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Altered TundraT A R I Q
New Lilith | The Spires Hotel
Inhale. Exhale. A slow claiming breath before the coming storm. Alien checked that the gun was loaded one last time, spinning the top explosive round in the clip fondly, before putting it back in its place. Inhale. Exhale. He turned his head and turned the thermals on. He watched as the thugs, the pretenders who were terrorising the Spires, were running. The familiar beats of several helicopters flying overhead came closer. The sound of pumping shotguns, arming rifles, heavy cars screeching to a halt. He heard the shouting and the whistling, the hurried footsteps as the criminals dispersed themselves. Most importantly, he heard the radio transmissions. The police. The law enforcement, the cavalry had just arrived. This was bad.
Before any vigilante could enter a city, one most immerse themselves in the various laws of said city. Otherwise, you may risk unnecessary prison times. Unfortunately, New Lilith and pretty much every district in the supercity had an Anti-Vigilante law. Tariq, and therefore the Alien, was a criminal to them. They were no different from the thugs that were currently running for it, terrorists. The Alien gripped the pistol tighter, swearing in Arabic. This wasn't what they wanted. This was supposed to be an easy job, a quiet one. The cuts, scrapes and bruises around his body was a testament to the opposite. They got too arrogant. He heard the radio transmission, the release of a box in the middle of the road. He had heard of the infamous androids of the local law enforcement. Why have a man do a job that a robot could? Anti-Terrorism unit, he concluded. "Resistance is futile." After several moments of silence, a arning shot was fired next to his position. A non-lethal round hitting the wall opposite to him. He was running out of time. He exited out of cover, stepping out of the shadows of the alleyway. Raising his pistol over his head, he appeared non-threatening. There was no point in hiding, the thing probably had sensors. Standing out in the open with the ability to dodge was better than being a sitting duck. Before this however, he sent a message to Priya, whispering into his headset.
"Detective, Anti-Terrorism arrived. I have no avenue of escape, running would result in my eventual arrest. Anti-Terrorism droid has been deployed, please call them off."
There was a tense silence. The android stood with it's weapon drawn, trained on him. Al eyed the thing in it's "eyes". Thoughts spun in his head. What should he do? If he was to give in, Tariq's efforts would be for naught. The Saudi's could vouch for them but such international influence had no place in the civil courts. They would be tried and arrested for violating the law. They would be locked up with the scum that they put there. It would be tragic. The warrior grinned under the cloth. There was one way he could take, delay until the thing could be called off.
"مهلا، اللعنة أنت روبوت!" Al called out, unsure of the meaning of the phrase but the Human used it frequently when he played his "games". The thing tilted it's head, almost questioningly. He quickly aimed his pistol downwards and fired three rounds at the thing's feet. The android jumped backwards as the explosives collided with the ground, shrapnel and tarmac flew all over. He began to run straight for the hotel, firing his pistol in the vague direction of the robot to create distance. Dodging and weaving, his enemy fired as well. It had calculated that the vigilante was dangerous to society with his careless use of explosives. This relegated him to immediate, brutal judgement.
As he ran up the steps, running out of explosive rounds to fire, the anti-terrorism unit fired. The non-lethal round slammed into Alien's back."Non-lethal" was subjective. Mixed with the round's own power and his momentum running forward, he was knocked back through the lobby doors. Careening through the air like a scene out of a corny action scene, surprise and pain mixing around on his face, he slammed against the wall with a loud thud. Loud enough to be heard throughout the lobby and possibly the first floor. He slumped down the wall, temporarily dazed with stars in his eyes. Thankfully, his thick skull kept him from unconsciousness but his head was spinning. As he grabbed around the floor, confused and in pain, the loose ghutrah cloth around the bottom of his face gave way. His headset and pistol was intact but laid to the side, the rest of his equipment thankfully strapped to him tight.
The Anti-Terrorism Unit entered the lobby, weapons and attention trained on the lying Alien. It began to march towards him, the closer it came, the more likely Tariq's cover would be blown. It was at this time that the Human raised out of his coma, waking to an unfortunate situation. 'What the fuck did you do?'