RP: Taking It Back [Phase II-A] Arming the Pack

Chrys shoveled through the heap of guns only to find no smoke greande. "Bugger it," she said and picked something else that was there. Some NMX energy rifle. With was not very big and looked deadly, good thing for the run to the armory.

She chuckled at Lucas as he was taking the rifle and quipping right back at her. "I won't mind showing you few things later. Just don't dare dying!" She shouted back at him and crawled out of the buggy. "I am goin with you you loud git," she said preparing to run. "Yo Mr. Driver, Twitchy, give us some cover." She looked at DImitry and Rennik so they are sure who she meant. Not like there were others around.

Archie turned from his rifle as the noise approached, "What the bloody hell?" he muttered to himself. The clicking grew, and his eyes widened. Soon, he would be able to hear the whispers of the creature inside the building. The sound was not unlike that of a group of schoolchildren recently admonished for making too much noise; attempting to whisper just beyond the teacher's hearing. It could feel his heat through the wall. It could hear muffled movements as it tunneled through a door into a corridor.

Words entered Archie's mind. They told him, "I SHALL LOCATE YOU." It didn't sound very threatening. It entered the room unhurriedly, seeing the table and chair with a small puddle of blood on the floor.

"WHERE?" it telepathed, staring at the blood. A small, flexible tentacle creeped forward to test the red fluid. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE. MY MASTER TOLD ME ABOUT YOU." It crawled forward to the centre of the room.

Archie grimaced as he pushed the makeshift bandage against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Careful not to make a sound. He was standing against a pillar next to one of the desks, rifle held in one hand, the other pressing a cloth against the slash in his chest. On the other side the young creature surveyed the room silently. Outside, the battle raged on without them.

The thing started searching, it didn't break anything, it turned and simply began scouring the surrounding office desks. It approached the pillar slowly and calmly. It was in no rush, it's master wasn't getting up for some time.

A small cluster of thin tentacles probed around the corner as it peered around. Empty.

The thing didn't even blink, it resumed its slow hunt for its prey.

Archie huddled on the opposite side of the desk as the creature moved away, allowing himself to breath quietly again. He moved low, and silently in the opposite direction to the nearest cover, trying to buy some more time.

"DO NOT TRY TO FIT YOURSELF INTO A SMALL CONTAINER. YOU WILL DAMAGE THE MEAT." Archie was instructed. "WE NEED MEAT. WE ARE HUNGRY." It clicked its way around the room, coming around in a slow sweep.

Archie crouched behind another one of the desks, peering out just as the tail end of the thing shuffled out of sight two desks down from him. He took a slightly shuddering breath as he pressed the cloth in and did his shirt up tightly to try and keep the pressure, pain causing him to lose a seconds control. An errant pen rolled off of the desk above him, clattering to the floor surprisingly loud amidst the chaos outside, landing right next to his foot. Almost in slow motion, it bounced slightly before clicking again as it rolled to rest.

The crab instantly stopped, stock still. All was silent but for the noise outside, the only movement the dust that floated in the air. Slowly the thing turned, it moved towards the sound, slowly at first, then faster and fast until it was almost charging between the desks.

Lucas pressed around the truck and into the mass with his two weapons held high. He only briefly looked back for Chrys before letting out a few blasts from his Gyro 500 into the unsuspecting cover of the ID-Sols opposite of the gate. The officers nearby cheered him on. If he'd time for a sigh of relief, he would've given them one. Instead, he strafed his way towards the Armory at full speed.

Chrys would not wait around for anything either. She ran just behind Lucas with only few meters in between them. She only slowed twice to fire her new toy and Id-Sols barricaded from the cops. She wanted them to know there is now someone with Armor piercing weapons so they would keep their heads down. "Move your fat butt," she shouted on Lucas as she was gaining on him.

"They're going for the armory! Cover 'em boys!" An officer's voice shouted from the crowd, and the suppressing fire began. Lucas sprinted his way to the armory door and holstered his Gyro 500.

"Alright, Chrys, watch my back while I hack the keypad!"

Two ID-Sols in Demon PA's emerged from the precinct station, as if to give some credence to Lucas' instructions.

