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RP: Bounty Hunts [Bounty 4] Firestarters

Courtyard

The moment the power armored pyromaniac lit up and exploded in a spectacular sight, Salem stopped firing and raised one of his fists in the air to celebrate. He cheered on the explosion and felt relieved that it was finally over. Unbeknownst to him however, a friendly body had thrown a grenade aimed at the window above and near him. In the midst of celebrating, Salem would be knocked down onto his back from the unexpected explosion.

Slightly dazed and recovering, Salem swept his hands around his body to check himself only to stop briefly around the two areas of impact that are now dents. He sat up, still confused and slightly pissed. "Where the hell did that come from, and who in the hell threw that grenade?" He'd brush himself off and got up as his head turned on a swivel to scan for more possible hostiles in the AO before moving to stand Frank up and support him on the way to the others quickly.

After a fair distance of brisk walking, Salem and the gang of mercs reached the area of congregation. He sat Frank down and began to mouth. "We might still have possible hostiles in the area. A grenade exploded on top of us and wounded Frank, he needs- Jesus you guys look like you guys weathered a tornado in a locked up porta-potty that hadn't been emptied in weeks. Least you guys don't smell the part."
 
Burnouts Compound, Explosiontown!
Danny was bewildered by how much was going on from his rooftop vantage with Kendra and Rathe nearby. He could feel the shockwave of the rocket propelled grenade smash into the enemy power armour, then the tanks of fuel mix on their back going up in flames.

The bounty hunter didn't need to be told that the asshole piloting the clunker of an armour was dead. Bounty collected, condition fulfilled, put to death as demanded. "Yes, let's!" Danny replied to Kendra on her instruction to get out, pivoting and heading towards the wall of the facility. When faced with the drop from the office and down the wall, Danny scaled down the wall as carefully as his tired self would take him.

He could feel those bruises in his chest starting to become raw, it felt like a rib was cracked, his breath was hoarse, and his eyes ached. Danny really wanted to bury his nose in a good book and rest for a bit - as well as some space between himself and Kendra.

Still, until he was on the pickup ship, he had to remain vigilant, keeping an eye out for any hostiles with his Ripshot in hand.
 
Warehouse

Bill and shutdown's victory was somewhat short lived and cut off by several smaller explosions to the middle and down the burning warehouse. The entire building groaned like some big animal on its death throes and the steel beams overhead started to fall down around them along with big chunks of concrete that came up as one of the walls started to crack. One particularly close explosion sent the Nepleslian competition shooter's ears ringing, blowing the wall he was hiding next to and hitting his freespacer companion with shrapnel since she happened to be closer to it.

The fire was slowly spreading around them and their exits were seemingly becoming fewer by the second.


Courtyard - South

Letting go of the mercenary leader so that her henchmen would bother with that, Desmond shouldered his battle rifle and moved towards the prone neko that had come with one of the three groups that joined up near the northern exit of the compound. Despite the raging inferno, dust and the still stray gunshots around them, the Nepleslian had come out of the ordeal with only a few scorch marks on the fabric covering his forearm, which contrasted strongly with the state that Amanozako was in. The bounty hunter crouched down next to the former NMX neko as Jack set down Jaina on the former's opposite side, creating some sort of triage area amidst the chaos after the battle, followed by a second injured merc behind him.

"I'm calling our ride out of here," he said, although it was impossible to discern as to who it was said given that his helmet completely covered his face, and both of the lenses on the faceplate stared unblinking at the two women.

Somewhere insde the warehouse, ammo started to cook off and causing secondary explosions that lit up the night sky like firework as small burning objects flew upwards, trailing smoke and flames with them. The window that contained the burnout sniper spat out a gout of flame and burning debris, most likely barbqueuing the man inside before he could get any more payback.

"Amelia, you copy?" Desmond asked, bringing up a small volumetric display in front of him by tapping the PHC on his left wrist. "Bring the shuttle down on the coordinates I'm sending you," he added, highlighting an area on the holographic map, which became a red, blinking rectangle. He shut off the holographic display with a flick of his other hand.

"Danny, do a sweep of that warehouse, I just saw movement there," he said to the hooded Nepleslian, getting up again and moving towards the funeral pyre that used to be the power-armor clad gang leader once upon a time. Even despite his clothing, the bounty hunter could feel the heat burning off the tip of some loose strands of fabric that had been torn during the confrontation as he crouched down close to the fire and picked something off the ground before hurrying back towards where the group was assembled.

