Kent kept his arm clutched to his side as he looked at the others. "Alright, that other ship is rather close to us. Let's get on and see if any of the other fronts are already there. We've drawn some fire but we still need to make sure that the others are alright there." Kent ran to the side of the ship, ready to board the Fog Guide as soon as humanly possible.

Though she's surrounded by most of her teammates, Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem to be too concerned as she converses quietly with Luna and her older brother while keeping her ears trained on Oboyo. Behind them, Optimus and Vinyl wait patiently, not daring to say anything to interrupt.

Upon reaching the deck of the Crusader, Oboyo turned around to face the massive crowd. One by one, voices began to soften into silence while he paced left to right, looking out over everyone. "Take a good look around you. THIS is what this world is about. No matter who or what you are, you've chosen to band together to fight a fight that no one else would. It was never about destiny or the stars..being that special chosen one meant to be here. It was about choice."

"You heard the truth and you chose to accept it. That's why you're here..that's why we're all here." Lines and lines of black moogle warriors stood at attention next to soldiers from Cosmo Canyon and students from the White Tiger School. Boos and wasps floated silently in the air, hand in hand.

"And we've lost some good people who gave everything to get us here. It's up to us to make it mean something and do them justice. The fog guide, the phantoms..they aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to everything, everyone. Those are the lives we're fighting for. That's the scale."

Off to the side, the Gitmidur's engine began to roar to life as Launchpad lifted the helicopter into the air. "It's been a long journey, and no one's coming out without scars. But it all comes down to this moment. We win or lose it all in the next hour. Make me proud..make yourselves proud. They want to know what we're made of? I say we show them, on our terms. And we'll bring our people home!"

By that time, the Gitmidur made its way above the Crusader, Egon throwing the rope ladder down just behind Oboyo. Raising the Spirit Rune on his left hand, Oboyo reached out to grasp the ladder with his right. The rune began to emit its bright cyan light as the helicopter began to lift him off the Crusader's dead. "This ends here, tonight! With us! For the saviors of the cleft!"

With that, Oboyo began to climb up the ladder while the Gitmidur flew him off. Those designated to the Crusader or the MK II began to make their way to the vessels, ready as they'll ever be to face a war that one could have never been ready for.



Curiously, Deim's sensors were reporting not only other parties of PDF allies, but the younger Ser Jinsaka's presence as well, once she had physically entered the ship itself. The fact something, perhaps the ship itself, could so effectively scramble her sensors, was somewhat disconcerting.
As were the occasional barriers that appeared and blocked off her advancement each time she got a lead on her target and altered her course to intercept. Something very peculiar was underway here, and she hated not having all the intel on a situation as dire as this was proving to be.

Gizmo looks at the ghostly knight in dispair. They'd come all this way... for this? She rushes forward... more of a lurch really, as her wounds catch up to her and cause her to stumble and cringe after just a couple steps. Thankfully, it seems the PDF is not doomed... but the image of Lucass is distressing.

Dos turned his charging gun to the side and blasted another hole in the already swiss-cheesed walls "Alright boss, if you think you have this, just don't be an ass and go dying on me." he lowered the handgun slightly, ready to raise it again with an odd amount of optimism.

Gizmo slowly makes her way forwards, toward the room the light came from. While thankful for Kuporia's aid, she was all too aware that it was a rush job, that she'd need more urgent care soon. Still... she was alive for now. Couldn't say that about a lot of their comrades. "Salamando... you let me come this far. I can't die yet. I don't die yet. Let me see this through."

Graham, Jum, Hiko, Grigori, and Kamus landed on the rotten floor of the hold, clearing out of the way for others above. Lym, Casper, and Jeffery were next. Lucass was the last of the group, hand in hand with Kimen.

Since she and Princess Luna are both capable of flight under their own power, Twilight Sparkle moves towards one door of the Crusader with her fellow princess in tow, before jumping out and gliding down towards the meeting room. Optimus and Vinyl, meanwhile, seem content to wait for a landing even as Shining Armor teleports himself off the aircraft.

Sho and Jean followed behind Gizmo and Demonicor. "Hmm? Madam Gizmo, Monsier Demonicor..eez that not General Cray? What eez he doing here?"

Lenai crawls in through one of the holes in the ship's hull, bazooka aimed inward. "Nya? Is everything okay in here?" she asks, before shrugging, unloading the launcher.
Kent arrives suddenly.

Sutan landed with a grunt with Moit screaming frantically behind him. "Those..mischevious devils! Aack, where am I?!" shouted the merchant.

Demonicor walked ahead with his troops supporting him, heading after Gizmo "Oddly loud in here... I mean, ghosts are supposed to be quiet, we already coming in from other battles?"

Trixie pushed the boat up alongside the fog ship, as close to the hole as she could get "I got us here... Trixie thinks... it's your turn." she panted as she tried looking up at the ship, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

A whisp of smoke burned Kimen's throat as he took in a breath and the child gave a small cough in response. He looked around, eyes adjusting to the place he had fund himself in. Kimen had hoped to find Kent here, alive and well but instead another sight was presented before them. "M-Mr. Jinsaka!" He looked ahead in horror eyes trailing from Oboyo, to the blade, to the silhouette who was wielding it. It couldn't be! It was Lucass, and yet, wasn't Lucass right here holding his hand?

Hastur nods, lifting Trixie into his arms and carrying her into the ship, wincing as he walks, a large gash on his side.

