[IC] Final Fantasy VIII: Tempus Veneficarum [7/10 Slots]

[Zarkun]

And then Jericho felt it, a surge of bodies pushing against the guards behind him, who were already shouting at the crowds to calm down. "Calm down, citizen, there's now reason to be so angry!" Jericho turned around and watched the scene unfold, hefting his rifle a little like the other guards. I know this is part of the mission, but I don't feel right shooting innocents like this... Jericho liked being a SeeD, doing what he did, but he liked it because he got to kill the RIGHT people and in this case...he shook his head and focused back in as a man in a blue jacket socked a guard in the face and was immediately gunned down by two others. Show time. Forgive me whatever gods there are... Raising his rifle with the other guards, he let one of them warn the crowd to disperse or they'd be forced to fire. The response was numerous glass bottles and other such things thrown at them.

"Alright then, you had your chance. Men, open fire!" The fully automatic rifles began to spit out hot lead and the crowds only grew more restless. Jericho, with the other guards in front of him, began to inch towards Deling and the float, making it a difficult move to notice, though the other assualt team members were doing the same. He just hoped that Duncan's father could get his 'order' out so the assault teams could do their job.

[MarshiestMallow]

Heloise blended into the crowd perfectly, giving a child a smile, she was a little ticked off that the pre-teen was near her height, and she was older. Still, for this it was beneficial to her. And the plan. She stayed in the middle of the crowd, keeping her eyes out for any of the team, more so looking for Hector or Selena. She really didn't want to find Jericho or Duncan.

She wasn't too sure what she had to do right now, aside from not getting caught. She let herself be moved along by the crowd, following their lead in what they were doing, waiting for a sign or signal about what was going to happen, figuring that the riot would be a perfect time for her to escape.

The crowd was growing restless, so Heloise began to edge out the crowd, falling deliberately against someone, she cried out, and the man caught her, and she gave him a thank you, before scampering away like she was terrified. She glanced about again, staying hidden in the crowd.

I should have asked what I should have done after throwing the damned dagger she thought to herself, but as everything seemed to fall into place, Heloise managed to get out the crowd, feeling naked because she only had one more dagger on her-the back up dagger in case the dagger Xerox had given her hadn't landed. She looked back, hoping no one had noticed her stumble out the crowd, but sure she looked like a lost teenager and hadn't drawn any more attention to her then was necessary.

[Aerandir]

Hector sat up and crouched on the statue he was laying on as the assault started. Reaching under his hoodie behind his back he unbuttoned the leather harness to his gun blade, careful as he slid out the sharp blade he spun it around and on his lap as he pulled the grip and chamber from it's holster behind his back. He unlocked the chamber to see if it was loaded before flicking it back into place and starting to reattach the blade to the chamber, as he did it he looked around, it was easy for him to do it blindfolded so he would rather see if anyone was out of the ordinary as he did.

He noticed two people that were taking out many citizens out with their bare hands, far too well. 'Sel, Your three o'clock, two plants.' He said over the radio. He looked to her to see her touching her ear and looking at her two O'clock. He had given the name Plants for the PSA just incase they were being overheard.

"Roger" She replied and started to move towards them, pushing her way to them. She pulled her two tonfa's out from under her jacket and spun them into their ready position.

Hector locked his final pin in place before tearing off his hoodie, revealing his normal attire underneath. He jumped off the statue and made his way as well. As he was on his way he noticed Heliose and reached in his vest and pulled her two normal knifes out. Making a quick detour he snuck up behind her and stuck the knifes out just in front of her. "Looking for these?" He said with a smile and after she grabbed it he continued to the fight with the PSA Beserker's. As he got there Selena was already engaging the woman, mostly on the defensive to tire the other woman out.

The man was about to stomp on a pedestrian's face as he ran up and kicked him in the same knee that was raised, sending him spinning and reaching for something to grab. As he did he spun his gunblade once, to get in the grove as the man managed to get himself oriented again and locked his sites on him. The man had two metal batons in his hands now as he rushed to Hector. He took the same plan as Selena and went on the defensive, He didn't want to hurt the guy perhaps the spooks were really on their side.

More people who were insane at the moment started to surround them, now instead of one he would have to dodge two more. Selena was doing very well with the woman she was fighting and managed to knock her out fairly quickly, moving on to defending herself from some random citizen. trying her best not to hurt them.

Hector ducked weaved and blocked for a bit against the three, then finding an opening he twisted his blade and swung it like a bat in one of the citizens chest, knocking him back and cracking a few bones. It had to be done he didn't want to be overpowered by the three.

[Lennon79]

There was no sudden change on the crowd, no one moment that could be called the beginning of a riot, but nevertheless Kein could tell that it had started. People started jostling against one another, here and there someone screamed and slowly the atmosphere was turning ugly. On the other side of the road, voices began to call for order before someone finally broke the tension with a burst of gunfire. The other assault team, most likely. Within seconds chaos erupted all around the float, as those under the influence of magic or the drugs began attacking everyone in sight. Others joined in, swept up by the hysteria that gripped the area. But Kein didn't have time to look at the big picture; a pair of enraged women threw themselves at him and Syrus, leaving them seconds to batter the unfortunate civilians to the ground. 'Hold the line!', he yelled to the other soldiers, some on the verge of panic. 'Keep 'em away from the President!' More gunfire, followed by a flash of magic. Judging that it was time for the push on Deling, he grabbed Syrus and began to make his way back toward the float while feigning injury. Just up ahead stood Duncan's father, doing a pretty good job of organising the defenders in such a way as to give SeeD their chance.

