The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Daystar Clarion]

The corner of Lilith's mouth curled slightly as Sprout was handed the chest. "Check it, Axel, make sure we're not getting screwed." She whispered. She hovered her scope over the woman who's expression seemed too casual for such a meeting. Third party then, probably done this before, considering the look on her face.

If anything was going to happen, it was going down in the next few moments. Lilith slowed down her breathing, her aim steadying.

 

[Fappy]

"What the hell did you guys do to him? I think I want some of that."

As soon as he'd received the case he took a few steps backwards and checked its contents. It was carbon alright and it looked like the right amount. Sadly there'd be no way of knowing until they weighed it, "They said they drugged him up because he was being unruly. Whatever they have him on should wear off soon."

"Babar! I love you, Babar!" The deranged noble spouted as Whiskey began escorting away.

Content with a job well done, Sprout started for the treeline once more when suddenly, a chorus of cocked firearms forced him to stop in his tracks, "NO ONE FUCKN' MOVE!"

Sprout turned his head ever so slightly to see a group of about ten men standing to the north, right outside the treeline, leveling their weapons at he and Whiskey's party. The man in front, from about 20 yards away, pointed a pistol at the back of Sprout's head, "Give it up, kid. We know who you are! We're here for the bounty on your mom and... we'd like to ask you some questions..."

The man to his side pointed his shotgun at Whiskey, "What do we do about these guys?"

"Let them go. If they attempt to help the boy... make sure you get them all. The *****'s got connections to Wilks-Vine. We don't want that kinda heat on us if we can help it."

What the hell had happened?! How did they know about this transfer? Where had they come from?! Sprout remained frozen in place... waiting for an opportunity to bolt. His decision hinged entirely on what Whiskey would do, "This ain't lookn' good, Lily." He whispered into his hidden mic.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

After serving her guests their drinks, Pixie plopped down opposite them and continued drinking the bourbon she'd started earlier. Sweet, sweet noble alcohol.

"Are their any questions at this point."

Pixie, still leaning back in the chair, her legs crossed and boots planted on the desk, gestured with one finger, "Jus' one, Gents. I ain't never seen this fine lil' thin' before n' you bring her on fer a score this big? I don' mean ta' insult y'all, but I'm curious as ta' what 'er background is. Can we count on 'er?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

The situation was growing ever more tense, when suddenly Viola could hear noises coming from underneath, lowering her rifle for a second; she peeked out from over the tower and saw a group of roughly ten men pass under her and towards the grove.

"How in hell did they get here? They weren't there when I arrived. They must of found a tunnel of some sort close by that I didn't spot earlier. I could pick one off now, but I'd lose the element of surprise since I'm on their flank. Just got to wait for the moment of opportunity to present itself." Viola said to herself as she raised her rifle again and looked through the scope, trying to follow the group's path beneath the foliage. The kid who was now carrying the chest filled with the ransom payment was making his way back to where he appeared from, when the group made their move.

"NO ONE FUCKN' MOVE!" Shouted the ring leader of the group, who after she looked through her rifle's scope, recognised as one of the other Hunters that Dio had hired. He then pointed a gun at the boy who was carrying the chest. The others were soon pointing guns at everyone else in the near vicinity, including one at Whiskey; which made Viola smile.

"Well, can't say I told you so Miss Fifer." Viola told herself in a rather smug tone. She then took a few deep breaths before aiming at the ring leader, ready to fire in case things got messy.

Spoiler: Music Time

 

[Ruedyn]

Spoiler: Boomhower

Kayneth

"Well--- LET'S GO!"

Kayneth smiled his wild smile, no duel but taking out a large portion of enemies was always great! Though, he didn't much care for a side in all this. Everyone was a hostile, everyone was a threat! His patience had paid off, just like it usually did.

"Fuckin' FINALLY!" He muttered, following Bennie. He expected him to be a bit faster, for some reason, but they made it a few blocks in decent time.

