• Published 7th Mar 2013
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Hegira: Eternal Delta - Guardian_Gryphon

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Chapter 24

GMT: 14:03:22
PDT: 07:03:22
Ragnar: +01:03:22

"Main comm lines just went ballistic. The situation is deteriorating out there."

Lantry winced as a burst of high volume static burrowed into his ear via his headset.

Fyrenn raised one fisted claw above his head as the group reached a corner. For a brief moment, everyone stood in absolute silence. Fyrenn glanced back at Skye, and Carradan. Both Ponies nodded, an acknowledgement that their superior hearing had detected nothing concerning in the space beyond.

The red Gryphon lowered his fist, and continued cautiously around the corner, RAC raised.

Fyrenn was at the front of the group, dashing to various cover points as he scouted ahead. In the middle, from both flanks, Kephic and Neyla stood watch over Celestia, Lantry, and the two Ponies.

To the rear, Varan lurked in the shadows. Hutch had thoughtfully added a late-model grenade launcher to the group's equipment crates just before departure.

Upon first seeing the weapon in his brother's claws, Fyrenn had decided that he almost pitied anyone stupid enough to run afoul of its new owner. Almost.

Kephic sighed as the rumble of more missile impacts vibrated the building's floor.

Carradan squinted up at the ceiling, wondering aloud in a shaky tone.

"Has anyone stopped to wonder why they aren't bombing the crap out of us?"

Lantry pulled a small hardened DaTab from a leg holster. He tapped several keys, then shook his head slowly.

"Initial reports that came down before things went dark would suggest that they focused on offensive and defensive assets, transit terminals, maglev lines, roadways..."

Kephic's eyes narrowed. He spoke without taking his eyes away from his quadrant.

"But if that was the first wave, then why haven't they re-tasked to destroy this building? Carradan is right... We are the targets so why haven't they taken the shot?"

Celestia added her thoughts to the conversation for the first time since they had departed the Council chamber.

"Because they know that their conventional weapons are not powerful enough."

Fyrenn glanced over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised, as a note of incredulity crept into his response.

"This building is hardened, true, but they definitely have enough weaponry to punch through the defensive layers, given enough time."

The Alicorn shook her head, "Of the building, yes. And doing so would certainly kill the members of your ruling Council. But I am capable of surviving the onslaught."

Lantry glanced up at the monarch with a gaze that conveyed genuine admiration and surprise, "How?!"

Kephic provided the answer, eyes still carefully sweeping his flank for opponents.

"Shield magic."

Celestia nodded, expanding on the explanation.

"If I can remain still, and concentrate, I can summon a defensive sphere powerful enough to defy even the largest of your conventional missiles temporarily. Even here, where the magic is thin."

Fyrenn abruptly stopped, bringing the rest of the group up short behind him. He stood in thought for a moment, then turned.

"So you're saying that they know they can't hit you from a distance with conventional weapons, and be sure of a kill. And I'll bet they know you're under heavy guard, because that's only logical. So a close-in strike is an iffy proposition, and a remote strike is completely out of the question."

Lantry shrugged, raising an eyebrow as he spoke curtly.

"Your point being?"

Fyrenn's eyes hardened, and his ears twitched in annoyance.

"My point being that there is only one tactically viable option given the layout of the situation."

The general crossed his arms, "Enlighten me."

The red Gryphon pointed towards the ceiling as another volley of missiles impacted nearby with a loud rumbling noise, and a minor tremor.

"They're trying to put us in a cage. You said it yourself; They focused on transit lines and terminals in addition to hardened military positions and assets. They're cutting us off. Trying to keep us inside the city. Now they can't be fully guaranteed that a close-in assassination attempt will succeed... Though that doesn't mean they won't try. So if small arms won't do it, and if large missiles won't do it... Then what's left?"

Lantry stiffened as the answer finally dawned on him.

"My God..."

