Forum Wars - Civil War

"GET DOWN!"

A short distance from the tower they'd run into trouble. Trouble in the form of an explosive crossbow bolt. Jayce grimaced as five of his men were scattered into the air, their limbs painting the battlefield. There was only one person he knew who used such weaponry.

I'll shove one of those crossbow bolts straight up her-

"SIR! ON THE BATTLEMENTS!"

Joining the huntress was a complement of two dozen or so soldiers, equipped with ranged weaponry. The formation was still reassembling after that first attack. He couldn't allow the Shards to put any more pressure on their forces. Ripping his 9mm out, he unleashed his own personal devastation on the heretics.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three were down in the span of a thought. Jayce didn't stay routed to the spot, rolling to the side whilst continuing to fire.

"TROOPS, REGROUP! TAKE OUT THE SOLDIERS ON THE BATTLEMENTS!"​

 

​

Kala didn't mind the free falling through the air, really. What she did mind was the thought that she was going to break a lot of bones when she smacked the ground. Another reason she had never gotten into an airship. Plus they exploded, and that would hurt too. She was jolted from her last earthly day dream, and free falling, by a pair of arms. They didn't feel like regular arms, and when she looked up, it was definitely not a regular face. "Um...hi?" She said meekly, unsure of what people said when they met someone of this stature.

He was talking, or it was talking, and sat her down before making strange noises, and producing a cup of tea. It was then a second stranger approached, this one definitely human. She kept her head down, hidden by her hood in order to keep from making eye contact, and therefore challenging him. He left without answering the thing's question, and Kala carefully took the cup, examining it cautiously before taking a sip. It was hot, but good. She began to drink it quickly, ignoring the scalding in her throat.

It was during this that she realized she hadn't seemed to hurt the thing, by touching it. She hadn't killed it. Setting the cup down carefully, she reached out and grabbed it's arm, pressing her hand to one of the amor plates that covered its body.

 

​

Varraki watched as the blue and white troops disembarked from the Valiant, they formed up in what would have been an ancient battle formation. Infantry squares utilising shields of sorts to protect them, he had to admit it was a smart move. The problem with that formation however was to keep it up the troops had to move slowly to keep the formation intact, it was a rather unwieldy formation for long range operations. He watched them move closer painfully slowly and silently wished he had a cup of tea to make the waiting easier, that thing had mentioned something about tea, but there would be no time to make tea right now. He awaited the battle and as troops started to engage each other the formations collapsing to explosive bolts while return fire took its toll on the defenders. He watched through the scope and had found himself his first target, the explosive bolt had opened up the formation. He had chosen the position carefully, concealed himself and the sun was in such a place its light could not reflect off the glass scope attacked to the rifle. As the formation was trying to reform itself he fired, the shot rang out though the sounds of battle did a decent job of masking it and his target fell to the ground gurgling blood as the round tore into his throat. It had been just another soldier and while he had spotted several people outside of the formations, the wise hunter knew what animal to hunt and what animal to avoid. While it would be good to get such a kill he doubted he could manage it. And it took strength to know one's limitations. He prepared himself for his next shot, firing too quickly would only give away his position and he scanned for the next target.

 

​

The one thing you need to be truly strong is something to protect, once you have that nothing will be able to stop you.

Currently sitting in the barracks, Reitan couldn't help but to recall the his teachers words. Words that would go to be the last piece of advice he'd get from his teacher as he passed away not too long after that. It has been a year since he's teachers passing and Reitan was still no closer to figuring out what his teacher meant. How would having something to protect make him any stronger than he was now?

Pondering this would have to wait til another time for upon hearing Carissa's voice. Their time for rest had come to an end. If the Valiant had been spotted then the Order of the Hammer couldn't be too far behind. Perfect chance to prove those last words of his teacher wrong.

Making sure to take his lance, Mikazuki, with him, Reitan left the barracks and headed towards the battle. There was a feeling of anticipation inside him for it had been some time since he fought seriously and other than practicing his lance skill. Doing so may have kept him from getting rusty, but it was different from being in an actual battle. "Let's get this started." Reitan said in an confidently manner. Now he made his way towards the battleground, ready for a fight.

