for this battle.

Hopefully the underground squads would have moved beyond the goo and been out of reach for the fighters.

[K2]

The General listened to Assassin with a bemused smirk on his lips, his eyes reflected no emotion however for they could not, being a solid blue. "That is understandable, all we wish for is the planets that once belonged to the Vionix and nothing else." The four behind him narrowed their eyes at the mention of their more hated brethren and nodded along with The General. "Everything else you may have and we will not pose a difficulty to you, we wouldn't be helping you if we were just going to screw it up in the end" The General nodded once more and then turned to the four with him, all of them powerful captains. "You four, ready yourself to open up some Gates and we'll get more soldiers here."

The four Vionix nodded and then slung their weapons on their back and moved to the door. "Sir, if you would please open the door and grant us safety, I could bring more soldiers over. Also, about our stealth, we have almost no magical signature and we can block that. Our Teleportation skills take very little power so we can use it so as not to be found. Upon getting to where we need to go, I or my Captains can then open a Wormhole that bypasses most Anti-Teleport and Anti-Portal technology to allow soldiers to come through to where we are and even these wormholes give off a very low amount of magical energy, so our stealth is good."

"Understood," Assassin replied, "Right now, we've got one of our best on the field. If you want to see a true show, you're in luck. We're about to take down their entire invading army with one man. If things get nasty down there, you and your men should move in. For now, I'd hold off on reinforcements."

The AT field lowered as Assassin moved to a nearby "window" and peered outside, down at the snowy planet below.

The soldiers became pinballs as they had launched with the bullets. But they tried again, this time using portal to bypass the goo and launch them straight at the base through the shielding.

The bullets would explode upon getting closer to the barrier on the South wall of the complex, hitting explosives that would send shock waves through the soil. Would this not damage the South Wall complex? Of course not. The soil shielding would send the explosion right back towards the bullets.

Surge stared him down, pulsing singals to get a feel for the man and the terrain. Brave dropped the barrier and formed behind him, backing him up for the impending fight. Kren stood immediately to his right. With a smirk, Surge's backpack activated and started sprouting long metal rods. They onwound and started curling through the ground. He was setting up his wave grid.

The moment the metal rods entered the ground, the pink goo that had surrounded the soil that the diggers were in disappeared, reappearing where the metal rods had entered. Only, this time, they did not stretch with the rods. They hardened around the rods in an attempt to stop them from doing whatever it might be that they were doing.

The man in the black cloak now raised his right hand towards the sky, clenched in a fist. It stayed there for a few moments, not moving, until, finally, the sky began to grow much more darker than it had been. Then, the black cloak man brought his hand down and pointed right at the three. Then, he vanished right out of thin air.

Hopefully the underground squads would have moved beyond the goo and been out of reach for the fighters.

The Raven fighters, upon realizing this, awaited further orders.

[The Blade]

"That is clear Assassin, I will gather up some squads and be ready to move should you need it" He nodded to the other four Black Legion and they all vanished before reappearing in the Hangar bay and moving around to five different points. When they got to said points they pointed their hands at open air and slashed downwards, opening up large wormholes and two squads of Black Legion clambered out of each wormhole. Each of the squads was composed of five soldiers, four with rifles and pistols and one with a Flash Rifle for heavier duty work. "Form up soldiers, we may have to go the surface!" The General barked out and the ten squads formed up in neat, organized rows. Awaiting orders was boring but it had to be done.

[Capxeno]

"Right. Best of luck to you, then. It has been a pleasure meeting you. If anyone asks, tell them Samuel of the Sovereign outpost sends you."

Before Hist could respond, he would find himself in the snowy cold of Walape.

Near one of the under ground squads, a man with red serpentine eyes appeared. Nearly teleported into the rock, he was lucky to have teleported underground so accurately alive. The man was very new to Anrufe. New enough that he only knew its wasn't an ally squad based on inform, his immediate reaction to contact with the enemy? To sing, in robust tribal baritone, shacking the very ground around his, as he slit open with a long and thin blade his arm. Acidic blood spilled quickly, but took direction from his magic, as it artificially multiplied, and gush a literal torrent of acid blood throughout the tunnels he was in.

A name was repeated in the song, unmistakably feminine that shook with great vibrations when that name came to his lips. He had defensive magic wards erect around him to prepare counter attack, made in the catalyst of his own acidic blood.

The bullets would explode upon getting closer to the barrier on the South wall of the complex, hitting explosives that would send shock waves through the soil. Would this not damage the South Wall complex? Of course not. The soil shielding would send the explosion right back towards the bullets.

Near the southern wall appear a man in a black suit. It did not seem like he just arrived. The snow was encrusted into his full-body suit. the man began to chant and dance, as he held a pistol with Lilith grace. Deep blue magic symbols glowed over the grounds in front of the south wall, as the blizzard there thicken and grew colder with harsh speed, pillars of magically generated ice, would bloom forth in almost architectural formations. Block specifically areas of attack. encases the rounds as spells in unnaturally strong and study ice.

[UnStellar]

OOC: Brave is the squad, of 17 men, just to avoid confusion.

Thankfully, the barriers of the bullets protected the men from the explosions. It's too hot! Serenity called in a proximity telepathic call. Pull up!

Suddenly, all the underground squads retreated, teleporting away, focusing on the magic signatures of their friends on the ground. The numbers grew dramatically, all the forces were up an ready. This meant the 3 Vice-Prophets, the 9 other Precious like Kren, Serenity, and Azure, and another fifty Disciples joining Brave, Chastity, and Agony.

The Rods stopped cold and adjusted. Though most were caught in the soil, new ones sprouted spreading on top of the ground out of the goos reach. And it laid an intensive network of winding coils, building tall and wide across the entire battle field.

One of the Vice-Prophets, a Sorcerer named Oren, starting barking orders and the squads snapped in to preorganized positions. The Disciple split into twelve squads, eight men each. Roughly. Some casualties had been sustained so some squads had less. Each of these squads was lead by a Precious, and each had a unique squad name memorized before the fight. Their blue Special Operations logos gleamed with pride as they took a spoked position around the 3 Vice-Prophets in the middle, covering Surge as he laid his Wave Grid. The Overwatch relayed information and informed the men on the ground that whoever it was, he was gone. A precautionary barrier was erected, a sphere of energy that dipped through the ground protecting them from damn near anything. Every man on the ground besides Surge contributed to keeping it up, making it very, very strong.