<BlueLightning> : morning guys. war yet?
<TheBear> : Ho! U r almost late, war starts in 5.
<Syiana> : Morning. Where are you?
<BlueLightning> : in inferno dun. trying to find black diamond.
<TheBear> : Lol... I juz found 1 yesterday.
<Syiana> : We're already all at Juwelia.
<TheBear> : Ya, I tot my comp's gonna die from lag.
<BlueLightning> : change your comp.
<Syiana> : I'll wait for you at the portal in Jeryasum town, Blue.
<BlueLightning> : ok. be there in a few.

Syiana turned down the volume of her earpiece to partially tune out the noisy army chat frequency and went pass many of her bustling fellow army and ally members to reach the crowded portal area. She smiled when the blue-clad figure of her unit member appeared from the teleportation circle.

"I think I need to change my earpiece, I nearly heard Jyusenal instead of Jeryasum." Grumbling under his breath, BlueLightning approached Syiana. "Urgh, Bear's correct. I'm lagging like nuts."

Syiana grinned. "Wait till it starts, you'll lag until you dc."

"Shut up, not everyone can afford your kind of computer." BlueLightning muttered sullenly. "I dced like twenty times in the last war and it wasn't even a large one."

"Take your own advice. Change your comp." Syiana chuckled as the two of them advanced towards where the Black Sword Unit was gathered.

"Bite your tongue!"

Syiana laughed, then stopped and listened intently to her earpiece. "Hey, I think our glorious leader is speaking."

<McDohl> : Everyone, let's do a countdown!

A loud deafening roar of consent rose and soon the area was filled with the sound of counting.

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!!!!"

Hiryuen logged in to find herself standing in the middle of the item shop. With totally no idea how she got there in the first place, again. However, it did not surprise her the least, for she could have logged out only ten minutes ago, and she still would have forgotten her purpose for being in that vicinity.

She checked her items and decided to replenish her stock of ether and healing pills. The exchange of money and pills was quick, with many of their members already headed off to... where was their battleground again? Sighing mentally at her forgetfulness, she tuned in to the microphone attached to her headphone, and set it on 'Army speak'.

<Hiryuen> : Umm, guys?
<Napster> : yup?
<Hiryuen> : Err, where're we supposed to go again?
<Frolian> : >.> rite you forgot.
<Hiryuen> : sry?
<Frolian> : whatever. Anyway its Juwelia xy:10 130
<Napster> : And hurry up. Carbuncle's the last unit to come.
<Hiryuen> : Rite, thanx. Ill send my unit and meet you there.
<Napster> : Sure, i'll be in front of that big christmas tree.
<Frolian> : Rite, meet you there.

That done, she inserted the newly acquired pills into the holder strapped against the side of her upper thigh, filling them up near to the brim before capping them close. She was now ready for the upcoming battle.

The sight of her fellow members in the Order of Carbuncle greeted her as she walked out of the shop. As she neared them, they gathered in a small circle around her.

"Alright, we're going to Juwelia now." she said, glancing at every one of them, "Remember which unit you're supposed to follow! This comes from first hand experience!"

A soft buzz of muffled laughter arose. It was widely known, even amongst the newer members, that Hiryuen was notorious for her bad memory. It was a miracle that she actually managed to memorize the keys for all her spells.

Smothering her own smile, she turned to her back and murmured a soft chant for her spell, Dimensional Gate. Within a few seconds, a gate appeared in front of her. She turned back to the unit and gestured for them to enter it.

Following the last of them, she entered the gate, leaving it to disintegrate behind her as it always did.

War was breaking out. Krystoph began shaking uncontrollably with excitement in his seat. As much as he hated magic, all practicioners of the "art," and his foolish inability to use it, he loved war. Not only because the spoils were exceptionally rich, but also because he simply loved the look of computerized gore on the screen, the exhiliarating feeling as a pixellated scimitar sliced through an imaginary opponent. Krystoph loved to kill things, and since he found himself incapable of killing, and too well aware of the law, he had to settle for video games.

He logged on and found himself in the Black Forest. While a low-level dungeon (Black Forest encounters had an average EL, or encounter level, of about 70), Krystoph found that the forest made an excellent base of operations for his mercenary unit consisting of... well, himself. There were plenty of trees; it wasn't hard to hollow one out and place a few small sums of money, each coin individually enchanted by an outside force to subsequently rise to redhot temperatures and then burrow, searing, into a prospective thief's palm (dealing a thousand damage points per second). Granted, this procedure was exceedingly expensive, but Krystoph liked to keep track of his belongings, and it wasn't as though he had anything better to spend his money on anyway.

Krystoph gathered up some coins to head into town at Jyusenal. "1000 platinum should be enough," he said to himself, and then started dashing into town. Being of a very high level, he did not tire easily, and managed to make it into town (killing a few very low-level monsters along the way) within five minutes. Krystoph walked into the magic jewel shop and looked at the sword-setting gems the dealer had in stock.

"Antimagic field!" Krystoph shouted, overcome with joy. He pressed the "P" key and checked the price. 200,000 platinum. Go figure that he spent so many coins to enchant his remaining ones so that they would be protected. Excellent logic, he thought, rolling his eyes. Even in the forest, he only had around 150,000. Krystoph kept browsing, finding three more gems that he could use. Even greater wounding, even greater flaming, and even greater freezing, costing 175K each.

There was only one way Krystoph could possibly raise enough money to buy the gems he wanted. Krystoph headed out to a potential battlefield and presented himself in a place where he could be easily spotted by both sides, awaiting an offer.

<Sikal> Rhet, you there?
<Rhet> Yeah, yeah, I'm here.
<Sikal> What're you doing?
<Rhet> Relaxing, out in the fields.
<Sikal> What direction?
<Rhet> North, Si. What's the occasion?
<Sikal> I'll tell you when I get there.

Rhet moved his legs, as he continued to lay down underneath the shade of the tree, staring up at the sky he knew was fake, but was beautiful nonethless. His arms were crossed behind his head, his left knee raised, and his right leg resting atop it. "Well, he's always got something for me to do. I wonder what the item could be." Rhet used three minutes to think about this, when Sikal arrived.

"Rhet, Rhet!" Sikal was running towards Rhet, at full speed, which was a little slow, he looked overencumberd. Rhet noticed as damage marks began to appear on Sikal.

"Si, drop some of the stuff you're carrying. You look like a noob."

"I can't, there's a war going on!"

"Wow, a war." Rhet spoke with an air of sarcasm. "Hardly anything I need to get into. Why don't they just form an alliance or something? Saves a lot of time, and a lot of characters."

"But, Rhet..."

"Don't say it, Si. Whatever you do, don't say it."

"It'll be a challenge."

Rhet sat up, uncrossed his legs, and stared at Sikal. "I hate you. Oh so much. Alright, let's go."

"You don't even know who's going to be in it!" Rhet nodded, showing Sikal that he could continue, " You know that Jyusenal has been a prime place for an army to have. Well, The Bahamut Clan and the Souleater Army are at it again, this time, fighting over Jyusenal. They both want it bad, and I assume you'd get some nice money and items out of it."

"I've got all the items I need, I'm perfectly fine with my stats, as they stand." Rhet smiled, knowing Sikal's reaction.

"Well, either way, BC and SA are widely known for having extremely powerful leaders. If you were to go up against one, it'd be tough, and you'd have your hands full. It'd be a challenge."

Rhet smiled, "All right, let's go get recruited."

Dameon logged in to find himself in an armory. Standing there, looking all the weapondry reminded him of his loss to the hands of souleater. He checked for all his wepons and found them all them there, in all their right places.

"Fhew.... i was scared there for a second"

Wiping the sweat off his forhead he realized he needed help in returning to The Fayth. He set out to an item shop in Jyusenal, though he knew the war was there.

" Perhaps there will be a merc on the way their for hire. After reaching the shop I can retrieve my platimium and pay him, then purchase myself that antimagic field setting gem I need to defeat Syiana Eris. Hmm.....i wonder how the brotherhood is doing?"

Continuing his way out of the town of Titos, he began west to Jyusenal. Following the path he encountered a Band of Raiders lead by a young shaman.

"HAHAHA....look at this one boys"

"Listen punk, the last thing i want to do is end you account early.!"

"HA....did you hear that Nonomik, the american guru wants to fight!"

"Another clummsy americ....a.....n....."

Within that instant his 11 inch steel was shuved halfway through Nonomiks chest.

"HATEBREED!!!" Dameon roared.

In the blink of an eye he had broke the other threes necks and retrieved their platimium then continued walking to Jyusenal until he reached the crossroads of the battle about to wage. He saw a young man sitting in the middle of the field?

"Hmmmm.... a merc?"

He continued towards the young man and they met eyes. He stood overlooking the young one and his mouth opened.

"Krystoph right? Ive heard of you. 100,000plat maximum to follow me north west to the brotherhood of the fayth, If you accept my name is Dameon, Commander of the omega unit loyal to Buhamut Clan. The road is very dangerous, so what do you say?"

[OOC: Use the font 'Courier New' for army chat. It's smaller and prettier if anything. ^^;]

"Thirty-nine..." Syiana grinned wickedly as she watched her enemy turn into dust and disappear, given to the ever efficient respawn system. She retreived the thrown dagger, sending it floating back to her with a flick of her wrist, but before she could slot it back to its place in her boot, her instincts rang and it flew out to meet the head of yet another low level assailant.

Checking the war armlet on her wrist that resembled a watch and bore the insignia of her army for identification, she gleefully reported the score of her kills into the microphone that was permanently tuned to army chat frequency. "Forty, my dear friends. I'm going to take the Most Kills award if you slowpokes don't buck up!"

Laughing gaily at the screams of rage and curses her comrades very considerately voiced over the chat, Syiana stuck the dagger into her boot and strolled towards Jeryasum, using Phobos and Deimos to take down the another four lower level ones as she went. She needed to restock then venture further away from their homebase. Only the foolhardy (also known as the lower levels) would go near enemy homebases at the very beginning of large-scale wars, so if Syiana wanted better opponents, she would have to look further.

Just inside of Jeryasum, she spotted a spikey blue-haired monk dressed in peasant clothes, and she raised an eyebrow as she quickly scanned the man for any army insignia or a mercenary armband. Certain that she would not be killed immediately but still cautious, she approached the man, questions in her eyes and weapons out in the open. "Rhet? What are you doing around here when there's a war going on?"

Bah, I've lost track of Sikal! Rhet was searching frantically for his companion, looking over the battlefield, left and right. He was probably thought to be an enemy...


<Rhet> SIKAL! ANSWER ME!

No response came. Bah, I'll talk to him at school or something.