 

Throda Bronzebeard's PoV:

Throda smiled fiercly at Jayce, before returning the ale to his hip. Throda slowly broke into a sprint and slung his shield unto his right arm. Holstering it high, Throda heard the "ping" of a bullet as it bounced off the dwarven steel. "Shards will be a fitting title for these welps when we are done with them!" Throda roared, pounding his hammer against his shield. The men around him yelled their agreement, hitting their own shields. Throda charged the tower, leading a squadron of soldiers behind him. The Juggernaut hit the enemy troops hard, shield bashing the first two he saw. A devastating hit to one's knee quickly ended the Shard's dreams of becoming a pro athlete. Or, you know, walking. Catching an axe on his shield Throda span around, driving his hammer deep into the man's stomach.
Deflecting a spear thrust, Throda was left offbalanced and a shot from the above soldiers smashed into his exposed back. Grunting from the impact, the warrior glared at the battlements, his face contorting into a look that might curdle milk. Probable.
"You men focus the battlements. Those remaining form up with me, we will hold the enemy's advances. We need those gunners down before breaching the tower. Give 'em hell lads."
The soldiers, inspired by the dwarf's ferocity, shouted their compliance. Throda and the remaining soldiers stood side-by-side, forming a shield wall. The Shards struck hard, but the wall held. Roaring into the face of an oncoming Shard, Throda caught the man's sword swing on his shield. With a thunderous bellow, the juggernaut smashed the soldier's sword with his hammer. Shattering it into... shards. A wicked upward stroke of Throda's weapon sent the enemy combatant flying. The powerful warrior parried a thrust from another soldier with his hammer, before swinging his shield directly into the man's skull.
Throda whipped around, hearing the cry of a friendly soldier as a projectile ripped through his chest. The assault on the battlements was not going favorably for his fellow warriors.
"Hammers, rally to me!" Throda yelled, his well-exercised vocal chords rising over the chaos of battle. "Form up and advance on my tempo!"
The Juggernaut slowly began to close the gap between them and the tower, Hammer soldiers joining the shield wall as they forced the Shards backwards. The advance on the tower should attract the gunners attention, lessening the fire on the Hammer soldiers who were focus firing the battlements.

 

Ransak Frisk
Ran laughed nervously "Nothing like that" he responded. The airship was landing, oh good, that meant the possible valuables on board were still safe "Hmmm" Ransak took off his pack and delved deep into it, rummaging around after a moment we pulled out a stick. It was no ordinary stick though, this stick was forked. Ransak held the stick by the two prong bits and stuck it out "This is the Rod of Divining. Bought it for cheap off some old trader who didn't know what it was. This artifact dates back to the age of demigods. Now let's see..." Ransak waited for the rod to guide him to valuable items.

​

"You should not drink too quickly mistress, you'll scold your throat!" Timothy advised "ah, how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself! My designation is Timothy Chesteron, and I hereby serve you, as per Function 15" Timothy bowed, its hulking frame creaking with the complex maneuver "I am an automaton, a creature built of metal and the arcane, technology and magic mixed together to create an eternal servant" Timothy straightened its bow tie "And if I may ask your name mistress?"

 

Support arrived soon after they started opening fire. She heard shots pinging off the wall she hid behind and felt a couple of shots fly just past her ear. The Huntress kept low, ensuring that her head didn't appear over the parapet as she moved across the walls to change position. The other soldiers with her were a surprising blessing in this instance. They could keep some of the fire off her. Carissa loaded a standard bolt, nothing special. Their formation was broken so a few shots should be able to dispatch some of the soldiers inside the formation. Hopefully, the more she killed, the easier it would be for the rest of the men up her to take apart that particular formation. Carissa raised her head and looked for the opening. At this angle, she could snipe a soldier in the front rank with a well aimed shot. Adjusting her aim, she pulled the trigger back and the bolt flew gracefully to bury itself in the neck of the soldier who quickly collapsed. She ducked behind a crenellation and reloaded, glad for the modifications she made. With a third bolt ready, she fired and struck another. She repeated thrice, bringing down another three with accurate hits, thinning out the first rank and leaving the inner ranks exposed to the other soldiers. She stood up to shoot again, then saw him.
"Jayce..." She gasped, seeing him firing at her men with fury in his eyes. She wanted to kill him - Desperately. Looking down at the battlefield below, she didn't know if she had the time right now. That, and she was certain that somehow, those angry eyes had seen her. She glanced around, looking for another Demi-God. Perhaps there was another one she could kill. She had taken shots at Jayce before, she wouldn't be able to take him from this position, but a different one maybe.

