Aranea Mission 1: Corkscrew Ballad

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Pirogeth

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[align=center]Aranea
Mission 1: Corkscrew Ballad[/align]

[bg=#003399]Class 3 Dimensions aka "Fantasy" – The final "legal" dimension is the world of Fantasy and magic. Because of their magical powers they have no need to fully understand Pseudospace or natural physics. Thus they are the lowest rated legal dimension.

For several years a group of seven dimensions had commonly been referred to as the Corkscrew. They were shaped as if falling into a spiral and they were also a den of much demon activity. Although they were considered to be all the same to The Angels, The Demons did not think to be one in the same. A war had been going on between them for the past two months. With no clear victor decided yet, The Angels are being sent in to secure the most profitable dimension out of the seven, the Class 3 dimension Aethervale. The dimension has only one known inhabitable planet with only one continent controlled by bipeds. The mission is to secure the ancient Castle Baal, re-establish connection with Heaven, and destroy the research labs that have been constructed there.

Raymond was determined to find a quick resolution to the matter. The place they would be going to had a lot of enemies. There was bound to be a battle as soon as they landed. He looked around at his new members in his team. Keeping a calm head he looked out the window of their IDV noticing the Corkscrew was not far away. "Two minutes chaps, anything I should know before we rush into battle?"
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"If you die, can I have your weapons?" Anna asked smiling and clutching one of her laser rifles. Her smile faded when she realized that no one was laughing. "Right...Nothing, Sir."
 
Fujiko drummed her fingers restlessly on the armrest of her seat. Her sword was by her side, but more importantly, her briefcase was on the floor next to her.
"Not much...cafeteria food could use some work. How many enemies do you think that there will be?" She looked across the row of seats to Kumo and Alberich.
"And you two are horrible shots. A normal marksman could do better than you with their eyes closed. You really should consider investing in guns sometime..the smooth, firm barrel..the sharp smell of gunpowder..."
 
Alberich shifts the awkwardly placed staff. "Yes but they are only good for killing people, and I spent my time learning how to exert my will on the world instead of shooting." He turned to Raymond "Why is Baal important? And what about these laboratories? Will we be stationed here for a while or are we just here to clear everything up for the next guys?"
 
Kumo Blackwind looked down to the silver chain that hung around his neck. Its shiny metallic brilliance caught the over head lights aboard the IDV just so, causing it to reflect light onto the walls of the ship. The cross, that hung at the end, represented something that Kumo had long since cast aside. Although he had been raised on a very religious planet by a even more religious man, Kumo was never one to "believe" in a higher power. The only source of power he needed was resting right between his legs; The Sainted Carnage, his Blessed blade. The Sainted Carnage was a magically enhanced sword that was created with one purpose in mind; Killing Demons, and on this mission thats exactly what was to be done.

The Angels were an elite fighting force, founded for the sole purpose to eradicate the dark ones. The beings that were soulless and corrupt in every way. The black Demons of the night that prayed on the week and buried the strong, they were the enemy and it was a clear cut war. There was no questions as to why, only an answer to the problem that infested the many Dimensions. That answer was the Angels.

As Fujiko chattered on about food and guns, in a constant ramble that seemed to never end, Kumo stared down at his weapon' hardly even noticing the talkative girl. Useless blabber, thought Kumo. He had seen more that his fair share of war and killing so far in his short life. He knew that he must prepare mentally for the task at hand. In his head a small fire tingled. It was the fire of a orphaned youth that had to fight to survive. It was the flame of rage. And soon, Kumo knew, It would turn into a vicious blood lust. He waited patiently, trying to control his rage so it could be released at the right time. In the background of his thoughts he heard Raymond announce that they were two minutes away.
 
