There'd been a question regarding X-1 having an emergency shutdown code, to which Joe had simply shouted "Probably!", and then didn't give it any thought because he knew the thing was outside of Shinra control, ergo the ability to tell it to do anything was out of commission. From his perspective, it seemed rather clear why the machine had modified itself. Given that it was malfunctioning to the point of being 'off the leash', it must've engaged some sort of self-preservation protocols to make certain its combat capabilities remained at high levels. While he was fighting it, he could see that the bits where extra armor and new equipment had been installed were in a damaged state, meaning it'd been damaged previously and needed to replace parts of itself accordingly. No matter. What was important at the moment was that the woman Turk - Ah, what was it? Lovell? Reno just kept calling her 'Maddie'. - was out of immediate harm's way. She'd managed to keep herself from being buried under a ton of rubble, but Joe had to question her immediate choice of cover. A washing machine? The Sweeper's bullets would chew through that like tissue paper! It was probably just spur of the moment, getting out of immediate sight of the thing. Couldn't blame her for that.

The other woman's robo-drones were, in the meantime, creating some decent openings for attack. Well, once, at least. You see, the basic problem with having a disc-shaped shield drone was that, eventually, someone was gonna see it as a frisbee. Cue X-1 treating it as such by grabbing Naisha's flying robot and flinging it away with its grabby scissor claws. Well, it was good while it lasted. He was really starting to dig into armor of the thing, popping the stacked-on metal plates off with the Force Stealer's pointed end. Then, without warning, he saw a blast of ice hit the ground near X-1's foot. It's come from Agent Lovell's direction, probably meaning to hit the thing, but instead caused a big ice patch.

Perfect!

He gave the robot a nice big Force Strike and knocked it back. X-1 attempted to stop itself and gain traction, but the ice made that impossible and it slid into a pile of cars near a junkyard crane. The Sweeper had taken a nice bit of damage from that, maybe even receiving proper chassis and part damage now that he'd gotten some of that armor off. Best of all, the Cutter blade was stuck, at least for the moment. It couldn't move! Joe took a stance and prepared to attack, but then he was interrupted by the voice of the woman in the wheelchair. A reset? What, like rebooting a computer? Good god, it couldn't POSSIBLY be that simple! ...could it? About a second ago, it was aiming guns at him, maybe tricking about missling the entire area, when it...stopped moving. Wait, really?! Joe quickly pulled out his phone, and found that the tracking data on his phone was getting new information, a display that Naisha could also see.



Ah shit... It has grenades? Slightly easier than missles to dodge, but in this junkyard, the shrapnel levels were gonna be through the roof! Naisha couldn't stop the software download. It was automatic and quick. They couldn't have their robo-killers stumped for long, right? A few second later, the thing's engine went into Overcharge and it pulled itself free from the cars it'd been stuck in, as well. Joe prepared for Round Two, now, but...weirdly...it didn't come. Another quick look at the display would reveal that it was not registering any enemies. At least, for now. Nobody was fighting it at the moment, so it seemed to have forgotten all about he fight it was in. The X-1 prototype then turned to face Joe...and waited. Joe paused, and then realized that it had scanned him and determined him to be the highest local authority, and that's when the wheelchair woman's comment from before came back to him.

"X-1, engage emergency shutdown protocol."

YES! It was responding! He watched it begin to fold in on itself for transport purposes and...oh wait. It couldn't physically do that now. X-1 attempted to collapse into the standard inactive mode for Sweepers and found itself unable to do so. It returned to a standing position, and from there both he and Naisha got an error message and an irritating BLAAAT noise, indicating that the order could not be completed as directed. Joe sighed in frustration, digging the end of his sword into the dirt.

"Fine, standby mode, then. Do not act without further orders."

This seemed to satisfy it as its engine calmed and it settled into its usual longterm standing position, completely motionless. Joe knew, of course, that it would react to any attacks on its 'person', of course. He turned to the others in the area now.

"Alright, immediate problem's dealt with. Yes, I realize this wasn't handled properly and that anybody outside the junkyard might've gotten killed, but I didn't get much choice on how to deal with things, and I was trying to keep it from going out there and definitely killing alot of people. This unit went rogue. Looks like it has been for weeks. If I hadn't come here, it might've killed half a Sector before someone finally puts it down."

This was all mainly directed at Naisha, since she'd beratted him so venomously before the fight. However, Joe wasn't some heartless or ungrateful pain in the ass, unlike some people in his line of work - *CoughHeideggerCough* - that he could mention, so he also softened up, saying "Thank you for helping me get it under control.", aaand then he realized that Maddie was in civilian clothes, not her Turk attire, meaning he maaay have just called her 'Agent' out of turn... Honestly, some days, it just doesn't pay to get up.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Akira managed to come through with a nice length of cable relatively fast, and then was trying to suggest a means to lure the robots in before realizing that it may be a bad idea and stating that he didn't want to interfere with whatever Jessie was planning. The Avalanche member gave him sort of a funny look and said "I don't think they need much initiative. They wanna come in.", indicating that the only thing keeping them from charging in right now was the fact that they seemed keen on suppressing the mercs at the door first. Even then, they were showing levels of that initiative unseen in robots before. She DID give a nod to the locating of a firehose and DID find such a thing already prepared with an extension line by the good people of Fort Condor...who obviously had to be ready in case of fire emergencies. Once that was in place...

"Alright, everybody pull back and ready the hose and the cable!"

Good god, they were lucky that the floor itself was insulated, otherwise this would be a mess... All the remaining mercenaries stepped back, and - as if on cue - in came the Sweepers! Two of them. Just two of them. Jessie stifled a curse and shouted "NOW!" as everyone in the room did their thing. The water sprayed as X-2 and X-4 began to assess their surroundings, as ordered by X-9. What followed was a bright flash of electricity surging across wet surfaces that everyone got well away from, and the two Sweepers soon overloaded and exploded! Power was shut off, and there was some brief cheering. However...there were only two in here.

One of them was still out there.

But while they were concerned about the lone Sweeper out there, the technicians back at the bottom of the hill - some of them silently hoping that X-9 would get itself destroyed so they wouldn't have to deal with it - were going over the readouts as they had received some data from the Weapons Division personnel who had discovered just what was wrong with the X-Series. One of them looked back at the active screen once it was reported that the other two Sweepers were finished.

"Uhh, guys? You might wanna look at this. I think the randomization is happening..."



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Back in Junon...things were heating up for a big ole' chase!



The bikes were weaving around other cars, down below. Decent drivers, whoever they were. Avalanche couldn't afford to have too many rookies on their team, otherwise they wouldn't have lasted this long against Shinra. Tseng continued to follow them, mindful of anything that could be of any obstruction up here. Not as much as in Midgar, of course, but one could not afford to be careless, after all. The Vice-President was looking for the right opportunity to shoot...

Tseng felt his phone ringing in his pocket.

He'd switched it to vibrate so as to limit the possibility of distraction, but he couldn't just switch it off. He had bosses to answer to. Only President Shinra could order him to go completely silent. However, as it happens, this was a good call. It was from Ranger Krait, who was below them in hot pursuit. To both inform Rufus of this fact and to answer the man, he spoke thus.

"Why, I am in the chopper, Mr. Krait, as is the Vice-President. We will take all necessary precautions. Thank you."

He hung up. Rufus smirked as he explained what Lex said to him.

