Exit

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

_______________________________........

Approaching the Sandstorm · A TLA collaborationApproaching the Sandstorm · A TLA collaboration ____________________________________________________________________________. Exit    ”Hey! Are you okay?” Kanna asked Chu, her voice layered in barely contained panic. As they pulled away from the rest of the cars, she tried her best to secure herself in the bed of the truck, stuffing her backpack into a corner and bracing herself against it with her arms anchored onto anything solid she could hold on to. With no seat available to her, it was the best she could do to prevent herself from bouncing around the interior of the truck like a ball. canaryrose    “I haven’t been okay for the last twenty-four hours, Kanna,” Chu Hua snapped back, still wide-eyed and, frankly, afraid. All six feet of her was stuffed into the trunk of the Kyoshi across from Kanna. She had managed to wedge herself and her meager things in between some cargo, but it was a tight fit and she felt every single pebble the truck ran over. And, frankly, they were running over a lot of pebbles. Everything hurt, and at this point, the adrenaline caused by the fight couldn’t mask it. She gulped, raising her head to stare out the front windshield. She couldn’t see much, but she did see that awful thing ahead of them. Oh, we are so dead. That Earthbender girl had bought them some time with her life, but whatever that was wasn’t stopping for a measly glass tornado. Exit    Kanna followed Chu’s gaze to the shuttered windshield where a digital display was painting the road ahead in lights and letters. Already, whatever had destroyed the first car was halfway between it and them and showed no signs of slowing down. ”What the FUCK IS THAT?!” canaryrose    “The horrifying thing that’s going to eat us alive if we don’t drive faster. Keep up.” Chu Hua’s words were nonchalant, but her voice was high and anxious. She turned her head from the windshield as it ripped off someone’s face, focusing on anchoring herself in the trunk. vietmyke    "If someone wanted to jump out of the car and take one for the team we'd be going faster." Jin quipped back through gritted teeth. The Kyoshi was meant to be a workhorse, but the weight of half a dozen passengers rendered it more sluggish than Jin would have liked- or was used to for that matter. "Fuck me, that thing's fast." Jin cursed, staring down the huge creature as the Kyoshi sped across the sand, the car rattling as the shocks took on dozens of bumps and impurities on the 'road' at once. Jin gripped the wheel with an iron vice as he controlled the vehicle through the rough, but ultimately open terrain. Ahead of them, the sandstorm loomed above like a massive wall of sand and wind. "We can lose them in the storm!" Sumire called out, pointing at the growing curtain. "We need to get past that thing first. " Jin said grimly as he threw the wheel to the left and broke the Kyoshi out of its current trajectory and into a wider turn to try to keep away from the monster. He shot an eye at his rear view mirror. The driver named Tikanni was close behind them. Maybe the beast would go after them if Jin could shake them. KillamriX88    The whole time the Kyoshi sped across the sands, all Weiyuan did was twist and contort his body, trying to look out whatever window gave him the best view of the chaos behind them. He searched for any glimpse of Chae-Won he could find, but saw nothing. The dust and growing distance robbed him of any evidence of her presence, no matter how frantically he sought it.

_______________________________........

Chasing the KyoshiChasing the Kyoshi ____________________________________________________________________________. As soon as the Kyoshi broke left, Tikaani’s vehicle broke right in an attempt to further confuse 141. In the middle of the turn, the mounted gun chimed again, signaling that it was ready to fire. He immediately pulled on the trigger and held it down, coaxing a charge into the weapon and aiming it at the approaching beast. 141 hesitated only momentarily when the two cars split, but ultimately decided to keep following its original target. However, when It swung wide to try and match the Kyoshi’s turn and then tried to reach for them, that short pause was just enough to put a few inches of space between them and its outstretched hand. For its efforts, 141 lost its footing and stumbled forward a number of steps, slowing down considerably and becoming an easy target for Tikaani. He adjusted his aim, but before he could release the trigger, he felt something hot press into his back and then heard something smash into the front of his vehicle. Confused, he looked down to see a gaping hole in the hood of his car that was now spewing thick black smoke… and noticed another hole just above his stomach. The gun in Tikaani’s hand slipped free as he fell unconscious and slumped over the truck. As it swung away, it fired a charged bolt of electricity into the ground just in front of them, erupting the sand underneath and flipping the entire vehicle over. 141 gave the downed truck one look, turned back to the Kyoshi, and took off in their direction. It didn’t take long before it was already gaining on them.

_______________________________........

Approaching the Sandstorm · A TLA collaborationApproaching the Sandstorm · A TLA collaboration ____________________________________________________________________________. Theyra    Reman was busy inside the Kyoshi trying to stay calm but utterly failing. Seeing how they are being chased by some kind of monster. What is that thing, is the dominant thought in his head right now as all he could do was to trust in Jin’s driving. Nothing he could do and he hated it. Feeling helpless in this situation, looking out what could count as a window and seeing the monster catching up to him His voice alarmed and concerned, “we need to move faster Jin, that thing is gaining on us!” vietmyke    "I'm working on it, I'm working on it! " Jin said through gritted teeth. The Kyoshi wasn't by any means a slow car, but it wasn't a supercar. While they would probably start pulling away from the RSF's attack dog in the straightaway. The dog was already on top of them and they needed to get out now. The storm was growing close- in any other situation, Jin would call it mad to just drive headlong into a massive sand storm with little to no preparation, but the storm offered them everything they needed. The sands and winds provided them cover from the RSF shooters, and would hopefully deter any chase. They didn't appear to have any ground vehicles of their own, and flying into it with aircraft would be suicide. They just needed to lose the behemoth and cross the last few miles. "Uh Jin!" Sumire quickly interrupted, "Jin! Booster!" "Booster? What the hell do you mean-" Jin barked as Sumire grabbed the bobblehead on the Kyoshi's dash and yanked the base off, revealing a small panel that flipped open to reveal a small set of dials. "Where the fuck did that come from?! " Jin yelled incredulously. "Later! Hands on the wheel! It pulls to the left a bit!" interrupted as she quickly turned back to everyone in the back of the vehicle "Everybody grab onto something!" Jin flipped the dial and the Kyoshi went airborne for a half second as it rocketed off a sand dune. The Kyoshi hit the sand with a harsh thud, sending a wide spray of sand into the sky as it rushed forward, jumping the Kyoshi from 70 to well over 100 in a second. Exit    Just as sand from the storm began to envelope the vehicle, a white hot bolt of energy slammed into its side, chewing through the outer layer of bullet resistant plating as if it were made of paper and punching a hole through it the size of a ping pong ball. It made a similar sized hole upon exiting the Kyoshi... after also passing through Kanna's neck.

