[hr][i][h1][color=Lawngreen]Sonya Mayfield[/color], & Task Force RAVEN.[/h1][hr][hider=Armored Core 5 OST - Vulture][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCnntAa47hY[/youtube][/hider][hr] As Maximilian made clear, taking out the Changeling Unit was imperative. Above all else, Sonya was going to remove that detonator. Sonya hopped from one building to another, activating her camouflage in some attempt to catch them off guard. Because for all she knows, those jackals are cackling on some rooftop, patting each other on the back! Though, Sonya [i]had[/i] to be quick. Helena was trailing not too far behind by dipping into alleyways and whatnot. Leon guided her to their position over comms, and she got herself a clear view of them from a tall rooftop. Sonya squinted, and pulled out her Barrett 50. cal. It was powerful enough to put a hole through the best armor, she would have to see how well it fares against the Changeling Unit. Helena landed next to her, crouched down. Sonya handed Helena her binocular. "Yer' the spotter." Sonya said, giving her a chipper smile. "Right." Helena said, as she peered down the scope. She spied the that creepy-ass Mannequin, looking around. Damn that thing was creepy. Standing behind him was two cowboy looking people - a man and a woman. Helena couldn't make out their faces - she didn't need to, Sonya was going to blow their heads off. For a second, Helena swore she saw Heartbreaker - except it was a shorter, younger looking, version. There were more of them, but Helena spotted Luis, his tall figure and how he's oddly well-dressed for a psychopath. And the detonator in his hands. Helena highlighted the detonator in the binoculars. "Alright, here's your target." Helena said. "Pick your moment, because you only get one shot at this." Sonya stared down the sights of her rifle, and focused on the detonator. The pouring rain, and winds meant she has to make this shot count. Or else they're all dead. Sonya narrowed her eyes. [i]I am the sniper - I stand and wait, unnoticed by the enemy, until I take the first and last shot.[/i] Sonya thought to herself. "...[i]Mayfield![/i]" Helena whispered loudly as she could as she jumped to her feet, and pulled out her sidearm - aiming it behind her. It was one of the monsters, eight leggeded, and was covered in blades. Sonya ignored Helena - because, like she said, they have one shot, and even if whatever is behind her is going to kill them, ah, well, then Sonya wouldn't have it any different. The wind was still a bit too raging to take the shot, but it was dying down... The Mannequin's scope eyes viewed the rooftop, and he immediately shot his body straight up, and pointed at the NEST Agents on the roof without a word. "[i]Fuck, NEST!?[/i]" Luis grit his teeth as he jumped back. That surprised expression was replaced with a sly, cocky, smile, as he raised the detonator up into the air. "[i]Well, here's a front row seat![/i]" He mashed the button as many times as he could get in. The explosions and crashing of vehicles formed a destructive cacophony in the background. "[i]No![/i]" Sonya shouted as she adjusted her aim, and took the shot at Luis's arm. The bullet near instantly arrived and blew a gigantic whole in Luis' arm. Nearly taking it off. Luis was shot backwards by the sheer force of the round, and he couldn't even hold onto the detonator. It hit the ground. "Helena!" Sonya pointed down at the detonator. Before she whipped around, and shot the beast with the 50. cal, killing it in one shot. She quickly ejected the shell, and pulled out another to place into the chamber. Helena nodded her head, and quickly ran to the edge of the building and jumped - flash stepping halfway to the detonator. Right when Luis was reaching for it, Helena had grabbed it with one hand. The [i]other[/i] hand was pulling the pin on a grenade. Flash stepping away right as she let go of the grenades. Portals opened up for Luis and the rest of the Changeling Unit, and they leaped through them. "...Looks like you win this one." Luis said to himself as he leaped in - the portal closed and he was gone. Helena, holding the detonator in hand, threw it on the ground, and crushed it underneath her boot. "Detonator neutralized!" Sonya announced in the comms. "The Changelings got away, though." "...But some of the bombs were set off in the progress." Dana said, disappointed. "Merryday, Supersonic, we need you both back at the convoy. [i]ASAP[/i]." Sonya let out a sigh, before she nodded. "On it." [hr][h1][i][color=Dodgerblue]Lihua Vuhong[/color], [color=Red]Meifeng Vuhong[/color], & [color=Yellow]Mika Baozai[/color][/i][/h1][/i][hr] With Mayfield on the job, there was little that Lihua could do other than prepare for the worst to occur. Lihua took