Veteran Hailey took a moment to appreciate that Angelus had all of the enemy's attention. There wasn't a single machine or enemy soldier glancing in their direction, even though they were in the open field.
"Is this close enough?" Veteran Hailey asked Aegis.
"Yes." Aegis answered as he kneeled on the ground, placing both of his palms flat on the ground before him. He visibly strained and tensed as he poured is power into the ground before him, attempting to split it open. This was the part that was going to take time. Once there was a fracture, it was easy from there. Aegis lifted his eyes to the sight of the thick black smoke emerging from NorthRend.
'Don't be a hero or a Hothead. Just stay alive...please.' Aegis thought to himself, allowing the moment of distraction before he got back to work.
As soon as he drew his sword, Angelus' head was on a swivel, swinging back and forth, quickly realizing that there were still enemies all around him. A group of three to his left, a group of five straight ahead of him, and more scattered around him. Although Angelus saw that he was the first one on his feet and ready, the enemy around him noticed his presence as soon as he noticed them.
Multiple hostile eyes turned to Angelus and raised their weapons. And that was all Angelus gave them time to do.
Using his left hand, Angelus first tossed a quick fireball at the group to his left, then at the group in front of him. The fireballs themselves weren't very powerful, nor did Angelus keep his attention on the fireballs and their effects for long, and instead spun around to dash at those who were behind him.
But it was a bluff on the part of Angelus, and as soon as Angelus saw they were about to attack him, Angelus dashed to his left and took cover between two small shacks which were close together. (Ironically, one of these shacks was Azreal's former living space, which Angelus hadn't taken the time to notice.)
Angelus' eyes turned to where he had just been as he heard the Techs firing their weapons, and Angelus heard the weapons strike everything almost everything around him as the shack exploded with small holes, and saw the bullets as they struck the ground around him, with small patches of dirt exploding in the earth next to him.
What followed next, however, was something Angelus wasn't expecting.
To his confusion, a small round thing landed on the ground near him, which didn't do anything.
(The roof! NOW!!)
Before he knew it, Angelus jumped to the roof of the shack that he was facing, and not a second or so later, the round thing (also known as a 'grenade') exploded, damaging the shacks and causing a portion of both of them to collapse.
Not paying attention to that since the minor collapses didn't disrupt his footing, Angelus jumped to the roof of the shack he had been propped up against to start, and took another fireball shot at those who had attacked him.
Angelus turned to his right, and because of his height, could now see dozens of Tech soldiers as they all were looking in his direction. But the one that caught his eye was one who was hoisting a very large item on his right shoulder that was pointed directly at Angelus.
What the fuck was that?
(Ground level! NOW!)
Once again, before he knew it, he had turned to the rear of the shack and jumped off the roof before he heard some sort of half explosion or something, followed by a half a second of something whirring through the air before the shack he was propped up against suddenly exploded and shook. This time, although Angelus could not see it from here, the front of half of the shack collapsed completely.
Angelus dared to sneak a quick peek around the corner of the now half of a shack that he was standing behind, and saw multiple Techs gathering around and closing in on him. Well, since they now had him 'pinned down', it was time to take advantage of that.
Not giving himself time to dwell on his other side, which he was now aware of having obeyed not one but two different commands from it, he instead withdrew his head from the corner and raised his left hand to the sky, (his right hand was still carrying his sword, which he still hasn't used yet) and a black cloud began emerging from his hand, crackling with lightning as the black cloud began mixing with the thick smoke in the sky from the fires still burning in NorthRend.
Although the thick smoke already in the sky appeared to completely consume Angelus' own black cloud which was now leaking into the sky at a rapid rate, what wasn't missed by any were the flashes of light within the thick cloud of smoke.
A second or so later, Angelus began hearing shouts from the Techs around him.
"LIGHTNING STRIKE!!"
"TAKE COVER!"
"GET THE FUCK DOWN NOW!!"