_Prompt:

The Kyoshi has successfully escaped into the storm. Despite being buffeted by strong winds and sand and despite the hole that has been punched into the exterior, the vehicle is holding up well to punishment. All instruments within are working as intended, including the optical system allowing visual through the shuttered windows and the hidden 'boost' system which has increased the speed of the Kyoshi well beyond its normal limit. The engine seems to be straining. Sand is also pouring in from outside through the hole. Outside, visibility is poor. Sand moves in thick, dense clouds that dance around the Kyoshi in a chaos that is both unpredictable and violent. There is nothing all around but sand and dust and sun light filtered a deep red. Every now and again, a flash of light will illuminate a part of the surrounding storm and the sound of thunder barely audible over roaring winds will fill the Kyoshi. Additionally, a well placed shot has seen to Kanna being seriously wounded. It's fatal, and what with the way her eyes widen, it's obvious she knows it as well. She tries covering the hole with her hand but blood continues to pour through her fingers, staining her borrowed clothing and beginning to pool on the bed of the Kyoshi beneath her. Her breathing is also drowned in blood as every lungful of air bubbles to her lips in crimson. This next posting round will allow closing thoughts on what has just transpired as well as any final banter between characters for this chapter.

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus.

_______________________________........

Outside the tower · |@Exit] |@Katakuri] & |@KillamriX88] collaborationOutside the tower · @Exit @Katakuri & @KillamriX88 collaboration ____________________________________________________________________________. Katakuri    Katakuri was currently occupied with the individual that he was in hand-to-hand combat with – a weak earthbender who seemed more surprised the masked figure in red protective gear was only using martial art techniques. No synergy weapons, no bending, pure physical aggression to go against his opponent. The one in the red suit seemed to prepare before quickly moving on his left heel, pressing into the sand while his body weight shifted – torso matching the horizon – his right foot swinging upward. He was balanced during this attack, swift, and strong. A strong force was placed behind his structured movements, placing the attack to hit the man in the upper throat or lower chin area. His opponent fell to the hot sands and he allowed himself to swing all the way around. Placing his right foot beside his left, he was securely standing on the sand facing a tornado. TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK! Grains of sand and shards of glass began to peck at his body armor, causing small scratches to dig into the red paint. He was barely able to hear his commanding officer over all the noise, the winds were not like a natural storm – there was a stronger bender in the area. Catching most of what his commanding officer said, he got that there was a glass bender – an Earthbender. Seeing the bender-made tornado, he noticed that the artificial storm was aimed for the tower – Master Zhen. Jin. – looking back to see if his commanding officer was covered enough. Kata made the decision to help the others on the team. Making a quick movement with his feet – CLICK! CLICK – his boots decompressed from his lower legs and feet. Slipping right out of his boots, he began to stride against the sand with ghostly-white fire. As he rode these flames, he took off his gloves allowing them to be taken by the artificial winds. Becoming close to the whirling wings, he realized that this tornado was weaker in speed than he thought. "Let’s see who else can play with tornados," he was smirking under his mask. Being a man of research, especially about his own abilities, Katakuri knew that tornados could be influenced by the heat and pressure of thunderstorms. At a blink of an eye, storms can change because of heating or cooling within the surrounding area. Confidently placing himself in front of the tornado, Katakuri began to bend heat towards the base of the whirling winds. Feeling the grains of sand and shards of glass cutting into his exposed flesh. Glancing down to see his hands, dots of red were beginning to swell from the material punctures. Taking a deep breath, he chose to continue focusing the ghostly-white flames onto the tornado to disperse or change the danger's direction. Without his gloves, his hands were in danger of the sands and shards of glass, but they were in danger of his own abilities. Anyone with knowledge of what color a fire burns would know that his flames are reaching degrees of 1,730 fahrenheit. Getting over 1,700 degrees would cause glass to melt. Holding such high temperatures to keep this tornado from touching the tower. KillamriX88    Chae-Won’s eyes widened as a scorching hot flame invaded her swirling sands. A bender? Was she being attacked by one? That… made no sense. The sand itself began to melt, raining down in tiny, molten droplets all around her, singing her clothes and stinging her skin. Any longer, and it’d be a lot worse than a sting. Exit    ”I want that Bender alive!” Nelu yelled over the comms, watching as the strength of the tornado was sapped from its rotation. Although it was growing weaker thanks to Kata, Nelu still chose to keep his distance and moved away from it and the tower. He hoped the dust cloud in the twister’s wake would soon settle and he’d be able to see past it to the situation beyond. Although there were still plenty of retreating Benders in play, he was less worried about them running to what he assumed would be their deaths in the desert and more concerned about Yi. He needed to know if the Firefly landed in one piece or as a ball of fire. KillamriX88    Once more, those nearby would see the sand kick up, but beyond that, the swirling sand split apart, as if cleaved in two, pushing the burning grains of sand to the side. However, as the dust began to settle… there was no one there.

_______________________________........

Inside the tower · |@Mistress Dizzy] & |@Fiber] collaborationInside the tower · @Mistress Dizzy & @Fiber collaboration ____________________________________________________________________________. Mistress Dizzy    The whirling sand tornado was enough to scare anyone. Unfortunately, the young sniper couldn’t get a good enough bead on the earthbender to shoot. Too much sand in the way, and with their teammates in the same area, it wasn’t worth the risk. Jin had come quite close to packing their gun and getting gone, when she saw the mysterious masked firebender simply shoot across the sand in a lightning-white arc. They wondered, in an unoccupied corner of their brain, just how hot those flames were. This was all going south, too fast. First Yi got tapped, now this. As soon as their commander said that the Earthbender got to live, Jin rolled their eyes. That had been the next one on Jin’s hit list. “Boo. Oh well. You’re the boss.” A new target, then. Green eyes flicked from target to target below. Mentally, they rewound the image of Yi and the Firefly dropping out of the air. “Lessee. From that angle, and the speed, accounting for air friction…” They adjusted again, scowling as the shot they were calculating was obscured by sand. “Really, really wanna pop that bender’s head off.” Perhaps there was a different equation that would allow the same answer. Jin removed one of their tools from their belt. It was a personal grappling hook that they had built themselves - in fact, the first thing they’d ever built. Of course, now it was upgraded with LSF tech and probably cost more than a house in the Lower Ring. Strapping it around and attaching it to their back, they realized this wasn’t going to work without assistance. “Hey!” They spoke sharply into the comms; hopefully Zhen hadn’t gotten too far. Fiber    Inside the stairwell, out of view from any windows, Zhen heard the noise of the commotion outside, all of them clashing together in a giant cacophony she said. “What is going on out there? Is Yi still in the air?” Mistress Dizzy    “I need a boost.” With their thumb as a ruler, they scraped a rough diagram on the dirty floor. The tower was a single line. Jin’s target, an X below. “I need to be… here.” They circled an area and stood, grappling hook at the ready. Fiber    With Jin’s request she started running the calculations inside her implant. The most difficult part was converting thoughts into numbers, once it had those it could work rapidly. Zhen said “Jin, tell me how high you need to be, which side of the tower you are jumping out of and when you make the jump. I’ll direct the blast based on those.“ as she ran up the stairwell to head back to the top of the tower. Mistress Dizzy    “If it helps, I weigh maybe 130.” The second Zhen appeared, Jin started talking. “5.73 feet up, southeast, on a parabolic arc. Count of 5.” They took several steps back to get a jump start, then strode for the edge of the tower. Jin leapt into open air without a hint of fear, pressing a button on their belt. The grappling hook on their back shot upward, catching and securing on the roof. They swung forward, already starting to aim at the retreating car that had taken down the Firefly.

