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Post by GoldenKitten on Mar 14, 2013 19:50:48 GMT -4
It had taken Alicia a few moments to right herself but she eventually managed to flip her body over and get a handhold with both arms, meaning she was effectively skating only on her legs at this point. She could see the Reaver standing over Doppel and even in her somewhat muggy state she recognized something needed to be done, though as if he had already judged it’d take her too long to do that something he wasn’t yet reacting to her slowly getting back on the car. And indeed, by the time she got a proper grip and pulled herself back up he could already be long done with his task, even if she got back up part of her wondered what she could even do to someone who outclassed them so…but her natural survival instincts refused to not attempt to salvage the situation.
They’d had one boon beyond the Reavers clearly not wishing to harm the device in this encounter, and that was the variety of their powers. As the group was a motley assortment of random entrepreneurs, each with their own set of skills, it made them more difficult to read than your average gang who had more common and like powers. The Reavers were smart but had ignored the seeming non-combatants in the vehicle either out of hubris, or an assumption that their lack of activity meant they were useless in this type of scenario. In Acacias case this had cost the leader his opening, though even as he hit the ground behind the car it was clear he was already rolling to his feet and attempting to pry the gun from the thick tangle of vines.
“Eh~!”, was the only sound Alicia had made as she watched the Reaver get jerked off the car, the scene moving too quickly to follow and only compounded when her own world had started spinning for no apparent reason.
Next thing she knew she was in the back of the vehicle and Acacia was throwing dust in her face. The young woman stood bolt upright while coughing in fits while trying to yell, “By the fucking Wall what was that for!!!”, but it only came out as coughs and gurgles while Acacia sat below her priding herself in her many botanical talents.
Alicia was struck with the intense desire to infer as to why plantbutt had just thrown pixie dust in her face, but was stopped when she looked to her side. In all the commotion the Reaver atop Randal had seemed like a minor threat compared to the leader…well, to everyone except Randal probably. But with the two still pushing on each other for control of the situation the scuffle became more obvious, and Alicia found herself staring almost face-to-mask with the Reaver who despite still fighting off Randal seemed to note her attention. He tried to use one hand to hold Randal down while he went for the knife on his belt with the other, but splitting his attention was his downfall.
Randal was able to find purchase and begin pushing the Reaver up, and at the same time Alicia summoned all her innate anger for just being covered in fucking sparkly pollen and her fist impacted with his head moments later. Even the Reavers armor couldn’t protect him from a clean and solid hit as the mask caved in and he was sent hurtling off Randal and the car, and all the way through the nearest buildings wall. It may or may not have killed him, but considering how heavily the blow hand dented his mask not even counting the ensuing collateral it was safe to assume he wouldn’t be returning for a few minutes at the very least.
Alicia didn’t even bother to check in with Randal as the man looked just fine if slightly tired from the struggle, and she didn’t dare look back as she knew this wasn’t over. Instead she had checked her rifle and with a curse threw it to the floorboard; her little encounter with the road had bent the barrel in numerous places and torn the stock apart. She’d be lucky to ever fix it; she could buy a new weapon and right now there were more important things, but it was a family heirloom and that just served to piss her off further. Regardless she wasted no time mourning its loss as she moved to dig in the box next to Rufus where she had previously indicated he go for ammo.
Meanwhile behind them the Reaver leader had given up on tugging his weapon free from the vines and instead raised his hand toward it. A bolt of flame struck out at the vines and encompassed them in whole, quickly weakening them to the point he could rip the weapon free. At this point he’d only lost a few seconds, but it’d been enough to buy them several dozen meters, naturally though he was in immediate pursuit the moment he was free. And this time he was unlikely to be as oblivious to Acacias presence.
As Alicia dug through the console she finally retrieved a semi-auto pistol of some make, it appeared to be something pre-Pen but with many years of Pen patch jobs and fixes. And regardless of the general ineffectiveness ballistics had, had on the Reavers until now she still felt better having something at her side. She could punch her way through waves of uppity gang kids all day long, but her brief clash with the leader had made their difference in skill in terms of martial quality obviously too far to breach, she’d need every advantage she could take. It was as she was ensuring the weapon was chambered and she had several clips of proper ammunition for it that the left-side mirror of the car where Rufus was sitting exploded.
Thankfully at the speed they were going the shrapnel showered the road behind them, and not themselves, but it was still a clear sign of danger. And though all the noise and commotion had drowned out the sound of the gunshot it wasn’t hard to miss the black figure standing several blocks ahead of them in the dead-center of the road. Their illusive and seemingly missing sniper had chosen now to return and was playing static chicken with the moving vehicle as the right side window exploded in another blistering round. Alicia jumped forward and steadied the wheel straight just in case Rufus was having any doubts; she’d seen this tactic before and relayed it to Rufus.
“They’re trying to get us to turn, they have a plan! Just keep going straight because they won’t shoot you, we’ve already ascertained they want the device intact. Sending us into a flip or something equally bad wouldn’t serve that purpose.”
As if on cue the voice on the radio came to life, “Excuse me Ms. Alicia. You have four blocks to push them behind you a reasonable distance.”
Looking forward Alicia couldn’t note anything of particular interest within the next few blocks so she remained in the dark as to what they might be planning. More importantly they’d be unlikely to shake the Reavers in the next couple miles, much less the next few blocks. She told the radio as much as she ripped it up and yelled over all the sounds around her.
The only response she got was, “You’ll have to. There’s only so much I can do, the rest is up to you. Please continue going straight.”
Alicia gritted her teeth in rage, so bloody unreasonable. But at this point they had no other options, they were too far from the highway to even consider turning back now, and just turning down random streets would be their undoing. Much as she hated to admit it whatever her contact had planned might well be their only chance. And so, pushing all arguments to the back of her mind she jumped into the back seat as the sniper down the road continued to fire but blatantly miss by a hair…seems Alicia had judged right on that front. She then popped up out of the back and opened fire on the closest Reaver, the leader in this case who did their characteristic dodge she was already beginning to loathe with a passion.