He went around the side of the building, too much gunfire inbetween the two. Maidens were going to get dead soon anyways, it was only a matter of time after this. They were even more injured! He vaguely hoped no one had suffered a head shot, he needed those fuckers mostly intact.

The gunfire was dying down it seemed, too few moments to get to were he wanted to be. He peeked around an edge, seeing a few of the bandito's running towards him. He smiled as he wound up his sword arm, standing behind a dumpster.

"C'mon, we gotta-"

*SHING*

A vertical slice, cut his arm off at the elbow. Kayneth readjusted, pushing him into the gunfire of his friends. Adrenaline kicked in; inhale, raised reolver as the bullets flew past him. Slow exhale, looking for spots to shoot. He smirked as he found it, moving his finger to the trigger. Hiding behind a friend, how brave, the bullet passed through the first, exploding in him and making him fall into the arms of his friend. Kayneth ducked back around his corner, pulling back the hammer again. Two down.

Not too many left.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Warren

Smiles followed instinct, ducked behind the Crawler when the bullets started flying. He kept up suppressing fire, but the smell of blood, the smell of gunpowder... He grinned, Ruffles had had a few close calls, but it seemed shit was winding down. Warren made sure to light up as many mother fuckers as he could if they got too close, though, maybe getting a body count of 2 that way. He stood up from his over finally, flicking to semi-auto. A few snipers, he'd paid attention to their little fucking hidey holes.

"Ratatatat, motherfuckers! HAHAHA!" His bullets flew true enough, he'd always been a good shot. He saw the red mist from behind his cover, should've chosen better. He readjusted, bold little fucker was about to take the shot. Warren sprayed, two misses, one in the chest, he noted as he flew back. He sat back down, listening...

"Gun shots, left side of the building." Warren called out, Moving past the group. He wanted in on that shit. He dashed between cover, avoiding sniper fire as best he could. Still, managed to get one to graze his arm, underestimated his speed as he sprinted between a body and the alley.

He could see inside it, though. A man was in open space, Warren raised his rifle and took a quick shot.

"YOU MOTHER-"

Warren smirked, taking a position opposite the... super, super white guy. Red hair, red eyes, white as goddamned snow. "Come here often?" He yelled to him, getting a middle finger in response. He heard a tiny voice from inside the alley.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vergil

"Fucking shit piss!" The boy muttered to himself, running towards the gunfire. Not unusual, he supposed, but he had to check out every fight to check for the Maidens. This meant way too much fucking gunfire for his lifetime. He threw up his hood, hiding behind a dumpster as men passed by, all yelling. Flanking their enemies? Did they... did they even know the term 'flanking'?

*SHING*

That was blade cutting through flesh, ambushers became ambushee's. Vergil peeked around, ducking immediately back as an explosive round tore up one of the bandits. That... was going to stay with him for the rest of his life. He gulped loudly, looking around. A sweaty, hairy bandito crouched next to him, panting and checking his gun. He looked at Vergil, doing a double take.

"Do I-?"

"Nope." The orphan kicked the man in the side, into the open. "YOU MOTHER-" His sentence was cut off with a salvo of assault rifle rounds. Vergil could hear some faint yelling in the background, two men it sounded like.

"... I'm friendly?!" The boy called out, hoping the men believed him.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Aquila

She'd seen a trio in the back of an alley.

A boy about her age, a noble who was hopefully just drugged, and a woman with a bandit scarf. She'd have shot them on sight, if it wasn't for that little scarf. Didn't want to upset another bandit family, not just yet. Too many enemies were a terrible thing, her mother had told her. Only pick on civilians. They were easier.

She was mostly just curious, though. A boy in rags, a man in a suit, and a girl dressed like a bandit. They retreated into the sewer, and she followed. She justified her curiosity by reminding herself she could rob them later, if it turned out to be nothing. They seemed nervous in the dark tunnels, did they notice her? She was forced to follow their flashlight. It was possible they simply heard her, she supposed, the slosh didn't help.

