Death in the Skies AKA Who Invited These Guys?

With Lightning captured and both he and Rosemary under vigilant guard by Tony and Jedro, it appears as if Sunny's murder has been solved. You all get a good night's rest, although the fate of your companions weighs on your minds.

However, the next morning, when Kelian goes to check the cells, both men are unconscious on the floor and the prisoners have escaped. Kelian and Tanaka search for them, but a missing craft from one of the back junkyard strips confirms the worst. They have gone to join the Unseelie forces.

"The attack is imminent, then," Termina remarks grimly, "and, unless our companions were successful, it will be the first of many."

"It's late, and there's a huge storm mounting," Nancy remarks. "I'm getting worried for them."

"I see a dust cloud!" Larianne says, pointing down the road. "I think they're back!"

Sure enough, here they come, with TwoFer proudly leading the pack, carrying Lappy piggyback. Clearly, they are utterly exhausted, but even Grumpus has managed a smile. It's clear they have learned much.

Everyone runs out to greet them, and Larianne scoops Lappy from TwoFer's shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"I was a bit foolish and overenthusiastic I'm afraid, Mistress. My back leg is causing me some trouble."

"For some reason, we made a mad dash at the barge, and fell off the gangplank," OneToo explains. "He landed wrong."

"Leave it to a dog," Grumpus rolls his eyes. "I'm going up to see Vibrissa."

"Well, foolish or not," Ertrude adds, carefully examining Lappy's hind leg, "you'll be fine in a day or two. it's just a sprain."

"I most regret not being able to accompany the others into the tunnel and scout the Unseelie Lands. However, Niobe and I did have a nice chat."

Behind them, the other companions are chattering away about camps full of spiders and skeletons, how much ordnance and supplies they managed to destroy, and the strength of the forces marshaling.

"But we found the base of the Wardroot. It's still on the other side of the tunnel," TwoFer explains. "Right now, the three locks are surrounded and guarded by twelve pixies."

"That would be the Color Guard Captains of the Six Seelie Noble Houses. Two of each, right, and in six colors?" asks Termina.

"Yes, m'am," OneToo answers.

Delgar shakes his head in wonder. "I thought they were only a legend."

"Very real," Termina replies. "They change shifts back and forth every new moon. However, no one directly knows the configuration to get them to draw apart so the locks can be accessed by the three keys. I imagine the Unseelie would think nothing of the killing them, but the magic protecting them is very ancient and strong. Besides, they would need the three keys to let those forces we've been hearing about through."

"No one knows their secret?" marvels Larianne.

"Not even I," Termina smiles, "but I do know the clues to deduce their formation. If we had the three keys, we coulld move them into position."

"How are they arranged?" Nancy joins them in equal curiosity.

"When moved, they should stand in two lines of six, one line above and one below the lock openings. They wear their house colors, so there are two each of Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, and White.

"In each line, there can be only one of each color, and no color can be in the same position on each line. Each color is used once, and only once, in each line. They stand always facing each other.

"There's more. Because of old alliances, the purple captain always stands opposite the white, while red will only stand opposite blue or green. The White house is related to the red house, so red will always stand next to white, but never opposite.

"Old rivalries count also, so yellow never appears opposite red, and never in the second position. To insure luck, green will only stand first or last.

"So you see, we could easily place them, but they won't budge without the keys, and the locks won't take the keys unless the Color Guards are in place."

"And they don't have the keys," Tanaka says softly, so the only redress is..."

"To attack us," Kelian finishes grimly.

And that's when you hear it. An unearthly sound somewhere between a scream and a rumble.

All of you run out, and look at the gathering skies not that far away. It's as horrible as you might expect. Everything force in the Borderlands that the Unseelie could call, turn, enchant, or otherwise recruit has banded together for the assault. You face:

The Death Dragon!

"Into the Air!" shouts Jack, and the Crystanians dash for their ships.

Kelian catches Tanaka's arm. "Just get me to Lightning, wherever he is. I owe him for Sunny!"

Tanaka nods, and Larianne catches up to the two of them. "I'm going with you!"

"NO!" the two men shout simulananeously, pushing her back toward Winton.

And then it's chaos. Teams with space vessels rush to their ships, while the others are directed into the air hangers and onto the strips by Pusgy and Ms. Miranda. Everyone is dashing everywhere, loading weapons, readying magic, and preparing for the most desperate battle yet.

In the bustle generated and Winton's role in helping Ertrude with some supplies, Larianne is on her own. She can't not go, so she slides close to the fast fighter Kelian and Tanaka have selected and quietly climbs into the tail section, where she hunkers behind a small tracer crate. There is a soft thud beside her and a little moan of pain and she sees Lappy limping toward her.

"What are you doing here?" She scoops him up and cuddles him.

"Dogs never leave, Mistress, not even in times in trouble. I'll protect you as I can, and I believe I can help find Lightning."

"We might be killed, Lappy."

"Perhaps, Mistress, but I believe there is still too much to do."

(OOC: This is a puzzle and battle RP challenge. You need to correctly place the Color Guards into their lines, AND also to do your part in the DeathDragon battle. You have until 11:59 Subeta time on August 6th to give me a grand finale!

This is the first All Teams cooperative battle. Please pick a part you want your teams to do. You may ask other teams what part they are doing, but on the OOC thread unless you stay in character here. It might be wise to consider your vessels to decide what you want to do. Larger vessels seem the best bet to take out the deathship itself, after all:

Blasting a DeathDragon ain't like dusting crops, squirrels! )

: : Our Final Post!

[spoiler=The Stone Cold Rogues In The Final Battle Part One]

Chapter 10 Phase One Destroy The Dragon Ship Bridge

Aicha the Mage Considers Her Next Move

Shasa the Bard Pulls A Prank

Frieda the Alchemist Takes Charge as Captain

[quote]Frieda ran back to the Terrapin Glider from the Captain's Briefing with the other Wayward Squirrel Protectors and was pleased to see that the crew had assembled, the ship fueled and the engines online. “OK Rogues, here are your assignments.” She spoke in rapid-fire speech as she approached her crew who quickly gathered around her. “Dace, it's your ship, you're piloting, just remember, go real fast. Shasa, you’re navigating, you’ll have the radar, so call out those targets. Eren, you and I are on waist guns, I’ll take starboard gun and cover Dace’s side. Alphonse, you’re on nose gun, We’ll be targeting the Dragon Ship bridge. Aicha, you’re holed up with Alphonse on main gun targeting systems, and you can use our beam cutters. Teislyn, I need you in the cargo bay as tail gunner.” She waved everybody aboard the T.G. and resumed her rapid pace, “If there’s no questions, then let’s get the heck out of here. We have a world to save.”

As they entered the cargo bay, Frieda took Teislyn aside and spoke in low tones, “Thorson and I made up crates and crates of those explosives we used in the maze thinking that we were going to be under a ground assault. As it turned out, we will now have to use them on that Dragon Ship.” She took the Bard’s elbow, moved closer, and lowered her voice. “Each crate has the explosive yield of a blockbuster bomb. They'll blow up if a crate get loose and bangs into a bulkhead hard enough." She looked up into Teislyn's eyes and the other shoe dropped, "If things get rough, you're going to have to leave your gun and push those crates out the cargo hold's main hatch. So be careful, OK?”

She cleared her throat and sighed. “The thing is this, that tail gun doesn't have a portal, we’re going to have to open the cargo bay door out into empty space to give you a clear shot of anything. So suit up and get a safety harness on. We don’t want you getting loose out there.” She smiled at her friend, but Frieda's eyes betrayed her worry and fear. "Just wait for my signal to push those crates out and don't do anything crazy." Frieda knew in her heart that there was little chance of her crew surviving this mission, but she knew that Teislyn's job was an impossibility. Out of impulse she hugged and kissed the Bard's cheek, then stepped away.

