Re: World-Valencia

[Ulysses Septimus]

Sentus snatched up his halberd as soon as Sydney joined the fight: borrowing the moment when Mordecai is properly distracted, he swiftly slashed his halberd at the base of the shark's spine.

Helped by his strength as a buccaneer and enhanced by his cybernetic limbs, Sentus managed to land a decent sized gash on Mordecai's back...

On another end of the battlefield, Ulysses' ruby eyes narrowed hatefully when he finally caught sight of the swashbuckler trainer Morgan Lafitte. This one was personal to him, for she had sold Valencian secrets out to Polaris and other enemies of Valencia during the Polarian war... which included the Templars, Septimus' sworn enemies.

Charging across half of the battlefield with a grace that could only belong to a swashbuckler, Ulysses' dual Hidden Blades unsheathed from their sheaths strapped to his arm.

Most of the Pirates, seeing the trademark weapons of the Assassin Grand Master, quickly stepped back in fear of death and pain: those who were too slow to get away soon found themselves impaled through the throat by the razor sharp blades, left gagging and choking on their own blood as Septimus stepped over their bodies like they were nothing but trash.

Which was not at all inaccurate.

"Traditore a Valencia, si preparano a marcire nelle profondità del Tartaro! (Traitor to Valencia, prepare to rot in the depths of Tartarus!)" Ulysses flexed his wrists, Hidden Blades retreating into them with a low shing of metal, effectively drawing Morgan's attention to him.

[Sydney Underhill]

The blow landed by Sentus had torn through the humanoid - shark's skin, and it now exposed the vulnerable tendons at the base of his neck, the thin barrier between his spinal chord and certain death.

Using the six foot long handle of her axe to literally sweep Mordecai's feet out from underneath him, Sydney backed up as he fell before plunging her blade downwards into the back of his throat.

[Ulysses Septimus]

In that moment, the so-called strongest of all the hammerheads perished in Sydney's hand: Sentus stepped back, allowing it to happen. She was his superior, just like Septimus was, even though he also wanted to wring death upon those fools he had once called comrades.

He looked up once the hammerhead was dead, noting the location of the three remaining trainers: the Commodore, standing in the midst of a clump of pirates, directing them to what would appear to be weak points in the clockworks' defense, when they are really just traps Septimus himself had designed to lure them into their deaths; on a far corner of the battlefield stood Vadima, throwing bolts of energy at clockwork soldiers; and finally perched on a rooftop, stood Ol'Fisheye, sparkqeubus flaring.

"Commodore! Your orders?" Sentus turned to Sydney, gesturing to the remaining pirate trainers.

[Sydney Underhill]

Taking only a few short seconds to briefly assess the situation for herself, Sydney quickly made up her mind and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, in Vadima's direction.

"We take out the witchdoctor now. It'll be easier to pick off the close - ranged fighters without her in the way."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Sentus nodded quickly, waving his halberd in the air for some of the clockwork marines to gather in their direction: forming a kind of wall with their shields. "I shall distract her, Commodore: may Lord Kane's might be with you."

Marching with the Marines, the lieutenant of Ulysses banged his halberd against his shield once he was close enough to attract the witchdoctor trainer's attention, throwing it up to protect himself as she finally threw a bolt of energy in his direction.

On the other side of the battlefield, Ulysses grunted as he was slammed into a remnant of a wall by a privateer clad in full suit of armor, one large hand around his throat. He had managed to catch him unaware as he dueled Morgan.

He glared back from behind the black visors of his mask, sending a shiver down the back of the pirate, enough for them to be distracted... For Ulysses to brutally drive his sword through their gut, until the point of the blade showed through their back.

Unfortunately, this pirate didn't die as fast as Septimus had hoped initially; pressing the barrel of a flintlock gun into his chest with the clear intention of ensuring he doesn't see the sunrise of tomorrow.

Ulysses' ruby eyes widened slightly in alarm, one foot flying up and kicking the pirate right in where he had been wounded by the sword earlier.

[Sydney Underhill]

With the witchdoctor trainer momentarily distracted, Sydney took this opportunity to barrel into her, sending the both of them tumbling down in a cloud of dust. The Commodore jumped back to her feet easily, poleaxe in hand, ready to strike.