"You beter hurry! They got armors!" Chrys shouted at him and crouched to be lesser target. She quickly aimed at on of the armors. She was no super marksman like Ally or Grandpa, but she could still hit man in the chest easily. She pulled the trigger hoping those armours were armed only with handguns. Lucas, meanwhile, was struggling to remember exactly how he was supposed to hack the keypad. He turned his head quickly to watch one of the armors fall backwards from the power of Chrys' shot. He didn't waste time complimenting her.

"Here's how you crack a door, lady." He said, lifting his Longbow. A powerful blast emitted from the barrel of the rifle into the edge of the door next to the keypad. The 'Big Killer' round pierced the door with a resounding 'Pank!' that could be heard over the din of combat, followed by a stiff boot to the affected area. Lucas yanked hard on the battered door and it slid uneasily open just in time for a rain of shots to pepper the wall next to them. Lucas snatched Chrys by the shoulder and shoved her through the portal before emptying the last two shots from his Gyro and squeezing through himself, although Chrys was pulling him in as much as he was showing her.

Inside, the armory was comparably quiet, and dark. There was just enough dull yellow light for them to see the recoiless rifles lined up against the wall with a rack full of assault rifles.

"Quick!" Lucas shouted, his voice echoing in the solid chamber, "Let's line one of those up with the door!"

Chrys crawled aways from the doors as enemy bullets were still flying around. She then lifted herself on her feet again hitting a switch next to the door. It turned the lights on and they could see better. "Yeah sure, let's have the girl do the heavy lifting," she muttered as she moved to help Lucas with big gun.

With Lucas on one end and Chrys on the other, they slid the gun around until its barrel pointed solidly at the half-opened door. Lucas heaved one of the massive shells into the chamber of the gun and crouched behind it next to Chrys. Chrys mean while crouched next to him with Impaler at her shoulder ready to fire again. The door was being torn off of its hinges across the room.

"You wanna pull the trigger, since you did all the heavy lifting?" He asked, a smile playing at his lips. Really, she needed to because of his bum hand, but he'd leave that for later. The door was finally pulled from its hinges, revealing the other Demon standing menacingly with the sunlight behind it.

"Move over big guy," Chrys replied as she crouched behind small cannon ready for the right moment. The Demon lifted its rifle towards the cannon at the back of the room.

"Say hello to my little friend, Wanker!" Chrys shouted and pulled the trigger. What followed was a large deafening boom as the cannon fired it's deadly message. The shot tore open the armor and the ID-Sol residing within, and cleared him from the doorway, letting in even more harsh sunlight. With the first hurdle out of the way, Lucas slamned another round into the chamber of the massive gun. He didn't bother complimenting Chrys, this time because he was sure neither of them would be able to hear it. Chrys prepared for another round. She knew that other armor is still up there. Impaler was harly enough to kill it with one shot. She also knew that the other demon will be carefull seeing as his buddy was just pummeled outside with extra breathing holes. He will be most likely to jump in, blind-fire or a toss a grenade. Chrys breathed in deeply ready do shove Lucas and her into cover right after firing.

Silence broke after the ringing in their ears went away. Outside, those still behind the truck would notice the fighting had hit a standstill. The police had retreated back to the safety of the yard for the moment, and the ID-Sol's were barricading themselves in the precinct building. The other demon stood slowly and plodded towards the armory. Inside, Lucas loaded another round into his Longbow and wiped the sweat from his chest. When he was finished with the procedures, he glanced over to Chrys behind the massive gun. With a mischevious smirk, he quipped, "Helluva first date, eh Lady?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way," she replied with smiled much like his own. She was still looking at the doors for a second, until she turned his way. She then suddenly reached to him and give him one fast, but passionate kiss. She looked him in the eyes. "It is just so you know what to look forward too." She said and returned her attention to the door.

Outside, on the corner of the wall where Rennik was, the approaching vehicle's form grew larger, and its distant engine noise slowly became audible over the new silence.

