Cinon shifted invisible before he stepped in, watching the Warden briefly. He said nothing, and simply waited for him to enter. A moment later and Cinon did, appearing next to Gabby and the Ethans in a new world. A new, really dumpy looking world with dead grass in squares everywhere.
He nervously stepped up next to the other five, careful not to make too much noise. He knew they would be fighting trees, Cedric explained that much to him, but not what it was he was actually supposed to do. "So where do you want me to go?"
Cinon nodded despite the fact that there was no way for Green to tell that he did and stepped over to him. He opened his mouth, hot breath on Green's hand as he took the entire thing inside. As each bit passed between his jaws it vanished, forming the same outline as his head. Soon even a small part of Green's hand vanished.
"Okegh" Cinon mumbled, his mouth full of button. As soon as Green let go, he bit down and closed his mouth, the entire thing vanishing. Almost silently, he turned and took off, flying off to the humans.
Blue looked down at her with a curious looking smile. "You ready to go steal a ship and fly again? It wont be as good as some good old wings and some rocket boots, but it's sure to be interesting ."
An excited but also slightly mischievous grin crept to the corner of her lips as she took his out stretched hand. She was already ready for the air. "Let's fly."
Gabby made a small yip as Blue pulled her by the hand to his chest like a return twirl in a dance and then picked up her legs from behind, setting her on his shoulders with ease.
As soon as her feet left the ground a flicker of a memory..no perhaps...more of a memory of a feeling.... came to her mind. Surprise. And something else she couldn't quite recall. It floated from her mind as a wisp of deja'vu.
She shaking her hair out of her face, she laughed a little, they took off into the air with a burst of speed toward the strange ships orbiting the even stranger moon.
Reaching the ships in space could be an issue. Although the moon was seemingly in the atmosphere, it was a mere illusion. In reality, all the ships were firmly in space orbiting the moon.
There weren't that many humans standing out in the open. The ones that were out were being escorted by ents. Each shack was securely locked on the outside, in order to prevent slaves from wandering out. Patrols were sparse, but with the flat landscape, anyone sneaking around would be spotted very quickly. The slaves themselves were underfed, a tactic used to prevent rebellion. If they are too weak to walk, then they'll have trouble gathering any energy to fight. It could be assumed that because of this abuse, any slaves sent to the mines were essentially given a death sentence.
Cinon touched down on the tin roof of one of the shacks without any trees nearby. He dropped the button covered in drool on the roof and and hopped down to the door, looking at the lock. It seemed simple enough, just pull and slide. He reared up on his back legs, sliding a claw under the latch and flipping it up before pushing it to the side. The door soon swung open slightly, and he peeked inside. A few frail-looking twolegs were sitting in the dark, wearing collars like all the others.
"You'll be free soon, go to the field when we tell you."
He slipped away, running to the next door to repeat the process.
The slaves looked at each other, a bit bewildered. They nodded at... the air. They weren't really sure whether or not they should trust an invisible voice. And who was "we"?
The door being opened lightly with only enough space to peek in, the guards did not take notice, nor did they notice future attempts given the same technique was used. One prominent event did happen, although it posed very little risk in detection in the immediate moment. One of the stumps opened its large maw, energy swirling within it before it spat out a pool of energy. A humanoid being made of a blazing light emerged from the burst of energy. It was almost pure white, it's body covered with an brilliant ever-burning fire. It's body almost seemed to be made of the stars. This one was wearing a captain's hat. It was quickly followed by several others of its kind. The group, now totaling five, began going house to house, entering and then throwing slaves to the ground. The Captain yelled something in a foreign language, before digging through the slave's pockets and taking out an improvised shiv from their pocket.
It then made a single authoritative sound, raising its hand in the air, before throwing it down, pointing at the slave. Its subordinate reached out it's arm, a jet of energy spurting out and covering the slave. He screamed in agony and writhed on the ground as the flames slowly consumed him. The captain then turned around, issued the same order, and the group began burning the rest of the slaves.
Cinon spun, not used to hearing other voices in his head. He quickly realised the message and broke into a run, jumping into the air after only a few strides and flapping hard to reach the roof he left the button on. He dove down, landing on the roof with a heavy thud and scrambling for the panel. After a few fumbles, he finally managed to press the button, still unsure of what it did.
