Technologic Arcanum (IC)

[The Republic of Atria]

Apply in the OOC first please

Gav

His master and several Imperium guards were wondering why he was out snooping around in the neutral zone, when he knows that it's forbidden to go without the consent of a superior. And he certainly didn't have it. There were serious consequences. At best he'd be severely disciplined, and at worst, killed. It was now dawning on him just how draconian the Imperium was, and would continue to be over minor slights. Gav's master had always commended his ability to think on the spot, and Gav already had a plan. Not a good one, in fact the idea was pretty bad, and would almost certainly get him killed if he was wrong. But it was either that or wind up being tortured for however long over things he didn't do. "There's a perfectly good reason why I was in the Zone." There was a window to his right, and the group was a good few meters in front of him. What he was going to do next would either save his life or ensure that he was killed. He blasted a wave of ice at the group standing in the room, not a lot, but enough to encase their torsos and knock them down to give him a few seconds of headstart. They certainly weren't expecting Gav to attack them, so him knocking them down and jumping out of the room, shielded by a spherical barrier, enabled him to gently hit the ground and bolt towards the zone.

It probably wasn't the smartest idea, but the Imperium in theory wouldn't start throwing lightning bolts there. It could reignite the war, and that wouldn't paint them in the positive light that they bath themselves in. Fortunately for him, the guards and his master that he sprayed with the ice seemed to be more encumbered with the ice than was expected. All that practiced had finally paid off! He ran down the stone road, getting some odd looks from people. He was so close to the same place he had snuck out, when a guard blasted at his feet, and encased them in rocks halting his running ability. Fear had quickly set in, but he was so close. "Hold it." Said the guard. "You know you're not allowed in the zone. What's the hurry?" The guard asked, folding his arms.

Lying wasn't going to help, and his scared running wasn't going to do him any favors. He began making some small rock golems, about the size of a young child, behind the guard. More foot thinking. Maybe refuge in audacity? "I was going to sneak in and see if I could catch any information that the Technocrats may be willing to leak." He just needed a few more seconds to finish the golems.

"I don't believe that. I would've been told to let you pass if that were the case." The guard responded. "I'm going to message the higher ups and see what's going on- AH!" He jumped back into Gav when one of Gav's golems took a swing at him, but missed due to the size difference. The gholem might not have been able to reach the guard, but now Gav could, and he hit the man across the face, hard. Hard enough to knock him out it seemed, which dispelled the magic bindings on his legs and let him bolt out into the neutral zone.

"This was not how I planned on today going." He muttered to himself as he passed through the magic barrier to the neutral zone.

Jaime

It had been a good few weeks since he recovered from his injuries. Supposedly they had given him enough nanobots to completely reconstruct his limbs, and from what he was able to see, that was accurate. His arms and legs were back, but he felt strange. Almost like he was barely held together. And lo and behold, his arms would dissolve if he focused on it hard enough, only to freak out and have them reconstitute themselves perfectly. He didn't want to admit it, but it was pretty cool. He felt airy and floaty and with practice that he could actually "explode" into a cloud and move around, reconstitute himself. It was actually something that he could find a use for. Lightning bolts and fireballs wouldn't do much to a cloud. In theory. After a few minutes of practice he found that he could do it quite easily. While he was doing it, he couldn't help but remember the Magi who tried to save his life. They didn't seem to be all as bad as his bosses had said they were. As far as he could tell, they were people all the same. Not the demonic bastards that turn children into monsters for fun, but people with hopes and dreams all the same as them. Trying to shake the feeling off wasn't helping.

As he was pacing his home, wondering what he should do, he noticed that the places where he shifted from his cloud state to his normal one, that some objects looked like they had been deformed a bit. As if they had melted, but without the heat. Jaime wasn't stupid, it was obvious that it was from his shifting. It seemed to eat the surroundings to reconstitute him. Possibly some loss of matter doing it. Now he was slightly concerned. Maybe a Magi healer could fix him? Was it the nanites messing with the magic that was used to keep him alive after the explosion? He didn't know. But it couldn't be healthy in the long term he figured. He decided that a quick trip to the Neutral Zone wouldn't do any harm. He was high enough on the pecking order that he wouldn't be questioned about going, that being said he figured that he should definitely bring his guns. Just in case. After grabbing his weapons he headed out to the Zone to see what was the big deal. He had to resist the urge to use his smoke ability. Despite how cool it looked.

Once he arrived at the checkpoint, it was a matter of looking intimidating enough to the subordinates that they would be more afraid to talk to him and question what he was doing when he was supposed to be on extended leave. "I've received reports that we've got traitors in our midst. People who are conspiring with our enemies." He boldly claimed, the irony not being lost on him. "I'm going into the zone to find out if these are genuine traitors or if the Magi have come up with a spell that entrances our men and women to their mystic nonsense. I shall return." He said and was fortunate enough that everyone was either impressed or intimidated enough to not bother trying to stop him. He left the checkpoint and immediately shifted to his smoke form to traverse the ravaged ground and buildings. The choices that he made over the next few hours would solidify his thoughts on whether or not the Imperium was as bad as everyone insisted.

[Shadowwell]

Erik Ashworth
Elemental-Shaman
A tall cloaked figure stood near one of the borders to the Neutral Zone. Though the cloaked obscured his features and figure, it could not easily hide his build. The figure was taller than most and was broadly built, just his silhouette alone hinted at how muscular he was. He was Erik Ashworth, former member of the Magi Imperium. He had left long ago after becoming fed up with their actions and attitudes towards him and other. His eyes were currently closed, but had they been open, it would be easy for one to see that they were changing to a faded green.

He opened his now green eyes and took a step forward. The wind itself gathered around him, caressing him like a lover greeting their long absent partner. As he took more steps forward he his body became more faded and obscured. He also started picking up speed with every step, soon enough he seemed to disappear completely, shrouded by the wind. Any guards he passed would only feel a slightly strong breeze as he passed, most would not be able to see him probably. Soon enough his cloaked figure arrived and emerged from an alleyway after the wind cloaking him dissipated.

[Asterdan]

Jason "Shade" Adams

Jason Adams, better known as Shade, the Black-Suited Man, or Shadow, quickly made his way towards the border to the Zone, hiding in the darkness. He was through with the Technocracy, their lies and schemes. He had done duty to the state, using the skills he had honed since childhood to kill and steal. Jason had done many things to many good people, things which he was not proud of. He had used people, earned their trust, stabbed them in back, often times literally AND figuratively. He had grown tired of it, he refused to continue to live this way. He refused to be a tool, a monster for the Technocracy's personal use.

Lights!

