ғ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ʟ ᴇ s s - ᴀ ᴅʏsᴛᴏᴘɪᴀɴ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀᴅᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀᴇ 「ɪɴ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ」

[Jakers]

"Here we are; give em' hell!"

The APC had arrived, and the place was as packed as Tia had expected. A motorcycle's engine roaring amidst the gunfire accompanied by a wild screech, a stray bullet found its way into the elbow pad of the NOAH, the shock of the impact reminding her to take cover behind the APC for now. It'd leave a bruise, but nothing serious. Peeking behind cover to get a hold of the situation, Tia couldn't spot much, but she recognised one figure walking straight towards the APC. She could've sworn she saw a soldier that looked like FOXTROT, as well, but that must've been her imagination.

"Sarge! Thank God you're alright; we got here as soon as we could!" Tia called out with a grin as she recognized the figure coming towards the vehicle. "Don't worry, we've got Corvus in the APC, he'll get you patched up real good! What's the situatio--" Tia's words slowly cut off as she released how they seemed to bounce off the RONIN, however, as he walked - unwavering - towards the inside of the APC. Coated in blood, covered in wounds of all kinds, and stuck with that 'stare' that seemed to go past everything aside from what his mind was set on. Tia realized her words weren't even being processed by his mind. There was nothing in the veteran's mind but cold, bloody revenge, and a wrath to match and outweigh any enemy's.

"...Sarge...?" Tia whispered, this time to herself, looking ahead from behind cover. There were as many CLERIC bodies as she imagined with the likes of Sarge and Lionheart on the front lines. But amongst those were people she briefly knew. 'Tux', 'Big Mac'... just to name a couple, she'd seen at the bar, and laughed alongside them in drunken antics. Now their bodies were plastered into the crunch. Even that was enough to get her mind on the edge of snapping, but what truly broke her, was the body of one NOAH under the boot of a grinning, white-haired demon... licking fresh blood from her fingers, enjoying the feast.

Ji Yun.

Tia had never truly known the guy. She'd rarely ever got him to get out of that room of his. But... those few times he did talk to her, she almost felt like she was bringing him out of his shell, little by little, every time. She remembered that laugh of his when she'd first attempted to play chess without fully understanding the rules. She remembered those times that he'd let her win, out of pity, as she mashed random buttons on one of those 'consoles' of his. The memories were brief, but they were enough. Oh, they were enough.

"D-Damn it... you... you stupid kid... you and your fucking yo-yo..." Tia shook her head, eyes hidden behind a black screen as she angled her head downwards, stroking the handlebars of Mixuki for some form of comfort. "I guess you finally got to use it, though, huh...?" She didn't know why she was smiling; almost laughing, as a few tears dripped down the insides of her motorcycle helmet.

Her engine was roaring; crackling... gagging to get into action as the fiery hiss of petrol sloshed in the behind of the Blackbird.

"Aresia," Tia called out simply, her voice still peppy as usual, but mixed with something else. Some kind of wrath. The two bodywork pieces either side of her motorcycle detached with a 'hiss', angling and forming a bridge from the APC's exit onto the back of Mixuki. "Get on, and hold on to my waist. We're going to ensure FOXTROT's safety. And to do that, we're going to kill as many 'govs' as we can," Tia paused, taking off her tear-stained helmet, letting her blonde ponytail flow, her now visible, heartbroken smile forced across her face as if to keep her through the absurdity of it all. That smile slowly turned to a grin that was prepared for battle alongside her trusty steed and a powerful ally, as she carefully uttered her next sentence.

"But above all... I'm going to make sure you 'cultivate' that fucking PALADIN pig. You got it? Let's do it, Witchy."

Tilting her head upwards as the PALADIN jumped on to the APC for her royal tantrum, Tia clicked her neck back and forth as she called out to her.
"Ohhh... come now, buttercup, don't throw all your toys out of the pram just yet," Tia cooed with a mocking pout, using a tone that would be used to calm a child. With a flick of her finger, Tia sent forth a single little speck of petrol out of her engine, trying to curl it round her body and splash the little dot on her nose as she distracted the shield with relentless submachine fire. "Boop. I hope you like the taste of flames as much as the taste of blood. We're only getting started, pig."

 

[Rax Rosetta]

​

Well, wasn't that just downright rude? She completely ignored him in favor of the APC which was opening fire on the Paladin, more importantly her Cleric underlings. How considerate of Sarge, to clear out the bastards so he could focus on his goal, that Paladin bitch's head. However, she was charging the APC and screaming at the people inside. Well, that just wouldn't do at all, for a multitude of reasons. First off, Foxtrot was relying on it to escape and thus, complete the mission. Second off, it seemed that she had already destroyed the main armaments on the combat vehicle, which would complicate matters of the APC getting to the key position to get Foxtrot out of here and for whatever reasons that were necessary to mount such a high profile rescue mission. Besides being some high profile face within FEARLESS and being generally important to the morale of most of the people within the organization. This kind of work, everyone could die, so no sense getting too attached, the way he saw it at any rate.

Scowling, he decided on a course of action that, to most folks of FEARLESS, would be stupid. With all the current Clerics dead, barring the Paladin herself, he would have to knock that bitch down quite a few pegs. She seemed insistent on raging for being ignored, so it was rather rude of her to ignore him then, after all! Knocking another arrow, a bodkin tipped one designed to punch through armor, but before he could fire, he scowled as that fucking bitch on the bike rolled up, throwing petrol around like it was candy and opening fire on her own. Blast it, damn NOAH prick, he was working here without some kiddie rolling up on their toy and just being generally irritating. Right after she flicked the petrol, he let loose with an arrow, launching it straight for center mass. This time he wasn't trying to do any damage, fully expecting her to either block or avoid the arrow. He was just trying to get her damn attention. His voice, perfectly calm, also bellowed out as he lobbed the arrows, bow resting comfortably at his side now, responding to her demands for someone to come out and play.

"I'm your huckleberry." Ansgar would, if she was rude enough to continue ignoring him, just pepper her with arrows until she decided to respond. And if that didn't work? Well, he would just have to run her through from behind. He had no qualms with it, but he was looking for a fight, and a Paladin? He damn well expected a Paladin to put up a damn good fight. And, compared to the 'cowards' in the APC and the bikesexual straddling her lover, shooting her load everywhere, well, he was the closest damn thing she was getting to a straight up fight. Assuming she turned to acknowledge his presence, a flick of the wrist cause the monoblade to extend, giving him a sword of his own to square off with the previously mentioned Paladin. He was a sneaky son of a bitch at times, hiding in the shadows and striking from cruel angles. But, as Sarge had been made aware, he had no qualms going toe to toe with someone. And ol' Palabitch here? Oh, he would gladly give her a face to face fight. He needed something good for once, since your average Clerics got old after awhile, and FEARLESS kept reigning him in on going on assassination missions. Well, ones they didn't issue him, but the point stood. He was damn well looking for a fight, and our friendly Paladin here was looking for one too. Should work just fine, in his books.​

 

[Bismarck]

"God fucking dammit! Every time I get something fun, you bastards ruin it!" Andre yelled, as he got out of the gunners seat. Everything was wrecked at this point, beyond the hatches, and the old man knew damn well what his plan was now. Sarge pulled himself into the turret, and reached up to unlocked the turret hatch, or in this case what would be the commander's hatch. He braced himself as he prepared to throw it open. The old man only had one shot, and realistically his body was only going to allow him to stay awake for a little while longer. Before blood loss finally took him, thank the Gods, or whoever was out there, that a medic was so close on standby.

Sarge wrapped his hand around the handle, smiling a bit to himself, "Here we go!" Sarge yelled as he threw the hatch open. His legs powered him up onto the top of the APC, he took his stance with a grin. Happy Tia was providing something of a distraction. Andre quickly identified his Target, as the Paladin. The roar of anger once more issued forth from his lungs, he seemed to have only two sounds that came out at this point, taunting, and guttural, animal like screams of anger.

The old man, muscles flexed, and his skin painted red with blood, and the amount of blood flowing into his veins from the rage he was in, went to grapple the Paladin. He was using every bit of strength, anger, and rage he had left, "GET OFF OF MY FUCKING APC! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HURT ANYMORE OF MY COMRADES!" Andre roared, as he attempted to get his arms around the woman. This was pure desperation, and yet he had a good feeling it would work. There wasn't really any way to anticipate for the rather insane ideas Andre had at times. He was much like a cornered dog, his worst ideas, could work out better than intended.
​

 

[Astros]

With a ringing thud Rubel set the last of the boxes into the APC and gave a sigh of relief. Wiping his brow he'd managed to work up a small sweat ferrying the weapons and ammunition into the back of their new limousine. Bending over and giving a push, he slid the last open box of ammunition under the seat to ensure room to those who would be shortly boarding.

With a sour look on her face Backdrop fidgeted in wait as he closed the door behind them. Catching the keys tossed his way he grinned before heading to the driver's seat. With Backdrops eyes soon on Chaos he knew it wouldn't be long before they all got a earful. Searching for the ignition, he found it oddly placed in the dash instead of near the steering wheel. Inserting the key and giving it a turn the APC roared to life as did Backdrops voice.

The audible hum of the engine filled the inner compartment and almost deafeningly so. However, not to be beaten, Backdrop's voice managed to easily be heard over the diesel as she gave Chaos a good lick of advice. Hardly needing the glare to know it was time to leave, Rubel turned a lever after much inspection and gave the APC some gas. The scenery outside began to get farther away as it throttled in reverse. Letting off the accelerator and going for the breaks the vehicle gave a small jerk before it shifted gears.

