Slavegear 2 - Katsura's Mask

Gamma pulls, or more pushes up with her forearm, the balaclava off her face in order to get a better view and crouches down. Using one of her knees and the remaining upper arm of her damaged arm to support the weapon she aims at where she believes Keener is. With a roll of the dice Gamma opens fire with a series of controlled bursts at Keener's location using up the rest of the existing magazine.

As she fires, to the best of her ability, she makes sure that she isn't directly hitting any civilians.

Geoff stumbles as the thoughts not his own race through his mind. As he regains his footing, he begins to shudder, and starts making a muffled grunting noise, the closest to a laugh one can make without a tongue.

Without warning, he then leaps at Krys, his knives drawn and raised, ready to plunge them deep into the man's eye sockets.

Try as he might, the chattering of the whispers began gnawing away at Inferno, his face becoming more of a scowl. Then he grunted, clearly bothered. He tried to redirect his attention elsewhere, but with Keener being not clear to spot through conventional means, frustration only grew.

And then there was the suit.

Already not cool with it being alive and gnawing away at stuf, Inferno saw only one option for it. He grabbed the garments, and tore them from his torso to pieces, revealing it to the outside world. Which must be quite the weird sight, a floating torso with no legs. He wasn't done yet, as he did the last thing he should have done.

Letting out a roar like a lion, his skin began to look charred and his hair caught fire in many colors. If one could see his eyes, they would have a crazed, yellow glow to them. With his transformation, his body shone light like a beacon and he lost any inhibition.

And as such, he dove straight to where he thought Keener was, swinging his arm to smack the man for a brawl. He looked around with a maddened glint in his eyes, sniffing out any bloodthirsty people to fight.

In a sudden flurry of motion, everyone seems to come to a stop. From Gamma's perspective, it seemed particularly eerie, every one of her comrades coming to a slow halt, as if they were robots, who's batteries had suddenly run out, as if they were marionettes, who's strings stopped being pulled, making them freeze in place, unable to move without direction.

Slasher stuck in a weird pose, the knife still held in her palm, reared back, as she readied herself for the throw that never came. Krys' fireball dissipating. Geoff frozen mid thrust, his dagger's tips sheer millimeters away from Krys' eyes. Matej and Barker freezing, fingers stuck on the triggers, unable to pull. Inferno's hands stretched toward the suits fabric on his torso, stopping just short of ripping it to shreds, unable to complete the action he wanted, as a series of words appeared in his retinas, and then, so did for everyone else.
Everyone, except for Gamma.











"ITS NOT MY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAULT!" Roksana hysterically shrieked, whipping out her sidearm and placing it up to her own forehead, fingers desperately fumbling, trying to reach the trigger, before she too, froze.

All emotions washed away from their faces - Geoff, Inferno, Slasher, Krys, Matej, Barker and Roksana, their features relaxed, eyes looking empty and hollow, vacant and cold, stuck like wooden mannequins. Only Inferno's eyes continued to glow a dull yellow, without a consciousness behind them, skin charred and hair ablaze.


"Neurochip, Activated." He said in monotone.

"Neurochip, Activated." Roksana repeated, her voice so eerily similar and void of emotion, it was like hearing a synthesized voice app.

"Neurochip-"
"Neurochip-"
"Neuro-"
"Neuro-"
"Neuro-"

"Neurochip, Activated." every single one said, voices intermixing into a monotone cacophony, before they all said in unison:


"Search and destroy protocol, engaged." As if horiographed in advance, everyone member of the team except Gamma, suddenly upholstered their firearms, aimed them in Keener's direction, and turned invisible.

Your team seemed so calm, coordinated and cohesive. In stark contrast to the rest of the city, and as you turned invisible, the first screams reached your hearing.













The pedestrians on the street lunged at each other like rabid animals, wailing with fists without rhyme or reason, blood sprayed the sidewalk as one tore off a chunk of skin from the cheek of another and began chewing. His face became covered in blood, as he was bit from behind and his carotid artery sprayed the three of them in a fountain.

Shattering glass and distant screams filled the air across the city, soon followed by frantic gunfire. You heard a tank shell explode somewhere, before the gunship a few kilometers away opened fire onto the street, releasing its entire payload, before abruptly leaning into a building and exploding into a searing fireball and crashed to the ground.