Some ways behind the leader the other Reaver from the roof was in pursuit but was less of an immediate concern, and Gens movement had put him several paces ahead of the leader. She yelled aloud to Gen as much as she could without giving away that they were planning something, though it aggravated her she still had no idea what that something was, “Gen! We need them off us NOW!”
Looking down into the car she spoke almost as loud though not out of anger, simply to be heard, “Everyone pour everything you’ve got into them. This may be our last shot!”
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Post by Darkoda on Mar 18, 2013 22:47:33 GMT -4
Acacia’s attention was split between the continuing troubles of their vehicle, preparing for having to do far too much work today and doing her best to keep the leader guy out of their way – along the way she had come upon a far more effective strategy than trying to tie him; just bind that superweapon of his instead. In the meantime she basically relied of Alicia to deal with the other shenanigans since Rufus was driving, Randal was fighting, Gen and Doppel were doing whatever, and so on.
Then she felt a sudden rush followed by her losing her signal with her vines and she knew that they weren’t moving near fast enough to be out of range so quickly. Right, so he was coming back, joy. And then more troubles in the form of that sniper with the armor piercing rounds having returned from wherever they had vanished off to. That said, given that he was standing in the middle of the road doing nothing…yeah. Playing chicken with them when it had been long since established that they didn’t want the device damaged, Acacia may not play with these kinds of crazies often but she had enough common sense to see the obvious.
That worked out for her given that the leader was closing distance yet again, would probably not let himself be conveniently tangled again and now according to Alicia’s yelling they needed to make some distance. Because they were doing such a wonderful job of keeping the Reavers away before.
“Yeah, yeah…..” Well she saw no better idea than Alicia’s suggestion to throw everything at them, so toss everything she would. She did have to admit that it was a hell of a lot easier to imagine making them back off a bit compared to the previous concern of having to actively ditch them. It was still likely to end horribly badly but much better than before all the same. First thing; there was always the potential that they cared enough about their comrades to stop and help, not high but anything was worth a shot and even if that sniper wasn’t going to shoot them, Acacia didn’t want to take the gamble that he’d jump on or something when they got close.
She took one last look at the area and general locations of everything; she’d need to compensate for their speed and it was going to be tricky but….
What looked like a gigantic cross between a venus fly trap and sundew tore through the ground beneath the sniper, lids snapping shut while the sticky liquid poured from the lids. She was quite proud of these; finding the carnivorous plants in their normal state was a lucky break but it took some careful tweaking to get them that big and keep the same less than a second reaction time. They may not be as fast as bullets but bullets couldn’t change direction and chase you down. Needless to say, quite a lot of these snappers and vines were blooming across the road and buildings and lunging for the Reavers but Acacia had paid enough attention to figure their standard reaction; either napalm it – thus the fire retardant variety – or dodge with that annoying flip thing.
That was that the sticky vines that her plants were sprouting were for. She conceded that she likely couldn’t actually do more than slow them down with that armour of theirs but it would be a depressing thing indeed if five people couldn’t at least slow the bastards down. That said she did wonder what the digestive juices of those plants would do to their guns. Well this might work as a decent case study if nothing else, she already knew that she had to tweak sturdiness power and speed quite a bit, what else needed adjusting?
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Post by Tagz on Mar 23, 2013 14:26:12 GMT -4
This was turning into a Hollywood high-speed chase scene, which wasn’t good. At least one car was always guaranteed to flip in those movies. Seeing as there was only one car on the scene, it didn’t bode well for the group. Still, Doppel’s greedy mind couldn’t help but notice the earlier discussion between Alicia and their employers, noting the spiffy device she had been concealing up until that point. However, amidst the maelstrom of bullets and tempest storms Gen was whipping up, the mutant had more immediate concerns. As the group was consumed in a chaotic uproar, they’d lost their best defense against the Reavers, Gen. In fact, as if to demonstrate Gen’s importance, the moment he’d been flung from the car, the Reavers boarded.
Randal quickly found himself being straddled by the enemy. The irascible old man kissed his teeth in irritation. He knew he only had a handful of bullets to spare, but still, Randal had been doing more to keep the Reavers off their backs than he had, so it went without saying Randal needed to be kept alive so that he may return to fulfilling the job he’d been assigned. Twisting his body around, Doppel laid a single knee on his seat and aimed the barrel of his gun at the nape of the Reaver’s neck.
Unfortunately, history had repeated itself. The moment Gen was lost, a Reaver boarded the vehicle. Now that Randal was kept preoccupied, another had climbed on as well. Gun still clenched tight, the shape-shifter turned around to find that he was now the target of the enemy’s aggression. He let out a sigh, releasing his pent up frustrations and clearing his mind.
“I did tell you, you’d be making an enemy you did not want.”
The bastard spoke with a disgustingly calm tone. So the man in the armoury was a Reaver. This had already been deduced, but confirmations were always nice. It did at least explain why he referred to the Bandoliers as ‘gangland fools’. Doppel had found it strange that he’d have differentiated himself in such a manner. Focusing on the matter at hand, however, Doppel needed to find a way to evict this man from the vehicle. He was larger. He was stronger. He was faster. He was better equipped. He had just about every advantage conceivable. It was then that Alicia stepped in to aid him… and it was then that Alicia was knocked into a stupor and fell out of the car. Doppel found himself back to square one.
“Last chance. We’d prefer it doesn’t get damaged, and you’d prefer to live. Even trade my friend.”
Handing over the device was not an option. Getting shot and killed in order to protect the device was certainly not something Doppel was willing to do. At the end of the day, he was working a job. Losing his life so that his ‘comrades’ could get a decent payday was out of the question. Though the old man had, on occasion, proven himself to be quite the altruist, it was only to retain good relations with beneficial individuals. Death would put a permanent end to any and all relationships he’s ever kept; therefore, altruism served no purpose in this situation. There had to have been a third option.