Rhet viewed the battle, watching as no one would approach him, when quite suddenly, and from behind, "Rhet? What are you doing around here when there's a war going on?" Rhet flipped around, arms at the ready, when he noticed Deimos and Phobos. Rhet smiled at this.

"Night Mithril, how do you do? It's been a while, Syiana." She nodded, but continued to hold her blades aloft. "Don't worry, I haven't been taken in by either side yet, I'm just getting a feel for this place before I advertise myself." He noticed she wavered a little, but kept her guard up. "Syiana, we've leveled before, and I've fought on your side before."

"You've also fought against me."

Rhet thought about that for a moment. "That's true. But you know me a bit better than most here. I'm not one to lie." He smiled, as she lowered her guard, a small bit more. "So, other than the obvious, what do you guys want here?"

"Just that, we want the Jewel Shop. You know how valuable it is, Rhet." At that moment, a member of the Bahamut Clan had chosen that particular time to attack. Syania brought her blades up to defend, and Rhet moved in, using his Bone Breaker ability, and following that up with a roundhouse, sending the man to the floor.

A wide, sly grin spread across Rhet's face, as he giggled, just as he did before he was about to take on a large challenge. He stooped down, standing over the man's chest, bringing his face extremely close to his. "You aren't going to last long, if you don't get those bones taken care of. Should you make it there, let some people know that Rhet is helping the Souleaters." Rhet's eyes shined, and, if it was possible, his grin grew even more. Rhet stood up, jumped around, and faced Syiana with that same grin.

"We can talk a price later. You know me, I'm in it for the challenge."

Hiryuen glanced at the unit whom she was supposed to follow. Several were already becoming decidedly impatient as the battle drew on. The figures on the death counter on the side of her visor jumped from tens to twenties within a few minutes.

The first wave of attack would be over soon, and they should be prepared to make their move as well. She tuned in to her speaker again and set it on whisper, directing it towards Esterie, the leader of the Order of Ragnarok.

<Hiryuen> : terie xy of frontline?
<Esterie> : 128 60
<Hiryuen> : we'll be there in 5
<Esterie> : we've got one injured soldier. he's been hit by a bone breaker.
<Hiryuen> : Is he still able to fight?
<Esterie> : yes
<Hiryuen> : Any area skills on him?
<Esterie> : no
<Hiryuen> : Then leave him. The system will heal the bones when he's resurrected.
<Esterie> : ok.

Hiryuen shook her head resignedly. Heal the useful ones, the weak ones, leave them for the system. That was the rule they followed during battles, for they could not afford to heal every single injured. Sighing, she turned to the other members in the area. As she was about to speak, Esterie's voice was transmitted over to her headphone again.

"By the way, Rhet's siding with the SA this time."

She sighed again and said to the others, "Alright, we're going now. Ready your area skills. The gate will be disorientating but it should be over within one to two seconds." she paused before continuing, "As always, Carbuncle members, look out for Syiana Eris. And Rhet's on their side this time."

Turning to her side, she casted Guardian Deity and Dimensional Gate again and gestured for one unit to enter. Within a few seconds, four units of the Bahamut Clan were sent over to the four major points in the area the Souleater Army occupied. Hiryuen watched the jump in figures on the death counter smugly, it was the first time they decided to use this method and it was working very effectively.

Taking a deep breath herself, she casted the Dimensional Gate a last time and followed the units in, where they landed right smack in the dead center of the SA where spells flew everywhere, the BC units fully making use of their element of surprise to decimate the shocked SA members.

(OOC: Ack, can't find Courier New under the font menu.)

Krystoph was actually quite happy. 100,000 platinum would be enough to get him the Antimagic Field gem, and for such a minor job that would lead him to the leader of Brotherhood of the Fayth. He always did like Bahamut Clan better than Souleater Army anyway.

<Krystoph>I'll take it. But I want to speak to your leader once we get there.
<Dameon>Very well then. I'll show you where it is.

With that, Dameon took off running. Krystoph followed at a distance, looking around for potential threats. By the looks of things, this was going to be an incredibly easy 100,000 platinum.

(OOC: Apologies for the shortness. Tag Livewire.)

Dameon headed westward to a crossroads just outside of jyuensal and stood awaiting the arrival of Krystoph, who was in no hurry to keep up with the young Hatebreed. Krystoph eventually stood parellel to Dameon and they met eyes.

(D)"Sounds like an easy 100,000 huh?"

(K)"Do you really want me to answer that"

(D)"Well think what you wish."

(K)"Ohhh... I will, Aint no stubbern Hatebreed gonna scare me."

(D)"Im not trying, but i need to inform you of the path we are taking."

(K)"Shoot luke its you gigabyte!"

(D)"On our way to The fayth we will cross the Gurudian plains and head from there west."

(K)"Gurudian plain huh! HA!! Giant rats, what are you a level 210?"

(D)"Past the plain is the is the Base of operations for Souleater."

(K)"SOULEATER!!"

(D)"Not only that, but if the Unit head is there Syiana Eris, then we've got one of the best practitioner of the Dark arts on our hands. And then we should be roughly two gigabytes from camp and when we reach The Fayth you will be rewarded."

(Krystoph with a lump in his thraot)"Well.......then... Shall we?'

(Dameon with a chuckle)"Ohh we shall."
They continued west only to run into A small special tasks unit of souleater,
The Sasin Tru and only to find that it was 2 on 11.

(Krystoph) Two on eleven, When we resurrect ill, meet you at this same trading outpost?"

(Dameon with a smile) "HATEBREED".......
And the first four droped like flies.

Krystoph stood in amazment as the smile on his face grew larger and larger with each passing moment.
"Now thats the kinda guy i like!"

And with his four furious arms he drew his blades.

"Hahaha Lets do this!!!!!!!"

OOC: sorry for all the dialoge. Tag Edrick

The Souleaters, caught by surprise, drew their weapons as soon as they were aware of what was going on. By that time, Krystoph had already sliced apart three of them. Dameon had taken down three more in addition to the four he had already killed, leaving only one. As they approached, the one remaining fighter, their leader, conjured a wall of fire, blocking Krystoph and Dameon's progress.

<Krystoph>Got any ideas?
<Dameon>It's just a level 550's Wall of Fire, how tough can it be?
<Krystoph>Don't try it! You never know what they could have up their sleeves.

While Krystoph was busy trying to come up with a way through the wall, a flaming knife struck him in the chest. Another knife just barely missed Dameon.

"Bingo," Krystoph said aloud. He sheathed his swords and pulled out his bows. He nocked them and fired. Both arrows missed by an indeterminate margin, but Dameon saw, smiled, and pulled out his gun. Both continued firing rapidly through the wall. After a few seconds, the wall disappeared and the mage's corpse became visible.

<Krystoph>And that's why I need an antimagic field gem.
<Dameon>You're looking for one too?
<Krystoph>Yeah, they're 200K platinum at the jewel shop. That's why I took this job.
<Dameon>Funny, I'm trying to get one too. Let's head back to the Brotherhood headquarters for now.

The journey to the Brotherhood of the Fayth headquarters was mercifully uneventful. Dameon paid Krystoph, and they entered army chat waiting for the boss of the Brotherhood to show up.

While in wait for the Highpriest to arrive, Dameon and Krystoph sat in the hall of knowledge awaiting the summoning.

<Krystoph> "Whats there to do around here?"

<Dameon>"Theres a complete archieve of the history behind the Brotherhood."

<Krystoph>"Boring, whens this guy gonna show anyway? I want to speak with him."

<Dameon>"He will arrive whenever he sees fit to do so, until then we wait. Patience is a virtue true only in the hearts of the valiant and vengeful."

<Krystoph>"And I suppose you are VALIANT?"

<Dameon>"No, i am vengeful."

<Gaurd>"You are summoned by the Highpriest Galorin!!!"

Standing up and following the guard they entered the Room of Galorin, Lush in Heavenly Mineral. The drapes of his window where of gold leaf and the window itself Crafted of diamonds.

<Galorin> "Inform me of your absence of the days of last for worried I have been."

<Dameon> "I was deleted by the leader of the Souleater Unit Syiana Eris, soon after I resssureted within a shop west of jyuensl. I hired this merc to help me back in hopes that we would gain a strong allie.'

<Galorin> "I see....... Bad news I have yet to deliver to you Dameon. Over the cousre of the days of last the Mercenarie formally known as Rhet Karn has joined the force of souleater."

<Dameon>.............

< Krystoph> "Your sire if you dont mind......."

Hiryuen was starting to tire, her stamina level was dwindling on its second half and she had been running around casting skills and hacking at enemies almost non-stop for the past fifteen minutes.

Leaning slightly against a slighted wall, she popped an ether pill into her mouth and waited for it to dissolve on her tongue. Within seconds, the pill was gone and her magic points were up again. She checked her surroundings wearily. It would not do to be off guard when attacking an enemies' camp, especially when a congregation of high levels were slowly gathering around them, surrounding the five units of task force.

She glanced at the side of her visor again. Twenty minutes past their time of assault. All was in good time. She checked her locational coordinates as well before tuning into her speaker, sending it out through 'Army speak'.

<Hiryuen> : Guys, n girls, u've got ten mins left. Meet at 143 72 ten mins later. don't wait, just sprint through the gate. I'll open it for three minutes only. don't leave urselves or any enemies behind.

Assured by their tired but raucous laughter, she glanced back at her surroundings again. A gut instinct that told her that an enemy was lurking about proved true when a shadow fell on hers. The claw that had been aimed for her neck missed barely when she dodged to her right. Instead of the intended fatal wound, it grazed her bared arm, leaving a small gash.

Out of instinct rather than thought, she plunged Skull downward, allowing its sharp edge to pierce through the taut flesh of his lower thigh. With no time to waste, she casted three consecutive Starlight Showers before he finally went still, his body disintegrating as the system got to work.

She checked her visor again. Seven minutes left.

[OOC: Livewire, there is no Souleater Unit. Syiana is leader of Black Sword assassin unit (or special task unit in your terms). The base of operation for Souleater right now during the war is Jeryasum. And Syiana don't 'delete' her enemies, she kills them. And erm... please do think in online game logic. I think that's all for little mistakes that bothers me.]

"Oh yea, the frequency got reconfigured because one of the BC allies tapped into our old one, so check for the new channel. Otherwise, you know how to use that thing." Syiana said as she watched Rhet expertly strapped on the mercenary armband. "True Lightning unit is still looking for ways to sabotage their frequency though."

"Ouch! What happened? It's so loud!"

Syiana concentrated on the chaos over the air, and frowned. "Oh yea... they are very upset because the BC teleported into our main camp. We came here just in time to miss all that fun. That reminds me, I need to keep more of those armbands with me so I don't need to keep returning to HQ. McDohl kept DCing, it's so hard to get stuff from him. Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Rhet moved to stand inside the inactive portal in the middle of the room and disappeared, when Syiana tapped her armlet against the activator. She repeated the procedure for herself and mentally prepared herself for the messy sight that would meet her.

