Janus smirked at Heretic's "bad mojo" comment.  The fox was starting to lighten up... ever since he'd come out of Iln, he'd been more light on his feet, more energetic... it was really a relief to see.<br/><br/>His eyes snapped to look at Iln's lips, which parted to release the S.E.M. girl, Emiko, back into the light of day.  He and Fenson stood quickly forward and eased the girl to her feet as Iln finished regurgitating her.  They stood back, letting her get her bearings again, and marveled at her restored hand.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Baz wrote:</cite>"What's the fucking point of being in the SEM if we don't fight for what we believe in?" Baz growls slowly, and quietly, the words eminating from a cold spot in his chest. "Cowards walk away, after all. Kill 'im, Halvorson. Kill the double-crossing bastard slowly!"</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Halvorson looked down and back at the short Highlander rat he'd befriended.  The limp body dangling from his outstretched arm was no longer a threat himself, and even though he was furious with Feign for what he'd done, Halvorson had done enough killing that day.  He said lowly to Baz, "I'm not in the S.E.M., fella.  I'm with the Resistance.  And I thought you were too.  So far, Karogen ain't givin' me a reason to sign up for his little group."<br/><br/>And then Karogen spoke up.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>SeruOmen wrote:</cite>"Blotar's gone... I'll have to explain things to my group later, but the chance for a peaceful change is long gone. I don't think it's a good idea to kill him. He talks as if his people have a way to turn the tide in things. That could be seen as a helpful thing, but it's also very well a threat. We need to find out what edge they would have. An interrogation might be more useful... You really think I'm in a position to give an order? Fine... keep the feather-haired guy alive right now. If we don't have to worry about Alhanda's men following us closely, then we need to bind him up, just to be safe."</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Halvorson's eyes rolled to look at the kid.  He cracked half a smile as his anger bled away.  "Not like I'd follow your orders anyway, kid, but you are making sense," he said.  His arm retracted, pulling Feign back into the sewer.  He turned and held the unconscious young man out to Mad Adam.  "Mad, you carry him.  I've got enough with O'Toole here." He shrugged the shoulder bearing the weight of the semi-conscious girl.  Then he looked the vixen straight in the eye.  "Don't eat him.  I'm sure the Commander'll want to talk to him."  He blew the rest of his ire out through his nose, then turned to Baz.  "Looks like we came out of here with more than we went in for.  Let's get moving.  Out and over."  He nodded at the sewer exit - a quick trip around the corner and they'd be in the city's proper sewers.  Then it was just a walk back to the truck, and the ride home.<br/><br/>"What about our ride?" the medic suddenly piped up.  "That bear-taur... isn't she still out there berserking or something?"<br/><br/>"If she heard us," Halvorson answered.  "Now, thanks to bird-boy, we ain't got a way to tell her to stop.  Fuck it.  We'll figure it out when we get to the truck."<br/><br/>He waited for Baz to swing around, then lowered O'Toole into his arms and laid her on the sewer floor.  He climbed back around into the city sewer, then asked the medic to help usher O'Toole around.  He caught her arms, and pulled... her feet slid out of the Palace sewer and splashed in the water, but he had her arms firmly and pulled her the rest of the way in.  The same process would have to be repeated with the old man in Karogen's arms... and now with Feign.  He waited for everyone to make it around.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The two wolves inside the machinery shed heard the<span style="font-style: italic">splat</span>of the first casualty's brains against the shed as they were picking up the small briefcase they'd found stashed in a corner.  Then were was the<span style="font-style: italic">whack</span>of the miss on the gravel outside, followed by two dull<span style="font-style: italic">thuds</span>, accompanied by one of their fellows' yelps of shock, and another<span style="font-style: italic">splat</span>.  There was the crash of a body in the gravel, and a furry arm fell into view at the edge of the shed's door.<br/><br/>"Fuck," swore one.  "He..." he eyed the dress, "or she... is still around."<br/><br/>"No shit," said the other.  "We walk out, and we're dead.  What's in the case?"<br/><br/>The first clicked it open.  "Ammo," he said.  "Shit, look at the size of these rounds."<br/><br/>"That's ammo he doesn't have," said the second.  "Maybe he'll run out."<br/><br/>"Or she."<br/><br/>"Why 'she?'"<br/><br/>"This is a woman's dress."<br/><br/>"Fuck you.  What, she just decided to kill us in the nude?"<br/><br/>The first wolf grumbled and said nothing for a moment.  Then, "What do we do?"<br/><br/>"He's waiting for us.  He can't get us both.  If we can make him waste his ammo, we can find him by direction.  When I give the word, run like hell and take cover behind that chimney stack over there."  He pointed at a low brick ledge jutting up from the gravel, sprouting a half-dozen covered metal pipes.  "I'll make a break around behind this little room and over to the stairs.  Try to pay attention to where the bullets are coming from."<br/><br/>"Yeah.  Sure."<br/><br/>"Okay, get ready."<br/><br/>Second later, the two wolves made their break, running swiftly with their heads low between their shoulders.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>"Twelve of us, one of you, honey," said one of the soldiers facing Jania.  "You're big, but you look tired.  And you're bleeding from the ass.  We won't shoot you if we don't have to.  Unlike your friends, we still believe in honor.  So why don't you surrender and make this easy?  Or better yet, kill yourself to save your own honor... or however much you've got left after you joined with the humans."<br/><br/>The soldiers had now completely encircled Jania, their blades held low as they eyed her every move, every twitch of her muscles.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Maeve did what she could to keep herself and Feldana still as stones beneath the sleeping bag.  She listened as Dreamer stepped out of the car, his shoes crunching on the poorly-paved road as he walked away.<br/><br/>"'Hail?'" said one of the men standing in front of him quizzically.  "You mean 'hello' or something?" He chuckled mockingly.  He and the other three were all very nondescript - brown hair of varying shades, plain faces, stocky builds.  All of them wore torn farm-slave uniforms, most of them now dyed with blood.  The one who'd spoken bore locks of hair on his belt - no doubt shorn from the furs he'd killed the previous night.  "Where're you headed?" he asked, eyeing the dead sheepdog on the wagon's hood.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Arget found himself inside the lobby of an office building, shards of shattered plate glass all around him.  It was empty, save for some plush-looking sofas and a few ferns, but the blood he was leaking was starting to stain the deep blue carpeting.<br/><br/>Chiro and Mag were gone, having quickly retreated away into the city.  There was no way he could catch up - the streets were deserted and he wasn't totally sure where he was now in relation to the garbage truck, or the Palace.  He had only his radio - which hadn't made a good sound not long ago - and his clothes.  If he walked out to the street he could see where he'd come from; the Palace was a few blocks west, and the tattered remains of his hang-glider lay on the asphalt where it had been dislodged from the naga.<br/><br/>It was all eerily quiet.  The hum of the city was subdued, but still, off in the distance, he could hear thudding gunfire.  And now it was starting to get hot.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Chiro would occasionally run into a car or truck on Sundry Avenue, but on seeing him and the horror chasing him, most drivers would honk, scream, and swerve to avoid them.  It would take many minutes to reach the edge of town - twenty maybe, or thirty if he started to slow down.  Or perhaps never, if he slowed down enough.  He had to shake Mag off his tail - or lack thereof - before he could hope to succeed in his escape.<br/><br/>An alley was coming up on the left that looked promising - it was too narrow for Mag to follow him into without uncoiling, and the time it took her to do that would be an advantage.  The alley ended at the shore of the Jawn River.  Could Mag cross water?<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Jenten and Raice remained in the musty warehouse room.<br/><br/>((OOC:  Sorry guys, just nothing going on there at the moment.))