[hr][h1][i]NEST.[/i][/h1][hr][hider= Gears of War 2 OST - Rolling Thunder][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fw9FZXYZ-0[/youtube][/hider] [hr] The preparations for the convoy were complete. Standing right before Maximilian was a line of NEST trucks, with many APCs taking their side. He put his hands on his sides, above his hips, and pressed his earpiece, "Alright, Agents, everything's ready." He spoke. "Get them loaded, and we'll be pushing out of here fast as possible." "Yes, Sir." Dana responded in the comms. Soon enough, Agents gathered around the truck, and started ordering civilians to get inside. Which they did at breakneck speed. The trucks were filled up soon as possible. "And you, Grue?" Maximilian asked. "I'll be staying behind in Verthaven." Dana said with such certainty in her voice. "I am a RAVEN," She started off. "I'm here for the whole ride." "Glad to hear it." Maximilian said, he couldn't resist the urge to smile. Leon scooted on by, and grinned. "Looks like you got a lot of faith in this one, Maxi." "Stop calling me that." Maximilian said. "Only the Mayfields call me that." "Oh, sorry about that." Leon said sarcastically, but before he could tease Maximilian some more, the team leader grabbed Leon by the arm. "Alright, it's time to go. Get into an APC." Maximilian pressed onto his earpiece, and announced to all of RAVEN. Before they quickly ran into the black, heavily armed, APCs. When everyone was on board the trucks, they took off into the stormy night. [hr] The Contessa stood not too far away from the trucks with her arms crossed, watching. Those bastards don't suspect a single thing. "Mannequin, they're about to roll, you ready?" The Contessa spoke into her earpiece. "...[i]Yes...[/i]" The Mannequin whispered from underneath the last truck. He placed a small device, a bomb, to the underside of the trucks. Before a portal opened underneath him, and he dropped down. On a rooftop not too far away, the Changeling Unit stood lined side by side with Luis in front of the group. Holding a black detonator in hand. "Just like you ordered, Luis..." The Mannequin whispered. "Each will individually explode." "Good." Luis said. "Don't want all of them going off at once - we need to inspire a little panic. Make 'em go back for some." "What about the Devil?" Shade said, looking over to Luis. "She's gonna be tearing apart anyone in her way." "She'll play her part." Luis answered. "I'm certain she ain't going to let some people get away from this." "Looks like it's about to begin, then." Shade tipped his hat and watched as the trucks began moving. [hr] She can feel it. It was an annoying nudge in the back of her head that pointed her in the direction of sweet Metahumans. She had her scouts watching their camp as they recovered. The Devil knew that it was time. She had some beasts positioned in the right spot underneath their path. A few hundred gathered together. They dissolved into a singular puddle of sludge that rested on the floors of the sewers. However, it quickly took a new shape... ...A form that was the size of buildings, and about to break free. [hr][h1][i] [color=Dodgerblue]Lihua Vuhong[/color], [color=Red]Meifeng Vuhong[/color], & [color=Yellow]Mika Baozai[/color][/i][/h1][hr] Stepping out into the heavy rain, Lihua marched through the night, followed by Meifeng, and Mika (Who was holding Lijuan). The matriarch deployed an umbrella, but that [i]barely[/i] provided cover for her daughter, nor niece. The heavy rain hit them hard, but they had to keep pressing on regardless. Because a little rain won't be the end of them - they've all been through much, much, worse and made it out alive. They pressed on [i]past[/i] the trucks, and walked over to the APCs. Lihua stepped up to the armored vehicle, and opened the door, and held it open for them. "Get in." She ordered them, and the two teens stepped in. Oh, the perks of having such a high ranking spot within the organization. They get the safe ride. With the two in, Lihua closed the door behind them, and grabbed onto one of the handles on the roof of the APC. Meifeng found herself a nice seat, before it was invaded by the rather large Mika sitting next to her. Meifeng was looking at her feet. "...[i]I hope the others are going to be okay.[/i]" She said to the three. Mika looked down at the sleeping infant in her hands. "[i]I'm certain they will be fine. NEST won't let anything happen to them.[/i]" She was wondering what was up with Meifeng and her dedication to her friends. "[i]Mika is right.[/i]" Lihua said, nodding in affirmation. "[i]We are prepared for the worst to occur - which is why we're the least likely to be caught off guard. Your friends will be fine.[/i]" "[i]Still feel a little bad I never got a chance to talk to Jen.