^{Interactions: Karine Asagi @FalloutJack.}

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After a brief moment walking, Nina finally arrived on the training room. Passing through an armored hallway that would put the ones in those movies about secret bases to shame, she could have a glimpse of how secure and advanced the NSF headquarters really was. The warnings on the hallway made it clear one shouldn't go in while someone else was in the middle of a training session and the read light above the door clearly stated that was the case. Despite that, Nina's curiosity was too big for her to just wait outside like a good girl.

The moment she opened the heavy doors though, she heard the music blasting at full volume in the dim lit room as a black haired woman fought against training robots in full concentration despite the chaos and loud music. Curious about the woman's fighting style, Nina simply stood by the entrance for a bit, watching how she fought while minding any possible stray bullets going towards her. It didn't take much for her to realize that the woman had all four limbs replaced by cybernetic ones, which it was clear due to how they were sometimes bending to hit enemies. It was clear for Nina even after just a brief moment observing that the woman was already used in training in that room, which was incredibly advanced by the way. Not only the AI seemed to be rather ruthless and cunning in their approach and way of fighting but the room itself was also able to recreate many obstacles and emulate many different situations, which made Nina interested on it.

Even though Nina had entered the room a few seconds, most of the AI robots were simply ignoring her and going for the other woman instead, making her wonder if the room had sensors to know who was currently in the room and training or if it was pre-programmed. While she was thinking about that though, a single robot went towards her, quickly answering her doubt. Surprised by it's agile movements and rather stealthy approach, Nina didn't think twice before kicking it with her bio-cybernetic legs, immediately making the robot, or what remained of it, which was mainly it's chest, fly through the room, going to the direction the other woman was.

"Dammit! I'm sorry! I didn't expect them to be this light!" Nina said as she dashed towards the woman with a frightening speed, getting near her the moment the parts of the destroyed robot was about to hit her before kicking it again, redirecting it and making hit another robot that was approaching the woman straight in the chest, making both of them almost immediately explode.

It all happened in the blink of an eye and the very moment after saying that, Nina had already dashed away, back to her initial position in the corner of the room to analyze the woman's fighting style and how the room worked. Unfortunately for Nina, the robot Ai apparently had already noticed her presence and was starting to send a few robots, albeit in a lower number than the ones surrounding the black haired woman, towards her.

It did take a while for Nina to get used to how the room worked and how the robots operated. The only reason why she wasn't shot or put down due to the small mistakes she made in this period of time where she was still getting accustomed with the training room was thanks to her almost ridiculous speed. It was obvious to her that the current difficulty was pretty unforgiving and any mistakes would result in her being shot down or wounded, as it was clear due to the few times she dodged a bullet or an attack from a robot by mere inches due to a mistake, but thanks to both her speed and due to the fact that she wasn't the only one inside the room, she was still able to adapt to the situation without suffering any damage.

After she finally started to get the hang of it though, Nina was even having fun as she ran around the room, using both her legs and the momentum from her speed to take out robots while stealing some of their guns to shoot as she ran around. Her fighting style was completely different from the black haired woman, as she never stood in the same place for too long, always running around, but it was still effective. Initially, she was hoping to just find a place to stretch her legs and wasn't expecting any combat at all, but now that she was already in the room, she wasn't finding the idea so bad.

Her focus was such that she didn't even really notice what was happening, at first. Let's be clear that the darkness of the room with a sudden light from the door is not what Asagi was seeing right now. No, her view was that of the sterile environment of Super Hot, with all the robots showing up in red as soon as they were visible to her. With that in mind, there was still a light from an opening there and a faint figure coming from it, but she had been a bit busy on sword-slashing and kicking an enemy away before tossing said sword at another incoming sword-bot. Things did not alter for a moment, and then the robots began to change their priorities slightly, which of course was when Nina was attacked.

The kick and the attack were audible, as was the sudden apology and surprise dash-and-kick to knock the careening robot torso away from Karine. This had all happened in the space of a few seconds, and Asagi had been in a stance to kick, punch, or catch the surprise object..whichever came first, but now there was this other woman and...good god, the tech in those legs. They had to be a pair of Diablo-13s or better. Whereas Asagi's custom limbs were a more rounded lot, those were models that almost ran away with the user if they weren't careful with 'em. Judging by her actions, though, the woman was well-trained and able to handle them just fine. Must be a co-worker, then.

"It's alright. Nobody's hurt, so it's fine."

Immediately, Asagi ducked back into a roll behind an obstacle to avoid a hail of gunfire from both sides. The computer had allowed for a risky maneuver like this, which took out at least a couple of its own units, to try and take her. The strategy was definitely evolving, and...it was also changing, because unfortunately the computer had also recognized another target in the room and the doors had shut. Asagi took her robot-rifle and started shooting bots down now, and the other woman was adapting to the situation handedly.

"Looks like you're in here, for now. I'm Asagi. You wanna keep this going or do I switch off?"

Then, she smirked.

"Or, alternatively, I could play unfair and deal with them the easy way."

Namely, Karine could actually use the system in her cybernetics to augment her accuracy to such a degree that she would practically never miss. Her eyes and her limbs worked in tandem, of course, so like any smart system, it could lock on target and easily follow it. You can do the same thing in a number of video games, paint a target and you always know where it is. Open fire and your gun is automatically pointed in its direction. So, rather than having to make the effort, Asagi could do this and the two of them could probably talk properly, assuming the newcomer didn't just want it to stop.

---

Nina was surprised as she watched how easily the woman, who introduced herself as Asagi, was dealing with the robots. She was so accustomed with both the room and her cybernetic implants that she was dealing with them almost effortlessly. The way her movements changed ever so slightly was promptly noticed by Nina as her body and implants began operating on maximum efficiency. Especially how her limbs and movements were tracking the robots, almost like a smart system made Nina particularly curious about it, it seemed like the woman had more implants on her than Nina could see on the surface. Not only Asagi seemed to be incredibly experienced, but she was also seemed to be quite a nice person seeing as how she wasn't mad by both Nina's intrusion on her training session and the distraction she created.

"Whew, I'm glad you're not mad at both my intrusion in your training session and the distraction..." Nina said with a giggle as she continued despite it being her first time in the training room, she was adapting herself remarkably well to it. There were still a few mistakes and missteps here and there which required both a great deal of flexibility and speed for her to get out in one piece, but little by little, those mistakes were getting fewer and fewer.

