The defenders have withstood the opening assault through strong will and inspiring courage. But what is this approaching? Howls from the ground, and great whomps beating the air above. Did the Garou Nation call in the military? Can the Ahadi defenders truly withstand such firepower?
[ST Jose] - The lightning bolt crashed down from the stormy skies and smote the girl where she stood, the scream came to an abrupt end and the flesh was practically seared from the bones of the girl. Tiny hands clenched into fists and the eyes in her sockets were revealed to be nothing more than blackness, devouring, hungering blackness, the noise of the atmosphere came back in time for the sound of Jordan's sword to be heard slashing and cracking through the bones and remaining, crisped, flesh of the girl practically severing her in two while she smoked and her body hung off to the side but her feet remained planted and the black eyes blinked once again. Normally a torso would have simply been flung aside but instead it hung and gave off a low shriek that seemed to build up in pitch while it hung there, half legs planted to the ground half of a diagonally slashed torso hanging from the hip with an arm flailing until it finally falls back as the sword is pulled from the body and crumbles to dust, the form it likely should have become from the stroke of lightning. The blade in Jordan's hand gives a howl of glory and then seems grasped firmly in his hand. Gabriel and the observant will hear past the howl of the storm another, louder howl and then another, and then several and then a cacophany of howls announcing the vanguard of the garou forces and their warriors. But more than that the eyes in the skies will see, incoming, something that defies logic, a lance of apache attack helicopters and above them still in the distance the dull hum of engines, still far out, but that fwoosh of air through intakes, something was coming in the air and those on the ground would not hear it, but those in the sky would and the only visual cue, was the ocassional red light that blinked to signal an approach.
* Makayla struggled back to her feet and at the sound of those howls simply began to prepare to receive the injured.
* Chatter regained herself as the crunchy slash-zot the despair creature got held back the onslaught of terrible emotion, she remembered up from down and flipped herself back over just in time to see the terrible oncoming swarm of flying machines. She didn't know exactly what they were, other than danger, but...* Telepathic Link: The bad wolves come in flying things! CHOP CHOP CHOP they go! Many of them, very many!*
* Peyton, her hearing sharper than the average persons, glanced up at the sound of the the humof those engines. "what in the ever living *fuck*"She exclaimed, before turning her eyes back to thefield and looking for a wolf to shoot, all shecould do was hope her new friend could do her dragony best to take those things down without getting herself killed, Peyton herself could do nothing about them so she focused on what she could do.
* Maggie was in the middle of a deadly divebomb for the girl-creature on the ground, only to see it be slaughtered before her eyes. She pulled up, holding onto her cloak of unseen presence, and sent out a snarling laugh at Jordan "Don't be silly, blueblood. I am as prepared as I ever was, but are you? THe wolves come, and they are hungry for our deaths. I see their machines of destruction come."
* Toby gasped, sobbing out a quiet breath of air. How could she have fallen so low? Never mind that. How was she going to handle the mess of this battle? Well, standing firm seemed the best plan for the moment, if she died.. she would meet her loved ones beyond the veil.
* Faira looked to the noise, releasing the tight grip she had on her sister's shoulder after the....thing died, and just watched as the noise grew closer, looking incredibly nervous.
* Raj Dutta looked at the approaching combat helicopters and murmurs to himself "You gotta be kidding me!"
* Kaelyn give a little gasping sound as the child was incenerated and tried to remind herself that it likely wasn't a child at all, but perception wassometimes hard to see past. The helicopters got a quick "are you fucking serious?" Gazing at the things as though her own particular sight was playing tricks on her ...was in fae illusion? was it some trick of the garou? dear lord they could't be real ... unless her sight was useful in seeing through such things she would focus back on the howling sounds heading for them, knowing the garou were coming and knowing that the gun in her hands was her best option ..
<Raven> -OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE- Was Raven's immediate thoughts. She had no idea how to take out helicopters or warplanes, but she hoped to Gaia that the link was passing this information on to her allies and to the leaders.
* Ryker was ready and prepared to starting taking fire at the first targets that presented themselves
* Jacob heaved a sigh as the horrifying dispair drifted away and he once again bent about his task of preparing for the wounded to arrive. His task was all he could manage to focus on and a needed relief from his worry
* ::Silas will cloak his team in Obfuscate until they are ready to take on the nearest, closest enemy; he can't reach airborne threats with his own weapons unless they prepared to land::
* RandiDavison growled impatiently under her breath. Oh, the Dies Ultimae had indeed come for them. This was not good. "People, These are the Dies Ultimae. Glasswalkers ready for heavy combat. We gotta ground them." With that, she was off to get closer to them, to see what she could do from her little invisible pocket "I"m getting closer."
* Gabriel hears Chatter through the mental communication link that had been established, and cannot help but look up to the sky instinctually. It appeared that they would be fighting a full scale invasion, and the war on two fronts would not be from the different directions of the prospective Caern, but it would come from the air as well. So be it. Through the link, the Ahroun gives instructions, hoping that it would be enough to help them in their struggle and their inability to truly defend against the helicopters. "Ground soldiers, stay focused on the infantry! Those of you in the sky, try to drop down low to where you cannot be seen, keep your eyes peeled! There may be an opening to take out a pilot, which will send the bird down!" For his own efforts, he had Daniel's lightning staff, and that would be the only support he could provide to try and fight off the air support the Garou had brought. While he saw no enemies coming forth through the lines for him to physically engage with, Gabriel once again directs the lightning of the storm, hoping that the bolt of electricity would at least disable one of the flying war machines, if not destroy its crew as well. They could dodge a falling helicopter...what they could not contend with was military grade helicopter artillery and machine gun fire.
