Even though Desolace was about the least comforting place Aurora had ever seen, she decided to keep her doubts of the safety of this mission to herself. Aaron seemed confident as he strode ahead of the group, and so Aurora resolved to show a united front with her fellow council member. She walked a little faster to catch up to him.
"Whats the likelihood of this being nice and easy?" She said to Aaron with a smile on her face, and yet she knew that was never going to be the case. She thought back to her first mission as a graduate back on Lux Donum and revelled in how far she had come, she hoped it was enough.

As they entered the city clouds above the group were rippling into a dark spiral casting menacing shadows across the formally splendid buildings. There was an overwhelming sense that this place might not be as abandoned as it first appeared, Aurora reached for an arrow, Amanir itself was telling her that this place was bad news. Then she outreached her arm as if gesturing for Aaron to stop walking, she hoped he would take her advice.

"Any second now." She whispered back to the group and sure as hell an eruption of dark magic came hurtling towards them from a building to the left. Aurora managed to shield many of the recruits with her magic, then she looked to Aaron.

"It's never easy, but we've been to worse places." He smiled back at Aurora, also thinking back to Lux Donum. They had both come a long way and gained both the tools and knowledge they needed to achieve their goals. Now they only had to show the galaxy what the Valor Santori could do. Convince everyone that they were a safe haven for innocence and good. Like Aaron said however, it would not be easy.

The whole group stopped at Aurora's gesture, prompting Aaron to raise Mjolnir at the ready. Dark magic took him by surprise, but thankfully it fell short at Aurora's shield. With a thankful nod at his ally he then turned towards the enemy.
"Try not to hit me." He smirked aside to Aurora, before leaping forward with the aide of magic to carry him into the second floor of the nearest building. Within he found a group of fallen angels waiting, one of which he immediately swung at with his hammer. The impact sent it flying through the wall he had come from, shattering it so that the Santori down below could now fire upon the group of Fallen.

Aurora beckoned a small group of recruits to follow her, covering them with her shield as she took Amanir from her back and began to shoot. Her arrows; calculated and precise, flew with the same precision she had possessed whilst shooting her guns. Aurora and the bow moved with such fluidity it was as if the pair were one entity. The arrows penetrated several of the Fallen directly in their hearts and the once beautiful creatures fell lifeless to the floor.

Using a nearby building as cover Aurora addressed the group, encouraging them to stay close and cover one another. They were good magic users, some of them even with abilities that rivalled hers and Aaron's, yet many of them had never seen true danger. Peering from her vantage point she could see the flashes of light from Mjolnir in the glassless windows of the building opposite. From the left she saw perhaps ten or eleven of the Fallen descending on the building where Aaron fought, she knew he would soon be overwhelmed, hammer or no hammer. Turning to the group she announced,
"Stay together, stay vigilant, good luck." And without hesitation she ran straight into the centre of the street, an aura of bright white light emitting from her, the bow shooting glowing arrows infused with her magic that pierced the enemies sharply and efficiently. She raced towards the building with no thought for her safety, she couldn't let her closest friend perish in this place, not on their first mission after all they had created together. As she reached the staircase of the building an adversary appeared with wings outstretched, torn and black but infused with dark anger. Aurora ducked as the former Angel made a vicious sweep for her with his wing. As she slid across the floor she used the pointed edge of an arrow to slice through his leg,  the pain only increasing his anger. His dark magic rippled through the air towards Aurora and she raised her arms to meet his dark force with every semblance of magic she could muster. One last arrow and she had fired it without thinking as though Amanir had taken control of her body for a second, the arrow perforated her opponent straight in the left eye.

Good riddance.

Glancing around the derelict building to get her bearings Aurora observed the entire city had now erupted into chaos as though it had awaken from a long, dark slumber.

Where on earth was Aaron?

On she went.

Just as Aaron had sent the Fallen being through the wall, one of them forced him out of the building from behind. He went crashing through two layers of stone before ending up in the neighboring house. Stepping through the hole came the cause, a Fallen Angel built larger than the others and wielding a greataxe in one hand. It showed no emotion walking towards Aaron, going to raise its axe for an executing swing. In reaction Aaron reached out to Mjolnir, calling it to his hand and swinging upwards to knock the greataxe off course.

The Fallen grunted with annoyance, now sent off balance for the moment. In this time Aaron sent a kick to its chest, displacing it once more for a swing of his hammer to the head. The beast hit the opposite wall, but quickly recovered to face Aaron again.
"Well, you're a tough one." Aaron quipped, before lunging forward to swing his hammer down again. This time their weapons locked together, initiating a contest of pure strength. The Fallen loomed over him as it pressed down upon him, yet he did not give up. They remained locked in this state for some time, enough for Aaron to hear someone fighting their way upstairs in the previous building...