Carissa kill total: 10




Corruption: 10%

Kalak watched more of the formation go down. He saw the figure flitting about in and out of view up there. Carissa Samarost. The woman who killed his mother. A snarl appeared on his face as he spotted her. Soldiers were dying to her, ten already. Ten too many. Kalak felt a rush. He knew that before he said he would leave that vengeance to Jayce... But he was going to be too slow. Kalak was getting inside to seize the armoury and the tower with it. He could be finished with the people there in a flash, leaving him time to get up to that damned witch and end her. That would be it. Get inside. Kill them all. Kill Carissa. Get inside. Kill them all. Kill Carissa. Kalak screamed. Everything burned. His body was on fire. Every inch of skin aflame, boiling and melting away. The Demi-God fell to one knee and his eyes flashed red before they shut.





Kalak's eyes opened. Duskfall glowed bright red in his hand. The Demi-God stood to his full height and looked at the battlefield around him. He could see a group of soldiers in front of the tower. They would make for a good start. He sprinted towards them, Duskfall gripped in both hands with his teeth bared, appearing as fangs more so than teeth. His coat, now black, flapped behind him as savage red lines travelled up his body. Kalak leapt up into the air and swung the incandescent Zweihander in a wide arc as he drew down on the soldiers below.
"DIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" The Demi-God roared as bodies started falling.

Corruption: 15%​

 

Throda Bronzebeard's PoV:

Throda raised his shield and sent a bullet ricocheting into the dust of battle. The wall was slowly advancing, and were getting rather close to the tower. Throda blocked a strike before smacking his hammer cleanly into the man's head. Kicking him back, Throda whipped around, smashing his heavy weapon into the hipbone of another soldier, then following with a hit to the face. Throda looked around for an opponent when he spied something on the base of the tower. "Is that..."

Throda whistled sharply, "Reaver! Our hosts have made the way for us!" He gestured towards the opening. A couple of swings and that'll make an excellent door for our soldiers. "It'd be rude to ignore their courtesy!" He yelled with a grin. "Warriors to me, we will pave the way to Sky Tower!" Leading his squadron, Throda broke the shield wall and plunged into the fray, with Jayce's support they should break through quickly and breach the tower through the large hole.

 

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Another four down, and the defenders on the walls were quickly dropping. More than one, Jayce had spotted Carissa among their ranks. He'd tried getting a shot off, but she'd slipped away each time. He needed to end her quickly. His troops were already taking mounting casualties. If they didn't breach the tower soon, the battle would be lost.

He fired another shot off, ripping through a poor redshirt's eye socket. And yet still, Carrissa was just too quick to hit. Maybe if he positioned his weapon just right...

"Reaver! Our hosts have made the way for us!"

The Demi God froze, his attention turning to his dwarven friend. Was that... it was! A breach in Sky Tower! The structure had been weakened somehow. Jayce praised his fellow Gods, slipping closer to the wall.

"Keep them occupied!" the leader ordered his troops, who continued firing at those who dared to walk the battlements. Jayce pressed himself against the structure of the tower, nodding to Throda.

"We should probably widen it," Jayce grinned. He had just the spell in mind.

"Keep back."

Holstering his gun for what felt like the 50th time that day, the young Demi God took a deep breath. He pressed his palms together, allowing the sounds of battle and dying men to drift away for a moment. He instead focused on something else. Something far greater than anything any human could hope to muster...

"LIGHTNING SPLITTER!"

Arcs of electricity tore through his veins and blasted from his fingertips, smashing into the sizeable opening with such ferocity, such brilliance, that even Jayce couldn't look directly at the lightning he had unleashed. Shattered stone reached his ears, filling them with a symphony of coming death for his foes and a dawning victory for his allies.

"Order of the Hammer, put an end to these heretics! In the name of my father, Xanatos Reaver. In the name of the Demi Gods. In the name of humanity's future. Fight with me, and help put an end to this scourge!"