"Brother, you better punch it " Taking it he'd be next if he didn't learn to drive quicker, he punched it as instructed and the vehicle lurched forward. Turning the wheel one-eighty degrees they barely made it out the gate and onto the road as the accelerator slowly began to climb.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"Women." "Why are they so... Complex?" With a chuckle Rubel wondered if Corvo knew his comments were oil to the flame as the one sided conversation continued behind them. Making good traction the roads were largely empty except for the occasional civilian out on evening business. The few vehicles they did encounter immediately turned off to the side to make way as the several ton metal box cruised at forty miles per hour down the middle of the streets. Only ever slowing down to make sharp turns, Rubel gunned it around a left corner as the conversation took on its third wheel.

Though, it never would get its forth wheel as Rubel knew better than to take sides. Considering they still had a mission to complete and that it was slowly deteriorating by the minute over the comms. He kept his eyes and attention forward on the road as the conversation came to end on an awkward end in silence.

______________________________________________________________________________​

The tires squealed as the APC began to meander to the right. The back retaining its momentum swung far ahead, pushing the APC into a ninety degree skid. The boxes in the back were flung from side to side scraping against the metal interior and scattering its contents high and low before raining down to the floor. Making it seem as if a miniature tornado had passed through and left in the time it took for them to go from forty to zero and nearly flip.

The cargo truck ahead of them was unperturbed. Taking a broken tail light as its only sign of ever being there, the driver either sped away to escape the consequences of cutting off a CLERIC APC or simply didn't notice as it continued on its course. Being solely responsible despite the other drivers lack of awareness Rubel rubbed the back of his head apologetically, managing a meager smile as he apologized "Sorry about that haha. At least we didn't flip." Luckily for the rest of the team, aside from Ms. Risk Taker, they had been safely secured in their seats.

______________________________________________________________________________​

"You got it Sis. With your magnet rear there's no way I can lose ya." Following the bike closely, Rubel kept the APC merely feet away from Tia's bike when out on the straightaways. In the tight side streets he wiggled the behemoth against dumpsters and between parked vehicles. Following her flawless route where able they had but one detour in which a homeless man created an en pass over disturbing his sleep. Now as they grew every closer to Squad One the audible sound of weapon's fire and explosives began to close in.

"Commander, you can't mean..." "D-disregard that. Getting the APC to the target location now, my apologies for the outburst... over..."

Tia had shared what most were probably considering. The diversion team always carried a large risk when it came to these missions. They usually went with too much attention versus too little in order to avoid mission failure. But as a result that meant increased risk of death to their side. Those of Squad Three knew just as well as everyone else did, but still the reality was hard to take for some. "Hey sis." Rubel chimed in over her channel

"Squad two's smart, they got Empress after all. And White Death is as tough as they come. Faceless... Well... Nobody even knows if they're human haha. No one's going to catch them and certainly not a league of CLERIC...." Giving a pause to let his words sink he gave one last bit of reassurance before the conversation could turn into a scene. "My drones should be there soon so don't worry yourself bald all right?"

A pause came, his words seemingly sinking in, before the NOAH soon responded."...Yeah, you're right. Sorry, the way GODFATHER said it just... kind of... got me down, I guess. But they'll be fine. Ire seems to know where enemies are for miles around; that combined Empress' direction will mean they'll pull through." A quieter sentence, spoken in a tone of genuine gratitude, soon followed. "...Thanks, Brother. You're a good guy."

The sound of the motorcycle being revved up to its usual passion came once more as Tia blurted one more thing across the radio before leading the fray again. "Don't think that'll get you off the hook for calling me 'magnet rear', though, you little punk! I'll deal with you later!" A long laugh followed, and that was all it seemed to take for the NOAH to be back to her old self for now.

By estimate his drones would be at the scene of Squad Two within minutes of their conversation, but even so minutes and a small mistake were all it took. Of course, Rubel wasn't going to include that bit of consideration.

______________________________________________________________________________​

The scene erupted into pure chaos upon their arrival.

The CLERIC were forced into fighting two fronts and getting decimated as a result. From inside Rubel watched the chaos unfold from the relative safety of the APC. The monitor in the drivers seat afforded him the view as Squad One chopped their way through the brush of CLERIC in their path and made a beeline for their location. With the sound of rushed footsteps the pang of gunfire resounded like rain on the inside of the APC as it echo'd off the walls and ceiling.

What CLERIC forces had been piling into the building now were hold up outside, scattered as their APC laid down a volley of 40mm fire. Ripping humans to pieces, limbs slowly began to litter the ground with blood and empty shell casings.

Unbuckling himself from the drivers seat he strolled past Backdrop and gave her a pat before point to the front . "I'm going to run Decoy." he yelled over the 40mm cannon and before running out into the line of sight. A streak of lead flew in front of him and followed close behind. Making a dive for cover behind a parked vehicle he rolled in time to miss the front section of its bumper being turned to Swiss cheese.

Giving a whistle at the close call he crouched down low as the vehicle began to be riddled. Paying the danger little notice he was focused on the seemingly empty APC two cars down from him. Normally he would have made a beeline for it if not for the forty feet gap of open space ahead of it. Taking a moment to plan his advance the passenger windshield above him shattered, drenching him in glass. Grasping two smokes from inside his cleric Gear he tossed them into the open space for a smokescreen. Waiting as Sarge swept the 40mm back around, he cooked a flash bang and tossed it up over the front of the car.

All that was left was the low mad dash through a hail of bullets and smoke and he was running around into the second APC. Touching a panel on the side he raised ramp door behind him as he turned his attention to the command hatch. Taking out a small tube of paste he squeezed JPOX around its rim before striking the putty with end of a gun left behind by the CLERIC. Expanding and sealing it shut, he hopped into the drivers seat and took to his drones.

Typing away on the miniature laptop as the APC gradually got less attention he watched as the girl in red leaped onto the APC ahead and in one fell swoop caved its ceiling along with the 40mm cannon. Paladin. There was no other explanation for it. His soft face and laid back demeanor began to ebb as he directed focus to his controls. Staring at the Paladin from two discreet angles he had a drone targeting her above down a back alley and one down the street that was hovering near the closest intersection.

Looking for the moment she would be airborne or moving her shield and unable to block. The feed of his cameras were locked to her shoulders and legs for any sign or twitch of movement. With the advantage of two angles and the element of surprise, if timed correctly they would be impossible to evade. Add in the high pressure weapons silent nature and lack of muzzle flash and it was unlikely she would know let alone sense the JPOX pellets streamlining for her.

The chaos of attacks from multiple angles and the deafening hail of gunfire mixed with her sense numbing rage. Rubel considered it all and waited for the near perfect moment before taking his shots.

______________________________________________________________________________​

Blood stains, mangled flesh and glass shards lay coated in a film of concrete at the base of Squad Two's position. The parking lot seemed at first glance to have had experienced a failed demolition with disastrous results. Unlike moments ago, the scene now was consumed by an eerie silence. The only sounds being the shots and explosions in the distance and the barely audible hum of approaching rotor blades. These came from a small drone that was idly making its way toward the site via a back alley. Programmed to observe it would lock onto any immediate sounds or movement in the area. Which aside from settling rubble and rodents, wasn't much.

Just as it was done sweeping the higher floors it picked up the faint sound of voices from below. Zeroing in on the location it slowly hovered round a concrete pillar in time to spot a raven haired woman with gleaming sapphire eyes straddling the corpse of what use to be the Mistress of Ire. Zooming in on her tear stained face it's camera panned up and was met with the face of a very annoyed looking Praetorian.

If it had been programmed with emotions it would have no doubt gave priority to fleeing out of fear. However, since it was not it instead idled there for a moment before being struck in an instant by a pink light and exploding into fine pieces. The only thing that remained was a still image it had managed to send back to its hub station. A still image of the side of a woman's face with piercing sapphire eyes that looked right through the screen and directly at its viewer.

 

[ERode]

Oh, so it was the town bicycle that was talking shit now? Against her weakling SMG fire, Elayna could only snort disdainfully at her pitiful insults. Her? Fifteenth in line of the grand von Emmeria family? As a pig? This ignorant little puissant didn't even know, did she, of how Elayna tirelessly forged her body day and night, from early morning jogs around the family estate to nightly sit-ups to keep her shape trim. Compared to this crap-spewing, piss-lactating cow?

Why, Elayna was a goddess.

"SHUT UP, YOU COW SLUT! I'LL TURN YOU INTO STEAKS ONCE I'M DONE WITH THESE MONGRELS!"

She stomped her high heels into the ceiling of the APC once more, the vehicle shaking from her strikes, before a flick of petrol caught her eyes. Lightning quick, she slapped the splash away with her hand, and then wheeled around to swat an arrow away at the same time.

Wait, an arrow?

What does that rebel think he is, pretending to be a PALADIN?! And challenging her to a sword fight as well? Elayna grinned, a smile full of teeth and malice as she pulled her left gauntlet out, tossing it down on the ground. Her pale, slender hand reached out, crooking towards that blond fool.

But the clack of the APC's hatch opening put her glorious duel on hold.

"Oh, back so soon?" she smiled, the bloodied, muscled, enraged form of Sarge emerging heroically from the APC. He held no weapon in his hands, and was clearly on his last legs…WHICH WAS GREAT! The staccato of SMG fire ceased as well, that cow slut no doubt afraid of hitting her only source of dick. Oh, this was going to be fun.

With dramatic flair, Elayna tossed her longsword straight up into the air, the silvered blade disappearing into the night sky.

She'll end this in an instant.

Once again, her weakness was swallowed as she stepped in, and then beside him, ducking under his sweeping arms. One stomp on the knee collapsed it, before her gauntleted arm grabbed him by the helmet and slammed him into the edge of the open hatch.

"Now…"

The longsword fell.

"…squeal like a mutt, rebel scum!"