Frieda quickly turned and headed for the stairwell to the upper levels and wiped a tear from her eye. As she reached the gunnery level, she turned, closed the hatch and sealed the airlock. Teislyn was essentially cut off from the rest of the ship except by radio. Frieda had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she turned and took her place at the starboard waist gunner’s console. Had she sealed Teislyn's death sentence for sure? She shook off her fear and guilt and made a vow to herself that she wouldn't think of such things, they just didn't have the luxury of time or circumstance to indulge in worry or self-pity.

She connected with the ship’s communication system and gave the order for all team members to check in to insure that everybody’s radio’s worked. At last the ship’s short checklist was complete and she called in. “Dace, You’ve got the ship, get us out of here and into formation with our squad. Keep alert folk, call out targets and good luck.” She powered up her weapon and checked it’s internal operation. It seemed to have a full charge she was satisfied with it’s status.

Her heart did a little leap as the engines roared to full power and she felt it’s movement. Dace was a fine pilot and soon the T.G. reached escape velocity. Frieda called in on the radio, “Weapons check! Everybody fire their weapons, watch out for friendlies.” She heard the roar of the forward gun, a mighty turret cannon from a de-commissioned space station’s defense system. How Dace and Pugsy managed to get her paws on it baffled Frieda. Each blast was similar in energy to a small nuclear explosion and it depleted a small trilithium engine core with every ten shots. It had a breech loading system similar to those used on the older 16 inch guns found on battleships on Terra, only instead of loading projectiles, the breech was loaded with a new power core. There were twenty cores in the breech loading mechanism...enough for 200 shots. She hoped it would be enough.

By contrast, the waist guns together shared one power core and it could last their weapons for a life time of battle. Still, Frieda felt a powerful kick in her paws as she pulled the trigger on the blaster. One blaster shot was powerful enough to knock a ship their size right out of space, or disrupt a gun turret on the Dragon Ship. “OK everybody, look lively. Dace, Take us in, we’re on point. The Chimeriads are on our Starboard, League of Whovians on Port, the Mischievous Misfits have our six.” She switched her radio over to the Fleet frequency, “Squirrel Protectors, Rogues here, Dace is taking us in. Let's get 'em!.”

The T.G. had been assigned to lead a task force to target the Bridge of the Dragon Ship with the hopes that if they blinded it first, it would buy some time for the other task forces assigned to disable the poison and communications arrays. Their task force was the largest and Frieda hoped that it was also draw the most attention away from the two smaller groups and give them more of a chance at success.

On the first run, at the Bridge, Frieda was astonished at the firepower the enemy ship had. There were gun placement sticking out everywhere, like spines on a cactus. She aimed her blaster at gun turrets as the T.G. approached them, but when she pulled the trigger, her shots overflew her targets every time and she missed. She felt the concussions of the forward gun as it pounded it’s target and she renewed her efforts.

Frustrated again with miss after miss, she just simply pointed her gun at the surface of the big ship in anger as it whizzed underneath them and strafed it at random. As the T.G. pulled up after it’s first run, Frieda heard Shasa compliment her, “Way to go Captain.” When she looked back down at the Dragon Ship, she saw a large plume of fire and debris spewing away from the enemy ship where a large blaster canon had been. She had a new targeting strategy now. “Eren, Don’t bother aiming at specific targets, we’re too fast and too close. Just get off as many shots as you can in rapid succession.”

On the Second run, Frieda could feel the T.G. accelerate, was Dace flying faster? She looked out her view screen and observed that the Chimeriad ship had closed up their formation a little more. She was going to have to be a little more careful with her shooting, she didn’t want to accidentally blast a friend out of the sky. She felt a bit nervous for some reason, but checked her feelings as their ship took a hit. “We’re hit! Damage report!” She was going to have to keep her feelings in check, they seemed to bring bad luck.

Alphonse responded, “Negative damage My Lady, it was a glancing blow, our shields held.” She relaxed a bit when she heard the forward gun fire off ten rounds in quick succession and she pointed her gun at the big ship where she had observed a long row of gun turrets and fired her weapon like a machine gun. She was gratified as she watched explosion after explosion erupt in the wake of her destructive path. Alphonse’s voice came back over the ship’s comm. “Their shields are failing, we’ll get them on the next round. Let’s go Dace, bring us around again.” Well, that was some good news at least.

Frieda was full of anxious anticipation, her strategy of keeping her feelings in check hadn't taken into account that she was highly empathic and she wore her own feelings out her sleeve. The cause of her worry was that Dace had chosen a different angle for the third pass at the Bridge and she didn’t recognize the terrain of the large ship’s outer surface. She observed that several of it's decks were engulfed in raging fires, but she doubted that any serious damage had been done to the functionality of the Dragon Ship. The visible damage was most likely ‘merely flesh wounds' and that ship probably had redundant systems all over the place.

As the T.G. lined up for the third pass, Frieda could now see the massive bridge tower and she aimed her weapon at it They had to give their enemy everythin

Mauve and his bandmates, the Lavenders, are grumbling among themselves as they go to get supplies for those remaining behind. They are pretty much bummed to be grounded. As they make their last trip back to the Gearloose Goose, they see several of the Protectors staring listlessly at the ground.

Mauve stops to ask about it. "What's up? You guys look way mournful."

"We can't fly!" They all chorus back at him. "We don't know the first things about aircraft and all Winton will say is that we knew this when we were designing vehicles. We're stuck with THESE."

The band looks at the neat little row of small combat ships while the dejected group goes back to moaning and weeping.

"Hey, Ma!" yells Mauve. "Didn't you say the most important thing was to provide everything we could for the Protectors?"

"Yes!!" Ms. Miranda shouts back in her most authoritative voice. "Make it happen for them, whatever it is! That's an order, son, and it goes for your pals, too."

The entire band lights up. It's all they can do not to cheer out loud. The guys and gals grab the hands of the closest mopers and motion for the others to follow. Everyone proceeds at a dead run to a remote hangar on the "back forty."

As the large metal doors are pulled back, the "no-fly" Protectors see a line of medium size refurbished spacecraft. Each band member proudly points out his or her "baby."

"All we have to do is rig up some weaponry. We gotta be able to make something work. Come on, let's do it! We'll get these babies in the air!"

(OOC: Okay, miserable and dejected earthbound ones. You are now in the air with a bunch of teenage rockers. Pick your own Lavender and hop aboard. Assume these flyboys and flygirls will get you where you need to be with aerial "hotdoggin' skillz." It's a wild ride, but you can now do what you gotta do. Deal with Ms. Miranda later. :D)

PS: This is only for those wailing in dismay and cursing themselves for not carefully reading the earlier chapter. If you are already in the air, keep on keeping on!)

Kronus looks at all the ships on the hanger floor and becomes excited....Look at all this!!! He shouts unable to contain himself..Wooo hooo...Looking at the rest of his group...Let's get out there and do some damage guys!!! We need some weapons installed and ..and ..and ....ammo...and....ammo

We should choose 1 of the blanks _________________________ to assist the battle in our tie-fighters.

Enemy Ships:

*Dragon Ship: Huge Mother Ship, Battle Cruiser, can hold hundreds of small fighters, heavy shielding, very heavy armament, cannons, turrets, blasters, torpedoes, *Mid-sized Reever Destroyers: Slightly larger then a Firefly-class ship. Heavily armed, blasters, torpedoes, medium shielding, decorated with bones and blood, *Fighters : Small single-seat Tie-Fighter class craft, light armament, blasters, light shielding, like flies that will kick your backsides.

Our Ships: *Firefly Class Ships : Medium sized, fast, some very heavily armed for a ship it’s size, medium shielding. Looks Totally Awesome', Can Kick Serious Unseelie Bottom! *Fighters : Small single-seat Tie-Fighter class craft, light armament, blasters, light shielding, Like Hummingbirds On Crack....With Blasters!

