Jack, Be Quick.

Duncan matched Sarah's steps and placed his large arm over her shoulders. "Turn that frown upside down. We will go find him, I actually really love punching people in the face until I find my mark," he said smiling. "Let's go kiddos." He gestured with his head at the lingering children.

He didn't know where Jack was or what had happened to the rest of the rag tag team but he couldn't dwell. He knew to secure those that were here now then see about the others.

Vier would smile, "An appropriate name,"

Looking at Amit, she could feel something was off in the way she was talking to him. Vier had food, clothing, other objects and services to offer but Amit did not seem to be responding to that line of discussion. Perhaps probing a different line of discussion would provide insight. Feelings perhaps. Imaginary friends maybe? It certainly was not easy to wrap in her own understanding,

"how is he feeling?" She would end up asking.

---


"Invisible cat-girl with rocket shoulders... there's like one of those just about anywhere so the whole staying under the radar thing is fucked already. Subtulty is not required for this one we just need to get our people somewhere we can pick them up ok?" Uso asked, looking over at her own power armor.

They still had one of the Origin impulses left on the ship... though it had been mostly disassembled so that they could give the power source to the I'ee...

"... I'm getting lazy, this shouldn't have happened this way and we should have brought some bigger guns..."

But there was no time for discussion, after everyone had boarded, the Queen's slave would move in to a slow hover, circling around the area above Creature and Sasha. They would get a good view of Creature, Sasha, and the rest of their group. Creature had charged right into the soldier's kill box, and would end up receiving more small arms fire to the torso, the repeated impacts turning much of his lower torso into various grades of jelly...

Though this made them easy targets for Sasha, who was in cover, able to pick off three of the soidlers in quick sucsesion before they knew what was going on.

"YOU THINK THIS SHIT PAY OF YOURS IS GOING TO COVER ALL MY STUFF! I GOTTA MOVE NOW THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR FRIEND THERE!" The doc shouted at Sasha, giving away her position... the doc still standing out in the open, seemingly immune to the small arms fire, bullets still bouncing off him harmlessly. Sasha was still caught in a dead-end alley, with two small groups of soldiers on either side.

Creature could some what feel the damage. He would most certainly need some serious nano therapy and bed rest. But there was no point in slowing down now. THWHACK!

That it old sword was a pretty nice club. Creature would grab the goon that he brained and use him as his new shield.

"He's doing fine, no tears and no lost stuffing thankfully." Amit replied. "He does want to take a cat nap though."

Amit just wasn't sure on whether or not he should put much faith an trust into these people. That got him into this mess, he got used and treated like a rat. Well at least he understood why cats hunted mice an rats. They were easy pickings...a sigh left Amit as he stood there. A few blinks left him as he brought Companion closer to him. Food sounded nice but...he didn't feel like eating. As much as that was a normal thing to want, his thoughts were swarmed with the experiments and what others would think of him. If anything, it only made him feel a bit sick with worry and fear.

Jack had seen Sarah and Duncan come aboard shortly before they took off. As they arrived below, Jack finished prepping the explosive pack of grenades with a cord running through all the pins.

"Good you made, id high five you or something, but were not done yet. Now excuse me." he said before taking a runners stance.

Jack sprinted torwards the open bay door before leaping out to drop to street level from high. He hit his thrust at second story level leading to a loud thump as dropped into the middle of the attackers. Pulling his battle rifle before hitting ground and now firing at all the targets before him.

" ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! We can talk about it after we get to the ship, okay?"

Sashayelled back at Doc as she crouched. Shit, she thought. Her position was revealed and soldiers were obviously outmatching her.


She looked at the soldiers on either side, and grasped her shotgun tightly.

Creature would whack the first goon he reached... though Creature's problem was now that there wasn't a whole lot of Creature left. There was plenty of muscle mass that was missing or turned into something that resembled salsa. At this close of range he would end up being on the receiving end of some thug's pistol being unloaded into his stomach area. The goons seemed much faster... at least to someone who was now missing many vital organs.

"UH yeah, if you fucking make it out of this. I want to know who pays your bills after you die." The Doc told Sasha, still standing out in the open as Sasha stayed in cover... The soldiers about to finish off Creature when Jack finally arrived from overhead, landing on one of the thugs and turning him into mush, dispatching the rest on that side quickly. Sasha would still have to leave cover in order to get to saftey, and there were still plenty of thugs on the other side of the alleyway that were now happy to just unload in the direction of jack, turning the whole pathway into a kill-box.

"OH, ok, maybe he can pay your tab... HEY ASSHOLE!" The doc shouted, walking through the gunfire towards jack, "YOU GONNA PAY FOR HER TAB OR WHAT? YOUR PEOPLE RUINED MY LAB!"


---
The Ship

Vier listened to what Amit had to say. Was Amit asking to take a nap by asking if the stuffed animal could nap? There seemed to be some logic to it. Beds were something the Queen's Slave had avalible too.

"Would you like me to take you to one of the sleeper rooms? You could take a nap with Companion there," Vier offered.

