The enemy of my enemy...

[Darkjak87]

He clenched his jaw. "Fine. Drop your weapons, all of you." Zrion threw his rifle to the ground. The others were not so willing. They clutched their rifles like it was their lifelines...well honestly they were in most cases. "Do you want him to die? Throw them down!" He barked again. The soldiers reluctantly placed their weapons on the ground. He looked Sendrah in the eye. "I suggest you get moving. I'm already counting the seconds."

He was clenching his fist, as thoughts ran through his head, attacking his conscious like a ravenous Metal Head. This was his fault, all of it! He allowed Thompson to be captured. He allowed the sound to distract him. He basically handed her a way to escape! He felt the guilt and fury claw at his insides. He would fix that soon enough, he swore it.

[hrefna]

There were no further movements for a moment until Sendrah finally ceased her hold on the soldier, dropping him not too carefully. Her expression remained sharp, her eyes cold to meet up with Zrion's. She was calm, yes, she had the control this round, but the flight to Kras would without doubt strike her hard and her agitation increased.
"Don't worry, Thompson. Don't blame yourself." A smirk appeared.

"Zrion should of had been more thoughtful of your safety, therefore the fault is entirely his." She added as she walked confidently past the guards and to the idle hellcat.
"Don't commit that mistake again. I'll make sure it's fatal next time." Sure, she took an advantage of that crucial error, but Sendrah had morality on her own. She wasn't the one who had to deal with the insane criminals, though, only clients. Perhaps she needed to step in one's footsteps..
Her thoughts faded as the mechanism came to life, not too unfamiliar from the Kras racing vehicles, not at all. She'd make a swift escape through the mountains and was convinced that she knew the mountains better than the ignorant Krimzon Guards.

Her takeoff wasn't all that too hard and she was flying smoothly west to the mountains in a matter of minutes.. However, it felt suspicious to fly perhaps too smoothly.

[Darkjak87]

Zrion clenched his fist, his arms both shaking with the pressure. He hated it, he honestly did. But she was right. It was all his fault. He clenched his jaw as hard as he could, as he watched the steadily shrinking speck on the horizon. All his fault, he thought. He scowled. He would not allow himself to wallow in misery, he was better than that! He would put it to use, indeed he would. He looked back to his squad, all who were watching him intently. He activated his radio. "Colonel Drekker? This is Zrion. We're going to need a hellcat over here, ASAP. Target has fled the city with a hostage, and we wish to pursue. Over."

He quietly bent down, and picked up his rifle. He stood there, unmoving, as the moments ticked by. After several tense minutes, Zrion heard a faint howling noise. He turned, and stared off to the right. Slowly rising up off the ground, was a massive, heavily armored Jet-black hellcat cruiser, complete with the standard issue Quad-turret on the rear, and a front mounted, underslung anti-vehicular 30mm gun. He smiled grimly. "It's payback time boys. Hadley, you're piloting! Braeburn, get in the back and man that turret! I'm going to be riding shotgun!"

The three soldiers quickly climbed into the hellcat, which promptly raised itself off the ground, rotated, and rocketed off to the west, it's superior speed allowing it to quickly gain ground against the standard red hellcat. Zrion clutched his rifle, and he stared towards the horizon where the red dot was now all-but vanished. "Hang in there soldier, we're coming for you." Zrion whispered.

[hrefna]

"Almost there. The walls are just up ahead." Yes, she was aware of that fact, yet she needed to convince herself once in a while of her actions to keep going. It wasn't like she had the desire to travel through the mountains, on foot or not.
"It'll be over before you know it." Perhaps. Couldn't be too careful, especially in a hostage situation. Thompson had been quiet most of the time.. Good god, to be trained to sit and do nothing while your life was in danger.
"I personally wouldn't handle that.--" To her surprise and dismay, that wasn't the reason.. And yet, she knew that they wouldn't let her pass without an attempt to retrieve the soldier.
She cursed under her breath. Of course they had to have a better hellcat, faster and better equipped, too.
No doubt that this 'Zrion' would be out for blood.
The mountain range approached fast as Sendrah lowered her flight, maneuvering left and taking sharp turns to avoid any hits and damage. Her heart felt as if it was on the verge of exploding. She couldn't lose it, not when she was so **** close!

