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The sound continued to grow until it was like thunder on earth, and a horrible shape ripped out of the snowstorm ahead, a massive, monstrous worm with a Drakkaren's skull on the front of it, a thousand too-short, triangular legs twitching back and forth as it shot over the earth, the flying abomination heading straight for Zerrex with its jaws wide and a mutant hiss echoing from its grey, dead jaws: the moment before it could strike, however, Zerrex smashed the creature under the jawbone and sent it flying into the sky with a shriek of outrage and pain, the metallic body twisting and convulsing on itself as it turned towards the right and crashed into the ground in front of Killer and Alexis, rapidly collapsing into its own body... and then standing as the Black Killer, looking at him with a cruel grin as he cocked his head and wiped away a bit of blood from a long slash down his muzzle, the wound Killer had inflicted on his chest already faded into a scar. "You disgusting rebels don't know when to give up."

"The war's over, and you lost." Killer said coldly, and then he grinned as the creature snorted, looking at them both with distaste as Alexis's grin grew wider and her eyes glinted dangerously. "Besides, there's no way you can beat both me and Alexis at once."

"You're better to just fuck off and die right now, asshole." The female added cockily, raising the unsheathed Blue Vixen: the massive curved blade gleamed even in the snowstorm, and the serration over the bottom of the blade made it look all the more threatening, without even glancing upwards to the barrel of the .45 submachine gun sticking out above the flat of the blade from the enlarged handle, made to look almost small compared to the rest of the sword that she held with such ease. "It's stupid to challenge one of us alone; it's suicide to challenge us both at once."

"We'll see about that." The creature snorted, then it stepped backwards and grinned coldly, increasing in size as it lost the resemblance to Killer, the head becoming draconic and the tail like that of a great scorpion's, as both forearms turned into deadly, razor sharp blades. "Why don't you go ahead and show me just how tough you are?"

Meanwhile, another opponent had leapt on top of the working transport, the Drakkai rolling his shoulders as he grinned at Cindy, watching as she uselessly fired into a shield of glowing energy surrounding him and deflecting every bullet. He laughed at her useless attempts, then leapt down to face her head-on, eyes burning as he glanced from her to Mahihko, who was trembling at the sight of him: he was clad in a full uniform, but cables extended from his biceps, hips, and either side of his chest, and attached into some sort of flat, unmarked black metal rectangle built into his back, and there was a computer system attached to his right arm from which thinner cables also fed. His eyes literally glowed as the shield vanished, and then he held up his left hand, and electricity crackled over it as his eyes settled on Cindy with terrible cruelty. "I can kill you... or I can take you prisoner and make you wish you were dead, bitch."

"Come and try it." Cindy snorted, her eyes cool and her body ready as she tossed her assault rifle aside, and Mahihko backed up a few steps nervously before his eyes widened as the Toxin soldier suddenly sprinted to the side and then skidded to a halt behind him, reaching down with a laugh to try and grab him, and Mahihko winced as he barely ducked under the almost-playful hand.

Before the soldier could back off, despite his incredible speed, Cindy's fist smashed into his muzzle and sent him flying backwards, only to crash into the snow and skid another ten feet, his jaw broken and eyes filled with shock, blood leaking from his maw as Cindy slowly drew back into a ready pose, one arm out and the other drawn slightly back, her eyes still cool and ready, unfettered by what had happened â€" unlike Mahihko, who had ducked behind her and was shivering a bit.

He tried to curse, but only blood and gargles came out; a moment later, he reached up, snapping his jaw back into its socket and then snarling and wincing at the same time as he hit a button on his keypad, and electricity travelled over his body as the black cables glowed white, a terrible hum filling the air as his body increased in size to the point that his clothes tore, his blue irises lost in the glow coming from his eyes as he rumbled disgustedly: "Then you better hope I kill you, you bitch... for your sake."

On the other side of the transport, Marina was covering Cherry with her telekinetic powers as the Drakkaren engaged another member of the group, an enormous male Dragokkaren with a pair of sawblades buzzing away on each forearm â€" at the same time, three other blades were hurtling through the air at high velocity, snapping in towards the hermaphroditic female every few moments only to be repelled or thrown into the snow by Marina's power, but they recovered their powers quickly and rebounded towards Cherry as if dragged by a magnet after a minute at the most.

Cherry, on the other hand, was cackling as she easily ducked swings from the twenty-five foot behemoth and retaliated with lashes from her whip and vicious kicks to his body, knocking the giant staggering, his plain black uniform already torn to shreds and his body bleeding heavily as he panted hard, his eyes bulging before he let out a cry as a lash from Cherry's whip shattered the visor that extended over one eye and ripped a swathe out of his cheek and muzzle, reaching up to cover his face as Cherry finally flipped gracefully backwards, and all three sawblades headed for her back snapped into the chest of the Dragokkaren, sending him hurtling a short distance away before he crashed to the snow in a bloody mess as the blades ceased to rotate, his last expression one of intense agony. Cherry snorted quietly, then she cracked her whip and gazed ahead with a snarl as Marina walked up behind her, panting quietly. "Come on, Bebop, we gotta get to Zer."

"I just need to recover my breath." Marina kneeled down, closing her eyes and rubbing at her forehead: she was developing a headache from overuse of her powers, and it meant that her telepathy was beginning to go haywire, picking up on thoughts from everyone nearby â€" and the thoughts and mental functions of the dying were one of the most painful things in the world to experience. "Just... go on..."

Cherry shook her head and kneeled by her, her expression serious before she closed her eyes and wrapped an arm around Marina, pulling her close and murmuring to her quietly, and at first she felt a blast of rage coming off the female... but soon enough the youngest daughter of the Narrius family began to relax and calm down, as Cherry's other strange ability rolled into play, and an image of the world around them came into view, looking at her own back and the area surrounding her: but Third Person had saved her ass in a lot of situations and made for excellent passive security while she was trying to calm down a crazy psychic. Fuck, when I can start feeling her powers going nuts, then I know she's strained herself...

On the other side of the battleground, Alexis felt a twinge of the rage Marina experienced, and a snarl suddenly crossed her features as she roared and knocked away a bladed arm of the creature they were fighting, at the same time opening fire with the submachine gun and using her own strange telekinetic abilities to guide every bullet into the face of the mechanical abomination, causing it to shriek and draw back before she lunged forwards and stabbed Blue Vixen through the beast's heart. It squealed in agony, flailing as Killer looked at his wife with shock for a moment... then grunted and stepped forwards as he spun around in a full circle and neatly lopped off the head of the mechanical beast, and the terrible thing exploded in a blast of tiny grey squares, knocking them both flying backwards, the liger catching Alexis on his powerful chest as they both panted quietly, and then Killer muttered: "What, did he insult you somehow?"

"I just wanted it dead." Alexis responded stubbornly, then she looked up at him with a grin, adding mildly: "And you stole that kill from me. So I think you owe me a little something for that, big boy..."

"Oh, fuck off..." a ragged voice spoke, and both looked up in disbelief as the body of the half-reptile slowly straightened from the wreckage, before the grey squares quickly began to gather from the ground around it to once more form the strange spinning gear behind it, the creature looking at them somehow with disgust as it panted hard, blood dripping from the bottom of its open shell, the wires that made up its face covered in tears that were slowly sewing themselves closed. Then it straightened somehow in the air, and held out both arms as tiny drills and other tools extended from the hollow inside its body, beginning to quickly repair the larger damages to the creature as the gear behind it began to spin rapidly. "If you aren't fans of my theater performances, then I'll just start fighting you with full force..."

A moment later, a chunk of grey debris flew at the pair, and Alexis snarled, narrowing her eyes and bowing her head forwards slightly to send the piece of steel flying back at the being, but it quickly skewed out of the way and instead simply joined back into the spinning gear before more pieces of metal began flying at the pair. Immediately, Alexis leapt to one side and Killer rolled to the other, blocking several chunks of grey metal with Wyvern as Alexis neatly dodged the ones fired at her, both of them backing quickly away as the metal turned to sludge on contact and quickly slid its way back to its master.

In the middle of the battleground, Cindy winced as a punch caught her in the shoulder, gritting her teeth and quickly leaping away: the real pain, however, came from the electrical shock it carried, making her body feel tired as she breathed hard... but on the other hand, the Toxin soldier wasn't doing much better, panting hard himself and covered in bruises from Cindy's small but deadly fists. Electricity crackled over his body as he gamely rose his fists again and charged forwards, but at the last moment died out... but it was just enough time for Cindy to turn her dodge into a grab, and she snagged the palm strike with one of her own hands and then twisted his arm viciously around before pushing forwards and up.

