Footsteps behind her. Brown froze for an inch of a second before continuing down, step by step, trying to ignore the fact that she needed medical attention.

She paused again after the man finished speaking to catch her breath. She did not consider him for one moment to be friendly to her. After all, his words were laced with a thick French accent. Not something you would be expecting from any Armenian. It was Armenia against the world right now thus she paid him no heed. She continued down, her forehead covered in congealing blood. He did not state any conditions, thus she concluded this was probably some man who believed he became conqueror of London due to the Apocalypse.

She trudged on, she had to get to street level and find some sort of transport, without the adrenaline pumping through her veins the full pain from her wounds kicked in and there was no escaping the virus in this condition. She could feel her body tiring, as though her strength was seeping out of her and into the ground.

------

Isana had just scanned her card yet another time for yet another punch and was already winding up her fist when someone grabbed her from behind. Instinctively, she leaned forward and jerked her head back before twisting out of the grip. Once she saw who it was however, she gaped, "Oh ****! Are you okay?!" She checked if he had a bleeding nose.

She briefly recalled what he was trying to say right before she smacked him in the face, was he offering help to beat a game? But then where would the sense of achievement be in that?

_________________
Status: Active

Sato staggered back and fell backwards on his ass. He tilted his head back to try to lessen the flow of blood running out of his nose. That head butt actually hurt like hell. He could hear Hiro laughing from behind him where he was still standing, not even moving to check if Sato was alright.

“Oh ****! Are you ok?!” Isana asked as she checked to see how bad he was bleeding.

“I’ll be fine. One hell of a head butt though.” Sato answered smiling at her.
________________________________________________________

Hiro watched stunned as Isana head butted the holy **** out of Sato. Once Sato hit the ground Hiro couldn’t stop himself from laughing his ass off. Of course the moment the boy attempts the make a move her instincts kick in.

Well, at least he tried. Now he will just have to try again with a different approach. Of course he was just going to let this play out. No use in stepping in now. His brother might actually get something out of being knocked on his ass.

________________________________________________________

Zack arrived to a base that was far from where the battle he had heard about was taking place. Apparently this base was being used as a staging area before troops were sent to different areas. He got off the plane and headed into one of the command centers. Here the troops he got off of the plane with were gathered.

“We believe that the location of certain key facilities may have been compromised. For this reason you troops will be sent to those facilities and will hold them until we figure out what has been compromised and what hasn’t. Deployment is in two hours, Be ready.” one of the officers was addressing the troops. As the troops began to file out of the room the officer spotted Zack.

“Anderson. We just received word that the forces at London have captured one of the Armenian mechs. They have requested assistance with disassembling it and drawing up blue prints. You are shipping out immediately. Head to Flight Hanger 3B. The plane is already waiting.”

Zack followed his orders and boarded the plane. The trip to the research facility only too about 30 minutes so Zack figured it must have not bee very far. Once unloaded there was a team of scientists waiting for him.

When they saw how he was dressed their faces appeared shocked. This made Zack very agitated. He hated when people thought he wasn’t capable of having an extremely high IQ because he didn’t dress like a nerd.

“Just show me to the damn mech already.” Zack said trying to not yell or hit one of them. The scientists jumped and quickly grabbed their things and led him to the mech. The reason they wanted him here was pretty obvious. The damn thing was partially melted.

“Did they have to melt half the mech? ****. Way to make my job harder. Damn military.” Zack said as he walked around the mech looking at it. For the most part the electronic systems would still be in tact, it was just the structure that he would have to figure out how to put together.

“When are the other espers from London arriving?” Zack asked no one in general but he was sure he was loud enough for the entire room to hear him.

_________________
Think you got me? Think again

"Alright, all done. You're free to go Tommy." A researcher said as she took the needle out of his arm and wrapped a bandage around it. He had to have blood tests done every day, seeing as he was recently sick, and not knowing enough about the abilities of Espers, the UN decided it might be good to look into what sickness does to them. He hated the way they treated them.

