The digital, red glare of Fang's visor swept over Raudd and Dean from the abode's entrance. For a moment, the low growl of the suit and soft clicking of its control surfaces micro-adjusting was the only sound. Raudd stood up and joined her. Dean shook his head. Fang threw Raudd's arm around her neck without hesitation as if she were going to lift him bridal style, but scooped him into a much less flattering lumbar carry across her back. The wide plated "tail" of the suit unfurled into an armored skirt, and she leapt with her cargo to the rooftops to get an unobstructed view.

Fang's HUD scanned the layout of the buildings and gave her a rough overhead map to navigate by. Her first thought was to reconnect with Zolya, since Raudd had mentioned she would be arriving soon with another Templar. It would be nice to have the company of another co-worker... well, depending on who it was at least. Help was help, and maybe she wouldn't need to lean on Alex and the locals with the other Templar around. They'd be coming from the West, if she recalled.

She skipped noisily across the rooftops towards the settlement's outer wall, careful not to get close enough to the glowing barrier to get herself or her passenger caught up on the barrier's glass-like shards. They were moving quickly, although she was careful not to exceed a speed where Raudd's eyes might get damaged by dust particulate. Just as the West gate was coming into view, Fang's HUD outlined a cloaked figure zipping away into the crush of buildings. She slid to a halt next to Zolya and her mounts, setting Raudd down while her head tracked the departing figure. That had to be the other Templar.

Air hissed out of the mask's vents, punctuating a note of exasperation apparent in her body language. Just how many times would she narrowly miss running into them? Fang's visor pulled apart, revealing the smooth, reflective black glass of the expression layer as it folded up into a braid running down the back of her neck. Pixelated, glowing red eyes opening up on the surface of the glass broke up the mirror-sheen as she gazed off after the other Templar.

"[:<]"

The frown flickered off the face of Fang's visor as the digital eyes swept the stags and Zolya. Her external Vox clicked on for her to speak, to thank Zolya and Raudd for everything that they had done, but that she had to go. A sound in the distance caught her attention before she could speak, causing the armored feline ears on her helmet to shoot up and twist towards the disturbance. A scream. Two gunshots. And... rushing wind? Her vox clacked off noisily as the combat visor slammed down over the expression layer. In a blast of wind, dust, and loose detritus she was gone, tracing a line off directly towards the disturbance.

---

---

Jade's sandy blonde hair whipped in her face as she zoomed down the line from the Den. Wolf normally hung straight from the zip-line by the grappling claw in her arm. The rest of The Den's unaugmented mortals clipped their tactical vests into a modified rig and rode the lift to ShieldTown's wall. The loose layers of Jade's hair that were too short to end up tied back blew into her mouth from the odd updraft, and she sputtered gracelessly trying to free them. This was always a problem.

A few stray thoughts drifted up from the city like intrusive strands of hair in her mental soup. She was trying to get better about filtering those out but there were so many. Even in The Den, her world was a jumble of noise, emotions, and imagery that she couldn't get away from. Blocking it out all the time made her brain hurt. Couldn't people just... think quieter thoughts? It's not like people get in trouble for overhearing a loud conversation.



The charged collective scream washed up to hit her like a rogue wave. Jade lost her grip, and for a while she hung lamely from the carabiner attaching her to the rig while the ground whizzed past dizzyingly below. She pulled herself lamely back up to the lift rig while trying to re-orient herself and queued the emergency stop on the controls. Well... machines were funny things that did exactly what they were programmed to, regardless if that was a good idea or not.

The lift-rig in particular could be stopped at any point... any point save past the half-way mark. Wolf and the others had determined that past the half way mark it would actually be safer to take the rig all the way into Shieldtown, since the rig's altitude would be within the threat range of certain Threshers. That was... decidedly NOT what Jade wanted right now, especially since the screaming static grating against her mind exploded over ShieldTown, slamming shut on the settlement walls just as she was reaching them. Jade fumbled with the rig to disconnect herself, fearing she would slam into the bubble but there wasn't enough space. She clung to the rig for dear life and braced herself for the impact instead.

She did hit it... though the impact was not what she was expecting. Aegis' powers were uncomfortable to be around in the best of situations. They were full of static, pokey, invasive even. The blue hardlight pulled at her brain uncomfortably when he moved it, and worst of all, it was charged with [FEELING]. The pervasive need to do better, to be better. The weight of the expectations of others. The want to live up to a legend that was perceived to be much greater than themselves. A desperate sense of loss. Today, mostly anger. Mad. Irritated. Full of ire. Acrimonious. Angry. All around her, touching every surface, staring down in a big, static blue dome screaming...



