Retaking Control

A Gratus heavy trooper.

The party gave chase to Sakiran down an alley, with Carl landing in front of her and telling her to halt and control herself. Having a flashback to Zairan, she regained her senses. She stood and looked at her still glowing arms, relieved that she was able to finally control the rage. Carl was dismissive and quickly told her to get on with the mission. She ran down the street and dashed towards the guards to try and draw fire, but they gunned down most of the crowd running towards them.

Jaxon used his spiritual sword to attack from afar and Flea persuaded a drunk to fight and ran behind cover. The gunners fired upon Carl and Sakiran and they hit her with their batons.

Sakiran cracked through the armour of a soldier as Jaxon brought his mace down in a devastating, electrifying arc on another, who barely survived. Carl fired upon the heavy gunner and Flea boiled him alive within his own armour. Sakiran knocked one down and killed him with the new, bloodless techniques she learned, and moved to the one next to him to stop him from hurting Flea.

Jaxon was still tied up with the other solider and the soldier fired at him, but his armour protected him. Jaxon crushed his head in with his mace, relishing the blood shed. Carl flew over and fired at the soldier that Sakiran moved towards, creating a fist sized indent in his armour. Flea used his shotgun, hitting directly into his chest. Sakiran finished him off with two thrusts of the fingers into his ribs and throat.

They finished combat and Carl screamed in rage at the Gratus as Sakiran's own rage and red pipes died down. They heard a woman screaming "that this wasn't meant to happen yet" and turned to look. Flea recognised it as the red haired woman he was meant to find. She was accompanied by a man in ragged armour, her escort. She slapped Jaxon and asked what he was thinking and he acknowledged that he deserved it. Carl pulled his pistol on her and tried to protect Jaxon, but the woman told him to calm down. Carl was trying to escalate and threaten her, but Flea immediately asked if she had a pint of Elvish bitter for him. She sighed, introduced herself as Nyra and told them to follow her.

She explains the airships from Bastion are coming soon and Sakiran questioned what Bastion was. She told her to ask Jaxon, who she knows would know. He pretended to not be nobility but it was extremely obvious to everyone because of the way he carried himself.

She asked Flea for his name and he says Flea, she said it's a terrible nickname. She explained they needed to get out now. He said they were going to grab weapons for people, and she told him to grab as many people as possible and get them out of the rear gate. Carl said that the party had an APC at the front, not the back. Nyra acknowledged his sudden lack of hostility sarcastically. Carl said he didn't care about anything but the mission, and the mission was now protecting people. He offers to grab the APC and drive it back and sneak back through the compound.

Nyra opened up a manhole and told Flea to watch those psychos as she climbed down. Carl left to grab the APC. Sakiran, Flea and Jaxon headed through the alleys. Sakiran noticed a woman who was cradling her son and went over to him. She asked if it was someone important. The woman snapped at her and explained it was her son. Sakiran kneels down, hands her a shiv and tells her to kill the man who did it. The woman questioned why, since she lost her husband too. Sakiran was taken aback and said she lost hers, too. The woman asked if she understood why she must do this, as she slashed her own throat. Sakiran reached towards her crying out, but she died cradling her son. Sakiran closed the woman's eyes and took the weapon back, saying a Tasari prayer. She ran back to catch up.

They passed many civilian corpses and a Gratus heavy trooper who had been stabbed multiple times, showing that the civilians were fighting back. They came to a crossroads: they could either leave the city by heading right or going left deeper into the city. Flea led them left and they reached the back gates quickly. They reached the Wylders barricade as Nyra shouted to them to help people to get into vehicles. Jaxon confirmed he can drive, so Nyra ordered him into one of the vehicles filled with at least 50 people to drive it.

Carl noticed the guard towers were still firing down, though he could probably have swooped down into the APC if he was quick. He noticed the guard towers have 4 heavy gunners on each, so Carl decided to get the attention of both of the towers. He killed a gunner in the air and was taking fire from both towers. They kept missing him. Carl missed his next shot and decided to drop into the guard tower. He brandished his short-sword and tries to swing at the first person he saw, cutting them. They were very slow witted and fell over themselves trying to retaliate. Carl stabbed into the soldier who fell over himself and killed him instantly. He raised his wings as he stood, looking at the other two. The other gunner fired at him. Carl threatens them in Celestial with "I am the Angel of Death" and fire came across from the other tower as they tried to eliminate Carl.

The rest of the party saw the airship descending upon the city as more people piled into the transports. Nyra cursed this and urged everyone to go immediately. Jaxon urges the others to get into his truck as airships bombarded their position. Flea jumped in immediately once Jaxon asked. Sakiran hesitated, needing her sword, until the shells hit. She then jumps in without the sword, her head in her hands.

