Jefferson City 3: Charlie - The Ranger

"Pzzt- Mission Accepted... Commence Operation: Taking Pawn- Pzzt"

Attacks soar through the air towards the large ship that had appeared over Jefferson City, but as it soared, the ship made a strange sound before it appeared as if a hangar had opened, realizing a weird spinning ball within the ship. That spinning ball gave off a massive amount of energy as it hummed to life and focused on the nearing energy, soon firing a massive column of energy itself into combined attacks. A struggle commenced, but as it continued, the energy in the air would slowly start growing unstable as the environment began eating it the beams giddily.

From a distance, at least 10 miles away, a bow was pulled back, taunt strings attached to a mechanical mount, arm stretched back. Suddenly, three sparkling green arrows fired from this unknown location, charging forward with immense speed before clashing with the clashing energies. The interaction caused the already weakening attacks to explode mid-air. However, even as Liltotto may feel that spike from so far away, whatever had caused it had long since distanced itself, her nose incapable of simply tracking its energy.

But, she'd find she has other things to worry about, as even with the zombies temporarily discombobulated by Daniel's efforts, their mindless charge would not cease that easily. Kokuto tore through them with reckless abandon, but the numbers of these creatures did not easily dissipate. Then came the sound of something charging, akin to what could only be compared to a charging beam.

Energy reigned from around them, the feeling akin to Quincy arrows as some of Lion's men found their blut tested by the suddenly sweeping appearance of blackened soldiers, gear similar to that of the Vandenreich itself. Their helmets gleamed in the Reishi filled sky, their presence impossible to detect outside of the moment their rifle's fired. A few shots at Liltotto, some on Daniel, and a minor barrage towards Kokuto meant that each would need to maneuver themselves to not be sitting ducks.

As soon as the beam dispersed, she was already at work both having studied the sky and gotten moving again, batting away zombies and looking to her comrades. Dealing with these ground creatures would have been a waste of time, they'd all get exhausted and eventually be at their mercy with the volume they were coming in at. With that in mind, she called to the rest of the group with an authoritative tone, "Those things aren't gonna stop coming, i'm gonna focus on what's above."

Her attack didn't work out? Tch, she'd just have to get closer and land a direct hit that couldn't be interfered with. Either way, forcing that ship to ground was her top priority, and she'd have to be cautious of any further countermeasures. As she ran to the nearest building to begin scaling it however, she caught sight and sense of those strange uniforms; of course the fucking things blended in with the fog's scent, wasn't like anything here was working in any understandable way. The shots fired at her were barely an itch, she hardly cared when they started firing upon them past deflecting a few annoying shots like gnats with her weapon, it's shape twisting and reforming into that of a blade's.

Pushing onward, she'd disregard the carnage around her to run to a building of suitable height, grasping the chain that connected her sword to her self as she'd swing the weapon around herself for a moment, before manipulating her energies to cast the weapon a sizable distance above her, stabbing into the concrete of the building as she'd begin running herself up the height with naught but minor Reishi manipulation supporting her feet and the chain giving her pull. At a suitable height, her chain and blade peeled in half within her grip, a second sword pointed to the ship as she pointed directly at whatever appeared to be allowing it mobility, a second charge being formed and finalized if not interrupted, that Cero-like cone of light formed from her own energies that cleanly shone through the world and ate all that touched it's hissing form barrelling to destroy that section of the ship.

If this beam did not hit, another would follow, then another, and another, unless she was hindered. She wouldn't stop until she was either shot down, or this thing fell to the floor in a smoldering crash, giving her attacks more variety in shape and speed to increase unpredictability.

She hoped this worked. This was the last place she wanted to transform within.

"Their number are endle...argh!"

Daniel almost parroted what Liltotto had said, but was almost caught off guard when a cluster of energy bullets came his way from a new group of enemies with some kind of specialized equipment hiding them in the fog. Daniel's blut, not exceedingly strong to begin with, made sure that the bullets did not penetrate, but there was a great deal of pain akin to being hit with rocks from a major league pitcher. Daniel dove behind some debris to stop the attacks from hitting directly and to gather his thoughts as panic began to hit a fever pitch in his brain.