Upon her entry, her sight froze for a few second and she panicked, popping healing pills as fast as she could. She recognized the familiar symtoms of lag and let loose a few stronger area attack spells just for safe. When the scene started moving again, she used up a dozens of pills and her personal kill score had increased by seven. And caught sight of at least three familiar hostile faces.

"There! Syiana Eris!! Kill her!!"

"Nice to know I'm so popular." She smirked, and grabbed for her daggers, sending a good number of them flying towards the enemies' faces and rushed at the stronger of the enemies, Deimos and Phobos out for blood and wide grin on her face. "I'm outnumbered, but my one death for some many of your deaths is more than worth it, so come on!"

Ariana sheathes Fate Weaver.

After nearly a half an hour, this little skirmish was over. Granted that the Devine Order of the Sword only had 7 members, herself included. But they were above and beyond the level 400-500 grunts that made up the bulk of the force they had just taken out. And their numbers were three times as great.

Brushing her hair from her face, Ariana walks over to her teammates, who have begun splitting up the spoils of their battle.

"So, how much this time?" asks Ariana.

A dwarven paladin, called GreyFang, answers her.

"Damn near 10k worth of G. Not a bad haul."

"Anyone hurt? I've got at least 2k of HP missing." says Valince, an Elvish Duelist.

"I lost 2 as well." says Ariana.

"I'm down 3k. Why don't we take a breather?" asks Durziel, a human knight.

"Okay. We'll meet up with Bahamut-sama's attack group and move to the rear of the front lines and rest. I have to talk with Bahamut-sama anyway."

[OOC: Bahamut-sama being the leader of the Bahamut Clan. Thought I'd make him up. Anybody can use him, since I doubt he'd be a PC anyway.]

Rhet checked his connection speed, a solid 94%, with a ping of 68. He hadn't spent all his money on his computer and his connections for nothing. He smiled, as he checked his surroundings, looking for the toughest looking member of the apposing army. And within seconds, he found it.

The man was tall, and lumbering, wearing a full set of spiked mail, and carrying a greatsword meant for someone three times his size. He swung it like a bat, cleaving through many lower level players quickly. Rhet ran forward, after the brute launched another slow, yet powerful attack.

"You. You're Rhet, that foolish monk that joined the Souleaters. You'll die by my hands."

Rhet looked him over. Two, maybe three hits from the sword would do him in, especially if the player knew what skill tree to take. "Nah. You don't seem like the type that could do it. Just a question, though, before we begin. What level?"

The knight chuckled, "look it up, you can see my stats."

"I s'pose. If I wasn't lazy, and was worried about it. I'd guess... eh... 600's?"

"528, to be exact." He seemed to swell with pride at this.

"Oh. Awesome. Guess what?"

"Huh?"

And in a flash, Rhet was gone, he seemed to dissappear out of thin air, at least, to the poor knight. He did however, notice a bit more weight on the broad side of his sword. Then he heard movement, following which, his Point of View showed nothing but dirt and grass, as his HP relinquished a large chunk of itself, and began to slowly deteriorate.

"I'm about 200 levels your senior. Heh heh." Rhet's grin appeared again, as he looked over the downed knight. "Aw, come on, where the hell is the challenge?! Where's the big guy, that takes everyone down?! Bring him out! Get on with the show!" And with that, Rhet jumped onto the Knight's back, grasped his neck, and delivered the coup de grace.

"Hrm. The opponents should get stronger as I head towards the BC base, yeah? Hee hee."

<Krystoph>You see, Sir Galorin, I'm a mercenary. Always have been. I took a job from one of your members, Dameon, in the hopes that I could get a larger job from you.

<Galorin>You seemed to have performed well along the way here. Switch to your private channel.

<Krystoph>Okay, I'm in. What are you offering me?

<Galorin>I'm starting at 754,000 platinum. Level times 1000 is my standard fee for mercenaries like you.

<Krystoph>Balderdash. I won't do this for anything less than a million. First half paid in advance.

<Galorin>Whaaat? That's absolutely insane! What's your reasoning behind this?

<Krystoph>I can think of three very, very good reasons. Reason number one, war is dangerous. Granted, I won't lose any items or XP, but it's not without its dangers. I just plain don't like the dishonor of being killed, and I don't want to put my honor on the line for nothing.

<Galorin>754K PP isn't exactly nothing. You're being awfully rash.

<Krystoph>Reason number two, you have much to gain from this. I intend to spend most of this money at the jewel shop, the very thing you're fighting to gain. Meaning that you'll be getting a portion of this money back anyway. Possibly as much as 246K PP.

<Galorin>Go on...

<Krystoph>And reason number three, if you don't hire me, I may well be tempted to sign up with the Souleater Army. And that, you would not want. A team of Syiana Eris and Krystoph Alexander would be nigh-unstoppable.

<Galorin>You dirty, dirty bastard... All right, I'll pay. You're enlisted, and here's 500K PP right now.

Galorin handed over the advance. Krystoph thanked him, and happily hurried back to the jewel shop to spend his earnings. An antimagic field gem, gems of greatest freezing, greatest flaming, and greatest wounding, one in each of his scimitars, prepared him for war with an enormous grin on his face.

"Damn it. The nicest-timed lag ever." Syiana grumbled as she adjusted her clothing and accessories, perched on the desk of the Jeryasum hospital where most of the SA members have set their respawn spot as, and checked her armlet. "At least I got those bastards before I ended up here. Oh well, now I don't have to worry about spoiling my score since it's already rotten."

"Eris, I know I said this before, but your talking to yourself has got to be one of the worst bad habit I've seen. But it's so interesting to know that our badass Night Mythril loves to talk." A dark-blue haired man dressed in singlet and jeans under a stylish trenchcoat, all black, said with a smirk.

"Shut up, you're no better when it comes to talking." Syiana scowled as she hopped off the table. "I heard that the Punishment members are lamenting that their leader never kept his mouth shut."

"Oh, but I do keep my mouth shut." The man said as he walked up to Syiana, and gave her a blatantly suggestive look. "But if you don't like it that way, I can always open it for you."

"Perv." Black Sword leader rolled her eyes and gestured towards the man's black thirteen-section blade-whip. "I'll get back to work if you don't mind. Besides, shouldn't you be on mission, my dear lord Rucipher of Punishment Unit?"

Rucipher smiled brilliantly and executed a flourish bow as Syiana rolled her eyes again, and stepped out of the building into the messy battlefield just in time to find the BC members retreating.

"Damnit!"

Rhet continued running straight for the BC encampment, but at a sluggish pace. He noticed that a small retreat was taking place, mostly from soldiers that had been in the SA camp. Eh? That's weird. Oi, wait a moment. That means there was an ambush, in which case, they sent high level characters... DAMN IT!

Rhet watched as they ran past him, looking for the strongest one, or at least, the least damaged one. He found her quickly, she carried a simple rapier, and looked to have been unharmed. She also looked to be of a fairly high level. Rhet ran in front of her instantly, and stopped, smiling. "Level?" He asked.

She didn't reply with what he wanted, instead, she yelled, "Surround him!" And within moments, Rhet was surrounded.

"Eheh, that didn't work out quite right... However..." His grin grew large, as he spoke again, "I'm up for the challenge. Hee hee." Rhet jumped into the air, landing behind a weaker looking opponent, with a ready Bone Breaker, aimed at the player's weapon holding arm. Within seconds, the weapon dropped to the ground, the player's health dropping quickly.

Rhet moved quickly, mostly to confuse the weakened soldiers, as well as build up some adreniline, he loved the thrill of a tough looking battle. However, most of these soldier's health was displayed as being in the red zone already. A simple bone breaker attack would be enough to take them out. However, that required some energy, not something that Rhet wanted to spend that much of at this point. A simple strike would suffice.

And moments later, all but the original female player were dust, thanks to Rhet. He smiled again, "Level?"

"700."

<Sikal> Rhet, Rhet!
<Rhet> Hee hee, yeah?
<Sikal> Oh, you're in a battle.
<Rhet> That I am, heh heh.
<Sikal> I wish you'd stop that freaky laugh...
<Rhet> Heh, can't help it. I'll contact you after this.
<Sikal> Have fun, Rh- Oh, right, yeah, you're having fun. Good luck then!
<Rhet> No worries, Si.

And with that, Rhet charged.

Not too far from the hectic city of Jyusenal, there sits a town called Ingrid, a place of little activity and residents, and by residents mean NPCs. It is quite common to confuse NPCs as real people since they can carry on a conversation for hours before repeating previous lines. And they do not walk around randomly as in many MMORPGs in the past. Instead, they will walk around doing common townsfolk stuff, and to make it more complex, each of their tasks were scheduled to a time of a day, so you could a woman going to the store in the morning, but see the same person in the afternoon conversing among other NPCs. These factors, including weather and current events, do affect what they say, too, so it can be concluded that Neo Online has the most advanced NPC system in the world of video games. This fantasy to reality transmission has been very effective. This online world was not only a place to calm one's mind, but another world that they could live. An alter-ego, one may say. But has one ever seen a transfusion of reality into fantasy? What if a player is inflcited with damage in the game...they will feel pain in the real world. What if one was to be killed in the virtual world...and inflicted with the same result in reality? There have been cases of this when some who had a great loss in the game and decided to commit suicide. But the death being told here is one unintentional. You die in the virtual world along with yourself in the real world...

In the inn of Ingrid, not much was going on. A man was talking with the beautiful innkeeper, both NPCs, two PCs were sitting at a table talking to each other, and one strange man sat at a table distant from them all. As he sat in his chair, beside him stood a coffin-like object upright. Its wicked design and skull piece gave the two PCs the chills. But even the stranger did not help them shiver off the feeling. His eyes were hidden under purple cowboy-like hat that had a holy symbol of some sort embedded on it. He wore glasses, too, but the left frame of them was opauqed by the same symbol. His clothing resembled one of a cowboy from the old western days, yet they were purple-colored, too, only just as wicked as his coffin next to him. But the biggest distinction of him was his big holsters that held two big guns. For them, holding just one would require both of hands, looking at the size of them. But if he had two, then that must meant he possessed incredible strength. But they try to ignore his grimming appearance and continue conversating with each other.

Man 1:"So, which army are we deciding to join?

Man 2:"You know, it's hard to decide. For one, the Souleater force has some of the best players in the game. For example, that Syiana, the one known as the Foul Caster.

Man 1:"Yeah, I heard about her. She's the reason why the Order of Carbuncle was created in the Bahamut forces by Hiryuen, another strong player."

Man 2:"But the Souleaters possess some of the best equipment for swordsmen like us."

Man 2:"And so do Bahamut."

