Sara Drake's Story

The Aschen team continued to work hard setting up the pallet with the laser drill, while a pair of scientists that dropped down from the ship above began taking close up photographs of the door itself, along with installing anti-mana charges.

"Solis, you're to take the data gathered here back to Langara, where the data will be analyzed and a course of action chosen." The Radio chirped.

The Aschen woman nodded, extending her hand to take the data recorder from her science team.

"Alright, I need to take this back to the Empire." She said, taking the device.

The scientists nodded, before fanning out and taking additional photographs.

Looking up, Erin watched the Aschen vessel disappear without a trace, it's stealth systems engaging, then she touched a device on her wrist, a swirling vortex of energies engulfing her, allowing the woman to seemingly disappear without a trace.

Integra appeared in a swirl of silvery light, nanite swarms pouring out of the rift he'd created and settling like a gloss on his jacket. Eight undead monstrosities, each an amalgamation of different creatures sewn together, then augmented with cybernetics, stepped out of pitch-black rifts of pure night. With a free appendage, they each saluted their Captain and fell into formation behind him, their various weapons at the ready.

It was crowded here, much more crowded than it had any right to be. "Ello, ello, my duckies! My name is Once Dread Pirate Captain Integra Blackheart, no relation, and I'm here to fulfill the prophecy." One of the servitors dropped a cask of femtites, which rose up and surrounded the Captain creating an imperceptible swarm of femtometre sized robots that formed a bubble around him. "I trust we are all ready to begin?"

Upon a grassy plain sat Fort Raynor. It was a massive base and staging ground that was in the final stages of being built. Even with this fact it still was ready for it's current purpose. Here was massing an army of the Terra Nova Empire.

Tanks did wargames. Troopers and Marines drilled. Air and space forces flew in formation overhead. New recruits poured in daily.

"The Call has been given...once our forces are gathered...We march on Ridgecrest..." Sara stated as she looked over the base from her Battle Cruiser.

A cloaked Terra Nova Cruiser Hovered within sight of Ridgecrest City.

"Looks like Draco has been busy...just like we thought..." Sara stated. "But the plan stands.. our Battle Cruisers will open up with a Yamato cannon strike on the largest of the Shadow Legions Fortifications. Next our Raven Bombers and Strike Fighters will do a fly over of the city dropping bombs on towers and other defense buildings. At this same time Strike Force A will start bombarding this area of the city farthest for the portal to Ruula. Our goal is to draw out the Shadow Forces and as they rush Strike Force A the larger Strike Force B will hit the Shadow Legions flank hard. I myself will go and join up with Jennifer's group and help them reach the portal. Hopefully once we get to Ruula we can come back with Ruulan forces to help you secure the city."

Sara took a breath "Ok once I leave the ship wait three minutes then unleash hell."

Sara took a quick dropship trip and then a cloaked run until she came up to Jennifer's group "Miss me?" she asked as she uncloaked behind the group. Sara looked at something on her wrist "Get ready for fireworks in 3, 2, 1..."


The roar of Ten Battlecruisers firing their Yamato Cannons filled the air. As the blasts hit a huge shockwave would come from each impact. As clock work squadrons of Raven bombers and Strike Fighters made their runs dropping payloads of cluster bombs and plasma bombs on the Shadow Legion's defences.

As hell rained from the sky The TLA forces of Strike Force A took up formation on a hill overlooking the city. Siege Tanks rolled in and reconfigured into Siege cannon mode as the Thor walkers, Terra Nova Marines, and TLA troopers took up defensive positions to protect the tanks.



Sara Looked to Jennifer and her group. "We need to hurry and get to the Portal." she said.

Draco's skin resumed its pale appearance the moment the triggers of each Yamato cannon was squeezed. He sensed the hostile intent, and quickly flared his power. As each of the rounds soared through the air, they would be met by a wall of Shadow lurching forth from the wall Draco had his Legion construct around the City itself. Clearly Draco planned to be attacked from either Orbit or from the air, and had these defenses set up well in advance. Granted, however, that he had to be there to activate some of them. Large Turrets rumbled out of the City, turning towards the Battle-Cruisers, and firing Corrupted Light-Fire rounds back at the attackers. Each shell would hit like twenty Hiroshima Bombs, and the fire spread by each shell would do one of two things: Either Turn everything to Gold, making it useless, or Corrupt it until it simply melted away.

