HyperGaming Network

1. No powergaming
2. You may play as many characters at a time as you like but you must treat them as separate. No magically sharing information or items or anything between them, you must RP doing so as if the other chars were played by other people
3. Try to let all characters involved in an RP get a word in before continuing. IE if Tom, me, and Mango are RPing than I should wait for Tom and Mango to respond to my actions before I post again. This is up to your discretion naturally but please try not to end events before everyone gets a chance to RP in it
4. PM me questions about lore/suggestions you have for it. I deliberately kept it pretty open but I have standards so do not be bringing in your own inventions without consulting me.
5. Have fun.


Note: A lot of stuff is intentionally left vague because I didn't think about this for all that long. Chances are if there is something I do not explain and you have an idea for how you want that aspect to work, PM me and I will go over it and if I like it I will add it to the lore.

The Exusian Empire spans several solar systems and numerous planets in the galaxy. In its heyday it was the power in the galaxy but recently it has fallen on hard times. Surrounded by smaller empires all eager to claim parts of it for themselves and facing strife internally Exusia is approaching its final days.

The Empire's economy is almost feudalistic in a sense with wealthy "nobles" (Highborns) owning huge portions of the Empire's wealth. Most Highborns own huge portions of planets in the Empire, some own entire planets themselves. Entire populations of people work under these nobles and although most nobles try to keep their populations happy (since an entire planetfull of hostile peasants could be hazardous to one's health) after hundreds of years the Lowborns are tired of having no political say. Riots, uprisings, and general disorder are becoming more and more frequent. Coupled with external attacks from neighboring systems and slowly but surely Exusia is falling apart.

The last line of defence against the chaos is a group known as the Gunslingers. (Yes I ripped it off of The Dark Tower, don't care). This group could be equated almost with the spectres in Mass Effect, the Jedi in Star Wars, or...well the Gunslingers in the Dark Tower series (I never said this was original). They are essentially above the law and can act as soldiers, assassins, diplomats, or almost any other role needed to protect the crumbling empire. Only Highborns are chosen to fill the ranks of the Gunslingers and they are trained starting at 13 should they pass initiation. Lately though the gunslinger numbers have been dwindling due to the various conflicts. Because of this and desperate to prolong their way of life, the ruling Highborns have begun to conscript a small number of Lowborns who prove themselves to be "worthy". Typically these Lowborns come from "upper class" peasantry, are educated, and are chosen because they stand out in a relevant field (ie top of their class in college, extremely skilled athlete, extremely high scores in intelligence tests, etc). They are often seen as "second class" despite not being any less skilled.

Guns still use bullets, no lasers. No "shields", armor is ok and yes fairly advanced armor exists in this world but if you want to play as a rebel char you likely do not have access to it. Faster than light travel exists but it's not very relevant at this point. Depending on how far this goes that might come into play. Cars are hydrogen powered or electric, internal combustion engines exist but aren't ultra common. PDAs and smartphones and the like are all over the place...just be reasonable with what you want your character to have.


Hephaestus Arms B-5 Ensi: The Ensi is a simple bullpup submachinegun favored by rebels looking for compact firepower. Reasonably accurate and with a high ROF the Ensi is well-known for being a quality subgun. Like most SMGs the small caliber round does not lend itself to stopping power or long range but up close it can be quite deadly.

Hephaestus Arms Gladius Assault Weapon: Essentially a machinegun strapped to a semiautomatic grenade launcher, this is the weapon of choice for elite Exusian assault teams. Too heavy to be used effectively by a normal human, these are typically wielded by power armored soldiers.

Hephaestus Arms Damon Assault Rifle: The standad issue rifle of the Exusian army, large quantities of these have also fallen into rebel hands. Made out of reinforced polymer it is very light while still being very strong. Fires a standard assault rifle bullet in full or semi automatic. Can be fitted with a grenade launcher and other accessories depending on the soldier's needs. Another solid weapon from HA.

Sinclair Arms Javelin: Hephaestus is known for its mass-produced military weapons. Sinclair Arms focuses on higher quality and more specialized weapons and because of this it is the favorite gunsmith of most Gunslingers. The Javelin pump action rifle has been around for nearly a century and still remains the gold standard in pump action rifles, forming the action for the personal rifles of many Gunslingers. Magazine fed and very accurate, the Javelin shoots a full-sized round and is the weapon of choice for aspiring snipers.

Gunslinger Weapons: Gunslinger weapons are typically made-to-order or very heavily modified production weapons. Most Gunslingers prefer power and accuracy over raw speed so the vast majority of Gunslingers carry revolvers, typically chambered in large caliber rounds. A Gunslinger's revolver is usually extremely personalized to his or her tastes.

Gunslinger long guns typically tend to be similar. Usually high caliber bolt or pump action rifles (although some Gunslingers do carry semiautomatic rifles or even assault rifles depending on their choice of tactics), these are again highly customized for each individual.

Hephaestus Arms Power Armor: Heavy arm can take a toll on combat effectiveness so Hephaestus Arms designed an ingenious array of powered suits of armor. These range from the "Vigorium", an older suit that still offers excellent protection against smaller bullets to the fearsome "Deimos Assault Armor".


Ares (Paintcheck): An inexperienced Lowborn Gunslinger, Ares formerly worked in the family gunsmithing business. Fought on Pharos during the Exusian defeat and was largely responsible for destroying the rebel supply chain on Isis. Currently hunting SOT-U746-L1456-14 'Eros', an Exusian "supersoldier" gone rogue. In a relationship with Athena, a Highborn Gunslinger who went through training with him, although she is currently Missing in Action and presumed captured on Pharos. Real name is Stephen Sinclair.

SOT-U746-L1456-14 'Eros' (Tom): An Exusian project gone awry, Eros was originally conceived as a way to bridge the gap between grunts and Gunslingers. Went Missing in Action after his first mission along with most of his squad, then turned up as a Rebel leader. Eluded capture at Isis and is now on Pharos. In a relationship with SOM-U755-L1456-183, another supersoldier prototype.

SOM-U755-L1456-183 'Phoebe'  (Bto): The other missing supersoldier, a medic. Escaped Isis with Eros, now on Pharos. ((Tom tell me her name so I can add it))

Tank (Mango): A rebel with a penchant for destruction, Tank is easily identifiable by the salvaged power army he wears and the wake of destruction he very often leaves in his wake. Not the brightest spark by a long shot, he escaped Isis with Eros and is presumably on Pharos.

Athena (Paintcheck/Open, PM me.): Ares' love interest. Was captured during the Rout of Pharos and has been in a rebel prison camp ever since. Real name is Ashley Hall.

Achilles (Tom): An almost legendary gunslinger, was presumed dead until Ares ran into him on Pharos waging a 1 man guerrilla war against the rebels on their own planet.

Chloe: An inexperienced Gunslinger who serves as Achilles' spotter.


One month ago Pharos became the site of Exusia's most crushing defeat. Located on the edge of the Empire, Pharos is a small planet used as a fuel stop for traders moving between the Exusian Empire and space beyond. Because it is on the edge of Exusian space agents from the neighboring Gral Alliance, eager to undermine Exusian authority, were able to smuggling equipment to rebels operating on the planet. In a series of surprise attacks, rebels were able to cripple long range communication and other military targets. Within a month they controlled the capital. Backed up by a Gral blockade, Pharos is a black eye for Exusia.


The capital world of the Exusian Empire, Olympus is a very wealthy planet. Sprawling cities cover the planet which has a mild, temperate climate. All of the individual cities are owned by Highborns and most cities are divided up into Lowborn and Highborn districts (although this is more by choice and isn't a law). Discrimination and tension tends to run high these days as more and more Border Worlds notice more and more unrest. Ares and Athena were both born here. The Gunslingers are based here as is the seat of the Exusian government.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of automatic weapons fire and the shouts of soldiers had become constant in the past few days. The end was coming and everyone knew it though the Exusian troops still fought bitterly against the Rebel onslaught but they were already being evacuated. The rebels were moving through Pharos' capital too quickly to be stopped.

"Athena, Ares this is Hermes 5-9, we're the last bird off this rock. Advise you start falling back to the courtyard now for extraction. Reports indicate the Gral's almost have a full blockade up and most of our space assets are already gone. We need to get going over."

Over the gunfire the radio was hard to hear even though she had an earpiece. She looked over at Ares, who returned the look as if to say "You answer I'm busy." He leans back into the stairwell and fires twice, then ducks back into the room as a hail of bullets spray up the wall. He leans over to her, practically shouting over the noise even though they are only a few yards apart.

"Rebels downstairs."

Well he never was long-winded.

"Yeah roger that Hermes 5-9 we are completely surrounded here we cannot reach the courtyard. You're going to have to pick us up, over."

She goes back to the window and swings her rifle up in one fluid, graceful motion and fires, catching a rebel across the street in the head. He drops, his weapon clattering across the pavement.

"Not at your current location. 3 blocks down there is a parking garage, get to the top of that and we will come get you, over."

She steps out, lines up another rebel and squeezes the trigger, causing his upper chest to explode in a red mist. She slings her rifle, knowing that that was her last bullet. Drawing her revolver, a sleek 6 shooter she crosses to the stairwell. "We need to go down. Through them."

Ares fires another round down the stairwell and is rewarded with an abrupt scream that turns into a gurgle. He slings his rifle and draws his own revolver, an 8 shot monstrous handcannon of a thing. He nods at her "Where to?"

"Down 3 blocks there's a parking garage."

He looks at her as if he wants to tell her something, then swallows and his face goes hard again. "3 blocks. Parking Garage." He holds up a fist and she pounds it with her own. If we live through this I'm going to...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the bark of Ares' gun as he moves down the stairs. She follows after him, staying 2 steps behind so she can shoot over his head. He stops at a landing to reload and she steps past him, taking the lead and blasting two rebels in the time it took for Ares' spent rounds to hit the floor. She reaches the bottom and peaks around the corner.

The room is filled with 10 rebels and outside on the street she catches a glimpse of several more running down the road towards the capitol building. She curses quietly to herself and yanks her head back around the corner as a flurry of bullets riddle the stairs. She slides two more rounds into her gun and slides around the corner, firing as she moves towards the door. Ares is right behind her, though he doesn't emulate her athletic bounding across the room. He empties his pistol at the few left standing after Athena ran through and follows her outside, oblivious to the fire coming from all directions.

They run down the road, killing rebels as they go with cold precision and no wasted shots. She can see the parking garage and shouts into her radio "Hermes 5-9 we see the garage start you-" A searing pain shoots up from just under her right buttock, cutting off her sentence with a shriek of pain. She stumbles and Ares catches her almost in stride and launches them into the garage.

"Athena say again, over."

Gritting her teeth through the pain she speaks again "Hermes 5-9 we are at the garage get here as fast as you can, over"

He sets her down somewhat gently and whirls around, firing at a rebel passing by the doorway. She hauls herself to her feet, biting off another scream and hobbles up the stairs. Ares follows behind her, keeping her upright and pushing her forward. She shoots over his shoulder as another rebel enters the doorway, the big round smashes through his face. In the distance she can hear the whine of Hermes 5-9 as the shuttle gets closer. The sound seems to reinvigorate her and they finally reach the top. She leans against the wall as Ares scouts the roof out, covering the stairway. The shuttle comes closer, miniguns hosing down the streets as bullets off of its armor. The rebels come closer too, forcing her out of the stairwell. Ares grabs her rifle and slings it over his shoulder. He looks again like he wants to tell her something but then sees the shuttle and starts to move towards it. The side doors open and the two dash for it, firing over their shoulders at the small hoard filing up the stairs. Ares leaps and dives into the bird he turns around and extends his hand but she stumbles and falls. The rebels are right on top of her and the pilot firewalls the throttles. Hermes 5-9 rockets away into the distance. Ares lets out a short snarl of rage as they leave her behind, knowing there is nothing he can do for her now.

