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[kingmonkey+1]

Several days had passed since the briefing. They all knew their directives. Or at least, Boris assumed they did. He had been issued a separate briefing. Viletta had not been misleading him, she only needed his fleet command experience. Shortly after the briefing, Boris returned to the Charlemagne. The realtively easy passage through the Dark Reaches, fighting a light fleet of pirates had been more enjoyable. Cursing under his breath, Boris wished he had never gotten Viletta's summons.

"Fire all right cannons," he ordered, "take them out of my skies. I don't want a single AI left intact."

A blanket EM field radiated from the ship, scrambling the AI fighters' systems. Although they had learned to adapt to this sort of attack, Boris had hoped it would give them enough time to break through the front line, and reach his objective in the AI's domain. Without warning, three dozen more AI light fighters, Lupus-class, appeared on screen.

"Captain, we have incoming threat. They just appeared within firing range." No sooner had the lieutenant uttered those words, than the ship rocked under the barrage of missile fire. Bright bursts of blue flame erupted across the skin of the mighty cruiser. Cries of distress rose over the command console intercom system. Status reports filled the air.

Deep in the hold of the Charlemagne, the U Spec Ops team sat quietly, waiting for the drop behind enemy territory. Despite their power, they needed to conserve energy. Few of them enjoyed the feeling of relying on another for their own defense. They could only wait, and anticipate their mission.

"Return fire," Boris commanded, "cast Discretionary Shields, give them false information. I want them hitting open space if they fire again. Bring course down fifteen points. I want us to fly right between the defense platforms. If those fighters want us, they're going to have to withstand their own salvoes to get us. Helmsman, fly a delta pattern to evade platform fire. Precogs, I want to know where the particle beams are going before the enemy does; prepare divination spells immediately. I want shield status relayed to me every ten seconds in the event of fire."

The massive ship, sleek and ornate, moved with surprising agility between blazing blue beams of particle cannons, and the red ion rays from the fighters. A web of death filled the void with stray radiation. Only the defensive spells of the ship's battle mages kept her from being cooked slowly. The fury of the combat might have seemed surreal to the precogs, clairvoyants who saw from beyond the hull of the Charlemagne, from the void where no sound exists.

From the great cannons aboard the Charlemagne, a steady net of rockets fired in it's wake. The light fighters dodged, flitting like flies around a giant beast. Several of the AI craft burst in blinding white explosions as they careened into stray particle beams from their own cannons.

"As soon as they begin to withdraw from the defense platforms," Boris boomed from the command deck, "have the Afric, the Majestic, and the Royal move into position and deploy their drone fighters. Without the support of their particle cannons, they'll rip the enemy to shreds. As soon as we move into the heart of the defense platforms, all Cyphers must cast Dominate Machine spells and turn the platforms on the AI motherships beyond the defense grid. Punch through their lines, and let their own platforms continue to clean them out for us."

The great, dome-shaped ships of the AI, bristling with strange bursts of electricity from thousands of bizarre antennae, glided toward the Charlemagne as they emerged, largely unharmed, from the defense grid. What they must have thought as they lost telepathic contact with their defense platforms, Boris could not know. He delighted in thinking they must have been faced with a great chaos. For the ordered machine-like hive minds of the AI, nothing was more destructive than the unknown. Their confusion would elad to their destruction.

"We have control of the defense platform, sir!"

"Fire at will." Boris smiled and leaned back in his chair.

A hundred particle beams focused on the first of the two AI motherships. The damage was instant and catastrophic. A huge flare for an instant turned the first ship into a tiny star, before it shuddered and ell to pieces, streaming debris in 360 directions. The Charlemagne's own guns rained energy across the second ship's path, preventing it from leaving the combat zone. It too, fell prey to the AI's own weapons. Boris covered his eyes as the death of thousands of AI militants ended in front of him.

"Once we arrive at the target planet, move into planetary orbit and have the Spec Ops team deploy in shuttle 03. Once the team is at the insertion point, we will fall back to high orbit, regroup with the Afric and the Royal, and provide support only for the team. They will have 72 hours to complete their objective, then we leave with or without them."

[Selothi]

Nice post ...

The battle was raging outside, he could hear the explosions, the firing of cannons, ships and vessels being ripped apart, blasting the debris that was left into all directions. It was one hell of a noisy ruckus. They were all here, all of the newly-formed Spec Ops, waiting for the zone to be cleared before they were launched onto this planet. Lucius hadn't really listened during briefing, he just knew that once on location, shoot everything that moves and keep alive were going to be his main objectives.

