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Juno stumbled across the dirt, panicking as she almost rolled over rocks and flipped over branches. She called for her friend in a panic, begging some god that they could hear her pleas. She smacked bushes out of the way and yelled til she screeched. She ran until she couldn't breathe, her throat felt like a scorching desert and her lungs were like two empty sacks. Her endless running led her to reach the steep end of a hill, and tumbling into the middle of a valley. She panted, gripping the ground as she ripped up grass in a fit. Tears streamed down her face as the realization that she had no idea where she was, nor where her friend was finally set in. The emotional pain of the fact she may never see anyone she loves ever again hit her like a double-decker bus.She screamed in agony. Punching the ground until her body gave out and she collapsed. She gasped for air, choking on her tears. She soon sucked up the tragedy of it all and continued looking for a way to leave. She traveled for miles, following the countless columns of foliage until she found a trail. She followed it, smacking her flashlight to 'fix' it. She pointed it around and continued, the small glint of something shiny kept reappearing, it was hard to ignore, and even harder to ignore when a bullet fired like lightning at her head.Juno bolted from the trail, panicking while she tried to focus on running past rows of tall trees; and not dying. The only light was from her flashlight and the golden highlights of the bullets being shot at her. She ran up and down valleys full of flourishing greenery. Her head shot and snapped around, searching for a place to take cover. On the fire of a deadly bullet, she dove behind some thick brush. She took out her phone, urgently typing to her friends the situation she was now stuck in.She put away her phone and looked around nervously, muffling any sound she made to not alert whoever was chasing her of her current location. She spotted him, the shining glints of their gun making it easier to see them. They didn't appear to be moving anytime soon, so she had to make a distraction for a quick getaway.She slowly reached for a twig, lifting it until she chucked it at his head. The guy whipped around, shooting the branch in mid-air. She freaked out, falling back onto the ground harshly. She crushed her flashlight in the process, creating a loud series of noises that led to a bullet whipping into the ground right beside where she was sitting. She quickly picked herself up and ran as quickly as she could into a small, abandoned home.She sighed a breath of relief, hoping she was in the clear for now as she began to explore for scrap to fix her flashlight. She was in the middle of finding a substitute for a battery when she was caught. The cold metal kissed her head, the gun cocked and ready to shoot. JUNO: "..uh."???: "Sup."JUNO: "Hi?" She weakly spoke.???: "Hm." He seemed to be analyzing her.JUNO: "Are you just gonna stand there?"???: "What do you think."JUNO: "..."???: "I'm just getting a good look at you." He lifted the gun from her head.JUNO: "Uhuh."???: "..."JUNO: "Are you gonna shoot me?"???: "Wasn't gonna, but that seems like an amazing idea." He snapped the gun back towards her head.She hit the gun out of his hands and rolled away. He scrambled to pick the gun up while she grabbed everything off the floor she found useful in a panic, stuffing them into her bag, she eyed a window and planned to head for it.He gave up on the gun when he noticed her fleeing. He flung himself up and took out a pistol, shooting the second he found what direction she was in. She started to pick up the pace as she finally grabbed her gloves, running for a window before he pounced on her. He slowly raised the pistol, aiming it at her head. But then, someone else dropped down and kicked him out of the way, they moved quickly, grabbing Juno and bolting, Eyes fluttering open, Juno peered around hesitantly. She was located in what appeared to be an old army camp. Her train of thought is interrupted as the woman hops over some sandbags, and slides into a colonel's tent. To prevent anyone else from entering, she grabbed pallets and blocked the entrance to the tent.JUNO: "..Huh? What just..." Juno croaked, confusion written across her face.ANNIKA: "Sh."JUNO: "What's going on?"ANNIKA: "SHUSH."Annika cupped Juno's mouth, the heavy footsteps soon faded with distant grumbling of failure. She snapped her head towards Juno in anger.ANNIKA: "Small tip, if someone is telling you to be quiet, be quiet."JUNO: "Uh, sorry for that I'm just so confused right now..."Annika sighed as she groaned loudly out of frustration.ANNIKA: "What is your deal?" She huffed.JUNO: "My 