 

[Bismarck]

​

"Fuck off..." Andre growled, obviously stunned as he was slammed headfirst into the APC. He was tough...but not tough enough to get up after the blow to the head. "You know, you remind me a lot of myself paladin...dedicated to a cause, you barely understand." He growled, as he reached for the broken barrel of the 40mm cannon, to work as a melee weapon. However he barely managed to get it in his hands. "Funny to think...you and I might have been good friends. Both paladins. If only I hadn't take the path less traveled. A path of consciousness." Sarge said, as he rolled over onto his back, and held onto the barrel of the weapon, as if it were his last defense.

He watched the as the blade fell, trying to pull himself into a less dangerous position so he wouldn't be impaled on the damn thing. However Andre knew he was still going to get stabbed, whether he wanted to or not. "God dammit...nothing can ever go right!" The old man growled. He braced himself, knowing that this wound truly was going to hurt like hell. There was no denying that. Though the giant of a man refused to squeal, he'd face death willingly.

 

[Astros]

The events that unfolded upon Squad Three's main APC were reaching hysterical heights. The burly human tank Sarge just couldn't let things be as he appeared from the APC and somehow managed to pull his hole riddled body up and out in order to engage the Paladin in a CQC death match. Not only did he prevent the APC from advancing, but any shots Rubel had from down the street were impossible.

"If you let Sarge continue he's gonna die." He warned those ahead. His voice was sharp and carried a solemn tone in contrast to its usual self. While he didn't know the extent of the man's injuries he'd known the fighting had been a brutal one and anymore damage on his part was only adding disability to injury. Watching as the Paladin made to cave Sarge's skull in on the rim of the hatch Rubel took his chances and initiated his attack.

Firing off a volley of pellets from down the street, his aim was the Paladin's right shoulder and elbow as it had Sarge in a vice grip. With her back turned and attention and shield elsewhere the chances of her noticing them were slim, even more so the chances of her doing anything about it. Simultaneously he moved his drone from above out to the open. Tracking the sword and its path in the air he targeted it with four pellets in quick succession. Two near the height of its arch and two near the bottom.

With any luck the pellet at the peak would throw the toss off balance, causing it to miss its intended target completely. Without said luck the bottom pellets might blunt the sharp edge of the blade at best. Whatever the case, the closest drone would be committed to attacking the Paladin in order to disable her or at least act as distraction.

 

[Rax Rosetta]

​

Ansgar would be the first to admit he had a death seeker mentality more often then not, but Sarge? The massive fool was a straight up suicidal son of a bitch. With the wounds he had, crawling up on top of the APC to try and go toe to toe with the Paladin? Unarmed no less? Stupid son of a bitch deserved to die at this rate, but the only problem with that was, well, it wouldn't be him doing the damn killing! As much as he hated the man's guts, if anyone deserved to kill the ex cleric son of a bitch it would be him, not some jumped up noble bitch that thought herself something important. That being said, with the drone interfering, he quickly slung his bow upwards, drawing another explosive arrow back, sharp eyes watching the sword spin upwards, drones from Brother trying to knock it off course it looked like. As the sword started its descent, Ansgar let loose with an arrow, aimed for its downward motion. the impact of the explosive would send the sword hurtling well and truly off course, should it hit properly, while he started advancing again, bow dropping to the side and quiver falling onto the ground behind him, gloved hands leaving no fingerprints to trace. "If anyone is going to kill that idiot of a soldier, Paladin, that will be me. Daft son of a bitch owes a wee bit too much to yours truly to be dying to some jumped up noble. Gauntlet taken, by the way. let us dance a dance of death."

Since Sarge was, well so royally incapacitated, Ansgar stepped into issue orders, being, by all rights, equally senior to the Sergeant, talking fast since he was expecting a fight in a hurry, since he had twice now interfered with the Paladin's little crusade, and would likely be really getting on her nerves now. "Sergeant is relieved of field command. Squad 3, floor it, Sarge be damned. If he hangs on, pull him in, if not, Bikesexual, grab him and drag him along, if risk does not outweigh reward, then continue plans for Squad 4. Brother, cover them and find them a clear route to the rally point for present Squads, don't wait up for me. The Paladin is mine, you daft sons of bitches." With bow discarded, most of its fancy useful arrows spent anyways, barring the incendiaries which, he suspected, would not be doing a whole hell of a lot of good, he was down to what he did best. Blades, and close quarters combat. He might be an assassin, well, more like a murderer, but he had just about thirty years of experience with his knife and blade, combined, now. He could damn well hold his own against some jumped up noble, and that damn fool Lionheart better not interfere. He was getting tired of everyone and their damn mother trying to play hero when all he wanted was an honest to good fight with this bitch.​

 

[Jakers]

Oh my. A lot of things were going down all of a sudden. The Chaos Witch was aware that their group wasn't in the best situation but it was like they were suddenly dropped from a puddle into an ocean. BUT. But! It also meant the Chaos Witch would do lots more killing.

Unfazed by the death of the useless NOAH Aresia didn't need to get told thrice to get on Tia's back. Standing up, the black-hair stumbled. "Urgh…" Did she… overdo it? No. No way. Clearly it as because of that damn bleeding that just did not want to stop! Whatever. The Chaos Witch would make sure her body would be drenched in enough blood that a small bleeding wouldn't even be noticeable anymore.

Making it herself comfortable behind Tia the Witch gave a small chuckle. "We'll see if she's still alive by that point. Now, sweetie, want me to follow any specifics? People seem to be awfully adamant today about that."

"Specifics? Hmmm…" Tia pondered, almost completely ignoring the PALADIN at first as she began to drive away, before realising what the white-haired farm animal had said. Oh, she'd get her turn. For now, she was but a mere annoyance, marked for death by sheer numbers later. Rearing her head to the PALADIN, Tia returned fire.
"HMM? SPEAK UP, FILTHY PIG WHORE!! Your English is pretty good, but I'm still mostly hearing 'oinks'... let me try and forge a response for you…" Tia used one hand to flip off the PALADIN, prodding her nose upwards with her other and making provocative snorting sounds. "Don't you worry, we'll be coming back, porkchop. Right now, I think we'd rather occupy ourselves elsewhere," Tia cooed out to the waste-of-space known as a 'PALADIN' in response, before turning back to her NOAH companion.

"Anyway. How about…" she muttered, wincing as she ducked low to avoid CLERIC fire, keeping a bodywork piece levitating to the side of Aresia like a shield to obstruct stray bullets. "Stop bleeding on my baby, maybe? Dunno what happened to your nose, but jeez, bleed on me if you have to…! Other than that, I command thee to fuck shit up! That's your forté, right?"

The engine roaring, Tia focused on maneuvering the bicycle in fast circles around the remaining CLERICs whilst trying to keep fire focused on the PALADIN, skidding Mixuki to the side to keep in cover behind cars when the gunfire became too heavy. However, as a familiar figure suddenly emerged from the APC, Tia was forced to hold her fire.
"S-Shit…! Sarge, you crazy bastard…!" Tia murmured, changing mags. "We've got time to route back to him… we just gotta make sure we clear out CLERICs whilst doing it…!"

Seemingly seeing an opportunity all of a sudden, Tia bolted forward, rearranging the wreckage of a collapsed car ahead into a ramp-shape as the Blackbird went airborne, the speedometer effortlessly reaching triple-digits as the two NOAH soared above the cluster of CLERICs. A duo of stray bullets embedded themselves in Tia's upper arm, but she was too focused to even acknowledge the searing pain.
"Let's hear one of those poems of yours, Witchy!"

"Gladly!" Aresia spoke up with a fat grin on her face, partially burying her face into Tia's strong and broad shoulders. Was riding a bike always this awesome? Heck. The Chaos Witch wasn't even driving it - more like an innocent bystander. Regardless, tightening her grip on Tia the crimson eyed women spoke up:

"Oh Lord of Inferno,
lend me your power.

No matter how many trembling souls await,
let me bring doom judgement upon them and burn everything without a trace.

The Divine Melody which marks the beginning of war."

Once again, circles started to appear around them, herald to the impending destruction the CLERICS were about to face. Aresia, however, hesitated for a second, clearly feeling another backlash of already destroying an entire base earlier. In response, the magical constructs flickered for a second before she executed the skill:
"ROT HORIZON!"

And thus, the symphony of ash and fire play'd its tune. While the two of them were spared it was close enough to actually feel the heat as an ocean of flames was unleashed in front of Tia's eyes.

Obviously, The Chaos Witch couldn't do anything but laugh like a maniac at this.

Blonde hair being blown across her face at the sheer power and her cheeks being licked by the heat of the nearby flames, Tia had to squint to fully see the fruits of Aresia's labour. Watching a cluster of CLERICs wail as they disintegrated, the NOAH's eyes widened. ...Getting front row seats had been even more exhilarating than she imagined.

It was a disturbing, scary amount of power that Tia was glad someone like her didn't have responsibility over. And watching it like this… it provided the most soothing feeling, in a way.

"This power… you sure know how to put on a show, huh?" Tia grinned, giving Aresia's hand around her shoulder a little squeeze. "Hold on tight, now. Making the landing…"

As she turned her head, however, her eyes were looking into something she had a feeling would be there. That moment of watching the fire was just to delay this. ...Her eyes were staring on top of the APC, helplessly watching as Mixuki made its smooth landing on the tarmac, to watch a bloodied, beaten, and half-dead Sarge: about to be executed by a fallen sword.

"NO, NO, NO-- AANNDREEE!!!" the shriek was at the top of her lungs. The man had been the closest to a 'father' she'd ever got within FEARLESS. And when she saw the putty and an explosion hit that sword out of the way - a miracle provided - she knew she had to take up that opportunity. Tears stemming from her eyes, she was willing to take a risk for the sake of that man, and for the sake of getting the APC moving again. Sarge had provided so much for her when she first joined FEARLESS. It was her turn to give something back.

