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_ _ His pack weighed down on him like he was giving a rather large child a piggy-back ride. That, combined with the fact that the corner of a pointy object was digging into his lower back, just below his armor, was making this a very unpleasant run indeed.

_ Tangos in complex, tangos in complex, tangos in complex..._ and he was running across barren, slippery wet mud-flats with no cover, and despite his uniform, armor, and equipment he felt exposed and naked. I don't get paid enough for this shit.

_ _ Before his lowered field of vision he saw a shell crater coming up, the urge to find cover was overwhelming. As he came up to the edge he slowed, then carefully stepping in, immediately lost his balance and slid down through the oozing brown mess. Coming to a stop on all fours in an elbow high puddle of murky god-knows-what is not a morale booster. Looking up and realizing that, had he not slipped, he would have been on the receiving end of several rather large projectiles, outrightly destroyed any semblance of confidence he had left. At the edge of the crater, where he had been standing less than a moment ago, were four large depressions, the mud was already filling them in.

_ Shit._

_ _ So now he was stuck in a muck-filled pit, balls deep in sludge, surrounded by what effectively made for a shooting gallery. He was stranded in this little island of shelter. Crawling slowly up and out of the puddle he made his way towards the crater rim; one, two, three... he moved his head up, cocked horizontally and to the side in order to provide less of a target, and managed to catch a glimpse of the complex before being forced back down by another volley.

_ _ Most modern weapons were designed to create as little noise, flash, or really anything that could give its user away as possible. While firearms were almost unavoidably loud without using a silencer of some sort, it had become to norm for weapons developers to attempt to design the firing mechanisms so that the noise that they did create would be the kind that dissipated over short distances. Loud close-up, but faded into the background at longer distances. Though such innovations helped, no one weapon is perfect, and all leave telltale signs which can be traced, to an extent.

_ _ He was not a fresh conscript, he'd seen battle before, and he learned quickly enough how to spot his enemy. Almost all issued firearms used caseless ammunition nowadays, but vented excess gases derived from the propellant which encased the needle-like bullets. These gases tended to be very, very hot, and as such; were released forward out of either A: the barrel, or B: an up-and-outward facing vent. He also knew that the limited light that the muzzle flashes did give off â€" though effectively hidden in daylight â€" was enough to somehow be magnified somewhat by the heated gas. This reaction formed a barely discernible but not negligible cloud of light distortion, which â€" to the trained eye â€" could be detected, thus revealing the position of the gunner.

_ Broken balcony, twentieth floor, fifth to the right, and..._ looking down at the little display on the inside of his wrist, found the compass icon ...western face.

_ _ Well, that didn't really help him much. He was still stuck in a hole, up shit creek without a paddle would actually be a surprisingly literal assessment of his current situation. Looking back down at his wrist display he noted the time until his objective was inapplicable was rapidly approaching, he didn't know why, but this relatively minor barrier to advance had to be removed either within the next three hours, or not at all. That did away with the safest option; waiting until nightfall to get closer and target-lock, because nightfall was still almost nine hours away, even in this northerly fall season. No, he had to do it soon, and three hours wasn't going to make much of a difference, so it might as well be sooner rather than later.

_ _ He was not a religious man, but he offered his own traditional prayer; "God, I know you won't like me, so it's in your interest to keep me down here, please. Amen and all that shit..." short and to the point, he always believed that the best way of getting something was by convincing people that they wanted to give it.

_ _ Undoing one of the straps securing the PTD to his back, he pulled it over his shoulder and allowed it to rest on his chest, hanging within easy reach for when the time came. Then, pulling his rifle to his shoulder in a ready position, he jiggled it a bit to get the excess mud off; it would work filled with sand, he knew, very reliable, but a clean weapon is still best.

_ I hate counting... one, two,_ - deep breath - three...

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_ _ "Damnit! Aghh... what're ya shooting at!? What's going on?"

_ _ "... Human, down there." She replied calmly, before rattling off another short burst. BLackbloodypitdamnit! She missed by a split second; it looked like her target had accidentally avoided her shot, falling into a crater. Lucky. Goddamn. bastard!

_ _"Oh skin me, how many?" Her captain hated being awoken, at anytime, even more so before it was her turn.

_ _ "... One."

_ _ "What by the pit do you mean one, you killed the others?" Her captain always assumed, it was irritating, always had to ask twice.

_ _ "No, I mean..." she interrupted herself, sending another burst down at the depression in which the human had taken cover. "... There is only one. I can only see-" This time it was her turn to dive for cover, plumes of cement dust exploded on the wall and balcony. They missed her by a long shot, but were close enough to make her more than a little nervous. What, the human is psychic or something? How did it see me? She had made sure her position was well concealed, only one of many possible firing positions in the building.

