Nexus II

by Black Dragon6

Death and chaos have been sown throughout the Eastern world. Guess who's job it is to clean up?

11. Sand of Fate

Profile Report: Sorcerer Unit Class ME-71

Type: High-resonance combat spellcaster

Class: Sorcerer

Purpose: Coordinating and executing the use of mana-based forces to best support standard technology-based weapons and soldiers in multiple capacities

Subject Base: At present, the neural and cybernetic implants necessary to maximize the benefits of the conversion can only be reliably used on human subjects. Common conjecture and a few preliminary tests suggest that other human-like species such as evon or elves would cause the many mana amplification circuits to overload regularly, ultimately making the necessary implants detrimentary, if not outright deadly, to the subject's health. The subject must have a mana resonance factor of at least 15.4 percent, though observation of the results suggest that a resonance factor of 31 percent, the level commonly accepted as that which separates sorcerers from potential mages, is necessary in order to obtain optimal results.

Project Background: Project Magi Excelsus was the Israeli army's third attempt at using mana to enhance their troops during the Death March, and the only successful one. While the other projects inevitably attempted to generate mana resonance among individuals with little to no potential or imprint magic patterns to maintain beneficial effects at all times, Excelsus alone sought to develop and enhance magic potential that was already present in the selection of volunteers used for the experiments. Effectively, Excelsus found men and women who had the potential to be magi and sorcerers, and brought out that potential with a series of surgical procedures and cybernetic implants in an attempt to eliminate the decades of intensive study and training traditionally required of magi from other realms. The first test subject was Darren Yuvosky, who went through the entire initial implant procedure without rejection or major complications. Although the prototype implants worked, there were many unforeseen problems with utilizing battle magic effectively without proper grounding in the extensive and often unbearably flexible areas of magical law (one problem that was never entirely solved was the tendency of the subject to burn, shred, or otherwise destroy their clothing while casting combat spells. The use of tighter clothing can minimize this problem, but among the female applicants, it is still a source of great distress, and a source of great amusement for their male counterparts). Ultimately, Yuvosky failed to perform effectively in his first battlefield deployment, and was killed in action due to an unforeseen complication in adrenaline and other nervous stimuli interrupting the spellcasting process to a much greater extent than was noted in simulations. Since then, the number of major implants has increased from four to nineteen, and the number of circuits has decreased from forty-three to twenty-one, vastly improving the efficiency of the mana generation systems and minimizing if not eradicating common side effects and complications from the procedures and subsequent training. The finished project schematics that were delivered and are being presently used by the Israeli armed forces allowed for the creation of the ME-71 magi super-soldier, and further attempts to improve upon the schematic or further modify the subjects involved have largely been abandoned thus far. The conversion process for an acceptable volunteer takes on average two weeks to complete, with the rejection rate holding at fifteen percent and only a single recorded incident of major complications as a direct result of the implants (as opposed to the subject using their powers before they're trained and frying themselves like an idiot, which remains at thirty percent). The training procedure to utilize the spell programs lasts less than a year, and it is common for subjects to have limited combat exposure during their on-going training, given the desperate nature of the war which prompted the project.

Effects: Using the cybernetic implants, ME-71s can access several pre-programmed spell patterns far more efficiently and with greater control than a traditionally trained mage can. Safety was originally considered another benefit of the magi soldier over the mage as spell programs don't normally allow for the possibility of a miscast, but further observation of subjects in the field has revealed a disturbing number of accidents that have occurred due to the subjects' (and on many occasions, the programmers') complete ignorance of magical laws that would be second nature to a traditional magi. Additionally, magi soldiers can only learn to cast those spells programmed for them that are within their cability to use effectively, and programming spells is an extremely complicated and often problematic procedure. To that end, simple utilitarian spells that a trainee mage could perform easily are effectively impossible for magi soldiers, as well as complicated pattern spells, such as summoning and teleportation, which the programmers can't unravel to the point of fitting onto a program. However, the advantages of training soldiers to use effective battle magic in a short amount of time rather than utilizing extended training programs that conflict with general combat training are clear.
There are four classes of spell programs utilized by ME-71 soldiers: Offensive, defensive, medical, and tactical. These spells are further divided into categories depending on their power rank, which determines how powerful a subject has to be in order to utilize a program without activating their burnout prevention implant and falling unconscious. Offensive spells are further categorized by elemental type, as experiments have shown that residual energies that accumulate as a result of the ultimately inefficient energy transmissions from casting spells can conflict with different elemental types catastrophically. As a result, each magi soldier inevitably has an element associated with their offensive spell capabilities.

Personnel: Classified by power rank (with military rank and elemental affinity noted as well), these are the current ME soldiers still alive and on active duty (note that because many of them were created through the course of project Magi Excelsus, less than half are actual ME-71s).
Rank 5: June Kitinski (General/Light)
Rank 4: Harry Schwin (Major/Ice), Yale Karowien (Private/Dark), Karen Molsk (Colonel/Ice), David Svenson (Major/Wind)
Rank 3: Tomas Rothbun (Private/Fire), Gale Rothbun (Sergeant/Light), Harry Tarnstein (Private/Wind), Yuri Schmetz (Captain/Dark), Tema Yashomitsu (Private/Earth), Patricia Reninski (Private/Ice), Brian Thompson (Corporal/Fire), Darren Ganreone (Corporal/Light), Wren Shanowitz (Private/Wind), Gary Schelone (Major/Fire), Janet Marriot (Private/Light), Shawn Nemo (Colonel/Dark), Sven Yorishvitz (Private/Wind)
Rank 2: Terry Terinski (Private/Earth), Ischvin Steinburg (Corporal/Earth), Mary Schvitz (Private/Wind), Eric Lighter (Corporal/Wind), Kevin Mari (Major/Fire), Clarissa Reninski (Private/Ice)
Unfortunately, subjects who cannot surpass rank 1 are ultimately considered to have insufficient power to contribute meaningfully as a magi soldier, and are released from the training program, although they are still allowed to contribute their limited ability as a regular soldier, and are still tracked and observed for research purposes.

Israeli Armed Forces data file D-903

Nexus II
by Black Dragon
http/ do not own Ranma! There! A real disclaimer! I do not profit off of these works in any way, shape or form! Yet I keep doing it anyway! Dear God, why won't I stop typing?

Chapter 11
Sands of Fate

"Well now, this is very interesting indeed," Doppler mumbled as he scanned the computer terminal, his lower hands clasped behind his back in his typical "thoughtful scheming" pose.
Sitting in front of the terminal was a grotesque, withered demon with half a dozen misshapen eyes and two cybernetic arms mounted on its shoulders. It's long, tapered fingers swept over the keyboard with obvious skill, and every once in a while one of the servo arms would reach forward to tap a part of the touch-screen monitor.
"What's so interesting about the artifact database?" The demon asked in a harsh, scratchy voice. "All it does is remind us how many useful things that idiot Yaermon destroyed for no reason."
Doppler chuckled condescendingly as he patted the shriveled monster on the head. "Tarmin, Tarmin, Tarmin. You must learn not to be so short-sighted. This database lists the locations in which these artifacts were found, does it not?"
"Eh? So what?" The demon groaned, immediately getting impatient rather than trying to figure it out for himself.
"SO, please note that many of the recently acquired artifacts came from the same location." Doppler grinned. "Apparently somebody stumbled upon a magic cache and managed to hide it from the local powers."
Tarmin snorted savagely and tapped the screen, narrowing the listings to those artifacts found in the aforementioned location. "Yes, a rich magic cache that went up in smoke because that psilor wretch can't follow orders!"
"Judging from this, the excavation is likely still..." Doppler trailed off as Tarmin continued to work through the list of items, and slowly raised an eyebrow. "Stop."
Tarmin froze immediately. "What? What'd I do wrong? I didn't do nothing wrong!"
"Hush," Doppler mumbled as he reached forward and tapped a thumbnail picture on the monitor. As soon as he touched it, the picture expanded on the screen along with the data collected on the selected artifact.
Tarmin stared at the screen in confusion. The item displayed was a black gauntlet with two blue gems set in the wrist and the back of the hand, which was hardly anything special or significant when one was excavating magical objects that were created before demons and magi came to Earth realm eight years ago.
"Now this... THIS is interesting..." Doppler whispered, almost to himself. "Most mana tests registered negative... preliminary tests suggested remarkable durability..."
"What's so special about an unbreakable glove?" Tarmin asked irritably, having read the entire data file already and wanting to get back to work.
"According to the humans' research, very little," Doppler confessed, backing away from the monitor as he rubbed his chin. "What I find absolutely FASCINATING is that this particular item was apparently deemed fully analyzed and transferred to the secondary storage bunker to await transferal to the U.S. It certainly was not in that bunker at the time the base was destroyed, and I happen to know for a fact that it didn't make it to the U.S. either."
Tarmin made a twisted expression that one would have likened to a humanoid raising an eyebrow, except that the mutant creature had no eyebrows to speak of. "So then where is it?"
"It's moving north through Mongolia while doing its best to avoid falling down a dragon's gullet," the veirheelu answered bluntly, clearly amused. "Dashtall has put out several bounties calling for a certain individual's head, and the recovery of this object. He's even gone so far as to dispatch his dragons to search it out."
"That's stupid," Tarmin groaned.
"Indeed," Doppler agreed. "However, I would like very much to know how a demon lord learned of an obscure and apparently useless artifact uncovered by a human excavation team, and how a completely unrelated human in turn acquired that item, all without the knowledge of the people holding the artifact in the first place. It would also be nice to find out why the blasted lizard cares so much about something that doesn't seem even remotely dragon-related."
Tarmin snorted. "Personally, I believe Greken is after the dragon, not the glove. What could be so important about this thing that he's willing to risk the wrath of the Americans and the IEF?"
"I haven't the slightest," the veirheelu said, shrugging helplessly. "But I sure would like to find out. I think I'll take a little trip down to this dig site. I have the feeling that Dashtall knows something I don't, and I ever do so hate that feeling." Smirking, Doppler turned away from the computer terminal, leaving his chief technician to continue working without further interruption.

