After the Dawn (IC)

[Elyrin]

Assault Squad
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


With enemy contact imminent, the four five operators all withdrew from the elevator, moving to take cover in various positions near the base of the ramp. Santonia, Valravn, and Grapevine stayed near the front, while Grave Moss and Dust moved across to the side opposite the elevators. Though, Grave Moss had an idea...

"Bow, how many~?"

"Hell if I know. There was like twelve, fifteen? I got a couple already and they wouldn't send every- oh, hey. Good idea." Grave Moss could definitely move the vehicle by herself, but it was still heavy and the parking brake squealed in protest as the defender forced it to move against its will. "Move over, quick. Lemme help."

Surprisingly, the Vulpo was able to pull far more than her own weight. With the two working together the multi-ton transport van might as well have been a loaded shopping cart. Once the job was finished, Dust crouched down behind Grave Moss and readied an arrow.

The sounds of running came to an abrupt stop just as they rounded the corner further up the ramp. There were a few confused mutterings before someone started barking orders - in Bolivarian, presumably - and their advance slowly resumed.

The first to come into view were a shield-wielding person in winter clothing and a man in combat equipment carrying a baton. Dust, Grave Moss, and Grapevine couldn't see anyone else with the vans in the way, but Santonia and Valravn could make out a military caster and two more people in regular winter clothes, one with a crossbow and one with some one-handed melee weapon.

The two in front crept forward ever so slowly, maintaining a defensive stance all the way. They hadn't noticed anyone hiding in cover yet, but it wouldn't be long before they would have a clear line of sight to Grave Moss's bulky frame.

Battle Information

Operator Dust

Physical Strength: Excellent
Talents: Camouflage

Agent and Shield Soldier are using Defend to reduce incoming damage.

Turn Order

Santonia -> Dust -> Valravn -> Agent, Shield Soldier, Crossbowman, Authorized Caster -> Grave Moss -> Delinquent -> Grapevine

[pinetree]

Assault Squad
March 9 – 2:30 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Santonia quickly took position behind one of the pillars, taking out the radio while Grave Moss moved one of the vans to block the ramp.

"Hey Jess, we found one of your Rhodes friends and are about to engage the Bolivarian army, come on in!"

"Singy Tail, engage with Moss~"

She turned off the radio and looked towards the entrance. The van was in place, she gave Moss a nod and waited for the soldiers to come in.

---

As soon as she heard them coming in, Santonia jumped out from behind the pillar through the right and moved up, ready to attack the first enemy in sight. Only one of them was at the range of her tail, the Agent carrying the batton.
Santonia shadowboxed and her tail followed her movements, shooting at him again and again like a barrage of punches. Each swing left an increasingly thick trail of tansluscent slime that semeed to glow violet as it reflect the man's batton.
Santonia's attacks pummeled his head repeatedly, trying to poison him though the layers of winter clothing.

Chuck Toxin - 3 turn CD Santonia creates an opening by breaking the defenses of the target with a barrage of attacks, and then strikes them in the face with her toxin-coated tail. The target suffers damage and is Withered.

[Elyrin]

Assault Squad
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Hey Jess, we found one of your Rhodes friends and are about to engage the Bolivarian army, come on in!"

"Already?! And you found what? Uh, copy that! We'll be there in a minute or two!"

Reinforcements were on the way. Hopefully the enemies wouldn't have any backup of their own...

---

Santonia was the first to attack, leaping out from behind a pillar to strike at the baton wielder with her tail. He didn't have all that gear on for no reason, though. Three swift strikes were all intercepted before reaching his head or torso, though without a shield, his defense wasn't perfect. Neither was his armour; he shook his baton arm, trying to dislodge Santonia's ooze to no avail as the stinging set in.

The shield soldier meanwhile was less perceptive, noticing the attack only after his companion had been hit. He wasn't the target, at least, and he reoriented himself to face Santonia before she could strike again. Unfortunately, he wasn't facing just one enemy.

Dust crept forward, brushing past Grave Moss to get into range for the perfect shot. A regular arrow wouldn't do. In a dangerous situation against an unknown enemy... or, really, any situation against any enemy, her biggest strength was the ability to tilt the odds in her favour with a single arrow.

