Return of the Emblem Chapter Six: Enemies Abound

[Mercakete]

Of all the lousy "Okay, we're supposed to go back to the conference room as soon as everyone here has everything they need -- mounts included. So let me make sure I'm clear on what you're telling me. The best way for us to do this is to go out and head west past the guards and back into the estate and try to find our way back from there. Do I have that right?" Norbert asked, somewhat frusterated that Weyland was a genius who never thought to put a ramp up from the stables.

[roymbrog]

“We may not be well-defended from magic users,” Synthia told Veronika, “but they lack defense against us as well. Our stronger members can tear through mages like paper. In any case, it’d be better than getting knocked off the roof by a ten foot lizard,” she said and shrugged.

-----

When they reached the stables Phyllis was alert and antsy, probably from the noise. Valter pat her neck and spoke softly to her as he saddled her and checked his things. Distracted by weapons and things, he didn’t notice the cat sneaking into Phyll’s saddlebags. Once everything was in order the horseman mounted up and rode over to where Bert was waiting.

[Phoenix]

Amon

"Alright, then." Amon replied. He began thinking over a few things as they traversed the halls, mainly what to do about Silvia. Other things that crossed his mind were exactly how the counterattack would be executed and what enemies they would be attacking. He didn't know a whole lot about warfare, but he had a feeling that the counterattack might actually be necessary. Weyland and Raquel were the most likely targets of the attack ... so with them in the conference room, all four enemy divisions were likely to eventually converge on that spot. Getting hit from all sides would leave a massacre in its wake, he realized. "We should hurry, yeah." he muttered, echoing what Blake had said long after the fact. He picked up his pace, almost passing up Mireille in his haste.

Stable Area

Overhearing some of the conversation between Bert and the guards, she came closer. "You're on the west side of the estate, already. The closest entrance the mounts can get in through is closer to the rear walkway, but like I said, that guy that's been blowing everything up is back there and who knows how long those tanks will be able to keep him busy. Anyway, going out through the back passage will have you facing north. From there head to the end of the main building and make a right. You'll be able to see the battle from there ... I would know, I was out there not too long ago ... anyway, keep heading along the wall until you find the entrance. You'll basically be heading north and then east."

"Is there any koind of plan to deal with that magic user?" Gabbie cut in.

The guard shrugged. "Keep shooting cannonballs at'em and hope he slips up? No one's really had time to come up with anything for that guy, yet. With any luck Craig will ghost him if he gets inside the estate."

"Is Craig the only agent around?! Sheesh!"

"Ahem." the guard cleared his throat while giving Gabbie a peculiar look.

"Besoides me, jackass. Where's Anna?"

"Isn't she off duty?"

"Who gives a shit--she stays here, doesn't she?!"

"She's out of my league, so I don't really pay attention to her." he replied, to which Gabbie rolled her eyes. She didn't have a terribly high opinion of Anna, and while she agreed with the statement, she didn't think it was really worth bringing up or hearing from the guard. "So what are you people going to do anyway, help us fight back?"

Gabbie shrugged that time. She thought that was obvious, but she then figured they could have just been coming to get their mounts in order to escape.

OOC:

Rear walkway is where Norn and co fought Steinn.

[Rothene]

Even more grateful that another man chose to follow her, Mireille rushed as fast as she could to her room, a feat not easily done with the hallways darker than usual as some of the lighting had been knocked out. Also, the skirt from the dress did not help. No wonder father insisted I only wear these in grand functions, thought Mireille miserably. Finally reaching her room, managing to do so before the significantly faster paced Amon because he did not know where here room was and had to pace himself to follow her instead of lead, the Ursian noblewoman rushed in and donned her armour with practiced ease.

Knowing she did not have much time, Mireille buned her hair shoddily. It was not as sturdy as her usual ones, but with the helmet on, it would mostlikely hold. Picking up her lance, Mireille opened the door and announced, "I'm ready, let's head back to the meeting room."

[Phoenix]

Watch Where You're Shooting

"Alright, let's not waste time around here-" Amon cut himself off at the sound of a speeding arrow! It flew right by him, barely missing his head. It flew off into the darkness, leaving Amon and the others to look on at the apparent attacker at the other end of the hallway. Amon would have immediately tried to close the distance before another shot was fired, but he recognized the shooter. At the other end of the hall was Anna, wielding a very large crossbow. "Whoa! Relax! It's us!"

"Pft, I know. I figured that out right when I fired. Luckily for you, I wasn't trying to kill. I was trying to lure 'the enemy' into an ambush I set up. About nine guards stepped out of the shadows with heavy weapons drawn. That would have been a very effective trap indeed. "Wanna help?~"

Amon looked to Blake and Mireille, then back to Anna and the other guards. "Uhhhactually, I think Weyland might need you ..."