_______________________________........

Under the towerUnder the tower ____________________________________________________________________________. KillamriX88    Chae-Won gasped for breath, but quickly each breath felt less refreshing than the last. Before her cover had completely fallen away, she’d had the desperate idea to bury herself. She’d created a small pocket of air for herself, but that was quickly running out. The only air she had was that which had slipped through the sands with her on her way down. This was bad. She was supposed to be protecting the Kyoshi and Weiyuan within it, not hiding in a literal hole in the ground. Well, it wasn’t like she could hide there for long. That said, while she was down there, she might as well take advantage of it. Back above ground, suddenly, the entire tower would shake and shudder, suddenly listing dangerously to one side. Toward Katakuri, for that matter. Underground, Chae-Won was holding in the final breath afforded to her, straining to pull and twist the tower’s foundation apart. She could feel the more solid earth and the tower that sat atop it. She could feel it ripping apart under her influence, but she was also beginning to see spots as she strained with her oxygen burning away. Could she actually do this? Maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe that fancy ass truck would be just fine without her. She’d already distracted them. While they’d lost sight of her, maybe, if she was careful, she could get out of this herself. Maybe. But maybe wasn’t good enough when it came to his safety. “You’re… not… taking…my… kid!” She remembered the feeling of power she’d felt in the city, and with one last, almighty effort completely shifted the entire foundation at an angle. At this point, gravity would do the rest of the work for her. She could already feel the vibrations through the earth around her intensifying. Now she just needed to dig herself out before she suffocated.

_______________________________........

Jumping outside the tower · |@Mistress Dizzy] & |@Fiber] collaborationJumping outside the tower · @Mistress Dizzy & @Fiber collaboration ____________________________________________________________________________. Fiber    Zhen had arrived at the top of the tower just as Jin jumped out. When the time was right she motioned with her hands and sent an airblast behind them, giving them more momentum to carry through the upswing, ready to soar high. Even as she was doing this she felt the tower rumbling underneath, and made a graceful dive out the window, headfirst then relying on her wingsuit to bring her speed to a safe level. As she saw the tower shift and crumble, she said “Jin, a word of caution about the landing: the tower won’t be there. I will be. If you get a good eye on the Earthbender as you come down please alert the team. Don’t worry about midair adjustments, I can predict your trajectory.” A quick calculation confirmed she was out of the path but she still moved quickly to avoid standing too close to any falling debris as she hunted for the Earthbender. Mistress Dizzy    Jin swung out high and wide, gun secured against their own body. They aimed quick and fired, the white hot bolt of energy streaking down towards the desert. As they heard Zhen’s warning in their ear, they made a split second decision. At the press of a button, the thick cord attached to the crumbling tower released and retracted back into the belt. Jin's mind worked as their momentum carried them further from the tower, watching the shot fly and the second car still retreating. Jin held in a breath. They blinked, once, and it was like the world reappeared in numbers and symbols. The laws of physics were simple and immutable. They could not be bent or broken - but they could be used. There was a point of an object in motion, where the momentum vanished. On a normal day, this simply meant hitting the ground. What went up, came down. Today wasn't normal. There was a point, a single moment, where the object going up stopped going up - but it did not yet go down. This was the second that approached, as everything seemed to slow and figures flew behind green eyes. 3 seconds out. Not yet. 1 second out. Jin’s finger slipped into position. 0.5 seconds out. Squeeze. The center of momentum. The sniper was no longer swinging out. But not on the way back in. Gravity had yet to pull down. In this blink of an eye, everything was absolutely still. 0 Bang! As the world blurred back into motion and Jin free fell towards the hard, hot ground, they smiled.

Code Vein (Closed)

