Zeban Sky's Story

Zeban looked over, "Are you here about the bounty posted?" He asked this time aloud. He kept the hood pulled up over his cloak and stared at the man with his glowing red eyes.

Zeban nodded and motioned for the admiral to follow him. He didn't turn around just walked through the maze of buildings crawling with rats and some homeless sleeping among ruined buildings until he came upon a large hatch in the ground raising his hands it flung open. "We can talk here." He said.

there were a few small lights a bed and a table with two chairs on it two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. "Have a seat." he said motioning to the table. While he walked across the room and grabbed a holoprojeactor and a file reader.

Zeban sat down and downed the glass. He looked up and removed the hood. "There is a diplomat on this planet, Senator Orthus Fells of the Zar Republic. He must be eliminated, he has a military guard, the Minister of Zar intelligence my be there as well. Fells is priority and the Minister is secondary. The Captain of the guard is to be left to survive he must report the death." Zeb said as he pulled up files with pictures of the targets.

"Someone must live to report what happened plus my boss has plans for the man. "Just focus on the Diplomat if you can get the minister do it, you have two days to get this done. The man will be off planet by then." He said. He gathered all the files and handed it to the man along with a communicator. "We have wired 10,000 to your account in advance and will send 50,000 after the job is done. If you fail my boss will not respond kindly." He said. "No go."

A sleek diplomatic vessel touched down in the grove. The main ramp was extended crushing some foliage. Then 5 SEC marines in powered armor exited the craft and secured the perimeter. Meanwhile onboard the ship Kilum Vontaru sat at a conference table. A nondescript message had been received speaking of a possible interested buyer and this location. Now they would have to wait. Kilum was not a man to wander the wilderness. He would wait here while the boots kept a lookout for whoever or what ever was interested in this meeting.

Taron was in his fighting armor as his HUD scanned the wooded area. He switched to thermal vision as he scanned around but tried to look non-imposing while still keeping a firm grip on his weapons systems. Soon he spotted a figure but it immediately recognized as friendly as the hooded figure of Zeban Hawk approached the ship he gave a nod and entered the ship.

Kilum looked up as Zeban entered. "Well if it isn't Mr. Sullens little enforcer." He said with a smirk. Zeban just nodded and took a seat next to Kilum. Luke Sullen still had yet to gain Vontaru's trust so he sent Zeban to keep an eye on the negotiations that were about to take place.

Kilum was pleased when the Yautja were interested in the drones. But then something else was mentioned antimagic weaponry. Kilum frowned but Zeban stepped forward. He removed his hood revealing a scarred face. "Yes We do have one weapon It might not be as useful in attack but if you set a trap with it, it should do you wonders. He walked across the room and grabbed a large metal brief case and placed it on the table. "This is an Electron Stabilization Field Generator or ESF." He opened the case and inside was a cylindrical device.

Now I'm sure your wondering if this really works, so gentlemen I have prepared an experiment. You see these scars? Well there was an inncodent a few months back. I was reborn, yeah lets just say that." He said he shed his cloak and motioned for the others to follow him as two SEC marines took the ESF with them Once in the clearing Zeban stood in the middle. He said a single inaudible word. Suddenly his skin seemed to rip apart as change took over. Before them all Zeban floated mid in mid air in demon form. A large purple gauntlet took up the entire length of his right arm. "There is a reason I am Luke Sullen's enforcer." He said Kilum stood there awestruck very few knew of his abilities so this was a first for the man himself.

Nracha'dte took note of the scar on the man's face, a sign that he had seen some form of combat in his life. He nodded as Zeban explained the ESF. It was rather unfortunate that they didn't have any devices that could be used in the middle of battle, but he wasn't complaining; at least they had some anti-magic technology. The alien quartet did as the Pyode Amedha requested and stepped out of the ship and onto the empty plane that divided the two ships.

Once outside, the Yautja party watched Zeban and the device he placed on the ground intently. And then, he started to change. The sudden transformation of the humanoid into the green-skinned entity was surprising, something they had never seen before. They had seen transformations, but never anything that occurred that fast. "So.. what does it do?" Inquired one of the smaller Yautja as they waited.