"It's my first time, in the training room. Never saw one this advanced before!" Nina continued.

"The AI is particularly advanced too, isn't it? Had a few close ones, but I'm getting used on how the room works." Nina said as she jumped over a robot that threw itself in front of her, trying to restrain her movements.

"If you want to continue it's fine by me, I'm the one intruding on your training session after all." Nina said laughing.

"That said, I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit so I will probably head out in a moment. The interrogation was... let's say it was very thorough..." Nina finished. She didn't know if Asagi was aware of her circumstances for joining the NSF, but if she knew, it would be quite obvious why the interrogation took so long.

"Well, that and I'm not really using the appropriate equipment for training. I left most of my equipment, including my crossbow in my room..." Nina explained. Asagi would notice how she seemed to hesitate a bit as she mentioned her crossbow, which indicated that there was definitely something going on. Other than that, Asagi would notice the fact that despite having been in the room for a while and running in the same speed non-stop, Nina didn't give out the faintest signs of being exhausted.

---

Ten minutes had passed. Interfering with all that Iwata had laying around was no easy task; at each lift of a small object, he had to ensure there weren't any booby traps. Investigators within the NSF were susceptible to heightened egos if they weren't careful about their bitter reality. The Jinrai weren't the kind of group to settle down for fair and well-executed precision. Sometimes, the path to power was designed only to let the brutish to pass through. Understanding that core skill-set had led to the tactics employed by their foes to be as unconventional as past terror organisations found across history: the likes of the Vietcong, IRA and selective groups across the East Asian coast shone through their strategies. Sometimes it was a grenade pin strung against an object of interest, igniting its fuse, or other times it was a firearm perfectly set in place. The dirtier it was, the more effective it could be. Installing fear into the NSF hindered their own effectiveness, reducing their speed and efficiency in tearing down their hideouts. The more resources that had to be employed just to investigate a single individual the better the results were for the Jinrai. Takai was only half fearful of their results, putting the trust in his augmentation to identify any anomalies or external hazards that would risk his life and objective.

For a while, he focused on the ground floor, specifically in the kitchen. An assortment of smaller gadgets were laid around, assorted in randomised piles with no cohesion. Spent needles, flasks and bottles of alcohol littered the tables, counters and floors where poor attempts to reach the bin had been made. Takai frowned upon its findings, seeing Iwata's condition deteriorating from a likely unrecognisable self she had before. Sparsely spent canisters of augmentation juices were spilt in the corner of the room. Takai drew his focus away from the rusty needles and focused his PHUD onto the stains, looking at it to see what could be made of it. The seconds dragged on, giving him the freedom to move his eyes elsewhere around the room, before slowly returning to the substance before him. Taking out a tiny pipette, he sucked up a small sample of the liquid and stored it into a neat container, locked beneath his secured personnel storage system. With the kitchen finally examined, only seeing the aftermath of a drunken night and needle-injecting party, Takai made his way towards the next door, where the stairs that would lead upstairs lay hidden behind an assortment of empty cardboard boxes. He sighed, taking a second to adjust himself and stretch. The house itself smelt like vile vomit, shit and excrement shoved together in one pile. Her decency wasn't obviously lessened to defecation on her own kitchen floor, but it didn't stop the house from smelling just like it. All in all, it was saddening seeing a once close friend and mentor-like figure of his own to be reduced to the common downtrodden washout that he used to deal with in his earliest policing days. If anyone from the outside could've guessed, it looked like the den of a trafficker after tussling with an attempted escapee.

Standing in the kitchen, in the silence of his own investigation, Takai began to think more about what Kaz had said in the car. She rather politely, though darkened in her own tone, shot down his initial wish to have served overseas. It changed a person, it changed everyone who did it. Her stories of 'peacekeeping' weren't too dissimilar to the formation of the NSF. Riots of the political chaos that ensued above everyone's control scarred many and caused universal unrest across the nation, resulting in clashes between the Agencies and Revolutionaries across the nation. Many of those who rose up in the early days were likely in the ranks of the Jinrai now, explaining their Privatised Army size and stature. Kaz's mentioning of the child being threatened with killing their father wasn't something he hadn't seen. Brute force was one of many key doctrines into securing obedience. He'd seen officers of the supposed law do everything just the same, and the videos of Jinrai operatives ransoming officers or families of the operatives within the NSF weren't uncommon in the earliest months. Ultimately, neither serving on the homeland or abroad would've done anyone any good. Takai was a changed man from the very beginning, and there was nothing he could truly do about it. Sighing, he filed himself into the corner of the room, sighing heavily despite the camera feed still being active. Muttering to himself, he felt the need to call in something just to hear Kaz's voice. His thoughts weren't the best accomplice within the darkened room of a former comrade.

Just as he went to activate the PTT on his radio, a quick burst of information quickly caught him off guard. Kaz called it in: the target had arrived? Shit. Takai stood for a second, unsure of how to react and contemplating whether or not to call a confirmation in from her, but sure enough a second callout came through. Statements of Iwata arriving were succeeded by a supposed group under her command. Armed. Dangerous. An ambush? Shit. Just as the call came through, a squeal of tires could be heard in the distance, and the door swung up immediately to the sound of rushing footsteps. Takai dropped his hand and reached for his holster, hoping to draw his handgun as quickly as possible. Halfway through the motion, a shotgun blast shattered through the doorway to the kitchen, smashing the glasses and splintering the table quickly. Takai hugged the wall, holding his breath as he held the trigger carefully, waiting for the first body to move through. A second shot rang out, ensuring that Takai wasn't hiding behind the table in the first place. The second pump of its action reminded Takai that he didn't want to move out into the open just then. And to the least of his expectancy, he heard a voice ring down the corridor.

"Give it up, you bastard!" The ever familiar voice rang out with a light croak, followed by yet another shotgun blast, this time to the slight right of the room. The cabinets were torn from piece to piece, sending glass, wooden splinters and shards splashed around the room like the fragmentation of a hand grenade. Takai covered his head with his free arm, trying his hardest to shield himself from any potential damage, and as he did, he successfully anticipated the barrel of the shotgun to poke around the corner. From his perspective, the door frame was no longer empty, the barrel of the shotgun pointing through enough for Takai to make his move. Taking a quick breath, he lunged forward, his free hand at the ready, as he wrapped his fingers around the receiver of the weapon and forced it aside, causing the recipient to panic fire another shot just barely past Takai's body. Once he pushed the barrel, Takai slammed his handgun around the side of Iwata's head, causing her to recall. She staggered against the wall, before retaliating herself with a tight struggle.

