If one could watch the water in pure daylight from the shore, it would be both an astounding and intimidating sight at the same time. One could visibly watch the water be drained from the shore as it was assembled further down the beach in front of where the Dragoons were lined up. As the shore line vanished at a rapid pace, the wall of water before the Dragoons continued to grow at the same rate, hitting around twenty to thirty feet before the Dragoons unleashed the wave into the ocean, starting the chain reaction.
The tidal wave continued it's furious journey over the surface of the ocean, maintaining it's drastic height, acting as though a huge meteor had crashed into the ocean, the unstoppable wall of water determined to destroy or drown everything in it's wake.
However, considering it was between three to four in the morning, this display was not as easily seen, and for the most part, the Dragoons had more important things on their minds.
Like returning to NorthRend.
Angelus, however, couldn't help himself and sat for a few seconds as the wave continued, now blocking out all of the lights of the approaching enemy. But it was only for a few seconds, for the Tech flyers were still rumbling in the air, reminding Angelus that he was on a live battlefield.
Angelus turned towards NorthRend and began to head back. This time, however, instead of keeping pace with the others, he was going full speed, using Lighting Steps all the way back. What was a ten to fifteen minute run was over in seconds, arriving at the barrier just before he heard some sort of strange whistling noises.
Angelus didn't even have time to turn around as all of the shells fired from the Tech naval vessels dropped on the fields between NorthRend and the beach, clearly intending to cut off the escape path of those who were trying to come back to NorthRend after launching the tidal wave.
Angelus himself was thrown back from the force of the explosions even though he was a safe distance from them, landing on his right side as a new form of stabbing began in Angelus' ears as they began to ring loudly. Loudly enough that Angelus couldn't hear anything except for the ringing.
Angelus rose, finding that the pain in his ears was now shooting directly to his brain, giving him one of the worst headaches in his life, and that still didn't prepare him for what happened next.
Angelus had barely turned toward the explosions in time to see something which was coming right at him, and he lifted his arms to protect his eyes and head as he closed his eyes. Instead of something solid hitting him, however, some sort of warm and thick water splattered itself on him.
Slightly confused, Angelus lowered his arms ever so slightly and looked ahead, and a mere few feet away...was an arm. A human arm. A human arm without the rest of the human. The fingers and arm itself seemed to be unharmed aside from small cuts and burns, which were still somehow bleeding slowly, and even the fingers were still twitching slightly. But at the other end, shortly past the elbow, it was completely torn and shriveled. A large piece of broken bone, with sharp edges as though it were broken glass, was protruding from the end of the arm, along with red chunks of either muscle, skin, or something else that Angelus couldn't describe.
Angelus turned away from the sight, and saw something worse. This time it was a head, or what was left of it. Although the face was not directly staring at him, and it wasn't someone he really know, what he did see was sickening enough.
The right side of the face, which Angelus could see from his angle, was burnt with a large hole on the right cheek, while the lower jaw remained slack and was not properly aligned with the upper jaw in a very unsettling manner. The eyes were rolled downward toward the ground, no longer able to stare straight ahead. The sight of it was just...
Angelus felt it coming, and was barely able to turn to his other side before his stomach completely erupted and Angelus began puking on the ground next to him. What made it worse is that the constant ringing continued, and Angelus didn't hear himself as he retched, but instead only the loud ringing that blared in his ears.
As he finished, more shells rained down, starting another chain of explosions. This time, however, the explosions did not go off all at once, reducing the overall force of the blast as well as the power of the sound that was created, and Angelus was able to ignore them for the most part thanks to his puking along with the ringing sound in his ear which continued unimpeded.
To Angelus' further misery, a second round began, and he had to take everything from the top once again as he erupted a second time, and now found that he was puking more water than he was any sort of food. Most of the food had gone out with the first wave.
As he finished with the second wave, he felt a hand patting his back, and it was hear that he realized that the ringing had died down somewhat, and he could hear both the explosions which continued in the background, along with what could best be described as a blur of someone's voice, which was clearly shouting at him.