'deal'?"ANNIKA: "What were you thinking getting that close to GAMMA?"JUNO: "I... um. I dunno I'm just lost."ANNIKA: "Uhuh. Maybe don't stand around waiting to get shot next time."JUNO: "..."ANNIKA: "Maybe you should stay quiet."Juno rolled her eyes.ANNIKA: "You look like an airhead."JUNO: "Harsh..."ANNIKA: "It's not hard to think you're dumb when you almost got shot at a time when you could've so easily run away so that pretty much makes it official that you're an airhead."JUNO: "Well I just got here! I didn't know!"ANNIKA: "Yeah, whatever." She pushed Juno aside and started looking through stuff to end the conversation.JUNO: "Can you not be an asshole for just a second?" She lifted her arms from her sides, opening her hands to express her anger.ANNIKA: "Can you not be an asshole for just a second?" Annika mocked Juno, giggling when she finished.JUNO: "UGH!" She pounced on Annika.ANNIKA: "GET OFF YOU TWIT!"Juno and Annika began hitting each other until Annika had Juno pinned down.Juno spat on Annika's face. Annika rubbed it off of her cheek slowly, staring Juno down.ANNIKA: "Control yourself."JUNO: "I'll control myself when you start acting better."ANNIKA: "Fine." She stood up, helping Juno up as well.JUNO: "Can you tell me who you are now?" She huffed, brushing the dirt off of her.ANNIKA: "My name is Annika and that's all your getting."JUNO: "And what about the other one?"ANNIKA: "That's Gamma."JUNO: "Gamma... That's a dumb name."ANNIKA: "We gave it to him."JUNO: "Why?"ANNIKA: "It was his codename in one of the files on those old ass computers. Figured using 'Gamma' would be better than 'Shooter'."They fell silent, Annika mumbled something before digging through her bag.JUNO: "How long have you been here?"ANNIKA: "I ain't tellin' ya." She looked up, her eyebrows raised as she stared at Juno in the eyes.JUNO: "Why?" She seemed offended.ANNIKA: "You CANNOT trust anybody here." She raised her voice. "I'm gonna assume that you just ended up here due to your stupidity in social cues and life-threatening situations."JUNO: "Why?" She said once more. It seemed to be the only word she could conjure up in response to Juno.Annika gripped the ground, something seemed to be holding her back from responding.JUNO: "Well?"ANNIKA: "It's not easy to survive down here. That's all I'll say. The only way any of us come together is to fight that biggon."JUNO: "...Oh." She looked away for a moment, pondering what Annika must've gone through. "Is there like... Little food or somethin'?"ANNIKA: "No."Juno looked down as the light flashed from the phone in her pocket. A small notification of the failure to send her message. She sighed, putting her phone away as she decided to continue the conversation.JUNO: "Fear?"ANNIKA: "It's just the fight to survive. Bad people do exist, dingus."JUNO: "..."ANNIKA: "You shouldn't have had to end up here. You have no experience with any of this."JUNO: "I'll try to help, I promise."Annika snickered.JUNO: "I'm gonna sleep."ANNIKA: "Yea you do that." She smirked and rolled her eyes.Juno had laid down in an old sleeping bag, her thoughts too cluttered to remain on one at a time. She quickly fell asleep.Annika shook Juno awake, the biggest thing Juno noticed other than Annika's panic was bullets being fired. She got up immediately.ANNIKA: "COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON."JUNO: "!"Juno jumped up, and Roxxane grabbed her by the wrist as she urgently pushed things out of the way. They ran down the arrays of trees which looked endless, she didn't dare to ask Annika what happened or where they were going, she just knew they needed to run from the loud thundering sound of bullets being fired. Her vision swirled with the bending surroundings that seemed so vast and small at the same time.Annika swung Juno violently into the growing crowd of people, Juno slowly stepped back behind the hundreds of civilians. There were more people than she had ever seen, just right in front of her. Leaving her clueless as the gap closed her sight to Annika. Others rushed to the crowd with weapons and left as quickly as they came. Many stayed back, some with medkits standing by the opening to the valley. One person among the many that stayed back slowly approached Juno with a lunatic smile on their face as they reached out their hand to Juno. She took their hand and began to trail behind them, being led to wherever.JUNO: "Uh, sorry to ask but where are we going?"SAGA: "The City." They responded cheerfully.JUNO: "...Do I know you?"SAGA: "Nope!"JUNO: "Why are you taking me to this... City?"SAGA: "I'm assuming you are one of Annika's friends." They smiled simply.JUNO: "Uhh, yeaahhh..." She tried to grin, but it just looked too forced.SAGA: "I know this may seem strange, but it's