Angelus then emerged from the back of the shack, quickly picking his place to strike, and swung his left hand down, still attached to the black cloud that was mixing in with the smoke. Less than a second later, the strike followed, and a large bolt of lightning struck the open ground before Angelus. Fortunately for Angelus, the power of this strike was nothing compared to what he did with Aegis and Azreal, but it was still enough.
Angelus took cover as soon as he had thrown his hand down, still relying on the same old half of a shack that was still standing, and barely had time to brace himself for the sound followed. Although it paled in comparison to earlier, and still enough to cause Angelus to cringe slightly as the bolt struck the ground in all it's fury, but at least he was able to stay on his feet, nor were his ears ringing in pain after the initial sound blasted his ears.
Angelus' eyes darted left and right, deciding where to go next before something odd caught his attention. For some reason, the ground was still rumbling. It wasn't shaking or anything but...
Oh shit! Time to get the fuck out!
Shit! Where the fuck was he? Angelus' eyes turned to his right, where he noticed there weren't any tall trees off in the distance, and guessed that was where the ocean was. The ground beneath Angelus' feet began to shake. Guess going to the beach was as good of an option as any.
Though Veteran Hailey hid it well, she found herself frightened at what she was seeing nonetheless. Even if she and all of the other Seniors and Veterans that had been in NorthRend combined their effort, they couldn't compare to what she was witnessing.
When the first crack formed in the ground, Veteran Hailey knew that she was going to witness something extraordinary. She had fully expected that they could fork out enough cracks to be able to collapse the ground underneath NorthRend.
What she had not expected, though was how deep the cracks were. It was a fucking fifty to sixty foot drop!
Veteran Hailey had been expecting ten to twenty feet at best, about the size of an in ground pool. She had not been expecting a full fledge cliff, which is exactly what she saw when the first few chunks of earth began falling into the cracks which were quickly spreading open, and from her vantage point, she could see that it was a several second drop before the rubble crashed into pieces in the deep earth.
And at that depth, the ground before Hailey continued to spread like a crack in glass, and it was a sight that sent shudders up and down the Veteran's spine. She watched as the cracks shot out to NorthRend, forking multiple times as they did so, and large chunks of earth fall into the dark pits below. And just a few hundred feet or so to her left, the same thing was happening, and it didn't take long for both major forks began meeting up as they approached NorthRend.
Although it took around thirty seconds to a minute for the cracks to begin approaching the burning NorthRend from what she could see, it felt like the quickest half minute of her life. Even the sound of the earth's fury was intimidating. Though it wasn't as powerful as the lightning strikes earlier, the constant rumbling was deafening in it's own way, a constant barrage that passed right through the Veteran's ears and shook her at the core.
Veteran Hailey glanced down at the Graduate in front of her, and it was obvious that he was putting an extreme amount of effort into this. He was sweating, heavily, enough that it was visibly soaking into his battle dress. His veins were popping out of both his head and his arms, and he was now a shade red from exerting so much force into the earth.
In the distance, Veteran Hailey watched as the first few structures collapsed in NorthRend. It wasn't anything dramatic by any means, nor did it take long. The buildings just simply fell into the ground in the blink of an eye.
And it couldn't be any more intimidating.
Watching the structures as they fell into the ground, Veteran Hailey almost considered the sight something akin to a child simply reaching up for his toy houses and pulling them into the ground. And it was scary to watch.
SOMETHING WAS HERE!
Veteran Hailey's senses shot through the roof as she drew her sword and turned to her left, hearing something like footsteps almost right next to her, and was about to take a swing at whoever it was.
But she stopped herself short, for it was Graduate Angelus who had arrived. Fucking Lightning Steps.
"Whew! That was quite an exercise!" Angelus exclaimed as he stretched himself.
"First of all, Graduate, this is not a game, nor is this an exercise just for you! This is war, remember and respect that at all times. Do you understand, Graduate!?" Veteran Hailey snapped, causing Angelus to actually take a cautious step back.
"M-my apologies Veteran." Angelus answered, flustered.
"Second, take better care in how you approach others, especially with your Lightning Steps. I personally almost attacked you just now. Next time, however, someone just might end up attacking you. Keep that in mind as well."
