Flock vs Swarm: Donovan and Xian attempt Flock Quest (28/08/2403)

As the massive nine man Mercenary squad arrived in the area, they would find the handiwork of the Tyranis that had been through there.  This particular area still had remnants of Terran buildings from the fusion and a very low population in general, no doubt one of the main reasons why the military had not moved in an dealt with the nuisances.  As they had learned, the Tyranis Flock had been genetically enhanced, multiplying their upper body strength and the power of their blade like wings considerably.  Unfortunately, to give the creatures the mental attributes necessary to effectively utilises these weapons, their aggression traits also had to be modified along with their target identification systems, which were just generally widened.  This simply made them more dangerous all around.

Xian was not able to gather much information about a difference in their feeding habits however, so he assumed that like the ‘wildtype’, these modified creatures were not very picky eaters, consuming whatever they could come into contact with and had the capacity to swallow.  That was bad news for the local pest species which the decay city harboured but good news for Xian, as he began to construct his ‘meals on legs’ critter.  Donovan would assist with providing information while Marina provided additional energy for the task.

Xian would do his best to only attract a single bird now, something that was critical to his plan, as he sent out his mobile bait.  At first, he would find that it would be rather difficult to get the creature’s attention, and under Donovan’s advisement, he would avoid the use of the laser to attract attention to himself.  Instead he would move the creature into the view of the Tyranis and have it do a rather amusing dance, much to Donovan’s dismay.  It would not take long, but the creature would eventually get interested enough in the meal to begin its pursuit.  Xian would draw it back now as the creature gave chase with particularly impressive speed.

Luckily, its movement away from the rest of the group would not raise too much suspicion, allowing Xian to get it some distance away before springing his trap.  A Frost Edge imbued blast would hit the creature and take it down, allowing their subordinates to jump into the fray and begin the subduing process while the creature shrieked in pain.  Donovan would curse as he heard this now, sending out Rutaedes to confirm his theory.  But before the fungal growth could get very far, they would all sense the influx of Tyrani flooding into the area.  The Flock apparently consisted of six birds, two adults who were slightly stronger than Xian and Donovan, three adolescents that were on the lower Boss tier and a single player tier juevenile.  Xian had managed to attract one of the adolescents, an action that greatly enraged the two adult leaders of the flock.  Xian would barely move in time to avoid the powerful slashe of the creature’s wing blade, which left a deep scar in the earth where he stood.  Donovan would begin the summoning of a number of gambits now, but his sudden energy spike would also warrant aggressive action from the secondary adult, forcing Donovan to abort his summoning process and vanish from his location.  Their subordinates would not be so lucky however, young Marina would suffer first, being unable to get out of the way as fast as Xian, taking a double blade strike to the chest that launched her into a nearby wall.  The attack would revert the player tier channeler instantly, forcing Donovan to power up his Monstrous as he attempted to teleport her out of the fray.  This would put him in harm’s way now as he in turn took a rather well placed wing strike, drilling him into the ground and stunning him immediately.  By now, Xian had fused with his binding summon to give him a more combat oriented form, much to his fortune as he threw up a dimensional barrier, just in time to guard against a descending, scythe-like attack.  With his CAFEM at full power, he would manage to stop the strike momentarily, but it was only then that he realised just how much these creatures had been modified.  As Xian raised his hand to counter attack, his barrier shattered, allowing the critter to connect with chest and tear a hole in his external armour.  Xian’s eyes would widen as he reteated now and started the healing process, while the critter gave chase.

In his peripheral vision however, he would see Charlotte rushing toward him for healing, while beind pursued by one of the adolescent Tyranis, a creature that greatly outmatched her.  Xian cursed now as he wrapped her in a dimensional barrier and brought her to his location, before they both vanished now and appeared some distance away.  On the otherside, Donovan would finally get enough breathing room to summon his gambit swarm and flood the battlefield with energetic assaults, but it would not be before Xeke’s Will Projection was destroyed and the channeler dispatched.  Seconds later, Mina would be dispatched as well, and it was at this point that the two realised that they simply had to retreat, they would combine their dimensional abilities and warp their subordinates out of the area for their own protection.  Unfortunately, both Xeke and Mina had by now been claimed as meals by the retreating Tyrani, who now turned and fled as well.  Both channelers’ hearts skipped beats as they now gave chase.  It would not take them long to realise that they could not match speed with the creatures, forcing Donovan to compile and mount his X-4 while Xian made due with the outdated X-3.  This would aid them in closing the distance somewhat, but their pursuit only seemed to anger the two adults.  Donovan’s precognition would give him a quick tingle, allowing him to bank and avoid the swift turn that neither of them would have been able to react to.  Donovan would manage to dodge the vertical slash which connected with Xian’s X-3 and cleaved the device in half, sending Xian barrelling into the ground to be assaulted.  Donovan would spin around and summon a Gambit swarm which focused their beamlike attacks onto the adult Tyranis.  The bird would guard with both wings, but would still be buried by the sheer force of the attack, allowing Donovan to now give chase to the adolescents making their way off with his and his teammate’s subordinates.

Xian would waste no time Omega Blitzing the critter with a dimensional blast, spatially shunting it from his location to the edge of his area of influence, through every object in its way.  Even if it managed to survive the attack, Xian was sure that it would not be back to deal with him.  Xian would then make his way after Donovan, using his dimensional rifts to help him close the distance.

The two would close the distance finally, only to realise that the Tyranis had split up, each of them taking a different path.  Donovan would instantly give chase to one adolescent while Xian gave chase to another and they each summoned something to go after the other two.  The two would be horrified when they managed to catch up with their targets however, realising why the creatures had split up.  Each critter carried half of a subordinate.  Donovan Omega Blitz would flow forth naturally, a gambit in the shape of a massive hand, which exploded from his body to crush the creature that now turned to face him.  This would not dispatch the creature, but with stun it long enough for Donovan to focus monstrous on tearing it apart in his rage.

Xian would have a similar reaction, but no Omega Drive left.  He would do his best to destroy the weaker Tyranis, who was actually no match for him in a one on one duel, but he would lack the destructive capacity to finish it off before it could flee.  Xian and Donovan would meet back up silently before making their way off to find the rest of their team.

Outcome: Donovan and Xian have managed to dispatch 2 Tyranis, 1 adult and 1 adolescents, while acquiring a Juevenile test sample.  3 more creatures remain at large, 1 adult and 2 adolescents.  Xeke Davenport and Mina Aiano have been killed in action.

Xian: 370 Exp
  Kasei: 220 Exp
  Charlotte: 200 Exp
  Xyveil:  200 Exp

Donovan: 320 Exp
  Marina: 300 Exp
  Navid: 200 Exp