From his position above the gatehouse, Duncan took potshots here and there, taking out officers to keep the soldiery disorganised; the for all its faults, the Galbadian Army was good at putting down civil unrest. Left unchecked, the small number of troops guarding the parade would crush the riot before the assault teams could do their job. He glanced down at his watch. Time for the next phase. 'Kingpin, give the order.' ... He sighed. If his father hadn't insisted on that damn callsign...

Down on the ground, Constantine Lerwick smirked imperceptibly as Duncan's communique came in. Issuing a flurry or orders, he sent all the real soldiers back out to push the rioters back, leaving him with only those from the assault teams that had pushed into the centre. 'You lot!', he called to them, staying in character for the cameras. 'Get the President out of here! Back up the road!' They hadn't discussed where to take Deling before finishing him, but the SeeDs could handle that part themselves. His task was now to escape without being torn apart by the mob...

---

'Team Seven hasn't reported in. Their implants report heightened blood pressure and erratic brain activity.'

'We expected to take some collateral. If they don't survive, detonate their implants.'

Deep below the streets of Deling City, nestled away in the sewer system lay the headquarters of the Presidential Security Agency. The main control room was a hundred feet across, its walls studded with monitors and telephone connections. All eyes were on the riot upstairs as the PSA tried to track each SeeD; not an easy task. Despite positive IDs on half of them, many of the mercs had given them the slip. No matter. We will find them. In the centre of the room was a luxurious chair, surrounded by monitors and holographic interfaces. A willowy woman sat with an air of boredom as she watched the action on-screen, every so often pointing out another SeeD with a lazy flick of a hand. Her every movement was watched with rapt attention by her subordinates, the smallest whim sending them scrambling off to do as she bid. One agent knelt beside the chair, gazing longingly upward. Her attention was rewarded by a gentle stroke across the brow and soothing, maternal reassurance.

'Not long now, my children. Not long.'

[Zarkun]

Rather than risk being discovered on the off chance some one knew his voice, Jericho saluted Duncan's father and moved quickly to Deling and taking his arm as the other assault team members arrived. "We have orders to move you away from the plaza sir, please come with us." Not waiting for a response, Jericho and the other members formed a box formation around him and started moving him up the streets, hoping that there was a clear enough path for them all to take to an alley way or something. Still, something felt off, so he turned on his comm and switched it to talk to Duncan. "Hey, everything coming all clear from up there? Something feels off."

[rivaan]

Ratchel continued to move through the crowds, turning huge number of people into berserks and letting the crowd’s insanity just pile up as the riots progressed. She had made sure to affect as much people as possible and in that number were also a number of Galbatian soldiers she specifically targeted in the areas with great berserks numbers already. The clash between people and soldiers was inevitable.

Now that her part of the mission was done, she quickly reached into her bag and pulled a pair of glasses and the blond wick she was usually wearing. Rachel while being incredible workaholic, she was also quite paranoid about the missions. As such she usually changed disguises a number of times per one. Using the fact in the crowds as a cover, she quickly put on her disguise and began moving towards the next point of her mission.

“What it is…” The girl whispered to herself as she moved through the crowds. She had the feeling something about this situation was not right.” Has anyone noticed something strange or unusual?” She asked on her comm. Her instincts were crying more than when she tried to get her GF and she almost died doing that.

[MarshiestMallow]

Heloise would have gladly kissed Hector then, for given her her daggers. She smiled gratefully, watching him go. Heloise felt more in control now, and she stalked through the crowd, She shrugged out of the clothes she had worn, revealing her usual clothes underneath, Heloise began to move once more. She found her way to an elevated position, and watched, confident now that she had her blades.

She scanned the area, her hair flowing behind her freely now, as the wind caught it. She listened to the communication over the radio, humming softly to herself. As pursed her lips as the communication came through, asking about anything strange or unusual. Heloise chose her words carefully, eyes scanning the area still like a bird of prey, looking for any danger.

"Yeah" She said softly, "We are being watched." She was sure of that now, not having been so before. She narrowed her eyes, as PSA soldiers tried to track SeeD members. "As soon as we can, we should pull back, before they can identify more of us" She spoke softly, keeping her voice low so as not to have it carried off with the wind. She spoke confidently, willingly almost.

This was what Heloise was made for. Sitting around, talking with people wasn't. She started to move again, not wanting to stay in one spot.

[Little_ninja]

With the riots starting, Xerox was caught in the crowd. Fists flying in all directions, people grabbing knives and bottles 'lying around'. To avoid suspicion, Xerox was landing a few blows, while taking a few. Dodging a few, getting hit, attacking back. He wasn't hitting anyone seriously, only with accuracy. Taking a couple more blows as he was on his way to the back, he pretended to collapse, letting people run by him.