The two players sigh as they try to figure out what army would support them best. Meanwhile, the stranger has grabbed his coffin and wrapped its chains around both of his arms, having it hang horizontally from his back. He then walks slowly over to the table of the two players and stares at them. The two men slowly turn to him and look on in confusion and fear. After a moment, the stranger suddenly sends his right fist down, causing the table to instantly split into two and crash onto the floor. The two players quickly back away. The two NPCs look on in fright, too. Of course, this was the execution of their AI to look that way whenever something like that happened.

Man 1:"Hey, hey, hey! What was that for?"

Man 2:"Dude, are you crazy?"

The stranger walks slowly toward the two and says to them in his quiet-like voice:"If any of you decide to join any of those armies....your spines will end up like this table."

That instant, thanks to the game's regeneration system, the table resembled itself.

Man 1:"Yeah, and they'll return to normal just like this table."

The two men start to laugh until Man 1 is suddenly grabbed by the throat. The stranger stood over them like a giant and raised the man almost to the ceiling of the inn.

Man 1:"Ugh! Put me down!"

The stranger looked on in with an unemotional expression, which frightened the PC even more.

Man 2:"Hey, put him down!"

Man 1:"It's alright. He can't hurt me in a town. Ha!"

But the stranger smiles at his remark and quickly throws the man through the virtual window that shatters just like its real counterpart. While he is thrown through it, a big damage number of 800 appears around the PC before he disappears, waiting to be respawned. Man 2 slowly backs away while the stranger looks toward him with the same expression of no sympathy. The stranger then speaks.

"Take this warning: if you decide to join any of those army, I will hunt you down myself."

Man 2:"And then what? I have nothing to lose."

The stranger grins a little. "That's what you think."

He begins to walk forward and raises up his hand in a grip like position, suggesting he was going to do the same to him as the other man before Man 2 runs out the inn in fear. The stranger stops and chuckles. He then looks to the two remaining people and says to them in a soft tone:

"I apologize for your inn."

He then leaves.

Outside of town is where the stranger stood now and his direction was toward the battlefield of Jyusenal. He could see the sight of magic being used and could hear large sounds of war its. Although he wasn't there himself, he knew the feeling of mayhem and total chaos, This feeling was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. But he didn't care. All he wanted to do was what was right for Savior....and what was right for him: Silver Eye. Suddenly, a communication signal is sent to the man. It is opened and a male voice that sounded digitized came through.


<???> Silver Eye, Confirm.

<Silver Eye> This is Silver Eye.

<???> I take it you completed Mission Earnharth.

<Silver Eye> Verified, sir.

<???> Very good. Now, where are you?

<Silver Eye> Ingrid.

<???> The town outside of Jyusenal. That is convenient that you are there. Your next mission takes place in Jyusenal.

<Silver Eye> Brief, please.

<???> In Jyusenal, a comrade will be waiting for you there.

<Silver Eye> Of Savior?

<???> Correct. You have been the only one around Jyusenal for some time, but now another has been sent to assist you.

<Silver Eye> Continue.

<???> Your contact will await you at the inn there. Her name is Blitx."

<Silver Eye> ....

<???> Do not worry. You are not expected to join as party. When you meet up with her, she will take you to the Jewel custom shop there, where she will give you your new upgrades to your equipment. After, I will give you two your next assignments.

<Silver Eye> I will, sir.

<???> Once their battle there ends, you can proceed with the mission. Take care.


The communication ends. Silver Eye was surprised that another member of Savior was actually in the facility, but it bothered him that this would interfere with his own plans. His only job was to meet with her briefly and they'll go their seperate ways. As long as no one was in his way, he was satisfied. Silver Eye walks a little distance toward Jyusenal, but stops at a tree on the side of the road and decides to rest there until the battle was finished. He takes off his coffin and stands it upright next to him as he sat against the tree and seem to doze off.












[FONT=Courier]

Dameon found himself counting his pay from the sabotage mission to Souleater.

<Dameon> About 800,000 platium, wonder what this will get me?

Dameon stood up and left the Fayth in hopes there was still an antimagic setting jem at the jewel shop. On his way there he would have to pass Jeryasum, and he knew the war was taking place. Staring in the direction of Jeryasum, he smerked and headed towards the shop in a mad dash. Minutes later he was glaring at a group of Souleaters and Bahumuts in the mysts of cold war. Souleaters greatly out numbered the Bahumuts, and favor of war was to the Souleaters as well.

<Dameon> Damn!!! Can't do anything without running into war eversense this jewel shop was discovered!!!

Looking stedally into the battle he gazed upon an opening and took the opertunity. Charging and crazed he grabbed one of the souleater by the throat and used his body to shield a blow from a larger foe's great sword. The body absorbed the most of the blow but still, the blade pierced Dameons right arm, causing slight bleeding, but nothing to serious. Leaving the body on the blade of his oppenent, he quickly dodged to the left, avoiding a lethal blow form a younger Souleater member. He then jumped onto the larger member and jumped once more to the outskirts of the battle. Moving eratically, he unsheathed his sword with his right hand, using his left he placed a throwing steel into his teeth, holding the steel like a rose, and then withdrew his steel from his left hip.

<Dameon> COME'ON!!!\

One of the younger players charged accompenied by the larger fellow ealier encountered. He slung the steel into the forehead of the younger man and faced the larger fellow one on one with his sword. The titan swung at him with the might of a god, but to no avale. Dameon then round housed the Greatsword out of the hands of the brute and swung with great accuracy, shaving his right arm clean off his scarred and toned torso. The man then fell to one knee and Dameon finshed with a reverse supku, stabbing him full blown through the stomach, and driving it up his chest until his body burst into a calmination of digits. Looking to his right, the tables had turned to favor Bahumut, and there was only 3 Souleater pawns left to annialate. He sheathed his sword and put away his throwing steel.

<Dameon> Come!!!

His steel then was almost instantly retrieved from the enemys skull and returned to his palm. He stood and caught his breathe.

<Dameon> HATEBREED!!!

Dameons body became tight and his reflexes edgy. Spreading his legs shoulder lageth apart, he then tucked his arms to his side. He then began to scream vialantly, almost a painful angry scream. The battle stood still as all the soildiers looked confused at him. Within an instant he blazed past the first two and grabbed the farthest warrior by the skull. Screaming and insain he wrenched the oppents cranium until it burst in his bare hands. He then used the headless torso to sheild a solar flare attack casted by the oppenent. After he dropped the body, he began charging uncontrolled towards the two, withdrawing his sword and taking one head off, with the opposite hand he withdrew his magnum and blew the others brains out. He stood in anger of the Souleater, and then heard the fire of a far off weapon, but could not quite place the direction. In moments he had turned to just bairly avoid a bullet headed for his chest. Shot in the left arm, he glanced to the others, they were all dead. With only 1 min left in his Hatebreed status, he flarred away from the battle, to look back once, and to see an almost dead looking man standing there, hunderds of yards away. Soon he was out of site and Dameon arrived at the jewel shop.

<Dameon> I need some health pills, ASAP!

Ariana walks calmly behind her comrades, her hands resting on the hilt of her sword. Ambushes were quite common while moving between the front and rear lines. Today was no different. A few mace-wielding knights lept from the bushes ahead of Ariana and her group, while a second pair appeared behind them.

"I'll handle these two. Keep going forward." she says.

"Right. Good luck." replies Durziel.

Ariana unsheathes Fate Weaver, the loud ringing of steel greeting the ears of all present. The blade's blue glow quickly gives the edges of the rapier a dull shine. The knights slowly approach, well aware of the range advantage Ariana has with her weapon.

Ariana> Three-Step Cut!

Dashing forward, Ariana swings her sword in a wide horizontal arc, rendering her opponent's weapons useless. Moving backwards, she sends the tip of the rapier into the back of the first knight, the blade impaling him through the chest. His corpse vanishes as he is respawned as Ariana swings the sword in another horizontal arc, taking off the second Knight's head.

"Looks like I might be able to have some adventure after all in this war."

<BlueRain> : guys, one hour liao, r we ready yet?
<Rucipher> : My boys are already waiting.
<GirlGirl> : My unit is ready.
<Lavender> : We're restocking, talk later.
<McDohl> : dun mind me, i lagging.
<Darkwizard> : you're always lagging, dohl. anyway, in position.
<BlueRain> : syia? oi, u lagging also ah?
<Syiana> : Sorry sorry, was restocking.
<GirlGirl> : Again? I just saw you doing that five minutes ago.
<Syiana> : Eh... I accidentally walked into a portal and went into enemy main camp.
<BlueRain> : siao lah, like dat also can. kena killed lor?
<Syiana> : lol, yea. But my kills increased like 40 just now.
<Rucipher> : *whistle* Nice, Eris. So... your unit?
<McDohl> : ah ****! dced!
<BlueRain> : aiyo ready or not? i wait until want hungry liao
<Rucipher> : You're forever hungry, blue.
<Syiana> : Wait... yea, they're ready. We can start now.
<GirlGirl> : Splendid. Boy and I'll start the lure.
<Darkwizard> : all of you, make sure you get those devine swords good. meria's bitching about her unit getting slaughter.
<BlueRain> : aiya it's the newb unit mah, bo pian lah.
<Darkwizard> : she says next time she get her unit flood your True Wind people.
<BlueRain> : let her try lor, like the newbs dun need our cover like that. snow and i go attack main camps liao, buh bye!
<Rucipher> : The Carbuncles are also under attack. ;D Next up, the Raidens.
<McDohl> : jun and cain says that their 'fences' are working. bc is isolated in jyusenal.
<Darkwizard> : my turn now. True Lightning unit starting assault.
<Syiana> : My ppl are attacking too... alright~! Got them!
<GirlGirl> : Working?
<Syiana> : Yup!
<Darkwizard> : oh yes, it's working.
<Rucipher> : Look at our killscore go. It jumped 30 just now.
<McDohl> : time to wipe out the others. wayne says that fayth brotherhood is blocked too.
<BlueRain> : aiyo u all can work or not? i click until finger pain liao. oi xiang, u there mah?
<Syiana> : lol, alright.
<Lavender> : What? Who call me?
<BlueRain> : me lah. your unit restock finish le mah? i need healing liao
<Lavender> : Oh, wait. I'll open a portal gate to somewhere near you. Don't walk into it.

Syiana could not help but grinned at how successful the plan went off, as she listened to the other unit leaders on the unit exclusive chat channel. The BC had their fun with their surprise attack and took a chunk of SA's numbers then but Syiana was willing to bet that they did not expect Souleater to retaliate with such a large-scale strategized warfare.

First, the close defense Bright Shield Unit led by GirlGirl and combat True Fire unit led by BoyBoy lured the enemy allies frontline a long way off from Jyusenal and the SA allies joined up from all directions to block the BC allies off, bombarding back all the enemies trying to navigate in or out of the blockade, even filtering into enemy lines to distract them with skirmishes.