Shade ducked into an ally, his dark suit helping to keep him hidden in the darkness, drawing his blade in case he was attacked. He watched as a vehicle passed by him. After waiting a few moments he returned to his escape. He sprinted down the roads, doing what he could to get as close to the border as quickly as possible. The suit eased the pressure on his body, making it far easier for him to run while his mask provided a boost in oxygen, providing him with enough air to make the run simple. This was something that he had gotten used too, though it had startled and confused him at first. It didn't take him very long to take advantage of this.

Finally, the Zone! He could see the checkpoints and the fences, looking around for where he would need to go. All he would need to do was vault the fence and he was free!

"Hey!" a voice called.

Jason looked towards the source of the voice, his mask allowing him to see in the dark. He searched for a moment, still barreling towards the border, when he saw it. It was a guard who happened to be pointing a gun at him.

Great... he thought, running as fast as he could.

The guard followed him, moving quickly and firing at Shade. Jason looked behind him, seeing a light he was careless enough to pass through a few yards back.

So THAT'S how he saw me! he thought, hating himself instantly as the bullet passed him. Luckily it was dark enough that he couldn't be seen easily.

He jumped, grabbing onto the fence and quickly scrambling over it. Shade was free! He kept running, out into the wilderness of the Zone.

[Higher Japan]

Alastor

"Stop!" A man shouted out as a small group of men chased after him, blasting whatever magic they had at him as he ran while firing acid instead. Some were hit and fell to the ground in pain as the armor they had or whatever it was soon melted away. Running towards the fence of the zone, he looked behind through his red colored eye holes. Suddenly, he felt pain in his leg as one of the dying pursuers fired a shot of fire, causing the cloak to partially burn up before the man died. He started coughing vigorously as a small crack on the mask was revealed.

Continuing his run, he eventually started walking towards the gates, limping slightly after the fire went out. Revealing his specially enchanted suit, one built to sustain his basic life systems and the mask, which had to help him breathe. As he reached the gate, a few more guards noticed him but could not do anything as he lifted his wand up, firing acid and melting them down. As he walked in, he laid down in an open area as he struggled to breathe.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Out on one of the many ruined urban landscapes that dotted the neutral zone that separated the Imperium from the Technocracy, overlooking a large crater that was undoubtedly the result of an intense fight between two armies, a half-ruined building stood, and on its rooftop sat a lone girl wearing white and red robes, an attire that was characteristic of a particular group of healers from the Imperium, though her presence outside made it clear that she was not affiliated with them anymore. In addition to the robes she was clad in, a pair of menacing black gauntlets covered her arms and a black helmet sat on her head, with spikes the color of bones protruding from it. Her legs were dangling from the edge of the semi-destroyed rooftop as she observed the sunken ground in front of her and the horizon beyond. She seemed to be waiting for something, but what it could be was anyone's guess.

Suddenly, another figure appeared, leaping from a place unseen and landing on the rooftop, next to the girl. This new arrival was clad completely in a nightmarish black armor, with glowing red lines crisscrossing it and forming strange patterns. The visor, too, glowed a bright red as it looked down at the girl, but she did not seem scared or indeed fazed at all as her red eyes stared at the armored person.

"Master Valerius." She said in greeting, and the armored figure simply nodded back. The next moment, the black armor had disappeared, and in its place stood a blond man with brown eyes, about ten years older than the girl, clad in brown boots, pants and what appeared to be some sort of coat adapted to combat purposes. Sitting down next to the girl on the edge of the rooftop, the man lifted a bag that he had in one of his hands and pulled out two pieces of bread, handing one to his companion.

"Eat, Kiris. You can't fight on an empty stomach, and being here is dangerous, though not more so than being in the Imperium." Valerius told his former apprentice, Kirisvala, before eating his own piece of bread. The two had recently escaped from the Imperium, and had not run into too much trouble so far, but he knew that they were bound to clash with the Imperium's troops sooner or later, and perhaps with the Technocracy as well. Taking the piece of bread, Kirisvala wound up impaling it with one of her gauntlet's claws, and let out a soft sigh as she resigned herself to eating like that. Beyond that, the two of them ate in silence. They were somewhat tense about being in the neutral zone, even though being in the Imperium would've been far worse for both of them after one defied direct orders and the other helped a prisoner escape.

Before long, they were done, but even so the two of them sat there for a while longer, simply observing the surroundings. Having a vantage point was convenient in that it allowed them to see if any threats were approaching, and in any case the area seemed safe enough for the time being, if only because it was quite desolate. However, eventually, Kirisvala stood up and pointed somewhere.

"Master, there's someone there." She spoke. Indeed, as Valerius looked in her finger's direction, he too noticed a lone figure moving in their general direction, though he doubted it had seen them from afar. The area they were in was relatively close to the border between the Imperium and the neutral zone, though far enough that they wouldn't be seen by scouts positioned on the magic barrier. Thus, odds were that the man was either some sort of soldier on a mission, or perhaps an escapee like them. And though it was definitely risky, Valerius decided to go meet the man. If he was indeed a renegade, then perhaps he would be willing to cooperate.

Standing up, Valerius wordlessly summoned his armor back to him, the black metal enveloping him once more. "Let's go. If it turns out he's not an enemy, he might be helpful." The enchanter spoke, before jumping down from the rooftop and beginning to circle the crater, headed towards the man who unbeknownst to him was a sentinel who had recently obtained his freedom. Not wanting to be left behind by her master, Kirisvala quickly shielded herself with a spell and then jumped off as well, running after him.

[Asterdan]

In the many abandoned buildings of the Zone one could find people hiding, waiting, running. There was one collection of buildings, however, that seemed out of place in the barren Zone. It consisted of about four separate buildings, two of which were little more than houses. It wasn't the buildings, however, that made the area standout, it was all the greenery around it. Grass and trees surrounded the little compound, while the rest of the Zone remained mostly devoid of green, creating an seemingly endless sea of brown.

A lone man walked through the garden, his beard and robes bustling in the breeze. He carried with him a staff, roughly four feet in length, as well as a small leather bag. He pointed the staff towards a patch of grass, raising it slowly and causing the grass grow higher. The man walked over to the patch and yanked it from its roots. He smiled, proud of his creation. It had taken many attempts to perfect, but he had created a strain of grass that met all of the basic nutritional needs. This was what he gave those travelers who were lucky enough to stumble upon the man's humble abode.

"What sort of mage are you?" many of them would ask, to which he would reply, "A mage of technology! I have no magic in my blood, only in my staff."

He would chuckle at their confusion as they left and he would return to tending his home, what many called the Oasis of the Zone. Lucien Cahill, the last of the Magnus of the Technocracy, smiled as he looked out of his home before returning to the building he used as his house. Perhaps being banished by the Technocracy was the best thing to happen to him.

