Jericho, rolling his shoulder after the abrupt landing on the ground so soon after Kein finished working on it, looked at Duncan. "You do realize the odds of any of us breaking free of that are incredibly SLIM right? He pulled his pistol free of it's holster and changed the clip, the one in it mostly spent during their retreat to the mansion. He checked it, finding only one round left, and slid it out, tossing the now empty mag aside and loading a fresh one with the last round of the last one inside. Returning the pistol to it's holster, Jericho pulled his scythe free of the sling before heading for the door.

"In any case, no point in wasting time here. See you all on the other side." And with that, he dashed forward and leapt out a window, beyond positive that there wouldn't be much left of that mansion by the end of the day. Landing in a roll, he came up sweeping with the scythe, eviscerating a group of soldiers that had broken through the defenses and looked around. Every where he looked it was chaos, with Constantine's soldiers fighting a loosing battle against the frenzied mass of bodies that pushed towards them. Well this is going to suck. Turning, he barely avoids a swing from the sword of another soldier who'd been sneaking up on him by rolling forward. The next slash is intercepted by the haft of his scythe. "Time for the Reaper to take his due." In one smooth motion, he slid the bottom of the scythe up and threw off the sword, knocking it's wielder off balance as he used the momentum to spin and bring the blade through his midriff. The man fell without another sound and Jericho turned on his radio. {Jericho to all SeeDs, they're almost to the house. Hope you're up for a hell of a party.}

As the explosions rocked the building and Duncan stated the plan of action, Rachel slowly rose from the ground. She had her weapon with her and her usual calm demeanor was still present, though in her eyes was also a specific fire.” Chances are slim, but what must be done, will be done.” She stated as one of the seeds stated the probability of the plan succeeding. Before all, she was a support unit herself with a decent enough wide variety of abilities.

“I will gather their attention as much as possible and draw as many as I can away from the rest of you. If a chance presents itself, use it to get away. I don’t want anyone to assist me in this.” Rachel stated as she reached and quickly took of her coat so she only had the white shirt on. Reaching to her belt to check all the bullets she has left, she smiled as she headed in the opposite direction of where the other SeeD jumped out of.” It was nice working with all of you…” She stated before jumping off and running towards the impending enemies.

She immediately used the blade on her revolver to deflect a sword aimed at her and then pierce the neck of it’s user. Enemy numbers were too great for her in direct combat! She quickly shot a round in the air, unleashing her power with it.” MADMAN’S PRAYERS!” She shouted as a giant purple magic circle appeared in the air above her. Suddenly a giant bright purple crack appeared in the air with an almost deafening sound of shattering glass.

Then what would appear to be a giant cloth made from darkness and purple energy burst through the crack, creating an even bigger gap in the air, leading towards what appeared to be some sort of world of completely darkness. Following that from the gap appeared more and more cloths from darkness, until it formed a gap wide enough for a giant humanoid to pass through. It all took a few seconds during which Rachel fought hard for her life, but when the gap was wide enough SHE was finally there. Suddenly a deafening shriek rumbled through the air, one that put the glass shattering sound from earlier to shame. Even Rachel was forced to block her ears as her GF began appearing through the gap. A giant woman, bound by chains and cloths of darkness began struggling her way through the breach in the air. Her incomprehensive shouts, strong enough to cause headaches. After a few seconds of struggling the giant figure was finally next to Rachel. Bloody tears began flowing down the woman’s face as she began shouting curses in a language long forgotten, her words made impossible to recognize be the piece of cloth that bound her mouth, but the strength of her shouting remained the same, causing pain merely by hearing it. Castanica began her prayers as Rachel was using the chance to shoot down as many enemies as possible. Rachel’s GF wasn’t the true destructive type, but the fact it caused enemies who heard her shouts to suffer multiple of random negative status afflictions, usually gave any enemy in range huge problems.

The trabian SeeD knew that her GF was indeed a very catchy one. First the fact she was giant, second was how loud Castanica was. It was given enemies will gather towards the places with lot’s of noise going on. Also any who heard her shouts were already going to suffer their dues with their negative status conditions. She only hoped that this will create a chance for at least one of the others to escape.

The fight seemed to be going on forever, though she knew that the time passed was at most a few minutes. Her ability to maintain Castanica was nearly gone along with her bullets. As she shot her was round, she charged the enemies with a roar, using the blade on her revolver. The number of enemies seemed to be endless because no matter how much she downed, more appeared. Just as she pierced another person’s neck, the shouting of her GF stopped, replaced with a terrified shriek. Rachel barely had the chance to look up at Castanica, just to see the chains from the crack of darkness began pulling the giant woman back into whatever abyss, the trabian pulled her from. The very next moment, she felt a bullet hit her shoulder. She roared as she swung her revolver again, but there were too many enemies… She was simply overran when the support from her GF vanished.

It had been both a exciting mission and a deadly mission. Just after the team to Deling City had left the Garden, new Intel came in hinting of PSA betrayal before the distaster occurred. Head Instructor Corvo took immidiet action in sending out a solo student on the mission in order to try and warn the main mission team. It was a risky, with a low chance of success mission, but one that had to be done.

The one chosen was Ashton Griffone. Callsign Griffon for her impecible marksmanship and skill as a sniper. This mission of hers required patience, agility, stealth, and no misses. As a solo sniper, she had to be extra cautious in the field, for if she made one mistake and got caught in the ambush, she would fail. Head Intructor Corvo was positive by the time she arrived, it would be absolute chaos and she could very well be on a suicide mission.

Yet she did not hesitate. People were in trouble and if there was a way she could lend assistance, she'd fight through hell.

So she was shipped off as quickly as possible and airdropped out of the city before sneaking in. So now here she was, on a roof, looking out over the absolute chaos. The tall boyish woman had her hood over her head, wearing her casual clothes instead of her uniform but still blending into the darkness thanks to her large coat. It was about suicide for her to travel by ground at this point. As the crazed mobs were ripping through everything and panicked guards firing at whatever moved. It was difficult for her to simply blend in with the masses nor could she do well in close combat. So her only choice was take advantage of what snipers do best. Travel by roof and scope out the area to determine the safest routes, where everyone was, and to keep a eye on possible targets she had to take down.

Course it might help if she stopped tripping every time she jumped from roof to roof but that's beside the point. Currently, Ashton was on the roof of a house, 20 meters away from the mansion and was holding her sniper rifle close, propped up and poised as she looked through the scope and scoped out the scene. She spotted a few people speeding into the mansion and quickly registered their faces in her mind. SeeD members. That must be HQ for the main mission team.

Ashton was in range now that she could possibly tune into Duncan's comm and notify him of the situation, but she was hesitaint to do so. For one, she was still a unknown chess piece in the battlefield. If she sent information by comm, it was possible she could give away her position. She wasn't sure how close PSA got and would rather not risk both herself and the main team. Yet they were also in a position that was difficult for her to navigate. Especially, by the looks of things, everything was already thrown to hell and just about a entire army surrounded the mansion and mechs were already bombarding the building.

It would appear she was too late in her warning. Everyone was in trouble at this point and there was little hope in even getting out of the city. Ashton pondered what to do now, as the situation looked quite hopeless. She could retreat, but she was unwilling to leave the team for dead. No matter what, no man or woman should be left behind and she was sticking to it even if she got herself killed. She had to at least try and help them.

