Esoteric

Freedom In The Stars: Deathbound [A Suicide Squad inspired sci-fi adventure] (Closed down)

@Morose Taka is planting the bomb outside the cave entrance. It's not really the type you can just.. pick up and move around after it's set. Also, ceiling cracks < Power Power Charge, there's a reason it takes a good bit to set up >:)

A R K H E U S

Everybody gettin them IC posts worked on?

Freedom In The Stars: Deathbound [A Suicide Squad inspired sci-fi adventure] (Closed down)

IC lookin' kinda quiet... hum..

Freedom In The Stars: Deathbound [A Suicide Squad inspired sci-fi adventure] (Closed down)

Taka's body shook, with her head bent towards the ground before her and her fingers clutching almost painfully at the damp cave soil. For the moment, she was oblivious to the scene around her as she stared fixated on the ground. A steady stream of moisture emptied from her eyes, running it's course down her face and falling slowly from her chin. She felt so far away, as if the cries uttering from her own mouth weren't hers but some other strange, unfamiliar sound. Her arms trembled as a moment of clarity washed over her, one of pain and remembrance. A steady, whining beep played over and over again in her mind, only broken at timed intervals with a squishing eruption that made her shudder. The hollow pain inside of her stomach grew until it encompassed everything she was, pain, hurt, loss.

Beep... Beep.. Beep...
Pop.

A moment later it all wasted away into a dull ache, she was somewhere else again. She wasn't here, she was back in prison, dreaming. No, she was back with Taki on the criminal's ship. Or was she at home, on her planet, sleeping soundly in a smoothly polished shell bed, wrapped up comfortable in sea-cloth woven blankets next to her sister. Her sister... and just like that it came back, flooring over her. An insurmountable pain she couldn't explain, that she had no words for. A pain so strong it physically hurt, why did she have to remember these things. It was cruel, forced to relieve those experiences, the kind of loss you can never come back from. It was as if a piece of her own soul had been taken from her, she felt cold.

Taka struggled to her knees, her trembling arms shaking as she fumbled for her "Law Breaker". Such an innocent name, playful even. How had she blocked it out, all of this overwhelming agony. Somewhere in the distance a mechanical voice droned on, leading to an escalation of shouts, but she didn't hear any of that. There was only the total, all consuming silence, and suffering. "Taki.." She cried, her hand shaking as she pulled back the hammer.

"Taki.. why Taki.. you said... you.. y-" her mumbling was caught off as the sobs came back with renewed vigor. She choked down air in between the forcible wailing, sucking in a breath as she could manage. Everything hurt, but it felt so dull to the pain of losing Taki. It was so strong, so intense.

"Stop-it-stop-it-stop-it-stop-it!" She cried, moving the gun violently towards her skull. It made a resounding thud as it cracked against her head, but that pain was trifling compared to what she was feeling. She swung again, chanting her mantra of insane distress. Pleading, begging for it to go away as if it were some evil spirit that had beset itself upon her. Taki was dead. She was gone forever. Her remains were burned. Yet she lives on through the stains unable to be erased from the ships interior, forever a part of that awful place. Forever trapped in a dark world, all alone, and Taka had let her go.

"NO MOOOORE," She shrieked, shoving the cold steel between her teeth, it rattled with the intensity of her shaking hand. She didn't want to hurt anymore, She wanted to be with Taki. Yes, she promised they would be together forever, that nothing would keep them a part. This pain was a reminder of that broken promise, how Taka had let her sister down. If only she'd been better, waited like they were supposed to do. If only.. if only she didn't feel this way. Her finger hovered over the trigger, her mind oblivious to the events transpiring around her. Shouting, commotion, pain. Only pain. Taka squeezed her eyes shut, her muffled sobs barely audible over the roar of gunfire and yelling.

"Oni please," A sweet voice pleaded. A small, childish hand fell over Taka's own, it felt chilled, cold like death. Taka opened her eyes, staring at the apparition.

"I'm right here so don't be so sad okay? The child asked with a loving smile. Taka slowly removed the gun from her mouth.

"B-but, but.." She blubbered incoherently. Taki was dead but... Taki was right here.

"You have to get up Oni, there are bad things here," The young girl said worriedly, vainly trying to push her sister up.

"But.. you.."

"Oni, pleeease!" Taki whined, her little legs digging in the dirt as she tried to budge her sister.

"Oni, pleeease!" The same voice echoed, an echo of a memory long since past. A young child, confined to a wheel chair begging her old, able bodied sister to retrieve a wrinkled purple fruit from a tree swaying in the breeze. "Pleeease Oni?!" The girl asked again, her eyes seemingly on the verge of tears.

Taka stood, earning a frantic smile from her sister, "We've gotta leave! Away from the thing that hurt you!" Taki declared, continuing her attempts to push her sister towards the mouth of the cave. Taka stumbled towards the opening, seeing the faces of the others, locked in a duel of man versus machine. Lasers ripped past her, and mechanical bodies rose and fell around her, and yet she just stumbled towards the snow flurries dancing in the mouth of the cave. 'Is it cold?' her mind wondered passively. Taki skipped in front of her, taking one of her hands and dragging her off to the side of the cave. Taka's mind didn't process the turn adequately, and she collapses in the snow instead.

"You should show that metal meanie your toys!" The child version of her sister said with vehement excitement. Taka nodded absentmindedly, shrugging off her backpack.

"Oh no, your gun!" Taki exclaimed, skipping back into the fray of the battle. Taka's head shot up, her eyes wide with worry. However, a very slight smile curved at the edges of her lips as she watched the tiny form dance through the danger, seeming ignored, or unseen by the others. But that would be silly. Taka let out a quiet chuckle as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the fat block that was the Pow-Pow Charge. She began assembling integral functions and attaching wires, careful not to disturb the mixture too much as she connected it to a live wire.

"Here ya' go!" Taki said, holding out a gun that was much too large for her small hands. Taka smiled, taking the weapon and holstering it easily, before turning back to her work. A bit of Taka's tongue remained clenched between her teeth as she worked.

"Is it going to make a big boom?" Taki questioned with utter excitement as she peered over Taka's shoulder.

"..uh.. yea.. totally," Taka responded, attempting to match her sister's energy. Taki skipped around her, crouching in front of the device.

"Is it gunna' be pretty?" She asked, staring at the internal components with wide eyes.

"The prettiest," Taka answered once more, though more of her focus was devoted to her task.

"Oh! no-no-no! That one goes here see?" Taki said, pointing a thin strip of blue sheathed wire. Taka paused, examining the suggestion. Taki was right. Taka let out a soft chuckle, she had near prematurely detonated the device. The blast wouldn't have been anywhere near as big, but it would have been enough to turn them both into chunks. Taki laughed with her, her tone devoid of any underlying tones of worry or nervousness. Taka's otherwise nervous laugh, turned into one of mirth simply from the pretense of her sister enjoying herself so much.

"Not much longer now, your friends are doing a good job!" Taki stated, still crouched in the snow.

Author's Note

Nobody else can see Taki, she's not real. All of her actions, even the appearance of her picking up items, are all fabricated by Taka's mind. If you've ever seen fight club, you'll have a better idea of how this is accomplished for Taka. Take the gun retrieval for instance, the weapon never left Taka's hand. Everything that happened with Taki bringing her the pistol was, of course, imaginary. Concerning the dialogue, when Taki speaks it is actually Taka speaking to herself. When Taka speaks as Taki, her voice is a higher pitch, and sounds much more childlike. When she speaks for herself, it's a little more normal, but still sounds rather like a crazy person speaking.

A R K H E U S

@Esoteric

*Waves*

@Crimson Raven

*Waves back*

A R K H E U S

Annelle Caldera Freddy Copperfield
Karen Tobin Raen J. Thormund

The storm was still raging as Anne reached the bottom of the exit escalator, in fact it seemed to have only picked up in intensity. "What a cruel muse your are," Anne breathed, the symbolism was not lost on her. She pulled her soggy scarf around her neck a little closer, trying to trap some heat as the chill creeped through her. She checked the map on her wrist pad, ensuring she hadn't gotten too turned around, or strayed too far off course. It seemed she was still on the right track, she wasn't far from the district's edge. If she listened closely, she could almost hear the faint wailing of gunfire, she sincerely hoped that was a stable defensive line against the monsters. Albeit, that would mean she'd have to find some way through, but she'd take this one step at a time.

She continued her journey cautiously up the street, squinting through the driving force of fat droplets soaking her thoroughly. Conditions were only worsening, and with the icy rain meeting with the warmth of the infrastructure, of powered systems generating heated surfaces, a steady mist was slowly rising, quickly becoming a light fog. She didn't panic however, perhaps this would help her hide from the creatures, at least, when it thickened a little more.

Her heart gave a fearful start as pained shrieks shattered the ambiance, carried on the wind and echoing off of the metal surfaces of the city. The sound made her cringe, she wanted nothing more than to turn around, to go home and hide beneath a table. She grit her teeth, picking up her speed with a light jog towards the wailing cries of what was likely a victim to the creatures. A second scream mimicked the first, though deeper, it must have been a second person. The situation seemed bleak, Anne was sure she'd find nothing but the mangled corpses of other unfortunate travelers on this dreary night. However, it was in the direction she had been heading anyways, perhaps she would help—If she could.

---⚙---

To his bones, Freddy was chilled. His already dark brown coat was several shades darker from soaking in the rain -he gave off a musty air as he accrued more water, like a wet dog. Lizzie especially seemed to notice this, as she fell behind him a few steps. Foal fell back alongside Lizze, and the two began to converse in a harsh whisper. Though Freddy certainly noticed the strange behavior, he decided against commenting. The two seemed to come to a conclusion, and moved in line with Freddy. The soaked old man gave a curious look to Foal, saying nothing.

"Freddy, we shouldn't be getting involved in all this shit. This ain't our job, this is for the Spooks to take care of." Spoke Foal, putting a white-gloved hand on Freddy's back. Freddy frowned, brows furrowing in contemplation. He stopped, and pointed a meaty finger towards a crashed APD carrier, flaming in the streets.

"You fink they 'ave this under control? Our job is to clean this bloody place up, that's what we've always did." Freddy said, looking around at the strangely deserted slums. He pulled out a tablet, and again looked to his messages.

>No connection.

"Alroight. Listen, I ain't 'eard back from Dimes an' Dewy yet. I want the two of ye to track 'em down, okay? Stay off the streets now, they ain't safe." Freddy said, pointing back in the direction from which they had come. He turned from the two, setting a destination in his mind. Lizzie punched him in the shoulder lightly, stopping him in his tracks.