Zombies were one thing, he could handle those, but trained soldiers with specialized gear like those guys had to hide themselves? That was a different ball game, a game that he had no time to prep for, and with the throng of zombies descending on their position had very little little time to make up for loss of that necessary preparation. He groaned, feeling the spots on his arm where he had been impacted, and winced feeling a dull throb that seemed to reverberate down to the bone. He peered his head over the debris before quickly ducking back down again as a few bullets hit where his head had been once before.

"Shit..."

He looked over, seeing a few of his comrades be overrun by zombies, and watching the look of horror on their faces as they realized that they were perhaps going to die here. Daniel's mind went blank as the idea that he would die here centralized and consumed his thoughts. He didn't want to die. He had a bunch of things he wanted to do! He had so much he HAD to do. His mind wandered to his promise, panic and fear of death going quiet as he slapped himself across the face to focus on the here, and now. He would cross that bridge when he got to it, but right now death was not an option, and until he had run out of all possible choices, he would not choose to roll over.

"Forget the zombies, take out those sneaky fucks!"

Daniel shouted to anyone who would listen as his hands immediately reached into his bag for a few more silver cylinders as he braved more salvos of gunfire to reach Kokuto. He dodged zombies, took a few shots that would feel, once again like he was getting stoned in ancient times, and if he would manage to reach Kokuto he would throw the two cylinders at Kokuto's feet.

"Grant thee a shield of faith, a true divine miracle to defend thyself."

Daniel's voice echoed as a literal shield of made of reishi would manifest in front of the two of them, a few bullets would make impact on the shield, and cause it to crack a little bit. Daniel would breathe heavily, feeling winded from just using two spells, but would look at Kokuto after giving him a momentary reprieve.

"Get those fuckers..."

Daniel would say as he summoned his spiritual weapon, his hand crossbow appearing as he looked at the zombies around them, and his compatriots.

"I will do something about the zombies."

He said giving him his best confident grin as he fired his crossbow at the head of a nearby zombie. In truth, Daniel was gassed, but this is survival, and Daniel would burn all of his reserves to make sure as many of them made it out alive as possible.

No matter how many he tore through, the numbers never seemed to thin. With the sudden advent of more seemingly undead creatures, Kokuto's attention shifted from his attempt on the ship to the undead around him. It wasn't difficult to eliminate them physically, but the overwhelming numbers were becoming a problem. He needed to take out a lot of them at once, give him and Daniel more breathing room to get a plan better formulated.

So, as Kokuto moved back toward Daniel, a wave of heat began to emanate from the devil, the air warping from the sudden increase in temperature as his sword vanished and his hands lit a bright orange. With a wave of each hand in opposing directions, a wave of fire erupted from his palms, reaching out for hundreds, if not thousands of feet, seeking to immolate everything that it touched, leaving Kokuto's hands and arms a cherry red, steam drifting from him as the fire faded.

Sensing the potent, gathered energy arrows, Kokuto brought his arms up, expecting to use himself as a litmus test of how powerful they were -- only to hear them make impact with something else. He'd been focused on defending himself and Daniel that he hadn't heard the young man chanting. He didn't have time to think hard on what he did next -- he just went with what he thought was the right move.

He picked up the shield and Daniel, chains slinking around the young man's body as he swiftly attempt to fasten the shield to Daniel's back.

"I don't leave people to die, kid. Hold on tight, face forward, and hope you can handle the heat."

Even if he pushed away, Kokuto still wouldn't go far. But, if Daniel did grab onto him, Kokuto suddenly launched forward as a flurry of silver flames erupted from his back, pushing him forward and wreathing his and Daniel's bodies as he tore through the undead horde, incinerating everything that it touched.

He didn't know exactly where the sneak attacks came from -- he sensed the build-up of energy and the volley, but they all could have moved in that time frame. Nevertheless, he surged onward to where he initially sensed the energy. They were the bigger problem right now, after all.

"Pzzt- Detecting direct danger to mothership. Requesting permission to engage. Permission given. Adjusting power levels. Core engage. Power levels Optimal. Access Code: Volstandig- Pzzt"

Kokuto laid waste to the ground below, soldat and their assailants all forced to back away from his attack. Though, as some were hit, they were instantly turned caught a flame, revealing that the men in black weren't entirely human as circuitry and metal revealed itself under their outfits. The zombies, however, despite Kokuto's efforts were dispatched but quickly replaced as his display of power called more to the area. And, chasing whatever had fired that volley would be impossible.

