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"That statement was only like forty-seven percent true," Patty called out at his retreating back, and rolled her eyes. Inspecting her fingernails, she added, "Bad liar."

Nemain caught the vial, sighing. Shaking her head, she smashed the bottle on the ground, before leaning against the wall. The man's speech washed over her like water over stone, and she stared him down through heavy-lidded eyes. Once he had left, she smirked to herself and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, she turned to look at the private, smiling lightly at him. "You should call your mother. She'll need someone, in a minute."

Without another word, she slipped away from the man and into the ship.

The boy looked up and then down as he remembered that praying to God would probably be a bit against the whole point of this project right now and sighed, marking off something on the clipboard. "So is anyone else going to kill me first or are we done here?"

Astreya smiled apologetically to Patty and the already-leaving Nemain.

"He's a bit.. tense." She turned to the boy, horn glinting with inner light. "Private, Starfall is loaded onto the ship, yes? Might I stay with my mech? Oh, and if I may ask, why precisely were you chosen to lead us? I'd have expected someone of.. higher rank than Private to chaperon us. I feel vaguely insulted. It's like they're treating us as common fodder," Astreya trailed off lightly, doing her best to keep the boy at ease.

"Oh uh..." he looked through the papers on the clipboard and nodded. "You...you can but the Commander has asked that all special Godsfall agents of Demigod class be kept together so they can form bonds as a team and more effectively work together on the battlefield." he wasn't about to mention that the entire part of the ship they were on could also be shot off and blown up should they become a problem but that was also a reason to keep them together. "And I am not leading, just uh... go through guy... you know replaceable in case uh... yeah" he scratched the back of his head nervously. "They didn't want to send someone of actual worth to try and talk to you guys in case something happened"

Determining that it would be useless to remain in the vicinity of Raithrus' obviously building fit of rage, as even a temporally bound being should have been able to detect the inevitable explosion, I glance down the timeline and double check that my egomaniac coworker manages to exhibit some manner of self control in the ensuing argument, and then shift my physical form somewhere unobtrusive as I mentally take a short cut to the proper timeframe.

I have no need of remaining behind to see what the other demigods will do in response, as my glance to the future showed their somewhat civil conversations beginning and remaining that way. Instead, as I leisurely make for 3.29 minutes beyond the conference, I consider the words of the woman who is nominally my commander. I do not share in Raithrus' pride, luckily, as he carries quite enough of that for all of us. My maturation removed or inhibited such human emotions and qualities that might inhibit a rational and calm perspective. It was a necessary sacrifice in order to increase my chances of survival to something somewhat closer to an acceptable value. However, despite the fact that her reign does not rankle me as it might some of my associates, I still hold no loyalty to her commands. I am present in this team because humanity and my situation have conspired to leave me little choice in the matter. This is simply the most optimal path available to me in any possible future, which is admittedly a somewhat disheartening thought.

Still, in this case at least, I have no issues with obeying the orders I have been given. It is, to be sure, a desperate plan with little in the way of coordination once the battle starts, but from an objective perspective, it is quite a clever one. I wonder for one time-displaced moment whether the commander herself came up with it, or whether it was dictated to her by superiors. Coordinating with my own existence prior to and after this moment on the timeline for extra processing power, I attempt to divine the likelihood of either outcome, but with insufficient information, I cannot come to a conclusion. The commander certainly doesn't seem like a particularly clever person, what with her somewhat unwisely blunt personality, but I can at least gather that she hides some not-insubstantial level of human intellect beneath that exterior. Regardless, though the plan treats us as disposable pawns and simply amounts to throwing us into the city and leaving it to us to coordinate from that point forward, I can still respect the one who constructed it. After all, if any of us were to perish in the act, especially one as dangerous as Raithrus, they would no longer need to expend effort and money to keep us under control. Besides, existences beyond human like ourselves will work more efficiently without direct oversight, and so leaving our actions up to us should increase, rather that harm our chances. Finally, the woman herself already pointed out the potentially highly successful propaganda endeavors.

Agreeing with the assessments of the other mes along the timeline, I arrive in the hangar bay, determined to do everything within my powers to ensure the success of at least this operation, and with my prospective futures looking somewhat improved. Of course, that is when I notice one of the other demigods harassing some human bystander, who looks rather spectacularly terrified, though when no less than twenty seven separate futures suddenly warp and reassemble themselves to ensure his gruesome demise, I can't exactly call that unwarranted, especially since whatever power the woman used to curse him didn't really seem to be trying that hard. A few of my potential future selves quickly collaborate to work out a loophole in the curse, while another, from a future where our calculations succeeded, takes control of my physical form in the present time to write down a correct set of instructions. I personally didn't particularly care what happened to the man - according to the calculations of a few past instantiations, he would not be likely to have a particularly important impact on the events to come - but Raithrus caused enough PR problems for our unit. If others started taking his example, then we might get disbanded by the higher ups, and I would be returned to spending my time in solitary confinement while Raithrus' escape efforts became more and more violent, and I have already seen where that future leads. Or a part of me has, in any case. His argument for not attempting that world line was quite convincing.