* ::Isabelle takes a deep breath and prepares herself to salvage what she could from the inevitable bloodbath, her face once again a stony marble mask::
* Maggie, the stealthed dragon began a head on collision course with the choppers, flying at them from above, climbing into the sky. <Through the telepathtic link: ~Going to do my best to wreak havoc and mayhem for them. Please do not be surprised when you see the dragon. *sigh* (With that, she dove for the tail of one chopper, looking to swing it into another with all her might!~>
* ::Sandra look at Kaelyn, her Dhampir's expression growing oddly resolved. She had a gun ... and no training. But she would give it her best::
<Iskode> "Steady yourselves. The enemy comes from above," he called behind. There was indeed a mark of relief in his voice as the child was turned to ash. He a reassuring nod to those nearest to him and looked out towards the incoming enemy forces. "Wait for me to give the call to fire." No sense wasting ammo.
* Talyn was relieved when the great cry of hopeless despair was silenced forever. He checked on those behind him while there was nothing in range to shoot at. Helicopters....how the fuck did they get helicopters and enough pilots to pilot them? Well, they did have airborn defenses of their own even if he couldn't see them at the moment. He returned to watching for the arrival of the enemy.
<Kegarri> * The great crinos balam hunkered down to wait again. The enemy was not yet here, but they were getting close. Once more he would use the gift of Enemy Ways to ensure the surrounding area was safe.
* ::Fayad draws his gun, grimacing at the necessity - he was good with a blade, not with firearms. The Garou certainly had -very- wealthy benefactors::
* Kiara had her eyes and attention locked on Jordan for the moment...there was nothing she could do about attack helicopters since that was a little outside of her skill set but she grabbed the wires that led out to the bombs they had planted and held them ready, waiting only for Gabriel's word on it.
* Matthew completely halts pacing as the a singular red flash catches his eye, the second confirming his decision to quickly hunker down and get as low as he can, survival overriding any senses now as the overwhelming sense of loss slowly slips away. He yells to Gabriel to look to the skies, now clambering out of his hole to run up next to Gabriel, the nuwisha speaking in an obscenely low voice in his warform yet still easily understood. "Relay to the drone operator to try to ram one of them. I-it should be able to damage it if they hit it at speed." The drone in question is about a meter to a meter and a half long and wide, definitely packing some weight in it for a drone. Matthew waits only as long as it takes for Gabriel to respond before quickly running back to his hidey hole at the second tier of defense.
* Raven will attempt to destroy the tail of one of the helicopters or damage it enough to send it into a tailspin by attacking it in crinos form. She is cloaked with nightshade.
[ST Thea] * There wasn't much that the fae could do about the in coming helicopters ... they were more ground support. The more sensitive of those with the hearing would prepare for the on coming ground assault from the garou trying to keep their senses open to any movement that might indicate where the wolves were coming from. The Coven continued it's ritual to keep everyone supported, and Kyssa had taken up position on top of Erik's web dome to ensure that he could get his own ritual off with out any trouble from anyone.
[ST Thea] * Jordan stood there... a light trembling taking his body as Maggie's words passed over him through him and everyone that shared the link with the elder Ventrue would feel him fighting with the beast inside as the sword absorbed the masses of souls with in the shell of the girl and fed him power. It was more then anything his sword had experienced before.. where he may have fell them one by one this came all at once and there was a madness that swept over him that sent him into a Frenzied Rage the beastly yellow of his eyes gave way to the blood red and a noise bubbled up from his chest that could only come from a monster.
[ST Thea] * Lily glanced up toward the sky over head but there was little she could do to assist at the moment with out using her arts so she kept where she was..
[ST Thea] * Eddum as well watched from the shadows waiting for the ground forces to ambush.
[ST Thea] * Roy the dragon in the sky slipped up and up and up above the level that a chopper would fly and would too wait for the flying machines to come by before he would drop down from the sky to try to wrap his long serpentine body about the tail end and pull the thing down.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- The helicopters were the first to enter into the field of view, even in the night sky a full lance of them. As they approached the chop of their blades through the night sky began to send buffets of wind down across the battle field throwing about grass and debri and red last sights kicked on to give tracers for their rockets to home in on. It was clear that the ground forces were about to be decimated. Whatever anyone had planned for an assault of this nature had been happen soon. And as if by some kind of miracle, the last thing people might have expected to see, or perhaps the first, was an enormous dragon swooping down through the air and crashing into a helicopter, a tail grabbing another and talons ripping through two more, which only caused the rest with perfect formation to diverge from the attack and avoid the large dragon but that only put them directly into the path of Roy the Mokole who also swept down after the first dragon and used his mighty tail to smash into one of the choppers, sending it's flaming hulk barreling into another and then a large bite tore the rotors from another while talons tore another to shreds. The last three sped forward away from the feasting dragons and they continued on towards the ground forces undaunted, lights kicked on and rockets were armed as the gouts of fire began to spout from the ass end of the tubular rocket housings, but it was in that split second that the sky was opened up and lightning rained down from the sky, bolt after bolt that struck the helicopters and sent trails of electricity through them, killing crew and setting off the warheads, causing the remaining three choppers to explode in the air, like three little suns, debri raining down onto the ground all around them. It was at this point that 3 of the front line fae suddenly fell over dead, their heads opening like ripened melons hit by a sledge hammer, though not a sound was heard other than the ziiiiiiip of something supersonic whizzing through and the three headless bodies falling dead to the ground from cover. Small craters opening up in the ground behind their bodies. The battle was on.
* Maggie knew that she only had a moment to revel in the glee that was destroying the flying machines. Allen had blinked out of the telepathic web and she could not allow for him to tear into the friendly forces if they hoped to be successful. Dropping the burning bits of chopper from her wicked, slick, talons, the enormous, gold-gleaming beast began flying toward the Ventrue, eyes blazing red as she sought to cow him with the might of her Animalism and a handy roar too!
* Makayla held he breath a little as she watched Roy and Maggie engage the choppers, giving a little jump as the lightning crashed into the the ones the two massive dragons had not been able to take out on their own. She peered around, keeping an eye out for any potential enemies or threats that might make their way through the lines one way or another.
* Chatter saw the heads of the fae explode, knew that somewhere people with bad, very bad!, weapons were shooting her friends! She took off over the trees, seeking the source of the deadly fire to point out to her allies.
