Arms of Arceus

God’s Breath had seen many wars over its long history, but they had never faced enemies like those that assaulted them now. Cadance’s shield had been recast immediately after the city’s force field fell, and while its effects were showing, the Tyranids and the Orks were fighting against it. Slow, jerky movements and roars of frustration echoed through the battlefield as the Hivemind forced its slaves to move faster than their bodies would allow. Masses of hormagaunts and rippers charged the Pokémon’s line, their teeth gnashing with hunger as larger creatures whipped them into a frenzy. The enormous boyz of Waaaagh! Ghazghkull rode into this new territory, eager to fight the strange new monsters before them. Urged on by the brutality of their nature and their massively powerful Waaagh!, the Orks fought through the effects of Cadance’s spell. They were met by one million special attacks launched from the front line of God’s Breath.

Tyranids and Orks alike were incinerated by volleys of Hyper Beams, Flamethrowers, Hydro Pumps and Solarbeams. Maude Pie threw boulders from the parapets, flattening large masses of foes with each toss. However, the enemy numbers were so great that not even a dent was made by these first attacks. For every one slain, twenty ran forward to take its place. Artillery shells crashed against the Pokémon’s lines as the monsters took refuge behind Protect shields and Wide Guards. More special attacks were launched, but the violence of the Pokémon only spurred their enemies on. The Exploud and Loudred stepped forward as the first wave neared the city’s defenses.

Led by a champion named Whisper, the Loud Noise Pokémon began bellowing in unison. Ten thousand Hyper Voices tore through the early morning air, their power focused away from their allies. Rounds and Echoed Voice attacks broke through the cloud cover, growing in power with each bellow and stopping the assault in its tracks. The Tyranids and Orks were helpless against the onslaught. The ground beneath them shook as their bodies were torn apart by the extreme sound waves. Organs liquefied, bones shattered, and Ork vehicles were blown apart. Bits of steel and chitin rained down from the sky as the armies of both sides were decimated for twenty miles around in all directions. Her throat sore and her voice tired, Whisper let out a call that rose above the din and the vocal assault ceased.

“Set forth your traps!” Princess Luna called, magically enhancing her voice to carry on the wind. “Prepare yourselves for the next assault! The enemy is relentless. They will come soon, and we must be ready!”

At her command, millions of Spikes, Sticky Webs, and Stealth Rocks were laid throughout the perimeter of the city. Torri led her ground-types as they dug millions of traps, weakening the soil below the surface so their foes would fall into large pits. Lady Rose led groups of poison-types to quickly fill these newly dug pits, expelling tons of toxins and Swalot stomach acids to dissolve those who fell in. Two of the titanic Steelix dug a moat a mile outside of the city’s perimeter before returning to fight underneath their assigned princess. By the time they were through, the enemy had appeared over the horizon once more and the second charge had begun.

Flyers came first, screaming across the sky as they engaged the forces of God’s Breath. Deffkoptas, Dakkajets, and Fightas soared over the defender’s northern lines. Many were shot down by special attacks from below, while many more engaged Lady Potpourri and her flying-types. Teams of Skarmory and Dragonite tore through the Ork’s machines, their fury rising as their allies were shot down around them. Drifloon and Drifblim floated through the steel structures and pulled their pilots out of their cockpits, releasing them above the ground to fall to their deaths. Shortly after the Orks engaged, the Tyranid flyers arrived from the south. Masses of Gargoyles, Crones, and Harpies crashed headlong into groups of Braviary, who took pleasure in tearing them apart. Teams of Salamance and Hydreigon rampaged through the Tyranid forces, brutalizing everything in sight. Though the Pokémon took many losses, they gave no quarter and held their ground through the onslaught.
Princess Luna had taken the north, while Princess Cadance had taken the south. The ponies used their magic to heal as many allies as they could, adding to the constant stream of Heal Pulses cast from the support Pokémon below. They led charge after charge against their sky borne enemies, pushing them back each time they tried to break through the air defenses. Their Aegislash moved at incredible speeds, switching stances faster than their wielders could blink. Cadance momentarily wondered if she was truly controlling Fu Hao, but the thought disappeared amidst the fury of battle. A group of Crones and Harpies had homed in on her, their attacks rebounding harmlessly off of Fu Hao’s King’s Shield. Cadance willed her into blade form and charged her foe, their blasts now striking her armor. They failed to break through her magical defenses as she cut her foes to pieces, one after the other. The survivors quickly scattered to fall into formation with the next wave. A group of Pidgeot came to Cadance’s side as the princess met the next attack.

Though the psychic-types had been weakened at the start of the conflict nurses and medical staff quickly revived them. As the second ground assault neared, they had already begun sending telepathic signals to their allies, directing individual groups based on their foresight. Through this network, they were capable of predicting the majority of the battle, though Lady Dorris had encouraged the ground forces to make their own judgments if what they saw contradicted what they were told.

