Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Westeria City: Azure Heights

as written by Verse

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Having finished his initial task, Vegeshin set about patting down his attire that had managed to catch fire from the explosive blast of the missile he'd sank. His attention then swiftly fell toward the mercenaries that now surrounded them. As he'd previously thought, the Draconic creature that was now at full capacity alongside him was certainly something to be felt. He could sense the raw capabilities Rynhart could unleash. His attention fell away to Lyssa who'd somehow managed to get caught up in all of this mess and as he witnessed her actions, a sudden grin fell to his lips. A sense of nostalgia once again washed over him as he took time to recollect the past. Another day in Wing City, despite it truly being Westeria. Watching her take her chance at disarming those that had spilled out of the VTOL, his attention snapped next to the sudden appearance of the TNG. Disbelieving eyes narrowed some as they, too, set about surrounding the lot of them.

As the TNG fell into positions that had them surrounding everyone, a dedicated memory knew what was about to take place. The call to disarm. He didn't need to hear it to know it was going to happen. He'd been apart of the Militia. Seen them in action. Knew their course of action. Immediately his hands went up and he'd begun to take a knee just as Rynharts deafening roar was let loose. Unable to prevent the reaction, his hands fled their surrendered position and instead instinctively clasped to his ears as he fell to one knee. He'd been momentarily deafened but it wasn't long before his hearing was regained, his body far from that of a mere human. Seconds after, the impact of steel on steel brought him to crane his neck, his eyes taking in the sight of what had become of the few lowly mercenaries caught in the wake of Rynharts fierce attack. Bodies limp, he watched the shattered glass clatter to the ground before he turned his focus on the hulking giant. Realization struck him, in that very instant, that things wouldn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped.

Hair matted to his face, a hand rose to slick it back as he lingered on his knee. Knowing full well the consequences that were about to take place, due to the assumed knowledge that the TNG weren't just floating in the air, pointing weapons at them, for nothing, he weighed the options. Would he take the path he assumed had been laid out for him, raise his arms, and fall into the routine suspected? Or would he take his chances and do what he could to protect Rynhart and Lyssa? His choice was made for him, though, as the reverberating voice of an unknown entered the surrounding air. Glancing around, he saw the inbound figure. He was large, and unsettling, in appearance. Watching as the atmosphere shifted, a pathway before the lumbering figure clearing, Vegeshin's own eyes narrowed at the words of the individual. There were no cocky retorts initially, and he found his power slowly beginning to unfurl, his Ki reserves rising at a rather steady rate. If what he thought was about to happen...was about to happen, he'd need it as such.

The gravitational increase that had began to take effect was felt on Vegeshin as well, given his proximity to Rynhart, and he felt a slight wobble overcome him in his knee. He'd need to rise. There was no surrendering to the TNG now. Watching as the lampost was pulled from the ground, Vegeshin began to rise in haste. Steel and concrete careened through the air as he rose to his feet, albeit not as swiftly as he would have liked due to the gravitational increase. But it was as he made it to his full height and began to move forward that he was swiftly caught by an inbound car. As it struck him, he was taken along with it before crashing into a diagonally parked bus that had been abandoned amid the citywide panic. Pancaked, he was silent and didn't stir for a moment.

As Lyssa managed to evade and use her inbound vehicle as a springboard, Vegeshin's energy continued to climb at a rampant pace, despite his silence. He'd been wedged between the two constructs, but used this as a front to hide himself. If the individual wasn't aware of his condition, he would be free to collect his energy, and ascend. Rynhart had been enhanced, and Lyssa remained. He could sense them, and figured he'd act now. "Haaaaaaa!" Came the bellowed warcry of a hybrid Saiyan, the car and bus that had contained his figure thrown aside. Blown back, the bus managed to upturn onto its side, skidding along the ground at such a pace as to collide with the barrier the Alteran had erected. The car was flung forward, the force of the transformation shredding it into two, both pieces clattering to the ground before tumbling along the pavement. Golden locks licked the air as clothing fluttered in the sheer winds his transformation had brought to life. Static flickers swaddled his form and his emerald eyes narrowed on the Alteran. He could go toe to toe with the being but he had a far better plan in store. The dome that had been thrown up appeared to prevent any escape as well as interference and that would bode well for what he'd planned.

"You made a big mistake, my friend. Like the misguided fool you are, you need to be taught to play nice the hard way!" He bellowed, fist drawing closed before he threw it out in front of him knuckles down. Lifting it just as swiftly as he'd extended it, two fingers escaped the closed fist, summoning forth a wave of Ki from beenath the Alteran's figure. The ground swiftly began to superheat, glowing a hellish orange and red, transitioning to white, before exploding in a cacophonous, thunderous, roar. The blast radius would more than encompass him, his very figure the epicenter, all the while spreading searing flames and choking smoke throughout the dome.

