Dystopian cyberpunk future

Colton tightly gripped the wheel of his hover car, speeding past traffic. He was working his beat when he received a call for backup at a local warehouse. The details were a little lacking, but this required immediate attention.

The warehouse was owned by a private company to store Kardmium, the single most important alloy in construction jobs now, including the construction of cybernetics. First responders are reporting that a small group of cyborgs organized an attack on the warehouse. One self-destructed using his highly-charged plasma core to tear through the fortified walls.

The police's job would now have to be to surround the building and Stent is about to join them on the front lines.

Slade sat on the roof of an adjacent building to the warehouse. The sound of the police cars below were the perfect distraction for him to make an entrance and take the rogue cyborgs by surprise. The only sound from him that could be heard was the focusing of his goggles as he looked at the building. The goggles located 10 cyborgs in the warehouse. He could also see that all of the cyborgs were above 30% in the amount of enhancements they each had. Which meant he had to do the job that he did so well...... "Gunnerson are you ready to move in?" said a voice coming from his mic. "Yessir he said calmly standing up just as it began to rain. He finished putting all of his gear on and fired a zipline across the street to the warehouse. He slid his way onto the cable and onto the next building.
As he landed, the door to the roof burst open and a large armor plated cyborg with a flamethrower for an arm came out. Slade quickly dashed over to a nearby ventilation exaust port. "YOU DIDN"T THINK I WOULDN"T HEAR YOU DID YOU?" the crazed cyborg yelled. "THESE BABIES CAN HEAR ANYTHING!" The borg motioned to it's ears. If Slade was lucky the sound of the rain would help drown out the sounds he made. The cyborg began firing out streams of liquid fire in every which direction, it was apparent that it didn't know where he was. The gas canister could be seen on its back. That was Slade's target. He threw his pistol into the air and over the cyborg. It landed with a loud clank and caused the fire weilding cyborg to turn around. This was his chance, Slade jumped out and fired his shotgun at the gas tank causing it to explode and engulf the cyborg in fire.
Thecyborg shreiked in pain as he slowly burned. Slade ran up to him and lashed his katana out, lobbing a burning fleshy head from the cyborg. The burning head rolled and fell of the the edge of the roof and onto the street below in front of the cop cars. Slade picked up his pistol and made his way down the stairs into the warehouse. "9 more to go......" He said to himself.

The room smelt like rubber and disinfectant she shifted on the exam table a light crumbling noise filling the quiet room. She sighed brushing a piece of hair behind her ears. She would never come to these check ups if it wasn't for the small fact that it was either living with the check ups or being on desk duty permanently. Anna heard a light vibration come from her jacket on the chair across from her and as she was about to get it the door flew open. Only ten minutes, a new record.
“You’re good to go. No problems anywhere. If you have no questions you're free to go."
She hoped off the table putting her uniform on as well as her jacket and checked her phone, a group of rogue cyborgs were occupying a warehouse fairly close to the hospital.


She kicked it into high gear and managed to get to the scene within minutes. She threw the jacket over her bike and walked over to the control van. “What do we got?”
“Ten cyborgs, Gunnerson’s already moving in.”
“Where from?”
The man pointed back halfheartedly “Ro-.” Not being able to finish his own sentence thanks to an explosion that rang out from the roof of the warehouse. He didn’t have to finish talking to know he was going to say Slade was going in from the roof. That was classic Slade.

Without another word she grabbed an earpiece and headed towards the back of the building. The back of the building was the loading docks for the trucks and a definite way of getting into the building. For some reason they didn’t think to put anyone out here, it was a major entry point and to not put anyone to guard it was just stupid. Then again when the explosion went off it probably drew their attention. “Slade it's Anna,” she said as she started her way up the stairs “You’re about to get some company. That explosion drew quite a bit of attention.”

Verena Briggs pushed the grimy glass door to Hong's Chinese Diner. Inside, had an old musty smell; the red wallpaper was printed with Asian-styled yellow dragons, however the paper was ripping off the wall. The fan above the ceiling was collecting mountains of dust for it only functioned in the hot humid days of summer. The floor was concrete and stained with various colors from mysterious sauces. The diner was not very pretty at all, but you could not find any better in the slums of Toronto. And besides this was Verena's favorite, not because of particularly the food, though Hong's noodles are considered the best if you are on a low budget, but because Verena was good friends with the owner, Mr. Hong himself.

"Doc! Glad stop by," Mr. Hong, a rather lean sweaty Chinese man balding at the top of his head greeted Verena was a wave.
"What can I get you?"

"Oh you know, four egg rolls with two boxes of your famous Chow Fun rice noodles, and two bowls of egg drop soup," she answered in a response as her shades were pushed above her eyes.

"Lookin' to be a guardian angel today?"

"You got that right."

Verena smiled, she usually ordered just ate half a box of the Chow Fun noodles, but more often than sometimes she decides to order extra to give to those who are in need of dire help. She was loved among the streets because of this generosity, if she did not kill cops, Verena could be known as the world's first superhero.

