Lord President Karen kept a stiff lip at the King's arrival, boasting humanity's advances far to him, she simple nodded and stared him down. She may hate Arcanes deep down however this King and the squire from Saevitia and other Arcane leaders soon to be arriving for discussion of her peace talks were merely part of her plan. She had to act welcoming however, and gave a comforting smile to the king yet maintained her curt attitude.
" You speak to Lord President Karen Rose, and I humbly thank you for your arrival. Fortunately, late as you may be, your majesty, we are about to commence the deployment of Dogma's Mecha Fleet. Care to join us?" she said, using her graceful arms to show him the way to the balcony awaiting her arrival towards the docking bays. Other Arcanes who had accepted her invitation had already started arriving, some from small villages and others from well renowned settlements. The numbers spoke for themselves on how they too wished to form a peace treaty with their unafflicted counterparts.
A faint smile glinted across her face, Hobbs would be proud of this progression. Only then will he not give in to his darker intentions, she believed. She was the sheath holding back the wrath of a machine that was once her husband.
"This way, King Ausartak. Join us as well, child," Karen addressed Rosetta to come along as Karen continued her pristine walk while her bodyguards had raised rifles to salute her. The Arcane leaders at the back had begun to follow them suit to oversee the Mecha Fleet's deployment.
=o=o=o=o=
Ravager emerged from the shadows behind the destroyed lab as he stealthily caught sight of their package about to leave while the giant monster, their hired gunman and the suit savant were distracted by the unit readying their approach. Drawing his hook gun, he took aim at Korma Weapon 050790 and shot a grappling hook towards her growing mechanical wings seconds before she was about to carry her Arcane friend off.
The hook connected to the weapon's wings and latched unto it, with sufficient force, he pulled her downwards before she took flight. The weapon dropped the Arcane to the floor as Ravager sunk down to his shadows as he pulled the weapon towards him. He planned to imprison her within his dimensional rift to bring her back to Korma where Hobbs can continue to retrofit her with their beliefs. His focused eyes glared at her as he continued to drag her into the dark rift.
=o=o=o=o=
Mari writhed as a hook latched unto her wings and its surprisingly strong force dragged her down as she prepared for flight. She dropped Shen as she tried to free herself only to see an unknown creature dragging her entire body towards a dark portal emanating from the floor.
"Fuck!" she yelled in pain as her mechanical parts near her wings began to tear under pressure of being dragged by the mysterious force. She quickly converted her left arm into a mechanized saw and took a desperate bid to tear the metallic rope binding her to the fast approaching portal. As sparks flew all over while she hastily approached the dark portal, she struggled to keep herself calm as she waved her saw-converted arm around to cut the steel rope before it was too late.
Ralph spun around as he heard Mari yelling while using her weapons to free herself from a hooked rope latched unto her wing as it dragged her unto a void-like portal a floor a few meters away from her and the exit. He charged his right hand's weapons to 30% and fired a laser blast from his finger tip towards the rope pulling her like a fish. The rope instantly tore apart, freeing Mari as she sighed in relief.
"What the hell was that?!" Ralph said as the void vanished from the ground.
"Keep your eyes peeled," she said as she pulled the hook out of her metallic wing and converted her arms into a cannon and a machine gun on her left and right respectively. "Korma's been brainwashing Arcanes to do their bidding, that's why I wanted to get Shen out of there," she said while scanning the place back to back with her boyfriend.
"Hmmm, how hypocritical of them, using Arcanes to their own ends when we all know that deep down they want these poor guys extinct," he said as he armed his lasers and pointed them around at all spots to flush out their stalker.
"You two! don't get sleepy now, we got company," Ralph addressed Xotiff and Argle, warning them of a hidden threat at this very lab. The winds and pressure of the destroyed hull near Mari and Ralph gusted on as they could see the clear skies outside. If only it was simple for her to take Shen and just leave, Mari thought.
=o=o=o=
Ravager re-emerged from the ceiling again, knives ready, he targeted the downed specimen while the weapon and the suit savant were focusing on finding him. Eyeing the Shen this time, he had to hold her hostage at best until the crew would finally arrive.
"Nocturne, I'm going in," he advised his partner through his communicator, intending to hold and stall the escapees by holding Shen hostage. His other target was the winged boy whom they freed, it was going to be difficult to stop him, as per the reports. However while he's still weak, he had to take this chance. Taking a deep breath, he sunk back from the ceiling.
Seconds later, his body emerged from a nearby shadow where Shen was dropped by Mari. He hastily ran towards his target, slid next to her and grabbed her by the neck. Drawing a knife, he held his blade next to her neck, carefully positioning himself as he eyed Mari, Ralph and the winged boy from attacking him.
Mari and Ralph froze dead on their tracks, the assailant placed himself well safe from them to fire any weapons without harming Shen.
"Nobody move. By order of Korma," as he said this, the large doors exploded as the summoned troops began to flood the laboratory and taking strategic positions as a lumbering sound approached, signalling the arrival of the Mecha. All soldiers began pointing their rifles towards Xotiff, Argle, Ralph's suits, Mari, Zephyr and Ralph himself.
"You are all under arrest."