Striking Takai across the body, she curled the fist dedicated to priming the action of her firearm and shed aggression down onto her attacker. The struggle for the powerful buckshot blaster had begun, leaving the two exchanging desperate strikes against one another. Despite having the intentions to disarm her and gain the advantage, Takai's strengths began to level out to hers as she grabbed his other free hand, attempting to force his own pistol against his skull. A sudden shove with his leg separated the two, leaving them in yet another standoff. Takai pushed himself back against another wall, giving himself the space to aim and fire his handgun a few times as she fled backwards in anger. Clearly, her training hadn't fallen a day behind, with her actions being swift and sharp. Each jab she'd made against Takai hurt and he could feel it. As he emptied the third bullet in his handgun, he leaned back to compose himself. A second later, the following blast of the shotgun pushed him away. Her advance was underway once more. Quickly, she moved forwards, continuously letting off shot after shot to cover her charge into the kitchen. Her speed was almost unparalleled in the head of the moment, sliding into the room to avoid Takai's second attempt at disarming her upon entry. Both Takai and Iwata tried to quickly fire off another shot, just barely missing each other again. The direct contact between the two forced an uncertainty in their actions, giving them less time to act upon accuracy and more on the will to survive. Iwata kicked her legs off of the broken, fallen table and charged at Takai again, quickly throwing the now empty shotgun aside and drawing a shortened blade. The steel-tipped weapon lunged towards Takai, forcing him to take agility over power. Once again, he escaped her powerful grasp of death and attempted to create distance, preparing yet another shot of his own only to be intercepted half a second later. Her speed and finesse warped his focus, causing his breath to fall short with a stable attention span. It had become a game of cat and mouse, Iwata using her advantage of fear and speed to quickly deal swings at her foe. Still unaware of who she was fighting, she complimented her ignorance with a lack of mercy. Every swing was accompanied with a cry of aggression, the true warrior's spirit unleashing itself upon what seemed to be a faceless NSF operative.

The very tip of the blade scraped across his armoured clothing, sparking and cutting almost deep enough to bleed Takai across the forearm, forcing him to drop the handgun in his grasp. With her swing overshooting slightly, Takai quickly took the opportunity to rush forward once more, wrapping his arms around her upper-torso in order to silence her rapid, rancid attempts. As he grappled her, he continued to rush, shoving her into the last remaining cabinets in the kitchen. She cried out in pain, fully disadvantaged by her lack of armour. Finally, as a few seconds passed in the heat of the battle, Takai caught a glimpse of the Iwata he was now faced with. An unfamiliar, augmented eye, cracked face and looseness of draped clothing, Iwata held an unrecognisable amount of cracked fortitude since the last time they'd met face to face. A deranged ideology had encompassed her in the moment, causing the rage of her actions to flourish in their skirmish. Without hesitation, his own pause had given her the opportunity to slam her metallic skull against his headpiece, knocking him back. Iwata swung herself around, priming her leg and striking the side of Takai's head with the heel of her heavy boot. Upon the slam, Takai yelled under the pressure of its sharp pain, tearing his PHUD from his face and slashing blood across the wall. Under its stress, it had informally torn several small patches of its mounting ports built into his temples, staggering him aside and revealing a new agonised face. Iwata, bracing her blade once more, stopped as she saw the man she'd brutalised.

For a second, the two paused. Takai was on the floor, struggling to get to his feet for a few seconds whilst the stinging on his face shattered his will to continue in the moment. Against the alcohol and blood stained tiling of the kitchen, the remains of a shattered PHUD added to the collection of broken messes layered across the room. Iwata lowered her stance and began to back up slightly, her face one of complete distress. Takai's vision felt blurred, still unstabilised by the unauthorised separation to his PHUD. Iwata looked to the left, as if to hear the commotion outside kicking off further, before she backed up more, looking and shouting at Takai as the heat sizzled into a burning aggression.

"You...you fucking shit, Takai-san...Get out...get the fuck out!" In her distress, she suddenly pushed past the cardboard boxes blocking the enclosed stairway. Takai, unable to get words out of his mouth, forced himself onto his feet and finally recovered his sidearm, moving towards the stairway with his submachine gun drawn and primed. Despite his poorer vision, he made it a staunch goal to quickly subdue her progressive rampancy. Upon making it to the stairs, he took half a second to aim upwards, seeing it empty and the door at the top slowly closing in the absence of her. Taking yet another deep breath, attempting to hide the magnitude of hurt holding him back, coupled with the blood trickling down his face. Moving upwards, step by step, he jogged with his automatic firearm aimed and ready to put down her, hopefully in a non-lethal fashion. Feelings of distress still held him back, confirming her aggression against the NSF almost completely from the first pull of the trigger.

Disobeying her order for him to leave, he finally reached the top, barging through the door to see her at the other end of the room. The upstairs itself was a dusty attic, filled with several firearms and workstations for crafting contemporary ordinances to use against the NSF. He froze, feeling the realisation sanction his judgement. At the end, she looked around desperately for something other than her blade to use as a weapon. She stood, defensively and strong-willed to repel any advances he had. It'd became a standoff, him holding the judgement at the pull of a trigger. The two watched one another, staring at one another whilst the noises of the exterior commotion. Takai tightened the grip of his submachine gun, keeping it trailed on her static position. None of them said anything at first, her unsure of how to act other than against any approaches he'd made. There was little she could do in their face-off.

"To think you were sent on this mission...Fucking pigs, you are!" More silence subverted her expectation of a full discussion, Takai simply breathing and trying to recompose his stress. His face was one of pure magnetisation, staring at her whilst unable to unlock itself from her own gaze back at him. Every few seconds, he would slightly alter his grip of his own firearm, making sure it was firmly locked in place. "Well go on then, Takai-san...you going to make your move?"

"Just drop the weapon, Iwata-san. Slowly..." As expected, she froze and didn't act upon his orders. The two of them made clear their intentions. She wanted to stand her ground, seemingly until the end, and yet Takai didn't want to let go of the hope for a peaceful resolution. "Lower it. Now!"

