Welp ya we aren't winning this one. We're down to 4 BP. Time to retreat.

She has higher finesse and that makes all the difference in a battle like this. But what we can do is make her back off. Dismiss the Rifle and keep in front of Raphael. He'll cover you while you take potshots at her. Tell Cass you are pulling out so she can disengage when she sees a chance.

Down lives 2 and 3. 5 BP remain.

Fuck. I thought the flashbangs might put us at as much of a disadvantage as her. With her mountains of finesse, she can handle it better.

I think it's time for a tactical retreat. Your temporary allies have to be close to dead now (and the battle's only gonna get harder once she has half the targets to deal with). The hostage needs to be gotten to safety. Our main advantage (x-ray shoot through walls) doesn't work the way we thought it does (or at least, at this range). The enemy is better than you, and has a much more comfortable BP margin to work with (you have to play perfectly for a long time to take her out, she just has to play well for a little while to kill you. Hell, she can play baldy, trading several lives for one and still easily crush you).

Retreat, use Raph for cover. Keep your rifle trained down the hallway, if she appears, peg her. If you get insanely lucky and hit a limb, break it so it stays gone. Don't even try to shoot her in the gun, that's going to be the fastest moving part of her.

Collapsing the hall behind you to slow her down seems practical (golem smash!). As soon as you've put some distance between yourselves and her, ask if Raph's ghosthorse can carry others through walls. If it can, he should swap forms, you take the girl, and then ride him the fuck out of here. While he's shifting, if you're far enough away, shoot her through the goddamn walls as a parting fuck you.

Radio Cass, we're getting the fuck out.

(Gods damn it all, I really wanted her gun. And we miss looting the foci off the other punks, and positive confirmation that we had the right guys for the crime, although maybe eyeball girl can confirm).

You'd think that facing two other breakers she'd be somewhat inconvenienced but I guess they are fairly useless when she can dodge bullets. Wish they'd at least cut off a hand or something though.

>>452940
Well, they did manage to kill her 3 times (or at least force her to use BP on something). But yeah, when you can dodge bullets fired from what, 10-20 feet away?, dodging melee isn't going to be much of a problem.

Kind of wishing we'd kept the minigun, actually. It's a lot harder to dodge a stream of bullets coming your way.

It's also weird she hasn't pulled another gun to deal with Raph, and isn't using any spirit abilities. Someone that high level and with her philosophy has to have killed other gunners, we're like the most common type of breaker we've seen (4 so far). Maybe she's a low spirit purist who stuck with her initial weapon and stacked all her points in finesse and BP? If so, that makes our escape a little easier, but we shouldn't stick around long enough to find out.

(Also, what stat allows you to power through fatal damage and keep moving so you don't drop dead where the enemy can camp you. She's done that twice now, after hits from our goddamn tankgun, which kills damn near instantly. I want me some of that).

Your decision is quick. It's time to go. This lady... a flashbang didn't even phase her for more than a second. You grab your rifle and hoist it into a good carrying position, than turn and start heading back the way you came, motioning for Raphael to stay with you. He follows, making sure to place himself between you and the woman's gunfire. From what you can tell, she follows, trying to find openings in the stone man's defense so she can get at you, but she has no luck. The stone man has a very, large body. Occasionally you hear a gun go off and the sounds of a dying man, but you doubt she really cares about them anymore.

"Just give me the girl! I might consider letting you both go after that!"

Yeah, no to that idea. You'd much rather bring her with you and at least give her a choice than hand her over to the fixers. Crazy bastards.

"Cass. We're getting the fuck out of here. We'll meet you back at the car."

"Gotcha-Die fucker!-I'll get out there as soon as I can."

You make it to the stairwell without any interference, although the fixer behind you keeps following you, and you decide that it would be troublesome trying to go up the stairs with her following you.

"Raphael, give me the girl." He lowers his arms, handing the unconcious girl over to you, then picks his arms up, his head tilted to the side in question. "Why don't you make it difficult for what's her face to follow, yeah?"

You gesture to the walls and ceiling to make your point. His eyes? seem to light up a little brighter, than he makes this gravelly noise from his mouth? and turns to face the woman.

