Devlin's position a couple stories above the street level gave his shots a slight advantage. The large, unwieldy rifle primed and lurched back with his first shot, the loud report ringing out through the empty, silent streets. The round, normally able to tear through armored personnel with ease, soared through the distance between the target in a fraction of a second, colliding with the back end of the mounted minigun. The penetrating power of the round easily pierced through the conforming shield of the small NMX mecha, striking the weapon with a small shower of sparks. The round ripped through the weapon entirely, embedding itself into the paved ground a few feet in front of the Render. Beyond the noticeably large hole that it had left in the minigun, there was no further ways of noting the damage at that moment.
The reaction from the NMX was instantaneous as the shot hit its mark. The Render and its three Ripper escorts immediately whirled around towards the direction of the abandoned office building that Devlin, Bernhard and Alexandra were occupying. The Rippers raised their arms forward, spraying small blueish white beams of aetheric energy from their forearm-mounted light aether cannons, while the Render attempted to return fire with its minigun. The weapon beneath the Render spun for a moment, a coarse grinding noise emitting from the weapon as it failed to fire, the cannon's barrels spinning in a wobbling, uneven fashion.
Devlin's second shot was, unfortunately, not as successful as the first. With the element of surprise gone, and with the Render suddenly realizing that its mounted minigun was apparently no longer usable, the mecha boosted off to the left, narrowly escaping Devlin's second MPR shot. The foot-long round slammed into the street yet again, kicking up asphalt and leaving behind a small broken impact crater. The Render and a single Ripper utilized their thrusters to make a sudden advance to the southeast down the street, while the remaining two Rippers moved in the opposite direction, down the northwestern street, all the while littering the front of the office building with deadly energy.
---
Noting that her marines were alright, Violetta De Luca glanced up just as Devlin's first MPR shot landed. Her eyes flashed with sudden ferocity, her lips pressing together as she turned around and nodded at the soldiers hiding on the stairwell. "Alright marines; engage! I will make sure the civilians are taken care of! You must dispatch them before they are able to alert more of their allies!"
---
Down in the subway station, the truck carrying the civilians had come to an abrupt stop a few feet away from the rock fountain, where Flint Vanderhuge continued to remain seated. Despite the truck's appearance and close proximity, the large ID-SOL had remained still, even as a small shower of glass rained down in front of him from the marine driving the truck, only to watch the man disappear into the back of the vehicle. The Grand Admiral sat with a placid look on his face, sighing slightly as he watched things go on through analytical eyes.
As the Hostile-clad marine entered the rear of the truck, he would notice that the civilians, although severely shaken, seemed to be mostly unharmed. Three Nepleslian men in brown coveralls, one Delsaurian male in street clothing, and one Geshrintal woman, carrying an infant wrapped in a green sheet and sobbing softly. They followed the marines orders with hesitant nods, watching as he moved to the back end of the truck.
The marine opened the rear end of the truck just as Admiral Violetta De Luca arrived, having hurried down the wreckage to reach the interior of the subway station; no small effort, considering she was still wearing her uniform officer short-heels and the rubble was the picturesque interpretation of
rubble. "Soldier, report!" Violetta called out, the NMX rifle in her hands lowering as she halted a few feet away from the rear end of the truck.
