Akio the Wanderer's Story

Draco snarled into a smirk as his Draconian Form hovered within the sky, looking down upon the Emperor with an amused look. "You make the mistake of thinking this will be easy for you, Emperor. A mistake you will wish you had not made." he smirked before his swords returned to their sheaths on his back, and he began to chant in Draconian.



The Purple Light began to rise from the very earth and into Draco's body as he channeled more power from the very Storm he created, and then once more drew his swords, she Shadowfire blades crackling with Cold Draconian Fire as his Wings flapped once, and within half a heartbeat, he was within three feet of the Emperor, aiming a double downwards strike with both swords, each one with the power of a full typhoon behind them as he aimed to slice off the Emperor's arms cleanly. Whether or not the blades struck was irrelevant, as Draco used the momentum to flip, smacking at the Emperor's face with his wings to make him blink, and then bringing a leg down over the man's head, the weight of his Kaiju sized true form behind it, hundreds of thousands of tons of muscle and scale and negative emotion, all in one point of his heel as it came down upon the Emperor of Mankind.

With the Commandos and their combatants.

While initially the Commandos would be obliterated by those they were sent to fight, Ean and his comrades, as well as Akio, would find that they would quickly reform, stronger than last time, and continue their attacks, with more ferocity and skill than before. Each destruction of their bodies only made them harder to kill; that is why Draco himself personally searched for suitable candidates for his Commando Battalion of Shadows.

At this point, they were there only to annoy and distract Ean, his friends, and Akio so that Draco could focus on the Emperor himself. And they would do their job well, and diligently.

Back with the Emperor

Darting backwards out of physical range after his initial flurry, Draco's scaled form bore an amused smirk while his wings flapped gently, keeping him hovering gently a few feet off the ground. His armor remained on his body, a black helmet appearing and coming over his head, encasing it in the Draconian Metal.

"Emperor....a fitting title for a worthy Opponent. But I'm afraid your reign will soon come to an end, your highness." Draco spread his arms and bid the good Emperor to look out across the landscape of the war-torn city. "Even if you defeat me and drive me from this land, I have already one. I have done what I set out to do: Collect bodies and souls for my Legion. The rest? It's just the icing on the proverbial cake for me." he laughed.

"Now then, Emperor of Mankind, Hero of the City. Strike me with your best."

On the front lines of the battle

The Bashers in Cohort armor continued their steady advance outwards from the Business district, most ordinary projectiles bouncing of shield and armor, or phasing through their bodies. Spears and swords launched forth from their formation and any caught in the attacking waves would be literally stomped into their own shadow, and conscripted into the Legion.

Within buildings, Slashers and Hounds continued their rampage as they harvested those who were hiding, none were safe. Safe rooms were found, Shadows turned against their own casters, and tendrils became commonplace, snatching anything unfortunate enough to get close. On and on the Basher cohorts progressed, a steady train of death and destruction. Each Basher felled would only bring four more into battle, and they had no heart. They did not care for their fallen brethren, nor did they care for themselves, they only cared about the harvest of souls and bodies for the Legion, and of the slaughter of innocents.

With Kethend and the Gray Knights.

Draco had noticed the movement of said Gray Knights, and while he did not yet sense the presence of his mate, Kethend, he did send her help. Screaming Minotaurs burst forth from every direction they could, fully armored and armed with their large rusted Axes, and screaming in complete and total agony, screaming for mercy as they attacked with all their might, self preservation instinct broken out of them by their service in the Legion. They were faster than the Gray Knights, but they only knew one thing: Attack. So when their axes didn't work, they only continued to swing, albeit aiming for what could be assumed to be weaker points in the armor; joints, and the like.

If that did not work, the Minotaurs would proceed to try to sumo the great Gray Knights and wrestle them to the ground before ganging up on them and using their combined weight to drag them into the abyss.

At the Ritual Site.

The four Shadowlings began to slowly straighten their backs. They were upon their knees and praying in similar fashion to those who practice the faith of Islam, bowing their bodies, and using that position to exude their dark power into the sphere as it steadily grew. The Ritual would end when all four began to hover, and were sucked into the orb. For now though, their backs were merely beginning to straighten, and their heads began to lull backwards as they sat up. They then began to chant in unison, the two male and two female voices mixing together as a rehearsed quartet, almost singing their chant as their eyes were closed and their dark energy leeched from their bodies into the orb.



And so their chant continued, quiet at first, but as time would progress, it would slowly, but steadily grow in volume. Around the plaza where the ritual was taking place, fifty Shadow Commandos stood watch, more of the Legion ready to pour to defend at a moments notice. The Commandos were equipped with the equivalent of 100 Calibur Sniper Rifles, that would blow the arm off an ordinary man if he tried to fire it. They watched the streets and buildings, silent, without fear or hesitation or emotion. Silent.

With Draco and the Emperor.

The Sky grew darker and the lightning around the city ceased. Draco grew silent and only watched. He was ready for anything the Emperor had to throw at him.

The Emperor Of Man

As the Emperor watched as the massive dragon began to absorb more strength, he simply raised his sword and waited for the attack. With one hand, he raised his sword above him as the two swords came down upon him. He easily blocked it without any strain in his muscles. However the dragon then used the momentum and tried to bring his heel down upon him.

"I have already given up everything being easy beast. However I have faced entities that far surpass everything you are capable of. If you think me to lose then by all means, use everything you have. It makes your defeat more bitter." The Emperor calmly replied as he raised his hand up and caught the heel that was brought down on him. However before he could act the dragon quickly darted back to avoid any possible counterattack he could make.

