My life is an unending marathon across rocky roads, ceaseless because I am running from myself. The wounds of my past still haunt me, and I cannot forgive myself for my mistakes. In passing solipsism, I’ve contemplated my punishment, if perhaps all life abandoning Earth was my fault for abandoning my adopted family, like my biological family abandoned me. Desertion seems to be, or so it feels, my own personal story. I can only prove that I exist, and that my existence has a theme. That which I need eludes me, and I am never there for those who call my name.

The sensation of rain upon his skin awoke him, but it was all an illusion. The dry morning sky pierced through the ceiling’s holes and illuminated dust, which drifted upward with movement of an off-white blanket. Jin, with his exhausted soul, had camped roughly on the floor of an abandoned and previously ransacked house, tucked within a rocky woods of dead trees. Everything had been trashed, no less the king-sized bed smashed halfway through a large window. It was like that now, a world where people in their in desperation could turn an entire town upside-down. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find resources without functional society, particularly medicines for which most people would kill. Jin hadn’t yet fallen to an incurable sickness, but the thought plagued his mind. Paranoid, perhaps wise, he carried a solar powered air-filtration system at all times that he had scavenged from a deceased doctor’s house. It was more a psychological benefit than anything else, though it at least provided relief against the bitter taste of sand and rust. In contrast, it reminded him of better times, faint memories of fresh mountainous air on childhood family trips. In retrospect, he had lost so much more than grassy plains and crystal clear air, but everybody had lost something now.

Jin gathered his belongings, already half-dressed because the night was cold and there was little sense of security. He secured his pristine sword to his back, which he cleaned daily, and holstered a rusty revolver once belonging to his adopted father. Jin had recovered it from his childhood home seven months earlier, which he returned to for the first time in over a decade. Although the family home was in one piece, accessible from a key hidden beneath a garden gnome, there was no family to be found. Jin took the weapon as a sentimental keepsake more than anything else. He didn’t know what had happened to his family, where they might have been if anywhere on Earth, but it was all too late for a reunion.

With a heavy gulp, Jin finished his half bottle of water, reattached his air filtration mask to his bearded face, and bid farewell to his temporary dwelling. Outside, his boots crunched old gravel and light patches of sand as he re-emerged into his Earthly surroundings. It was particularly rocky in this region with many dead trees and few spots of green. Sometimes you could still stumble upon a small oasis of greenery and flowing water, but these havens were fast becoming a rarity. Navigating the fallen woods with a million questions, Jin wondered how anybody could stomach the anguish of survival, not to mention how anybody could even breathe anymore. The air had become noticeably tighter with a taste of dirty tin on its breeze, but still the human race stood. Some things never changed, and ours was perhaps the most resilient of species, but there was no overcoming this one. Unless you had been blessed to evacuate with The Ark, time felt ever more finite. The memory of hundreds of glowing ships illuminating the night skies still haunted him. It was awe inspiring, a sight of unimaginable beauty that meant no less than our end. The Earth was dying, and not even the greatest minds on Earth could save it, though many swore there was still an opportunity to escape it. Desperate voices gossiped of a failed launch or ship blown from the skies. Jin had heard the rumours, but he paid little attention to them. He mostly kept to himself and avoided the masses, living a life of aimless journeying and the occasional trip down memory lane.

After thirty minutes of thoughtful wandering, Jin cleared the forest’s edge, emerging into an expanse of sandy terrain, few roads, and a couple of distant towns. Rare spots of blue sky hung over neighbouring mountains, while a rusty road sign barely read Alberta, Canada. The immediate area was seemingly deserted, but it wasn’t long before the calming hum of an electric pick-up truck brought trouble. Now fifty yards from an abandoned motor charging station, the rusty red machine honked with an abrupt horn, stopping Jin in his tracks. He knew better than to trust strangers, less so three scruffy men with the Novus Ordo insignia branded on their military jackets' sleeves. This was bad news. Only one of them was obviously armed, bearing an old AK-47 that had clearly seen better days, but armed or otherwise, those associated with this rising power’s cause were guaranteed trouble. Not his first encounter and fearing the worst, Jin knew it just might be his last.

Overcome with waves of panic, Jin immediately and instinctively turned and ran. It was a reckless decision, knowing he might have instead reasoned with them by feigning interest in their cause. Worse so, trying to outrun an assault rifle was asking for death. But his legs wouldn’t ease up, powerful in every step as if adrenaline had turned him into an Olympic athlete. He was fortunate also that the trio’s reactions seemed delayed, but only momentarily. Their shouting was an unrecognisable blur, but the cracking sound of rapid gunfire was all too familiar, as well as incredibly brief. Murmurs of detonating the charging station and the remark of stupid slipped into Jin’s awareness. He wasn’t convinced this old rust bucket could be ignited by a bullet, but he always was ignorant of the workings of cars and their stations. Either way, the gunman had ceased firing. The trio’s apparent bickering had probably saved him, aside from the handful of bullets deflecting off his sword, the force of which thumped through his spine. But the fight wasn’t over. As Jin closed in on the station, first scanning for an accessible entrance, he glanced back long enough to see his enemies in pursuit.

“I’m calling bullshit!” he heard the gunman yell, English speaking with some European accent. “I am taking my shots on this prick!”

Eyes widening and teeth gritting together anxiously, Jin dashed around the station’s corner, entering a car park abandoned of all but a damaged truck and two trashed SUVs. Strapped for options, he quietly ducked out of sight as the three men entered the area.

There was a moment of uneasy calm as the men stopped, one still brandishing his rifle while the others unsheathed their knives. Splitting into two, the gunner and a fellow man moved slowly for the large truck, while their third detached for the SUVs. They moved methodically, yet their navigation was somewhat unprofessional and overly confident. As they closely bordered the truck, Jin launched a surprise assault, jumping down from its roof with a rock smashing against the knifeman’s shoulder. As he hollered, Jin shoved him full force into the turning gunman, who reacted with accidental shots into the sky. Knowing best not to run again, Jin wrestled for the rifle, but was instead shoved forward by the one good arm of the knifeman. Stumbling to the ground, it was now a fight of reckless kicking and striking where all former training seemed to escape him in the panic. Before he knew it, all three men stood over him having exhausted his options. Damn, he thought. The initial rush was over, and undoubtedly this would be his end.

The rifleman, agitated and realising a spot of blood on the back of his head, raised his AK-47 and squared it down at Jin’s face. There was a moment of what felt like an eternal silence, and then click. But the rifle didn’t fire. Reopening his squinted eyes, Jin looked up to yet a second click. And then a third and a fourth. The rifle had jammed. Frustrated, the rifleman cursed loudly with a string of random profanities.

“Fine,” he growled. “We’ll do it the old fashioned way.”

Removing the smallest of the men’s three knives from his jacket, the sweaty thug inhaled deeply before kneeling down and grabbing Jin by the back of his head. After another hesitation, the rifleman moved for the final blow before a monstrous explosion froze him in action. The ground rumbled. All three men’s heads swivelled to the same direction, appearing flabbergasted. The rifleman, returning to his feet as if Jin’s existence had suddenly been forgotten about, looked back and forth between his fellow men. Their shocked expressions remained, and in the strangest of events, the gunman uttered something of a concentration camp before the three of them raced away for their vehicle. Still lying on his back, hurting from a stiff kick or two, Jin turned his head upward to his left. Emerging in the distance, thick plumes of black smoke poured upwards into the sky. He didn’t know what it was, but whatever it was, it had undoubtedly just saved his life.

A harsh scent filled Zoe's nostrils; rust, motor oil, smoke - the smells of dead and dying machinery. The remains of several centuries-old cars stand piled up around the crowded street, mottled with the orange stains of rust and welded together with whatever bits of fencing and sheet metal were to hand, steel hides pocked here and there with bullet holes. Stacked carefully together like bricks, they stretched out into the distance in either direction to form a protective wall encircling the town. This place was a product of the new world, a testament to the will of Humanity.

The bazaar was bustling with the activity of locals going about their daily business, trading junk that they found or what little extra supplies they could scrummage up. Though nothing like the great cities that once were, it was a hub of civilization, proving that even in the end - times, people still craved stability. The hustle and movement of the crowd provided everything that Zoe currently needed; a public space, cover to escape into, and sound to zone out to.

A cigarette sat between the index and middle finger of her left hand, occasionally moving upward to her lips so that she may take a drag. Zoe's right hand remained gripped on a dirty glass which found home resting on a small metal table in front of her. She sipped at the strong alcohol here and there, taking solace in the warmth as it slid down her throat and into her stomach. She sat with one leg crossed over her knee, waiting patiently for a particular person to approach and sit across from her.

Just as the Mongol was starting to get pissed off about her contact being late, the man had emerged from the roving crowd and pushed his way to the table, taking a seat in front of the woman. He gave a weak, nervous looking smile and rested his hands on the table top. Zoe grinned, finishing the rest of her liquor and flicking a cigarette butt to the dirt floor. With a small huff, the woman shifted her weight in the chair and leaned forward.

"Hello, Sedgwick, I see you took your goddamn time", the woman stated plainly. Her eyes scrutinized the greasy looking man whom she had just addressed, trying to get a read on him as per usual. She had never fully trusted this guy, assuming that he would sell out his grandmother in order to come up on a couple of nickels, but she was desperate to make this final deal and hit the road. Zoe could tell that Sedgwick was nervous, though she didn't think much of it.

"I was uh-... there was a bit of a holdup...", Sedgwick explained, "...some of the boys got pinched". It looked like the man was starting to sweat. Something was eating away at him and it was starting to put Zoe on edge.

"Well, you didn't get fucking followed by these Novus Ordo freaks, did you?", the Mongol questioned in a harsh tone. In response, Sedgwick simply offered a shake of the head. This brought a small sigh of relief to the woman, who visibly relaxed a bit.

"So umh... is the deal still on?", Sedgwick asked.

"Give me the money and a few minutes after I leave, you can grab the product in the bag at my feet", Zoe explained. The man didn't even respond to this. He simply took a deep breath and remained still in his seat.

"I'm sorry, Zoe. I didn't mean for it to be like this...", Sedgwick quietly uttered. Zoe raised a brow curiously in response, contemplating the meaning of the words for a mere second before it hit her like a ton of bricks. The Mongol's dominant hand immediately shot to her side, ripping a pistol from the holster on her belt. As she whipped the gun up and fired a round into the man across from her, she saw armed figures emerge in the distance. Sedgwick had instantly been flung backward as the bullet smacked into his chest, bringing the table and chair down with him.

The Mongol simultaneously pushed herself up from the chair and swiped the rucksack which had lay at her side. In an effort to escape her militaristic pursuers, Zoe forced herself into the now frightened and rushed crowd. People screamed and dashed forward while a myriad of shopkeepers grabbed their own weapons and took cover, ready to protect their life's work. Zoe made her way down the street with the escaping crowd, occasionally looking back to spot the armed men still following behind, though unable to precisely locate her among the many bodies.

As gunfire started ringing out, the crowd began to thin out. It wasn't long before Zoe, confused by the varying directions of the dispersed crowd, was spotted by the gunmen. Their ploy had worked, by firing into the air, they had cleared out those who were inadvertantly hiding their target. Within mere seconds they were damn near on top of the woman.

Zoe struggled through every second as four soldiers attempted to pin her down. They had removed both the bag and gun from her hands, simply pushing her to the ground and making her eat dirt. The Mongol howled and writhed as they kept her to the floor. One of the men began looking through the bag, shouting as he emptied the contents into the open.

"It's speed! This is the bitch bringing all the dope into town!", he exclaimed. Another one of the soldiers chuckled.

"Hell yeah, we're getting promotions for this one. Looks like we bagged the last Mongol, fellas", the chuckling troop replied. Zoe grunted, knowing that she was fucked on this one. She heard what these guys did to their prisoners and it was nothing that she was remotely excited for.

As these thoughts flooded Zoe's mind, the squad had suddenly become distracted as a boom rang out and black smoke began to appear over the horizon. The soldiers looked to their squad leader, immediately seeking guidance.

"Romero, stay with the girl while we go and check it out. If that's the camp, we're gonna' have a lot of trouble on our hands. Just make sure she's on the ground until we get back", the squad leader ordered as he motioned for the rest of the men to follow him. One of the soldiers stood behind, aiming his rifle at the woman on the ground. Next to his feet were Zoe's pistol and various cellophane drug bags.

Zoe looked up at her now lone captor. If she could just reach her pistol...