"Good. Star?"

Behind them, Darkstar stood up and casted.

Below, the situation was as you'd expect. They were trying to get away from any pursuit - by road or by air - via weaving in and out of traffic as they attempted to get out of the city. They'd take just a little longer than that other guy, though the problem with that was that the chopper looming overhead could still follow for miles and might just unload on them once they were out of the city, maybe even sooner than that! Biggs and Wedge didn't like their chances, as they were too busy driving to really open fire, and their little peashooters weren't going to be much help, anyway.

And then, there were the sudden gunshots.

Kanade would've seen a Manaward go up, and then a man in a white suit up there stick his arm out the side window of the helicopter to open fire. It was perilously close to the rear tires of the bike she was on! If the two Avalanche members hadn't already been working to be as evasive as possible... They were in a bad spot, though. That man would get his bearings soon and shoot them down, probably to take them alive, which might mean...which might mean they had something in mind, and that was never good. Fortunately, Biggs and Wedge's eyes lit up at the mention of grenades, remembering that she could throw like a champ! Biggs reached into his pocket and handed two devices back to her. They looked like compact explosives that magnetized to a surface on impact.

"Jessie specials! Don't waste 'em!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The monster had latched itself onto the moving can as it tried to dislodge it, but it was stuck fast to its scalp, so it wouldn't be going anywhere. There were sounds of potential prey inside of the thing, and that was good. The giant owl-beast almost tried to lift the damn machine right off of the ground, though it was too heavy for that. Tace would find that his Zenzelett rider wasn't going anywhere, so he'd have to get rid of the thing himself. To that end, he got out of his car quickly - an errant talon would get real close as he did - and soon he was ready to fight. The flying beast screeched at him again, launching a Thunderbolt at him before jumping off of the car and going into a claws-first power dive!

Luckily, about mid-dive, his spellcasting took effect, and the bird-beast descended upon him more slowly.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Back in Midgar, Aiko had managed to secure a job, and one that she would excell in with her personal talents, no less. A decided 'Take That!' to the forced of evil working for Don Corneo, at the very least. Soon, there would be some excitement going on, and a challenge, to boot. Oh, if she only knew the purpose of that venture...and how much was going on around her during her day-to-day life. The Avalanche member was satisfied once he had secured the services of the girl. Yeah, he'd heard of that one. Definitely a stroke of luck, getting her to sign on. Well, he could move on, then, and report in person to the others. He was heading off, then, when he found himself accosted by what looked like a gang of roughs.

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

"Yeah, just a little favor is all. You're gonna cancel whatever it is you got going with that girl. Someone's got plans for her."

"Is that a fact? Well, I don't really give a damn."

"Oh, you will, buddy. You will."

He really didn't, and to demonstrate this fact, he dropped a Smokebomb and kicked the lead man in the face to get past and head out the alley he'd been using, giving them all a decided laugh as he - at least for them - practically vanished. Well, what could they do, really? They didn't stand a chance against a career mercenary. This town was gonna blow, so he didn't have time for these petty-anty thugs.

Although, speaking of which, Aiko might notice after a while that she herself was being followed...by three goons who looked like they were in a gang, a little short on cash and brains, and figured her for an easy something-or-other. Or they were more of the Don's trash. Either way, a situation to be resolved, yes?

Akira Ayumu

They succeeded! Wait, there was still one Sweeper left and it wasn’t charging at them. Did that mean they were under siege? Akira looked at Jessie and asked, “So, what’s happening and what do we do now?”

He looked at the many re-wounded mercenaries and said, “Actually, I’ll cure a few people,” before casting multiple Cures once more, and then going back to Jessie and saying, “These machines seem a lot more intelligent than before, intelligent enough to rebel against their masters and keep out of danger. But they’re not sapient, otherwise, they could be tricked further.”

Another pause, before he continued, “Jessie, I have an idea - Do you have smoke bombs or anything which diminishes the enemy’s visibility? If so, I can go out there and sneak up on the enemy Sweeper, climb up its back, then stab it with my naginata.”

Akira then patted his polearm, then said further, “Or I can plant an explosive on it, but that’d be riskier as I might blow myself up. Either way, trust me unless anyone else here has a better idea - I’m one of the most agile folk here, after all. If anyone can do it, it’s me.”

-------

If Akira’s idea was not approved, he’d stay in the Fort while listening to any new notion. He’d also request an inventory of the Fort’s remaining weapons and hope that there were catapult parts somewhere...

If it was, then the young man would wait for the smoke bombs or anything similar to be launched, then rush out in zig-zags, using his ninja senses and his communion with the Planet to avoid running into rocks or bodies or other obstacles. As the Sweeper presumably detected his presence anyway, Akira nevertheless drew on the Planet’s knowledge to guide his next step, hopefully sliding under the enemy machine’s legs before climbing up the back of said legs and hoping the Machine didn’t know how to shake him off.

If he managed to get within range of its engine, he’d stab it with the blade of his Naginata, hoping that the blade smoothly pierced through some vital components, before drawing it back, shimmying down, and then running back to the Fort and hoping that the Planet guided his way.

This plan relied on his agility, the Planet’s willingness to help, and of course, the machine’s own confusion. If all three factors aligned, then he’d win.

Lex put his phone down on the small island between the driver seat and passenger seat. He grit his teeth as he swerved through traffic, "Mr. Tseng...and the Boss..." He looks up at the copter in time to see the Manaward burst into brillance around the chopper, "Man thinks of everything." Wasteland let out a baying howl, not like Darkstar would be able to hear her, but Wasteland salute the alpha of the pack. At the same time Lex leaned out as he saw Rufus Shinra himself lean out. He gave him a thumbs up in admiration.

Soon enough Lex's attention is back on the chase. His lips split in a large grin as he races through traffic. With the head start he's actually slightly happy he can see the two bikes up ahead. Reaching down Lex shifts the jeep into All Wheel Drive. And mounts the median of the highway. Then down onto the otherside of traffic driving in on coming traffic. Vehicles dodging out of the way of the big up armored jeep as he races along for abit. Done mostly to avoid a thick knot of traffic in the other lanes. Soon though he mounts the median again and is back in normal traffic having ate up a few meters on the bikes ahead of him.

With a glare Lex uses the big jeeps profile to nudge a smaller vehicle out of the way just a little, not enough to send it careening out of the way. The driver laid on the horn, for about 5 seconds before he saw the huge jeep roll by, the ShinRa logo on the side and the big grinning, sharp toothed canine glaring at him. Lex chuckled, "Good girl Waste!" He weaved by another jeep, then settled in, reaching down and bringing his Winchester out again. It'd be a helluva a thing...he held his arm out the window, waited just abit before...bang! He fires, adding his own shots to the VPs, his own rounds winging along, to the sides and around the drivers, trying to throw off their balance, "Come on damn it. Stop already...where the hell are we going anyway?"

With the issue about a job and hopefully about money dealt with, Aiko left to do her own things. Having only to prepare herself and wait for the call from her contractor and having to do only a small checkup on her equipment after the last modification she did, she was taking her time riding home. Taking one of the longer routes, she was riding in a relatively calm manner, nowhere as fast a she usually did. Truth be told, she was a bit relieved to not have to crawl back to Don again for a job, she hated how he had this way of slowly closing his claws around anyone or anything he was interested in, leaving no space for them to escape when they finally noticed...