What he did know was that they only had three days to complete the mission, and it sounded like a hard one. They would have to work together, something that Nielfax was not looking forward to ... And it must've been the same for a few of the others at least he hoped. The summoner Aranom and his friend seemed to get on well, but that girl, Iris, she never co-oped, and neither did he, so Lucius just crossed his gloved fingers and hoped, hoped that things would go alright.

At last, the situation outside seemed to calm down, their ship visibly the victor. Soon, they would be deployed, soon, they would test their mettle, and soon, things might get a lot worse.

[kingmonkey+1]

"Ladies and gentlemen," Boris' broke into the silence of the shuttle where the Spec Ops team sat waiting. The commotion of the bridge filled the stoney crew with a sense of anticipation.

"Shuttle 03 is finishing pre-flight checks. You will be dropping directly into high atmosphere. This means you will experience a sudden, and violent bump when you drop, and another sudden and even more violent bump when the engines kick in. The Charlemagne will actually enter atmosphere behind you, in order to give the AI something more worrisome to attract their attention. Between the anti-aircraft fire, intercept fighters engagning the Charlemagne, and orbital bombardment from the Afric and Majestic, you should have an exciting ride."

[Ryand-Smith]

As Viletta waited in the shuttle, a voice rang out, her partner Spectre waiting for the signal for the shuttle to drop. The tension in the small drop craft was amazing, as trained men and woman alike awaited the long familiar drop deep into enemy territory. The thoughts of punching AI with the Genphest Armor, or using the other forms of S Style combat came to her for a moment, before she regained her composure. "Team, this is a standard shuttle drop. We may blow up in air, so prepare to activate flight spells, and members who can't fly, I'll keep you in the Nendo field. Otherwise, get ready for the ride of your lives. "Boris.." she thought, "Don't die on me now..." The shuttle had the bright green light glow, as the sound of the restraining bolts went through, the sleek battle machine heading into the unknown future...

[Blazingstar]

Aranom sat, unmoving, inside the confines of the drop ship; the hum of machinary once more filling his ears as he began his approach into the military life once more. Oh so many years ago, he would have been excited to enter the turmoil of war with Canis and Draconis; however, that adrenaline-induced lifestyle had faded as the years rolled by with the sands of time. Sitting away from everyone, the closes one to him being Lily, he was brooding as to what would happen. The world was changing, and the aged man could not discern as to why these things were occuring. All he could do was extend his abilities to the starts, gaining strength, and using them as he was ordered or as he saw fit.

It was unknown as to what would be their fate in the conflict ahead; some might die, others would live, and many more would decide what occured to them. Glowing softly inside the transport, the lights added a sense of tension and anxiety to the situation, neither of which bothered the summoner much. Such feelings were not useful in this time of pre-combat. The chaos of one's mind must be tamed to provide the focus required in war; of course, Aranom had already achieved his state of inner nirvana, as had Canis and Draconis. His familiars lay against his feet, resting their heads on the leather of his trusty combat boots, their eyes alert. Soon, the time would come very soon.

[sashbandit]

Maximus sat inside the shuttle, on his face a peculiar smile. "Its been a while since I've been in actual combat, wonder if I've gotten rusty? Hope I don't fall behind." He mused to himself as he waited for the pod to be expelled. As his anxiety grew so did his concept of time. Seconds seemed as hours as he waited patiently. To his mind off the wait he decided to go over his objectives "As soon as I touch down I need to figure out where the enemies snipers are and discreetly take them out before they can do any damage. Then rejoin the main group and provide assistance where I can. Simple enough."

[Iris Lilium]

Her eyes were closed softly, those paying attention would see her form outlined in an almost unnoticeable aura, she was attempting to calm her jumpy nerves at the sign of the first good mission she's had in months. It was also ment to help bring her power down trying to decrease her area spells a bit. "I wonder why they stuck me in a team" she wondered, she wasn't good with people but she could work with them if she must . This sparked an idea to try to condense her area effects into a narrow spell on one person, this would have to be practiced. As for flight spells, the small bit of natural mana she leaked out with out noticing was enough to sustain a decent flight spell and thus flying came naturally for her some times looking like she could simply walk into midair, but this was just the fluidly use of the leaking mana and the sheer speed of the flight activation. "You should be aware that air combat is my specialty", she said out softly her eyes still closed. She wasn't lying either, when she wasn't used for sweeping. She was used fr Air Cover and thats probably what her roll would end up being here.