[bg=#003399]Now that jokes were aside the team was headed into the dimension. The black darkness of Pseudospace faded into a starry sky with a blue hue. From the looks of things they were about a mile up in the atmosphere. As the IDV started to shake Raymond took his chance to get a good look at his new team. They seemed to brave the roughness of travel pretty well. The normal officers, who were there to aid The Angels, seemed a bit on the queasy side. Slowly the shaking stopped and the ship made a final landing. The back of the IDV opened and immediately there was a barrage of magic attacks. They had landed right in a battlefield one hundred meters out from Castle Baal. Due to these time restraints Raymond was never able to answer the question of why Castle Baal was so important. Even he himself did not see the reason behind the council's decision. Either way it had to be secured and their first move was made. The regular officers, although not Angels, were well equipped with military grade weaponry. They took up a standard blockade form around the door of the ship. They fired carbonite coated bullets out of a Viper triple burst action rifle. The attacks on the ship had stopped briefly allowing The Angels to continue with their mission. "Let's go!" Raymond said heading out first. The area around the castle was a dessert. Several trenches were dug around the area and automated turrets were being used on the sides of the castle. Apparently these demons were no stranger to using technology and magic at the same time. "Alright Fujiko, Alberich, and Kumo I want you guys to get to the command center. Take over the area and secure a network to Heaven. Anna I'll have you come with me, we are going to destroy those research labs. Now get moving!" He said heading out. There was another barrage of attacks, one of the blasts hit the guard right next to Raymond.
"Sir please, kill me." The man said grabbing a hold of Raymond's leg. His skin looked to be rotting, a common and dangerous spell on Class 3 planets. From the looks of things he got it pretty bad and there was no hope of recovery. Raymond did the only humane thing and closed his eyes and sighed. He set his MC on high so he would feel no pain when killed. A quick blue flash and the soldier was gone. He ripped off the patch on the suit he left behind and pocketed it.
"Damn demons, come on." Ray said to Anna as he started racing across the dessert trenches.[/bg]
 
"Man, just because you and Anna can't stop making lovey-dovey faces at each other doesn't mean you can go off on your own on a misson.."
Fujiko sighed as she set her briefcase on the ground and undid the latches. She took one of the desert eagles for her right hand, her left would be busy holding the briefcase. The sub-machine guns floated out and went over the standard procedure of loading and flicking the safety off in the air around her head.

"Don't expect me to wait up for you guys!" She called out to Alberich and Kumo, smiling.

And with that she was off, running towards the enemy trenches. Spells went flying her way, of course, but she saw them coming before they were even fired and moved around them. The automatic weaponry crews who tried targeting her were met with gunfire from either her pistol or the guns moving through the air by way of her mental powers. It only took her a second or two to get across the no-mans-land, and then the inside of the trench was bloodshed incarnate. Six automatic weapons flying around killing people on top of Fujiko just outright shooting people in the head with a ridiculously powerful pistol. It would have severely messed up her arms if she hadn't been using telekinesis.
 
"I did not think you would" In a series of split second appearances Alberich teleported through the gauntlet. He wound up near a large demon. He made eye contact and his eyes flashed black. The demon collapsed, it's mind broken. He then turned and laid down cover fire on turrets and occasionally demons consisting of black blasts directed from his hand, stopping occasionally to run through a demon with his rapier.
 
Musical Score: The Passing - Lamb of God/In Your Own Words - Lamb of God
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Without Deigning to reply or speak to his Comrades, Nicholas Checked his weapons and gear, ensuring the RPG-7 and spare rockets were securely attached to his webbing, and that his Bayonet* was fixed, the group would be assaulting a fixed fortification on a magic based world, and Nicholas was certain that the anti tank HEAT rounds fired by the Rocket Launcher would not only stun some of the more traditionally minded natives, but that it would also cause havoc on any stone or steel structures taht stood in the groups way.

as the ramp dropped, Nicholas' mind flashed back to the fields of Poland, where he and a multinational team, comprised of three Serbians, two Russians, one German, two spainyards and an Israeli had disembarked from an APC during an armored charge into a german bunker complex, the sloped armor of the armored carrier vehicle had deflected most of the enemy anti tank fire, but that was then.

only a second had passed, but while nicholas had hesitated, the non angel officers had disembarked and began to return fire.
Nicholas leaped from the vehicle and sprinted into one of the trenches for cover, knowing that to be unseen was to be alive.