The dragon then began to make a speech of how he had already won, and how everything else was just adding more destruction. "Do all of you beasts always continue to gloat? It is irritating to listen to your voice. You want me to hit you with my best shot? Then by all means I wont hold back." The Emperor replied as he placed his foot forward. However instead of charging at the beast he used his psychic might and used the warp to shorten the distance. In an instant he was right in front of Draco's right eye with a fist prepared for him. He threw his punch, the force more powerful then any capital ship could even hope to rival. The force of the punch sent shockwaves which began to shake the city and it was aall aimed right for his eye.

Grey Knights
As the warriors of the inquisition lumbered forward, they saw another figure in their path. Knowing all to well to be the enemy they marched in unison. As soon as they got close the witch as they would have said let out a defining and ear breaking wail. The warriors shielded from this sonic assault stood still as they watched her charge them. They maintained a tight formation, keeping their flanks secured as they parried the blows the woman would deal to them, and even if they were struck their Wardian Power Armor was more than enough to defend them.

Of course they knew they were being tied up, they knew they were going for the portal. Soon they saw unholy abominations charge at them, minotaur's charging right at them. Raising their Power Halberds they countered the minotaur's easily with their strength. Using their halberds they sliced them apart with no effort, those that tried to sumo them would find their strength to be far more than a match for them, easily grabbing them and using their weapon to kill the beasts. "Brothers, the enemy seeks to stop our advance. Enemy position is located, prepare the assault. We will hold the enemy with our lives. Glory to the Emperor." One of the Terminators psychicly communicated with other battle brothers.

Ritual Zone
"Target sighted, begin operations." The Brother Captain spoke as they were psychicly inserted inside the ritual zone. He and a large group Of Grey Knights were inserted into the area. Paladins, Purifier Squads, Purgation Squads, Strike squads, Interceptor Squads and even a Librarian arrived on the scene. There were one hundred marines all with one purpose. "Purge the ritual! In the name of the Emperor!" They then began their purge of the area burning everything in sight and set their focus on the shadowlings.

Paladins and Purifiers went to work in the destruction of the enemy which surrounded the area, armed with Thunder Hammers and Wardian Power armor they quickly went to work. Purgation squads armed with incinerators infused with holy prayers began to burn all including the very shadows. Intercepters armed with Power Swords and Teliporter Packs quickly relocated around the area ambushing all they came across. Strike Squads began to open fire on the enemy and the Brother captain himself lef the assault.

Adeptus Custodies
The Honor Guard decsended all across the city, they began their fighting across the streets to counter the Shadow Legions efforts. They opened fire from every little blind spot, their accuracy pinpoint to rival even a sniper. They began to skirmish with the enemy seeking to eliminate as many of the enemy as possible.

Orbit Above Terra
In Orbit above Terra, multiple warp signatures were detected. Massive ships began to emerge from them all decorated with holy statues. Imperial ships had aarrived by order of the Emperor himself. Battlefleet Terran was assembled as positioned in orbit. Composed of Battleships and cruisers with a myriad of escort vessels. All orbital batteireis were primed on the streets of the District. "Battlefleet Terran has arrived, beginning purge of the district, avoid fellow battle brothers on the surface."

Knowledge upon the shoulders of giants

Upon Akio's thanks the Jinhai did not respond with no interest in appreciation instead attending focus to quietly shaping the ginsu tree. They did not interfere with a mind as the Ductu's psi-seed was for such things. Theirs was to passively serve but still they inferred. A contemplative watch from the edge of the mind's valley constructing defenses against storms outside. Such as the thin layer of silicon plates insulating Akio from electrical earth. They harvested dust and dirt wherever Akio put his feet leaving pure shapes where his footsteps had been. They knew where EM fields raged there was hostile conductance and little else of what went on. Motes adapted to conditions at developed contemplation by the whole. Still, motes of Jinhai were nonlinear things of order when working toward terrible concerts of energy potentials.

His chest and shoulder had interests all their own as ripples of psi conductance poured toward them. Ignorant of tensing mountains of muscle and bedstone supported underneath sparks raced along the ridge from their own points of mustering power. It located wells of force away from Akio's own as not to interfere with them in circuitous paths taken around moving spiritual force. At the shoulder's focus point from a warm lump under his clothes alit a psiblade from Akio's own motor memory the thought twitching to deflect away a blow from tentacles. The thin line of sharpness wavered at the fringes of voluntary mind before sheathing back to mind.

The ridges of dust formed on his chest did what it must as the deeper darkness of those tentacles had to be repelled from washing over the peaks and into Akio. Designs and tactics took place from one moment to another as a war between destructive potentials raged ignorant of the battle going on in their sky. Jinhai took some damage keeping their line but they did not purge corruption by fortification but by extinction. Akio's hand glowed with Jinhai building a sacrificial roads alongside his own the result glowing veins there like the target of a lightning strike. As the pattern enfolded corruptive energy left behind by the tendrils was its own potential. Motes leapt at the hazardous material self-immolating both into psionic energy in growing from waves of minutely different individuals mounting sacrificial counter-casting transmutations. A searing bolt of potential arcs from the locus point up toward Akio's shoulder. The rings surrounding the impact site an impatient cloud ready to transmute raw death into a bolt of disintegration dispatched by Akio's sword. Jinhai felt both Akio and the sword could survive conductance of the impending suffering. Feral arcane things of this like had to get out one way or another before corruption rematerialized lest it worsen the minor punishment it unleashed upon itself.

Behind Ean's force and will

Jinhai's response in Ean's ear remained calm and succinct as the wind died down behind the repulsar, "We are as yet inexperienced with the flow of your weapon. We appreciate knowledge at appropriate times."