However, she had not anticipated the speed at which Vadima regained her sense of balance and direction, and had to drop her axe in order to dodge a blast of energy sent by the witchdoctor.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Decimus, who was quick to notice the situation Sydney has gotten into, swiftly fired one shot at Vadima's shoulder. The power of the round instantly drew a small gyser of blood, forcing Vadima into dropping her crystal ball and release a pained scream: it was more than enough to divert her attention away from Sydney.

With that done, the Armada sniper returned his attention to the battle raging on. He quickly dodged a hit from an enemy swashbuckler, shooting the girl right through the base of her skull. She couldn't even scream as the bullet ripped through her, decimating her entire head and sending shards of skull flying everywhere.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Decimus reloaded his rifle-

"Clockwork scum!" A warning sign flashed before his eyes as a pirate threw his arm around his neck, forcing Decimus into dropping his rifle. It really made not much of a difference to him, had the pirate simply tried to strangle him, for clockworks do not breathe like humans... But the male pirate, a privateer, had more on his mind: he clearly wanted to snap his spine!

'Not today.' Decimus' long, white gloved fingers wrapped around the man's elbow with enough force to crack bone. The pirate gave a yelp of pain, making the fatal mistake of releasing the clockwork man; spinning around with his standard-issue dagger, Decimus plunged the blade into the man's throat.

Thud. The pirate's body fell from the blade once the clockwork sniper gave one little push.

[Sydney Underhill]

"And..." Sydney whispered breathlessly, kicking the witchdoctor trainer down to the ground and taking a step back, her grey eyes wide with exhilaration.

"I do believe..."

She raised her axe, high, high above her head.

"You're dead...!"

The former privateer swung her blade down, much like an executioner would aim at their victim's neck, poised and still on the chopping block.

The omega - shaped blade sliced cleanly through tendons, muscle, and bone, and the witchdoctor's head, her thick, dark hair now stained with the deep maroon of her own blood, fully separated from her body.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses whipped out his dagger from its sheath on his belt, jamming it into the throat of the nearest pirate while his right hand darted out, revealing the Hidden Gun concealed inside his sleeve.

A sound much like those of a exploding firecracker echoed through the area, the pirate clenching his throat as the gunshot wound spurted blood akin to water from a fountain, falling to his knees for a second before collapsing onto his face.

Ulysses yanked his dagger free... Only to stab it multiple times into the right trapezius of a nearby swashbuckler. The swashbuckler gave a scream of agony, the last sound he would ever make as he finally collapsed onto the sandy ground.

Septimus grinned behind his mask, a demented, devilish smile that no one would see unless the mask was removed.

This, was all going by plan.

What he didn't calculate, however, was the pirate musketeer who had hidden himself on the top of a nearby building, sniping off clockworks with a stolen Armada rifle-

Reloading the stolen gun, the musketeer took aim... at none other than both Quintus and Decimus, thanks to that he had loaded a shrapnel bullet...

[Sydney Underhill]

Alarm shot through Quintus' system as he caught sight of the pirate, armed with a stolen clockwork rifle, and upon seeing that the barrel of the rifle was pointed directly at him and Decimus, the clockwork musketeer ran to one side, grabbing Decimus' shoulder and yanking him along with him just before the pirate pulled the trigger, the shrapnel charge detonating and sending pieces of metal flying.

It wasn't until several seconds after the detonation that Quintus realized that the right side of his torso had almost fifteen pieces of metal protruding from it. The overwhelming alarm almost drove him to tear them out, but the logical calculations of his clockwork programming stopped him from doing so - it would cause him to lose far too much blood.

Decimus was in a vaguely similar condition, but as he had been slightly farther away from the explosion, he had only been hit twice - once in the leg and once in the center of his torso.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Decimus, being the "warrior" of the Ulyssean Triumvirate, noted the damage to his frame: they wouldn't be that much of a bother, considering that he was built to last, to be able to take at least twice the damage of normal snipers. He was alarmed, however, when he noted the damage Quintus had taken. "Custos Quintus, report: system conditions still fit for combat?"

He forced his voice to remain calm, unemotional, despite the panic that was starting to build up in his central processing... Yet, still a small trace bled through: hiding his emotions was more of his brother Albinus' forte, his was fighting, spilling the blood of the enemies of the Armada.