Mind made up, I approached the human and demigod still talking. My appearance from the shadows must have been somewhat startling for some reason, because the human soldier let out a surprised squeak as I walk by him, leaving a little bit of paper fluttering in my wake. He would catch it in .743 seconds, but Raithrus' impending arrival would stop him from looking at the instructions on it for the moment.

As I turned to address the female demigod, I took a moment of future time to debate whether I should attempt to make any human expression before deciding it wasn't really worth the work that some version of myself on some world line would have to do to come up with the most effective usage of expression and body language, so instead I just left my features blank as always and spoke in my natural monotone. The research team sometimes complained about such behavior as disturbing when they thought I was not aware of their conversations, but they were humans. Something like lack of expression probably wouldn't really bother this demigod too much.

"We should board." It wasn't anything particularly profound, but since I was going to be in close proximity with these team members for the foreseeable future, I should at least make some basic effort to interact with them, if only to make it easier to get their cooperation if I ever needed them to complete some part of a task.

With a loud, droning whirr, the air behind the terrified messenger began to warp and split, turning a vibrant shade of purple as it was torn open and a figure emerged. The King looked with disdain upon the occupants of the hangar, seeming to see right through the unimportant mouthpiece that had been sent to converse with them in place of an official. Doubtless, after he had needed to remind the woman general of her place as his supplicant, the other so-called "officers" had become too frightened to face him in person and had sent an expendable youth to deliver the message they themselves should have conveyed in person. While he was insulted by their cowardice, and probably would have seen fit to go search out the fools who had failed to appear before him and punish them for their insolence, he was rather impressed that this terrified young man would nevertheless possess the loyalty and courage to follow his orders, even when he was clearly terrified. Raithrus sighed, deciding he would let the pawn go without a word, if only because he was living proof that faithful servants weren't an entirely extinct breed.

Brushing past the private, who gave a cry of fright and hastily retreated several steps, Raithrus turned to face those remaining in the hangar. "Pathetic. To think they'd waste their and my precious time antagonizing an underling," He said scornfully to nobody in particular, watching as the demigods in question made their way aboard the ship. "Were it not for the glorious battle to come, I would be disgraced to find myself amongst such petty company. But a King cannot choose his followers, I suppose." Shrugging to himself and shaking his head disdainfully, he strolled off without another word towards the ship, leaving the private gawking in his wake, evidently surprised - and glad - to have survived such a close encounter with the irritable King.

And with the last Demigod having boarded the ship lifted off into the air, beginning its travel to the graveyard that had once been known as London. After they got about halfway there a holoscreen appeared in the center of the room displaying the commander behind her desk, drinking some tea and looked at the various Demigods around the room. "Okay then freaks you know the mission. Reclaim London in the name of humanity." she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. "Weapons will be deployed in separate pods, please enjoy your fall" all of the lights in the room went off and the room they were in began to take on a weightless sort of quality as it began to fall down too the ground. Unseen to the Demigods their mech's and various weapons were being dropped in large pods next to them. They hit the ground with a minimal impact due to make of the room. Once they were on the ground the room opened up to reveal their mech's and weapons in the now open pods by their side. They were also now privy to the utter ruin that London had fallen into over the years, with wear and tear ruining most of the buildings, and the walking dead carried weapons ranging from swords to automatic weapons. The missions for the Demigods was still clear, Distract and Destroy.

Operation: Orpheus, begin!

**
Mission points of Operation: Orpheus

Distraction: Draw the undead hordes and various Guardians of Hel and Hades to group one, drawing fire from the other two groups.

Temple Hades: Hercules and Achilles along with some other Greek Monsters and undead armies.

Temple Hel: Beowulf and Fenrir along with Viking soldiers.

Destroy the temples and open the city to the main assault.

As soon as the room opened up, Astreya sprinted towards her pod.

"Piss-poor way of deployment," she hissed, leaping up and pulling herself into the cockpit of Starfall. The cortical mechadendrites were already waiting and snaked their way into her brain through her eye sockets, cold metal wrapping itself around the inside of her skull. It plugged straight into her brain and she gasped with the expected shock of liquid information coursing through her consciousness. Streams of technical readouts scrolled across her vision as Starfall booted up, running diagnostics within scant moments. Sitting at her feet, the kitten mewled, and she scowled. A battlefield was no place for a cat. She- no, they, mecha and demigod- stood as one unified being and twelve bits detached from their frame, spreading out and quickly vaporising the immediate threats. It was practically routine by this point, sending strands of her consciousness out and leaving ash-piles in place of zombies. Their small-calibre weaponry ricocheted off Starfall harmlessly, though they might prove a bit of a danger to Nemain, Patty and Vincent.

Just like crushing ants, she thought with a smile. Except that among these ants loomed larger ants, about the size of small houses. These undead were swollen, hulking things with a fell gleam in their eyes. Some had arms that ended in enormous crab claws, others carrying clubs that looked like tree trunks. All the draugr, however, were charging straight at them.

