Aiko couldn't stop laughing as she continued provoking them, completely not even aware of the fact that they were actually trying to capture her, maybe even hurt her, such it was the complete inability the trio of idiots had to do anything correctly. That said, they were still incredibly fun and amusing to watch, almost like if she was seeing a live comedy movie, one of those really old style ones.

That said, when one of them yelled for them to get her though, they started getting a bit faster and actually trying, which probably wasn't still enough to be a threat for Aiko, but which would make her pay a bit more attention on them and stop playing around so much.

"Have you guys thought on being comedians before instead of Don's thugs? You guys sure would make a lot of-" Aiko started, still having fun at their expense until she watched a molotov flying through the air, interrupting her. Even though it missed her, the direction it was going that was the real problem.

With her eyes wide open in alarm, Aiko watched helplessly as the bottle tumbled through the air before exploding in flames right on the doomrat's nest she was taking them.

"Oh... no." Aiko said just as she heard the cries of hundreds of doomrats, which were now into a frenzied rage after their nests were engulfed in fire. That was way, WAY worse than just scaring them with some lights and making they case you. Now they would go all out in a frenzy, trying to attack anything nearby.

"Shit, shit, shit! RUN IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE!" Aiko yelled, as she stopped her rollerblades with all her might, turning right back where she came and dashed much and immediately dashed away in full speed, passing just nearby the three thugs as she yelled that.

It was clear to even the thugs that she was in her serious mode as she was going much faster than what she was before when playing around with them. It was a shame for the three lovable idiots but Aiko had to think about her own safety and if they didn't ran away seriously they would be torn into pieces by the swarm of doomrats.

Lex watched the three through his window screen really hoping they won't run.

But there they go...of course they wouldn't stop.

He sighed deeply, and Wasteland looked over at him as if to say, "You really thought they'd stop?"

Lex just shrugged, then gunned the engine. The up-armored jeep roared forward and into the tunnels, following the motorcycles. The first straight-aways were a breeze, Lex could fit the jeep down through the tunnels with ease. And the turns in the tunnel weren't so bad.

Then they started to encounter containers. The bikes could get around them just fine. But the jeep, not so much. He crashed through several sending their contents flying. Stacks of scaffolding and other things stacked in the tunnels were hit and sent flying as well.

And then came the first hard turn. There's a crunch, and a cloud of what looks like powdered cement in the air for awhile, as the cloud settles the jeep is stuck. Lex hums, cranking the jeep into reverse, nope back end is wedged. Forward, just a little off can't quite get the movement. He hums, then just guns it, shifting up down, up down again and again. Working at it until with a roar and a bang of a little backfire he's through. Lex laughing, "If there isn't a movie about a moment like this there should be!" He returns to crashing down the tunnels gaining ground on the bikes again.

Tace would grit his teeth some more as the Zemzelett electrocuted him and itself. He willed through the natural urge to let go of the sword to stop being shocked. He even dared to push the sword deeper while getting electrocuted by the beast's magic. It was a hair-raising and unpleasant experience. Getting zapped hurt but then there was also the unpleasantness caused by his muscles pulsating and contracting unnaturally due to the current going through his body. He swore he felt muscles he wasn't aware of jerking around. It made gripping on to the sword that much harder, but he didn't relent.

"Shit! this really fucking sucks!" He'd say. Luckily for him, it wouldn't last much longer. The Zemelett would perish from this final attack and with it the attack would vanish. Tace would let go of sword and clutch his arm. It was numbed out save for a tingly sensation as if there was a ghostly current remaining from the attack still coursing through him. He felt slightly winded but he was recovering fast enough. Enough to say a shitty one-liner as he plucked his sword, "Well that's one creative way of frying up a bird."

