ATWinPC-9

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==Chapter 9 - A Toreel Wizard in Prince Davion's Court==
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===Repulsing the Raiders===
October 14th, 3025
The bandit leader led his mechs out of the dropship and onto the field, sweeping the horizon around him. No resistance so far. If the bulls decided to put up a fight, it'd be closer to the city. Citizen militia guys. Annoyingly tenacious at times, but they'd break when the infernos went off just like everybody else.
Still, it was better to keep the rest of the boys in the ship for now, until he and his mechs had made sure nobody would take any potshots at them.
The lance fanned out, his own Wolverine occupying the center, flanked by a Wasp and a Stinger. The fourth man, in a Locust, ranged out a bit further on their left. Nothing they planned, he was just eager for some action.
"Boss," the Stinger pilot called out. "Directly ahead of you, about ninety meters."
The bandit leader turned his attention to the area indicated. "Where did they come from?"
Three people stood in the middle of a flat, barren patch of ground, no cover around for them to have been hiding in. There was an older man, a woman in what looked like old fashioned plate armor, and a little girl, and it was the little girl that was stepping forward.
When she spoke, her voice boomed like a loud speaker. Probably was one hidden her person.
"Stop now," she ordered. "Return to your ship and leave this world, and none of you will have to die today."
"Get a load of mighty mouse here," the Wasp pilot said over the comms derisively.
"Those ears, though." the Stinger pilot threw in. "Kinda diggit. Exotics like her and the armor chick might go for extra on the market."
The leader thought about it for a moment. "The woman yes, the kid's too young. We're not savages." He toggled his medium laser and lined up the reticle on the child standing before them with absolutely no fear. Better to make an example of her anyway.
As his finger tightened on the trigger, the woman in armor rushed forward and bodily threw the child out of the way, taking the shot herself, her body flung back by the force of the blast.
"What a waste," he said as he saw the girl get back up. Even from ninety meters away, he could feel her death glare as he lined the reticle up again and waited for the laser to recharge.
"Very well," the girl said, followed by something brief and unintelligible. And just for a moment, she seemed to... flicker.
But then his world filled with light, and it wasn't his problem anymore.
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===Fighting Iron Giants===
Even as the largest of the enemy war machines fell, Chim was more than a little worried. The opening move had smashed the glass canopy around where the pilot sat, but it hadn't done nearly as much damage to the rest of it as she would have hoped. 
Still, it toppled. It took five of her most powerful spells, but she did it. She got... one of them. And she couldn't do that again...
The other three, though, seemed to be panicked, turning and scanning the area around them, as though they had no idea what had happened or where the attack had come from.
Well of course, she realized. They've probably never fought anything like us before.
She spared a glance for Celia, seeing her shake off the ruined remains of her summoned armor and concentrating on healing herself. Good for her. That blast the machine fired had been terrifying. The more they could keep the enemy off balance, the more likely they'd all survive this.
To that end, she saw L'heo rushing towards the enemies, leaping into the air while simultaneously shedding his human form. The machine he charged stumbled and toppled under the impact of an honest to Gods dragon crashing into it, clawing and biting at its metal skin while it wildly flailed and fired its weapons, trying to drive him off.
Another enemy was moving to assist, raising its gunlike arm, looking for a clear shot. 
Chim smiled, said "no", and started casting again.
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===Taking up Arms===
The Locust pilot wasn't sure what to do.
First these clowns just... appeared in front of them, shouting for them to stop. 
Then somehow the leader's mech went down to a... what? Precision airstrike from a fighter they didn't see or hear? Some sort of long gun with pinpoint accuracy? No idea!
Then... what? Some kinda creature out of a fairy tale book just rammed the Stinger and was chewing on it?
He was a bit further from the others, but he was still close enough to do something... The Wasp was closer, though, trying to get a bead on this... no... I'm not calling it a dragon.
Suddenly, the Wasp launched into the air, not on jump jets, but as though it had stepped on a gigantic cartoon spring, hurtling to a height of about thirty meters before crashing back to the ground. 
The Locust pilot paused, too gobsmacked to know what to do.
Then the leader's Wolverine started moving again, pulling itself back to a standing position despite its head being a blackened wreck.
And the Locust pilot suddenly knew what to do, as he swung his mech around back towards the dropship.
F*****. That.
He was still trying to figure out what he'd tell the ship's crew, if this left him in charge, if he even wanted to be in charge, or a pirate, like, ever again, when he felt some sort of weight just seeming to land on his shoulder.
"Hey," a voice said quietly. Either the bulk of his neurohelmet or his own terror kept him from looking over, but he could feel paws on his shoulder, claws pushing through the fabric of his cooling vest to dig in to the flesh beneath. 
The thing curled around him, until he had no choice but to look into that black feline face, those unnaturally violet feline eyes.
"You ever read 'The Cats of Vaslen?'" the cat asked.
The pilot screamed.
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===Claws and Fleeing in Terror===
The war machine managed to throw L'heo off of him, and L'heo used the momentum to lift back into the air and gain a small bit of distance. Biting and clawing wasn't doing much more than scratching it. He needed to hit it harder.
So he unleashed his breath on the machine, bathing it with the worst arctic cold.
A beam of searing light flashed out from the machine in response, spearing him in the body, and causing him to unleash an involuntary roar of pain. The machine didn't look the worse for wear from his own breath attack, and followed up by unleashing a hail of projectiles from the barrels under his arms. Barely annoyances compared to what that beam had done.
A fireball exploded against the back of the machine, only slightly staggering it. That would be Chim, who'd taken to the air and was now zipping around the enemy, having set her new construct on the other close opponent. 
Still, it was just a little bit of a distraction, and L'heo took the chance, extending one clawed hand to send a lance of green energy into his tormentor. 
The result was... fantastic. A section of the machine's arm simply vaporized to dust, the rest falling away to land on the ground. The enemy seemed just as surprised as he was, and suddenly launched into the air on gouts of flame, back in the direction of his ship. 
"Let him go," he heard Chim magically say in his ear. "Is that all of them?"
L'heo scanned the area around them. The machine Chim had animated was dragging its opponent back to them by its leg. The one they'd driven off had landed and was now running for its ship. And the last one... was just sitting out there. Unmoving. In the distance L'heo could make out a man walking away from it and towards them, his hands raised and a small black shape hovering around him.
"Yeah," he said. "I think that's all of them."
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==Chapter Notes==
*Author's Chapter Notes : The spells used in the battleChim's "opening move": time stop and 4 delayed blast fireballs aimed at the Wolverine.Then, reverse gravity on the Wasp, and animate object on the dead Wolverine.Also maximized fireball on the Stinger that was fighting L'heo (she carries a rod of maximized magic for such contingencies).And L'heo used Disintegrate to finally drive off the Stinger.I'm working from the rules and guidelines found in Welcome to the Nebula California. Under those rules, most direct damage dealing attacks and spells inflict relatively light damage to Battlemechs. In L'heo's case, only his bite attack can consistently inflict damage, his claws are dependent on him rolling high enough. His breath weapon, being cold damage, doesn't affect the mech at all aside from cooling it off.On the other hand, all three of them can tank at least two medium lasers hits stark naked, and outside the box thinking in their spell use can be very profitable.
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