[Tomia]

Jessica Myers
Within the ruins of an old office building in the abandoned neutral zone, shadows stalked along the walls. It was a figure, moving cautiously through the halls, doing her best to remain unheard and unseen. She was no longer under the protection of her once beloved Technocracy. In fact, both factions would have great interest in seeing her dead. Well, the Mages might want to study me before they kill me, but I won't let them take me alive[/i], Jess thought to herself grimly. Jess did not fear death, but she didn't seek it either. She was determined to repay society for her crimes, and she wanted to start by ripping the Technocracy limb by limb.

Currently Jess was tracking a pair of strangers who were on the rooftop of the office building. They both appeared to be Imperium soldiers, and the super-soldier wasn't planning on taking any chances with them. Isolation had made Jess paranoid, and even a bit erratic. She hadn't seen her family in years, and the last time she had spoken to another human being was months ago. Jess preferred it this way though. She had nothing to say to anyone, and she saw solitude as her just fate considering the horrible things she had done in her past.

The man and woman she was following had stopped on the roof above her. Jessica saw this as her chance to gain ground on them and attack. She considered using the roof access door for a moment, but quickly decided against that. That would attract too much attention and she would lose the benefit of surprise. Instead, she walked towards a window and stepped out, scaling her way up the wall and towards the roof. She landed gracefully behind her targets. With their backs turned away from her this was her chance to strike, and she wouldn't miss it. She unsheathed her two short swords, and charged forward, targeting the girl first as she seemed to be the younger one of the two. Jessica jumped in the air, her blades whirling down towards her enemy. hoping for a clean kill.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Both Kirisvala and her master were unaware of the paranoid rogue Technocrat that was currently stalking them, with the former trailing behind the latter as they headed to meet the distant sentinel. However, even though she was not on guard at the moment, the sound of someone jumping behind you is a bit difficult to ignore, and so, curious, Kirisvala turned around to locate the source of the noise, only to watch in terror as a warrior of the Technocracy brought down two swords upon her. She only managed to let out a terrified cry before the blades made contact. Fortunately for her, however, the blades did not make contact with her flesh, but rather with the magical barrier she had erected around her before moving to follow her master. The sparks generated by the clash between the swords and the ethereal shield flew everywhere, likely alerting their presence to anyone nearby.

As Kiris was not very well versed in combat magic and was very surprised by the attack, she did not retaliate, but her cry was enough to alert her master, who immediately turned around. Seeing the threat to his apprentice, Valerius sprung to action, grabbing Kirisvala's shoulder and shoving her behind him as he caught the swords with his other hand, his gauntlet sending harmful magical energy through the blades; they would likely resist for quite a bit, but they would eventually break under the strain if the flow of energy was not stopped.

"Who sent you to kill us, assassin?" The enchanter asked sternly. While the enemy was clearly a Technocrat, she was alone, and the soldiers of the Technocracy did not usually venture into the Neutral Zone alone in his experience, though that did not mean anything, especially not considering how she had just tried to murder his apprentice, who was currently preparing to protect herself or her master if the swordswoman tried anything else.

[The Republic of Atria]

Jaime

He shifted to his cloud state and immediately floated behind a rock, as his body regained it's solidity, he peeked over just a bit to see a darkly dressed man running like the wind, several mages, several technocrats, and a lot more rubble from the war. He'd seen more destruction firsthand, but it never got any easier to see. Things were so much easier when it was just vilifying the Imperium. Now that he realized that everything was far more gray. The mages individually weren't nearly as baby killingly evil as he was told. With one of them even trying to save his life after his own allies nearly got him killed. The rumors about the NZ were true. There were Technocrats and mages getting along. Mostly. There were probably some arguments to be had, but it seemed... Human. "Hey!" He called out to anyone who'd listen. Preferably a mage, so he could at the very least get some questions answered.

"Ummmm." He wasn't good at starting a conversation. "I need to see a mage about a... Condition." How did he word that so it didn't sound like he was trying to start something. Just as he was about to continue the conversation, he heard some alarms starting to go off from his side. Alarms that he had never heard before, but knew that it meant something bad was about to happen.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Jennifer Arteensia

Jennifer was in a hurry. She was supposed to be hiding within a small village who was aligned with the Technocrats under the pretense as a traveling Technocrat who were about to be assigned on the border security station, but things went to hell after a group of soldiers were able to caught upon her in that same village, but unfortunately for them she was already on the run.

"Shit, shit," as she muttered to herself. She could used the jet pack, but it would revealed her location to the Technocrats, and that, would be the stupidest thing to be done for herself. Thus, she put a path for her onto the Neutral Zone, where perhaps she could put off her chasers for awhile, and finding the right solution to this...uneasy truce.

She eventually reached the Neutral Zone, though she was panted and exhausted, she managed to let herself hid within the ruins of an abandoned office building inside the Neutral Zone, where she set up a sniper spot on the higher floor as a way to defend herself and to scouted the land afar.

[Atlannia]

Vespera Welkynde

Imperium border checkpoint

"Somebody stop that man!" The voice, high and breathless was a scant warning to the guards of the checkpoint as mere moments later a towering figure bundled up in long robes and a coat came into view, sprinting towards them at an alarming speed. A little further back, obviously in pursuit, was a slight, feminine figure, her robes and blonde hair flapping as she chased the fugitive.

"S-STOP!" Spluttered one of the guards, startled out of complacency. Meanwhile his partner who was a little better prepared readied a bolt of ice and fired it at the runner. The ice impacted solidly with the figure's shoulder, sending it skidding to the side briefly as its bicep began to freeze over but the figure regained its balance and continued towards the checkpoint. Before the guards could fire again the figure was on them, jamming a massive, gloved hand into the stomach of one guard while it's leg arched to catch his partner in the ribs. As the guards fell backwards into the walls of their post the figure recovered its stance and sprinted past them, disappearing into the forbidden neutral zone.

"IDIOTS!" It was the female, who had stopped to catch her breath in the checkpoint, resting her hands on her knees as the guards groaned and tried to get to their feet.

"Lady Welkynde!" Exclaimed one of the guards weakly, his eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

"I was chasing that fugitive you moron!" Snapped Vespera Welkynde, straightening up to her full, still not very impressive height and glaring at the guards with flashing green eyes. "The one you LET ESCAPE! Now get to your feet, we're going after him,"

"But M'am we're not allowed too leave our post, even in pursuit! And protocol dictates no one's allowed into the neutral zone under any circumstances."

"Good! No very sensible," replied Vespera with an exaggerated nod. "I'll just inform my master you let a dangerous fugitive slip through your fingers. I'm sure he'll understand, if it's a matter of protocol."

The guards exchanged uneasy looks among themselves and Vespera sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine then, stay here. I'll recover the fugitive and we'll pretend this never happened, it's inconvenient for me too if this gets out."