Vegeshin clear of the event would only suffer the blow back of the attack, as would the others, the soles of his feet skidding back along the pavement as he fought the wall of pure force that had been unleashed. Hair thrown back, he glanced toward either of them, a solemn face depicted in a bid to offer them the notion that teamwork was going to be at hand.
 
as written by Ronin

The guardian's demands for a stand-down were quickly drowned in a bone-quaking dragon's roar. Although most of the fighting had stopped and the bulk of the mercenaries had stood down, the battle still raged. Dragons, mystics and demigods squared off against one another in an epic showdown, seemingly unconcerned with the orders of a small, mortal soldier. Thankfully, the warriors of the TNG had managed to avoid Rhynhart's wild counter-attack ... but it was clear that this dragon - and the Aschen, for that matter - was not backing down.

As Rhynhart's bestial roar echoed into silence and the brooding Alteran began monologuing, the guardian sergeant would spin swiftly around, gauntleted fists raging at his side. He cranked his vox to an ear-shattering volume.

"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP." His entire body shook. "THIS IS A FUCKING CITY YOU COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKERS. A FUCKING CITY. YOU DO NOT REAP DEATH OF THIS MAGNTITUDE-" his hands flailed wildly at the surrounding carnage. "-AND THEN JUST KEEP ON SHITTING LAW AND ORDER WHEN-"

"Uh. Sir." One of the guardians walked up alongside him. "They're uh. In an energy field. Don't think they can hear you."

The captain looked up at the combatants, now sparring inside a cackling, transparent dome. He drew a deep, weary breath - much of his rage extinguish. "Goddammit." He held his finger up to his visor. "Just. Tend to the wounded. Detain the rest."

The troops got to work, quickly detaining all parties on the scene, helping the wounded, gathering the bodies and extinguishing some of the smaller fires. The enforcers cranked up the energy output in their suits - a faint glow emanating off their armor, strobing through blue and red lenses. Police lights. There was no doubt that the law was on the scene.

The guardian sergeant, meanwhile, had taken off his helmet. He was scratching his scraggly hair, the rain quickly matting it to his forehead. He watched the battle inside the dome with tired eyes.

"We gotta' get through that dome," he said blandly.

The same guardian looked up. "Sir?"

"We gotta' get in there. Pretty sure there are civilians caught up in that fight."

The guardian looked at the energy field. "How should we penetrate?" He hefted his hellcannon. "Should I take a shot?"

"No," the sergeant shook his head, "let's not the risk the ricochet." He frowned, drawing his helmet back over his face. "Here, lemme try this."

The trooper walked steadily to the dome, retrieving a small, leatherbound hilt from his thigh. He flicked his wrist -retracted chinks of magnetized nanosteel unfolding into a long, razor-sharp blade. It buzzed steadily - a subtle energy humming through the metal. Slideblades - melee weapons designed to penetrate personalized shields and skewer through armor at close ranges.

Raising the sword above his head, the sergeant brought it down against the dome with a rough growl.
 
as written by Tiko

The chunk of cement shattered against the hardened scales of Rynhart's hide, and the lamp post itself was bent clean in two from the impact. The blow snapped his head to the side, but it seemed to have little lasting affect as he gave it a shake and turned his gaze back upon the stranger with a low growl.

Fortunately the increased gravitational field served to strengthen Rynhart's footing, and neither the concrete, nor the blow back of Vegeshin's own attack managed to compromise his balance. The heat of the blast washed harmlessly past and he stood his ground before the stranger.

Meanwhile, Lyssa's haste had done more than physically enhance his reflexes, and he was thinking and processing thoughts far swifter than normal. As massive as he was, his current form was more suited for widespread damage. It lacked the finesse and precision required to combat a single opponent which left him as much a threat to those who stood with him, as the one who stood against him.

And so he shed it while trusting in Vegeshin to cover him as a thick cloud of purple miasma engulfed him in his entirety. As the purple miasma began to rapidly dissipate into the air a human man cloaked in an extravagantly adorned purple coat had taken the place of the towering dragon. He might even have passed as human if not for the luminescent glow of his eyes that had taken on a purple hue.

"The streets are littered with the dead, felled by the actions of you and your people," Rynhart growled. "Tell me then, which of us does that make the rabid animal?"
 
as written by barney_fife

A finely attuned mind's eye shifted through the immediate possible realities. The lamp post seemed to have no effect on the massive dragon, He sensed as the magical energies flared inside the dome, the silvery blue eyes flaring with an unsettling celestial energy that was likely unlike anything any of them had previously encountered.