In short, there had been. The third option was Acacia. In the blink of an eye, she’d managed to throw the substantially large man overboard, and had pulled their comrade to safety. With this, Doppel immediately dove into the compartment in Alicia’s car, where she kept her ammo. Surely she kept 9mm bullets on her, right? Hollow tips, copper heads, it didn’t matter. Doppel just wanted to stock up and dump clip after clip. He’d remained silent the entire ordeal. His mind ran a hundred and one simulations. There wasn’t a single conceivable way he could’ve escaped that scenario without Acacia’s help. If the Reavers boarded again, the group would be in dire trouble. Their enemies were frighteningly intelligent and were quick to learn from their mistakes. No doubt, they’d learn from this one as well.
Yet, as the old man rummaged through Alicia’s ammo compartment, he noticed that the streets erupted violently in a fit of mayhem. Well, aside from the barrage of bullets and mutant powers being flung left and right. Once more, Acacia proved herself to be quite the handy flowerpot. Giant man-eating plants burst from the ground and began swallowing various opponents, or at least they tried to (the Reavers continued to demonstrate that battle prowess). With four clips tucked into his waist and a full one in his handgun, Doppel switched from the body of a small boy to that of a large man. Keeping himself low, he stuck an arm and a head out his side of the vehicle and began shooting at those who were successfully avoiding Acacia’s plants.
Doppel’s mutant powers were not oriented towards physical altercations. He may have been able to transform his body into that of strong man, but his strength never exceeded that of a human. For this reason, he’d found himself relying on various weapons, most notably the easily attainable and rather cheap (by comparison) handgun. Naturally, Doppel invested hours upon hours of practice in his ability to handle this weapon. The obvious fruit of his labours was that he’d become a half-decent marksman.
The old man continued to fire at the naked areas he could find. He did his best to slip in as many bullets in their necks and joints. Though he did get in every shot, he hoped that the few he got in would send a jolt of pain that would distract or impair them enough for Acacia’s plants to capture them. Though his aim was nice, the weapon he wielded had poor accuracy. Still, this method was his best chance at slowing down the enemy, because as terrible as the accuracy was, it was a low calibre gun he was wielding. If Alicia’s rifle was barely doing damage, Doppel’s severely aged Beretta might as well have been a child’s pellet gun.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Mar 24, 2013 16:15:54 GMT -4
Alicia poured an entire clip at the following leader alongside Doppel. Unlike the older man she was incredibly lethal at close range but at a distance her only boon was her defense, forced to rely on small arms like anyone else. In most cases this was annoying, but not unbearable as most people were at least delayed if not completely stopped by human weapons. But it was depressing how little these ranged attacks meant against the Reavers, even with Gen in play it was becoming apparent that the advantages they held before had rapidly faded.
The remaining two Reavers in pursuit made a mockery of the bullets and wind alike as they turned into a blur of movement, predicting and otherwise completely avoiding the assault. It was proving a minor distraction but not a deterrent and both followers were making speedy headway back toward the vehicle. At this rate they were likely to be back on top of them any second, and Alicia despite trying her best could only think of one possibility to get them to back off. It was crazy, and foolish, and she had no desire to be forced into that corner; but she was beginning to think it might be their only escape.
Meanwhile ahead of them Acacia was preparing to unleash her pet on the sniper, but just before it broke through the Earth the Reaver tilted its head as if sensing something. It was perhaps to be expected that their sniper would be more aware of their surroundings than the others, but the degree of which this was true did not present itself until this time. Just before it sprouted the Reaver jumped off the ground into a backspin so that as the carnivorous plant showed itself the Reaver was already a dozen meters above it, spinning upside down with its large rifle aimed at the plant.
While plants in general and Acacias in particular were highly resilient to most forms of physical damage it had already been established that the gun the sniper carried was no ordinary rifle. As the slender cloaked figure unleashed a trio of shots they tore through the plants “flesh”, ripping massive holes in its body before continuing through and tearing great rifts into the ground below. The third shot tore through the organics stem sending what was left of it into a little spin before it collapsed to the ground. Thankfully for Acacia it had already dispersed some of its effluvial goop before being ripped apart, meanwhile the sniper landed on a nearby rooftop now aware of Acacias ability to bring the plants up through the ground.
Apparently recognizing that the group had seen through their ruse the sniper turned their attention to the plants that were now sprouting around the pursuing Reavers. While unseen by the group the Reaver had reached into its coat and retrieved a different clip for its rifle, and when it began firing on the plants there was a great deal more concussive force, and several of the plants began to ignite in small blazes; explosive rounds, though it was doubtful any in the group but Doppel had seen such a thing.
Despite this progression Acacias plants were numerous enough to disperse some of their liquid, though it seemed the following antagonists simply added it to their list of things to dodge. As the liquid would hit the ground their advanced sight seemed to allow them to navigate the ground that was safe, but that was when Gen unleashed a gust of wind, seemingly more in the form of a miniature tornado. Alone they’d likely have dodged around it same as the rest, but compounded with the other attacks headed their way it seemed they’d finally overwhelmed their ability to cope, albeit momentarily. Both Reavers dodged to opposite sides as the funnel headed toward them but in dodging it and the hail of bullets from Alicia, Doppel, and Randal both of them were forced to navigate into Acacias sticky syrup.
This was complimented by Gens continuing tornado which caught the secondary Reaver who wound up with a foot stuck in the syrup, and tossed them hard into a nearby wall. The Reaver slumped for several seconds before recovering and heading back at them again, but this time it was at a slower gait and though it was hard to tell the Reaver might have been limping…albeit in a high speed run. The leader had also stepped into the grime, but as the funnel had come for him he had lit the ground on fire with a snap of his fingers before launching himself through the nearest buildings window to escape the wind storm, and in the process took him out of sight.
For a moment Alicia thought they had managed the incredible feat, but that was right when the leader came exploding through a wall toward the top of the building next to the one he had entered, it seemed physical matter meant even less than it did Alicia. The leader was now high above the group and unleashed a torrent of high temperature whip like lines of fire in their general direction. His aim was such that he avoided the vehicle but was still capable of hitting any heads that stuck out too long, thankfully Alicia had little to fear from fire as her body momentarily encased in stone. Still it forced the rest to duck and bought the Reavers the time it was intended to, at first she had thought the leader intended to board but that was when Randal called out.
