Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Nexus Earth - Chapter 8:Wings of an Angel

[Justin OOC]

Kelly nods. "Just let us know when you fire a big one.. that way we can clear or switch modes."

By the end of the flight they knew plenty about each other. Randal set the craft down, and The team loaded up. "Alright there's a pack of B and C rank demons nearby. There's a low A with them. Shouldn't be anything major, let's hunt them down and then we can find out what they're after."

[Sakura]

"Sounds like a plan, let me out over head, and I'll take the battle to the leader, fast and quick as possible." She was ready, though she did pause to take a communications link, putting the ear bud into her right ear. Once they were overhead, she simply kept out the open door, the wings manifesting as she descended to the battle field at maximum speed.

[Justin OOC]

Kelly and the others followed her lead, and took up covering positions.

[Sakura]

Sakura made her descent with a blaze of speed, flying down at her highest speed, gravity helping her further, making her just a touch faster. Six wings with metallic aspects had extended from her back, though her flight was more of a mystical manifestation then due to the wings, they did sometimes shift and move as she changed directions when flying.

Her speed was just a bit short of supersonic, but it still gathered great winds around her when moving through the atmosphere, and she came to a stop just in front of the group of demons, the wind of her sudden stop casting dust into the air. She then pointed her sword directly at them.

“Your presence on this plane is no longer permitted, return to Barsaive or face immediate destruction.”

[Justin OOC]

The leader looked up. "And here I thought the Asrai were all gone from this plane." "Shoot her down!"

All six of the smaller demons opened up on her shooting either energy or spines at her.

Amazingly she parried the various attacks, sending several of the energy beams and spines back at the very foes that made the attack. For a moment she was at the center of a starburst of energy, though one of the attacks did manage to get through. She shook her head, and chuckled. “I don’t know why I expected demons to be reasonable.”

Kelly and her teamed opened up at once, killing the other four demons. Only the leader was left.

“'Heaven's Radiant Defense! Armor of Light! Shield of Avalon!!'” She takes a moment to raise her shield against defenses, and a radiant light surrounds her, shielding her from further attacks.

She surged forward attacking the leader opening wound across its chest with her second swing.

He lashes out at her with wicked blades, but fails to connect, her next attack finishes the job and drops the demon with little effort. It lay there bleeding to death after her last attack.

"What are you after?"

"A Gate..." with those words it died and expired to nothingness.

[Sakura]

Kneeling down beside the demon she asked it a question before it died, and getting only a short answer before it was gone. Pausing to clean her sword of the demon blood, she then turned to walk back to the team who was with her. "Apparently they are looking for a gate, I not sure where to, or why."

[Justin OOC]

"The Main gate to Bazagoth is under our aegis in Japan, they can't get near it, as the skeleton gateway. They must be looking for one of the other gates there."

Kelly nods. "We can look around here, or try to get an aerial scan."

[Sakura]

"Let's try an aerial scan first, rather then just spreading out and searching for something which we don't know the location of." She responded, wondering where this particular gate went.

[Justin OOC]

The Areal scan revealed A well in the center of town. Very faint demonic energy emanated from it, and the Battlearmored troopers killed a number of low ranking demons silently before they could kill any of the humans.

[Sakura]

Considering the matter a moment, she went through the town to the gate, looking for whatever they could isolate. Was this a gate to the demon world, or somewhere else? She couldn't quite believe that was all it was, demonkind had a certain amount of reputation.. although, perhaps they were trying to isolate another gate into this dimension.

[Justin OOC]

The gate radiates a malevolent presence, but at an extremely low level. it as a gate to Bazagoth, only the lowest ranked demons could come through it.

[Sakura]

She looks over the gate a moment, then turns to the rest of the team that was with her. "It's a weak gate to the demon world, but I wouldn't count on that aspect, it's always possible that the demons would try to strengthen it. That would be bad, I think.. I don't know, you want to radio this back to base?"

[Justin OOC]

Kelly nodded. A short time later she returned with Randal. "We mark i and move on. We don't have the gear to seal it, and destroying it's casing could allow it to grow. We warn the people not to use it and continue moving."

[Sakura]

"Good then, but I can't imagine this is the only thing the demons are looking for, though I suppose they could have had some plans for it. Let's see what else they might be looking for, or look for any other groups of demons in the area. If nothing else, we can cut back on the number of demons active and hunting folks."

