The Outbreak

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

The storm and the general situation was making communications hard. Tempest bent her ear to the message being received, making out the messages from Kaida and Laira.
From Kaida she managed to interpret enough, hearing mention of the AA and bomb.
“Acknowledged. Attacking AA this side,” she replied. How much would get through, she didn’t know.

“All units,” she commed. “Aim for the legs or head,” she ordered after hearing Laira and Dimeria’s advice. They had clearly fought these sorts of things before, which was an advantage.

The enemy were pushing forward constantly, uncaring of the casualties being taken. Blasters and bolters would eventually run out of ammunition, and then the enemy would have the advantage.
Simply standing still was not an option. They had to act.

“Sergeant Solveig!” she called. Freya came over, taking cover behind a rock. “Hold the line. Keep the enemy back, conserve ammunition as much as possible. Give flanking support to High Captain Taldir where possible.”
The Sergeant gave a curt nod.
Tempest turned to Shamira. “The AA tower has to go. I can deal with it, but you need to stay here. Follow Sergeant Solveig’s orders. She’s done this before. Protect the troops.”

Noting that Laira and Dimeria might be the key to mobility, she headed over to them.
“Laira, got to get to that tower and knock it out. I’ve got a jump pack which can carry us over the press, but can you get up the side of the tower?”

To the witch who was nearby, “Maiev, can you give us any cover or try and determine who or what is controlling these zombies?”

Unfortunately for all of them some of those larger creatures were on their way. They were detected by the noise of their presence before their sight. A drumming on the ground, and a sense to those with the Force that there was danger approaching….

XXX

Meanwhile, one of the gunship pilots had gotten away from the fight and managed to transmit a message to command with more information.
“Ma’am, we have an enemy we suspect are compromised civilians, either possessed or otherwise mind-controlled. Eldorai and Firemane forces are fighting their way into the town, but the enemy has great numbers.”

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Laira Vereen"]


Her comm crackled as Laira's message came through. "Acknowledged." Being in the thick of the fighting, the High Captain could not converse much. There seemed to be no end to the storm of undead. Zombies were mowed down with volleys of blaster fire and bolter microgrenades, burnt with streams of elemental fire or crushed with telekinetic impacts. Yet they kept coming, often ascending over the bodies of their mutilated brethren. Kaida lost track of how many fell to her blade. Falling into the swirling defences of Soresu, she doggedly held her ground. Red bolts erupted towards her and she parried. Zombies grabbed or slashed at her and she slew them. At one point, she was disarmed and grabbed by the throat, but she ignited the zombie with her flame before smashing its skull with an ice-covered fist.


However, even maimed undead pressed on, throwing themselves upon the beleaguered Eldorai to buy time for their fresh comrades. They cared not for casualties. Blasters and bolters would eventually run out of ammunition, the mortals would get tired and thus be vulnerable. Furthermore, far from being mindless, the enemy was able to learn.


It was Kavora who spotted them first. "They're flanking us! Abominations are coming from the trees. Form square! Fight for Goddess, sisters! Ashira! Valora!" she shouted, raising her hands to unleash a withering blast of lightning towards ghouls that suddenly leapt from the palm trees and buildings, having used the Eldorai's focus on the front to move around them. It confirmed what Ranger Laira had just transmitted.


As one, the Angelii shifted, moving from a firing line to a square formation. Tracer rounds pierked the darkness, illuminating the night's sky. But here and there, undead broke through. With the front line weakened, the zombies ahead of them charged with renewed vigour. Bashing a zombie with her phrik shield, Kaida slashed downward to remove its legs, before thrusting the tip of her blade into its mouth as it tried to bite and claw her.


A premonition screamed through the Force - just a bit too late. Pain surged through her when a shattergun slammed into her armoured shoulder. It dented the phrik and the impact made her feel her shoulder had gone numb, but the plating had had kept the round from piercing her. "Sniper! 9' clock. Take him out!" The staccato of rotary shattercannon fire tore through the sky as an automatic riflewoman drilled the sniper's suspected location on a rooftop. Raising their shields, the Angelii sought to block enemy shots.


A cry of anguish caught Kaida's attention when a zombie overpowered one of her Angelii. Tearing the soldier's helmet off, the montrosity sank its teeth into her battle sister before being pulverised with blaster fire. Quickly crossing the distance, Kaida saw her battle sister throw the monster off. Blood dripped out of her neck and the Angelii's skin had paled. Without hesitation, Kaida chopped her head off.


She heard Nima say something about how they needd air support. "It's High Captain. And the enemy has AA guns. We must take them out first," then she raised her voice so that everyone in her unit could hear, shouting to make herself amidst the chaos of battle. My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking, she thought grimly.


"Girls, with me. We're breaking through to the AA tower! Join your Sciia and blast these bastards away. Keep your jets ready. We're the girls of Thermiscyra," she yelled, sinking deeper into the Force as she pulled upon its power and filled herself with its energies.


Retreat was not an option,

nor was capitulation.

Reinforcements were unavailable.

There was only one way and it was forward.

She drew upon the ice inside her, harnessing her

considerable scorn and cold wroth.

There was no doubt, only duty.

 

[Glory]

[member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Tempest"]


In short, their situation sucked. There were hordes of ugly zombies, who didn't have the decency of being slow and dumb. A Padawan on their team was trying to play general, and there was a big frakking storm. Welcome to Firemane. Just another day at work.


Sergeant Freya Solveig, known to some as Kerrigan's muscle, was unperturbed. Some space wizard had probably had a temper tantrum and thought turning people into monsters would be the fun thing to do. Figures. She had a job to do: Keep the troops in one piece, shoot the uglies charging towards them.


Tempest got a grunt in response. "Kid, there ain't no frakking artillery here. Get in line, kill beasties, don't play hero, don't get bitten," she told Shamira in a gruff tone. The Sergeant was not unkind, but a focused, professional soldier with no time for chit-chat or concern about ruffled feathers. For the time being, she was in charge of all Firemane troops here, while the boss-woman went off to take down the AA.


"Listen up, maggots. Form up. We're holding the damn line. Watch your flanks. Don't go Rambo with the ammo. Short, controlled bursts. We're gonna burn these motherfrakkers and stomp on their entrails. Keep buckshot, wrist flamers and blades ready for close quarters...and a last bullet for yourself. Urrah!"


"Urrah!" The battle cry resonated across the ranks of the Firemane soldiers. Digging into cover, the troops formed up. She could hear the large creatures on the way. They towered above the common zombies like giants, and had huge teeth and claws. With every step, there was a drumming on the ground. They looked like they could rip through a starship's bulkheads. "Hunter, Zhang, you see those huge frakkers up there?"


"Yes, ma'am," Hunter, a tall, strongly built male Dahomian replied in affirmative.


"I wanna turn them into Kebab. Lance 'em. Right in the centre."


"Understood, ma'am," and so the two soldiers prepared a Lance missile launcher. It was a heavy piece of equipment that worked best when one soldier operated the weapon, while the other acted as a spotter and second loader. But a single homing missile possessed devastating power, for the explosive warhead could annihilate light vehicles and seriously damage heavy tanks and walkers. One shot would not kill all the giant monsters, but make the job a good deal easier for the two witches. Raising her Mark One Bolter, Freya got in line, firing precise, carefully aimed shots of armour-piercing bullets towards the heads or legs of zombies.


xxx


The intense storm made it difficult to receive transmissions - or send support. However, enough of the pilot's message got through for General Devotion to get a broad idea of what was going on. For all Firemane knew, civilians might still be alive on the island and unaffected by whatever had driven the people rabid. However, their priority was to keep their troops alive and prevent the outbreak from spreading.


"I want the island quarantined. Anything leaves the island without authorisation, shoot them down. Dispatch the 17th and 9th flotillas. And deply the 122nd strike air squadron. Once the AA is down, they are ordered to carry out aerial bombardment. Try to reach Major Tempest. Her ground team must provide target coordinates."


