Breaking Quarantine

Star: As the raider bandits continued to pick themselves up and gradually become more aware of their surroundings, their attention went over to where Sky, Diamond, and Star had been. Their eyes found Star, and looked at the motionless body for a moment before turning their attention to their downed mates and those that could move began dragging them over towards one of the re-purposed office rooms. For the moment at least, they didn't seem concerned with Star, and a few of them even went back down the hallway to rejoin the group.

Blaze: The reason that one unicorn mage was still standing became prevalent soon enough as the whip simply bounced off open air. Some kind of barrier spell must have prevented the worst of the blast, and now it had stopped the pseudopod. The barrier however seemed pretty small and limited to just the one Unicorn as the other one was only just now starting to pick himself back up. He seemed to have fared a good bit worse from having the spell he was preparing interrupted by the sudden and mysterious light flash. While the horde of raiders seemed to not really be doing anything effectively against Blaze, they were managing to do a decent number in keeping her limited in what she could do as well. The rest of the raiders, as they continued picking themselves up, started to re-adopt their defensive positions around the one standing unicorn and the other one that was trying to stand as well.

Star held his position until he heard the bandits starting to move. He dared peeked one eye open and looked around for the bandits. He saw some going back down the hallway and some dragging their mates away into a different room. He started thinking about what else to do now. He really didn't want to stay here laying down after all, they might find out sooner or later. He could make a dash for it and fly back to Arc...But he couldn't be so sure. His wing could be hurt for all he knew and he couldn't test it right now, they might see. Why oh why did those two have to fight each other at that moment...He decided to take the time to look around for his sword as he waited for the raiders dragging their mates to finish doing that. He's quickly close his eye when and if the raiders would look at him, continuing to play dead.

Blaze did not sigh, because it was not capable of feeling annoyance. It knew what it was, and that an organic might be feeling it at the moment, but it could not itself. It was, after all, a librarian. Sending a bladed pseudopod into one of the raiders that was still regaining its sense, Blaze attempts once more to sacrifice his soul to provide a mana boost. This boost would be used to tear at the unicorn's shield, or, failing that, give Blaze a way in with which to begin picking the spell apart.
For the moment, the rest of her processing power was devoted to piling on more wards against elemental magic.

Star: Most of the raiders seemed to have mumbled to each other before splitting into two groups. Most of them headed back to join the others. Two however stayed back, one dragging the last of the downed raiders into other rooms while the last one started walking over towards Star, no weapon drawn.

Blaze: Whether the raider hadn't been fully conscious yet, or he just didn't react fast enough, the pseudopod managed to pierce into his hide and slam him against the wall behind him. The other raiders however were now mostly back up though and ready to react again, including the other mage. So while the one began his magical/mental battle with Blaze at trying to keep his spell active while she tried to tear it apart, a roughly even match for the moment at least. The other mage however once more charged up a magic blast and fired it at Blaze.

Star mentally sighed in relief as more of the raiders went away then mentally cursed when one of the remaining two started coming towards him. He listened carefully to the hoofsteps, not wanting to test his luck. He had to think of something and fast or else this pony was going to notice. He held his breath to stop his chest from moving and waited for the pony to get closer to him. When the pony was within hoof's reach, he kicked his legs at the raiders's legs to try and knock the raider off his hooves or at least make him stumble. He then quickly brought his hoof up in an attempt to try and punch the raider in the jaw.

Were Blaze an organic, it might be feeling annoyance. Rather extreme annoyance. As it was, it began dispassionately analyzing and adapting to the situation. The melee based combatants were, for the moment, no issue. It had a temporary magical boost from the sacrificed raider. The enemy magi were behind a one way barrier. One of them was about to fire upon Blaze.
Load Cartridge. Round Shield.
A glowing disk appears in front of Blaze, effectively blocking any straight shots fired by the magi.
The next order of business was dealing with that shield. For the moment, Blaze decided it had enough wards. that freed up some processing power, which could be put towards tearing that shield apart, and charging a small stun spell to use against the shield mage the instant the shield went down.

Star: The raider hadn't been expecting the sudden burst of movement, and so when his hoof was swept out from under him, he fell face first onto the ground. He just managed to get turned around when Star's hoof smacked him clean in the jaw, knocking a tooth loose. While stunned, the pony was still groaning in pain as he cradled his face in his hooves, partially because of the pain and partially to shield his head from further blows. The other pony who'd been helping clear corpses wandered into a back room, but it was uncertain he'd be there for long.