Turning from her attempt to batter down the latest such barrier and determined to find an alternative route, Deim quirked a brow at finding her path barred by a set of phantoms, hovering in the air before her. She really had to recalibrate her sensors if those thrice-cursed things could sneak up on her like that. The corridor had been empty before, she had made certain of this before expending her energy on the barricade.

Kent followed the others, though a bit more slowly than he would have liked. It wasn't long before all the fronts were before him. All of them. Kent stared at Oboyo about to be hurt by the ghost, but, Kimen also fell on his eyes. Kent, without even thinking about it, stood in front of Kimen and Lucass. "Stay behind me. I'm not going to let you be hurt by these things." He glanced back at Lucass for a small moment. "And I told you, Kimen safe. We'll talk later."

Roche stood with a slight limp, he wouldn't be fighting, not in the conventional sense anyway. After laying the rider to rest he felt as though he was empty, he felt drained, he hoped hhis skills weren't required. As he stood he looked around something not feeling right in his gut. "I sense something.... something corrupt."

Helios looked around, noting the other people coming in. After examining all of them, he turned back to watching not-A.J. again.

"Aaagh!..What is this..? How is this even possible? You have no will! Why..HOW can you defy me?!" shouted the spirit resembling Lucass. The knight-like silhouette said nothing, its blade dissipating as the rest of its figure returned to the Spirit Rune, glowing brightly before returning to the hole on Oboyo's left hand.
Lucass grimaced at the sight of Kent. Oh boy..he was in for it later. But more than that, something else caught his eye. Lucass stared long and hard at the figure manipulating A.J. before speaking up. "Is that..me? No..it's..Hikusaak!" noted Lucass, peering at A.J. and the ghostly figure above him.

As one, Princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle glide down to land near the front, even as the faint and far-off hiss of a diesel engine signals the rapid approach of Optimus Prime and Vinyl Scratch. There's a brilliant azure burst of light at the same time both royal figures touch down, signifying the arrival of Shining Armor. "Well, we're here... We've got to be ready to potentially go all out here, if this proves to be tough..."

Demonicor guided his supporting troops to Egon, coughing wetly as he limped slowly toward the scientist "Hey, do you need that second gun for this? Jinsaka looks like he's handling it."

Gizmo crouches down to steady her aim and held her hands in a firing position, aimed at the spirit above A.J. She didn't summon her gun yet, as she wasn't certain how much energy she'd regained resting at the infirmary. But her resolve was strong enough, she could at least get a few shots off if a fight breaks out "We doing parley? Or fight?" she asks Oboyo.

Egon shook his head, keeping his eyes and gun focused on A.J. and 'Hikusaak'. "I..don't know.."

Dos looked up, grinning at Gizmo "Hey, I like the way you think! He's got me at standby though, so if you wanna aim, just wait for his word." he retrained his guns toward the center of the room.

"Well, at least that went alright. Oboyo, what should we do with that Hikusaak guy?" Helios kept his laser charged and ready to fire as he stared down the Lucass look-alike.

Mekis smiled, laughing inside. "Look at that. Seems all High and Mighty isn't what he thought himself to be. That's what you recieve for your overconfidence, fool." Mekis stated this, fully unaware of the ironies within it. Esteban merely shook his head, wishing his master had a greater wisdom.

Mr. Kent was still alive! A lot of her worries lifted at the sight of him and Kimen resisted the urge to run forward and hug the former knight, knowing that they were still in danger here. The child looked to Lucass as soon as he spoke, eyebrow raising a little. Did he know who this was? "Hikusaak?"

Hastur slowly makes his way to the scene, staggering a bit, his wound bleeding, carrying Trixie carefully.

Shaking her head with a small, lazy smile, the War-Droid brushed back an errant lock of emerald hair "You boys have no idea, how much this is going to hurt, for you..." A shame, really, Deim still hadn't quite mastered inflection, or that her audience did not seem to care.
Sighing internally, Deim blurred forward as energy flared around her diminutive form. Best make things here quick. She still had a young Ser to find afterall.

Lenai scratches her head, looking around. "Who threw a party without inviting me! Unya, you jerks!"

Lym kept a firm gaze on A.J. and Hikusaak. Who or what was it, and how did Lucass know? Regardless, the boy was clearly possessed. And as luck would have it, Roche found his way to the room too. She began to sneak her way over to the priest while the spirit and Lucass spoke to each other.
Lucass glanced to Kimen before turning back to the spirit and A.J. "Hikusaak is..well..I guess you could say he's like my father. Is this where you've been? Traveling world to world in eternal conquest? Were Harmonia and the true runes not enough for you!?"

"Humph..never expected to find one of you here. You must be..ah..the one I had hold the True Fire Rune. Pity, you seem to have rebelled like the others..and you don't seem to have it any longer either. You, on the other hand.." said Hikusaak, gesturing towards Graham. "It is unexpected to see the Rune of Punishment here, but not unwelcome. I will be removing it from your lifeless body along with the Spirit Rune."

With that, Hikusaak snapped his fingers, prompting dozens of phantoms to emerge all around the gathered members of the PDF, half of which merging together to form larger dual wielding phantoms.

Trixie looked down as she came to, again, lifting a hoof to weakly hit Hastur in the head "You idiot.... what did you do..." her cloak slid down to wrap around Hastur's middle, covering his wound as a makeshift bandage.