'Still, the missing link is still the human. What role does he play in this?' the demon lord thought to himself as he exited the main computer lab, making his way through the grand hallways that had once belonged to the noble families of the Phoenix tribe. 'I really don't wish to interfere yet; it seems as if he's moving to confront Dashtall, and that would be a most entertaining affair in itself. However, confronting him first may be my best chance to find out what the gauntlet is, and certainly my best chance to secure it for myself, if I decide it's more valuable than the human.'
He reached one of the larger double-door rooms, and dusted off his hands as he prepared to enter. 'But first, I'll start from the source.'
Pushing through the doors without bothering to knock or shout a warning, Doppler quickly gestured to the startled man lying on the huge bed in the back of the opulent bedroom.
"Demetrius, ready yourself," Doppler demanded in a voice devoid of his normally overly-pleasant tone. "I have a task for you."
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Ranma took a bite out of his sandwich as he sat huddled behind the rock outcropping, moaning ever-so slightly as he savored the moist, salty meats.
"Mmmm... Gulp! Man... dragon cold cuts... wow."
Kaze nodded solemnly in agreement, a lone tear rolling out of his eye as he swallowed the last of his own lunch. "The tenderness that melts in your mouth, fills your stomach and yet leaves you thirsty and wanting more after every bite! It's like someone packed the majesty and wonder of the dragon race in-between two slices of bread and added mayonnaise!"
Rayden, for his part, didn't seem to appreciate the dramatic flattery of his companions, and kept peeking out from behind the boulder they were using impatiently. "What's taking K so long? He's been gone for nearly an hour!"
"Whatever. He'll be okay," Ranma insisted, tapping the taller man on the back. "You gotta try this sandwich, it's great!"
Rayden sweatdropped as he turned to his teammates. "We just had lunch before we found the encampment."
"Yeah, I know! But it's so good!" Ranma said, rummaging around in his pack for another sandwich.
Kaze sighed regretfully. "Can you believe we had to leave behind all that meat to rot on the canyon floor? Such a waste..."
"Well, it was a damn big animal," Ranma reasoned, though clearly he was also regretting it. "And Ray said he got all the best parts..."
"We'll just have to make do, I guess."
"Right. Besides, they're sending enough dragons after us that we'll probably kill another one before long, right?"
The team chef twitched slightly. "Can we stop eating and get back to the matter at hand for a sec?"
Kaze and Ranma stopped and looked at each other, then nodded seriously.
"He's right. At this rate we'll run out of dragon soon. I mean, it's only been a couple of days, and we've eaten most of half a ton of meat," Ranma said, rubbing his chin.
"If by 'we' you mean 'you and Shikodan,'" Kaze murmured, as it had become quickly apparent that the two fighters had the metabolisms to match their strength. "Tsk! We were even going to save some to sell to local traders... but I couldn't possibly sell such exquisite rations. It's agreed then! We should ration it off from now on!"
"Oh, right, so we all get the same amount of dragon meat when me and Ray eat five times as much? No chance!" Ranma said decisively.
"It's only fair."
"It's a crock!"
Rayden rubbed his forehead and leaned against the boulder, wondering if his companions would even notice if he left while they were arguing about their food.
A bright flash of light alerted the Dread Knight to a shiny, oncoming object approaching from above, and he snorted as K flew down from the cliff face, flapping his wings rapidly to hover just over their heads.
"Yo, I'm done!" The metadragon announced, noting that Kaze and Ranma seemed to be engrossed in a heated discussion while Rayden looked annoyed.
"About time. What're we dealing with?" Rayden asked, itching to get into combat as soon as possible.
"It's pretty much your average, run-of-the-mill bandit camp, if much bigger. Mostly lizardmen and centaurs. A few evon and juga, too. They probably need that kind of manpower with the Divine Circles so close by," K explained. "They also had a really good watch. I was spotted like a dozen times. Luckily they didn't seem to care about me; I guess I look like a scavenger imp or something from far away."
"Believe me, distance has nothing to do with it," Rayden said, earning him a irritated glare from the metadragon. "So what're we waiting for? Let's sack some raiders!"
"Ah-ah-ah!" Kaze said suddenly, disengaging himself from conversing with Ranma so suddenly that it left the pigtailed man disoriented. "One cannot simply barge into a bandit camp and start slaughtering evil-doers, Shikodan!"
"Eh? Why not?" The Dread Knight asked, clearly surprised by the priest's assertion. "Aren't you supposed to be the novice, here?"
"Novice in combat, perhaps, but I'm not so ignorant of the world to stumble headfirst into such a wasteful mistake!" Kaze asserted, turning toward Ranma. "Master Saotome, tell me, is it not the prerogative of mercenaries such as ourselves to seek some sort of bounty office, or seek a client with which to pay us for our services in risking our well being to rid the world of its violent trash?"
"Hey! Who're you calling-" Rayden began only to have Ranma slap a hand over his mouth.
"He's not talking about you, moron." Then he turned toward Kaze. "Well... you're right, I guess..."
Rayden yanked Ranma's arm away so that he could speak again. "Don't be ridiculous! We've stumbled upon a den of evil that should be exterminated as quickly as possible! Any delay could possibly mean lives lost while we're busy snooping around for someone to pay for what we were planning to do anyway!"
"Regardless, we would ultimately be doing the most public good by securing payment first to ensure we can afford supplies and remain motivated for our future campaigns against the evils of the world!" Kaze insisted, stamping his staff into the ground and generally looking far more authoritative than the demon staring down at him.

Ranma sweatdropped as he rubbed his forehead, and K flew up behind him to perch on his shoulder.
"Why is our evil demon knight arguing for a selfless charge into the enemy while our holy priest is trying to make money from the local residents' misfortune?" The metadragon asked conversationally.
A vein popped up on Ranma's head as he sighed. "Because I didn't learn my lesson after I picked you up and had to invite more losers to follow me around." Then he stepped between the two taller men, hooking his arms behind their necks and forcing them to lean over suddenly.
"All right kids, just calm down," the pigtailed man muttered irritably, and he was mildly amused at seeing them both stop to pay careful attention to him. "Koz, I know you'd like to catch a bounty here, but as I've already explained before, we're kind of headed somewhere right now, and we don't have time for unnecessary detours. We'll just have to make do with what we can loot from the bandit camp." Rayden made a grunting noise as Ranma dragged his head down even further, so that he was actually below eye level. "Ray, seeing how these guys happen to be in our way and we could do some good by massacring them, we'll be doing things your way for once. But in the future, don't try to disguise your bloodlust as concern for the innocent. You're not fooling anybody, so just cut it out."
"I can do that," Rayden said obediently.
Kaze remained silent for a long moment. "... 'Koz'?"
"Yeah, looks like you've got a nickname, too! Welcome to the team!" Rayden said while grinning, although he still seemed rather awkward while being held in a stooping position.
The evon blinked, then smiled brightly. "Ah! Yes! I see, it's a gesture of acceptance! Well then, may I refer to you as-"
"No," Ranma interrupted, yanking Kaze down further. "I'm still Master Saotome. Rayden is still Shikodan. You can call K by his nickname if you want."
"Hey! Why doesn't he have to address me with respect?" The metadragon protested, fuming.
"Because you're the only one of us he could beat up, obviously," Rayden reasoned.

Ranma let go of his two companions, then cracked his neck to both sides while resting a hand on his katana. "K, is there anything else we should know before we charge in there?"
Although still slightly miffed, the young dragon nodded. "Yeah, apparently there's a big commotion on the mountain near the rear of the camp, where some of the bandits make dwellings in a cavern complex. I'm not sure what's going on, but it has the guard in a frenzy; they're on high alert, but there aren't many of them, and they keep rushing around. Now's probably a good time to attack."
"A big commotion? Well, in a bandit camp there's pretty much only one thing that causes a stir: a fight," Rayden said, unsheathing Darkrune and planting it point-down in the dirt. "Either they're going on a raid, there's some infighting, or someone's raiding them. Well, someone else, I mean."
Kaze snorted and crossed his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. "Well, judging by the presence of those two oncoming Vulture-class pod fighters, I'd say the camp is being attacked, and furthermore, that the culprit is a human military force."
Rayden stared at the white priest, amazed. "Whoa... a Vulture-class... your powers can detect all that from here?"
"Nope," Ranma said, staring upward as the four stubby white aircraft passed overhead, their engine roar following a good five seconds behind them. Kaze sweatdropped and chuckled nervously. "But to his credit, it's pretty impressive that he can identify them at all, never mind from a good distance." Then he hopped up onto the rock they were using as cover, crouching down as he tracked the planes' path of flight. "Huh. The only reason planes like those would be out here would be..." Ranma frowned. "But what's the IEF doing way out here?"
"Hey! You! You on the rock!" A snarling shout came from the rock outcroppings further down the quarry road, and Ranma turned his head slightly as three guards suddenly emerged, having spotted him immediately and advanced from their posts.
The apparent leader, a white troll, closed the distance quickly and then swung around a halberd and jabbed it so that it stopped an inch from Ranma's throat. He didn't flinch. "Yeah? Something I can help you with?"
The troll let out a dusty snort as a grend and a lizardman walked up from behind, scimitars drawn. "Undo your belt and throw your weapons to me, human," the troll hissed. "Then we'll search you for valuables. Depending on how much you have, we may decide to let you live."
Ranma blinked. "Oh? So you would let me live if I had a lot of money on me?"
Before the troll could even nod, Ranma's right hand whipped out and grabbed the halberd spike, holding it solidly.
Ranma frowned as the troll tried to budge his weapon without result. "Wow. Now I feel kinda bad. I mean, we're gonna kill you no matter how much you have, and we're the GOOD guys."
The grend blinked it long, slanted eyes. "'We'?"
On cue, Rayden and Kaze stepped out from behind the rock outcropping, both of them holding their weapons in clear preparation for violence.
Kaze chuckled as he flashed a spell talisman pinched between his fingers. "Well, it appears the tables have turned."
"Actually, they were pretty screwed the minute they jabbed something sharp at Ranma," Rayden muttered, scratching his nose with his free hand. "So it's more like the table tipped over even more and crushed them, or something."
The three guard demons all sweatdropped and began to look far more uneasy. The white troll, deciding that he wasn't going to get his halberd back, let go of the weapon and backed away, drawing a short sword that had been strapped to his long, spindly legs.
"Well, no need for introductions, I guess." Ranma tossed away the long weapon, and then gripped the hilt of his katana. "Let's get this thing started."
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Blam! Blam! Blam!
The juga snarled and fell to its knees as blinding pain blossomed inside its chest cavity, informing the armored demon of the unfortunate things the mithril-tipped explosive rounds were doing to its all-important organs. The human body gripped in the talons of its left arm spasmed pitifully as blood continued to seep from his crushed body, and as the soldier's killer fell to his knees, it weakly tossed the corpse before him, a wash of blood trailing through the air behind it.