Cedric was not pleased with his domain being violated again, though Pink's intrusion did give him an idea...
He tested the waters first, feeling around at the minds he saw through Pinks voice. Gabby, Blue, Orange, Green, Pink... they were all there, he could get to them all.
Leaving the atmosphere had been a strange feeling. Fun, and fast. But also cold. Gabby's planet had made several attempts to do the same but had not been successful in sustaining an orbit for long. Not like these ships and Blue. They made the entire venture look incredibly easy.
Blue got them into the ship through a sealed door as she waited, the tingly feeling of nervous excitement hitting her again. "Be quick. quiet, and leave nobody alive. lets go." he said, closing the airlock behind them. Gravity took hold again and her boots hit the floor as her hair flopped back into her eyes. Quick. Quiet. Nobody alive. She tucked her stray hair back and gave him a silent nod in return.
The rifle felt a little heavy in her hands. It was different from her home-world weapons but familiar enough to figure out. Finding the safety switch, she flicked it off and gripped the rifle in her hands, finger light over the trigger guard. Gabby took a moment to glance down the opposite direction of the hallway than Blue was looking, ensuring sure no one was behind them before they started the push.
The five Sta'Fai were completely caught off guard. The cryo grenade blew up, freezing the humans and shacks into solid ice cubes. Unfortunately, the Sta'Fai, whilst defeated, did not leave behind a corpse to clone, instead dispersing. The Ents stood still for a few moments, not completely sure on what was going on when they were assaulted by the clones and Green. There weren't many guards in the immediate vicinity, and so the first push was met with little resistance. The button was activated just in time before anyone could trigger the self-destruct button.
At the mines, Pink's bellow of encouragement to the slaves did very little to actually do anything. They took the guns, confused, worried, and fearful. They were starved, beaten, and had lost a lot of will to fight. Even the strongest one there looked like they were ready to embrace death. It wasn't long before another patrol came bursting in after Pink's less than subtle war cry and quickly gunned down the slaves still stuck in their stupor. Unfortunately for Pink, rushing ahead to get into the mines also meant she was knee-deep in security. As mentioned in the time travel, there were cameras with cloak detection, and they had already spotted her. The first patrol was meant with two more, one being Sta'Fai. The Captain of the group issued an order, and the squad of five all thrusted out their arms and let loose a jet of flame.
The first push was quickly met with a second push-back at the shacks, giving little time for reprieve. A second explosion occurred in the mansion as they tried and failed to summon reinforcements. Thumping in the distance grew louder and louder before being abruptly cut off from the second explosion as well.
The slaves were hiding in the shacks at the sound of combat, whilst the hollow stumps began summoning reinforcements in quick pace. Ents came rushing in and falling just as quick to Green's onslaught and the clones. Force was eventually met with force as another squad of five Sta'Fai entered the field.
At this point the alarms were blaring, gunshots rung high into the air, and the casualty rate spun ever upwards. The Sta'Fai, however, posed the biggest threat.
(Sta'Fai are major threats, and cannot be auto-hit. Ents you can.)
The Captain issued an order, and its cohorts began lobbing brilliant shimmering artillery upon the ground, leaving behind scorched earth in its wake. Naturally, they aimed at Green. Any clones were collateral damage.
Up in Space, alarms were going off too, but not because of Gabby or Blue. Already the ships were turning into assault positions to quell the one-man rebellion. Ents were rushing through the hallways, having dropped everything to respond to the emergency. Given the rampant nature of the situation, Gabby and Blue had little time before their eventual discovery.
Combat Log
One Captain and four Sta'Fai are targeting Green with lobbed fireballs.
A squad of Ents and another Sta'Fai Squad are targeting Pink with jets of flame.
Blue and Gabby are undiscovered but are in danger of being spotted.
Cinon is still undiscovered and safe from detection.
Ents are dying left and right in the field.
Mine Slaves were slaughtered by Ents.
Two Statues were eliminated by the Polar Grenade.
The Mansion is partly destroyed.
Reminder that Sta'Fai cannot be auto-hit, but Ents you can.
Cinon flinched as the gunfire grew louder. He had no clue what the loud noises were, or what was killing all the twolegs and trees, or what happened to the mansion behind him, it was all insane. The noise attacked him like Grekan, and he broke. He jumped into the air, flying as fast as he could away from the noise.