The Alteran sensed the Ki energies next, immediately below him as the ground began to rapidly heat up.

The figure was engulfed in the cacophonous explosion, white hot flames jutted outwards in all directions; dust and debris shot outwards from the sheer force of Vegeshin's Ki.

The dust would begin to clear, parting first from immediately around the figure, his armor having transmuted during the attack, while the brunt of the attack was absorbed by a barrier not unlike the one being projected around them.

The Armor had encompassed the figure's entire form in intricate crystalline latticework, dark reds and gunmetal trim adorned the angular armor that was composed of millions of extremely strong, and extremely hard crystals. The man's shimmering blue eyes could be seen in the deep set eye sockets of his skull mask.

The figure was standing atop a small precipice set in a deep crater excavated by Vegeshin's attack.

He took a step forward, and a pillar of earth rose up to meet his foot, as he took another step forward another small pillar of stone rose up to meet his foot. His footsteps were heavy, echoing through the dome as he watched the trio before him.

"A Shapeshifter, impressive; but your life is forfeit none the less." The figure said, his voice reverberating across the dome, which had shifted it's hue slightly towards a blue-green, casting a powerful anti-magic curtain of energy that filled the dome and encompassed those within, aiming to cause a debilitating magical feedback that increased in severity in relation to the user's ability.

But that wasn't the full brunt of the attack. His hands moved in small minute gestures, and the ground directly center of the dome began to give way, cracking and crumbling, air rushed towards this strange hole as well.

Eventually the asphalt collapsed, revealing a dark abyss, air was now rushing towards the hole, pulling debris, cars, and whoever couldn't anchor themselves to something fastened to the ground.

The hole in the ground was a rift into deep space somewhere, and the dome was rapidly losing air pressure. Unless action was taken, explosive decompression would mean certain death to anyone who couldn't survive in a vacuum.

----

As the Marines approached the dome, they would be correct in their assumption that a Hellcannon would cause a ricochet, and as he drove the sword into the dome, he would likely find that the strange barrier didn't seem to give, the feeling was akin to hard light, but this barrier was beyond any technological or magical means. Perhaps that was for the best, as the Marines would have a fairly perilous situation on their hands had they pierced the barrier.
 
as written by Tiko

The rift had devastating results on the immediate area as vehicles and people alike were torn across the asphalt. There was little to hold onto out in the streets that was anchored down, and many had no means to protect themselves as they were battered against vehicles.

Metal screeched in protest as cars piled upon the hole and many of the tech con mercenaries who still remained within the dome found themselves crushed between the vehicles. Rynhart among them was slammed jarringly against the side of a vehicle, and it was only his coat becoming entangled and pinned between two of the cars that kept him from being drawn beneath the vehicles and vented into deep space as the force of the explosive decompression took his feet out from under him.

Others didn't fair as well.

"He's gone mad! He'll kill us all!" a tech con mercenary shouted.

Their cries were swiftly suppressed though as the oxygen was swept from the dome, and those who hadn't been killed in the initial formation of the rift now fell to their knees gasping for air.

The decompression wasn't at all like going under water, and rather than instinctively holding their breath to try and reserve oxygen, they fell to gasping. Desperate to draw more air into their lungs, they only depleted their oxygen all the faster with each exhale.

Rynhart himself remained ensnared between the vehicles, but with the air rapidly dissipating from the dome so too did the immense force drawing everyone towards the rift.

Lips blue from depleted oxygen his eyes fell upon the marines attempting to breach the dome. There wasn't oxygen enough left to draw the needed breath for words, but the intensity of his gaze and the simple but pointed shake of his head spoke resoundingly.

Better that he and the others should succumb within the dome, than the hundreds more that would be killed should that dome be breached while the rift remained open.
 
as written by Script and Tiko

The result of the anti-magic curtain was almost immediate. As soon as it took effect, Lyssa reeled back in pain as the recoil from her haste spell surged through her. She dropped to one knee and hissed in through her teeth with a grimace.

When the vortex was created, she had nothing to grab onto. She was pulled from her feet and slammed into the side of a car as it was drawn towards the centre of the dome. Only an instinctive vice-like grip on the vehicle's distorted frame kept her from being pulled to her doom. She could feel the air getting thin around her, and she took a gasping breath, clawing at the ground to try and pull herself towards the edge of the dome. Not that she knew what she'd do when she got there, but it was better than lying down and accepting death.

It was at that moment that a luminescent figure descended towards the scene from the sky above. Aiedai, with Tessa hovering at her side, rapidly crossed the distance to drop down to the conflict. She set Tessa down on the road, taking up a position beside the Terran marines as she took in the dome and what was occurring within.