He howled as his elbow snapped out of place, his eyes bulging in agony... and then Cindy kicked him hard in the stomach with enough force to send him staggering backwards before she followed up with an elegant hook kick that cracked his cheekbone and sent him spinning through the air to crash into the ground on his front. He groaned as the glowing light flickered out of his eyes, his musculature slowly deflating as Cindy stepped on his keypad and ground her heel against it, effectively pinning his right arm as Mahihko stepped up in front of him with his gun cocked, looking up at Cindy adoringly as she smiled softly to him in return.

Zerrex, meanwhile, was charging across the snowfields towards Ill, who was running towards him now, laughing as he fired off the occasional shot with his plasma rifle, forcing the Drakkaren to leap to the side occasionally. As they drew closer now, though, Ill leapt into the air and fired straight down, Zerrex barely leaping backwards in time to avoid the attack before responding by drawing out a handgun and firing into the air at the Dragokkaren.

Ill didn't even need to dodge, however, the bullets going wild as he flew over the reptile's head before landing on his feet and spinning around to try and snap him across the face with the barrel of the rifle, but then his eyes widened in shock as Zerrex blocked the attack with the barrel of his magnum before raising a foot and kicking the Dragokkaren hard in the stomach, sending him staggering backwards before he charged forwards and literally ran up the creature's huge body, causing him to roar in pain at every hard stomp of the reptile's booted feet before he kicked off his head and flipped quickly to stab Blackheart hard downwards.

Ill had already quickly retreated, however, snarling as he grabbed at the side of the rifle, but the belt was empty, and Zerrex grinned as he ran forwards, swinging hard with the huge sword and forcing Ill to block each strike over and over again with the huge rifle, grunting at the devastating force behind every one of the Drakkaren's attacks before he finally staggered backwards, one hand on the stock of the rifle and the other grasping the body high up near the long barrel as Zerrex swung mightily downwards, sword biting deep into the body of the massive weapon... and then cutting the huge plasma rifle clean in half, Ill leaping backwards with a hiss and tossing the useless lower half away, other hand holding the upper body by the barrel like a club.

He ran forwards as Zerrex did the same, and this time Ill sidestepped a hard cut from the massive sword before he slammed the Drakkaren in the face with the club of broken gun, sending Zerrex flying backwards to land heavily on his back, skidding a few feet through the snow with a grunt of pain. Immediately, he rolled backwards, but he only landed with a loud flump in the snow instead of skidding onto his feet, flailing uselessly as the white powder filled his nose and slid into every crevice it could find, before he finally shoved himself up off the ground... only to meet a hard swing from his own sword, letting out a sharp cry of pain as it tore through his right side and dug a thin gash along his arm, staggering away with a snarl as Ill grinned cruelly at him. "You broke my favorite rifle, Lord Zerrex! How would you feel if I cut you and all your kin into halves?"

The huge reptile stepped forwards, stabbing almost playfully with Blackheart, forcing Zerrex to leap backwards with every swing even as he felt his very blood freezing in the chill air, the Drakkaren snarling before he kicked the flat of the huge blade hard... but Ill only responded by cocking the sword back and swinging outwards with a roar of exertion, almost making good on his threat to halve the reptile and missing by a mere inch as the smaller lizard threw himself backwards. He panted hard as he leaned forwards, air wheezing in and out of his lungs, glaring furiously at the giant.

Zerrex is in trouble... A pause, and then Killer glanced over to Alexis, before smiling slightly as she easily slid under another barrage of metallic fragments to land a hard slash-kick combo against the armored shell of the reptile machine, causing to retreat hastily with a screech of indignation before it shifted one of its arms into a massive spike and stabbed uselessly towards Alexis, only to be once more easily evaded. But Alexis obviously isn't. "I'll be right back... I've got a score to settle with a friend ahead."

"Yeah, heave fun." Alexis said with a grin, and she blew him a kiss before holding out her free hand and concentrating with a snarl, her eyes glinting as she reflected the spikes the metallic creature generated and fired at her back into it, knocking it flat with a scream of protest as she took the moment to reload her sword-gun. She tossed a look over to her husband as he sprinted past them both and easily leapt over a lashing whip of cable the creature sent out from its position on the ground, and Alexis shouted: "Hey! You're fighting me, asshole!"

"Fine..." Grey scales covered the beast for a moment, and then it stood up, once more in the form of a Black Killer holding a plain black longsword, his eyes glinting red holes, but his body was dotted with wounds here and there that were sluggishly bleeding red and black. "I can play some more with you, then."

"Play or fight, it seems to come down to the same worthless shit." Alexis replied patronizingly, tilting her head back with a snort, then she flicked Blue Vixen and straightened a bit before holding the sword out towards the monster. "Even if you're in the same form as my husband, I'm sure if I pull those pants down I'll see no balls and no cock. Let's just get this over with."

As the not-Killer lunged forwards, intent on battle, the real Killer was intent on a different opponent, his eyes widening as he watched Ill knock Zerrex flat on his back and stab viciously downwards... but Zerrex caught the flat of the blade between his hands, grunting as he forced it backwards before the sword suddenly glowed blue... and a moment later, Ill leapt backwards with his hands smoking, howling in pain and snarling in fury before he glanced to the side as Killer leapt forwards with a roar and a hard swing of his sword.

The Unseen seemed to all but vanish, though... and then Killer felt one of his ankles kicked out from beneath him, the liger barely managing to get a paw out and turn the fall into a half-spring, half-roll forwards to a kneel as he looked over his shoulder in shock at the Dragokkaren, who stood in the middle of the liger and Drakkaren. Zerrex had already drawn far back, and now he straightened... and the two traded nods before charging forwards, but the Unseen only grinned as they both sprinted towards him at full speed.

His robotic arm snapped up, and without bothering to raise his head, he dropped his metal hand to a limp position and it dropped out of place to reveal the barrel of some sort of gun: Killer's eyes widened, and then it fired what felt like buckshot into him, making him grunt and double forwards a bit, barely losing place, before he realized that the pellets had attached themselves to him somehow... and there was the sizzle of electricity before they exploded with enough force to send him flying away with a roar of pain, Wyvern flying from his grasp and spinning through the air.

Zerrex growled deep in his throat as he drew in close, swinging in hard as he reached the Unseen's other side... but Ill spun around, his metal hand snapping upwards this time and a blade almost a meter long snapping out of his wrist, and this collided with the sword in an easy parrying motion, shoving Blackheart to the side before his foot slammed into Zerrex's kidney and sent him skidding away with a groan of agony, pain shooting through his body.

Ill leapt forwards to finish the Drakkaren off, arm raised and ready to deliver a finishing stab, but he halted in midair, his body twisting in a psychic grip as he looked to the side in shock, and Cherry grinned sharkishly at him before Ill howled in agony as a massive explosion suddenly generated in thin air, black lightning and a dark cloud of smoke filling the air around the Dragokkaren before he was hurtled through the sky to crash to the ground in a smoldering heap some twenty feet away, and a moment later Cherry fell to her knees with a moan of agony, holding her skull as blood dripped out of her nose from the exertion.

Killer blinked stupidly as he sat up, rubbing at his scorched body as Zerrex groaned, halfheartedly climbing to his feet as he rubbed at his side and looking over at Cherry with a wince, making a bit of a face. "You... showoff..."

"Fuck... you..." Cherry panted in return, rubbing slowly at her throbbing head... and then all three looked up in shock as Ill slowly climbed to his feet, panting hard and looking at them with an expression of fury on his blindfolded face, before he whistled a short tune and turned around, fleeing in a staggering pace. Immediately, the three took up on his feet... but a moment later, a floating, metallic bat flew by and Ill leapt up to snag one of its feet, flying high into the snowstorm even as Alexis fired a few shots into the blizzard, looking irritated but otherwise unharmed.

The other three looked at her dumbly, and she shrugged a bit, still gazing after the bat with an almost longing expression. "It wasn't that I couldn't take him on... it was that I couldn't fucking kill him. I stabbed him everywhere I could think and all I got where more screams and more blood until-" A pause as she glanced over at them, then she blinked at their haggard looks and asked mildly: "What the fuck kind of party were you having over here?"

"Fuck you." Cherry managed out again, then she fell flat on her face before holding up a hand, mumbling: "I need to retain my dignity and independence. No one help me up."