"Cinon... Cinon! Listen to me! Just calm down, fly normally, focus on flying." Cedric's voice was a grumpy monotone as always, but for Cinon it was calming.
Focus on flying... slowly, he blocked out the noise of the battle and the fear it caused. His wing beats grew quiet and stronger, carrying him more steadily to the mountain.
Cedric quickly left his calmed brother and joined Pink, catching a view of her surroundings. She was surrounded by beings he recognised as from the field, strange beings that seemed to be friendly to them. They seemed to be moving uphill within the mines, up towards the building Cinon saw.
"Pink, do you need assistance?"
Can you fight?
"Cinon and I can not. These trees are carrying weapons nobody bothered to explain to us."
Can you sneak quietly?
"Do you expect a dragon like Cinon to go sixteen years without learning how to move quietly?"
I mean dead quiet, as in you breathe and you lose.
"We can be quiet. What is the concern here?"
Alright try and sneak into the facility at the top of the mountain and find a way to get us in.
"We are already heading there. Watch yourself."
Cedric slipped back out, finding himself back in Cinon.
"Enter the mountain facility, be as quiet as possible."
The alarms blared suddenly, making Gabby jump. She knew the sound well and fought back a familiar memory. They were in trouble.
Blue grabbed her free hand, cloaking them, and pulled her into a sprint down the hall. Her boots pounded into the metal grated floor as they bumped into their first hostile. A all gnarly Ent fell to a quick and expertly done double-tap from Blue's much larger assault rifle. They stuffed the stiff corpse in a corner quickly and kept pushing.
It took only more seconds to get the bridge, Blue pulled her into a corner and tossed a decoy down the hall before he let go of her hand. The decoy made an cacophony of bullet sounds and Blue's voice boomed, over the sound alarms, filling up the entire hallway opposite of them. Draw them out. Smart, Blue.
With a hiss, the bridge door slid open revealing a flurry of panicked activity inside. Several Ents, were scrambling about and rushing out of the door toward the sound of Blue's decoy. Gabby counted at least 7 rushing into the hallway and readied her rifle with a nod to Blue.
The clones that Pink created headed towards Green would not get far before being cut down by the pursing security team. Entering further through the mines allowed Pink to move past the main defensive perimeter, but now was effectively trapped inside with a large security force still behind. While she avoided the Sta'Fai's first attack, they weren't so easily dissuaded. While the first group perished in the blast, it wasn't long before another group was in hot pursuit. The Captain yelled an order, the four beginning to run on foot, keeping pace with Pink, while the Captain itself flickered out of existence before flickering back in right in front of pink. Its arms were already in a position for a downward slam that would leave a trail of flame stretching outwards.
Meanwhile on the ship, the decoy worked to an extent. The opposite hallway was indeed filled with Ents running armed into the hallway trying to discern where the gunfire was coming from. On the downside, everyone was alerted, and was pulling out their detection equipment due to the assailant being nowhere to be found. Cover still remained for Gabby and Blue, but with the detection equipment in tow, they now had very little time. The hallway didn't allow the entire crew to investigate naturally. A crew of around a few hundred wouldn't be able to fit, but checkpoints were quickly being established. With the alerted nature, about ten were running in, armed.
On the lawn, the gravity well caught four of the five, the captain flickering out of existence before flickering back in right behind Green, its arms already outstretched with jets of flame coming out moments after. The rest of the Sta'Fai were both pulled together, and then blown up... but they weren't dead. While they looked more dim than before, a few flickering for a brief moment, this did nothing to stop their new quest for vengeance. Two lunged for Green, attempting to grapple him and consume him in their flames. The other two seemingly screamed before a burst of flame emanated from the two, knocking and burning everyone in the immediate area.
The Drones near the ships, as soon as they made themselves a threat, would quickly be targeted by point defense lasers. With the size of the drones, a laser focusing on it for more than a few seconds would cook the internals. With pin-perfect accuracy, as designed to shoot down missiles and flak, dodging would almost be nigh impossible.
Combat Log
Ents were distracted on the ship.
Gabby and Blue are about to be detected.
Cinon is somewhere.
Green is under attack from behind and in front, along with two AOE.
Four Sta'Fai are injured on the field.
The Captain dodged the grenades via teleportation.
There is a dead ent in a shadowy corner. Nobody liked it anyway.
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