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[sub][i]Starring...[/i][/sub]
[h3][color=ff2020]Scarlet Rubashka[/color] as [color=ff2020][i]Punished "Venom Bean"[/i][/color][/h3]
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[@Kumbaris] [@13org] [@BigPapaBelial]
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Scarlet was used to being pinned down. Several deployments across the world gave her the experience of having her back against a wall surrounded by enemy fire. She was also used to being shot. Taking multiple bullets to her limbs and one to her gut was enough to give her an aversion to experiencing that feeling again. Healing magic has come a long way. Thanks to it, wounds that would've been fatal took only hours to fully recover from. The very next day, she was out in the field with her coworkers, on the clock again as none of it ever happened. Five times out of ten, she'd end up finding the bastard responsible before the next weekend. In all of her last deployments, she was in larger and more combat-capable groups. They had access to armored vehicles and stronger firepower. They were often part of an encrypted communications network that also allowed access to medevacs and air support. The threats she faced were various, but whatever they were, she and her coworkers reasonably dealt with them.

This was different.

Scarlet was hit in the shoulder and pinned down by two assailants, both of them experienced paramilitaries. She was the most combat capable in her team. The 5.56 bullpup in her right hand was the strongest firepower her team had access to. Thanks to the threat of a potential mole tapping the OMR communications network, Scarlet and her team had no access to any form of support, nor could they communicate with their commanding officer. In between the suppressed shots of AKs, she heard and understood the voices that were shouting. They were regrouping, moving and flanking. Despite the four she neutralized, there seemed to be more that were arriving from elsewhere. Scarlet gulped as her heart beat from her chest, her breaths quick, blood oozing out from the hole in her shoulder. It was starting to sink into her mind that she was going to die here. She's had several close calls before in her last deployments, but there was always a chance, and always a way out. Not this time. This was different. She had no chance, and she had no escape. Scarlet swallowed and closed her eyes, her mind tuning out the battle around her. Her mind ran through thousands of thoughts, but she couldn't find real attachment to any of them. No recollection of family or loved ones to anchor her. This is where her story was going to end, to be executed in the woods with nothing but a whimper. A failure.

[i]"Scarlet!"[/i] Aside from hearing her name, she also heard the distinct *THUMP* of a standing humanoid body falling to the ground. She looked to the source, and just beyond the rock, the woman who shot Scarlet earlier lay there dead on the ground. Scarlet gulped, her brain processing the rest of the familiar voice that shouted in her direction. [i]"Get going! I've got the car parked near the gas station. Don't you dare leave Faye behind too!"[/i] Holy shit, that was [i]Amanda![/i] Scarlet turned back to Amanda, who was busy plugging their foes left and right. Before she could think to stand up, Mike ran straight towards her with Faye over his shoulders. He grabbed her by her healthy shoulder and easily lifted the homunculus to her feet. [i]"Come on Hot Stuff! Get up and get moving!"[/i] [i][color=ff2020]Holy shit.[/color][/i] Color returned to Scarlet's face as she got up on her feet. AUG still clutched in her right hand, energy returned to her legs as she started running. It took a few moments, but her mind came out of that dark place and back into the land of the living. She still had a job to do, a contract to fulfill. Teammates to protect. She continued to run, hopping over a few branches. The part of her that thought clearly and tactically finally booted back up, and Scarlet immediately knew what to do. 

Scarlet stopped and turned around. The adrenaline that pumped from her heart numbed the pain in her left shoulder a little bit, allowing her to hold her rifle properly again. She fired a few quiet bursts into the forest beyond in an attempt to suppress some of the shooters out there. A lot of them revealed themselves to Scarlet by shooting at Amanda, making themselves easy targets. However, in the strange cacophony of battle, Scarlet didn't know how many she downed, all she knew was that she made a few of them stop shooting, and it was enough to allow Mike and his friends to safely get to the car. It wasn't long before she fell back to the car herself, getting in from the other side. Once she got in the back, she put her rifle down and held her arms out to help Michael set Faye down in the middle seat. [color=ff2020]"Over here."[/color] Scarlet said softly, and once Faye was seated, she wrapped the seat belt around her and fastened it. [i]"I'm filing a complaint with OMR HQ. Team building needs to be better thought out."[/i] As Michael climbed in, Scarlet removed the suppressor from her rifle and put it away. [color=ff2020]"Yeah, no kidding."[/color] She panted and winced in pain, her wound still bleeding. As Amanda climbed in the car and took off, Scarlet turned to Michael, still panting. [color=ff2020]"What a few days, huh?"[/color] Scarlet quipped with a weak smile. 