"Ok.... Thanks... Uhm... J.. Jacket?" He hesitated to ask, but it was something he couldn't go without. They had him take it off and they took it away when he tried to hold it during the blood extraction. The researcher handed it back to him and he slipped it on quickly, zipping it up and then fastening the buttons. He'd then fold his arms over each other, laying across his stomach as he walked out of the small medical area of the lab that was there. It was nothing but the essentials, since they needed something. Tommy would then walk out into the area where they held the mech that was to be researched. He saw a man walk into it. He commented on the condition of the mech and Tommy snickered to himself. It was true that they could have kept it in a bit better of a condition, but he still found the mech fascinating.

"When are the other espers from London arriving?” He heard him ask. He'd shyly step closer and raise his hand just a bit. "Ahm... I've been here for... An hour and a half now.. Something..." He had said 'something like that' but his jacket muffled the rest as his voice dropped. He seemed to do his best to hide behind his collar. His blank stare would look away as soon as the man looked at him.

The light echo of tapping echoed in the room as Nadia’s fingers trailed over the keyboard. Her green eyes scanning over the information. The blue tint of the light reflecting over her features. Her order’s were clear she was to Audit Charlie Assault unit. Observe, record and later on her report’s would determine any action later that needed taking.

The first of the unit Nadia would look after would be Touka Tachibana, her file was to the point. Touka had recently returned with an captive Esper. Nadia stood amongst the mecha that filled the hanger, silently she watched her green eyes following her target’s movement. Nadia had been a mere 20 feet from Touka, Nadia remained silently and ever watchful. The hanger began to empty as the Mecha’s were put away and looked over for repair’s and such. With Touka gone Nadia’s moved her hand feeling the trickle of the cold as her field lowered. She needed to follow Touka just for a bit longer and then it would be time to check on the Hiro Kagemori.

Nadia’s eyes scanned the hanger, a vent caught her eye. Nadia had gone over the blueprint’s of the base and knew that it would help her come across Touka again. With a steady hand Nadia undid the screws holding the vent in place. Quickly she made her way through the vent the light echo of metal as she crawled. Coming across an opening she peered down the echo of footsteps and the muffled sound of voices. Staying in place she froze observing the echoing footsteps. Her eyes narrowed as a person walked by, not Touka. Silently she pushed on checking here and there, her eyes keeping a tight lock on the floor’s and such as she crawled her way through the vent’s. Finally as Nadia quickly went over the print’s in her head she estimated Touka’s room would be coming up.

Sweat trickled down Nadia’s face but as she looked through each vent she was finally granted a view at her target, Touka. No longer was she dressed in her flight suit but officer attire. She would be reporting in soon. Nadia weighed her options continue her watch of Touka or move on.

_________________

Touka entered the fifth story via elevator, proceeded through the security point and took another elevator back down to the ground floor. Companies, they always needed to hide something from their competitors, why not hide the entire military under it and its a phony in the building everyone else sees? Of course that would not mean cheating people of their good money, it was still a company earning some measure of income, enough to pay their clueless workers who did not know about the twenty plus levels which did not show up on the building's blueprints.

She checked her stainless steel watch again, it was almost into the afternoon. The hated overnight missions... I mean working overtime. She tugged her blazer to keep the appearance of a neat office worker. Penpusher, she corrected herself. Seriously, it was hard to tell which was hear real life; was it the life she led among her squad members? Or was it the one where she ate alone at the benches along the streets? She decided perhaps she should go back to a place she had hung out as a child. It may not even be there today.

------

Isana took out a pack of tissues from her bag, "Take it!" She waved it in front of his face. "Look at your face, jeez. Sit down," She waved to one of the arcade's staff who came over to see what had happened to show that it was alright, "I didn't hit that hard," She reasoned, hovering around Sato like an agitated bee. She wanted to punch Hiro in the face, if he could sit back and laugh his head off, he definitely could help his own brother or something. At this rate she may end up having to treat Sato lunch as an apology.