_______________________________.. . . . . .

__Howling Pit · [&.FunnyGuy] [&.PigeonOfAstora] [&.Daxam]Howling Pit · @FunnyGuy @PigeonOfAstora @Daxam ______________________________________________________________________________..... . . . . . . . . . . Akaia peered down into the pit, noting the wayward thralls and the entrance at the far end. Erik's accidental bars fell on the Sidhe's distracted ears as she began laying out a path for her to take. Unfortunately for her, the way forward was difficult to see. She was without her cloak, which forced her to move slower while camouflaged and was not ideal when surrounded by enemies moving faster than she was. To make matters worse, the path ahead led into what looked like a cave. The more confined space was not ideal for Licorice and so, he would have to be left behind. Another part of her removed in what was currently the theme of her life. She was without her staff, had no Cloak or Cherise and in a few minutes, would be without Licorice. In so short a time, Akaia suddenly found herself back to where she had been years before when she was alone. The only difference now was that this time, she wasn't alone. There were people depending on her. This time, there were strangers depending on her too. Akaia pressed her middle and index finger into her palm, leaving her thumb, pointer and pinky fingers pointed out. With the palm turned toward the ground, she pushed her hand forward while slowly raising her arm. The sign she was making glided upwards and away from her as if it were flying away. When she was done signing, Licorice's head bobbed up and down and then he took off into the sky. With Licorice now safely above them, Akaia began preparations to enter the pit. She flipped the vents in her mask and began expelling pollen into the air around her while unsheathing the knife she'd borrowed from the armory. It was flipped over in the palm of her hand again and again as she began to vanish into thin air. "Kill?" A phantom voice asked Eric in a whisper.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · @EveryoneAbandoned Rest Stop · @Everyone ____________________________________________________________________________. ...What the hell... Nelu watched the twisting wall of sand curl into the sky. A cyclone of rock and dirt and debris tall enough to dwarf the tower it stood next to and wide enough that it was difficult to see past it to the sandstorm raging beyond. True to the information he'd given, the benders gathered at the edge of the desert were indeed still empowered and the display of bending before him was all the proof needed. More than that, this wasn't just some wayward attempt to bend in defense. This was calculated. Intentional. A product of control and direction with which the Bender meant to not only shield themselves but also attack. Nelu's momentary state of awe was interrupted by the glinting of sunlight dancing within the whirlwind sand. It wasn't just one or two, but hundreds of small flashes of light trapped within it. Suddenly, those lights burst free from twisting confines and flew with haste in his direction. He hadn't even been given time to consider the oddity of what he was seeing when he realized that the shimmering wasn't just random debris caught inside the tornado, but shards of glass that had been intentionally thrown at him as a projectile. "Glass... GLASS!" Nelu yelled, taking a step back. He was exposed as he was now. No advanced set of armor like that of his colleagues and no element helpful to defend himself when under direct threat of eating a wall full of glass shards. But as he retreated, he barked a command at the Vanguard nearby and it suddenly switched targets, shooting into the quickly approaching dense cloud of glass. It reduced the shards closest to Nelu to harmless, smaller pieces and knocked them out of the air. As it fired, it moved to position itself in between the glass and the Captain and took the rest of the attack head on while Nelu braced himself against its back. Glass shards whistled past him and the rest broke apart harmlessly on the Vanguard's metal frame. The sound of shattering glass filled the air. "Advise! There is a glass Bender on the field! A glass Bender!" Nelu yelled over the sound of roaring winds into the comms. "Yi! Do you have eyes?!" "Negative, Cap. That tornado is kicking up a lot of dust. Visibility is lo-" An arc of light streaking from the ground into the sky briefly illuminated the thick cloud of dust kicked up from the tornado, the end of which struck one of the wings on the Firefly. The wing burst into flames and began to disintegrate in the air as the aircraft started spiraling out of the sky. Nelu watched from the ground as Yi and his bird disappeared behind a smoke screen just as a slice of the tornado was ripped away and tossed in his direction. He braced against the bot again as a wall of dirt and sand crashed over him.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · @EveryoneAbandoned Rest Stop · @Everyone ____________________________________________________________________________. A freshly mounted weapon in front of Tikaani chimed something cheerful, signaling to him that a successful hit had been made. Of course, he didn't need the signal. The damage he'd inflicted on the Firefly was more than obvious as he watched it slowly tumble out of the sky. To the pilot's credit, however, they did an amazing job of putting it on the ground with only a single wing. It landed in a cloud of dust violently kicked up by a rather hard landing and much to Tikaani's dismay, there was no fireball. Still, the gun in the sky was down and now all he had to do was wait for his to cool down before he could fire it again. Vents along the side of the weapon began hissing exhaust in streams of white smoke and Tikaani began counting down ten seconds in his head. "Drive!" He yelled down into the car from the roof hatch. They needed to leave now while they had a chance. With the gunship down and a large screen of sand to cover their retreat, there was an opportunity to make it into the sandstorm where their odds of survival were better. Still slim but much higher than their odds of surviving a scuffle with whoever had come after them. The only thing standing between themselves and their escape was a single man. They were pretty much guaranteed to make it. His vehicle peeled out shortly after the Kyoshi did, with those less fortunate clinging for dear life to the outside of the car.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · @EveryoneAbandoned Rest Stop · @Everyone ____________________________________________________________________________. ...Finally... It was free. Allowed to roam. Allowed to move without restraint. There were no colored lines on the ground for it to follow. No faces surrounding it it was not allowed to crush. No walls or too-low ceilings or the deafening sound of absolute silence that filled its every day. This was freedom. There was warm sand beneath its feet and a sky far above it tainted by black clouds slowly swallowing up the surrounding blue. More importantly, there were hundreds and hundreds of feet of nothing but open space for him to run in. However, there was only one direction he wanted to go. 141 looked for and quickly found the closest target to him: A car that had broken away from the pack early in the skirmish and was already making for the desert ahead of the rest. It sped across the desert paying 141 no heed and judging by its current path and speed, there was no clear sign it intended to give him any berth. In fact, it looked as if they intended to run him through. 141 decided to meet them halfway. It crouched low, dug its foot into the sand and launched itself forward, throwing itself into a sprint as a wall of sand exploded behind it. 141 bounded across the desert, clearing the length of nearly ten yards with each stride and closing the distance between itself and the approaching vehicle in seconds. Before the driver inside could swerve out of the way, 141 crashed into them, stopping them dead in their tracks and with enough force to crunch the frame like an accordion. The back of the truck lifted into the air and one of the wheels was torn free from the axle. One man inside was thrown through the windshield and landed hard in the sand, sliding a few feet before coming to a stop. He wasn't moving. 141 was already reaching into the shattered windshield before the vehicle was flat on the ground again. He pulled another person out from within with complete disregard to how rough he was handling them, yanking them through a frame of sharp shards of broken glass and ignoring their wails of agony as they were being cut open. However, before it could do anything to its prize, it began taking bullets. From inside, a few of those less injured by the crash began shooting and one started blasting it with fire from their hands. Others began to panic as they tried the door but found that the crushed frame had been warped enough to prevent it from opening. Although doing minimal damage, the rounds bouncing off of its armor was still rather annoying and 141 quickly became frustrated. It backed away and decided that instead of fishing everyone through the one hole and allowing itself to get poked and burned continuously, it would make a second hole. It walked around to the side of the vehicle and grabbed the frame before violently flipping the entire truck over. Then, as if it were pulling a page from a book, 141 tore away the door and exposed all those inside. It began dragging them out of the vehicle one by one, removing the Firebender first and ignoring their attempts to stop the inevitable. The continuous gout of fire and his panicked blood curdling screaming was cut short when the man's life was snuffed out. The rest lasted not much longer than he. When he was done and the destroyed vehicle and its inhabitants were no more, he turned to the next closest target: A Kyoshi.

_Prompt:

Team TLA: At this time, the Kyoshi has departed as did Tikaani's vehicle behind them. Both vehicles are making a break for the sandstorm. The vehicle that was ahead of them has been destroyed and it looks as though the thing that tore them apart is currently headed for the Kyoshi next. Team LSF: Thanks to the efforts of Chae-Won, a thick curtain of dust has been created in path of the tornado from the dirt that has been kicked up. Visibility is difficult for the two LSF on the ground, less so for Katakuri, but not so for those in the tower. However, the tornado is headed in that direction and looks to be on a collision course. Chae is currently too obscured by dust and sand to be visible. To those in the tower, it looked as though a streak of lightning hit the Firefly. The approaching tornado makes it difficult to see exactly where the streak came from, but Yi has crash landed and the gun in the sky is now unavailable. He is also not responding to comms. At the moment, no one seems to be converging on the crash site and are instead, still focused on escaping. So far, two cars are retreating into the desert, one has been disabled and its driver has been killed, and the last one is trying to leave but the sheer amount of people surrounding it is making it difficult. Those inside have started retaliating in an attempt to clear a path and escape. People are getting shot at and killed and others are bending at each other instead of at the LSF. For a moment, the truck lurches forward a few feet as if someone forcefully stepped on the gas. Some standing in front of it fall under the chassis. Others continue to pile on top like ants.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

Although, it feels like I'm doing something wrong.

@Prisk

I think you're doing an amazing job and being patient is not always easy either. I do like the way you've incorporated players dropping in and out with the lore of the story too.