Jade hung lamely from the rig at the end of the zip line a few feet off the ground, a bit of blood smeared across her face from where she had wiped her nose with her forearm. OK Wolf and Leah had a point: maybe she should actually learn how to block all this stuff out. Big feelings hurt.

"Umph," she grunted, trying to hoist herself up to disconnect the rig. "Inside voice, Aegis. Inside voices inside," she muttered, resting her head for a minute on the cool braided steel of the rig while trying to remember her breathing exercises.

"Hey, you okay?!" A voice from behind her called, and she flailed on the the rig to turn and face it.

"No. Yes? I'm not okay right now. I will be in a minute," she clarified, swinging around to face the owner: a short semi-portly man she recognized from the market. He sold bone carvings and other trinkets. Paul.

"You're the new girl at The Den, right?" Jade nodded. "Listen, it's dangerous out right now. Thunderdome protocol, so I'm gonna help you down and get you inside, okay?" Jade found herself nodding in a daze and suddenly he was reaching up towards her. Her eyes went wide and she recoiled, scrambling to get away from him.

"NO! No! Nononono, no touching!" Paul froze, allowing Jade to exhale and explain. "Wind cuts. I can't control it. You'll get hurt if you touch me," she breathed, trying to calm down and unhook herself from the rig with shaking hands.

"Okay, it's okay. What do you need me to do?"

"Right right. Let me get myself down. One of our planes crashed in the market...," Jade wavered. She wanted to be helpful, but she also knew Wolf would scold her if she ran into danger trying to salvage that wreck. "But I'll go with you and check on it after things calm down," she resolved, climbing back up onto the rig so she could get unhooked more easily.

"Alright, good. I know you girls can take care of yourselves, but if Wolf found out I let you run off with the dome up, she'd never visit my stall again," he chuckled. The contagious mirth forced her to smile, even though her feelings didn't match. The rig finally clicked free and she jumped down, dusting herself off and turning around in time to see a mechanical beast rear up behind Paul and snatch him. In a blink, he was gone, leaving Jade standing rigid in the street. A 'Collector' had taken Paul.

A nightmare beast fusion of flesh and machine whose only purpose was to capture and bring people to the Ripper collective so they could have augmentations forced on them. They had been a regular menace in Northbridge, but Collectors in ShieldTown? Unheard of.

Rule Number 1: Never leave without your knife and sidearm.

Jade stood numbly in the street, hyperventilating while hear heart pounded. Collectors were fast as lightning, and she'd lost sight of the one that took Paul. The metallic scrape of steel on stone behind her, and the crashing against the reinforced bulkheads of ShieldTown's buildings goaded her into action. She sprinted for the nearest opening between buildings she could see while drawing her .40 Beretta. It was heavy and cold in her hands. Wolf had promised to get her a smaller gun when the next shipment came in.

Rule Number 2: Can't help anyone if you're dead. Protect yourself first.

The hair on her neck and spine stood straight up, and she threw herself to the ground reflexively. The freight train of flesh, metal, and death roared over her, skittering to a halt and tearing up chips of concrete from the street as it swung around and lunged. Jade tried to roll away but was pinned before she could correct, forcing a short scream out of her lungs. Air rushed around her ears and shrieked against the metallic limb pinning her down. Oil... or some other fluid sprayed wildly from a severed line, and the limb went limp against her.

Jade wrestled free enough to jam the barrel of her pistol into the beast-like metallic jaws of the creature as it bore down on her and pulled the trigger twice. Mistake. It slumped against her while making some unhappy noises. Scraping, rattling, scurrying, screaming.

Rip. Kill. Consume. Revenge.

Glowing red eyes began to collect at the top of the wall and push through the dome from outside. Rippers. Ice splashed down Jade's back, renewing her struggle to get free. Thunderdome wasn't to keep things out. It was to keep Rippers in. It's keeping them in. It's keeping them in. It's keeping them in. The wind thrashed around her, finding gaps in plated armor and metal reinforcement to slice, and she could hear Paul's sharp groans of discomfort and pain.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Something in the corner of Jade's vision caught her attention. More rippers? No. Knight in gleaming silver. Baleful red gaze sweeping the scene. Somehow it didn't feel intimidating: the feeling behind it was anxiety. Worry that she didn't make it in time. Kicking herself for stopping at the gate. She could have gotten here sooner. Jade tried to flail and make herself noticed. Call out. All she could muster was hoarse breathless screams. The silver clad warrior snapped her head in Jade's direction and leapt down from her rooftop perch.

Motion from the wall. Something dark and heavy thudded into the silver clad warrior before she could reach the ground, bowling her into a gap between buildings and out of sight followed by the cheers and jeers of Rippers pushing their way through the dome. Jade was frozen, and all she could do now was watch.