Rhys had almost been having an enjoyable day. Almost. He remembered back in his childhood when "enjoyable" was popcorn with a movie after a long day of working in the fields. Now? Enjoyable was a day with a warm meal. And preferably not having to shank someone. Today's count was up to three. Idiots, the three of them. Better off feeding whatever passed for decomposers these days than contributing to the accelerated death of Earth. Didn't even bother to question Rhys as he approached them. Though, it did make Rhys happy to know that there were still outfits besides Novus Ordo, even if they were a dying breed.

Rhys pulled his cloak around him closer. Bazaars like this one had always filled him with suspicion and dread. Too easy for someone to knife him. And while the cloak did a good job of rendering him incognito, his armor still made him a target. People would kill a man over anything that looked the least bit valuable these days. And Pretty Fly sure didn't help with that. Rhys rolled his neck, clutching his pack with his other hand. He didn't know exactly what it was he was delivering, but it was important enough to have no less than three people guard it, and it ensured him a week's worth of warm meals. Rhys suspected his contractor was somehow affiliated with Novus Ordo to be able to pay such a price, but frankly that was the least of his concerns. When the Devil offers food, the desperate man accepts it first, and finds a way out second.

Rhys veered off the main road, and wove into a series of alleys, where a similarly cloaked man was waiting. "You followed?"

Rhys shook his head. "Walk like you own the place, people tend to leave you alone. Everyone else is easy to shake."

The hood nodded, and extended a hand as Rhys reached into his backpack. "Any resistance getting the package?"

"It was guarded."

"So...no bonus?"

Rhys shook his head again, plopping a metal box into the other man's hand. The box was whisked out of sight. In its place, the man held out a small cloth wrapping. "One week's rations, as agreed."

Rhys took the package and stuffed it down in his backpack. "You're a good man, Rhys. Too good for the work you do."

Rhys paid him little mind. His backpack had already been slung over his shoulder, and he was making his way back to the main road. Job was done. No questions, no eyebrows raised. He liked it better that way. Couldn't always do good and get by. So he'd rather not think about the long term repercussions. Rhys was about to reach up to remove his helmet, but immediately decided against it. Gunshots. Close. Rhys reached up into his cloak and Removed Fly from her harness. Bandits? Maybe. Though it sounded like they were inside the city. Gunshots were too close, and coming from the wrong direction, to be outside the city. He unslung the metal pipe he used as both a walking stick and quarterstaff, and began moving towards the sounds of the gunshots. With his off hand, he tossed his drone into the air.

Rhys reached up and flicked a switch near his ear. He gave his ear a pair of taps, listening for an echoing tapping from Fly. He had to use his radio sparingly, it was running low on power, but it had always proven an effective strategy for creating confusion. Pretty Fly followed Rhys close to his shoulder, humming quietly as the hover-tubes held it aloft. Rhys had almost reached the main marketplace when an explosion sounded in the distance. Rhys instinctively dropped prone, before looking up to survey the area. A plume of smoke had appeared over the wall. Rhys got back to his feet, and moved forward at a crouch, rounding the corner to see a squad of militants rushing off to investigate. Leaving one armed man and...presumably his captive. And unless Rhys was mistaken, there was a sizable chunk of change sitting at the man's feet. He'd never been a druggie, but he couldn't deny it made you friends in the wastes. Must have been the girl's. Rhys decided to go for it. Maybe if he rescued the girl, he could convince her to split it with him. 90/10 in her favor might work. Well, he'd cross that dust dune when he got there.

He moved across the ground slowly, hunched over, but with fluid, almost animalistic movements. He summoned up his best wide-eyed explorer look, and scuttled closer to the man. He made plenty of noise, intending to get the man to turn around. Uttering an inquisitive purr of sorts, he skulked ever closer, praying that the guy would be the kind to warn him off before firing. Meh, he'd made it this far. Further than he thought he'd ever make it. What was the harm in pushing his luck a little further?

A sloppy wetness brought Octavia sharply out of the dream and into full consciousness, she jerked awake with a grunt and automatically pushed the wet nose away from her face. Early morning sunlight streamed into the room, from the large un-shuttered window opposite the bed.
"Damnit Apollo, you're worse than a bloody rooster." She muttered. "I was having a perfectly good dream before you spoilt it."
The German Shepherd cocked his head to the side at her words and continued to look at her tongue lolling and dark eyes bright with mischief. She sighed and climbed out of bed, rubbing the dog behind his ear as she did so, deciding that since she was awake she might as well get on with her day. Artemis looked up from her position curled up on the floor at the foot of her bed and her ears perked up as she saw Octavia heading for the door.

"Yes girl, I'm getting up."She glanced at Apollo who was sticking like glue to her side. "Clearly your sister got all of the patient genes."

Apollo yipped at her in response and she chuckled before heading down the stairs, avoiding the rickety damaged one as she did so, she reminded herself to speak to Tinker and see if he could fix it. He owed her one, especially after she had fixed his knee, old fool refused to slow down and if she was going to have to keep fixing him up then the least he could do was fix her broken stairs. Passing the front door she checked that the bolts were still in place and felt a little tension ease. Though it hadn't happened for a while she had had several robbery attempts since she had settled here and the last one had been particularly nasty. If she hadn't had the twins...pushing bad memories aside she went into the kitchen. The house had been someones farmhouse at one time and boasted a large kitchen to the rear with the huge range dominating the room. She was constantly grateful that the original owners had decided to have wood burning range, though resources were scarce wood was still available for now.

She ensure there as plenty of wood and lit the stove, she had found a pack of lighters in the house's basement, then placing a pot of water on to boil. She missed coffee, whoever had owned this house had not been a fan of coffee as she hadn't found any stored anywhere, but instead made do with tea. At least there was plenty of that. After the water had boiled she made a teapot and carried it and her mug into the second largest room in the house. Her clinic held a metal bed, getting it here had been a nightmare having scrounged it and the other furniture from the local doctors surgery, and a desk and chair. cupboards lined one wall with workbenches, similar to kitchen workbenches, and a sink sat under the window. It looked for all intents and purposes as though she had taken an entire doctors room from a surgery and stuck it inside a house.

She set the teapot down and poured herself a mug of hot tea. She took a sip and then sighed heavily. Artemis and Apollo wandered into the hallway both having finished the food she had put down for them. She waited for them to settle in the hallway with their heads resting just outside the room, they knew not to enter her clinic, before she approached the corner of the room where she had left it the night before. She hadn't known what she had done to start the thing and so had no idea how to turn it off either, so she had left it on but it hadn't moved yet this morning. She didn't understand one tenth of what the technology was that made up Orb or even truly what it...he was. But she understood that Orb was artificial and intelligent, Orb was a lifeform of a sort perhaps the first of his kind. Initially she had wondered what ,if anything, they had in common and what exactly she was supposed to do with him. But she had spent a lot of time thinking last night before finally falling asleep and she had realised that she had missed intelligent conversation. Oh Tinker and the others were nice enough but she couldn't really discuss in depth medical subjects with them. Orb was smart, incredibly so, and not only could he be an interesting conversationalist, he could help her in the clinic as well.

"Good Morning Orb."She began a little hesitantly. "How was your night?"

She was waiting for a response when the bells outside the back door tinkled indication that someone was outside, she had rigged the bells as a doorbell so people could get her attention when needed. She unbolted the back door which opened into her clinic and saw Tinker, Dunk holding another man between them. He was slumped and clearly unconscious with the other two men supporting all of his weight.

"Know it's early Doc but Jeff here fell off Mrs Woods roof and hit his head pretty hard."

Octavia rolled her eyes and pointed towards the bed. "Do I want to know what he was doing on the roof, I'm betting he wasn't fixing it."

The two men dragged him to the bed and heaved him onto to it before stepping back and catching their breath. Octavia nodded towards the door and both men went and stood outside grumbling under their breath. They did not speak loud enough for anyone to hear they weren't stupid enough to upset Doc. They waited whilst Octavia examined him. After several moments she turned to them and smiled reassuringly.
"His pupils look good, his breathing is normal and I see no sign of skull damage. It looks like he was lucky this time, but to be on the safe side I'll keep him overnight for observation. He could have a concussion." She cursed her lack of medical technology having to rely on her instincts and basic instruments to judge if he had a more severe injury than first appeared.

"What I wouldn't do for a CT or MRI right now."She muttered"What about you Orb? You haven't got a CT scanner up your sleeve have you?"

She wasn't serious but figured that since she was the one to wake him up it was only right that she made an effort to get to know him and include him in her life. Tinker glanced at her eyebrows raised and then he nodded when he saw what she was referring to.

"Ah got it working did you? Nice."

"I'm not sure much of it was down to me."She shrugged."But now that he's up and running I'm trying to get to know him."

"It's a ball of metal."Dunk said in confusion and Octavia and Tinker shared a look. "It's not important Dunk. Anyway I need to check a few more things with Jeff and as I said keep him in for observation so you might as well come back tomorrow."

"Sure thing Doc."Dunk wandered away and Octavia shared a smile with Tinker, Dunk was an ex scavenger who had settled here after Octavia had saved him from a serious head wound. He was an odd man but worked hard and looked out for her and Tinker as well.

"So Orb do you have a CT scanner hidden inside there?" Tinker asked grinning.

Saya was awoken from the rays of sunlight that filtered in through the variety of holes in the ceiling of the abandoned building she slept in for the night. It had once been a store of some kind that used to hold some form of greater purpose than being left to simply being a refuge from wanderers of the dying land. It had long been ransacked liked all of the other buildings she had encountered along the way, and she’d come a long way from Japan. It had been exactly four months since she’d left the familiar company of Hitoshi when their beliefs clashed to a point of no return, and now Saya had no one else for company except herself.

The armour she wore was the very same that Hitoshi had made for her, and as far as she knew, there of were only two of the like that existed. It was the only keepsake she had left of him apart from the memories now only the two of them shared once upon a time. Gathering her belongings, Saya took a gulp of water from her filtered bottle before she wore back the helmet that did more than simply hide her visage.

It also contained an decent enough air filtration system to filter out the air that was filled with the ever-present stench of rust, copper and sand in the air. It had been so long since she'd the luxury of smelling clean fresh air. It also allowed her to see at her, a highly valuable ability when she needed to move around in the darkness of night for whatever reason. The world was dying, and everyone with half a functioning brain could see that. The night was colder these days, but nothing much about the climate really surprised anymore. Not the cold nights, or scorching hot days.

She stuffed her katana back into its respective positions on her belt as she got ready to leave. The sword remained as part of her most prized possessions from her best friend and mentor back when she was still serving in the police force back in Osaka. Putting on her coat and raising the hood, Saya slung on her rifle as she got ready to make her trip back into the outside.

One thing that still amazed her was that there were still remnants of forests still remaining on the dying world. She would have thought that they too would have been gone like the rest of the things of the past. It just goes to show that nature sure is a resistant fighter to change. Emerging out of the forests, she came upon the first sign of where she once was, Alberta, Canada. North America was a long enough place away from Japan, and the young woman took a few brief moments to reminisce on her journey until now.

Just after she past the abandoned motor charging station, Saya heard the sounds of a fight, yells and gunfire and she quickened her steps as glanced around for the source of scuffle. She positioned close enough to take action should she want to, but far enough that she wouldn’t be spotted if she wished to remain hidden. Clutching her rifle in her hands, she watched as the lone man was cornered on the floor by the others.

She didn’t know why, but her instincts told her to save the loner. She was about to take action before a deafening explosion interrupted whatever anyone of them was planning to do. A flurry of actions later, the three men raced back to their vehicle and took off, leaving the loner all of his own on the ground. Cautiously approaching the man, Saya spoke. “Are you alright?” She then pointed to the thick plumes of black smoke in the distance. “Good news or bad news? Where are you headed?”

Crickets chirping in the background followed by the low rumble of thunder in the distance. The slow trickle of rain hitting grass and leaves filled the small cavern. Projected holograms of fire flies danced near the high ceiling. The old red brick and stone work illuminated by a few candles. The floor was covered in a moist compact dirt and the ambient temperature was much more tolerable than what was outside. This old reservoir didn’t hold water anymore but made for a nice peaceful place that was out of sight and out of mind.

According to the local towns folk this particular reservoir was old and had dried up many months prior. Now they used it as a place to hide from both the elements and bad people. There were several crates of simple supplies and belongings here, as well as cots and benches made from old crates. These people had been kind enough to show him down here after what he did. Apparently fixing a few solar panels and introducing yourself as Father Asimov made quite the impact.