The guards conferred among themselves and then, after another glare from Vespera reluctantly parted to let her through. Vespera concentrated briefly and then a strange, insubstantial form appeared before her, gradually growing stronger until a figure very much like a knight on horseback, armored with plates of marble like white stone. The knight extended a hand down to Vespera and pulled her onto its mount where she turned back to the guards.

"I'll be back shortly, don't breathe a word of this to anybody if you know what's good for you."

...

Some distance away from the checkpoint Vespera, now on foot allowed herself a sigh of relief and even a smile. People became so much more compliant when they believed they were acting out of self preservation. Vespera's pawn was going in a different direction and would dissipate at some point, leaving its borrowed coat and robes to fly away in the wind. The guard's would undoubtedly crack at some point, or else someone would trace her movements back to them once her absence was noted, it was unfortunate that the guard had recognized her but she was prepared for that too. Vespera's knight had continued on after the fugitive, itself another summon disguised with with some secondhand clothes, while she had traveled a short distance through the air to avoid leaving tracks and then continued on foot to recover her energy. Occasionally Vespera envied mages with more "direct" skillsets but at times like these she wouldn't wish for any other ability in the world

Maybe all of this plotting was unnecessary, the Imperium would be reluctant to send anyone into the neutral zone so casually. Still it was better to be safe then sorry and if Vespera wanted to find the answers she was looking for she'd need time and the ability to move freely. Vespera hoped the guards she'd duped wouldn't be treated too harshly, it wasn't really their fault and besides even if they had figured out what she was up too it wasn't like they could have stopped her.

Vespera's musings were interrupted when something caught her eye and she stopped, looking down at the ground in front of her. Tracks, not her pawns, but definitely coming from the border. Vespera was no expert at this sort of thing but there was plenty of wind around, these looked fairly new to her. Had somebody else left the Imperium? Or were Imperium agents operating in the neutral zone. Whatever the case it would be useful information to have, Vespera summoned her knight once more and climbed aboard, the other traveler looked to be on foot so catching up to them would be fairly easy.

[Brusia]

Dr. Galen Salk

As Galen advanced through the Neutral Zone, he moved with great caution to reduce the risk of being spotted and intercepted by either Technocracy or Imperium patrols as much as possible. It had been close to twelve hours since he'd dosed the rest of his squad with a sedative to make his escape, which meant that by now they'd be starting to wake up. With any luck they'd just assume that they fell asleep on the job and report that Galen was MIA rather than AWOL, but luck was not something the good doctor cared to rely on. Being prepared for the worst, Galen assumed patrols would be keeping an eye out for him, and so maintained as low a profile as possible.

Fortunately, the numerous long-abandoned buildings and craters left behind by what looked to be impacts from artillery shells gave him plenty of good places to hide; though the desolate, scorched, and pock-marked stretch of land between the two warring powers wouldn't exactly be his first choice for a vacation destination. After many hours of wandering and being surrounded by nothing other than the decaying husks of former towns, Galen was beginning to think he might be the only living thing in the Neutral Zone; until he viewed a few silhouettes in the distance which proved him wrong. Getting into cover and looking down the scope of his rifle in the direction of the unknown silhouettes, he could make out a group of soldiers donned in the garb of his former foe, garrisoning what evidently passed for an Imperium checkpoint.

His first instinct was to turn around and head back, but he knew that if Technocracy patrols were after him, doing so would almost certainly mean running into them. It might've been the exhaustion talking, but he figured that if he could find a good hiding spot nearby, his erstwhile allies either wouldn't think to look for him so close to an Imperium checkpoint, or wouldn't risk engaging Imperium troops this close to their territory just to find one missing doctor. With that in mind, he moved with even greater caution than before to try and find a suitable hiding spot where he could get some shut-eye without being spotted, but to his dismay for the first time all day, the area appeared to be totally bereft of hidey-holes.

At one point during his search he backed into what appeared to be an empty alley for some cover, but moments later was shocked to see a fairly tall and quite muscular fellow standing right next to him. He instinctively leveled his rifle towards the fellow while simultaneously nearly jumping out of his skin, but seeing that the man was unarmed, unarmored, and unescorted, he figured it wasn't likely an enemy soldier. Lowering his weapon so that it was no longer directly pointed at the fellow, but close enough to where he could quickly shoot the man if he displayed any aggressive tendencies, Galen stated in a voice quiet enough not to alert the nearby troops:

"Good god man, are you trying to give me a heart attack! Who exactly are you, and what're you doing out here in this godforsaken hellscape anywa..." before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by the sound of alarms in the distance. They weren't coming from the nearby checkpoint, so it seemed at least that neither he nor the fellow next to him had been spotted, but as he peered around the corner of the alley he could see the troops at the checkpoint were readying themselves for battle just the same. "Uh-oh" he stated before turning back to the burly fellow beside him "Better question: run, hide, or fight?"

[Asterdan]

Shade watched as the battle ensued between the two mages and the Technocrat. He debated joining in, the Technocrat had seemed to attack out of no where. But perhaps there was a reason? Jason decided to sit back, watch, wait, and reflect. He had escaped in the middle of the night and had been on the move ever since. Jason knew where he wanted to go, but he couldn't figure out how to get there! He wanted to find the old Magnus he had assisted years ago, the Technocrat with the staff. He had been banished, and Shade was certain he had figured out a way to survive.

Unfortunately he had gotten turned around during the night. Now he just had to wait to see what was happening here and perhaps get some assistance from whoever won. This was certainly going to be an interesting battle to say the least. Jason crept closer to get a better look, hiding in the shadows as he neared.

Meanwhile, at the Oasis, Lucien tended his garden, walking barefoot through the foliage of his little sanctuary. Dragging his staff around him, waving it in a circle about his head, he drew water from the air, condensing it into drops which combined to form a rather sizable stream of water which followed the tip of his staff. Lucien smiled as he released his control over the water, allowing it to water his plants. That's when he heard the sirens in the distance. Lucien slashed the staff around about him, the air swirling about his legs as he was carried on the breeze to the top of one of the taller buildings.

Covering his eyes with a hand to ease the brightness of the sun, he looked out into the distance. He could just barely make out the distance Imperium Checkpoint with which he had an unsteady trade agreement, he gave them food and they left him alone, but he was certain it wasn't coming from them. Lucien jumped, his staff manipulating the air about him in order to slow his descent.

[Shadowwell]

Dr. Galen Salk

As Galen advanced through the Neutral Zone, he moved with great caution to reduce the risk of being spotted and intercepted by either Technocracy or Imperium patrols as much as possible. It had been close to twelve hours since he'd dosed the rest of his squad with a sedative to make his escape, which meant that by now they'd be starting to wake up. With any luck they'd just assume that they fell asleep on the job and report that Galen was MIA rather than AWOL, but luck was not something the good doctor cared to rely on. Being prepared for the worst, Galen assumed patrols would be keeping an eye out for him, and so maintained as low a profile as possible.