She extended a hand towards the dome, her brow creasing. "We ... cannot pierce it," she stated softly,

"What? Why not?" Tessa demanded. "There's people dying in there! We can't just leave them in there."

"If we were to pierce it, the pressure ... only more death would follow. The power that man commands is unlike any you have experience with. As we are, even we cannot hope to match it," Aiedai replied sadly, her eyes locking onto Rynhart within the chaos.

Tessa looked on aghast at Aiedai's words. That was Rynhart in there at the mercy of that man. There had to be something they could do.
 
as written by Verse

Eyes first caught sight of Rynhart's shifting as the dust from his last technique settled, his feet finding anchored traction in the wake of the blast force. Perplexed by it, his visage took upon it a swift grin of genuine inspiration. So he did have some tricks to him as opposed to being an average, monolithic, Dragon warrior. His muse didn't last very long, though, in the wake of what appeared to be the Alteran having emerged from his technique unscathed. The appearance of his armor shifting was immediately disconcerting, as well; Vegeshin narrowing his eyes in momentary hesitation as to what to do next.

Each step of the Alteran growing closer left Vegeshin tightening his fists, knuckles bleeding white. The way the elements fell to his beck and call left him far from confident at this point. He was standing face to face with a man with no limits as he could finally witness. The way he'd parted traffic followed by the dome. The gravitational control and the way he'd let loose with both cars and street light. Now the way he'd merely shrugged of such a technique, armor bending to his will, earth rising to sole with each step. A gutteral rumble reverberated within his throat whilst his aura danced around him, static flickering in sporadic bursts. He was nearly deafened by the astute focus he had on the incoming Alteran, so much so that he'd barely registered Rynharts words.

The words of the Alteran were penetrating, loud, and arrogant all the same. Individuals of such power always were, so very, egocentric. It made their debilitating losses so much sweeter, too. He wasn't sure of how, at the moment, he'd beat this pathetic menace...but he would. The rippled color that took off across the dome, itself, caught his eyes for but a brief second but what had really caught his undivided attention then was the sudden appearance of a rift in the midst of the pavement before them. Caught in the tempest winds that began to draw everything that hadn't been bolted to the ground in, Vegeshin took pride in his ability to anchor himself with the proper distribution of Ki. As air dissipated and became a void, Vegeshin realized that despite his ability to persevere, the others probably couldn't.

As Rynhart was ripped from his place and pinned via his attire, Vegeshin's eyes flit from individual to individual as they were simultaneously swept along, as well, his eyes finally landing on Lyssa as she, too, was carried away. As the windswept vaccum effect finally eased, Vegeshin stared the Alteran down for the briefest of seconds before acting. If Westeria had been anything like Wing City, they certainly had a transit system that carved its network of tunnels beneath. Hardly a moment was spared after he took off at a wild rush.

Lyssa would be first, eyes scanning for the closest victims he could get his hands upon. Taking hold of Lyssa, he'd already mapped out the interior of the dome and akin to lightning began to blink in and out of sight as he went from individual to individual. At this point, his concern was less on the Alteran and more on the innocent individuals that could no longer breath and were suffocating. Through telepathy alone, he did as best he could to relay to everyone in the vicinity that they'd need to grab, and hold tight, to his figure as he set about collecting as many as he could. 'If you can hear me, you'd do well to cling to your neighbor and hold fast throughout this process!'

Though it would be thoroughly uncomfortable with the mass of bodies he'd done his best to keep hold of, there wasn't much left to do but give Rynhart a solemn gaze, his limits easily noticeable in the event that he had not enough bodily ability to collect every single individual trapped within. Rather a handful, at that, would have a chance at escape this first time. Telepathy would swiftly reach out and in his best efforts. 'I haven't enough room, my friend, but I'll surely grab you upon my return!'

And with curt mental words having come to an abrupt end, his sensory skills mapped out the area beneath him. Survivors that had fled from the chaos above had permeated the underground, much to his delight. His luck having yet to run out, he swiftly locked on to the first individual he could and made his departure, appearing within the sprawling subway system below.

Releasing the whole lot, he brushed himself down and scanned every individual he'd brought out. "Everyone still breathing? Speak up swiftly. If any aren't, the nearest neighbor will do their best to resuscitate them. Meanwhile, I want a few others to head topside and get in touch with the soldiers out there. They appeared to be TNG. If they question, state that a former Militia Member is below and requires medical aid for victims."
 
as written by Ronin

The situation inside the dome only seemed to be getting worse. The mad mercenary seemed to have opened a rift in spacetime itself, the occupants of the fight all slowly dragged towards some gravitational vortex.

