[IC] Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

[XianaEvermor]

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[The Heap]

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"Come out, come out, wherever you are~," Chiroptera's voice lilted over the piles of scrap as she stepped with slow, purposeful strides through the yard. "C'mon, Grimm... why don't we make today our last date? Those Eagle 5000 XS UHD optics will make fine additions to the colony... They'll look real~ nice next to the 3000 series eyes I took from you last year. That hydraulic jaw? Just think of how many implants I can tear out of your friends with that."

F-ffuck, Grimm hissed quietly in response to the eerie, humorless monotone. The quiet flutter of wings overhead alerted him to the fact that stepping out from the engine compartment of the wrecked semi-tractor he was hiding in would immediately get him spotted. He held his breath and tried to quiet the pounding of his heart as one of her beastly, taloned, digitigrade cybernetic feet silently fell into view just a few paces outside the grill. He flinched as his audio implants registered the harmonic *ping* of muted ultrasonic waves bouncing off the outside of the compartment.

The microscopic vibrations caused a bolt to dislodge and bounce out of an adjacent scrap pile. Chiroptera's movements were like lightning. Grimm's UHD optics barely registered that she was out of frame. An afterimage seared his vision for a moment while the optics compensated, and he cringed away from the shriek of an integrated mono-molecular vibro-sword rending rusted steel and air alike.

Confrontations with that predatory, cybernetic wraith were always tense. She had some kind of hyper-advanced neural acceleration or wired reflex unit that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Probably some fucked up Tinker implant. It made her ungodly fast- the boys were always drooling over it like it was some kind of cybernetic Holy Grail. "If we could only-," they'd say, while scrawling up plans for an ambush some hotheaded scrapper would undoubtedly fuck up. Even if they did manage to pry it out of the bitch, they'd all kill each other fighting over it. Idiots.

To make matters worse, his call for help had only yielded the shrieks of over-amped cyberpsychos screaming about some cloaked lady and Rat pulling swords out of thin air, and something about Mantablack pulling a tasty haul from Shieldtown. Like, no wonder everyone considered them uncivilized monsters right? Not that he could talk: he'd done his fair share of "forcefully repossessing" implants, and other unsavory things. The only thing that made this situation different was that his one fear in this wretched world was gliding around outside like a goddamn ghost just steps away, and he could feel the amped emotions of the nearby swarm itching at the back of his skull.

Rip. Kill. Consume. Revenge.

Chiroptera paused in her stride, turning her masked face towards something in the distance only she could perceive. Grimm nearly took the attack of opportunity. The reason he didn't? Well... that's how he lost his first pair of eyes.

"What luck," she breathed, knocking on panels with her alloy knuckles in "Shave-and-a-hair-cut..." as she strode past. "Two-bits!" banged against the engine compartment loud enough to make him jump. "Looks like 'all I can eat' over at Shieldtown, and all~ your little friends are coming. Hope I see you there, Grimm..."

[XianaEvermor]

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[The Den]

[A Sepokku / XianaEvermor Collaboration]

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“Cute kid, reminds me of my sister.” She could still imagine Luolan’s crying face, like she had left yesterday. The girl was probably old enough to have lost most of the baby-fat around her face by now. Putting both her hands in her pockets, Astrid mused about the Den, found families, and the cost of protecting others as she followed closely behind Wolf.

“She is… a handful,” Wolf murmured, chuckling with a tired note and idly rubbing a hand over the numerous scratches and scars on her cybernetic arm.

Astrid couldn’t help but smile as she thought of the pouting girl Wolf had shooed away, “On the contrary, I walked into a situation unexpected enough to qualify myself as flummoxed…” She looked around the room a bit, the well-kept furniture that held the mark of age. How long had these people been hiding out here? How many wanderers had come here seeking respite, and how many had found it? The thought made her almost hesitant to ask for help. They would be taking on risk for her sake, and she wasn’t even sure she could be honest about why. Not that she knew why in Jahannam, JAHANNAM wanted to know about the bombing.

She gave Wolf another once-over, seeing the stranger in a new light. Good people like her were hard to come by in Titan’s Fall. “I’m Astrid, Grunewald. Formerly of the Children of the Skye. Some people ‘round here have heard of ‘em.” Her words slowly lowered to a mumble as she said the last part. “You know… On second thought, I’m not sure I should be asking you for help. You seem like you have your hands pretty full with…” Her left arm gestured to everything around them lamely. “Wouldn’t want the Horde following you back here.”

“Well. Firstly, if you’re going to stay here for any length of time you may wish to pick another name,” Wolf began. “I’m… familiar with the Children of the Skye, but who you were in the past isn’t important. The Den is where you come to leave all that behind and start with a clean slate,” she explained. For a moment Wolf’s eyes flicked up and to the right: HK had left her in passive recording mode, but there had to be something going on outside since HK was scrambling the Manta Interceptor with the Lockdown Suite, and “Black Betty,” the enormous flying sedan that was basically a gun they'd ripped out of a wrecked A-10 and slapped thrusters on to the catapult. Wolf resisted the urge to run out and check on what was happening. The girls would call her if something got out of hand.

“As far as Halcyon is concerned, we’re unofficially considered part of ShieldTown. We pay for our part of the tithe in the security and services we provide to our neighbor, if that’s what you’re worried about. They also know better than to come snooping around here or trying to settle old grudges,” she quipped. Wolf had sent them a pretty clear message and a bill for the damages last time that had happened. The Dragon, of course, wasn’t pleased. The thought brought an amused smile to her face.

"I'm not, that is to say, I don't-" A new name did sound nice. Something more refined than the ones she'd haphazardly been stuck with. She shook her head to dispel the notion before she could succumb to the temptation, "I just need help getting topside. If you think you can assist me with that, and it won't cause any blow-back on you from the Horde, I'd be very grateful."

She grew quiet for a moment while she carefully thought of what exactly to say. "I'm sure you heard about the explosion in Justice Square. The rest of my family is up on the Plates, some of them not far from there; I need to check on them." None of that had been a lie so far, she nodded slightly before continuing, "And, if it isn't too much trouble, I was hoping we could arrange to have my bike sent up with me? It was a gift from my sister, and she'd kill me if I showed up without it." Telling Wolf more would go a long way to cementing trust between the two, but... Her eyes darted about the room, spartan by necessity, refugees only a few rooms away; thoughts of that little girl's golden eyes, and that feeling of something crawling in the back of her mind while she shared that psychic view of the ocean.

There was no reason to divulge further, these people had their own problems. "I know it's asking a lot, and I don't know when I'd even be back to repay you." Her right hand anxiously reached behind her back, closing around her left upper arm. “I could pay; not much, but I have some Clat on me. I can pay more if you accept credits.”

Wolf’s chair creaked as she leaned back in it, maintaining eye contact with Astrid. She supported her elbow with one arm and pressed a knuckle to her upper lip in thought. The dimming lights and the resonating *thud* of the catapult through the bulkheads above them reminded her that HK was too busy to verify Astrid’s statements. News traveled rapidly in the Undercity, and Astrid’s story tugged on her heartstrings, but was that enough to put herself and her pack at risk for someone she didn’t know? The thought gnawed at her for a solid minute and her cybernetic wolf ears twisted to follow the sound of someone dashing down a hallway in another part of The Den.