Over Mainstreet the sound of engines could be heard over the sounds of war. Two heavily armored assault dropships streaked through the sky. The ships landed before the line of defense and disgorged their cargo, A full platoon of SEC marines in powered armor. "Move it, Move it!" A Sargent shouted to troops as the heavily armored soldiers fell in line. Next to them stood a man in light combat armor and the Armored Sargent and another armored man wearing generals markings. General William's looked around. "Try and locate the operational command here and do not mobilize until vehicle carriers are on the ground understood Sargent. Mr. Sky your with me." The general said as he and Zeban left the formation to try and located the main command in this mess.

As they left two armored freighters began to unload a light armored group and more importantly a company of SEC battle mech's.This group was mostly made up of two seperate models the S-7and Z-5 stood around 7 feet tall bristling with weapons and armor. A few other models were present as well. On Terra this was the first use of these drones in actual combat. Though the SEC was here to help they also liked to use this to showcase their new products. Floating around the military group were recorder drones, filming the entire mobilization of the SEC forces.

General Williams looked up as the sky went alight and the streets were almost turned to molten slag. "Bloody Hell they could have vaporized all of us!" He shouted as he renewed his step. Williams continued to make his way toward the NPA Command post. Then he turned to Zeban Sky as they walked two SEC Marines tailed behind them. "Zeban I want you to lead the SEC attack immediately. Those Zombies still seem to be swarming even after that light show, but more importantly we need to have a show of our own weaponry.

Zeban merely nodded and with a flash of light he was gone teleporting back to the SEC lines. When he was there he was no longer in human form but his demonic form. Though the SEC mostly relies on technology it is also well know for recruiting members with special "abilities." He turned to the armored soldiers and spoke telepathically. We are to advance Activate the Mechs and send them forward the rest of you are to hold the line. his voice was dark as it resonated in the soldiers minds.

After the orders were given tech officers inside a mobile relay trucks began to send activation signals. Mechs began to power up and about 20 marched forward. The front rank sprayed flame as they marched down the still cooling street picking off a few zombies. Zeban Watched with an amused smile on his demonic face.

A flash of brilliant golden light illuminated the street a short distance down the slagged street, and for a brief moment the air warped around a clear stretch of road. The flood of light faded after a moment to reveal a small group of figures standing in the previously empty space. The jump from the Temple was slightly disorienting for those inexperienced with teleportation, but having used it for many years, Elante barely hesitated before stepping forwards to survey the situation. He frowned at their somewhat vulnerable position and the state of the road, glad for his relatively thick boots.

"We should spread out and do what we can to help anyone that needs it, focus on protecting civilians and people in trouble rather than on taking the offensive," he said, casting a glance back over his shoulder at the rest of the group. "If anyone wants to join me, I'm going on to the business district to find Aeryn."

"It looks like a dragon flew through here," Shelby exclaimed. The scorched and melted street was still giving off heat. "What could have done this much damage?" All around them were the charred and littered bits of molten slag from what remained of the cyborgs unfortunate enough to be caught in the Reverence's attack.

"Maybe that?" Tahlia asked as she pointed up at the Reverence looming overhead.

"Void take me, we need to get off these streets if they're firing down here," Shelby replied. "What are they thinking bringing a Reverence down into here?!"

"It's the damned Aschen, what do you expect?" Dryden growled.

"Burn me if I expect anything but insanity from anyone this side of home," Talren muttered, "I'm convinced if most people in this bloody world had half their wits about them we'd barely have to lift a finger."

"Is that a mob moving towards us?" Tahlia gaped. "What in the hell is going on out here?" she asked.

Talren threw up a hand in defeat, "I told you! Everyone's bloody mad!"

The echo of core, core, core rang out over even the sounds of battle until you could feel it reverberting right to your bones. In one direction the cyborgs were re-gathering en masse to start their own march back down Main Street, and in front of the approaching mob from the other direction were soldiers and a line of mechs setting the place alight as they went. The cyborgs had been pushed back but a sea more awaited to retake their place if the position wasn't re-claimed swiftly.