"Yes, ma'am." Her chief of staff took notes. "If I may, we don't know the scale or nature of this...attack. If it is a mental attack, it may affect our troops as well, especially if they're on the island for a prolonged period. We may have to consider destroying the island as an ultima ratio. I'd suggest putting a Star Destroyer in low orbit."


It was grim thinking, but valid. "Noted. But we'd get our troops out before we do that and I'd like to get a better view of what is going on. As of now, this is no longer a rescue mission, but one of containment and then eradication. Alert the Dauntless..just in case. And rig the bridges with explosives," the General instructed. She looked down on the holomap, tapping her pen against the large table. "And inform Lady Kerrigan."


"She will not be pleased, ma'am."


"I'm used to storms. Better her being grumpy about being left out than about mind controlled lunatics knocking on her door."

 

[Shamira Karuto]

It was almost if the firemane force was fighting two completely different enemy’s as the shambling masses began to slowly make their way towards the group while the AA guns could still be heard firing away. It especially felt this way as Shamira realized what was happening. From one side the group was being fired at with lasers, while from the front a massive mob of zombies began thriller-ing their way towards the group of hunkered down Firemane troops. The only solace she found that they were no longer stuck on the bridge, which would have made things much worse with the claustrophobic tight stone structure.
Firemane seemed to have seen the moving mass towards them, and most had begun to focus their blasters on desperately trying to hold them back. The impending feeling of dread was slowly beginning to wash over the Togruta as she jogged back from her forward position with Tempest to put some more space between her and the group of slow moving zombies. Shamira didn’t know how long the group was going to be able to stay in this position, but with nowhere to go but back onto the bridge. But obviously, she definitely didn’t feel like going back onto that deathtrap.
Once they had backed up a bit, the Togruta began to look back and observe the so-called zombies. Lasers plowed into them with varying degrees of accuracy to what her mistress had called out. Some bolts hit the body, which seemed to only slow them, while shots to the head practically dropped them immediately to the ground. But with the varying degrees of accuracy already mentioned, with much more of the shots hitting the bodies of the reanimated citizens than the heads. And it seemed like the mob was getting closer.
Shamira’s attention was brought back to the rock as her mistress called over a sergeant and gave her the rundown of the situation. Her directive to Shamira not exactly what the Togruta expected to hear, thinking that she was going to get to go with her mistress. Instead of arguing, knowing now was not exactly the time, the grey skinned alien stood there while she received her marching orders from the woman. Frowning lightly at the beratement, she nodded curtly and fell back a bit more to the line of troopers.
“Don’t play hero, don’t play hero, don’t play hero..” Shamira repeated to herself while spinning her lightsaber hilt in her hand, unignited of course. She watched as the pair of strong looking soldiers moved to beside the sergeant holding a large rocket launcher. The ground rumbling lightly, methodically gave her an idea of what they were aiming at, but at the moment she couldn’t see what specifically they were going to fire a missile at. Knowing she couldn’t do much help from the unmoving line with nothing but her melee weapon, the Togruta moved forward slightly towards the shambling mass.
Switching her lightsaber to her left hand and igniting it in the same motion, her right hand began to crackle lightly with energy as lightning jumped from fingertip to fingertip. She lifted the appendage and launched a quick shot of electricity towards a small grouping of zombies, shocking a few. She didn’t know if it would cause them to die, but it would at least shock them into stillness for a moment, giving the troops behind a better shot at ending their miserable lives.
When the ground began to shake louder and a large thing appeared, the Togruta began to slowly back up, still firing shocks of lightning toward groups of zombies to slow them down, and making sure she was completely out of the way of the rocket launcher behind her. The thought ran through her mind that the weapon might not kill whatever was approaching the group, but she tried to shake it off, not trying to think the implications of what would happen if it didn’t.

​| [member="Glory"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Maiev"] | [member="Delila Castillon"] | [member="Laira Vereen"] |

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Roger dodger missus Hodger." Laira responded to Tempest, the white haired Firemane lightning specialist. Laira was unprofessional, on purpose. Part of it was to take the edge off the stress of being in life threatening situations, another part was because she had been raised as a Princess even if she used an alias to hide her identity so she had always been the royal speaking with the servants, and some because she had never learned military protocol from her parents since neither of them were very entrenched in the military.

"I think I can swing getting up there if you can get me over to it." She knew she could manage to get up the wall of the tower if Tempest helped out, however she would have some difficulty with it, the ability normally caused her nausea and some vertigo which got worse the longer she had to use the Force. "How about you Di?"

"I can follow y'all." The Golden Armored knight rattled off a few more rounds from her bolter, scattering the remnants of feral zombies bodies over a fairly large area. "But if we're going to make a push for it, we need to go before we get bogged down." With the sound of approaching stomping and the increasing pressure in the back of Laira's head indicating nearby danger, it was fairly obvious that worse things were coming for the Firemane forces. They needed that air support to minimize loss of life, and they needed it now.

Laira jumped from her perch in the trees, watching the branches around her for any slinking or skulking around, lying in wait to catch someone off guard and drag them off. The hunter ghouls seemed to have a pension for ambush tactics and intelligence, which left Laira cautious. It was possible that several of such mutated ghouls were lying in wait at the tower, knowing that the tower would be a place to attack a few beings, separated from reinforcements.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Glory"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Nima Tann]

Just as the person who contacted them said, these weren't the ordinary zombies that were hungry for brains, no, they actually had intelligence. Their movements were calculated, they knew basic tactics, and they knew how to use their environment. That made things a lot more complicated, since one of the perks of being a zombie was that you couldn't kill them that easily if you didn't hit them in specific places. Some just stood up without their arm, some crawled back to the battlefield with no legs. And now they were coming from the trees. The Angelii were fighting valiantly, but fighting against an enemy with no limits would break their formation sooner or later. They were quite outnumbered and the soldiers were starting to get bitten. The situation looked grim. Nima swung her lightsaber high towards the head of one of the zombies, decapitating it. She immediately felt a headache afterwards, bringing the news of danger approaching.

It was one of the jumpers. Nima caught the decaying body of a girl in the air, just about to sink her teeth in. Quite strongly, the girl tried to push herself towards her to overpower her, enhanced by rage and hunger. Nima tried to move her lightsaber, but couldn't move her hands freely from the struggle. The zombie opened her mouth, which Nima could see the green liquid forming. Nima took a breath and closed her eyes, energy flowed to her fingers and then the shrieks of the zombie could be heard as the energy turned to electricity. The grip of the zombie loosened as she was in great pain and Nima managed to free her hand. And then, swung her lightsaber to deal the final blow. Nima's fingers also burned, she felt pain but the adrenaline made it a bit easier to endure.

You got a promotion, huh? Nima thought. It seems the only thing that didn't change is your behaviour. Of course, those thoughts weren't spoken, as they didn't need any more conflicts than needed. They had a new objective, once it was clear that reaching the city in this state was almost impossible and they needed air support. The new destination was the AA tower nearby, and the High Captain said that she knew the way. However, first they needed to get rid of the horde of zombies all around them that prevented their movement. With Kaida's orders, a huge Force wave was created with the collective efforts of the Forcers present and the zombies were blasted away. Then without breaking formation, the Angelii started advancing. Nima followed the group, staying in formation to keep supporting the units.

Left,right, above, even below. Crawlers, jumpers, rangers, walkers... They were everywhere. With no other choice in front of them, the group pushed towards the tower. Some of them fell, but their positions were filled by their battle sisters. A silhouette of a tall building from afar appeared, difficult to see because of the lack of a good lighting. The road to the tower was filled with more zombies. Nima felt something strange as they moved closer though. She felt a presence, no, there were many. Those felt different from the zombies they were fighting. They almost felt... alive. Civilians? No. They seemed... dark. Aggressive.

"I sense strong presences nearby." Nima shouted, as she once more swung her lightsaber towards the zombie in front of her. "They might be alive, but don't seem like civilians."