"Really?"

[Mercakete]

"Got it: go north then east until we find a way in and try to find out way back from there," Norbert simplified before asking Gabbie, "Two things: First, I think you should lead since you know this place better than the rest of us. Second, what was you name again? Gabbie or something?"

[roymbrog]

“So... What exactly are we supposed to do if the magic user notices us?” Valter asked. He agreed that they needed to return inside, but was this the best way to go about it? “Perhaps we should come up with some plan before we rush out there.”

[Phoenix]

Stables

Gabbie raised an eyebrow at Bert. "Wolfy will do ..." she said in a somewhat unfriendly tone. "Sure, I guess I'll lead. Moight even have a shortcut if that broken glass is still ... well ... 'broken'. Doubt they've gotten to that, yet ... so there're probably guards around."

The stable guard gave a heavy sigh while shaking his head at the question about the magic user. "That guy notices you, you do what everyone else did when the first tank went flying; you run ... you run your asses off and don't look back."

"Great, sounds loike a perfect plan." Gabbie commented. Hard to tell if she was serious or not. "If you guys are sure about this, we'll take the long route back."

[Mercakete]

"Alright, then, Wolfy," Weird name "start leading." Then, Norbert adressed everyone else, who all seemed to have their things ready to go. "We're heading back now and following Wolfy since she knows her way around here. Keep as quiet as you can -- we'll be going near that powerful magic-user. If he sees us, run as fast as you can away from him and don't look back," he relayed, then looked back to Gabbie, waiting for her to start leading.

[roymbrog]

“Great; how reassuring,” said Valter in reply to the guard’s comment. This really was suicide then, wasn’t it? With the horseman’s direction, Phyllis trotted over to the stable exit. Valter had his bow ready in one hand and Phyll’s reins in the other. He was ready to follow as soon as Gabbie took the lead.

[Phoenix]

Heading Back

"Alroight, then. Come on." Gabbie said, jogging over toward the other exit. The stone hallway leading up to the surface and out was large enough for mounts to get through, but it wasn't well lit like it normally would have been. At the exit, she carefully peeked outside to make sure the area hadn't been overrun, yet. She heard some talking, but no one was in view, so she carefully stepped out while signalling for the others to wait. The guard had said some other security forces were nearby, but she had to be sure it was them. She got the answer about ten seconds sooner than she expected when a trio of wyvern riders swooped down into view. The voices she heard turned from tense conversation to battle cries as a dozen men rushed out into view with their weapons drawn. The wyvern trio flew right into them and killed at least three people in the pass; everyone was knocked to the ground, and another guard was carried off in the arms of the leader rider's wyvern only to be killed and dropped to the ground as they flew off into the darkness again. "... well ... damn." she muttered before turning back to the others. "Hey, change of plans. Start headin' back the way the guy told you. I'll catch up and lead from there, but first I've gotta herd these guys into the complex before those roiders come back. Don't argue, just go, all of you!" she said, hoping to crush any objections before they ever received words. Not waiting around, she ran toward the injured men.

"Oi! You guys need to get insoide, now! Weyland needs ya!"

"Well if it isn't the wolf. That's some rescue. Where do we need to go? Through the complex?"

"Yeah ... now get movin'! There's no toime!"

"Don't have to tell us twice. Let's move, guys!"

It took less time than she thought to get them up and moving, but she still wasted no time in getting back to the others. When she came up on them, she ran right out in front. "Alroight, back to the tour of the battlefield--over there are a couple of tank wrecks courtesy of some asshole--pick up the pace people!"

[Mercakete]

Norbert didn't even plan on objecting. He led the others the way they'd been instructed to go, a bit frusterated since he thought Gabby had been leading them that way. The main stables group were all mounted, so it would take some time for Wolfy to catch up. Her knowledge of the area proved handy, though, seeing as she indeed was able to catch up to them. "You're the one that's walking," Norbert quietly grumbled to Gabbie, before rolling his eyes and extending a hand to her, "Here -- just tell me which way to steer Rizen. We'll go faster if you're riding with me or one of the others."

[Phoenix]

Gabbie

When Norbert offered a hand up, Gabbie was just about to take it when she heard more wyvern wing beats. She abandoned the effort and brandished her lance saying "Incoming!" She was expecting those wyvern riders to come back and try to pick them off but instead, Ringo came flying at her. "... you dumb lizard ... ya never listen, do you?" She then began running so she could come as close to matching the wyvern's speed as possible. He flew under her when she jumped and she took the steering beam. "Heheh ... okay ... let's foind that entrance." she said instructed, taking the lead again.