The IEF sergeant grit his teeth as he watched his dead subordinate roll on the ground in front of the stalagmites they were using as cover, a thick smear of bright red marking his path.
The juga that had ambushed them barked a final, short growl, and a brackish dark liquid sputtered from its bladed mandibles before the beast toppled forward.
"They have the entrance! There's too many of them!"
"Sergeant! Captain Haritzki's command squad is cut off! They need reinforcements!"
The sergeant grimaced as he watched two lizardmen charge into the cavern tunnel, only to be cut down by rifle fire before they realized their ambush had already been stopped.
Turning on his radio mouthpiece, he switched to the HQ frequency. "Messiah Air Command, this is Sergeant Vahn; I need an ETA on that air strike! We're never going to break through to the cavern exit otherwise!"
Psht! This is Messiah Air Command, air strike ETA: three minutes. Please hold position at least thirty meters from the entrance and take cover.
"Sergeant! What about the captain?" A corporal asked over another volley of gunfire.
"Captain Haritzki will have to hold out! We can't abandon this tunnel and let them flank the main attack force!"
Blam! Blam! "Damn bastard has a magic shield!"
Glancing over the boulder he was leaning on, the sergeant frowned as he watched a single evon slowly advance toward them through the tunnel, holding his hand out as a blue sphere shimmered around him. Bullets began impacting the barrier immediately, causing soft ripples in the surface as the mage projecting it grunted from the strain.
A moment later, lizardmen started to pour out from around the bend and crowd around the slowly advancing mage, their swords and axes twitching in anticipation of the coming battle.
"Squad seven! Draw swords!" Another sergeant ordered. Immediately one formation of soldiers dropped to their knees, fastened their rifles to the straps on their right thighs, and then drew the short swords fastened to their left thighs. After another moment they stood up again, taking positions to intercept the oncoming demons.
'This will be a bloodbath if we let them get into melee...' Vahn thought as he fired a few rounds into the barrier with no further result. "Sustain fire! Bring down that shield! Ready grenades!"
Blam! Blam! Blam! The evon mage growled as he focused his full power into his shield, forcing it to stay strong against the barrage of exploding shells.
'Just a little... more...' As he stepped just outside of a lizardman's jumping distance from the soldiers' cover, he felt the reptilian beasts around him bristle in excitement, and he grinned.
Blam! Blam! TWANG! The mage flinched back as a searing lance of pain flared in his head at the same time a bright red bolt erupted against his shield, and the evon gaped as he realized that the shot had started to break apart the shield's spell pattern.
He didn't get a chance to do much else as a sniper bullet tore through the small, rapidly expanding hole left by the disruptor bullet, piercing him right in the forehead and effectively ending his headache permanently.
"The hell? Shield's down! Open fire!"
"Use your sidearms! Squad seven, defensive formation! Don't engage until the last moment!"
Blam! Blam! The sergeant shot down one of the oncoming demons as the confused lizardmen began a panicked charge, and then flinched as he watched his next target suddenly drop onto the ground below, blood gushing out of the back of its skull.
Turning around, he grimaced. "Well, well. Looks like backup arrived." Without wasting further time on words or speculation, he turned back toward the quickly dispersing attack and raised his rifle.

In the shadows of the tunnel behind the lights of the soldiers' defensive position, a lithe figure covered in fur and wearing a tan body armor vest lowered a massive sniper rifle, and the meager light in the cavern glinted off of bright, sharpened canines as he grinned. "Battle's taking a turn for the better. We should be able to hold here easily until the order comes."
At barely six feet in height, and a slender, lean body, Garron would have been considered, in the werewolf circles where he had originated from, as a scrawny weakling. Taking into consideration the eyepatch that covered his useless right eye, the lycanthrope probably would have been bullied by the other scrawny weaklings, too. Among the IEF, however, physical ability wasn't the foremost measure of status; in that capacity his favorite weapon, a Yamako U-77 heavy sniper rifle served him very well.
A second individual remained in the shadows, watching the combat with his hand resting in his pockets. His dark skin blended in perfectly among the darkness, aided by the night-black cloak wrapped around him. Attached to his forearms was a pair of small dark blue shields with the IEF elmblem stamped on the face.
The werewolf turned to the figure, and would have been unable to distinguish him even at that short distance if not for the low-light vision apparatus attached over his left eye. "Emrey, are you just going to stand there, or are you gonna help?"
The lieutenant remained still. "No reason to get in their way. They're winning, aren't they?"
Garron snorted and raised his rifle again. Pchnk! The muffled discharge was accompanied by a barely recognizable spark from the rifle muzzle, which in turn was accompanied by another lizardman corpse tumbling to the ground a moment later. "You have a responsibility to fight when called for, you know. If some of our men die when we could have saved them..." the werewolf mumbled in his usual hoarse, raspy English. Pchnk!
"I don't recall being ordered to fight at the front lines. If I'm needed, I'll fight," Emrey snapped back, still watching the battle with eyes that glowed white in the darkness.
Pchnk! Garron put down another lizardman in mid-charge, and sighed as he watched the demons' assault completely shatter, with the remaining survivors and wounded turning around and attempting to scramble out of the tunnel amongst their dead. "Hmph... and you wonder why Karen won't give you the time of day..."
The rakshasa bristled for a moment, and stuttered incoherently for a a few seconds before finally spitting out, "That's Colonel Molsk to you, Sergeant..."
"Yeah, yeah..." Pchnk!
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"This is crazy! Where are the reinforcements?"
Blam! Blam! Shrk! "Gleagh!"
The IEF captain flinched as one of the assaulting juga smashed aside one of his main guard, tearing out bits of bones and chunks of flesh with its two-foot claws. That same juga grunted at a small mithril round a moment later from a corporal's sidearm, and the officer scrambled away as the armored beast turned to eviscerate the brave fool.
"Retreat! Hurry! If we catch up to the main assault force-" another guard started to say before a grend's battleaxe smashed into his chest, caving in his ribcage even though the blade failed to cut through the man's body armor.
Captain Haritzki stumbled to his feet as the screaming and growling behind him began to wind down, and tried his best to hug the cavern wall as he ran blindly through the dark amongst the nearly-blind covering fire being given by his men who had already gotten away.
"Command! Company A! Is anybody reading me?" Haritzki shouted into his communicator. "We need help! Most of our squads have been wiped out! We walked right into an ambush! SomeboGWAAH!" He shouted in surprise as a blade attached to a chain shot out from the darkness and speared his thigh, sending the man sprawling onto the ground.
Several heavily armored grends stomped forward, one of them tugging on the chain stuck in the struggling soldier.
"Captain!"
"Open fire! Halt the retreat! Fire, fire!"
The two demons began to dart forward toward the bloodied remnants, but thought better of it as gunfire suddenly exploded around them, lighting up the tunnel in disorienting flashes and sending the two warriors tumbling backwards before the barrage.
A young soldier rushed out from where the withdrawing forces were taking cover, and carelessly ripped the blade out of the captain's leg before dragging the man behind the stalagmite clusters they were using as cover.
"Resume the withdrawal! As soon as those juga regroup, we won't be able to fend off another attack!"
"How many lanterns do we have left?"
"Just the one, sir!"
"Somebody help Yakowski with the captain! Don't drag his injured leg along the ground, lift him up!"

The soldier holding the lantern began to sweat as he heard the menacing growls and sporadic bursts of gunfire behind him, and lifted the squad's only remaining light source higher as the force reached a small pond area littered with bones and old, rotten barrels.
Clomp! Clomp! The man paled as his light reflected the dull sheen of a natural armor shell, and several of his companions cursed outright as two juga emerged from the adjacent tunnel, silhouetted against the lantern's light.
"More of the damn things? We're surrounded!"
One of the men grit his teeth and raised his rifle.
"Wait!" The captain gasped out, pushing off of the man that had saved him to lean against the wall. "D-Don't shoot! Hold your fire!"
"What?" A sergeant shouted angrily. "You want to surrender? They'll kill us anyway!"
The captain took several painful breaths as the sound of heavy footfalls echoed through the cavern tunnels, heralding the armored demons swiftly approaching from both sides. "Better than what the Colonel will do to us if you shoot her pet monsters."
Several of the men blinked in surprise, and then their eyes widened in understanding. The private holding the lantern heaved a leaden sigh and nervously stepped aside, noting the large mechanical forearm bracers and the white IEF insignias that had been etched into the jugas' armor that he hadn't thought to look for.