The figure in the distance clad all in a dense metal weave swung a censer bleeding a crimson cloud that smelled of gunpowder, ozone, blood. A thing of iron will that was hard to place but for the odor of war. She sang a hymn of the fallen emperor in netherese the long dead language of their fallen emperor. Lilting her hymn sang by powerful voice shadows in her presence seared like fog at daylight several meters away so close to the living emperor as she was. Everything beyond the material plane shredded by her disjunctive wind an indiscriminate weapon against trans-dimensional aetherkind. The strike of her censer against weaker citizens or creatures either freed them into the peace of death or to survive into suffering to live as pure creatures. Dogs that turned to their living counterparts as the repulsar gale blew everything away. Interrupted in her hymn shadows returned as the ferroplasm helmet smashed backward hard into the concrete.

She rubbed her head the lilting girlish voice whining a little as Ean helped her up, "Eeeeh. Your force locuses really hurt. Oh! My brothers say you're a carrier? If this Aetherkind is here we totally need to move our things out of his reach!"

Her svelte legs disembodied their muscles partly to a whirling black smoke as she floated to her feet censer again a raging red, "Then let's go. Call me Plinth, I'll force the way through! For the Living Emperor!"

"Akio we're pushing through! Get over here and stay close, or get left behind."

Akio had just finished taking down the second Commando, using the momentum from the knockback in his initial downward diagonal stroke to double his speed as he twirled around, catching the Commando with a backhand side very very few beings had the ability to keep up with. The Commando felled easily, in two pieces no less.

"On my way!" he called back, but as he took the first few steps, another Commando was in front of him, sword aimed in a jab. His eye twitched slightly as he parried the blow and aimed for a neck slice, only to have it interjected by the blade of another Commando. The two resumed their positions next to one another and continued the same fighting tactic they had when he first encountered them. It was back to square one.

"I'll catch up!" Akio waved on Ean and his crew as he resumed combat with the two Shadow Commandos. Their tactics didn't change, and so it was like fortifying his own repetition towards them, although their resistance sure was on the up and up compared to the previous two. Not to mention Akio was beginning to feel slightly fatigued...but only slightly. He had fought roughly three thousand demon king samurai before and this was nothing in comparison with that day.

As the fighting continued, Akio could feel another power inside him. This power...it felt climactic. Like it was building up and waiting to be expelled by some sort of action. Akio didn't know what this power was, but he'd be damned if he didn't take a chance to use it now.

Akio brought the sword in front of him just as a bright pulse of energy shot from his figure and literally evaporated the two Shadow Commandos in a bright wave, dispelling them from this realm. Akio blinked rapidly, his mind racing as he realized what was happening. He was using...light? He never had control over light, never even bothered to touch it. This was the prophecy of Tai Chen to burden, not for him.

So where did it come from?

There were many questions on Akio's mind, but here and now wasn't the place for them. His hand stung slightly from the discharge of light, but he was fine otherwise. He had to catch up to Ean before more Shadow Commandos chose to hound him. Keeping his sword in front of him, he charged into the opening left in the wake of his troops's "wall" Ean directed. The gap was closing and Akio had to be wary not to let the "shadowed" people touch him. Before reaching the exit to the main plaza in the Business District, he couldn't help but examine the carnage taking place in front of them.

If one thought J. R. R. Tolkien's Battle of the Five Armies was epic, it had nothing in comparison to the conglomeration of individuals here. Many dark beings of all kinds and varieties were slaughtering the innocents and the warriors alike, as if it didn't matter to them. The valiant warriors of the Emperor fought back with incredible patriotism and magnificent skill, holding their own for the most part. That wouldn't spare the other innocent lives that the Shadow Army continued to purge, although they were giving it their best effort. Not even the Grey Knights, who currently had their hands full dealing with one superior woman in a dress who wielding two blades that whistled while they worked, could do much to protect this district. Akio even felt the urge to join them in battle, to give the Grey Knights the upper hand by taking on this woman directly. But he felt the pull of fate in the other direction.

"Tell me Ancestors," Akio whispered into the blade, "Are these people doomed?"

The blade held it's own language, one foreign and unidentifiable for anyone except the Hanatori bloodline. To anyone else, it would sound like very vague whispers that sounded like nonsense. Only Akio would her what they said. From the pained look on Akio's face, it wasn't good news.

"These people didn't deserve this fate," he said as he saw one man get tackled and mauled by one of the Shadow Hounds, "You can't expect me to ignore this carnage. I must fight."

The blade whispered back to him. Akio closed his eyes and bit his lip. He was silent for a moment.

"You're right," Akio finally said, a solemn chord in his voice, "The fates of the shadows told me to go with Ean Falcor. For that reason alone, I must. But I will avenge these people one day. I swear it."

With that, he blazed his trail out of the main plaza and towards Ean and company.

---

Akio's eyes lay upon Ean party a few moments later. He sheathed his sword as he approached and went up to Ean directly. "I made it," he said with a slight nod, "Where is your Cobalt Glaive?"

Ean eyed "Plinth" as she had said her name was with a raised brow. "Force your way through that? No thank's ma'am. We've got transports coming in" And here he turned to Franklin who responded with a "two minutes"

"Two minutes" Ean finished, going on to say "And those will be taking us directly to the space port, where we will be packing up and moving on from this planet. To put it frankly, we have no need to go through that" He put a bit of a venomous edge to the end of that sentance, even as he jabbed a thumb at the monsters and mayhem that continued to go nuts on the other side of the Repulsar wall.

As he looked to make the point to that sentence he spotted Akio. The wanderer was sprinting, and barely made it on the other side of the repulsar wall before the Imps threw it to full power. A good thing too, because once they were set off like that, nothing in this cosmos was getting past that wall.