Backyard Blitz

Two tanks were still on the field, and some surviving engineers were popping up all over the place, mostly near the destroyed hangars and storage buildings. Most of them were scurrying for weapons and anything else still in tact that they could use against the shadowy figure in the distance. When Gabbie saw the field, she was almost humbled by it. "I knew it was bad, but this just tears it ... who is that guy?" she asked no one specific. The man in the distance was tall, hidden behind ebon robes, and apparently too much for a pair of tanks to deal with. As he held out his hand, the wind outside began to change, as if being drawn toward it. Gabbie and the others were still too far away to make out what he was doing, but the tanks immediately began to pull back and get as much distance between themselves and that man as possible. One of them fired, but the shot missed, not even prompting a reaction from the man.

[Mercakete]

When he heard Gabbie's warning cry, he had Rizen swerve away. Luckily, it turned out to just be the wolf's own wyvern. Norbert grinned, actually impressed by her mounting the thing at a run. Then, he let her take the lead again. They were going much faster than before, what with everyone on their own mounts. The tanks vs the mysterious magic user proved an effective diversion. Norbert was watching only a few moments, though, before he realized what he was doing and refocussed on what he was supposed to be doing. Calling as quietly as he could so that only their group could hear him -- or so he hoped -- Norbert reminded the others, "Don't get sidetracked! We have to get back -- we don't have time to watch this!" The others seemed to understand since their pace stopped slowing and rose back to an objective one.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Nadya quickly found Luca. Ugh this place is seeming more and more like a deathtrap. Maybe I can make a run for...eh they've probably got the place surrounded outside. She quickly mounted Luca and followed the others back to the conference room.

Connor

"So they are blowing up the tanks? Those Wrathdamn bastards! Er...big...jerks," Connor said quickly afterwards. "I hope they don't take anything, our inventions are the intellectual property of Weyland Enterprises. Though if they are willing to attack the estate, they're probably not about thievery and violating national copyright laws either! Maybe they're mercenaries hired by Hammer Technologies, they've always been jealous of our high innovation and large share of the weapons market!" Connor speculated to his uncle.

[Acacia Sgt]

John stood idly, yet alert, lance at the ready. <Until the others come back...> Despite the reactions of some others, he would try his best to remain composed. The situation certainly called for it. That is...

<Huh?> He turned over to see Connor. <Wait, is he not aware yet?>

Sophia was likewise looking at Connor, a puzzled look on her face. National Copyright Laws? Hammer Technologies? What is he talking about?

[Phoenix]

Weyland

"I wish it was Hammer Industries, Connor ... then I wouldn't have to replace the tanks ... only watch and laugh while they do most of the work." Weyland replied, telling a little joke to take the edge off. He was a bit more upset than he let on. "We've got enough evidence to assume these people are the same one's Raquel is after."

I hardly look like someone who's after anyone. They're the ones chasing me, and I'm just standing in this conference room hoping they don't get in and kill everyone. I feel really helpless right now ... Raquel thought to herself.

Consolidating Forces

"Weyland's trying to gather up people who aren't actively defending the entrances ... I think. We just came to get Mireille's things and now we're heading back." Amon explained.

"Oh ... okay, then. If Mister Weyland has a plan, he can count me in. I'm not on duty but my room's right up stairs and I don't want them wrecking the place~"

"Well ... that's one reason to fight, I guess."

"You bet! Now let's get going~" Anna replied, picking up the massive crossbow, putting it over her shoulder, and following the others. The nine men with her came as well. When they arrived back at the conference room, the guards were astounded to see the extra bodies. Things might not be so bad after all, they thought. "You guys stay out here. I'll come back and give you some orders once I've got mine." The guards nodded and took defensive positions right outside as the others went in.

"Hey! We're back!" Amon called out to the room.

Singularity

The energy building up in the figure's hand was becoming tremendous, but didn't seem to be affecting him much at all. Soon he, was holding a volatile sphere in his hand and gracefully tossed it away from himself in the direction of the tanks. They immediately began picking up speed to try and get away. They weren't moving as quickly as they should have been, however. The effects of the gravitational zone were pulling on everything nearby, and the tanks were still too close. One of them began to roll backwards before long. The sphere grew in size until it was visible to Gabbie and the others. "Oh shit! What is that thing?!" she called out as they flew along the rear walls. The broken hallway soon came into view and there were about a score of guards there watching in shock. They were all just barely outside of the danger zone from the looks of things. The tank that failed to escape that zone was pulled closer and closer to the sphere. It's crew had surely died when it came into contact with the sphere and was crushed to the size of a full grown person. The sphere then exploded sending the compressed hulk flying. The explosion was a bright blue. The shockwave almost forced Gabbie and Ringo into the wall, but they quickly arrived at the rear entrance. "Dammit ... well, at least we can get in through here ... but ... that other tank doesn't stand a chance ..."