two strides with her long legs over towards a case, and opened it. Pulling out her Mossberg 500 with tactical adjustments. She prefers shotguns, really. Her power alone was a threat, but Lihua would be dumb if she just relied on this. Lihua, holding the shotgun at her side, walked back over to the girls. Lihua didn't even get a second to look around before a chain of explosions took place outside the APC that rocked the rock. At least seven. [i]Seven[/i] more vehicles had been disabled, will this madness ever end? What they didn't realize was that one of the destroyed APCs veered off course, and went right into the path of the Vuhong's APC. "[i]Girls, hold onto something![/i]" Lihua shouted as she held onto one of the bars with dear life. Mika had, thinking on her feet, deployed her shield and a transparent white orb formed around the four. The impact of the two APCs hitting at high speeds sent the ones the Vuhongs were in tumbling over at high speeds. The shield had protected them from the impact - but the three were helplessly spinning. Up until Mika's concentration gave out, and the shield disappeared. Fortunately for them, it was when the APC stopped motion... ...Upside down. Lihua, lying down on her chest, in pain, managed to push herself up enough so she could get a solid look around. Her vision was blurry, and she knew, from the pain, that she took a bit of a beating from the flying around. However, she knew that her own pain was irrelevant, there was one thing on her mind. She barely even noticed that the infant was crying. "Li... Juan?" She called out.. "She is..." Mika's voice replied, holding her younger cousin who was crying loudly - which sounded like a megaphone for a second. She noticed that she was scratched and bruised, but thankfully alive. "...Okay." Mika managed to blurt out. "...Fuck my life." Meifeng moaned as she pushed herself off the ground - she felt a sharp pain in her ribs. Might be broken. Damn it. Like hell's she's going to . Lihua, assured that Lijuan was okay, pushed herself up to her feet, and looked around. "Is everyone okay?" Lihua asked. "Yes, Auntie." Mika said. "...I think." Meifeng answered. "Control, this is Agent Vuhong..." Lihua pressed onto the comms piece. "Me, and my family, are in APC designation two-one-two-one-seven, and it has just crashed. The crew are injured, but we are fine. What is your advice?" "Get out of the APC and start proceeding north." Dana said over the comms. "Be careful, Vuhong. Grue out." Lihua sighed. It looked like the four were on their own. Lihua looked back at Meifeng and Mika... and realized that's all they could depend on in this disaster. Each other. Lihua walked over to the back door of the APC, and grabbed onto the latch - but before she could pry the door open, she reared her head over towards the two. "Girls, we have to get moving soon as possible." Lihua said. "Stick close to me at all times. Mika, you are to defend Lijuan above all else. Meifeng, you will kill any of those aberrations that get close. Are we clear?" "Crystal." Both of them said in unison. "Good." Lihua said, "Let's go." When Lihua opened the hatch, she had to kick it open. She was almost immediately assaulted by the heavy downpour that seemed to be endless. All she could hear other than the rain, was the screaming and gunshots. Lihua stepped out of the APC, and looked around and saw that it was anarchy. Trucks were overturned and flaming, with dead bodies, and people running around screaming - getting [i]slaughtered[/i] by the beasts that were moving in. NEST agents were firing upon the droves of them, but it wouldn't be long until they were overwhelmed. This wasn't good. They would have to be quick, and had to hit hard - because all their enemies would be hitting just as hard. Two beasts landed in front of Lihua, but she quickly took a step back, raising her hands up into the air, and impaled them on spears of concrete. They dissolved, but Lihua knew they were [i]endless[/i]. The girls stepped out of the APC, and Lihua nodded her head in the direction of north. In a disaster like this, Lihua knew that they couldn't afford to take chances. Which meant that everyone else here was on their own. [hr][h1][i][color=plum]Trevor Obott[/color], & Scarlet Obott.