“Well…,” she muttered uneasily. “The Lifter won’t breach the surface with your rig.” Wolf didn’t know Jade either when she shot the two men accosting her and brought JAHANNAM down on the pack. “Unless you can carry that thing while climbing the crater wall we’re booking a trip on one of the elevators,” Wolf muttered while staring off into the space between. HK was busy, so she was queuing intel reports from The Den’s servers manually to her HUD. From what she could tell, Freight had been hit pretty hard by some unknown masked Deviant followed by the Hunt. They’d missed a scheduled lift trip. Probably scrambling like hell to get it moving again.

“Someone move the ‘Vulture’ to the catapult when there’s a spare moment, please,” Wolf muttered into her sub-vocal vox. The faint sound of a double-click reply was only just lost to the ambient room noise. “I haven’t pissed off the Dragon in a while… Tell you what: I’ll get you to the surface to check on your family. You bring me back something pretty next time you’re in town and we’ll call it even,” Wolf smirked.

[XianaEvermor]

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[ShieldTown]

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The Silver Fang

The digital, red glare of Fang's visor swept over Raudd and Dean from the abode's entrance. For a moment, the low growl of the suit and soft clicking of its control surfaces micro-adjusting was the only sound. Raudd stood up and joined her. Dean shook his head. Fang threw Raudd's arm around her neck without hesitation as if she were going to lift him bridal style, but scooped him into a much less flattering lumbar carry across her back. The wide plated "tail" of the suit unfurled into an armored skirt, and she leapt with her cargo to the rooftops to get an unobstructed view.

Fang's HUD scanned the layout of the buildings and gave her a rough overhead map to navigate by. Her first thought was to reconnect with Zolya, since Raudd had mentioned she would be arriving soon with another Templar. It would be nice to have the company of another co-worker... well, depending on who it was at least. Help was help, and maybe she wouldn't need to lean on Alex and the locals with the other Templar around. They'd be coming from the West, if she recalled.

She skipped noisily across the rooftops towards the settlement's outer wall, careful not to get close enough to the glowing barrier to get herself or her passenger caught up on the barrier's glass-like shards. They were moving quickly, although she was careful not to exceed a speed where Raudd's eyes might get damaged by dust particulate. Just as the West gate was coming into view, Fang's HUD outlined a cloaked figure zipping away into the crush of buildings. She slid to a halt next to Zolya and her mounts, setting Raudd down while her head tracked the departing figure. That had to be the other Templar.

Air hissed out of the mask's vents, punctuating a note of exasperation apparent in her body language. Just how many times would she narrowly miss running into them? Fang's visor pulled apart, revealing the smooth, reflective black glass of the expression layer as it folded up into a braid running down the back of her neck. Pixelated, glowing red eyes opening up on the surface of the glass broke up the mirror-sheen as she gazed off after the other Templar.

"[:<]"

The frown flickered off the face of Fang's visor as the digital eyes swept the stags and Zolya. Her external Vox clicked on for her to speak, to thank Zolya and Raudd for everything that they had done, but that she had to go. A sound in the distance caught her attention before she could speak, causing the armored feline ears on her helmet to shoot up and twist towards the disturbance. A scream. Two gunshots. And... rushing wind? Her vox clacked off noisily as the combat visor slammed down over the expression layer. In a blast of wind, dust, and loose detritus she was gone, tracing a line off directly towards the disturbance.

The Esper and the Bubble

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[Den Access]

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Jade's sandy blonde hair whipped in her face as she zoomed down the line from the Den. Wolf normally hung straight from the zip-line by the grappling claw in her arm. The rest of The Den's unaugmented mortals clipped their tactical vests into a modified rig and rode the lift to ShieldTown's wall. The loose layers of Jade's hair that were too short to end up tied back blew into her mouth from the odd updraft, and she sputtered gracelessly trying to free them. This was always a problem.

A few stray thoughts drifted up from the city like intrusive strands of hair in her mental soup. She was trying to get better about filtering those out but there were so many. Even in The Den, her world was a jumble of noise, emotions, and imagery that she couldn't get away from. Blocking it out all the time made her brain hurt. Couldn't people just... think quieter thoughts? It's not like people get in trouble for overhearing a loud conversation.

Rip. Kill. Consume. Revenge.

The charged collective scream washed up to hit her like a rogue wave. Jade lost her grip, and for a while she hung lamely from the carabiner attaching her to the rig while the ground whizzed past dizzyingly below. She pulled herself lamely back up to the lift rig while trying to re-orient herself and queued the emergency stop on the controls. Well... machines were funny things that did exactly what they were programmed to, regardless if that was a good idea or not.

The lift-rig in particular could be stopped at any point... any point save past the half-way mark. Wolf and the others had determined that past the half way mark it would actually be safer to take the rig all the way into Shieldtown, since the rig's altitude would be within the threat range of certain Threshers. That was... decidedly NOT what Jade wanted right now, especially since the screaming static grating against her mind exploded over ShieldTown, slamming shut on the settlement walls just as she was reaching them. Jade fumbled with the rig to disconnect herself, fearing she would slam into the bubble but there wasn't enough space. She clung to the rig for dear life and braced herself for the impact instead.

She did hit it... though the impact was not what she was expecting. Aegis' powers were uncomfortable to be around in the best of situations. They were full of static, pokey, invasive even. The blue hardlight pulled at her brain uncomfortably when he moved it, and worst of all, it was charged with [FEELING]. The pervasive need to do better, to be better. The weight of the expectations of others. The want to live up to a legend that was perceived to be much greater than themselves. A desperate sense of loss. Today, mostly anger. Mad. Irritated. Full of ire. Acrimonious. Angry. All around her, touching every surface, staring down in a big, static blue dome screaming...

"[Big Angy Face]"

Jade hung lamely from the rig at the end of the zip line a few feet off the ground, a bit of blood smeared across her face from where she had wiped her nose with her forearm. OK Wolf and Leah had a point: maybe she should actually learn how to block all this stuff out. Big feelings hurt.

"Umph," she grunted, trying to hoist herself up to disconnect the rig. "Inside voice, Aegis. Inside voices inside," she muttered, resting her head for a minute on the cool braided steel of the rig while trying to remember her breathing exercises.

"Hey, you okay?!" A voice from behind her called, and she flailed on the the rig to turn and face it.

"No. Yes? I'm not okay right now. I will be in a minute," she clarified, swinging around to face the owner: a short semi-portly man she recognized from the market. He sold bone carvings and other trinkets. Paul.

"You're the new girl at The Den, right?" Jade nodded. "Listen, it's dangerous out right now. Thunderdome protocol, so I'm gonna help you down and get you inside, okay?" Jade found herself nodding in a daze and suddenly he was reaching up towards her. Her eyes went wide and she recoiled, scrambling to get away from him.

"NO! No! Nononono, no touching!" Paul froze, allowing Jade to exhale and explain. "Wind cuts. I can't control it. You'll get hurt if you touch me," she breathed, trying to calm down and unhook herself from the rig with shaking hands.