* Gabriel felt the awesome power of the lightning staff as the spirit within the fetish called down a terrible bolt of lightning down upon the Garou flying in their Apache helicopters. The fetish being so awakened and so powerful thrummed in his hands, giving Gabriel the sense of thrilling exultation and electricity pulsing through his body. He no longer felt that they were truly all destined to die. Gaia had so far shown them favor, which had only bolstered his resolve. However, the true fightning lay ahead, with the vanguard of the Garou infantry howling their preparatory howls and invigorating themselves for war. He knew that the storm was coming on the ground, but he would be there to meet them, fang and claws until it was over. Placing the staff's leather strap back across his chest, he allows the staff to rest there, knowing that it could continue to control the weather and call down the fury of the storms without him needing to wield it in his hands. As the first of the Fae began to fall from whichever unknown weapon the Glass Walkers had brought to this altercation, the Ahroun felt the Rage stir within him, filling him with terrible resolve. He remembered why he fought, and why he left the Nation. The Garou were willing to end the lives of anyone, Gaian or not, that stood in the way of their political objectives. The arrogance of it stoked his fury like nothing else, and he found words pouring into the communication link from his mind. "Steel yourselves! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand!" He flexed his large paws, the claws gleaming wickedly beneath the crack of the lightning, and anticipated the coming wave with determination and battle lust.
* Peyton was looking for the sniper, she made a living spotting people who didn't want to be seen, and hoped some of that skill would lend her an advantage to find where this person might be hiding, though she suspected from the power of the bullet this person would be hiding somewhere perhaps so far away as to be entirely unable to be seen by normal sight.
* Toby saw her friends among the fae have their heads explode like so much fresh watermelon. Nothing she could do for them! She clung to her fruit and prepared to heal who she could, not the time right now to worry for the lost!
* Faira just watches and places a hand on Isabelle's shoulder, watching the battle commence and waiting for the first casualties to arrive at the triage area. She swallowed, steeling herself.
* Randi slid through the dark, looking for the source of the gunfire that was singing through the woods by her. Thank Gaia for her gifts of stealth. Quietly, she pulled her glaive, already on the hunt for their enemies.
* Talyn knew the dragons were up there. Their purpose was to protect them from the skies, even if the defenders had never imagined they'd be facing their own death from above. He trusted them to do their job, because at this point it was too late to do anything else. The fireworks that followed was inspiring, and the ghoul might have been seen to grin darkly to himself as he looked for signs of the enemy snipers. If they were in range to shoot the defenders, they should be in range for him to shoot back.
* Ishkode knew the threat of the elder was the greatest immediate danger. He'd stand in front to protect those of his unit and make himself the bigger target if need be. Not that he had much hope of stopping an elder of that power, but hopefully he could delay him. "Enemy snipers! Return fire!" If any fae fell near him, he'd use the trajectory of the crater behind them and where they had crouched, and call out the direction for his own to search for the enemy. Unless the eyes in the sky could direct him through the link.
* ::Isabelle's is distracted from the death raining from above by the equally dangerous threat of a rabid Allen Greenworth AKA Jordan Pale on the loose - she had been about to reach out for Ujio with the urgency of this new threat, but senses Maggie's intentions. Instead, she looks up towards the sky ... they should be collecting the wounded, but she did not -dare- send anyone out into helicopter fire. It could be sheer suicide::
* Kiara is still holding the wires for her bombs in favor of the rifle...though there was no hiding her flinch when the helicopters exploded in air. A wicked little grin stole across her features at their destruction and she felt a hot need to cause some violence of her own but she would wait until she could see them and know the enemy was within range. Mercy sat ready and Aiyana was lurking about in the darkness.
* ::Sandra and Fayad would both start shooting at the enemy!::
* Raj Dutta listened to Gabriel's speech that sounded too similar to Aaragorn's from LotR, but it was inspiring nonetheless. The sudden decapitation of the fae by an unseen force caught his eye. He knew mobility is key to survival and he extended his claws, night vision on and started moving as fast as he can in the shadows trying to flank the incoming enemy infantry.
* Raven had planned to try and save her friends from being torn to shreds by helicopter fire, but she hadn't needed to as two giant dragons did the task. She hadn't known that there were dragons that would be up here with them. Ujio's words that she needed to focus on her roll as information gatherer and scout suddenly made more sense and the corax instead turned her attention to -her- task. She'd employ her Gift of Enemy ways and her keen vision to again search for threats to their warriors. Chatter was looking for precise enemies, she'd scan for those unseen.
* Ryker would lift his riffle and take fire at anything that moved as an enemy. He was cloaked with nightshade and the enemy was coming. Ryker was not a primary melee fighter, and would bide his time before he had to leave the shadows. He'd take time to make careful aim before firing his hollow point rounds at his enemies.
* Jacob ducked his head at the sounds of battle outside. The roars, the howls, the explosions. Oh. Good. God. This was not place for any of them. There was a nervous energy as he waited for the first of the injured to arrive and prayed that they would live through this night.
* Kaelyn's eyes widen at the sight of the fae's death, it just seemed wrong to see the shining ones die in such a horrendeous fashion, no honour or glory, just ... dead. She wasn't a good enough shot to try to aim for any potential snipers, but she could keep an eye out for other threats. Like Kode she was far more concerned with the frenzying elder, it wouldn't help to stop the snipers if they were simply destroyed by someone who was supposed to be on their own side.
* ::Silas remains where he is, still shielding his group from sight, while waiting for an opportunity for melee - anyone among them capable of shooting could do so, but they would loose the protection of Obfuscate::
* Matthew /almost/ stands up out of cover to view the spectacular awe inspiring sight of the heavy war machines being wrought into little more than scrap in seconds. Where once had sat crushing despair opens up into a renewed vigour, bolstered further by the words of Gabriel, the man having turned fully from his mindset of the last night...Even if he ripped off Lord of the Rings, it was certainly a welcome speech. His maw pulls back into a terrifying grin and he throws his head back to howl. As it draws to a sudden close and he peers over and out of cover to track out any oddities in the cover of the treeline, the shifter cloaked in the blackness of the nightshade talen.