Rather than the leader the second Reaver had launched forward in the opening and boarded the vehicle and grabbed the prone Randal around the neck with both hands. While Randal was skilled he had been caught unprepared for the leverage the Reaver was able to find purchase for and both of them went flying off the car and tumbling to the ground behind where they proceeded to struggle for supremacy. While the group had been trying to aid Randal and rid themselves of the immediate threat the leader had taken advantage of the chaos and propelled himself downward into immediate boarding range.
Recognizing their time was up and that she had no other answer Alicia looked toward Doppel who had to set the device in the seat next to him in order to return fire on their foe. Without a word Alicia retrieved the device and stood up so the Reaver could see her as she lifted her gun to it just as the leader jumped aboard. However despite being right in front of her he stopped as she had predicted, it seemed the safety of the device truly had been their main benefit the entire time.
Alicia yelled aloud, “Off! Or I end your chances of getting it now!”
The leader seemed to consider her for a moment before concluding, “You wouldn’t, it’s worth too much to you.”
Alicia had predicted this direction for the conversation and immediately added, “My life’s more important honestly. But if I’m going to die I’ll make sure you don’t get what you want first!”
The two stared at each other for what seemed like ages though it was only seconds before the Reaver concluded, “This isn’t over,” before he jumped back landing in a standing position on the road behind. It was difficult to read what they intended to do as the sniper landed next to him and they both watched the car as it pulled away from them. The Reavers became smaller and smaller as they remained standing where they were before the sniper turned around, seeming to intend to return and help their comrade with Randal who was now a speck on the horizon, still fighting with the Reaver. With an exhale of relief Alicia stepped back into the vehicle before setting the device on the seat next to Doppel, “Why didn’t we think of that first?”
At that exact moment the voice came across the radio, “Times up. Prepare yourself for impact.”
Alicia barely had time to process what the voice had said when the ground shook and she was thrown off balance, falling on her back on to the middle console. Behind them a massive explosion rocked the land around them, coming from below the ground and around the buildings directly between them and the Reavers roughly right where they had been warned to be rid of them before. A wall of flame shot dozens of meters into the sky and along the length of two-hundred meters of building in what was easily the biggest explosion the Pen had seen in recent memory. The concussive force caught up with the vehicle and Alicia knew Rufus would lose control with his level of experience with the vehicle.
Still on her back Alicia pulled herself toward the front of the vehicle and grabbed the steering wheel with Rufus hands still on it, stabilizing it with her greater strength. Still the force of the explosion began to pull the back wheels off the ground and it became evident they needed to buffer its force before it tossed them into the air. As such Alicia forced the wheel to the left while yelling at the top of her lungs, “BREAKS! BREAKS!”, unable to reach them herself she only hoped Rufus did what she said or else they’d find themselves being flipped.
Meanwhile waves of heat and thick dust clouds from the debris rushed past the vehicle as the buildings behind them came crashing to the ground.
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Post by kensei on Mar 28, 2013 17:52:53 GMT -4
Shall we count the ways today sucked? Number one, Gen didn’t get any sleep last night, number two, he hadn’t had breakfast, number three, the op went bad and they were running for their lives, number four, Reavers were after them, number five, he was still bleeding from being slammed into a building by one of the said Reavers, number six, they had to get rid of said Reavers in less then a few minutes. Yeah… Gen had gotten back on board the vehicle as quickly as he possibly could, finding a far easier time boarding it then the Reavers, because he was actually welcomed to this party. All in all the party crashers they where having to deal with where of the most persistent type. You know, the type with the alcohol problems, who had already been drinking before showing up, and you can’t exactly let them in for fear they will get a little crazy. Well Tim had, had too much to drink, and shit was getting crazy cause you weren’t letting him in. Gen had tossed Alicia his rifle, figuring that she’d have better luck with it then her pistol and right now he didn’t really need it. Instead all of his efforts where focused on pushing the Reavers back. He could perhaps have managed to capture them in a huge gale and send them flying, but against such skilled opponents whose own powers mimicked his own it would have been a huge gamble. Especially if he failed, such a feat would leave him completely spent. His attacks had to be swifter, and more concise, however no matter what he threw at them, or from what angle he did so, they had figured out his whole hand. Gust after gust they dodged with annoying grace, out maneuvering his advances left and right in a truly masterful precision. The skill they maneuvered the assaults launched at them spoke volumes for just how out of their league this group was against these opponents. As it stood, they where never going to stop them from catching up, much less push them back if they didn’t change their tactics. As if on the same brainwave Acacia and Gen made their move. Were Gen had just been throwing around wind blasts, now he had changed his entire offensive. From the palm of his hands extended two miniature tornados, whose combined width covered nearly half the street. It was a far more draining attack then his previous ones. For while the others had been short gusts that went away, these required continuous concentration and effort too sustain. The tornados ripped through the air towards the Reavers, moving after them as they tried to dodge. The assault worked in part, catching one of the Reavers who had been forced into Acacia’s plants. The wind ripped him from the earth and slamming him into a building with such force Gen was sure he was out of the fight.. Until he remembered that they where facing Reavers and everything the threw at them seemed to bounce off.. However the few moments that the Reaver fell behind were enough for him to double his efforts against the one that seemed to be the leader of this little expedition. Pushing him into nearly the exact same position Gen had managed to catch his comrade in. However this one simply burned away the plant, dashing through the window of a building to dodge his attack. Gen let out a few deep breaths as the tornado’s vanished. For a moment it seemed they had managed to actually push them far enough back. But things where never so simple, after all reason number seven today sucked, the world always crushed their dreams. The Reaver had managed to crash through the building he had been in, and really, it wasn’t all that shocking at this point. However the fire whips where new. Gen didn’t have the time to try and counter the attack before he had to pull himself into the center of the vehicle. The whips grazed the seat he had been in at the back of the vehicle right as he managed to get out of it. Looking over to Doppel he shook