[IC] Imperfect World (New Players Always Welcome!)

[Jeep Wrangler]

Marcus was still in his mind. The thoughts as he moved a napkin around his elbows, using his pen he found in the supplied clothing's pocketing. He was confused. This wasn't exactly his idea of fun...working with a corrupt organisation once again, forcefully under the watchful eye in hope that they get the chance and reason to end such a lifeless soul. He looked to his right shoulder, rubbing the makeshift bandaging. It hurt slightly, making his arm flinch backwards. It turned out that it was at least 2 weeks since he was captured, and he had only awoken two days ago. The thought of time made him think deeper into his memories, still trying to think of a way to calm his nerves. History...time and history. He had always been fascinated by the laws and ways of life before the 6 Minute War happened. What fascinated him the most, was the idea of Law. What struck his mind of memory linked to a book he used to read, on ancient combatants and strategies. It was in the Vigilant Library. Something that was 5 pages, 2 chapters and over 5000 words long, the Geneva's Convention. It was a set of rules back in the olden times where war was limited to rules, to keep humanity and non-inhumane actions at bay. Scary, he knew...Well...sort of wondrous in some mysterious ways. War, if you would think about it off of your head, was mindless killing to determine who was right, who was wrong, who was the winner, and who was the loser. It was strange to think there was once a period of humanity's reign where rules were set. Things like not having the ability to shoot down a paratrooper, someone named for using the standard chute's to land from above, whilst he was still in the air. Nowadays, if he were still with the Flock, he'd be shot gladly if he descended. It was extremely scary to think the New Order would just completely ignore the rules Humanity once had, and make rules that lead to them becoming the ultimate winner. He was still processing this when She asked something. It wasn't the female voice of the formal and polite New-Order Operative, though...

"Ohh Honey...She's not worth it, no tail is!" She smiled mischievously at him. It made him feel worse. She was rubbing in her good-will and happiness to someone clearly depicted as being in pain and brutally gunned down, his soul stripped from the ranks of society. He grimaced slightly, before an idea popped into his mind. Grabbing the pen and the napkin beside him, he quickly began to write down something. Marcus started to mumble to the woman. It was his chance to get help. As he looked around, he saw his New-Order companion looking for him.

"L-Listen...T-this may sound s-strange and h-h-head on...but...g-get everyone you c-can and get o-out of this building! ASAP...Y-You got it?" He paused, his companion was only metres away. His pen, he slammed onto the desk, before a shoulder pulled him away.

"TIME TO GO, M'." She said cheerfully, smiling at the other woman. The bar-lady who spoke to Marcus was sitting next to the napkin. The New-Order female had no idea what it said, only Marcus and whoever was to pick it up...It read out in scrubby, bold writing...

SEND HELP, PLEASE! PLEASE! 34th Floor, 2nd Department - Polis Detachment Building. PLEASE HELP.

Marcus looked back, only seeing the Black-Market dealer he entered with grab a seat where he was, waving him off as he was unable to respond to his re-capture. This was it...he could only hope that the woman had listened to his words and read the napkin, hopefully saving more than he wanted in the building, or at least himself.

[RangingWolf]

"Probably be a good idea, since your place isn't in the best of shape. I think with the money I'm going to get I might buy some new parts for my guns." Lanius said thoughtfully. "If it isn't in a really bad state I should be able to fix it. If not I probably could jury rig something." He said. Looking at her, he saw the looks she gave him after he mentioned that he didn't read the note. Giving a sheepish grin, he shrugged his shoulders. "sorry I got drunk." As Liv was telling him what the guy looked like he nodded his head. "So it's just some random piece of shit. Sounds pretty easy." Lanius stopped talking for a second and was deep into thought. "Actually I think I passed the guy on my way here. He was with a few people and they were mugging some guy in a alley. About three blocks or so from the Nexus. I think a total of three people were with him. I didn't see much but I believe at least two of them have a gun."

Lanius then stood up and stretched his legs. Looking back at Liv. "Yeah I agree something feels weird about today. Looks like I should probably use a suppressor then. Lets get this job done then get out." Lanius said. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a small kalahnikov and attached a homemade suppressor that was made out of a flashlight and duct tape. Once it was attached he put the gun back into his jacket and started to make his way outside.