After a moment, she had followed them into... a forest? That was likely the term. She'd never seen one, and she found it... surreal. Too much green, she felt herself getting a headache in it. And it was a maze! She groaned, simply grasping a free branch and climbing up. Better vantage, didn't have to worry about much except how to get to the next tree.

After awhile, she had found the edge of the maze, they'd struck up conversation with the lady while the nobleman did... whatever the fuck he was doing. Drugs. Head trauma. Something. The one in the scarf was in the nearby watchtower. She saw the light reflecting off her scope, though it could've been someone else.

Spoiler: Feroxi

"NO ONE FUCKN' MOVE!"

"Hm?"

[sub]"Give it up, kid. We know who you are! We're here for the bounty on your mom and... we'd like to ask you some questions..."[/sub]

[sub]"What do we do about these guys?"[/sub]

[sub]"Let them go. If they attempt to help the boy... make sure you get them all. The *****'s got connections to Wilks-Vine. We don't want that kinda heat on us if we can help it."[/sub]

Aquila looked through her scope, listening intently. Sounded like they were taking the kid she was following. She was beginning to like that kid... She shrugged, might as well start the conflict. She aimed, steadying on the one with the pistol trained on the boy in rags. Slow exhale...

No one else was firing.

"Odd." she muttered, matter of factly as she checked around the groups. A gun pointed at his head, the one in the tower did nothing. Didn't she... care for the kid? Little brother or something, though their looks were so different. Maybe friends...? Lovers?

She decided to stand by, for now. The first shot could be fired by someone else, then, if no one else would... she would.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

No... The cigarette fell from Lilith's lips.

Lilith stopped breathing as a group of what she assumed to be bounty hunters came into view in the tree line across from her view. "NO ONE FUCKN' MOVE!" Sprout's mic picked up the order from who she guessed to be the leader.

"No, no, no, no!" Her aim wavered as she began to panic. "Shit!" She continued to peer through the scope, looking at faces, trying to get an idea on what was going on. She was too far away to hear anything, and Sprout's mic wasn't picking anything up. It didn't seem like they were with the Wilks-Vine party, not with how hostile they were acting. The guns aimed at them also gave it away somewhat. Stop it! fucking focus, Axel needs you to fucking focus! She bit down hard on her bottom lip.

"This ain't lookn' good, Lily."

Her heart almost stopped in her chest. She scoped over the boy, she could tell he was fighting every last instinct to run away. She thought for a second, taking her hand from the trigger, she reached for the mic clipped onto her scarf and switched it on. Composure, don't let him know you're as scared as he is.

"Axel, it's okay, I'm here, I can see you." Her voice was calm, gentle almost. She returned her hand to the trigger of her rifle. "I need you to do as I say. Drop the box, put your hands up slowly, and put them behind your head, then turn to face the guy aiming at you." Sprout would have his back to her, but more importantly, she'd be able to see his hands. "Okay, two fingers for yes, one for no. Do you see any cover you think you can get to quickly if you needed to?" She awaited his response.

 

[The Funslinger]

The *****'s got connections to Wilks-Vine. We don't want that kinda heat on us if we can help it."

"Ya goddamn fucked up my business transaction, and you think that isn't going to bite you?" Christ..." she laughed to herself. Her eyes surveyed the scene. Lots of big trees, that would make good cover. A couple weren't too far away from the kid, and she was sure she could account for herself.

Nodding firmly to the man holding Sprout at gunpoint, she asked, "You mind not threatening a kid? Sets my teeth on edge."

She hoped Viola would read that nod correctly. Take the fucker out, and let chaos ensue..

 

[Fappy]

"I need you to do as I say. Drop the box, put your hands up slowly, and put them behind your head, then turn to face the guy aiming at you."

Sprout did as instructed. He met the man's gaze, and though fear had taken him, he greeted the man with empty eyes. He could see the contractor now. She didn't look pleased.

"You mind not threatening a kid? Sets my teeth on edge."

The man's resolved wavered, "Did I say you could move, kid?!"

"Okay, two fingers for yes, one for no. Do you see any cover you think you can get to quickly if you needed to?"