"Sorry, Aresia…" Tia quietly murmured, looking back with some sort of sad grin. "I-I know you don't understand how I can care for 'humans', so… if you want to leave me to do this alone, that's okay. Just say. You may be crazy, but you're not as bad as they say you are. I just wanted you to know that."

"Huh?" The Chaos Witch seemed confused for a second before she gave the bike-lover a small chuckle. "Don't get all sentimental on me. It'd be way too boring to hop out now, no?" While the girl clearly couldn't care any less for the old-fart it was the mere thought of staying in action that kept Aresia following the biker. She could roughly guess what Tia wanted to do.

Letting go of Tia for a moment Aresia worked some more of her magic as a dim light inside her hands created a certain object which was soon offered to the bike lover as the witch's arms once again embraced Tia from behind. "If you feel even brave enough you might want to stick one of those into her, mhm?" While the crimson-eye welcomed the danger she wasn't completely suicidal - clearly aware that she'd lose a direct brawl with the other insane chick.

Blinking, Tia found herself somewhat touched by the Chaos Witch's words, for some reason. She knew many, many people who would abandon her at this point, and knowing Aresia was prepared to go into serious danger with her tugged on a heartstring, even if Tia really knew, that the witch just craved the action.

"D-Damn it, don't make me go all soppy…" she laughed, hiding the fact she was wiping away a tear. Gripping the seed tightly in her hand, Tia nodded. "All right then... let's do this. If I see an opening, hopefully you'll get to see what total bitch tastes like once we're done!" Hearing the words of the now in-command Angsar as she finished that sentence, Tia gave a swift message back to him.

"Razor!! First off, fuck you for calling me that, and second off, don't just stand there expecting her to come to you! Get to the front of the APC… we're… we're gonna try luring her into jumping off and attacking us. That way, the APC can drive, and the PACKAGE gets to safety. I don't care what you think of me… what you think of us NOAH, just be ready to have our backs if you think you're so good with that sword!!"

With that, Tia took a deep breath, charging forward alongside the APC to meet the PALADIN at the front with Witchy at her side. Now or never.
"Ooooh, ouchie, right in the shoulder! Too slow to even to even dodge that putty? I'm starting to doubt you could hit us even if you tried," Tia giggled, spreading out her arms as she drifted the Blackbird to a sideways position in front of the APC. Close enough for the white-haired demon to jump off and strike if she wanted to. Peppering the shield with bullets, Tia gave a provocative yawn. "Guess PALADINs aren't all they're cracked up to be, huh..."

Following suit, Aresia couldn't let this slip and jumped in, imitating Tia's provocative yawn before agreeing with the biker. "Well, what did you expect from some lowly human? A glorified pig is a pig nonetheless." Making sure the Paladin could hear her just as well.

 

[ERode]

"You, a paladin?" Elayna smirked, spitting in the living dead man's face, "A miserable pile of flesh like you could never ascend to Paladinhood, old man. At best, you'll be dead-ending as some no-face CLERIC."

The end would be coming soon, gravity bringing the longsword plunging into his heart, and the white-haired angel's eyes narrowed, ready to burn this oaf's dying gasps into her memory.

But the end never came. The pitter-patter of something striking her sword, followed by a deafening explosion was all Elayna needed to know that those rebel scum dared interfere with such a predetermined result. Filthy filth, the lot of them! Bringing out her right hand, the Paladin called forth a molten ingot from another world, a dagger forming in her hand, when, just as suddenly, her movements slowed.

With such a small force from each individual pellet, the JPOX shots weren't even felt through her armor when they struck, giving the binding material enough time to encompass the right half of her body in some strange and ABSOLUTELY disgusting material.

"YOU BASTARDS!"

Three guillotine blades slammed down behind her, forming a steel wall that shielded her from any further pellet shots, before the Paladin purged her armor, the JPOX-ridden suit disappearing to reveal her black bodysuit, the outline of her floral lingerie underneath.

Her left fist lashed out, smashing in between Sarge's eyes, before yet another annoyance popped up. That cow slut and her crazy magic whore were back for another ride, and, with all these unfavorable conditions popping up, the PALADIN's smile turned into bared teeth. Oh, they wanted their cock-slave back? Their replacement daddy? Fine, they can fucking have him. Grabbing the bleeding, nigh-unconscious man by the throat, Elayna's arm muscles bulged as she prepared to throw Sarge at those lesbian bike-fuckers, when the third, and final annoyance popped up.

The barrel of a rifle emerged from the open hatch, and, without hesitation, fired.

Instantly, Elayna's eyes flashed, her dagger turning into a blur. Though the bullets were supersonic, there were only so many places they could land when taking into account the positioning of barrel. Years of deadly training brought her to a mastery of the blade, and the genes of the princess that so thoroughly changed her gave her the finesse and dexterity required to deflect every one of the bullets. Some bounced onto Sarge. Others clattered onto the ground. Still more spilled onto the APC. But as a storm of sparks scattered before her, not a single bullet even grazed Elayna.

"FOXTROT, NADE!"

They were abandoning their still-breathing comrade then? Madmen musn't be loved so much!

A grenade flew out as the muzzle retreated, its load expended, and without any effort whatsoever, her gauntleted left hand snapped out, slapping it away.

Or would have, if it wasn't an impact-sensitive flashbang.

The radiance of lightning and the roar of thunder encompassed the APC.

Deafened by the unexpected weapon, Elayna couldn't hear Goblin's command through the radio.

"LIONHEART!! KILL HER!!!"

He did not see Sarge, broken and bleeding.

He did not see Razor, rushing in for the kill.

He did not see Tia, desperately trying to rescue her friend.

He did not see Brother, maneveuring to a different angle now that line of sight was lost.

All he saw was the billowing, white hair of the Paladin.

And all he heard was Goblin's command

Kill.

KILL! KILL! KILL!

Lionheart charged, legs carrying him at the speed of a high-performance vehicle, shoes disintegrating from the impact as his mind was chipped away, sharpened, into a narrow point. Color dissolved. Backgrounds disappeared. And there was only one thing to focus on.

His inkstone eyes widened, drawing in every minute detail in this silent, lonely world, where only his target existed.

And, like lightning through a pitch black night, Regana-Hier lashed out horizontally, cleaving through the guillotines splattered with JPOX.

The Third Secret Sword, Raikiri.

The world returned, flush with color.

And yet…

"YOU LITTLE SHITTTTTTT!!!"

…the Paladin survived. Knee and elbow pinching both sides of the flesh-rending edge, she blocked, no, negated the impact of the swing, leaping at the same time so his own superhuman strength would simply carry this new 'object' along with his sword. Releasing her grip as the swing completed its 180, Elayna sailed through the air, gracefully flipping thrice before landing thirty feet away from the APC, her shield, armor, and sword summoned all around her.

Her eyes alit with murder.

Oh, these maggots crawling all over New Eccelesia. She was dead serious now.

"Lionheart, that's enough! Corvus, pedal to the metal, we need to fucking leave!"

 

[Valor]

1 9 0 0

I've finally found what I was looking for
A place where I can be without remorse
Because I am a stranger who has found
An even stranger war
I've finally found what I was looking for

....

"What are those idiots doing?!" Gillian retorted among his command staff at the AFTERLIFE. While First Squad had successfully retrieved their objective and rendezvoused with Third Squad, they were spending far too much time attempting to fight the enemy. It was only a matter of time before more enemies arrived on the scene.

"Draw in all available assets! We need to get a grip on the situation ASAP and somebody get me a goddamn line with FOXTROT!"

"Sir! We've gotten an open line with TITAN, shall we deploy her?"

"Give me that." Commodore Gillian snatched the radio from the officer's hand, holding it to his ear. "TITAN, get your ass in gear, we need you out there... NOW!"

The Commodore watched as the Resistance intelligence officers kicked themselves into gear, shuffling across the room as the situation continued to devolve. At this rate, it wouldn't be long until all of their squads currently out on the field were wiped out. As the intelligence officers attempted to get in contact with the units currently engaged with the enemy, Julianne approached the Commodore.

"Gillian, we've got a major problem."

"What is it, STINGRAY?"

"It's Second Squad... they've..."

...

"...They've been attacked by a Praetorian..."

-----

First GLITCH, then ECHO, now NETRUNNER. The rising casualties were beginning to take a toll on FOXTROT's morale, burning the traumatic images into his mind. The FOX was no stranger to war. He had lost many friends before... he knew the consequences of war... along with the price that needed to be paid. Yet now, in the face of danger, FOXTROT was frozen, his empty eyes peering across the battlefield as the situation quickly devolved into chaos around him. As Goblin dragged the broken soldier into the APC, he ignored the roar of the APC's cannon, the screams of Sarge and the gunfire which dragged overhead.

His eyes focused on a familiar face, sitting beside him with a smile painted upon her canvas.

It was ECHO

FOXTROT reached out to her, "Why? Why did I have to survive... and you die?" His hands phased through the image, grasping at the air.

"Do not cry, my FOX... I will always watch over you." ECHO ran her fingers through unkempt auburn strands. Her touch felt so real. She trailed her hand downwards to his cheek. Suddenly, she drew her hand backwards, delivering a strong, hard smack to the side of his face.

"WAKE UP, ASSHOLE!" The image of ECHO disappeared to reveal Goblin, the grizzled military veteran that had dragged him aboard the APC. The battle continued to rage outside as Tia, Aresia and Sarge attempted to fight off the PALADIN that had so brutally killed Ji Yun. "People are dying out there! Quit acting like a rookie!" Hearing the Paladin impale the top of the APC, shaking the entire vehicle as if hit by an earthquake, Goblin quickly realized that it was going to take everybody to get this bitch off of the APC.