Getting up as people got rowdier and tried to head closer to the center, Xerox got up, and got his glasses on. Switching modes, he scanned the area. Something wasn't right. It was hard to see, but in the crowd, he could see there were people with implants, catching a glimpse on occasion. Switching the mode once more, he found odd electromagnetic waves in the crowd, a completely different frequency to the one used for communication.

Getting away from all eyes in the crowd, and ducking away into a nearby abandoned building, the communications voiced concerns. Concerns of things being odd, of being watched. "Guys, there are a few guys in there with implants, and there's this strange electromagnetic signal in the area. It's possible that those guys are recording videos of this. Best to get rid of any evidence possible. Duncan, permission to use an EMP?" Xerox asked for permission, dropping a couple of EMPs into his lap from his ESS.

[Lennon79]

In hindsight, something had been amiss for some time. The regular PSA reports were becoming less and less reliable, as though Galbadia's secret police were losing their edge. Rumblings of dissatisfaction over the Army's handling of the Dollet situation had caused a few flare-ups in conquered territories, but nothing like this... As he stared out over the rioting masses spilling into the road before him, Lifelong President Vinzer Deling felt the first prickles of fear sneaking into his heart. The Army would put this revolt down swiftly, they always did. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel that this was... different somehow. Fortunately his men took control immediately, the ever loyal Field Marshal organising defences and, more importantly, detailing a team to extract Deling himself. He stepped down toward the onrushing soldiers with no small amount of gravitas. 'We have orders to move you away from the plaza sir, please come with us.', the first one said. Two others took up the rear, their rifles trained on the heaving masses. 'Yes, of course soldier.', the President replied briskly. 'I assume there are contingency plans for this kind of thing, yes?' The soldier didn't reply, which Deling took to be a tacit confirmation. He never had much bothered learning the military side of things, Lerwick and his cronies had always seen to that. He wondered briefly, as the soldiers moved him along, whether the situation could have been dealt with differently if he had backed Caraway's mob and their insistence on robot security forces. These damn rebels would have never dreamt of picking a fight with a dozen of those crab-like monstrosities... Maybe a cabinet reshuffle was in order. And the PSA for that matter. Something must have slipped their net. 'Heads will roll...', he growled as they finally escaped the crowded street.

---

Lining up another shot, Duncan gently squeezed the trigger. Another officer down. He hadn't answered the radio calls just yet, instead watching the crowd suspiciously. The others were right, he thought. Here and there, spots of carnage indicated where trained professionals had gotten caught up in the fighting, sometimes after being beserked, others after meeting a beserkee. It was a no-brainer that the PSA wanted to keep tabs on the situation, but to what end he could not guess. Logically they would only be watching, but he couldn't discount the gut feelings of three trained SeeDs... Duncan was about to call for a withdrawal when Xerox spoke up. His mind raced as the possibilities lined up in his mind. Implanted agents meant PSA, no surprise there, but they couldn't allow any recordings of the situation to survive. 'Xerox, do it. And make it a big one; a click and a half diameter would be good.' Pausing quickly to shoot another soldier, he switched comm channels to talk to his father. 'Kingpin, suspected outside influence. Begin pulling your men back.' He didn't wait for a reply. 'Assault Team One, execute HVT and exfil immediately. All other teams, exfil and eliminate any pursuers.' His expression hardened. 'Any pursuers, even if you think they're civs.' Once the confirmations began to come in, he rolled over and went to work disassembling his rifle. It would be a hair-raising abseil down off the arch, but he needed to get away too. He had left Eika guarding the mansion after all and didn't want to leave her waiting.

---

'Sir, down this way! We have a vehicle ready to pick you up.' Syrus took the lead as Team One reached the alleyway, leading the four of them behind the buildings and into a secluded courtyard. Taking up the rear was Kein a dozen steps behind, gunning down the handful of stragglers that pursued them. When he caught up, the medic leant close and whispered to Jericho. 'I think we're far enough bro. You wanna do the honours?' It seemed only fair that a Galbadian would get to give Deling the final blow. The dictator was responsible for an even greater number of Galbadian deaths than those butchered at Dollet. Meanwhile Syrus jogged around the clearing, checking doorways and corners, all the while fighting the feeling that something terrible was about to happen...

[Zarkun]

"My pleasure." Jericho's hand slipped into his uniform's pocket and grasped the broken bottle inside. Approaching Deling from behind, he rested a hand on his shoulder in a way that wouldn't raise alarm. "President Deling, just one thing before we leave." As Deling turned around, the bottle flashed out and slammed into his gut before coming out and being rammed into the man's jugular. "Enjoy your stay in hell, you bastard."

