Sons of Vengance can you recue me? (Open, PM if need for story)

“You sure you want to be here? ” Wahkan asked with his usual deep voice.

John looked up from where he was sitting and smiled. “I’m where I’m needed, are you sure of what your about to do?”

The giant shook his head. “Hell no, but I got to do this…I have to know John.”

The Shaman only nodded from the chair he sat in agreeing with Wahkan on how they ended up in a lone ruin of what used to be a church an eon or so ago outside of Bastok in the Gustaberg region. The stone walls had long since fallen to decay leaving just small humps and remnants of a security perimeter. The main building where they sat and waited had also succumbed to the ravages of time, yet it was still standing as if defying the clock and the weather that beat upon it. The walls still held the high ceiling overhead and the wind out, the floor still supported them, and the doors still locked which was a good thing for what John hoped would not happen.

“Do you think anyone will come?” Wahkan asked standing in the doorway.

“The call was put out, we’ll see soon enough who shows and who doesn’t.”

And that was the crux of this wasn’t it John thought. How many will answer the call for help? Wahkan was thinking the same thing obviously. “When they bring Steinn here I’ll do the talking while you keep an eye out, right?”

John only nodded again noting it was the fifth time Wahkan had issued the same request. The guards would drop off the humanSteinn just long enough to allow a conversation, long enough to find some answers hopefully and that would be when the danger would be the highest. Steinn knew secrets that Wahkan needed and the large man hoped to get him to talk because this would be the only chance. You see, John thought to himself, Steinn was sentenced to death for the crime of treason and this would be the only chance for Wahkan to implore him to talk before the execution was rendered by the Republic of Bastok.

Only Steinn had done more heinous things than treason, and the ones he had wronged were waiting eagerly for their chance at justice. It seems the noose was not enough for most of Steinn’s enemies. They wanted him to suffer a little more than a quick end would give and these people only needed the opportunity to do it. This chance meeting was their only chance, much like Wahkan’s.

Hence the call for help to anyone available, John had a feeling the need to hold back the tide for blood so Wahkan could find his information would be required and it might take a few to do so.

Mr. Hayes put the Crescent Moon down softly on the barren land of Bastok. As per my orders he would take to the skies again and await my communication to pick us up. The lifter pads and the ION wind made the dust swirl as he lowered the gang plank allowing Nafeesa and I to ride out toward the old church and John. We had picked up his communication the day before requesting suitable backup and assistance. With the shaman helping me many times before I found it easy to take him up on his invitation.

I was not sure what I was getting into, but then when have I ever had a clear road before me. The Dragon handled the terrain with a few bumps as Nafeesa held onto me tightly. We looked back once to ensure the Crescent was airborne, her hull gleaming as she flew, before turning out attention to the task ahead.

Soon we reached the church and as I pulled in I saw Wahkan standing by the door, his usual rock like expression front and center. Nafeesa jumped off the Dragon and ran to him while I took care to secure my mount. I finished and walked into what was left of the ruin and smiled.

"We can start the party now, I am here."

The low rumbling of Keiko’s new air ship gave her away long before she appeared in the doorway to the old church and yet her statement was pure Sky Pirate. He smiled and nodded to her. “The party will begin in due time Keiko, and when it does you will have your fill of adventure.”

The Shaman looked over and spotted his friend Wahkan conversing with Keiko’s companion Nafeesa and wondered if the dancer was ready for what was coming. The Mithra had grown close to Wahkan and from what John learned pulled Roland out of the desert and onto Keiko’s new air ship the Crescent Moon. He saw the pair of knives strapped to Nafeesa’s muscled thighs and hoped there would not be a need to use them, but he couldn’t even assure himself this little meeting would go off without a hitch.

Steinn had enemies a plenty out there, too many to see all at once, and they would probably come calling this afternoon.

"I hate waiting you know that John," I said with a devilish smile. I walked in and took a seat by him while Nafeesa gleefully talked with Wahkan. "So, are you going to tell me why we are out here in the middle of nowhere in an old church?"


Nafeesa looked up at her dear friend and smiled almost laughing. "Hey Wahkan, you look no worse for wear?"

Her voice echoed in the old room with its raised roof. The walls were still good and the acoustics were perfect she thought as she waited for her friend to reply. She really missed Wahkan and she missed Hehaha Luta too.

Weird missing a motorcycle, isn't it she thought?

“I’m glad you answered my call Keiko, we’ll need your help before the night is through I’m afraid. We’ve arranged for a meeting between Wahkan and an old member of a gang he use to belong to. The man’s name is Steinn and he’s to be executed for Treason by the Republic of Bastiok this evening.” John explained.

He gave her a minute to let it sink in before continuing on. “Steinn has information that could help Wahkan, an incident in his past. We hope Steinn will talk with him before he has to be brought to the prison and of course that’s not our only problem with this little meeting.”


Wahkan nodded and gave his friend a small smile to let her know he was happy to see her. “I’m doing just fine Miss Nafeesa, how have you been these days?”

"So you called in some favors and had this Steinn diverted to stop here for a few minutes before getting sent on his ways to the gallows? I hope he talks to you John, but you may have more to worry about than just his enemies showing up."

The look on the shaman's face told me I needed to explain, but I knew it was not really needed. John was a fair strategist and I knew he would never walk into a room he did not see an exit from. Still, I felt obliged to say it. "A man about to dance before the hemp might just be desperate enough to try anything to escape. He might even use the chance to clear his soul to make a dash for freedom. I might even be so inclined."


"I've been fine, but I kind of miss John's ship. The Crescent Moon is nice and all, and Roland has it making nice time when it flies, but its not as rustic as John's. Hey, how have you been lately?" Nafeesa asked with a grin.

“I’m sure when Steinn figures out he’s not heading directly to the gallows he’ll be thinking of a way to escape. I’m also sure it will be by any means necessary. It’s why I asked for all the help I could muster. The more eyes we have the better our chances will be if someone, be it Steinn or one of his associates who he betrayed, decides to intervene.” John explained.

