Lyra had once again stopped on the roof of one of the many buildings when the siren went off. Oh how she could learn to love that sound. It was much better the just a referee or a teacher saying “go". She knew that now many other players would be on the hunt, either that or waiting for the right opportunity. She herself also preferred to wait so she crouched down on the upper ledge of the building she was on and looked out in all the direction, left, right, up and down. She also spotted the maroon shine and was tempted to approach, but on further thought she was pretty sure that anyone who didn’t want to take the time to stay hidden was most likely confident with there suits abilities. Lyra herself liked having that element of surprise on her side, it sometimes made all the difference. She down the side of the building and spotted a wooden carte not too far below her. She jumped now from the roof with a slight push of and went down towards the crate. It wasn’t long before she landed on it. The wood let out of few sounds from having weight put on it so she quickly jumped off it landing on the conceit back street, with her two front hand on the ground in front of her she slowly stood back up and walked down along the wall. She didn’t move that slowly, she was looking for some action. It was then that she thought that she heard something, or was it just her intuition. She looked around at the other roof tops and balconies that lined the walls. Something was telling her that someone was close by. She wasn’t exactly worried by it but it did put her on guard. She opened up one of the many pockets along her belt and withdrew a small capsule. She knew what ever one did by heart, there was no need to look at what she was doing. She wanted to stay discrete. If it were to be throw or have the right amount of pressure applied it would explode letting out a few different things, each one she had did something different. Special chosen to be used at each time because she didn’t want to run out of them so early in the game. She braced herself, expecting to hear to feel something coming her way, she adjusted her feet slighting but still taking a few slow steps forward.
<blockquote><font face=georgia color=white>The siren sounded, echoing within her suit in a harsh, abrupt manner. But it was something she had grown to love, a thing that caused her to grin in a manner that might make her look insane. If anyone had seen her, that was, which she sincerely doubted. If they had been close enough to see her cracking that grin, then they would have been visible. She had specifically chosen a spot that, unless someone broke the rules, would make her not only visible, but capable of seeing in every direction. Her vantage point was, thus, both a pro and a con in this little game of cat and mouse. A couple of glimmers caught her eye, but all seemed to be bunched around one point, the spot that she also found herself perched near. It was a hot spot, then. Which meant she wanted to be around it, just not in it. The simplest of thoughts sent her armor into camoflouge mode, the faint buzzing of the suit's attempts audible to her, though she knew no one else could hear it. Even someone standing next to her would have trouble. It drained power really fast, though, at least as far as those things went, so the Sunhawk carefully - but quickly - scaled down onto the ground, settling against a wall, then turning the camo off. Her head moved from side to side, making sure no one was near, before the Menlo player slunk into the shadows of an alleyway. Of course she would seem to have backed herself into a wall, so that she wouldn't be able to easily escape from an attack. There was propulsion, though, so she could get back up onto the building with a quick boost. Besides, that meant that no one could get to her except from the front or above. Which was why hear head was tipped slightly backward, watching both in front of her and above her. No one was near right now, though, so all she could do was stand around and wait. There were others nearby, but she was waiting to see if any attacks happened, if anyone was eliminated, before Schism decided which would be her own target.
Stryx heard the screach of the buzzer, large metallic ears twitching slightly. He rolled his shoulders and stepped over to the edge of the building, planting his hands on the corner. With a small hop he flipped over the edge, falling a few feet before reaching out behind him at the smooth surface behind him. His hands caught onto the surface easily, giving him a firm anchor to hold up up. He clung with his back against the building, his newfound perch giving him a good view of the playing field around him. He was well protected on all sides, as long as he kept a close watch on his surroundings he would be fine. His previous elation was swiftly being replaced by a cool, calm feeling. Stryx's pulse and breathing began to even out, to a rate he would expect from more mundane tasks, such as taking a simple walk in the courtyard at the academy. He blinked slowly, a simple thought causing a piece of equipment to slide out over his virtual eye. The device was designed to zoom in on any movement. It quickly picked up signs of a few other players, small yellow points showing up in his viewscreen, marking their place. Stryx's tail twitched slightly, then began to sweep lazily back and forth. He was careful to keep the tail blades from scraping against the wall behind him, but he wasn't worried about them causeing any light reflections that might give him away. The blades had a strange matte finish that, like the rest of his suit, didn't reflect light, but rather absorbed or molded it to his own purpose. Currantly his suit was altering the light hitting it in such a way that his suit mimicked the color of the building he was attached to. Stryx would let his opponents come to him rather than expose himself by searching for the other players.
