[centre][H2] The Sewers [/h2] [h1]Under Boston[/h1] [sub]21st January, 2011[/sub][/centre] “Oh, you’re new here?” Vegas asked, gasping for breath. “Well, you survived. That’s more than some manage around here. Congratulations!” Backdoor - the parahuman jester - chuckled frantically. “Your prize is more of the same.” The woman half-laughed, half-scoffed. “Yea, it’s basically like this all over, now. Bloody city is a warzone.” “Speaking of,” Gubbins butted in, “shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Vegas shrugged. “Fair point. You two should come with us. We’ll drop you off somewhere after we flee the Protectorate’s assassin.” The gang of renegades bounded through the underground tunnels like they’d been there before, moving to the nearest exit and heading topside. There, parked and waiting for them, was a silver van. Nothing special, and nothing that would stand out. As they approached, the door opened from the inside, revealing two figures. The first was a man - dressed quite formally, and looking professional. A girl sat on one of the couches lining the back of the van, buried underneath a hoodie and frantically battering a keyboard. Only the man spoke. “Hop in. We’re looping round for Sickle.” Gubbins smirked. “He’s still kickin’ then.” “For now.” The hooded girl spoke. “But we have less than a minute before Vector arrives.” [@knifeman] [hr] [centre][h2]Gladius Border Territory[/h2] [h1]Dorchester[/h1] [sub]21st January, 2011[/sub][/centre] From the highest rooftop surrounding the chaos below, a blue haze rippled through the air. Each inch it passed over revealed another piece of metal. Strangely, the light didn’t cause it to glint like it should have. A few seconds later, standing silhouetted against the rising dawn sun, was Vector. Bow in hand, her other one was touching her ear. Over Knight’s communicator, several harsh crackles rang out, followed by another set a few seconds later. Only after the third time did they finally begin to form words. “Knight! Respond, goddamn it! I’ve been trying to raise you for the last two minutes. What the fuck is the situation?” She asked, but a quick battlefield scan revealed that her target had fled the scene. Cursing under her breath, she accessed the satellite feeds via her optics. Providing her with a bird’s-eye view of the whole of Boston, she zoomed in on her current location. Then she widened the search area, and switched to thermals. Then she activated the x-ray function. And then she ran all current matches through the PRT database. And found a match. He’d made it to transport, and was hoofing it in a straight a line as possible. He knew she was coming. [@PlatinumSkink][@Banana] [hr] Sickle ran like hell through the shop. The blood wall would definitely buy him time - it would probably put them off following him altogether - but he still had to move. Even if the heroes backed off, Vector would not. The back of the shop was completely wall, and he didn't feel like trying to chisel through. Instead, he headed to the second floor and dived out the window. Using his power, he slowed his fall and took off at full pelt down the street. People watched him from the windows - he wasn’t exactly subtle, dressed as he was. A street or so away, he found a van. Inside was the entire Covenant - plus two extras, but he didn’t have time to argue. “Donovan! Floor it!” he barked at the driver. The man nodded sharply. “Buckle up, boyos. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride.” [hr] She smirked. He was still in range. Although, only just. He’d made surprisingly good progress with his escape attempt. His current speed and position meant she’d get a single shot. She was confident that was all she’d need. Her targeting software took all the known factors into account. From this range, she probably could hit the van. Assuming she did, even with Sickle and Vegas’s shielding potential, it would probably blow the vehicle to smithereens. [i]Probably[/i]. She didn’t like leaving anything to chance, so she changed tact. Instead of aiming for the van, in front of where the car would be by the time the arrow caught up. The blast would shatter the concrete, sending a torrent of stone chunks into the van, through the windscreen and any occupants. On her viser HUD, a large green reticule appeared. It grew smaller and smaller the more calculations it took into account. The speed of the car, the direction of travel, windspeed, potential traffic concerns, removal of potential collateral damage. Hundreds of calculations all dealt with in the blink of an eyes, leaving a pinprick green dot exactly where she had to aim. Raising her bow to the sky, she pulled the string. As it moved, a swell of energy formed between the string and the bow, swirling around a central core. The blue energy grew brighter and brighter, constantly swirling, until the string was pulled taut. Then it settled into a single, arrow-shaped mass of brilliant energy. Aiming at the dot, it flared brilliant green. “Death from above,” she said, smirking. “[i]Motherfuckers[/i].” Releasing the string loosed the arrow with complete silence. It soared over the battlefield like a shooting star, up and up into the sky, vanishing over the rooftops. [hr] The hooded girl in the van began panicking. “We’ve got a pretty big problem!” Turning the screen round, it was a garbled map of the city covered with all sorts of complex information. Including a tracker for an inbound energy-based projectile weapon aiming right at the van. Sickle sighed. Today was proving to be one of those days. Donovan looked over his shoulder. “We need to speed up and outrun it.” “No,” Sickle replied. “That’s what she’ll expect us to do. You need to slow down.” “[i]What?[/i]” Donovan asked, incredulously. “We slow down, we’ll give her another chance to fire!” The masked man growled. “Slow down, Donovan!” Rubbing his face in almost disbelief, the driver said nothing. But complied. The entire back of the van suddenly shifted, taking a lot of effort to stay upright. After two seconds or so, Sickle shouted back. “Good, now floor it again.” Donovan didn’t bother arguing. “What are you planning?” Vegas asked almost reluctantly. “I’ve gambled. That arrow is going to either sail over us and blow up the road. If it does, we survive. If she’s aiming for us, though,” he chuckled. “Then I’ve just killed us all.” “Vegas. When the arrow hits ahead of us, I want you to use your power to create a bridge of light over the hole. Don’t be put off by the fancy wording. It’s basically just a shield [i]over[/i] the opening.” He turned to the two newcomers. “One of you is a telekinetic, right? Good. When the debris comes flying at us, I need you to stop it shredding us. After that, you either come with us, or we drop you off somewhere. Your choice.” Seconds after he spoke those last words, a bright flash lit up the street ahead. Vegas lept forward and extended her power over the gaping hole in the road, giving them a surface to drive on. Large bowling-ball-sized chunks of concrete scattered in all directions - several heading right for them. [@knifeman]