"What are you thinking, old man? You said it yourself, this shit isn't safe. If you're our here, we're out here." Lizzie said, giving him a shit-eating grin. Freddy smiled gently, pushing her away. He opened his mouth to speak, but was distracted by a blue glow stumbling out from an alley. A crack resounded through the slums as Freddy fired his weapon, splattering the head of the creature. He backpedaled from the duo quickly, as he fumbled to reload his weapon.

"Go, now! Get your bloody arses gone!" Shouted Freddy over the din of Advent howling. He ducked into the alleyway in a sprint, following the winding path over mounds of trash, hoping to shake his unseen followers. He looked behind him, and saw a blue glow rushing like a wave around the corner. A string of low curses escaped his mouth, before he found salvation. A boarded up section of wall he recognized very well, the back side of The Blind Harpy. He had told Brad time and time again, nail down the goddamn boards so hooligans couldn't waltz in whenever they liked. Lazy bastard just saved Freddy's life.

"S'pose I owe 'im a drink now." Freddy thought, slipping into the bar through the loose boards. As he slid the board back into place, he felt a wave of light brush over his face, as the zomibe-esque monsters sprinted violently through the alleyway, tearing through piles of garbage. Freddy backed away, chancing a sigh of relief as he moved from the back storage room to the main bar counter, where he hoped to find Brad.

"Oi, ye cunt! Where ye at?" He asked, in a very commanding whisper.

For all the while Karen tried her best to keep still and keep silent, straining her ears to make out any more screaming only to be met with the sounds of heavy rainfall. It seemed it started to rain quite hard since she entered the bar, but really that didn't seem that imporant considering there was a psycho murderer out there. Karen was so focused on listening out for trouble that she missed the subtle movements behind her, and so to say she was caught off guard was putting it lightly.

"FUCK!" she quite abruptly swore at the sudden appearance of a newcomer appearing from the goddamn backroom of all places, and turned to face the stranger.

Freddy raised his hands in a gesture of surrender as he saw Karen sitting behind the bar, before lowering one finger to his lips.

"Hush up now. Dunno if we've got more of 'ese ugly choffers runnin' about." Freddy said in a low voice, walking up to Karen. He took off his coat, and laid the dripping husk on the bar. Speaking up more, he extended a hand. "Names Te-Freddy. It's Freddy. Pleased to meetcha." He huffed.

As Freddy stepped closer to her, Karen slowly rose onto her feet, still making sure to keep her eyes directly on the man. He seemed to be friendly enough, at least that's the first impression she got from him, but then again there were two corpses right outside...

After a moment of tense silence, she met his hand, "Karen... what the hell's going on?" Thing is she knew about nothing, so crazed slasher or not, maybe Freddy here could clue her in on whatever was happening.

Freddy shook Karen's hand firmly, before dropping both his hands limp when she questioned him as to the situation. He pressed one hand up to his temple as he stared to the floor, rubbing it gently as he leaned back against the bar.

"Y'know, I was a bit hopeful 'at you'd 'ave some answers as to the particulars of all that." Freddy said, looking up at Karen. "I just lost one of my best men to some glowy blue fuck out 'ere, and I haven't the foggiest where four of me others are at. Where's Brad at, maybe 'e's got somefin better for me?" He looked around the bar with shifty eyes, scanning the picture of a ghost town before him.

At the mention of Brad, Karen sighed heavily and stared across to the front door. "Brad..." She hesitated to even utter the name. "He... died. We heard screaming outside and before I could really stop him, Brad ran straight out the door, and... yeah..."

She returned to face Freddy, her expression solemn, "Guessing you knew him too, Brad always had a bit of a hero complex... just never expected it to get him killed, not like this." Again with another sigh Karen started her way towards the many bottles of alcohol and then grabbed one, looked like whisky. She popped the top off then held to bottle to Freddy, "I need a drink, want one?"

Freddy didn't even think about the offer of whiskey, as he stared off into the corner. The realization of the night's going-ons finally struck with the news of Brad. Never again would Freddy walk into this bar and hear Brad's stories that went on and on for hours -never again receive the generous overflowing foam from Brad's taps. And Herman was gone as well -Herman's loss brought a deep numbness to Freddy, even deeper than the chill of the rain.

His contemplation was interrupted as he heard the door being fiddled with. An eyebrow raised, Freddy turned to look at the door, before turning back to Karen. He put his finger again to his lips as he slid over the counter, stalking silently towards the sounds. As he approached the door, he listened closely. When he realized he had no idea what he was listening for, he shrugged, and unlocked the door, opening it quickly. In the same movement, he pulled out his pistol, aiming it out the doorway.

Anne took a surmised step back, slipping on a puddle and falling to her ass with a squeak. "I ah.. just wanted a drink," She explained hesitantly, a bit embarrassed. Given the night she was having however, it was excusable.

Freddy lowered the pistol when he saw the face of a completely normal woman behind the door. Well, normal might've been a stretch, she was drenched like a used towel. He put away The Chunder, and urged her in quickly, closing and locking the door behind.

Karen watched with baited breath, with the multiple deaths that night she wasn't exactly thrilled to open that door, luckily Freddy was armed. Much to Karen's surprise, there was actually someone on the other side, and even more it was a normal, sane woman. The sane part was the important bit.

"Uh... welcome I guess, lucky you're not dead far as I know." She called out to the even newer, newcomer.

"I guess ya'll are having the same night I'm having then," Anne confirmed, pushing her wet hair from her eyes and slinging her jacket over the back of a chair close to the bar stool. She frowned down at her tank top, glad she had chosen a darker color to go underneath, as it was more than damp itself.

Freddy frowned at the words of Anne. It seemed all across the slums, no one was having a good time. He moved to the bar, taking a seat as he rested his chin in his palm. Fingers absentmindedly drummed on the bar to the beat of the rain as he sat in contemplation. He looked back and forth between the women, trying to wrap his head around the situation. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his voice hid shyly in the corner, refusing to reveal itself. He looked to the others, before pulling out his flask and taking a long drink.

Anne's gazed passed across the two in the bar, it seemed to be quite a heavy, somber mood, "Where's Brad?"

Karen couldn't help but burst out laughing, although more of a nervous chuckle. "Didn't know Brad was so famous... well, he's dead. Killed by whatever goddamn thing is out there."

Anne merely looked at Karen for a long moment, poor girl must have been in shock. Fortunately, Anne had been through some shit with the Watchmen, and while not perfect, she hadn't broken yet. "Damn.. Brad was a good man," she said, moving behind the bar. She crouched, looking through the selection of liquor before procuring a mostly full bottle one flavored Butterscotch Pie. She took a long swig, grimacing at the bitter sweetness, before pouring some on the floor.

"...was a hell of a man," Anne whispered quietly, helping herself to a second gulp.

Freddy raised himself slowly to his feet. He gave Anne a curious glance as she poured some liquor on the floor, a look that was quickly wiped from his face. A familiar scent brought a blank stare to Freddy's face, a look of hopelessness. A distant scream brought Freddy back, revitalizing his thoughts.

"Roight, since none of us know what the bloody 'ell is goin' on, we'd best be gettin' to the bottom of it, then. We ought'a run down to the end of tha district, sure as 'ell the Spooks have a quarantine somefin or other set up there. Then we can get some answers, yeah?" He spoke, a bright smile lighting his face. The happy visage was lifelike, easily mistakable for genuine, but only a facade, a weak one at that.

Karen nodded slowly as Anne poured a drink out for Brad, very much understanding the gesture. Hell she even had half a mind to do the same, which reminded her of the whisky in her hands. She poured a drink out as well and then gulped down some for herself. The vague tingling helped her feel better, kinda.

After half listening to Freddy's reasoning, she shrugged, "Don't know if we would even survive out there, then again trying to hold out here doesn't seem like a good idea either, dunno honestly." Karen took her flask out and filled it up with her newly acquired whisky, she'll need this later. "What're you thinking we should do?" She turned to Anne, clearly meaning the question for her.

Anne ran a hand through her hair, mulling over the thought. "I won't lie, it's been pretty rough out there..." Anne began, stalling with another swig from the bottle, "I agree with ah..-"

"Freddy."

"Right, Freddy here. I was actually heading towards the Station district when I saw them glowies, a whole pack of them. Ran around a corner, so I hid a minute. Now that I think about it... one of the bodies they were dragging off did seem kind of familiar, though visibility ain't exactly the best out there, ya'know?"

"That ain't somefin I'm too keen on thinkin' about." Freddy slurred, looking down at his flask. Already, the mental image of one of those freaks carrying Herman off to do whatever they did was troubling him. Almost forcefully, he put down his flask, looking up to the girls. "Those things out 'ere are right tossers. And 'eres a bloody tonne of 'em, too. The two of you know yer way around these parts alright? Don't fink we stand much of a chance doin' much but runnin' for it unless one of ye're packin' some heavy firepower." He mused, looking down at his pistol, then to Anne, who seemed to not even have a sidearm.

Karen sighed and shook her head, "Unless a switchblade is enough then I got nothing either, although yeah guess I do know the Slums well enough, which is something." She downed another drink of whisky, straight from the bottle, feeling the liquid settle fairly well in her gut, which was surprising given the dire situation they found themselves in. "But..." She continued, "The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of trying our luck out there, I mean, I really don't think this bar is gonna be safe for that long."

As if cued by her words, a cacophony of light, metal objects falling sounded from the rear area of the bar. The three fell silent as a low growl followed the noise, followed by more debris shifting. "It seems that may be our cue to leave," Anne whispered, looking at her current would-be companions. Freddy nodded, motioning towards the front of the building with a curt, silent nod. Anne followed Karen as the two trailed close behind the older man, who moved with an unexpected, silent ease towards the door.

As gently as he could, Freddy unbolted the door, and put a hand on the handle. In a silent, yet projected whisper, he spoke to the two.

"We make our way north to the edge of the district, right? Keep close, don't wanna lose any more of ye tonight. Stick to the alleys if we git split up, try not to get caught wandrin' in the open." He said, before silencing himself, and pushing the door open slowly. A painful creak erupted from the door as it opened. Freddy held the door open, waiting for the other two to come out before shutting it. When they all were out, he brought his fist down in a quick motion on the handle, breaking it in order to jam the door, and earning a quirked eyebrow from the dark haired woman, likely surprised at his strength.. He had the strangest feeling no one else would be needing to get into the bar anytime soon.

With a pair of fingers, he motioned for the two to follow him, staying close to the side of the building, where the rain was slightly less harsh. Taking a moment to peer around the corner, he ducked into the alleyway next to the building. As he sloshed through the film of water paving the alley, he flexed his fingers, keeping as much warmth within his hands as he could. He took a brief moment to look back at Anne and Karen, assuring that they were still with him, before focusing his eyes forward, straining to catch any telltale blue glare.

