Leaning against the table with arms crossed Richard sighed. "I'm just drained from yesterday and all that shit." he mumbled. Rubbing the back of his head he glanced up at Marcus. "So what's your problem?"

Walking across the room Rin stood near the window with Tess. "Well I'm here for you anytime." she said then glanced out the window. The ships fastly approaching caught her attention and she stepped closer. The flying patern wasn't a friendly one and the ships didn't look like any that would be seen in the area. Then it kicked on her. "Shit." Rin growled then dashed across the room and reached into her bag. "We need to find the others now." she barked, her tone and posture changing drastically.

Marcus shrugged. "Just tired. Got booted from my room at like 2 and Tess took my place, didn get much sleep after that." He said with another yawn. He paused though after a moment, looking up and around with a frown when he heard something that was eerily familiar. A humming noise, a noise usually heard over the sound of clamoring gun fire and shouting...
"Ohohoh you have got to be kidding...' He said under his breath when he caught sight of the ships. In a second he was on his feet, dragging Richard up as well with all signs of weariness gone and racing to get under the nearest arch way. There was a whirring sound of the turrets heating up and of other people scrambling for cover before the all to familiar death rattle of an auto turret tore through the commotion.

Tess took a second longer to figure out what Rin had discovered, and with a grunt of agreement she raced after Rin, her own bag and any weapons she might have brought with her in her own room and not in here. UKD bastards

As Marcus pulled him up Richard realized what was happening. Images of his days spent fighting in ground troops flashed before him. His heart began to rush, yet a calmness fell over him. Sticking close to Marcus and trying not to get caught in the mass panic was his main priority at the moment. "out the back and past the dumpsters there's a culvert." he told him. His thoughts went to the girls, he knew they could likely take care of themselves though.

Pulling her side arm out of the bag she loaded around in the chamber then swung the backpack over her shoulder. "Let's go." she said rushing out the door with Tess. The sounds of panicked screams could be heard all around, no one seemed to knowewhat they were doing, so the two trained soldiers (Rin and Tess) stood out. Rin hated that she wasn't with Marcus. The one time they're apart the shit hits the fan. But she had to focus. Get out of the building, out of the city, find the others along the way.

Marcus hesitated, thoughts going to Rin, Tess, and his pack. It was only for a second though as he tried to evaluate the situation. It was either find them or run and hope for the best.
"Let's try to get as many of these civis out that way as we can, then follow." He said finally, waiting for a pause in the stream of gunfire before slipping back out into the open. There was a bunker system around here, he was sure of it. And the locals probably knew about it, the least he and Rich could do was give them a chance to run for it. And if it gavevthe girls more time to find them? Added bonus.

"Right behind you" Tess raced after Rin, the halls packed with scrambling crowds but they seemed to part pretty easily for the pilots. Those had to be carried turrets they were hearing, which most likely meant ground troops loaded up behind them. This was looking like an invasion force not a raid,

Richard gave a quick nod then turned to the panicked crowd. "Alright, only way to get out of this is stay calm and follow our direction. Head out the back, make your way over to the culverts." He ordered, his words stern and commanding. He cursed himself for not having been more prepared for this. But how could he have been? It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away. This area isn't even one prone to attacks, he had no way of knowing. Yet He still blamed himself for not being as prepared as possible. Feeling shaking hands grasp his arm he turned to see a middle aged woman. "There are safe houses among the mountains." She told him simply before following the others.

The sound of machine guns and bombs riddled the once peaceful place. As Rin and Tess, along with random civilians, made their way around to the back exit a blast caused the hallway ahead of them to collapse. "Shit." Rin growled. Several people had been caught by the rubble, and she wanted so badly to try and help them, but she knew that if she did they would all die. And dying isn't an option [yet *evil gm laughter*]. "Alright, let's head for the front." She said changing her direction. The sounds of the machine guns were beginning to fade, that meant any time now ground troops would be pouring through the streets.

[I see what ya did Thur;)]

Marcus was having more difficulty then he'd care to admit keeping himself together, forcing himself to focus in one thing at a time as he ushered people out. Then a familiar voice caught his attention and he whipped around to see Casper, shirt scorched and with what looked to be ash smeared in his face, come running up to them.
"Three carriers, standard but packed to the fucking rafters" he said in way if greeting, pushing an already bloodied combat knife into Marcus's hand. For a sec he looked worried, searching Marcus's expression for that doubt and when he saw it he frowned.
"I'm fine. Lend a hand we're getting people out to clear the field ". Marcus said quickly when he saw Casper's express change. The smaller man grunted, but nodded before disappearing into the crowd to comply.