Outline Narrative:

1. The initial attack of Phase One will focus on three primary target objectives:

a. The Poison Array. This will be dealt with by Reavers in their Firefly class ship. The Raider's Folly team and the _________________ team will assist in their Tie-Fighter class ships. They may take out other secondary targets as they wish.

b. The Main Communications Array, this will disrupt their ability to coordinate attacks. This will be led by The Fallen Angels team in their Firefly class ship. The _________________________ team and the ________________ team will assist with defense in their Tie-Fighter class ships. They may take out other secondary targets as they wish.

c. The Bridge. This will be targeted by the remaining Firefly Class teams and the remaining Tie-Fighter class teams for this phase..

2. The Dragon Ship unleashes hundreds of fighters upon us and close combat ensues. It is a free-for all dogfight. This Phase Two attack objective is to to destroy all the enemy’s small fighters. All ships are engaged from all teams. The battle is intense and there are many close calls.

3. The Phase Three objective has become to target the engines and control centers of the Dragon Ship in an attempt to completely destroy it. Strafing runs, tropedos, cutting beams, blasters, magic and alchemy come into play here. The target objectives are:

a. The Engines. This will be dealt with by _______________ , Fallen Angels and The Stone Cold Rogues in their Firefly class ship. The _________________, _________________, and _________________ will assist with defense in their Tie-Fighter class ships. They may take out other secondary targets as they wish.

b. The Control Systems Centers, this will knock out radar, computers, targeting systems and life support. This will be dealt with by _______________ , _____________ and ________________ in their Firefly class ship. The _________________________ and the ________________ will assist with defense in their Tie-Fighter class ships. They may take out other secondary targets as they wish.

c. The Mid-Sized Reever Destroyers. These will be targeted by the remaining Firefly Class ships and the remaining Tie-Fighter class ships. This is essential in protecting the others as they complete their task. Once the Dragon Ship is Destroyed, all craft regroup to clean up any remaining Reever-Class and Fighter stragglers.

If you want to volunteer for a specific target, please ping me to the target you want to attack and I will fill in the blank. If you don't select a specific target, then you attack secondary targets ( Atrueheart listed a bunch of them ).

In closing: There are three main phases to this outline: 1. attack dragon ship, knock it out. 2. Destroy the 100's of small fighters, 3. Destroy the Dragon ship AND the medium-sized Reever ships. 4. celebrate victory with cookies... (oh, wait...that's four phases. )

finish reading

(OOC:

Dear one, are you sure you want this on the story thread? I think you might have wanted the Captain's board?)

[spoiler=Stone Cold Rogues In The Final Battle Part Three]

Frieda

Dace

Alphonse

Teislyn

Aicha

Eren

Teislyn [quote]It seemed like an eternity before someone replied and she heard Eren's voice on the other side. "Lady Frieda is down. Drop bombs. I check on her." and the comm clicked off. "Wait...what?", she tried to reply back but the comm was silent on the other end. Freida was down? She'd have to find out what happened

[spoiler=Dancing on air] “I’m glad for your assistance, dear boy,” said Phineas, turning to civilities in order to calm his nerves. He was many things; a musician, a lover, a person of questionable moral value, a ready companion or accomplice. He had never been comfortable with mass military struggle such as what he was now engaged in. Small scuffles or duels for the restoration of honor, sure. Of course, he understood the need for good to remain dominant over evil, so what must be done, must be done. Engaging in meaningless chatter during the ride up was a means to an end. Best to not get too wrapped up in what was to come. And it was coming sooner than he had expected, they had arrived. He gave Bob a winning grin, and set to. The first few shots were a little clumsy, but he found a rhythm quickly and began his minor offensive sweep, pausing only to look around for high priority targets. “Bank to the left, if you please, Bob, I see a group forming over in that direction. We’d better address them post haste.”

Ty took off and headed for the main ship, darting easily between the ships of fellow protectors. He headed for the smaller airships coming out of the Dragon, weaving in and out of ship debris. Kaiidth shot some easy targets going at the other fighters.

"I need more range to the left." As he turned to face the enemy ship, they opened fire. Kaiidth quickly returned fire and shot them down. Fortunately, there were only a few minor dings in the ship. They fly down some as Kaiidth shoots some stragglers.

"Ty, out to the left there’s a larger group shooting at some of our guys." She pointed so he could see it. Ty

The Rocky Runway

Just as they are about to take off, Pugsy runs up to the plane and taps on the window to gain Kelian's attention.

"Foller me, mates!"

She runs ahead and Kelian carefully taxies after her to a flat rock runway in back of a boulder. There sits the Victorious Vixen, with Izzy making a last minute inspection. To Tanaka's surprise, Hayao and Thorson are there as well.

"Get in, boys" Izzy commands unceremoniously. "You're a good fighter, Kelian, but even Tanaka's stealth skills won't get you close enough to reach that dragon ship. That's going to need the Vixen's speed, my skills, and those little distraction beacons and that reflective shield this fabulous inventor and his alchemist friend whipped up at warp speed."

Hayao and Thorson carefully explain about the cloaking and misdirecting device and how they work to the astonished fighters. While they do, a small figure carrying a very small dog slides out of the cargo bay of Kelian's fighter, and into the surprisingly larger one of the Vixen.

Larianne does this as silently and quickly as she possibly can, and then marvels at how Pugsy has created the bay to allow Izzy to make her contraband runs without losing speed. With great care, she pulls herself up into a top crevice. With Lappy in her arms, it's a very tight fit, but the shadows around the area make her feel sure they will both avoid detection, which isn't an easy feat with Tanaka.

She's just in time. Explanations given, Pugsy takes her place as co-pilot, and the two fighters head to tuck themselves into the cargo. Izzy leaps into position, engages the silencers, and starts the engines as Hayao and Thorson activate the timing on the first beacon and then engage the cloaking device.

"Wait!" Tanaka shouts as the Vixen springs to life.

But it is too late. With her mind locked on the journey, she is already starting the run, and Pugsy pushes the lifters to move them up and out of the surrounding rocks. On the ground, Hayao and Thorson signal the all clear. Izzy lifts up. They are headed into space.

Tanaka sighs. "Okay, Girlie, I guess we're stuck with you. Climb down and sit on my lap, or the G-force will throw you into the walls."

"Let her sit on MY lap. All you do is fight with her," Kelian argues, as Larianne sheepishly climbs down.

"I didn't think you saw me," she counters.

"You might have well have waved a flag and set off a cannon," Tanaka remarks dryly.

"Hmmfph!" she sputters, and daintily perches on Kelian's knees just in time for him to lock the seatbelt before Izzy hits the barrier with a boom and they are aloft in space, zooming toward the warship ahead.

Will this succeed? Will they be able to reach their goal and find Pale Lightning before their friends are all lost? Only powers beyond control know.

Dana is done checking up her sonic screwdriver - this annoying squeaking noise is finally gone. She'd definitely need it in good condition, and now it's ready. And still, there's an uneasy atmosphere all over the place, an Unseelie attack is basically unavoidable and could happen anytime, but when? Nobody knows - only that it'll be soon. Staring out of the window, she sees the others, occupated with preparations as well, and her thoughts wander towards them. I wonder if we'll stay together? And if not, will we meet again? She sees Reyna's blonde hair wave in the breeze, and she knows. Well, we at least will for sure. Wyn boops her shoulder with her little nose to demand pets and cuddles, and that pulls Dana out of the clouds. "Yeeeah, you big baby, come here. Let's go downstairs, hm?"

[spoiler=The Protectors Bring Down The Dragon] Standing and staring up at the vast Unseelie armada seems to have frozen the Fallen Angels. Seeing the Dragon's disruptor ray cut one of the Crystanians flyers in half jolted them out of their frozen state and Jeice whistled low. "Did y'all see that?! Where can I get me one of those?" she yells out as Atrueheart grabs Webby by the arm and motions the rest of the Fallen Angels to her.

