Khellendrosiic

The thunderous report and high pitched metallic screech of the van ripping its way out of the warehouse caused Cher'tak to wince, wishing for a second that he could rub his scalp through his helmet. That moment passed quickly and he resumed blasting the cyborgs with his bladerifle and swatting away those that got too close. Or he would have if they hadn't all appeared to shut down and prepare to self-destruct.

"Massive detonation: Imminent!" shouted the Warmaster as he lunged forward to grab the cyborg which had previously grabbed Malachite, throwing the thing toward the pile of ninjas. "Take cover: Evacuate now!"

Dashing forward, Cher'tak bodyslammed a stationary ninja away from the cages back deeper into the warehouse. He grabbed his weapon in both hands and smacked another like a baseball before retreating. He took up a guard position between the largest group of about-to-explode bad guys and the cage, extending his shield's energy field as far as it would go and channeling as much energy into it as his suit could spare.

"Arek: Teleport all: Good idea," he grated out before bracing himself.

EDIT: Wrong draconian, lol.

OOC: And by 'minute' I meant 'several hours'. >_>

BIC: Archlich stared up at the ying and yang shadows, his eyes narrowed to tiny pinpricks as he cast back through his long memory to divine what spell the dragon had put into play. Regrettably, he had never had much chance to study the arcane secrets held by the more powerful dragons and as such he only knew that the spell was very, very powerful and likely very, very deadly.

His guess was confirmed when the wave of magic and light washed over him in an instant, his eyes flickering as his bound soul attempted to finally escape its physical coil. But the sheer willpower it took to break the boundaries of death as he did, to become the first lich in existence, and to survive the endless years in the meantime served him well. At war against his very essence, Archlich held on for the necessary seconds to keep himself from being utterly destroyed.

The runes on his armor blazed with red light, brighter than before but seeming to do the opposite of illumination. Instead the shadows around him grew thicker and darker, beginning to seem bottomless as he flooded the area around him with pure negative energy. The energy was burned away almost as quickly as it bubbled up, but Archlich had dumped almost the entirety of his strength and will into this last ditch effort.

"I will remember your name, wyrm," he choked out, voice wavering only slightly despite his momumental efforts. "If you do not die here I will come for you and rip the still-beating heart from your chest."

Falling to one knee, the lich gasped out one final word and vanished, sped away on his last dregs of energy. Behind him the bubble of negative energy collapsed, withering away like a dying plant subjected to the heat of an inferno.

****************************

He re-appeared at the edge of the anti-magic field keeping Teivos, Wolfgang, and their small force in one piece. Falling forward to lay half in and half out of the field. His rune marked cape fluttered fitfully, still partially caught in the etheric winds outside the protective boundary but otherwise he lay still as a corpse.

***************************

"Tiny little thing aren't ya," grunted Combat Toy as it escorted the VB officers half-leading, half-dragging Isabell into the Molvia.

The massive assault bot waved off the two humans and wrapped one equally gigantic hand partially around the young hero's waist, lifting her up to eye-level with its glowing sensor strip.

"Guess they breed em small on Primal Earth," it continued, turning her around to check and make sure the power inhibitor cuffs were secure and operating. "You have a name, Tiny? We'll need something to put on your tombstone."

Toy Dispenser, meanwhile, had ceased his pacing and casually flicked one wrist, encasing Zeo and his ice block inside a solid detention field. Now floating a few inches above the floor, the tank would be much easier to move once they reached Teivos' HQ and delivered him and Isabell into the more secure cells there.

"Three minutes," remarked the spider-legged Toy Bot, presumably how long until they reached their final destination.

OOC: There will be a post here in a minute. Placeholder so Devious can't skip out on me. <_<

"Current action: 'Open cage': Unnecessary," grated Cher'tak as he rocked back under a double-fisted slam from one of the cyborgs.

Pistoning his right fist into its face, the deployed trio of spikes gouging deeply into the skin, Cher'tak opened up enough room to swing his sword up above his left shoulder and then smashed it down in a diagonal slash. The cyborg tumbled to the ground, cleaved from collarbone to hip and didn't get back up again.

"Rikti engineering: Superior," he said in a somewhat smug tone before glancing over at the approaching brute.