Blam! Blam! Blam! The enemy juga grunted as he plodded forward through the darkness, holding its massive arms before itself to shield its torso and head from the oncoming bullets.
Behind it its more fragile companions slithered behind their walking shield, twitching with excitement as they predicted once again leaping into the chaos of close combat against the soft, slow human troops.
Blam! A gargled shout came from the armored demon's mouth as a lucky shot tore into a weak point on its leg, and the beast nearly fell flat on its horned face as it stumbled to one knee.
Ignoring the angry/encouraging hisses and shouts from behind it, the mighty demon grabbed the wall with its right hand, its diamond-like talons sinking deeply into the rock. Then it pulled itself slowly to its feet, willing its damaged body to continue the advance.
It was roughly around this point that, around the pain and bloody determination, the demon wondered why the humans had stopped shooting. After all, it could still see them huddled around their tiny mechanical lantern, if barely. There seemed to be a large shadow moving closer that was obstructing its view considerably, and it hadn't gotten a good look at the object since it was busy trying to protect its skull from being riddled with holes.
'Wait... where'd that one come from? And why is it moving away from the humans?' Was the juga's last thought, before a hydraulic-assisted claw reached out and crushed its skull into a wet, bloody paste.

"Hssss! Traitors!" A grend growled as it plowed its bloody axe into one of the incoming jugas, only to be smacked aside almost casually to bounce against the cavern wall.
The other juga lurched forward as its partner smashed into the vanguard, and raised a claw to the side as it activated one of the switches on its harness.
FWOOSH! A jet of flaming jelly lit up the cavern as several lizardmen met a painful, fiery end, finally giving the main body of the assault force a good look at what had denied their progress.
The juga at the core of the formation snarled at seeing two of its own standing silently before the pile of burned and bloody demons. It could see the human's steel magic had enchanted the creatures, as each one had metal objects clamped onto their arms that gleamed slightly brighter than their armor in the firelight. Tubes and grooves wove from those peripherals and wound into their backs, being fed from some power source clamped onto the rogue demons' backs. From one pair of talons squirted bursts of flame, either as a warning or out of excitement for the battle to come. The other pair of talons leaked only blood, a indicating its more visceral uses.
Despite the obvious agitation of its companions, the band leader swiped a claw behind it, commanding a withdrawal. "Back off and head through the West tunnel! The humans will have more help!"
The bloody-taloned juga stepped forward, its companion following closely at its side. "It's no use. Throw down your arms or die!"
"SSSSHYAAAAH!" The juga raider hissed at its IEF counterpart, stepping backward as the company of demons behind it began to fall back.
"Blue wing!"
The juga was startled out of making spiteful noises at its opposing brethren when a feminine voice shouted out behind it. Turning around, he saw several light blue arcs of energy emerge from the tunnel behind them, spiraling into the ranks of the confused raiders.
Crshnk! Crshk! Three lizardmen who had just turned each took an ice wave across their torso, and ice sprouted over the point of impact, freezing in place as an inch-thick cross-section of their body froze solid.
As the juga resumed growling impotently, a lithe, very female figure sauntered into the dying light cast by the burning demons, her hand glowing an iradescent blue.
Raising a single hand, she smirked at the snarling beasts caught in her spell, and then snapped her fingers.
Crash! Smash! Crack! Each of the lizardmen shattered in two as the ice around and in them broke apart, and the other demons flinched back as the unlucky beasts fell to the ground, their bloodless corpses etched with expressions of sheer agony.
"You're not going anywhere, juga. By international code seven-seven-eight-one, the IEF has designated you and your men for eradication. Non-combat personnel may surrender. The rest of you had better try your luck running," Karen finished, both her hands now glowing with a soft blue light.
"Shrahg nal umk tring!" The lead juga grunted, noting with growing dread that the IEF jugas had actually backed off rather than helping their comrade.
"I wouldn't advise it," Karen said, smirking as the demons froze. "I already killed off your friends in the topside tunnel. You're alone and out of luck."
The demonic raider hesitated. "Shuluk yra num gahree?"
"No, I don't speak Gaerieth, but I understand it just fine," Karen said matter-of-factly.
"Then understand this, human," the juga snarled in its demonic tongue, "once the light fades, we seal your fate!"
Karen didn't say anything, but remained standing in the tunnel as the darkness slowly began to creep up behind her; the fuel from the flamer had finally been consumed, and with no other light nearby, the cave-dwelling beasts would have an undisputed advantage over her. Despite all her power, the only light her ice magic could generate could at best be considered decorative.
She smirked as a gutsy lizardman stepped over to his dying brothers and swiped the flame out with his tail.
'Three seconds until point-blank...' the super-soldier thought as she placed her hands together, feeling the energy burning with her mana-circuits.
'Two...' As she parted her hands, she could hear the hateful snarl of the reptilian beasts charging her, and her heartbeat accelerated slightly as a tinge of fear crawled into her mind; a normal reaction for her, and a holdover from the days where she couldn't eradicate a unit of bloodthirsty marauders all on her own.
'One.' "Cryon rage!" Throwing her arms forward, the grend that had its spear barely a foot from Karen's forehead suddenly lost all feeling in his body before he was torn apart into little frozen pieces.
The demons behind it, being far enough back that they actually got to see their death approach a split second before it claimed them, witnessed several white streams of light emerging from the sorceress's hands, curving around her body and eventually streaking toward them erratically like shining blue missiles. The low blue light cast by the oncoming burst of energy illuminated the grend before her as it seemed to disintegrate into broken ice crystals, and the remaining demons could only gape as a wave of razor-sharp icicles rushed toward them along the wall, beckoned by the magical icy claws that spiraled through the air down the tunnel.
SKRAAAK!

Karen let out a sigh as she shifted her power back to her ice shield, trying to stave off the biting cold that she had created. One of the disadvantages of being a cybernetically enhanced mage was that she had to shift power away from her defensive energies in order to use her more powerful spells, and in that state she was far from immune to the catastrophic changes in temperature she was prone to creating. It was a problem that "normal" mages dealt with easily, but she could only handle with grit and great skill.
'I'm lucky I use ice; the fire MEs can't even use their most powerful spells without killing themselves.' As a natural rule, cold took time to kill and tended to recede after a spell was cast. Heat could cause damage much more quickly, and fire had a tendency to spread.
A growling brought her attention back to the tunnel, and Karen stepped forward into the darkness. The remnants of the captain's company had moved on by now, and the jugas should have followed; neither of them wanted to be anywhere near the enemy once Karen let loose her magic.
"Hm. So you survived," she stopped in her tracks, and then silently activated her levitation program. Within seconds she floated a foot from the ground, clearing enough space all around her so that she could move quickly without tripping over one of her own icicles. "How badly are you wounded? Would you like me to finish you off quickly."
She smirked at the retaliatory growl. It probably meant something in Gaerieth, but her understanding of the language didn't include many profanities. 'Juga are resistant to extreme temperatures; in the case of heat, their armor actually seemed to allow absolute conduction of energy through their bodies without a problem, but in the case of cold...' She licked her lips as she went through her mental list of spells. Sucking enough heat from the armor to cause it to contract and break was always difficult, but it was easier than trying to hack apart the armor with ice blades.
'Actually, I think some light would be appropriate, first.' With that thought, she reached for her belt, and tore off a red stick before twisting off the plastic cap.
Fsssssssh! The jagged walls of ice gleamed magnificently in the light of the flare, and it took Karen a moment to adjust her eyes from the light show cast by her own spell effects.
She almost snickered once she saw the remaining opponent, encased in ice up to its chest. Huge spikes of ice jutted out from its prison and melded with the walls, holding the beast solidly as it struggled weakly against the frost that had sealed it.
"Well, that' just not fair. You're gonna make me feel bad about killing you!" She said amiably as she floated forward toward the trapped demon, though the vicious smirk on her face assured the creature that any of the aforementioned feelings would be quite minor and likely very temporary.
"Zero point!"
SHKRAK!
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"This is Hydra Six, completing our third run on the camp now."
Confirmed, Hydra Wing. Begin final bombing run and return to the Messiah. Target?
"We scattered the main defensive force holding out at the tunnel exit and flattened the barracks and main armories. All we can do now is drop the eggs where they'll crack the loudest."
Roger, Hydra Wing. The second battalion has yet to reach their forward position. You are cleared to begin your run.