for your safety from that disgustin' beast." They shook their head out of displeasure at the mention of Gamma.JUNO: "..."SAGA: "Ahem, other than that." They kept walking deeper and deeper into the forest until they reached a staircase. They motioned Juno to continue following when she stopped out of hesitation.JUNO: "So... You are?"SAGA: "Saga. I help Annika keep her shit together during battle." He scoffed. "And you are?"JUNO: "...Juno."SAGA: "Pleased to meet you, Juno."They finally started to reach the end of the stairs, they descended further. A vast traditional city lay in front of them, barricaded in by the thick forest. It went on for miles, the rest covered in fog.JUNO: "Holy..."SAGA: "Isn't it beautiful?"JUNO: "I..." She was left speechless, the sight ripping the words straight from her throat.Juno followed Saga through the streets, filled with dangerous and exciting events and people.SAGA: "Don't be fooled though, the people aren't as quaint as the view."JUNO: "How are more than thousands of people all down... here?!"SAGA: "People just kind of end up here. Kidnapping, randomly waking up here, blah blah blah, all the works."JUNO: "How did you end up here though?"SAGA: "Car crash, you'd expect to wake up with broken bones in a hospital but NOOO. God had to screw you over and throw you in with a bunch of crackheads." He adjusted his hat.JUNO: "ahahhhaa..."SAGA: "Come on now, we are almost there."Saga led her into an alleyway, they climbed a fire escape and crawled through a window, entering a small townhouse that looked quite cozy.SAGA: "Annika should be back soon, but for now, I wanna know more about YOU."JUNO: "Me?..."SAGA: "How did you even end up here?"JUNO: "I was exploring the forest with my friend and..." She pondered for a second, she couldn't recall most of it.SAGA: "Memory stuck? How about you just tell me basic things."JUNO: "I like paleontology, and I think I'm eighteen."SAGA: "Ya think?"JUNO: "ITS HARD TO REMEMBER!" She stood up, slamming her hands on the table.The two of them stared at each other.SAGA: "You got guts." He scoffed. "We could use you when fighting. How's your offense and defense?"JUNO: "Say what now."SAGA: "How. Good. Are. You. At. Fighting." He said bluntly, snapping her fingers in her face after he finished speaking.JUNO: "Uhhh..."SAGA: "Oh my god..." He tilted his head down and pinched his temples.Annika then burst through the door with a blade in hand. She didn't seem too pleased.SAGA: "So cherry-bomb, how did it go?" He teased, his shit-eating grin widening.ANNIKA: "He pulled out an RPG and we had to evacuate." She rubbed some soot off of her face.JUNO: "Yikes."SAGA: "You're pretty cheap for a general, Annika." He leaned forward, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows.ANNIKA: "Shut your trap Saga, we both know you couldn't do shit out there."SAGA: "At least I make your weapons so you can do shit out there." He barked back.ANNIKA: "And what about her." She glanced at Juno as she pulled up a chair to sit at the table with them.SAGA: "Just asking Junimo over here how strong she is." He scoffed.ANNIKA: "She puts up a good fight. Could be better." She looked at Juno.JUNO: "Hmph."SAGA: "Then why don't you train her to be better if you are just SO smart." He propped his leg up on the table, cocking his head to the left.ANNIKA: "I'll do just that." She smiled, her expression softening as she locked eyes with Juno.
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Gamma finished polishing his last weapon when night fell. He groaned in frustration as he grabbed his flashlight and put on his glasses. The cracks in them made it more difficult to see than without the glasses. He loaded his gun up and put it in his holster. His footsteps echoed throughout the vast area, the sound reflecting against the soft drops of water and singed whispers of distant conversations. His gun rattled with every movement, his hand twitched, ready to grab it at any second.He stopped, listening in for a second as he knew something wasn't right. He spun around, grabbing someone by the throat and choking them, holding them up in the air. He ripped his gun from its holster and punched some lead into their face. He rubbed the blood off of him, some of it smudged but he didn't care. He continued. Looking, sensing, desperation for a sign or a hint of any life near him. He kept scavenging and soon found a post.With little work needed to be done, he scoped out the people posted below and then began to climb to the top. He aimed but listened in first, the thick and heavy fog hid him, but he could still see them. Two soldiers chatted up top, gossiping...SIKO: "Any thoughts on that new one?"FREJA: "She kicked my ass, that's what."SIKO: "Annika seems to favor her a