Wraith starts to pick up a KI-550 and examine it, but then sets it down and frowns, instead taking out his own pistol and spinning it over his finger. "Call me old-fashioned, but all I need're my knives n' my Colts."

"But this..." he adds, picking up an Omni-Falcon. "Might be useful..."

The members of Miller's FLAG team grabbed various combinations of TMPs, KI-42s, Laser Rifles, and KBP-360s, loading them and holstering them.

Miller turned to Wolf. "Are we all ready to go?"

"Just about," Wolf said. "As soon as Angel finishes strapping on as much high-powered weaponry as he can carry, we can go."

Angel as done surprisingly fast.

Two TMP's, and KBP-360.

That was it.

When confronted with odd stares, he raised an eyebrow and said, "What?"

He checked those two pistols, and tried sighting. Lovely.

"Okay...killin' time."

"Excellent," Wolf said arming his KI-42. "Where should we go from here?" he asked Miller.

"We should head to the hangar, that's where the OTAVs are being stored. We can get them out if we clear the area."

"Wait a minute," Kaitlin asked "Don't the OTAVs have onboard AI? Couldn't they just fly themselves out?"

"That's where the problem lies." Miller said "Our AIs aren't the most secure individuals. The prototype OTAV AI, AKIRA, was subverted during Mastermind's raid on the testing facility las year. Fortunately, Wolf managed to destroy the AI. KAMO carried the latest protocols for security, but since Beowulf managed to subue him for a few minutes, we still aren't sure how well our AIs can stand up to Mastermind's conversion virii. So as soon as we crashed, Knight deactivated all OTAV AI cores. They're currently being held on the bridge inside the Lance, the most storage server ever developed. Has never been hacked."

"So then, we should head to the bridge, get the AI cores, upload them into the OTAVs, and have them go kick ass." Wolf said. "Beowulf and J2 can provide virus guard protocols for them so that they won't be taken over. The distraciont provided by the reactivated OTAVs will make our job that much easier."

"I like that plan; it would cover our escape, and we get Michael Knight off of the ship and out of harm's way at the same time." Kaitlin added.

Miller thought. "You know, that probably does make more sense than trying to give 12 people a crash course in piloting. Okay...I'll plot out the map for heading up to the bridge. First we have to go through this back door, and then through this hallway, followed by the mall..."

"Wait a minute," Wolf interuppted "You have a goddamn mall on this ship?"

"Well...people need to buy stuff..." Miller said.

"True..." Wolf said. "All right, we go through the mall. Maybe Angel can get a new shirt and coat while we're prowling and growling through it." he said with a smirk.

OOC: Good Lord I have missed a lot, haven't I? Of course... it doesn't help that I'm in the middle of no-man's land. I AM still alive, (I mean it this time!), and my postings should be coming more frequent now. (I mean that too. Honest!) Like... RIGHT NOW!!



It was a little monestary, but it was one of his religion, so it made translating a bit easier. He had just crossed into the Russin border and found the little dojo, consisting of all of it's 20 members, teachers included. He recieved directions on how to find the border, and cross it, into the most barren and feared land on the planet. It has been this way for years upon years, no one has dared enter it, unless forced to go their on their own. The teachers there scolded him because of his attaire. He decided to get out of his old uniform and into his training one from years back. If he wanted to start a new life, he would have to start from square one, as the comman saying went. Therefore, he had on a white Judo training suit, with white belt, the starting point of any Martial arts fighter. One thing hadn't changed, and that was the red bandana that he wore around his head. He had recieved it his first day of training from one of his teachers, vowing to never lose it, or lose wearing it, therefore, he had to be equiped. Also, there was a lack of shoes or gloves, socks were not even considered. They said that it was true that Zen could withstand nature, but even that wasteland could kill a God. Monk went anyway. He stayed there for two days, then snuck out during the third night, crossing into the barren depression that was Siberia.

OOC: Normally I'd wait for SS to come up with a retort, but I need to get this thing moving again.

BIC: "All right," Wolf said to the assembled soldiers, "Let's go."

Miller's team took point as everyone exited the armory and locked it down. The hallway up ahead was clear, but Wolf could hear gunshots coming from the door at the end...the door leading into the onboard shopping area.

"I guess some of my buddies are still alive," Miller said.