Unfortunately it seemed like she wasn't going to be able to relax just yet. Noticing that she was being followed, Aiko did nothing for the first few seconds, only looking at her pursuers in a discreet manner. Their pursuers seemed to be three goons, possibly members of a gang. It was pretty unlikely for people to go after her, both for her being well known on the area and due to her being generally a pretty chill girl, not getting into trouble with anyone... Other than the authorities, that is. That said, it wasn't difficult for Aiko to imagine why those thugs were going after her... News went around pretty fast, especially if you had the influence and information network Don had. If the talk that Aiko was able to get a job got on Don's ears, he wouldn't be happy about it. That said... simple goons couldn't be considered anything more than a small distraction for Aiko.

Looking towards her pursuers in a not-so-discreet manner, Aiko simply let out a mocking grin as she began gradually going faster and faster, just to see if they were able to follow her. With the speed rising, so did the maneuvers and the complexity of the routes she took, diving deeper and deeper into the steel jungle that the lower levels of Midgard were.

The fight with the modified prototype sweeper was brief, noisy and tense. While keeping an eye on her drones, she had spotted her defensive one being tossed away. Yeah she was realizing some glaring design flaws with that thing, but truth be fair it was actually more useful as a range physical damage than shield against heavy things a lot of the time. Still it did it's job, though now it was kinda not able to get a lift off again. Welp so much for that one. At least the other one was still flying around out of reach so she wouldn't have to replace the actually important drone. The defense one was relateively easy to replace or repair, but this one had a lot more electronics than the other one. Besides the defensive one really needed an upgrade, maybe it was time to actually get some proper military grade armor materials.

Still now she waited with withheld breath, to see the results of the attempted forced reset on the machine. A brief moment that had turned into eternity in her head, but then suddenly she saw the lines of text on the phone. The software reset actually took hold! This was absolutely bloody amazing. She couldn't believe Shinra's software update cloud servers were actually working properly for once. She pulled her head out of her own cover to check the sweeper that had gone intert for a bit before rebooting into obedient state. Well this was nice. She switched her attention back to her drones, there was no need to attempt to recover the defensive one, it was gone... somewhere... burried in the junkyard from a powerful toss by a sweeper mech. What a sad fate. Still she at least pulled her utility drone back to herself. It had gotten some good records on it's camera, like the mech from up close, the soldier and the... civilian dressed agent. Naisha somehow kept her face in check with sheer bloody force of will and by bitting down on the inside of her lip, almost until she drew blood.

It was really time to bail out of here. Force fo all a soldier would be near impossible to kill up close without using the mech to do it first and now that he had an 'agent' to support him things were pretty much impossible for her right now. Unless she managed to call her summon... which she didn't know if it would happen. Still, she put her fingers on the control of her motorized wheelchair, deciding it was better to leave as fast as possible, least some pointed questions started to pop up like... how she accessed a Shinra Sweeper system... Or the knowledge to trigger the software reset. She had probable answers, but believed it would be best to not get to that point." No problem. I had to help, it would have been a nightmare if it had gotten out of here. Besides I live here too, making it a bit safer is what I should be doing if I could. Now I should be going, got to get home." She gave a court reply as she started moving away to leave. She HAD to get away now before soemthing else happens... or she snaps or they decide to be inquisitive.

'Leave the junkyard, redeploy the drone to observe from safe distance, hide away and lay low for a few days...' This was what Naisha was thinking about, she was seriously wondering if arranging for a chat to buy the blueprints was a good idea now. It... didn't seem reliable. Still she tossed a quick glance back to confirm what the Shinra bastards were doing.

Tace would jump out of the way of the thunderbolt the Zenzelet launched. The ground where the bolt struck had been gouged and still smouldered. Now he had to deal with the bird monster's diving attack. At least his spell made contact and the beast was noticeably slowed. Without thinking Tace had his talisman ready a haste spell on him. The machine would zoom away from the Zenzelet and hover over Tace. It would glow as the materia channeled its energy to cast the spell on him.

The boost in speed and agility would allow Tace the opportunity to attempt a counter. He would then proceed to run up to the roof of his car and leap into the air at the swooping beast. As he did that, Tace would extend his sword outwards and towards the Zenzelet. It would force the monster to either change course last minute and ruin it's attack. Or it would simply go through and skewer itself on his blade. Tace's eyes would lock with the Zenzelet's as if he was challenging it to skewer itself.

From behind the washing machine, Maddie quickly glanced about looking for new cover to dive behind. She had revealed herself and that was, in hindsight, incredibly stupid. If that machine decided to unleash a volley in her direction, that would be it. Game over. A pitiful end to a pitiful woman.

…no. Fuck that noise. If she was going to go out, she'd at least go out fighting.

She held her left hand cupped open, palm to the sky, as a faint orange light poured over it. Softly at first, the light pooled at the bottom before igniting into a burning orb hovering a few inches above her finger tips. She scooted to the edge of the machine and peeked around it, ready to chuck the fireball the moment she saw an opening or use it to make another explosive get away if need be.

Rather than an opening, however, Maddie saw Joe send the murderbot sliding across a patch of ice. Her ice patch. That she intentionally made. On purpose. Mmhmm. That was going to be her story if she made it out of here. It was completely planned and not at all the result of her truly terrible aim.

...IF she survived, she maaay want to spend a bit more time at the range.

The warbot had taken a bit of damage from the entire exchange, which gave Maddie some hope. There was hope. This battle would be long and difficult, but there was a chance that they may be able to pull off some kind of...win?

Wait...what did the woman say?

Maddie watched as the X-1 stood by, passively watching the SOLDIER. It wasn’t moving. Or shooting. Or...anything. What? When Joe ordered the machine to shut down, it actually complied or at least attempted to anyway.

The flame that Maddie held fizzled out, leaving only a burnt mako smell behind as evidence of its existence. She got to her feet, heart pounding and breath ragged. That was it? It was over? Actually over? Oh thank actual fuck. That was anticlimactic in the best possible way - y’know, the kind that DIDN’T end with her riddled with bullets and dying in a dirty junkyard in the slums.

As Joe started his speech, the young agent leaned against her trustworthy washing machine, propping herself up while she caught her breath. She offered thumbs up and a pained smile when he offered his thanks. The adrenaline was quickly wearing off now that certain death had been miraculously avoided and uh...yeah, her whole body was really fucking sore. Maybe ragdolling herself with a close range explosion was uh...stupid. And reckless. But mainly just stupid. Big stupid.

Once Maddie had collected herself a bit, she crossed the small clearing towards Joe and the other woman just in time to hear her attempt to excuse herself.

"No problem. I had to help, it would have been a nightmare if it had gotten out of here. Besides I live here too, making it a bit safer is what I should be doing if I could. Now I should be going, got to get home."

Well...she certainly seemed to want to get the hell out of here. Maddie shot Joe a sideways glance before she called out to the woman.

“Heeeeey! Don’t be in such a rush! If you're heading back to town, let's go together. I’d feel a lot safer if I had someone as reliable as you around!” Maddie called out cheerfully despite her pain, clearly trying to impose herself upon the fleeing woman. She seemed spooked, and there was a very likely chance that she had overheard Joe calling her “Agent” which was...less than great. Moreover, she had managed to hack into an X-series unit. That wasn’t something that just any streetpunk with a phone could do. If she could pull that off, what else was she capable of doing? There was no way around it - that woman was dangerous. She would need to be watched.