"You have no dignity. But it looks nice down there. I think I'll join you." Zerrex mumbled, then he fell backwards on his ass with a groan, rubbing at the various wounds on his body as Cindy and Mahihko slowly approached, followed by one of the snow transports... and then Zerrex paused as his groggy eyes settled on the miserable-looking Toxin soldier they had in tow. "Hey, look, we get a consolation prize."

Cherry mumbled something from the snow, then she slowly rose her snow-covered face to grumble: "I killed my soldier too."

"With my help." Marina said mildly, walking in and sitting down beside her oldest sister, watching with something like envy as Cindy produced a medical kit from the side pack she wore and went about the business of sewing up Zerrex's visible wounds, ignoring his denials.

As the transport pulled up, three soldiers piled out and went over to conference with Killer, looking at him with amazement as Alexis picked pieces of broken metal out of his fur and teased him at the same time, while every so often sneaking a look over the Drakkaren's family. Mahihko did his best to stay in the background, keeping the prisoner on his knees and his grip tight on his undamaged arm, but the Toxin member remained eerily quiet and didn't bother fighting, only continuing to look depressed.

After a few minutes, though, Cherry pulled herself out of the snow and wiped the dried blood from her nose, taking a few handfuls of snow to swish around her mouth and spitting out red gunk, before obscenely clearing her throat and coughing a few times. Zerrex made a face at her, rubbing at the stitches on his arm as Cindy politely asked if Killer or Alexis needed any medical care, but they both shook their heads and she nodded a bit, turning instead to check Cherry's vision â€" punching her lightly on the nose when she refused to cooperate and making her eyes water, therefore getting her attention long enough to do a few quick tests â€" and then looking at Marina before finally making her way to the prisoner.

All eyes settled on this, but he refused to talk at all... and when Zerrex glanced at Marina, she shook her head slowly, murmuring softly: "Everyone's thoughts are too loud... I need to calm down a bit more first, recover a bit. Maybe half an hour... and besides, he's had training and has some sort of microchip in his brain that's interfering with my telepathy."

"Well, it's no use freezing out here..." Killer shook his head slowly, then he looked over the group and nodded a bit. "My soldiers have agreed to stay here, though, wait for an evac team, and we can take the working transport and continue to trail them... maybe we can catch up with Ill and his surviving companion before they have a chance to reach their base."

"That'd be a stroke of luck." Zerrex nodded a bit, making a face, but straightening and heading for the transport, despite the fact he could feel several gazes settle on him. He hated how pronounced his limp was... but despite the pain in his leg, he still managed to climb into the cabin without a problem, before glancing to the side as Cherry looked up at from outside.

They half-glared at each other for a few moments, challenging each other to say something about the other's pushing of the limits... and then Cherry's gaze softened as she motioned with her head to the front. "I'm going to drive and Mahihko's going to ride shotgun. Don't let the dude kill himself without my awesomeness around, got that?"

"Don't crash the transport." Zerrex responded mildly, and Cherry stuck out her tongue at him and then pranced around to the front of the vehicle as the others loaded into the transport, Killer and Alexis sitting near the front and sandwiching the prisoner awkwardly between them, the girls forming a line on the other side with Marina at the back of the group. Zerrex closed the doors, then he coughed a bit as he sat at the edge of the bench, glancing over at the prisoner and patting his knees as he asked mildly: "So uh... what do you think of the weather around here."

Killer looked over the Toxin soldier's head with disbelief, and Cindy dropped her head in a hand as the soldier slowly raised his head, then gave Zerrex a flat look. The Drakkaren shrugged mildly, blushing a bit and feeling lame, before he said plainly: "Look. We want information. And since this is a silent operation, you're not even a POW by this world's standards. Besides, Marina can either tear your brain apart or we can apply some pressure in other ways, but I'd really rather not."

"Traitor scum." The soldier spat, then he gave the Drakkaren a look of absolute loathing. "Lord Zerrex, son of the Patriarch, associating with the slime of the world who defied Hez'Ranna... you'll get nothing out of me." A pause as he grunted, then grinned coldly. "And you know what? My computer has a self-destruct timer on it and-"

"Let's not be cliché here." Zerrex muttered under his breath, as Killer's eyes widened, but the Drakkaren shook his head even before anyone could act and instead jerked on the soldier's arm, causing him to howl in pain. "Suicide bombers don't quietly sit around in the center of a group and bide their time for the right moment, nor do they put up with their enemies jerking on their broken limbs. You just want to get out of the car so you can cry home to mommy."

"Don't say anything about my mother! You're the son of a whore here!" snarled the Toxin member, and Zerrex's eyes narrowed as the soldier continued mirthlessly: "Oh yes, before we were deployed we heard all about your heritage... what was your mother's name again, some pornographic thing?"

Zerrex made a face, holding in his anger before pausing and realizing the anger wasn't his... and then he glanced across at Marina before wincing as he saw the expression on her face, then his eyes widened as she tilted her head towards the doors. "Marina, don't!"

A moment later, however, the prisoner flew across his lap and crashed through the double doors into the snow with a shriek, before he immediately barreled off into the blizzard, and Zerrex cursed under his breath before his eyes widened as both Alexis and Killer leapt out after him, the transport grinding to a halt as Cherry leaned out the door and Zerrex shouted: "Hey, what are you two doing?"

"We can survive out here no matter how bad the storm gets... you guys are better to keep on going and we'll catch up with you later!" Killer responded, shaking his head quickly and then grinning slightly as he patted his massive assault rifle. "Just don't lose my sword, got it? Alexis and I can follow this asshole no problem with the scanners on our visors... besides, I want to see where he goes and what he does, and if they're actually stupid enough to try blowing themselves up."

Zerrex made a face, but Cherry shrugged and called: "Well, that's enough for me! Onwards we go!" A moment later, and they were moving again as Killer vanished into the blizzard behind Alexis, and Zerrex resignedly leaned out and grabbed the doors of the transport, almost toppling himself for a moment and then quickly jerking the doors closed.

It left him alone with an embarrassed Marina and a negative-looking Cindy... whereas in the front cabin, Mahihko was quietly polishing his handgun as Cherry idly checked radar readouts and put her fingers on switches here and there, using her precognitive abilities to predict exactly what they did in case of emergency. She waited for a few moments in silence, then finally glanced to the side and said mildly: "So what's up with you, wolf? You're quieter than ever since we came up here... by now I'd expect at least one or two smartass remarks, at least when Marina and the two big cats aren't around."

"I dunno..." Mahihko shook his head a bit, looking up embarrassedly and glancing out the window, murmuring softly: "It's this whole thing, this whole operation. I don't like it, I don't like where we're going, and I really don't like how badly Zer's body is holding up..." A look down as he added quietly: "Look at us, Cherry. Our bodies are holding up better than his, and think of everything you and especially me have done wrong with our lives."

Cherry nodded slowly at this, making a face as she looked out the front window, idly adjusting their course as she glanced at the GPS system on the side panel of the transport: she knew for a fact that the enemy base was at location 10.2, 5.5 on the map, so they no longer had to worry about tracking the enemy by some special means... but at the same time, she knew it was a bit of a risk â€" after all, they may have very well changed locations or bases by now. For the moment, however, Mahihko's voice was drowning out whatever worries she might have as guilt flickered through her body. "That's because everyone else got replacements, whereas Zerrex is stuck in the same old body he's always had. I mean, I don't see him giving up anytime soon or ever, no, but he is old now... and hell, even I feel my age even if my body's way better off." Cherry made a face, shaking her head slowly.

"This feels so wrong, I guess is what I'm trying to say." she said after a moment, patting a beat against the steering wheel before sighing a bit. "I mean, shit. Things were never supposed to end like this, y'know? The Great War was supposed to be over and it was supposed to be happily ever after or some fuckin' thing like that, not... constantly continuing to track down these freak sideshows and all that junk. And like, it's not like we're the most stable family, either. Fuck, dude, me and you don't got no place being here sometimes."

"I guess that's sorta true... but he loves you, Cherry, even if you two never show much romance." Mahihko said softly, smiling a bit before Cherry tossed him a burning look, but the wolf only blushed and lowered his head, clasping his hands as he stuttered: "I... you know, I mean, me... I'm just bad memories."

"You aren't just bad memories, you little slut." Cherry said mildly, idly adjusting their course around a large rock and glancing over at him again before grinning slightly and shaking her head slowly. "You're like the rest of us, but not... you're Tinny's replacement, sorta, ‘cept we can actually get you to fuck around with your dick-stick now and then." A pause, then she frowned before glancing at the GPS and slowing the transport, gazing out into the swirling snows as she cursed quietly under her breath.

