Here they come. Enyalius tightened her grip on her sword and waited, her eyes fighting the darkness to get an accurate count of enemies. 

Out of the shadows just within the cathedral jumped 6 shadowy minions who approached the unknown soldier aggressively, their smiles too-wide in their otherwise blank faces. They were dressed as soldiers... but while uniformed, no uniform was alike. It was as though they had been assembled from several fighting forces...

and the smell...

Enyalius waited, scanning the darkness of the castle for additional reinforcements - had they sent out the full force, or was backup waiting just out of sight? Had her group been been spotted, or only the lone soldier? She waited, gauging their options, searching for any additional information the battlefield may give her...

OOC:

Sailor Solar Eclipse

She watched the minions who had come out of the shadows, but only because she had noticed Sailor Enyalius's gaze had moved towards that area in the first place. Solar Eclipse wasn't entirely certain she would have spotted them on her own otherwise. She just wasn't used to keeping an eye on her surroundings, so she hadn't thought of the possibility of an attack.

It looked as though the minions were not interested in the bigger group of senshi. Perhaps they hadn't even seen them yet? But they moved towards a darkened figure, someone that Solar Eclipse hadn't seen before. When had this person arrived? Was he a friend or foe? Since the minions looked to be targeting this person, it looked as though he was more friend than foe.

Solar Eclipse moved even closer to Enyalius. She didn't know what to do, and her heart was beginning to race at a painful speed. She would wait with Enyalius for now, to see what their leader would do. Then she would follow suit. That seemed like it would be the best option. She really didn't want to do this whole fighting thing wrong.


Sailor Bellatrix

Having spotted the minions early on, Sailor Bellatrix had kept her eyes on the moving minions the entire time. Now that she knew there were in fact minions here to greet them, it was kind of a relief. At least now they had a visual on a potential enemy, instead of having to worry about whether or not there would be something attacking them.

It was only now that Bellatrix took notice of the other figure, the one that the minions appeared to be targeting. She had no idea who this person was, but he would need help against 6 different enemies. And Bellatrix couldn't abide by just standing here and waiting for him to get attacked.

Bellatrix glanced over to Enyalius, wondering if she could gauge what the leader senshi was thinking. It looked as though Enyalius was preferring to wait. Bellatrix wasn't the type to generally go against a leader's decision, but she couldn't just do nothing, either.

Gripping her spear tightly, Sailor Bellatrix slowly moved towards the back of the minion group. She kept her steps light and soft. She wouldn't attack just yet, as she would wait to see what happened. It was what their leader seemed to think was best, after all. But she would be closer in case they attacked the unknown figure up ahead, and she would be ready to help.

Arch now knew what the minions looked like, and decided to have Rayden move in closer to analyze their weakness.

Rayden only hid behind a large potted plant, and started taking notes. Hopefully, their weakness may end up as light.

Achelois watched as the minions surrounded the figure before them.  However something else caught her attention; the hang glider she had more for the dimensional being.  She feared that it would cause him harm if any enemy used it against him.  With a flick of her wrist the large pedals shrank back down to their original size unlatching themselves from him.  Then she turned her attention back on the enemies before them.  Since Enya hadn’t immediately jumped in to attack Achelois figured they must be waiting for something.  She watched as one of the Senshi slowly approached the group from behind but waited all the same.  Achelois gripped her staff ready to aid at any moment.

Enyalius felt the gaze of her companions on her, yet she did not waver. Not yet. Not when she didn't know if this was the full of this group of enemies or just the leading edge; it would be foolish to go running in now, attacks blazing, giving away their moves and potential weaknesses when an even larger group of enemies could be watching and waiting from the shadows. Her eyes slid slowly upward, up the smooth yet crumbling black facade of the castrum to the gaping holes within the darkness - windows, out of which anything might be gazing. 

As of now, their enemy only knew their number and that they could fly through deep space. Her frown deepened as she had to add another known to their list - that most of them were Sailor Senshi must not have escaped the notice of an entity who had kidnapped the Solar System's Senshi based on their powers and abilities. Her mind jumped track as she immediately redirected her gaze to the scene before her, now glancing left and right, along the rocky outcropping that supported the enormous building, for any additional traps. How much did it know about each of them? Did he believe them all to be of equal skill level? She grit her teeth again - the newer senshi wouldn't stand a chance. She'd need to prepare for the worst, and hope that he saw them as mere annoyances and underestimate them completely.