Rennik used his scope again to see the now oncoming vehicle, which was looking like a pretty big freaking thing the closer it got. He zoomed in, but a horribly inconvenient dust cloud in front of the vehicle obscured his sight.
"We have incoming vehicle, southbound on the main road" he saidinto his communications set.
He was livid; he was proving to be utterly useless in this fight so far, a fight he should have been highly valuable in. Now he was being outmaneuvered by an unseen shooter and threatened by an oncoming unknown entity. The unknown was his enemy today. Gearing himself up for a sprint, he took off for the building opposite him, hoping to smash through the door to reach a safer location.

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."

-----

Dimitri covered the team for a while, using the submachinegun as a makeshift assault rifle. When both Chrys and Lucas went into the building, he felt he couldn't do much more than sit and wait. So that's what he did, sitting down, back rested against his cover, head peeking out a bit from the side to look behind and into the battlefield. Turning to look at Rennik behind whatever he was using as cover, he shouted out loud. "Tell me if you see anythin comin our way!"

He then rested the back of his head against his cover and lit a cigarette, putting it to his mouth and taking a drag. When he finished he exhaled the smoke, and noticed Rennik running out of his cover. Alerted, he peeked his head, looking around to see what Rennik was running from. That's when he saw the tank-looking vehicle headed their way, got up and sprinted in the same direction Rennik had gone to. Shortly after his sprint, he'd catch up with Rennik and look out at the inexplicable falling of the vehicle's mounted cannon.

Dimitri cursed under his breath, holding his submachinegun to his chest looking out the window. He chuckled and sarcastically exclaimed, "Gotta love this 'empire'! Such an effective military, looking out for all of us!"

"Qua?" Rennik said to himself as the cannon fell off the mounted vehicle. He had been lining up a shot on the drivers when a bolt of light had hit the cannon.
"Yea, they really do know how to put down an enemy, don't they?" he replied to Dmitri, settling back into a shooting position. He sent off two round loud rounds into the glass of the transport, ducking as a random storm of bullets passed his way.

Just as quickly as it died down, the noises of combat had begun again. The police officers taking cover in the yard took notice of the Demon plodding its way towards the armory and the fallen Demon frying on the pavement nearby. Despite their inferior weapons, they decided it would be better for the sake of the armory to push against the remaining Demon. Bullets pinged uselessly off of the Powered Armor's shield, and the behemoth turned on them. With glee, it sprayed a blast from its assault rifle and reduced a few of the stalwart officers into slag.

In the armory, Lucas was having a fit.

"What the fuck are they doin'?!" He shouted. He didn't waste any more time. "Chrys, let's get this thing outside. We'll be exposed, but we gotta save those stupid pigs!"

Outside the prison walls, Alex was mounting up on his air bike again. He checked his HHG, his Type 27, and the new stubby lever-action shotgun as he ordered the people around him. "Marksmen, attack that vehicle. You other two, prepare to cover their positions when more of those clones pile out of the prison. I will go find Archie and see to him before engaging the vehicle myself. Keep to cover and play hide-and-seek with whatever comes out of it."

The Prisoner Transfer vehicle had fortunately slowed down due to taking fire from Rennik's rifle. They weren't stopping because the rounds hadn't penetrated the thick transparent Durandium windshield, but they were stopping to lower shutters over all of their vulnerable areas. Using their scope, Rennik and Alexis would both be able to see this, as well as the brave ID-Sol who'd ventured out to complete this suicidal task.

Alex, in the meantime, was speeding over to the freshly broken window of the storefront where inside, Archie was playing his own game of hide and seek.

Chrys sighed and frowned. "I hear ya mate! Let's go save those stupid wankers." She said and helped Lucas lift the big cannon. She hoped he won't second guess why is she that friggin strong. She knew that she was more then equal to most Id-Sols in matter of strength and Lucas might find that shady. How would he react if he found out that she is an Elysian.

Rennik began a deadly game of fire-and-advance. He would fire a couple rounds, leap forward and advance in cover, then duck behind cover, and repeat. He was going to make every move to disable render the threat of the transport dead.

A few bullets kicked up asphalt dust near Alexis, prompting her to take cover – rapido – behind her airbike. But, apparently, they weren’t gunning for her this time; her earlier situation with the truck and the sniper did not, despite her thumpity-thumpy heart rate at the moment, repeat itself. It had just been stray bullets from somewhere.

