Slavegear 2 - Katsura's Mask

The twins stopped dancing the instant they had the information and were intently watching and listening to the conversation between Barker and Raksana. They give Barker a mischievous smile

"We can't reveal our secrets right away"

"That wouldn't be any fun"

"But if you're a good boy on this mission"

"We might share something"

Roksana's warning is taken more seriously.

"Understood"

The deer shares a wide, unhinged smile. "That is..." she pauses, clicking her tongue in thought, "...a very wide question." As her attention shifts, so does her fidgeting, returning to a continuous foot tap, "I've killed all walks of life~" the smile she gives you, it could make a baby laugh. Soft and kind, "I think i've been picked for this because I've snuck into hospitals as a nurse and left more then a couple of beds and rooms bloody." She watches faces shift before she raises a calming hand. her smile faltering at the suggestion she might be just some random serial killer, "Not... just... at random, calm down. They were semi important figures... influencers... The hospital was just an easy way to get at them." She shrugs, "basically medium risk targets for like... angry neigbors, pissed off internet geeks with money, local and international buisnessmen..." She bites her lip in thought a moment, "Like... an important buisnessman depends on his best accountant. What a potential employer might do is find me, or find some contact to me, tell me, 'Hay, go off this paper pusher.', and leave me to set it up!" She shrugs, "Im a hit-doe! The pink coat, the kindness, the innocence~" she purrs closing her eyes in thought, "They didn't suspect me at first but... all that cctv footage added up..." she lets out a soft, defeated huff "Stupid government agencys... pouring over my work more then I pour over it myself!"

"So to answer your question, It wasn't really a single target that put me on death row... it was many targets."

Geoff took no interest in the gun locker, evidently preferring to perform his art up close and personal. He resheathed the dagger and, rather than undo the knot he had tied in the seat belts, simply ripped them apart.

Despite his size, Geoff practically slunk off of the VTOL once the door opened, his footsteps light and silent to the naked ear, and he needed no help from the stealth suit to blend into the shadows, almost supernaturally.

Inferno wrote:"I'll keep low until you guys have dealt with the boring stuff. Leave the devastation of this place to me." He gives a maniacal grin, and something wicked appears in his eyes. "Maybe a whole platoon will give me some satisfaction here."

"Eeeh?... We got a bad ass over here." Barker remarked, smirking slightly with a raised eyebrow:
"What's your story, sparky? You burn down an orphanage or something?"

"I guess you could bond over that." Roksana giggled "Seeing as you literally burned one."

"Damn it woman, you will not let this go, will you." Barker narrowed his eyes "It was 20 years ago. Most people moved on."

"Your sweetheart from Bellwatch certainly did." Roksana frolicked for a few steps toward the edge of the roof "I wonder how she's doing."

Barker turned toward the horizon, his expression became uncharacteristically harsh. You saw his fists clench, nails digging into his palms and he scowled, the muscles on his jaw tightened:
"...I will kill that woman..." he muttered, his voice frosting over "...before I die, I will kill her, and everyone she loves..."

Gamma & Epsilon wrote:"We can't reveal our secrets right away"

"That wouldn't be any fun"

"But if you're a good boy on this mission"

"We might share something"

Barker uncomfortably shivered, looking at the two with apprehension "...yeah, I don't buy this innocent child act. For all I know you're freaking 80 years old under all that plastic face mask and titanium.
How'd Shi Tong fish you out of the Union police net anyway? I thought all you Rumbas were nabbed by the Adelheid P.D. after the incident and locked inside a padded cell."


"You just can't stop digging your own grave, can you." Matej sighed, approaching the edge of the roof as well and looking around for a fire-escape ladder.

"Shut up Vampire boy, I'm not the one who jumped at the opportunity to shove himself inside a hundred-meter tall walking coffin." Barker bristled.

