Snippet #2773986

(Posts bracketed by -= =- are of Remy LeBeau, and those without brackets are of a small, twenty-man task force.)

-=He tore down the streets of Metro City on his red sports bike, weaving around the large piles of rubble and debree that had littered the streets from the past night's tragedy. His engine roared through the nealry desolate city as most of the remaining population had gone into hiding. He hoped his presence would bring them out of hiding and restore hope to the city, or better yet, lure his prey out from hiding. He had a hunch that he was responsible for this.=-

-=He found himself heading towards a caved in section of the street littered with the rubble of a collapsed nearby building. He revved the engine as he sped towards the pile of rubble. The wind blew his trench coat back into the air revealing the assortment of weapons he had since thought he had abandoned. He balanced the bike up a steel beam that lay on the pile of rubble and raced up the makeshift ramp. He soared through the air catching a glimpse of the city landscape through the red tint of his rectangle cut wire framed sunglasses. The destruction was rampant in nearly every sector of the city. The business district had skyscrapers that were still under construction leaning against each other, ready to fall at any instant. Sheet rock and metal fell from even the sturdiest built buildings. He caught a glimpse of the residential district to the north east... The center looked like a meteor had struck it. A waste land was all that remained in the aftermath of flames that raged all night throughout the suburbs. =-

-=A distant glimpse towards the graveyard in the north west showed what looked like a pilgrimage of the remaining city residents. The number of fatally wounded and dead seemed to nearly match the living populace of the city. The recovered bodies laid wrapped in white sheets as coffins were in short supply. A sorrow swept over the city that touched even his charisma. He came to a harsh land on streets below as he headed towards the bar. He cut the engine, beginning to feel ashamed of ruining the sorrow silence that now burdened the city. He came to a rolling stop in front of the bar as he gazed up at the sign that now read "Gambit's Bar & Inn." A sigh escaped his lips as he dismounted off the bike and made a slow walk towards the bar. He pushed open the door to the bar to gaze at the expectedly empty interior.=-

Under overcast skies the two black trucks rolled slowly down the street, the sparse traffic moving around them to get past. There were not so many people out after the explosions the early morning before. It was rumored that the attack heralded another of the magnitude of the ones some months ago.

But the trucks seemed unconcerned, taking their time before they came to a stop in front of the familiar bar. Silent and ominous, the tinted windows revealed nothing. There they waited, drawing a few glances from the occasional passerby, but nothing more than that. No one wanted to get involved in anything that could turn dangerous in the city these days.

-=He made his way towards the bar counter and took his rightful position behind bar. He saw the fleeting shadows of the few people left in this area running away from the bar. He glanced out the single window towards the ominous trucks that mysteriously stopped in front of the bar. Anything unusual in this town always brought an ominous black feel, his intuition was already beginning to ring in alarm. He slowly slid the shotgun strapped around his back into his hands. His breathing was shallow as he stared with anticipation.=-

Suddenly, as if by simultaneous order by some unseen hand, the doors of the van sprung open at once. Immediately, men clothed in black uniforms and light body-armor of the same color began pouring from the depths, a heavy rifle held in each of their iron grips. Helmets covered their heads, tinted visors disguising emotions.

They formed a column, charging toward the door, the first in line outright kicking it off the hinges before they swarmed inside, light footsteps carrying them over it, weapons raised and searching the interior.

“By order of His Excellency, Treize Khushrenada,� the man in front almost yelled, “the proprietors of this establishment must surrender themselves and come with us.�

-=He quickly dropped behind the counter for cover as he saw them surge into the bar. His left hand searched within his trench coat for a grenade. He waited silently, carefully listening to their foot steps. With the mention of Treize Khushrenada, a sudden surge of uncontrollable anger for his most hated nemesis streamed through his body. =-

-=He then yanked the pin of the grenade with his mouth and awaited their movements. The grenade in his hand was quickly beginning to grow a deep red from his own kinetic powers, in his mind he counted the seconds of delay that remained on the grenade. Leaving two seconds for flight, he lobbed the grenade over the bar counter. He clenched the shotty in his hands as he awaited the explosion that would rock the bar and eliminate most of the tables in the room.=-

Cautiously, tentatively they moved in, forming lines and moving to the side to allow more to enter. In all, with four rows of five counted, there were twenty soldiers, weapons at the ready, inside of Gambit’s Bar. No reply given to his proclamation, the man who had spoken gave a nod.

