Evangeline received no reply, which stirred more than a little concern in her. She considered deviating from the path to the rendezvous point to make sure her team had not been captured, but that might compromise the mission if that had not been captured. The blonde drove a few moments longer in silence, hoping she would receive a reply, so that she wouldn’t have to make a choice that could adversely affect the outcome of the mission. Failure was not an option, not when capture meant death for her teammates.

“We’re all clear here,” Elia’s voice came weakly through her earpiece. Maybe that crash she’d heard had caused damage to the mic. “What’s the story on the evac?”

Eva pressed the button on her mic. “It’s good to finally get a reply. I’m on my way to the rendezvous point currently. Has the situation changed?”

Alex tore through the hallway at full speed towards the back exit. As she rounded the final corner, she came face-to-face with yet another detachment of soldiers; this one was only three men strong, and they appeared in worse condition than the last group. One was doubled over, his helmet on the floor beside him and vomit gushing through his gaping mouth. Another was sprawled on his stomach, unmoving, and the last was leaning face-first against the wall, exhaling tired sobs through his thick helmet. Her face twisted in puzzlement as she drew nearer. What was going on? Were all the FIRST soldiers acting like this? Alex cautiously slowed to a jog as she passed, keeping her eyes trained on the two upright men.

As she stepped over the prone soldier and turned her gaze back to the hall ahead, the sobbing trooper broke away from the wall and reached out to latch onto Alex's trailing arm. She gasped at the sudden restraint and wheeled around, tugging violently, but his grip held fast. Unfortunately for him, the hand whose forearm he grasped held the handgun Alex had taken in the previous battle. She twisted the weapon slightly and pulled the trigger, planting a bullet in the man's gut--at least, into the heavy armor protecting his gut. The force of the point-blank impact was enough to throw off his balance, however, and he let go immediately and stumbled away. Free at last, Alex once again broke into a run and made for the exit.

She burst through the door into the alley behind the pub, hung a quick right, and climbed the ramp of debris and refuse over the tall fence into a narrow alley that led to the main street through Timber. The riot had been quelled, and the street was almost empty. Kai's antics and the resulting public chaos were unbeknownst to Alex, but her expectation was of some sort of crowd for the execution, failed or otherwise. Instead, the only upright individuals were her two teammates, Kai and Elia, a short distance away. A few FIRST soldiers were lying on the ground here and there, as well as a handful of citizens who had been unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire, or trampled in the panic following FIRST's arrival. Broken glass, torn paper, ripped clothing, and all other manner of debris littered the ground and empty shells were interspersed through it all.

Alex headed for the others. She came up beside Elia. "Are you two okay? What the hell happened out here?"

It was almost a rhetorical question, as it was not exceedingly difficult to piece things together. Alex switched her communicator back on and opened a channel with the newest woman in their gang. "Starlit, do you read? What's your position?"

"You two head to the rendezvous point," Alex said to Elia while she waited for a reply. "I'll wait here for Starlit and Wolf, and we'll make our way toward you. You can pick us up halfway."

Once upon a time, Alex would have never given orders to anyone. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the ability to lead or lacked the confidence to assert herself in the midst of other fighters. No, it was simply because Alex had always been a collaborator, better suited and more comfortable serving as the support for anyone brave enough to take the lead. Now, she was swinging orders around like her daggers – and to Elia of all people. Just more confirmation in Elia’s eyes of how much her best friend had changed since the fall of SeeD.

The sniper fought the urge to bark back, never one to take orders well especially from someone that had spent a fair amount of time taking orders from Elia instead. Still, the factors were pretty clearly in favor of Alex at the moment. For one thing, Elia’s lack of ammunition and the aching in her body was going to make her as poor support for anyone at the moment. More importantly, though, was Kai. The last thing that he or any of the other younger trainees needed to see was Elia and Alex fighting more.

“Roger,” she finally said with a short burst of breath. Reaching up with her gloved hand, Elia made a quick set of hand signals that made the message very clear to Kai – the pair was on the move to meet back up with Eva and prepare the rest of the team for evacuation. They were getting out of Timber. The team would lick their wounds and count their gains and losses once they were clear of the city and the watchful eyes of the Corporation.

Doing their best impression of the thief they’d just left behind, Elia and Kai snuck through the city to avoid any patrols – or anyone at all – until they finally met up at the designated point with Eva. As soon as they reached the site, Elia began to rip off the gloves and unzip her combat jacket in favor of what little there was underneath.

“Good…good work,” she said with an exhausted sigh, rubbing her sore ribcage. “Let’s swing by and pick up the kids.”

