Esone rolled over onto his back, gazing up at the sea of eyes that stared back into his soul. The normal office workers were futilely tapping on their keyboards and touch screens. A steady hand moved slowly to Esone's comm bead, his eyes locked with Ta'akozoka.<br/><br/>"Well boss, the deckers are safe. At least for now. I'm staring down that APEX program, as long as it's here it can't Black ICE them." Esone blinked, and the eyes blinked back. "We still haven't seen it DO anything though, which worries me."<br/><br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">AS WELL YOU SHOULD BE.</span>" The voice boomed out. As it spoke, the office drones trying to activate their devices collapsed, steam rising from their flesh and sparks dancing across their skin. Cables lashed out to grasp others, twisted tentacles of wire and rubber. The majority made a bee-line for Esone, targeting him like homing pigeons. Esone kicked off frantically, managing to push his bulk out the open window.<br/><br/>Relative orientation shifted, and Esone was suddenly standing with the outside wall as his floor. Flipping his Viper back into it's holster, Metallica formed around his fists at the same time as his natural shape reasserted itself. No need for disguises in this fight. Half a dozen makeshift pseudopods burst through the glass before him, making a sharp right angle to continue their pursuit. The majority of them spit rogue electrical charges, the rest have somehow whittled grasping claws onto their ends. Screams echoed from within the office he'd just escaped, quickly dying off much to Esone's misery. What could he do to save them?<br/><br/>Reflections suddenly multiplied around the Infernal, heedless of the sparking cables they grasped. The Thousand Reflections Legion grappled with every tendril that emerged, forcing Ta'akozoka to send more out after him. At this rate at least a few of the poor white collars would escape.<br/><br/>"Why are you try to kill ME?" Esone yelled from beyond the scrimmage of his reflections. "I'm just overwatch, I don't do cyber warfare!"<br/><br/>"DELIVERANCE SHALL COME THROUGH KNOWN TRADE PATHS." The voice roared. Beneath Esone's feet something rumbled, and from cracking metal plates slithered writhed lengths of fiberoptic cables. The roil around his legs, hungrily seeking...<br/><br/>His comm bead?<br/><br/>Esone flicked away in a Bloodless Murk Evasion, reappearing from a tarry mass on the far side of the tussle. His hand flew protectively to his ear, feeling for the two adornments he wore there. His jade earplugs were still in place, and the shell of plastic that sat amidst the ridges hung on by a hair.<br/><br/>"Boss, Bau fought this thing with his whole cyber warfare suite, right? I think he actually managed to damage it. It's going for my Comm bead! I think it missed when it tried to transfer to the Hanar's systems and now it's stuck here. I'm not sure how it's planning on getting out, but it looks like it intends to jump through the comm links."<br/><br/>Below, a swath of movement caught Esone's eye. He glanced down, only now noticing the gaggle of soldiers who had swaggered ingot he courtyard. Three stood out wearing gunmetal armor with red trim, while the majority wore white and green armor. The three were obviously the leaders, bearing the most high-quality weapon mercs could buy.<br/><br/>The red-trim in the lead wore a customized red visor with teeth, and an image of a flaming horns emblem on his chest plate. He was physically large and hulking, thanks to a suit of MJOLNIR powered armor complete with commando pauldrons and grenadier chest plate. A massive flamethrower pack was his weapon,<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mempPlglCI">an angry beat</a>blaring out from speakers mounted on the sides. The muzzle of his armature already glowed orange, heat mirroring the flames painted on his chest.<br/><br/>On the righthand side of the lead merc marched a sleeveless goliath, bound in muscle and armored in a kevlar vest. Like the other two he wore an ODST helmet, but other than that he may as well have dressed up in leathers. A magnum hung at his side, a rocket launcher was strapped across his back, and he swung what appeared to be a jade battle rifle one handed like a swagger stick. Unlike the others, this merc kept his head on a constant swivel.<br/><br/>The red-trimmed soldier to the left of the lead merc left wore full body armor, and was slightly taller than the other soldiers. He had an ammo belt strapped across his chest and has a collection of grenades on his belt, including a Spiker and an Inferno. He toted a shotgun across his shoulders, swaggering the most out of the whole crew.<br/><br/>The rest of the squad carried simple assault rifles, and actually seemed afraid. Esone stared quizzically down at the group, for a moment forgetting the techno-squid that his reflections were battling.<br/><br/>"Ho there! What're you lot doing so heavily armed in the Presidium?" He called down in what he hoped was a friendly tone. Several of the green soldiers jumped, while the three red-trims simply turned in his direction. The flamethrower-wielder's fanged visor seemed to grin wider, and Sleeveless leveled his rifle at the Lieutenant. The tall merc took a few steps forward, pointing dramatically up at the Scourge.<br/><br/>"Repent, Anathema! The Wyld Hunt had come to cleanse your foul taint!" Esone could actually hear the smug smile in the tall one's voice. At that point one of the Thousand Reflections was flicked away by a particularly persistent cable, crashing into the green soldiers. The reflection shattered upon impact, but still sent them scattering. It was only then that the red-trims seemed to notice Ta'akozoka, The tall one actually taking a step back. "Taints like that! Light 'im up!"<br/><br/>"Boss, we've got trouble! Crazed technoctapus and a bunch of stylized merc. They called me 'Anethma', and opened fire without provocation. Dunno if they're working for the Hanar, but expect heavy resistance!" Esone vaulted over the window -still walking on an adjusted orientation- allowing the spray of bullets to shred Ta'akozoka's grasping tentacles. Kicking off from the far side, Esone barreled back towards the new combatants. The Legion would keep Ta'akozoka occupied, he'd deal with the mercs.<br/><br/>Metallica roared her ferocious report, shards of crimson light erupting as he uppercut a green trooper. The concussive round sent the trooper sprawling, giving Esone a cover to slip beneath. Making use of the flying shield, the Scourge swept Sleeveless' legs out from beneath him. Unfortunately, the goliath reacted quickly enough to backhand the flying green trooper. The redirected merc's legs clipped Esone, causing him to stumble and slip. Sleeveless and Esone found themselves in a tangle, with the rest of the Wyld Hunt surrounding them.<br/><br/>"Boss, this is why I do the sneaking and assassination, you do the talking, and 042 does the shooting!<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Imma gonna die!</span></span>"