Slasher wrote:What a potential employer might do is find me, or find some contact to me, tell me, 'Hay, go off this paper pusher.', and leave me to set it up!" She shrugs, "Im a hit-doe! The pink coat, the kindness, the innocence~" she purrs closing her eyes in thought, "They didn't suspect me at first but... all that cctv footage added up..." she lets out a soft, defeated huff "Stupid government agencys... pouring over my work more then I pour over it myself!"

"So to answer your question, It wasn't really a single target that put me on death row... it was many targets."

"Eehhhh... so you're a contract killer." Matej nodded in appreciation "Okay, I getcha. This could be useful."

Geoff wrote:Despite his size, Geoff practically slunk off of the VTOL once the door opened, his footsteps light and silent to the naked ear, and he needed no help from the stealth suit to blend into the shadows, almost supernaturally.

Barker didn't hear you move past him, turned, finally noticed you and jerked away, clearly startled and wincing:

"What are you, a ghost?" the merc exhaled.

"Alright, I think we got our bearings now." Matej flicked through his Data-pad's touch screen: "We got a 7 kilometer hike to the enemy HQ. How you guys wonna do this? Travel by rooftops or a hike down the street level?"

"We should probably utilize our new Stealth technology either way." Roksana examined the urban-camo gloves of her armor "Wouldn't do if the local P.D. spots us prematurely."

Geoff didn't stop to listen to the discussion going on, and kept on walking past them, over to the side of the roof.

With a single surprisingly elegant leap, he hopped up onto the top of the wall, and began lithly skittering along the rooftops in the direction of the target building, as agile as a cat.

Kaylee Brown wrote:[
"Eeeh?... We got a bad ass over here." Barker remarked, smirking slightly with a raised eyebrow:
"What's your story, sparky? You burn down an orphanage or something?"

"I guess you could bond over that." Roksana giggled "Seeing as you literally burned one."

"Don't lump me together with those kinds of cowards." He replies with clear venom in his voice. "People like that make me sick."

He looks forward. "I only go after prey that can fight back. There's no satisfaction in killing the weak."

He then looks back. "If you wonder what my deal is, I summarize it. I used to be an underground fighter, where anything went. But there was a disagreement on the way I would retire, which flared up so bad it burned 3 underworld bigshots, 16 of their guards, 7 other gladiators and the crowd." He gave a disonant smile. "Heh. After that, had a name and price on my head. Gave trouble, gave income, led to an atypical job for me. Had to kidnap a young girl, guys claimed the brat had special genes or something. So went there, walked in, grabbed the brat and told her dad I had her. I wanted to see what he would do."

Then he smiled.

"We fought. It was a splendid fight. Two equals, doing their best to take the other down, our bodies moving in an unchoreographed dance as we knew that one moment of laxness would spell defeat. Either with negative essence or ancient metal as body parts, he did well against my body and flames. Just when I thought I could lands the winning blow, his brat jumped in and struck my throat and jaw. I was stunned, unable to properly breathe. All I could do was lay there and see the specific glow around her busted knuckle, the focus on her face, and the fire in her eyes. I passed out, you know, little air. When I woke up, I was already detained, deprived of my movement and flames, and I heard that my punishment was decided. Death. The only question was what way."

The then looked at Barker, the joy of the memory gone. "And I chose to be executed. Apparently, Shi Tong chose otherwise. I don't know what he was thinking, recruiting me anyways. But here I am, denied my own death."

The twins wait for Inferno to answer, adding in a quick comment

"That's rough buddy"

They then continue on to answer Barker. Seeming to each speak in more complete thoughts, but still in that same strange staggered fashion the group is getting to recognize.
 