For effect, Jericho stabbed him several more times, with everything he'd stowed in the uniform before looking at the others. "Deed's done, let's set up the scene and get out of here." He then turns on his com unit. {This is Assault team One to Overwatch, HVT is dead. Prepping for exfil.}

[Lennon79]

For his part Vinzer Deling was more confused than frightened by this point. The soldiers had promised extraction, but had since led him to a secluded alleyway off the main avenue, an area with no road access for this supposed escape vehicle. The group soon stopped and began whispering to one another in a manner most suspicious. 'Where is this damn vehicle then? You boy, where are you going?' The fear began to creep back in and he jumped as one man took his shoulder reassuringly. 'There had better be a good explaina-' He never got to finish his complaint. The soldier's assault was so fast, so brutal that Deling barely felt any pain before unconsciousness claimed him. The last emotion to run through his mind was regret. Regret that hadn't hired more loyal soldiers.

---

As the final blow snuffed out Deling's life, a smile crept across the mysterious woman's face. How she knew of the President's untimely demise was unclear, but for her adoring underlings her word was proof enough. 'It is time, children. Begin the takeover.' All across the city, the country, thousands of agents moved as one. Galbadian Army officers issued new orders to their confused soldiers, regional governors began to enact strange new legislation. Nothing overt, nothing out of the ordinary for the rogue state of Galbadia and yet... something new. In the heart of Deling City, the PSA agents watching the parade began to melt away into the crowds, leaving only a handful close enough to the SeeDs to keep track of them.

'It is time.'

[Little_ninja]

Receiving permission from Duncan and instructions to make it big, Xerox sighed slightly. Adjustments needed to be made. Dropping another EMP and a few tools, he quickly got to work. He needed to tune the EMP for a few factors to get such a radius. The first is the fact that he could not generate the power with one of his normal EMPs and had to adjust the frequency of each to synchronize together and act as a larger unit. Another was the minimizing after-effects such as range of possible sparks and the power in them. Finishing off the preparations, he called out on the comms, "EMP is set to go in 5" throwing the EMPs stuck together through a window into the air aiming for it to land and detonate as central to the riot as possible to encompass everything.

Getting as much distance as he could from the EMP, Xerox took out his comms for a second, as a light blue flash occurred around the center of the riot. People close by could feel a shockwave, as the pulse traveled. Some of the PSAs clung to their head, looking in pain and some anguished. A select few were clinging to other parts of their body, indicating they were enhanced with several implants which blew at once. Nowhere near as many or as sophisticated as Wiggs' though, which required a direct electrical charge to pass through the EMPs. A loud static noise could be heard through his comms. Hopefully the others had taken out their ear piece, he did give them a warning.

The comms would still work after the EMP, but the comm lines were blast with static temporarily from the EMP. Once the noise cleared up, Xerox reported, "EMP successful. Several PSAs spotted in pain from their implants blowing. Starting exfil now.". With the comms back on, and having set off the EMP, Xerox looked over the crowds, and saw Rachel was weaving out of the crowds, in a disguise. To confirm he switched his vision, making sure to just see beyond the glasses and wig.

Moving out of the building, cautiously, he attempted to meet up with Rachel. He was away from the crowds and kept his eyes peeled for anyone pursuing Rachel. Xerox was bruised in a few places with some minor cuts. Some blood was running from his nose. Pretending to be an amateur inside the riot, he busted a few fingers as well. Only starting to feel the blood run down, he wiped his nose with his sleeve.

Xerox should have be in clear sight of Rachel. Looking into the crowd, he noticed suspicious movement. "Rachel, someone is making a zig-zag to your position on your 8." He spoke into the comms, alerting Rachel of the pursuer.

---

Rue watched the commotion overhead. It was an ugly sight. A riot, a mess, people stampeding over others, fighting everywhere, innocents grabbing any weapons to defend themselves. He shook his head. Rue kept his eyes peeled for any suspicious people in the crowds, and listened for any conversations. It was hard to pick up any real conversations over all of the other noise. He caught a single phrase that stood out however, "Not long now". What did it mean? Rue had no idea. It was a phrase completely out of place inside this riot. Inside all of this chaos. It was impossible to tell where it came from either due to the noise that buried the source out.

When it was time to move out, Rue started to head for extraction. He would let Xerox know later about the strange words he heard. There was a chance that it would be dismissed as just hearing things since everything was so chaotic. But it bugged the moomba. That odd phrase spoken at such a time.

[rivaan]

Rachel was quickly navigating her way through the crowds, since she had to berserk a lot of people, she had to enter quite deep into the mass of people at the parade, so her escape from it took a while. She was finally nearing the ends of the crowds and one of the back alleys when she heard Xerox’s message.” Roger that, I will take care of it. We will meet up after I'm clear.” She replied, slightly lowered her body posture and started increasing her speed of moving through the crowds, using her lower position to blend and hide among the people easier.

When she was finally outside the mass of people, she quickly moved inwards in the alley, pulling her small revolver. She had junctioned berserks to herself earlier so she can easily do her objective. She had no time to change it with a cockroach on her tail. When she finally saw him exiting the crowds, she targeted him with a slow then sleep spell and then fired at him a couple of times, before dashing into another side alley.