[Darkjak87]

The black hellcat was gaining quickly, it's engines roaring as they were forced to their maximum capacity. Zrion could barely hear as the wind roared past his ears. "Braeburn, target the engines! Shoot to disable it only! We still want to get both of them alive!" He could hear a faint noise as the turrets activated and powered up. Braeburn quickly lined up the sights, and fired a burst. The rapid-fire blue eco-based turrets roared as over 20 shots per second shot forward. The first burst missed entirely, as the enemy hellcat swerved to the side. Braeburn gritted his teeth, and fired again. The second burst hit home, with 5 bullets making contact with the rear of the enemy hellcat. Unfortunately, it had little effect as the rear-mounted turrets were meant to be effective against infantry, rather than vehicles. If a single good shot was landed to one of the rear engines, it would disable it instantly, sending the enemy vehicle plummeting to the ground.

Zrion reached forward, and grasped the aiming mechanism for the under-slung 30mm gun. While the 30mm gun was powerful, and extremely effective against vehicles, it had a very slow rate of fire, requiring several seconds between each shot. He aimed carefully, and he fired. The entire hellcat shuddered as the cannon spat it's first round. As the round made contact, a fairly large portion of the side-armor of the vehicle was ripped off, sending it flying towards the ground. Although as Zrion looked, her hellcat didn't seem otherwise damaged. He fired a second shot, this time missing as the hellcat again swerved to the left. Scowling, he released the controls.

He reached down, and picked up his AK-47 rifle. With a slight smile at his reliable companion, he pulled the bolt back, loading the first shot into the chamber. He raised the weapon to his shoulder, and aimed down the sights. He quickly aimed at the enemy hellcat, lining his sights up. He considered for several seconds his target. The engine? No, of course not. The extreme heat would melt the bullet before it was even close. Just about anything else was too heavily armored for it to do much good. He smiled. Of course, why not Sendrah? That was the best way to ensure it went down, but in one piece. He lined his sights up, aimed directly at Sendrah's head. He estimated the distance was about 300 meters, well outside his rifle's effective range. But it couldn't hurt to try. His rifle's accuracy was inconsistent, so it was more of a gamble than anything. He moved his finger to the trigger, and squeezed. His rifle kicked three times, as three rounds left the barrel.

[hrefna]

"No no no no no no! No!" She was losing control, the engines harder to control each time it was hit. She wouldn't admit it. Never. She would never admit that she lost the battle.. Now that she thought of it.. Perhaps her actions were desperate. Was she any different than any criminal out there? Sendrah wondered that fact to herself, only to come to the sad but the only probable conclusion.
No.. She wasn't.
Although her spirit was breaking, bit by bit, her pride refused to falter. If Sendrah couldn't win this fight, no one would!
She could hear gun firing.. Were they--

Whatever happened, Sendrah swore she had never experienced such pain in her life, before her vision and hearing faded.
She recollected her thoughts and senses a moment later, the cold snow alerting her of her surroundings, before she finally realized what happened and an excruciating pain stung and burned her at the same time.. She couldn't see properly. She couldn't feel properly. She rolled on her back, touching a portion of her face only to see her fingertips covered in red liquid.
It was unbearable.. She couldn't shout. Not a word or sound emerged. Her body shook whole in shock. If only she could have the relief to scream, the relief to do anything! But no.. Absolute silence.
Until the shriek echoed the otherwise quiet mountains.
The immobilizing shock seemed to wear off as Sendrah sat up and got on her knees, covering her torn face, her mind completely disoriented and lost. Not only did the physical pain confuse her, but the fact that she lost. They were going to arrest her, Precursors know what would become of her.
She cried once more until she settled, the tears running down her face quietly as they stung her open flesh.

