Into the Black

Serris · **Reply #480 on:** December 09, 2013, 06:30:31 PM

Soren's eye twitched as he heard Emilena mention "cavity search".

"No," he said. "All those two did to me was simply beat me up ó or try to. Luckilyó" he gave an experimental punch to his shirt, causing a short wave to ripple across its surface as it hardened "ómy clothing stopped them."

He then turned to Axel and Lily. "I'm fine but everything's gone." He sighed. "Well, I'm gonna see if there's anything those punks haven't taken."

He got up and headed towards the ruins of his house.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #481 on:** December 09, 2013, 08:43:50 PM

Kojuuro lowered his rifle, sighing a little and relaxing.
"Heh. That was some smooth talking, you two. Good job."
He sighed, then slung his rifle across his back, making his way towards the others. In the courtyard, Adrian smirked a little, standing next to Emilena.
"Wasn't a routine, actually. I...know how operations like this work. Any time there's someone hired to dispose of one of them, there's no intention of letting any of them leave."
He said, smiling at her and blushing.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #482 on:** December 10, 2013, 02:17:15 AM

"Crime doesn't pay," agreed Emilena, who could think of at least dozen examples where it paid extremely well.

Lily pulled her shirt down and examined her tattoo. "It's counting down," she whispered. "...Counting down to what?"

bushwacked · **Reply #483 on:** December 10, 2013, 05:48:56 AM

Axel looked at Lily. How the hell does a tattoo change like that? He put an arm around her. "It's alright. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. You'll be fine."

The sound of raised voices carried over the now still evening air, causing his ears to prick up. "Sounds like Soren's neighbors heard the gunfire," he said, glancing around at the others. "Maybe we shouldn't hang around too long. If they decide to call the police..."

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A ringing stirred Marcus, and he sat up. He'd been lying in the back seat of his car, trying to catch up on some sleep while he had the chance. There was another ring, and he realised it was his cell phone. Reaching into his coat, he pulled it out and snapped it open. "Yes."

Zeroth's voice came through. "We've successfully activated the live tracker. It seems she managed to successfully escape the police - given the amount of police activity in the area, she and Kibagami must have had help. But it's where they are now that has us interested. Soren Almaya's residence."

Marcus frowned. "Soren... he's another of our targets."

"For intimidation, not elimination. But if they're working together the situation may have to change. In any case, we're still in the dark as to what they're working towards - we need to retrieve the female and... ask her what she knows."

"It'd be my pleasure," Marcus grunted.

"Good to hear. But you won't be alone - we don't want to risk failure. You'll be part of a small team. Here are the details..."

-----------------------------------

The phone in Aaron's apartment began to ring.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #484 on:** December 10, 2013, 11:52:52 AM

Adrian froze for a moment, eyecover glowing a little as he looked at Emilena.
"Emi...we have a problem. I think that you got a tracker put in you at that hospital. It just went active, so now the Purifiers have a bead on us..."
He said nervously as Kojuuro walked over to the rest of the group...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #485 on:** December 10, 2013, 01:28:07 PM

"Do they...?" Emilena muttered. After a few seconds her eyes lit up. "Don't remove it! This could be turned into an opportunity."

Lily glanced at her. She was beginning to think the fox was slightly crazy.

"Anyone who's interested can follow me to a remote location," Emilena continued. "Somewhere they'll think I'm alone. They'll try to capture me, but they won't be expecting my team of allies. We can ambush them, hopefully capture one for information." Her eyes flashed with excitement.

"I don't know if I like this plan..." muttered Lily.

Serris · **Reply #486 on:** December 10, 2013, 03:34:46 PM

Aaron finished his meal of catfish filet.

He picked up his cellphone.

"Aaron speaking, what do you want?"

-----------

Soren exited the house with his shotgun and battered exoskeleton with its charger.

"F---ers stole everything except my gun and my exoskeleton."

He then suited up in the exoskeleton, setting its power to low to conserve battery life.

Soren then looked around. "So what's the plan?"