He listened to her ask if anyone needed medical assitance and nodded after she finished talking.

"Other captives: Minds dazed, crazed," he replied, looking from them to Malachite, giving the man an appraising look probably lost through his expressionless helmet. "Suggestion: Sedate. Prevent harm: Themselves, others."

Bladerifle tapping lightly against the pavement just outside the warehouse's loading doors, Cher'tak listened to the sound of the melee inside. Judging from the sounds and limited information his battle suit could weasel out of Arek's and Pax's communicators the fight seemed to be going better than expected. He didn't think either of the pair could shoot electricity or had laser weapons, so this meant other heroes had arrived to aid them. This made sense with the additional minds he had sensed approaching the building. They would have to find out what lead the other group had, but first things first.

"Securing: Hostages," Cher'tak stated over the team's comm channel as he swept his weapon up and stabbed it through the sheet metal of the large loading door. A couple more quick cuts later and the he was able to kick the chunk of metal away, stepping into the large room with his mounted shield flaring to life.

Bracing the butt of his rifle between his elbow and hip, Cher'tak fired a single shot at the back of an unengaged cyborg. The shot was accurate, despite it's aim, and a smoldering hole was blown into the machine's back. It didn't do much except draw its attention, but that was all Cher'tak expected.

"Classification: Rikti Chief Soldier," announced the cyborg as it advanced. "Heavy armor with integrated defensive and offensive systems, likely high skill melee combat. Strategy: Ranged combat."

Leveling its pistol at the Warmaster the cyborg fired several shots, each one blocked either by the glowing green shield on his left hand or absorbed by his heavy armor. Chuckling to himself, Cher'tak maneuvered toward the cage of hostages, casually batting aside a forming ninja with one swipe. The ninja dodged, but at least he was out of the way.

As far as he was concerned, the rest could have the glory of the battle. He'd defend the captive humans until it was over.

I thought I recognized the name from somewhere...

Also: It's an alternate dimension clockwork Nemesis automaton of Statesman?

Shrugging slightly as the others voiced their concerns, Cher'tak hopped off the roof. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, his armor weighing more than it looked, and trotted across the street. He made sure to look both ways before crossing in an almost comical moment before moving. This meant he saw the small gang of Trolls spot him and decide that this section of turf wasn't worth getting killed over.

"Cloak: Life-signs: Not always: Cloak: Mind-signs," he explained over the inter-team channel as he checked the front of the warehouse with the sensors built into his own suit before jumping up to the roof.

"Exception: Every rule," he added as he carefully walked over the roof toward Arek and Pax, trying not to make too much noise as he reached outward with his mind, probing outward to detect other active minds around.

"Easier to make fake names and personnas if needed. We generally know Nemesis is our lord. Nemesis is eternal. Nemesis watches all. Multiple dimensions, but only our Nemesis is the true one," recited the automaton all at once before blinking and crossing its eyes as though to look at itself. "...oh bugger. You didn't happen to cross any wires while you were up there, did you?"

Other than its face, the machine didn't seem to be moving any other limbs. Whether it was simply unable too or decided not too was unknown.

OOC: It just now occurs to me the similarity to what I did and the Space Marine Commander's Orbital Strike.

BIC: Archlich simply floated there with his arms crossed, seeming to smirk at Yinglong as she roared in pain and rage, unleashing the pure destruction of her breath weapon on him. He ceased to exist, melting away like some sort of wax sculpture in seconds as the wave reached him. It looked like it was over.

"Your arrogance makes you blind, wyrm," hissed the Overmagus into Yinglong's ear, though he was no where in sight.

Abruptly a thin beam of light shot from a point in the sky some several hundred meters behind and above the dragon, connecting the empty point of space with the massive wound dealt earlier. The beam lasted a fraction of a second, but the coruscating arcs of lightning blasting down from the cloudy sky lasted a bit longer. Four bolts of lightning unerringly targeted the spot the beam had picked out, smashing down with a thunderous boom. Impossibly the lightning lasted for a bit more than an instant, each bolt diverging and carving a swath of destruction over Yinglong's hide. One bolt slipped off, however, and obliterated a building before all four finished unleashing their energies.