FOXTROT watched as Goblin popped out of the open hatch, the familiar sound of gunfire rattling as he barked for a grenade.

Snapping back into reality, FOXTROT deliberately picked a flashbang off of the nearby rack, knowing the PALADIN would instinctively knock the grenade away without a second thought. "Here!" FOXTROT pulled the pin, waited a few seconds, then skillfully bounced the grenade off the rim of the open hatch and into the PALADIN's face. While everything seemed to go off without a hitch... the PALADIN would prove much more difficult to kill than anticipated.

"You... you stupid peasants! I'll have all of your heads for this!" the PALADIN screeched. As the APC's engines began to whir to life, the PALADIN held up her sword, pointing it towards the vehicle. "Do you plebeians even know who I am?!" She growled, stomping her foot into the ground. "I am Elayna von Emmeria! Fifteenth in line to the Imperial Throne! You fools are beneath me!" The PALADIN had enough of these peasant antics, raising her sword into the air.

Perhaps these philistines would take her more seriously if she cleaved that stupid APC in half. The thought caused the PALADIN to grin as she charged the side of the APC, bringing her weapon down upon it. "DIE! PEASANT SCUM!" Before her sword could pierce the APC's flank, a massive fist of metal smashed against the side of her shield. In a supersonic crash that shook even the APC, Elayna was launched across the landscape like a ragdoll, sending her a hundred feet backwards and into the ground at mach 5.

A loud crash erupted across the battlefield as Elayna hit the ground. Despite the superhuman strength that sent her flying, Elayna was not killed by the impact. Slowly rising from the small crater she made in the ground, the PALADIN used her shield to hold herself up. "Wh-who... the fuck do you think you are?!" Elayna panted, surprised by the presence of a new figure, a brunette haired women with fists the size of motorcycles. "Another peasant? Hah! I'll kill you all!"

FOXTROT recognized their savior, one of the NOAH he had recruited several years ago. "Naomi!" FOXTROT shouted from atop the APC, "We're getting out of here!" He reached outwards, grabbing the TITAN by her over sized gauntlet as the APC finally began to move. 'Holy shit, she's heavy,' FOX thought to himself as he helped pull the NOAH atop the vehicle. Once she was safely aboard, FOXTROT decided to take control of the situation. They had certainly overstayed their welcome.

"Alright! We're getting the hell out of here. Tia, lead us out! Magna, put some damn fire on her!"

As the APC began to pickup speed, Elayna tried to run after the vehicle. "WAIT! COME BACK, YOU PEASANTS! I AM TRYING TO GRACE YOU ALL WITH MY PRESENCE! FOOLS! STAND TALL AND DIE LIKE THE RATS YOU ARE!"

Karin simply ignored Erja's qualms as the APC carrying Second Squad rolled away from the scene. Auratta's screams and pleads had no effect on the EMPRESS, who saw people as little more than a statistic. "Statistically, we had to leave one person behind to save the rest of us. Surely you understand that." Karin remarked, her voice devoid of emotion or guilt. "It was you, or Auratta. Be happy that I chose the Mistress, or you would have been the one to die." She added, knowing that Erja was professional enough to know a good decision when she saw one.

"She's dead now. Tough. Sacrifices must be made for the better of the many." Karin shrugged. As Auratta continued to beg for mercy, Karin simply flipped off the radio - condemning Auratta to her fate. As she stood in the APC, Karin turned towards Stafford. It seemed even the stone-cold Stafford had issues with the decision to let Auratta be killed like that. "Is there a problem? We would all be dead if not for my decision. One dead. That is much better than First Squad."

As they continued down the road, a sudden explosion hit the APC. The APC was tossed across the road, flipping over several times as it impacted against the pavement with each flip. Karin and the rest of the passengers were flung about like fruit in a blender as the APC finally crashed on its side. As their escape vehicle slowly slid to a stop, smoke began to rise from the open hatch.

"Wh-what happened?!" Karin coughed, her head spinning from the impact. Looking around her, it seemed like everyone was dead... or unconscious. She wasn't sure who was alive and who was dead from the impact of the crash. Struggling to her feet, Karin navigated to the end of the vehicle, pushing the backdoor open to let out the smoke so that she could breathe. "Stafford, Erja!" There was no response from either of them, either they were incapacitated, or dead. Quickly checking their pulses, she found that both were still alive. Before she could wake them, however, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"I'm not dying here. Sorry, guys." Karin muttered under her breath, raising her wrist to activate the active cloaking system of her exoskeleton suit. With the push of a button, the Empress vanished - turned invisible. She would use the members of her squad as a distraction so that she could sneak out. While it was unfortunate that it came down to this... Karin refused to die, not for these people, at least. She still had much she wanted to accomplish. She was going to bring down ECCLESIA.

Or so she thought...

As Karin casually stepped out of the APC in her active camouflage, a fist smashed against the side of her face, knocking her to the ground and breaking her active camo. "What?! Impossible!" Karin shrilled as she hit the ground. "H-how could you see me?!" The Empress looked up to find a raven haired women standing over her, no doubt the same woman that had killed Auratta just a few moments prior. "How the hell-" The woman kicked Karin across the face, before pulling out a blood-stained knife.

"No... NO! - wait... WAIT !"

The Praetorian mercilessly jabbed the bloody knife into Karin's chest, so this was Karin's fate.

---

Payback's a bitch,
and her stripper name is Karma...

---

"This is almost too easy."

The raven haired Praetorian turned her attention to the APC. She could see that there were two people who were still alive, although it was obvious they would not be putting up much of a fight. In the next few moments, the Praetorian pulled out Erja and Ade from the destroyed wreckage, standing over them. Who should she kill first? Choices... choices...

After some deliberation, she settled on the white haired women, towering over her with the same knife in her hands. Reaching down, she grabbed the woman by the hair. "Oh, you're awake. Well... This should be fun. Try not to die too quickly on me, alright?" She grinned, placing the blade of the knife against Erja's stomach.

Suddenly, the Praetorian vanished, a black projectile passing through where she once stood. As the projectile crashed against the ground, the Praetorian rematerialized in front of Erja, as if she could disappear and reappear at will.

"You..." A voice shrilled from a distance.

"You were the one who killed her!"

-----

(Several Minutes Earlier)

"Hurry up! The explosion was this way!" A dark haired woman darted across the street, a crimson scarf flowing gracefully behind her as she ran. Behind her was a SERAPH in an odd-shaped mask and tactical gear. Jake was a close friend of Valkyrie's, a combat medic in FEARLESS that would occasionally stitch the NOAH up after a few bad encounters. Although Valkyrie was not a member of FEARLESS, she still found herself working closely with the organization to get things done. Jake and Valkyrie had been investigating a lead on a local murder case when the city seemed to burst into chaos around them.

As they crossed through several alleyways, the duo suddenly came upon a destroyed APC. There were several bodies scattered about, with a raven haired women standing above them. Valkyrie froze at the sight of the woman, who had already seemingly killed one of the resistance members out of the APC. She recognized that face...

It was the one who killed ECHO...

"Stay here, Jake. I mean it. Don't do anything stupid." Valkyrie remarked before hopping down from their position and into the street. She watched as the woman picked up a person from the destroyed vehicle, readying her knife to stab the defenseless soldier. 'Oh, hell no,' Valkyrie thought to herself. She was not about to let this monster take another life.

Ragnarök! Bring upon your crimson wrath! Let us crush those that stand in our path!

In the next moments, several black spikes clawed their way out of Valkyrie's back, materializing themselves into a series of floating swords that gravitated in the air among her. Once the swords were summoned, she commanded one towards the enemy, watching as the projectile hurled itself towards her target. To her dismay, the sword merely passed through the woman, embedding itself into the pavement behind her.

So it was true...

"You..." Valkyrie began, clenching her fists, "You were the one who killed her!"

ECHO...

This is for you...

Valkyrie opened her palm, one of the hovering, sentient blades navigating itself between her slender fingers. Grabbing the sword in her hands, Valkyrie suddenly broke out into a sprint as she ran towards the Praetorian.

"Ragnarök! Let's do this!"

​

 

[Bismarck]

Sarge wasn't quite sure what had happened in the last few moments of this fight. He had remembered staring at his death, a small grin on his lips...only to find no sword impaled in his heart. Things only got more confusing after he was punched in the nose, moments after getting a good look at what the paladin had been wearing underneath. Perhaps death wasn't so bad, at least it wasn't looking that way until the Paladin had picked him up to throw him. Certainly Andre would be yelling, however he found himself being choked...just what a man with as much blood loss as he had endured needed, losing more oxygen!

In that moment time seemed to slow down as he watched bullet, after bullet deflect off a dagger, a few stray ones impacting his body with enough force to embed their crushed forms into him. After the flashbang was tossed, the old man could almost track each movement it made. However in one blinding flash, the old man found himself dropped off the APC, vision blurred with white, and ears ringing like all hell. Once again it seemed Andre would have to do things himself as he was put on the ground...a short fall, but no less painful to his already broken body.

His eyes opened a few seconds later, the afterimage of the flash still blurring his vision, though he could make out for a brief moment, the outline of a Paladin flying back at speeds he'd never seen a person move at before...and even better, a NOAH who he recognized, from his years of service! "Naomi!" His voice called out as if he was viewing his savior, however she wasn't going to help him stand back up, that was his own job.