A resounding crack not unlike a Laterano rifle shot echoed through the parking garage, and the shield soldier was completely blown away. One moment of distraction and one arrow. That's all it took.

"Emboscada!"

The baton-wielding soldier shouted to his allies, but his voice was firm, not fearful. He was prepared for battle, and believed he still had the advantage. Once again he raised his weapon and returned to a defensive stance.

Combat Results

The Agent is hit 3 times, taking 9 damage and becoming withered.

The Shield Soldier takes 45 damage and is knocked unconscious.

Operator Dust

Combat Skill: Excellent

Lupara Bianca
Short Range, 5 turn cooldown

A finishing move meant to bring down targets in one shot. Deals a single hit of heavy damage. If the target is unaware of Dust's position or has their movement disabled by a status effect, deals critical damage and pierces armour.

[arkturus]

Operator Valravn
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Perky Bird, wait until Singy and Moss engage, stay near Grumpy Doc~"

“You got it Boss.” The liberi gave the sleepy pilosa a thumbs up before ducking behind the pillar again.

As the enemies approached, Valravn raised her staff and began channeling her arts. Flecks of gray ash swirled in the air, forming a levitating hardened spike.

She trusted the sleepy pilosa’s orders and kept hidden behind cover. The time to strike would be soon. She would wait for the heavy clunk of armored feet on concrete.

Spoiler:

Ash Arrow - 3 sp
[Long range]
A spell that materializes and launches a bolt of hardened ash at a single target to cause damage. If the initial arrow is not fired, can re-cast to summon more and send them at the first enemy unfortunate to come into the line of fire.

[Elyrin]

Assault Squad
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

The opening salvo of combat had ended, and the battle was beginning in earnest. The baton wielder who seemed to be calling the shots pulled something off a bandolier and hurled it onto the ground: a smoke grenade. He crouched down as it quickly belched out thick grey clouds that obscured vision of not only himself, but the hole in the makeshift blockade and the other men who had yet to pass through. None of the four moved to leave the smoke, but then, some of them didn't need to.

One after the other, a crossbow bolt followed by a crackling red 'spike' of energy pierced through the cloud, flying towards Santonia. The bolt went wide, instead punching through the nearby support pillar, but the Arts struck the Savra directly in the torso. Unfortunately, Blacksteel's standard-issue armour provided limited protection against most forms of Arts, and the resulting impact was like being punched straight in the stomach.

Combat Results

All enemy combatants are obscured by the cloud of smoke. Anyone performing ranged attacks into or past the cloud will have to target a square and pray.

Santonia suffers 16 damage.

Authorized Caster

Honed Bolt
Long Range, 3 SP

A standard attacking spell used by Casters with formal combat training. The basic principle can be applied to various types of Arts, and is simply about making efficient use of one's energy when attacking a single target. Has superior damage and range compared to the basic Arts attack but no special qualities.

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:06 PM
In the Belly of the Beast

Sting was a professional. He was going to be fine, right? Surely he would be completely fine.

...

Nuriel lead the team forward, following the rather convenient sign that Sting had hopefully also followed.

---

2:20 PM

The path was mostly straight, but not entirely, and the team was forced to move a bit to the left or right a couple of times along the way. A second sign confirmed they were still heading towards the power station. Now, was Sting still there? Or there at all?

The power station had clearly been visited recently, and the door had been left wide open. Inside was a man of Sting's approximate height, build, and outfit, being menaced by a single originium slug. Not just any originium slug, mind you. A rare species that the average person had probably never seen before.

Ex-Reunion, Wasteland Survivor

An Infused Originium Slug, of the glacial variety. Vitro and Nuriel were quite familiar with the creature. Vitro in more of an academic sense; it paid to know rare animals whose venoms or secretions could be useful in his work, even if he wouldn't encounter them all too often. This type in particular was known for its use of the cold, its fangs carrying an unusual venom that could cause a physical chill in its victims.