[PixelJunkie]

Liv nodded thoughtfully at this information; at least they knew what they were getting into now, which certainly made their job an awful lot easier, but the mention of firearms worried her. Guns didn’t play nice melee fighters like Liv, and were always dangerous, regardless of the skill of the shooter, they could easily give you fifty new holes by the time you got anywhere near them. And if there were two, the second she took on out, the other would get her in the back of the head. It was situations like this that made her glad she didn’t work on her own anymore, “Sounds simple enough, we should probably try to avoid hitting the poor sod they were beating up though,” She thought, idly pulling out a delicate looking butterfly knife from her pocket, “I’m thinking you should probably take out the guys with guns, whilst I slip round the back and take out the ones who aren’t likely to shoot me between the eyes?”

Liv followed as Lanius made his way outside, her sense of smell heaving a sigh of relief as a blast of fresh air hit her square in the face. She tucked her hands into her armpits briefly, making sure not to cut herself, and made of few shuffle-ey sort of movements, trying to keep warm. “Come on,” she murmured under her breath, “let’s get this thing over with before I turn into a Liv-flavoured ice lolly.”
She made to head in the direction Lanius had indicated, but was stopped suddenly by a sound in the distance. Bullets, several by the sound of it, and in the direction they were about to head.

“Shit,” she turned to Lanius, “D’you think that’s got anything to do with our guy?” her brow furrowed with worry, she certainly hoped it didn’t, but they’d probably find out soon enough anyway, and hopefully without either one of them getting hurt.

[Vulkan]

Andrew walked into the the main area of the club. God, was it always this bright? There was a reason he never went to places like this. He had given all the stuff he had found to the rest of the squad, and now he had been told to go in here and wait for a hour or two until the bodies had been dissolved in one of the old vats of acid they almost certainly kept under this place.

He looked around, before slowly walking over to the bar, not failing to notice the white powder on some of the tables.
"God, even Nexus are letting the lost's dealers in now...what happened to them?"

Passing over his thoughts, he sat at the bar, catching the eye of the barman.
"D..do you have ice cream?" he stuttered.

The barman looked at him for a moment, as if he was processing what this strange young man had just said. "Pardon?" he asked.
"Ice cream. Its...creamy ice. Or something. Im not sure how they make it..." he trailed off, before looking up at the barman again.

The barman paused, and turned around, heading for the freezers. While Andrew sat around idly, he noticed several other people sitting at the counter. He looked at them for a minute, wondering if they were nexus soldiers. They didn't look familiar...but something about them made Andrew think that they were not just normal partygoers.

He then realised he was staring at them, and had been doing so for the last minute. He looked away, blushing.
"I hope they didnt see me..."
_______________________

Several hundred metres away, on top of one of the nearby buildings, two figures crouched, both holding a pair of extremely compliated looking binoculars. One slowly twisted a dial on the side of his set, making a small click as it took a photograph of what they were looking at, and sending said photo to a military computer.

THe binoculars cost over two hundred thousand units each. These were not the usual figures that might be seen on top of buildings.

One looked at his partner, and held a small comm bead to his mouth.
"Second recon team reporting in. Exterior defences covered. No word for the interior recon..."

[AtlasRedfox]

Dusk's attention was back on the barman until she barely heard the stuttering voice beside her. She turned towards him leaning closer to understand him. Despite the dark haired man being seated he was still a head or so taller than her standing and clearly nervous as he stuttered and scribbled onto a loose napkin. Dusk glanced between the man and the napkin with a confused look.
"Wait....wha?" Before she could finish she was interrupted by the accented voice of a woman who spoke through a forced cheery smile. "Wait a minute.." She hollered out after him as he stood but all she received was a hauntingly distressed glance back as he disappeared into the crowd.
The barman returned set her order down right on the marked napkin.

"You don't want a piece of him princess...he's a dead man walking" A familiar voice sounded behind he "You gunna share that bottle with me?" That voice sent a shiver up Dusk's spine.

"Well fuck me" her words drawled out as sleaziest looking roughneck in the club dismissed the man now identified at 'M' . Dusk glared instantly recognising the man. It was none other then Dominic Lozano- in her opinion one of the cities most loathsome market men. Lozano was an opportunistic dealer known to make a quick buck. While Dusk stuck to her own questionable morals when working within the factions she did put in a tremendous amount of effort managing her contacts and setting networks unlike this fuck stain who would muscle his way into any deal he could just for the fun of it.
She knew this asshole all to well, to say she had a few unsavoury dealings with this jerk was an understatement. He was clearly on the top of her shit-list, hell she would have gotten Sonny to put him down hard after their last run-in a few weeks ago which saw Dusk and her partner Grange being robbed of a deal worth at least five grand, not exactly chump change but they knew better as he was protected species- he had some serious contacts within the New Order faction. Any source of action against him would cause some serious reaction from New Order and Dominic knew it well. Not even her contacts within New Order could give them that free pass.