She nursed her cigarette with metallic fingers that did not shake. The fleshy ones would have. Huzzah for the wonders of modern technology.

Whoo boy. Real actual bullets again, she thought. What a pain.

“Shoot the vehicle,” she murmured, the cigarette sticking to her lips, dangling, “Like, you know… it isn’t armored or anything.” But, she was just talking to herself, after all, and soon she felt silly. Not just for talking to herself, but also for not wearing any form of body armor. Yes, if she had an extra leg she would have kicked herself. A lot.

Instead, she put her two good legs to work swinging back up to straddle her still-hot airbike. There was no telling what sort of other weapons that thing had, but she’d gotten a pretty good look at it through her zoom. Her GP-12 wasn’t going to scratch it.

But it wouldn’t really scratch her, either – or so she hoped, like.

Damn I like, suck at this.

As the airbike began to hum and hover, casting a corona of dust out in all directions as the anti-grav kicked into full gear, she drew out a long-nosed revolver – an HHG – from the holster beneath her jacket and gave the cylinder the once-over.

Red-jacketed .45’s. They’d put a dint in damn near anything, and the kick would hurt her arm something fierce. Or not. And even if they didn’t, with no forward gun she could (presumably) lead the vehicle with impunity, assuming the enemy stayed put in the fortress and didn’t have anyone in the surrounding area. A couple grenades – of which she had several – dropped down beneath the thing’s undercarriage would probably put it out of commission.

Maybe.

Guiding her Nightengale out onto the road with her remaining arm, Alexis thumbed back the hammer – pushed her sunglasses back further on her nose – wrenched the throttle.

And flew.

Even as the Prisoner Transfer vehicle neared the prison with seeming doom riding high on its treads; Archival found himself being charged at by a giant crab-type Mishu slamming its legs down as it crossed the floor of the abandoned office. It was making a beeline for a certain desk where just moments before a spoilsport pencil had decided to roll off and alert the room to the presence of a certain Gray Wolf.

"Blast." Archie growled between clenched teeth, abandoning his attempt to stem the blood flowing from his shoulder and gripping his rifle again. The creature barrelled closer, sounding like a stampede in the still interior of the officer building. Archie picked a high-explosive round from his chest and fumblingly put it into the chamber, fingers weak.

As the creature approached Archie stepped out around the desk to meet it, raising his rifle under his armpit. He faced a maw full of teeth surrounded by various shaped tentacles charging towards him, Archie sniffed and stood his ground.

Within a second the creature was in front of him, Archie pushed the rifle forward, offering it to the beast. The barrel pushed between the large set of teeth, tentacles already circling behind him to draw him in.

"Say 'ah'!" Archie said, giving the compulsory one-liner as he pulled the trigger.

"THIS IS NOT MEAT!" The thought sailed through the air, inserting itself into the brains of all within thoughtshot in the instant before the the infantile beast was reduced to slag. The creature's skull was blown out of its body as blood and various, rather strange looking organs splayed about. Archie flew backwards from the concussion and skidded to a halt several rows down on his back.

With all the timing of a stopped watch, Alex chose this very moment to kick in the door and dart into the room, shotgun held high. After a moment of careful contemplation, he reached down to Archie's form with a probing finger, searching for a pulse amongst the embers of the now-ruined office.

"It would seem this portion of the plan has soured as well." He muttered, waving the shotgun in front of his face. The smell was akin to shrimp scampi and burnt rubber combined lovingly by some sort of mad chef.

Archie stirred to life, gripping Alex's hand out of reflex before relaxing with a heavy sigh and shunting a rather large piece of armoured skull off his chest. The old man was covered in pieces of gore and blood, the tip of one side of his beloved moustache burned with a tiny flame. He sat up, put out the flame and quickly lit himself a cigarette with a zippo lighter, snapping it closed angrily before coughing hoarsely. He puffed out a few clouds of smoke like an old dragon before answering.

"A sloppy bastard you've put me with, Foster." he said quietly, his usual charm absent "But we have a bigger problem, they have a neko commanding them." he booted the fragment of skull "A few advanced types too."