After patting his hair down, he stood trying to recall what he was initially doing before the attack. Then he remembered, he was going to Fort Condor. It was kinda funny, as he refused to give that girl and her friends a lift there out of wariness of getting Shinra's attention. And now he was feeling an almost morbid curiosity to see what exactly was going on there. His gut told him that it was going to be urgent and so he leadfooted that pedal once he jumped into his car. Hopefully he'd avoid another monster attack as he drove off to the Fort.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. That’s how the old proverb went, yeah? Well, Maddie was just so close to finally just giving up and saying “fuck it” when, by some miracle of the Gods, the horse began to drink.

”Alright, if I answer that question of yours, would you leave me alone?

Not likely.

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.”

Her best customer service face on full display, it took everything in Maddie’s power not to laugh in the woman’s face. Granted, Maddie WAS being rather pushy at the moment, but it wasn’t as if Little Miss Lone Wolf over here was much more...let’s say ‘socially aware’, shall we? The gall of this woman. If anything, they were just two little socially inept peas in a pod.

“Nai… that is my name.” the woman said. Nai. Just Nai, no surname? Alright then. Well, obviously the woman was lying to her, although people often choose aliases that are somewhat similar to their actual name or otherwise personal to them when asked to deliver one on the spot. Unless the woman was in a habit of giving out fake names, Maddie had SOME sort of workable information.

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

Maddie turned back and stared at the now fleeing SOLDIER and silently let loose a string of profanities. He was leaving her alone with the psychopath. Awesome. Super great. Love that. As she turned back to face “Nai” and head back down the path, she caught the woman rolling her eyes and muttering to herself.

“I wonder what the chance for another rampaging Shinra prototype to be the reason for his anger just now...”

Maddie bit her lip and shrugged before taking a few steps ahead of the other woman and continuing her path back towards town. It would be shorter than going back the way she had come then going all the way around anyway. With her back to the Nai, Maddie began to replay the events of the fight in her head. Nai had triggered a reset in the mech which had halted its little rampage but…

How did she know it was a prototype?

It was possible that Soldierboy had let the cat out of the bag before she had arrived - he didn’t seem to be the best at handling sensitive information after all - but if he hadn’t, then how would some crippled slum rat be capable of making that distinction? It wasn’t all that surprising to Maddie that there were a number of individuals capable of forcing their way into Shinra’s systems - the absurd list of handles she had to memorize was a testament to that - but...the X-1 was new. As in, bleeding edge new. As in, not even a whisper of it on the WWN before the leak she herself had posted not even twelve hours ago. For Nai to have recognized it as a prototype…

Well, it certainly was possible it was just a guess. A slip of the tongue, even? But then why use the word ‘prototype’? Wouldn’t the more logical conclusion be that it was just a new series or model? Why prototype?

Was it...could she be...?

Nai might have seen the leak. Might have even been the person who had inquired about it.

But what would the chances be of her ALSO being the naughty little cybercriminal that Mr. Tseng wanted her to find? That would have been one HELL of a coincidence...but...

Nai certainly fit the profile: loner, proficient enough to get past Shinra cybersecurity, familiar with Shinra systems, and a deep loathing for Shinra - evident from her rather harsh interactions with both Maddie and the Soldier.

“Alright, so you got my name now what do you want?

The truth? Evidence to show that she was the cyberterrorist? Permission to put two in her skull?

“Maybe a shower.” ‘Naomi’ sighed absentmindedly, perhaps the first true thing she had said all day.

”What’s a consultant doing in Shinra anyways? You doing the same thing as the mayor, sitting in an office looking busy?”

Odd comment about the mayor aside, ‘Naomi’ spun on her heels and looked at Nai as she walked backwards.

“Hardly. I’m actually an engineer in Shinra’s Advanced Weaponry Division. We make things like...well, THAT.” Naomi paused, nodding towards the idle mech. “Well...I say that, but I haven’t gotten to actually contribute much in a while. I committed the unforgivable sin of daring to question our Dear Department Head, so now I get to spend my time getting flown out to all sorts of nasty places to show meatheads like Soldier-boy back there how their new toys work. And when I’m not on a corporate-sponsored suicide trip, I get the honor of being the department’s errand girl.” she ranted, getting increasingly frustrated as she spoke.