"The pleasure would be mine" Dominic retorted licking his lips suggestively. Dusk scooped up the napkin and bottle in one hand and glass in the other. She suddenly felt suffocated and it intensified as he lent closer blocking her from leaving the bar.
Dusk rolled her her eyes "It's an absolute delight to see you again Dominic" sarcasm oozed from her words.
"Oh you missed me didn't you?" Dominic bantered back.
"What dragged out you out of the sewer tonight?.... No doubt screwing someone over yet again" Dusk said flatly.
"You know me" Dominic teased tracing his finger across her hand suggestively. It made her skin crawl so much she shuddered, how he could think he could ever get get a chance.
"Seriously!?" Dusk growled, turning away she tried to push past but he Dominic latched onto her wrist spilling the drink in her hand. He lent in close and whispered in her ear "Seriously Dee...I've got somethin real good lined up....and after tonight.... I think your gunna want me real close."
Dusk felt blindsided, first the man named 'M' with his erratic cry for help and now Dominic and his 'advice'. It was all straight out of left field. Dominic released her wrist and winked with a crooked smile. Dusk glanced between Dominic and Anita back at the booth, unimpressed she shook her head slowly. Dusk had nothing more to say and left him at the bar, the SOS napkin and bottle in hand.

[AtlasRedfox]

With a puzzled look Dusk crossed the floor returning to her booth where Anita sat and set the now empty glass down in front of her. Still standing at the edge of the table she unscrewed the nearly full bottle of caramel coloured booze, poured a double shot in both glasses, picked one and downed it. Dusk over her shoulder back at the bar and muttered to herself "Le loup se nourrit pas dans son propre domaine"
Quickly she refilled her glass and downed another. So many thoughts filled her head.
"My apologies hun for takin' so long...... Please" She motioned to the full glass as she poured yet another nip into her own glass.

[Hillbilly12]

"My apologies hun for takin' so long...... Please"

Anita smiled and grabbed the glass. "Thanks." she immediately downed it, the feeling of the liquor warming her body was a comfortable sensation. Sometimes she wondered if it was too familiar, but always kept drinking anyway. "No need to apologize. Someone called me about some work later. Other than that," she reached for the bottle to pour herself another drink. A smile crept up on her face as the liquid poured into the glass. "Just looking around. You in particular seem to attract a little attention."

The whole club seemed mostly normal, but a few people seemed familiar to her. They looked like fighters or just people a little too observant for the average clubber. Dusk was one of them, but her reason for being here seemed clear. "Who was the guy that was trying his best to bend you over the bar? Looks a little familiar."

[Jeep Wrangler]

Marcus and his female superior navigated in and out of each street alleyway and corner to exfiltrate themselves from the area of operations. Though she seemed hyped about their small success, she couldn't help but ask why he was looking so glum all the time. She hadn't seen the note he left for the saleswoman, or whatever she was, but she could tell something was bothering him. In truth, it was the thought of knowing he will die soon-enough at the hands of either the Resistance he would be forced to challenge, or the New-Order not wanting his alliance any more. It would've at least made sense for her to know about that fact of his upcoming death, wouldn't it? Though, something just buried deep into his psychic ideas to question what he knew. She continued to ask him again and again, but only asking questions back helped to divert her from getting the answer she wanted. In saying so, Marcus managed to finally get her to contact the other teams.

"Alright...we got the area laid out and the building seems very little on security. But still go through with it, and prepare for some of the ambushing, I wouldn't go without armament...I'm calling this an all-hands-ago from my end, but your move is your decision. Out." She cut the radio signal, looking back at Marcus. "Anyway...something's bothering you, now that is taken care of." It took a while for Marcus to answer himself, but he got the answer out eventually.

"You...do realise where my life is going now...now that I'm here?" She tilted her head. "Uhh...y'know...they will kill me...like...they always do to Operatives who they don't need." She tilted her head further, stopping outside a rugged and dismantled shop, broken down and ripped into a abandoned wasteland of itself. Marcus sighed.

"B-but...you were only M.I.A, you haven't done anything wrong?"

"T-that's the th-thing...I wasn't...I left...I r-rebelled...I-I'm not part of the New-Order anymore...I-I never was." He felt her hand moving towards her pistol hilt, the weapon she recollected off of the Bouncer on her way out. "B-but...I'm not going back...I...I can't, right?" She knew that he wasn't a trustable person, but she couldn't exactly shoot him. She felt the surge of sympathy, knowing that if he told her everything that was true, he was no more than an unfortunate soul doomed to be killed. It scared her slightly, as she-herself was an Operative of her own. "T-this can h-h-happen to you two!" Her had froze, not even wrapped around the handle yet. She felt more fear as well. There was some doubt in what she had really been working for, but she couldn't believe it just yet, soon she edged her hand away. She must keep her role in play, rather than letting her negative emotions get the best of her.

