Exploits of the Legion of Everblight

eAby vs pStryker: Battle of the colossals.

Abyslonia stood by the edge of a huge spawning vessel, stretching her new wings to their full length, admiring her new claws and spiked tail. She wondered if the visions she saw of Lylyth's time with the archangels would live up to seeing one right before her. A sudden increase in churning of the vessel pulled her attention back to the present.

"It shouldn't be long now." The lead acolyte said to Abyslonia.

Abyslonia nodded and took flight, ready to meet the gargantuan spawn about to be birthed. As the churning continued to intensify, a swell started to form in the ichor. Then all at once, the great beast burst forth from the vessel, spraying ichor everywhere as it spread its wings and took to the sky. Abyslonia had only a couple seconds to react to the great beast as it came racing up towards her. Tucking one wing, she quickly dove to the side to avoid being slammed by the beast. Once cleared of its ascent, she raced up to meet the new spawn who was now circling the vessel, hungry for its first meal. She cautiously approached the archangel, the buffeting of its wings nearly sending her reeling once or twice. Finally she got close enough to lay a hand on the archangel, binding it to her will. Now under her command, she directed the beast to the nearby feeding cages. With the archangel busy feeding, Abyslonia returned to the vessel and was met again by the head acolyte.

"We have just enough fodder to feed the new archangel, but not enough to support it for long." said the acolyte, "We will need more if we hope to spawn another."

Abyslonia nodded and took flight, heading towards the main sections of the encampment. Flying over the camp, she finally found Anysaa Ryvaal and her Raptors near the northern edge of camp. Abyslonia landed next to Anyssa, spooking two of the ulk nearby causing them to throw their riders and run off towards their makeshift stables.

"My apologies," Anyssa stated as she turned her attention to Abyslonia, "Most of us are still getting accustomed to your new . . form." Abyslonia dismissed her apology, there was work to do.

"The feeding cages are getting low. I need you and your Raptors to accompany me to scout out a new source." Abyslonia said.

"They will follow your commands and will be ready when you beckon.” Anyssa replied. “There is a human village not far north east of here, near a great river. It should provide us with a bountiful harvest."

"Ensure your ulks don't scatter away during the battle, we will be accompanied by an archangel." Abyslonia hissed. Anyssa nodded grimly and went back to reprimand the riders whose ulk had thrown them.

Heading back into the encampment, Abyslonia made her way to the beast cages. Their current camp had recently been the staging grounds for many of the other warlock's missions so her choices of beasts were limited. There were two carniveans in the large paddock, several raeks bounding around in another, a handful of shredders that were being trained by beast mistresses and a naga curled up under a fallen log asleep. She summoned a carnivean, raek and the naga to accompany her as well as one of the shepherds tending the paddocks. She headed back to where the archangel had just finished feeding and was grooming itself, cleaning off the last little bits of ichor stuck to its body. Abyslonia took a moment to gaze at the magnificent beast under her command. Even the massive bulk of the carnivean seemed minuscule in comparison to the archangel. Absylonia felt a growing eagerness to see the archangel in battle. She had seen the battle between Charsaug and the archangels though Lylyth's eyes, but she yearned to see what one could actually do, herself.

With her beasts gathered, she heard the sound of hooves approaching. It was Anyssa and a full unit of her Raptors approaching.

"We are ready whenever you are." Annyssa said, bowing her head to Absylonia.

"You and your Raptors will be the vanguard of the attack. Draw any defenders to the center of town so that the archangel can finish them off. Keeping the archangel alive is the top priority.” And with that command, Abyslonia took to the air followed by the archangel. Her carnivean, raek and naga did their best to keep up with the swift Raptors as they made their way through the thick brush of the Thornwood.

Meanwhile, Commander Coleman Stryker was waiting patiently for his barge to dock at a small Cygnarian port. It was a dark, moonless night in the Cygnarian shipping town. The barge carried Commander Coleman Stryker, Lt Alison Jakes, and Jr. Warcaster Elis. Also accompanying the Warcasters was Stryker's favorite jack Ole' Rowdy, a Charger under the command of Jakes, a Hunter, Lancer, and their prized possession a mighty Stormwall colossal jack. Commander Stryker had just left the dock master and headed into town to meet with the quarter master when he heard the screams.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!" a local town guard screamed as he ran towards Stryker. He only made a couple strides before he was struck down by an arrow. Ducking behind cover, Stryker reached out to the dormant cortexes of his jacks, spurring them quickly to life with some extra effort. Surveying the battlefield he was able to find their attackers; swift, nimble humanoids riding large ulks. He turned back around and was greeted by Jakes, Elise and his jacks. The Stormwall was lumbering up behind them with a trio of gun mages following in its wake.

