Operation Rose Pruning (Nox Animus Guild event)

Alexander was sitting at the hill near Rose Garden, the city with clolorful buildings and filled with people walking the streets. Market stalls hugged the streets, selling exotic wares from far reaches of the world. If one were to describe this city, it was colorful.  Not only were the lights giving this new city life, a sense of peace.  Alexander for a while felt bad that he was going to be an instrument of destroying said peace that they had. So with a sigh he turned around and had the automated drones warm up and fly over the Rose Garden skies. Round shaped devices could be seen flying above the skies, but were paid no matter after a while. They were high up in the sky, suspended by a floating Lacrima inside them. They were so high up in the sky that they would appear like Black dots in the sky. They would wait in standby until the signal was given.  So far according to comms, nobody was reacting to them. In fact security seemed to be lax thanks to the focus of Fiore being placed at the Guild Masters meeting. A pity he was not invited, a piece of him wanted to barge in and represent his Dark Guild.

He turned around and looked at his guild who were waiting for a piece of the action with determ9ined or hesitant determination. Alexander had given them all their favorite meal before the mission, for if it went wrong it would be their last one. Alexander’s cooking was very good as usual, but to Alexander it was something to do to shake the nervousness off. Alexander took the time to say in avoice, “Those that do not want to participate or have a reason for us to refuse going through with it. Now is the time to speak up. You know your job and what needs to be done. I wish you all best of luck on this operation regardless of what you choose. I am also here to answer any last questions that you may have.”

All that Alexander was doing was waiting for the signal to coordinate the strike…

Daemon sat next to a young sapling and calmly enjoyed his unagi sushi and rice bowl. Daemon ate calmly wearing his lunar priest robes boldly to stating his heritage and since it provided him with the most protection . Daemon's father once told him a story bout how he nearly died at this very city apparently it was the first time his father had been marked a monster by regular people and was careless against the angry mob. Daemon glared at the city his sharp eyes saw a group of men laughing and bolstering about something trivial. It made Daemon sick yet he couldn't allow his personal feeling to cloud his judgment.

Master I shall follow your orders until my body turns to dust " Daemon said with a smile as he placed his chopsticks down and licked the few remaining pieces of rice from his face. Daemon stood up and pulled out twenty kunai from his pouch he keeps securely to his belt after handing the creature within the pouch some unagi . Nothing shall escape my fury master I swear it.

Yuna was currently munching on a chocolate cheesecake. Why she had been given it, she had no clue, but she wasnt one to turn down a perfectly good piece of dessert. They're so nice, she thought to herself, I'm so glad a joined. Maybe I'll get more cheesecake. Just as she was about to stand up and get some more, the guildmaster went up to give his adress in which Yuna paid not much attention to. "N-no questions at all, guildmaster~" Yuna said happily. "I can't wait to play the game..." Oh Yuna. She knew her part and role of course, but not exactly for what. She was going under the pretense of this all being a game. A game in which everyone had a role and part, almost like a video game. She had been promised stuffed animals if all went well, so she had readily agreed. Now that the guildmaster had finished Yuna grabbed the last bit of cake. "Yum<3" Hopefully, everyrhing would go according to.plan so.that she would be able to add yet another stuffed animal to.her rather impressive collection.

Codemaster watched his young nature friend crew and nibble on dessert. He couldn't help but remember the childhood he once had.

"No questions, guildmaster." he said.

He turned to his friend. He and her both knew of their part. Together they became part of this family, and together they would complete the mission.

"Y-Yuna-san... May I... May I have some cake, p-p-please?" the large robot of stolen technology begged.

Yuna looked up at Codemaster with a puppy eyed face. She had grown to love and respect Codemaster as like a father. "C-cake..?" asked the small girl as she raised her plate towards him, "Sure pap-eh...Codemaster." Her cheeks flushed from embarrasment as she had almost called him 'pappa.' "Sh-shall I get you a fork..? Or do you want to share mine?"

