Click This

Q - FLUX

Arsenal let fly another string of expletives as the situation escalated at the overbearing sound of the loudspeaker announcement. With the presence of Policus, it made the battlefield all the more complicated. As much as she wanted to test her weapons against the truck and its robotic enforcers, the blue-haired girl agreed with her peers that it was far better to run at this point than to engage. Listening to the communications between the others from her earpiece, she kept the heavy machine gun mounted on standby as her eyes tracked for the robotic drones.

“Runner, hold on, but pick up the pace. I’m going to lay us some smoke – lots of it.”

Refocusing her attention down the street, a trigger appeared in her hand as the long, metallic muzzle of a 155mm howitzer barrel appeared through a portal position just aft of End’s vehicle. Merely using dead reckoning, she aimed the gun a block down, a position equidistant between them and the Policus bots.

The loud crack of a white phosphorus shell leaving its barrel led Rui-Hai to draw back under the turret as she pulled the trigger. Hitting its mark in the middle of the street, the white particles immediately began to fan out into the open space, leaving their trail invisible to the human eye, and hopefully to the sensors of the robots as well. Not wanting to get hit or taste some of her own medicine, she climbed down from the turret, closing the hatch tight as she did so.

“That better fucking work. Those things don’t come cheap.”

Shit, she was sounding like End now.

Edged Horizon

The weather began to lighten up just a bit. While the dull grey of rainclouds continued its endless existence over the horizon, it seemed like the trio might catch a break after all and miss the brunt of the incoming storm. She made a small smile more resembling a smirk in the direction of the maid-butler. Perhaps Alexa wouldn’t encounter her greatest adversary this time? Her answer was predictable. “Right then, let’s take this lull and find us a good spot while we can.”

But as Charlotte spoke her nonchalant words, a slow chill ran through the vampire’s already cold body. Deadly silence replaced the pitter patter of rain. In a forest full of wildlife, normally fraught with the sounds of birdsong and repetitive tone of incessant insects, the absence of noise was more than just unnerving; it was ominous.

And then she felt it.

A simple presence. It flickered briefly, a feeling of premonition running through her arcane circuits. Charlotte took another step and stopped, checking her immediate surroundings. Her amused expression had long been wiped off her face, replaced by one that was wary and filled with caution. The golden-haired vampire spoke at almost the same time as their scholarly traveling companion. “We should stop—Yeah, I did.” She craned her head back, giving her butler a glance as if to say ‘be ready.’

The forest continued in its silence. “Right you are. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay in this forest; something’s definitely afoot. I hope you've still got some energy, because we’re getting out of here.” By her own estimates, if they flew with the wind and proceeded at a gallop, they might reach the relative shelter of the ruins by nightfall.

She picked up her pace. Naturally, she was curious about the presence she’d felt. It was something different. But at the same time, her instincts told her to get out.

At least the three of them were pretty good fighters, huh?

Q - FLUX

Arsenal kept vigil atop the bare machine gun turret of End’s armored personnel carrier. Hands crossed underneath her chest, she didn’t truly expect any sort of conflict with the organized crime gang. Her watch was more of a nonchalant act of people watching, given the information gathering nature of their current affair. At the sound of screeching tires and sudden noises, however, her relaxed attitude immediately seized as her eyes flicked across her field of vision, scanning for the source of the offending noise.

By the time her blue eyes tracked the five armed targets, a shielded heavy machine gun had already appeared and was mounted on the previously empty turret enclosure.

She yelled down the turret hatch. “What are you doing? Gun the motherfucker!” Relying on whoever was in the driver’s seat to get them out of there, Rui-Hai released the safety on the machine gun.

Kicking the foot pedals of vehicle’s turret, the hydraulics spun the enclosure around to track the incoming vehicles. She pressed the trigger, and let the lead fly.

The enemy fought in armor piercing rain.

Q - FLUX

Arsenal simply shrugged. They were probably right to give caution to tests like that. She was totally fine with them as long as she wasn’t anywhere near it, of course. But like a few other of her fellow Cleaners, she saw an immediate need for that phenomenon to be gone, Nightmare or not. With Cash having explained much of what he knew, there was little use in asking further questions, so she had no objections to moving on.

“What kind of shit edgy name is that, End?” Lazily on her mobile device, Rui-Hai disagreed with Josephine as she drove them back across town towards the Wirefort compound. Looking out the bulletproof windows of the armored personnel carrier for the rest of the trip, her interest was only aroused again at the sight of armed men approaching their vehicle as they approached the Wirefort’s manor.