"Okay, it's okay. What do you need me to do?"

"Right right. Let me get myself down. One of our planes crashed in the market...," Jade wavered. She wanted to be helpful, but she also knew Wolf would scold her if she ran into danger trying to salvage that wreck. "But I'll go with you and check on it after things calm down," she resolved, climbing back up onto the rig so she could get unhooked more easily.

"Alright, good. I know you girls can take care of yourselves, but if Wolf found out I let you run off with the dome up, she'd never visit my stall again," he chuckled. The contagious mirth forced her to smile, even though her feelings didn't match. The rig finally clicked free and she jumped down, dusting herself off and turning around in time to see a mechanical beast rear up behind Paul and snatch him. In a blink, he was gone, leaving Jade standing rigid in the street. A 'Collector' had taken Paul.

A nightmare beast fusion of flesh and machine whose only purpose was to capture and bring people to the Ripper collective so they could have augmentations forced on them. They had been a regular menace in Northbridge, but Collectors in ShieldTown? Unheard of.

Rule Number 1: Never leave without your knife and sidearm.

Jade stood numbly in the street, hyperventilating while hear heart pounded. Collectors were fast as lightning, and she'd lost sight of the one that took Paul. The metallic scrape of steel on stone behind her, and the crashing against the reinforced bulkheads of ShieldTown's buildings goaded her into action. She sprinted for the nearest opening between buildings she could see while drawing her .40 Beretta. It was heavy and cold in her hands. Wolf had promised to get her a smaller gun when the next shipment came in.

Rule Number 2: Can't help anyone if you're dead. Protect yourself first.

The hair on her neck and spine stood straight up, and she threw herself to the ground reflexively. The freight train of flesh, metal, and death roared over her, skittering to a halt and tearing up chips of concrete from the street as it swung around and lunged. Jade tried to roll away but was pinned before she could correct, forcing a short scream out of her lungs. Air rushed around her ears and shrieked against the metallic limb pinning her down. Oil... or some other fluid sprayed wildly from a severed line, and the limb went limp against her.

Jade wrestled free enough to jam the barrel of her pistol into the beast-like metallic jaws of the creature as it bore down on her and pulled the trigger twice. Mistake. It slumped against her while making some unhappy noises. Scraping, rattling, scurrying, screaming.

Rip. Kill. Consume. Revenge.

Glowing red eyes began to collect at the top of the wall and push through the dome from outside. Rippers. Ice splashed down Jade's back, renewing her struggle to get free. Thunderdome wasn't to keep things out. It was to keep Rippers in. It's keeping them in. It's keeping them in. It's keeping them in. The wind thrashed around her, finding gaps in plated armor and metal reinforcement to slice, and she could hear Paul's sharp groans of discomfort and pain.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Something in the corner of Jade's vision caught her attention. More rippers? No. Knight in gleaming silver. Baleful red gaze sweeping the scene. Somehow it didn't feel intimidating: the feeling behind it was anxiety. Worry that she didn't make it in time. Kicking herself for stopping at the gate. She could have gotten here sooner. Jade tried to flail and make herself noticed. Call out. All she could muster was hoarse breathless screams. The silver clad warrior snapped her head in Jade's direction and leapt down from her rooftop perch.

Motion from the wall. Something dark and heavy thudded into the silver clad warrior before she could reach the ground, bowling her into a gap between buildings and out of sight followed by the cheers and jeers of Rippers pushing their way through the dome. Jade was frozen, and all she could do now was watch.

[druidquest]

Máire sent up a cloud of ash as she hit the ground on the other side of the portal, her arm flipping her back into the air and landing her on her feet. She only had time to cast a quick glance at her surroundings before a new cacophony of alarms ripped her attention back toward Shieldtown, a glimmering blue dome on the horizon. Five miles out? No, closer to seven. Far enough that she wouldn’t be getting back quickly on foot.

Máire’s eyes dropped to the portal, now barely the size of a baseball. She thrust her hand back into the blackness, her arm severing below the elbow as it closed. She had done what she could, now. If Máire had misjudged and SIlver Fang hadn’t come through here, she would at least have a way of getting back on track.

She turned back toward the wastes, the near-imperceptible reticles of her eyes turning back and forth as they scanned the area for the ever-dwindling energy signature of the Ripper she was hunting. Silver Fang was meant to be one of the Templar’s finest; doubtless if Máire had picked up the trail with a starting lag, Fang was already on the cusp of running them down.

Her HUD tagged something. Not a Ripper. It looked like a woman, not far from where Máire had come through the portal, marching through the dust. A sword lanced through the air, and Máire was pulled after it.

---

Máire’s hand flopped into the damp floor of the sewer like an undesired sea bass, tips of her fingers dangling over the water flow. It sat still for a moment, silver dust drifting silently off the stump where it had been severed by the portal. Then the dust froze in mid air, hanging in the shards of light poking through the open manhole cover, before reversing direction and rejoining the amputated limb.

The hand bulged and shifted, silver sand flowing over itself as it reformatted and rebuilt itself into a new form resembling a lizard, its head replaced by a stumpy, featureless tendril that raised itself up to the air as though trying to catch a scent. The metallic “reptile” then twisted itself around, reorienting its direction, before skittering up the wall of the sewer and back through the manhole, vanishing onto the streets above with astonishing velocity for what should have by rights been a dead hand rotting with the sewage.

[fate0013]

Dilemmas of the lazy and Powerful

Dean and Golem watched Raudd and Silver Fang leave. There was little need for further explanations when it came to the Templar's top first responder anyway. there was an emergency, she was gonna help. Raudd had been around for at least one thunderdome if memory served. There was not much to do but sit back and ride things out like always. . .

Accept something felt off.

Even with poor senses, Dean felt the roiling emotions that had passed over him with Alex's dome. Being able to feel it even for a second was concerning. One feeling stuck out more then anything else. Rage. An irrational, anticlimactic anger that was hair raising to put it mildly. Sure the big guy could get upset and irritated. But this . . . it concerned Dean. Not enough to really get him up out of his chair though.

That was the moment he caught Golem staring at him intently.

"What now?"

[SOMETHING IS WRONG. YOU KNOW IT. I KNOW IT.]

" . . . And? There's enough supers here to take care of it. Alex will be fi-" The earth spirit cut him off.

[SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ALEXANDER. WOULD YOU CONTINUE TO HAVE ME SIT BY WHILE A COMMUNITY IS IN DANGER?]

Dean winced at that. Knowing the legend of the golem inside and out. He had banked on the inherent slowness of earth spirits to act and the general safety Alex had provided to this domicile and the territory surrounding it to keep Golem complicit. Sure he helped on occasion, but that was due to outside prodding. He leaned forward to look the spirit in the eyes. "And what about when Alex finds out? 'Hey buddy, I've been a ridiculously powerful geokinetic the whole time and been helping out behind your back. please don't get mad!' Because that's going to go SO well with all the other shit going on. Or did you forget the fact that even I can feel how pissed the fuck off he is right now?"