"Akio, thank the stars. Was half scared I was going to have to leave you behind. We're going to the Glaive as soon as the transports arrive." Ean said, stalking up to the wanderer before wrapping him in a rough embrace. He took a step back then and turned to watch the massacre that was going on. "Damn. If it were up to me, we'd save the lot of them from this. But I'm not willing to risk my crew, my family, to stand amongst monsters and gods. Whatever mercy exists, I pray that it finds these poor souls."

At this time the Transports landed. They're appearance was like that of a sort of small whale, with a large rounded body, and two wings and a tail made of the same fashion that The Cobalt Glaive's were, being a metalic set of "bones" around which arced energy which gave both lift and thrust. The front of these vessels opened, a trio of plates popping and sliding open with a hissing sound. The troops loaded into the transports, and Ean would enter the fore most one, directing Akio and Plinth to do the same.

In a matter of moments the transports lifted up once again and set off over the district at a speed like gale winds towards the Space port. In this, Ean, his newfound first mate, and his newest employer, would leave the battle behind.

The Transports flew over the space port on their way to the Cobalt Glaive, who was already preparing for launch. As they moved, Ean stood in the cockpit, holding the radio as he gave instructions to Emily, the helmswoman.

"It should only take us a minute to get the transports locked down. The moment we are take the Cobalt Glaive up and out of the atmosphere." Ean said

"That may prove problematic captain, our scanners are painting a pretty nasty battle going up there, we might get caught in the crossfire" Emily responded, calling back over the radio.

"Jesus what is wrong with this planet, why is there suddenly a damn war going on out of nowhere!" Ean complained, before stating "Alright, ready up a full flock of fighters then, and throw in a squad of bombers to that. Once everythings ready then we'll launch."

"Sir." Emily cut the line.

Ean claimed down into the cargo and sat down hard in one of the benches along the wall. He sighed and started to dig into his pocket for something. "I'll tell ya something now so it don't come as a surprise to you later, Akio. As my first mate your gonna have your hands full trying to filter this crap. As captain, i like to know everything that's going on as it pertains to my ship, but I don't have time to hear every single detail. Your first priority is gonna be making sure that whatever reason I'm getting bothered for, is something that I NEED to be bothered for. If someone else can take care of it, then make sure they do."

What's in its pocketses?

Jinhai were if anything patient , thorough, creatures when waiting to act or undertaking a task. As Ean started going through his pockets motes looked from behind through the holes. Smoke rose from Ean's shoulder as Jinhai organized a self-sustaining 'machine' made of itself to display visual context. The monochrome field color was a bit pale purple and flowed as motes lit to variable degrees along the 'lines' as black motes could be seen diverting to get between isolated characters. It had a general listing of what was where in Ean's pockets linked by helical paths to spots on a rough facsimile of Ean's outer shape. At least to the degree Jinhai could identify unknown objects and get into pockets. 'edible plant material', 'silicon dioxide', 'small organic creatures', and such were very much among the boulders and trees the motes could see.

Cargo from the beachhead

Now away from danger for the moment Plinth grabbed the front of her armor bunching it in her fist. Hauling it forward then down a discordant noise issued from her back as the armor tore a rift there. What appeared hard metal flowed around her body like a fibrous sea including the horned helmet bending like clay as she stuffed it into a small haversack at her waist. The whole of it disappeared into the small foot-wide belt pack as a small short-haired woman in grayscale appeared nearly a foot shorter from her armor's height. Her firm legs slowly reassembled from a grey cloud surrounding her bones as she reached them for the ground.

She unbuttoned the first clip of her top before her dusky ringed blue eyes perked, "Oh, wait, I'm supposed to keep this on around humankind. Well, it's good to be out of the armor for a moment since I got here."

Turning to Ean as he comments about Terra she scoffs, "That's why i'm here to get the load of cognizance crystals off this planet! My brothers say it's under siege so much we can't create a well on this side. I wanted to stay a little while longer if it'd just quit being bombarded constantly!"

Shoulders slumped and arms listless she comments absently, "I finally get to have some food from a shop that's not the same meal manifested over and over again and the stupid Aetherkind kill everyone! Now I'm so hungry from the effort I could eat one."

Inquisitor redirected

Disappointed at not being able to serve the Living Emperor, Plinth's metal helmet and horns hung slightly, "Okay, Sir. But I'm ready to push through the Umbralkind if we need to."

She broke off to follow Ean's gaze to Akio, "Oh, that's where my other brother went! I'll try and keep them off him!"

Plinth whirled around in place the heavy armor spiraled around as she raised her Censer high a copper glow added to red smoke now at arm's legth. Gauntleted hand under the light red rose-scented air pulled down from the air into the metal palm with sparks in time with her chanting. Shortly after lobbing high behind akio at creatures heading his way in chase at least to protect his flank. Shadow creatures were impaled by stone vines littered with angular lines of psimass threading through their body. Difficult to impale Umbralkind to death as it is Plinth could at least keep them pinned afire until the charge went out.

She threw overhand much quicker once Akio wasn't in the line of fire but stopped for a moment in cheerful voice as he closed, "Hello Akio! I can hear you brought my brother Jinhai with you. The Living Emperor is with you!"

After a fashion to Ean she replied, "The Living Emperor will protect mankind. My brothers will rekindle as many untainted humans as they are able.

A creature that hovered much like the transports the helmet pivoted to see she simply leaned backward and moved so. Her Censer fire continued gliding across the earth behind them to impale out targets heading their way. She couldn't do anything for the tainted at range and there wasn't another Mada here yet. When she impaled them with the bent stone from the aethereic grounding tainted Mankind simply died.