As her radio link was cut, the leader of the Hydra attack flight turned and flew in a tight arc, circling around the mountain that hid the cavern complex for a third and final pass on the scattered forces below. Two other mini-bombers followed in a close formation, their bellies opening up to reveal the last of their munitions for their mission.
The pilot designated Hydra Six glanced at the digital display in front of her that approximated where her final bomb would land, and her hand tightened slightly around the flight stick as she passed by the perimeter palisade that was intended to keep invaders at bay.
'Wait... what happened there?' The pilot frowned as she noticed a huge hole in one section of the wall, as if something had burst through.
"Hydra One, Five, did either of you hit the palisade? I know I didn't put that hole in there."
Negative, Lead. This area's nowhere near our strike zone.
I didn't do it... man, what the hell's going on down there? I see bogeys running around everywhere!
A burst of flame blossomed from below, and the flight leader leaned to one side to try and get a better look at the distant shapes that were sent flying from the blast. "What's going on? There's a battle down there! I thought our boys weren't-"
SKRK! She jerked back in her seat as a long, gleaming chain whipped upward seemingly from nowhere and lashed straight through the Vulture VTOL jet to her left, causing a burst of sparks and bits of metal to spray out the back. In the same instant the cockpit canopy turned from being perfectly clear to being covered in blood, completely hiding the shredded corpse within the jet from view.
For a moment she simply stared in shock at the cockpit of the other craft, her arm trembling. Very slowly, the jet began to split into the two separated halves, as if just realizing that it had been ripped in two, and those halves spilled flame, fuel, and blood as they began to lose altitude.
Hydra Six! Are you okay? Was that really a CHAIN?
The lead pilot shook herself from her shock, and once again took full control of her aircraft, pulling the mini-bomber away from the camp. "Hydra Wing, abort the attack run and return to base. We did our part, let Colonel Molsk deal with... whatever the hell just did that."
Affirmative, Lead. Breaking off.
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Shknk! Drawing itself down from the wreck of the pod bomber, the long, bladed chain slipped around the arm of the juga that had aimed it like a living creature, wrapping around the demon's bicep in long, loose coils.
The scarred juga grunted as it saw the other two planes retreat; humans were well known for dishing it out better than they could take it.
Two centaur gunners stood restlessly at his side as the remainder of the raiders' forces ran about in a disorganized panic, utterly broken; the attack from the caves had caught them by surprise. The bombing runs had ruined their ability to organize a counter-attack.
But then a second attack had crippled their defense. No one knew where the second attack had come from, how fast it was progressing, or the number and strength of the enemy simply because those who had encountered the enemy didn't last long enough to tell anyone else about what they had seen.
"Shouldn't we be attacking the caves? They'll break through soon!" One centaur mumbled in Gaerieth as it watched the fleeing raiders in the camp. Its expression twisted into one of disgust; many of the bandits were carrying supplies that had been salvaged from the wreckage of the camp treasury and armory. There was no hope of stopping them to fight off the attackers now.
The other centaur twitched at an explosion, and turned to watch the main gathering hut half a kilometer away fall apart as black lightning tore through the walls and roof. Several bandits scrambled from the wreckage as clouds of dust jumped up from the ground, and those same creatures dropped dead one at a time as something shot them down from within the ruined structure. "What should we do? There's no hope of opposing the IEF like this!" He brought his rifle up and scanned the hut wreckage with his scope, frowning as the clouds of dust obscured any potential targets completely.
The juga camp master remained silent for a long moment, the magical chains wrapped loosely around his arms twitching anxiously as they sensed the surrounding violence. "We retreat. Our men will need an operational base to return to, or they'll just be hunted down like wild animals. The camp is lost."
Another explosion from the wreckage caused the juga's guards to flinch nervously, which in turn distracted them from seeing the incoming spell talismans until it was too late.
Pap! One of the centaurs blinked in surprise as he felt two paper slips flatten against his flank with surprising force.
Vwom! All three of the assembled demons jerked back as Kaze teleported in front of them, and the juga stepped back behind his bodyguards as they swung their rifles into position.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Kaze leaned his staff to one side, and the pointed at the talismans pinned to one of the gunners.
KABLAM! The unfortunate centaur suddenly burst into flames at the gesture as the fireburst spell took effect, and its nearly-as-unfortunate partner screamed in pain as a wash of flame engulfed it, easily catching on its thick fur and well-oiled leather armor.
The juga snarled as its bodyguard fell to the ground in flames, and then raised its arms, the dangling chains shaking ominously at the gesture.
Kaze threw two more talismans into the air, and then beckoned the demon with his free hand as the slips of paper floated above.

The bandit leader clenched its talons, and both chains shot off of its arms, the blades at the end twisting wildly as they drove forward, like a drill.
With but a short mental command, the two talismans swept apart through the air, stopping in front of the oncoming weapons.
CRACK! To the juga's shock, his chains impacted the slips of paper and stopped dead, unable to pierce the energy barriers generated around the fragile talismans.
Concentrating deeply, Kaze started to chant as the enemy's weapons writhed and struggled against the tiny barriers, and his staff floated out of his grasp and hovered between his hands.
"Kings of the sky, release your wrath! Raging thunder!"
At his cry, bolts of lighting leapt from his outstretched hands, striking the talismans and then running along the chains to feed into the juga holding the chains.
Kaze smirked as thick ribbons of electricity curled around the demon's armor, and that smirk slowly died as the juga continued to stare contemptuously at him, completely unhurt.
"You're new at this, aren't you?" The juga growled out, retracting his chains as the lightning passed through its super-conductive armor and was radiated harmlessly.
Kaze blinked, then scratched his head as he tried to think up a new strategy on the spot. "What did you say? I'm sorry, do you speak Japanese? Or English, maybe?"
'Yes, definitely new at this,' the demon thought ruefully, quite annoyed that his camp was being overrun by such inexperienced, if not powerful, characters.
KABOOM! The ground shook slightly as a huge energy beam impacted several meters away, and the demon spared a glance over his shoulder as he watched a large man in a trench coat run down a grend and slice it in two. As the man ran past the combat, the scarred juga dismissed him; that one would be a much more difficult foe than the cleric before it, and besides which, a retreat had already been planned.
Kaze backed away, and then pulled several more spell talismans out of his robes, wondering what had happened that his last spell had been so ineffective. 'An unnaturally high spell resistance, perhaps? Well, then I'm in quite a pinch, aren't I?' Throwing the talismans out into the air, he immediately forced the slips of paper onto the ground, and then jabbed his staff at them.
"Spirits of the earth, give form to clay and will to stone! Clay dolls, arise!" A slight rumbling marked the completion of the spell as four medium-sized dirt golems slowly rose up from the ground to meet the enemy.
Said enemy snorted in irritation. Here this fool was, having cut through the defenses of its entire army of raiders, and he thought to combat the master of that army with novice parlor tricks?
The juga shot both his chains forward, impaling one of the golems through the chest. Then the chains suddenly twisted about rapidly, causing the magical construct to spasm wildly as it was swiftly broken apart.
Moving the whirling lengths of steel to the side, the camp master ripped straight through the next golem, and then wrapped one chain around the next, entangling the construct's legs.
Vwom! Hearing the telltale sign of Kaze's blink spell, the demon quickly whipped its free chain around behind it, shredding the two talismans that had already been sailing toward its back.
Kaze clicked his tongue and reinforced his personal shield as the demon's chain lashed out at it, causing thick tears and distortions to appear as the jagged length of metal tore fiercely against the barrier.
Had the evon cleric been more experienced, perhaps he would have been able to recognize the unique distortion of the juga's mandibles that indicated it was actually grinning at him. As it was, he could only blink in surprise and curiosity as the juga yanked the entangled golem into the air, bringing it high above them.
Snarling, the armored demon swung the chain down, and Kaze's eyes widened as he found himself squarely in the strike zone of a six-hundred pound flail.
SMASH! Rock and dirt burst upward as the golem touched down, and the juga grinned again as it drew in both of its chains.
Its moment of victory was interrupted by a solid strike to the back of the head, which ultimately did little other than annoy the armored monstrosity and remind it of the final golem's presence.
Whirling around, the juga grabbed the golem in one claw and lifted it up, preparing to toss the useless construction away.
It was about then that it noticed another spell talisman besides the creation spell attached to the golem's forehead. This one was attached to the construct's belly, and to the juga's growing dread, had just started to glow...
FLASH! A bright white light utterly stunned the scarred beast, and the camp master grunted ineffectually as it found itself unable to move.
Vwom! "Nice try, but Toren wins this round!" Kaze cheered from behind the demon as he brought his staff up, charging it with energy. "Hand of judgment, descend and smite the unworthy! Kai blade!" A gleaming white light engulfed the Eye of Malakai, and the micreant priest thrust his weapon into his enemy's back.
CRACK! The juga spasmed painfully as a glowing lance of energy suddenly burst from the head of the staff upon contact with its carapace and impaled it through the chest, tearing a hole easily through its hardened armor and spearing some its favorite organs.
Kaze, for his part, was fairly shocked that his maneuver had worked, and quickly pulled his staff away as the light vanished into a shower of bright sparkles.
The juga let out a garbled hiss, and then fell to its knees before teetering forward.
Thud!

"I... I did it... I actually did it..." Kaze mumbled to himself as he watched a pool of blood start to spread underneath the fallen creature. "I won! I fought a powerful enemy and won! YAHOOO!"
A few of the demons that had not yet left the camp or been killed by Kaze's two rampaging companions stopped and watched as an evon cleric began shouting and dancing atop a short hill, waving his staff in the air. A couple that possessed ranged weapons considered killing the fool for wandering around a warzone and leaving his back open, but a quick glance at the body he was dancing over quickly changed their mind; they had already opted for the coward's way out. No sense in drawing attention to themselves now, was there?
After skipping a full circle around the fallen juga, Kaze turned and kicked it, causing a bit of blood to squirt out of its back. "Ha! That'll teach you to defy justice! Take that! And this!" Thud! Whump! BOOOM!
A nearby explosion reminded the evon that he was still in the midst of a battle zone, and he stopped kicking the bleeding demon as he came to his senses.
"Okay then... I defeated a primary opponent... his corpse lies before me..." The clerics expression brightened as he realized what came next. "Of course! Looting!"
He eagerly scanned the corpse, and his eyes immediately settled on the pouch attached to the demon's pelvic armor. "That and the chains... juga don't generate heartstones upon expiring, and I doubt I could carry the carapace to a merchant..." With that settled, he grabbed for the pouch.
Kaze was understandably upset, disturbed, and angry when the juga's arm moved to prevent his well-deserved acquisition, seizing his arm and holding it firmly within its huge, bladed talons. Fear probably should have been a factor as well, but the cleric was still reeling from his decisive victory, and wasn't about to let some walking suit of armor on the brink of death keep him from his just desserts.
"Hey! No! Let go and die! Bad!" He shouted as he started kicking the demon again and beating its hand with his staff.
The juga grunted and spat out some blood as it tried to gather its strength, noting with great annoyance that the evon's staff let out painful bursts of energy every time it impacted its claw.
"DIE, WRETCHED INSECT!" It snarled in Gaerieth as it rose to its knees, swinging its free arm around to impale the priest of Malakai.
Crack! Its arm stopped as a tarnished, rusty blade suddenly pierced its elbow joint, and the juga let another gargled cry as the last of its energy vanished. A moment later the blinding pain began to fade as well as consciousness slipped away from it.