Naomi took a moment to calm herself before speaking again, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

”Lovely woman, that Scarlet. I think you would absolutely adore her.”

She spun back around, narrowly avoiding stepping into a hole. As she continued on, she scanned the path ahead, looking for any approaching nasties.

“So how about you? What’s got a disabled woman wandering around in a junkyard all alone?”

There was a man making the rounds in a restricted area in Junon. Among his duties, it was his job to inspect ammo storage for all the heavy ordinance, all the military-grade material they use for demolitions or armored vehicles or even the robots. Furthermore, there was a section that even he didn't have clearence to inspect, only to make sure there are no signs of tampering with the doors, the locks, or that any means of entering were possible. He didn't know for certain what was in there, but given that it was just past the area where the materia was stored on this base, it had to be something big. The Executive Vault, as they called it, was only for this: The highest-grade deterents known to man. That was all he knew.

Now then, you may be curious as to who they gave this job to. Did they hand it off to some grunt because they just didn't care, or to someone with a little experience who would know what the hell he was doing? Well, the answer...was the latter. A single SOLDIER walked along the halls, entering each room to make certain that everything was there, including the clipboard that stated what was suppose to be there. If anything was missing and not recorded on that clipboard, he had the authorization to take any action he thought appropriate, up to and including a complete lockdown of the area. This SOLDIER had a First-Level rank, and in fact was titled 'Captain' for his training of the younger SOLDIER units, the ones who joined after the Wutai War. He is a robust sort of man with a Hardedge on his back and a little gray in his hair. Not that you'd see it, of course, while in uniform. He had a unique helmet on with a crescent across the brow area.

As he came upon the Executive Vault door, he checked the numerous sensors - such as the scanner pad in front of the door, the retinal scanner, and palm print analyzer - to make sure none of them had seen any damage or tampering at all. He then leapt up, suddenly, to stick himself to one corner of the room, all to make sure that the mounted turrets in the area continued to track him. They wouldn't shoot, of course. Any SOLDIER could walk down these corridors. Lastly, he was about to jump up to and inspect the local air vents when...he received a call. Awkward timing. Maybe it was from Surveillance, finding a problem with one of the cameras... Ah, nope. Different number. One on his all-time top-ten. He hit the button with a smirk, going "Hello, Joe.", then removing his helmet when the caller complained about the reverberations of his helmet in the speaker.

"That better? Good. What's up?"

A small pause as the caller explained. The Captain's brow furrowed.

"That's strange. Haven't been any complaints around here. Well, if they say you have to destroy 'em, then... Ohhh."

There wasn't any confirmation on the X-Series going crazy at Junon yet, but Joe was anticipating that it might be the case, and that they should be prepared. The man said he needed to check something, and then quickly activated the app on his phone to check regional alert status. What the...? The lower areas had an intruder alert?

"Joe, we may be getting something here already. I'll have to check up on it. I'll talk to you later."

He hung up, then dialed Junon Central Dispatch.

"This is Captain Gonovich speaking. Ya mind telling me why I just got warnings of a problem here in Junon from someone not even in city limits?"

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

Meanwhile, at the Junon airfield, where a heavy Gelnika was about ready to take off, Rufus Shinra addressed the Head Turk, the chopper pilot, the repair technician, and anybody else who happened to be around.

"So then, let me make sure I understand the situation, then. This is an airfield...correct?"

"Correct, sir."

"The largest, in fact, in the world. You agree?"

"I do, yes."

"So...when I ask for a helicopter, it is not unreasonable to have one ready for me immediately, which...I will say...you have not failed in. But, to my understanding, it should equally have been possible to secure a second one within a moment's notice that the one we were using developed a fault...correct?"

Tseng of the Turks bowed his head, slightly.

"Regrettably, that is not the case, sir."

"Kindly explain why."

The man in the black suit nodded, and spoke plainly on the matter.