Dean and Golem watched Raudd and Silver Fang leave. There was little need for further explanations when it came to the Templar's top first responder anyway. there was an emergency, she was gonna help. Raudd had been around for at least one thunderdome if memory served. There was not much to do but sit back and ride things out like always. . .

Accept something felt off.

Even with poor senses, Dean felt the roiling emotions that had passed over him with Alex's dome. Being able to feel it even for a second was concerning. One feeling stuck out more then anything else. Rage. An irrational, anticlimactic anger that was hair raising to put it mildly. Sure the big guy could get upset and irritated. But this . . . it concerned Dean. Not enough to really get him up out of his chair though.

That was the moment he caught Golem staring at him intently.

"What now?"

[SOMETHING IS WRONG. YOU KNOW IT. I KNOW IT.]

" . . . And? There's enough supers here to take care of it. Alex will be fi-" The earth spirit cut him off.

[SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ALEXANDER. WOULD YOU CONTINUE TO HAVE ME SIT BY WHILE A COMMUNITY IS IN DANGER?]

Dean winced at that. Knowing the legend of the golem inside and out. He had banked on the inherent slowness of earth spirits to act and the general safety Alex had provided to this domicile and the territory surrounding it to keep Golem complicit. Sure he helped on occasion, but that was due to outside prodding. He leaned forward to look the spirit in the eyes. "And what about when Alex finds out? 'Hey buddy, I've been a ridiculously powerful geokinetic the whole time and been helping out behind your back. please don't get mad!' Because that's going to go SO well with all the other shit going on. Or did you forget the fact that even I can feel how pissed the fuck off he is right now?"

Golem remained motionless. His words ringing clear as ever. [WE CAN'T SIT ON THE SIDELINES FOREVER CLAY. THE CALL TO ACTION IS NOT EASILY IGNORED FOREVER.]

"You're sounding a little too much like my parents for my liking little dude." He glared at unblinking eyes before looking down at his hands. When had he pulled out his baseball? Rolling the ball from hand to hand, he took in the imperfections of the restitching he had done and the numerous doodles and sigils in sharpie that nearly covered up every centimeter of the white surface.

Yeah, His parents. The Locklear family wasn't terrible by any means. But boy were they a piece of work. An extensive family of Earth mages that had been the wardens of the Earth primal spirit for generations. Families like that unable to get big through marriages and birth would opt to find awoken children with traits and qualities that lined up enough with the families to bring into the fold. Dean had been one of those adopted kids. Taken from a reservation that nobody apparently had the mind to remember the name of. He always figured it was the Locklear way of keeping him from having any familial bonds outside of them. The fact he had never had such a drive to go and seek out his birth parents in the first place apparently wasn't assurance enough.

Magic aptitude testing and lessons since before one could even walk didn't make for the most perfect of childhoods. But it had been comfortable at least. But Dean had found ways to cut all of that short. "Sabotage" years of preparation and effort all because he really couldn't be bothered to give a damn. Yet despite his "efforts", He had still become the warden and partner of Golem. Ironic.
He would still get calls and letters every month or so.

The universe really liked to poke him around when all Dean wanted to do was not be bothered.

A thought that felt foreign came to the forefront all too suddenly. Part of Dean would almost expect it to have something to do with Golem. At what point did laziness turn into cowardice? Just how far could one claim something was too much of a bother to be involved with? How many times could he sidestep everything around him before something he could have prevented blew up in his face and shattered the life he had put together over the years.

That was when Golem chose to give out a nugget of wisdom that really did make it seem like the living pile of rocks was reading the mage's mind.

[EVIL PREVAILS WHEN GOOD MEN AND WOMEN DO NOTHING.]

And of course that was around the time the universe had to feel like it had slowed to a crawl. And for the first time in years, Dean Locklear had to make a hard decision that had no easy or comfortable outcome.

" . . . Fuck."

After having been knocked down to the ground. Alex remained faced down for some time. Probably no more then two minutes in actuality. This. This was it. He had had enough. Everything was going wrong. He felt like absolute shit. Everything and everyone was just ticking him off more at this point.

Alex clawed at the ground like a caged tiger. his "armor" of glitching glass scrapped and shattered across his skin. The sound was tortured.

With a shove, the man was back on his feet. His body stabilizing enough to its usual blue. That was when the noise got his attention. His head snapped up to take in the sight. Rippers. Augmented to hell and back. Flesh overtaken by chrome, alloy, and plastics. And they were trying to grab civilians. Everything came into focus suddenly.
His limbs no longer shook. His breathing steadied. Fingers curled into fists. He took a step forward. The ground rippled beneath him and glowed blue.