"Y-yes Veteran." What the fuck was her problem!?
"Lastly...good job out there. And more importantly, excellent job in staying alive and coming back to us."
"Uh...th-thank you Veteran." Angelus bowed.
Veteran Hailey then turned her attention back to NorthRend, and found herself surprised at how much of it had vanished in the short time that she had been distracted by the arrival of Graduate Angelus, who remained silent.
From here, it looked as though half of it was gone, and what remained was either shaking badly or collapsing. Veteran Hailey, on a whim, suddenly turned her eyes to the sky, feeling like there was something that was watching them.
And she was right.
It was one of the Tech flyers, but not their low flyers or their high flyers. No, it was one of their miniature scout flyers. They were being watched, and probably have been watched since their arrival. On the bright side, this gave Veteran Hailey a chance to give the enemy a message, she thought to herself grimly as she closed her fist and thrust it into the sky, the wind blast that followed more than strong enough to throw the flyer completely out of balance and began falling into the ground.
'Fuck you.'
Lowering her eyes back to NorthRend, Veteran Hailey saw that nearly all of NorthRend was now either collapsed or had fallen into the ground.
"That's enough Graduate Aegis, we're pulling out. You have done enough." Veteran Hailey said as she lit a fireball in her hand and threw it into the air, which exploded during it's travel upward, the signal to the others that it was time to go.
Veteran Hailey watched as Graduate Aegis visibly relax and nearly fell on his feet as he put almost all of his weight on his exhausted arms.
"Can you stand?" Veteran Hailey asked next.
"Yes Veteran." Aegis answered, the exhaustion obvious in his voice as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Very well. Time, for the moment, is on our side. While we still have a long way before we reach Pirus, we don't need to go top speed at this time. Will you be okay in moving some distance away before we stop for proper rest?"
"Yes Veteran, I'll be fine."
"Good. Let's start heading back."
"Sir?" General Johnson heard. Even though he is a professional, and should be on his feet and acknowledging the voice of his XO, Lieutenant General Jax. But honestly, Johnson just wanted him to go away.
"What is it?" General Johnson grumbled, annoyed this his good dream was interrupted. At least, he thought it was good, even though he couldn't remember any of it.
"I...I have bad news, sir. Really bad news."
"What?" Benjamin Johnson asked, his mind now on high alert as he rose.
"...NorthRend...has been completely destroyed."
"...WHAT!!?"
Ten minutes later General Johnson, fully dressed, came storming on the bridge.
"What the fuck do you mean by...holy fucking shit!" The General exclaimed, completely disregarding any manner of professionalism.
He was looking at live shots of NorthRend. Or rather, what the fuck remained of it. No, not even that was the right way to put it. There was not one fucking thing left!! In it's place instead was a giant in ground garbage dump. Not one thing was recognizable in the hole, which was very disturbingly deep, and one thing that Johnson knew for certain from his vantage point is that no one human would have survived the fall.
Johnson cleared his throat before speaking again. "How many?"
"Around two thousand." Jax answered.
Johnson cursed under his breath. "Tell me exactly what happened, from start to finish."
"One of our Bats picked up a small group of Magi, numbered around twenty or so, attempting to return to NorthRend. (The 'Bat' is the Montanian designation for scout UAVs.) We weren't sure what class they were, so we played it safe. Five birds were in the air, and we were ready to go. That was when everything started going wrong. Thankfully, they didn't notice the Bat, and we caught everything on camera. Is the video ready?" Lieutenant General Jax asked.
"Yes sir."
The large screen then flashed as it switched to the recording.
"They stopped here outside of our firing range, and appeared to just be spying on us. Then...where is it...there, we see that one start running out by himself. Can we pause at that?" Jax asked next, and the screen froze. There was no face shot, since the Bat was recording the events from above and behind the Magi group. The individual on screen was wearing the typical Dragoon battle dress, had short red hair, and from this angle, General Johnson could see the rank designation on the Dragoon's shoulders.
"A Graduate?" Johnson asked curiously, seeing the green on the Graduate's shoulders.