He then heard the distant sound of sirens. "On second thought, let's scram!"

bushwacked · **Reply #487 on:** December 10, 2013, 05:46:48 PM

"Hello, Aaron Geasbrecht. It's good to talk to you." Zeroth's garbled voice issued from Aaron's cellphone, calm as always. "My contact told me you seemed promising, and after doing some digging of my own, I have to agree. I think you could be quite valuable to our cause."

"I'm sure that by now you know what I represent," he continued, "So you'll understand if I don't stay for long on a line I don't trust. You'll have a chance to prove yourself to us tonight. Call it an initiation. I have a small number of my agents working to retrieve a female that we believe could be a threat to us. You have the opportunity to accompany them - it should go smoothly, but she's proven herself to be dangerous and it can't hurt to be sure. My agents will be waiting for you on Richardson street in four hours - they already know what you look like. I'll be very disappointed if you don't show up, Mr. Geasbrecht."

"And I don't need to tell you what happens if you go to the police, do I?" There was a short pause, then a dialing tone as Zeroth hung up.

--------------------------------------------

Axel nodded at Soren. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. But where are we going to go? And even if we go along with Emilena's plan, which doesn't sound too smart to me," he said glancing at her, "We still need a car or something."

Axel paused. "If we find an electric car, I could hotwire it pretty easily. I doubt the cops'll care too much if I add grand theft auto to my list of activities today."

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #488 on:** December 10, 2013, 08:57:41 PM

Adrian smirked, rolling his neck with a chuckle as he let his tail brush against Emilena's butt.
"Good plan, Emi. Just understand that I won't be too far away from you. I don't want anything to happen to you."
He said softly, smiling a little as Kojuuro dusted off his jacket...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #489 on:** December 10, 2013, 09:32:55 PM

"Good idea," nodded Emilena, sheathing her sword. "And until we find an unattended car, we're legging it. I have just the place, I used to use it for stings. Old abandoned robotics factory off the bluffs."

She walked away from the others glancing at Adrian. "Fan of public displays of affection, are we?" she muttered. "Keep it in your pants, will you? You'll get everything you want tonight; I'm going to need your help again..."

Lily's heart panged at the mention of the abandoned factory; she remembered that place...it was near the forest. She'd seen it when on the run from the police, but bypassed it due to the plethora of dead ends.

"We might not need a car," she said quietly. "It's less than...a day's run from here..."

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #490 on:** December 10, 2013, 09:59:16 PM

Adrian smiled and placed a hand on Emilena's arm.
"Well...sorry...It's just...y'know...I really like you and all..."
He said shyly, quiet enough that the others couldn't hear. At hearing Lily's suggestion, Kojuuro nodded, tapping his chin.
"You're right. Plus, there's a chance that any vehicle would contain a GPS locator. That could lead to more trouble than any of us want to deal with."
He said, smiling at Lily...

Serris · **Reply #491 on:** December 12, 2013, 04:51:40 AM

Aaron smiled as he finished his meal. Now was the chance to prove himself. Yet at the same time, he had nagging feeling that he wasn't being told everything.

He quickly shook it off as he washed his dishes and put them away. If his hunch was wrong and he didn't show up, then the Augments could take over.

"Well, time to see what's going on." He quickly punched in a code to a hidden safe under the counter. A gentle click and a drawer containing his pistol and two fully loaded magazines ó and some additional ammo ó popped out.

He pocketed one of the magazines and loaded his pistol. He smiled as he heard the click of a round being chambered. The German Shepherd donned a shoulder holster and placed his pistol in it.

"Well, let's do this!" He grabbed his jacket from the hook on the door and threw it over the pistol. After checking to see if he had everything, he exited his apartment. And nearly tripped over a bum.

Getting into the elevator ó which always stank of urine for some reason ó he looked at his watch. He'd have plenty of time to make it to Richardson Street.

-----------

Soren shook his armored head. "I'd love to go with Emilena and Kojuuro but I have some information I'd like to get from a certain Mr. Altyn and he works in the heart of Lanthae."

He then turned to Axel. "Axel, Lily are you coming with me or Emilena?"

bushwacked · **Reply #492 on:** December 12, 2013, 08:05:43 PM

"I'll go with you, Soren," Axel said, shrugging apologetically to Emilena. "I'd probably just get in your way if there's a fight." He considered for a moment, then pulled out the pistol he'd snatched from the woman they'd knocked out and threw it to Adrian. "Here. You can't have too many guns, right?"