As the Vanguard duo came beside the marines, the sergeant listened to their analysis wordlessly. Nothing they could do? He admitted that their logic was sound ... breaking this barrier would just unleash the torrential chaos into the rest of the city. Many more would die. It just didn't make sense to risk the lives of everyone in Westeria for a few shmucks trapped in an energy field. As if affirming his thoughts, the dragon-turned-man looked at the sergeant, death in his eyes, offering a solemn, noble shake of his head.

To which the marine promptly flipped him off.

"What the fuck are you people on about?" he growled, "if you bastards think we're going to let a multidimensional rift keep us from saving our people, you don't know much about Terrans." He looked at the Vanguard warriors. "You two. Can one of you create a second, vacuum-sealed energy field around this one? The other will have to help me and my men breach this goddamn shield." He turned towards a few of his troopers. "Abdul! Drags! Leroy! Get over here! Bring the medkits!" The three guardians quickly flanked.

The sergeant turned back to the Vanguard. "Well can you do it or can't you? There are people dying in there!"
 
as written by barney_fife

The first part of John's objective was briskly completed when Vegeshin intervened to pull himself, and Lyssa out of the dome, as well as any Mercenaries he could grab. This meant that John was alone with his contract, and was all to eager to complete it.

With Vegeshin and Lyssa out of the way, the dome shifted once more, broadcasting a powerful stabilization field similar to an Aschen Planck field, in addition to the Antimana field. Vegeshin was allowed to leave, but his technique would likely fail him as he attempted to enter back into the dome.

The side effect of the field was the vortex was forced shut, and air was once again allowed to permeate the dome, which would be a welcome relief to those who managed to survive the evacuation of the atmosphere.

Bishop continued to take slow, purposeful steps towards Rynhart, his hand hovering just above his weapon, an Alteran directed energy pistol which fired spikes of Hard Light.

The weapon flew from his holster and into his hand as he stood over Rynhart, the cars shifting to attempt to pin him tighter as the Mercenary held out his weapon, outstretched and pointed directly at Rynhart's head, execution style.

Confident that no one could intervene, he stared down at the man before him. "Death awaits you." He said, before he pulled the trigger, the weapon barking it's report and emanating a brilliant yellow flash as a spike of hard light was driven directly at the Shapeshifter's forehead, right between his eyes.
 
as written by Script and Alara

It seemed as though the sergeant's words fell on deaf ears, as Aiedai continued to gaze through the dome at Rynhart. Their eyes met, and in that moment, it appeared that an understanding was reached between them.

"No," Aiedai stated. "Do not attempt to breach the dome. We now have the situation under control. Those within will not be lost."

As she finished speaking, her eyes were filled with a softly glowing light, and she became unresponsive to any further inquiry.

It was perhaps a peculiar thing that Rynhart's eyes remained on Aiedai and Tessa rather than Bishop. Even as his breaths fell to shallow gasps, and the car that was immobilizing him shifted to pin his whole arm along with his sleeve, his gaze never wavered.

There was pain reflected in the furrow of his brow as his arm was all but crushed between the two cars, and there was certainly an instinctive distress at the prospect of suffocation, but his focus remained strong. It wasn't until Bishop raised the gun to his head that he finally turned his gaze from Aiedai to the man who stood over him.

There was a vacancy there in his eyes as Bishop's finger squeezed down upon the trigger and the muzzle of the gun gave a flash. The bullet never struck its target though as it was seemingly stayed mid-air by the abrupt errection of a psychic field emenating from Rynhart himself. While Bishop's dome spread its influence inward, this one spread outward, and it effectively created a protective bubble within the dome. The effects of the dome continued unabated, but they would find themselves repelled at trying to pass through the newly erretected field within it. This left the majority of the dome still under the effects of Bishop's anti-magic and planar stabilization, but no longer the immediate center.

As the playing field changed, so too did Rynhart's features. Right before Bishop's eyes, Rynhart's physiology and facial features shifted with all the fluidity of water as he took on Bishop's form as his own.

As they did, he rose to his feet. The cars pinning him were shunted aside effortlessly as his entire body took on an ethereal glow. "You toy with powers you were never meant to comprehend, human," he stated. When he spoke, his voice echoed as though joined by an unearthly chorus, resonating within those in the area as though it were sourced inside their own minds.

"Your body may have been changed, your mind broadened, but at your core you remain the same. You are tiny. What can you see, John Bishop? We can see the whole of space and time, every single atom of your existence. All you ever were, all you are, and all you will be."

Rynhart paused, closing his eyes as though contemplating. He took a long breath, and when he opened his eyes once more, they were lit with the blindingly pure brilliance of the stars.