As she reached the top of the stairs, cautious of the collapsing floor and temperamental structure of the dilapidated building, Aurora scanned the surrounding area to find Aaron and the rest of the cadets. She sensed the life force of the cadets, now in a building down the road, but they were all alive. She took a moment to concentrate and try and locate Aaron, but before she could sense anything the sight of huge, torn angel wings came into view. 

There he is. 

She jumped from the window of the building, her force field breaking the fall, and ran straight towards where the angel and Aaron Almis were engaged in a battle. She retrieved an arrow and drew back Amanir, her ally staying true to its promise as the arrow pierced through the angel's left wing. For a second it broke concentration from Aaron and winced, now its steely gaze was fixed on Aurora.

Just as Aaron was about to lose the battle of strength, an arrow pierced the Fallen's wing, drawing it's attention away and allowing Mjolnir to break free from the lock. With the brute now turned aside, Aaron brought the hammer down against the back of it's leg. The sheer force against it brought it down onto on knee, grunting with pain as it struggled to recover quickly. There was no time for Aaron to finish it off though, as several more Angels swooped into the room by one of its collapsed walls. 

Hoping Aurora would deliver a final arrow to their initial enemy, Aaron threw out Mjolnir towards the incoming group, knocking the middle one out of the building and crushing it's chest against a far wall. The other two lunged forward faster than the hammer could recall. Without it Aaron instead conjured a blast of arcane energy upwards, causing a short rain of bricks to come crashing down between them and their target. This moment of confusion allowed Mjolnir time to return to Aaron's grasp, allowing him to charge forward towards the left-hand opponent.

As the winged creature hurled itself towards her, Aurora released a single, energy charged arrow that went plummeting into its heart. The Fallen had an expression of shock and sadness as it fell to the ground, the bright white light of Aurora's magic surging through its body until it exploded into fragments and floated away on the wind. Aurora's attention was immediately drawn to another former Angel, its contorted face was snarling at her as it raised its wing and beat her to the floor. Amanir went flying to the other side of the room, hitting the wall with a clash that almost sounded as though the bow itself was in pain. 

The Fallen loomed over Aurora, its hands outreached as Aurora felt her essence being drawn from her body and into the claws of this creature. She could feel herself growing weaker, as the creature's dark powers surged throughout her body and filling her mind with dark thoughts and agony. She desperately reached her left arm out to her side, reaching for a loose arrow that had fallen to the floor. The object was just out of the grasp of her weakening hand. With her last shred of strength she rolled her body to the left, kicking upwards and grabbing the arrow. in one movement she stabbed forwards, the arrow entering the side of the Fallen creature's neck and causing a black inky substance to ooze from the wound. 

Still weak and unable to stand, Aurora attempted to crawl towards Amanir as it called for her, the Fallen she had just struck was not yet dead, as she felt its talon claw grasp her ankle.

Whilst Aaron's new opponent was not as strong as the brute, it was fast enough to evade plenty of his swings. It ducked and weaved around Mjolnir, delivering cruel slashes with its black claws. Aaron stumbled back, examining the claw marks on himself and re-evaluating the situation. 
"Aurora, brace!"

The Fallen charged for him, but instead of retaliating or dodging, Aaron brought his hammer down on the ground with great force. The entire floor shattered outwards, bringing everyone and everything in the room down to the ground level of the building. Aaron was prepared, as he hoped Aurora would be, and delivered a final blow to the Fallen now trapped beneath rubble. Once it was dealt with he turned back to see whether Aurora had handled her opponent, moving across the rubble-filled room to find her. Bars of metal supports blocked most of the way, meaning he had to conjure magic to move them aside. 

Finally there was a big enough clearing for him to see Aurora on the other side.
"You alright?"

She was glad Aaron had shouted for her to brace as the shock of Mjolnir surged through the ground and nearly sent her hurtling across the floor. Aurora formed a barrier around herself, absorbing most of Mjolnir's power and reverberating it back towards the Fallen that grasped at her ankle, the thing bursting into fragments. 

Aaron cleared the rubble between them and she climbed over to join him, Amanir now successfully back in her possession. "I'm okay thanks. We should go and find the others, they're only new to this so I don't want anyone getting killed on the first mission, not great advertising for the order." 

Aurora took a moment to sense where the cadets had made it to, it was a large building not far from the main palace. "I know where they are, at least they took my advice and kept covered." Then she set off down the road hoping Aaron would follow her.

Glad that Aurora was safe, Aaron gave a nod and a smile before following her down the road. Up ahead they could see the palace in the distance, as the city was constructed so that several main roads led straight up to it. The rising spire looked nothing like it did in the picture Aaron had seen from before the Crusade, with chunks of it missing their outer layer leaving a skeletal structure of its former glory. It filled Aaron with some sadness to see such a distraught world, but he quickly perked up remembering they were here to save it.

