Basch and Elizabeta stood their ground, Basch glanced around, looking at their situation and honestly? It wasn't good. On one side they had the firepower of an entire military base, on the other, well, Basch had no idea what Ludwig was capable of wearing that. It didn't even look like standard EU Power Armor…. He gripped his knuckles and stared him down, he was all out of kinetic energy, he'd have to fight smart, fight fast… and probably fight dirty.
"Under the order of the European Union, you are hereby under arrest and will be transferred to an official facility meant for detaining genetic mutations like yourself, if you come quietly you will not be harmed, you simply need to be kept from the public…" Basch had heard that before and he knew it was a lie, every last word of it, he had no intention of turning himself over.
Ludwig stepped forward, holding his arms out to his sides, feigning peace at the moment "Just give it up Basch, your stunt back in the Swiss Sector was bold, but this is just reckless, you don't have a chance of beating us, just give up so the both of you can come out of this encounter with your very lives…" he spoke, but he smirked, his helmet sliding in front of his face, making him look faceless, evil once again. "If you don't, I am fully authorized to use deadly force…."
Within seconds of him speaking, Basch moved forward, even without all the energy of the fall he still had enough left for a strike. He moved forward, sending his fist into Ludwig's chest and he stepped back a few feet, but he otherwise unphased. Basch's eyes widened, no, that was all of the energy he had left, there wasn't anything he could do…
He didn't know what to do, but then a sudden energy rose through him as his eyes widened and he felt the muscles in his body twitching, and it was all centered around his lower back, his kidney. It still hurt, even with his energy absorption, but it was what he needed. Behind him he heard a volley of shots firing off and he sprinted forward, he was going to finish this, right here, Ludwig would never chase him down again.
Ludwig went in to grab him, but Basch dropped to the ground, sliding between his legs and sending a massive amount of energy in both of his ankles, toppling him over face-forward. That would have send any other man crashing down, but Ludwig wasn't any man, he rolled over and brought up his wrists, a spark igniting and then, flames engulfed Basch within moments. He had only miliseconds to react as he leapt backwards, skidding across the ground. Flames danced on the edge of one of his bangs but he blew on it, too close.
Across the way, Elizabeta had engaged the massive number of troops and he watched as one of their troop transports went up in flames, followed by one of their assault vehicles, the former flattening it and everyone inside. Elizabeta appeared like a demon out of the flames, seemingly immune to them as the energy engulfing her body spread amongst them, turning them a deep green color. She wasn't in a mindless rage like she had been when fighting Basch, now she was focused, destructive, and powerful.
She moved in with blinding speed, bullets and energy bouncing off of her and she dodged the blasts from the assault vehicles, each time responding by sending her fist through it, the pure energy of the strike blowing the vehicle apart. She was incredible and Basch caught only a glimpse of this fight before he focused once again on his own conflict.
He sprinted forward, trying to engage in close combat once more, bringing the fight in too close for those flamethrowers to be of much use. Even with power armor, Basch still held the skill and speed advantage and he used this, ducking attacks, grabbing onto Ludwig's waste and tossing him aside before moving in with a flurry of kicks and punches.
The two continued to clash and Ludwig struck Basch with a powrful kick straight in his gut, Basch didn't manage to catch it, and instead took the full force of it, but then a seering pain struck him and he let out a groan as he moved back. Only now did he register the sound of the shot that rang in his ears and he looked down, a crumpled bullet laid on the ground in front of him and not only had it caused Basch intense amounts of pain, but when he looked down he saw that it'd torn apart the top layer of skin.
The power of that shot, it had been enough to hurt him, guns weren't even supposed to affect him, but he couldn't sit on that, he had to continue the fight. He sprinted forward, it may have hurt him, but now he had plenty of power to use, and he send a series of strikes towards Ludwig who continued to try and back off, bringing his arms up to fire large amounts of automatic bulletfire and it phased Basch, but not once did it cause him any sort of damage like the buckshot in his stomach did.
A fluke? Perhaps, but he didn't intend to keep it up, he avoided every kick of Ludwig's, every strike, but this man was too powerful, he wasn't going to be able to get through that power armor he had. He backed up and Ludwig stepped forward menacingly, not a single scratch on that beautiful armor of his. Basch couldn't do this, not with that armor on him, he took a deep breath and sprinted forward again, leaping in the air and landing with his foot on the other's forehead, sending out a massive energy blast, enough to go through the helmet and hit him directly.
While the helmet itself absorbed too much force for the blow to be lethal, Ludwig staggered, holding onto his head and taking a deep breath, cursing through his helmet. Basch couldn't keep strikes like that up for long, but he could see hear the bulletfire behind him, Elizabeta had that shield of her's up once again and was going on the defensive, it looked like she was having the same problems as him, too much firepower and only the two of them. Even Basch's abilities could only absorb so much of the energy of Ludwig's punches and they were starting to take their toll.