Waves of Orks and Tyranids crossed the field of traps as they closed in on the city. The first lines fell into the moats dug by the Steelix. A massive chasm opened beneath their feet, sending them falling to their doom in the empty moat. The chasm quickly filled, allowing the hordes to cross over their fallen allies. Next they came to the pits dug by Lady Torri and her ground-types, which were quickly filled as well. The remaining hordes were met with sharp rocks and piercing spikes that tore through flesh and blew out the tires of Ork vehicles. Networks of Sticky Webs slowed their movement, while Meks clambered about, patching damaged vehicles. Urged on by their synapse creatures, the Tyranids stampeded their weak and fallen, uncaring of their fate. The ground forces of the two races clashed with the Pokémon of God’s Breath, driving hard into the defender’s lines. Orks and Tyranids quickly mixed and intermingled as they fought not only the Pokémon, but each other, as well. In a matter of minutes there were as many of each species to the north as there were in the south.

The strongest bodied Pokémon met with their foes on the perimeter of the city. Rock-types and steel-types were struck by volleys of missiles, bullets, exploding parasites and blasts of bio-plasma. They gritted their teeth and endured the assaults as the melee troops crashed into them. Teams of Golem, Donphan, Snorlax, and Miltank rolled through enemy lines, crushing steel, bone and carapace as they tore into the weak foes at the front lines. By the time the more powerful ground troops approached, their Rollout attacks had gained enough speed to crack the thickest armor. Those that they failed to destroy in the first hit were quickly targeted and crushed on the second hit.

A cry of surprise traveled through the Pokémon’s lines as Mawloc tore through the ground, the gaping maws of the massive worm creatures swallowing dozens of defenders whole. Lord Krush was swallowed by one such creature, only to rip it open from the inside and walk out unscathed into the oncoming wave of enemies. Ignoring these foes, he charged other nearby Mawloc and tore out those they had swallowed. Then, with a gentle encouragement, he sent them to be treated by Fluttershy and her medical staff behind the battle lines.
Several Dimachaeron watched as Krush pulled four Mawloc from the ground and killed them simultaneously. Their eyes narrowed as the Hive Mind willed its assassins to slaughter. The beasts charged Lord Krush, screaming in animalistic rage as they came down upon the Mega Tyranitar. Their claws shattered on the Pokémon’s carapace as they attempted to cut their prey to pieces. Krush laughed off the assault as he grabbed the things by the gaping mouths in their chest cavities and tore them apart. He looked off into the enemy lines to see Lord Chompy fighting alone, deep within the ranks of the assault. Everything that came near him was crushed, either by his tail, his feet, or his mighty jaws. Krush smiled as he tore his way through the armies to fight beside his friend.

From the walls, one hundred thousand Future Sight attacks were cast upon the field of battle. Psychic-types led their assigned groups into favorable encounters, though not without casualties. As a line of Golurk advanced to the front, the Pokémon began pushing their enemies back. Assisted by ranged forces, Hariyama and Conkeldurr filled out the gaps in the line, beating back foes as quickly as they could charge. Blades and scythes passed through the large ghost-types harmlessly, allowing them to counter-attack with impunity while the fighting-types crushed those that made it past the front. Groups of carnifex swiped at the Golurk, their claws unable to affect them as the Golurk beat the massive beasts down. Soon, the enemy lines had been forced back ten feet, though the beasts would not allow this much longer.

Wierdboyz, Burnaboyz, and groups of Zoanthropes beat back at the Golurk line, their fire and psychic attacks taking a heavy toll. Variants of the Carnifex species vomited bio-plasma at the Pokémon, tearing holes in their line with relentless efficiency. Just as the Automaton Pokémon began taking losses, the next line stepped forward. Led by Lord Gallah, the eager fighting-types finally took to the field. By his order, only second form or final form Pokémon were allowed to engage the enemy. Formations of Gallade cut through armor like butter, their psychically enhanced arm blades tearing through Tyranid and Ork as they predicted their foe’s next move. They had been forbidden to read their enemy’s minds here, so they had only their own foresight and the information given by the groups of psychics behind the lines. This was enough to make their highly trained strategies nearly perfect. Lord Gallah’s movements were more swift than his foes could counter, and more relentless than his forces had ever seen. Nothing could stand in his way for more than a few seconds as he joined Krush and Chompy in targeting those creatures that used more than claws and steel to attack.

Bruno and his Machoke brethren followed behind groups of Medicham, adding their brute force to the dance-like movements of their allies. Of the one-thousand Machoke in the city, only twenty had managed to evolve further. Despite their power save belts, their strength was easily felt on the battlefield. Every blow a Machamp landed sent foes flying for yards into their allies. Every large vehicle became both shield and weapon in their mighty hands. Enemy dead piled high in their wake as they pushed the armies further back, but the fighting-types were forced to retreat as more psychic enemies approached. They limped back behind the line, dragging their dead and wounded from the battlefield.

Lord Gallah had just seen his final fighter behind the newly formed line of rock-types when the Future Sight attacks hit. The entire battlefield between the city and the moat exploded with psychic energy, decimating the enemy forces without mercy. Still the hordes came, completely unaffected by the deaths of so many of their allies. As they approached the city lines, the Loudred and Exploud stepped forward and sang their song of destruction once more.