Astreya unholstered the positron rifle, firing from the hip in its standard 'assault-rifle'-esque mode as she leapt into the air, thrusters pushing her out of their reach. Three heads burst like over-ripe plums, and the target draugrs collapsed.

From her vantage point, London was laid out before her like a burst blister, spilling out ruin and decay like pus. Finding herself backed against a tall structure, she put a foot against it and boosted up. Perhaps from up there she'd find a better spot from which to start doing what she did best: sniping. Perhaps..

"Unicorn White to Comet-04, do you read me?" she sent over the intercom. "66, want me to give you covering fire?"

Without waiting for a response, she sent a set of three bits outwards, tuned it and fired her rifle in half-extend mode. The beam struck a shimmering field defined by the bits, and reflected down to destroy another gigantic draugr. May as well clear out as many as she could before 66 responded, then he'd be able to see how valuable she was. Astreya didn't pay much attention to her immediate surroundings, focusing on the ground. After all, it wasn't as if the Gods had air forces, right?

I stumbled toward the exit of the drop pod, coughing as some of the smoke and dust kicked up by the impact got into my lungs. It occurred to me, or rather a few future versions of me, that I could have simply stepped further along the timeline to avoid such unpleasantness, but my disorientation from the crash had addled my thoughts and focused them more temporally for a moment. Clearing the doorway, I looked around at the city ruins, sprawling before me under a dim, overcast sky. The drop pod we had been so unceremoniously thrown out in had slammed into the side of a skyscraper that seemed to have toppled years ago.

The timeline ahead of me drew my attention in an instant as I saw the undead closing in on my position at a sort of stumbling run. They were out of my physical form's line of sight for a moment, but my mind detected them easily. Focusing attention on them, I quickly began to calculate a way through them to each nearby drop pod, the locations and contents of which were supplied from the future as I sent out a version of myself to each one along multiple different world lines. Locating the one that held my weapon, the robot I had grudgingly agreed to wield, I played back the strategy I had used to get there and started running.

Another demigod could have crossed the space in an instant or two. Raithrus, even running without a gate, might have done it before I could have blinked. However, I had no such ability. My physical form was just a human one, and one that had spent most of its existence in a cell miles underneath the ocean. My lack of physical ability wasn't really that big a deal though. Everything that the near-mindless creatures could do to try and stop me was sprawled out before me, a huge web of possible futures, and with that in mind, it wouldn't be difficult at all to simply step through the temporally bound zombies and be done with this.

It turned out I didn't need to. Glancing past the time I was using for my predictions, I jumped back and ducked behind a bit of rubble in the street as the creatures were reduced to a superheated steam 3.2 seconds after my landing. A memory of a message was relayed from the future, and I heard in my head what sounded like the young girl demigod, my fellow pilot.

"Unicorn White to Comet-04, do you read me? 66, want me to give you covering fire?" The message had been sent 2.10 seconds in the future to the communications unit on my robot, however, even with the draugr between it and myself cleared away by her area attacks, there wasn't any way I could sprint there in time. I moved my focus to when I arrived momentarily, played back the recording of the missed message, and sent it 49.3 seconds into the past, which left just enough time between the reception of the memory and the actual message being sent for my physical body to pull out a small handheld radio and switch it to the other unit's communication channel.

Refocusing on my running body in the past, I caught the tail end of the message just as the radio turned on. Doubtless the other demigod would be slightly confused as to why the reply was coming from a completely different source, but efficiency was more important in battle. "Message received." Not even bothering to consider attempting to use intonation, I defaulted to my normal monotone speech once again. I jumped forward into the future again and glanced around the battlefield, suddenly spotting a blur darting across the sky towards the other demigod's location. Doing a few quick calculations and glancing at the nearby world lines, I formulated a course of action, and returned my attention to the point in time at which I was conversing over the radio. "Duck in 53.02 seconds."

"Inferior human," The King muttered disgustedly, glancing out the window as the pod fell. Surely, that irritatingly condescending woman general didn't expect a being of his stature to follow the commands of a pathetic being such as her. Raithrus was tiring of this charade, and was in no mood to listen to her prattle for any longer. He had neither the patience, nor the lenience, to tolerate her insults any longer. And so, he made up his mind. Staring coldly up at the viewscreen as the transmission cut out, the King's eyes narrowed beneath his visor, and raised a single, glowing finger to point at the source of his displeasure, delivering a very simple sentiment without even deigning to open his mouth.

"You're next."

He had warned her what would happen if she tested his mercy once again, and she had ignored him. She was going to pay the price for her overconfidence soon enough.

Once this mission was over, Natalia Marshak was going to die.

Satisfied with his decision, the King glanced out the window as the pod fell, his crimson eyes locking on a large temple in the distance. That was his target - and he was going to make sure he reached it before any of the others could steal his glory.

"Split," He intoned, the air parting before his hand. "Hollow Gate."

With those words, the King vanished in a flash of purple light. It was time to begin the hunt.

.....