Watching as many soldiers from within the mansion came out to defend themselves along with the mansion's automated system, she spotted a man leap out of a window before charging the masses as well, taking care of a few that managed to breach the defenses. Despite his efforts, there was several enemy targets closing in on the mansion.

Ashton watched before making a deciding factor as a Mech closed in on the mansion, raisng a arm to make a deadly blow to the building that might crush those inside. Aiming carefully, the sniper shifted before pulling the trigger, feeling the large weapon kick back as the powerful shot was fired. The bullet hitting directly in the mech's right leg joint, causing it to spark and explode before collapsing before it could even land a hit on the building.

The tall woman didn't stop there as she quickly reloaded before taking aim again. Looking at the man with the scythe before firing again at a assaulting man from behind. Squarely hitting the attacker dead center in the forehead. Reloading again, Ashton decided it was time to move now that she had fired and most likely alerted the enemy that a enemy sniper was somewhere.

Standing up, the dirty blonde holstered her weapon on her back before leaping off the building to the one closest to her. As she landed, she tripped and landed flat on her face. With a silent groan, the sniper stood again before getting up and I bolstering the sniper rifle and taking a looks at the scene again, quickly trying to keep a eye on her unknowingly allies. This time, a woman charged out and called upon what Ashton could only assume was her GF. The woman fought hard as the GF screamed and hollared, but it was not too long until the GF disappeared and the woman was overrun. Clicking her tongue, Ashton shot again at a soldier trying to stab the woman from behind, this time, getting him right in the side of his skull. Holstering her weapon again, she jumped to the next building, then the next, drawing closer to the mansion.

There was far too many for her to simply snipe and save those in trouble. Ashton could hear someone yell 'sniper' and fires were shot at the darkness from where they thought the shot had come from. Still, that woman was in trouble, and was a SeeD member, so Ashton had to try. It was probably, no, a really dumb thing to do, but she had to. Although planning to climb down, Ashton felt her foot slip and she fell flat on her back on the roof before skidding down and falling right off. Crash landing to the bottom right in a barrel in a alley. It was a little awkward as her butt was stuck and the rest of her tall lanky body flailed about in a awkward manner. Until finally she tipped over and fell, popping out of her entrapment. The blonde was unsure if she was unlucky or lucky.

Standing up, she looked around to see a bunch of soldiers pointing their guns at her.

Nope. Definitely unlucky.

Grinning innocently, the sniper slowly raised her hands before bolting. Gunshots and screams were fired, and she felt a gunshot scrape her right side but she simply gripped it tightly kept running. It was too late now that her position was compromised and she would most likely not make it at this point, so she used her right hand to tap into the coordinates for Duncan's comm and sending Corvo's brief message that he wanted delivered to Duncan. Although, of course, it was a little too late.

Surrounded now, Ashton spun and weave through attacks, dagger now out and slashing at those who neared her. But soon, she was overpowered and clocked in the head. Soon blacking out.

Throwing himself to the floor as the bombardment came, Xerox pressed up his glasses turning to see the outside. "Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me." he exhaled. It was rare for him to swear, but given the situation, it was understandable. Hundreds and hundreds of soldiers were raiding the mansion, including a large number of mechas. With Duncan having finishing off the exfil plans, Jericho made a move to through the window. Rachel had decided to be a decoy, using another window to try to get the attention of the huge impeding army.

Xerox had waited a moment, taking out a rapid-fire rocket-launcher, a moomba sized submachinegun and bracelet, a number of small robots with one moderately sized one and his labcoat. All of these were stored in his ESS. He never thought he would need to get so many at once, but this was dire. The rest of the stuff in there was mostly still in production, or had other uses. The sight of all of these, appearing out of almost nothing most likely shocked any of the Faction's soldiers who had seen. Setting most of these aside, he gave Rue the moomba sized weapon and shield. "When the 'song' is over, head over to Rachel and try to help her out, I doubt she will last long without the song. I'm gonna take care of the mechas."

Taking a step to the window, Xerox held the rocket-launcher, and sprayed it into the army that approached them. Explosions were everywhere, but only lasted for a short period, as Xerox had limited ammunition for the rocket-launcher. It required specialized rockets after all. A dozen explosions were scattered on the battlefield. But that only took care of a few mechas. Throwing his rocket-launcher back to his ESS Xerox took some distance, used Haste and Float paramagic and made a running jump out of the window. Making a huge distant leap, soldiers started to fire at Xerox, whom used his labcoat (made with kevlar) to protect himself.

As he started to fall, Xerox lowered his hand to the ground and brought out a giant mecha. The one he made from Galbanian mechas. He had only just finished recharging the energy for it, so it would only be able to last for 5 minutes. Nonetheless, the giant mecha squashed numerous soldiers it had landed on, and Xerox landed on top. "Fire Type B missiles on all active mecha units available in scan." The giant mecha's torso rotated, scanning the area, before firing missiles the homed onto all of the mecha in the area. "Sweep and clap" Xerox continued to command the mecha, as it sweeped the soldiers and clapped them together. Xerox continued to give the mecha commands.

However, it did not last the five minutes. It did not even last two minutes. A powerful EMP was concentrated onto the mecha and Xerox. Even with the magnetic shielding Xerox gave to the mecha, it was overpowered, and the circuitry started to blow. Leaping off the mecha, the rest of the mecha's missiles and energy for it's lazer blew the whole thing up. It was lucky that Xerox did not have any Type D missiles in there. It would of meant more than just the mansion being blown apart.

Being blown by the explosion, Xerox was flung back into the wall of the mansion. Blood spurt from his mouth from the impact. Falling to the ground, he pulled out a remote, and activated the small robots. The small squad of robots flew around shooting at the many enemies, but many of them were taken out before they could kill more than three units, if that. However, the moderately sized one had been dodging the bullets and spraying with a submachine gun. Taking down a couple of dozen soldiers, before a bullet clipped it's side, causing it to tilt and crash land, exploding.

Soldiers surrounded Xerox, as he was sitting against the wall, using some Cures to recover from the impact. Before they could fire at him, scraps of metal poured down between him and the soldiers, protecting Xerox from the bullets. Standing up, able to fight once more, he took out his giant spanner. It was time for some hand-to-hand combat. The fight was still raging on for now.

---

The song had finished, and Rue jumped out to follow after Rachel, spraying with the submachine gun, Rue had mowed down enemies and started to reach out for Rachel, taking down some of the soldiers holding her captive. Deploying the shield from the bracelet, Rue ran into the army, shooting with the gun and charging through or blocking bullets with the shield. The moomba was swift and navigated between legs and reached Rachel, knocking down the soldiers who had taken her. The moomba quickly tried to carry the girl, but realized, too late, she was too heavy for the moomba. Being knocked aside, the moomba thought, Did Rachel gain weight since we last saw her? forgetting it had been years since he last saw her, and that he had lots of other equipment weighing him down.