She sees the shuttle leave and rolls over onto her back, training keeping her from understanding exactly what happened. The rebels advance on her, weapons drawn and she knows there are too many of them. She looks at her gun Empty... The rebels advance on her cautiously having all just witnessed first hand how dangerous a Gunslinger can be. They realize she is empty and set upon her. One punches her in the face, another kicks her onto her stomach. She grits her teeth, begging herself to not give them the satisfaction of hearing her scream. One of the rebels grabs her by her braided hair and lifts her to her knees as others yank her loadbearing gear off and then followed by her gunbelt and gun which the apparent leader takes. The one with the hold on her hair lets go and kicks her viciously back onto her stomach. He plants a boot on the back of her neck and she can feel the metal of a gunbarrel places against her head as her arms are wrenched behind her and her wrists tightly bound. Tears stream down her face and she is ashamed but the realization that she is now a prisoner and has been abandoned has caught up to the pain from the gunshot.

Everything goes quiet for a moment as the rebels exchange looks that seem to say "...Did we actually just capture a GUNSLINGER?" and then they erupt in cheers as if this has won them the entire war. They crowd around her, eager for a look at the young woman who only an hour ago was the deadliest person on this entire planet. Some of them spit and jeer her. Please let them kill me quickly, please don't let them rape me she thinks almost desperately as one of them starts to grope her breasts, laughing as she squirms.

"There will be time for that later, Max. Get this bitch back to HQ," the apparent leader says. She gets hauled to her feet, one rebel on each side drags her forward while another keeps his hand on the back of her neck and a gun against her head.

They arrive at the HQ shortly. Her bleeding leg seems to be on fire although at some point during her capture someone had bandaged it so their prize wouldn't bleed to death.

"Take the bitch to Amor, he gets first dibs. Sorry Max, sloppy seconds for you." He hands Max her gun and gunbelt. Max feigns disappointment as he takes them and runs his fingers through her hair with his other hand. He spanks her, hard, and she lets out a moan as his hand connects with the gunshot wound. "Come on, Amor's waiting little girl."

Why didn't that round kill me? she thinks to herself as she is frog marched to the rebel command center. The rebels setting up the command center exchange looks, looking from the gun and back to her. They drag her to the center of the room and shove her to her knees. She feels completely exposed and helpless under the gaze of the rebel commanders and again wishes she was dead. A murmur picks up in the room as the realization of who this is finally hits.

The one who is clearly in charge of the lot steps forward. "Hope you like Pharos, bitch because you are going to be here a loooooooonnnnngggg time." He backhands her viciously, knocking her over on her side. She doesn't even try to get up. He laughs.

"Good work. Drag her sorry ass to the prison. I'll be down there to deal with her shortly." Max nods and turns to her, mimicking a thrust as he does so and chuckles at the look of horror that crosses her face. He and his cohorts haul her back up and drag her to a cell. They shover her in and she stumbles, falling in a heap on the floor. They lock the door and leave, leaving her hands tied.

Athena starts to cry.

Later a masculine figgure enters the cell. It moves to the dark coner of the room and lights a cigar, it later blows smoke into the lighter part of the cell, He begins to speak, he has a deep voice, with a sort of Highborn accent to it. "So we have finaly done it. . . Captured the most valuable tool in the exusains arsenal. . . Im impressed but the rebels are mostly ruffians, im still supprised that a Gunslinger. . . Of all the people we can capture we manage to nab you. . . A gunslinger. . . So, Like I said most of the rebels are Ruffians and normal people. . . and you are one of the first prisoners on the newly founded Rebel planet. . . So the others would like to do on to you as your people would do on to us. . . But that philosphy is flawed in many ways. . . Forgive me I am rude. . ." The figgure emerges from the shaddows and looks to be a man in "Biker" like clothing, he has a 6 o clock shadow of a beard, and his hair is about ear length, He also looks to be in his mid to late 40's "I am Amor."

Athena tries to hide the fact that she has been crying, ashamed. She doesn't say anything to him.

Amor continues "Right, I understand if you are not in the talking mood, especaily since you where threatened with sexual assault and rape, Beleiv me. . . I will personally handle anyone who does any of that, I see rapists as lower than a mix between manuer and that white foam that accumulates around the mouth when you are very thirsty. . . Speaking of which are you. . . Hungery or thirsty?" He removes a canteen from his belt.

She is very thirsty but again doesn't want to show any more weakness than she already has. SHe stares at the wall.

"Are you sure you don't want anything? I can get you anything you need, or do somethings for you, Like possibly remove your bindings."

She still stays silent, staring at the wall, although everything he offers at this point she wants badly.

He stares at her for a period of time "You have nothing to fear. . . and anything you say or do in here wont matter. . . we are in a closed cell. . . I pose no threat to you. . . Talk to me and stop giving me the cold shoulder.

After a long pause she finally says, "If you are going to do aything to me, just get it over with already."

He looks dumb struck for a period of time "Wait. . . What do you mean?"

You heard me.
Just kill me already, no reason to drag this out.
Despite her best attempt she sounds and looks absolutely defeated and humiliated.

"On second thought I think Max may want to get his freak on. . . and though he may be a sick fuck, he is no necrophiliac. . ."

"NO" She sounds terrified.

He looks over trying not to look apologetic he looks as though he wants to apologize but dosn't "Okay then. . . So, I guess since you know me it would be nice If I knew your name as well.

Immediately afterward Fucking SHOW SOME BACKBONE, girl. She stares at the wall again.

He stares at her, his stare is rather creepy in this lighting, it looks as though he hasn't slept in forever, "So, whats your name Ma'am?"

He makes his way to the after a long period of silence door "Guard, have Max get me a chair and a Ruffie colada ASAP. wait scratch the colada just some more bindings in a ball gag."

He's bluffing. He already said he wouldn't do it. She bites back fear

"So would Max be stealing your maiden head? Or will this not be your first encounter with such a thing?" He says in a serious tone

She bites her tongue, refusing to answer.
Foot steps are heard from down the hall.

He nods and exits the cell "Ill see you sometime later Slinger."

She lets out a deep breath when he leaves

Alright now just do that about 500 million more times and maybe by then someone will rescue you She sighs to herself at the thought

// Double post But whatever.

1 month later

Eros, Tank and a handfull of rebels emerge on the capital of Pharos walking through the gates which are heavily guarded by a brigade of rebel troops.

Present Day

Ares bashes the alarm clock with his fist and sits up. I kind of miss having other people here he thinks as he surveys his empty apartment. Taylor has long since found a job and moved out and his most recent missions all involved work inside Olympus or more training. He sighed at the prospect of another day of drudgery. Even assassination work got boring when the targets had predictable patterns and habits and lived all of 2 miles away.

He turned on his PDA and checked it over, hoping for an assignment that didn't involve skulking around roofs at night in the Lowborn sector with a rifle.

From: Jupitar
To: Ares

Subject: Assignment

Ares

The top has a job for you. Be at base at 1400 today. As always this is Most Classified.

Ares sighs and deletes the message. Wonder what fun this will result in. He pulls off his underwear and climbs into the shower. He quickly scrubs himself down and dries himself off. He pulls on his gear, buckling his gunbelt on last. He pulls on his duster and heads out.

Arriving promptly at 1400 hours at the briefing room he takes a seat just as Jupitar walks in. Jupitar takes a look at him and frowns, displeased as always to have to deal with a Lowborn.

"From the intel we gathered from Isis we have determined that SOT-U746-L1456-14-or 'Eros' as he calls himself apparently-is indeed on Pharos."

I told you that a few weeks ago you stupid fuck.

"I seem to recall mentioning that two weeks ago." Not even a "good job, Ares.

Jupitar sneers at him. "Right. Now we do not have the resources to take the planet back now as they are devoted to fighting off the constant threats that face the Borderlands these days but we do wish to send them a message. We want to put a Gunslinger on the ground at Pharos for deep recon and a few assassinations. Just to keep them on their toes you see."

And you want me to do it because there is absolutely no way I will be able to get off planet again.

Ares nods. "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow. Get your gear together. We have arranged for you to go in on a weapons shipment. We have a double agent who smuggles supplies to Pharos, he's your contact. You will meet him tonight and then leave tomorrow morning. You will make a stop at a border planet, probably Styx"-he practically spits the word out-"to pickup the goods and disguise your origin. Once you get on the ground you're on your own." He doesn't say "Good riddance" but Ares can tell that is strongly implied.

"That all?"

"Yes. Gather your gear."

He heads back home and packs up what he needs. He brings his usual backpack over by the door to his apartment and sets it down. His rifle is disassembled inside, as is his revolver. He changes into civilian clothes and tucks a more pedestrian pistol into a holster at the small of his back. Grabbing a jacket, he sets off to meet with the contact.

At the rendezvous point Ares meets with the smuggler, a wiry man who gives his name as Jack though Ares very much doubts that is his real name.  They go over the plan and go their separate ways. Well if nothing else at least I can wind up in the same prison cell as Ash thinks Ares bemusedly as he says good night and heads home.

The next day Jack picks him up and they board his ship, a small, fast craft. Ares doesn't doubt that this man knows a thing or two about breaking the law.

The stop at Styx takes a few hours as the weapons get loaded into the hold. Ares frowns at the thought of helping to deliver all this to the rebellion but he sees no other way to get on planet without attracting a lot of attention.

After a few days of travel they arrive at Pharos. Ares watches intently as the pale yellow ball grows bigger and bigger on the view screen. He notes the Gral blockade is still orbiting but they seem to pay the ship no mind as Jack darts in and places them on an approach course to the capital. "I've made this run several times, they know me," he explains. Ares doesn't push the matter further.

They land and a group of workers start unloading the crates. Ares grabs his pack and shoulders it. He shakes Jack's hand "See you" and walks off into the city. That was surprisingly easy. And then he remembers that Eros is here and Eros knows what he looks like. We'll deal with that when it happens. He pats the automatic tucked behind him, wishing he could have his revolver with him because that worked so well the last time.

Night falls and he leaves his rented apartment (paid for in advance in cash for 3 months). Time to go to work. Having scouted around the city earlier that day (and remembering how it was a month ago) he sets off for the prison. Let's see if Eros told me the truth.

The large concrete structure looms in the dark. From his perch on a small hill he scans the perimeter with his binoculars. He spots a back entrance and heads for that, trying to stay stealthy. He finds the door locked with a key card. Well that won't work. He heads back the way he came, trying to avoid getting spotted.

He returns to his apartment, disappointed but realizing that at least he is on the same planet as Ash...If she's still alive his cynical side tells him.

He sits down on his bed and thinks. Eros is probably at their base over in the capital. He'd be able to get me what I need. How do I get him in the open. He looks at his PDA and smiles. Well he did say he would trade...

He removes the device and makes sure the secure transmission mode is on so as not to leave a backtrail.

To: Eros
From: I think you know.
Subject: Trade

Message: You said you would trade Taylor for Athena? Well I may or may not be in the neighborhood with her. We're done pumping her for information and we'd like our Gunslinger back. Message me back at 145.162.78.90 since you won't be able to trace this.

Ares

Your move, Eros. He starts to put his rifle together, whistling "Iris" as he does so.

To: You know who
From: Eros
Subject: Meh, thats cool I guess. . . I could care less. . . And tell your buddies to meet me in the main prison, use the front entrance

To: Eros
From: Ares
Subject: How stupid do you think I am? I'm not walking into a fucking prison on only your word that Athena is alive. How about we meet somewhere less hazardous to my health. See the attachment where I want to meet at.

Attached is a map with an area marked. It is a clearing about 3 miles from the city surrounded by trees and shrubs.

To: Ares
From: Eros
Subject: And for all I know you have the calvalry behind you and you are going to kick my ass. . . Thanks but no.

To Eros
From: Ares

Subject: What the hell?

How the FUCK would I bring the cavalry here, you guys own the whole planet.
And if I did have the cavlary why would have them meet you only 3 miles from town?

He waits for a moment and sure enough Eros answers.

From:Eros
To: Ares

Subject: That crazy sniper

What I mean by calvalry is that crazy ass sniper you guys left here. . .Assassin thing. . .
Its all I hear about. . .

Interesting. Need to find him.

From Ares
To: Eros

Subject: Who?

He's not one of mine. Possibly a disgruntled soldier who got left in the evac. Doubtless there's some out there. Where would you want to meet then that is actually feasible?

After another short wait, it seems Eros has nothing better to do.

From: Eros
To: Ares

Subject: Somewhere Safe
In the city walls Of course. . . I'd rather not have my head removed. . .

He frowns and replies back.

From: Ares
To: Eros

Subject: And that works for me how?