The orange-yellow and red senshi - Bellatrix - crept forward quietly as the tiny lionesque creature slunk to the ground and dashed off on silent feet towards a rocky outcropping with dead vegetation, hiding himself from view. She heard a faint sound, something soft hitting the floor, and her peripheral told her Archibald's hang-glider had been taken care of by Achelois and appreciated it; the wing-like apparatus would have been hard to maneuver around. The tall warrior kept her spear at the ready and approached stealthily, though did not appear to be readying a surprise attack; Enyalius knew her reasoning - if she could throw her spear she'd be more effective at a closer range - but at the same time she felt like she had missed an opportunity; if another had moved forward, Bellatrix could have used her spear-throwing to assist should that other be ambushed from behind.

Enyalius waited.

Right on schedule. Shadow had anticipated that his trespassing would have received a proper response, and started to make a show of examining the building structure as the creatures emerged from the darkness. The number of options to deal with them in a quiet manner diminished as he took a quiet count of their ranks.

Six misshapen fiends in all, each with some type of uniform which stood out from that of its fellows. Seeing the minions elicited a sense of déjà vu in Shadow; his strength had come from repeated conflicts with the youma of the Dark Kingdom. If Shadow could keep them gathered close together, his surreptious gathering of dark energy might be enough to improve the odds with the first strike.

"Nice to see you here, boys; we've got a problem on our hands. From what I'm seeing, this place is a complete dive; it's structurally unsound and looks like it could crumble at any moment." Shadow paused to sniff at the air, then coughed into his fist for theatrical effect. That stench was potent enough to eat through body armor.

"Ruptured sewage line. This place is unworthy of a King or Queen."

One of the minions took a step closer to Shadow, its still-smiling face regarding him with an inquisitive tone. "Who the hell are you?"

Shadow scoffed, raising his hands to take up a fighting stance. "I'm the building inspector."

OOC:

[[Minion A]]'s smile intensified, his wide eyes now slits as he beheld the liar before him. No one came to the fortress but guests of the master. "We didn't invite you."

[[Minions A, B, C, D, E, and F]] draw their weapons as one, and rush forward to attack Shadow.

OOC:

They didn't pick up on the sarcasm. If that's an indication of their abilities..

As the minions rushed him with a mob's mentality, Shadow greeted them with a disarming smile. The air surrounding Shadow began to ripple as he drew his right hand backwards; to observers, it looked as if he was going to.. punch them.

A few moments before the armed gang was within reach, Shadow thrust his hand forward, palm splayed open. The untrained eye would have registered him striking only empty air, but something else was happening; at that same moment, the air stopped its shimmering. The energy Shadow gathered was suddenly directed at [[Minions A, B, and C]] in the form of a crushing telekinetic blast.

"Here's my invitation!"

OOC:

Seeing that Shadow was quickly being ganged up on, Sailor Io finally decided to even the odds a little. She could no longer wait for Enyalius to make a move, and she went to step in front of her.

"Io Hertz Wave!" she yelled, aiming to distract and stun [[Minions D, E, and F]] with a directed burst of sound.

Battle wrote:

Io used Hertz Wave and rolled a 1! 

Minion D is stunned! 
Minion E attacks Shadow again and does 3 points of damage!
Minion F turns and runs to attack Sailor Io! He is in route!

Shadow has 10 HP remaining.

Enyalius watched the potential ally's attack, appreciating it for what it was - multi-targeted, seemingly very effective as it floored three of the minions in one go; unfortunately, however, it left him open for attack. She remained steadfast, her attention moving from him to the shadowy interior of the cathedral, watching for any backup that might come to reinforce the small squadron of enemies remaining. It would not due to rush in headfirst to battle the three remaining only to be ambushed by twenty others. 

Sailor Io stepped forward and sent out a wide-ranged attack, the cone of air before her shimmering with energy before crashing into one of the three guards and seemingly stunning him. So this is what she meant by sound waves, Enya thought, noting the useful attack for later. 

The ally was hit again, but still standing; Achelois should be able to help him still, so still Enya held back, completely in control of her fighting instincts.

Achelois watched the figure take out three of the monsters in one attack.  She was thoroughly surprised but stayed alert as the other three now attacked him.  She knew one of them had done a lot of damage.  Achelois’ wings came back out and she began to hover slightly above the group to get a better view of their ally.  Then one of their Senshi rushed out and attacked one of the monsters with a sound wave.  As one of the monsters attacked him again she knew she would have to help him.  Achelois floated a little higher and pointed her staff at the shadowy figure that appeared to be on their team and focused her energy to heal him.