The heads of the undead warriors guarding the gates of the divine fortress turned as a tremendous blast shook the ruined street leading up to the Temple of Hades. In a flash of violet light, the air above had split open, belching forth crystalline fire that rained down upon the promenade, eradicating a small group of stragglers who had strayed too far from the front gate. As the front rank of skeletal warriors burned into nothingness, a jet black figure emerged from amidst the flames, visor glowing as he raised his burning fist. Giving a mighty roar, Raithrus struck his palm against seemingly nothing, a surge of violet flames bursting forth and piercing forward like an enormous blazing lance. As it collided with the center of the enemy vanguard, the King pressed his attack, countless copies of his fist appearing in the air around him and streaking towards the cowering undead as they ducked behind their shields, trying to withstand the mighty barrage. The King sneered at their efforts, feeling certain of the power of his flames to burn them to ashes...

"Rho... Aias!"

Yet to his surprise, as this cry rang out over the battlefield, the storm of fists and flames struck something within the midst of the enemy ranks, and dissipated completely.

"What?!" He cried incredulously, his eyes widening as his flames were simply extinguished. For his soul's power to be erased... whatever had countered his attack held an incredible defensive power. However, he had no time to muse over the situation, for in the next instant, three arrows rose up from amidst the enemy lines, then descended. Hopping backward, he easily evaded their trajectory... only for their paths to abruptly change as the projectiles accelerated rapidly, spinning with an incredible force and circling in, one from each side, and the third streaking towards him from the front. His gaze narrowed as he spun to the side at the last minute, hastily erecting a Hollow Gate within his own body in the attempt to phase through the attacks. But, although all three arrows passed through him without connecting, as he returned to his corporeal form, the King's eyes went wide as a surge of pain shot through his body, countless tiny cuts appearing as though he'd somehow been struck.

"Impressive," He snarled, dropping into a combat stance as two figures emerged from the enemy ranks, one holding a bow to which he was already knocking three more arrows, while the other carried a truly enormous shield and spear. "A shield that nullifies all projectile based attacks, and a skilled archer whose arrows can twist the very fabric of space to strike a target against all odds... I hadn't expected the chance to fight against such opponents!" Giving a laugh, the King stood as crystals wove themselves across his many glancing wounds. "Tell me, warriors... who are you who possess the courage to stand against your King?"

"I am Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans!" Declared the man with the shield.

"And I, Teucer, his brother," Concluded the archer.

"Oh? How interesting. To think such skilled warriors would be waiting in the vanguard for my arrival. I'm glad to see that I haven't been underestimated. Very well, then. As a reward for your courage, I'll give you the honor of facing Raithrus, ruler of all things! Allow me to demonstrate how a King does battle!"

With these proud words, the white haired man clapped his hands together, a faint aura of light surrounding his already gleaming hand as it reached within its fleshy counterpart, caught hold of something, and drew it forth, a massive silver and crimson broadsword phasing out of a Gate within his palm. "Enkidu!" He roared, summoning his blade and leveling it at his opponents. "Now, then, come at me, inferior mortals! I will grace any who dares challenge me with defeat at my hands!"

(Raithrus status: Facing Ajax and Teucer, from the Illiad. The one possesses a shield infused with the concept of impregnability, and ridiculously high Agility, Strength, and Battle Continuation parameters, while the other has significantly lower parameters, but archery skills that transcend the laws of reality, allowing him to basically make his arrows do whatever the hell he likes, as seen when he twisted space to hit Raithrus despite the fact that Raithrus had retreated to a different plane of reality.

...Also, yeah, I'm totally treating these guys like Heroic Spirits, why do you ask?)

"Duck in 53.02 seconds."

Well, that was usefully specific. Would it matter if she ducked at 53.01? 66 wasn't particularly friendly, but then she didn't need a friendly teammate, she needed efficient ones.

"Acknowledged," she replied, not bothering to take her 'eyes' from the rifle. The mayhem below was just beginning, with the hordes rushing her rather mech-less teammates. As Raithrus proceeded to charge like the idiot he was into a horde, his fire spreading everywhere, Astreya flipped her weapon into its full-extend mode, braced Starfall and fired.

Radiant particles gathered within the barrel, reaching a luminescent critical mass and disgorged as a beam as large as Starfall was tall into the mass that Raithrus was fighting. With some difficulty, Astreya heaved and turned the cannon, playing the arc of the destructive beam crosswise over the horde. When the stream of destructive particles expended itself, she took a breath to steady herself and observed the devastation she'd wrought. An ashen scar traced the beam's path, scoured out of the very ground, but there was one spot that had been left untouched, as though-

There was no time to wonder why; the timer hit zero and Astreya ducked. But she was still human, her reflexes never instant and she had this vague sensation of being too late. Why hadn't her sense for the future warned her?

Returning my focus to my body just after the missed call from the Unicorn White replayed, I brought the Comet-04 fully online, its experimental particle drive triggering as the frame of its pod collapsed outward. Twin burning red optical sensors came to life on the unit's face, as the green-lit wings spread behind it. It was a display that I am certain was meant to be intimidating, but the idea that such a thing would work on the mindless dead was ridiculous. For that matter, it wasn't exactly likely to work on deified beings either, which did make that whole feature somewhat pointless.