"Pfft...oh well...come on...get back so we can rest you...alright...and you can start calling me Rosa, y'know...my name...instead of nothing." She gave a semi-warming grin, though it was one that showed much uncomfortable-ness in what she had been told.

[AtlasRedfox]

They were quickly emptying the bottle of booze at this rate, Dusk slid into her seat and chuckled at Anita's observation "Yeah... Seems to be that kinda night" she paused toying with the napkin in her fingers, she couldn't quite ignore this now that her curiosity had been caught but she was really unsure on how to act on it. Self preservation screamed in her thoughts- she could just ignore 'M's plea and leave but that flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach was just too hard to ignore.

Which brought her back to Anita's question.
"Hun, you don't want to be familiar THAT" nodding to the bar ".....Dominic Lozano is fine specimen of everything that's wrong with this fucking city". Dusk paused again raising an eyebrow at Anita "and he is a strictly New Order merchandiser...."

So Whats New Order lap dog like Dominic doing in a fucking Nexus hotspot? She thought.

Dusk shifted uneasily and checked her watch, it was after midnight. Nothing good comes after midnight.
"Anita, Do you believe in coincidences?"

[Jeep Wrangler]

The two were at the entrance of their detachment's facility. Rosa was still quieter and less hyperactive after she both told her name and discussed Marcus' fate, linking to her own. Marcus could clearly notice it, being a master of changing emotions based upon where he was and who he was around. He could sense the confusion within her mind as she raced to find an answer capable of calming those unsure nerves that trespassed on her good-will. She had no idea who she was working for, whether she was the good, the bad...or just the lost-cause trapped in between an ever-lasting conflict. The world wasn't fair, and Marcus knew that as a fact. It was filled with hatred. It was filled with greed. Nothing could compare to the over-whelming evil that outnumbered the lost heroes within humanity. It was nothing that even the before-people could imagine to escalate by such high numbers. Marcus knew that his fate would come to an end soon, and in retrospect that didn't seem so bad. Having himself exit the hellish nightmare some people call Living made him feel slightly relieved, yet his personnel instinct of survival turned that table into something far more scared, something that made him chill down the spine. He didn't want to meet those who he might've killed previously in any sort of after-life. Now Marcus was an Atheist, but even for someone in that religious seat can sometimes compare what they think into what is actually there, if there is an after-life after all. Terrifying and brutal, this life was. But he needed to focus on what was happening now, rather than what was going to come in future days. This was when he knew that the tests were on their way...

---

He crouched down into his squatting position. Behind him, two inspectors, Rosa, Nathaniel Johnson (One of the surveyors working alongside Rosa), two armed soldiers and Leftenant Reese 'Barbarous' Giles all watched him. They had given him permission to show them exactly what his outer-skeleton suit was capable of, clearly wanting to enhance any successful aspects for variants of their own. At first, Marcus refused at the knowledge of knowing that they would inherit their design, but he had no choice when someone is holding a gun to his head constantly. Makes sense, in someway.