[Great Lord Foofah]

It stank, it was humid, but it was warm and there was food.

The cleanup crew were a very important team of unseen worker AI clearing out garbage from the trash compactor when it was full and removing all items designated as 'garbage' from the other parts of the ship as specified by the ship's owner at activation. David got in during pressure release, when the ship opened up its trash compactor doors to release the pressure created by the humidity of decaying food.

The food wasn't much, it was just some tasteless paste left over in the folds of the plastic bags the nutritious substance was stored in, but it was quickly filling and seemed to give David a burst of energy.

Put your hood up.

"Wha...? Oh..." It was the thing on his neck talking to him again.

Spider8290 reversed a small amount of the electricity that was coming to him from David, shocking David a little bit and causing him to raise his hood in alarm.

Thank you. May I take--

Suddenly, a huge explosive noise rang about and resonated through the anti-corrosive walls of the trash compactor. The ship lurched, and David fell, knocking his head on one of the walls and beginning to black out...

Dav8290 activated. It quickly assessed the situation and found it easier due to a few shadow memories of it and the compactor's odd topography, the origins of these memories were unknown to it. It knew one thing: it had to get out.

It felt around with a basic recon AI, which sent back the information needed to communicate with the cleanup AI team. Dav8290 established a connection, and, after a short bout of negotiation, got the locked trash chute to open for him and crawled inside and up, destination unknown. All it knew was that if it didn't leave, a sensory organ would be damaged severely.

It crawled out of the chute and into the hull. Here a mass of basic AI and the ship's main computer probed its Network Graft, trying to gain information about it and its purpose. The stress was enormous, so it put up a firewall and passed out.

Spider8290 was very annoyed. It still didn't know how to control its body, and now it had to maintain a firewall against a whole slew of different AI. If only it had been programmed with self-modeling functions.

[kingmonkey+1]

High above the AI world, Shuttle 03 rocked through the upper atmosphere. Inside the passengers were jostled about like toys, as the pilot desperately avoided the deadly streams of particle beams, and stray rockets aimed at the Charlemagne. Through the orange evening sky, the sleek craft dodged nimbly. AI aerial fighter drones, looking so delicate in shape, but attacking like angry hornets, filled the sky to intercept both the great cruiser, and the tiny shuttle.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the pilot spoke over the intercom, "we are experiencing greater resistance than was expected by Field Intelligence. I'm moving as fast as I can, expect a real bumpy-"

A crash shuddered through the ship, knocking the occupants back and forth. The ship swayed radically for terrifying seconds. Within moments, the pilot had regained control.

"If any of you can cast shielding spells, or invisibility on a Class 8 sized vessel, I'd really suggest you do it now."

[Lilina]

Could feel the violent shaking of the aircraft she was in. It sure didn't help her to realax or calm down any. This was her first mission, and it looked to be a very dangerous one at that. She never fought AI head-on, only dummies at her training. All the other members of the Special Ops all looked to be thinking about their own situation and how they would handle, with nerviousness on their faces , execpt Iris, who looked very confident and mainainted a constant expression.

Her staff was already in it's combat form, ready to be used at any moment. Being a Aerial Combat instructor, she didn't have to worry too much about the drop into the enemy territory. She could handle that with ease, although the amount of firepower being shot back at them was far more than any training session. She gulped. That is when she heard the need for a shield around the vessel.

"I can do it, I mean, I could cast a stable shield around this shuttle." She could hear the pilot asking her to hurry up and cast it, the ride was once again under heavy fire, and the noise blocked out anything else he might of said. "Are you ready, Lunar Flower?" "YES" Shielding magic was one of her specialties, as this was in order to make up for her somewhat lack of attack power. She would wear the opponent down per-say but taking all their attacks and causing them to run out of magic or stamina. Lilina began focusing large amounts of power into her staff, which was being pointed around different points around the shuttle. Every time the staff moved, a small orb of light would appear outside the shuttle in that location. Soon, about twenty orbs surrounded the shuttle. Each of the orbs shot out a line of light to connect to nearby ones until an entire grid was created around the shuttle. "Activate the defensive self-sustaining shielding system." And within the grids, panels of magic appear, ready to deflect weaker shots and help absorb the impact of strong artillery. "Will this work?" The orbs surrounding the ship were each filled with an amount of mana in them, and did not require it to be drained from Lilina, allowing her to start recharging her own mana, while the shield gets itself going.