Jericho brought his scythe around as the man's head exploded. He didn't think anything of it, instead continuing his sweep to slam the edge of his scythe into the side of another soldier and through him and his companion. This bought him another breather, but it would probably be his last as the automated defenses and Constatine's soldiers were being overrun. Smiling, the mortal reaper pulled out a belt clipped speaker that also held a small library of music. "Alright, lets go with track...8." As the song started playing, the last of the mansion's automated defenses fell and the group of soldiers charged the cloaked man. "Time to get reaping."

Charging forward to meet the surging mass half way, he leaped up and over the first few sword swings to come his way, pulling his pistol free of it's holster and firing into the mob. The bullets had no trouble finding marks, only one of them actually being heard pinging off either a helmet or the concrete. But it didn't matter as Jericho landed, holstering his pistol as he makes a wide sweeping motion with the scythe to clear some space. "Time for your icy grave! Blizzard!" The blast of ice enveloped everyone in front of him, and by the time some one with the magic to free them thawed them, it would be too late. Spinning the scythe, he caught the sword of another soldier and pushed it to the left, bringing the scythe blade through his neck at the same time. Turning, he exchanges a quick flurry of blows with a pair of soldiers but ultimately wins, slamming an icy spear tip formed on the bottom of the scythe into one's head, the other getting a slash across the gut from the return spin. Spinning the scythe around again, he slashes through a mech's leg, though it was in addition to the soldier who was now cut in two from right shoulder to left hip. Mechs?! Already?! Shit. The mech fell to the ground, forcing the cloaked SeeD to flip away and towards a heavy trooper wielding a large ax. "Oh, competition? Let's dance then."

The pair surged forward in unison, but Jericho dropped a couple Hastes on himself, allowing him to quickly dodge to the left as the soldier brought his ax downwards towards the ground. He took the opening to slash at the man's back, but his scythe only nicked the armor and then glanced off, allowing the heavy soldier to slam the butt of his ax into Jericho's chin and knock him back. Wow, I feel bad for how many times I did that in training now, that really hurts. Recovering, he barely manages to deflect an ax swing to the left and kick off the man's face, flipping backwards and then charging forwards while he was still off balance, but was forced to duck as he made a one handed horizontal swing that the SeeD had to dodge. Recovering, the pair traded blows several more times, the man Jericho faced now considerably more experienced than the ones in the coms tower in Dollet. After about a minute of exchanging blows, Jericho manages to land a good, solid round house to the side of the ax wielder's head and knock him off balance again. "No one escapes the Reaper." He climbs up the man's front and leaps straight up, keeping him off balance, before descending rapidly and ripping the scythe blade through his neck, decapitating the man. Standing from his kneeling position, he realizes there's a lot of people surrounding him.

"Fine, we'll make it cooler." He summons both of the Blizzaja's into each of his hands after storing the scythe and slams them into the ground. "Blizzaja!" One spell would have done a lot of damage, but two tore everything around him apart, freezing them to their core and creating blocks of human and mech shaped ice all around him. As the spells finished, he drew his Scythe and focused, feeling the Limit Break coming. With a smile, he unleashed it with the words, "Limit Break: Shadow of the Reaper."

Jericho became a blur of motion, moving through the mob at incredible speeds and slicing them apart with practiced ease. Glaciem kept a count down in the back of his mind, and at just ten seconds left, they ran into another ax wielding heavy soldier, this one just finishing off one of Constantine's guards. Rushing forward faster than the man could follow, Jericho slammed his chin with an uppercut kick, knocking him into the air. Jericho followed, Glaciem counting down in the back of his mind. At six seconds, two slashes had been delivered, sheering through the man's torso as the scythe slashed horizontally. At four, Jericho spun the scythe around him in all directions, only serving to slice the man up further. At two seconds, he delivered the finishing dropping blow, the butchered body impacting the ground heavily. And then it was up. Panting, Jericho looked around at all the soldiers and mechs still there, all moving in on him slowly with their weapons poised. That...was a hell...of a ride... And the SeeD fainted, the scythe clattering on the ground just before his head hit it. The Galbadians didn't waste any time, and quickly restrained the SeeD and moved him to a transport.

As things seemed to go to hell, Heloise grinned. She knew she could get out, even with others, and she would get Hector, and by default Selena out first, and come back. But then things seemed to get worse, and Heloise found herself separated by attackers. Again, though, she was in her element. Small, and quick, she darted in with deadly moves, piercing with her daggers, and essenciallt cause havoc with those she was fighting. There was no way she was going to be taken. That was one thing her father had taught her. dont be taken, Loise. You're made to be free. She fought almost like a cornered animal, her daggers her teeth and claws.

From the downed opponents, Helioise retrieved more daggers, so when she used her limit break, she had a good arsenal of daggers. When she knew she could use it, Heloise chose what she thought of as the perfect time to use it. Surrounded by enemies, and perhaps the last chance to get out, she activated <<metal rain>>. A spiraling of daggers fell exactly like ran, piercing and doing a heck of a lot of damage. This was the second time Heloise had used it, and she counted down the daggers, until she had two left. 7...3...2... she charged in with the remaining two daggers, and wrecked even more confusion as she danced about, stabbing and slashing.

She gave herself a few seconds to catching her breath, scooping up daggers and putting them all over her body in holders, hidden although that seemed impossible. She looked about her, at the destruction she had wrought, seeing Jericho being restrained and taken in she cursed to herself. of course I'd have to save that idiots hide she thought to herself, almost stalking to the soldiers transporting him. well, at least I can prove I'm a worthy team mate why that was important to her, Heloise had no idea. Except it meant acceptance.

So as they were distracted, Heloise took advantage of it. She poured in, attack left, right and center with her daggers, twirling, twisting and stabbing any bit of the soldiers that she could. She knew she was probably injuried, but in the thrill of battle she couldn't feel it, as she continued to fight.

Hector groaned when the mansion came under attack. Of course this had to happen, their mission already went too smoothly with assassinating the President. He pulled his gunblade from his belt and his thumb slid over the switch that released the cylinder, once flipped, he flicked his wrist, causing the cylinder to pop out. He inspected it to make sure that it was fully loaded, once again to be sure, instead of normal Vibration shells it was loaded with six shotgun shells. Satisfied he flicked his wrist in the opposite direction and the cylinder snapped back into place. He then lifted the gunblade and rested it on his shoulder while taking his cowboy hat off and placing it gently on the table as Duncan was explaining what they should do. He sighed when he heard him give the old Force your Way routine. Jericho piping in that it would be a slim chance of surviving. For once he agreed with the guy, though he would have said no chance. Especially when Duncan said to split into small groups. He personally believed that if they had all stuck together they would have made it through.

As the others rushed out to fight, by exiting through windows or whatever, he looked to Duncan “See you in Timber,” He said plainly. He knew he probably wouldn’t make it, but that was his lot in life as a SeeD. Expected to do the impossible. Might as well take out as many people as he can and maybe, just maybe get everyone else out to safety.

He looked to Selena who was rolling her shoulders with tonfa’s in hand. Nodding indicating each was ready, they turned and made their way to the front door. Once there, they both took a breath and rush out of the mansion and into the fray. Shadow running alongside them as well.