"I guess so," Wolf responded. "Okay, I'll make the entry and proivde cover. Wraith, you go in right after I start firing. Angel, Kaitlin and Miller will follow him."

Wolf brought up his KI-42, opened the door, looked, and firied on the nearest Mastermind soldier he could see. The soldier was standing on an escalator, which he fell down as a 3 round burst caught him in the chest.

"Go, go, go!" Wolf shouted as he continued firing and sought cover behind a bench. Looking around, he could see the battle between FLAG and Mastermind raging across all 3 floors of the mall. Right now he and the others were on floor 2, and forces on both sides and on all floors were firing from floor to floor, making it a hectic battleground.

OOC: Okay Zeph, you've been given an order.

It looks like Hell. It smells like Hell. Hell, it even sounds like Hell.

Wraith's kind of Hell. He scans the area quickly, looking for targets through the walls, and enters one step behind Wolf. Just as his commander fells the one guard on the escalator, Wraith unhooks a stun grenade and tosses it up, just making the lip of the escalator, and fires up the moving stairs. Two more guards fall and trip over their buddy, taking shots to the chest, arms, and a few in the legs before tumbling head over heels down the steps.

The stun grenade then goes off on the upper level, disabling two more Mastermind soldiers and blinding one FLAG man for a few seconds. Wraith watches the FLAG troop duck down and hold his eyes while shouting into his mouthpiece, "MOVE!"

He twists quickly to his right and levels his two Uzis at the Mastermind soldier running out of a shop, hitting him dozens of times before finally dropping him. The soldier's rifle fires blindly at the ceiling, knocking out a few lights, glass domed fixtures, and monitors, dropping a rain of glass on everyone below.

As if there isn't enough going on, either, one soldier down the way lobs a frag grenade out of desperation and takes out three Mastermind soldiers dug in behind a counter... and sets off the sprinkler system with the resulting fire. Wraith grins as water drops down all around them and switches over to thermal mode, moving backwards towards Wolf and firing with him to kill another Mastermind troop. "Damn fine day to be a soldier, Colonel!"

(( Edit: Silly Zeph, sky fortresses don't have skylights. ^_^ ))

OOC: I'm baaaackkk! For the weekend that is. I have to say you've all been doing an awesome job, very stealthy and bloody, just the way I like it. Anywho, I'll have a post up sometime tomorrow once I think of a good one.

Wolf provided cover fire for the others as the sprinklers went off. He saw Kaitlin fire her twin TMP-75s into a cluster of Mastermind troopers, dropping a few, and then Miller cut down the rest with his KBP-360. Kaitlin dropped down behind the same bech as Wolf, while Miller used a row of trash cans for cover, creating an improvised machine gun nest with them.

Wolf spoke into his codec. "Miller, find the commander of the FLAG forces here."

"Roger," Miller said. "Attention all FLAG troops, this is Captain Miller, whose leading this unit?"

The reply crackled back through Wolf's codec "This is Lt. J.G. Brando, I'm in charge here. I've got about 5 men pinned down by heavy fire, the rest are scattered about the mall."

"Got it...we're moving to you're position...where are you?" Miller asked.

"Um...I'm pinned down in an Abercrombie and Fitch on floor 1. Needless to say some expensive yet crappy looking shirts are being shredded here."

"On the way, just hold on." Miller said. "You get that?" he asked Wolf.

"Yes I did. Have your team provide cover for me and Kaitlin...then you follow us down." he disconnected as he watched some of Miller's FLAG forces start firing down the escalator, clearing a path.

"You first," Wolf said to Kaitlin "I'll cover you."

Kaitlin ran to the escalator and started running down it, firing her omni-falcon and throwing stars with lethal accuracy.

Wolf was about to move when somebody shouted to him. "Colonel, look out!"

Wolf turned around, and saw a Mastermind trooper weilding an M79 grenade launcher, Wolf leapt over the bench as he fired his Colts, hittting the soldier in the chest. But it was too late, the dying soldier got off a shot, firing the genade which landed 7 feet from the bench. The concussive force of the blast lifted Wolf up and threw him over the railing, sending him falling towards a fountain at the bottom of the escalator.

Isn't this where Tony Montana wound up? he thought just before hitting the water.

(OOC: I'm making this a kind of deep water fountain...like maybe 6 feet or so at it's deepest point, it's shallower around the edges of course.)