"Light. We'll be in a meat grinder if we're caught out here when these groups hit," Shelby told the others. "Go on Elante, we can handle ourselves here. Anria, Cináed, Sahlie, Talren and Tahlia. Get to that blockade and find out who's in charge here and where they most need our assistance. Everyone else with me, we need to get clear of this area. Get to the outskirts of the combat zones and get as many people evacuated as possible before the fighting reaches them."

Elante nodded his head, "Good luck, watch each other's backs." he said, before in another flash of light, he was gone.

"You heard the woman!" Anria barked, voice booming heartily from beneath her helmet, "Move, and show any undead monstrosities that cross our path the business end of your blades!" The tall and broad-shouldered woman hefted her halberd and set off at a run.

The sound of the wind whipping past Paragon's form was all the warning Maria needed. As Paragon closed on his target, Maria coiled and leaped for the nearest building, her claws digging into concrete as she looked back to the shattered asphalt where Paragon had struck the ground in her wake. Hot saliva dripped from her maw as she launched herself clear of the building and down at the strange cloaked figure that had attacked her.

Landing only paces from Paragon, Maria stalked forward with menacing intent. Every coil of her body, and the ripple of her muscle and sinew beneath flesh spoke of the feral grace and raw strength of a predator, while the glint of intelligence reflected in her eyes spoke of a cunning adversary.

A cyborg slammed into her side while she had her focus on Paragon, but she twisted to meet it, and her claws dug deep into its undead flesh before she flung it free to smash through the windows of a street side shop.

Wheeling back about to face Paragon once more, Maria didn't get the opportunity to make a move as the street lit up from the pillar of plasma that struck. It was incinerating abandoned vehicles and cyborgs caught up in its wake, and Maria and Paragon were right in its path. Having been caught out in the middle of the cyborg horde by her fall from the helicopter, it did have the fortunate result of landing her well clear of friendly allies that she might harm in her current state, but it also had the unfortunate result of leaving them in a position at very high risk of friendly fire.

In a moment of pure instinct, Maria joined the cyborg she had flung through the window as heat seared past scorching fur and flesh. Her form was smoldering as she landed crumpled in a heap of broken glass, and her body shuddered as the damage began to knit closed. As the wounds faded so too did her fur. The injuries the plasma had inflicted had taken a lot out of the werebeast and she was rapidly shedding her bestial form.

She roused to the sound of the pounding footsteps of Aschen soldiers running past the building, mechs, and citizens marching to the beat of Core. Core. Core. For the moment though, the street outside was largely clear of cyborgs save for those nearest to the blockade that had been outside of the blast zone.

As the Aschen Sergeant barked his warning, Shannon Bennet barely had time to duck for cover as the pillar of plasma seared down to impact with the street. The heat gusted past her position and the stench of ozone filled the air.

"For frak's sake," she muttered as she surveyed the damage.

It had been a reckless gambit, but fortunately whoever was up there was spot on mark as the pillar struck the intersection up ahead. The street further down from the fighting had been swept clear of the worst of the cyborgs; though, dozens more remained that had been safely outside of the blast zone as they were engaged with those near the blockade, but the locals were making short work of them now that the incoming flood had been momentarily stemmed.

She checked the micro-fushion cell in her disruptor rifle before moving out into the street with the other Aschen soldiers and Terran military that were rushing down the street. The cyborgs wouldn't leave the area clear for long, and they had to secure the position if they intended to hold it. Cyborgs were felled by the dozens as the soldiers broke through the surviving zombies to reach the cleared street ahead.

One cyborg reached for Shannon's leg in passing - its lower extremities having been incinerated by the plasma beam - but Shannon quickly finished it off with a single shot.

Back at the blocade the break in the cyborg flood had the fight for Main Street swaying in favor of those manning the barricades. In a roar of gunfire WCPD officers, NPA officers, and Invictus soldiers were cutting through the remaining cyborgs and laying down cover fire for the soldiers moving out into the street to retake it. Daniel Johnson, a man of thirty-two and a long standing member of the police force was among those holding the line. Popping a fresh magazine into his rifle, he sighted down it and fired off a few more shots that dropped another cyborg.