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Laira Vereen"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Maiev"]

 

[Maiev]

Maiev's troops remained amongst Tempest and Shamira's, bolstering their efforts in holding back the zombie tide. It seemed almost endless, with each undead killed another one or two stumbled over in its place. They were the fodder, being thrown at their forces with little concern for their welfare. What glimpses she could get, Maiev knew they were all civilians - innocents caught in the net of whatever had happened on the island.

During that time Maiev had moved up, drawing her own blades and dispatching any zombies that managed to get too close.

Amongst all the noise, the witch was able to hear Tempest's request. She looked aroumd, debating whether she could further help cover their troops. But with the increasing push of the zombies, it was becoming more difficult to make a move without a vulnerability opening up and allowing the enemy to take advantage. However, there was still something she could do.

"I can try and reach out, find out what or who is behind this." The witch moved back, ordering two of the soldiers to capture one of the zombies. Initially they were confused, but after a quick explanation; that she needed a 'live subject', they reluctantly agreed. As a small clearing was made, the pair was able to haul one of the undead into the center of it - each helping to pin the man down.

Maiev began to pace around, one hand clasped around her necklace. She chanted; the words drowned out by the constant weapon fire. WIthin the blink of an eye, the solid emerald shifted into a sickly shade. The witch drew a small amount of ichor from the crystal and began to shape it between her hands. Maiev knelt down by the zombie's head, a Dathomirian spell flowing from her lips as she slammed her glowing fingers against the undead's skull.

She was pulled into the spiritual plane, tapping into the trapped soul that was currently locked in its rotting prison. Kalax aided her, helping the witch as she glided along trying to pierce into the man's mind. What she immediately found, was not what she was expecting. The moment she was able to get a foothold, Maiev felt her senses opening up and spreading out across the island. It was disconcerting, and made the witch feel sick every moment she remained connected.

There were countless threads going in every direction, like little strands that started at one point and all converged to a single point...somewhere. Maiev's attempts to follow it, to find where the source resided, were met with mental aggression.

Despite her best efforts; along with Kalax's, the witch couldn't push past the barriers that were stopping her. Each attempt was met with a piercing pain, etching across her mind. Again and again, Maiev tried until she was finally forced to fall back.

Maiev returned to reality with a gasp, immediately standing up and stumbling back a bit. The captured zombie attempted to lurch up, clawing at the witch. But one of the soldiers quickly pulled a knife out and jabbed it into the undead's skull.

"Tempest!" She called out, instantly regretting it as she felt a wave of nausea. "It's a...it's a hive mind. And I think there might be something deeper, something controlling them all."

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"] | [member="Delila Castillon"] | [member="Glory"]​

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

Tempest had spent the majority of her life fighting, most of that under some sort of military discipline. At Laira’s words her brow creased. She did not say it, but she thought the words; Ah, irregulars.
For her, that was an insult, but equally she appreciated the redhead’s skill. She was about to put her life in the other woman’s hands, so petty thoughts about discipline was left aside.

As she was about to move out she heard Maiev’s warning. That made her pause. A hive mind? That would explain much. Volume and scale was important. Whilst one ant might not be a big threat a swarm might be. Where instinct might drive a small group, the sheer networked power of these creatures might well create something greater by far.

“Understood. Try and get through to Kaida about this. Keep trying to find the nexus and what’s in charge.”

More zombies were purged. Tempest wondered how many citizens this town had even possessed. Surely they’d killed hundreds by now, how many more could there be?!

Too many.

A chilling thought.

“Right, Laira, with me. Freya, give me a curtain of fire, we’re going through!” she called as she headed for the front lines. She started to run, and as Freya delivered a hail of fire and explosives, she grasped Laira firmly under the arms and activated her jump pack. It was quite an intimate position to be in.
"I'm sorry, I've not even bought you a drink yet," she said with a chuckle as the pack took off.

The jump pack protested of course, it wasn’t designed for twice the weight, but an application of the Force allowed her to move in a wobbling parabola over the horde to come down near the tower.
Instantly they were seen and swarmers moved to attack them. Tempest was ready, and after sending a gout of flame from her wrist weapon she fired a grapnel up the side and started to ascend, making sure Laira kept pace with her.
Below, the zombies started to climb the wall after them…

XXX

Meanwhile, on all fronts, the sheer and shocking amount of slain zombies had caused even this horde to pause. Clearly frontal attacks were not working, and whilst large its supply of reserves were not infinite. The enemy was learning.

At first there was no relenting of the pressure, but silently and swiftly ripples flowed through the water as faster and more agile zombies slipped into the sea. Moving with silent purpose, their lungs not needing fresh air and their bodies immune to the buffeting of waves, a sudden horde rose from behind the Angelii and Firemane troops, attempting to catch them unawares and cut off their retreat.

To the front, though several of the abominations had been taken down, three survived; two facing the Angelii and one charging towards the Firemane troops.

At the same time, the mortals would be introduced to some of the emergency weapons kept on the island to deter pirates and slavers. Weapons like a couple of grenade launchers and an e-web based on tops of the AA towers suddenly started to be targeted at the intruders. Due to the height and line of sight of these towers both groups would be targeted.

 

[Glory]

[member="Maiev"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Tempest"]


"Fire in the hole!"


The Lance roared and a Deathstrike missile lanced out on the tails of flaming exhaust. Being a homing missile, it could lock onto even a fast moving target - such as the rancor-sized, giant zombies - and hit. The warhead slammed into the charging monstrosity, causing a magnificient explosion.


The abomination was consumed by a plume of fire and blown into foul-smelling chunks. Nearby zombies were blasted off their feet by the earth-shaking detonation. A second giant abomination that rampaged across the sandy beach ran straight into the line of fire of a portable rotary shattercannon.


This was a weapon that was able to fire up to six thousand rounds per minute at near railgun speed and able to penetrate vehicle armour. The droning whine of thousands of rounds smashing into foul flesh filled the air as the beasts had its insides literally drilled away and pierced as if by lances of fire. With a scream it finally toppled over, blowing up columns of sand as it collapsed.


Cheers erupted from the ranks of the Firemane soldiers, and Freya smiled grimly. Throw enough firepower at an opponent and they went down. A common soldier might not be able to move mountains with her mind, but she could accomplish the same with enough TNT - and without the risk of going evil because she felt emo.


"Eat this frakkers!" a young Firemane soldier yelled. "They're running away." Indeed, the zombies seemed to be retreating back into the shadows.


"Shut your mouth and focus, kid," Freya snapped harshly. "Check your ammo, stay alert. New wave's coming. Hawke, take two boys and check our flanks." In quick succession, two things happened. First, they came under heavy fire from the AA tower.


Alas, Firemane had equipped the militia with surplus heavy weapons such as grenade launchers and an e-web - and the zombies were actually able to use these weapons. Searing beams of laser fire shot through the air, while launchers belched out grenades.


"Frak it. Take cover, maggots!" Firemane soldiers scrambled to find safety. Billowing flame, sand and dust flowed upward, obscuring their line of sight. Lances of scarlet energy cut through the haze. Freya was blown off her feet by a nearby explosion. It was so loud that it was almost deafening and for a few moments she unable to hear anything, with the noise ringing in her ear. Her back hurt, but adrenaline surged through her. "Status?" she thundered.


"Three KIA. Two wounded. Medic is with 'em," Hunter's voice came loud and clear through the smoke. "We should send a complaint to the SOB who summoned these arseholes. Zombies should be slow and dumb. Got a Deathstrike with the tower's name on it."


Freya decided quickly. "No, spare the ammo and grab a bolter. Raven, get a good position and snipe those arseholes. Finn, suppressive fire." Raven was one of the platoon's sharpshooters, armed with a powerful, long-ranged, semiautomatic shatter rifle, while Finn had a rotary cannon. Affirmatives were displayed on her HUD, and she hit a button on her comm. "Hawke, still breathing?"


There was a bunch of static before she got a response. "Sarge, frakkers are coming out of the sea! They're right on our heels!" The transmission was punctuated by snarls, hisses and sounds of gunfire. As Freya raised her head out of cover and turned, she could see shapes moving in the distance.