While Decimus held his end on the battlefield, Ulysses had long noticed what had transpired, and oh he is for sure enraged. No one, absolutely no one, damages his clockworks-

Sprinting his way up the buildings with unnatural grace and silence, Ulysses delivered a powerful, jarring kick into the pirate musketeer's back, sending him tumbling off the building.

The pirate musketeer was forced to drop his gun as he landed, screeching and holding his left leg. Broken, like how Septimus had expected: now all he has to do is to resist the urge to kill, until Sydney finished the trainers with Sentus' aide.

[Sydney Underhill]

"System conditions unstable." Quintus said, noting how it took far too much effort just to remain balanced, let alone counter the recoil of his rifle. He was still capable, of course - but nowhere near as efficient as he should be.

Now that Sydney had taken out the witchdoctor trainer, her next target was the pelican trainer of the musketeers. Luckily, since she had already taken out Vadima - the one with the broadest of ranges - this would be slightly more simple.

Silently sneaking out from the corner in which she had quite literally beheaded Vadima, Sydney began to scale one of the buildings surrounding the one that her new target was currently standing on.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Decimus let loose a mental curse: merda, this was not a part of any calculations they had made earlier! Just that thought alone was enough to make the elite sniper feel his central processing to start heating.

Damn the pirates, damn them all down to the deepest pits of Tartarus itself!

The sniper was tempted to let loose a low, guttural growl, though he managed to push the urge back. No matter what happened, unless his creator specifically say so, he would keep up his facade of being a monotonous, calculated clockwork.

"Captain Sentus Optimus," Decimus called out using the standard comm link between officers, "requesting backup: conditions do not appear optimal." Thank Lord Kane they had already whittled away a large chunk of the pirates' defenses, otherwise...

Sentus heard clearly across the link. It made his face contort with calculation behind his mask: merda, he can't be at two places at once dammit. He glanced at Sydney's location and situation from his peripheral vision, concluding that she could handle herself.

Snapping a command to his marines, Sentus quickly rushed off toward Decimus' location, catching a glimpse of Ulysses mercilessly beating the pirate musketeer from earlier. Even though the marine captian had no idea as to what might have prompted such, he didn't question it.

As far as he could see, those vermin had it coming.

[Sydney Underhill]

Climbing up to the roof of the building, Sydney ran forwards and leaped from her roof to the very roof that her target was standing on, unaware of her presence until she landed (rather loudly) behind him.

She knew she would have to act fast - Ol' Fisheye wasn't one to make those vengeful speeches before finishing off a kill, he simply would get the job done. It figured: musketeers were typically the most intelligent members of the Resistance.

Given that, it had been expected when he immediately turned and fired his rifle at her - and she had been prepared for it.

At the moment that he had pulled the trigger, she had thrown her poleaxe at him.

She did not chop, or swing, or slice - she had simply thrown the entirety of it at the pelican. It was a risky move, but if it worked -

The electric charge had caught onto the end of her poleaxe, causing the purple shocks to travel instantly up the rest of the handle and to the massive blade - which, being the heaviest part of her axe and under the command of the laws of physics - swung directly into the head of the pelican, and he was on the ground the next second, convulsing as he was absolutely electrocuted, smoke raising from his fallen form.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Now there is only one left--the Commodore, the Privateer trainer. This one Ulysses knew wouldn't be as easy as all the others: there was a clump of pirates around him, their strength and defense greatly boosted by the Marleybonean's powers. 

"Quite...troublesome, hmm?" Septimus said it to no one in particular. He shoved the pirate toward a pair of marines to contain, drawing one of the swords from his belt. This one could wait, at least for now.

The Armada admiral shoved his way through the thicket of bodies in his path, sinking his blade into anyone who isn't with the clockworks, drinking in the sight of their broken, wounded bodies a drunk might savor a good cup of wine.

Once they deal with this one, they would take out the captain Horace Avery, and by then Rooke's forces should be here to help them in cleaning up the rest of the stragglers.

All is according to plan, as long as nothing they did not calculate transpire, the clockworks would sure take victory.

But even with victory so close, a few of the clockworks still fared ill... Particularly Decimus, while Sentus was still hacking his way through the pirates in his path that was trying to prevent him from reaching the musketeer officer.

