Two armadas of airships and flanking creatures face off in the area surrounding the floating sky island that holds what sparked this whole war. The mountains of Kilmanjar pass slowly below, as Fetiss drifts southward … once again swinging toward Xenea. Will it pass into the Forbidden Zone over the City of Hands this time? Or will it be just another feint? Regardless, it looks like both sides are bent on deciding the fate of the floating island and its dangerous cargo.

Banners and sails bear the emblems of many nations. On the one side, Rephidim, Gallis, Chronotopia … and even a ship from Sylvania, some Titanian mercenaries, and an assortment of craft flying the symbol of a hand bearing the sign of "Star".

On the other, there are the banners of the Golden and Silver Serpents of most of the Nagai territories, and the Red Dragon-Serpent of Jadai. There are also the prickly craft of Ashdod, some of them bearing the symbol that once represented the Eye of the Sabaoth … now the "Eye of Babel". There is also a motley assortment of craft that don't look to be of Nagai manufacture, but still fly the Serpent flags … some of them joined by variations on the skull-and-crossbones and mercenary company emblems. And, of course, that inevitably means that there are Titanians on both sides of the conflict.

The Intimidator brings its considerable guns to bear, but Fetiss itself has many weapons and a more stable (if less mobile) platform. As formidable as the Intimidator may be, it is far more likely of the two to fall out of the air, given sufficient damage. The flagship steadily approaches the sky island, its host of lesser airships and flying beasts serving to protect it against the defenders of the island, so that it can get close enough to bring its heavy weapons to bear on the island's emplacements and bunkers.

Already, spells fly free, showing that the declared neutrality of the Collegia Esoterica hasn't rendered this battle magic-free. On the one hand, Rephidim has suffered from that agreement, since most of the mages of the central College have no particular allegiance to the Temple, and are the leading proponents of neutrality and peace amongst the Colleges. The Nagai have suffered far less, having a great deal more racial and national pride defining their identities more so than their status as members of the Mages' Guild. The shamans of the City of Hands have helped to balance out this shortcoming, at least in part … but even at this distance, before the airships had a chance to exchange shots, many mages have fallen on both sides to unseen attacks.

The air seethes with conflicting emotions, as mind mages seek to fill their enemies with gloom, and embolden their allies. Many of the Rephidimite warriors have to contend with fatigue and the jitters, as there were widespread nightmares suffered over the last several nights – and any dream mage in the employ of the Temple that tried to intervene … dropped into a mysterious coma-like state. The clouds boil and threaten, as air mages wrestle for control over the elements. Chaos mages and warders on the Rephidimite side work furiously to build buffers against magic entirely – Against greater number of mages, it is sometimes best to try to cancel out such powers rather than to try to use them, in hopes that one's more "mundane" allies may be able to turn the tide by taking out a few wizards in the enemy ranks first.

Presently, even though the Rephidimite forces could easily press forward and reach the sky island in mere moments, they hold close to the Intimidator and the larger airships, and what little protection they afford. With any luck, the Intimidator may be able to take out a few emplacements on the sky island, and once the force gets close enough, charge in and take advantage of the temporarily created "blind spot", rather than risk getting picked off at a distance out of the air.

Similarly, the Nagai forces hold close to the fortress and its shell of protection, mostly clustered in a group directly facing the Intimidator, with other defensive forces positioned around the perimeter, top and bottom of the sky island, to respond to smaller, faster threats.

Shadow Lance is one of many Knights Templar units in the air. Vague has recovered from the assault on Safar, and has taken part in many other clashes with the Nagai and their allies in the time since then. Silhouette looks strangely serene in the face of the formidable opposition, calmly accepting this, even though this mission has been kept in such secrecy that even the Lancers were not made aware of their objective until scant moments before … all part of a desperate measure to thwart attempts to scry their plans. Given the massive force gathered at Fetiss, it would seem that this may well have been in vain.

Shade is with the group this time, rather than being anchored to one of the airships. Her armor is decked out with talismans, feathers and symbols, and her rakhtor is decorated in curious fashion as well. Like the others in her group, she has been equipped with bullets of silver and Abaddonian iron for her gunblade, and bolts for her crossbow fashioned of thistlebark and cedar. She also carries many holy symbols and vials of holy water, and every weapon and piece of armor has been blessed. To top it all off, she holds something faintly glowing in one hand, which leaks little tendrils of mist that get caught by the wind, forming a comet's tail from her hand. Would that the whole of Rephidim's forces could be so prepared, but Shadow Lance has a very special purpose: to deal with magical, paranormal opposition.

