[center][h2]All or Nothing[/h2][/center]

Jacer's hands played through the practiced movements. Seeing it performed still left him in hidden awe over how quickly he had gotten the hang of it. He could pretty much do this part blindfolded now, a talent he didn’t have years ago, and almost perfectly. Practice made perfect and this skill proved it. 

He shook his thoughts at the world that caused him to hone such a talent. Even worse, it was starting to become a morbid type of funny how this war had changed him. Gone was the gentle, carefree boy he once had been. Now he was someone with blood staining his hands. Even after little more than a decade, he could feel guilt over what he had to do survive and pushed it away so easily during the heat of the moment. Like this moment. Already, he was aiming to kill an ally and another human, not some damn Enslaved. 

In the past, it would’ve disturbed him at how easily he could do it. Now, it was just another useful skill for keeping the nightmares from distracting him. 

Mentally he followed his natural movements during the reload. His hand jerked upward and ejected the magazine, his other hand wrapping around a MASS from behind his back. That arm jerked quickly to the front, flipping the magazine about and inserted it into the gun handle in one smooth movement. It made a loud click announcing it was secure and freeing up his other hand to snag the empty one before it dropped.

It seemed his words had fallen on deaf ears when he noticed Shugtil come to a stop and adjust his aim. Jacer’s irises zoomed in on the silver haired man and felt his spine shiver. He didn't need a scope to see Shugtil was training the weapon upon him, but he didn’t like the smirk playing at the mouth corners. It was a more concerning matter in his mind. Something screaming danger and caution in his mind. Jacer’s blood was running colder than the ice all around them in that moment, his mind concluding only thing: Shugtil's preparations were nearly done and that spelled trouble for him.

Trying not to let worry distract him, Jacer was already reacting to being shot at. His hand no longer reached for the empty magazine and instead hesitated, altering its instinct to one of thought. He let the empty clip drop to the ground below, the sound rattling in his ears upon its impact. His teeth gritted to keep his focus.

When Shugtil’s bullet aimed at his side, Jacer's attempt to return fire was stopped briefly. His right foot pulled him forward just when his left shoved from his standing position, kicking off again and heading toward Shugtil’s direction. He was prepared to alter his course into a zigzag one so his full energy wasn’t applied, having learned from his earlier experiences. His magik poured into his legs to build up his speed to the average 28-25 mph then to the 20-40 mph the longer he continued.  

The bullet whizzed by his shoulder nearly glazing him and prevented him from countering during his attempt to bring himself closer, no longer desiring to play the man’s field advantage since Dom managed to get away. He would’ve attempted to stop the bullet in its tracks but even he had his limits, and without any preparation before hand, any try was merely a waste of precious energy. 

He raised his gun hand then pointed to the man’s dead center torso, firing immediately. He hoped it was before Shugtil could activate his magik and fuck his whole day up. 

Meanwhile, his free hand already started to collect energy, the shape undefined though it might resemble a throwing blade, and forced Shugtil to make a choice. The man could either fire again and risk getting hit by Jacer’s Tazer round-it wouldn’t penetrate it or kill him, but still likely play holy hell with the armor’s systems- or dodge and risk giving Jacer enough time to charge his magik. Trying to do both allowed Jacer to alter his actions, possibly even countering them. Unless he was stopped in his tracks, Jacer’s mind calculated he  would be able to cover about over half the distance between them, bring him into Shugtil’s personal zone, within five seconds if his luck held out.