The normal methods of working with someone didn't seem to apply here. Perhaps it was a children thing? That was quickly dismissed, the other children seemed to respond to wants in a predictable way. Perhaps it could be that Amit didn't know what he wanted? Certainly more study was required.

Creature just kind of stood there for a moment. "The party don't start till I walk in. He said kind of gurgling then flopping over limply. He began bleeding all over the place.

Jack squished the man with his landing like a cannon ball meeting a bag of soft flesh as he splattered across the walls. And as Jack stood up from the landing to start mowing down the enemies immediately near, he said "Surprise motherfuckers, time to reaper the rewards of your foolishness! Sasha, get him to the roof now!"

Jack had finished mowing down those on his side shortly before the rounds began to spray his location, causing his shields to flare. He immediately used his thrusts to leap up one story to grab a window seal, before leaping up and towards the other group of thugs. A distraction was still needed, and his old instincts started to kick in after trying to suppress them for so long.

Jack was coming in fast, feet first as he began firing again, "You're all going to die in this shit hole!" he said moments from making contact.

Giving a nod, Amit would follow after her. What did he want..? That was a hard question but he felt sleep pulling at him. Hunger was another thing that was rearing his head, he could feel his stomach growling slightly but which was stronger? Food or sleep? His eyelids grew a little heavier as he walked, holding the plush as he gave a yawn. For a moment, he struggled with it as if not wanting to yawn but it came out in the end. Once arriving at the room, it didn't feel cozy or anything like that. But by time they had reached there, his eyelids were drooping as he felt a pang of hunger go through his stomach. Sleep was wining it seemed as another yawn left him. He rubber his eyes and made sure he was still holding onto Companion.

"Yo man, yeah no prob..." Duncan broke off his greeting as Jack, in full impulse armor ran and umped off the ship. He approached the edge of the open hatch, grabbed a free handhold and leaned out to look down and witness the small skirmish. "Uhh, Sarah you may want to unpack that rifle of yours, they could use an extra barrel."

Duncan scanned the are for a cable or cord, attaching it and rigging it to improvise as a support. He had no power armor and couldn't/wouldn't use it anyway, but he could help how he could. When able to would lower the makeshift support to Sasha and Creature.

There was a loud thud as a cannon shot slammed into the shields of the Queen's Slave. For the moment they seemed to be holding. "TAKE US DOWN!" Uso shouted out, holding on to a handle near the exit ramp of the ship as it tried to wedge itself into place, getting the exit ramp as close to the ground as it could near the exit of the alleyway. There wasn't enough space for the ship to land, but it certainly could get close enough for people to attach themselves to Duncan's cables.

"Come on Jack, we're running out of time here...."

Bullets were still flying down the Alleyway, and there was still a group of children as well as Sasha and what remained of creature to get onboard the ship. There were plenty of thugs on the other side happy to trade fire with Jack, though the ones in the immediate area had already been killed off.

---

Meanwhile, onboard the ship:

Vier would lead Amit to bed, turning off the lights in one of the sleeping rooms and helping him into the bed itself... he would be one less person they had to worry about for right now.

Jack heard the sabot round sail through the air above a moment before it detonated against the Queen's Slave's shields causing them to flare on impact.

"Shit, EVERYONE GET YOUR ASSES TO THE SHIP NOW!", Jack said as he began to retreat, moving to what ever partial cover was available before firing several bursts then moving again. However the cover was not usually large enough but to lessen incoming fire. His shields began to read low integrity as he made the half way point back to the ship, all the while hoping Sasha had managed to lead the kids while carrying creature. Jack ran again for the next available cover, and he wasn't sure at that moment whether the thugs got luck, or they suddenly and collectively improved there aim. A moment before he reached cover behind a dumpster, the immediate area was instantly lit up with hundreds of rounds, instantly depleting his shields to zero. He didn't bother shooting this time, as he waited a moment, then ran for it again, but using his thrust to close the distance quickly. "Really starting to hate this place with their damn tanks, and thug SOB's." he said after braking with the wall.

Jack started to feel weird, and pain was emanating from a couple spots on his torso, he looked down to find two bleeding holes in his armor. His armored hand came away covered in blood as he pulled his hand away from one, just before he coughed blood behind his visor.

"Aw shit. Jack is in a bad way," Duncan exclaimed as he turned to Sarah. "Ok look, I'm going down there and let me be clear, your are to get your brother raised up here and if it is to hot you are to leave me. Yeah? Yeah."

Duncan recklessly reached out, wrapped the rope once around his durandium gauntlet and takes the rope strongly in hand. He swung out and downward going into a dangerously uncontrolled rappel. He was trusting his strength plus the built in servos on his gauntlets would allow him the braking power he would need.

He was determined to land, draw his pistol and get to Jack as fast as he could. Duncan was braced as he knew landing hard on his leg would hurt tremendously but was ready to do what was needed, including running over any thugs in his way.

" Crap...crap...crap...Alright! Uso! Uso'll pay when I do get shot and dead! "


Sasha yelled at the Doc as she turned to take few more shots. She was trying her best to take children, then realized that Creature has just jumped into the soldiers.


