Faith
Distance: 3, Hyper[4]
Faith: 4, Hyper[5]
Immanuel: 2
Goose: 4
Sheriff: 5, Hyper[3]
Galavant: 5
Freon: 4, Hyper[3]
Sky Warden, Main Force: 5
Sky Warden, Rear Guard: 3
Cryonic Pylons: 2
Frost Eye Revision: Efficacy = 4
Sky Warden Revision: Efficacy = 6
So Distance, Goose just bears down on you like an angry storm of blades thrusters and tethers. Their trajectory is chaotic, unpredictable. And they're fast. Really really fast. You actually can't hit them with the swap, not directly anyways. You basically wind up having to twist the space around yourself to funnel them into your swap point and even then the persistent little bastard struggles the whole way spraying your surroundings with musket fire as they go.
Immanuel swaps in, Goose swaps out, net closes on Goose and... Absolutely nothing happens. It just wraps around them and then starts melding into them as they fire out tethers and start charging at the two of your again conjuring another array of muskets as... hmmm. Something's up. The space-time around them feels strange, as if their presence is seeping into it in a fairly wide radius. They've activated countermeasures of some kind.
AWACS ReaperEye <<Spatial manipulation detected. Source suspected to be Eagle 2.
>>AWACS ReaperEye <<Coordinate and overwhelm their defenses with sustained fire.
>>Meanwhile... Faith, you see Galavant weaving through Cynthia's tracer fire with frankly frustrating agility and just fucking yeet yourself at him intent on firing a little something he'll be having a whole lot more trouble dodging.
Magus 3 Galavant <<Oh you're that eager for a fight? I accept your challenge! This is Magnus 3, initiating Harbinger Mode!
>>Magus 4 Freon <<That fool... Rye I need aim assist.
>>Galavant spins around, his cloak splaying open acting like a set of improvised airbrakes, the deceleration so violent that they snap under the strain scattering through the air. From your perspective it's as if he suddenly changed directions launching towards you. Thruster housings slam shut as icey energy pours out from his armor shrouding his form in mist. A chill runs through the air.
It's cold. Oh so cold.
Your shield begins to tremble as if seized by some unseen force as tendrils of frost begin spreading across its surface. Whatever he's doing, it must be amplifying his energy control. And now he has enough to your control. Enough to try and tear your shield asunder.
Of course, that's not his only play. Ribbons erupt out of his back curving around a full 180 degrees and racing to meet you and Cynthia as a salvo of eight missiles. He's also conjured a shield and lance, readying to meet you in a single cataclysmic clash.
Output's increased too. Not enough though. If it comes down to it you think you've got him beat in raw overwhelming firepower.
ElsewhereAn explosion consumes the Sky Warden arcane energies rending ice and shattering armor. Yet it was not the target that was destroyed rather it was the already damaged Warden next to it, shattered by a blow far too powerful for its damage state. Indeed the target, the pristine Warden, it was barely touched. Or rather it was only touched where it was allowed. The blast not so much damaging so much as sculpting it, energies channeled, refocused to strip away the fat, the excess armor. They say some sculptors do not carve a rock to their design, rather they simply see the figure entombed the rock and free it. That is what happens here. The abstract crystalline construct. It was not created from the blast, rather it was freed, freed from its slab like state. A beam lances out, racing to strike the core of its fallen partner. It was the reforged Warden's turn to take the hit now, its refined EMS curving the beam away into one of its arrayed shield plates. Steam erupts from the plate, a little too slow to be called an explosion, but violent enough in its own right launching the Warden out the way of the next volley. Adventurers duck for cover as it fires one of its shields their way, scrambling for the safety of the buildings. The buildings were safe no longer. The wrath of the russian winter howls through its autocannons, shards of ice striking the shield of and ricocheting off, striking the fleeing Adventurers from behind and sending them plummeting into the sea below.
Its partner would return soon enough, reforged and repaired. The adventurers would be washed up downstream where they would be thawed by handheld dryers. Eventually.
In the wake of these sudden upgrades, hit and run tactics begin losing their effectiveness. Soon enough the remaining friendly forces find themselves scattered to the wind, chased away in all directions.
The Allied Forces Have Been RoutedSheriff falls back towards the approaching line of Sky Wardens, or at least the four that Cynthia didn't just murder with missiles and bees. The four wardens fall into formation behind him. With a flare of his thrusters he launches himself forwards in a charge towards Distance, a rifle in one hand, a lasso in the other. The four Wardens ready to deploy their shields, aiming to create a killzone of ricocheting ice shards around the Distance and Immanuel. Cynthia's other UAV is chasing behind him trying to strafe him down with autocannon fire.
ElsewhereThe Warden did not sense what had struck it, only that something had struck it. Something fast, something heavy, something explosive. Their EMS kicks online drawing as much of the blast away from critical components, focusing it where its armor was thicker, and in particular on its external shielding, launching it backwards as it readied its cannons. From the smoke there is a glint of gold. A lasso wrapping around its frame. A figure reels in behind it. Before it can even fire the spear had pierced its core. A swift kick to the side of the spear's shaft pries the core open, shattering it to pieces.