He looked up at the vaulted ceiling of the old roof and wondered if it would still be standing come the end of the night. He heard Wahkan talking to Nafeesa and hoped his friend would get the ending he wanted out of this. Steinn would be here any time now; the meeting would hopefully be short.


“I’ve been just fine Miss Nafeesa, but lately I’ve been needing an answer from a man about a horse in my past you could say.” Wahkan smiled. When he saw the look of confusion on the face of his friend he shook his head. “I need to know if I betrayed the woman I loved back in my past.”

{{OOC: was it okay to join without a PM? I can always delete this if I misunderstood}}

In Balamb....

"Shade.... seriously.... don't you think you have enough crap on your plate right now? Brix gave her life long friend the deadpan look as she continued filing her fingernails with her boots propped up on Shade's desk. Her blond eyebrow rose up above her left eye as the once bright blue shade of her hues now darkened with annoyance.

Shade continued gathering her arrow ammo and attaching her weapons to her hip belt without sparing the buxom blond a single glance and replying with a flat tone in her voice. "I have a responsibility to the realms, you know that..."

Brix's black combat boots came slamming down against the floor as she stood up abruptly with her eyes narrowed and her lips pinched with impatience. "Ya know what? When you finally decide when our responsibilities are worth your precious time, let me know...." The medical director slash thief then stormed out, but didn't have the luxury of slamming a door since the only exit to the office was the elevator.

Shade never flinched or showed any form of reaction to Brix's words or raging retreat as she ventured out upon the balcony to leap upon the awaiting wing of the Oasis to take her to Vana Diel.




Gustaberg region, outside of Bastok

Due to the Oasis' massive size, Shade ordered the airship to remain at high altitude and took to the skies herself by means of her flight form. She despised a loud dramatic entrance, and until she knew the details of this call for assistance, stealth was the best option. And due to Haylo's persistence, Shade allowed the pup quite the rare permission to tag along, but only if she remained in her wolf form. She just had an inkling that whatever this was about, Haylo may be needed. So the two of them took to the air together at an easy glide, mostly coasting with the current since it was rather passive.

They landed just a few yards away from some dilapitaed buildings, and by the way the white wolf was sniffing the air, she already picked up a scent, but quietly remained at Shade's side unless instructed otherwise. But Shade's own ears picked up on some faint voices that didn't sound hostile, or threatened. Each step was casual, yet Shade remained on her guard as she approached the broken down structure with caution until she reached the doorway and carefully pushed one open for the rustic hinges to screech her presence to be known for those within to hear.

((OCC: It sounded like you needed another gun. Same thing as with Shade, though, if you don't want me, just let me know and I'll delete it. I just couldn't pass up a chance for a gunfight.))

Fury walked through the porcelain halls of the Oasis as it moved toward the world of Vanadiel, specifically, the Republic of Bastok. The Kestrel along with his team had been assigned to the larger ship as a quick reaction force for the ship's command system, or as he liked to call it, his sister. Basically, when something happened that deemed a land team to go into action, his team was chosen first. They got the dirty jobs that usually involved them getting shot at.

But at least it kept life interesting.

Fury walked to into the packed bridge of the ship to get a better view of the mission area. Shade had already moved out, no doubt choosing to take care of the situation by herself rather than sending a team in. Fury walked up behind the pilot and looked down at the small town beneath them. He could see Shade descending upon the rows of dilapidated buildings with her majestic wings. He looked to the cadet behind the wheel and said, "Do you know anything about what is going on?"

The pilot looked up to Fury, clearly uninterested, and said, "We received a distress signal from this area and since Commander Leonhart is an ambassador to this world, she decided it deemed an investigation. No doubt it will just end up as another delivery mission. That or someone's mithra got caught in a tree again..."

Fury looked down at the boy who couldn't be much older than seventeen with distaste. He knew Shade went out of her way to assist anyone in trouble, even more so than was necessary. So hearing this cadet's nonchalant comments about her rubbed him the wrong way. This was not his ship, though, so he restrained himself from enacting any discipline, even though as an instructor it was totally within his rights to reprimand him. Instead, Fury just turned to the communications officer who had met him on several occasions before and said, "Cadet, please inform my team that I am going to go for a walk. Have them keep the Kestrel on standby in case it is needed."

The communications officer nodded once and said, "Yes, Sir. I'll inform them immediately, Mr. Leonhart." The cadet placed extra emphasis upon his name and as she did so, the pilot's face blanched. He swallowed hard once before turning away from Fury to go back to the controls.

A smirk passed over Fury's face as he left the bridge and walked to one of the observation decks that held one of the guns for defense. He walked outside into the whipping winds and looked down to the surface of the world. It was a long way down. He didn't like using his Sorcerer's powers, still distrusting magic, even from within, so instead and grabbed a handful of disks and his .45 from his vest. He closed his eyes and slowly stepped off of the ship.

As he fell, he spread his arms and legs to slow his decent. The g-forces working against his body pulled at him, causing his stomach to feel like it was being forced up his throat. He squinted as he fell, the winds stinging his eyes. He was nearing the ground at a rapid rate and decided that it was time to slow his descent. He threw the first of the disks gripped in his left hand hurtling ahead of him and snapped his gun in his right hand up to fire at it. The bullet struck it and burst it open. There was no apparent effect until he reached where the disk was in the air. He could feel the world's gravitational pull lessen as the grav-con's anti-gravity field brought him into it's grasp. His speed was still too fast though, and he broke through to the other side of the field and continued to fall towards the deadly ground.

He repeated this process several times until he finally landed silently on the ground ground down the street from the church just as Shade was walking in. He had a quick look around before holstering his pistol and walking towards the building. He gave one more look around before ducking inside after his sister.

((OOC: No, you guys can stay! The more the merrier. Yeah, this is going to end up being a big old gun fight. John told me three words, remember the Alamo. That’s all we need to know.))