"I guess we'll give you a bit of knowledge. If only to ease your aprehention. Unlike the common Rumba you see every day, we are a unique variant"

"Not stolen souls from decades ago, but lab grown children. Raised and trained to be able to handle the Plume of Dusk easier. Foreknowledge, proper mental and physical training. All that jazz"

"Our mechanical bodies and biological souls are about the same age. Give or take a few years, but knowhere near the eighty mark you assume"

"As for why we still have our abilities is a very simple matter of manipulation, fear, and planning by our dear creators. They set up a serries of dead man's switches tied to hidden EMP explosives and to the continued runtime of our hacking. Governemnt agencies aren't going to just shut it off"

"So they kept us under constant watch with turrets and guards and chains that prevent our dance hacking while they found and disable the bombs over the course of two years. Once they finished up the plan was to disable us and make us as common shakled Rumbas"

"Fortunetly the offer from Shi Tong came through and we jumped at the opportunity. If it wasn't for him the plan was to try to break out and kill as many guards in that prison as we could before we died in the fight."

"Or we just made up everything and are simple Rumba's who have been running from the P.D. for years only to get recently caught and saved by Shi Tong before they could remove our hacking. In the end it doesn't matter because you're going to need the abililtes of all three of us Rumbas regardless of why we exist"

The deer raises a brow at inferno, "you better not be lying about your skill because theres gonna be a bootyload of pissy army dudes wanting our heads after we do our thing and off this very dangrous man. I'd prefer to leave with my fur intact" She clears her throat drawing the serrated knife and gently testing its tip with her index finger before very gently, and idley dragging the flat of her thumb across the blade to test its sharpness. She smirks at Matej, "Yea- I suppose that would be the... quote on quote "Legal" term for it." She says 'legal' with a pair of air quotations on each hand, "Assassin, hitman, contract killer... Murders murder when its on the books." She scoffs sheathing the knife and crossing her arms, tapping her bicep with two fingers, "Jeez- Can- Can we get a move on!" She looks around the roof searching for some way to their objective "I'm back in the open air and I feel like I could bounce off the goddamn walls!"

Inferno gave a shrug at the comment of the deer. "If you can't take the heat, you should stay out of the kitchen. Get good or get out kid, I have no interest in changing your diapers."

He passed the twins, and also gave them a look. "Don't flatter yourself with claims of necessity. All tools are replacable."

He went forward. "Now let's go, the sooner this done, the faster I can see if there's any fun to be had from the main man."

Inferno wrote:"And I chose to be executed. Apparently, Shi Tong chose otherwise. I don't know what he was thinking, recruiting me anyways. But here I am, denied my own death."

"Ah, you follow the way of the Samurai, the way of the Sword. Seeking worthy foes and an honorable death." The cultist bowed his tattooed and hooded head "Your way of life is worthy of admiration. I commend you."


"Great..." Barker muttered, barely audible and catching a very sour expression "...the nut-jobs are multiplying..."

Gamma & Epsilon wrote:"Or we just made up everything and are simple Rumba's who have been running from the P.D. for years only to get recently caught and saved by Shi Tong before they could remove our hacking. In the end it doesn't matter because you're going to need the abililtes of all three of us Rumbas regardless of why we exist"

"Don't refer to yourselves using demeaning names, girls." Roksana pleasantly smiled "If you don't respect yourselves, others won't either."


"You're still robots though. I don't understand why you're making a fuss." Barker said non-nonchalantly "Besides," he shrugged "the software code you use to control your bodies, is no different from the code used in common Rumbas that clean your house and patrol the streets as CCTV cameras."


"Barker..." Roksana smiled sweetly "If you refer to us as vacuum cleaners, one more time, I will shove my hand so far up your ass, it's gonna come out of your mouth.
I mean that literally, I have the hydraulic power. You'll turn into a human accordion.
Would you like that?" she tilted her head.

"Oooo, you're in such a fabulous mood right now." Barker cringed and brushed passed.

Slasher wrote:She clears her throat drawing the serrated knife and gently testing its tip with her index finger before very gently, and idley dragging the flat of her thumb across the blade to test its sharpness.

