While the rest of the castle were beginning to prepare evacuation through the underground catacombs, William had rushed to his younger brother's chambers, his breath gasping for air as he shot through the doors, shoving them open.

"BROTHER! AWAKEN WITH HASTE!" He said as his hurried steps approached the bedside and grasped at the sheets and at his younger sibling's shoulder.

"Umh... William? Ye have returned, brother? What is wrong?" Godwin said as his surprised figure shot up, his eyes alert for a moment before relaxing again, his gaze tired.

"The story is too long to explain, but our keep shall soon be sieged by fallen angels seeking a holy child of God who haveth come here with me. She saved mine life, so I shan't leave, but all the rest of the keep is fleeing. Grab what is necessary and join the others." William said while going through the room of his younger brother and tossing him breches, a shirt, his sword and plain leather bag.

"What?! If tis true then I shan't run. Ye can not be left be alone in this! I am no coward, I wish to assist you, William and I won't be refused just because I am younger." Godwin said as he was slipping in his clothing, his young features sporting a determined furrowed brow.

William with anger turned and struck him with a slap to the cheek, one that echoed through the hall. "GODWIN ARTHUR FALIS! You shan't throw away your life and leave our parents with no descendant to aid me in keeping my oath! This is my duty to uphold to God and His Angel who have granted me a second chance at life. ... You shan't risk death... you, who has barelly gotten to live." The knight yelled, his tone softening towards the end, as his expression did.

Godwin looked with wide eyes at his older kin as his cheek burned with pain, a pain he soon felt in his soul as a sort of shame. "Forgive me William... I just wished to not see you die... I want you to live as well..." The younger sibling said as he bit his lip, his slightly teary eyes staring at the metal sigil upon William's chest.

The knight held his hand to his own breast and the silver began to melt and form a handle. "I shan't die, I will always be with you. From my own heart granted by God's divine Will, I forge ye a blade! When lost gaze upon it thinking of me and of God and I shall always be by your side. I shall always deliver your prayers to God and guide each of your blows upon the evils that you may encounter on your path."

As William pulled back his hand a silvery longsword with engravings covering it entirely had come out of the RF Suit's core. With both his hands he held it towards Godwin, who took a shakey breath in his chest.

"I pledge to you my elder kin, with whom I share my blood, I shall protect our own and live a life you'd be proud of, brother." Godwin said as he then began gathering his things proper.

Now truly the entire keep was evacuating and gathering supplies, some of the younger servants even taking horses from the stables and a cart early to bring at the bottom of the cliff near the hidden exit.

Soon enough the whole place was quieter than a battlefield after men have spilled their blood and the dead of night claimed the area. Doors were locked and sealed by William himself as he returned to his Angel.

Sweat poured down his brow as he finally breathed calmly, yet with a shake in his chest, finally his mind at ease. His steps approached by Ashi'in's side, who was seated by the side of their keep's gently burning fireplace. The young man fell to one knee before Ashi'in muttering in a low tone something solemn, his voice seeminly decided in the cryptic meaning of the way he spoke.

'It made sure all of its kind left before they were in danger... it seems my warning has been more than effective. Here I am hoping this was enough.' The assistant thought as she pulled up the communicator and began calling for Lukin. "Doctor, what is the E.T.A. for the rescue party to arrive? Over."

"Any moment now, from what I am understanding. What is your situation? You managed to tell Whill'aem of the incoming attack? Over." Lukin replied after a few moments of static onto the communicator.

"Yes, it evacuated the other residents which were situated here. It's just me and it now. Am I in any danger? Over." Ashi'in asked nervously, pondering if this bet between Lukin and the sector general might have compromised her safety.

Lukin fell silent for a moment too long for comfort as his answer then rang through. "Negative, hopefully. The only one in danger should be Whill'aem but I have faith our friend will prevail. If it does, it will be interesting to have it come with us for further observation and experimentation. I am already thinking of implementing a cloning program for soldier drones based on its DNA if it proves useful." Lukin said with a clear glee in his voice.

"You just used his life and my safety as a token to bet your career upon." Ashi'in whispered angrily. "You should be in a mental institution, you crazy bastard." She retorded annoyed.

"Progress is driven by inspiration and inspiration comes from necessity. This WAR is madness and WAR DEMANDS progress and this thing is my inspiration. Besides, if I am insane, what does that make it? One can not do what it did without a bit of madness. Listen here Ashi'in... everyone has a bit of madness in them, and those that claim they don't, they are the ones truly crazy. Over and out." Lukin stated solemnly, but in a way that Ashi'in could almost envision his sick grin on his expression.