I had heard stories about the one called Shade, that she was as hard as the blade of a cutlass. From looking at her in the doorway of the old church, well the tales came pretty close. Then add her brother and one could easily see why the pair was considered protectors of this realm. If I was looking down the barrel of a gun either one had pointed at me I’d consider my options very carefully. I turned to John and winked as I spoke.

“Two more hands John, the odds are looking up for us, yet I’m sure they would like to hear just why you put out a call for help.”


Nafeesa stared at the new pair with just a bit if awe. She had also heard stories about Shade and Fury and she had to admit it was a little intimidating to see them this close. She turned to Wahkan and noted the large man looked as if the new arrivals were nothing more than visitors, passerby’s he cared little for. “How does this man know you betrayed the woman you loved? Did he see you do something?”

Even as Nafeesa asked her questions she could sense the approach of another ship. She could hear it coming in low and slow to the church. When she saw Wahkan tense she had a feeling this was the moment the large man had been waiting for.

Wahkan stiffened at the sight of the small air ship as it circled the church. The small sleek winged ship skimmed along just feet above the ground as it turned a tight circumference around the site obviously checking for hidden troops and such. When it felt the surrounding area was safe it moved in slow and landed fifteen meters from the church doors. The insignia for the Republic of Bastok gleamed in the low light as the door in the rear of the ship underneath the tail opened and dropped down to become a loading ramp. The large man stood stone like as a contingency of guards began to flow down the ramp, at least six, and all encircling a single man who was chained hands at the waist and ankle.

As soon as Wahkan’s eyes saw him his blood began to boil. Images from a nightmarish past he had tried so hard to bury popped back up in his mind’s eye. The group approached with measured steps to keep the man in the middle surrounded. The prisoner looked small because he was, maybe 5 foot tall at most and where Wahkan went 280 pounds of muscles the man looked maybe 160 at best. He was bald, as white as a man who’s skin had never seen the sun, and looked old enough to be Wahkan’s father. Of course the bright green clothes he wore made it all look worse. The group stopped in front of the large man as the leader of the detail spoke up.

“Where’s Greywolf? I need word, ” the leader asked.

From behind him the prisoner was smiling like he had won the lottery. “Hey, if ain’t my old friend Deke. Long time no see D, ” the prisoner hissed giving a small wave with his chained hands, or as far they would stretch on the chain from his waist.

Wahkan only pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the doors of the church. He didn’t say a word to the leader of the detail and he didn’t say a word to the prisoner. He just locked eyes with the short man and glared.


“It’s good to see you again Fury, a welcomed sight. I can only hope this is your sister I have heard about. I know you’d like an explanation of why I asked for help and it looks like you will get one up close in a minute.” John greeted the two as the leader of the prisoner escort detail walked in past Nafessa.

“Steinn’s here, the clock’s started. Your man out there gets twenty minutes to find out what he can and then we’re back to delivering the prisoner to the gallows.” The leader of the detail stated with a tone that said there were no negotiable parts to his last.

Shade remained studious of her surroundings, none too surprised that Fury showed up soon after. With a brief glance, she gave her brother a curt nod, but nothing more before her attentions were now focused on an approaching ship. With a silent, stalking gait to her steps, Shade came to a broken window, but remained on the shadow side as she peered out and immediately recognized the insignia on the side of vessel. Her brow furrowed into a deep scowl as her steel grey hues narrowed with suspicion. Any trouble with the nation of Bastok couldn't be good after a few heated issues she had in the past with the Hume legislation.


Since John chose to approach and speak with Fury, Shade centered on the confrontation outside of the building, already suspicious of what was being said even if she couldn't hear the words being exchanged by the strangers outside. But Haylo could very well hear every single word, and something said set her white fur to rise all along her spine and her lips to curl back into a growling snarl at the human in shackles.


With another glance at Fury, Shade gave him a signal with her hand that something wasn't right as her other gloved hand rested upon the wolf's back to try and soothe her companion. She was still close enough to Fury and John to hear what the new comer had to say, and with that alone, Shade had her sword unsheathed and her crossbow loaded and at the ready to guard this companion of theirs who wished to have words with the prisoner currently surrounded by Bastok guards. Her initial plan at the moment was to guard whom ever chose to be outside the protection of the walls of the building. Until then, Shade would simply have to wait with her every intuition on guard for anything unexpected.....

(OCC: Sorry it's short, I really didn't know what I could do other than this that didn't involve start shooting XD)

As Fury walked through the front door, he was surprised to find John Greywolf standing there with another woman. He nodded to his sister when she looked at him before approaching the shaman. He nodded to the man when he spoke. "She's a spitfire alright." He glanced over at her as she signaled him that something was up outside. He unstrapped his pistol holster and stepped off to the side as the leader of the guard waled through the door. Before the man was within earshot, Fury whispered to John, "I guess it's my turn to pull you out of the fire."

Fury stepped off to the side and sat down in a half-collapsed pew and watched the man. He drew out his pistol and hid it behind the wooden banister in front of him. Whatever happened, Fury would shoot first. He listened to the man speak to John. From what he could gather, this wasn't your usual prisoner trade-off. This seemed like tensions were already high and the Bastokian soldiers already seemed jumpy. It wouldn't take much to set them off and blow this whole situation up in a powder-keg.

And people said church was boring.

(OOC:All right, John says he goes next so he can explain the way the fight is going to unfold from here on out. He says there's some special rules we have to follow.)

I took a closer look at the tall drink of spicy rum as I walked by and I must admit I liked what I saw when I passed Fury on my way to the window. I stood by the opening, which was partially covered by a broken glass that was so thick with dirt it blocked the view. Still I kept my eye on Wahkan and the one called Steinn, from the looks of the large man he was just about to throttle the smaller one. To tell the truth it would not spoil my afternoon if Wahkan did snap the man’s neck though I had come all this way for a fight and I would miss that very much. I did not take my eyes off the scene outside as I heard Nafeesa approach.

“Do you think that man really killed the woman Wahkan loved?”

I only grinned as I kept my vigil on the meeting happening in the courtyard. “I do not know, but for John to call in favors so Wahkan can talk to a man just before he dances with the hemp , well that man must be truly important…in some way.”