Fortunately, the numerous long-abandoned buildings and craters left behind by what looked to be impacts from artillery shells gave him plenty of good places to hide; though the desolate, scorched, and pock-marked stretch of land between the two warring powers wouldn't exactly be his first choice for a vacation destination. After many hours of wandering and being surrounded by nothing other than the decaying husks of former towns, Galen was beginning to think he might be the only living thing in the Neutral Zone; until he viewed a few silhouettes in the distance which proved him wrong. Getting into cover and looking down the scope of his rifle in the direction of the unknown silhouettes, he could make out a group of soldiers donned in the garb of his former foe, garrisoning what evidently passed for an Imperium checkpoint.

His first instinct was to turn around and head back, but he knew that if Technocracy patrols were after him, doing so would almost certainly mean running into them. It might've been the exhaustion talking, but he figured that if he could find a good hiding spot nearby, his erstwhile allies either wouldn't think to look for him so close to an Imperium checkpoint, or wouldn't risk engaging Imperium troops this close to their territory just to find one missing doctor. With that in mind, he moved with even greater caution than before to try and find a suitable hiding spot where he could get some shut-eye without being spotted, but to his dismay for the first time all day, the area appeared to be totally bereft of hidey-holes.

At one point during his search he backed into what appeared to be an empty alley for some cover, but moments later was shocked to see a fairly tall and quite muscular fellow standing right next to him. He instinctively leveled his rifle towards the fellow while simultaneously nearly jumping out of his skin, but seeing that the man was unarmed, unarmored, and unescorted, he figured it wasn't likely an enemy soldier. Lowering his weapon so that it was no longer directly pointed at the fellow, but close enough to where he could quickly shoot the man if he displayed any aggressive tendencies, Galen stated in a voice quiet enough not to alert the nearby troops:

"Good god man, are you trying to give me a heart attack! Who exactly are you, and what're you doing out here in this godforsaken hellscape anywa..." before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by the sound of alarms in the distance. They weren't coming from the nearby checkpoint, so it seemed at least that neither he nor the fellow next to him had been spotted, but as he peered around the corner of the alley he could see the troops at the checkpoint were readying themselves for battle just the same. "Uh-oh" he stated before turning back to the burly fellow beside him "Better question: run, hide, or fight?"

When the smaller man spoke, Erik was somewhat startled, but did not let it show. it was one of the disadvantages of his massive height, h often missed things below his eye level. He looked down at the man as he backed away. As the smaller man spoke, Erik listened intently, he opened his mouth to respond when Galen spoke abruptly. As the other man spoke hurriedly, Eriks eyes gained a more serious look in them. To his final question Erik answered in his deep rumbling growl of a voice. “It would be best if we run.”

Erik slowly walked towards the exit of the alleyway, he yelled abck towards the smaller man as he did. "Follow me, i will clear the way." As he walked if one paid attention they would be able to notice the earth moving with every step. It wasn’t rumbling or shaking, more like it grabbed onto him and tried not to let go. He stopped as he reached the middle of the road in front of the troops. They started yelling at him, before a few raised their rifles and other weapons at him. He ran towards them, as he did so his form changed, became larger, bulkier, more misshapen.

Soon enough he resembled something closer to an Animators golem more than an Elemental. His magic worked much differently, but still harnessed the elements, just in a different way. Normally it would take longer for him to change and absorb the energy of the elements. Thankfully before he started his approach to the Neutral Zone he had removed his shoes, his time walking allowed him to gain enough elemental energy to take this form. As he arrived closer to them, his larger form became slower, more lumbering. While many of the soldiers were shocked at what happened, one or two were able to bring their weapons to bear.

The plasma bolts went through him, forming holes that smoked, yet closed at a noticeable rate. They would continue to do that until he lost contact with the earth or ran out of energy. The remaining soldier gawked at the sight, right up until his plowed into them, sending them flying like a set of pins knocked about. Most were injured, but still somewhat conscious, others were not. He kept moving forward, hoping the other man was following him.

[Tomia]

Kiris is scared and Valerius is not happy

Jessica grunted as she felt the painful surge of energy against her hands, as it flowed through her swords. She didn't want to drop them, but she soon realized that if she didn't drop the swords soon they would break under the pressure. Jess then pressed her weight against Valerius and pushed off, dropping her swords in the process as she jumped backwards, preparing to take out her super sword to attack again. Then he said something that confused her however.

"Assassin? Me?" She said, pondering this for a second as she raised her large blade defensively. "No one sent me, aren't you two Magi? I attacked you before you could attack me. It wasn't anything personal." Jess told them, rethinking the situation now. "Why would someone want you dead specifically?" She asked, wondering what kind of situation she may have gotten herself into.

[Brusia]

Dr. Galen Salk

It seemed the large fellow he was with was some sort of mage, as he used the very ground beneath him both to defend himself and as an offensive weapon. Galen covered him as best he could, firing on those pursuing the two while the mage cleared a path in front of them. Unfortunately, while a defensive boon, the earthen armor did seem to slow the man down a bit, and their Magi pursuers were beginning to gain ground on them. It was looking like they were going to end up having to fight their way out of this after all, and if that was the case, Galen preferred not being stuck out in the open, and so started looking for a place with decent cover. A short distance ahead, he suddenly noticed a little patch of green with a number of buildings around it that looked like they'd do the trick. Pointing it out to the big fellow in front of him, while still firing on their pursuers, Galen exclaimed:

"Looks like there's some good cover over there, let's head that way!"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

As he held both of the attacker's blades in his gauntlet-clad fist, Valerius noticed that his opponent was attempting to force a separation, and jumped back quite a bit of distance as he was pushed away, watching the other carefully. He was somewhat surprised to hear a woman's voice coming from beneath the armor, and even more so when he heard her question the reason he had called her an assassin, but as she finished speaking, a frown spread across his features, concealed behind the dark helmet. The enchanter crossed his arms as he stared at the Technocrat soldier.

"Then you are just another tool of the Technocracy." He stated, clearly ignoring the question she had made towards him. He had no need to answer that, especially not to a Technocrat. "Begone! I have no quarrel with you." He told her, waving his arm in a wide arc as if ordering her to leave right away.

Before he could receive an answer, however, something caught his attention.

"Master, can you hear that?" Kirisvala spoke. She had been standing a fair distance away from the two combatants after Valerius had pulled her away from her attacker, but as she watched them, she heard the alarms that went off in the distance, an incontrovertible sign that something bad was about to happen. Turning towards her former apprentice, Valerius nodded.