It was only when Freddy looked again back to the girls that he caught a glimpse of that eerie telltale glow. Perhaps the idea of them getting away scott-free was too hopeful, after all. "Ah, bugger." He muttered to the choir of unnatural wails echoing through the alley behind them. The other woman, Karen, seemed to visibly get chills from the unearthly cries as she peered into the murky depths of the night. "Bloody run." He stated simply, practically pushing the two to get them moving. Freddy lagged behind them just a bit, as he pulled out his gun. A frown crossed his face as he stood, pistol aimed down the alley, before he dropped his arm, and began running alongside Anne and Karen.

Anne cast a worried look over her shoulder, the increasingly familiar feeling of adrenaline surging through her veins as the blue horde literally scrambled over themselves in waves, their sightless stares and hungering mouths calling towards her. She dug in harder, pulling ahead of the other two, albeit slightly, as they too seemed to ramp up the speed. They burst from the alley, slipping and sliding across the slick sidewalks as they hurtles themselves towards the north end of the district.

Too.. far," Anne wheezed between breaths, her aching muscles burning, "Won't.. Make it"

"Can't stop now! We can make it!" Freddy shouted harsh words of encouragement, even as he felt fatigue weighing himself down. It was overly hopeful, perhaps, but he refused to be beaten by his own muscles.

---⚙---

It'd been an easy enough journey through the city; the navigation had guided them through the Slums with consummate ease and the Hunchback had enough bulk to plow through any of the obstacles that appeared along their path. Albert had swerved to hit one of the creatures a few times on the journey, raising inquisitive glances from the three soldiers strapped in the back but he'd merely replied with a curt "payback for Konrad" which the squad had passed over. The two of them had always been close and despite Albert's attempts to shrug off concern, he was feeling the loss of such a close comrade.

"Two mikes out" Raen called out as he saw the moving blip that represented Anne, mapped by the transponder Elliot had given to him as part of his 'job offer'. She was moving fast, surely not a good sign for most civilians would choose to bunker down in such a crisis and the dot only seemed to be picking up speed. "She's heading north" he called out to Albert, seeing the man nod in reply before Raen switched his focus back to his wrist mounted computer. He brought up a history of Anne's transponder, following their path to approximate an interception point and uploaded it to the nav-computer of the Hunchback.

"Put us there, Albert" he ordered, before he switched to face the rest of the squad who barely filled the interior of the massive armored vehicle. "Listen up, the VIP is on the move and likely to be panicked. I want everyone out once we get there. Isabella, Albert and I will take a forward sweep, Max you set up the big gun on the Hunchback. I want cover for when we make it back. We'll grab the girl, cover our retreat with rolling fire and make it back in one piece. We copy?"

"Copy" they all replied, almost synchronized in their discipline.

The Hunchback lurched to a stop before the driver's door and the back hatch popped open and the four soldiers came pouring out. Raen took point, Isabella on his left and Albert on his right, with the distinct sound of Maximus' Annihilator snapping open behind them. The rain was pelting down now, with the distant flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder lending an eerie aura to the deserted city they found themselves in. A quick check of Anne's position revealed that they'd meet her on the other side of a dark alley and that'd she'd started tiring. "Down the alley, let's go. Stay frosty, I'll grab the girl, you two cover my six" he called out over the squad radio, waving them in the direction of the blip of his HUD map before the three soldiers entered the dark alley with rifles raised.

The stormy night atmosphere continued to shatter beneath the howls of the glowing beasts, echoing calls scattered throughout the city blocks as their calls were answered by others of their kind. Like ants with the mentality of wolves they poured out of darkened nooks and hidden crannies, oozing out of the infrastructural chinks and oddities. Anne figured they must have been close to the edge of the sector, because the sheer force of the howls splitting through the air seemed to puncture her ears, assaulting her senses. Her tired body filled with sheer terror, her heart nothing but a pounding percussion to the chorus of beasts that wanted nothing more than to sink their claws into her.

The stitch in her side had grown into a burning pain, and her breaths were coming in sharp, ragged gasps. She didn't even have the energy to speak, everything was focused on running. To either side her companions didn't seem to be fairing much better, running in exhausted unison. There seemed to be an impossible number of creatures, she could physically feel the force of them charging behind her. A quick glance, one that had almost sent her sprawling to the ground, had shown an enormous herd, no, a horde. It must have been the wrong place, at the wrong time, because with numbers like that they seemed impossible to stop.

An intersecting block lay before them, it's buildings looming like dark monoliths. Anne felt the despair rising within her as they struggled to continue forward, looking for an escape. She didn't even know if she had the capacity to change her momentum with a turn, it was likely that she would fall. Still, they crossed the crossing street with the other two, who also seemed to share her opinion of squeezing into the narrow alleyway before them. Grimy walls rose up to either side, suffocating Anne, waiting to bury her. Not even the rain fell here, but ran down the walls in filthy streams, barely visible in the depressive darkness. The next thing Anne knew she ran head first into something solid, something strong that wrapped around her.

"Anne? Annelle Caldera?" he called out as the woman who his suit's computer had recognized as Elliot's friend. The girl had come barreling down the alleyway, her two friends holding stride with her but it was obvious to see they were struggling. A terrifying cacophony of howls filled the air in front of Raen; the walls seemed to crawl with a teal glow at the end of the alley. "Get behind us! We'll cover your back. Get to the vehicle at the end of the alley."

"Alpha team, rolling fire as we retreat. We'll cover their backs until Max can cover ours."

They have been running so hard for what seemed like hours, and like the others in her company, Karen was struggling to even force air into her lungs. There was plenty she wanted to talk about, which considering everything it wasn't too much to ask for some damn answers, but she couldn't waste the breath for words.

At the end of the claustrophobic inducing alleyway was the first comforting sight she's seen all night, a trio of armed men. In the darkness Karen couldn't make out who these soldiers were, and normally she would be at least a little wary of them, strangers with guns weren't often the friendly type. After the man's announcement, however, Karen was convinced these guys were actually there to help, and started to push herself even harder, her already heavily fatigued legs screaming in agony. At that moment her focus was solely on the armored vehicle that lied beyond, not quite noticing her two companions anymore.

Freddy stumbled through his long strides when he found their trail met by a line of riflemen in their path. When the other two had fatigued far earlier, Freddy had activated his internal cybernetics in order to keep himself moving. Still, he lagged just behind the two small framed women, even more so when he hesitated to continue charging towards the deep black barrels ahead, lined with death. Raen's call, along with the howls clawing at his back, kicked Freddy towards the line of gunmen.

"...into th' fryin' pan." He wheezed, following Anne and Karen. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw the tide of pale glowing light creeping up, and more importantly, a pair of the clawed beasts making uncomfortable progress. He stumbled forwards even faster than he thought possible, approaching what he now saw to be a safe haven behind Raen and his comrades. A frown creased his face when he felt a claw just barely brush his back, and his reflexes wrestled the reigns away from his better judgement.

Whirling on his toes, Freddy pivoted to face the cobalt monstrosity behind him, and threw his shoulder into it's chest forcefully. Surprise, raw muscle, and momentum rose in a harmony as Freddy struck the beast, throwing it bodily to the floor. Before the first even hit the ground with a sickening thud, the second was upon Freddy. With a sinister wail, it heaved itself bodily at the older man in a leaping tackle.

It was all Freddy could do to keep the knives along the creature's hands from piercing into his chest as he was forced to the ground, just at Raen's feet. In a fit of panic, he tossed the beast to the side, and crawled through the line, struggling to his feet on the other side of the firing squad. He felt a sharp pain and a chill wind graze against his left bicep, and pressed his hand hard against the wound.

The two creatures, previously hidden by the fleeing trio were dispatched with a brutish efficiency by the rough looking man, he had clearly been in a few brawls in his life before. Isabella and Albert had put a round through each of the floored creatures. A quick glance behind him revealed that the trio behind him were moving far too slowly, evidently exhausted by the exertions they'd made getting so far. As the rest of the horde rounded the corner, Raen's heart skipped a beat as he realized there was just too many of them to hold off. "Full auto, open fire!" he ordered as the trio of rifles blazed into action, the soldiers continuously stepping back towards the Hunchback. The first trio of clips put a sizable dent in their approach, the dual-core rounds exploding on impact, knocking them back.

Yet the ground they made up while the three soldiers reloaded rendered the first volley almost pointless as they moved forward in a frenzied rush. The rearguard they were holding was as useful as stopping a flood with a sponge; before long they'd be buried beneath a tonne of the creatures. The second clip gave him a little more hope, the creatures had been thinned out, and the floor of the alleyway was coated in a thick sea of that teal goo. A quick glance back revealed the three were almost at the vehicle. As Raen's clip ran out he barked a quick "Break and run" before he rolled a grenade towards the onrushing horde. The grenade detonated behind the first line of the creatures, blowing a sizable chunk of them away but just as it looked like they'd make their escape, one of them crashed through a window next to Isabella and with a sickening speed plunged it's claws into her chest.

Raen reacted with all the speed he could muster, yet he was too late to stop the creature's second blow which punctured straight through her neck. His first shot nailed it in the head and he scooped up Isabella's body, the blood pooling from the wounds in her chest and neck. His heart was almost in his mouth though his head rang with a cold fury as Isabella's life monitor began blinking as deceased. It was only Albert grabbing his shoulder and yanking him with a strong arm as he said "get back to the Hunchback, we're a few feet from having Max's cover!" that snapped him out of the dreadful mists his mind had wandered to.

Raen, refusing to let those things have her body, sprinted with all that he could muster, the body draped over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. As they popped out the other side of the alley, he saw that the three they'd come to save were just climbing into the Hunchback. The first shot from Max's gigantic rifle rang out, and a creature simply exploded into chunks as the energy bolt hit it square in the chest. A second shot rang out before Raen ordered him into the drivers seat, he'd need the extra time to pack up the rifle.

His heart was pounding in his ears as he pounded towards the Hunchback, the body over his shoulder slowing him down but his legs were driven by the cold anger which gripped his heart. He almost crashed in through the back of the vehicle, barely stopped himself as he entered the back hatch but spun as he heard the sound of Albert's Interdictor cracking into life. The man had stopped halfway to buy Raen some time but in doing so had stranded himself too far from the vehicle to possibly make it. "Smoke" Albert's voice cracked over the radio as he turned his head toward the vehicle "I'm not going to make it. Get those three out of here. Thanks for the good ride buddy". As he finished the sentence, he detonated into a fiery shower and all Raen could do is slump and cradle Isabella's body as Max launched the big vehicle away from that alley.