<Isabelle> :: ... if Maggie seems to fail, Isabelle is totally reaching out for Ujio to assist::
[ST Thea] * Jordan moved so quickly.. one moment he was there.. the next he was not likely leaving Maggie to grasp the ground where he had been. Thankfully for everyone.. already likely some what panicked from those dying next to them from sniper fires.. The elder Ventrue was moving off in the directions the shots had been fired. The sword swept up, at the first available warm body that he found hidden in the darkness... Would there be trees in the way they would not stand the arch of the blade, nor would stone, or body much less most armor..... he cleaved with a hissing delight that came with the passion of bloodlust and rage that bubbled through him.
[ST Thea] * The Fae all threw themselves behind whatever was available to hide behind.. because firing at things they couldn't see seemed like a good way just to get shot more.. there were a handful that panicked.. so young and fresh on the field that they ran about like chickens with similar noises.. squeaks and peeps of fear.
[ST Thea] * Rayne looked for patterns and life as she leveled her rifle and peered down the scope trying to find something to shoot.
[ST Thea] * Eddum sulked with in the shadows in the dreaming and the waking world looking for a hidden enemy ahead.
[ST Thea] * Lily shook her head at Isabelle. "none are alive.... " and motioned the woman to wait.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- In the distance that sound of jet engines was growing louder, but again, it was definitely in the distance and not close as of yet. Howls had rung out from their north side, which was Gabriel's vanguard side, but then howls rang out from the east and now the west with no indication that their south flank was occupied as of yet. They were being boxed in, to the south was more cleared farmland, but also Daniel's land and then the bayou. Clearly the tactic was going to be a stranglehold and those with a tactical mind would see this almost immediately based on their knowledge of the terrain. no more sniper rounds took casualties this time around, and in fact Alan had come upon them with his bestial senses and slashed down a tree where the garou was perched surprising him and taking him down. The other two at the same moment had opened fire on a visible target, to them at least, what should have been a concentrated burst of fire was mostly grazes, or so the logic went, because who took explosive rounds to the face and brushed that shit off?! To those watching the front lines, there came a sort of fog that started to roll across the farmland, directly from the east flank. Chatter and Raven will see, almost immediately that in the wake of this fog there is ice and white permafrost, not the kind of morning after the chill frost, it was leaving small animals frozen in place, and nothing seemed to live behind it, or was instantly frozen under a blanket of cold measuring roughly six meters high, thirty meters wide and twenty meters long, like some strange line of ice age frost come to reap the grains denied.
* Raven let her gift take her focus for a moment before her eyes widened as she felt them. 3 snipers approximately 300 meters out from the front lines. only 400 meters behind them is a group of 20 garou moving in pretty solid formation. Shepushed this information through her link, feeding it to the ones on the ground. She banks a bit higher in her flight. She is cloaked in shadow, but their enemies may still spot her in her silent flight. Er... Then one of the snipers was squicked... that looked painful...
* Chatter sent out the same, seeing what Raven did, calling out in Alarm to let them know about the icy fog that approached. "Some fire might be useful, that will freeze everything!"
* Maggie was denied her chance to calm Allen, and snorted disgustedly. She pulled herself back up into the air, cloaking herself in obfuscation before she broke the tree line, flying toward where she heard the drone of a plane engine. It was next for downing!
* ::Silas cursed through the shared link. Then he asked 'Is that the Garou playing with Mother Nature, or something else? How soon until it hits?'. He had no fire on him, he was a freaking vampire::
* Toby was pretty happy being in cover, waiting to be useful.
* Makayla was still with the other healers and watching rather helplessly, there was very little she could do here besides wait to receive the injured, and hope the people she cared aboutlived through this. She scanned the crowd again, looking for particular faces though she doubted she would be able to spot anybody in particular.
* Randi continued toward the twenty-some-odd Garou, following the directions she had now been given, and looking for the best way to make trouble. She silently skipped through the trees, unseen and unheard, ready for blood.
* Raj Dutta an explosive bullet came from nowhere and hit him in the skull. It should have been enough to kill him but he somehow survived with major wounds. He took out the remains of the lodged bullet from his skull. He was losing blood fast. Survival instincts kicked in. He yelled to Gabriel "I'm..hit..cant go on. They...they have sniper with explosive rounds. Get to cover NOW!" After this hid body almost instinctively spend a little of his remaining blood as he sunk deep into the earth
* Peyton in the meantime was looking for a particular person, there had to be someone controlling that shit and that was the person she was looking for with plans to take aim and hopefully be able to take them out and sop the freezing fog.
* Ryker takes the moment to adjust himself in his cover, he was still biding his time. A shot fired too soon would simply give away his position and he had no intention of dying that easily.
* Jacob was still waiting for casualties.
* Kaelyn was still peering about to watch for any signs of other dangers, using her sight to see if she could spot anything else that might be coming for them.
* Gabriel waited, listening to the howls begin erupting on the Northern side, and knowing full well what the other flanks meant. there was nothing they could do about it but try and withstand the storm. He knew Raj was also prowling out there, waiting to strike just as he was, just as they had practiced. Until, of course, he heard the bullets tear through the orchard, and Raj's protest at being shot through with those explosive rounds the snipers had been packing. Gabriel was hoping that would be enough to put his people on alert and searching for those gunmen. They needed to be eliminated, and quickly. While he knew that he could rain down lightning upon them, he didn't know exactly where the enemy was, and he was not willing to take a chance on roasting one of their allies by directing the storm blindly. However, when Raj decides to sink into the earth, instead of standing and fighting when he was injured, Gabriel growls in his chest with irritation. The jet engines needed to be dealt with, he did not have time to start trying to convince someone to fight that was afraid of losing their life, or unlife. Therefore, he directed the rage of the lightning towards the sound of the jet engines on their way, hoping that he would be able to take them out in the same fashion that the apache helicopters had been annihilated. After yelling out his warning, he took one of the vials of Nightshade he had prepared and drank it, allowing himself to blend into the shaodws, waiting to pounce, and hoping that it would be enough to keep his position from being compromised from his warning. The predator was waiting, it was time to put their preparations to the test.