"Enemy in our rear!" she yelled as the horde suddenly appeared behind them. As quickly as possible, the Firemane troops reformed. With the monsters so close, heavy weapons use would be counterproductive. It would come down to good old fashioned melee and close range weapons.


"Bolter shooters, load APE or buckshot!" Freya thundered, ramming a fresh magazine into her Mk1 boltgun. Depressing the trigger, she fired a load of buckshot into the first zombie that pounced her, blowing its head off and smearing brain matter across the beach. But where one fell, more came and she fired again. The two forces clashed in a furious melee, with the Firemane troopers defending themselves with buckshot salvoes or sonics. At close distance, they slashed at the monsters with blades and bayonets. "Witches, get your arses in gear! We're moving to the bridge. Fighting retreat." Freya had a jetpack, but most Firemane regulars did not and she refused to leave them, so getting on the tower would be too difficult while under fire.


The decaying, foul body of a young woman pounced her. As the beast sought to grab her, Freya used her gun like a club to bash her skull, causing a resounding crunch, then followed through with a slash towards her neck with the gun's bayonet. Green liquid dripped from the wound, though Freya failed to remove her head, and with surprising strength, the beast ripped her gun from her hands.


Freya cried out in pain when it retracted its massive maw, revealing a mouth full of huge teeth. In the process, the creature's eyes and nose were removed. The solid duraplast armour protected her flesh, but the bite was so powerful that she felt agony as it tore and ripped. Furthermore, acid slipped through gaps. Enraged and in pain, she used her free hand to deliver a thunderous punch in an attempt to dislodge it, and activated her wrist flamer. Caught in the blaze, the creature was ignited.


Meanwhile, Shamira and Maiev had not gone unnoticed. Indeed, the Dathomiri witch's mental efforts had gotten the attention of the hive mind. Suddenly, it assaulted her mind. It would feel like a thousand voices crying out in unison. It sounded like a little girl. Innocent, yet also twisted and wrong. A thousand times over. "Why do you hurt us, witch? We only want to include you and raise the quality of life. We'll all be happy together." The voices would grow louder with every second, until they reached the level of an orchestra.


The voices would be accompanied by a massive wave of nausea and dizziness, aiming to turn the witch's own equilibrium against her. She might feel an urge to relieve herself of her stomach's contents. For her part, Shamira would be subjected to the same attack. "Maybe you should rest," the voices spoke, while the mental attack increased in intensity, aiming to incapacitate both. Malacia was a powerful, but often overlooked Force ability. It could be downright debilitating, even though the hive mind only devoted a small portion of its power to the assault.


Oh, and speaking of the last of the three giant, rancor-sized zombies that was still in play? Well, the giant zombie in question just happened to be charging towards the witches. the ground shaking beneath its heavy footsteps. It looked pissed off about the death of its brethren and strong enough to tear through the bulkhead of a starship.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira wasn't all that concerned with such modesty, she was a good girl, but not that good. "That's okay, you'll just have to owe me one." She quipped as Tempest held her up. Laira had no problems with being carried off, "Next time though, you'll have to carry me in your arms." The jump pack seemed to strain under their combined weight, the redhead wary that her years of physical conditioning made her quite dense and muscular.

When they landed, amidst a spurt of fire from Tempest's flamethrower. Rather than wait around or try and fight the swarming mindless creatures, Laira was more interested in getting up and away from their grasping hands and infectious bites. The Force churned around her, princess drawing heavily upon the web of energy and pooling it within her body and surging it through the muscles in her long, lithe legs. With a burst, her body left the earth and soared high into the air until she landed upon the walls of the tower. Almost immediately her stomach lurched, but her feet carried her up the wall at a dead sprint.

Meanwhile Dimeria used her grav boots to attempt to keep pace with the pair. The boots were not nearly as fast as a Jump Pack of any nature, but they had the benefit of being able to support the weight of the dark and purple haired Dame and her golden plated power armor. Gouts of fire burst from her gauntlet, spraying flames around the arcing guidance beam into the swarm while she hovered above their reach acting as a rearguard behind the ascending white haired Tempest and flame-maned maiden sprinting up the side of the tower.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Glory"] [member="Nima Tann"] @Maiev @Shamira Karuto

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Nima Tann"]


There was no reprieve for the Angelii. As soon as they got close to the tower, they came under heavy fire. A battle sister's cortosis shield blocked the first salvoe of searing laser beams, then she was blown up by a grenade belching out of a launcher. Cries of pain were heard as the Angelii scrambled for cover, trading volleys with the abominations on the tower, but there was little of it, save for bushes, a few trees and the darkness of the night.


The latter would have provided a better obfuscation, were it not for the fact that the zombies had sensitive hearing and smell. Where there was blood, their keen noses picked up on it, and they followed the trail like bloodhounds. From behind the Eldorai soldiers, more zombies came. These were less durable than their brethren, but faster and agile. Suddenly emerging from the waters, they charged the Angelii. A significant number fell to ice and lightning, but more came.


"Activate jets. To the tower! Mist!" Kaida shouted, just a moment before one could hear the deafeningly loud footfalls of giants, as two rancor-sized, powerful looking abominations suddenly charged towards them, shaking the earth and causing columns of sand and dust to rise up with every massive step. Where a giant bullrushed them, Angelii were sent sprawling.


Flying towards the tower would pose risks, since it put them in the direct line of fire of its occupants. However, the Angelii were between a rock and a hard place. If caught between the zombies on the ground and the shooters above, they would be mauled. On top, they would have the high ground and be able to evacuate if needed.


Having discarded her lightsabre, she fired her Cylix bolt pistols, cutting down zombies to cover her battle sisters. As she activated her jets, a damning blast of ice erupted from her. A zombie that tried to grab her boot and catch a ride found its arm frozen rock solid. And so she shot upward, following in the wake of her sisters. Withering bolts of lightning erupted from Kavora and other Angelii, inflicting grievous harm upon those undead that had crawled out of the waters.


To help obfuscate them for the shooters, a quickly summoned mist engulfed them, helping them weave a path as they soared high into the air. They were getting closer to the AA tower, which conveniently was not that high. Soon it was in range, and the Angelii dropped down from the sky, landing on the walls. With hand signals, the High Captain directed her small unit to move up as came in to land. Then suddenly Kaida perceived a surge of the Force...coming from the tower. A then a storm of electricity blew towards her to smote her.


The Zombies had Force-users among them. Lightning struck her - and more importantly the sensitive components of her jets - and sent her tumbling. As she sought to activate her grappling hook to anchor herself, a mental attack slammed into her mind like a boulder, accompanied by a wave of dizziness A giant zombie caught her scent, and things went dark when the huge abomination grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.

 

[Delila Castillon]

While the writer clearly hasn't bothered with a reply, Dells was still in the thick of it. Minutes ticked by and she saw the hotel go from mild panic to full blown chaos. The undead-like creatures were not of the normal, shuffling variety. They were bouncing off trees, scaling rooftops, and generally acting like idiots hopped up on energy drinks. Dells didn't even know about the Force using zombies in the crowd yet!


She was stuck only with a basic hold-out blaster. Not exactly the explosive laded arsenal she would prefer to have at this moment in time.


Slipping from her hotel room, Delila figured her only chance was to hitch a ride on a Firemane ship. If she could reach one...