Angelus wiped his mouth with his arm as he turned to look up to who was trying to call out to him, and to his surprise he found Veteran Phobos standing over him, patting Angelus' back.
Angelus blinked several times as the words starting coming in and becoming clearer, and Angelus had the strange sensation that it wasn't so much as his hearing coming back as it was all of reality being restored.
"C'mon Graduate Angelus, pull yourself together! We're here and we need to be ready when they open the barrier! You've made it!"
"I...I made it." Angelus thought he said, but wasn't sure since he didn't even hear himself.
"That's it! Looks like you're coming around! Remember to speak loudly, I won't be able to hear you over the explosions!"
"I-I said I made it, Veteran!" Angelus, finding power in his voice, shouted over the explosions which were slowing down.
Veteran Phobos nodded. "Yes you did, can you stand?" The Veteran asked as he extended his hand to Angelus, which Angelus took. Although Angelus struggled slightly as he stood on his legs, he was able to keep his balance thanks to the Veteran.
"Now what Veteran?" Angelus asked.
"We wait here. The order was clear, the barrier will only be opened one more time to let us back in. Thankfully, we seem to be outside their line of fire, or they just simply don't want to strike the barrier directly. Either way, we're safe here at the moment, and the others should be arriving soon."
That made Angelus think of their third guest, which Angelus turned to look at once more.
"Don't!" Veteran Phobos shouted as he grabbed Angelus' shoulders, who turned back to the Veteran.
"It's a horrifying enough sight as it is, and one you will see many times over as the war goes on! Don't expose yourself to it any more than you have to! You'll destroy yourself if you do, understand!?" The Veteran shouted as the explosions picked up again.
"Yes Veteran!" Angelus shouted back, but for some reason, Veteran Phobos' eyes were rising and no longer staring at Angelus.
"That's the signal! Get ready, we're going back!" Veteran Phobos shouted to Angelus, causing Angelus to turn and follow where the Veteran's eyes were staring, and just caught the end of the explosion signal.
Like before, the barrier rose slowly from the ground. Except this time, instead of being a path to a horrifying darkness, this was a path to a safe light. (Which one would consider on odd thing to say, considering that the night was still supreme, though shards of light from the sun were beginning to shine through.)
Angelus was only too happy to step through the barrier this time, and as the barrier closed, the force of the explosions vanished and even the sound was muffled to tolerable levels.
"Let's go Graduate Angelus. Veteran Brandall wanted us to assemble at the center once we had returned."
Just as Veteran Phobos finished, the order began to echo.
"STRIKE TEAM ASSEMBLE AT VETERAN BRANDALL! STRIKE TEAM ASSEMBLE AT VETERAN BRANDALL!"
This was easy to see because Veteran Brandall was holding a large fireball above his head, and as instructed, everyone began to assemble around Veteran Brandall. As they gathered, Angelus saw that both Azreal and Aegis had made it, though Azreal's forehead was bleeding, which he wiped before the blood could get into his eyes. Aegis' battle dress had been torn in several spots, though Aegis himself appeared to be unharmed.
Angelus noticed that they seemed slightly thinned out, and Angelus knew at least one that wasn't coming back for certain. The image crept back into his head once more, and he openly gagged at the thought, his stomach ready to lurch once more.
"That was a good run Dragoons, a good run indeed. I won't waste any more of your time, you are allowed four hours of rest before you must return to your assigned obelisks. Go clean up, rest a little bit, and return to do your part. Our theatrics probably did little more than stall the invasion for a little bit, and we cannot risk another now that they'll be ready for it. Dismissed."
As he finished, another rain of naval shells fell down, which thinned had thinned out slightly when compared to before, exploding outside of the barrier, the shrapnel striking the barrier loud enough to be heard. Along with that, the flyers continued their domination in the sky.
Even though he was now behind the barrier, Angelus' fear continued to creep in, as the force and power of the explosions outside really began to sink in. After all, Angelus had never seen Tech weapons before now, and now that he was seeing them...