Sarge growled as he stumbled to his feet, though it seemed he was too late. the APC was already leaving, and they had left him with no gun. The old bastard looked around for help...it seemed all that was left was Angsar, and Tia. Tia seemed to have her bike filled between herself and the Chaos Witch. So that option was gone. Though another seemingly empty APC was just down the street. So the bleeding old man made his way toward it..."Always gotta do everything myself, no respect for the old guy." The old man muttered as he stumbled to the back ramp, and pressed in the button to lower it. A small smile forming on his face as he noticed a familiar face in the APC, "Just drive...I'm going to start using the med kit to patch myself up." His words came off not as an order, but more friendly as he shut the back of the APC. Angsar would find his own way home like normal...and Tia had her bike.

So Andre picked up the medkit in the vehicle, from the spot he knew it would be at. He opened it wide, and set to work wrapping his own wounds. It would be a sloppy job, with morphine injected into his body it helped put him at just enough ease to relax, and finish wrapping his torso, and his arms up. His legs could wait, he hadn't sustained much damage there, save for one wound, which he had already wrapped up earlier with electrical tape...sure it was makeshift, but he'd rather use the cloth and linen he had for the more vital parts of his large frame. With his bleeding mostly stopped however, Sarge pulled himself into the gunners seat, and fastened in.

"Little Brother...Rubel...shove me if you need me to fire. I must rest, I've taken my share of bullets, and just about everyone else's share today." Sarge remarked as he pointed to a few of the red spots on his bandages. Laying his head back, the old man was left to rest. Whether or not Rubel would bother him, didn't seem to matter. He simply began to ponder his life, his existence, and perhaps just how lucky he was to be alive. But things kept being drawn back to that Paladin...the old soldier had spent his entire life training to be strong enough to beat someone like that. Yet he was little more than a rag doll to beat to death to that woman.

Andre's thoughts slowly were drawn back to his older brother...and to his days at the academy. A small grin forming on his lips, as he seemed to be drifting off into sleep. Though he tried to stay awake where he could, settling on talking to keep himself up, "Take us home Brother...take me to the only home I have left. I have so much to do once we return..." Sarge said softly, as he reached a hand out to pat the younger soldier on the shoulder, "Also nice pellets...paladin was wearing pink, and flowery lingerie under that bodysuit. At least you gave a man, that was set to die at that instance, a good thing to see before being killed." Andre joked, laughing as he tilted his head back to rest against the seat in the APC. He didn't have his knife, or his pistol anymore, just a radio he had shoved into one of his pockets.

Pulling out the radio, he made his final transmission for the day into command, "Package on the way...I'm separated, but with Rubel. Have a blood transfusion ready when I get back...and tell Foxtrot to leave my fucking gun with the nurses." Perhaps he was still a bit too cocky...swearing on a direct line to command probably wasn't his best bet. However the old man tossed the radio to the back of APC before he could be scolded.​

 

[Zombehs]

Lifting a hand from the controls, Magna twirled a finger through his hair as he sighed heavily. Squad One was really making a mess of things out there weren't they? How was he supposed to do his job if their members mixed in with the Ecclesian forces. Would GODFATHER give him an earful for friendly fire? Probably… Another heavy sigh and he drummed his fingers against the console as ED-100 shifted from foot to foot, impatiently waiting for the others to get with the program.

Oh? Refocusing on the situation as the others finally managed to clear the Paladin from the APC, Magna prepared to actually get to work. He couldn't help but smile when TITAN sent the Ecclesian ragdolling across the street and with the distance opened, he didn't need to hear FOXTROT's orders. The walker took a step as Elayna rose from the crater she had formed, and the missile pods on its sides finally opened up as the sigils on them flashed brightly. Muttering to himself as he fiddled with a screen, Magna couldn't help but grin a bit as his sensors managed to get a complete lock on the Paladin. Guess all that metal she carried around was useful for something.

As far as he had seen, the Paladin didn't show any blatant disregard for physics. Her shield seemed to negate most forms of attack outright, and her capabilities were no doubt superhuman, but she was still bound by certain limitations. He didn't need to eliminate her either, just delay long enough for the APC to escape. Man… he'd probably have to leave ED-100 behind though, and the thought honestly saddened him for a moment. It was his greatest creation, for the moment, and one he had honestly put a lot of time and work into.

But that was the fate of all tools wasn't it?

Sighing, he took aim and held the trigger down before shells shattered the street behind the APC and led up to the Paladin. Sweeping the guns back and forth for good measure, high explosive rounds reduced the asphalt and concrete to gravel as they kicked up a cloud of dust. Ideally her footing would be ruined now, and with his sensors still painting her clearly amidst the dust cloud, the first two missiles were launched. An eye strayed to the ammo counter at the corner of his vision, and he settled into firing bursts to conserve ammunition. Still loud enough to drown out the missiles' approach and destructive enough to keep the dust cloud raised.

The delay was minuscule, but couldn't have been more clear cut to Tinker. One of the missiles homed in on the locked target, and he tapped at a screen less than a second afterwards. The second missile exploded mid-air, meters from the Paladin. His eyes strayed towards the sensor screens to judge the effectiveness of his tactic before he frowned for a moment. Oh right! Another pair of missiles shot out and raced into the dust cloud again. All the while, he'd been moving backwards and opening the distance. Didn't want something flying out faster than he could react after all.

 

[Winter]

~"One finger represents one part of a personality, it's why people show who they truly are when they make a fist and decide to fight"~​

The music played allowed to the empty warehouse that made residence for the NOAH who on occasion would seek solitary to blow off steam, an orderly line of punching bags hanging before the five foot four inch titan. Naomi spent her time striking the bags without her weapons, honing her fighting skills while occupying her mind away from the nightmares that captivated her scarred mind. Every so often a bag would fly from the hook, sliding across the warehouse floor where it'd remain till she ran of bags to punch. The music helped, even if the lyrics hit close to home in how she'd interpret them.

Naomi had been at it for hours, working up a sweat as bag after bag was sent flying, the old style stereo moving through it's hand picked playlist as she retrieved the bags from the floor and hung them up again. She stood in front of the first bag and took stance to lay a heavy left hook before an earpiece lit up, the device laying beside the stereo. Naomi blinked for a moment before approaching it, raising it to her ear as her other hand pushed aside the brown locks of her hair. "This is Titan checking in".

~""TITAN, get your ass in gear, we need you out there...NOW!"~​

"Understood, moving to deployment now" She replied, pushing the earpiece into her ear before turning to make her way from the warehouse. The efficiency in deployment was not to be taken for granted as a car was already waiting to speed up her deployment and insertion into the field, she was given a full briefing from Intelligence as she made her way including an up to date detailing of the situation as it progressed. "Five to insertion!" the driver called back over his shoulder as the car took a sharp left turn down a side street.

Naomi moved to the door, opening it as she burst from the car at speed. She'd chosen a tactical approach via climbing a tall building that overlooked the battle zone, intending to insert from above for an optimal approach. She'd also have a much better vantage point... and the way down would be way more fun. Once at the top of the taller building she moved quickly to the edge, her teal irises observing the fight as her eyes narrowed, picking out important details. Once her adaptive neural augment kicked in, she prepared an entry strategy before leaping from the building.

Titan twisted in mid air as she plummeted towards the battle zone, the AN-10x Annihilators materializing beside her arms before they opened and encased her forearms, sealing tightly around them. She pulled herself into a ball with her fists aimed to absorb her fall, hitting the ground with a thunderous hollow boom as dust kicked up from her landing point. Almost instantly she broke forwards from the dust cloud, making her way to the fighting where she found the Paladin making a move to cleave through the APC, assuming the others had taken refuge inside.

Naomi closed the gap fairly quickly slamming her forward foot to the ground as she rounded a right hook straight into the shield of the Paladin, the aftershock chambers unleashing their volley on top of the blow to send her opponent flying. The mechanical fingers flexed as she watched the Paladin reappear, talking shit in their usual self righteous tone that Naomi cared little for. "Sup" she replied before smashing her metal fists together, allowing a small smirk to grace her features as she prepared herself for a fight. Well, that was until one of her fists was grabbed by Foxtrot who seemed relieved to see her.

"We're leaving? but I just got here" Naomi replied as she climbed up onto the APC, assisting Foxtrot since she herself knew her own weight was beyond expected average for her size. The APC soon sped off, causing her brown hair to once again be kicked into a slipstream from the passing wind as she watched the Paladin attempt to run after them. Naomi looked toward Foxtrot and managed a small smile, "Glad to see you're in one piece" she said before thinking to ask if everyone made it out. She decided against it when she remembered the briefing which detailed whom hadn't survived.

 

[Jakers]

"Goblin, Fox, you're a fucking godsend. I seriously owe you one..." the NOAH murmured through the radio. She'd deliberately positioned herself on a manhole cover so she could balance on her back wheel and 'pop' the manhole cover upwards to dodge an attack, but she didn't know if she'd be able to bring herself to let Sarge's body fly past her and hit the ground. Thanks to a well-timed grenade and smart thinking, though, she didn't have to deal with that. Thank God for experienced RONIN when you needed them.

Tia continued to empty her magazine on the PALADIN, changing mags without even needing to use her fingers, before realizing a certain someone was charging this way. Fast. Oh, shit, Arata was in kill-everything-in-sight mode?! "Weeeelp. She's fucked." Speeding out of there, Tia knew she couldn't stay anywhere near the PALADIN if Lionheart was planning to attack her; she and Aresia would probably get sliced to pieces by the all-consuming blade.

Looking behind her, Tia decided she'd watch the work of Lionheart from a distance, before her eyes narrowed in horror.
"No fucking way..." she whispered, silence wavering over the battleground for a moment. She'd caught Lionheart's legendary sword without even breaking a sweat, and was still deflecting bullets as if waving away flies. Her level of power had gone beyond a joke, even for a PALADIN. They'd tried so many things... as much as she despised the PALADIN for the crimes against her 'family', Tia had to admit that the woman was ironclad.

