RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 4] A Pleasant Dinner

Isaac slid his head to see past the barrier where they were situated, to the right side of the middle section, he rubbed his chin for a moment and looked back where he had previously started. He looked at Stovaa with a glaring eye, but it was not towards him. " Just be careful, I think the administrator has a trick." Isaac pondered on that for a moment and gripped his pistol a bit tighter, he wished he'd grabbed a rifle instead.

With a quick and utter sigh, he tapped Stovva two times on the right shoulder and braced himself for a shot right into the teacups. He was in a runner stance, crouched to the floor with his hands and his boots fixed up right behind him. Go! An imaginary noise went off in is head as he propelled his boots to the tea cup, moving at a remarkable speed. Those years in tight places really improved his muscular strength. He made it to the first tea cup in what seemed to be a flash.

Isaac's whole body was shaking, he was starting to feel the adrenaline rush forcing its self into his body. He attempted to take a few quick breaths, in and out. Isaac shook his head, still trying to regain control of his body. Closing his eyes, he made his grip tighter on the pistol and raised his head over the tea cups, just to where the bottom of his eyes showed. Scanning over the perimeter, he looked back to where Stovaa was positioned. With two fingers he signaled Stovaa to his location.

"What do you mean, controlling the barriers?" Cassefin growled at Serra. "I'm not-!" the Head Administrator suddenly stopped mid-sentence as she quickly huddled back down as a few shots from across the field collided against the barriers. "Gah," Cassefin exclaimed, her back against the barrier as she glanced back over at her other two teammates still lingering close by. "It would be nice if you two did something. Any time now?"

---

The distance between Keziah and the dynamic duo was far enough to where George and Lenny were able to duck their heads out of the way before her shots arrived. The small projectiles instead spattered against the side of the central corridor, painting the white walls with bright blue splotches. George pressed his back and breathed silently as the shots whizzed past while Lenny simply stood next to him.

"What's the plan, George?" Lenny asked inquisitively.
A wry smile formed across the small Nepleslian's face.
"You go rush 'em out there, and I'll go this way and get 'em from behind," George replied, pointing his thumb waywardly over his shoulder, towards the center corridor.
"...uh, okay George. Gawsh. You're so smart, George."

---

Not long after the paint from Keziah's shots had settled in stark contrast to the white maze wall, the enormous ID-SOL lumbered into the main corridor. For such a big fellow, he moved surprisingly fast. Lenny had his weapon raised and was spraying the entire corridor as he trekked towards the other end. Of course, the combination of Lenny's movement and, well, Lenny in general made the shots highly inaccurate. Not to mention that there wasn't anybody in the main maze corridor in the first place. Never the less, Lenny pressed onwards.

After some blue paint zipped by, Jen heard noise from Red Team's area from where she was situated in the barrier field, and looked around the corner of her wall. I think I know where they are, and my next cover will hopefully appear over there... she planned out her move, and waited for the moment her wall would fall, indicating a change in the area. She then fired around her corner right as her wall began to fall, then dashed to a new low wall and held up there while keeping her head down. I couldn't tell were my shots could have gone, but hopefully the other two teams will creep up on im' by the time I get found out.

Stovaa kept his rifle held steady, scanning the teacups until Isaac's signal. He looked around for some cover to move up to, wanting to avoid the ever-changing barriers in the middle. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and broke cover, sprinting back towards the rear of the area, his Id-Sol body powering him forwards at breakneck, every bit as fast as a 7 foot mass of muscle would be expected to move.

He ducked behind the wall for a bit of cover, pausing for the merest of seconds before spotting an outcrop at the other side of the teacups, dashing towards it and diving behind it. Perhaps a tad overdramatic, but damnit, he intended to enjoy this while it lasted. He waved back at Isaac, readied his rifle and glanced around the corner, getting a good view straight up the the red area's home base (OOC: top-right of the middle spinner, poking out slightly.)

To his dislike, Stovaa had gone way ahead of Isaac and had stretched the line of defense between them, although he was protected by the spinner and the barricade, Isaac didn't like the fact that he went on. Cracking his neck, he took another breath and wiped off a drop of sweat that was hanging on his thin eyebrows. Clammy and sweaty his hands remained, bah! "Damn adrenaline." Isaac thought to himself and pulled his head out again from the top of the spinner, eyeing out for any team mates or enemies. A quick thought accounted in his mind, " Where are they?"

Isaac dashed out from the safety of the spinner and straight to the barricade on the top-right side of the middle spinner, he slammed his shoulder into the barricade and took another breath. " Alright, we need a plan, if we rush out there, I know we're going to get shout up and if we split off, there's a good chance our backs will be exposed." Isaac thought to himself, " Any ideas?"