[Zarkun]

Setting up the last of the dead Galbadian soldiers so that the alley mug scene fit, he looked up and around. He still felt like something was wrong. Shedding his uniform so he could blend in, he dug around in a dumpster and smiled when his hand finally found it and grasped the item. "Xerox, you're a miracle worker." Grunting, he pulled free his scythe of the garbage and spun it to shake off the remaining trash and then slid it into it's sling. He slid the holster for his pistol on then holstered it as well, or at least went to until he heard something. Stopping and signalling Kein and Syrus to stop moving, he listened again. There. The sound of feet shifting ever so slightly as they stood still, and the breathing of someone trying to not be heard.

Moving forward carefully, he drew his pistol from it's holster and stopped to listen again. To his left, just at the end of the alley. Sliding along the wall, he counted to three and then spun around and squeezed off three rounds in quick succession. In the close quarters, they didn't miss and the man fell to the ground, bleeding. Rummaging around his person, he finally found the PSA ID and cursed. {This is Assault Team one to all SeeDs. The PSA is tailing us, just gunned down a tail near the kill site. I repeat, we are being tailed.}

[Lennon79]

It didn't take long for Duncan to reach the mansion, even with the odd tail that needed shooting. As he trudged up the stairs into the house, he was greeted with a scene of organised chaos within. A dozen aides and soldiers ran to and fro, carrying bundles of paperwork one way and weapons the other. His father was overseeing the work, yelling orders in typical dictatorial fashion. '... Busy preparing for the takeover, Father? I hope you don't need us to deal with the Senate as well.' Duncan's flippant attitude soon changed as Constantine turned to give him a hard glare. 'Use your brain, boy. Something has gone seriously wrong. My contacts within the Security Agency have gone dark, they have agents attacking key Faction targets and I've lost all contact with the Army outside of Deling City.' To his son's horror, the Field Marshal produced and lit a cigar; the last time Duncan had seen his father smoke, the nation had nearly gone to war with Esthar. It was a clear sign that he was rattled. 'I don't know what's going on Duncan, but we have been outplayed.' The SeeD hadn't hung around to listen.

'All SeeD callsigns, repeat all SeeDs this net; regroup at the mansion immediately, out.' He ran upstairs, his mind racing through the possibilities. They had already established that it had been the PSA tailing them, but he had passed it off as typical black ops spook stuff, just them keeping an eye on their investment. But for the Agency to be directly attacking their erstwhile allies, something had gone seriously wrong. Reaching his bags in his old bedroom, Duncan rummaged around until he found a plain black canister; the ICE contingency plans, courtesy of Head Instructor Corvo. It was only to be opened in case of a mission critical emergency, but if this didn't count then nothing would. He broke the seals and unravelled what turned out to be a detailed set of instructions for various contingencies. 'Come on, come on... Betrayal by employer, betrayal by SeeD infiltrator, WMD- aha.' The document was entitled 'Interference from Outside Organisation and/or Unknown National Conspiracy'. Fitting, considering the part SeeD had played so far. He headed back downstairs, sitting at the now empty round table to mull over the paperwork. It was surprisingly detailed, explaining the multiple exfiltration strategies Corvo had planned as well as likely routes by which they might be pursued. Unfortunately, every plan required them to escape the city first... Duncan looked up as the first of the others began to show up. 'Well done team. Solid execution.' He smiled grimly. 'But I think things are gonna get worse before they get better.' He waited for the others to turn up, every so often flicking through another page of the increasingly complicated contingency plan.

[MarshiestMallow]

Collab: Hector, Heloise and Selena's great escape!

Hector continued to fight the PSA and the the one other citizen, quickly knocking out the other citzen, he turned his focus on to the Agent. The man came at him swinging his batons wildly, causing Hector to deflect one and move backwards to dodge the other. After a few seconds of this he heard crackling over the radio of others explaining that they where being followed. As these two were closested to them, most likely trying to keep tabs on them. "Well sorry buddy. Can't have that." he said as blocked both of the batons with his blade and kicked him in the balls. Allowing the blade to fall to his side as he stood straight and watched the man fall to the ground groaning. Wincing himself slightly at what he just did, breaking the man's code of going there. Oh well.

Selena had come up to him and grabbed his elbow. "Move damn it!" she hissed as he looked back to see soldiers moving his way. With out answering he quickly moved with Selenea in between the crowds to avoid detection. Despite being covert, having a gunblade stuck out.

Heloise let herself slip back into the crowd, touching her daggers and reassuring herself they were still hidden within her sleeves. Using the crowd as a buffer, Heloise continued her survallience, watching for any PSA officers looking for her, or any of the group. Being told to regroup at the mension was easier said then done, and Heloise was acutely aware that she was alone, not normally a bad thing in her book, but right now, she knew she wouldn't be able to fend off several attackers if it came to that. A very real possability, if the dagger she had thrown had been tracked back to her.

If it had, she reassured herself, she would already be in their clutches. As she looked through the crowd, she was shocked to realise she was looking for a familiar face, whether it was Hector or Selena. She would even settle for Jericho, decided annoyance was better then being caught. Although if it came to having to pair up with Jericho for safety, Heloise knew she would never live that down. She either had to find Hector or Selena, or find her way to the mansion herself, and not get killed in the process. Not a lot of choice there, She let out a sigh, and slipped through the crowd, winding her way inbetween people, and keeping an eye out for tails.

