Anakutenon Naomi Kamkcuan te Mana kei Yaisavi's Story

(disregard)

"Drop the weapon?" An NPA agent yelled at Iso, he and a few others creeping up behind the woman. "We have backup en route. You won't get too far before we get you, just give up now." The officer commanded, assault rifle kept on the woman as he crept just a little close to close the distance and make sure if he fired a shot it would hit.

The others on the street took cover, searched the rooftops for snipers or attended to the wounded. They weren't as much of a fighting force as they could be until backup arrived. With the traffic stopped on both sides of the highway, the only backup that could show up was by air. Their attackers would see that coming and aircraft being shot down over a highway was bad for the people down below.

Within the truck armored truck, which was now similar in looks to a sardine can, the Invictus soldiers began to remove Jacob's cuffs. Two of the soldiers moving to the back doors to push them open when given the signal.

"Sunny, you and I will go from the top and peacock." Riley said to one of the female soldiers, "The rest of you move Jacob, use the vehicles stopped on the road for cover from snipers and enemy fire. Link up with the NPA, we'll have air support soon to at least keep us apprised of the situation." Riley continued.

"On three." Sunny said to the team, "One... two..." She began, the group simultaenously moving at a silent three. The back doors shot open, Riley and Sunny climbed upwards out of the truck. They made sure they were obvious targets, "Look for flashes. That'll be our sniper." Riley told his comrade.

The rest of the soldiers moved as soon as Riley and Sunny were out in the open, pushing and pulling Jacob towards several vehicles that had crashed due to the sudden stop in traffic.

The group spotted Catherine and the overturned Sedan, "Looks like they need help." One of the Invictus solders said, "Riley, this is Temple, I'm sending a few guys to go help some civilians. Link up when you get our way and regroup." Temple said, "Pillsbury, Danny, go help them out. We'll keep on going." Temple ordered, two of the male soldiers sprinting away from their comrades to assist the trapped Cassidy.

"If only we got paid extra for this." Pillsbury said as he and Danny moved, "You might get your picture on a wall in a bar at least." Danny responded, "We can only hope it's not put up posthumously, man." Pillsbury said.

"Right on."

Iso turned her head as the NPA agent came closer. A thin, red brow rose at him.

In a flash, she was gone, out of thin air. The next she would appear, she would be behind him, sword slashing in the air to tear at the tendons in his arms, to cause him to drop his gun. She would then disappear again, whether she had landed the hit or not.

She would reappear once more high in the air, free falling, assessing the situation from above. She would not be there for long.

The other agents had swarmed the streets, now, shooting at Invictus and the NPA, trying to down as many as possible.

Rick barely had time to process he had fallen onto a corpse before some old coot was rambling off orders at him. Looking around he found that the entire highway had become chaotic....he even heard gunfire.

Ok, let's take this one step at a time shall we?

First, he decided to not take a nap on someone's dead body, rising to his feet slowly, he turned to face the young woman trapped inside the car and begging for help.

"Uh, right, just stay calm. I'll help you out of there as fast as I can." He nodded to her as he stumbled over to the rear of the vehicle.

He reached for the revolver in it's holster on his waist. "Hey cover your ey-" he stopped mid sentence as his nose caught a familiar odor. A glance over to the driver side of the vehicle confirmed his fear.

Gasoline from the vehicle's fuel tank was spilling out onto the street...and towards the other wrecked vehicles, one of which was already suffering from a fire in the engine compartment.

Well, shit, better make this quick

He decided to forego the gun in favor of removing his shirt. He quickly wrapped the cloth around his hand before he slammed his fist into the rear window as hard as he could, shattering the glass. In a couple of moments he crawled through the window, accessing the inverted interior.

"Is anything broken?" He asked Cassidy as he reached her seat.

As gunfire broke out in the street, Catherine cursed under her breath. She followed Rick's gaze to the trail of gasoline and stepped forwards with a sweep of her arm. The kinetic-manipulation functions of the OmniTool kicked in, and she forced the trail back a few paces, before sweeping a small pile of debris in the way to stem the tide. As the attackers opened fire on the NPA officers, including those moving over to help her and the girl trapped in the car, she raised her own pistol and fired back in retaliation to provide them cover as they moved across towards their small group.