He and Selena worked flawlessly together, covering each other’s back as they ran headfirst into the wave of people. Despite the gunblade being a difficult weapon to master, Hector had great control over it, parrying, slashing, stabbing, bashing. While Selena was almost effortlessly taking down each opponent with one- two blows. The soldiers had a hard time as Hector and Selena would often trade places, using each other's momentum to vault them over each other or to hit another enemy. Shadow helped as well, biting ankles hopping up and pushing off chests, just enough to distract the man before being taken down by either Selena or Hector.

But even though they were seasoned SeeD’s they did grow tired at the onslaught of people. After getting in a tight spot and facing off with one soldier he managed to get in a deadlock. He finally decided to use his special weapon. Another soldier came running up to his left, trying to take the opportunity to strike him down. He twisted his blade just so to aim at the man and pulled the trigger. A much deeper and louder shot than a normal Gunblade sounded off as the slug hit the would be killer in the chest, causing the man who was deadlocked with him to stumble back at the surprise, allowing Hector to kick him in the gut and hit him in the head with the bottom of the grip.

He then rushed forward and unloaded his chambers into the crowd in front of him, slashing in between shots as well. Many soldiers fell to his shots and blows, creating a wide berth between the enemy and Selena and himself. His speed was almost unnatural as he flicked the chamber open and popped out the spent shells, replacing them with a single movement as the extra ammo was placed in a special clip designed for his blade to hold all six shells in place so he could just slip them all in at once, instead of doing it one by one. He unloaded his weapon and slashed at his enemies, two more times. With enough breathing room now he snapped his fingers and suddenly Shadow grew into his GF form, howling as he stood between the enemy and Hector. He started to attack the men in front of him, while Hector looked around to see Jericho being hauled away, Heliose making a dash for him, Xerox still putting up a good fight, and Rachel down as well.

Selena was breathing hard but she managed to summon her GF as well, Shiva. Using diamond dust, it cleared much more of the enemy from court yard, which would have given Xerox and Heliose more breathing room. while Shadow batted at men like a cat with mice.

Hector took this second to look down at himself to see him covered in blood, some from his enemy, some his as he notice some nice gashes on his gut and side, plus more cuts on his arms as well. He took a potion from his pouch and drank it, also giving one to Selena. Instantly feeling 10 times better, though it didn’t mean his wounds were healed, they stopped bleeding, and were clotting faster. But it still hurt.

But no matter what he and Selena did to thin the crowd, it seemed more and more were coming. He took this time as well to reload his gunblade with his last cartridge. Readying himself as he moved closer to Selena.

'Slim is an understatement, friend. But can you think of any other options?' Callous though it may have sounded, their best bet was to go every SeeD for themselves. A single SeeD was a powerhouse on the battlefield, more than a match for any one opponent they might face. But not even a full team could hope to fight an army head on. Their only hope was to split up, hit the enemy on multiple fronts so at least someone could break through the gaps the others left. Somehow Duncan doubted it would be himself. One by the the others set off, Jericho leading the way. Duncan watched from the window for a moment, trying to pick the best path out of the area. '... Kein. You're gonna watch my back, ok? We're bullrushing right down the middle. If I go down, GF up and fucking run. Understood?' The younger SeeD gave an audible gulp, but nodded firmly as he readied his naginata. 'You can count on me boss.' Duncan nodded slowly, turned to the Field Marshal. 'Father, just pretend we kept you hostage. That might save the staff too.' Constantine's eyebrows arched indignantly. He stepped forward, drawing an archaic sabre from his belt with a flourish. 'My boy,', he began in a tone full of arrogance confidence. 'Do you believe me incapable? Garden is not the only organisation to experiment with Guardian Forces. It will be your honour to fight alongside your father for the first and perhaps only time. Be grateful.' In a sudden dash of speed, Constantine darted out the front door and leapt into a group of soldiers, slashing elegantly before his feet even touched the ground. The two SeeDs stared for a moment, looked at each other and shrugged. '... Our turn then.'

Kein went first, rolling out the window to impale an unfortunate soldier as Duncan charged past, rifle blazing. The two of them fought back to back as they pushed on toward the roadway, Kein handling anything that got close while Duncan put down anyone who looked their way with a quick double-tap. The way was made easier by the other's efforts, with soldiers staggering about confused and blind from Rachel's GF. Within minutes of SeeD joining the fray, the gardens had become a charnelhouse, littered with the mangled, frozen and burnt corpses of PSA lackeys and yet it hadn't made a dent in their numbers. 'Kein, hold them back for me!' Duncan dropped to one knee, deciding that they needed some extra power to push through to the centre. As he concentrated on summoning Artio, Kein danced around like an acrobatic axe murderer, dicing anyone who dared approach. His feet barely touched the ground as he leapt from one foe to the next and using the pommel of his weapon to propel himself upward. Meanwhile, Duncan slowly became covered in swirling tribal markings arcing across his slender frame, spinning, changing until they covered his entire body. He released control just before the markings overtook him and from his body burst a swirling mass of inky marks that rapidly coalesced into the form of a giant bear. Artio stood stock still for a heartbeat, before roaring in gleeful defiance of the ridiculous odds before them. Kein swept down to heave Duncan off the ground as the bear started tearing into the enemy, tossing men into the air like dolls. Alongside Hector's Shadow, they cleared a huge gap in the centre of the gardens, enough for the two SeeDs to punch through onto the street.

Unfortunately, the number of mechs behind the front lines was much higher. Across the road stood a soldier grinning maniacally as he directed a pair of massive crab-like bots to leap atop Artio's back. The pain of their tearing claws and searing lasers was too much for her to bear and the sensation boiled over into Duncan. The SeeD fell to the ground in agony, well behind Kein as he decapitated the former mech technician. Unable to move and with Artio fading into black, Duncan was overwhelmed by a mob of soldiers and civilians. Kein spun around, cracking a neck with the back of his weapon as he looked back to see the boss fall. 'Duncan!' All across the area, SeeDs were falling one by one. A stab of sheer terror pierced his heart as he realise that the enemy might not try to take them alive. He was out now, he could escape down a side alley and be away, but... Well, it really wasn't a difficult decision to make. Summoning all his strength, Kein threw his naginata at the nearest mech, slicing the contraption in half and buying him long enough to drop to one knee. Clasping his hands together, he squeezed his eyes shut and began to pray. Light suffused the area, the air cleared and a pair of ghostly, ephemeral wings began to sprout from his back. For once, she actually answered... Sachiel burst forth from his body just before a soldier got close enough to put a boot into his jaw, floating high above the gardens. In a single, gentle movement she cast one hand before her before fading from sight. Whether the SeeDs knew it or not, her magic gently knitted their bodies together, closing wounds and setting bones. Even though he had also been captured, Kein knew that no-one would die just yet.

Across the way, Constantine saw his son overwhelmed in a blue mass. Battling conflicting feelings of paternal love and practicality, he sheathed his sabre and turned away. The last anyone saw of him, Field Marshal Constantine Lerwick was heading down into a sewer entrance.

---

No-one knew how long it had been, how long they had kept here. Dark, dank and cold. A cell? A cage. They hadn't seen another living human in so long... and no matter what they did, their GFs would not answer. But now, a sound. Something new after endless painful monotony. A curious sound, as though gas was leaking... into... a cell...