He hadn't heard back from the Reconnaissance Mission's results, and it had been 1 or 2 hours since they had done it. Marcus felt tired, but he was forced to conduct each and every experiment they handed to him. And this, being something he was somewhat keen to flawlessly complete, made him feel more tense. Thinking of the mission, it lead him back to the bar-table...the note...the woman. He never knew of the dealer's response, and wondered in great hope that she had listened to his words-of-warning, exfiltrating the building so New-Order forces wouldn't be able to harm whoever they pleased, if that was what they were really up to. He also had a deep hope for her concern, hoping she would snoop around, asking questions and evidently get access to someone able to rescue her. It would be even more surprising if she were to join the mission, rescuing him herself. That would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, knowing that he could have freedom from a near death experience. He was only able to just imagine that she-herself could have the heart and will to go forth and conduct what he desired...help...That being said, a nudge hit him from behind. He edged forward slightly, looking across his flight path. Marcus was aiming to land on the 14 story factory directly South-West of the tower. He scanned inwards and outwards, noticing the familiar sight of scope-glistens along the adjacent and parallel buildings. He knew that if he even tried to take the opportunity to escape, he would find himself in a falling body-bag, before crumbling into a ball on the floor. Marcus shivered. This was his demise, if he were to fuck everything up. So, taking a deep breath, he pushed his right leg outwards, spreading both his arms and legs. Before the launch, he had already configured the flap-ejection, allowing him to spread the wings without plummeting downwards to his death. It was time for the bird to fly. As both feet completely left the vicinity of the floor, the forces of nature took hold of the situation and dragged him downwards into a diving position. Breathing heavily, he felt scope after scope spy on him as he dived downwards; the ground seemed to accelerate towards him as he quickly leaned back, spreading both his arms and legs once again to behold the strong fabric. It caught on the wind, tugging on his body and allowing the suit to tense up. Leaning back some more, he managed to find a controlled height, able to slightly angle himself downwards for constant speed. He drifted along the sky, making sure that he was indeed above the target. He could see it, still quite a while below him. Laser-reticules from each marksman began to flicker-on and trail onto his body. Marcus knew that this could be the end, and that he needed to just keep going forward. The air rushed against his own, pushing his hair back. Trying ever-so hard not to shiver and lose balance was key, especially with the freezing temperatures of being higher up. He continued to breathe heavily, nervous that he might not make it alive when using such a dangerous and suicidal piece of equipment. Before he could over-shoot the target, Marcus quickly moved his right arm with speed, pulling on a tab connected to a strong wire-frame. From the pack he wore when floating, a large material of strength flushed from behind, tugging on his body once more. He jerked, coughing slightly as his speed was killed within seconds. The sight of looking down showed much relief, as he slowly drifted towards the rooftop of his target. From an earpiece fitted by the New-Order Research and Development team began to buzz, voices coming through to talk to him.

"Great work, M'...tomorrow we will repeat the test so we can capture the functions better. Also...thanks for not making a runner...we don't want mincemeat to be leading our little experiments, do we?" Another chilling sensation shattered his spine...

[Hillbilly12]

"Anita, Do you believe in coincidences?"

Anita raised an eyebrow to that question. It was surprising and caught her off guard, but Dusk seemed to be getting at something. She slumped back into her seat and exhaled. "No such thing. There is always a reason for something." Anita didn't believe herself to be religious or felt as if destiny was a real force. No, to her every horrible event that happened to her was meant to happen. Maybe it was money, power or just humans being humans. "I'm guessing there is a really good reason we should be worried about Lozano and that little napkin you're playing with?"

Dusk's body language set off some of Anita's alarm bells. She downed another glass as if it was her last. "Maybe its this club or just a bad night, but I think we might have a good time tonight."

[AtlasRedfox]

People shuffled about the club in their own little world, they all had their own reasons for being out tonight, many wanting to score and temporarily forget their sad little existence within the walls of the city. Lately that's all she wanted as well.
Dusk nodded at Anita, pursing her lips in consideration "Just before my New Order Prince Charming came along there I squeezed in next to this guy" Another drink was poured and swallowed. "Real sad eyes, I'm a sucker for sad eyes" she paused glancing back at Dominic who seemed to be finishing up his business with another person "Anyway though I'd make some small talk while I was waitin. Didn't catch all of what he said 'cause it's loud as fuck in here and he stuttered like fool....but he did leave this" she slid the napkin on the table towards Anita.

Scrawled on the napkin - SEND HELP, PLEASE! PLEASE! 34th Floor, 2nd Department - Polis Detachment Building. PLEASE HELP-

"...he seemed fucken desperate that's for sure" Dusk flashed a smile, her cheeks a lovely shade of rose red thanks to the alcohol- You could always tell when it was taking effect by redness of her cheeks and foulness of her words.
"Now my pops always said to me 'When opportunity knocks you gotta get up and open the door' and honey I think I hear that door knocking..... What do ya think?"

[Hillbilly12]

Anita took a moment to listen before emptying another glass. The alcohol helped her focus or at least that's what she told herself sometimes. The story Dusk was telling her sounded a little strange yet familiar. It wasn't surprising considering The Lost's involvement in kidnappings recently. She just listened blocking out the music and chatter until the words that poured from Dusk's lips made sense. The story was simple and wasn't finished. All it needed was their decision to continue.

"Now my pops always said to me 'When opportunity knocks you gotta get up and open the door' and honey I think I hear that door knocking..... What do ya think?"

"What do I think?" she downed her drink and gently placed the glass on the table and smiled. "My dad had similar saying, but it involved opportunity being a cheap ass whore." a light giggle escaped her. "Hell why not see whats up? Life is pointless without a little excitement." the enforcer grabbed her jacket and stood up quickly with a sense of purpose nearly knocking over the almost empty bottle of liquor. A quick stretch and yawn took her out of a light buzz. For a moment Anita was thinking maybe going out into a potential firefight right after drinking wasn't a good idea. Then again it wasn't the only time.