"Are you two okay? What the hell happened out here?"
"Starlit, do you read? What's your position?"
"You two head to the rendezvous point. I'll wait here for Starlit and Wolf, and we'll make our way toward you. You can pick us up halfway."
“Roger,”

It would seem that the button on Elia’s com-link was stuck, which told Eva who’s mic was the source of the crash from earlier. She did not receive a direct reply, but from what she heard, she figured that the situation had changed, but that she was to remain on course.

Am I allowed to speak yet?

Bahamut, the mission's not over...

You are driving. The only think you must watch out for is a possible tail, which has not happened. I do not like the thoughts that roil about in your head when you are silent these days, so speak with me.

Bahamut-

Ixion wishes to talk, too, but is too "respectful" to break the silence you asked for.

Evangeline shook her head a bit and acquiesced with a sigh. The only thing that had changed over the past few years with him is that he was able to tolerate silence longer. The blonde had attributed the new respect he had for her to Ixion's polite influence. However, not too long ago, he had explained to her that he felt she needed the new respect from him, for he did not wish to tax her much more than the world around her. And with SCORPIA around, her life was indeed 'taxing'.

Has all gone well? Did Ramone come through as you believed he would?

Yes. At least, all has gone well for me. Communication problems have kept me from being up to date on the others' situation. However, I do think we might be able to get everyone out of this alive.
-----------------------------

One more turn and no tails. Good. Evangeline made the turn into the alleyway easily enough in the large black van, though the slow turning due to the weight of the three motorcycles in the back. She looked ahead to see if Elia and Kai had beaten her there. It was unlikely, but possible. As it turned out, she had no need to worry about arriving late. After she had parked, she attempted to peek into the small restaurant "Judith's" to be sure it was closed, only to find the door locked. She then returned to the driver's seat and sat with the door open, chatting with her GFs for about five minutes before a worn down Elia and Kai made their way down the alley from a few buildings down the road.

No sooner had she arrived, did Elia begin to rip off her gloves and vest. “Good…good work,” she said, the exhaustion evident in her voice and manner. Eva again wished she had been able to help more what looked to have turned into an all out battle.“Let’s swing by and pick up the kids.”

"Indeed,"The dragoon agreed and went to the back of the van, opening the doors, "You two can ride in back until we get there, but once we do, some of us are gonna have to ride the bikes I got. If I got anything bigger, it would be too conspicuous, so taking a few bikes was the best option. After all, knowing Wolf,I figured we'd have at least a few of those captured with him to tote along, too."

After a gesture to the open doors, she strode for the driver's seat once more.

The ship touched down about a half mile from Timber, an Esthar Elite wearing dark armor descended the ramp. Speaking a few unintelligible words the young warrior took off with an almost inhuman speed toward the city. The training over the past two and half years had really paid off. In the past this would have been very taxing. Magic took some getting used to. With his body and mind not used to the sensation or the draining effect, he often found himself greatly fatigued after performing the simplest of tasks. It was amazing how much he'd grown and if his research was correct, there was lot more growing to do. Words were a focal point, a formality that wasn't really needed, a true master of the craft needed only to think it and it would be so. For now however, he'd have to use the words which roughly translated to {I will it to be so} or {By my will alone} followed by what ever effect he was looking for; in this case it was Haste.

While studying in Centra he learned a great deal about himself, though some things remain hidden. His affinity is to the Time and Space variety of magic; manipulation of these energies give him power over gravity and individual time. In theory this gives him access to a very powerful forbidden attack known as Meteor. The Para-Magic version of this attack is frightening, unpredictable and usually comes with high a rate of collateral damage. Even if his version were only slightly more destructive he'd never use it; any form of magic that puts noncombatants and allies in danger is never good. You'd have to be pretty damn sadistic or desperate to gamble on something like that.

Once he reached the city he canceled haste. To his surprise there was no sign of the riot that he'd seen on the monitor in Esthar. In fact there was no evidence that such an event had taken place save for a rather odd anomaly. Soldiers wearing elite armor were found in various places in very poor condition. Kneeling next to a fallen soldier he reached down with two fingers and placed them on the side of the mans neck. The pulse was weak but he was alive; interrogating him however would be impossible. Even if the man were conscious he wouldn't be able to talk, whatever had happened to him it caused him to bite through his tongue. Diablos, data-pad

“What the hell?” Scanning the body revealed almost nothing. The body had sustained quite a few internal injuries no doubt the result of combat, but there was nothing explaining the man's condition. The evidence seemed to point to a seizure of some sort, but brain wave patterns were normal for the most part. There were a few variables but nothing that warranted this kind of trauma.