Soldiers around the crater were shrieking like deranged animals and hysterically laughing as they shot each other point blank, staining the sidewalk red.


Lights were starting to come on, in the windows of apartment complexes around you, soon followed by gut wrenching shrieks. You saw a woman violently stabbing someone with a knife repeatedly, in one of the windows, a completely deranged, gleeful look in her eye, as the window was sprayed red.



Gamma crouched down and opened fire, her extended 17 bullet magazine firing 3 round bursts at a time, in her best estimation of Keeners location. The projectiles cut through the air, hitting nothing, as far as she could tell. She simply shot at the rain and saw nothing that could indicate any damage. Keener had faded from sight like a ghost. You couldn't see him, not even his silhouette in the rain.

The rest of your team soon fanned out and raising their rifles opened fire as well, extremely controlled bursts, all aimed at Keener's last know position. Inferno, Geoff and Slasher could see themselves open fire, moving in a low crouch, methodically scanning and pulling the trigger. They seemed exceptionally calm to the outside.


Inside, however, their minds were ablaze. You were screaming incessantly inside your own head, unable to control your body, unable to do anything but watch yourself move like a marionette, against your will. And your will was only one thing - tear, destroy, savage, kill everyone and everything around you. Tear them apart, then your self, you wanted to peel of the skin from your flesh and screamed silently inside your own head, because you couldn't.

This. This must be what madness felt like.



Your aim was momentarily thrown off, as a window shattered several floors above you and a man fell flat on the sidewalk, right in front of you, his body making a soft crunch as it sprayed blood everyone on the pavement. Not a second ticked by, before the man rose on his broken arms, bones poking out of his torn flesh, wild eyes darted in your direction and blood stained teeth bared, he shrieked and lunged right at you, wildly swaying his broken arms as if he was rabid.


Inferno effortlessly raised his rifle and shot him twice in the head, the man's eyes went wide and rolled into the back of his skull as he fell flat on his face right in front of you.


Gamma suddenly noticed an invisible silhouette in the rain, some 7 meters away from where she was aiming. The silhouette darted into a nearby apartment complex, busting the front door in with his shoulder and disappeared inside the building.


"Baker Street 23, push up." Slasher said in complete monotone, calling out the number of the apartment complex for others, as the unit continued to move beside Gamma, forming up single file behind her and keeping their guns raised and pointed at the doorway where the silhouette vanished, while Geoff and Matej brought up the rear, raising their rifles and scanning the windows above them, and the street behind them.



As you neared the entrance door, you saw a woman with dirty hair and wide eyes sitting on the stairs, chewing on a severed arm with concentration, her entire mouth stained red. She looked up at you and hissed horribly, letting the severed arm slip from her grasp as she lunged right at you.

Geoff turned around and shot her twice in the chest and once in the head, in the span of 1 second, his silenced pistol releasing three quiet pops in the night.


"Flashbang." Roksana stopped Gamma from advancing, and unhooked a grenade from her belt, while you and Barker covered the door. "Fire in the hole."

She hurled the grenade in that exploded violently and everyone rushed in single file, scanning every inch of the entrance hallway. There were a lot of corners here, a wooden staircase leading up and a massive lobby with dozens of doors on the first floor.

You saw a corpse on the floor right next to your feet, it was missing its head and left arm and seemed gnawed at in several places. Taking your eyes off it, you saw a middle aged man that suddenly burst out of an apartment door with a meat cleaver and charged right at Slasher, shrieking incessantly and frothing from the mouth, half his teeth missing.


From such a close range, Slasher didn't have time to raise her rifle, so she rammed the butt of her gun in the mans jaw, knocking his to the floor, then quickly re-arranged the rifle in her hands and shot him twice in the forehead.



"Scanning." Inferno said, as the team spread out, watching every angle with rifles raised. The Kirin looked at the floor with a vacant expression and knelt down, touching the dirt on the staircase and tracing it with his index and middle finger.

"Fresh mud. Keener went up."

Forming up single file again, you began silently ascending the stairs, rifles scanning each corner and sector. On the second floor, you passed by a girl who say by herself on the stairs, giggling to herself and cleaning her bloodstained thumbs, her eyes were gouged out. She made no reaction to your approached and continued to quietly rock back and forth, giggling faintly, so you passed her by, keeping your rifle aimed at her head, until she faded from view, as you ascended two more floors up to the 4th one.



