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Captain Zircon was not the sort to enjoy field work. Leave that to the SpecOps, the General-Sovereigns with their vicious weapons and lust for blood. She had more important things to attend to, plans to make, blueprints to build, and to be quite frank her feeble Captain's rank would do little to help her in a fight, experienced as she might have been. However, with her deadline approaching soon and so little data gleaned from her current subjects, the Captain found that if her little experiment was going to be successful, she needed to widen her pool, and that meant getting her hands dirty.

She walked the streets of Destiny City, her eyes filled with cautious disdain but her chin nevertheless still held high. And why shouldn't she? Even with her checkered past, she was still a member of the Negaverse, and her connection to Chaos afforded her a level of respect that would likely never be shown to the rest of the dregs that passed her by, lowering their heads in reverance or perhaps even fear. She might have been a lowly Captain at Headquarters, in her lab, just a pawn for others to move, but out here she was in control, and despite her trepidation over being outside the main labs, a bigger part of her relished it.

The olive choker on her neck clinked, and Zircon paused, putting a hand to the charm. All of this parading around was a ruse, she knew, just a moment of pretending to fly free in the generous space of her cage. Zircon did not forget her place, did not forget who she was, and she did not regret her lot in life, as comfortable as it was ever like to be. And yet, sometimes, the breeze would ruffle her hair and she would catch a hint of the smell of dry clay and wonder how things had come to this.

In the distance, the bright fire of a powerful aura sparked, and Zircon was immediately at attention, the sheer energy of the starseed behind it causing her skin to bristle. "Royal Knight," she murmured to herself, excitedly, and with a whip of her legs she sprung for the rooftops, hot in pursuit.

"We have a Royal Knight heading East near the intersection of Birch and Merrill," she called into her Crystal Communicator, sending the message to all powered up officers in the area. "Requesting backup at your convenience." She felt the familiar rush as she cleared from building to building, closing her distance.

This would be a catch indeed.

Sandaled feet thumped down hard and pounding steps brought the knight within easy speaking distance of her planet-brother. Dark hair brushing the bare skin of her back, Tanais flexed strong, square hands and grinned widely. The expression spoke of anticipation and eagerness, red eyes alight with the joy of the battle to come.

"Ready, Bull?" The mars knight said as she rolled her head to the popping of vertebrae in her neck. "Hope you sharpened your horns." Irreverent as always.

Tanais cast a glance at the Royal Knight and wondered, privately, how things would go tonight. She hadn't had much chance to work with the other former-agent and his tactics, while gossiped about, were not well known to her. It could be problematic, but she liked to think there was a reason she was still around, still fighting... she was good at it, inventive and flexible. She could work around whatever he had under his cape, surely.

"What's the plan? I don't much like running away... but I suppose it has its merits from time to time. We're going to fast be outnumbered when they start calling in reinforcements." Hopefully, the purpose of this mission into the city was successful... coming in here and fighting their way out would be highly annoying if they failed to get what they'd come for. Not that it wouldn't be worth it to take a chunk out of the other side's forces, but still.

We have a Royal Knight heading East... came over the crystal and a pair of impassive blue eyes glanced down at the communicator held in a white-gloved hand.

Interesting.

The call for back up was largely ignored as the crystal was tucked into a breast pocket and lapels were straightened. Even without a call, the chance for a hunt would have drawn this General Queen and there was a flicker as the place where she was standing was suddenly empty, the dry summer air swirling with the displacement. Blocks away, polished boots clicked neatly on the ledge of a roof and the nondescript woman paced forward at a leisurely pace, taking note of the intersection that passed below her.

Birch and Merrill... not far. Her aura was going to give away her approach, but that was okay. Shadeite was familiar with the problems of power signatures and it had never stopped her before. A royal knight... the list of those was rather short and she ran over it once more to refresh her memory. It would be best to know what they were walking into, but that was simple enough to fix.

Another flicker and Shadeite was yet more blocks closer between one step and the next, her pace never hurried as she pulled her crystal from her pocket once more.

"General-Queen Shadeite. Confirm the identity of the target and accomplices and report back." Came the bland voice through the communication channel. "Do not engage alone. I will be there in three minutes."

Another flicker and the rooftop was empty once more.

Ascended General Vespa was not released from his self-confined cage often, though no one knew if it was his own benefit or that of others. Ever since he was dragged into the Rift, Vespa had changed, and appearance was only the start of it. The cracks in his form and the darkness that shone through terrified other officers, as well as the public eye and their enemy, so his time outside the Rift was limited to special occasions.

The request that chimed through his communication crystal seemed like one of those special occasions, and he did not need a general to tug his leash on this one. He did not need to wait for someone to call him by name. A Royal Knight was on the lose, and the Ascended Wasp senshi would be more than happy to take the on the Bull.

He needed a reason to get out anyways... he needed more bugs to consume, as his collection had finally begun to run low. Might as well grab a few while he was out.

When he arrived, there was already an ally of the knight's on the scene, and two Chaos aura sources nearby, but that meant nothing to Vespa. Who they were, what their goal here was, nothing of the sort mattered. All the Wasp senshi could see was the bright red uniform of the Royal Knight through his cracked visor, and without a word or further warning, he attached. His arms dangled limply at his side as he ran forward, muttering the words to his spell and enduring the pain that resonated through the cracks in his skin, feeling the movement of Chaos energy beneath the surface bubbling to life. "Vesperian Queen Swarm..."

Suddenly, the energy that been seeping through the cracks exploded from his body, breaking into smaller bubbles before taking the shape of wasps, and the wasp-like energy began to swarm around the Ascended general, with no pattern and striking any unfortunate enough to be in their way.

