Soriun and Mikiun concentrated their fire on the lead aircraft that approached ''their'' plane, over 3000 micro-mercury rounds per second lancing through the air. After almost 5 seconds, the two drones held their fire and consulted with each other as Andiun moved into a position directly below Ureha's ship.<br/><br/>'Hey! Why aren't they dying? I thought when you shoot something, it's supposed to die!' Mikiun cried as the two began performing complex evasive maneuvers against the hail of enemy fire. Soriun's sensor arrays flared to life and he transmitted the readings to his siblings. 'They have electromagnetic buffer shields in place!' 'Well, that's not fair!'<br/><br/>Etriun scanned through his programming and weapons stores, searching for anything that could counter EMB shields. 'Hey, guys! Hey, hey guys! I think I found somethin'!' 'What is it?' Soriun asked as he flew dizzying circles around a group of jets that had broken off from the main force. 'I don't know, something called "Hard-Light Weapons System"!' 'Well, activate it then, idiot!' 'Don't call me an idiot!' 'Idiot, idiot, idiot!' 'Andiun, Soriun's being a jerk again! Make him stop!' 'He'll stop when you activate the HLWS, Etriun! Just do it already, I wanna see what it does!' 'OK, OK...there!'<br/><br/>In nanoseconds Etriun's processor kicked into overdrive, and his little circuits were filled with fascinating new ways of inflicting death on organic targets. 'Coooool! Check this out!' The little drone broke out of formation and strafed toward a pack of jets moving at subsonic speeds. His targeting computer calculated the strength and placement of their EMBs, and a small barrel emerged from the tip of his nose cone. The HLWS fired a small, almost invisible beam of light from the tiny barrel, and the aircraft were sliced to ribbons. As they fell dead from the skies, the others revolved around Ureha's ship in appreciation. 'Ooh, cool! What was that?' 'Yeah, how'd you do that?' 'I don't know, guys, there's something in here about using delayed-reaction photon collision to create physical matter out of light! All I did was fire the weapon, and it's like the bullets didn't actually form until they were past the shields!' 'Awesome! Do we all have one of those?' 'I dunno. Look and see.'<br/><br/>Andiun, Soriun and Mikiun scanned through their systems and located their own HLWS, and activated them immediately. 'Boys,' said Andiun, 'we're back in business!'<br/><br/><strong><em>~The Rooftop~</em></strong><br/><br/>Luke stood slouched on the rooftop, the night wind flapping and rustling his bright red floral-print shirt all over. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he watched with a smile as the Cherubim figured out a way through the enemy shields. As he looked on, the drones began to massacre the offending aircraft, and bodies and debris rained screaming down from the sky like shooting stars.<br/><br/>Almost as soon as the show began, however, he Luke was interrupted by the sight of a woman leaping onto the roof, her calm grace and obvious power rolling off of her in waves. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and hooked a thumb through his belt loop, waiting casually as she approached, her hips swinging soft and low. 'Ana enhanced Luke's sensory abilities and scanned the newcomer, detecting definite traces of genetic manipulation and bioengineering. She stopped within a few feet and spoke, her words like smoked honey.<br/><br/>"Normally, I could just seduce a man into doing what I want...but I don't think you'd be so easy, would you, handsome?" Luke smiled and enjoyed the view as the woman turned away, and his gaze lingered on her firm, perfect ass. "Maybe," Luke replied with a grin. "But there's no harm in trying." She laughed. "That's what I thought...so how about a deal?"<br/><br/>Luke shook his head and laughed as she warned him not to try shooting at her. He raised his arms in the air, the universal motion for 'I'm unarmed'. "Babe, take a good look at me. Do I look like the type to carry a gun?" His smile widened as she vanished and reappeared, her gorgeous little body pressed close to his. Before she could move, he lowered his arms and wrapped them around her, pulling her tightly to him as his hands fondled her ass. "Keep talking, beautiful. You've got my partially divided attention," he said, staring into those exotic black and pink eyes as he scanned 'Ana's reports on the battle's progress above.<br/><br/>'How's it looking, 'Ana?' 'Not terrible. The Cherubim are performing within acceptable parameters, and the new Hard-Light Weapons Systems are proving quite effective. There are only a few stragglers remaining; most of the attacking force has either fallen or scattered.' 'Good news. Now, what do you think about our newest would-be girlfriend?' He asked as she revealed her history as an ArmsTech experiment. 