Nuriel definitely had more intimate knowledge of the animal, though. A regular originium slug wasn't dangerous. Even a child would likely be fine if they were attacked. But how many times had she seen this frigid subspecies in battle? How could she forget the sight of a swarm of the things bringing down entire squads of trained soldiers? Perhaps she had even made use of them herself.

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


Slow.

GraveMoss was slow. An indisputable fact as the sun rising in the east.

She saw the spell impacting, the enemies lashing out, the smoke grenade going off. And she couldn't get there fast enough.



The armored defender advance is also just as inevitably as the rising sun.

Each step bearing a metric ton of displeased sloth towards the billowing smoke cloud. Lance at the ready as she aims at the last position she saw the nearest target.

Moss might not be able to see the enemies, but the only warning they would have was her thunderous footsteps echoing through the concrete garage.

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


The rhythmic thud of metal slamming down on concrete was the only warning the Bolivarian squad had of a third enemy joining the fray, but really, what more warning did someone need? The tiny Vulpo wouldn't make a sound like that, and the Savra might have been rather larger, but not that large. No, that was a sound that heralded a heavy defender or some manner of fighting machine. The enemy leader shouted something, and a set of footsteps could be heard running within the smoke. No further attacks were forthcoming, though.

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Were she a few years younger, the Sankta might have sighed. Instead she just grabbed the assorted bags of gear with her free hand and moved to stand behind Valravn, still beneath the insulating field of the Liberi Caster’s drone. Ugh. It was her fault as much as anyone else’s. She had misjudged the distance at which the encounter would unfold and the caution of Blacksteel’s Operators both. No sense worrying about it now.

Movement: E(2)

She set her bags down again. She could make out the hulking shape of GraveMoss’ armor from this position, alongside the field of smoke thrown up by the alleged Bolivarian squad. Valravn was still in cover- but she was going to need a moment to slip between the vans and the pillar to cross the center of the garage if she wanted to get Santonia into range of her Arts.

[Ayakashi]

Infiltration Team - Nuriel
March 9 - 2:20 PM
In the Belly of the Beast

It's been a while since she last saw one. Nuriel visibly was shocked for a few seconds as memories from her past came flooding into her mind. A past where she indeed used to indeed to command creatures like this one, via application of her Arts. She used to take care of one as a pet too, its name was 'Nix.' How was it doing now? Was it still wandering the frozen tundras of Ursus? She used to feed it with ■■■■, and ■■■ would sometimes do dumb things like feeding it vodka. ■■■■■■■ always told them to leave Nuriel alone of course, or well, back then everyone just called her 'Sela'.

___

I̸̡͈͉̲̱̗͛̈̆̉t̸̗̣̗͑̋̽̆͂͆̂ ̴̡̟͉͈̋̍ẘ̶̡̢͔̦̉͊ͅa̴͉̰͎̣͉̤̤̅̇̓̒̄͆͝s̸̨̠̘̦̬̈́̈́́̐̓́ ̡͕ ̸͚̼͍͑̄͝t̶̨̖͖̟̹̱̅̑̃̈́͆ḩ̶̦͖̮̲̰̪̉́̽͑͌̅ė̴̛̬͚͐̈́̆ ̵̗̮̙͖͉̠́͗̇n̷̦̻̰̥̂̇̚ä̸̧͔̰̲͕̞̩́̓͗̕͝m̸̬͕͕̼͑e̷̮͎̓̀̐̇̕͘ ̞͙̲̠ ̵̨̠̯̮͈̫͒̉͐́͛̃͠ţ̴̟̽̾ǒ̷̱̮̰̦̘̃̐̀̈́́̕ő̷̢̞̙̟̰̬͗͛̾͆͝͠, ̷̬͚͈̖͇͌͜ ̸͇̲͑̀̆̚t̸͚̖͉̖̼́̎h̸̠̉a̵̘̼̣͑̑̆̊t̵͍͇̊ ̴̰̟̹̘̔̀̓͋̾̇̕■̵̩̟̬͓̔̈͜͜■̴͕̒■̵̢̛̙͉͇̯͇̀͐͊̾̿͘■̸̄̓̇ ̢̣͓ͅ ̴̧̩̜̹͛̊̈́̀ͅ■̵̢̛̼̫̬̘■̶̰͎͔̬͌̃■̵̡̱̺̘̱̘̯͆̒■̵̢̖͇̠͉̉͒ ̭̫ ̶̢̡͚̳̝͚̝̇́̂̍̅̓̚u̷͕̙̞̼̓s̴͇͚̊̒̊ȩ̸̧̺̔̋̀̑ͅd̶͕̗͌̽ ̵̳̩̣̭̦̊̽͋͛͂̽̚ẗ̴̨̠̖͇͈̜̥́͛o̵͎͆ ̷̢͕̭̫̤̿̇̎̀͝c̸̛̠̱͎̥͚̦̉̽́á̵̮̹͑̐ľ̸̡̪͈̱͙̞̇̍͝͝l̴̔ ̨ ̷͎̙̫͒̐͌̈́̂̏̅h̵͖̑̀̏͝ę̷̩͗͝r̵̞̩̺̹̈́̒̇̏͝͝.̷͚̂̋̿͑̓͠ ̵͕̥̔̍̾̇̈́͊͑
___