Honestly Roman wasn’t expecting there to be believers in this desolate place. He really only introduced himself as such to ease the tension of meeting new people. The hostile world they now lived in did that to people, one could never be too careful when it came to new people. They fed him, gave him water, and a safe place to rest. For him he knew that they wanted someone to talk to them and the younger crowd about their old god. Roman had been up rather late writing down what to say in the morning.

Slowly the tall masked man walked from behind one of the many pillars. There was more than a few townsfolk gathered down here. Men and women young and old, some being bandaged or sharing rations of food with one another. Slowly they stopped their idle chatter of the day’s happenings and stared at the figure before them. Roman sure was glad he didn’t have much trouble speaking in front of crowds.

With a sigh he started, “some of you know me but for everyone else, my name is Roman Asimov. I come from far away. Near what was once Moscow in the Former Russian Federation.” He paused for a moment glancing around at them all. The slightly illuminated eyes of the mask seemed a bit unnerving for some as they looked away. “Now I understand that some of you here are believers. Where others, have wandered from the path. Blaming god for what has happened to our once pristine, vast, and beautiful world.”

Again he paused as he paced and walked down the middle of the rows of people. “But what you may have forgotten is god will always be with you, he gave us this world to call our own. However, our ancestors were greedy. They sought power and money to control each other. Robbed the environment of its life and polluted our world. In the end it was our choice as humans, as humanity, to poison our world” He paused for a moment in front of an elderly man and woman who were wrapping a bandage. Kneeling he reached out and properly wrapped the man’s arm. It looked as if it had been burnt by something recently.

Standing he smiled under his helmet at them and continued pacing. “Now we find ourselves trying to recreate our old world in the dust and ash of what’s left. But our time is finite, we all know this and it’s depressing. Our leaders left us to falter and suffocate. To be subjected to the tyranny of men trying to control what’s left of this world.” The rumble of distant thunder grew closer for a moment before fading again. The speaker in the back was playing the ambiance rather well. “But I promise you that this will not be our legacy.”

“These men act as if god does not watch them, does not judge them. But he is. And it is up to all of you to show these Novus Ordo. These men that have robbed you, beat you, taken your things, kidnapped and killed your loved ones. If they haven’t yet they will soon, your only important because of what you supply them. Once that is gone, this unsteady peace ends. They will not be our legacy. That even in our fleeting moments we chose to fight against these evil men.” He paused for a moment. He didn’t mean to ramble, but he has already seen what these men have done to people he liked. To people that were helpful.

“God will judge them. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help them meet god faster.” A few of those that where there nodded their heads and even seemed to be agreeing with what he was saying. “Once these men are gone you can all do what was meant of you. To not worry about what time you have left but spend that time being happy and making good memories with the surrounding people. Now is not the time to be isolated but to come together. To help one another and prosper.” He stopped again for a moment trying to think of something more to say.

“There is a quote that I will end this on. A quote from someone long gone but still meaningful.” Falling silent again as he tried to remember the quote. “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night.” With a slight bow he turned back to his things. Turning the music off to conserve power and placing it back into the sealed container he got it from. Checking to make sure all of his things were in their proper place as well as the multiple blades he always kept hidden on his person.

The voice of a woman stopped him before he could leave, concern rattled her voice.

“Please father won’t you stay for a few more days. We could really use your help here.”

“I’m sorry madam but I must keep traveling as it was my oath to keep the believers informed” a lie but normally one that worked. The women simply nodded and bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment. They really were kind people. As he said a few words and praised them as he walked out. He knew what he said wasn’t very religious, but he really didn’t think they cared. Like most people in this North American waste land they just needed something. Some confirmation that what they were doing wasn’t futile and meant something to someone.

The path leading outside was a series of concrete and makeshift stairs that ended in someone’s basement. A hidden door leading to the bunker was simply a place in the hard wood floor that could be moved and covered with a rug. The old home wasn’t much, a few furnishings and old photos of times gone past. When he opened the door, the light from outside was almost blinding. The slightly glowing eyes of the mask faded and tinted to adjust to the change in light. He carefully fixed his breathing apparatus that connected to his mask and draped to a dual canister system behind him.

The metallic taste of the air was filtered out through a water filter, the water was collected from each breath he took and in emergencies could very well be used to drink from. A few people seemed to be out and about as he headed for the market place but a sudden burst of gunfire was set to end the uneasy peace of the courtyard. Instincts kicked in, and he found himself up against a metal shack trying to look through a few old bullet holes in the rusted metal. Roman was able to catch a few glimpses of men standing around a person on the ground with a shaved head.

Then it happened, an explosion near what he was told the direction of the Novus Ordo encampment. Black smoke soon bellowed through the distant air as the men fell silent. A moment later most of them had gone, leaving one behind with a rusted rifle. He pondered what to do, what could he do? Roman didn’t have a gun, throwing knives sure but not at this range. He would have to get close to do anything. But something moved nearby the man somewhere in the stalls. A partner perhaps or a friend?

Roman had decided on his plan, approach the man to try to get him to concentrate on him so her friend could attack. “Worth a shot” he thought. Putting the long dark green hood over his mask and moving from the cover of the shack he began to walk towards the man with the gun. He wasn’t facing Roman but still seemed a bit jumpy. “Hello Friend” Roman spoke, his hands stretched out to show the man he was unarmed. The rest of his blades tucked away and hidden. “I can only imagine that this child of god will meet her end soon. Could you find it in your heart to allow me to at least absorb her of her sins before she meets the almighty?”

The sun rises and a beam falls directly on a spherical object on a table. The bright light wakes the little being from his… slumber? Was that the right word for it he wondered? Did he really feel the warmth of the sun, or were it merely his sensors picking up a difference in brightness? He was uncertain and he didn’t like being uncertain.

A woman enters the room with a hot cup of tea. A blue tinted mechanical eye follows her movements carefully as she goes about her morning routine. He had been here a couple of days now, uncertain of where here actually was, or how he got here in the first place. All he remembered was turning himself off for preservation of energy and the next thing he knows he’s lying on a wooden table in some farm. The woman had introduced herself as Octavia Young. She had found him somewhere in the forests and brought him here, though she was vague on details on how she managed to turn him on.

He’s brought back from his thoughts as the woman greets him. An artificial voice, but strangely human male voice replies. ”Good morning to you, miss Young. I… slept well, I think. Sleeping? Yes!” Before she’s able to respond, she’s distracted by a loud noise. He had heard it a couple of times over the last few days. Miss Young had described it as a bell, which humans used to let other humans know when they wished to enter their home. Quite a clever way he had thought to himself. Very human indeed.

He quickly scans the two figures as they enter the room. No visible weapons, muscle mass was insignificant, facial expressions were passive. They were not here to harm. As he listens to their explanation to Octavia, he begins to understand that their friend got hurt. This was not unfamiliar to him. People who were hurt came to visit Octavia often. She was, as she had explained it, a human who fixed other humans; a doctor. This was a different sort of doctor then Rory Smith had been and he found the idea of this thrilling and payed close attention to whenever she was ‘fixing other humans’.

She asks him a question, but he recognizes in her speech pattern that the question is merely asked in jest. Uncertain of how to respond, he simply tries to answer diplomatically. ”I’ll check my functions.”

Before he had time to complete his search, one of the rough looking man was standing before him. His eye flicks between Octavia and the man as they talk about him. He had learned from doctor Smith that it was rude to do so, but he decides to make no fuss about it.

The man leans closer and a grin spreads across his face. He repeats the question Miss Young had asked earlier, but this time he did not find any hint of jest. Orb blinks a couple of times before answering the man. ”I am uncertain, but can not find CT scanner among my list of functions. I am sorry to disappoint mister Tinker. I am also uncertain of how miss Young returned me to a functioning state. This is something I have been pondering over the last couple of days. Thus far my analysis has been of unsatisfying quality.”

He continues searching his list of functions when he stumbles upon something miss Young might find interesting. Without a word of warning, a blue scanning light emits from his eye and scans the man named Tinker from top to bottom. A stream of data floods into the memory core of Orb. ”Male. 41. Healthy. Scar tissue detected on lower right leg. A-…” He cuts himself off as he notices how rude he is actually being. “My sincerest apologies. I did not know what came over me.”

Another day in paradise, hungry and harassed by wolves with weapons, Jin inhaled deeply as he eyed the black smoke smothering the sky. His brown eyes barely pierced the shadows of his hooded, half-masked face, but they told the same undeniable story of fatigue. He was tired and frustrated, wishing for anything but the same daily struggles. Now, staring into dark plumes of death, he dared to fathom what catastrophe had struck. The intensity of the explosion meant no less than a bomb, but its scale in current times was startling. Recalling his life spared with nervous words of a concentration camp, it was believable that a Novus Ordo outpost was the eruption’s source. If so, could somebody have been fighting them? Jin was a moth to flame, longing to evade his pains but drawn to the light of fire. Its mysteries called him, but more importantly, he was tired of running. He set his intentions and nodded internally, forgetting for a moment his growing aches and hungers. Another deep breath, Jin fully embraced his filtered air, readying himself to stand when a woman’s voice interrupted him.

“Are you alright?” she asked him, appearing like a ghost and making him flinch. He had no idea where she had come from, making him question how bad his awareness had become. She then pointed to the thick plumes of black smoke in the distance. “Good news or bad news? Where are you headed?”

Jin stared up at her from the dusty concrete, caught off guard and confused. He hadn’t been spoken to in a non-threatening manner for weeks, now so many people were at each other’s throats. Outlining her mask with his eyes, he tried to deduce her, suspicious of her intentions. Then, noticing her katana, his muscles tightened. Only a skilled swordsperson could wield such a blade effectively, meaning a clash of steel was best avoided.

“You can handle that thing?” he asked her, referring to her katana, before shuffling backwards and returning to his feet. A gentle breeze brushed against his tanned clothes, bringing with it the burning smell of soot. It occurred to him that standing casually in a charging station’s car park seemed particularly awkward given the circumstances. Then again, it wasn’t unusual to become desensitised to danger. Humans always were an adaptable species.

Jin, recognising that he had ignored the woman’s questions, gestured his thumb to the smoke plumes. “I’m going there,” he said with confidence, but more realistically stupidity. He had barely eaten in days, which could make the sanest man do the craziest of things. “I’m stupid like that,” he continued, secretly insecure that he’d be judged negatively for it. “But food doesn’t grow on dead trees, so…”

He shrugged, not entirely keen on conversation but compelled to be polite. He wasn’t content with his former self, awkward and problematic, quick to blame others for his shortcomings. It was a long time ago, but he hadn’t forgotten about it. Instead, clearing his throat through discomfort, he asked the mysterious woman, “And you? Where are you going?”



The small town of Bravado was generally quiet, aside from the presence of Novus Ordo soldiers and their neighbouring camp. They kept its inner workings concealed from prying eyes, and their aggressiveness to a minimum. The townspeople often benefited them, from importation of clean water to a small plot of land still growing vegetables. The Novus Ordo sought to protect these benefits, though it often meant taking people’s resources as payment.

Rumours of ill-doing had spread of the neighbouring camp, but most people stayed silent. It was believed the Novus Ordo was imprisoning and torturing their opposition, if only innocent people rejecting their oppressive ways. Ignorance was bliss, and most people willingly accepted it, knowing those who stood otherwise often paid the price.

But not everybody was willing to lie down, now devastation had now struck the Novus Ordo. The explosion, erupting from within the private confines of their sandy camp, was no accident. It was the collaborative art of a rebellion, united from broken communities to seek justice and paint their enemies in flames. The Novus Ordo’s camp was their blank canvas, and its assault would begin from the inside-out. Indeed, it was only the beginning, but the N.O.'s hand this day would be challenged, and forced by its end to repay some of its debt.

Octavia jumped when the blue light suddenly appeared from ORB and focused on Tinker, vertically panning up and down his body, before ORB began listing facts about the man. It was only when she realised that it was some kind of scanner and not a weapon that she relaxed and breathed a sigh. Tinker had frozen when the light had come on and he too relaxed when ORB stopped scanning.

"Phew. You had me there for a minute." He said shakily clearly trying to make light of the situation.
"Well you asked him a question Tink, I guess this was his answer." Octavia said before turning to ORB.

"It looks like you have at least some version of a medical scanner in there ORB." She said to the machine. "That is going to come in very handy. If you don't mind using it to help me?" ORB was just a machine but she had no idea what that actually meant, she was a doctor not an engineer, ORB seemed pretty damn advanced to her and for all she knew he was capable of feelings. So it never hurt not to be rude.