The bodies piling up in the street in front of the blocade were beyond count, and those still walking were rapidly thinning, but movement far in the distance betrayed the imminent arrival of the next wave if the soldiers didn't secure the street.

Snuffing out the still blazing corpse of a nearby cyborg tentatively with the heel of his boot, Benjamin Davis sighed, nudging the charred body away and wrinkling his nose. It was starting to smell badly of rotting flesh, the piles of bodies formed of already dead flesh swiftly deteriorating as the battle went on.

"Uhg," the long-haired mage grimaced, wringing his hands together and glancing at Daniel, who was adjacent to him in the line. "Did we miss a mass excavation of graveyards, recently? Where does anyone get this many bodies? This isn't what I signed up for."

"Damned if I know," Daniel shouted back over the gunfire. "But I'm sure they'll take your preference into account if they break through the blockades."

There was another crack of Daniel's rifle and another cyborg fell to join its brethren on the pavement.

"Do you think? They don't seem very considerate, to me." Ben replied, frowning and extending a hand outwards to catch an approaching cyborg in a burst of fire that knocked it to the ground where it was promptly finished off by one of the others on the barricade.

"Have you ever tried to give out parking tickets in this city?" Daniel yelled back. "Believe me, these things are far more reasonable."

Ben cracked a smile at that remark, "I suppose you're right. In no other city will you see something escalate from a speeding fine, to resisting arrest and several thousand dollars worth of property damage in the space of ten minutes. That was a fun one."

As the small force of Mechs marched toward the cyborg a flash of flesh darted out from the shadows a dull grey light could be seen and a high pitched could be heard. The figure raced by a Mech and it fell and it repeated the process until only one remained. It easily dodged the heavy robots weapons. Then the figure raced through the barrier past the troops and down the street. It ran much faster than the average human but not with superhuman speed either.
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General Williams had been walking down the street by the SEC marines when he got reports of his Mechs being dropped. He was about to send a few marines forward when a skinny figure raced by. He caught the figures face in the light and immediately recognized X279.

"STOP HIM! SEIZE HIM!" He shouted to the armored Marines. About six of them raced after the figure their armor enhanced their speed and immediately caught up with him. X was close to the square now but suddenly he made a miscalculation and was backed into a corner at the front lines. Behind the lines Zombies approached while SEC marines leveled rifles to X's head.

Out of the Shadows Zeban sky appeared. "Don't kill him, Mr. Sullen wants him alive." He said in a dark voice to the marines before turning to the boy. "We have been hunting you for months and when our resolve began to falter you land right in our hands. Fates funny isn't it?" He stated laughing knowing the young man could not respond to his queries.

Sighing softly Ki leaped from the building down to the ground and moved towards the zomborgs, his eyes slit gold and his tail lashed behind him. He grinned when they saw him and moved towards him. Sliding to a sudden stop, he twisted slightly and lashed out with his tail, twin shlinks echoing as his scythes popped out and heads rolled as bodies fell with wet thunks. Those still standing soon lost their heads as well as his tail lashed back around before flicking and sending blood everywhere before sinking back into the ball on the end of his tail.

He looked back to where the three had been and hoped to met the feline some day but knew he didn't have time to wast as the soldier on his back twitched. "Lets get you some help." he said as he leaped forward and once again raced down the street, leaping burned cars, dead bodies and skirting around larger pockets of zomborgs. Sliding to a halt, Ki's head cocked his ears tuned towards a shout and shifted slightly before leaping in that direction. Only to skid to a halt when he saw several large armored suits and gulped as his tail lashed out to strike into the side of the building to keep him from slamming into one and froze where he stood, slit gold eyes locked on the mech's while his ears twitched and he shifted ever so slightly.

Before she knew it, she felt herself falling. The girl with the red hair was still looking at the sky, but from far up. She twisted her hips, allowing her whole body to turn around so she could face the street.

