Several moments after they'd entered the chilly chamber below the decks, the two Alex's had spent plenty of time with the blinding array of destruction before them. The male half of the Alexii was toying with a particularly large shotgun, playing at the removable stock with his fingers.
"Alexis." He called into the dim light, "Have you selected a firearm?"
"Several," the blond female counterpart replied, "I kind of like, want a pack or a duffle or something. This could get really awkward."
In response, Alex kicked at a nearby duffle bag with his foot. The empty husk slid a few inches across the smooth floor. It was snagged up by a slender hand so deft, it would have surprised most people to discover it had only been installed several hours prior. Alexis began to load things into it, having already picked out several items of interest.
"I see you are getting used to the new arm." said Alex. He slung the new shotgun over his shoulder and plucked the stock off in a single motion, discarding the polymer object on a nearby shelf.
"I am," Alexis replied, slinging the duffle over her shoulder once she had filled it, "I'll probably be down here in the future, sometime, gonna' try to like list this shit or something. Kay?"
"That will be more than satisfactory." Alex's voice bubbled with emotion for a change. "For now, shall we go to the police station? I am sure they have wrapped everything up there so we can pay them a nice visit and 'show off' the new hardware."
"Uh-hu," the girl chirped, grabbing a few holsters off of the racks as well, "But uh, can I get my own clothing, now?"
-----
Even later still, the two of them found themselves in the vehicle bay with the trucks, a few leftover buggies, and their airbikes. Having had a few minutes to prepare, Alex was donning a leather jacket and a pair of gloves for the drive. His new shotgun sat happily over his thigh. There was a certain gleam in his eyes as he threw off the tarp which had up until that point protected their bikes from water seeping in whenever the doors were opened.
"You know, I have considered changing the paint-job on this airbike many times." Alex began, doing his pre-ignition checks as he spoke, "But I do so love the color grey. It is hard to part with it."
Alexis adjusted her tactical glasses, which had tinted appropriately, as she approached her bike - a sky blue charger, by all accounts bigger than what would have been normal for a girl her age. But she'd had the money, and the guts, and so there was her
Nightengale For this ride, she had chosen another leather jacket, fur at the collar, and donned her old jeans and riding boots. The bloodstains hadn't completely washed off, but it was a tough look she was going for, so that fit right in. Even the rip.
The girl threw a leg over the bike, settling down in the seat and digging her heels into the bike's kickpedals as she brushed her fingertips across the three digital screens that served as her speedomiter, tachomiter, and display. At her touch, the engine rumbled to life, at first a high keening, and then a more steady hum, and the airbike lifted off of the ground several feet.
Nearby, Alex's bike imitated the action. After manipulating a volumetric display near the bikes, Alex had started the opening of the bay doors. Harsh sunlight flooded the chamber, turning everything from a dark brown to a sharp silvery white. Alex stuffed another cottonball underneath his eyepatch and throttled up the bike with his hand tight on the transmission.
"Ladies first."
"Hu," Alexis murmured, almost drowned out by the roar of her bike as she throttled it up, "And here I thought chivalry was kinda' dead."
"It is. I merely wanted to observe your operating skills and your reaction time."
"I like my explination better."
And just like that, they were off.
-----
What they saw when they finally reached the station was the exact opposite of what Alex had been describing up to this point. With Rennik off in an adjacent building, Dimitri and Chandler piled up against the smoldering remains of Lucas' repurposed Mishu buggy, and Lucas and Chrys nowhere in sight; Alex immediately expect the worst.
The empty prison yard beyond the gates where both NMX and Police forces were taking silent cover from one another gave it all away. Something had indeed gone terrible wrong. Alex gave a brief glance over to Alexis before pulling up slightly to catch sight of the ID-Sols and police on the other side of the wall. After a moment, he shouted at the top of his lungs, in a very tight voice. "LUCAS!"
Inside the armory with Chrys, Lucas let out a massive sigh and slumped over, muttering, "I hope that other Demon comes back to kill us."
Back outside, Alex was muttering his own words and pressing shells into his new shotgun. "I should have known. Giving leadership roles to those with inferior genetics was a poor notion."
"That's really cold," Alexis stated, pulling an energy rifle - an old Yamataian model - from the duffle strapped to the back of her Nightengale as the airbike powered down, dust puffing from beneath it as it lowered to settle on the sidewalk. She swung her leg over again, leaning against the bike, both feet on the ground as she snapped a battery into the stock of the gun, scanning the area squinty-eyed. Her glasses, sensing the change, began to magnify. Times two. Times four. "You can't just say you're superior because of genetics."