Celestia's eyes widened slightly in concern as she detected the hint of fear in the man's voice. Kephic finally spoke the words themselves, though nearly everyone in the group was thinking them by the time he did.

"A weapon of mass destruction."

Lantry balled one hand into a fist, his expression abruptly morphing from one of shock, to one of anger and frustration.

"They're going to try and destroy the whole city! Just to kill a handful of people!"

Varan shrugged, "To them, it makes sense. Celestia's life is worth extinguishing those of all the other innocents who reside here. To say nothing of the fact that they view your elected leaders as traitors to the species. Also worthy of death. And the military casualties will also be cripplingly significant."

Fyrenn raised both claws, "Alright, alright. So we know they want to blow up the city. What could they have gotten their hands on that could do that?"

Skye tilted her head in thought, "Thermonuclear bomb?"

Lantry shook his head vehemently, his tone leaving no room for doubt in the veracity of his denial.

"Earthgov tracks all viable nuclear material on the planet. None of it is unaccounted for. Not even so much as a tenth of a gram."

Carradan raised a hoof, "What about one of those microwave vaporizer things, like the one we had to diffuse in Carrenton?"

Skye held up a hoof as well, shaking her head as she put an end to the line of thought.

"Too power-hungry. To create an effect that could envelop a city this geographic size they'd need access to far more electricity than they can generate in a mobile package."

Neyla raised an eyebrow, and shifted her stance slightly as she offered a single word.

"Biotoxin?"

Celestia snorted, "Can you imagine them finding any sort of poison that could reckon with our immune systems when so thinly dispersed?"

Kephic sighed, scratching at the back of his head with one claw as he added his own points to the discussion once more.

"None of these weapons are capable of striking against a target on the other side of the Barrier. Let's not forget that your sister is just as much an objective for them as you are. They wouldn't be so brazen unless they believed they could eliminate you both, instantly and simultaneously. Anything less would be suicidal for them, given the potential repercussions."

Lantry grunted, staring down into the floor, as if his thoughts were etched in the marble.

"A weapon does exist that could accomplish the task... But I can't see how the HLF would gain access to it. Even *if* they had the activation index."

Celestia turned to face the general, wings flaring slightly, eyebrows knit, "Humans have access to weapons that can penetrate the Barrier?"

The Alicorn's gaze hardened into a glare, her voice betraying an emotional state bordering on barely-bridled rage. Fyrenn winced internally as she seared the General with the tone of her query.

"Why is this news to me?"

Lantry shook his head and held up both hands defensively. He did his best to inject a conciliatory note into his words.

"Because its not an active system. It was built long, long before your people arrived, decommissioned decades ago, and only ten living souls besides us even know about it. Its ability to bypass the Barrier is theoretical. At best."

Fyrenn stepped forward, and planted himself squarely before the General. He crossed both forelegs, and straightened up to his full height, glaring down at Lantry.

"Is there *any* possibility, I don't care how remote, *ANY* possibility, that the HLF knows about this weapon, and has a plan to gain access?"

Lantry didn't speak, but when he finally met the Gryphon's eyes, his expression was answer enough.

Fyrenn turned back to the corridor, hastily checking his RAC's safety as he spoke at an accelerated, businesslike clip.

"We have to work under the assumption that they have access to the weapon. That means we're on a clock, and we don't know how close it is to zero. We have to get out of the city. Yesterday."

Neyla snorted, raising an eyebrow and folding her forelegs.

"And your brilliant plan to escape their overwhelming attack force is...?"

The red Gryphon shrugged, tossing his response over his shoulder without even looking.

"I'll blow up that bridge when I come to it."

The blue and beige Gryphoness muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in response.

"Naturally. Because that's one thing you're quite accomplished at."

Before Fyrenn could muster a reply, the corridor ahead of the group erupted in smoke, fire, and shrapnel. From the gaping hole in the floor, five lithe metallic forms sprang forth.