"Apartment 46" a text message appeared in your retina, sent by Geoff, as the man tracked the mud prints on the floor. They seemed to be leading to that apartment, its door was busted off its hinges and left half open, faintly creaking as it swayed.

And then a sudden burst of electricity rushed through your body, making you grit your teeth in pain. Another lightning strike shot through the sky in the same direction as last time, and you looked through the window on the far side of the hallway. The lightning had struck the top of the tower.


And the tower suddenly flashed and turned semi-transparent.












You collapsed to your knees and exhaled, your mind suddenly clouded. You felt numb, as if your limbs were made of cotton candy, they obeyed you poorly and a migraine was pounding in your head. It took you several seconds to notice the silence that slowly settled over the city.

No screams, no frantic gleeful shouts. Only silence, and quiet crying, pained whimpering in the night. You realized the whispers in your head were gone, for the most part. They were still there, somewhere, deep in the back of your head, but you couldn't hear them as clearly as you did before.

Looking at your palms, you realized you were fully back in control of your body. The thoughts of violence were gone as well. Your mind was so clear, it felt almost strange, you got so used to the mad silent shrieks you felt earlier.


But everything was largely quiet now, your mind and actions your own.


Matej looked pale as a sheet, leaning heavily against the wall, holding his submachine gun as if it was a plush animal, the only thing giving him comfort. Barker turned around and vomited over the floor, he kept wretching for several seconds.

Krys' eyes were half closed, he looked like he was praying. Roksana turned to face a wall and actually opened and closed her eyes several times, standing at an angle that wouldn't allow you to see even the whites of the side of her eyes. Finally she pulled up a thin scarf from her neck and tied it across her eyes tightly, creating a blindfold of sorts.

She was breathing quickly, visible scared.


The only one who wasn't affected was Gamma. She never heard any whispers to begin with, and felt no violent urge. Whatever happened to the people around her, didn't affect her at all. At least, on a physical level.


The door to the apartment where Keener vanished, creaked faintly, pushed back and forth by the wind.
A text message appeared on your retinas again, reading:

Neurochip - Deactivated

"What the fuck.... What. The. Fuck?!" She shreeks her hands going to the back of her head, tears welling in her eyes, suddenly going over the radio, "What is that thing Demon?! You knew about it didn't you!" She her question directed at shi-tong her tone accusing before it shifts to realization, "F-F-Fuck taking out the Nerochip." She stares down at her own trembling hands, "That loss of control saved our lives... W-We..." her eyes flick around searching for an answer before they flick to the wall, in the direction of the pillar, "I-... can still see it. Its-its-its like... its burned into my fucking retnas! I was going to try to rip out your eyes Roksan! I... I couldn't think about anything else!" She paces back and forth across the room staring at her palms, hyperventilating.

Only static fills the airwaves, as you call to Shi-Tong. You couldn't hear him at all. It almost felt as if a jammer was active, or something interfering with the radio signals.

Roksana finally faces your direction, her synthetic skin pale, if that was even possible "...what are you talking about..." She swallowed "You're... telling me all that was.. real?" She 'looked' down at her palms through the scarf on her eyes: "I... I thought I was just having a mental breakdown... hallucinations, visual, auditory, its common with Rumbas."


"It was real." Matej adjusted the collar of his shirt, tilting his head and heavily breathing "That fucking whispering... its like... a million insects where chattering inside my brain... telling me..." he painfully grimaced "I couldn't understand them at all, but its like... they told me to do things... and I did... its like I wanted nothing else in the world."


"...the fuck are you talking about?" Roksana 'eyed' him, frowning.

"The whispering!" Matej yelled out "Didn't you hear it!?"

Roksana 'stared' at him for several silent seconds, before saying "...No."

"Then why the fuck did you try to blow your own brains out!?" Barker grunted from the other end of the hallway.

Roksana lowered her head "...I thought my eyes had malfunctioned. I thought I was the one doing this to you. But my self-diagnostic came out green, every time I checked it. I got scared. You were about to murder each other. I didn't know what was happening, so I.." she bit her lower lip.

"But... you didn't hear anything?" Matej clarified, looking at her suspiciously and in a baffled manner "No insects clattering, no whispers, telling you to murder everyone in sight?"

