[hider=…Twice as shiny.] [center][b][h2] [TITANS FALL//THE UNDERCITY//NORTHBRIDGE SLUMS] [/h2][/b][/center] [hr] They were sat under an awning, hidden from the rain. For now. A timer slowly ticked its way down, hovering in the air before her. [color=Green][59min:28sec][/color] An hour before the storm started to truly dissipate, of course, [color=#8281CF][B]Kaeyara[/b][/color] could breathe some more clouds, but that was risky to do while IN the “operating area”, as the mil-tech training vids would’ve put it. “[color=#8281CF][i]C’mon now you… piece of…[/i][/color]” They were fussing with the slate ‘given’ to them by the JAHANNAM ganger. Its screen flickered with artifacts and interference, persistently glitching out; signs of their less than skilled usage of any sort of “sys-ware”. “[color=#8281CF][i]Fuckin’… Computers are so… fuckin’… Dumb![/i][/color]” They shouted, voice immediately swept away by thunder and rain, before there was a plaintive ‘beep-beep!’ Success. Finally. Information flashes through her mind— contacts, location pins, texts, call logs, passwords and application histories, photos, videos— Kaeyara begins transferring the data to her own personal storage. [i]A wife. She begs him to stay inside during a phone call, this morning. This morning. A bad feeling in her bones. Just this once, she begs him to listen, just believe her this one time, please.[/i] Kaeyara pauses and thinks, playing back a series of vocal messages. The sounds of a… clinic? Maybe? Echo in the background. [i]The wife cries. She’s panicked. Truly believes in her stomach that something is [u]wrong[/u]. Between the headaches, the gang, and other rumors… She claims it feels cold outside, like it might rain soon.[/i] How right she was… Hm. As Kaeyara sifts through more data, she pauses yet again. A phone number. It’s contact reads [LADY BOSS]. There’s two messages. A reminder to pick up the money. A reminder to ‘not be late, or I’ll come grab you. Personally. You owe me.’ A reply. ‘U got it’ Cassia’s Gale stares at the information before her, at the texts… And sighs. Time to get back to work. The slate gets dropped into the muck of the street. Cassia’s Gale hauls themself up onto a roof, squints into the pouring rain, and switches her optics. The world shifts, becoming a Gaussian blur for a half moment, before clarifying into hues of red, blue, orange, yellow, white, and indigo. [color=Green][THERMAL IMAGING ENABLED.][/color] flashed in the corner of her vision, before fading. Another call— his most recent one— gets replayed while Kaeyara begins putting [MANUBALLISTA] back together. “[ [b]Hey. You’re running late. Did Moreau not cough up or what?[/b]” “[i]N-Well. Yes and No ma’am. We’re walkin’ ‘im right n— OH SHIT[/i]” “[b]Th’ fuck?[/b]” “[i]F’ckin’ Kinley is do— HELL— [b]FUCK[/b][/i]” “[b]Oi. Screen’s showin Kinley and HOUND-5 are flatlining. What’s goin’ on?[/b]” “[i]Gettin’ fuckin’ SNIPED! My fuckin’ LEG… FUCK. Can’t… Oh shit…[/i]” “[b]You've got stims. Use ‘em. Idiot. Tuck around to Ol’Leery’s and I’ll send someone to ‘git you. Check in every two minutes.[/b]” “[i]Fuck. How far out?[/i]” “[b]Give or take ten. Rain’s makin it hard to move around. Summa th’wheels an’ treads are in shop anyhow. Anyways. Bloodmoon out.[/b] ]” And then a new message, arriving as a blip in the corner of Gale’s HUD, from one [BOSS LADY]. [color=Red][EN ROUTE. YOU MOVED. WHY? BETTER NOT HAVE BLED OUT. YOUR CHROMES EXPENSIVE.][/color] Kaeyara’s lips pull into a grim line, as she hunkers down on the rooftop. [MANUBALLISTA] gets propped on the edge, and her overcoat gets pulled up. The cloth— hydrophobic and a bland, boring gray— gets spread out. It covers the barrel of the firearm, and most of their upper torso to boot. Then they proceed to lay in wait. Feeling the rain pelting them, the wind buffeting the whole of Northbridge. And after moments’ considering… She pulls a canister from her hip. It looks like a mil-tech standard smoke-grenade, although it’s marked in skyblues and storm grays. Kaeyara chucks it across the street, pulling the pin just before doing so, and watches as another storm cloud billows up and into the sky. The thunder grows even more intense. The rain pounds harder still. The timer adds another thirty minutes. Four minutes pass, Northbridge stays locked inside its’ homes, no one on the streets… Two minutes more, and Cassia’s Gale starts on a meditative exercise. Flexes muscles, adjusts optics. Checks the sighting of her rifle… The thunder roars once more, makes her think of home. Makes her think of sitting on the porch with grandma and grandpa… Watching the clouds roll in… And a pair of running figures turn onto the street. Cassia’s Gale locks her focus in. [color=Green][4X MAGNIFICATION ACTIVATED//ENTITIES MARKED/MARKER READS: X1 JAHANNAM, X1 UNKNOWN.][/color] They stop after the turn, fifteen meters down the road. Interesting… One has an arm that ends in dagger-like claws. It produces nearly [i]more[/i] heat than the rest of their figure… The other wields a silhouette in the shape of some sort of long-arm. It looks like a shotgun. Hm. Delightful. [/hider] [hider=Roar, scream.] [center][b][h2] [TITANS FALL//THE UNDERCITY//NORTHBRIDGE SLUMS] [/h2][/b][/center] [hr] [color=Green][‘STANDARD’ IMAGING ENABLED//2x MAGNIFICATION ENGAGED/TOTAL MAGNIFICATION: 6x][/color] [color=#8281CF]Cassia’s Gale[/color] held their breath. Muscle-memory kicked in, and they made themselves still as stone, braced their shoulder, and stared through the scope of [MANUBALLISTA]. Scarlet chrome arm… Facial chrome as well? The woman’s teeth are exposed, from canines on back… Maybe not chrome, the markings around the teeth seem