" Goddammit... "



Sasha groaned, loaded her shotgun, then tried to follow up with Creature.

Stoneage

Frank frowned,

Stupid shields,

Stupid space ship...

He looked over at his loader... the dude was mush, he wasn't going to be much help.

He'd have to do it himself.

Frank would climb down from the commander's seat and open the ammunition rack, rolling the shells out of the way until he found the one... the exterior was solid gold, pristine... really flashy and impossible to miss... He knew the gold didn't really do anything to improve the round, but that wasn't really important.

He flicked off the EMP generator in the back of the tank, and then turned the cap on the end of the round to arm it, sliding the round into the chamber of the cannon.

He had two of these things, each more expensive than his entire tank. Zesu-laminated, subspace-detonator tipped, anti-starship rounds.

For once, there was something worth shooting them at....


----

Alley

"BAAAAH GET ON THE SHIP!" Uso shouted, still wearing only a hoodie.

Duncan was about to grab Jack.

Sasha could still move... and likely grab one of the ropes hanging down.

There was a small group of kids following them... as well as an irate older man.

Uso reluctantly jumped out the back of the ship, flaring her rockets to bring herself to a landing, and grabbing two of the kids.

"GREAT! WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKS IS USO?!" Doc asked, pointing at Jack, "ARE YOU USO!? YOU OWE ME SOME MONEY!"

Uso herself would only stay on the ground for a moment before making a rocket assisted leap back up to the ship.

Meanwhile, Vier had rotated the ship slightly, moving directly over Sasha. She would drop one of the large cargo containers on the side of the ship, letting it fall right on the entrance to the alleyway... while this crushed parts of the building on either side it did block off the gun fire for the time being, leaving only a few badly wounded goons still trying to scurry to cover.

Jack was loosing it, between the pain and old instinct, he had no idea what he'd done until he realized the pistol in his hand wad the reason the doc was now on the ground lifeless. The man had hurriedly approached him and hostily as he ranted about money, or something. Jack had pulled his old 45 and dropped him with a headshot.

"No no no, not again. I am not going back to that. I'm not him anymore!" Jack stammered as he ran awkwardly meeting Duncan before ascending to the ship, all the while avoiding looking over at Duncan to see his reaction.

Duncan made good time through the small skirmish towards Jack but faltered slightly as he came upon the man. He had just rounded a broken corner as he saw Jack, arm outstretched with a smoking .45 in hand. A body, standing in stunned silence for a moment then slumped to the ground.

There was not a lot of time for Duncan to process the scene but he did gather that the man was not holding a weapon, nor was there one on the ground nearby. What happened here? Why was Jack yelling something about not being 'him anymore'?

Did Jack shoot someone he was not supposed to? Duncan knew first hand what it can feel like to be in a dangerous situation and you needed to shoot first and ask questions later. He sometimes still had nightmares about the crazy horde he faced down a year or two ago. Hardest thing he has ever had to do, but it was him or them.

Duncan raised and steadied the unstable Jack and together they hobbled to and on the ship. He noticed Jack's far away gaze and reluctance to look him in the eye. He only hoped Jack could find solace in the news to come.

"Dammit! I can't go back to being that monster. I left to get away from the killing, but I've done it again. Time and time again the instinct has taken over. Even as a kid running the streets, I killed, and in the military it only got worse. I'm nothing but a murder, and you should have just left me Duncan. I am nothing and will be nothing. A living black hole, snuffing anything that get's too close, destined to cause ruin and sorrow. No family, no past but death, and most likely only a future made from a mass grave. I killed so many, but every time I've tried to kill myself, something gets in the way every time. Why won't the universe let me die, it's not fair?" Jack rambled to himself as another face was added to the crowd that only he can see. They all stood around the cargo hold like shadows, their stares of hate and fear, tearing through him and his guilt.

Sarah had been providing sporadic covering fire as the last few boarded the ship, only stopping as the last came aboard. She quickly followed after Duncan as he carried Jack, but she was not prepared to see Jack in his current mental state. He was rambling on about something that happened on street level, and what she heard him say following that caused a knot in her stomach.

She helped lower him to a sitting position on the floor against the wall after she noticed the blood running from the two holes in his armor and his sporadic coughing. Sarah removed his helmet finding his mouth to his chin covered in blood from his coughing from internal bleeding, "No no no no, Jack come on look at me! Hey your hurt, it's the pain making you say shit, now come on and pull it together! Stay with me, don't close your eyes. Uso must have medical supplies aboard, or a medic, don't worry you're gonna be all right."

Duncan tapped Sarah on the back and said, "Take care of our boy, I gotta make sure the others get in before we leave."

He stood for a moment looking down at Jack, empathy written on his face. He was never a soldier in the traditional sense but he added to the scene by saying, "Jack, war is hell. People get hurt and bad things happen. You are not to blame, believe that." After a moment more of silence he turned and went back to the open hatch of the ship hoping to get Sasha and Creature to safety so they could get out of here.