"You will be but a roadbump in my acension, beast," laughed the invisible lich as he teleported to the edge of Yinglong's interdiction field, down near the ground this time. "But I will be magnamonious and alow you this one chance to retreat, life intact, if you wish."

*********************

"Affirmitive," Dispenser replied, already turning to inspect Zeo in his icey cage. "I shall return once the prisoners are secure and the wounded disembarked."

After Teivos, Wolfgang, and the Sovereign's guard had departed, Dispenser gave the order for the two Molvias to make all haste to the VB detention center to pick up Isabel. It would be a brief lay-over to drop off some of the more critically wounded soldiers and bring the metahuman aboard. With her in power-dampening manacles and Zeo trapped in the block of ice, Dispenser anticipated little trouble getting them to Štátna Zbrojovka.

Till then he paced around the captive fire dragon, taking the time to scan and analyze him as much as possible without any interference. The next time they fought would see the android victorious if he had anything to do with it.

*scratches chin* I like. Though I'm going to be disapprove if Statesman turns out to have been the bad guy.

Unless it was an evil clone of Statesman, then it's ok.

Either way, continue please.

There wasn't really that much damage, just a weak seal having given way when Akemi kicked the automaton's head. It had come off fairly neatly overall, implying that at some point it could have been put together maybe limb by limb with little instruction, perhaps after someone removed the various pieces from a concealing box or crate. Regrettably, there wasn't much Sarah could make sense of other than that. Sure there was a skeleton and that steam valve probably assisted articulation and that complex doohickey might have been the brain, but otherwise the technology used to build the machine was both amazingly primitive and refined that there was very little connection to modern technologies.

Thankfully the radio transmitter in the back of the head was relatively normal looking, but it would take at least a few hours of comphrehensive study to make sense of how the rest of it worked.

"Gurk..." said the automaton after his head got welded back on.

OOC: My turn to wait. Specifically for the effects of Archlich's Jesus Beam.

"Criminal elements (Local): Wary, afraid: Criminal elements (Warehouse)," commented Cher'tak as he watched the Lost and Trolls move about. "Suggestion: Close range. Possibility: Myself: Detect: Active minds."

OOC: I think I missed it somewhere. What time of day is it?

OOC: Awwwwwww.... You kicked his head off....

The man went down like a sack of metal potatoes, all unpleasantly lumpy and managing to poke somewhere uncomfortable no matter where one was sitting. His eyes moved about independantly of one another after the hit from the baseball bat and he made a gurgling noise at Mrs. Troy's comments. It might have been a "For Lord Nemesis!" or it could have been an "Oh god my head."

OOC: Jesus Beam. I like that name.

BIC: Archlich's chanting hissed through the awareness of every spectator like a sound barely half-heard. White static at the very edge of their thoughts or the tip of their tongues as the lich drew upon his vast reserves of arcane might, tapping more fully into the plane of magic than perhaps anyone else ever could. Archlich was old, old enough to witness the fall of Mu and have a hand in its destruction. Old enough to have seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations at the designs of mortal and immortal alike. With age comes knowledge and with knowledge power.

The red light of his shining runes began to dissolve the darkness called up by the Chinese sorcerors, projecting themselves further and channeling the released magic into the spell he was weaving. The enchanted chunks of rock disentigrated as they traveled through the field around him, leaving little more than pebbles to rain off his armor and bare skull. The lightning fared somewhat better, lancing down from the sky through Archlich to ground itself on the shattered streets below. All could hear the hitch thrown into his chant but it continued with only that slight pause, if with an even harsher edge to it than before.

Suddenly his eyes and runes dimmed to almost nothing, the darkness rolling back in around him as though displeased with being held off for so long. His chanting halted as well, though the feeling of mental static grew and grew until at last the spell was released.

"JUDGEMENT!"

Whirlpools of darkness, clouds, and magic formed above the battlefield, swirling about faster and faster before they split open one at a time, spewing light in a glittering pillar on the primary antagonists. Hokata, Sun Tzu, the dragon, and several concentrations of regular forces suddenly got their own celestial spotlights.

But then the pillars of light became like fire, raw plasma lancing down from the sky like the angry spears of a sun god, boiling the very air as they blazed down to the earth. Merely being near one of these beams would be enough to flash fry a normal human, merely looking directly upon them would blind one as though staring into the heart of the sun.