"I hear it. We should investigate." He spoke, before looking at Jessica over his shoulder. "Make sure she doesn't follow us." He told his apprentice. Nodding, the girl looked at the woman who had nearly killed her, and focused for a moment. Suddenly, a large, translucent barrier appeared in front of Jessica, separating her from the two Magi. With that done, the two of them began running in the direction of the alarms, wondering what was going on, and hoping to be able to stop the Imperium if they were trying to attack innocents once again.

Before long, they came across a peculiar scene: someone, undoubtedly a Magi, was clad in some sort of rock armor and trying to protect a man with weapons and armor that belonged to the Technocracy, as the two of them fled from a large group of Imperium soldiers and some Technocrats. Beyond chasing the odd pair, however, the two factions were taking potshots at each other, and that clarified the situation: the two were fugitives, and were being chased by their respective nations' warriors. It reminded Valerius of how the Imperium had betrayed him, and he didn't intend to let either faction get their hands on more innocents.

"Kiris, go on ahead and protect them from the enemy. I'll make sure you have enough time to escape." The enchanter ordered, and his apprentice nodded in agreement.

Then, the two jumped to action. Casting a quick spell, Kirisvala teleported to the side of the rock-clad Magi and the combat medic. Raising her hands and furrowing her brow in concentration, she erected a powerful barrier, far larger than the previous one, and quite a bit more durable. The offensive spells of the Magi and the energy weapons of the Technocrats crashed futilely against the barrier, causing it to waver, but never to fall. Turning around to face the two fugitives, the girl spoke. "My master will distract these people, we should hurry up and escape." She told them.

Meanwhile, Valerius charged directly towards the group of Magi. As they were chasing after the renegade Magi and Technocrat while warring with troops from the other nation, they weren't watching their rear very closely, which gave the enchanter the element of surprise. Using the enhanced physical abilities afforded to him by his armor, Valerius closed the distance between himself and the Imperium troops in an instant, tearing into them as soon as he was able, his blows greatly enhanced by the armor's magic. Taken by surprise, the soldiers were unable to react quickly, allowing him to disrupt their lines easily. Then, as quickly as he had arrived, he began running away from the battlefield, hoping to draw the attention of at least a few soldiers so that his apprentice and the two fugitives would have an easier time escaping or fighting back.

---

---

As Jaime listened to the alarms, he would hear a voice calling out to him. "Looks like you picked a pretty bad time to come here, smokey." The voice remarked. It was very clearly feminine and jovial, and carried a hint of amusement. Before he had a chance to question the source of the voice, however, a woman seemed to materialize next to him. She had short red hair and silvery eyes, and wore a black and red suit of light power armor, with a sidearm and several grenades on her hips and a large, menacing weapon slung across her back. She, however, appeared to be anything but menacing, with curious eyes and a wide, half-mocking smile.

"You're one of the guys from the Reaper Squad, aren't you?" She asked, her face turning serious for a moment as she examined the details on his uniform, before smiling once again. "I wonder what they would think if they saw you coming out here to ask a Magi for help." She remarked. "But don't worry, I'm not going to be the one to tell them. I'm only here because I took an interest in you, it's not every day you see someone turn into a cloud of smoke and back at will. You must be pretty unique even among the Reapers if you can do that." The woman commented idly as she paced around Jaime, appearing to be completely at ease despite being around a feared member of the Technocracy.

In the distance, the struggle of a small group of people against the troops of both the Imperium and the Technocracy could be seen, and as the armor-clad woman glanced in that direction, her smile faded. She turned to Jaime once more, wondering if he could see it too. Compared to other people, her eyesight was on an entirely different level, after all, but she figured he could likely see it, as it wasn't all that far.

"Are you going to do anything about it?" She asked him, nodding her head in the direction of the battle. "If you help, maybe they will help you find a healer who can help with the condition you mentioned. But you'll be labelled a traitor, if it hasn't happened already." She told him, and then a mischievous smile found its way to her face once again. "Depending on your answer, I may or may not help you, how about that?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Jaime

He turned to face the woman who addressed him. A sniper. A well versed one since she was able to quickly point out that he was a member of Reaper squadron. "Well. They nearly killed me, supposedly on accident, and then a Magi was the one trying to save my life. That and he's probably at least a little responsible for what happened to me." He explained. "Smoky. Heh. Probably going to have to get used to the stupid nicknames now aren't I? Oh well. It's not the worst one I've heard." It was the only one he had heard, but figured there would be much more to come. "I'm out here to see if a Magi can make sure that I'm not going to disintegrate into a pile of dust." Against the orders of his superiors, sure, but he figured he could make something up to worm his way out of it. "My question is, what're you doing out here?"

Which was basically the verbal equivalent to 'no you', but given the circumstances it was probably fair to ask. He looked around and saw quite a number of people from both sides that weren't actively trying to kill each other. That he was aware of at least. It would almost be a hopeful sight. At least until he saw two Magi running. Both of them looked quite scared or at the very least, a little concerned. He didn't hear any gunshots so he figured they weren't running from any technocrats. He didn't like the feeling he was getting in his gut. Something bad was about to happen and he was going to be right in the middle of it

Gav

So far so good. He had made it past the barrier and was well on his way to... He didn't know where exactly he was trying to go, but he was definitely not going back to the Imperium. He was a lot of things, but suicidal wasn't one of them. Gav stopped for a moment to catch his breath and plan his next move when his eye caught a woman with several minions. He thought about running to hide, but she wasn't wearing a guard uniform. Hopefully that meant she wasn't going to try and turn him in. Then again, it could be a trick. Running away would probably be the safest thing he could do, but she looked mildly distressed rather than angry. He kicked around the idea, and then kicked himself when he saw she was much closer than he thought. "Ummm... Hello!" He called out, checking around to make sure there wasn't a trap of some sort.

What was the best thing to ask? "Are you okay? You look a little nervous." And so did he most likely. She definitely wasn't a member of the border guard. Her robes had none of the markings. With any luck, she was a runaway like he was. If that were the case, then maybe she could work with him?

[Tomia]

Jessica
Jess frowned when Valerius called her a tool of the Technocracy "Hey! I am NOT with them. And I'm certainly not their tool!" She shouted, when suddenly the young girl next to him cast some kind of spell and created a sort of force-field around Jessica. The swords-woman obviously didn't like this, and was still angry about Valerius' comment so she banged on the force field aggressively before recognizing that that was futile.

She took a moment to compose herself before testing the boundaries, and realizing she could move around the barrier. Once she was free of the sorcery she heard the sounds of battle coming from where those two magi had run off too. Even though they didn't seem interested in her being around, she decided she owed them for misjudging them and so she went off to see that they were alright. When she arrived she discovered that they had indeed entered a battlefield. She saw Valerius running away from the large group of imperium soldiers as if retreating. She scanned the field, realizing she saw Kiris protecting two wounded soldiers, and the situation became clear in Jessica's mind.