It's as if they were hit with very powerful Pain spell, but Pain uses poison and this man wasn't poisoned, at least not by any known substance. Could it have been a nano virus?
A what
A man made programmable virus. If this were the case though why use it like this? According to the satellite footage the fugitives were all but finished.
Are you certain
I am. This was a trap from the beginning. Wolf and his team were used as bait to lure the rest of the former SeeD members. These elites were positioned in key locations through out the city along with a small surge force to drive the SeeDs into an inescapable position. When you look at the data, this should have been an easy checkmate.
If that is the case then...
They were allowed to escape.
Why would SCORPIA give up a sure thing?
That's a good question. There is no reason to give up an easy victory unless...
SCORPIA is planning something big and they need SeeD or the 'terrorists' to take the fall.
The question is why? They have the world now, what more could they possibly want?
The plot thickens

As his investigation continued he found more fallen soldiers, some had been killed while others suffered from a similar debilitation as the soldier he examined. Not all of them had suffered a seizure, but they may as well have. Not one was capable of talking; not intelligently anyway. As he made his way to the main street he found it strangely quiet, at least here there was evidence of a disturbance. The place was like a ghost town. Had the people gone into hiding? Glancing around he saw no sign of any life save for single familiar figure up the street. What was she doing there alone? As he approached he kept his helmet on and his weapons in Item Space. Hopefully appearing unarmed would keep her from seeing him as a threat. “Are you alright miss?”

What are you doing?
Now is not the time for a reunion
I understand that, but have you not noticed?
Hmm?
You look like the enemy. The armor Kessler gave you is almost identical to theirs
Now that you mention it... I'm sure it'll be fine

...It was true: in their little gang of outlaws, Alex was never the one giving orders, always the one following them dutifully. It wasn't as though they had appointed Elia as their leader; she just sort of fell snugly into the role. Elia was a born commander. It was in her blood. Alex could see the desire to fight back in the blonde sniper's icy eyes, and the sense of defeat that followed when she gave in. The truth of the matter was that, after their scuffle with FIRST out here, Elia and Kai were in no condition to back up Starlit, and even though Alex wouldn't take no for an answer this time, she allowed Elia a short empathetic glance.
...As Elia and Kai slunk off, Alex crouched behind a nearby dumpster, keeping view of the Timber TV Station's front doors. There was still no word from Starlit, and unless she was busy tying a shoelace, it likely meant trouble. Alex decided to give her a little longer before checking in again. She did not relish the thought of going back into the building to look for the missing SeeDs with Balian still inside. She had to rely on him taking the bait and leaving them alone for the time being. He would likely come after the team when he found out Alex had played him, but they could cross that bridge when it came along.
...Still no answer. Alex activated her communicator again. "Starlit, are you there?" Silence.
...Alex hung her head with a heavy sigh, then pushed to her feet and rounded the dumpster, moving back out into the open. She had no choice; the others could be in trouble. But if all the FIRST agents were incapacitated, what could be holding them up? Certainly a few patrolmen were no match for Wolf and his crew. What if Balian had found them?
...Alex threw her gaze left and right, checking in all directions as she jogged towards the station entrance. She bounded up the few shallow steps and reached out to push the door inward, but before her hands made contact the door retracted. She lost her balance and went sprawling onto the floor, expelling a short, startled squeal before landing at Wolf's feet.
...The brutish man stumbled back in suprise, causing the trailing Wolf Pack to nearly barrel right into him. "Alex? What--never mind. Here." He reached down an arm, which Alex gratefully grabbed. He hauled the small girl straight up to her feet as though she were nothing.
..."Thanks," Alex murmured quickly, trying to mask the overwhelming feeling of foolishness. She moved around Wolf and gazed over the faces of his followers. They were all children, or close enough, yet there was no fright in their eyes. They all bore the same hardened expression that Wolf had perfected a long time ago. There was one face missing which Alex expected to see, however.
..."What're you waiting for? We better move," Wolf suggested.
..."Where's Starlit?" Alex replied immediately, turning to face him again.
..."What?" Wolf scanned the collection of individuals waiting patiently in the vestibule. "Oh... shit."
..."You mean she's still somewhere inside? How did you lose her?" Alex flapped her arms in frustration.
..."I don't know!" Wolf looked genuinely concerned.
...Alex sighed, resting a hand on her hip. She looked genuinely irritated. "Alright, let's go look for her."
...Wolf shook his head. "No, I'll go. You get these guys outta here."
..."But--"
..."Don't argue; just go. I'm taking responsibility for this one."
...Alex was quiet for a moment. Then she addressed Wolf's small unit. "Come on, we're getting out of here." She turned and strode back outside with Kale, Yukiko, and the rest close behind.
...Wolf gave their retreating forms one last look before heading back into the Timber broadcasting station.

