Lirath - Ground Battle

[cityship]

 After dropping off some of the crew at Balisair, it was time for the crew to set course for Lirath. The situation greeting them wasn't the most promising.

The cracked surface of the moon called Lirath was one of its most unmistakeable features. One of the three moons of the planet Kehoe, it had been terraformed and served as a settlement for a hundreds of different species, some humanoid, some not. Despite occasional class struggles, environmental issues, and speciesism blocking their way, the darker parts of Lirath's past were largely left behind, and an era of peace and tolerance had reigned for quite some time. The only problems they'd had recently were with a terrorist group whose cause for their actions had been a mystery, but they weren't tied to any particular species or social group and had been likened to a cult and had largely gone quiet in recent years.

Now the peace on the moon of Lirath had been shattered by the invasion of the Ohm.

The capital city had been destroyed. Now, all that was left of the peoples of Lirath was evacuating from one of its smaller cities, one known as Smyteval. A desert city, existing in a valley in between a rocky range of canyons and mountains, even though it was in the low ground, the natural channels of rock served as bottlenecks for any Ohm attacking from the ground.

GIA squadrons patrolled in space, locked in explosive warfare, protecting the Bleed-gate that had been activated to see the evacuated ships to the refugee world, and a shield created by massively-powerful shield generators extended around the city and up into the atmosphere, creating a shielded tunnel so ships could escape.

Word had come that there was a vital weapon to be deployed on Lirath, one that needed to be destroyed, hence why the Transmigration 9 had been called in. Given the diverse crew, and the ships that were in its hangar, there was at least someone or something on board that could blow the weapon up if it did show.

There was no sign of it yet. Right now, there was just chaos, streams of evacuees boarding ships, armies of Ohm engaged with GIA soldiers outside the shields, and forcefields that everyone hoped would hold out just a little bit longer.

The crew would be following Leon's orders but finding themselves fighting side-by-side with GIA platoons, full of various species that were currently all getting their asses kicked severely.

[ooc: STAGE 1 is now open! Please do not tage STAGE 2 until it's announced as open as well.]

[ooc: STAGE 2 is now open!]

Comments

STAGE 2 SETUP

[cityship]

Rather than dying down, the battle was only escalating. More powerful Ohm bio-forms were being released against the fighting forces defying the bug menace. The injured were being brought back in droves, and the shields were nearly failing. That said, the Ohm were also taking a beating themselves. Could the forces of good hold out long enough for the battle to be won?

[ooc: Do not tag this. Do not tag Stage 2 subthreads under this until it's been announced in the main ooc tag of this post that Stage 2 is open.]

Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[cityship]

Run by: Shae
NPCS: Everyone

Even more deadly bio-forms were being released onto the battlefield, and a multitude of new aerial bugs had appeared. GIA forces were taking even more of a beating, barely holding the lines.

It was up to the crew to make the push forward and make sure the battle could be won.

[ooc: Subthreaded fighting. Start sending in the heavier-hitting Ohm.]

Re: Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[not-edd.livejournal.com]

As the fight raged on, the skies above Lirath started to turn dark as something started to enter its atmosphere. From the skies, a gigantic dragon descended onto the battlefield, plowing through various Ohm as it turned right side up, its massive claws crushing anything any anyone in its path.

As it stood upright, everyone could spot it whereever they stood.

The massive warzord Serpen (http://youtu.be/er-T5FjRc40)tera (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071111154808/powerrangers/images/1/1a/MMPR_Serpen_30SS.jpg)

"Attention GIA and fellow crewmates! I am Lord Zedd and I am finally here to save your pathetic lives!" a familiar voice boomed out. "Never again will I be considered your little jester, to be mocked and laughed at! Never again will I be ignored because you want to uphold your pathetic little heroic ideals! For now, I will show you true power! Power that is to be feared and awed! Witness now the might of Lord Zedd!"

With that, Serpentera turned its head towards a group of Ohm charging for his machine. The dragon's maw opened, gathered energy and unleashed it, a powerful surge of energy tearing through the battlefield where they were.

Moments later, various types of monsters teleported on the scene, flanked by Z-Putties.

"Go, my minions! Show them what we can do!"

Re: Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[saint-sami.livejournal.com]

Sasami had just pulled herself up from having used up so much energy. It was tiring, but it had worked - Negi's attack, fueled by her, Aqua and Will's attacks, had wiped out the Ohm in the area.