His shorted Variant Kalishnakov shouldered and ready to fire, Nicholas moved down the muddy, filth encrusted trench, stepping over innumerable corpses, as he did so, his supporting hand reached for his throat mic, not from absolute neccesity, rather it was from habit
"Winchester to All Angelic agents, moving through trenches to target Requesting Sitrep and Orders, this looks like a slaughterhouse down here" he said, trying to speak quietly but clearly, so that the others, whether through magic or technology, could hear and hopefully reply, the Englishman hay have had no actualmilitary experience prior to his time travelling incident, but many of the Anti-Nazis as they came to know themselves were ex military, and they had taken it upon themselves to teach the lesser trained individuals (like Nicholas) not only in Military tactics, but also "MilSpeak" Ie. the way to pass on information and requests on the Battlefield without clogging up the communications network too much.
 
Anna raced after Raymond, her rifle slung across her back.
"Can you believe him? 'lovey-dovey faces'..." She grumbled and looked up at Raymond for a reaction. He just seemed like he always did, focused and probably not even listening. It didn't matter anyway. Feelings weren't allowed in the Angels. Go in, do the mission, and get out. There was no time for any of that Soap Opera romance that she used to watch on the telly back home.

Go in, do the mission, get out.

"Speaking of research labs, what are they researching?" she asked, occasionally shooting demons and sometimes deformed victims out of mercy. "This is sick and twisted."
 
Musical Score: Set To Fail - Lamb of God

The trenches reeked of death and decay, and putrified corpses mixed with mud at the base of the trench, it was not only the source of the smell but it also made moving quickly or quietly impossible, the disgusting sound of almost liquified human organs mushing into wet, soft mud would have caused almost anyone to gag.

As it was, Nicholas was having a difficult time breathing without wretching, bile rising slowly up his throat nicholas came to a T- junction, where despite many of them being little more than skeletons drenched in soggy soft tissue, they would force anyone who attempted to pass them to put almost their entire body above the protection of the trench.

a pained intake of breath to his left caused Nicholas to spin, the but of his ompact assault rifle pressed hard into his shoulder, though he lowered the weapon as he saw the cause of the noise.

propped up against the trench wall, legs seemingly having suffered decades of decay, a man, clad in ill fitting armor weezed and pointed to the pile
"beware the crossfire, the daemonic have built high their pile of death, all who go that way are doomed" Nicholas flashed a grin, slipping the Kalishnakovs sling around his neck and pulling two fragmentation grenades from his weebing
"Fuck it" he swore, pulling the pins and throwing them both over the lip of the trench towards where he asumed one of the demon positions would be, before swiftly taking old of his assault rifle and charging up the slipepry corpse pile, his weapon pointed towards the other, as his boots first hit the disgusting pile, a muffled whooping explosion announced the hail of shrapnel that would either tear the demons to peices or force them to take cover.

as he reached the top of the pile, Nicholas saw a large demon, its arms spinning as it began conguring the spell.
just as the first syllables erupted from the creature's mouth, the AKS-74U gave a chant of it's own, the 5.54 full metal jacket rounds sending a spray of filth and blood as they hit not just the demon, but the trench around him.

It's spell interrupted, the creature bellowed in pain and rage, making to charge Nicholas, who had by that point made int down the embankment.
as the beast lifted its head and bellowed, Nicholas grinned, gently but swiftly squeesing the trigger of the assault rifle again, firing the rest of the magazine at the creature, which staggered, sliped and then fell, it's chest leaking vital fluids from numerous wounds, it's throat had also been torn out by the storm of lead, and Nicholas pulled the empty magazine from his weapon, discarding it and slamming a fresh one into the weapon, Nicholas cocked the weapon as he moved down the trench, stepping over corpses and wounded men with precision, he thought it a shame that he couldn't put the wretches out of their misery, but the Englishman knew he only had so much ammunition, and that most of those wounded would die soon anyway.

With that in Mind, the Englishman came to another T junction, though the this one had a large, heavy steel door blocking the entrance to what Nicholas assumed would be an entrace to the lab facilities, or possibly an entrance to the castle itself.

"This is Winchester, I'm in position, large steel door, possibly leading to enemy stronghold or labs, requesting reinforcements to assist in the assault, I repeat, requesting Reinforcements to aid in the assault on what could be the enemy labs."
 