Shadow's smile lingered as three fiends were blown away by the shockwave. To their credit, they did not break composure when he struck down half of their number; the still-standing minions pressed their attack and forced him to withdraw quickly.

Their glancing strikes served to set him Shadow for a painful puncture wound to the chest (nearly missing his heart) and a slightly milder laceration on his backside. Seeing an opportunity, the dark soldier thrust his hand out towards a single-edged sword that had fallen from the grasp of one of the felled minions. The blade floated up off the floor and into Shadow's grasp, responding to his mutual thirst for battle.

Taking up the falchion as if he were putting on an old pair of comfortable shoes, Shadow pressed his own attack on [[Minions D and E]] with a wide cleaving stroke. The final minion was taking off after one of the intervening senshi, and would not be within his reach; not yet, anyway. There were two problems in front of him that demanded an immediate resolution.

Sailor Io's sound burst had only seriously impeded one, but it did get the attenton of another off of Shadow. When [[Minion F]] started to approach her, she held her ground until it got into striking range, charging up another attack. And when it did get close enough, she used Io Hertz Wave again at point blank range. This time she used an amplified screeching noise that would be more painful if it hit.

Battle wrote:

Achelois healed Shadow for 4 HP.

Shadow used a sword* to attack Minions D and E. Shadow rolled a 4.
*Jasper okay'd this sword with me before picking it up! =D

Minions D and E have been defeated.

Minion F attacks Sailor Io! 6 points of damage!

Shadow has 16 HP remaining.
Sailor Io has 14 HP remaining.

XD In an alternate universe...lol:

Battle wrote:

So I had written the above before ThunderCrash had posted; that is how it would have gone if I had submitted a bit earlier; therefore, Io's attack will happen after she had been attacked by the enemy, but it goes through before Enya steps in.
Io attacks Minion F for 6 points of damage.

Minion F has been defeated.

The shadows surrounding the entrance went undisturbed; there was no backup for the initial group of enemies. Placing a comforting hand on Io's shoulder, Enyalius went forward without waiting for a reply from her, Enya's steps even and commanding, her long brown hair bobbing with her steps and her form-fitting armor making the smallest of metallic sounds as she approached the entrance of the castle. She nodded once to Bellatrix as she passed, knowing the warrior would have handled the enemy beings if their potential ally and Io had not made such quick work of them.

"Your name?" she asked as she reached the young man, her eyes giving him a once over before facing forward into the darkened maw of the castle before them. He wore a black uniform to compliment his apparent ease of going unnoticed in shadows and carried himself like a soldier. "And your purpose?" she added, ready to accept him into their group or discard him as a third party depending on his answer.

Being healed was an unusual feeling, like receiving an injury all in reverse. Still, the intervention of the Senshi spared him the experience of being thrown through a meat grinder; that was the danger of fighting multiple armed opponents when they were aware of your presence.

Shadow withdrew a letter from his jacket, offering it to Enyalius while keeping his sword lowered. Had he not been fighting for his life just a moment ago, the appearance of blood on the royal invitation would have been considered a faux pas.

"I am Jasper Franklin, or Shadow if you ask the public. I was late to the party, and following you here was an exhausting effort."

Arch decided to give his felicitations to Shadow.

"Ah, yes, an urban legend, if I recall. The name is Archibald Kayin McShane, please, just Arch."

"I. . is the battle over?" asked Rayden.

"Yes Rayden, come say hi to Shadow," answered Arch.

Rayden walked up to the child and greeted him, "Weren't you that kid with the bat and roller blades?"

Achelois felt that the man, Shadow, could probably do with some more healing but she wanted to focus on the other Senshi who had also been injured.  Achelois pointed her staff at Sailor Io and again used her energy to heal her.  She knew they weren’t hurt too badly but she wanted to get them as close back to full health as possible before they headed off further into this building of doom and gloom.  Achelois smiled as she realized she was still hovering above the group.  She landed next to Enya while she looked at the invitation.  She hoped this meant they had a new ally.

Battle wrote:

Achelois healed Io for 4 HP.

Io now has 18 HP

Enya took the proffered envelope, completely confused as to its meaning, but his explanation clued her in. She glanced at the seal to assess his validity, though having not handled the actual invitation (Achelois had received and handled theirs) she could only note that it had the golden crescent the Royal Family sported. Enya glanced back at him, noting the dried blood beneath his nostrils, and wondered if Achelois should try healing him again; the energy expenditure didn't seem to bother him in any other way, though, so she'd leave it at that.