"So! You're finally gonna stop running like scared dogs and- Hey! Hey! What are you do- Whoa!"

You don't get to see whatever Raphael did, but whatever it was, it just brought down the whole ceiling down, along with a fair amount of raw sewage. Gods, you're going to need a shower. Still, you doubt she'll be coming after you anytime soon. You hand the girl back to Raphael, who goes back to cradling her gently and protectively against his arms and chest, then turn to make your way up the stairs. You hear a parting shout through the rubble, and can't help but pause to listen to it.

"Remember me, breakers! Remember me! I will hunt you down! I will kill you! Assualt Section Leader Maria! I will kill y-"

Her little speech is interrupted by you shooting her in the face. 31, bitch. And her clothes are gonna smell like sewage. Fuck her. Then it's up the stairs, which groan miserably under Raphael's new weight but luckily don't give out. You make it to the first floor and peek out the door to discover two breakers, a 3 and a 2, guarding the way you'd come to get here. You could try going up another floor, or just bust your way through them. Either way, you'd best hurry.

>>>Input Command

We need speed, pistol out. Bang Bang. Take them both out by alternating shots in between deaths. Finish them off. Grab any focii. This will be your loot.

>Maria
We'll stick with bitch, kthanksbai. Also, I hope respawning in raw sewage gives you a nasty flesh rotting infection.

> two breakers, a 3 and a 2
Time for 5 rounds rapid, then
>>452948
Do this. When they hit 0, announce "You foci or your lives". If they even hesitate, waste them. We can't afford the delay, our lives and the life of the girl depend on speed.

Or we could take advantage of how we've been dumping XP in will, just command them to drop their foci and get out of our way if they want to live.

We have no idea their will and we can't take the chance. Use it when they have no choice but to submit or die. And hope their will is low enough they automatically choose submit.

You shoulder the rifle, slide your pistol out from it's place(you still need a proper holster for this thing) and fire, hitting the first guy in the back of the head. 2.

The second man, however, is already moving by the time you fire, turning and throwing something behind him even as he moves to dodge. You feel a flash of pain in your right shoulder and drop the rifle, throwing yourself to the side as you dodge what you think is a throwing knife. Raphael enters the room just as the other guy gets up from his death, manifesting a baseball bat. The man turns to attack, then his face drops in disbelief as Raphael literally shoulder checks him through the wall and into the next room. The throwing knife guy is already retreating backwards along the path you need to take, hurling another knife your way, which you literally snatch out of the air and drop to your side. Fuck him. You grab hold of the one in your arm and grit your teeth as you rip it out. It seems to have missed anything vital to your arm working, but it hurts a lot.

Raphael maneuvers the girl in his arms a little then bends down, positioning her in such a way that you'd be able to ride in his arms as well, if you wanted to. He turns his head in question, you think he's wondering if you want him to just bulldoze his way through everything, since it doesn't seem like they'd be able to hurt him much with what they have here.

>>>Input Command

Damnit, nothing is easy. So much for getting anything out of this. Time to bluff.

"Toss me your focii or we WILL kill you."

If they don't ya lets bulldoze out of here.

Fuck it. Nothing is going right today.

Sigh, yeah, let's just ride the colossus out of here. No loot for us. Shoot anything that gets in your way.

>>452962
Huh. That might work. No way knives and a bat can hurt stone.

(Oh, and when we make it back to the car? Don't go strait back to base. Assume you might be followed- can't leave the fucking fixers right to our door).

I think Raphael repaid us giving him that stone.

Bulldoze and gtfo of there. Get Cass and then all of you head to a cafe or something instead of right to base to make sure you aren't being followed. It's also a good idea given we don't actually know anything about the gal we just rescued--she might already belong to another gang or even the fixers--so just buy her some food and see if she's alright after all that junk that went down.

>>452965
Oh, hells yes. We'd be dead like twice over if we hadn't given him that rock.