Ethan was very calm for reasons he wasn't completely sure of himself. The plan pretty much required his involvement and he had no qualms about it what so ever. He had liked the plan from the get go and simply enjoyed the setup as a whole. Explosive Lacrima's; Fast and efficient.

He had heard much of Rose Garden but had never cared to actually visit. So he didn't care to much if they destroyed it or not, no moral predicaments at all. On the contrary; Ethan felt a strange enjoyment in knowing what they were about to do. He couldn't really explain it, he just felt...... fulfilled somehow. A smile crept alongst his face as he imagined the upcoming genocide that he was to partake in.

He sat down in a chair with his left leg crossed over his right knee and enjoyed the view of the city as Alexander held another of his mandatory speaches. As Alexander spoke Ethan let his gaze travel across the city and the various spots covering the sky. It would all be gone soon and he enjoyed the thought. He could barely contain his excitement as he rested his left hand on his handgun. He still wasn't sure what this feeling was, was it bloodlust? No, it was something much deeper than that. It had surfaced as soon as Alexander had announced the destruction of the city. He tried to keep it in check for now as he took to word in response to the Guild Master.

"There's not much else to do but go through with it, considering that we already have our paycheck." He kept his calm demeanour to some extent but couldn't fully supress his excitement as smaller fumes of black gas was exerted with every breath he took. "Let's get to work already" He said that but knew it was for naught as they would have to wait for the signal before they begin.

Bliss zipped down next to Ethan on a line of thread. He landed gracefully, his hood draped over his eyes. He had his hands in his pocket completely nonchalant in the current situation. Bliss took the liberty to weave his threads around his designated post before he came to the meeting. Thanks to his magic Bliss was able to use his threads and create a giant spider web, if anyone or anything came their way he would be able to sense them by the vibrations of his magical threads.

"Sir Zenneth, would you like me to set up a surveillance net in a specific location? " inquired Bliss as he gave a small bow of respect to the guild master.

Mizuko was standing around bore out of his mind. He wanted the operation to get underway already then Zenneth there guildmaster began to speak “Those that do not want to participate or have a reason for us to refuse going through with it. Now is the time to speak up. You know your job and what needs to be done. I wish you all best of luck on this operation regardless of what you choose. I am also here to answer any last questions that you may have.” Mizuko an Atlantean that came to this land and was seen as a monster for 4 years before joining Nox Animus. He keeps himself covered from head to toe to hide his appearance just to keep people from attacking him out of fear. The magic council was even worse sending mercenaries after him at which Mizuko was forced to flee from. 4 years of hiding, 4 years of rage building up inside him. Does Zenneth really think he would back away from something like this? "I'm not backing down now. This is my shot at a little revenge. My foot is shaking so bad it wants to kick there ass." He laughed. Mizuko knew the operation was about to get underway all that was needed was the signal to start. Things were starting to finally get exciting.

'This is disgusting.' Priscilla thought to herself. 'So incredibly disgusting and infuriating.' The young looking girl floated around inside Alexander's shadows, waiting for something, anything to happen. She didn't know why, but deep down in her heart she despised the idea of the Rose Pruning and wanted it to end. "How pitiful." she said, her voice reaching even the outsides of the shadow where Zenneth would hear it. He should know that she was there, she always hitched a ride in his shadow, even to when he was on a stage or when he was trying to have a moment to try and look impressive or powerful to the rest of the guild. She was almost always watching and waiting for him to mess up, and he might have done just now. But she didn't tell that to him, she kept her mouth shut.

Hana munched away on a cookie, listening to Alexander speak, eager to begin the operation. Killing wasn't uncommon for her. She'd killed far too many people that she stopped counting, both innocent and not. However, a big operation like this was one she'd never done before. Even Takashi was pleased to hear about it. Mikoto however, was not so happy about it. Still, it was her job, so it just had to be done.

She sighed as she looked at beautiful sight before her, which would be gone in a few moments. Such a shame it would be, to destroy such a wonderful place. She'd visited it once, and she did find it enjoyable. But, destroying it should be just as enjoyable. She would be getting back at the council for ruining some of her missions for the past few years, as well as taking revenge for those of her organization who had been killed by the council.