As Fyrenn straightened up, and cleared his ears, he tensed. The Gryphon barely had time to size up the new opponents before all hell broke loose. But what he saw did not encourage him.

As the combatants sprang into action, he just barely had time to murmur a string of curse words before he was engulfed in pure chaos.

GMT: 14:04:06
PDT: 07:04:06
Ragnar: +01:04:06

Sorven coughed violently, trying to clear the smoke from her lungs. As she scrambled across the deck to the prone form of the Captain, she shouted out to anyone else who was conscious on the bridge.

"REPORT!"

Accompanied by more coughing, a reply issued from the general direction of the helm station.

"Multiple concurrent strikes! Moderate crew casualties being reported. All decks, all stations. We've lost the flight deck and the water garage... Satvision uplink is destroyed, along with the auxiliary antennas. We've taken on several thousand gallons of seawater on the port side."

Another voice cut through the smoke from the direction of the holotable.

"VLS tubes are down, CIWS functioning at half capacity, and most of the AI computing racks are down. Offensive weapons are manual control only."

Sorven checked the captain for a pulse. She sighed in relief upon discovering that the Captain was still alive. If only barely. She scrambled to her feet, and staggered towards the nearest bulkhead-mounted emergency kit.

"Engine status?"

The helm officer finally managed to strap herself into her combat harness, and began tapping at her display furiously.

"Port athwartships thrusters are out. Main drive system has only sustained light damage though. Our starboard turning is going to be severely lacking."

Sorven practically ripped the cover plate off the emergency compartment, and yanked out the medkit. As she made her way back to the Captain, her mind raced.

"Status on the enemy craft?!"

The man at the holotank began typing furiously into one of the command consoles. At his insistence, the display stuttered to life.

"LADAR arrays are damaged, but secondary SONAR and LIDAR are still functional. We've got an unknown contact bearing down on us at our ten o'clock. Range half a mile, tonnage in the heavy cruiser range... Though by the looks of this return signature we're dealing with a submarine."

Sorven popped open the medkit, and began rifling through the equipment, searching for the scabbie foam dispenser.

"When will they be ready to fire again?"

Another voice, groggy and slurred at first, responded from the fire control station.

"A matter of seconds..."

Sorven popped the cap off the foam dispenser, and began indiscriminately spraying it into the Captain's open wounds.

"Sound the combat alarm again, and bring the ship up to full military thrust! Activate starboard athwartships thrusters and minimize our torpedo profile. Tell damage control teams to prioritize getting the hangar deck, and any side bay apertures functional. I want an inventory of whatever aircraft we have left in no more than two minutes. Has the XO reported in?"

The lieutenant at the holotank shook his head, "XO is a casualty in sickbay. They're prepping for surgery now, but the prognosis is bad."

The helm officer began feverishly working her station's controls, "Bringing us to full military thrust, initiating turn to port."

Sorven finished stemming the captain's bleeding, and began searching the small red hard-shell case for combat stimulant drugs, to stabilize his pulse.

"Re-task all remaining computing power to the seawhizz, and do everything else manually as-needed. Load all railguns and torpedo racks. Stand by for concentrated sustained fire with all batteries, all quadrants."

A loud klaxon blared. Sorven braced herself as another burst of impacts rocked the Blue Ridge.

As he shaking subsided, she yanked the cap from the epinephrine injector, and rammed it into the captain's arm.

"RETURN FIRE!"

GMT: 14:05:00
EST: 10:05:00
Ragnar: +01:05:00

Klarien exhaled once more, dispersing yet another massive cloud of toxic fumes into the Fort's air supply.

At last, the gas reached critical saturation, and a biohazard alert horn began to sound over the facility's address speakers. The green Dragon chuckled, and moved away from the vents. He ambled casually over to the communications panel, and tweaked several transceiver settings, before speaking.

"The gas has been released, and the command center is secure. I'll be waiting outside operations control..."