A small kinetic shield from her OmniTool deflected a few bullets that came her way, and despite a bead of sweat running down her forehead, she maintained her calm as she backed away again, then ducked back behind the vehicle.

Cassidy was trying to get her seat belt undone so she could crawl out of the sedan. It was jammed and it made her panic. Tears ran from the corners of her eyes and her heart was pounding like a hummingbird's wings inside her chest. She stopped screaming for a minute.

Cassidy looked at her palms. There was glass embedded into her skin and blood everywhere. She looked at her legs and then her feet.

"Oh God. No, no, no, no, no," said Cassidy. Her ankle was snapped and bone peeked out of her skin. She drew in a lungful of air to scream but it was choked down as a voice came into her ear. Cassidy's panicked eyes looked over Rick as if he were the most beautiful sight to be seen in Wing City.

"I-Im... stuck. Please help me. My sister. Have you seen her? She's pregnant. Oh God I don't know where she is, please... get me out of here," Cassidy cried out as she twisted to grab a hold of whatever she could of the man.

(disregard)

"Let's keep this quick," he told Iso through his communicator. "We can do this in two minutes if we work fast."

Figures broke out from the back of the armoured truck, and he quickly aimed the cross-hairs of his magnified scope over them and held his breath. As Riley and Sunny climbed out of the truck to make themselves targets, he considered taking a shot but decided almost immediately against it. He didn't want to waste any time or ammunition.

"Spotted the target," he quickly said, scope zooming in on the other soldiers as they pushed Jacob towards several cars for cover. The window of his shot likely hitting anything was brief, but he was going to exploit it anyway. Adjusting for range and movement speed, he pulled back on the trigger, sending a suppressed, yet deadly round straight for a center of body mass. He had had to aim quickly, and there was no guarantee of even hitting anything, but hopefully even if he didn't the sudden impact of a sniper round by them would distract them just enough for Iso to get the VIP.

The rifle itself would be a little difficult to spot, considering the muzzle flash wasn't as bright as more conventional marksman rifles, but it was definitely there and could be spotted by anyone with a good eye looking for just a thing.

"Moving to second overwatch soon, I'm too exposed here. Hurry it up."

The NPA Agent took the cut to the arm, his weapon falling from his hands. But, it didn't take long for him to draw his sidearm and turn to aim at Iso. The only problem was that she was already gone by the time he turned around, all he could see were his comrades who were just as confused about where she had gone.

"We can find her another time. Let's fight off these assholes shooting at us." The agent said, he and the others taking cover at the armored truck with the driver to open fire on the possible terrorists attacking them.

As this went on Sunny and Riley took whatever shots they could from their high ground, trying to keep their allies moving Jacob covered. "Sniper!" One of the Invictus soldiers yelled as a bullet slammed into the armored chest of another. "Sunny, look for flashes again. Anything." Riley ordered, climbing down from the top of the truck.

"NPA, this is Packmaster. Can you get someone from Fort Veritas under the highway with a vehicle? We're too exposed up here." Riley said, "We have vehicles to use for cover from enemies on even-ground, but skyscrapers from inside the city are a problem when the enemy has snipers." The American soldier continued.

The rest of Riley's team were pinned down behind a truck delivering BDSM toys and a few cars, between the sniper and the opposition forces shooting at them they had nowhere to go. If they kept Jacob, that is. He was slowing them down, holding them back from doing what they would usually do in a firefight.

"Thank Regis for money to buy and build good armor." The previously shot Invictus soldier said as he stood up, though the visible pain on his face indicated that the force of the shot or the force of hitting the ground had caused an injury regardless. "We need to start moving!" Riley shouted, sprinting towards the group while laying down fire at their attackers.

"Pillsbury, go." Danny said to his comrade, pushing him along towards Rick and Cassidy while Danny himself moved to join Catherine. "And I'm just one day from retiring." Danny joked.

Pillsbury in the meanwhile had reached Rick and Cassidy, "Here, dude." He said to Rick, removing the combat knife from it's holster to give to Rick. "Cut her seatbelt off. I'm going to be doing something stupid." He told Rick, dropping his gun and getting down on his back.

The soldier crawled on his back, trying to squeeze into the totaled vehicle, once his body was halfway in he raised his legs. Pillsbury pressed his knees to the area of the car above him, placed his hands against the area above himself as well and then he began to push.