"Foolish humans.... Do they truly think they can take back this city?" Draco growled. "Fan out, find any intruders, flush them out." he growled. The Shadowling bowed her head, and vanished in a puff of black mist. A sickening, gurgling roar erupted from all of Ridgecrest City, and mist spread across the streets.

Black Mist.

At first, nothing would happen to those who inhaled it, but it would only take one good breath full of it before the Illusions started. If inhaled, the first thing anyone would notice would be that the sounds coming from the Shadows, both creature and actual shadow alike, were a lot louder. The sounds of claws skittering along the ground and walls of the city echoed now, filling the city with a sense of dread. After the auditory "enhancements", there were simple shadows moving in the corner of one's eye. Making the victim feel as though they were being stalked, followed, hunted.

The Legion didn't stop there, and as the Siege Tanks and walkers made their presence known, more Turrets sprouted from the walls of the city, each of them likewise firing either Corrupted Light Fire or Shadow-Fire rounds of varying sizes and strength levels. One thing was constant however: Even a glancing blow would begin to corrupt or purify, depending on what hit, and what was hit. Draco and the Legion had planed not just for all out warfare, with defenses from orbital bombardments, but for war with the Imperium of man yet again.

Thousands of lights bobbled through the mist. In the sudden darkness, they began to glow harder.

The goo a thousand jellies splattered down unto the city. Any organic matter which came into contact with this goo immediately healed.

The valojelea had been made alert to hostility. They began to swarm, in hoards of a hundred, creating massive balls of light throughout the city. The glow turned into a sparkle; the jellies had armed themselves. One ball of valojelea was concentrated not far from Jennifer.

As Draco started putting the defenses up, and sent his army out, Emily stayed outside the walls, merely turning her back with a smirk as she melted into a pink creature, formless and with beady eyes that then turned into a red beam of light that would return to a location within the city. Was that a Ditto...?

The Mega Lopunny inside readied itself as it looked for Draco himself amid the mess. That would be its destination. Closing its eyes, a beam of red colored energy would encircle the Mega Lopunny for just a moment before its eyes opened again. Bounding forward towards an encroaching pack of shadow hounds, the Mega Lopunny engaged the creatures, quickly sidestepping attacks coming its way with little demonstrated effort.

Whipping its ears around almost as fast as it dodged into the pack of shadow hounds, it attempted to strike multiple shadow hounds with attacks that were aimed to quickly render them unconscious with a single blow. On a strike or a whiff, the Mega Lopunny would pivot to face the pack once more, now on the opposite side of them, quickly assessing how many had fallen, and how many still stood.

Was this still a Mega Lopunny? It began speaking. The distorted voice combined elements of corruption and reverberation among the usual feminine (if aggressive) voice of a Mega Lopunny. It was nonetheless a language that could be understood by those in earshot, regardless of who they were or what their language actually was.

A pitiful choice of creature for an invasion, though mortals would have trouble contesting with such minor foes given their minds weak to fear and the unknown.

The Mega Lopunny seemed ready to go further if the hounds continued their assault.

Jennifer couldn't believe what was happening. For someone in command of so many troops, she clearly didn't understand much in the way of tactics. "Sara, no! We can't let them know where the portal is by rushing to it, assuming we even know how to get there through all these obstacles! You and your flyboys do what you have to, just give me a clear path to their leader! Emily, on me, this mist can't be anything good! Castle, let's go, you're the rear guard!"

The Bastiodon came out again, using its large crest to guard against a sneak attack as Jennifer and Aggron pressed ahead against the shadow hounds, aided by the vanguard that was a...talking Mega Lopunny? Well, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing she had heard of.

"And what the hell is with these jellyfish? I just hope they're on our side." She stuck her hand in one of the globs. Apparently their jelly had healing properties, to the point of dispelling the Black Mist with a simple wave of her hand. "Yup. Friendly. Now let's find where their leader is hiding."

The metal monster wasn't nearly as elegant or precise as Lopunny, but then again, it didn't have to be. Sheer strength and size bowled over several Shadow Hounds with each sweep of its punishing Iron Tail as the resistance fighters made their way forward. At least, it felt like that was the right direction...oh wait, there was an easier way. Either follow the path of the jellies, or just knock down a few walls.