I should have just followed him when he gave me my daggers, but she had stayed to make sure nothingwrong had happened, and to confirm that they were being tracked. Perhaps going solo was going to kill her one day.

Despite trying to make their escape, Hector and Selena managed to choose the worst path and found themselves in the middle of a squad of soldiers. Who trained their guns on them, Seeing his Gunblade and her tonfa's they ordered them to drop their weapons. Pausing for a moment and swearing just under his breath, he looked around at the soldiers and felt a brush against his the inside of his right calf. Smiling he grabbed Selena and pulled her slowly behind her. Then looking down at Shadow below him he nodded,

Selena hissed, "I'm not a helpless..."

She yelped as suddenly Shaddow almost instantaniously grew about 10 times his size, with Hector and Selena on top of him, Selena holding onto dear life by wrapping her arms around Hector as he sat comfortably.

The guards shouted in Terror as Shaddow swatted at them like mice and knocked most of them to the side. Then bounding away into one of the side streets and quickly making it out of the thick of the crowd. And Just as quickly as Shaddow appeared in it's larger form, it turned back into it's regular form, just slow enough for Selena and Hector to get their footing and dart into a dark alley.

Heloise heard the sounds of fighting, and figured it had to be one of the group, caught by the PSA, and looked towards where the sounds were coming from, wondering just how close it was annd if she could be of any help. No one in the crowd seemed surprised, although maybe they just weren't able to hear the fighting. Making a decision, Heloise followed the sounds, slipping through the crowd almost unnnoticed, except for a woman trying to grab her, saying something along the lines off "Where are your parents" Annoyed at that comment, Heloise glared back. She knew she was short, but to be seen as a child, and grabbed like that? that was just insulting.

Leaving that be, she continued on her way, muttering under her breath. She paused as she heard shouts, listening for familiar voices, but none stood out. Something was happening, and she hoped it wasn't bad for their side.

Moving again, she stopped as a bounding creature appeared, jumping away from a crowd of people. Recognising Shadow, if larger then normal, she span to follow his path, cursing under her breath, "Don't worry, I'll catch up" She heaved a sigh, and using the path that had been made, she darted through the crowd quicker, glad is was less packed here now, even if it left her more exposed. "Why am I not surprised that its them? Hector's a magnet for trouble" She said under her breath.

She would have shouted out, if that wouldn't bring trouble down on her and just make it pointless. So she put her head down and ran, trying to appear like she was just running and not running for relative safety. She darted around a few wandering people, using them to hide herself from any one watching her. Or trying to, as she reached the alley she would have chosen to flee into herself.

As soon as they had made sure no soldier was following they sheathed their weapons, and Hector suddenly was punched in the shoulder from Selena. Not expecting it he gripped his arm and asked, "What was that for?!"

"Scaring me half to death! You big idiot! You should have told me the plan!" She hissed at him in hush tones.

Looking confused he raised his palms slightly, a very clear sign that he was in deed confused. "Um sorry? Didn't have the time to sit you down infront of the soldiers and tell you as they were about to pull the trigger."

Selena folded her arms. He was right, but he didn't want him to know that. "What ever." she said as she spun around and looked to where they were. Just a dark alley with nothing of use. They will need a pair of clothes to make it back to the mansion. Looking acrossed the street though she could see a clothing store. But before she could say anything she saw someone run into the alley, with the lights behind the person she nor Hector could see who it was.

Recognising the voices, Heloise let out a soft sigh, and glancing behind her, she shifted into the alley way, "Are you two okay?" She asked, speaking softly, not wanting her voice to carry. "You seem to have gotten away from them, for now, but we should probably get to the mansion as soon as possible" She added, wondering if they would have to go around about way or if it was already known where they were going. A round about way might still be good. Go the way they would least expect.

"Escaping like that will only through them off for so long." She said, as she studied them both, sighing at the fact that they were both just so damn noticeable, and no doubt the people they had been fighting had gotten a good look, even with the gaint shadow taking them away. "You need disguises, I think" She said thoughtfully, wondering if they could come up with something in a few moments

Selena had sighed once she saw it was Heliose. Hector only smiled as she started to talk. He walked up to her and patted her on the head as he pointed with his chin to the store behind her, "Way ahead of you." He then looked to Heliose. "You have to know by now I'm always ok." He said with a smile as Selena scoffed and shook her head, walking past them.

"Sure Hector." She smiled at Heliose. "I'm glad you are safe as well. We should take the long way around just in case. But remember they are spooks, and they are trained to think of stuff like that."

Hector then said, "That's why we should walk up the middle. We know they are thinking that we are walking the long way back and keep an eye out, they don't know that we know that they know. So it's the perfect plan." He moved with them towards the store.

Heloise rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah, You always find a way out, whether its digging yourself in further or not is the trouble" She said, glancingn at the store, "Stay out of sight, and don't make a fuss in the store. No need to draw attention" She glanced out the alley, thinking.