"The Fuck is tha-?!" One of the Ripper's that had the look somewhat resembling a demented, emaciated rabbit standing on its hind legs barely had the time to finish their sentence before Alex's boulder-like fist crushed into his face. The suddenness of the attack was jarring. whats more was the speed at which a man Alex's size seemed capable of. Just as quickly, panes of jagged glass tore into their cyber legs. The Ripper hadn't the chance to even drop to the ground and scream before their arms were grabbed in each of Alex's hands. It had all been so fast. There was little the Ripper could do but squeak out one word through their broken face. "What?"



The Ripper's arms were ripped from their ports mercilessly. The broken stump that had once been a man writhed and screamed on the ground. The other rippers and civilians alike stood on shock of the brutality. The Shiledtown residents however were quicker to escape their captors. leaving them to the Rogue's fury.

One took a single step back. only to find a new wall of sharp hardlight digging into their back. Alex lunged forward. Cyber limbs continued to be severed, crushed, ripped and torn free. Any that would try to run before Alex was done with one of their "friends" quickly had their legs taken out from under them. Bullets were shot at him. blades swung in desperation. Some used explosives. The horror grew more apparent by the second when the rogue didn't so much as flinch at any attempts to maim of impede his progress. One tried to stab him in the eye. the knife shattered on contact. The Ripper's wrist then splintered in Alex's grip.

Worst still. He didn't yell. Not a scream or curse escaped his lips. The only thing that could be heard from Aegis were growls and snarls. The lack of banter to anybody who knew the Rogue of Shieldtown was never a good sign.

All were left alive. Whether that could be a mercy for a cyber psycho was debatable, having their limbs taken from them and left alive at the mercy of others. Alex didn't care right now. They were just more monsters. these ones just walked and talked like people. The Dragon would deal with them when he was done anyway.

The blue hardlight bathed the street in an eerie glow as he stepped over the gibbering and whimpering stumps.

For the next few minutes, Alex hunted. Leaving nothing but damaged bodies in his wake. No attempt to negotiate was made. No demands. Nothing. Rippers that tried to take hostages soon found their prisoners safely contained in skin tight fields of barriers. Others that tried to make threats their jaws as broken as the first Ripper's had been. Sometimes, Alex let them attack him. Brushing through their weapons and augmented strikes, Just to give some measure of hope. Before breaking. Every. Single. Last. One. It wasn't out of cruelty. It was a message. A warning. Being made as loud and clear as Alex could make it outside of crossing that final line and putting heads on spikes.

Aegis wasn't fucking around anymore.

He was loosing himself in all the violence. Everything else didn't matter right now. Alex just barely held on to his restraint. Enough not to go any further. Not that anyone in Shieldtown would judge his treatment of the Ripper's. But he still would . . . He had enough sense to hold on to that much. The rest of him however, The rest wanted to rip them apart.

No Ripper was safe. And they were unwittingly trapping themselves in here with him. Despite how monstrous he appeared, everyone he saved still thanked Aegis under their breath. He was still a symbol of protection and hope to them. Some stayed to detain what remained of their would be assailants. As for the Ripper's. every one that saw him coming felt only one thing. Fear.

---

Thunder rumbled above Northbridge and its general surroundings. Thick clouds had gathered, fat with the promise of a somewhat rare phenomenon.
Rain. Heavy rain. It had already begun to sprinkle by the time the clouds had really billowed over the settlement. The wind was sharp, cold and ripping. It fluttered in fits, blowing for three, maybe five minutes at a time, before stopping.
And starting again.

The air itself, billowing in great gulps and sighs. The dust it kicked up from the south was sandy brown, obscuring the horizon ever so.
Enough that the additional clouds being quite literally blown into the air were… largely ignored.
For thirty minutes, perhaps more, the sky filled with a rapidly darkening column of thunder and rain.

Meanwhile, panting in the foliage on the outermost outskirts, Cassia’s Gale did their best to catch their breath and note the changes. Their throat and chest burned, and the strangest sensation filled the nerves of their diaphragm. Like someone was trying to tickle the muscles, with feathers made of hot needles.
Yay.

“Weather is… Optimal. Wind… Optimal. Distance… Acceptable. Alright… Let’s get this started. Setting the timer for… two hours.”
Kaeyara nodded, frowning some as they took another shaky breath. The strain from using their power would take another minute or so to fade, maybe more… Definitely more. Oh well. They had started the process already, there was no guarantee the storm wouldn’t fade by the time they were primed up again. They still hadn’t figured out how to make the clouds really stick.