"Aggron! Head Smash, straight shot! We're going to MAKE a path!"

Just like before when they breached the city walls in the first place, Aggron lowered its mighty horns and charged forward, not even caring if the turrets managed to turn towards it. "Crap. Gonna need a way up after that. Ferrothorn, use your vines to make something I can climb!"

A new combatant entered the battlefield, looking much like an armored durian fruit. The vines extending out of the top of its body were used to call forth more plants; thick and strong vegetation that could hold Jennifer's weight as she scrambled up the ramparts.

"Take me to your leader! I tire of this meaningless slaughter! Give me a challenge!"

Shadow Hounds were never meant to be a challenge to anyone, it was their horrid appearance and sounds and sheer numbers that made them deadly. Every time one was struck, the screams of at least five agonized humans and creatures alike rang out, and a sickening squelch echoed upon impact. "Help us! GODS PLEASE HELP US!" came their screams as the Hounds roared at the attacking Pokemon.

And Help for them did come, in the form of a good Cohort of Basher Shadows in full Legionnaire armor and shield. They slammed their corrupted swords against the sides of their shields, and advanced in a Phalanx Formation towards the Attacking Pokemon some throwing spears overhead of the first rank to try and pin down the Mega-Lopunny, or at least stop her from escaping while they advanced. The Aggron would prove to the a problem with his Head-Smash, but after the first few ranks, would find himself slowing down if not stopping, the shields of the Bashers dented and cracked from impact, but the Shadows themselves holding up, and swinging their swords wildly from all sides, trying to cut up and kill the Aggron. A single cut by itself, whether from sword or thrown spear, wouldn't do much, it was what came with the cut: Corruption.

Shadow Corruption was an agonizing process that very meticulously killed the victim while sending constant, unbearable fluctuations of pain to the Nerves, causing them to go hay-wire, yet keep the mind conscious enough to feel every agonizing second. Once it was locked in and hadn't been healed by something as simple as a Cure-All or Antidote (which was temporary at best) a pool of Shadow made from the victim's own shadow would open beneath them, and they would begin to sink, pulled in by Tendrils of Shadow. They would be claimed by the Legion, for the Legion, and join its ranks.

"You are not worth the best the Legion has to offer. You are not worthy of His Lordship Draco. Surrender now, and maybe you'll merely be "gifted" with power. Or you can fight, and be corrupted like everyone else." The voice of the female Shadowling erupted from the very shadow of the human spouting challenge: Jennifer. A pair of Coal-Red Eyes likewise watched her, making her Shadow seem like it's own entity, a sickening smile splitting the Shadow's solidity, before a feminine giggle echoed around, vanishing with a puff of Black Mist rising from her shadow.

The Black Mist intensified in the area, giving the Shadows a boost in power and strength.

Along the walls, the turrets continued to launch volley after volley of high-powered rounds at the attacking Terra Nova Empire ships, while great Tendrils shot forth from the City as well, reaching out for the fighters and bombers likely to come around soon. Their aim was to simply cripple the craft, bringing it down so that the pilots could be corrupted and taken into the Legion. With their craft, which would also be broken down, studied, and turned into usable inventions for Draco's Fleet. No Shadows actually left the walls themselves; the Shadowling in charge of this detachment of the Legion smart enough to not risk losing that many Shadows.

Draco himself watched the battle with careful, considerate eyes, the thing playing out on a sort of Holo-projected map in front of him, a Black Crystal having been placed on the ground to project the field of battle in real time using His magic. The Dragon of Death remained silent. Sure he was present, but that didn't mean anyone needed to know where exactly he was.

The Mega Lopunny addressed Jennifer with the same unnerving voice.

Foolish mortal! You dare give me orders? Do not draw the attention of beings you cannot contest! Not even I presumed a mortal could be so lowly and brainless!

She then looked at the incoming spears and melted into a pile of quivering flesh that reformed into an attractive humanoid woman, twelve feet tall, and of pale skin and golden eyes, rung by streaks of flesh color surrounding iconic vertical pupils. She was wearing what could only be described as a rare flesh colored battle armor, minus a helmet. Her smug smile revealed sharp teeth, and her next reaction, in which she raised her hand toward the spears. The hand transformed into an appendage of quivering flesh that then reformed into a small dagger, a perfect mocking replica of its true self, that radiated all the same power. As it finished forming, a powerful voice similar to her own spoke.