“Elise, get this town evacuated! Move as many people onto the barge as you can and be ready for immediate departure!” Stryker ordered over the noise of the battle. The Jr. Warcaster nodded and ran back to the barge, relaying Stryker’s orders and started to evacuate the town.

"Jakes, it is you and me from here out." Stryker gave the Jr Warcaster a smirk "We have to keep them busy till we can get as many people out of the town as possible. You take right flank and keep an eye out for their cavalry. I'll take the main force and the gunmages and keep their attention towards the center!"

Jakes nodded, and moved to take her position on the right side of the town. She and her Charger started their advance. They ducked between houses, taking shots at the swift riders when they had them. They scored several hits and knocked the riders off their mounts. Once the pair neared the southern edge of the town they saw the main force of the invaders attacking the town. A large beast with paws almost as big as Rowdy's hammer charged out of the woods, belching fire that engulfed a line of defenders with pikes. They screamed briefly before being reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. A flash of movement behind the large creature caught the Jr Warcaster's eye. Lending her power to her Charger, she commanded it to take an aimed shot at the smaller creature. The Charger took aim and let loose a volley of shots. The first shot hit and slowed the creature enough for Jakes to get a good look at it. It was much smaller than the first creature, about the size of a large war dog but had a longer tail that ended in a vicious spike. The Charger's second shot missed and the creature darted away, vanishing once again into the night. Seeing that she was outmatched against the larger creature, she and her Charger made a quick retreat back to Commander Stryker to inform him of what she saw.

Making her way back to the center of the town, Jakes realized how grim their situation really was. The Stormwall and Hunter were effectively taking out the cavalry, but the main threat was coming from the sky. A gigantic form, easily as large as the Stormwall, was swooping in and out of the town. Each time it came close to the town it would unleash a hail of fireballs, destroying houses and setting many of the town’s defenders aflame. She had just arrived at Stryker's position as the great beast swooped down again, rendering two of the three gunmages to ash. Styker was ordering the Stormwall and Hunter to take shots as the great beast passed. Each shot that landed would make a visible wound on the beast, and it would fly away only to return looking as if it had never been shot.

"HIT THE DIRT!!" Stryker shouted at Jakes. She had just enough time to drop to the ground before a winged form swooped over her, a spiked tail connecting with her power field causing it to spark and briefly diminish. The form continued past her and landed near the center of the town, the flames behind it giving light to the abomination. The creature looked female, but was significantly taller than a human female; she had large leathery wings sticking out of her back, wicked looking claws on her arms, and a spiked tail that seemed to drain energy from anything it touched. Runes glowed around the creature, and spread to the beasts that were coming up beside her, causing their wounds to seemingly close on their own.

"She's a Warlock! Get everybody to the barge NOW!" Stryker shouted to Jakes as he directed his Stormwall to open fire on the Warlock. The Stormwall opened fire with its chain guns, sending dozens of shots towards the enemy line. The Warlock was nimble for her size and was able to evade most of the shots and the ones that connected didn't seem to faze her at all. Once the Stormwall leveled its big guns at the Warlock she vanished in a flash of light.

"Damn it! Where did she go?!" Stryker shouted.

"Up there!" Jakes said, pointing to the Warlock who had appeared on the roof of a nearby house.

The Warlock pointed towards the Stormwall and let out a piercing cry. The sound of muscle and sinew stretching and growing filled the air as the beasts before them seemed to grow right before their eyes. Muscles bulged underneath their skin, stretching it taut. Their claws grew longer, and horrid wings sprouted from their backs.

"Jakes get back to the barge, NOW!" Stryker commanded as he directed the Stormwall to turn to assail the Warlock. Jakes hurried back to the barge with her Charger in tow. Once there, she turned to see if she could help at all. From her vantage point she could see as the colossal machine turned its guns towards the Warlock. She briefly glanced upwards and saw a terrifying sight; the large winged beast was diving straight for the Stormwall! She barely had enough time to shout out a warning to Stryker before the massive beast collided with the Stormwall, all four claws digging deeply into the machine and toppling it over. Hearing Jakes' warning, Stryker jumped out of the way before he was crushed beneath the tumbling mass of metal and flesh. The archangel tore into the prone Stormwall, rending armored plates and tearing the chain guns out of their emplacements. The archangel finally got a grip on the Stormwall's head and in a sickening sound of sheering metal, tore it off. Returning to his feet, Stryker commanded Rowdy and the Hunter to return to the barge at once.