"Time to misbehave Fallen Angels!" she cries out over the roar of the impending army. "Webby... I need you to get on the ship and get her engines warmed up and ready to fly and we need you to reprogram the reflector discs to repel that goram disruptor ray!"

"Shiny Captain!" Webby yells and then turns and runs toward the Fallen Angel.

Atrueheart continues snapping out orders to her team and moving fast. Laurie rolls her eyes and tells Jeice in a whisper "She did say if she ever went to war we'd see something new!" Jeice just grins and punches Laurie on the shoulder "I've seen her this way before and I'm telling ya now, ya better get a move on! She ain't playin', she's planning on misbehavin'!"

"Laurie and Jeice you'll be manning the turret guns so get them mounted asap and make sure they are ready to rock!" she nods at Laurie and Jeice who take off at a dead run toward the hangar following fast on Webby's heels, their companions running alongside them. Laurie reaches down a hand and lifts Hope up onto her hip so she can get there faster. Running with Jeice, Laurie yells out "You ready for this?" and Jeice replies with a snort "I was born ready! Ya better have some coin warrior 'cause the fighter that gets the least "kills" is buying when we get through!" Laurie laughs and shakes a finger at Jeice. "You'll be the one buying!"

"Talli what you got for me? We're gonna need nullification spells, blasting spells, something to counteract that poisonous gas, and a spell to keep our ship shields at max." Atrueheart says as she turns to her Mage. "I'm on it True! I'll be ready!" Talli cries out as she turns and runs back inside to grab her spell books and staff.

Turning to Calie, who is still staring in fascination at the Dragon, Atrueheart grasps her arm and shakes it getting her attention. "Snap out of it Calie! I'm gonna need the most powerful concoction you can come up with for those torpedoes on the ship." Calie nods and shouts over the noise "I'm on it. I need some supplies, but then I'll be in the cargo bay." As she runs beside Atrueheart, returning inside the Gearless Goose, Atrueheart spies a group of the Protectors gathering in the center of the big room and halts Calie to tell her "Their the other Team Captains, Calie. It's gonna take more than just us to bring that freakin' Dragon down." she motions toward the group. "I'm gonna go see what the battle plan is and then join y'all on the Fallen Angel."

"See you there True!" Calie replies as she is consulting a supply list in her hand and then motions over to Ms. Miranda. "I'm gonna need a few things from your store!" They confer quickly and head to the shelves, pulling things rapidly and stuffing them in bags. "That ought to do it, Ms. Miranda. Thank you!" Calie states as she closes up the last bag. Slinging several bags over her shoulder Calie heads outside and runs to the ship's bay followed by one of the shop boys carrying more bags.

Atrueheart walks over to the other team captains, who are talking strategy. "Well ladies and gents, what's the plan?" Atrueheart says as she bends over some crude sketches of the Dragon and the Unseelie flyers. Frieda, one of the other team captains, had a list of assignments and Atrueheart tapped on several. "The Fallen Angel will initially target the Communications Array and then move on to the engines." Frieda writes Fallen Angel beside those tasks and hands her a list of spells that the combined mages would be using for Talli. "Good Hunting Atrueheart!" Frieda swishes her tail in appreciation. "Now when the signal goes out for the final blow on the Dragon ship, after we've weakened it enough, every team, every ship unleash hell's fury on them. Give it everything you've got! Then we'll clean up the rest of the Unseelie rabble!" All the team captain's nod in agreement and then head out to their ships.

Climbing up the ramp of the Fallen Angel, Atrueheart can see that the gun turrets are mounted and Jeice and Laurie checking out the guns. Webby can be overheard in the engine room banging on something with her wrench. Poking her head out of the engine room she cries out to Atrueheart "No worries Captain. I'll have her running like a top for you!" Talli and Calie are over at a table on the side of the ships bay. Calie grinding ingredients furiously, a stack of torpedoes next to her. Talli is poring over her spell books and mumbling to herself as she hands ingredients to Calie occasionally. Walking past them on the way to the bridge, Atrueheart hands the mage's list of spells over to Talli and states "We fly in five minutes Angels!"

Hearing the five minute call, Webby, working furiously on the solar discs display panel, squeals in frustration. "Webby configure this... Webby I need those engines at max… Webby pull a miracle out of your a..." she mumbles. She pulls up a diagnostic screen to begin her reconfiguration of the solar discs. Running a basic diagnostic, marking parts to enhance to create better power flow and max energy she programs the solar discs to deflect the Dragon's Disruptor Ray. "Solar discs reconfigured Captain. Good to go!" Webby calls out over the ships comm. Hearing a slight disruption in the engine's harmonics, Webby grabs her sonic screwdriver and opens a panel. With a twist of the screwdriver, the engine settles into a soft hum. Slamming the panel shut Webby pats the engine. "Hang in there girl!" she says. Her companion Blue is chittering away and is working on the weapons panel. Webby walks over to it and can see what all Blue's fuss is about. Several of the lights are red instead of green, so taking her sonic screwdriver she bangs on the side of the panel. Lights are all green across the board as a result. Blue looks up at her questioningly. "What? It works every time!" Webby shrugs her shoulders and heads over to her tool box.

Calie ground furiously at the ingredients needed for the torpedoes. Whoever heard of a ship that didn’t carry a full load of torpedoes at all times? She shook her head in exasperation. Making torpedoes from scratch; didn’t any of them know how long that took? First she had to find casings that fit the cannons, then containers to fit inside the casings to hold the explosives, then grinding the ingredients for the… it took a long time, darn it all!

The other Angels scrambled around her, getting themselves ready for battle, as she flexed her fingers and grumbled before going back to grinding. At least she’d been able to find most everything she needed from Ms. Miranda. Surprising even herself, she was able to create several torpedoes by the time Atrueheart returned from meeting with the other Protectors. Hearing Atrueheart's five minute warning she finishes placing the completed torpedoes near the launch tubes.

Laurie, up in one of the gun turrets is completing her diagnostics and seeing that it all checks out sit's back and hugs Hope. "Here we go Hope! You hang on little one because it's gonna get rough up here." Hope settles into a corner out of Laurie's way, looking adorable in a space suit and helmet. Hope gives Laurie a thumbs up.

Jeice leaned back in her chair, flexed her fingers and sneezed. She so wasn’t paying for drinks tonight! Now, if only she could get rid of this darned cold everything would be great.

Atrueheart sits in the captain's chair and runs a quick glance over her controls, nodding satisfactorily at the all green board. Jinx, her monkey companion, isn't a big fan of space flight and so he grabs his blanket and tucks himself in under her console. "A lot of help you are silly monkey!" Atrueheart laughs. "That's okay Jinx, you've earned your rest after all the work you and the other companions did gathering intelligence.”

Atrueheart then turns back to the ships console and flips a switch opening communications and states "Sound off Fallen Angels! Need a go, no go from each station!" Her team all give her a Go and then she opens communications to the other team Captains. "Fallen Angel is heading into the Black! Making our run for the Dragon's Communications Array! Need fire support from any flyers available to clear the row to the Dragon." Atrueheart calmly states.

Talli, sitting in the co-pilots position, shouts "Done! Shields at max True!" Turning around in her seat, Talli addresses her dire wolf, “Moriel, I need you to fetch my crystal pouch from our room. Noro lim!” As the Elvish fell from her tongue, her wolf took off in a lightning-quick dash for their quarters. Talli turned her attention back to the book in her hands. The spells they needed, she could cast, no doubt, but how long would she be able to maintain them? Even with the Seelie magic, she was feeling the drain of the past couple weeks keenly. Pressing a thumb to her right temple, she sent a prayer up to her gods for the safety of her crewmates and the others. With any luck, they’d get through this alive. “Today, everyone lives.” she promised under her breath.