A number of turrets turned toward Alberich. He immediately began sprinting forward while swearing. He managed to roll into a trench just as the spot he was in a second ago was shot with everything from flechettes to stored contagion spells. "Dammit I can't afford to keep spending that much power" He was suddenly interrupted by a demon who came in from around the trench. Alberich jumped back and whipped out his rapier which stuck in the trench wall. Without spending the time to curse he reached his hand out to the demon and gestured rapidly while intoning a chant. His eyes flashed black and the demon slowed and turned around. Alberich gasped "Gah mind manipulation might be a specialty of mine but it still takes a lot out of you." He heard the sharp whine of a disjunction mortar and, after ripping out his rapier and sheathing it -"too damn long for this kinda work"- he started running while ducked down. He managed to get to a partially fortified structure, ducked behind it and clapped hands over his ears just as the trench was cloven and a blinding blue light emitted. A horrible sound emitted and Alberich was glad he had managed to stop some of it. He looked around and -while the demons were still adjusting- cast out his arms and began chanting. The recovered quickly and ran toward him raising guns just as he disappeared. He ducked them and moved softly up the stairs and made an illusionary figure of himself go the opposite way. He made his way up to the turret. There were two demons. He lunged and stabbed the first through the neck and recovered. The demon looking around madly pulled out a firearm and began shooting. A combination of ducking behind the wall and a quick shield spell saved Alberich. He put his hand around the corner and blasted the demon with dark spellfire. The other demons would be coming up soon and his invisibility had expired so he prepared the stairway with a fireward. That ought to stop them for a while. He went back into the turret room. The turret of course was blasted beyond repair but he didn't need it, and he didn't know much about guns anyway. "Now let's open up a corridor." He picked out the turrents currently threatening the non-angel troops. He focused on one chanting softly and gathered dark energies into his hands. He released it at one of the turrets and a thin line of black flame lanced across the no mans land and warped the spellfire engine. He turned to another. "Man am I gonna be tired when we finish."
 
[bg=#003399]With Anna now following him Raymond had made his way across to the first trench on the side of Castle Baal. It was particularly well cleaned out from both fire from the other side as well as Nicholas's brutal contribution. "Your information is the same I got." Raymond said walking forward in the trench contradictory to the urgency of the mission. "I was told by the general himself that this mission was of top priority so this must be quite a strategic point. These demons will regret infesting such a beautiful world." Raymond said clenching his fist. It was not long before there was a slight buzzing over his radio as Nicholas's voice came through.
"This is Winchester, I'm in position, large steel door, possibly leading to enemy stronghold or labs, requesting reinforcements to assist in the assault, I repeat, requesting Reinforcements to aid in the assault on what could be the enemy labs."
"This is the commander. Breach the door and secure a safe point inside for the rest of your team." Ray smiled before relaying his next sentence. "Do not get your hopes up, most likely that is just a side entrance to the main corridors. It should be a good entry point for your team to get to the command center. I am sure I do not have to tell you this but stay alert. Commander out." Ray let go of the button on his headset and continued down the trench. "I highly doubt they would leave the lab doors in the open." Ray said now sprinting down the trench void of anything alive. Was not long before they hit a small circular metallic door hidden behind some camouflage. "May not be direct access to the labs but this service shaft should lead us inside a few floors down." Ray checked to see if he had something that could blast the door open. He had nothing on him, but he did spot a Class 2 Ion grenade. He pulled the pin and ran back a few feet. The grenade went off but did not blast a hole in the door. Instead it fried all the mechanical devices in the area of it. Raymond now stepped over to the hatch and opened it manually with relative ease. He readied his weapons before slipping down the tunnel where hostile forces were likely waiting.[/bg]
 
The Ship came to a rather abrupt landing, one that Kumo was well prepared for. Overall, he disliked flying, but it was part of the job so he accepted it as such. When the craft finally came to a complete stop, Kumo was up and ready to go, The large steel inlaid handle of the Sainted Carnage gripped firmly in his hand. As the angels' guardsmen supplied cover fire, temporarily putting a stop to the constant barrage coming from all around the ship, Kumo heard Raymond, their commander and chief, speak.