_ _ Pulling herself back over to her abandoned LMG she caught a glimpse of the human over the edge. It was probably sprinting as fast as it could, but from her bird's eye view it looked pathetically slow. Besides, humans are pretty slow anyway.

_ _ Realigning the gun, she squeezed off another few rounds; the stock jumping into her shoulder was reassuring. The fact that none of the rounds connected with living tissue, however, was not. She could hear her captain and squad mates picking themselves up, obviously having thrown themselves to the ground for cover, despite being inside, behind a cement wall.

_ Dammit._ She kept her sights on the little running human, her holo-dot scope telling her it was at approximately two hundred and seventy meters distance.

_ _ "Dammit, shoot the bastard already!"

_ _ "I AM!" don't see you doing anything...

_ _ After firing another short burst of four to keep the running human occupied she started fiddling with her scope. Technically it was meant for short range sighting, but could be used somewhat effectively up to five hundred meters. Finally managing to get the scope set properly to the distance, she attempted to hold the sights on the frantically sprinting human, before firing two bursts in short succession. Both managed to miss as the human started zigzagging; Â by this point she had determined that lady luck must be human, the bitch.

_ _ Now she gave up with the sight, she didn't know what the human was doing â€" running straight at them, but she didn't care to find out. At approximately two hundred meters she opened up, the light suppression weapon's muzzle braying and butt-stock kicking like an enraged mule. She hadn't truly been aiming, just slowly raising her end of the weapon, following the path she thought the human was taking, straight at them â€" the closer in the steeper the angle. Eventually rising to a half crouch, her LMG supported between her shoulder and the edge of the shattered balcony and aiming almost straight down, her magazine clicked empty. All three hundred rounds expended.

_ _ Just as she released the magazine and began reaching for another she felt her captain and another squad mate come up behind her. Then, much to her irritation, both opened up with their own weapons â€" on either side of her head. Now, for a human that might be painfully loud, it probably will give you a headache, for a much more auditory reliant species such as a panther, however, it was excruciatingly so. The cracking retorts of the two unsuppressed rifles causing her to drop her weapon and magazine and cup her ears, wincing and grinding her teeth.

_ A bit late to the game, don't you think, captain?_ "DAMMIT! Stop!" Redundant, they both had run out of ammunition before she finished her outburst.

_ _"Oh, shave me bald! We have to go... NOW!"The captain said, ignoring her anger.

_ _ "What? Why? It's dead, what in the pit are you talking about?" Too late, they were already gone, she could hear them running out of the room. Confused, the pain causing her instinct to follow her superior, she turned her attention back to the outside view.

_ _ The human was still there, Huntress damn it, but it was still there. It looked wounded, mind you, but she could clearly see it at about one hundred and fifty meters on its knees, with some kind of tube in its hands... a glint off the end of the cylinder gave her the impression of a telescope of some kind.

_ _ ... She stared dazedly, head still pounding, for nearly a minute before the obvious struck her; it was a targeting system, like a big damn laser pointer. The only thing anybody used those for, as they were rather expensive and only used when in need of on sight targeting, was to direct orbital strikes. Satellite or station based weapons.

_ _ "... damn..." she practically mewed... Then, finally her fuzzy mind focused to a functional extent; we are in danger, we are going to die if we do not vacate the area... quickly. That simple realization was like a key to start an engine, from there on it was her body, muscles, not her mind in control.

_ _ She shot off like a... startled cat. Jumping to her feet, she ran back into the room and away from the balcony, as she ran towards the exit she noted her five comrades had abandoned most of their packs in their haste to get out. She didn't blame them; the blast radius would probably consume the entire muddy expanse surrounding the building â€" a good four hundred meters.

_ _ Out of the room and into the hallway, nimbly twisting and jumping between, around, and over the junk the hall seemed to collect, she made her way as fast as she could to the end and the fire stairs. She slipped halfway there, on a glossy plastic bag of all things, her momentum slamming her harshly onto the grimy tiled flooring. She took the fall chin up, which rammed her lower jaw up... a jarring blow for any human, but considering the pointy dentistry of the big cat, the effect on the inside of her mouth could be best described as shredding.

_ _ It felt like... well it felt really, really bad, she couldn't think of anything comparably painful that she'd ever experienced. Slowly, achingly, she pushed herself up, jaws still tightly clenched. She tasted blood, she tasted pain, she could smell a strange coppery scent, and her nostrils felt strangely clear. Her eyes were also shut, she was tearing profusely, but she managed force herself to crack them open and to continue at a limping run, less nimble this time, she bumped into things more than once.

_ _ Finally she reached the end of the hall, and she turned and began to push on the exit door when her captains shouting interrupted her painful, single-minded escape attempt.

_ _ On the opposite wall of the hall was an elevator door, it was cracked open slightly, and what she saw within ripped at her heart. Her captain and what looked like most of her squad was crammed inside, the morons tried to use the elevator?