A very thin line of blood appears on your thumb and a tiny red spec on your index finger. This wasn't a typical run-of-the-mill army knife. This was custom made for special forces. Soren make, just like everything else in your equipment. Judging by its heavy weight and razor sharp edge, the penetrating power is immense. In the right hands, this blade was more deadly than a firearm in close quarters.

Inferno wrote:"Don't flatter yourself with claims of necessity. All tools are replacable."

"My, my, how pragmatic of you." Roksana released a strange smile as she moved passed "You'd fit right in with the army."

"Which army is that?" Barker gave her a side glance.

Roksana caught a slightly startled expression, as if she had said more than she intended to, then smiled and shrugged before brushing past.

Geoff wrote:With a single surprisingly elegant leap, he hopped up onto the top of the wall, and began lithly skittering along the rooftops in the direction of the target building, as agile as a cat.

"Wa- Hey!..." Matej called, watching Geoff leap onto the next roof and sighed "..guess we're taking the roofs."
Entering a command on his Data-pad, the batpony promptly flickered and turned completely invisible, only his SMG remained, hovering in mid-air by a strap over his shoulder, as he prepared to jump.


"Mind your weapons." Roksana called, flickering out of existence "They're not stealth-coated like your armor. Sling them behind your back or something, so your cloak will hide them. You don't want some teenager catching a sight of a floating gun on his TikTak live-stream."


"Damned zoomers." Barker gritted his teeth "Mass producing Data-pads turned every god damn kid into a glorified news reporter. Can't walk two feet without some jackass catching you shooting a guy in the background, while he's filming his mukbang."

Roksana burst out in a genuine giggle "Barker! You're a genuine old person."

"Feh" Barker hid his expression by turning invisible.




With a running jump, you made the first leap onto the adjacent roof. Most of your teammates soon faded from sight, only the soft thumping of boots echoed beside you, and the soft splashes of puddles marked their location, as you ran down one roof and leaped over to the next, and the next.

The journey was haphazard and difficult. Some roofs were too far away, separated by long streets that forced you to change direction, other times the adjacent buildings were taller or shorter than your current roof, forcing you to jump down or climb up for several stories, using the grappling hooks you found strapped to your belts, while those who could fly, did so, with a rather unsettling spectacle of bodyless wings that flapped through the air for several seconds, before folding back under the invisibility cloak.


Roksana fell back to communication via the earpiece, her words but a soft whisper in your ear, not audible to anyone in the vicinity but you, as she called out potential threats or obstacles in the way. A police helicopter passed overhead, forcing you to stop for a moment, staying perfectly still until its projector of light moved away and it veered off somewhere.

Some drunken guy vomited from a window above, as you tried to climb up to the roof, which prompted some very creative and fast paced maneuvers on your end to dodge the incoming projectile. Some street performers were drawing a heavy crowd to themselves, most of which were looking roughly in your general direction, which forced you to alter your route again and a few police officers down the street level once glanced up, as you leaped rooftop to rooftop, forcing your team to pause for a second, until they looked away.


A light rain had started, its drops periodically falling onto the invisible shoulders and hoods of your teammates, just barely outlining their silhouettes, but up here, above the street lights, you were still virtually just shadows in the darkness. The heavy storm-clouds above roared with thunder, as the ambient lights of the city reflected off its misty surface, and you noticed several skyscrapers so tall, they pierced the clouds.


Some 30 minutes had passed before Roksana called for a stop. You didn't immediately understand what brought this on, until you realized you've reached a very large venue, some 25 meters in width, and several car lanes going in both directions, and even a row of palm trees that grew right in the middle, dividing the opposite car lanes.

There was no jumping this length, the line of the grappling hook wasn't long enough either, and the target HQ was on the other side. The venue seemed to stretch in a straight line up to the horizon, in every direction, as you looked left and right.
But this wasn't the biggest issue.


A massive police blockade had been established, closing the streets off on both ends with well over a dozen police cars standing in front of somea bank entrance in a half circle. There were barricades closing off the road on both ends, dozens of cops down below, their guns drawn and aimed at the bank.

