[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231110/8d749d906d93af45726a04f7ecf5f219.png[/img][/center][hr]Jannick smiled gratefully at Hollyhock, relieved and surprised in equal measure that she released him for a smoke. He was well aware of her opinion on his habit - the first few cigarettes dunked in water glasses had gotten her point across quite clearly enough for his taste - so the party must have gotten her in quite the pleasant mood not even to make a snarky comment about how she could already hear the tumours growing. 

Which, she probably wasn’t [i]wrong[/i], but… 

He barely managed one step toward the balcony before a suspicious flicker in the lights stopped him in his tracks. Veradis, even in the poorer areas where Jannick grew up, never had trouble with the power grid, especially not on a calm night like this one, and [i]especially[/i] not at the homes of the rich and powerful. Jannick squinted apprehensively at the light fixtures, hand wandering to his holster of its own accord when the room went dark completely. 

Suddenly, glass crashed; Jannick ducked instinctively, and his gun was already in his hands when he whirled around at Hollyhock’s scream. A light went up somewhere in the ballroom, but it was almost worse than the darkness; it wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the entire room, and the long, kaleidoscopic shadows it cast of panicked civilians scrambling this way and that did more to confuse Jannick’s view of the situation than enhance it. 

Gunfire filled the air, and Jannick’s instincts kicked into overdrive. He pawed for his radio to call in the threat, and when he realized he didn’t have one, found the next best thing; his armour crystal, slamming it into his chest. The situation was a policing nightmare: panicked civilians everywhere, gunmen coming out of the woodwork, and no way to call in backup - not that he had any to call in. And not that that mattered; his job was to end the threat or die trying, backup or none. 

Before Jannick could tell Holly to get to the exit as quickly as possible, Sara chimed in with potentially the worst idea he’d ever heard. And what was worse, Holly immediately followed her instructions, which would have been excellent if her instructions made any sense. 

[color=9A906B]“Wait, Holly--”[/color] Jannick reached out to stop her, but it was too late: she was already gone. Why on the Mother’s green earth would Sara want to collect the Scions [i]inside[/i] the building?! The active shooter gospel for civilians was Run, Hide, Fight; Holly was very adept at the first one, but Sara seemed to want to skip straight to what was [i]supposed[/i] to be a last resort. 

[color=9A906B][i]“Fuck!”[/i][/color] Jannick searched around in the chaos, gun already in his hands; he didn’t remember taking it out. More gunfire popped around him, suppressed, from several different directions, and suddenly, a woman collapsed in front of him, revealing a masked figure with a rifle. 

[color=9A906B]“DROP THE WEAPON!”[/color] Jannick commanded, his training kicking in. He raised his gun, but it was worse than useless; in the dark, with so many civilians so close by, he couldn’t risk shooting. But the gunman didn’t care; he shot before the words had even left Jannick’s mouth, a burst of three shots peppering his shoulder ineffectively. The Templar armour was a lot more effective than kevlar, he’d give it that. Growling with in frustration, Jannick rushed the gunman, evidently inciting enough panic to make him hesitate and giving Jannick the chance to gain muzzle control on the rifle and pistol whip him with his Glock.

To Jannick’s considerable surprise, the gunman didn’t go down immediately; instead, he surrendered the rifle to disengage, stumbling back and producing a blade. Jannick only had a second to lament his lack of a melee weapon before the two of them had to duck to avoid falling debris; splintered wood and upholstery rained down on them from the sky, and a mostly-intact wooden chair leg fell at Jannick’s feet, as if sent by Incepta Herself. 

That would work. 

Hastily holstering his gun, the chair leg made for an effective club when the attacker ran at Jannick again, notably less coordinated this time; Jannick caught his blade in one armoured hand with ease and hit him repeatedly over the head with his improvised weapon, ceasing only when he was certain the masked thug wouldn’t stir again. 

Jannick spared one pitiful glance at the injured woman before moving on; in these situations, there was no time to aid the wounded. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered that he needed to find Holly, but dispatching the gunmen felt more important; almost a decade of police training was rooted far deeper than his scant year of Templar training, after all. But he wasn’t given any time to debate the two; two more red masks emerged from the crowd, charging at Jannick together. 

Jannick got one of them with the chair leg; he stumbled, confused enough to relent for a moment as the other drew a shortsword. Jannick blocked the blade just in time, the metal biting deep into the wood of his improvised club, and he took advantage of the swordsman’s distraction to kick one of his feet out from under him, throwing them both to the floor. 

Jannick quickly wrestled himself on top of the masked man, the attacker’s lack of training evident as he writhed and swung his blade erratically, Jannick just out of reach on his back. When he could get a hand free, Jannick produced his gun once more and buried it between the swordsman’s shoulder blades, shooting straight down until he stopped moving. 

Relieving the swordsman of his blade, Jannick stood to find the one he’d bashed with his club on his feet once more. This time, Jannick went on the offensive, burying his new sword into the second man’s abdomen before he had the chance to collect himself for an attack. 

[color=9A906B]“What the fuck are you people after [i]me[/i] for?”[/color] Jannick hissed as he let the body fall. He’d have time to be confused about the attacker’s targeting later; for now, he tried to orient himself, diving into the crowd in the direction he saw Hollyhock depart in. [color=9A906B][I]“HOLLY!”[/I][/color]  
[hr][@OwO] mentioning [@Stern Algorithm]