"...No." Roksana waited a moment, then 'eyed' Gamma "...I don't think she did either. Her Neurochip never activated."


"I don't want to interrupt," Krys' quiet voice came over the earpiece "But there is a trained killer inside an apartment, not 4 meters away from us, that is likely growing aware of our presence, and if we don't get our crap together soon, he will, and we'll be in deep shit."

Slasher inhales sharply through her nose and then exhales out her mouth, pulling herself together, "We... We gotta keep going. Finish this mission, and get the hell out of here." Her terrified eyes unwillingly turn back in the direction of the pillar, "I... I dont think the demon is going to have an answer for us. We... I dont want to be near that thing." She stares at the doorway where their mark is, "Rea-...." she shudders, before her eyes grow focused, forcing herself into the moment, "Ready..." she draws her knife ready to breach.

As the party has their break down Gamma awkwardly reloads the UMP45. She grins when the mention of her not being effected by the pillar is brought up.

"Any want to trade me for a hand gun? I can't really use this thing with one arm effectively"

She holds out the weapon with that same grin

"Also dibs on the Desert Eagle that Keener has"

Once the mental restraints were gone, Inferno was heavily breating. Part of it was to collect himself from the current events, or so it seemed.

He trembled, then let out the roar he was denied, shaking the glass that wasn't broken yet. He got up, looking absolutely livid, more like a wild animal then a man. You weren't sure if he was fully released from the grip the tower, or if he was actually originally confined in a zoo.

"Two times, Shi Tong..." He growled. "Two times too many, you denied me what's mine..."

He stomped on the ground to get attention. "I'm moving out, with me!" And thus he took off after Keener, reloading the shotgun after the rate it had fired. He cursed more under his breath, as he remembers the act of using a shotgun to give two headshots. He didn't mind getting gory, but that was just overkill.

When Geoff regains control, the first thing he does is draw one of his knives again, and make a light cut along his arm, just to make sure he is back in the driver's seat.

Matej silently accepts Gamma's UMP45, and passes her a silenced pistol. Reaching over his back, he pulled out his own submachine-gun and now held two UMP45's, one in each hand and aimed at the ceiling, as he inched to the doorway, just behind Slasher:
"Got your back." he whispered.

A long cut appeared on Geoff's arm, as he drew blood with his blade. Barker grimaced wearily as he witnessed this "...would you mind tattooing your new kills, after the mission?" the merc said, then glanced at Inferno even more weary of the outburst, before falling in behind the Kirin.



You burst into a relatively spacey apartment, the living room of which was littered with broken glass. At a brief glance, you estimate it has roughly 4 rooms, a separate kitchen and a bathroom. All the windows were closed and covered by thick window blinds, the only source of light was a large lamp on the ceiling. The flatscreen TV on the far wall was cracked and cratered down the middle, traces of blood covered both it, and the carpet.

Only one body was in sight. You blinked and realized the body was still alive. Adrian Keener was sitting on the floor at the far end of the living room, leaning against the wall and staring at his palms, his balaclava mask was pulled down, revealing his pale, scarred face, he was fully de-cloaked. His arms, were drenched in blood, up to the elbow.

You stepped on a shard of glass and Keener's head darted in your direction immediately. As your finger inched toward the trigger, the man turned into a blur, rolling over his shoulder behind a large sofa and turning invisible on the fly, you only saw the tails of his cloak billow in the wind and glow with green hexagons before dissipating in thin air. A split second later two pops faintly echoed across the room and the only light source in the living room exploded, the lamp raining glass shards over your head, plunging the room into near complete darkness.

Keener was using a silenced weapon.

Slasher peeks her weapon around the rooms corner. If her pistol has a flashlight she turns it on fast strobe and shoots 5 rounds into the sofa Keener dove behind, "You saw it too!" She calls out into the room, "How did you get away from that pillar Keener!? We ALL felt that shit!"

She nervously looks to her party members, "We have you surrounded... but... Goddamnit! I have questions!" She roars into the room at him.

"Unless he's a Rumba" Gamma fires a pair of shots into the darkness

"Don't care, fire in the hole!" Inferno barked and he created a fireball in his free hand. The he threw it into the room, at the couch. Partially to hit him, but also to create a lightsource that couldn't be taken away with a single bullet.