Muttering in ancient Elvish, Talli summoned a protective shield around the entire ship. It would hold, for now. Hopefully it would keep from any more pieces of their precious Fallen Angel from falling off. In a split second, the radar began to blare. Four Unseelie ships surrounded them. They were trapped. The Fallen Angel shook as the shield took the brunt of the damage from the blows by the enemy cannons. She had to stop them from hitting the shield any harder, or it would certainly break. “True!” she shouted, “They’re surrounding us. Prepare for the EMP blast!” Anxiety bubbled in her chest as she threw the lever to activate the pulse. The entire Angel shook as the blast went out in a circle around them and the Unseelie ships went black. “Dead in the water!” Talli yelled, for whomever could hear. At least they knew that worked now!

When Moriel returned with the pouch, she dropped it into Talli’s lap and pressed her head into Talli’s side. Of course she could tell; she always knew when her friend was distressed. “Thank you.” Talli went to turn back to the panels, but Moriel nudged her again. Talli turned and looked into her wolf’s eyes, and she understood. ”Boe amen veriad lîn.” she prayed, her voice a raspy whisper. ” An ngell nîn.” A soft glow began to radiate from her hands and as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished. Talli flashed a small smile at her friend as she went back to manning the EMP controls, her staff grasped in her left hand, holding her magical barrier in place around the Fallen Angel.

Laurie speaks over the ships comm as the Fallen Angel lifts off. "Shoot straight Jeice. Looks like a lot of flyers coming at us." Laurie begins aiming and pulling her guns trigger. "Scratch one and two!" she calls out as two of the enemy flyers, flying straight for the Fallen Angel explode into dust. Trigger finger pumping she helps clear the pathway for Atruehearts run at the Dragon, Hope keeping a tally of her "kills" in a little notebook.

Feeling the ship shudder as the Unseelie small flyers and firefly class ships blanket the area in fire, Atrueheart smiles evilly. "They aren't gonna know what hits them!" she states as she triggers the laser cannon, targeting one of their engines, and is satisfied with the explosion that cripples their ship. Satisfied with hearing both her gunner’s rapid firing and keeping the small flyers occupied, Atrueheart pushes the engines heading for the Dragon. Weaving in and out avoiding the enemy ships and giving the "friendlies" plenty of room, Atrueheart murmurs under her breath "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch me soar." Talli looks up from her spell book and asks "What was that True?" Atrueheart glanced her way and said "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch.... Oh never mind hon. It's a zen thing!"

Jeice called out from her turret, “Just go with it Talli. True’s always been a little zen. By the way, do you think you can do anything for the engines? I’m feeling the engine cough every now and then and it’s creating havoc with my aim.”

“It’s not the engines, Jeice! It’s your aim! Another one down; add it to the tally Hope!” Laurie called back from the other turret. In the roosterpit, Talli perked her head up suddenly.

Running from the roosterpit at full speed with Moriel at her heels, Talli called out for Webby. Skidding to a halt once she reached the engine room, she addressed her friend, “I have an idea!” she panted. She leaned on her staff for a moment before continuing, “I’ve got a spell that I think might work to boost the engines.”

“Well, why didn’tcha say somethin’ sooner?!” Webby called from her current spot underneath the large steaming machine. “Go for it!”

Talli smiles and turns her focus to the engine. This would be tricky to do while still holding the shields up, but she had faith. She knew she could do it now. She began chanting and motioned with her free hand and the crystal at the top of her staff glowed brightly. Shimmering particles of light emerged from the crystal and began to soak the engine itself. She heard a surprised shout from Webby, but kept going. Before long, the entire engine glowed bright blue, a faint pulsing sound detectable under the whirr of the machinery. “There!” Talli shouted above the noise, “That’ll keep her from losing any parts any time soon, and give her a power boost to boot.” She turned on her heels and waved for Moriel to follow as she sped back to the roosterpit.

“Is it done?” True asked as the pair returned. Talli nodded in confirmation as she took her seat back at the co-pilot controls, catching her breath again. You’d think with all the running they’d been doing lately, a bolt across the ship would be nothing, but all the metal stairways were really doing her in. No earth to draw power from, less energy for all the strenuous activities. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, the ship rocked hard from another impact. It caught Talli off-guard and the shields faltered, flickering and fading to nothing. “Talli?!” True called, alarmed. “Please tell me you can bring that shield back up, pronto!”

Talli’s eyes widened and she threw her staff arm forward, sending out another magical shield to cover the Fallen Angel once more. She could feel her stamina draining, and she prayed this would all be over soon. “Oh Varda,” she muttered, “Protect us.”

"Holy Mother that's a big ship!" Atrueheart cries out as it begins to fill the forward screen. The Dragon, bristling with fire power and menace, was intimidating but not impossible to stop. Not with all the Protectors in on the kill. Bringing up her targeting system screen, Atrueheart puts in the coordinates for the Communications Array of the Dragon and fires off a shot of the laser cannon. The Dragon answers her shot with a beam from her Disruptor Ray! Praying that Webby's modifications for our Solar collection discs work, Atrueheart calls out over ship communications "Brace yourselves Angels!" The Dragon's Disruptor Ray deflects off the metal disc and slices a couple of the small enemy flyers in half. "Whoop!" Atrueheart shouts. "Just earned you a night on the town Webby! Solar Discs repelling Disruptor Ray!"

Webby snorts and retorts over the ships comm "As if there were any doubt of my skills Captain!" Hearing a rivet pop on the engine, she rushes over with her sonic screwdriver and replaces the rivet. "Goram used parts!" she mutters to herself as she slathers another part with engine oil. Blue is riding around in her hair and keeps up a running commentary right along with Webby. Monitoring the ships comm and keeping up with the battle, Webby continues tweaking the engine with her mythril wrench and sonic screwdriver.

“Got bogeys on our six, captain! They aren

[spoiler=The Great Battle of the Protectors of the Squirrel VS the Unseelie Squadron] The Foggiest Notions had not expected the path that this adventure lead them on, especially where it was ending. They were faced with a battle of epic proportions. Their companions brought back intel on the Unseelie’s attack and it was a doozy! The Unseelie were attacking with all their might and this left the adventurers, all of them known as the Protectors of the Squirrel collectively, to defend the Seelie lands as well as Bordertown.

Turf was not at all accustomed to air travel and suddenly he was being asked to pilot a small single person airship known as a TIE-fighter. He wasn’t the only one that was apprehensive about this. His whole team was. Fern was concerned about her claustrophobia so Turf enchanted an amulet for her to wear. It would protect her, causing her to forget about her condition and allow her to be perform at her best. The ships were equipped with laser cannons that weren’t too unlike shooting an arrow from a bow with a crosshair targeting system. The amulet would allow Fern the concentration needed to hit the targets.

Fern had tried to keep her concerns about flying hidden, not wanting to bring more burden to her team. She wasn't entirely surprised when Turf approached her about the matter, scolding herself for not being able to better hide her emotions. When Turf presented her with the enchanted amulet the gift brought tears to her eyes and she graciously accepted, throwing her arms around the satyr in a tight hug.

Fern seemed to have something more to say but she changed her mind before she could give voice to her thoughts. With a small smile she gave Turf a friendly kiss on the cheek, hurrying away to join her sister and Armina before her emotions had a chance to betray what she was feeling for the second time that day.

The way Fern acted did not go unnoticed by Turf. He had grown to have strong feelings for her over the course of their adventure together. Faced constantly with life and death decisions had made Turf appreciate the here and now. So when she kissed him on the cheek, he couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. He wanted to kiss her back but was so new at this “love” thing that he wasn’t sure if he could. Love, did I really just think that? he thought to himself and turned beet red.

Clearly annoyed by the pending air battle, Armina did not hold back her disdain for flying. “I've said it before and I will say it again,” the warrior stammered, “I'M NO PILOT!”

She stomped around the TIE-fighter grumbling and complaining so loudly she quickly drew the attention of the other adventurers. Many did not know what to think of this sudden outburst but the Foggiest Notions, used to her random rantings, paid her no mind at all.