Oh. Oh no.

Snap out of it, Snap out of it!

Though the sankta had been lost in her own toughts for a few physical seconds, it was an eternity for her. It was the same, everytime she would thinks about 'them'. Nuriel had tried her hardest to clear her mind of anything in relation to her past, while sitting in the chopper -- it was why she had been silently meditating... yet it only required that she see but a single glimpse of nostalgia, for a myriad of cracks to form.

Even so... She knows, that it isn't the time for that. That she must consolidate, and do her job.

"Sting, get away from that, and none of you attack it!"

She extends her hand towards the slug, and all the operators alongside Muelsyse can see that the Sankta is exerting her Arts powers to do something to the slug... is she... trying to control it? Order it to do something? The few who dug into her past may as well come to such a conclusion.

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:20 PM
In the Belly of the Beast


The slug prodding at Sting's foot suddenly jerked backwards. Not quite like it had been pulled by some invisible force, though. More like a pet that had been caught trying to steal something off the kitchen counter. It seemed Nuriel hadn't gotten too rusty in her time at Blacksteel. Or maybe the past was just too difficult to escape.

The creature backed away from Sting a bit before halting and staying motionless. If nothing else, he no longer had to worry about being bitten.

[Zagrin]

Operator Sting
March 9 - 2:10 PM
In the Belly of the Beast

This was one of those times that Sting wished that he had paid more attention in school. Perhaps all the gibberish the console had spewed at him would then make a lick of sense. Unfortunately with his rudimentary knowledge all he could really glean from it was that the power station had gone kaput after it had experienced a power surge and that this had happened a week ago on March 2nd. As for what caused the power surge itself, the console didn't provide much in regard to confirming whether or not what had happened to Rocky Mountain was a catastrophe. It was true that catastrophes took many forms, so perhaps the city had been struck by some sort of freak thunderstorm and it had been pelted with lightning strikes which may have caused the blackout.

"Not that any of this confirms or denies the matter of foul play either."

The feeling of a poking at his leg, accompanied with a somehow even more frigid air than before. Glancing down, he noticed there seemed to be an originium slug with...well a slug with legs, that was now using one of them to poke the new arrival to its den. Slowly, Sting moved to draw his knife, but paused before bringing it out.

Hmm, actually maybe that's a bit overboard. It's not like the little bugger is trying to kill me, probably just hungry after sitting around in a place like this for probably a week or so...

With that thought, he began to instead dig through his pockets before finally taking out a lunch bar sized ration and tore off the top of the wrapper. Hopefully, its tastes weren't too picky when it came to its meals.

"Sting, get away from that, and none of you attack it!"

Snap

Sting reflexively snapped a quarter off the bar, completely startled by the sudden shout from his superior officer. He knew that the team would catch up eventually, he just hadn't expected it to be so...forceful.

"Happy to see you again too, boss."

However rather than stepping away, Sting knelt down and rolled the smaller portion of the ration towards the legged slug, before taking a bite of his own one.

"Pretty neat trick, whatever that was. There should be a couple more slugs around, so I'm sure it'll come in handy again."