He glanced over at Hutch's prone form, and smirked, "Send in the fire teams."

GMT: 14:05:19
PDT: 07:05:19
Ragnar: +01:05:19

Fyrenn breathed a fervent word of thanks to the designers of the RAC-9, for opting to add a forward deployable bayonet.

As the Augment made another pass with his own similarly bladed rifle, Fyrenn was forced to duck to the side, and raise one wing to redirect the strike. The enemy bayonet passed harmlessly off of the protective armored joint-guard, and the Gryphon took the opportunity to raise his rifle and fire.

To his surprise, the Argument released its left hand grip on the weapon, and moved its entire left arm to force his RAC off-target. The round passed harmlessly by the soldier's helmet and struck the opposite wall.

Fyrenn grit his beak and hissed. The five enemies were unlike anything the HLF had ever thrown in his path before.

Previous Augments had sacrificed anything, and everything, in the name of pure durability. It made them lethal, but only in larger, well prepared groups, where they could present a tenable defense against a Gryphon's native agility.

The new soldiers seemed to have been built based on precisely the opposite mentality. They were geared purely for agility and processing speed to match a Gryphon on its own playing field.

Even at maximum time dilation, and even pushing his limbs to move as fast as the muscles would allow, Fyrenn was only a matter of nanoseconds ahead of the trooper.

The Gryphon pivoted back, and to the left, trying to get a feel for how the rest of the group was faring. Kephic, Varan, and Neyla seemed completely tied up fighting their own individual opponents.

That left Lantry, Celestia, Skye, and Carradan to face the remaining Augment.

As Fyrenn brought down his RAC to block a strike from his opponent, Celestia flared both wings, and forced her way in front of Stan, and Skye, using her entire body as a protective barricade.

The Augment focused solely on the Alicorn, raising his rifle and holding down the trigger mercilessly.

Without so much as flinching, Celestia stood her ground. As the rounds closed the intervening distance, her horn flared in a violent display of fuchsia and gold magic.

As each round approached, a small circular thaumatic flare winked into existence, lingering only long enough to deflect the projectile with a sharp pinging sound, and a flash of light.

The trooper continued to hold down the trigger, juking the weapon to spray the railgun rounds in hopes of bypassing Celestia's micro-shields. The act was futile. Within moments, the Augment had depleted his clip. As he moved with preternatural speed to reload, Lantry cross drew his pistol and fired.

The General likewise depressed the trigger and allowed the fully automatic weapon to deplete its extended magazine within two seconds. He did his best to direct the stream of fire at the Augment's head.

The soldier swiveled his head, stepping forward slowly, but inevitably. Every time Lantry re-directed the stream, the Augment sidestepped it with almost no effort.

As the Augment approached the Equines, he slammed Lantry to the side with one outstretched elbow. The force of the blow was enough to send the General staggering back several paces, with the resounding crack of broken bones.

Lantry collapsed to the floor with a grunt, and clutched at his chest.

The Augment raised his RAC, and brought it down in a glimmering arc, aimed directly at the Alicorn's skull.

With a resounding 'CLANG,' Celestia raised one foreleg, and blocked the motion smoothly with her gold plated ceremonial hoofguard.

For a moment, the soldier froze. Celestia stared into the reflective dull silver faceplate of his helmet, her muzzle locked in a seemingly emotionless firm line. Her eyes, however, betrayed her inner anger.

Before the Augment could re-evaluate the situation, and re-task his weapon, Celestia's horn sparked once more. An enormous jet of purple energy, interlaced with sparking gold filament arcs, slammed directly into the Augment's chest.

The kinetic release of the spell pushed the Augment back several feet. The man had to tense, and adjust the orientation of his legs sharply to remain vertical. When the spell ceased, however, he seemed largely unscathed.

Celestia took a halting step back. Carradan offered her a concerned glance, "I take it that was supposed to be more... Errr... Well... More?"