Your future is bright!

The dagger itself lit up with a brilliant and wide-ranging light, a light that was then used to form an explosive barrier around herself to defend against the spears. All of this pointed to something odd, and if Draco was paying attention, he'd recognize exactly what Emily just did, and who exactly she was mocking; equipment, powers, and all, minus the corruption, but no less powerful.

With the explosion of light warding off the spears, the woman stretched her other arm in front of her, the arm becoming an appendage of quivering flesh that reformed into the open maw of a certain dragon.

Brighten your day!

From within, a small sphere of light spawned that would then shoot out in front of the woman, creating a lengthy and wide scale beam of Lightfire aimed at clearing through the assorted smaller shadow forces of hounds and bashers.

Regardless of the Lightfire's effectiveness, the woman's form once more melted into a pile of writhing flesh that reformed into a humanoid woman in the garb of a top-ranking priestess in a religion. She then began to slowly walk forward in Draco's direction, a staff now floating at her side. Though she knew where he was, she was in no hurry. The worms around her would surely get themselves killed if she skipped the walk.

Plus, she enjoyed a soothing walk through the city from time to time.

Sara's com beeped in her ear "The Emperess is calling us back she has deemed this attack doomed to fail until we find a way to shut down those turrets....You are on your own for now...."

The Terra Nova Forces pulled out in a tactical retreat laying down fire as they moved out of range of Turrets. Falling back to Fort Raynor in the Eastern Seaboard to regroup.


Sara watched as The Terra Nova Forces retreated "Looks like we are on our own..."

"Not quite Ma'am." came a voice from behind her.

She turned to see a squad of four Firebats, a Valkyrie cleric with her massive riot shield and two demolition troopers. "We and this banshee we are in are here to help you take out those turrets...while they are are still up..."

"Yes I know...But with Draco alerted.... now she listens to my plan after hers fails..Like i told her it would..."

"Sara! Why are they retreating?" A glob of jelly fell on Jennifer's face, which made her ragged gasping for air slow to a more measured respiration. "And what the heck are these things, anyway? Are they with you? They're nothing I recognize and I've seen some serious stuff." Putting aside the question of what the heck Emily exactly was for the moment, she gave a cry of surprise as Aggron's ball glowed red, the auto-recall feature triggering after it took one too many blows from the shadow legion. "Fuck. I let him get flanked. I have to assume the power's out at the Pokémon Center. We can get him healed up at my house, it's not too far from here, but I can't leave Emily by herself to these things after seeing what they can do. This is my city, damn it...so can I borrow some of your boys there for a minute? There's just too many of them and I'm running out of options."

This was a weight she couldn't lift...not by herself. The portal station had long since gone dark, as a distress call would light up every sniffer in the area and defeat the purpose of the mission. Perhaps...perhaps there was a Plan B after all, but she wasn't done yet.

Things had escalated, and not just quickly, but too quickly for Bulbic's taste. The Chaos Sorcerer stood rooted in place, eyes fixed on the mayham of Ridgecrest with true dismay. The initial bombardment, a surprise from what he had assumed to be begin scouting ships thanks to their stealth hovering, had obliterated both Bloat Drones. A truly devastating loss as each required thousands of sacrifices to bring into being, and much time. The Death Guard's hereteks would be beyond displeased with the Sorcerer's folly, but they'd have to get in line.

Erebus would peel the festering flesh from his skull, and ram it down his pus-coated gullet before they even came close to having a chance.

The swell of Shadowlings, and the strange, animalistic beings entering the field had derailed any hopes of a successful operation. Four Plague Marines weren't enough, and the twisted dragon's defenses seemed poised to end the entire confrontation. Now. He watched with his Wytch's Sight as the massive metal monster-thing disappeared in a flash of red. "Whoa there, little mortals," he bellowed to himself, far too far away for anyone else to hear. "Are they psykers themselves?" He focused his sight on each mortal, the fabric of their very souls laid bare to his corrupted eyes. "No, no they're all dull, vacant, no sparks, save the Pink One..By Nurgle she's bright to stare at. What even.."