She unsheathed her two short swords and charged into battle with great speed, picking off magi troops that were attempting to flank Valerius. She sliced one imperium soldier from behind, killing him instantly by severing his spine. "We can push them back together!" She shouted to the magic user, "I'll charge in, you cover me from a distance alright?" She said to him, charging into the crowd before he even had a chance to agree.

[Atlannia]

Vespera Welkynde

"Ummm... Hello!" He called out, checking around to make sure there wasn't a trap of some sort.

What was the best thing to ask? "Are you okay? You look a little nervous." And so did he most likely. She definitely wasn't a member of the border guard. Her robes had none of the markings. With any luck, she was a runaway like he was. If that were the case, then maybe she could work with him?

"H-Huh?" Without really meaning to Vespera had stumbled upon her quarry, she'd been so focused on following the tracks she hadn't realized he was right in front of her. "I'm not nervous!" snapped Vespera reflexively, her cheeks reddening slightly. Years of working with older, more experienced mages had left Vespera rather sensitive to the subject of losing her cool. "Anyway you're the one who should be nervous! Do you have any idea how easy it was to follow you!? When I left I made sure to leave a false trail and have an alibi..." Vespera trailed off. It had suddenly occurred to her that all her careful preparation would mean precisely nil if the Imperium picked her up just by following this idiot's tracks!

"Dammit!" Vespera's expression rapidly cycled through calculation, frustration and then back to calculation as she tried to process the sudden derailment of her plans. Who was this guy anyway? He was only a little older than her and he wasn't carrying much in the way of supplies, even his robes and shoes didn't look suited for long distance walking. His shoes... Vespera brightened a bit as a new course of action presented itself to her.

"Give me your shoes," She said flatly to Gavlan, as if it was the most logical suggestion in the world.

[The Republic of Atria]

Vespera Welkynde

"Ummm... Hello!" He called out, checking around to make sure there wasn't a trap of some sort.

What was the best thing to ask? "Are you okay? You look a little nervous." And so did he most likely. She definitely wasn't a member of the border guard. Her robes had none of the markings. With any luck, she was a runaway like he was. If that were the case, then maybe she could work with him?

"H-Huh?" Without really meaning to Vespera had stumbled upon her quarry, she'd been so focused on following the tracks she hadn't realized he was right in front of her. "I'm not nervous!" snapped Vespera reflexively, her cheeks reddening slightly. Years of working with older, more experienced mages had left Vespera rather sensitive to the subject of losing her cool. "Anyway you're the one who should be nervous! Do you have any idea how easy it was to follow you!? When I left I made sure to leave a false trail and have an alibi..." Vespera trailed off. It had suddenly occurred to her that all her careful preparation would mean precisely nil if the Imperium picked her up just by following this idiot's tracks!

"Dammit!" Vespera's expression rapidly cycled through calculation, frustration and then back to calculation as she tried to process the sudden derailment of her plans. Who was this guy anyway? He was only a little older than her and he wasn't carrying much in the way of supplies, even his robes and shoes didn't look suited for long distance walking. His shoes... Vespera brightened a bit as a new course of action presented itself to her.

"Give me your shoes," She said flatly to Gavlan, as if it was the most logical suggestion in the world.

Gav almost jumped back when the woman snapped at him, insisting that she wasn't nervous, but that he was. Which admittedly was true. He was running away from the Imperium, which rarely had good results. "In my defense, I didn't exactly plan to run away today. It just sort of happened." He explained. "I got caught snooping around the Neutral Zone, which apparently that's because the higher ups don't want us to find out that not every single Techy is a murderous baby killer like we've been told." He explained and then was greeted by her commanding him to give her his shoes. Which waa obviously a strange order given the circumstances. "Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but would you kind telling me why you want my shoes? I need them for not stepping sharp things and ruining my feet in general.

The woman didn't seem like she was some sort of spy. Definitely a little frantic. He needed allies and hoped that maybe she could help. As he finished talking, he heard some commotion not too far away and saw a small group of both Techies and Magi. There wasn't any fighting that he could see, and that meant that he could have some potential allies.

[Higher Japan]

He soon got up from the darkness as he used his wand to support himself up as he eventually decided to get up and find help himself. As he got up, he coughed up more blood as his mask quickly cracked more. 'This is bad, i can't survive unless i get help." He said as he stumbled aside, knocking into some people as his mask cracked more, revealing his burned face. As he saw some people talking nearby, he tried to rush to them but fell as more blood was coughed up, barely using the wand as a walking stick. He managed to crawl to a distance where they could hear his body fall to the ground and him calling out for help as he was knocked out, but before that he had managed to call out. "Help me." Was all they would hear before seeing his barely surviving body.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

The woman heard Jaime as he began explaining his situation to her. She was slightly disappointed about the fact that he'd ignored her last few questions, but she said nothing about it. Perhaps he was unconcerned by the fighting, or perhaps he simply couldn't quite see that far. Either way, his story was interesting enough, and she found herself listening attentively, even though the tale was rather short. Before long, he explained that he was looking for someone to make sure he wouldn't just break down, and then asked her what she was doing out in the neutral zone, to which she simply smirked.

"Oh, curious about little old me, are you? Why, I'm flattered, Mr. Reaper." She said playfully as she began pacing around Jaime once again. "Well, you're a member of that scary group, but you also seem nice enough, so I guess there's no reason I shouldn't tell you. But the story of my life can wait until we're not out in the open in the middle of a warzone, don't you think? Suffice to say, I'm a renegade who developed a conscience after four years of state-sanctioned murder." She explained, her lively demeanor dulling somewhat as she ceased to pace. "I trust you won't try to attack or capture me for telling you that." She added with a smile, and offered her hand to the man. "My name's Artemis, nice to meet you. You should probably tell you my name if you want me to stop calling you Smokey... though I don't promise I'll stop."

A moment after Artemis had introduced herself, she heard a thud and a call for help, and turned in the direction of the sounds, seeing a collapsed man there. Frowning, she poked him with her weapon's cannon, wondering if he was alive, something that was confirmed by the groans her actions elicited. She wanted to help him, but she had no medical training, so instead, she looked around. Her enhanced eyesight soon spotted two figures, a man and a woman (or girl, rather), standing together and wearing Magi robes. Hoping that they could help out, she called out to them.

"Hello!" She shouted as she waved her hand in a wide arc to make herself noticeable. "You two are Magi, aren't you? Any chance that you could help out this wounded man?" She asked them, pointedly pointing at the collapsed figure of Alastor.