They backed up into each other, both panting for air and Elizabeta spoke up, her shield now enveloping both of them and Ludwig growled, unleashing a solid stream of bullets straight into Elizabeta's shield, causing her to stagger. "I've got an idea," she said, trying to focus herself, in the time they'd been fighting the base had sent out one of it's heavier hitters, with enough artillery power in one shell to take out a full city block, it had definitely forced Elizabeta on the defensive.
Basch raised a brow, collapsing down to the ground on one knee, taking the moment for breath as he looked back at her. "Let's hear it, it's gotta be better than anything I've got," he said, standing back up, but still hunched over just slightly, holding onto that spot on his gut that had been shot, it was slowing him, and causing him massive amounts of pain, and it wasn't allowing him to think as clearly as he normally did.
Elizabeta smirked, allowing the shield to weaken for a moment "It's easier if I just show you," and at that moment the shield broke, but Elizabeta was prepared, she ducked down, both sides ceasing fire for a moment, waiting to possibly confirm the kill, but Elizabeta's fire lit up once again and she lifted Basch into the air, kicking him straight in his rear end towards the artillery set up a few hundred yards away, sitting with the other artillery vehicles.
Basch felt the wind in his face as he flew towards the artillery, it took less than a second for him to arrive and he let out all of that energy, blasting not only the artillery itself apart, but one of the trucks parked just a bit too close to it. Basch stood up after two seconds of the blast and he looked at the men who had him surrounded, all of them wielded standard firearms. He smirked and stretched his shoulders out "How fun…." he said, feeling quite refreshed from the impact.
Then he made his move. He had yet to use any of his small arms as it would have simply been a waste of ammunition against Ludwig's armor, but against these men? It was perfect. One of his hand cannons were nearly falling out of it's holster, but Basch quickly swiped it out as well as its twin, holding them straight out in front of him. He heard their commander give the order to fire, but he felt no pain as the bullets were unloaded onto him, only a bit of indecency as his clothes were ripped to shreds.
Then he returned with his own firepower, blasting each and every one of them with a high-powered shot to the head, the chest, anywhere he saw an opening. He ran across the ground as he did so, strafing towards the right and towards one of the assault vehicles, whose drivers had both been taken out by the shrapnel of Basch's previous exploit. Each man he shot fell to their knees, leaving only a few left to shoot back at him once they'd reloaded, but Basch already dove into the assault truck.
He climbed up into the minigun seat, not taking the time to reload his pistols at the moment, besides, they wouldn't be enough to take out the other vehicles. He unleashed a massive load of firepower on the men blasting the ground at their feet to pieces before turning his attention to the other vehicles, they were lightly armored, meant for speed so this gun was enough to destroy each and every one of them after a few seconds and when he was done, only three bullets remained.
Then he looked across the way, only feet from the energy fence Elizabeta and Ludwig were battling it out. He watched Elizabeta closely, her technique, abilities, all of them matched his own and watching her from a more third person view he could see why she was able to match his own skill. Every strong and rigid movement Ludwig made to strike her she moved like the water out of his way, and then struck him like the very earth itself.
The energy around her fists began to slowly rip apart Ludwig's armor at the seams and Ludwig seemed to be helpless before her abilities. He made a strike, attempting to hit her once more in the gut, but she only responded by rolling out of the way, sending a powerful punch straight towards the same kidney area where she struck Basch, but these strikes were doing much more damage, and he watched as the electrical systems began to spark.
Inside the suit Ludwig could see these problems firsthand, 'Systems Failure' blared across his screen and he cursed out, shouting to the suit itself. "All power to electrical defensive systems!" and at that very moment Elizabeta picked him up by the scruff of the neck-or at least that equivalent on the armor-and held him up in the air, preparing to toss him straight into the fiery inferno that was his former support, but the armor kicked in, sending out a massive electric shock that Elizabeta could not defend herself from.
She let out a scream of pain and used her strength to throw Ludwig into the poles of the energy fence before dropping down, electricity visibly coming from her body, and her abilities over energy the only thing keeping them from overloading her heart or brain. She took deep breaths, trying to control herself during the moment of silence in the fight. Her chest was convulsing and she was twitching, muscles moving on their own, she was trying to dispel the energy, but it was becoming too difficult for her.
Basch took the chance, putting those three bullets in the gun to use as he unloaded them on Ludwig, it wasn't a massive amount of damage, but he sure as hell caused some, sending him a full fight feet past the energy line, and on top of that, sending the entire section of the grid down without that piece of fence to keep the line going. All along the way he could see the energy backrush causing each and every pole to erupt, each time in a more spectacular manner.
Basch then climbed out, sprinting over to Elizabeta, caring more about her now than anything and as soon as he touched her he received his own electrical shock, but nowhere near the lethal capacity. Though it did seem to give Elizabeta some relief and she breathed normally again, her chest no longer convulsing and Basch breathed a sigh of relief. He helped her to her feet, her legs refusing to work after being used so hard. He lifted her up, throwing her arm over his shoulder and lifting her up, allowing her to walk just slightly by herself, working out her muscles.