***

Kaitlin saw him fall. "Jason, NO!" she shouted as she kept firing, running to the fountain, intent on bringing him up to the surface of the water.

More Mastermind soldiers came after her, she began to drop some of them, but realized there were too many. Shit...I'm going to die with him... she thought.

Suddenly, like an venegeful spirit, Wolf rose out of the fountain, Colt .45s blazing away. The Mastermind soldiers crumpled under his assault. As the Colts clicked empty, Wolf finished them off with a TMP-75 while Kaitlin added her own assault into the mix.

Wolf activated his codec "First floor clear, Lt. Brando, your men can come out now."

Then he contacted Wraith, Angel, and Miller who was already heading down. "Okay, let's clean up the rest of these punks and get moving."

Wolf and Kaitlin sought some cover behind some internet kiosks while Brando's team fired at Mastermind troops on floors 2 and 3.. Once behind cover, Kaitlin wrapped her arms around Wolf.

"Don't ever scare me like that again...I thought you were dead." she said.

"Don't worry...I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." he said hugging her back. "Now...we still have a job to do...so let's get back to business."

Both broke their embraces, drew their guns, and set about dealing out death to Mastermind's troopers.

Up on level two, Wraith is already going about dealing out his licks. Instead of the usual duck, cover, fire, and move, however, he's decided to do things differently... by simply walking straight down the center aisles, providing an easy target.

Mastermind soldiers poke their heads up between shots and spot Wraith, but usually when they try to fire, Wraith is just a step quicker and nails them with either a knife, a pistol shot, or both. Sometimes one of FLAG's troops even finishes the job for him, catching them while they're distracted by the apparent idiot walking down the aisles. Soldiers who think he's easy prey step out and fire away blindly, only to find that he drops them faster with a feint to the left, a roll to the right, and a shot to the head.

So calm and collected is he that he ignores the two slugs he takes to the chest, instead dropping the soldier shooting him with a knife to the throat. Beside him, one of FLAG's soldiers rises up and hurries over, trying to cover him. "Jeez, are you okay?!"

"Kevlar," he tells her with a grin. Patting his vest confidently while shooting a fleeing Mastermind soldier in the back, he adds, "Hurts like a bitch, but I've lived through worse."

She starts to crack an uneasy smile, then suddenly points behind him and looks alarmed. He, too, points behind her, and they both exclaim at once, "Behind ya!"

Both drop to one knee and lean to the right, firing a few shots into the soldiers running up behind the other and leaping over a bench each. They hit them before they can fire any intelligent shots, and rise to look behind themselves at the dead MM troops as they trip and fall over the benches. "Nice shot," he says.

"Likewise," he answers, then points behind him. "Join Java squad and help clean out this area, Sergeant, then regroup with Wolf and Miller's command group on level one."

"Aye, Major," she replies, hurrying off to an isolated shop where a small gunfight rages between three Mastermind troops and four FLAG men.

For his part, Wraith continues on his way, dropping one more soldier casually.

(( What can I say? I'm a hopeless character creator. @_@ ))

(( Not to mean this is anything permanent (though ya'll can reuse her if you like; that's just one more defined troop), I just love creating random characters out of thin air. ^^ ))

(( Oh, and I almost forgot: welcome back! ...For the weekend... :D; ))

OOC: Creating random characters is fun! It adds more humanity to the RP. Oh, and welcome back for the weekend, Batgirl.

BIC: The sounds of gunfire gradually died down as the remaining MM troopers were either killed or routed. The various unit commanders reported an all clear across all floors. Lt. Brando had lost half of his original team, the 5 soldiers with him was all that he had left. Still, nobody from Miller's team or Wolf's team had been wounded or killed, so the impromptu rescue mission was a success.

"So, where do we go from here?" Wolf asked Miller once all the allied troops wer down on the first level.

"We go out door 1C on floor 1 and head through the hallway ahead. From there, it's a realtively straight line to the bridge."

"Got it." Wolf said as he led the way to the door in question and opened it. As he started walking through, his PDAP beeped.

"This doesn't look good..." Beowulf said.

"What?" Wolf asked.

"Beyond that door at the end of the hallway I'm reading encryption on locks no lower than Security Level 14. We can't get through...and I have been unable to hack the locks."

"What's the level on the bridge doors?" Wolf asked.

"Unknown, but at best I'd say it's at least level 20 security."