"Ugh.." mumbled Oboyo as he tried to rise to his feet, only to be smacked to back to the floor by Hikusaak. "Where are you going? The Spirit Rune may have chosen to defy me, but that does not mean you are allowed to live." With that, Hikusaak held his hand up and formed a barrier past Oboyo, trapping him inside while the rest of the PDF stood on the other side with the approaching phantoms.

Demonicor snags a flare gun off the belt of one of his troops, turning to fire it with less than perfect aim "We're not helpless kittens, jackass!"

Hastur chuckles weakly, wincing as the cloak covered his wound. "I didn't want you bleeding, Trixie... so, I took your injury from you..." He breathes a bit heavily, shivering. The wound doesn't appear to be healing as fast as his Legacy should allow.

Hastur pants, looking at all of the approaching phantoms and at the spirit attacking Oboyo. "Trixie... say my name three times... don't ask why, just... do it."

Gizmo dives out of the way of Demonicor's poor shot, hitting the ground with a wince. She summons forth her gun, glowing a vibrant red once more. She takes aim and fires at one of the larger phantoms, vividly remembering the massacre one had caused on board.

Roche stood straight he clsped his hadns together and began to pray, hallowing a small bit of ground around him, he looked to Kent, "AS long as I keep praying, this ground around me is safe, the phantoms should not be able to enter." he looked to Kimen, "You should stay close, it is safe."

"...Should we shoot things now?" Helios looks around at the ghosts. "They look kind of threatening..." He idly wondered where the M85 was and why it wasn't here to destroy everythi- Kill the ghosts. Again? Yes, again. Helios nodded to himself, pleased with the direction of his internal monolouging. He took a couple of potshots after the flare that Demonicor shot, hitting one or two ghosts.

Dos turned his gun toward one of the new phantoms as it became material, firing a few rounds into it as his buster charged, launching an energy shot square for it and managing to reduce his recoil to only a couple inches.

Kent looked at the ghost approaching Graham and shifted his feet as if he was going to save him, but then remembered Kimen and Lucass were behind him. He couldn't just leave them behind. Kent slashed a ghost coming towards him and kept the children safe. And then Roche, that saint of a man began to hallow the ground. "I owe you one, Roche." He nodded to Kimen, almost apologetically, and ran over to Graham. The two might not get along, but he wasn't going to let him die.

As the fighters following Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Luna watch the ghosts, both of the pegacorn mares charge medium-strength spells before firing a volley of magical blasts from their horns and taking flight. This, in turn, provides a subtle signal for Optimus and Vinyl, who both charge into the fighting with their respective weapons held at the ready.

Jeffery blinked as the phantoms appeared. "Oh, didn't see that coming." He eyed his flaregun with one shot left and quietly took cover behind a wooden beam.

Mekis sighed. "I should have just shot that kid when I had the chance." Upon turning, arrow still drawn, Mekis saw the many phantoms. "At least he knows how to entertain." Seeing th flare, Mekis took aim and fired at the phantoms near it.

Lenai does a little skip toward one of the dual-wielding ghosts, looking less-than-concerned. She raises her hands up, flicking them back as blades slide out from her wrists. With a lunge she aims the blades for the neck of the ghosts, still smiling. "Yay, pin the Lenai on the ghosty! Party games are fun!"

Trixie glared a bit at Hastur before lifting a flare gun from her cape and shooting off at one of the ghosts, still panting painfully "No, you're stupid if you think Trixie plans to let you loose like that. You've told Trixie enough, Trixie can't let you do that."

Kimens brows knit looking between Hikusaak and Lucass, "Your Father...?" It was all he was able to say before the spirits started their attack on the group. Kimen took a step backwards as Kent attacked watching almost helplessly for a moment before he turned around, nodded and left. He squeezed Lucass' hand, "If we were here to be a burden then we shouldn't have come! Lets help!" He said to the boy, running after Kent.

One of the troops with Demonicor began to fire at the ghosts moving nearby, letting his two allies continue to hold up the summoner "You could have stayed back at the ship, sir. You could have sent someone else along. But nooo, you had to come along to see the fight!" he squeezed off a few shots before ejecting and swapping mags, continuing to sink the silver rounds into ghosts.

"Trixie... you know how to put the power away, when it comes out... you need to let me loose, so I can help... you can do this. Please, Trixie." Hastur winces, and clutched his side, his wound knitting at an extremely slow pace, still bleeding fairly heavily.

"I know? Trixie Knows? Trixie turned her flare onto a group of ghosts, her pain turning to anger "Trixie got lucky! Last time, you were barely started!" she fired off the last couple flares left in the battery before looking up at the giganto, more frustration in here eyes than anything else "... Hastur..."

Hastur smiles weakly down at Trixie. "Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to keep myself under control, and I'll help you when it comes time for me to put the power away. And if you tell the others what is needed, then... I'm sure you'll get it back under check."

Moit yelped and rushed to Roche's side as Lym arrived. "Roche..did you see? That 'Hikusaak', he's possessing Oboyo's little brother..he's going to kill him! I think..I think if we can focus, we should be able to separate them. But as long as A.J.'s got energy, we won't be able to do much. Oboyo..has to wear him down."
Rodger fired off his flares into the groups of phantoms for the rest of the PDF. "What then?" Lym shook her head, "What else? We wipe out Hikusaak!" She then turned to Oboyo and shouted, "Hey! Get up already! Don't siblings always beat each other up? Get to it! Don't make Lionel turn over in his grave just because he got the first punch!"