Sprout gave her two fingers, "Let's not do anything we---"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, KID! GET ON YOUR KNEES!" He was flustered, as was the rest of his men.

Amateurs...

Then he noticed the look on Whiskey's face. There was someone else watching them. What was about to happen? Sprout shot a glance to a nearby tree and gritted his teeth.

There would be a firefight.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

Spoiler: Play Dis Shit for Bandito Fighting Madness Cont. :D

Bennie and Kayneth split off in different directions upon finding the source of the gunfire. It looked like the banditos had ensnared their prey. Bennie ran down the sidewalk, opposite Randy's house, taking aim and blasting away a nearby bandito with his shot gun. The man tumbled over the side of the handrail and was left sprawled out in the dirt, in a pool of his own blood. Splinters of wood exploded right by his head as he ducked for cover behind a crate.

The shot came from the direction of Randy's place, "I'M NOT A FUCKN' BANDITO!"

Silo, hiding against the side of Randy's house still, peaked around the corner, "is that you Bennie?! The fuck are you---" He was suddenly cut off when a shot from a nearby alley pierced his thigh. "FUCK!"

Bennie cursed under his breath, "Take cover inside his house! I'll hold them off on that side!" Rising from his place behind the crate, Bennie came around the side of the adjacent building as to flank those coming down the alleyway.

Step, shoot, cock, step, shoot, cock. Rinse and repeat. Though they'd gotten a few shots off in his direction, he'd managed to lay out four of them before needing to retreat to cover himself.

Being nearby, Silo called out to Aesop as he hobbled to the front door, "Aesop! Take cover in here!" Blood was pouring from his wounded leg as he made his way inside. Just then the whole area exploded with the sound of revving engines and chanting. "SHIT! GET INSIDE! HURRY! REINFORCEMENTS ARE COMING FROM THE ACCESS TUNNEL!"

Having taken out the rest of the group in the alleyway, Bennie peaked around the corner to see Ruffles and some woman he didn't recognize, "JAKE! THEY'RE COMING IN FROM THE TUNNEL! GET YOUR BLACK ASS OVER HERE!"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: SLOW MO!

The world around Lilith slowed down as she watched Axel fall to his knees. Everything was going to go to shit and she could only lay there and watch, like some kind of sick voyeur of violence. She felt sick to her stomach as she looked at Sprout.

Two fingers.

She knew what she had to do, if she wanted any hand in getting the boy out of there safely. She hovered her scope over the man aiming at Sprout, his face was red with anger, he seemed to be shouting at the Wilks-Vine woman. Did this man have a wife? Did he have children? Lilith couldn't help but let these questions permeate her mind, but she also couldn't help realising that as soon as he aimed a gun at Axel, as soon as he threatened someone she loved, that none of that mattered any more.


"No time for one liners, kid." She squeezed the trigger, the shot echoed throughout the forest as the bullet found its mark in the leader's forehead, exiting through the back in a bloody mess. "GRAB THE CHEST AND RUN!" she shouted as she rose to one knee, planting her other foot in the ground. She pulled back the bolt of her rifle, ejecting the casing and loading the next round. Hopefully she would be enough of a distraction that Axel could slip away unharmed.

 

[Ruedyn]

Aquila felt her heart skip a beat.

Boy in rags knew she was there, or something. How did he...? She growled silently to herself, scope reflection, like how she caught the woman in the watchtower. Too close to the situation, not a useful spot to hide. She aimed down, it looked like the woman was upset, too, and-

Aquila nearly fell off her perch as an unexpected shot rang out, and the guy collapsed with slightly less head than a second ago. Not in the watchtower, did he have two snipers on his side?

'Readjusting to winning team.'

She exhaled slowly, bringing her rifle back up and zooming in. The men looked confused, unknown sniper was revealing herself. Red scarf, woman in the watchtower wasn't her then. Unknown, probably with the upset woman. Would they help? Probably. She balanced her rifle on her knee, using her free hand to shine her flashlight for the woman, and the boy in rags.