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:21 PM
In the Belly of the Beast


The piece of ration rolled towards the slug until bumping into the critter's leg. The slug leapt backwards again, quickly retreating from this new "enemy" and raising its front legs into the air to look bigger than it really was. It stayed like that for a few seconds before it began moving side to side around the ration. It was making no attempt to actually eat the food, though. Well, slugs weren't known for their intelligence. It probably thought it had been attacked and didn't recognize the bar as food.

[pinetree]

Assault Team - Santonia
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Shit— GUH!"
The arrow missed its mark, but it got her attention long enough for the arts shot to hit straight home. The savra bent over with the impact, spit and shook off the pain, but regained her composure too late to be sure where in the smoke cloud her target had retreated to.
Grave Moss was about to attack, but they had lost any visual on the soldiers.
Santonia moved to the left, facing the smoke cloud. She took a deep breath and sang through the pain in her abdomen.

She had no instruments on her, but her voice might as well be one. Her posture reminded those around her of an opera, but the sound betrayed those expectations: A deep and low sound that hearkened to the bellow of crocodiles. A vibrating voice in a frequency that seemed to reach the body before the ears.
For her enemies though, the sensations didn't stop there.

As she sang, she took a can of pepper spray from her selection of chemicals and the song took on a steady rhythm. To the enemies she knew were hearing, the vibration they felt would soon transition into a different sensation, the feeling of goticules droplets against the skin — of throat and eyes burning as if unprotected against the spray that was still in her hand.

Medium-Dependant Chemophony - 5 SP (Blindness) Santonia disseminates the effects of chemical solutions other than her own natural one. After using it, the chemical is depleted.

Santonia crushed the now-empty can in her hand and prepared herself for their retaliation. Hopefully they'd be blind enough to miss their shots or startled enough to reveal their positions to the approaching pilosa.

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


Well, maybe Santonia couldn't see them, but knowing the general area was good enough. The can of pepper spray was rapidly drained and the substance filled the air around the singer. The hidden soldiers no doubt had enough trouble seeing already, but with pepper in their eyes on top of the smoke, it could only get worse. Indeed, everyone in close proximity could hear the coughing and spluttering already.

"Huh? Singin'?" Not really the kind of thing you'd normally hear in the middle of a fight. But then, some people did use music as a method of casting Arts... not that Dust knew too much about Arts. but she did know that an alleged experienced fighter wouldn't stand around in front of the enemy for no reason. So she took advantage.

"Hup!" The vulpo leapt clear over Grave Moss's head, landing on top of the nearby van. Not really the best place to be, right out in the open like that, but she had reason to believe the enemies were distracted. So she drew an arrow - no, scratch that, a lot of arrows. Way too many. Could she even fire them one at a time like that? "Say goodnight!"

Every single one was loosed all at once, a single volley that peppered the smoke cloud with steel. If anyone was in there, they were getting hit.

Operator Dust

Mobility: Standard

Spring Cleaning
3 turn cooldown



A crowd-control technique for clearing rooms, Dust nocks a frankly excessive number of arrows and fires them all simultaneously. Deals moderate damage to close enemies, reduced damage to those further away, and pierces the armour of the one tile directly in front.

Combat Results

A cacophony of gasping, choking, and pained yelps confirms that multiple enemies were hit by both Santonia's Arts and Dust's barrage of arrows, but any details are hidden within the smoke.

[arkturus]

Operator Valravn
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Valravn’s frown turned into a grin, she was worried that the enemy smoke screen make her unable to find her targets but it seemed like the others had found some.

She moved forward, out from behind the safety of the pillar and into the shadow of Gravemoss' armor to get a better shot. Using her staff, she focused her arts and fired an eerie black orb of energy into the center of the smoke cloud.

“Fahr zur Hölle!”

Spoiler:

Dark Sun: 5 SP
[Medium range, small aoe]
Fires a blast of eldritch energy that explodes in a small area. Can apply Wither. Does additional damage to those already enfeebled by Wither.