[Selothi]

"Bumpy ride ..." muttered Lucius, as he checked the magazine of his Bar Mk VII. The shuttle was trembling, constantly assaulted by enemy fire, as they continued their descent onto the planet. Iris was sporting a face of pure calm it seemed, something which unnerved him. She should be worried about the damn thing blowing up, not as cool as that ! Despite Lucius seeming mildly relaxed, he was rather fearing an explosion. These shuttles never felt safe to him. Never.

The other girl, Lilina he thought she was called, was starting to cast up a shield, quite an impressive one if it could englobe the whole shuttle and stay active for a bit. The merc. observed her as her staff sent orbs of light out of the ship and onto the metal framework. However, he soon let his gaze drift back to his equipment, inspecting each piece of it, from grenades to pistol to knife to rifle. Ryand-Smith had done an amazing job with all of them, including his gauntlets and visor, which were now working at 110% as he had told him? For that alone, Lucius felt grateful to the man, a first really.

[kingmonkey+1]

"Brace for im-"

A thundering explosion buffeted the ship as three missiles struck against the shield Lilina had erected. Through the strength of her spellcraft, and the integrity of the ship's own defense screen, they were saved from complete destruction. Still, the blast was powerful, and the shuttle began to spin out of control.

Alarms sounded, and the lights switched to a dark purple colour. The team instinctively double-checked their safety belts. The sound of telemetry readings firing off hundreds of streams of data filled the air in the cockpit as the pilot fought to maintain control. Autocannon fire from the drones ricocheted off the remaining shields and slowly began to damage the fuselage.

"Mayday! Mayday! Charlemagne, this is Shuttle 03, we are in and uncontrolled spin and going to crash into sector 099! Will radio again if any survivors! All hands, prepare for crash landing!"

[sashbandit]

"Oh my! seems were going down." Maximus said with a nervous smile. As the ship plummeted down towards the planet Maximus' head filled with of different spells and incantations he knew and he had to figure out which one would best suit the situation. "Hm lets see maybe..no that won't work the ship is falling to fast...oh wait aha! I know I'll use that spell."

Just as he finished deciding Maximus channeled a great deal of his magic energy into his glove. As he concentrated the magic in the glove began to take a blue glow that shined dimly. "Okay." He said before taking a deep breath. "Invocation of the Elements: Winds Breath!" As he finished the incantation the wind outside the ship began to concentrate at a single point underneath the ship. Although the speed of the ships descent had been slowed, Maximus' spell could do no more than stop the crash from being completely catastrophic. He still needed more power to stop a ship of this size. "This...is...a...lot...harder...than...I...Imagined.." He said as he concentrated his power on the spell.

[Great Lord Foofah]

Huh. To dav8290's surprise, the ship's AI stopped probing.

Three huge explosions and one plummeting rotation later, David regained full consciousness and spider8290 was proverbially sent reeling due to the other consciousness that it constantly interacted with.

David gained full consciousness and instantly found the nearest door and burst through, screaming and coughing, almost unable to see due to the sudden change in lighting and panicking even more due to the loud siren sounding through the whole ship. A few more frantic turns and one tumble through a doorway and he was greeted by several soldiers. Seeing their calm faces, he felt slightly more safe but no more secure. He crawled into a corner and avoided directly gazing into anyone's eyes.

[kingmonkey+1]

"Whatever someone's doing back there, it's helping," the pilot yelled, "I've regained some control, but we have no power. We're going to hit hard, but I'm aiming us at a landing spot that hopefully won't be catastrophic to smash into."

Before anyone had time to react, another explosion rocked the shuttle, blasting through Lilina's shield, and tearing a great hole in the ship's aft section. The force of the impact upset the vessel, flipping it upside down. The spin would have continued, but with the descent speed they had, the ground hit them sooner.

With an earth-shattering smash, the ship collided with the planet's surface. The Spec Ops team, strapped upside down now, held on for dear life.