Ray's tardiness, while never really dominant, had chosen the worst times possible of all the times in order to take over the unsuspecting mage's conscious. The normally-early-bird had chosen to sleep late the previous night, and this had set off a chain of events that caused him to wake up much later than he normally would. And thus, when the mage felt the warm rays of the sun caress his face with a slightly harsher tone, he knew he was late. And that too for a mission. A mission, which required his exquisite knowledge of architectural weaknesses to obliterate what was known as the Rose Garden. Cursing softly under his breath, the long haired mage got up and got ready within a flash, figuratively, before looking outside and choosing the closest mode of transport available to reach the Rose Garden. Once there, Ray dropped down quietly on a structure, his lean body swaying as to noiselessly allow contact with the ground. He wore a suit, as usual, and with a red shirt underneath the blazer, which stuck tight to his fit body. He approached Zenneth, the guildmaster, and spoke quietly, however, his voice would carry throughout any form of sound and reach Zenneth.

"I'm sorry for arriving late. However, tell me what to do, and it shall be done."

Codemaster had nearly inhaled his piece of cake. It was smeared all over his metallic face. His facial expression remained the same, but he appeared to be happier.

"Thank you Yuna. I needed that. and he looked back at the great guildmaster.

Ethan waited patiently for the signal as he thought about just what an impact this would have upon the country as a whole. He couldn't really tell what the others felt about the operation and he honestly didn't care as long they did their job. There wasn't room for failure in this mission, he wouldn't stand for fooling around or the like. Everything depended on their combined efforts as a guild.

As he was lost in thought he suddenly felt a hand against his back and as he turned he was met by the face of X, quite the esay name to remember. He didn't know too much about him but he seemed twice as dependable as most of the others. "Bonjour, Ethan. Just tell me when you need me!" With that said he lied down on a bench and started snoring all of a sudden. He could only worry over todays operation, was anyone but him even considering taking this seriously? He wasn't even sure everyone was here. He sure as hell wasn't planning to fail because the rest can't take this seriously.

He finally raised his voice as he was dead set on letting everyone thought where he was in all this. "Listen up, we can't afford to fail this job alright? I won't stand for fooling around so i'm expecting everyone to keep their acts together, is that clear?" The way he said it was cold to the core as he couldn't be more clear as to just what he expected them to be; Proffesional.

Alexander simply looked at Lyserg quietly at the man, in a way he liked him. A bit quiet and reserved, but an excellent strategist with the resources at hand. The time was nigh, 10 minutes left before anyone backed out. The guild was ready for most part, but he could see doubts in some of the eyes of the guildmates. This battle, if it could even be called that, was going to show who were the truly dedicated people of Nox Animus. There was no shame for those that decided to leave the guild like Indar Blackshield, their destinies led elsewhere. And the fact that this was an evil act was undeniable, but history tended to redeem winners in the wars that came forward.

Alexander told Lyserg, "This is what peace does to you, make you fat and lazy. To take life for granted, they do not truly understand the value their lives until its put in danger. They don't learn to value their family lives until its taken from them. That is the sad truth to life. Also we have intel that we may be able to grab a very important prisoner in the city. Fancy Mel of the Magic Council is apparently here. If we are lucky, then Nox Animus can make her our unwitting spy for us." Hopefully that would cause Lyserg to stop in his tracks. This was an unexpected outcome and a possible kink to the plans. However there were contingencies like this that Alexander had prepared for.

"Bliss put the surveillance net after the void device deploys in the downtown area. Knowing how they organize in that area will be vital as there is many places to hide and start fighting us in a guerrilla warfare." Alexander appreciated this man's forward thinking, but would need to wait until bombs hit or theyd get hit in the blast.

Alexander was also impressed with Ethans leadership skill in all of this, he was a non-bulls*** type of person when it came to this. He was also most level headed in that body swap incident. Now however was time to start,  2 minutes on the clock...