SA and allies had made use of the fact that different designated respawn spots are assigned to each of the armies involved in war, which Syiana personally had not thought would work. Now that she saw it work, she felt a keen sense of approval for the Punishment unit leader, the person who came up with this plan.

To prevent joint efforts on breaking through, specialized units led by Rucipher, BlueRain and a few others, some from the allies, were dispatched to attack the main attack forces of BC and its allies according to their weaknesses, especially those that gave them a lot of trouble. At the same time, BC people were pushed closer into Jyusenal like packed sardine, and even though they tried to break through, there were only a few successful attempts that were later cancelled out.

The best thing was, even if there were a lot of BC high levels trapped in, the sheer number of members at one area was enough to complicate things for them, especially with lags. Syiana had almost DCed twice even though she was not even inside Jyusenal, and her computer was customized to handle lag of above average level. And even if the high levels counter-attack, SA's damage will definitely be less than that of BC since the high concentration of members, which was replenishing due to the respawn system, meant area attacks were biting big mouthful of kills each time they were cast.

And that was True Lightning and Black Sword unit's job. They fired spell after spell of long distance attacks at the high levels to keep them as far away from the human barrier as possible and area attacks for general enemies to prevent lag for themselves, depending on which was necessary at the moment. Although they were likely to run out of items on such prolonged intensive assaults, they had arranged for the True Earth unit led by Lavender to swing by whenever they were low on resources. The only thing uncertain was they were praying and counting on lag to hinder the movements of the BC high levels, but if lag was not working, they may have to enter Phase 2 of Operation Squeeze.

Popping a magic pill into her mouth, Syiana raised an eyebrow as her screen froze for a quarter of a second, and smiled wickedly as she pointed Deimos at the nearest mob of BC member.

"Keres' Revenge!"

[OOC: FYI, BlueRain's speech style is Singlish. It is very commonly found in online games where a lot of Singaporeans are. If you confused about what I did in this post, check the OOC for a simpler copy. Sorry for the length, I overdid the post.]

<Krystoph>Fvck! They've got us trapped!
<Balor_slayer>i c, but wut?
<Krystoph>Not only are they creating lag whenever a BC respawns, but they can kill BC members very shortly after they respawn. And they've walled us out.
<Dante89>how do we get thru?
<Krystoph>I have a rough idea. That wall is four ranks thick, but we can get through with magic. Do we have any wizards over 700?
<Dalich>me 731.
<Fedoric>710
<Lunarcry>719
<Krystoph>That'll do. Dalich, aim your most powerful area spell right in the middle of them.
<Dalich>done, and damn that's a lot of kills!
<Krystoph>Fed, Lunar, place Walls of Force at the edges. Long ones!

A gigantic fireball exploded right in the center of the allies' line. Before anyone had a chance to fill the gap, two Walls of Force appeared at the ends of the breach. This terrifically slowed the allies' efforts to guard the breach.

<Krystoph>Fed, Lunar, get back and hold the walls as long as you can! 600 pluses, come with me! GO!

Krystoph led the charge through the wall of SA allies. His plan was to flank them once enough high-level characters were through. This didn't work out too well, though; he was the only one who made it through without being damaged. After he was through, SA allies copied his tactic and placed a third wall in the back of the hole, a wall of fire. Fedoric and Lunarcry panicked and dropped their walls, allowing members at the inside of the wall to get through and slaughter the trapped members. Three were PKed, but three also made it through; Krystoph, Dalich, and a level 711 cyborg monk named Terminator survived. Terminator self-healed with a cyborg ability and Dalich used a healing potion.

<Krystoph>Damn! We don't have enough for this.
<Dalich>pick em off with lr attacks.
<Krystoph>That was the plan, but with such a small number...
<Terminator>still flanked em
<Dalich>hes right, take down amap
<Krystoph>If you say so.

Krystoph pulled out his bows, Terminator pulled out a big gun, and Dalich began firing lightning bolts at the wall. It couldn't work forever, but for a time, it would take out a lot of SA allied men.

<Dameon> Damn this Lag!!!
<Strida>Dameon, watch out!!!

Dameon moved some what swiftly out of the way laging half way between Strides and hardly making out of the way. Strida was running a stait of the art ccustomized pc, due to the fact hes a spoiled and rich fat kid but thats beside the point. Strida continued through the war in a lagless fashoin. Only a level 543, still, his kill rate was growing tremendisly. The lag enbeded in the area effected the most of the players, but the few with money played and loved it.

<Dameon>Damn it Strida!!! Cast me a gateway to the Woods of Bair, I cant stand this #####!!!
<Strida> Close your eyes and begin to run south!
<Dameon> WHAT!!? Cast me a freakin Gateway or Ill kill your ass!!
<Strida>GO DAMN IT!!

Dameon turned and sprinted far south at a spead almost unmatchable by most characters, he turned to look back upon how Strida was doing. Bringing a quick end to the player he was busy with, he cast a sunset flare spell, level 500, and blinded the most of the players. Strida then turned around and began the anchantment for the Hellspout Gateway spell too bring him to The woods of bair. Dameon skretched to a halt looking back upon Strida.

<Strida> GOOOOOO!!!
<Dameon> Watch out!!!!

The Hellspout Flung open as Dameon watched Strida Fall into two pieces as another player, Dark and mysterius lay claim to his kill point. Dameon turned high tail and ran as fast as he could without hatebreed toward the Hellspout, he turned to look back one last time and the mysterios character was about 20 feet behind him. Dameon was astonished! He hit the portal and it closed right after. Dameon hit the ground rolling and barraling on the ground until he hit what he thought to be a tree. Dameon soon stood to realize the object that stopped him was the same man that killed Stida.

[OOC:O.o Waitahminute! I'm downright confused at Livewire's posts, at this point that is. One is because I've only managed to scan through it, and the other is, who is Strida/Stida?]

"Argh, darn it! They've trapped us in and I'm lagging so bad that I can't see my members on my screen!" Hiryuen complained, frustrated at the lag that had wrapped the BC members tightly with their little fingers. Her computer had almost overheated when she'd pushed it too hard to overcome the lag while she attempted to find a secluded spot, which, fortunately, she did manage to find.

"We've got to get a way out of here. And I know that Krystoph and the higher levelled members of Ifrit and Unicorn are trying. They're not successful though, and we'll have to find another alternative." Frolian informed her through pants. He himself had barely survived when he had left the frontlines to inform the higher up of the news.

"I think I know. But I need to contact Krystoph. Do you know where he is?" Hiryuen replied.

"Through the wall of SA members?"

"What?!" Hiryuen stared at her best friend as though he had grown a second head. "You mean he got past through all of them in with that lag?!"

"Yup."

"Oh whatever, I'll whisper him. In the meantime, could you please help me contact the Siren, Starlet and Tritoch's leader?"

"Sure." Was all Frolian said before he went away.

"Thanks!" Hiryuen shouted at his back.

<Hiryuen> : Krystoph?
<Krystoph> : What?
<Hiryuen> : I'm the leader of Carbuncle. could u give me the stats of you situation there?
<Krystoph> : We've only got three here. But we're still hanging on ok. Will there be reinforcements?
<Hiryuen> : That's what we want to do now. do you recongnize anyone in SA there? and give me your xy please.
<Krystoph> : 60 184. I can see GirlGirl, BoyBoy, DarkWiz and Bluelightning. And They have some sort of shield ... fvck!
<Hiryuen> : ??
<Krystoph> : Sorry. One of us' down. We need reinforcements asap!
<Hiryuen> : I'll send a unit there in five.
<Krystoph> : ok

Hiryuen turned to the four who stood in front of her. "Fedne, Greg, Dwela you know what's happening right?" All settled for a simply nod.

"Alright, I'm sending a team out there in five so I'll have to request for six from your unit and sub-units each, and if you can, get some from Shiva, Leviathan, Titan, Ramuh and Ifrit to come as well. And please make it quick." Hiryuen said, acknowledging their nods of affirmation before turning to Frolian again, "I need you contact Devine Sword's leader and get six members from Zoneseek and Fenrir respectively, is that alright?"

A quick nod, a flap of his trenchcoat and Frolian was gone again. Hiryuen did not have to wait long. A minute later, she dced.

When she finally managed to log back in, her entire screen was flooded by members. How the others survived this, I'll never know, she mused.

"Okay, I'm lagging, you're lagging, so I'll make it short." She shouted, "Two from Shiva, Leviathan, Ramuh, Starlet, Shoat, Raiden, Maduin, Tritoch, Unicorn, and Zoneseek a group, divide into three groups please!"

<Ariena> : You were looking for me?
<Hiryuen> : Yeah. I know Devine Sword's blocked by SA as well and I've got some sort of a plan. I'll need you help though.

The three groups were quickly assembled and she switched her mike to shout again, "First group will assist Krystoph at 60 184. He's on the outside of the barrier."

<Ariena> : Alright, you have it. What do you need?

"Second will split into half, one to go to Devine Sword, they'll know what to do and the other, I'll send you out to back of the eastern SA wall."

<Hiryuen> : i m sendin a unit over. i need u and ur unit to assist them to the artillery n dispel units due abit south.

"Third will be splitted into half as well. One to go to the back of the northern SA barrier and the other, the western."

<Hiryuen> : get the alexander member to gate eight members from the units over there to my spot, and lead the rest to the southern borders.

"If you can recognize any of the SA leaders, just message me."

<Ariena> : I'll be contacting the members for my unit then. If i can, I will attempt to contact the Ragnarok Unit. We're being bombarded.
<Hiryuen> : I appreciate your help. Contact me if you recognize anyone in the SA there.

Chanting the familiar enchant again, she casted Dimensional Gate, sending the three units into their respective spots within minutes.

"Hiryuen! We're under attacked by punishment!" her assistant's high-pitched voice suddenly rang in her headphone. She cursed under her breath. Before turning to the remaining units, Titan, Ifrit, Siren, Stray, Kirin, Sraphim, Bismark, Fenrir and Alexandr.

"Alright the rest of you, I need you to split into two groups, equally. Both will comprise of equal number of members from each units, you will attack the eastern and western frontlines respectively. I have sent for..." she was cut off again when her computer screen blacked out again.

She swore again, loudly this time.

A few precious minutes later, she was logged on onto NHOnline again and found herself surrounded by more members than she remembered.

"Sorry, anyway, from where i stopped, which was..."

"The units you sent for?" Frolian prompted.

"Ah yes, dispel unit members, the Devine Sword unit members and the artillery unit members will be a special taskforce. I heard that Lavender's True Earth Unit is amongst the SA currently. I need you to sieve them out and annhilate them. Is that alright?"