"I got what we need," Desmond said, not offering an explanation as he took the chunk of meat he was holding between two gloved fingers and put it inside a small, circular plastic container that then went inside one of his back pouches. Sure, he had gottent the footage from his helmet's camera of the kill being made, and probably the shuttle had also caught that too, but providing the genetic data of the target would keep them from having to wait the twenty or so days until the bounty kill was confirmed and the money was claimed, since there technically wasnt much of a body left to identify. To him, that was still the most grim part of the job.

The bounty hunter was about to tell Jaina to get her people moving, but remembering her condition, decided to do it himself. "Shuttle's coming down where your group deployed from, start getting ready to move the wounded," he said, scanning the rooftops and windows nearby for any more threats before extending a hand to Amanozako, which neatly turned into him hooking it behind the prone neko's back helping her up, putting one of her arms behind his neck.

Somewhere above them, the droning, low hum of the shutter's Graviton engines started to become louder, and some of the blinking lights could be seen through the thick, black smoke of the fire.
 
Suddenly his world was life again, even if the warehouse around him resembled some sort of classical vision of hell, replete with fire, smoke, and brimstone. All that was missing was the cackling demons - they'd all been shot a while ago. Bill lept up - at least as close to someone as old as him could get to leaping - in truth, it was more of a coughing stagger.

They had to get out - the warehouse was going to become their combination tomb and funeral pyre if they'd stayed any longer.

He couldn't hear anything. Bill screamed at the girl he'd risked everything for, the one who'd just shot the man attacking him to go, get out, but she wasn't moving, and he couldn't hear if he was even saying anything. He staggered over to her, putting an arm of hers around his neck, dragging her along with him as the building crumbled around the two of them. They were simply too slow to dodge or writhe or attempt to telegraph the debris falling around them - Bill just trusted that faith enough would be enough to carry the both of them out.

Or, well. They wouldn't live long enough to regret.

A few steps. Carbon monoxide inhalation was starting to get to him. His limbs were far off, rubbery things now, they barely felt connected to his body. He felt sleepy, dreamy, even giggly, laughing, tears streaming down his face, eyes red. He felt an itching in his chest, his heart beating frantically in his own head, one step, two, world darkening around him as if some astral power was dimming the mood lights on his own eyes, and then -

And then, life. Brightness - the old man stumbled out of the warehouse, still holding the strange amalgamation of organic and machine that the gangers had held under lock, chain, and key in the now decrepit inferno of the warehouse.

He uttered an apology to the girl, that due to the ringing in his ears - an explosion had blown away his shooting muffs, and even his favorite hat, like so much dust in the wind - he still could not hear, and suddenly, gallantly, collapsed into a heap. Breathing, air - it was all he could do, was lie there, breathe, so close to the inferno but safe now, safe enough to restore air to his ailing lungs.

He'd risked everything, and this time, it seemed, it paid off.
 
Burnouts Compound, Southern Area
The altex-clad bounty hunter nodded, heaving a sigh as he started tromping towards the warehouse. He was still on the alert for any sign of hostiles, as all the smoke caused by the burning weaponry, and noise from cooking ammo would've made excellent concealment for a gunman. The adrenaline pumping through Danny's veins was keeping him alert as he got closer to the warehouse, keen to cut an entrance.

He got close to a section of the wall with a hand on the hilt of his blade, thinking he could make a cut in the wall and give whoever was inside an opening and himself a surprise. Before he could draw, he saw two figures emerge from the doors of the warehouse, struggling to keep each other on their feet before collapsing together not far from the inferno.

They didn't look like Burnouts, and Danny didn't recognise them as part of Jaina's crew either. Still, all the more reason to be cautious in case this was a ruse. As Danny got closer, he stayed low as flames licked the walls of the warehouse, heat radiating and portions of the patchwork metal melting into slag.

When Danny stood just next to the two fallen figures, he radioed Desmond, "Des, I've got two people here, civilian." He said, using his arm to shield his face from the heat before grabbing the two by the scruffs and hauling them together. "I'm going to drag them - goddamn - out of the heat, cover me." He had to be quick, he could feel the exterior layers of his suit beginning to crisp up and go dry, and he didn't want to risk his ammo cooking off on him.
 