And I'd rather not get accosted by an army. Actually you know what? This will be agreeable symmetry. About 20 blocks South from the Capital is an apartment building that is in bad shape. That's inside your walls. Go to the top floor of that and wait and I'll meet you up there.

Bet he doesn't fall for that...

From: Eros
To: Ares

Subject: Fine

How Do I know this isn't anouther plod to kill me, Im gonna bring a few people to watch the place, make sure you don't try anything stupid.

Beautiful

To Eros
From: Ares

Subject: Time

Pick a time and I will meet you there.

Eros: Some time tommorow I guess. Noonish?

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: Time

Sure.

Ares puts his PDA away and loads his rifle. He wonders what Athena is doing right now. Patience. Patience. He crawls into bed and turns the light off.

Tank walks into the room that Eros is in. "So  what we doin' to him."

Eros looks confused "What?"

Tank sighs "So we're not doing anything to this fucker....?"

Ares wakes up and checks his watch Plenty of time. He gets dressed and grabs his rifle and backpack. He slings the rifle and pulls his pack on over it, so that only the stock and barrel can be seen. Ought to be good enough for the average passerby. He heads into the wartorn part of the city.

Arriving at the apartment complex nearly two hours early he steps inside and carefully goes floor by floor, checking for any suspicious...anything. Although we made this deal last night so the odds of him getting something in here are low.... After searching the whole building he exits. He crosses the street and enters the next building over. "Enters" is used loosely as this "building" is little more than a pile of rubble that still bears a passing resemblance to a highrise. He carefully makes his way up to the top and sets up. Laying his pack down he removes a knife and starts to widen a bullet hole in the concrete with it. When he's satisfied with the width and he slides the pack over and sets his rifle on top of it, using it as a bench rest. He takes a sip of water from the bladder in the pack and checks his watch. Half an hour to go.

Sirens go off after a few reports from a high calibur rifle, possibly a sniper, Rebels are seen scattering about. An intercom goes off "Warning, There is a sniper in the town, keep your eyes peeled and keep your head down, I repeat a sniper is in the tow-" The intercom suddenly cuts off and a second voice is heard "It is my mission to take as many of you down as I can! I may have been left here but you will not take me alive and I will not go softly or quietly!" The intercom goes back to the normal speaker "We will find you and dispatch you MURDERER!" There is some dismay in the streets.

Tank hears the speakers "Want me to deal with that...?"

Eros turns and replys "No, but I will need more protection for this delecate situation at hand, Ill need you and a few others."

Tank replies "Fine..."

// Since I don't want to spoil anything.

Later on Eros, Tank and an enturage of about 40 Rebels make there way to the structure Eros says over radio "Clear the building, make sure Ares is not hiding the sniper!" Eros has a hostage who is in a body bag with air-holes in it.

The movement up to the building attracts Ares' attention. He observes the force go inside as well as Tank and Eros bringing up the rear. Oh wow that is original he thinks as he sees the bag. Good think I didn't wait for him

Ares chambers a round and levels his rifle at a window on the apartment building. With his left hand he sends a PDA message.

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: 40? Really?

Alright take her out of the body bag and send your 40 boys home and you, me, and that idiot Tank can talk like normal people. I must say I am a little impatient right now so I would suggest sending them home quickly.

He sets his PDA aside and tightens up behind his rifle. He aims at the visible head of one of the rebels and waits.

Eros: Or I can not be guarded and get shot by that sniper, Im not gonna risk my fucking LIFE TO SATISFY YOU! Roll with it or GET THE FUCK OUT! Ill just have my troops clear all the buildings on this block and then your fucked anyway, You shoot at them I find you, pick you off Good Going, Keep in mind I am as fast as you, I know all about combat as well. . . Do not test me. . . Roll with it or Ill kill you and your girl. . .

Tank looks on Eros's PDA. "OH that faggot just called me a idiot...He's dead."

To: Eros
From:Ares

Subject: Fair Enough

What do you mean "roll with it" you want me to just walk in there with your little army? Unzip the bag and let me see Athena, just bring her up to any of the windows and I'll see her. And you do not want to get into a pissing contest with me, Eros so let's keep this civil and we can all go home without any new holes in our bodies.

He scans the windows for any higher value targets that he might be able to see.

To: Ares
From: Eros

Subject: . . .

You don't trust me? I don't trust you. . . You brought a fucking sniper with you. . .

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: What?

I haven't shot anyone. Yet. And I will keep it that way if things go as planned now fucking show me it's her and we can move from there.


He draws a bead on a visible head that seems to be talking to some other people Ares can't see. Always good for shock value. His finger tightens on the trigger.

To: Ares
From: Eros

Subject:Your buddy,

That little display from your buddy that has been here for a month prooves other wise, I lost a boy named Illich . . . He was an officer. . . I almost considered not going.

Ares is tired of the stalling. He sends a round through the talking rebel's head, splattering the man's brains over the far wall. As the body sinks to the ground he racks the action and takes aim again.

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: Stop Stalling

That is what my rifle sounds like. You will be hearing it a lot more if you don't stop stalling. I told you how we can do this quickly and you keep spamming my PDA with shit about how you don't trust me and frankly your whining is irritating. I don't really care right now about your trust issues, all I care about is seeing Athena alive and unharmed. Also I recommend against sending any of your guys outside if you want them to live.

And I told you before, he's not my buddy. I don't know who he is, if I did I would gladly contact him and team up to murder you and every other rebel I can get into my scope but since I don't know that I can't. Now shut up and do what I ask.

Fucking pussy.

You see Athena KO'd being dangled out of a high story window haphazerdly

From: Eros
To: Ares

Subject: If thats what you wish

I can order her dropped, an eye for an eye, in your case a man for a woman. . . You wanna keep being a prick?

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: Was that so fucking hard?

Thank you for finally doing what I asked about 45 minutes ago. Now what do you want me to do?

He studies Athena through his scope and whoever is holding her.

She is dangling upside down out of a window, she is unremarkable/unharmed, In a t-shirt, and shorts. you MIGHT be able to see his legs or feet (Assuming you are higher than him)

To: Ares
From: Eros

Subject: Well. . .

You fucked yourself entirely I was gonna have you come over BUT you fucking shot one of my dudes and now thay know you are a trooper of some sort, I guess I head back to base then. . . Good going bro.

To: Eros
From: Ares

Subject: Re: Well

You walk through that door and I'll put a bullet through your brain and fuck what happens to Athena. They won't know I'm a trooper if you don't say anything, stupid. There's another sniper operating out here, blame it on him. I can give you a few more examples to blame on him as well if you like. Send your boys home and I promise I won't shoot any of them. I'm not walking in there 39 on 1 when the original deal was you, me, and Tank and that's it.

He shifts his aim to the doorway and waits.

The Intercom Blares "Warning there is a Sniper in the Slums district, Deploying troops, A lockdown is in affect"

A few minutes later troops begin to pour in, and they begin to search buildings for Ares. Assuming you do not shoot, they begin to move closer and closer to your apartment.

Oh that's great. Fucking Eros, too big of a pussy to fight his own battles so he calls in the cavalry.

Ares slings his weapon and his pack and heads downstairs. He walks out of the backdoor and keeps going over the next block. He runs across the street so he's on the same side as the apartment building where Athena is being held. He tries the backdoor of the neighboring building and finds it unlocked. He enters and shuts the door behind him and starts climbing the stairs to get to the roof.

On the roof he glances down the street towards the city to gauge where the soldiers are. Should be far enough away to not see this. He looks over at the apartment building's roof, sizes up the distance. Should be able to make that. He backs up and takes a running leap across the alley and lands on the roof of the apartment building. Alright now Eros and Tank are probably near Athena which was... he walks along the roof, keeping low to keep from being silhouetted against the sky here. He walks to the side of the building and spots a raingutter above the window. He grabs the gutter and and swings himself in one fluid motion, launching himself through the glass boots first as the gutter breaks. He rolls to his feet, revolver out and scans the room.

You land in the room where Ros, Tank, and about 5 other heavily armed rebels are, Eros has a heavily modified Damon assault rifle, while three of them have Ensi's and one has a Damon, and the last one has a Draco Combat Shotgun, Eros snaps his rifle up to the direction of the noise/movement, while the other rebels are a bit slower to respond, Tank (Does whatever Mango wants him to do)

Eros speaks with his rifle raised "In the belly of the beast."

/me brings his sheilds to bare, and undoes his cleavers, turning into charge at him.

Beautiful

Ares takes a step towards the charging Tank and ducks, cutting off the angle for the rebels to shoot at him (in essence using Tank as a shield) He fires around Tank at the 5 rebels, and when Tank is almost on top of him fires twice at his knee.

Tank topples forward, trying to crush him with the sheilds and cleavers.

A couple of the rebels fall over wounded a few of them go for cover, Eros Goes into anouther room. Slings his rifle and pulls out an Aiolos Pistol and waits behind a box that is beside the doorway.

Ares rolls backwards to avoid the toppling Tank. He walks up and kicks at his head, intending to put him out. "I'll deal with you later"

He reloads his revolver, pleased at his work and follows Eros. He puts his pack against the wall and peeks his head around door where Eros went, gun at the ready.

Tank is knocked out , his metal helmet hitting his skull from the boot.

You more then likely do not see him, he is behind an object waiting for your footsteps to draw near to him. You do however see Athena bound and still KO'd. You also see Eroses Rifle on the ground. There are a few large boxes and articles of furniture.

Ares frowns, surveying the room. He doesn't think Eros would run too far away from his best bargaining chip. He steps back into the first room and picks up one of the rebel corpses. He quickly takes off his duster and wraps it over the corpse. He then grabs it by the neck and appraoches the other room with it. He walks a few steps in and then shoves the corpse in. It takes a a few "steps" and then collapses in a hea

You hear shuffling, then you hear something hit the floor behind one of the boxes.

Ares Checks behind the source of the noise only to find two pebbles and a rat nibbling on some string,
Ares frowns and turns around, scoping out the rest of the room, HE continues to check behind every box, looking for Eros, When he reaches the second box Eros Leaps out and fires center mass at Ares rolling behind some vending machines afterward, Ares fires at the darting shape, only for the bullet to narrowly miss and pierce throw the unbuttoned shirt through the armpit reigion Ares fires at the darting shape, getting hit in his chest armor which knocks the wind out of him. He coughs and ducks behind the near box. Eros crouches behind the vending machine and peaks around the coner waiting for Ares to make a move.

Ares peeks around his own box. He breathes heavily, waiting for his breath to come back after getting shot. He slips another bullet into the empty chamber of his revolver.

"Eros just let me take Athena and I'll go. This isn't going to end well for either of us."

And fucking Tank is right behind me. I should have shot him.

Eros stares into Ares's eyes for a good second then chuckles coldly going back behind the vending machine.

"I know you here for her but your orders and handlers demand me. . . It will not end well for either of us, We are both tools, animals handled by some stuck up highborn twit, highborn twats like yourself, but yet not like yourself if that makes sense. One of us will die in the end Ares, It is inevitable."

And every second I wait behind this increases my chances of getting ganked by Tank. Or one of the 34 rebels still alive downstairs...

"I'm a Lowborn, Eros."

He switches hands and leans out the left. He calculates the distance between him and the vending machines. Thumbing back the hammer of his revolver, he takes a deep breath and fires at Ero's position to put him in, then charges, firing to keep Eros behind cover.

Eros does not come out from behind cover intill Ares either A Gets around the vending machines in which case he would go for a tackle, or B He runs out of Ammo in which case Eros would charge and Tackle.

Ares reaches the vending machines with the aim of bunkering the fuck out of Eros but the supersoldier's speed catches him by surprise. He gets tackled by Eros but maintains a hold on his revolver with one shot left in it.

Tank quickly gets up, and looks aorund, spotting them. He starts to charge at the group.

Eros still has his pistol with about 3-5 shots still in it. He sees Ares's gun and he looks at his.

"Lowborn? Then I guess you are better than I originaly thought. . ."

He looks at the fact that Ares probally has his revovler trained in a lethal area and looks at his own pistol which is trained at Ares's Neck.

"Stalemate. . . If you where to shoot me I would shoot you in the neck and you bleed to death, completeing your mission but not completing your REAL mission, If I shoot, you shoot I die, and its the same old perdicament. . . Though. . . Thinking about it I guess I am the only tool here. . ."