The Alicorn tilted her head, and grit her teeth, "Indeed. But I have dealt with magically immune opponents before."

She cast a swift glance at Carradan, then at Skye, "All the same, any help you're willing to offer would not be unappreciated, my little Ponies."

Carradan chuckled, a hint of fear tainting the undertones of the sound.

"Yeah. Sure... I mean... I've faced scarier looking guys in the last seven days."

Skye grinned, "This guy? Pahffft. We'll be finished with him before the Gryphons are even half done."

Celestia fixed her eyes on the Augment, which had stepped back into her zone of influence, and begun to circle warily.

"Very well then. Do exactly as I say, and when I say."

GMT: 14:06:32
PDT: 07:06:32
Ragnar: +01:06:32

Shierel sighed. When she had rolled out of her impromptu nest of pillows at four in the morning, she had planned on a simple, enjoyable, slow day. An abbreviated training session with new Converts in the morning, an extra-large lunch of fresh imported meat, and then a half-day off to simply revel in the unique thermals and wind patterns of the bay area.

Then everything had exploded. And summarily caught fire.

The Gryphoness sighed, and accelerated her lope across the marble floor as another set of thunderclap-like sounds heralded the impact of ten more L-RAC rounds at various locations across the city.

The San Francisco Conversion Bureau was already one of the largest on the planet. Since the Barrier had begun to encroach on New York, further renovations and extensions had begun in earnest.

The facility was slated to take over from the New York office as one of the main hubs of the Bureau network within three months.

Shierel had answered the call when a request was put out amongst the more experienced warriors and trackers of the Gryphon kingdoms. Many of the Gryphons who had been working at the New York Bureau were taking the chance to step aside and pursue other callings on Earth, or return home.

That left vacancies in the training rotations, and Shierel had decided that it would be just as much an opportunity for her to cross-train in Human tactics, ideas, and weapons as for her to train a new generation of warriors-to-be.

As she approached a small gaggle of Humans and Ponies, who were conversing animatedly in front of the atrium's elevator banks, the Gryphoness slowed her pace to adjust an ill-fastened gauntlet.

When the first shells had started falling, she had shrugged on her armor with uncharacteristic haste, and as a result half of the straps were poorly aligned and morosely loose.

She flicked one ear forward as she walked up to join the group, fiddling all the while with her right wing joint guard.

One of the Humans, an upper level ConSec officer, was gesticulating wildly in the direction of his two subordinates, and a short white Unicorn with a long pink mane.

"Look, there is *no* reason to think that we're at risk here. The shelters under this building are hardened, and the military---"

The Pony, whom Shierel recognized as the head of the Bureau, shook her head and grit her teeth in frustration, making a herculean effort to remain calm and polite as she cut the man off.

"The PER do not use weapons of this scope on civilian populations. The only other Humans foolish, and wicked enough to turn an artillery battery on their own kind are the HLF. That means that in a matter of moments, they will turn it on this structure! When they do? Nothing will survive. We must *evacuate* before anyone else dies needlessly."

The sergeant pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Look, miss, I'm telling you, it's safer in here than it is out there. The military---"

Shierel interrupted harshly, "Is a smoking crater sergeant. Or haven't you taken a look out the window recently?"

The man turned and glared, sizing up the brown, gray, and tawny Gryphon with a critical gaze.

"And you are?"

Shierel snorted, "A hell of a lot more qualified of a tactician than you."

As the man blustered, practically spitting tacks between his lips, the Gryphoness turned to the Unicorn.

"I've tried raising regional military and JRSF command on the comms. Everything is dark. You're right. We have to assume that the only support we've got is whomever is in this building right now."

She turned, and pointed fiercely at the Sergeant with one talon, as she finished the thought.

"And you can be *damn* sure that the HLF will be spending every last round in the ammo rack on this building just as soon as they're done with the hardened military targets."

