[h3][b][i]The Chopper, About Ten Seconds Ago...[/i][/b][/h3] The bastard opened fire! Oh, what was he thinking? [i]Of course[/i] it opened fire! Whenever a Shinra robot malfunctioned to ANY degree, it treated literally everything around it as the enemy, including people from Shinra and conspicuous blades of grass, but that's only due to the whole Mandragora thing. The pilot maneuvered out of the way, but there was a certain vibration and then a red light flashed on his console as they were veering away. [b]"Steering's going! Gotta put down outside of the junkyard or we spin-out and crash!"[/b] [color=39b54a]"I gotta get down there! It'll go after people if it leaves here!"[/color] [b]"She won't hold long!"[/b] [color=39b54a]"[i]God[/i], two seconds!"[/color] [h3][b][i]NOW...[/i][/b][/h3] Uhhh, so, he'd come down here to keep the heavily-modified Sweeper occupied and was warning someone nearby to get the hell out and...she called him a moron. Naisha couldn't see the confusion on Joe's face, thanks to his helmet, but the tone of his [color=39b54a]"Ex...cuse me?"[/color] couldn't be missed. This was a 'What The Fuck, Mate?' if ever there was one. Unfortunately, the wheelchair-bound woman had an explanation for her telling off as something robotic on the junkpile hill nearby fired on their large friend that was trying to make its way around. X-1 was [i]barely[/i] distracted by the drone, basically giving it a look before deciding it was beneath its level of care for the time being. Meanwhile, Naisha was telling off the SOLDIER, who was trying to figure this one out in his head. [color=39b54a][i]Wait, bullet muzzle velocity divided by range plus penetration equals...shit.[/i][/color] She was right. He [i]hated it[/i] when people were right about this sort of thing! The tank treads of the X-1 unit were getting closer, and with a snarl, the woman brought up this flying drone that looked like it was made to provide armor, saying she'd block shots for him. How many depended on the stability of the thing and - very probably - her deteriorating mood. Joe went [color=39b54a]"Right."[/color], sword pointed down and off to ths side. The thing made its appearance as Naisha considered her options. Sadly, the chopper wasn't going to be a part of them, as it hadn't stayed and was indeed landed somewhere, no doubt to make some quick repairs. That left her with her drones providing distraction while she got to some hacking. X-1 rounded the corner and found - mainly - a SOLDIER. [i]Normally[/i], the presence of any sort of Shinra employee, especially a military one, should prompt it to stand down and await further orders. That part of its program was hopelessly scrambled as its adaptation system had led it to ill-define it's entire friend-or-foe and command structure when its security protocols tested whether these programs were changeable or not. Because they were, it launched into an endless conundrum over what to consider enemy or ally. The simplist solution was to consider all targets to be its enemy and merely adopt a passive or active response based upon their threat level. It was for this reason that Joe was its primary target throughout all of this now. He ran towards the robot, it pointed its guns, something obstructed its sensors, an impact was registered, and now it was firing a full 88-degrees off target?! What had happened was that Joe approached, Naisha's drone had run interference, and when the autocannons were about to fire, he slid nearby that arm and executed a Driving Slash to knock the arm upward. Joe was focusing on the gun-arm right now. If he damaged it enough and the weapons fell apart, that was one problem solved. This was, however, when the robot executed a Cutter swipe, a 360-turn using the giant sawblade. Naisha's drone was swept aside, right along with- [i][b]ZZNNK!![/b][/i] Now, she might see a helmet flying, but before any assumption to the state of the SOLDIER can be made, there would be an [color=39b54a]"Agh, my head!"[/color] as Joe basically got whiplash from the saw hitting the tip of said helmet and knocking it right off of him as he ducked. He openly slashed at its body right then, which one of those managed to knock the guns up and to the his own left, shooting up a junkpile closer to the entrance...which [i]Maddie Lovell[/i] was coming through now. She would've seen the helicopter set down outside the junkyard and continued to hear the sounds of combat going on. As soon as she was inside, though, a now-helmetless and [i]familiar[/i] SOLDIER happened to be looking over his shoulder, and he shouted [color=39b54a]"Agent?! Look out!"[/color] right before she heard the rumble of falling junk parts [i]VERY[/i] close by! Nevermind the robot he was fighting for now! Maddie could be [i]buried[/i] in short order! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> There was panic both in and outside of Fort Condor, right now. Those inside had to deal with the X-Series Sweepers, and those [i]outside[/i]...had to do the same thing. This involved two technicians shoutin at each other over a computer that wasn't getting the response intended while a third was currently trying to get word to the main office back in Midgar. [b]"Why won't it accept the input?!" "It's on executive lock-out! There's nothing I can do!" "Yes, I need a direct line to Director Scarlet's phone! It's an emergency!" "Did the home office do this?! What the hell?!" "Dammit, I don't know!" "Hello? Yes, it's us down at the Fort Condor offensive. Listen, it's chaos down here. Our remaining Sweepers have gone nuts and they've killed the Commander! Even if they complete the mission themselves, I dunno how we're gonna shut them down. They're only accepting executive orders right now, and at the rate they're going, it may not be long before they ignore [i]that[/i]. Will you give the order for an emergency shutdown? We can take Fort Condor later. We can still salvage the plant, and after today, I doubt they'll get much hired help too! What? Hello? HELLO?!"[/b] He put the phone down and looked at his collagues with a shocked expression. [b]"She said no..."