[/i]" Meifeng sighed, crossing her arms and legs. "[i]Don't worry, you'll have your talk with Caspin later.[/i]" Lihua said. [i]Unfortunately, I can't promise that any of your friends will leave here alive.. Though, I'm going to get the three of you out of this city if it's the last thing I do.[/i] She thought to herself. "[i]Yeah...[/i]" Meifeng hung her head. "[i]...I will.[/i]" "[i]After we're out of here, the three of you are heading straight to Black Fall.[/i]" "[i]What about you, Auntie?[/i]" Mika asked. "[i]I have to make sure that Jiao-long gets out of here.[/i]" Lihua said. "[i]That fool needs[/i] extra [i]supervision.[/i]" Before their conversation could continue, it was interrupted by the ear piercing boom of an explosion, followed by a crash and a cacophony of glass. Lihua got the worst of it, when one of the NEST Agents screamed into the mic, "We're going down!" "Oh shit!" Meifeng shouted in English as she hopped up, adrenaline almost instantly coursing through her system. "The fuck was that?" She looked around. Lihua barely had the patience to snap at her for her excessive swearing, she was way too concerned with what just happened. She quickly walked over to the sides, and pulled a panel aside so she can peak outside. She only saw the firey aftermath of a truck crashing and going through the windowsill of a store. Lihua narrowed her eyes, and closed the panel. Before Lihua could explain what happened, the earpiece relayed Dana's voice, "One of the trucks have crashed! We suspect sabotage, be on guard, Agents." Dana followed. "Members of RAVEN are heading back to deal with it - stay on guard, RAVENS." [i]Sabotage...?[/i] The words echoed in Lihua's head. She thought about it for a moment. "One of the trucks crashed - but, girls, we might have trouble up ahead. Be prepared for anything." She said to them, earning a nod in response. Meifeng regretted the fact. The ground started shaking just like it did when those abominations first showed up. Lihua clenched her fists. Looks like everything's going as they expected. [i]Aberrations are on their way...[/i] Lihua thought to herself. [hr][h1][i][color=DarkSlateBlue]Cassius and Reed Taylor[/color][/i][/h1][hr] "How's it look out there?" Reed asked with a disconcerted expression, frustrated by his inability to do anything but sit back flatly pressed against his seat with one arm locked in a sling, kept static. Beside him stood Cass, who'd kept a firm grip on the nearby handholds as he tried to catch a glance of what was going on outside. After a couple moments of silence, the old man gave an answer to his earlier question. "Still moving, obviously. Streets are... quiet. Haven't seen things this deserted since the riots we had in the nineties." "Yeah, well.." Reed noted, "I think it's a little worse than that." Cass shot him a look and remarked, "You don't think?" He shook his head with a wry smile. "Last time I checked, rioters and looters don't crawl out of the sewers and start taking the chomp to people." "..Especially cops." Reed smiled back. "That too." Cass nodded in affirmation, before he was reminded of something. "Meant to ask, by the way - how's that feeling?" His gaze shifted towards his nephew's arm, bandaged up and bundled in a sling - he felt a pang of guilt for letting the kid get hurt when that.. thing attacked them. For almost watching him die. And then, again, when their car had gone into the river - that was twice he'd almost got someone killed and if it weren't for him, neither his nephew nor that girl would've been placed in danger. "I'll live, I'm sure," Reed answered, albeit that was only a half truth. Truthfully, it ached and throbbed on many of the jolts and bumps on the roads that the convoy had to pass over, yet the old man didn't need to know that. As far as Reed was concerned, his uncle had enough worries on his mind without this, so he just nodded and made an omission of fact put his mind at ease. "That stuff I got helped a little, I think." That last part was true. Whatever the kid, Trevor had given him was a hell of a kick and had helped dull the pain, at least for a little while anyways. "Think it did more than a 'little' help." Cass snorted, before deciding to keep the rest of that joke to himself. Honestly, he didn't care about his nephew's one-time use of beneficial narcotic, yet the kid didn't need to know that so long as he could lighten the mood with it. [I]God knew, they needed it-[/I] "Huh?" Something outside disrupted the senior detective's train of thought. [I]An explosion.[/i] Followed by the sight of one of the trucks, aflame and careening off the road into a shopfront. [I]Shit.