"Block the exits, don't let him out!" He readies the shotgun. "I'll fight him head on."

Emiting a frustrated growl she pushes in behind Inferno. 'Keener is 9th dan. Cant tell inferno he cant take Keener outright. I can try and slip a knife into keeners back while he's probably deconstructing inferno.'

She huffs flourishing the knifes weight in her palm as she waits for Keener to engage their big metal boy.

"Got. Away...?" Keener's voice hissed from an undermined location, echoing across the room, his raspy tone filled with bitter venom "I didn't have your fortune of being leashed by a slave-chip!"

Five silent pops echo across the room as Slasher sprays the sofa, turning her strobe light on. Dust rained down from the ceiling and two silent pops shattered her flashlight, knocking her gun to the side. You couldn't be sure in the dark, but your barrel could have been bent or cratered from that.

You couldn't tell where the shots came from, you didn't see a muzzle flash.


The room became filled with bullets silently riddling the walls and sofa, as Gamma opened fire through the open door. You could hear wallpaper cracking and glass shattering as your line of bullets carved a zig-zag across the living room.

Inferno burst into the opening, his orange fireball spinning dizzyingly fast and almost blinding in this pitch darkness, as he hurled it at the sofa. The furniture almost exploded, falling onto its back with all four legs hanging out front and casting wild shadows across the room as it burned with scorching flame.



"I'm no one's slave.." Matej muttered, starting to breathe heavily "I'M NO ONE'S SLAVE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" The boy burst into the room spraying everything in sight with both UMP's held akimbo. A dark object suddenly flew out of the hall, inside the apartment and struck him right in the forehead. Matej shrieked, falling flat on his back with a large, bloody bruise materializing on his forehead. The object that struck him was dark and cylindrical in shape, rolling out into the corridor outside the apartment and under your feet, before it suddenly released plumes of pitch black smoke right at you, hissing furiously.

Within seconds the corridor outside the apartment was filled with so much black smoke, you couldn't even see your own hands, and the smoke was rapidly pouring into the apartment as well.


Roksana burst into the apartment, her rifle scanning every corner and shooting at whatever shadow seemed to move too suspiciously, but her form was starting to be obscured by smoke as well. The burning sofa now resembled a glowing orange blob, obscured by black clouds.

Suddenly you heard the woman's startled shriek and saw her silhouette get yanked into the hall, deep inside the apartment. Three metalic thumps followed, as if something was striking metal with savage ferocity, then a small electric explosion followed and you saw Roksana collapsing onto all fours in the hall, groaning in pain and trying to get a hold of the back of her neck, that was now emitting small plumes of smoke.




You suddenly saw Keener de-cloaking in the hall, deep inside the apartment, standing not a meter away from Roksana, his handgun pointed at the ground:
"Who spawned that tower?" He demanded, his raspy voice coming off as an order, rather than a simple question.

Slasher lets out a soft huff as her handgun is shot away. Caught in the middle of the events she trys to track down Keeners location before Rocksan is ripped away and smashed.

Slasher lets out a sigh. You could have sworn is was of some kind of relief as Rocksan is taken hostage and the questions thrown at them, "We aren't giving you any names." she stares firmly at Keener, "But..." horror passes through her eyes as she cant help but glance back at the tower, "We haven't the slightest idea of what just happened Keener." She sighs, "These guys weren't willing to talk a moment ago but... that.... I'm off my game." She shutters, "I... cant describe it but, some..." she pauses waving her hands around in frustration, gesturing to the air about her in some kind of concept she doesn't even seem to understand, "...fundamental part of me has changed!" she stares at Keener with a deeply unsettled gaze, "Do you feel it?"

As soon as Keener decloaks, Geoff immediately raises both of his pistols and empties the mags in his general direction, not waiting for the conversation to continue.

Kaylee Brown wrote:You suddenly saw Keener de-cloaking in the hall, deep inside the apartment, standing not a meter away from Roksana, his handgun pointed at the ground:
"Who spawned that tower?" He demanded, his raspy voice coming off as an order, rather than a simple question.

"You know the answer to that." The Kirin replies unamused. "And you hate it, so you hope to hear otherwise from us."

He takes a pose for battle. "Now let's do this. I rather die then lose my sense of self again. Come."