At once their guns opened fire, tearing through the surrounding tables and chairs, lodging bullets in walls , floors and other wood surfaces. Methodically, with the precision of the trained task force that it was, the fire covered every foot of the panorama before them.

Continuing for at least twenty seconds, the gunfire ceased abruptly as an explosion went off somewhere at the left side of the room. Thrown through the air, five of the men found themselves consumed in fire while three others, if they could find themselves at all, would do so to find their bodies entirely dismembered and shattered.

The remaining twelve immediately trained their weapons on the counter, smoke billowing from the grenade obscuring the vision of all in the room. Separating into groups of three, the soldiers stepped over the bodies of their comrades, guns once again blazing on their now determined target.

-=The bullets that tore through the bar would rip the old fashioned wooden look into pieces. Underneath the vinyl they would find sheat metal, a precaution learned from years of experience with this sort of situation. The oak tables, unfortunately were authentic and wound find themselves turned into little more than fire wood after the onslaught. Wallpaper was ripped to shreds and the paintings he set on the wall crumbled into piles of splintered wood. All the more rage to feel his establishment suffer through another tragedy. After the explosion ripped through one section of the bar, effectively uprooting three booth seats and tearing into the soldier's ranks, he could hear the bullets bounding into the bar itself and the granite counter top. He knew the plating wouldn't last long against high powered rifles and so he must act quickly. He tried to take advantage of the flames that were beginning to spread fueled by the oak tables. He grabbed hold of two bottles of alcohol in his left hand and lobbed them over the bar counter to spread the fire in front of the soldiers. He heard the roar of the flames surge with the added fuel, and at the same moment that the flames bellowed into a mini-fireball, he lifted himself off the ground with a sudden burst of adrenaline and turned towards the invasion force. He made his way towards the door to the back room as he began pumping blind rounds of shotgun shells into the ranks of the soldiers through the plumes of smoke. He was brisk to make his way into the door way leading to the back room, but feared not to continue firing the weapon until all seven shells had been emptied from the weapon, after which he sought sanctuary behind the closed doors of the back room. Knowing time was limited for him, he dropped the shotgun and replaced the weapons in his hands with one of his two .50 Desert Eagles, and in the left hand he flicked three playing cards. The creature that sat atop the building would find himself greeted with nothing but searing heat, smoke, and the orchestra of heavy arms weapons fire.=-

The fire did indeed catch quickly, and from it the soldiers fled, not out of the bar, but further into it. Remy’s form was clearly seen through the smoke in his mad dash for the backroom, taking out another two of the soldiers with the stray shotgun shells.

But the others, seeing the danger of remaining in the open, moved immediately to the sides and proceeded to rush the door in that formation. Guns placed directly against the wall, angled toward the space behind the door, they opened fire again, blowing out whatever locks would be in place.

Another soldier stepped forward, kicking at the door and aiming his weapon into the darkness as it flew open. Emptying round after round of gunfire into that darkness, he gave the order and they flooded further, now entering the backroom, making a circle so the guns faced all possible directions.

The explosion of still more gunfire drowned out the roaring fires in the other room, lighting the room for moments at a time with each shot, reflected on the slick visors of each man.

-=He shielded himself as the door suddenly flung open. He pressed his back against the wall, slowly side stepping away from the door into the shadows as he awaited for the inevitable surge once again. Meanwhile he was filling the three cards he held in his hand with kinetic energy which began to blow a deep red in sync with his eyes concealed behind the red lensed sunglasses he wore. He flung each card one at a time towards the entrance of the door hoping to reduce the numbers for a better chance in melee combat - his only alternative left for survival. Once his left hand was free, he tore the extendable metal staff he carried along his left thigh from the cloth straps. With a push of a button, the spring released within the contraption and extended the pole to its full five foot length and ejecting the three inch blade at the far end. He dashed along the perimeter of his living quarters in the back room randomly firing shots from his Desert Eagle towards the entrance of the door way. Knowing his poor aim while he sprinted would be mostly ineffectual; it would at least provide enough of a distraction to raise the soldier's fears. Once the chamber was empty, he called upon his numerous years of acrobatic training from the Thief's Guild as he launched himself sideways into the air. He performed a side flip into the center of the circle the soldier's had created, landing low to the ground in a crouch. The next moment would determine his fate as he swung the staff in a circle above his head, the blade end rounding the entirety of the 360 degree circumference. Counting on the soldier’s stupidity alone, he had hoped they would train their aim upon him in mid air and continue firing on his descent down into the center of the circle, thusly slaughtering their own kin in the same process. =-