Manuballista was raised to their shoulder, the rifle taking no small amount of effort to heft. Kaeyara shifted some, moving to perch behind the hunched back of her exo-suit. A pupil dilated before blowing wide. The world brightened significantly, colors deepened before having their saturation reduced.

[X8 MAGNIFICATION//RODS ENHANCED//COLOR CORRECTIONS ENGAGED].
[WARNING! “Catch your breath.” PROTOCOL ENGAGED//NEW MARKER ESTABLISHED: 00:30 SECONDS//“Don’t push it further.”]

Kaeyara blinked, wincing somewhat as the words blazed against their HUD, before sighing in relief as they faded. A new record for their Deviancy. Nice.
She shook her head and focused again, staring into Northbridge from her vantage point. They spent time marking civilians, those who were armed and those who weren’t, TFPD, their vehicles, and “enemy combatants.” Civilians glowed a deep [BLUE], while Titan’s Fall’s finest took on a brilliant [GREEN]. Anyone who was clearly associated with JAHANNAM was outlined in glorious [YELLOW].
Her targets moved closer, thankfully. Three outlined in [YELLOW], one in [BLUE]. The deal was going south, if the trickle of black-red fluid from the civvies mouth was anything to go by.

The two humans from JAHANNAM were shoving the … Man. The cyber-animal at their heels was snapping its teeth at the man, and the two clearly didn't care as to whether or not he got nicked.
Hm.
Well then. Kaeyara nodded, slipping once again into Gale’s mindset as Manuballista came up once more. They sighted through the incorporated scope, taking a long, deep, breath as they focused.

One… Two… Flash of lightning, BOOM of thunder to cover up the deep thump of the coil-rifle in her hands. Brace against the mild recoil, switch target, focus, brace against the recoil again.
Repeat an additional time.
Watch the woman drop with an eight inch hole in her sternum, the man drops as one leg finds that it has no support from the shin down.
The cyber-animal, flung against the street at its feet, slammed into the earth by kinetic force unmatched.

And Cassia’s Gale is already moving, sprinting like their life depends on it. From their calves and shins, siphons open, and pressurized air only lends to their speed. They’d not yet outrun a car, but they’d certainly outpace any possible reinforcement for the [YELLOWS].
It’s time to begin.

… Ah. There’s the heavy rain. Even better.

---

It took Kaeyara little more than five minutes to get to the fallen JAHANNAM member. By that point he was clearly able to call for assistance, though, if his panicked expression was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be arriving soon. The weather was god-awful, with an onslaught of rain rendering the streets into lanes of water more akin to shallow rivers. Gutters and drains worked overtime, receiving more water in the past few minutes of the storm than in years, probably.
Research into weather phenomena wasn’t all that high on Kaeyara’s to-do list.

Kaeyara slid to a stop not but twenty feet from the downed man, watching in silence as he did his best to drag himself to a nearby wall. He was casting his gaze about, speaking frantically into a communications array of some sort.
“…No! I don’t know! We were jus’ fine, jus’ gettin’ Moreau to cough up the dough he owed for his monthly— No! I don’t KNOW! I TOLD YOU!”

Hm. He sounded… panicked. Frustrated, even. Desperate, one could say.
“Jus’ get someone over here already! Kinsing is probably fuckin’ flatlined, and I’m gettin drowned by th’fuckin’ sky! … How long will HE take to get out here?! … That’s too long! I’m fuckin’ bleedin’ here!” He exclaimed, throwing a hand out to the side. “I can barely fuckin’ SEE, and the stims’re only gon’do so much! Hurry up! Fuck!”

He slumped down after his tirade, panting and flinching at a crack of thunder. Kaeyara sighed, pulling the half-mask that her undersuit provided up over her nose as she stalked closer.
They looked up and to their left, jogging over to the two story— seemingly a residence— before kicking off its wall. Her legs pushed against one wall, then the other, sharp ‘PSSHT’s of air accompanying each leap.

Then they were up on the roof, striding over to the ledge above the ganger. He was already looking about again, clearly having heard [KATYDID]’s siphons. Oh well. Time to get his attention.
Their voice was sharp, oozing with disgust and malice in equal measure, as they called out to him through the din of rainfall. “Oy, buddy. How’s th’leg? You gonna bleed out soon? Hm?”

The man jerked, flicking his head in their direction as he squinted through the rain. “Oy! Fuck’off, you! I ain’t no easy pickin’! Fuck ‘ith me, and you fuck ‘ith JAHANNAM!” came his responding shout. Kaeyara sighed, shifting and stowing [MANUBALLISTA] away as they instead reached for [PLUMBATAE]. Their thumb pulled the hammer into firing position with a satisfying ‘c-click’, as they called down once more.