A chorus of nods were their replies and she turned to her speaker, setting it to Army chat.

<Hiryuen> : Remember if you die, be prepared to return to your posts immediately after you respawn!

To her own unit she added, "If you have a porter skill, standby yourself at the regular respawn area. Be prepared to send the members out as soon as they appear."

"Alright then, prepare to move out!"

[OOC: x.x Argh, I think I left out a huge chunk of my plan somewhere. I'll add it later when i remember. For now, we're counterattacking and attempting to survive the lag. And somebody contact the lv 700< members!]

<Krystoph>Finally! Thank your boss for me, I was toast.
<KingLeroy>what now? we were juz told to help.
<Krystoph>Take out every spellcaster you can see. They've got my initial plan locked up, we can't do it again.
<Red_Bull>why not antimagic?
<Krystoph>We need our magic too. That's how I got through. Long story.
<Dalich>im back but hurt
<Yunee>I can heal
<Krystoph>We need half guarding Yunee and half attacking. We need all the healing we can get. I'm going back to the wall.
<Terminator>cr? your nuts.
<Krystoph>It's my best shot. My greatsword tracks spellcasters.

Krystoph exited chat and charged toward the wall, support fire following him. His greatsword locked onto a wizard about 20 ingame feet away, 1 second, at the back of the wall, sending meteors down on BC allies on the other side of the wall. He didn't even notice Krystoph was there until he was sliced in half. His bodyguards quickly jumped on Krystoph, but one was taken out by a blast from Terminator's laser rifle. The other Krystoph avoided and impaled.

His next target was 2 seconds away to the right. Krystoph couldn't get there, as he was being swarmed by warriors of all shapes and sizes.

<Krystoph>Center a fireball on me!
<Dalich>It'll kill you!
<Krystoph>And about ten of them. I'd rather go down with them than have them stay alive.

Krystoph's screen exploded in red and gold, then went black. He revived to terrible lag in the city. He saw a portal marked to his old coordinates and stepped through, ready to start the fight anew.

"Heh.. such quick retaliation. No wonder they are on par with us." Summoning back pieces of Reptilian with a twitch of his left finger, Rucipher mused cheerfully as he checked the kill scores again.

BC and their allies had tried to counterattack as soon as they realised what had happened, and although the lag made it hard for them, they were doing considerably well. Phase one of Operation Squeeze was still in motion but Rucipher knew that it would not be long before somebody come out with a plan to dissolve it.

"Ruci, we're done here." Punishment Unit's second in command, a female draconian by the name of Lezaria, suddenly appeared in front of him using her short-distance warp skill. Rucipher himself had taken quite some time to get used to her surprises and not strike out in panic. "Going to Jyusenal?"

<Syiana> : I think I see portals at the respawn in Jyusenal. I think the Carbuncles are there. >.<
<Rucipher> : I'll be there in a few, Eris.
<Syiana> : Hurry. Lavender, send someone to restock me.
<Lavender> : Wait lah, how come so many people attacking my unit?
<BlueRain> : Aiyo, faster lah. I going no food liao.
<Syiana> : They're taking out our supply unit. >.<
<GirlGirl> : Uh... I'll sending some of my members along with them.
<Lavender> : Watever. Just don't telling me hurry.

"Oh yes, we're going to Jyusenal." Rucipher grinned. "Tyrant! Come here, you're needed."

A young human dressed in dark magician gear and with a cheery grin on his face appeared in a shroud of dark mist. "Yes Boss?"

"Prepare to cast Shadow Planeswalk. Leza, get our half of our members together. We're taking a one second walk into Jyusenal to hunt the Carbuncles. The rest will help protect the True Earth unit, they are under attack. Tyrant, start the spell."

Tyrant flashed him a bright smile and saluted sharply. "Right away Boss. This should be fun."

Hiryuen frowned at the large jump the scores had taken after the surprise attack launched by the SA. The taskforce had somehow managed to sneak towards the location of their portal and taken out a sizeable chunk of their members before they too were finally put down and sent back to Jeryasum. And all that during the precious five minutes that she and Krendiege, leader of Ragnarok, had taken to discuss their plan. The preparations were almost complete.

//Flashback//

Hiryuen surveyed the battle scene from the roof she had taken to seating on. Their counterattack had somehow allowed them to survive the attack launched by the SA. However, they were still scraping by and there had not been any sight or sound of Syiana Eris in the battle. A plan was sure to come soon, but would they be able to anticipate and counter it without the help of the higher ups?

<Krendiege> : Hiryuen, I am the leader of Ragnarok.
<Hiryuen> : Thanks for the quick response. Anything you need?
<Krendiege> : We’ve decided to enter the war.
<Hiryuen> : Thank god. No time to celebrate though. I’m sure they’ll have something to counter us soon.
<Krendiege> : Where are you? I’m going there now. Need to show you something.
<Hiryuen> : 32 90

Within a few seconds, the renowned “Blond Griller” appeared in all his blonde-ish glamour. He shook his head, though the queasy look remained on his face. “I’d never be able to get used to the distortion during teleportation will I.” He said, before turning to here, “That aside, what I needed to show you is this.”

Unrolling one of the two parchments in his hand, it revealed to be the blueprint of some sort of peculiar machinery.

“The Re-Bouncer.” He declared, almost triumphantly, and continued, “You see, we’ve been researching this secretly for quite a while and this machinery here, The Field, as we call it, has a special effect that causes anyone who steps anywhere within a 500-metre radius near its pinpointed area would be able to hit anyone with their magical skills. Everyone including your own teammates and allies.

“So we cast this special reflect spell,” he unraveled the other parchment. This time, it contained the chant to a spell. “which can reflect the skills cast on it unto any other person nearby, instead of the old ‘reflect back to caster’ spell. With everyone in BC having this reflect shield cast on them and tens and twenty of us casting area skills, what do you think would happen?”

“The area spells would keep rebounding outward through the shields until it reaches the SA, who are much further away. The SA themselves would also be under the effect from The Field and end up getting killed by their own allies or the skills rebounded from the shields.” Hiryuen murmured, “But if the field is in effect, wouldn’t the reflect shields be cast unto the SA as well?”

“Yes, that is why we need the utmost cooperation with Carbuncle, Fenrir, Zoneseek, Dispel, Tritoch and all the sub-units under them.” Krendiege said, “We need Dispel and Tritoch to double team the Black Sword and Punishment units while Fenrir aids the attack on the True Earth unit and Zoneseek distracts the rest of the SA. In the meantime, I want all under Carbuncle, sub-unit or no, to spread out amongst the ranks of the BC members and prepare for the reflect spell. Once the signal is given, I want the spell cast on every BC member in the area, and after fifteen seconds, we will activate The Field.

“The Field can last for a long time, however, our estimated count for the lifespan of the reflect spell is only three minutes. So after two minutes and forty-five seconds, we will turn off The Field for the re-cast of the reflect spell. You will be given another fifteen seconds for the re-cast before The Field comes on again. Remember, if any members are not covered by the reflect spell, they will simply die and respawn and die over and over again, so be precise. We will carry out three attacks, none of which are in the same area, unless the SA retreats before the scheduled end.”

“And after?” Hiryuen asked.

“I’ll tell you later. For now, please prepare for the attack. We will begin in ten minutes.”

//Flashback//

She had followed the instructions then, and gotten the members gathered, which, unfortunately earned her yet another DC, and dispatched them with their instructions. Within minutes, she had gotten confirmation of their positions and contacted Krendiege. The signal was soon given and their attack began.

Syiana grinned as how successful the invisible spell she got Darkwizard to cast on her was working. Perched on a rooftop inside Jyusenal itself, she repeatedly cast spells that would not reveal her position when the lag was not so bad. In fact, she deliberately cast some of the more dramatic normal elemental spells and drove the BC nuts with lag and DC.

Plus she got priceless information on the enemy's battle plan. About the Re-Bouncer.

Syiana was so pleased she wanted to dance. She had relayed the information to the unit leaders and continued to sit tight on her rooftop to spy on the BC. Despite the very infuriating lag, the need to urgently escape from some large-scale attacks that could affect her, and the near heart-attack when the leader of Carbuncles came onto a nearby roof, Syiana was satisfied with how things were doing.

<Rucipher> : We got it, Eris. The plan to counter their attack.
<Syiana> : Oh? Tell!
<Darkwizard> : we switching to physical offensive and magical defensive at frontlines. meaning us mages and those with lousy magic defense get to go level or attack the BC allies' behind.
<Syiana> : Oh... mass evacuation.
<Rucipher> : Me and you get to stay though. Our units stay, as well as the physical units with stronger magic defenses since they'll be attacking the mages. If this fails, we're all going to slaughter the BC allies and leave BC alone until Phase two.
<Syiana> : The higher-ups on the other time-zones, they're not on yet?
<BlueRain> : ei... xiang can stay wor... her unit all defense one mah... plus can help
<Rucipher> : True. Lavender, you staying?
<Lavender> : ya... and you all restock yourselves.
<GirlGirl> : Don't worry about it, we will. Oh yea, it'll be better to find and destroy the thing causing rebounds.
<Syiana> : Somebody tell Rhet about this, he'll be helpful. I'll contact my unit first.
<Darkwizard> : by the way, when they start their reflect skills, that's the time we'll evacuate. if too slow, we can run faster from jeryasum.
<Syiana> : Hmm.. it'll work.
<Rucipher> : My unit will try to find the Field.

Switching the frequency and relaying the news to her unit, Syiana activated her two-way teleportation scroll that given to her by Rucipher when she announced that she was going to do recon, and appeared in the SA headquarters.

There she accessed her storage and took out her air-pistol, and replaced her magic jewels with normal attribute jewels that boost her magic defense and physical attack prowess, knowing fully well that her magic would be more harmful than helpful when reflect spells were activated around her.

After completing her preparations, she activated the scroll a second and final time, bringing her back to where she was. And there, she waited patiently, for the time to reveal herself to come.

Frolian frowned. The SA were moving. Even as the BC were bombarded by attacks from the front and back, the SA were still retreating. That was not right. They were gaining in on the BC now, there's no way they would retreat now. Now was the perfect chance for them!

Unless... he thought, pausing while mid-stride. They've gotten wind about what we were planning to do?

That made sense. Why else would the SA move now?

<Hiryuen> : What's going on there? Krystoph said that the mages were retreating!
<Frolian> : I know. I think we've got a leak.
<Hiryuen> : But that's not...!#%$%&@!%#$!!!
<Frolian> : ??!
<Hiryuen> : Syiana Eris! She and her tricks!
<Frolian> : Oh sh*t...
<Hiryuen> : Damn right it is! I totally forgot about her! Damn it!
<Frolian> : Ok, now relax. The True Earth, Punishment and Black Sword units stayed behind. We'll go on with our plan. But I want you to have support on all our sides. Make sure that we're all covered... wait...
<Hiryuen> : Fro?
<Frolian> : Could you link me with Prof Krendiege?
<Hiryuen> : Sure

Frolian glanced about himself and at the watch on his visor. Three more minutes. They'd have to hurry... or else the plan might not work...