Surprising precisely zero entities, the draugr that hadn't been melted by the other unit's barrage did not falter in the slightest and continued to charge in a wall of rotting flesh toward my position. For a moment a fragment of my consciousness focused in the past connected with my physical body in the present in order to observe the readout on my unit's battle radar. Detecting the skyward blur of motion that it had previously on this world line, the fragment refocused and sent the warning message to the Unicorn White, formulating the plan I was now acting out.

Leaping upward in the opposite direction of Unicorn White's perch as the pilot seat of my unit automatically secured my body to provide some insulation against the large g-forces it would be subjected to by the necessary rapid acceleration and deceleration of fast-paced Leviathan combat, I focused much of my attention on the current moment in time so that my un-enhanced reactions would be sufficient to pilot the Comet-04 to an acceptable value of skill. As an unfortunate side effect of this action, my range of vision along the world line was severely hindered, but for the moment, I was acting according to a pre-calculated battle plan, so there would be no issue. Leaving my beam rifle holstered on my right wrist, I twisted my unit's right arm down to one of the katanas seated on its left hip, and carefully calculating the amount of force necessary, I routed power to the Blazing Star system. The Comet-04's particle drive, which had been on pre-battle idle mode during the flight, was now operating at 40% power output, more than enough to easily complete the maneuver at hand. Reaching the peak of my jump, I drew the katana and struck with one fluid motion as the Blazing Star wrist vents opened and spewed out a wave of Nova Emissions along the line of my strike.

The presets I had entered for the burst allowed the bright crimson wave to expand unhindered, losing its cutting power as it spread out beyond the line of my strike, but retaining enough sheer brute force to smash through the side of an already damaged skyscraper, shattering the supports at the precise locations other mind fragments from different world lines had calculated. With a crash of shattering glass and the groan of twisted metal, the ponderous edifice began to topple, the huge metal form casting a looming shadow over both my unit and the draugr on the street below.

Propelled backwards by the particle burst I released, I went spinning toward the side of another immense building. The force of the collision, even after the advance shock absorbers mitigated it felt as though it would crush the air from my lungs, but I shut out the cry of the physical and kept my hands moving along the path that had already been calculated for them. Flexing my unit's legs at the moment of impact, I twisted the Comet's head toward the Unicorn White, and the fast approaching blur a block away. As my left hand initiated the Blazing Star system once again, my feet, braced against the strongest, most intact supports in the building beneath me which I had aimed my previous flight to hit, tensed in preparation for the leap as my wings spread wide.

As the skyscraper crashed down on the draugr below, the Comet, in a manner reminiscent of its title, shot away, leaving behind a brilliant trail of crimson Nova Emissions. Detaching my mind from the flow of time, I could see the Unicorn White in the center of my flight path, knee joints flexing as it began the maneuver I had ordered a few milliseconds slow. While it was unfortunate that the pilot didn't have quite the reaction skills I had been hoping to see from a demigod, I had, as humans might say, 'luckily' compensated for the possibility of sub-optimal timing. Such a strange idea, luck. On the surface, a concept related to random chance, and yet the humans always seemed to apply it to situations where no such thing was involved. It would be negligent of me to not calculate in such possibilities, after all, and to allow any element of chance close to a delicate operation such as this would be nothing less than total incompetence in my role as a guide.

The pilot of the Unicorn White probably wouldn't enjoy the buffeting she would get from the imminent clash, but everything was well within operational parameters. Content, I ran over the next sequence of control inputs in my mind once again, before reconnecting myself to the flow of time, my hands a blur as they input the details of the next pulse into the Blazing Star system. Pulsing the leg vents once, I turned my straight flight into a seemingly uncontrolled spin at the last moment, my sideways hurtle swinging the Comet's extended left leg 3.02 millimeters from the upper surface of the Unicorn White's horn. At exactly the instant the Comet's limb cleared my allied unit, the leg vents opened a second time and released a second, far more massive burst of particles, but unlike the previous releases the final blast was carefully controlled to the maximum amount of precision my physical form was capable of programming into the Comet's computer systems within the allotted timeframe. The Comet's spin resolved itself into a whirling roundhouse kick at the last instant as a wall of bright red exploded into life along the path of my unit's leg, intercepting, matching, and negating the impact of a massive blast of air pressure from above as a winged form my systems ID'd as a harpy darted overhead, ambush thwarted.

Comet-04 hurtled over her head, lashing with its leg to blast at the harpy. The blast wave of the kick rattled Starfall's frame, but otherwise left Astreya unharmed. She rose, returning her weapon to its standard mode, but cursed, realising that the rifle was scoured clean of particles; it'd take a few more moments to recharge, moments she did not have.

Seven bits slid out of her frame and shot towards the harpy, pelting it with laser fire even as the twelve bits returned. Diverting three of the seven bits to form an amplifying field and the other four to generate a combined pulse, Astreya sent burst after burst of energised beams lancing away at the harpy while Starfall descended to take cover a couple of stories below the rooftop.