Frusteration was starting to encroach on his jocularity, quite the feat for a follow of Papa Nurgle. But one not without it's merits as a wicked plot began to take hold within the simmering hate.

This battle was beyond him, but not others. No, there were those who pined for such insanity, who sang for wanton carnage and destruction always. Always. Their thirst for blood was unquenchable, and even their own deaths a noble end in service to their barbaric master. Turning away from the battle, a harsh flux of Warp energy washed over Bulbic, the wicked sorcerer's mind suddenly burning with the might of creation just behind the veil. Without delay it sought out his Marine contingent to relay a halt order. There was no sense in feeding them to slaughter without hope.

As soon as they stopped his consciousness would turn East, racing through the Immaterium towards a vile, black tornado of a beacon. Towards the nascent soul of Erebus himself.

A small scale Warpstorm erupted a good fifty feet behind Jennifer, deep within the ranks of petty Shadowlings. It roiled, and bubbled for a moment as reality was torn asunder, the coppery scent of blood billowing out. Within seconds forms began to take shape, hulking, monstrously huge forms clad in jagged spikes, and ancient red Power Armor. The Sigil of Khorne adorned each. Four towering, already frenzied Khornate Berzerkers had come into bloody being.

They knew no mercy, no restraint, and no fear. Long driven mad with bloodlust by their Primarch, and Dark God, these brutal demigods of slaughter lived only to serve their master. In the most brutal, and barbaric ways imaginable.

They didn't wait, or pause to examine the battlefield before driving forward like wild beasts. Each Berzerker's massive, adamantite-toothed Chainaxe screaming through the air, hungry to bite into whatever the shadowy creatures called flesh.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

"Sara, up this way, Quickly. The last thing I want right now is more trouble. No clue where those guys came from, but there's no way I could even slow them down in the state my team is in. Aggron looks bad. Real bad. My home is just up that way...the jellies in the sky look friendly, though. I wonder if we can talk to them somehow..."

Mounting the stairs, Sara would be greeted with a scene that looked kind of like a junkyard. "Here it is. My gym. Guard the door. I need to make a few changes."

A few minutes later, Jennifer and her team were all outfitted with makeshift armor from random pieces of scrap. Rebar jutted out at odd angles from her muscular body, Lucario's fist spikes were replaced with proper concrete gauntlets, and even Aggron looked scarier than before...not to mention healthier. "I can't do much for his mind, but his body is as good as it's ever been. Let's just hope this stuff is better than nothing. Once more into the breach! We have to drive them out before I can use the portal to continue the quest the door gave me!"

The Legion reacted in time.

Threats were constantly evolving, and so was the Legion. As the Pokemon returned with armor, simply swarming them and hacking away mindlessly wasn't going to cut it. To combat this, Armored Screaming Minotaurs made their appearance from the alley-ways on either side of the battle going on in the streets. The Mist grew thicker, and while the Aggron was physically healthier, his mind and soul were likely still being eaten away by the corruption of the blades of the Legion. The Armor of the Basher Shadows would prove to be difficult, built to withstand the brutal realities of melee combat in war. Combat continued to ramp up exponentially with each push the Would-be Liberators of Ridgecrest gave.

But then someone had to go and Mock a Light Dragon.

Two massive Coal Eyes opened wide, and glared daggers of unyielding rage into the minds and hearts and souls of everyone in Ridgecrest. Draco's presence flared up, and the ground began to rumble. "You DARE Mock the magic of Irral The First Son? You DARE Bring that mockery to my presence!? YOU DARE CHALLENGE THE LORD OF SHADOW?" Draco's rage fueled his voice, rumbling forth from his throat as already his nose began to bleed, corrupted black blood trickling down his face from exerting his power. His body morphed hideously, becoming more Draconian in shape as his military uniform burned away in Shadowfire to reveal his Armor.



As he took a step towards his challenger, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, the liquid splattering on the ground in front of him. It was at this point that most of the Legion suddenly stopped moving, shuddering and quivering madly as if frightened. Even the Shadowling's presence was silenced, and she faded from the field as Draco lost himself in rage.