[Justin OOC]

The team moved on, hunting another four packs, but nothing. Finally about 4 hundred miles east of Moscow, the team found a nest that was truly promising. Dozens of spider demons, and the presence of at leas ten A-class Elite guard drone spiders meant there was either a High A, or possibly an S class there. We've got the gear to handle one if you want a shot at it, but not much more. It will have to be the last one.

[Sakura]

"Hmm, I wonder why they are here?" She considered the area, the nest of demons really, then nodded. "We should do something about it, let's see if we can't clear this group out... I can't imagine a nest of demon's this large doing anything we would want them too."

[Justin OOC]

The approach to the nest was arduous, but made by the entire team. The CRT team was exemplary, moreso than any other unit Sakura had heard of. They headshot at least a dozen lower level demons on their approach to one of the side tunnels. They could hear the sounds of skittering legs andk knew this to be a gully active hive. Grace took point with Eric and Ajakx behind, then Sakura and Kelly and Randal.

They managed to sneak a good ways in, and over a mile down before they came to a massive open chamber. Beneath them was some sort of geothermal vent, and tens of thousands of eggs, all woven within the most massive web they'd ever seen.

Kelly was the only one to speak. "Jesus Wept...."

[Sakura]

"Light have Mercy..." She responded, a slightly different set of words, but the same level of sentiment that Kelly had. This was bad, she couldn't think of any way that this could go well.. but she did have an idea.

At a low whisper she turns to the squad with her, and she takes a deep breath, then speaks in a low almost whisper "Ok, I think I can take out all of the eggs in one blast.. but, it will wake everything else here up, and will drain a good bit of energy from me. I need everyone to back up a bit, then I'll unleash the power of the light. Whatever comes out, I'll take the toughest, the rest of you do what you can to keep anything else off me. Also, someone needs to send this place's coordinates back to base, on the off chance we don't get them all. Anyone have any other suggestions, or ideas? Cause otherwise, I'm going to start."

[Justin OOC]

Kelly nods. "Set countermeasures to Aradian, then switch over to Demonic mode, Randal you make your way topside and flash a sitrep before getting the ship. We may need an evac, and I want our route secure."

"Roger that." The Trooper headed back up the tunnel, his active camoflage engaging.

Sakura heard an audible whine as the suits all began emmitting counter measures and their shields came online. The four remaining troops took shelter in the tunnel behind a rockpile and nodded to Sakura. "Do it, we'll handle the little ones. Find the S-class and take it down."

[Sakura]

Flying up to the center of the room, above the web, she takes a deep breath and prepares herself, drawing out her blade and making a momentary whispered prayer. “Let Heaven’s Light Prevail this Day."

She then flew up to the center of the web, and she spoke a single phrase to the blade in her hand. "Blossom, Crimson Flower." As she spoke those words, her wings began to gleam, and the sword suddenly changed, becoming very different the it was before. "Dance of Blossom's, Begin." Her movements became somehow more graceful, in the air itself, and she called upon the next capability.. and she began to move in a dance, the Dance of Blossoms.

Moving to the center of the web, though not quite touching it, simply floating there within it, she calls upon one of the powers buried in the blade. She paused a moment, nodded to the team, then she spoke, calling upon the power. "Blossom Hurricane!" Centered upon her, and coming out in a radius, razor sharp lines shift and move among the web and eggs, cutting every strand of the web, and every one of the eggs in the same instant.

Knowing that she was bound to get attacked by whatever remained, she then called upon her defenses. "Heaven's Radiant Defense! Armor of Light! Shield of Avalon!!" And the shield of light and energy rose around her even as her initial strike upon the nest was completed.

[Health: 300/300 || Energy: 220/300, 40 for Blossom Hurricane, 40 for Shield of Avalon]

[Justin OOC]

The attack destroyed all the eggs amazingly. It hurt a number of the spider demons in the chamber, and it severely pissed off the queen, which dropped from the ceiling onto the remains of the web.

"My Children... You Murderer!!" She was enormous, She was a woman from the waist up, with brillianr red eyes, from the waist down she was a spider the size of a Suburban. She didn't wait, sccing the dozen or so Spiders still moving on Sakura only for a hail of gunire to take them down.

