The contender (Open)

Riana Maren

The Mechanical Guard Dog

Another day, another weapon that needed designing. Deep in the bowels of the castle, in the weapons laboratory that had been so graciously gifted to her by the guild, Riana Maren was undertaking her usual work. Probably making some kind of high-energy explosive, considering her proclivity for such weaponry. The red-headed woman was so focused on her work, soldering iron in hand as she fused wiring to board, that she only just noticed the voice of her artificial intelligence vibrating subcutaneously in her ear. Thank the stars that she had made such a thing almost impossible to overlook.

--Riana, one male target has entered the castle and has successfully breached the throne room. One guard is now dead and currently being carried by the target. Agent Killua has moved to intercept.--

The scientist pushed herself up from her seat, sighing heavily. What an absolute shambles this was; someone had intruded, and the Queen would have his head. Well, this was going to be one hell of a day.

"Inform the Queen and the Aces of this intrusion, SOFI. I'm going to provide Killua some support." ordered the scientists. They were going to be absolutely livid that someone was attempting something so shockingly brazen. This would only end in blood if this threat was determined to push the point. This guild had means of being... rather persuasive, after all.

At that, a sudden rush of air filled the throne room as Riana filled empty space where there had yet been anything; there was but a second's warning when bright orange-red magi-particles filled the room, which was a sight Killua was already familiar with. In the space that was now occupied stood a human-sized mechanical monstrosity; black steel-plated, trimmed with red and gold, with panels that glowed on its cheeks, chest, elbows, forearms and kenes, as well as the tips of bladed wings that flexed and moved to provide perfect balance to the steel beast. Its eyes and forehead crest glowed that same inhuman orange-red, casting aspersions that whatever stood there was even human in and of itself. Every movement that it took was accentuated with a mechanical thrum and the actuation of servomotors and hydraulics, to which the menacing step forward that she took proved to be the beast's first foray into the melee that threatened to brew.

Seconds later, a blade activated in Riana's hand, that energy beam saber crackling to life with a rather distinctive snap-hiss that flooded the room with yet more of that sinister light. Much like Killua, she considerably preferred the familiarity of her energy blade, one that she knew as if it were the back of her hand. First, she contemplated the enemy; an older man, white-haired, one who seemed to have little care for the situation he was in. Certainly, this showed nothing but confidence.

Those bright eyes cast a glance to Killua, who was very clearly getting serious; she'd seen this before and knew precisely that he was already going from zero to one hundred in seconds because of the weaponry and magic that he was deploying. Apparently, energy blades and high technology were the order of the day for Errings Rising, which was not a surprise for those who knew the guild in its own way. Were she to have her way, Riana would have outfitted every single one of their mages with her technology. However, Ri and Killua got along famously, for two people who were rather detached and cold from the milieu of society. Truth told, Ri had a soft spot for the kid, but she'd never show it. There was nobody in this guild that she'd rather be standing against a wave of enemies with. Or, in this case, a single enemy that radiated sufficient power that Riana felt as if she'd walked in mildly over her head.

"The agent is correct. Consider standing down-- immediately." Riana's voice when encased inside her Ebon Fury was shrouded with a mechanical tone, masking the gender behind the voice perfectly - when she was so clad, it mattered little who she was. Only what she was - and in this case she was the steel fallen angel of vengeance, not some human that felt flimsy and weak. This, to Riana, was her true form; nothing but the cold, calculating machine existed.

Behind her, the shimmer of magitech particles formed into four energy tornados, approximately the same height as her. What that heralded, however, was unknown even to Killua - for only one being alive, the Queen herself, had seen such before. That was a surprise that Riana intended to keep to herself unless the situation became dire.

Riana Maren

The Mechanical Guard Dog

This man's sense of deluded grandeur simply could not be understated. Who in their right mind would walk into the territory of a mage who was absolutely known to be incredibly powerful, world-famously so, and attempt to wrest control of her territories on the basis that she was not present in a place at a precise moment in time? It was the height of egotism to consider that as a reason to attempt to control a guild from someone who could, with little more than a thought, remove his existence from Earthland in an instant. Perhaps Riana wanted to see that, just to get a bit of bloodsport in her life. But no. This one needed to be brought to heel.