“I guess you’re right, it’s ju-,” my kitten was saying when she stopped short.

The sudden stop was so abrupt it caught my attention and I looked away finally from the outside to her. She was no longer looking at me but had turned and was staring at the back wall of the church. “What is it Nafeesa?”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, I feel like something sapped my energy a bit…and then I thought I heard something from the back.”

I took her words to heart, not because we were lovers, but because I could feel what she felt. It was like something had been turned off inside me and I felt just a little sick. I licked my lips and stepped toward the back suddenly wanting a closer look at that wall. It was for the best too because all of the sudden the window I was standing at blew inward from a concussion wave that rocked those old church walls to the very foundation.

(OOC:Okay, from here on out all magic spells will NOT work. That also includes Summons and Weapons Spells. Your personal enchantments still remain and all enchantments on weapons still work, just the spells have been taken away. You can still use your Forms but the duration has been reduced by half so make sure you use them wisely. The enemy is numerous and well equipped. Armor enchantments still hold also. Basically, you’re going to have to survive on the weapons you have at hand. If you find this a little too much you can step away at anytime.)

Wahkan stared at Steinn with cold hard eyes so full of anger the guard standing next to Steinn backed away just an inch or two while one standing next to the large man coughed then spoke. “He has to arrive at the gallows without a scratch…well nothing visible at least.”

“Oh don’t worry bout Deke here, he ain’t gonna hurt me till he finds out what he wants to know.” Steinn smirked and spoke in his long drawl.

“What happened to her Moss?” Wahkan asked stiffly, not an ounce of emotion in his deep voice.

“Are you still pining after Maggie Little Bear? Hell Deke, she was never really in love with you know?” Steinn laughed a little. He saw the anger rise in the eyes of his old ‘friend’ and knew twisting the knife would induce just a little more. “Maggie was a cold hearted bitch who never loved anyone Deke, especially you son. She died the way she lived, like a snake.”

The guard standing next to Wahkan looked to Steinn then back to the large man. “If you hit him we’ll just say he fell getting on the ship.”

A second or two of quiet passed in the courtyard. The guards wondered just what Wahkan was going to do, and all of them wished they were the ones who were going to do it. They all hated this duty guarding Steinn and f the man took a beating before being hanged it wouldn’t keep them up at night. Only the large man never made a move because he never got the chance to. All at once someone screamed something about incoming and then the whole courtyard just blew up.


The sound was unmistakable and as soon as it touched John’s sensitive ears he jumped to action. He spun away from the leader of the guard detail and started to scream out of the doorway to the ones in the courtyard. “INCOMING ROCK-”

The blast stopped his warning short as the concussion and flames rocked everyone and everything around them. He went flying backwards hitting the floor but rolling instinctively to keep from breaking his back. The old walls of the church buckled and split but held fast from the maelstrom outside. The last thing John saw before he was thrown backward was the streaking smoke trail of four rockets just before the missiles slammed into the transport ship. It, and everyone inside, disappeared in a massive fireball.

As the Shaman rolled up from the floor the sound of consecutive smaller explosions echoed through the church and he turned to the back wall just in time to see holes appear along with smoke and debris. It was an attack and John started to cast his spell to freeze anyone coming through those holes. Only the spell wouldn’t come, or better said the magic in him refused to answer his request. It was like something, or someone, had shut off his natural magic. Then the men were pouring in through the holes, dressed in black lightweight armor and masks. The men in front charged with swords while a couple waited in back with hand guns drawn, a mix of hand-to-hand and short range fighting.

John drew Matoskah and charged to meet the men with swords head on.

Although Shade kept her sights locked on the scene outside, she still kept her brother within her peripheral vision for any signs of trouble he might see before she did. Whether they were siblings or not, the two had a knack for knowing just how the other would think, or how each other would take action should a situation take a turn for the worse. For now, Fury seemed just as intent on keeping an intense watch over the confrontation outside just as Shade was. But Haylo was still on edge. Her ears were flat against her head and her tail stiff and still as the winged wolf snarled and growled through her sneers. With multiple bodies outside surrounding the pair conversing with one another, Shade kept her Gryphon crossbow at the ready on her left arm and her Wolf's Bane sword gripped tightly within her right hand.


Within a span of a second, the once tense intervention outside now erupted into a chaos of unexpected explosions. Shade first thought the attempted warning being screamed was a trick of her hearing since John's voice was suddenly cut off, but the rockets colliding into the transport ship and causing a virtual earthquake throughout the church only proved how caught off guard they were to the oncoming attack. Her trained instincts jerked her away from the window and ducked to the ground up against the wall to avoid the flying rubble and debris soaring through the already broken panes of glass as she grabbed her wolf and kept Haylo safely pinned to the floor. While riding out the violent shakes and flying debris, Shade could only hiss her cursing through her teeth before she heard the distinct sounds of gunshots coming from the back of the building. Her hand swiftly clicked to communicator strapped to her ear that kept her linked to her airship as she began shouting orders for back up assistance, only to find nothing but static attacking her eardrum in return. She cursed again, yet far more loudly this time as Haylo began to bark insistently at the enemy troops charging in from the rear of the structure. The wolf didn't charge just yet, waiting on Shade to make a move first, or give the command to attack. But Shade's initial plan was to conjure a spell to at least buy herself and her comrades some time. Instead, she felt an odd void within herself when her powers didn't respond to her mental call.


It caused a momentary bout of alarm, but one Shade would have to investigate later. Yet whatever was the cause to hampering the deity power from her own home world flowing through her veins had her startled enough to suspect an old enemy that slaughtered so many in her youth. Whatever the source, they would find themselves diminished no matter where they were from. For now, seeing that John charged forth after the attacking troops coming in from the rear of the building, she aimed at the guards farthest to the side away from him so not to accidentally strike their ally when he confronted the enemy with a swinging tomahawk. As five steel arrows soared through the air, Shade gave the command for Haylo to charge in as well. With a swift crack of her wings, the wolf sped after John with a growling snarl, taking to the air with twists and turns as she used her paws to push against walls or pews to dodge the flying bullets to finally reach her first target by the throat.