"GRAB THE CHEST AND RUN!"

Aquila's rifle focused on one who was composing himself too quickly, she held her breath and squeezed the trigger. Bullseye, or man's eye in this case. She let the air out, reloading. The boy was important, and he had a chest of probably money...

'Decision was the right one, next target.'

Aquila swung her rifle around, waiting for the next shot she could take.

 

[The Funslinger]

"JAKE! THEY'RE COMING IN FROM THE TUNNEL! GET YOUR BLACK ASS OVER HERE!"

"Bennie?! Fuck!" Shots whizzed over Ruffles' head as he sprinted over to Bennie. A blast from his shotgun caught a man in the chest running out of the tunnel. "Shit, that's a lot of 'em. Hang on."

Crouching behind cover next to Bennie, Ruffles began digging around in his bag. "Aha!" he exclaimed, producing a squat grey cylinder. "Flashbang!"

Pulling the tab on the explosive, he threw it into the tunnel.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Viola watched as the boy was ordered onto his knees, the ringleader's gun still aimed at his head; she could see Whiskey nodding her head at the man, giving the suggestion for her to take the shot, Viola was about to pull down on the trigger, when suddenly someone shot before her, and took the target out in her stead.

"What the hell? The other Maiden must be hiding somewhere. Oh well, so much for firing the first shot." Not a moment later, she could hear the sounds of another shot, this time taking out the man on what was the ring leader's right.

"Another one? God damnit Dante! I thought you said there was only two Maidens at the exchange, going to have words with you later." Viola then lined up her rifle at the man's head who had a shotgun pointed at Whiskey.

"You know what they say, third times the charm." Viola remarked as she pulled the trigger, the shot going straight through the man's head, dropping him to the floor almost instantly.

 

[The Funslinger]

Spoiler: MEWZICK!

Heads started exploding, startling most everyone there. Fortunately, that included the man keeping Whiskey under guard. Just had focus came back to his eyes, replacing the shock, said eyes were sent flying with various other giblets of the skull, splattering mostly over a nearby tree. Not wasting a moment, Whiskey threw herself behind a tall, thick redwood, as bullets filled the space where she'd been. Amid the sound of gunfire and footsteps, Whiskey discerned, "That fucking whore ***** set us up! I'll kill her I'll--"

As the man came into view around her tree, Whiskey fired her shotgun point blank into his gut. "--die like a *****?" She finished for him. Really, it was funny they blamed her for this, given she had no idea who they were, and they were trying to get the drop on her to begin with. What now? Her first thought was to find the boy and cover him. Then professionalism overrode -reluctantly- and she made her way towards Bart and his four guards. Three, she corrected, when she saw one go down in the dirt, twitching and bleeding. "Get that stoned old bastard outta here. I'll cover ya!"

The men nodded, and one of them piggybacked the old man. An easy feat, given how scrawny he was. A small part of Whiskey's mind expressed curiosity about that. She could have sworn her reports said he was overweight.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Warren had managed to take out the sniper Aesop was having trouble with. Shame, he was a decent shot when he was a teenager, now he was just better than Ruffles and just worse than Silo. A man had had his arm cut off and another exploded. 'The fuck is going on here?!!!'

Suddenly a bullet tore through Silo's thigh. Shit had at this point destroyed the fan, everyone was shouting and only one word stuck out over the gunfire; Bennie.

"Aesop! Take cover in here!" Yelled Silo as he hobbled towards the house. Switching back to his machine gun and ran into the house, pulling Silo down into cover as the rest of the maidens, bar Jake, had also ran in.

"Did I hear you guys say Bennie? Like, BENNIE BENNIE?" Aesop hid low and blindfired where shots were snapping by their heads. He had heard about Bennie before but not the full story, each time a maiden told him the story he was met with varying amounts of scorn.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy sipped her wine politely, letting The Gentleman speak for her. When she looked over, he was smiling at Meredith over his glass.