A few rebels rush up with there guns raised, Eros notes this and shouts.

"No. This is a fair fight between me and him and no one eles. . ."

They all cock there heads to the side and exchange looks keeping there guns raised.

"Lower the pieces." Eros shouts.

The frown and do so.

"Yeah that is extremely helpful to me since they will just shoot me in the face when I finish with you." But seeing no alternative, he lowers his revolver from Eros' head and reloads it, then drops it back in its holster. He untangles himself from Eros and stands up ((Assuming you aren't just going to shoot me in the head when I holster my gun))

"So now what?"

Tank keeps charging...

"Well, I suppose we Talk. . ." HE motions for the rebels to sling there weapons and shouts "You will know when to use them. . ." He turns back to Ares "I would give you your woman, but that would usher in for a quicker end for me. . . Seeing as that is your objective besides rescuing her. . . But the fact that you are lowborn supprises me that they are that confident in you, it also explains why I feel differently about you then I have in the past with previous Slingers that I have encountered. I am unsure if I am either High born or lowborn, the Exusian Spartan Project killed my memory. . . Amor claims to be my father, though I trust people as far as I can throw them. . ." He thinks for a moment. And then waits for Ares to respond.

Then Notes Tanks charge then he Snaps his Pistol back up and fires at Tanks legs and yells "IDIOT I TOLD YOU TO STOP!"

A round pings off his sheild as he makes contact with the two.

As he is about to get hit pulls his knife out and goes for Tanks throat.

Ares thinks about what Eros told him, forgetting about Tank. The charging idiot levels Ares, colliding with his back. Ares lands at Eros' feet with Tank on top of him. "Ow."

Tank's throat cant be seen with the armor, he pins Ares down "Shut up Eros..."

He runs for his Rifle in the middle of the room and picks his rifle up and cocks it running back to Tank with it leveled at the back of Tanks head "Stand down trooper. . . That is an Order."

Tank "I fucking captured him dumbass..."

"No -I- Captured him. . . Seeing as though you interupted -MY- conversation, with someone -I- Captured. . . I FUCKING HATE when people think I am not Competent enough to handle my own problems. . . I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL! Get. Off. Of. Him. NOW!" He flicks the safety off. "Now I say again Stand down."

Ares grunts under Tank. He steals a glance towards Athena who is still unconscious and tries to get up.

Tank growls at Eros, and gets up.

Ares rises to his feet. He heads over to the corpse and takes his duster back.

"Well I want Athena. And I would really like to kill you and Amor too but that seems unlikely. What did you drug her with by the way?"

Eros replies with "Sleeping pills and shit. . . And I have a feeling you will kill me, and If not you it will be McNair that will. . . I don't think I will be returning to the military life like they want me to, I would rather die now than go back. . . But I see we both live to fight anouther day." He unties Athena and carries her over to Ares with her and hands her off to him. "Your prize. And when we do accually fight hopefully it will be a good fight. . . And if not. . . Maybe we can laugh about this later."

Ares takes her and kisses her neck, then starts to head downstairs.

"Yeah well I'm stuck on this planet for a while Eros so I think one of these days I'll be blowing your head open. Just be patient."

He whistles "Iris" as he walks off.

Eros somewhat smiles "Or Vise Versa slash other way around, And what is that tune you sing?"

"Iris"

He continues downstairs. These encounters get weirder and weirder


After a short while he arrives at his rented apartment, taking care to take side streets so as not to attract attention. He lays Athena gently on the bed and takes a seat across from the bed, working on his revolver and not letting her out of his sight. Well that's one objective down he thinks to himself as he waits for her to wake.

Eros is dumb struck for a moment, then he pulls his troops to base, He heads to his Room where he finds SOM, They are alone and stuff, Bar the two gaurds outside of Eros's door. e starts flipping through the channels on the radio trying to find this song.

A second thought crosses Ares' mind Now would be a good time to find this "crazy sniper". A few Gunslingers were MIA after Pharos and it would be very useful to have another one with me... He looks at Athena who is still out cold. But that would mean leaving her... He strokes her hair and debates with himself. She'll probably be out for a while... Ares sighs and grabs his duster, realizing the sniper is too crucial to pass up. He kisses Athena on the forhead and tucks her in. Finding a piece of paper he scribbles a note to her in case she wakes up before he's back.

Ashley-

I came for you. If you wake up before I am back stay here. This place is safe for the moment. I will be back in a few hours. If I am not then my rifle is under the mattress and there's ammo under a floorboard in the closet. Please do not leave until I can explain what is going on.

-Ares

He debates whether to write "I love you" or not and decides against it. I should tell her in person. The first time she hears that shouldn't be in a note. He sets the note on the nightstand where she will likely see it if she wakes up and heads out, revolver in his pack.

He approaches the sight of the last shooting, easily visible by the amount of rebels milling about and the blood splattered against the building. He did some work thinks Ares as he discreetly looks at the bullet holes. To his delight they are grouped close and professionally Has to be a Gunslinger.

He looks at the blood splatter and determines the likely trajectory the round took. If this was me and I was shooting I would set up... he scans buildings along his predicted trajectory, his eyes settling on a ramshackle warehouse-looking structure pockmarked with holes and a half-caved in roof that is far enough away to not immediately be an obvious shooter's perch. ...there He sets off in that direction.

He arrives at the warehouse to find it surprisingly quiet. Guess they haven't looked here yet. He tries the door and finds it locked. Interesting and unexpected... He removes the mulitool from his pack and sets to work, after several minutes of clumsy lock-picking the door swings open. He draws his revolver and cautiously enters.

You find pictures and newspaper clippings all over the place, They have X's over them, some of them are Rebel captians, Politicians, and other high ranking rebels, you also find equipment for making bullets, You also find that there are 2 or so beds, a smoldering fire, and in one of the beds looks like it has been used recently. . . Like someone was JUST here not too long ago, the room is very cluttered with various boxes and such everywhere, there is a vent shaft, and a workbench, You see a suit rack, one suit is missing while there is a Medium grade suit still on the rack, on the work bench is a gunslinger Assualt rifle, Someone is deffinitly here.

Wow that was surprisingly easy... Ares takes a look around and examines all of the tools thoroughly. He heads up to the upper levels and finds the the sniper hole with a benchrest and an air mattress. Powder burn marks on the edges of the hole indicate recent use. Just like I though.

A footstep startles him. Ares whirls around, leveling his gun at the sound. He finds a young woman about 5'7 halfway in between taking another step. She has a pipe in her hand, wound up as if she was going to whack him with it. Her brown eyes flash with fear and then acceptance and she stops moving. She has an automatic pistol in a crossdraw holster on her vest but Ares imagines she doesn't want the load noise to attract attention.

"Drop the pipe. On your knees, hands behind your head. Now."

She remains frozen, not knowing what to do. . . She keeps the pipe drawn up for a moment, and then slowly lowers it and it slips out of her hands, she dosn't notice that the revolver is a slinger revolver cause, well. . . Its aimed at her face, she plops to her knees and her arms go limp, she bites her lip trying not to show fear.

Ares keeps his gun trained on her and removes his hand cuffs with his other hand. "Hands behind your back, wrists together." He securely handcuffs her and removes the pistol from her vest, setting it on the sniper hole.

"Now, who are you, where is the other person who operates out of here, and what's your story?" He holsters his revolver.

"Slinger" She says in a frightened tone of voice, She then answers the other questions in order "Out" and dosn't answer the last question.

Ares eyes the repeater on the mattress Guess it could be a Slinger's... "Answer me in detail. Name. Where the other is. Other's name."

She gulps nercously, "Umm. . . CHLOE, The other is Achillies. . ." Achillies was known as a very good sniper, He has been a slinger for a while, Chloe how ever is probally not a familiar name.

Achilles oh wow my luck has certainly turned for the better. "How long until he gets back?" Ares takes the handcuffs off of her and tosses her her weapon back. "I'm Ares." He holds up his revolver so she can see he's a Gunslinger too.

She seems to relax after seeing the revolver and hearing a Slinger code name, "Well He should be in any moment. . ."

You hear gunshots from a high powered weapon out in the streets, then you hear an eruption of gunfire from what sounds like an Ensi and a Damon, You later hear a Damon fired back, and then the fires is back and forth for a second, then you hear the fire from the damon again, then after it st ops the shots from the high powered weapon, the Ensi and Damon start back up, then you hear the high powered pistol fire off 6 more times, a few minutes later you hear foot steps on the roof, and then Achillies fluidly and silently goes through a open windo in the building, He looks around for Chloe he raises his revolver seeing she is not on the second floor and silently advances toward the stair case.

You hear the intercom of the rebels blair "There is an unknown gunman running around the steets armed witha pistol, be on the look out for suspicious people, Jake out."

Ares faces Achilles and holds his hands up, keeping his revolver pointed at the ceiling. "Achilles." He nods in greeting. The two had met in passing during their time on Pharos but Achilles was far more experienced and entrusted to protecting the Exusian leadership and therefore operated away from Athena and Ares. He drops his revolver into his holster.

"I'm Ares. Command sent me down here to see what I could see and to kill or capture a few people you are probably quite familiar with. I'm set up in an apartment down the street about a mile. I have Athena with me though I don't know her current condition as I just recovered her from rebel captivity. I think we should probably stick together."

Achilies struggles to remeber Ares, but slowly lowers his weapon, He has a slung long rifle that is a bolt action high calibur sniper rifle, "Kill and Capture. . ." He says sort of disappointedly "For a moment I thought I would be able to leave. . ." He makes his way to the Rack and pulls off his Trench coat, He is wearing a sleak, light, stealthy armor, he pulls it off and throws on some carg shorts and a white T-shirt. He walks over to one of the boxes and pulls out a water bladder and drinks from it. "So, The said people you need captured or killed. . . Tell me about them Ares."

Ares pulls off his own armor and takes a seat. He pulls out his PDA and brings up the profile on Eros.

"This is SOT-U746-L1456-14, he calls himself Eros. He's one of those stupid failed experimental projects that command was always fucking up. They want him back alive but I don't think that is likely to happen so they'd also be happy with him dead too."

He flips to SOM-U755-L1456-183's page. "This is SOM-U755-L1456-183, she is also part of that experiment. Originally they thought she was dead but I found her to be alive on Isis and Command wants her back. Same deal as him. They seem to be in love so that could work to our advantage if we can nab one."

"And then of course there is Mr. Amore who I don't have a picture of nor do I really know what he's about but I think he's the commander of this sector. Eros mentioned him."

Achilies nods "Riiiight. . . I believ that I saw him not to long after I killed one of there said 'Captians', He was with a group of about 40 heading south to some abandon apartments, contemplated shooting him, but I didn't want 40 bogies on my tail, They may think of me as a phantom or as a god in some cases. . . but I am a normal man like everyone eles. . ." He looks up at Ares and takes a sip "An ordinary man with specail capablities." Chloe walks over to the work bench and continues work on her assault rifle. Achilies continues "I will help you take down these targets, it would work to our advantages to do so, and it will lead to my month in the waiting evac. . ." Achilies sighs and puts his long rifle next to the work bench and says to Chloe "Once you are done I need to tend to my gun." she nods. Achilies looks at Ares again and struggles to remeber him "Ares. . . I can't quite remeber when or where we met. . . But I do remeber your face vaugly."

"We met here during the siege. Those 40 idiots were chasing me. That is how I recovered Athena. So now we have 4 Gunslingers although I have no idea what Athena's current state is. I can show you were my safehouse is. Or I can bring her here."

"I suppose, you could show me, though I may want to keep my head low for the time being, if you do plan on bringing her here I suppose you can take Chloe. . . If its urgent. . . If not I can track you and pop in tommorow."

"It's not urgent and it's probably better you come to me anyway until I can figure out what Athena's status is. She's been drugged and I can't imagine 1 month in rebel captivity did her any good."

Ares brings up his PDA and brings up a map of the city. He marks his apartment on the map. "That's where I am". He grabs his armor and duster and starts to leave "Better get going to make sure Athena is ok. Stay safe, Gunslingers." He nods and exits.

Pheobe walks next to Eros, looking at the radio briefly before looking at him. "You ok?" Wrapping her Arm around his neck pulling herself behind him, Putting her face besides his. Awaiting for his answer.