Mr. Hong disappeared into his kitchen and arrived back with Verena's purchase. She already had a twenty and a five Canadian dollar bill out and ready to give it all. She tried to give it to Mr. Hong however he refused saying, "Twenty five? No, you know this only costed eight-teen-thirty-two, beside what you did for my son last week-- its on me."

Mr. Hong's son, Gan, encountered a biking accident, thankfully all he needed was a few stitched to the left arm and leg. Verena fixed him and up and offered medicine for him to get better.

"No, you and your son are living in rough times, you need this. And tell Gan, I said to stay out of trouble."

"Thank you. Doc, you are a miracle-worker! And no problem, stop by here anytime."

With that, Verena exited the small diner and walked down the alleys, making her way through the streets. She gifted her two bowls of soup, and egg rolls o various different beggars, telling them if they ever needed help to just give her a visit. But she stumbled upon a scene of a middle-aged white man pulling he arm of a little girl screaming. Verena did not care to know who he was or what he was planning to do, it all looked wrong. Verena activated her cloaking system; now invisible she sneaked over to the villainous man and cleanly injected her hidden blade through his back and into his chest. After the man's body fell to the ground Verena grabbed the girl's hand before she could run off. The Doctor knelt down and asked kindly, "Are you alright, sweetheart? What's your name?"

"Leave me alone!" the girl cried attempting to tug away.

Ignoring the girl's wish the Doctor asked, "Where's your mommy or your daddy?"

"I don't have a mom. The metal men killed my daddy! And you might kill me!"

"Listen I am only here, to help you, alright?"

Verena gave he little girl a box of Hong's noodles.

"Here, you look hungry. People call me 'Doc', I want you to go to Hong's Diner, not to far off from here. Tell him the Doctor sent you. I got to go to work but I'll be back to--."

"No! You're just a monster!"

The little girl scurried off refusing to take the food. Verena sighed staring at her cybernetics, sometimes they were blessing, being able to do things more than human, but sometimes that was the problem. To be more than human that was the curse, because to some you are no longer human.

Walking a little more Verena was stopped again but this time by a member of the rebellious gang, the Sons of the Forthcoming. Most of them wore either, dark brown, black, or gray jackets hoods on, and masked their mouths with bandannas. Every member had to be a cyborg, and because of this they were known to be the crazy type. But Verena knew that they were fighting for a good cause, they just needed a cure for their insanity. The Sons stood for the forthcoming, the future that they believe would revolve around cybernetics. They were very good friends with the Doctor, in fact, she could run the whole gang if she wanted to with how much they respected her. But Verena rather work along as much as possible.

"Look, Doc! Some of our brothers lost it, they waged an attack on a Kardmium warehouse! If you came up with a cure sooner then--," Isaiah a member of the gang was interrupted by the Doctor.

"Don't blame this on me, Isaiah. You know how hard I have been working!" she snapped back enraged.

"I'm sorry. Its just that-- you got to do something! They never meant to! We don't want to endanger the gang anymore, but those cops, they need to pay for there deaths. Even if only a few cops are executed, it will mean a lot to us."

Verena signed frustrated, she didn't want to lose their respect.

"Fine, load me up a sniper, and I will see what I can do."

"Wait, you're not going to the warehouse?"

"It would be stupid to rush in there, one person against an army of cops..."

However Verena, was never the best at shooting from far distances.

"I bet you don't have a bomb handy," she said rolling her eyes.

"Actually, Jax could whip two up fast. In a short amount of time, planting two bomb would surely leave a boom and a couple sorry cops in there grave. All you have to do is rush in, plant it and leave."

"You make it sound too easy, but I'm not scared."

"And one more thing, Doc."

"What now?"

Are you going to eat those noodles?"

Verena hopped on her motorcyclist and drove her way near the area, however not close by enough for the cops to notice someone was dropping by. By the looks of it there was already an explosion, but the more the merrier. She was going to creep to the back of the warehouse, plant the two bombs and leave. But this would not be easy, the place was surrounded and the rain would flaw her invisibility, you would not be able to see her but the raindrops would shaped out her body.

But the main issue was the risk of the Doctor losing her own sanity. The cops, the smell of burning bodies, the screaming of other cyborgs, it could drive any cybernetic user insane. She consistently told herself, "You're going to be fine, everything's alright. You're going to be fine, everything's alright."

Being stealthy and cautious she made her way to the back of the warehouse outside. Each bomb was kept in a black backpack. Once she let go of the item was no longer invisible. Bomb one was planted, she wanted to plant the second bomb a few meters apart from the first. She just couldn't get caught...

Stent made the route in record time. As he pulled up to the lot, he could see an explosion on the roof as a cyborg was lit up like a roman candle. He stepped out of the vehicle and sighed. Gunnerson. There was a noticeable hole in the front of the warehouse where the original detonation must have occurred. Colton hurriedly walked up to a sergeant on the line and asked for a quick debrief.