To give Haylo more added cover, Shade fired another round of five steel arrows from the prod of the Gryphon at the closest troops near the wolf before abruptly turning about and taking aim at what troops were charging toward the front of the building as her fierce gaze frantically searched through the window for the prisoner and John's companion who were hopefully still alive in the midst of the chaos outside. With Fury already out of sight, she quickly switched the frequency to her earcom in hopes that she still had contact with her brother before dashing across the room in attempts to reach the doors to the church. "This is BlackSheep calling Blackbird, I do not have visual.... I repeat, I do not have visual of the bait, over!"




(( OOC: My apologies for taking so long. Been working and running overtime this week due to spring break going on and preparing for the upcoming holiday))

Fury waited silently in the pew of the church while the meeting took place. His eyes dashed from person to person. Shade was standing by the window with Haylo, studying the area outside with a steely gaze. She always kept a studious gaze upon her surroundings, which was probably why she was always ready for anything. John also seemed to keep a calm eye on the situation. That was one thing Fury seemed to find in the shaman. No matter what the situation was, he always kept his cool. It was a trait that only a handful of people in all the worlds had and it was a useful one. Next was the woman who was near the window along with the mithra. Fury had never seen them before, but he could tell just by looking at them they were a deadly duo. Even if this situation blew up, they wouldn’t be too bad off.

And blew up it did.

Before Fury knew what was happening, he was sent flying through the air from the force of the explosions at the front of the church. His body crashed into a pew nearly fifteen feet behind where he was sitting and crashed chest first into another pew. The pew snapped under the force, dropping Fury to the floor. It took Fury a moment to clear the fog of the impact from his vision, and when he did he could see holes being blown out the back of the church from under the pews. He reached up to cradle his head with his left hand while his right reached out and grabbed his pistol. He steadied himself onto his feet and aimed his pistol towards the back of the church. He could see the men rushing through the holes and John was already moving towards them to intercept. Shade was also moving towards them with Haylo leading their charge.

Fury blinked once, still trying to get his head clear. He could tell that the others had the back of the church pretty well taken care of and the front was still engulfed in flames. He had to get a better view on the situation. Instead of firing into the melee, Fury dashed to the side. He found the staircase leading up to the bell tower he had seen earlier and rushed up the stairs. He took each of the rickety old wooden steps two at a time and was at the top in no time. He slammed his pistol back into its holster and pulled his rifle from his back and rested it upon the sill of the belfry and aimed towards the front of the church. It was then that Shade contacted him on their communicators. ”Blacksheep, this is Blackbird, I do not have eyes on the bait, though there are a lot of bad guys just outside our front door. Suggest you welcome them inside for dinner.”

When the dust finally cleared from the air, and from my head, I saw what looked like men dressed in some form of light armor pouring into the room through four large holes in the back wall. I shook my head to get my senses back and that is when I saw Nafeesa laying down in what were the pieces of a broken pew. I felt my blood begin to boil at the sight of my kitten hurt. I saw John charge into the fray with his tomahawk and then Shade with her wolf taking on a whole line coming in. I rose to my feet drawing Mayhem in my left hand and my Revenge in my right as I saw one of the armored men run for my kitten.

I let him only get so far before I put a round into his chest dropping him in mid-step and actually sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor. A second man was making his way toward me but all I saw was my kitten again. He swung his sword at me which I deftly knocked to the side before slashing with my own. His armor cut and fell away from his body my Revenge relieved him of his extra protection. As he turned to counter I struck him across the face with my pistol ending his fight in a split second. More men were coming now so I stood over Nafeesa and screamed out to all in ear shot.

“COME FOR ME FOOLS AND SEE YOUR LIVES FORFEIT!”

And come they did.


“What do you mean we’ve lost contact?” First Mate Hayes asked the comms officer sitting at his station.

The man only shook his head before answering. “We still have contact sir, but the link is being scrambled. I have to keep switching frequencies constantly to keep her communicator link up.”

“The Captain wouldn’t keep switching frequencies.” Hayes whispered looking away from the comms officer and even though Hayes wasn’t looking at him he heard the man’s last words.

“She’s not doing it sir. Someone else is overriding the signal and scrambling it.”

The first thing he noticed was the fact he was flat back on the dirt…

When the blast struck the force of the concussion wave drove Wahkan and his 280 pound frame clean off the ground with an easy push. One second he was standing face to face with Steinn about ready to stomp a mud hole in the man’s neck and then with a blink he was sitting up off the ground trying to figure out who had just kicked him in the head. He saw the burning wreck of what used to be the transport from for the guards and the prisoner burning in a heap. What the hell took out the ship he thought struggling to get to his feet. It was hard to take a breath, hard to force his lungs to work and take in air, and then he realized it was because the heat from the fire had drawn in most of the oxygen in the area.

The second thing he caught sight of were the 6 floating cycles flying at him…

The machines looked just like motorcycles, like Hehaka-Luta or Cetan NIgan, only there were no wheels and the motors sounded more like high pitched sewing machines than mechanical horses. The floating bikes also had side cars to the right and a man in each armed with rifles. Who in the hell were these guys the large man thought, and then he noticed Steinn hopping in his ankle chains like some overgrown crazed rabbit. He was heading right for the bikes and the side car and that meant freedom. Well, Wahkan wasn’t having any of that and he was going to make damn sure Steinn didn’t make good on some escape attempt. Still foggy from the blast the large man was more than able to grasp a large rock and throw it with pinpoint accuracy. The stone his Steinn right in the head just behind the ear and the man dropped in mid hop. The bike he was running for started to slow and Wahkan was sure the rider was going to make a grab for the now unconscious prisoner.