[Darkjak87]

Zrion looked ahead, his mouth very slightly hanging open. The hellcat went silent, as Hadley cut the engines, slowing the hellcat's acceleration. "Precursors sir...Nice shot!" Braeburn muttered. Zrion chuckled in spite of himself. "Damn, I have good aim..Hadley? Take us down." The hellcat veered sharply, as it tilted downwards towards the black, soot-covered snow. The hellcat leveled out, and slowly hovered to the ground. Hadley shut the engines down, and the hellcat quieted completely.

The 3 soldiers stepped out of the mighty gunship, and stood up. It was then that Zrion noticed how cold it was. He shivered in spite of himself. "Precursors, it's freezing here!" Braeburn muttered. Zrion remained silent, but he couldn't help but to agree. Temperatures this severe could be life-endangering without a source of heat or extra clothing. Needless to say, KG armor plating wasn't exactly warm. "Alright, let's check the crash site!" Zrion barked. The soldiers quickly moved to the blackened snow, carefully avoiding the smoldering red wreckage of the hellcat. The first thing they noticed was Sendrah, with a puddle of blood pooling around her head. He next noticed Thompson, laying on the ground face-down nearby. "Thompson?" Zrion quickly moved over, and knelt down next to the soldier. Thompson stirred slightly, and Zrion was quick to help him up.

When the soldier was on his feet again, Zrion addressed him, "Thompson, are you alright soldier?" Zrion asked him. Thompson looked somewhat dazed, but he managed to answer. "I think so sir, my armor has a few dents and scratches but I think it took most of the impact." Zrion nodded. "Glad to hear it soldier. What about her?" He nodded towards Sendrah. Thompson looked at her with hate in his eyes. "That bullet ripped half her face off. She's alive, but I think she may be going into shock." Zrion shook his head, scowling. "I hate to do this to you soldier, but you're going to have to patch her up. Our orders were to take her alive, if possible. And as much as I hate it, it is indeed possible." Thompson looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't voice it. "Sir, permission to speak freely?" Zrion nodded. "I'd rather not be taken hostage again, if she gets the drop on me again..I want you to try and shoot her. If it hits her, then that's good. If it hits me, then that will work too. I just don't want to be in that position again." Zrion looked hesitant for several moments, but eventually he answered. "I will honor your request soldier. Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Thompson nodded, and walked over to Sendrah.

He reached into his medic-issue backpack, and pulled out bandages. He quickly got to work, wrapping them around her wound and trying to halt the bleeding. If she lost too much blood, there wouldn't be much else he could do.

[hrefna]

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.. Let's think this through.. My face.. Gods, I think my face was blown off, I'm cut by that bullet barely hitting my side, a few burn wounds here and there but I'll manage.. Where was I-- No, wait, I'll pretty much bleed and freeze to death with the comma.." Dammit.. The train of thought was wrecked and burning ablaze in the glory of the chaos that was Sendrah's mind.

She couldn't think straight, her mind was all over the place. Just a big, lovely mess.
Most of Sendrah's body felt as if swollen and clumsy and the blood trickling down her chin and neck didn't make it better.
However, numbness was enclosing her and unconsciousness would without doubt ensue.
Lightheaded and numb.

Why was she thinking of that time where she was drunk out of her mind with her friends playing 'Spin the Bottle'? Why did she even remember that?

No, she had to focus.
As much as that hurt.

The mountains, okay, they were by the mountains.
Which mountains?
Sendrah could recall some parts of the mountains being infested by metal heads, her brother had had difficulties dealing with them on top of the men chasing them.