* Faira would remain with her sister, watching and waiting for any injured to come toward the triage area.
* Matthew will hold his fire unless otherwise given the command by Gabriel, absolutely unable to do anything about the frost except wait and hope it doesn't envelop them. They're busting out their world war one era rolling barrage tactics for sure now.
* ::Isabelle waited, her face still a marble mask, but her emerald green eyes blazed with fustration. She could do some damage to the Garou, but it required her to leave her post, which she could not do. Each of the dead stung like a brand, and they would only be the first::::
* Kiara waited patiently, having nothing better to do with her time than to wait for some visible sign of attack before she would put the wires to the battery. It might not be how she would have chosen to spend her Sunday night but this was certainly a new experience for her...once she was pretty sure she didn't want to repeat already. Raj's injury made Kiara wince a little but she figured he was kindred and could take a little more than that. Her eyes went a touch wide when he took thee coward's way and slithered in to the dirt to protect himself and leave the rest of them to die. Her dark gaze went back to Gabriel and she felt at least some small swell of pride in him being the leader he was.
* Mercy is waiting as well, Aiyana is still prowling about.
* ::Sandra had halted fire and waited for the enemy to come closer. Fayad seemed a statue of patience by now, though his eyes were cold and hard::
* Ishkode crouched down behind their sandbag cover. "Ready yourselves. Wolves are coming. Take aim and wait for my signal to fire," he called to his group. Then he focused his thoughts on Isabelle as instructed earlier. ~Confirm the South is clear.~
* Talyn waited for a shot.
* Kegarri stalked up closer to Gabriel's position to cover the gap Raj had left in their lines.
[ST Thea] * Roy pumped his wings and took himself up higher making his way through the air as his long 15 foot serpentine body rippled through the sky. he had the good fortune to be more of a snake style mokole with wings and itty bitty little knobby legs... that hocked fire.. so that was his aim at the moment.. using the lightening in the sky to look for the outline of the plane.
[ST Thea] * Raven turned in the direction of the on coming garou from the north through the orchard and with his war constructs he headed that direction.. leaping up into the trees to start picking his way along with all six limbs not unlike a spider. The flesh plants took up position to look like any other vegetation waiting for viable bodies to grapple onto to try to engulf and drop into their acid pitchers.. or grasp onto and suffocate... or.. many other interesting and terrible ways to die. with him came the north end group and their people looking to engage.
[ST Thea] * Eddum would move around the west group in the shadows with the intent to reach out and snatch the rear guard and pull him into the darkness... he would simply attempt to bite the creature's head off.... while the ghouls and fae from his front group would approach low to the ground.
[ST Thea] *Jordan would be busy with the East side Snipers...moving from the fallen tree on the first to the next two burning his celerity to dispatch them as quickly aspossible for the sheer desire of the destruction.... the group protecting that end would hold back because advancing on a mudering elder vampire is scary folks.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- In the distance the woosh of the jet intakes can be heard louder now, with the lights blinking a bit more steady. Clearly the aircraft was on track for the location in question. Those in the air who were going after the plane flew off into the distance, likely leaving the initial area of engagement to deal with that threat. Eddum made contact with the western contingent and was able to bite into the rearmost garou, severing the head and part of it's shoulders from it's body, but there was definitely something off about how that guy tasted, perhaps he needed some more salt. Raj had sunk into the ground and Gabriel was left with an open hole in his vanguard, we would see who if any would step up to fill the spot. Alan was making quick work of the snipers along with a few accurate shots from Talyn and the others who had used the corax's information to full effect. The wraiths were doing a fantastic job of harrying the garou on the east flank and keeping them in dissaray but that did not stop the slow approach of the permafrost fog bank rolling in, it was slow, but it was inexorable. But then it was the least of their worries as just then within the second line CLY went down in a heap, blood and flesh flying everywhere and yell of pain from the sidhe who still somehow managed to make a full twist in his fall so it was at least somewhat graceful. Several others of the fae went down and a couple of the kindred did as well. For some reason though, those who witnessed the carnage did not feel that this was out of place, it was war and people died, clearly this was the cause of something else. Four lay dead on the ground, five if you counted CLY and more began to rack up! For some reason the Enemy Ways gift of the Corax was not working as more and more were torn apart and people did not move to intercept.
* Toby gasped as she clued into something just not being right, she ducked back further behind the front lines, not leaving but ready for evasive manuevers if needed!
* Maggie continued her stealthed flight after the plane, ready to tear it from the sky the moment she found it! *attack intent, ready to roll*
* Peyton whirled around and blinked a few times as she watched the people around her start to die, torn apart by .... apparently nothing.... and tried to figure out what to level the gun at to at least protect herself and the people around her still alive.
* Chatter was blissfully unaware.. well not blissfully, combat is terrible! She banked, seeing that her allies knew where the oncoming Garou enemies were, and headed off to find whatever was causing that ice! (spot check intent)
* ::Isabelle felt more people die, more consciousnesses being extinguished, but she could not make out where the attack had come from:: "Something's not right ..." ::she murmured, mostly to herself, focusing on those still living to attempt to figure out what was going on. She sent a request at Raven:: <Raven, do you know where the attacks are from?>
* Makayla prepared to potentialy receive the wounded, eyes still scanning for the potential of enemies getting too close to the ritual itself.
* Raven mentally marked the spot that Raj had fled to and passed that information on through the link. That Garri was also now occupied on that line would also be passed on, that would affect their support and mobility teams. She was watching the North and East flank and keeping track of their people was as important as noting the enemy. Her keen eyes see the enemy attacking within their lines and she sends a warning of alarm through her connection with the others, marking the enemy numbers (10) and positions. Her allies would see this as clearly as she did.
* Ryker obeys Kode's previous order and waits for his command to open fire. He trusts in the professors wisdom and the Qualmi will not break ranks.