Blaze: Just because they weren't effective didn't mean the raiders were any less tenacious in their attempt to attack Blaze. The all out brawl against her would have likely proved entertaining if Blaze possessed the faculties to be entertained, that is until something struck her, and it hurt. It was impossible to tell who's weapon it was in the chaos around her, but someone's weapon had done something when it made a slash at her that somehow caused a very unpleasant sensation to ripple across her circuits.

Meanwhile the mages were still proving a bother as the one who was now dealing with a Blaze more focused on breaking his shielding gritted his teeth in exertion, even adding a grunt with the effort of trying to keep the shield going. The other one who had shot a magic blast to only have it deflected, prepared 3 more and strove to launch them all at once at Blaze, but he too was gritting his teeth and grunting with the effort.

Star quickly rolled to his hooves, standing up with a grunt. He didn't stop when the pony lost a tooth and he wasn't planning to stop just yet with the other pony still there and able to run off and warn others. He jumped straight on the downed pony, using his weight to his advantage. He then quickly spread his wings and kicked off from the pony, flying straight at his mate as fast as he could. He was aiming to tackle the second pony, or at the very least stop him from calling for help. That way he'd only have to deal with two of them for the time being.

Blaze certainly feels the pain. This was problematic. If they had the capability to injure it, then it could no longer afford to take the situation slowly.
Blaze teleports out of the mob, letting the magical projectiles fly through the space it had previously occupied.
The Librarian had teleported above the group, quickly grabbing onto the ceiling using a spell for walking on walls. It then changes its color to match that of the ceiling.

Star: And here would be where Star's luck ran out as when he flew past the doorway after the pony who'd disappeared back there, the raider was looking right at Star. He wasn't quite expecting Star and so he was still a bit caught off guard and tackled down by Star, but the pony was still conscious and was now throwing his forehooves up to try and punch Star.

Blaze: With the flash of light from the teleport, there was a lot of cries from the raiders who's weapons suddenly clashed into the ground. Blaze would barely be given a moment's reprieve though as not all the ponies were immediately under it. Some saw where Blaze had gone before it'd gotten the chance to change color, and they'd cried out about it. While they couldn't see where Blaze was, there was no shortage of weapons and additional magic blasts then being fired at the roof in any available spot.

Star reared back a little, letting out a yelp of pain as he was punched. He lifted one of his forehooves to protect his face from farther punches from the pony he'd tackle. He then tried to shove the pony's forehooves to the side as he brought his head down on his head, trying to headbutt him with as much force as he dared. Surely his helmet would hurt right? He sure hoped it did because he really really needed to deal with this pony fast before their friend back in the other room would get up and surely call for help.

Blaze was annoyed, despite the impossibility of this statement. It would teleport itself and the guns it had stolen out of the room, ending up in the same hallway as Star. Seeing the two struggle, Blaze would slither up and attempt to restrain the bandit's hooves while saying "Please finish this one." to Star.

The one pony had been continuing to try and fight back against Star's pin, though the headbutt seemed to daze him pretty good. And when the... substance, that was Blaze surrounded him, he began to freak out about as much as he could while being fairly restrained, making a good bit of noise.

Though it would be rather hard to tell if it was that or something else that had started to draw the attention of the crowd at the end of the hallway that had been trying to force it's way downstairs, But now they started shifting focus and proceeding back towards the entrance of the building.

Star grouted a bit, shaking his head a bit. That...was not one of his best ideas. He raised a hoof to punch the pony but stopped himself when he heard someone talk next to him. He looked around panicked for a moment before realizing just how much noise the pinned pony was making. He quickly shoved one of his hooves into his mouth and punched him repeatedly, saying shut up quietly with each punch. Luna have mercy...can my life be any worse then right now? He thought quietly to himself as he punched the pony.

Blaze would quickly cast a noise dampening spell on the small area the three entities are in. The thestral had already thought to obscure the offending pony's mouth. Good, that boded well for him being a potential ally. Blaze would need them, if it was to escape the [INVALID STATUS] barrier that trapped Blaze within this crumbling city. However, that would have to wait until they had dealt with the straggler.

With a hoof in his mouth, and another one coming down hard and repeatedly on his face, the raider was out of sorts rather soon. His nose broke, eyes became blackened, cheeks cut, forehead bruised and battered, and then the fight just left him and his head fell to the side as far as it could with Star's hoof currently in his mouth, while his eyes slid shut and turned white. Blaze would also feel the lack of struggle and fight now as the pony's body went slack.

Back outside the room, the other raiders were still progressing down the hall and back towards the entrance. Sure they couldn't hear Star and Blaze, and yet, they were still coming, as if they knew Blaze couldn't still be down in the other room which had a limited amount of space that was checked almost instantly. A lot of clinging and clanging however could be heard against the walls, roof, and floor of the building though, making it obvious that several weapons were striking their surfaces for some reason. But for the moment though, Blaze and Star would find themselves without a threat in the little office room off to the side of the main entryway.