"Have no fear on that score. Miss Turner has many talents, not least of which being the best information broker I know, and I know everyone. It was Amy who supplied much of the intelligence that has made this operation possible; and what's more will be taking a distinctly hands-on role in it. This is her show just as much as ours, and she's solid."

The Gentleman turned to face her, giving Amy the baton for the next stage of the plan.

"I will be attending the party as Mr Dickens' Plus One." she told them, businesslike. "Many of my sisters will also be on the guest-list, ornamenting the arms of many of the most prominent guests. We have also managed to procure two more invites for the both of you, or rather your false identities, which I suggest you study carefully.

"The sub-level we need to reach is accessible only through an elevator located in Mr Dickens' private quarters. That however, is the easy part. A lot of wealth resides at the bottom of that shaft, and almost as much has been spent keeping it safe. Nothing short of an asteroid strike could break those vault doors, so brute force will get us nowhere. To get in, we must get passed the three levels of security that keep it shut, all of which have their origins in highly advanced technology from the old civilization, which Mr Dickens has been able to procure. The first is a Tesla Barrier, running of its own dedicated power grid. Any unauthorized person who so much as places their hand on the vault door can expect their access to be denied in the fashion of several thousand volts, unless the barrier is deactivated. To do so without triggering an alarm, one of us needs to infiltrate a junction located in the maintenance centre on the lower floors, far from the confines of the party arena."

Amy turned to Meredith and smiled "This will be your objective. Their are various possible routes from sneaking out of the party to the junction, you can go whichever way you wish.

The second stage of security is an access code, changed four times a day and sent to Mr Dickens over a private channel to his neural implant, near impossible to intercept. Now, as we are unlikely to persuade Mr Dickens to just give us the code, the only remaining place to find it will be at its source, in the security centre."

At this point The Gentleman interjected. "I will sneak out of the party at the same time as Meredith, and make my way to security to obtain the code. That leaves the final stage for Amy herself to crack."

"Considering my position," Amy continued "The last stage should be by far the simplest. We need a sample of Mr Dickens' DNA. As his companion for the evening, this should not be difficult to obtain. To kill two birds with one stone, I suspect that at some point late in evening Mr Dickens will invite me back to his apartments. Once inside, I can obtain the sample and sneak the both of you in practically lying down."

 

[Fappy]

Gunshots rung out across the garden one-by-one. A hailstorm soon followed. He'd anticipated something, but not this. Three heads exploding in the span of five seconds? Yeah.... to say he had guardian angels was an understatement.

"GRAB THE CHEST AND RUN!"

It didn't take much for Sprout to shake himself from his fear fueled trance and leap to his feet. He grabbed the case and dashed across the dirt, avoiding a few stray shots as he did and threw himself up against the backside of an old willow, "Are the other shooters on ar' side?" Sprout shouted into his mic.

Lilith struggled to keep her sights on Sprout as the chaos unfolded. Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her and a series of odd noises. When she looked over her shoulder she saw three bodies sprawled out a few feet behind her. One had his throat slit and the other had low-calibur bullet wounds in their heads and chests.

Sprout held the case close to his chest, his eyes darting around the area looking for an escape route. He could hear the anguished screams of the bounty hunters directly behind him. After a few meditative breaths, he nodded to himself and darted across the garden in Lilith's direction.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Bennie covered Ruffles and Cameron as they made their way over to the alley, catching a bandito in the head with his shotgun as he chased after them. After giving him a quick nod, Ruffles tossed the flashbang over their crawler and into the access tunnel, just as an enemy crawler had been pulling up. The blast from the flashbang rendered the banditos momentarily helpless as Bennie, Ruffles and Cameron laid a hail of bullets on them.

It was a massacre. More engines could be heard echoing through the access tunnel, "Shit! There's no end to them!" He grabbed Ruffles by the shoulder. "We need to get the fuck out of here! How many other Maidens are here with you?!"

Silo crawled up to a window in the back, facing the access tunnel. Aesop wasn't far behind.

"Did I hear you guys say Bennie? Like, BENNIE BENNIE?"

