Is it safe to assume that this base has been secured? Or will it need to be defended as we leave?

The Warbosses bullets strike true, the sound of the impressive firearms bellowing throughout the large chamber, echoing off the walls and creating what could only be considered a glorious "song" to the Warchief as his target is blasted full of gaping holes before being impaled by Gulgrims physical arms.  At the same time Kitharsis' swords clanging loudly against the incoming greatswords, the sound though covered up by the veritable cacophony of Gulgrims onslaught.  The third sword surges forward just as the figure loses his footing in the swirling sand beneath him, the weapon punching through his chest.  A spurt of dark shimmering ebony blow sprays out from behind him as the tip of the sword exits his body.  The greatswords of the figure attacking Phaerys swing downwards but the super-heated shards spray over his helmet, the heat transfering to the metal helm and while not doing an overly significant amount of damage, clearly succeeds in the intent as his weapons miss their mark and cleave down into the stone floor, leaving large gouges in the architecture.  The figure has little time to regain his bearing as beams of plasma slam into his legs.  The dark ebony metal of his armor begins to glow, almost turning into an orange-reddish hue as his head rolls back and a howl of pain echoes from within his helm.

It is roughly at this moment that Soul Reaver manages to briefly overpower his opponent and unleash the Spear of the Apocalypse.  The glowing spear whistles through the air, smashing into the pulsating crystal and light floods the area, blinding all present.  A few seconds later the light fades to reveal the crystal still standing but a significant chunk missing from the structure.  Then cracks begin to spread from the gouge and spread over the ebony crystal before it explodes, a wave of darkness now washing through the area.  As the wave hits each of the figures (or what is left of them) they seem to melt away, being sucked back towards the point of the explosion.  While each of the Companions can feel the Darkness wash over them it doesnt seem as if it impacts them much.  The same can not quite be said for Jharm or Veldanya. 

The Seraphim groans in pain as the wave washes over him, the usual glow of Light from within him fading away briefly.  Grunting he slams a hand down into the stone as pain washes over him.  On the other hand the opposite effect seems to happen with Veldanya.  As the wave washes over her, her figure seems to almost shimmer slightly, a faint outline of ebony darkness glowing around her before seeming to almost fade into her.  As the explosion of Darkness fades away it becomes clear that the crystal is gone, only the very base of hte structure remaining.  Floating above the destroyed base is the Shaiton warrior.  Raspy breaths of exertion slip out of his helm as drips of oily black fluid leak from gouges in his armor.

"Ahh...w....well done I must say.  It has been quite some time since I have witnessed such power and ferocity."

An ebony portal appears behind him as a large shadowy hand springs from within it and seizes the Shaiton and yanks him back in.  A deep voice seems to boom out from all around, piercing into each of the Companions minds, all can easily sense significant power as the voice invades their minds.

"Yes....well done "Companions".  You have managed to destroy a crystal, though this matters little in the end.  You can not hope to defeat the only true and proper answer, but please...keep trying.  She awaits you at the next one."

Then with that the voice vanishes and the room is left almost eeriely quiet in comparison to how it was a few moments ago.  Taking a few deep breaths Jharm gets back to his feet, looking around.  His glowing eyes settle on Veldanya as the ebony glow fades away.  Confusion flashes across his face before he refocuses. 

"Well done my friends, with this crystal destroyed my people can now more easily advance closer on our target."

His eyes close briefly before reopening and looking over each of the Companions. 

"The others will tend to what needs done here.  Our goal is to, in essence, repeat the process at the next fortress and crystal.  That said I doubt it will be as simple.  The fact that the Darkness stated "she" leaves little doubt to who we will face next.  The one we faced just now was Dervagon, the General of the Shaiton forces.  Our next opponent will undoubtedly be Nethalika, the Ebony Mistress.  As Nethanya is the leader of the priests of Light, Nethalika leads the priests of Darkness."

He turns back towards the door they entered through, once more glancing over at Veldanya for a moment before heading out of the room.

"Come, we have little time to waste.  Every moment we tary is another moment that He has to draw closer to fully returning.  Vee, call in the Aisgeim and let us be on our way."

--------------------------------------------------------------Vee's PoV------------------------------------------------------------
As the wave of Darkness washes over her she tenses, unsure of what to expect given that it clearly hurt Jharm but seemed to do little to the other Companions.  Instead, she feels not discomfort or pain but...a slight surge of power as if....she is taking the Darkness into her?  She looks over and sees the Seraphim gaze at her, a flicker of confusion on his face before he begins speaking.  Ignoring what he is saying she focuses inwards, scanning.

What is going on?  Why are you not answering?  None of this makes any sense.  Answer me damn it!

A single word flits through her mind.

Soon...

She scowl slightly as she returns to listening to what Jharm was saying.

"Come, we have little time to waste.  Every moment we tary is another moment that He has to draw closer to fully returning.  Vee, call in the Aisgeim and let us be on our way."

She nods, focusing inwards as she moves to follow the Seraphim outside and to the waiting Aisgeim.  As the group make their way outside they see the vessel waiting, entry ramp open, engines idling as she sits ready to take off the moment all are aboard.

As discussed in http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=642 (as option (B)), our current battle host has a lot of real-world pressures on and could benefit from a temporary relaxation of the (now slightly modified) Inactive Battle Rules (see http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=501).

As per these changes, Veldanya can post as little as they like for a set 'hiatus period'.

I will still remind them to post if their normal posting deadline (as per the Inactive Battle Rules) is coming up, but neither I nor anyone else will take any steps to move the story forward on their behalf if they do not post within the usual allowed timeframe.

We already agreed in http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=642 that we would give Veldanya such as hiatus period.
They have requested a period of up to 2 months.
This poll is to determine if we have majority agreement for this 2 month time period.  Everyone please vote.

If Veldanya later requires an extension to this period, it will be put up for another vote.

When in doubt, bring more swords than your opponent.

When experiencing an unfortunate shortage of swords, improvise.

Likewise, I hadn't misunderstood what you intended with stepping in to write the god-mod posts instead of Veldanya. I get why the rule was put there - got to keep the action flowing and all - but like Shadow said, I'd have thought sending a reminder (maybe a week's notice, for example) would have been the go-to option. And if the person in question is still unable to get a post in or are willing to hand it off, then go for the god-modding.

For the Battle Host's extra timeframe, I think a week or two is reasonable. Gives them some leeway without it being too long. Also, I realise I may be echoing Shadow a fair bit with this. Interesting to see how similarly we think, though.

All in all, I'm happy with the proposed changes, and I look forward to seeing how things pan out from here.