Golem remained motionless. His words ringing clear as ever. [WE CAN'T SIT ON THE SIDELINES FOREVER CLAY. THE CALL TO ACTION IS NOT EASILY IGNORED FOREVER.]

"You're sounding a little too much like my parents for my liking little dude." He glared at unblinking eyes before looking down at his hands. When had he pulled out his baseball? Rolling the ball from hand to hand, he took in the imperfections of the restitching he had done and the numerous doodles and sigils in sharpie that nearly covered up every centimeter of the white surface.

Yeah, His parents. The Locklear family wasn't terrible by any means. But boy were they a piece of work. An extensive family of Earth mages that had been the wardens of the Earth primal spirit for generations. Families like that unable to get big through marriages and birth would opt to find awoken children with traits and qualities that lined up enough with the families to bring into the fold. Dean had been one of those adopted kids. Taken from a reservation that nobody apparently had the mind to remember the name of. He always figured it was the Locklear way of keeping him from having any familial bonds outside of them. The fact he had never had such a drive to go and seek out his birth parents in the first place apparently wasn't assurance enough.

Magic aptitude testing and lessons since before one could even walk didn't make for the most perfect of childhoods. But it had been comfortable at least. But Dean had found ways to cut all of that short. "Sabotage" years of preparation and effort all because he really couldn't be bothered to give a damn. Yet despite his "efforts", He had still become the warden and partner of Golem. Ironic.
He would still get calls and letters every month or so.

The universe really liked to poke him around when all Dean wanted to do was not be bothered.

A thought that felt foreign came to the forefront all too suddenly. Part of Dean would almost expect it to have something to do with Golem. At what point did laziness turn into cowardice? Just how far could one claim something was too much of a bother to be involved with? How many times could he sidestep everything around him before something he could have prevented blew up in his face and shattered the life he had put together over the years.

That was when Golem chose to give out a nugget of wisdom that really did make it seem like the living pile of rocks was reading the mage's mind.

[EVIL PREVAILS WHEN GOOD MEN AND WOMEN DO NOTHING.]

And of course that was around the time the universe had to feel like it had slowed to a crawl. And for the first time in years, Dean Locklear had to make a hard decision that had no easy or comfortable outcome.

" . . . Fuck."

Glimpses of the Gorgon

Alex was beyond Angry at this point.

After having been knocked down to the ground. Alex remained faced down for some time. Probably no more then two minutes in actuality. This. This was it. He had had enough. Everything was going wrong. He felt like absolute shit. Everything and everyone was just ticking him off more at this point.

Alex clawed at the ground like a caged tiger. his "armor" of glitching glass scrapped and shattered across his skin. The sound was tortured.

With a shove, the man was back on his feet. His body stabilizing enough to its usual blue. That was when the noise got his attention. His head snapped up to take in the sight. Rippers. Augmented to hell and back. Flesh overtaken by chrome, alloy, and plastics. And they were trying to grab civilians. Everything came into focus suddenly.
His limbs no longer shook. His breathing steadied. Fingers curled into fists. He took a step forward. The ground rippled beneath him and glowed blue.

"N̺̻̔̆ͅO̖̼ͩ͌͐."

"The Fuck is tha-?!" One of the Ripper's that had the look somewhat resembling a demented, emaciated rabbit standing on its hind legs barely had the time to finish their sentence before Alex's boulder-like fist crushed into his face. The suddenness of the attack was jarring. whats more was the speed at which a man Alex's size seemed capable of. Just as quickly, panes of jagged glass tore into their cyber legs. The Ripper hadn't the chance to even drop to the ground and scream before their arms were grabbed in each of Alex's hands. It had all been so fast. There was little the Ripper could do but squeak out one word through their broken face. "What?"

"N̺̻̔̆ͅO̖̼ͩ͌͐ M͉̅ͮ͒ͤO̖̼ͩ͌͐R͉̜̎͡͠Ḛͭ̉̇͟."

The Ripper's arms were ripped from their ports mercilessly. The broken stump that had once been a man writhed and screamed on the ground. The other rippers and civilians alike stood on shock of the brutality. The Shiledtown residents however were quicker to escape their captors. leaving them to the Rogue's fury.

One took a single step back. only to find a new wall of sharp hardlight digging into their back. Alex lunged forward. Cyber limbs continued to be severed, crushed, ripped and torn free. Any that would try to run before Alex was done with one of their "friends" quickly had their legs taken out from under them. Bullets were shot at him. blades swung in desperation. Some used explosives. The horror grew more apparent by the second when the rogue didn't so much as flinch at any attempts to maim of impede his progress. One tried to stab him in the eye. the knife shattered on contact. The Ripper's wrist then splintered in Alex's grip.

Worst still. He didn't yell. Not a scream or curse escaped his lips. The only thing that could be heard from Aegis were growls and snarls. The lack of banter to anybody who knew the Rogue of Shieldtown was never a good sign.

All were left alive. Whether that could be a mercy for a cyber psycho was debatable, having their limbs taken from them and left alive at the mercy of others. Alex didn't care right now. They were just more monsters. these ones just walked and talked like people. The Dragon would deal with them when he was done anyway.

The blue hardlight bathed the street in an eerie glow as he stepped over the gibbering and whimpering stumps.

For the next few minutes, Alex hunted. Leaving nothing but damaged bodies in his wake. No attempt to negotiate was made. No demands. Nothing. Rippers that tried to take hostages soon found their prisoners safely contained in skin tight fields of barriers. Others that tried to make threats their jaws as broken as the first Ripper's had been. Sometimes, Alex let them attack him. Brushing through their weapons and augmented strikes, Just to give some measure of hope. Before breaking. Every. Single. Last. One. It wasn't out of cruelty. It was a message. A warning. Being made as loud and clear as Alex could make it outside of crossing that final line and putting heads on spikes.

Aegis wasn't fucking around anymore.

He was loosing himself in all the violence. Everything else didn't matter right now. Alex just barely held on to his restraint. Enough not to go any further. Not that anyone in Shieldtown would judge his treatment of the Ripper's. But he still would . . . He had enough sense to hold on to that much. The rest of him however, The rest wanted to rip them apart.

No Ripper was safe. And they were unwittingly trapping themselves in here with him. Despite how monstrous he appeared, everyone he saved still thanked Aegis under their breath. He was still a symbol of protection and hope to them. Some stayed to detain what remained of their would be assailants. As for the Ripper's. every one that saw him coming felt only one thing. Fear.

[chaotix14]

It certainly was an experience being carried around like a 200 pound sack of potatoes at blistering speeds by the local number one Templar. Then again, not the worst way he has ever crossed a distance and would probably still be more comfortable than being fireman carried by Alex. Seeing as how Yue made her way towards the edge of town it seemed she wanted to meet up with the other Templar first, and that meant looking for Zolya. "Flock of ravens on your left, she's over there." He yelled as soon as he spotted those feathered menaces against the blue of the dome... Was it just him or was that dome excessively spiky this time?