 

[Shamira Karuto]

[SIZE=12pt]They just never stopped coming. Ever. It was like a never ending wave of death that advanced nonstop towards the two groups. No matter the amount of lasers they poured into them, more came. For every one that went down with a shot through their rotting skulls, three more corpses replaced it. The two groups of attackers to the Islands defenses couldn’t keep at the same pace.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]For Shamira’s case, she had been forced back from her forward position long ago. The Togruta now stood alongside Firemane forces, cutting down any zombie that dared get within reach of her glowing yellow blade. If it weren’t a blade composed of pure light and one of metal instead, it would be stained with the rotten blood from the walking corpses. Her slashes were calculated, swift, almost always slicing cleanly through the head. These allowed the Togruta to save her energy, instead of wasting it on trying to cut apart something that wouldn’t die unless it’s brain was destroyed apparently. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]And even with the combined efforts of both the Firemane forces and the witches, the neverending horde continued to press forward. They moved almost as if they were one, like they were one…mind. These suspicions were confirmed by the shout from the raven haired witch. Only seconds later the large group of hunter, quieter zombies popped up behind the group of attackers. It took only a second for Shamira to realize the peril that they were suddenly in. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Her gaze momentarily looked to the large, circular building to their left where both Tempest and Laira had landed and were doing their best to work through. She hoped it was sooner rather than later they captured it, for the MG lasers and grenade launcher’s projectiles were doing just as much damaged as the circling horde. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] Shamira couldn’t move anywhere. Wherever she looked was a rotting corpse in her path. The only way to get out of this was…up. With a spring, the Togruta launched herself into the air, landing on one of the stronger branches. If she could just hop from branch to branch, avoiding the attention of all the hunters along the way, maybe she could get back to the side of Freya. Surely she would know what to do. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] Then the voices stared. A loud, overwhelming voice that forced it’s way into her mind, forcing her to a knee in the trees. Never in her life had she felt something hurt her mind in such a way. It completely took over her thoughts, forcing the breath from her lungs as she tried to gain her thoughts back. She swayed back and forth momentarily before the voice was just too much, and the Togruta fell from her tree branch, hitting the ground with a solid thud. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] The voice slowly seemed to dissipate from her mind as it was replaced with the pain of hitting the ground. Shamira moaned lightly as she opened her eyes slowly, only for her mind to spring to action the moment one of the hunters sprang towards her from the shadows, seeing she was easy prey on the ground. Her arms shot out to stop the hunter from taking a bite out of her neck as it forced her onto her back. Nasty, rotting blood dripped from the thing’s lips and onto the Togruta’s cheek, forcing her to hold her mouth shut as to avoid ingesting any of it. Electricity surged from her fingers as she poured lightning into the zombie, so much so that the thing’s eyes popped clean out of it’s skull as it went limp. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] The grey alien slowly rolled over onto her front, gritting her teeth in pain. Her lightsaber, which had fallen from her grip during her fall, was summoned to hand as she pushed herself up. Shamira rubbed her temple for a moment, mind still hurting from the invasion, before starting towards Freya to help her with the retreat.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]| [/SIZE][member="Delila Castillon"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Glory"] | [member="Maiev"] |​

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Far away from the zombie-infested town, things were peaceful on Corcyra. The island was one of those rare gems, a little haven of tranquility in a chaotic, war-torn Galaxy. Here, Siobhan had erected her luxurious mansion shortly after Firemane had liberated Arkas from hordes of pirates and slavers. Of course, the magnificient new-age villa was not without defences. These came in form of a shield generator, antiaircraft guns and the Sacred Band, the Lady's personal guard. While her amazonian bodyguards performed their vigil, Siobhan was enjoying a few quiet moments with her niece Adril.


The girl was curled up with her aunt on the couch. Siobhan, dressed in a kimono robe, stroked the little one's hair fondly. "In the Queen's wood, there lived a mother lion and a cub. The lioness loved her very much, but there were other things that lived in the wilderness. Evil things."


"Like what?" Adril asked, a bit sleepy but still listening with rapturous attention.


"Like...Reeks."


"Reeks aren't evil, Auntie. They only eat grass, unless you treat them wrong."


"And kath hounds. They could hear them crying in the night, and the cub was frightened. Her mother said, you are a lion, my daughter. You mustn't be afraid, for one day all the beasts will bow to you. You will be queen. All the Reek will bow, all the kath hounds will bow, the rancors in the north and the Yazgid of the west, all the birds in the sky and the beasts in the sea. They will all come to you, little lion, to rest a crown upon your head. And the cub said, will I be strong and fierce like you? Yes, said his mother. You will be strong and fierce, just like me. Stronger even."


Content, Adril cuddled up to her aunt. The sweet scene was suddenly broken up when a door opened and the tall, statuesque Sergeant Simoom entered the room. The security officer's expression was grave - even more than usual. Seeing the child, she walked quietly, so as not to startle the girl. "Mistress, there's a problem," she whispered into Siobhan's ear.


"Hey, Ms Simoom. Auntie's telling me a story. Wanna join?" Adril asked, having been drifting off before the footsteps awoke her. However, then she saw the look on the security officer's face and curiosity overcame her, paired with some concern when she saw the expression mirrored by her aunt. "What's going on?"


"Stay here, sweetie. Auntie will be back soon," Siobhan replied in a reassuring tone. Gently, the Dahomian amazon lifted Siobhan with no discernible effort and placed her inside her hover chair. "My study," Siobhan ordered and took off, gliding through the air. "Well?" she addressed her bodyguard once the door had closed behind them.


"There's been an outbreak on Serenade, Mistress. The settlement sent a distress signal, then Firemane lost contact. General Devotion dispatched a recon force commanded by Major Tempest, accompanied by some Angelii. They're under heavy enemy fire. The culprits are unknown, but a pilot reported a horde of either mind-controlled or possessed civilians assaulted our forces, turning the island's defences on us," Simoom reported in a crisp, professional tone.


There was a moment of silence. "And why am I only learning this now?" Siobhan demanded. "There's a crisis on my planet and I only hear of this with a significant delay? Has Devotion enacted quarantine measures?" Simoom, feeling a bit awkward, nodded curtly. "What's her next step?"


"Tactical air strikes once enemy AA has been knocked out, Mistress. The storm makes communications difficult."


"Where there's a will, there's a way. Has the outbreak spread elsewhere?"


"Not so far. Serenade is being blockaded."


Siobhan frowned. "If Serenade is compromised, other islands may be affected as well. Prepare the Revenant. I want Harmony, Adril and Livia on board. The children will be safe on the Ardarvia. And prepare my shuttle. I'm going to HQ. It's time to assume direct control."

 

[Nima Tann]

The darkness was illuminated once more by the laser beams, the only difference this time was they weren’t coming from the weapons of Angelii. Instead, they rained down from the top of the tower directly on the group. Not only that, it seemed that they also had grenade launchers, as explosions followed the beams afterwards. Some of the Angelii weren’t lucky enough to protect themselves, their cries of pain could be heard for a brief second, then they were replaced by the sound of conflict.

Unfortunately, the zombies up the tower weren’t their only problem. From behind, they were ambushed by the different kind of zombies, those ones were faster and more agile, if they reached them that could cause quite a problem. The elementalists created a defensive line behind, bombarding the zombies with ice and lightning. And of course, there was one more thing. In their front, 2 rancor-sized zombies appeared, rushing directly towards the group. The situation was grim. No matter how , staying in this position would mean death.

Then she heard Kaida’s voice. Having the high ground was always a good tactic, the tower would provide them a good cover and a chance to shoot the zombies before they reach them. Even though it would expose them to zombies at the tower, and Nima started to think that they were endless, it was a better chance of survival. Now, Nima didn’t like jetpacks, she would rather feel the safety of the ground beneath her feet and control her own speed, however, desperate times called for desperate measures. She swung her lightsaber upwards towards the head of zombie right in front of her, decapitating it. Evading the rushing giant just barely, she hit the ground with her feet, activating her jets. She focused on the Force and let out a strong wave, to keep the zombies away from her, as she started to ascend, kicking away the hands of zombies who wanted a free ride before they could grab her.

“I don’t like this at all.” She thought, feeling a bit nauseous, but she just had to endure this for a short time. She felt the air around them changing and mist started to appear, giving them cover. Though it worked both ways, since it was also getting difficult to see around. Blaster bolts flew nearby her, some too close for comfort, but she managed.