Mahihko frowned a bit and looked out the front window, before his breath caught in his throat, shaking his head slowly at the sight of several broken timbers standing mute sentinel before the ruins of what looked like a road... and from them slowly swung the long-dead bodies of whatever poor villagers had once lived here, their corpses whipped and twisting in the wind, all of them naked and hanging in pieces. As his eyes lingered on this, Cherry knocked three times on the back wall of the transport before slowly guiding the truck forwards and around the totem, and onto the single road that had once run through a village composed mainly of broken corpses and charred ruins.

A crackle, and then Zerrex's voice spoke over an intercom, asking softly: "Is this the closest village towards the base, one of the places that we got wind of an attack from?"

Cherry frowned a bit, glancing at the GPS, then she slowly shook her head before muttering under her breath and searching for some sort of talk button, then pressing it as she said clearly: "I don't think so... see the structure of the buildings? This looks like it was some sort of mining operation that they burnt down... I think we might've rolled right past one of the villages. It makes sense now why they attacked, though... they wanted to cover up the mess they'd made before we got wind of it."

"I don't see why." The sense that Zerrex was shaking his head slowly. "They seemed like showboaters... Cherry, Mahihko, is there anything weird about this area that you can see through the windows? I can't get any visual on the camera systems, the snow's blowing too thick."

"I can see mostly shapes and the occasional blur of color here and there, but that's about it. Snow's thicker than fuckin' semen." Cherry said drolly, then she glanced at Mahihko before grinning a bit and shoving him towards the door. "Get out there, faggot, and go find me a dead baby or something. I want a closer look at what these fuckers were doing."

"Cherry!" Mahihko squawked in protest, then he winced as Cherry stopped the transport and shook a fist at him threatening, before sulking and sighing as he opened the door and slid out into the snowstorm, slamming it shut behind him and hugging himself at the icy cold. This wasn't anything unusual, though, in broad strokes: he was always the messenger boy or the scout, since he was so small and could usually wiggle through an area undetected. He made a face nonetheless at the temperature, then plodded forwards, for once hating that his paws were bare. Ugh, be a big boy, Mahihko...

He made his way in a fairly straight line towards the nearest dilapidated log structure, then he wedged himself through a broken door and winced as he looked around the inside of the building, shuffling his paws against the cold concrete floor. The faint light shining in from the half-collapsed ceiling revealed strange machinery and broken-down computer systems, along with some enormous generator sitting in the corner, a few strange lights flickering over a broken screen on it as Mahihko approached this curiously.

"Indefinite standby until shock boot process is completed from tertiary generator systems... unable to complete loading process..." Mahihko mumbled, then he made a bit of a face before rubbing his hands together slowly as he spotted a pair of large, strangely-shaped handles with ‘Emergency Supply Conduit' written on a rusted sign above it. "Well... no time like the present."

The wolf took a deep breath as he reached hesitantly forwards, grasping the handles and closing his eyes, then concentrating as the girls whom he thought of as his sisters and the Drakkaren who he saw as his adored father had taught him, and he attempted to push forwards with his own supernatural power: for a moment, nothing happened, and then electricity shot down his arms, white sparks arcing over the generator as he made a face at the intense heat on his hands before he let go and stumbled backwards, yelping a bit as some of the energy flowed backwards onto his own body and an arc of lighting shot through him and into the ceiling, causing the roof to spark and creak loudly.

He covered his head as dust filtered down, panting hard for a few moments as he clenched his eyes shut, then he winced and slowly dropped his hands, peering around the area as the generator roared into life and strange letters and numbers began to flow over the screen, then he blinked stupidly a few times as it beeped and the computer systems around the room flickered on as well. A moment later, he smiled hesitantly, then he approached one of the ancient-looking computers, wiping dust off the keyboard before trying a few basic commands and finally bringing up a plain desktop.

The wolf mused a bit as he glanced through the hard drive for any important files, bringing up pictures of the arctic tundra and making a face before shaking his head slowly as he failed to find anything interesting: just information on minerals and other nonsense. He sighed a bit, then paused as he tried the next computer in line and once more was rewarded with nothing.

"Hurry the hell up!" Cherry's voice yelled over a loudspeaker, and Mahihko winced as dust floated down from the ceiling before he quickly scoured the rest of the room, finally settling on grabbing a few strange rocks he found near the computer terminals and squeezing his way out of the mining research station and back into the snowstorm.

The wolf staggered his way through the deep snow, making a face as he waded back towards the silhouette of the transport station and yanking the door open, almost throwing himself inside and his legs kicking at the air as he wiggled back onto his seat with the rocks still cradled against his body. A cough, and then he shook himself quickly off, snow falling from his body as he shut the door and blushed at Cherry's dry stare. "Dude, rocks?"

"Nothing else was there... it was just some mining station." Mahihko mumbled embarrassedly, and then he offered one to the muscular hermaphrodite as she slowly started the transport forwards once more. She made a face before taking it, then peering over it and frowning a bit at the clear fragments in the obsidian stone.

"There must be a volcano or something hidden away here." she said finally, then tossed the stone aside, shaking her head slowly with a look of disgust out the front window. "Motherfuckers must've trashed the research outpost for supplies and shit... what utter scum. I'm going to beat the ass in of that Ill Weather shithead."

For a few hours, they travelled in relative quiet, Cherry and Mahihko talking a bit in the front and Zerrex half-napping, in the back as Marina stared at him with adoration and Cindy peacefully meditating. The male Drakkaren, however, was resting fitfully, even as he felt his energy returning and his body healing as they moved rapidly towards the goal... and then he opened his emerald eyes, sitting up and rolling his stiff shoulders with a grunt as he felt the transport slowing down.

They came to a halt, and Marina nodded to the Drakkaren, her eyes telling him everything he needed to know as he picked up Blackheart from where it sat on the floor and kicked open the doors, leaping out and landing easily on his feet as he glanced over his shoulder to Cindy and Marina, the latter armed with her long staff and the former carrying an assault rifle in one hand and Cherry's bolt-action in the other: a moment later, she tossed this to the hermaphroditic female as she came around from the front of the transport, and finally they were joined at the back of the truck as Mahihko came around last, the wolf grabbing a rifle from inside the cabin before closing the doors and kneeling a circle with the others as Zerrex looked back and forth, saying quietly: "They know we're here, they're prepared for us, and undoubtedly they'll be sending an assault party soon. On the other hand, we've crushed out most of Toxin now and Ill Weather obviously wants to engage us himself."

"I say we bust in the front on full-auto, then... we've tackled harder fights than this." Cherry grunted, then she made a face as Zerrex shook his head slowly. "Boss, you said so yourself-"

"We don't know where Killer or Alexis are... they could already be at the facility, or they could be making their way through the snow towards us still." Zerrex said softly. "If we attack full out and draw out a massive army force on our heads, numbers will drown us, and those two will be the collateral damage when they come in and meet a full army line instead of a few battle squads.

"The facility is shaped like a cross, with the northern end extending into the mountainous terrain... but there's a secondary warehouse building that I'll enter through... while Mahihko and Marina create a diversion to the west of the building." A bit of a smile as Cherry looked at him with surprise. "I'll sneak around and make my way to the roof of the East Branch of the facility, and cut a hole for Cherry and Cindy to come in through. No one will have to do too much heavy lifting this way, and Cherry should be able to ensure that you avoid heavy fire. Mahihko and Marina meanwhile, can use the truck to gain a bit of a terrain advantage over the enemy troops if they have to retreat, since even snowmobiles will have trouble navigating the blizzard. The only thing you'll have to watch out for is if they start using heavy vehicles to chase you down."

The others nodded a bit, then Cindy sighed softly and looked at Zerrex mildly. "Daddy, it's still a pretty risky plan... there's all sorts of unknowns and variables, and we don't even have a map of the facility or any information on the area."

"I know. But that's part of the mission." Zerrex said quietly, and finally Cindy nodded again, looking resolute, before watching as the father figure of the entire group slowly stood up and strode quietly to the front of the truck, climbing a snowy dune and half-dragging his massive sword behind him, his eyes settling on the huge steel facility below that was aglow with red and white lights, complete with a massive dome structure in the center and a tall tower of metal and girders extending out of this towards the sky. It was beautiful, sitting in the sunken valley with its back against a mountain cliff, and terrible at the same time, with the machines of war sitting around the windswept plains and the soldiers constantly patrolling back and forth... And this is it. This is the last battle before I get to retire for good... so let's do it right, Zerrex.