" its going to be a bloodbath out there". Hissed Tess, eyes wide and maybe a bit scared. Yes she had fought and killed before, but it had been at a distance. From the seat of her viper, this was just so up close and brutal...

Richard caught a quick glimpse of Casper, but his interest or concern for the man were far from priority at the moment. Armed only with a knife he made his way out the door with the civs to be sure they were headed in the right direction, and most were. The culvert ran into open concrete ditches that went along the alleyways behind the buildings. It looked like they were about this quickest way to the treeline. Holding position in the culvert pipes he wondered if he should go ahead and take point, or if he should wait for Marcus. It was important to get the civs to safety, right now that was priority 1. "Stick close and do as I say." He said to the group then started moving out, them following close behind.

"I know, stick with me okay. We'll get through this together." Rin told Tess, trying to keep her calm and focused. She had been in very few ground based battles, most her experience was in a Viper and she knew that was even more so for Tess. Drawing close to the front entrance Rin could hear gunfire drawing closer. "What do you have?" She quickly asked Tess to determine what weapons she had.

Marcus was near the exit by the back door, across from Richard and watching as people filed through after the other with his back to the wall searching for an obvious face but not seeing it. When Casper reappeared at his side, Marcus glanced at him before towards the entrance to the food court where an all too familiar rattle could be heard.
"I think that's everyone that can walk, didnt see your friends though," Casper said, his voice that cold even tone now that Marcus found oddly comforting in these situations.
"I didnt see them either, save for Catch but he's out the door by now," Marcus said in answer, his fingers tightening and loosening their grip repeatedly around hsi borrowed knife. Damn pack was back in his room. "Follow after them and cover their rear, I'll meet up with you guys once Rin and Tess are clear."
Casper snorted clearly having none of that.
"Fuck that. What happened last time I let you ditch me?" Marcus scowled, about to protest when they were forced to duck as the front doors burst open and two canisters clattered and rolled into the room. "Gas!" Shouted Cas as a warning to anyone else in the immediate area before the canisters burst with sinister hisses, soon followed by muffled shouts and the sound of organized suppression fire.

"okay, okay," Tess exhaled, skidding to a stop when Rin did and ducking down behind a counter when the gun fire started and shouting came from up ahead. "Pocket knife, thats it I didnt pack an armory or anything!" She said, doing her best not to panic. "What, what about you? Did you grab Marcus's stuff? Im sure he packed like an AK or something, right? Did you get it?"

Richard's eyes scanned the trees and his ears listening carefully for anything out of place. There was no sign of enemy troops but he couldn't let his guard down. Everything had happened so fast, all that went down while they were in the city... the things he saw. Keep moving forward, never look back. He repeated in his head, attempting to force every other thought out. The group pushed on a little further then stopped at a creek running through the dense forest. Tightly gripping the rifle he had picked up off a dead soldier he stood guard while the others took a rest. His eyes kept drifting to Tess though.

When the group came to a stop Rin took the chance to do a head count. Between the people the boys had lead out of the city and the few her and Tess had picked up along the way they had a decently sized group. A few of them were armed, but they were all only civilians. The four were the only combat trained and experienced, and they were relatively inexperienced compared to most. Stepping over to Tess, Rin let out a sigh. "You did good back there. I'm proud of you." She told her. The blur of it all was beginning to wear off, reality was setting in for her. She knew if it wasn't for Tess she never would have made it out alive.

Tess looked like she was going to be sick, her face pale and blood splattering her earlier fresh clothes. She had been helping one of the older women up and through the trees but came to a stop when Rin spoke to her. She flashed her friend a shaky smile, in one hand still clutching tightly the pistol Cas had shoved into her hands before he had disappeared into that building. "Thanks, but all this is doing is reminding me why I picked pilot training," She said with a breathless laugh, helping to ease the woman down to the ground before straightening up and trying to wipe her hands clean on her legs. she looked petrified.