[/i][/h1][hr] Not even the Obotts were spared from the crash. The explosion made their truck jump up, and veer off course. Trevor let out a yell. The boy's heart started rushing with fear of his potential death. He grabbed onto his bow, and his seat as he awaited impact - and prayed to whatever God that'd listen so he'd get his forty-two virgins. "Trevor, hold on!" Scarlet shouted as she grabbed onto Trevor. She knew that there'd be only one way that they'd get out of this in one piece. She switched to her super-speed ability, and jumped up into the air, the second her feet hit the ground, she kept running at blinding speeds until the two were a healthy distance. Scarlet's ability thankfully cancelled out the negative effects of such a sudden stop, so the two looked back behind them. The truck started violently swerving as it tried to stop - going from left to right - before it finally lost control and landed on it's side. Leaving little indication that the people inside had survived. Scarlet put her hands on Trevor's shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay?" Trevor wiped a bit of blood that was seeping out of a scratch. "I think so." [hr][h1][i][color=DarkSlateBlue]Cassius and Reed Taylor[/color][/i][/h1][hr] Reed let off an agonized grunt, reeling from the impact. The explosion had thrown another truck into the path of their own, pushing them off the road and overturn the damn thing, throwing his weight against his arm - only worsening the pain. Eventually, he managed to grit his teeth and collect his senses just enough to speak, albeit hoarsely, "Ff.. grh.. Cass?!" Amidst the mass of whimpering, frightened voices, he couldn't make out anything that sounded like his uncle's voice. Glancing around, he could barely see a damn thing in this - the crash had knocked out the truck's interior lightning and the tiny window slits barely gave anything off. Then, across from him - he spotted the old man across from him, slumped against the floor. "Cass?" Reed called his uncle's name once more, yet that eluded no response. [i]He was out of it, clearly.[/i] Fighting against the restraints of his seat, Reed tried to fumble with it in an attempt to reach his uncle before something caught his eye. Moments passed, and he soon made out a silhouette stumbling towards the emergency exit. It sounded like one of the NEST agents from earlier, the man mumbling something about an evac into his comms device, before reaching for the exit doors. He heard the sound of a latch clicking, before the blinding light spilled into the truck from the opening - and then something else. "Oh, shit, get b-" Poor bastard never had a chance; Reed inhaled swiftly as he saw one of those [i]things[/i] from earlier pounce on the guard, much like the puma-creature had on him - the only difference being that this time it went straight for the man's neck and ended him with one, swift bite. But no - that wasn't the end of its hunger - instead, it's singular purple eye fixated on the disoriented passengers strewn throughout the truck. [I]"Fuck.. no"![/i] Reed murmured, realising just how vulnerable they all were right there and then. "Cass, c'mon, wake up!" He urged his uncle again, spying the old man's Ithaca 37 resting under his unconscious frame. Desperately, he fought against the restraints before he finally wrenched himself free, hitting the paneling of the truck with a low thud, before shuffling quickly towards Cass and the weapon as the frantic cries of other passengers were prematurely cut short, replaced with a high pitched gurgle or a low death rattle. Heart pounding as he scrambled for arnament, he quickly remembered where Cass had taken to keeping shells in his pockets and urgently pushed them into the Ithaca 37's magazine tube, before bracing it against his knee to rack it with the one good arm he had. Desperate, his gaze snapped back towards the creature - spotting it batting aside the slumped, disembowelled corpse of another passenger. Without hesitating, Reed shakily raised the weapon one-handed, braced the stock against his shoulder as best as he could and firmly squeezed back on the trigger. At that range, it was enough to knock down, adding a spray of that foul, solvent sludge to the blood spatter, yet the low, distorted growl that it gave off was telling enough to know it wasn't out - followed by the creature dragging itself across the interior with renewed vigor. It forced Reed to act even faster, firmly racking the shotgun against his knee before hastily shouldering it for another attack and firing, this time disintegrating a good chunk of its front arm in the process. "Eye for an eye," Reed seethed, this time taking the initiative by racking it a final time and steadily approaching its fallen, writhing body beford finishing it off with a final shot. "Ghrm... shit, what the... Reed? Reed?!" A familiar voice groaned from behind, stirring from unconsciousness. The young detective soon returned to his uncle, leaning in to check if he was alright. Barring a few scratches, bruises and a minor head wound, the old man was - just disoriented, so he quickly got a hand from his nephewm "I'm here, c'mon, lemme help you up.." Reed felt like a ton of shit in a half ton sack, yet he refused to let it on - if not for their morale, then his own resolce. "Screw that. You're barely in shape. Here, gimme that thing.." Cass firmly reacquainted himself with the Itahaca 37 his nephew had 'borrowed', before he sniffed the sir and muttered, "It.. I know that smell. Reeks of blood. Shit, we need to.." "Get out of here. I know. Not the first time I heard that plan, Uncle." "Yeah. Just.. we'll make sure we aren't leaving anyone behind. Not here. Not now." Affirming his Uncle with a nod, Reed made a sweep of the interior to check for survivors. Checking each body for a pulse - only to be disheartened and move onto the next. Despite the time he'd spent on the force, this was unlike anything he or even his uncle had seen and seeing so much blood, in so little time... it unsettled his stomach. Near the exit was a decapitated woman, slumped sidewards against the floor. In her arms was something wrapped in a blood soaked blanket that almost looked like.. [I]"Oh... fuck.."[/i] "Anyone?" His Uncle's voice broken the morbid silence. Wordless, Reed turned back towards his Uncle and firmly shook his head, [I]both[/i] fists clenched, before the Taylors ventured out into the rain. [hr][h1][i][color=springgreen]Cindy Keagan[/color], & [color=gray]Quentin Taylor[/color].[/i][/h1][hr] One of the glowing purple eyes shined brightly as it's puma-like frame was impaled on a giant glass spear - which was the usual clear color, and a green color. Cindy pulled back the spear right as the beast was turning into sludge. They just kept coming, and Cindy couldn't fight forever like this. She was injured, and there were more monsters than people who could fight them. If she was going to survive, then she had no choice but to keep fighting. Glass grew off Cindy's arms like crystals, breaking off her body when she threw her hands forward. The glass storm flew towards a group of the beasts like flakes. They started slicing them up, and reduced them to sludge within moments. She whipped her body around to the side and swiped both hands across again, and sent all the glass shards into a particularly beefy monster. NEST Agents were also opening fire on the beasts, but they just kept coming. "We need reinforcements!" The NEST Agent shouted into the comms. "Where is RAVEN?!" "We're on it," Quentin's voice growled back, interrupted by the presence of more incoming creatures on his end. No matter how many slugs he pumped into these things, more of them kept coming - right now he would've killed to have something like Vuhong's concrete abilities, his own Echo or even some extra firepower on hand. The subsequent further detonations made him wince, if only for a moment, at the uncertain possibility that Reed and Cass had been in one of those trucks, yet he forced it to the back of his mind. "Just hold on, we're coming!" He growled yet again, sprinting for the library. Leon pulled the trigger of his revolver, and put a hole in one of the tougher ones, while Nikki and Maria took his sides and opened fire on the beast until it was sludge. They took out one, but more kept coming. He looked back to the APC they hopped out of - an unnamed was mounted on the guns and taking out the larger groups of them. "Could use more of those gunners." He mentioned into comms. Try as they might, the 50. cals were the best bet against taking out hordes out these things. "Just cover Quentin and the library!" Maria shouted before unloading her clip on another beast, and pulling out another clip. She had to be extra careful - because if she so much as takes a heavy hit, she'll be dissolved just like these freaks. The gunner turned his aim towards the library, and opened fire on them. "You got cover!" The gunner shouted. With an opening cleared by a burst of .50 cal cover, Quentin sprinted forward, weapon gripped tight as a vice in his hands. He made a good chunk of the distance before weaving past a parked car, only for one of the humanoid creatures to intersect with his path, ready for another confrontation. Yet he'd had enough of this shit - enough of these things getting in his way, enough of these things trashing up the city, putting people [i]he[/i] cared about in danger and getting them hurt - Reed's potentially career-ending injury included. Before the creature could let off so much as a snarl, Quentin grunted and slammed the butt of his 870 into it's central eye, hoping to bring it down by more than just a notch. [i]That[/i] worked at least - the eye almost caved inwards when exposed to the full force of Quentin's muted fury, knocking the creature down like a man kicked in the testes with a steel toe boot - before it was finished off with a direct slug to its central mass, dissolving it into a puddle of sludge. It wasn't until the creature was gone that he