* Jacob was still waiting for casualties.
* Gabriel saw what was happening from the mental link that they were sharing, and upon Raven giving him a location that he can direct some support at, Gabriel once again requests the assistance of the spirit within the lightning staff. Through the network he would only give one warning, knowing time to be of the essence before the Garou would begin fanning out and pushing outward through the ranks. "Get away from the Garou until the lightning strikes!" With that, Gabriel hopes that the power of the lightning being called down from the sky to smite the Garou that had somehow gotten through their ranks would help to thin their numbers, giving the Fae and others a fighting chance. He felt the desire to go help them, to rend and cleave through the Garou that had made it within their lines, but at the same time, he knew that is what they wanted. The ambush was designed to put them into disarray, the Garou knowing that this coalition was not as disciplined and well-oiled as the Garou Nation war machine. So he held his position, his shadowy form obfuscated in the blackness of the night, waiting for the Garou to come charging the North line. Knowing that Kegarri had come to fill Raj's absence in the line gave the Ahroun confidence. Together, the two of them had been quite formidable, and they were in Kegarri's element.
* Kegarri was in crinos, and only bastet would understand his words. But the growl-like cat roar his words sounded like were obvious enough. <Kheuar: "10 dogs among us!"> These words were -thought- back to Isabelle, along with his visual senses of spotting them and what to look for. Unless the wolves could understand him, he might yet have a moment of surprise. He looked for the nearest dog and would launch himself with claws slashing.
* Ishkode heard the cries and turned to find what was killing them from the inside. Randi had given a warning this might happen, and he sensed something was wrong. "There is a hidden enemy in our ranks! Stay alert. They will attack at close range. Don't panic and shoot each other. Work together."
* Talyn felt something was off and lifted his gaze from his scope just in time to watch Cly go down. The sidhe's cry cut deep, but Talyn gritted his teeth. His job was to defend the ritual. If Cly was still alive, it was for the medics to help him now. He looked for signs of the enemey. Signs of whatever made him feel uneasy.
* Faira would continue to remain at her post, though she does look at Isabelle, wondering if it was time for them to do their duties.
* ::Silas whips his head about to stare in disbelief at Cly's prone body. The Fae had been hidden under Silas' shroud, which meant invisibility was worthless. He prepared his axes as he gazes cautiously about, waiting to either die or catch a glimpse of their attackers::
* Kaelyn let her eyes continue to scan to see if this hidden enemy was something she could spot, looking to the fallen to see if any might still draw a breath and need to be taken to the healers as was her duty.
* Kiara was still unaware of anything coming and the deaths couldn't be made sense of...she looked to check on Peyton and get a sense of what was going on only to see Cly fall. She may not have cared for Cly specifically but she knew that Talyn had and she felt a cold ache for him settle in her middle....but there were other things to worry about now and Talyn's grief wasn't one of them.
* Aiyana lowered her form down and a deep rumble filled her chest, lips pulling back to bare her teeth as she perceived what was happening now. Aiyana was lurking about the North area with Kegarri and Gabriel....she knew Kegarri's words and saw it for truth. Without a moment's hesitation she pounced on the closest enemy available to her.
* Randi closed in on the twenty Garou, looking for one at the back, off to the side, the usual numbers ready to flank or keep up the rear guard. Someone that looked burly and beef-headed, hopefully easy to manipulate. The lie was fresh on her lips as she whispered in his ear "The Garou leading you is an infiltrator. You really should deal with that."
[ST Thea] * Lily turned around the entrance at the white wall of Vines as Cly fell down onto the went ground in a splash of blood. She did not see anything at first until Raven's cry in her mind brought her mind into focus on the enemy. Gabriel's call might have been to assist ... but the ten garou were spread out with int he crowd and he could only call down so much lightening at one time. She watched as people scattered in all panicked directions only to call out to them as she forced the Sidhe's power into her voice. "STOP! RALLY!... denizens OF THE DREAMING... SHIELD BARRIERS OF HONOR! TURN AND FACE YOUR FOE!"
[ST Thea] -SCENE- As the information came to their minds the Fae turned as one onto the enemy with in and they garou would be faced with the Trolls and their heavy hammers and axes, The Pookas wth their quick knives, the Knockers with their souped up guns, and the Soughan with their spells.. the Arts were used only when necessary as the Fae held onto their glamour.... out the Sidhe raised her hand and the Vines snatched out from the wall to grasp the wounded and carried them to safety. Depositing them into Isabelle and Faira's hands to direct the others.
[ST Thea] * Eddum's mind reached out to relay the information "These guys are have metal?! what the fuck?! RANDI?!" and then he moved to KICK the body with out the head toward the group sulking in the west.. turning around to go to the side of them about his front guard began to fire into the group of Garou.
[ST Thea] * Kyssa peered around her in all directions keeping watch over Erik. "hurry hurry erik we need you to hurry" She encouraged him.
[ST Thea] * Alan moved toward the next group of living souls.. likely on toward the North where the group of twenty offered the best and fattest selection of prey.