_________________
Status: Active

Roselia was lost. Frankly being lost was never a good thing. She began to head in the direction that Ackerman's vehicle had fled towards. After a good Twenty minutes , her eyes spotted Ackerman's vehicle parked along side a building that looked like the facility they were heading for.

The building was huge and the front gates to get in were controlled from the inside. She hit a button that was used as an intercom to relay her voice to those inside. " Roselia here. Can I get in? " It took about 2 minutes before the clang of the gates could be heard. Ackerman probably had to reem them out because they probably thought she was a spy. Or the captive pretending to be Rose.

The entrance to the facility was zipping with straight jackets and army officers. Hopefully, She could speed past the nurses before they try to investigate her ability more. They were always trying to learn more about the espers and it was rather annoying to begin with. Finding Ackermam was far more difficult. He was attending to the gear that would soon be equipped onto them. There was an air of panic though still around as people shuffled to pass one another. This was London's facility and as it stands the mecha went to afrighanistan. So far away...at least from what she gathered during her lostness.

" Ackerman! I lost the captive! " Roselia was panting after running around the facility desperatly searching for him. It was amusing to find him. She looked like a hot mess having had to race around searching for the captive.

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


The man heaved a sigh as the woman objected him completely. He knew she was injured to the point of near death. This scared him. He never liked to see a lady die unless it's on the battlefeild. His feet brought him towards her and he caught her arm almost desperatly. " You need to make a decision or allow me to do some quick medical to you. It is really do or die and the french are neither armenian's enemy or the rebel's enemy yet. "

His words fell on deaf ears for a few minutes. She hardly noticed him and yanked his arm from hers. He was an important soldier and being able to out power him caused a huge shocker to him. His feet stumbled back from the force for a few seconds. Then he gained composer and this time tackled her making sure that he was the one that hit the floor and she was on top of him.

" Now can you take me seriously. I might not act like it but I am highly skilled. So please take my words into consideration."

_________________

Roy stood in the doorway of the Afghani base, aware of the battle going on around him, and yet it seemed as if he was waiting for something...or someone. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth, before flicking open his lighter with a well practiced flourish of his wrist. The tiny flame burned in the air, heeding its master's call. Roy took a few drags from the cigarette before dashing the ashes out into the floor, blowing smoke out of his nostrils.

Stepping away from the doorway, he left the building, walking in the war torn Base, stepping almost nonchalant over broken and beaten men and women of varying nationality. It seemed Armenia was making a move, putting a big piece on the old chessboard. And the UK just HAD to call him in. Was it bad enough that they pulled him while he was on a date? Bloody Armenians ruined his chance to finally have a relationship. Sod the lot, he was going to salvage whatever he could. Pulling the cigarette from his mouth his mouth turned into a scowl.

"Sodding war," he muttered, and with his free hand, he pulled up his collar against the wind. "Had to go and mess with my bloody day."


Roy walked the halls of the base, plainly ignoring the Armenian written on the walls. He couldn't read or understand it, and never bothered to learn. Sure, he worked frequently for the MoD, and sure, the Prime Minister was in his poker group, but that didn't mean that the government could just tap him on the shoulder every time they need the bleedin' garbage taken out. Roy chuckled and rubbed a hand along his jaw, cigarette still in his mouth. In this case, though, there was more than just garbage.

14 hours ago he was sitting in a white room, so blinding in its monochronicity that Roy was blinded at first. Shielding his hand against the light, the door opened, and a man in a Westwood suit walked in, placing an ashtray on the table, alongside his lighter and a pack of his favorite brand of cigarettes. Sitting parallel to it was a thick file. "There you go." The man uttered, clinical and calm in every action he took, even sitting down seemed to only take as much energy as he allowed it to. His name, Roy would later learn, was Mr. Thomas Caulvin, Second in command of MI6. Caulvin was a sallow man, in his mid-thirties, but the dark circles around his eyes suggested a kind of haggard world-weariness that came with a job in intelligence and espionage. His face was clean shaven, and though his head was shaven, his eyebrows had already become gray. Life had clearly taken a toll on him.