The first thing Duncan became aware of was pain. Dull pain arcing across his body, as though he had been beaten over and over. Sharp pain in his wrists. Stretching, tearing pain in his arms. His eyes opened slowly, groggily, revealing a small circular room. Things hung from the walls, shapes, human figures... The others..? They survived? He tried to talk, but only managed a weak cough. When he finally focussed, Duncan recognised one of the figures chained up to the wall beside him. 'Zer... Ze. Xerox...? Wake... up.'

Ice covered Xerox's field of vision as Selena had summoned her GF. Leaving him with some breathing room. Taking this chance, he started to call upon his own GF. With some of the soldiers charging pass their frozen comrades, a portal appeared, looking like a galaxy floating in the air. Out from the portal, Varvadoss appeared. Soon after appearing, Varvadoss and hundreds of soldiers suddenly disappeared. Suddenly, they reappeared, charcoaled. It appears that Varvadoss took them to a volcano this time.

Nonetheless, it wasn't enough, as the countless enemies continued to charge. It was going to be impossible to make it out alone. Up ahead, he could see Hector and Selena fighting. Gonna need to get some help. Hopefully they are willing to co-operate Xerox thought, opening a compartment of his giant spanner. A big button was found, Xerox pressing the button, charged through the soldiers to reach the other SeeD. His spanner let out a flame, propelling his body forward for a few seconds. Running out of fuel, he met up with Hector and Selena. "Hey, this is going to be impossible alone. Mind co-operating? We should get as many of the others with us as possible too." he asked, knocking away a soldier attempting to attack Hector's back.

Hector had spun around as Xerox knocked away a soldier aimed for his back. Swinging his blade just over Xerox's and knocking an attack away aimed for the younger SeeD, while Selena flipped over and landed on the soldier, using her knees to smash into the neck/sholder of the soldier. Hector then turned his back to Xerox again and looked around the battle field, only seeing Heliose up and fighting. " Looks like Four against an army now, if co-operatiing is getting you guys out of here then yeah."

Heloise se knew that her strength was fading, and would continue to do so the longer this seemingly impossible fight went on. How many of them were still fighting? How many did they start with, actually? How many opponents were there? How many had they taken down? These seemed like important questions, but Heloise knew that right then they weren't. Still, she had them, as she continued to fight. She would not let helplessness, hopelessness fall over her. She knew if it did, the battle for her would be over. As she managed to clear a small spot, she took a glance around, seeing Hector, Selena and Xerox still up and fighting. She couldn't see anyone else and hoped they were still going, unseen through the masses.

It didn't look like it though as the three converged together. It looked like one last stand, and Heloise bowed her head for one moment, before nodding. Alright then. Preparing herself, Heloise shifted her left foot back, and as her next opponent came towards her, she pushed forward, and launched herself at them. The guy ducked, as she hoped they would, and she sprang up, jumping over the mass, landing with an almost home jarring thud into a crouch, among more opponents. She wasn't in any better situation, but at least she was closer to the other three.

It wasn't much of a decision. Heloise was tired, she could feel herself growing weaker the longer this went on, she would not let herself give up. She reached out and summoned her GF. She rarely did this, and in fact had only done it twice before when everything seemed hopeless. She'd come out of those situations. She could come out of this one too. Soloias answered quickly, as he had before and be came forward, the image of
light and hope. Her last stand. She just hoped it wouldn't be her last last stand. Daggers in hand, she looked to the others, gave them a smile, and turned back to the fight. Strength seemed to infuse her, and the last thing she said was "thank you Solias, you always come when I need you most. lets try and stay alive". She began to fight once more, trying to make her way towards Hector, Selena and Xerox.

Hector had turned after looking to Heliose to continue fighting off more soldiers, along with Selena and Xerox, the three had formed a triangle with their backs to each other. Shadow had long before reverted to his original size and Hector didn't know where he was at, What he should have done was get the remaining people out on Shadow's back, but that was an after thought now. He then turned his gunblade towards Heliose's direction and unloaded the last six shots he had, each shot reaching it's target and knocking a few more people back with the force of the target flying backwards. Giving more room for Heliose to make it towards them.

With his back towards both Selena and Hector, Xerox knocked away a number of soldiers with his giant spanner. Noticing that there was a commotion in a certain direction, he turned his head, seeing Hector unload the last of his shots in Heloise's direction. Planting his spanner down, he pulled out something that looked like a lever. The few bullets it had left in it were unloaded, taking down a number of people, to give Heloise more room.

"We've gotta do something, this is endless." Xerox called out, smacking another soldier, before guarding against a blade with some scrap metal from his ESS. Although it prevented any lethal wounds, the attacks turned into blunt attacks, bashing into Xerox. A power was growing inside of Xerox, "Guys, think you can cover me for a little bit? I'm gonna make some equipment." He held off utilizing it right now, if he needed to fight and build then he could only make so much, compared to if he could focus on building.

Hector and Selena nodded as they stepped further appart from Xerox, essentially taking on more soldiers, Hector didn't say a word as he focused on the soldiers in front of him, Now out of shells and still tired, his attacks had become slower but more defined, Trying to save his energy as long as he could, while Selena had taken more to a defensive mode, blocking every attack and only attacking once she knew she had a clear shot at an opponent.

Heloise once more had collected an assortment of dagger, but could not yet use her Deadly rain. Still, she had more daggers and she used them to throw at other opponents, creating a path as they ducked or dodged out the way, getting closer to the others, Solias By her side. It's just seemed likethere was an endless supply of opponents, but Heloise wasn't going to lay her daggers down and give up.

Finally she made it to the others, and she stood for a moment, catching her breath. "any particular plan or is it just raise hel?"

With his fellow SeeD taking on more soldiers, Xerox released his limit break, Rise of the Machines. His brain and movements went into overdrive, from his own calculations he had about 50 seconds to build.Tapping his glasses, and dropping his tools and a lot of scrap parts from his ESS Xerox first took a gun shaped magnet and gathered as many of the soldier’s guns as possible. Pointing to at least 30 or so soldiers, he attracted many guns, and started disassembling them all within seconds. Gathering the parts, he started to build, threading bullets to be ready to feed through, combining different parts of the guns.

Continuing to work, ignoring what was happening, he was building a turret, a main gun, with several sub guns connected to it. It was essentially a wide spread mini-gun, aiming focus fire in a 90 degree scope, with the ability to turn a full 360 degrees. On full-auto, the tens of thousands of bullets would be depleted in a matter of minutes.

Looking over to Hector, the glasses took down measurements, Xerox still had about 15 seconds remaining. About enough for half a power suit. Dropping more parts, he started to build a chest-plate with gauntlets. Powered by paramagic, the suit was light, bullet resistant and helped the user, amplifying their strength by about two and a half times. The left gauntlet had a micro-sized machinegun, with the right having a shotgun. The machinegun could fire 400 bullets before it was depleted and the shotgun had 20 shells.

”Done! Hector, use this suit!” Xerox shouted, throwing the suit over. ”This turret should give us a few minutes to escape, but someone will have to be here to operate it. I’ve got a flashbang to create a diversion before we try to run. Question is, who will stay behind. Either way, the others will have to escape and contact Corvo and try to find a way to rescue everyone else.”