Wolf was about to ask for an alternative route when 10 Death Squad troopers suddenly rappelled down from floor 3 to attack the small army Wolf had amassed.

"Everyone into the hall!" Wolf shouted as he tossed a frag grenade into at the Death Squad, critically injuring at least one.

When everyone was in, the door slammed shut and Beowulf locked it.

"Well...we're really screwed now." Miller said.

"Not necessarily," Wolf grinned as he activated his PDAP. "I'm about to call what I hope is my hidden ace in the hole."

Dialing a number that would eventually send his message to Coyote, he hit send and started talking.

"Coyote, I hope this isn't a bad time to ask for some help...but we've got a problem. I'm currently pinned between a series of level 14+ security doors and a team of Death Squad troopers. I'm sending you a map of my current location. I need you to unlock all the doors leading to the Skybase's bridge...except for the bridge itself."

Miller shouted out "They're trying to take down the door!"

Wolf turned back to his call. "Please hurry. If Mastermind succeeds here...then both worlds will be in jeopardy."

OOC: Finally, I found something for Coyote to do.

OOC: No no, the last time random characters were made, I was shot at... Almost slapped... I don't want that for any of you...

Almost instantly, the cold hit him like a ton of bricks. He hugged in whatever heat he could, almost in fear in what he had done, just not regret. If anything, this was how he wanted to go. He entered the world in a cold and dark place, and if was to get his wish, he would end it in the same way. He kept walking foward, not knowing which way was north, but knowing full well it was away from any populous cities. It would be safer for him and everyone else, no one believed him when he said it, but it was a fact that he believed.

His feet were actually pretty warm considering the state he was in. With each foot print he caused, the snow wrapped around his foot, and created a sort of boot to warm his foot. That was another thing he was happy to have, feelings under his feet. Even under all that snow, he could feel the cold hard earth, dirt and rocks under his feet. He took in a breath of the cold air as it started to ice up his lungs, but soon they took over, and melted the ice away, he could feel his body start to adjust to the temperature change. He would feel cold for serveral more minutes, but then it would pass into a sense of numbness, both from the elements, and the real world, but before it did, he felt a stone push up on his foot. He didn't know why because there was several others that had done the same thing the entire trip here, but the stone in question had a sense of warmness to it. If anything, it felt like it was going to burn his foot. He didn't know if it was just a hot rock, or if his nerves were finally surrendering to the harsh climates, but he decided to investigate. Bending down into the snow and pushing it aside, he discovered something green. It had a luster shine to it, must have been cleaned several times because of the snow. Picking it up and brushing the remaining snow off, he knew right away what the stone was called. He didn't know it's background, how it got there, or how it survived the cold. Perhaps it had made a home in the snow, just as he was to do a few minutes from now. Standing up, clentching the stone in his fist he nodded and agreed with himself that this was to be home from now on. This spot was to have a new signifigance to him. This place was now very important to him. It was as if the stone was planted there to tell him to stop there.

He took one more look at the stone. "Jade..."

"Level 14, Your shitting me right? My kids coulld crack that in ten seconds, you call me with something so trifling, i'm almost insulted."

Coyote conected to the system and then bitch slapped the system. The system didn't respond as he planeed so he started smacking it again and again. Finally he got access and started unlocking the doors.

The doors unlocked. "Thanks...although that took you 11 seconds...getting slow with age are we? Or is the fate of the world not good enough to warrant speed anymore?" Wolf half-joked before disconnecting. Tit-for-tat, wise-ass.

"He really should be more greatful that you're actually giving him stuff to do." Beowulf said.

"I know...asinine isn't it?" Wolf replied. "In any event, let's get going before..."

<CRASH>. A Death Squad trooper kicked down the door leading to the mall...and got 45 KPB bullets to the face from Miller.

"...They break through..." Wolf finished. "Everybody move!"

Bullets whined off the walls as the soldiers scrambled through the door, which closed behind them. Wolf placed a C4 charge on the door and attached a proximity sensor.

"If they open the door...blam!" Wolf said with a grin. But then Beowulf delivered news that made that grin disappear.

"A fairly large group of Death Squad troopers are amassing outside the door the the bridge, and they're trying to break it down."

"Shit...well...let's go!"

Wolf followed the map and led the team towards the bridge, stopping only to fight the random group of Mastermind stragglers.