Like everybody who was worth their salt in the business, Rui-Hai was well acquainted with both the Himuras and the Wireforts. She had, however, never dealt directly with the latter organization, so with End and Blitz filing out of the vehicle to greet their welcoming committee, Arsenal felt quite comfortable sitting within the confines of the armored car. But even then, she still wanted to get a piece of the action and listen in on the negotiations, so she jumped off her seat and climbed onto the ledge on the center of the vehicle, wrestling open the port on the top of the roof normally reserved for a machine gun mount. Climbing onto the empty mount, she stuck her head out of the vehicle, crossing her arms.

If there was any conflict to be had, what better place would there be to fire overwhelming firepower from?

Edged Horizon

Charlotte always enjoyed being out and about. The sights of people, architecture, and landscapes never ceased to fascinate her, and she always appreciated meeting the variety of people on her wayward journeys across the countryside. Even on the grounds of her estate of her quaint vineyard, she more often preferred to be out in the fields, enjoying the cool breeze of the wind against her face rather than stay cooped up in the stagnant air of an old, musty house.

That said, it seemed her recent company didn’t share her enthusiasm on the matter. A younger girl with a keen interest in antiquities, over the several days that they had traveled together, the golden-haired girl had come to the conclusion that she had little appreciation towards the life on the road. For Charlotte, at least, the inconvenience of travel was lessened this time around by the accompaniment of one of her servants.

She realized that she’d never asked Alexis her opinion on travels.

As the sky darkened and she felt the first droplets of rain against her skin, she nodded at Lillet’s observation. Pulling the cloak around her closer to her body, she wrapped the garment snugly around her. While matters of warmth affected her little as a vampire, she could not deny the comfort of a thick, insulating layer. Glancing upwards at the miserable grey sky, she called out to her traveling companion ahead of her. “If your map is right, I wouldn’t slog it out in the rain today. How about we set up camp nearby?”

Apparently the location of interest was considered to be a fairly untouched place; their purple-haired companion was certainly interested in its scholastic value. Charlotte, on the other hand, sought for a unique experience, and for a story to collect. What sort of things and creatures would they find inside? If it was trouble, she knew Alexis would disapprove, but finding and working her way out of problems came as a second nature to Charlotte.

Unfortunately, with still a little under a day’s time towards the old ruins that the trio came to see, under the prospect of heavy rain and miserable weather, it was clear they wouldn’t make much headway out on the exposed dirt roads off in the countryside. Had they been closer, they might have been able to hurry and take shelter in the ruins they came for, but it was not to be.

The disguised vampire glanced at the butler girl at her side. “Unless either of you think we should press on?” She didn’t mind. There was a certain spark of adventure in braving out a storm on the road, too.

Edged Horizon

@Polaris North

Shall I make a post, or did you want to collab at all?

Edged Horizon

@Click This

Sure, that's fine with me. Er, to PMs for the history changes?

@Polaris North

Sounds good. Drop me a PM, then?

Edged Horizon

Yeah, it works either way. If she's accosted she'd use sword arts anyway, unless she knows she's actually killing them.

Up to you, Polaris~

Q - FLUX

Rui-Hai rose early. It was not a common tendency for her; when she had constant stream of work, she slept late and woke late, at times nearing ten to eleven in the morning. But more recently, with the frequency of smaller jobs on the low, she had been able to afford an actual regular sleep cycle. Despite the gradually rising sun, as the blue-haired girl stretched her hands out into the air with a yawn, the flat that she called an apartment was pitch black. The blackout shades she kept around the windows of her home kept light and prying eyes out, just the way she wanted it to be. Despite living on the lower levels of a building in a bad neighborhood, her actual flat was not in a bad way. Clean, serviceable, and tolerable overall, Rui-Hai had little reason to seek better living space.

Finally snapping awake, she began her day with a warm shower and a quick breakfast of fried noodles and leftover fish. As per usual, she only spent a brief moment ‘kitting up,’ drawing from a selection of crisp shirts and the phone. As a token movement, she pulled a handgun from the air, fitting it snugly in the inner pocket of her jacket. Stepping out the door and down the complex’s rancid elevator, she was out on the street just in time for her ride in the form of End’s armored vehicle, where several other Cleaners already sat. Giving token greetings, she spent her ride buried in her personal device.

-

The transition of scenery was something that she experienced often. Having worked with Courtlandt Holdings, she’d traveled more than once to the posher districts to negotiate her business. Today wouldn’t be anything different.

In the end, even Rui-Hai was left perplexed with the presentation and explanation Cash offered, but she wasn't perturbed. She nodded silently at Vivian’s question; it was entirely valid. In fact, it was such an obvious route to choose that she wondered if Cash tried it and had negative results. Then, a question came into her head. She grimaced, making distasteful face knowing that Sabrina would likely follow up, but so be it.

“Can we confirm what it kills, exactly? Humans and chickens so far. What about pests? Bacteria? Any little thing with eyes? Hell, what about an open door scenario?”

Edged Horizon

Well, depends on what you mean.

I'm not averse to having Charlotte having an extra butler meido, but she seems to already have a job.