"Shut up, you dog! I am not listening to the likes of your people anymore. All you do is dispose of those who were once loyal to you the day we set off." Her shouts resonated throughout the attic, glassing the entirety of their surroundings with her fury. She rose the blade once more, backing up a few more steps towards the window behind her. Takai equally took a similar amount of steps forward, keeping his primed firearm trailed onto her every step. "What the fuck do you even want?"

"I want you to drop the weapon and come quietly, please. There's no reason we should have to resolve to fighting-"

"Spare me the fucking formality, Takai-san! You're here to kill me, or either to bring me to someone else who would." Despite Takai barely shifting his expression, she cracked a broken smile and taunted his position. In her own head, the agenda to her justified treachery was slowly revealing itself. There was little time to explain her reasoning, simple to buy her enough time to jump the gun and make her plans go through. "What...didn't know? When I left they were going to kill me for the knowledge I knew, just like they do to everyone! They'll do it to you if you stop licking their boots, each and every one of them. I'm protecting myself, and you're not here to grant me that."

"Iwata-san, please just calm down. I'll ensure you of your safety and-" Before he could finish, she turned and made a dash for the window. On the other side of it, another house closely kept with an adjacent window waiting for her arrival. As she ran for it, Takai took only his instinct and raised his firearm towards her body as she ran, pulling the trigger in a quick burst. A splatter of blood shot out of her shoulder as she dove through the window, smashing the glass and crashing through her target. When she did so, Takai slowly began to move forward.

His breath drew short once more. Every boot-step me made echoed throughout the attic again. He moved towards the smashed window, increasing his speed as he heard her struggling. He felt slightly shaken once more by her seemingly painful cries of hurt. Slowly, he clambered through the open space and made the short leap into the other window, comfortably landing where Iwata had originally fallen. Stains of blood already dragged across the floor in patches. Her unsteady footsteps could be heard further down the attic, instead finally settling into a coughing and painful shriek of suffering. The attic itself was filled with smaller plywood walls, separating their lines of sight more than their previous set-piece.

"Kaz, be careful. I'm going to make the arrest." He hadn't really reported into the already busy woman outside, knowing full well she had a package of her own to get through. Completely unaware of the happenings outside the house, he kept on task and pursued through the plywood hallways. Eventually, he came to see a single table at the end of the attic walkway. Near it, Iwata staggered towards it. Quickly, he made himself visible and yelled just loud enough for her. "Iwata-san, stop this instant! Just put your hands on your head and we'll get you medical attention."

On her back, the blood from his successful shots drenched her back, leaking onto the floor in trickles and streams that highlighted her pain. The closer she got to the table, the more she obscured it. Takai felt more stressed and anxious about her movement, seeing her striving to make contact with the furniture. She began to reach for the table, picking up a small device in her hand. Within seconds, what it was immediately arouse fear for his life. In her hand was a detonator. In her bleeding stance, he quickly dropped the act of peace, quickly following up two more shots into her chest as she turned around to meet him.

Iwata's body fell onto the floor, leaning against the table as the energy escaped her body. Her life was fleeting, her eyes were starting to dim. Takai cursed himself on the inside as he moved backwards, seeing her still clenching the detonator in her shivering hand. And as the life finally escaped her bloody, cold and fresh corpse, her grip on the trigger finally loosened, creating a flash before Takai's eyes.

From the bottom floor, several packages of explosives detonated, rupturing the floor he stood on. Takai was thrown backwards, tossed across the room into the furthest wall as an encompassing flame blasted the area around them. The adjacent house to Iwata's lit up like a firework, its windows shattering and smoke blasting out of every open doorway. Only portions of the wall broke off, creating an unstable foundation whilst both of the inhabitants were thrown into chaos. When Takai hit the ground, he felt a surge of pain fill his entire body, knocking him unconscious almost immediately.

Whoever had supplied this intel was either a traitor or had been tortured and left for dead by the Jinrai. Either way, Kaz was going to beat the entire intelligence team to death if she made it out of this alive. With a squeal of tires on pavement the APV careened towards the squad, Kaz gritting her teeth in a silent snarl as she did her damnedest to splatter the Jinrai across the sidewalk before they could reach Takai. Three of them where smart enough to throw themselves out of the way of the massive hulking slab of speeding steel but the operative carrying the DMR wasn't. His first panicked shot went wide and buried itself into the ground a ways away. The second and third snapped off one after the other, managing to tear away the side mirror and crack the bullet resistant windshield glass.

There was no fourth shot. The APV barely budged as its grill impacted the idiot's body, Kaz slamming on the breaks and jerking the wheel sideways. A bump and wet squelch and the unfortunate terrorist was feeling the weight of a small elephant crushing his bones and pulping his organs. He was dead before the car stopped skidding, being dragged another few feet under the beast of a vehicle so that he left a red smear. Even with all their military surplus weapons and gadgets, brute force and the laws of momentum could still beat out the Jinrai.

The poor bastard's comrades had to managed to recover the time the APV stopped, spraying its side with bullets. The window cracked under the first salvo, unable to stand up to heavy slugs and FMJs. The door held up much better, Kaz dropping low in her seat as she tried to figure out what to do. Her gear was in the back, a minigun simply not able to fit up front. Even if she was able to climb through to get to it without being filled with lead she couldn't exactly fire the damn thing from inside a car. Not without going permanently deaf at least. She hadn't bothered carrying a sidearm, a stupid mistake she would not be repeating that was for sure. So that left her with one option: go absolutely fucking insane.

She hated doing this, Kaz sweeping some of the glass shards from her hair as she rested her boots on the door, waiting for her moment. The intermittent firing died down, the metallic sound of dropped magazines against the ground letting her know that the hit team was reloading. Judging by the sound of footsteps they were getting closer as well. Perfect. Kaz took hold of her left wrist with her right hand, breathing heavily as she tried to steel herself. The first couple of second where always the worst but after that it was manageable. She could handle it. She twisted her wrist nearly 180 degrees, the metal hinges that allowed her to do so sending a signal to the injection system connected to her heart and brain. There was a brief chill, like her blood had been replaced with ice water, and she swore she could heart her heart pumping faster and faster. The synthetic coils of her muscles tensed up like snake waiting to strike. And in less than a second that brief moment of deadly calm was replaced by an explosion of black rage.