"At a recent board meeting at the home office, it was decided that the majority of helicopter coverage was best-spent in the patrolling of city sectors in Midgar, as opposed to that of the already-militarized sections of Junon. Thus, there are actually very few chopper units to be found here at any given time, less if there has been any necessary transport from Junon to Midgar, specifically, which is currently the case. The helicopter that we took is held in reserve for all other uses, such as Executive transport. The situation we find ourselves in - with no second reserve helicopter - is the result of prioritizing where to cut the budget."

And that was probably Heidegger's field. Rufus shook his head, keeping calm, but nevertheless maintaining an air of disappointment.

"This must not be allowed to happen again. I will see to it."

"Yes, sir. Fortunately, there is a chopper incoming, so we will not have long to wait."

"That will do, I suppose."

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

Down in the tunnels, Ranger Krait and the AVALANCHE members were still on the move. Mostly, it was just them and whatever robot drones happened along their path, since those could keep up. Occasionally, they'd also pass some worker or security guard who would be like "Hey!" and draw their gun, only to be too late to do anything and just be forced to call it in. On this particular occasion, his phone got back a different alert, one that read thusly...



This is fairly-important, because...as the pursuit was continuing, Ranger Krait would naturally be getting this message on his phone. But whether or not he had the time to look at it, what happened next was certainly happening. Lex was closing in, Kanade had asked Wedge to open fire at the jeep, instead of the Slug-Rays, Wedge went "Ow! Ow! Ow!" as he opened fire and got zapped by the robots, Kanade was preparing to throw, and then...things got a little crazy. How much crazy, you might ask? That split-second 'Oh Crap' kind of crazy. Biggs looked ahead at an intersection, shouted at Wedge, Wedge suddenly panicked, and swerved to avoid the...larger robot that just rolled into view. He collided with Biggs, who was thrown off-balance and almost hit the tunnel wall, and...well, due to that business, the Jessie bomb went flying from Kanade's grip as they passed the pair of Sweepers in the tunnel.

This is where the 'Oh Crap' come in. First of all, 'Oh Crap, there's a pair of Sweepers here', which Wedge nearly collided with on the bike, but narrowly missed. Second, there was 'Oh Crap, I dropped the bomb!' for Kanade specifically as it bounced along in the tunnel now. Third, there was 'Oh Crap, there are these Sweepers in the way!' for Lex, who had of course been pursuing at speed and now couldn't get by. And in ALL of their cases, that would be 'Oh Crap, that bomb looks like it's armed', followed by BOOOMMM!!! as it blasted through said tunnel area!

Finally, the last 'Oh Crap' would be for anybody at all who realized that these units were X-6 and X-7, having just gone rogue.

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

With things having calmed down considerably at Fort Condor and the process of rebuilding having gotten underway, Jessie Raspberry found herself paying more attention to the needs of this young man, Akira Ayumu, who was pretty sure that his last name alone was problematic, since he looked at least part Wutai. Yeah, that was definitely a problem for him, considering there was plenty of anti-Wutai sentiment, and that people who seemed like they were from there might be badly received. Fact is, and she told him this, his whole name might've been a bit of a giveaway, and if he was that worried about capture...

"I think you might seriously need to lie low for a while. This was a good refuge away from Shinra, but if you're really that much of a target, it's time to step out of the limelight entirely. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

His contribution here at the fort could not be denied. They might not have pulled through here if not for his support and a bit of heroics thrown in. They tried really hard, this time, and while it might be a while before any serious attack happened again, it was a guarantee that Shinra would be back. So, now that there'd been a battle with a serious death toll on both sides, now was a great time to slip out quietly and find some place to hold up for a while. Jessie had a suggestion or two on where, asked the people living and working here to give Akira his pay in supplies, and sent him on his way.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You just look after yourself until the heat dies down."