Thud! Ranma sighed and planted a foot on the juga's arm, bracing himself so that he could tear his sword free. "You have to be more careful, Koz. Juga are resilient bastards."
"I noticed," the cleric growled as he pried his arm out the corpse's talons. Then he snatched up the pouch on the creature's waist. "I still want credit for that kill, though."
"If I get credit for saving your life," Ranma responded as he sheathed his blade. Then he began working the chains free of the juga's arms.
"Done. Where's Shikodan?"
Ranma frowned. "Wait a sec..."
Kaze had thought that his leader was asking him to wait until he was finished taking the chains. He was wrong.
KABLAM! Ranma pointed in the general direction of the explosion as he tugged the first coil of chains free. "He's over that way. Help me with these chains and we can go get 'im. It's probably not a good idea to have a demon knight running around with the IEF attacking..."
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"Teema, Yun, hold here," Karen commanded as she saw the end of the tunnel ahead amidst a great deal of rubble and burnt demon corpses.
The two jugas halted in their tracks, antennae twitching in the air.
"Shtek kla klattak!" The larger demon, Yun said.
Karen nodded and held her hand up to her communicator headset. "Yun says there isn't much alive out there; has the enemy fled the base? I would've thought that they'd hold their central position more strongly."
Colonel Molsk, this is Messiah Command. We have signs from our survey drones of a retreat, but it's much smaller and less organized than it should be. We also have a few reports of a battle taking place inside the camp.
Karen blinked. "At the same time we infiltrated the caverns? I thought the general scrapped the idea of a pincer strike."
She did. It seems something else is taking advantage of our attack. You are to do a reconnaissance sweep of the main camp and attempt to identify the third party. Company A and C will secure the supply tunnels and then await your signal to attack.
"Roger that. On my way," the sorceress answered as she stepped forward into the streaming sunlight, charging her personal barrier to full power.

"Hmph. How rude. After all the trouble we went through to get here, nobody stuck around to greet us," Karen mused as she looked around at the bomb craters littering the ground before her. Burnt and blasted demon remains could also be found strewn about the charred ground, indicating that the raiders had not understood the full extent of the assault until it was too late.
The entrances to the tunnels were protected by small secondary palisades and, before the retreat, a contingent of defenders. Both defensive measures now lay around the entrance in a pile of rubble that blocked Karen's view of the bandit camp, which itself was littered with fallen trees and more craters. The raiders had built their camp in a forest and neglected to remove the trees from within the perimeter to provide better defense and to better hide the fortifications from intruders, which in turn had allowed for an easier infiltration once the camp had been located.
Activating her levitation key, the IEF Colonel pushed off of the ground and floated above the piles of debris, hoping to get a better view of the surrounding area.
Shoof! Wsh! A rustling noise from the forest adjacent immediately attracted her attention, and one of her hands began to glow as she fed energy into one of her quicker spell programs while keeping her shield reinforced.
Within seconds, two adult werewolves armed with axes burst from the treeline, leaping over the nearest rubble and landing firmly within one of the blast craters.
Karen smirked. "Heh! I didn't think your kind would flee... so... easily..." she trailed off as both lycanthropes dashed under her and ran toward the cave entrance without even stopping to glance at the woman floating above them menacingly.
Karen didn't turn around, though her left eye twitched as the sounds of brutal violence met the demons' retreat; apparently Teema and Yun had successfully held their position.
"Oh-kay... so there's something out there scarier than a full IEF battalion..." the colonel mumbled. It wasn't really a fair judgment, as the bandits had no way of knowing how many soldiers lay in wait within the supply tunnels, but they definitely should have known better than to make for the caverns.
Boom! Crash! A much louder noise from within the same cluster of trees interrupted her musing, and she grimaced as she noticed several of the trees shaking as large, dark shapes approached through the underbrush.
'You're not getting away this time!' she swore as she chose a spell and charged it (although most people would not have considered the werewolves' escape successful).
KABLAM! A massive fireball burst at the edge of the forest cluster, blowing several trees over and throwing rocks and dirt into the air.
Karen remained calm as her shield lit up around her, absorbing the oncoming wave of heat as the soft blue bubble entered the visible spectrum. "Frost wall!" Waving a glowing white hand beneath her, ice began to slowly form in a long line behind the floating sorceress, eventually building to a certain width before shooting upward at a much greater speed.
The three assembled demons glowered as their escape route was sealed off right in front of them, and turned their attentions toward the magic-user standing in the air.
The colonel's eyes narrowed. 'Two jugas and a devil. These are heavy hitters, but still no sign of an organized defense. They look like they're running too.' She frowned as she noticed that one of the jugas was badly injured, with blood flowing slowly from the charred stump where its arm used to be, as well as from a large crack in its front torso armor.
"Damn humans," the devil snarled in gritty English, "get out of our way, or you'll be killed too!"
"Humans? As in more than one?" Karen replied back in the same language, both her hands lighting up with magical energies. "Check your math, freak. I don't need any help to deal with the likes of you."
The demons tensed, and the devil withdrew a spear that had been clamped to its back, preparing to fight.
Crack! Snap!
The beasts all flinched as more noise came from the ravaged forest behind them, and Karen raised an eyebrow.
"It's no good! We have to flee!" One of the jugas chirped in Gaerieth as his wounded companion nodded frantically.
"Rotten humans!" The devil shouted at Karen, ignoring his companions as his spear was suddenly surrounded by flame. "I'll kill all of you!"
SHOOM!
Karen flinched back as a thick black beam of energy burst from the forest and slammed into the relatively healthy juga, sweeping it off its feet and blasting it straight into the wall of ice she had created.
KRAKOOM!

The wounded juga blinked its large, black eyes, then pointed its remaining hand toward the large, smoking hole that had been created in the magical ice. "Look! A way out!"
The devil sweatdropped as bits of wood and ice showered over him, well aware that their retreat had been all but stopped. Summoning his flames all around him, the demon turned to meet their pursuer, idly hoping that the floating woman would mind her own business for a little while and stay out of it.
Within seconds Rayden leapt from the treeline, delivering a downward chop that the devil swiftly dodged.

"Whoa!" Karen flinched as the ground erupted under the newcomer's blade, flinging a great cloud of dust and debris upward as the great sword struck the Earth. "Okay... so that's what they're so scared of..." she began to rub her chin thoughtfully as the man wearing the trench coat dispatched the wounded demon by grabbing the juga's head and driving it into the ground, once again kicking up a small burst of dirt and rock.

Rayden kicked away the incapacitated juga, and then turned around to concentrate once more on the devil.
Crack! He was rewarded for his trouble by a spear point striking him in the abdomen and sinking deep into his stomach, and as he clenched his teeth against the pain, he saw the devil on the other of the spear grin maliciously.
FWOOSH! Flames exploded around the spear and quickly engulfed the man stuck on the end of it, consuming Rayden entirely in a sudden firestorm that swallowed the demon knight and licked the edges of the forest. Still the devil didn't let go or try to retract his weapon, and continued to concentrate as more and more fire blasted from his weapon's head and shaft.
Karen clicked her tongue as she prepared to help the swordsman; she wasn't completely sure if the muscular, human-looking man was a friend yet - the man rather looked a bit like a raider himself, really - but until he swung at a human she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Before she charge a spell, however, a blazing hand suddenly reached out from the firestorm and struck the shaft of the spear, breaking it and two. The devil, shocked into a moment of vulnerability, didn't react in time before a second arm reached out of the flames and grabbed it by the front of its armor chestplate.
Karen blinked in shock as she watched the blazing figure drag its attacker forward into the fire he had created... and then hug him. Which, she had to admit, must have really hurt since the figure was on fire, but still didn't make much sense until a few seconds later.
Bzrt! An arc of electricity curled around the struggling pair, and the IEF spectator watched curiously as a spark of dark blue energy seemed to rise upward from the conflict before dissipating.
KRACKABOOM! A thick, black bolt of lightning jabbed downward through the point marked by the spark, and a huge wave of force blew away the flames instantly as both fighters were consumed in a sudden maelstrom of electrical plasma.
Great spurts of blood erupted from the devil's arms and torso as he screamed, and the demon barely managed to tear himself free of his opponent as ribbons of dark magic ripped and seared his flesh.
Rayden cracked open his burned eyelids (he had learned long ago to close his eyes when he was being set on fire. Smart!) and then wrenched his sword from the ground where he had lodged it. Then he swung it sidelong into the writhing devil's torso, causing a new wave of blood to burst from the demon as the great blade sunk through the brittle armor of the devil's chestplate.
Rather than withdrawing the sword for another strike, the Dread Knight drove the sword forward and then upward, lifting the devil up into the air along the edge of his blade. Then he swung Darkrune into the ground, hard. CRUNCH!