It was combination of stupidity, bravery, and empathy that prompted the young soldier to put himself into harms way and use nothing but brute strength to channel his inner jaws of life. And it was working, the twisted metal creaked as it was pushed to give Cassidy and Rick more room to breathe.

"Copy that Packmaster, we are inbound," a comm squawked back back to the NPA/Invictus troopers pinned down on the highway. A moment later, three Seraphim carrier descended onto the streetways, dropping three SC Cruisers near the damaged battalion.

"Load up! Load up!" one of the drivers shouted, "get him inside NOW! Once we reach Veritas we're set!"

Once their cargo was dropped, the Seraphim would turn next to the building housing Godrage, the energy dispersion from the assassin's sniper shots more than evident on their scouters. A squad of guardians, hooked to the hovering Seraphim, took aim at the hostile, running a quick scouter check over the surrounding windows to ensure that there were no innocents about to be caught up in the crossfire. Once clear, they would unleash a barrage of armor-piercing Gauss rounds at the assassin, attempting to stop his brutally-efficient sniper work once and for all.

"Godrage, move. We're retreating," said the voice that had contacted them earlier. "Get to Iso once she gets the target."

And, just as he spoke, Iso disappeared as she accelerated toward the ground. Iso never could control or stop her acceleration when she ported, but she could utilize it. When she next appeared, it was right beside Jacob, reaching out to grab him around the waist. The speed of what previously had been a fall turned into an accelerated, angled rocket into the sky. That is, if she had succeeded in the action.

And if she had, she and Jacob would be rocketed to the side, off of the highway, towards a rooftop.

The rest of the agents threw bullets towards the enemy, some closing in with swords and excellent training with both the weapon and their ability to close the distance swiftly enough, using cars and debris as cover, to get right up on their targets.

"Miss just try to keep calm, I'll get you ou-" Rick was genuinely surprised when the soldier appeared next to him, handing him a large knife. As he glanced back at the trooper, he noticed the man was somehow managing to bend the vehicle around them.

That was impressive....but kinda weird as well.

Right, back to the task at hand.

Knife in hand, Rick quickly made short work of Cassidy's seat belt, gently lowering her from her upside down seat. Thanks to the soldier, there was just barley enough room to lay her across the ground, the center console, and both the driver and passenger seat above her.

"With her leg like this I can't pull her out the back." Rick said to the trooper. "I'm gonna drag her through the rear passenger window."

Rick thought about using his gun to shoot out the window...but he wasn't sure of how the soldier would react to him being armed. So instead he just slammed his foot against the glass several times until it gave way.

These were the good people. Cassidy knew that. She had always thought she'd be more calm when an accident happened, but she was wrong. Everything was wrong. She couldn't stop screaming or crying or wondering why her sister wasn't there to comfort her.

As the men helped her out of the vehicle, Cassidy's voice gave out. Her screaming stopped on the outside but she was still screaming on the inside. Her entire body was trembling in fear of what could have happened to Bailey. She was just there a second ago.

Cassidy's hands clutched at Rick's clothing as he maneuvered her and himself through the vehicle. She couldn't feel any pain but there was blood everywhere. It was pouring out of her ankle and there were abrasions on her hands. Cassidy's temple had taken a beating too against the dashboard.


Sirens from emergency services wailed in the distance as ambulances, firetrucks, and the police raced down the jammed highway as best as they could toward the disaster.

There was simply no way that Godrage would have been on the roof for when the carriers turned to aim at him. Indeed, the moment they had appeared, he knew his position had been dangerously compromised and that a rooftop was likely the most unsafe place in the entire area to linger.

Instead, as they moved to drop their cargo to support the Invictus soldiers, the assassin grabbed his sniper rifle and simply leaped; diving straight from the rooftop and soaring down towards the ground. As he neared the highway bridge, he held out his hand and shot from a fore-arm mounted gauntlet a dart attached to a thin rope of synthetic spider silk, one that had all the elasticity, lightness and strength to get him out of the area quickly.

As the ground neared, the rope caught him, saving him from the fall and sending him into a swinging arc that threw him right under the highway to the abandoned, quiet street below. The dart detached, the rope zoomed back into the gauntlet with a handy retracting system, and the assassin rolled to his feet and began to sprint into a nearby alleyway.