The light of Archlich's judgement burned through the darkness, the ground, the sky, and anything else that existed. The very essence of magic was disrupted around those lances, stranding the weaker practitioners to their fate.

And Archlich laughed.

********************

"Very good," Dispenser replied after Teivos was finished speaking, taking the remains of Kruger's head with the attitude of one handling an egg. He inspected it for a moment and then gave Wolfgang a look.

"This is Kruger. He was as trusting as the analysts said," he added. "Also as formidable. A pity he couldn't see the error of his ways."

Dispenser paused as Archlich chanting ceased, his head tilting slightly to one side in a questioning manner. His posture shifted abruptly at the final call and his head jerked toward the front of the Molvia, already patching into the channels used by the pilots of the helicopters and the tanks on the ground.

"This is Dispenser. Evacuate now."

OOC: *stares*

BIC: "The best laid plans," muttered Toy Dispenser to himself as his bots relaid to him what Teivos had said. It was a pity that the game couldn't end now with a swift, surprise stroke but there would always be another chance.

Shedding his disguise in a brief crackle of electricity, Dispenser tracked the sudden burst of activity. A brief radio communication alerted several squads to the exact locations of the rebels, neatly tying up that end. Now, all he needed to do was wait until the heroes got themselves killed or captured then walk out and lay claim to this victory. It had been his idea, after all.

It looked like the cyborg would get away, Dispenser not being close enough to track exactly where he teleported. But considering that he wasn't visible in the sky and hadn't hit the interdiction fields it meant he was hiding in a building or somewhere underground. Ultimately he didn't matter though, the real danger was the firey dragon-man.

Looks as though your bet did not pay off, Toy, echoed a rasping voice through his head.

It was an outside chance, Overmagus, but it was a good opportunity.

Indeed, it was. All is not lost, however. We simply need to gather ourselves and make due. I am ordering my transport to descend so that I may use my magicks to aid Teivos. Announce yourself and then cover me.

As you will, Overmag-

The mental communication fractured and broke down as the dragon appeared and all hell broke loose.

******************

The Molvia shattered under the ministrations of the dragon's tail, breaking into several pieces that rained down upon the buildings below, wreaking damage that would have been troubling were it not for the rest of the mayhem. In such terms, the collapsed roofs and shattered walls meant little. Only the Overmagus remained in the air where the helicopter had been, standing there as though nothing had happened. But the blood red runes engraved into his armor began writhing as though alive, changing and shifting into different meanings and shapes as though reflecting the mood of their owner. Harsh blue pin pricks of light narrowed, shrinking down until they were but the barest glimmers of light at the end of a long tunnel.

As wrath and ruin fell down upon the mortals below, innocent civilians and loyal soldiers alike, a small space of relative tranquility extended some short distance around Archlich and fell all the way to the ground, which crowded intersection rapidly became a small bastion of humanity alongside the anti-magic fields generated by the Kazbeks and tanks.

The runes on Archlich's armor started turning jagged, appearing like teeth etched in with daggers of blood.

Down on the ground Toy Dispenser looked up at where his lord's dim form floated. He glanced directly above at the massive dragon and then around at the swarm of swift striking ninjas, ghostly bruisers, and teleporting casters. He looked over at where Teivos was standing in the shelter of one of the tanks. Knowing he had scant moments to act the android dashed across the street to Teivos, hoping he could secure the Sovereign's safety before Archlich blew everything to hell. He generally didn't take direct assaults upon his person very well and his style of combat was very...indiscriminate.

Two blue lights suddenly flared, illuminating the air around themselves like a pair of miniature spotlights. Equally bright red light flooded out from the runes, casting ugly shadows on the murky sky.

"INSOLENCE," boomed the lich, his voice echoing weirdly as though from the depths of a tomb. "MERE CONJURORS OF CANTRIPS, COWARDS WHO LURK AFRAID OF BEING SEEN. LET ME SHOW YOU WHY YOU FEAR THE LIGHT."

An almost palpable hum started to build up in the air around the Overmagus, the magical darkness wearing even thinner as though being torn to shreds by his mere focus. The lich suddenly lit up like a sun in the magical senses of every mage around as the light of his runes began shifting again as his quiet chanting softly filtered down to their ears.