[Mercakete]

"Amon! Ahoy!" Gytha happily called over, waving at him from where she was, "Hurry o'er here! We're talkin' strategy! HAHAHARRR It's good t' see ye safe!" She was actually relieved, it just was expressed exuberantly.

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

Norbert was able to stay focussed for a while, but his eyes did wander over to the giant sphere of crushing death. As they rode, he sort of gawked for a moment then pressed on with even greater speed, hoping it wouldn't grow any larger with every hoofbeat. It pulled in its target and began crushing it. The terrible sound of croaning and collapsing metal again attracted the pegasus rider's attention, causing him to stare again in horror. If it could do that to those giant, rolling, metal boxes, then he didn't want to think what it could do to himself or Rizen. "...Mercy..." he uttered. An explosion and a powerful shockwave later and it was over...for the moment. Luckily, they arrived at their destination.

"Hurry up, then! If he can do that to those things, we don't stand a chance! Show us the way back to the conference room," Norbert urged Wolfy, keeping his voice down as much as he could. After that display, he had a healthy fear of this person and wanted to get everyone away from him as quickly as possible.

[Phoenix]

Conference Room

"Alright. Also there's-" "Mister Weylaaaand! I'm back! I'm ready when you need me~" Anna interrupted, trotting up to Weyland. All Weyland saw for a moment was the crossbow she was carrying.

"... wwwheeere did you get that Albatross from?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"This one's mine, remember? I hate guns; they're too loud."

"Oh, I remember that little complaint. I said I would get you an Albatross, but I don't remember actually getting one for you, yet."

"Well, we're under attack so I took the liberty ... sorry."

Weyland shook his head. It really didn't matter at this point. "Alright, for now get yourselves fully prepared. We'll be launching our counterattack shortly."

Returning to the Conference Room

"Weyland's in the conference room, right? We should come with you." one of the guards spoke up.

"Don't be stupid! This gapin' hole in the wall is an open invitation. Stay here until you can't hold them off, then destroy and bury the hallway. Then head back to the conference area." Gabbie instructed.

"Why don't we just do that right now?!"

She shook her head giving him a bit of a glare. "Don't let the enemy think you're desperate. Besoides, do you want to start blowin' up Weyland's house just assumin' the enemy'll come this way and overpower you? Get a grip, man! Just keep your eyes on that bomb guy and send a messenger every now and then to let us know what he's doin' ... also ... that other tank crew out there ..." Gabbie paused. She couldn't find the words for what she was trying to say. "If there's ... anything you can think of to help them ..."

Some of the guards put their heads down. What could any of them do for the last tank? "We'll ... we'll think of something, DW. You should head back, now."

"Kay ... see ya later." With that, she took off down the hall at top running speed atop Ringo expecting that the others were still following.

Conference Room Return

When the guards saw several mounted individuals heading their way, their first instinct was to prepare for battle, but with Gabbie at the head, they soon recognized it was one of their own leading some of the guests and relaxed a little. As Gabbie rode up, she jumped off of Ringo and ran through the door into the conference room. "Weyland! There isn't much toime! There's only one tank left between that magic bastard and the main building!"

"Bloody hell ... ... all of you get in here and gather'round." Weyland instructed.

[Mercakete]

Maw had her nose sticking out of the saddlebag for most of the unpleasant trip. The bag was moving far too much for her tastes and the smell of leather and horse was annoyingly strong. When they entered the conference room, therefore, she sprung out and hurried over to Gytha before sitting down and vigorously grooming herself to try and get rid of the scent that was clinging to her fur.

"Maw? Where've ye been?" the mariner asked, perplexed as to the cat's sudden appearance.

Norbert rode Rizen over to where the others were gathering, then asked, "So, have you come up with anything yet? I know I have: we can't possibly fight that guy who makes those giant spheres. They suck in everything around them besides the guy making them and when they get something in them, whatever it is is crushed and crumpled worse than an old letter. Then the sphere explodes with a massive gust. I don't know how much of that you knew already, but we saw it on our way here."

[Snike]

In went the lady into her room, and out came the knight. The swordsman was slightly impressed at how fast she could gear up. It must have been difficult to don alone. More pressing matters were at hand, as Amon narrowly avoided becoming the next wall ornament by the hands of another Weyland mercenary. The two conversed, and then it was off to the conference room, the trio's strength bolstered by the crossbowwoman and her 9 associates. Conveniently enough, the stable team had arrived relatively intact just after their own group had returned. Unfortunately, that came with the news that there was only a lone tank left. Wonderful.