Avalon may have been strong and his suit may have been reflective, but he wasn't stupid. His hearing was already good, and with the enhancement, he was able to hear footsteps and landing noises - indeed, the others were on the move. He was also observant, and let out a bored-sounding yawn whilst looking about. The yawn was to trick the others into thinking that he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings; hopefully it'd work. He could see a few shadows and silhouettes - and was it just him, or was one of them a bit too close for comfort...? Wait, they were... he was pretty certain! Lon tried not to panic. He had to act now - and quickly. He crouched further... for a few seconds he remained in the exact same position. Then, with a little mental buzzer in his own head, he broke into a charge-like run - but half a second after he started, he turned abruptly, and sped in the direction opposite to the one he'd been facing. Mentally, he was laughing. He could swear he heard a crash, but he put them off his mind. No need to do anything stupid now. Avalon was almost a blur when he ran like this on four legs. It gave him a slight advantage over the bipedal suits; it meant that he could put less weight on each paw. Trying not to laugh, he cracked one of his tails like a whip, and kept on going until he was in the shadow of a larger building. And he crouched. Someone could easily have followed him, and if they were fast... How far was he from the original area anyway...?
Ashavia had also noticed others gathering around the area. She was going to just sit tight and wait for someone elce to take on the player below. Then suddenly, they moved and started running in the opposite direction. This is my chance. She thought to herself. Even though this suit looked like it could smash her into dust she had one advantage. Her speed. Unlike most of the other suits in play, her suit was made souly for speed, she could easily outrun any of the other players who had much more other functions and weight than she. Without a moments hesitation, and not stopping to wonder if others would follow she took off after Avalon. She lounged from one building to the next, almost bouncing off the sides of buildings. She was swift and silent, able to keep up to the suit below her with ease. Then Avalon stopped and Ashavia bounded past him just as he stopped. With a heafty thrust with her back legs off one of the buildings she launched herself into the air doing a backflip as she did. She started to come down right where Avalon was standing. Withdrawing her legs she stuck out one of her clawed metalic paws and landed square between the shoulder's of the suit, thrusting her claws into the neck with all of the momentum and strength that she could muster. As her legs landed with a dull thud she launched herself forward off the suit, dragging her claws up over the head as she did. As she lounged forward over Avalon her leg caught one of the shoulder spines and made a slight cut in the metal. She landed at the foot of the shadowing building and turned to see what damage she had done. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Action. ^^</td></tr></table>
As the fight broke out below him, Dade picked his moment and sprinted to the edge of the roof. It only took a few seconds for the fierce red eyes of the steel beast to spot the fight, and choose a target. Before DadeÂ’s eyes, and the suits, hung a vision of the lightweight suits as they battled. He dove from the rooftop, Gleaming steel claws extended and blade covered body ready to attempt to crush AvalonÂ’s suit if he could. As he hit the ground, he lashed his tail at the other suit, aiming for the legs and the possibility of disabling AshaviaÂ’s speed. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>I donÂ’t know if you cleared your post with Kwoiffei first, but if you didnÂ’t you sort of twinked a bit in saying that you actually hit the other person, and in saying that they stopped. *bops nose* bad Ferret.</td></tr></table>
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>O_O Ooops. Well I assumed that Avalon stopped because it said he ran util he got to the building, so I figured that meant he stopped when he reached it. Sorry Kwoiffei, I really shoulda checked, I will be more than happy to change it if you like, I was just sorta wrapped up in the moment. I did try to leave it open, she may not have done any damage at all but anyway.....Sorry for posting out of order and an all OOC post everyone......</td></tr></table>