Once inside she leaned toward the entrance to halt her movement pounding her censer down at the boarding ramp with a tonal resonation. Yellow psimass threaded along the border as she sanctified it against the passing of minor Umbralkind. The last touch she could affect of golden psimass before leaving the presence of the emperor.

She sniffed while looking at the Emperor a mixture of emotions having to leave the emperor after just leaving the storm. Jinhai had priorities to move this cargo safely away under a threat of Umbralkind.

From the transport came Akio's lingering stare towards the Business District, the smoke plumes rising above the tall skyscrapers in the distance as the battle raged on between the Draconians, the Emperor, and their respective armies. Many a building seemed to be on the verge of collapse while a couple had already succumbed to that fate, the skyline for the district looking slightly more bare than it did when they arrived. It was a sorrowful sight to witness. He couldn't hear the battle cries of the warriors anymore, nor could he hear the blood curdling screams of the innocents being slaughtered. But he knew it was happening and because of it...his heart ached.

He tore his eyes away from the carnage and brought his full attention to the Cobalt Glaive they were descending upon. Ean had disappeared into the cockpit, talking to the subordinates on board his ship. Akio gave their employer, Plinth, a kind remark in regard to her armor.

"It should be your choice as to whether you should be the one to follow tradition or break it," he said with an easy smile, "My thought on armor was that it should be worn when a threat was nearby, wanting to strike the wearer down. It appears we are in a grace period." His smile faded when Ean's frustrated words could be heard from his spot on the transport, "Though it sounds like we'll be back in the fray before long."

He was very hesitant on using his shadow abilities for fear of the Shadow King sensing them and being able to locate them to give his landscape a "thorough" cleansing. But he figured he was far away and caught up in a battle with the Emperor of Mankind himself, so he deduced it was worth the risk. As he began using his Shadow abilities once more, Ean sat down next to him and gave the Wanderer the first segment of job description he would be dealing with. Akio got his answers and replied easily, not even skipping a beat.

"I can make sure of that," Akio grinned, his eyes shifting towards the Cobalt Glaive they were approaching, "Though it'd be hard to determine the worth of a problem on a ship if I don't know much about it. Perhaps a tour is in order? Or course, after we leave this planet and begin making our way towards the destination. Priorities must be kept in dangerous locations like this." He could feel the slight shudder of the Transport as the landing gear opened and it approached the captain's ship.

"Speaking of destinations, do you know where our employer wants to ship her items? Though I may be a wanderer, I feel like a goal-oriented mission has a specific location in mind."

Ean raised his eyebrows as he looked at the Jinhai's rather useful map of himself. "Oh, well that's handy" He said, reaching into a bocket laced into the side of his boot and pulling out a flask. A quick twist and swig later and he sighed, returning the cap to the flask and the flask to the boot.

Ean heard Plinth's speal about the crystals and nodded. "Fancy doodads and all, shouldn't be a problem getting those where you need em to be."

To Akio he said "Oh don't you worry, I'll be making sure you know the glaive inside and out before long. You'll know the name of every bolt in the bulkheads." And here Ean smirks at Akio "And yes, they each have their own names."

"As it stands, my first priority is getting far enough away from this planet to make a safe jump. Once we got that handled, we can worry about coordinates." Ean answered Akio's second question, before turning to plinth with one of his own. "Now about the cargo, where is it waiting. If it's on this planet I need to know so I we can plan a pick up before leaving."

Heal thyself, tightrope walker

Plinth smiled back at Aiko as he passed to talk with Ean, "I've been sealing weaknesses in the Aether nonstop for days now believe me they've tried to strike me down. Some things you can't do through the shroud."

She nodded at Ean, "The cargo is at our forge works in Lorendor off the wastelands. There's nothing out there to interfere I think. Just make sure nobody opens the cases and touches any of them. Pouring a lot of stored psionic power into smaller minds is messy, yeah?"

Wincing she adds,"And bullets. Bullets are bad too. You don't want these things to crack and bleed. Eegh..."

She walks over to a seat where she can lean back a little adding, "I'm here to fix either of you from being tainted no matter what happens."

More serious about her immediate task with both the men occupied Plinth bent down with a wince to reach deeper into her haversack than it really ought to extend. She had to do some self-care no matter how much it hurt or little time she had. Plinth was a careful balance of spirit and Jinhai couldn't afford to risk destabilizing her flesh by sealing her wounds. So out the dim flap came her gleaming medkit roll made from a mixture of cloth fibers containing sharp metal tools and assorted things. A clink of tools and a skuff of cloth sat them both on a bench though she grunted in pain. Plinth raised her waterproof jacket revealing a number of formerly white patches ringed in black that had a telltale brown tint to them now. One was a long wrap carefully clung in place. Careful hands pried the edge off of one square patch with a scalpel then put it down. Threads of shadow affixing the wound inside and out tore free as she pulled the edge of the triage patch. It wasn't black at least. No infection. Plinth leaned back as it came free to quickly grab two clamps from her kit attaching them inside where tendrils no longer walled her shut. A hybrid of the blood of the Fallen Emperor and Myrkul she had her brother's blunted affect though her gritted teeth showed how much her human half still hurt if not the contrasting red rivulet leaking out the hole in her grey flesh.

With a pair of forceps and a drain of blood Plinth whines as she carefully pulls a bullet free discarding it on the floor. A thin spool of thread and a needle appeared as a practiced hand set to heal through the pain.

Akio tightened his lip as he watched Plinth dislodge the bullet. The body wasn't equipped to deal with foreign contaminants...especially those that traveled close to the speed of sound and didn't need to find a mouth or nostril to bludgeon it's way in. Still, she looked like she had everything under control as her hand remained steady throughout the entire procedure. Akio wouldn't know what to do had he not had these abilities that he used. He knew little on how to heal wounds and the ones he did receive he let heal naturally over time. He'd never had an encounter where he was hit by a bullet. He feared the day he'd have one.