"CHARGE!"
​

 

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He wasn't completely human. Actually, it didn't sound like anything could be remotely human except his soul. "Timothy?" The name sounded strange on her tongue. Well, all names sounded strange on her tongue, after not speaking for so long. "Your life sounds....sad." That was the right word. An eternal servant? She might be a slave to her need to be a parasitic monster, but she was free in every other way.

"Um....we should go. Somewhere else. Safe?" She said haltingly, as two separate armies seemed to appear out of the dirt and wind around them. The sounds of battle terrified her, and she ducked low, pulling her hood further over her head to hide her eyes, or well, just to hide. "Come on." She grabbed the metal arm that belonged to this 'Timothy' and began tugging him away from the two armies, trying to stay in the middle and not veer towards either side. Why was she bothering to bring this thing with her? Well, because he had given her that drink, 'tea'. And it was delicious. And she wanted more. Yes, that was it.

 

Pew pew pew. Booooom. Gaaaaaah. Pew pew.

Aspen heard the battle before she saw it. The airship must have landed and released its troops for a raid on the tower. Well, the tower people certainly didn't like that. Aspen wondered if maybe she should just ditch the crazy guy and head home where she wouldn't have to worry about getting shot in the back, but that small bit of curiosity was still tugging at her and forcing her to stick around. She glanced at Ran. He was busy digging through his bag; Aspen wasn't even sure if he noticed the ongoing battle. He pulled out a stick. A stick? No, it was no ordinary stick. It was forked. FORKED. Aspen eyed him suspiciously. Any man that puts forked sticks in his backpack has got to be a little bit lacking up in the brain cell department.

He held it out in front of him, a bit like a blind man would with a cane. Aspen flicked her eyes side to side, clearly a bit confused. Luckily, he explained. Well, sort of.

"This is the Rod of Divining. Bought it for cheap off some old trader who didn't know what it was."

Okay, so it wasn't just a normal stick. But what did it do? Ran spoke a little bit more and then just stood there, holding the stick out in front of him. "Um," Aspen cleared her throat after a few seconds of absolutely nothing. "With a sweet name like the Rod of Divining, I'm assuming it does more than just sit there and make you look foolish?" Her tone wasn't necessarily super sassy, mostly just confused.

 

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The Andaran Prince was watching the battle unfold, it was hard to tell who was on the winning hand, but the Hammers seemed to be gaining the upper hand, he watched searching for more targets when he noticed the red cloak of the figure from before she appeared to be tugging along that thing from earlier. They didn't appear to be fighting but rather running away. They were non-combatants and the code dictated he protected them or atleast covered them. For every round fired at himself was one not fired at the non-combatants. There were too many troops around to draw all their fire in his direction. But what he could do was keep them covered. He watched the two go and targeted soldiers closest to them, shots ringing out more quickly, but still taking enough time as to not make it too obvious he too was firing at the hammers. All he had to do was collect the blood price, keep the non-combatants safe and stay hidden. His tasklist was growing by the minute, if he wasn't careful he would get too distracted and make a fatal mistake. He kept tracking his charges firing at soldiers closest to them or who had the idea to fire on them all the while trying to keep an eye on troops closer to him and trying to remain concealed. He would take a good cup of tea afer this was done, he'd need it.

 

​

Now this was how you do war. Lucien had a bit of a nonchalant grin on his face, as he just sort of casually sauntered across the battlefield. He admired the scene that was before him, just one of endless chaos and fighting. It had been quite some time since he had actually dealt with fighting just regular grunts and not boss type monsters exclusively, and boy was he excited for it. He tried to look for a good place to find said mook killing, and spotted a good place to start. Watching the dwarven and demigod allies charge towards a hole in the wall, he continued to walk towards them, to get inside the building a bit faster, and saw that there was a small squadron of ground troops belonging to the Shards that just seemed to notice this, and saw them charge after the hole and the troops going into it. Well that was a perfect start. Picking up the pace, Lucien started to run full tilt towards the those Shard grunts, before leaping into the air and intercepting one of their heads with his foot. The man was blown away by the attack, and as Lucien landed in front of the group he looked at them and said, "sorry boys. But in order to get to the boss you gotta go through me first."