After a very rough and jostled ride Raudd was dumped near Zolya to recuperate for a moment while Fang with frustration pouring out of her every move went after the Templar that had decided to once again evade rendezvous. "Don't know what you're gonna do, I'm gonna take a couple of your wolves and find Alex. Something is very wrong with him, and I think he might be actually angry." Raudd said as to his sister the moment his senses properly reset and he got his bearings again. "Alex angry? And how exactly are you gonna find him? I'm coming with you." She replied as Raudd mounted the stag that the second problematic Templar had left behind.

"Follow the trail of destruction I guess, you hear that sound of smashing machinery, that's probably Alex ripping apart the rippers." He retorted as he took off in the direction he had been hearing the wave of destruction move towards with his sister in hot pursuit as she sent out her Ravens to look for the hero in blue... Or red or green, though hopefully blue.

However it did not take long before they crossed paths with some friendly cybernetically enhanced fiends themselves. A rare rush of adrenaline shot through Raudd's head as he watched the ripper raise an intergrated shotgun to the head of a small child in a struggle over some crappy prosthetic leg the kid had. Not thinking he charged the ripper with the stag piercing it's arm and it's torso onto the antlers like a macabre cybernetic ornament as the stag continued it's charge fiend first into a nearby building.

Zolya in the meantime had rushed over to help the kid, and more importantly make sure what Raudd was going to do to the ripper wasn't going to be seared onto the boy's retina's for the rest of his life. She'd seen that spark of fire, and the result wasn't going to be pretty.

As the dust settled from the impact and the cyber fiend got his first look at his assailant he was met with the sight of the viking axe in hand standing next to the stag that was pinning him against a solid steel barrier, axe blade already launched into a vicious attack. If there was any reading the expression on either face even through the cyber addiction fueled psychosis there were clear notes of dread. Raudd's on the other hand would be more befitting on a berzerker, rage, vengeance, and a fire fueled by resentment could be read in his eyes as the axe came down on the ripper's one free arm.

Saying it was a clean cut would be an overstatement the ripper had attempted to protect his arm by shielding it with his hand resulting in it partly slicing partly ripping the fingers in it's path off the hand, and when the axe made contact with the upper arm the flesh rended quickly to energy blade of the axe. However the bone yielded more resistance and felt like trying to hack through a gnarled piece of wood and snapped crudely as the full force of the swing came down on it. The rippers scream and following pleadings that followed the sound of the arm flopping lifelessly onto the ground could probably be heard streets away, luckily Zolya had isolated the kid from the horrible sound of the murder ready ripper finding his equal treatment less than pleasant. "You're never gonna hurt anyone." Raudd snarled at the creature struggling against the stags pin and he wound up another big swing.

This time when the blade made contact it was across the metallic skull enhancements the ripper had. A mixture of wet metallic crunches, cracks and smashing sounds followed as Raudd unobstructed by the ripper re-engineered the cybers skull into a modern art exhibition. The result of which had more in common with the aftermath of falling into a junkyard's metal press than a cybernetic enhancement, and if the ripper wasn't already past tense it would be soon enough given the amount of blood and other mechanical fluids it had lost in the process of it's execution.

After kicking the macabre antler decoration free from the stag head into a secluded trash pile he returned to Zolya and upon seeing that the kid was fine he was finally able to calm himself down somewhat, but it was practically guaranteed that the next ripper they were to come across would share the priors fate for daring to associate with such trash and as a sacrifice to quell Raudd's anger.

Leaving the kid to it's fate with god knows how many rippers still on the loose just didn't sit well with either of them, and they took a little detour to bring him to a shelter of some kind, or rather a little resistance strongpoint where there were at least some people with weapons and armor to protect the civilians. After the detour it didn't take the siblings all that long to get back to tracking their target, especially not given he'd left a trail of broken and trashed bodies in his wake, some still breathing others having been dealt with, but most looked to have some additional trauma that didn't look like Alex's unusual savagery. "Is...Is Alex usually that violent?" "No, he's not. And that's why I'm worried."

[fate0013]

Tucked in one of the more dismal and out of the way corners of Northbridge was one of many hideaways found in some hole-in-the-wall or forgotten back-end alley. The ramshackle door would be easily missed, but shine as black light over it and you could see the paint and writings on the wall around it. Neon designs of organic Gigeresque imagery fused with street graffiti. All wrapped around lettering that constituted a sign for the hidden establishment.

Cortex

The paint and taggings were well kept, and the signal pheromone's some of the Cult of Flesh members used were strong here. It was definitely the place Kiran was looking for. He knocked on the door five times in a circle pattern and waited. Moments later, an eye slit was pulled to the side. A voice like someone who chained smoked all their life growled out in mild irritation.

"Password?" A pair of toad like eyes glared out from the slit.

Kiran smirked, pulling their hood back and giving the doorman a cheerful look. "Do I really need one?" He batted his eyelashes almost innocently before their tail whipped out from behind them, Its stinger extending and pointed at the doorman's exposed eyes.

"Shit!?" The eye slit was slammed shut as multiple locks were undone before the door was thrown open, revealing a large, almost literal toad of a bouncer stepping aside and bowing their head. "S-sorry boss. D-didn't know it was you." The man gulped loudly as Kiran walked past. The scorpion tail trailed behind, Its stinger gently tracing the whimpering bouncer's chin for an agonizing second as The mad tinker mad their way into the den.

Black lighting made the halls explode with colors. Some of the splatters on the walls and ceiling may of may not have been blood. The thumping music became louder and louder as he approached a second pair of double doors. Pulling their hood back on, Kiran let out a satisfied sigh as he pushed forward.

The air was thick with sickly sweet fumes and raging hormones.
Cortex was a gang hideout in some sense, but it was also equal parts a club, drug den, and underground fight ring. In the mass of bodies mingling and getting lost in the atmosphere, not a single one was unaugmented or mutated. There were a rare few that just barely looked human anymore, flesh twisted and sculpted Into beautiful and terrifying images one would normally only see in fiction or media. Some danced, some drank, others partook in the copious amounts of narcotics that were plentiful. Outside of the bar/dispensary that took up one side of the room and the dance floor space, a good chunk of the room was dominated by a roped off pit. Said pit was full of cultists in what could be best described as a bloody "bare fisted" brawl. Ironically one of the fighters did appear to have bear paws for hands.

Kiran Slipped past the crowds and mad it to the bare. One of the bartenders, a multi-armed woman with patches of iridescent scales on her skin That was in the process of making multiple drinks came to serve him.

"What can I get cha?"

"A Synapse Scorcher. On nitrogen, no ice."

The bartender faltered for a moment before quirking an eyebrow. "Got a death wish there buddy?"

Kiran Leaned over the counter, Still smiling. "I think i can handle my signature drink love. By the way, Is Finger's in? I have some business that requires his-" Kiran gave an amused snort. ",Delicate touch." "

The bartender's eyes widened. Her 'Primary" hands immediately going to work making an amber colored drink that looked like it had bursts of green static dancing inside the liquid. "He's down bellow. shouldn't be too busy for you." She kept herself professional, not even shaking as she poured the lethal cocktail.