Courtyard - South


Amanozako was more than happy to let Desmond help her up and support her weight. While her enhanced neko healing abilities would eventually make her right as rain, she had to admit that she was feeling the effects of her wounds for the moment.

As she and him movedalong, she reached down and scooped up her impaler rifle. She was not leaving it behind, and held onto the weapon with her free arm, clutching it to her.

"I think I'm ready for a vacation" she muttered into Desmond's ear as she leaned against him.
 
Courtyard

Duncan looked from Jaina up towards Salem. He groaned at the man's overly descriptive words concerning his status. "Well, thanks for that buddy. Regardless, you think you could help us up so we can get moving to that evac point? I mean the fire is pretty and warm and all but with all the little explosions I would really not like to be here if they get any closer or bigger," Duncan said as he moved to sit up and offered his hand to Salem.

He would worry next about getting Jaina on her feet and moving, ensuring the mercenary leader had as little to worry about as possible. She was tough and could probably still fight off a whole compound of thugs in her current state but Duncan was just that kind of guy.
 
Burnouts Compound, Southern Area

Shutdown limped out with Bill and tried to smile as she had her arm around the guy "I am sorry if I am too heavy.... metallic augmentation has that effect on us Freespacers" she gave a small giggle that sounded weird with her robotic throat. She surveyed the area and saw that someone had came to them, she didn't recognise the new person as part of the crew and smiled slightly, her voice soft but still with the robotic tang to it "Are you with that Neko?"

She growled lightly then it turned to a chuckle as she looked at him "Did you destroy that hunk of junk I created? The power armour" she looked around as she was dragged "I think I can get up and walk, so I am not too much trouble" she tried to stand her legs really shaking as she planted her arm into the grounded to help her out "I am Shutdown..... mechanic and engineer are my titles that people use for what I do.."
 
Courtyard

"What, you don't want to be a part of the barbecue? Maybe later then, hmm? I can cook." Salem spoke jokingly with a hint of sincerity that he'd cook up some barbecue later. He wasn't a chef, but he knew his way around. He stuck his hand out to reach for the Nepleslian's and pulled the man up onto his feet. He initially attempted to support the man in case he couldn't stand right but let go soon after. The man could handle himself he thought, crazy enough guy that can risk being torched alive in a disoriented state to save a buddy can most definitely stand by himself.

"Jaina need some help getting up as well? She isn't looking too good." He'd take a good look at her and then back to Duncan. "Unless you can handle bringing her up, I'll go check up on Frank."
 
Courtyard

"Give Frank a hand. She's gonna bitch and moan if too many hem and haw over her," Duncan said. "Oh and good work today Salem. Let the others know too."

This particular mission was definitely a win and one that the mercenary crew needed after the previous time. They had taken a real hit in man power and morale but things seemed to work out well this time around.

He turned and began helping Jaina stand. He allowed her to do as much as she could knowing she didn't need to be coddled.
 
Courtyard

"Will do, and thanks." He nodded to Duncan in acknowledgement. Salem took himself over to the other mercenaries and spoke positively on the work they've done before tending to Frank. He hoisted the man up and allowed him to wrap his arm around his neck to support himself. Salem looked up into the sky to see the shuttle's lights coming through the smoke and was more than happy to leave the smoldering area in the next few minutes.
 
Courtyard

Jaina did no feel like talking, since it made the burned side of her face spike in pain. No movement would be best, she just wanted to lay there and fall asleep. That could not be though, as there was too much fire and what not happening abou. Jaina looked at Duncan's offered hand with her one good eye and sighed. Grabbing the offered hand she pulled herself up on her feet, gasping from the pain. She would rather get shot, the burn hurt a lot more than that. That said, getting shot was more likely to get you killed so maybe she still got off good.

She looked at Salem. "Well I am still prettier than you at least," she joked and winced from the pain.

The woman leaned a bit on Duncan ready to go away. "Good job," she whispered to the large man and then concentrating on walking.

Kendra meanwhile walked to Desmond, just nodding. She bumped the man in the shoulder, not saying anything more.
 