"A Graduate? No, that can't be." Jax answered, taking a closer look at the paused shot, but he couldn't deny seeing the green either.
"Well, he is. Why can't he be a Graduate?"
"Because of what he does, by himself. Can we continue the video?"
The recording resumed. Shortly after the paused shot, two fireballs appeared in the Dragoon's hands, which were thrown at NorthRend.
The Graduate then vanished.
"He's a Flasher!?" Johnson asked, stunned. The term 'Flasher' being the Tech designation for Magi who could use Lightning Steps.
"That's why I didn't think he was a Graduate. And everything happened so fast that we didn't observe his rank. I had the Bat keep an eye on the group outside while the flasher began the attack in NorthRend, all of which the flasher does alone."
"Even before the hole in the ground was formed, the flasher had taken down the five helos, was successfully evading us, and even summoned a lightning strike while he was there. To be honest sir, if the flasher had gone on by himself, he probably would have taken out half of the units that were in NorthRend, or more unless we got lucky. His rank says Graduate, but his performance easily puts him at Class One level."
"Is he also responsible for the hole that is now NorthRend?" General Johnson asked, praying that this wasn't the case."
"No sir, and if I may also say, I am very thankful to the Supreme One, as strange as that might sound, that he didn't do that alone. As you can see, the group of Magi gathered that remained behind splits into two smaller groups. The Bat pulls in closer and you can see the two individuals with their palms flat on the ground. They are the ones who created the hole."
Johnson saw that one individual had short black hair, and the other had long silver hair (to Johnson's minor amusement). However, there was something else that he noticed.
'They're fucking Graduates too!'
General Johnson then mentally reviewed all of the confirmed Class One Magi in his head.
There was the Grand Dragoon, an elder but stern looking man with white hair and a white beard. Next was Phoenix, the Grand Dragoon's aide, and he was a large bald black man. Rubadron, whose left side was crippled and walked on a cane. Dracul was a taller man with long black hair. Phineas was a mid sized man with blonde hair, and Dubai was an average size black man with short black hair.
Not one. Not one of these individuals were here posing as Graduates, and there had been no other confirmed Class One Magi remaining in the Magi forces to date.
Johnson watched as the video continued to roll, and even though he knew what was coming, he still found himself shocked as he watched as two individuals cracked the ground open like a piece of glass.
Who in the name of the Supreme One were these three!?
"I want freeze frames for all three of these individuals, and have them all sent across AFN. As of this moment, these three are our main targets. I want every unit to be able to identify these three in any given situation, understand? I don't care what rank they are, just remember their face, their hair, in any manner that they can be identified."
Of course, Johnson bitterly thought to himself. One of the worst possible case scenarios possible had unfolded right before his eyes. Three completely unidentified Class One Magi were now in the midst, and who knows how many more might be out there.
"Also, our main landing site is now Oceana, so let's get to work."
"I can handle that sir, you should go back to bed." Jax offered, knowing how exhausted SCAN might be.
"And have another Class One Magi attack occur while I sleep? No, I won't rest now until we get everybody on solid ground. Have you widened the surveillance?"
"Yes sir. Right now everyone is on alert, and we are stretching ourselves as much as we can."
"From here on until all landing forces are on the ground, the air above us is now a no fly zone for all aircraft. There will be no more air drops until we've secured wide enough zones in case the Class One decides to hit us from long range. Get as much lighting as you can around the landing areas before dark. Also, land only infantry units at this time. Support and transport vehicles will be allowed, but no tanks or armored transports. And make sure that everyone stays spread out at all times. Do not gather in large groups. We are now in code red indefinitely. Get SCAS on the line and send him to my quarters where I'll brief him. Send the videos both to him and to me as well." General Johnson ordered as he left the bridge.
It was here he allowed himself a flashback of the old days.
When the war first started around ten years ago, there were originally eleven Class One Magi in the Magi world. The Grand Dragoon, who had two Masters as his aides. The four Masters of the Magi, and each with their own personal Master as their aides. And that's not even counting the number of Veterans who were close to that level.
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