realized he was nearly at the library - not far from where the other NEST firesquads had taken position and were making a valiant effort to repel the creatures. Not one to hold back, Quentin soon rejoined them, making his presence known over the comms with a "Counterpoint here, I'm at the library - just tag 'em and I'll do what I can." "Get the civilians out of there, and into the APCs that are pulling in. RAVEN will cover you." Dana said into the comms. The rest of RAVEN were quickly pushing into the building. Savannah was freezing the rain into blades and throwing them at the moments. All while the APC driver was pushing into the scene, and opening fire on the beasts that were pushing in. The pounding hammer of the 50. cal quickly drowned out all the roars and screaming. Leon and Maria pulled in shooting. A storm of glass was raining down upon a horde of the beasts. The glass shattered into smaller fragments hit the ground, the endless sound of the glass breaking was drowned out by the gunfire. The smaller fragments were joined together when Cindy closed her palm, and she sent them flying in all directions. They were long stained with the dissolved materials these abominations were comprised of, but they slid off them. When [i]more[/i] gunfire entered the mix, Cindy turned her head over to them. It was more NEST Agents coming to help them! Save her! Cindy was almost too delighted to realize that she was still in the middle of a fight. A grey-skinned monster - a thick body like a bear with gigantic claws - came at her, raising it's claw up into the air, letting out a roar. Cindy nearly froze - it was a instinctual reaction when she gathered all of her glass shards together to form a shield. When the claw impacted the shield, it cracked it. Unfortunately, the beast kept pushing forward, using it's superior strength to force Cindy along. She put her hands on the shield, and started pushing - but the bear-like beast was pushing her away. She couldn't scream for help - the monster was going to crush her against the wall at this rate. From behind came two slugs, each fired in quick succession at the beast's central mass from behind. Quentin, not one to gamble on whether or not this punk felt lucky, popped two more of the slugs into his 870's magazine tube before racking it again for another go, aiming to draw it away from her. Cindy felt relieved that the thing was finally off of her. The demon turned around towards Quentin. That was enough for Cindy to break the shield into blades and it went into the beast's body. Once the shards were well inside, they exploded to cause massive damage, and it wasn't long before it was dissolved. She let out a sigh of relief. More of RAVEN was pushing in. Cindy played her part and used her storm of glass to her advantage until the seemingly endless swarm of the beasts were thinned out, and they were in the clear. "... Thank you." Cindy said to Quentin, and RAVEN as a whole, the former of the two waving her off with a two-fingered salute. "Alright, everyone into the APC!" Leon shouted, pointing back towards the open doors of the APC. The survivors of the crash huddled into the APC. [hr][h1][i][color=aqua]Jennifer Marissa Caspin[/color][/i][/h1][hr] Jen tried to wait. She really did. But there was so much waiting she could accomplish before she just had to leave. Jennifer Caspin, wearing her cyan-colored outfit, got in the back of a truck, and looked around. She wished that she had brought her DS, or something to play, but she didn't exactly have the opportunity to grab it. Not only that, it likely got grabbed by looters (The people who are stupid enough to [i]try[/i] in a disaster like this). So, Jen just wrapped her arms around herself, and looked around these awkwardly packed trucks. She didn't know where everyone was, but she was hoping that she could at least be near one of them. Right now, she was alone. Standing all by herself. All she could do was awkwardly twiddle her thumbs and wait for the moment they're out of this nightmare. Which scared her. She doesn't know what she's going to do next. No guidance. No friends. Nobody. When Jen let out a sigh, it felt like this truck ride was an eternity. Unfortunately, she would have preferred the scary truck ride than the explosions. When the first truck exploded, everyone's eyes went off towards the side of the truck. Jen's eyes widened when she saw the burning truck crashing into a building. Her heart started racing when she considered just [i]who[/i] was on that truck. [i]Who[/i] destroyed the truck? And are they going to attack her truck next? NEST Agents went back for it, and it reassured her that NEST at least [i]cared[/i]. However, it wasn't long before she got the answer to her question. The explosives