Hector turned to catch the suit that Xerox had thrown to him. With out hesitation he started pulling it on while Selena and Heliose covered. He then said as he lifted his gunblade up again. "No question you three go for it Ill stay behind." Selena looked back and shook her head violently. "NO!" She yelled. "We are all getting out of here." She looked to Hector for a second before he started to fight again, The suit greatly enhancing his abilities already. "As the highest surviving ranked SeeD here, It's an Order! Now move!" He said as he moved forward into the thick of it and instantly clearing a small area between the enemy and them.

"Roger that" Xerox replied, feeling bad about it. "The suit has a machinegun in the left gauntlet and a shotgun in the right gauntlet. Clench the fist and it will shoot. Now everyone, cover your eyes." Xerox called out, dropping a flash grenade into his hand, pulling the pin and throwing it up high. Tapping his glasses, he blackened his vision for a moment.

A loud bang with a bright light could be heard and seen, stunning and blinding the enemy soldiers. "I'll leave our backs to you Hector. Come on, you two, we have to get out of here. If we can communicate with Corvo, we can operate a rescue mission." Xerox called out, practically forcing Selena and Heliose to move out.

Heloise snorted, there was no way that she was going to go without Hector, nor without the others. She shook her head, and said "Since when have i ever followed orders I don't like? I've saved your butt before, I'll do it again. Selena and Xerox will be fine to get out by themvselves" Besides which, even if this worked, she thought it was hopeless, now. There was just too many, and they were only four people, three if they left Hector behind.

She shook her head, and stood her ground. "We don't know we are the only surviving members either.. And Two people will get our easier then three. I'm staying."

Hector growled that Heloise stayed behind, "This was when I was supposed your ass Heliose!" But with out waiting for an answer he grabbed her by the shoulders and placed her on the turret, as he had a suit now he would use that to fight and keep her away from the thick of it. He then turned and ran to the left, using both of the gauntlets to clear as many as he could, and when they ran out he started fighting with his gunblade once again. Shadow in his normal form suddenly appeared and helped fight by causing distractions by jumping and pushing off multiple people, being quick and nimble to evade anyone trying to hit him. but after a few minutes of this, despite Hector and his suit, Heloise and the turret, soon both would run out of ammo, and Hector was growing so tired now, that he couldn't keep up with all the fresh soldiers coming in, Soon he was overwhelmed and knocked to the ground, Trying his fastest to get up, he got to his hand's and knees as he looked at shadow and told him to run. With a moment of hesitation, shadow yelped as Hector recieved a baseball bat hit along the side of his head, knocking him out, and darted off, just far enough to escape, but close enough to stay nearby. and see Hector get a few more kick to the ribs and back.

"Damn it. Fine! Let's just get someone out of here damn it!" Xerox was annoyed. These three had a close bond, and he understood wanting to stay behind. But there was no guarantee anyone got away, and someone needed to get in contact with Garden.

While the enemy soldiers were blinded, Xerox pulled Selena through the crowd. Running through with all of his might. Enemies had started to bump into each other, even attacking each other due to the confusion of being blinded and stunned. Swiftly, before the falshbang ended, the two had escaped the mansion grounds.

In an alleyway, Xerox apologised to Selena, [color=auqa]"Sorry, I forced you to get out. But we need at least someone to be able to get away to contact Corvo. Since there are less people here, spreading ...."[/color] His words got cut off, before he could finish, as he jumped to guard for Selena. Kicking the soldier who had come from behind, he made for another dash. "Just get out of here!" he called out, as more soldiers started to come down the alleyway.

Little had he known, that Selena was caught behind him in the alleyway. Bashing a number of soldiers with his giant spanner, he got shot from behind. Falling to his hands and knees, Xerox tried to hold on, but easily got overpowered, with the soldiers toppling over him. His conscious faded into nothing as he got captured.

As the end seemed to draw nearer for them all, Heloise refused to give up, and when Hector went down, she abandoned the somewhat safe place he had placed her, right into the thick of things. If she was going down, she would damn well take as many of them down with her as she could. So saying, she began to shove her daggers into anything soft, not caring where they landed. Kidneys, chests, eyes, legs, arms. Right then, it didn't matter. She drew nearer to the spot where she had seen Hector go down, somehow already knowing that Xerox and Selena hadn't escaped.

It was a laugh. She was everyone's last hope, it seemed, and she knew she wouldn't get out either. But maybe...thoughts blosoomed into her mind as she fought, getting injured and maybe even getting hit on the head.

Which would then make sense why she was laying on the ground. Even then, she refused to stay down, getting onto her hands and knees, but it was futile. Another knock to the head took her down.

---

A voice was calling. Who is calling me... Ugh.... What the hell happened. Xerox could only think. His conscious was slowly coming back, as he could make out Duncan's voice. "Zer... Ze. Xerox...? Wake... up." Slowly, his eyes opened, everything was dark and hazy. His vision was blurry and needed time to refocus. "D ... Dun... *cough*" A weak cough interrupted as he tried to weakly reply to Duncan.

Taking in some air, Xerox tried to speak some more, "Duncan? ... Where .... are we?" a weak voice was all he could manage. His vision was slowly clearing, his senses started to come back to him. His hands were in pain, as he was hung and stretched on a wall. His realized something, his glasses were gone, and so were most of his clothes.

It seemed though the others weren't treated in such a way. He still couldn't make out who was who, only the shapes of human bodies. Xerox's coat had a few mechanisms in there, so there was a chance they took away all of his clothes incase he had something up his sleeve. "Great ... One day I'm turned into a girl, the next I'm locked up and stripped naked." Xerox weakily joked.

"Did anyone make it out?" he asked Duncan, turning to him. Weakily, he tried to pull himself up a little, however, pain shot through his body and through his back. That's right, I got shot. His face contorted and winced until he stopped. Looking around, he noticed something. Only human figures were around, "Did Rue make it out?" he rhetorically asked, not really asking anyone.

Hector let out a groan as he slowly came to concousness, his entire body was burning with pain, especially his face, as a massive black and blue mark was evident on the side of his face, and dried blood on his lips and from his nose. He heard two others speaking but didn't open his eyes as one was sealed shut with swelling, and it was just easier not to open his other eye for the moment. He didn't even raise his head, as he licked his dried lips as he reconized Xerox's voice. "Xerox..." he said softly as he realized Selena was with him. "Xerox!" He lifted his head painfully, looking around the room. "Where's Selena?" But before he could answer, Hector saw Selena on the otherside near Xerox. He then remembered Heloise, who he then saw was next to him as well.

"Damnit..." he cursed under his breath as it looked like no one made it out of the mansion.

Consciousness seemed to come slowly to Heloise, she could hear voices but they seemed far away. Fuzzy. Muffled, like she was underwater. And then all at once, it seemed to come back to her, and she groaned, pain in her head bringing the thumps back, and she was sure she had some lumps there. Her skin felt gritty, and tight in some places and she realised that some of the dye had smeared, causing this sensation. She wanted nothing more then to be able to wash it off, sure she had dirt all over her as well.

As thoughts slowly came back to her, the talk around her still didn't seem to make any sense, as she took stock of herself. Head hurt, well that was obvious. Her knees, and hands hurt as well, and she figured she had landed on them pretty hard. She was sure she had a cut somewhere, and was positive there were scraps, bruises and other small issues over her.