lot, fuckin' dike..."FREJA: "You're so annoying." They pinched their nose bridge.SIKO: "She's just playing hard to get." He exclaimed, his expression distraught.FREJA: "No, you're playing hard to get rid of." They huffed.SIKO: "Soon she's gonna stop obsessing over trying to kill that slab of meat and realize her true love for me, and there is nothing you can do about it."FREJA: "How is she gonna realize her true love for someone like you?"SIKO: "What are you implying?" He scoffed, looking around in disbelief.FREJA: "Have you seen yourself?" They raised an eyebrow.This small disagreement led to a shouting match, Gamma rolled his eyes and began to descend back down the tower. Unfortunately, Freja had spotted the glint of his gun. Throwing Siko off of them, they began to hurriedly inform the others whilst Gamma headed back to his base. Making note of the conversation he overheard. He put up his gun and called it a day, thumping down at his desk and continuing his studies. TRAINING SAGA: "You're not hitting it right..."ANNIKA: "PARRY AND AIM FOR THE FACE, DAMN IT!"Juno continued punching the boxing machine, aiming for its face constantly but never getting a single hit. She grumbled out of frustration, continuing to punch without direction and hitting without coordination until she got knocked off her feet by its punch.ANNIKA: "I told you that you weren't aiming right." She approached, helping Juno get back on her feet.JUNO: "I'm... Trying... My hardest..." She huffed, wiping the sweat off her forehead. The injuries from the machine's attacks had stained the bandages on her wrists with blood.SAGA: "Maybe let's rest a bit before you look like a fucking tomato." He flicked Juno's forehead, a small bit of her blood splashing on his face, to which he started freaking out about.ANNIKA: "Saga, how about you go get us some food." She glanced at him, her eyes narrowing. "I'll help Juno with her fighting skills."Saga groaned, elbowing Annika and mumbling something under his breath as he went out the door. Annika looked back to Juno, who was setting the machine back up poorly. Annika helped fix it and pulled her back in front of the machine.ANNIKA: "What you need to do is keep yourself aware. Assure they don't hit you badly, but still take a small punch or two."JUNO: "How can I do that if it's moving so quickly?..." She mumbled.ANNIKA: "Just look..."Annika showed her how to balance her body when kicking, and how to properly land a punch to weak spots on the body. After she let Juno get back to beating up that rust bucket of a boxing trainer, she walked off the platform and sat down on the other side of the room, waiting for Saga to return.____ SAGA: "Boo, did I scare you?" He burst through the doors, small busted takeout boxes in hand.ANNIKA: "It's been over thirty minutes, how backed up was the line?"SAGA: "It wasn't the line, I was watching someone get their ass kicked."ANNIKA: "Was it someone we knew?"SAGA: "I think it was Maja."ANNIKA: "Sounds about right."SAGA: "I think she was startin' to win the fight by the time I left." He picked at his tooth and then slammed the boxes on a counter. "LETS EAT!"Annika glanced over to Juno, who had finally punched the machine's placeholder face in. She was panting and then ripped the gloves off, hurriedly running over to the food and practically inhaling half of her drink.ANNIKA: "Finally did it?"JUNO: "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." She wheezed weakly, whirling up coughs like a sandstorm.SAGA: "I don't think she's ok." He raised an eyebrow and took a bite of his burger.ANNIKA: "When is she ever ok?" She took a sip of her drink and patted Juno on the back. WILDFIRE RUMOR A sweeping and burning fire of a myth, a fat one, so horrifying and utterly showstopping it'd make your head spin. That was the rumor of Gamma's presence, just too close to the bellows of the City that it would make people's skin crawl with disbelief and fear. Too unfortunate it was true. He was getting cocky and nobody from the below liked it, not one bit.The Ytlighet Collection - 20:18 NILS: "He's too close!" He shouted in anger, standing up.ELIN: "What do you want us to do about that?" She shook her head, her hair swaying like calm waters, clashing with her current demeanor.EBBA: "Elin is right, our troops have been useless at this point. Our only breakthrough was this last battle with him." She crossed her arms and leaned back, remaining as peaceful as possible.NILS: "And where did that get us? We still didn't win anything."RUNE: "In the end, our chances could be a complete and total loss." He snarled.SOREN: "If you keep looking at the downside of things we are just gonna lose. We need to try everything we can if you want to live, idgit." They glared at