Eclipse looks grimly at the battle around him as he steers his mount through the choppy air. He understands his purpose and buries himself in it for now… his eyes scan the skies for any mages that seek to do battle with Rephidim's forces while he waits for the opening below.

Shots are lobbed between the Intimidator and Fetiss … most of those fired from Fetiss missing their mark, or being withstood by the remarkable armor of the flagship's hull … and most of those from the Intimidator hitting random spots on the sky island without causing visibly significant damage.

A few forms break away from the Nagai mass, and fly forward. They look like serpents … flying somehow without aid of wings. They're about the size of large Nagas, and there is a flight of about six of them.

"If we could drop a flare and give the guns a focus to hit, it might do more damage than shooting wild – AWK!" The Lancer's hands tighten on the reins. "I think our first wave is coming. Shade, do you know what those things are?"

A quick sign of Shade's hands forms, "Chigai."

Eclipse nods and loads a thistlebark shot into his crossbow. "These are ours. Try shooting them first before you resort to other weapons. Ready?"

Silhouette and Vague nod. Shade looks like she's concentrating, but her rakhtor is still keeping in formation with the group.

"Remember to protect Shade. She'll probably be the one the snakes try to kill first." Eclipse raises his crossbow and begins to aim at one of the Chigai as his mount flies in closer.

As the Shadow Lance breaks away to intercept the Chigai, the rest of the forces are drawing within engaging distance of each other, and some of the airships are lobbing ballista bolts and other projectiles back and forth. The odds of actually hitting a mark at this range are fairly slim, but the defending forces are a bit more densely packed than the attackers … and this, if nothing else, encourages the defenders to spread out, or else make one big happy target.

The Chigai are more readily seen now, looking like pale, putrid serpents, whose flesh rests uneasily on knobby bones, with coils that are a bit kinked and irregular in their curves, but still moving with an unnatural fluidity. Each one of them has a single clawed hand protruding from the chest, rather than two arms that a Naga would have.

Eclipse keeps his crossbow at the ready. "Silhouette, let me know if you can see an opening in the battle on the ground. I don't want to risk suicide but I doubt that most of the mages are in the air with us, we may have to go to ground sooner than the others to keep them from being scorched by fireballs or to stop more monsters from appearing."

Silhouette nods. "Nothing yet. We haven't gotten into the thick of it yet! Just some opening salvos."

"How far are we from the City of Hands?" the Lancer scrawks.

Silhouette scrawks, "We aren't even in Xenea yet. We're still on the fringes of Kilmanjar. Any further in, though, and we'd be swept up by the foul weather in these parts. The air mages are having a heyday as it is, trying to encourage it to get worse! The mountains pretty much give us an aerial 'wall' to the north. Not that we're short on maneuvering room as it is."

The Chigai continue to draw closer. They're now at maximum crossbow range. It does not appear that they carry any weapons, and they do not appear to be moving as fast as the rakhtors.

Eclipse focuses on his aiming again. "Do you know anything about the land below us? Is it populated or just wild lands?" As he realizes that the serpents are in range, he takes his first shot, hoping to bring down one of the creatures before they come within hand to hand range.

From the Nagai ranks, a cloud appears to be moving forward … a brightly colored cloud … a swarm of creatures with rainbow feathers … Creens!

Eclipse darts his head in the direction of the Creens, examining them for oddities or touches of magic while he reloads his crossbow.

At this range, most wouldn't have a chance of making the shot, considering that both the attacker and target are in movement, and the target is smaller than a rakhtor. Add that to the fact that this is at maximum range… Eclipse's shot misses its mark, but he still comes pretty close. If it were rakhtor-sized, he would have hit something.

Silhouette tries the same shot, taking a little longer to fire. Her bolt pegs the lead Chiga … which explodes in a burst of ichor!

"They must be trying to draw fire with the Creens. Hopefully they'll also cloud the shots for the Nagai as well." Eclipse brings his crossbow up again and focuses on one of the rear Chigas, since Silhouette aimed for one of the front ones.

By now, the range has closed a bit, within long range of the crossbows. Unless the lance specifically pulls to the side to slow their rate of gain, it looks like they'll be upon the Chigas within the amount of time that each of them might be able to load and fire three shots each or so.

Eclipse's shot this time pierces the chest of the rear Chiga, causing it to explode in a burst of ichor. The other serpents continue, though the remaining four spread out from each other.

Vague and Silhouette fire off shots, but both of them miss.