"You underestimate our Queen," the scientist remarked, those umbral eyes staring mirthlessly into the face of a man who clearly did not understand his own peril. "Were you worthy of that throne, you would have done your research beforehand to know exactly what loyalty our Queen commands and what you would have had to have done to acquire a guild. But no. You, like every other pretender before you, are nothing more than a puissant failure of a man whose unchecked ego is only one of many things used to compensate for a small..."

Pause.

"...Brain."

What did you think she was going to say? You pervert. Truth told, Riana didn't normally talk that much - but this was too good of an opportunity to make fun of a man with small something energy.

The guards began to filter out one by one at Killua's instruction, which meant that Riana knew exactly what was about to come from the young man. Were he to run unchecked, then Killua could have easily leveled the contents of this room without a second thought. She, too, could employ the more powerful equipment in her arsenal and ensure that she could have enacted the same sort of destruction, but then she'd lose her head. Riana needed that to live, meaning that the destruction of the room was now no longer a choice. The warning cut had been exactly that, which Riana understood simply by the nature of the man making the attack: he was not one to mess around and make an attack that would have missed a mostly static target unless he intended it to miss. Killua was too skilled for that to not be the case.

The energy sword in Riana's hands disappeared for a moment as she folded her arms, feet lifting off the floor as a cloak of magiparticles held her aloft, her wings spreading to hold her off the floor and wreathing her in the spectral red glow of hatred. "Amadeus Umbra, I gift unto you a first, and final, warning: Your life before the Queen is nothing but dirt. And she knows you are here."

True, too. SOFI, the AI, had diligently done her job in notifying Saraphina... well, to be entirely more accurate, SOFI had made the strategic decision of informing both Nadaline and Bertrand, as going directly to the Queen was occasionally a terrible decision. Her attendants could convince her better than an artificial intelligence ever could, which increased the chances of her turning up considerably.

However, now that they had the floor, it was time to unleash the dogs of war; from the four energy tornados that whirled behind her, four more black-plated, metallic masses leapt from their forms at incredible speed. One of them appeared like a very similarly clad beast to that which permeated Riana's skin; spiked, black and covered in fins that had some unknown purpose. The other three, instead of human-like heads, had more rounded skulls with long visors instead of simple human heads. All of them had the same glowing legs with knee plates, but from there the similarities ended - one, with twin energy cannons mounted to its shoulders, another with an energy sword and energy tower shield, and a third with strange conical protrusions from movable shoulder plates. From them, the same particle trail that came from the Ebon Fury followed them as they charged at high speed towards the intruder, moving to surround him on all four sides, from about a metre and a half back. That's six feet, for those of you playing along at home with inferior measurements.

Amadeus would now find himself at blade's edge, at gunpoint, staring down those strange cones, and directly in front of the folded arms of a beast whose blade bits were now beginning to detach and position themselves behind the monstrosity such that their sharpened energy edges would lance through flesh as if it were a hot knife through butter. From where she observed the movements of her vassals, Riana suppressed a smile - she had yet to provide herself a proper combat test for the M-Dolls up until this point. Would this man truly provide that test here and now? Oh, she was excited. Oh, Riana Maren was very, very excited, now that she could finally use her unassailable weapons against an opponent that could finally provide something of a challenge.

She looked to Killua for just a moment, glowing eyes lingering on the young man's white-haired form before she gave him a slight nod. Whatever his plan was, whatever he needed, she was here to support her ally in this fight, no matter what. Also, she totally wanted a look at his energy sword later. That had to happen.

The White Queen

@Godlike Frederik @Killua @Riana Maren @rainy || 633 words || 5,434 total words || Job Link || Job Approval
Saraphina #9966ff
Nadaline #ff66ff & Bertrand #0066ff