A touch.
Sendrah shrugged it off at first before realizing who exactly touched her. Thompson didn't really nurture her wounds as carefully as he should, but who could blame him? After she had (brilliantly) taken an advantage on the man and used him as a tool, she wouldn't treat her captor with silken gloves if she were him.

Still, dammit! It stung like hell!

She'd have to keep silent for now. She simply didn't have anything to say, whimpering and wincing every now and then at the pain caused by the wounds and harsh treatment from the medic. As if to add an insult to injury, the cold was really, really getting to her and she was shivering to the bone. She wouldn't make it. She was disoriented, cold and injured. She'd rather die by crashing down on the concrete sidewalk from an miscalculated jump rather than this **** cold snow somewhere randomly in the mountains.

Right. Mountains. Mountains.
Wait..

Wait. Mountains?

An all too familiar fear surrounded her senses, tensing her otherwise loose, slumped body up all over again, her heart beating increasing in speed and adrenaline already being produced.

Little did the group of soldiers accompanied by the criminal know that they were already here.

Smoothly grouping to an assault, creeping down the hills in perfect symmetry with the environment, as they descended further, closing in on the troops without making as much as a sound or movement. Predatory instincts had always been the primary sense of these creatures, yet they moved with coordination unnatural to any other kind as unsophisticated with a lack of intelligence as the metal heads.

"I recommend you call your commander over here, load whatever weapons you have and get ready to shoot everything around you in pieces or otherwise suffer a fate you don't want to think of." If only she had thought things through.. Out of all places, she had to crash and injure herself here. At least her wounds were taken care of temporarily, bandage wrapped tightly onto her head and side, the area of white cloth that covered the side of her face already turning red.

They were just about ready to approach and kill the group of soldiers and her and Sendrah knew it.

[Darkjak87]

Thompson stood up, with his job done. With an uneasy look on his face, he turned towards Zrion, and spoke, "Commander? She's talking about some sort of Metal Head attack. She's probably just delirious though. She lost a lot of blood."

Zrion nodded absentmindedly, and glanced around at the area. The area around them was a clearing of sorts, surrounded by mountains and hills, all covered in snow. They stood in the 'clearing', lower than their surroundings. In short, the perfect opportunity to be ambushed. "Well" he said hesitantly "Since we're practically sitting ducks here, be on guard anyway. Load her into the hellcat, so we can get out of here."

However, he had scarcely gave the order when they heard it. Footsteps. Hundreds of feet crunching into snow at once, accompanied by hungry hisses and roars of challenge. "Oh hell no..." Zrion muttered. "CIRCULAR FORMATION, NOW!" The four soldiers quickly surrounded Sendrah, facing outwards and each one guarding a fourth of their circle. Clicks sounded simultaneously, as safeties were clicked off and rounds were chambered. They didn't have to wait long, as Metal Heads began to charge over the hills in massive numbers. "Open fire!" Zrion barked. All the soldiers began to fire their weapons, sending grunts down in bloody heaps of flesh as they advanced. However, the Metal Heads were beginning to lash back, as they began to fire their crude (yet effective) yellow eco rifles at the soldiers. The Metal Heads had horrible aim, but the sheer volume of shots was making things difficult. For every one that the squad killed, three more took it's place. Then things got even worse. The initial swarm of grunts had already began to overwhelm them, when shield-wielding Metal Heads began to force themselves forward. Not only did this quicken their advance, but it also reduced the effectiveness of the KG gunfire. With only 20 meters between them and the advancing enemies, the KG were loosing ground fast.

It was then when the shit really hit the fan. A massive roar rang out, and the ground began to shake as a massive, armored metal head stomped over the hilltop. It was a massive specimen, the Metal Head counterpart to the KG Trik. However, it decided not to go for the desperate humans, but for their Hellcat. As they watched in horror, the beast rotated it's cannon to point at the black gun-ship. With a massive charging sound and a bright yellow glow, the cannon spat a massive charge of yellow eco. It's aim was true, as the shot connected. The ground shook, and Zrion was forced to shield his eyes as the blinding flash of light filled the area. The explosion was deafening. Then, it stopped. Zrion looked at the smoldering remains of the Hellcat. What had once been heavy armor-plating was now nothing but molten metal. The eco that had once powered it's engines and turret was now pooling on the ground, as if to cruelly imitate the blood of the recently slain. With their one hope gone, Zrion had no choices left.

