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[@Lugubrious] [@NarayanK] [@Kaithas]

[i]I think I just shitposted at a Manticore.[/i]

Absurd though it was, that was the first thought to penetrate the fight-or-flight haze around his mind. It passed quickly, dispersed by a quick shake of his head, while Goodwitch's orders came through the radio. A quick jerk of his tonfa ejected the last spent shell, the few seconds he took to reload used to survey the roof. The Manticore had done a real number on it, but not enough to cause any harm to the survivors on the floor below. Thank God for small miracles. Now, though, he had to figure out how to get back down. The way he came up was still intact, but that'd require him climbing back down through the window to Millade's...

Millade. Ben's frown deepened, and his eyes moved back to the antennae assembly. They had arrived too late, [i]much[/i] too late, to do anything for her but his first instinct was to bring her back with him. Daniel Lloyd, as shitty as he was, raised him to respect the dead. And no one deserved to be left behind in a forsaken place like this one. She'd given everything to make sure help would come, and she deserved that much respect. They weren't out of the woods yet, though. The living needed him and his team at a hundred percent if they were going to make it home alive, and failing to bring all the survivors back would only dishonor everything she'd done. If he had to guess she wouldn't have wanted that either. The antenna assembly was near the center of the roof, above the central hallway the floor below, so Ben crossed over to it in a few quick strides and crouched long enough to make sure her eyes were closed. [i]That[/i] he could do.

Then he took two steps away, facing the cafeteria, and brought his foot down [i]hard[/i]. Then again. And one more time. Hard enough to smash through to the floor below, creating an opening big enough for him to drop down through. He gestured for Amy to follow and dropped to the hallway below... A couple yards from Sangue and the survivors, the former of whom looked about ready to run him through. He waved.

"We're getting the fuck out of here. Let Lauren know and come on." Switching the radio on again while he headed back towards the stais to the ground floor, Ben started relaying Goodwitch's instructions to Jack; "Goodwitch says to get the survivors to the courtyard. Beastie up top's distracted. I've got Amy and Sangue and we're taking the survivors up here down now. You guys need any backup?"