'Next time we take on a PALADIN, we definitely need to be more organised. Everyone feels like they're doing they're own thing!' The biker thought to herself, wincing as the white-haired devil began to make a move to slice the APC in half. As it did, some sort of low-pitched, screeching sound seemed to reverberate from Tia's body and across the floor. The air around her suddenly seemed to become 'thick' and 'wavy', but before anything more could been seen of this desperate release of power she didn't know she had, an impact that sent the motorcycle skidding backwards, her body instinctively lurching backwards to shield Aresia's. Keeping the bike stable when it should've fallen over, Tia wondered what the fuck that was. An artillery shell? No...

"H-holy hell... that's..." Tia whispered, lowering the arm that had been raised above her eyes to deflect stray fragments of rubble. There was no doubt about it: recognizing the figure as FOXTROT helped her onto the top of the APC, Tia cheered at the familiar face. "TITAN?! Oh, boy... talk about timing... am I glad to see you! Guess they didn't hold anything back in making sure this mission succeeded, huh?!" Like Tinker, she was one of the few NOAH Tia almost idolized, in a way, and speak of the devil: Magna and his ultimate creation had arrived in the scene as well.

The situation of desperation had turned back into one of hope once more. Sarge was okay. FOXTROT was unscathed, and the APC was in motion. The PALADIN, despite still alive, had finally been sat the fuck down for once. Hearing that annoyed screech behind her as Tia whipped the motorcycle around was music to her ears. Grace them all with her presence? Tia grinned as she looked behind her, having a devious plan to humiliate and push back the PALADIN even further.

Her eyes focusing in on a fire hydrant, Tia licked her lips and gave a wicked smile as she began to dissemble the thing, red parts flying off it one by one. However, it wasn't too long before it became apparent that Tia didn't really know how a fire hydrant worked.

"Hehehe... watch this, Witchy. Let's see how piggy likes a ba-- huh?"
* W H O O S H ! *
"Bl-bl-blargh--! *Cough*... *splutter*...!"

The water jet hitting her square within the face, soaking her front and peeling off the plaster around the bridge of her nose to reveal a small, perfectly circular hole. Wet strands of hair falling either side of her, Tia's face turned a bright shade of red as she was reminded that sometimes, she wasn't the brightest of sparks.
"S-shit, nobody saw that, did they? Don't tell anyone that happened. S-Say... uh... the PALADIN did it somehow...! A secret between you and me, alr-right...?" Tia whispered, wiping her dripping face with her sleeve as she drove out of the jet's trajectory. It was somewhat blocking, the road, at least, and it was a good thing she had such a tall figure and took it head-on like a champ, or she would've got Witchy dripping wet as well. That probably would've meant incineration and death of some kind. Thankfully, the spellcaster seemed perfectly dry.

Settling to slow down the PALADIN's assault by throwing smokes behind the APC instead, and using her magnetism with considerable effort to bring objects like broken cars between them and the PALADIN, Tia nodded as her orders to now lead the APC were given. Her tone seemed a lot more positive, now that the situation had turned into what seemed like a moderate success.

"Roger that! Follow me - and anyone who knows medical knowledge in that APC - get to work on Sarge! That man deserves a fucking medal for his efforts! People are still back there, but they should be able to take care of themselves with the pal' so focused on us," Tia chimed through the thankfully waterproof radio, not knowing that the old RONIN was patching himself up as she spoke. "We'll use the cover of the smoke to take an unexpected route! Thanks to TITAN and Lionheart's efforts, the pal's way behind us now, and I know just how to shake her off! Let's go, go, gooo!"

 

[Yvain]

NOMINE MENDOX AKA 'CORVUS'

Throughout the chaos, Corvus waited at the drivers seat as the APC was being loaded. Ah, yes-being the one doing nothing besides wait and leave. Something, he could deal with personally. But as soon as loud thuds were heard, it alarmed him as he was familiar that the paladin had landed just above him. "Ah-Fuck." He commented underneath his breath, shuffling in his seat as he tensed up slightly looking over his shoulder to see if it was clear.

At first, the man was getting ready to drive then and there, seemingly planning to leave Sarge out however he waited before Tia and the Chaos Witch came through to settle the situation to which he proceeded to drive quickly, attempting to cause the paladin to falter even for a moment (though it seemed like the women handled it well making him feel rather at ease).

"Well, fuck it. The mission is to take you all back. If they die so be it-Nothing new." He grunted, commenting rather bitterly as a way to just shut everyone up. How the fuck did drivers do this? Who had the nerve to yell at him? As he was being yelled at-Looking over his shoulder the male promptly 'shushed' whoever it was that was yelling at him. Christ-Why was it that the drive was getting yelled at?

"Ah-I'd like to see you drive." He muttered.

Although he appeared to be snarky per usual, it seemed as though he was being very concentrated -and annoyed- by the new crowd, his new peers. Practically speaking, he wished he was with the previous FEARLESS team before they retired. But good things have to come to an end at some point and thinking about it, he actually felt concerned a bit at those who were left to distract the Paladin.

/SOBS

Mobile friendly <3

Throughout the chaos, Corvus waited at the drivers seat as the APC was being loaded. Ah, yes-being the one doing nothing besides wait and leave. Something, he could deal with personally. But as soon as loud thuds were heard, it alarmed him as he was familiar that the paladin had landed just above him. "Ah-Fuck." He commented underneath his breath, shuffling in his seat as he tensed up slightly looking over his shoulder to see if it was clear.

At first, the man was getting ready to drive then and there, seemingly planning to leave Sarge out however he waited before Tia and the Chaos Witch came through to settle the situation to which he proceeded to drive quickly, attempting to cause the paladin to falter even for a moment (though it seemed like the women handled it well making him feel rather at ease).

"Well, fuck it. The mission is to take you all back. If they die so be it-Nothing new." He grunted, commenting rather bitterly as a way to just shut everyone up. How the fuck did drivers do this? Who had the nerve to yell at him? As he was being yelled at-Looking over his shoulder the male promptly 'shushed' whoever it was that was yelling at him. Christ-Why was it that the drive was getting yelled at?

"Ah-I'd like to see you drive." He muttered.

Although he appeared to be snarky per usual, it seemed as though he was being very concentrated -and annoyed- by the new crowd, his new peers. Practically speaking, he wished he was with the previous FEARLESS team before they retired. But good things have to come to an end at some point and thinking about it, he actually felt concerned a bit at those who were left to distract the Paladin.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

"I like how you say that as if we all have super powers," A sarcastic, slightly muffled voice remarked from behind the Noah known as Valkyrie. "I'm a regular dude that doesn't lift and carries heavy equipment, give me a break Val." This is what he'd signed up for, running toward big explosions and the monsters that caused them to maybe, keyword: maybe, save someone from bleeding out. At least he wasn't expected to take those monsters on, that job was left to the Noah like the one Jake followed currently.

Sprinting through the alleyways, suddenly he was stopped. The source of the explosion laid before them; corpses littering the wreckage of an APC. That wasn't the worst part of the situation, at least there were a couple of survivors for the moment. Standing among the wreckage was a raven-haired woman with a bloodied knife, holding one of the survivors by the hair. Even if that picture didn't scream bad news, the look on his friend's face did. Valkyrie was frozen, but then seemed to break herself out of it as the woman prepared to finish the survivors off. "So... I take it I shouldn't try to shoot her..."

As if to reinforce that, Valkyrie warned him to remain where he was at, not to do anything stupid, then leaped into action. Valkyrie was a nice girl. Jake counted her as one of his few friends, and she definitely deserved props for being able to deal with him despite his attitude. However, he diagnosed her with a bit of a hero complex. Basically it meant if someone was in need, she was likely to sprint into the thick of it with little thought. She meant well, but the young medic would prefer she didn't get herself killed. He didn't need another reason to stick it to the Ecclesians.

"Don't do anything dangerous... Yeah, because as a self-righteous, liberal rebel, I totally want to piss of the crazy bitch..." Jake murmured to himself as Valkyrie ran off, then taking note of the survivors once again. They were still moving, so that was something. Unfortunately, it meant he had to go do his job and keep them moving.

"Great... and here I thought I was gonna be able to sit on the side lines..." Hopping down from where they were a few moments after Valkyrie charged the Praetorian, Jake maneuvered an alternate path than where Val charged through. Rather than just charging forward where he could be seen plainly, it was likely best to head through another side alley and approach the area from a different angle. The Ecclesian might still see him, but hopefully Valkyrie would have the crazy bitch's focus. He wasn't going to get shanked today if he could help it.

Creeping out of the alley and making his way over to the two survivors, Jake knelt down, glancing over towards the where the Praetor and Noah would have begun their battle. "Alright. Congratulations on not dying yet. You want to keep it up, let's get the fuck out of here. Can you walk? Cause it's gonna be annoying to drag you and this... you know, I don't know what they are, but it'll be annoying to drag you both."

 

[Rax Rosetta]

​

Things went from fucked to royally fucked in the span of a scant few moments. First off, Tia's damn antics and cursing him out only got a snort from Razor, seeing the sword fail to accomplish anything worth a damn while Lionheart decided to launch the damn Paladin well and truly off the APC and yet, somehow, failed to kill the bitch. Leave it to the normals to have to clean up after the NOAH since, well, it seems they failed to actually kill the Paladin. She had been screaming her name earlier, what was it? Wait, Ansgar heard a damn familiar sound as 30mm rounds started ripping into the concrete around him. Now, normally, he might be able to take into account everything else going on, that Magna was currently firing on the damn Paladin to suppress her and cover the escaping people. However, normally did not include the ever so fucking helpful incoming fire from that bastard NOAH's walking tank, thing, whatever the fuck he wanted to call it. The incoming rounds, while they chewed up concrete and put craters in the ground, sending dust and chips of stone up everywhere, gave him a scant few moments to act. And act he would have to, lest he end up getting smeared by some stray round from the bastard's guns.