OOGC: Lets have Lyserg go next and start posting order from there. That way we get a description of the bomb Lyserg is using. Afterwards we start the order in the posts that come up.

Those legal guild characters that are NOT going to Edolas can send a PM request to me to ask about entering this thread and attempt to stop the slaughter or witness the cities destruction.

Bliss listened to his Guild masters orders, he patiently waited for the detonation. Once the bomb exploded he waited a few seconds until him and the others where given permission to commence with operation. Once the dust began to settle Bliss went ahead to create a surveillance net, with quick speed he darted through the rubble when he found his ideal location Bliss then activated a spell.

"Kumokami no Kakurega.... (Spider Gods Lair)" once Bliss called out his spell, thousands of threads darted out weaving here and there into it's surroundings creating a sensory net nearly invisible to the naked eye. Bliss then called to Zenneth through the communication lacrima. "The net has been set, the size spans to 87 sq. ft. it is big enough to cover the main entrance, I am also about to send my spiders to keep an eye on things, there are currently no other mages in the premises except for our guild members. That is all I have to report sir."

As if out of nowhere; the mysterious man who had approached the guild with this assignment appeared in their midst. He seemed to try and brief them but Ethan doubted he'd tell him anything he didn't already know about the operation. He still couldn't get that incident as to when the man had appeared before them to begin with, Ethan had least to say been humiliated then as he hadn't been able to keep to protocol due to inexperience, something which he didn't intend on doing again. He diverted his gaze towards the city once more. It was so vivid and colorful, it sort of reminded him of his own country. Not that it mattered, It would be destroyed as asked of them. Zenneth adressed the man about his further intentions for the operation but the man didn't seem to care at all for Zenneth's thoughts on the matter.

A silence fell upon them in anticipation as what the man's appearance meant. Was it finally about to start perhaps? The man spoke more calmly now as he announced it would be 2 minutes to detonation as of now. Ethan counted the seconds as all seemed to go so much slower than it usually did. Every second felt like countless more as it drew closer. Then suddenly a flash of light, as if someone had lit a match showed itself briefly against the dark silhouette of the city. A loud noise reminiscent to that of a hammer hitting a steel plate sounded throughout the air as the very current of the air itself turned towards the city. With that it all began.

A great suction formed towards the city and it was appearantly poweful enough to bend the very light itself as the city blurred and distorted. All gradually grew darker as Ethan had to struggle a bit to keep himself on his feet. The lights eventually died out as the bomb drained the city of energy. Everything happened so fast and ethan missed most of it as he had to hold on to his glasses. As it finally receded Ethan raised his head to find the city now devoid of all light. Then the many explosives set of as part of a concert where the many screams resonated with the exlposions in some way. He wasn't sure why but just seeing this made him happy in some twisted manner. He closed his eyes to take it all in and as he opened them once more he relished in the sustained chaos.

He didn't need any confirmation, that was the signal. The operation could finally begin. As the thought crossed his mind he looked over his shoulder to those who would assist him on his part of the job. "I want everyone on my six until we enter the city's premises" He didn't want to ruin anyones plans for the evening but he honestly thought it would be for the best it would be for the best if they stayed together until his own assignment was complete. After that he'd let everyone do whatever they felt like. He for one wanted to just get it over with so he could relish in the destruction. With that in mind he kicked of the ground and made way towards the city dead set on making as big a scene as possible.

Hana spent the remaining time trying to remember how Rose Garden once looked before the bombs were dropped. It was lovely, really, but all that would be gone in a matter of time. Although the destruction would be beautiful... she thought, then froze. When had she even begun to think like that?

Perhaps Asarael was rubbing off on her a little... But that was of no importance. Hana's crimson red orbs stared ahead at the town, anticipating the bright, blinding flash and deafening explosion of the detonated bomb, the familiar, terrified screams of civilians, and the bloodshed that was soon to occur. The girl took no notice of the appearance of the mysterious man, assuming that he was the client who approached them with the assignment or a representative. Her eyes remained locked on the city itself, as if looking away would cause it to vanish. She prayed that this wasn't a dream, for this could very well be her chance at impressing Takashi, showing him that she was worthy.