A R K H E U S

⚙Lucias Caldera
Graywall District ⚙

^{8:11p.m, Sunday, April Sixth, 187A.E}

Heavy black boots rested atop a scattering of loose papers that were largely being ignore for the time being. A pale smoke drifted down a set of legs clad in the perfectly ironed fabric of black dress slacks, before billowing out over the polished, cluttered desk. A large man recline back in a chair, tipped to an angle dangerously close to snapping its tilting mechanism. A grizzled face wore a triumphant smile, one sculpted with a neatly trimmed beard and a fat patch of hair that sat above his lip. He inhaled again, savoring the flavor of the expensive cigar, something he only treated himself to on special occasions. The tingle on his tongue was a nice change of pace from the cheaper shit he smoked, but he didn't want to think about that now. His gaze traveled outwards, beyond the holo monitors currently broadcasting lives feeds of raids across the sector. Up and out, beyond two cushioned chairs, past the bookcase with books her never read and further still, beyond plants he never watered to the open office area of the precinct.

Cheap bottle of champagne were frothing as the desk jockeys congratulated themselves. Operations were going underway, and they seemed to be doing quite well. Weeks of compiling information, pulling all of the strings, double checking all of the sources for a simultaneous, sector wide raid against filthy terrorists. Lucias exhaled, watching the smoke frolic in the stir of cool air, as he watched the scene unfolding on his holo screen. Live coverage was being aired, showing a line of nondescript looking people on their knees, rough bags tied tightly over their heads. A moment later and the bodies fell back, limp, crimson stains oozing out against their cloth concealing their faces. Small fry terrorists only, not worth the time. Though, the execution was only a statement, the majority of the criminals would find themselves in Sector Three. The leaders, well, John would likely call for a public hanging, another statement to quell the common vermin.

He nodded in satisfaction to himself, yet a part of him longed to put his boots on the ground. This position had far too much paperwork for his liking, but since he began this position the watchmen were really making a difference. Lucias had a brilliant mind, and he knew it, his wits were far superior to whatever ragtag leader the terrorists were trying to hide. He would find them, and methodically crush them one by one. He sat up, flicking over the channel. 'Silence in the Slums, a vision of a peaceful future or an omen of war?' a headline read, scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Lucias shook his head, the news would make a story out of anything just to stir the pot. Always about the ratings, but nobody cared about the slums. Likely, the vagabonds and beggars had moved out in fear of Lucias' new campaign. Zero tolerance, that's how you cleaned up the streets.

The door to his office hissed up into the ceiling as one of the workers from communications and logistics strode in. Lucias returned the salute before beckoning the jittery looking fellow to a seat. The young man's mouth worked, but nothing came out. He looked like a fish struggling to speak. Well, it wasn't uncommon for younger lads to lose their nerve in Lucias' presence. The older man chuckled, taking a honey-amber bottle from his drawer. He poured two smalls glasses, motioning the rookie to have a drink. Lucias was enjoying the bitter, warming liquid when the kid finally found his words.

"There's ah.. trouble, sir," He murmured, deciding he did want that drink.

Lucias chuckled, like a bear having a good laugh, "There's always trouble son, that's the life we've chosen to live." Lucias slapped his glass against the desk, sighing pleasantly as he turned back to nursing his cigar.

"No.. I m-mean yes, Sir, it's the slums," The young man spluttered, swallowing his nervousness and downing the glass like a champ.

"What's your name son? Do you smoke?" Lucias asked, holding out a steel case holding rows of slim, cheaper cigars.

"T-Tobiath Daryl, Sir," came the reply, the boy's hands were shaking too violently to properly cut the end.

Alright, Tobiath," Lucias began, holding out a flame for his underling, "Why don't you take a deep breath, and relax a moment alright? Do you watch the news Son?"

"Ah, yes sir," Tobiath answered, choking on the repugnant smoke. Lucias let out a fatherly chuckle.

"You hold the smoke in your mouth, you've gotta be a grizzled old man like me to inhale it," Lucias instructed, tapping out the growing stem of ash into a small porcelain tray. "What's the situation?"

"There's a situation near one of the maintenance access points," Tobiath explained, finally composing himself though he retained a white knuckled grip on the cigar, "We lost a squad in the tunnels, and one on the surface."

Lucias nodded gravely, it was understandable that during these times of certain victory there would be some losses, "So the Libbies are hiding in the tunnels then?"

"Well.. comm chatter indicated that the ah, men saw something that.. well.. wasn't human," Tobiath managed.

"So, they're trying some sort of fear tactic then?" Lucias dug patiently, his eyes flickering to the holovision as he flipped through some of the channels.

"Perhaps sir, something about glowing blue monsters with uhm.. inhuman strength and speed, ripping people apart."

"Oh?" Lucias questioned, flipping back to the earlier story about the slums. He set the sound to low, so he could listen to the pretty blonde haired woman talk as he turned towards man before him, looking him in the eye. Tobiath was a thin, gaunt thing who barely seemed to fillout the chair he was residing in. A mop of sweaty brown hair was layered over his face, shifted only by his bony hands.

"Well," Lucias sighed, thinking about the definite lack of extra resources he had, "Send in the Heimdall Unit, they can handle it. Kratos and Badger are also in the area, tell them to hold their positions after the raid, we don't want to overthink this too much."

The kid nodded, pulling up his wrist computer, his cigar sat forgotten in the tray as he send the orders back to Logistics, likely to someone higher of rank. Lucias reached over and tapped it for him, reminded of his early days with DigiCorp. The thought brought him back to his daughter, the chink in his armor. She had ripped a hole in his heart when she left, and filled it with blame and guilt. He checked his own communicator, debating on sending her a written message, or if he should just accept her hatred of him. His bushy brows drooped sadly as he turned away from the screen, once more returning to the simple pleasantry of his cigar.

"How long have you been here son?" Lucias asked absentmindedly, his attention once more captured by the images on the holoscreen.

"I'm a week out of the academy sir, I wasn't too great with the physical stuff.. but they said I've got a good head about me," Tobiath explained. Lucias nodded with a grunt, leaning closer towards the screen.

"Hold on a second," He murmured, turning up the broadcast. With nothing better to do as Lucias diverted his attention elsewhere, Tobiath finally remembered his cigar.

A new development was scrolling across the screen, it looked as if Lucias would get to see these new Liberata tactics first hand. Sometimes, the news gave information faster than his own intelligence department, which was disheartening, perhaps he should hire the reporters. He mused over the thought as the news crew ran towards, well, he didn't quite know but he was certainty going to wait and find out. The reporter was in a sort of half turn as she tried to jog towards the scene, and report the unfolding events at the same time. Lucias grinned through the cigar between his teeth, he wouldn't mind a blonde bombshell like her. Big brown eyes, big set of-

"Oh my god.." The woman said, frozen in the street. The cameraman, bless him, remained dutiful to his task and zoomed in on a.. Lucias leaned in further, captivated by the images, the boy was speaking but Lucias couldn't hear him. On the screen a blue.. a blue man was literally tearing somebody apart, blood and gore flying in all directions. Lucias stared at the deranged beings back, in tattered, bloody clothes and pasty gray skill split with glowing blue cracks. The thing stopped, snapping it's head up to attention with an unnatural jerk. It stood, head turned towards the sky, before looking ominously in the direction of the camera crew.

"What the.." Lucias said, his eyes pinching as he tried to make out more details.

Tobiath wandered up to the desk, unable to contain his curiosity from the other side, and peered over Lucias' shoulder rather meekly. Lucias heard the boy gasp as the faceless creature's mouth parted in an earth splitting shriek, it's disgusting flesh wobbling with the intensity of the sound. Its call was answered by another, and another, until there was nothing but a constant howl emitting from the speakers. It charged forward, towards the woman and her coworkers. It was so fast, too fast. In what seemed like an instant, a span of time much to short to be real, it was on her. She shrieked as the cameraman's human instincts finally kicked in. The image fell to the ground, dead center on her as the creature tore at her back, its ghastly hands tipped with claws that flung chunks off her off screen.

Somewhere off in the distance, Tobiath was retching, but Lucias couldn't look away. The beast kneeled on the open cavity ripped in her back, screaming once more into the night. He couldn't tell if there was more of the woman splattered against the beast, or splattered across the street. A low rumbling sounded through the feed. Seconds later the image began to shift slightly, which changed into a steady vibration as the object was shaken by the force of and endless number of legs crowding the small lens of the camera. It had to be hundreds, thousands even, the constant stream of blue flashes was like trying to watch a river composed entirely of fish. It was unending, a horde so thick Lucias couldn't see anything other than mottled gray skin and blue streaks as their stampede thundered out into the office.

He sucked in a breath, finally tearing himself away from the display as the feed broke, the image tearing and the colors warping before cutting completely. For a second longer, he stared at the technical difficulties message, moving to take a drag of his cigar and finding that it had gone out.

"I.." He searched for the words, an unfamiliar feeling ripping through his body. He felt cold, and hollow, and for the first time in years his hands were shaking. It was fear, he was truly, and honestly afraid. "Tobiath.."

"ugh..er.. yes Colonel?" Tobiath responded weakly from his position on the floor, that plant would never be the same.

"Send everybody.. pull them.. all of them," He began, his nerves returned, only gone for a second yet the dull feeling in the pit of his stomach remained, "Get a hold Syndustries and DigiCorp.. we're going to need them."

Lucias left the boy kneeling on the ground, Tobiath didn't even bother getting up, but rather was typing out a message to logistics with a furious intensity. The mood in the outer office died immediately as he swept through, before he reached the end of the room the terminals began going off. A cacophony of pulsing beeps echoed through the office as a swarm of messages came in. A buzz picked up as the employees dropped their celebration in light of the new task at hand—Mobilizing Everyone. Like a wraith from the shadows Sergeant Azerix was at Lucias' side within a minute of the order going out.

"Azerix?" Lucias asked, he didn't need to say anymore.

"I just got the message, the calls should be going out now. I've also put in to contact the private security firms sir, I'm sure by everybody, you meant it," The Sergeant explained, her never looked up from his wristpad as he matched Lucias stride for stride. "It must be serious.." Azerix noted, peering up the entryway to the precinct's armory.

"It is Sergeant, get me a van mobile and waiting I'll be down in four minutes," Lucias commanded, pausing in the doorway, "And Sergeant.."

"Yes sir?"

"Shut it down, all of it."