"Sergeant," Colton began. "Are there any updates? Has anyone been deployed yet?"

"Oh yessir, Gunnerson reported ten cyborgs, right before taking out one! Then officer Gulbrandsen showed up on the scene and went to go cover the back because we're busting our balls, stretched thin as it is watching the front."

Colton nodded, "alright, I'll catch up with Officer Gulbrandsen then."

With extreme haste, Colton Stent rushed around to catch up with Anna. He reached up to his ear piece to contact her. "Anna? This is Agent Stent. I'm coming to back you up. Don't do anything hasty until I get there."

Stent reviewed the situation in his mind, trying to figure out what may be going on.
This is definitely a coordinated attack. One gave his life to open this warehouse, which means they knew they couldn't open it conventionally. This required planning, an intelligent direction, meaning this is no random act of violence. This means they are probably more prepared than usual. Hopefully this snatch and grab doesn't turn into a massacre.

Slade was now taking cover behind a pillar in the large open space of the third floor of the warehouse. two cyborgs were firing their weapons in his direction. A third cyborg was face down on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. It was pretty obvious that he was the first one to maker contact with Slade. However he did manage to graze Slade in the shoulder with a pulse round before Slade lit him up. "Slade it's Anna, You're about to get some company, That explosion drew a lot of attention" Her voice rang through his mic.

Slade swallowed the searing burning feeling from the cauterized wound on his shoulder and replied. "Yeah I kind of figured that out" He said to her with a small wince from pain. quickly thinking he fired his shotgun in their direction to supress them. There was a large bay window near him. it faced the loading area and truck bay of the building. If it came to that, he would have to use that as his exit and regroup with a new strategy.

Bernard, "Bernie," was watching the scene at the warehouse from the window of a nearby apartment building. The apartment's owner, one "William Burns," was face-down in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the room. "What an amusingly appropriate name." Bernard thought to himself. Plastic explosives were taped to the walls and ceiling here and there, little red lights blinking on and off. The lights were purely aesthetic, of course, but it just felt right. A makeshift rocket launcher stood next to the half-open window. Not a very reliable weapon, but then again he only needed to fire it once.

As he peered down at the police cars amassed outside the front of the warehouse he wondered if his brothers and sisters inside could cause enough trouble to get the cops to call for reinforcements. He hoped they did. The more police present to feel his wrath, the better. But either way he would make sure their glorious sacrifice would not be in vain. For now he merely watched. And waited.

Karen walked into her apartment. It wasn't lavish and it definitely wasn't what some people would call luxurious, but she had enough room to have a queen sized bed, a half kitchen, and a walk-in closet. That was really all she needed. She didn't think that she needed anything more.

She had just gone and robbed a few drunk men of their wallets. They were some high rollers, they carried about two hundred and fifty canadian dollars in their wallets. How stupid of them, carrying around so much cash. She realized that a lot of hookers liked to be handed cash, not a credit card. I bet they were on their way to go get some hookers... They'll be surprised when they reach for their wallet and nothing's there. She smirked.

She looked out the window and watched as the city went on with it's hustle and bustle. She lived in a pretty crappy part of town, but it was better than most people living in the slums, so she was content with what she had. She had a nice Chinese restaurant nearby and had some pretty nice neighbors. Then, there was gangs and such in this part of the town and she preferred not to get in their way, because they were pretty ruthless.

As she looked out the window, she saw a huge explosion coming from a warehouse and the in a matter of minutes, she saw police cars surrounding the perimeter of the building. Cyborgs... Always up to no good. She walked out of her apartment and wanted to see some of the excitement.

As she walked down the street, she saw a man pulling a little girl and she was screaming. All of a sudden, the man fell to the floor and a woman appeared in front of the child. She looked somewhat like a cyborg, but from what it looked like, she was doing the little girl no harm. The woman continued to talk with the little girl but she ran away and the woman just walked away. Karen felt like she needed to help the little girl, so she followed her.

The little girl sat in an alleyway crying.

"What's wrong little girl?" She tried to sound as polite as possible, so she wouldn't scare her away.

The little girl looked up at her in alarm. "Stay away from me!" She looked just like Karen when she was little.

"It's okay. I promise I won't hurt you." She backed away to show that she didn't mean to hurt the little girl in any way. "What happened to you?"

"I don't believe you! Stay away from me!" She ran further into the alley.

Karen decided to continue chasing the little girl, but she tried her best not to be spotted by the little girl. The little girl stopped in the middle of the alleyway. Why did she stop so suddenly? Then she saw what that little girl was seeing. A large cyborg sitting on the right side of the alleyway, holding what looked like, a large machine gun.

The cyborg stood up and Karen ran in front of the little girl. "Get away from here! You're going to get hurt if you don't!"