"I'm in the alley, west bound," he told Iso. Hopefully she wouldn't forget to collect him with her handy teleportation power before she made her own retreat.

With the soldier and Rick helping Cassidy and the conflict seemingly escalating, Catherine decided now was a good time to remove herself from the equation. Staying low to the ground, the older woman hastened back down the highway away from the fighting. She'd have to chalk the car up on expenses.

As Iso reached out for Jacob, Riley reached out to grab Iso's hair. The soldiers flanking Jacob both reached out for the young man to pull him back down. It was clear that if Iso's ability let her pull that much weight that someone was going to have to learn to fly.

Jacob hoped it wasn't him. He didn't want to die seeing the ground coming at him. He didn't want to die at all, but that probably wouldn't be helped with bullets flying all around, ghost women trying to pull him, and angry mercenaries he figured had orders to kill him eventually anyways.

"Not this time!" Riley shoted as he attempted to pull Iso to keep her from getting away. Or at least getting away with Jacob in hand.

Meanwhile, Sunny hopped into the driver's seat of the armored truck. The woman was quick to put it into reverse, trying to send the several tons of steel at the terrrorists attacking the NPA and Invictus on the highway. Both sides seemed to be holding their own thanks to large amount of cover granted by cars abandoned when their owners tried to get away from the gun battle.

Maybe running some of the opposition over could turn the tide of the battle.

Pillsbury slid himself out from beneath the heavily damaged vehicle Cassidy was trapped in earlier. He could smell the fuel, he didn't want to be there any time longer than he needed to be once the girl was safe.

"Get away from that thing." Danny said loudly, "The battery could still be running, all the fuel needs is a little spark and boom." He told the group of three, looking around in search of Catherine. "Weird..." He muttered.


"Come on, let's move." Pillsbury told Rick and Cassidy, gesturing for them to follow as he stood up. Only moments later he began to run towards where he last saw his fellow soldier.

With Godrage escaped from their sights, the Seraphim turned and hovered over the streets. Though equipped with powerful Gauss turrets capable of leveling the entire highway, there was no way they could open fire on the streets when hostiles were mingled with civilians and friendlies.

"Contact, get the suspect into the transport, NOW!" the pilot commed down to the street, "we'll cover your escape, MOVE IT!"

The sound of police sirens echoed in the distance, growing closer and closer. Backup was on its way. Iso needed to finish this quickly or risk facing the cavalry.

As they pulled on her hair, Iso was tugged right back down to the ground. She did not waste time being shocked- she never expected everything to go smoothly. Everyone had reiterated how important it was to be prepared for the unpredictable. She would not be able to go for the Haley boy if everyone was around.

Hearing Godrage's message, she reached toward Dennis, then disappeared. Had he not done something by then, he would disappear with her, and they'd both be in the alley with the white-haired assassin. Two against one.

Dennis was surprised by the sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance in an alleyway. He felt he shouldn't have been that surprised considering he was a shapeshifting wolfman working for a mercenary company in the infamous Wing City of all places.

"Don't tell me this is one fo those things where I was your real target." Riley said, looking around to get his bearings. Assault rifle clutched in his hands as military and NPA aircraft began to fly overhead.

Meanwhile, Riley's team and the NPA began ushering Jacob along towards the edge of the highway. "Lines out." A soldier said, the group securing several rappel lines and cables around harnesses on their belts and armor.

One of the NPA agents grabbed Jacob, holding the young man tight for the impending descent. "Gonna at least buy me dinner, mate?" Jacob asked just before he and the NPA agent jumped from the highway down to the vehicles Riley had requested earlier.

As Dennis and and Iso suddenly appeared in the alley, Godrage pulled out a black, silenced handgun with a quick, smooth quick-draw that ended in the muzzle pointing right at the soldier. "Drop the gun," he warned as he noticed the Assault Rifle, "or she'll cut off your hands and I'll put a bullet in your mouth before you can get a shot off."

He shuffled his opposite shoulder, getting the straps of the protective leather casing that held his now-compact sniper rifle further along his shoulder towards his neck to avoid it slipping off.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he told Iso, quickly moving towards her so he was in range of her 'teleportation' ability.