The cards collided with the doorframe as the last soldier passed through it, incinerating him and his associate in front of him almost instantly. Barely a glance was given by the other troops to the newest explosion, helmets peering into the darkness as the remaining eight, in their circle formation, scanned the room.

Shots were firing all around them as Remy made his acrobatic navigation of the room, glancing off the armor as each bullet only grazed them. One soldier was not so lucky, however, the sick crack of his visor shattering signifying the passage of a bullet into his head.

As he slumped to the floor the circle closed in further, covering the gap is passing had created. Then they heard the rush of air as Remy, soaring over them, made to land in the center of that formation. True, they did follow his passage overhead with more bullets, but as soon as he began to land the gunfire cut out. No efficient task force would be caught with that trick.

Immediately they stepped back, some who were too slow being caught up in the arc of Remy’s staff; one soldier sliced across the throat while two others, cut on the legs, merely fell backward. Immediately now they opened fire again, guns aimed downward at an angle with no danger of hitting their team members.

(References hereafter to the party that enters the room are of Alucroas, enclosed in +’s for brackets. His previous posts are excluded in a move to limit the content of this topic.)

+Stood up alas shaking off the brunt force of the attack impacting it's frame, quivering rather uncontrollably, palpitations started to erupt and surge forth through the air. Compression of oxygen in it's mouth began to commence, electrons being smashed together due to the small vicinity of which they occupied. The creature was distraught and ready to cause more carnage and rip apart whatever had attacked it's form. Continuing it's paced tread on the ground, vocal chords started rubbing together causing a friction stimulus followed up by large torrents of swarming wind, concentrating around it's horns, spiralling and creating the epicenter by dragging downwards into t's maw. It had entered the fary once more, heading straight into the buildings ravaged surface, the flames surely now being reduced to smoldering billows of ash clouds. It caught sight of the door that had been kicked down, noticing the screaming and chaos going on within that single room. Abruptly the attack was let loose right in the doorway; Massive gusts of wind, accompanied by a loud frequency attack known as a sonic boom, all moving in unison with the electrical energy being dispersed out and into the open room, striking random objects at random times, hoping to incinerate whatever it was that caused pain to it's being. ... +

-=Bullets rittled the ceiling overhead as he landed in the center of the circle, allowing a small rain of white smoke to drizzle down into the room from the bullet holes. Unfortunately for him the plan had not gone entirely as expected as he underestimated the efficiency of Treize's goons. He sensed the dangerous situation he had placed himself in and suddenly flung his body into a back flip out of his crouched position. His crouch had been his downfall, as that extra fraction of a second it took for him to lift off the ground had cost him the calf of his left leg as a bullet punctured through his flesh from a quick-draw shooter directly behind him. His body had managed to lift off the ground, but not with nearly enough momentum, and he found himself crashing into the visor of the soldier behind him, back first. As he descended to the ground with the soldier behind him, a second bullet grazed across his right tricep, just enough to render the muscle dysfunctional. The pair fell back, the soldier's head crashed into the ground under the weight of his body. The pistol he carried in his right hand fell limp as he found himself unable to lift it without his tricep. Not that it mattered since the chamber and magazine were both empty. He gazed towards the soldiers defiantly as his mind raced in search of possible escape. His left hand clenched firmly around the staff as he hoped for a miracle. Just then he could hear the screech of some massive force tear into the room from the doorway sweeping over the entirety of his living quarters. With himself in such poor condition, all he could do his roll himself under the bed and hope he survived the nightmarish torrent.=-

The screeching entrance of the other into the room was not heeded as Remy’s form was followed. As he landed with one of the troops they continued to fire, some bullets hitting the poor soldier beneath him, but most right on target of the bar’s proprietor.