Roy sighed. "Ello, Tom. Long time no see." He picked up the pack of cigarettes, and smacked it against his palm. Caulvin looked on with indifference, used to Sanders' ways. Roy looked up, and ran a hand through his blond hair even as he placed the cigarette in his mouth. Shifting it to the corner, he spoke. "So what's it this time?" The file slid to the center, and then it turned to him. "Three days ago, we caught some interesting chatter from an Armenian base in Germany concerning.....troubling plans. We sent in two operatives to retrieve them, and the mission went successfully. Unfortunately, it's the results of that mission you're here about. The Armenian base in Germany was preparing an unusual shipment for an Afghanistan base. We believe they now are in possession of both high profile prisoners, TSGs, and other materials. We fear that stage one may simply be a nuclear attack. What we want you to go in, confirm and eliminate is Stage Two, according to the chatter. A coordinated attack on against the UN and its interests."

Throughout Caulvin's briefing, Roy had lit and smoked a little of his cigarette. Blowing out the smoke, he closed the file shut. His blue eyes regarded Caulvin for a moment, before sighing. "Sod the war, what's in it for me, mate?"

Snapping back to the present, Roy walked to a detention center in the base, checking the numbers on the cells. If he didn't find this guy, things were going to hit the fan.

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4WlqxPzQ28

Was it sand, or was it ash, that swept and draped about his boots? Was the heat beaming down on his neck and back the Afghan sun, or a missile strike? Was it sweat falling in the crease between his nose and cheek, or tears?

Was the blood on his hands his, or theirs?

For a minute or two, the Russian stood there in complete confusion. His head sunk, staring at his boots as tendrils of wind-swept sand flitted over them. His arms laxly held his gear, his eyes hidden behind his gas-mask. He was completely unaware of various eyes staring at him, in varying stages of confused amusement at the soldier standing in the sun staring at his feet, unmoving.

This happened to Dimitri from time to time. Forgetting where he was. All it took was a moment to get everything back in order before getting right back to business. This wasn't Moscow. Hell no, it was WAY too hot. It wasn't the flames of conflagration that made him sweat, but that damnable sun. And besides, wouldn't everyone be running about screaming and shooting if it was?

Yeah. Yeah, that was then. But he was in the now.

Abruptly, he shook his head and straightened his posture. He remembered now. The orders. Report to the man in charge of this desert base for assignment.

....Now who in the Hell was that?

Almost comically, the big soldier turned his head around, forward, and then back the other way, his stiff armor not giving him as free a motion as he would prefer, making the motion completely clumsy. He didn't see anyone who looked really important - at least not right away. He'd have to ask one of these layabouts...

With a pep in his step, he began marching straight toward one of his new comrades to do just that, until he spotted someone else. A man in a brown trench coat, crossing in front of him. White shirt, black tie, pistols at the hip - yeah, yeah! Trench coats weren't standard issue....right?

"-Ey, Mr. Officer!" he shouted enthusiastically in a thick Russian accent at the man crossing the dusty street in front of him, before jogging up to the stranger. "Eyloh, you are man in charge yes? Dimitri is here now!" he declared expectantly, waiting for Roy to respond (the name of course, he could not yet know).

Roy turned, and as he did, ran a hand to his pocket and checked on his lighter. He was always paranoid of someone stealing the thing, and anyway, it had sentimental value. The big man running to him had a thick Russian accent, and wore a gas mask. "Oi, big man, I don't know. Do I BLOODY LOOK RUSSIAN? I'm workin 'ere for the UK government." At this he pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, taking a long slow drag of the nicotine and tobacco.

"Sorry about the yelling mate. Sand keeps putting out my smokes."