[/b] Back at the Sweepers, the door had blown in and the machines were closing in on it as one, walking instead of using their foot wheels. They stopped some feet from the entrance as the mercenaries opened fire, threw grenades, launched explosive crossbow bolts, and yes some of them even had lightning...but it wasn't very much. In fact, it wasn't gonna be enough, because the three robots were at a distance and getting less of it than they normally would. After exhausting her good explosives and getting in some damage done (and making a small crater out there), Jessie looked around...and then got an idea. She turned to Akira while reloading her submachine gun...while he might've been having a fit from Kanade shouting in his brain. [b]"Hey, kid! Would ya find some heavy-duty cable and connect it to something live? We've got a whole reactor here, so why not use it to [i]fry[/i] those dead weights?"[/b] Fry 'em with the reactor's output? That'll do it, right? There was, of course, only one problem: They'd have to come in... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Once Aiko had handed over her information, she would've gotten half of her payment sent to her account, as per the terms of their agreement. That made it official. They had a contract. The man nodded and expected that she would go her merry way. They both knew that with matters having been settled, all they really needed to was wait for the appointed time. However, the skate expert had paused then and decided to ask some things right when her contractor was dialing a number. He held up a hand. [b]"Yeah, hold on. I'm phoning my 'supervisor' right now. He'll have the answers you're looking for."[/b] There was a pause there, and then presumably a man on the other end picked up. [b]"Yo. I got us our runner. Everything's good on my end. What about yours? ...really? Hmmm."[/b] His expression had changed to indicate some level of bad news passing between them. [b]"Well, that's not great, but at least we were prepared for that. Does it move up the schedule? Alright, cool. So, you'll tell me, and I tell her. Gotcha. Now then, runner's kind of a hotshot. Says she might have better routes than what we got. Might just. Any problems with that? Okay then. Later!"[/b] He hung up and turned to her. [b]"Guy says he doesn't care if you walk on walls or fly by the seat of your pants, as long as you do the job in a timely manner, and by that he means quick as lightning. You obviously know Midgar, right? No worries, then. We'll call you when it's time. you just don't let us down."[/b] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lex's final warnings were met with {A} gunshots from Biggs and Wedge, plus {B} [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdg4glpCkg]a rock[/url] from Kanade! Between these two things happening, it would be safe to say that Ranger Krait and Wasteland were at least distracted for a moment, long enough for them all to be on the bikes and making tracks. The only thing about that was that the smoke was soon cleared away because a helicopter WAS overhead and in pursuit. This meant that Lex could see his targets making their escape and get after them with his own vehicle. He did not know yet that it was Rufus Shinra and Tseng up there...but he would soon enough. But back with the motorcycles for a moment... They were heading down the Junon street now at a fair clip, following the layer of tire track that the car driver had laid into the road. He was rude and crude, but he was also pretty easy to trail right now. Wedge was the one who spoke up to their charge, Kanade Toragami, as they were speeding along [b]"So, the plan was originally, Miss Kanade, to meet you once you were off the boat and find a nice chopper to steal and get us over to Midgar! I don't know what the change in plan was for, but it may not have been the best idea!" "Maybe not, but it looks to me like they were preparing to intercept her and she probably threw them for a loop." "Threw us for a loop too, though." "Well, these things happen. Welcome to Avalanche, though. I'm Biggs, he's Wedge, and apparently we're going to Fort Condor? Not a bad idea, considering we got friends there, but how come?"[/b] Aaand up in the chopper, the white suit and the black suit were both considering their options. [b]"What do you think? Shoot the tires...or just pop the balloon next to our target?" "I'd advise against any sort of killing shot at this time. If she's really what we think she is, then we need to put on the kid gloves, for now." "Tires it is, then. Keep 'er steady and we'll have them all in the next couple minutes."[/b] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As for Tace...he was moving at top speed in a car that had alot going for it under the hood. He was making the exit to Junon in record fricking time, so much so that his approach to the border had the tollbooth worker there in a bit of a panic. [b]"Wait, stop, [i]HOLDONAMINUTE!![/i]"[/b] [i][b][color=ed1c24]CRASH!!![/color][/b][/i] [b]"God...dammit! You're suppose to [i]STOP[/i], asshole!!"[/b] But he didn't, and he would [i]continue[/i] not stopping as he decided to head for Fort Condor on...a whim? Because the girl had wanted to go there? Who knows? Maybe there was something there looking into. Hard to tell. As he was moving along, he had decided to slow down...ish. It was all relative, really. His car was still plenty fast, by normal measurements. However, because he HAD slowed down and due to the fact that he'd made a HELLUVA NOISE getting here... Well...his first warning wouldn't be until it was practically on top of him. Or rather...on top of his [i]car[/i]. The monster, like all monsters in the wild, had learned long ago that strange noises meant these strange creatures that sealed themselves up in metal cans that needed to be torn open in order to get to the contents. With that in mind, a Zemelezett had taken to the air about a mile back, swept high over the car so it would not be easily seen...and [i]dropped[/i]. The first warning that Tace had that he was under attack was the heavy THUD against his roof and a screech as a large owl-like creature tried to tear into his vehicle!