A roar ripped from Kaz's throat as she kicked the door off its hinges, the thing knocking one of the thugs to the ground. She was on the other two before they could even react. They weren't even human to her anymore, just fleshy targets that needed to be stomped or shot or crushed until they were unrecognizable piles of mush. The first victim she got her hands on hadn't even managed to finished loading his rifle, fumbling it incompetently as a gloved fist shattered his skull in a single blow. Kaz kept punching, two, three and four more hits raining down on his face within seconds, ruining any semblance he had of being a person. Kaz hated how they would try and trick her, how they would scream and gurgle incoherently for mercy through shattered teeth and torn lips. They were nothing but mulch and she would make them mulch, break them into pieces and scatter them!

With a grunt she she shifted her position and tossed the dying man at his friend who was still standing, using the distraction to close the distance and wrap her hands around his neck. There was no ultra-violent outburst this time, the hot blooded instinctual need for violence having died down to be replaced by a cold hatred of anything she got her hands on. The Jinrai were all killers, no different from the terrorists she had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and Mexico and Columbia. She would treat these ones the same as she did all the others. A quick twist of her hands and his neck was cleanly broken, just like when she had killed chickens and rabbits for dinner on her grandmothers farm.

And then there was one. The final Jinrai managed to struggle to his feet, holding his ribs where the door had broken them. In his free hand was a knife, nothing fancy or high tech. Just 8 inches of sharpened steel that was perfect for tearing into soft flesh. He was holding it like an ice pick, lunging forward to stab down at Kaz. The attempt was swiftly blocked, the raging bear catching his hand and breaking every bone in it with a single squeeze. Before he even had time to scream Kaz slammed his head against the APV, denting the hood and stilling his movement.

The fight was over. She had won.

Kaz was covered in bits of glass and bone and flecked with blood, a look that was sadly not unfamiliar to her. The career soldier scooped up one of the empty rifles from the ground and snagged a magazine from the vest of the man who's neck she had broken, rushing towards the house to assist in the apprehension (or more likely the killing) of the suspect. She hadn't taken more than two steps when the building and the one next to it erupted into twin balls of dust and debris, whatever explosives that had just been set off unleashing a whirlwind of shrapnel. There was no time to admire the sight, Kaz's training and experience in the Middle East sending her toppling to the ground with her legs crossed and her ears covered. Bits of metal and wood rained down on her, piercing through her light armor and embedding themselves in her, each one a searing needle digging just under her skin. When the awful rain ended Kaz stood up on shaky legs and turned to look at the scene.

It was like she was back on patrol in Kabul. Car alarms blared over the dismal sound of the moans of the dying, mothers dragging themselves through the wreckage in a desperate final attempt to find their babies. Mere inches from her foot was a child's arm, coated white with plaster except for the end where it had been severed. The dark red blood leaking from it was a morbidly entrancing contrast to the dirty grey of the sidewalk, Kaz kicking it aside as she went to retrieve Takai. A couple of minutes ago none of this would have been a problem to her, but the combat drugs were wearing off, the haze of battle-fueled hatred giving way to tired revulsion.

Takai was only half buried, Kaz lifting away heaps of drywall and broken beams. She half expected everything below his waist to be gone but he was only missing a good chunk of his leg. Lucky him. Stripping off one of her gloves she checked his pulse.

Slow, but still there.

Kaz was no medic but she knew the basics. The wound needed to be disinfected and tied off, medics could take care of the rest. With a gentleness that didn't fit her imposing size or rough demeanor she scooped her comrade from the rubble and carried him off to the APV. The back had a first aid kit, enough antiseptic and bandages to keep the injury clean. Kaz did what she could, picking away debris and disinfecting the jagged gash before wrapping it in bandages. All there was left to do was call it in.

She tried to prepare herself for the call, tried to keep as calm as possible to preserve some semblance of professionalism. That was a failure from the beginning, Kaz screaming at the top of her lungs as soon as the channel was open.

"It is Bykov here, Takai is wounded and not responding. There was a trap, lots of collat-collater- colla, oh fuck it!" She switched into her native tongue, relying on the presence of someone who could speak English on the other side. "It's Kaz, the whole situation is absolutely fucked! Whatever son of a bitch gave you the intel on this shitshow in the Exclusion Zone is a fucking traitor, you walked us right into a goddamn ambush! The building was rigged to blow and I count at least four dead civilians and there's probably more. Get medics over here now damnit! And tell the fucking morons in Intelligence that I hope they all fucking choke to death!"

Was that childish and likely to damage her relationship with the team? Yes. Did she give a shit? Not in the least. Within ten minutes the medics had arrived, loading Takai into the field ambulance and covering the bodies. The news wasn't far behind, the vultures circling the carnage to try and get an explosive quote, a picture, a live feed for the world to see just how effective the brave and noble NSF was at combating the threat of the Jinrai.

Without saying a word Kaz packed up and started walking. She would make it back to base eventually.

---------

If there was one thing Daiyu hated it was people with overblown senses of self-worth and slaves to traditional forms of address. Well that was two things but it seemed Suicidal Seo fit the bill for both. She didn't break eye contact with him until he dead, listening quietly as he lived up to the stereotypes about Korean rage. "As you wish. Forgive me Kamenashi-san. I didn't mean to cause any offense, and I certainly didn't mean to imply you need any babying."

You uncontrollable incompetent idiot, you need someone to hold your hand as you cross the street to make sure you don't die trying to backflip over a speeding car.

The notion of training not killing him was almost laughable. Training shouldn't be lethal, but his idea of a good workout was catching a bullet in the back. "I'm almost always free in the morning. Perhaps we can cross swords tomorrow if you're available?"Seo would be an interesting one to face. He was undeniably talented, but also undeniably reckless and foolhardy. What was the point of fancy flips and twists when your enemy would be on solid ground? Daiyu would enjoy knocking him back to Earth.

She listen to Ashton cautiously, taking a sip of her tea as he apologized for his "unprofessional" (obnoxious brown-nosing) behavior and brought up Kazonkova. The half-Russian, half-American mercenary with the anger management issues, Daiyu had exchanged a few words with her but couldn't claim to know much more than her previous occupation. "Ms.Bykov, yes. A tragic story to be sure, but just how much research have you done? Has there been any similar cases to hers? If I recall correctly the system that caused it was a prototype that she later modified herself, so it's unlikely to find someone who's gone through the same thing. And how wouldn't part of her brain have to be removed and then replaced? Wouldn't that affect her memory or bodily functions adversely?"

Did Ashton really care about Kaz at all, or was this just a ploy to make himself look good? Either way, she'd play along for now.

