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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 0:54:56 GMT
- HUNTER -
Luke felt himself, rising in the air, not dead, but dying. He could feel more snow brush against him as a hand wrapped itself around his throat, and he saw the last of his breath fade away into the air. His eyes half-lidded as he heard the words emitting from the blue eyed foe, who was about to kill him. He tried to wrestle the grip away from his throat, but couldn't, in pure desperation he continued to fight back, but this time, this was a battle he was going to lose. Consciousness was fading away from him like air, and then it happened, the words rang out.
Listen to me.
Time stopped again. He looked down and saw him, his brows would furrow if he wasn't so desperate for life, his eyes barely able to stay open as his hand was wrapped around him. His pure look of venomous hatred cast on Luke.
So listen to me...
Luke made a choice, three years ago. A choice which affected his life, and everyone around him it seemed. He was confronted with that same choice, from the same person, years on and even now, as he felt the grip tighten around his blade, he decided, he wasn't going to listen again. He swung his katana to slice at his opponent, only managing to get their sniper rifle. This was it, he could feel it. His vision darkening, he saw Acchilleus no longer fighting his sister, behind a rock wall. His sister, James...This could be the last time he ever saw them. But was it?
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 1:24:30 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - They needed him, they needed their leader in the most dire of times, and it was something he started with. He started the battle with him leading them on the field, and if the ship sinks he'll go down with it. The pain in his foot had numbed in a similar way his right arm numbed after their pain, but at least the numbness was enough to get rid of the pain. His body wasn't so optimistic, and his senses also betrayed him, but goddammit he will finish what he started. He had some energy to get up and signal the men at the gate to continue firing, before he himself went downstairs. The vibrancy of the Citadel with it's people, uniforms, and material were washed away, instead being replaced with desaturated colours and shades of black and white. The footsteps were hollow, lacking weight and meaning it shows as the body of one Jonathan Kramer went to that fateful entrance for possibly the last time. Foot screwed, arm dead, and a high calibre pistol as his only means of defence. He did have his knife, but without the energy nor the ability, it stood as a decoration for the prototype armour that had held itself for so very long. The mice were shocked, but they did open the gate a crack, enough for Jonathan to squeeze through and take a look at the world before him. The gates locked, the last wall will stand, for how long would be a different question. Is this the way the world ends? Is this how he will be pictured in history books? Will he described as the one who couldn't hold the city from opportunistic insurgents, or will he written as a tyrant who was incapable of ruling? History is written by the winners, and with every second that passed the failure to keep the Citadel and, by extension, the city safe became a reality that creped ever so closer. Two mice fell, and four were doing their damnedest to hold off whatever was thrown at them. The Vipers, the Tyrants, the blades and bullets and whatever supernatural element came into play, the four of them held them off for as long as they could. They still stood, but for how long that would be determined by his next actions. He had fired two bullets into the raging mob before him, before the reality hit him hard. He wouldn't see them again. He wouldn't see the men and women who matter to him the most in a peaceful state of mind ever again, it was impossible. He had too many enemies and too few friends, and the complete sadness of it all he dropped to his knees.
" Is this how it ends? A man on his knees not willing to face death head on?" He didn't want to satisfy the Broker with an answer, the entity wasn't human, just a character playing the role of an information broker's face. " No answer? Is that how Jonathan Kramer leaves the world? With his head between his legs?" He wouldn't answer, but he would at least look up at the figure. Frozen in time in a blurry haze. " You're not the one to give up, you're not someone who would leave the bigger picture into the dogs.""I have failed. What else could I do?" The figure tilted his head as he looked into the eyes of a near sobbing man. "I've lost everything! My friends, my workers, the city, even my own flesh and blood I have lost!" Jonathan broke down as the Broker circled him. "I made a promise to myself long ago, when I left, that stings would be pulled to do something I was unable to do...and now look. Same shit, different day and place, this time about the break the city apart alongside any semblance of sanity left! Ravagers would continue their reign of terror, the Tower will be under more scrutiny from the High Council, and the city will turn into the horrifying meat factory it has been on the verge of becoming." He took several breaths before he calmed down a little, the mysterious figure he embodied continued his observation in the frozen space. "What the hell can I do to stop that now?" Jonathan laid down, defeated, empty, a complete husk of himself. The tears stemmed from his eyes and turned into a pool that soaked the right side of his face. "Jade, Claudia, Jason, Lilly, Luke, Grace, Felix, Ripley, I..." he closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry." He couldn't stop muttering it to himself, it was impossible it was all he could do. "They say that in order to kill the weed you need to attack its roots, that way it would wither and die quickly before it can recover." The Broker walked up to Jonathan's face and looked down. "The prospect of death and the knowing inevitability can liberating, because the last weights on your shoulders are lifted and you are able to fly." He knelled down. "History is won by the victors, but who they can be is up to you. We know it shouldn't be him, but the poison can be stopped."Jonathan starred at the man before he sat up. He looked at the frozen environment, before he looked at the tool he had. "Now get up!"