[ST Thea] * Raven and his plants awaited in ambush for the garou.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- On the north side ahead of the group, Randi worked her magic and the front lines could see AND hear the very hidden group of 20 garou that were using the orchard as cover and setting up firing points, complete with two mortar stations. But they saw them because one of them turned and opened up a Squad Automatic Weapon on another one of the garou in the lines, lighting him up and sowing dissension in the ranks as the scrambled to regroup and take down the one turning on them.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- Eddum and his squad continued to lay into the western group, but the battle was not going well, for whatever reason the group to the west did not seem to be cowing in the face of a hidden threat but instead were regrouping and recentering with near perfect timing, not missing a beat as they seemed to circle in three of their own that took out what looked like holo style displays on their wrists and began to tap into the devices.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- To the east the fog rolled in, ever closer, and the snipers were long dead, but Alan was caught within the fog as were several of his ghouls who were doing their best to lay waste to the garou in the path of the rampaging elder vampire. Chatter's visuals were able to pick out that a small group of very angry looking wolves were staring rather intently at the fog and could relay this information to the snipers in the group so they could open fire. In the distance, the sky turned to daylight, as explosions began to ring out and those knowledgeable of aircraft would hear under the thrum of those jet engines, the sound of a very large prop driven plane on the way behind them as explosions ring out and the sight of the dragons engaging in battle are seen during the ocassional bursts of light in the sky.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- For the Phalanx, there were fifteen garou who literally came out of six pits in the ground, all of them running at full tilt and screaming a blood war cry, this was the moment Gabriel was waiting for. --- With Ravens warning the garou in the middle of the 2nd lines were all illustrated and pointed out, and could all be engaged as they continued to lay waste to individuals, including Robert Falls, the ventrue kindred who tried valiantly to fight and resist, but went down under a hail of claws and teeth, along with his two ghouls. --- Gabriel will note that the charging garou are all naked, have no weapons or armor and are covered in blood marks across their body looking on the verge of, if not already in a berserk frenzy.
[St Jose] * Erik continues his work with the ritual in question and then cuts his arm adding his own blood to the mix and then lighting a small fire to throw in silver and melting it down, it's somewhat time consuming but he's been working at it for a while now.
[ST Jose] * Mike has regained himself and grabbed his camera to begin taking up the good fight for posterity!
[ST Jose] * Ujio, on the other hand, while still not seen flashes brief images of the death of garou in the distance, garou who had set up sniper embankments and still others who were readying for a charge from the north once the packs of Mjolnir's thunder had hit.
<Silas> ::With Raven's directions, Silas will go after one of the infiltrators with those axes of his, swinging and throwing them in an attempt to initiate a grapple - in enough distance from the ice to be safe, because screw becoming an icicle::
* Chatter circles over the sight of the wolves causing the frost, pointing them out by thoroughly illustrating their location and distance from the others "Wolves of Frost! Here to kill!"
* Makayla is ready to receive the injured and when they are delivered immedately goes to work on stemming any bleeding, getting bandages applied, getting bones set, etc.
* ::Isabelle will immediately go for the Fae that Lily had brought back, giving orders for the injured Kindred to be given blood if they were still conscious - and to put them on a cot if they were not::
* Maggie engages the planes, fighting to toss them into each other as she had done with the choppers "These are not physical planes, Roy! They are spirits. I would give a great deal for a Shaman right now! Gods curse these contraptions!"
* Faira will move alongside her sister, following the older mage's orders to the letter, taking note of who needed blood or needed to be put on a cot.
* Toby steels herself, bringing glamourous fruit to crack open and toss at people, giving her fae brethren a recharge when needed. Her speedy Satyr legs carry her through the number of allies, moving as fast as can be among them.
* ::Sandra was still waiting for an opportunity to shoot.::
* ::Fayad cursed inwardly as he watched Allen being covered by the ice. He trusted it would not be enough to kill his Domitor, but still ... this was fustrating::
* Randi laughs quietly, circling around to find another Garou to whisper at, continuing her deviltry of contention and chaos among the enemy. "Oh, hey, that guy was shooting the leader because he's the enemy. You need to handle this!"
* Peyton opens fire on the first garou that presents her with a clear target, just hoping to whatever diety cared to listen that it went down before she pissed it off.
* Gabriel saw the rampaging packs of Berserkers coming down through his lines, and knew full well that they would not see him coming, blinded as they were by their Rage and their fury. The Silver Fang sprints forward into the fray, channeling his own Rage into his actions, his powerful arms swiping and tearing at the Garou that had come into his line of engagement. He knew the Fenrir well, and knew that now, as the others had been before this moment, in a pitched battle whose outcome would be hard fought, and hard won, if it were won at all. Now that the element of surprise has been lost, Gabriel bursts into a radiant silver light, shining like the full moon itself in the field of battle, helping Matthew and Kiara to be able to see their targets better, and hurting the eyes of those unfortunate enough to now be locked in claw to claw combat with him. The regal bearing of his Silver Fang lineage comes to full bearing as he shines like a beacon of hope in the uncertain night of the Northern lines, beginning his ambush in earnest. While he fights against the foes before him, the lightning staff continues to channel its power to the storm, lightning bolts pointed to the Garou that had infiltrated their ranks, looking to bring the Mother's burning fury to bear.
* Kiara had been watching Gabriel for a sign that he wanted her to set the wires to the batteries and once she caught the look from him a smile flashed on to her lips and she forward, crouching down to the battery. She pulled free the bundle that she wanted, careful to choose the spots that her allies were not in and set the proper ends to the proper post of the battery. It was nothing more than copper wire that would carry a charge down to the pipe bombs that had been planted on the North side. Even if the enemy was filing past them, she hoped they would still be taken by the blast in the back at the very least. They had tested the range on these explosions but she hated eyeballing the distance now....still, she selected carefully to be as sure as possible that none of her own would be hit.
<Raven> *As much as Raven wants to swoop into the fray and defend her friends, she remains aloft. She has to trust in her companions to keep themselves alive. Raven herself is silent and watchful. Calling out vocally would only illustrate her presence in the dark sky.
* Ryker turns shoulders his Riffle to shift into Chatro to stalk the shadows of his portion of the second line. He'd use the cover of darkness and the nightshade talen to wait for en opening as a garou attacked another person to strike from behind with the speed and swiftness furious feline.
* Jacob would follow the directions of the healers. Moving bodies, fetching items, helping to hold items. Whatever he can do to ease the burden on the healers as he scans the faces of the fallen for those he knows.
* Ishkode rallied his troops and oraganized the attack to clear our the enemy from their ranks. He signaled for Sandra and Jihyo to flank and attack one of the enemy while he and Kaelyn took on another.
* Matthew will leave the garou in their midst to the others as his job is to support the front line, his ears swiveling back to listen if any came back in as he sights in on the rushing garou, his heavy rifle issuing forth deep stacatto bursts, firing at those closest to the front line and focusing on one target until it falls before sighting in on another of the beserker garou.