The first man John ran into took a swing at the Shaman with a sword, a high slash for the head, which John ducked quickly. On the downward motion he slammed the blade of Matoskah into the man’s foot and as the man dropped he brought the hammer end around and into the exposed head. There was no time to ensure the man would stay down, just enough time to feel a bullet fly by his face. He heard the arrows of Shade’s crossbow fly, heard the sound of her pet drawing blood, and felt a small rise in his hopes of getting out of this alive.

He heard someone running up the stairs to the bell tower and understood whoever that was was giving support to the ones out front as he dropped another man coming in with a blow from Matoskah. John heard Keiko’s battle cry and that hope rose just a little more.

He figured they were going to need it.

Shade managed a slight smirk for a brief moment at her brother's sarcastic wit through the unexpected ambush. Perhaps she would send this annoyance of intruders his way for dessert. She spared another crucial moment to glance at the oncoming troops coming in from the rear to see the fallen female Mithra sprawled across the floor, but her swift moving comrade appeared to have her friend covered.


Haylo continued fighting along side John, using her ability of flight to dodge what attacks and gunfire were thrown at her, since facing a flying wolf most likely gave her the element of surprise against her targets. At one point, Haylo caught sight of one of the fallen soldiers John had taken down now raising his weapon from the ground as John was fending off another's attack. With a snap of her wings, she lunged after the wounded man with a raging snarl to take him by the arm with a hard jerk of her jaws just as he fired off a round that would have struck John in the back, but wound up lodged within a nearby wall instead.


Meanwhile, the front doors of the building came crashing down with yet another wave of troops charging in. With a flick of her hand, Shade mentally dismissed her Wolf's Bane sword to then grab her Chimera whip weapon strapped at her hip. With a shattering crack through the air, the three heads came alive at the ends, bearing a long fanged serpent, a raging lion head, and thick horned bull. She aimed and fired her Gryphon crossbow first, sending the steel arrows straight for the exposed necks beneath the helmets the soldiers wore, taking three down first before swinging her arm and cracking her whip at yet another group. The trio of straps separated in flight, each one taking its own target. The serpent ensnared one soldier with its fangs embedded within his neck, and the lion head did the same to another by the shoulder, while the bull head ducked its head for its thick horns to sink into another just below the throat. They weren't life threatening wounds just yet, but when the trio took hold of their targets, Shade fired her arrows upon them and gave a hard jerk of her arm to send the soldiers sprawling across the floor as she turned and dropped to her knees, bringing the wide prod of her crossbow in front of her head to block the oncoming fire of the following troops coming in from behind.


It was then Shade was able to catch a glance at the scenario outside as the debris began to clear from the air. She caught just a brief glimpse of John's companion outside before a swarm of hover cycles came out of nowhere, obviously out to recapture their prisoner and quite possibly take out the Wahkan in the process. Seeing the bikes gave Shade a risky idea, having one of her own. Since her hover cycle was stuck on her airship, there was no way to retrieve it, but that didn't mean she didn't have the experience to ride another. All she needed was a little speed to throw off a rider, but first she needed a distraction and some cover.


Wasn't that what brothers were for?


With a quick roll across the floor and behind one of the turned over pews to use as some form of cover, Shade clicked her earcom while scouting out her path. "Hey show-off! Think you can actually hit something and bide me some cover so I can get out there and get me a ride?" Her goal wasn't even for the doors. Shade was aiming for the window she was previously at, and with the remaining window pane now completely blown out, it was an easy for for her to jump and soar through so long as she had the few seconds she needed to reach it through the rounds of fire she was currently taking on at the other side of the pew she his behind. And knowing Fury..... he was going to cause quite a mess for these soldiers to deal with. She didn't even look. She didn't have to. Fury's selection of mini bombs and bullets and toys had their own distinct sounds her ears were already familiar with... and of course the following screams of pain were what cinched the coast was clear. With a bee-line shot for the window, Shade held her breath as she leaped through the opening to land hard upon the ground with her left shoulder into an immediate roll across the dirt until she wound up on one knee to quickly scan a target.


The round of bikers were too busy focusing on the prisoner target to notice Shade had one pegged as she whipped out her whip once more for all three Chimera heads to snatch the rider all at once and jerk him backwards off of his hover bike. The cycle landed in a skid on it's side as Shade ran across the ground and flicked her whip to coil back up as she lifted the bike and took off after the others just as she saw the Wahkan nail the hopping prisoner in the head with a rock. The closest biker appeared to slow as if attempting to retrieve the prisoner, but Shade swiftly lifted her arm while driving with the other to aim and fire a round of five arrows upon the rider to send him soaring off of the seat of his bike as the hover cycle continued to glide across the ground at a zig zag direction to unexpectedly collide with another biker. Now that the prisoner was left to his own demise, Shade abruptly turned to deal with the remaining three riders.

Fury placed the bipod of his rifle on the ledge of the bell tower and activated the thermal scope to allow him to see through a bulk of the smoke and debris to see the group's attackers. He could see a large group of soldiers heading for the front door while several hover-cycles were making a bee-line for two orange and yellow forms that were recovering from the explosions that knocked them down. One seemed to be recovering faster and began to hobble away when the other tossed something at him, knocking him down into unconsciousness. At the same time, though, one of the hover crafts was slowing down to grab the unconscious one. That must have been the one that they were supposed to meet here. Fury placed the cross-hairs where they needed to be to account for angle, wind and distance and then squeezed the trigger. The rifle gave him a kick but made no noise whatsoever other than the shell casing pinging on the floor. The bullet tore from the barrel and went straight down to collide with the driver of the hover-craft's neck. At that angle, the bullet passed down into the man's left lung too, collapsing it and knocking him from the ride. His hand squeezed the throttle and the cycle shot forward and crashed with a massive explosion into another biker.

That was when his ear exploded with his sister's voice again. He didn't even respond to her when she asked for help, too focused on his new goal to take the time to do so. He swiveled his rifle to face the soldiers rushing the front door and started to fire at them. Each bullet that tore from his muzzle either killed or incapacitated a soldier. His storm of fire forced them to find some cover, giving his sister the time she needed to get out of the building and dash for a hover-cycle.