🅰🆁🅺🅷🅴🆄🆂

Possibly accepting more applicants, Bring your A-Game

Freedom In The Stars: Deathbound [A Suicide Squad inspired sci-fi adventure] (Closed down)

The Cherry Blossom Killer

Prisoner Data Form

Caedence "Nano" Senichi

Artistic Rendering of Caedence

Aliases: Catie, Cadie / Nano, The Cherry Blossom Killer

Prisoner ID Number: 3254

Species: Human

Gender: Female

Age: 26

Former Faction: The Senichi Family

Physical Description:

Description Form

Height: 5'8

Weight: 125lbs, 56.6kg

Eye Description: Teal / Violet

Hair Description: Dark Violet

Skin Description: Light, Fair

Scars, Birthmarks, or other Identifying Traits:

• A light brownish spot that kind of looks like a potato if you squint hard, just above her left hip bone.
• Eye color changes from Teal and Violet depending on her current personality.
• Dragon Trinity Tattoo

  Centered on her right bicep,
  just below the curve of her shoulder

  
  
• Watercolor Yin-Yang Tattoo

  Located on her upper sternum,
  just above the 'V' of her breasts

  
• Smooth Stoke Lotus Flowers

  Located on the back of her upper right shoulder,
  transitioning diagonally towards her left side,
  extending down along the hip, buttock, and thigh,
  and ending just above her knee

  
• Colorful Peacock

  Begins just above her right knee,
  traveling up the side of her body,
  and ending just below her breasts

  

Facial description: Fair, clear skin that's smooth and pale in color. Probably could use a tan, or several.

Description of Clothing/Armor:Caedence enjoys modest clothing that reflects her heritage. Often times this is through brightly colored blouses with billowing sleeves and a traditional waist sash, paired with a skirt of modest length, or a full rendition of an ancient Kimono. Otherwise, she may choose to wear more hip, urban clothing, like abstract shirts and jeans. She tends to keep a sense of modesty, but tries to remain somewhat fashionable at the same time, as long as she can remain mostly covered. Unfortunately, she cannot keep her hair long as she would like, as Nano keeps cutting it to stay around shoulder length.

Nano prefers the more seductive route, wearing revealing clothes or those that accent her curvaceous curves. Top with deep necks, expose her stomach, bear her arms, or a combination of all paired with tight pants, or skirts that may be a tad too short. However, she's no good in heels, call it hereditary, and may choose between pointed flats, something with open toes, or even botos that vary from ankle cropped to shin high. Much to Caedence's displeasure, Nano likes her hair kept at a medium, shoulder length. Also to her other half's great, great discomfort, Nano has tattoos and likes to show them off.

Nano's Armor consists of a thin, environmental suit which regulates body temperature, and offers protection against the natural elements. The outer layer of armor is composition of flexible, grafium steel threading provided mobility over defense, and only offers moderate protection against projectiles, optical weapons, and blunt force trauma. Her mask has built in readings that monitor her battery levels, including recharge timers, and will alert her to dangerous symptoms such as low vitamin and mineral levels, compromised suit integrity, nanite shutdown, and so forth. With her armor she wears a traditional, scarf like wrapping around her head and neck called a Shoueffa, "The Veil of War". Traditionally, veiling yourself in battle states your intent to kill, whereas wearing it relaxed around the neck is supposed to convey a more passive, non-lethal nature.

She also has a vambrace computer, which offerings the same monitoring capabilities as her helmet, with the addition of being able to manually activate her nanite given powers. However, in combat situations she may not always have time to use this method of activation, and thus has set parameters for voice commands.

Bionic Limbs/Synthetic Organs/Robotic Augmentations:

• Neural-Thread Network: Woven throughout her body along predefined pathways is an intricate system of cybernetic threading, allowing her to remain impervious to her nanites.
• Nanites: A completely self sufficient, mechanical ecosystem has been created within Caedence's body. Extremely advanced, microscopic machines that are the basis of her combat abilities.

Weapons of Choice:

• Epilogue: Nano's only weapon, other than her hands, the name of which is derived from the ideal that death is the final chapter of your life. The sword itself is made from a unique metal, referred to as Grafium Steel, a metal that is incredibly durable yet is able to hold an exquisitely sharp edge. However, the true function of this place is the Light Particle Sheathe it can create, which takes the form of a glowing, neon teal aura around the blade. It may look like magic, but it's actually derived from the energy her nanites utalize. Raw energy is injected into the blade, which runs on a self sustaining looping cycle. This enhances her blade to the point where she can puncture, and cut through materials no normal sword could. Including a wide variety of hard metals, and armoring techniques. The downside being she cannot adjust the amount of power the blade receives, meaning she's unable enhance the blade's power any further. Despite that, this sophisticated weapon gives a literal edge over other swordsmen.
• Qui Tsu Fei: Not technically a weapon in on itself, Qui Tsu Fei is a martial arts style developed by the Senichi line, based around their heritage and culture which includes many ancient Asian themes and its teachings are virtually unknown to the outside world. This martial practice focuses primarily around non-lethal methods of defensive-offense. To break it down further, the techniques involved revolve around a few core themes of combat; Prediction, Redirection, Speed, and Countering. The user focuses on the speed and precision of their strikes, rather than raw strength, and performs this technique by reading their opponent, redirecting their attacks, and countering with calculated movements which use the opponents own strength and momentum against them; Typically in an attempt to the combatant out by deflecting, and redirecting their force while using minimal effort to do so. However, if confident, the user of Qui Tsu Fei can perform incapacitating strikes when the moment is opportune.
  • Fei Tsu Ken: This is the highest level art among the Senichi Discipline, a master level technique that is taught only to the most proficient, advanced members of the family. Incompetent use of the technique often leaves the user in a fight they cannot win, and is often times a reason of death among aspiring martial arts students. The reason being is that Fei Tsu Ken is meant to teach the disciple to encompass multi-body combat in unison with the Qui Tsu Fei style. This is achieved around the idea that the user must maintain a sphere of influence within the length of their arm, or their weapons reach. This idea also broadens the technique of it's parent style, formatting the single target methods of prediction and reaction to include more than a single body. Along with the teachings of this discipline, there is also a regiment of mediation and awareness training, to teach the body to recognize the subtle nuances that your senses can pick up in an attempt to achieve a state of hyper awareness. This style also teaches the moral boundary of non-lethal fighting.
• Kinetic Particle Barrier: Because she is in fact more often than not bringing a knife to a gun fight, Nano needs time to close distance. The Particle Barrier is a light shield, as her intertwined cybernetics cannot sustain a heavy system. What this does is create a sort of over-shield that hardens upon projectile impact. Specifically meaning that when impact is sustained, the shield with harden instantaneously to deflect the projectiles, meaning it can stop a single round, or a rapid burst for approximately a full second. Fortunately, this shielding has two layers, being she could virtually be shot twice before it goes down. The shields have a recharge time of approximately two minutes, and do not share power with her Akinetophic field, or particle blade. Explosives will immediately knock out both layers, though she is protected from shrapnel and debris for the hardening duration. This shield does not alter the effect of elements, such as fire or heat, or the cold.
• Akinetophic Field: The main reason she's a viable swordsman in a firefight is her ability to project what's referred to as an Akinetophic Field, roughly translating to "Without movement or sight." This field performs three key functionalities, neither of which effect Nano herself. The first is that the nanites cause temporary Akinetopsia to anyone caught within the field, a disorder where the individual will process motion as a series of still images rather than continual motion. However, this would only appear to make movement skip, or jump, like a film reel with missing frames. The second ability is to affect individuals within the radius of influence with a form of paralysis, slowing muscular signals to such a rate that the body appears to be moving in substantial slow-motion. The final ability of this technique is that the nanites exponentially slow the rate of molecular movement for non-biological organic matter, such as metal, fabric, and so forth.
  
  Effectively this appears to stop the progression of moving particles, most notably bullets or optical weapons such as laser. Adding all of these complicated procedures together effectively makes it appear as if Nano can stop time. Because of her Neural-Thread Network, she is immune to the paralyzing effects, the temporary Akinetopsia, and the molecular slow to items she is holding when the field is activated. The field cannot be cast, but rather projects around her in a full, spherical radius of about 20 yards, and expands nearly instantaneously. This field can be sustained for a maximum of twenty seconds. The way that this works is that, at 100% Battery capacity, each seconds takes 5%, which doesn't allow her much time for hesitation. Additionally, this ability has a twenty minute cool down.
• Nano can use voice activation for her two abilities:
  • "Yamate", meaning "Stop", activates her Akinetophic Field.
  • "Hakiri", meaning "Light", activates her Light Particle Sheathe.

Charges/Sentences:

• Homicide: Premeditated Murder of the first degree, exact figures are unknown.
  • Manslaughter: Involuntary third degree, and voluntary second degree manslaughter, precise statistics unknown.
• Trespassing: Unlawful breaking and entering.
  • Possession: Concealing a deadly weapon, especially with lethal intent, in restricted areas.
• Assault: Including aggravated assault, and battery, detailed counts unavailable.

Skills:

• Death Rides Wind: The technical name behind her swordsmanship, the term is a reference to the original concept of its foundation, Leaf Rides Wind, a non-lethal phrase depicting how fluidly a leaf dances upon a gentle breeze. Nano's repurposed technique makes her graceful killer on the battle field, chaining her attacks together the same way a handful of leaves swirl within a strong gust. She is more than proficient in the use of her sword, it is an extension of herself, a part of her. It is not a tool in her hands, but an instrument of death. Her movements are swift, and her strikes precise. She a storm, her sword the flicker of lightning, leaving behind only the rattling wails of death.
• Hand Forces Flow: Another misconstrued term, derived from Hand Parts Water, referencing how flowing water will part and move around the hand. The practice, again meant to be non-lethal, revolves around directly the flow of battle around oneself. Nano, rather, sees this as forcibly changing the flow of battle, and thus she is able to control situations by creating vulnerabilities in her opponents. Though this utilizes the primary teachings of Qui Fei Tsu, and Fei Tsu Ken, her version is less about tiring her opponent and more about reducing their combat effectiveness, if a finishing move isn't readily feasible. She does this by using the same methods of the two teachings, but instead of passively out-sustaining her opponent, she will use these moments to separate joins, break limbs, attack vital areas, and so forth.
• The Blind Sense: A benefit of the Tsu Fei Ken style, this practice focuses on enhancing the other senses, and relying less on what your eyes see. Meaning, against less experience, noisy opponents, Nano could quite possibly fight with her eyes closed by listening to her opponents breathing, their steps, the ruffle of their clothes, and other telltale sounds. Though not entirely effective on its own, except against aggressors of far lesser skill, its actually a necessary component of the Tsu Fei Ken style, as the eyes cannot see what's behind you. Additionally, this also helps stimulate her mind. She must think ahead, and make snap decisions to react to her opponent, or opponents.
• The Strength of the Willow: While not entirely strong physically, much of Nano's training has revolved around this concept. She is not the oak that stands tall in the storm, but the willow that stays rooted while bending to the winds. She takes thing as they come, and rolls with the punches. She may lack strength, but she greatly makes up for that with her agility, stamina, and maneuvers. She knows how to work herself out of holds, and even a variety of restraints. However, the key attribute of this teaching is that she understands how to bend in combat, meaning when an attack connects, she moves with it to substantially lessen the impact.
• Aspect of the Wind: A useful skill, considering how close she must be to her targets. The training revolving around the Aspect of the Wind is literally the art of movement closely resembling to how wind moves. The body is trained to react to obstacles fluidly, with both speed and agility. To break it down, this is a combination of training your reflexes and parkour. She has excellent reaction time and reflexes, and is able to traverse in unorthodox ways smoothly, and with varying amounts of speed depending on exactly what sort of obstacles she must over come. Some of these practices include moving without excessive hindrance through tight holes, up vertical surfaces, understanding maximum gap closing distance, landing safely, and so forth. Many of these skills can also be applied to combative movements.
• Eye of the Storm: Her training has also included the tailoring of her emotions, the destruction rages around the storm yet the center must remain calm. Meaning she remains cool and collected during what would otherwise be high stress situations. She's both cold, and calculating, and the idea that hesitation equals death has been imprinted in her mind. Nano was already an intelligent woman, and training out reactions based on emotion have only served to enhance these qualities. During the squall of battle, she is steel layered in ice. She is the tempest, and will do what she feels is necessary, without expending energy on trivial actions.
• Growth of the Sapling: A benefit of the original, intended purpose of her nanites, Nano can recover from the worst of wounds without too much cause for concern. Rather, the nanites are apt at repairing damaged cells and bodily structure, yet this is not an immeidate, or even quick benefit. In actuality it does two things, assists fixing her body and shortening the recovery period in comparison to a normal person, and helps keep her immunized against foreign bodies that could cause illness or disease.