A laugh broke from Tanais and she lifted her fists, brandishing the spikes over her knuckles.

"This sounds like normal Martian tactics to me." She tossed back, feeling warm inside to have a chance to fight alongside two of her brethren. Too often she fought alone, even in the midst of a company of their forces. It was the mental connection she found here was just felt... right.

There not long to wait or to dwell on things though, because suddenly chaos signatures were on them and a lone ascended barreled into their midst. Tanais swore as she spun out of his way, quick as a cat in her distinct lack of heavy armor and weaponry. Unfortunately, what amounted to little more than a string bikini with plates of protection at her shins and forearms was something of a detriment at the moment as wasps of energy found little to block their angry stinging.

The black-haired knight shouted as the little bugs impacted and popped, little starbursts of pain breaking out all over as she backpedaled to get some distance between herself and the source of the swarm. Her hands flickered and darted to take the offense, popping as many of the little buggers as she could before they reached more sensitive bare skin. Tanais caught a flicker in the corner of her eye as Themiscyra lashed out at the senshi, but she turned her own focus outwards and let the transcendent handle herself.

Where there is one there is more. Rule of street combat... don't get drawn in. Keep an eye out for attack from outside. Someone had to keep an eye out for reinforcements for the lone attacker.

Hvergelmir kept to the back of the pack of knights, where she'd been told to stay. That was easy, in fact; the three Mars knights were faster, more experienced runners anyway. She naturally and expertly followed orders by failing to keep up. Still, she was only a few steps back -- not enough to be dead weight, yet.

For her, this was just supposed to be a ride-along mission. Just something to get her feet wet for things she'd soon have to try to do with less ally support: on her own, with a cat, or with only a single partner. It had been a long time since she'd even considered the possibility that she'd be part of front line missions that might involve fighting and not just sneaking and hiding. Her oath had rendered her a battlefield liability. Her magic was all but useless, these days, in a fight. She had little to no combat experience, and she couldn't easily communicate in a fight. It was different, now, with transcendence and no oath. Stardust shimmered over her shoulders and up the column of her throat, where once her left arm had worn only the stern, gold-and-white seal of her Wonder.

She was still no use in combat, compared to the three Mars knights valiantly swatting at their wasp problem -- but Eikthyrnir could manage two jumps a day, now that Hvergelmir's Wonder had given her more power. She could teleport where no mirrors stood and no knights could run -- and she could teleport back. That was an advantage that was useful for more than just medical supplies. Or would be, if she could handle herself on harder missions.

Now, remember, you yourself won't be in any danger, they'd explained in the little mission briefing. You'll have a whole bevy of knights there who're seasoned fighters, they can handle anything that comes at the group before you'll even get to it. You're job's to stay safe, and if things get ugly, that's when you high-tail it out of there -- and you grab someone and you take them with you.

Even with more power, Eikthyrnir could still only carry one extra person. If you have to choose, bring back Kairatos, she'd been told more quietly. I'm sorry, but we can't afford to lose a Royal Knight. Don't let him argue with you -- just grab him and go.

Hvergelmir shook her head, trying not to dwell on that thought, or how she was going to manage to notoriously stubborn Bull of Mars off his feet one-armed from caribou-back if he didn't want to go. Maybe I could lasso him with my spindle, she thought wryly.

She pulled up to the rear of the three Mars knights, settling into an open-handed defensive stance like she'd been drilled on. Her weapon may not've had any blades or heavy chunks of crystalline rock attached to it, but when summoned, it towered over her -- that gave her a significant reach advantage if she needed it. Better not to let her opponents know her full fighting range until she had to: she could summon her distaff if someone got close enough in range to strike.

Besides, there were wasps. Angry little hell-wasps -- that were currently stinging her arms and her forehead and her legs where she'd tied her skirts out of the way to one side. Hvergelmir wound her scarf in a few extra tight loops around her head to protect her face, trying to swat the demonic creatures away with her other hand while she did.

Ascended senshi were terrifying. Hvergelmir was glad to have the a line of Mars's finest standing between her and one of them.

Ascended General Vespa came in with no plans besides to attack, and while this sort of short-sightedness might have worried him or the others around him in the past, the Wasp senshi simply did not care. Oh, he was not completely void of feelings or emotions, as he could feel the stings against his flesh and winced beneath his mouthguard and visor, but he kept on running. Closer and closer to his target, even when there were others.

Others who would not have simply shirked from the frantic and dangerous movements of his energy wasps, as Themiscyra was quick to react, lashing out with the chain whip and catching the Ascended general off guard. The metal gut into his shoulder and threw him off course, causing him to stumble for a moment though he hadn't lost his balance entirely. Finally, he pulled his gaze away from his target and looked down at the whip that had struck it, his gaze following it until it was on the Transcended Knight. He tilted his head... what on Earth were those markings?

The other knight, Tanais may have felt his sting, but her backpedaling had worked in her favor more than anything else, as the moment he set his eyes on the transcended he had stopped his charge. The energy wasps continued to swarm around him, lashing out and stinging all who drew near, a few resting on his shoulders and stabbing him repeatedly, but he could only flinch and jerk, never once screaming or succumbing to the pain they offered him. Mica and Metallia had drained such weakness from him, bit by bit... and he would never display such weakness, especially before an enemy.

Suddenly, Andronicus appeared behind the Transcended knight, and just like that, Vespa's mind snapped and moved to his original target. Andronicus would take care of the Transcended, which left the Ascended to return to his original task. Elimination of the Royal knight! His momentum may have been halted by the chain whip and his shoulder was now bleeding, but he continued to walk towards Kairatos, jerking like a horse swishing its tail against the flies as he moved towards him. Orders were received and they would be obeyed, even if he had to die to fulfill them.