_ _ "SERGEANT SABLE! Get your thrice-damned tail over here and help us out, WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" The plea was echoed by her comrades, their paws trying to pull the door open. She knew they were dead, the door wouldn't open; it locked in case of power failure. The elevators system had probably maintained a small charge even after the power lines had been cut weeks and weeks ago, but had apparently given out, finally, after opening... and closing in on her squad.

_ _ Wide eyed in horror, Sable slowly turned and made her way back to the emergency exit, ignoring the desperate cries for help she pushed the heavy door open... and slipped through. On the other side she leaned back against it, it shut with a whoosh of air and a final... fatal... clunk. She stood there for a moment, slumped against the door, she couldn't hear them anymore â€" it was a very thick door.

_ If you don't move... you are going to die, you know._

_ _ She started forward, limping slightly, but picked up her pace as she reached the stairs.

_ Much better._

_ _ Now she was moving, taking the stairs two at a time. Three, four at a time. Twenty floors is a long way to go with a tight schedule that you simply cannot abuse. Her mind was empty, her cheeks drenched in tears, but she wasn't crying, no, not yet â€" just tearing, from the pain. Now she was too shocked, too busy to cry. After seven floors she lost count, she didn't care. She was certain that she would die if she didn't make it out into the open very soon indeed. On the flat though slippery expanse, she could travel much faster. Panthers are very fast, they tire relatively quickly, but quite adequate over short distances.

_ _ After a few more levels she lost all hope, death was a certainty. She contemplated just stopping, sitting down, and getting comfortable before the end. But, before she could decide she found herself at the bottom. A door, very much like the one she had entered through, stood before her. A red lettered neon sign, long dead, proclaimed ‘EXIT' above the door.

_ _ She pushed at it, it didn't move, and her heart missed a beat... before it finally lurched and flew wide open, scraping against a buildup of dirt and debris. The door opened out on the corner of the south western side. Stepping out into the open she didn't wait for the door to close behind her, she just began sprinting, convinced that she would be vaporized at any moment... coincidentally, she was running in the same direction of an equally panicked human.

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_ _ "Echo Four-Four Advise, ‘shop-light' has target confirmation, coordinates are matched, Hammer class station has green light for ‘Pilum' bombardment, ‘rod of god' enroute, you have five to clear a four-hundred radius. ‘shop light' over and out."

_ God damnit! shitshitfuckshitfuckshi... five minutes to clear? Shit!_

_ _ Five minutes for four-hundred yards is a long time, plenty of time â€" normally. Now, consider running this distance with about eighty pounds of movement inhibiting equipment, on a very slipper, very muddy field. Then, add the fact that four hundred meters is only the blast radius, and that the clouds of toxic dust would cover a much larger area. And... to put the cherry on the proverbial ice cream, the buildings all around the four hundred meter radius area are very unstable, and it wouldn't take much to topple them on any unfortunate, and flimsy humans.

_ _ With that in mind, he can't be blamed for realizing he had left the PTD where he had dropped it, after practically rocketing up, around, and away after hearing the target confirmation. Twenty meters away he stopped, sliding a little on the slippery ground, and twisted partially around to see the PTD lying like a forgotten child, beckoning to him, thirty meters away.

_ Fuckit. Forty thou' outta my paycheck... fuckit!_

_ _ He turned back and continued his desperate race; a quick glance at his wrist display told him he had wasted a minute of his escape time. A minute is a very long time.

_ _ So he ran... and he ran, and he tried to run faster. He undid the straps of his pack and let it slide off him, only slowly down marginally to do so. It didn't help much, the slick beneath him held his pace regardless of weight. He did feel better without it holding down on him, though.

_ _ His progress was excruciatingly slow, but he knew he couldn't press it any further, good as the traction on his boots might be... one can still only go a certain speed when the very ground beneath you shifts, seeming to mirror your own movement. He really hated running.

_ _ He had been running with his head lowered, just concentrating on where his feet fell, it would not do to slip and sprain ones ankle at this point, after all. As such, he did not notice the distraught, frantic panther shoot by him

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_ _ Sable saw a break in the buildings lining the dead parkland ahead of her, one hundred meters, but, unwilling to give up the almost certainty that she was about to die instantly, refused to give into relief. It was enough to make her run that extra bit faster, slipping and sliding as she was; she managed not to fall through an unholy conglomeration of luck and momentum.

_ _ Fifty meters, she could see the barricades that a group of humans had hid behind, exchanging fire with her two days prior. Twenty meters, she detected an all too familiar scent on the air, strong and pungent. Human.

_ _ So immediately swerved, fearing the worst... dodging a blow that did not come. Confused, even as she kept running, she finally saw the human just a few paces ahead of her, about ten meters to her right. How the... how did I miss that?