"Alright Fujiko, Alberich, and Kumo I want you guys to get to the command center. Take over the area and secure a network with Heaven." Once Kumo heard his leaders words he leaped out of the ship, sainted sword in hand, and charged the trenches. Just in front of him he saw Fujiko and at the same time heard Alberich teleport. To his left was a large trench with three turrets blazing shells out like crazy. Kumo, in full charge delivered a well timed, fully powered, strike to the turrets barrels, severing them from use. As he looked back at the hole he had created, he knew demons were near. Whenever demons were present the Sainted carnage tripled in power, giving it a very explosive strike that had the power of cleaving pure steel.

As Kumo charged on towards the castle, hopefully in sync with his three crew mates with who he was assigned to, he felt the evil presents that he hadn't felt since he had been on his home planet of Dirge. It was a Demon knight approaching from Kumos left. Kumo raised the sainted Blade high into the air, letting its white holy light shine down upon the creature. Its illuminance bringing forth a white light that would follow the blade while it was swung, creating tracers and sparks. The demon, who was clad in a reddish armor that had spikes protruding all down the sides, thrust forward with a large Pike. Kumo Swung his blade like the fearless warrior that he was, taking careful aim as he did. When it hit it cut straight through the demons weapon and came to rest on its neck.

"Prepare to die, Vile scum." Kump pulled the blade hard and fast against the demons neck, severing it deep enough to ensure death. The Sainted Carnage gleamed a brilliant white as it tasted demons blood once again. As its limp body fell to the sandy earth surrounding the castle, Kumo looked towards the high walls and pressed on towards the gates.
 
Anna watched Raymond struggle to get the door open at first. "All of my weapons have lasers, idiot," She thought, rolling her eyes.
Once the door was open, she watched him jump down. Anna sighed and looked down. "Look out below, I suppose," She said, closing her eyes and jumped down the shaft. Upon impact she opened her eyes and strained them to look at something she didn't recognize.
"What IS that?" She asked Raymond, pointing her rifle at it.
 
[bg=#003399]Raymond looked at what Anna was pointing at. There was a large mark on the wall, green stained with what looked to be a carcass stuck on it. It took awhile for Raymond to actually figure out what it was. There was still an eyeball left over on the carcass which signaled to him what species it was. "I think the better question is 'What was this?' From the looks of it I would say this was an Arilian from Dimension NV28890. Their hide is incredibly tough and is only matched by their intelligence. They must have been brought here to guard what is inside." Raymond looked around the room. It was true they were in a storage area but what was more miraculous was that the door was not locked. Instead the door was broken, dented to the point where it could not automatically close. Crouching beneath it Anna and Raymond were now inside a loading area for the labs. "What the hell happened here?" He asked to nobody in particular looking around. There were many dead Arilians with the same wounds as the one in the storage area. "Such force." Suddenly there was a large bang from overhead. A couple floors above was another task force comprised of Arilians.
"Get this door open! Search for any survivors that can hold a weapon." One hissed. Their bodies were lizard shaped but walked on two legs. Their guns were designed for three long fingers and fired a low level plasma. Raymond signaled to Anna to stay back but it was already too late. She was up preparing for a shot and one of them spotted Ray. It was time for another battle.[/bg]
 
"I can hold a weapon," Anna said, firing a few laser rounds into the lead Arilian's head. She swung the rifle around to her back and took out her kukuris. Noticing Ray getting ready to fire, she dropped to the ground and started slashing the Lizard's legs. Two more dropped to the floor and she noticed a soft spot in their hide on their side, just above their hips. Anna noted this spot on one still standing and shoved her blade into it. A shrieking yell came out of it and green liquid came flowing out of the wound. "Ray! Try to hit their sides!" she called out to her comrade.
 
The fire traps exploded into pillars of flames as the demons tried to come up the staircase. He had taken out a number of the important turrets. Tomorrow was going to suck. He slipped away from his turret before it the shots it was taking would overwhelm it and followed the trenches for a bit.