In this way the Anghelan assistant was left in silence, only with the crackle of the fire besides her and William's murmurs to keep her company, besides her racing mind.

Not too far away from this situation, two Anghelan soldiers were riding their Antigravitation All Terrain Vehicle. Zad'el and Cas'el were two of Augh'un's finest soldiers that he had at his disposal. They were briefed of the situation, somewhat accurately, knowning not of the bet between their captain and Lukin.

"We're nearly there, Zad. How do you want to do this?" Cas'el asked as he gazed upon a GPS device pinging the RF Suit's location. "I am also seeing signs of some sort of structure based on the satellite scan we got for the map."

"By protocol man, we can see the target's movements but we don't know if there are any additional reinforcements it might be employing. We give the place a quick look and take it slow from one side to another. If we meet any hostiles we eliminate them and approach the target to do the same. Retrieve the suit, Assistant Doctor Ashi'in and then ride back before evac time. Easy as boot camp." Zad'el said back to his comrade in arms over the in built comms in their suits.

"Hold on... tracker is picking up a second signal from the suit. Weaker... it seems to be moving away from the keep?" Cas'el said with a bit of confusion in his tone.

"Think you can still spot it from high ground by the time we get there?" Zad replied really quick upon hearing this.

"Y-yeah. Want to split the assignment up? You can do ground cover while I look for a vantage point to see what is going on with that." Cas said as he tried imagining why the suit's signal was split.

"Affirmative. Works for me. This thing shouldn't be too much of a headache, but I am not letting my guard down until I know it can't move." the driver replied in a serious tone.

Soon enough the two arrived at the structure made of stone situated at the top of the cliff. As they disembarked their vehicle and engaged a cloak mechanism to hide its exact location, the two then began making their way on foot towards the structure.

"I'll start from that entrance with a barricade made of biomaterial, I'll bust it open so attention is drawn on my position. You scale the side of the structure and make your way at its highest point. We have to retrieve all parts of the suit." Zad'el said as he checked his Rail Rifle and the parameters of his suit through the helmet's HUD.

Cas'el did the same as it was standard, sighing for a moment. "Man... this is not how I wanted to spend my day... hope we can resume that game of Space Dash once we get back at base." The second Anghelan said with a tired chuckle.

"We will, just do things by protocol and we should be fine. Remember, it is strong, but not that smart or organized. We got this, Cas." Zad'el said reassuringly yet monotonous.

After just a moment longer the two then went up to the structure together and once near the front gate, the two went into separate shadows, their black suits making them nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Zad'el waited a few minutes before he began testing the wooden gate and how well it held. Once figuring out a brace held it shut, a low energy Rail Rifle shot was all he needed to make enough noise for the curious while also getting him inside the walls of the structure's yard.

Inside the keep the noise did not go unnoticed. William's head shot up as he had heard the clear sound of wound breaking and splintering and a familiar, yet much quieter sound of 'hellfire crossbow bolts' being shot.

"Tis my time..." he uttered clearly, his voice missing any shakes of worry or doubt.

As he stood up, the suit began dripping and slowly enveloping him, until it covered his body entirely, except for his head.

Ashi'in stood up as had heard the sound as well and her golden eyes rested upon the now standing William. "You might die, although I hope not. Your kind has been the focus of my studies and I am glad to be proven wrong of my original assesment of you. I thought of you as brutes ready to kill one another with nuance only in their archaic belief system and with some modicum of intricacy in certain areas... Yet, the depth of your kind has proven to be more... you truly feel and are concious of feeling, for that I respect you." The assistant said as she rested a hand upon the middle of William's chest. "I do not regret helping you, never... no matter the repercussions I might face once I get home."

William didn't understand as usual the words, but he could feel her tone, soft, encouraging, full of belief in him. His now armored hand gingerly grasped hers and lightly squeezed it.

"With yours and God's blessing I shall go forth and prevail, I know that by the Lord's Will I shall come out victorious and feel exalted by His faith in my ability." The knight confessed as the mercury like liquid enveloped his head and formed the great helm around it.

William then went forth with a determined force in his steps. The shield made of blue light formed on his left forearm bearing the silver cross of God as his long sword dripped and hardened in his right one.