He turns and kisses her "My day, was odd. . . That woman in the prison, gave her to an aquaintence, and now Im looking for a song on the radio. . ."

Pheobe smiles looking at the radio. "Sounds like a long day." She moves her other hand to the radio starting to play with it to find a frequency that is playing music. Spreading her legs apart so she can keep balance, leaning on him while doing so.

The song Iris being sung by Taylor is on the radio, He says "This is the song. It is it" he grabs a hold of her hand and holds it "Lets listen" He smiles and kisses her on the neck.

Ares returns home, drawing no suspicion and for once feeling good. And why shouldn't he? He'd rescued his girlfriend (well he hoped she was his girlfriend; he was bad at judging this sort of thing), met up with not 1 but 2 other Gunslingers (including one very, very badass one), and now had 2 safehouses. Life was good...except for being stranded on the most hostile planet in Exusian space. Well you can't have it all.

He hangs his armor and duster up and heads to the bedroom. Athena is still out ((Since Ping Pong isn't back yet)). Damn they drugged her good. He plants a kiss on her forehead and strokes her hair, then heads to the couch and lies down. He brings up a radio station and to his surprise and amusement finds Taylor singing "Iris". He drifts off to sleep, for once content with the state of the world. 

Athena's eyes snap open and she bolts awake, taking in her new surroundings. Where am I? She found herself in a bed that wasn't a prison bunk in a room that certainly wasn't a prison cell. She rubs her head, trying to remember how she got here but can't. She thinks back to what she can remember OK was in the cell. Smacked around a little like always. Ate...ate...the bastards drugged me! But why would they take her out of the prison and into someone's apartment? Come on pull yourself together Athena- she always found it a little strange that after becoming a Gunslinger in her mind she was "Athena" and not "Ashley" and she vaguely wondered if any of the other Gunslingers had that same problem. Her thoughts turn to Ares and she realizes she doesn't even know his real name. She wonders what he is doing right now, finding that a little odd too.

Get focused. Right. She scans her surroundings with her eyes and takes stock of what's in the room. There's a desk with a computer on it, expensive-looking. Why does that look so familiar? She sees a door that she presumes leads to a closet and another door, partially opened leading into the rest of the apartment. And also a nightstand....with a note on it. The first word catches her eye: "Ashley". No one calls me that any more... She grabs the note and reads it quickly. Her confusion turns into joy at finally having been rescued, He came for me! and then it turns back into confusion as she tries to determine how the hell that had happened. She thinks back a little further, trying to remember everything that happened to her before this point.

Flashback

Her eyes open, her leg throbs, her wrists ache, and her head hurts. She finds herself on the floor of a concrete room, a cell of some sort. Where am I? and then she remembers. FUCK her mind rages. She tries to determine how long she's been in for but has no way to do so. Doesn't matter anyway, nearest Exusian warship might as well be 4 galaxies over she thinks bitterly. She tries to get up off the floor, her injured leg and her bound hands make this difficult. She finally rises to her feet, biting off a cry of pain as she puts weight on her bad leg. She takes a deep breath to stop herself from crying again and takes stock of her situation again. OK I am in a cell somewhere in the capitol city of Pharos. Exusia has been routed and they are in full retreat. I am likely on my own. I have no weapons or equipment. There is a rebel out there who wants nothing more but to rape me and a rebel commander who seems bipolar. These thoughts do not make her feel better. She sinks back to the floor, finding no point in standing up.

Footsteps are heard in the hall, along with the jingle of keys. A man enters the cell and he walks up to her. "Wanna have some fun?" he says in a menacing way with a grin on his face.

Athena thinks Fuck fuck fuck She snarls at him "Play with yourself you're not really my type."

He frowns, "But why would I do that when I have such a Fiiiine looking woman to play with. . ."

He launches his hands at her hair and attempts to yank her to her feet. Athena groans in pain and gets up. She gets pulled to her feet. He grins and stares at her face "You got a purdy mouth"

He spits in her face and cocks his arm back, intending to throw her into the wall. The second the spittle hits Athena she snarls and brings her leg up in between his legs. Hard.

"Humphg. . ." he gasps, bending over and staggering backwards into the wall. Athena snaps her leg out again and smashes his head with a roundhouse kick. He falls over and grabs his face groaning a bit. Athena snarls and goes to sit in the opposite corner.

He looks at her "Now its gonna be fucking rough you fucking BITCH!" Athena waits patiently for him to try her again. I got nothing to lose. He scrambles toward her and goes to kick her in the chest.She blocks it with her knee but can't press the advantage with her tied hands. The force of his kick sends her to the floor. He pounces on top of her and pins her down.

He grins "Your mine now bitch!" He keeps her legs pinned and tears her cargo pants off, then her panties. She snarls in rage  and struggles but she can already tell it's not going to work. He undoes his pants.

In the hall she hears footsteps and conversation. She stops struggling, resigned to what's about to happen "Make it quick you fucking son of a bitch" she spits in his face.

He grins, "Wasn't planning on it being quick. . ."

The footsteps draw nearer and someone asks, "Whats going on in there?"

A familiar voice replies, "Forgive me while I tend to this matter"

She hears 1 pair of feet advancing and closes her eyes Fuck now two of them are wanting to have their fun. Max Is about to start when the cell door opens. Max turns around with a horrified look on his face,

Amor says,"Well well it looks like I caught you with your pants down."

Amor punctuates that statement with a gunshot. A bullet rips through Max's shoulder. Max screams in agony. Amor walks up and grabs Max by the hair and throws him to the ground. Max shakes and looks up at Amor.

Amor says "You have failed me for the last time Max" Max pleades, "Sire",

Amor replies in a cold, shapr voice, "Narra" and puts a bulltet from his revolver into Max's Skull. Blood, brains and bits of skull spray across the wall behind him.

Amor grins and says coldly "Looks like we won't have to hire a new painter. . . Max has got it covered. . . Pity to waste him though. . . I could have gotten much more wall coverage."

He turns to Athena "Did he get far?"

Athena shakes her head. Stunned, she lays back and closes her eyes for a moment. Amor checks her out, looks her up and down,then he holsters his revolver and kneels down next to her.

"You need new clothing after that brute attacked you. . ." he says as he looks down and realizes she's naked from the waist down.  She turns red. Amor is not bothered by this in the least bit.

"You are gonna need new clothing. . . What would you prefer?" Amor notes her naked side for a moment. He looks back into her eyes almost sympathetically. His revolver is partially out of the holster and on the frame it bears the name "Hektor". Athena eyes the revolver angrily, assuming it to come from a killed gunslinger.

"Whatever you have, as long as it isn't fetishwear" she  answers, seeming to surprise herself. 

Amor replies, "Okay. . . No lingire. . . Does not supprise me in the least bit. . . Ill have some of my female assistants get you some clothing. . . I will also make sure this sort of embarrassment won't happen again. . . Is there anything eles you would like?"

What the hell she thinks to herself then says, "Well I'd like my hands untied before they fall off. I'd like my gun back. I'd like your rebellion to die in a fire. And I'd like to go home."

"The untying of hands is do able. . . But the rest is. . . Not happening. . ."

He draws is Revolver and covers her with it as he undoes her bindings. He backs up and stands up. She rubs her wrists and sits up.

"Well it was worth a shot." She goes over to sit on the cot, turning away from Amore to hide nakedness.

Amor says "So. . . We never got a name from you. . . Whats you little callsign dealio. . ."

She refuses to answer. "I'm done talking for today, Amore" "Riiiight. . Ill see you at a later day then. . ."

She huddles up on her bed in a ball, feeling more exposed than usual in the cell although it seems like she's once again been forgotten. She steals a glance at the body on the floor, the blood has finally stopped oozing out of the huge hole in his head. He deserved it. She gets up and crosses the room, then bends down near the body and starts to go through his pockets just in case he has anything useful on him. To her surprise she finds a tazer, a baton, the key to the cell, some credits, and a deck of playing cards. ...Wow. That was unexpected.

She leaves the baton where it is, there's no way she is fighting her way out of here with just a club. She takes the keys and immediately heads to the door but there's no lock on the inside and she can't reach around the bars far enough to get the key into the lock. She decides to take them anyway. The credits she leaves where they are, she has no use for them in here and if she ever gets out they certainly wouldn't be enough to get her off planet. She grabs the tazer and the key and looks for a place to hide them but can't find anywhere. She shoves them under her cot Hopefully no one will look under there. I need to stay near the door just in case

Just as she finishes hiding the equipment she hears footsteps. She sits back down on the cot, dangling her legs over the side to hide the tazer. A female rebel approaches the door. She eyes the body distastefully and then shoots a look of pure malice at Athena as steps up to the cell.

"Amor got you some clothes. Get over here."

Athena stands up, feeling uncomfortable under the menacingly glare of this woman and crosses to the door. She takes the proffered bundle and steps away. The rebel leaves without another word although she spits into the cell when she hands the clothing over. Athena sighs and heads back over to the cot. She examines the bundle. She finds a pair of underwear and pulls it on. Bastard even got the right size... and then looks at the rest of the bundle. She finds a tank top and a pair of cargo pants. She pulls her dirty and ripped tshirt off and pulls the tank top on, then pulls the pants on. At least he was true to his word. she thinks although she wonders how long it will be before another rebel comes in here with more ropes and other kinky ideas. She shudders at the thought. She goes back to the wall and sits down, unsure of what to do now. She removes the playing cards and starts to deal solitaire to herself, waiting for something to happen. This waiting is killing me.

Present

Her thoughts are interrupted by the squeak of springs from the next room. She hurries out of bed crosses to the door quietly. She peaks out and sees it's only Ares tossing in his sleep on the couch. She relaxes and starts to head back to her own bed. The instant she turns away from the door she hears footsteps. Ares approaches the door with his gun by his side and looks in. He sees her awake and relaxes, holstering his gun. He looks at her as if trying to think of something to say. "Sleep well?" is the best he can manage. Real smooth, Ares he thinks to himself.

She laughs and launches herself at him, embracing him tightly.

"How did you get here? How did you find me?" she asks him.

Ares seems surprised by the response. "I uh command uh they sent me here," he manages to stammer. Athena giggles again, she thinks its cute when she gets Ares on edge. And she's the only one who can do that he thinks bemusedly. He explains what he's been through so far on planet and why he is here. He tells her about Achilles and Chloe.

"We want to get to work as soon as possible. If you're ok we should get back to them." Shes nods. He doesn't ask about her captivity or anything else. Always so driven...Maybe that's why I like him... she smiles at the thought. He doesn't notice, he never notices things like that. He rummages in the closet and pulls out a crate. Opening it he reaches inside and hands her her rifle back. "Brought this." She takes it and looks to Ares like she wants to kiss him but restrains herself.

"Thank you." He just nods, although he looks like even just those 2 words have made his day. He grabs a set of combat gear for her out of the same crate and passes it over. She puts it on and adjusts the straps so it fits her properly then takes her rifle and slings it. The two exit out of the apartment and head to the Warehouse, taking backstreets and cutting through abandoned buildings to not arouse suspicion. He stays quiet, she tries to get him to talk but he doesn't. He can barely make eye contact with her. She smiles to herself again Good to know the feeling is mututal.

Ares opens the door to the warehouse and calls "Achilles? Chloe? We're back. Athena is ready to go."

Achilies apears as though as he is preping his rifle "Oh? Thats good I was thinking I was accually gonna go on the prowl tonight and see if Eros or his Girl would pop up somewhere. . ." He slings his Rifle and looks up at Athena. "You are. . . Athena right? Thats. . . Cool, So. . . Are you in the mood to kick some rebel ass?" Chloe steps in and notes the two and waves grabing her AR out of the cabinet.

She looks with a sense of almost-awe at Achilles. Ares knew who he was and didn't care. For Athena, Achilles was a legend before she was even a Gunslinger. She nods "Faster we bag them the faster we can get home." Ares nods and says nothing, circling up around Achilles to hear his plan.