Carl saw the explosions from afar but ignores them, swinging his short-sword at the soldiers trapped with him. He killed another. The guns destroyed the cover where he was and he was heavily fired upon. He gained a second wind and killed the last soldier he is with. With this, he dived out of the far side and dropped close to the wall to avoid any more fire. The civilians had all evacuated the city, so Carl did what he needed to do.

The rest of the party were with the convoy. Nyra commanded Jaxon to duck right into an underground tunnel and abandon the convoy. One truck was annihilated by a shell as another swerved into the tunnel.

Carl surveyed the situation and saw Gratus pulling out and leaving. The guard tower was focused on him and he saw civilians below but nowhere near him. Carl flew straight to the APC, shouting for people to follow him into the APC as he opened it up. He saw Lock was gone and had left him a book on sneaking treatise and a pistol. One of the guards fired upon on their vehicle and it left a few dents. There were six people within the APC and a few more running towards it. The gunship was opening up and dropping something huge. There were hundreds of people running away but he knew he couldn't save them all. Carl closed the door and full throttled out, heading towards the Titan village.

The rest of the party were underground and underneath a stone spire. Nyra commanded Jaxon to stop. They saw from underground a huge converging purple ball of energy above the town, obliterating everyone it touched. The structure of the town was untouched. Carl floored it in the opposite direction. The vehicle was damaged by his reckless driving, but he did get away from the wave of purple lightning. The lightning started to dissipate.

The airship was taking a holding position over the town. Nyra was shocked and shaken as Sakiran asked what it was. She says it was old tech and the Gratus must be able to produce it now. She said she had heard stories about it, how it killed everyone it touched. Nyra excused herself and told Jaxon to get the people to safety. She told them to meet her in Bastion, since they are loose with security in the slums. She warned the party not to go to the upper levels and to meet her in the canal port at the bar with the pig sign. She told them to stay there for about an hour. The party are left with a lot of scared civilians.

Sakiran asked if anyone saw Carl make it out, and they shook their head. She remembered that he made a big fuss over taking slaves back to the Titan village, and they need to get their own "metal beast" back.

Carl commanded the six civilians he had to not speak of the purge at the village. He invited them to eat their rations, saying they'll need their strength. He said to the humans that Gratus did not discriminate against their own and Gratus will not protect them. Carl arrived at the Titan village first and found Gratus vehicles parked up, but with no signs of combat. He turned off the lights and engines and tried to hide it behind an outcropping. He noted that the safe place had been compromised by Gratus. He told the "refugees" that they can get out or stay and be quiet while he investigates. One tried to get out but the engine was off so the back door wouldn't open. Carl told him to stay calm and think smart. Carl was able to sneak out the top successfully and the people stayed within. Carl crawled prone and surveyed the Titan.

The rest of the party were driving up and they saw Gratus vehicles too. They were parked up but no signs of combat, still. The party were able to find the chrome paint of their APC and the smiley face painted on it glinting. They got out of their vehicle, leaving the civilians behind for a short time. When they got there, someone was playing with Finisher and she snatched it away, angrily telling them not to touch it. The elf was afraid of her and she regretted her outburst. Flea cast sleep and the four humans were put to sleep. The two elves were terrified of this intrusion. Flea placed the human's sleeping bodies on top of the APC for touching his things. Jaxon asked the elves who brought them. They said a scary orc brought them. Sakiran asked if he had wings. They said they didn't know and he just shouted at them. They agreed it sounded like Carl.

Carl saw the Gratus bartering with locals and looking normal. Carl turned and saw himself again as a projection. He addressed the part of him that was Carl, and had him promise that he will look after these people. The regular Carl agreed. Carl feels the shattering outward as his regular self returns to his body. He looked down at his hand and had written on it: pretend to be slaves. However, he couldn't read it, so he got back into the APC.

He dropped in and said they have a lot of friends now and waved at them. The elves wave back nervously. He handed the keys to Jaxon and asked him to turn on the lights, though Carl cast Light anyway and asked if anyone knows how to read. He waved his hand at Jaxon and he read it. Carl said that the evil voice is very good at tactics but says he's tired, and his bruises and cuts were beginning to show on his body.

He noticed Sakiran looking sullen and hugged her. She let him, saying she was glad he was back. Carl saw Flea pushing the humans out of the APC and Carl said they are friends and told him to stop it. He asked if the elves are hurt and they just say they are confused. Sakiran says he was dropped on his head as a small one and that was the only explanation they could offer.

Flea expressed his disdain for Carl's "return" and made his own way over to survey the Titan.