<Krendiege> : You called?
<Frolian> : yeah. Hey Prof, you haven't chosen the spot for your Field right?
<Krendiege> : As of now, we're planning to hit the frontlines first, since it's most populated.
<Frolian> : Right, but I thnk we've got a leak, we suspect Syiana Eris' behind it. Anyways, the mages have mobilized. I don't know where they are now, but if you were intending for them to kill themselves, it's not going to work.
<Krendiege> : Alright, I'll get Crusader to surround you.
<Frolian> : Will it be enough?
<Krendiege> : Ahem, we have forty members in Crusader. I'll have them stationed no more than ten metres away from each other to surround you northeast, north, nortwest, west and southwest, since the main force are congregated at the east and southern eastwards.
<Hiryuen> : I'll contact the Devine Sword, Stray and Starlet and see if they've any force left to help.
<Frolian> : Half of my forces are still scattered, might as well get them over to help.
<Krendiege> : Very well. Just tell them to look for Geppeto, he's the flaming redhead with one white streak of hair in the middle. they won't miss him. He'll tell them what to do and where to go.
<Hiryuen> : Alright, I'll contact them now.
<Frolian> : And thanks.
<Krendiege> : No prob. It's our war too.

Frolian switched to the link connecting him and his unit, calling for ones who wre free and ready for work. Within a single minute, they were all gathered.

"Alright, no time." he said, "I want you to go westwards. Go find Geppeto, the dude with bright red hair, he'll tell you the situation and what to do. Now go go go!"

~*~

Hiryuen took a long deep breath. Alright, there only a few ways she can eavesdrop on us. And most require her to be somewhere nearby here... So... she muttered a soft prayer and cast all her defensive skills before suddenly calling upon multiple Starlight Showers, all the while hopping off the roof and running about the area around her.

"Ack!" the muffled cry was more than enough as an alarm. Raising her mike to max volume, she shouted, "Cast your area spells! SYIANA ERIS IS HERE!!"

[EDIT: XDDDD Added the last part.]

"Gwah dang it!" Hastily swallowing several healing pills, Syiana leapt off the roof and upon landing, took off into a mad dash through the disaster zone where area skills flared every few seconds. Cursing silently under her breath as her stamina slowly reached its bottom and multiple lags started setting in, she squeezed the hilts of her weapons and chanted rapidly. "Enyalios's Wrath!"

A black mist enveloped the general area of the SA unit leader and her enemies nearby, and a thousand black swords appeared and swirled as though they were influenced by a cyclone, cutting and slicing everything in their path. Faster and faster they went until finally all had progressed above the people, and they rained down in a tornado fashion, stabbing those that were still alive.

Drained of her magic points and knowing that the invisibility would be fading soon without her magic sustaining it, Syiana quickly took the chance to escape the chaotic battleground and dugged into her pills bag for magic pills as she ran in the general direction of where her unit members should be.

<Rucipher> : Eris! Are you alright? I heard the Carbuncle head yell about you!
<Darkwizard> : wouldn't that mean they know she's spying?
<Syiana> : Damn right you are. Hiryuen dropped the bomb on me, literally.
<Rucipher> : Oh, you're fine. I thought you were dead for certain.
<Syiana> : Nearly did that. Level 500 Enyalios's Wrath saved me. Thank god I went and learned it instead of using it from magic jewel.
<BlueRain> : no wonder lah... i thought all the mage ppl go liao still got who kill so many.
<Rucipher> : Anyway, any change to our plans? Since they know their plan leaked.
<Syiana> : They were talking through private channels. I can't hear what they changed. But it seems they are still going ahead with it.
<Darkwizard> : then we'll proceed with ours. we can always bail if things go wrong.
<Rucipher> : True enough. Let's just wait then.

"Syia! We saw what you did in Jyusenal!" TheBear came running towards Syiana, who was now no longer invisible as she reached a safe area, and greeted her with a wide grin. "That was quite the show."

Syiana cocked one eyebrow and smiled diabolically. "Next time, you get to face this kind of situation, bear. And I must see thunder and lightning, hellfire and freezing hailstorm, kay?"

"Thank you for your offer, boss, but no thank you." A visible sweatdrop appeared on TheBear's face. "Anyway, we are all set. BoyBoy's warriors have arrived and they are doing the barricading for now as TrueLightning have all left the Jyusenal frontlines. We're all waiting for BC's move."

Hiryuen cursed under her breath. Instead of killing Syiana Eris, they had only managed to cause their death counter to take a flying leap. They had to reverse the flow of the battle soon, or else it might be too late.

"Hiryuen!" a familiar voice came from her right. It was Frolian, his trenchcoat billowing behind him as he leapt across roofs to reach her. "We're carrying out the plan in five." He paused to give a cautious glance at his surroundings before continuing, "I've contacted the rest, we need you and your members to prepare for the rebound spell, as planned."

"But... aren't the SA already countering it?" Hiryuen asked confused.

"I know. Wait a minute, the prof wants to speak to you about it." Frolian replied, his hand automatically pressing against the mike at his right ear.

<Frolian> : Prof? I've got her connected.
<Krendiege> : Thanks. I need you to go to that area we discussed about and check the the situation there for me.
<Frolian> : Aye aye cap'n, talk to you later.
<Hiryuen> : You wanted to speak with me?
<Krendiege> : Yes, but not here. But I don't know if the SA would be able to break into our message signals and eavesdrop on us, so I sent you a mail regarding our following plan. I need you to read through it as quickly as possible and carry out the instructionas asap.
<Hiryuen> : Alright. I'll contact you if we run into problems.

When Hiryuen managed to focus back on her surroundings, Frolian had already taken off again to god-knows-where. She sighed at the thought of more running before dropping from her roof, somehow managing to not fall off her four-inch high footwear, and sped off to the mailbox at the central zone in Jeryasum.

The familiar little red box came into sight quickly and she stabbed in the key, turned it and yanked at the handle, pulling the door open so hard that it almost fell off its hinges. A small disk sat in the vacant mailbox.

As soon as she had it slotted into her mail system, a green box appeared on her visor and a stream of text followed:

From : Krendiege

Hiryuen, we have decided to add another element into the attack. Three of our high mages are going to perform a mimic spell on the Re-bouncer and cast a decoy on one of our intended spots first. So I need the reflect spell to be cast on everyone within five minutes from now. Since the SA already knows about our plan, they would probably have their mages retreat and the physical based members on their frontline.

That's why I need you to work with Krystoph, whom I assume is still on the outside of the frontlines. If the mages retreat, he'd be sure to be able to locate them quickly. Once you've gotten their xy-coordinates, contact us and we'll activate the real Re-bouncer on that area. From there, follow as planned earlier. If you have any probs just contact me, Frolian or Rachnel, she's on of the three on the mimic spell.

P.s. If Krystoph's not on the outside, just haul him there. I'm sure he won't mind. >D

Hiryuen stared, amused, at the p.s. message for a few seconds before muttering inaudibly to herself as she stored the message. Removing the disk from its tray, she input a system command and, within seconds, it had disintegrated to a tiny pile of dust.

Opening a private line, she contacted all the members in Carbuncle, Unicorn and Alexander, relaying their instuctions to them. Within minutes, all the members within Jyusenal were covered by oval-shaped translucent reflective barriers that shimmered as they caught the light every once in a while.

A quickly muttered chant and Hiryuen was off to the area where Krystoph supposedly was.

~*~

Frolian groaned as more light shone in his face, blinding him temporarily. The prof had to choose such a flashy skill! he complained mentally before adjusting the setting of his visor to adapt to the bright light.

Krendiege had asked him to inspect the area for the decoy, and so far, there seemed to be no problems. Already, he could see BoyBoy and his unit advancing towards the frontline while the mages retreated.

He turned to the direction where the main camp was supposed to be and waited for the signal. Prof did say that he would make it visible for all of us... but he didn't say what it was. Frolian thought. He did not need to wonder for long though, as a bright blue flare shot up in the sky and exploded in the form of a firework.

"That crazy professor..." Frolian murmured a second later, before shouting, "Now's our chance! Attack!!"

[OOC: >.> Sel, don't think about stealing my letter in the mailbox. It's able to identify the key slotted in and will only present the letters belonging to that person. And the message in the letter will only be shown to the receiver, so no peeping either. But like e-mail, it can also be forwarded to other members.

Anyways, tag LE!]

(OOC: Bleh. Edited for stupidity.)

<Hiryuen>Krystoph, are you there?
<Krystoph>I'm here. I've heard about the reflect plan.
<Hiryuen>SA found us out.
<Krystoph>Ah... well, #####. What do you want me to do about it?
<Hiryuen>Come with me. We're setting up a decoy to draw out their physical fighters. We'll have ours meet them there, while you help us track down their mages.
<Krystoph>Sounds like fun. I'm in.

Krystoph followed Hiryuen to the point at which BC was setting up the decoy. "Field activating in three... two..."

Krystoph drew his enormous greatsword, and grinned.

"One..."

"Oooohhhh! Boss, look!" The dark magician of Punishment unit pointed at the sky, an excited look on his face. "Fireworks! Wonder if it means something?"

"Yea, it means the enemies are charging." Lezaria coolly tapped his head with the non-business end of her large scythe, and pulled up the visor which was customised into a pair of powerful binoculars. "Ruci, is it time yet?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. I'm waiting a little more. You guys can go ahead and have fun." The head of Punishment said as he peer into a seemingly more normal pair of binoculars at the various spots on the map. "I'll join you later."

"If you say so, boss." Tyrant's face positively lit up as he passed the message around. His Gemini Staves glowed magically as he planeswalked through the shadow nearer towards the enemies.

"Ruci, be careful." Lezaria tapped the half-demon disarmer on the shoulder before she too, took off to where battles are starting to appear.

Rucipher smirked and tapped a few buttons on the bino, and it changed into a military type of viewing scope that allows one eye free to observe immediate surroundings.

<Rucipher> : When am I not careful, Leza?

With that, Serpentine uncoiled and lengthened, lazily surrounding Rucipher, while fidgeting ever so slightly at any possible provocation. A wide grin curved Rucipher's lips as he whispered to himself.

"Come what may, darlings."

(OOC: ^^;; I've got time to write now. Sorry for not posting here, Sel.)

Rhet grinned, he had just taken down another 600-er. However, his item reserves were running dry, and he had just downed his last elixir, something fairly expensive to come by during wars. I'm good for another couple fights. Rhet took a seat under a nearby tree, watching the expansive environment.