The broken mind within the broken body stood up, and the world itself felt like it slowed itself down. He would find Acchilleus, and he would kill him. There was an upon thanks to the man himself, a wall to sneak himself through. The loss of the shield made it easier to blend in, alongside the difference in uniform. The world around him passed by. The struggle of a mourning man by the corpse of a woman, the rivers of blood were an inch high, and the Ravagers were within some line of sight. He kept to himself, the corridor that leads to the end of his life would pass by his target, and with the world being nothing but a blur, the fear had left him. He heard his own breathing, focusing on staying alive long enough to at least get an opportunity to kill the weed. He was there, another corner and the older man was there. The spark that could destroy a city. He didn't want it to end like this, he really didn't, and to be honest he never expected it to. The man sighed to himself, and lifted the weapon towards the ringleader.
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 1:43:59 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
Acchilleus turned, breathing a sigh of relief as he got away from the clutches of Lilly Jones, and now hopefully she would be busying herself, hopefully to cast out and be killed by the Vipers around her. He only then saw the man in front of him, the one that he was so hell bent on seeing The Citadel taken away from. His power becoming nothing more than a fleeting mess, a miasma of pain and corruption that was to be shot down, just like he would be at this very moment. Yet now, the ma n was here, the infamous Broker, yet the tables had turned, the gun was aiming at Acchilleus instead.
At first, he felt fear, the fear of shock if anything. He had no idea about the man holding the gun and he believed that the moment he saw it, was the moment when this had all ended. When one shot would ring out and The Vipers turned to see the man before them, dead, a hole in his head. But then he recognized the face, the eyes, the visage that held the gun and he realized that, no gunshot rung out loud. The gun still aimed. And thus, with the snow creeping along and the battle almost reaching its roots, right toward the bloody end, he wondered, what was this for? Why had he not been shot yet? What was going to happen?
“Put the gun down,” growled Acchilleus as he stepped forward, getting closer as he glanced right into the eyes of his enemy. “You and I both know you've lost. Save what dregs of dignity you have left and either surrender or do yourself in.”
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Citizen
V&V Veteran
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Post by t00bz on May 28, 2016 1:49:32 GMT
Athena looked at the two suspiciously, not many risks could be taken when they were in an emergency situation like this. She motioned Tower security to relax, just a little bit though and looked at the two strangers, "The Warden is at our main outpost, just down the block. We'll radio in and see if he's fine. Dom, could you do that?" Dominic nodded and walked off to one of the tents, before Athena turned back at the two, "And just who are you two exactly?"
Dominic kept one eye on what was going on at the barricades while he turned on communications, just in case something broke out, "Sanator and Warden, this is Lazarus. We've got two people in power suits at our outpost looking for the Warden, what do you want us to do?"
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 1:51:19 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - Acchilleus took a step forward and Jonathan cocked the gun quickly. It was quite audible, and was quite sinister in it's pitch. "You take me for an idiot you snake?" He observed the man in front of him, finally he could get a good look at him. "You seriously think that I would surrender to the likes of you after that announcement you made when you arrived?" He tilted his head, his sanity was draining due to the sheer absurdity. "What would we all get out of surrendering? Salt to the wounds, or just a quick sacking and murdering all in sight? We both know you're not shy of that possibility."
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 2:06:31 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
“And you know, I'm a politician, I may be ruthless and I might want to kill every last one of you,” started Acchilleus as he could only ever hear the cock of the gun reverberating in his mind. “But images are important, we both know that. You really think I want to kill innocent men and women behind closed doors anyway? You'll all be imprisoned, if you stand down and don't do anything crazy.” Acchilleus watched the man, watched his wild eyes and tried to hope, hope that he wouldn't be the one who would cause his downfall, not like this, not when he had come so far and done so many things for this to be possible. Not now...
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Post by Adam on May 28, 2016 2:28:50 GMT
CRIMSON | Thomas Drake Crimson gasped, his eyes darting open as the energy seal audibly cracked and blue light began to spill from the rifle on his back. Noises like the sounds of bustling winds emanating from his back, getting louder and louder. The sniper rifle was a high-powered energy core rifle. Such a breach - which was nevermind a million to one in making, striking in the right place - would make the core highly unstable. Without hesitating Crimson simply dropped Hunter to the floor and scrambled his hands to his back. In his panic he couldn't disable the electromagnetic tech holding the rifle to his jacket and the rifle's fail-safes would never allow the rifle to disengage. Crimson had no choice but to tear off the entire jacket. Crimson shut his eyes, whispering "I'm sorry" to himself. With one arm his pulled the jacket off of himself in a single moment, not having any time to retrieve any of his tech from the pockets. He had seconds until the whole thing exploded. And so in the time he had Crimson simple threw the jacket into the air, not having the time to find a target for the explosion. He watched as the red leather erupted into light, torn into multiple rags of material that rained from the sky. He was stunned. He really loved that jacket.