"Thanks," she buzzed 66, "but this'll take time to recharge. Mind killing it, or do I have to wait?"

The flashing display in front of me informed me that the force from my kick left my course 0.2 degrees off my plotted trajectory, so as Comet-04 completed the rotation, I triggered the boosters again to compensate, sending the unit jumping away to land on an adjacent building, turning just in time to see the sky alight with beam fire. The other demigod's aim was skilled, and controlling that many bits at once was an impressive feat, but the harpy's immense speed made it difficult to box in with fire just from a single point.

An idea entered my mind 2.3 seconds before the other pilot's voice emanated from the speakers in front of me. "Thanks." I was already entering data into the Comet's computer system, and didn't bother to waste time responding to my fellow demigod's gratitude. There were more pressing matters at hand than social niceties. The other pilot seemed to be of a similar opinion on the matter, as she immediately continued without allowing any time for response. I appreciated the efficiency. "...but this'll take time to recharge." Without looking up from my work, I noted the Unicorn White motion with the rifle it had fired moments before in an admittedly unneeded attempt to support Raithrus. "Mind killing it, or do I have to wait?"

"That will not be necessary." More concerned with completing my calculations, I didn't bother to respond with anything other than a monotone. Temporarily looking beyond the present, I quickly scanned the next 46.39 seconds - my estimate of the average time it would take to deal with the harpy - on potential future world lines, memorizing the enemy's skill and maneuverability, which turned out to be surprisingly high, as it escaped multiple traps set for it on adjacent world lines with a formidable cleverness.

Finalizing my calculations, I disconnected from the past and futures instances that had been assisting me and opened the comm channel to Unicorn White, compressing the completed file for transfer. "Sending telemetry data now." Perhaps I should have described my intentions to seem more 'friendly', but dealing with the details of personal interaction was a draw on my mental faculties that would decrease our chances of success by 21.78%. Besides, the data package that I had just transferred would be automatically read by the Unicorn White's computer and transformed into a series of precise temporal and spacial coordinates to direct the other unit's fire.

Leaving the rest up to the other pilot, I flicked my unit's right wrist, pressing the sequence of keys that would release the latches on the Comet-04's beam rifle and allow it to flip down into the unit's hand. Taking aim as multiple targeting reticules and timers began to appear on my unit's holographic display I pulled the trigger, a bright red beam of power splitting the sky with a roar.

With a whistling as they burst through the air, three more arrows streaked towards the King, who merely smirked, raising his sword and preparing to deflect them... Only for them to be spontaneously obliterated in a storm of cannonfire. "What?!" He hissed, spinning around to face the machine from whence the shot had come. White Unicorn, piloted by the inferior demigod Astreya, had done the unthinkable, and attempted to steal the glory that was rightfully his by shooting his opponents from a distance while she stayed out of harm's way. This insult to his pride could not be overlooked. His hand blazing with purple fire, he prepared to educate the unruly pest before returning to the matter at hand, when another unexpected occurrence happened. Namely, another familiar machine landed in the line of fire.

66 was not a friend, or even a comrade, but he was good at what he did, and Raithrus respected that. If he was getting in the King's way now, it was something he'd done intentionally, which meant he was trying to send a message. So, he would deal with her insolence himself? Fine, but if she tried anything so brazen again, he would make it his personal duty to end her for her impudence.

Turning back to his opponents, he smirked as the blast cleared and the two brothers emerged from behind Ajax's mighty shield. Once again, Teucer raised his bow to fire, and let fly with a swarm of arrows, but this time, the King did not intend to give him the chance to hit.

"Split," He said with a sneer. "Hollow Gate!"

In a flash of vermillion, he vanished, re-appearing behind Teucer and slashing at his back. The archer nimbly evaded, leaping to the side as in the same instant, his arrows reversed their course, shooting back at their target, only for Raithrus to sidestep, sweeping up his sword and shattering all three in a single slash. At the same instant, he drew back his arm, firing a blast of power at Ajax to keep him busy while he himself leapt after the archer. Emerging from a swell of purple flames, he brought his blade down upon the archer's bow, locking steel against wood for a split second before the feeble instrument began to give way, forcing Teucer to twist away, hooking his giant weapon and leading him to overextend himself. The King stumbled forward, his weapon slipping free from the archer's weapon as, at the same instant, Ajax lunged in from behind with his spear, aiming to skewer the King.

But Raithrus merely smirked, a rainbow of light surrounding him as the spear phased through him harmlessly as his body phased into his Hollow Gate. Darting forward in incorporeal form, he raised his blade to finish what he'd started. Teucer, giving a cry of surprise, knocked an arrow to the bowstring, aiming to shoot him down before he could deal the final blow, but as he let slip the bowstring, with a loud crack, the weapon shattered from the archer's own strength, snapping along the scar left in the wake of the King's blade. The arrow flew wildly into the air, whizzing off course, while the King reached out, grasping the young man by the throat with his crystalline hand and hurling him into the nearby building. The force of the impact rent the concrete, sending a hurricane of stones collapsing to the ground. Smirking with satisfaction, Raithrus raised his hand once more, a madder glow surrounding it as he prepared to finish his downed opponent.