Killer made a face as he stood over the dead body of the soldier who had escaped, shaking his head slowly as he glanced over at Alexis, who was tinkering with the control panel of a frozen shutter door. "Can you get it open?"

"Yeah..." A pause, and then she connected two cut wires together and they sparked, and the door groaned loudly before slowly rolling open to reveal a badly-lit room beyond, the white feline grinning at her husband as she winked. "Too bad for the asshole... I guess in the next life he'll know to wear his winter parka at this temperature, huh?"

Killer nodded, stepping over the frozen corpse of the dead Toxin soldier, following Alexis into the small building and onto a concrete landing of what seemed like some sort of service tunnel. He glanced back and forth curiously as the door automatically tried to close behind him, but then it squealed loudly on its tracks and halted only halfway done, cold wind and snow blowing into the room as the two felines made a face at the faulty machinery. "Shit. I guess they didn't account for the cold, huh, Lion?" A pause, then she turned and shrugged, striding down the only way forwards: a set of stone stairs leading down into narrow darkness, and Killer followed quickly, glancing back and forth at walls made out of steel pipes and concrete blocks. I don't like this place... it's too narrow, too restrictive.

"Fuck, how did we miss them building this?" Alexis murmured as she stepped out onto a platform at the bottom of the stairs, and Killer found himself startled as well by what he stepped out onto: crudely constructed with iron shoring every ten feet or so or not, it was still obviously some sort of underground railway... and currently, there was a large, open railcar at this end of the tunnel, and Killer stepped towards this, touching the sides of it gently and then frowning a bit as he found it was warm. "What is it?"

"This has been used recently." Killer paused, then he stepped inside the plain steel car through an open gate, and Alexis quickly followed as the huge liger approached the control chamber at what he guessed was the front of the vehicle, glancing over a sketched map taped to the wall and then pulling a lever... and then he blinked as the gate they'd entered through slid closed and the car vibrated into life with a loud thrumming.

A few moments later, and they were moving down the tracks as Killer rubbed the back of his head slowly, frowning but keeping his calm as Alexis snorted and sat down on one of the plain benches in the body of the car, looking back and forth with distaste as the car quickly picked up speed, the walls outside whipping by at a surprising pace. "Think this goes to that base Zerrex mentioned?"

"Without a doubt." Killer shook his head slowly as he traced his hand over the logo of the old Hez'Ranna Military, then he murmured softly: "I just hope we're not too far away."

The ride took a short two hours, time that Killer took to clean himself and his gear up, Alexis doing the same before approaching the cabin to figure out the controls after making a few playful sexual advances on her lover. But at least, the tram began to slow of its own accord, and they slowly pulled up at another platform, this one too thankfully devoid of life.

Old propaganda was pasted to the walls and littered the floor as they made their way down a cramped concrete tunnel, and then Alexis tapped Killer's arm gently, drawing out a combat knife from her boot and creeping her way forwards as the huge liger lurked back in the shadows, watching as she snuck forwards towards a pair of Dragokkaren guards standing beside a rusted steel door around the corner.

They were dealt with quickly and efficiently: the first with a cut throat, and before he even hit the ground, gargling, she had snapped the neck of the other and dropped him as well. A knock on the door, and it was opened by another guard standing outside... before he too was dispatched, and Alexis smiled politely, bowing Killer through the door as he shook his head with a slight smile in return, saying teasingly: "I thought I said to control your bloodlust."

"You know I could be making this all far worse, but I'm behaving as best I can." Alexis responded playfully, before sheathing her blade and then frowning as the pair stepped out into the desolate tundra of a valley, less snow making its way down and the wind far less savage than it had been before, before the female crouched and pointed at a figure in the distance, in front of a squat rectangular structure. "Hey, isn't that Zerrex?"

Killer narrowed his eyes, leaning forwards a bit, but the figure disappeared into the building, and then the big feline shook his head slowly. "I didn't get a good look... but if it was, then the others must already be here as well. Who do you think we should catch up with first?"

Alexis frowned a bit at this, before she blinked as an alarm went off and the two looked off in the distance, towards a huge, strangely-shaped building: a shutter had opened in the side of it, however, and what looked like assault teams were charging out and firing at a ridge to the far west, where Killer thought he could see the outline of some other vehicle and someone else returning fire. That must be the transport... so either it's a diversion, or they're under attack. "Let's take this chance to get inside the facility and see if we can sabotage the main generator to weaken their defenses while we have the chance. I don't know what Zerrex is doing, but we can catch up to him afterwards."

Alexis nodded, and the two felines quickly ran towards the facility, both of them with weapons in hand and Killer tossing a troubled look at the warehouse, wondering if Zerrex was indeed inside somewhere... and indeed the Drakkaren currently was, breathing hard as he made a face and wiped frozen sweat from his brow: sneaking around soldiers who couldn't find their own asses with both hands was a lot harder than he remembered it being, for some reason. Maybe because I'm limping a bit too much...

He shook his head slowly, then he strode slowly through the warehouse, making a face at the fact this first room was almost entirely empty except for the occasional broken box or stack of empty crates and assorted debris... from the looks of things, the soldiers didn't even have empty clips to toss around. The lizard made a face, then paused as he reached the back of the first section and glanced slowly over a massive steel shutter in front of him with the Double Standard etched over it: he frowned slightly at this, then he quietly reached up and ran his fingers over a huge valve handle in the center of the shutter that apparently controlled the whole contraption, and he shrugged to himself before grasping it tightly in both hands and turning it several times firmly.

A pneumatic hiss sounded as the shutter popped out of place, then it slowly rose a good ten feet into the ceiling before halting, and Zerrex strode under it and into a plain cement room with a broken ceiling above, snow pattering in as he glanced back and forth... before his eyes locked on a figure standing in the shadows as it laughed quietly. It slowly stepped out of the darkness, and then rolled its shoulders, the crimson pits that were Black Killer's eyes glowing as it strode in front of another heavy-duty door on the wall opposite, and Zerrex smiled coldly as he heard the shutter slam back into the ground behind him. "This is classic."

"I thought you might like it." The Black Killer rose a hand, and the grey metal cubes formed into a massive, dark blade in the shape of the real Killer's Wyvern sword, the evil entity grinning cruelly as he said teasingly: "I thought I'd give you a taste of the past, Lord Zerrex. I know of your dealings with the Nephilim and Drake... I myself am a synthetic like they are, but of a different brand and creed. Whereas they represent nature and all the terror of the world without science, I am science."

Zerrex snorted quietly, drawing his sword off his back and raising Blackheart gamely, his emerald eyes locking with the robotic creature's as he said softly: "Cut the crap and tell me your name, automation."

"Right now it's Killer... don't you recognize me?" The creature asked teasingly, and then he grinned slowly as Zerrex rolled his eyes in distaste. "I have no name, Lord Zerrex. When I lived, I had one, but few parts of me are left whole in this body, and now I am only a machine, and machines do not require names. For a machine, your number is your name, and my barcode serial is 4385-10132-76651."

"You're just scared because names have power." Zerrex replied quietly, and he straightened a bit, spreading his legs slightly as he tilted his sword to the side, smiling coldly as the creature's expression faded into irritation. "Then come on, Nameless. When they plant whatever's left of your body in the ground, I'll make sure the gravestone goes unmarked."

The Black Killer gave a look of disgust at this, then he snorted and charged forwards, roaring and swinging his sword in a hard, simple downwards chop... and Zerrex snapped his own sword upwards easily, knocking the blade out of the way before delivering a simple, hard chop to the robotic feline's chest, knocking him staggering backwards, arms pinwheeling before he fell heavily on his ass with a grunt, staring as Zerrex slowly settled back into his stance, the lizard speaking softly: "The advantage of settling down a bit over the years is that you just don't bother with panic or haste anymore. You might look like Killer, but you have neither his strength or his skill."

The machine-tiger grit its teeth, eyes burning... then it leapt upwards, at the same time tossing a handful of sand and metal sludge towards the Drakkaren's eyes, but Zerrex rose his sword with a disgusted look and blocked the flying gunk with the flat of the huge blade, at the same time looking down and watching as the liger's huge paws stepped forwards and the Wyvern-copy swung in towards his feet... but Zerrex stomped hard down on the flat of the blade, grinding it into the snowy earth before swinging his sword hard forwards, the blade connecting firmly with the mechanical liger's arm and side and sending him staggering into the side of the room with a snarl, grabbing at his injured limb as he panted hard, his fingers convulsively clenching the handle of his huge blade.