The town had been lost. In their desperate attempt to get back to the barge, Stryker noticed the large warbeast break out in a charge towards him. Rowdy stepped in front to intercept the beast barreling down on his master. The warbeast slammed into Rowdy, sending him sailing backwards into Stryker, knocking them both backwards with tremendous force. The warbeast was able to take one swing at Stryker with an oversized claw. Stryker brought Quicksilver up in time to block, his power field absorbing most of the impact, but it still sent him skidding backwards. Rowdy again, stepped in to protect his master, this time joined by his Lancer. But the pair were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the beast. Stryker, struggling to stay standing, noticed the smaller dog-like warbeast start running and take a bounding leap. With the aid of its new wings, the beast soared right over Rowdy and landed just in front of Stryker still in step to ram its armor plated head directly into Stryker; the force of the impact slammed him back several yards. His vison blurred and the sounds of metal clanging and beasts roaring echoed in his ears before everything faded to black.

Stryker awoke several hours later. He was on the barge sailing down river. Bruised and bandaged, but alive. He had lost his Hunter and Lancer covering his rescue, Rowdy was badly damaged and his trio of gunmages were gone. He slowly sat up in his makeshift bed and accepted the cup of warm soup that Jakes offered him. They had lost the town, but he promised to return and send those demons to their graves personally.

Lylyth3 vs pGoreshade

The wind whistled in Lylyth's ears as her ulk-drawn war sleigh soared through the night. With the aid of her Nephilim Bolt Thrower, she was able to augment her ulk, allowing them to fly above the tree tops. Racing across the canopy she searched for her quarry. The report from her scouts indicated a small Cryxian force was accompanying a Lich Lord in the North Eastern corner of the Thornwood. The possibility of singling out a Cryx Lich Lord was too great of an opportunity to pass up. Lylyth was dispatched with a small, elite force to hunt down and kill the Lich Lord.

Not far in the distance she noticed the distinct plume of necrotite smoke. Lylyth flew low to the treetops, her Angelius, Seraph and Bolt Thrower followed closely behind her. Using her Blighted Vision she was able to locate her ground forces quickly. A full company of striders, accompanied by an officer and musician, were nimbly making their way through the dense brush. A single DeathStalker was keeping pace off to the striders’ right. A pair of shepherds were trying their best to keep up with the swift rangers.

Locating the Strider Officer she called out to him. I've spotted our prey; they are only a short distance ahead of us. I saw a clearing that they will have to pass through if their course remains the same. I'll draw his attention, and then you attack from the sides!” Lylyth gave the Officer the location of the clearing and with a nod he turned to relay the new order to his unit. As one, they shifted their path and broke out into a sprint, navigating the dense brush with inhuman speed thanks to the blighted blessing bestowed upon them. The two shepherds pushed themselves harder to keep pace, to little avail.

Goreshade was making good time through the dense Thornwood. He spent many years here studying the Iosian defenses, searching for any gaps in which he might sneak in a small army. His current expedition was taking him to one of the northern edges of Ios. He only brought a small force with him to lessen the risk of accidentally betraying his position. He had two Stalker bone jacks scouting ahead of his force. Following swiftly behind them were a full unit of Bane Thralls accompanied by an Officer and Standard Bearer as well as the Bane Lord, Tartarus. He only brought one hell jack with him; a Harrower, whose ghostly gun was great for shooting the Circle druids hiding behind trees. His trek had been a long and arduous one; on several occasions he had to re-route his forces to avoid the Circle of Oroboros as they hunted the legions of Everblight who were starting to be seen in the Thornwood.

As Goreshade's group made their way through the thick underbrush, the forest suddenly gave way to a small clearing with several fallen pillars scattered throughout it. Goreshade commanded one of his Stalkers to approach the pillars. Inspecting the runes through its eyes, they appeared to be Circle sacred stones, similar to ones that he encountered earlier in his trip. Wary of the possibility that this could be a trap laid by the Circle druids, he cautiously ordered his army forward into the clearing, ensuring they all keep a vigil eye on their surroundings. He sent his Stalkers around the outer edges of the clearing while his army made a swift march through the center. His army was so concerned with a trap springing from the ground that they barely had time to react as Lylylth dove down from the sky on her war sleigh, followed closely by her Bolt thrower, Angelius and Seraph. She landed on the far side of the clearing and turned to face the Lich Lord.

"I will bring your head back as a trophy for Everblight!" Lylylth yelled as her ulk reared up and her beasts let out a roar. The group then broke into a full charge directly at the enemy Warcaster.