Just seconds later, she hears orders from her commanding officer. [i]"Scarlet, I need you to watch our backsides for a little bit ok. It's very likely these guys have other cars that'll chase after us. Pump lead on their asses alright?"[/i] Scarlet smiled a little. [color=ff2020]"Aye-aye. Give me just a second."[/color] With her right hand, she reached into her tactical bag of holding and pulled out a syringe of some kind. After popping off the cap, she stuck it right into her wounded shoulder and groaned. [color=ff2020]"Motherfuck..."[/color] Scarlet groaned in pain as the sting of the needle spread throughout her wound. The bleeding slowed and then stopped, and the sharp pain dulled to a minor soreness. The healing solution she just injected wasn't enough to completely heal her wound in the slightest, but stopping the pain and the bleeding was enough to bring Scarlet back into the game. Scarlet grunted as she pulled the empty syringe out, put the cap back on it and shoved it away. [color=ff2020]"Alright, should be good to go now. Ow."[/color] She moved her blood-soaked shoulder around. [color=ff2020]"Good thing that bullet went clean through, shit."[/color] 

After giving herself a rough checkup, Scarlet picked up her AUG and removed the magazine from it. After putting the subsonic ammo away, she took out a full 40-round magazine complete with standard cheap ball ammunition. She figured that if she was going to firing at moving vehicles, she'd be missing most of the shots anyway, so she may as well use the rounds that wouldn't cut too hard into her checkbook. She loaded her rifle and gave the magazine a good tap on the bottom. She checked behind them, and so far the coast was clear. She sighed a little as she searched for hostile vehicles, thinking about what Mike called her earlier. If she heard him right, he called her [i]Hot Stuff[/i]. Thinking about it made her blush a little. As flattering as it was, she decided not to bring it up just yet. Moments later, she heard another familiar voice. Scarlet turned to Faye and her eyes lit up. [color=ff2020]"Holy shit, Faye!"[/color] She almost laughed in relief, gently grabbing Faye's shoulder and shaking her a little bit excitedly. [color=ff2020]"Welcome back-Oooh, oh shit my bad, sorry."[/color] Once Faye cried out in pain, Scarlet immediately removed her hand and winced a little. [i]"I... don't think I can move myself that well yet... Let alone use my magic..."[/i] Scarlet winced. [color=ff2020]"Ah, yeah, didn't think about that. My bad. Still, glad to have you back with us."[/color]

Scarlet took another look around. Not sign of hostiles yet. [i]"How long was I sleep for? Are we still being hunted? I'm sorry for not being able to help that much..."[/i] Scarlet turned to Faye, seeing her forced smile. Scarlet returned with a small, weak smile of her own. [color=ff2020]"Uh... yeah... it's a bit of a long story, but I think it's been a few hours, maybe more. Sure as shit felt much longer than that, though."[/color] Scarlet said. [color=ff2020]"And we're still on the run. No tails just yet, though, but we barely made it out of the woods with our lives."[/color] Scarlet sighed before turning to Amanda. [color=ff2020]"Speaking of, thanks for saving our asses. A few more seconds and I would've been fucking [i]gone.[/i]"[/color] Scarlet said before turning back to Faye. [color=ff2020]"And don't sweat it. Things got hairy and you got us out of a really bad situation. That alone is commendable."[/color]

Scarlet checked once more. [color=ff2020]"Oh no."[/color] Scarlet blinked, getting a good look at the trio of black SUVs that approached them. [color=ff2020]"Alright, I'm gonna need you guys to do me a favor. We've got three black SUVs that are about to tailgate us. If you can, try to keep your heads down. And Faye? If you can't use magic right now, that's fine, don't feel the need to do so."[/color] Scarlet turned to Mike. [color=ff2020]"Same goes for you. But any help would be much appreciated."[/color] She cranked down the window and unbuckled her seat belt. She leaned out the window to get a good look at the SUVs. No shooters yet, but they were definitely being driven by hostile forces.

[color=ff2020]"Yep, they're bad guys. Cover your ears, kids!"[/color] Scarlet shouted before leaning completely out of the window with her rifle out, taking aim at the SUVs behind them. However, she wasn't aiming for the driver. They didn't start shooting yet, so the best course of action was to prevent them from being able to do so. So she aimed for the tires. [b][i]POPOPOPOW![/i][/b] A short, loud four round burst was squeezed from the trigger, sending hot lead towards the lead SUV. [b][i]PPFFT[/i][/b] The front driver's side tire exploded and got tossed to the side of the road, and the SUV swerved to the side, cutting off the second one trailing behind it. After evading the two that fell behind, the third SUV quickly caught up. [color=ff2020]"Step on up, fuckers!"[/color] Scarlet shouted before firing another burst at the approaching SUV, taking out the driver's side tire on that one too. However, the swerve that it experienced caused it to run off the road and fall straight into a ditch. That's one down. [color=ff2020]"How long 'till we're there, boss? Any minute now, they're gonna start getting some ideas!"[/color]