As he rolled beneath the bed, one of the soldiers leapt on top of it, gun’s muzzle pressed against the mattress as he fired directly down. The whirling mass of whatever had recently entered enveloped only one of the soldiers, the others becoming far more wary as they heard his brief interlude of screaming before it was silenced.

As another man joined the one atop the bed in firing into it, the others aimed their bullets at the creature, round after round following its motions as they spread out in a move to eliminate both targets. Their assignment had been clear: to eliminate all obstacles in the building. They would not return to base empty-handed for their troubles.

+The torrent was whirling about the area, tearing down walls and incinerating whatever more solid remains that was left within the vicinity of the room. An abrupt snap of the soldiers began fiering at the creature's rather large form, despite it being large in size, it's masculine long body made it relatively easy to close it's wings to a half section, giving a quick concentration of energy they both flapped inbetween the doorway unleashing a hailstorm of electrical energy into the storm of bullets, reducing them to a more flat surface. Instead of being drilled into it would be pelted by a large amount of 'rocks'. Thankfully most were deflected by it's horns and the tail's bone which was carved out in the shape of a dagger, the result would be the creature being smacked against the bed, causing a it to flip up and over, go flying into the soldiers, the box frame acting as a sort of unintentional weapon and simultaneous shield along with a brisk sweep it's muscular tail, aiming to gash one with the dagger bone and smack into the other with the brunt foce behind it. ... +

-=He saw the indentation underneath the bed as the weight of one soldier pressed against the cushion. However his reaction time was not quick enough to save him from another round slamming into his shoulder, splattering blood both onto the ground behind him and onto the surface of the bed below him. He let out a scream of pain that was mixed with further rage and determination. He retracted the staff to his condensed size with the push of a button and swung it up towards the indentation of the soldier's right foot. As he swung up into the bed with his left arm, he pressed ejected the staff to it's full length once again, combining the force of his arm with momentum gained from the spring. The blade ripped through the hollow spaces in the box spring and through the cushion. The blade would intercept the sole of the soldier's boot and lay claim to the flesh of it's heel and cutting into the primary nerves around the Achilles tendon. He wouldn't stop there though, as red kinetic energy poured into the staff's profile. He saw the second soldier leap on top of the bed, but he knew better than to fall victim to the same ploy twice, and so he rolled his body out from underneath the bed as a second wave of bullets tore into through his bed. Just as he escaped certain death yet again, he was greeted with the torrential winds that had been wreaking havoc upon his room. His dresser was in shambles, his clothes being shredded to pieces, his worldly possessions no longer recognizable under the destruction. This coupled with the explosion resulting from the charged staff sent him flying across the room into his closet. His body slammed against the wall in the back of his closet and promptly fell to the ground. A streak of blood stained the wall from where he had crashed to his current crumpled being. His mind was in a daze as he tried to collect himself again, faint images of some unknown creature ravaging his room becoming dominant, but passed off as illusions of a potentially damaged skull.=-

The soldier’s foot almost ripped apart by the staff, he fell backward from the bed, landing as his head struck the floor, bullets firing into the ceiling, his trigger finger no long under control. The other soldier was thrown from the bed as it was struck by Alucroas, his body hurled into the wall, indenting the surface with an imprint of his shoulder.

The others chased after the creature’s soaring form, firing round after round into his back, Remy for the moment gone from their minds. Some of the bullets would find their way toward the closet, but for the most part they would be lodged in the mattress or Alucroas itself.

With only two soldiers left able to function, they took up a strategic position, one kneeling as the other stood over him, weapons trained on the target and firing in unison. The kneeling one took from his belt a small, metal sphere with a single button. Pressing it once, he hurled it toward the box-spring, and in that, the closet as well.

They rushed from the room, treading quickly backwards to keep their weapons raised at all times. One more sphere was pulled from the belt, activated, and this one thrown into the center of the floor. Finally turning their backs, they ran, leaping over the lightly burning remains of the fire to exit the bar altogether, leaping into the first van as all doors shut behind them.

Engines revving, the vehicles moved off at a break-neck pace and were soon gone, disappeared amidst the carnage of the twisting streets.

