A Battle for the Ages
She barely breathed as she inched forwards, slowly and carefully moving to where she could peek over the edge of the rooftop. Below her the bustle of the camp continued, and as much as she scanned, she could not see anyone who might have noticed her.
Moving slowly, so as not to draw attention, she pinched her earlobe, activating the device implanted there. “There’s around 20 or 30 of them. I’m in a good spot. Are we going now?” She waited, listening to the voices clamoring. “I see. Alright, Alli. Go.” She stood and swiftly drew an arrow to her bow, the tip sputtering with an intermittent flame as she released her shot into the middle of the milling enemy.
The Ogress watched her lover stand and loose her arrow, the shaft seeming to explode as three distinct bolts now slammed into their enemies. She grinned and began to move forward, relishing the arcane glow that suffused the High Elf’s body. It made her so, so ho-
With an echoing shot, one of the bolts snapped in half, the explosive arrowhead tumbling until it impacted well away from it’s intended target. The other two continued as normal, sending bodies flying as they detonated, but the Ogress had eyes only for the final destination of the sniper’s bullet.
The High Elf coughed, blood spattering across her chest as she fell backwards, the magic runes that had suffused her form flickering and dying as her life essence bled into the stone she now lay on. With a chilling cry, the Ogress’ eyes began to tint red, her form swelling as she stampeded towards where her lover had fallen. She paid no mind to the dagger that embedded itself in her foot, kicking it away and continuing her rampage through the swiftly forming defenders. She HAD to get to her!
A cool breeze caressed her cheek and she blinked, her rage slightly dissipating. She glanced around, noticing the lines of pokegirls she had run through and lowered her stance, pulling her club from her back. She sent a silent thanks to the form that flit past her, barely distinguishable from a breeze as the Sylph sped for the downed High Elf, leaving the Ogress back in her own mind as the defenders came in.
The first wave managed to lacerate her legs, a few bolts of ice impacting in her chest and leaving her gasping for breath. She swung her club, catching two and throwing them into the side of a building where they lay, motionless. She turned back to the main body, the red slowly creeping it’s way back into her eyes, and felt an impact against her skull.
The sniper chambered another round, gritting her teeth when the giant girl continued swinging her weapon. She lowered her sight, focusing on the Ogress’ soft throat, and prepared to fire again. Suddenly she leapt to her feet, diving forwards as a dagger imbedded itself behind her. She spun, her eyes darting to where the intruder had broken her magical perimeter, before desperately looking around for the tracking spell. With a scream, she jerked forward off the dagger that had found a home in her back, looking fearfully at the figure that stood there.
It nonchalantly retrieved the first dagger, holding them at the ready as it wove towards her. The sniper dropped her gun, pulling out a blade and holding it ready as the Dark maiden strode towards her, the shadows suddenly seeming to grow and swallow her.
The sniper whipped around, throwing herself off the roof as a dark mist seemed to slowly creep down it’s side, seeking her as she struggled to her feet and limped away. She glanced back in terror as the form rose again from the shadow, barely seeming to move as it closed in on her. With a curse, she slammed against a wall, drawing her blade at the ready and staring spitefully at the Dark Maiden. “Come on, then!” She screamed, swiping the sword through the air. “Come on!”
The Dark Maiden just laughed, the low, sibilant hiss freezing the girl in place while the assassin floated closer. “You hurt my sister.” She whispered, placing a dagger to the sniper’s throat. “I hurt you.”
The sniper gurgled as the blade was pulled across, a gout of blood spurting across the Dark Maiden’s face as she stepped away, the shadows creeping over the body. “Hurry it up, D.”
There was a slurping noise from the shadow and it weaved upwards, sliding across the building front and leaving the body behind. “You have your order.” It replied in a deep voice. “I have mine.”
The Dark Maiden watched it go, turning away from the drained body. “That I do.” She murmured, vanishing into the shadows while the Vampire began searching buildings.
The Sylph had reached her fallen sister by this time and was carefully casting a healing spell, closing the hole in her chest. Below them the Ogress continued swinging, each blow felling at least one defender. But she was taking hits too, and a slight limp showed the extent of the damage to her legs. An arrow found it’s mark, shattering the Ogress’ left knee and sending her tumbling to the ground.
The defenders yelled, charging forward as they saw the giant girl fall to the ground. A few managed to begin swiping at her head before a matching roar resonated through the camp.
The back line suddenly found themselves flung into the air as a massive beast stampeded through their midst, the enormous Fairrous making her way to her rider. A scream was quickly cut off as she stepped on a girl, her weight instantly crushing her to a paste. The dinosaur girl skid to a halt, swinging her tail around and bashing any not quick enough to get out of the way as she stood in front of the flagging Ogress. A few arrows bounced off her armor but they only served to make her angrier as she roared again.
Wingbeats filled the air as a gate slammed open, another hundred or more defenders spilling out and charging towards the two intruders, a platoon of flying pokegirls soaring over the wall and speeding with them. Two muffled thumps could be heard before ordnance screamed into the compound, exploding in front of the approaching reinforcements. The flak instantly shredded the wings of three of the flyers, sending them plummeting to the ground. Another muffled thump could be heard as what seemed to be a body flew through the air, embedding itself in the ground in front of the ground unit. They hesitated for a moment before continuing their charge past it. As the first line passed by, it exploded.
The blast pushed them back, but only a few seemed to not get up. As the charge continued, the Dark Maiden appeared for a moment, grabbing a piece of shrapnel before vanishing once more, more of the shrapnel slowly moving in her direction.