Fury pulled his eyes away from his scope when he heard a loud whine whiz past the tower. A hover-cycle had driven right past the tower and was now making a large sweep to turn around to face it. Fury brought his scope up to his eye as the man twisted the throttle, sending him towards the sniper's position. Fury's cross-hairs steadied on the helmet of the driver as the bullets from the passenger tore at the wood frame around him. He steadied his breath and fired his rifle. The bullet struck the front of the bike with a ping and did nothing to stop the bike. He fired again, this time cracking the glass of the driver's seat. His final shot struck the driver in the helmet, sending him tumbling backwards off his bike. The bike jerked downward and began spinning out of control towards the tower.

Fury saw that the bike was going to collide with the tower so he jumped out of it and began to run across the roof of the church. The bike struck the tower and tore straight through, tearing the rest of the roof off with it as it chased Fury across the uneven roof. Fury ran as fast as he could towards the end of the roof. Upon reaching the end of the roof, he leaped for the adjacent building. He landed on the flat-topped roof and was about to continue his run from the spinning death-trap, when his feet went through the ground. He tumbled down through wooden beams and plaster until he came crashing into the ground.

There was a moment of confusion as he regained his bearings and dusted himself off. He stood and checked himself over quickly to make sure nothing vital was broken and he wasn't gushing blood everywhere. Satisfied that he wasn't injured, Fury used his BLADE system to call his AMPAP suit and his assault rifle to himself from the Kestrel's armory and tried to call his crew on the comm system again, but it was no use. They where on their own.

Fury walked over to the front door and pulled it from its hinges, tossing it outside and crashing it into a hover-cycle as it flew by. Fury ducked back inside the house and began to open fire upon the troops trying to still get through the front door to flank John and Keiko.

I stood over my kitten and shot the first man who came near, a round right through his shoulder that knocked him clean off his feet. As he was falling though I saw Shade take out three men quite impressively with her whip before leaping out the window to help outside. I heard more men coming that way so I assumed she was going to take care of our backs. I saw John more than handling his own with the onrush of men and I was sure Fury was doing just as well up in the bell tower. I saw the young guard who was talking with John pop-up and begin to fight back along with the few men who were with him. I fired a round from Mayhem into another attacker feeling like this was now our fight…

Then the sound of something hitting the old church shook the foundations again. The roof above us crumbled and fell in with debris at points. I was sure the whole damnable place was about to fall in around our ears. I knelt covering Nafeesa from the falling wood beams and dust. I heard her moan and smiled a little more.

“Wake Up Kitten! We Are Beset!” I screamed with a howl ready to fight.


“We still can’t raise the Captain sir, comms are down!”

Captain Hayes snarled and yelled back, “Forget about that, get ready to fly the ship down to the surface level!”

Some of the men started to snap switches and hit buttons on control panels as Bully touched his communicator intending on calling Roland to get the engines turning at top speed, only he never finished. The control room suddenly exploded with a loud screeching alarm, the one meant for targets on the radar system. The First Mate looked to the man running the large sweeping screen and when he saw the look on the youngster’s face he did not feel good.

“We have multiple targets sir, five smaller ones and a really large one!”

“Where in the nine winds did they come from?” Hayes screamed demanding how they were snuck up on.

“No approaching signals sir,” the young man exclaimed, “they just popped up all of the sudden! I have two of the smaller ones breaking away and speeding toward us, two more making for the other air ship and one…going off on its own.”

Hayes touched his communicator calling for Roland as he barked orders to the young sailor at the lookout. “I need a size on all the new signals son, need it NOW!”

“The smaller ones compare to us in size but the large one, it has to be five of us sir…and it’s…launching something. I’m getting all kinds of smaller objects flying away from it now…like pods or something, too many to count.”

When Roland’s voice came across the communicator Hayes kept his eyes on the screen as he gave his orders to the engineer. “Give me all the energy you can Roland, we’re gonna need it if we want to stay afloat.”

((OOC: Okay people. If you have an air ship in the area its now being attacked and you better make sure its fighting back. Only it cannot communicate with you, all comms are still down and all magic is still restricted. If need be you can borrow the break I use, now get to saving your air ships!))

The Siang Tien Tang floated above the old church, high enough to stay clear of all incoming air traffic, but not so high to miss all the action happening below. Zheng Hui watched as the pirate Keiko arrived in her ship and then strange ship with the pair who floated down to the old church. He watched as the transport ship arrived and the meeting began and he wondered if Wahkan would find his answers, but then it all changed. He saw the attack unfold on the church and his friends; saw the transport explode and then the small hover cycles appeared out of the thin air. He started to take the Junk down to give support when he felt something out of place. It was one advantage of being a ghost, having a sense no living thing could possess. He turned to look up and over his shoulder to see the sky suddenly shimmer and then objects were screaming past the ship. They looked like large metal tubes as they sped past, long and silver, and there were too many count.

The ghost put his hand over the crystal embedded into the rudder and made the Siang Tien Tang respond to his commands. The ship suddenly burst from its slow pace into a bolt as one of the tubes struck the side and skidded off the hull. More and more of the metal tubes blasted by as Zheng made his escape, or so he thought. There was a flash of gun fire across the bow and he looked over to see a ship just a few meters longer than the Siang Tien Tang closing fast. The tube must have set of some alarm and now the ship can see me Zheng thought. He made the Junk take evasive action as the ship fired again at him.


Wahkan watched Shade take of the cycle going for the prisoner and grunted as he ran for Steinn. He was a little more than disappointed the man was out cold, it would have been nice to see the look on the snake’s face when his escape plan failed. He grabbed a left hand full of the jump suit Steinn wore picking him easily off the ground. He reached over and grabbed the arm of one of the guards helping the man back to his feet, and then the ground exploded again to his right. He stumbled a step forward never letting go of Steinn before looking over to see what the hell hit the planet. Wahkan blinked once, then twice, and watched as more of the tubed slammed into the ground all around them like falling non-exploding bombs.

