In stark contrast to one another, Drake was walking with an almost eerie level of silence, while the plodding, heavy steps of the Lionkin did all that they could to invalidate that silence. They reached the bottom of the stairwell, at which there used to be a heavily fortified door, but it had been blown off its hinges, and was in a heap on the floor. The drone was flying about, showing Drake a clear view of the interior of the underground den, and there were multiple smaller rooms, dedicated to specific types of games and gambling machines. Mercenaries were in the process of not only taking out the many guards of the den, but the patrons as well, as the title of War Priest, however temporary, meant that they were nigh on invincible in this situation.
"We've got a bunch of people fighting down here." Drake said as he looked at Cory. "There are around four Mercenary Bands, and they are going at full tilt. Let's hurry – these sashes record our combat data in real time, after all."
Without waiting for any acknowledgement of any kind from this Lionkin partner, Drake turned the corner and set off immediately, dashing down the hall and moving at a somewhat surprising pace. He zoomed past the rooms that had already been taken care of, and entered a fairly large room, which had up turned roulette tables being used as cover by the ranged mercs and guards, while those of the melee persuasion were in the midst of duking it out. The room had already been torn to shreds, with holes in the walls, hanging lights that were flickering on and off, and blood and rubble all over the place. Drake raised his gun and fired a series of shots with such speed, most would have thought that he shot an automatic pistol. Almost all at the same time, the guards that were targeted flew back, their bodies twisting back from the shoulders that had been shot. This drew the attention of the Half-Elf mercs who were busy trying to provide cover enough to give their Psyches time to use their powers. The Half-Elves that were using regular weapons wasted little time in putting their weapons down, and starting to concentrate as well, a blueish glow enveloping their bodies.
"These bastards." Drake remarked as he took cover behind an overturned table. "Openly calling on their Mana, just because somebody else is here to cover them"
He said this as he popped up from behind cover and fired a few more shots. One thing about the guards, was that they were wearing Dragon-scale reinforced suits, which were VERY good at reflecting projectiles, be they bullets, arrows, or throwing weapons. Drake's bullets hit their targets, and sent those targets flying back, but this time, they anticipated the shots and took them head on, landing on their feet and sliding back. He fired off more shots, unloading the rest of the clip, before popping back behind cover. While he aiming for non-lethal vitals to simply take the beefy guards down, the suits were remarkably good at protecting them. Drake quickly reached into a pouch in his belt and pulled out a clip, before releasing the one from his gun and reloading, again with blurring speed. He cocked the gun again and this time, the areas that the bullets made contact with began to freeze as the guards stumbled back – the bullets being Cryo Rounds. Just then, two drop safes came flying into the room, with each safe hitting a guard in the face and flipping them over before hitting the ground like a wet sack. Immediately afterwards, Cory strode in confidently while sucking his teeth so loudly, there was nobody in the largish room who didn't hear him.
"Table manners, Cory." Drake chastised as he dipped back into cover. "How many times do we have to go over this? Also, this is why I didn't want you to eat before the operation. First we were late to the party, and that means we're playing second fiddle to these damn Half-Elves. I really need to get a new partner."
"Come on now, bro. When you love someone, you love them completely. Warts and all."
"Shut up and get started before those idiots unleash a power that takes everybody out, and we lose contribution points."
"You nag so much, dude." Cory chirped as he rolled his neck and his shoulders.
His arms, which were completely exposed, suddenly grew a little bigger as he clenched his fists and let out a literal roar. He then dashed forward, although his dash was less of a glide like Drakes, and more of a wrecking ball smashing through everything. Some Half-Elves who were behind cover were sent flying as the Lionkin ran through both them and their cover to get to a guard and shoulder barged him so hard, that the suit did little to obfuscate the damage. He smashed into the wall and immediately went limp as he lost consciousness, and Cory roared again before going for the next guard. The other mercs that belonged to the same Corps as the ones that Cory went through made indignant noises, but Drake simply looked at them and shrugged.
"He didn't mean to do that. Our bad."
Drake then got busy, firing Cryo bullets at guards Cory was targeting to not only knock them off balance, but slow them down, and Cory would finish them off with one shot. Despite how much was actually going on, it all barely took any time at all, and by the time the other mercs had channeled enough Mana, and were ready to unleash their powers, Cory was hemming up the last of the conscious guards, and then punched them in the gut, before tossing them aside. Drake had holstered his gun by this time, and was walking towards the Lionkin.
"We wasted enough time getting to this point, so from now on, we're running through all these rooms and clearing them quickly. Make sense, 'War Priest' Cory?"
"You don't have to fuckin tell me twice, 'War Priest' Drake." Cory said with a growl and nod.
The two then set off, running at speed to the next room.