As Arch engaged the Shadow in conversation Enyalius handed the invitation over to Achelois, who had landed beside her, and stepped forward, into the gaping entranceway to the castle, her senses on high alert.

A soft glow started to grow in the room, starting dim and red, outlining the grand room and the large desk in the center. As it brightened it gave off enough light to see the decor of the room, and Enyalius's brows furrowed - what was this place? It seemed almost familiar... almost like... With a flash of recognition, she realized she had been in a similar place as this on a planet in the Sirius star system - it was a museum. 

Which meant the Solar Sailor Senshi could be the curator's newest exhibits. 

Tightening her hold on her weapon, she strode forward confidently, stepping from marble floor to threadbare carpet as she cut across the large entrance to the gallery and through its only door into the adjoining room. This room was brighter, showing off ancient artifacts in glass cases; she didn't stop to ponder or examine, instead passing through as quickly, into the next room beyond that.

She paused upon entering, feeling a shift in the air, and waited for at least a handful of the others to catch up.

OOC:

Sailor Io gritted her teeth in pain when the creature lashed out at her less covered arm, but she forced herself to grab with her other hand and hold it in place so she could blast it to pieces with her noise.

The short battle had left her breathless as the adrenaline wore off. The blood dripping down from her new would was a reminder that she wasn't a defensive powerhouse and should stick to less direct moves next time. Now that she could see Jasper more clearly, his style of dress looked familiar. She gave him a suspicious look before turning away, not saying a word to him. The Dark Kingdom was long dead, right? But it never hurt to be cautious.

Io nodded a thanks to Achelois when her injury was healed, now only having to deal with the soreness and a light scar. Entering the fortress after Enyalius, she looked around the surprisingly modern inside. It looked more like a space age historical building than the prison she was expecting. Wait, didn't the kidnapper say something about a collection?

In the cases, she saw rusted old shields and spears, some of them looking eerily similar to the weapons she saw in her dreams on occasions. One old infantry helmet had the sign of Mars carved into it. An old fishing boat's sail had a painted trident like symbol, the sign of Neptune. A submarine shaped futuristic vehicle was marked with Mercury's sign. A few other high tech guns and machines even had constellation signs, like Leo and Sagittarius.

"These are Silver Millenium pieces..." she said, glancing around. "How could someone have collected all this stuff?"

As Arch looked through this museum of darkness, he saw something that looked similar to Alduin's Wall in Skyrim. Only this time it was adapted for the prophecy that involved him, the minor Senshi, and allies.

"By the Nine! Look at this! I think I see our destinies carved out in stone," it was on the right side of the wall that the Minor Senshi and Allies gathered for one gallant last stand at something. It's apparent part of the prophecy was broken off, hiding the villain's identity.

Sailor Skaro had followed them. She had seen the enemies, and yet had not attacked. Why? She wasn't quite sure why she hadn't immediately blasted the minions into nothingness. Could it be her conflicting psyches, human and Dalek? It was true that the more she spent time in this form, the more likely it was that she would turn on her allies once the amount of enemies had run out...but she quickly shook that thought out of her mind, and came to inspect the artifacts as well. There were old Silver Millennium pieces, including a rusted old sickle with the symbol of Saturn, and a dusty old peacock feather headdress with what looked like the symbol of Juno. There was everything in here...even a small scrap of Dalek armor. But then one of the men--Arch, was it?--had pointed out a prophecy. Skaro was never a superstitious one, but she looked at it anyway.

OOC:

With the shift in the stale air came the strange smell again, giving Enyalius just enough warning to prepare her weapon before two beings appeared out of the darkness, their armaments drawn.

Battle wrote:

Minion A and Minion B appear and attack Sailor Enyalius! They roll a 6 and a 5.
Sailor Enyalius was prepared for the attack! She rolls a 4 and a 5.

Sailor Enyalius suffers 2 points of damage.

Enyalius fully blocks the blade of one of her attackers, but only managed to deflect the next, sending the blade to her side, cutting along her upper arm. Not wasting time, she turned and slashed forward with her sword, towards her two would-be attackers.

Battle wrote:

Enyalius attacks Minion A and Minion B. Enyalius rolls a 6!

Minion A has been defeated.
Minion B has been defeated.