his head as he gave an exasperated sigh. “Now he is just showing off.” Rolling onto his back he was about to try pushing the Reaver back when the second one caught up and boarded, taking Randal off the car in one quick motion as the two struggled for dominance as they crashed against the street. The simple fact Randal was able to struggle with him still spoke of him having some sort of natural sturdiness that boarded on inhuman. But Gen didn’t really have the time to care about that because the leader was boarding the car once more. Gen pulled himself up from the floor, as he took a look around, trying to figure out how best to engage the Reaver without endangering everyone’s lives, and most importantly his own, or at least, minimizing the risk so that he stood a decent chance at surviving. But he didn’t dare get himself away from the device right now. He might as well dig his own grave if he did that. However, it was Alicia that made the move; taking the device and pistol in hand she made her threat. Finally seeming to be a credible enough threat the Reaver, shockingly, left. Gen stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as he looked over to Alicia. “Well that would have saved us a hell of a lot of trouble earlier.” He shook his head, placing his hand into his palm when the voice on Alicia’s radio called out.. “Times up.” Gen didn’t even have time to brace himself as the concussive force knocked him into the back of Rufu’s seat. He latched onto it as he fell to the floor, his eyes fixed on the sight behind him. Seeing the entire block erupt in flame as buildings crashed behind them evoked a sense of fear that was hard to describe. He had never seen anything on that scale of destruction in the Pen. It was amazing, and terrifying, but left him with one major question… Just who the hell were they working for?! But he had a more pressing concern currently. The force of the blast was starting to lift the vehicle off the ground. Closing his eyes Gen focused everything he could into pushing back against the blast. Everyone in the car would feel the effects of the wind as it slammed the car back down the ground, refusing to let the wheels leave the earth. All of them would feel completely pined to their seats, or wherever they where in the car. Gen gasped for air, the speed at which the wind assaulted them making it difficult for his lungs to inhale. The car started to spin wildly for several meters before finally coming to a stop. Gen released his hold on the wind, gasping as he looked around. “Lets not do this again guys..”
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Post by Darkoda on Apr 22, 2013 22:31:39 GMT -4
So now Acacia needed to add exploding bullets of some sort to the list of things she had to figure out a way to deal with for later. The Reavers had certainly earned their reputation as being practically impossible to deal with without an army of your own.
At the least her sticky sap did actually do something, which was a bit of a surprise in of itself given how things were going today. Okay, so she had something to work with, for all their durability she could use a few workarounds to get around the nonsense.
The leader guy though ignited her sap with ease, also confirming that he really did have some fire powers on top of his flight ability and it wasn’t just that very advanced gun of his, which was yet another bothersome thing of today; as if it wasn’t horrible enough to run into Reavers, their leader just had to be someone with powers that were pretty much tailor-made to near nullify her. Fireproofing was always troublesome.
In the end, just as things were really going bad, Alicia finally got them to back off for a bit by threatening to just beak the device that everyone wanted. Apparently bad enough that they actually did back off instead of risking the rock managing to smash the thing before they could stop her. While she didn’t say anything she did share Gen’s sentiment to an extent; this really was only buying a bit more time, speaking of what became of –
The force of the explosion and the literal wall of fire broke her train of thought, even as the vehicle started to lift and Acacia was left idly wondering just who was going to scrape up Rufus and Doppel if this thing flipped over. Gen fixed that problem well enough though in the sense that they didn’t flip and become a mangled wreck. The trip was still unappreciated but having to pull concrete out of her would have been quite a bit worse so she could live with it.
“Indeed, let’s try to avoid dealing with the super-soldier squad again. Fiery death is not good for my complexion.” Ugh, when they got back she was going to need a couple of days to recover from this mess too. What a bother.
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Post by Tagz on May 7, 2013 14:41:53 GMT -4
Doppel was happy to see that their group had finally managed to overwhelm the Reavers. Between the bullets the trio of gunmen pelted them with, the guck-spewing plants, and Gen’s gales, the Reavers’ formation lines had finally been broken. One was knocked back while another was only able to escape by running into a building. Doppel was given a moment to feel good about the team’s accomplishment. Unfortunately, that moment was no longer than a few seconds. The leader quickly came bursting out of the wall of a completely different building.
“Aww, come on! Is he not even fazed by concrete walls?!”
The old man’s ire was clear in his voice. Their situation was beyond terrible and didn’t seem to be getting better any time soon. Furthermore, the gargantuan man rained down streaks of fire upon Alicia’s car (or at least the area around it). Doppel’s agitation only grew. What was he supposed to do in such a situation? He had no combat-related powers. Unlike the young, diamond-plated child, the shape-shifter lacked the means to physically protect himself from the flaming whips. This forced a reluctant Doppel to duck back into the car and wait for a better opportunity.
“Right? ‘Oh look at me! I’m Captain Awesome. I walk through walls, conjure up flames, eat dragons, and shit sparkles.’ Damned prick.”
He spoke in a comedic tone, though was truly vexed by the man’s seemingly impervious nature. It was becoming evident that better opportunities were not going to be found. As everyone had put their focus on the leader, it was the second Reaver that had managed to capitalize on the situation. He or she had, in swift movements, boarded the speeding car, gripped Randal around the neck, and forcibly removed him from their company. It was then that the one they were the most worried about swooped in, his intentions clear. He was going to land on the car and light everyone up like a bunch of Christmas trees.
Yet, as everyone simply flailed their arms in a panic, the young girl continued to prove her leadership capabilities. She instantly snatched the device from beside Doppel and raised it up high so that the Reaver could see it. She then aimed her gun at the device. What came next was obvious. Alicia began the conversation by making a very simple and unambiguous threat about permanently damaging the device. The Reaver replied by reasserting its value to both groups. Alicia discredited his statement by adding that the device’s value did not exceed the value of her own life. The two eyed each other for quite a while. Had it been any other time, Doppel would have made some lewd joke about their longing gazes, but the man refrained. Thankfully, the Reaver accepted the situation for the time being, but vowed that it wasn’t a permanent departure. With that, they all backed off.