She let out a sigh, finally opening her eyes, and told herself to focus on the voices. Duncan....Xerox. So I was right there, they didn't make it out, so Selena should be around somewhere. Maybe still unconscious. Hector. Probably everyone else too She didn't think she had the strength to sit up and look about right then, but she did so, causing her head to pound even worse. Did she have a concussion? Had they fractured her skull? She didn't know, and had no way of finding out. She'd just have to not fall asleep again for a few hours. Maybe more. She tried to focus, but her thoughts were blurred, mussed up. "So much for a last stand" she managed, deciding to focus on the words, looking for any sign of a slur or stumble, knowing that would at least be a sign of something wrong in her head.

Starting to look around, Xerox spoke, ”At least it doesn’t seem like we lost anyone … although … I do hope Rue is alright. *cough” His voice was still weak, and even a little shaky. Hector called out to Xerox, asking about Selena. Turning to the side, Xerox noticed Selena was fairly close to him. ”Sorry, I couldn’t ... get … out, or her … out. *Hack*” Xerox was getting tired, taking breaths between words. ”Cold …” he muttered. It was much colder for Xerox. With only his underwear, and for some odd reason socks, he had to embrace the cold on his skin. ”Guess … they thought … my clothes had … secret mechanisms … like my … lab-coat.” Xerox gave a weak laugh, considering the terrible situation.

The first thing Jericho felt as he slowly came back around was cold metal against his wrists and he immediately tried to move. He quickly regretted that as his head began to throb in retaliation and he stopped moving. The sounds of voices helped give him something to focus on and eventually he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was passing out before he could summon Glaciem, which had been his intended final move to escape. Then again, he unleashed both Blizzajas and his Limit Break in quick succession, so his body hadn't been prepared for the stress of such powerful moves in such quick succession. Fuck my head. Hell, guess I should acknowledge my whole body...do they have to be so loud? Looking around he recognizes all the SeeD members who'd stayed behind to try and hack their way out and mentally chuckled. He had so called that one.

Looking at Duncan, he grimaces as his head throbs. "When we get out of here, you owe me a drink."

“Hehehhehehe... seems someone want's us all awake for something.” Rachel quietly laughed almost like a crazy person as she realized the others were awaking. Sure enough she went through her tortures as their capturers tried to gain information from her. She was hang from the ceiling by her now limp arms. There were multitude of wounds on them, that were taken care only enough to not cause her death from losing blood. Her muscles were not healed in any way and her ligaments were cut on both arms so she couldn't even lift a finger... She could additionally feel the cracked bones all around her body which ached from the swells and tears caused to her by her torturers.

“Xerox, I haven't seen Rue since the battle at the estate...” Rachel said to the boy's concern about their rumba friend. It hurt a lot to speak, she guessed her jaw must have been cracked or something.

“Anyone have a plan for this situation?” She painfully asked. She feared that if her body isn't healed with magic soon, the condition of her body may stay like this.

Everything hurt. Really hurt. They hit her quite hard. Though she was sure the others took the brunt of it. When she woke again, the tall skinny boyish woman glanced around with her teal colored eyes to see other figures through the darkness. Chained to the wall and left hanging there, in which she figured was her own position as well. Talking could be heard eventually. Weak voices spoke, noting they had taken quite a few beatings as well.

Ashton could taste blood in her mouth, could feel the thick liquid over her face, most likely at least covering half of it, but she only winced a bit as she listened to the chatter. Each sound seeming to throb in her mind. The dirty blonde was happy it seemed the team was alive at least. Maybe barely, but alive. So that's what counts.

Thank God they seemed alright... well, relatively. 'F-fucked if I know.Army base maybe, or a prison?' Not that there was any way of telling. The room was little more than a set of racks arranged in a tight circle, with a door on one side. By the door stood a rather ominous looking podium... From his position across the room, Duncan couldn't see what manner of controls it held, but he could guess. He managed a weak smile in response to Jericho's ribbing, bypassing the optimistic statement for what it was. 'Hell, if we get outta here I'll buy the bottle. Drinks on me, Balamb Seafront Ba-' He cut himself off with a violent coughing fit, flecking the steel floor with droplets of blood. 'Shiiiit... that ain't good...' As the others slowly began to rouse from unconsciousness, Duncan took a long look at each of them, noting one oddity and two conspicuous absences. 'Wait... Who the hell are you..?' Somehow another woman had been mixed in with their group, a tall, willowy one at that. He noticed the scar across her face and that rung a bell somewhere in the back of his mind. 'Haven't I seen you before? SeeD?' He chose to focus on her for the moment, unwilling to acknowledge the equally chilling and hopeful fact that Kein and Gracelyn were nowhere to be found. The others were discussing escape options, but it seemed that none had yet noticed.

"Drinks on you Duncan? Sounds good" Xerox weakly cheered. Rachel had told Xerox about Rue. But something sounded off with the way she spoke. Not that others would normally pick it up. "Is your mouth/jaw alright Ra... *cough*" Xerox violently coughed. No blood spluttered, yet. His violent coughing fit caused pain in his back. The bullet still lodged in his body. "Damn it. Wonder if it's still bleeding. It would suck to bleed out."

Looking around, he noticed an unfamiliar face. Duncan seemed to have noticed her too. He decided to let Duncan ask about who she was. It seemed he was somehow acquainted with her. Possibly a SeeD before Xerox became one. Looking around, there was a couple of people missing. Gracelyn, Kein, and Syrus. That's right ... Syrus got on the chopper with Mei ... That means ... there might be help coming ... Xerox remembered, but did not voice as he did not wish to get hopes up.

Jericho smiled at Duncan's reply. "God knows I'm holding you to that, boss." Outside of feeling sore and tired, he was in relatively better shape than a number of the others were, and Duncan looked the worse for wear as far as he could see in the poor lighting. Sighing quietly, he looked around for any one who wasn't with them. OK, Syrus was sent away with that girl, Gracelyn...hell, she probably used the chaos to get away if we're lucky, Kein...maybe he got out too. Least I hope they got out... If something HAD happened to the pair, such as getting killed, then whoever was behind that little coup back in Deling City was going to die a slow and painful death when he got a hold of them.

Then he saw the new person and he vaguely remembered seeing around Balamb after being transferred there. Of course, he never bothered with many names, mainly because he forgot them if the person didn't stand out. The irony in that personality quirk is I know the names of all the people here. Damn they must of stood out really well.

"She's another SeeD, but, I, uh, don't have a name. Normally really bad with 'em if the person doesn't stick out."

Ashton continued to silently listen. Though it was dark, her sharp vision made out the dark forms a little easier to at least somewhat point out some differences in their shapes and physique. Her head raised a little as one of them started to speak toward her. By how the others spoke to him, his physique, and voice, she could guess that this was Duncan. By his confusion, she was sure that he didn't receive the message in the battle. Not that she was surprised, it was quite hectic out there and there was little anyone could do at that point. She listened as another person spoke in favor of the drinks Duncan would possibly buy before another man spoke who was also in favor. Before also commenting on her presence.

