Invasion From Within: Ramoth

[Terrestrial]

Calibration 1,


*Morning Glory was in her home when the attack had launched, sleeping in her comfortable bed tucked into the wall of her tree home. The plants outside seemed to radiate distress, and the ground vibrated a little. She'd yet to experience an earthquake in this empire, so it might have been normal, but she figured it couldn't hurt to check it out. Climbing out of her bed and tossing purple locks over her shoulder, she changed into day clothes quickly and went out to see the early morning sky hazed over. That wasn't a good sign... A quick check told her that her more intelligent plants were on the alert; something or someone was coming*

Alright guys, this will be a test of our hard work. I'm going to need you guys to guard the yard, and I will get up into the balcony and help from there


*a short time later Morning Glory was up in the top level of her home with a large basket of freshly harvested fruits, nuts, and other harvestables. The ground in front of her home and surrounding her vast gardens were littered with the food types she had with her. At the sounds of something rumbling, the thorny hedges and rows of roses that fenced off her home tightened, and a few large pitcher plants and venus fly traps turned towards the direction of the noises*



*From around the corner rode Wisteria on what looked to be a motorcycle in the shape of a giant wasp with two wheels where its legs should be. Her hair was hanging loose over a long jacket, the myriad of colors a pale rainbow in the predawn light. It looked like she had just jumped into the first thing she could find, with pants coming out from under what looked like the silk of a nightgown. She waved a hand in the air as she saw Morning Glory's odd woven plant house*

Morning Glory, it's Wisteria! Can we come in?


*seeing the familiar face, she waved back to the fellow Wood Dragon*

Yes, of course, Wisteria. Is that Queen? She looks different than I remember...

*with a wave to her plants, the plants shrunk back and parted to let Wisteria through, closing back into a solid wall as soon as she was through*

Be careful of the fruit on the ground


This is Queen, yes, and she looks like this sometimes. It's a much faster mode of travel than by foot, and besides, I think she likes the wind in her wings

*noting the scattered nuts and fruits throughout the area, she carefully navigated Queen up to the house*

I bring news! Some sort of dark, shadowy creatures are invading Imperveress. I don't know what their plan is, but it doesn't bode well for us, so we need to stop it somehow. I tried to get Valerian for help, but he was already off somewhere, so I came to you. It looks like everyone else is joining the fight, but I know you live way out here, so I thought you might need some help. Those creatures aren't too far behind, so we better prepare

I see, well, thank you for coming to tell me, but I'm not leaving my plants or my house. We have loads of Exalts running through this empire, and when the aftermath hits, they'll probably need some medical aid. I can't offer supplies if those beasties you mentioned come trampling through here. If they pass through, we can head out on Queen afterward and tend to the wounded, sound good? In the meantime, I have a bunch of ammo up here if you want to help take down some of them


Thank you, Morning Glory, but Queen and I can handle ourselves. I'll stay with you until this bowls over, then we can head out. Do you mind if I set up here? We'd better hurry, I think I hear them coming

*Wisteria gestured to a wide expanse of open grass up against the house as she dismounted Queen. At Morning Glory's nod, Wisteria patted Queen, who then emitted a soft whirring sound as she sucked in her wheels and pieces of her began to jut, rearrange, and shift until she was no longer a motorcycle. In the open place on the ground sat what looked to be a very ornate lightning ballista. Wisteria took her place at the controls and smiled*

Good job, Queen, nice and fast. Are you ready, guys?

*Queen's controls lit up and a buzzing sound came from her, which Wisteria seemed to take as an affirmative*



*as Queen settled into her new shape, Morning Glory realized that her mouth was hanging open and closed it. Who'd've thought?*

Uh, yeah, ready. Here, just in case you need some spare ammunition

*as she passed down a basket of fruit, she could see a faint shadow on coming close, revealing what must be the invaders that Wisteria mentioned. Armed and ready, they faced the horde*

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* Honored Brother nodded as he looked out at the city he had sworn to protect. As he breathed, his anima contracted, then exploded outward in a roaring conflagration*

"You are correct, we should split up into two groups... Qata, Mabija and I should fan out in the direction of Kideshen and Saia and Ming Lee should go to the direction of Bezair, when we hit the outskirts, we should meet up and head to The Imperial City"

* Ming Lee nodded, looking between the crew, then lunged forward at Mabija, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips hotly to his.*

*Honored Brother looked taken aback by the show of affection, then composed himself and returned to the task at hand*

" Well yes.. if there is nothing else, lets go!"

* Ming Lee pulled away from Mabija, then pressed her forehead to his*

" I will see you soon... don't you dare die on me!"