...Then, with a loud whistling, something struck his visor, shattering the vermillion crystals in a flurry of light. Raithrus gaped as the arrow fell to the ground, just short of piercing his brain and actually killing him. That archer... he'd managed to predict that his bow would break, and fired the arrow so as to catch a wind current and circle back to strike him? Even the King was impressed by this feat of skill - impressed enough to close his palm, a wry smile coming across his face for just a split second, before he turned to face the lancer, who was already charging in to protect his brother. "Nearly slain by an unknown hero... Heh. I'm losing my touch," He murmured, raising his blade. "I've been fighting mortals for far too long! A legendary hero... now that's a good change of pace! COME AT ME!" A wild smirk crossed the king's face as his crimson eyes gleamed with delight, sweeping forward his blade to meet Ajax's mighty lance. A resounding roar of clashing steel echoed across the entire battlefield as the two legends incarnate met each other with equal strength, before at last the Achaean drew back, twisting his lance aside before thrusting again. The King darted to the side, evading this jab, only to be forced to parry the immediate follow-up. If the King's earlier speed had been like that of lightning, then Ajax's rapid attacks were like the individual drops of rain in that thunderstorm, coming so fast as to seem simultaneous. Time after time, he clashed with the blade of the King, only to be turned aside and strike again. But, unlikely though it might have seemed considering Raithrus' advantage of divinity and power, he was actually managing to drive the white-haired warrior back.

The secret lay in his lance, which had length far exceeding that of even the King's giant sword. So long as he could keep Raithrus from retaliating, he could press the advantage of his strength in full, thrusting again and again by blending one motion into the next so as to attack with an endless cloud of piercing attacks, keeping the King from ever counterattacking and bringing his power to bear. But Raithrus was far from satisfied, just taking attack after attack. It was high time he struck back.

Raising his blade, Raithrus grazed the giant weapon down the head of his opponent's spear, forcing it downward. At the same time, he stepped forward, placing his foot upon the head of the spear. As Ajax frantically tried to draw back the weapon, Raithrus used this to his advantage, flipping head over heels to launch himself over the Achaean's head, landing behind him. Whirling about, Ajax raised his shield to block the attack he knew was coming... only for Raithrus' gleaming crystalline hand to phase completely through it, already glowing with a brilliant internal light.

"FIRE!" Roared the king, closing his fist. At his command, a flurry of vermillion flames burst forth from behind Rho Aias, a titanic explosion rocking the earth as the blaze engulfed his opponent. He leaped back, landing in a battle stance as he checked to confirm his kill.

"Rho... Aias!" With these words, the sea of flames parted, twin columns of fire forming as a single figure strode calmly from their midst. Raithrus' eyes widened. He had managed to block the unquenchable flames of the King yet again, even from inside them?! So this was the strength of a legendary hero who had fought in the Trojan War. Excellent... this man truly was an opponent fit for a King!

They needed not exchange words. What had already been said was sufficient. They each knew the name of the worthy warrior they faced. As men of the battlefield, all that was left to be done was to resolve this, once and for all!

"Split... HOLLOW GATE!" Roared Raithrus, tearing open the fabric of the world with a sweep of his hand. In a vermillion flash, he was gone, appearing high above the man below. With a snap of his fingers, the flames surrounding Ajax began to sway, ripples appearing across their surfaces as they began to converge themselves into countless crystalline blades, firing themselves into the rippling gates that appeared before them.

Swords rained down upon the Achaean from all directions, at all angles. One smashed itself against his shield, flames cascading over him in a glistening shower. Another struck from below, only to be batted aside into three more by his lance, all of them disappearing in a blaze of madder red. Raithrus bit his lip, enraged by his failure to hit his opponent, and redoubled his attacks, focusing all remaining swords on the edge of Rho Aias. Each blade collided all at once, releasing a tremendous surge of fire that sent the giant man stumbling. There it was: an opening! The King, already falling slowly from the sky, raised his blade above him as he plummeted from several hundred feet above, flames screaming around him as he prepared for the final blow.

"O' crimson blade forged in the depths of the beyond..." He bellowed, the flames surging around him focusing themselves around the blade of his sword. "Heed my command and purge those who stand before me!" The flames spread outward, forming the silhouette of a truly massive blade, which he brought down with the force of divine lightning on his opponent.

"PERISH!" He roared, and then, at last, the enormous sword of destruction struck, carving into the battlefield, and even the sealed gates of Hades' temple, before exploding with incredible force, a blinding ray of madder light rising into the heavens for all to see...

(To be continued. Enemy statuses. Teucer: Unconscious, buried beneath a pile of rubble. Ajax: Unknown. Just got hit with an Astral Finish straight out of BlazBlue. Possibly still capable of fighting.)

Coordinates pinged within her mind, with time tags attached. So, shoot at those points at that time, eh? Astreya focused, spread the four bits out to strike the harpy from all directions. She sent the triangular formation of amplifying bits to track 66's rifle, then looped around the building to get a visual lock on the harpy. It wasn't as if she needed the visual, being able to use the bits to continue beyond-visual-range combat, but it helped, cemented her accuracy.