Rune.RUNE: "We could be trying something even better than those trashy ideas you're cooking up right now." He snapped his head towards Soren.SOREN: "Trashy? And what would those so-called 'war machines' that you make have done us any good?" They narrowed their eyes, shutting down Rune as quickly as he came.NILS: "A MAN IS DEAD BECAUSE OF THAT INSOLENT BEAST!" He cried out, banging his fist against the table.RUNE: "What he said!" He raised his arms.SOREN: "And what have we done other than sit around and mope? We need to do something."RUNE: "Do you have any bright ideas, jackass?" He snarled.ELIN & EBBA: "SHUT UP." Ebba stood up and slammed her hands on the table, sitting back down once everything went silent. Elin calmly stood in preparation to speak.ELIN: "As I was saying, I think it is a good shot to try something as small as one girl. We should help train our troops further and recruit any passersby." She cleared her throat, cueing for anyone to speak if they wished to.RUNE: "If you wanted that, they would need someone they all saw as a symbol." He looked around the room. "Which could be any of us."SOREN: "I'll give you a symbol..." They muttered and looked to the side.JAN: "Soren." He glared.ELIN: "One of us will do." She rested her arms on the table, her fingers interlocked.EBBA: "All in favor of Elin's proposal, raise your hand."All members of the council raised their hands. Each looked around, satisfied with the response.NILS: "I suppose this concludes our meeting." He cocked an eyebrow, resting his head on his open palm in a bored manner.RUNE: "Yeah, and it's the first time you're right about something. Two historical events at once."NILS: "HEY!" He stood up and jumped onto Rune as they walked out.Rune and Nils continued to the stage, chatting about possible things to say during the speech. They both shared the vision of wanting the best for their people, which they put into both of their works.RUNE: "Are you sure this will work?" He asked nervously.NILS: "I'm positive. Everything will go as planned." He smiled and put his hand on Rune's shoulder. "Plus, the people believe in us, we have to do this."RUNE: "If you say so..." His voice cracked, gripping the paper so tightly that it creased.ELIN: "Afternoon, gentlemen." She pushed the door open slightly, peeking in.EBBA: "Are we interrupting something?" She looked over Elin, opening the door fully for her.RUNE: "Oh no! Not at all." He put down the paper, the tension within him gone. "We were just reciting what to say to the people."ELIN: "That's wonderful." She cupped her hands together.JAN: "..." He stared, his grip on the gun faltered every so slightly.The three stepped out of the room, Nils attending with them. Leaving Rune alone as he stared at the paper. Each word felt untrue. His trust for Nils fading, none of this could be right. They had no control over the situation or any grip on safety.He stood up abruptly, clenching the table. He sighed, it was a hard pill to swallow, but he swallowed it. He grabbed the paper and started to head to the stage to wait for Nils. After an hour or two, he showed up.NILS: "There you are!" He ran in, eyes widening.RUNE: "I was waiting for you." He stood up.NILS: "Sorry that I took so long, but I brought Jan along!"JAN: "..." He adjusted his gun.RUNE: "That's uhm... Nice." He smiled awkwardly and avoided eye contact with Jan.NILS: "You excited?" He stepped closer to Rune.RUNE: "A little..." He rubbed his arm.NILS: "It'll be great." He smiled eagerly, peering outside the curtain. "Just look at that crowd of people, so excited for OUR speech!"RUNE: "Sure..." He looked to the side.EBBA: "Hello again." She stepped in.ELIN: "You've got a large audience." She walked next to Jan, placing her hand on his shoulder.SOREN: "It's SPECTACULAR." They said sarcastically, crossing their arms and shaking their head.ELIN: "AHEM." She slapped Soren's arm.RUNE: "Haha..." He stepped back, placing his arms behind his back.NILS: "I have everything prepared, I cannot wait for you guys to see what we have!"JAN: He mumbled something dirty, narrowing his eyes.NILS: "Huh?" His smile faded. "What'd you say?" He turned towards Jan.EBBA: "Anyways, we'll join the crowd and talk to the both of you later." She smiled.ELIN: "Good luck!" She walked out.EBBA: "Break a leg you two!" She followed behind Elin and waved goodbye.The rest followed, Jan stayed behind for security and motioned the two of them that it was time.