A SWAT van was parked around the corner, the SWAT team itself nowhere in sight. A police helicopter hovered high overhead, its projector light searching the roof of the bank and even a passing glance revealed 2 police snipers sitting some 25 meters away from you, to your left, on the same roof as you. Those were just the ones you spotted by accident at a quick glance.



"Oh man, are you kidding me?" Matej quietly sighed inside his stealth-mask, his voice virtually inaudible across the roof, but heard just well enough in the earpiece "We have to go through that?"

"Our target's on the other side." Roksana's voice whispered in your ear softly "Can't be helped."



"I WANT A LARGE PIZZA! A LIMOUSINE AND A FREAKING HELICOPTER!!!" You heard a drunken or perhaps deranged voice from below and noticed a guy with wild eyes and scruffy clothing, leaning out of a half opened door to the bank, holding a weeping woman and holding a gun to her head:

"BRING THEM IN NOW OR I'M GONNA START BUSTING FOOS!!! I'LL BUST A CAP IN THEM!"


"Sir! Let go of the hostage and put the g-" The police negotiation tried to cut in with a megaphone, while hiding behind a police jeep, but the deranged guy barked louder:


"SHUT UP BITCH!! BRING ME THE PIZZA, BITCH! AND BRING MY EX-WIFE HERE TOO! I'LL BLOW HER BRAINS OUT HAHA!!!" The scruffy man laughed manically.


"Ugh..." Matej exhaled, then turned with a start.
It looks like the 2 police snipers some 25 meters away hadn't heard him.


"...relax." Roksana's soft voice whispered in your earpiece "...nobody spotted us yet... they can't hear us if we speak quietly... how do you wonna play this?"

The twins are now actively looking for other snipers as they answer.

"Silently escalate and use the chaos to move undetected"

"Distracted cops will keep them off of us for the actual mission"

"The twins are onto something. We should escalate their situation." She stares down at the gathered police force, concidering sticking a knife into one of the snipers. Her hushed voice comes easily heard through the speakers "Im concerned if we off those snipers the ones below try their comms and know somethings up even if they dont know its us. Contrary to my name... Spilling blood and leaving evidence before we even reach the target is poor form in my line of work." Her eyes flick around the crime scene, "How to silently pour gas on these flames..." she bites her lip in thought.


(Happy birthday Twilight! :>)

[Happy Birthday Twilight!!!]

Without a word, Geoff starts to make his way across the rooftops in the direction of the SWAT van, looking for the best route to climb down to ground level.

(Thanks guys.)

"Let's just ignore this." Inferno says.

"The moment this situation escalates, it's over sooner, which means less time for us to work with fewer enemies." He states factually. "The longer all these guys stay here, the better for us. So we go around as close as possible and don't interfere. Also keeps our fingerprints off this mess."

"Also, we need to put Noisy escaping over there on a leash before he runs off again."

Gamma & Epsilon wrote:The twins are now actively looking for other snipers as they answer.

Your mechanical eyes whirr and click as you look across the scene and zoom in on certain spots where needed. The magnification wasn't large but it provided a clearer picture. The men in dark-blue tactical uniforms began appearing in your vision, you took notice of their numbers and placement.

They always came in pairs, sniper and his spotter with binoculars. Two on your left, on the same roof as you, 25 meters away.

Two more, some 40 meters to your right, on an adjacent roof, but still on your side of the venue.

And two more, on the venues opposite side, on the balcony of a building right next to the bank.
6 men total. That's everyone you can spot from your current visual angle.



"Say," Roksana softly whispered, looking around "do you think you could hide behind that large row of air conditioner units back there and hack into the local police comms? No need to brute-force your way through, just piggy-back on their signal, so we could listen in on their communications. It could give us a heads-up, if shit hits the fan."

Slasher wrote:"How to silently pour gas on these flames..." she bites her lip in thought.