The tower quickly coming in range, the feeling she had before suddenly intensified, a sense that whatever the source was, it was coming from here. And shortly afterwards, she felt the sudden change of energy in the air and looked at the direction, seeing the lightning. Before she could understand what was happening, this time she felt an immense, but familiar pain, which caused her to shout. The second lightning bolt struck and unbalanced her. It was the least of her problems though, as the jets stopped working and the Twi’lek started falling. Nima, panicked, tried to restart them as her fall became faster each second. This is why she hated jetpacks.

Yet the unthinkable happened, and the jetpack decided to listen to her, even though only temporarily. Her back ached painfully as the jetpack suddenly stopped her fall, but it was of course better than falling to her death. She quickly moved towards the nearby platform before the jetpack deactivated once more, and landed. Enemies opened fire immediately, some hit her before she could react, adding the burning wounds to her already in pain body. She created a Force barrier and launched herself, ready to attack. The pain enhanced her reflexes as she took care of the zombies one by one, before she was struck again by what it felt like a lightning bolt from behind and another cry of pain escaped her lips. Angrily, she turned back and let out a powerful Force wave, causing the zombie to fall from the platform. Yes, it was a zombie. One using the Force.

Taking care of the zombies up the platform and out of breath from the pain, she lost balance for a second, feeling dizzy. “Not now.” She said, and tried to push herself from the ground, but she couldn’t stand up. “Not now...” She said once more, but her eyes started to close on their own. “No... this is wrong. Something’s wrong. Stay awake.” She repeated, as she crawled behind the wall to take cover. Her strength was draining fast. It wasn’t a normal reaction, it was an attack. She forced herself to concentrate, to strengthen her defences and find the source, and came across a link. Following it, the scene she saw in front of her shocked her. Thousands of links, all going towards the same direction. “Could they be...” She thought “I should check it.” Following the links, she finally reached a destination, one source that was connected to every link. A hivemind. Sending mental blasts to the source, she wanted to find some answers. She pushed and pushed until she could crack the shell. A sudden feeling of exhaustion take over her body... She couldn’t stay conscious anymore, even if she tried... And then, darkness.

She opened her eyes, to see that she was in a totally foreign place. “How did I come here? Where am I?” She thought, confused and suffering from a headache. The warmth of the Sun touched her skin as she saw people passing by, chatting and laughing. She caught the attention of some of them, they watched her with curious eyes, but didn’t come nearby. She looked around, still confused. Blue, clear sky. Colorful plants. Trees. The sound of the river and chirping birds nearby. This place... looked nice. Being completely lost, yet feeling like you belong here somehow... It just raised more questions.

“Hello.” A little girl approached her suddenly, causing Nima to almost jump out of fear. “Are you new here?” She asked, with a big smile on her small face.

“I... think so. Where am I?” Nima asked, somewhat relieved that she would finally find some answers. Yet, the girl didn’t answer her question.

“Who are you? Do you remember anything?” She asked instead.

“I... I am... Nima.” Nima answered. Wait. Who am I? Her head went blank. “I don’t remember. My head hurts.”

“Aww, poor sis! Don’t worry.” The girl responded, Nima saw a smile forming on her face. That... disturbed made her happy for some reason. A storm. “You are safe here. We’ll take care of you. Let me show you around, you’ll love it!” Not even giving her a chance to answer, the girl took her hand and started running around giggling. The people nearby soon noticed the newcomer, and moved towards them, encircling the two. “Hey everyone, look! I found myself a new big sis! You want to be my big sis, don’t you?” The girl announced, she sounded very happy. “Something is wrong...” “Yes, I want to.” Nima answered. She just, couldn’t say no to her, especially after thinking how happy that would make her. Hearing her response, the girl jumped with joy. “Yay!” She said excitedly. “Everyone, welcome my new big sis to the family!” She added afterwards. “Welcome to the family!” The people around them all spoke in harmony, smiling. Nima... recognised some of them... smiled too. No more questions. She belonged here. She was happy. Happy. Happy. Happy thoughts. Decaying faces.

“Is something wrong, big sis?” The girl asked, looking concerned. Getoutofmyhead. “Nothing. I think it’s just the crowd.” She smiled. “Oh I know!” The girl once again shouted excitedly. “Let’s go swimming! It’ll relax your mind!” To that, Nima just nodded. She loved swimming, didn’t she? It would relax her mind. Once again, the excited little girl took her hand and pulled Nima after her. Soon, they arrived to the river. The little girl was the first to jump to the water. She was just... so weird cute... She watched her play with the water with a big smile on her face.“It’s so warm! Come on, sis!” The girl called out to her. Nima wouldn’t want to make her sad. GETOUT So she complied and moved towards the river.

The reflection caught her attention. She saw... herself. Headache. Headache. Happy thoughts. Happy.

Getoutofmyheadgetoufmyheadgetoutofmyhead. “Sis come on, it’s not fun to play alone!” Getoutofmyhead Get out of my head. The storm. The tower. Zombies. Serenade.

“I’m not not your sister.” Nima finally said, remembering everything and breaking her control.

“What are you talking about? You are just confused.” The girl still played along, but her tone got more serious. Almost completely different from what she was before.

“No. I’m not. My name is Nima Tann, and I’m here to stop you.” Nima replied, finally back in control. “You are the leader of the hive mind, aren’t you?”

“Then we don’t need to play pretend anymore. That’s a shame. I thought you were having fun.” The girl walked out of the river, coming closer. “You insult my paradise with such... vile words.” Her words were sharp, almost poisonous.

“Paradise? What are you talking about? It’s not a paradise. You are just forcing them to think it’s one.” Nima couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“You think I force them? That’s cute.” The girl laughed softly. “No, I just give them directions. I bring them together, and provide them harmony. They decide everything else.”

“It’s wrong. You are just erasing their mind, their experiences of their past life, everything about their personality. You are giving them the illusion of choice, but you are the one pulling the strings. It’s all fake.” Nima was ready to escape this place and stop this madness.

“It’s as real as our conversation right now. “Life” is worthless compared to what I give to them. They should be thankful. They are thankful.” The girl answered. “I’m getting bored now, though. You just keep talking and talking. Alright, you know what. Go ahead. Pull the plug. See for yourself. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

It was a trick. It was all a trick.

She was trying to deceive her.

Of course she would stop this.

Nima concentrated on the Force and started bombarding this place with mental blasts. As the earthquakes slowly destroyed the paradise, she was suddenly struck with what it felt like tens of thousands of screams all together. Still, it didn’t stop Nima. She put up her defences, and continued bombarding it. The screams turned into cries of agony. The cries begged her to stop.

What if she was right? No. She wasn’t. Nima was doing a good thing by doing this.

It was all a trick.

Screams hit her defenses. She tried to focus on escaping.

And then, silence. The peaceful silence. Nima opened her eyes, her head felt like she just died. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm down. After such an illusion, a week of meditation was needed. Or a vacation.

Meanwhile, in the real world, suddenly the zombies nearby would stop moving, as if they suddenly shut down. Even though temporarily, it would give the soldiers a good chance to regroup and collect themselves.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Laira Vereen"]

 

[Maiev]

Moments after Maiev had relayed the information to Tempest, the witch suddenly stumbled to her knees. Her entire body felt heavy, nearly impossible to shift even though she could see her arms moving like normal. That's when it hit her, and reality was suddenly sucked away leaving the witch stuck in her own mind.

All the voices were deafening, but one stood out - that of a young girl, innocent in tone but the words were anything but.

That was the biggest downside to using mentalism, when the enemy was more than capable of fighting back.

And Maiev was severely outnumbered in this case.

She could feel her body buckling beneath to their power. Fingers numb, hearing deaf. Skin burning up, and vision becoming blurry. Maiev felt like throwing up all the while her head was pounding with a mighty headache. It was all building up, rising in sync with the tempo of the voices in her head.

<No.>

Kalax's voice broke the crescendo, and all of a sudden Maiev could breathe again. She let out a gasp of air, as her senses slowly came back to her.

K-Kalax?