The enormous ID-SOL was, even at these ranges, a wonderful target. She watched him fire off randomly down the corridor, splotches of bright paint erupting along the walls, the floor. Some shot roundly past her, splattering off against the opposite wall, or the floor a meter in front of her. Quite a sight, watching all that ammo get wasted.

It wasn't even suppression fire, he wasn't even really aiming.

So instead, she fired three quick shots, aiming for Lenny's chest, before ducking around the corner to fully remove herself from getting hit.

Where was George? Had he been hiding behind the enormous man? She breathed in, waiting.

Deacon smiled as Tweak joined him in his hiding spot. He twitched his ears slightly as she knelt down and began to speak. Her idea held merit, and he would have been willing to accept it at face value, but he was not as much a soldier as she was.

So, with a single shake of his head, he indicated the negative.

"I really don't think so, Tweak. I think it would be better if you went ahead and took the shots, while I rushed them. After all, studies of the Nepleslian populace have shown an irrational fear for large oncoming animals. I am well aware of their process of hunting such creatures, but if one were to take them by surprise, they lose their ingrained ability to stay calm."

He then fell silent and looked down at the floor that they were crouching on, hearing what was at first just a whisper, and then he could make out a few words.

"Something is going on. Something about George and Lenny. I can't tell what though. Something about a rush...in the behind?"

Tweak shook her head. "George is using Lenny as bait. Lenny gets everyone's attention and George picks them off...hey, that's what I just suggested!" She frowned, but turned back to Deacon after seeping to stare in the general direction of Lenny's loud rush of the main hall of the Maze.

"Though mine was supposed to be more subtle, now we have a target. You go after Lenny, you can probably take him head-on since he's not firing very well. But be careful. I'm going to find George and try to get him without a direct confrontation." Then she frowned again, turning her head a little. "There's a third target creeping along the far outside wall of the maze. Designation...'Lorcan' I believe. When one of us is done, the other checks him out, otherwise he isn't in any position to cause trouble yet."

She turned back to Deacon and smiled. "Good hunting!" she whispered. Then she slipped away, heading toward George's location while attempting to circle around so she ended up behind him.

Lenny, the large fellow that he was, took up most of the corridor he was rushing through. Therefore, it was nigh impossible *not* to hit the guy; Keziah's shots splattered against the giant ID-SOL's chest with a few soft "plats". It actually took a moment for Lenny to even notice he had been struck...the shots barely had any effect on him at all as he slowed his run down, stopping a few feet short of the area the Blue Teammates were hiding. Lenny actually had to double-check his belly to confirm that he had been hit; the big fella's size was obviously no joke, as he barely felt anything at all.

The big goofy CSS member dropped his weapon and raised his blue-paint-stained hands in the air, and equally-goofy grin on his face. "Uh oh...guess I'm out, right George?" Lenny admitted, sounding not at all disappointed by this development. He did, however, sound a little confused...and he started to look the part as he swiveled his head around, as though he were looking for someone, or something. "George?" Lenny starting walking closer towards the Blue-Team end of the corridor after his calls for his smaller compatriot returned negative.

"Uh...w-what do I do now?" Lenny whispered in the general direction of where he thought the shots come from. Apparently, the ID-SOL had little grasp of the rules after being hit...and was asking for help from the opposing team. Not exactly a stretch, considering this particular individual.

Slipping in front of Lenny, dodging several shots, Tweak made it to the opening opposite where she had been hiding with Deacon, passing Kez and Claire on the way. The hyena could take care of the IDSOL...if the splats she'd heard didn't already mean he was out, thanks to the two women.

There was a heat sig down near the red side of the maze, but it wasn't moving...Tweak went for it anyway. With the overlay on her vision, she didn't lose time being lost, and crouch-walked quickly through the passages toward the heat source.

Except nothing was there. Like a rainbow in the distance, she never got any closer to it. The neko frowned and requested a system check from her TOS. Meanwhile, she looked around, ignoring the phantom signature and paying attention only to the ones that moved, and the ones she could confirm with accompanying audio signatures.

Tweak shook her head at the notice and mentally stored it for later. She'd fix it when she was safe. The signature would just have to be ignored or double-checked. Meanwhile, where was George if he wasn't there?

She looked around, locating and confirming the FoF (Friend or Foe) tags she'd placed. Everyone was there but George. She had no previous position to check against. Her ears twitched under her hat, aching to get free so she could use them properly, but Tweak forced herself to make due with her eyes and...wait, she could smell! Lifting her nose, she took a sniff.