However, the rumbling on the ground could felt getting louder and rougher. Something was coming. Something massive.

Like a Boss Tank.

"...TAAAAAAAANK!" Sasami shouted, snatching up her staff and trying to get out of the beast's way.

Re: Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[rainfell-aqua.livejournal.com]

Aqua stared in shock at the approaching Tank before holding out her Keyblade, splitting her focus to try to create barriers around all four of them. What she could manage wasn't complete, but it would at least protect them from the side the Tank was approaching from as they ran.

Re: Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[for-magic.livejournal.com]

Time to break out some of the big guns.

Aibghalien dropped closer to the ground, then began hurling spells out -- not into the Ohm, but onto the ground before him, where they coalesced into various forms.

"Summon Monster VIII! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterVIII.htm)" A massive celestial triceratops, glowing with a heavenly light, appeared out of nowhere, then charged into the Ohm's lines to viciously trample and maul the assembled forces.

"Summon Monster VII! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterVII.htm)" A huge earth elemental rolled up out of the earth before diving back in, vanishing without a trace.

"Cloudkill! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cloudkill.htm)" A wave of deadly poison burst into being amidst the middle lines of the Ohm, rolling towards the ranged support slowly but implacably -- just as the earth elemental burst out in the midst of them, its massive fists swatting at them to bowl them over.

[morphitudinous]

This was...very bad. Billy returned to the fray with the advice to keep off his feet as much as possible, and that could only mean one option: Zord battle. He scrambled through the rubble and shot his way through, cursing under his breath. With every obstacle in his way, he hadn't even moved very far from the Medical tent.

And swarms of enemies so close to him meant that they could crush the medical tent next. That was absolutely wonderful news.

With all that worry on his mind, he tapped a finger against his hand and called for backup. Riders, Rangers, come in! If you're still able to fight---

He broke off with a yell, having been thrown from his temporary shelter. Now on the run, he blasted his smaller pursuers over and over again with one of the guns he'd pulled together in Engineering. His sole protection was Stacy's armor, as he hadn't even had a spare moment to morph.

If you can, move toward the medical tent! Overwhelming enemy forces are approaching. We need to hurry.

Cold Bomb

[cityship]

Several thousand feet in the air, in the clouds of Lirath, large black spheres with a diameter of roughly forty feet appeared. They were spaced out evenly over the entire battlefield, nearly one hundred square miles, twenty total.

The GIA Fighters and Shrikes seemed to know exactly what they were, for as soon as they appeared, they moved their dogfights to different altitudes.

Two seconds later, the spheres exploded, sending out a horizontal shockwave and knocking anything unlucky enough to get out of the way in time out of the air. Dense grey clouds began to amass, and the temperature dropped sharply as ice crystals formed, and the arid desert saw snow and ice for the first time in over a century.

Bundle up. The weather outside is very frightful.

/will be NPCing, any and everyone is free to tag in

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Parts of the sky looked like it was alive and moving, the falling snow and icicles aside, even. The sudden drop in the climate as well as brightness didn't bode well for the growing number of Ohm that were suddenly a lot harder to see with the naked eye. The Shrikes continued their speedy darting through the skies, but they and the Bombadiers weren't alone anymore. And what joined them outmatched even them in terms of speed and ruthlessness. Three Titans were now wreaking havoc on the ground below. Taking to the air if they were temporarily overwhelmed (and it was awfully hard to do that anyway). Huge, powerful claws, destructive energy beams and being quick to use both had them as a new and dangerous threat to all of those on the ground.

It sped in from a nearby medical tent, a dark indigo blur in the likewise dark sky. The Titan was already turning to face the mech, realizing it was heading in fast. Putting all of the strength it could into the attack, the Asher's right arm plowed forward, a flash of magenta as the short-ranged, powerful beam exploded from the pile bunker weapon attached to the arm.

It had been tough, but the Asher, thanks to the help of both Billy and Crucible managed to get away from the hectic area it was caught in. Jr. made sure to drop Billy off - briefly or not, that was up to the blue ranger's discretion - to tend to the injuries he sustained in their battle before flying back into the fray. The small pilot caught a glimpse of the growing swarms starting to make their way in, so wasn't about to dismiss his mech anytime soon.

The Titan reeled back from the force of the attack, only a temporary setback because it was right back on a counterattack, it's huge, clawed right arm making a swipe at the E.S.

"Where the hell did these things come from?!" Jr.'s voice could be heard after opening up his communications to warn some of those ground-side away from the new, huge enemies. He sure as hell didn't remember seeing these things in any simulations or information files.