Marcus was stone faced, bringing up the rear of the group now a good ten minutes or so behind them. He had stayed back the longest, his throat hoarse from screaming after Cas while he had laid down oppressive fire for the escapes using the rifle he had scavenged from a dead UKD man. But only dust had billowed out of the doors of the collapsed building, no sign of the Friendly Ghost and Marcus was eventually to pressed to wait for him anymore. He felt wretched, imagining what Kyle would have done better and what his squad leader was probably going to say to him when he showed up and explained how he had left a man behind.
When he rejoined the group his eyes lifted from the ground, searching through the haggard and frightened looking faces before landing on Rin's. She was okay, that was all that really mattered. He had felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders when he and Rich had found the girls, having nearly crushed Rin's ribs in a tight embrace. but there had been gun fire going on and he had been forced to push away from here. Now though they were in the clear, for the moment at least.

With a slightly shaky hand Richard wiped the blood, sweat, and dirt from his face. He couldn't erase what had happened, no matter how much he wanted to. The guilt of how he had treated Casper, of how petty he had been, weighed heavy on his heart. He should be the one alive. He's Marcus's friend, squad mate, practically like a brother. And Tess... He's the one that should be here with her, he's who she would want alive. His thoughts were muddy, guilt, regret, uncertainty, and fear had all taken root. He was determined though to keep the civilians alive and get them to safety. And, as much as he could, keep his friends safe.

Rin couldfeel Tess unraveling, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. "Go to the stream, take a breath, run some cool water over your face. It will help. I can't have you passing out on me." Rin said in a calm steady voice. She flashed her friend a reassuring smile, knowing that it wouldn't make the hurt go away but would hopefully keep her going awhile longer. A moment later she saw Marcus coming up at the rear of the group. Seeing him again made her feel like it was possible to survive this, him being there gave her hope. Slowly she walked to him. "How are you holding up?" she asked. It was obvious Casper's death had left Marcus and Tess destroyed emotionally and Richard seemed preoccupied and unsure. Knowing all of this made Rin put away her emotions as much as she could. She needed to be there for them, she needed to be strong.

"I have no intention of passing out, promise," Tess said with a slight laugh, before tucking the pistol in the back of her shorts and starting for the stream. A rinse couldn't do her any harm, and soon she was crouched in the shallows cupping slightly muddy water over her face and trying to scrub the drying dust, grime, and blood from her hands and arms. At first she started out with sure movements but eventually the gestures became frantic as she desperately tried to erase the glaring reminders of what had just happened not two hours ago.

Marcus seemed to have to think over the question, looking down at his pilfered rifle and fussing with the mag clip on it.
"I'll be fine." He said after a second, raising his head and giving her a nod. No smile, it wasn't a time for smiling. "How about you, and the others?" He hadn't had much chance to speak to them before, but throughout the hike when he wasn't thinking of Casper and Kyle he was instead mulling over their situation. They were all pilots save for him. Granted Richard apparently had some ground combat experience, but who knew how long it had been since any of them had been in a real firefight?
This was all familiar to Marcus, even the dull ache of loosing someone. Kyle's squad wasn't his first, after all. The crack of gun fire, pumping adrenaline, and smell of smoke and ash was as much a home to Marcus now as anywhere else had been. Sick as it was, it was his comfort zone. But without a combat suit or back up he would have to approach this whole scenario very differently then any other. And if that wasn't enough, the risk of Rin in the middle of it all only ate away further at his fraying nerves.

After a moment of internally arguing with himself about the decision Richard walked over to where Tess crouched. Hesitantly he kneeled down a little ways from her. "If you need anything... If there's anything I can do... Let me know." he staggered. Glancing down and then back up to her he continued. "I'm sorry, for everything." Knowing he had probably already said to much he stood and turned to go back to his post.

Rin took a moment to think about it. Glancing around at the group and letting out a long sigh she knew that the answer wasn't a good one. "Not great, honestly. Tess seems to be on the edge of a full on breakdown and Richard is in some kind of fog. The civs aren't any better. I suppose all and all everyone is doing as well as could be expected, all things considered." She outlined for him. It felt almost like a mission report and she almost caught herself saying 'sir'.

"Did you order an invasion with UKDs?". Demanded Tess, her voice shaking despite the bite in it. "No. I don't think so. So don't you dare come apologizing for what they did and acting like I need coddling. I don't fucking need coddling! I, I just need,". Her voice broke and Tess cursed at her own lack of control. She just wanted to be angry, so why was she crying again? "I don't need coddling I just need something to do.". She managed finally, standing up straight now and nodding in agreement with herself.