She gestured up at the immense glass and steel dome of the atrium, for emphasis.

"That gives us a vanishingly small space of time to get out of this building and scatter, or end life as a crater. I'm leaning towards the former, if it's all the same to you."

The man glowered. Shierel, and the Unicorn, returned the hardened gaze. Finally, the officer grunted, and tapped at his earpiece.

"Sound the evac call. Every living soul out of the building in the next two minutes or less. Scatter to the Earthquake rendezvous points. I want all combat trained personnel to grab any assets close to hand and form fire teams. Escort and defend the civilians through to the external shelter points. Let's *MOVE* folks. Flush the lead out."

The Unicorn glanced up at Shierel, and mouthed a silent thanks.

The Gryphoness smiled, winked, and cycled her RAC.

GMT: 14:07:24
EST: 10:07:24
Ragnar: +01:07:24

Klarien glared at the seven assault troopers as they burst through the door. Their heavy boots clanking against the thin carpet provided an eerie offset to the constant hiss and click of their sealed rebreathers.

"You're late."

One of the men glared. Klarien's heat sensitive vision could make out the man's face, despite the reflective nature of his helmet's visor.

"Well we can't all breathe toxic fumes and punch down walls. Some of us are still Human."

Klarien hissed, abruptly snagging the man's left arm in the steel vice grip of his right claw.

"And you'd do well to remember that some of us gave up *much* so that the rest of you could stay that way."

The man winced as the Dragon released his arm.

Klarien took a step back and snorted, "You have the authorization index?"

A female corporal stepped up, and tapped a small titanium case strapped to her right thigh.

The green Dragon nodded, "Right then. Let's get this done."

Klarien turned to the door behind him. The portal was an immense steel and titanium construct, sealed with a pair of magnetic interlocks, and designed to defy even a direct strike with a large grenade or breach charge.

The letters 'PAL' were stenciled on it in red paint.

The Dragon cracked the knuckles of his foreclaws, and gripped the frame on either side. With a grunt, that slowly metamorphosed into a thunderous roar, he squeezed. Gradually, the frame began to deform with a wail, as the metal was pushed well beyond its normal tolerances.

At last, with a sound somewhere between the 'CRACK' of a gunshot and the 'CLANG' of an immense bell, the door popped free and fell to the corridor floor, a twisted heap of useless slag.

Klarien grinned at the stunned troopers, gesturing towards the room beyond, "After you."

The seven troopers filed into the space, and Klarien squeezed in after.

The door was a tight fit, but the room itself was more than large enough to accommodate the Humans and the Dragon, with room to spare.

Laid out like a slice of pie, the door was at the vertex of the angle, while the arc at the other end of the chamber was taken up with a large inactive holoscreen. The intervening floor space was mostly dominated by a large semicircular hardened console that had an unusual number of data ports and physical switches for a modern terminal.

Klarien stepped up to the console, bringing the system and the holoscreen to life with a deft swipe of his claw.

He gestured over one shoulder as he continued his work, "Prepare the firing index."

The female soldier detached the hard case from its magnetic connector point, and tapped a short sequence of numbers into the keypad on the locking mechanism. She then handed the device to the fire team commander, who typed in his own code.

The case popped open with a hiss, just as Klarien finished booting up the room's systems.

A stern male voice issued forth from hidden speakers.

"Permissive Action Link terminal initialized. Standing by."

Klarien smiled, and began to pace in the short space between the two ends of the console.

"Recognize; Klarien. JRSF Authorization Sigma Four Seven One Break Four Four Green."

The computer chirped obediently.

"Recognized."

Klarien stopped, and glanced up at the holoscreen, "Display battle net status, and update us on major system-wide alerts and protocols."

The computer beeped again, and a map of the world filled the screen, along with several orbital tracks, a grid overlay, and a host of icons and alert symbols.

The fire team commander glanced up at the Dragon, "Now?"

Klarien nodded, "Now we wait for the phoenix to burn."