Goreshade barely had time to think before the large beasts were nearly upon them. The beasts seemed to move with an unnatural speed. The Seraph, Angelius and Lylyth all took shots at the line of Bane Thralls; the darkness that surrounded them offered no protection from the Blighted Vision of the group. The Bolt Thrower flew to the nearest pillar, perched there and unleashed a bolt from its ballista at the nearest Stalker. The bolt penetrated deep into the light armor of the Stalker, breaking its connection to Goreshade. The Seraph rushed towards the enemy lines, raining fire on the Banes approaching them, reducing two to ashes and knocking two more down. The second stalker turned to engage the Seraph, building up speed for a charge as it approached. Just before the bone jack could reach the Seraph, the Anglius took a steep dive and drove its spiked tail directly through the small machine. The small bone-jack spewed a stream of ichor from the wound that nearly cut it in half and slumped to the ground, ceasing to function.

With his bone jacks disabled, Goreshade commanded his Banes forward to engage, he also cloaked his battlegroup in darkness as they moved forward. The thralls made it several paces into the clearing when the air around them became thick with a volley of arrows. Lylyth's Striders had joined the attack, taking shots at the line of undead warriors approaching them. The unnatural darkness surrounding the undead protected them from the arrows, their forms vanishing into darkness at a distance. With a clear target now in front of them, the Banes charged towards the Striders. With their serrated axes raised high, eyes glowing with the anticipation of a kill, they charged the Nyss in front of them. Bane Lord Tartarus pointed at the Striders, and started chanting in an attempt to curse the Nyss when the Bane next to him broke into pieces, an enchanted arrow sticking out of its skull. As Tartarus tried to return his focus to his curse, the Bane on the other side of him toppled to the ground, another enchanted arrow sticking out of his skull. Again Tartarus returned his attention to the battle; he looked up just in time to see Lylylth swoop down from the sky, her bow aimed directly at him. He let out a defiant howl as Lylyth loosed a shaft and sank it into Tartarus’s skull, her blighted energy increasing the power of Whisper. The Bane Lord dropped his axe and faded back to nothing, leaving behind an empty shell of armor, the rest of the Banes continued with their charge. The Striders were able to dodge most of the attacks, with only two succumbing to the undead strikes. As they came close to the Banes, the Striders noticed their armor grew brittle as one unlucky Strider was split completely in half by the combined strike of the Bane Officer.

Motioning for his Harrower, Goreshade directed it to approach the battle and shoot the Angelius in the sky. Moving into position, the crab-jack pointed its mortifier cannon and let loose a shot. Empowered by Goreshade it connected and sent the beast whirling backwards. Goreshade's Deathwalker made the mistake of straying too far away from her tree and was impaled by two arrows from Whisper, the third shot connected with Goreshade's powerfield causing it to shower sparks. Ducking behind a tree, Goreshade surveyed the battle through his Harrower. His Banes were being whittled away, the nimble Nyss were too fast for them to hit. His Harrower had taken several shots from the Seraph and Bolt Thrower and had lost its Perisher to the Angelius. Goreshade drew upon necromantic powers to summon a small unit of Bane Thralls around him. He then sacrificed one of the Banes to teleport his Harrower out of danger. The large jack vanished just as the Angelius plunged its tail spike into the ground where it stood moments before. With the crab jack appearing at his side, Goreshade turned back into the forest and broke into a run. This setback that would impede his progress into Ios, but he knew of another route to his destination. He and his group ran in the direction of where he thought one of the Cephalyx tunnels emerged, his pursuers would be hard pressed to follow him through that passage.

With the last of the Banes destroyed, Lylyth surveyed the area. Over half of her striders had been killed along with the DeathStalker. The wounds on her beasts were being treated by the panting shepherds that had just arrived at the clearing. Once her beasts were healed, Lylyth gave her Strider Officer an order to start a wide search for the Lich Lord. She then took to the sky followed by her beasts, resuming the hunt for her prey.

eThag vs Rask

"I hate walking ... " Thagrosh growled to himself as he slogged through the swamps of Blindwater. He was escorting a Throne of Everblight to an encampment in the Thronwood when his war band was forced to move on the ground due to the proximity of several Cygnar ranger groups stationed along the nearby Black river. Thagrosh knew of the Gatormen that inhabited the Blindwater and was reasonably cautious as he made his way, ensuring the Throne had all the protection he could muster. He had strengthened it with his own draconic blood and imbued it with the armored plates of the carnivean that joined him in this trek. He also brought two raeks, a Forsaken and Maelstrum; his favorite Seraph.