[/i] The subsequent comms chatter coming from the nearby NEST type didn't do much to allay his fears, either - prompting him to grab his seat once more before warning his nephew, "Hold tight and keep your head down, I've got a bad feeling about this." In a brewing shitstorm like this, Cass was glad to have his shotgun within arm's reach. After all, being a cop with the amount of years he'd spent on the force, having a few contacts in the right place was always a good thing. [hr][i][h1][color=salmon]Haruka[/color] & [color=cornflowerblue]Shizuka[/color] [color=fa8072]T[/color][color=e78381]a[/color][color=d58591]k[/color][color=c288a0]a[/color][color=af8bb0]s[/color][color=9c8dbf]h[/color][color=8a90ce]i[/color][color=7792de]r[/color][color=6495ed]o[/color], Akemi Shinoda, & Daphne "Holly" Hope.[/h1][/i][hr] After watching their friends - or in Shizuka's case, [i]mere[/i] acquaintances - left to help around the safe camp, the twins were on their own again. That little joke - or rather, gamble - to toy around with Trevor's weird sweat-drug did help to give Haruka the break he needed from the series of madness since the beginning of what his brother called "Muck Invasion" or "Slime Apocalypse" ([i]trust him to come up with such crude names[/i], he thought bitterly), but now it's time to face the harsh reality once more. Shizuka studied him for a full minute before he stood up with a grim expression. "[i]Seems like you're perfectly okay - come on, let's get out of here. And make it fast.[/i]" "[i]Huh?[/i]" Haruka frowned at his twin. "[i]What do you mean? This is a safe---[/i]" "[i]---'Safe zone', you say? Whoever behind this monster freak show has infested the whole city with his - or her - lovely minions. Verthaven is surrounded by water everywhere - a convenient and limitless supply to easily multiply his or her army no matter how many times we kill them, no matter where we hide within this damned 'haven'.[/i]" Ignoring his brother's weak protest, Shizuka began to drag Haruka towards the nearest exit. "[i]If we want to stay alive, we'll have to keep moving, not waiting here to die.[/i]" Haruka sighed; he knew that nothing else he said would be able to change his brother's stubborn mind. "[i]Right...but aren't we forgetting someone?[/i]" Shizuka rolled his eyes at his twin's suspicious glare. "[i]Akemi is definitely coming with us. And I have a pretty good idea where she might be.[/i]" "[i]Not your 'gut feeling' nonsense again---[/i]" "[i]Sheez, why can't you just admit that my 'gut sense' had been pretty spot-on this whole time?[/i]" [hr] After leaving her nephews at the camp, Akemi took off towards the NEST Headquarters. She pulled out her mobile, and dialed Daphne's number. "Holly," the Japanese lady breathed into the speaker the moment the call was connected. "Are you alright?" "Ah, Ms. A--- [i]Sphire[/i]." Daphne's weak voice was barely audible above all the chaotic din around her. Akemi raised an eyebrow - the only time Daphne would call her by that nickname was when she's with NEST personnel. "I'm much better now, and my green friends have finally calmed down enough for me to reestablish the network link. It seems like...the play is finally reaching its climax." Akemi stopped in her tracks - by now she had reached the front door to the tall, gleaming building of the Metapolice branch office. She knew too well that Daphne's cryptic words could only mean one thing: the worst possible outcome. Without waiting for a reply, Daphne continued on, "I'll do whatever I can to repay your generous kindness. Just stay where you are - I'm coming down for you." "But---" "You don't have to worry about the boys," the agent chuckled lightly over the phone. "They are already heading in our way. The younger one is truly an interesting person." "Shizuka?" The disapproval was heavy in Akemi's tone. "You're curious how I'm getting along well with him?" "On the contrary, I'm more worried about him being a bad influence to you." The plump woman stepped back from the entrance when she caught one of the guards who seemed to be eyeing her with suspicion and turned around - in time to see the twins running towards her. "M'boys are here. What's our next move?" "RAVEN has set up transport to get the survivors out of the city." Akemi could hear the chime of the elevator in the background, followed by running footsteps. "But we're not going to take that option - the Changelings also have their eyes on the trucks...and I'm picking up a warning that they are going to sabotage the escape." Although Akemi never had much faith in NEST to begin with, she didn't like the idea of saving only their own necks while leaving the other innocent lives to their sorry fate. "...We have to warn them." "Ms. Akemi." Daphne had finally caught up with the Japanese - she dropped her usual drawl, and there was a subtle anxiety in her voice. "We do not have the luxury to worry about some strangers anymore." Before Akemi could make a retort, they were distracted by the sound of a sudden explosion. Shizuka, who had been silently watching the heated discussion between the two adults, let out a low whistle. "Oh-kay ladies, I guess that's our cue." [hr][h1][i][color=Crimson]Meiling Chiou[/color].