GMT: 14:09:05
PDT: 07:09:05
Ragnar: +01:09:05

The bullet grazed an unprotected portion of the edge of Fyrenn's wing. The pain was brief. A hot flash, then a dull throb. The damage was minimal. Practically a cauterized millimeter-deep scrape, if that.

The implications of the nearly-successful shot were far more grave, however.

Fyrenn realized abruptly, as he parried another incoming blow from the Augment's bayonet, that if he didn't win the battle within a few moments, he wouldn't win it at all.

Every single instinct within him was screaming for him to spread his wings and take to the air. Gain the tactical advantage his body was built for.

But in the tight confines of the corridor, lofting into such a closed space with so many rounds zipping past would be suicidal.

The Augment tried to level his rifle once more, and Fyrenn brought his own up to block. The weapon's discharge zipped away above his head. He tried to twist his RAC to bear, and squeezed his own trigger in anticipation of a sight picture, but the Augment ducked at the last possible moment, and lashed out with one leg.

Fyrenn dove to the side, and brought his left wing down on the man's helmet as hard as he could. The joint-guard connected satisfyingly with the faceplate, and Fyrenn's momentum imparted enough force to shatter the plexiglass.

The soldier staggered back and grunted as Fyrenn completed his roll, and came up with his carbine raised and ready.

Even as he depressed the trigger, he grimaced. The man's face looked as if it had once been a wax sculpture that had since been partially melted in an oven, baked once more until all the moisture was gone, then inlaid with a bizarre random network of glowing orange filaments and scars.

Fyrenn's first five rounds found their marks in the man's forehead, left eye, neck joint, left arm joint, and right knee joint. The Augment's movements stuttered with each impact, but the man kept coming nonetheless.

Despite his incredible resilience, Fyrenn detected a noticeable decrease in the soldier's reaction times. The Gryphon smiled.

"You're dead. And you know it."

The soldier responded with a series of harsh electronic tones, that were barely recognizable as words.

"My life for Humanity."

Fyrenn dropped his rifle with a clatter, reached over one shoulder, and drew his sword.

"You want to die for your cause? I'm happy to oblige."

The soldier tensed as Fyrenn twirled the sword.

The Augment leapt to the side, and threw his rifle like a spear. Fyrenn ducked, and knocked the weapon easily out of the air. As he completed the motion, the soldier closed to melee range, and began to attack wildly with his outstretched arms.

As the man's limbs pinwheeled at speeds impossible for a natural-born Human to see or replicate, a pair of large serrated blades erupted from beneath the gauntlets of both forearms.

Fyrenn parried each blow from the right arm with his sword, and from the left with his wing-guards in an alternating pattern.

Before, the assault would have been a dangerous challenge, but with the soldier's left arm speed severely limited, the task was made considerably easier.

As Fyrenn took a series of careful steps backwards, he patiently planned his disarmament strategy. Damaged left arm.
Reaction speed limits to sixty percent of average. Damaged skull plate and shattered face guard. Large cranial weak spot exposed. Damaged right knee joint. All right turning actions impaired significantly.

The red Gryphon smiled as he continued to twist his weapon around and around in a sleek, elegant pattern of interlocking defensive motions.

He watched carefully as the Augment brought down his right arm in a sweeping vertical strike, and he knew the moment was right.

Fyrenn brought his sword up as if to block the downward strike, while simultaneously moving his right wing as if to attack the man's weakened left arm.

Predictably, the soldier was too damaged and preoccupied to see the ruse. He reacted precisely as expected. He twisted his right arm to try and redirect the force of his blow in order to break Fyrenn's guard. In order to avoid a potentially critical wound, he pivoted to the right to pull his left arm out of the path of danger.

Fyrenn took a single nanosecond to watch the elegant ballet of physics, just to be absolutely sure his maneuvers would do maximum damage.