For, the next second, a building far away exploded with energy, green waves of Reishi spiraling out of control before the signature vanished. It was gone for but a second before Liltotto would sense it coming her way, her attacks countered by massive green arrows condensed with energy that matched her own until whatever had raced towards her crashed into the side of the building.

A mechanical creature, its body made of silver and gold crashed. Its body was that of a centaur, large and as massive as a horse, hooves digging into the side of the building seconds before the entire surface of said building shattered, the impact alone enough to force it to groan and lean to the side, the metal supports breaking as the mechanical creature and Liltotto would find themselves going down. It's body glowed with green spiraling energy, its blue vizor focused on Liltotto.

Already, its pointing its bow at her face, its arm transformed before it began firing.

Yep, she wasn't imagining it - something was stopping her from shooting the ship. Now she was just wondering if she'd done enough to annoy it out of hiding. Her eyes were closed as she carefully parsed her surroundings with scent and sound, holding onto her perch with intent... Until she heard the incoming sound of footsteps of something closing in on the building she occupied. But those steps didn't sound organic, especially as they crashed into the building, the lean and groan of the structure's destabilization betraying the existence of her little archer, looking upon it's form, and seeing those little details - Ah, she knew nothing smelled alive here...

Calmly, she readied herself with the steady collapse of the building that was sure to come down completely thanks to this heavy armament, looking to her allies, "It's a machine!"

And it was already geared to attack her. Great. Her mouth split just as the entity's arm changed, the attack being met with a great, gaping maw enclosing it, as well as it's arm - a row of razor sharp teeth came down upon the entity's forearm like a guillotine. If the attack hadn't taken it clean off, then she would be taking her time clenching her jaw to force the teeth to pinch the annoyance off.

He didn't have time to worry about what was going on in the distance. With the constant resurgence of the undead minions and the other unseen assailants, all he could do was keep Daniel close through his chains and keep him protected as best he could. Even as he burned through dozens of their enemies, he could hear more converging to fill in the space.

He was far from a commander -- most of his knowledge was just from practical experience and well over a century of battle in a never-ending fight to survive. But, he was there to act as a shield. He would do his best to fulfill that role as he tried to make his way toward a group, burning, cutting, and punching his way through onslaughts of enemies and continuing to move the moment the space was free.

But, he had noticed something amidst the movement -- a tinge of sparks from the shadows, the shine of metal wire and electronics for the briefest of moment, alongside the distant shout from their other comrade, causing him to nudge Daniel.

"Oi, kid, you got an EMP or somethin'? Judging from what she's said, there's at least one thing that's mechanical attacking us. Don't know if they're controlling these things down here, but, it's worth a shot, I think."

Daniel had no idea what was going on, he had offered to take on the zombies, and to basically distract them to the best of his abilities, but it seemed like Kokuto had other ideas for him. Chains wrapped around him before Daniel could even utter a word, a confused to look spreading across his face as he was lifted up, and held bound to Kokuto. Kokuto wasn't going to leave him behind? He was going to bring him into the thick of it? Daniel's eyes went wide as he was about to protest, but that is when Kokuto quite literally jetted off toward the unseen adversaries using the mist as cover. He grabbed on to Kukuto, trying his best to hold on for dear life as they dashed forward.

He would be moved around, feeling like a bag that was being held by someone in a packed street more and more. He looked around, trying his best to stand the heat, and his best to act as a second pair of eyes for Kokuto as it was the least he could do at this moment. All the while he channeled his own energy into the shield to keep it going so they both could be better defended in case of potential threats closing distance. In truth, Kokuto's heat was incinerating zombies and he doubted he would have been able to last such intense heat either if it weren't for the fact that the flames were not targeted at him.

His ears perked up over the sound of the flames and the groans of the dead to hear Liltotto shout something about a machine. His eyes went wide with realization. Of course they were fighting things with machinery involved! They couldn't sense their enemies due to whatever tech they had integrated into their suits or their flesh, but more so than that they probably had some kind of camouflage function that made it harder to see them in the fog.