Lucass watched Kimen stepped forward with momentary hesitation. Would Kimen really be alright..? But they made a promise together, and he couldn't back out now. Lucass ran after her and stopped by Kent's side, holding his hand out as the rage rune lit up bright red. "Sorry, Kent. But we're all in this together!" With that, a stream of flames left his hand, melting a pair of nearby phantoms into a puddle of ectoplasm.

Egon blasted away with his proton gun while Graham's ninjas drew their weapons and engaged the spirits. One by one, the red ghosts dissipated due to the efforts of the PDF, but plenty remained. Dual wielders made their way closer to the group, raising their dual swords to cut down anyone they could approach.

Any ghosts that try to rush Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna are bound to run headlong into a thick volley of varying magical spells flying from their horns, even as a group surrounding Optimus and Vinyl endure a vicious beatdown from the two cybernetic warriors. Meanwhile, from behind a thick magic barrier, Shining Armor worriedly watches his sister as she launches herself into the fray.

"Hastur..." Trixie looked up for any sign of hesitance within the giganto's eyes, finding none, she leaned in to give him a nuzzle, still held in his arms, whispering his name a third time, inaudible except to his ears.

Oboyo groaned and lifted himself up after hearing Lym's words. Beat up A.J..? What would that accomplish? "What is this? You still have the willpower to fight? Do you truly intend to kill your own brother? It will not stop me."

Gizmo is lying down on the job, but still letting loose a torrent of fire. She tells herself over and over again that this isn't like on the sub. This is all the friends she's fought alongside joining together, that there's no way they can fail. "Salamando... don't fail me now..."

Despite the fighting with ghosts going on all around him, Jeffery was content to sit in his hiding spot and work on the forms authorizing the construction of the gallery in the mansion. "Let's see... I'll just use the same contractors from when they had the lab made." He scribbled on one of the forms as burning ectoplasam splattered across the front of the beam and on both sides of him. "Ew."

Mekis hopped up onto Esteban's back. "Esteban, up. Moments later, they were airborne, gliding over the crowd of phantoms. "Well then, it looks like we're shotting fish in a barrel. With not a ranged ghost among them." Mekis drew and arrow and fired, taking out one of the dual wielders.

Lenai gleefully shifts her right arm into a gatling gun, riddling another dual wielder with hard-light rounds. "Hehehe, DIE!"

Kent didn't even respond to the kids. He needed to focus. But it was obvious he was very, very upset with them. 'I told you you were turning them into a monster.' "Shut up." Kent took down a ghost, trying to weed them out thinner. 'Don't you see, Hunter? They'll deny their own safty for an oppurtunity to enter battle and kill.' "Shut up!" slashed another ghost with his shield. 'You truely are a fallen knight...' "I SAID SHUT UP!"

Rodger grimaced as he watched Hikusaak knock Oboyo down again. "Mr. Jinsaka! If you don't do something, everyone in here will die!"

Demonicor watched Kent for a moment, and shot another flare in his direction, phasing a couple more phantoms for him to take down "Hey! Knight! Ignore it! Whatever it is, cursed sword or past or dead relative, it's apparantly not here enough to affect you! Here and nowa" he heaved heavily as the cloud of energy began to disperse around him "Heh... here... and now..."

Helios continued to fire lasers into the crowd of ghosts, taking care not to hit his allies. He stopped after a few moments of that and decided to look around for something that could be a more effective weapon. Spying a bolt that had fallen out of one of the burning beams, he picked it up in a magnetic field and studied it for a moment. "Well, better than nothing, we suppose." The bolt began to orbit around Helios, slowly building up speed with each revolution.

With a few sparks from her horn, Twilight Sparkle steps away from Princess Luna and the rest of her team as her fur begins to smolder before igniting fully upon the invocation of Salamando's blessing. "Hear me, Salamando, and grant me your strength. Burn to ashes those who stand against us!"

Hastur wobbles a bit, then just falls to his side before he hears the final saying of his name, unconscious, his wound still bleeding heavily.

When Kimen made it to Kent side and released Lucass' hand, reaching out magically to whatever object she could see nearby. Broken planks of wood lifted up off of the floor; rotting or burning it didn't matter. The child pulled them to her with an intense look of concentration on her face, positioning them around the group with the turn of the hand or a twitch of the finger. Eight pieces total each sent out with careful flicks of the wrist and hand movement to assist in guarding and blocking the incoming attacks from the spirits to the best of her ability.

Trixie fell over with the giant, giving a yell of confusion as she hit the ground, pulling at her cloak a bit as she shook her head, until the fabric gave a tear looking at the red stained velvet cloak wrapping him up, before wrenching it free, tearing the fabric completely as she turned to the battle, red tears in her equally eyes "Playtime, just ended..."

The simple little bolt in Helios' magnetic field continues to build up speed until it becomes little more than a blackish circle orbiting the mechon. Parts of his armor plating began to glow a dull red as the magnets powering the field started to overheat. "Hope this works..." Helios abruptly shut off the field, letting the bolt rocket off and through several ghosts before going and blasting a hold in the hull of the ship. "Well, nine out of ten isn't bad..." Helios dropped out of the air to give his magnets time to cool.'