hidden underneath the truck were detonated, and the truck, flaming, went violently steering off course and fell over. Skidding. All the occupants fell off, and were horribly injured or killed. The truck was torn to pieces. A flaming wreckage was left behind. Jennifer was one of the few people who (unfortunately) survived. Everything was blurry, Jen could only feel a horrible ringing in her head. It hard to see since her glasses broke (pieces of glass were in her eyelids - every time she moved her eyes she could [i]feel[/i] it). Jen felt a pain throughout her body. Her body was repairing itself, but she couldn't even understand the extent of how much she was even injured. She just felt a pain like no other in her stomach area. Felt oddly cold and metal-y. She barely had the strength to lift up her neck, before she looked down.... And she saw a metal beam impale her through the stomach. Her mouth was agape. She couldn't believe her eyes. There was a giant metal beam inside of her. Every time she tried to move, there was pain like no other. Jen let out a groan of pure pain as she coughed up blood. The only thing keeping her alive was her regenerative ability. She grabbed onto it, and tried to pull it off, but she couldn't even get it to flinch. It was no use. "H-help..." Jen called out, hoarsely. She could barely get heard over all this. "Help..." [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, & Task Force RAVEN.[/h1][/i][hr] The chain explosion that blew up several trucks was more than enough to pull the four of them out of their little cold war. Haruka gritted his teeth. [i]As if the current situation couldn't get any worse.[/i] Daphne was still on her comm, and the pale green hue on her skin seemed to be darkening with each passing second - the older twin couldn't tell if she was feeling stunned or angered (or maybe a mixture of both?) at the chaotic horror happening before them--- "Get [i]down![/i]" Akemi yelled, raising a hand to throw out her force field in time to block out a tentacle that was suddenly slamming down on them from above. Behind the odd group, another wave of purple-eyed demons were crawling out from the ground. "Fuck this shit," Shizuka grumbled before he grabbed for his brother and the agent to phase through a slashing assault. For once, everyone welcomed the profanity; even Haruka was beginning to grow out (or rather, getting tired) of his own fears, now feeling more irritated than scared at the horde of creatures that were closing in on them. However, it only put them in a much more desperate position. One: unlike the rest, Haruka was a normal human being with no superpowers, with nothing on him that he could use to protect himself. Two: for the other three, their abilities could only put them on the defensive, and that was obviously a big disadvantage for the foursome against a literal army of slimes. Three: even if they wanted to test out the theory of Shizuka's power being able to counteract the telepathic link of these monsters, it would be more effective to try it out on the Giant Purple Eye rather than these smaller - as the younger twin had been calling them - 'Minions'. Shizuka turned to look at Daphne. "I think we could really use some help here from NEST." The chloropath shook her head. "I have put a request to Grue - she's my superior, by the way - but I'm afraid that NEST and RAVEN already have their hands full to deal with the convoy bombing to spare anyone to lend us a hand." While Akemi and Shizuka continued to keep the monsters at bay with their powers as the group were being pushed back - in the direction towards where the series of explosions were at - Daphne switched her comm to a private channel. "Grue, there is one other thing that I would need your advice. One of the civilians with me is an unregistered Metahuman who had fought with the monsters head-on thrice so far. According to him, he found out that these creatures were most likely being controlled by a Metahuman through telepathy, and that his ability may be effective against the monster's mind network." Haruka, who stood beside the agent (since both of them could do nothing against the incoming attacks), overheard her and pursed his lips - even though he was well aware that Shizuka's power would give them a chance to live through this apocalyptic crisis, a part of him wished that his brother's ability could stay as a secret forever. "That is..." Dana was unsure of what to make of this. Everything was falling apart. However, in this situation, they could really use that power... Especially against the giant that Maximilian is struggling against. It was risky - but they couldn't afford to be idiotically by-the-books right now. "What are the specifics of this ability?" Dana asked. Daphne gave Haruka a sideways glance - who gave her a reluctant nod - before she spoke into the comm, "His intangibility power is able to disrupt telepathic links - assuming that these creatures do not have much of a mind of their own and relying heavily on the mental link to make intelligent moves, his ability should be able to immobilize those he touched long enough for us to give them the fatal blow." The feeling of being abruptly cut off from her green network when the silver-haired boy expanded his ghost-like ability to her was still fresh in her mind. "...I can vouch for that." [i]Intangibility.