Re: Ground fighters A (OHM) [Stage 2]

[brustriese.livejournal.com]

((With Shaun's permission.))

On her way back to try and rendezvous with Aibghalien's group, Signum finds herself suddenly pelted with hailstones and buffeted with cold winds. Normally this would be a mere annoyance, but with Shrikes still swarming in the air and much, much larger aerial units quickly closing in and stomping all over thoughts of air superiority, this was downright dangerous.

Signum sends out a mental call to an ally who'd promised to stick close by. She wasn't the optimal partner in group combat, but when it came to being an extra set of senses and dealing with ice effects, there's one woman in the world Signum trusts more than anyone else.

Rein!



Just as the precipitation starts coming down dangerously hard, Reinforce Zwei appears.

"Ready, Rein?" she asks. The smaller girl nods.

"In!"

The two Wolkenritter merge together with a tastefully short light show given the circumstances, and shortly a newly white-clad and pale-haired Signum is off, dodging the falling ice shards with the alacrity of having eyes in the back of her head.

A Psychic Nudge

[aboutthatevac]

Immediately after joining the battle Kerrigan felt a rush of pleasure. It wasn't just the adrenaline. It wasn't just getting out of that sentient space ship. It was the smell of alien blood, the waves of fear bursting from her fellow combatants, that swell of pride as she burst apart an Ohm grunts and grenadiers with her telekinetic power, finishing them off with her gun if she had to. Her psychic powers were dampened significant when it came to other humanoids- to the point where she wondered if they'd lobotomized her- but her powers against the Ohm were as strong as ever, if not more so. She couldn't help but think bitterly that the Daligig had done a good job there.

The fight was thrilling, at least at first. But then the feelings of rage pulsing from the Ohm swarm started to blur with her own thoughts. In many ways she couldn't help but note how like the zerg they were. Relentless, single minded, attacking in waves. Maybe that was why she liked killing them so much. Maybe that was why she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach every time she snuffed out another Ohm life. Like she was killing an old friend.

Get a grip, Kerrigan.

She pulled back from the fighting, far enough where she wouldn't have to worry as much about friendly fire.

If she was having so much trouble blocking out their thoughts then she might as well take another route entirely. One she'd been wanting to try since she heard about these creatures. And if anything went wrong, well. She'd told Kennedy to put a bullet between her eyes if anything went wrong.

[governorkang]

It was pure luck that Kang happened to be looking in Kali's direction when Crucible swooped down and obliterated the assassins. He was far enough away that, if he were human, he wouldn't have been able to tell any of the figures on the roof apart, but his vision was slightly better, and he could barely make out one small form with wings and a bow. Sunlight glinting off of bronze scales confirmed it, and he cursed, nearly beheading an opponent.

He really didn't like Crucible being the one to give her the assistance either, having to work very hard to keep calm and focus on his current enemies.

He nearly lost it completely when Crucible picked Kali up in his claws.

Logically, he knew that if the bronze wanted her dead, he could have just left her there for the Ohm. Why snatch her up? Unless he wanted the kill for himself; it'd be far too easy to claim that it was an accident.

Or worse, what if he hoped to try and transform her into a dragon, wanting one of his lost children back? It hadn't worked with any of the first generation draconians back on Krynn, and it didn't stand a chance of working with a second generation child like her; she had always been a draconian.

That made no sense either, though, to snag her in the middle of such a huge battle to do such a thing, especially when there were so many others to protect. No metallic would just abandon them.

However, the instinctual fear and panic (the very clear memories of draconians being grabbed by metallics and killed during the War of the Lance rushing through his head didn't help) was strong enough to override the logic, and Kang nearly got beheaded himself by a Grunt claw. One of the Lirathians shoved him out of the way in time, taking care of it with a well-placed plasma blast.

And, to make things even worse, the temperature began to drop.

Fighting Dragonback

[dragonlordbight]

Even with the temperature rapidly dropping with each moment, Crucible and the young Draconian riding upon his back did not stray from the fight. The Bronze dragon's massive wings having carried them easily from the clearing they had taken off from those few moments ago and propelled them rapidly over rooftops. His keen eyes searching the battle below for positions that could best use their aid.

"Kali, keep an eye out for any other airborne Ohm that try to get behind or above us, we are not alone in these skies, after all," He called back over the wind even as the battle raged below and around them, Shrikes and Bombardiers in the air and the hordes of grunts and grenadiers aided by the larger combat forms.