Kiran took the glass, sniffed it before taking a sip. It trailed down the throat with a spicy and minty flavor. what came next was a pleasantly warm numbness. To anyone else though, the Synapse Scorcher would be an agonizing experience like swallowing ground up glass and being injected with some demented form of neurotoxin. Kiran liked to put their augmentations through their paces.

He left the woman a generous tip before moving on. The bartender took the two strings of clat, not sure anyone believe her if she said she made a drink the "God" of the cult approved of. Not that the club's boss would give her a raise for something like that.

---

Walking down a flight of stairs littered with electronic cables mounted on the walls and spilling on the steps, Kiran was careful not to trip before entering what looked like a server room from hell. Given the flesh growths on some of the tech and what looked like grown brain tissue plugged up to various computer towers.

A thin man sat in a chair in the back of the room. working on multiple keyboards and flicking their eyes between several screens. each of his hands had far too many fingers of varying lengths. Cyber plugs and various medical equipment were attached to him in almost asymmetrical placements that he didn't seem to care about.

Kiran walked up behind the man, taking in the various screens while sipping at their drink. "Fingers."

The man didn't even stop or look away. "Boss."

"I've got a job for you. one that I'm working on. Personally."

That put a pause to the man's work. He turned his head to regard the tinker. Large, unblinking compound eyes stared for minute before Fingers scared face split into a needle toothed grin. "I'm listening~"

[XianaEvermor]

Fang's feet skittered across the rough concrete of ShieldTown's Streets, attempting to find enough friction or stability to stop the pointy semi-tractor of flesh and metal from pushing her clear across town as its sword-like claws skittered lamely against Forgemaster's armor. She was only just holding the gnashing mandibles away from her face and keeping it from grappling her entirely with a straight-arm. That luck wouldn't last... eventually it'd find a gap and cut into her under-suit.

"C'mon...," she grunted with a note of frustration as her heel skipped off a rock and buckled her knee for a moment. Fang braided [Silver] threads down her leg and stomped as the Collector thrust her out of an alleyway and into the thoroughfare next to ShieldTown's wall. The pair stopped abruptly as the concrete shattered beneath her, and the tail end of the creature buckled and jack-knifed like a de-railed train. Her HUD outlined Raudd and Zolya in her peripheral as she pushed with her toes to buy enough leverage for a straight punch directly to the collector's thorax.

The impact echoed through the alleys and streets like a gunshot. The force ripped a plate of armor off its back and hurled it into the side of someone's house as the collector tumbled after it, scrabbling at steel armored walls and concrete to regain its footing. Fang took a breath, pulling time to a crawl to buy a moment to think.

What's the plan here?

Got pulled away from an endangered citizen, need to get back to her.

Can't delegate this though, too dangerous.

What do I have to work with?

Heartbeat.

Reinforced buildings. Some juicy corners. Lots of concrete.

Many hard and durable surfaces. Iffy traction: liable to skate over the surface of these streets if I'm not careful.

And the creature? ... Strong, but can't overpower me. Fast but can't outpace me... confined quarters. many pointy ends.

Some bruises. Armor is holding. Friendlies in the line of fire...

Relentless assault. Pull it out into the open across town where I have the advantage. End it quickly.

Fang stepped after the collector before it could regain its balance, spinning the weapon wheel in her HUD until her hand closed around the shaft of Alex's spear, materializing in a flash of white. Windows shuddered as she whipped past, the spear sang electric bass in low "E." The collector was angling to intercept. Fang bounced herself up and skipped off a wall to change angles, driving the spear down towards a seam in the collector's armor that looked like it was protecting some vital plumbing. It twisted a sword up and sparks flew as the collector's arm was sheared off.

It was just enough of a deflection to throw her strike off target and gouge the armor. Fang let go of the spear as she felt the shaft bend, allowing it to spin in place as it ricocheted off the collector instead of getting flung from her grip. She deflected an overhead slash with her forearm as her momentum carried the two together.

It was leveraging the confined space to keep up with her. Perception enhancing implants… this was starting to feel eerily familiar to the fights she had with Violet Glass a couple years previous. Fang turned her shoulder into the collector and checked it to the ground, grabbing the spear as her feet found the street again. She swung the flat side of the spear awkwardly, and it crashed like a cymbal as it slapped the collector’s torso. Her feet found traction and she hauled on the end of the spear, feeling it flex and trusting that it wouldn’t break as she swept up the collector. Servos and hydraulics complained as Fang crushed it into the reinforced corner of somebody’s house.

The collector’s limbs bent and folded at uncomfortable angles as it braced itself against the building and shoved down on top of her. Fang was off balance as its full mass hit her shoulders. Change of plan… hopefully Raudd wasn’t rushing into that intersection. She let herself fall back, rolling with the momentum and planting her feet on the collector’s thorax. When she felt her shoulders rolling up, Fang braced her hands against the ground and took a breath, shoving with her whole body and launching the collector. It tumbled back through the intersection chased by sparks as it twisted and flailed to try and find purchase on something before hitting ShieldTown’s outer wall.

Fang was in motion as soon as her feet touched the ground, twirling the spear’s point into position and aiming with her free hand. She dug her toes into to the concrete pushing off for one step before planting, twisting through her hips and throwing the spear. It boomed through the intersection like a cannon shot, and cracked like thunder as it impaled the collector against ShieldTown’s wall. The collector’s thorax was crushed by the force, splintering the wall, and sending a shockwave rippling through the defensive perimeter and dome overhead. There was a short but tangible pause before the spear’s pommel sparked and fired its rocket thruster, shuddering lamely as the collector’s spindly legs writhed in its final moments.

Fang’s breath hissed out of her helmet’s vents as she took a moment to regain her bearings. There was only a moment or two to catch her breath before she needed to get back to that trapped civilian.

Dean really wasn’t kidding when he said that thing was rocket powered…

[fate0013]

Why? Why the hell did the world feel like it was crashing down around him? Oils, blood replacements and cybernetic lubricants dripped from Alexander's jagged form in a display of cybernetic gore. The jagged spikes and scales of blue glass glowed eerily through the oil slick as it ground and cracked while he stumbled down a street he couldn't name in his current daze. He didn't appear to be all there mentally, looking confused but still searching for any Ripper they could see. It was a wonder how Alex still had the mental faculties to leave all of his "victims" both alive and in less then critical conditions. Their mental states from being crippled and dismembered was still more then questionable.

The Thunderdome glitched along with his armor. Red and green light cut through the blue tint that had bathed the whole of Shieldtown since the barrier formed. Spikes artifacted, cracked, and warped in any which way possible. Some buildings came centimeters from suddenly becoming pincushion by a dozen glitchy and flickering spikes of hardlight death.

Buildings over a block away were locked down and sealed. Not a single window was open, nobody so much as took a glance outside. Whether it was out of fear of the Ripper's or the Shieldtown rogue having seemingly gone mad was anyone's guess.
Alex paused, remembering something. He looked behind him, Looking at the street riddled with the moaning and `blubbering forms of Ripper's that couldn't get away in time. The one he had been dragging by their one remaining leg was pulled around and lifted into the air. Their fear stricken face dangling upside-down and forced to make eye contact with Alex.
There was a pregnant pause as Alex looked the cyborg up and down for a minute that dragged on far too long for anyone's comfort. most of their face looked like it had been carved away. Eye sockets replaced with an array of sensors and cracked optical lenses making them look like a scrapped together tactical spider. It was nearly impossible to read their expression if it wasn't for their quivering lip.