Roof

Rathe shook his head as the grenade's shrapnel scattered around the blast zone. While it successfully took out the sniper that could very easily have killed Amano, the grenade's fragments struck his teammates, which he knew from experience would bite him in the ass. Luckily, Only Kendra and Danny knew he threw it, and neither looked to be the type to snitch. Scrubbing the gunk off of his face, his gold pigment now showed again as mud was removed. Well, as much as could be removed was removed. Turning a corner down the stairs, Rathe stepped through a significantly sized hole in the wall and found himself in the courtyard with a few other hunters.

Courtyard

"Any hurt, wounded?" the medic asked as he joined up with the others in the courtyard and set his backpack down to do a bit of first aid, ready to take on most of the wounds he thought would occur, such as bullet holes and burns, as well as the damage done by an overcooked frag grenade some unlucky sap threw, but Rathe didn't know anything about that...
 
Burnouts Complex, Courtyard on the way out
With Shutdown able to walk on their own, Danny only had to keep Bill away from the burning warehouse and the smoke, able to carry him over his shoulders. The Search-and-Rescue training he'd taken as a cover identity was bringing him closer to Rathe. The Freespacer's query was met with a quiet voice. "Oh no, not me," Danny said, "Bounty Hunters."

The gold medic was approaching the courtyard, and Danny intercepted him. "Hey, Rathe. Got - got two here. Civvies." They explained to the medic hoarsely. "Can't leave them here. Not safe. This old guy needs oxygen. Heavy as balls with all of the ammo and hardware on him." Surely, Desmond wouldn't mind a couple of extra passengers, but Danny was more impressed by how armed this man was, looking at Rathe incredulously. "Some sort of competition shooter?" He guessed, looking into the man's face.

He certainly had the moustache, the cap, the ear protectors, and sunglasses for it.
 
South Road, outside the Complex

The other mercenaries that could still stand formed a small semi-circle around the agreed-upon landing zone as they watched the last bounty hunters -and now civilians- moving towards the extraction, weapons watching the buildings and the gathering crowd that stood at a reasonable distance to not get shot but still remained close enough to show that they very much thought that they had a right to be there.

Desmond saw the unlikely duo approach with Danny, and wanted to protest and veto the decision of bringing them along. As he saw it, it wasn't part of their job to help them, it was, instead, to kill people and sell off their deaths for money; however, leaving them there to what was soon going to be a very pissed off neighborhood promised to be something that would give him a lot of shit from his work partners, and he couldn't have that since they would be watching his back. He had already come to a decision by the time their golden-skinned medic arrived.

"Three casualties, none critical. Move them inside the shuttle once it's landed" Desmond replied to Rathe, the barrel of his gun still pointing towards the building, as the shuttle approached. By then the shuttle's landing gear hit the pavement with a thud, its Graviton engines were close enough that the humming from them made everyone's diaphragm vibrate in unison with it inside their ribcages, while the warning lights shone down on them. "Casualties first, the civilians next and us last, got it?" the bounty hunter added.

"Go!" He said, still facing away towards the burning complex as the rear clamshell ramps of the shuttle opened and clanged against the asphalt. Holding the rifle one-handed, Desmond helped Amanozako up again and started to move her towards inside the shuttle.

The inside of the spacecraft was a world away from the hell they had just been in. It didn't smell of ash and polution, but instead of the sterile, clean and airconditioned environment that seemed to be the norm with most modern spacecraft (the Iron Ferret being a small exception due to its overtaxed life support systems). Under the red tinted emergency lights, the casualties were moved to a few stretchers that used to be just empty seats, while Shutdown was guided towards one of the empty seats next to that area by one of the still standing mercenaries.

"We're loaded!" Desmond said over the comms agains, which prompted their pilot to not waste any time and take off with the small spacecraft. With a surprising amount of grace, the shuttle took off at a shallow angle, but high high acceleration, which caused some mild discomfort inside as the passenger area shook and buckled a few times due to minor adjustements to its course.

Looking back towards the closing cargo ramp, he got one last look at how the compound's fire started to spread towards the adjacent buildings, and how the pitch black smoke from it rose up to join the thich layer of smog that blanketed the entire city. Their pilot kept flying towards the coast and outside Funky City's airspace, where she then could turn the transponder back on and return to the spaceport.

"ETA twenty minutes," Amelia buzzed from the intercom as she guided the shuttle from her seat. To her back, some of the mercenaries started to wind down from the job. A few sat down on the passenger seats, while others simply sat down next to their injured boss and partner; Desmond simply let his rifle hang from its sling and moved towards the newest arrival that was still conscious.