"Well he sure is a clever machine."Tinker said. "I'd love to have a nosy at how he works sometime."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "You do realise that you're not an actual engineer right Tink? Just a bored old guy who likes to mess around with things."

Tinker put on a expression of mock hurt. "Now Octavia, don't be mean I fixed your wood burner when it was on the blink right?"

"Yes but you still haven't got someone to fix my damn stairs yet." She pointed out.

A groan from the table pulled her back to the present and she mentally chastised herself from getting distracted whilst she had a patient. She hurried to the bed and saw that Jeff was waking up. He opened his eyes and groggily looked around the room before trying to sit up. Octavia gently pushed him back down and kept her hand firmly on his chest to keep him from trying to sit up again.

"Take it easy Jeff, you had a bad fall earlier." Octavia said.

"Doc?" Jeff winced. "Ouch my head is killing me. Guess that's what you get when you fall off a roof. Sorry to mess up your morning."

Octavia shook her head. "It's fine Jeff, I mean what would I do without you fools to keep me occupied. Now follow the light please." She examined him again and then nodded. "I don't see any signs of concussion but I'd still like to..."

Her back door opening and her dogs beginning to bark interrupted her. Apollo and Artemis trained to recognise that not hearing the bell meant possible intruders pushed past Tinker and Dunk and into the clinic. They stopped just in front of Octavia clearly recognising the woman standing in the doorway. Apollo huffed a greeting and pushed his head into the woman's hand, Artemis looked at Octavia and whined.

Octavia sighed and crossed her arms. "Gloria." She said her voice clearly not happy.

Gloria smiled sheepishly continuing to pet Apollo. "I'm sorry Doc, I know I'm supposed to ring first but I just got really excited."

"Excited?"

"Well I'm not sure excited is the right word really but well I think something's happened at the camp."

Tinker and Dunk both looked startled. "Like what?"

"I think there's been an explosion or something. There's all this black smoke." She grinned then noticing ORB for the first time. "Oh wow you got it working!"

"Well I think ORB had more to do with that than I did to be honest but yes he's working now. Right ORB?"
Tinker and Dunk both moved past Gloria and stood out on the street looking at the sky. Gloria stepped back outside with them and Octavia followed them to the door. Black smoke was indeed visible in the distance and she frowned.

"Well it's definitely a fire of some sort." She said thoughtfully. "ORB would you like to come and see this?" She called inside figuring that if the robot was going to stay with her she should try and include it.

"Maybe we should see what's happened?" Gloria asked.

"Are you kidding?" Octavia demanded. "You know what that camp is, we should stay as far away as possible."

After doing a second look over of the assault rifle in her possession, her icy blues then glanced in the direction of the two males seated across from her.

It was simple really. She was out here in the field to keep Sato and Xavier alive. Well, that was what she had to believe to keep her cool. The toothpick that served as a surrogate for a dearly craved cigarette flicked up and down as she impatiently bit at its tip. Icy blues then slid on over and trained on the female in full, yet ragged, field-combat gear standing outside the transport truck; so strange was it to see the normally regal and sharply dressed Defender wearing the garb of a scavenger.

The woman outside had one hand on the right side of her head, pressing the earpiece to better hear the transmission she received. Her face and eyes were hidden behind the old and worn Reaver survival mask she wore, but judging by her animated body motions, it did not take a genius to see that she was quite displeased.

The woman outside the truck was Salem, the Leader of the Last Down Defender squad CeCe was currently serving. And from what CeCe knew of Salem was that she was mostly calm and collected so this out-of-character outburst set her ill at ease.

Icy blues now turned towards the others in the rear hold of the transport with her. An upward chinbob CeCe tossed at the burly and a bit overweight red-headed man, Xavier, seated across from her, "You know what's going on with the delay, Mr. X?"

"Uhhhhh hold up..." he too pressed a hand to his earpiece and shot a palm up at CeCe. A self-important look fell across his face as he nodded along, listening in on the convo between Salem and the others on the private channel. A few knowing headshakes the redhead gave as his eyes went skyward, avoiding the penetrating gaze of CeCe. Although she was his protector, he always had to assert some form of dominance or importance in her presence; it was his way of deflecting the fact that the Amazon-like blonde intimidated him. Quite possibly he was out of sorts dressed up in scavenger rags as opposed to the crisp, tailor fit suits in which he normally paraded around the E-6 hideout.

With her left hand she made a circle, and, with her other hand, she lifted her assault rifle and shoved the barrel through said opening. She tried to catch Sato's gaze and mouthed the words 'Corporate asshole' as she jerked her head in the direction of the redheaded Xavier. A sly wink she tossed the engineer.

Out of the two, she would would take a bullet or 12 for the engineer. Without Sato's knowledge or expertise, the 'junk' sitting under the tarp on the trailer would be useless and the whole reason they were out here would not exist. Sato was going to take that 'junk' on the trailer and make the E-6 fly again; getting off this rock depended on Last Down's success.



All was going well. Dressed up as a scavenging outfit, the Last Down squad gone into the field undetected. As soon as they had found the wreckage 'junk' and extracted it, it was secured and basically gift wrapped for pickup. The F5 heli, The Phoenix, had made their own pick up of 'junk' and was to pick up the 'junk' at Last Down's location. Even the 'Liaison Rep' Xavier was not putting up a whole bunch of corporate red-tape BS as expected. The retrieval was going to be on time, on budget and that pleased the suits and medals of the E-6 braintrust. Milk run smooth.

That was until the Phoenix encountered some anti-milk run rockets and was downed behind enemy lines; the Novus Ordo territory.

And what made CeCe crave a smoke again was the fact that not only did they not have the 'junk' they needed, but the pilot of the Phoenix was her brother, Chevy. And part of the 'junk' cargo was not machine, but flesh and blood. Her name was Captain Alina Reid and CeCe spent years of her life in the depths of despair and misery for what she had done to Capt. Reid. Salvation was getting that woman on board the Endeavour. No questions asked. No answers given.

And so here they were now. In visual range of the Novus Ordo camp, helpless as they watched the N.O. tractor trailers drive their way towards the gates of the camp. The important 'junk' of the Phoenix's wreckage undoubtedly was strapped to the flatbeds, and, undoubtedly in the cargo hold of the lead transport were the people she so dearly cared for.

The second in command of Last Down, Aether, was spotting for the sniper, Calibre, in a most advantageous vantage point. The massive gun setup of Calibre was trained on the watchtower near the entry gates. Aether, held her binoculars to her mask, awaiting orders from Salem for next course of action. Suddenly, she reached down and patted the sniper on the shoulder and motioned for him to move his scope in another direction. Some kind of comotion was just beginning to stir from behind N.O. walls; hope sparked in both these Defender's eyes.



"So, Mr. Sato..." said CeCe casually as she immediately stopped her gun's thrusting motions through her fingers once Xavier glanced over at them, "what exactly is this 'junk' we have on the trailer? And what exactly did the Phoenix have in her hold? Like, more specifically, how sensitive to agressive activity is this 'junk?' Are we talking white gloves and a whole bunch of bubble wrap care or what?"

As soon as Xavier looked away, CeCe made the circle with her hand once more and smirked at Sato. But truly her questions were valid. They had been briefed on the 'junk' but as to how fragile it was, they were not given specifics.

"Alright. But if we have to go in live, just stay near me and keep your side-arm handy; I seen your dossier... you can handle yourself. But just in case, I just want to double-check you know how to handle a red-headed meatshield..."

Another smirk and a not-too-subtle chinbob she directed in Xavier's direction.

"Not right now, Lapin...! I'm on the comms. I'll get to you when I get to you. Capice..?" Said the red-headed meatshield as he shook his head at her; obviously oblivious to the shade she was tossing his way.

The massive blonde woman just shrugged and opened her mouth to toss some more sass but suddenly from the front cab, Behemoth banged on the transport ceiling to get their attention. This man truly lived up to his namesake; he was huge. Daemon, the driver leaned out from his seat in the front through the opening to the back and yelled out at them, "Alright babies, get yer diapers cinched up and strap on in cuz you gunna crap yourselves; we movin' on out!! That is one big A-firmative from Saley boss-lady! I mean it! All strap in!!"

Salem whipped open the passenger side door and leapt in. A rough shoulder pushed Behemoth on over to the centre seat. They could hear her barking out commands to Aether and Calibre. She was setting up a shot.

"Mr. X... Hey! Xavier!" CeCe kicked out a leg and caught the redhead's shin to get his attention; she even flicked her toothpick at him for good measure, "you need to sing now. What is going on? Just what the hell--"

The explosion rocked the transport and CeCe shut up as she craned her neck to see what was happening. A plume of black smoke roared up in to the open skies above the N.O. camp.

"X!! Sing, man!! What the actual fu--"

"BREACH! Security breach! N.O.'s Camp's been breached you guys! Insurgency...? No confirms. Gunfire! Holy shit! Gunfire! They're under attack! Jesus! Live fire-- wait... Wait!! Look!!"

A pale meaty hand with an equally pale and meaty finger pointed out the window. His big green eyes grew even bigger as he trembled, "Holy shit! It's stuck! Jesus eff, DUDE! The trailer got pinched by the gates!!"

And it was as he said. The vanguard of the transport convoy made it in, but emergency protocol had all the gates automatically lockdown once red alert was sounded. And so the gates closed in and but last of the convoy did not make it. The transport with the 'junk' on it was stuck fast halfway in. The rearguard vehicle had smashed up into the trailer, and was partway pinned underneath. The rearending had lifted up the trailer and loosened up the chains and straps keeping the 'junk' in place.

And so, yes, the gates were still open. This was the moment they were hoping for. This was that miracle CeCe begged for. Hastily she wiped at her eyes.

"Okay, listen up squad. We have one chance. I mean it..." Squad commander Salem was speaking to them all through their earpieces, "on that flatbed is our Holy Grail. On that flatbed is our mercy off this goddamn'd rock! Aether and Calibre are our cover fire, but we need to move fast. Bunny, you and Sato are with me n' Bee. We are going to cut that sucker free. We will have very unfriendlies very upset and firing very unfriendly bullets at us. Sorry, Sato but dying a hero is one of the on-the-job perks of signing on as a 'Field Engineer.'"

CeCe chuckled with Salem then glanced up to see Xavier getting all red and sweaty in the face, his head shaking in disbelief. CeCe thought it looked as if his head was atop a washing machine in rinse cycle his head shook so violently.

"Daemon is going to get us into position to move the 'junk' from their bed to ours. Now comes the most important job. Mr. Xavier...? X, you need to get the tarp off one side of our bed. If you don't, ain't no way we can shimmy on over the 'junk.' Am I clear? All you have to do is run over, yank the straps off the tarp and run on back into transport. That's it. Okay, so we are going to--"

"W-why the hell can't we just cut the tarp off now? WHY NOT NOW?!" his was the shrill voice of a petulant, defiant child.

"GODAMMIT, man!! We cannot chance losing anything on route! We keep secure until we get to ground zero! All you have to do is loosen 4 straps, mister! We need you. This is Last Down, X!! You wanna' stay on this rock till you rot?! No. Oh hell NO! You have to do it when time comes a'knockin'. It is Last Down. X. Will you do it?" Salem was practically all the way through the opening to the rear hold, a finger pointing right at the bulky E-6 rep. "You are the most important role. We. Need. You. Liaison Officer of the Endevour-6, Mister Reginald Xavier. Will you do it?"

The redhead licked his lips. A silence in eternity then: "Y-yeah... I will... Affirmative, Saley... Important. I can do important.. y-yeah..."

A dead-eyed glared she held upon the man for a heartbeat longer before slipping back into her seat and strapping in. "Very good then. Stand by, team. Cool your heads, take those breaths and get your damned game faces on."

CeCe frowned as she looked over Xavier. A dry swallow she gave. This man was going to get them killed. "You can do it, Mr. X. You do important. You do."

She feigned a smile. So did he. He was paler and sweatier than usual. But at least he stopped shaking his head.

Momentarily, she looked away, athoughtful scowl creasing her face, icy blues softened. _{"How...? Chev...! How the fu--underneath...!"} she whispered aloud to herself.

A single affirmative nod she gave before she reached over for her mask and helmet. She paused a second and caught Sato's gaze. Hopefully he paid no mind to her comment or even better, did not even hear her. She gauged his expression a moment before tossing him an upward chinbob. "Sooo... ready to enjoy the perks of being a 'field engineer,' bruh...?' she let out a small laugh before tossing him a smile, wink and nod.