[/i][/h1][hr] Meiling was wearing a blue jeans with a black hoodie and a backpack, which was carrying her recurve bow, arrows and equipment. She was looking for the daughter. Meiling was not worried about meeting again or old memories with her daughter; Sara was still a baby when she returned to Japan. The only mother she knew was Jane. "Mei!" A man shouted in one of the tents that Meiling had passed. It was Arthur, her ex-husband. "What the hell are you doing here? If the police-" "She is safe?" Meiling interrupted her ex-husband. "Yes, she's with Jane now." Arthur said, crossing his arms. "What are you doing here?" He insisted in the question. For him, she was a psychopath who he fell in love once, married and a few years later he had to explain of her to the police. Meiling looked away, ignoring the question entirely. "You should go," she said pointing to the APCs and the evacuation. She peered inside the tent and saw that Sarah was playing with Jane. "And you?" He said. "I can teleport, remember?" Meiling's words seemed to bother Arthur who left her and walked to his wife and daughter. She gave one last look at her daughter, compared the similarities with herself and smiled then she straightened her hood and walked her way toward one of the trucks. [hr][h1][i][color=plum]Trevor Obott[/color], [color=Crimson]Meiling Chiou[/color], & Scarlet Obott.[/i][/h1][i]Written in collaboration with [b][@Defacto][/b][/i][hr] Trevor did his best. He got as many people up on his feet as he could before they had to leave. Now it's up to NEST to make sure everyone gets out of here in one piece. Right when they received the go-ahead, Trevor met up with Scarlet, and they hauled ass straight to the trucks. The two were running through the rain. Tightly clenching his bow and arrow as he ran. He didn't want to leave this thing behind! Trusty bow and arrow never failed him in times like these. Scarlet was the first to hop up onto the truck, and she turned around and took Trevor's hand. Helping him up onto the truck. The truck was jam-packed with people, but Trevor found himself a seat. Resting his bow and arrow onto his lap, and looking up at Scarlet, who opted to stand. "So, where we gonna go after this?" Trevor asked. "I... don't know." Scarlet answered. "We'll figure out something. We always do." "Heh, hope the girls are good still looking good." Trevor said. Well, this place was as depressing as all the other ones so far. He looked around, and a Asian chick caught his eye. Meiling climbed the truck, sat down and rested her backpack on her lap. She could have teleported, but she wanted to make sure Sara would arrive safely. She looked around and noticed that one of the kids had a bow in hand and she smiled at the thought of the years at the temple, when he knew nothing about killing and archery. The boy noticed that the woman was looking at his, Trevor would have shot her a smile if it wasn't appropriate. He just looked at her for a moment - before his focus on her was broken by the explosion that immediately made Trevor whip his head in the direction of the blast. "[i]Oh shit![/i]" He exclaimed as watched the bright light, and a truck flying into a building! He hoped they were okay. His head turned over to Scarlet, "'Ey, what's going on?!" "I don't know!" Scarlet shouted, rather excited herself. "That couldn't have exploded by itself!" She said. The only thing that Trevor wondered was just who was behind this. The boy wasn't that bright, but he could see the obvious as well as anyone else. Question the year was just who's behind this? And who's on that truck? Meiling looked at the crashed truck wondering if her daughter would be there or safe in another truck. "What the hell is going on?" She yelled to the agents as she opened her bag and started assembling her recurve bow. "Hey, you probably know as much as they do!" Trevor said to the woman as he watched her assemble her bow. Trevor looked over his shoulder, and noticed that one of the APCs are breaking off from the convoy, and heading back for that other truck. He was curious as to what little lady would be carrying a bow like [i]that[/i] around. Trevor just brings his bow to shoot animals in the ass and shit. "Hey, let's just hope that you don't have to use it." "Everyone stay calm," A NEST Agent said as he got up, holding his gun in one hand, and putting up his other. "One of the trucks have having difficulties, Task Force RAVEN is on it." He snorted as he announced their names. "Of course, 'Task Force RAVEN'..." Meiling mocked, "from what I know this truck may be the next target."