Mekis drew back an arrow, ready to fire, but then an idea struck him. "Esteban, get me close to one of the larger beasts." As Esteban changed course, Mekis drew his short blade. "Let's make this more fun." As they got close, Mekis leaped toward the beast. He landed upon it's shoulders as he stabbed the blade hilt deep into the creature's neck, killing it. Mekis leaped toward another one, but was caught midleap by Esteban as a blade flew by. "Esteban, why did you interrupt my attack? I was to kill another, before you came." Esteban sighed,but flew on, knowing his master would appreciate what he did for him in a manner more proper someday.

Roche looked beside him, Lym was the last one still on his hallowed ground, he moved his shaky hands to his blade and Mary, the hallowed ground shrinking to a small 4 foot diameter circle, big enough for one person, "Ms. Lym, please stay here and no matter what happens, no matter what you hear stay in this spot until it is safe. Please."

Roche walked forward, his head low, he didn't wait for a response from Lym. His body shook, he had lost much blood prior, he felt dead, he felt as though could no longer go on, but he had to, for his allies, for Kent, For Mr. Jinsaka, and for Ms. Lym.

Roche continued walking forward into battle slowly, his strength all but left him, he could barely heft his blade. "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness. For His name's sake."

Roche took a deep breath, and raised his blade pointing it at the nearest phantom. He charged, going on barrowed strength. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." He slashed at the phantom, shooting it afterwards, on to the next there was no ore thought in roche?s actions, the only thing he was aware that he was doing was praying.

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever." Roche's blade was thick with ectoplasm, Mary at this point was firing pure mana, at this rate if the phantoms didn't kill him, mana exhaustion would.

Dos laughed, in the middle of battle, laughing. His element, almost foreign, so many things different, he finished the clip and slipped the gun into one of his compartments before starting to run forward, coming up on an unaware phantom that was about to strike the accountant, his buster glowing, punching the ghost with his gunhand as he released the burst, "Hey, bookworm, you might wanna stop reading reports, and make a space for yourself in them."

Dos stood there a moment, chuckling and shaking his head for a moment, saving an organic... "Never saw this day coming..." he chuckled again and began to fire shots into the ghosts nearby.

"Oh, thanks! I didn't even see that coming." He signed the last form and put the papers in his briefcase before standing up. "Hey, Dos, you want me to tag along with my flare gun? I've got one shot left, though..."

Hearing Rodger's words next, Oboyo began to imagine the voices of others. He rose to his feet, earning another look of disgust from Hikusaak. "Why do you resist? The Spirit Rune cannot harm me like it did the Fog Guide." Hikusaak again attempted to knock Oboyo down, only to find his strike evaded this time. "Hmm..?" mumbled Hikusaak while Oboyo snapped his staff into place. "Come on A.J..just like we used to practice."

Hikusaak took a step back, staring at Oboyo. "What are you--ouch!" A.J. fell to the rotten wooden floor momentarily before lifting himself up with mystical force. "Hahaha! You are such a fool. I must admit, conquering this world has been far more exciting than conquering the Sindar! Go on then. Beat me to a pulp! Satisfy your barbaric urges until I am no more!"

Lym shook her head and ran out after Roche, reaching out to grasp him in an attempt to pull him back. "Wait! Roche, you're the only one who can do this! Lionel's not here anymore damnit, and the order itself a complete mystery! So come on!"

Roche was almost at his limit, there were still more though, he could feel his disgust for the creatures boiling over, he didn't care if he would die, he just wanted them to sufeer, Roche was about to run forth, run to fight them, and most likely run to his death at this pace.

With her anger building, a fire-cloaked Twilight Sparkle slowly heads for the remainder of the phantasmal army, as flames occasionally jump from her body and mane or swirl about her hooves. "Be careful not to get too close to me, guys. These spirits are playing with fire, and a strong magic-user..."

He would have to, if were it not for the hand that laid to rest on his shoulder, Roche stopped in place, hearing Lym's words. Roche turned dropping his blade, its weight, to much for him to carry at this point. "Of course, Ms. Lym, I didn't know what came over me."

Gizmo shook her head clear. She was aware that she had stopped firing a while ago... did she pass out on the floor there? A few of the PDF members weren't looking so well mentally. But so far, they seemed physically fine for the most part. They could win this. "These foul ashkin are throwing everything they have at us, but we shall not let them win! Hold fast, and we shall see the day won before long." Even if she was injured, she could still cheer them on. Act like the good old days.

Trixie walked her way into the fray, sparkles and fog forming around the tattered bloody mare like a barrier of diamond dust, turning into into icicles in the air as she sent them forward, embedding them into a ghost before turning as a fireball forms before her, her eyes glazing over as she watches the orb, shaking off her concentration as she launched the ball with a yell at another ghost.

Trixie continued forward, all her materials gone, everything she prepared destroyed with her cloak, she no longer cared. The mare tore up some of the planking at her hooves, rending to toothpick-sized splinters, sending the needles like a wave into yet another phantom, all the while the aura around her horn slowly turned a darker shade of red.

Mekis wielded his bow and drew an arrow. "I suppose it best to stay airborne then. Even if it's less fun." Esteban nodded lightly, happy that Mekis understood. He knew it wasn't what his master wanted, but his safety was important to Esteban, even with the ridiculous behaviour he had to deal with at times. Mekis fired at two ghosts that had begun to meld, ending one of them before they finished.