Star pulled his hand out of the pony's mouth as the pony went down, wiping his hoof on the pony's chest. He pulled away from the pony and sat down on the ground for a moment, thinking about his situation. "Luna be damned I hate this city." He muttered to himself. He had no weapons, he had raiders coming down the hallway, and he had no one to back him up...Well almost no one. He hummed for a moment before standing up. He looked around the room for something that might have been off, something that was not there before he came in. "Alright you...Since you helped me, I can only assume that the raiders are after you too." He said in a hushed tone, glancing out into the hallway. "And I can only assume...That that other pony I left out there is going to say something...If they're still conscious that is. They probably are. What say we help each other out in this tight situation hmm?" He said to the Blaze who he knew was in the room. He then went over to the downed pony and searched him for any weapons he could use.

Blaze retracts its pseudopods from around the now unconscious bandit. It coalesces into its standard form, a minty green unicorn with featureless cyan eyes. It nods. "Agreed. We should set out immediately. If you are in need of a weapon, I have several runes based rifles I could provide you with." One of the rifles protrudes from Blaze's head, back end first. "Feel free."

"Oh no you don't you little shits!" Bellowed a voice from the doorway. It was the earth pony Star had struck first back in the entry room. The stallion had a large metal pipe resting in the grasp of one hoof and a 'ready-to-kill' glare in his eyes settled right on Star. "Just die!" he yelled while springing forward and attempting to bring the piece down on Star's back.

"Indeed. Arc may have told me to clear this pl-." Star was cut off by the earth pony he had punched earlier. He looked over at the earth pony for a moment, shook and fear flooding through him. "Luna fuck me with a stick!" He shouted, sprinting as fast as he could away from the pony and towards Blaze. He grabbed the rifle in one forehoof, not even questioning it one bit right now. He then jumped into the air and turned around as his wings spread out to keep him hovering. His other forehoof went up to steady the rifle a little as he quickly aimed and fired at the pony.

Once Star had grabbed the rifle, Blaze would slither rapidly towards the pony, multiple tendrils seeking to wrap around him and restrain him so that Star could get a better shot. The tendrils were aimed at his hind legs, since Blaze judged that Star would aim for the center target when trying to hit a moving target such as the earth pony.

The pony's swipe would miss, and with Blaze holding him in place and Star taking a shot a moment later, he was quickly dispersed. The raider's form going slack and limp in Blaze's hold. Meaning that for the moment, Star and Blaze would have peace. But it would be short lived as now the calls of other raiders could be heard quickly approaching the room they occupied.

Star grunted slightly as he felt a pain in his back. He made sure the pony he had shot was limp before landing and flapping his wings slightly. "Damn it...That explosion hurt me slightly more then I thought..." His ears perked up at the calls of the raiders, frowning. He sat down on the ground and sighed. "We're gonna have to deal with them. They're too close to run from and I'm pretty sure the skywalk was destroyed with that explosion. Unless you have another plan, I'm open to ideas." He said to Blaze as he lifted the rifle and aimed it at the door, ready to shoot anything that popped it's head around the corner.

Blaze nods. "I do. Please, stay close to me. I will teleport us to a safer location."
Blaze's horn glows, as a magic circle forms around it. The circle is large enough to contain the two of them plus the weapons Blaze had recovered. When it was infiltrating the compound, it had come across a walkway. Teleporting straight to the surface could be too mana intensive, but the walkway would be far enough form the raiders without straining its reserves.
Once Star walks onto the circle, Blaze's horn would flash, teleporting the two of them to the walkway.
((The one the scientist was left at, I believe.))

With a flash of light, both Blaze and Star would be able to see the approaching raiders just round the corner before it became too bright to see. Then in the next moment, there'd be a brief falling sensation as the teleport had placed them just a little above the walkway, but a fall from just a couple feet wouldn't be too bad, right?

Either way, across the gap and back at the entrance to the raider's compound, a considerable amount of movement could be seen as the raiders apparently still weren't finished. As they collected up near the now damaged edge of the walkway, they must have managed to keep some rune guns either on their being, or had them someplace else, because there were a number of magical blasts of varying elements and natures that exceeded the number of mages that Blaze had previously witnessed.

Another thing of note would be that the scientist that had shown this lab to Star was no where to be seen and it was rather hard to tell if he'd fallen when the large chunk of the skywalk collapsed, or simply just ran away.