The little girl stood motionless, frozen by fear from what Karen could tell. As the cyborg finally faced their direction, Karen decided it was best to take the little girl and run. She picked up the little girl and heard shots being fired in her direction as she turned the corner. She heard clanking metal as she continued to run with the little girl in her arms, passed out. I don't think I'll be able to outrun it. I need somewhere for us to hide. As she turned another corner, she saw the large warehouse where the explosion she saw earlier had occurred. Great! I should be able to hide the little girl with the police until I can kill this cyborg. She ran towards one of the police cars as she heard what looked like a large battle occurring inside the warehouse. I really hate cops, but the little girl should be safe with them.

Annelise had cleared the first floor and was rounding the staircase to the second when a voice came through her headset. "Anna? This is Agent Stent. I'm coming to back you up. Don't do anything hasty until I get there."

She couldn’t help but smirk as she made her way through the floor “I’m not the one you should be telling that to.” As she crept through the room all she could hear was the rain that was now at a full downpour. “I already cleared the first floor and i’m finishing the second. Hurry up here, Slade’s above me and from the sounds of it he’s got quite the fight on his hands.”

The warehouse wasn’t privately owned so the reason they had so little security was questionable, especially when they’re storing things like Kardmium. She could hear shots coming from the next floor so she sped up her pace clearing the second floor. The last thing she needed was to get up there and have a cyborg get the jump on them. Finishing up the walkthrough of the floor she started her way back across the building, why they only had one staircase was a mystery all it’s own, one she didn’t care to learn. Halfway through the room she was greeted with a piece of wood to the face. She hit the ground harder than the wood hit her. Son of a bitch. Whoever it was was extremely quiet, that or the rain was drowning out their noise.

Blinking a few she shot up just in time to dodge an incoming kick. He had cybernetic legs, anyone of his kicks is capable of breaking some bones. She quickly moved behind a crate moving low to the ground not be seen, she had him in her sights and hopefully all she needed was one shot. His legs were his main cybernetics although he also had an enhancement on his spine most likely connected to a brain implant. Taking either out would make him as good as dead. He was looking around like a madman clearly having lost sight of her, making a perfect time to spring into action. She jumped out of cover only having to fire two shots. One directly on the spine and the other on his leg.

It worked just as she planned, hitting the main part of legs completely crippled him and the spinal column shot paralyzed his movement. It was a risky move that luckily paid off.
She dabbed her lip with her finger as she walked up to the paralyzed cyborg “You busted my lip.”

“I’ll kill you.” he said through clenched teeth.
She took her pistol and put it to his temple and pulled the trigger, there was no need to waste a shock bullet for an easy kill shot.

Colton rushed around the corner to the back of the warehouse, but failed to see Anna. Shit. Maybe she went in after Gunnerson. He knew that Anna was capable of handling herself, and if she made it to Slade, then nothing short of an AT missile could stop them.

Stent brought up Anna on his comm, "this is Colton again. New plan: I'll stay around the back in case any manage to slip by you. Make sure Slade doesn't destroy the Kardmium with his heroics."

The young-blood drew his weapon and found some cover behind some miscellaneous crates and rubbage where he could also keep an eye out for any cyborgs exiting the warehouse. Awaiting for Officer Gulbrandsen's response, Colton keenly scanned the area. Just because the break-in was sloppy, doesn't mean that some of these guys don't have any fancy toys. The rain reached a heavy downpour but Colton Stent was used to these conditions. Ever since the Synth Crisis, the city itself seems down, almost crying for the hustle and bustle of its former life.

As he scanned the area, Stent noticed something... odd. The rain was hitting something. Something that wasn't there.

Good the first bomb placed... Now all I have to do is--

Verena's thoughts were interrupted by a beeping she could only hear ringing through her head. It was her cloaking system signaling that it was giving out and needed time to charge. The Doctor had to think fast, the police was familiar with her actions, bombings, assassinating cops during riots, creating and installing cybernetics on people- in other words, Verena was a wanted woman. However two years ago near Christmas time she was hooking up small, cheap, cybernetics on homeless kids for free, it was her way of saying Merry Christmas. But she was not careful, one of the kids snitched on her. It was the first time she was surrounded by the police, the only way she could get out of there alive was to hold the kids hostage. She still regrets the feeling of putting a gun to one of the boy's head. But hell, she would never hurt those kids, or any child in fact. Though the cops now see Verena as the sick physio cyborg who not only is active in bombings, but in the killing of children. But she was better than that, everyone on the streets knew it, but the authorities didn't believe it.

In her head all she thought was, She plant the second the bomb and get out of here!
She wanted to finish her job, but also do it right, or at least decently. She wanted to plant the second bomb on the opposite corner of the first bomb. With her cloaking system to the end time of functioning, the Doctor how to be more flexible. Normally, Verena would hide for cover but there was really none that she could get to in a limited time, all she could do now was make a run for it. She now turned on her sprint enchantment and raced herself down to the next corner when all of sudden she was now visible in an area of cops. Could Verena get herself out of here? Probably, but would she be in the hands of cops?