---

---

As he ran away in hopes of distracting the forces of the Imperium, Valerius took great care to avoid physical attacks while deliberately putting himself in the path of energy bolts in order to maintain his armor's energy supply. It was quite the difficult thing to do while retreating, but after years of fighting with his armor, he had grown accustomed to it. Soon enough, however, something surprised him: the fact that the Technocrat assassin that had recently attempted to murder his apprentice had suddenly come to his aid, picking off several troops and then proposing a plan to him before proceeding to enact it without even waiting to hear if he had any input. Surprised both by the girl's sudden desire to help and by her recklessness, the seasoned Magi sighed, shook his head, and then chased after her, reaching her before long and knocking out an approaching foe with a single blow.

"In the interest of not having you try to stab me in the back, I won't question your apparent change of heart. But if you're going to ask someone to support you from afar, it would probably be a good idea to check if they can do so in the first place." Valerius told the reckless girl as he fought off approaching troopers. "My goal was not to defeat all of these men, merely to buy time for my apprentice to evacuate some fugitives. But if you want to fight your way through them, you'll have to accept my help here, in the frontlines." He stated, before fully turning his attention to the Magi forces around him.

[Atlannia]

Vespera Welkynde

"Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but would you kind telling me why you want my shoes? I need them for not stepping sharp things and ruining my feet in general.

It was just as Vespera had thought, this guy had no plan at all sticking with him might be hazardous to her health. On the other hand, while Vespera had planned out her exit pretty well she didn't exactly know where to go from here. Besides now that this guy had seen and spoken to her it might be a problem for her if the Imperium captured him.

"Obviously I need your shoes to-" Vespera began before breaking off to listen "Do you hear that?" she asked, frowning.

"Hello!" She shouted as she waved her hand in a wide arc to make herself noticeable. "You two are Magi, aren't you? Any chance that you could help out this wounded man?" She asked them, pointedly pointing at the collapsed figure of Alastor.

Vespera narrowed her eyes to focus on the source of the voice, it was too far to make out the details clearly but she could roughly make out a two figures clad in what looked like technocracy armor clad and a prone form that definitely could be a person. Couldn't this be a trap? Didn't these people have their own healers or whatever? And even if they didn't were they really desperate enough to turn to strangers? But if there really was someone who needed help over there then walking away would just be sacrificing them for her own safety. Again.

"Forget it, keep your shoes," Vespera said to Gavlan, gritting her teeth. "It sounds like you're good at improvising so if this goes south it's up to you to get us out of this." she said, rolling up her sleeves and summoning her knight. Even with Vespera riding on its back the impressive looking creature covered the distance quickly and soon she was able to dismount and hurry over to the prone figure. Now that she was close enough Vespera could confirm that the other two people were technocracy, that armor and those strange weapons were obvious giveaways. But she could also see that the prone figure was definitely a person and still alive, barely.

"Back up, give us some space!" snapped Vespera, barely looking at the two soldiers as she knelt down by the injured man, who strangely enough looked to be wearing Imperium robes. Vespera didn't bother to dismiss her summon so the creature stood nearby, sticking close to its master and impassively staring at the two witnesses as she worked. Vespera started by simply infusing the man with healing energy, slowing his decline while she took more precise action. The man's condition was awful, he had two obvious wounds, judging from the scorch marks he'd been hit by fire, maybe running the border. But the man was also covered in hideous burns that looked much older. On top of that the man's breathing was extremely weak and labored, Vespera could also sense enchantments layered through the man's suit that seemed to be interacting with his body, possibly compensating for those old injuries.

Vespera had never really seen anything like this before, the man's fresh injuries were simple enough and in fact her infusion had more or less erased them already, but these old injuries were bizarre, Vespera wasn't a specialist healer and she doubted even most of those would be able to do anything for some of these issues, Vespera also didn't know enough about enchanting to fix the suit. As a stop gap measure Vespera simply summoned barriers over the holes in the suit and mask, they weren't particularly strong compared to standard barriers but they were airtight, Vespera had used them on the frontlines from time to time to staunch bleeding. With relief Vespera noted the man's breathing seemed to improve as soon as the suit and mask became airtight.

"Not getting away from me that easily," Vespera muttered to herself with a tight little smile. She was reasonably confident the man wouldn't die in this state and the recent injuries were all but healed. However the barriers Vesper had put up weren't permanent solutions, as soon as they came down she suspected her patient would go back to asphyxiating.

"You," said Vespera, looking up from her patient to find Gavlan. "Know anything about enchanting?:

[The Republic of Atria]

Jaime

"Yeah. I joined them before I knew they were a bunch of psychos who shouldn't be allowed out in the open, let alone being used as soldiers." He replied keeping an eye on the woman pacing around him. "My name is Jaime. But you can call me smoky." He replied with a half smile. He was trying to distance himself from the group he had all but abandoned, and was about to continue when they came upon an injured man who appeared to be a technocrat, along with two Magi. An obviously nervous male, and a female. He was about to speak up and try to help the injured man, but before he could the female, named Vespera had summed what appeared to be some sort of stone which carried her to the man and she got to work healing him. His wounds were fixed in a fraction of the time that it would have take the technocrats. Which was actually just who he was looking for. As he was about to actually ask her if she could help him out with his "condition" he was interrupted by some very loud alarms and lights coming from the tech side of the wall.

Loud alarms. Ones he hadn't heard in years. The last time they were heard was when... There was fighting in what was now the Neutral Zone. "Oh... Damn that isn't good." He muttered looking at the lights scanning the zone, stopping on a small group of people fighting in the distance that he manages to overlook. "They probably found out that I wasn't out here hunting Magi. And those people over there fighting probably aren't doing us any favors." Just as he finished, gunfire could be heard, with rounds of bullets and energy weapons striking around the zone. "This isn't good!"

Gav

Why does she want my shoes so badly?! He thought to himself. Gav was about to get his answer when he was cut off by Vespera telling him to nevermind it. Which served to annoy him further as she ran off to help an injured techie. It actually surprised him that she didn't even hesitate to help him even though he was from the supposed enemies. Just as he was thinking she managed to interrupt his train of thought by asking if he knew anything about enchanting. "I-I Yes." He stammered. "I'm a Sentinel. I can do a bit of everything. Why, what did you need?" He was pretty young compared to the group of people around him, having barely just completed his training. Just as he asked, several spotlights from the Techies' side shined around the zone, missing the group that he was with but stopping on a few people fighting in the distance. Followed by loud alarms. He recalled hearing them before when he was young. It was the Techies signal for fighting in the Neutral Zone.

Which did nothing to help calm him down. He could practically feel his blood pressure rise when he saw a bright yellow light shoot into the sky from the Magi side. Yellow meant trouble around the border. Meaning there were going to be Magi swarming the place in just a few minutes. From the expression on Jaime's face, and the sounds of gunfire, Techies were definitely going to be there as well. "We have to get out of here!"