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Annika walked through crowds of bustling and worried people, people who waited for a day they didn't expect to occur so suddenly, what had Gamma so stirred up? They sharpened weapons, planned routes to attack or escape, and children who were as young as one sobbed tears they didn't know the reason for. Others were excited for it, excited for all the wrong reasons. Proud to die for their people, they were dreaming for the wrong army. Everyone waited for a response from the council, their only hope. Annika reached the alley, swinging open the metal cellar door, shining and cold to the touch which was in contrast to what lay below. She descended to the bottom. Reaching the boiling basement where weapons were forged.ANNIKA: "Dear lord Saga, do you keep everything this hot?"SAGA: "How else do you want me to make your weapons? With ice?"ANNIKA: "How's the new one coming?"SAGA: "Just as bright as you'll ever be."Annika scoffed, shoving Saga to the side as she looked at it.ANNIKA: "It's wimpy."SAGA: "Why do you think, with absolutely no knowledge of making weapons, you can even attempt to educate me on making weapons?"ANNIKA: "It's just..." She snapped her head back to the weapon and grumbled.SAGA: "Not your type?" He cocked an eyebrow.ANNIKA: "I don't use guns."SAGA: "I'll just hand it to your little girlfriend."ANNIKA: "She ain't my girlfriend." She hissed through her teeth, resting her arm on the anvil.SAGA: "I see the way you look at her." He nudged her with his elbow.ANNIKA: "She's just tough, I see myself in her." She sighed. Sitting down on Saga's work stool.SAGA: "Tell me the rest, and I'll make you a better weapon." He placed his hand on his hip, waiting for a response about whether to grab his tool.ANNIKA: "I ain't doing it Saga, lay off."SAGA: "Jesus Christ Annika..." He let out a laugh he couldn't hold.ANNIKA: "You know how I feel about that kind of stuff, stay out of my business." She narrowed her eyes.The crowd outside continued to fill outside.Juno finally broke the boxing machine, hoping it meant she was strong enough, she went in search of Annika and Saga. She popped on her leather gloves and put up her hair. Walking through the eerily empty streets, empty whispers of nonsensical, long-lost conversations filled the air. She adjusted her canvas bag back onto her shoulder. Turning a wrong corner led her to being face to face with two drunken idiots, stumbling around. She stepped back as one fell at her feet. She punched one that had run at her, frightened by this quick turn of events, she ran off.She huffed, grabbing her bag and stepping out of the alleyway. She finally found the spot, slipping from the now crowded and vibrant area full of cheers and shouts, she entered the basement.JUNO: "Hey, am I late?" She hurried down the steps, she started to sweat from the heat of the forge.ANNIKA: "A tiny bit, but we won't miss it." She looked away from Saga, placing her hand on her hip as she locked eyes with Juno.SAGA: "Where the hell were you?" He rested his elbow on the anvil, letting his wrist go limp and his hand grip the hammer.JUNO: "Messing with some dumb drunk idiots." She removed her leather gloves and put them into her canvas bag as she finally stepped up to the two of them.ANNIKA: "You beat their asses, right?" She grinned, looking her up and down.JUNO: "No, I only punched one and then ran off." She scoffed, looking around.ANNIKA: "At least you didn't lose?" She raised an eyebrow.SAGA: "We better get goin'." He stepped down from his stool, rolling his eyes at their conversation.Annika got up front, waving them out as the three ran to the event. They each almost slipped while sliding across the dirt road, the dust kicking up and swirling as they joined the large crowd. They all followed behind each other.Annika traversed and got to the front of the crowd, Saga managed to sneak onto the stage out of Jan's watch and get a better look at things. Juno climbed up some pipes and laid down on a roof in front of the event. Watching as they walked onto the stage, everything went silent. ____________________________________________________________________ RUNE: "You ready?"NILS: "Ready as I'll ever be."The two of them stepped out onto the stage, Nils waved and got beside Rune at the mic. The crowd fell silent. Listening, waiting, observing.RUNE: "Ahem, uh." He looked nervously at Nils.NILS: "Ebba Nikter, Elin Salfor, Jag Andersson, my assistant; Rune Becker, Soren Ahin, ladies and gentlemen." He cleared his throat and smiled. "I am delighted to be here with all of you, but truly miserable of the circumstances."RUNE: "We are aware of the troubling situation with Gamma and the current threat he is posing to us." He shook his head. "But, to cut this short, we can assure all of you that the strength of our troops is high and that there is no chance that he will be harming any one of you."NILS: "The stakes of his entry are low. He will not even dare to lay a finger on any of you without the harm of our army." He smiled, it was fake.Their