Abruptly the Gryphon twisted his sword down and away. He moved his left wing in to impact the Augment's right arm from the side, redirecting his strike and severely damaging the underlying bones of the arm.

He brought his right wing across, flexing the joint in just the right way to deploy the hidden blade sequestered in the joint guard.

As the newly revealed weapon pierced the side of the trooper's weakened helmet, Fyrenn brought his sword around and to his left, severing the Augment's right weakened leg before he could react and retract the limb from danger.

All at once, the moment was over. The Augment collapsed to the floor, right arm broken inwards on itself, right leg missing, and the left side of his head split open with a five inch gash.

Fyrenn quickly moved his right back paw forward, and gripped the man's neck with his back claws.

As he raised his sword, in preparation for severing the soldier's head from his shoulders, the man tensed once more. Fyrenn tightened his grip, in anticipation of an escape attempt.

Instead, the man raised his damaged left arm, and pointed his fist at Fyrenn, as if making one last defiant gesture.

Fyrenn saw the barrel of the hidden railgun at approximately the same time that his ears registered a loud report, followed by the sickening thud of a round entering flesh.

The soldier's body went limp as the front of his face exploded outward in a shower of circuitry and orange coolant liquid. Fyrenn glanced down first at the man's hidden weapon, which had somehow materialized from a hidden compartment in his elbow, then up at the source of the well-timed shot.

Neyla stood triumphantly on the body of her own mangled opponent, RAC-9 clutched tightly in both claws, one eye gleaming out over the weapon's iron sights.

She lowered the weapon and smirked.

"You're out of practice."

Fyrenn glared, and plunged his sword down into the Augment's twitching corpse, directly through his neck and into the spine, severing the main nerves and data trunks once and for all.

Neyla raised an eyebrow, "No matter how hard you stab him, it doesn't make him your kill."

The red Gryphon rolled his eyes, as he did his best to keep a patronizing tone out of his voice.

"Shooting the head once hardly qualifies as a kill in this case. They're only dead when they stop twitching."

The blue and tan Gryphoness shrugged her wings, "You still owe me for---"

Fyrenn yanked his sword loose, and carefully wiped the blade on the fabric portions of the dead soldier's armor, "For what? Wasting a perfectly good round? I had him sorted."

Neyla rolled her eyes, and set about ejecting her spent clip, "Have you even used the current series of armor and weapons before today? I'm guessing no. Because it most definitely shows."

Fyrenn stepped casually over to his own rifle. He snagged the weapon's strap with one back claw, and gave it a short, sharp lift into the air. Without even looking down at the weapon, he caught it in mid-air, ejected the spent clip, substituted a new one, closed the breech, reset the capacitor, and toggled the safety.

He then raised the weapon in a single claw, stretched it out to his right side, and pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession.

Each shot found its mark within the back of the remaining Augment's head. The soldier staggered, and lost his momentum, allowing Lantry to hobble forward, and plunge his tactical knife into the base of the soldier's neck, severing his brain stem and shutting him down for good.

Fyrenn raised an eyebrow, keeping his gaze fixed on Neyla.

She glowered as she finished cycling her own weapon.

"Arrogant showoff."

Fyrenn snorted.

"Self-interested lunatic."

Lantry coughed, and grunted, putting as much force into his words as he could, given his cracked ribs.

"Childish fuck-off bird brains. That's what you two are."

Carradan shook his head as he finished wiping orange goop off one of his back hooves.

"Call it whatever you want General; I call it a damn good show. Anyone have any popc--"

Fyrenn, Neyla, and Lantry all fixed the rotund Pegasus with a death glare, accompanied by a perfectly timed chorus of reprimands.

"Shut up Stan."

Author's Note:

Tracks:
-----------------
"Overkilled" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMy5H0UNkeM

"Qualifications" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERgZ3Bx-tZo

"PALs for Life" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwv41NcrE7E

"Out of Practice" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwhQSAsFp7c

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