"I need to ask the bouncer for my trusty little toy. I'm guessing you had to leave your shit with him to?"

[Temporary]

Nick stood at the bar still, glancing around the area and taking in everything he could. He placed down his empty glass at the bar and proceeded to order another drink, this time something with a bit more of a kick. If the fireworks were to go as planned, being drunk would down the pain of getting shot to a bearable standpoint. Another guy came up to the bar and looked actually rather out of place, as much as someone could without wearing a New Order uniform, at least. At first glance he looked like some ordinary, and rather shy looking, Nexus member just around for a drink. But those who knew any better would know him clearly as Andrew, some higher up in the Nexus ranks. He looked like he was of some importance, at least, so he would probably be good to keep alive for torture. Nick thought about talking to him, but decided not to in the better interest of cover.

As he continued his survalence, he saw it - something that clearly shouldn't have belonged. A boy, of some age Nick couldn't tell, standing around looking very, very disappointed and ashamed. Of course, there were lots of those, but this kids face looked too... Different than the rest. Over the music, Nick could just about tell what he said. Get as many people out of here... Shit, could he have known. Then he looked at the napkin and realised who he must have been with. Evidently he knew about the upcoming extermination, and he was sending and SOS signal to come rescue him from... The flock. That damned cell. That couldn't have been good in the slightest. Nick pulled out his phone and failed his commander, who immediately picked up.
"Nick? I thought I told you to text me your info." the voice said in a slightly disappointed tone.
"Yeah, yeah. Listen. Some kid knows, but he just left. There may be more people, so I am telling you now. Start the attack, I'll get out when I can. For now, Im gonna speak with Andrew..." he replied, trailing off and ending the call. Then his phone rang again, this time the friendly voice of a female officer he knew.
"Hello Nickel Matrix. The commander just said you wished to begin the attack,but before then I will need your authorisation." she said with a light and calming tone. She was one of the only people he knew that actually didn't entirely agree with New Orders' way of doing things, and who wanted to change everything inside out.
"Really! Fine... Authorisation: au90pola7822N. Processor ID 0477, name: Nickel Matrix. Requesting operation to commence. Effective, immediately. That good?" he recited. One thing he knew better than anyone was that New Order drilled your code into your skull. Forget it and you basically it yourself up on the chopping block.
"Yes, thank you. We will now commence the eradication of The Nexus." and then she hung up.

Finishing that, Nick walked over to Andrew, who looked slightly flushed.
"Hey there. You know, you ain't looking so good... Want me to get you a drink? On me." he said, giving a friendly smile to him. If he could stall Andrew for a bit, that would prevent him from calling on a counter attack till the troops arrived.

[AtlasRedfox]

Dusk was familiar with the address on the napkin and to be honest Dusk was a little surprised that Anita agreed to this little expedition, Anita had a sharp plan it out on-the-ball aurora to her and Dusk wasn't sure her 'let's make it up as we go along' plan would fly with her. Gladly she was mistaken.

Dusk swayed slightly as she stood from the booth "Unfortunately I did, he was a real arse about it as well... But then again they probably had too many drunks have gotten trigger happy... Ya'll know what these shady types are like" she giggled to herself at the irony. Running her fingers through her dishevelled hair she sucked her bottom lip and took the lead towards where the rather large door-bitch who held their possessions was residing, as she stepped past Anita she took more serious tone "You do know where we're going right..." implying that Anita knew that they were going to walk right up to a New Order faction building.

[Vulkan]

Far away from the nexus’s nightclub, there were a block of offices.
They looked relatively normal, exactly the same as any other block. Grey, square and tall with windows on each side, not unlike what a child might draw if you asked him to draw a big building. No one really knew what it was actually there for, but if you were to go in, you would find several security guards politely but firmly telling you to leave. Therefore, people simply forgot about it. It was hardly interesting.

However, no one noticed that the glass was completely bulletproof, the building was hooked up to one of the most advanced security systems in the city, and the guards were carrying five-seven handguns and several frag and smoke grenades.

Inside the building, in one of the rooms below ground, a woman in a three-piece suit stood at a bookcase, in a room that looked like something out of a billionaires hotel. The walls were completely white, with a roof that was covered in gold leaf around the edges. On the walls were several copies of famous paintings from the old civilisation. A group of sunflowers, a woman who strangely had no eyebrows, several paintings that seemed to make no sense.

The owner of this room preferred literature however. The art was there simply because she liked the feeling of the old civilizations greatest work around her.