Still, there was a chance that the woman ignored her or tried to escape. It didn’t matter. Maddie knew where she lived. Well...not exactly, but someone like that shouldn’t prove too difficult to find. Ms. Hacker had landed herself squarely at the top of Maddie’s list of “Persons of Interest.”

For the moment, however, Maddie turned her attention back towards the SOLDIER. His eyes caught her attention. They had that telltale eerie glow to them. Maddie had heard about it, but to be quite frank, she hadn’t really gotten a chance to see them for herself. Odd. Once you got past the initial shock of them, they were actually rather captivating.

...down girl. She had been staring at the guy for waaay too long in silence. It was bordering creepy. She needed to say SOMETHING before it got too awkward.

“You SOLDIER guys really are something else, y'know?” she said, offering a kind smile. “I don’t think we got a chance to properly meet last time - I’m Naomi. Naomi Chambers. Thanks for the heads up. I owe you one.”

Joe had screwed up. Joe realized that Joe had screwed up, and he was cussing himself out internally while trying not to show it. He knew Agent Lovell from the mission to Gongaga, the mission that went very wrong, very fast, and the home office wouldn't even unofficially confirm for him anything about it. They didn't have any evidence to back it up. Well...no shit. The reactor had blow. The system was unstable and employees were dead when he got there, and that thing... He didn't like to think about it. Joe had fought plenty of monsters, robots, people - he was a fairly seasoned fighter - but that thing? That scared him, and he didn't admit that very easily, like his other fear. Still, that was neither here nor there. He had a problem, and that was that he may have just compromised Maddie's position as a Turk to an ordinary resident of Midgar.

Well, maybe not an ordinary resident. This one's got a story behind her, that's for sure.

Between her sudden change in demeanor and the pointed stare that the Turk-in-civvie-attire was giving him, he knew that he'd definitely been audible enough...which was bad. How would he handle this? Did he just hope that the other woman would forget about it if she was left alone? No, who was he kidding? She had some beef against Shinra, and now a very Shinra thing had happened in her own neighborhood. She'd never forgive OR forget, and while nothing may come of it, that glare from Maddie said it all: 'We need to handle this.', as in that faux pas of a security leak. Fortunately, Agent Lovell seemed to have a good play in her Turk book for this. Her delivery to the other woman probably came off a bit weird, but after giving Joe what he assumed was a meaningful look, she made introductions as a Naomi Chambers. And luckily...Joe had thought of a good way to pick up what she just threw down.

"Naomi? I thought you were Elena. Kinda' hard to tell from a distance. She was in a guard unit I worked with, a real ass-kicker. You were that consultant, right?"

Actually, he didn't know Elena that well. He'd seen her training, just today. Still, if Joe could use a case of mistaken identity - a plausible one, as they were both well-trained blondes - to his advantage, then all the better for it. He now had his sword away, leaned down and picked up his dented helmet with just a brief glance to the now-dormant X-1.

"I'm Joe Hockner. And hey, no problem. It's what I do. Let's get out of here."

Neisha making her way for the entrance notwithstanding, they all had to go out the same way, anyhow.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There was still the matter of the other X-Series unit, though. X-9 stood in conflict error...while Akira asked about possibly getting out there to defeat that thing. Yes, it was weirdly intelligent, or more-so than a normal Sweeper. It seemed like something had gone wrong, that the Prototype was bad. Maybe they all were. Still, with things settling down to an uneasy calm and a potential standoff with a runaway robot, Akira put forth a plan. Well...maybe about 12% of a plan. He had an idea of using a smokebomb to sneak in to slash and stab it with his weapon, attack the robot while it appeared dormant. It wasn't a great idea, but the only alternative was to wait and see what the Sweeper did, which wasn't likely to be anything good, unless it decided to explode, right then and there. So, Jessie pulled out a smokebomb...

"I have one left over, just for emergencies. Normally, it's for sneaking out of a fight, and normally I'd say what you're asking is a bit crazy, but...what the hell, right? We can't just leave and there's nothing else to do, so we may as well get in the first licks."

The mercenaries thought this was a stupid plan and would rather see about organizing something in here, or at least giving them cover fire for when they probably have to run like hell back to the fort. Either way, they didn't want to go out there and they weren't being paid enough right now to do so. The plan was modified slightly, in that Jessie would be out there to throw the bomb, but that she'd remain in hiding at one point with bomb and her SMG while Akira did his zigging and zagging...which would get the machine's attention. The boy would notice that the machine was not reacting to his presence, though, and in fact only seemed to sit up and take notice to a situation once the smokebomb went off in its vicinity. At this, it naturally began looking around, and Akira struck it in the back...!

...

...

...uhhh...

Okay, it was still going. Apparently, he'd damaged it, but he hadn't hit any sort of exploitable vital part, and the machine opened fire around itself before Overcharge leaping to a hill now and looking around. It had also been shot at by Jessie, but he and her were already going for the fort's entrance, and would be gone even as X-9 fired on them. The robot fidgetted around some more in indecision, until finally, it turned and...leapt off. It was leaving. The lookout said that it was heading due west, flat out. A retreat? It decided to bug out? Well, the good people at Fort Condor wouldn't know, of course, but...



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Right, let's cut to the chase! The actual chase that was happening IN Junon, that is. Rufus actually gave Tseng a Look when he fired that missle. The Turk Leader just shrugged. He wanted to cause the biker adequate distraction from the Vice President's and Lex's own attacks. He was fairly certain those bikes would be suffering a little between the three acts. If they damaged them beyond their capacity to operate, the trio would wipe out and they'd have them, for certain. Unfortunately, there were some rather big UNcertainties to work with, like Kanade's abilities, the demolition abilities of Jessie Raspberry, and the cunning plan coupled with Biggs and Wedge's driving skills. They rode for the scaffolding, the bomb was thrown, there was a decided Plink! as it stuck to the underside of the chopper, and a BOOM!!!

The three bike-riders would not have time to confirm, because they were ducking into the parking garage for escape, and Lex would have have to follow them alone in the jeep. The Ranger himself would be able to see what they did not, though: The helicopter had taken damage, but not severely so. The explosive having been an incendiary device, its power was cut in half by the timely Manaward, meaning Rufus Shinra and Tseng were still aloft. They could not, however, directly pursue. They instead sent out communication to the utility areas the garage was probably connected to, open and exposed due to the construction work. They wanted anybody who was down there to try and stop them.

In said garage, the AVALANCHE members would see this opportunity and go for it: Utility tunnels for official work vehicles that would lead to the service entrances of the city. "That's the way to go!", said Biggs as he steered towards it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Alko, meanwhile, most definitely had people tailing her...and they weren't subtle about it. In fact, they weren't that bright, OR that quiet. See, she could already hear them talking as they started to follow her, one of 'em going "That's the girl." and the one in the middle actually confirming "I can see why the Don's taken an interest." before the really stupid one went "Yeah, yeah...why is that again?" and the other two seemingly had to explain. There was a reason for this, of course. These men were not so much notorious as...embarrasing. They were the cream of the crop of idiots, dumbass gangers that stuck together.



Their clear lack of intelligence became progressively more apparent in the exchange that followed.

"Hey, Beck. She's looking our way."

"Well, you just look right back! Ain't you a tough guy?"

"Yeah, I just thought we was tryin' ta' be...you know... Uhh, whadyacallit?"