Achilies notes her "Awe" sort of thing and sort of grins then he jumps into the plan "Ok so today I have been a no show, so as far as I know rebel radios have been quiet, Well accept for the spamming of cock jokes and that sort of stupid shit, So as far as they know I am all le tired and taking a break. . . In a few hours its dinner time, now any guy knows the quickest way to a womans heart is through her stomache. . . Well in some cases. . . Women tend to be different. . . and all. . ." He cuts off "Well anyway, There is a popular place that most rebel officers and troopers dine at called 'Platoes Retreat' Its a dining and dancing club off of apollo way, I've even been there a few times they got good food at decent and affordable prices, so Im thinking at some point in time him and his girl will be making a guest appearance. . . We can do one of two things, We can have one of you two-" motioning to Ares and Athena "Use a sniper while the other watches to make sure people arn't coming on the rooftop across the street from the joint, Me and Chloe will take a vantage point on a different building and we can wait for the two to pop in and. . . We take them down at the same time, case closed we escape and move onto whatever other targets Ares has. OR we can go for a non-lethal aproach, eat there, and Ares and Athena can pose as a dancing couple while Chloe poses as a Lone woman dining at the bar also watching for Eros and his girl, I can either A- Be poached on a rooftop waiting for them giving you guys birds eye detail on the situation, Or B- I can hang around Chloe. So while there either A- Dining or B- Dancing, we get close enough to plant one of these on them" He holds up a small PDA "And when they leave we track where they go, goto the house and do a bit of Recovery. Which one and any questions?" He smiles finishing the plan and he looks among his 'troops' and winks at both Chloe and Athena. Chloe smiles softly sort of used to his rather 'Friendly' Nature.

"Command wants them alive so ideally we bag them alive but...extraction would have to be waiting for us. It's your call, Achilles.
"Bagging them at home is more appealing than doing it on a crowded street but what if they live in the barracks or something? And he knows what I look like and I got to believe he knows Athena so we can't be inside at all. You and Chloe will have to handle that if that's what we do."

Achilies rubs his chin "Fuck your right, Didn't think of the fact that they know both of you, So I suppose you guys will do birds eye view stuff while me and Chloe handle the handy work." Achilies seems disapointed for a moment "Its still a mood killer. . . I suppose we bag them at home. . . Since if they do live in there own quarters then it should be a rutine kidnapping."

"If they don't live in their own quarters though we're going to have to kill them," Athena says. "Getting another shot will be hard."

Ares nods in agreement and racks the bolt on his rifle. "Ready."

He looks at the clock "Well I suppose thats the spirit, but its only 3:52. . . Anyone who gets a 'Romantic' Dinner at 2:52 is an odd couple. . . I guess we loap around intill then, So uhh. . . Hows Jupiter Ares? Or did some other put some other guy in his place?" He motions for some chairs seeing as its gonna be a bit intill they roll, "Take a seat for a bit. . ." He looks up at Chloe and she takes the seat next to Achilies, Body language tells they are Not so much in a relationship, but they are good friends.

Meanwhile in a club that is jumping and bussling with activity, There is a dance floor, a bar, and a DJ playing dance music, Lights flashing everywhere. There is a bar where several bartenders are doing tricks and serving customers. High rollers, Rebels, Mercs, Merchants, Hookers, Or just your general run of the mill person is in this bar ((I decided to do this since not somany people are involved with the "Main" plot))

Ares and Athena both takes seats. Ares starts to talk.

"Yeah Jupiter is still running things, he sent me out here himself. I think he's hoping one of these assignments will kill me. Between this and Isis I've spent more time in rebel outposts than anyone else. Kind of prefer the straight up kind of fighting. Frustrating to be close to your target and unable to do anything about it."

Athena takes a seat next to Ares and listens, eager for news about what has been going on in Exusia space.

Achilies Chuckles. "That sucks. . . Did you piss him off or something? And I get what you mean about straight up fighting. But yeah, I've been stuck here ever since the rout, its been. . . . Well. . . I've been harrassing the rebels by killing anyone of importance. . . And Chloe has served as a spotter and somewhat of an informant, Since she is a newbie I mean- " She speaks up "Yeah, i was litteraly shipped straight from training to Pharos." Achilies startys back up "Point made."

"If my accent didn't give it away I'm Lowborn," Ares says simply.

Athena speaks up, "Same with Ares and I. Pharos was our first mission. Ares got out and I didn't. Although now it looks like we are all in the same boat." She rests her head on Ares' shoulder. Ares starts to stroke her hair absentmindedly and then realizes what he's doing and turns red.

Achilies looks at him with an odd look "And does it matter that you are lowborn? I've been a slinger for A REALLY long time, I have made it out of impossible situations. . . I have made a name for myself, And what have I learned? That 'born' status dosn't really count for much. . . I have had to kill people from both sides of the spectrum and bullets sail through both at the same speed and velocity. . . Not to mention that born status dosn't really affect ethics, or how good one is at doing ones job. Don't let the fact that your lowborn hold you back. . . ' He looks at Athena "Sucky that your very first mission happened to be this hell hole. . . It also sucks that your first mission that you got captured." He notes Areses actions and chuckles softly to himself. Chloe speaks up "Yeah I;m lucky to be alive, if it whern't for Achilies finding me and patching me up I would have bled to death on Tyson Drive. . ."

"That's politics for you," he continues to hold Athena to him. I...I think she just sealed the deal. He smiles then looks at his watch. "What time are we heading out?"

Achilies nods "Politics sucks, Nuff said, which is one of the many reasons why its much more fullfilling to be a slinger. . ." He looks at his watch and sees 4:08 "I fucking hate waiting." He looks at the radio and then at Chloe "Pop on the radio darlin'" He says darlin in a joking way. She blushes and sort of giggles it off as she turns on the radio and sits back down.

The song Jungle by Elo pops on and Achilies starts to sway to the beat with a smile on his face I remeber when me and my brother would listen to this song "This reminds me of my family. . . Me and my siblings would listen to this all of the time."

Chloe smiles and sort of dances a bit in her seat

// For those who havn't heard it before.

Electric Light Orchestra - Jungle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zjpi5CycA4#)

"That might be one of the worst songs I have ever heard," Ares says after it's over. Athena laughs and punches him lightly.

"What, Lowborn doesn't like our music?" She says it jokingly but it still hurts. He lets go of her and stands up.

"You got schematics or plans or anything of this club?" Ares doesn't like waiting around doing nothing productive. He hates being laughed at even more.

"Nahh. . . He just dosn't like songs that are old I guess. . . I used to love it as a kid. And loosen up kido. . . You won't be young forever. . . and The schematics are basic, Its an outdoorsy Restraunt with a dancing thing. . . All of it is mostly outside. . ." He stretches and switches the channels a bit and finds a station that plays old rock sort of stuff.

Journey - Wheel In The Sky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGbVoDVWZsc#)

Achilies listens to the song Wow the story of my life. . .

Chloe yawns and listens to the song. Looking at Ares then at Achilies.

"That's better." The lack of preparation bugs Ares a little but he trusts Achilles. He sinks back into the chair, surprised that he finds himself feeling bored. He wraps an arm  around Athena, trying that out again and she smiles and leans against him. Well at least the feeling is mutual. He tries his luck a bit more and kisses her neck. I could get used to this.

Achilies types a bit on his PDA then looks at the clock and remarks "4:15. . ." and suddenly everyones PDA/Phone dealios Buzz with a scheme of Apollo way, and The restruant, There is a few apratment buildings marked as "Occupied but very empty" and the restraunt is marked as "Target" the restraunt has out door seating arrangements with an outdoor dance floor, Along with a lounge sort of thing on the inside.

Athena sits up and untangles herself from Ares to study the plan. Darn he thinks as he grabs his own PDA and views it.

Athena taps some keys and holds up her PDA. "Too easy. Ares over on the building across the street's roof, I'll head down to a couple buildings over and set up and we'll have angles on everything. You and Chloe inside. Couldn't be easier," she says confidently.

Ares looks at the building she's designated for him and nods, although it would be hard to set up in a bad place for something this simple. The advantage of engaging in someone's own backyard...

"I know right? And earilier you mentioned him as a experiment, What kind of experiment are we dealing with?"

I hope they wern't tinkering with Genes, Last thing I need is for some sort of mutated guy and girl using "Super powers", Then again Ares called it a fail so then again it could be Mutated to the point of being useless. . . Achilies would love nothing more than for that to be what they where accually hunting, but the sad truth is He knows exactly what they are after The Spartan experiment He thinks Hopefully I won't have to tangle with Either or both Eros and his girl, It would possibly be the Biggest mission challenges I've faced in a while, Bar that one time I had to Double up and rescue some High born run away twerp AND trump some Ship armament smuggling ring GOD that was a doosie. . . Or how bout that- Or we can stop reminessing in your past and get on with the now, JESUS sometimes I annoy the fucking shit out of myself

"Nevermind I think I know what experiment your talking about. So Ares and Athena, I assume you two met in training, Tell me how much has that changed over the course of about Oh, 20ish years?"

Ares shrugs "I have no idea, I don't exactly have a family history of Gunslingers going through training."

Athena speaks up, "My dad said it didn't change much from when he went through it. Seems like there's more emphasis on combat now according to him. I guess there used to be a lengthier section on diplomacy and culture and things like that but they decided to focus more on the killing aspect. Most everyone learns how to behave like a Highborn anyway. Well....except for Ares," she smiles sweetly at him.

For FUCK'S sake punch out Jupitar's grandson at a formal dinner and no one lets you forget it he smiles at the memory all the same though. It felt good to put Highborns in their place. He doesn't elaborate on Athena's story at all, just smacks her lightly on the head.

Achiles chuckles "Yeah. . ." He Scratches his chin for a moment. Lowborns and- Wait a second he was the guy that completly destroyed Jupiters relative or some stupid stuff like that? A small grin cracks across his face, almost as though he knows EXACTLY what she is refering to.

Ares sees the expression, "Oh for fuck's...really? Yes I did, to answer your question." He smacks Athena again and laughs at the indignant squeal she makes. "How much longer until we start moving?"

Achilies looks at the clock "4:50, Time to roll." He grabs his weapons and dresses up in club wear, Chloe follows suit.

For some reason Ares finds their attire amusing-Highborns and their preening- but lets his eyes linger on Chloe for a moment ...Damn. Athena catches him staring and whacks him on shoulder "There will be time for that later," she says exasperatedly.

Ares says nothing and stands up and so does Athena. "Alright we'll be on the roofs," she says and heads towards the door. Ares follows her out and they move stealthily into the night to their hide sites.

Further sounds come from Tank's workshop, he's been in there for a while...

Chloe Giggles at Ares, Achilies chuckles and they make there leave

Chloe and Achilies take a less, Stealthy route to the club Via a car, Achilies notes at Chloe "You look great in your atire, I think Ares thought the same." Achilies smiles. Chloe rolls her eyes "Yeah I know, But he's taken AND hes a lowborn." Achilies nods "I understand the taken part not so much the lowborn part" Chloe looks confused Achilies continues "Though culture says Lowborns are culturaly retarded, They are accually good people. Political Prejudice is silly, and you are young so I don't blame you for having that sort of prejudice." He nods "I think you make a convincing club girl, Be sure to Uhh. . . Not get picked up by any of the rebels at the club" She turns red at his last comment and giggles. Achilies Chuckles as he pulls up, scanning the area for Eros and Phoebe "I don't see them. . ."

Ares and Athena reach the block the club is on. She holds up her fist and he pounds it. The two separate, Ares climbs the fire escape on the building directly across from the club and Athena heads down further to get more of an angle down the street.

Ares reaches the end of the fire escape...and finds that it doesn't go all the way to the roof. He presses himself against the wall of the building and determines that he can reach the roof by jumping off the railing of the fire escape. He hoists himself onto the narrow ledge and leaps for the roof. His fingers find the roof and he sways back and forth, building enough momentum to swing a leg over. He rolls over onto the roof and crouches with his revolver out, looking for threats and finding none. Which makes sense since there's no easy way to get up here. He drops to his chest and slowly crawls to the edge of the roof. He sets up up rifle and checks that it's loaded, though of course he knows it already. Closing the breech he scopes in on the crowd and spots Chloe and Achilles arriving. He follows her with his scope for a bit, her vibrant green dress and stunning figure makes her easy to follow. He shakes his head to himself and laughs. Ash looks just as good, you know from experience. "Achilles, Chloe, I have you both in sight. No sign of the targets yet that I can see, you have any luck?"

Athena's perch is restaurant at the end of the block. She quietly vaults a dumpster and pulls herself onto the roof. She sets up her own rifle and chambers a round. "Athena here, in position. Also no sign of the targets but have you both in sight."