The Overmagus had conquered his world more through force of magic and will than through masterful tactics or infallible armies. His world might have been lost, but his power remained.

"I would advise getting the hell out of Dodge, Sovereign," announced Dispenser as he skidded to a halt next to Teivos, wrist flicking a hefty energy shield around the leader.

OOC: Boom. Bada boom. Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig bada boom.

EDIT: Whoops. Stupid italics. Further edited to make Devious feel better about cause and effect.

Cher'tak had shifted uneasily at Bronze Shield's accusation of his presence. He wasn't surprised at all, but it was still unsettling. Thankfully his affiliation with Vanguard kept him from being attacked on sight. The Traditionalists had enough problems without him needing to defend himself from an overly emotional hero.

"Apoligies: Distress: My presence," he said to Shield after Paxtera and Arek had teleported away, putting off his own disappearance for the moment. "Grief: Understood. Species: Human, Rikti: Similar morals. Justice: Unusual forms: Singular intent."

Nodding to her, the Rikti vanished with the odd golden light of the peacebringer's teleport.

*******************

"Generic warehouse: Check," Cher'tak muttered as he stepped out of the teleport onto the roof of the building. "Unusual allies: Check. Mysterious foes: Check. Day: Standard."

Reaching over his shoulder, he detatched his gunblade from the magnetic clamps on his back and hefted it easily in one hand despite its obvious weight. A thick spoke of metal extended several inches out from the top of his left gauntlet, four shafts of oddly textured metal sliding out of the spoke at right angles of one another to form the brace of an energy field. The field wasn't activated yet, but when it was it would glow with the peculiar greenish color indicitive of Rikti plasma technologies.

"Query: Arek: Information gleaned."

Out in the street the man was still talking with the police officer, looking as though he were getting increasingly frustrated with things. Finally he threw his hands up in the air and accepted the ticket. As the officer walked off in a satisfied manner the man tromped back up to the front door.

"This is what happens when he cuts corners on manufactoring, you know," he said conversationally to Paxtera before pausing and scratching the back of his head.

Just before anyone could say something, he shouted out, "Lord Nemesis is watching you Akemi!" and tried to dash off to the nearest sewer grate.

As the Molvia touched down, Archlich's eyes flickered slightly in irritation. When Teivos immidiately strode out to meet with the tank commander, the lich rounded on Wolfgang.

"Time is of the essence," he rasped out. "We have no need for these siege weapons. My might alone would be enough to squash these interlopers."

If he was intimidated at all by the Overmagus talking to him like that Wolfgang didn't show it, instead giving an apolegetic shrug.

"Better to have them and not need them then need them and not have them," he said. "Which is not to insult your abilities, but Teivos didn't get where he is by taking unnecessary risks."

Archlich just stared at the cyborg for a few seconds.

Eventually Wolfgang's serious expression cracked and he snickered loudly to himself. Archlich just kept staring until his snickers died due to a severe case of dry throat. The Overmagus might have been a five foot tall skeleton in medieval armor, but something about him scared the crap out of even a hardened soldier like Wolfgang. It seemed worse that the bone-head could call up the fear on command.

"No, I have never dropped that far through the air, Teivos," said Archlich as he turned in response to the Sovereign's question. "Normally I just teleport. You do realize that the element of surprise will be ruined by the addition of your reinforcements, do you not?"

There came a sudden knocking at the front door followed by a pause of about two seconds, then another bout of knocking. A very annoyed and harried looking young man, maybe late twenties or so with light brown hair and average looks, was bouncing from foot to foot with nervous energy. An expensive looking car that hadn't been there before was sitting half on and half off the sidewalk, the tires on the side facing the house very visibly deflated.

The man knocked again.

((If you say so.))

Cher'tak cautiously shuffled into the apartment, his heavily armored form looking out of place despite the apparent destruction. Ducking his head a little, he pulled off his helmet by splitting most of it down a previously unseen seam and tucked it under one arm. Human-like eyes surveyed the room again and he glanced off toward the kitchen.

"Refreshment possibility: Appreciated: Unneeded," he answered, voice now emitting from somewhere around the collar of his armor. "Condolences extended: Current state: House, life."