Kent was upset to see Kimen fighting in the first place made Kent upset, but the child's use of magic in such a violent manner only made him more angry with them. Why couldn't they just stay safe? Why wouldn't they listen to them? Why did they have to consistantly disobey him? Kent kept his silence from them, channeling his frustrations into adrenaline with his sword. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Heh..the power of the lord, I'm sure. Come on.." said Lym as she guided Roche back towards the barrier. Oboyo spun his staff and struck A.J. again. How much further would he keep going..? There were countless lives on his shoulders; he couldn't afford to let them down. But could he really kill his own brother..? The thought of seeking help didn't even reach his mind. He was acting on a form of instinct, almost hollow since momentarily losing the Spirit Rune.

"Alright Roche..focus. It won't be easy..but we can do this." said Lym as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate, holding her hands out before her in A.J.'s direction.

Despite the aura of fire swirling around her body, Twilight Sparkle's still sustained numerous cuts and bruises from having the phantasms colliding with her at various angles, in addition to having lost the use of one wing to the volley of enemy attacks. It doesn't deter her, however, from unleashing wave after wave of her own spells in retaliation. Behind her, Vinyl and Optimus are covered in dirt and numerous dents, as are Luna and a visibly tired Shining.

"Have you had enough? Very well then, I---what..?" started Hikusaak before trailing off and glancing around the room. "Something is..attempting to.." Hikusaak's eyes stopped on Lym and Roche. "..there! Impressive, I didn't..think such magic existed!" Wish a wave of his arm, a group of phantoms left the massively dwindling amount of the spirit pool in the hold and began to float towards Lym and Roche. "Kill them!"

Demonicor continued to fire into the ghosts, practically held up by a pair of his men, picking his targets carefully until he ran low, down to just one flare "What I wouldn't give for that ghost beam gun about now..." he noticed the ghosts breaking off and pointed his gunner at them as he shouted "Those Ghosts! As many as you can pick off! Now! If they're ganging up, we need to stop them from their goal!"

Even with her injuries, Twilight Sparkle turns her head at Hikusaak's order, firmly shaking her head as she gallops back towards Lym and Roche to conjure a flame wall. This, in turn, is enough to spur Vinyl, Luna, and Shining into joining her in establishing a defense around their teammates in spite of their fatigue. "No. As long as I can still stand, no one under my watch will die. I swore this when I first joined the PDF. If you want them... You'll have to go through me!"

Gizmo's gun shifts slightly to more resemble a revolver as she carefully takes aim at the phantoms approaching Roche and Lym. There's a loud crack of gunfire with each "shell" of superheated mana. Slower fire than her previous model, but hopefully packing enough of a punch to take out a few phantoms quickly.

From the air, Mekis noticed a group of the phantoms seperate from the mass, headed straight for the priest and the young girl. "And what do you think you are doing?" Mekis fired toward the group, hitting one of the larger creatures in the lead of the pack. Mekis grabbed an arrow for his next shot. Seeing the assitance they had quickly gained, Mekis turned his attention back on the mass.

Roche noticed the phantoms heading towards he and Lym, he dropped one hand to grab Mary, firing at the approaching pahntoms without looking, he was hoping he was hitting them, Mary's recoil was destroying his wrist. He kept firing through the pain, 'I must protect Ms. Lym.'

"Ugh, not going to do that again..." Helios hovered up into the air and shook his core. He began to shoot back into the crowd of ghosts once again.

Dos looked up at the ghosts bteaking away "Yeah, come on." he reached down to grab Jeffery's wrist, not really caring if he had a tight grip on his briefcase or not, firing with his other hand into the clustering ghosts "Hey! I can see clear throug you! You haven't got the guts to face me!"

Once she's near Roche and Lym, Twilight Sparkle extinguishes the fire swirling around her, dispelling Salamando's blessing and adding her own magical shield to the ones conjured by Luna, Shining Armor, and Vinyl. "Don't worry, you two... Those things won't get to you with us here..."

As Lym continued to concentrate her thoughts, she can feel the threads between A.J. and Hikusaak unraveling. "Tch! How is this possible?! Don't let a bunch of filthy horses stand in your way! KILL THEM!" The phantoms continued their approach, but the resistance of the PDF proved to be superior. The heat of the flames had begun to spread as well, causing several of the remaining phantoms to catch on fire and melt down.

With the last thread cut, A.J. fell into an unconcious heap to the floor. "Gaaah!" shouted Hikusaak as Oboyo seemed to snap out of his trance, glancing over to Roche and Lym. "Now! Hit him with the Spirit Rune! And everyone else, don't hold back!!" Oboyo nodded. How could he have forgotten? Lym and Roche were there all along..as were the entire Paranormal Deliverance Force. With a gesture of his left hand, Oboyo held it out to wrath-filled spirit of Hikusaak.

"I don't know anything about these 'Sindar'..but you could never hope to understand this world. All the good, all the bad..it all comes here, and we weave through it. Together." With that, the Spirit Rune glew brightly before launching a hazy blast, rendering the spirit tangible. At the same time, Hikusaak's barrier dissipated, leaving nothing to defend him.

"I still have enough magic left for one last shot... Got to make it count...!" Lowering her head, and snorting at the insult, Twilight Sparkle charges a large blast of pure magic at the tip of her horn before firing it at Hikusaak. "Here's a final 'gift' from this so-called 'filthy horse'!"