As the group veered around a particularly deep pool, Thagrosh heard the Battle Wizard atop the Throne call out a warning. She had been watching several large dark shapes swimming through the swamp off in the distance and they had just started quickly heading their way. Thagrosh took to the air to investigate for himself just in time to see a harpoon launch out from the water and strike the Throne. As the harpoon dug into the Throne power surged through it causing the armored plates to fall off and Thagrosh's blood gift to fade away. Immediately after the bolt struck a Totem Hunter launched himself out of the water, landing half way up the Throne! With another leap the Hunter vaulted over the top of the Throne, tackling the Battle Wizard and diving back into the swamp with his prey. The Throne recoiled upwards at the sudden loss of its controller while a large Blackhide Wrassler erupted from the pool's edge and lunged at it, spooking Maelstrum into the air. With its elongated jaws it ripped large chunks out of the tentacled horror as its claws struggled to keep the Throne's jaws from biting it in half. With several powerful bites the Throne plummeted to the swamp, writhing in its death throes.

Surprised by the large gator jumping out of the water Thragrosh barely had time to notice the group of Gatormen charging out of the pool toward his flank! He pushed the carnivean to enlarge its armored plates and forced it to move to intercept the charge with the help of a raek. The added armor came just in time as two of the Gatormen reached the carnivean and thrust their polearms into the spawn’s neck and chest. Thagrosh felt his connection to the carnivean become fuzzy. Three more Gatormen tried to surround the Raek, but weren't able to pin down the nimble creature. A Gatorman Bokor was behind the group of 4, invoking rites to empower his kin. A scream from where the Throne lay, pulled Thagrosh's attention yet again back to that side. Thagrosh turned to see his Forsaken slump down to the ground, harpoon tips protruding from her back. Finally Thagrosh saw the one responsible for this trap. A Bogtrog with a harpoon launcher rose out of the deep pool on top of a swamp horror. He smirked and leveled his harpoon gun at Thagrosh, and sent a shot over his head trying to force him back down to the ground. As Thagrosh touched down he let the dragon's fury completely consume him. An ear-splitting roar erupted from Thagrosh as the beasts around him echoed in their own blood-curdling howls.

Thagrosh closed the distance to the Gatormen hacking up his carnivean, with surprising speed; the jet stream behind him pulled the carnivean back away from its attackers. Taking a diagonal strike on the first Gatorman, Thagrosh gutted him where he stood. The disemboweled Gatorman twitched briefly before erupting in a cloud of ashes, blinding the one next to him. With another sweep Thagrosh took the head off the blinded Gatorman, causing another cloud of ashes to erupt, separating him for the remaining four. Thagrosh paused briefly to command his second raek and Maelstrum to destroy the enemy Warlock and to restore his connection to the carnivean. Focusing his energy he caused its wounds to slightly close. His connection regained, Thagrosh pointed the carnivean to the Gatormen surrounding the raek. Without a word it reared up howling as it charged directly at the group. As the carnivean closed on the Gatormen the raek became a blur, dodging past the strikes of the Gatormen to leap directly over them and pounced on the Bokor behind them. The raek drove its armor plated head into the Bokor and knocked the Gatorman onto his back. With a quick bite the raek tore open the throat of the Bokor, pinning the Gatorman down to bleed to death.

The rest of the Gatormen gave pause; where once was a small spawn now stood a towering mountain of muscle and rage. The carnivean arrived at the trio with its fists raised high in the air. Slamming each one down on one of the Gatormen on the sides, driving them halfway into the muddy bottom crushing their spines. Drawing a deep breath the carnivean spewed forth a gout of flame, consuming the Gatorman in the middle. Its flesh seared to a crisp, the last Gatorman slumped backwards into the water causing the water to steam up around him. Distracted by the rampaging carnivean, Rask wasn't in time to warn his Wrassler of the threat dropping in from the sky. Maelstrum dove down at the Wrassler with its poisonous tail spike leading the way. Following along the ground the raek was carried by the jet stream created by Maelsturm. Using this speed boost it leapt completely over the wrassler and directly towards Rask! Rask aimed his harpoon gun at the incoming raek. His view was blurred at first but as the raek closed he finally had a clear shot, letting another harpoon loose. The shot connected and the impact drove the raek off course landing it in the deep pool. The raek briefly surfaced before it was pulled back under, the swirl of a tail underwater was all that was left.