Decimus, had he possessed a human's face, would have scowled in displeasure. Another group of combatants had arrived to face him and Quintus, clearly thinking that they would be easy targets due to their damaged frames.

The elite sniper clicked back the lock of his rifle for the who knows which time of the night, chambering a standard sniper rifle round into his weapon.

"Portarlo su, pirati."

[Sydney Underhill]

Placing one foot slightly behind him to act as a sort of stabilizer, Quintus loaded his rifle with a shrapnel charge of his own, bracing it against his shoulderblade as he fired into the slowly - gathering bunch of pirates that had remained, and it was as if there had been a massive wave of shock - for they all seemed to be blown off of their feet by some unseen force, clutching at wounds in their sides or limbs, some unmoving altogether.

The Armada musketeer had toppled back over onto the ground from the force of the recoil alone, his energy and blood draining as steadily as ever, but he had managed to make a significant dent in the numbers of their combatants - it was a small price to pay, by his conclusions.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Merda, merda, MERDA! It really didn't help the current situation within the mind of Servus Decimus once he had taken note of how much blood his fellow musketeer had lost. His creator had given him clear orders to serve Sydney as he would him, so if he fails here, it would be nothing short of utter failure.

Decimus' fingers trembled from the mixture of panic and rage that was racing through his processor, at a speed that even he had trouble comprehending. He shook his head a little, as if that act would clear the jumbled mess within his processor, then glanced back at Quintus, quickly moving to a defensive position until he was sure the pirates were scattered enough, before reaching out a hand to help him back up.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the battlefield, Ulysses sheathed his sword with a flourish. Perhaps this would be more fun: taking the brilliantly glowing Apple of Eden out of its sanctum within his coat.

The Armada Admiral raised the Apple high in the air, bolts of energy arcing from it, jumping from one pirate to the other. Those who were struck either swiftly fell down dead, their insides roasted, or turned and started fighting his own comrade.

No one had expected that, huh?

Ulysses' lips twitched into a maniacal grin behind his mask as he sauntered through the bloody battleground. Soon, soon...

Meanwhile, Sentus had finally bashed his way through to the two musketeers; holding his ground next to them to take care of any that came too close for comfort.

[Sydney Underhill]

The effects of the Apple of Eden were clearly starting to show, Sydney concluded, as she saw the cloud of orates surrounding the privateer trainer began to dissipate in formation, some dropping dead to the ground while others turned on each other, and several of them turning on The Commodore himself.
The Marleybonian naval officer quickly retrieved his cutlass from his belt upon seeing this, somehow managing to hold off the seven crazed - driven pirates that had now betrayed him.
Seeing a window of opportunity, Sydney raced towards them, fully intending to be the one to finish off her former teacher herself.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses waded through the battlefield, cradling the Apple of Eden within his left hand, gripping his blade in his right. He slashed, hacked, stabbed his way through the waves of pirates, as though they were nothing but jungle vegetation in his way.

Pirates screamed under his blade, begging for mercy, others trying to feel, but they all ended up the same way, dead under the feet of the Armada Admiral. Those who were fortunate enough however, met their end by Ulysses' sword, others could only face the power of the Apple, the pain of having their insides instantly roasted.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Sentus slammed his shield into a pirate's face, then jammed his halberd into the pirate's gut. He yanked it back once the pirate was dead, stepping back and preparing to face off anyone else who dares to fight him or try anything against the two musketeers Quintus and Decimus.

[Sydney Underhill]

Much to the former privateer's delight, when Sydney finally confronted her ex-trainer, he seemed to recognize her almost instantly.

"Underhill...you bloody traitor!" He growled, flinging the body of the last of the mutinous pirates away from him before advancing on her slowly, his aura more menacing than Sydney could have ever thought possible, at least given that it was of this particular individual.

"No, I don't believe so - " Sydney corrected, pausing to dodge a swing from the officer's cutlass - "In fact, I think it is you that is the traitor..."

Her blood began to pump faster, quicker and faster from the slowly-but-steadily building excitement as she countered his previous attack with a swing from her own blade, managing to land a vicious hit on his rather large torso, causing him to stumble back, but not before he withdrew a well-concealed dagger and flung it through the air, the blade burrowing itself in her right thigh.