"Mmhmm. Even spooks aren't infaliable. , and there's a difference between being watchful and knowing how to spy those that do not wish to be found" She said, as she followed, eyes searching the crowd, always scanning, "Make it quick,!" She said softly, wondering if there was somewhere she could splash water over her face, glancing to Selena and Hector, making sure they weren't going to attract any trouble

It didn't take long for them to get in, and find something. Especially Hector. He knew exactly what he was going to get. Any excuse to wear one was a must. It only took the two a few minutes but whenutes, and when they walked out it was clearnutes, and when they walked out it was clear that Selena was embarrased to be next to him. As he was wearing a tan trench coat and a matching hat.

The coat was perfect for hiding his Gunblade and he couldn't resist the hat. As they made it to Heliose he gave his biggest smile. "Two ways avoid a tail, blend in. Or stand out enough it couldn't be you." He said as he slid his forefinger and thumb acrossed the brim of the hat.

Heloise waited as patiently as she could, unsurprised when Hector came out wearing a ridiciolous get up, but instead of being embarrassed, Heloise couldn't help but chuckle. She didn't say anything, instead she started to lead the way towards the Mansion, keeping her senses open, continually looking about for a tail.

As they made their way, she only stopped them twice, and that was to let PSA personal leave the area, before continuing, and in what seemed like a small amount of time they arrived. Pausing, she studied the mansion to make sure it was okay to go in.

[rivaan]

“Hmmm…. This is turning complicated.” Rachel said with calm voice as she made another sudden turn and dashed in another direction. She had taken the empty cases from her revolver and quickly threw them in another alley heading in another direction, before dashing into yet another junction of the alleys. While her pure physical combat was not on the greatest levels, she herself was used to similar situations. Keeping calm head and moving smart, creating distractions, all the way to confuse and slow the enemy, was a very natural way of acting for her. Still the timing on those chasers was almost too perfect… It appears the PSA had planned this quite in advance. Someone was pulling strings here…

After hiding behind a faraway corner and waiting a little to see if there were more rats on her tail, when none others showed for about a min, she decided that her distractions must have worked and bought her some time, so she quickly made her way out of the back alleys and slowly into the livelier streets that were far enough from the place where they assassinated the president. Here things were also chaotic, but the crowds were nowhere near as dense and there was no mindless violence going around due berserks.

----------------------------

Finally after a decent amount of time making the trek to the mansion where they were to meet up, Rachel had made sure she was not followed and quickly proceeded to enter the mansion." This was one hell of a set up, someone is pulling the strings of the PSA from the shadows..."

[Zarkun]

Jericho listened to the COM as he, Kein and Syrus moved through the back alleyways back towards the mansion. Syrus was leading, his gunblades securing a little more range than Jericho's pistol, Jericho in the middle and Kein in the rear, all moving like bats out of hell to get back to the mansion and find out what the hell was going on. When Duncan called for all SeeDs to return, he nodded, even if the other man couldn't see it. {Copy that, en route to HQ now.} Then he heard the sound of a weapon's slide being let go and he spun, pushing Kein off to the side and firing four shots behind them wildly while taking two to his firing shoulder. Damn that hurts.

Still, he watched in satisfaction as one of his shots went through the tail's jugular, skimming it mostly, but still rupturing it. The man bled out quickly as the trio quickly moved away. Kein tried to get Jericho to let him look at the bullet holes and at least remove the bullet, but a simple blizzard wrap, as Jericho dubbed it right then and there, and a gruff "Not til we're safe" got the team medic to back off. Another ten minute run, with no further incidents, got them to the mansion and inside it.

"Come on, man, let me look at your shoulder." Kein had started in on Jericho the moment they were in the door and Jericho remained adamant that they worry about it later. Eventually, the medic backed off and Jericho turned to Duncan, ignoring the grating feeling that bullets caused when he moved his arm.

"So, how fucked are we?"

[Little_ninja]

"Affirmative" Xerox replied to Rachel, making his way through the alleys. While on his way, he heard shouts of terror. Turning he pressed against his glasses to try see through the walls and into the other sides of the streets. A large black dog/wolf had appeared with two of the other SeeD members on it. Well they should be fine like that. But now people during this riot will remember a big black dog/wolf. Jeez. he thought continuing on his way.

Making his way around a corner, Xerox could looked through the wall to see someone had been following him. He put down a small machine before continuing to make his way. As the pursuer made his way to Xerox, he saw a person running in the opposite direction to Xerox. The pursuer chose to chase them, before suddenly seeing the person instantaneously combust. The man was in utter shock. Turning around he chased Xerox at full speed, assuming he had just killed the person with an explosive.

Xerox could feel the man chasing him. Looking back and telescoping his lens, he saw his hologram projection had exploded. Guess that one failed. he mentally sighed, turning a corner, waiting for the pursuer. Seeing him round the corner, Xerox clothes-lined the man, knocking him out, before finishing him off in his unconsciousness. From then on, Xerox swiftly made his way back to the mansion.