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

Of course, way ahead of THEM was Tace, who was now back on the move and no longer being harrassed by evil birds. He had decided, once he recovered from the shock, that maybe his services were badly needed at Fort Condor, which was also the destination of that Trio. He stepped into his car and gunned it for the Fort, which was still a ways away, but hey...he had a nice goddamn car. He could get up to speeds those Shinra bike patrols couldn't manage, and he could put the music on and everything. Though, what he'd be listening to was on him. Along the way, as he began to see the distant tower and that whoa-massive bird on top, he found a curious sight. He had been avoiding monsters in general by speed, but in this area...maaaybe he didn't have to, and maaaybe he might've wanted to be just a bit quieter. Ya see, in the distance, there had been this circle of flying predators, and then some of them would jerk suddenly as flying lead was rammed through their bodies.

Halfway to Fort Condor, there was a Sweeper out there, going the other way, shooting at the wildlife. Whadya think of that?

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

In the alleys of Midgar, there was a "Whoops." as the molotov went over Aiko's head. That was Burke. Burke had no idea that was wrong with the situation, only that he'd missed, and that Beck was gonna shout at him for missing. He had no idea what the actual problem was when Beck shouted "Now, look whatcha did!", apologizing to get their leader off of his back. He didn't like getting shouted at. That was usually reserved for Butch, which was a relief. That said, the screeches got all their attentions, and he immediately blurted out "I don't think we wanna be here, boss!" right as giant rats on fire came out all over he place! Yeah, no worries, kid. They know when the hell to run! In fact, the last thing Aiko would hear as she got out of the range of their shouting was Beck going "Everything! Just toss everything and RUN!", followed by the deployment of mines and molotovs.

To her own credit, Aiko still knew these alleyways like the back of her hand, so while there had been this detour, and that she WAS in full retreat mode for a while to get the hell out of Rat Country, it was easy for her to get back on track after the fact and resume heading for her destination. The only problem was that when she got back on track to go into her prep work, there was that feeling of being watched, even though there was no immediate sign of being around. That was a problem.

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

Maddie was alone with Naisha. Naisha was alone with Maddie. Who was the one really threatening whom? Thr Turk may not be pleased that the SOLDIER wasn't around anymore, but to be fair...she was a Turk. She could handle things, and also Joe had not been aware of any actual problems with the wheelchair woman, apart from her being aggravated by people in Shinra. Well anyway, he was no longer a part of this scene as the two ladies began the act of verbal parry and thrust. They might eventually see another different helicopter - a cargo chopper - touch down at the junkyard that they had gotten the hell away from. Looks like Joe had gotten a team to do something about this mess and they weren't going to destroy it.

If Naisha wanted the thing for herself, she might recall that she was still connected...

Naisha nearly got an eye twitch when the woman had the gall to demand a shower." Are you fucking se..." She started to growl out when suddenly she stopped and looked at the other woman with extremely critically evaluating stare. After a solid 10 seconds and a few sniffs in the air, her eyes narrowed." Well... I suppose you do need one... you aren't expecting me to invite a complete stranger, that works for a dubious company that's well known for making people disappear, into my home right? Even if you are low level consultant..." She had a mixture of condescention and sarcasm in her voice. Seeing how she saw the woman get up close with teh junk for cover and the like earlier. Naisha was taking cover too, but she never left the comfort of her chair so she practically never pressed herself agasint anything and nor was she active enough to sweat too much from active combat." You can probably get a shower in one of the public ones... there are a few around the place if you need one so much. After all not every of the squalid homes we have here have their own baths."

Her eyebrow rose as Naomi took to walking backwards so she can talk at her face on while they were leaving the Junkyard." You really should look at your feet when you walk, you know?" Naisha asked, staring at quite a few things that could trip the stupid agent when she was acting like this. How was she on the field was a mystery to Naisha. Unless... her apparnt way of acting was a cover! Nai's nerves steeled once more. She should be careful! Yes, very careful even with supposedly stupid people. Actually especially with those, it took one slip up to go and die or get captured by Shinra. The later was obviously the worst option of the two.