The group of seven, as Lucien had counted, all had a somewhat shocked expression on their face at the sight of their comrade being killed by a dynamic entry of an unarmed man, but they quickly shook this off. Weapons already at the ready, the group of Shard grunts went to attack Lucien, who was simply standing their, waiting. As the nearest person took the first swing at him, thinking that this would be an easy kill, was swiftly proven wrong. Lucien simply side stepped the vertical slash of the man, and within the next moment, Lucien brought his fist up and connected it with the jaw of the grunt, causing the grunt's neck to somewhat twist and the man to fall down dead. One. He then saw the next two up to bat as they approached him from either side of him. The nearer one struck earlier than the farther one, and as he swung his blade, Lucien stepped in towards the man, avoiding the swing and grabbing the man. Lucien then proceeded to hoist the man over his head and to the other side, using the man as a human shield as the third grunt stabbed at Lucien and instead piercing his comrade. Lucien then let go of the man, and proceeded to punch grunt number three in the face. Three. The other four all seemed to be going wild at him now, enraged at the loss of their others, and seemed to approach him in from four different direction.

Shrugging, Lucien proceeded to flip his legs up and proceeded to put his hands on the ground, keeping himself up with them. As the grunts all took their swings, Lucien pushed off the ground with both of his hands and kicked outward with his legs, kicking in a circle. His feet then collided with all of the men's weapons, the raw force of the attack sending it out of their hands, and then went for a second revolution as his feet collided with all of the men's faces. All seven. Getting back up onto his feet, Lucien dusted his hands off, and then proceeded to just casually follow after Jayce and Throda, not paying any mind to what he had just done.

​

Ien despite having been completely ready to fight, felt a bit not able to at the very start of it. Her hand was clenched around the scabbard of Raikiri as she awaited combat, but the enemies had all been a bit too far away for her to actually engage them. She wasn't so good at fighting armies, and unfortunately she hadn't the faintest idea on how to actually shoot lightning bolts. So it was a bit of a waiting game for her. Standing at the base of Sky Tower, she had waited for enemies to come towards them, when she saw one such situation appear before her where she could fight. Seeing the man in the black coat with streaks of red light coming from him, she watched as he cut through a small group of Shards, and seemed to be standing there in a feral rage. While he was certainly an intimidating foe, it was one that she would not back down from.

She had figured that someone who excelled at single combat such as herself would have her time better spent fighting one strong opponent, rather than having that one strong man rip through their ranks and lessen their army strength. And so, pulling out Raikiri from its scabbard she held it in both of her hands as she approached her opponent. "Man in black," she shouted towards him. "I will allow you to kill no more of my comrades. Come face me!" It would have been a much smarter idea to just strike him while his attention wasn't directed towards her, but honor had prevented her from doing such. And so, Kalak was challenged.

 

Carissa struggled to get her head up after that last shot. They seemed to be concentrating fire up there, orders of Jayce no doubt. She gritted her teeth in irritation. He was right down there, and distracted now! She could get a shot and bring down, or possibly at least wound the leader of the Order of the Hammer! The Huntress rushed across the battlement to a clear area where no soldiers stayed standing. They wouldn't be focusing fire there, so that should give her a chance to fire. She stood up, and then it happened. There was a blinding flash of light and a deep explosion. When her vision had recovered, she saw Jayce standing there, a bit of lightning arcing around him.

In that moment, Carissa knew the power of the Demi-Gods. He was moving, leading his men in a charge and was moving out of her arc of fire. She cursed. If she couldn't get him from here, she'd soon have to change position. But, she could at least slow them up down there. Carissa loaded a second explosive bolt, gritting her teeth at the thought of having to waste one of these precious bolts and fired at the mass of troops heading for the hole that Jayce made. As with the formation, dirt and stone was flung up into the air and came raining down upon the soldiers, accompanied by a rain of blood and body parts as another five soldiers joined the rest of their comrades in hell.