Things were getting interesting down below. Someone had brought a child, a little girl, to the officers milling about outside the warehouse. No idea why. That particular area was probably one of the least safe places in the city right now. In just a little bit it would skyrocket, no pun intended, to the #1 least safe place in the city thanks to the bulky shoulder-mounted rocket launcher he was now pointing down at the collection of cop cars huddled around the front of the warehouse.

The launcher itself was little more than a big metal pipe. It wouldn't explode in his face, but that was about the best thing that could be said for the weapon. The rocket though, oh boy that was a piece of work. It seemed almost criminal to fire such a fine, carefully crafted warhead from such a piece of crap. Criminal. Ha. But for Bernard's purposes both the launcher and its payload were more than adequate.

He did not want to kill the girl. She was still young. Innocent. Probably. She still had plenty of time to embrace the future. Or would have, had she not been standing where she was. Wrong place, wrong time. An unfortunate turn of events, but he couldn't just stop now. Not after setting this all up. He wasn't the one who told the cyborgs to assault the warehouse. He occasionally worked with some of the gangs but he didn't have that kind of pull. He had, however, learned of their plans and made plans of his own. Hence his setup here in this old apartment which had a perfect view of the street below.

"Might as well get it over with." he thought to himself, slightly sour over the kid being there. The barrel of the launcher flicked from one cop to the next. "Eeny meeny miny...mo." he said, steadying his aim on the one farthest from the girl. It was unlikely that she would escape the hellfire, but he could try, couldn't he? With a small squeeze of the trigger the rocket took flight and with a loud screech swerved and arced its way towards unlucky police officer #4.

It missed. It hit the street about six feet to the left of him. But that hardly mattered as a fireball quickly engulfed both that officer and everything within 15 feet or so before the flames hungrily began spreading outwards and upwards. Bernard had spent a pretty penny on that rocket, and it had been worth it. It was filled with a chemical concoction that was not only highly incendiary, but also reacted violently with water. He had set fire to the rain itself. He vaguely remembered there being a song about just such a feat. But more importantly the street below was quickly becoming a hellish inferno as the fire spread. By his estimation roughly 50 feet of street would be a sea of flames for a good while before the chemical got too thinly dispersed to continue burning. Time to leave. But first, he set up a little camera on poor old William's desk, facing towards the door. When the cops came knocking, he'd knock back.

Out the door and straight up the nearby stairwell. This apartment building had an elevator, but his legs never got tired so why not use the stairs? It was much faster. Once he got to the roof he figured he could take a moment to ponder his next move. Should he just make a clean escape? Or should he help his fellow cyborgs get away with the kardmium? Decisions decisions.

Come on, your eyes aren't lying to you. There is a pattern. A shape. The rain is contouring perfectly to some object.

Just as Colton began to work out in his head that there was, in fact, a cyborg before him, their stealth field began to drop. A short circuit? Faulty cyberware? It didn't matter to Stent because at that moment he noticed the backpack and scratch-built explosive on the cyborg's person. A saboteur.

"FREE-" Colton rose and took aim with his carbine, ready to strike if necessary, but was cut off from an unfortunate chain reaction of events. First he heard the explosion. The dazed and confused screams from the lot where the cops were positioned. He didn't know at the time, but a rocket struck the force. The blast from the explosion along with the ensuing chemical spray detonated the first backpack charge.

Stent was hit more by the shock wave of the explosion, as the bomb was positioned a considerable ways away, but this must have been one hell of a bomb. The blast knocked him down, some of his former cover falling on top of him. And for a moment, the always-stoic Officer Stent didn't have much of a thought running through his head. He was consumed by the ringing in his ears and the workings of what would turn out later to be a concussion.

He wasn't able to ask the important questions to himself: What's going on with the police? Are there more explosives? How are Anna and Slade faring? And what about that cyborg saboteur Colton saw?

As soon as Karen was about to hand off the little girl to the police, she heard an explosion and was knocked down to the ground while carrying the little girl that was in her arms. Then... She saw the impossible. It was raining fire. Karen was trying to protect the little girl from any serious burns. As it continued to rain down on her, she wanted to scream in pain and die, but she held it in because she couldn't stop until the little girl was safe. This place was not safe. She should've known not to bring her here. This must've been a trap made by the cyborgs to take out the police. She ran to the nearest building, found a window on the first floor, broke it, and jumped inside with the little girl. This looked like a sturdy building and it provided protection from the fiery rain.

She laid the little girl down and examined her body for any burns. Luckily, she only had one minor burn that would be easy to heal if she had some salve. She was a different story though. She was lucky not to have died. She had a large burn that made the air around her smell like cooking flesh, it was on her left ankle. She wouldn't be able to walk for a while. She looked over to the little girl who hadn't woken up yet and decided that she should take her to her apartment. It wasn't much, but it would be safe from the elements and from cyborgs. Speaking of cyborgs, where is the one that was chasing us?