"There." He gestured forwards to a building being swarmed by Fallen, no doubt for the cadets that lay inside. Aaron steeled himself and then raised Mjolnir to the sky, calling down a bolt of lightning which he then shot forward at the group of Angels. His electricity split outwards in branches that each struck a different target, frying the skin and bones of the rear wave of enemies. With them dealt with he nod to Aurora, before charging forward with Mjolnir at the ready.

"Get back," Aaron called to Aurora, moving up to the door whilst slamming a Fallen aside on the way. Once there he prepared his hammer, bring it swiftly against the door's bars. In this one strike the door shattered apart, sending splinters of wood everywhere. However just before these splinters could hit who they wanted, Aaron turned his spare hand and grasped them with magic, turning them to fire outwards at the Fallen.

Combined with Aurora's arrows, the coast soon became clear for the cadets to come out.
"It won't be long before more come," He sighed, brushing some of the smaller pieces of wood off his armour. "We need to move to the palace now." His head gestured up the long road, before he broke into a sprint down the road. Fallen began filing in to block their path, but as a large group they would be able to fight their way to the palace without trouble...

The group moved as fast as they could up the road and towards the palace. The more experienced magic users covered the group at the back whilst Aaron led the charge forwards through the crowds of Fallen. The winged creatures seemed to be all diving on the group at once, Aurora was sure that they had coaxed them all out of hiding. That was what they needed, they needed these creatures out of their holes and into the open where they could finally purify the planet once again and restore it back to its glory. 

They neared the palace doors to of course find them barred, Aurora wondered if even Mjolnir would be able to rupture the lock. Fallen had surrounded the group now, Aurora let out arrows as she moved between the recruits, Fallen fell but were getting all too close to the group. "Aaron, got any ideas?"

Aaron already knew from his studies that not even Mjolnir would break through the palace's main doors. This was a complicated process he would have to endure instead, requiring concentration; something hard to find amidst the battle. Taking a deep breath, he quickly looked back to answer Aurora.
"Keep me covered, it should only take a minute." He shouted amidst the fighting, before turning back to the door. His hands spread apart from each other, palms inward. 

Holy magic wasn't Aaron's specialty, but his research allowed him to attempt this spell. An unwarding spell to be exact, one he had managed to parse from old texts related to Heaven and the Angels. Slowly but clearly he began chanting in their language, causing yellow light to grow outwards from his hands. The door reacted to this, parts of its golden design beginning to shift and move.

All Aurora and the cadets had to do was keep him safe.

Aurora raised her hands, creating a barrier to shield Aaron as he unlocked the door. The Fallen had multiplied around them, the fury of their magic flying towards the group of Valor with increased strength. Aurora's shield began to take hits and holes began to tear through it letting blasts of dark magic shatter into the ground around them. 
"Aaron I can't hold them for much longer!" She shouted with desperation in her voice. The recruits looked at her with trepidation and she tried to compose herself, she was the person these people looked up to, she needed to present a front of bravery even if she was starting to worry they would not make it out of Heaven alive.

With her shield still raised she began to reach for her arrows, she aimed Amanir and took shots at the enemy, her arrows glowing with her magic as they caused the Fallen to combust mid-air.

Moments passed along with Aaron's co-ordinate hand movements and Angelic chanting. Mechanisms began to move in the door, with its inscriptions glowing a bright gold. The large doors suddenly moved to open, revealing a lavish palace within. At the circular center of the large hall was a large nexus crystal, covered in darkness and shadow and surrounded by black figures. These creatures turned to the opening doors, threatened by the mere presence of the Santori in this core.

"The corruption must be cleared from the city's core." Aaron called out, picking up Mjolnir and delivering a powerful uppercut with it in one motion, sending a Fallen flying far back into one of the walls. "Destroy the shadows," He pointed out the black figures that now moved towards them, each armed with claws or swords but all manifested from dark magic. 

"Aurora," Aaron turned to her. "I'm going to have to get high above the palace and call down a storm to power the core. I need you to cover me from the Fallen." He explained, before moving out to the entrance and holding a hand out to Aurora. From there he would spin his hammer, lifting them both into flight and allowing him to drop Aurora off on the roof of the palace. 

Already countless Fallen were beginning to take flight with their blackened wings, swarming upwards to stop whatever they were both doing. Aaron gave a nod to Aurora, before launching himself up in the air; causing the Fallen to follow him.

With Amanir in hand Aurora began to shoot at the Fallen who pursued Aaron, taking them down one by one as they cascaded to the ground. She shot with such rapid aim that the creatures had not even had chance to reach Aaron as he prepared to summon the lightning necessary to regenerate the planet's core and restore Heaven to its former glory. She could hear the blasts of the recruits bellow, they seemed to have made good progress in clearing the doorway, their voices and magic faded as they disappeared into the palace. 

As Aurora sensed Aaron may have generated enough lightning to strike the planet's core she decided it was best to get out of the way. Magic in hand she launched herself from the roof and managed to fall with some grace to the ground just in time to shoot a Fallen angel that ran for the recruits.