One final deep breath of real air she took. CeCe then secured the beat up Reaver survival gear over her head and face.

Zoe had survived more than enough close calls to count, but she doubted this one. The rifle fell over her like a scythe, menacing and able to claim her soul at any given moment. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, yet instinctively she was driven like any creature to survive, even if it meant continued existence in a cesspool. She had thought about sweet talking her way out, playing to her male captor’s weaker side, but as much as her pursuers were, as far as she was concerned, scum of Earth, they weren’t stupid. If anything, they’d have their way with her on their terms, and it wouldn’t be pleasant. But as hope seemed to escape her and she considered trying her luck, another two men had become noticeable. They seemed to appear from the shadows, one in hunched, animal-like movements as if preparing to pounce, while the other preached some nonsense of her sins. Were they working together? It was all too sudden for her to process, no less the abnormalities in their appearances she had completely disregarded. Instead, as her captor’s head turned, followed by his rifle to the masked man approaching him, an opportunity seemed to present itself. Concerned only for herself, Zoe’s eyes widened as she grabbed dirt, tilted her body, and slung dust into the armed man’s face. He fired a burst of reactive shots that appeared too awkwardly angled to hit anybody, before attempting to readjust himself with weakened vision. At that point, Zoe jumped up and tried to tackle him with no success, instead being blindly thrown back down. Her pistol was still out of reach, and the threatening sound of other men shouting quickly became audible. The other soldiers had heard the commotion and were already returning having barely made any ground. A smoke grenade shortly followed, and Zoe found herself crawling to her belongings. Nothing else mattered right now. As the fight unfolded around her, she had no idea what might happen to the other men, forced into combat because of her actions. But at this moment in time, in the frenzy of survival, she wasn’t so sure she cared.

The man stared at her as though she had said that pigs now had wings and could fly anywhere they wanted. But then again, maybe it did make sense considering the situation of the world they now lived in. He probably did not expect anyone to speak to him in any other tone than a hostile one, and she probably stuck out from others like a sore thumb when she talked to him there and then.

She saw him studying her and she let him. It was not unusual to do so in the slightest. She had been expecting him to either respond with in a hostile manner like most people were nowadays, but he assumed a wary cautious tone instead. He did not answer her question exactly as it was though, especially the one about him being alright. That was just how things worked nowadays, with most people on living on edge daily.

Instead he asked another of his, gesturing towards the katana she carried on her belt. He wanted to know if she could handle that weapon or if it was just for show most likely. She gave him an answer, not knowing if it was the one he sought for. “This blade has seen the end of many a life. But only those that deserved it.” The man then moved on to finally answering her other questions.

The one about where he was headed. The one regarding the the soot-covered plumes of smokes being bad or good news went unanswered. But perhaps it didn’t really needed to be answered after all. The area it came from was Novus Ordo territory, and anyone fighting them was always a good sign. These Novus Ordo were a bad bunch. Some of them had faced the edge of her blade, and she wasn’t sorry about it.

They had been deserving after all. He asked her the same question she had ended with. Saya gestured toward the plumes of black smoke in the distance. “Good choice. I’m heading there as well. I’m sure many are as well. This smoke can be seen for miles all around. It’ll get complicated once we reach there.” She turned her gaze towards the horizon and began walking towards the smoke. "Coming? We've got to get to the place before the other scavengers do, if we're hoping to get anything worth something."

As she began her walk ahead, Saya thought she heard the man sigh deeply. The reason was unknown to her, and she would not make it a point to ask him if he would not tell. She didn't think the reason would be important anyhow, and these days plenty of people sighed for every little thing, from the world has gone to hell to the sorry pathetic lives they now led. She heard footsteps behind her as the man caught up to her, appearing at her side. The pair walked together side-by-side without a word until he ended the brief silence with a question. He asked if she had a name before he corrected himself, adding in that everyone has a name. A smile curled up at the edges of her lips beneath the mask of her helmet. "My name is Saya. And yours? What do you go by?"

Her new companion introduced himself as Jin Law. She now had a name to put to the voice. The man wasn't a talkative one, and he left his answer at that, and the silence returned as the talking ceased and the only sounds were the pair walking for several moments later when the bursts of sharp cracks reverberating in the air in the direction of the soot-covered smoke pierced the silence with alarming urgency. Saya recognised the cracks as the sound of gunfire and turned to face her companion. Their eyes locked and she quickened her steps into a jog as they quickly covered the remaining distance needed to approach the town of Bravado. The black smoke looked even bigger now that they were close by. She gazed back towards Jin before she made the move towards the direction of the smoke. It was time to find out what was going on.

The watchtower sentry held his position, binoculars held to his eyes as he panned the horizon. There was dirt kicking up in the distance. A vehicle perhaps? Not liking the look of it, he raised his comm to his mouth. The heavy calibre bullet exploded the metal and plastic device and blew off half his face and skull. It was Last Down's official knock on the door.

Daemon expertly swerved and circled around to get the trailer into receive position. When he hit the brakes, their flatbed was but mere inches from the N.O. tractor trailers flatbed with their precious 'junk' on it.

“Alright, last stop, babies! Ya gots ya diapers on?!” chirped out Daemon as he gathered his gun.

“Save it Dae,” growled out Salem, “alright, people! Take a breath… Phase one! Ready?”

She smacked both Daemon and Behemoth on the shoulders then readied her own weapon. A breath she took then a hand went up to the comm device in her ear. “Aeth, Cal… on my mark, you give me the goddam’d Wrath n’ Rapture...! Ready? Here. We… GOOOOO!!! Gogogogo!!” The canopy hatch popped open and so did the driver and passenger side doors. The skies opened up and the bullets of the Last Down hailed down upon the N.O. fortress.

“Bunny! Get your ass movin’!!”

The rear doors swung open and CeCe leapt out. Her heart was racing a million miles an hour as she held her rifle up to her face at eye-level and scanned the local area for unfriendlies. “Clear! Sato! You with me now, mister…!”

She hunched over and guided him to the steps leading up the N.O. trailer and motioned for him to crouch down. CeCe hand-signaled to Salem and the pair held position.

“Cover one, then count to two and get on my six, Bee! Got it?” Behemoth responded by opening up at the N.O. soldiers positioned at the top of the wall. Salem backpedalled slowly, swinging her weapon with her sights as she made her way over to Sato and CeCe. “Aeth! Status?”

“Clear, boss-lady, clea— hold up, Saley!” said the voice of the second in command into her ear. From her distant vantage point she saw the movement from the cab of the pinched transport truck. “Bee! Dae! 2 o’clock!! 4 guests!”

The Defenders reacted and opened fire on the N.O. soldiers. When the gunfire ended, Behemoth swore and spoke into comms, "Dammit, boss!! Two down, but two of them made it. 3 o’clock! I’mma move— goddamit! I’m pinned. Aeth! Cal! Get me out of here! Please.”

The huge Defender slipped back into the cab as the volley of bullets pelted the roof of the transport. In the rear hold, Xavier whimpered a bit and made his knuckles even whiter by clenching his fists even tighter. Several shots fired out from the distance and the volley stopped. In the ensuing silence, Xavier held his breath. “Only cuz ya said please, big boy…” said Aether over comms.

“Cut the chatter…! Alright, squad, Phase two is a go! Bunny! Take care of those two then get your ass up here! Bee! I said ‘count to two!’ It’s already 351! The hell you at, mister…?! Let’s go!!”

Salem reached down and literally pulled Sato up by the collar and hand-signaled for him to cover her. After turning to give two smacks on CeCe’s butt, the commander reached up and pulled herself onto the flatbed steps.

Cece moved out and hunkered down near the front bumper of the squished rear-guard vehicle. A piece of metal debris she reached for, grasped tight and paused. Then still behind cover, she tossed it out towards her targets. They fell for it. Gunfire erupted and she slid out from her position and opened fire and took out one of the two. Behemoth was making his way over to their position and opened fire, taking out the other target. CeCe nodded at the immense man. He patted her shoulder as he passed her, “Dumb Bunny…” he chuckled as he climbed the steps.

The hammering of her heart was still going on inside her chest, but now she started to grow cold. It was going to move to Phase 3 in less than a minute CeCe estimated. That meant it would be time for the redheaded Xavier to do his part. As much as she denied its existence, that sinking feeling consumed her belly.

Salem had cut most of the harnesses and straps away as Sato rifled through the wreckage and took stock of the necessary pieces of ‘junk,’ marking them with strips of red duct tape. The Engineer chief stowed smaller sized ones into his portable case. When all was said and done it came down to shifting over 3 large pieces of ‘junk.’ Behemoth would take one, Cece another and Salem and Sato would gang up on the final piece. It was time now. It was Last Down. Salem whispered to CeCe. From behind her mask the blonde woman smiled; the sinking feeling dissapating from her belly.

“X. Mister Xavier. You are up sir, get those straps loosened. It’s just four of them. Four of the most important things in your whole entire life... time to shine, X. Phase three.

Let’s go.”

Green eyes wide and trembling, Xavier stared out at the opening leading out the back of the rear hold. A measly 6 feet. Then another measly 6 feet to the first strap. All he had to do was make that first move and there would be no turning back. Instinct would kick in and he would just react to the situation and do what he was told. He was a yes-man afterall. He could do it. He just needed to make that first move. He had the most important role of them all. He would make that first move and change the course of history for everyone aboard that bird; the Endeavour-6. All lives aboard the Oasis of the Stars were counting on him.

And so he froze.

In his ear, the words of the Commander and HQ were just a big garbled mess. In his eyes, all he saw was a bright white blurry glare, nothing was in focus. In his mind, a single word kept repeating at a rapid pace and at an exceedingly high volume…

“No.”

But then something broke through to him. It was a chant. In all his wildest dreams he never thought he would ever hear such a thing. His head snapped towards the direction of the chant and sweat flew from his chin and cheeks.

“Let’s go EEEHH-EX!!!” clap-clap-clapclapclap! “Let’s go EEEEHH-EX!!!” clap-clap-clapclapclap!!

Daemon was chanting his name. Like he was some kind of hero…

“Let’s go EEEEHH-EX!!” continued over the comms. Tap-tap-taptaptap!! “Let’s go EEEEHHH-EX!!” continued from outside, aboard the flat bed. Stomp-stomp-stompstompstomp!!

They were all chanting his name. Like a hero… “A sports hero…! Last down…? A FOOTBALL HEROOOO!!! LET’S GO EEEEHHH-EXXXX!!!”

Like a flash of lightning, the semi-overweight redhead donned his helm and mask, tucked an invisible football under his arm and jettisoned out the back door, screeching like a banshee.

Still screeching as he went along, he loosened one strap, then two, then three! Each strap induced an even higher pitched screech. And he could still hear them chanting! Oh hell yes, they were chanting his name! And so the final strap was loosened.

CeCe tossed both her hands up into the air and cheered as she watched the redhead toss both his own hands up in the air and spike an invisible football. She could not help but laugh wildly as Xavier began to bounce around and toss jabs and hooks out in victory celebration. The rest of the squad was hooting and hollering along with the jubilant Xavier.

They had long since secured the cargo and under the watchful eyes of their snipers, they had not a single concern that X was in any danger whilst taking on the most important role of them all. And the rebels inside the base were creating enough havoc to keep the N.O. preoccupied. 'Scavengers' outside the walls were not the main concern now.

And then the round metal thing rolled out towards the triumphant Mr. X, changing all the jubilation into stark terror in a single heart-stopping moment. One of the targets that CeCe was supposed to take care of made one last desperate effort to take out the enemy.

“Grenade!!” screamed out Salem, “X!! Gren—”

The next moment of which she bore witness would live forever in CeCe’s mind until her very last breath.

Mister Reginald Xavier, Liaison Officer of the Endeavour-6 punted the hell out of the grenade and back in the direction of the owner of the grenade it went. It rolled underneath the rearguard transport and out the other side and promptly blew the grenade owner into smithereens.

“I told you I do important…” X said with a cocky twang in his voice.

The rest of the squad roared into life, cheering loudly. As they moved the ‘junk’ over to their flatbed, the chanting started up once more, yet twice as loud. “LET’S GOO EEEEH-EEEXXXX!!!” Tap-clap-stompstompstomp!!!

~

But their arrogance on the battlefield would soon bite them in the ass. Three light transport vehicles rocketed towards them from the opposite side of the fortress. It would be too late once Aether finally spotted them.