As if on cue, she heard a large crash and then a light shone inside the room. She had hoped it didn't follow them. She was hoping so badly it was the cops, but from the shape of the shadow on the light that shone inside, the figure was not human. She heard clanking metal and started to wonder why this cyborg was so persistent. She got up and her ankle burned in pain, but she made her way over to a spot where she would be able to see the figure if it took a few steps. As she heard the metal screeching, it stopped right before she was able to see it. Then, strangely, it left. She was extremely confused. Usually when a cyborg finds a target, and they know the location of it, they'll pursue it and kill it.

She moved back over to the little girl and kept one of her guns out just in case she had to shoot some cyborgs that may or may not come in. She ripped off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it around her burn. It hurt like hell, but she bore it because she had to help this little girl. She was like Karen when she was little, running around on the streets. But, if it weren't for Karen she wouldn't be in the situation they were in right now. If she hadn't confronted the girl, she wouldn't have run from the cyborg and passed out, then they wouldn't have run into the bombing with the cops, and then they wouldn't be burned and hurting. She thought about this as she tried to get up onto her ankle and walk. It hurt so bad, but she endured the pain and picked up the little girl. The weight was extremely painful on her ankle, but she endured it and started to walk toward the door to the building. She made it to the doorway when she saw something that was obviously waiting outside, next to the doorway. It was a cyborg.

Anna quickly turned out of the stairwell and fired at two cyborgs opening firing towards Slade. They didn’t notice her coming making the kill rather quick. She dragged one body away from the doorframe and took cover where he once was. Peeking around the edge she spotted the four remaining cyborgs taking cover and or firing in Slade’s direction. She spotted his head bobbing behind a pillar on the far side of the floor behind several crates. The borgs were sandwiched between the two of them and if they played it right were easy picking.

“Slade i’ve got yo-” Another explosion erupted from outside cutting her off, much louder than the small one Slade created when she first arrived. Peeking around the corner there was nothing but fire on the outside and the windows had been shattered from the blast.

“Stent what the hell is happening out there?” she said back on her comms. This better not be a goddamn setup.

Slade was relieved when he saw that Anna had shown up.She was one of the officers he trusted, even though she had cybernetics, she was a survivor like him and She had earned his trust by coming through for him on numerous occasions. She quickly disposed of the two cyborgs that were supressing him. And he turned his focus on the remaining four that were now sandwiched between him and her at different positions. "Welcome to the Par- " He stopped when a large explosion went off and fire blew a window near a cyborg. Was that a bomb? Slade didn't know but his reflexes kicked in. The explosion had also distracted the cyborgs who looked towards the window. Slade moved from his cover and crouched right in front of the large box that the nearest cyborg was hiding behind.

"Hey where did he go?" He heard it say. Shotgun in hand, Slade rose up and put the barrel below his chin. taking the cyborg by surprise. Pulling the trigger quickly and looking away and crouching down. A mist of blood and grey matter took place of his head for a few split seconds before the body slumped to the ground. The other cyborgs were beginning to frenzy. Which is just what he wanted, their aim became sloppy and and they began yelling. He holstered his shotgun again and pulled out his pistol. Firing it he put a round through a second cyborgs eye causing the back of it's head to blow out. 2 Left. Now that Slade had better cover he could relax a little bit. "What the hell was that? Did our guys just get hit?" He said firing at the next cyborg.

Slade had managed to blow away two more cyborgs making the rest become a clumsy mess. Anna stepped out of cover and fired several rounds into the neck of one of the raving cyborgs, taking him by surprise.

"What the hell was that? Did our guys just get hit?" Slade yelled to her firing at the only cyborgs left.

Anna slid into cover behind a close pillar “I don’t know, Stent hasn’t responded to me yet.” she quickly peeked out and unloaded on the second cyborg and a shock round must have hit a sweet spot because sparks started to fly from the cybernetics. He collapsed to the floor still flying sparks, he was clearly dead.

She let out a light sigh as the battle finally ended and left her cover making sure they all were dead. The only light source in the room was the fire that raged outside. “We need to get out there.”

Anna didn’t wait for a response from Slade as she was already hurrying down the stairs while trying to get Stent on the comms. Making her way outside the loading bay was looking much more hectic than when she originally arrived. Looking through the rain she spotted a person on the ground. It was Stent. Running over she realized he was completely dazed with his eyes glazed over. “Stent. Are you alright?”

Just when Verena though things could not get any worse, an explosion was perform and it wasn't hers. The Doctor was knocked to the ground forcefully causing the glass in her electronic shades to fragment into tiny piece stabbing her right eye and her radar to malfunction. She was already out in the open, however near a window that led to the inside of the warehouse; thus she crawl as quickly as Verena could smelling the aroma of the fire, blood, death. A splash of vomit oozed from her lips as the feeling of light-headedness only made matters worse. She did not stop to observe her surroundings, the Doctor weakly inched through what use to be a window. Verena took one glance out the opening to only see what hell has been unleashed.