_________________

The big man slowed to an awkward stop in front of the stranger, his hand half-raised in a moment of uncertainty - before it swiftly passed, the hand jumping to rest on his waist.

"Ayy, you're English soldier ah? 'For Queen and Country' right? Yeah! Ey that's okaye with me my friend, I am not local soldier either, I work for Russia! We are same!" he went on, enthusiasm back in full swing as the hand that was resting on his waist for no more than a second gave the man a friendly slap on the shoulder, before immediately returning to his waist again. "You are eh....transfer? Is that word? Transfer to this unit too? Or, you are Captain?" the Russian continued, his head tilting slightly as the last question left him.

"Va te faire foutre!" Brown spat, "You tell me what you want and I'll listen. If I don't like, I walk away and you shoot me in the head the end. If I like, I follow what you say. Comprendre?!" However this did not slow her pace, while she needed help, she was not sure if this was genuine. Additionally, it was the world against Armenia, meaning that this man probably had not good intentions, probably best to just pop the cyanide pill now.

------

"Ah, good you're here," Ackerman said, distracted, "Our transport is here and you are one of the people who need to go for calibration for a mech in Afghanistan." He packed for a bit longer before his brain registered the new information, "Okay, look, this place, its just us, and her. There is no civilians. She's as good as dead, either the virus her people sent over would kill her or she would starve to death. Let's go."

"Ackerman, the-" Someone shouted in the near empty hangar, cut short as the steel doors were forced open with a blast of crystal shards. The sliding doors buckled inwards and were almost pried off their holdings, a slight rattle and all was silent.

"Hello! The doors were a bit too difficult for me to open so I..." The voice trailed off and the culprit stepped into the light of the hangar. It was a young female, perhaps in her pre-teens. Part of her face, her left jawline and part of her cheek was covered in bluish crystals. "So I broke it."

Click. Click. The guns went, as all armed personnel pointed their firearms to her.

"Stop-" She bellowed suddenly. There was a blast of warm, thick air and the five closest people to her had a ring of crystals around their feet which climbed at a steady pace and eventually turning them each into a pillar of crystal, "this nonsense!" She corrected her stance again and giggled, "I did it again!"

(Remember, the second battle hinges on whether Brown dies/vanishes, leaks information, becomes sympathetic or more aggressive in captivity. The former result will also increase the aggression of the Armenians in the final battle. Not just this part, but she may/will need to be interrogated if captured.)

_________________
Status: Active

Nadia had watched Touka enough to make a decent report so far, but now it was to move thing’s on to the other part of the group. Hiro Kagemori, 21 years of age, Cryokineses a Ice user. He was the next on her list. From accumulated report’s he was a bit different then Touka but still he needed to be evaluated.
From her report’s he was in town with a younger sibling it seemed.

Nadia had shimmied her way through the vent’s and now headed in town to observe her next target. It had been some time since she had been out in the everyday city. It felt too open to unorganized for Nadia it did not sit well with her at all. She liked her world to be controlled and set not added variables. But Nadia shook her head gently the red pony swishing gently with her movement’s. She had found a decent location within the Arcade.

It was loud and full of many people a crowd something so easy for her to disappear or appear in. Gently her field flowed up like a gentle wave around her keeping her from sight. Silently she observed the small group, they seemed relaxed and youthful. Emotionally a healthy bunch it seemed something that was rare in some of the younger subjects. But here Nadia would wait in silence, and observe the group. Soon they would all meet in due time.

_________________

Hiro decided that he would stand back and watch Isana and Sato. His brother had a chance at happiness with the person that he loved and he wouldn’t ruin that for anything. This is why he volunteered for the military in Sato’s place. So Sato could have happiness where Hiro couldn’t.

_________________________________________________________

Sato took and napkins and finished wiping the blood from his face. “You think you don’t hit that hard but you really do.” Sato said while checking his nose. “It’s not broke, just a little sore. I’ll be fine.” Sato stood up and poked her stomach. “I don’t know if I can forgive you, though. That hurt.” Sato looked at her with a smirk on his face. He loved messing with her, and he knew she felt guilty over the mess. “ So, you gonna make it up to me?”