Gizmo notices Oboyo being a bit more theatrical than usual, and turns to look. The barrier was down. Their true foe lay in sight. It was all or nothing at this point, so Gizmo channeled all her remaining hope and confidence into one final shot. A flare of bright light built up at the gun's muzzle as it charged up before discharging a bullet much too large for the gun barrel. The force of the discharge and the strain of channeling so much mana energy in her state knocks her back to the ground.

Mekis turned to watch as the evil boy came to be what was classified as a 'sitting duck.' "Finally. A chance to shoot the thing. Took long enough." Mekis drew back an arrow, then stopped and decided to make it more official. Mekis drew back three arrows, then fired, the arrows whizzing and whazzing a bit as they flew toward the monster before them.

Water seeped up through the floorboards, a large snake began to form in the air near Trixie, ice scales running across its entire body as she began to launch it through the air at the remaining phantoms, the snake beginning to break down after a few strikes, and failing completely after a few more, the water splashing back to the floor as Trixie collapsed to her knees, starting to heave and shake as she sat there, staring at the growing pool of bile.

"Nya? Oh! Egon, watch this!" Lenai says, toting her bazooka, loading it up, "I'll show you why I brought this!" She aims, and fires, using her most powerful attack on this foe!

Jeffery is pulled along after Dos like a ragdoll, occassionally kicking a stray ghost as he flails about.

Kent noticed that the ghosts began to back down as their leader was vulnerable. Kent fell to his knees, thankful that the battle was almost over. He could not hear the fire, the yells of the ghosts of PDF members. He placed his sword carefully in front of him, pulled his necklace out, and bowed his head. He took a deep breath of silent prayer, thanking his god that Lym, Lucass, and Kimen were safe. Kent stood up, gather his sword and turned to Graham. "You okay?"

Demonicor fired his final flare at the head ghost, gesturing for his gunner to fire into the smoke cloud for good measure "You two, get me standing... I would rather save finding out what drowning to death feels like on a different day." they all began heading for the nearest outside-facing hole in the ship.

It was over, Roche holstered Roche and trudged over to where he had dropped his blade and placed it onto his back, his arms feeling like jello. Roche's vision began to fade, he ould feel it, his body was giving up; his mind and soul were screaming to continue to ensure the saftey of those around him, but to no avail. Roche fell to his knees his mind having gone blank. he hit the floor unconcious

"No energy left to teleport back... And I can't fly back like this..." With a tired smile, Twilight Sparkle slowly heads for one of the holes in the ship's hull, hoping that she can find her way back. She's followed by Luna, Vinyl, Shining Armor, and Optimus, however, who have also sustained various degrees of damage or injuries, on top of fatigue.

As soon as the ghosts made a change in target the levitating planks were dropped with a loud clatter. Kimen let out a sigh of relief feeling the twinge of mental exhaustions from controlling so many objects all at once. The mental excercise being almost too hard for them to keep up with and juggle. He then noticed Kent kneel down and the child's brows knit in worry for the former knight. "Mr. Kent... Are you alright?" Kimen walked over to him and knelt down beside him, Placing a hand on his shoulder.

With their combined firepower, Hikusaak shouted loudly as his ghostly body dissipated into nothing. All that remained was a circular, blue rune. Oboyo dropped his staff and crouched down next to A.J., shaking him hard. "Hey..hey, you alright, A.J.? Come on..wake up.." The ship began to creak and shift; the various forms of damage done to it had far suprassed its toll. Without Hikusaak's magic, the ship had begun to fall apart.

"Is that..?" gasped Lucass as he approached the discarded rune, crouching down to pick it up. "..after all this time, he still had it.." The ship groaned and creaked as water began to flood through rotten planks of wood, formerly kept stable by Hikusaak himself. "The ship's falling apart! We need to go, Oboyo!" shouted Egon, picking up Oboyo's staff and thwacking him lightly with it.

Oboyo winced and glared at Egon while scooping A.J. up into his arms, looking out at everyone left in the hold. "Hey! If you can hear me, abandon ship!" Oboyo took a few steps forward to look around until his eyes stopped on Gizmo. "Which way is the MK II?!"

Dos released the accountant, pushing him towards Lym and Roche "Battles looks done, go help him get on a raft or something. I got some lifting of my own to do." Dos made his way over to Hastur, lifting him under his arm and dragging him along "Come on big man, ship's sinkin, time's burnin, and so is this room."

Mekis saw his fallen comrades, and knew there was nothing he could do himself, but he had an idea. "Esteban, to the Gitmuder." They flew up through the holes in the ship and went to the helicopter. He quickly approached the pilot. "You, pilot, there are several within the ship who need help getting out. Where do you keep the rope ladder and things of that sort?"

Kent glared at Kimen, but it was unsure who the anger was towards. Himself, for letting the child get in danger, Lucass, for encouraging is, or maybe Kimen, for going along with it and refusing to stay where they were safe. "We'll talk later. We need to tend to the wounded." Kent moved towards Father Roche, the priest who had exorcised A.J. Kent scooped him up, making sure all of Roche's rightous armory was with him, and began walking towards the MK II in silence.

"We are glad that's over." Helios hovers over and departs the ship, followed by Jeffery as he was tossed towards Lym and Roche.