She shook slightly from the pain, but her steady string of attacks did not waver, and she swung her blade again and again, as if this was her only function, relentlessly.

"You held me back all these years, you see...it's such a crime, to waste talent like that, you know..."

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses thrust his sword out, skewering a pirate through the gut with his blade. No one, absolutely no one, will steal the Apple from him, oh no, the Apple was his property, or more exactly, the Armada's property.

"What the bloody hell is going on!" The blood-crazed Armada Admiral's head snapped toward the direction of the voice, grinning broadly behind his mask when he realized just who it was.

Captain Horace Avery.

[Sydney Underhill]

((I apologize, my comrade, for having been gone from this forum for far too long.))

The Armada Commodore could not even bring herself to scream, she was in such a state of anger and pain, pain from the bleeding knife wound in her thigh and the pain that she felt within as she struggled, the ex - privateer struggled to sever the one last bond that still hung onto her from her previous life as a privateer of the Resistance.

"Underhill...you...? You?! How could you?!"

Come back, he was trying to say, come back.

"How dare you."

How dare he. How dare he still try and drag her down to the depths, back into the chains that she had once been locked in, and by none other than he.

THWACK.

And with a single strike of her weapon, the bones in his neck had been snapped, the flesh severed, and the esophagus torn, the Marleybonian officer alive no longer.

[Ulysses Septimus]

((It is alright maestro ))

Slash, stab, defend.

To say that his mind was on autopilot mode was perhaps all too fitting-

Ulysses ripped his way through the ranks of pirates, until he had reached the infamous leader of this accursed pirate haven. He thrust out the sword in his grip, almost skewering the pirate through his back, had he not turned around in the very last moment and caught the weapon with his own.

"Kane?!" Behind his mask, the human man found himself grinning, his lips stretching into a smile of crazed blood-lust.

"Si." Even though he wasn't, lying simply felt like the right thing to do right now. "Horace Avery, you are convicted of piracy, smuggling, arson, and murder: surrender, or face immediate termination."

"Never!" The pirate captain's strikes became that much more powerful, and nearly came close to impaling Ulysses through his chest; ripping a gash through his uniform instead. "You have made a fatal mistake to come here, Kane, and it will be your end!"

"I wouldn't think so fast if I were you, Avery." Ulysses hummed softly, holding out the glowing golden sphere that was the Apple of Eden...

[Sydney Underhill]

Having finally caught her breath, Sydney looked back up, her face, neck, and hands absolutely coated and drenched with the blood of a hundred felled pirates, their leaders included, only to see Captain Avery himself - standing but a few feet away from the Armada Admiral.

Her first instinct was to run to him, for the pirate captain wanted Ulysses nothing short of dead - but she stopped this, sensing that something was off.

Why would they be standing...still...?

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses stepped forward - holding Avery down by the power of his mind and the Apple of Eden alone - his sword poised to strike the final blow.

Until another pirate, a swashbuckler, diverted the Admiral's attention long enough to break his focus; the pirate captain breaking free and snatching the Apple away from the man's grip. "Merda!"

Though Avery's triumph didn't last long-

The pirate yelped in pain, dropping the relic in favor of clenching at his bleeding wrist, glaring at a figure on the upper levels of his now burning manor.

The figure slowly rose to his feet, showing himself to be a musketeer about twenty three years old: dressed in a blue overcoat, white breeches, and knee high black boots. Like Ulysses, he tied his long, raven black hair back in a ponytail; a band of gold with blue accented fabric tied over his head and serving as his eyepatch.

He transferred the sniper rifle into his left hand, and reached up, ripping the fabric away to reveal a senthetic eye much like the one seen on Capt. Sentus Optimus. His thin lips turned into a slight smile, speaking in a voice that somehow reverberated through the battlefield. "Per la gloria dell'Armata. (For the glory of the Armada)"

Avery's jaw dropped, "BLAZE?!!" Too overcome by shock of what was most obviously a spy of the Armada in their midst, he didn't even react when Ulysses snatched the Apple back into his hold; uttering a gasp when the lithe form of the Admiral stood behind his
, placed an arm around his neck and begun cutting off his air supply...

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