The air around the town is all brown from the dirt that had been kicked up in the last ten minutes. Where there had been nothing but high pitched shrills and the sounds of gunfire reverberating throughout the small town, coming from all the houses whose doors had been kicked in and the exterior riddled with bullets. From one house, a low whimpering mewling sound could be heard until it was simply ended with the sound of a single gunshot.

 From the slow methodical steps what emerged from the entrance was a towering behemoth; covered in a thick black-greyish bodysuit that looked like it weighed more than what should have been possible for a normal person to bear. Combined with the unusually large assault rifle it carried, seemed like this would have weighed even the strongest of men down and yet this being carried it with an ease that was almost graceful. It wore a dome shaped helmet made out of a thick layer of clear polycarbonate, so that everyone who had the misfortune to run into it could see the skull that would be staring them in the face.

It stands in the middle of the small town and lets out a few muffled clicks from its jaw to signal that it was done with its job. It almost immediately got responses as more rattled clicks began to emit from nearby houses that just moments ago had seemed far to quiet. Three more emerged from houses, one with a bit of blood on its hands. They looked almost identical to one another. The only difference being the weapons they carried and the unit number displayed on the right side of their chest.

It looked at its three comrades and noticed one was missing. It readied its weapon and headed into another house as the others simply looked on. Inside, it found its final comrade, pointing a longer barreled rifle at two small children not older than five years old, their eyes were bloodshot and puffy but now they were too scared to cry. Their parents were strung out on a bed in the other room, it had been a messy break-in with the room covered in small blotches of blood and a big stained pool of it on the edge of the mattress.

Right before the trigger could be pulled, It grabbed its comrade's Gun and lowered it, shaking its skull in a negative: small ones were to be brought back and rehabilitated. The one with the long barreled gun nodded without issue and brought up its wrist, which attached to it was a blue digital touchscreen. With its gun tucked under its arm, it began to compose a message to the makeshift base that had been set up a few days ago. They would need an extraction vehicle for the children since they had done the walk here on foot. 

When the message had been received and an extraction vehicle confirmed by the base, the one with the Long barreled rifle walked out the door, leaving the children to the final Gate-Killer that stood before them. Taking its strap of the assault rifle and wrapping it around its torso to free its hands. It scooped up the two children in its arms and walked outside. The children, two girls, were too petrified to resist or fight back in any manner and in their terrified stupor focused only on the small red unit number on the right side of its chest.

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It was mid afternoon at this point and he knew that by the end of the day, he was going to be in real pissy mood. Since he was so close to Kenan he had already run into two jeep patrols who of course harassed him and only backed off when they figured out who he was. Now as he approached the bright lights of the City boundaries, he knew he would have to deal with these idiots one last time before he could deliver the news, oh and of course everyone would be stopping dead in their tracks to look at him and gossip for a little while. Afterall, it was always big news when a Runner came into town. Especially[url=http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/267/1/6/s_t_a_l_k_e_r____strelka___by_thefirewarriors-d4ar54z.png] Bobby[/url], who hadn't made contact with either Kenan or Koa for a record five weeks. Many of the Casino owners had thought him dead and it seemed that the leadership up in Koa had been preparing the possibility of his death. Which would have been a fatal blow, for Bobby was one of the best Runners out there though he certainly didn't look like it: dressed in nothing but dirty camo with worn down boots and a brown backpack with what looked like a modified hunting rifle strapped to his shoulder. On the other hand, despite his humble attire, the man looked frightening with a constant grim look in his face that was also riddled with large, unattractive scars. He was a hard man, but also a man who did not drink or engage himself in any of the whoring or gambling that Kenan was known for. He was never fond of the owners and was quick to make disparaging remarks to their faces. Some didn't care, others had more sensitive egos, either way no one could touch him. He was too damn valuable with the added promise that anything less than a Gate-Killer that had tried to touch him ended up dead or close to it.

As he approached the very well guarded entrance to the city, he could seen in the distance all the Casino lights come on as it got darker. The militia captain indicated to his men to be at ease, for he knew the Runner that laid before him and with a low smirk approached him.

“Bobby! We thought you had finally got licked.”

[b]“Yeah well I didn't”[/b] Bobby responded with a huff [b]“I was too busy working with the Angels and their assault on Echetus."[/b]

“Some other Runner came in here a few weeks ago and said something like that was happening, but she didn't know squat about details.”

[b]“I was doing some scouting work for them for a while and the assault began last week.”[/b]

“And?” said the Captain anxiously. For this had been the first time someone had planned a downright assault on the Kingdom of the Gospel and the first time the Angelic Remnant had outright challenged Gospel's power, so the outcome would set a precedent that everyone hoped would turn against Gospel's favor.

However it did not seem the case as Bobby's appearance became more morbid than usual as he spoke to the captain in a hushed tone.

[b]“It was a massive goatfuck. I'm fairly certain no one in the invasion force survived... it was messy. Plus we have a few group of Gate-Killers wandering about”[/b]

The Captain nodded darkly and motioned for the other men stationed to move out of their way as he led Bobby into the City with the citizens who first noticed Bobby stopping to murmur to their friend before heading back to their day.

[b]“I'm gonna have to make an appointment with the Fatasses”[/b] Bobby said, referring to the Casino owners.

“Well they're not going to like it, the evening crowd is about to come in and they like to personally make sure things are being run smoothly.”

[b]“Good. I feel privileged to personally make their day more inconvenient.”[/b] He said with low growl as the Captain took him to the entrance to a particularly large skyscraper that began to cut through the Sun's light as it set in the Horizon.