She looked up at him, a grin on her face and one eye open as she laughed to herself. "Heh…. Told you it was easier to show you…" she said, then she flinched, holding her arm to her chest, showing that it hurt to laugh like this, but she didn't stop smiling, helping herself along. She could let Basch help her, it would certainly be easier on her, but she had her pride and she knew she could do it, besides, forcing herself to work would pay off more in the end.
The two crossed the official border, standing in the Soviet Republic and Basch let out a breath of relief, it had taken three full days, a high body count, and the both of them nearly dying, but they were finally over the border. Not only that, but Ludwig and the rest of the European Union wouldn't be able to hunt them down anymore, they were free. Though that caused something to flare up in Basch's mind as he looked to the ground, he didn't see Ludwig lying anywhere….
Right in front of them, Basch heard his suit whirr up to life once more and out of his left shoulder was a large device, it looked like a small rocket, and it was aimed at the two of them. His facemask had been ripped off and you could see where the mask itself had ripped off part of his flesh, showing off the bits underneath. You could see the blood shooting out from the tiny blood vessels in his face, but you could also see the implants made under his skin, that stuck straight through the bone. Everything he'd done to become equal and superior to Basch, out for the world to see, he was a cyborg.
He shouted out, the rocket firing up "Now, I have permission to use deadly force!" he said and Basch watched in slow motion as the clamps to the rocket released and it flew through the air. He closed his eyes, dropping Elizabeta and sprinting forward, he could absorb most of the blast, but the heat… he had no idea if he could survive it, but he had to try, it was their best chance to keep them both safe.
He stood defensively, waiting for the blast, but it never came and when he looked forward again his eyes widened, in front of him was a massive wall of shadow and only a glimmer of the explosion meant to kill him. He dropped down at this point, sitting on his knees as the shadows dissipated and he couldn't believe the next image he saw.
Ludwig was as dumbfounded as Basch was, his eyes wide when he turned around, facing down a large man, probably a foot taller than Ludwig himself walking towards the small group. He held a long staff made out of heavy metals that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. The man himself was probably the exact definition of intimidating, with a long trench beige coat with quite a few medals on the chest, short silvery colored hair, a hat with a golden star and a few thin red ribbons spun around it, showing off the mark of a Soviet Union Officer, what rank Basch couldn't tell at the moment.
The face feigned happiness, a false smile thrown across it like what you might see on a sociopath, and the best way to tell? The eyes, they were filled with fear and murderous intent, the violet orbs moving around within themselves like a purple mist. He looked quite muscular as well, and easily towered as Basch, walking straight towards Ludwig, that permanent smile still on his face as the shadows beneath him seemed to move, floating around seamlessly, almost enveloping him, obeying his movements and thoughts.
He stopped a good ten meters away from Ludwig, holding the long staff horizontally across his waist as he looked Ludwig down. The fields around them blew the tall grass around like in an old Samurai movie, and this was about to get real. Basch slowly backed up, checking on Elizabeta while Ludwig was distracted, she seemed fine, but she did whack his arm and spoke quietly "That's for dropping me…" but the way she said it, Basch knew it was just a tease, but then the both of them turned back to the fight in front of them.
Ludwig pointed at the man "Leave now soviet scum, this is business of the European Union, if you continue to interfere I'll start a political scandal so great that your little Socialist head will spin!" he said, glaring at the man in front of him, chest rising and falling under the armor, which still sparked and creaked as he moved, but he was undeterred, and he wasn't going to stop for any reason.
The taller man smiled, tilting his head, allowing his eyes to close in what for a moment seemed like a genuine smile "Oh, but you forget your place fascist pig, you aren't in European territory anymore…" he said and when his eyes opened they were a dark shadowy black and suddenly the shadows of the inside of his coat reached out, sending themselves straight towards Ludwig, wrapping around him, immobilizing him. Only his head was left visible as the tall man lifted Ludwig towards his face, only a few inches between them as he spoke up. "You're on Soviet Soil."
Then with that he began walking towards the border, lifting him higher and higher into the air "But luckily for you, I'm willing to forget this transgression under the conditions you leave, immediately," and with that he threw Ludwig a good hundred yards past the border, making a decently sized crater before retracting the shadow-like tendrils of his body.
He turned to Basch and Elizabeta, that smile still on his face and Basch immediately prepared to fight, he got to one knee, clenching his fists. He wasn't sure what he could possibly do against someone who controlled shadows like he did, but he would fight to the death, he wouldn't go down because of something as stupid as this.
Though a hand was quickly raised and Basch relaxed "No need to fret, comrade, I'm on your side…. Welcome to the Soviet Republic, I am Ivan Braginsky…" he said, the shadow finally disappearing from his eyes to reveal their purple mist once more. "... Leader of the Deviants of the Soviet Republic~ And you are both welcome here in our country." With that Ivan nodded, walking up and holding out a hand, leaning on the long metallic staff, all aesthetically of course. "Now come with me, you'll be safe in this country."