Each person also had a unique smell that she could pick apart an identifying trait with. Deacon, of course, smelled of canine. Lenny was...just large, and had a large scent path leading to him as a result. Mixed with his scent was another, which Tweak dug out and isolated, labeling it as George's since the two of them never left each other and the scents led back out of the maze. The smells also stayed together up until...about ten seconds ago.

So where was George now? Tweak doubled-back to a dead-end she located on the overlay so there was only one hall that people could come down to reach her, one opening being only feet in front of her granting her (being able to see, smell, or hear the other approaching) the element of surprise. She crouched there with her gun ready and senses on high alert to avoid any incoming shots. Looked like she'd be camping here for a little while until the little Nepleslian showed up.

Fortunately, with Lenny shooting willy-nilly, Tweak was able to time the speed of the shots between the puff of the gun firing and the splat of the shot hitting a surface combined with a trajectory calculation to determine the distance the shot had fired. It was a little off, but she had dodged enough getting over to this side of the maze that she had a pretty good idea of how fast those things traveled...

"You're out!" Keziah leaned around the corner and stage-whispered at him. "Go sit out on your side of the arena."

Big and dumb. Well, stereotypes had to be made somewhere.

She pulled back, sighing, and checking down the other side of the hall she was in. George was still out there, somewhere. Probably hoping to do a flanking attack, since he wasn't hiding behind Lenny. At least, if he had, then the big guy wouldn't have said anything aloud.

No, George was on the loose around the maze. Somewhere. Slowly, she started heading down the corridor the had seen Tweak--It was Tweak, right?--bolt down. One turn, then another, and she was looking at an exit from the maze.

At least I'm not lost, she mused.

Jen had not yet seen movement from the center that she was camping, so she planned out her next move, The area to my right looks safe, though might be hard to shoot from, the one on my left looks like the way to go if only there's a nice gap in between. It's the better ticket, so I'll wait and...

Jen waited for the walls in the barrier field to block her line of sight from her position to the wall on her left, and made a dash for it.

(OOC: Google Ads seem to be onto something, one of the ads they were offering a minute ago was "Gay Military Dating" :O )

"Just sit and chill a minute. Control your adrenalin, don't let it control you. If we move up too fast, we'll get caught out. Now, I can cover you if we want to move up to the spinners, but I'd rather sit here and take stock of the situation for a minute." Stovaa said, almost as if he was trying to take charge.

He scanned the area of open ground ahead of him again, hoping to catch a bit of movement soon. Across the field, a rifle was fired, Keziah hitting Lenny with a spray of paint.

"If we don't get anything in sight in a minute, we can start edging through the spinners and then take their base from this side. They won't be expecting it" he whispered, not taking his eyes off the open ground.

( Lovely.)

He was right, Isaac needed to control it, but it was hard. He strained himself to control the adrenaline pumping through his veins and increasing the rate of his heart. It was just a bloody game, he shouldn't have been this nervous to begin with. " Isaac," he stated his name to divert his mind onto something else. "Hopefully that would help," he thought to himself.

"Oh! Right...uh...?"

Lenny nodded silently as Keziah gave the big lug a little hint. However, not too long after she disappeared, Lenny reassumed his utterly lost expression as he looked around. The ID-SOL looked back the way he came, then to the branched path next to it, and continued moving his eyes along the walls, biting his lower lip as he realized that he actually didn't recall which side was *his* side. Lenny was, after all, simply following George the entire time, and with George seemingly out of the picture, a little voice helped Lenny decide to get help from anyone who'd give it to him...and since Keziah seemed happy to give that advice the first time, Lenny concluded that the nice lady might do it again.

Leaving his weapon behind and picking up his big stride once more, the clunky ID-SOL CSS member lumbered after Keziah, his arms raised above his head in surrender the entire length. He caught up to her at the center-field exit of the Corridor Maze, stopping just a few feet shy of her.

"Hey, ma'am...uh, which way is the, uh, 'Your Side'?"

---

Cassefin watched behind the safe comforts of her small barricade (which had remained for quite some time ever since she started ducking behind it) as Jen rushed from the center to the other side of the field. The Head Administrator had to restrain herself from taking a few shots at the fleeing security member; that other person over by the maze might be waiting for just that. So, the red-haired hot-head decided to adopt a new plan.

