Fire ringed the portal entrance and bored into the dimensional plane. When the cracks between dimensions split, the fire burst through and slammed into the shield. There was an inferno, it ripped at the air and shields were doing a good job of stopping the fire but the temperature was still rising uncontrollably.
When the breach had widened, figures dressed in black swarmed through. They lifted long metal rods and pointed them in all directions like a hedgehog, filing through the entrance. More of them marched through and knelt down, they had their rods pointed at anyone in front of them.
Beazel made a move, he raised his hand toward the group of soldiers.
Spellcircles appeared over the end of the metallic rods, charges flowed up the shafts and concentrated multi-colored beams fired. The beams impacted the shields and it was still under the pressurized flames from the fire that was sweeping through the entrance.
The Dimensional Barrier had been perforated and the rapid fire from the soldiers were weakening the barriers that protected the enemy in front of them.
One of the soldiers that had come through, he grabbed a device on his shoulder and spoke. "Sir. We've breached, no casualties, I have life signs and visual confirmation on the Dragon. We are currently engaging the Locals in a standoff." A reply came through the device, then the Soldier dressed in black turned into a shadow and vanished from sight. Reappearing next to Vector, he placed a device on his body, Vector vanished.
"How are they using energy?" Beazel helped reinforce the shield, it surrounded the portal entrance, blocking their escape but the fire started to impact it as well, it would not hold for long.
Fire began to consume the space between the shields and the portal entrance, it grew so hot that the ground below, the white stone that had existed for tens of thousands of years began to melt. Another heavy blast pushed the shield out of the way and another figure, comprised almost entirely of fire stepped through.
"Who are you!" Denoia tried to ask.
It was an easy question but the Girls quickly pushed her out of the way. "What fucking took so long!?" Vira pushed through the crowd and stopped behind the shield.
Ying Qingchi was focusing on the figures in front of her, she saw the girls from their group and directed her fire to split them from the others.. "Come on.. I can't hold them back forever."
"STOP!" Mursayade yelled at Qingchi and put her hand on Denoia's shoulder. "Stop."
Beazel was ready to strike, he held a glowing object.
Denoia waved her hand and a large white ring slammed down around them. After it landed, the portal itself had time to recover and the membrane began to reseal.
"Explain quickly." Denoia's expression was definitely not a patient one.
Qingchi withdrew her flames. "Cease fire." She spoke only once but all of the soldiers stopped firing. "Initiate Objective 3!" Nine of the soldiers that had come turned into shadows and disappeared from the group.
"What is the meaning of this?" Denoia used her energy to speak loud enough to penetrate all the shields present in the plane. No individuals in the hidden space had a chance to miss her words, they spread in every direction and came down from the sky as if they had been spoken by a god.
"Don't play your manipulative techniques on me. I know better. Use your inside voice or we will attack." Qingchi spread out four wings of fire from her back, she was serious and unwilling to back down. "Prepare to concentrate your fire, start with the woman in white. On my command."
"You four, what trouble have you brought to our sanctuary!" Denoia was becoming furious, she absolutely could not tolerate the situation.
"Release them now, or we will lay waste to this place." Qingchi looked at the rest of the Stealth Corp that had made it through the portal before it had closed. "Agent Hiano, Secure the surroundings and mark targets, Infantry, prepare to fire." More than a hundred soldiers had swarmed through the breach.
Kuzunoha slapped Denoia in the face. "You're not helping. Release us now."
Denoia's shock at Kuzunoha was immeasurable. She stood with her mouth open for a moment and then Evinate woke up.
"Lower your shields, right now.. or else." Qingchi was not going to negotiate.
Evinate waved his hand and tore the shield down. He waved it again and Qingchi's energy was stamped out. Her fires were doused like they had been a lie and only after the fire had stopped did he choose to speak, "Its unlikely that outsiders would come here in full force without reason, hear what they ask.. then judge the situation." Evinate was struggling to recover, he looked like he had been stabbed but there was no blood.
Qingchi turned toward the cinders that were snuffed out. 'Hmmph.' She snorted loudly and pulled a rifle from her storage ring. She pointed the weapon at Evinate, "Cheap tricks that only work here.. don't worry, we're familiar with abilities like this.. I'm running out of patience, release our people now or else." She pulled back the charger and slammed a cartridge into the base of weapon, then, she started to count down.
"10" Qingchi spoke and every soldier present raised their weapons.
It would be impossible to withstand so many attacks, Evinate had some control over the area but most of his abilities and methods of control were wide area effects. He could cut off energy sources and even silence their voices but the weapons that the soldiers were holding seemed unaffected by his power.
"9" Qingchi watched the lights build up on the exterior of the rifle, spell circles began to form outside of the barrel and layer atop each other.
"8" More of the soldiers postured to fire, they took a step forward.
"7" Qingchi would not negotiate, Vector had been located, he was unconscious and suffering. Additionally, her Uncle was no where to be seen. "Do you really want to turn this into a blood bath?"
"5" Soldiers saw Qingchi's resolution, when she spoke, she raised her voice.
"Evinate, stop this nonsense, kill these primates now." Beazel seemed ready to fight, he grit his hands so tightly that blood began to flow.
"SILENCE!" Evinate waved his hand, he muted the residents of the dimensional space.