_________________________________________________________

Zack looked at the stranger who spoke up. “So that is one. Where are the rest? Shouldn’t they be arriving soon? I doubt they would send this thing without being close behind it. Has anyone heard anything?” Zack asked looking for a way into the mech.

He finally found the area that was used to get the pilot out and climbed in. He looked at the internal electronics and let out a low whistle. “This is years ahead of us. Might take me awhile to figure out how everything works. First things first, hand me my laptop.” He commanded from inside the mech. Someone passed it to him through the opening in the mech. “Thanks”

Zack looked around for anything that could give him direct access into the mech’s mainframe. All he could find was some sort of neural uplink. “Ah, what the hell.” Zack quietly commented looking at it. He quickly found a way to pry it open and get to the wires on the inside, sketching everything as he went that way it could be built later. After selecting a few of the wires he thought were the main information transceivers he wrapped them together. He then clipped a compatibility plug on the tips of the wires to allow it to be plugged directly into the laptop.

After about thirty minutes of messing with the programs he finally figured out what the hell he was doing. However, there was one problem. Everything was wiped. Of course he could run a gravedigger program to dig up what bits and pieces weren’t fully deleted, but that would take a while since this was technology they knew nothing about. Sighing, he started the gravedigger process, then continued looking through what little bit of data had managed to not get deleted. There wasn’t much. Nothing to tell them about how to run the mech, what components were installed, or even how to turn the systems on. Everything would have to be done manually, most likely built by him from the ground up.

Zack set his laptop down to continue with the gravedigger program and climbed out of the mech stretching before finally getting out. He looked around. Most of the people that were there earlier were still there. “Anyone get any word from the other Espers? It seems they still haven’t made it back.”

_________________
Think you got me? Think again

Tommy would watch the man's actions. He hadn't much to do beyond that, and he was always curious about these mechs. Massive hunks of metal actually capable of doing extraordinary things. They just seemed like fantastic contraptions to him.

When the man seemed to have trouble with finding where things were in the machine, Tommy would make a small click with his teeth. He'd allow the wave to be sent through the mech. When it returned, Tommy looked the schematics that were formed from it in his head. He was about to speak up, but decided against it as the man seemed to understand what he was doing.

He'd watch as he found a way into the mainframe and began a program to find the data within. Tommy looked around the mostly empty room, searching for something, anything to do. He'd snap his attention back as the man got out of the mech and asked for information on the other Espers. Although not asked directly, Tommy shook his head and muttered an almost deafened 'no'.

Isana folded her arms, "Not when you seem perfectly fine. I'll let you punch me in the face if that's what you want." That was obviously not what he wanted or expected; most of the time she would end up paying for lunch or other little bites at the shops they passed by as her apology, but this has happened one time too many.

Her head snapped snapped towards the entrance as she detected something moving. Well of course it was something, this was a public area. Wrong, what she saw was not what she sensed. While there was nothing to be seen at a the spot she was looking at, the fact that there were no nitrogen particles in that large of a space, was rather strange enough to warrant her attention. She turned back to Sato as though nothing had happened, "Did you seriously forget your wallet again?" She sighed in mock disappointment.

------

Touka wondered, should they organize yet another squad meet outside again after... What was it? Six months? She tilted her head to the side in a resigned manner, rubbed her neck as though it was sore when she thought she recognized someone who was walking towards her. No, it was not some long-forgotten classmate or anything of the sort, just an overreaction on her part.

She arrived outside the arcade and was it a shock to her that it stood to this day. The same name, the signboard was swapped out for a holographic signboard though. It also looked like it had gone through some major renovations over the past few years. Thinking about it made her feel that she was no longer as young as she was.