The woman herself appeared to be in her late thirties, but a good look at her face would indicate that she was quite a bit older. A lot of work had gone towards making that face look younger. She was tall and fairly thin, but it was clear by the suit that she was quite well muscled.
She ran her hands over the book spines, reading the text on the sides as she did so. These works were completely uncensored, she hadn’t let anyone from the propaganda departments touch them. If she got bored and sold everything in this room, she could buy her own district.
Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a beeping noise. Forgetting about the books, she reached into her pocket, flicked a phone open and raised it to her ear.
“Yes?” she said quietly.
There was silence in the room, as the woman listened to what the person on the other side was saying.
“…he’s doing what?”
_______________________


Andrew was bored. The barman hadn’t come back to him, which led him to assume that his request for ice cream was not going to happen.
“Nexus don’t have ice cream…the red wolves were based out of a glorified shed at the beginning and even they had some!”

He sighed quietly when he remembered the wolves. They hadn’t deserved what had happened to them. No one did.

He was so trapped in his melancholic thoughts, he didn’t notice someone sit themselves down next to him. Andrew moved his head slightly, making sure to hide his face behind his hand. The person in question was pale, with brown hair that appeared quite messy.
"Hey there. You know, you ain't looking so good... Want me to get you a drink? On me."
"Oh god, hes talking to me! Hes not hitting on me is he? That’s happened before…Its always embarrassing…"
"No, he appears to just be friendly…"

“Um…” said Andrew, trying to hide his thoughts. “Im fine thank you. I…don’t drink. It makes things feel all funny.”
There was another pause.

“Um…sorry, I…er…have to go do something…” he stuttered again, getting up to leave.


_____________________________

Not far from the nightclub, on top of another roof, stood several New Order soldiers, dressed in the black armor with a white stripe that signified their unit.
One of them took a deep breath.
“Are you alright sir?” asked one soldier, looking up from a laptop.

The commander lifted his helmet over his head, tasting the pollutants in the air. He worked out a crick in his neck, and looked down. No one under his command knew exactly who he was, he was only known as “Delta”
The people of the section he worked for didn’t like their names being known. It was said that some of his fellow commanders had forgotten their names, and only answered to their tags.

“I…I don’t know if I should do this. I know that traitorous bastard might be in there, but…”
He looked down again. In the distance, he could see the blaring lights of his target.

“…no. Its for the new order. Its always been for the new order…I tracked the traitor, I sent the failed assassin…this is my fault. I have to fix it. No matter the cost.”
One soldier looked up with alarm.
“Sir! We have a confirmation from Nickel Matrix! Defences are weak!”

The commander looked up. “Give me a comlink to the entire force.”
The soldier tapped some keys on his laptop. “Done.”

“I have to do this…”

“All units, converge on the target! Leave no terrorist in there alive! For the new order!”

__________________________

Andrew was just excusing himself, when the doors of the club exploded.

[Hillbilly12]

"Oh yeah I know the place. I've been around here occasionally but I have a good memory." The more important implications of that question didn't escape Anita at all. In fact the mission didn't appear very survivable, but she made a promise. To her this was Dusk calling in that favor early, and if they succeeded maybe there would be something in it for her anyway other than simple excitement. "Lets get some of our gear back first."

They weren't too far from the door when it exploded. The bouncer was blown inside and what was left of him was barely recognizable. Anita immediately grabbed Dusk and flew under a table. "SHIT!" she cursed while reaching for a pistol that wasn't there. The sound of gunfire, explosions and screams nearly overwhelmed her senses. She kicked over the table and slowly tried crawling over to a nearby booth with Dusk making sure to keep her head away from stray rounds.

"Well we needed some guns anyway. From the sounds of it I might get to go shopping."

[AtlasRedfox]

As the door exploded Dusk hit the ground awkwardly knocking her breath right out of her, briefly stunned she lay there as a high pitch ringing started in her ears from the explosion, disorientated she tried to focus, rolling onto her hands and knees taking deep breaths to get some oxygen back in her lungs. Lifting her head she focused on Anita, she watched her mouth move as she called to Dusk but she was muted due to the blast deafness in her ears.
"Fuuuuuck" Dusk gasped. It wasn't the first time she had been been in an explosion and she sure as hell wasn't enjoying it the second time round. MOVE MOVE MOVE her inner voice reacted to the situation in nearly seconds but it felt like minutes before the overpowering adrenaline kicked in.
"Fuck Fuck Fuuuuuck" Dusk reiterated intensely as she scrambled after Anita to the booth, bits of door, flesh and blood from the poor bouncer were splattered all over the place including her face and favourite jacket clearly which now was ruined, quickly she cleaned off as much as she could as her before her stomach turned on her and expelled its contents.
Dusk flattened herself as close to the booth walls as she could as bullets went flying overhead, gradually her hearing returned- clearly could tell by the sound of bullets thwipping past exploding into the walls and people around them.
She barked at Anita stating the obvious "I need to get out of here!" Between to bursts of gunfire Dusk poked her head out slightly surveying their options, the first being the same door that exploded moments ago which was now being filled by SWAT like armed personnel, the second exit being highlighted by a neon green EXIT sign at the end of a small hallway behind the DJ's bullet ridden booth and the third exit a set of descending stairs on the left of the now empty bar. Wide eyed and desperate Dusk signed to Anita that she was going to take the third option, Dusk was unarmed, slightly drunk and full of adrenaline...why she thought that be the best option was anyone's guess.