---

Arriving at the mansion, Xerox met up with Rue. Rue had a concerned look on his face, "What is it Rue? Did something happen?" Xerox asked. Rue told him what he heard through gestures. "Not long now? ... What could that even mean?" Xerox replied, rhetorically.

Entering, one could see the state of disorder. Aides and soldiers were running back and forth in chaos. Something must have happened. Meeting up with Duncan, Xerox and Rue saw the grim smile, congratulate the team. "Well done team. Solid execution." The grim smile had thrown Xerox off a bit, before Duncan continued, "But I think things are gonna get worse before they get better." Rue tugged at Xerox, who nodded back. "Duncan, is there a 3rd ... I mean 4th party involved in this? Rue tells me he heard in the middle of that chaos these words. Not long now. Also ... have we just fallen into an elaborate trap by killing Deling?" Xerox voiced his concerns to Duncan.

[Lennon79]

Rachel was the first to arrive and give voice to Duncan's suspicions. 'I hope you're wrong but as it stands, looks like we've run afoul of one Machiavellian cunt.' He sighed exhaustedly and slid the plans over for Rachel's perusal. 'We've got contingencies for this sorta thing, but it's still a blow.' Soon after the other began trickling in, Hector and co in typically bombastic style. Duncan bit back a snarky remark over the outfit, treating them to a droll grimace instead. '... Pretty fucking fucked my man.', he replied to Jericho. 'But not as fucked as your arm. Just let him do his work, I need you at 100%.' Kein rounded on the wounded SeeD, gesturing irritably. 'See? Just lemme see, I ain't gonna tear it off...' Once everyone was in the room, Duncan stood and cleared his throat. Naturally, Xerox cut him off.

Honestly Duncan didn't really consider a walking mascot to be a good source of intelligence, but Rue had proven annoyingly competent so far. '"Not long", eh? Well I dunno. Could be anything, but the timing's certainly suspicious... It goes without saying that we've stepped in shit that neither Garden Intel nor the Faction saw coming. I'll be blunt; I haven't got a bloody clue what's going on.' He waved toward the contingency plans being passed around. 'But I know what we're gonna do; get the hell outta dodge. As per the contingency plans so thoughtfully provided by Corvo, we'll be exfilling to Timber via a pair of trucks stashed outside the city and from there, airlifted back to Garden.' He couldn't help but marvel at the detail that Corvo had gone into, the sheer number of extraction vectors he had planned. Hell, they could have gone by sub if they really wanted to. 'But before we can do that, we leave the city. That's where things get awkward. We can eithe-' A series of explosions suddenly rocked the building, throwing them all to the floor. 'What the fuck was that!?'

---

'Sir, I've got loads of contacts on the sensors... Biorhythms, electrical pulses, hundreds of 'em.' The officer leaned over, frowning. 'No, that can't be right... Is it the mob dispersing?' But there was no way that could be the cause. Hundreds of contacts were swarming toward the mansion from all sides, an eclectic mix of soldiers, mechs and civilians. He switched to the live camera feeds. The streets thronged with screaming humanity, all enraged, all heading... '... this way... Alert the Marshal. Get the guards out, now, move, fucking mo-' An explosion rocked the building as a precision missile strike destroyed the control tower. Out on the road front, a mech crashed through the gate and the enraged horde poured in.

---

'Duncan! Duncan, get up boy!' Hauled to his feet, Duncan blinked in utter bewilderment as his father thrust a rifle into his hands. 'The hell's going on?' Constantine didn't answer, pointing instead out the window, where utter chaos reigned. 'Holy fuck buddies... Alright, alright, the hell do we do? Guys, ideas please? Anything?' Nothing had prepared him for this. The gardens were rapidly turning into a battlefield as the mansions automated defences and his father's soldiers engaged the attacking mob. Here and there, massive mechs dove through to wreak havoc on the defenders. 'Son, you can't stay here. Take your team to the roof, use my personal airship and get out of the city. We will hold them here.' For a long second Duncan stared at his father, shocked that he would even consider sacrificing himself for his progeny. '... Thank you, but priorities. Syrus! Take Eika and the Faction girl, get on that airship and get 'em home.' The redhead spluttered an objection, but was cut off. 'Look kid, I'm trusting you here. Get her home in one piece, or I'll fucking flay you alive. Capice?' An angry retort died in Syrus' throat when he recognised the edge of pleading in Duncan's voice and he nodded curtly. 'Don't worry man, we'll be fine. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?'

There was no reply. Instead Duncan turned to the rest of the team and took a deep, bracing breath. 'Ladies and gentlemen, we are well and truly fucked now.' Another explosion, closer this time, served to emphasise the point. 'So here's what we're gonna do. We go out there and cut a path right through 'em. Keep heading north in small groups.' Despite his calm voice, he was quaking. No SeeD, no matter how powerful could hope to stand up to these kind of odds. 'Break out of the city, regroup at the Timber safehouse. If someone doesn't turn up after three days, assume the worst and head home to report.' Duncan paused to spark up a cigarette, keenly aware that it might be his last. '... Any questions?'