Behind the defenders there was a muffled explosion as one of the buildings went up in flames. A helicopter could be seen for a moment before the flames seemed to reach out and swat it, sending it to the ground with another explosion. Three pokegirls could be seen in the fire as another building went up, some of the reinforcements turning back to deal with the new threat.
In front, the defenders had gotten over their surprise and had begun to storm the Fairrous and Ogress. They rained blow after blow on the unmoving dino girl, the Fairrous making swipes at anyone she could while the Ogress slowly pushed to her feet. Using her club like a crutch, she draped herself across the Fairrous’ back. As soon as she was on, the girl began lumbering away, the extra weight keeping her from moving too fast. As a group made to follow them the Ogress snapped her wrist, sending her club through them and scattering them like bowling pins.
Behind the lines the Dark Maiden stroked the spine she held in her hands. The rest of the Bombshell quickly reformed and the Dark Maiden jabbed the pin in her ear as she came to her senses. “Here we go…” She muttered, force feeding a potion down her throat. The Bombshell gagged but was in no position to resist as the magic suffused her body. She shook her head to clear the feeling of dizziness and nodded at the Dark Maiden. “Thank you, Bri.”
Bri just nodded and vanished again, the Bombshell yanking her hand off and gazing at the defenders as they continued to harry the retreating Ogress. “Time to give them a hand.”
She glanced over head as a jet screamed by, two blackhawks following moments later. She lobbed her hand at the closest group of defenders, ducking back behind cover as the first salvo of bombs hit.
The jet circled back around as it’s bombs impacted, a radar and small building exploding. The Mecha Musume watched as her greatest threats staggered out of the burning building, the enemy GunValkyries planting themselves and bringing their guns to bear on the slow moving helicopters. If she could she would have grinned as she dove back in, guns peppering the stationary targets.
The first defender fell, her body riddled with bullets, but the second shrugged off the impacts and fired, her twin cannons shredding the blades of one of the blackhawks. A body fell from the side of the helicopter as it tilted, knifing to the ground as it’s form shimmered and the Mecha Musume lay unconscious where she fell. Her passengers spilled across the ground from the impact, but all but the original casualty got up and began sprinting through the compound.
As the other GunValkyrie, bleeding but still upright, turned to bear on the second helicopter, a shot rang out, quickly followed by another, and she slumped to the ground, a hole through her head and heart. The second Blackhawk circled overhead, two figures jumping out and slamming into the ground in front of the retreating Ogress. The helicopter then pulled up and four barrels could be seen sticking from it’s sides, the snipers beginning to take shots at their targets.
The Sylph laughed quietly as she watched the carnage quickly turn the tide of the battle. “The cavalry’s ‘ere.” She muttered, turning back to the unconscious High Elf. She was breathing, but just barely. She winced as the jet screamed back overhead and began waving her hands, a lit flare burning in one of them.
The jet saw the flare, made a mental note to figure out which color it signified, and quickly turned back. One of her passengers reached below her seat, yanking the ejection handle and blowing herself out of the cockpit as they passed back overhead. She easily ripped free from the seat, sending it falling into the courtyard and landed lightly on the rooftop, the Kissitalcoatl running her hands over the High Elf’s body as a siphon of energy flowed into her. “She’ll be fine.” She murmured, glancing up as some clouds started to form. “Shit. Someone needs to take care of that, though.”
The Sylph covered her face as the rain began falling, hissing when it impacted around them. In the courtyard, the defenders seemed to straighten up, wounds forgotten, and renew their attack. “I got it.” She replied, her eyes flashing as wind began to build. With a primal scream she thrust her hands upwards, wind slicing into the gathered storm and shredding the clouds. The rain quickly stopped falling, accompanied by some panicked shouts from the defenders as they realized their Dracare’s influence had been destroyed. The Sylph grabbed her ear, tuning back in to her advance unit. “Someone find the healer.” She glanced around, looking for any pokegirls looking at the sky. “She’s long range. Check the interior.”
“Understood.” Bri murmured, flitting from shadow to shadow. As she went her daggers were almost a blur, dispatching any defenders she found. “Keep disrupting.”
Another explosion emanated from the hangars, the three pokegirls now striding past the charred corpses of the defenders that had tried to stop them. The ears on top of two of them constantly swiveled, checking for anything out of place, while the girl they flanked continued staring at the ground, leaving a trail of lava in her wake. The jet flew back overhead, another salvo impacting around the central building, leaving the roof pockmarked and two of the flanking buildings demolished. As the Sylph watched two figures exited the command building, fleeing towards the nearly untouched right side of the camp. “Retrieval team, west side. Two possibles.” She broadcast on the general channel.
There was a burst of static and she glanced behind her, outside the walls, to see three forms speed past the motionless GunValkyries that had initially shred the incoming air forces. Above her the remaining helicopter still circled, locked in battle with the handful of air defenders that were left. The two figures left her sight as another cloud began to form and she sent another burst of wind into it, scattering it before any rain could fall. An arrow whizzed over her and she ducked, but a scream from below let her know the defender that had seen her had been taken care of. She smiled as a message came in over the general channel. “Clean it up, ladies. Primary objective is complete.”
“Danger close.” She heard, the jet making a low flyby. It ducked nearly to the ground before accelerating again and leaving the airspace as a clusterbomb exploded in the retreating defenders’ midst, shredding a good half of the force and leaving nearly all of the rest on the ground. She watched the two from the first helicopter catch up to them, the Bombshell cornering the defenders and allowing the assault team to clean them up. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Ogress was finally pulled from the back of the Fairrous and the backline healers began working on her. She glanced at the Kissitalcoatl and smiled. “Want to get out of here?”
The healer hoisted the High Elf over her shoulder and smiled back. “Aye. Let’s go.”