The two looked at each other coldly, raw disgust emanating from Zerrex's eyes... and then he stepped forwards, leaning into his sword blows as the Black Killer staggered backwards, howling as he attempted to block every hard attack, his eyes growing wider and wider before he struck the back wall and immediately tried to retaliate with a barrage of wild swings, the Drakkaren now grunting as he went back to defending himself, slash after slash hammering into his sword as he staggered backwards.

Zerrex leaned out of the way of a hard sideways swing, and then the robotic beast roared as he swung the sword around his head and slashed downwards towards the Drakkaren with a mighty blow, the reptile immediately leaning into his own hard swing in return, and their blades clashed, screaming against each other, Zerrex snarling as he glared up at the huge entity and the other leaning down towards him, his mechanical muscles bulging. Their blades locked together, Zerrex's flat Blackheart caught in the three spikes before the hilt of the Wyvern-copy... and then the Drakkaren snorted and grinned coldly. "There's a reason I prefer flat blades!"

The reptile suddenly sidestepped, twisting his sword hard and then jerking it upwards, and the Black Killer staggered backwards with a yelp of pain, his eyes widening as Wyvern was torn from his hands, the blade flying high into the air and a thin cut torn along his body from the tip of Zerrex's blade, before the reptile slashed hard downwards in a vicious cut that carved a C through the air and into the feline's leg.

He shrieked in pain, falling heavily forwards as the lizard stepped back, reaching up with one hand and catching the copy of Wyvern as it fell through the air... then, as the robotic creature looked up in shock, Zerrex stabbed the blade forwards through the entity's heart to the hilt, causing it to scream and spasm on the spot... before he followed up by slamming the pommel of the sword as hard as he could with the flat of Blackheart in a hard, baseball-bat swing.

The creature flew backwards as the sword exploded out its back and flew through the air to crash into a shapeless heap of crumpled metal against a wall, and Black Killer landed beside his sword, spasming a few times on the ground as he struggled to breathe... and slowly, his form melted down into that of the hollow reptile shell. This time, however, the half-body was hideously damaged, and the strange square metal pieces that surrounded it only twitched weakly on the ground as its wire face stared up at Zerrex with something like horror... until finally it collapsed, the gigantic hole in its stomach spurting a bit of blood and black fluids before it lay still.

Zerrex stood over the fallen creature, then he watched as the grey squares of metal slowly consumed it like a fire before melting down into a silvery liquid that fled through the cracks in the earth... but the reptile had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing the strange entity again. He shook his head slowly, then replaced Blackheart on his back and made his way to the door at the other side of the room, letting himself through and breathing quietly as he found himself in another section of warehouse, the valve door slamming shut behind him as he murmured quietly: "Another day, another dollar..."

He was sore now, and so he allowed himself a few moment's reprieve before straightening and continuing forwards, glancing back and forth through the empty warehouse before finally discovering a ladder that led up to the rooftop, and he climbed this, pushing through a trapdoor and easily throwing a Dragokkaren guard he found patrolling the roof off and onto the hard cement far below. Killed or knocked-out, the lizard was too tired to care as he glanced over at the facility next door... and although the roof of the East Section was far higher than the warehouse, the distance to the wall wasn't too far... and Zerrex made a face before rubbing his hands together and running across the roof to leap to the building next door.

He grunted as he collided with the hard steel-covered cement, scrabbling at the icy wall before managing to find a tight hold on the siding, and he carefully worked his way over to a large covered vent, and he used this like a ladder, pulling himself up until he could grab a hold on a narrow ledge that went around the building. He froze as he heard soldiers charge by underneath him and shouting voices, and then he let out a breath of relief as he finally managed to climb up onto the ledge, then jump up and grab the edge of the roof, pulling himself up onto the top of the Eastern Section.

Cindy and Cherry were already there, the latter with her arms crossed and looking at him with a cocky grin, asking playfully: "What's wrong, Boss? That was a slow time for you, and watching you climb up that building was painful, dude."

"You could've always helped me, you bitch." Zerrex grumbled, somehow unsurprised that they had been watching as Cindy coughed and looked away with a blush, Cherry simply shrugging. Then he shook his head slowly as he glanced over to the western ridge, kneeling and trying to get his breath back as he asked: "What about the others? Are they okay?"

"Yeah. And I think we saw Killer and Alexis, too, but they were making a run right into the facility... the forces are pretty much divided between us and them." Cindy said softly, shaking her head slowly and frowning a bit as she kneeled down, quietly touching Zerrex's neck and then making a face. "Daddy, your heart's racing! We need to get you out of this cold, it's starting to strain your body."

"Said and done." Cherry said mildly before Zerrex could say anything, and she wandered over towards the center of the roof, stomped on it a few times, and then simply punched the icy steel as hard as she could, knocking a sizeable hole in the rooftop and then grinning slightly as she crossed her arms, saying in a pleased voice: "See? No need to be-"

A pause as her eyes widened, and then the roof collapsed under her feet and she fell inside the complex, Cindy looking horrified and Zerrex making a face as he picked up his sword, then sighed and strode quickly over to the hole, jumping inside and down into a half-constructed hallway below beside a Cherry who was rubbing at her head and looking like a child who had just scraped her knee. "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Owies! Fuck!"

"That's what you get for showing off." Zerrex said mildly, then he reached down and gently helped her to her feet, and she muttered a grudging ‘thank you' before he glanced around, saying softly as Cindy joined them: "So. This would be the third floor, I'm guessing... and it looks like they gave up construction halfway through."

Cherry nodded a bit, still rubbing at her head as she strode down the hall, pushing her way through hanging plastic sheets before she kneeled at what looked like a large gap in the flooring. "These pipes are cold... nothing's activated in this wing. And from the dust buildup, this place might've been abandoned a while ago."

"Then we might have a problem..." Zerrex murmured softly, shaking his head slowly and then glancing over at Cindy with a frown. "We need to get to the research facility and see what they were working on. Do you think you can do some hotwiring if necessary?"

"Maybe... isn't that Cherry's job?" Cindy asked nervously, rubbing the back of her head slowly and glancing over at the big sister of the group. But Cherry caught Zerrex's look, and she tossed Cindy a grin and a wink, reaching up to slap her lightly on the shoulder. "What?"

"Sorry, but I have to go get Marina and Little Boy Blueskirts." Cherry said cheerfully, then she strode past them and tossed a wave over her shoulder before crouching and concentrating, then leaping herself upwards with a grunt and catching the edge of the hole to neatly jackknife back onto the rooftop, her footsteps fading quickly into the howling wind.

Cindy stared at Zerrex for a few moments as the Drakkaren motioned for her to follow, then she quickly caught up to her father, looking horrified as she threw her arms out at her sides, spluttering: "Even for Cherry, getting through that army just to talk to Marina, that's suicide! And how the hell are they going to bring our daughter and Mahihko back here in one piece? Marina's prone to lashing out and Mahihko gets scared too easily!"

But Zerrex only reached up and gently pushed a finger against Cindy's mouth, making her blink and quiet as he said softly: "They have their job, we have ours... and you know that Cherry will defend them both to the death." A pause, and he nudged her gently with his shoulder before continuing to walk down the hall, adding gently: "Your littlest sister... our daughter... won't get hurt, Cindy. And the sooner we find out what's going on here, the sooner we can put a stop to all this."

"I still don't think it's a good idea." Cindy muttered, as she strode a few feet behind Zerrex, pulling her assault rifle from the holster on her back and checking the clip as Zerrex approached a door and produced one of his magnum handguns, and then she made a face.

"Good ideas never work with me and Cherry." Zerrex replied mildly, as he pushed open a door at the end of the hall, then he shook his head a bit at finding another empty hall, stepping into this and glancing over his shoulder. "Tell me if you see the stairs. This place is starting to freak me out just a little bit."

The enemy forces were attacking in a surprisingly-simple fashion: most of the soldiers were storming forwards, firing at them randomly as they charged... reloading once and continuing to fire... and then dropping their weapons in favor or a secondary sidearm or a melee weapon of some sort. Mahihko made a face as he leaned over the bank, his body now slightly bulked up and muscles that hadn't been on his girlish figure earlier bulging as he fired down into the crowd with precise rifle shots that almost always ended in a kill: yet still there were more weapons than bodies littering the battlefield at the moment.