Enyalius has 18 HP

"Show yourself!" Enyalius challenged, her voice echoing in the larger chamber before her, the bones of creatures long since dead sending shadows dancing across the room. 

Obligingly, a male figure detached himself from the darkness beside an impressively built creature, his face normal compared to the creepy smiles plastered on other enemies' faces. His attire made Enyalius pause, appearing only too similar to the militia gear on her own home planet, differing only in that it was of an older style, from back in her predecessor's days...

"Who are you? Where are the Solar System Senshi?" she barked, her copper eyes trained on him.

He walked perpendicularly to her, seeming to examine one of the skeletons to her right. "I am General of Enyalius. The best military leader of several generations on my world." He looked over to her, cocking his head slightly, and his eyes instantly hardened. "And without a ticket or a personal invitation," his hand slid to his belt, where, with a click, he loosened his sword from its sheath, "you're trespassing." 

With a flourish his sword was free, and moving much more quickly than imagined, he was suddenly face to face with Enyalius, her sword arm pulling up reflexively to meet the blow. Her mind jumping to combat mode, she turned the information aside and focused solely on the enemy engaging her.

Battle wrote:

Mini Boss A - General Enyalius - engages in battle with Sailor Enyalius.
Sailor Enyalius engages in battle with Mini Boss A.


Minion C, D, E, F and G appear from the shadows, and stalk towards Sailor Achelois!

OOC:

The sounds of yelling and weapons clashing in the other room dragged Sailor Io's attention away from the many glass cases. Not wasting any more time, she ran off to join the battle, hoping the others would follow along. She entered the room just in time to see a mysterious armored man having a sword duel with Sailor Enyalius, and found herself grinning in anticipation. Now this was a real opponent!

The minions that lurked behind him were another story, however. 

"Hey, 5 on one's not very fair, don't you think?" Sailor Io said, joining Achelois. She twisted the knobs on the sides of her helmet, and two antennae popped out, electricity jumping between them. "Io Three-Ring Pulse!" She unleashed a shock wave of magnetic energy at [[Minion C and D]].

"Finally, some Action," hollered Arch! He and Rayden engage, Minions E,F,and G!

One horizontal slash, and the pull of the trigger, Arch turns his blade beam into a shock wave at the Minions three!

Next Rayden took his Acoustic Guitar and whacked minion F like a mole!

Enemies! There was no doubt about it now--Sailor Skaro had to take action in the way that she knew best. Quickly, she moved in to help Achelois, blue eyes burning with anger. The left gauntlet extended into a Dalek gun, which she pointed at Minion E. "YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE SENSHI!" she screeched. "EXTERMINATE!" With that, she fired, sending a beam of electric-blue energy at Minion E.

Shadow rushed into the room upon hearing Acheolis's call for assistance, finding that a few of the senshi had begun to launch their attacks against more of the disgusting minions.

Looks like they're getting their share of fun. Once he had studied the flow of the fighting, Shadow took up a interdictory stance before Acheolis; her healing skills were too valuable to be left unguarded. If [[Minions F or G]] managed to get close enough to threaten the kind woman, they would have to contend with the business end of his purloined falchion.

OOC:

Sailor Bellatrix

Hearing the sounds of fighting drew Sailor Bellatrix's attention away from staring at the new surroundings. She had been so interested in taking in all of the things, that she had completely blanked out everything else.

But the sounds of battle, as well as the call for help, were impossible to ignore. How could she have let herself get to distracted like that? Gripping her spear tightly with both hands, Bellatrix moved as quick as she could.

Entering the room, she quickly took note of everything going on before moving forward to help Io with [[Minion C and D]], attacking with her spear.


Sailor Solar Eclipse

The sounds had drawn Sailor Solar Eclipse in pretty quickly, but she had paused before entering the other room. Her fear was beginning to get the better of her, and she knew it, but she also knew that she needed to help everyone! They could be getting hurt in there.

Though she was uncertain as to what she could do to help, Solar Eclipse entered the room with the others. A lot of things were going on around her, and it was difficult to make out the specifics. Should she go help this group, or that one? Was it better for her to stay in the back, or should she attempt to find her first attack. She had no weapon to attack with, and had never used her own magic in deliberate way before.

But she had to try. This was what she came here for, after all. She wanted to help, and doing nothing because she was too afraid would be a waste of everything.

Pushing all of those fears aside, and focusing only on her desire to help everyone, Solar Eclipse focused her attention onto [[Minion G]] and called out her attack, "Plasma Fountain!"