Relative Safety Linda McCallahan 2012/09/09(Sun)11:01 No. 452972 ID: a407a5
File 134721370585.jpg - (31.77KB , 500x334 , v2_file_138980097.jpg )

No time. There's no telling when fixer bitch will find another way around that rubble. You climb into Raphael's arms(weird thought to be having) and then feel yourself get tucked into his body as he hunches over, covering you with as much of his rock-form as possible. Then he aims himself, lowers his head and charges, busting through the doorway into the next room and continuing his charge forward. You hear a small "ting" as something ricochets off of his back, but you pay it no mind, instead preparing yourself to shoot anything that gets in your way. Nothing does, and a few minutes later you find yourself back at the car. Cass is already inside, the car ready to go, and after Raphael drops his form, you head off, telling Cass to avoid heading home for now. Still, you need to get somewhere to rest, so after a good twenty minutes of driving, Cass finds a small motel and get you a room, where you lay the girl down to rest while the rest of you figure out what to do.

"So... did anyone see that coming?"

"Hell no. Fixers weren't THAT organized last I checked. Sure, they were more together than us breakers, but... nothing like that."

"Yeah. It seems like something is changing for them... we need to tell the boss about this."

"But he's out of town on business... I can't imagine we'll be able to get in contact with him."

You sit silently, listening to your two companions. You're mulling things over for yourself, trying to figure out some course of action... besides, you didn't get what you were looking for, some confirmation about Mike. Still, you'd proven the group had done been doing something, and maybe you could get the girl's help after she wakes up. For now...

"Well, either way, we can't stay here long. Fixers that organized probably have an information network or something, so staying anywhere without aid isn't a good idea. Should we call for help, Linda? They're should still be people back at base..."

>>>Input Command

>>452972
Rodriguez has healing, right? Maybe we should call him over to see if the gal's ok. Also, is it safe for Raph to be nearby while she's sleeping? What's the safe distance on this involuntary power thingy?

Also, wonder if the weirdo lady that gave us the gem would be interested in this sort of thing--and we could probably use her as cover too, right?

How is the girl? She's still unconscious after the getaway? We should check how badly she's hurt, and if she's in real danger (ie, if she's down to no BP).

We should alert base that the fixers are out in force, at least. They need to know something is up.

Then we either need to lie low, or get back to base.

>>452976
Eh, not necessarily. The in-fighting between gangs isn't what she cares about, remember? Besides, the gem is back home, and we can't talk to her in front of our allies.

Probably just being paranoid, but check Raphael's back for tracking devices. That "ting" could have been some manner of projectile tracker.

We wait for the girl to wake up then explain things to her. If she doesn't wake up within 2-3 hours we head to the hotel.

You suddenly remember that Raphael causes nightmares, but as you start to panic Raphael kindly calms you down,

"I'm suppressing it right now. Er, more literally I'm using on the guy next door to us. He's ah... well, he won't wake up with the bedsheets dry." He also checks himself at your suggestion, but doesn't come up with anything like a tracking device. At least, not that he could see.

While you wait, you decide to check on the girl, who is still unconscious but seems to be doing allright. Her number is at 11 right now, so she's definitely safe, but she has some nasty bruises covering her face and body, even under her clothing. You'll have to let Rodriguez take a look at those.

You have Cass call back home. Minutes later she reports that the rest of the group is coming to get you. All you have to do is wait. You silently watch over the girl while Raphael and Cass keep talking about things, the the girl starts to wake up.

"Hm? Where? What?"

The girl's eyes flicker open, and for a moment her eyes focus on you, she frowns for a moment, then her mouth forms a smile.

"An angel... so very kind to those it holds dear, but so very cruel to anyone who threatens them..."

Then the girl wakes up fully and is staring at you.

"Who are you? Why am I here? What happened? What do you want with me? I'm not doing it, no matter what you say!"

>>>Input Command

Calm down. We're not going to force you to do a thing. My name is Linda, this is Cass and Raphael. We are part of group that believes people with our abilities should be free to use them without being forced to participate in 'fixing reality' or killing innocents. Whether you join us or go on your own is entirely up to you. We just want you to give us a chance and maybe meet with our boss.

We were after those breakers for other reasons but I can't condone torture.