[Ryand-Smith]

Viletta smiled, as her powered Armor glowed, the woman casting a basic background spell to make sure that the impact would at least not kill the entire team upon impact. The green Aura of her G-Wall covered the ship’s outer hull, as Specter struggled to establish the link to her mistress, the stress of Villeta’s subconscious mind starting to affect her magical core. The small Unison Device Pressed on, producing a wall of power that flowed through the ship’s magitek circuits, the field acting like a temporary structural integrity field. In essence, the ship had another armor, mounted on the outside, holding the crashing shuttle down.

“Team, we will make it, I promise you. When we arrive, I am sure I will be proud to say, I am the leader of the U Spec Ops. For the U, for Justice, and For Victory!” Viletta shouted, as the flack of AI Guns exploded in air, the dropping shuttle nearing the ground. “Fighters, Prepare for Combat and drop!”

[Iris Lilium]

Her eyes opened a light pink surrounding the pupil of her eye as her Device spoke "Chance of Air Combat on drop is high, Danger levels exceed expected levels. According to Emergency procedures Permissions are given to level 4, Under Special Proceeding Code 4-A, for High level air combat." the blue staff spoke, the purple orb lighting up as it did so.

She remained calm "I suppose this is why I was assigned to this team then, Permission received but lock is to remain in place until the command word is given" "Yes sir". She was prepared for the drop, if necessary as soon as she began the drop she would unseal to level 4 and provide cover fire and defenses for the rest of the way down.

[Lilina]

Was truly amazed by how powerful Commander Viletta was. Even though shield magic was Lilina's specialty, it paled in comparison to the commander's. She could only think in awe of that kind of power. That is, until she realized that combat was only a moment away, and once again thought about what she needed to do out there. The few remain shield orbs outside of the shuttle returned back to her staff, allowing it reabsorb the power it had spent. "Every little bit counts in times like these," she thought to herself.

At least, being an Aerial-type mage, she would have less problems if the fighting was in the air. To her, things like dodging, aiming and defending were much easier to preform than when she was on the ground. And Lunar Flower liked to be in the air as well, although most would think it was strange for an intelligent device to have those kinds of feelings. --Well, Lunie, what do you think is going to happen out there...I mean...this will be the first time I use you in actual combat, are you ready for that-- Lilina was holding her staff tightly, talking to it though a direct telepathic link, although this was a skill limited to only her Lunar Flower and could not do it with anyone or anything else. ~~You worry too much, don't you? Remember, I will always be you courage when you need it alright, maybe you should try to be more like that Iris~~ Lilian grinned when she heard that, --You mean like a zombie?-- The tips of the staff starting to pulsate. ~~Wouldn't this be a good time to ready you self, and start preparing you body for the fighting, instead of zombie talk?~~ --Well...you started it...-- Her Lunie was being her usual self again, only trying her best to get Lilina's mind out of it's stress and instead feel relaxed.

The glowing light around her tip started to slowly transfer itself into Lilina's body, causing it to glow a blueish color. This was her form of body armor, a shield that contoured it self to her body. This was what would keep her alive in combat, as her unshielded body would easily crumble to any attack. It was divided into three layers, a detection layer, a response layer, and the protection layer. This allowed the shield to properly adjust it self to block attack from all angles, though it require a constant drain of mana when used, even if it is not under attack, while the drain amount grows larger with every passing moment. But it was her best shot at coming out of this alive. Her lifeline.

Glancing over, she noticed the summoner and his familiars, looking as if they had been though this many times over. It must not be anything new to him though, considering his status as a powerful summoner in past conflicts. Judging from the looks of it, her would probably have the most combat experience out of everyone here. She walked over to him, though it wasn't easy with all the turbulence, and held her hand out to him, "I would like to...um..thank you for all the hard work you have done for us in the past, and I have the pleasure of joining you in combat with the AI" She had a smile on her face. Her fear was gradually fading. This would be a new step in her life, one that could change her future forever.

[sashbandit]

Maximus sighed as he reclined back for a moment allowing himself a brief moment of relaxation. "Whew, heh its a good thing the Commander came in when she did or else I'd would have ran out of energy." He murmurmed to himself as he closed his eyes and stopped his incantation. It would be a waste to keep expending energy since the ship will be protected from the crash anyway. After a second or two he straightend himself back up with a listless expression on his face.