She screamed in rage as her children fell, and the Satoshi squad came out of hiding. "Kill them all, destroy the murderes completely!" they could hear the scurry of legs as spiders began coming into the chamber. and the Queen herself turned to Sakura. Without preamble she lashed out with her front legs, barely missing Sakura.

[Sakura]

"Murder? Your children are born and bred in murder, they kill to live, and live to kill, this isn't murder, it's mercy." She responded as the queen made her attack, and just missed her as she floated in the air. She then responded with a series of attacks with her blade, still moving with the blade in the dance of blossoms.

"They're still my children! You have no right!" The Spider Queen screams at her. She attacked with web, and green fire, and spider leg, though the warrior managed to block the web attack, she was hit with green fire and the leg, with was a strong and powerful attack that knocked her back some.

"Born and bred in murder, I have the right to defend the living from the damage you children do.. " Sakura then swooped up into the air and made a dive attack on the spider queen, drawing on her inner spirit and unleashing a measure of zeal for the light in the attack, following up with several more strikes from her blade, but only one of them hit.

"You fight recklessly" The Queen responded, once more striking with her webbing, green fire and the leg, this time, Sakura managed to block the fire, but the webbing and the razor sharp spider leg got through again. At this point, Sakura was starting to show significant wounds, though they were closing up rather quickly, as her body regenerated from the wounds.

"Sakura if you've got something planned, now is a good time, We're down two right now, and ammo's almost dry." Grace called out from the floor of the cavern.

"I fight for light and life, you and yours fight only to destroy and consume.. servant of darkness." Sakura returns, but noticing the others on the floor falling, she moves slightly, and unleashes a different attack.. one to take out those close to them, but not to harm the squad working with her. “Blossom Hurricane!” She unleashes the power of the blade once more, and the strike reaches out to strike everything within range. She then followed up with 3 more attacks on the Mother Spider Demon.. and this time, all of her attacks hit the Queen.

The Queen Staggers. “No, I'm not going to be defeated like this!” The Queen screams

“Sakura, FLY!” Grace calls out from below again.

Two brilliant orbs sail in and adhere to the the queen, seconds before exploding in bluish purple light. At the same moment, Sakura hearing the call from below, dodges out of the way as the blast takes out the queen.

[Health: 188 + 20 Regenerate = 208 || Energy: 155]

[Justin OOC]

The Cavern began to collapse around them, and Sakura firmly grabbed Ajax and Eric as the ceiling began to break up and Cave in. Grace and Kelly grabbed ahold and on the way up Grace was hit hard by debris knocking her out and loose. Luckily Kelly managed to grab her and hold her just long enough to get into the dropship waiting overhead.

Randal dropped three small objects and once they were about three miles away the area lit up with the explosions of 3 microfusion bombs. Kelly, the other awake team member nodded to Sakura. "Great work." She looks to her three teammates, their armor pitted gouged and slashed. "They'll be fine once we get home."

[Sakura]

For Sakura, she looked at the bleeding wounds that were even now closing up, and the clothing she was wearing, damaged by web, fire, and razor sharp spider legs. Burnt, but holding together by some of the webbing, she looked over the tattered outfit, before turning to Kelly. "I don't think this outfit is going to last out the trip home, I don't suppose there is something I can change into aboard?"

[Justin OOC]

Kelly shook her head. "We traveled light, not even spare armor."

"Don't worry Randal will fly us home, and I'll make sure the other two keep their eyes averted should they wake up."

Kelly removes her helmet and smiles. "Besides, Sakura while you're attractive you wouldn't be the first Woman they saw like you are. We all grew up and lived together through training. That includes showers."

[Sakura]

"Well, perhaps that's all fine, I suppose I'll just have to get somewhat used to it, or get some form of armored or enchanted clothing, but I'm not walking or flying out of this ship mostly or entirely naked." She considered the dress she had been wearing a moment, which was mostly pieces now, that were falling off her almost completely healed skin. "I suppose that's the drawback to having skin harder then just about any normal armor."

[Justin OOC]

"The Princess and the Cyborg have that issue too. Lady Masane's clothes just vanish when she transforms." I'll have Randal Call ahead and make sure one of the girls meets us with something for you to wear."