If Verena did not lose a majority of her sanity she would probably say a smart comment like, "Someone trying to steal my show, hmm? I will give you that one, you mysterious stranger..." And continue to keep her calm, but she only held on a thin single strand of mental stability, and the last thing Verena ever be at the moment was calm. Verena was the one who now needed a doctor, the metal of her left arm blazed with flames and was now slowly melting, but was the arm hiding her non-lethal weapon, but ironically she was not planning to be merciful, not after what she had been through. Thankfully, she was smart and quick enough to preserve the bomb by covering the backpack with her stomach when crawling to the warehouse outside. Not only did Verena hold the bomb but in her leather vest jacket pocket she had was equipped with the detonator, so technically she could add her finishing touches to the hellhole if she wanted to. But all Verena wanted to do was survive, and if she couldn't then the Doctor wanted to leave out with a bang. So, yes the Doctor would do something so cruel as using the bomb as an advantage.

Walking through the warehouse she did not discovered any cops searching the first floor probably because they were already trying to chase after what maniac made it rain hell fire. So the Doctor limped to the second floor, though her radar was no at its best working abilities but it could vaguely target some kind of predator or predators above her. Was it three, or four? She could not tell but they were probably cops trying to clean up. She rather not make it up on the rooftop, instead she decided to lure them somehow. Therefore, Verena placed the bomb on the floor next to feet and began to three gunshots with a gun she picked off of a dead cop on the floor below.

"Hopefully that got their attention, if not, this bomb will!" she shouted to herself, firming grasping the detonator. What Verena was about to do was both crazy and risking, because for the first time Verena was going to negotiate with he police .

“We need to get out there.”

And just like that, Anna sprinted down the stairs as quickly as she could. Slade was a little rattle from a shockwave that seemed to come from the structure of the warehouse. Everything seemed out of place and it wasn't that cyborg's disembodied head splattered against the floor. No, there was a sudden sense of urgency and then Slade could hear it, the faint cries from outside. Gunnerson moved up to the window and witnessed a most horrific sight.

The cops were scrambling about, completely engulfed in flames. All the patrol cars were also lit up and it seemed as though the rain was helping to spread the fire. Seeing this and a small crater where the missile impacted, Gunnerson realized he had seen something similar before and knew this had to be a chemical-based explosion. The flames danced and licked the bodies, burning brightly for all in the neighborhood to see. Slade turned away to follow Anna and help get things settled. This was a call for action.


OOC: Wheezy Mcgee is out of town and allowed me to post on his behalf until Monday.

The ringing, the incessant ringing. There was nothing but the ringing, until Stent received a friendly wake up. It was Anna, gently slapping his face, helping him come to.

"Colton. Colton! Come on, Colton!" Anna shouted, volume increasing as the ringing finally began to subside.

Groggy, Stent rose to his feet with the aid of Anna. He noticed Slade step from out of the building.

Gunnerson? Good, that means they must've have dispatched with the hostiles. But that explosion wouldn't have been Slade's fault... probably. Yeah, that saboteur had bombs. But the building is still standing. So why does Officer Gulbrandsen look so concerned? And are those screams? Is that the smell of burning fle-

"Colton, what happened?" Anna asked with a strong sense of urgency.

"I... dunno," Stent began, as he clutched his side. "There was a bomber. I saw it, a cyborg, out here planting bombs."

Slade spoke up, "Well we got about a dozen or so uniforms out there doused in flames. I figure they're completely soaked in some kinda chemical."

"Wait a moment," Colton said as he began to remember a bit more. "Right before I was hit with the blast, I heard an explosion from out front. That's two explosions. And the cyborg back here seemed a bit taken back themselves. That means we could have two bombers. In all likely hood, this was a trap and either A, the explosives were setup beforehand or B, the first bomber had a clear shot to launch an explosive. Officer Gulbrandsen, call for help, but make sure HQ has some suits sweep all the vantage points the bomber could have used. Slade, go check for survivors of the blast and see if anyone escaped the inferno. I'll scope out the warehouse to see if there's any clue as to what just went down and why."

Verena hugged her bomb tightly as if she was a mother embracing her child. She was sprawled out on the ground to weak to even stand, but strong enough to mash the button belonging to the detonator. The cops on the floor above must of not heard the gunshots which she fired, too much noise from outside. But once they go down those steps they will be surprised to see the Doctor on the verge of activating the last two bombs of this catastrophe, well hopefully the last. But honestly, Verena was not attached to any desire to set off the bombs she just wanted to leave the cursed place alive. If she tried to escape by running away earlier out in the open she would of have surely burned to a crisp. Besides, the rain was not the only problem, there was the police also, some getting too trigger happy for their own good. Its funny how she depended on a bomb for her safety.