Weyland asked for everyone to gather around, and Blake complied. If they were going to survive, they'd better have a plan.

[Phoenix]

Reinforcements and Plans

"I heard about something kind of similar back in Sergio ... that ship that exploded before those people attacked us the first time. It wasn't a normal explosion, either ..." Raquel commented, though her voice was so low that she almost bled into the background with the other conversations going on.

"That's impressive, but what kind of magic is that? Furthermore, what type?" Weyland asked Bert. "It will be difficult to know what we're dealing without at least figuring out the type of magic it stems from."

"Dark. Had to be." Gabbie shot back.

"Well for now we'll go with that. We can't mount a real strategy against him, yet, but I'm more concerned with the strike teams. We'll focus on them, first. Now listen up, everyone. This conference room is our base of operations until this battle is settled. Raquel's going to be staying in here. If you wish to assist in guarding her, that's acceptable, but in order for us to have the best chance of pushing back the enemy, I'm going to need as many people in the counterattack teams as possible." Weyland began, addressing everyone in the room.

The conference room door opened suddenly revealing another guard. Behind him seemed to be dozens more. "We want to help too! Put us in a counterattack team, Sir!" he called over. "I've got a unit together from the survivors all over the estate, and picked up some of the basement level guards."

"I suppose that's fine. As long as that one man doesn't get in here, they'll never get to the basement ... not with this little force. Alright, then. Here's how this will work. The enemy is trying to break in on multiple sides and converge on us. If we hit them first, that won't happen. That's why we need to hit them with our strongest units right from the get go. Raquel, I've no intention of spreading your mercenaries out, here, and they'll work better together than mixed in with un-familiars, so consider all of your people participating a single counterattack unit. Anna, Craig is running recon-" "You mean planning to do something about that magic guy?" Anna interrupted; she knew ... "... yes, that, I suppose. Craig's running recon, so you'll be leading the second counterattack unit. Evan! Since you're so eager to get in on this, you and your men will lead the third unit. Anna, How many men do you currently have?"

"Nine. Oh-but don't worry that's all I need, really! Don't reassign a bunch of people just for my sake. I've got ways to beat bigger numbers~" Anna reassured.

Weyland sighed. "Very well. I suppose that just leaves one matter to determine ... which units are sent to attack which enemy strike teams ..."

The scout stepped forward a second time. "Remember, each enemy strike team has a larger number of a given type of enemy than the rest from what we could tell. The unit trying to break in through the roof is mostly made up of wyvern riders; the team trying to muscle in through the east are armors, and the ones from the south are more or less magic users." he explained.

"My unit can take mages or wyverns easily ... armors ... not so much." Anna commented.

"My group can probably handle the armors or the mages." Evan added. "I've got my doubts about those riders, though."

"Don't forget that other strike team ... the other wyvern riders ... they keep showing up and randomly attacking. We should definitely be on the lookout for them ..." another guard warned.

[Mercakete]

"Who's leadin' who? Fer me, depends on which one th' lady's leadin'," Gytha mentioned before telling the cat by her, "Maybe ye should hide o'er there, in th' new wagon. Actualla..." She turned her attention to Raquel and Weyland "Might be a good place fer ye t' hide, too."

Maw continued cleaning herself.

"This can't be everyone," Norbert complained, "Why doesn't that Fallen make himself useful and fight the guy with those magic orbs? I don't really care which of the strike teams I fight. I can fly so long as Rizen's with me, but I know most of us can't so maybe we should leave the wyvern riders to someone else."

[Acacia Sgt]

<I guess this is it then.> John thought. <It's all or nothing, as they say. Too bad Gil's not here though. Oh well, my loss.>

So we're going to counterattack them? Sophia thought. I hope this works...

[roymbrog]

There was one thing Valter was sure of after seeing the destruction outside: it was suicide to attack the sorcerer. That man was using an immensely powerful form of magic. If he had to guess he’d say it was dark magic, but he didn’t know enough to tell for sure.

When they arrived at the conference room Valter dismounted and led Phyllis inside. As the discussion started anew, the horseman scratched his chin in thought. “If I had to choose which team to fight, it’d be the wyverns or mages. I wouldn’t be much help against heavily armored soldiers,” he said.

-----

After a short while the stable group returned and the discussion got back on track. Synthia held the same opinion as before, that they should attack the mages or armors, so she simply listened.

Edited November 3, 2011 by roymbrog