"Mmh." His grunt portrayed enough anger and frustration to make the Ripper flinch. Kind of impossible to empathize with people that willingly chopped people up for parts. Alex didn't show any sign that he was aware or cared that some of the people might have been kidnapped, forcibly augmented and hopped up on drugs until they were raving cyber psychos.

Alex dropped the poor soul and moved on at a trundling pace. He seemed fit to just continue hunting the fanatical cyborgs until he felt better at this point, Dove having been kidnapped was barely even in his thoughts at this point. He didn't even know the face of the Ripper that took them. Hell, Alex wasn't even trying to question anyone anymore. It was impossible to think straight anymore.
A glance down a side street caught his attention, spotting a group of Ripper's frozen stock still having realized they had been noticed. There was just a second stillness before Alex exploded forward.

He didn't even hear them surrender through his rekindled tunnel-visioned anger.

The dome flickered and glitched.

[ZombiesAnHyenas]

A Chance for Rain

[TITANS FALL//THE UNDERCITY//NORTHBRIDGE OUTSKIRTS]

---

Thunder rumbled above Northbridge and its general surroundings. Thick clouds had gathered, fat with the promise of a somewhat rare phenomenon.
Rain. Heavy rain. It had already begun to sprinkle by the time the clouds had really billowed over the settlement. The wind was sharp, cold and ripping. It fluttered in fits, blowing for three, maybe five minutes at a time, before stopping.
And starting again.

The air itself, billowing in great gulps and sighs. The dust it kicked up from the south was sandy brown, obscuring the horizon ever so.
Enough that the additional clouds being quite literally blown into the air were… largely ignored.
For thirty minutes, perhaps more, the sky filled with a rapidly darkening column of thunder and rain.

Meanwhile, panting in the foliage on the outermost outskirts, Cassia’s Gale did their best to catch their breath and note the changes. Their throat and chest burned, and the strangest sensation filled the nerves of their diaphragm. Like someone was trying to tickle the muscles, with feathers made of hot needles.
Yay.

“Weather is… Optimal. Wind… Optimal. Distance… Acceptable. Alright… Let’s get this started. Setting the timer for… two hours.”
Kaeyara nodded, frowning some as they took another shaky breath. The strain from using their power would take another minute or so to fade, maybe more… Definitely more. Oh well. They had started the process already, there was no guarantee the storm wouldn’t fade by the time they were primed up again. They still hadn’t figured out how to make the clouds really stick.

Manuballista was raised to their shoulder, the rifle taking no small amount of effort to heft. Kaeyara shifted some, moving to perch behind the hunched back of her exo-suit. A pupil dilated before blowing wide. The world brightened significantly, colors deepened before having their saturation reduced.

[X8 MAGNIFICATION//RODS ENHANCED//COLOR CORRECTIONS ENGAGED].
[WARNING! “Catch your breath.” PROTOCOL ENGAGED//NEW MARKER ESTABLISHED: 00:30 SECONDS//“Don’t push it further.”]

Kaeyara blinked, wincing somewhat as the words blazed against their HUD, before sighing in relief as they faded. A new record for their Deviancy. Nice.
She shook her head and focused again, staring into Northbridge from her vantage point. They spent time marking civilians, those who were armed and those who weren’t, TFPD, their vehicles, and “enemy combatants.” Civilians glowed a deep [BLUE], while Titan’s Fall’s finest took on a brilliant [GREEN]. Anyone who was clearly associated with JAHANNAM was outlined in glorious [YELLOW].
Her targets moved closer, thankfully. Three outlined in [YELLOW], one in [BLUE]. The deal was going south, if the trickle of black-red fluid from the civvies mouth was anything to go by.

The two humans from JAHANNAM were shoving the … Man. The cyber-animal at their heels was snapping its teeth at the man, and the two clearly didn't care as to whether or not he got nicked.
Hm.
Well then. Kaeyara nodded, slipping once again into Gale’s mindset as Manuballista came up once more. They sighted through the incorporated scope, taking a long, deep, breath as they focused.

One… Two… Flash of lightning, BOOM of thunder to cover up the deep thump of the coil-rifle in her hands. Brace against the mild recoil, switch target, focus, brace against the recoil again.
Repeat an additional time.
Watch the woman drop with an eight inch hole in her sternum, the man drops as one leg finds that it has no support from the shin down.
The cyber-animal, flung against the street at its feet, slammed into the earth by kinetic force unmatched.

And Cassia’s Gale is already moving, sprinting like their life depends on it. From their calves and shins, siphons open, and pressurized air only lends to their speed. They’d not yet outrun a car, but they’d certainly outpace any possible reinforcement for the [YELLOWS].
It’s time to begin.

… Ah. There’s the heavy rain. Even better.

Louder than…

[TITANS FALL//THE UNDERCITY//NORTHBRIDGE SLUMS]

---

It took Kaeyara little more than five minutes to get to the fallen JAHANNAM member. By that point he was clearly able to call for assistance, though, if his panicked expression was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be arriving soon. The weather was god-awful, with an onslaught of rain rendering the streets into lanes of water more akin to shallow rivers. Gutters and drains worked overtime, receiving more water in the past few minutes of the storm than in years, probably.
Research into weather phenomena wasn’t all that high on Kaeyara’s to-do list.

Kaeyara slid to a stop not but twenty feet from the downed man, watching in silence as he did his best to drag himself to a nearby wall. He was casting his gaze about, speaking frantically into a communications array of some sort.
“…No! I don’t know! We were jus’ fine, jus’ gettin’ Moreau to cough up the dough he owed for his monthly— No! I don’t KNOW! I TOLD YOU!”

Hm. He sounded… panicked. Frustrated, even. Desperate, one could say.
“Jus’ get someone over here already! Kinsing is probably fuckin’ flatlined, and I’m gettin drowned by th’fuckin’ sky! … How long will HE take to get out here?! … That’s too long! I’m fuckin’ bleedin’ here!” He exclaimed, throwing a hand out to the side. “I can barely fuckin’ SEE, and the stims’re only gon’do so much! Hurry up! Fuck!”

He slumped down after his tirade, panting and flinching at a crack of thunder. Kaeyara sighed, pulling the half-mask that her undersuit provided up over her nose as she stalked closer.
They looked up and to their left, jogging over to the two story— seemingly a residence— before kicking off its wall. Her legs pushed against one wall, then the other, sharp ‘PSSHT’s of air accompanying each leap.

Then they were up on the roof, striding over to the ledge above the ganger. He was already looking about again, clearly having heard [KATYDID]’s siphons. Oh well. Time to get his attention.
Their voice was sharp, oozing with disgust and malice in equal measure, as they called out to him through the din of rainfall. “Oy, buddy. How’s th’leg? You gonna bleed out soon? Hm?”