He walked over to Soren's side, then turned and looked at Lily. "Come on, you've gotta come with us - it'll be dangerous where they're going..."

-----------------------------------------

Gittsun wandered around Marie's kitchen, pulling open her cupboards at random, looking for whiskey, vodka, something hard. So far he'd found nothing. "Hey, Marie, you got any of the good stuff? It's not everyday you're in the middle of an attack on the hospital and live to tell about it!" He didn't think it was necessary to mention that's his ward had actually been nowhere near where the action was.

Nick22 · **Reply #493 on:** December 12, 2013, 08:09:55 PM

whiskeys on the 3rd shelf to the back ' marie said as she came into the kitchen.
- brownsteet lookee at the timer on his desk, it now read 4:30:17, whuiich meant iof emilena didnt get back with soren tonight, she was fired. ' i want emilena arrested on sight' he said into a communicator. ' shes off the force if she doesnt get back here by midnight with the suspect..

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #494 on:** December 13, 2013, 06:51:39 AM

Emilena blinked. "What? You--" she broke off, turning away from Adrian. "You are interested informing a romantic partnership? When the hell did this happen?"

I mean, we're having sex...but that was strictly to curb biological urges...right? She realized wistfully that it should have been rather obvious.

"I...shouldn't have lashed out," she recovered lamely, turning back to Adrian. "I...shall need time to think about this."

Lily meanwhile had been grappling with her own mental dilemma, and at that point gulped and made up her mind.

"I'm going with Emilena and the others," she told Axel.

Emilena cast a glance behind her. "You're what?"

"I need to talk with you," Lily replied. "Sooner rather than later." She looked at Axel. "I'm sorry. We can meet back up afterwards."

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #495 on:** December 13, 2013, 11:51:03 AM

Adrian smiled a little, looking aside awkwardly.

"Well...to be honest, I've...though about asking for a while now..."
He said quietly, as he reflexively turned and caught the pistol Axel had tossed to him.

"And it's okay for you to take as much time as you need to think about it."
He added quietly, walking over to Lily and handing her the pistol.

"Here. You'll need this more than I will. I don't do so well with guns."
He chuckled softly, as Kojuuro smirked a little from behind the group...

Serris · **Reply #496 on:** December 13, 2013, 05:55:45 PM

Soren nodded. "Okay." He turned to Emelina. "Axel and I will be heading to Pelvanida Cybernetics."

hHe then swore as he looked around the ruined lot. "As soon as we can steal a car."

bushwacked · **Reply #497 on:** December 13, 2013, 07:06:46 PM

Axel blinked at Lily. "You..." He sighed when he saw that she'd made her mind up. "Just be careful, okay?" He turned his head towards Emilena, Adrian and Kojuuro. "Make sure she doesn't get hurt. Please."

He joined Soren's side. "The cops are still on their way - if we're going to split up, we need to do it fast." He glanced back at the others, his eyes lingering on Lily. "Good luck guys. Stay safe. Come on Soren, the faster we find a car the better." Axel started to head down towards the sidewalk.

--------------------------------------------

Gittsun turned and opened the shelf behind him. Reaching in, he grasped the bottle and pulled it out. "Ah, thanks Marie. You're a life-saver..." He poured himself a generous helping and gulped it down. He sighed. "That's better. So, what's the plan for you girls now?"

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #498 on:** December 13, 2013, 08:11:28 PM

"I'm sorry Axel...but I have to talk to her." Lily smiled sadly. "I'll be safe. I promise."

"No promises from over here," Emilena set off at a brisk pace. "Keep up. We're not taking water breaks."

With one last look at Axel, Lily ran after Emilena.

Emilena sighed. "Try to keep the civilian out of the line of fire," she muttered to Kojurro.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #499 on:** December 13, 2013, 09:35:50 PM

Adrian nodded as Kojuuro smirked.
"I promise, Axel. Lily, I want you to act as my spotter. I need you to cover me."
He said gently, grinning.