"And we deny you."
 
as written by Script

Lyssa's vision was fading when she felt arms grasp onto her and lift her from the ground. She was aware of blinking around, teleportation of some sort that left her confused and disoriented. When Veji appeared with his load of evacuees in the subway below, she gasped as her lungs hungrily drew in the air. For several long moments she was spluttering and gasping as the oxygen returned to her brain, and gradually her vision and motor functions returned to normal.

"Th- thanks," she managed to spit out in between breaths, "That guy is ... insane."

Her mind boggled to think on the amount of power he must wield to so casually create a vortex to deep space. After a moment she tuned into what Veji was saying, and glanced around at her surroundings. Stunned and frightened civilians stood around her and some of the mercenaries that had also been plucked to safety, staring at where they had appeared from nowhere. She recognised the signs on the wall as those from a subway station. She could feel her magic returned to her.

"I'll get back up there," she said after a moment, pushing herself to her feet unsteadily. After a moment she regained her stability, shaking her head to clear it. She forced any concerns about her own pain away, focusing on her magic once again. Magic surged through her, and with a final nod of thanks to Veji, she shot away, sprinting towards the subway exit at incredible speed.
 
as written by Tiko

Had the situation not been a matter of life or death, Tessa might have had words with the marine for his implication that she and Aiedai weren't themselves Terran born. As it stood the insult fell to the wayside of the situation, but the marine wasn't making any progress in gaining the confidence of the Elysian Vanguard.

"Arrogant bravado won't save lives," Tessa bit back.

She took a calming breath as she tried to quiet her own thoughts and nerves as she brought her hands together. As she pulled them apart, sparks of purple energy arched between her fingertips. It was difficult to concentrate on the intricacies of the spell with Rynhart's life hanging in the balance, but the further she drew her hands, the wider the sphere grew until distinct runes began to take form.

She lowered her hands and spread her arms wide as the runes and summoning circle projected themselves onto the pavement. Flickers of purple fire ran along its edges of the circle before making their way to the center to form a pillar of purple flames. When it subsided once more, a lithe demoness stood within the summoning circle.

"Sessa, protect Aiedai," Tessa instructed.

The demoness' eyes scanned her surroundings before settling on Aiedai's vacant and motionless form. She was assessing the situation, but made no outward acknowledgement of Tessa's orders.

____

Meanwhile inside the dome the tech con personnel that lived yet were in varying states of consciousness. One had managed to draw a plasma pistol from its holster as he tried to line a shot up on Bishop himself. His hand shook and his lips were as blue as Rynhart's when he pulled the trigger.

Even with the rift closed, and oxygen slowly being restored, it simply wasn't enough. The dome remained air proof, and the pavement of the street didn't afford much in the way of oxygen. What little oxygen they were receiving was permeating up from the earth beneath the broken asphalt where the rift had opened previously.

Another Tech Con merc managed to gasp into a comm device.

"Call off Bishop... gone mad... kill..... everyone."

His words came out as little more than husky gasps, but without any rank to his name, he hadn't the authority to do more than pray his superiors would heed their plight.
 
as written by Verse

His eyes studied the surviving individuals for a moment as they gasped for their air, savoring each breath drawn in. He could only find himself momentarily finding it a blessing that he wasn't inhibited by such a restriction; genetics at play that managed to self produce such a necessity. It certainly was a case of luck in this very situation, but it did him little good to ponder on his good fortune. Everyone appeared to be well, and Lyssa had taken off surface side before he could really get much of a word in. That had hardly mattered though as he swiftly found Rynhart's signature, above as it had been, and in that instance took it upon himself to instant transmission himself back into the core of the dome.

Had he been unlucky enough to try and appear anywhere else but the core, he'd have been denied via Bishop's adjustments to it, but he'd been lucky enough to appear within the newly erected inner sanctum Rynhart had established. Realizing things had become wildly different, Vegeshin stood, suddenly, guarded as he took in the sight of what appeared to be two of Bishop. Highly confused, initially, his power dramatically fluctuated as he took upon himself the second stage of his list of transformations. What dust that remained on the ground that hadn't been vacated earlier with the appearance of the rift kicked up in a spiraling dance around him, his hair growing more rigid and defined by the locks that parted in even more jagged spikes, the two that usually curtained along his face rising and falling with the energy that wavered and swirled about him. The static that had been flickering around him prior became more frequent now, more defined and far more sporadic than before. With what he'd witnessed so far, he wasn't certain an increase in strength would do him any good, but it was his only option at the time to at least keep himself protected, so he perceived, without expending too much Ki.

