I knew she was trying to hide us. Matthew thought to himself, watching as Kyle's second-in-commandude was turned into tomato juice. I'm the only one without lungs here though. I knew this was something more.

The words 'no' and 'fair' struggled to leap from him (exclusively in that order), but he held them back. This entire game was centered around Abra's desires. It was useless to argue against it.

Matthew folded his arms, stance defiant, and the water skins he'd made vaporized. The water returned to him, and he blinked momentarily as the sight of Marco and his clones dominated his mind's eye. A part of him was enraged in a "if-you-touch-them-I'll-kill-you" type of way. Still, his calmer part was all he let everyone see. He needed to keep his head and see the options...whatever they turned out to be.

He waved at Abra, adopting a shockingly perfect display of fake joy. "Hi Abra!"

Nocturn stood from his position and glared at Abra intensely as the image played out in his head. He wasn't going to lose that, he may not be there but he will not allow Abra's convoluted presence be its downfall.

"How far is the fight?" Nocturn asked Samuel. "All we need to do to win is to kill the other commander?" He then turned to Lilith who was on her bed.

When Abra appeared, Dino scoffed. Here comes the cocksucker again he thought. He did not pay attention to his rant, but what caught his attention was the fact that Kyle knew him. That was an interesting turn of events. After his charade was done, Dino walked over to Kyle.

"Listen kid, I see you know who's the boss around here. But you don't know the competition. Those crows and the storm? Lilith's masterpiece. The death of Oz? Nocturn. Our companions. Now that you understand what we're dealing with, I'll ask you once and only once. Let somebody with more experience in charge. Savvy?" his tone was monotone, imposing and ominous. But he was also right.

As he went on, the image of something dear to him appeared into his mind, slightly delayed from the others. Instinctively he clutched his chest, frowning.

"Meeting certain entertainment value wasn't a rule as far as I'm concerned..." Lilith moved Abra's hand out of the way, frowning. Since her concentration was broken, the woman had to close her other eye again. She was just about to say something else when Samuel rushed into the tent.

"What did I...? Well I was just making sure our 'convoy' goes without any interruptions...And then he appeared and ruined everything..." Lilith stated simply and then listened to their exchange. They seemed to know each other, and as she was going to ask about that, Samuel mentioned the other captain. "Mark? What about-..."

"How brutal, killing two leaders."

"Wait... Ooooh..." She crossed her arms and slowly turned towards Abra as he continued. "Well excuse me for doing what I've been told to better than the others..." Her proud and mockingly upset expression was quickly washed away by a vision in her head, leaving only a pale mask of horror in its place. "You mother-... No, that's out of the question, choose something else!" The woman jumped off the bed and approached the wizard in two quick steps trying to stand face to face with him, but she was still about head short. "How does that even compare to anything anyone of them has?!"

Too focused on what she saw, Lilith ignored Nocturn's question, perhaps haven't even heard it.

In surge of anger, the cloud of ash back in the city moved uneasy, getting above their captain in a simple jerk. Certainty about the fact the this time the consequences won't be split 'fair' was the only thing that kept the necromancer from another attack.

Nocturn stared at Samuel.

"Answer then. How the fuck do you know Abra?" The zombie growled, its spinal gears moved and electrical surges cackled within him. The virus responded to his anger and the mask beside him, though slightly satisfied from the soul that had just floated out of the ground, felt the opportunity to nudge his host a little closer to rage.

"You got yourself a deal. Now go take a break, kid." Dino muttered, patting Kyle on the back as he walked past him and began heading towards the command tent from where him, Roy and Kyle emerged from before the attack. He got met by a couple of officers and sergeants, all in shock from the attack. Dino immediately stepped in front of them, chest out and shoulders squared.

"Gentlemen, as you have clearly seen Commander Roy has been relieved from command. I am now the active CO of this operation. We are not only dealing with your enemies, but also with members of my troupe. Both are extremely dangerous and volatile groups, and must be handled with extreme care. Issue order to load flamethrowers on the convoy and helicopters, and designate a squad to carry smoke grenades and flashbangs, as we will need tactical cover." He calmly stated, his voice expressing authority and demanding respect. He began walking around the table, suddenly stopping at the opposite end of it, far away from the men.

"When the engagement happens, I will be commanding the ground troops. Kyle will join me on the fighting end. You will set a perimeter and establish a base. Miss Anna will command the the operation from the established CC. Gentlemen, I trust that you will follow her precise instructions. With that said, we are leaving at dusk." Dino concluded his speech with a note of sadness in his voice. As he began heading for the exit of the tent, he maneuvered his hands into his pockets and extracted a cigarette. It was at that moment that it dawned on him the disparity of power between the two groups. Given Lilith's recent showcase of power, they were at a really big disadvantage. The Irish man sighed, exhaling the toxic smoke from his lungs.