For only a moment Roman caught himself flinching. The man raised the gun towards him, and he felt a strong urge to charge the gunman. The ex-solider bided his time instead, opting to continue his slow approach. However, once the female below him moved drawing the man’s sights he charged. The gun went off when the girl through some dirt into her captors face. Without skipping a beat he found himself charging at the duo. A two-foot black and jagged blade slipped out from his right sleeve and into his hand when he began his run at the man.

Yelling from further inside the town alerted Roman to the presence of the other soldiers. But he didn’t care. It had been far too long since he got his hands bloody and a part of him missed the feeling. The rush. His adrenaline was spiking as he plunged the blade through the right side of the gunman’s rib cage, the blade easily slipping in between ribs. Grabbing the barrel of the rifle with his other hand. He was making sure it wasn’t pointed at him. But, he didn’t push this Novus Ordo over. With careful positioning and turning the nearly limp man in his arms, so he was facing the others coming back.

Roman could feel the weight of the man in his arms, he could clearly tell that he had pierced his heart. With his left arm holding the man up his other hand let go of the blade and grabbed the gun. The masked man then began to fire the weapon at those who were rushing toward him. Nearly unaware of the smoke enveloping him or the young women running off into the market. He wasn’t sure if the weapon had found any soft targets before it stopped firing with a click. The corpse that he had propped up against him had taken a few rounds and more rounds were being drawn toward the sudden smoke.

At the sound of the click Roman was quick to drop the corpse and pull his blade free. Using the cover of the smoke he quickly made a run as low as he could toward a few stalls and managed to get on the other side of it. On the other side was a shop keeper armed with an old shot gun and a rusted revolver. He clearly enjoyed the shotgun more than the revolver seeing as how the shot gun looked like it had been cleaned every day. However, Roman did recognize the man taking cover next to him but didn’t know why. The other man looked a bit confused at the sight of him.

“F-Father? What are you doing?”

Suddenly it clicked in his head. This was one of the people that he preached too earlier. With a hidden smile he spoke. “Protecting my flock. I need to borrow your revolver.” The man hesitated for a moment before handing the gun over. As a reflex he checked the ammunition and the condition of the barrel. “Listen, I need you to find better cover count slowly to 30 and fire off a round with that shotgun.” Roman couldn't wait for an answer. For the time being speed and confusion where on his side.

Not skipping a beat the tall man kept his profile as low as he could. Keeping an eye out and watching as the gunmen made their way to where their friend was killed. The smoke had nearly dissipated and Roman could see that he had killed one more and the others seemed okay other than one of them holding his side. The Russian was eventually able to make it to the other dead gunmen positioning himself behind the group of N.O.

3 targets left. 6 shots with a rusty revolver. Roman's luck had nearly run out, the weapon he hoped he would find on the dead man was gone. “Damn” a whisper of frustration silenced by the echo of a shotgun going off nearby. The N.O. thugs opened fire at the kiosk allowing him to break from his prone stance and cover to a kneeling position and opened fire.

1st shot went high finding its place in a brick wall. 2nd shot found a soft target, the shoulder of the N.O. gun men that was holding his side. 3rd shot fizzled in the chamber. 4th shot found itself buried in another thug’s throat. The other man with the wounded shoulder turned and started firing at Roman. The return fire was erratic but the other gunmen in front didn't seem to notice that they were being fired at from another angle.

Last 2 rounds found their targets in the center mass of the wounded man firing at him. Again Roman dropped behind what cover he had. The ire of the other gunman being drawn towards him. The last man was slowly moving up on him firing his rifle in a semi auto fashion trying to get Roman to break cover. His heart was racing, his options were slim, and his luck seemed to have finally run out. That was until another round went off.

The sound of two shots from a double barrel shot gun silenced the market, the last Novus Ordo fell to his knees and then nothing. Looking up ever so slowly Roman was met with the sight of the dead man and a shaky kiosk worker with a shot gun in his hands. The masked man stood up and looked around a few others from the town seemed to be making their way out of the shadows.

Not wanting anyone to take the supplies from the gunmen or his personal effects. He quickly jogged back to grab his pack and then began checking the other dead men for weapons and ammunition. The short man with the shot gun stood over the man he just killed. Roman was paying attention, watching the man and the others that slowly gathered around them in silence.

With looks of shock and silent anger, something he’s seen before. These people were worried that the N.O. would come down hard on all of them now for letting one of their patrols get killed in their town. A yell from the man with the shot gun pierced the utter silence. He had begun to beat the corpse of the man he shot with his shot gun while yelling obscenities. The atmosphere of the crowd was angry, but only now did he realize it was at these men, these bullies that have taken so much from them.

This powder keg was what he wanted after all. Now all that was needed was a spark and a push. Picking up one of the rusted rifles and some ammunition Roman stood and looked out over the crowed. “Do you see it now? How much further must you be pushed to protect yourselves from these monsters?” Roman shouted as he stepped up onto a crate, his robotic voice echoing around the market. “They don't care who you are, they don't care what they take, and they don't care about who they hurt!” Roman began reloading a few magazines slowly and with purpose.

“They won’t stop until you stop them, until you put your foot down.” again he paused this time looking around at the dusty faces and then toward the smoke in the distance. Gunshots echoing from its direction. “Now I care about you, I care about what future we have left and spending it in peace, I will fight for you, and I will fight them... So I ask you, How many more need to die fighting for you?!” the citizens began to whisper amongst themselves and a few began leaving the crowd. For what purpose he could not tell.

“We survive together or die alone. This choice is up to you” Roman chambered a round in the Kalashnikov and began walking toward the vehicle these men were driving. He didn't have a plan, but he knew the fight was towards the smoke and the sound of gun fire. He never really was known to be reckless or impulsive, but he was simply tired of these men who preyed on these people in their time of need.

“Father Asimov, wait up!” a voice from behind him called out. A younger man maybe in his mid-twenty’s hurried toward him with a rifle in his hands. “Can I come with you? These men took my brother a few weeks ago and I haven't heard from him since.” All the younger man received in return was a nod. “Names Steven but most people call me Steve. Hey so where did you learn to fight like that?” the young man spoke walking just behind Roman. He had red short hair and a beard with green eyes. Steve wore a blue and red flannel wool jacket and had a dirty red scarf tied around his neck with tinted black goggles and a broken smile.

“Former Russian Special Forces.” the man replied as the duo arrived at the truck the N.O. where using. “Now son, this will be dangerous and I can’t guarantee your survival, I can barely guarantee my own.” roman opened a door for the car and set his things inside placing the rifle in the middle seat. “By getting in this car you should know that there is no going back, we are committed. But at least I will know that you know how to use that rifle and you’re not afraid to fight.”

Steve smiled, “Well of coarse father, I wouldn't have come up here and talked to you if I was just getting your autograph.” the boy laughed as they got in the electric truck. Roman waited for any others to get in that wanted to come before they took off toward the N.O. camp and the distant battlefield. Roman didn't have that much time to think or rest really. He did take a swig from a flask filled with vodka before passing it to the young red head next to him. The N.O. radio was buzzing with random radio chatter that he couldn't make out over the back ground noise. All he could do was get himself into the mindset of a soldier and hope his luck holds out.

The colour of the light being emitted through ORBs eye turns darker as Tinker mentions working on him. His voice turns deeper and appears more robotic. Negative. Maintenance and engineering can only be performed by authorized personnel. Unauthorized personnel will be repelled. Then the usual light blue hue returns to the eye and the 'normal' voice returns. "I've seemed to have blanked out there for a moment. Apologies."

His eye shoots between Octavia, Tinker and eventually Jeff as he wakes up. It was fascinating to see these humans in action. He had learned that most humans would be hostile to each other, and that friendliness was far too find in this world nowadays. But these humans seemed to not care about that. Octavia had helped the wounded man without so much as a thought. And Octavia spoke of how Tinker fixed something for her. All this seemed to contradict what he had learned... Maybe there were good people left in this world. He wondered on what spectrum his creator had been.

Suddenly ORB is overcome by an unknown feeling, or rather a sudden awareness of things happening. It didn't take long for a woman bursting in and confirming the feeling. He had felt the explosion going off, the sudden surge in energy in the area. It probably was another one of his other functions. He really needed to take the time and catalogue them in the near future. But there was something else. A familiar signal coming from the location of the energy surge. There was something there trying to get his attention.

ORB looks up in surprise as Octavia asks him a question. "Yes! I mean... I would like to take a look at the explosion. I have noticed energy surges in the area and would like to see the cause. I wish to understand. But I understand if you think it is too dangerous, Octavia. Then something suddenly dawned to him. Maybe it wasn't a fair thing to say, but it probably would achieve his goals. "But I do think there will be wounded people on the location of the explosion who could use the help of an expert doctor like yourself." A new feeling arose for ORB. One he couldn't place. But it didn't feel good.

More bullets riccocheted off the steel of the flatbed. And even more pounded the 'scavenger' transport.

"You know exactly why I'm here, Commander, I'm going in after him. You--"

"Bunny. I get it and I--"

"Saley. Don't worry, we have you covered. Just get that damned junk back to base. Last Down, Commander. Can't change my mind--"

"I know. I just wanted to say, we will be waiting for you when you're done here."

"Roger that, boss-lady. Yo, Daemon...?"

"Go ahead, Bunny..."

"Gots my diapers cinched, baby. You just bring it home."

"Yeah, baby. Tell Thor I told him he don't know how to fly straight... diapers on, Bunny... See ya when when I see ya."

"Roger that, Dae. Take care of X and Sato for me, over? For Bee!

"Ya gots it. Over and out. For Bee!! Last Down!!"

The transport peeled off, 'junk' secured on the flatbed, all hearts beating like a chorus of drums. Daemon drove like hell and highwater was coming after them, reaching top speed but slowing with insane reflexes once he saw pitches or potholes in the roadway. Salem was at the top hatch, railing away at the incoming pursuit vehicles. Both Sato and Xavier waved and saluted both CeCe and Behemoth, then they both adjusted their weapons and fired away at the pursuit vehicles.

~~~

From further away, both Aether and Calibre had hailed down on targets from the walls that had surprised attacked the others at the pinched tractor trailer. But it was too litlle to late once they had saw the ambush. The NO attack had nailed Behemoth twice with their volley; once grazing his hip, the other tearing open the left side of his neck.

And so here she was now, the second in command. Even with tears streaming down her eyes, Aether was a deadshot. They got her little brother, and he was bleeding to death. Tears of frustration and anguish burned her eyes, but she would not let that deter her. Every bullet was a message. She would get them back; she had her incentive to murder with deadly accurracy.

From the cover of the trailer bed, both CeCe and Behemoth held position. Aiming at a pursuit vehicle, Bee fired his heavy machine gun as CeCe fired from the hip, one hand on her rifle, the other pressing on Bee's neck, hoping against hope the blood flow would stop.

But they both knew the truth. And so it was decided that Bee would go down swinging and CeCe would get her shot to save her own brother. They were left behind then. Once Behemoth died, CeCe would bitterly pull away, crawl under the tractor trailer and into NO base to find her brother Chevalier and her friend, Capt. Alina Reid.

"Clear! Goddamit, Bunny! Move out, girl! MOVE IT!!" Aether screamed into the comms, her voice breaking and cracking as she broke down, "I love you, little bro...! GODDAMIT, BEE!! Trevvie, I'm sooooo SOORRRY!! I love you, little bro--"

"It's okay, it's okay, Aeth... Di, I am so proud of you... m-m-Mama is too. I know it. I'mma see her... L-Love ya big sis-- Time to go. Wrath and Rapture. Bring it, DI!! Last Down!"

"LAST DOWN!!" Aether and Calibre fired away at the walls providing further cover.

CeCe moved with Behemoth as he rose. Slowly and ponderously at first then after smacking his head twice he moved much more fluidly into better position to fire at the lead NO vehicle chasing the Defender transport. It was closing in but fast.

"Lemme go. Take better aim, girl...!"

No argument. CeCe took a knee, aimed, and let loose on the pursuit vehicle. Someway somehow, their bullets managed to shred the front right tire of their target. They took aim and fired again, but soon enough, the other two vehicles were out of range. But at least they did what they set out to do; give the others with the desperately needed components a head start and a chance to get back to the E-6 and install it.

With one arm around his waist and the other pressing against his pouring red, wound, CeCe pressed her mask against Bee's cheek, "You gave 'em a shot; a chance to still dust off off this rock, big boy--"

"You s-still gots a chance for your bro. He's waiting for his sis. Lemme go. I'm gunna wave goodbye to mine now."

"You are a hero, Bee."

"And you still a dumb bunny, Dumb Bunny... hah." he reached up, grasped her hand, pulled it off his neck and pulled her in close. Through her mask she kissed his cheek. The heavy machine gun passed from his hands to hers. "Say hi to Thor for me... later..."

"Bye, big boy..." CeCe nodded, back pedalled for a bit and watched as he waved into the distance at his sniper sister, the second in command Aether, for the final time.

"Last Down forever. See ya when I see ya, soldier. Thank you, thank you, thank you..." said Salem over comms.

Behemoth collapsed, Aether tossed her rifle as she screamed at the sky, and CeCe let out a shuddering cry. The huge blonde woman nodded one last time, turned around, and sprinted back towards the NO gate.