"Well time to get ready for this mission." Maximus adjusted the fitting of his glove and made sure it was strapped on tight, any looseness in the strap and magic channeling became much more difficult. Once he was satisfied, Maximus once again focused magic energy into his hand. In order for his spells to be used in rapid succession Maximus had to keep a steady supply of magic in his palm, though it took a bit of concentration to stabilize once it settled he could keep it channeled without too much thought.

As a last precaution Maximus checked his storage devices to make sure they didn't have any glitches in the relay system. Once that was through he readjusted his safety harness and braced himself for a very bumpy ride. "I never really liked high places, and dropping out of the sky doesn't feel like much fun either." He said as he chuckled lightly

[Blazingstar]

Aranom sat silently, anticipating the drop into the territory with the critique of one who has seen much combat; however, aerial combat was not his specialty. Despite Draconis being an elemental dragon of more power than average for his age...his techniques were only half of what Aranom could accomplish. The summoner wished they were on the ground, where Canis' massive claws could be used to some effect rather than none. Strategy was more important in a fight then skill; although, Aranom was confident in his raw power, he felt secure in being able to coordinate strikes between both familiars. Without the use of Canis, he felt alone and helpless. Canis had been his longest companion, always being there since an incredibly young age, but now it was time for him to take the back seat on this ride into the jaws of possible death.

As his mind gazed over all the possibilities, he did not take notice of anything within the cabin of the craft. He knew they wouldn't crash and die that way; after all, what kind of death is one where you do not take an enemy with out? The military were meant to die in combat, their wounds to the fore of their bodies as they rush into the Gates of Hell. Right now, he was taking advantage more of his mental power than looking at useless information. Being trained in the art of auras, feelings, and vibes, the summoner was able to pick up the scent of preperation. Not a sense of nervousness, but a sense of the need to be ready for whatever comes. A few were anxious, but this is what they had been trained for, this was a soldier's duty.

He let out a sigh, beginning to think that he had grown lazy with all the years without combat...but he did begin his own preperations. Given the circumstances, aerial ability was needed. If one had been accustomed to telepathic links, they would easily have noticed the aura beginning around Aranom, invisible to most people's eye. Connecting the Summoner and his familiars, was a pair of chains... sharing the minds of two creatures. Upon command, Canis narrowed his own link, reducing the strain and distraction he provided. As this mental chain weakened and thinned, the familliar visibly shrunk, becoming as small as a new born puppy, hopping into the pocket of the summoner's duster. Unwilling for the monster-turned- migit to fall out, the aging man zipped up the top except for a crack, allowing fresh air to circulate.

As much as it pained the ex-instructor to say it, Canis and his battle fury would be useless in any aerial conflict...he did not possess wings. At the same time, the mental link between Aranom and Draconis multiplied in strength, changing from a chain to a highway, the two minds almost one. The overgrown lizard shuddered, breathing out the hiss familiar with this change. His skin appeared to bubble and boil, shifting and changing faster then anything should...he was ready for battle. ::Sorry Canis, but this battle is up to Draconis...he will see us all through this thing:: Upon these changes occuring...a faint illumination appeared from the pendant around the summoner's neck, proof that it was in use. To one attuned to the winds and gusts of the magical realm, they would notice the violet flame seeming to burn within the Summoner, his powers beginning to bubble forth from their prison within his body.

Summoner Khornim was so lost in thought, that he just barely noticed as Lilina approached him, glowing with the faint aura associated with magical usage. ::such an interesting ability...Ill inquire later. There is something about that device of hers though...:: He looked up, completely composed, his face devoid of any emotion. Lack of focus would dull the blade, and this was especially true for those practitioners of the summoning arts...where a familiar could overpower your control. Of course...Khornim never held Canis or Draconis with a leash...they were his equals. They supported each other in tough times. As Lilina finished her brief sentences, the summoner spoke, smiling ever so slightly as he did so. "The pleasure is all mine, Instructor. Your compliments are appreciated, but they can also be percieved as you lacking confidence in your own abilities. This will be easy, just trust in what you have learned, and everything wil be fine. As for my work....serving the U is my job and obligation. It is what I want to do, there is no need for thanks.

The summoner stood up, rising from his seat. His back was completely straight, his eyes twinkling as adrenaline began filling his body. His stance screamed of one who would not falter or be defeated, one who was born for battle. As he rose..the mini-Canis poked his head out from the pocket..looking silly in his dwarfish ferociousness. Draconis stood at Aranom's heels, ready to fight.