“Don’t be uncharitable now, I only have a question for you. Or … More, questions, I suppose! You still got an active link?” They questioned.

“… Maybe! Why? Picked a bad time to join up, if tha’s what you’re ‘ere for. Whatchu want dammit?!” He shouted, squinting up at the vaguely defined shadow above him.

Their voice came again, harder now, colder than the rainfall. “I’m lookin’ for a chick, if you’ve gotta know. Runs with your crew, last I heard. Got a real nasty smile? Katrina. Ringin’ bells?”

“An’ you think I’m jus’ gonna TELL you where she is?! What if I don’even know how t’find her? Hm?!” Cried the wounded man, reaching for the sidearm on his hip.

His question was solid, and fair… Hm.
“If y’know, an’ tell me, I’ll drop you an additional stim for your leg. If y’don’t, I’ll drop you the stim, an take your link. If y’do, but you DON’T tell me… well… They trailed off, abruptly leaning away from the edge of the roof.

The man’s arm had whipped up, holdout pistol in hand.
There was a bark, and the subsequent sizzling-crack of a bullet whizzing through the air made them snort. He had missed.

Well, at least he wasn’t in shock, somehow. … As evidenced by him holding a ‘conversation’ so easily. Those stims must’ve really been something. Hm.

Well. If he wanted to be like that!

“’See that you’ve gone with option three, alright then, you made your choice. They shouted, before seemingly vanishing.
The man, cold, nervous, and hopped up on combat stims as he was, immediately began checking all his possible directions. The rain, the dark from the clouds above, and the intermittent flashes of lightning all set about to make his sight as unreliable as possible.
He may have been surprised by the sudden appearance of a weight on his good leg. And the sudden pain in his gun hand.

Cassia’s Gale dropped from the roof, [PLUMBATAE] barking only once on the way down. [KATYDID] made sure that their descent wouldn’t harm them in the slightest, alongside their nearly perfect crouch. They felt the knee ‘sna-CRACK’ under them. Watched as the ganger’s holdout pistol exploded into plastic and metal scraps, along with his hand.

His scream, agonized as it was, got cut short, as Cassia’s Gale abruptly stood and planted a foot on his throat. They flexed, and [KATYDID] responded. Razor sharp spurs appeared on heel, toe, and knee, while Cassia leaned in.

“N’uh uh. No yellin’ this time. Gimme th’slate phone now. C’mon, be a good boy.” They growled, eyes illuminating in the dark as they hauled a deep breath in.
The man, thankfully, acquiesced after only a moments hesitation. His working hand slid to his right pocket, removing the desired device as he held it out to them.
It was taken unceremoniously, snatched really, and the spurs left.

Then Cassia’s Gale was spinning in place, a perfect 360 kick lashing out. His head jolted sideways, eyes rolled up, and he was out. Finally. They shuffled about in their pockets, deeply lined as they were with this coat, and dropped an ‘advanced’ stim into his unconscious lap.
Hm.

They turned, striding away and deeper into Northbridge. They even took the time to jump up onto the rooftops again, blinking slowly at each crack and boom of thunder.
They tapped the slate in their hands, watching its screen light up, before reaching for the small of their back. A datajack was retrieved, part of the [J0VE] spinal-ports, and slotted into the side of the slate.

It’d take them some time to break past its defenses but, well… Oh well! Time to work.

---

They were sat under an awning, hidden from the rain. For now. A timer slowly ticked its way down, hovering in the air before her. [59min:28sec]
An hour before the storm started to truly dissipate, of course, Kaeyara could breathe some more clouds, but that was risky to do while IN the “operating area”, as the mil-tech training vids would’ve put it.
“C’mon now you… piece of…”

They were fussing with the slate ‘given’ to them by the JAHANNAM ganger. Its screen flickered with artifacts and interference, persistently glitching out; signs of their less than skilled usage of any sort of “sys-ware”.
“Fuckin’… Computers are so… fuckin’… Dumb!”
They shouted, voice immediately swept away by thunder and rain, before there was a plaintive ‘beep-beep!’
Success. Finally.

Information flashes through her mind— contacts, location pins, texts, call logs, passwords and application histories, photos, videos—
Kaeyara begins transferring the data to her own personal storage.
A wife. She begs him to stay inside during a phone call, this morning. This morning. A bad feeling in her bones. Just this once, she begs him to listen, just believe her this one time, please.

Kaeyara pauses and thinks, playing back a series of vocal messages. The sounds of a… clinic? Maybe? Echo in the background.
The wife cries. She’s panicked. Truly believes in her stomach that something is wrong. Between the headaches, the gang, and other rumors… She claims it feels cold outside, like it might rain soon.