---

...A slender man in a white coat walked silently into the conference room. He looked around briefly before locating one of the suited men sitting around the table. The other man stood and accepted from the first a brightly-lit, letter-sized screen filled with various data. The white-coated man turned on a heel and left while the suited one, dubbed the head of Research and Development, scanned the screen.
...After a time, he looked up and gave a reassuring smile to Declan Nyx. "The experiment was a success. The reagent functioned even better than anticipated." He handed Nyx the small computer screen.
...Nyx's cold, black eyes scanned the information through his tinted lenses. Everything seemed perfect. A small video screen in one corner showed a pair of FIRST soldiers writhing in agony as the reagent took effect in their bodies. The corner of Nyx's lip curled into a half-grin as he watched them die.
..."Well, what's next?" asked Nyx.
..."We're beginning work on a counteragent immediately," replied SCORPIA's head of Research and Development. "We suspect it will be ready for testing in about a week."
..."Good. Keep me updated on your progress." Nyx set down the data pad and pushed away from the table. His business was concluded, and he left the conference room. The smile stuck as he paced through the brightly lit halls outside. Tick, tock, SeeD. Tick, tock.

---

...Starlit huddled in a shadowed corner of a large room of cubicles. Her knees were pulled up tightly under her chin, and her clasped hands held them in place. Her breathing was steady and quiet, but her mind was far from at ease. It was here that Wolf and his gang had fought and killed an entire unit of FIRST soldiers. Her ears still rang from the hundreds of shots fired. Her nose stung with the heavy stench of blood. Never would she have imagined combat like this. She was just a medic. She was not cut out for this kind of action. Is this really what she had signed up for?
...Starlit's eyes were fixated on one of the bodies that lay a few feet from her. None of Wolf's men had taken him down; he had suffered some kind of seizure before falling face-first right there.
...She gasped, and pulled her knees in more tightly. Had the body just moved? She could have sworn he was dead. He was dead. He was definitely dead. She had seen him die. The trooper's back arched as his lungs sucked in a ragged breath. He exhaled a terrible moan of agony. Starlit was shaking, not knowing what to do, paralyzed.
...The trooper turned his head towards her and moaned again. Slowly, he reached forward and pried loose his helmet. The sight of his face made Starlit gasp again: thick blood oozed from the man's eyes, ears, nostrils, and the corners of his lips. His expression was pure anguish, and Starlit couldn't bear to look into his eyes, but at the same time she could not look away.
...Slowly, with quivering, protracted movements that emphasized his pain, the man began crawling towards Starlit. He used his hands to drag his otherwise motionless body across the floor. He gazed at her with those tormented eyes. "Help... me...." he groaned. "Heeeehlp........meeee...!"
...Starlit tried to back away, but she was up against the wall already. She inhaled sharp, frantic breaths as she fumbled at her belt for her revolver. Her fingers wouldn't cooperate.
...The bleeding soldier slid another few inches closer. "Please...!" he wheezed.
...A massive boot stomped down onto the trooper's back, slamming him down hard and holding him in place. A wad of blood spurted through his parted lips. He tried turning his head, but before he could get a good look at his assailant the heavy butt of a FIRST rifle smashed into the side of his skull with a sickening crack, knocking any semblence of consciousness far from his body.
...Starlit meekly looked up at her savior. "Wolf?"
...Wolf held out a hand. "Come on. We've gotta go."
...His expression was soft, but she could tell he meant business. She took hold of his fingers and pulled herself up to her feet. "Wolf, I, uh...."
..."You can thank me later, 'kay? They're waiting for us."

---

...Alex hurried across the courtyard in the direction of the designated rendezvous point. Hopefully Eva had made it there by now.
...She came to an unfamiliar intersection and halted the group, hugging the wall. She peered around the corner and saw a FIRST APC parked a short distance away. She couldn't see any of the SCOPRIA soldiers, but she couldn't risk the team. Leaving them behind, Alex walked out into the open and approached the APC. Better they see her than the entire procession; at least she could provide a distraction while the others found another way around.
...There was still no movement as Alex drew closer to the truck. She was about to head back and give the all-clear when a muffled voice from behind stopped her cold in her tracks.
..."Are you alright, miss?"
...Alex looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened at the sight. She instantly spun and raised her stolen pistol, leveling it at the soldier's forehead. Her instant thought was FIRST, but something stopped her from pulling the trigger. While this one sported roughly the same body armor, his shoulder plates lacked the scorpion emblem, or unit designation, or any other form of identification. Things didn't quite add up, and that's all that kept her trigger-finger steady.
..."On your knees," Alex commanded shakily. Fishy or not, she wasn't taking any chances with this one.

