As the pulse entered the room and Lily's grip tightened, Axel shuddered at the tingling sensation that ran through his body... then it was over. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see that his vision still seemed to work. Glancing down, he flexed his fingers and gave a small laugh, disbelievingly, when they actually moved. "Holy crap, I'm... okay!" He looked at Lily and smiled. "I... I've got no idea how you did that, but... thank you..." He hugged her and kissed the tip of her nose.
When Axel pulled back, he saw the state Emilena was in and his eyes widened. "Oh jesus... We've got to get out of here..." He started to make his way over to her when a dull boom from somewhere in the distance made the ground tremble. Axel paused for a second. "What's..." There was the sound of another explosion, this one much, much closer and the floor jolted beneath him, hard enough to send him stumbling into one of the metal cabinets. "What the hell's going on?!" he gasped. Feeling his phone vibrate again, he snatched it out and saw Tony's message. "Ah crap..." On our way! he sent back, then looked quickly between Lily and Emilena.
"Tony's waiting for us in the tunnels, it's our only way out of here!" Axel rushed over to the Emilena and helped pull her to her feet. "Come on, we've gotta go!"
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Marcus shoved a Purifier out of the way of the ship's gunfire, then rolled back to avoid it himself. His mouth twisted into a snarl as, sliding to his feet, he looked up to take in the flying ship that had opened fire on them. What the fuck is going on?! Gunships?! Where the hell had they come from?!
A tower started to collapse behind him. It smashed onto the ground just behind him with a deafening crash, crushing several unfortunate people, dust and debris flying outwards. Marcus leaped into one of the craters to avoid the parts flying lethally through the air, then scrabbled back up the other side, spitting out dust and looping the strap of his assault rifle over his shoulder. Glancing at the base as it crumbled before the ship's gunfire, he could see staying here was pointless. "We're retreating!" Marcus shouted across to the Purifiers who'd managed to take cover and avoid being torn apart. "Get moving! Now!" Charging through the alleyways of the base, sprinting to avoid the bullets that tore through its structure, Marcus led the remaining Purifiers across the compound to the exit on the western side.
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Rhaegson blinked sweat out of his eyes as he took cover from the aerial bombardment, looking up into the sky. His men had been given orders for different strategies to adopt in the event of various problems arising... but warping spaceships? Didn't see that coming... Now that's just fuckin' rude...
He spat to the side and looked around at the men who'd gathered with him. Staying up on ground level obviously wasn't an option. Across the street, he could see an entrance leading to the subway system - if they could make it down there, they'd be able to take cover, regroup and come up with a new plan in response to this, he regretted to admit, unforeseen set-back. Rhaegson just had to hope the other Purifiers would realise the same thing.
He pointed across. "Get into the subway! Go!" Rhaegson waited for them to look at where he was gesturing, then sprint across. Gritting his teeth, he tore after them, ducking his head as he ran through the flaming debris that rained down on them. Raising his eyes, Rhaegson saw they'd all managed to make it down - he was the last Purifier left up top. A few more steps brought him closer to the stairs. He was almost there...
Then a massive explosion next to him threw him to the side. He landed with a crack, his left arm snapping as it twisted under his body. When Rhaegson regained consciousness 10 seconds later, he coughed and rolled over onto his back. Looking up, he could see the ship hovering way up overhead, continuing to fire down at Lanthae. He couldn't hear as building parts crashed to the floor near him, couldn't hear anything, and it occurred to him, almost absent-mindedly, that he might be deaf. Gotta get moving...
Rhaegson tried to get to his feet... but he couldn't move. Frowning, he raised his head, looking down at his body... or at least, what was left of his body, which now ended at his waist. Below was just a red smear, with the start of an intestinal coil poking out. Looking around, he squinted and could just make out one of his legs, torn and bloody, lying a couple of meters away. The strength in his neck suddenly gave and he let his head fall back to the ground, his vision starting to darken, the colours fading. Well, that puts a crimp in my day, Rhaegson thought. Then he died.