Her jaw dropped.

She was as high up as the sky scrapers. No! Far higher! But it was not as she had thought it was. There was death and war on Main Street. People pushing back terrible machines. Soldiers. Soldiers? Gunshots. She could hear them even in her fall. She spread her arms and frowned, slowing her momentum, if just barely. She concentrated on the scene before her.

Airheaded would be the proper word, huh? Iso grumbled to herself. She reached for the watch around her wrist, but paused when she felt skin. Her expression became panicked.

Shit! I left it on the counter!

As she swiftly approached the ground, she closed her eyes and flickered out of existence once more. When she flickered back into the world, she was in the middle of the commotion. She whirled around, looking towards the army of...of...

...zombies? Machine zombies?

Her heart raced. She wasn't prepared for this! Not right now! One approached her, and as she whirled around to run she was met with a man holding a gun. Time slowed for all but a second as she saw his finger press down on the trigger. She was gone long before the bullet left the barrel, one moment there, the next moment in a nearby alley, on a fire escape, falling onto her back in an uncoordinated tumble. She curled up, teeth gritting as the air was knocked out of her.

What was I thinking? She got up, pressing her back to the wall. Those blue eyes swept over the chaos of the street once more.

Oh, right. I wasn't.

It might have been chaos on the the blood and bile soaked Main Street of Wing City; and of course all one could hear was the battle that was being waged on the long lane of pavement. Guns firing, people screaming, fires raging, and machines going haywire and don't even think about the smell of the area as the dead lined the ground.

This was most likely hell on earth from anyone point of view, but it was about to get worse with the arrival of ten very large and bright yellow troop transporters. Their giant fifty inch wheels coming to a screeching halt and the back doors flung open with a loud metal thud.

A few waves of people in bright yellow hazmat suits came rushing towards the battle. Guns in tow. And one of those hazmat suited maniacs climbing the top of one of the vehicles and pointing out towards the mob of zomborgs.

"Halt out, Bitches! We got Zombie Ass to kick the Center of Disease Control style!"

On top of the rooftops nearby, several bandits had devised a plan to get the drop on the forces fighting below in the streets. Several of the bloodthirsty criminals occupied several buildings, each of them facing one another. Loading up crudely made crossbows, obviously made from whatever was handy at the time, the various men on the rooftops proceeded to create a small zipline system across the buildings, some of them directing up to the rooftops, others directing into various windows.

Chuckling a bit, one of the many bandits strapped several grenades to a zipline, shoving them on their way, the grenades becoming unattached to the zipline when it was above the center of the street, resulting in several grenades falling to the earth. Once the initial barrage of explosives were dropped, the bandits then strapped themselves to the zipline system, sliding building to building, taking potshots or lobbing grenades at the chaos below, all of them taunting and teasing. "NEVER SHOULDA COME HERE!" a voice with a southern accent might yell, or "I'm gonna blow you into GUM!" another might yell, obviously fearless in their attempts to salvage from the resulting carnage. They came to this planet to get rich, not wuss out, after all...

Paragon leaped out of the way as column of plasma slammed into the street, his jump carrying him hundreds of feet into the air, propelling him high above the city. He looked down at the now-scorched pavement, scouring the area for any signs of the cursed wolf...

From his bird's eye view over the city, Paragon could see neither the werewolf nor the remains of any Terran citizens left in the carnage of the Aschen assault. Despite their glitzy entrance, they had been careful, which is was more then could be said for some of these crazy 'defense' forces. Still, it looked as if the tides were being stemmed. Heroes and soldiers flooded in from every direction, defending their homes and families with their powers, weapons, magics or plain old human courage. It looked as if there weren't many zomborgs left 'alive' on Main Street. Victory seemed imminent for the forces of order on Terra.

With the werewolf out of his hands, Paragon threw back his hands, gliding through the sky on the ends of his cloak. He veered left, resolving to follow through on his earlier lead and find the source of these monstrosities... though he curiously descended near the building that the three armed soldiers had entered not a few moments earlier.