Flaws:

• Links of the Chain: A drawback of the Death Rides Wind style, if Nano is interrupted while moving through a sequence of attacks she will ultimately fall out of sync with herself. Her mind is already two steps ahead, so breaking one of the links of her chain will scatter her attack completely and leave her vulnerable as she attempts to regain balance and recompose her combat process. This vulnerability is momentary, as she will back off and attempt to guard herself, yet this causes her to also lose the pressing edge of her attack and puts her on guard. A skilled opponent will use this to their advantage.
• Two-headed Snake: Qui Fei Tsu, and Tsu Fei Ken are styles that require proper use of the arms and legs. Without both arms, Nano's effective attacks are limited to what she can do with her legs, and vice versa. Especially since most of the techniques involved with these styles involve much more use of her arms than her legs. However, like two halves a whole, her can fight adequately with just her legs, she is just severely limited on the number of moves she can perform. However, this situation in reverse is much more difficult, as it is incredibly difficult to fight without her legs, and likely to be ineffective against even a moderately skilled opponent.
• The Frailty of the Willow: The entire purpose of this technique is to avoid damage, to shave down the power of attacks. Her body is not a thickly corded cage of muscle, but is rather soft and finely tuned. With hand to hand combat, she has trouble with opponents with substantial musculature, or high endurance. She also has trouble sustaining solid hits, lacking much in the endurance and resistance departments.
• Aspect of the Target: Nobody ever said using a sword in the modern age was a wise decision. Despite how well she can move, a person can only zig-zag so much before taking a few hits. Additionally, a figure running at you is likely to obtain your full attention due to the increasingly rises levels of threat. For every injury, or debilitating effect she sustains, her peak performance goes down and her combat ability declines right with it. She relies on being able to move quickly, and close distance efficiently, since she is almost guaranteed to draw the attention of her targets if she's within their visual range. However, this is less of a problem against other melee oriented opponents.
• Piercing of the Veil: Everybody is human, and even a cold, calculating combat machine like Nano are subject to that statement. Since genetically, she remains unaltered, she is still prone to human emotions such as acting in anger, hesitation, but most notably she is very prideful. She does her best not to show it, not to react to that particular feelings, but at other times she'll let loose if only to prove herself. She's trained all of her life, and is definitely lacking in departments of praise and compassion. It was never "Good Job", no "I love you", or "I'm proud of you", rather is was always a curt nod, a dismissive hand, a stoic look.
• Range of the Cactus: Nano is a close quarters combatant, just as she's been trained for the majority of her life. Consequently, she knows about zero when it comes to fire arms. In fact, she has no skill with the weapons period. Her hands shake when she aims, she forgets how to reload, and likely doesn't even know where the safety is. The only, and I mean the absolutely only situation a gun is useful for her is if it's already loaded, the safety is off, and the barrel currently resides between her victim's teeth. Even then, the action is rather pointless since she's a close quarters combatant anyways.
• Fears of the Flower: Nano has a form of aquaphobia, that surfaces only when she is fully submerged in water. Her methods of training were often times less than desirable, and has left her with the irrational fear of fully body submersion. Caedence does not suffer from aquaphobia, and can swim rather well.
• Erosion of the Stone: The nanites within Nano's body, as mentioned above, are self sustaining. These molecular robots achieve this by using the natural minerals she ingests and those that her body produces. Despite how incredibly difficult it would be to destroy a molecular machine, it is possible, increasing the amount of resources the nanites consume to replace these machines. Nano has to supplement her diet with powerful multivitamins which she takes once a day normally. During states where the nanites consumption increases due to a decline in their numbers, Nano must increase her dosage, typically needing no more than two or three.
• The Flash of the Storm: While she is partially protected against such attacks, a large electro-magnetic pulse will disable her nanites. The machines do have protection against burning out completely however. Most notably, a tiny, minimal draw shield that doesn't actually protect the nanites, but senses when an electro-magnetic, or similar pulse is about to hit the nanite. At that point, the nanites automatically perform an immediate shutdown. Information is stored in a black box system, which will automatically reboot the nanites after the pulse has passed and it is safe to do so. This also serves to turn of her nanite given abilities, including her kinetic barrier, particle sword, and prevents her from activating the Akinetophic field.
• Yin and Yang: As with most intensely trained killers, she's a bit fucked up in the head. Nano suffers from Disassociation Identity Disorder, meaning she has two personalities. The first, is perhaps what she could have been under normal circumstances, and closely reflects a truer, positive nature—Yang. Her other side is the product of her training, the cold, remorseless killer—Yin.
• Wilting of the Weed: Despite the arguably small medicinal benefits of her nanites, this comes with a drawback. When the nanites are focusing on fixing say, a broken bone, or creating scar tissue, she's very susceptible to foreign bodies and will likely come down with flu-like symptoms. When fighting off foreign bodies, she will feel weak and mimic the symptoms of a fever. Both of these states of illness increase in intensity depending on the amount of effort the nanites must use. Both of these at the same time will cripple her, and render her pretty much useless in a combat situation. I say nearly, because her zombie-like state may terrify lesser beings into fleeing in terror.

Personality:Caedence is the Yang of her two personalities; she is the creative, joyous light. She has a compassionate nature about her, while also being fun and playful, if a bit docile, or submissive at times. She has a warm smile, which she shows often, and kind eyes. She tries to see the best in people, even hardened criminals have good qualities and deserve empathy and understanding. She also tries to remain positive, but sometimes this trait is obscured by her meekness. She knows the world is cruel, and she knows of the stains that blacken her soul. She is also fully aware of her alter ego, and what she does. On a normal day, Caedence likes to ignore these facts. She's also more in tune with her emotions, and tries to keep herself from dangerous situations.

Nano is the Yin side of Caedence, a side that is darker, colder, and stained with blood. She's a start contrast to the sweet, caring Caedence. She can be patronizing, sarcastic, and playfully seductive. She embodies the darker qualities Caedence does not. She more dominant, and aggressive, especially when being flirty or sexually playful. She sees the world for what it really is, a selfish, cruel world that punishes the just, and rewards the corrupt. She's detached from herself, feeling very little in the way of stimulating emotion other than amusement, pleasure, and pride. On a sub-note she's also capable of anger, but when engaged in combat she loses all of this and feels nothing, becoming devoid of limiting emotions, which is to say, all of them. She typically does not feel regret, or sadness, perhaps a sprinkling of loathing and a healthy dash of contempt. Nano will not stray from a fight, especially if her pride is challenged. She is the funnel into which Caedence pushes all of her pain and hurt, all of her dark thoughts and desires, everything negative in her life.

Personal Biography:

A brief look into the history of Caedence Senichi-Tagawa

Lightning flares, punctuating the silhouette of a young girl's martial forms with the clap of thunder. Rain falls steadily, drenching the small figure, pitter-pattering against stone and thrumming against the angled tile roofing of the private housing. Shielded from outside eyes behind opaque white walls, decorative in nature, the girl practiced. A solemn wind rustled through the petals of colorful gardens forming a swirling pattern of colors as it washed through the compound. A door squeaked open softly admitting a stealthy observer, quiet steps bring him to a railing of polished wood. The girl did turn around, but continued her forms as before. Her face placid, she barely made a sound as she danced through the clear, rippling puddles, another shadow in the night. The breeze swept low, rustling the large cherry blossom tree centered in the courtyard and stealing from it a multitude of dazzlingly pink petals. The child poised herself, as the gust whipped her raven hair about her, snatching the petals from the air.

She turned, splaying her palm open before the figure, presenting her feat. Lean, powerful legs hidden beneath the pleated folds of a Hakama step forward. The elevated Geta clacked across the courtyard of smooth, polished stones as the watcher approached the child, his figure looming over her imposingly. The end of his Bokken, a wooden sword, thumped across the back of her legs roughly, reminding her to kneel. The girl let out a squeak of surprise from the stringing mark left on her legs, earning her another thwap. Biting her tongue, she steadied her breath and waited as her father observed the petals in her hand. He reached down, plucking out the ones that had been crushed or torn. Three disfigured petals lay before her, flowing away in the streams crisscrossing the courtyard.

Thwap-Thwap-Thwap

The girl let out a whimper before she could stop herself—Thwap.

"Again," He spoke, his powerful voice left no room for anything else. The girl rose, bowing to her father before continuing her ritualistic dance, practicing her forms as she waited for the next flurry to bring her more petals. A door out of view squeaked once more as it closed, signaling the likely departure of her instructor. She dare not stop, nor lie. She always got caught, and the punishments were much worse than simply failing. She schooled her face, silently hoping that nature would take mercy on her. Inside the building her father stood, shaking his head silently as he looked at the meal growing cold on the small, low table. It was going to be one of those nights, he might as well make some tea.

Dawn broke, illuminating the form of the weary child, struggling to continue. The storm had long since blown over, yet the girl was still soaked through to the bone. She sniffled, ignoring her runny nose as she labored through her forms, her foot cutting swathes in still puddles marred by the broken forms of cherry blossoms. Her father was watching again, a scowl tempting the edges of his face as his daughter collapsed against the chilled, wet stones. He strode towards her, his tongue clicking in a sound of disappointed irritation.