How right she was… Hm. As Kaeyara sifts through more data, she pauses yet again. A phone number. It’s contact reads [LADY BOSS]. There’s two messages. A reminder to pick up the money. A reminder to ‘not be late, or I’ll come grab you. Personally. You owe me.’
A reply. ‘U got it’
Cassia’s Gale stares at the information before her, at the texts… And sighs.
Time to get back to work.

The slate gets dropped into the muck of the street. Cassia’s Gale hauls themself up onto a roof, squints into the pouring rain, and switches her optics.
The world shifts, becoming a Gaussian blur for a half moment, before clarifying into hues of red, blue, orange, yellow, white, and indigo.
[THERMAL IMAGING ENABLED.] flashed in the corner of her vision, before fading.

Another call— his most recent one— gets replayed while Kaeyara begins putting [MANUBALLISTA] back together.
“[ Hey. You’re running late. Did Moreau not cough up or what?”
“N-Well. Yes and No ma’am. We’re walkin’ ‘im right n— OH SHIT”
“Th’ fuck?”
“F’ckin’ Kinley is do— HELL— FUCK”
“Oi. Screen’s showin Kinley and HOUND-5 are flatlining. What’s goin’ on?”
“Gettin’ fuckin’ SNIPED! My fuckin’ LEG… FUCK. Can’t… Oh shit…”
“You've got stims. Use ‘em. Idiot. Tuck around to Ol’Leery’s and I’ll send someone to ‘git you. Check in every two minutes.”
“Fuck. How far out?”
“Give or take ten. Rain’s makin it hard to move around. Summa th’wheels an’ treads are in shop anyhow. Anyways. Bloodmoon out. ]”

And then a new message, arriving as a blip in the corner of Gale’s HUD, from one [BOSS LADY].
[EN ROUTE. YOU MOVED. WHY? BETTER NOT HAVE BLED OUT. YOUR CHROMES EXPENSIVE.]

Kaeyara’s lips pull into a grim line, as she hunkers down on the rooftop. [MANUBALLISTA] gets propped on the edge, and her overcoat gets pulled up. The cloth— hydrophobic and a bland, boring gray— gets spread out. It covers the barrel of the firearm, and most of their upper torso to boot.
Then they proceed to lay in wait. Feeling the rain pelting them, the wind buffeting the whole of Northbridge.
And after moments’ considering… She pulls a canister from her hip. It looks like a mil-tech standard smoke-grenade, although it’s marked in skyblues and storm grays.
Kaeyara chucks it across the street, pulling the pin just before doing so, and watches as another storm cloud billows up and into the sky.

The thunder grows even more intense. The rain pounds harder still. The timer adds another thirty minutes.
Four minutes pass, Northbridge stays locked inside its’ homes, no one on the streets…
Two minutes more, and Cassia’s Gale starts on a meditative exercise. Flexes muscles, adjusts optics. Checks the sighting of her rifle…
The thunder roars once more, makes her think of home. Makes her think of sitting on the porch with grandma and grandpa… Watching the clouds roll in…

And a pair of running figures turn onto the street.
Cassia’s Gale locks her focus in.
[4X MAGNIFICATION ACTIVATED//ENTITIES MARKED/MARKER READS: X1 JAHANNAM, X1 UNKNOWN.]

They stop after the turn, fifteen meters down the road. Interesting… One has an arm that ends in dagger-like claws. It produces nearly more heat than the rest of their figure… The other wields a silhouette in the shape of some sort of long-arm. It looks like a shotgun.
Hm. Delightful.

---

[‘STANDARD’ IMAGING ENABLED//2x MAGNIFICATION ENGAGED/TOTAL MAGNIFICATION: 6x]

Cassia’s Gale held their breath. Muscle-memory kicked in, and they made themselves still as stone, braced their shoulder, and stared through the scope of [MANUBALLISTA].
Scarlet chrome arm… Facial chrome as well? The woman’s teeth are exposed, from canines on back… Maybe not chrome, the markings around the teeth seem to be… fleshy. Hm.

Her eyes are shifting, changing color. Hm. Either bioware or some higher end infoware. The woman, almost definitely Katrina Bloodmoon was also wearing some form of corset-bodysuit… thing. Her hips and thighs were mostly exposed, and her modesty was otherwise left intact. She, and the compatriot she was running with, was wearing some sort of raincoat, not unlike Kaeyara’s own.