* Kaelyn was furiously loyal to Kode to the point that she would follow him straight i nto hell, and that was apparently what they were going to do. She followed her domitor's signal and prepared to engage as she had been trained to do.
* Aiyana was fully intent on rending the closest garou to shreds while Mercy was rather calculated in her actions and pulled the trigger of her rifle after aiming.
* Ji Hyo nodded once to Kode and barreled in to the fight at his order.
* Talyn may just have taken the closest infiltrator garou to Cly, unless there was an enemy closing in on the main camp. Revenge, even if he didn't have time to enjoy it.
* Kegarri threw himself at the infiltrating garou to clear the line, all fury and claws. This was a good day to die. This was a better day to live. Someone had to tell the King of Cats of this day.
[ST Thea] * Alan had draw himself back to his sense... only to notice the fog finally... he'd attempted to get away in a speedy manner but alas had slipped on someone's blood and lingered. As the Fog rolled up over him freezing his skin solid, his clothing. armor everything.... he swept out his blade to decapitate his two ghouls before they suffered more then they ought.. with out remorse he moved toward the Wolves staring at the fog. Leaving bits of his skin behind as it cracked and shattered like a fragile mirror to swept into the mists of them with a scream from his sword.
[ST Thea] * Eddum would sink down into the darkness once more and walk much like an esher painting below their feet in the shadows. he hefted up a hand to grasp for one of the garou being protected in the middle to try to yank the man (or woman) down into the slippery darkness in which he sat. He had to leave the others pressing the group of garou to keep them occupied while he dealt with those they were protecting in the middle.
[ST Thea] -SCENE- The Fae and the Vampires/ghouls that had been left behind to defend the ritual and the healers... would do their best to battle the ten garou that had been in their mists.... valiant and heartful warriors they put their lives to the test and turned too to meet those on coming.
[ST Thea] * Near the outter ring Lily would direct the Vines to strike in attempts to grapple garou and yank them to the wall themselves.... there the tendrrils of the bines would attempt to work their way into tender openings, eyes, ears, mouth.. any other portal into the body to fill the cavities with in with the squirming masses.. As she worked walking around the out side of the ring her hair turned snow white, tipped in red... her eyes blend of their pale violet color to a blood red that matched the color of her hair and she smiled oh so softly... humming a tune as she moved.
[ST Thea] * Roy would think back at Maggie. "I will try to get them to drop from the sky.. but I do not have enough mass to damage them.. do what you can while they are disabled.. and he would fly under to warm up his fires and breath upon their bellies starting with the C130.
[ST Thea] * Raven and his constructs would set upon the garou that Randi would reveal.... the plants lashing out int heir manners to consume.. suffocate and digest while RAven dropped down to release his clans arts upon the group....
[ST Thea] -SCENE- others would fire as commande.d. pew pew pew.. witht their rifles.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- The chaos of the combat amongst the second line and where Kode kept people together was hitting a fever pitch, down one garou went and then another, Ryker and Kegarri did their level best and proved why they were the kings of the jungle, tearing apart their prey with enough skill to write home about. Snipers opened up and the fae left in the second line turned as well upon them, overwhelming. Clearly they were made for hit and run and surprise fighting, their ability to withstand punishment was not the stuff of legend. Several more of the fae and kindred were cut down in the chaos but ultimately they had won the moment and killed off the ten interlopers in their midst.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- Those who fired on the onrushing garou landed solid shots, nailing furred flesh and rending limbs and tearing holes through bodies with the powerful weapons, in some cases the wounds seemed to heal as if nothing had happened and in others, the damage was simply too great to recover from, the charging lines were being decimated and Gabriel's phalanx and support from Kode and the 3rd line was doing well. Eddum managed to yank that garou down into the darkness of the dreaming, doing whatever it was shark like red caps tended to do to their enemies in the dark, it was likely not pretty. Alan ran directly into the enemy contingent after offing his ghouls to save them the suffering they would go through before dying to the cold they had become trapped in. Not to be understated was the work of the healers and the medical professionals, they'd managed to save some who were bound for death and still others were lost but they weathered it with iron willed detachment to see the job done. The battle raged on in the distance up in the air but it was unclear who might be winning at this point there were just so many damn flashes and sounds of battle.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- Clearly those kindred who were not battle capable had done an excellent job of cordoning off the area and ensuring a masquerade would continue after this battle. KIARA touched her wires to the bomb contacts and watched gleefully....as nothing happened, what the hell had gone wrong with her bombs?! The Fae lines supped on the glamour within the fruits provided by Toby, and benefited greatly from her assistance on the line as unconventional as it were, it was still the kind of help needed and no few Trolls and even a crafty looking Sluagh shot an appreciative glance at the feisty little satyr. Silas entered into combat with his axes, flinging them about and hooking a garou pulling them to the ground and entangling them with a chain, using it to his benefit as he slashed and cleaved at the fallen creature until it simply stopped moving and then rushed to the next target. Isabelle's senses were taxed incredibly as she helped maintain the web, multiple different fronts and multiple groups within groups, it was almost maddening. The intel from Chatter and Raven was invaluable and allowed for Ujio to direct forces and also to cut off reinforcements through the area.
[ST Jose] -SCENE- In the sky above a flash of lightning was shown and the vague outlines of what seemed like a tattered clothed little girl embroiled in combat against a large black fox hybrid with three eyes, all pale blue, her fur white tipped and enjoined in what seemed to be some kind of spiritual combat.
[ST Jose] * Erik had finally concluded his ritual and picked up the red tinted silver dust and spoke the words of power needed and then breathed in the silver dust, closed his eyes and then fell over into a torpid state, his open mouth expelled everything he had inhaled in what seemed to be a black cloud of sorts that began to spread over the battle field in it's entirety, what that had accomplished, no one is quite sure just yet, but something was going on, that was for sure, as here and there garou began to simply drop over, much like Erik, laying in a state of deep somnolescence unshaken by the sounds of combat and seeming peaceful as they lay on the field.