His sharp gaze picking out an allied position beset by hordes of grunts and being bombarded by both Grenadiers and Bombardiers...the greater threat coming in the form of a number of tanks moving in on the position, "Ahead and below, ready yourself young one, let us aid our allies," and with that he pulled his wings in closer and began a shallow dive toward the position, focusing as he readied his breath weapon.

Destination: Zord

[morphitudinous]

After dropping Hoshi off at the medical tent, Billy found that the way back to his teammates and their Zords was far more blocked with obstacles than it had been on his initial trip there. He was forced to abandon the car when caught between a Grenaider and a wall of rubble at one point. He just barely dodged around the acid spray and shot it in time.

That left him to fight his way across the battlefield on foot, and it was a perilous journey. He found himself jumping every which way, using debris as shields in the split seconds before it collapsed, corned in impossible positions and praying he managed to counterattack in time...by the end of it, he was scratched, beaten, and wondering if he'd ever make it. And he was only halfway there.

All that difficulty had been expected, in a way, but he was still unprepared for the worst challenge of all. He was forced past soldiers dying and dead, the road coated in blood of varying colors and even dirtier than he was. Nothing hurt more than knowing that he couldn't stop and help, that the dead were friends, family, and loved ones to someone...

...maybe even his. He trusted that the Rangers were all right, but he hadn't seen or heard---

In the next second, all thought left as he found himself twisting blow for blow with a Grunt. A claw sliced at his arm---his lance jammed in a mouth---burning sensation in his leg---twisting under and driving up to protect his stomach---the exhaustion repeated itself again and again. Eventually, inevitably, he'd succumb.

Ground fighters B (CATASTROPHISTS) [Stage 2]

[cityship]

Run by Karl
NPCs: Karl

So far, evacuations were still proceeding, but there was about to be a new complication in the works.

It started with an explosion up above as a ship crashed into another and both slammed into another part of the city in a fireball.

"Sabotage!" cried a GIA officer into his comm as he listened to his headset. "Catastrophists! They're among the refugees! They're saying it was sabotage, they got one message out before the core was destroyed--"

He was cut off by a bald, purple woman in dirty rags, not unlike the other refugees. She cried out joyously, "The end comes! It smiles on us!"

The explosion killed the officer and ten other people gathered around her instantly and left others horribly injured.

"The end comes!" another cried person in the crowd.

"The end comes!" cried yet another.

Those that let out the cries started drawing weapons and firing on other refugees. Gender, sex, age, species--it didn't matter to them. They were trying to kill everyone indiscriminately, and inspire fear in those already afraid.

"Catastrophists!" shrieked a man in the crowd before he was shot, and if the crowd wasn't already in a panic, they would be now.

They had to be stopped.

[ooc: Subthreaded heroing to be done here.]

[battorch]

Tim swore, mind quickly moving a mile a minute to piece the situation together. Clearly a group of saboteurs-- terrorists, the cultists they'd heard about in the reports on the planet. Plus the sheer numbers of civilians they were still guarding. Several innocents, plus an officer, already dead. He surveyed his fellow crew with a quick glance. This was not good.

They had to identify the rest of the fanatics quickly, or at least the ones who hadn't already identified themselves with cries and arms, separate them from the rest. Prevent more lives from being taken. "We have to apprehend them, get them away," he growled, his voice was both firm and loud, moving quickly in on one of the nearest with a weapon. To get in close to disarm them. "Take them off guard, and quickly." Then, he snapped, "And someone get those people to the MASH unit." He was working to take charge of the situation as quickly as possible. That was the best thing you could do in a situation like this.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

Ah. This he could do.

Lupin calmly but quickly shot jet after jet of red light into the crowd, Stunning the cultists as quickly as he could. While it was true he could not always perfectly hit one of the saboteurs, the spell was so overtly nonlethal it couldn't really add much more to the panic and chaos.

Re: Ground fighters B (CATASTROPHISTS) [Stage 2]

[livingontheweb.livejournal.com]

SPider-Man was in the fray almost immediately. As a Catastrophist pulled their weapon on a girl separated from her family, he was immediately nailed in the head by solid ball of webbing, followed by a knee. The daughter was tossed to her parents, and Peter prepped for any more attacks.

Cold Bomb

[cityship]

Several thousand feet in the air, in the clouds of Lirath, large black spheres with a diameter of roughly forty feet appeared. They were spaced out evenly over the entire battlefield, nearly one hundred square miles, twenty total.