Carissa's kill count: 15




Corruption rating: 17%

After his short rampage through the line of Shards, something unexpected happened. A voice called out to him. A confident one. A challenge? From one of them? The Demi-God grinned. Mortals. They were all brave, at least before the end came. All of their gusto vanished when they realised that truly, it was useless to resist. It was futile, and that death was before them. And he would not be merciful. The possessed Kalak advanced gleefully, bearing Nightfall in his hands.
"I hope you are ready to face the end, mortal." Kalak snarled. He raised an arm and fired a pair of Shadow Lances at her instinctively. After that, with the corruption spreading through his body, inciting Vasher's feelings of rage, stirring the beast, he charged with reckless abandon. He swung with a brutal mixture of savagery and technique. While each strike seemed to fall at random, it flowed into the next. Vasher's raw offensive power was channelled at the moment. He would not let this mortal stand before him.
​

 

Just as Jayce plunged into the tower, an explosion lit up the battlefield behind him. He was propelled forward, landing a little ungraciously on his rear end. He jumped to his feet, quickly shooting a glance backwards. Carrisa's bolts had felled at least another five men. Damn it.

"Orders sir?" one of the Hammer Captains spoke up. The forces that Throda and Jayce had managed to lead inside numbered twenty seven. It would suffice.

"A dozen of you will remain here to keep the entrance protected," said Jayce, "the remainder will accompany me to the upper levels... providing Kalak and Rose can get the door open."

The Demi God spoke into his headset, "Kalak, Rose, do you copy? Give me a status update now. How's the blast door looking?"
​

 

​

Ien stood at the ready, awaiting her opponent to respond to her challenge. As he did, she saw neither man nor god in his eyes. Just something short of a beast. A feral creature who only had his sights on killing. As such, she could not falter against such a lesser being, and steeled herself as he snarled his acceptance of their fight. The man struck first, firing out two lances made of some sort of dark energy fired directly at her. Letting out a deep breath, her focus sharpened on the lances as her blade seemed to become covered in electricity, letting off a light blue glow from the blade. As soon as the lances came within the reach of her sword, she struck in a single swing, cutting through both and causing them to dissipate in the air. Quickly readjusting herself, she brought her blade up in defense as the man seemed to charge at her with some form of reckless abandon, blocking his initial swing with Raikiri. He then seemed to start letting out a vicious series of blows, and while this would be the ideal time for a counter attack, the speed at which he struck allowed her only to defend and try her best to keep pace with him. As she constantly moved her blade to connect with his, she could feel that she would lose in this trade, and thus brought her blade back as she took a small jump back to avoid the swing. Not allowing him time to follow up with his previous momentum, she charged her legs with electricity the moment that she had landed, and instantly leaped back at him, striking at him with a horizontal slash of her blade towards his torso before following up with an upward slash.

 

Corruption Level: 17%

The Demi-God grudgingly admitted to himself that this girl was good at fighting. She was holding her own against the onslaught that he was delivering. Perhaps this would actually be a challenge yet. Surprisingly, she jumped back, avoiding his strike and powered towards him. Surprise flashed on his face for a moment and he twisted aside, allowing the weight of Duskfall to carry him. The first strike cut across his armour, biting into it though his move was quick enough that it did not penetrate further. The second missed as he was no longer there. That was the problem with upwards strikes. They had an incredibly limited arc in which they could land a successful hit. He grinned. His dodge made her overextend with that upwards strike. Vasher growled and the Zweihander's momentum, augmented by his own considerable strength carved towards Ien's exposed flank. He did not stop with that one strike, instead continuing to hack at her, now taking advantage of his edge - Duskfall was a lot longer than whatever that blade she wielded was. In the midst of the fight, he faintly heard a voice calling him in his ear, but he ignored it. All that the person calling would hear was a low, animalistic growling as the possessed Demi-God aimed to slaughter the foe before him.



The Huntress soon realised that there was a problem. The security protocols would have been activated as soon as the tower was attacked. That meant that the blast doors were down, sealing her off from the battlefield below. As much as she wanted to get downstairs to fight Jayce, it wasn't an option. She cursed. There was only one thing for it. She had to keep an eye on the blast doors somehow so she could prepare when necessary. Luckily, there were a lot of soldiers here.
"You four, get downstairs and watch the blast door! Run up and warn me if it's breached! The other three, cover the runner!" Carissa ordered over the howling roar of the battlefield. There were a lot of them out there still. She had accounted for 15 alone, but that wasn't going to be enough. She scanned the battlefield below for signs of other Demi-Gods that might be active in the area. As she did so, Carissa unloaded with her crossbow, sending four of the guards that Jayce had positioned outside the tower to their deaths. That should reduce some of his immediate reinforcements. Now they just had to hold the interior.

Carissa Kill Count: 19​