_ _ Irrelevant, her body told her, getting behind the barricade was all that mattered. Then she could deal with the human, if it was still there to be dealt with...

_ _Ten meters.

_ _Five.

_ _ Vaulting up and over the barricade, she skid to a halt, and immediately slammed herself down, back to the barrier. Almost as an afterthought, she grasped empty air, before finally remembering she had left her LMG behind... she was so used to its familiar presence, hanging around her neck, against her hip. Strangely disappointed she pulled her sidearm instead.

_ _ Sable briefly considered peaking back over the barricade to see if the human was still there, or whether there was some frighteningly beautiful lightshow rending a hole through the sky, bent on shattering the building she had just left into a million pieces.

_ _ She thought not; play it safe and don't get the top of your head fried off, didn't run all that way for nothing.

_ _ Then she heard the human apparently slam into another barricade on the other side of the street, no less than ten meters away. She turned and saw it connect, and flip over, twisting violently in air. It was staggeringly funny; he flew a good five feet, before once again embracing the earth head first.

_ _ Sable couldn't help herself giving an involuntary ‘ooooh!' And flinching as the bald thing crashed harshly into the asphalt beneath.

_ _ She watched it slowly recover, twitching, before pulling itself up on its elbows, stomach resting on the ground. It looked up and straight at her with a dazed, vacant look, as if it couldn't quite remember whether it should be in excruciating pain or not. Sable saw its slate grey eyes focus on her...

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_ Ow..._

_ _ He made it behind the barricade at least... so he'd survive the blast if not the fall... He slowly wiggled his toes, fingers, felt his legs and arms, and finally... cautiously, ever so gently moved his neck. It hurt like hell, but it worked.

_ _ He slowly raised himself up on rubber arms, propping himself up on his elbows. Still looking down, he saw his forearm display flashing a one minute twenty seconds in red. The fact that he had made it, with time to spare even, slowly permeated his fuzzed brain.

_ _ He looked up, head aching abominably, in contrast to the sharp pains in his neck. Slowly, he realized there was someone before him, just on the other side of the street, also taking cover behind a barricade.

_ Well that's not right..._ He was supposed to be alone for this, no one was supposed to be near the blast site, no NAR personnel for at least a mile in every... di... rection. Oh shit.

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_ _ It was pure muscle memory, the moment she saw him look at her, her arm was already snapping to intercept. Still with her back against the wall she held her right arm out, fully extended, the standard issue sidearm alighting on the head of the human.

_ _ Before any thought even crossed her mind her finger had spasmed, pulling back the trigger, ratcheting against the pulse inhibitor, allowing a small charge to pass from the battery to the firing needle, which â€" in turn â€" acted as a lightning rod. Shooting off a small spark into the propellant encasing the small, needle like round housed in the chamber. The propellant earned its namesake, driving the needle forward and out of the barrel at supersonic speed, and into its target. All this in less than the time it takes one to blink.

_ _ She watched the humans head jerk back, and then slump back to the ground face first... again.

_ _ Arm still outstretched, she watched for a moment before she realized that she had truly just shot someone. Not exactly a traumatizing experience to her, she'd don't it before, but... still.

_ _ The danger of orbital annihilation momentarily forgotten, she made her way on all fours over to the body, and reaching out she slid her paw to the back of its neck, where she knew she would find the little necklace chain.

_ _ She did, and she ripped it off, cleanly. She had never done this before, but to her mildly confused mind, it made perfect sense, though she knew not why, to take it â€" as killing the human had given her the... right to take it?

_ _ Holding it up her eyes, she read the first line of metal-punched miniature script; Sergeant Patrick Tell. She felt a whisper of air against her left paw, supporting her weight, and looked down. Her shot had dealt a glancing blow to the right side the human's helmet, he was only unconscious, it seemed.

_ This must be your - very - lucky day, Patrick._

_ _ Her attention was stolen by a loud beep coming from the humans wrist display, it read; 00:00:00.

_ _ The obvious failed to occur to Sable, but her ears perked at an eerie whistling sound coming from above... turning to look up, she saw the dull, overcast clouds above the building - standing lonely in the mud - turn a darker shade, and begin twisting and whirling violently.

_ _ A low rumble slowly grey in volume until it filled her ears, and she was forced to look down and grasp them in her paws, in a vain attempt to drown out the unbearable noise. A terrible shrieking punctuated by a sudden, loud, bone shaking clap filled her world, and then a wave of heat poured over her... she crouched low to the ground, paws still holding her ears, over the body of the unconscious human. To an observer it would appear that she was protecting him with her body.

_ _ All was silent for a fraction of a split second, before a tidal wave of searing, shocked air slammed her bodily into the ground, and the human beneath her.