Doppel let out a heavy breath, thankful that the Reavers had become little more than specs in the rear-view mirror. He let out a single laugh at the blonde girl’s comment. His attention was immediately grabbed by the words from radio. Suddenly, the earth shook beneath the old man’s feet. With the floor shifting beneath him, he quickly lost his balance and was thrown towards the car’s steel framing. Explosions rang all around them and the man watched in awe as a gargantuan wall of flames towered over them. Doppel, who had no way of easing the car back into a controlled course, was stuck doing nothing but tightly holding on to the car’s rails. They group had become trapped in a hell of fire, dust, and falling buildings. The shape-shifter gripped the rails tighter.
The car was in danger of flipping. Alicia wrapped herself around Rufus and his seat in order to take hold of the wheel in an attempt to stabilize it. Gen then slammed his wind upon them all like a paperweight. He refused to allow the wheels to divorce the pavement. However, this pushed Doppel off the car’s frames and onto its floor. The wind weighed quite a bit and it made simple breathing an arduous task.
Alicia, however, continued to prove the sturdiness of her small body. She was still able to scream at the top of her lungs. ‘Breaks! Breaks!’ She called out. Soon, the car did manage to come to a stop. Subsequently, Gen put an end to the weighted pressure. A fatigued Doppel was left panting and gasping for air. He laid sprawled out on the car’s floor, wheezing heavily for a moment longer. When he finally plucked himself up off the floor, and sat back in his seat. Sinking into the fine leather interior of Alicia’s luxurious automobile (his recent near-death experience had given him a grander appreciation for life), Doppel replied to Gen’s statement in a calm and cool manner.
“Come now, didn’t you have fun? Bet you’ve never felt a rush like that before.”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Jul 2, 2013 20:28:03 GMT -4
As the car came to a spinning, screeching halt in the middle of the road a hundred meters from where the line of explosions had gone off Alicia, still on her stomach, released the steering wheel and let out a long sigh with her face laying on the driver’s armrest. After that little blow to the head it had taken everything she had to maintain clarity and with the immediate threat gone she momentarily felt an overwhelming state of fatigue try to overtake her. However the brief dark-shift lifted in a hurry when the others started making comments, and in the background the bangs of still ensuing destruction reminded her that they were far from safe.
Shaking her head rapidly and smacking herself on the forehead a few times as if to forcibly pull herself back to the present Alicia rocketed to her feet. She pulled herself through the open seat next to Rufus and threw herself down to the road on the passenger side which was facing the destruction behind them. Though the explosions that had caused it were finished the chaos they left in their wake was not. A constant smoke-screen of pure black plumes reached high into the sky along the entire row, flames as tall as houses were spouting out from the ground and from the buildings they had caught on to. At the same time many buildings weakened by a century of degradation were now in various states of collapse, and while they couldn’t see the entire impact area of the explosion the bangs and crashes sounding off from further away suggested even now some were coming down.
Alicia acted calm and collected, even when she wasn’t. It was a skill you had to learn if you wanted to profit inside the Pen, even when taken off-guard you couldn’t let anyone know it or they might take advantage of it in some way. Even when you were getting screwed-over you took it in stride to minimize losses. But right now there was nothing ambiguous about her expression, it was writ with surprise, and from the comments her group was putting out she’d have to say she wasn’t alone, even if they were hiding it behind humor.
Having worked with the Wolf Clan it wasn’t her first time seeing an explosion, or even her first time being near one. During one job she’d aided them in planting charges to bring down a tower filled with Bordeaux hold-outs that they couldn’t oust through traditional means during the last war. At the time she’d thought that was pretty impressive and even then it had brought significant inspection from the Wardens of the Wall who only intruded when something that could potentially hurt the outside world took place. This had been a dozen times that size and wasn’t something you could set up overnight, hell, it wasn’t something anyone should have been able to set up at all.
And that finally lead her to voice the one thought all of them had been thinking, “Who the hell are we working for?”
Not missing a beat the voice came in from the radio, “Someone who can make you very rich, but you’ll need to survive first.”
As the surprise wore off Alicia was retaken by anger and marched over to the car where she pulled the radio out, “Enough games! After this you can’t claim you didn’t know what we were walking into, one doesn’t set this sort of thing up without reason. I-“
She was cut short though, “Quite the contrary, it’s in my best interest to have as many back-up plans as I can when you have as many enemies as I do-” it seemed the voice wasn’t too worried about letting on to certain truths, or maybe it just didn’t think it changed anything, “But at any rate get back in your vehicle and follow my instructions. The Wardens will already be preparing an incursion into the Pen and you don't want to be here when they show up, assuming the FMR hasn’t found you by then. So continue to do as I say for a while longer.”
Alicia was going to respond indignantly until her brain tried to recognize who the second group he was talking about was and drew a blank, forcing her to stutter “Who?” without much thought.
There was a long-winded sigh from the other end of the line. Like an adult tired of explaining things to a child, and the first real emotion anyone had heard since coming into contact with it. But it finally explained, “The Reavers girl, the Reavers. I would think you’ve seen enough now to understand, if but a little. If you want to survive I suggest you put such unlearned impressions such as them being “Gods” or “Ghosts” behind you, instead recognize them for what they are, a highly trained army. You’ll live longer.”
It ended abruptly, “But perhaps I can educate you on this matter later. Right now you are running out of time. FMR protocols dictate that after a catastrophic or disorienting event the FMR soldiers present must wait for one of two things, either A) They are able to make contact with all soldiers present, or B) Five minutes have passed. Thankfully the way in which you have engaged them has left them scattered, but almost two minutes have passed already. Either of these conditions could be filled at any moment. So if you want to get away while you have a chance then get back in your vehicle, and do as I say.”
Alicia wasted only a few moments being flabbergasted. Who the hell was this, how had they done what they had, just how much could they trust them, and how the hell did they know so much about a group nobody else in the Pen had even the slightest clue about…if what they said was indeed true? There were far too many questions and Alicia knew the answers were not going to readily present themselves. Instead she shoved it all into the back of her head and yelled at Rufus to get into the passenger seat. As he did so she grabbed the bar over the passenger side and jumped over him before sliding into the driver’s seat, she held the button down and simply stated “Go” before setting the walkie-talkie down where it had been before. She could sense the others had much to say but given the situation unless they were going to come out and say it then they could wait till later.