Obviously, one of them had to be Rynhart, and he assumed that the one he'd initially locked onto had been Rynhart. Perhaps the shift had occurred mid-transmission. Whatever the case, their signatures were now identical, both fuzzy and hard to get a fix on. There wasn't much he could say as he stood there, mere footsteps away from the shifted individual. "Things seem to have shifted drastically. Any idea's on what to do now?" He inquired, hardly worried about the words that would come from Bishop in return. "He doesn't appear to be the kind you just punch over and over until they wave a white flag. Unless that changes, I'm not sure what I can offer you." He continued. "The only thing I have left is Shissaiga, and I'm not certain of what use that will be, either."
 
as written by Ronin

"If you can save them, do it," the sergeant growled, "I don't care how you do it, just do it." Realizing that the ultra-powered Vanguard was probably more suited towards taking down the dome than he was, the sergeant rallied his men and focused on clean-up. The troops moved swiftly, moving everyone in their custody away from the immediate area. Lyssa would be scanned for immediate injuries. If she told the troops about the other escapees underground, they would move to find them. Once she was tended to, she they would attempt to cuff her and take off the site, unless she had anything more to say or help to offer.
 
as written by barney_fife

The Mercenary cocked a slight grin at how quickly the battlefield was beginning to change. As the Chorus of otherworldly spirits taunted the supersoldier, his mind's eye was somewhere else, specifically viewing a possible and very likely future minutes from the present.

His mind's eye watched the looming form of an Aschen Reverence II descending over Westeria's skyline, their purpose was yet unknown to him, and many possible futures branched off from that one certainty. His mind's eye made it's own rational conclusion based on Aschen military strategy, and he envisioned the Reverence opening fire on the city below, brilliant green bolts leveling entire city blocks, impaling the superstructure of Lingering Triremes, and wreaking all sorts of chaos.

Bishop's mind returned to the here and now, and his demeanor changed as he took a step back.

"It is you who toy with powers beyond your comprehension, or rather... Are about to have bigger problems" His gaze drifted to the skies above.

"When the Aschen Empire arrives to burn this world to Ashes." He said, his gaze tauntingly drifting to Aiedai and Tessa.

"I don't play well with Aschen, so perhaps I will allow your life to continue, and I will settle up with the Vanguard when the Aschen Empire has it's fill of this world."

His mind formulated a strategy, an a brief impulse was sent out mentally towards an Alteran puddle jumper that had been grounded nearby. The Puddle Jumper's engines powered up, and encapsulated in a cloaking field, and likely undetected it bobbed and weaved through the city.

Bishop was distracted at this point, much of his mind occupied with controlling the rapidly approaching Puddle Jumper.

He took a step back away from Rynhart and Vegeshin, his hands out to his sides as the Alteran pistol pulled itself back towards his hip, anchoring itself securely as the crystalline latticework encapsulated the pistol into a secure holster.

Just as he took a step back, the Puddle Jumper de-cloaked roughly two hundred feet down the highway, the cylindrical vessel launched two drone weapons immediately as it decloaked. These brilliant glowing yellow squid like objects darted out from the Jumper and towards Tessa and Aiedai, bobbing and weaving to avoid obstacles with great agility, these drones also broadcasted a powerful and very localized energy field making magical, psionic, and EM interference all but impossible. This same energy field was capable of parting shields, including Hard Light shields, which meant these weapons could pass through the most capable shields with absolute impunity.

Both drones would make attempts to avoid the Demoness if she tried to jump in their path, and they were smart enough to make attempts to dodge her attacks, weaving around her and if they closed the distance with Tessa and Aiedai, they would impact with the kinetic force of a large cannon, and the heat that could be likened to burning thermite, with enough force to blow away large chunks of flesh, the Drones retained enough energy that, if they passed through their targets, they would loop back around and engage them again, and again until destroyed, or the Targets had been neutralized.

While this strike was transpiring, the dome would vanish in hexagonal sections, though, given the nature of the Drones capability of circumventing barriers, the dome would not have saved them.

"I will take my leave." Bishop said, before jumping into the skies after the Jumper.
 
as written by Tiko

Sessa's mind was a calculating one, and her assessment was swiftly reached. Aiedai was too exposed to fulfill Tessa's command.

"Break the circle," Sessa hissed.

Tessa hesitated, well aware of Sessa's unpredictable nature. The demon couldn't be trusted, but neither had she tried to cross Tessa in the past, and even with the circle down she was still bound to obeying Tessa's commands - albeit with a more free range of movement.

Tessa released the binding circle as the Puddle Jumper de-cloaked, and as the drones were launched, the trio were engulfed in a pillar of flames that erupted from the demon, Sessa.

The drones would strike their target - or rather the pavement where their target had stood previously - but there was no sign of either Aiedai, or Tessa, who had been drawn into the infernal realm with Sessa.