19th October 2056 Today was Thomas David Drake's birthday; his nineteenth. As expected he woke, he showered, he dressed, then he headed down to his mother's house with Emma. Of course Nora - Tommy's mother - was there, having cooked an amazing roast and even prepared a cake for him. It had been so long since he'd had a birthday cake, and after making it through an especially troublesome year with everything will Emma this made this birthday special. Also there were his sisters, a twelve year-old Alice and an eight year-old Kay, who still ran around the house pumped full of too much sugar. Though sadly Tommy's older brother couldn't make it, busy studying in Capital City at university, though he would get the next month off and promised to make it up to his baby brother. They spent the day as a family though throughout the day Tommy couldn't shake an awful feeling; he couldn't enjoy himself as he missed his father too much. Having gone through everything with Emma's parents had really made him appreciate his own; his mother's care and love, and his father's virtue. Tommy missed John terribly. Eventually, the dinner was over and Tommy and Emma went home to the apartment they had shared for about three months now; the same apartment at which Carl Fitzgerald had confronted the two in June. In bed Tommy lay numb, just wanting to get to sleep and move forward, but Emma stopped him. "Tommy?" she prodded, "In June... when my dad was here. You tore your jacket." The red coat he wore that day was his father's own jacket from when John was a teen that Dave had given to Tommy when he first became Red Wonder, though it took some growing into. Emma was right, in fending off her father Tommy somehow managed to tear a hole in the underarm of the jacket. For the following months he'd tried wearing it anyway but the damage just got worse. Teen Tommy was just a lot bigger than teen John, the jacket was too small. "Y-yeah?" he answered quizzically, not knowing what was coming. "I-I know there's not any... sentimental value to this one but," Emma reached under the bed and produced a white cardboard box. Lifting the lid nervously, inside was a pristine, new leather jacket; this one tailored to be a perfect fit though a slightly darker shade of red, "I hope you like it. They didn't have them in vermillion red like your old one so this is closest I could find. They labelled it 'crimson'." Tommy stared wide-eyed at the box for a second before reaching into the box and unfolding the jacket. He looked at it outstretched with a numb face. Emma panicked soon after, worried she'd upset him. "Don't be ridiculous..." he bleated, lifting his head to face her, "Of course it has value-" Tears began to stream down Tommy's face as he dropped the jacket to embrace Emma in a tight hug, "- I got it from you."
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 9:24:04 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - A beat of chuckle escaped from Jonathan as Acchilleus spoke of his point of view. "Surrender to be imprisoned? More like surrender and be butchered anyway." He looked at the people within sight, he knew the crowd he was facing, and Acchilleus is blind to it. He gestured towards Crimson and, by extension, the Harvester. "Hypocrites...", he then pointed to the Ravagers. "...terrorists..." before pointing to Nariko, "...unfaithful." He laughed to himself a little, Acchilleus was an idiot, a complete and utter idiot. "What makes you think you can control the likes of them, what do you have over them, how are you certain that one of their members wouldn't just butcher everyone anyway?" Inferno, the woman of fire, can be talked to but cannot be reasoned with.
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 16:43:30 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
“Hope,” said Acchilleus simply, the snowy air still travelling by them as he glanced at Broker non-dismissively. His voice, his mannerism, all of it was somewhat indicative of fear, but not of the gun, not from the man standing in front of him, but the future, what that could hold, even when victory was within their grasp. He looked around the others and he thought – nothing. Nothing he thought of them changed his view on them, trustworthy or not, they had gotten him this far, within this battle. “We're all hypocrites here. The only difference between you and me is, who has the courage to face it. I know I'm naïve, I know I'm ruthless, I know I'm a bad person, and I can live with myself. You're the person who is so scared of who they truly could be you have to put it on other people's shoulders. “If you surrender now, I can at least almost guarantee your survival, nobody would mind one or two deaths in your walls. “
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 17:10:12 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - He kept the gun pointed at Acchilleus. "You're not someone who values the life of individuals are you? A man so hollow that someone dying in front of their eyes is as moving as a puddle splashing." He kept his eye on Acchilleus, he wouldn't move. "Funny thing is that you're right in some way, I am afraid of what could become of me sometimes. I took on this role to keep the city on track, to limit my mind and to ensure no one else would put the city into some sort of lock down. Yet even accomplishing that yields problems, one being you." He chuckled a little. "This is the third time you know, third time I've been behind a security line and being part of a meat grinder, I guess it's an aspect that will haunt me for the rest of my life." He blinked twice. "You know, you and I are more alike that we think."