ᵀʰᵉ Last Avatar & ᵀʰᵉ Red Lotus.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · In collaboration with |@Fiber] & |@Mistress Dizzy]Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · In collaboration with @Fiber & @Mistress Dizzy ____________________________________________________________________________. ”Go.” Jin did not respond to their Captain. But they didn’t need to. Approximately 3 seconds later, the backside tire of the vehicle furthest from the tower exploded, sending pressurized air, rubber, and sand everywhere. They started lining up the next shot. Zhen found a single guard slumped over by the wall, bleeding from the cranium, a small dent in the material behind. The air blasts hadn’t been kind to him. There was still a chance he might survive with medical intervention; they would wait and see how to allocate resources after the mission. She nonchalantly slid his weapon out towards Jin, keeping it away from the stairwell, and then left Jin to focus on their task Jin’s gaze flicked away for a split second, long enough to extend a leg and pull the gun close with their foot. It would need examining later. Jin had a tendency to keep things that most people would toss out (growing up poor did that to a person), and would probably scrap it for useful parts. As they lined up for their next shot, a powerful blast of wind crashed into the side of the tower and forced a large amount of air into the room through the open windows. Entering the more confined space, there was was enough force behind the jet stream that it could have knocked over anyone who was standing. However, Zhen felt the air blast and reacted the way her training had taught her, to go with it, to loosen up and course correct in the air. Once she was off her feet she began her rotation, and landed just a few steps from where she was in a technically perfect backflip. She said to Jin “Can you handle whatever that was, or should I stay with you?” After, she heard footsteps climbing the stairwell and knew what she would do. Using her skills she projected an airblast down the stairwell, couldn’t be sure it would hit anything because she was firing blind, but it was enough to give her the opening to charge down it at terrifying, air bending augmented speed. The sound of the tumbling body reached her however as it echoed up the entirety of the staircase, ending in a resounding thud and then silence. If Jin had not been almost level to the ground, they would have been swept off their feet. Even so, the wind blast had them reflexively curling, making themself an even smaller target. It was over quick enough though, and Jin got back on Mifeng’s scope immediately, looking for the source of the wind. “I got this. Fuck ‘em up.” Jin figured it would be better to have the airbending woman watching their back. “Where are you…” Jin’s voice was an eerie, soft sing-song as they searched below. ”G-guys! I’m losing control of my stick!” Came Yi over the radio. Yi’s panic caught Jin’s attention, and they yanked the rifle’s sight upward to look at the Firefly. “That can’t be good." They said, watching as the aircraft began to spin out of control. The gun suspended beneath it began firing in wild arcs, throwing bullets in every direction and some of them hitting the tower near Jin. "Hang in there, Yi! Workin’ on it.” They adjusted, and amid the chaos of bullets, people were ducking and throwing themselves at the ground. All but one. An Airbender. Jin spotted the arms waving first, almost out of sight of the scope. “There y’are. Sneaky fucker.” Lifting the rifle fully, they crept toward the edge of the tower. The toes of their boots were just over the edge. Jin murmured as numbers, angles, wind speeds and direction were calculated out loud. Sure, benders could use nature itself to conquer their opponents. But even nature was run by the rules of math. It was damn near a right angle, a straight down shot. Jin had the gun braced against their slim, muscled shoulder and one of the weathered tower walls. The stance would become uncomfortable quickly. Luckily, this wouldn’t take long. “Bye-bye, bender.” They fired.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

@Aeolian Left it a little open so Peter can take them into the research station.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

---

_{DAY 1 《》 STEELWATER [Landing Zone - A] 《》 Late Morning 《》 @Exit}

---

▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇

"Considering you're out of ammo..." Christina began, her voice a hint of surprise as she peered into the mouth of the empty magazine. "...There's not much of a choice." She tossed the empty clip to the side. This wasn't supposed to be happening. She wasn't supposed to be making contact with anyone and she definitely wasn't supposed to be stopping to provide help, especially not for someone as capable as Emilia Lange. Members of the UDF Guardian corps were well known, some more than others, but Emilia was one of the few easy enough to recognize. Of course when in the heat of the moment and when standing in the shade of a tree, it hadn't immediately registered. But now, thanks to Peter, Christina could see her clearly. Emilia Lange. She had practically flown here. She was an Aeon, same as herself. Same as Peter. ...Same as their friend... Her eyes narrowed. The mission remained the same, but given the fact that whatever her team had run into had wiped them out, it was clear to her that the pieces on the board had changed and the information she needed to finish the job she simply didn't have. An agent of the Guardian Corps of the UDF could provide her that information, but while Emilie was becoming a thread Christina needed to pull on, the reality of their situation had to come first. Before her mission or her dead friends or the two who were addressing her now, there was the 'why' she was fighting in the first place. That was not something she could so easily ignore. There would be time to find the answers she needed later and she knew who to talk to to find them. Right now, the child needed her. With a defeated huff, mostly from the shame of having been fooled by a gun with no ammo, Christina got to her feet and nodded, turning to Peter. "Lead the way." She shouldered her rifle. Focused as she now was on her new task, the flashes and muted explosions in the distance were brief distractions from the path Peter would take. She kept her eyes on him, Emilia, the girl in her arms and remained vigilant for any movement in the periphery. She'd remain watchful until all four of them reached their destination safely.

Summary

---

After being asked to help escort the child, Christina weighs her options but quickly realizes given the circumstances, she only has one. She agrees to Peter's request and moves to follow him to the research station while covering Emilia and the girl from any threats that should find them.