We also couldn't leave you at the mercy of those fixers. They kill you if you refuse to work with them. Cass here and a fixer came to recruit me at the same time and the moment I chose to pick Cass he attacked me as well. Hard to believe that was only three days ago.

Woah, woah, woah!

I'm Linda, this is Cass, and Raphael. We uh, don't want anything really. We came across you being held prisoner by those jerks, and got you out when the fixers showed up and starting killing everyone.

We don't want anything from you, really. We were only even there because we thought the people who had you had beat up our friend. I don't know what those guys were interested in, but we're mostly about looking out for each other.

...you okay?

Whoa, calm down. I'm Linda; [brief pause to let others introduce themselves, or do it for them]

We weren't after you at all--don't even know who you are, honestly. We went to beat up that gang because they tried to kill one of our friends, and we couldn't just leave you tied up there for the Fixers to kill.

You're free to go whenever you want, but you might want to at least stick around for our healer friend to fix you up.

If she calms down enough, give her a comforting hug. She could probably use one.

Oh, yeah, we should also ask her her name. (Even though we already know it from OOC shenanigans, but whatever).

"Woah, woah, woah!

I'm Linda, this is Cass," Cass waves a little from her position on the sofa," and Raphael." He smiles at the girl kindly. "We uh, don't want anything really. We came across you being held prisoner by those jerks, and got you out when the fixers showed up and starting killing everyone.

We don't want anything from you, really. We were only even there because we thought the people who had you had beat up our friend. I don't know what those guys were interested in, but we're mostly about looking out for each other.

...you okay?"

The girl stares at you some more, then nods slowly. "Um... I'm Elizabeth... um... your not going to hurt me or anything?"

"No. No we're not. We'll even let you go, if you want us to, but we'd like it if you came back with us, at least until our boss can get a chance to talk with you."

The girl remains silent for awhile, then suddenly her attention is drawn to the side. She stares at the wall, her eyes unyielding in their gaze, then she turns back to you. "You. I... I'm supposed to listen to you. Conner won't like it, but I'm supposed to listen to you and decide, not him. It's up to you to convince me. Then... I don't know."

Wait... what? This girl is... weird. But... it's not like you don't know what's going on in your own group, right? You should be able to get the message across... right? You look to Cass and Raphael for support, but they just shrug. They don't know what's going on either.

Well... here goes nothing. You spend the next 20 minutes going over what your group aims for, and why. Eventually, your allies make it to you, and you spend the car ride doing the same, going over everything that's happened to you and all that entails, while Rodriguez goes over her wounds. By the time you make it back to the base and into the lounge, the girl is mulling over everything you've said to her. You figure it might be best to give her some space, so you and the rest of the group(there are quite a few you recognize from your recollections from the party, but no names come up) retreat to another side of the lobby to go over what you've discovered.

"Seriously, the fixers are getting more organized? That can't be good. We should contact the boss."

"But is it something we really need to interrupt his work for? As long as we lay low till he gets back, it should be fine, right?"

"Not if they come after us... damn, it had to be now, when he was out of town."

"You think they know? About the boss being a breaker I mean? They could have timed it to when he wasn't around..."

"But then they would have attacked here. It would be safer to assume they just happened to hit when he wasn't around."

Everyone is uncertain right now, you included, but with the boss out of town, everyone eventually decides the best course of action is to hole up and keep it on the down low. For now, no one leaves unless they have to for normal work, or school, and no one leaves without at least two people with them. For now, that'll have to do.

Now all that's left to do is decide what should happen with the rest of the day. Elizabeth is calm for right now, although she seems to just be staring at a wall. Cass has taken a seat and is looking a little unhappy, but otherwise fine, although her number is at 4. Raphael seems to be waiting for you, but instead of approaching he's preferring to wait till you come to him. And no loot this time, so there really isn't a need to go see Mac.

Experience Points Gained: 2
>>>Input Command

Oh thank goodness, the sales pitch was automated.

>Experience
Up finesse and BP. We need better dodge and accuracy, and more points to work with.

>Raphael
We owe him some thanks. Rocky there saved our butt today. He's more than welcome to consider the stone paid for, we'd be dead without it.