Archie spotted the butt of his new rifle and pulled it closer, revealing an entirely ruined barrel and badly scarred body. Archie swore as he eyed up the damage "They usually last a bit longer than that."

Alex silently pressed his shotgun towards Archie butt-first with a hint of urgency. Outside, new sounds could be heard coming from the strange vehicle. After the pause for effect, Alex said, "Grey Wolf. Can you still fight, or should I leave you here? We have more pressing issues at the moment."

-----

With bullets pelting off of it, and an approaching airbike haunting it, the denizens of the transport were beginning to worry about the sustainability of their armored shell. As Alexis drew nearer, the rear hatch of the vehicle popped open and a machinegun-wielding ID-Sol clone emerged to pepper her with a spray from the steel dragon before being clobbered by a shot from Rennik's rifle. He was quickly replaced by another soldier, this time firing a suppressing barrage Rennik's way. The front hatch behind the recently removed mounted gun popped open and another ID-Sol appeared, this time with an assault rifle to take aim at the approaching Alexis.

-----

In the prison yard, Chrys and Lucas found themselves in no shortage of trouble. The beastly form of the power armor had turned back to them, and now held pointed a charging Aether beam like a magic wand. Which was appropriate, because it was about to make Chrys and Lucas disappear. Lucas stood like a deer in its headlights behind the recoilless gun, not wanting to leave the only weapon they had capable of defeating the hulking PA.

The officers shouted at them from the other side of their barricades.

"Get out of there!"

"Leave the gun!"

"Don't be a hero!"

Time has stopped for Chrys. There she was with large weapon aimed at demon but not quite ready to fire. Demon was ready though and it was chargin its energy weapon. Chrys did not know what kind of weapon it was, but she was sure that getting hit by it would be very dangerous and most like deadly.

She knew that settin the recoilless would take too long. It needed to be fired now and she also hate the thought of Lucas getting hurt. She took large weapon and rammed Lucas with her shoulder getting him off. She then raised the large barrel and put her right leg bacwards to get more support. It was knoe who will be faster. Her with cannon or demon with its gun. Whatever will the outcome be Lucas won't get hit and she did not give one shit if he should question her strength, that was not important now. Those cops were imporants. Lucas was important. Rest of the team was important. Killing bloody squid and squidlover was important.

"BLOODY DIE WANKER!" CHrys shouted as she aimed large cannon at the thing and pulled the trigger.

Even at close range, the recoiless gun was a device meant for fine aiming before firing, and the massive shell that sprang forth from the barrel missed it's mark by a few feet. The mighty cannon struck the Demon square in the shoulder, penetrating and sending chunks of armor flying in many directions. The Aether beam discharged at an extreme angle, harmlessly impaling the empty guard tower and converting it into a shower of rocks and rebar. The Demon wavered on one leg, blood pouring from it's right shoulder. It stood its ground and started another charging cycle, this time moving in on Lucas and Chrys and their now useless emptied weapon.

Lucas scrambled to his feet and took Chrys by the arm, pulling her back towards the armory. His bandaged hand still clutched the Longbow, which he raised to level with the PA.

Excesive recoil of the weapon set Chrys on her butt. She grunted seeing as missed anything critical. She got very mad and as Lucas tried to pull her off, she pushed him away, rised to her feat lifting hefty peacy of rubble in her hands. They would not get into armoury in time anyway. Might as well pull him from the Lucas. She made few steps forward and swung her arm, sending the rubble flying straight at the Demon. "Fuck you!" She shouted as rock flew.

As the rock soared through the air, a voice could be heard shouting in an odd tone. It was being broadcast over some sort of amplification device, like a megaphone. It screamed, "Ketsoo-berry Blow!" And, as if on cue, another rock, twice the size of Chrys' joined hers in the air, and both smashed into the Demon, sending it reeling backward in a broken heap. When the dust cleared, a figure could be seen standing on the roof of the armory. Behind him was a massive motorbike, with thick wheels and a sidecar covered in a brown oilskin tarp. Lucas and Chrys would recognize him as the well-dressed mental patient from the diner, where they'd met Alex the previous morning. He stood with the clouds behind him, holding a steaming energy rifle, and surrounded by the corpses of ID-Sols that had been about to jump into the armory while Lucas and Chrys were distracted. He pointed at the smoldering Demon armor.