"Who are you?" He asked shutdown, his tone and expression unreadable thanks to the full helmet he was wearing, which was by then - like the entirety of its owner- mostly gray save for the eye-lenses thanks to all the dirt and soot that had accumulated on them.
 
South Road, outside the Complex

Shutdown looked at the helmeted man and sighs "Well I guess you can call me shutdown, you have me to thank for that power armour" she let out a bad robotic giggle "I am a engineer, I was working on a ship when these guy boarded and decided they could use someone to keep their stuff working or to be sold later." She shudders "The power armour you faced was Mark 10, I guess I don't need to make mark 11 now" she looked down "I am sorry that my work injured one of your allies, I just was done what I was asked to do."

She looked around "I would ask for your forgiveness, if it wasn't for me, your mission would of been a lot easier" she winced as she checks her body parts more importantly her robotic legs, arm and neck "I seem to be oaky, just a few lacerations and some bruising so I will not need medical attention." She looked up at the man "You have seen what I can do, I would like to offer myself to your group, I know I am not that skilled at fighting, but give me anything mechanical and what you want from it and it will ne done."
 
The shuttle

Jaina was ferried of in her supported limp on the shuttle. As an injured they let her board first, which felt a bit annoying. Jaina liked to think of herself as someone who does not need her hand held. That said, she had part of her face burned bad and all those explosions were not great either. She sat herself on one of the seat sighing and trying to get over the pain as much as she could. She listened to Desmond and the freespacer talk, watching them with her one good eye.

"Well that armour was some piece of work. For a civvie." Jaina said and chuckled, which ended up in a painful expression on the unbandaged side of her face. "I guess I should thank you for my eye then."
 
Shuttle

Hearing the exchange Duncan could not hold it in. After Jaina spoke about thanking the Freespacer for her eye Duncan spoke up, "Don't worry boss, I will keep an eye on her!" Duncan gave a goofy smile and looked around at his fellow soldiers for support with his pun which he found nothing but groans.
 
Shuttle

Amanozako was glad they were extracting. The over cooked neko had been loaded aboard and now took some time to examin the damage she had taken.

She was pretty bad off at the moment. Burns, broken ribs and the like. It was nothing her self healing wouldnt eventually be able to take care of, though without a hemosynth tank to take a soak in, some of the wounds would take a while.

Her old NMX flack jacket and duster were pretty well ruined, as was her jumpsuit underneeth. She wasn't sure of the flack jacket was salvageable or not yet. She was going to need new gear. Maybe she could ask Desmond to get her in touch with the guy who made his armor. She would have to ask him later.

For now, she just back into her chair and closed her eyes, enjoying a moment of not being shot at and not being on fire.
 
Shuttle, Getting out of Dodge
The proposition from the picked up Freespacer had Danny thinking. He didn't get to see much of the Power Armour that was ripping up the retreat from the facility. It sure made hard work of Amanozako - and here, she couldn't conceal her inhuman nature. Still, he was thankful to have someone that tough on Desmond's payroll, especially if they didn't look the part. He never felt any particular like or dislike for Nekovalkyrja. Tools, and tools for and tools against.

As for the other person who'd come with the freespacer, Danny had put an oxygen mask on them and let them breathe some fresh air for a change. "Not sure about the old timer here." Danny sniffed a bit, and remembered that he was in relative anonymity with the other Bounty Hunters. He breathed out, and begun peeling the mask away from his face, grabbing the underside at the neck in an unseen seam and pulling the mask up over his face.

He gave his blonde hair a shake to get the volume back into it. The mask had proven a little hard to peel off with how dry the altex fabric had become in places, cheeks flush, brow sweaty and clotted nosebleed was all over his top lip. Weirdest of all, the bandaid that he kept between his hairline and his scalp had peeled away, revealing what appeared to be a scarred over gunshot wound, glancing.

Danny put the errant plaster back in position and grabbed a drink from a water bladder somewhere on his suit, a tube running into his mouth. "Talk to him when he comes to." He pulled the tube out of his mouth and it slipped back into the neckline of the suit, seamlessly. "Seems to be a sports shooter, what do you make of 'em, Jaina?" He proposed, then looked over to Desmond if he had two bob to toss in.
 
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