Gizmo struggles to get to her feet, pointing off down the hallway "Down there. Let's hurry." She forces herself to walk that way, thinking of Kuporia's waiting sickbay the whole way.

Lucass nodded at Oboyo and put the rune away, rushing back to Kent and Kimen. "Come on!" shouted Lucass while Graham grunted as his foot fell through a rotten section on the floor. Rodger gasped and stopped to help Graham out, guiding him towards Gizmo's direction. "Oui! Come now, Madam Trixie. It eez not time for zee puking!" said Jean as he squatted down to pick up Trixie.

Lenai runs, jumping out of a hole in the ship, doing a dive into the water.

Was it her, or was the ship shaking worse now? Shuddering distastefully as the blast continued to plow a path before her, Deim absently returned her arm to normal, clenching and unclenching the fist in turns.
"Blasted..thing..Why the hell is it always a pink shell.." Muttering on to herself, she limped forward determinedly towards the distant deck. She had to get off this ship while she still could.

"Oh gee, um..well the ladder is on the side compartment there." said Launchpad as he began to lower the Gitmidur closer to the ghost ship.

Trixie coughed a bit more as she was helped up to her hooves, stumbling a bit and nearly falling right back over, obviously in some sort of a daze.

After jumping into the water, Twilight Sparkle cautiously starts swimming, making sure not to hurt her dislocated right wing with any currents until she gets enough magic back for teleportation to the manor. "This is going to be a slow trip for a while..."

Kimen frowned at Kents answer. Maybe he was not alright after all, and the child began to worry about him as he brought himself back to his feet and made his way towards the priest. When Lucass returned to her she took hold of his hand again and nodded to him. They needed to get out of there quickly. There was no time to lose.

Warnings and the damage feeds associated with them filled her vision with their internal musings. Grumbling to herself in binary, the battered War-Droid ignored them and moved on as her task was not yet complete. Rest and repairs could wait. Was her still functional optic lying, or was the ship really attempting to shake itself apart? No, the wall she was leaning against was shaking as well.

Wearily raising the arm that responded best, she tapped an earfin, restoring her com-system to function. A chaotic mess of frantic calls for retreat assaulted her internals, so she cut it off just as swiftly. To much mess as it was. So then, retreat, or go down with the ship, and have to trudge back across the ocean floor?
She doubted in her condition she could swim, but traversing the depths should be managable, eventually. Tugging her now tattered jacket straight, she pushed off of the wall, limping towards the deck. No, she'd manage the depths just fine, but her attire would not, bad enough she'd have to mend all those tears by hand, but all that salt water, it'd rot right off, and then she'd have to find another like it.

Muzzily pondering why that thought seemed to bother her so much, she grimaced outwardly as well as the path ahead of her became filled with more of those accursed..things, even as the ship continued to try and shake itself apart.

Over-riding the warnings blaring away in her head at the action, she jerkily undid the cuffs of one sleeve with her bad arm. Shaking free the more, functional limb, she glared, forming a fist.
She hated this part, not for the act itself, but for what it represented. Yet, battered as she was, she was not up to dealing with these..things, in her usual manner. Others of their kin had seen to that..eventually. Mentally triggering a seldom used line of command, the bronze hued bracer enclosing her lower arm began to break apart.
To her, the transition that followed was agonisingly slow, each shift of metal a violation of her core self, yet logically, she knew the process was swift and smooth. The Doctor had done a good job as such was reckoned afterall.

Soon, her lower-arm had completed its transformation into a sleek, bronze hued cannon, a perfect weapon. She hated every part of it.

'Over-riding Safeties, Linking Power-Core output..Amplify..' The gem adorning her chestplate flared, blindingly bright as reserves of emergency energy flooded her system, then dulled further then it had before untill only a small spark flickered within its core as the energy was siphoned off down into the cannon.
Gritting her teeth as a ball of superheated plasma began to build up at the muzzle end, Deim aimed the cannon shakily before her, using her malfunctioning arm to help stabilise it untill it was steady and on-target. 'You..freaks..are really..starting to get on my nerves..Now..Stay Down!'

Releasing the built-up blast, a searing bullet of energy roared out with a ripple of displaced air, rapidly expanding as it barreled down the desolate corridor. By the time it had reached the mass of Phantoms, it had become a lance of pink, roiling plasma filling the corridor end to end, streaming ribbons of pure, blinding energy forming a swirling vortex behind it as it showed no signs of slowing down, or stopping for anything in its path.

Mekis thanked the pilot as he went to the compartment and let the ladder down, going down and guiding it through the openings into the room. He got a bit of leftover rope from his bag, in case of the unconscious. "Who needs a lift?"

Lucass took Kimen's hand and followed after Gizmo, Moit scrambling from behind with the ninjas and Egon.

Dos partially dragged the giganto after Oboyo, figuring a tin can was better than sinking wood or jumping across ships "Hey boss, leave the hatch open for me, I don't want to test my water proofing too much."

"Right." said Oboyo as he glanced back to Dos, hopping into the MK II once arriving. The ship violently rumbled as more and more water poured in through its rotten sides.

Dos lowered Hastur into the hatch first, before climbing in after everyone else and closing the lid.

With the PDF members safely disengaged, the MK II disembarks from the collapsing ghost ship while the crew on the Crusader detach the loading ramp. The battle was over..the Paranormal Deliverance Force had won. But at what cost?