"You.. What purpose brings you here!" Evinate glared at Qingchi and clutched at his ribs.
"3" Qingchi pointed the rife directly at Evinate's head. "We've already told you, we came for our people. Think faster or you can all die."
"2" Qingchi spit out the word like she was preparing to fight to the death.
"Release them... now." Evinate felt ridiculous when he waved his hand and a white beam came down. The Beam surrounded the residents and took them away, they reappeared a few hundred feet away and scattered. Beazel, Denoia and Nenoize were kept in place. Their forces had been separated. "Now, stop your posturing and threats... Or 'I' will lose my patience."
"Works for me, now.. Explain, or we will destroy this place and everyone in it." Qingchi watched the girls come over. "Empresses, Are you alright?"
Mursayade was the first to speak, "Where did the Stealth corp take Vector?"
"He's in the Starlit Dimension. Its the best healing place we have."
"Take me and Nenoize there now." Mursayade pleaded with Qingchi and grabbed Nenoize's arm. "Please." Mursayade took the crusher from Kuzunoha's hands.
"Klorin." Qingchi called out the soldier who was responsible for retrieving Vector. "See to it."
Klorin placed the device on Mursayade and she vanished, "Now you."
"How can you use energy in this place?" Evinate put his hands inside of his robes and asked.
"Its a secret." Qingchi pointed the rifle barrel at Evinate, "Stop asking questions and answer mine.. Why did you kidnap our people?"
"Kidnap? You're mistaken." Evinate waved his hand and a brought a pillar of white down on everyone. They were instantaneously moved to the main temple building. "This will suit our discussion more appropriately."
"Our Queen has asked you a question, I suggest you answer it." Klorin pointed his rifle at some of the others as a show of force but Qingchi flagged him down.
"Explain and know this, all lies are meaningless. Answer my first question now, then, explain yourselves." Qingchi brought out a throne and as it landed, it made a booming noise that spread through the temple.
She sat down.
Evinate cocked his head and made a duplicate of her throne to sit across from her, it appeared and a second thud spread throughout the temple. "Now. To answer your first question, I am Evinate, I control this space and everything within it. I can even suppress people's abilities. As with all who control a realm, damage to a realm is damage to ones self. We did not kidnap your people, they appeared in a sacred space that hid our sanctuary. When we saw them, there was some suspicion as to their identities."
"Identities?" Qingchi laughed.
"Yes. You see, our people have been waiting for the Creator's return. Our world was split many thousands of years ago over this same idea. Custodians everywhere began to fight and the world itself was nearly destroyed in the process. We gave up breeding at the top levels to stop the fighting but it only lasted a while." Evinate continued to tell the stories that led to the great war and the battle at Glacier Peak.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Nenoize blinked when Klorin pressed the device to his head.
In that moment he had been transported from one place and into another. It caused him to gasp in shock, there were things mortals were suppose to be incapable of doing. In front of his eyes however, there were many thousands of objects floating overhead and the space was surrounded by pillars of fire.
Wild energies that should have been clashing and distorting the space around them were confined and flowing like crystalline bottom rivers.
The pillars sparkled in Nenoise's eyes and then they refocused and Vector's body could be seen, he was suspended midair and a ring of light whirled below him. Runes of many colors continually collapsed in on themselves and repeated. Energy channels fed the runes and the pillars fed the energy channels while they rotated in unison.
The whole site was magnificent and mesmerizing, Nenoise smacked his lips and walked up to the Ice Dragon's body. He placed his hand onto Vector's fore-claw and probed. "We need to act fast, or we'll be in serious trouble."
"We?" Mursayade seemed confused but eager to help.
"Yes, I don't know what all of this stuff is, someone has to operate it. I will do my best to remove the Storm Crow Core first but there will be discharges, I cannot guarantee our safety in this place." Nenoize turned translucent and passed into Vector's body.
"Wait! I don't know how to run any of this!" Mursayade looked around until she found a control panel. On the face of the layout, functions were listed and clearly marked. "Oh thank you Munju." She had seen these controls in Misozi's cockpit many times.
"Initiating Scan." A robotic voice sounded when Mursayade touched the controls.
A holographic representation of the entire Starlit Dimension came into view. 'Holy shit.' Mursayade was impressed with the display but it was only a boost to her confidence and didn't actually help Vector. "What is this place suppose to be?"
"Dragon Queen Mursayade, authorizing... … … Access Granted." The control system sounded, "The Starlit Dimension is a Private Sect research and development site, it is marked as a Top Secret. This facility houses the most up to date medical facilities known to the Empire. Initiating Isolation Formation, Preparing for Emergency Energy Venting."
"Targeting. Absorption panels realigning. Executing." A number of large steeles, much larger than Vector appeared in front of him. His body jerked and a wild, blinding light shot out of his mouth. As it impacted the steeles, the energy flowed and transferred, forming another pillar on the outer ring. The system notified Mursayade. "New Pillar Creation, Command function, 6-092 override."
"What is going on?" Mursayade felt helpless in front of the panel but she could at least see what was happening.
"Target has four abnormalities. Identifying." The control system kept giving its updates.
"Target Auras identified, Isolating and producing imagery... loading." The hologram shifted its prospective, it showed Nenoize inside of Vector's body.
"One addition a life form present within the body, two active energy sources are competing for domination with subject's original core. Eliminate?"