"No, I cannot." Alex replied sternly. "But I can certainly say that if there is a good argument against manufactured genetics, Lucas embodies that argument." He lit a cigarette. Alexis gave him a pouty look when she noticed. Without missing a beat, Alex shoved his hand out with another cigarette, which Alexis took with a grin and lit immediately, cozening the rifle against her shoulder to cup the cherry. The rumbling of the approaching vehicle grew louder. On Nepleslia Prime, a pencil fell off of someone's desk.
"So." He began. "Do you want to try and make a break for the armory, or would you rather we tried to find out what that infernal noise is?"
Alexis produced a puff of smoke and a smile. Perhaps it was the drugs pumping through her system, but she had to stifle a giggle as she regarded Alex half-lidded.
"Are you saying I've got better genetics?" she posed, philosophically.
Alex frowned at her. "You are certainly more sexually attractive and mentally coordinated than Lucas, but I would not neccessitate that to genetical influence. Your motor skills, though..." Alex blinked his eye off to one side. The eyepatch stayed dead on Alexis. "I require more information."
That drew another laugh out of her. Alexis waggled the half-smoked cigarette at him from between her lips. "Better watch I don't, like, fry your brain again, again," she chided, "Y'know, I'm pretty complicated."
"It was a malfunction based on a misconfiguration of my interface with the primitive technology of my implant.
You had very little to do with it. Anything mildly surprising would have produced similar results." Alex corrected her. He spat his cigarette onto the ground to punctuate his statement.
Alexis produced another puff of hazy blue smoke, folding her arms around the rifle butt. "It sounds like an armored car," she hazarded, opting for a change of subject, "So, anyway, what's going on here? I was like, kind of passed out when you told everyone."
"It seems plans have changed." Alex said, "They were supposed to be finished by now. This was a rescue operation for some police officers held beyond that wall." Alex pointed to the Police Station's massive concrete barrier. "But it appears Lucas has gotten into some trouble. I spotted a PA over the fence and several of the ID-Sols who've been wearing NMX uniform and attacking us. Archival was supposed to be providing covering fire from those buildings behind us, as was Rennik. Neither of them seem to be attacking the power armor. I would classify this as a 'Grade-A Failure To Launch', to use the casual term." After a beat, he added, "Oh yes, and a large vehicle seems to be approaching."
"Got it," Alexis stated, twisting herself up off of her lean with a sort of skip-hop and moving out to the center of the street. The shattered pavement and rough asphalt crunched beneath her boots as she settled on the median, pulling one last drag off of her cigarette before letting it fall.
She slung the rifle - a genuine first-issue GP-12, complete with 40mm grenade launcher - from her shoulder and snugged it, aiming it down the street, into what would be oncoming traffic. Alexis had chosen it because it wasn't particularly heavy, though she needn't have bothered; her new arm took most of the strain off of her, though the balance felt awkward. She began to breathe slowly, and squinted.
The glasses zoomed automatically. Times two. Times four. Times six. Twelve. Twenty four.
She would see the approaching monstrosity about the same time Rennik would find it in his scope. It was an
NMX Prisoner Handling Vehicle ready and waiting for a boatload of new prisoners to be delivered to it upon its arrival. It would be in for a surprise.
For a second or two, Alexis stopped breathing.
That was on purpose, though, as she lined up the shot she was about to take and considered the charge that her weapon carried. Wind wouldn't be a factor, as it would have been for solid ammunition, but distance was. What, at this range, could she hit that would cripple that beast? Would the shot even penetrate the glass-like enclosure where the drivers must be?
Nah.
She aimed for the mounted cannon on the cab, instead, just visible above the rolling dust that the machine was kicking up. Seconds passed as she focused and unfocused, rifle steady in her mechanical arm. It was like a ghost arm, only solid. She could hardly feel the rifle at all, and only her fingertip, brushing the trigger, gave her any feedback. It was extremely distracting.
Focus.
Zoom. Another breath, let's try this again...
Cannon. Barrel. High caliber. Solid ammunition.
I see the vents...
Her finger twitched, instinctively, the moment it lined. The blue bolt blazed forth like vengance from heaven. Only she and Rennik would be able to see the comparatively larger mounted gun pry off and fall forward before being crushed against the pavement in a spectacle of sparks and twisted metal under the weight of the massive front tracks.
Alexis whined wordlessly, turning to Alex like she'd just lost her favorite game, half-accusing, pouty. "Can I get another cigarette?" The transport was still a long ways off. Though, probably, it was confused. Alex sighed and removed another cigarette from his pack for her. She crossed to him and took it, standing to the other side of him, opposite the wind, as she lit it and cradled the gun in the crook of her arm.
"What did you do?" He asked. He was a little bitter that he didn't have his implant to tell him.
"I shot off its cannon," Alexis said sulkily around her cigarette, "But I figured it would like, explode or something. Instead it just ran it over."
"So it is not a tank, then." Alex plucked the lever on the shotgun. "I hope that it is accepting boarders. Otherwise, I shall not have a place to park my airbike."
-----