lies were ear-piercing to Juno, she could hear the faltering in their voices. They had no control over anything. She glanced over to Saga, he shook his head. She groaned in annoyance, using one of Saga's sickles to safely descend from the building. The sickle scraped the wall. She landed with a thud, alerting Annika. She ran up to Juno, looking to the side when Saga peeked over the corner. He took one last look at the council members on the stage and then ran over. The three of them were speechless.Annika was about to speak, but the words got caught in her throat. She sighed in defeat and turned around to walk away, the other two followed. What could they do? There was nothing left to do but sit and wait. They climbed up the fire escape and hopped through the window.SAGA: "Well?" He rested his fist on his face, staring at Annika.ANNIKA: "..." She gripped the kitchen counter.JUNO: "What do we do?..." Her voice was shaky, every move she made was hesitant as she gripped her head in her hands.ANNIKA: "I..." She sputtered, shaking her head. "I don't know."SAGA: "FUCK!" He yanked his head in the opposite direction, his fist releasing at a normal pace but slamming down once it hit the table.JUNO: "We have to do SOMETHING." She leaned back, tapping the wood.SAGA: "Yeah, no shit Sherlock." He eyed Juno.ANNIKA: "The only orders I have are to train troops. Recruiting is up to other members." She turned around, placing her hands on her hips.SAGA: "Well we do just that." He sighed, but it wasn't relief or disappointment.ANNIKA: "Already on it."JUNO: "Couldn't you make weapons better suited to their abilities, Saga?" She turned her head to look at him.SAGA: "I could, but I'd need permission from Annika's boss, junimo." He teased.JUNO: "Well, if it benefits our chances, they might say yes." She sat up.ANNIKA: "True."They fell silent. Annika focused on polishing her sword as she took a seat on the counter. Saga looked out the window along with Juno. The usual commotion outside had died down. Heavy fog filled the streets as night fell. Lights from other houses could be seen slightly behind the fog, slowly turning off one by one.JUNO: "Do they usually do that?"SAGA: "What does what now?" He looked at her.JUNO: "Those lights, do they all go out like that?" She didn't look back at him.ANNIKA: "Pardon?" She put down the sword, walking over.JUNO: "Look."ANNIKA: "I don't think so."SAGA: "It's probably just some mandated thing by that dumb council."JUNO: "You sure?" She looked displeased.SAGA: "What else could it be?" He stood up. "I wouldn't know, we didn't stay for that long to listen."ANNIKA: "Shut the window and turn off the light." She looked at the fog. She squinted her eyes, staring at the blind spot next to the window. She then walked back to the counter to continue polishing her weapon.SAGA: "On it." He got up, shutting it quickly, and ran to the light switch to turn it off.Saga went downstairs, Annika following behind as she lit an oil lamp. Juno didn't follow; she sensed something was wrong with Annika's odd behavior. She rested her head as she stared out the window, slowly falling asleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Gamma walked through the darkened streets, gun in hand. The road was empty, void of any nearby person. He watched lights go out one by one. He noticed one that stayed on longer than the rest. Intrigued, he climbed the fire escape that led up to an open window. Standing just out of sight, he listened in.???: "Do they usually do that?"???: "What does what now?" Shuffling was heard.???: "Those lights, do they all go out like that?" It went silent for a moment.???: "Pardon?" Something clattered against a hard surface, footsteps approached the window and paused.???: "Look."???: "I don't think so."???: "It's probably just some mandated thing by that dumb council."???: "You sure?"???: "What else could it be?" A chair was pushed.???: "Shut the window and turn off the light." Footsteps walked away from the window.???: "On it."The window abruptly shut, and the light went out. One voice was familiar but he couldn't remember from where. He ignored it and descended from the fire escape, walking to a bar a couple of blocks away. Kicking down the door, he walked in calmly. The bar erupted back into its usual rambles once they concluded that he wasn't a threat. Nobody recognized him, Gamma had never entered the city before. And everyone in this bar was just another wuss who never left the city.He approached the bartender, sitting down in front of the counter impatiently.ACHIM: "You in a rush?" He swiftly dried the glass, placing it in front of Gamma.GAMMA: "You could say that."ACHIM: "And what animals do you hunt with that gem?" He nodded his head towards the gun placed in