All semblance of the previous conversation gone the voice began reciting instructions, “Continue down the road the way you were going.”
Alicia switched gears and spun the vehicle in a quick circle heading back down the road.
“In a hundred meters take a turn at a cross-roads, there will be a brown building across the street on your right. You will see an old car garage, a building which was built as a parking place for vehicles before the Pen, it will be a three-story building made completely of concrete on your right roughly another hundred meters. Go inside.”
The instructions weren’t hard to follow and Alicia had no problems taking the road and turns as fast as possible as the Reavers were her only concern. This was a no-mans land, it was the area that backed up to Little Town and had once been called the Swampland. Not literally of course, it was just another patch of urban sprawl. But seven-years ago had been home to the Swamplords, a super creatively named Outer Gang that had gotten too big on itself. Having swelled to a massive size for an Outer Gang they had thought to go to war with the Wolf Clan and seize their territory. Instead they took part in a one-year slaughter…they being the slaughtered, when it came to light just how disproportionate even a large Outer Gangs strength was compared to one of the Inner Three. After what had essentially been an utter genocide no gang was brazen enough to use the land ever again so there was no concern, the only thing living here were the poorest of the poor who posed no threat as long as you didn’t stop.
Soon they found themselves in front of the building in question, but one look told Alicia there was only one way in or out. Were they planning on hiding in here? That seemed pretty impossible given the Reavers tracking capabilities. And if that wasn’t the case it seemed a deathtrap. She picked up the radio and repeated these thoughts aloud.
The radio answered, “Drive inside, take one floor down to the basement and go to the furthest corner from where the entrance is. You will find a concrete wall with a single metal railing on it. Pull the railing, you will understand.”
Oooook~~~~….this was sounding more and more like a conspiracy theorist nightmare the longer it went on. As time passed the less concerned Alicia became with getting her payment and the more concerned she became with not upsetting the careful balance she had developed with the Wolf Clan. Not that she hadn’t thought it already but she was really beginning to regret taking this job. Sure the Reavers had done a good job of instilling that feeling in the first place, but losing her life or her current job were small things compared to destroying the connections she’d made. Those were more than a single well-paying job, those were her guarantees for future livelihood and if this somehow compromised that she’d be kicking herself for years to come…if she could recover from it at all.
She rocked on the steering wheel for several seconds before muttering, “Shit” and accelerating into the garage. She had to take a circle around the first floor before finding the ramp down into the basement where she followed the instructions given to her. After a minute of scanning the walls amidst the husks of long stripped cars that were little more than scrap metal frames at this point she spotted the wall in question and parked in front of it. She was going to ask for reaffirmation of what she should do but the voice beat her to it, she was starting to wonder if the radio transmitted more than their voices given how it seemed to know exactly what she was doing, “Remember, pull the metal railing.”
Alicia parked the car in idle and turned the engine down so its emissions were as silent as possible. She slowly pulled herself from the car and it was only at this point she actually looked at her car and recognized how damaged it had been during the battle. That was just great, now if everything else went wrong then on top of it she wouldn’t even get a good deal selling it off to replace her losses. Fantastic.
With a groan that said she just didn’t care anymore she walked over and reached out and grabbed the railing. Of course parts of her were screaming it was a trap and this was amazingly stupid, but given their current situation she really didn’t see what alternative they had. Thinking the others might feel differently though she turned to them, “Fell free to take-off if you wish. I mean…not saying going out there with the Reavers would be my choice. But not entirely sure the giant warning sign screaming ‘Trap’ is the best idea either. Welp, here goes nothing.”
Grasping the rail firmly she gave it a solid tug thinking it would be heavy, instead she practically ripped the thing out of the wall when it turned out to have almost no weight. It extended out a half-meter now and for a moment nothing happened, then a series of low grinding thuds sounded out from behind the wall. After what she could only assume were the sounds of some sort of hydraulics going off was heard the wall suddenly began to move from a hinge at its top. The now apparent door lifted outward for several seconds until it was parallel with the sealing. Whatever had been beyond had been pitch-black but as soon as the door stopped moving several long orange lights the likes of which Alicia had never seen came on and basked the room in a pale light. It was large, large enough to fit several cars and seemed to be made entirely of metal, on the far wall there was a panel with several buttons.
Their employers voice crackled to life, “Have any of you ever ridden in an elevator? Well, no time like the present I suppose. Now, I know most of you are probably having doubts right about now. So let me put it this way, you drive inside and hit the big number four, and we all walk away alive and rich. Or you go try a second round with the FMR. Entirely up to you of course. Feel free to discuss…speed could still be of the essence though.”
…was it just Alicia or was their employer having a little too much fun with this? She was pretty sure he hadn’t been a snarky asshole a few hours ago. With a hand on her forehead she sighed, turned around to the others, opened her mouth, closed it, and after reorganizing her thoughts finally spoke.
“You know what; I’m just not going to be surprised anymore. So…thoughts?”
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Post by Tagz on Jul 4, 2013 4:10:08 GMT -4
Doppel remained unmoved from his position deep into Alicia’s car seats. He had be given a brief moment to relax and was adamant about taking full advantage of this rare luxury. He wasn’t the one tasked with driving the car. The Reavers were gone and it would take at least a brief moment for them to be on top of the group once more. In the meantime, the old man would calm his racing heart. His mind fell blank as he focused on resting his body and mind as much as possible within the laughably small timeframe he’d been given. His tensed muscles fell limp as he began breathing slowly and deeply. The world outside the group was dead to him. The raging fires and the murky plums that rose up like skyscrapers were lost to him.
His eyelids only parted when Alicia began speaking. She asked the most obvious question, one no one else even bothered to ask. However, before he could reply, their employer answered the question in a foreseeable manner. He wasn’t about to give them any actual information on who he was anytime soon. His short and sweet reply did nothing but throw the little girl into a fit. The shape-shifter chuckled underneath his breath as the toddler had utterly lost her composure. Given the situation, she couldn’t be faulted. Nevertheless, it was still amusing to see the girl with a military air around her completely lose her cool.