Though it did raise the question of how they would return if Tessa herself was within the infernal realm and unable to summon Sessa, but such was the risks of trusting in the unpredictable nature of demons.
 
as written by Script

As Bishop spoke of Aschen and settling with the Vanguard, Aiedai was directing her powers inward, onto Rynhart's form. Power flooded through his body, increasing his strength and resilience. In the same moment, he raised his hand and in it manifested a sword, glowing with blinding radiance. The weapon's blade was formed of pure celestial fire, burning with the heat of the core of a star. Despite the immense heats, that fire was carefully contained to affect only the space it occupied, leaving the air around it entirely untouched.

Even as Bishop directed the initial impulse to the Puddle Jumper, Aiedai detected it. In the next instant, an invisible field of power bloomed outwards from Rynhart's position and washed over the entire street in a sphere centred on his location, including over Bishop.

No more than a few moments after forming his link with the ship, Bishop would likely find it interrupted, as she carefully manipulated the rules of reality to deny psionic powers like those of the Alteran to all those within the area.

Rynhart turned half an eye towards Vegeshin then, in response to his question. "The ship. We cannot allow him to leave. If he returns on his own terms, death will follow in his wake," spoke the voices from the elven man's body.

It seemed that she was not satisfied with allowing Bishop to merely walk away.
 
as written by Verse

As he stood waiting to hear anything in return, his gaze fixated back upon Bishop as he gave his sudden reasonings for throwing in the towel. His threat to return wasn't much to Vegeshin, assuming it to be just a bluff, as he caught sight of the pistol holstering itself. He remained stagnant, and silent, as the sudden appearance of a construct reared its head down the highway. The moment that projectiles came forth from it, Vegeshin realized it wasn't over just yet. "What in the hell are those ugly looking things..." He muttered to himself, squinting a slight bit whilst the dome began to erode away.

He hardly had time to take notice of the other individuals beyond the limits of the, now, vanishing barrier before he caught the words from Rynhart, or what he assumed was Rynhart. The ship. It couldn't be left alone. The moral compass inside him swiftly began to spin in a unfortunate manner. Hopefully they'd just be striving to incapacitate the being, then. But it was the Patronus, right? He recollected them, having seen many a time or two. Surely they were just in the mindset of capturing the individual and imprisoning him for his trespasses against innocents.

Whichever the case, there wasn't much time as he caught Bishop taking to the skies for the craft that was set to give him his escape. In a burst, he took off, clearing a section of the barrier that had fallen away to give him freedom. No longer visible by the vast majority, save for those capable of witnessing such transcendental speeds, he'd already assumed the third tier transformation; power output enough to send rippling shockwaves and distortions throughout the air whilst, concurrently, worsening the overhead storm. Despite his firm grasp on his power, it was still a form he rarely used that left his control over it far from flawless. "Alright, I can't let that tin can leave..."

As he speared through the air upwards, he swiftly arced and fell back toward the earth throwing his fist forward in an attempt to drive himself, fully, into, and through, the craft of Bisho's with immaculate force. The goal was to chew through it like a bullet through a target, but even if he couldn't, the force of his downward descent and the impact from his fist surely held enough to drop the craft into the earth several feet. "You're grounded!"
 
as written by Ronin

The moment the shields came down, the guardians were on them. Though not able to get too close in the wake of Bishop's last attack, they hovered just above the battlefield, hellcannons primed.

"Don't move!" one of them warned, weapon trained on Bishop as he moved for his Jumper. Three more pulled alongside him. If Vegeshin was successful in bringing the vessel to the ground, Bishop would swiftly find himself surrounded by TNG soldiers.

"Hold it!" three more hovered above Rynhart, guns raised, two others quickly closing in with aether rifles. "Knees! On your knees!"

The TNG had stormed the area, attempting to take control of the situation. "Where's the vanguard?" one of them shouted, their allies nowhere to be found.
 
as written by barney_fife

It was clear the Mercenary couldn't reach his ship as Vejisama descended abruptly on it. After he jumped after it, he surveyed Vejisama and the TNG a moment before he suddenly vanished before Rynhart could level an attack, or the TNG could close in, a small shockwave of energy emanating out from where he disappeared, but he otherwise left nothing in his wake. No witty comment, no comeback, he was simply gone.

When Vejisama made contact with the Jumper, it buckled under the immense forces imparted on it's hull. His attack severing several key systems as the jumper came down. What followed next was the Jumper's antimatter reactor would rapidly overload, and the jumper itself would explode in a violent flash of white light. This violent flash was brilliant, and carried millions of degrees of heat. Like a small nuke the craft went up, as Veji had impacted it so precisely that fail-safes were unable to kick in.

Immediately following the thermal flash, an overpressure wave shot outwards in all directions, with the force of a small nuclear device. Anything immediately nearby would be flattened, and a mushroom cloud would rise up over the skyline.
 
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