The woman turned, saying something to her campatriot at her side. Another woman, fairer skinned than Katrina, nodded. A mask was pulled up over her face, one not too dissimilar from a gas mask. The lenses were black, and to Kaeyara’s surprise, ‘smart’. Barely visible boxes of data, lines of mathematics, and outlines, flickered in the mask’s lenses. The shorter woman turned back to Katrina, said something, and darted to the dropped slate.

Good. Make it easier for Cassia’s Gale.
Kaeyara shifted in place, ever so slowly, adjusting her stance as they did. The crosshairs of her scope shifted, barely luminescent teal-lines met in a cross, centering over Katrina’s collarbones. Kaeyara let her breath out slowly, in a near silent sigh.

And then her breath caught when Katrina abruptly whipped her head up in Kaeyara’s direction. The woman’s eyes narrowed, staring for a few moments, before turning to her partner.
She spoke again, and for a moment, Cassia’s Gale regretted not yet having mastered the art of reading lips.
‘Don’t … … … Sure?’
The smaller woman nodded.

Katrina looked over again… And began to raise her chrome arm.
Cassia’s Gale frowned, watched as scarlet-chrome segmented and expanded. Fingers rotated, and curled, becoming bracing struts. The palm split into five sections, spreading apart and revealing hidden machinery. Synthetic muscle and structurals revealed themselves, and before Cassia’s Gale could even think, Katrina attacked.

Sound, when loud enough, when focused enough, was little more than concussive force. Little more than a wall of pressure, shaking the bones, jostling the organs…
It was like being kicked by a bull. Cassia’s Gale was bodily thrown, just barely able to roll to the side. A cone of vibrating force, a ripple of noiseless sound, and it tore the air apart. Concrete and plastic stood no chance.

She had curled around [MANUBALLISTA], and felt the wave slam into her body. It picked her up, threw her off the rooftop and send her tumbling through the air.
The sound stopped, and Cassia’s Gale uncurled herself, twisting around mid-air. Adrenaline kicks, mind starts dropping into cold focus. The world feels… Slow.
Okay. Focus. Time to play.

Thunder rumbles overhead.

Open the eyes, note the rapidly approaching window, orient so that feet slam into glass. Fire [KATYDID] siphons, reduce speed somewhat. Brace for impact.
Slam into glass, break through it without issue. Ignore the startled screaming. Bend the knees, slide across kitchen floor, dig [KATYDID] talons in.
Slam into the front door, note occupants of the apartment. One female, adult. One male, adult. Female is raising firearm—
Note the yellow outline appearing on the rooftop of building across the street. Note the arm raising again.

Throw self to the side, hiss with pain as sound RIPS the wall and kitchen into shrapnel and debris.
Get thrown through a different wall— second time this month, almost the same circumstances— slam into dresser in a bedroom. Roll to feet. Woman screams.
Possible casualty. Shit.
Ignore it, swallow surging guilt, throw yourself out of the room. Siphons activate, sail through a different front door.
Shoulder creaks warningly.
“I c’n SEE you BITCH! Stay down!” Shouts Katrina, voice louder than it has any right to be from over twelve meters away.

Hallway of apartment block. Four doors to the left, two to the right. Window at end of hall, right side. Crumbling wall in front of her, missing door and doorframe, yellow outline visible through a destroyed apartment.
Two blue outlines, one holding the other, blood seeps from shrapnel wounds, but both are breathing and alive
Thunder roars.
Sprint.
[KATYDID] siphons activate again, jump and curl into a ball, kick window. Glass shatters. Freefall.

Kaeyara takes their first breath. Adrenaline kicks in hard. Three stories up, and definitely not enough momentum to make it across the street.
Suck in a quick breath, prepare for pain.
Exhale.

An explosion of air leaps from their lips, whips itself into a short lived tornado that grabs Cassia’s Gale. They exert just barely enough control to SUGGEST a direction, hoping against hope that it works.
And so it does, barely. The twister, in its second and a half life span, throws them further. Gives them just a bit more momentum.

They slam into the rooftop across the street, feet impact first, inertia carries them into a roll, they pop up again. They take a risk, look over their shoulder to see—
Yellow outline, rooftop of the apartment building, arm raised.
Shit. Take a risky shot; raise [MANUBALLISTA] in kind, pull the trigger.

‘THUMP.’ goes the weapon, its’ projectile whips through the air and grazes Katrina’s shoulder. The woman spins, ducking away just enough to avoid a direct hit.
Cassia’s Gale turns and sprints again, feels [KATYDID] hiss one last time— [KATYDID DEPLETED//REFILL: 4 SECONDS.]
Shit. Make it work, jump down into the alley, note the dumpster on the opposite side, kick off the nearby wall and land heavily on it.
Take a second to breathe. Swallow the burning pain of her protesting diaphragm, ignore it.
Get ready to run again.