The airships were simple enough to control and after a crash course in flying from some experienced pilots, they all seemed to be confident enough to fly on their own, even Armina.

The Protectors then met with one another and designed a plan to take out the Death Dragon ship as well as the smaller ships from its armada. The meeting lasted for what felt like a long time but it was mere minutes. Knowing what each and every one of the Protectors needed to do, the individual teams broke off to devise their plan of attack.

The Foggiest Notions decided to assist the teams with larger Flamefly Class ships. Being in smaller airships allowed them the maneuverability they would need to attack and flee as needed, “It’s been a crazy adventure, hasn’t it,” asked Turf to no one in particular. He then continued on, “We have our plan, now let’s do it!”

The Foggiest Notions suited up to board their ships, saying a farewell to their companions beforehand. They hoped that they would see them again but tried not to let it bother them too much, as they needed all the concentration they could muster.

The satyr was reluctant to leave his companion behind, but Turf knew that an airship battle was no place for a sprite like Frink. “You would hate it and you know it,” Turf said to Frink as the sprite threw a fit, “I promise I will be back and then we never have to be apart again.” Turf kissed Frink on the head and the sprite, hoping none of the other companions would see, gave Turf a kiss back and then stuck his tongue out in a huge raspberry.

The sprite then dove into Turf’s pocket and came back out with an arm full of cactus berries. He flew over to where the other companions were waiting, sat down with them, and they all began to munch on the tasty berries.

Not too sure about flying one of these ships. Ravensong feigned confidence, knowing that her worries and insecurities would only make things harder on her friends, though her mutters of being meant to stay on the ground were not entirely silent as she headed over to her fighter.

Sensing his mistress' unease, Kabe came over to where she was standing and head-butted her leg with a soft purr.

"Wish you were coming with me," Ravensong told him quietly as she knelt down to scratch the side of his chin.

With one more head-butt and a quiet meow, Kabe rubbed against her leg before turning and heading back to where the other companions were waiting, feeling as though he'd done his part to help.

Watching her friend walk away, Ravensong took a deep breath, doing her best to clear her mind of everything but what they'd been taught about flying and climbed into her TIE-fighter.

Fern gave her companion owl Tito a kiss goodbye and despite his protestful squawking she placed him down next to Kabe. The cat shoved a cactus berry into the tiny owl’s mouth to stop him from squawking.

With a tear running down her face Fern turned and hurried to her TIE-fighter, climbing into the cockpit. Fern was amazed to find that she truly felt at ease seated in the cockpit of her fighter and she brought a hand up to close around the amulet around her neck.

Thank you Turphinius... She thought, giving the amulet a squeeze. If only her mind could be free of all other worries as well. Parting with her companion had felt like a final goodbye and Fern couldn't shake off the fear she had for the safety of all of her friends.

Armina spoke to Odin in a whisper so faint only the small dragon could hear. He looked sad at first but seemed almost excited by the time she finished her speech. The warrior kissed him upon his tiny head and watched as Ogarath's only son flew from her shoulder to join the other companions.

The warrior was the last to climb into her vessel. Still not thrilled about flying but feeling much more at ease after the crash course, Armina nodded to each of her friends, letting them all know she was ready for battle.

Upon seeing how sad his teammates were acting, Turf thought of an idea that would allow them all to feel the love of their companions at the same time as giving them extra firepower for the impending battle. He pulled out a tome from his pack and consulted it. Finding what he was looking for, he smiled at his comrades and couldn’t wait to try out his plan, but not until they were airborne.

After getting seated in their ships, they were given the go ahead to take off. The group of friends had communication with one another in their helmets, as well as communication with the squad leader. This way they could communicate as they flew in formation as well as receive orders for when it was time to initiate certain tasks.

The team began to take off, rising into the air, and became speechless in concentration as they headed high into the atmosphere. Turf was oddly at ease inside his ship, he wasn’t entirely sure why but had an inkling that it had something to do with how he was feeling about Fern. Upon seeing the large Death Dragon ship and the other smaller ships before them, they became aware of the seriousness of the situation at hand. Armina was just about to speak to the others when the satyr's soothing voice met her ears.

“I know we only met just recently, but I feel like I have come to know you all so well,” Turf began to say, “I only wish Max could be here too, but the Border Fever really hit him hard… anyways, I want you all to know how much I have come to care for you.”

When Turf's voice came over the communicator Fern had to fight off more tears, clearing her throat after he'd finished, "Thank you Turf... Honestly, I don't know how we could have managed this adventure without you... without all of you. I love you all, and..." Fern could be heard cursing as her voice wavered, "Just be careful everyone, please..."

"Know that I love you all, but we don't have time to get distracted by all this sappy talk, let's take out the Unseelie and get back on land where we belong," Ravensong told her friends.

Armina tried to listen but all of this mushy talk was starting to turn her stomach. Inside she felt very much the same as the others, but she would never admit it. “Are we ready yet,” she questioned the others.

“Armina’s right, we need to get moving, but first I have a little surprise that I hope you all like,” answered Turf and then he began to chant in his native tongue, leaving the channel open with his friends so they could hear him as well. As he chanted, each one of his friends began to understand what he was saying as if by magic, “I humbly do summon the spirits of my comrades… the Wise Owl, the Noble Winged Cat, the Proud Dragon, and the Playful Sprite…” As they understood what he said, the hairs on their arms began to stand up and visions of their companions danced in their thoughts. Feeling the love of their companions, the spirits answered the call. From within each of the friends a great spirit arose from them in a spectacular array of lights and sounds.

The spirits of the companions then combined with the TIE-fighters, shaping them into a vague image of each companion. Fern’s ship became the visage of a great owl, Ravensong’s ship was that of a winged cat, Armina’s ship became a great dragon-shaped vessel, and lastly Turf’s ship became a beautiful mechanical looking sprite equipped with elegant wings.

“What the.... what did you....?” the warrior was stunned as her TIE-fighter began to transform. “I know this was you Tur....” Armina’s voice trailed off again as she realized what an amazing vessel her ship had become. The warrior was very close to her dragon friends and now she was one; or at least she felt like one. Any inhibitions she had about the ending to this grand adventure were suddenly swept away by shear excitement. “You are amazing Mage!” she shouted.

“It worked,” shouted Turf, “It really worked!” Each of them now had the powers of their companions at their fingertips. Ravensong gasped softly in surprise, able to be heard through their communication channel, as her ship reshaped itself to resemble her cat.

The first item on their battle plan was to assist the destruction of the Poison Array, Turf called them to action, “Break formation and Target the smaller ships as the other Protectors take out the Poison Array.” The mouth of the great Death Dragon opened wide and jettisoned forth a poison mist that the TIE-fighters had to navigate around. One hit and it would leave them sick as a dog, much like the Border Fever.

Turf’s ship was gleaming with a purple hue as the wings spread out and fluttered forward, causing an array of “pixie” dust to engulf the smaller enemy ships. The dust caused the ships to malfunction and spin out of control. One of them hurled towards the other enemy ships, narrowly missing one of the other Protectors flying by. It bumped into another enemy ship, causing them both to spin out of control until they crashed.

The air around Ravensong was filled with Kabe's presence, her ship moved through the air in great leaps and bounds, pouncing on enemy ships and jumping away before a counterattack could be made.

Fern marveled at the way Ravensong's ship bounded through the air. Turf's magic was truly impressive. The resemblance to Kabe was uncanny! Fern felt that it must be thanks to the great owl's spirit that her own ship soared so gracefully through the sky and she dove towards her next foe, incapacitating the enemy's ship with a swift blast from her laser cannons.

Careful not to become over confident but surrounded by a sense of being one with her dragon craft Armina fought the small battle ships courageously, using her massive wings to dodge oncoming ships and pretending the laser cannons were actual bursts of fire sent forth from the dragon’s mouth. She grew more eager every time she watched one of those meddlesome ships turn into a fireball as they fell one by one out of the sky.