+Couldn't contemplate what the hell was exactly going on but soon after the sphere had hit it's bed only one thing came to mind. A massive explosion would probably be the next thing to come. It had quickly gotten up from behind the boxspring mattress, launching it's large body directly at the last soldier leaving through the door, aiming to plunge it's inner-mouth into the back of his neck, thrusting the dagger bone of it's tail straight through his spine, rendering him utterly immobile and clearly in a dead state of being. Afterwards, it began a crazed dash straight outside and out into the open where it would start chasing after the van, using it's sapphire orb in combination with it's crimson orb to detect the heated up exhaust fumes coming from the vehicle moving at such a rapid speed, while detecting the ever sporadic synapses rocketing and fiering off bursts of electrical impulses through their bodies. Those same closed wings then begun flapping a vicious flap, taking the monster high into the air, gathering an electrical beam within it's mouth as it chased down the vehicle. ...
Inside the van, the soldier established a direct line of contact. Speaking clearly, knowing that his message would reach its source, he began. “Your Excellency, we have done all we can do. The task force will terminate immediately.�+

-=His mind was beginning to clear out of it's daze and the ringing had finally subsided from being thrown against the wall. His view was obstructed from the closet and so the creature was still invisible to him. He slowly began to drag himself out of the closet as he heard gun shots firing throughout the room. He was using his left arm and right leg to simultaneously push and pull his body out of the closet towards the back exit. Just as he was nearing his destination, a stray bullet had caught a weak point in the light red body armor plating he wore which cracked under the force of high powered ammunition and allowed the bullet into his flesh. It struck him in the right side, grazing just a centimeter above his kidney and tearing through the muscle on his right love handle. He collapsed for a moment as he suppressed another shrill of pain. By now his body was releasing the natural pain killers which were dulling his senses. He continued on his plight towards the exit door leaving a trail of red marking his path. Behind him he could hear the sound of a metal bouncing off the floor, the “ting� that by now he knew all too well. This was followed by a second one coming from the closet he was just in. He quickly twisted the knob on the door and with a heave that strained every functional muscle in his arms and legs, he pulled himself out of the bar and laid flat on the ground under the shield of the bar’s metal-framed wall. He awaited the inevitable destruction to ensue as he bled his life away in the back alley. The back room erupted into a fireball as one of the grenades went off, laying waist to what little recognizable substance remained in the back room. His closet soon followed suit as another eruption occurred, ripping what remained of the sliding doors in the closet off their tracks and into the opposing wall. The grenade met the make maximum tolerance of the metallic frame due to it's close proximity to the wall and a hole punctured through the sheet metal allowing for a brief flame to erupt out of the gap. The third finally went off in the front room of the bar, taking with it what remained of the booths and destroying the lighting. The ceiling collapsed in on itself and fire raged once again upon the bar's interior, though there left very little to burn. That is, until a spark caught hold of the alcohol that lay behind the bar, which formed a fourth explosion, so grand in it's force that it knocked out the wall that seperated the front of the bar from the back. A plume of smoke and flame with the scent of tequilla rose above the bar visible from miles away.=-

Inside the van, the soldier established a direct line of contact. Speaking clearly, knowing that his message would reach its source, he began. “Your Excellency, we have done all we can do. The task force will terminate immediately.�

At once the vans came to a screeching halt, no doubt allowing the creature to get closer. Mere moments later there was an explosion that would rip apart the street, emanating first from one car, then the other. Their assignment was finished.

LATER…

The overcast clouds were turning darker; much darker than they had been before. The tainted light created strange shadows in the office, and it was in one of those shadows that Treize sat, head back and eyes closed. The report of the bar attack had reached him, and if what he was told was true, the results were disappointing.

It appeared that Remy had survived the fight. Not only that, but after the attack was over Renee LeBeau, his daughter, showed herself on the scene. The timing could not have been worse. Had she been just a bit earlier to arrive...

He sighed, standing so abruptly that the chair slid back a few inches from him, hands dipping into his pockets as he walked slowly toward the window. His gaze was always on the ground.

That cold, blank gaze swept the city, drained of any type of emotion. So this was it. He had laid his hand on the table and invited the next move to be made. There, high above everything, he would wait for the white knight he was sure would name himself soon and rush to face him. He was not worried. This might even be the only thing he was looking forward to.