~~~

After emerging from beneath the front bumper of the pinched tractor trailer, CeCe raised the heavy machine gun and fired into the fray, pounding away at the NO soldiers. The quartet of rebels that had been pinned down she pointed at with two fingers and hand signalled them to split up and move out; unfriendlies at 2 and 4 o'clock. Hopefully they understood because she continued on her quest to find her bro and friend.

She had seen the unmarked van and assumed that was where they were holding the survivors of the helicopter crash. It was wihin running distance, but she did not want to expose herself as a moving target just yet.

Once more she opened fire, providing cover for the rebels. They moved out, but not before providing her with the opportunity she had hoped for. A pair of smoke grenades they launched and upon spraying the vicinity with instant concealment, they had all moved out.

CeCe let off the last rounds of Bee's massive heavy machinegun, dropped it and sprinted towards the immobile van. She held off on firing at any target lest she allow herself to be made as a target herself. She made it! With her heart pounding basically in her ears, she leaned up against the twin rear doors.

"They got us. Dammit they got us..." it was Salem and she sounded in a very bad way, "IED. Daemon is down. This is an open distress call from Field Commander Salem of Squad Last Down. If you hear this we are immobile, but the 'junk' is still secure. We are at the crossroads just north across the Midgard Bridge. Our snipers, Calibre and Executive Commander Aether are keeping the pursuers at bay, but ammo is low. Engineer Sato and Liaison Xavier are still alive and firing away. Behemoth is KIA and Bunny is MIA... I have enjoyed serving my time as Commander and I am proud to have served and lead this Last Down Squad.

"I... I-I have a daughter. Her name is Kaia and she is beautiful. She has a peanut allergy and I know she loves her mommy as much as mommy loves her. Tell her... tell her I'm sorry that I could not be there for her more than I did.. tell her--"

Over Salem's comms could be heard the sound of more gunfire, screams and cries of both Xavier and Sato and the groans of Daemon. But Salem spoke no more.

"X...! Sato...! Aeth and Cal! Bunny still live. 60 seconds and I'm on my way, ya hear?! I'm out in 60 seconds, je vous le jure! I swear! You stay alive! KEEP FIGHTING!! LAST DOWN!!"

CeCe turned and ripped open the back doors to the van.

"Ughs... je veux une ange eh bien... il ya juste un couchon pour certaine... Well, at least it's not shooting at me..."

"Ey! Prends un pistolet, fermes ta bouche, et allons y! Couchon... you're welcome by the way, Thor... Oh and bonjour, Captain Alina Reid!"

Of course there was the gratuitous kisses and group hug, then guns were passed around. It was time to make good on her promise to make it out and move out in 60 seconds.

So far the drive had been quiet and a bit awkward. The younger man had been quiet through the drive so far. Roman was sure the man would break and run the first chance he got after being shot at. Something about the kid made him seem like he wasn’t ready, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to be mean but having one more thing for the bad guys to shoot at wasn’t that bad of a thing either, made his job a little easier. The Russian was about to say something before a radio call came through.

Heavy static and garbled speech slowly cleared, “-his is an open distress call from Field Commander Salem of Squad Last Down. If you hear this we are immobile, but the 'junk' is still secure. We are at the crossroads just north across the Midgard Bridge. Our snipers, Calibre and Executive Commander Aether are keeping the pursuers at bay, but ammo is low. Engineer Sato and Liaison Xavier are still alive and firing away. Behemoth is KIA and Bunny is MIA... I have enjoyed serving my time as Commander, and I am proud to have served and lead this Last Down Squad.”

A moment of silence and more garbled speech as the radio was filled with a burst of white noise. “I... I-I have a daughter. Her name is Kaia, and she is beautiful.” the radio cut out and went back to white noise and garbled voices.

Both of the men seemed to just look at each other and then back toward the base in the distance. Roman wanted to fight, but he was unsure If there was still going to be a fight at the NO base by the time they got there, “Steve. Do you know where this Midgard bridge is?” he knew what this meant. He would be getting in between a force of NO’s and this unknown squad who could very well be just as dangerous. “Nothing ventured nothing gained” he thought to himself.

Steve was quiet for a moment, he seemed lost in thought as he tried to think, “ye-yeah I know where it is. It’s not that far out of the way.” The young man seemed a bit shaky but otherwise alright. “So what are we going to do when we get there? Do we have any kind of plan?” the kid was right he really didn’t have a plan.

“Well since you know where it is you drive” a bit of awkward swerving and repositioning as the two switched places while the truck was still moving. “Here’s the plan, you drive I shoot. If the vehicle wrecks take cover at the wreck and aim for drivers, shooters, wind shields, tires, and engine blocks. If we eliminate their mobility, it will be easier to take them out.” Roman quickly reached behind them into the back and put two rifles on his seat and another next to Steve with three full magazines.

“We have limited ammo and nothing to reload. Pick your shots carefully and don’t spray in pray like you Americans are used too.” Roman began to quickly clean what he could off the rifles and do a quick inventory of what they were able to get off the men from earlier. “9 full magazines, 2 half magazines. One rifle that ain't worth a dam, 3 AK’s that will work, 2 9mm pistols with two mags each.” So far it's okay, he can definitely work with this. “2 smoke grenades and 3 frag grenades, don’t rely on these you can’t get inside them to clean it so you can have one of each with a pistol and that rifle.”

Honestly he didn’t trust the other man with these but hey if it’s stupid but it works it’s not stupid. He took a moment to try to remember where he heard that from when Steve spoke up from the driver seat, “hey I don’t know if it matters or not but those guys you killed, they were the local enforcers, and we would see them a lot around town. Anyways the big guy liked to carry around a rocket launcher with him I think.”

A short pause from Steve as he turned down the dry riverbed. The road continued to get worse as they drove towards smoke in the distance, “maybe check under the seat? They took it with them whenever they did negotiations but never fired it.”

A rocket launcher would be useful, the other NO wouldn’t pay entirely too much attention to them as they were driving one of their vehicles. He doubted that he would get more than one shot off though. Going to have to make it count while he lifted up the bench seat in the back. Sure enough under the seat was an RPG launcher and 1 Rocket. Carefully even through the bumpy ride Roman picked both items up and moved them to the front seat where he immediately started inspecting them, “yeah this will work.” He thought out loud.

>>>

They hadn’t been driving along the river bed for too long. In the amount of time it took Roman to get all the weapons sorted they had nearly arrived at the bridge. They were still in the dry riverbed although a rough road it did allow them to approach unnoticed. “Alright Steve get us up there, and we will assume any formation the NO are using to get in close to their biggest target.” The other man didn’t say anything but did start turning up hill and out of the small gorge.

In the distance they could see the source of the small cloud of smoke. It looked like a transport vehicle carrying something on a flatbed. Whatever they were carrying was concealed by a tarp but the reason they had stopped looked like some severe damage to the front end. Behind the transport where several vehicles, some had stopped but others were still gunning straight for the transport. The largest of the perusing vehicles was a rather large lightly armored vehicle that seemed to be breaking off from the main group. A few smaller trucks followed it. Roman could only figure that it was trying to draw some fire from the transport.

The masked man pointed out the larger vehicle, “that’s our target, try to intercept it just make it look like we are going back toward the main group.” Steve nodded and started turning towards the other NO vehicles. While he was doing that Roman checked the RPG one more time before putting the other grenades and mags in his pockets. He even took the time to put a few of the mags in Steve’s pockets as well.

There was no going back. The duo were committed, the transport had seen them but only flashed its lights a few times before continuing on. As they slowly drew closer to the vehicle Roman opened his door and stepped one foot out onto the running boards propping the RPG up and towards the damaged flat bed. He was trying to make it seem like he was going to fire it at them but only needed the other transport to see him do this.

It was risky sure. It made him a target to the people they were here to help. A priority target, man with a rocket launcher pointed at them. But, he was hesitating. He had a clear shot at the flat bed, but he did nothing. That was until they were fifty yards from the NO transport. Almost like a radar finding a new target the masked man snapped to the NO transport and fired. A puff of white and the flash of a rocket streaked through the air finding its target in the side of the armored transport.

The transport erupted into flames the other vehicles following it swerved and circled back momentarily confused by the sudden attack before doubling back towards the truck that had fired the weapon. The slight thrill of seeing his target get hit made the man laugh. Throwing the launcher back into the truck he grabbed one of the rifles and began taking shots at some other vehicles. The Russian aimed for tires and drivers trying to knock out as many vehicles as he could while also drawing as many of these NO away from the flat bed and back toward the main group.

“White knuckle ride!” Steve spoke up clenching his hands on the steering wheel. Shots began coming into their vehicle now. Shattering glass and puncturing metal. The small back windows shattered first followed by a few shots into the side of the truck, “well I think our covers been blown boss.”

Steve’s humor was a good sign, it at least showed Roman he wasn’t going to freeze up just yet. Still, there was a fight to win. The former Russian wanted nothing more to take out these vehicles and engage them in close combat but that would have to wait. For now, he knew of one thing they could do to slow down these barbarians. “You’re not going to like this but I need you to get us into the center of those guys over there than double back around towards that flat bed.”

Steve didn’t say anything, but he was sure he saw the young man smile. This guy was turning out to be quite the adrenaline junkie. Honestly he was glad the young man came along. But he knew he couldn’t dwell on why the man was here or who he was, after all there was a battle to win. And he intended to win.

Aether held one eye to her scope whilst calmly tracking the intruder vehicle. Once within the killzone, she would fire. She squeezed the trigger. ‘Clink!’ Empty chamber.

"Cal! Perimetre! One got through! I'm out, man! You gotsta Pacify that mutha!"

Dead to rights was the driver in his sights. Calibre squeezed the trigger. 'Clink!' Empty chamber. He hand signalled to Aether and both Defenders immediately rose from their respective positions and ran to the motor bike. "Dae! X! Sate! Me n' Cal are moving out! Oh and boys, ya gots a rat at 10 o'clock! Repeat rat at 10! Concentrate all fire-- naw shit...! Is that what I think it is...?"

~~~

"Rock... et... gun..." said Daemon weakly. His legs were pulverized and his hip was shattered. If he made it out alive, there was little other than cybernetic prosthetics that would allow him to walk again. But then again he was losing blood. But fast.

"X... Sato... RPG—" He managed to glance over his shoulder but upon witnessing the bedlam taking place behind him, he just shook his head. "--do it... self... babies..."

Out the driver's side he leaned and gave a god-loving screech as things that should not move the way they did in his body moved the way they did. But Daemon was a good soldier. A tough one. And he had enough consciousness left to squeeze out a few shots and take out the rocket launching baddie.

The first shot; wide left. The second; closer but still wide left. Both eyes closed. A breath he took. Only his left eye opened and he fired. The ground directly to the left and mere 4 inches away took a round. With this next shot, he would hit the target. And he did. The RPG wielder's right collar was shredded by Daemon's final shot.

But that was all. The bullet passed right through cloth, not flesh. The RPG wielder spun then fired at another vehicle.

"Worse aim then me... hah. X...! Sate...! Hold fire! Hold fire.. Aeth...? This Dae, over..."

"This is Aeth! Go ahead..."

"Rat is a newfish... just RPG'd NO pursuer. Heard from Bunny yet?"

"Blondie is en route, bro. So are we. Hang tight--"

"Can't. 'Going down... after boss-lady… n’ big boy. Take care… those Last Down babies, okay? You Aethie boss-lady now…"

"Roger that. Thank you, Daemon. Thanks for taking care of my baby brother. Thanks for getting us out on time and alive. Diapers cinched, Farouk. I'll see ya when I see ya…"

"Roger that, Di. I'll see ya... whe… awwwww, X. Don't cry... Don't cry bro... L-Let’s go… ehhh-exxx… don't... d-don... cr--"

Reginald Xavier cradled Daemon and began to cry as the Defender driver’s body went limp in his arms.