[/i] The thoughts ran through Dana's head. Disrupting the links of one of them wasn't going to be enough, they'd have to hit the big ones. She didn't want to send a civilian she barely even knew to fight - but this could turn the tide of the battle in the favor of NEST if they could remove the giant monster, [i]and[/i] have Maximilian back in the fight. "Look, Holly," Dana started. "I don't know much about this...'civilian', and this might break NEST ethics, but we need that giant out of the picture." Dana paused for a moment, the fight between Maximilian and the Giant was likely not that far out of sight. "It's more than Maximilian can handle. If this civilian is willing...can he use his ability on that giant target? It's risky, I know, but the situation isn't looking too bright on the evacuation." After Daphne relayed Dana's words to Shizuka, the younger twin let out a disgruntled sigh - either way, it was a battle he couldn't escape from. Not with his powerless brother in tow. "...On one condition. To protect my family---" His eyes swept from Haruka to his aunt before he refocused his attention back on the monsters. "[i]---At all cost.[/i]" "You heard him," Daphne drawled into the comm, the corner of her lips curled upwards into a small, knowing smile. Although they were slightly off course, they were making good progress towards the Giant Blob's direction. "We have...roughly about another sixty yards or so before we reach the site where the Giant is." Dana silently nodded her head. "Please be careful and keep me posted." Dana urged. "If [i]anything[/i] goes wrong, get him out of there." "Yes, ma'am," was the reply. Shizuka sank two more creatures into the concrete ground before he shouted at the agent, "Any plans before we reach that [i]tentacula[/i] there?" Akemi was beginning to feel the strain on her body; while she was able to project her shields out faster with each use, the prolonged activation of her power after a decade-long hiatus was burning her out rather quickly. She had to be careful not to go overboard - and kill herself instead (meaning, she would [i]literally[/i] burn herself out). Still, she had to put on a brave face before the boys. "How about you go concentrate on that Giant first instead of worrying about us?" "Of course I will." Shizuka narrowed his cold eyes at the gigantic monster. "It's time we end this bloody shitstorm. [i]For good.[/i]" [hr] Echo crossed it's arms into an x, and took a direct hit from the giant's long arms. He was fortunate enough to have Echo as a shield - but they were flying through the air, Maximilian even doing a mid-air spin. The two came to a skidding stop on the street. He grit his teeth as his head went from left-to-right. Those damn monsters were coming right for him, lunging at him from all. Maximilian stood straight up, and balled his fists. Maximilian's Echo moved at speeds that was hard for anyone to track as it started the brawl by punching one of the beasts so hard that it instantly dissolved. While the rest were battered and quickly eliminated. Maximilian's armor was coated in grey sludge. He looked up at the giant one more time. It was standing there. High and mighty. The most dangerous opponent. Long tentacles came out of it's back, tipped with lance-like blades. A dangerous net of knives that was heading straight for him. He did the first thing that came to mind and jumped up into the air, the tentacles were impaled on the ground - but some of them pulled upwards towards Max. Echo's fists pounded the tentacles away. The rest came swinging upwards for him, but Echo raised it's hand in the air for one mighty strike which cut through waves of the tentacles. Maximilian couldn't keep fighting this on his own - he needs backup. His objective was to stall, but he won't be able to get out of this alive at this rate. "Maximilian," Dana said into the comms. "Backup is on the way, just... hold out a little longer." "Affirmative." Maximilian said. "I'll hold my ground." "It's not the backup you're expecting... it's someone special." Dana said. "Whoever it is - I just need him now!" Maximilian shouted as he dodged a clawswipe from the beast.