ᵀʰᵉ Spirits Within/Aeon

Post from me by tomorrow.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · In collaboration with |@KillamriX88] & |@canaryrose]Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · In collaboration with @KillamriX88 & @canaryrose ____________________________________________________________________________. Chu Hua looked up, squinting at the glare of the sun in her eyes. These two seemed… earnest. Well, the woman did- the boy looked chagrined. She sighed nearly imperceptibly as Chae Won started speaking, giving Kanna a resigned glance. A day ago, she would’ve been happy to meet these two- fans were, or had been, her favorite part of her career outside of the game- but today she was just done. She didn’t care. “Uh-huh,” she said, face and tone flat. “Cool.” Kanna returned a glance that said ”They’re your fans…” and would have left her to suffer the attention if it were any other day, but out here, any attention was bad attention. It was something that the both of them hadn’t really considered. Kanna had been so distracted by the events leading to their departure from the city, she’d completely forgotten that back in their normal lives, the both of them were very recognizable. The fact that their escape from the field in the middle of the game yesterday had been broadcast to the entire city only compounded the issue. Besides that, she found herself fighting instincts she hadn’t had for years. There was no need to step up and put herself between Chu and potential danger, not when it was no longer her place and especially not when Chu could handle herself. Yet, she wanted to. ...Chu was right. An should have been here… She thought to herself, recognizing the face of indifference on her ex. She decided the least she could do was try to keep things cordial with the strangers since it’d been made apparent they’d be riding together. She preferred everyone in their group at least remained friendly for however long the duration of the trip across the desert would be. ”It’s uh…always nice to meet fans...” Kanna answered, struggling to change what would have been a practiced greeting to something more fitting to everyone’s situation. ”So… are you both… you know... Are you both Benders?” Chae-Won felt her whole body cringe with shame as Kanna called her a 'fan'. Was it that obvious? Of course it was. “I’m so sorry. I made it weird, I know I did…” Chae-Won groaned. Fortunately, Kanna seemed less begrudging of their presence and gave her a less painfully awkward topic to discuss. “Oh, uh… yeah I guess that’s the kind of thing we can actually talk about now, huh?” Weiyuan, having been on edge the second Kanna had asked, relaxed as Chae-Won. It was true. The pathetically small silver lining to all this was that he was surrounded by people where, for the moment at least, he didn’t have to hide that part of himself. “Yep. Both of us are earth benders. I’d been teaching myself for years, and then I ran into the kid. He insisted on learning, so I figured I might as well make sure he learned right.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Neither of us are experts or anything. Obviously it's pretty hard to get proper instructions on how to do this stuff…” Wait. Holy shit. That meant that at least one of the two women before her were also benders. Weiyuan coud see the lightbulb go off in Chae-Won’s head and rolled his eyes as she suppressed a squeal of delight. She actually had something in common with her heroes. “You trained?” That got Chu Hua’s attention. She stared at Chae-Won, baffled, looking the other woman up and down with a new appreciation. Training. Bending training. She had those tapes, but she had never imagined those skills might still exist. Bending was just a relic that she had been cursed with. Nowadays, it was something that happened to benders, not something that benders did. “How? Why would you do that? That’s… impossible! And insane.” She completely ignored the rest of the conversation, now fixing Chae-Won with an intensely interested and, frankly, confused expression on her face. She didn’t disclose her own status- it felt a little awkward- but she imagined it would be fairly obvious from the look of the fresh burns on her hands. ”Maybe she has ‘naked King Wu’ tapes too.” “Shut the fuck up, please?” Chae-Won’s brain completely short-circuited. Chu Hua was talking to her. Like actually paying attention and talking to her. Talking to her and actually interested! “O-oh, I-I-” Aaaand then another hiccup interrupted her thought process. “Wait, naked who what now?” She blinked, but then decided it must be some sort of hilarious inside joke she wasn’t cool enough to know about. “W-well…” This time she was neither interrupted, nor too star-struck to speak. She began sweating a little, realizing the can of worms Chu Hua’s question might open with regard to her past. “It’s… um… a really long, lame story that I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested in. Let’s just say I got started one day out of necessity and… just kept going. I just needed something to focus on sometimes and bending was what I had. Then, like I said, I found the kid and had to keep myself sharp for his sake.” Well it was definitely a long story at any rate. One they didn’t have time for, so for now she was probably safe. That said, even Weiyuan was eyeing her with a look that cried “bullshit.” “Necessity?” Chu Hua raised a brow, skeptical. “Why would you need this shit? It’s awful. I just… you know, I tried really hard not to… but, well. Here I am now, so I guess that didn’t fucking work.” She snorted, shaking her head. “That doesn’t make sense to me. And you, kid, you… wanted to know all this stuff?” ”I mean… didn’t you also pay a hundred thousand yuan for the tapes? Not that any of this makes sense. How does someone…” Kanna tilted the stick in her hand toward Chae. ”...Manage to never get caught while training and teaching when Chu was over here burying a part of her in her floorboards?” Kanna was wracking her brain listening to the multiple perspectives of the same issue. An issue with which she had very little exposure to until only a few days previous and had since then only dedicated time to finding a way to run from. On one hand, Benders were hunted and killed and those who knew they could bend before the accident had spent their lives hiding or trying to bury their powers for fear of the impact it’d have on their lives. On the other hand, there were those who had somehow managed to train and even teach others who wanted to learn. Something wasn’t adding up or maybe she just never understood the whole picture. The world was afterall a big place and Ba Sing Se by itself was massive. Maybe there were more solutions to the problem than Kanna had originally believed buried within the city. Unfortunately for her, that solution hadn’t come in time to save her mother. Instead, she was watching two people put together a puzzle that was supposed to explain their lives and why they ended up where they were. What decisions they made, why they made them and what if anything they could have done to change the present. It was as if anything related to bending was a shit show, just as they’d been told. ”Not to mention that she’s right. This is shit. Why try so hard to want it?” Kanna asked, almost as if addressing all three present. “Look, I’m not a philosopher or anything, and I don’t want to get preachy. You’ll just have to trust me when I say there was a time when I needed it to work for me, OK?” Chae-Won told them. Meanwhile, she had indeed seen the burns on Chu Hua’s hands. She didn’t speak to her directly, but she did have one other thing to say, “But it’s not like it’s a disease. I’ve seen what sick people, monster’s, look like. Astonishingly, most of ‘em weren’t benders… Bending is just another thing in a long list of bullshit people have chosen to tear each other apart over. It helped me when I needed it, and that’s good enough for me.” Weiyuan fidgeted with his collar as she spoke. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the glass wasn’t even what she was referring to, but it was all he could think about when she talked about bending like that. They hurt me when they found out about my bending… and they hurt me when they didn’t know about it. If there’s no difference, then why shouldn’t I? Weiyuan mouthed the words, forcing a weak whisper out, though he didn’t really care how much they understood, nor was he in the mood to explain further. He just knew their attitude toward their bending was annoying. It reminded him too much of his other self… “I didn’t say I was sick or a monster,” Chu Hua retorted, crossing her arms. She was getting a little heated, despite herself. All that rage inside of her from yesterday was bubbling up, and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t that she had never though herself a monster or resented herself for what she was. She had, and in some ways, she did. When she was a kid, she had taken showers as freezing cold as they could go. When she was a teenager, she had burned herself, trying to get herself to associate fire with pain, to get rid of it all. It had never worked. How could these people be so seemingly happy with it? “Listen, I-” She noticed Weiyuan trying to speak and stopped herself in her tracks, trying hard to pay attention to his words. Her face softened after she heard him speak, however soft it was. How could it not? “Kid, I… I just know I wouldn’t be in this spot if I couldn’t bend. I don’t know if you can understand, but I have- I had- a career, a life, a family. If I hadn’t lit a stadium on fire yesterday, I would still be planning my wedding for next week. Now I’m not getting married at all. Fuck, what time is it, 9 AM? I’d be in bed with my fiancee second-guessing my choice of cake frosting, not in the desert preparing to travel to god knows where so I won’t be executed.” She started to get a bit choked up towards the end of her sentence, balling her hands into fists. Kanna remained silent, finding herself yet again in an emotional situation with someone who needed another’s touch. Who needed the very woman they had both left behind. The worst part of it all was that she could no longer relate. Kanna was no Bender, nor was she expecting to wed anyone. She was just on the run from a life that knew none of the struggle any of the other three had to live through. Then there was Weiyuan who had surprised them both when he started to speak. Only thing was, his voice was like that of a broken whisper and nearly impossible to hear in the ambience of the crowd around them and strong winds from the storm in the distance. In her effort to understand him, it was only then that she noticed the lines carved into his neck half hidden by his messy head of hair. Her eyes glanced from him to the scars marking half of Chae-Won’s face and then to the burns on Chu’s hands. ”I’m… sorry.” Kanna said softly, again as if to all three although she was still looking at Chu. Kanna was afterall half the reason Chu was in the middle of the desert away from the one thing she probably needed. Even if the alternative was death, their running wasn’t shaping up to be much better. Not when every other person like Chu was broken in some way and had the scars to prove it. “I get it. Maybe not specifically that, but none of us ended up here for happy reasons,” Chae-Won said. “And I don’t expect to change your mind about bending today, and I’m almost certain youm don’t want me to try.” There was more she wanted to say, but it wasn’t her job to lecture Chu Hua freaking Yuan. Besides, she was a grown woman who now would have plenty of time to think things over. “But, if you do want to talk about any of that stuff, we’ll have time… so… just say the word,” she concluded. “Doesn’t even need to be about bending, really. Gonna be a real boring trip otherwise.” Then again, maybe a little boring wouldn’t be so bad right now. "Yeah, I don't think we're getting... 'boring'." Kanna said, peering into the sky with a hand shielding the light from her eyes. "...What is that?"