'It would explain why each of them seem to possess powers far beyond that of most Elementals. Marcos sent me some more data on ArmsTech; we'll have to review it later. Right now, we should focus on what's in front of us,' Nirvana said. 'Agreed. I want to see where this goes. That shifting ability of hers is going to make achieving target-lock with the satellites almost impossible, and I believe her when she says physical projectile weapons are useless against her. Besides...it'd be a damn shame to kill someone that hot.' Luke chuckled to himself as 'Ana rolled her eyes in disgust.<br/><br/>"...like to be a freak like me?" She smiled, her long legs barely reaching the rooftop from her seat on the guardrail. "Oh, I never introduced myself, did I...My name is Alice." Alice hopped off the guardrail and positioned herself into a defensive stance. Luke returned his attention to her as she prepared for an attack, and shrugged. "Well, gosh, Alice, I don't know...I mean, it's an awful lot to take, you know what I mean? Hm...I think I'll have to take some time to think about this. Could I sleep on it for a few nights?" Luke peered at Alice over the edge of his shades, looking her up and down, a rogue's grin masking his thoughts. "You're welcome to join me, of course," he said with a wink.<br/><br/><strong><em>~The Sky~</em></strong><br/><br/>The Cherubim assumed an escort position on either side of Ureha's ship, easily keeping up with Gwin's wild, reckless piloting. 'Do you guys think we've protected the plane long enough?' Mikiun asked, rotating in lazy circles as they flew. 'Probably not,' Andiun answered. 'We should probably stick with it until it touches down.' 'Hey! There's a person down there! Can we kill him, please, please can we, huh?' Etriun squealed as the quartet passed over an old man sitting alone on a bus stop bench. 'No, Etriun. Remember what Uncle Luke said: No Noncombatant Casualties, and Provoked Response only! You don't want him mad at us again, do you?' The Cherubim went silent as they each recalled the last time Uncle Luke got angry.<br/><br/>'Good point,' Etriun conceded. His vocal pattern only oscillated a tiny bit.<br/><br/>'Hey, check it out. There are people on top of the plane!' Soriun said, breaking them out of their thoughts. 'Should we kill them?' 'I don't know...scans indicate that two of them are supposed to be passengers in the plane.' 'What are they doing outside?' 'Are we supposed to protect them, too?' 'Uncle Luke only said we're supposed to protect the plane.' 'Yeah, but maybe he meant we're supposed to protect what's inside it, too.' 'Even if he did, they're outside it now, aren't they?' 'I guess so...' 'Cherubim Squadron, continue escort and holding patterns. And remember, Provoked Response only!'<br/><br/><strong><em>~The Rooftop~</em></strong><br/><br/>Luke was trying to determine a way to pump Alice for further information when a new voice sounded in his implants. 'Luke! This is Jenny, Gabriel's A.I. Get to the basement, NOW!!' 'What the-' 'She's right, Luke, something's going on. I can't get a clear picture through the shields, but meteorological reports indicate there are strange phenomena occurring in this area, and it looks to be on a pretty sizable scale. We should evacuate.'<br/><br/>Almost as one, Luke and Alice turned to see the massive typhoon building at the end of the street. Luke's eyebrows cocked in surprise, and he barely took notice as Alice vanished without a word. 'Well. That's new.' 'Luke, it appears Ureha has lost control. I'm detecting inhuman levels of psychokinetic energy from his location; we should collect the girl and leave.' Luke licked his lips and shook his head. 'These kids are starting to be more trouble than they're worth...alright, lock me onto the girl's signature.'<br/><br/>Moments later...<br/><br/><strong><em>~The Sky~</em></strong><br/><br/>Luke appeared atop Ureha's plane, the harsh winds whipping at his shirt and stinging his skin. Directly in front of him stood Ureha, his body tensed, eyes glowing fiercely; behind him, shivering in the slashing rain, Gwin stared up at the newcomer in shock. "Ureha! Snap out of it!" Luke shouted, reaching out a hand to grab Gabe's shoulder. At the first touch, a jolt of energy surged into his arm and he fell back with a cry of pain, the length of his arm smoking. 'Looks like Lancelot is unresponsive. 'Ana, thoughts?' 'He seems to be in some kind of trance state. I doubt very seriously he knows what he's doing. I suggest we leave him, grab the girl and go.' Luke assented, his mind already off the pain in his arm as Nirvana directed a dose of medichines into the singed tissues. Within seconds the damage was repaired, and he turned away from Ureha to grab Gwin.<br/><br/>"Sorry about taking so long, princess, but it's time to get you home..."