>Cass at 4.
Damn, she took a beating, all right. We should see how she's doing. Probably isn't happy about either the mass slaughter she committed, getting so close to beat, or, naturally, the enemy ramp up.

>Elizabeth
So... how you doing? I guess I told you a lot about us, but didn't really ask you anything about yourself. How'd you end up in that mess anyways? What'd they want from you?

>>453002
Well, glad I refreshed before posting pretty much the exact same thing.

+1 to all.

Give Liz some space, go see Raph since he looks like he wants to talk, we'll talk to Cass next.

2 points to BP

>>453002
Damn me for having work today and missing all of this action. Anyways I second all of those motions.

>>453002 +1 to all (slight modification to Liz)

While giving Liz space is a good idea, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see if she's hungry (pretty sure she hasn't eaten since we broke her out) and if so scrounge up something for her. I'm not entirely sure whether to leave her be beside that or try to get her to open up...

Getting her some food would be a good idea. Might as well ask her what she wants.

2 points to Finesse I say.

I'm guessing Liz has got an avatar foci. Anyway, I agree with seeing how Cass is. She was on her own for something we decided to check-out. Part of it was bad timing with the fixers, but being outnumbered and alone tends to make people feel abandoned.

You approach Raphael first, getting ready to give your thanks for the assist this time, instead, Raphael beats you to the punch.

"Hey... uh... I talked a little with Cass on the drive over here, and she said to leave it up to you but... well... uh... I was wondering if I could join your little group... you know... permanently... I'm not really part of any group here, cause I tend to freak people out, and I kinda wanted to hook up with you guys... just cause I could. You don't have to answer now, just... think about it, okay?"

"Uh... sure. I'll think about it. Anyway, I wanted to thank you, for helping me out. If you hadn't been around I would have been dead a couple of times back there. So you can consider your debt payed for that rock."

"Oh? Ah! Yeah, alright. Anyway, I'll catch you later." His piece done, Raphael heads back for the elevators, probably to head down to his floor so he can get some rest. Your next stop is Cass, who isn't showing any signs of her embarrassment anymore. She glances up at you as you arrive, and offers you a half-hearted wave before going back to staring at nothing.

"How you feeling, Cass?"

"Like... shit, Linda. Those fixers... they were like me. Not really like me, but... they acted like me. Kill everything. Except for the normals... Linda, I killed a normal today. Didn't even realize it till after it happened. Hell, didn't even faze me when I did realize it. Just thought, 'hey, boss'll be unhappy about that' and kept going. It was... shit... Linda, I don't know. I really... I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like every time a fight starts up, my grip on reality slips just a little bit. If it had been a few days ago, I know I could have stopped myself before I killed the normal. I know it... but... but..."

Cass is close to tears. You can see her shoulders starting to shake and her breathing is getting ragged. You're not sure how much help you can be, but... you've got to try.

>>>Input Command

Nothing to do but hug the woman. Tell her you'll be there for her. That you will help her get better and be there to stop her when she can't stop herself. Your sorry you left her on her own. If you had any inkling that this would have gone down you would have insisted they stay together.

>>453022
Yeah we can only really do that. Now I feel kinda sad that we wasn't there for her. This really sucks

Voting on point distribution still ongoing, I guess?

>Horsie / Rocky joins the party!
We'll have to send him down to Mac for a comm later.

>Cass
Can't think of a better way to handle it than this.
>>453022
We don't know how, but we'll find a way to help you hold on to yourself.

(How the hell does she distinguish without break sight anyways?)

Assuming we get her calmed down, and we still get the chance to talk to her later...
(Obviously we can't cut and run if Cass needs us. If we have to hang out all night, that's what we do).
>Liz
Don't push her, but we should ask her about herself. What happened to her? ...does she ave anyone she needs to call or anything? (She is a kid, and we don't know how long she was imprisoned). Show basic human concern and friendliness, see what she offers up (I'd kind of like to hear her own explanation of her abilities, if she feels like it).

You hug that woman right now Linda. Tell her it'll be ok, even if you aren't sure, 'cause I think she needs to hear that now.