"For once, I'm not so sure bullets will do the trick..." he whispered to himself, standing right around the tent.

Celestial stayed rather silent through the turn of events. He'd rather not lose his sight again because of some snarky comment about Abra. However, it was surprising that Kyle knew the magician. And now that Dino was in charge, things were definitely going to get interesting.

Anna skipped over to Kyle and placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked into his eyes with fierce determination, "Don't worry, now that I know what they're capable of I'll be able to keep you from ending up like your friend!" She tilted her head towards the ruined corpse of the fallen commander whose name she had already forgotten. She winked at Kyle before walking off with her champion, who seemed like he had a plan as he entered the tent.

Of course she would arrive just in time to hear herself being volunteered for a command position. She wasn't too familiar with this eras means of warfare, or the military capabilities that this group had. Anna offered a slight bow to introduce herself, "Don't look so sad, guys, I'm sure we will do just fine if we give it our all!" She hardly left them with time to harass and question her about her capabilities of leading them as she quickly dismissed herself and followed Dino out of the tent.

"Excuuuuuuse me," she poked Dino on the shoulder, "what makes you so confident in my ability to lead these folk?"

Dino smoked his cigarette immersed in his thoughts as Anna joined him, immediately questioning him about his actions. He slowly exhaled the smoke and looked at the woman.

"Nothing really. It's just I don't want to be segregated behind some screens. The kid is too shook to command this battalion, and none of the mindless idiots in there have the knowledge to do so. Matthew and Celestial are out of question, given that I've known them for longer than you. So by exclusion...you were the best choice. No offense hun, but I don't see you as the fighting type." By the time his rant was done, so was his cigarette. He put it off with a gentle move and walked past Anna, making his way towards the tents designated to them. Before heading off, he gave Anna a last glance.

"And besides, I doubt you'll have to do or say anything. But hey, best of luck!" he concluded with a smile and a wave, moving towards the tent.

A wave of relief washed over her as Dino explained his thought process behind his decision. She wasn't particularly offended by not seeming the fighting type, but she did miss being able to soar through the skies and a clean sword at her side. Anna reminded Dino as he walked off, "It's okay to be worried and afraid sometimes, but fear and anger can cause you to lose that which is dearest to you, whether Lord Abra takes it or not." A risk, perhaps, but she can't have her champion tilted for when the battle comes. He wasn't the only one at risk of losing.

Timothy looked up from the place he was sitting, then sighed and stood up, guitar strapped on the back.

"We are in a fine mess, aren't we? So what's the plan?"

He tilted his hat downwards, before crossing his arms.

"I ain't planning on losing this one."

Kyle nodded and walked back to his tent where he went to sharpen his axe and prep for battle. The other officers were taken up by Dino's speech and so began bustling about like bees to prepare for the offensive. Flamethrowers were prepped as per ordered and the men suited up and got ready for battle. Everyone loved the late commander so their blood was boiling. The black clouds of ash above them only helped fuel their determination. What the Empire lacked in mobility against the Rebellion, they made up in artillery, they boasted an impressive arsenal and now all of it was turned on the group of rebels escorting the killers of their beloved commander. With preparations made, the army set out on their man hunt. Kyle and the group in the forefront trucks, turrets armed on the back and helicopters flying overhead.

Stripped of armor but with powerful engines, the rebel's trucks leap forward. The one with the priority passengers sat in the front while heavier ones protected them, these manned with turrets and soldiers. The rebels also lacked the same artillery as their Imperial counterparts, but they would not lose in fighting spirit, they forged on in spirit of their late commander. Samuel was defended not only by the group, but by Mark's personal guard, all men trained by the man.

The rebels were making all haste towards the border and the imperials were cutting a path to intercept them, first to the scene would be the helicopters, however they would face major retaliation by the turrets on the back of the trucks, however the trucks would also face the same ferocity. The incoming imperial trucks would attempt to cut off the rebel's convoy and make them stop so that the imperials could lay upon them with their superior firearms. However, thanks to Samuel's trip to the warehouse where they had stolen the imperial's shipment, the rebels were now outfitted with similar gear and so the fighting will get bloody and vicious. The battlefield is a stretch of no-man's land littered with the carcasses and damaged bodies of trucks.

Celestial watched as everyone prepared for battle. He didn't like the idea of fighting his...group members (since they weren't really friends) but he would do what needed to be done. He opened up his spell book and began looking through it, refhreshing his memory of various spells for offense and defense. He hadn't had the chance to really prove himself in battle yet; he had just barely made it out alive in his fight with Azule, so he hoped he could show how useful he was here. Though, again, he wasn't too happy about the circumstances.