Lyra soon her the sound of fighting taking place on the roof top, she knew it wasnÂ’t on the ones on either side of her so she broke into and run and turned around a corner, pocketing her smoke bomb. Then once she reached another turning point took a sharp left, she looked up, knowing she was close because she could hear them better. They werenÂ’t moving to fast yet but someone must have made the first move. She looked around on the walls for a ladder but none were visible here, so she went the only other way she knew how. With a push of her legs she jumped at the closest wall and pushed off that one and went the other way to push herself off the same one she started on. She slowly made her way up towards the roof top. But instead of going all the way up she stopped at the last possible moment and dug her metal claws into the side of the wall. She wanted to get a look at things before she jumped in. She pulled herself high enough over the side to be able to see what was going on. It seemed that the small speedy one had made the first move on the maroon shiny one. She wished she had better knowledge of who they were but then again she liked a surprise. She then saw someone else lunge in. The one who was jumping in after seemed to have quit a few spikes on his back and sides, that could make him dangerous but he also seemed quit focused. Without another moments hesitation she pulled herself over the last few feet of the side of the building and taking a running lead leaped at DadeÂ’s. Aiming to try and do some damage to the pips or tubs that she could see that worked the suit. But she didnÂ’t let her guard down all the way, there were still other players out there who still where not yet in this melee.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td> Sorry guys, doubble post <_< Computer acted up on me.</td></tr></table>
<blockquote><font color=white face=georgia size=1><font color=gray>out of character</font> I honestly don't know what happened. I could've sworn I posted this soon after Lautir posted... apparently not. -blinks- So sorry. I would've posted sooner if I had realized mine wasn't up. <font color=gray>in character</font> Schism heard the steady thud, thud, thud of metallic paws on the ground. Immediately, her ears pricked, senses honing in on the noise. It wasn't coming in her direction, but the Sunhawk frowned slightly, anyway, curious. What sort of pendragon would already be racing away from the group? That set them up as a target immediately, set them up for attack. Maybe that was what they wanted, though. Thus the reason that she didn't pounce up onto the building's roof and become a part of the player's demise. There were a lot of smart minds in Menlo and she wasn't taking any chances that someone would do that. It was the sort of thing that the sorceress would probably do, herself. All that she knew was that the other 'dragon wasn't coming in her direction, though she believed she heard a sound of metallic scratching - she couldn't be entirely sure, but that was what it sounded like. Which was why she found this position she was in suddenly undesirable. Abruptly, claws unsheathed, their metallic gleam silenced by a black casing that slid over them within a few seconds, keeping them as invisible, hopefully, as the rest of her was. Of course that all depended on how others worked their suits. Some had such excellent vision that she was often stunned by their ability to spot others. Though she suspected it was motion sensors and not actual seeing that drew their attention. No matter, though. The Sunhawk carefully slid her claws onto the building in front of her and launched herself upward, climbing upward like a cat - or, perhaps, a spider - sticking her claws into any little niche that would hold them, then moving onward. They were specifically made so that the tips were pinpricks, making holds easy to find. The female scaled the wall until she was on top of the building that she used to have her back against. Now she was looking out at the others, crouched close behind a decrepit wall that stood as a barrier between the roof and the ground, perhaps intended to "keep pendragons from falling", though she figured it was just to add flavor, not really to defend a Menlo player from their fate. Her ears were pricked, attentive. Someone might decide she was easy prey. And she would be ready for them.