Approaching the massive wood and metal doors of the keep, the native effortlessly pushed them open and exited into the courtyard, leaving Ashi'in to just watch on with a glint of hope shining in her golden pupils.

Outside Zad'el had already cleared most of the courtyard by the time the doors of the keep opened, communicating with Cas'el about the situation.

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"Have you located the secondary source? It seems our target is moving towards my location." Zad'el said with a calm urgency.

"Negative, I am having a hard time spotting them. The direction is full of foliage obscuring vision. If you require assistance I can shoot it from up here." Cas'el replied as he gazed upon the distance from the roof of the keep.

"No need. Continue on finding the secondary target. I should have things under control..." the primary Anghelan replied as he paused suddenly. " I have made visual contact, but it hasn't spotted me yet... the suit is different... looks different from the usual RF Gen Ones."

"Think it has made modifications to it?" Cas asked naively as he kept his eyes on the distance, trying to figure out exactly where this second source was.

"Improbable. From my understanding they do not have the technological know how for that." Zad said as he already began peeking through his rifle's scope at William.

"Yet, one of them is piloting it..." The secondary soldier replied with a hint of doubt in his tone.

"Engaging target. I will keep you posted on the situation." As Zad'el said this he than took proper tight aim and released three shots at center mass upon the armored native.

William had been peering about trying to spot the fallen angels that had sieged his family's home. As his eyes peered about, aided by the helmet to see better in darkness, a red line appeared in his sight coming from the edge of a support pillar holding up an extended roof at the front of the stables.

The knight braced his shield as he pulled it up managing to block two quick hellbolts only for a 3rd to ricochee off the edge of his helmet at an angle. Even like this, the impact made his head jerk to the side from the force of it.

By the time he had gotten his wits about him the red thread of fate had moved positions as another short burst of bolts had been shot at him. This time expecting them the armored paladin blocked them all with his shield properly, making the burning projectiles shoot off in various directions.

Zad'el keept on moving his position after each set of shots, but the confidence of the graze he managed to land on his mark was quickly extinguished by how adeptly it managed to block his follow up shots. "It's shield is not going down! I repeat, the shield is not disabling. Shit... this was not in the brief we got on Gen One suits." He stated with an urgent yet collected tone.

"It is not?! Damn it. Providing additional fire support. Keep on the pressure." Cas replied quickly as he went over the peak of the roof down to the face that was looking into the courtyard. Spotting the armored native himself, he took aim and began letting off slow shots continously raining down on its position.

William continued on blocking the hellbots as he slowly advanced, slowly trying to find out his enemy's tactics, but this methodic advance was interrupted as he felt his back take multiple hits, a fourth one even making him shake wrecked by pain.

His silvery armor was pierced, the material penetrated as he could feel the right side of his back torn open and his lung filling with blood. "Ghah! Gh- God... hgm..." He yelled coughing up blood inside his own helmet."Suit integrity compromised. Pilot vitals damaged. Commencing quick response first aid and repair." The AI stated in it's usual low tone dead tone as the mercury like metal began covering up and flooding the wound. In less than second the blood flooding William's lung was irrigated and the suit itself filled up the missing bits isolating the opening.

The knight realizing his situation, and that the second fallen angel was raining literal fire down upon him, he began backing up quickly towards one side of the courtyard putting both his enemies within the same general direction. Using the red threads of fate, that God blessed his eyes to be able to see, he managed to block most of the incoming shots that hailed on him.

His defense although not breaking was insufficient as shots aimed at his legs and right arm made it harder to block all of them. 'I need an openin' to charge... God please, give me the reprieve I need to sink my blade in these unholy heathens. O, hear my plea onto you and grant me the speed of the wind to reach my enemies, once more.' He though as he kneeled down, holding his shield at an angle slightly to minimize the amount of areas he could get hit from.

After what felt line an eternity of getting pelted by burning hot rocks that at times ripped parts of his armor and flesh, the opening that William prayed for had arrived. The hail of bolts ceased, Zad and Cas needing to quickly reload batteries. William stood up as his suit began rebuilding itself and closing up his wounds and in a few cases even having to fill up holes in his thighs that had the shot go through entirely.

"If you're out cover me with secondary weapon fire. Anything to get its attention." Zed said loudly over the comms to Cas as he took cover behind a pillar to put in a fresh battery and a mag of tungsten bullets.