Achiles Notes "Good, I guess were early, Im gonna order some food for me and Chloe, to try and look natural."
He leads Chloe to a seat. an holds the seat out for her and she smiles. They order a couple plates of lazangna and a couple "White Russians" ((Not really called white russians in exusia Buuut)) "Well, since its the waiting game me and Chloe are gonna turn off our Mics, But we will still hear you buzzing about in our ears, shout if you see them Over. *The mic cuts off and so does Chloes* "Well that takes care of temptation to respond to them chattering." Chloe smiles and continues to eat
C: "This is about the only good thing on this planet."
A: "I hear ya. . ."
C: Well second best
A: Uhh Whats first best?
Chloe smiles at him
Achilies chuckles "Well I guess. . ."
Achilies finishes off his meal and his drink And Chloe does the same.
Achilies notes the dance floor and the fact that some fast paced music it on "Shall we? I mean it would look natural."
Chloe giggles "I don't think I-"
A: Cmon. . . the worst that can happen is you find out you can't dance, and besides you won't see ANY of these people ever again in about. . . a few days to a week.
Chloe looks at the ground for a moment and then at Achilies, He has his hand out, She takes it and he leads her to the dance floor.
A: Just follow my lead.
Achiles begins to twirl her about it an Elaborate dance, He twips her running his hand up her leg as he does so, holding her up with one arm, he brings her back u and twirls her a bit, He then picks her up and spins a bit, This goes on through out the song each move getting more and more elaborate.

Chloe is simply "Awe'd" at most of the things he does in the dance. They both appear to be having a great time.

Ares fights the urge to say something sarcastic as he watches them cavort through his scope. Athena radios in "Got eyes on a vehicle, 2 people inside, think they are our marks."

Ares shifts his aim and sees the vehicle come to a jolting stop as the driver parks it at high speed. He watches two people exit the car, a female and a male. The female looks around and the male seems to say something to her. He then takes her hand and leads her to a table. It's them alright

"Yes that is definitely them. Achilles, Chloe targets are inside, sitting at the 3rd table from the left if you're facing the building. He's got on a blue shirt she's wearing a pink dress, confirm you have them, over."

A: Fun time is over. *He turns on the mic* He simply remarks "Hey darlin' look at who just arived our old pals"
Chloe Turns her mic on, A slow dance tune comes on and Achilies and Chloe continue to dance. Passivly watching the two as they decide what they want to order, They appear to order a HUGE ass bowl of spegetti and some drinks. They begin to eat.

"Athena you got a shot?" He centers his crosshair on Eros' forehead as he eats his food. His finger tightens on the trigger as he squeezes it right to the edge of its breaking point. He holds it there.

"They are too far back I can see them both but I don't like this angle." Well 1 out of 2 isn't bad and I bet I could bag her after him...

"Achilles I think we might want to just take them now and be done with it...Unless you have a really good idea for getting them to a safehouse for exfil. I know your mic is off so scratch your head for "shoot" and kiss Chloe for "not yet," Ares radios. Why is that the first "wave off" sign I can think of?

Achilies Chuckling can be heard over the radio "Ok saying "Turn your mics on and say a simple yes or no could do buuut. . . Since you guys developed a code and all." He Kisses Chloe. . . On the lips. . . Afterward he chuckles and she blinks a few times. then they continue to slow dance, Achilies then says over the radio cause his mic IS on "Stick to the original plan, Lets do the mission correctly before we do Plan B. We do Plan B is they go to leave the place entirely. . . Deal?" (( ILL post the rest later))

//For Mango
A rebel walks into the workshop. "What the fuck have you been doing down here for the past 3 days? I can't sleep with the constant noi-is that a grenade launcher!?"

Back at the Club

Would he still have told me to wait if the sign wasn't first basing it with his spotter? Ares growls. We could be done with this right now... He relaxes on the trigger but keeps the crosshair on his head.
"I thought you turned it off. And isn't she like 10 years younger than you?" An annoyed sigh comes through from Athena's mic, you can almost hear her eyes roll.

Ares continues, "Fine I'll wait but if they leave before you plant the tracker or you get made I'm shooting."

"Does it matter? And you guys need to really chill. They want them alive, but we can get them dead, It would be more beneficial if you get him alive, win favor with people this and that. . ."  Eros and Phoebe get up and start slowdancing to some slow tune, as Chloe and Achilies follows suit. Chloe is still sort of in shock and Awe. Achilies thinks Jesus they make em so tense these days, no sort of fluid thought process just 'Bam Bam kill kill' and fucking concrete thinking patterns. Did they give em steriods and now they are on roid rage? Achillies smiles Nah, I used to be like that at one time. . .

The music picks up with a sort of spanishy pop tune, Eros says something to Phoebe and darts for the restroom, Achilies thinks Jackpot

Tank grins, and starts to put on his newer armor "Oh....that's not even half of it..."

Ares starts to say something and then keys his mic off for a moment. He's one of the most legendary Gunslingers still alive, he knows what's best. Ares clenches and unclenches his offhand, then relaxes. Favor...does he realize I couldn't care less about that? Except that wasn't entirely true. Although if we pull this off the other Slingers might tolerate me...fucking stop whining Ares and focus on this you can worry about all that if you live to get back home. Like Athena he also even thinks of himself as "Ares" in his mind.

He watches Eros head to the back and sees something flip on in Achilles. Alright he's going to make his move soon. Once Eros leaves his line of sight he shifts over to Phoebe and centers the reticule on her head.

Down the block Athena sets her rifle down on its bipod and rolls over onto her back, looking at the stars since she knows she won't have a shot anytime soon. She remembers doing this with Ares a few weeks after they had met, his fascination with the twinkling lights was amusing to her. It seemed that ever since that night though she'd find herself looking up when she was alone and watching the sky. It occurred to her again that Ares had never told her his real name.

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She is not amused. Typically Tank's antics in this workshop led to fires. Or explosions. Or that one time where he lit himself on fire and managed to cook off a box of grenades which then exploded.

"Do I even want to know what the other half is?" she says half-mockingly (but only half) as she steps towards him and starts to rub his shoulders.

Tank smiles at her, as he puts the newer metal gloves on. "I'm sure you don't..."

He says to Chloe "Wait at the bar and work on Eros, I've got a plan."
Chloe stands there as Achilies extracts himself from her and then she suddenly snaps back into reality and walks fastly to the bar.
Achilies makes his way to Phoebe, she is sort of shyly standing on the dance floor with a nervous exspression on her face trying to find Eros, Achilies walks up to her and simply says "Hello there ma'am"
She looks at him for a second then back at the ground "Uhhh- Hi?"
Achilies laughs Heh A shy type, this will be fun
She stares at Achilies then at where Eros disappeared to hearing the music continueing to blare. She asks "Do you need something?"
He appears to have started to dance by himself. He remarks in a lowbornish accent "Oh yeah, I fucking LOVE this song, and well Mt gal' was all. . . Well. . . She wanted to sit it out, its unfortunate because I love this song so much. . . So Uhh. . .
She remarks at him "Hmmm. . . Well continue-"
He says in a friendly voice "Well you look bored. . . and it appears as though your man had to use the facilities so. . . Wanna Dance?
She nervously stutters while scratching her head "Well -I, I don, I don't know how to dance
Awesome, this will be easier than I thought
"Its easy just follow my lead" He offers her a hand.
She looks at him with uncertainty, not sure what to do, She takes his hand and they begin to dance, It is a very intericate and elaborate dance with twirls, and various moves where he has to pick her up and spin with her, She looks as though she is having a great time and he is looking the same.He speaks "So. . . Whats your name? Im Ryan." She replies with "Im Phoebe" He says "Phoebe? Thats a beutiful name." She giggles and says "Thanks." The next move is one where she tips her keeping her at an angle to the ground, he keeps one arm behind her and the other on her leg, She has an expression of "Wooooow" on her face, she looks like she is just amazed by all of this, he slowly moves his leg hand up thinking Damn she has smooth legs. Heh, Its great to see that I still have a way with women, then again she is a 'Project' sooo. . . He also thinks on how this is one step closer to Eros which is one step closer to society. He does a few more elaborate moves. Phoebe and Achilies stop dancing, she was laughing the whole time while he was smiling, she holds her stomach. Achilies remarks "Had fun?" She replies excitedly with "Yes!" He smiles at her, "Drink? You look like your tired." She looks around "Im sorta waiting on someone" She looks for Eros again, Eros is at the bar and has been talking with Chloe the entire time, Eros however has been watching Achilies and Poebe this entire time, He has a HUGE smile on his face seeing Phoebe so happy. Phoebe looks at Achilies "I got to go, Thank you for the dance" Achilies thinks Well looks like I got to follow her. . .   She runs upto Eros and Achilies follows.

"Did you get the tracker on her? By the way is Ryan your real name?" Ares checks his PDA to see if it shows up. He certainly had enough opportunity to plant it.

"Athena get ready to move."

He doesn't pack his rifle up just yet. There's still a chance he might need it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She continues to rub his back. "I'm bored Tank, let's do something tonight. All you've done since coming here is work on your stupid armor. I need some attention too." She laughs as she says the last line and kisses him.

Tank sighs, as he  fastens his bracers "So what do you want to go do....", he smiles, kissing her again.

"Anything that doesn't involve you hurting yourself or others. Or destroying something. I know that's hard for you but..." she laughs and punches his arm playfully. She starts to head back up to her room.
"Let me know when you think of something."

Tank stops her, finishing with his armor "Let's go into town....there's plenty of good clubs...", he stands, trying to lead her to the door. He cradles his helmet under his other arm.

"Sounds better than sitting around here all night." She looks at her clothes. "Bit under dressed though, let me go change."

She heads up to her room and pulls her street clothes off and selects a short cocktail dress from her closet. She pulls it on and zips it up then heads back downstairs to find Tank still wearing his armor.

"You are so attached that it's funny," she says, grabbing his arm and leaning on him.

Tank laughs "Well, I'll take it off in the car,  I'm just cautious with that Ares freak around...." He leads her out of the shack, and hops in  one of the buggies.

"Who?" she asks as she follows him into the car and they drive towards the club.

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Athena notes the new car arriving, "We got another car pulling up."

Ares follows it in with his scope and watches the occupants get out. Oh hello, Tank. He radios to Achilles

"We got more company, don't think they will be a problem but you got Eros' buddy Tank walking in with an unknown female. She's in a blue dress he's in a gray shirt, looks like he might be carrying too but I wouldn't worry too much about that. Advise you plant the tracker on either SOT or SOM quickly though because it might be hard to do it with him near them."

The two make it to Eros, Achilies says "Your woman, She is a remarkable dancer."
"I know I saw."
"I havn't seen you around here before, Im ryan a frequent customer and you are?"
"Tom, Im the new security contractor."
"Riiiight. . . What hapened to the last guy?"
"Shot in the face. Sniper."
"Oh yeah right." Its funny cause I shot that guy
"So, Can I get you a drink Ryan?"
"Suuure. . ." Chloe comes up behind Achilies and wraps her arms around him. Shit, I dun goofed now.
"So Tom, What if I where to tell you I have infor regarding the sniper?"
"Then I'd tell you you where full of shit."
Achilies lays the PDA on the table. "This is my PDA it has info leading to various stashes and common areas where the sniper hits, Im a freelance detective."
"Bullshit, your lieing!"
"See for yours self" Achilies pops open the PDA and goes to the map of the city. It has various locations marked, and areas Highlighted.
Eros is speachless.
"Just doing my part to keep the rebelion safe"
Phoebe says aloud as she kisses him on the neck "Babe, we should go hooooome. . ."
Achilies nods and chuckles "Yes we should. . ." Oh good. . . She is acting. . . I think. . .
Eros looks up "Well Uh. . . have fun you two?"
Achilies nods and Leads Chloe to the car, Eros shoves the PDA in his pocket and shrugs looking at Phoebe "Ill check this later. for now lets dance."

Ares observes the transaction and checks his own PDA. Brilliant.

"Alright looks like everything is working here. They are going to stay for a while it seems. You guys are heading home?"

Athena chimes in, confirming she has he PDA signal herself.