The GIA Fighters and Shrikes seemed to know exactly what they were, for as soon as they appeared, they moved their dogfights to different altitudes.

Two seconds later, the spheres exploded, sending out a horizontal shockwave and knocking anything unlucky enough to get out of the way in time out of the air. Dense grey clouds began to amass, and the temperature dropped sharply as ice crystals formed, and the arid desert saw snow and ice for the first time in over a century.

Bundle up. The weather outside is very frightful.

ENGINEERING [Stage 2]

[cityship]

Run by: Shae
NPCs: Everyone.

The shields could scarcely take anymore strain. The engineers would have to pull out all the stops to fix them.

What's more, now occasional holes near the generators themselves were allowing Ohm through. With the fighting forces spread so thin, there were hardly any soldiers around to defend them, leaving the poor engineers to try to fend them off themselves.

[ooc: Subthreaded. After establishing a group around a particular generator, try to stick to posting orders so no one gets left out.]

Re: ENGINEERING [Stage 2]

[neverwastenaya.livejournal.com]

This was the absolute last thing they needed.

Alerts flashed in Tenaya's vision, telling her of the breach in the shields near the generators--particularly near the generator she was at.

She unplugged and leaned over to shoot at the Ohm, but there were more than she could handle.

"I can't believe this," she said, pulling out a second device from her pocket. She'd brought it just in case, but she didn't actually believe she'd have to do this.

"RPM! Get in gear!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olD9LBUG2fs)



Soon, standing before the Ohm was RPM Series Black, Tenaya version. Pulling out her Nitro Blaster, she growled, "I hate Ohm," and opened fire.

Cold Bomb

[cityship]

Several thousand feet in the air, in the clouds of Lirath, large black spheres with a diameter of roughly forty feet appeared. They were spaced out evenly over the entire battlefield, nearly one hundred square miles, twenty total.

The GIA Fighters and Shrikes seemed to know exactly what they were, for as soon as they appeared, they moved their dogfights to different altitudes.

Two seconds later, the spheres exploded, sending out a horizontal shockwave and knocking anything unlucky enough to get out of the way in time out of the air. Dense grey clouds began to amass, and the temperature dropped sharply as ice crystals formed, and the arid desert saw snow and ice for the first time in over a century.

Bundle up. The weather outside is very frightful.

MASH UNIT - MEDICAL STAFF [Stage 2]

[cityship]

Run by: Kaylin
NPCS: Karl

Now it was likely even Trans9 crew members were being sent in to the MASH tent. Worse and worse injuries were coming in, and there were nowhere near enough hands to tend to them all. Tough choices would have to be made, and lives would be changed by them.

[ooc: Catastrophists are due to attack the medical tent but that will happen by them commenting in. Subthreaded doctoring. Obviously, injured crewman can tag in, regardless of whether they were injured in part 1 or 2.]

Cold Bomb

[cityship]

Several thousand feet in the air, in the clouds of Lirath, large black spheres with a diameter of roughly forty feet appeared. They were spaced out evenly over the entire battlefield, nearly one hundred square miles, twenty total.

The GIA Fighters and Shrikes seemed to know exactly what they were, for as soon as they appeared, they moved their dogfights to different altitudes.

Two seconds later, the spheres exploded, sending out a horizontal shockwave and knocking anything unlucky enough to get out of the way in time out of the air. Dense grey clouds began to amass, and the temperature dropped sharply as ice crystals formed, and the arid desert saw snow and ice for the first time in over a century.

Bundle up. The weather outside is very frightful.

Billy/Hoshi/Morgan

[morphitudinous]

If his mind wasn't consumed with the woman riding in the passengers' seat of the borrowed car, Billy would feel confident that he could now pass any driving test in the universe. Speeding under and swerving around the battle while unsure if they were protected had been extremely stressful. Speeding up a rubble ramp and making a jump had been even worse, so overall it had been a rather bumpy ride to the medical tent.

But finally, at last, he slammed on the brakes just outside the shields, spinning so that Hoshi was closest to the tent. Billy wasted no time in climbing out and scrambling to her side, one arm extended toward her and the other with a blaster held at the ready.

"Sorry about that---we're here. Can you walk if you hold on?" He gnawed on his lip beneath the helmet, the tension still building. They were nearly there, two more steps and they'd be safe. She'd be able to heal.