He didn't understand war, and he didn't think he ever would... but at the same time, he was sure this wasn't how a war was supposed to go. Sure, the enemy was gaining foot by foot, steadily if indeed rather slowly, yet... all they were doing was charging and shooting. It didn't make sense to him... and Marina was silent beside him, tossing him distasteful looks every now and then and muttering insults at him when he missed his shot, at the same time telling him to use his abilities to his advantage... but he didn't want to. I understand her as much as I understand what's going on here...

They hadn't yet had to retreat, but Mahihko sensed the time was coming: at first Marina had stayed back in the transport, operating the machine gun on top and the grenade launchers from the safety of the cabin... but once the ammo had run out, then these soldiers had started to push the line back towards them. Soon, they'd have to make a run for it in the truck, but Marina's stoic expression told him that she might not want to leave, no matter what the cost, as she peppered the crowd with assault rifle fire.

She clicked on empty, then snorted and tossed it aside into a pile of roughly a dozen other guns she'd stolen with her telekinesis from some unfortunate soldier in the mass that was pushing up towards them and then reached a hand out, and this time a hand grenade flew into her grasp. She pulled the pin on this, then lobbed it almost casually into the crowd, and Mahihko winced and covered his head as it exploded and screams rose up from the charging group beneath them before he asked in a ragged voice: "How many more can there be?"

"They're charging in units of fifty... the technique is called ‘smothering.'" Marina responded absently, her eyes distant as she glanced through the group. "They have an excess of soldiers, and to them, soldiers are nothing more than assets. So they're testing the mettle of the soldiers by ordering them to charge forwards with no form or strategy, and seeing who obeys. Anyone who doesn't is executed on the spot for cowardice and failure to perform their duties.

"It doesn't matter that we've killed more than two hundred of their soldiers, or that the bodies are now piled up so high and so thickly that they're having trouble crawling and fighting their way through the dead, or that they're still a football field's length away and it's a hill that's difficult to climb under normal circumstances... see, down there?" Marina pointed out a soldier who was almost fuzzy in the distance, armed not with a gun but a clipboard; and to Mahihko, that seemed like the deadliest weapon on this battlefield. "That's a Super Enforcer. He's the one giving all the orders, and the group of five by him are the elites who are waiting to rush us and kill us once we show the first sign of turning tail."

Mahihko made a face, then he shifted a bit to get better aim at this target, but Marina immediately shoved him and he blinked, looking at her with something like fear as she said softly: "Let them come... I want to kill as many as we can."

The wolf swallowed thickly... and then there was a cry from below, and the gunfire stopped for a moment as Marina and Mahihko both stared, before the wolf dropped his rifle back down and gazed through the scope at the dead body of the Super Enforcer Marina had pointed out before. The female gave him a deathly glare the moment he raised his head, and the wolf put his hands up in surrender with a whimper. "Hey, I didn't do it!"

Another rapid series of gunshots, and then half the soldiers scattered in terror as the other half ran back down the hill, firing now at the roof, and Mahihko's eyes locked on Cherry, widening slightly before he quickly took aim at the soldiers who were heading in the opposite direction, opening fire on them as yells sounded from all areas of the valley. The only thought in Mahihko's mind, however, was that he had to help Cherry... even if she didn't need that help, as he would reflect later was far more true.

In moments, the number of fighting soldiers was halved again, and the rest fled towards the building, and Mahihko had a moment of pride and accomplishment before a shutter in the building opened up and a massive tank equipped with spiked treads and a cannon larger than anything Mahihko had ever seen before rolled slowly out, a pair of gatling guns on swiveling mounts on either side of the monstrous machine roaring into life and immediately spinning around to fire backwards as the tank continued to roll forwards, shredding the wall of the building as they slowly climbed up towards where Cherry was as the hermaphrodite scrambled away from the edge of the building as chunks of concrete bigger than the wolf's head flew threw the air like straw in the wind.

The cannon, meanwhile was slowly aiming towards them, and the monstrous black-and-white splotched tank paused for a moment before firing with enough force to send it rolling a few feet backwards, and the hill beneath the two seemed to simply explode, Marina flying backwards with a cry of surprise and Mahihko shrieking as he felt himself tossed high into the air with his rifle, striking the edge of the hill hard and then rolling down what remained of the bank in a white cloud of snow, before he came to a halt near the bottom, his eyes wide with terror as the tank slowly rolled forwards and the turret turned slowly towards him, the wolf getting a full view of the machine as loud clanks sounded from within the massive war machine.

Not only did it have the gatling guns on the mounts that extended slightly from the turret to give them a full 360 degree rotational ability, there was also a heavy machine gun on top of the turret and what looked like a short-range missile battery built into the back of the extended hybrid vehicle. Mahihko had never seen such an assortment of weapons on any war machine, and he swallowed thickly as it turned slowly towards him, the cannon lowering now before he leapt up to his feet and sprinted away, dragging his rifle behind him through the snow and looking over his shoulder with terror before a voice yelled angrily: "Hey, motherfucker! I'm up here, you piece of tin shit! Pick on someone who's got balls!"

Cherry was flailing furiously at the tattered edge of the building, waving her arms wildly, then she ducked away for a moment before reappearing with a large chunk of broken cement, holding this high over her head for a moment before tossing it at the machine and squarely striking the gun on top, causing the tank to buzz angrily and reverse slowly, turning at the same time to face the facility as the cannon slowly raised upwards. Mahihko stared as Cherry picked up her own rifle, taking aim at the machine even as it prepared to fire at her, and he snarled, pounding on the snow in front of him as tears of humiliation froze on his cheeks. I couldn't even look at it squarely... I could only run...

As the tank leveled the cannon into place, Cherry fired off a single shot down the barrel, and a moment later the top of the turret exploded, the tank rolling backwards and a loud whine going up before the something else went off inside the gigantic vehicle, the missile turret and half the body of the enormous war machine turning into a moving inferno as the force of the blast sent it sliding further back, smoke and ash rising high into the air in a column of ruin. Cherry, meanwhile, cackled high above on the building as the fireworks of exploding ammo belts and small missiles created a cacophony that only added to the hermaphrodite's jubilation.

A jubilation that was only temporary, however, as a second megatank slowly rolled out of what was obviously some sort of hangar bay, this one lacking the missile pod that had been on the back of the other enormous war machine but otherwise as heavily armed and armored, the turret already rotating and the cannon rising to target Cherry, and this time the tank was followed by a small fleet of snowmobiles with submachine guns mounted on the sides and soldiers wearing body-tight ski-suits and goggles. The hermaphrodite made a disgusted face at the sight of the dozen vehicles weaving around the war machine â€" Although they look damn hot, with how tight those are against bodies and muscle that big... maybe me or Zerrex should get one of those â€" and then she cursed quietly as half of them headed for Marina, and the other half shot towards Mahihko. "Fuck..."

She snarled a bit, then leapt backwards, backpedaling quickly as the cannon fired, and the entire building seemed to shake at the power of the blast as chunks of cement and steel flew in all directions, Cherry cursing as the roof shattered and sunk several feet, screams sounding from below and a cloud of dust obscuring everything before the Drakkaren as she muttered another slew of obscenaties under her breath.

Mahihko stared in horror at the sight before him: not only another tank, but snowmobiles, armed with guns... and now at least six of them were heading towards him, and he scrambled backwards, dropping his rifle before scrabbling at the handgun holstered at his side, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to focus, tried to be brave. But still, he felt his body freezing up as he tried to raise his gun towards the first two snowmobiles, even as they lined up side-by-side, their guns turning towards him-

And then he saw Cherry, engulfed in the blast from the tank's cannon; he remembered Zerrex, crushed under the foot of Ill Weather, Blackheart turned against its master; Cindy standing in front of him, protecting him like a child; and even Marina, fighting alongside him even as he disappointed her... disappointed her with how weak he was... weak, weak, weak, weak, weak-

Mahihko snarled, standing up and roaring as he stepped forwards, his clothes tearing as his body shifted suddenly, his height almost tripling to an enormous fifteen feet of rippling, chiseled muscle as he simply swung both tree-trunk-thick arms outwards, and both Dragokkaren were torn off their snowmobiles with cries of shock before they were slammed down into the ground, one knocked cold and the now-gigantic wolf grabbing the head of the other and simply crushing his skull down into the ground.