Angelus hadn't quite imagined that they would wield this much power, and Angelus understood that he was only getting a very small taste of what they had in store. How the fuck were these people weak-bloods? What the fuck were they all really up against?
Angelus began to recall all of the stories, lost in his mind as the group broke up. The stories he had heard about the Techs, they weren't anywhere close to what this really was. 'They have tanks, and explosives and such, but, they can be defeated.' That was the impression Angelus had been under up until now.
Now...Angelus had no idea what to call this.
"Angelus, you alright?" Angelus heard Aegis, who had appeared next to him and had rudely cut off Angelus' thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fucking fine." Angelus snapped.
"Easy Angelus. I personally am all fucked up right now." Azreal said in a somewhat shaky voice as he approached.
"Look, I'm good. I just want to be alone right now." Angelus returned.
"I don't think that's a good idea Angelus. You really shouldn't-"
"I said I'm fine!" Angelus snapped once again before he took a deep breath.
"Look, thanks for the concern, but I got this. I'm just gonna go, clean up, and take a good shit followed by a nap. I need to shit really bad actually." Angelus quickly said as he rushed off, hoping that the lie will work long enough to get the two of them off of his back.
Aegis and Azreal, however, were hardly that naive.
"I thought I was doing bad. He seems to be doing even worse." Azreal commented.
"He was already sinking into depression before today, and was already having a hard time dealing with that. Being thrust into war like this...even if Angelus lives, his mind will be completely shattered at this rate."
"Yeah, well, I'm not about to let that happen. I never thought I would ever say this, but I'm starting to miss the old Angelus. The fucking prick asshole whose always starting shit with an ego so fucking thick it could block out the sun. I don't give a shit what he says, I'm following him and try to give him a kick in the ass or something."
"It won't work." Aegis commented, stopping Azreal short.
"What the fuck do you mean 'it won't work'!? You, mister obsessive genius, are you fucking quitting on Angelus!?" Azreal spat.
"You know me better than that." Aegis flatly returned, and Azreal bit his lip as he quickly realized that he was way out of line.
"What I'm saying is that we no longer have the power to break through his emotional walls. You forget, as Dragoons now, we no longer are around each other as much as we used to be, and Angelus has been trying to adjust to that, and is one of the reasons for his depression. Don't get offended when I say this, but Angelus has probably been trying to convince himself that we are no longer a family to him, but good friends who are now outside of his personal life. And beyond us, he has no one else."
"What the fuck is wrong with him!? Does he really-"
"Easy Azreal. I've explained this before haven't I? Angelus is trying to adjust to us no longer being a part of his life like we were before as we all drift away as life goes on. He's trying to learn how to deal with all of his problems on his own, and the burden of that is crushing him."
"I don't give a shit. I know we're kind of drifting apart, it was gonna happen, but it's not like we don't care about him at all. Not this time Aegis, I'm-"
"You've already tried several times in different ways, and he still hasn't budged. If you try to approach him now, you'll make it even worse for him because it would mean to him that he hasn't been doing a good enough job hiding his emotional instability, and he'll try even harder to bottle everything up. I'm sorry Azreal, but, I don't think there is anything we can do for him now, partly because he won't let us, and partly because we know longer hold as strong of an influence over his personal life now. The best thing we can do is sit back and pray that he can pull himself before he collapses under the pressure he is putting on himself."
"Why the fuck is he being like this?" Azreal relented. Aegis was right. Angelus just wouldn't fuck budge and brushes everything off with a few short words. He was hardly the Angelus of before, but now, he's gonna get real fucked up in the head if someone didn't do something.
"It's simple. He's convinced himself that he doesn't need a single person in his life, trying to do in all honesty what no human should try to attempt, and sever all human contact from himself."
"He's a fucking idiot! That's it, I'm going to go kick his ass instead!" Azreal attempted to march off, but Aegis grabbed his arm.