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 17:15:39 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
“Of course, we're more alike than we think. You didn't honestly think you got where you are and I got where I am, both of us close to power without that flitting into that head of yours,” replied Acchilleus, almost smiling as he finally met someone, in his life, who was worthy of his anger. It didn't mean he liked the man, it didn't mean he would ever like the man, it didn't even mean he agreed with the man.
It all simply meant that he had a mutual respect for him, and that was far more than what most people seemed to yield from in his life. Acchilleus glanced down at the gun and then back up at The Broker. “I value life, just in different ways. The few Little Mice and police who die in your decrepit Citadel will be forgotten in say, thirty, forty, fifty years time. Don't act like you value life so much, that you didn't enjoy killing the men and women who came here with me. We both have a lust for blood and a lust for power, just for different reasons. Is that so bad?”
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 17:30:26 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - "We all need leashes, otherwise we destroy everything that thousands of years of human civilisation worked to build. A life without limits wastes potential." He was tempted to fire, and he did lightly squeeze the trigger, though not enough to fire the bullet. "I'm pretty sure you'd be told the stories of your ancestors by your father or your grandfather, and while the stories may get skewed as time goes on we still pass them down to our children." He breathed out. "I chose my words carefully, we both had something to do with the council, we both wanted to consolidate power, and we both lost our parents in... undesirable circumstances." He pulled a weak smile. "I did some research during the last two months, tragic but very relatable. Difference was the wage class we were brought up in, and in some way it has influenced our approaches up to this point." He looked at the gun, fine in detail, but fairly heavy. "I hate death you know, when I take up those shields my aim is to not kill anyone. If we take the life of someone we lose a piece of what makes us human, empathy." He looked back at Acchilleus. "But if I have to do it to save lives, I'll take that risk."
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 17:40:49 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
At the mention of his parents, Acchilleus glared at Broker, stepping even closer despite noticing his light squeeze of the trigger as he furrowed his brows. Anger took over his mind, if only for a split second and he restrained himself from attacking, knowing what would happen if he did so, what he would lose. He simply stared at The Broker, still glaring, still angry as his fists were clenched and he took, what could be, his final glance around the battlefield.
“Take a look,” urged Acchilleus glancing and pointing at the fighting Vipers, mercenaries, the people who were now dying, screaming, shouting and fighting for Broker or for Acchilleus, even for their own agendas. “This is what power looks like. This is what we both accomplished, together. Death follows you, and it will always follow you. The sooner you get used to that, well, you'll realize that there's no such thing as a death to save a life. There's only death and how you use them. At the end of the day, someone has to die.”
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Post by LHudson on May 28, 2016 17:51:03 GMT
- JONATHAN KRAMER - "Except they didn't have to." He took another look a the field. "Events like this happen when powers clash. The Marshal's creatures against the city, the Ravagers against the government, the Carthaginians against the Romans. Violence comes from a clash of two egos, except you fail to realise that you pushed it to a level that it didn't have to go. You think of gaining, I think of preserving, you think like a conqueror, I think like a diplomat." Two deep breaths. "You think of blood and destruction, I think of peace and rebuilding. It may be ego, but look around you. Terrorists and gangs that make mass graves against the public sector that were just doing their jobs." His tone had increased. "You're naive Acchilleus, naive in thinking that controlling power would be easy." "What makes you think the gover-- no, what make's you think that the city and it's people would take kindly to your intrusion after this is over?"
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Post by iCaramelBird on May 28, 2016 18:00:02 GMT
- ACCHILLEUS -
“And this is where we come to our conflict. You think I'm gaining, I preserved the Safe Zone. You think I'm conquering, no, I think of taking back something stolen from me. If we were diplomats then why are you standing here, aiming the gun, finger on the trigger. You think you're peace and rebuilding, I say we're deconstruction and construction. Nobody is perfect, and nobody is better. You hang onto your arbitrary morals as a way to get what you want and still look better in the long run,” explained Acchilleus as he stayed fixated on The Broker, the harsh cold striking against his skin as he wondered if the bullet would ever come to pierce him.
“Come now, we both have that same need for power, that same need to be in control. It's a shame. If you worked with me, I could only imagine what this city would be like. Well, it seems like this city can only handle one of us, and I have a feeling I know which one of us will be leading this city.” Acchilleus stepped back slightly, glancing at The Broker, feeling as if the trigger was going to be pulled in this instance as he focused, ready to try and move the earth from under Broker's feet.
Then it appeared. A light, cast in the sky, blood red as it shot up against the white clouds and dying sunlight. The Vipers and Acchilleus all stopped, looking up to recognize a flare from the far end of the bridge, Acchilleus' brows furrowed as he muttered to himself.
“What the hell is this?”
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