Wisely chosing not to sit down in one of the chairs, the Rikti simply stood to one side and tried not to step on anything. He might mix with humans more often than other Rikti, but he had never been in one's home. Better safe than sorry in this case and he nodded at Arek and Pax to let them lead the way.

((Curse you all for being inside a house. I wanted to do something funny, but now it'll just look fishy. ))

"The threads of fate are converging," muttered Archlich to Wolfgang. "I intend to be there to witness the event. But if required, I shall also halt it."

Sweeping his gaze around the hold, his blazing blue eye alighting on each living creature for a fraction of a moment, the mage stalked over to a corner and began tracing his hand through the air in quick, flowing gestures born of long practice. Actinc blue light formed where his fingers passed, burning in the air as they crystalized into arcane sigils and runes. These runes spiraled around Archlich's form several times before flickering through the air to attatch to points all over the inside of the Molvia. But despite the brightness of the magical runes and the sheer number of them they did not give off any light, or at least no light that anyone here could see.

"So what are you doing now?" asked Wolfgang cautiously, unused to this style of magic, or any magic for that matter, being cast in front of him.

"An invisibility spell," replied the Overmagus over his shoulder, the rictus of his skull seeming to be of actual mirth for once. "While the image of this construct appearing above the battlefield and disgorging troops is doubtlessly a glorious one, it is highly impractical when one's enemies will find it simply an overlarge target."

"It'd be like hitting the broad side of a barn," added Combat Toy's rumbling voice as the pitch black mechanoid moved through the Kazbek armored guard, giving them all a personnal inspection.

Mini Bot trailed along behind the larger assault bot like an attentive child, though its razor-tentacles quivered in anticipation. The little drone looked as though he was eager to take revenge on the metahumans which had destroyed it before. Toy Bot and Small Toy, the latter finally returned from its inspection of the captured rebel base, lingered in back to perform weapons checks. Large Toy stuck near Wolfgang while Block Bot lingered near the cockpit entrance, muttering something about trigger happy meglomaniacs getting them all killed.

"The spell is complete," said Archlich as the last rune drifted through the air to its space on the back of the co-pilot's chair. "As far as the outside world is concerned, we do not exist. You may begin."

****************

Dispenser blinked in annoyance as Zeo sped around, dispatching soldiers with apparent ease. Even the highly trained VB agents were getting tossed about like ragdolls. But no matter, the less of them around the better. Smiling thinly to himself, he mentally switched to the rebels' much hidden channel and tapped into their communications. Kruger hadn't exactly given permission for him to do this, but time was of the essence and he needed to contact everyone at once. He just opened the extra-dimensional metahumans had remembered to equip the comm. devices Kruger gave them.

"Attention all rebel forces," said Dispenser with a wry tone to his voice. "There will be an incoming teleport soon. That will be our ride out of here. There will be only one prompt, so do not miss or resist it. If you are left behind you will be killed or captured. That is all, Dispenser out."

Glancing at Valerie with a look of derision, the disguised Dispenser snorted before turning back to watch the fight. He recognized Burning Brawler, one of the newer but well proven VB agents. Without Egregore watching him for signs of communication, he was able to subtley get in touch with the main database and access all of Brawler's files. It took some complex electronic dodging to not give himself away while doing so, but he managed it.

So it was that he knew what was going on when the pillars of flame surrounded Zeo and Isabel. He figured the two metas and that cyborg could handle the specialized agents, but it would take too much time and carried too high a risk of failure. The only option was to enter combat himself even though what he could do was severely circumscribed as he had no desire to be found out.

With an annoyed grunt, Dispenser suddenly dashed forward into the crowd. He wasn't moving nearly as fast as Zeo, but still his outline seemed to blur a little as he leapt through the air feet first, slamming into the back of one of Brawler's agents. Both the agent and Dispenser went flying for about a dozen feet, skidding into another agent along the way and knocking him to the side. Once they finally stopped moving, he bent down and smoothly snapped the man's neck.

A regular army trooper came at him then, rifle held properly and trained on his center of mass, but one glance at the frightened soldier's eyes told that he wasn't quite willing to open fire just yet.

"This is an annoyance," muttered the android as he stepped into the ground of panicking civilians, fading out of sight and maneuvering to strike again.