Marco leaned against a light post in the center of God’s Breath, his hood pulled up to conceal his face. His rainbow dyed crest stuck up through the thick hood in all of its flashy brilliance as he chewed on some leaves grown in a local garden. It was his symbol, and the symbol of his gang. Everyone in the Rainbow Crest Gang respected him for it, be they his fellow Scrafty or not. Though he was the leader of one of the four great factions of the city, he was still under the command of the High Council, and thus he had fallen under the command of the alicorns, as well. He wasn’t complaining, though. He had been told that the fighting would be good, and that his crew could keep whatever they looted off of the enemy. There was no telling what they would find when the battle was over, but he was eager to find out.

Marco’s eyes gleamed dangerously as he heard the sound of quickly moving paws scraping across the ground. A young Houndour came running up to him, wearing a rainbow colored amulet to signify her allegiance to his gang. She panted heavily as she came to a stop, her eyes wide with fear as she spoke.

“Humans,” she panted. “There are humans downstairs in the cleaner’s shop. I don’t know how they got there, but I saw ‘em, boss.”

“There ain’t no humans ‘round here, Sarah,” Marco said, as he looked the Houndour over carefully.

“There ain’t supposed ta be boss, but I saw ‘em. I promise I did! They… they was castin’ some kinda spell and some monsters came out...”

“Where’s Old Joe and his wife?”

“They was killed, boss,” Sarah said, as tears began running freely from her eyes. “Those monsters… they… they…”

“Where’s ya brotha?” Marco interrupted, not keen on hearing the gruesome details.

“He went in tha opposite direction, to get Mom and Dad.”

“So, Sasha and Grim’ll be bringin’ there pack, huh?” Marco said, smiling. “They may be old members, but we ain’t gonna let ‘em have all tha fun.”

“W-what do ya mean, boss?” the Houndour said, as she finally looked up into her leader’s face.

“I talked ta Rainbow Dash and Applejack last night, got some info from ‘em. If there are humans here, they’ll be callin’ up some big, bad beasties. We were held back from the front because the princesses knew this was gonna happen. So, let’s go say hi, huh?”
Marco smiled as he walked past Sarah, his fingers snapping in time with his suave, easy stride. Sarah gulped nervously, gathered her wits, and ran after the confident Scrafty.

“We’s....” she said, stammering slightly as she spoke. “We’s gonna avenge Old Joe and Mrs. Laura, right boss?”

“You bet we are,” Marco said, anger and pain cutting through his voice as he spoke.

The members of The Rainbow Crest Gang saw their leader and followed, coming up behind him as he made his way down the streets. As they approached the cleaner’s, a terrible cry echoed through the air and the street before them exploded. The forces of Angron climbed from the newly formed pit, their eyes filled with blood frenzy as they emerged. Marco leapt forward, sending a Flying Jumpkick into the head of a Bloodletter and throwing it onto the blade of one of its allies. His forces rose up as one, and battle was met inside the city.

Korish watched as the fight unfolded before her. Sasha and Grim had arrived with their pack of Houndoom and Absol. Their power and coordination decimated the psychic forms of the daemons with volleys of Night Slashes and Dark Pulses. Despite the assault, the daemonblades were still made of steel and several Pokémon had already fallen to these weapons. The daemons were accompanied by human slaves who began chanting and cutting themselves as they worked to increase the number of their master’s portals. Larger and more powerful daemons began climbing from the pit as Rainbow Dash came to the aid of her allies, accompanied by a force of two-thousand Honchcrow and Mandibuzz. Gaining speed, she collided hoof first with the largest daemon she could find, crushing its ribcage as her Doublade blocked strikes from its bloodstained axe. Soon, a force of ghost-types would arrive led by Lord Ra or a member of his family. The Gourgiest could already hear their eerie cries on the wind.

Korish smiled as she enjoyed the chaos that her plans had caused. The two elderly Clefable who had owned the cleaner’s had been quite useful. By listening to the raven-like daemons and helping the humans cast their spell, the couple had helped to summon a horde of bloodthirsty daemons into God’s Breath. Korish had insisted that the Lords of Change tell Joe and Laura their ultimate fate, and when they had insisted that their promises of safety and transcendence were truthful, Korish had gone over their heads. She had told the Clefable how they would be slaughtered once these ‘Daemonkin of Khorne’ came into their shop. The Lords of Change hadn’t been happy about that revelation, but Korish quickly showed them that there was nothing they could do to harm her. They were too far from their god, and she was far too close to hers. Despite the news of their deaths, Korish had asked the couple to cast the spell anyway.

At first, the Clefable had shaken their heads and refused to go through with it. The Lords of Change had spouted some lies about ascending to daemonhood for their efforts, but Korish had countered them with a truth. She had promised the couple that, if they cast the spell, she would pull their spirits from their bodies just as the daemons came through. This would save them from the pain of death, though their bodies would still be badly mauled. That little fact didn’t matter to the couple now, as they stood hand-in-hand behind Korish, watching the fight unfold at their former shop. She turned to examine the Gengar that they had become, and she smiled before returning her gaze to the fight. As the battle intensified, the Gourgiest began a joyful song of death.