A few large furry demons were loading artillery guns with some kind of magical ammunition. He sheathed his rapier and gripped his staff in both hands and jumped forward. The demons turned and unsheathed large swords and swung them down at him. He spun the staff at the sword and it was obscured with shadow as it mangled the sword. He lunged forward and swung at another demon's knee, again releasing magical energy. As the demon fell he jumped up on it and deflected a strike from the third. He cast his hand behind him and released a blast that slammed the first demon into the trench. The demon he was standing on shook him off and took a swing that he dropped under. He thrust forward with the staff and sent out black spikes that skewered the demons.

The trenches turned around and a bit further he came upon a good view of an outer wall. It was of course angled and reinforced at key points with magical fields. This point was somewhat blasted by something. In addition the space between it and the partial passage he had removed of turrets had mainly infantry. As good as any an entrance. He studied it for a time and then checked his grimoire for some details.

He turned back to it raised his staff and began chanting. Black flame-like energy swirled around him and shot toward the wall spiking into the stone and twisting in and... disappeared. He grabbed a shell and thrust it forward magically into the base of the wall and snapped his fingers. The shell exploded with green light and blew the stone in to the inside, aided and focused by the energy which also keep open an opening. Alberich staggered against the trench wall for a few seconds before he started moving. "Got to get there fast. Any demon anywhere near it will race over there."
 
For her part, Fujiko spent her time mowing through the trenches. The castle was, well, a castle, and despite her rather impressive personal firepower, it would take far too much effort to make her own opening.

She came to a stopping place in the middle of one of the bloody trenches to reload her weapons. She opened the briefcase as the empty clips fell out of her guns and new ones floated up to take their place.

The area around Fujiko seemed relatively clear, so she crawled out of the trench over towards Alberich. He had blasted an entrance into the castle.

Well what do you know. Maybe he could be useful after all.

"Nice work, old man. Last one to the comm station's a rotten egg!" She ran into the castle proper, laughing and smiling.

The castle itself was full of boxes, mostly supplies and munitions. A group of demons had gathered near the hole, using the boxes for cover. Fujiko rolled behind one to shield herself from their attacks, and then sent her guns flying over the boxes to kill them.

The demons in the castle offerred suprisingly little resistance. Fujiko suspected that she'd have to mow her way through a whole horde of them or something once they got a chance to catch up to her, but for now it was mostly empty. Realizing that she didn't know the layout of the castle that well, she headed for a handily-labeled medical tent.

Inside, a pretty young elf girl was using some magic to stabilize other wounded demons. That stopped once Fujiko shot her in the shoulder.

The girl extracted a general set of directions from the elf. People were so informative when you held guns to their head.

Fujiko smiled, thanked her for the directions, blew the nurse's head off, killed the injured in the tent, and set to work reaching the comm center.
 
[bg=#003399]Ray took note of Anna's warning. He took his pistol and aimed for the side of the units coming down for back up. The ones he hit fell over the railing. He noticed that three were trying to open the large door in the back of the hangar. He aimed his fire on the two guarding the one on the controls. "Come on we will take advantage of this." Ray said as he moved along the side of the hangar. The boxes laying around provided a nice cover from more reinforcements bursting through the upper floor doors. As Anna laid down some covering fire Roy waited for the guy opening the door to finish. Once he did he fired a shot at the lizard. "Come on now's our chance!" Ray shouted. He jumped through the door but did not quite make it unscathed. His leg was shot by the plasma gun melting through his clothes and leaving an extensive burn mark on the back of his leg. It was not long before Anna got in. "Kick the control panel, they will have to override it manually." Ray said. With a swift kick that would make a black belt jealous the controls were broken and the door shut. Ray tore off his right sleeve as he used it to patch the wound. He picked up a metal bar near by and used it as a walking stick. He felt a light tingling each time he stepped on it, but it turned into immense seething pain each time he put his entire wait on the leg. Looking around they were now inside the labs. There was almost an ominous feel to the place. There were large containers each with an orange liquid in it. Some of the containers were broken and glass shattered amongst the floor. The glass only added to the large amount of dead bodies on the ground. Some of them were humanoid while others were Arilian. It was only then that Roy took notice of the red lighting over head. The labs themselves ran on a separate power gird and they were running on back up generators. "I do not know what the hell happened but our mission right now is to investigate. You try to get the main power back on, I'll try to find a terminal that is still functioning."
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