"Rise," He commanded, and she did. The girl struggled to her feet, her body limp and exhausted, but his voice left no room for disobedience. "You will eat, and then sleep. I expect to see you when you awake."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An array of figures basked in the light streaming through translucent sections of the pale, colorless wall, their powerful forms hovering at the edge of a large, bamboo mat. A young girl stood before them, dressed in similar white clothes as the figures laughed and snickered at her. A mere child, who couldn't have been older than eleven, a part of their demonstration. The members of the Senichi's expansive family nearly laughed themselves to tears, though the girl remained straight and stoic, ignoring their presumptuous cackles. To men stood to one end, dressed in hues of dark blue, the colors of the master. One, thick in body and with a chiseled face bordered by a thick beard was scowling menacing. The other, her father, his clean shaven face all planes and angles looked on passively, knowingly. Yet, he did not smile as the other pointed out one of his men to the ring, a grin split wide across his face.

"Now, Hanjo, Ichizo here will put an end to this mockery and you will show us your real warriors," Tsuga voiced, the tone of his voice underlined with amusement. Hanjo merely let out a quiet 'Hmph', choosing not to fully acknowledge the statement. He simple watched as the two fighters took their stances, one seemingly severely outmatched by the other.

"Master Inowa, surely you can't expect me to fight this girl?" Ichizo asked, rather concerned at the arrangement.

"I expect you to display the full prowess of an Inowa Disciple, this is Hanjo's arrangement therefore it will be his problem when it's over, just try not to break anything," Tsuga commanded, silencing his disciple's opinion through the sheer intensity of his voice, though it hardly altered in pitch.

"Begin"

Ichizo rushed forward, already formulating a plan of attack, he would be firm, but gentle. He did not want to hurt the young girl too badly. His leg sprung from the side, arcing through the air with excellent speed, though it passed only empty air. His eyes widened as the small girl dropped low beneath his kick, throwing out her own leg and sweeping his ankle. He grimaced, pushing himself up off of the mat at the spectators fell silent. Tsuga, in particular, was scowling again.

Once more the male fighter struck out, feinting with another kick and following with his fists instead. He came low, sweeping upwards and again his strike passed through only the air. He reacted quicker this time, using his moment to spin his body and follow through with an elbow. Two small hands gripped his arm, her smaller form forcing him to continue his momentum and throwing him off of balance. He stumbled, spinning wildly as he once more met the mat. This time his fall was a thing of laughter for the other disciples.

"Hah!" "Surely Ichi isn't losing to a child?" "What a mockery."
"What disgraceful form." "Ichi stop screwing around!"
"He's one of the best?" "Are you joking?"
"Pathetic." "No way."

Ichizo grimaced, his face hot with humiliation. The girl didn't smile, or gloat, she barely even made a sound. Most infuriating of all, she'd barely moved from her starting position. He let out a growl, losing all inhibitions of holding back. He charged forward, in a series of moves. He crouched, sweeping his foot low, she jumped over it. He followed up with a second, overhead kick, she moved like a wraith to the side, his strike whispering only through strands of hair. His teeth pressed together in anger. Without pause he used his prior move to step forward, close to her, striking out from his mid section. It was like trying to fight a shadow, he punched, she moved, he kicked, she side-stepped, he swung, he missed, swing, and miss. He let out a cry of rage, throwing a sloppy punch. Caedence took his arm, spinning as she tugged it forward, causing Ichizo to toppled over her small form.

"Hiyah!" Her small body cried, leveling an overhead kick into the back of his neck. He let out a grunt, she wasn't strong enough to incapacitate him that easily. He began pushing himself up, but another kick to his temple sent his vision spinning. He raised an arm to defend his face as he rose further. Two quick, successive strikes behind his knee sent him down once more. The child's attacks and the laughter of his peers were too much. He sprung to his feet, the strain of his efforts overshadowed by a tide of unyielding rage. Faster than she had anticipated, he took hold over her arm and flung her with all the might he could muster.

Caedence whimpered, feeling the socket tug painfully as Ichi propelled her through the air. She remained composed however, angling her body and landing in a low crouch. She could hear him, his bullish breathing, his thundering steps. She leveled a kick backwards, one that connected with his groin and sent him crashing over her. His face hit the mat with a thud. Caedence rolled over, kneeling on him as she hurled her fists repeatedly into the back of his head.

"Hah! Hah! Hiyah!" She called as Ichi's face bounced slightly against the mat.

"Enough," Her father commanded. Immediately Caedence rose, her body stiff as a tree, and bowed. The audience stared, open mouthed. "Perhaps next time, it will be you who brings a real warrior," Hanjo replied flatly.

Awhile later, as the sun was nearing its peak, Hanjo sat in the middle of a garden composed of finely raked gravel, and flourishing beds of exotic flowers. Beside on the same, smoothly carved stone bench sat his daughter, who was currently busy pouring two cups of freshly brewed leaves. His gaze lingered on a rippling pong, where large, fat fish swam playfully. He was quite displeased, despite the performance his daughter had given. Surely he should feel happiness and pride, yet a quiet storm of emotional shadowed those feelings.

"Tomorrow, when we arrive home, you will begin the steps again..." He started, pausing only to sip the scalding tea, "After your punishment."

"Punishment, Otousan?" Caedence repeated, tonelessly. She already knew once, but the question was one act of minute rebelliousness she could have without offense.

"You allowed him to throw you like a useless toy. Had this been a real fight, he would have taken that opportunity to kill you," Hanjo explained. He was never one to punish without proper reasoning. Caedence nodded in acceptance, likely it would be the birch strap, the usual grade of punishment for failures such as this. She did not respond then, there was no need for an answer. He knew she would try, and she knew he expected her to excel.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The morning was dim, painting the land and the Senichi private residence in hues of gray. Members of the household began to stir as the sun slowly crept its way over the horizon, further hidden behind scattered clouds. The scents of dough being turned, and tea leaves seeping began to permeate the air. For the Senichi familly, they were no days off. Men and woman began filling wash basins and buckets, to begin their routine of scrubbing, polishing, and waxing. Others began to don their outfits, to begin a morning of training and discipline. The children would file out into the courtyard, to begin their own form of practice for most of the day, exempt from most chores to study both general education and the martial arts. Caedence stirred from her sleep, pushing a book she had been studying from her face. She stretched and yawned, as she thought ahead to the coming weekend. There were no breaks, especially not as the daughter of the head, yet school work was only done during the week.

She looked around the frozen image of her room, as still as the morning air. She put on her uniform, her thoughts wandering into a daydream of what breakfast would hold. Although that wouldn't be until later in the morning. The door let out only a quiet whoosh as she jogged down the corridor, heading for the courtyard. She was halfway down the breezeway when she stopped with fright. A man had appeared before her, literally appeared. He blinked into her vision, his body crouched over a large brush where he should be running across the floor. Yet, as she stared, his form only continued to blink forward some, and freeze, over and over. She struggled for words, her voice nothing but a croak as she choked on her own terror.

"Caedence?" The man asked, he had blinked again, he was besides her now. Caedence backed away in sheer horror, bumping into the railing as he called her name again. She looked over her shoulder, startled by the barrier, and her fear found new levels to drown her in. Outside in the courtyard everything was, blinking. Each person she saw was frozen, only moving by disappearing and reappearing elsewhere.

"Caedence, Child, what's wrong?" The voice asked, over, and over again. Caedence remained frozen, unable to form words, unable to tear her gaze away from the still motion of the world around her, jumping through its motions as if jerking through the frames of an image. Finally the shock subsided, and a scream found its way to the top of her throat.

"OTOUSAN!? OTOUSAN!?" She screamed, propelled down the hallway by her own emotions. Things blinked rapidly in and out of her view as she ran. Objects that had been there before disappeared, and things constantly popped into her view. Hanjo had been sitting at his desk, writing out a notice for the rest of the family when he heard her screams. He sneered, looking at the long swathe of ink running across the bottom of the page where his hand had jerked. He stood angrily, making it to his door before he spied the wild, terrified look of his daughter. This was unlike her, fear was an emotion she did not feel. He looked beyond her, searching for some sort of immense danger, but found none.

"What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself Caedence," He ordered as his daughter literally ran face first into him. She clutched at his Hakama, her red face stricken with tears.

"I can't see them, I can't see them move, I ca-.. I can-.." Her words became lost as a torrent of sobs wracked her body.

Later that night, Hanjo sat at his daughter's beside, his hand pressed to her forehead. Such a rare thing to occur, and to his daughter no less. His own mighty flesh and blood. How the heavens must laugh, striking his daughter with such an affliction. He frowned in thought, surely the power of man superseded that of the old gods now. He stood, ignoring the compassionate look on the nurse's face. He did not need to feel sorrow, or guilt. He was angry, yes. Angry at the muses of nature, but his family would prevail. The Senichi-Tagawa bloodline would remain strong, starting with his daughter. Tomorrow, he would contact the galactic federation, perhaps there was cure. If not, he would find somebody who could make one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A year later, Caedence found herself staring at an electronic display, far from the marked line where she stood. "E," She began, reading off the chart. She was in an optometrist lab, reading off a display of increasingly small letters to a technician, a warm smile was plastered on his face. He nodded, urging her to continue. She gazed back at the screen, bracketed by smooth white walls covered with informative posters and signs warning of dangerous signs of cancer, or oncoming blindness.

"W."

It had taken quite a long time to find a cure, to repair the damaged cortex in her brain. An array of medical professions had speculated that she may have been victim to a seizure, or stroke, while she slept, claiming she had trouble remembering it. She was certain that she had not woken during the night, but regardless there had been damage to her brain. This damage led to a disorder so rare, that nobody really knew about it, and thus funding to research a cure had never really been sought except by groups so small that they're progress was negligible.

"Q."

Her father sought other sources, and it wasn't long until a name was passed to him—Axton Blayse. The man was considered the prodigal son of engineering, a genius who was currently doing astounding work with machines so small they couldn't be seen without a high powered microscope. A year was such a short time, in comparison, yet Axton had always said it was taking far too long. Caedence had quietly wondered how her father could afford such a thing, she had been told he would ruin himself funding this research. To be truthful, she wasn't even sure what her father did for a living. Even when he disappeared for weeks a time, she had watchers ensuring she trained and studied.

"G."

Axton had created something extraordinary, something that could change the course of human history. A tiny robotic machine that could advance science years into the future, at the least. A self-sustaining, self-replicating nanite. Her father had urged him to secrecy, ensuring the further potential of Axton's creations. Caedence had heard some of it, promises of riches, military application, and the like. Lesser men, Hanjo had told her, are always prone to propelling their greed to the furthest limits. Not only did these nanites repair her on a molecular level, but they began to take on more puspose. Afterwards, Axton had vanished.

"K."

During the time of her affliction, her father made her treat it as a part of her training. Much too early for a girl who was barely a teenager, yet he had pushed her even harder. At home she wore a blindfold, never taking it off, and was expected to be ready when an attack was sprung on her. Her opponents never went easy on her, and she could always her the disappointment in her voice. The punishments increased in severity. From brutal lashing with a switch, or cane, to physically holding her head repeatedly underwater, until she was left to cough out lungfuls of water.