<Sikal> Rhet, you there?
<Rhet> Yeah, yeah, Si. I'm here.
<Sikal> Have you died yet?
<Rhet> Not yet. I came prepared this time. As many elixirs as I could hold!
<Sikal> You... you wasted that much money on elixirs?
<Rhet> I hardly see it as a "waste."
<Sikal> Nevermind that. Come back to the SA base.
<Rhet> Hrm? Why? Something going down?
<Sikal> Sort of.
<Rhet> The hell do you mean, "sort of?"
<Sikal> Do you have to question everything I say, Rhet?
<Rhet> That depends, Si.
<Sikal> Just... get back to the SA base.
<Rhet> Yeah, yeah.

And with that, Rhet took off, towards the SA Base, making sure to pick off whomever he could with a quick jab or a roundhouse, and helping those that needed it.

At that point, Rhet heard a rather loud explosion, then he saw a burst of light. No... way...

<Rhet> Si, how long has it been since you saw fireworks in game?
<Sikal> A while, Rhet. You know what it means though.
<Rhet> Someone's about to charge. Better find out who.
<Sikal> Get back to base, Rhet.
<Rhet> No, I've got a better idea. I'm tuning into Syiana's channel for a moment.
<Sikal> You've got it?
<Rhet> I have my sources.
<Sikal> You know, in the right hands, you'd be one messed up merc.
<Rhet> Yeah, yeah, I've got morals, even in a damn game. So sue me.

Rhet adjusted his communicator within moments.

<Rhet> Syiana, you there?
<Syiana> Rhet? How'd you get this channel?
<Rhet> Don't mind that now, I'll tell you later. First, tell me what's going on. Those fireworks. Are those ours, or theirs?

(OOC: Tag, Sel. =p)

Silver Eye had awken after a good long nap. He takes a look over at the battlefield and sees it still going on, with lights lighting up the sky. He could tell this was near its end. He was tired of all of this and wished he could just go in and end it, but his mission was to meet someone, not fight. But a concern breached his mind. What if she was caught in this turmoil? Then, the mission was non-existant. He shouldn't doubt ones of his alliance. Any chose for Savior bwere top-notch players honored for their skills. A battle such as this was probably avoidable by one such as her. But he wondered if he was getting impatient like himself as this battle roared on.

He gets to his feet, taking hold of his coffin-like weapon and places it on his back. He exhales from his moth sofly and proceeds toward the battlefield in search of his target, not caring for the dangers of battle.

Frolian grinned almost manically as he slashed through the soft side of another SA member, without pausing, he sent the end of his blade through the abdomen of another, speeding through the battles.

Occasionally he would cast a spell or two, and resume his charge. Soon he found himself outside of the ring that had used to push the BC inwards and almost had them all trapped. He grinned triumphantly, they had broken one of the SA tricks. Few more to go till the end of the battle.

He turned back only to come face to face with a member he had been quite well acquainted with.

"Lez..." he murmured, pausing in his run, and relaxing his stance.

"Hello, Frolian." Lezaria replied, her tone almost freezing. "I didn't think we would meet again, and in here, of all places."

They had been, well good friends, when Frolian had joined the SA, to "spy" on the SA for a period of time. Of course, he was found out soon after and almost died trying to escape their "hunt" for his "traitorous head".

Truth to be told, he had liked being in SA, however, he still had his assignments to complete. And he couldn't dissappoint Hiryuen who had freaked when she heard that he was going to SA and worried herself sick when he remained there.

That was in the past, however, and he was ready to fight against Lezaria, even if she had been one of his closest friends during his time in SA. He readied his crescent blades, his voice dropping to a soft whisper as he murmurred into his mike.

<Frolian> : Ryuen, i'm fighting Lezaria now, talk to you later.
<Hiryuen> : Be careful Lian.

<Rhet> : Don't mind that now, I'll tell you later. First, tell me what's going on. Those fireworks. Are those ours, or theirs?
<Syiana> : Theirs. They are charging. We don't do dramatics on that scale.
<Rhet> : I think I'm missing a lot of things.
<Syiana> : *sigh* I'll tell you about it, just let me go somewhere safe.

~~~

Lezaria was seething with anger inside when she saw her traitorous ex-friend. She had quite some affection for him and considered him potential online boyfriend candidate. But all that changed, when his spy status came to light. She remembered the betrayal she felt and the volcanic rage that had overtaken her normally cool and collected head.

She touched the magic jewel connecting the blade of her beloved scythe to its handle, and the blade broke off, leaving the handle resembling a staff. The blade grew its own dark steel handle to allow Lezaria to hold it like a small scythe that farmers use to hack at their crops. Lezaria, however, wished nothing more than hacking Frolian's head off instead.

Familiar with some of her hated enemy's spells and abilities, she activated some of her own that could possibly counter those that gave him advantage over his enemies. And with that done, she charged at Frolian, eyes narrowed but visibly glaring furiously.

Frolian was prepared, he had done his necessary preparation and his weapons were raised, ready to counter whatever Lezaria came up with. To his surprise, the female draconian vanished right before she reached him and appeared right behind him, her sharp looking curved blade driving downwards towards his vulnerable neck.

[OOC: Vern, I'm cheating a bit by making it so that when you post, Syiana had told Rhet what had happened. XD]

Frolian winced at the resounding clash between his crescent blade and Lezaria’s scythe. If he had not had his Haste skill on, Lezaria might have succeeded in her attack, and he would be left with a gaping hole on his neck. Or worse, headless.

With a slight push of his blade, both fighters slid backwards, and he flinched when he managed to glance at Lezaria’s infuriated face. All thoughts of self-redemption fled his mind when the death glare only deepened.

If looks could kill… He thought wryly, checking that his support skills were in effect and rearranging his hotkeyed skills at the same time. Lezaria had probably anticipated him activating all his support skills and taken steps to prevent him from gaining any more advantage than he already has. But he had had gotten several new tricks up his sleeves after leaving the SA. Tricks that he had conjured with the help of Hiryuen.

A soft chant left his lips and he could feel himself getting light and lighter, until he could almost not feel his weight, but just barely.

<Hiryuen> : Lian, the real one’s coming in two minutes. After that, you’ll have ten more minutes before the decoy bouncer loses its effect. Use you time well.

“I always worry her, don’t I?” he muttered to himself. “Guess I’ll have to make sure I don’t get beaten up too badly, huh.”

Two more chants and he was ready. Before he could make his move, Lezaria had already disappeared again. She appeared a split second later, her scythe ready to pierce through his body again. But he was more prepared this time. Before she could slash at him, he was already in air in one powerful leap. Another chant was rattled off and a gentle shower fell upon the female draconian. Tiny rivulets of heavily acidified rain rolled down her hair and clothing, corroding through the layers of texture. The smell of burnt fabric began to fill the air.

“I should have known to follow Ryuen’s advice to raise the level of acidity that high.” Frolian murmured when a hole emerged on Lezaria’s smoldering clothing.

"Protective Aura." Lezaria wrinkled her nose as she muttered a short chant of her own, and a silvery aura of approximately a centimeter in thickness wrapped around her entire body like a second skin, preventing further damage from the acid rain.

Popping in pills to prevent the spell from fading due to lack of MP and to heighten her MP regeneration for a limited period of time, Lezaria murmured softly under her breath as she drew out three shurikens from a hidden pocket and teleported.

Appearing in mid-air for just a moment, she let the shurikens fly towards Frolian before she appeared again beside him, staff ready to smash his head in and still chanting. Her enemy blocked it with ease but just after the contact with her weapon was made, she shifted again, to a little way behind him, sending another trio of shurikens heading for Frolian.

When the last of the fluid incantation left her lips, her staff and scythe acquired a light yellow nimbus each which gradually faded away, and Lezaria smiled. She teleported again, and appeared behind Frolian with her front touching his back. The sharp tip of her scythe hovered dangerously near his heart and her staff positioned easily within range of his head. "Gotcha."

[OOC: The spell that Lezaria casted on her weapons was a special customized magic drain spell that drains by scoring physical attacks. It does not drain MP, it drains away the supportive spells cast on the opponent, one spell per attack.

There is a 30% chance there will be an added effect, which is, if a supportive spell is a self-casted one, the spell cannot be casted for a random duration between ten to the maximum of thirty seconds.]

"Well I'll be damned. You've picked up new tricks Lez." Frolian murmured, eyeing the scythe that was positioned mere millimeters from his heart.

It would be almost impossible to escape this. But almost was the exact keyword that he needed. Running through his list of spells, he found the one that he needed. Taking care not to jar his jaw too much, he muttered the chant softly. So softly that he knew Lezaria would not be able to pick it up.

The rain that had rolled across the ground were slowing being attracted towards the duo, congregating around his boots and running up his clothing, their acidity lost and slowly taking up the shape of his body and attire.

"All the better to catch you, Frolian." Lezaria replied coolly. She didn't appear to realise what he was doing.

All the better. Frolian echoed mentally, and muttered another chant in quick succession, not caring if Lezaria took notice.

"You-" the draconian had been about to say, but was cut off when he appeared on a roof.

"Sorry Lez, can't let you have me now." he called.

Lezaria could only eye him with confusion quite evident in her eyes. The water had done their job well and kept her from noticing that he had already warped himself elsewhere, leaving the hydro-shell in his place.

A light snap of his fingers, and the shell's form broke, merging together and running up Lezaria's limbs and body, their acidity regained and tripled, slowly eating through the aura she had wrapped around herself. Several had returned towards the ground where they hardened to their shell-like form again, securing her towards the ground.

Swallowing two ether pills, Frolian took a second leap and casted two more ice storm on the draconian before plucking two more pills out of their rig, swallowing one while letting the other fall from his hands. He let his index finger lie on the top of the pill, and gave it a sudden push, sending it shooting downwards and impacting against the ground, shattering quickly, while he himself shot upwards from the force.

He chanted quickly and a dozen ice needles quickly took shape, crystallised from the surrounding water molecules when he had forced them together into the intended shape, and sent them shooting downwards at Lezaria while he casted a second layer of support spells unto himself, and landed against yet another roof in the vicinity.

~*~

A soft buzz of the visor alerted Hiryuen and she turned to Krystoph who was having fun distracting the mages.

"The real bouncer's up." she whispered to him, and took off to have fun with her own chunk of mages. Chanting a spell that Frolian had taught her, she managed to chant, and cast, three starlight showers in a few seconds and pulled out her weapon, Skull, charging through the fray with her own combination of magical and physical attacks.

[OOC: Yup, the bouncer's up now.

That bit about Frolian using that pill to push himself upwards, it's possible because he had previously casted a spell to lighten himself. Which is why he goes up and the pill goes down.]