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · |@Theyra] & |@vietmyke]Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · @Theyra & @vietmyke ____________________________________________________________________________. "Hey there, friend. I think my car is full up on riders. Now, I'm not looking for any trouble here. I hope you're not looking for any neither." The man eyeing the Kyoshi turned to Jin and sized him up. "Actually I recognize this..." He said, tapping the side of the vehicle. "A Kyoshi. You only see this in one place." The man's eyes narrowed. "That pipe you protect? I heard it's all but busted up now since the accident. No synergy being pumped through the damn thing and it's making a lot of people nervous. People need the stuff, you know? So... you wouldn't happen to have any on you by chance, would you?" "ERR! Nope! We've got none! So sorry, sir!" Sumire chimed in from behind Jin, shaking her head although the motions were slightly exaggeration. The bunny ears on the helmet tucked under her arm began to wobble slightly. "You sure about that? Because if you did, I could buy it off of you for a very fair price. Right now, with the shortage, stolen synergy is probably worth more than this entire trip. Very valuable stuff. Very dangerous stuff and I'd be willing take some off your hands. Wouldn't want that trouble you're not looking for to find you instead." The man said, placing a hand on the piece on his hip. "TIKAAANIII!" Both the man and Sumire looked up toward the source of the yell. On top of the tower was a man who was waving at everyone below and pointing at the sky. "COMPANY!" Curious, Sumire took a step forward and tried to see what the man was pointing at, throwing on her helmet again when the sun was making it difficult to see. A dark figure was falling out of the sky at a fairly high rate of speed, drifting away from another object above it that looked to be moving further South.

_______________________________........

Landing in the Tower · In collaboration with the LSFLanding in the Tower · In collaboration with the LSF ____________________________________________________________________________. The HUD on Zhen’s helmet ticked off the distance to the target and provided a line to follow. She didn’t need to, but she was using her own augment to count the time and distance alongside it, validating that both agreed. On the way down all she had heard was the noise of the wind around her wingsuit, the air currents rolling off the white folds of the fully extended airfoils, along with her counting down the time to Jin. When they were close, so close that Zhen could see the windows of the building and the people on the ground with her own eyes, Zhen said “Beginning deceleration for terminal approach. Please keep you limbs by your side during this process. The G-Forces will be substantial but you’ve endured equivalent amounts during your training.“ Landing precisely in the top of the tower took creative thinking to slow down so rapidly. It was tricky to make the bending motions when the wind was whipping around, and how closely Jin was strapped to her added to the difficulty, she could feel the weight of their body with every move. She executed the required motions with all of the grace she could, treating it just like she was in the training room and not plummeting through the air as made the sweeping and spinning gestures of airbending. A burst of air erupted from the roof of the tower, shattering the windows, tossing the furniture, threatening to burst the eardrums of anyone inside the room atop it. Zhen used the time it took for the blast to reposition her arms and legs to, stretching them out wide, and turn herself upright, catching the pressure wave like a sail. She winced at the forces, but to an external observer it all looked like a graceful slowing down, like leaf falling off of a tree. Jin was somewhere between elation and fear as they soared through the air. They were silent, as the oxygen mask around their nose and mouth kept them breathing at high altitude. But their green eyes were lit up like twin emeralds behind their goggles. They were going to remember this for a very long time. Flying, as it turned out, was fucking awesome. As the two of them slowed, Jin took another slow and steady breath to calm down. The burst of air to the tower wasn’t a surprise, as they had gone over that part of the plan. What did shock Jin was the force of it. It was like a bomb had gone off. And this was just air. Benders were truly a terrifying species. The speed was right and the structure was fast approaching. Zhen tilted more, leaning back, aiming to enter with her feet first. The window was narrow, entering it was like threading a needle but now wasn’t the time worry about if it was possible. The calculations had told her it was, any doubts she might have had no say in the matter. As they entered the wings on her suit stowed away and they sailed through the empty pane of the shattered window. Her boots met the ground and dug in, skidding to a stop but not before did the necessary footwork and motions for one more airblast, slowing the pair down to avoid any possibility of flying out the window on the other side. As soon as they had stopped she pulled the quick release on the straps and separated herself from Jin, then began to scan the room, paying special attention to the stairwell Jin dropped and rolled neatly to their feet as soon as they were released from Zhen. Their gun pulled up and they scouted the other side that Zhen wasn’t eyeing. It was relatively quiet in here, aside from sand and insects. Once they noted the room was clear, they pulled free the oxygen kit. Deftly stepping over broken glass, Jin stepped toward the edge and lined up a shot to disable one of the farther vehicles. The modified sniper rifle was about half as tall as they were. The barrel was marked with a single purple dot. It was unwieldy to most, but Jin had all but slept with this gun under their pillow in training. Some people had pets; Jin had Mifeng, or 'Bee'. “Got a clean shot. Ready when you are.” They spoke quietly into their earpiece. ”Go.”