"Yes, yes it's Bennie! Now would you shut up please, we've got more hostiles coming out of the tunnel!" Silo announced as he pointed his revolver out the window and began firing. Three crawlers full of banditos pulled up past the one Bennie and Ruffles had annihilated earlier. "FUCK! They're going to surround us!" Looking down at his wounded leg he ducked down behind the window and looked up at Aesop. "Leave me! Get out of here, Aesop! I won't be able to make it out on time with this leg!"

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Pixie listened intently, nodding along while she laid out the plan. This girl was good.

"... To kill two birds with one stone, I suspect that at some point late in evening Mr Dickens will invite me back to his apartments. Once inside, I can obtain the sample and sneak the both of you in practically lying down."

A longing, suggestive glance was sent Amy's way, followed by a sly grin, "I reckon I'd make the same mistake in 'is shoes." Pixie placed the bourbon on her desk and leaned forward. "I like the plan. It's good, tight. My apologies in doubt'n y'all earlier. I reckon yer no stranger ta' high-stakes scores. Other than ta' ask fer my dossier on the identity I'm ta' assume, I don' reckon I have any questions. Though, I do have one request."

Looking at Amy, Pixie grabbed a nearby shot glass and held up by her face, "Drink with me tonight. If I'm ta' place my life in yer hands I wanna know what yer 'bout. I may not look it but I reckon I ain't bad at girl talkn'." Pixie giggled and glanced over to the Gentleman. "Sorry, Gents. No wrinkles allow."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Bloody hell!" Lilith thought aloud as two other rifle shots rang through the air, turning two more heads into a fine red mist. We need to get outta here fast.

"Are the other shooters on ar' side?"

"Hell if I know, but we ain't stickin' around to find out!" She struggled to follow the boy with her scope, but she was pretty sure he made it away from the chaos. Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her. She turned quickly, her revolver in hand as she saw three bodies on the ground before her. Eyes wide, she quickly looked around as she slowly got to her feet, holding her rifle limply at her side. "Wh... Who's there?" A few moments passed with no response, the corners of her mouth curled into a small smile. "Looks like Axel isn't the only one with a guardian angel."

She quickly slung her rifle over her shoulder and began to dart down the hill, skidding on a few patches of rough dirt as she reached the bottom. Revolver still in hand, she made her way towards where the boy was heading, if she was quick, she could meet him halfway and they would both be back in the sewers in no time.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy returned the sly smile in Meredith's direction. It wasn't exactly difficult to suss out what she wanted, the only question was if there was any harm in it.

'It might even be beneficial, to get to know more about her, and if I can make her jealous being on Sirus' arm the night after, it might make her more determined to get the job done. Alternatively, it could just make her lose focus...

"It's a fair suggestion, and one I'll be delighted to accept." she told Meredith.

===========================================================================================================================

The Gentleman gave the pair of them a knowing look.

"I shall take my leave of you then, once we have discussed our exit strategy. It will be just you and me coming down to the vault, Meredith. Amy and her sisters will stay behind to keep the guests appropriately distracted. Once inside, we'll change our disguises to that of ordinary workers. Mr Dickens gets the carbon out of the vault and two his accomplices through an underground passage that leads to an automated shuttle depot. That will be our way out as well. I've arranged for two shuttles departing at a certain time to have their destinations reprogrammed. We'll load them up, they'll depart as normal, and take our spoils to appropriately remote rendez-vous points for us to pick up. The co-ordinates are in the file."

With that, the Gentleman finished his drink, stood, and then bowed to the two of them, before exiting the room.

 

[ProtoChimp]

"Yes, yes it's Bennie! Now would you shut up please, we've got more hostiles coming out of the tunnel!" Silo was right, they were flooding in. Aesop sprayed the wind screens of the crawlers that were aiming to surround the house. "Leave me! Get out of here, Aesop! I won't be able to make it out on time with this leg!"

"No man! Fuck that Barrot's already dead I am not letting you go down! Fuck that FUCK THAT!" Aesop yelled as he dragged Silo across the floor by his armpits, just below the window line. Bullets flying above and around them as Aesop began to drag him up the stairs.