"RETREAT!!" He bellowed. "GRAB THE GIRL AND FALL BACK!" Thompson grabbed Sendrah, and threw her over his shoulder. The other three soldiers turned, and sprinted. The attack had hit them from three sides, leaving only a small stretch for them to escape. Fortunately, by keeping their heads down and all-out sprinting forward, they managed to escape. They charged over the hill, and found themselves looking down a steep hill to relatively flat ground below. "Dammit...Get down on your stomach and slide down, it's the only way!" Ignoring the serious blow to their pride, the soldiers dropped down to their stomach (Thompson with Sendrah lying on his back) and began to slide down the slope.

It was hell. A cold version of hell. The snow chilled their titanium armor even more than it already was. The cold metal actually burned as they slid forward, with snow flying into their faces and leaving their visibility almost zero. It lasted only a minute or two, but it felt like hours. They all slammed into the ground at different times, largely face-planting into the snow and ending up in awkward positions. They forced themselves up, and quickly retrieved the weapons that had scattered all over. Zrion quickly looked back, and saw that they were not being pursued. For now, they were safe. At least as safe as you can be in an icy wasteland.

[hrefna]

Sendrah stumbled on the ground, trying to find the balance she possibly couldn't have at this point. How long would she last? Couple of hours? While one hour is spent unconscious? Superb. The criminal supported herself on Thompson that looked seemingly uncomfortable by Sendrah's choice of balance support. She wasn't all that comfortable herself, shaken to the core and severely cold as well. She'd be lucky if she wouldn't get frostbites. His armor was cold, too. Using Thompson as a sled had been fun, though. She'd be laughing, no doubt about that, if she weren't exhausted and in pain.

“So..” She inhaled through her nose, fingers drumming on Thompson's shoulder plate. “What now, Mister Resourceful? I'm freezing here, slowly bleeding to death and you were stupid enough not to notice the metal heads walking by. Kudos to you, sir. I'd give you one of those golf applauds but as I said, I'm freezing.” Some muttering about personal preferences of the soldiers in this group ensued.

Finally after a moment of stumbling awkwardly along with the soldier, Sendrah let herself fall into the snow, much to Thompson's frustration. Somehow the rest of the troops kept their distance to both Thompson and Sendrah, forcing the poor medic to become the unofficial guardian since apparently woman couldn't keep herself up for more than three or four seconds.

“God! Zrion, it's fucking cold!” She shook her fist at the man that had his back turned on her at the moment, Thompson pulling her up and looking rather frustrated at the moment. His armor was cold, really cold.

“Seriously! Where's Thompson!?” She knocked on the ice cold plate, her hand flinching from the plate to prevent freezing onto it. “Oh.. Thompson's frozen, sir!” She shouted, honestly attempting to make Zrion's stay in the mountains worse. If the soldiers and she were about to freeze to death, why not make a big deal out of it?

After a piercing glare from Thompson, she let out a sigh. “Fine, fine. I'm done.” She rolled her eyes, by the Precursors, they didn't have any humor at all.
If it would make anyone feel better, Sendrah had to admit that she and the KGs didn't get along too well. Hell, Thompson looked ready to shoot her on the spot.

She looked ahead to see stars appearing on the sky, sun retreating soon enough. They'd be good as dead if they'd stay in the same place for too long. Of course the 'genius' commander knew that by now, so all Sendrah had to do now was to wait. Maybe she could bury herself in the snow in case of a blizzard. You never know how fast the weather changes are in the mountains, right?