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


Valravn's spell sailed cleanly into the center of the smoke cloud, not directly hitting anyone, and burst upon hitting the ground. The resulting surge of energy blew away much of the smoke, revealing the enemy squad within. The crossbowman had been taken out, knocked against the blockade van, while the leader appeared to be hit and had dropped his baton but was still standing. The caster and soldier were outside the blast, but had been struck by Dust's arrows previously. With her view no longer blocked, Valravn's first spell also triggered, firing a bolt of ash and striking the soldier in winter gear.

"Caster!"

The tide had turned quite rapidly... or, rather, the battle hadn't favoured the Bolivarian squad in the first place. What appeared to be a team of five chasing down one tired Vulpo was suddenly just three wounded against the fresh Blacksteel squad. The squad leader had been confident just moments before, but faced with such odds, there was only one course of action-

"Temos que recuar!"

-full retreat, naturally. They were clearly outgunned, and it would have been an uphill battle against Blacksteel even if they hadn't walked into an ambush. The leader turned tail and ran without waiting another second. The caster, safely outside the range of Santonia's debilitating Arts, was able to hurl another bolt of energy at her before following suit. The second shot landed just as cleanly as the first and the crackling heat ent the Savra reeling.

The one remaining soldier seemed taken aback by his team's sudden withdrawal. He turned away from the battle, trying to follow, but he was wounded and moving much too slowly. Even Moss had more than enough to time take a swing, if she felt like it.

Combat Results

Crossbowman suffers 15 damage and is knocked unconscious.

Delinquent suffers 15 damage and appears to be in poor condition.

Agent suffers 17 damage and drops his baton. He is Blinded by Santonia and has partially recovered from Withered. He is in full retreat.

Santonia suffers 16 damage from Honed Bolt.

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Already in retreat? She would like to stop them from retreating. It was always more sleep consuming when some got away.

That didn't seem to be within reach, so... let's settle for what she can do right now.

GraveMoss performs a simple attack against the enemy before her. There's no flourish of skill to her strike, merely the entire force the towering defender can output bearing down on the hapless guard before her. Her lance bears down on them in an overhead arc. Her steady stride doesn't stop even as she performs the attack, intending to completely blow through the smaller opponents position and stand in front of her rather bruised team mate.

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Still, Grave Moss advanced. There was someone in the way, sure, but what was he going to do about it? He tried to raise some defense against the incoming lance, but the feeble attempt to deflect barely accomplished anything, and the man didn't seem to be wearing much armour. Grave Moss plowed forward as if he wasn't there and stood to block any ranged attacks aimed at Santonia.

Combat Results

The Delinquent suffers 14 damage and falls unconscious.

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 9 – 2:36 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Another flurry of violence. Santonia took another bolt from the Bolivarian caster while Grave Moss swatted aside a third soldier to join the pair on the pavement while their companions routed. Right, the theater was secure enough, she had injuries to attend to. The Sankta gathered up her equipment and exited cover completely this time, moving into the center of the garage. Barring an exceptional shot, this should be far enough to avoid getting herself or her equipment shot.

Movement: E(3)

She tapped the heel of her staff against the pavement, causing the charms fastened to its wrappings to ring. From beneath the bands of cloth, the sound of something shuttering into place, followed by a ping of metal meeting metal rang out. A somatic phenomenon of her Arts?

Spoiler

Healing Round 5.45
Medium Range, 15HP, 3SP
Looses a focused burst of Healing Arts which pull double duty by dampening pain receptors while reconstructing tissue. Patients may experience a phantom (albeit soothing) concussive force from the projectile, but the effect is both harmless and imaginary.

There was little artistry to it. The Sankta healer's Arts coiled into the most efficient shape for precise application and shot over to Santonia, impacting her in midsection where the caster's Arts had struck.

“That was to stabilize you, Operator Santonia,” Grapevine said. “My Arts should dampen the pain, but that does not mean you are recovered. Please await another dose. I need to see to your injuries and have them covered before your body temperature drops any lower than it already was.”

How damaged were the Savra's clothes? She couldn't tell from here. The soldiers Dust had struck with her arrows and Valravn had hit with her Arts couldn't have gotten out with their winter gear fully unscathed, though. A few moments would be enough to prevent frostbite, but it'd have to be quick work. At least unconsciousness made for cooperative patients.