The whining of the engine cooling down cut through his thoughts as he pieced together that they were no longer moving. They had landed successfully. He opened the door and took his first step off the transport and toward the Cobalt Glaive. As he walked, he spoke to Ean about the situation above them.

"Imperials are fighting above us," Akio reported as he summarized what the shadows told him moments ago, "They fight with the Emperor and will have no quarrel with us when we pass through. It's the other three that should concern us. None work with the Shadow King, but each has their formidable threats. A vessel in alliance with the 6th Order is one of their two opponents. Much like the Shadow King's goal, they're...'recruiting' to put it softly. Actually, they prefer to slay the captain and brainwash their subordinates to join their cause unwillingly. Best to avoid them if we can."

"The second is a fleet in alliance with the 6th Order. That would be the Empire led by the coveted Sith. They seek to destroy everything that isn't allied with the 6th Order which, yet again, we do not. And the third is led by the Aschen Navy, who wish to seek the same destruction against both the 6th Order, the Empire, and the Imperium. They're the most neutral of the three and as such, the most likely to leave us alone. However, I would highly advise against teaming up as they prefer to destroy anything that isn't of Aschen relevance."

Ean nodded at plinth as she spoke. "No opening the cases, and no bullets. Got it, easy enough." He said, climbing out of the transport alongside Akio and the rest of them.

Ean nodded in response to Akio's words. "In that case, I think we'll keep close to the ground and fly over to the wastelands to do pickup. Once we got that taken care of though... well, with any luck that whole mess will sort itself out and we'll be able to get by unmolested. If not though, well... we'll see."

While the Imps stashed their gear and dealt with whatever wounds they had, Ean led Akio and Plinth through the Glaive towards the bridge. They passed through the hanger, a modest chamber compared to common carrier ships. Of course the Cobalt Glaive wasn't common by any meaning of the word. Akio and Plinth would see, among other oddities, what would appear to be racks with large scale shaped objects sitting upon them, each was about 10 meters wide, and 30 long. These were the hummingbirds, fighter craft designed by Ean and built by the crew of the glaive. Though they appeared small, each of the vessels was capable of breaching the sound barrier in speed, and were built to be agile and flexible. Like much of Ean's creations, The hummingbirds were quite misleading in their potential.

The interior of the ship was stunning, the passages wide and seemingly walled of silk cloth and gold ribbing, although the cloth was a facsimile, for when you touched it it was clearly a metal of some form. As they walked through the vessel, the crew ran to and fro as they prepared for the final launch procedures.

Perhaps the most stunning feature of the crew was it's variety. There were humans in plenty of course, but there were also many alien species from all about. Some were humanoid, others distinctly less so. There were bipedal bird creatures, scaled brutes who seemed built for combat, dwarfish figures with large fractal eyes that hissed to each other as they passed, and many others aside.

At last, The Captain brought his entorouge to the bridge, leading them through a door that opened, separating into several plates that slid into their sockets. It was a massive room, all lit from a single dome window that faced out from the center of the ship. several crewmen were seated at stations, their hands flying across holoscreens as they went over the final checks and data. In the center of the room was a large dais, a hologram emitter projecting a tactical display of the local region of the planet they were on. This was the nerve center of the entire operation. From here all planning was done.

All of this was seen after passing through the door, and rounding the corner of the "Y" passage that served both a structural purpose, and a strategic one. By making it so the door did not directly lead into the bridge, but instead to a two ended choke point, the crew could better defend against any boarding attempts on the ship.

Around the corner, set into the back of the bridge and guarded by the two walls of the "Y" passage was a raised platform, upon which sat the Helm station, and behind that, the Captains chair. At the Helm stood a black haired woman, around five foot nine, with blue eyes that darted across the screen so quickly one wondered how she wasn't dizzy. Her hands were equally as rapid, almost dancing across the station console, as though she were playing the piano.

"About time you got back. Franklin told me to let you know that next time you call him into a shit show like that without telling him first, your buying him a bottle of brandy." Emily said, not bothering to glance at the new arrivals. "And not the cheap stuff either."

Plinth finished her internal suture and the flesh readily took to the join. The Fallen Emperor's blood was strong enough to recover fully in a shorter while without scarring but the process was still very human. Parts needed to be pressed together to heal properly as well without sharp metal in the way. She'd lost a fair bit of blood and pain shot up her abdomen as the quick sutures pulled against flesh trying to seal itself back together. Using the wall she pulled herself upright and her jerkin back down. The other two bullets would have to wait though she could feel them cutting away inside at times as her body and triage bandage repeatedly tamped the cold feeling of flowing blood.

On her way out of the craft Plinth picked up her Censer and the yellow psimass patterns dispersed with her wandering mind. A hand clutching her side she sighed as the yellow threads dissipated into Aetherius. Plinth moved stiffly but hurried along behind them eyes flit between all the nonhumans causing some intrinsic worry in the back of her mind. This adventure across the planes with Myrkul's Vein was the first time she'd actually been anywhere resembling living Humankind's society than the memories writ into Losthome. Nonhuman creatures there were rarely friendly. The guns were a surprise but her armor held admirably and closing the wound wasn't much different. Some of the bullets exploded on impact shattering in every direction but the stronger slugs could sometimes pound through. Especially the giant guns used by those Umbralkind.