"I apologize for all the questions Hyuga-kun but business tends to make people analytical and make inquries everything. If you'd permit me one more, do you have a rough estimate on the amount of money needed? You're asking three of the wealthiest people on the planet so I believe it's fair."

Chris seemed fun at least, genuinely taking an interest in Margo and not being an immediate stick in the mud. Sure he was disheveled and a little boorish but that was a million times better than stuffy and uptight. "I see a flatterer joins our ranks. Well never let it be said that I can't be swayed by compliments. I am Daiyu Li, but please call me Daiyu. Titles, ranks and honorifics make me feel old."

She tittered quietly, only to notice that Chelsea's tears. Without a word she produced a handkerchief from one of the inner pockets of her kimono, extending it to the bolt-on bimbo with a kind smile. "Do you need to take a moment Chelsea?"

@LetMeDoStuff @Letter Bee @MK2 @silvermist1116 @Landaus Five-One

Apart from the fact that distractions were a part of life as is, at no point did Asagi wish to lash out at someone making an honest mistake. After all, she had had her own mistakes in the past. Certainly it would've been hypocritical for her to get on the case of someone who'd had some kind of circumstance punish her, already. We are, of course, speaking of the very obvious cyber-limbs Nina was sporting. There were those that got cybernetic augmentation merely for their benefit, and hopefully that wasn't the case with her, because Nina seemed like a decent sort who - quite clearly - just wanted to be a helpful member of the team. Such things should be encouraged, and therefore so should their training. So no, she was actually fine with the interruption, and as they settled into taking out more robots, the computer would need time to adjust to their double-act, which was giving Nina the time she needed to get use to it. She had marveled at the complexity, though.

"When you work for government, you get the good shit."

Of course, Nina also stated that she didn't really want to stay for too long, as she'd been busy - or busied - with some kind of interrogation and her main equipment wasn't with her at the moment. Wait, a crossbow? This, Karine had to see. While the other woman was talking, she set a camera search to identify a weapon on the premises. Sure enough, there was a heavy crossbow that looked like it could penetrate certain armor-plating, especially if it had explosive bolts.

"Kind of an unusual thing to carry, if you ask me. Still, I shouldn't be on too much longer. Someone'll say I'm not doing my actual job."

Of course, even the use of such a hefty device would mean nothing if it held no drain on your own stamina. As much as all this action barely used Asagi's stamina, she noted that Nina was barely phased in here. The special legs no more tapped her organic side than it would Karine herself. After a moment or two more, though, the Japanese woman sent the silent command to disengaged the program. All at once, the robots would go as limp as mannequins, sometimes just dropping in place like ragdolls. It was fine, though. Something you didn't notice in the dark was that after a robot is 'killed', they don't just pile up, but quietly slink away with a 'dead' mark on them. Even if knocked off a limb from some super-strong attack, they had modular parts that disconnect before breaking, most times, and they'd collect them as they left, where possible. These ones would clean themselves up as they headed back into the walls, as well. The room would soon appear like an empty storage space now as Asagi straightened up, pulling off the VR gear.

"That's enough, for now. My name's Asagi."

And now, Nina could clearly see that it wasn't just the woman's limbs that were replacements, but also her eyes, which were red in color. At least her eyelids were intact and that she could blink. Not blinking would've been a bit too freaky, let's be honest. They were about to engage in a few pleasantries here, talking, but then Asagi paused as she got an automated report, basically like Robocop would. Her HUD put text to the screen and had an audio backing, courtesy of Kazankova.



Takai Shunsen injured during pursuit of Iwata Honomi. Iwata presumed dead. Report follows:

"It's Kaz, the whole situation is absolutely fucked! Whatever son of a bitch gave you the intel on this shitshow in the Exclusion Zone is a fucking traitor, you walked us right into a goddamn ambush! The building was rigged to blow and I count at least four dead civilians and there's probably more. Get medics over here now damnit! And tell the fucking morons in Intelligence that I hope they all fucking choke to death!"

You could easily see the transition on her face from friendly conversational Asagi to professional on-the-job Asagi as her momentary glare at nothing changed to her turning to Nina with a serious look on her face, addressing her with a tone that matched her expression.

"Get your equipment. I'll be refilling my weapons here and I'll meet you back in the corridor. We may have an internal situation."

---

Nina was happy that the first person from the NSF she met seemed to be such a kind woman. Instead of getting mad with her due to her interruption and even intrusion on her training session, instead she didn't even care that much about it. Despite Nina's curiosity for her cybernetic implants, including the reason she had so many, Nina knew better than to just let her curiosity speak for her and ask questions that could be quite rude, indelicate or maybe touch on a subject she didn't really want to discuss. She wasn't able to hide her eyes wandering through her cybernetic implants for a brief while though.

"Well, It will certainly be much easier to get advanced cybernetic parts and all the things I need to pla-, I mean... work with than dealing with the guys in the black market. Those guys respect only money... Not really the trustworthy type if you ask me." Nina said with a chuckle.

When she showed interest on her crossbow though, Nina's eyes almost shined with excitement as she visibly leaned forward with a small jump.

"Oh, you will be surprised by it!" Nina said, with a giggle and a proud smirk.

"At this point, I can safely say it's a completely custom model. It started as a simple aftermarket crossbow but there is absolutely nothing left from the original weapon. Different design, different pieces, mechanisms. Completely silent, it's range, stopping power and penetration power being able to rival a modern DMR. Plus it can use some pretty interesting ammunition types too!" Nina started as she began explaining the basic aspects of her weapon and clearly starting to get exponentially more complicated before she stopped herself.

"...And I probably got too excited talking about it, didn't I? And I didn't even started speaking about my legs. Custom model, built by me from scratch. They're actually incredibly complicated since they're not exactly just cybernetic... It would be more accurate to say they're bio-cybernetic, but I won't bother you with the details unless you are interested on them... If you are though, don't hesitate in asking!" Nina said, laughing.

After seeing how excitedly she was talking about both her legs and the crossbow, not only her interests, but the fact that she was a specialist on those matters were quite clear.

"Oh, that's right! I didn't introduce myself yet! I'm Nina. Nina Hart. Happy to meet ya!" Nina said, with a happy tone and smile.

Suddenly, Asagi's expression changed as she looked to nowhere for a second, probably receiving a report from her cybernetic implants. Her worried face made it clear that whatever happened was pretty bad. The moment Asagi told Nina for her to get her equipment though, Nina's happy and cheerful behavior suddenly changed. Her experience and training became immediately clear due to that.

