((OOC:  Since Heretic's inside Iln now, I'm assuming he doesn't have a post for this cycle, so I'm gonna go ahead.))<br/><br/>Halvorson's eyes were fixed on Sara as she laid out the purpose of her final breaths.  At that moment, he wondered above all else what the girl could have done to consign herself to an inevitable death.  But one didn't pry into a Slayer's past, as Baz had said.  As Sara lay against the pillar, sealing her own fate through black-coated lips, he could see things in her eyes that he never wanted to see, nor ask to see, but that he could not look away from.<br/><br/>Not until the Palace guards caught up with them and began shooting from across the hall.  Instinctively he threw himself behind a pillar nearby, beside Feign, returning fire, keeping the guards back.  Damn it to Hell.  They were almost out.<br/><br/>"Feign!  On your right!" he called, seeing guards approaching from down the hall also, beyond the steps.  "Mad!  On me!"  Almost out.  Damn it to Hell.  He risked a glance at Baz, there beside his fallen comrade.  He'd seen the little rat in anger, he'd seen him in solemnity, but he never wanted to see him as he saw him then.<br/><br/>The medic was getting to his feet when the shooting began again.  He ducked into a crouch and crawled into the corridor, looking up at the strange young man they'd obviously been sent to rescue.  He struggled against the massive bruise on his chest to stand upright.  The man was looking concerned over O'Toole and carrying a withered old body in his arms.  The medic winced, looking down at O'Toole.<br/><br/>"Yeah..." he said, rubbing his chest, bending down beside her.  "Um..."  A burst of gunfire made him jump.  "Guess someone's carrying her!" he shouted over the noise, and tried to get a good grip on her, but the pain in his chest was too much.  He looked up, shrugging.  "She'll be fine - at least, I think --" More gunfire cut him off.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Maeve reached out and grasped Dreamer's offered hand, pulling herself along the car seat, then stepping out onto the gravel drive.<br/><br/>"Auntie Maeve!" shouted Feldana, breaking away from Kitten's side to run at her aunt, holding up the hem of her dirty nightdress to keep from tripping.<br/><br/>Maeve crouched on her aching knees and spread her arms, catching her niece's warm embrace and clasping her to her chest.  "Feldana!  It is so<span style="font-style: italic">good </span>to see you!"  She rocked her shoulders from side to side, making the little calf giggle, then held her out to look at her.  Feldana was grinning from ear to ear, but was much more subdued than all the other times she had come with her mother for a visit.  The absurdity of it all now - the fact that Feldana was partially blocking the view of her ruined mansion - sent Maeve back into solemnity.<br/><br/>She pulled her eyes from the shattered purple house and looked back at Feldana.  "How did you find her?" she asked, rubbing her niece's shoulders.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>All along the Palace's outer wall, guards were now crouching behind the battlements, trying to get a good glimpse of the buildings nearby, searching in vain for their hidden assailant.  There were no buildings taller than the Palace for several blocks in each direction - a carefully planned tactical advantage in the Kazmer Building Code.  None of the windows facing the Palace were allowed to be smaller than 3-foot-square, either, and the guards couldn't see anyone leaning from them.  There were skyscrapers beyond the height-limited section, naturally, but they were too far away, or too tall, for the guards to see anything clearly.<br/><br/>The badger on Jania's shoulders let out a screeching roar as her claws slashed his sides, but he hung on, stabbing his sharp, long claws into her ears, trying for any vulnerable spot he could see.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Chiro's way down was halted when he could both smell and hear dozens upon dozens of guards on the bottom floor.  There were so many their scent was seeping through the door to that floor and wafting up the stairs, and he could tell from their shouts that they were preoccupied with restoring order to the Palace.  There were hundreds of footsteps pounding stone, most of them heading away from his position or becoming neither closer nor further away.<br/><br/>The second floor was quiet, the third also.  Either of those were his best bet.  If he went into the third, he would be met with store-rooms and administrative offices.  The second floor was similarly arranged.  He could hear little in the way of movement or voices, as the alarm bells were still ringing on every floor.  There weren't enough people on either floor to render a significant scent.<br/><br/>Mag was close behind.  She could smell and hear what Chiro could, as well as the blood of her master and the musk of her guards above.  Alhanda did not move, watching as her pet followed its prey.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The nurses screamed and the doctor reared back as Arget began to devour the helpless guard.  One nurse began to move towards a telephone on the right-hand wall, trying her best not to be obvious, but Arget's eyes were keen enough to immediately pick up her intent.  The doctor was slack-jawed and silent.<br/><br/>The guard tasted dull, like he'd soaked in the pungent antiseptic odor of the infirmary.  Arget's overdriven senses could feel the wolf's blood moving, his heart thudding over and over against his ribs, the breath catching in his muzzle.  He struggled, weakly but noticeably, trying with all his might to pull his head back, pushing against Arget's chest with his paws.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The figure coughed, his breath rattling afterwards and not improving with time.  He said to Jenten, "I want to be free.  Ask a better question.  Make it quick."<br/><br/>Raice could tell from his current position that he couldn't strike the needle in Merelli's chest without also striking the man beside him, which could cause unpredictable results.  He could still feel his mother's urgency in his mind, like a burning firecracker.<br/><br/>Marice had an easy shot at the dying man.  The only problem was what would happen if she killed him.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>((OOC:  Janus and Fenson aren't doing much right now.  They're just looking at Iln, with Emiko and Heretic inside her.))