"Looks like the party just got started!" Wraith yells while gunning down a stray troop.

A thousand scenarios run through his mind in one quick flash, and none of them look pretty. Somebody's nose is getting bloodied in a few minutes... he just hopes it isn't theirs.

The days seemed to drag on endlessly. Jade was getting more worn down as they wore on. As she was being pushed towards her cell, the guards shoved her in a different direction. She was placed in a small room with a bright light shining down on her. "Time for your reformation..." The bodiless voice spoke as Jade stood up in shock. She had already been to her torturous reformation for the day. A burly guard with greying hair stepped into view. "You seem to be resisting more than the others, so we've decided to up your...treatment." He smiled, revealing rotting teeth. He began pacing as he spoke. "Name!" "J...Jade." "Rank!" "Colonel." "Why are you here!" "I..." "WHY ARE YOU HERE!" "...I was forced here." A strong boot hit her in her midsection. She winced, but was otherwise unharmed. "Wrong answer! You were put here because you are useless! You commited a crime and you are being punished!" "No. I was only trying to help..." A fist connected with her face. A trickle of blood appeared out of the corner of her mouth. Her horrible fate dawned on her: Jade's nanos could not be sustained anymore and she was at this guard's mercy. "Help? You see where your help got you. Now, tell me that you are guilty." "But I'm not..." "We'll see how you feel about that in a few minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, a battered and bloody Jade clutching her side was thrown into her cell. She didn't even get onto her cot, she just lost consciousness on the hard stone floor.

Angel had run out of ammo. While this didn't seem surprising to many, it was a very big shock to those that knew him. Abscently, he pulled a colt and shot someone. Actually, he made sure his colts were still going. And they hadn't stopped in the mall long enough for him to grab a shirt.

"It's really chilly!"

Some idiot stepped out and levelled his gun right at Angel. Angel kicked it away, spun, and smashed the butt of his colt across the attacker's face. When the man tried to rise, Angel grabbed the man's jaw bone and snapped his neck, ripping skin and pulling bone while at it.

Another attacker stepped out. Angel spun kicked him, with his opposing hand producing a knife, and severing the man's jugular in a grotesque spray as he rotated. A third, and hopefully final opponent came out. Continuing his last motion, Angel slammed his fist into the man's face.

When the man teetered, Angel had finished his turn and slammed his knife into the man's throat, and pulled roughly away, resulting in a crimson shower.

"It's really chilly!"

Wolf dismissed Angel's complaints as just him getting edgy and looking for more to kill.

Besides, the discomfort will only make him more violent he thought.

Wolf stopped at a corner and peeked around. He could see the door to the bridge, unfortunately 30 Death Squad troopers stood in front of it, all of them trying to knock it down.

He called everyone together queitly.

"Okay...30 of Mastermind's deadliest shock troops are standing between us and the objective. That door is triple reinforced Tetranium-Carbide, so they shouldn't be able to break through it..."

A loud thud and clang echoed through the hall. Followed by "That's using your head, Steve!" there were muted chuckles from the Death Squad

Wolf got back to explaining. "However they do seem very determined to knock the door down. I'm just glad that they don't have explosives or welding torches. Anyway, we have to take those shitheads down hard and fast...or we're all dead. So here's the plan. Anyone with a frag grenade, me included, is going to throw them into that mass of death. Right as the grenades go off, anyone with a KBP-360 is to start shooting at the Death Squad. Use whatever cover you can, but empty those clips FAST. Everyone else provide backup fire as the KPBs run empty. From there on in, get in close and finish them off."

Grabbing his last frag grenade he said. "Everyone ready?" He saw that they were. "Good." he primed the grenade and let it fly down the hall.

"I got a present for ya!" he said just before it exlpoded.

Wraith tosses his share in... an odd combination of a frag grenade and two stun/flashbang grenades, then ducks back behind cover and waits for the first wave of gunfire to die down.

(OOC:Greetings, sorry for disappearing, I got busy with work... and other stuff... Also, it's not easy coming up with posts for this ^_^;; )

Leon sat on his cot, staring at a spot on the wall. There was no escapre, not without help, Jade could help, but only if she stayed strong.

But he would need more prisoners working together, he began focusing his mind on that, and drifted off into his own world.

OOC: New chapter everyone. I'll have it up in a few minutes.