"On my way." Nina said, in a serious tone as she immediately dashed to her room, getting her crossbow and wearing her light armor and all her equipment in just a few moments.

After done, she went to the corridor to meet with Asagi again. The woman in front of her though was almost completely different from the happy, easygoing girl that was talking with her back on the training room. Both the way she moved, her expression and even how calm showed her training, competence and reliability.

"Report on the situation?" Nina asked, ready to go whenever Asagi was.

---

Death truly was cold. Though the pits of hell were full of flame and fire, the moments before the soul's transition were filled with shivering frostbite. The teeth of the dropping temperature froze the world around them, with the only remnant of warmth coming from the inner humanity that was fading away. Takai truly felt this frozen wasteland of purgatory right after the explosion. His vision darkened and the pain was subsided with incredible numbness. Was he aware of what was going on? Perhaps. Most of the time he lay unconscious, unaware of the world outside of his nullified corpse. Takai felt like he was dead. At least he felt something, though. His world had been shredded into pieces. Surely enough, explosions and exchanges in gunfire had been a part of his career, but never before had it shaken the earth beneath his feet and racketeered his state of consciousness together. Every so often, though its frequency was inexplicably infrequent, a shudder or a sense of touch scraped by the darkness around him. He dared not to open his eyes, not that he could. Voices were muffled and distant, reverberated by a ghostly tremble nearby. Once or twice, his head would begin to pound heavily. It felt like a ghoul was slamming a brick against it, constantly. Consistent stress forced itself upon his body. Unseen hands would touch his body, with whispers or words coming through as a light caress to his cheek. And despite sensing all these anomalies to the blackened abyss that surrounded him, he could not see any of it. His vision remained coarse and grim. Darkness had engraved itself into his own irises, maintaining a consistent silence. He could not open his mouth, nor could he whisper his pain aloud.

Hours felt like years to him. How long had he been under the knives and comatose forced upon him? Every dream he had was a retelling of the fateful events before. Purgatory tortured him with the details being shown in their fullest. He saw the looks in Iwata's eyes the moment she squeezed that trigger, the look of betrayal she scorned when Takai had shot her more than once. Truly, she was gone, surely? No. Takai couldn't see what happened to her. If Takai was actually alive, then what excluded his counterparts from the same fate? All these questions, and the world's time to answer them. But with no sight, no true sound and no true sense of touch, he could not answer them himself. Instead, he lay still, sensing a strange envision haunt his nightmares and taint his dreams. Takai felt the chaos of the explosion around him. Time after time, once again following the last, a savage blast of fire and flame spouted in his head. The splinters and wooden shards that flew his way scraped by his skin, covering him in a peppery soot. Plumes of smoke and ash tore through the floorboards and devastated the attic he had once stood within. And then the force; the full force of the explosion sent him across the room, into whatever grave he remained in. Rubble piled atop of him and the world went black. That was the way Takai's world ended.

But at the last slimmer of hope, a faint light could be seen on the slit of his eyes. Days of painful slumber had led to the awakening. Slowly, he began to feel his eyes naturally flutter open. Everything around him was but a blur, an apparition of what he thought was the real world. Bright neon lights flickered above his head, where his eyes failed to adjust to the sudden luminosity shining down upon his weakened gaze. Moments of numbness surely came back, creeping into the frame of his existence solemnly. Takai's breath softly came back into the light, the weakened air exhaling from his crippled lungs. At first, it was agony, pain and suffering blended into one manifestation. After a while, his gaze began to start clear and the sight line before him crudely showed a familiar ceiling. Above him, the tiling and light bulbs of the NSF Emergency Wards looked down upon him, judging his immobile state. A strong weakness flushed through his muscles. Not even with his enhancements could he muster the mobility he hoped for. In an attempt to shift his position, Takai moved his head upwards, only for the pain to start again and for him to slump to a side. His head now tilted towards the east side of the bed, where suddenly a body could be seen standing close by. The figure was dressed in all white, a long coat subsided by regulatory attire. The nurse looked aside, hearing the shuffling in Takai's bed before realising what was going on. He quickly turned around, calling out for a doctor's name before leaving Takai alone for a few seconds. All Takai could do at the moment was roll his eyes, move them around and glance at the surrounding world. He was rigged up to a specialised sort of mattress, housing him in a chambered slumber. His memory was faint and the tidal wave of pain began to fade slowly, leaving only insensibility.

"Oh, okay okay...bit earlier than we expected." A new voice entered the scene, accompanied by a few hard footsteps against the cold floor below. Takai slowly felt the strength in his body ease, allowing him to make another attempt to roll his head back upwards. Though the first attempt was unsuccessful, he quickly mustered the energy to do so. Before him, another heavily dressed woman paced around his bedside, intently. Quickly, she gathered her assortment of clipboards and more advanced datapads, rummaging around her notes band sitting comfortably down on a stool nearby. She wheeled it closer, taking a deep breath as to prepare herself for some sort of audition. Takai's view cleared further, finally allowing him to see the doctor in her full self. On the breast pocket of her jacket, a nametag read out: Doctor Miho. "Okay, okay...clear thoughts. Right..."

As Doctor Miho rummaged around her self, clearing her mind from whatever she was thinking about beforehand, Takai felt himself move out of instinct. He slowly moved himself upwards, albeit with a large amount of pain to go with it. His teeth gritted as he did so, and alongside his motion the bed's frame comfortably moved up to a more apt posture. He opened his mouth, able to finally get some sort of noise out. It was a weak and pathetic groan, one that struggled to even best his fast awakening. Takai got a clearer view of Miho, seeing both of her legs accompanied with augmentations. Even though they were a common sight amongst the NSF, her own were still as unique as every other Operator he personally knew.

"Please save your strength, and I can explain everything." Her smile was comfortable, though troublesome. Takai's mind had many questions to ask, with so many unanswered from his time caressing the grave. A vague discomfort flushed out Takai's ease, causing him to shift more in his bed. "Before I explain things, I just want to make sure you're okay. First of all, could you please nod if you can understand me?"