"You are an enemy of Justice, Freddy-boy!" He said, legs spreading to a shoulder's width, "And it is I, NekoValkeeriuh Warrior Princess Hanako Ketsooberry who will send you to your final restin' place."
He struck an efiminate pose. "Prepare yourself for justice!"

Chrys was not sure if she should shoot the demon armour ot he Princess. What she was sure was that the Princess was not squid or squid lover and that Chrys wanted to kill more squid lovers. Only squid lover around was the one in the armour. She was sure, that rocks only shakened him and he will be back in actions soon. And she woudl rather loose her hair then let Princess Ketsooberry get him.

"Hey isn't that Luca Pavone behind you?" Chrys shouted at Princess and then turned to Demon. Her deadly bayonet appeared in her hand and she ran towards the armour. She was sure that it will piere the armour. Neck, face or underarm. She did not care, she just wanted blood. And blood she got. A stream of the stuff spurted strong from the neck of the armor, washing some of the dust from her face. Lucas ran up from behind, only hop back to avoid the spray.

"Holy shit!" he said, wiping a few stray droplets from his chest.

Princess Ketsuberry rode his motorcycle off the roof of the armory and joined them. He smiled at Chrys congenially from behind his sunglasses. "Well, ain't you just a Sweet Sue-girl?" He asked. "But I should tell you, that' ain't ole' Luca Pavone, my dear husband. That's just the ole' sun, shinin' down on Justice."
A wicked grin revealed sharpened teeth as the insane asylum reject reached for the oilskin tarp hanging over the sidecar of his motorcycle. "My dear husband Luca Pavone is underneath this here blanket, takin' a nap."

Lucas pinched his forehead and muttered, "This is getting stupid. C'mon Chrys, we still gotta take the precinct building."

Chrys stood up and wiped the blood of her face. She swinged her bayonet to get most of the blood of it before sheathing it again. She then swung her shotgun from her backs.

"Yeah we should make sure to not wake up Luca then. You should better stay here and watch over him in the name of Justice." Chrys said to man that was called Jake by Alexander before, but called himself Princess Hanako.

She then looked at Lucas and said, "Sure right behind you." THen she pumped her shotgun to show him how anxious she was to continue with the fight.

Overhearing the conversation, the police officers began to slowly emerge fromt heir barricades one after another. Those who didn't have weapons jogged to the armory to get loaded up. Lucas turned toward the precint building where the rest of the ID-Sols lied in wait. They were not doubt preparing their defenses.

"I had a nice romantic dinner, Chrys." Lucas joked, "But I think dessert's gonna be even better."
"Well the wine was pretty nice though." Chrys said back without moment thinking, wiping more blood of her face. This chatting was fun and she was sorry she could not see faces of the police officers.

Archie grunted as he hauled himself up and took Alex's shotgun gratefully. “Yes, I can still fight.” he wheezed, jiggling his shoulder “Wench cut me up good, though. I'm going to need an aid kit for staunching this and use of your surgeon later.”

He strapped his now useless rifle on his back for Alexis to look at later and returned the curtain turned bandage to his shoulder as he began walking stiffly towards the outside. “Enlighten me, how bad has the situation gotten without me?”

Rennik fired again at the new ID-sol coming out of the top. He was getting worried; he was starting to run low on ammunition. He had hoped he would be doing a little more shooting from the back and less firing in the thick of things.
A shower of bullets hit his position, putting holes into the concrete and causing debris to fly everywhere. A chip of flying something grazed his cheek as he was firing a round at the transport, causing him to fall backward in surprise. He scrambled around to get up, hoping to not get caught off guard.
"HEY! OVER HERE BASTARD!" he roared, when he realized that that ID-Sol was going to try and shoot Alexis.

Alexis ducked down, leading the machine gun fire by a few meters at best - she was rapidly approaching the transport, and too fast to fire back. Alexis needed both her hands for the handlebars; the airbike's gravity drive got choppy after a certain speed. It felt more like falling forward than being propelled, sometimes.