to be… fleshy. Hm. Her eyes are shifting, changing color. Hm. Either bioware or some higher end infoware. The woman, almost definitely [color=red][b]Katrina Bloodmoon[/b][/color] was also wearing some form of corset-bodysuit… thing. Her hips and thighs were mostly exposed, and her modesty was otherwise left intact. She, and the compatriot she was running with, was wearing some sort of raincoat, not unlike Kaeyara’s own. The woman turned, saying something to her campatriot at her side. Another woman, fairer skinned than Katrina, nodded. A mask was pulled up over her face, one not too dissimilar from a gas mask. The lenses were black, and to Kaeyara’s surprise, ‘smart’. Barely visible boxes of data, lines of mathematics, and outlines, flickered in the mask’s lenses. The shorter woman turned back to Katrina, said something, and darted to the dropped slate. Good. Make it easier for Cassia’s Gale. Kaeyara shifted in place, ever so slowly, adjusting her stance as they did. The crosshairs of her scope shifted, barely luminescent teal-lines met in a cross, centering over Katrina’s collarbones. Kaeyara let her breath out slowly, in a near silent sigh. And then her breath [i]caught[/i] when Katrina abruptly whipped her head up in Kaeyara’s direction. The woman’s eyes narrowed, staring for a few moments, before turning to her partner. She spoke again, and for a moment, Cassia’s Gale regretted not yet having mastered the art of reading lips. ‘[b]Don’t … … … Sure?[/b]’ The smaller woman nodded. Katrina looked over again… And began to raise her chrome arm. Cassia’s Gale frowned, watched as scarlet-chrome segmented and expanded. Fingers rotated, and curled, becoming bracing struts. The palm split into five sections, spreading apart and revealing hidden machinery. Synthetic muscle and structurals revealed themselves, and before Cassia’s Gale could even [i]think[/i], Katrina [i]attacked[/i]. Sound, when loud enough, when focused enough, was little more than concussive force. Little more than a wall of pressure, shaking the bones, jostling the organs… It was like being kicked by a bull. Cassia’s Gale was bodily thrown, just barely able to roll to the side. A cone of vibrating force, a ripple of noiseless sound, and it tore the air apart. Concrete and plastic stood no chance. She had curled around [MANUBALLISTA], and felt the wave [i]slam[/i] into her body. It picked her up, threw her off the rooftop and send her tumbling through the air. The sound stopped, and Cassia’s Gale uncurled herself, twisting around mid-air. Adrenaline kicks, mind starts dropping into cold focus. The world feels… Slow. Okay. Focus. Time to play. Thunder rumbles overhead. Open the eyes, note the rapidly approaching window, orient so that feet slam into glass. Fire [KATYDID] siphons, reduce speed somewhat. Brace for impact. Slam into glass, break through it without issue. Ignore the startled screaming. Bend the knees, slide across kitchen floor, dig [KATYDID] talons in. Slam into the front door, note occupants of the apartment. One female, adult. One male, adult. Female is raising firearm— Note the yellow outline appearing on the rooftop of building across the street. Note the arm raising again. Throw self to the side, hiss with pain as sound [i]RIPS[/i] the wall and kitchen into shrapnel and debris. Get thrown through a different wall— second time this month, almost the same circumstances— slam into dresser in a bedroom. Roll to feet. Woman screams. Possible casualty. Shit. Ignore it, swallow surging guilt, throw yourself out of the room. Siphons activate, sail through a different front door. Shoulder creaks warningly. “[color=Red][b]I c’n SEE you BITCH! Stay down![/b][/color]” Shouts Katrina, voice louder than it has any right to be from over twelve meters away. Hallway of apartment block. Four doors to the left, two to the right. Window at end of hall, right side. Crumbling wall in front of her, missing door and doorframe, yellow outline visible through a destroyed apartment. Two blue outlines, one holding the other, blood seeps from shrapnel wounds, but both are breathing and alive Thunder [b]roars[/b]. Sprint. [KATYDID] siphons activate again, jump and curl into a ball, kick window. Glass shatters. Freefall. Kaeyara takes their first breath. Adrenaline kicks in [i]hard[/i]. Three stories up, and definitely not enough momentum to make it across the street. Suck in a quick breath, prepare for pain. [i][color=#8281CF]Exhale.[/color][/i] An explosion of air leaps from their lips, whips itself into a short lived tornado that grabs Cassia’s Gale. They exert just barely enough control to SUGGEST a direction, hoping against hope that it works. And so it does, barely. The twister, in its second and a half life span, throws them further. Gives them just a bit more momentum. They slam into the rooftop across the street, feet impact first, inertia carries them into a roll, they pop up again. They take a risk, look over their shoulder to see— Yellow outline, rooftop of the apartment building, arm raised. Shit. Take a risky shot; raise [MANUBALLISTA] in kind, pull the trigger. ‘[b]THUMP.[/b]’ goes the weapon, its’ projectile [i]whips[/i] through the air and grazes Katrina’s shoulder. The woman spins, ducking away just enough to avoid a direct hit. Cassia’s Gale turns and sprints again, feels [KATYDID] hiss one last time— [color=Green][KATYDID DEPLETED//REFILL: 4 SECONDS.][/color] Shit. Make it work, jump down into the alley, note the dumpster on the opposite side, kick off the nearby wall and land heavily on it. Take a second to breathe. Swallow the burning pain of her protesting diaphragm, ignore it. Get ready to run again. [/hider]