The first three shots from the bits were practically preternatural, catching the harpy right where it dodged. Skimming through the rest of the telemetry data, Astreya determined a rough estimation of where her shots would drive the beast. Starfall glided smoothly to the roof. While the idea of a mecha attempting stealth was foreign to most non-pilots, it was in fact an aspect of combat open to her. Keeping Starfall low to the rooftop and behind a tangle of convenient wreckage, she readied her rifle, then changed her mind. Any moment now...

Whirling and dodging with admirable skill, the harpy screeched, managing to evade most of the bits and 66's shots, but the shots served their function. As soon as the harpy came within range of the roof, Astreya leapt and tackled the creature. Starfall burst into azure flames and seared the harpy even as Astreya slammed fist after fist into its ugly face, while she used the kinesis module in the left palm of Starfall to keep it pinned it down. Star-fire did more than burn; it vaporised the harpy's wings and devoured its torso. Only the harpy's mythical nature kept it from being instantly obliterated.

Brutalised, with entire sections of its body charcoal black, the harpy could do little as Astreya raised it up for 66's final rifle shot.

The other pilot caught on to my intentions impressively quickly, confirming my decision to allow the data to speak for itself. As the flying web of bits marauded the harpy from as many angles as possible, I closed potential gaps in the net of beam fire with shots from my rifle, the roar of the heavy weapon shattering some of the remaining glass in the area.

Noting movement from the Unicorn White on my radar, I let the Comet-04's computer system fire the third shot in the pattern on its own as I glanced 12.51 seconds down the timeline, examining the ambush my fellow mech user was preparing. A well thought out addition to the trap I'd already set. I returned to moments before the fourth shot and recalculated the angle slightly to compensate for the computer's slight error, and to ensure that the harpy was lured into the correct position. Another wide crimson blast from my rifle shook the building beneath me, and I jumped the Comet-04 to another across the street as the damaged roof supports gave in under the recoil.

A flash of fire down the road signaled the completion of the Unicorn White's ambush, and I took aim as the limp form of the harpy was thrown into my line of fire. A final loud blast and a giant bolt of red burned away what remained of our foe. I nodded to myself absently as I recalculated the demigod Astreya's combat ability based on her preformance in our fight, making a note of the ruthless and efficient method she had used to eliminate the harpy. I had not necessarily expected human qualms about violence from fellow demigods, but I had considered the possibility. It was 'heartening' to discover such precautions were needless in at least one case.

Releasing the emptied clip from my rifle and supplying it with a new one, I flicked the Comet's right hand to flip the rifle back up onto its wrist holster. Securing the weapon, I opened a channel to the Unicorn White, but before I could determine whether it would be advisable to congratulate the other pilot, a flash of purple fire filling the skyline appeared in my mind, a memory sent back as a precaution from the future.

Turning quickly back to the comm, I spoke a warning in a quick monotone. "Blast wave incoming. Brace for impact."

Vincent landed and opened the pod, stepping out of the metal coffin as if it was a comfortable room. The hooded man surveyed the battle field with something akin to approval. Mechs are doing a fine job drawing the main force away. Looks as though Raithrus has the Greek temple. A shame I had wished to handle Hades myself. Yet I am sure Hel will be able to provide me some information on Father dearest. A force of shambling zombie warriors commanded by A small band of Norse warriors who looked as if they had just come from a raid. Hmm...These must be the legendary Einherjar, and leading an idiotic rabble. Seems they don't know who they're dealing with. I must educate them on their folly

Vincent strolled forward as if he was taking a simple walk in the park. The front rank of the undead charged forward and were subsequently cut down with a beam from the demi-god's rifle. Another charged him for the side only to receive a rifle stock to the face before Vincent turned the creature's head around backwards. Vincent turned and glared at the left half of the undead formation, his eyes glowing a menacing green. The street beneath those enemies dropped away, leaving them to fall into the abyss. The next several ranks were decimated by a series of small missiles that had emerged from under the street. Hidden missiles from before the fall of this city. How fortuitous for me. Vincent prepared to immolate the remaining zombies but before he could they were bowled over by their commanders. The commando simply shrugged and lit the foremost fighter on fire before stretching out his off-hand at the other two, unleashing a barrage of energy bolts from the fingers of his glove, riddling the other two with holes. Vincent quickly moved on to the door since he knew there wasn't much time before the Einherjar resurrected themselves. He blasted the door open with a charge and entered the temple.

As he entered two forms stepped out of the shadows. Vincent glared at them. "Stand aside, my quarrel is not with you but with your mistress." The massive wolf growled evilly but the man spoke up. "We cannot let ye pass, divine-born. We are bound to stop you."

"Then it would seem we are at an impasse. Let this fight begin."

(Vince is about to go up against Beowulf and Fenrir. While he'd love to take the glory all for himself I would never dream of doing so without asking, so if someone would like to show up and get in on this fight now is the time. Mind the Einherjar coming in.)