Maelstrum dove straight for the wrassler, still picking up speed as it drove the spike of its tail through the wrassler's upper arm, nearly severing it off. The wrassler staggered and tripped over one of the Throne's tentacles, the poison from Maelstrum coursing through its veins. Rask hopped off the swamp horror as he sent it to help the wrassler. Things were starting to go poorly and he disappeared into the swamp, his movements covered by the wake of the charging swamp horror. The swamp horror arrived just as Maelstrum was removing its spike from the chest of the wrassler, leaving a deep gash slick with poison. As Maelstrum tried to ascend into the air, the swamp horror stretched out its two hooked talons, ensnaring its tail and left leg. They dug deep into flesh as it tried to pull the flying spawn back into the pool. Unable to lift the bulk of the swamp horror, Maelstrum spun itself enough to turn towards the horror and unleash a hail of fireballs. The shots landed on the horrors face, burning several of its eyes and causing it to lose its grip. Once freed, Maelstrum spun completely about, lashing out with its tail as it moved, slicing off the two hooked talons. With a clear shot the spawn then drove the spike through one of the large eyes of the horror, causing it to spasm briefly and go limp as the wound oozed with poison.

With no other threat in sight Thagrosh's vision started becoming clearer, he regained control once again just as Maelstrum landed beside him, gnawing on a bit of wrassler. His carnivean had just finished his second Gatorman and was already starting to look better, while his raek was just finishing up the Bokor. He searched for the other raek that accompanied him but could not feel anything. Returning to the destroyed Throne, Thagrosh salvaged some choice pieces. With a new gator skin bag of Throne entrails, Thagrosh continued on his way to the new encampment. They would have a Throne, Thagrosh now had a new target for their flesh requirements.

eVayl vs Darius

Vayl watched intently as the Cygnarian force made their way through the open expanse of the ruins. This spot used to be sacred ground for the Circle of Orboros, but the constant fighting between Cryx, Cygnar and Khador in the area had left the site in shambles. Several of the large engraved stones were toppled over, creating an uneven ground that forced the Swans to slow their pace. The flock were making haste through the Thornwood to re-enforce an outpost that had been overrun along the Black River. Vayl knew this because she was responsible for the destruction of that outpost and the message sent for help. She hoped to lure them into a trap and so far, it was working.

Most of her group was hiding in the tree line at the Northern edge of the ruins while her newly spawned blight wasps were in the trees directly across the ruins from her spot. Looking through the eyeless gaze of the wasps she was able to take stock of her quarry. A cluster of blue armor clad infantry strode at the fore, she could tell by the standard waving high in the air that they were Stormblade infantry. The soldiers were led by an Officer who seemed to have the nearby Stormclad under his control and accompanied by several members carrying what looked like lightning emitting heavy rifles. Scouting ahead of the group were three pistol wielding horsemen, whose mounts had little trouble over the uneven terrain. The might of the army was comprised of a Centurion heavy warjack and a colossal Stormwall. These two were controlled by a strange looking Warcaster who himself looked more like a warjack with a crane on his back than a person.

“Darius. . .” Vayl whispered to herself, recalling the name of the Warcaster from the files they quickly pilfered from the outpost.

The Warcaster had three little half-jacks that were constantly running around and tinkering with the other jacks in his assembly, fine tuning the machines to keep them in top form as they made their way to help the outpost. To the right of the Warcaster, Vayl saw a young woman who also appeared to being wearing Warcaster armor. Upon closer inspection Vayl could make out that her armor was engraved with the rank of Jr. Warcaster upon it. A stout little Squire jack could be seen marching along to Darius’s left.

The sight of the Stormwall filled Vayl with impatient eagerness. She still remembered the last time she encountered the Cygnarian colossal, and the crippling defeat at its hands. On that day she made a vow to see the great machine broken at her feet, and now was her chance to fulfill that promise. With the Cygnarians almost in range she took stock of her forces. Her company of large dragonspawn included two Ravagores, a Scythean, and a mighty Carnivean. The large spawn were currently being tended by two shepherds. Her blight wasps across the ruins were feeding of Vayl’s growing emotions, becoming restless in their canopy hiding spot. Along with the spawn she also had a company of Hex Hunters, ready to strike down the humans with both blade and blighted magik. A group of Acolytes behind the Hex Hunters were finishing enchanting their vessel and preparing it for imminent spawning, while a spell martyr and Succubus both waited patiently at Vayl’s side. With a nod from Vayl, the succubus began to empower the large spawn with the Carnivean’s armored plates. Vayl enchanted one of her Ravagores allowing it to move after striking an enemy, and heightened the reflexes of her Scythean. With her army prepared Vayl once again peered through her wasps. The Cygnarian line had just entered the widest part of the ruins, directly between the blighted wasps and her location. With the victims in range, Vayl gave the order to strike!