Though with some hesitation, Takai did as she asked and nodded, following it with a croaked voice that could barely fumble out words. Though to himself he sounded inaudible, she clearly took something out of his supposed grumble. For a second, she wrote down several items onto her pad, taking in the situation as it unfolded. Nearby, the same male nurse stood aside, waiting for something to happen. Their professionalism was mixed, Takai thought to himself. The physical preparation was quite apt, but the doctor's nearly fumbled words were still to be questioned. Maimed by the realisation that he was still in a NSF hospital, he felt his heartbeat pace itself faster. Something felt so off about everything around him. The world had been black for hours, perhaps, and this was his awakening? A small checkup? Why was he in his chamber, the bed he housed himself within? Nothing felt quite clear.

"Okay, so you at least are conscious to a near full degree. That's good." Miho smiled, nodding her head and putting the datapad aside for a moment. Her face attempted to maintain all of its comforting values, knowing full well that the news she had to share wasn't exactly going to be the best wakeup he'd experienced. "Now, I must ask you to please bear with me on this, what I have to say may come as a large shock to you. I need your full patience and calmness. Can you give me that, please?"

Takai nodded, his face still and troubled by the rising tension in his heart. A cardiograph beeped in the background, signalling his change in mood and frustration as it was. Confusion settled into his mind, steering his thoughts into those of pure chaos. He was unaware of where he was or how he'd gotten there, but he was definitely sure something wasn't the way he wanted it to be. Finally, Takai heard himself speak. His crooked voice finalised words and formed a string of phrases, giving way to his awakening's rapid motion.

"What...what happened? Why am I..?" Before he could finish his own sentence, the flashbacks swung into full force. His mind was flooded with the memories of the explosion, the fire and the flames that spat into his own face. Shudders and panic quickly forced him to sit up harshly, granting another amalgamation of pain through his spinal chord. "T-The explosion! Iwata! I need to-"

"Hey, hey! Calm down, please. Listen..." She moved forward, placing a hand on Takai's free arm to calm him. He was unsure of how to react, but felt himself soothe and stare up at her, waiting for her to continue. "I'm...sorry to let you know under such circumstances but...Iwata is dead. She was killed in the same blast that put you in here."

"But...wait..." He leaned back into his bedding, his eyes blank and empty. Something felt off. Iwata was dead? Surely, he shot her several times but...the truth of her demise was still an abysmal revelation to dwell upon. The mission had gone off the rails so vastly that he could barely contain himself. Everything that could've gone wrong had, and so he looked up to Miho once more, staring her directly in the eyes. And as he spoke once more, he was interrupted by Miho once more, who's voice had descended into a more secluded whisper. "But the intelligence...what about-"

"It's stirred up a lot of commotion here. Command has been interrogating the intelligence department non-stop for six long days. Heard an officer stormed a party in the headquarters and put all the members of intelligence under detainment. Even delayed the upcoming operation." Now knowing the Raid had been delayed, Takai looked up to Miho longingly, searching for further answers to his endless questions. With a great sigh, she read his mind and expression perfectly, knowing what his silent question was to be. "You've been...well...asleep for just about six days. They're planning on starting the Operation tomorrow, putting aside the intelligence investigation for the day to focus on the bigger picture. I'm...sorry this is how you've found out but...well...things haven't been in your favour. We've had to book our upcoming therapy on you for-"

Whilst she spoke, Takai put his arm down, trying to use his hand to lift himself up. As he moved, his arm fell short of its predicted level, causing Takai to fall into the empty space below. He grunted out heavily as he fell to the side, tearing some of the bedding across his body aside. His left side was numb, painful but numb. Once he fell, his head fell adjacent to the arm that failed to support him...and something else laid before him. A...stub. Replaced with some sort of metallic docking, he saw nothing of his own physical hand, just beyond his elbow. Takai's eyes lit up quickly, his heart racing forward. Where was his hand? Why wasn't it there?! He could feel it, the pain was still there. The phantom agony shunted his gaze as he tossed and turned, lifting himself up on the other hand to see the rest of his body. Surely enough, a replacement had been given to his right leg. Takai's gaze turned into one of stressful fear, confusion and a demand for answers. His leg was missing, replaced entirely by some limb metallic replica that barely resembled the original organic mass before him. He struggled in his bed, sitting up properly and tightening his grip on Miho's hand, causing her to struggle and retract it in her own slight pain. He rummaged around in a strong panic, chaos besieging his mind. Before he could lunge forward, hurting himself further, the Doctor and Nurse slowly put their hands onto his body, gently holding him in place. Miho placed a cold, but tender hand against his temples, forcing him to make eye contact with her.

"Takai-san, please calm down. You're in safe hands, you just need to calm down." Quickly, she reached for her own pocket, pulling out a small letter. She struggled in the heat of the moment, finding her speciality being pressed for all its worth. As he looked into her eyes, he found himself not struggling, only tense in the muscles. His heart and breath still retained its intense pacing. "There were complications...in the explosion, your muscle reinforcements shattered...they...broke your muscles, beyond repair. We're giving you the best treatment we have to offer, just please...stay with us, calmly." From her pocket, Miho placed a letter down on the bedside table, her face one of slight distress and discomfort from the reaction Takai gave. Internally, she was screaming at the impurity of her role, being a physiotherapist. With most of the doctors helping elsewhere, she was the only qualified individual on standby. Though it had its perks, with her being an allotted physiotherapist, she'd likely be responsible for Takai's welfare from there onward. Takai felt a prick in his arm, where the pain and panic began to slowly diminish. "That's right, calm down, Takai-san. Slowly does it. Look, I have a letter for you. You had visitors during your sleep, and I think this one is from the woman you were with during the incident. Look, see?"

As the pain began to drown out into a drowsiness, Takai's free hand slowly reached for the letter, revealing a scribbled manuscript. Short and sweetly put, just as Kaz would write it. Whilst his vision blurred once more, he quickly read out the words before him, feeling a strange comfort once again seep into his motionless body:

Takai,
Doctors say you will live but will be bedridden for a time. You were knocked unconscious when the houses exploded. Iwata is dead, as as the other four attacks.

I’m glad you’re alive.

As he read it, he fell back into the bed. The anaesthetic kicked in harshly, numbing his body and mind together. He could barely remember what was going on, finding a strange peace to what he read. Slowly, he felt his body cower, reminding himself of the fallen man he'd become. The places missing didn't hurt anymore. They only felt numb; just as they should. Takai looked up at Doctor Miho one last time for that day, hearing her say something about beginning their progress the next day. Before he could respond, he fell back into an actual sleep, one that was haunted by the voices of the exterior world talking to him.