As they passed the imps she raised her Censer extending awareness into it and shaping the thoughtform living inside. A whirlwind to drown out the cutter of mind so the untrained could sense the taint. The twirling network of psimass strands representing the locus of humanity she maintained still had several hours of lifetime. A small cognizance shard fed the weapon. Jinhai normally fed the weapon though she could, given time, however her brothers worked far quicker. She quickly headed over to an imp raising her censer and taking a deep ragged breath to blow awareness into the light inside. Purple psimass strands came out in a small whirling cloud and Plinth set it on the floor.

It made a deeply airy sound that rumbled beneath the mind to sound out the flesh beneath. Though close proximity the wind pushed out all distraction making it hard to think or perhaps to feel much pain if one wasn't focused. The sounding instead replaced endless chatter inside most human minds. Those tainted by wounds had faint feral noises that came from them as the sounding rumbled around them. Threads scraping across spilt tainted blood instead screeched with a shrill angry cry.

She got an healthy Imp's attention and explained quickly used to the detail-oriented lost souls in the sub-plane that was their namesake, "I need to be elsewhere for now but you may use my Censer to test the injured Mankind for the taint of Umbralkind or Demonkind. Quarantine those that you can see red light gather around wounds or who's spilled blood issues screaming sounds near to the censer. I can cleanse them later so injuries heal properly. Carry the censer slowly by upright chain if it must be moved. I will know where it is taken."

Plinth left the man to hup over to Ean and Akio the rumbling censer and its attendant whirl left behind. Focus on her purpose helped Numb the pain of her injuries. She gawked at the controls of the bridge when she arrived Plinth knew Mankind's technology was vastly improved here compared to most of Mankind not under the Fallen Emperor at the time but this was impressive in its own right. She hadn't the faintest idea how to use anything. Though they reminded her of how her brothers described aetheric controls inside their structures.

Akio's first impressions of the Cobalt Glaive wasn't necessarily an emotion that tied to amazement or excitement. Akio kept a small smile on his face and let his eyes wander the magnificence of within. He wasn't sure the purpose of the fine furnishings that made up the hallways other than it looked decorative and ornamental. Akio would touch the silky-textured cloth to find that it was a fallacy of the texture it shadowed. He felt a harder, smoother, and cooler feeling rubbing into his fingertips. They were indeed metal. The designs weren't even used for comfort, he realized. Perhaps an answer would lay in wait for him in the future.

The mixture of races in Ean Falcor's crew was much more invigorating to the senses. The hallway's vitality was mixes with many skin tones and facial structures. Akio felt blasted by the blend of culture as they walked around, each with a task in mind and a method to do it. They were all united for one purpose. Brought together under Ean's banner. There was a life lesson to be had in that.

A quick glance back revealed to Akio that, despite Plinth's healing methods, she was still in pain. They weren't on that transport for very long, Akio noted. Meaning Plinth didn't have nearly enough time to mend herself than she wanted to have. Perhaps she had more bullets resting within her? Meaning she would be in a lot of pain if she didn't get those out. There was a lot of his old teaching that Akio did away with, mainly because of the aristocratic and very prideful lifestyles his family had led before they were slaughtered. But one ideal he always kept was if there was an action taken upon you, return the favor. Jinhai had been there when Akio needed him the most.

Now it was time to return the debt to their sister.

As they walked upon the bridge and approached the command post, Akio took a quick reading from the Shadows and mentioned them in Ean's ear, "I think our employer is still injured. A couple bullets are still burrowed underneath her skin. Perhaps we should take her to a medical wing of some sort?"

He let the question run through the captain's mind as they approached the lady, who was a fantastic multi-tasker in her own right. Her fingers never missed a key while she navigated the complicated controls like she was born with them, even applying her own sassy comment toward the captain. Akio raised a brow.

"Captain Falcor, what is brandy?" he asked genuinely. He'd never encountered such a substance in his life, though they appeared to be similar in nature to a substance he would call Sake.

Ean nodded at Akio before turning to face plinth. "Ma'am, I'd like you to go to the Infirmary with Craig here." The Captain Said, pulling aside a creature that resembled a Minotaur with blue fur and a bladed scorpion like tail. The creatures face had no mouth, a set of four slits where the nose should be, and four eyes, two located in the skull, and then two more set upon stalks that swiveled over the creatures head. His pointed ears twitched as Ean called his name, and he bowed his upper half before Plinth.

It is my pleasure, miss. The creature's words do not issue in an audible form, but would be felt as a psychic presence in plinths mind. Furthermore, the creatures mind is not shielded or protected, as most psychic individuals are. His very being is exposed and left bare, and should you wish, you could intrude on his thoughts, his memories, all parts of him with ease. Indeed he does not flinch at that touch, and the slight brush against his mind reveals that his people's culture is much the same, their minds are all open to one another, and as such they are blessed with greater kinship.

To Akio Ean laughs aloud before turning to him with a smile. "I'll get you some later so you can see, for now though." And here he turns back to Emily. "Get us up in the air, keep us in atmosphere and take us out to the wastelands."

Emily nods. "Aye captain. All hands to Stations, Marckus spin the engines. Talis, Doreah, Vna, ready targetting matrices and armaments, get a flight plan set." The helmswoman gave commands with ease, clearly practiced at her job.

Ean nodded as she set to her task, then gestured for Akio to follow him as he departed for his personal quarters.

Plinth's leg momentarily split open flexing instinct as it disincorporated when she looked at the large non-mankind a large blue bull named Craig. Inside her mind Dicta chiseled into her psyche recoiled at the psychic touch of a nonhuman. Not out of distaste but of a writ-in avoidance toward the unknown common to all hairworm of the Fallen Emperor. Plinth's own feelings were muted though brighter than her brothers lacking the fine psychic control her brothers possessed to reach far to anything. Her control was more implicit and natured bonded to her human half as it was. She still had some to learn to employ it. Though a psychic presence in her mind might feel the alert but idle defenses installed there.