Marcus watched the encounter between Tess and Richard as Rin spoke, to dar away to hear them but guessing what transpired. "Doesn't matter how the civis are, long as they can walk.". He said finally, the pragmatic tone and logical mind set taking over.
"We need to know where we are, and where the closest transportation is. A bunker out here would be nice but it'll just be a nice place to starve in, looked like that force was coming in for the long haul. We need Rich and Tess up and running though, this isn't the time to act like hormonal idiots.". With thay said he slung his gun over his shoulder by the strap and started over to where The others were, intending to talk to them.

Richard clinched his jaw as he heard Tess spew out the words. No, but I treated you and Casper like shit. He thought but knew it wasn't what he should say to her. At this point he realized that he shouldn't have said anything at all to her, that he should just leave her alone. As much as it hurt to do so he simply walked away. Quiet, and relatively calm, on the outsidebut screaming on the inside. He started back to where he was before.

Crossing her arms she started bitting at the inside of her lip to try and keep quiet. She didn't completely agree with Marcus. Granted they couldn't sit down and have a therapy session with the civilians but more than just their physical health was important. For one thing a calm and trusting group would be easier to protect and lead, but for another these were humans, not just livestock. If you view them that way then your no better than the UKD. This wasn't a point that should be argued at the moment though.

As for Tess and Richard, that was something she would put some input in on. Catching up to him she came along side him, slightly behind. "They aren't being hormonal idiots, they're hurting and scared just like we are. But they show it differently." she said as quietly as she could. "Give them some credit, they've held it together this long." she concluded.

"they have yeah, but they're gonna need to hold it together longer". Marcus countered, "we can't afford anything else Rin.". It wasn't to be cruel or because he was frustrated. It was just the facts. And already he had seen this to many times, someone loosing it in their first fight. Even veterans did, but there were only four of them and at least a dozen civis. They couldn't allow for weakness. At least not visible weakness. He didn't say it out loud to Rin, after all he has a pretty good idea how she'd react to it, but they just needed to suck it up. Bottle up these issues until they were back at a base and had the luxury of breaking down in private.

Despite knowing the point he was getting at her concern remained the same. "Just don't go dropping the hammer on them, because that won't help." she remarked. Having said her peace, for the most part, she stopped following him and turned her attention back to the civilians. She started checking on how they were holding up and tried to gather as much information on the safe houses as she could. No one knew exactly where they were, however, they knew that all were equipped with a modest set of supplies. She could agree that finding a way out of the war zone was likely the best course of action but it seemed worthwhile to find a safe house and collect the supplies. And hopefully find more survivors.

Marcus glanced back at her when he no longer heard her following. That was probably for the best, so he headed for where Richard was standing a fair way off fr the stream now.
"Hey." He said when he reached him, nodding to him. Richard was his best hope for someone to rely on here based off of facts and not emotions. Sure he trusted Rin without a doubt, but she was a pilot and he couldn't forget that. He needed to know there was someone else here to trust that wasn't green on the ground and it was already pretty clear that wouldn't be Tess.
"I need to know how much experience you've had with this sort of combat,"

Richard gave Marcus a quick nod and turned slightly to face him, while also keeping his position as watch. "After my basics I went to serve as a guard on H4, a moon outpost near Naidor. I mainly dealt with internal security there. I didn't see any action till about 8 months later when I transferred to Naidor. It was a lot of patrol missions, a few actual heated battles but during all of those I had abundant backup and resources. Before transferring to piloting I was sent on a couple missions behind enemy lines. It was a lot like this. We were always outnumbered and outgunned." He recounted to Marcus. While he may not have seen as much hardcore action as many he did have a pretty good idea of what he's doing. This wasn't completely unfamiliar territory, not like it was to Tess. He recognized Marcus as his superior, not only because of rank but because of experience.

Pleasantly surprised to hear this Marcus nodded his approval. Good, so there was some experience here at least.
"That's a start then," he said aloud, befire gesturing to Richard's weapon. "How much do you have left in that?"

Tess had recovered her composure by now, and was weaving through the survivors doing her best to boost moral. But by the time she had finished she looked just as beat as she had earlier. A grime set about her face, she tugged her hair back and up before looking to Rin. "Are we moving again soon?"