"Just like that old movie the Preda...HOLY SHIT!"

The sound of a building crashing down caused Daniel to yell into Kokuto's ear on accident, he would give him a look of apology, and then would begin to look around again for threats to their life, not that it would help. Well, that is what he thought until he started seeing faint sparking. Kokuto would then ask him a simple question, if he had some kind of EMP in his bag, and Daniel would give him a quizzical look before reaching into his bag to procure more silver cylinders.

"No, I don't have a tech based EMP on me. That would have required a bit more forethought and some kind of idea of what we were up against, but... if I drop the concentration I have on the shield I could make something akin to it with my magic."

If Kokuto would agree to have the shield be dropped, Daniel would drop his concentration on the shield, and begin to chant again, gathering reishi from around him, and from within. Sparks would begin to jump from cylinder to cylinder, arcing harmlessly between Daniel's fingers, but due to the heat Daniel couldn't hold on to the cylinders for too long.

"Get me closer...I want this to work as I'm running out of juice...sorry..."

Daniel would say as he kept holding on to the cylinders which were red hot and bit his lip which was now leaking blood to keep himself from making a sound of pain or admitting his weakness.

Teeth, sharp and ready to destroy, but they'd find themselves clamping on nothing but themselves. The instance Liltotto made short work of the machine's attack, it had begun moving. The hooves it sported transformed as green flames spurted from its ankles and knees, mere moments passing before it simply vanished, moving at speeds almost incomprehensible to the soldat. Its signature, one second before her, and the next buildings away, showcased the startling issue at hand, more green arrows falling from the sky onto her location as it enacted artillery strikes from afar.

Though, down below, the remaining soldat that were fighting off the machines had made a run for it, using the falling building as an excuse to relocate themselves. As fire cooked the battlefield, the black soldiers were unrelenting, the few burned to cinders not even a thought to the rest. At this point, the zombies that had attacked had all become but smoke, caught in the crossfire of combat and proving their inadequate capabilities.

Yet, the chaos all around did not make things any easier. Parts of the building above continued spiraling down, threatening to crush the soldat as the enemy soldiers were turned into pancakes. Kokuto and Daniel would find a large chunk coming straight down towards them as the building above was shot at from afar by whatever Liltotto was fighting. They'd not be able to simply escape it with the situation at hand, but they didn't need to as the man with a glowing yellow mane appeared from the shadows and destroyed that chunk with a single punch.

"Woo! What a situation we got here!" Lion yelled out. "Men! It's time! Into the shadows! Reposition!"

The shadows that appeared all around them were being used by the soldat to transport themselves elsewhere, fire from the inside of buildings or advantageous positions now berating their enemies. For Kokuto and Daniel, he'd come near them through Kokuto's shadow and snatch the emp from Daniel's hand, giving the man a wink before he vanished again, throwing out the devices around the black soldiers before they went off. And, on cue, a rain of arrows would come down as the emp did temporarily cause them pause. Well, a little help from Lion's own pool of energy and Reishi did help a bit, but the results were all the same as the battlefield would actually turn favorable for the Vandenreich before Lion would appear beside Kokuto and Daniel again.

"We're going straight towards the center of this damn mess," He'd explain, pointing towards the large ship that's now heading towards the center of the city. "Obviously, that's where things are going to get spicy."

Her eyes narrowed into slits when the thing was suddenly out of her teeth's reach. That was an unbelievable amount of distance for anything she'd ever seen move, especially for such a bulky entity. There must be some kind of trick to it, not that she had time to figure it out as both the building fell and arrows came racing for her head.

Sheesh, what a pain.

Pooling energy at her feet, she'd move swiftly to avoid the incoming attack with an improvised technique, coming down onto the ground as she was ready to dispose of any incoming rubble, but Lion beat her to it. Good then, her weapon morphing again into that of a spear as she'd make way into the shadow as ordered. Among others, Daniel and Kokuto seemed fine the whole way thus far, she definitely needed to give the younger soldat and her comrade a meal after this, if they made it out of it that was.

To the heart of this they were to go, she supposed.