And now comes the best part: watching people who I want to kill enjoy themselves all night. He sighs and gets off his rifle, rolling over onto his pack in the same way Athena did earlier. He looks at the stars and tries to find the constellations that are visible from Olympus in this world's sky.

Tank, not knowing Achilles yet, walks by him, he and his girlfriend push into the bar, sitting at one of the tables.

Lizzie takes a seat opposite him. "Is Ares that Gunslinger you've been fighting?" She orders a drink and looks around the club and spots Eros and Phoebe. "Looks like your boss is here as well."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ares  rolls back over behind his rifle and scopes back in.  He centers the reticule on Tank's head this time. Nothing says I can't.... he thinks almost wistfully, then realizes that spattering Tank's brains all over his- girlfriend's?- dress would probably create a scene best avoided. At least until the other two are dealt with.

Achilies and Chloe leave, Phoebe and Eros don't notice Tank or His gal and just keep dancing

Tank says "Yeah he is...", he turns , spotting them. "Ha...what an ass-horrible dancer..."

"You want to show him up?" she asks, smiling at him as she starts to head towards the dance floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ares yawns behind his scope as he continues to watch. Patience may be a virtue but for fuck's sake it would be nice if something happened before the sun comes up. Go HOME dammit so I can kidnap your ass.

Athena stands up and stretches, cracking her back. She lies back down behind her rifle and also waits for something to happen.

Tank sighs, following her, but tries to avoid his boss.

Eros and Pheobe continue to dance, not noticing the two.
_________________________________________________

Achilies Radios after getting in the car "PDA Planted Ill be waiting around the coner or something"

Lizzie starts to bust moves and shit and laughs at her boyfriend's reluctance. She grabs his hand and tugs him towards her. "Come on you complain too much"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ares is about ready to shoot them all out of boredom.

Eros and Pheobe simply yawn and decide its time to go home, The get into there Vulture looking Vehicle and Hall ass to home

_________________________

Achilies remarks into the Radio "Tonight we get the bounty no?"
Chloe laughs into the Radio even though that wasn't so funny.

Fucking FINALLY

"Yeah they are on the move, start giving chase."

Ares slings his rifle and his back pack and starts to follow the car, jumping across the roofs to keep it in sight. He catches glimpses of Athena's lithe form darting in front of the moons as she follows suit.

"Chloe, Achilles you still with us? We're probably going to need a vehicle to transport them...or we can use theirs. Just let us know if you are coming."

The car pulls up to a large manor-looking building. The irony of lowborns commandeering such a huge house amuses Athena greatly when she spots it. Ares is too practical to think like that.

"Fuck it's a CASTLE I think our best bet is to wait for them to go inside and figure out which room they are going to spend the night in instead of chasing them through the house. Quieter that way."

"Looks kind of like where I grew up," Athena says almost-smugly. Ares rolls his eyes. He climbs down from the roof he is on quietly and waits for them to enter the house. He stealthily slides up to the side of the house, looking for an entrance that isn't the front door. Finding one, he removes his multitool and sets to work on the lock, muttering curses as he manipulates it. He finally gets it open only to hear Athena whisper into his radio "I'm inside, they went upstairs." He did she... Ares thinks as he quietly steps into the house, revolver up. He hears their voices upstairs, talking and later followed by other noises that make Ares feel very jealous of the 2 of them. Well at least it makes them easy to find...

He slides up the stairs, hugging the wall and finds Athena already at the top with her rifle drawn. For some reason he wonders where her revolver might be. Wonder if Eros took it...probably not. He nods to her and she turns the door knob slowly and peeks into the room carefully.

Eros and Pheobe are about to kiss on the bed, Eros snaps up and grabs Pheobes shoulder and flies behind the bed Rolling Pheobe with him, He crouches and Pheobe reaches under Eroses Pillow and draws out a Pistol and aims for the door. Eros stares to see if anyone emerges. I hope to god this is not that fucking idiot gustav. . .

______________

Achilies and Chloe follow the signal, Chloe goes to kiss Achilies, he ignores her and walks out, She feels slightly upset by this, They make there way to an area under the window of where Eros and Pheobe are sleeping

Athena sees Eros react and bursts through the door, gun up. Ares bursts in after her, the two of them screaming commands at the top of their lungs "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS UP NOW DROP THE GUN"

Fuck if he actually shoots that will wake up the whole damn block...

Eros Nods to Pheobe who has the gun and picks up his boot, which the others probally would not see, He chucks it really hard and it hits a glass case and a few guns fall on the floor, As he does this Pheobe fires rounds at the 2 Slingers in her room as Eros dives and scoops up a Draco Combat Shotty in a combat roll and checks to see if the mag is loaded, it isn't and he tries to grab a mag from the drawer on the cabinet as Pheobe continues to fire.

As Phoebe starts shooting so does Athena. Phoebe's rounds hit her in the chest, luckily stopped by her body armor but her wind is knocked out of her and she stumbles, still firing at Phoebe. Ares steps in behind her and fires at Eros, missing him as he rolls for the drawer but readjusts and fires again as he fumbles in it for a magazine. Where the fuck did Chloe and Achilles go?

The matress gets clipped and pheobe ducks, Eros Realizing he has the Display clip works a nasty plan in his head, He takes the magazine and chucks it at Athena and Ares Yelling "ILL SEE YOU IN HELL" Pheobe blind fires twice.

Achillies waits patiently under Eroses window and radios "Flashbangs?"
Chloe is under a different window under Eroses room.

Ares draws a bead on Eros seeing he's got nothing to fight with. He thumbs the hammer back on his gun and levels it with his head. "I'd gladly send you there but I didn't hold off on blowing your brains out in the club and break into your fucking house just to kill you now. Hands on your head, last warning."

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Athena pull herself to her feet. She leans against the wall heavily and keeps her gun trained on the bed, breathing laboriously. The 2 blind fired shots go wild.

"SOM-U755-L1456-183 I suggest you drop that and put your hands up unless you want your boyfriend's brains splattered over the floor here."

// Well guess this died and none of us are going to know how this story ends. I blame Tom.

// Yeah, pretty much it died, thought of it today, and nobody tbh can be arsed writing how his char would be, because nearly all of us want to have badass chars (I have good insults, which use fucks as modifiers, not as normal insulting).
Would be interested to join in, although I don't want to read the 11 pages...

Quote from: Paintcheck on 09-11-2010
// Well guess this died and none of us are going to know how this story ends. I blame Tom.

// Im going to go posting on this soon.

Eros having his hands behind his head plays the waiting game waiting for the guards to arrive, comes up and aims at Athenas head, You hear cars pulling up outside and people coming out of them talking, you also hear a small group of folks going up the stairs, After a while of the people outside preping to go in, you hear the reports from Achilies sniper rifle, and Chloe's AR. The people running up the stairs are Heavily armed and armored.

"For fuck's..."

He knows he has to make a decision, fast and he doesn't really like what his options are.

"Achilles what are we up against downstairs?"

I think we're going to have to kill them both and run

((ICly this is like a 1 second thing for the question and what my next post will be so don't have the entire army bust through behind me))

He looks over at Athena who is still leaning on the wall. He thinks he sees a red spot on her armor but her body is bladed away from him and he can't tell. Her breathing is still ragged. No, no no no no

((Doubt anyone gives a shit but Tom never posted for a month so here's the end of this story. This is part of a bigger story I wrote just for fun while waiting for a plane and I didn't really proof read it before posting so if there's any references in this sequence to stuff not in this thread that's probably. In the story I wrote this is a flash back))

He can hear the gunfight outside as Achilles and the girl, Chloe, open up on what are undoubtedly units responding to the gunfire from inside the house. He remembers clearly the look on Eros' face, smug satisfaction that Ares is cornered, that Ares won't kill a defenseless rebel and that his little army is about to shoot them in the back. Oh how wrong he was.
"How many are out there?" he calls to Achilles, not liking his options but realizing that there is no way Eros and his girl are going to live through the next minute
"Too many, get out," came his terse reply, punctuated by a bang and a scream as his bullet found a target.
Ares' finger tightens on the trigger, he really doesn't want to essentially execute this man and his girl but he knows he has no option. He starts to say "Sorry" but stops himself and fires a bullet through Eros' forehead. Phoebe's eyes go wide and she starts to move but Ares doesn't even give her a chance, snapping her head back with a hollowpoint.
"GO" he shouts to Athena just as the door behind him is thrown open by the point man of rebel's assault team. He whirls and fires at the man's head, his bullet easily penetrating through the helmet and killing him instantly. The body sags to the ground, a spray of blood and brains from the exit wound decorating the second man in the column but Ares doesn't see any of this, he's already moving towards the window and emptying his gun at it. The window shatters and he leaps out, Athena right behind him. He hits the ground and rolls and starts running.
Athena lands hard too and seems dazed but after a moment she gets up, running as well. The two disappear into the dark city block, confident the team chasing them has lost them. They arrive back at the warehouse, breathing heavily but otherwise ok.
"Achilles, Chloe we're at the safehouse, where are you?"
He hears panting and a few gunshots before Achilles actually answers him "We're enroute, Chloe's hit"
Shit. Ares grabs a medical kit from their supplies and waits. And then he sees Athena, laying on her back, a red stain spreading through her armor. Shit NO He rushes to her and pulls her armor off but he can tell it's a bad wound and short of a trauma center she's not going to make it. He tries to fight back tears and removes a gauze pad to make what he knows is going to be a futile attempt to save her. She seems to know it too and she pushes his hand away from her chest with her own. She wraps her fingers around his hand and squeezes it.
"Y-you c-came for me," she smiles at him almost dreamily; she's lost a lot of blood.
Ares nods and again tries to go for the gauze. She shakes her head weakly
"D-don't bother I-I'm finished," she manages to gasp, her voice growing fainter. He squeezes her hand and strokes her hair, looking into her eyes and willing her to stay alive but he knows it's no good. Her grip loosens. He starts to sing softly to her
And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be and I don't want to go home right now
She closes her eyes and smiles softly at him and speaks one last time. He bends his ear close to her
"Y-you...never...t-told...me...y-your...name"
"It's Steve," he replies but he isn't even sure if she heard him, her grip goes slack and her chest settles. He plants a kiss on her lips and cradles her head in his arms, trying to stop the tears but unable to. When Achilles comes in with Chloe he finds Ares draped over her body. He starts to say something to him but having known loss like this himself he knows nothing he says will help. He watches for a moment, makes sure they weren't followed, and takes Chloe to the far side of the building to patch her up. That done, he stands watch all night long. Aside from Ares' quiet sobs, all else is still.

Poor kid.

Extraction came a few days later on another smuggler's ship. Ares carried her body all the way back.

(( We need moar forum rp. ))

I agree fully. Would be nice if someone else ran one though because every Exusia story turned into me and Tom alone because no one else kept up with it. Not that I am complaining because they turned into excellent stories but it does lead to a lack of characters when only two people are playing.

Yeah thats my only problem with these is. . . No one eles ever does anything cause they "Don't want to read walls of text" the thing is, if your partaking you only have to read the last couple posts to know whats up

Quote from: Tom on 14-01-2011
Yeah thats my only problem with these is. . . No one eles ever does anything cause they "Don't want to read walls of text" the thing is, if your partaking you only have to read the last couple posts to know whats up

Protip, Find people dedicated
Another protip, Maybe if it wasn't "Tom and paintcheck rp for hours" and you include other people, It way work out better. :)

Quote from: Turkey on 14-01-2011

Quote from: Tom on 14-01-2011
Yeah thats my only problem with these is. . . No one eles ever does anything cause they "Don't want to read walls of text" the thing is, if your partaking you only have to read the last couple posts to know whats up

Protip, Find people dedicated
Another protip, Maybe if it wasn't "Tom and paintcheck rp for hours" and you include other people, It way work out better. :)

That may have been the most contradictory post i've ever seen ever

Quote from: PistolKid on 14-01-2011

Quote from: Turkey on 14-01-2011

Quote from: Tom on 14-01-2011
Yeah thats my only problem with these is. . . No one eles ever does anything cause they "Don't want to read walls of text" the thing is, if your partaking you only have to read the last couple posts to know whats up

Protip, Find people dedicated
Another protip, Maybe if it wasn't "Tom and paintcheck rp for hours" and you include other people, It way work out better. :)

That may have been the most contradictory post i've ever seen ever

Do I get a medal?

No.