Once more the metal on William's back shaped itself into wings with thrusters and his boots' soles got thicker with the near instant appearance of their own propulsion systems.

Cas'el put aside his rifle quickly and drawing his side arm he began shooting it at their mark, but the singular direction of attack was innefective as the native simply used his shield to block it.

William got up and had a deep forward lean as if about to go into a sprint. Suddenly, the thrusters on his back light up with blue flames as well as the ones on his soles. In a quick burst he got shot forward towards Zad'el, the propulsion overshooting slightly, or so it would seem. With a quick spin and a second boost of the thrusters the knight was right up into Zad'el's close quarters.

"Damn it!" The Anghelan yelled as the native's blade came down upon him.

Quick thinking got the soldier of this predicament as he managed to use his rifle's barrel to block the brutal blow. The metal whined sharply as a gash was made into the long barrel, but the pressure was kept on.

William had gotten one of the two angels pinned. His hellbolt crossbow now damaged, the knight reared back his shield as he yelled at the top of his lungs. "YOU, THE FALLEN FROM GOD'S LIGHT AND EMBRACE, IF YOU HAVE ANY MODICUM OF SHAME, YOU SHALL REPENT TOWARDS THINE FATHER BY MY BLADE'S BITE AND JUDGEMENT! RGHAAA!"

Zad'el was trying to keep calm under this circumstances, making sure to wrestle the blade away from himself using the nook in his barrel as a wedge to direct the blade as best he could. This tactic didn't last for long as the native reared back his arm bearing the shield and the Anghelan soon found himself getting blows to his head from the defensive tool's rim.

"CEASE! THINE! HERESY!" William yelled with each blow of his shield's edge to the fallen angel's dome.

Cas'el who had been fumbling to reload when he was how quick Zad'el got cornered, finally managed to get his Rail Rifle's ammo situation sorted out. Taking aim he took a moment longer to make sure he didn't hit his comrade. After holding his breath to a stand still he let out a shot aimed right at the native's throat.

William saw once more the red thread at the corner of his vision and he moved the shield to block, having to wrap his arm around his head to do so. The distraction and awkward position was enough for Zad'el to wrench the blade away and then kick William off of him.

"Detaching damaged long barrel, switching to Rail Pistol form, I will keep it at a distance, find that damned second target!" Zad'el said as he ran as best he could away from the knight, proceeding to quickly dissamble and toss away the extended barrel of the rifle reducing it to a stock and a receiver with a short snubbed barrel.

"G-gotcha! Gonna keep it fast." Cas'el said as he got back to the peak of the roof and as he scanned the dark horizon this time he saw it, a light source and coming from the direction of the signal. It was a good distance away, but nothing his scope couldn't handle. "Found it!" The soldier yelled.

"Fire until the signal stops moving then come to assist me." Zad'el said as he was now a good distance away from the armored native, who had just properly gotten up.

Cas'el began firing upon the far away moving targets while Zad'el shot his Rail Pistol at William. The now snubbed weapon had a much harsher recoil and to control it, the Anghelan had to reduce his fire rate.

William resumed his advance using his wings for a boost and after blocking two of the shots he involuntarily dodged a third when a loud cacophony of shrieks started to loudly pierce his ears. He could hear his brother's voice yelling in panick and several others as well as loud shots of impact near them.

In a daze and confused William got back to his feet, using his shield to block another shot before recoiling once more from the screams. "Brother?!" He asked loudly as his breath spiked. Hearing the thunder of the hell bolts from above and seeing light shooting in the direction in which his family fled, his eyes widened. "NO!"

William found himself sinking in a sudden pit of dispair he didn't know he was inside of. His eyes fixed on the roof the system of the suit didn't need more than one brain signal to know what to do as the thrusters powered up hard for a stronger boost.

"Shit! It's preparing to come after you. Engaging in close quarters, neutralize your target!" Zad'el said as he rushed in a sprint to William. With a leap powered by his own suit's motors, he managed to reach and latch onto William's legs just as he was about to take off.

The sudden shift in weight made the knight jump boost himself into the keep's front wall and then harshly push against the crumbling stone and get shot back down in the courtyard together with Zad.

Once back on the ground the Anghelan soldier managed to grab a hold of the armored native. He pushed one propulsor to the side and wrapped his other arm around his enemy's neck to hold it down.

William struggled to break free his movements agressive and hasty as his heart pounded harder and harder. As the hellbolt shots continued he kept on hearing the screams of his peers some of them gurgled and dying out, some shrieking and praying in a cried panic with fervor.