"We could just snipe the hostage taker." Matej shrugged, probably, he was virtually invisible, only the gentle shower of rain revealed his vague silhouette:
"Its going to take these geniouses the better part of an hour to figure out it wasn't one of their men who fired the shot."


"What if there's more than one hostage taker?" Roksana pondered in a jolly voice.

"Kill them all," Krys spoke in monotone "Storm the bank and viciously slaughter every hostage taker in sight. They promised death but did not deliver, it is an afront to my religion."

"Okay, lets maybe not start a bloodpath" Roksana sighed.

Inferno wrote:"The moment this situation escalates, it's over sooner, which means less time for us to work with fewer enemies." He states factually. "The longer all these guys stay here, the better for us. So we go around as close as possible and don't interfere. Also keeps our fingerprints off this mess."

"Yeah, I second that." The merc audibly winced, leaning over the edge of the roof "Let these jokers look the wrong way. The more they're focused on the hostage taker, the less they're focused on us. Makes it easier to slip by."

"The cops look jumpy though," Matej noted, leaning over the roof as well. The dozens of cops huddled behind the barricades and squad cars on street level looked soaked from the rain, on edge and jittery, pointing tgeir guns at the bank entrance, as the hostage taker spit out another incoherent rant and vanished inside the bank, closing the door behind him.


"So what if they're jumpy?" Barker shrugged "Stealth-suits are a prototype technology, the common folk don't know they exist. Even if a cop spots a vague silhouette in the rain, he's more likely to chalk it up to fatigue than suspect a black-ops team sneaking past him."

Geoff wrote:Without a word, Geoff starts to make his way across the rooftops in the direction of the SWAT van, looking for the best route to climb down to ground level.

"Jeff Dunham's improvising" Barker wearily called, as you snuk past the snipers, toward the left edge of the roof. Looking down you spot a rickety fire-escape staircase, made of rusted metal, leading down to street level.


15 floors below, you got a clear look at the SWAT van. Its back doors were open, the SWAT team nowhere in sight. Only a technical officer and the Sergeant in charge of the unit were seen. The sarge was leaning halfway out of the truck and speaking into his earpiece, his eyes locked on the computer monitors inside the vehicle.

The technical expert was busy fussing over some equipment racks that were offloaded and stood outside the van. It took you a good minute to understand what you were looking at, before goosebumps ran over your skin.


Killer Drones. Actual remote controlled robots that people often labeled as 'Rumbas'.

There were several kinds.
Massive, humanoid shaped, 2 and a half meter tall hulking things, every inch of their bulky bodies covered in heavy-plate bullet-proof armor. Their heads flat and blast proof, a red thin line glowed where the eyes should be. One hand equipped with an oversized riot-shield, redundant, considering its armor.

The other hand was a minigun, a compact one, but a minigun, nontheless.

There were 2 of these ghastly things, standing inside the weapons rack. You knew just enough about urban warfare to know these things were trouble. Virtually bullet proof against conventional ammunition, they were slow, heavy and loud, but once they got moving, there was no stopping them. The mountains of armor just mowed down everything in their path, either by their bodyweight or minigun.

To take out something like this you'd need either thermite explosives or high caliber armor piercing rounds. These things were a nightmare.


Nearby, a dual-blade-copter drone hovered in mid air. This thing was smaller and could fold itself to fit on somebodies back. Twin engines whirred silently and the red light on its tiny camera blinked on, its 5.56 mm round gun adjusted and moved left and right, up and down, as the police technical officer tested its controls on the joystick.

Looks like he's making a pre-flight check before the drones deployment.

Geoff skips onto the top platform of the fire escape without a sound, as if he were as light as a feather, and with slow, purposeful steps, begins making his way down the staircase to the next level, not taking his eyes off of the technician the entire time.

