((OOC:  Sorry it took so long!))<br/><br/>Chiro was able to surge up the stairs, past the doorway he'd heard Arget's voice through.  He could smell something briefly as he climbed past it... the blood of the She-Wolf.  She was there.<br/><br/>But Mag was still pursuing, and she also could scent her mistress on the floor where the infirmary was situated.  She scented others, too, through the doorway... a pair of guards, a partially-digested creature... and a foxboy.  But her quarry was still up ahead, evading her.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Saiai wrote:</cite>He fired off three rounds in succession point blank - hoping to disrupt, kill, or even see another miraculous maneuver - </div></blockquote><br/>Alhanda saw the direction of Arget's aim.  Her tactical mind caused her free arm to whip up, the plate covering her forearm centered on the route of the incoming bullets.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">*CLANG-CLANG-CLANG*</span><br/>It hurt like a hammer smashing into her bones, but she managed to keep the arm stable as three dents formed in the forearm plate.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Saiai wrote:</cite>"...you are so feared and revered!" He licks his lips. "Whoever dies here..." he thinks aloud, "...best make the most fun we can of it. Why are all the hot ones evil fucks?" His offhand springs back to attempt to deflect with the wrench whatever she is pulling free.</div></blockquote><br/>Putting the pain from her mind, Alhanda's other hand swung up from her calf plate in a swift arc, loosing three well-sharpened darts from between her knuckles.  The darts were aimed in a narrow diagonal spread from left to right - thigh, chest, shoulder - that she remembered from her youth.  The attack was intended to guarantee a strike; no matter which way the target tried to dodge, they would suffer at least two hits, depending on distance.  The distance here was quite close enough.<br/><br/>She didn't even wait for the darts to hit before her swinging arm drew her forward in a lunge.  She WOULD enjoy this.  Her hands snatched out to seize his wrists as her fangs bared in a feral snarl...<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The Midnight Guard licked his bloody lips.  "I was born a shifter.  The Bitch has taken us for her own purpose.  I fight and act by her will.  Ask more, I haven't got all day."  A coppery stink was beginning to rise from the pooling blood beneath both him and the headless corpse of the First Sergeant.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Nobody was in the building to bother Jania as she snarfed down the chocolate.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Halvorson's eyes jerked to Baz as he asked them to stop, but he allowed his friend time to say his piece.  It was what he said that made Halvorson turn fully around.  He couldn't believe what his friend was saying for a few moments, and as the story went on, he feared his face would betray his emotions.<br/><br/>When Feign and Karogen spoke up, Halvorson ran a hand down his face and winced as he accidentally rubbed sweat into his eyes.  He watched Feign begin moving ahead and mumbled, "We gotta get out of here."<br/><br/>O'Toole moaned on his shoulder, which made him start.  He looked at her, but she was just fluttering her eyelids, unable to form a coherent word.  He looked back at everyone.  "Let's go."<br/><br/>Within a few strides, he caught up with Feign.  "Sometime soon, you're gonna tell me about where you come from."  He didn't seem to be listening to any response the young man gave.  "Karogen, stick yourself to me like glue.  Mad, Baz... on rear. Doc, come up here and take a look at O'Toole."  The medic came up silently, beginning to examine her.<br/><br/>The catacombs were going on for too long, it seemed.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Janus barely had time to reply to Iln as Heretic climbed out of his arms and began walking away.  He ran to catch up.<br/><br/>"Whoa, wait!"  Janus caught Heretic by the shoulder.  Then he realized that he didn't have anything to say that wasn't blindingly obvious.  Sheepishly, he stated, "You're... you're back to normal."<br/><br/>Fenson heard his friend's shout and came up beside Janus, looking at Heretic.  "Hey, it worked!" he said, smiling.<br/><br/>The two of them followed Heretic into the warehouse that had been used as a hospital.  Heretic would find discarded clothing in a corner - usually bloodied garments that the doctors has stripped from the patients.  Some things were clean, though, but torn.  Almost every black shirt had a Resistance emblem sewn onto each sleeve.  It's almost certain that everything there belongs to someone being treated at the moment.<br/><br/>Janus and Fenson shrug, uncertain as to where they might find suitable clothes for Heretic.  They don't know this area.  It's likely, however, that none of the dead cultists out in the park would be needing their clothing anymore.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>As Maeve tried her best to arrange the sleeping bag to cover herself, Feldana, and Sherra, Kitten's efforts on the radio paid off.  A low tone, slightly static-laden, faded into the air.  After a moment, it cut off, and a prerecorded female voice played out over the air.  "This is K5 Radio, Kazmer.  Regular transmissions have been temporarily suspended.  Please wait for an official House message.  Repeat, this is K5 Radio, Kazmer.  Regular transmissions have been temporarily suspended.  Please wait for an official House message."  The low tone returned for only a second, then a lower-quality sound clip cut in.  This time it was a male voice, obviously in a hurry.  "The city of Kazmer is under martial law.  All transients are strongly advised not to approach.  All persons seeking refuge are to report to their local police or military commanders.  Refugee camps are being set up at Clent Station, Saller Outpost, and on the grounds of the Kazmer Airport.  Do not travel into the desert, or any farther west than the Forten River.  Clear all major roadways as soon as possible.  End of message."  The low tone returned, and after ten seconds, the original message replayed.<br/><br/>K5 Radio was the station owned by K5 News, the House-run news agency.  Kazmer had twelve radio stations, all of them heavily monitored by the House and kept to a low wattage to limit transmission outside the city limits.  K5 was the only one allowed to transmit on high power.<br/><br/>The Blotars had been much more liberal in their regulation of the media, and as a result the airwaves over the grain fields would normally be singing with private programming.  Not so anymore.  Static dominated the remainder of the civilian bandwidths, save for a faint and unintelligible signal that sounded like talking.  Sherra would recognize that as the signal from the closest city in House Javier's realm, Tanvil.  They ran a low-power public access station that was always too far away to pick up well.<br/><br/>Dreamer's progress forward was halted when he rounded a corner and saw three dead furs lain across the dirt road.  They looked to be police officers, and they were all facing the same way: face-down, their arms tied behind their backs.  From what Dreamer and Kitten could see, they had been shot in the backs of their heads.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>As the shooting had started, the firefighters had immediately fled the rooftop of the Palace, being unarmed and afraid of the news of an enemy sniper.  The two remaining snipers were forced to duck below the Palace wall for cover as Vultana took out their fellows.  For a few tense moments, her enemy was no longer visible.<br/><br/>One guard with binoculars had spotted something, though.  Across the expanse of the lower buildings, atop a prominent hotel, he'd caught a hint of movement.  As he hid beneath the wall, he relayed this to his comrades with the guns.  One unarmed guard took up an undamaged rifle whose owner had lost his brains.  They all waited for the return fire to stop, and shifted their positions around so their assailant couldn't pick one of them off as they rose back up.  When the timing was right, the three gunmen nodded at one another, then snapped back up above the wall's edge, trying to cover as much of themselves up as possible by using the spires that jutted out still higher.  All attention focused on the hotel.<br/><br/>"Got him!  Near right corner!" shouted the guard with the binoculars.  They shifted their aim, all three sighting the small lump on the building's upper edge that resolved itself, as they focused, into a hunched brown figure.  Triggers were squeezed...