Karen winced as she watched the devil explode in a bloody shower as it was smashed between the hard-packed Earth and the swordsman's weapon, its toughened constitution no match at all for the brutal attack.
'Well, great. Now does he want to do the same thing to me, or not?' Karen thought as she stared down at the severely burned warrior with her arms crossed over her chest.
With his last victim slain, Rayden stabbed his great sword down into the corpse before turning to the next target: the only conscious thing in sight.
He was already drawing one of his bolt pistols when he realized that this target looked like a human woman, wasn't attacking him, and had a military-ish uniform on (Rayden, despite being familiar with styles of dress common to sorceresses and various warrior women, still thought they looked damned ridiculous, and the camouflage leotard was no exception).
Stopping for a moment, the demon knight tried to remember why this woman, who was likely not a bandit, would be here. Miraculously, he succeeded.
"Hey, are you one of those IEF people?" He asked bluntly, lowering his pistol.
Karen breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the man back down, and gently landed on the ground. While she expected her magic would have been up to the task of stopping him, the man had suffered a large stab wound in the stomach, and had been engulfed in flames; to that end, he seemed to have no trouble moving around, and he had only suffered several first-degree burns on his face, neck, and chest as result. She had no desire to test the full extent of such resilience.
"Yes, I'm Karen Molsk of the Israeli Expeditionary Force, Second Battalion. I'm here as part of a large-scale infiltration and assault on this raider camp," she explained diplomatically, "and... is that sword drinking that demon's blood?" She stepped back as she stared at the blade in trepidation.
"Yeah, it does that sometimes," Rayden said conversationally, turning to watch as the last scattered droplets of bright red streamed slowly through the dirt to climb up the dark blade's edge. "Well, nice ta meetcha. I've gotta go find other things to kill now." Wrenching Darkrune from the ground, Rayden quickly slipped it into the sheath on his back before turning away.
"Wait! Who are you?" Karen said irritably. "I introduced myself, now it's your turn."
The Dread Knight sighed, and turned his head slightly, hoping the annoying woman would leave him alone after this. "I'm Rayden Shikodan. Dark paladin. Third Brotherhood. You know, the destruction one? Yes, I'm a demon. Can I go now?"
Karen once again crossed her arms over her chest as her expression hardened. "No, you may not. What are you doing here? It's dangerous!"
"No, really? I'm glad you warned me!" Rayden snapped sarcastically, and Karen had the decency to blush. "I'm killing bad guys, same as you. What's the problem?"
The IEF colonel glowered at him. "The problem is that... if... you..." she trailed off as her eyes locked onto something behind the man she was talking to, and Rayden noticed that the sorceress had actually started trembling, her mouth hanging open.
Naturally, he turned around, assuming that her sudden concern was for another group of raiders that had regrouped and were counter-attacking.
Much to his disappointment, all he saw was Ranma, Kaze, and K all rushing toward him. Kaze was shouting about how he had killed some juga and was waving a pouch around in the air, while Ranma and K were arguing, as usual.

"I can't believe you left me behind again!" K shouted, flying level with Ranma's head as they rushed down the pathway between the groves of trees.
"If you keep getting on my nerves I just might bring you along next time, just for the chance that some random demon might chop you in half!" Ranma growled at the metadragon.
"You're mean!"
"Yeah, well you're stupid!"
"Shikodan! Shikodan!" Kaze cheered, tapping his staff on the ground and teleporting right in front of the demon knight a moment later. "Look! I killed the bandit leader! I did it! I killed him all by myself!"
Ranma rolled his eyes, but didn't contest the claim as he went back to arguing with K.
"That's... uh... great," Rayden mumbled; giving encouragement and congratulations was not really his function. "Which one?"
Kaze blinked. "What do you mean which one?"
"In a camp this big, there's more than one boss," Rayden explained. Then he pointed at the devil's corpse. "See? This is a leader too."
The evon remained silent for a moment, and then his brain switched gears. "My, who is this RAVISHING beauty you've stumbled upon?"
Rayden shrugged. "Eh, she's Karie something-or-other. I dunno. She stopped talking once you guys arrived, so I've almost forgotten about her."
At some point in his demon friend's sentence, Ranma had actually finished fighting with his pet dragon, and stopped to take a good look at the woman that had distracted Kaze.
He blinked in surprise. "What? K-Karen?"
"Ranma?" The IEF colonel mumbled sleepily, as if in a dream, "is that really you?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K licked his lips as Ranma carried him into the hover transport, staring longingly at the metal handrails and bulkheads as him and his friends were ushered up onto the ramp leading to the roof of the vehicle.
Despite his protests that he was fine, Kaze ushered Rayden immediately onto one of the benches and sat him down before pressing his hands against the demons face and stomach.
"I know I've mentioned this before, but your constitution is astonishing," the evon mumbled as his hands began to glow brightly. "To survive a fire blast of this degree... you know, you never mentioned precisely what kind of demon you were."
"And I don't intend to anytime soon," the Dread Knight replied icily as his wounds began to mend at an accelerated rate, shrinking back and leaving only soft, pink skin. "'Sides, only reason I did so well in the fire is 'cause Ranma gave me that weird fireproof oil I put on my coat." Though it was badly charred and broken in places, the article of clothing merely looked like a scorched cape now instead of the blackened sheet that his old coat had been reduced to under the dragon's flames.
The pigtailed man nodded absently. "I thought it would be a good idea; you seem to catch fire a lot." He had learned of the oil during his own training mastering his fire aura, and it was no exaggeration to say the substance had saved his life on several occasions. He didn't need it anymore, as his fire aura itself made him extremely heat-resistant, but he had thought to pick up the proper ingredients in Taer'Kul for precisely this kind of situation.

Ranma took a moment to take a good look at the open-topped area that served as the transport's secondary personnel carrier deck when the craft was overloaded or when there was no danger of attack en route, and then looked over the side of the hovercraft as he saw several other identical transports being loaded.
"So this is the IEF, huh?" K mused.
"Not all of it," Ranma answered. "This is just the infiltration teams they used to attack the bandits. The IEF has a regular armored assault army, with mechs and tanks and apparently even aircraft." He frowned as he rubbed his chin. "Though really, I can't imagine where the planes came from... the IEF's supposed to be a mobile force; I can't imagine they have airfields all the way out here, or carriers in the East Pacific."
"Well, you're certainly with the 'in' crowd now, aint'cha," K said slyly. "And you just happen to know some high-ranking hottie in the Jew crew, right? C'mon, spill! She an old girlfriend?"
Unbeknownst to Ranma, and to Rayden's slight annoyance, Kaze stopped his healing and leaned toward the pigtailed wanderer.
Ranma, for his part, merely opened and closed his mouth repeatedly like a fish, attempting to answer the question with a strong, solid lie, but failing utterly.
"Oh my Ancient creator," K mumbled, "you slept with her, didn't you?"
Ranma grabbed the metadragon's beak as he blushed fiercely, looking back at the ramp leading up to where him and his companions rested. "Quiet, you! Keep your damn gossip to yourself!"
"Tch!" Kaze shook his head and went back to healing. "Such a shame. Seems she's taken."
A vein popped up on Ranma's head as he looked back at the mischievous cleric. "First of all, we're not really an item or anything; so as far as I know, she's single. And second of all, she's way outta your league anyway."
Kaze twitched, then turned his attention fully toward fixing up Rayden as he mumbled to himself. "It never changes... I'm literally the will of an ancient god manifest, and the damn jocks STILL get all the girls..."

At that moment the floor beneath them began to tremble, and Ranma watched the treeline suddenly dip below his view over the edge of the transport as the hovercraft left the ground.
Moments later, the current subject of the wanderers' conversation stepped up the ramp onto the roof of the moving transport, her dark gold ponytail whipping in the wind.
Remaining silent for a long moment, she looked over at Ranma, hands clasped behind her back nervously, unsure of how to begin.
"Uh... well, we should probably introduce ourselves formally," Ranma said awkwardly in English, noting from the increasingly loud banging noise that more people were coming up to meet them.
"Yeah! That's a good idea!" Karen said quickly in the same language as two jugas stomped up from the ramp, followed closely by a curious werewolf and a very suspicious-looking man in a Lieutenant's standard uniform.
Ranma coughed into his fist, then gestured to Rayden, who was already withdrawing a bottle of brandy that had, like all his other liquor, miraculously survived the brutal ruckus his body had suffered. "This is Rayden Shikodan, a dark paladin. He's our go-to powerhouse and the group drunk. He has a dark and bloody past that's probably very dramatic and possibly even relevant, but nobody's really interested in hearing about it."
Rayden nodded to the group cordially, then took a deep swig of the brandy.
Ranma next gestured to Kaze. "This is our new guy, Kaze Toren. He's an avatar of the Order of Malakai, but frankly, he's not very good at it. Just think of him as a cleric or general spellcaster. He's also a bit of a party animal, though I have yet to see him keep alcohol in his robes. I suspect this is because he's working up the courage to ask Rayden how to do it."
Kaze stood and bowed low to the woman and her attendant demons. "I hope someday to earn the strength and prestige to deny some aspect of that brutally accurate description of my character."
Ranma jabbed a thumb at the dragon on his shoulder. "This is K. He's a dragon. Like Kaze, he's not very good at being what he is. He mostly talks a lot and eats things that are too useful to be eaten. I want to let you know now that if he starts chewing on this transport or making perverted comments, you can kick him and nobody will care."
The metadragon gave his caretaker a scathing death glare at this description, and made a mental note to eat the pigtailed man's ammunition later.
Finally, Ranma jabbed a thumb at himself. "And I'm Ranma Saotome, an all-purpose mercenary. I mostly do demon-hunting, though. And I don't lose my battles. EVER."

Frankly, the assembled demons and sorceress were shocked still at the long and extremely critical introductions, and all of them sported sweatdrops as they tried to gather their wits enough to speak.
"Uhm... wow. Okay..." Karen shook her head for a moment to clear it. "Well... let's start with Privates Teema and Yun," she gestured to the cybernetic jugas, which each bowed slightly as their names were called. "They're a pair of juga mercenaries that were working with the IEF. Over the course of their contract, most of the group they were with were killed in action, and when the remnants decided to call it quits and seek other employment, they decided to attempt to enlist instead. The cybernetic augments came soon after."
She turned toward the werewolf, who was leaning on his rifle and staring curiously at the newcomers, his tail swishing back and forth. "This is Sergeant Garron, the best sharpshooter and tracker in the IEF. He enlisted on his own to try and learn how to use firearms, apparently."
The werewolf nodded cordially in much the same manner Rayden had, still leaning on his rifle.
Karen then gestured to the man in the army uniform. "This is Lieutenant Emrey, our foremost infiltration expert and field assassin. Despite his looks, he's not actually a human-"
"We noticed," Rayden, Kaze, and Ranma all deadpanned at once, causing the rakshasa to flinch backward, startled.
K blinked. "Uh, I noticed too! Totally knew it!" 'How the hell can they tell so quickly? I mean, it must be easy for Kaze since he's a psychic, but... damn!'
Karen too looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "Right... and I'm Colonel Karen Molsk, field commander of the Second Battalion of the IEF. I'm also a Magi Excelsius prototype super-soldier, series 21. An older model, but one of the more successful ones, if I do say so myself." She finished her introduction on a particularly proud note, raising her chin up.