"Keep back. I'd rather take them down with bolts than fight them. We don't need to get maimed this early in the battle if we can help it." Eclipse reloads his crossbow and prepares to take another shot.

Silhouette nods. "No sense taking them in close combat, right!" she scrawks. She turns to the side, while Vague turns the other way, the group circling around the Chigai rather than coming much closer.

Eclipse keeps close to Shade in case they face a surprise attack. His crossbow ready, he aims for one of the central Chigai this time and fires another shot.

Another Chiga explodes under Eclipse's bolt. Silhouette manages to perform an impressive feat, spearing two at once with a single shot! Vague's crossbow, however, splits asunder as he fires! "Yah!" he cries.

That leaves just a single Chiga making its way forward.

The Vartan lancer prepares another bolt, but keeps it held, instead making an "after you" gesture to Silhouette and sweeping his hand towards the final Chiga. ( She's at a better range to hit it than I am, and in case she misses, I can fire my bolt off after I've had a moment to aim. )

Silhouette's shot launches out at the remaining Chiga, but only clips it. This, however, seems to be sufficient, as the wound spurts dark ichor, and finally the whole thing shrivels and falls downward like a popped balloon-melon.

Eclipse pulls his rakhtor around slowly and checks on the larger battle behind him and what effect the Creens seem to be having upon it.

The Creens are basically serving no tactical purpose other than to obscure and to die by the scores, it seems. It doesn't appear that they're fitted with any weapons, or serve any real purpose other than as a distraction. The ships now close within striking distance, and the rest of the fliers on the decks launch.

"Time to find our next target," the Lancer scrawks. "Shade, do you sense any more spirit creatures or mages?"

Shade quietly nods, and points to the fore. As she does so, Cobalt Lance roars past, flying to intercept a flight of Eeee warriors. (Their sound weapons are fairly effective against Eeee en masse.)

To the fore, some specks can be seen, breaking off from another flight group, heading directly for Shadow Lance.

Eclipse squints at the specks, his hand dropping to place his crossbow back in its harness and grip his gunblade as he tries to define the shapes better.

The specks resolve themselves into a cluster of perhaps twenty dimly glowing, semi-skeletal fliers, their little wings beating rapidly, and their serpentine tails trailing puffs of mist in their wake. They are presently out of bowshot, but making pretty good speed toward the Lancers. At this pace, there should be enough time to load weapons before they get into range, and to fire once or twice before they get in close, but there's no way to hit them by traditional means and take all of them out before they overwhelm the Lancers, if they're still there when the monsters arrive.

"Shade, Silhouette… any tactical suggestions? We could hit them with some of the gunblade shots and the explosions could destroy more of them, but I'd rather not waste it on what might just be a nuisance sent to make us waste ammunition." The Lancer's head turns to glance at the larger battle around him as he considers his options.

Shade signs, "They are real threats. Their claws ignore armor. They have no potency at range, but considerable speed and agility. They have limited ability to become non-corporeal to pass through obstacles, but are still harmed by weapons."

Silhouette scrawks, "I suggest we change course and find out if they're coming for us, or aiming at a target behind us. Then we can decide who they're a threat to, and that may affect our priorities."

Shade has eaten up a certain amount of time with her signs. It's doubtful she'll have time for another such "speech" before it's too late to make any use of the information one way or the other.

Eclipse nods. "Good plan. If we're the target or they're attacking a Rephidim target then I have an idea. When we charge them, I want us to dismount and give the rakhtors the order to defend themselves. Maybe having eight targets when they thought there were only four may confuse them long enough for us to destroy them." He gives his reins a pull and begins to alter his mount's flight.

Shade nods approvingly, and Silhouette fires a quick salute. The rest of the Shadow Lance follows Eclipse's suit, veering off to the side.

It takes only a moment for Eclipse's keen eyes to discern a change in course of the pack of creatures. They move in unison, all of them turning to face the Lance's new location. There is no discernible target of note beyond the Lance that could coincidentally be their objective.

"They're coming for us! Use gunblades." The Vartan lancer trains his weapon on the center of the cluster of bone snakes and fires, hoping to do as much damage as possible before the swarm hits.

The shot "hits" the cloud, but in this split instant, there is no immediate visual report as to whether the Lancer managed to take out any targets. The others have similar results, for all that can be told. For whatever it's worth, the swarm does not seem any smaller at the moment, and still approaches.

"Shade… can you dispel them? I don't know if your abilities work while you're on rakhtor-back. If you think you can dispel them then fly back and let the three of us keep them busy." Eclipse readies his sword. "Vague, Silhouette… you know what to do. Don't cluster together and let them come to you Stay apart enough to use your wingblades."