A new voice enters the comms.
Merlin 1 aaaaa <<This is Merlin 1. Looks like everyone's left without me. Typical. Mind if I tag along?
>>Faith
Status: Fine, Shield of Courage
World Line: 1 1 4 5 1 5 5 2 4 2
Alterations: 2.0
Resolve: 0
Distance
Status: Fine
World Line: 6 2 3 4 1 4 1 3 5 2
Alterations: 5.0
Resolve: 1
Immanuel
Status: Fine, 2 railguns, Promachos Install
World Line: 3 3 1 1 5 6 6 2 4 4
Alterations: 4.0
Resolve: 3
Cynthia
Status: Fine
Details: One drone chasing Galavant with Faith, the other is chasing down Sheriff.
"aaaaa"
Status: Fine
Details: Entering the combat area with the rest of the Sky wardens.
Magus 1 Goose
Status: Plating badly fractured, some internal damage
Details: Closing in on Distance under the cover of some sort of protective countermeasure.
Magus 2 Sheriff
Status: Fine, 4 Sky Wardens in tow
Details: Closing in on Distance with a lasso and rifle, Sky Wardens trying to set up a killzone around her and Immanuel.
Magus 3 Galavant
Status: Fine
Details: Firing 8 missiles at Faith and one of Cynthia's UAVs. Decelerating towards Faith while trying to pry open her shields via EMS and stab her with a lance.
Magus 4 Freon
Status: Fine
Details: Doing something or other involving aim assist in a bid to stop Galavant from getting his ass kicked.
Cryonic Pylons
Status: Somewhat depleted, roots have bee decoupled, no permanent losses
Details: Hiding beneath the surface of the nitrogen sea and spraying jets of cryonic matter to the Sky Wardens
Sky Wardens
Status: Very badly depleted, many permanent losses
Details: Main force is moving to join this battle. One squadron is flying in formation behind Sheriff.
Cynthia
A pureblood demon, classification: succubus. A ranged skirmisher who uses fear and charm magic for battlefield control striking a balance between harassing fire and decisive hits. Her vessels consist of two UAV fire support units.
"aaaaa"
A straggler still fighting after the route of the allied forces. A close quarters specialist armored with a magical lasso, spear, shield, and some sort of invisible exploding attack.
Immanuel did not use Mobilität+ due to being switched out of the net by Distance and thus not needing to use it.
Noriko"<No no, I should probably go...>""<Wait! Erena, I'd like to go on a date with you if you're still willing.>""<Really Drake? You mean it?>""<Of course. But I need to catch this kidnapper first.>""<That does sound pretty urgent.>"You clear your throat.
"<We tried that already.>"Wait really?
"<It fades too quickly. Watch.>"Drake produces a bottle of one of those health drink not unlike one of those you can find in your local convenience store and unscrews the cap, holding his hand over it until it begins to glow faintly. Pouring some of it into the cap he splashes Estefanía with it, a faint aura of light wreathing her armor.
He then pulls out something from pocket, it, it looks like a children's trading card depicting the same dragon as the one on that mural. Is that supposed to be this religion's equivalent of a crucifix? He holds it towards Estefanía. For a second nothing happens, but then suddenly she begins to catch fire. He quickly pockets the card and Ren sprays her down with a water spell spell.
"<See? Not enough power. She'll be on fire before she even finishes walking down the aisle.>""<Could you do that again?>""<Hmm?>""<I can amplify it.>""<Okay then.>"He holds out his hand over the drink again and Ren takes hold of his wrist.
"<Is this grove important?>""<No. I think they were saying they saying they were going to clear it to build some shops.>""<In that case...>"It is the smell that you notice first. The scent of flowers and nature hanging in the air, however much they seem to smell more of playing cards and casinos. it's all gone. The breeze too is gone, if but for a moment. The air hangs still save for your breaths. It's empty, sterile, devoid of life. The feel is not unlike that of a hospital, sans the cold aircon and stench of disinfectant. The next thing you notice are the trees, the grass, the flowers. They've all withered away. A very confused bird tweets in surprise as the branch it was sitting on collapses to ash beneath its claws and it very hurriedly flies the fuck away. Every plant in the entire grove is dead. Beyond dead. Withered to ash. Every shred of life torn out.
If you had to guess where it wound up, it would be the bottle that now glows much brighter than before.
"You can always power up a spell if you pay a price" She explains more to you than anyone else. Though strangely enough she doesn't seem to be looking at you so much as simply casting her eyes over where you're standing.
"The trick is getting something else to pay it for you." She smiles, you suppose it was meant to be wry, or maybe reassuring but honestly it just comes off as kinda awkward. Like a man just caught by his wife jacking off into her grandpa's open coffin.
"<That's rad>"The priest kinda just seems to stare off into space for like five seconds or so before pouring another cap and splashing it on Estefanía. It takes considerably longer for the flames to start appearing.
"<You'll have ten minutes.>"Okay ten minutes. That's some time at least. Not a lot though. Guess that means you guys will have to speedrun the ceremony short of finding more patches of land for Ren to lifedrain anyways.