[Hillbilly12]

Anita looked at where she was pointing and then back at Dusk almost dumbfounded by the decision. The sane option was clearly the exit, but that did carry risks. A brief look at the gunman currently having a shootout with what was left of the club's security made some things clear. They were well trained which mean obvious exits were covered. The basement would sound like a good idea if they knew what was down there. It was obvious Dusk made a choice out of sheer panic which wasn't surprising since even Anita was starting shake. She took a deep breath for a few seconds then held up her hand as a sign to wait. One of the attackers fell to the ground nearby. His rifle slid across the floor near their piece of cover.

"Fuck me I'm lucky." she mumbled to herself then looked towards Dusk and nodded. At the moment the area between them and possible temporary safety was filled with gunfire. Anita slowly moved towards the edge of the booth and peaked out just to see what they had to deal with. She was able to get a small image of what was happening before ducking and avoiding a stray round. The close call was worth giving her the knowledge that there was at least a dozen fighters spread out near the entrance firing at anything that moved. They had one shot at this and it all relied on how much ammo that rifle still had. "Fuck I might not be that lucky."

She grabbed a hold of Dusk's arm tightly and slowly began to get up but stayed low. It was becoming apparent through Anita's body language that they were about to run for it. She mentally counted down by five which made her tense up. In an instant she ran forward with Dusk and grabbed the rifle with her right hand and pushed Dusk forward with her left. As Dusk made a break for it Anita fired her newly acquired rifle in the general direction of the enemy forcing them into cover. She kept moving towards the bar while firing hoping that neither of them would catch a bullet.

[Jeep Wrangler]

Marcus was sat in his cold and desolate room. The lights were on, and the almost pure glisten of white had nearly blinded him several times upon awakening. He shook. There was barely any coldness within the room, but his sense of fear and disparate plans of escape made him cold hearted. He wanted to escape now, but he couldn't. His armour was sitting right in front of him, and he could slip himself into it for just the pure comfort of knowing that it served a little bit of protection from any interrogator that was inevitably going to come in and punch the shit out of him. Rosa had no idea what they were still doing to him, as she thought of him being a regular trooper gone missing. It had been a while since the two had actually met, though it wasn't in Marcus' memories. She assisted him many times during his first years...it was probably the first and only person that Marcus could call a friend...something he never ever had done, minus the three shot on the rooftops.

"Marcus...I want you to do as I say..." A speaker bellowed. "Do I have your attention?" Marcus looked upwards towards a simple camera, nodding to himself and to it. "Excellent. I just want to see how you get into your...suit? It wouldn't take long and I'm sure that it wouldn't be a hassle." As Marcus walked up to the Exo-Skeletal structure of metal and machinery, he hesitated in nerves. He was allowing them to try and get an idea on how it worked, when in reality he was giving them tests that wouldn't get them anywhere. This was getting them nowhere...and he was getting nowhere too. The little chest piece opened as he pulled a small part, allowing him to step inside. Fitting the shoulder pieces on was child's play, as he allowed his arms to be entaken by the exo-skeleton. He felt more safe now...he was within his suit of little protection. "Hmm...interesting...Alright Marcus, thank you! I'll get back to you later after we change our security guards. Dismissed!" The buzzer clicked off. He grinned slightly as a one-way screen acting as a window showed the outer city. Obviously they couldn't use glass, but a screen was good enough to capture the small beauty of the world as he knew it. He aimed his outside camera downwards, seeing the 33 stories below him, himself being on the 34th. He noticed how the three Department towers made a spire around the central garden in the, you fucking guessed it, centre of the area. A thought swished through his mind as he thought if there was any hope of him even exiting this building without it being a mission. The large hall of tribute was outside his door and corridor, so it was clearly suicide to run straight through there without any weapons...