Heeding her mental commands, the blighted wasps swarmed out of the treetops toward the line of Stormguard infantry. Always alert for danger, the infantry Officer sounded a warning as the swarm of man-sized winged spawn dove toward their line. The warning came too late as the swarm collided with the two outermost soldiers, stinging the men through their armored plates till they succumbed and fell to the ground. With their attention directed away from their position, Vayl gave the order for the Hex hunters to engage. The blighted Nyss charged out from their hiding spot directly towards the opposite end of the infantry line. They were followed shortly by the large spawn, Vayl, and the Acolytes with their vessel. Both Ravagores let loose a ball of blighted fire at the Stormclad as they approached. The first blast caught the Warjack in the back, immolating an unlucky soldier by its feet. The Warjack managed to about-face and raise its shield to intercept the second blast, blunting the impact of the shot greatly.

As the second wave of attackers approached, the Jr. Warcaster empowered the Stormwall with arcane power, shielding it from harm. She leveled her pistol at the approaching Nyss and let loose a shot that went wide as her target vanished the moment she fired. Hearing the gunfire behind them, the group of mounted gunmen veered round and started to sprint back to their group, sending their own shots towards the Hex Hunters. Again their bullets passed through the shadowy forms of the Nyss harmlessly. Responding to the larger force coming from behind them, Darius directed his Centurion and Stormwall on an intercept path to the dragonspawn who were closing quickly on their position. He also directed each of his half-jacks to stay near the three Warjacks. The tiny jacks were directed to repair any damage inflicted upon their charges. Pulling extra power from the Squire jack at his side, Darius pushed his jack’s engines to full throttle to be ready to mount a counter attack. Surveying the battle through the vantage point of the Stormwall, Darius spotted the spawning vessel approaching near the rear of the Legion assault. Having heard reports of how these vessels can churn out new spawn he level his steam cannon toward them, sending a shot scattering over the approaching Nyss and spawn. The shot landed just shy of the accursed vessel, but managed to shred three of the attendant Acolytes with the blast. Darius cringed as he saw the remaining Acolytes scrape up the remains of their fallen and toss them into the bubbling ichor without a second thought.

The Carnivean was almost at a full sprint aimed at the Stormclad when the two Ravagore blasts connected with the warjack. As it lowered its shield, the Stormclad was met by the engulfing torrent of the Carnivean’s fiery breath. The blighted fire flowed around the Stormclad scorching its retinal housings and incinerating the half-jack cowering at its ankles. Unable to see, the warjack swung wildly trying to send the Carnviean’s charge off course. One strike managed to connect, breaking off several of the enlarged spines on the Carnivean’s shoulder but did not deter the spawn. At the last moment the Carnivean leapt at the warjack with both oversized paws extended. The impact of the collision drove the Stormclad off its feet, and onto its back. Pinned to the ground, the Stormclad was helpless to defend itself as the Carnivean’s claws and powerful jaws set to the task of dismantling the prone warjack.

The wasps, on the other hand, were having a difficult time now that their element of surprise had expired. The Stormguard Officer had directed some of his men to encircle the smaller spawn and were effectively hacking them down and blasting them with voltaic blasts. The wasps managed to swarm one last Stormguard before a voltaic blast fried the last two, leaving nothing but scorched husks. Shots rang out again as the Tempest Blazers were finally able to draw a bead on the Hex Hunters, their shadowy forms becoming clearer as they drew closer. Not wanting to be flanked, Vayl directed the Hex Hunters to intercept the Blazers while she ordered the Spawning Acolytes to birth a Harrier. The vessel’s churning dimmed for a moment as a thick film grew over the top of the ichor until a form could be seen trying to push its way through. A moment later the air was filled with the shrieks of a newly birthed Harrier. Vayl bound the new spawn to herself and forced it to engage the Blazers. The spawn took to the air with blinding speed and charged directly at the nearest Blazer. The mounted Gunmage tried to steer his horse to evade the charge, but the Harrier’s aim was true and the spawn’s jaws took the man off at his torso, leaving the horse to run wild having just lost its rider. Gulping its first meal down greedily, the Harrier veered around and prepared to make another pass.

With the wasps killed, the Stormguard Officer directed his troops to engage the Hex hunters. The line turned as one and charged the Nyss. On their approach the Storm gunners unleased a hail of voltaic blasts, vaporizing several Hex hunters. Once the lines met, the Stormguard cut down several more with their own voltaic blasts, reducing the Hex Hunter group in half. Seeing an opportunity to push back, Darius directed his Centurion to charge the Scythean and sent the Stormwall lumbering towards the Carnivean. As the colossal machine set on its way, it sent shots at the Ravagores with its main cannons. The impacts slowed their approach, but only made superficial wounds on the two spawn.