Shade nods. "Held dispel. Short range." She then soars straight for the cluster, while Vague and Silhouette break apart, distancing themselves from each other, Vague on the right, Silhouette on the left.

The Vartan lancer kicks his rakhtor upwards so he can fly slightly above the Savanite. He keeps his distance for now, waiting to see how the mage's dispel manages before he dives into the swarm.

As Shade plunges into the swarm, about half of them converge upon her … and about half of that number immediately evaporate into steamy trails. Of those that didn't react so quickly, almost as many are destroyed. In the end, there are now few enough to count, that being an even dozen, five of which are falling upon Shade – though she goads her rakhtor, evidently not planning on taking them all on solo in close combat if she can manage it. She slashes with her wings, but doesn't manage to catch any of the terrors just yet.

Eclipse starts to drop his mount in behind Shade, kicking the bird to get it to squawk and attract the spirit's attentions. As he drops he snatches up his crossbow and tries to shoot down one of the creatures, trying for a target that doesn't put Shade in his shot as well.

The shot pegs one of those close to Shade, digging through its semi-corporeal form and sending it hurtling downward, bleeding ghostly vapors and shrieking horribly.

Four other monsters leap upon Shade and tear at her rakhtor. One tears into her mounting, and the saddle falls sideways! Shade, rather than catching herself with her wings, folds them in and plummets like a dart, as the rakhtor panics and thrashes about.

Silhouette somehow manages to do that "two with one shot" trick again, taking down two more monsters, but they are on the fringe, not amongst the group harassing Shade. Vague likewise takes out one of the fringe monsters, not risking hitting the panicked rakhtor or its rider.

That leaves four monsters winging away from Shade and fanning out amongst the three Lancers, while three seem split on whether to tear into the rakhtor or pursue Shade.

Eclipse leaps from his mount and shoots forward into the cloud, trying to cut straight through them and out the other side. At the very least he'll present the beasts with another target and get them off of the mage's bird.

One of the creatures rips into a saddlebag … and then explodes. It must have touched something potent. Some holy symbols, candles and powders rain out. Another intact bag falls as well.

Shade, meanwhile, shoots down out of the squabbling monsters, leaving only one that pursues her, and the other that harasses her rakhtor.

Meanwhile, three more explosions hint at the fates of more of the monsters. A fourth one wings after Eclipse.

The Vartan Lancer swings his flight around and takes a swing at the creature chasing him with his sword as he flies to Shade's mount.

*SHAKT* crunch PAFT Well, that was easy. With a few wingbeats, Eclipse catches up with the rakhtor, since it has really only been flying in circles (in a loose use of the term), trying to beat off its nasty pursuer.

Eclipse swings out at the last little beast pestering the Rakhtor.

*crunch* So much for that wretched imp. Below, there is another burst, as the lone plummeting Lancer has taken care of her solitary and overconfident pursuer … but now has quite a distance to climb to rejoin the battle.

Eclipse grips the rakhtor's reins and tries to calm the bird down. "Silhouette… try to meet her halfway. Someone might decide to take a shot at her while she's separated."

Something buzzes in Eclipse's mind. Not that there hasn't been plenty of that already. But there's something magical happening, close by.

The rakhtor calms down a bit … but it looks as if it has been gashed pretty badly, and appears to have fatigued itself greatly in its panic.

The Vartan tenses. "Something's happening! Everybody, get ready… I feel magic." He quickly pulls the surviving saddlebags from the rakhtor and then gives it a swat, sending the injured bird back to the Intimidator while he tries to pin down the source of the disturbance.

From the ground below, a large, glossy, black form rises … a great Naga, seemingly carved from obsidian, and holding a blade of like material. From its back radiate several spikes, long and twisted, reminiscent of the curious structures sticking out from the undercarriage of Eeee airships. It flies without aid of wings … unless the curious spires on its back can be counted as such.

Shade, directly above the serpentine Goliath, hastily beats her wings to pull away from it.

The Vartan drops his gaze to the ground looking for signs of the great beast's controller as he flies back to his own rakhtor.

The caster does not immediately present him-, her- or itself. The obsidian Goliath, meanwhile, shoots upward in a burst of movement … then makes a swipe at Shade.

Shade tries to evade, but to no avail. Splinters of armor fly, and the winged cheetah falls, spiraling downward toward the wilderness below.

Gunblade shots ring out. Two shells hit the creature's stone hide, and with resounding cracks, splinters of obsidian fly from the impacts, leaving visible craters … but not slowing the Goliath down.