The conversation between his immediate employer and her client contained more information than Doppel could have ever expected. The man on the radio had a more intimate understanding of the Reavers than most anyone in the Pen. The old man knew this well. Like most, he made a living by utilizing his special skills as best as he could. The shape-shifter had become a purveyor of information, yet despite this his knowledge of the Reavers was as basic as everyone else’s. How did this man know them so well? What sort of relationship did he have with them? They were both after a special little trinket that the Inner Gangs didn’t even know existed yet. How wide was his sphere of influence? It was unlikely that he was independent. It was almost certain that he worked with a group, but what group? What relationship did they hold with the Reavers? Furthermore, what did FMR even stand for? Flay Maim and Rape? These were but a few questions that now plagued the elderly man’s mind and only more inquiries came as the conversation progressed. ‘FMR protocols dictate…’ Doppel repeated the man’s words in his own head. They stood out like neon flashing lights. Why did this man know Reaver protocols? Why did he know how they operate? Did he work alongside the Reavers? Was he an ex-Reaver? Did he successfully spy on the Reavers? Was it all a ruse? What were the odds that he was lying about all the information he gave on the Reavers? What motive would he have to make up something like that?
Rufus was called to the passenger seat as Alicia dove behind the wheel. The client began giving her driving instructions. Doppel was given yet another chance to relax. Were the skies smiling upon him, finally? With the body of a small boy, he leaned his head against Acacia. Unless she shoved him off or more enemies showed up, he would remain like that for the remainder of the ride. Thankfully, the latter failed to come to pass. The skies were clear without a single doom-soldier in sight. The man was allowed some peace while Alicia drove them into an old garage in the former Swamplands.
“This totally isn’t ominous.”
It was obvious that they were going to be led into a hidden and secluded area from the start. They couldn’t outrun nor outgun the Reavers. The only way they were going to survive was to hide out, but given their technology, they couldn’t do it on their own. Everyone knew this, but no one liked it, Doppel included. Still, he remained silent as Alicia pulled into the basement of the garage. The old man simply kicked back in his seat and waited for things to progress. The blonde woman stepped out of the car and yanked on the lever she’d be ordered to pull, almost ripping it completely off. Instantly, things began turning, reacting to her actions.
The entire bloody wall lifted into the air, revealing an elevator. The lights that illuminated the room were quite strange. The old mutant couldn’t help but let out a sigh. The amount of equipment at the client’s disposal was frightening. The man on the radio was smart though, and was able to deduce that they would hold a certain level of distrust for him by that point. He addressed this immediately and even gave them the opportunity to discuss it amongst themselves. Of course, he did point out the fact that the Reavers or ‘FMR’ would probably be back on the move by that point. Alicia seemed keen on discussing it amongst her employees. Was it because she wanted to give them the opportunity to make their decisions? No, she’d already given them the chance to flee if they wished to. Even if she hadn’t, if someone wanted to run, they would’ve whether allowed to or not. At least, that’s how most people in the Pen acted and this was what Doppel expected from the group. It was a trait of his to distrust everyone and be pleasantly surprised whenever someone remained loyal through thick situations.
Another sigh was let out. Crawling through the car, a small boy found himself seated in the driver’s seat, replacing Alicia. He grabbed the walkie-talkie she’d set down and began fumbling with it. Doppel aimed to remove the batteries from it. Finally succeeding, he placed the device atop the dashboard with its batteries right beside it. He then snatched the shiny cylinder they’d all risked their lives for and hopped out of the car entirely. The short kid leaned against the front of the girl’s beat up car. Doppel sighed for a third time before he finally began speaking.
“Do you know what phrase I hate the most? ‘Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t.’ Why would I stick with the devil I know? I mean, I fucking know that asshole and he’s a rat bastard. If we go back out to face the Reavers we’ll die. If not all, than the majority surely will. If you hadn’t noticed, they’re not the friendliest of fuckers, especially when they’re ticked. And I think after that last explosion, they’re ticked… and on their way. So I’ll make this as quick as possible.”
The small boy pushed off the car he leaned on and began making his way to the elevator.
“You don’t trust this guy, Alicia, and he’s your client. You obviously know how we feel about this, or at least how I do. I won’t speak for the group, but I think we should plan for a worst case scenario. What I’d suggest is that you stay to the back of the group. Though you’re our best fighter, you’re also our best wall smasher and if shit turns sour we would need an exit immediately. Gen should be the one to hand the device over to whoever comes to take it. He should stay alert and ready in the event of a sudden betrayal, protecting himself with his wind and destroying the device, or recapturing it if possible. We could use it as a distraction or leverage later on as we try to escape.”
Reaching the elevator, he turned to face the group.
“Rufus, his friend, and I will lay into the enemy with all sorts of gun fire. And try to hold them off while you and Gen do your stuff. Acacia, well, I’m not sure what the limits are to your abilities, but unless there are unknown variables involved, you created giant man-eating plants with great speed, if you could layer this elevator with thick vines that would be mighty appreciated. Our backs would be towards the elevator and if they wanted us dead, a few explosives in an elevator would do the trick. And in the event of snapping cable wires, a cushiony floor would also be nice. If you can’t do that, Acacia, well, we’ll just cross our fingers and hope it isn’t needed.
Now, the likelihood that this will fail is extraordinarily high. If anyone’s got a better plan, I’d be happy as shit to hear it. We’re in a bitch of a pickle and have no guaranteed way out. Backing out and trying to make it on your own is dumb, but hey. I won’t stop ya. Either way, our best bet is to hop in this elevator and hope things turn out well for us. I’ll be heading down anyways so make a decision and make it quick. Again, Reavers are on their way.”
Doppel twirled the strange device in his hands as he awaited a response from the group. He did not know whether or not there was a listening device in the elevator or somewhere else in the garage. With the amount of equipment this man or group had at his or their disposal, it was probable. Still, he felt a need to at least eliminate their known source of communication so that he could give them details on a possible counteroffensive in case of a likely betrayal. If Alicia wanted her high-tech radio back, it was sitting right in her car, just add batteries.
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