“What the hell?” He whispered.

And then the tube came to life…somewhat. It began to transform with a loud squeal as arms popped out of the side and a head appeared out of the top. All at once, as fast as a whirl of machinery could go, the tube became a robot, a larger hunk of metal then Wahkan if that was possible. It stood seven feet tall and probably went an even 500 pounds.

“All right, this just got worse.” The large man grunted as the turned and started running for the church. “Get Inside The Church!” Wahkan screamed trying to get anyone who could walk moving.


Before the first robot was up and moving John had already sensed something was wrong. The escape plan for Steinn had failed; it was a forgone conclusion now. Yet there was energy in the air the Shaman was sure wasn’t tied to this attack. There was something else coming and when John saw the metal tubes fall out of the sky he was moving. He ran to the door of the church and found Wahkan trying to ruin back to the building. He saw Shade riding after the remaining hiver cycles and wondered if she knew they were quickly getting surrounded by something else entirely now. There were more tubes falling and John wasn’t sure how many would be coming…maybe a hundred?

“Get Inside The Church! We’re Under Attack Again!”

John saw one of Steinn’s men get up off the ground right by one the now hulking robots. He started to run out and stop what he was sure was going to happen. He watched as the man opened up with his automatic rifle at the robot and every bullet bounced clean off. The robot twisted on its hips like a swivel as its right hand disappeared into its arm. John drew Wakina from its scabbard and with a quick throw sent it flying at the robot just as a gun that looked like a cannon popped out of the robot’s arm pointed at the man.

“Run You Fool!” John screamed trying to get the man to at least move.

He didn’t as the robot fired a chain gun sending more rounds than you could count into the man. A second later Wakina hit and stuck right into the robot’s large head. There was a small shower of sparks and the machine tried to turn back to John, only it couldn’t. The Shaman smiled as he called his knife back to his hand with his enchantment.

“Aim for the Head, it’s vulnerable there!” John screamed heading back to the church. What he didn’t see though were the smaller robots, like crawling bugs, pop out and began to repair the damage done by the bowie knife.

Ear splitting alarms were sounding off throughout every deck level of the Oasis as the massive airship came under attack. Random orders were shouted through the intercom as SeeDs ran to their appointed stations like a storm of chaos. As the airship was struck and jostled, Brix Dincht had enough and tore through the corridors until she reached the cockpit where she found panic and mayhem.

Shaking her head at the ignorant youths who believed this was just some form of routine training mission, the veteran SeeD pushed her way through the multiple bodies and shifting gravity of the ship until she reached the captain's chair and yanked the shrieking youth out of the chair. Now taking the controls herself, Brix enhanced the shields and activated the scanners to better identify what the hell was nailing the ship from all directions as her cheerful, yet crazy demeanor came spouting through the speakers all throughout the airship.

"Afternoon ladies and gentlemen!! Please note that we may be experience some shitty turbulence....AUUGH!!!! LEFT! LEFT! LEFT DAMNIT!!" Even though she was pulling the controls into a hard left, the ship's immense size made it far too difficult to make sharp turns. Her shouts continued through the intercom, but Brix was now cursing at the odd metal tubes slamming into the Oasis. "And someone get those weapons in their upright positions and start FIRING for Hyne's sake!!! OH SHYT!!!" Just as she screamed again, Brix jerked the ship into a hard right as tubes were heading for the cockpit as well. Pissed off beyond any scale could measure, her blue eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth.

But just as suddenly as she was furious, her eyes lit up and widened with fascination when seeing one huge red button on the control panel labeled "Loading Dock". A mischievous grin slowly spread over her lips as she flipped up the protective cap and hovered her palm above it. "Attention, crew of the Kestral..... GET OUT THERE AND EARN YOUR AIR FARE!!" With a slam of her hand, the button went flat, while within the loading dock where Fury's airship sat, the massive hull door slowly opened and the ramp began to tilt backwards, causing the fighter ship to slide against the metal, about to free fall backwards into the air.


==================================================================

By this point, Shade had no damn idea what the hell was going on. As she drove the hover cycle through the storm of attacks, she witnessed these tubes transform right before her eyes into mechanical cyborgs now attacking whatever was in their line of sight. They were very much similar to those used in Esther in her own home world, so Shade wasn't taking any chances. Before the shout to aim for the heads was given, her own experience went with that method as she unsheathed her sword and flipped the lever for the steel teeth to encase the blade.


She sped across the terrain as fast as the cycle could go, zig zagging her path back towards the crumbling church as the tubes continued to crash down all around her. What robots already transformed and attacked were either dodged by, or her jagged blade would slice through their armored necks for a swift termination. But the storm of robots grew heavy, like a torrential downpour, crashing far too close at times nearly causing Shade to loose control of the cycle, or her vision obscured by the flying debris and dust.


Just as she was just a few yards away, it was inevitable that she was struck being directly out in the open with no cover. One of the robotic tubes nailed the bike on its side, sending the vehicle and its rider to soar through the air. The hover cycle crashed into pieces as Shade collided with the ground like a rag doll, yet somehow, she managed to still keep her Wolf's Bane firmly gripped within her hand. Now struggling back to her feet, Shade immediately felt something was ruptured inside, but growled back the pain as she forced her legs to move. Hearing the distinct sound of transformation grinding behind her, she turned just in time to see one of the robots aiming its weapon directly at her.


She lifted the Gryphon crossbow just in time for the bullets to ricochet from the steel prod, but the force of the bullets sent her staggering back and falling once more. Hissing her profanity through her teeth, Shade twisted her wrist for the Prod to now fire its steel arrows into the head of the mechanism before quickly scrambling back to her feet and rushing towards the church. Naturally, fate would send yet another stream of these robot tubes, sending one to crash directly behind her as the force of impact sent Shade's body hurling through the air, straight through the doorway, only to crash once again into the shattered pews and collapse in a heap upon the ground.

Due to circumstances that have suddenly come up I will no longer be participating in this thread.

May you all have fun.