_________________
Status: Active

"Va te faire foutre!" Brown spat the words at him as if she controlled the outcome. "You tell me what you want and I'll listen. If I don't like, I walk away and you shoot me in the head the end. If I like, I follow what you say. Comprendre?!" He understood clearly that the armanians were not ones to sit idle. This was killing her. Just having to hear him out was like nails scrapping against a chalk board to her. Painful. However, Brown needed to hear his words. France had troops on both sides and was playing a neutral place. It output the best intelligence officers but failed to chose a side. This meant it was defending from both sides, and fighting both sides. Neutrality was really a ploy though. It's development in a certain chemical vaccination would make the rebels take the advantage or the armanians to control the population. However, the side effects of this said chemical is still unknown. Neither side knows about this yet.

" Your people have a base nearby. However, what I want to know is...a little more pressing. I have a pill that may cure the virus. The side effects are unknown as of yet. We know that the virus effects both sides and thus is a danger. But your people created it and have the advantage no? I'm going to give you this pill. If the virus is curable this would do it. What I need to know is what happens after the crystal goes away." He handed her the pill not explaining any more than this. It was best that they think France is trying to help them. " With this good token of trust I will leave you with medical supplies and a choice. Do you return back to base or not? I need to take my leave before the crystal warriors show up."

He left through the shadows traveling back to the car he had used to follow rose. It was time to follow rose again. The container was a key to what the french wanted to do.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Our transport is here and you are one of the people who need to go for calibration for a mech in Afghanistan." Rose listened to Ackerman for a second this was news. She would get a mech? When were intelligence agents privy to giant mechanical things? There was a pause where she filled him on brown missing. "Okay, look, this place, its just us, and her. There is no civilians. She's as good as dead, either the virus her people sent over would kill her or she would starve to death. Let's go." Rose nodded. No matter the effort she made to find brown...she just would not be found. Better to not dwell then punish herself over it.

Before they could get into more pressing matters someone shouted to them. Then the giant hanger door broke open. Just broke open! A female of the pre-teen age was standing in front of them. Half her jaw was covered in crystal. Crystal? Rose tensed up but didn't let any fear show while others pulled out guns to point at the female. There was a clicking sound while the guns got loaded quickly.

"Stop-" There was a gust of warm air then five crystals fell in front of five soldiers. Rose stepped back not grabbing for a weapon but instead kept her back to the wall in order to cover the container on her back. This container was meant for something but she did not want to find out right this second what it would be used for. The soldiers turned into complete crystals. It was the final step before they turned into the virus. "this nonsense!" There was a giggle before the female spoke again. "I did it again!"

" Ackerman..." She whispered aware that any movement could trigger this into a very bad situation. Her ability to move objects could be used but any fast movement would be risky. It was best to play it by the safest way possible. Especially, since the container was still a mystery."I have an idea." This was a situation that intelligence agents were built for.

" What is you want? Why did you come here besides making more of you? I can understand if it was instinct but you seem intelligent. why? " The words were an echo in her head but rather than be quit and point a gun at the enemy sometimes being aware that confronting the enemy can be worse. A virus like this should not have made here yet so the only other option was that she did it to herself. The question remained: why? Then why could she still think on her own?

The next move was up to Ackerman. Would they get out alive?

_________________

Brown cocked her head to the side, ah the propaganda that their governments made to make it seem like both sides were losing from this was astounding. In fact it would seem that the false information returned to bite them on the nose. "It is not my job to develop a cure for a virus and neither will I attempt to do so. Tell your supervisor that when the time comes, if it hasn't already, there will be no middle ground. We already have our allies, we don't need anyone else." Brash words, she knew, but she was no diplomat. She was to be the sign of power and strength. She allowed the man to leave before dropping the pill onto the floor and crushing it into powder with the heel of her boot.

She exhaled the fatigue of her injuries finally catching up with her. She slumped down and unbuckled her equipment, extracting a pistol and loading a single bullet into the magazine. She cocked the weapon and paused, as though waiting for something.