She, of course, was very aware of the advances being made on the Teacup Spinners. Or, at least, she seemed aware. Almost immediately, Cassefin bolted out from her barricade towards the center-entrance to the tea cups. She ran fairly quickly, and low to the ground...not that it mattered much, as the barrier field started moving double-time in this oh-so-convenient instant, pillars and barriers rising and falling in quick succession along her path, her newly-acquired chest proportions bouncing vigorously with each step. When Cassefin neared her destination, however, she broke into a graceful little slide...which would've been all but perfect had her right breast not buoyantly bounded back up from the momentum and hit her square in the chin. The Red Team captain didn't look very happy about that at all.

In the end, Cassefin found herself comfortably planted between two barricades near the tea-cups...with a nice view of those spinning rides to boot.

The Head Administrator poked her goggled head above the waist-high wall, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of the paltry offensive her foes had sent to the opposite end of the field.

Deacon knew that he couldn't just stay put for the entire battle, so he slowly crept back towards the open corridor that ran down the middle of the maze area. The Kohanian peeked around the corner just in time to see the large ID SOL disappearing off to the side, with arms raised. But that wasn't what caught and held his attention. That honor went to the rifle laying in the middle of the pathway.

A sly smile crept across the male's face, and he went into his usual four legged stance, and sprinted across the gap, snatching the rifle in his right paw, while his original weapon remained slung on his back. As soon as his hand met the weapon, he stopped and did a handspring the rest of the way into the open doorway diagonally from where he had just been hiding. He took a quick look back out into the corridor to see if anyone was taking a bead on him, and alternated that with checking the weapon for defects and ammo count.

"Down that way," she said, barely holding back the bite in her voice.

He was annoying, but ultimately harmless. He didn't deserve any anger. Keziah sighed, and lowered her rifle as she rolled her shoulder at him, motioning down the corridor.

"Walk straight, and then take a right, and keep walking until you're off the field."

Cassefin's passage wasn't entirely without resistance however. The moving barriers seemed to be the only thing protecting Cassefin from Claire's shots. When she finally made behind a barrier that was semi-obvious she was controlling, Claire moved back, entering the maze through the side entrance closest to her team's starting point. She kept backing up till she rounded the corner, at which point she went prone, aiming her rifle down the hallway, ready to shoot at the first one to come around that corner.

She also heard Keziah's voice further back, so she knew that she wouldn't be flanked for now. She had a sneaking suspicion that Cassefin was up to something, and sure enough. They'd have to focus on her teammates first before going after the administrator herself.

On that note...

Jen dashed over to her cover and ducked behind the wall that was the east block wall toward the barrier field. Looking around the left corner she noticed a cascade of walls moving in succession and pondered about that, That was weird, hmm doesn't matter all I need is one shot and if those walls in that pattern would have given a good advantage for advancing, I'd be disappointed if no one used it.

Which could only mean... she continued to ponder closing her eyes, imaging the map in her mind, They would be closer to the teacup area? I was going to run there next, but that may change if someone had moved there. Damn, for a scout I've been moving too slow.

She began to edge over to the right side of the wall slowly, glancing back to the blue base to see if her sniper friend was still around, then continued to the edge and propped herself in a runner's position. Wait here until a noise, and then it's game over, and finally a promotion from this crappy squad!

As Deacon turned over Lenny's discarded weapon in his mitts, the Kohanian canine would surprisingly find nothing wrong with the weapon. There were some scruffs where the weapon had made contact with the floor, and about half of the ammunition painted the walls of the central corridor, but overall the gun was still in functioning condition. What Deacon was going to do with it, however...that was the uncertain part.

Something also gnawed at the back of Deacon's mind as well. When he saw Lenny's back for that short split-second before the ID-SOL ducked, arms raised, into another hall there was something a little off.

---

Despite Tweak's and the others' efforts in scouring the maze, traveling through the maze produced no small, shifty Nepleslian man. If George was still here, he wasn't in the southern end; else Tweak would have already stumbled upon him. Alternatively, back northwards near the side exit of the Corridor Maze, Lenny smiled his goofy grin back at Keziah and nodded a silent thank you. However, before the ID-SOL could turn and follow her directions, a small *click* wavered from behind Lenny.

"HAW! I GOTCHA NOW!" A vaguely familiar voice sounded out from Lenny...but it wasn't Lenny who said it.

Suddenly it became apparent why it seemed George had disappeared, and why Tweak couldn't smell him, or see his thermal pattern. The crafty little rat had been tightly clinging to the scruff of Lenny's uniform even since the ID-SOL started his daredevil charge down the central corridor. Sure enough, George peeked around Lenny's large profile, snickering as he brought his gun around and trained it on the dangerously-close and oh-so-unwary Keziah before letting loose a few rounds.