"We just went over this. You and I both know it won't work. You and I both know that you kicking and screaming in front of him will make it worse. We can't do anything for him. He has to handle it on his own."
Azreal looked toward where Angelus ran off. "It's just, I'm already all fucked up with all of the shit going on around here. You know how close those explosions were to me? I honestly don't even fucking know how the fuck I'm alive. You see this fucking shit right here?" Azreal said as he pulled the neck of his battle dress to reveal his right shoulder, and though it was difficult to see, there several small shards, or rather rocks, which were buried deep into Azreal's skin, the wounds still bleeding.
"I got lucky, I hadn't even been paying attention when I got these. I was almost to the barrier, and thought to turn around to look back and fucking boom! I honestly have now idea how shit like this didn't hit my neck or head. I wasn't facing the explosion directly, and was looking over my shoulder when it happened. My entire right side got fucking pelted, but if any of these hit my neck or my ear or temple or some shit, and I'd probably be out there dead." Azreal said, his voice shaking as he recounted his story, staring out into the darkness which had now gone quiet, the rain of explosions now over.
"To be honest, I need you guys more than ever with all of this going on, but Angelus...seeing Angelus all fucked up like that makes me worried. He's supposed to be the asshole who gives me a kick in the ass while on his ego trips. Not an empty shell of himself closed out from the world."
"ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR TIDAL WAVE!!!!" General Johnson heard the captain scream his orders over the alarms and red lights that were blaring, the scene on the bridge as scene of absolute chaos as many began to pray.
Even with them as far out away from the shore as they were, the tidal wave launched by the Magi from the shore was hardly dead by the time it was approaching General Johnson and the carrier that he was aboard, the Orion.
All of the measures that could be taken have been taken, and all it now came down to was to pray to the Supreme One that the tidal wave was no longer tall enough to capsize the Orion, much less the rest of the ships that made up the first wave.
General Johnson held the bar next to him tightly, not wanting to steal the safety of a chair to anyone else who might need it, and braced himself as the nose of the carrier, along with the bridge began to unnaturally lift itself up, pointing itself toward the night sky.
It felt like a sick and life threatening roller coaster ride. The feeling of a sinking stomach as the roller coaster crawled upward to begin it's theatrics, a slow and sickening feeling which Johnson knew was a threat to his life if he did not hold on tight to the pole next to him, the creaking noises of the Orion loudly crackling even over the blaring alarms as the Orion sounded like it was ready to snap right in half at any moment.
Then, all at once, the Orion plunged itself into a downward angle, and General Johnson's stomach shifted as gravity, which had pulling him back toward the rear, now drastically shifted and threatened to pull him from the opposite direction. Yet despite all of the shifts of his internal organs, General Johnson held on to his pole, keeping his hold firm and preventing himself from rolling around and crashing into everything on the bridge, like several small objects like pens and now broken coffee cups were doing.
This was followed by a huge crash as the front half of the Orion threatened to sink into the North Sea without stopping, but managed to settle itself and once again threw the insides of everyone on board the Orion several times before the bobs finally stopped and the Orion finally righted itself on the water, the tidal wave now past them.
General Johnson had witnessed and experienced many events over the course of his long military career, but this perhaps was one the most tense moments that he had ever lived through. Never had he felt at the mercy of the elements as he was for those few seconds, praying to the Supreme One that the ship, along with himself, could hold together from that tidal wave.
"Damage report!" The captain demanded from his bridge crew, who then went over to the radio.
"All units, this is the captain of the Orion, I want a full damage report from all ships." The captain said as he hung up the radio, and breathed out a really long breath, and turned to Johnson.
"Thank the fucking Supreme One that all of those landing ships we had sent were decoys. If anyone had been aboard those landing ships as they approached..."
"Not one of them would have survived." General Johnson finished. Having fought the Magi many times already, and he himself the creator of the Johnson Doctrine, he had been expecting a surprise like this from the Magi, and thankfully, had sent decoys to provoke them into showing this card.
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