She vanishes into the cockpit and Sakura can hear the conversion and a loud thud. Kelly Came back massaging her knuckles. "SOmething will be arranged." she looked slightly agitated.

[Sakura]

"I take it Randal needed a point made? Or is there something wrong back at the base?" She suspected that the pilot had something stupid, that men were prone to at times regarding women.

[Justin OOC]

"Yes. Sometimes men can be pigs..."

She looks at Sakura. "So tell me, any men in your life?"

[Sakura]

She nodded slightly at Kelly's first statement, then she listened to the second before responding.

"I assume you mean boyfriend, or the like, not relatives. And in answer to that, not really, I've been to busy training to have much in the way of romantic relationships. I thought there was time for that sort of thing later..."

[Justin OOC]

"It always seems that way."

She sighs. "In training we weren't banned from exploring that part of life, but we were never encouraged or really given the time for it. The camraderie of our squads, that's what we were taught to respect. That and the authority of the Captains of the CRT's."

She looks at Sakura. "How old do you think we are?"

[Sakura]

"You don't look that much older then me, and I just reach 18 a few months ago, though I've been told that this is most likely about as old as I'll ever look.. hmm, 27 or 28?" She responded to the question about how old she thought the team was.

[Justin OOC]

"We're all sixteen, well I'm seventeen, but close enough. Most of the CRT is that age."

There was something that struck Sakura wrong about that statement.

[Sakura]

She frowned, then she looked Kelly over a moment, her eyes looking up and down the woman a moment. "Wait, your younger then I am? How is it that you appear so much older then?" Something about that was just a bit off.

[Justin OOC]

"When we succeed in our final tests, we go through an enhancement process. Our bones are strengthened and our growth accellerated to physical prime. All sorts of alterations are made based on genetic predisposition. For me it was enhanced speed."

She looks to the others. "Grace has enhanced strength, Randal can comprehend and communicate in any language, Ajax and Eric have greatly increased healing rates."

[Sakura]

"I see." She considered the young woman in front of her, and brushed off her skirt, a sort of unconscious gesture, something she occasionally did when she was thinking about something, and in this case, piece of it came off, being little more then ash and webbing.

Looking momentarily distressed, but not so much about her own situation at the moment, she turned her gaze full on Kelly. "So you've been matured and genetically altered. You could say the same thing about me, except for me, it's the natural result of human and Asrai blood mixing. But.. what are the side effects and disadvantages of the procedure?"

[Justin OOC]

"Generally decreased libido, some mental effects but they've occurred in less than one percent of those who've been altered."

She chuckles. "We're meant to be soldiers, nothing else Sakura. Satoshi's been preparing for War for centuries. nobody will say against what, but the private army the CRT's represent is the only force that can protect Earth."

[Sakura]

She looked Kelly over a moment. "It's wrong for living sentient beings to be nothing but soldiers, especially if they were made to be that, there should be time for other things as well." She looked Kelly over a moment.

"I may be a warrior, but I am also a singer and a dancer, and though dancing is useful for a warrior, in teaching one how to move, I do it because I enjoy it, not because it's a good thing for a warrior to learn. Tell me, what things do you and your teammates like to do, outside of soldiering pursuits?"

[Justin OOC]

Kelly shakes her head. "There's really nothing. We train constantly. We are among the top six, but it's not easy. It takes a great deal of training."

She looks down. "That said, I love running.. Grace spends her free time in the weightroom, Ajax and Eric at the shooting range, and Randal listens to music."

"As of late there's no such thing as free time... with the bombardment graduation and restructuring."

[Sakura]

She shakes her head a moment. "Those are things that are based around how you were enhanced, not quite hobbies in the manner I meant. Although, if you enjoy it, it is worth doing for it's own sake, to remind yourself of the joy of living."

She was silent a moment or two. "Life is meant to be lived, to be free and enjoyed, constant battle without some measure of free time eventually leads to serious mistakes and burnout.. or to the kind of culture the demons of Bazeroth have embraced."

"Also... why do you fight, Kelly?" She reached out and put her hand over Kelly's heart. "What's in here? Do you fight because your told too? Because you enjoy it? Is it Duty? Or Love? Do you know what motivates you to do this?"