Taking note of the warning on the Eternano concentration within the city that the strange man had given them, Hana braced herself for whatever gale-force winds that would come their way from the impact of the explosion. Minutes turned into seconds, and finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of waiting, it happened.

At first, Hana had thought that someone managed to defuse the bomb before it detonated, or that this was really just some sick, messed up joke that some wacko made, but she was convinced that it was real when a loud sound that sounded like metal clanging together resonated across the city and to the hill they had gathered on, and Hana found it slightly difficult to hold her ground. The blinding white light caused Hana to squint, but her eyes slowly adjusted as the light gradually dimmed. This was soon followed by the remaining bombs that ha been hovering in the sky for the past few minutes. The drones released the payload they had been carrying, and explosions rocked the city, the terrified screams and cries of civilians echoing throughout the city. Thick, black smoke filled the air. The once beautiful paradise was now in ruins.

The light from whatever it was faded, and it was then that Priscilla decided to step out of the shadows. From Alexander Zenneth's chest, she felt, would be a good place to make an entrance. A hand came out of the man's chest, followed by the rest of the young 12-year old Priscilla. Her bare feet touched the ground lightly as her white dress billowed freely in the wind. The damage was done, it was irreversible, and Priscilla felt somewhat responsible for it despite not having even done anything. She hadn't helped plan, she hadn't pressed any buttons, set explosives, or directly aided in killing anyone yet... she still felt like this was her fault. But why? Burning buildings, dead bodies, blood everywhere... it was a sight that was very familiar to Priscilla. A sight that she had once caused herself. Back then it wasn't directly her fault, and she still felt responsible. Right now was the exact same situation. She had done absolutely nothing, and yet the weight of guilt and regret was heavy within her little heart.

"Why..." she mumbled as she stood just next to Alexander, although several feet away so he couldn't reach out to her. "What made you do this... you said we would be a MERCENARY guild, not a MURDERER guild...!" she mumbled, fists clenching up as she looked down into the city. The area around her was gradually becoming darker, and the tattoo on her hand was almost coming full circle. "You lied..." she said, looking obviously pissed off. "You lied... to so many people! You said you wanted to help them by making sure the Magic Council never hurt anyone anymore!" In a black flash, the young girl transformed. Her size and shape had changed from a young 12 year old girl to that of an 18 year old woman. Her clothes were purple, her hair tied into a side ponytail now, and she looked beyond pissed off.

"You're nothing but a liar... Nothing more than the lowest of the low! Your morals are gone, useless, more than just messed up. I don't know if it's because of that demon or whatever you were dealing with on that one job, I'm not forgiving you for this." Her tone was cold, uncaring, hostile, and sorrowful. This man- no, this scumbag, was once her friend. He had lowered himself to "must be eradicated" status in Priscilla's book, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

A few seconds after Priscilla stopped talking, Viola flew down and begun speaking her mind. Priscilla couldn't agree with the girl any more than she already did. "Yeah, to think the people we once called friends would do this..." Priscilla said as she watched Viola fly away. "...is just beyond pitiful." she said. Priscilla watched with a blank stare as Viola took off. It pained Priscilla so much to see her dear friend like this. Her one, true friend...

With a sigh, Priscilla began walking away, not saying anything anymore. The damage was done, there was nothing she could do now except follow Viola and comfort her.

Daemon looked at chaos in front of him as the guild rushed into battle. Daemon quickly took out a pack of smokes and an old silver lighter. After lighting a smoke Daemon's closed his eyes as he activated his lineage as every shadow within fifty meters of his body  quickly rushed towards him as a black shadowy aura circled his feet. TIME FOR ACTION." with those words said Daemon quickly  jumped up and dived into his own shadow darting off into the battlefield.

Near the edge of Daemon's initial range Daemon leapt out of  a shadow given off by a small fan  on top of a roof overlooking the chaos of the streets. With a savage grin Daemon Took control of the shadows around him and the streets below as thousands of Civi's were running around with a few RK's hidden in with each hundred group of civis.