The girl peaks her head over the side of the fire escape, "Whots yur fookin plan big man? Gonna go down there? Maybe pick off a cop or two? What when your shadow is actually spotted eh? Think you'll live life better as swiss cheese?" Slashers mocking tone comes through the radio and if Geoff were to look up he'd see the slight silhouette, "What are you a mute? Got sign language? Cant talk cuz of a silly invisibility cloak? For such a big guy its funny to see you losing to a social que." Her tone is bitter and mocking. These weren't half hearted jokes, the smile behind them was clear that she was making fun of you, "You think one of the faces plastered all over your skin will spot the bullet arcing for the back of your head before you do? Or do you fancy just liquifying yourself against that mech over there. By all means im willing to sit here and watch your limp, broken body, slam against the concrete, your blood flow to into the gutter like rain, and into the sewer where you ultimately belong."

"Or! you could talk to us! and we could do whatever your about to do... together!" Her cheery voice is grating to the ear against the radios speaker, "...either way its a show..."

Inferno took a look from above and muttered to himself. "Hrmmm... Given the force they brought, it would be fun to fight them. However, I don't think the recruiter would be very happy with this detour, seeing how much of a target it would paint on our backs."

He frowned as he muttered something else.

Then he activated the radio and spoke. "If anyone wants to enter the playground here to deal with their pathetic murderboners, be my guest. The ones who aren't so cowardly they have to pick on the weak and defenseless, come with me for a chance to be free."

"Everyone, listen to me," Roksana's voice echoed in your earpiece, soft but firm:
"I need you to hear me.


I know what you must be feeling right now. I feel it too. This is the first time you've been outside, since being locked in a gulag for months, maybe years.

You want to stretch your legs, you want to fall back to your old habits. You want to let loose the energy that build up until now.
I will not restrain you. But I want to draw your attention to one thing.


We're on a battlefield." her voice came off with uncharacteristic steel in her voice, starting to sound digital and mechanic.


"Do not let the dazzling city lights and people in fancy civilian clothing fool you. This is a warzone.

Our enemies use covert tactics, they have many faces and will exploit any weakness. A single mistake can spell your doom, or your team mates. If you think like that, you won't be caught off guard."


Roksana's silhouette faintly turned to face you:

"A battle is decided not by better equipment, or number of soldiers or even superior firepower.
Its decided by unit cohesion.

The ones better coordinated, the ones who work better as a team, they are the ones who win. And war is an excellent natural selector."



Roksana paused for a moment, before she went on:
"Understand this - no one, will care about you, except the people standing beside you, right now. The ones who crawl through the mud in the trenches beside you, the ones who get shot, bleed and kill, beside you. They are the only ones, who will ever, truly, have your back.

No one else will give a shit. Ever.
Shi Tong, in his ivory tower won't give a fuck whether you live or die. You're a fucking number to him. A serial code on a Neurochip kill-switch. He's not your ally, your boss or your friend.

The people beside you, they are your family now. Like it or not. They are your brothers in arms.
So you have two choices now - die alone, or stand together. Whether your objective is to survive... or to win."

Roksana's voice died down, growing silent and blunt over time. After another pause, she continued:
"The key to unit cohesion is proper communication. Please state your intentions, advice, and we will agree on a plan together. That, is how we will win."

Geoff wrote:Geoff skips onto the top platform of the fire escape without a sound, as if he were as light as a feather, and with slow, purposeful steps, begins making his way down the staircase to the next level, not taking his eyes off of the technician the entire time.

You step down the rickety steps as light as a cat, gliding down without a sound, the light rain just barely accenting your invisible silhouette. The technician was speaking into his earpiece, watching the flying drone and adjusting something on its chassis, when the rusted metal step on the staircase leading down to the 13 floor suddenly gave way. The step had rusted on one side and when you put your full weight on it, it clanked and clattered painfully loud, sending a spray of rust and metal dust down below.

You just barely caught yourself on the guard rail, preventing your fall, your foot sinking through the loose step, up to the ankle. But the sound of breaking metal was sudden and loud enough that both the sergeant and the technician below jerked their heads in your direction.