“We did it, the Poison Array has been destroyed,” shouted Turf as the mouth of the great dragon ship was left in disarray, “Great work everyone!” As he praised his team’s work, the Death Dragon moved its hind quarters, revealing its docking bay and unleashed another large group of smaller ships.

Fern knew that she couldn't allow herself to hold back and so she wasted no time in taking aim on one of the smaller ships. Maneuvering her ship closer, Fern lined up the crosshairs before unleashing a powerful blast onto the enemy, looking away from the scene as the ship was sent hurtling downwards.

She was suddenly shaken as one of the Unseelie opened fire on her ship and she quickly swerved out of its line of fire, calling for one of her comrades to assist her.

"Armina, behind you!" Ravensong shouted into the com as she tried to get close to the warrior's Dragon TIE-fighter, swerving suddenly when she heard Fern's call to rush to her aid, taking a swipe at the ship that was attacking with a swipe of a laser 'paw'. Smiling with an audible sigh of relief as the Unseelie ship spun away out of control.

Thankful once again for the love of her fellow Foggiest Notions, and for the warning she was given, the warrior swung the mighty tail of her ship first to the right and then to the left smashing both of the enemy ships to pieces.

Fighting off the smaller ships left the Foggiest Notions exhausted, Turf especially after using much of his energy to summon the great spirits to help his team. It was definitely worth it though, the spirits gave his team a great boost in morale. He thought of his companion sprite Frink and it warmed his soul to know he was fighting the Unseelie in a vessel that was him in spirit.

With the battle raging on around them, the comrades were then informed as to the next task, “It’s time to take out the Control System Center of the Death Dragon; this will knock out radar, computers, targeting systems and… life support,” Turf informed his friends. This left some of them feeling a bit at odds with their way of life, including Turf. Taking the lives of so many was not something they were accustomed to doing.

Turf could feel the tension among his comrades, so he said, “Don’t fret over the lives of the Unseelie, I know they are living creatures but they have no regard for anyone or anything especially life itself. They will stop at nothing to take what they believe to be their right. Just know that you are saving the lives of countless people as well as creatures and animals, know that you are doing what is just and good. Know that you are a Protector, we all are, and we will protect what is precious to us!”

Turf's words of encouragement filled Fern with renewed motivation. He was right, as protectors they must do what needs to be done. "Sister, when this is all over I hope that you'll share with us a song in celebration."

"When this is over luv, I'll sing as many songs as you'd like." she answered Fern as Ravensong took out two more of the enemy ships.

“I for one will not miss not one single Unseelie”, Armina said. Being a warrior from a war-torn land, death was a part of life so she was not as sensitive to the taking of lives as the others were.

Now it was time to finish this, “Let’s fly team,” shouted Turf as they took formation and flew off to take out the remaining smaller ships. They kept the smaller ships from targeting the Flamefly class ships, allowing them to take out the Control System. With this they

[spoiler=The final Battle for the Reavers] When Larianne jumped up, exclaiming that she saw a dust cloud and thought the companions might have returned, Ilaera quickly looked up in the sky to find a sign of her beloved friend. At first she saw nothing and already started to believe Larianne must have been wrong, when suddenly she saw a small dot in the sky. That was all the could make of it at the moment. As the dot moved closer and closer, she started to make out that it was really two somethings, not just the one it looked to be farther off. Eventually she could tell it was Faeri, and Potch flying beside her. Their wings flapping in tandem, both side by side as they flew.

Ilaera just stood there, unsure what to do next, until she realized she wanted to get the attention of the bird, so she whistled. In the air, she could see that Phaeri had heard her as the bird started to look for her. At the moment Phaeri spotted her friend below, she quickly flew down and landed on top of Ilaera’s shoulder.

“Welcome back sweetie” Ilaera said affectionately to her feathered friend, patting her between the wings on her back. The bird rubbed her head towards Ilaera’s cheek, letting her know that she was missed too. “I never want to go anywhere without you ever again” she told the bird.

Esme was pleased to see Nighteyes coming towards her in his usual gait. As soon as he got close she couldn’t help but pick him up, much to his disdain, but she didn’t care about that. As soon as she started rubbing him, he relaxed in her arms and enjoyed the attention. “Welcome back” she said to him. Hopefully it would be a long time before they would ever be apart again.

Venus heard all of the commotion of the companions coming back. She was so anxious to see her little buddy Bruce. She just wanted to dote and spoil him and make sure that he would be ok.

A few seconds later, which felt like an eternity to Venus, she spots her companion Bruce and runs to him. She picks him up, does a quick once over to make sure he is ok and places a million kisses on top of his little head.

“Oh my little Bruce. You were so brave, I can't wait to hear about your adventure.” Venus says to her eight legged best friend.

When everyone seemed to follow Larianne, Sashi stood up and with her eyes scanning she began to look for her Lorne. Trying to spot her faithful friend, she drops to her knees with her arms wide open. Her voice cracking a bit as she doesn’t see him. Suddenly the girl feels a cold wet nose on the back of her neck and she knows it is her companion coming back to her.

Spinning around and grabbing the fox in her arms the warrior pins him in a massive hug. Softly she speaks to him “I knew you would come back to me! I was worried but I knew we had to do our missions. I am so very glad you are back, I love you my friend!”.

Sashi hugs her fox tight as she stands back up holding him in her arms, placing a kiss on his nose before she loosens her grip. Lorne snuggles into her neck with his nose, making the girl let a small giggle escape.

Jettison had been leaning against a light post, smoking as he usually was, while at the same time fiddling with his pocket knife. It looked to be a switch blade, unlike his usual butterfly knife. The man was humming to himself, using the object to pick any dirt from his nails. It made him crazy to have it show so obviously that he hadnt had a chance to clean them recently.

When Phaeri left his side, Potch flew around for a moment to watch the others return to their owners. He could tell where Jettison was just due to the cloud of smoke wafting upwards, but didnt bother to go to him just yet. The little avian fellow wanted to play a little prank.

He made a quick maneuver to dart behind his owner, landing on a branch just above the mans head. Potch fluffed himself up, trying to be quiet as possible before saying "JETTISON!" loudly as he possibly could.

Not expecting his greeting from the raven to be so...cheeky, he had still been busy with the knife and his finger nails. So when the loud screech rattled in his ears he almost dropped the blade. Thankfully he caught himself before that could happen, and even though he knew that voice his reflexes kicked in. He spun around and held the sharp piece of metal up right where the sound had come from, ready to throw it right in to his pets throat.

Potch laughed his little birdy laugh and hopped around, the startled look on Jettisons face giving him immense pleasure.

Jetty snarled, pressing the little button on the handle which made the knife drop in to its handle before shoving it in his pocket. He crossed his arms and blew out a breath of smoke from his nose, eyes glaring upward still. "Ya must think yer' th' funniest thing alive dont ya?"

Not bothering to reply, as Jett already knew what his answer would be, Potch leapt from the tree. With ease he took his usual spot on the Brits mostly shaven scalp, twisting around a few times to find the perfect spot. Almost as if he were a dog.

"I wish th' goblin king would take ya away..." He said under his breath, deciding it best to go back to the group. They already were starting to regroup once done saying how much they missed their friends.

"RIGHT NOW" Potch chimed in, practically humming his words.

Rolling his eyes, Jett reached up and scratched right where the birds neck and back met, knowing it was his favorite spot. If only they werent so alike, he really would have an easier time just giving in and murdering the bastard.

While Ilaera was cuddling with Phaeri, she suddenly heard a unearthly sound. She was unable to place the sound at all, she had never heard anything like it. She looked aside to Phaeri and her other friends that had been greeting their companions too, to make sure that she wasn’t the only one that heard the strange noises. She saw how the others were listening too.