Rayden was the first to speak. "That's fabulous." Then he turned toward Kaze. "Would someone remind me why we're going with these people? I thought we had something important to do."
Kaze frowned at him. "Hush. We're not in a big hurry, so just shut up and do what the lady with the cleavage says!" He hissed in a low voice, perhaps under some ridiculous illusion that said lady wasn't close enough to hear him anyway.
Ranma rolled his eyes. "If we hook up with the IEF, we can hitch a ride closer to Greken's territory much faster than if we keep going by foot. It also decreases our chances of being eaten by dragons. A LOT."
"Yeah, I'll bet you plan on doing a lot of 'hooking up', huh?" K whispered, actually being quiet enough that only Ranma and Garron, with his sensitive hearing, could pick it up.
Thwack! In that respect, Garron was the only IEF soldier who wasn't surprised and confused when Ranma swatted the metadragon off of his shoulder and onto the floor.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Karen said suddenly, raising her hands up to forestall any more pointless bickering and lecherous banter. "So... none of you are going to ask why an IEF officer has a squad of demons for her retinue?"
Ranma shrugged. "Well, you didn't ask why I have a paladin from an evil cult and a priest from a good cult working with me - neither of which are human, now that you mention it - so who am I to question it? Besides, they seem like good guys. Better than mine, anyway."
Rayden gulped down the last of the bottle of brandy, then burped loudly. "Urk! Yeah, but we're stronger." As if to illustrate Ranma's point, he threw his empty bottle over the railing of the transport, not even watching as it crashed against a random tree and shattered.
"I... see." Karen massaged her head for a moment, finding Ranma's companions a bit overwhelming despite her glee at finally finding Ranma himself. "Anyway... I'm really glad I ran into you again, Ranma. Gosh! There's so much we have to catch up on!"
K raised his head up from where he had been smacked onto the floor. "Yeah, like-" Stomp!
Ranma kicked his draconic companion behind him, and smiled softly at the woman across from him. "Yeah... I'd like that."

Kaze snickered and leaned over to Rayden. "Check out the rakshasa!" He whispered, "He's bleeding jealousy like you wouldn't believe!"
Rayden chuckled, as always finding the misery of others highly entertaining. "You don't need to be a psychic to tell that. Dweeb looks like he's about to pop."
Overhearing their conversation, Garron stepped over from his fellow soldiers, casting a glance at his shapeshifting superior as the demon fumed. "So, tell me," he said quietly when he gained the two cultists' attention, "what kind of relationship does your leader have with mine?"
Kaze smirked and tapped his head. "Judging by the sheer range of emotions coming from those two, I'd say they were lovers. Very good lovers, at that."
The werewolf smirked. "Emrey has been lusting after Colonel Molsk for almost two years now, but despite making friends with non-humans, she refuses to date outside her species." His good eye twinkled slightly. "You may want to tell your friend to be careful; the Lieutenant has a vicious jealous streak."
"Cool!" Rayden said brightly. "Maybe they'll fight!"
Garron's good-natured expression vanished. "Huh? You WANT Emrey to attack your friend?"
"Really, that depends on how much we end up liking Emrey," Kaze explained. "It would be a shame if we warmed up to him, only to see him meet a foolish, bloody end."
"Although it would still be fun to watch," Rayden said, grinning.

"I can get you into Mongolia, no problem," Karen said after hearing an abbreviated explanation of Ranma's problem. "But are you sure? Ranma, I know you're strong, but... fighting dragons?"
The pigtailed man grimaced. "There's going to be as little fighting of dragons as I can manage; my target is this Greken jerk. K figures that he's actually charming the dragons somehow, so hopefully after I kill him, the lizards will split instead of trying to take revenge or anything." He grimaced despite himself. "Hopefully" was not a word that often worked out in his favor.
Karen sensed his unease, and gently squeezed his shoulder, eager to regain the familiar closeness they had lost after so many years apart. "Whatever happens, I want you to know that you can always come to me. Israel owes you a lot, and I owe you a lot more. I'll pull whatever strings I have to; the IEF will always do everything in its power to assist you."
Ranma blushed despite himself. "Thanks Karen. That means a lot to me."
The sorceress nodded happily, though Ranma noticed that she didn't let go of his shoulder. "Hey, why don't we catch up tonight at dinner? We'll eat in my quarters! Just you and me!"
"Uh... you and me?" Ranma asked a bit nervously. "Could Rayden come? I'm kinda afraid to leave him alone for... uh..." he gulped. "Karen? Why is my arm getting really cold?"
Karen blinked innocently. "I have no idea, Ranma. Now, what was that about Rayden?"
"I was just saying that Rayden's an adult demon and can get his own damn dinner without me to hold his hand," Ranma said quickly, proving that he wasn't nearly as slow as so many of his acquaintances claimed. Karen immediately let go of his shoulder, her face beaming.
"Perfect! We'll have baked salmon, and-" the IEF colonel was cut off suddenly as her first subordinate interrupted her from behind.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible tonight," Emrey said sharply as he glowered at the pigtailed man. He had shifted back into his "natural" form, which had the shape of a human, but with dark blue reptilian scales over his skin, and curved, pointed ears. His eyes glowed with unearthly white light, which added significantly to power of his unsettling gaze; or would have, surely, had Ranma been paying any attention to him.
The rakshasa twitched as Karen glared at him and Ranma stared at something off in the distance. "You see, COLONEL Molsk must submit a complete report with General Kitinski regarding the assault and also launch an investigation as to the location of the remnants YOU scattered when you attacked." He smirked. "Oh, yes! And THEN there's the report detailing exactly who you are, why you interfered, and why we should redirect our resources to help you."

"Okay, I've decided I don't like him now," Kaze said as he eavesdropped on the conversation with the others.
Rayden chuckled. "It's going to be SO cool when Ranma kicks his ass."
Teema cocked its head to one side. "Shlek naw yuh yi?"
Rayden blinked. "Tlei yuh? Nui wag uin plssgawah."
"You speak that infernal language?" Kaze asked, amazed.
"Yes, but the infernal's language is Tarrithol, not Gaerieth," Rayden explained to the complete confusion of the evon.
"Stupid n00b," Yun murmured in Gaerieth, chuckling.

Karen growled at her subordinate, rounding on the rakshasa viciously. "Lieutenant Emrey, it's not your place to decide which reports I have to file and when. If you wish to become involved in those procedures, I'll happily delegate those tasks to you to free up my schedule."
Emrey winced. "But General Kitinski-"
"Can speak for herself, or transfer orders through her aides. I will not have my own subordinates assign tasks to me," the sorceress growled, causing the demon to flinch and shrink back a bit.
It looked like she was going to continue, but she stopped when Ranma tapped her on the shoulder. "Hm?"
Ranma had a very serious expression on his face as he pointed to a large shape off in the distance. It appeared past the point at which the forest gave way to burnt ashlands, and hung on the horizon as a very prominent beige, oval-shaped object. "What IS that? It must be gigantic!"
Emrey snorted, and Karen smirked. "THAT is the heart of the IEF, Ranma. The home base of a constantly mobile modern military force, consisting of infantry battalions, armored brigades, and all varieties of air support. Haven't you ever wondered how a military strike force as strong as the IEF could travel around at its leisure in the wastes, miles from civilization, without once returning home for a full year since its deployment?"
The pigtailed man blinked and scratched his head, not being nearly as familiar with large-scale military tactics as the career soldier. "Well... I heard they had some kinda high-tech ship or something. Maybe a carrier?"
Karen nodded. "Yes, you could think of it as a carrier."
"But... it's out in the middle of nowhere! Shouldn't it be, you know, in the ocean or something?"
Emrey murmured something under his breath, and Ranma noticed that Karen glared at the demon before she answered. "The IEF is based on the dreadnaught-class hovercraft Messiah, also known as the Sandship Epsilon."
Ranma's eyes bugged out, and he turned back around to stare at the shape. "A hovercraft! There's no way! That thing's almost as big as a football field!"
"It's a bit bigger than a football field," the colonel said proudly. "And really, it's a bit of a mystery, too. I don't have the security clearance, so I don't know exactly where the Messiah came from, but rumors and basic engineering knowledge suggests that Israel found it rather than built it. It's our mobile base, and our home."
"Wow... so this is what they were working on back when... er..." Ranma trailed off as he remembered that the particular information from THAT mission had been declared secret, and that he was in the presence of someone who would be very interested in that information.
Karen looked startled. "What? Do you know something about it?"
"No, no! It's just... um..." Ranma bigsweated as he looked around, searching for a method of distraction. "Hey, where's K?"
"Hm? The metal dragon?" Karen looked around on the floor of the ship, and then turned around. "I don't know... wasn't he just here?"
Emrey frowned as he fixed his eyes on a particular spot on the transport roof. "Strange... how did maintenance miss a hole in the roof?" he muttered.
Ranma twitched as he stared at the small circle that had been chewed out of the solid steel plating of the transport. "This... is not good."
Bam! FSSSSST! The hovercraft began to shake as loud, alarming noises came from the section of the vehicle that housed its powerful engines and extremely important power plant.
"Hey! The regulator! What're you doing with the regulatorA!" A voice shouted from below, much to the unease of those above.
"What the hell? Is it some sort of scavenger demon?"
"NO! Get away from that! Back off!" Clang! Bang!

More popping noises and high-pressure whistling sounds came from the hovercraft's precious machinery, and Ranma hung his head as his face darkened.
"DAMN IT, K!"

End Chapter 11