You were on the staircase between the 13 and 14 floors. The two officers fixed their eyes on you, then seemed to look past you, up and down the fire-escape, before the sergeant reached for his earpiece:

"5-9 god damn it, I thought you had the rooftop secure." You heard his voice just barely, more read his lips than anything. The sergeant waited for someone to reply, before he spoke again:

"If there's a fucking paparazzi screwing around up there, I swear to god-... 5-9, check the fire-escape ladder." The sergeant said, raising his SMG right at Geoff and scanning the ladder through his ACOG scope, moving his gun up and down, methodically scanning every inch of the fire-escape.



Up on the roof, the sniper remained unmoving, but his spotter peeled off, took out his SMG from his back and began silently moving toward the fire-escape ladder. His eyes glossed right through Slasher, who was leaning over the guard rail, right next to the ladder.

Inferno watches the scene with a slight hint of amusement. "If you look this way, you'll get a demonstration on what happens if you fuck up while going solo."

Slasher doesn't move a muscle. keeping her eyes on the spotter as his eyes move past her. As soon as his head is past her, she takes a big step back. her hand hovering over the undrawn suppressed pistol at her back as she carefully creeps backwards, "Keep going down..." She growls quitely over the radio, "We'll find a safer way to grapple down and around. Try not to die before we get to the actual target big man."

"While that spotters distracted, and that snipers focused on whatever's over there. we can grapple down to the street and hit the ally-ways. Cut through straight to our target right? do we have a map?"

"An Alternate route then"

"There is a also a map with our data pads"

"Let's all meet in the alley connected to this building"

"Away from the eye's and ears of the police"

"Discuss our next step"

Gamma and Epsilon wait until the spotter isn't looking at them head to the edge of the building that is connected to the alley way. Using the archetucture and eachother the twins scale down the building nimble and silent as actual cats.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Geoff wrote:Geoff skips onto the top platform of the fire escape without a sound, as if he were as light as a feather, and with slow, purposeful steps, begins making his way down the staircase to the next level, not taking his eyes off of the technician the entire time.

You step down the rickety steps as light as a cat, gliding down without a sound, the light rain just barely accenting your invisible silhouette. The technician was speaking into his earpiece, watching the flying drone and adjusting something on its chassis, when the rusted metal step on the staircase leading down to the 13 floor suddenly gave way. The step had rusted on one side and when you put your full weight on it, it clanked and clattered painfully loud, sending a spray of rust and metal dust down below.

You just barely caught yourself on the guard rail, preventing your fall, your foot sinking through the loose step, up to the ankle. But the sound of breaking metal was sudden and loud enough that both the sergeant and the technician below jerked their heads in your direction.


You were on the staircase between the 13 and 14 floors. The two officers fixed their eyes on you, then seemed to look past you, up and down the fire-escape, before the sergeant reached for his earpiece:

"5-9 god damn it, I thought you had the rooftop secure." You heard his voice just barely, more read his lips than anything. The sergeant waited for someone to reply, before he spoke again:

"If there's a fucking paparazzi screwing around up there, I swear to god-... 5-9, check the fire-escape ladder." The sergeant said, raising his SMG right at Geoff and scanning the ladder through his ACOG scope, moving his gun up and down, methodically scanning every inch of the fire-escape.

Up on the roof, the sniper remained unmoving, but his spotter peeled off, took out his SMG from his back and began silently moving toward the fire-escape ladder. His eyes glossed right through Slasher, who was leaning over the guard rail, right next to the ladder.

Remaining completely motionless, Geoff waits until the sergeant's scope is aimed elsewhere on the ladder, and then slowly raises his foot back onto a stable part of the step.

He then opened his lips slightly, as far as the threads binding them would allow, and emitted an almost perfect mimicry of a cat's meow like a ventriloquist, to trick the soldiers below into thinking it was just a stray animal that caused the noise.