"So you went ahead and questioned that woman?" She asked with a frown." Yeah Scarlet's a... I would call her a bitch, but that would just be an affront to the dogs. Just look at her attitude anytime she shows on tv..." She growled, Nai was very familiar with the executives of Shinra. After Hojo, that woman was second biggest target, followed by Rufus and then the others down the chain of command." Well if you are just an errant girl, better for you in the long run. You won't have to face the moral questions involved with creating thigns like that and what they would do to all the innocent people caught in the area when they get out of control. Like it ALMOST happaned here." She quipped.

"As for what I'm doing here, nothing too much. I'm junkyard diving for parts obviously." She replied raising the bag where she had the different electronics and circuits in." Getting parts here in the slums is a hard thing and especially so for good prices. I'm a repairman...err... repairwoman. I repair mostly electronics like TVs, computers and occasionally a phone or a pad of one variety or another. And the occasionally stuff like cars and the like when times are thought and I'm in better health at the time. A girl gotta earn her own bread when she has to and I can't exactly find other reasonable work with a body like mine." She replied simply. There was no point in hiding that as a simple digging around would likely point her out as someone who repairs stuff." Things here are without owners so we are more or less free to get whatever part you need as long as you can actually keep yourself alive until you leave with it. It's the main way we can actually maintain stuff like TVs, monitors, computers and other electronics running without the danger of going into heavy debt because the new parts or machines cost too much."

As they were leaving the junkyard, she noted a cargo heli coming to the place, likely to pack up the sweeper. She narrowed her eyes at the sight, tossing a look at Naomi. For the briefest of moments, she considered her possibilities, before continuing her way towards her neighborhood. She'd lose this woman somewhere in the crowds there. had no plans on leading her to her home honestly. Though it wouldn't be a science to find her, she'd just have to ask some of the people around to point her at the wheelchair girl with the drones and she'd likely be pointed out right away. In any case, she was letting the sweeper go. She did not have enough control over it to try to grab it. She barely had access to it's most outer functions that were negletcted. Chances on breaking through to it with her phone only were minimal. Maybe if she could get home fast enough to use her computer to do so, but she doubted she'd have the time. Shinra would likely bring the thing to a well defended location for dismantle or whatever and she wasn't sure she'd be able to access it then. What's more she had another reason not to attempt to do so. The weakness she exploited to access the system. using it once to stop the thing was more than enough. She could only hope they don't figure out the reason the system caved so fast to the outer layer and patch it. If this potential weakpoint remained, she'd be able to make use of it at a later date.

"Hmm not the best haul, but not hte worst." She mumbled to herself, checking her spoils. She actually got great parts this time around. She could make use of all the circuits adn other electronics, but not many were for the jobs, most would go for personal projects instead, so while hse had a good few finds, it wasn't anything to talk about on the maintaining herself alive and well taken care of. " So... how long are you going to hang around with me. I'm not giving you acces to my showers... I can bring you to one of the public baths if you desire it so much and don't know where to find one? I'm personally thinking of grabbing lunch and heading home eventually to rest down in peace and quiet. Had enough excitement for a few weeks today alreayd."

Truth be told, Aiko was somewhat relieved that the thugs knew when to drop everything and run, as they were doing right now. Even though they were still Don's thugs, they were just following orders. That coupled with how harmless and funny they actually were made them almost an nonexistent threat for Aiko. The moment they shouted to run though, Aiko was already far, only being able to hear part of it before disappearing in the jungle of alleyways and pipes. Despite her speed, her heard was still beating fast due to the surprise. Anyone who knew what a doomrat was and how obstinate and crafty they were also knew how dangerous a horde of angry ones was terrifying. Raise that to a horde of angry, BURNING doomrats and it was easy to know why Aiko ran away as fast as she did.