"S-stop it! S-STOP IT! STOP IT YOU CORWARDLY MONSTERS!" William yelled his throat raw as he thrashed about. He tried pulling and rolling over, but the damned angel kept weighing him down like a ball and chain. The blood coming from his mouth rolled back onto his face and clouded his eyes in crimson.

The smell of blood, the inability to do anything and oh the screams that echoed in his head. The knight roared like a furious dying animal letting out his last death screams. "STHAAA- AHHH- APP! GHAAA! HGAAAA! RHAAAA!"

There was no more thought of God, nor of righteous and evil, just a primal fury. As William thrashed more violently, his shield and blade retracted. The silver of his armor began dripping into a shiny metal crimson red as the blue hue of his helmet's visor turned bloody red. The same red that his own eyes were flooded by and that was mixing in with a fresh stream of tears.

The metal morphed as where once was filligre and religious decorations now spikes resembling metal fur replaced them. The great helm sporting the cross of God had now dripped and morphoned into that of a red furred wolf bearing it's teeth, the eyes of the helm glowing a spiteful red with yellow-orange piercing pupils.

Zad'el felt a had grasp at his side and there he saw a claw like red hand grasping at him. The sharp fingetips got a hold of him before shield like blades shot out of them and began pressing into his body's shield. Quicker than expected, the shield failed under the sudden pressure and the thin finger blades of red light cut through it, holes so thin the Anghelan couldn't even see them.

The crimson claws sank mercilessly into the suit and broke the metal finding flesh to squeeze into pulp. Wrecked by intense pain Zad'el let go of his mark due to the sheer pain of the shock.

The Crimson Wolf got to his feet howling an echoing shriek of a pained and wrathful cry. The wings on his back now transformed to be more thin, spikey and skeletal like. The propulsors bellowed red and yellow flames that shot him up right to the top of the keep.

There Cas'el kept on shooting the moving lights aiming at targets he could spot at times, but as he heard the howl approaching him with intensity he peered back and up.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THA-" He yelled out in a panic as he got up to his feet.

The Bloody Beast was now above him in the air, the moon lighting it from behind and darkening its features, except for those red and yellow eyes that burned with a rage unlike any other. It quickly descended onto Cas, wrapping its clawed hands around him and bring him into a tumble down and off the cliff side.

As the two bodies were intertwined in a dance of combat, the Hound had gotten its claws onto Cas'el's helmet. While descending at high speed he rammed and held it against the stone surface of the building, keeping it there even beyond that point. Sparks flew and stone broke and shot up with dust and soon enough the sparks were joined by splattering gore, a streak of blue being left down the flat side of the cliff, all the way to it's very bottom.

Zad'el saw the ascension of their enemy and it's leap down upon Cas'el, hearing the sound of the tumble. Trying to move quickly got the soldier more pain than he asked for, but the suit tried to isolate the affected area and apply a strong local numbing agent.

After grasping his Rail Pistol the Anghelan quickly got out of the yard through the broken gate and circled around to the cliff's edge on the outside of the walls. Running with a slight limp at the cliff's edge he eventually found an area less steep and descended it making his way to where the dust cloud was thicker.

Panting in his helmet, his hearts thudding against his thin ribcage, Zad'el eventually reach the area of impact and as his visor adjusted for the even worse lighting conditions, that is when he saw it.

His enemy thought of before as a lowly sentient, had changed entirely into a bloody ruthless monster, the red eyes reflecting it's wrath as the yellow-orange pupils were as piercing as the essence of hate itself. In it's red shining claws made of energy it held a headless carcass, dripping blue. The streak of blue going down the cliff ended with a large splattering spot near it. The bits of sinew and spots of blue blood dripping off of its metal muzzle... it was horrific, as if catching a carnivore after devouring a vermin animal's head.

The air stood silent as the bloody beast tossed aside the unmoving armored body and it's eyes gazed at Zad'el. The Anghelan found himself frozen as he stared at the scene and then into the two glowing orbs of its helmet. What was hitting the soldier worse? The beast he was now facing or the reality of his comrade's death sinking in suddenly into his bones?

"L-looks like we won't be f-finishing that game o-of Space Dash, huh, Cas'el?" Zad'el spoke over his comms, as he stood there, every muscle in his body tense and holding his breath hoping his eyes deceived him... hoping for a reply.