As the Centurion approached the Scythean, the warbeast became a blur and moved swiftly out of the path of the charging warjack. The Centurion charged past the Scythean and struck a Ravagore that was just behind it, driving its spear deep into the spawn’s chest. Pulling its weapon free sent gouts of blighted blood pouring from the wound as the Ravagore howled in agony. The Carnivean had just bitten the head off the Stormclad when it noticed the Stormwall looming overhead. All too late the Carnivean moved to escape the colossal as an oversized fist connected with the side of the spawn’s head, shattering its jaws and sending the dismembered head of the Stormclad sailing through the air and into the tree line. Swinging around its second fist, the Stormwall drove it down through the back of the Carnivean. The impact punched through the Carnivean’s body and lodged it on the Stormwall’s wrist. The colossal jack heaved the Carnviean’s corpse into the air as it turned back toward the main fight. It grasped the corpse with its other hand and yanked the spawn free and flung it at the group of Hex hunters. Seeing the incoming shadow the Hex Hunters scattered towards the Blazers to avoid being crushed. Swarming over another one of the riders and dismounting him while the last one sprinted backwards. Most of the Hex Hunters were able to get out of the way but two weren’t so lucky. The Nyss let out a brief scream before they were crushed beneath the mass of the dead spawn.

Visions of her previous humiliation at the hands of the Stormwall filled Vayl with anger as she looked upon the corpse of her Carnivean. Power surged from her athanc as she unleased a powerful blast of blight, disrupting any arcane magiks in the area. Teeming with power she sent one of the Oraculii to connect with the un-engaged Ravagore, allowing it to be a channel for her fury. Through this link she sent a gust of glacial cold, freezing the Stormguard where they stood. An obliterating blast of blight followed the icy cold. The spell ripped apart over half the unit, sending limbs scattering through the ruins and punching a large hole through their line. She sent a second blast directed at the Stormguard Officer, catching him and the last of the Stormguard infantry. The detonation left nothing but a smoldering crater and shredded body parts where the soldiers once stood. She poured a portion of her power into her hurt Ravagore, slowing its blood loss and partially closing the wound, while amplifying its reflexes.

This boon came just in time as it allowed the wounded spawn to swiftly evade the next strike by the Centurion. The missed attack of the Centurion overextended the warjack, leaving it wide open to the Scythean and Ravagore flanking it. Bringing both scythes down onto the right shoulder of the Centurion, the Scythean sheared off the limb from its metal chassis while the Ravagore to its right seized and wrenched free the large metal shield from the Centurion’s other arm. Staggering off balance from the sudden loss of weight, the warjack was unable to move away as both Ravagores grabbed it and hoisted it into the air. With their combined might and a thundering roar the two spawn heaved the Centurion at the approaching Stormwall. The Centurion collided with the right knee of the Stormwall as it stepped forward, causing the joint to buckle and the great machine to topple forward. Urged on by Vayl, the Scythean leapt onto the back of the Stormwall, its scythes tearing into the storm generators on its back. One powerful strike pierced deep into the storm generators and caused them to rupture catastrophically. A blinding flash of voltaic energy and an ear splitting bang, left everyone near the explosion briefly incapacitated. The force of the burst sent the Scythean reeling backwards off of the machine and crashing to the ground, severe electrical burns covering most of its body.

Regaining her composure, Vayl strained to spot the Cygnarian Warcaster through the dust cloud left by the blast. She could still feel her Harrier and forced it to soar high above the ruins so she could get a better view. From its vantage point she could see the machine encased Warcaster and the last remaining Blazer sprinting away, the Jr. Warcaster riding alongside on a horse from one of the fallen gunmages. She started trying to gather up what was left of her force to give chase but once the cloud started to settle Vayl realized she had lost more than she thought. Most of the Hex Hunters had been killed by the mounted Gunmages and Stormguard infantry, along with her blighted wasps. The Hex Hunters that did survive were slumped on the ground, struggling to catch their breath and regain their senses. The spawning vessel had been completely toppled from the blast, sending draconic ichor spewing across the ruins along with the remaining attending Acolytes. Her succubus and Spell Martyr were both consumed by the explosion as well. Her shepherds, who had been hiding in the tree line, had just run out to tend to the severely hurt Scythean. Distracted by her losses Vayl didn’t notice Thagrosh’s gaze upon her through the athanc.

“With your petty vengeance complete, I assume you are ready to move onto the actual plan?” Thagrosh growled through her athanc, snapping Vayl out of her trance.

“Yes Messiah, we will salvage any items of use at the outpost, then resume our search for the Athanc.” Vayl replied coldly. She turned back towards the ruined outpost, her beasts and infantry following. She allowed herself one victorious grin as she passed the destroyed colossal.