The sounds of battle wafted up on virtual air currents, reaching Syverlstryx's ears. It seemed at last four of the other player's had engaged in battle, his motion detector whirred slightly as it zoomed in on the fighting. With an air of curiosity his abandoned his perch and pushed off, bouncing from building to building until he was only one structure away from the combatants, on the side of a higher building. He watched with calm interest as the scene unfolded infront of him. His suit was already using up precious amount of energy to continue to bend the light to hide his prescene, so he turned it off. Now fully visable, the spines that protected his back and neck stood stiff and erect. They were really the only effective armor on his body, the other plates that covered his vulnerable spots were meant to be thin and flexible, to help attacks deflect and slide off, not to handle a good beating. If the other player's took the time to look up and around carefully, she would be spotted, but, assuming they were more preoccupied with the battling than watching for him, he guess that the natural coloration of his suit would prove enough to keep him unseen. Stryx held his tail-scythe at the ready though, just incase someone attempted to engage him. The other player's he had spotted earlier, those not in the melee below, were hidden from his site now, thanks to his currant position. This fact made him a little more on edge, every machina enhanced sense seeking the slightest noise that might herald an approacher.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>My apologies for the wait. I had the plot idea of Avalon losing, which results in various events, yadda yadda... so, long story short, I'm gonna have him lose - after quite a bit of fighting. But I was trying to think of something which would begin this.</td></tr></table> Things were happening very fast. One moment, he'd stopped to take a short rest... the next, he was being lunged at by at least two opponents. The moment Ashaiva's claws dug in between his shoulders, he let out a strange sound, like a cross between a metallic-sounding screech and a pained scream. His assailant had to have some sort of device which turned off sound. It had to! Instinctively he flailed violently, feeling the claws rake his head and the tail-spike hit his shoulder. Rolling in a strangely diagonal direction, and thus narrowly avoiding Dade's lunge, Avalon managed to stand up and look at himself. Oh my... No wonder he was in pain - the claws had cut fairly deeply! With a deep growl, he crouched, then charged at the agile opponent which he knew was the assailant. With another metallic sound, he lunged, grabbing onto the side of a building. Kick. He dug his rear foot's claws deep in. Riiiiiiiiip! He ripped out a part of the building, not stopping to watch it fall. Curling himself into a ball, he leapt downwards in an attempt to make an all-out assault strike at Ashaiva. Big mistake...
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Bah, sorry for the delay, I was gone for the weekend.</td></tr></table> Ashavia barely had enough time to even register the fact that Dade had made a strike at her to dodge it. Not having enough time to even crouch down to lounge into the air, she gave a weak little hop propeled by her feet and tucked in her legs as best she could. It worked, though narowly. She once again had miraculously avoided any major damage but she could feel something dig into her leg, pinching the metal to her skin and draging her backward. She landed face first into the pavement, catching herself with her arms, and in one swift motion doing a powerfull push-up motion that propeled her body back almost up right. As she shifted her weight to her leg, a searing pain ran up the one that had been caught and she stumbled slightly. "Oh sh..." She looked down and saw a dent in her suit where the tail blade had cut into it. The blade was gone but the metal from her suit protruded into her leg, making it painful to apply to much weight to it. She looked up and as she did relized she should have sooner. The large ball of metal was coming strait at her. Her eyes opened wide and as quickly as her suit would alow she lounged from the spot towards a building and landed on it, clinging like a spider. She looked behind her to see what had happened but as she did she felt the pain of her leg from the impact of the building. As if in slow motion she felt her leg give way and loose its grip, setting her off balance. She hung on the building with a single paw. She was going to fall. No two ways about it, and it was going to hurt. Best make if worth while. She located the player that had slashed at her legs and propeled herself blindely toward him, hoping to at least soften her fall and cause a little impact damage.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Sorry this his shortÂ… But I didnÂ’t want to twink on either of you. I also don't like to have a combat RP span more than 6 seconds.. but that's a D&D holdover... 'Full Attack' is a full round action...</td></tr></table> After missing his dive onto Avalon, but scoring a hit on the legs of Ashaiva, Dade continued his assault, targeting the better armed and armored Ashaiva. Though, as he dove into the fray with poisoned fangs and powerful claws bared, Avalon and Ashaiva arced through the air towards each other. Dade gathered all of the hydraulic muscle his suit could bring to bear and joined them in the air, ready to bring his spiked body and heavy suit as a weapon in the same way he intended to use teeth and claws.
Lyra lunged seemed to have been unsuccessful so as she flew by the group that was now drifting apart she rolled across the roof then found herself back on two legs again, facing the rest of the group. She got up just in time to see two of them start to fall of the top of the building. She watched the smaller female went over with the brightly colored male. She was a little torn between trying to help them before they hit the button because that was all her warrior training taught her do to, save and help people. But this was a game and that was how things played out, from what she knew it was not possible to die in this virtual reality world. So after she had regained her balance she ran over to the side of the roof top and looked down to see how the fight would play out. There was a small chance that either of the two might still be putting up a fight after the fall but if they were she plan to be around the pick of the pieces. She had just made the mistake of letting her guard down. At the moment her attention was on that of the falling contestants and the other male she had also attempted to attack. Her mind drifted away from the other contestants watching the fight.