<Go Maiev, they need you back on your feet. I can hold them at bay in the meantime.>

As she returned to reality; he senses returning, Maiev felt the mental barrier the spirit was surrounding themselves in. Kalax's focus would be solely on that, and would otherwise be unavailable for anything else. All she heard was one last sentence before her connection to the spirit was muffled.

<Raise the quality of life, as if. You're nothing but an abomination!>

Maiev caught sight of Shamira, impossible not to when she heard the telltale sound of lightning crackling. It tore across the hunter that was attacking the Togruta, frying it until it finally died and allowed the woman to push the body off her.

That was when Glory barked her orders, words shouted over the chaos of battle. They were falling back towards the bridge, and Maiev quickly followed Shamira as they aided Freya in defending the troops retreating. A thunderous pair of feet put a brief halt to that.

She looked over to see a tower mass of grey flesh, once a normal man now twisted into something giant. While his head remained the same size, his torso and arms had grown exponentially. Roughly standing as tall as a rancor, the giant snarled as amounts of saliva fell from its maw.

It was hungry, and had its sight set on the three women and their troops.

"Shamira, Freya, to me."

The creature roared as it charged towards them. As it drew closer, Maiev called upon more of the ichor from her necklace, draining it. This time though it crackled around her right hand, wrapping around it until it shifted into a makeshift whip. With one of her blades in her left, Maiev swung her right arm back - the whip cracking in the air before she swung it forwards and snapped it at the giant's face.

It worked mainly as an irritant, stunning it for a moment for the other two women to get an attack in.

​

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"] | [member="Delila Castillon"] | [member="Glory"]​

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

The attack had one advantage; surprise. No one had expected them to charge off with only three warriors to the AA tower. There was a reason for that, they were now very heavily outnumbered.

Still, Tempest was not about to let little things like massive odds get in her way. No, whilst down below she could hear the comms chatter as Freya pulled the troops back to the bridge she was not afraid. She could fly after all.

On the top of the tower there were enemies who were stronger and more determined. Smarter zombies. One of them was manning the big e-web cannon, and spun it up to face her.

The world seemed to freeze.

We don’t need to fight…join us. Join the harmony and unity we bring.

A beach. Green palms and the strange grass trees of Arkas provided a picturesque contrast with the azure water and the golden sand.

Tempest woke, as if from sleep. She was laying in the shade on a towel. No armour, no weapons. Why would she need them? Everything was at peace!

Beside her was a certain redhead she knew rather well. [member="Elpsis Elaris"].
The redhead leaned in for a kiss. “Hey, not sending you to sleep am I?” she asked playfully.
“Not sure…what happened. I thought it was night and…storms.”
“No, silly, it’s bright sun! Even I know that!” she said.
Tempest chuckled. Elpsis’ corny jokes were the same as always, but something nagged at her.
“So, I have all the details for the ceremony. We’ll start at midday with the service, then have the reception at 15th hour.”
“Ceremony?”
Elpsis pouted. “Have you listened to anything I’ve been telling you these last weeks? For our wedding of course! I’m going to become your lawfully bonded wife.”
Tempest shot up. Something was wrong here. Elpsis was many things, but a commitment girl was not one of them. For that matter, nor was Tempest. Instincts within her were screaming that something was wrong.
“What’s wrong, Tempest? Don’t you love me anymore?” Elpsis asked. Her lip quivered. She reached out a hand towards Tempest.
Tempest felt bad for upsetting Elpsis. She just needed to take her hand, say sorry and everything would be well….

NO

Elpsis was not a sappy wet hen begging for marriage. Tempest was not seeking to settle down and become domesticated. This was not her dream. This was someone’s version of her dream. Her own dream was something she kept buried further down, in the darkest part of her heart, and it had nothing to do with weddings or palm trees or beaches.

If you won’t have harmony, you will have death

She was back in the darkness, the rain, the storm. No time had elapsed it seemed, the gun still swinging up to bear on her.
One thing had changed though. Tempest was angry. You did not mess with her head and get away with it.

She feinted left, then dived forward as the cannon fired over her head, came up, and impaled the gunner with her crackling blade.
“Laira, Dimeria, down!” she shouted.
Jumping into the seat of the controls she spun it around and lanced fire in all directions, mowing down zombies as they spilled over the side.
“Now, blow the gun now!” she ordered the other two. She could hold off the zombies with the cannon for a few seconds to allow them to get to the AA gun.

Said gun was a huge dual minigun weapon which loomed above them, but to the two maidens would prove vulnerable to explosives placed at the right points.

Calling in her commlink, Tempest reached out as best she could.
“Kaida, at AA tower. Will call air strike when both towers down. Send coordinates for maximum impact.”

She had no time to spare for her troops below. Shamira, Maiev and Freya among others would have to continue fending without her for now….

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Nima Tann"]

Location: Eastern half of the island, near the AA tower.

There was nothing to slow her fall. One moment she'd been blasted off the tower, the zombified giant grabbed her with its massive paw, and hurled her through the air. The impact upon the ground was thunderous. She saw rain, zombies, heard the staccato of gun fire and the whine of blasters. Abominations advanced, seemingly coming from everywhere. Pain flooded her body as she tried to get up, then time seemed to freeze. Try as she might, she could not move a limb, but equally it seemed that the undead had been frozen in their tracks. Then everything went dark.


The High Captain awoke as if from the deepest slumber. She was no longer encased in battle-scarred armour, but wore a dress uniform, with her Sarix sheathed in an elaborate scabbard decorated with Eldorai runes. Likewise, her surroundings had changed. She stood inside a courtyard, and when she looked up she saw the towers of an enormous ziggurat. Not just any ziggurat, but the residence of the Star Queen in Santaissa. This was Kaeshana. Crowds of Eldorai filled the courtyard, while Angelii dressed in resplendent scarlet or golden armour and armed with Sarixi or halberds stood guard. Everything was at peace...as it should be.

"Oh, there are you. Daydreaming, little sister?" Abruptly Kaida turned, finding herself staring in the blue eyes of her sister, Lavina Taldir.

"Sister."

"Yes, that's me. Nice to know you remember it!" Lavina slapped her on the shoulder. "I hope you won't be so tongue-tied when you give your acceptance speech after the Queen formally promotes you to Grand Seraph. We all know how much you love speeches."

"Not much."

"Just say more than two words. Come on." Without giving Kaida a chance to do much of anything, her sister led her away. Angelii stepped aside, saluting her, and the heavy gates opened. "Everything is so peaceful...and intact," Kaida muttered.

Lavina gave her a look. "Of course, it is! The wars are over. All our enemies have been defeated. And the Eldorai are united."

"This is not real. Kaeshana is occupied by fascists. Who are you? That is...good." Her lips moved, forming words, but what emerged from her tongue was not what she wanted to say. This was not right...but she could not help admit that it felt good to be cheered and saluted as she passed through the corridors. This was all she'd ever wanted. Their faces looked happy. She saw rotting skin and fangs.

"Good? It's fabulous," her sister gushed. She looked so real. Her sister had been lost in the Netherworld. "Finally, the Eldorai have reclaimed their rightful place in the universe. We don't bow to anyone anymore. It's thanks to you and Star Queen Anais VI," she leaned towards Kaida, whispering conspiratorially into her eye. "She really likes you. Good catch!"

"I've had enough of this nonsense. Show..." Before Kaida could say anything more, the door to the throne room opened and she was ushered in. Angelii, aristos and so on filled the grand hall. At the far edge of it, the Queen was seated on a majestic throne. It was none other than Vaena Askari, dressed in regal robes and with a diadem planted on top of her head. She looked radiant, serene and elegant.

Kaida was filled with disgust. Pulled forward as if by an invisible force, she found herself bending the knee to the Queen. "My loyal subjects, we are gathered here today to honour one of our most accomplished, bravest warriors. Captain-General Taldir led our holy legions to victory in our War of Independence."

Something snapped inside Kaida. Forking arcs of lightning shrieked from her fingertips, blowing Lavina away. The two guards flanking the Queen went down, and she plunged her blade into Vaena's stomach. As the Queen was impaled upon the Angelii's Sarix, Kaida's body was riddled with dozens of blaster bolts. Screams of agony bombarded her, accompanied by a spiteful voice.