Gamma's chest holster.GAMMA: "Deer. Gotta survive somehow." He smirked. smh fat liarACHIM: "Whisky." He turned around, grabbing the bottle. But he hasn't taken it off the shelf just yet. "Am I right?"GAMMA: "..."ACHIM: "I'll take that as a yes, you look like you need a drink anyway." He took the bottle down and poured the glass before Gamma to the brim.ACHIM: "You left the city before?"GAMMA: "Hm?"ACHIM: "Just askin', since y'know. You said you hunt deer and there ain't none in the city." He leaned on the bar with his elbow.GAMMA: "Well, yeah. I have." He took a sip of his drink. It was sour, he almost gagged but held it in.ACHIM: "Mhm..." He narrowed his eyes as he watched Gamma chug the liquor.Gamma began coughing and vomiting on the counter. He stood, still coughing uncontrollably. Achim grinned, watching a man die right before his eyes. Gamma fell to his knees, looking up at the bartender with tears in his eyes. He gripped his chest, looking down as he suddenly paused.ACHIM: "How does Mamba Venom taste?" He knocked on the counter, leaning over to get a better look at Gamma's current state.ACHIM: "I have heard the tale of 'Gamma' before. Never suspected you'd have the guts to show up at my front door." He grimaced. "Killed my whole family, they were brave to fight for this city but dumb to fight against you."ACHIM: "Out of all of this, I didn't think I would be the one to kill you." He slapped the bottle of whisky off the counter, it shattered on the ground. "Scumbag."The whole bar had gone silent, staring at a potential corpse. Achim was about to pull back from the counter just when Gamma's hand went limp, falling to his side as he pulled out a Desert Eagle and fired it at the bartender's head. He stood up, pulling hair strands out of his face and flicking the lines of vomit off of his chin.Achim collapsed, his body bleeding out on the floor as the bar erupted in yells of anger and fear. Gamma turned around to a drunk teenager banging on his chest, screaming at him incomprehensibly. Gamma calmly removed the G-50 from his chest holster and fired it at his head. Watching the teenager go limp and fall to the ground, he took out a USAS-12 and began shooting it at whoever he saw, lighting up the bar with bullets and painting the walls with blood. He coughed up some blood, the venom had hurt him a bit. But he made a swift recovery in no time.He put the guns back in their proper holsters, kicked the doors open, and quickly left. He swiftly traversed the streets knowing he was short on time. He quickly picked up the pace as the sun began to rise. He reached the stairs right as people began to wake up, he completed his raid, leaving with food and new materials.____________________________________________________________________News that a bar had gotten shot up swept the city by surprise. Fear wasn't new, but it was new that everyone was feeling it.The Ytlighet Collection - 20:18EBBA: "..." She looked around, the court was silent. Everyone was feeling a different kind of emotion.ELIN: "Well?"NILS: "A bar shot up, everyone dead with no witnesses." He pulled on his hair. Voice raspy with dread, he growled in anger.ELIN: "..." She didn't respond.JAG: "Total bloodbath that you could've prevented." He cocked his gun.RUNE: "Shut up you little fucker." He stood up, the chair screeching as it pushed back. "We had no control over his unexpected entry, this was not anybody's fault but Gamma's."SOREN: "Lies." He shook his head.RUNE: "Lies? You're the one in charge of the security department." He straightened up. "I take back my statement. If anyone, you're to blame."ELIN: "Let's be professional here."EBBA: "Elin is correct, we need to remain calm and find a solution."ELIN: "How are those troops coming in, Soren?"SOREN: "They're going nicely, Commander Okilu is training them."NILS: "Soremn's kid?" He tapped his foot.SOREN: "Yes." He brushed his hair out of his face. "One of her little friends has sent a request to make weapons for them."ELIN: "That's... Wonderful." She smiled.SOREN: "We just need more security."ELIN: "Mhm, and what about our construction?" She turned to Rune.RUNE: "It's fine."ELIN: "I think this meeting turned to more of a checkup, but we won't let another civilian lose a drop of blood."EBBA: "I suppose this little meeting is concluded?"ELIN: "Indeed."RUNE: "Actually." He stood up but continued talking. "Soren, why don't you send troops out?"SOREN: "Could be dangerous, we don't wanna attack unless absolutely necessary."RUNE: "Make better weapons then."NILS: "Rune!"RUNE: "Make that crafter work to his limit. Make bombs, guns, I don't care. Do something."SOREN: "Pardon?"ELIN: "Ahem." She snapped her fingers to get their attention. "This meeting is over?" She turned around and left.