She wouldn't be too surprised if they knew her or not. Generally, her physical appearance made her stand a bit out. She was taller than most men, but was quite skinny like a willow tree. The scar on her face was also quite severe and easily remembered. However, she was also a quiet person and had hardly interacted with other people. Since becoming a SeeD, she's only been sent on solo missions. Mostly to scout or provide a hawkeye. She was sure she's seen these people around but she's vaguely actually remembered. Only reason she knows their names and remember to whom each name belongs to is the files that she studied on them a little before coming onto this mission.

At the question Duncan shot at her, the blonde gave a nod in response. Her expression slightly changing into one of minor amusement as a slight pained smile crossed her lips. Before melting away as she glanced around. Wondering how long until the enemy came for them. She guessed not too long now since they were forced to wake up.

A nod was confirmation enough, Duncan reasoned. Hell, why else would she have been picked up along with the rest of them? Unless she was a mole... Classic trick, that. Put a mole in with the tortured souls to build up a rapport, then use them to extract information. Jericho's endorsement was a relief at least, but Duncan privately determined to keep an eye on her until he could get her checked out, if he could ever get her checked out... 'So... what's your name? Were you in DC t-' The lights cut without warning, shrouding the room in dingy darkness. Fuck. Ten long seconds passed, just long enough for him to be able to make out the silhouette of Xerox beside him before the door slid open and bright, clinical light poured in.

Two figures stepped into the room, their forms difficult to make out against the contrast of dark and light. There was a loud click. 'Session number one, interrogation of captive terrorist elements. Agent Mako recording.' The door slid shut and the room lights came back on just a bit, enough to dimly make out two men in immaculate purple uniforms. One stepped toward the centre of the room, smiling radiantly. 'Welcome, welcome to my little chat room. Call me Mako. Just a codename I'm afraid, but I'm sure we'll all get along splendidly just the same.' The man had such a happy, whimsical voice that he could have hosted a children's TV show. Duncan gritted his teeth, as aware of what was about to happen as every other SeeD in the room. 'Mako' wouldn't be able to shake them if they remembered their training. 'Now then. Let's start off with some introductions, no? You sir, what pray, is your name?' Despite the darkness, Duncan could see the almost polite gesture in his direction. Fuck me, I would be first, wouldn't I... '... Bob fucking Geldof.'

The torturer gave a theatrical sigh, placing one hand on his forehead. At the click of his fingers, the second man pressed a few buttons on a wall panel. 'Now, now Bobby, can't have that, now can we? I like to run a close, family ship here and what is the first thing families must never do to one another?' The manacles that held Duncan's body to the wall suddenly tightened, pulling him back into a dark recess in the wall. He couldn't see what was happening, but the feeling of cold, hard metal against his flesh was enough to understand. 'Oh, you dirty fucking cu-' A pair of bolts clamped down between his legs,unleashing a solid arc of electricity through his groin. 'Lie, of course! Liars must be punished, friend.' As Duncan's screams rebounded throughout the room, Mako turned to address the others. 'Now then, while Bobby learns the error of his ways, let's get to know one another. Anyone feeling sociable?' The other agent grinned darkly, clearly a fan of Mako's style. 'And if you don't want to talk to Uncle Mako, Mr Royce over there shall have to punish you too. Sad... but oh well. Such is life.'

Helpisewatchedthis almost pathetic display. It was clear that their interrogators were trying not to touch them. Did that mean they were afraid of them? Heloise just smiled, sweetly, and leaned forward, "I'm Hell" she said, technically just shortening her name. So not lying. "As in I am going to make your life a living hell. People lie all the time, especially families. And frankly, if I'm getting another family id like to choose it this time, and oh look, you aren't on the list, Mako" names, even code names, had power. She would use it. But she wouldn't give this man any respect.

She didn't care if she was just making things worse for herself. If they were focused on her, then they weren't focused on anyone else. And right now, that was all that mattered to Heloise, guilt filling her as she wondered if them being captured was her fault. She had probably messed up the dagger throw. But she should have just kept her mouth shut, let Jericho have his way. Reason, logic told her they'd probably still have ended up here, but that didn't take away her guilt.

Heloise was familiar with interrogation techniques. Plunging them into darkness had been an attempt to put then ill at ease. Yet it just strengthened Heloises belief that these men were afraid of them. Why not show themselves? She shifted slightly, "pain, and fear only work if your target is...pliable. There are better ways, but you don't seem intelligent enough for them" she knew she was probably making a mistake but she couldn't stop the words, as they just fell out. Her mouth didn't want to respond to her brains orders to shut up, but she kept a neutral expression, as if she was in control.

Why couldn't she just stay silent, sit back and not be noticed like normal? Her eyes drifted over the others, and her hands curled into fists. Right. Because they others were in danger too. heloise could take pain. What she was afraid if was someone else taking the pain, being hurt. Duncan's pain, the scream, twisted within her, and Heloise just wanted to repay that hurt. People who caused pain like that were just weak. She just had to find a way to exploit that weakness. And that was another reason she was hoping to keep attention in her. Some of the others, like Xerox, would then be free to study the situation and figure something out as she narrowed her eyes, watching 'Mako'.

'Ah, Miss Hell then! So glad to make your acquaintance dear.' If Heloise's threats had affected the man, he wasn't showing it. Indeed Royce, leaning up against the wall had to stifle a snigger. 'That saddens me to hear, but you see my dear, you are on my list. So welcome to the family all the same!' Mako clicked again and the bolts retracted from Duncan's flesh. The machinery pulled back, pushing him forward and flush with the wall. He hung limply, breathing raggedly and wheezing curses. 'See, Bobby's happy. Does that look like fear to you, Miss Hell? No no no no, that's joy and rebirth right there!' He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. What was going on in his sick mind was unclear, but he quickly came to a conclusion. 'Mr Royce, please bring in one of our little helpers. I feel a demonstration of Her Majesty's love is required.' As the other agent left the room, Mako began to pace about, stopping here and there to admire a SeeD. He seemed particularly satisfied with his handiwork on 'Bobby'.

Royce soon returned, this time dragging a squat figure behind him. The two of them dragged it into the centre of the room, tied it to a pole and turned to the SeeDs. 'So then.', Mako began. 'This is one of our dear friends. Let's call him... Fluffywumple.' Despite the agonising pain in his crotch, Duncan was able to make out the shape of a moomba struggling against chains in the centre of the room. 'I have a proposition for you all. You see, I just want to get to know you all better, but I also want Mr Fluffywumple here to feel involved, part of the family.' Royce pushed in a small cart, upon which sat a complicated looking device bristling with cables and cathodes. 'The idea is simple. I ask you a question, you answer. If I believe you, then Mr Fluffywumple gets to chose someone for a reward. If I don't... then poor Wumples will be sad.' They placed the device on the terrified moomba's head, strapping it down tight. 'Very, very sad.'

Jericho remained silent as the two torturers walked in, watching them as the one who identified himself as Mako spoke and pointed to Duncan. "Bob fucking Geldof." That caused Jericho to smile softly, even as Mako's companion began the torture. When Mako asked who was feeling socialable, he maintained his silence, memorizing the features of the men in front of them. When we get out of here, I'm going to make sure the Reaper collects your souls. Personally. Then Mako identified the other man as Royce, and suddenly the reason for these two being paired up occurred to the scythe wielder. They balanced each other out. "You wanna know who we are? How about you fall off a cliff instead?"