Breaking Down Linda McCallahan 2012/09/09(Sun)14:52 No. 453041 ID: a407a5
File 134722753373.jpg - (78.09KB , 500x313 , wallpaper-569152_large.jpg )

Experience Points Allocated
Finesse Increased
BP Increased

You sit down next to Cass and wrap your arms around her in a hug. "I'm sorry Cass. I'm sorry. If I'd have known this would have happened... I shouldn't have left you on your own like that... I'm sorry..."

Cass finally breaks down completely tears flowing freely as she cries into your chest. You stay silent after that, mimicking what your mother used to do for you and simply hold Cass in a hug, one hand stroking her hair softly. Minutes pass by like this, with the occasional person walking in only to turn right back around and disappear again. After a good ten minutes, Cass is silent again, then she pulls herself away and stands.

"I... I need to go think... Thanks for that... just... don't tell anyone I'm going soft, alright? I'll still kick their ass."

Cass gives you a wave as she heads off towards her room, leaving you alone with Elizabeth. You're feeling a bit depressed from that last thing with Cass, but you shake away the feeling and go over to try talking to the younger girl.

"She is conflicted. A warrior's soul in a woman's body..." The words catch you by surprise, but Elizabeth doesn't seem to notice. If anything, when she does turn her gaze on you, you get the feeling she is seeing far more than just you. Like she's seeing something far greater than you. "Ah! The Angel! Am I going to be here long? Cause the orphanage will want to know where I am. And I'm kinda hungry..."

>>>Input Command

The problem is getting the warrior to realize when to stop.

Lets get her some food and ask her where she lives, does she like it there and does she have many friends. Also ask what did those men want with her. It might not be safe to bring her back if she is important to them since they were part of a larger group.

Ask what she wants to eat, then flag someone down and ask if they can go on a food run for ya--and to remember to go out in a pack.

If she knows the number she can call the orphanage, but...well, it might not be safe to go back there again. I mean, she doesn't happen to have breaker protectors there or anything, does she? Otherwise it seems like it'd be too easy for some other group to swoop in and kidnap her all over again... [idea it's probably too early to put forward to the kid: adoption]

The problem isn't just that it's a warrior's soul- its a berserker. A warrior that does not listen to reason, or to the heart.

(We're the Angel? An interesting archetype for someone forced into the role of a sniper. Do our limited attempts at mercy and human kindness stand out so much?)

Not sure how safe the orphanage is right now, you were already snatched once, right? And now a much more aggressive group knows about you...

Take her to the cafeteria, get her fed, and hang with her. See if you can get her to tell you about herself at all.

I wonder if she forgot our name already or if she's just being mystical~

Might as well remind her of our name just in case though xD

Chapter End Linda McCallahan 2012/09/09(Sun)15:36 No. 453051 ID: a407a5
File 134723016437.jpg - (96.78KB , 750x600 , overpowered_motivational_by_ultimaweapon13-d52gnoj.jpg )

"Well... I'm not really sure the orphanage is safe for you anymore. For now, let's just get you something to eat, alright?"

You take her down to the cafeteria area and let her eat to her hearts content. It's there you find out quite a bit about her. She's 17, and apparently has lived at the same orphanage for most of her life. Her left eye is made of glass, and as far as you can tell, she got it after someone shot her in the eye and she somehow survived. The glass eye also serves as her foci, but other than that you're not sure about anything else. She focuses mostly on her food while your downstairs.

Upon returning to the lounge, she goes back to being somewhat out of it, and you don't get much more out of her, except that she wants to "stay next to the Angel. The Angel is supposed to guard me", whatever that means. Still, it seems best to keep her with you for now. You spend the rest of the day getting some or your normal work done, and at about dinner time the group gathers together again as news reaches them that the Boss is coming back early. Apparently, the movement of the fixers hadn't gone unnoticed...

We are going to have to adopt her. I suspect must Bureaucratic Reality Breaking in our future.

>>453052
She's 17. She gets kicked out of the system in a year, anyways. But yeah, we could always fudge some paperwork to work the bureaucracy into being okay with her being here.

>>453051
Wait... what the heck does that pic have to do with the post, unless its a portent or something