Ilaera looked around to see where the sounds came from, until Phaeri made a small noise and pointed her towards the air. Ilaera glanced towards the sky, only to see the greatest army she had ever laid The sight of it terrified her and left her standing in her spot, unable to move a muscle. The Unseelie army was bigger than she could have imagined it to be. She was unsure if they would be able to defeat them.

Esme heard a lot of commotion and saw how people started to run in all directions. Then she looked up to the sky and saw the Unseelie army coming closer. She understood why everyone was in panic. She started to look out for her friends among the crowd, wanting to know what the plan was.

All of a sudden Venus hears a god-awful sound. Looking over her shoulder she can’t see where it is coming from. Scanning the whole ground area, she made sure she wasnt hearing things. She notices everyone else is looking skyward. Turning her gaze upwards, she thinks her eyes are playing tricks on her. Up above is an Unseelie army. “I guess this adventure isn't over yet” she sighs.

Sashi spins around and lets the fox go as she hears a rumble or a scream, she is not sure which, it's like nothing she has ever heard before.

She starts to look around together with the others to see what is going on. A faint glimmer in the warriors eyes as she gets a glimpse of the Unseelie army that is coming forth to fight. Sashi lets out a bit of excitement knowing that there is serious battling coming up, her gaze passing over her teammates noticing they are a bit scared and worried.

The warrior calls out to her team with a steady confident voice "We got this, as we are working together as one this time. All of us as a single unit! We are gonna give these baddies a gigantic boot back to where they belong!"

Feeling a rumble below him, Jett stopped his movement. The booming sound above was actually making the ground vibrate. Just that was unsettling, let alone when he looked up and caught the army in his sights.

"Holy balls batman..." He said to himself, already feeling Potch hunker down a bit in his hair.

They sky, why did it always have to be the sky in this place. Storms, fights, now this freakish pile of evil? Why couldnt it ever be on the ground. He loved to be up in the clouds so much, and this took all the desire for it away. The creature huffed and buried his face in the ginger tufts on his friends head. Not even wanting to see what may come next.

Jett felt for him, it would be as if water covered every inch of land. He would have no more desire to reside there. Having the sky taken was likely a similar feeling for his friend. The native area you loved and felt comfort by, ripped from your grasp like a magician pulling a table cloth but leaving the dish wear.

He heard Sashi yelling that it would be ok, and even though he knew they could do it, he sure as hell wasnt excited like she seemed to be. All he could picture was the final fight scene in one of his favorite super hero movies. If robot alien hybrid looking whales came alone behind the unseelie, he was not going to be pleased.

The sight of the Unseelie army left Ilaera and her friends standing, unsure what to do next, but around them it was like chaos had started. Everyone ran around, ships were starting to head off, people were grabbing weapons. It was like every team around here had prepared for this battle a long time ago, while she and her friends were still hoping for the best. They seemed to be the only ones without a plan.

“I suppose we should have had a plan for this long ago” she sighed, looking at the sky where the army was getting closer every second.

Venus looked towards Ilaera and was wondering if she had any idea what to do, but by the look on her face it didn’t seem like she did. After she heard what Ilaera said, she was sure that the other girl didn’t have a plan.

“Well I guess we better get a plan, and fast!” Venus says to the group.

Still watching as panic set in for so many around them, a few groups were quick to get in their ships. It reminded him they did have to do something, standing around lead to nothing good for them or the other beings on this planet.

"Hold on ya' lil bugger." He said, darting through the crowd and to the newly revamped turtle ship.

Once he had the entrance opened, he smacked a button on the wall, which brought all the lights on. Hopefully the rest of his friends would notice with just that, but to be sure he yelled "GET IN!" not sure if they could hear him over the rest of the sounds.

Esme spotted her friends among the crowd, and heard Jett yell to get to the vessel. Seeing how the others in her group were headed to the ship she picked up Nighteyes and ran, trying to avoid bumping into everyone else.

Venus hears Jett yell at everyone to get to the turtle and runs to it fast as she can, the others close behind. “Let's get this bird up in the air” Venus yells, her friend Bruce clinging tightly to her arm as they darted through the mass of people.

Sashi was hoping that her friends heard her with all the commotion going on. It seemed to be flat out chaos as everyone started to grab up companions or yell for them at the same instant their feet started moving. Sashi yells out for Lorne to stay by her side no matter what! "We should head to our ship" the warrior says, in full agreement with Jett.

Finally inside, Esme walks over to the others, wondering what the plan of attack would be.

Ilaera heard Jett exclaiming they had to go to the ship too. She noticed how her friends started to run and before she realized it, she was the last standing there outside in this mess.

Quickly Sashi's fingers tap Lorne on the head as she takes off towards the ship, glancing around the large group of now scattered people, trying to spot all of her friends. From the ships entrance Sashi turns to look out at everyone scurrying around, her gaze hard as she stares out. Making sure all of her team is aboard the ship. The warrior spots Ilaera and yells to her "Hey Ranger snap out of it and come on! Phaeri wake her girl, there is danger out there!"

As Phaeri made a small noise, it was as if Ilaera woke up from her trance and she started to run towards their ship too, Phaeri flying right above her.

When she entered the ship, she noticed that Venus, Esme and Sashi were standing in the doorway to where the steering cabin was. When she heard how the engines of the ship started to work, she realized that Jett must be the one behind the steering wheel, which was good as he was the only one that was able to fly with the thing. She could hear them talk to each other, so she quickly walked towards them, to see what they were planning to do.

He knew time was of the essence, and wasnt sure just how long it took for this new setup to boot up and get them in the air. So he made his way in to the control room.

Sure he helped fix it up, but before Zeph was hurt she had done the brunt of the work. He wasnt as tech savvy as the girl. The huge three part control panel lit up like Christmas morning, lights flashing and words running across the control screen which hung on the window right in front of him. Every bit of the panel was iridescent, giving him a way to still see through the pieces of re-enforced glass, so he could tell where he was going.

It seemed like with what they had done to change the ship was working so far, though as much as he trusted the Vagabonds engineering skills paired with Venus' knowledge of vehicles, the man was still wary. Not wanting to over do it and kill the engine.

He looked back to make sure everyone was inside before take off, then pressed the manual door lock. It would take a minute or so to get full lift, or at least, thats what the screen said. So he took a second to figure out what to do. It may be best before writing out a big idea of how to hit the Unseelie, to get a closer look at just what they were up against. Who knew if they were even worse up close, or had other weaponry and ships hidden.

"I wana' get up ta' be near their forces before we decide what ta' do!" Jettison yelled, hoping all would hear him.

As he did, Potch peeked out from under the hair, finally feeling comfortable. Though the idea of flying right in to the hand of evil wasnt really a fun thought. Still, at least they were protected inside this new and improved turtle ship.

From out of the doorway Ilaera could hear Jett telling the others that he wanted to go up as quickly as they could, then off to the army to see what they would be up against. He wanted to wait with an actual plan, wanted to see the army first. Since the others agreed with him, Ilaera just nodded too, she hadn’t heard the whole thing, but enough to be able to have an opinion about his idea. It seemed wise to wait with a plan of action.

Venus heard bits and pieces of the what he and the others said, she was just more concerned about how they were going to defeat this huge army and what she could do to help.

Now that her team was all together on the ship the warrior listened to what Jett was saying with extreme intensity. Nodding in agreement on the plan of action and getting in the air quickly, she replied with a simple "Yeah I agree." knowing that if they got too focused on what they thought was best to do, they could miss the bigger picture.

She felt the engines make the ship vibrate a little bit as they started up and began to reach full speed.

[color=gold]Ilaera feels how the ship comes off the ground and it gets turned in the direction of the Unseelie army ahead of them. She looks out of one of the windows and sees a large ship coming towards them.

“That ship ain’t too scary” she says to Phaeri who is sitting on one of the beams close to her. “You’d best stay in though, as I don’t trust that cloud of smoke that’s surrounding i