"X."

She struck the thoughts from her mind, it was only because her father cared so much for her to succeed in a world that was so cruel and difficult. She'd heard of famous people chewed up and spit out in the blink of an eye, and others where the best protection money could by couldn't save them. No, to survive was to depend on yourself, and only that. Nobody in this world gave two shits about you, don't trust them, don't listen to their filthy lies. They will harm you, steal from you, lie to you, manipulate you. The world will use you, and discard your withered corpse into the streets with the rest.

"Y."

The technician nodded, "Good, Good, do you feel any pain?"

"No," She lied, ignoring the splitting headache burrowing through her skull, the stinging fire coursing through her veins as her body rejected the presence of the foreign machines.

"Have you felt any pain since.." The technician paused, finding her operation only listed as experimental, "Ah.. since your procedure?"

"No," She lied again, pushing away the memories of her writhing on the floor, curled into a ball of pain.

"Any trouble sleeping, or eating, any abnormalities to your usual routine?"

"No," her voice was flat, her face perfectly blank as she refused to acknowledge all the mornings she was doubled over, vomiting and then dry heaving when her body had nothing left to give. All the sleepiness nights she lied awake, willing herself not to cry as her body's initial rejection of the nanites flared up. The crippling fatigue that would wash over her, or the ache in her bones. She was a fighter.

"Any motion sickness, ringing in the ears, abnormal coloring of the skin-"

"Nothing at all, I have been in perfect health since fulfilling the recovery period."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Another couple of years passed, during which she underwent a further increase to her training. She had also taken on meditation, and more advances styles of martial arts, along with learning how to use the sword, specifically the Katana, and those of similar design. She was a new metal, ready to be forged in the fires of her Father's desires, molded by the weight of his expectations, of what he had done for her. For all of the ill things he spoke about the world, he had not discarded her. She stood now, like many times before, in another bloodlines practice ring, her toes flexing against the thing strips of bamboo composing the mat beneath her. To either side students of Qui Tsu Fei fighting style stood, observing the yearly tournament the Senichi family held to show off skill and award rank.

"Didn't she miss last year?" One of them whispered.

"I heard she went blind," Another voice whispered back.

Caedence ignored them, focusing instead on her breathing and her surroundings. Another woman stepped forward, she was years older by far and had the face of somebody wizened with experience. The middle aged woman bowed respectfully before Caedence, a girl merely in her mid teens. Caedence returned the gesture, before taking her stance once more. A dignified member of the family broke through the crowd, offering each of the women a sturdy Bokken. Both of the women accepted their weapons, Caedence leveling her's before her in a straight line, a formal stance mirrored by her opponent.

"Begin," The gravelly voice of the eldest commanded.

"Yamate" she whispered, feeling thousands of tiny flutters against her skin as the nanites exploded from her body in speeds far too fast for her eyes to see. In less than a second she was bathed in a purple hue, the faces of her watchers seemingly frozen in time. Experimenting with her ability had shown that the field will begin to lighten into a brighter shade of blue, increasingly changing from purple as it draws to the end of it's duration. She wasted no time, rushing forward with her sword held at the ready. At a dead run she jumped, parallel to the ground as both of her feet connected with the solid force of her opponent's body. Caedence rolled, leaping once more into her attack at the field began to lighten from plum, to lavender, and finally to a sky colored teal. She took a position behind her opponent, steadying her breathing as she focused her ears on the elder, perched against the far wall of the room.

The field dissipated as quickly as it had come, leaving all that delayed forced to hit Caedence's opponent all at once. The woman's body flew backwards, her face frozen in shock as pain exploded across her body. Her limbs flailed as she turned quick rotations through the air, whirling like a human torpedo into the stunned crowd. A resounding slap echoed, as the suppressed forces caught up to Caedence. Her bokken exploded into a hundred wooden shards, leaving her hands only with a hilt. The crowd gasped collectively, their voices immediately protesting their disbelief.

"Did you see how fast she moved?" A man asked as medical staff rushed over to the battered form of Caedence's victim.

"That's not possible, she's cheating!" Another voice cried. Caedence stood, dusting herself off as another man entered the ring.

"She was searched and scanned before entering, I saw it!" A third said in her defense, a statement that was quite true.

Caedence ignored all of them, looking up towards the elder, and most importantly to her father position next to the older man. He didn't smile, but he nodded, which was as good to Caedence as a hug, a kiss, and a brand new puppy. 'Cheating? For being better than them? Nonsense' her father had said. In his desire for her to be the best, Caedence felt he was losing his way, forgoing his honor and her family's traditions. But he had saved her life, surely he was right in this. Honor was impractical, it was a weight to drag you down. Another part of her argued against that, but it was a quiet, meek park.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's time you joined the family business."

The words echoed in the back of Caedence's mind, now just on the cusp of adulthood. A shrieking wind was coursing through the night, carrying frigid air to slither across the outside of her armor. She lay against a glass window, held to it by a pair of air compressing gloves that acted like suction cups. A hundred stories below her, a city bustles with life among tall towers and thickly crowded roads. She did not feel afraid, but focused as she looked up towards the final floor. The penthouse suite, and the current temporary home of a target that had been rather hard to follow. It had been months since she'd been home, receiving only coded messages from her father's organization as she followed the trail of a target labeled only as 'Crow'.

She looked at the small picture hovering at the edge of her vision, overlayed aboved her electronic display. It wasn't much to go off of, a dark picture of a man with shadow black hair and a coat blown askew by a snow flurry. According to the substantial dossier, he was a known criminal, head of one of the top gangs terrorizing the galaxy. Caedence had read all thiry-six pages herself, and that was just what they knew of him. Above her, the windows fell into darkness as the suite's lights were turned out. She waited another forty minutes before moving.

"Hakiri," She said, drawing her sword with one hand. The blade hummed with soft vibrations as a starkly contrasting glow wrapped around the blade, like a torch held up in the night. With a swift motion she cut a roughly shaped hole through the window before her, and slithered inside. A disembodied voice called out in concern, as a like flicked on. A man with wild, cray hair stumbled into view, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Caedence's weapon speared forward before he could utter a single sound, fluidly opening him up from groin to neck in a single, swift motion. He crumpled to the ground, uttering soundless cries through a ruined throat as he tried to hold the vital pieces of himself where they were supposed to be. Caedence ignored him and moved into the next room, ignoring the need for a keycard by sweeping her weapon through the metal door itself.

The resident of this room too, met the same fate at the ghostly visage flickered before them, its weapon the brush to paint their blood upon the canvas of the room. Caedence barely paused to acknowledge the falling body as she stood below the ceiling, just short of the rooms far edge. She had studied the layout of the building, and with a little recon before hand determined the location of the master bed in the suite above her. She ran at the wall, her leg compressing as she launched herself in the opposite direction, dragging her sword across the ceiling. She landed, and immediately repeated the maneuver, slightly angling her cut another direction. Each time she did, she was met with an ear splitting screeching of metal groaning beneath its failing ability to hold the floor. A third pass and the ceiling dipped inward, hesitating just a second before caving in and bringing a fairly large bed toppling in with it.

"Yamate!" She called, feeling the same fluttering sensation on her skin. The scene before her froze, plaster smashing against the ground, loose wires letting off sparks, and a dark haired man sitting up in the bed. There was a look of surprise on his face, and a gun in his hand. From the way his body was position he must have been getting out of bed, likely alerted to something amiss from the sounds of her cutting through the floor. She leapt forward, using the falling debris as stepping stones in her ascension towards her target. Without hesitation she plunged her blade into his chest, before canceling her field of distortion, and the particle light sheathe of her blade.

The bed crashed to the ground, causing Crow to cry out in pain as his body jerked against the sword impaled into his chest, though the sound was cut off by a gurgle of blood. The lights in the room flickered ominously as he smiled, blood trailing from either side of his mouth. He raised up a shaking hand with effort, reaching into the breast pocket of his silken night shirt. "You're father.." He choked out, handing her a small case, before letting out one final, sinister chuckle. Caedence peered inside, seeing only a usb drive. She left her mark scattered all over his lifeless form, filled with no more emotion than when she had began as she considered the enigma of the drive.

It was later that she checked it, during her flight home after escaping the skyscraper. The shuttle rocked violently as it propelled itself into space, something no uncommon among cheaper flights. The drive held an expansive database of files on it, most detailing locations and dates. She chose a video a random, watching intently as a camera feed pulled up. A figured hidden through a heavy layer of shadow stalked up a corridor, from the other end a woman was approaching. She recognized the suit her father adorned during work, a set of armor based around the concepts of ancient ninja, and samurai. What had Crow meant to show her with this however? She knew what her father did for a living, she did the same thing, hunting down criminals and-

Hanjo moved without warning as he passed the woman, throwing her against the wall. Caedence recognized her as a bounty, at least one she'd seen inside the records of completion for her fathers kills. In this, the woman was dressed as a commoner, in a blouse and skirt, and even a bag of groceries. Caedence thought back, trying to remember what the report had said, but her thoughts went askew as the horrid scenes played before her. She activated the sound, plugging in a pair of ear buds into her wrist pad. Immediately her ears were assaulted by the shrieks of the woman.

"You look a lot like my late wife," Her father sneered, a look so menacing plastered on his face that Caedence didn't even recognize him. His hand ripped at the woman's clothes as he pressed a free arm against her throat. Caedence shut the video off, noting the subject number in the title. A little searching found the correct folder, and an entirely different report about the woman. She was nobody, a nobody who was engaged and a mother of one. Something deep within Caedence shuddered, suddenly becoming obsessed with the data drive. Another showed more vile acts, from other members of the secret sect of assassins, and still more, and more, and more until Caedence was left shaking, feeling a rage she'd never known existed within her.

"Honor," she seethed, stalking down the halls of her home. She had done nothing but stew on the ride back, watching the videos again, and again.

"Discipline," she hissed, her blade drawn as she marched through the still night, a whisper carried only on the wind.

"Honor," she growled again, standing before her father's door, "Discipline..."

"Honor.." her hand shook, violently, "Discipline, Honor, Discipline, Honor, Discipline..."

"..."

"...Yamate!"

Personal Belongings:

• Nova brand cigarettes, known for their cool, minty feel. Both girls smoke.
• Silver flip lighter with an embossed figured of an eastern dragon.
• An airtight packet of cherry blossoms.
• A tin of breath mints.
• A pair of black ear buds.

Other: Caedence and Nano were imprisoned for seven years at the age of nineteen.

Theme Song

A R K H E U S

Theoretics on Shard Sickness added to Citizen Database, courtesy of @Aziraphale