That was your sister and your only friend. We offered you peace, and you chose death. For what? A meaningless life. You're so consumed with anger, envy and spite. But so be it. Abruptly, Kaida awoke in the real world. She was back in the darkness, the storm and the rain. It felt like thousands of red-hot needles had pierced her brain.

Ere she could regain her bearings, a hunter ghoul pounced the disarmed Angelii, pinning her to the ground. They wrestled, both struggling for dominance. The ghoulish creature managed to tear her helmet off, and jabbed razor-sharp claws into an eye, while spitting acidic saliva into her face.

Pain flooded her - as did fury. Her ice-covered fist punched the undead with such force the ice shattered, then her wrist flamer enveloped the monstrosity with scorching heat. Throwing the beast off, she arose - in pain, with blood dripping out of her eye sockets and tremendously pissed off. Her hands found her lightsabre. The crackling blade ignited with a snap-hiss. The ground beneath her shook as a towering mass of grey flesh charged. Icy spikes manifested in the cooling air and shot towards it.

xxx

"The High Captain is down! She needs our support!" an Angelii exclaimed, amidst the noise of battle atop the tower. Up here they were safe from the horde on the ground, but fighting was still fierce and zombies were starting to scale the walls. The cannon needed to be taken out - and fast.

"The mission comes first," Host Leader Karova interjected sharply, in between firing her bolt pistol to put down approaching undead. A strong wind was summoned by her will, slamming into enemies. "Dalia, Kaezita, give her some covering fire. Rest of you with me. Teal, place explosives at the cannon. We shall not fear abominations! Ashira wills it!"

Seeing that the purple skinned alien had been roused, she took Nima's hand and helped her up. The Angelii actually looked just a bit concerned, but did not let it slow her down. "Come on." Said gun was a huge cannon, but vulnerable to explosives.

The Angelii charged into battle, Eldorai war cries and religious hymns escaping their throats, as they fell upon the zombies atop the tower. For just a few moments, the undead around them had been slowed, due to the mental contact between Nima and the hive mind.

 

[Glory]

Location: Western half of the island
[member="Maiev"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Tempest"]


Feth. Her arm hurt. Damn acid, damn claws. With the hand of her good arm, she grabbed a syringe from her medkit. Then she jabbed it into her wound. The sensation was torturous and she bit down on a piece of cloth to keep herself from crying out, but she felt a bit better after it.


Gunfire flashed, close loud and vicious. She spun around towards the shots and the sound of movement, and felt impacts upon her torso, rounds punching into her duraplast encased body. Fortunately, this metal was quite tough and this was the most protected section.


Her sidearm replied as soon she spotted movement, and she dropped a zombie, smearing the sand with crimson ichor. Her HUD marked the positions of the the Firemane troopers, puling off a fighting retreat. "Reform at the bridge. Hunter, cover me. I'm shooting this sucker," she yelled towards the tough Dahomian, who blasted away with his Mk1 bolter. Cannily, he'd loaded it with ion bolts. The zombies had come from the water, so they'd get electrocuted, which did not agree with their brains.


For she had seen the huge mountain of flesh. Once it had been a man, as shown by its vaguely human face. But now it was a monster. It seemed focused on Shamira and Maiev, but it was still a threat. Temporarily stunned by Maiev's efforts, the beast could not press its attack right away. But it bellowed loudly, unleashing a Force Bellow powerful enough to cause a shockwave.


Though not close to the melee, even Freya was knocked off her feet and tossed to the ground. Blood dripped out of her ears. Cursing violently, she crawled over towards the body of a Firemane soldier. Bending down, she picked up the shatterbolter, placing it on top of a big boulder to stabilise it. She aimed for the beast's bloated stomach.


The mass driver was a devastating anti-armour and anti-personnel weapon, a shattergun big enough to fire explosive-bolt gun bullets. Since the weapon fired its projectiles faster then the speed of sound, the hyperaccelerated bullet would find its mark before the gunshot would be heard. The thunderous echo would be equal to that of a tank shell exploding.


Meanwhile, the hive mind had not been idle. Discerning that the older witch had an alien force shielding her mind, it focused its attention upon the weaker Force-user in the group, Shamira. All of a sudden it sought to ensnare the Togruta in its web and warp her perception of reality, so that she would believe that Maiev had been turned into a zombie and was about to attack her.


xxx

Location: The hotel with the poor room service
[member="Delila Castillon"]

Even the hotel had not been spared a zombie infestation! Full blown chaos had broken out. Sadly, these undead were not slow and stupid. Who knew, maybe being zombified was a good way for the guests to avenge themselves for the bad room service. Or for the hotel staff to get revenge for the complaints about the poor service, but this one digresses.


As Dells made her way out of her room, she would not be alone for long. Rather, she soon ran into a frightened young girl. The child looked startled when she saw the older woman and drew an improvised weapon...a kitchen knife, before dropping it.


"Oh...sorry. You're not one of the monsters. They're everywhere! They...ate my parents," the girl was shaking. Her skin was seemingly healthy, but pale. Her collar hid a very small bite mark. She stepped a bit closer. "Please...Miss...can you help me? I don't wanna die." Then she would suddenly try to lunge towards the redhead and plant a bite.

 

[Nima Tann]

Location: Eastern half of the island, near the AA tower.

The whole ground was shaking beneath her as she lay down on the platform, looking up blankly towards the top of the tower. Everything was a blur. Her body was burning in pain, and her nose was bleeding. The screams of the citizens as they begged her to stop hurting them still ringing in her ears, she continued breathing. It wasn't real. She repeated over and over. She was trying to save them... It was all a trick. Though, what made her upset the most was she let this affect her. The hivemind benefited from her weakness. It had been years since she let her guard down for mental attacks, and now feeling the same pain that she shouldn't have, she was just upset. The time stopped around her, as the memories flooded back. The painful memories hidden behind her many masks.

Lightning. Ants. Crawling. Eating her flesh alive. Pain. Panic. Deep breaths.

Stop. Stop it... Stop it...

It was a bad time to have a panic attack.

She was suddenly pushed back to reality when she sensed someone approaching. Reflexively, she tried to stand up to protect herself, but couldn't find the strength to do it. Luckily, this one wasn't an enemy, but one of the Angelii. Weakly, her hand approached hers and taking strength from her, she finally managed to get to her feet. "Yeah." She answered with a nod, and her first few steps being wobbly as she still suffered from dizziness, she followed the Angelii back to the battlefield. On the top of the tower, there were more zombies. Slowed down from her mental attack, the explosions still rained towards them, making it difficult to progress. Covers were limited, zombies were climbing the walls, and the only defense was offense in this situation. So, she activated her lightsaber and took her position, preparing herself both mentally and physically for the attack. The Angelii who helped her gave instructions. For one final push, the Angelii striked, and the battlefield was filled with hymns and groans of hunger, mixing together.

Nima, now that she regained her strength a bit, stayed in the back to play the support role, as she was still quite tired for athletics. She concentrated on the Force to create waves, keeping the zombies away from the group, especially away from the Angelii who was going to place the explosives. Her lightsaber remained nearby for those who got close enough. Fortunately, the zombies getting slowed down for a while was worth the pain she endured, otherwise she would get overwhelmed quite easily. She was suddenly hit by another sharp headache, giving her the news that danger was close. Reflexively, she ducked, managing to dodge the zombie directly coming towards her. The zombie quickly got back up and started running towards her once more, and Nima was suddenly taken aback as she turned to her attacker.

She... recognised that face.

Her face dropped, breaths got faster, and she swung her lightsaber angrily to now concerningly close zombie, who was about to attack her. The lightsaber met with the zombie's neck, and with a cry of pain its corpse dropped nearby Nima's feet. This was going to be one long night, wasn't it?

[member="Tempest"] [member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Delila Castillon"] [member="Laira Vereen"]