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Post by Ribitta on Oct 24, 2011 14:24:17 GMT -5
No chances with the Harbinger – that had always been the law among the Stamarian military, handed down by the Emperor himself, for there could be no greater victory than slaying that man; even his witch of a mother was less of a threat. As soon as the word of the Harbinger showing himself had arrived, Aurinar had departed as well, though his pace had been much slower than his bodyguard’s. The enemy knew the stakes, and Stamarin would not put it past the Korin rats to bait out one piece of power for another. Unfortunately for the Korin, though, DuValle could be counted as more than a match for the Harbinger in a duel. Still, there would be no chances taken unnecessarily, and the Emperor had left for the battle as well, heavily escorted by the rest of the Taron magi in the city.
As the destruction came into sight, Aurinar quickened his pace, the prize so close ahead. Each threat had to be handled with precision in order to lose no ends, and the Emperor acted swiftly. The Korin had introduced a Blind Harvester to the fight, and that would be the greatest priority regardless of the situation DuValle was in, though by the wreath of flames that adorned the ground, it did not appear to be finished yet.
Pointing a finger toward the sky, Stamarin slammed his gesture toward the ground, pointing it straight at the mechanical menace that threatened the safety of every living thing in the area, even the Emperor himself. Forming all but instantly from the sky above, a bolt of lightning plummeted toward the ground at an unbreakable pace, striking the Blind Harvester before it even had a chance to move. The explosion rocked the earth, destroying the machine immediately and leaving nothing but a charred, fragile husk that fell under its own weight.
Without a second glance, though, he turned to the circle of flames that roared stronger than anything that would be produced naturally. Khordus was a strong in the art of magic, but even his spells were no match for the Emperor of Stamaria. In one sweep of his hand, Aurinar dispelled the flames as if they were never there, finally revealing the fight to everyone else; the Harbinger still stood. “Fire!” the Emperor roared with an unmatchable fury, creating his own weapon inside the palm of his hand and hurling the raw, primal energy toward the Harbinger.
Stamarian propaganda stated that no man could stand against the might of Stamaria, but Khordus was ready to try. With his momentary edge against DuValle, he was free for long enough to expect the inevitable, reacting as quickly as he could. Pulling his weapons to himself once more, his flame wall broke a moment before they were secured, forcing him to linger a moment longer, totally exposed. Reaching out for his magic once more, he pulled the earth up in front of him, attempting to buy himself just a moment longer for escape. Khordus was quick, but he was also fatigued, and the Stamarian marksmen had been trained their entire lives to lay waste to men such as Khordus before they could stand a moment longer. Feeling multiple rounds penetrate him flesh, the Harbinger’s world turned to agony as spectral hands from below grasped at his ankles, pulling him through the ground as his cover exploded under the heaviest of fire a moment later, leaving only spatters of blood, broken earth, and DuValle in the once-protected arena.
Tom came to a shuddering halt as the voice of his leader broke through the communications channel. It was weak, but living, and it contained perhaps more than a little satisfaction, “The storm has arrived – return to port.” Releasing pressure to the trigger on his gun, the giant of a man let it fall to his side as Kalia’s hurried footsteps faded into the distance.
Aurinar Stamarin turned from the fight, panting unlike he had in years. Many Stamarians would count this as a victory having pushed the Korin back into their loathsome hole, but as the angry protests of the city’s inhabitants began to reach his ears, he counted this as worse than a stalemate. Teradia was over for Stamaria.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Oct 24, 2011 14:50:01 GMT -5
DuValle was quick to recover as he felt and heard his Majesty the Emperor's presence on the battlefield, and as Jorin reacted to the dispelling of the flames, DuValle had taken Flamereaver and pushed himself to his feet, attacking once more despite the fractured and dented armor cutting into his side. His mirthless grin quickly became a scowl as the physical disconnection happened as the Harbinger was yanked through the street, and his blade struck only air. The man stood up fully, holding his burning sword in one hand as the fighting died down. Like Aurinar, DuValle could read the tides of society and knew that their presence was no longer welcome in Teradia. The Korin had won this skirmish. === Bleeding in more places after another chance encounter with the Manu'mitter that had been lying in wait, Kalia breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Tom depart from the battle--something must've changed up above. She stood still in her alcove for several more moments before she felt reasonably sure the brute had given up the hunt for her, and quickly went about binding her wounds. She just had to find Amatlan and get the hell out of this shithole. It didn't take long to the cage where Amatlan lay, the beast chewing at the bars of its cage--at the side of the room, a burned Korin corpse lay--it seemed that the man hadn't been able to kill or incapacitate the wyvern before Amatlan had incinerated him. Lucky for her. "Let's get you out of here," she muttered as she used her sword to smash the lock. The wyvern growled and stalked out, allowing his mistress to grab his reins and lead him to the nearest storm grate; one she had passed on the chase by Tom. The beast easily smashed through the storm grate, allowing both of them to crawl out of the sewer system.
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Post by Steinerman on Oct 24, 2011 15:08:36 GMT -5
Michael winced and fell to one knee as the Harvester was destroyed in front of him. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't fire from the Order that had brought the mechanical monstrosity down, but from some form of magic.
A few rifle bursts later brought to mind the fact that Knight-Templar Raddick was a vicious aim with his assault rifle, and had fast reflexes as well, though Michael wasn't sure what he was shooting at. A moment later Raddick cursed, "Blast it!" The man shouted, obviously angry. "We didn't kill him." And then, as Michael nearly keeled over into the dust, the Knight-Templar swore again and grabbed hold of his falling commander.
"Knight-Commander?" Raddick asked worriedly, hauling his commander backwards towards the building that had formed the central line of the Order Defense.
Michael winced again, "That Harvester was a little less than kind with its scythes, Raddick." He murmured, smearing a trail of blood on the ground as Raddick dragged him backwards. He heard Raddick swear a third time as he saw the damage done to Michael's armor. It had most likely saved his life, but even Michael's well-made armor had suffered grievous damage from the Harvester's weaponry, dozens of heavy gashes and several bullet wounds were apparent. Michael was slightly surprised he'd stood as long as he did against the machine.
If he could be taken to a healer quickly enough, he could easily be saved, but at the moment, his life was in jeopardy. After that, things were a blur, screams of "Medic!" and "The Knight-Commander is wounded!" made it through, but Michael merely stayed as still as possible, trying not to move too much for fear of causing more damage to his battered body.
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Riley heard the call that the Knight-Commander was wounded and jolted into movement, slinging the rocket-launcher back onto her back, she leaped out the window, landed heavily and then sped towards the Knight-Commander. Other Order soldiers were moving around the field. Some cheering, some looking for wounded, and a few rushing to help the Knight-Commander.
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