He looked back and forth, drool flying from his muzzle as he felt feral rage building up inside his body as another snowmobile came straight at him, and he simply grabbed the front of it, twisting at the same time and hurtling it and the rider through the air as the other three circled him rapidly, one of them skidding out of the way of the falling snowmobile before the wolf felt his body grow another foot, grunting as his teeth grit together painfully, his eyes burning with self-loathing and rage.

One of the Dragokkaren halted and yanked his submachine guns out of the holder on the snowmobile, taking aim at the wolf and simply unloading as he leaned half-off his vehicle. The bullets tore past the lupine, scratched through his fur and struck into hard muscle, and Mahihko released another animal cry before simply charging forwards into the spray of bullets, the Dragokkaren staring in shock as he ran out of bullets at the barely-fazed giant sprinting straight at him, before a hard punch caught the soldier in the face and sent him flying backwards with a shattered muzzle, skidding through the snow to land in a bloody heap in a hill of powder.

Mahihko reached down and snagged up the submachine gun and a spare clip resting in a holder on the side of the snowmobile, his other weapons long forgotten as he rapidly reloaded the weapon and then unloaded into the next snowmobile to attack him, bullets pounding into the engine and sending it up in a fireball to fly backwards and crash into the other Dragokkaren behind him.

The wolf roared, snarling and throwing the gun down before picking up the snowmobile beside him, watching as the megatank slowly rolled towards him, already covered in flames and heavily damaged from not only Cherry's attacks, but snowmobiles turned into fireballs by Marina's powerful telekinetic abilities. Immediately, he copied the idea and stepped forwards, roaring and hurling the snowmobile as hard as he could at the cannon of the tank, and it exploded upon contact, warping the barrel as debris showered the front of the tank.

Its course twisted to the side slightly, and then Mahihko ran forwards, a chant filling his head as he leapt up onto the body of the war machine before leaping onto the turret and shoving his palms down into the armored hull, electricity running over his body before he directed the full charge of lightning down into the vehicle, the inside of the tank becoming a barbeque and both ammo and fuel reserves going up in flames as he leapt quickly off the vehicle... but not soon enough, the tank exploding in a blaze of light and sending the wolf flying far away to land on his stomach and skid a few feet through the snow, knocked unconscious by the force of the blast, shards of metal embedded in his back.

As smoke rose in the sky from the smoldering wreck of the war machine, Cherry leapt down from the ruins of the facility, landing with a grunt in a kneel and then slowly standing up as she rubbed at her side, bolt-action rifle resting on her shoulder as Marina slid down from the snowy ridge, and the two made their way over to Mahihko as his body slowly shrank back down to normal, bits of metal popping out of his back. Cherry looked at him with something like awe and irritation, then she sighed and gently booted his side, the wolf whining loudly and then slowly shaking his head, little body shivering in the cold as he stared stupidly at himself and his ruined clothing, then up at Cherry as she threw her motorcycle jacket over his shoulders and pulled him gently up to his feet.

"Who the hell are you trying to impress, asshole?" she scolded sternly, shaking him firmly and then patting over his body as she made sure the jacket was secure, buttoning it up for him at the neck and then glancing over at Marina, who looked completely nonplussed. "Go see what you can scrounge in terms of weapons, looks like dumbass here broke some of his."

Marina simply nodded, and Mahihko looked fuzzily up at Cherry before she gave him a tight, impulsive hug, and his eyes widened as his breath caught in his throat at the feeling of pulling him close, her large breasts pushing against his body and her breath on his neck, her muscles flexing quietly against him as she said quietly: "Don't turn yourself into something you ain't, asscake, not for us, not for anyone. You did good in the fight, though... but don't you turn into a badass when you can still be our little Tinny."

"Thank you, Cherry." Mahihko mumbled, on the verge of tears as Marina came back with his revolver and a submachine gun, and he gladly took both, tucking the former into an inner pocket of the coat and holding the latter in both hands nervously, before looking from one to the other and rubbing at his eyes as he asked quietly: "So... so Cherry, what are you doing here?"

Cherry looked down at the wolf for a few moments, then smiled a bit, letting herself relax as she patted him gently between the ears. Yeah, I can be nice to him for now. He can really do some damage though when he gets mad... and fuck, he is pretty hot and a hell of a lay when he gets all big like that... "Zerrex sent me over..." A pause and a frown as she glanced over to Marina. "The facility on the east side is incomplete... we're supposed to get inside somehow and make it to the center column to talk about it and figure out what's going on here, because this base is just fuckin' weird. They're acting more like lemmings than shock troops."

"Well, at least there's a clear path for you." came a muffled voice, and a moment later the rubble of the collapsed roof shifted, and Killer stomped out, brushing a hand through his Mohawk and grinning slightly as Alexis strode out after him, several large pieces of steel and stone rolling out of the way as the reptiles and wolf stared in surprise. "Good to see you guys survived that mess... Alexis and I were just on our way out to help when the roof collapsed. Thank Gods most of this stuff is single-layer junk."

"Like a little building falling in on you would even scratch a big boy like yourself." Cherry said teasingly, slipping over towards Killer and poking his chest with a wide grin, cocking her head as Alexis looked at her sourly. "But hey..." A pause as she turned serious, frowning slightly and glancing down into the half-collapsed hanger and towards the open security door at the other end. "How many soldiers have you seen?"

"We went in through the South Sector and broke into the central area... we must've killed fifty, sixty soldiers." Alexis said, shaking her head a bit and then frowning slightly as she crossed her arms. "They were acting weird, though... I mean, the officers had total control over what they were doing, and once we killed the leader... the entire unit seemed to disband in front of our eyes."

Marina nodded slowly as Cherry grunted in agreement, then she shook her head and strolled into the passage made by the enormous liger, grinning over her shoulder at him and winking. "Well, come on boys and girls. Zerrex and Cindy should be at the main terminal by now, and we don't wanna keep them waiting, huh?"

Killer smiled slightly at this, following and looking entertained. "Yes... we met up with them there on the lower levels, hacking into the core computer. Cindy really seems to know her stuff..." A pause and a glance over Cherry, as she looked obscenely proud of herself. "I take it she learnt from you?"

"Fuck yeah." Cherry grinned pridefully, all but strutting ahead of the group as Marina rolled her eyes and gently pushed Mahihko along at the back of the column, the wolf still breathing a bit hard from his exertion. Thankfully, however, it was only a short, straight path into the center of the facility to find Zerrex resting back in a chair with his leg propped up on a table, Cindy typing away at a computer and muttering under her breath.

The male Drakkaren greeted the others with a wave as they walked inside, looking at Mahihko and Cherry curiously as the wolf automatically stepped closer to the hermaphroditic female, blushing bashfully, then he shrugged and glanced at the computer screen again as the uplink failed once more, and Cindy shook her head slowly as the rest of the group looked on. "They've got their system running on some external computer that I have to route through an old satellite above us... but the problem is that I'm not sending or receiving a signal. I think the satellite must be turned off... it has to be some kind of security measure to make it extra-difficult for intruders to go any further."

"I think I passed that..." Zerrex said meditatively, glancing over at the computer screen before nodding, remembering the warehouse roof. I wasn't exactly paying attention, but it's hard to miss... "There was a large-size satellite dish there. I ignored it because I was too busy trying to get onto the East block roof." He rubbed the back of his head, then winced and grunted as he began to stand, his hand shaking slightly, but Killer stepped forwards and gently pushed him back down into the chair, looking at him softly as Zerrex looked back up with surprise and embarrassment.

"It's okay, Zer. You rest... Alexis and I haven't gotten to do much more than shoot wildly and run around in a circle." Killer said gently, then he tilted his head curiously. "How did you get up there?"

"I found a ladder in the warehouse... you just have to go through the main entrance and straight." Zerrex said quietly, hanging his head a bit and rubbing a hand through his hair. Killer gave his shoulder a supportive squeeze, and the reptile smiled a bit, glancing up at him. "Sorry about the trouble. But we need to get into the mainframe to find out what's going on and to open the doors to the north." A pause, and then he made a face as he leaned to the side, looking past the massive central column of wires and steel pipes and at the dented and burnt â€" and still closed â€" armored doors. "There's no other way through."

Killer nodded, making a bit of a face as he glanced around the room: it was a huge circle, with the central pillar taking up the center, the single security desk and computer here at the southern portion, and open security doors at every point of the compass... except for those at the north. And with the doors being at least fifteen feet high and more than a foot of interlocking alloy plating... I don't think even I could tear those open. Taking out a wall would be a better choice. "Alright Zerrex. I'll be back shortly."