"Discreet?"

"Right, that!"

"Huh? Dis street? I don't get it."

"Discreet, moron! It means uhh..."

"Well, we're bein' quiet about it, so..."

"...so we're tryin' ta' be sneaky-like!"

They were failing SO BAD at this.

"Uhh, she's going faster..."

"So? You got legs!"

"She's uhh...going into that alley, boss!"

"Gah, the pair o' youse! GET A MOVE ON!"

Aiko was pulling ahead...

"Where'd she go?!"

"I see 'er!"

"Then, shut your yap and make tracks!"

...and weaving her way around the obstacles in their path.

"Damn, she's good at this!"

"I hate ta' see 'er go, but I love to watch her leave."

"The Don won't like it if we just watch, though."

"I know that! It's an expression! It means uhh... Well, uhh... It means...Daaayuuum."

It wasn't exactly taking Aiko much effort to fool these guys and break out ahead, though she DID have to worry about one thing: She knew these alleys, and she knew she might be heading for a spot where a Doomrat nest was. Could she avoid them and get out of here without a confrontation? Or maybe...try and set the rats on THEM?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As for Tace, he had given himself a clear speed advantage here, but he was sort of overestimating the creature's intelligence. It was a predatory that adapted to situations, sure, and it might even have thought to avoid situations like the one he was putting it in now, but...well...there was problem, and it went thusly: Its reflexes were too slowed - given the circumstances - to stop its assault against the man. Tace had done a little TOO well. So, while he was set to stab the thing, the measures he'd taken caused a third option to occur. Its attack was not stopped, as the claws would still rake at the man, but it was ALSO stabbed. Of course, because the Zemelezett was Slowed, it wasn't as deeply stabbed, per se, and its attack wasn't as strong against Tace. It was wounded by the exchange and came in for a landing nearby, and whatever happened to Tace himself in reaction...happened, because the monster didn't immediately attack again. It raised its wings and caused a spell to erupt from itself that seemed to cause some healing of the wound. Zemelezetts are known for having the skill called White Wind. Tace would have to hit harder, and it seemed unlikely that the bird would stand still long enough for him to use his car.

Akira Ayumu

Akira had, by grace of the Planet, managed to avoid the Sweepers’ shots with what seemed to be unnatural skill to observers. However, as he made it back to the Fort, he cast a Cure on himself anyway just in case he was injured. In any case, the young man looked at the retreating enemy, then at Jessie and the mercs, asking, “So, we’ve won, right?”

It was important that this was a conclusive victory. If it wasn’t, if the massive casualties weighed more on the mercenaries’ heads than the fact that they had succeeded against impossible odds, then there was a chance they’d leave permanently and that no new ‘muscle’ can be recruited. If that was the case, then the loss of the Fort would have only been postponed.

If the latter was the case, then what he had done was for nothing and his ‘safe refuge’ here would fade away with the next attack, or even before. And that’s not even accounting for where the haywire Sweeper had gone to. Either way, much depended on what Jessie and the mercenaries’ reaction were to his victory - If it was joy, he was safe. If it was fear and defeatism, then he was most definitely not safe and should wait for Kanade to arrive so they can find a safe place in order to plot against Shinra.

Which reminded Akira: Shinra developed the Sweepers in the first place. What hope can a small band of individuals, even with Materia and skills, do against such a behemoth?

Then the boy’s stomach rumbled, and it was clear that he needed to eat. Akira wasn’t immune to the demands of combat and stress, and he asked again, whether there was cheering or despair, “Mind if I go to the cafeteria? I need to eat.”

And so, after one second more of waiting for people’s reactions or absorbing them if they had already happened, Akira Ayumu went to go have a late lunch of meat and porridge. The deaths which had happened did weigh heavily on his mind, and it was going to take all his will to not have nightmares about it in the future. He was no stranger to loss, but right now, this was too much for a fourteen-year old boy to take.

Don’t angst unnecessarily, he thought to himself, but quite frankly, he felt alone in the world and there was considerable proof that he was.

"Don't come clo... nevermind..." Naisha grit her teeth, holding a very furious comment about them not getting any closer to her. She took a deep breath.' Calm down, breathe in... breathe out... repeat a few times. Happy thoughts. Think happy fat chocobos... and puppies.' She ran through her mind, half closing her eyes, calming down as much as she could given the situation. She just lost a drone and even if she could find it's wrecked form in a middle of a fucking JUNKYARD, she lost it while helping a Shinra bastard that clearly had his Shinra bastard girlfriend with him to aide him with taking down their very clear Shinra bastards Murder Mech Hobo... This was just one of THOSE days, wasn't it. Like when those AVALANCHE buggers cause some nonsense and lil guys have to pay the price, or something else stupid like that. Maybe staying in this city was a bad idea... she should have just moved anywhere else and just kept them bothered with her cyber attacks anyhow, though admittedly it was way easier to hide here.

She shot the angry glare at the AGENT girl." So says the girl who shot a blasted Ice spike at the thing strong enough to cause enough of an effect... Why don't you just use that on any thugs that encounter you? It can't be THAT harder than to hit a mech..." She grumbled, still moving on her way, her lil drone hovering above her head, looking at the duo of Shinra bastards. Well it was a bastard and a well... wait what was the female term? Was there one? Bastardelle? Wait no... it should be a gender neutral term, so yes... SHINRA BASTARDS!!! If Naisha was a cat, her fur would be standing and she'd be hissing at the two. Since she wasn't a cat, she was just being angry, annoyed and secretly sorta keeping her drone in working shooting position. Not that a simple low caliber pistol like the drone had would do much against a SOLDIER even not of the first class, but maybe she'd get luck and shoot the woman in one of the arteries it it came to exchanging blows.

"Ohh... so a Shinra Consultant? How does that work?" Naisha grumbled under her breath, eyerolling while her back was to them so they wouldn't really be able to see it. Then she threw a glance at them and her mood soured even more. She felt like she had just tried to swallow a cactaur... These two people. She facepalmed. She facepalmed hard. In fact hard enough to leave light fingerprint marks on her own face.

"Are you two done flirting in broad dayligh!?" She asked, with very annoyed expression." I swear to the lifestream you two just go and get a room... in fact by the way you are going at it, why not just hide behind a trashpile somewhere here and get to it. At least you will stop bothering me." She started ranting, not wanting to look at the infuriating pair! This proved it! All male Shinra operatives were bastards and perverts(baring her dad) and the women( baring her mom) were just as evil and immoral! Okay maybe she was getting her own opinions cloud her judgment in an incredibly biased way, but she wasn't going to admit to it. Shirna was evil, ergo everybody that worked to help them maintain said position as evil were bad, her parents excluded. Maybe one day she'd meet a kind SOLDIER who'd be her hero in the time of need. She'll be holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night, but it seemed today was not that day. No heroes here... just some Shinra people... Whom she just couldn't get away from by the looks of it how they were walking behind her to the exit.

"If I cannot make the problem go away... I will just ignore them till they leave..." She mumbled and pulled her headphones, attaching them to the phone to listen to some music or something. Better than continue to listen to them FLIRTING!!! Bastard couple! And the gall to try to sweep the fact the woman was an Agent with such a silly acting under the rug!