<blockquote><font face=georgia color=white>Schism was quite intrigued by the way the battle was going. Quick strikes and slashes were making this fight a tough one to predict. Her eyes glanced from side to side for a minute, taking in the other two pendragons who weren't in the fight with some satisfaction, then turning her gaze back onto the trio of fighting Menlo players. Of course it might seem cowardly of her to be out of the little war - and, as a matter of fact, she didn't like it much, just watching - but it would work better in the long run. She would preserve her energy and the winner of that mini-match would end up with a dangerous opponent on their paws. Of course there were a pair of others who were also reserving their strength, so there would still be quite a bit of competition. Those who were presently attacking would be weakened, though, and she knew that there were more ways to "skin the cat", so to speak, than the most obvious one. Some would say that she was foolish, but the sorceress didn't care. A light yawn caused her metallic jaws to open, then close with a quiet click. It wasn't audible to anyone but her (she hoped). Not that it mattered. No one else was going to get on her without her noticing, after all. She was at the defensive, entirely cautious, watching. For a second she was tempted to attack one of the fresh opponents out there, to start a second spat, but figured that it would be easier to wait, as had been her original plan. There would be plenty of time to wrestle with the other pendragons and prove her worth. Right now, learning from the painful mistakes of her peers was enough.
Stryx was watching the combat below with a calm eye, only the erratic twitching of his bladed tail giving away his eagerness to join the fray. He got what seemed to be an oppourtunity when two fighters had gone over the edge. Another player, Lyra, stood at the edge of the building, looking down; seemingly intent on watching the continueing battle below. At his mental command, a surge of power ran through the suit, charging up the machina powered muscles and weapons. His claws extended fully, and a long thin blade slid out from his forearm, extending infront of his right hand. He nimbly climbed a few feet highed, wanting the added velocity for what he was about to attempt. Stryx bunched up his legs, and kicked off the side of the building as hard as he could, flying through the air towards his target, claws and blade at the ready. His target was the preoccupied Lyra.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Since its taken a very long time for Kwoiffei to reply, I will just go ahead and post. Sorry Kwoiffei....</td></tr></table> Ashavia landed on the ground with a hard thud. Dade, her target had jumped into the air away from her before she was able to make impact. She laid there for a moment, the pain of the impact slowly fading. She hopped up to her feet and quickly observed the damage. Just a few dents here and there, she was good. She looked up at Dade and Avalon. "To much going on." She thought to herself, and with that she leapt up to the side of one of the buildings, climbing up it. Once at the top she sprinted across and ran from the battle. She would need a little time to get back to full strength. Plus there where others who were conserving their strength. She could tell because there where no other sounds of battle. She ran almost to the edge of the virtual world and climbed down into a small alley, resting for a little bit. In a moment she would go out and search for someone else to take down, but for now this was fine.
Dade snarled, the suit itself amplifying the sound, he quarry had left him, and he knew better than most that, though he could strike in an instant with the bladed tail, he had no chance of winning a foot chase up a building. On open ground heÂ’d have followed, using the extra speed his suitÂ’s quadrupedal design would lend. With care, he ducked down along one edge of the closest building, trying to make himself harder to target as he scanned the areas. Now, to pick the next targetÂ…
Lyra had been too preoccupied with the falling fighters. It even took her a few too many seconds to hear that Stryx lunging towards her. By the time she was able to turn her head all her was able to do was take a quick side step to avoid the worst of the damage. But that didnÂ’t mean that she was going any where fast. Stryx blade above his right wrist had cut through her right metal shoulder pad. They werenÂ’t made to be strong but they could take a hit well. But nothing too sharp. But it had gone through and sliced into her sick above her shoulder. A sharp pain went through her body but she ignored it. It helped to be a trained fighter. So without waiting to be attacked again Lyra took a few quick steps out of the area of the fight and away from the side of the building. She didnÂ’t want to take a fall like the other two had. That would really do some damage to her suit. So she turned to face Stryx in a warrior pose almost hoping that he would attack again, because this time she would be ready.