Daemon growled in annoyance at the loud voices of the civilians  and used the shadows to create a wall of  spiked chains surrounding The frantic civis . With a sadistic grin Daemon took his hand and held them  in front of himself then quickly slammed his hands together forcing the two wall of chains to slam shut onto the  group. The Rk tried nobly to save the civilians yet their valiant efforts only caused Daemon to increase the numbers of spikes on the wall impaling countless people painting the streets a rich crimson.

As Daemon made the walls vanish from existence he looked down at the chaos he had created. ripped flesh and mangled corpses was all that remained in his wake. Well that was bor...  WITSHHHHh " Daemon sensed a presence behind him as he turned around a group of four Rks glared at him one with his blade  against Daemon's left arm. "This doesn't seem to fair now does it ?" Daemon laughed as he pushed the Rk infront of him away and quickly took out  twenty kunai and got into a defensive stance.

The RK surrounded Daemon as held their blades in front of them in a typical western style of combat. With a grin Daemon leaped into the air just as the Rune knights attempted to impale him. With little to no effort considering the fact he was face grunts Daemon gracefully landed on the combined blades.  You kids have a long way to go, it's a shame in another life I could have been your sensei." Daemon threw five kunai into the surrounding shadows and had them fly out of the four Knight's shadows. yet instead of fives kunai for each fifteen kunai appear stabbing each Rune knight in the back. Shadows of anarchy weapon skill: Kunai no kage. Soul stealer Daemon grins and drains the magical energy from the Rune knights and made it his own . Daemon laughed as he quikly jumped off the knight's blades as they all feel to the ground dead from the kunai in their backs.

Beowulf was active and Shaku was sprinting on all fours towards Rose Garden at full speed. As far as the Rune Knights were concerned, he was off duty, but he knew of Operation Rose Pruning. It was a plan supervised by one of the members of his home guild, after all. Although learning about it was a risky move, he was sure no one was suspicious. The rewards? Well, provided he assisted as best he could, the people would spread the word about their savior which would eventually reach the ears of the higher ups, particularly Sparrow. Reputation. That's all he got from this aside from the satisfaction of saving lives. He didn't enjoy that he liked chaos and anarchy, but it was something he had to deal with. There was something about the majesty of convoluted plans people concocted just to send a message, and he loved it. The bomb went off and light was distorted for a second before he felt a pull towards the city, but he was well planted in the ground. Upon reaching the city limits, he saw Lyserg and came to a screeching halt before whispering to him. "Tell them that if they try and stop me, they won't live long enough to see what Nox will accomplish. Same goes for killing anyone I manage to remove from harm's way". Before the threat would be relayed, he would begin to run at normal speed towards the taller buildings before slowly picking up speed as his body adjusted to the lack of magical energy. It was a strange sensation, but an irrelevant one. His objective was to save as many people as possible.

He would start with the outermost parts of the city, specifically the buildings that were falling apart since they were the ones that were the most critical. Everyone around the town center would be halfway down the list of targets, so he had time. Screams could be heard as well as explosions and fires raging. Buildings were collapsing left and right, it was truly a beautiful sight. So much chaos he thought with a smile before arriving in a residential district of the Rose Garden to find a one story home with a mother outside crying. That was essentially emotional shorthand for 'not everyone is out'. Shaku took no time to console her, instead he ran at the door and pounced on it, shattering the wooden fixture with ease. He looked around and found that there was a small child crying and coughing from the smoke of the fire that ravaged the building as well as who he assumed was the father unconscious on the living room floor. The Rune Knight put him on his right shoulder and took the kid under his left arm before bolting outwards and put them down near the mother. "W-Who do I have t-to thank?" the woman asked, her speech interrupted by stifled breaths and tears. "Shaku. Shaku Hitsumo. Now get out of here, through the alleys, avoid anyone and everyone" he told her as the man coughed violently and awoke from his former state. She nodded and they were off as fast as he saved them. One down... he thought as the sheer size of the task before him finally hit him.