Lex looked ahead and gasped, there is no mistaking an explosive device. He even tried to pop it out of the air with a shot from his gun, but the shot missed low. He shook his head, "No...no no..." Then boom! The explosion went off, cars and vans and trucks on the road swerved away from the ball of fire. Which cleared the road for Lex. It also allowed him time to see through the fire and smoke the chopper is okay. If a little dinged up. He looks up, and nods, he can see it veering off.

Lex grit his teeth, "Oh it's on now." He hammered the accelerator and kicked the shift. The big block engine of the jeep roars. Shooting him forward, traffic slowed and off to one side allowing the big ShinRa vehicle to make some distance.

The in construction parking garage? That's their plan? He wouldn't let them escape though! He gunned the engine even more pedal to the metal. Gripping the steering wheel. He started to gain on them. Then the rock of another explosion and there's scaffolding raining about him, hearing the piece ping off the canopy of the jeep.

After getting past it and the way back going to be alot harder to get out through he slides to a halt, and pop, the headlights of his jeep blazing on as he lights up the three on the bikes. He looks at them through the windshield. Then hits the loudspeaker mounted on the top of the jeep, "Alright then Terrorists. Let's not make this any harder then it is huh? Just get off the bikes, throw your weapons away and lay down face down on the ground." he's got to try, he's got to try and defuse this somehow. Not expecting it to actually work though. He stares at the three, while drawing his shotgun with his free hand. Wasteland looks out the window as well, snarling softly.

Despite the fact that she was being followed, Aiko couldn't help but find the situation amusing and funny. Not only the thugs were failing miserably at trying to be discreet but it was painfully obvious that none of them were the sharpest tool in the shed... While it was true that Aiko could easily lose them if she wanted to, she was honestly having fun in provoking the lovable trio of idiots. That said, she was so distracted in provoking them that even though she knew that there was a Doomrat's nest around those parts, she didn't realize she was going straight towards it until that exact moment. When she did though, she had an interesting idea. Since the thugs were still Don's guys, she could give them a small surprise...

"You guys are SO slow!" Aiko shouted with a smirk as she slowed down a little in order for them to not lose track of her, provoking them to keep following her as she went straight towards the Doomrat's nest, which they didn't seem to know about.

"I had to hold myself in order for you guys to keep chasing me, you know... If I gave it my all you probably would lose me in seconds." Aiko said with a chuckle and a mischievous smirk as she continued provoking them while slowly but surely leading them towards the Doomrat nest.

The plan was fairly simple: She was fairly certain that the thugs were completely oblivious about the Doomrat's nest ahead. Since she knew she could outrun the Doomrats, it would be fairly easy to provoke them and set them on the thugs, which by now would be too worried in running for their lives to bother in keep tailing Aiko. They might be idiots but they probably knew how dangerous those creatures were in groups. The moment she got closer to the nest, she would do some noise in order to draw the doomrat's attention before running away and leaving Don's thugs to deal with the rats themselves.

Tace's confident smile would slowly transform to that of a disappointed and unsurprising expression. "Oh riiiiiiiiiiiiiight..." He'd say doing the verbal equivalent of a balloon deflating. Foolishness! How could have he forgotten that by slowing the Zemelezett it meant the impact would be lessened from the skewering. Tace found himself gritting his teeth as he felt those talons dig into him. On the bright side he would be injured less from taking on the attack.The Zemelezett would begin heal itself with its white wind ability.

It was another nuisance to Tace, but he just needed to overpower it while it was still slowed! He'd aim a downwards slice at the beast's wing with the goal of impairing it. Then using his enhanced speed, he'd make a series of thrusts at the Zemelezett's chest. While he was looking to strike the heart, it was easier said then done and if he could kill it by stabbing it a bunch of that times that would be fine to. Tace's drone meanwhile would hover standing by. Should his haste effect wear off, then he'd would order it to cast it again.

Meet Magdalene Lovell, age twenty-two, an undercover operative of the Investigation Sector of Shinra’s General Affairs Department. Currently standing in a dump in the middle of Midgar’s lower slums, the girl couldn’t help but appreciate how thematically appropriate her current surroundings were. After all, in less than twenty-four hours, she had botched a rather important meeting with a prominent leader in the terrorist group Avalanche putting months of undercover investigative work at risk, blown herself up with explosive Fire magic from short range, and now an unknown, likely dangerous individual who was apparently capable of slicing into a highly experimental - not to mention top secret - Shinra prototype security mech, was aware of her undercover identity AND the fact that she was an agent for Shinra.

It would probably be safe to say that in this moment, Maddie wasn’t exactly having the best day. In fact, it was all she could do to keep up her cheerful outward demeanor for the SOLDIER while she silently had a crisis as the weight of everything began to settle on her. Obviously she wasn’t cut out for this. She was waaay out of her depth here.

Everything was crumbling down.

Panic was settling in.

Everything fucking hurt.

She wanted to run - just say fuck it all and get away. Bury her head in the sand somewhere and just forget about everything. It was too much.

She was overwhelmed.

…

Well...

She had an out...but...she couldn’t...it would...how do you...how can...

"Naomi? I thought you were Elena. Kinda' hard to tell from a distance. She was in a guard unit I worked with, a real ass-kicker. You were that consultant, right?"

Heh. The SOLDIER recognized his slip-up and was trying to offer her a cover, huh? It was a little too late, she felt. The seed was already planted, but...Maddie’s smile grew a little less forced and little more natural. It was a sweet gesture. Probably completely futile considering the death stares Maddie could feel coming from the other woman, but still sweet nonetheless.

...wait...did he say Elena...?

”Yeah, no. I get that a lot actually. I think it’s the hair.” ‘Naomi’ off-handedly mentioned, not missing a beat. She had been reminded of the sister of one of her senior colleagues - well, former colleagues. Emma. The veteren Turk had been something of a mentor to Maddie in the brief time they spent together before...well…

Anyway.

What would Emma do in this situation? When everything was going to shit? Would she just sit around and throw a one woman pity party?

No.

Maddie knew exactly what her senior would do. So she began to steel herself. The panic began to fade and a cold calmness filled the once-occupied space.

She may need to do something rather unpleasant…

...but she could do it.

She could.

Right?

"I'm Joe Hockner. And hey, no problem. It's what I do. Let's get out of here."

“Right. Sounds good..”

She had felt the glares coming from the unknown woman the entire time she spoke to Joe, despite her internal freakout. She had attempted to ignore it, or at least not let on that she had noticed, but it was...sort of hard to miss that sort of hyper-focused hate. While Maddie hadn’t quite heard the hacker’s mutterings, everything about her body language told the Turk that this woman was on edge. And she couldn’t help but notice the small robot with it’s gunbarrels seemingly trained directly on her. Which was unnerving, to say the least.

Considering that it was highly likely that she now believed Maddie to be a Shinra operative, continuing to point a gun at her seemed to imply that the woman was a radical.. After all, who else would be stupid enough to threaten to gun down Shinra personnel in the middle of fucking Midgar? With a SOLDIER operative standing right there?

"Are you two done flirting in broad daylight!?"

...what..?

The woman’s outburst had caught Maddie completely off-guard. It hadn’t even fully registered with Maddie before the woman continued on, ranting and raving.

"I swear to the lifestream you two just go and get a room... in fact by the way you are going at it, why not just hide behind a trashpile somewhere here and get to it. At least you will stop bothering me.”

...oh. Oh, she was unhinged. Great. Simply lovely. That made everything just thaaaat much more complicated.