Cursing the existence of the NOAH, yet again, he threw himself to the left, covering his head with a free hand while he heard missiles start detonating, the sheer number of explosions and dust forcing him to keep himself down on the ground, unless he wanted to take a stray round to the chest or otherwise, and going off of what he saw before that damn fool Tinker opened fire, well, he couldn't be more than twenty or thirty feet away from the Paladin. While the autocannon fire seemed to slow down, becoming more focused, the barrage of missiles forced him to keep his head down. Shrapnel was a bitch, he knew that from the bombs used in ambushes and terror strikes against the Ecclesians. He also knew that shrapnel tended to fly about above the ground more than it would along the ground, low enough to catch him. Sure, he'd probably get a chunk stuck in him somewhere if he was unlucky, but considering the first few rounds of autocannon fire didn't turn him into chunks rather than a completely put together man, well, he seemed fortunate enough to avoid death still. At least long enough to get into melee range with the Paladin. What was her name again?

Right, some fifteenth in line or some nonsense, Ansgar considered while the explosions continued, the thick dust cloud limiting vision. Take inventory. Bow? Likely destroyed or lost in the explosions. Sword, still in hand, intact too, that was a small miracle. Knife? He could still feel it in his pocket, tucked away snugly in case he needed it. So, he still had most of his gear. Shades were lost, probably broken too. Bastard Magna owed him a new set, and he would be having words with that idiot NOAH as soon as he was done with the Paladin and escaped retribution. Seeing his blood on the ground tipped him off to the fact that, at some point, a piece of shrapnel had grazed his head and took out his communication device. Great, now he couldn't even yell at Magna to stop damn shooting and run. Options, cross the killzone and hide in the abandoned traffic. He wouldn't survive the dash. Stay where he was. Less likely to get hit, but wasn't accomplishing anything. Fine, fucking fine! Snarling, he started hauling himself forward, waiting for that damn fool Magna to stop shooting. Ears were ringing, blood running down the side of his head, shaken but not undeterred, he hauled himself forward, and would push himself onto his feet and get moving. If he thought being caught in the crossfire was a pain in the ass, the Paladin would be getting it worse. Sure, they were tougher than normal, but some walking tank thing should at least give the bitch pause and distract her enough to get in one good cheap shot. One good shot should be all he needed, she wasn't some omnipotent bitch after all.​

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Erja Liikanen - Team 2

​

Ignoring Karin's words, Erja stays on her gun, and during the radio talk never bothered to address her outside of some basic complaints, and a round bout sort of praise that was anything but. Looking out the forward gunner sight, Erja briefly notices the light from before, swiveling the gun by the rotary wheel it was already too late to fire on it, too late to shout a warning, all she could do was watch as everything seemingly slows down around her. Suddenly the sound of an explosion vibrates through the APC, the large military vehicle was tossed like the toy of an angry child, flipping on its side, Erja slams head first into the hatch on the second or third flip, it was fortunate she was in the gunners station, keeping her largely contained in the twirling mess. A stowed auto-cannon clip comes undone, its weight and pointed ends catching under the poncho, partly ripping her undershirt as it falls to the floor.

Unaware of the end of the crash Erja finally slides from the gun turret to the APC side..or rather it's new floor. Stirring a bit she felt a brief touch on her neck, but whatever it was left quickly, the panicked yells in the distance.. Karin. God damnit..can't move..if you kept the radio on..would have known about those eyes of hers..

Suddenly her body felt like it was being dragged out, then another through the back hatch. Head aching she starts to come to.

"Oh, you're awake. Well... This should be fun. Try not to die too quickly on me, alright?"

Hearing the voice it was fairly clear who it was, that murderous bitch, her intuition was right... Poncho top pulled back, she felt herself being lifted off the ground by her hair, which as a few hairs are pulled out by the root, the painful sensation helps wake her even more, though what came next caused her to give pause, feeling cold metal and a wet sensation touching her skin, it was that damn knife.. Summoning her strength there would be no begging, she would punch the bitch right in her smug, crazy face. Times like these made her rethink her armament, a handgun would have been useful. A bit of blood ran from her forehead stinging her eyes.

Suddenly the grip on her hair is gone, touching both feet down, she immediately falls to the ground, her right ankle was sprained, never mind the battering the rest of her body took. Leaning against the back of the APC Erja looks into the back, seeing a rather grizzly scene it was unlikely anyone else lived, as luck would have it her SVD was laying at the ramp, scope broken bother otherwise okay. Taking it in hand as the other woman flew past to engage her would be killer Erja shouts out.

"Revenge is no good if your dead! Be careful of her! She can see through walls and fires some sort of energy! We've lost too many of yours today.."

It seemed to be the freelancer who came in from time to time, pondering trying to assist her, Erja knew for the moment she would be no use, reaching over to grab Ade, this was going to be a problem. Suddenly a man with a...bird face? A mask?; Came running, armed with an M-4 Rifle and a medical kit, asking if she could walk and saying some rather pointless things she sighs. "My right ankle, its either broke or sprained, I can limp on it, but I doubt I'll get far without something to lean on... And heh..we aren't out of here alive yet."

Looking down at her belt, she only had one SVD mag left, plus the one in the gun, she didn't dare look under her poncho to see how far or how badly her shirt was torn. "..shit.. two mags.." Thinking on the situation, they weren't in any condition to fight, least not this close in. The knife bitch would come for one of them eventually if given the chance.

"Alright, listen up...we can exchange names later... For now let me lean against your left side, that way we both can have a hand free for a gun, I'll use my right arm, you your left, we'll do a modified combat drag on faceless, grab the back of her..or his Jacket around the shoulders..tempted to take that damn mask off..see what they are."

With the SVD in her left, the sniper pushes herself off of the ground, wincing beneath her own mask slightly. Reaching her right arm back and downwards to grab the left shoulder, or rather the shoulder of Faceless's jacket.

"Urrgh..okay you get the other, let me lean on you and we go in lock step...I don't want to leave your friend here alone..I hope she'll win or run if she has to.. She saved me, already I failed to pay one debt.. Lets just get off this street. Somewhere with cover, observe... Maybe with a route to the sewers if we need to run. Unless you have some escape route. She has the same eyes as the Noah sniper I was working with, dangerous..but if we can cover our heat, or head behind thick enough cover she shouldn't notice. Unless those eyes aren't the same."

Pondering her options, this didn't sit well with her, but two banged up soldiers and one medic wouldn't be enough to take that thing down.. And she didn't believe that Noah could on her own either. With the APC over turned they didn't even have the autocannon to count on. She wanted revenge for her short lived partner, for the team and yes, even for Karin, but unless she found some way around that monster's abilities it would be for nothing. She remembered some of the limitations of Ire's own eyes, maybe there was some way to make use of that, but for now escape is what the needed to do.

"Running is always a hard thing to do...stay alive..revenge ends if you die." Letting her gaze briefly linger on the second Noah who saved her on this day, something had to be done.

"Alright, let's go before the clerics catch up, we aren't in any position to fight out here." Looking at the plague masked Medic, Erja begins to wait on his lead for the pair to walk off, holding her SVD in her left hand.


​

 

[Astoria]

\\ Juniper Hamilton
\\ Team III

As it turned out, Juniper's decision to relinquish command of the gun was… not a very good idea. Even so, the raven-haired girl made good on her task; with the simple small-caliber handgun that she still held with her, she covered for FOXTROT and GOBLIN's retreat to the APC. For this situation though, Juniper was not liable to wait around for misfortunate events. With uncanny timing, she missed the direct appearance of the PALADIN that besieged the APC and its guard.

Having accomplished the mission goal of getting team one onto their escape vehicle, the intelligence operative made it her business to be somewhere else, and that somewhere else was following Rubel to one of the abandoned APCs, away from the immediate chaos of the bitchy PALADIN slugging it out with the heavier FEARLESS assets. Ignoring the dead of both friend and foe, she moved with a light foot, keeping out of the way with how minimally armed she was. Although the immediate area around her had been cleared of CLERIC soldiers, she engaged and surprised one leaving an alleyway. Two rounds of .32 ACP to the back of the man's body left him crumpled on the sidewalk—a close enough call.

"Nice ride." A short hop, and Juniper clamored into the back of the fresh APC, finding Rubel as the driver once again, and a battered and bloody Sarge in the gunner's seat.

"Not this time, old man." Returning the handgun to a concealed position on her body, she spoke firmly to the half-dead man. She wanted the seat this time, and the grizzled soldier was better off lying down in the back. Taking the seat, she scanned their surroundings.
By now, the nature of the battle back at the first armored carrier had changed. Thoroughly battered by the white-haired PALADIN girl, the battle-scarred vehicle was beginning to make its escape. Lionheart was in a battle fury, but Juniper knew he was no match for Elayna. Not bad, but not fast, enough, kid. Reinforcements had also arrived; TITAN this time, it seemed, and unlike the sword-wielding NOAH, she'd given the PALADIN a good knocking too. The battlefield actually looked manageable now, and it seemed like Juniper or anybody else would have to take any other unnecessary risks.

"Rubel, let's book it. If we could pick up RAZOR and LIONHEART, that'd be a nice bonus." Now, if everybody else could properly disengage, that would have been great. But instead, as she swiveled the gun camera over to a new target, she swore. Magna and his mech was firing at the PALADIN. It also happened that their APC was directly behind his line of fire. Although it was armored, it still didn't take much for an APC to be shredded up by 30mm autocannon. Juniper launched herself off the gunner's seat, ducking to the vehicle's floor and keying her radio at the same time.

"CEASE YOUR GODDAMN FIRE!"