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"Running the Penumbra" (MiriGorl29 x Pazzo)

Pazzo

Put me on your face. It will be fun.
Supporter
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Location
In front of my computer, or on my phone
An unmarked, night invisible tactical aircraft quietly sped through the air, nimbly dodging low slung power-lines like an acrobat
Alex Sat in the plush, heavily gorilla taped drivers seat of his heavily modified Banshee. The VTOL looked like a cross between a full sized 80's van, mixed with an AV8 type Harrier Jump-Jet, with the capabilities of both. The engines however in each wing, that kept the craft aloft, had doubled in size, as well as more than doubled the maximum speed and agility of the craft.
About the size of one of those short buses for troubled youth, It could easily carry a twelve man fire team into a heavily contested drop point while laying down considerable suppressing fire with its multiple rotary barrel auto cannons mounted on the front end. as well as get them back out again after they had completed their mission, with room to spare. However, all of its spacious interior was currently filled with things like pork rinds, and large tanks of pressurized Dr. Pepper.
The combat rigger lay back in the drivers seat, happily sipping on a 128 ounce fountain drink that he had just acquired, letting his eyes roll back into his head, like a crack addict, just getting his fix.
He could be considered handsome for a middle aged human, with a well built, athletic body covered in tribal style tattoos, as well as an impressive amount of classic, delta-ware chrome cybernetics. His dark skin, and short black hair told of a heavy Native American heritage. Half of his mind focused on the taste of his glorious carbonate beverage and various snacks he just picked up...
The other half of his mind was occupied with flying the craft, his brain directly linked to the sensors and controls of the aircraft via a fiber optic wire stretching from his left forearm, snaking across the floorboards, and into the dashboard of the aircraft. Such an intimate connection to his VTOL allowed him to control it with the precision of his own hand, allowing for feats of piloting not otherwise possible.

He didn't so much pilot the Vortex, he Became the vortex. The rush of air into its engines became his breath, the flow of fuel from the turbo pumps became like his heard and veins. It was a little uncanny, but Alex was one of the best and highly sought after vehicle riggers in the area. But right now, he was enjoying his ill gotten gains for a series of missions, and well placed investments. Perhaps it was time to retire then? He could live comfortably somewhere in the Dakota territories...

Just as he was taking another mind relaxing hit off of his drink, something loud glanced off of the bullet proof glass canopy of his vehicle, making him jump, and almost drop his drink. The aircraft likewise dipped low in the air for a moment, as his concentration was momentarily distracted.
A bird perhaps? He was almost home, he could buff it out later...
Then, just as suddenly, three more metallic sounds glanced off the belly armor of his Banshee. Those were either pistol of sub-machine gun rounds... But, as high up as he was?

He sat upright in his chair, and focused all of his mind into his aircraft, taking the sensor suite of the banshee as he would his own eyes, scanning the immediate area.

Just below him. about one thousand feet away, were the roof tops of a Renraku factory, that made... whatever it was that Renraku made there. That company was so huge they likely made a little of everything. As he looked over and through the area, in the spectrum of visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet, he saw two things that looked really interesting...

A small party of six people, armed with what looked like sub-machine guns, were chasing a lone figure that was running and leaping quite gracefully. He was just about to dial in the magnification on his cameras, when a static filled transmission crackled into existence on his radio communication frequency. Frequencies only used by the truly desperate, and more interestingly shadow-runners...
 
"Shit..." Eve said under her breathe as the next few rounds whipped past her head. Even through all the exertion her body was barely sweating, her breathes coming even and calm through the ensuing chase. Beneath the exterior that appeared every bit a human woman was equal parts machine and living tissue working in perfect harmony and in fact the machine parts only pushed the living pieces beyond what was normal.

Her ears picked up the steady, heavy humming of the VTOL overhead before her eyes picked up on it's silhouette, and the way it slowed and began hovering meant that she was speaking to someone with interest at what was happening below. "Pilot!" Her voice would come over the mic as fresh bursts of the sub machine gun sounded in the background, with timing only a machine could anticipate she ran to the next bit of cover expertly diving behind a large air conditioner unit.
Peeking over she leveled the sights of the pistol in her hand and squeezed off a few shots, trying to at least slow the advance of the ones hunting her.

"I don't have time to go into this, but I'll tell you what you need to know if you help me out." Eve said over the mic, "I'm guessing you have some serious hardware on that machine and I could use it." She added hoping the weapon systems could be turned to her benefit against those chasing her. "If I could trouble you to level those weapon systems at that group allowing me to escape I'd be very greatful." Eve added, moving to another part of the roof. The key for her was to keep moving so they couldn't surround her, her only hope once she ran out of roof though was to try and hope she could make it to next one.

Eve scanned the area and knew the next building was a few floors lower than the one she was on now, and that meant while the machined parts in her legs may take the impact of landing the living parts could buckle under the pressure and her slowed or wounded now would surely guarantee her capture.
 
Alex's ears twitched, as his sensors and heads up display pinpointed the transmissions as coming from the figure being chased across the rooftops below. She was requesting an extraction.

He enhanced his view through the aircrafts sensors, his mind completely oblivious to the spilled soda on the aircraft's floorboards.

In his enhanced images, he saw what looked like a breathtakingly gorgeous brunette, with tattoos running the length of her left arm, wearing a black mini dress that was likely a few sizes too small. She was shooting what looked like sub-machine gun back at her pursuers, an older model Ingram MAC-10, with a suppressor. A sexy gun for a sexy woman.

Still, those things ate through ammunition like it was going out of style. He had always been an Ares Predator kind of person himself.

He listened to her request of using his Vortex's rotary cannons to lay down some supporting fire...

Alex's brain immediately went into overdrive, and asked several questions, all in the space of one heartbeat.

One: Who was she? Why was she being chased by Knight Errant security forces across the rooftops of a Renraku factory? Granted, Alex had no love for Renraku based off of the shit they pulled on him last year. They had offered him a job, and he had done it, professionally, to the letter. When it came time to pay him for his work, they had unloaded upon him, forcing him to flee empty handed... and with a vortex with a marred paint-job, and scratched armor.

She could possibly be troublesome, maybe she would turn that weapon on him as soon as she was aboard, and demand she fly him somewhere, or steal his aircraft entirely? If she was faking her situation, she was a damn good actress. Alex looked back at his full load of cargo. He would be a little clumsy in the air, but he could manage.

He surmised that anyone willing to piss off Renraku couldn't be all that bad.

"Fuck it..." He said out into the air. He mentally willed the craft to spin around, with both of the crafts chin turrets swiveling around menacingly, as the craft came in lower. The twin linked three barreled auto cannons spun up, and fired a quick burst at the three pursuers on the rooftops, chewing through the plascrete structure like a hot needle through wax.

One of the bastards was hit directly, and exploded into a red splatter upon the roof, the other two dove down behind whatever available cover they could find.

Alex brought the craft in low, between the two remaining guards, and the fleeing woman.

He then mentally had the vortex open its rear hatch. Even with all his precious cargo, there was room for a pretty girl.

The inside of his craft had a few surprises just in case she tried anything stupid once she was on board. He also had his predators in easy reach in the front seat with him.

"Thank you for contacting Uber..." His voice blared out upon the loud speakers of his hovercraft, as the spotlights flooded the area ahead of him. "...Your ride is now here, please come aboard, as Wyrmtalk is on tonight...we are about to miss it."
 
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