------

"We seek." The girl paused, "To destroy humanity. We share a similar path; Armenia. Destroy their defences against us and we will do the rest. Unless you prefer to be crushed by ruthless, unyielding human greed."

Ackerman raised a pistol but the girl made no action to do anything. The radio crackled and brought news that the airlift had reached. He backed off, moving towards a door which led deeper into the base, towards an open air landing point.

"Your rescue is coming. Consider our words, we all stand a chance to win in this." The girl said, trailing behind them slowly.

_________________
Status: Active

( Reserved to post for you zen. Should have this up tomorrow)

“We already have our allies, we don't need anyone else."The lady’s words twisted inside his head. She thought the offer was to make an ally. Oh , Tricky are the words of a con-man with an artistic value of a high class painter. By now , she had to have left the area or prepared to die. There really was no solution to her predicament . Either kill or be killed. Same went for Rose. Eventually , Rose will realize that her container was a key to this war.

He made it to a safe empty store-house that was not used for anything other than equipment storage.It didn't take too much longer for a man to appear from the shadows. " So we both know she did not buy your speech right?"

"It wasn't about the speech. You and I both know i was never born for a public speech job. It did buy us just enough survival time though."

The rest of the conversation was played out in a hush hush manor. Neither wanted this conversation repeated by anyone.
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Rose slowly followed Ackerman. Keeping herself between the crystal warrior and the others. Why was she able to speak? This warrior was shocking her still and it just was not making sense."Your rescue is coming. Consider our words, we all stand a chance to win in this." The warriors words were almost like a snake who makes a deal with a mouse. It was certain one side was going to lose. Lose by death or curse.

" I'm pretty sure I'm on the survival side." She whispered the words to ackerman while keeping close. They could escape this but it would take some skill before hand. Her hands clenched a small gun just in case it was needed but the enemy continued to stalk them like some sort of prey that had no desire to play.

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"Ah come on, you know you love me and want to buy me something!" Sato pleaded with Isana. Hiro laughed at them wishing to have the same innocence those two did. Being able to love and laugh. Hiro felt a familiar presence and looked at the fron of the arcade and out the doors to see a familiar face.

“You guys stay here, I’ll be back.” Hiro said as he walked towards the doors of the arcade. Sato looked past Hiro and saw a cute girl most likely a few years older putting her around Hiro’s age. He laughed figuring that was where Hiro was going.

Hiro walked out the door and saw that Touka was facing away from him. He leaned against the building smiling before speaking. “Now why is it that I don’t have you pegged as the arcade-going type?


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Zack came back to the mech a short time later to see that the program had made minimal progress. There was still no word from the others that were supposed to be arriving.

He decided he would do something about it. After asking around he found one of the commanding officers.

“I want to take a chopper out to where the other men were supposed to be leaving from.” Zack told the man without any introduction.

The commander looked up from whatever it was that he was doing. “You must be the American. Your kind always has some smug attitude about them. That area currently has a crystal line heading for it which is why we evacuated it in the first place. There is no way I am sending anything there.” He promptly began walking away. Zack grabbed his shoulder.

“If you know who I am then you know what I am capable of and you know that I do not need any of your men or pilots to get a chopper there. I am asking because It seems I am the only one who finds it strange that we have had no word from the other espers. Now either I go by myself or you help me get there.” Zack stared the commander down.

They stared at each other for awhile neither averting their gaze. Finally the commander let out a bit of a short chuckle.

“I like you kid. Fine. You get one chopper, and 6 men. You will be flown out to Canterbury where you will rendezvous with the men and then you will take a chopper to London from there. Make it count and don’t die. These men will be some of my best I will make the cal now” The commander turned and walked off.

Zack proceeded to get his gear together. He would leave his laptop at the base to continue grave digging the mech’s systems as it would most likely take days to finish. It had been a long time since he had been in an active combat zone. It brought back memories he would like to have forgotten about old friends that he would never be able to see again. This time would be different. He refused to watch anyone else die.

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Think you got me? Think again