If Ean spoke at him then she could too, she reasoned, her brothers had passed on Myrkul's new dicta to be gracious to the unknown. She still felt the dicta crawling around in her head autonomously updating as it went.

The rifts in her legs sealed as Plinth clutched at her midsection to talk to Craig, "Okay, Craig, I guess I could afford to get these things out of me. I'm missing a fair bit of blood. You echo inside, do you have an overbeing?"

The sky inside Plinth's mind was filled with the implicit contact to Myrkul. An overbeing that hadn't noticed Craig's attention to its sub-being, Plinth. It towered large from somewhere very far away a whispering library of arcanum in impossible scale.

The ship shuddered and shook, and Ean and the crew began to scatter about, some looking very worried. Ean groaned and rolled his eyes "One thing after another on this rock." Before vaulting up the steps to the captains chair and plopping himself into it.

Craig was just about to answer Plinth when the shaking started, and chose instead to begin escorting her along the halls to the medical bay. "I do not believe my people have an overbeing such as yours. Rather, what you are sensing may be our collective memories. Each individual member of my people hold within them the memories of all other individuals past and present. In this way we are as one."

Ean laid back in the captains chair and several console screens came up around him as he went over ship systems oversaw resource control. To Akio he said "Grab hold of something, son, This is gonna get rough."

The Cobalt Glaive then performed an emergency lift off, the wings releasing an electrical discharge that arced and scattered across the landing zone. In a rather rapid movement for her size, the Glaive lifted off the ground before proceeding a forward flight over the city.

As they passed over it, the destruction and wreckage from the battle in the business district, as well as further destruction resulting from the earth quakes became all too apparent.

"Damn" Ean said to himself. "I hate to say it, but Ms Plinth's cargo is gonna have to wait a bit. We need to do something to help these people."

He turned then to look at Akio. "We can't do anything about whats going down in the business district, but let's see if we can get to the center of these quakes and help the people there out. Emily?"

The Helmswoman nodded. "Sir, the quakes seem centered around the entrance to the city... they've... the Arch, the stone arch we saw coming in... It's collapsing. It's horrible down there sir."

"Yeah it is, and there are people in the middle of it who are gonna need help. Get us over the area now, prep the Imps for rescue and relief, and get Feidie up to speed. We may need Alexander on this one."

Ean then looked up and with a voice that carried across the bridge he called out "The Wings of Blue are open"

And the crew called back with "And so we fly!"

Patches of borrowed time

Plinth hurried as the plane began to shake and her legs dispersed into a cloud of diaphanous strings as the ship took off. A front of effort pushed the thin black bones of her feet upward as she willed herself forward across bouncing terrain. Like she floated atop a ball of transparent black silk Plinth was stable as she responded, "Something else has gone wrong! Myrkul's Vein had to turn away to Genesis to deal with a threat. Myrkul's nice he keeps all our memories safe for us. Well when I return away."

She smiles at the strange nonhuman. She sails smoothly forward while talking on that black fibrous air, "Only the bottom quarter isn't red-blooded human. Speaking of I think I could use your healer first even if we're going off somewhere again. I've got two more bullet wounds and a talon strike."

Face scrunches as pain comes from bullets that scrape a slight wounds open inside and she starts to wobble, "Jinhai are numb and I kinda am but... it's really starting to hurt. I think I've lost a lot of blood."

Once more from the breach

The Jinhai quietly serving in and under ean's clothes noted quietly in Ean's ear after the crew's shout, "Myrkul has enjoined the tear into the black storm. We gather forces there with which to protect the Living Emperor and this plane. We normally would not without His leave but a threat to Mankind is named. Ifrit Atundai. We understand the need to protect Mankind. We follow your will."

Why is the ship twitching?

Feidlimid busied himself with reading technical manuals of parts for the mech while idle self-scanning programs ran on it. He tended to the inside of Alexander's mind as much as the sparkling cleanliness of his quarters. There were interesting things coming out of Terra despite the constant winds of war pushing its people around. His kind floated in space so he almost didn't notice, unanchored to the floor as he was at present, that the ship began to shake. Small tentacles behind long arm spikes served as hands that stopped to examine the wildly quivering walls. An earthquake?

Feidlimid then nearly hit the deckplate as the ship rose into him tentacles hurriedly grasping the floor and tensing. He slithered out into a hallway on sharp leathery tentacles looking for someone to tell him what was going on.

It was immediately following the motion for Akio to follow Ean that he felt the ship shuddering beneath it. He noted right away that it was too sporadic a movement for the Cobalt Glaive to be taking off and judging from the expression of annoyance on the captain's face, so did he. As Ean whipped around and proceeded to the Captain's Chair, Akio sensed the issue out. Epicenter is at the Wing City Gate, casualties will be many by the time we get there...he didn't like the sound of that and began reading the issue further, deciding if it was worth even going down there to try and save them.

Casualties would be double if they didn't bring their aid...

"Grab hold of something, son. This is gonna get rough."

Akio smirked, despite the situation. "I could possibly be older than you," he stated as the ship took off in an unkempt fashion, one that would normally propel a standing individual with no anchor back a few feet, causing said person to lose his footing as well as some pride. Akio always had an anchor, though, and was left standing through it all. His connection to the Shadows never wavered.

"Sir, we should-" he started.

"We can't do anything about whats going down in the business district, but let's see if we can get to the center of these quakes and help the people there out."

Akio raised a brow at this one and spoke after his conversation with Emily had ceased, "My almanac is rubbing off on you already. You've got a good sense of clairvoyance yourself or a noble nature, Captain Ean."

And with that, they jettisoned off towards the Entrance Gate.