Eclipse sets his rakhtor on a power-dive after the cheetah. "Silhouette! Vague! Focus on its arm! Make it drop that weapon! I'll try to get Shade!" He takes a shot at the Goliath as he plummets.

The shot hits, striking the creature's torso. In similar fashion, it makes a dent in the surface, but so far it seems to be only superficial damage.

As Eclipse dives toward Shade, the Goliath appears to be moving to intercept the Lancer.

Eclipse tears open the mage's saddlebags and drops them towards the Goliath, hoping to cause some damage to the beast while he fumbles to reload his weapon.

The Goliath seems to be too stupid to realize the saddlebags for a threat. They rain upon its head, and at the impact, explosions obscure it for a moment. When the vapors clear, there are many craters in the thing's head, making it now a concave shape. It is obvious now that the being is not wholly constructed of obsidian, but that there is a thick shell, with "veins" of some glowing mineral serving as its core, now exposed to the air. The Goliath now closes on the Lancer…

Eclipse leaps from his rakhtor and fires his final shot into the exposed section of the Goliath. ( Reminds me of Abaddon, although there's nothing so obvious as a hose… )

The shell hits the exposed crystal "vein", and triggers an explosion that takes off a large portion of the thing's obsidian head. Still, the headless obsidian monstrosity appears to still be functional, needing not such trivialities as a brain or eyes… or a face, for that matter.

The obsidian blade sweeps in at Eclipse…

The Vartan Lancer raises his weapon to parry, his wings fluttering to dart backwards.

Eclipse parries as skillfully as one could ever hope to deflect the blow of a giant. Fortunately, he is airborne, and thus a considerable amount of the force translates into the Vartan being knocked backward. However, the impact is considerably jarring, with enough force that would have instantly killed most men.

The Lancer gurgles as he feels his bones creak under the impact. He recovers as best his bruised wings can manage and then swings around to get to get behind the beast. "Fire at the core!" Eclipse scrawks out to the other two lancers as he loads another round into his own weapon.

Bits of obsidian explode on the neck of the statue and one of the spikes on its back breaks. The statue wavers for a moment, but then it resumes its pursuit of Eclipse.

The Lancer pounds his wings against the air and tries to maneuver well enough to see the creature's back. "Forget the core! Hit its back!" He swallows and fires his weapon at the spikes.

Another sweep of the obsidian blade cuts through the air, but this time the Lancer manages to evade the swing … and get around to the back, putting some distance between himself and the flying statue.

*crack* Another spike breaks free, this one severed closer to the base. The statue wavers, dipping several feet. And then two more shots ring out … but they miss their marks. Silhouette and Vague reload for another go.

The statue-thing is still flying … but lopsidedly, and not climbing nearly so quickly now.

Shade, meanwhile, continues her tumble toward the trees, spinning like a falling maple leaf.

Eclipse reloads as well and fires a final shot at the creature's back as he tries to power-dive past the Goliath to catch the fallen Lancer. "Keep it busy and fly upwards! It'll be slow to pursue and you can take out those back spikes a lot easier!"

The creature is far too slow to have a chance to intercept Eclipse, and he's even worse off as Eclipse's parting shot nicks another obsidian spike. Vague and Silhouette take the time to reload and take greater care with their shots… As Eclipse heads down, he hears another explosion, and the sound of shattering obsidian … and then the flying statue … is no longer flying!

The Lancer grins to himself as he tucks his wings against his body. Now the only obstacle is to grab Shade before the statue smashes into her.

Eclipse's body cries out in protest … but he manages to overcome the pain. Shade's half-unfurled wings slow her descent somewhat, though a landing could well kill her. At last, Eclipse reaches her … and even with her armor and his wounds, she's light enough to be carried.

The falling statue, however, is another matter, rushing downward, trailing sparks and splinters of obsidian.

The moment Shade is in his grip, Eclipse snaps his wings outwards and turns his dive into an upwards curving ascent. ( Well, if whomever controlled that beast is down there they'll have to contend with a shower of obsidian spikes falling on their heads, if the statue doesn't land on them instead. )

Above, the battle is in full bloom, explosions marking the sky island. Despite the impressive armada gathered, it looks as though the Imperial coalition is already breaking ranks. The mercenaries, of course, are the first to go.

The Violet Lancer flies back up to rejoin his companions and set the wounded mage on the back of his own mount. "Time to get back to the ship. We need to lick our wounds and get Shade to a healer before more creatures get sent our way." He dips his head as he settles into the saddle. "You were both excellent. We'll win this war yet."