Despite his inherently evil nature, Draco was proud of his Draconian Heritage, and treated other dragons with the highest esteem, to an extent. It wasn't Draco's personality that made him an enemy to the rest of the world, but his Nature as a Shadow Dragon. He shouldn't exist, and thus his Corruption was sought out by Irral and the other Champions of Light as they replaced each other. It was their tenacity that drove Draco to grow stronger, to build his respect for the few Dragons who stood high above him with the possibility to kill him for good. Or worse yet: Purify his soul, and remove his powers entirely. This... being that dared to mock Irral and his Magic was a massive insult to Draco, and in his book, all of Dragon-Kind.

And he was going to take action, personally. Even if it killed him.

Sara watched the goings on as Draco revealed himself. "Looks like you friend pissed him off..."

Sara also watched as the Shadows seemed to stop what they where doing as Draco came forth. "This might just be a break for us.. if we can stay low and quiet we may be able to slip to the portal while Draco and his forces are distracted."

Sara turned to her squad "Stay close and stay quiet."

Turning back to Jennifer "Ok this is your home town so you know it better than I want is the best way to sneak around these brutes?"

Jennifer froze in fear as well as Draco raised his voice. "We...just might be in over our head here. You're right, stealth was always the way to go. I would call in help from the other side, but I don't want to start an international incident. Let's head over to the Mystery Revolution Academy. Turns out Pokémon have a society all to themselves, mostly hidden away from humans, and they're very good at choosing where and when they're encountered. I wouldn't be surprised if they're carrying on a guerrilla operation of their own from there. I'm sure they can lend us shelter while Emily and Draco do their thing, then after that we can make one final push to the Pokémon League to the north. That's where the portal is...where it would be most secure, and where we can do border patrol stuff."

Jennifer's Steel-types were already well suited to the physical rigors of combat, but as the mist continued to wear away at their minds and souls, the salubrious effect of the glowing jellyfish overhead had a way of counteracting that. Unlike some other famous steel-type trainers which could best be described as try-hards whose plan B was twice as much as plan A, Jennifer understood that a strong mind could only exist in a strong body, and thus made a point of cultivating her physical strength in order to build up and reinforce her mental resilience.

"You're the trained soldier. I told you how to get to the portal. Now show me how to be sneaky about it."

Honestly, she would not be here, but she had made a promise, a promise she would prove being redeemed was the correct course for herself. But even though Sirad was extremely powerful and deadly even she found herself wondering if she could make any difference. All her magic was infused with holy energies. Normally that would be enough, but in this case, she felt hopelessly outnumbered, still, she did appear next to the trainer, "It was impossible to miss this battle from even Lutetia, so I come here offering some form of help." as to what help she could provide that entirely depended on how long she could focus the sacred magicks but it was evident to her the main focus was the tainted decaying patrol.

So immediately she teleports in front of them before immediately focusing and summoning waves of power to unleash, the effect of bringing forth so much radiant force at once would provide a buffer pushing the hordes back until she could unleash it all at once. The gradual gathering would take time, but she was working light so while not phased by the blinding holy incandescence the brightness would harm most shadows. But once again she could do this once maybe twice and she working to keep it on the biggest problem, let others handle the Shadow Dragon.

Although, Draco would likely recognize Sirad now redeemed and empowered with Heavenly powers. Pure unfathomable radiance growing and creating quite a light show in the spot she stood. Her eyes glowing white as her hair, while she stood straining but determined to hold back and eventually send forth.

The smiling priestess walked forward as Draco did, her steps almost noiseless. A smug smirk came across her face as she opened her eyes for a change, revealing glowing flesh-tone pupils in black sclera. Fitting in the colors of her outfit, too black dominant with flesh-tone trim.

You will not stand for it, yet you stand now before it. Are all Dragons as hypocritical as the worms around them? You must tell me, Shadow Lord.

Emily took up her unusual, if not signature, fighting stance, almost challenging Draco in her intense gaze alone to just try and take a shot at her. She was no ordinary opponent, though by assuming her stance, she seemed to be giving a certain amount of actual respect to Draco's capabilities, compared to any other opponent she's faced.

If you do not tell me, then I shall mock you a second time.

The reverberation and distortion in her voice strangely contrasted the normal Human tone she had only minutes ago before the fighting began. Sirad's arrival was not unnoticed however, a small fact staying within Emily's mind, since Sirad too would be a potential challenger who could do her harm.