~~~

The three of them crawled underneath the pinched tractor trailer, CeCe's brother, Chevy, swearing neath his breath each time his right leg shimmied up.

"Chev...! Ca va? Qu'est qu'il y a...? You hurt?"

"I'm good! I'm good!" said Chevy, then under his breath, _{"...shit that hurts..."}

"Well, well, sounds like good ol' 'Thor' over there got kicked in the hammer," said Alina dryly, "naw Val, I splinted up his leg. Possible compound fracture. Hip don't look so good neither. Bruising, swelling, both sides. Needs a doctor--"

"I'm good I said, Captain Reid."

CeCe nodded firmly as she crawled as far as the over-hanging edge of the trailer and stopped. Captain Reid had called her 'Val.' It had been so long since anyone called her by her old pilot's callsign. Old wounds were opening but fast now.

"So what now, Val...?"

"We gunna' get some wheels. And it's: Bunny."

"Say what?"

"It's Bunny out here now, Cap."

"'Bunny and Thor'. What did these people do to my Valkyrie and my Titan? What’s my handle? 'Milk n’ Cookies' then?”

“The Defender Corps likes their comics and Anime too much, Cap. And I always pictured you as more of a Cookies n’ Cream myself—”

“Couchon...! Knock it off. The hell just happened there…? Daaaayaammm! That’s my boy! That’s our big boy! Let’s move out! Looks like Bee just dropped a grenade up in their ass. We have comandeer-able, folks! Hell yeah, Bee!!”

“Dammit… that’s Behemoth… see ya when I see ya bro… dammit…”

“Aether…?! This is Bunny—”

“—Ugh… have some self-respect, woman—”

“—we have wheels. You’re baby bro did us one last solid. Yippeekay’d some mutha’s dead, girl. Hero, no doubt.”

“This is Aeth. Copy that, Bunny. Hell yeah, big boy… We just lost Dae. But we got a newfish now. Two dudes in a comandeer’d NO. Me n’ Cal are on the 989 bike. Wrath n’ Rapture are spent. Just the serviceable side arms now.”

“Bruno’s spent too. Just two full assaults. 2 clips. 3 serviceables. And whatever’s in that comandeer-able. Be there in 90 seconds, Aeth!”

“We will be occupied. Flash your lights: one, one, two, two. And get that ‘junk’ over to your transport, girl. Last down. Get it done. Aether out.”

Into the vehicle they went and drove away from the NO camp. She sorely wanted to pick up Bee’s body and put him in cargo, but she knew that was fool’s errand. His weight and the time spent would just slow them down. Instead she took his side arm, remaining grenade, his Defender tags and brought his heavy sub-machine gun, Bruno with them.

“How she doing, ChaChe…? Really, how is Aether…?”

“She just lost Behmoth, her baby brother, her baby bro’s bestie, Daemon, and Salem, her own bestie and commanding officer. Aeth has no choice but to be A1 5-by-5, Chev. She’s boss-lady now…”

~~~

“Alright, newfish… “ Aether cleared her throat then tapped the comm in her ear.

"Ears on, friendly neighbourhood rogue vehicle? This is Execu— this is acting Field Commander Aether. You see that blip coming up on your 6 reeeeeal fast? Don’t be alarmed. Yeah, hi, that’s us on the motorbike.

“We just made a pickup from the boys back there. Hey, Mr. RPG… They say thanks for not cramming the rocket down their throats. We gots 2 smokes, 4 grenades and my boy Calibre here is double fisting some heavy irons… and he don’t say much… nuttin’ at all actually, but he’s a dead shot. Me? I’m not a bad driver but I’mma need some cover so I’mma stay up close to you until we break up? Don’t get emotional when I pull out, k?

“Ai’ight then. We gots back up en route. I’ll let you know when I see her. You’ll like her. She’s even more of a bitch than me-- wait. Hold up... Oh, and what’s that, girl? Bruno ready to sing..? Yeah, you gunna like her… she big, she blonde, and she packing my baby bro’s fully loaded submachine gun and it’s reeeeeeal pissed off. Hell yeah, Bee...

“So once again, this is Aether here and I’ll be your date for this kamikaze soiree. Just let me know whacha want, whacha like and I’ll follow your lead. I like to dance.

Oh! So, yo, friendly neighbourhood rogue vehicle? What's your handle?”

As the two of them descended upon Bravado with its chaotic shouting accompanying the sound of gunfire, the vague, shadowy outline of an approaching convoy of trucks caught Jin’s attention. It troubled him, rolling from the far west like sinister storm clouds, forcing him to re-evaluate his actions. Why come here? It was a fool’s move, a death wish, though survival often contradicted itself in the risks it demanded. The shadows grew larger and thicker, and a hot feeling of discomfort pinched him in the pit of his stomach. He could somehow sense, a sixth sense, that this was more than a mindless assault from a small scale rebellion. There was a full blown war coming. Turning back as Saya, the woman he had known for five minutes, moved in direction of the smoke, he called to her. “No. Wait!” he said, struggling to speak clearly and indeed she had failed to hear him. “We shouldn’t be here!” But the growing racket of gunfire and anxiety filling the town masked every word. “Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, feeling a sudden, strange sense of responsibility to the woman. He glanced back once more at death, before hurrying to catch up with Saya.

As they emerged into the small town, the manic hustle and bustle made stopping for conversation impossible. Novus Ordo soldiers seemed to emerge like cockroaches, popping out of alleyways and scattering around the streets. They paid little attention to regular townspeople, though they aggressively shoved anybody who got in their way. It angered Jin deeply though he fought to bury his emotions, remembering why he had avoided people and busy societies for so long. He immediately felt claustrophobic, out of his comfort zone though his dwindling supplies demanded it.

“Move!” a man’s voice suddenly boomed, colliding into Jin like a freight train and shoving him into Saya. It was a large N.O. soldier with a scarred face, curly black hair and a greasy beard. His smug, toothless smile beamed in Jin’s direction as he passed with three armed soldiers. They were clearly in a hurry, yet the hideous behemoth’s shove was more for amusement than necessity. But Jin’s bitter reaction was both accidental and stupid, a mouthful of profanities and a sample of his former self that often brought avoidable consequences. The six foot seven freak of a sweaty soldier stopped and glared back at Jin, his big ego challenged in the company of fellow soldiers. His smile faded and was replaced with a look of disgust, one that seemed to lose all interest in current events. If that wasn’t enough, Jin had already been beaten up today. Twenty or so minutes ago? Good grief.

The large man, having removed his rifle, stormed over to a 5’9 Jin who had only just returned to his feet. He grabbed him by his hood and effortlessly tugged him to the floor. Meanwhile, the other men then seemed to swarm Saya. It was difficult for Jin to see her beyond Satan’s shadow hanging over him and the giant claws that reached down. The giant pulled Jin off the ground like a baby and swung him back to the floor with a sick thud. Gasping, Jin’s adrenaline pumped full force into overdrive. The man’s slower, methodical approach to dismantle Jin gave the smaller man a chance to think through some of the blur. He hooked his left foot around the giant’s left ankle, then launched a heel strike into the man’s inner left knee, causing him to stumble and collapse to his knees. Returning to his feet, Jin landed multiple round kicks and strikes, but most with minimal effect. Before long, the large man grabbed hold of him and again forced him to the ground. It became a mindless scrap on both sides. Around them, chaos and panic within the town seemed to increase, so much so that they had become invisible. Jin blocked as best as he could, evading few of the hammer fists raining down upon him as he struggled trying to get off his back. Somebody then thumped him in his head. Everything became a daze after a half second flash. The big man seemed to stop, growling at somebody for interfering with his fight. By the time he finally returned, an opening had become present. As the first spike of adrenaline settled slightly despite the ongoing conflict, Jin remembered his training on the ground. He shifted his body in numerous directions as the big man dropped back down upon him, and trapped one of the his beastly arms before locking his legs around his neck. It wasn’t pretty or perfect, but Jin had secured a triangle choke, using his legs and the man’s own arm to clamp his neck and cut off his circulation. The large man fought to stand up, but Jin held on with all his might and kept him to his knees. Within a minute of fighting to maintain the hold, the man's circulation was completely cut, and the giant passed out. Jin immediately released the hold although it meant sparing the man’s life. He didn’t feel like killing if he didn’t have to, but unfortunately fate wouldn’t be so forgiving. As he barely made it back to his feet, the fleet of trucks roared into town, their passengers gunning down Novus Ordo at every opportunity. It was a rebellion and the beginning of a war.

Bullets were flying everywhere. Blades were meeting flesh. Another explosion erupted in the distance. And Saya was nowhere to be seen. Jin, unable to pursue her, ducked for cover in a nearby alley to collect himself. Rubbing his eyes as he became more aware of the blurriness around him, it became apparent that a cut had been opened above his eye, the kind that really knew how to bleed. He quickly removed a white rag from his bag, tied it around his head and across the cut close to his eye, and pulled his hood back over. He was also still breathing through his mask, though his air-filtration system had seen better days. Returning to the street and its bloody battle that continued to worsen, Jin spotted a second fleet of trucks rolling into the town. It was a second wave of Novus Ordo soldiers, coming to support their side in the battle. But they weren't alone. No, there was something strange marching slowly behind them.

"It... it can't be," Jin stuttered as he wide-eyed the four-legged spider-like mech built like a tank and armed for invasion. "It's... it's impossible!"

Reality, however, was a bitch.

The APC's two escorts had been taken out. Smaller vehicles with only a driver and passenger, it didn't take more than a few shots with the AK to take them out. However, his attention was brought back to the radio as it crackled to life. Someone called themselves Aether seemed to be calling the shots. At least she was fairly well descriptive when it came to her plan of attack. Steve didn't look to sure but kept driving anyways, the truck stayed on its current heading.

“Affirmative Commander” Romans robotic voice did have a slight Russian accent. Just a small program he added to the voice box. “This is Troll former Spetsnaz officer. My friend and I are on a collision course with incoming N.O. forces. Please advise running low on ammunition with two smoke and fragmentation grenades.” he paused for a moment as he looked over at the flashing red light on the dash board. Their battery bank had been hit, and they were losing power.

“Current plan, dig into enemy forces and engage in close quarters. Battery bank took a hit we won’t be running for much longer.” the Russian paused for another moment. He was assessing the situation, it didn't look good for them but at least it was going to be fun. Steve didn't look like he was enjoying this plan as much. Roman did notice he had put his seat belt on though.

“Recommended breaking off before contact. New fish will be dropping smoke and presents behind us.” Roman was quick to double check the grenades and kept one of each on Steve's person. “How copy?” roman kept the radio on as he also began to strap himself in. things were about to get very dangerous and interesting.

Still, roman had an idea. They were still going fast enough that anything that came off their truck debris wise would still do some damage if it broke off. With this thought in mind he opened his door and shot the hinges until it was about to break off. The dust cloud from the other vehicles was getting closer, and they were now on a head on course with them. A single truck and motor bike playing chicken with several other vehicles.

The rather angry dust cloud was starting to get closer. Nearly in range, the masked man stood back out on the running boards only now noticing the tear in his clothes at his shoulder. With a trained and steady aim even with the vehicle moving over such bumpy terrain. Roman began to take a few shots at the approaching vehicles. Only aiming for tires it wasn't long before they began to fire back.

A large transport truck remained in the middle of the group. It had a tarp over the back of it and Roman was unsure how many contacts would be in it, “Steve ram into the side of the middle truck. The safety features in this rig should save us from most of the impact.” Steve didn't look too happy with this plan but kept going. After emptying one of his magazines in the AK he sat back down in the rig and strapped in holding the grenades in his hands and pulling the pins.

The shots from the N.O. group began to do some damage to the rig. Windows busted, mirrors gone, multiple warning lights on the dash board, and loosing air pressure in more than a few tires. It was too late for them to do anything else they were inside the ring of N.O. vehicles. Just before their vehicle impacted the transport trucks passenger side, Roman dropped both grenades out the side of the truck. The sudden bang of steel on steel and the hiss of high pressure air systems were heard for a moment as everything went black around him.

The safety features had deployed. A fast acting foam that hardens to about the same strength as Styrofoam. Released after a high speed impact enveloped their cab. The truck they smashed into also stopped but didn't have any safety features deploy. The smoke and frag grenade did go off damaging a few other vehicles and effectively spreading chaos throughout the group.