The man jerked, flicking his head in their direction as he squinted through the rain. “Oy! Fuck’off, you! I ain’t no easy pickin’! Fuck ‘ith me, and you fuck ‘ith JAHANNAM!” came his responding shout. Kaeyara sighed, shifting and stowing [MANUBALLISTA] away as they instead reached for [PLUMBATAE]. Their thumb pulled the hammer into firing position with a satisfying ‘c-click’, as they called down once more.

“Don’t be uncharitable now, I only have a question for you. Or … More, questions, I suppose! You still got an active link?” They questioned.

“… Maybe! Why? Picked a bad time to join up, if tha’s what you’re ‘ere for. Whatchu want dammit?!” He shouted, squinting up at the vaguely defined shadow above him.

Their voice came again, harder now, colder than the rainfall. “I’m lookin’ for a chick, if you’ve gotta know. Runs with your crew, last I heard. Got a real nasty smile? Katrina. Ringin’ bells?”

“An’ you think I’m jus’ gonna TELL you where she is?! What if I don’even know how t’find her? Hm?!” Cried the wounded man, reaching for the sidearm on his hip.

His question was solid, and fair… Hm.
“If y’know, an’ tell me, I’ll drop you an additional stim for your leg. If y’don’t, I’ll drop you the stim, an take your link. If y’do, but you DON’T tell me… well… They trailed off, abruptly leaning away from the edge of the roof.

The man’s arm had whipped up, holdout pistol in hand.
There was a bark, and the subsequent sizzling-crack of a bullet whizzing through the air made them snort. He had missed.

Well, at least he wasn’t in shock, somehow. … As evidenced by him holding a ‘conversation’ so easily. Those stims must’ve really been something. Hm.

Well. If he wanted to be like that!

“’See that you’ve gone with option three, alright then, you made your choice. They shouted, before seemingly vanishing.
The man, cold, nervous, and hopped up on combat stims as he was, immediately began checking all his possible directions. The rain, the dark from the clouds above, and the intermittent flashes of lightning all set about to make his sight as unreliable as possible.
He may have been surprised by the sudden appearance of a weight on his good leg. And the sudden pain in his gun hand.

Cassia’s Gale dropped from the roof, [PLUMBATAE] barking only once on the way down. [KATYDID] made sure that their descent wouldn’t harm them in the slightest, alongside their nearly perfect crouch. They felt the knee ‘sna-CRACK’ under them. Watched as the ganger’s holdout pistol exploded into plastic and metal scraps, along with his hand.

His scream, agonized as it was, got cut short, as Cassia’s Gale abruptly stood and planted a foot on his throat. They flexed, and [KATYDID] responded. Razor sharp spurs appeared on heel, toe, and knee, while Cassia leaned in.

“N’uh uh. No yellin’ this time. Gimme th’slate phone now. C’mon, be a good boy.” They growled, eyes illuminating in the dark as they hauled a deep breath in.
The man, thankfully, acquiesced after only a moments hesitation. His working hand slid to his right pocket, removing the desired device as he held it out to them.
It was taken unceremoniously, snatched really, and the spurs left.

Then Cassia’s Gale was spinning in place, a perfect 360 kick lashing out. His head jolted sideways, eyes rolled up, and he was out. Finally. They shuffled about in their pockets, deeply lined as they were with this coat, and dropped an ‘advanced’ stim into his unconscious lap.
Hm.

They turned, striding away and deeper into Northbridge. They even took the time to jump up onto the rooftops again, blinking slowly at each crack and boom of thunder.
They tapped the slate in their hands, watching its screen light up, before reaching for the small of their back. A datajack was retrieved, part of the [J0VE] spinal-ports, and slotted into the side of the slate.

It’d take them some time to break past its defenses but, well… Oh well! Time to work.

[XianaEvermor]

---

[FREIGHT]

---

Leaving Shieldtown after Thunderdome Protocol physically hurt. The girls had assured her that that they had everything under control. Vi had radioed that she was en-route to locate Jade, and Wolf had seen the cyber-warrior crash into a wave of Ferals on their way out. Getting pressed against Astrid's back during their ride to Freight made up for the anxiety a little.

[HK] had slaved [Albatross-02] to Wolf's receiver, and the matte drone sailed silently behind them like a wraith on insulated thrusters. It had a couple of AGM-65 Mavericks, and a .50 Cal machinegun along with the Enhanced Observation suite. Not a lot of ordinance, but in a pinch nothing turned the tables like a surprise missile from a platform nobody knew was there. Wolf knelt on the lip of the overlook where they had stopped while [Albatross-02] highlighted all the Halcyon goons wandering around in the open, and a few inside buildings that pinged on thermal. The structures of Freight weren't very well insulated, thankfully.

[OBSERVING 24 HOSTILES]
[NOTATING 13 PRIOR DISTURBANCES]
[RUNNING PATH_TO_VICTORY.SIM]
[PROCESSING] . . .
[SUGGESTING KINGSLAYER.PRTCL TO HOST] -|

No, [HK], I know we want this elevator but we aren't here to conquer it. This is a stealth mission.

Wolf rolled her eyes a little as [HK] highlighted several infrastructure targets for AGM strikes insistently. It was still technically considered "stealth" if nobody was around to talk about what happened, and sowing chaos in the settlement would be so easy. Wolf stamped out the notion firmly.

Stealth means nobody knew we were there, [HK].

[HOST REJECTS SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION]. . .
[REGRETTABLE] -|

"Well... Looks like we're dealing with about twenty that aren't working or otherwise distracted. They're spooked, moving in full fireteams. Looks like someone did a number on one of their transports, and a large number of them are still cleaning up from the early Hunt. No Rippers, thankfully,"

[LOCATING TARGET FOR INTRUSION]
[PATHFINDING]. . . -|

[HK] drew a NAV-line into the Elevator facility for the [Vulture] drone on her back to follow.

Yes, [HK] we can get in and out that way without being seen, that doesn't get Astrid inside.

[CONSIDERING SUGGESTIONS FROM... guest] -|

Ugh. Fine. I'll ask. Brat.

"If we cause too big a disturbance they'll probably lock down the Elevator again, but from what I can tell it looks like they're in a hurry to launch it. Got any ideas?"

[Sepokku]

Astrid frowned slightly while looking at Wolf. She pondered how to answer the question, running her her left hand through her mess of raven hair, subconsciously working her fingers through a tangle. "Uhhh...." She drew a blank before puffing out both of her cheeks and admitting, "No. Not really. If I had any of the sort, I wouldn't have came to you." Crossing her arms, she added lamely, "I don't like asking people for help..."

Never one to be deterred, she clapped a hand onto Wolf's shoulder, "I assume the brute force attempt counts as 'too big' of disturbance?" In an instant Astrid shifted, her skin becoming a whirling pool of quicksilver. "Then... I don't suppose you could add a motorcycle to the freight manifest?"

The Scottish woman's form whirled before rising up slightly, like a mini tsunami, crashing down onto the bike, engulfing it in a wash of silver liquid. Then, in half a second, her form stabilized the bike, its engine letting out a low drone as the turbine started up. "You might also need to cause a distraction so no one notices a bike driving itself onto the elevator."