[Terrestrial]

Calibration 1,


*as Ming-Lee leaped upon him, Mabija returned the kiss with a fervor, his hands finding her face and holding her close. With their foreheads touching, he grinned at her words before quickly darting his nose to touch hers before they parted*

You are the flame of my soul, nothing could keep me from you. Go on, I have faith that we'll be reunited soon

*as they let each other go, he wore a look of pride on his face, confident that his woman was entirely capable of handling herself*


*Qata smiled a little at the two, glad to see some true affection among the Dragon Blooded here. It made a twang in her chest, one that she soundly ignored, and she let out a breath, her own anima currently subdued until she needed to bring it roaring to life. She took a moment to stretch while they said goodbyes, looking at Honored Brother while she thought about their charges. A prayer to Hesiesh went up from her that they would have to strength to come out on top of whatever mess they were surely in*

[Saia]

Calibration 1,


*Saia chuckled at the two flamebirds, ready to go. As they parted, she nodded at Ming Lee and picked up her weapons*

Are you ready to go? The faster we kill all of these bastards, the faster we can get back to our loved ones

*or, at least, they could get back to their loved ones. Too bad she didn't have any, unless you counted... well, that wasn't so much love, so she guessed not. Maybe it was time to get a lover or two after this. It would be really nice to wake up next to someone after a week-long battle like this was gearing up to be*

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* Ming-Li brought her weapon to the ready, nodding to Saia to let her know she was ready*

" Lets go! There are trespassers who are in deadly need for an eviction."

* Ming Li's power armor glinted with an inner flame as she ran off in the direction that she had been instructed in, taking great care in eradicating all dark brood and demons she should come into contact with*

* Following suit, Honored Brother turned and ran off in the opposite direction, sending flames in every direction which was cool to the touch for friendlies, but burnt darkness to cinders*

[Terrestrial]

Calibration 1,


*Mabija took off with Honored Brother and Qata, his twin blades aflame and hungry for enemies. The faster he could remove their lives from this plane, the better, and a fiery whirlwind went up around him as he turned all who came at him into ash*


*Qata followed quietly behind Honored Brother, her anima bursting to life in a brilliant blue that flickered slightly, a shade matching the color of her hair. Blasts of fire left her and streamed towards her enemies, leaving charred corpses in her wake*

[Saia]

Calibration 1,

Let the massacre begin!

*Saia ran off with Ming Lee, her giant orichalcum weaponry glinting as she swung them around, enemies being sliced into pieces and others flying through the air as a broken mess*

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* after a few short hours of seek and destroy, the two teams met with one another at the median point. Many hundreds of Haltans and Lookshyans grouped around them, picked up on the cleansing tour they did through the city.*

*Honored Brother set his short daiklaives in his sash, His anima banner was now gone, only glowing red of his skin indicated he had been in any sort of combat at all*

" Well that seems to be it! we have cleared out the city, it is now time to move to the next!"

* an old decrepit woman hobbled over near the group. She was old and hideous, garbed in torn and soiled southern noble's attire. She grinned a green and toothy grin, cackling softly as she looked to them*

" Do you think you can really stop this? This empire fell once, what makes you think you can save it this time?"

* Ming-Li had no idea what to do in this situation. She wanted to punch the woman, but could not bring herself to do it to someone so old*

" This.... is Exalt business, grandma! We stopped the swarm in this part of the empire... what makes YOU think we can't do it everywhere?"

[Terrestrial]

Calibration 1,

*Mabija sighed a happy sigh when they were done. This might only be one of the cities here, but it felt good to have one solidly cleared out. As the crazy old lady came up to them with her doom and gloom he frowned, figuring she was just a nut. At Ming Lee's reaction, he sputtered a little and tried not to stare at her. He patted her arm, leaning in to whisper in her ear*

Ming Lee, I believe she is touched in the head, pay her no mind



*Qata stepped in between Ming Lee and the old woman. Something seemed off about this bedraggled creature, but she wasn't sure what yet*

Old One, you should keep faith. There are many of us protecting the empire today, and this is a very different threat from long ago. We will see victory and Imperveress will continue on to have many Calibration seasons in its history books

[Saia]

Calibration 1,


*Saia watched the exchange, letting out a laugh at Ming Lee's outburst. While Qata tried to smooth things over, she studied the decrepit old woman for any sudden moves or other suspicious signs. She was far too happy to try and tear the group down. Perhaps she was a demon in disguise. With that thought, she nudged Honored Brother and leaned in to whisper in his ear*

"Hey, could that be a demon in disguise?"

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* Honored brother looked on at the old woman, taking in her features and cross referencing them with all the demons he knew of. He shook his head slowly, just before his eyes became wide with fear and both his hands came up below his chin, then brought them forward. As he did, he belched forth huge gouts of white hot flame which consumed the old woman.

The form of the old woman melted away, now replaced by a huge, evil dragon, dripping with green and black venom*

" So you saw through me? Well then, come and welcome your demise, fire-dragon!"

* Honored Brother doubled back as he saw his attack did nothing to the monster*

" This is Iyutha, The Vitriolic Dragon! She is a monster who hates love and loves war!"

* The skies darkened as the wings of many smaller venom dragons teamed around their progenitor*

[Saia]

Calibration 1,


*swinging her arms a couple of times to warm them up, Saia grinned at the dragon and readied her giant orichalcum weapons*

Not every day I get to destroy a dragon, I don't plan on letting this one get away. Ready to die, ya crazy beast?