"The fuck are you doing?! We're gonna get trapped up here!" Silo barked at Aesop, his leg hurting like hell.

"Yeah well we're gonna need your brains to get outta here then cos I'm a fucking retard aren't I?" Aesop shouted back as he got him up to the second floor. Aesop propped him up sitting against a drawer. "Shoot any ***** who gets up here!" Aesop then used his vantage point to rain hell upon banditos heading towards and into the house. His machine gun managed to get a lot of kills in but there appeared to be no end to them.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

From her high vantage point, Viola could see the chaos of the firefight that was happening down below; which would no doubt soon attract attention from the locals, or possibly the guard, if she wanted to catch the Maidens and get the necessary information out of them, Viola would have to do it fast.

Viola quickly scanned the area through her scope, and saw the boy that was carrying the chest dart across the garden towards the nearby bushes, this would no doubt be the quickest route to take, but it would mean entering the fight personally. Viola slung her rifle across her back and slid down the ladder as fast as she could and made a dash towards the garden, taking cover behind a roughly chest high wall as several shots came flying her way.

Drawing out her revolver and leveling her aim towards one of the underlings, Viola pulled back the trigger, and was rewarded with the sounds of a man howling in pain, as he was clutching his arm in pain due to the bullet that was lodged in there. With this serving as a momentary distraction, Viola leapt over the wall and dashed towards the man, delivering a leg sweep that sent him toppling to the floor and kicked the gun away.

Taking a moment to survey the scene, Viola spotted a small series of tracks, thinking this belonged to the boy, she followed them.

"Let's hope I'm right."

 

[Fappy]

"It's a fair suggestion, and one I'll be delighted to accept."

Amy was a hard woman to read, indeed. Considering her interest in Florian earlier, however, it was clear she wasn't agreeing to this out of any true desire of her own. She was working an angle.

Tread carefully lil' girl...

Pixie relaxed, throwing back another swig of her drink as the Gentleman explained the rest of their plan. Everything sounded agreeable. Once he was done, he bowed to the two of them and left out the door. Pixie got up to see him out, "Don' go snoop'n 'round in Lily's underwear drawer now ya' old creeper!" She closed the door behind him and turned back to face her guest.

She stood by the door with the bottle of bourbon in her hand, staring at the back of Amy's head for a moment. Pixie grunted, sported a smirk and walked over to Amy's side, sitting on the edge of the desk in-front of her. She poured some bourbon into a glass nearby and placed it in front of Amy, "Yer a pretty girl, but that's only one 'a yer weapons ain't it? It may not even be the sharpest blade y'all keep."

Pixie rested her arms on her thighs and leaned forward. They were close enough now that Amy could smell the bourbon on her breath, "Be honest with me, sweetheart. Y'all look at me n' see what? A hardened, ruthless outlaw? Yeah, maybe. But I can see it in the way ya' look at me. The way you... analyze me. You know what yer lookin' at. You can see through any mask I choose to put on. An' that's okay. That's yer gift. But..."

Pixie's gaze sharpened, "When I look'n ta' yer eyes all I see is darkness. All I see is a big 'ol question mark. Sure, I reckon you've been hurt in the past... maybe more'n me, but that don' tell me shit. One thing you'll learn 'bout me rather quick is I'm an honest gal. I'll tell y'all what's on my mind straight up. No filter. I have topics I reckon I'd rather not discuss, but I'll say so if that's the case. Trust me when I say I'm an open book. I won' try ta' work an angle on y'all."

For a moment she stared down at her hands as she considered what she'd say next. The look she gave her when their eyes met once more was cold, but not threatening, "When I look at you I'm see'n what y'all want me to see. But, I'll be straight with you, sweetie, I can' trust you if I don' see the real you. I can' trust you until I know you ain't yankn' me 'round fer your own gain. So, you reckon y'all can let me in? Let me see yer true face? 'Cause Amy, I won' settle fer anythin' less."