What the fuck am I doing?

She saw the machine gun being mounted, saw the ID-Sol prepare to fire.

But she was also nearly at the target; she just barely got the pin out. Then all she had to do was drop it - the momentum and the residual gravity would carry it.

It bounced. Tink, tink, tink, across the asphalt. The tank would, hopefully, run over it. Alexis was head on with the transport. She stood on the pedal stands, braced herself, and heaved back.

The airbike changed directions - the gravity drives roared as she juiced the throttle - and she sailed, cleanly, over the transport.

There was a WHANG as she just cleared it, and that threw her off. The landing was rough; the weight of the bike finally drove it into the ground, and she dragged wheel-less until another roar of the throttle put her back in the air, just inches away from being thrown or spun into the ground.

When she looked back, she realized, with a sick creeping fear, that she'd just decapitated the guy with the assault rifle.

With her bike.

She drew around, turning hard, just narrowly missed ramming into one of the crumbled walls of a nearby skyscraper by hopping onto it at the last minute. Another roar of the gravity engines blew out the reflective glass, but before the airbike grounded itself on a surface that did not exist anymore, she had stabalized herself on the real ground again.

The Nightengale wobbled a little bit, and she could hear a sort of thrumming sound beginning in the heavy engine compartment beneath her ass, but she managed to end her run by sliding to a halt near a dumpster.

Ca-clack, ca-whummm... The engine just didn't sound right anymore.

But, she was out of the combat zone, for the moment.

She took deep breaths and tried to ignore the pounding in her brain, the insane throbbing in her chest, the pain and the nausia and the sudden sense that the world was pulling her in six different directions. Just what sort of painkillers was she taking?

Leaning over the side of the bike, Alexis hurled again.

It looked blue.

Pretty sure that isn't normal.

The sound was incredible. A grenade detonation, blowing the treads off of the right side of the massive prisoner transport. To the observer, it only appeared to throw up a small cloud of dust. The result, however; was a spectacular show. The gargantuan vehicle began to circle itself, bending at an awkward angle before coming to a halt over a small pile of cracked rock and metal fragments. The ID-Sol with the assault rifle lay slumped over the hatch. The rear ID-Sol, only a little shaken, took the opportunity to fire another blast of lead at Rennik, tearing at the ground around the young sniper.

-----

In the now smoldering dankness of the office, Alex nodded and produced a medkit from under his coat.

"I will dress your wound." Alex said, boredly pulling bandage and a coagulant from the small white box. A few spritzes of coagulant later, Archie was under the amateur surgeon's firm bandaging hands. As he worked, Alex explained the situation in short.

"There is a disabled Neko regenerating next to this building, Lucas seems to have gotten engaged in a firefight inside the walls with only Chrys, and no covering fire. There is a large combat vehicle outside. Finally, and most importantly, Alexis has nearly smoked all of my cigarettes."

-----

Lucas threw a mighty kick to the front door of the the precinct build, right before ducking away from the portal as bullets and gravel flew from the floor in front of him. He frowned hard over at Chrys and the police officers gathered nearby.

"So." He said, firing an unaimed potshot around the corner with the Longbow, "Any of you smart-assed weapons smuggling pigs got a grenade?"

The officers looked about at one another.

"We got our weapons because someone was throwing duffle-bags over the fence at night." The officer in front shifted nervously, "No grenades were included."

Chrys was standing across the doors from Lucas who almost got shot just now. She worried for a second and she knew she should not. She did not know him long and any of them could get shot and killed any minute, but she still worried about him.

"Well grenade would be nice," she said and tried to brave a peek in the room, but under the angle so her head would not poke into doorway. "Don't tell me there is no flashbang in the armroy or something. Or bring the recoiless and let's fire few shots inside through wall first."

"Blast." said Archie in disappointment. "I was going to bag myself an ear too." It was obvious what Archie was thinking about. He turned to look at the remains of the splattered crab and his mouth twisted. "No trophies for this day." he sighed.

Finally he got back to the mission at hand. "Well, then. Lead the way, good sah. I shan't require rest any time shortly." he said, some of his usual swagger returning. "Which challenge shall we confront first?"