Though Verena was too valuable to kill, because she had enough influence to lure out other cyborgs and she held the answers to questions so constantly asked by many, many being the authorities. But she was also rare because of her strong-willed mind to keep under pressure, meaning that she did not rush to turn to insanity. In fact, if she were insane now wouldn't she have already triggered the two bombs? However, she knew the only way she would be leaving the warehouse alive is in she were to become prisoner. It was something she dreaded but Verena was running out of options. It would be silly if the police force did not detain her, but would it not also be safer if they were to gun her down? Though fortunately for Verena they might want to reconsider killing her when she grasps a hold of a bomb

Bernard was perched on the rooftop like a lonely gargoyle, looking down at the destruction he had wrought. The police were being fried to a crisp, and he was happy to see that the girl's guardian had gotten her away from the flames in time. That second explosion though...that wasn't his. One of those cyborgs inside must have brought explosives. That was just bad luck. He continued to hear faint gunshots coming from inside the warehouse. Judging from the firing patterns the person with the semi-automatic pistol was winning. As if to confirm that claim, a shotgun blast rang out, followed by a few more pistol shots...then silence. Well, aside from the noise of the heavy rain and the crackling fire below. And the screams of the burning officers, which were quickly becoming less frequent.

If he still had lips he would frown. He had just taken out a good number of those horrible cops but his brethren in the warehouse had been completely wiped out as well by only a few officers. They must be good. True, some of his brothers and sisters had become cocky, even stupid when they ascended, but to be killed by only a handful of humans was pitiful. He could not find it within him to mourn for such incompetents. They did not treasure their gifts like Bernard did. They were reckless. They treat their bodies like a child treats its toys, and like so many children's toys they ended up broken.

Still, those elite officers may be a hindrance in the future. Or perhaps he could use them. After all, nothing gets the people riled up like a bad cop. Sure, they might not be bad now. But he had his ways. For now, he would do a little thievery. It almost seemed beneath him, but it never hurt to have some kardmium. The stuff was worth more than its weight in gold. And Bernard didn't exactly have a day job. Taking just a moment to measure the gap, he backed up, got a running start, and leaped from the ten story apartment building down to the 3 story warehouse, landing gently like a butterfly. A half ton butterfly made of metal. It was a pretty graceful landing, but he had made a bit of a "thud." He stopped and listened for any reactions. They might not have heard him over the rain and fire.

"No shit Sherlock......" Slade muttered to himself as he heard Colton's plan. He turned and headed towards the front of the building where the carnage and away from Colton and Anna. A few seconds later the he was at the front of the building. THe air was a lot warmer and it was full of the smells of flesh and rubber, and chemicals. Most of the fire had subsided and it left in its wake a lot of dead cops. He didn't see many survivors however the few that did survive were now severely burned, and ironicly would probably need cybernetics to survive. The thought of this made Slade furious, these were good men and women, and it shouldn't have come to this. A few of the officers that survived the blast and were ok had detained a cyborg that looked to be carrying a bomb. He would deal with her later, as of right now a lot things needed to be answered.

Slade looked around to see if he could spot where this explosion came from, Out of the corner of his eye his goggles locked onto a figure jumping from a nearby taller building onto the warehouse. It couldn't be who he thought it was, Slade hadn't seen or heard from him in a while. "Gunnerson what the hell happened down there? Who did this?" Said the sarge's voice from his mic. "I don't know but I think I'm gonna find out..." He said turning off his mic as he began to run back into the warehouse to confront the stranger. More and more questions began to pile up.

The fire had caused the temperature in the area to rise turning what was a cool rainstorm into a miserable muggy mess. Colton had regained his composure and immediately started barking orders left and right."Anna, get HQ on the line tell them we need rescue units."

"Already on it." She said hand on her headset. "This is Agent Gulbrandson requesting rescue units and additional support. There’s a bomber in the area.” While she was taking to the command center Slade went around front to check on survivors and what not and Colton went back in the warehouse to look for any explanation of what just happened.

“The streets are packed the fastest they’ll get there is within ten minutes. Can you guys control the situation until then?

“Yeah we’ll manage.” She ended the call and let out a heavy sigh, reiterating the ETA to the rest of the guys. Ten minutes was enough time for the culprit, or culprits, to get away. While Slade was out front and Colton heading inside she figured she would take the perimeter.

After being met with some sarcasm from his fellow officers, Stent marched into the warehouse. From inside, he could see both Slade checking on the officers, some of which were negotiating with an oddly familiar cyborg.

Alright, time to scan for clues. Crates of kardmium were strapped with rigs for easy hauling, provided these thugs had the right equipment. This only confirmed Stent's suspicion that they were trying to steal the precious alloy. An overlooked fact by the general public is that insanity does not always equate to a complete loss of faculties, as some simply gained a screwed up moral compass or skewed sense of what's ethical. This always made it hard to deal with the cyborgs. Either they were mad or believed so strongly that they were immune.

The plasma burns and position of this husk indicates that one cyborg sacrificed himself to create this hole in the wall. A plasma core this volatile is likely a class four upgrade. Most cyborg's can't afford that. This is likely tied to activity of maybe a larger gang. Back at HQ, I'm going to need to look into gang activities. They're getting bolder no-

A gentle thud on the roof caught Colton's attention and shortly after, he noticed Slade moving back towards the warehouse. It would probably be a good idea to investigate.