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · |@Theyra] & |@vietmyke]Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · @Theyra & @vietmyke ____________________________________________________________________________. A room three quarters of the way up the tower exploded from a seemingly random burst of air sending furniture and other debris flying through blasted windows. Shattered glass shards and heavy objects began raining down on the panicked masses closer to the base of the outpost. "Shit!" Sumire screamed. "Looks like time is up." The man who had been addressing Jin and Sumire pulled the gun out from the holster on his hip. "What?! Hey!" Sumire was again first to move, but just as he was bringing the weapon up to bear and Sumire had stepped in between him and Jin, the tire on a nearby parked vehicle exploded. The resulting bang, release of pressure and bits of rubber showering the three of them caused him to flinch and pull the trigger. The gun in his hand barked once.

_______________________________........

Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · |@KillamriX88] & |@canaryrose]Abandoned Rest Stop · Morning · @killamriX88 & @canaryrose ____________________________________________________________________________. "Chu! Get in the fucking car!" Kanna yelled as soon as the room in the tower had erupted. She turned just as the figure in the air landed inside the recently cleared room and as she rounded the back of the Kyoshi and made for one of the passengers doors, there was a flash from one of the open windows. Kanna flinched momentarily to the sound of the exploding tire and when she turned to look, she saw the driver of her car driver and the girl who had been with him fall over. The man they had been conversing with fell too and all three disappeared on the other side of the frame of the car out of view. It was impossible to tell what had happened, but as they fell away, she was instead treated to the chaotic scene unfolding beyond them. What had previously been a stagnant sea of exhausted people waiting to leave was now a force of fear and panic that threatened to turn into a wave. People were throwing themselves on top of cars that were already well beyond capacity. Those within it were trying to kick them off. One car had already taken off and was moving with such speed and reckless abandon that a few who hadn't quite gotten in yet had fallen off with one slipping under the chassis of the vehicle. With the situation devolving so quickly into violence and mayhem, it was inevitable that bending would soon follow. Kanna witnessed a man pour a gout of fire from his hands over a group of people trying to climb onto the back of his car. All of them were immediately engulfed in flame and their screams were loud enough to drown out the panic from the rest of the those trying to escape. ...What the fuck... Kanna turned to Chu. "We need to leav-!" A second explosion, this one further away but much larger, erupted just North of the remaining cars with enough force to knock Kanna off her feet and throw her into the side of the Kyoshi.

_______________________________........

Landing to the North · In collaboration with the LSFLanding to the North · In collaboration with the LSF ____________________________________________________________________________. "Good effect on target." Reported Yi. "Alright you two. Hang on to something." Yi pushed forward on the stick and put the craft into a steep nosedive, dropping the Firefly out of the sky and swooping down hundreds of feet to close the distance between themselves and the chaos they had started on the ground. In the middle of the drop, and while still hanging on, Nelu moved over to 141 and knocked on the edge of the cage with his first. "Leave some for us, alright?!" He yelled to the towering abomination. He received no response back. "Drop point two." "Go!" Underneath 141's cage, a panel slid open leaving it and its cage suspended over nearly a hundred feet of open air. Nelu gave it another nod just as the locks holding it in place were released and the entire holding pen was dropped. As soon as 141 cleared the floor of the bay, the panel slid shut. A handful of seconds later and Yi reported over the radio. "Drop is good. He's already on the move." Nelu turned to Kata. They would be the last two to exit the Firefly. "Get us on the ground before he kills everyone, Yi!" "Yessir!" Within the minute, Yi had swung the aircraft back around to the crater made by their missile and touched down. Nelu was first off the aircraft, stepping onto hot desert sand that had been scorched a faded black from the recent explosion. Bits and pieces of those unfortunate to have been standing too close to the impact site were strewn in every direction. Not much further from the center of the crater were those who had been standing a little further away. They lay spasming on the ground in the throes of their final moments, struggling to hold on to the life that was slipping between their fingers. Nelu calmly walked up to the closest victim, pulled out his pistol and burned a hole the size of a ping pong ball into the side of their head with a bolt of plasma. A Vanguard AI offloaded behind the Captain, quickly shouldering its rifle and immediately putting rounds into the scrambling crowd ahead of them. Kata followed soon after and as he cleared the aircraft, Yi took the Firefly back into the air and moved into a holding pattern around the tower. A gun swiveled free from under the chassis and it too began dumping arounds into the crowd. Only a few seconds after his commander and friend Nelu, Katakuri exited the Firefly. He watched as his friend approached a victim of the explosion and put them out of their misery. Katakuri laughed at the situation but did not find it amusing that the person was in pain or needed to be put to death. The fact that his commanding officer simply shot a hole through their head amused him, "I suggest shoving the gun down their throat or right at the nap of their neck – if you want to end their suffering more quickly. The frontal lobe can be damaged with some chance of survival, but separating the brain stem is superior." He said before putting himself next to Nelu. The only distinguishing feature was the agent’s body shape, which allowed one to determine that it was a person. With a few red accents, the suit was primarily black and charcoal gray. To be better protected from the mob, Katakuri was wearing plated armor with slight improvements. The entire purpose of the suit was to keep everything light so he could move more easily while protecting his head and vital organs. ”I’ll admit that I’ve never been as efficient with this part of the job.” Nelu said, turning to Kata. ”I’ll keep that in mind.” He then gestured towards the crowd where two people had broken away from the others and looked to be squaring off with them. One of them wildly swung their arm vertically toward the sky, pulling a wedge of earth from the ground and tossing it in Nelu’s direction. However, his stance was poor and the power behind the swing was unsure of itself and weak. Despite its size being large enough to make dodging difficult, the projectile moved far too slow and Nelu side stepped it easily. ”Do what you do best, Kata.” He watched the earth-bender get into a stance before launching a sizable piece of land their way, and shrugged at the other man's comment, "I do not like to leave people in pain, so I might be nitpicking." He stood still because he knew the boulder would miss him, and he observed as his commanding chief moved to the side. The bender lacked self-confidence and used shaky bending techniques. Katakuri was smirking behind his mask as he slowly approached the man who attempted to use earth-bending. "The most difficult style to master is earth-bending, and you gave me complete permission to eradicate you. Why did you attack my commanding officer?" The way Katakuri spoke was dispiriting towards the unknown man. Being on missions caused him to become almost emotionless in tone. Katakuri mocked the exact stance the earth-bender used before pulling his dominant arm back, saying, "We haven't done anything directly to you, so you put yourself in a bad position." He drew his arm back for a moment, then threw it forward in a hurry, landing a punch on the man's jaw.

_Prompt:

In addition to the above, people are beginning to rush the remaining, still operational, vehicles and force their way in. The nearby explosion has temporarily interrupted this near the Kyoshi, giving those who are meant to be inside a chance to get in and defend it. When writing your post, keep in mind the number of people in the area, their state of panic and what they may or may not be willing to do to find safety. Also consider that some of these people are benders and are still empowered. As a summary of the LSF arrival, there are two individuals in the tower, one individual standing between the cars and their path into the desert and the sandstorm ahead, and two more exiting the dust cloud of the crater behind the cars. In the sky is an aircraft that is shooting into the crowd. Reference the battle map below for positions.