Since she had to make another detour, it did take a bit until she got back on her way home again but the fact that she managed to lose the thugs saved her enough time so she wouldn't have to worry too much about the preparation to the oncoming job. That said, while she was riding back, she did have a rather uncomfortable feeling of being watched. She did try looking around and ride a bit faster but it that feeling just didn't go away. If it was anyone else, they would probably have dismissed it as they being a bit paranoid due to all the trouble with Don but Aiko lived by herself in the streets of Midgar for quite a while and she knew best than to ignore her own intuition and as such, she kept her eyes wide open and alert for any strange movement. After a while though, it became obvious that either she was just being a bit paranoid or whoever was watching her was almost inhumanely good at their job. Knowing that she needed to rest a bit before the job, she ended up going back home to relax a bit.

When she got home, due to the strange feeling of being watched she had a while ago, Aiko didn't take off her rollerblades and made sure to put her suit before throwing herself at the couch to relax a bit. If anyone wanted to enter her house, it would be rather obvious, as the streets were quite busy on that time of the day. The preparation for the oncoming job was almost completely done, she had her cellphone with her and the modifications on her equipment were working perfectly well as she could confirm with the small 'test' she had both playing around with the thugs and when she had to seriously run away from the Doomrats. Now, she was merely waiting for the call before grabbing the small chokutō she used as a weapon and going wherever her client wanted her to go. Judging by the appearance of the guy that she talked with and the way he talked on the phone, that job could potentially be something big... And Aiko was hoping that the payment would also be substantial. Enough for her to not need to worry with Don for a while.

Tace continued to zoom along in his car. He was silently but feeling rather confident having bested that beast. He'd soon learn about Fort Condor's namesake as got closer and close to his destination. It was giant bird made of stone perching on a tower. Well that was pretty nifty, although he wondered what exactly was the significance of the giant condor. Tace would lose interest in such thoughts when caught something else going on. Tace would find himself slowing down as he saw more flying beasts in the sky. Was this another fight about to start but with more of these things? That calm atmosphere would fade away into tension as he eyed the flying monsters. I wonder if I can- wait a minute... did one of them just fall? He though to himself.

Upon further inspection the answer was yes. Something was shooting them down, but he couldn't tell what the hell was riling up them up to be swarming like that. His answer to that question would be swiftly answered; a large robot was making its way across the area and it was also mowing down the monsters. A handful of Tace's brain cells rubbed together just in time and he became aware that this thing was probably tied as the reason why that girl and those other guys wanted to get to Fort Condor so fast. Unfortunately for them that thing had escaped from Fort Condor and seemed to be on trajectory towards Port Junon. Also unfortunately for Tace, in his gawking he seemed to have gotten too close for comfort to the sweeper.

Lex growled trying to keep pace with the bikes. The next turn ahead coming fast. He's getting ready to turn the next corner when the first of the rounds pings off the armored chassis of the jeep. He should know it wouldn't have broke through but he swerves anyway. More rounds ping and crack off armoring and leave small spiderweb impacts on the armored plastic windshield. With one hand on the wheel and the other reloading his shotgun Lex lets out an annoyed growl, "Damned Terrorists. You have to make it hard. Always making it harder then it needs to be!" He lays his weapon across his lap and begins the turn when he sees that small packet in the one woman's hand, "Oh you have got to be..."

Everything seems to slow down and he knows he hasn't cast Slow on himself. He can see the bomb, and through the sparks of the rounds still pinging off the jeep the two sweepers sitting in the middle of the tunnel.

This isn't going to turn out good.

Then boom! And everything went red, grey and white as that explosion flared inside the confines of the tunnel.

So much so that Lex can't swerve and ends up smashing into one of the legs of the sweepers. He's not sure which one, or it's designation. He doesn't care. The jeep coming to a stop. Lex blacks out a little. The crash setting his ears to ringing, the explosion rattling his head.

As he comes around he can see through the dust that target he had seen tearing through some slugrays.

Shaking himself out of his daze he looks up at the sweeper, "Gotta get moving...What the hell is the deal with these things anyway?" He tries to get the Jeep started again, "Gotta get moving. We gotta go." Wasteland lets out a low growl, as if in agreement.