“Uhm...sorry!” Maddie called as she hurried after the woman in the wheelchair, her face flush from embarrassment. She pivoted after a few steps and silently mouthed “What the fuck?” towards Joe before spinning and continuing her little jog.

As she approached the woman, she saw her pull a pair of headphones on - the universal sign for Don’t Talk to Me. A dark thought flashed through Maddie’s mind and her hand instinctively went towards the small of her back to grab the gun...but she resisted and let her hand fall back to her side.

If the woman had been a member of Avalanche or something, her course would be simple - pull the gun, put a round or two in the head, contact headquarters to have a cleanup team get rid of the mess. That would be the textbook answer, honestly. But…after that outburst, and the way she seemed to be carrying herself, Maddie couldn’t picture the woman as a part of ANY organization. Not being as uncomposed as she was. It honestly seemed as if she were just an unfortunate citizen who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. But that didn’t change the fact that she still heard something that she shouldn’t have.

But did it really matter? Who could this absolute nutjob tell that would believe her? And what would she even say? “I heard a SOLDIER operative call Naomi Chambers an ‘agent’?” The language by itself wasn’t exactly incriminating - part of the Naomi cover WAS being a Shinra employee after all. Even assuming this whackjob COULD get that information to the right people, Maddie felt as if she could talk her way out of it.

And…

Call it a hunch or intuition or whatever you’d like, but Maddie had a feeling that Joe wouldn’t just stand by and let her murder a disabled insane woman. Which, to be fair, when she put it that way, was actually rather dark. She felt her stomach turn at the thought. She was completely disgusted by even considering the act. It would be within her authority to do so...but at what cost? Would she truly be alright crossing that line?

She was in a pickle.

“So…!” ‘Naomi’ started as she pulled up beside the woman and matched her pace to the wheelchair. She spoke loudly, fully aware that the woman would likely try to drown her out with whatever she was listening to.

She considered how she wanted to approach this for a few moments before bending at the waist and trying to make eye contact with the woman ignoring her. “I think I’ve seen you around a few times. I’m Naomi, if you didn’t hear me earlier.” She lied. “What’s your name?”

If murder was off the table, then she needed some information. She was clearly not in the right place to make this decision, so she’d simply pass it on to her higher ups. Even if it came back to bite her later, she’d let someone else sign the death warrant.

She needed somebody else to justify her pulling the trigger.

Maddie wasn't the only one confused by Naisha.

The outburst had taken the SOLDIER equally by surprise, causing Joe to look over with a raised eyebrow. What was with her? A moment ago, she had been alot more forgiving and before that, she'd been calling him an idiot. Honestly, if he hadn't given her a full explanation of what the hell was going on, Joe was getting the impression that this woman would've tried to kill him! She still had at least one drone in working order too, though that wouldn't be enough to... Wait, why was he even thinking this way? The woman was just irritated over them, probably over Shinra. He started to follow as Maddie/Naomi apologized in her direction. The probably-undercover Turk turned and mouthed a question at him, but Joe let off an emphatic shrug and mouthed 'No idea.' back at her. He was just doing his job, and the lack of it would have left these people down here worse off than they ever could've been. Speaking of which...he needed to make a call. Trailing behind the two women now, he whipped out his phone and dialed dispatch.

"Hello! Yeah, I found the X-1 Prototype heavily-modified and I think repairing itself in a junkyard. Dunno how it was accomplished and, to be honest, I don't care. The robot's in standby mode 'cause it can't compact and switch off. Have someone pick it up or blow it up or whatever you do in these circumstan- ...what?"

Dispatch had interrupted with new orders, new developments, and as they all exited the junkyard, he made no attempt to conceal the "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!" followed by a hang-up and him grumbling as he caught up.

"Back to work, I go. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, you two."

He headed off towards the helicopter that had landed out in the open of the slums. Of course, only Maddie would have any conceivable notion of what Joe wouldn't do, which is what he hoped for, because it was his way of saying 'Don't do anything Turk-like, right now.'. He knew what the Turks did with loose ends, and he'd rather not find out they went and 'loose-ended' a girl in a wheelchair who's pissed at Shinra. That kinda' thing could blow up in your face. He moved on, sword on his back and helmet in hand, back to the chopper, which at least looked like it was flight-worthy. Good. He wasn't done playing air-taxi with the pilot.

"New orders: I gotta get to Junon and intercept the X-9 Prototype."

"What the hell? Are they all going random?"

"Only the prototypes, and there's still three others besides X-1, now."

"Alright, hop in. Junon's at least close by air, after all."

"Yeah, drop me by the Barracks. I'm gonna recruit some help on this."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Back at Fort Condor, Jessie was kinda' staring at the retreating robot, herself. She never heard of a Shinra creation, machine or otherwise, having any sort of self-preservation. This was a new development, one that'd worked in their favor this time, but the next time might be different. She confirmed with Akira, though, saying "Yeah, we won. Let's go see how things are, right now.". Honestly, she was satisfied by the outcome, no matter how strange it was. Without her coming all this way, the whole place could've been destroyed as the Sweepers went nuts. She felt good about that, really making a difference. Now...if she could just get the other people of Avalanche to see things a bit more her way. They wanted her explosive expertise to work on the reactors soon, because they weren't sure about a Shinra technician they had in their employ...

Inside, things were actually looking up, a bit. Several of the mercs were impressed with the two of them, congratulating them on scaring off the last mech unit, even though none of them knew how they did it. Now then, the aftermath of the whole ordeal was this: Everyone who was still alive was getting paid with a hazard bonus, owing to the unexpected complications, so Akira would be getting a decent amount of gil out of this. After all, he'd been just as useful and involved as anybody else. That was the first thing. The second thing was that the Fort Condor staff were offering wages to help with the repairs to the place as an incentive to keep the mercs on. Nothing too terribly technical, for those who weren't proficient in the machinery. Handywork, mainly, especially due to the fact that they needed the main door back in place as soon as possible. Some would accept while some would quit. Those who left agreed to get word out to colleagues that there were still contracts out here, although they did not expect Shinra to come back TOO quickly. The technicians who'd brought the Sweepers had left already, probably calling in about the X-Series Prototypes.

Everyone had much to think about. No one would blame Akira taking a lunch break, all things considered, though they did ask that he help around once he was done, and of course facilities - stores, bunks to rest in, etc. - were open to him and everybody here. He might catch Jessie trying - and failing to call her friends, but then she didn't know that they were a little busy right now...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The cellphone in Biggs' pocket suddenly came to life as there was an incoming call. It was easily audible to Kanade, though the AVALANCHE member said "I'm not taking that right now.", as he was busy concentrating on these tunnels, with Wedge slightly behind to keep an eye on the rear via his mirrors. Their immediate entry had come across some confused workers and engineers, a couple guards who were too slow to react, and a couple of mounted gun turrets that were not yet operational. That said, they weren't out of the woods Junon yet. A single jeep was still in hot pursuit, the Shinra Ranger. Lex had given them an intercom warning - which Wedge just shouted "NO!" at - and as they proceeded down the twists and turns of this place, some red lights also flashed, indicating that the lower area was now on alert. And while that didn't produce any other people in cars or motorcycles, at least a couple Slug-Rays were zipping around now. Sure, they were cheap, but they were better than nothing. The two AVALANCHE members started pumping their SMGs at those, though it was slowing them down. Biggs called back to Kanade now.