Gamma follows Geoff's lead and opens fire

"Roksana.." Matej grunted, flailing on the floor and trying to get up "ROKSANA!" He violently wiped the blood from his forehead and hugged the wall beside the doorway, checking his UMP's and trying to spot the woman through the smoke.

Roksana slowly lifted her head in your direction, still standing on all fours on the floor. Her voice came out unexpectadly calm, even confused as she spoke:
"...he destroyed my Neurochip.." she said almost in disbelief "...I'm free..."

Slasher wrote:"I... cant describe it but, some..." she pauses waving her hands around in frustration, gesturing to the air about her in some kind of concept she doesn't even seem to understand, "...fundamental part of me has changed!" she stares at Keener with a deeply unsettled gaze, "Do you feel it?"

Keener's expression was impossible to read under his mask, but slightly hunched shoulders and body language hinted that he was pissed:
"........Yes." his gravely voice finally cut through the silence:


"You steal from me. You kill my men and raze my office. And now you hound me. Each one of these infractions is a declaration of war on Themis. But that tower..." his deep voice spat in venom: "...Its unforgivable."


He cocked his head slightly to the side in vivid suspicion:
"Logic dictates, your Master spawned the tower. Am I to believe he never deigned to inform you?"

Geoff wrote:As soon as Keener decloaks, Geoff immediately raises both of his pistols and empties the mags in his general direction, not waiting for the conversation to continue.

Your bullets struck Keener right in the chest and he shattered in a deafening rain of glass. It took you a second to realize you just shot up a full length mirror, hanging out from an open wardrobe.

Just as the realization hit you, a millimeter thin wire suddenly wrapped around your shoulders and tightened around you like a noose. A savage force yanked you off your feet, in the oppesite direction of the mirror and your head was suddenly introduced to a foreign elbow.

It felt like getting struck in the face with a crowbar. Your feet went out from under you and you nearly collapsed on your back. But rough hands caught you halfway and flipped you back, bringing you onto your knees and you felt metal press against the back of your neck.

A horrible jolt of electricity surged through your body and you felt something blow out from the back of your neck. Your retinas were momentarily flooded with red text that too, soon faded.

- NEUROCHIP DAM-@#₪₪%%^*((₪#!+÷/31356/₪<₪%*%/₪:"^#@=^₪÷6<₪×/_=5

Your body was momentarily paralyzed by pain and you collapsed to the floor, your muscles cramping up, as the shadowy silhouette next to you faded back into smoke.



Matej began shooting with both hands out of the doorway, right next Gamma:
"I don't have a master! Never again!!" The batpony screamed, his voice drowning in gunfire and face distorted in rage.

For a split second you thought you saw a razor sharp wire as thin as a needle, glistening in the smoke with a faint orange outline, floating in the shape of a noose, before it faded from sight. The next second Matej's hands were suddenly brough together and his twin UPS's were sliced in half, right through the middle. Then your arm was knocked to the side as a third of your pistol was sliced off at a diagonal angle, its cut edges glowing hot orange.

"What the f-AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Matej's hortific shriek echoed loudly across the living room, as the wire wrapped around his shoulders and yanked him inside the living room. His shrieking form fell to the floor and was dragged deep into the apartment, into the corridor to the left and out of direct line of sight, somewhere into one of the far bedrooms.


His distant horrified shrieks continued to echo for a few seconds more, before you heard three quick thumps and something electrical detonate, then start hissing with smoke. Matej's faint groans continued to echo in your earpiece, he sounded out of it, in pain.


"Not, anymore." Keeners quiet voice was picked up by Matej's microphone and came through your earpiece.

Another grenade rolled out of the corridor and into the living room, hissing horribly and spewing thick clouds of black smoke. The entire apartment was filling with an unseeable mist, so thick, you could barely see your own hands. The burning sofa could not hope to disperse it, its fire now resembled little more than a misty orange blob.

The last thing you clearly saw in the living room, before the smoke swallowed it, was Roksana casually rising to her feet and supporting the wall, away from direct lines of fire. Her expression incredibly calm, as she casually collected her palms together, her rifle loosely hanging down from a strap. She didn't look particularly threatened anymore.