... Kryse wasn't the type to freak out in dangerous moments. When entering any kind of situation he tried to be a few steps ahead of anyone he might encounter, in other words he was prepared if things went horribly wrong save for a few variables. Seeing Alex point a gun at him was one of those variables. Being a dagger wielder and a proficient one at that it was little odd seeing her with a firearm, and a bit unnerving. The eyes of his former teammate seem to display a steely yet slightly nervous resolve causing a few beads of sweat to roll down his face; she meant business.

Damn that is sexy
Normally I would say that you are crazy, but I have to agree. There is just something about a chic packing heat
Yeah... wait, what!
Dear lord! I think you are starting to rub off on me!

... “I said, on your knees!”

Maybe you should do something about this
Huh? … Oh right, the gun.

... After mumbling a few words under his breath he spoke. “Isn't that gun a little heavy for you?” The dark knight watched as the hand holding the gun began to droop and look of confusion came over his childhood friends' face. With the gun literally too heavy to lift he decided to answer the young woman's unasked question. “I increased the density of the gravitons in your weapon, making it too heavy to lift. I apologize, but having it pointed at my head makes me nervous. ...Pretty neat huh?” Alex didn't look too thrilled so he continued. “I'm not your enemy. I'm simply looking for answers. On my way here I saw some patrols headed this way so you might want to escape, but before you go I'd like to know what you're fighting for.”

He realized as he did it, that knocking out the soldier crawling across the floor could be seen as cruel, but he didn’t know what was wrong with him, and he didn’t want him getting any blood on Starlit. Who knew if it contagious? It was best to just knock him out and leave him for his own people to clean up.

He didn’t even use one of his own weapons.

After he helped her to her feet, she quickly winced in pain and he noticed the limp before she had a chance to hide it.

“Twisted your ankle?”

She looked up with a fake smile, “No, of course not. My leg just fell asleep.”

He looked at her for only a second before smiling and saying, “Okay, well, lets hurry, we’re short on time,” and took her by the hand, not taking the chance of losing her again, and started off down the hall at a jog.”

She kept up for maybe five seconds before she yelped and fell.

Wolf spun her around by the arm and caught her before she hit the ground, “You twisted your ankle.”

She looked at the floor sheepishly before mumbling a “yes”.

“Right. Well, we need to be out of here five minutes ago, so up you get,” and easily pulled the girl onto his back.

“This is so embarrassing,” she mumbled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Don’t worry about it. Not everybody handles this sort of thing well.”

He took off easily, her weight having no noticeable effect on his pace, and made it back to the door with, unnervingly, no resistance. At all.

He slowed down quickly when he reached the exit, being as quiet as he could,
“I'm not your enemy. I'm simply looking for answers. On my way here I saw some patrols headed this way so you might want to escape, but before you go I'd like to know what you're fighting for.”

He stepped out into the mans line of sight, “Thanks for the tip, friend. We’re kind of in a rush though, so for right now ‘survival’ will have to do.” He turned to Alex, “Hurry, lead on.”

He cast one last glance over his shoulder at the man in the black armor as they ran off. This whole thing was starting to smell really bad, especially that guy, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind, but he just couldn’t figure out what.

So, it looks like you can post from the chat. Which would be awesome if we could get all of us together. Didn't know that when I inadvertently made this post, but here it is. ...anybody know how to delete it?

This was not meant to be.

… Well, that went well.
… It certainly could have gone better, but what did you expect?
… I don't really know. Perhaps this wasn't the best place to have a conversation, but I was hoping to get something useful. I suppose I could always follow them, but showing up on their door step may not be wise.
… You are letting your fear of the unknown get the better of you.
… I'm merely being cautious; you heard what Chloe said.
… I did, and she also told you to confront your past. I know you are worried, but playing the Mysterious Stranger isn't going to get you anywhere.
… But... Perhaps you're right. I can't hide forever and even if I end up an adversary it's better for them to know who I am.

… The decision was made. Now all he had to do was act on it, but he needed something like... On the ground just in front of him was the pistol Alex had dropped; “ah just what I need an Ice Breaker.” Picking up the pistol he ran after his companions, “wait up!” In hind sight it probably wasn't a good idea.

Andrew "Wolf" Khevan I've always been close to nature. Being in tune with nature helps you feel the flow of life and makes you more effective in combat.