"If you've got anything that can put that guy's car out of action, it'd make this alot easier. We're getting down close to Lower Junon and we don't need him on our asses all the way to the Fort."

And meanwhile, back in the chopper...

"So, have you been able to determine their most-likely exit point."

"I have indeed, sir, but I'm afraid we won't be able to make that pursuit ourselves."

"Why not?"

"We still took a little damage, and I'm afraid the fuel line has been damaged. We must return to the pad and repair it, or wait for another helicopter."

"...very well. Make sure there's a barracade at the place they're headed for."

"Already done, sir."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The girl shouted something at them. Something bad. 'Get a move on!' No, wait. That was Beck. Wait a minute, she called them SLOW! Aaand by the time they realized this, she was way ahead, shouting something else. Something ba-

"Quit draggin' your heel and get 'er!"

All this knuckle-dragging idiocy aside, the three thugs were starting to move fast, not really paying much attention to their surroundings. No, they didn't know the area that well. In fact, they would cause a bit of a uhh...problem. You see, one of them threw a molotov at Aiko...and it missed. Would you care to guess exactly where it went?

Yes, it DID go sailing where you think it did.

There was a shattering of glass and a FWOOMMMPH!! noise as flames erupted from the nest and ummm...every single Doomrat in the area screeched out in unison, in united rage, popping out of the stonework to attack...well...everybody!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Haste hadn't worn off yet on Tace, nor had the power of Slow. He still had that advantage. In fact, he was able to execute his wing attack and that of the many thrusts, including the one at the heart. It was, as it happens, the very moment that he struck there that the owl beast's senses caught up with it, felt the ability to act properly, casted a Thunderbolt attack by reflex, got stabbed, and then felt itself get electrocuted right in the heart because of the timing of the attack. Tace would have to endure a certain level of wattage, but the Zemzelett would die of sudden heart failure...which it probably would've anyway, but the fact that it also harmed itself - They're not immune to lightning. - was just plain funny. Tace could continue wherever the hell he felt like going...and he shoould probably do that before another one of these damn birds decided he was a packet of tuna or something.

Akira Ayumu

Akira felt the rush of victory as he realized that his gamble had paid off, albeit not the way he had expected it to. Now he was going to take a lunch break, eat, and then help around after saying his prayers to the Planet - And by that, he meant he planned to check up on Kanade using Half-Cetra communion. So after a trip to the cafeteria, the young man ate some meat, porridge, and potatoes, along with a few rare vegetables a grateful cook gave him. And of course, purified water distilled from rain. Life seemed to be good right now, with a respite from his troubles.

Said respite lasted until he went back to his quarters for a bit, and comuned with the Planet in order to see that Kanade was still in trouble, and so were two people who seemed to be AVALANCHE members. And there was no way for him to help them, not right now, at any rate. So the young man focused on trying to help the other mercenaries in Fort Condor repair the broken defenses, heal those who still needed medical aid, and help out the clerks and other folk with inventory. He was going to distract himself from his inability to help Kanade by helping out, all the while relying on her to overcome what challenges Shinra threw at her.

Kanade was strong, as strong as Jessie was, although the two women had different areas of expertise. Speaking of Jessie, he should approach her some time soon, she seemed to be stressed as she tried to call her fellow operatives - Her friends? - presumably from the higher points of Fort Condor, where there was the best illegal cell reception.

So when Akira finally had the time to go up to where Jessie was, whether she was near the entrance or the highest accessible decks, he walked towards her and asked, "Hey, umm... Jessie, are you okay? If not, what's the problem?"

He wasn't going to add 'if there is any' or 'is it AVALANCHE business?', because that was rude. Instead, he was going to say, "Also, I think I forgot to introduce myself - My name is Akira, Akira Ayumu. Don't spread that last name around, though. Just in case people believe it's from a certain enemy nation..."

All things considered, Naisha was targeting the other woman way much more than the SOLDIER guy. Soldier guy was giving her some really foolish vibes and all things considered she wouldn’t really stand a chance with him, this ‘Naomi’ however, now that was another story. She was pretty darn certain she might be able to drag her down with her with some luck… and suicide tactics. Not that she wanted to die quite yet, she had yet to kill a major target which was basically everybody on top of Shinra. One day… one day… she just had to stand it until then, just a single opportunity would be all it takes.

She snapped out of her thoughts and music blasting in her ears as she spotted the woman vaguely move her hand, Naisha’s naturally caught it with the drone that was pointed at the target. The way her hand moved away, made Naisheyeroll before continuing her way. Just like this! If she ignored them now, they will leave her alone and all would be good with the world! But nope, blasted Shinra Agent Woman that Naisha would probably be able to call a few more adjectives on top of all else, started being loud to get her attention with questions.

Naisha gave her the evil eye, the one that screamed ‘why are you still bothering me?!’. Didn’t seem to help, talk about dedication to duty. If this woman was an agent, now she’d be a nightmare to get rid of given what just transpired. Why did this had to happen to her? The poor frail woman was sad, she just wanted some free parts to fix some stuff, get some money to buy other stuff and repeat, but no, she had to get involved in a stupid event caused by fucking Shinra.

With a heavy sigh, she reached with her hands, slowly putting down her headphones, to hear the woman as she was already making eye contact on her eyelevel. Please somebody was clearly trying to force this conversation into being and it was so obvious.” Alright, if I answer that question of yours, would you leave me alone? Actually why am I asking… if you would have, you would have done so already. Unless you are the most socially unaware person out there.” She grumbled as she rubbed her temples. Usually just putting on headphones killed conversations! Naisha wanted to cry or rather punch the woman. Sadly she very well knew that punching would likely hurt her wrist, maybe even fracture or crack her bones. She was just that frail, and she wasn’t in the best condition lately anyways. “ Nai… that is my name.” She replied annoyed. It wasn’t her full name, she just gave her nickname, no way in hell was she giving her full name here, especially to a Shinra Evil Perverted(not really) Agent!

Suddenly an exclamation and curses from the soldier guy, pulled her attention as she looked at him. Welp somebody delivered bad news to him. At least by the sound of it, he was leaving now, goodie, one less hindrance to worry about, though admittedly he wasn’t the worst shinra person she had met… alright! At least he helped deal with evil mech, granted it was his company’s evil mech, but ehh, better than nothing. She eyerolled at his comment and made sure to be visible eyeroll. She wasn’t the one bringing a sword to a giant mech fight.” I wonder what the chance for another rampaging shinra prototype to be the reason for his anger just now...” Naisha grumbled, surely even Shinra wouldn’t be as stupid to actually lose a number of mechs.” Nah… can’t be.” She reassured herself, pulling her hotdog and taking a bit of it, before returning her eyes to the other woman with her and her mood soured even more.

“Alright, so you got my name now what do you want?” She asked without picking her words. Naisha was not one to play with words, she could lie, yes, but she didn’t like to. Getting in her good graces was very hard to do and this woman certainly was not on her holiday gift card list. She then looked at Naomi and decided to ask a fun question.” What’s a consultant doing in Shinra anyways? You doing the same thing as the mayor, sitting in an office looking busy?” She asked, wondering what lie would be returned. As far as she was aware the mayor was just a figure to be there. Didn’t matter to her any, but the more this woman lied to her now, the more she could rub those lies in her face later. Ohh yes, that would be good. Still she bit another bite from the hotdog. She had to eat, even as little as she usually did.