Slashers hands lower as Keener pushes through her party members one after the other, her eyes quietly flicking across the room watching him carefully. "They were asking us what was going on before it took hold. They seemed just as confused as we were." She shrugs and shakes her head, "I truely dont think our boss did this. I mean... destroy shit, kill you, thats it. There was no breifing of a pillar, no telling us of... any of this..." she rubs the back of her head, a fingertip brushing along the edges of her neurochip, "I like my job... Killing comes naturally... The slave chip? Maybe not my actions but I still had my thoughts. But.... the pillar took both." She shivers before suddenly raising an eyebrow, her voice suddenly shifting to bafflement "-and what? Hound you? Kill your men? Destroy your shit? Isn't this like... every day stuff for this line of work? I'd've figured someone coming for your head and take your shit is an everyday occurrence."

She doesn't seem all that intrested in fighting... if she really ever did since entering.

Gamma picks up on what is happening and simply stops resisting.

"Logic ain't on your side then." Inferno remarks, and dashes wildly in the direction of Matej's noise. Once close to the position, he braced himself for Keener's attempt to pull him in, so the one who dictates who got close wouldn't the opponent.

The tension of the situation seemed to make him grin. Far more then before, he felt it could be a real battle. He changed how he held his shotgun, holding it like a club. Unable to fire it, but also not able to be shot from that angle. His free hand both firm and loose, ready to catch an incoming attack and punish Keener for attacking.

"Let's have some fun before we chat, okay?"

Rushing toward Matej's pained grunting, Inferno had almost run into walls several times, the closed window shutters and the plumes of thick smoke made the apartment so thick with darkness, it hung over you like a veil. Following the batpony's voice you entered a corridor and made your way to the very end of it, passing several rooms on either side of you, until you found the boy in the last bedroom to your right. He was still on all fours, coughing from the smoke and rubbing the back of his neck that was smoking.

"You broke my nose... Kurva..." The boy swore, trying to sit down and wiping his face.


As you laid eyes on the batpony, the attack came directly from behind. In a simultaneous motion, you felt a metal noose close around the base of your shotgun, just above your wrist. And at the same time, a viciously violent kick landed right to the back of your knee. Your shotgun was loudly sliced in two, leaving behind tiny drops of molten metal to spray over the carpet, as your knee buckled and you ended up falling on it, now sitting on the carpet on one knee.

The punch to the back of your head followed quickly. It felt like being struck by a hammer, your vision blurred hard and winking spots filled your eyes. Keener was augmented, there was no other explanation for why his fist felt like metal beneath the skin.


Something behind you emitted a brief electrical surge, much like a taser and you felt Keeners presence somewhere behind you, maybe less than a meter away. He was preparing to close in. You maybe have a second left to react.



"MOVE IN!" Barker shouted, brushing past Slasher and Gamma, rifle raised and stalking toward the corridor. Krys placed a hand on his shoulder and followed close behind, partly not to get lost, and partly to know where Barker was if he need to start shooting. As they moved through the living room, they came across Roksana who was still casually supporting the wall.

Barker stared at her in abject disbelief for a second before shouting "Did you fall asleep over here!? Come on, we gotta kill this guy!"

"Why." Roksana shrugged in detachment "I got no beef with him."

"Капитан, придержите их." Keener's voice calmly echoed out of the corridor. He spoke in Verrian.

"Mm." Roksana mumbled. It almost sounded like a reply.

"The f-" Barker began, but Roksana finally raised his rifle and titled her head toward the corridor, signaling Barker to move in. Finally exhaling in satisfaction, the merc and cultist stalked toward Inferno's position, Roksana following close behind. As soon as they entered the corridor fully, the woman turned into an invisible blur, you only saw her rough outline, as she kicked Krys so hard in the side of the head, the man flew two meters left into a nearby bedroom. Using a backwards motion, she retracted her leg, smashing her heel into the side of Barkers head, sending him face-planting into a wall.

Sliding down and leaving a bloody trail, Barker gargled and spat "What the fuuuuck!-" as Roksana's invisible hands wrapped around his neck, placing him in a rough choke-hold.

"Don't struggle merc, its for your own good." she whispered gently, holding him in a death grip "You're not getting paid enough for this."

"I'm not getting paid at all!" He hissed, trying to escape her metal grasp.

Slasher wrote:She doesn't seem all that intrested in fighting... if she really ever did since entering.

Gamma wrote:Gamma picks up on what is happening and simply stops resisting.

An audible ping suddenly rings in your brain and a bright red capital message flashed over your retinas.