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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 5:36:16 GMT
Dimitri couldnt wait any longer, he sprinted to his bike and screeched the tires, moving it in a donut shape and blasted down the road towards the soldiers, drawing his gunblade and firing as he closed on them.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 5:48:26 GMT
Ami grunted as she shoved back the SOLDIER she was fighting against and shoved her family's luggage off Gunmetal's passenger seats. She hopped on and screeched after Dimitri. "I said... go get the ship! Bring it back here to the party, blast it! We need your pilot skills more than your fighting skills right now!" Ami hollered. She leapt off her beloved bike and let it plow into the ranks of the oncoming SOLDIERs... she winced as she heard the metal plating screech on the forest floor.
She held her ground and prepared to fend off any SOLDIER that got too close...
Rude groaned as he saw her face the army. He turned back, shooting down the rows of SOLDIERs lining up to skirmish her, and grabbed her arm. "HEY!" she complained.
"Obviously you don't have the sense God gave a goat," he griped, "so you're gonna have to come with me." He kept firing back at their pursuers, barely managing to keep them at bay, as they moved on to catch up with the rest of the party.
Ami gritted her teeth and let him drag her along. I know the man is right, but I hate having to stand around like some kinda damsel in distress or something.
My bike... and all my family's stuff... we'll have to make a pass for those things after we know the SOLDIERs have cleard out... if we survive.
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 5:55:26 GMT
Dimitri saw Ami's bike slam into the soldiers and back-flipped off his to the same effect, landing in the thick of them. His gunblade flashed as he swung it through the SOLDIERs, trying to buy time for the others on foot.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 6:02:06 GMT
Ami paled as she saw him disappear intot he forest of SOLDIERs. He'll never make it... She turned ahead and charged after the others. All I can do now is make sure his sacrifice isn't wasted.
Rude allowed Ami to go, blasting the SOLDIERs with the Electric Ram, trying to avoid the cluster of fighters he knew was surrounding Dimitri... I'm not the type to give up hope so soon. You get twenty seconds of backup, Dimitri... THEN I'm outta here.
Ami's family was panting hard, not sure if they could even keep moving for much longer. They had never been forced to run so long at a stretch before... Ami noticed how pale her mother was looking and how hard they all had to struggle for breath. I lost a lot of my strength to my "other half", but they are barely holding up at all.
What more can I do but ask them to keep going?
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 6:04:28 GMT
Dimitri was a skilled fighter, but sheer numbers never failed... He started pulling off desperation maneuvers, spinning around on his back and hacking through feet, then he rolled to his fallen bike and revved the engine, sending the bike into a spin on it's side. Dimitri swung wide with the gunblade as the bike spun around, either knocking over the soldiers, or sending them right into his gunblade's path.
"Alright, I think they've had enough time..."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 6:09:51 GMT
Rude broke off and made a break for it, just as Lana tripped and fell.
Ami stopped to pull her sister back to her feet, but it was no use... she was deadweight. She had literally passed out from exhaustion. She tried to lift Lana and carry her, but the added weight slowed Ami down so much that she wondered if she'd have better luck dragging her.
Rude intercepted the unconscious girl and prompted Amnesty to keep moving as he trooped after them...
How much longer before they overtake us? It's no use trying to outrun them the rest of the way, but we have to try...
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 6:12:44 GMT
Dimitri gunned the engine and zoomed off, popping a wheelie as he crushed two more SOLDIERs beneath his tires. He quickly caught up to the others and screeched to a halt just ahead of Rude.
"Rude, give me Lana!" He shouted as Rude caught up.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 6:15:05 GMT
Rude handed the girl over. Amnesty heard his request and was immensely relieved... I can't believe he made it out of that mess with his skin intact.
Let's just hope he can get ahead of us to the ship in time... She could almost feel the army breathing down her neck.
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 6:17:13 GMT
Dimitri gunned the engine once more, blasting down the road towards the Ragnorak, skidding to a stop inside the loading bay and hopping off the bike, carrying Lana's unconscious form to a cargo crate, laying her down and wincing in pain. He must have taken a few more hits than he thought...
Dimitri ignored the pain and broke into a limping run down the hallway into the control pit, powering up the engines faster than was probably safe... As soon as they were fully charged, he dusted off, turning the ship so sharply that it groaned in response. He had to do it though, the others didnt have much time... He swerved the ship around and quickly reached their position, landing in-between them and the pursuing army of SOLDIERs, turning the ship so that the engine wash blasted them all right in the faces, then touched down to allow the others to board.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 6:29:05 GMT
Ami was so relieved to see the ship again that she almost wanted to cry. "Oh, thank G**!"
The hatch opened, and she helped her nearly-collapsing parents get inside, standing at the entrance to usher in the others.
Reno came in and got Nikky into a seat. "Are you OK?" he repeated, sitting down next to her.
Ami looked around as her parents, panting and about ready to pass out themselves, sank into a pair of seats. Hey... where'd he put Lana?
The last of the party finally got inside, Rude last, covering the tail end of the crowd with the Sacrifice. He yanked the hatch shut and braced himself for takeoff.
Ami charged into the thingpit. "Take us outta here, Top Gun!" she yelled, throwing herself into the shotgun seat.
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 28, 2006 6:32:35 GMT
Dimitri threw the accelerator forward and the ship rocketed away from the ground up into the sky, breaking into orbit a moment after that. The second they were clear, Dimitri eased back on the engines and put the ship into auto-pilot, leaning against the control panel for support. Blood dripped from somewhere under his coat and he let out a tired ragged breath before dropping to the ground, his sunglasses skittered across the floor.
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 28, 2006 6:33:37 GMT
nikky panted slightly and nodded. ''yeah.... i'm fine.'' she grinned at him before kissing him slightly and snuggling.
kamen looked about before sliding into a seat in the back. he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 6:50:22 GMT
Reno kissed Nikky back and held her, relieved they had somehow made it through yet another fracas without getting themselves wiped out. He wanted to say so, but what came out was, "My G**, Nikky... I'm so tired." It was true... he couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been so tired. That Lifestream stuff really took it out of me, I guess.
****
Ami bent down to help the fallen pilot, too shocked to make the conscious decision, propelled by instinct. "Dimitri!"
She removed his coat to try finding out where he was hurt... "Somebody! Dimitri needs help!"
****
Rude sighed. Tell him to join the club. He looked at Nikky, battered by the fight with Xima... at Ami's parents, struggling to catch their breaths... Lana in the cargo crate...
He did a double take. Cargo crate?!
He pulled her out and put her in one of the cots in the cabins, putting the Sacrifice into the crate in her place.
He dragged himself up to the c0ckpit. "Take his coat off to find out where he's injured," he instructed wearily. I cannot remember the last time I got five straight minutes of sleep. Guess that's one of the perks of being a fugitive.
Ami did as he instructed. "It's just as well that he get attention now... I couldn't tell him where to take us from here." She shook her head. "I'm at a total loss this time, Rude. Between all our enemies... there's nowhere left to hide."
She inspected the wounds. "We'll have to remove these bullets before we can bandage him, but I'm no surgeon."
"Field surgery is one area of Turk training," Rude shrugged. "Give me one of those swords and keep an eye on Dimitri while I clean it."
She handed it over along with some alcohol from her bag (which, fortuitously, she still had from tending the wounded at the village). He started to wipe it down.
"Rude... While we were running for it out there, Kamen and I shared a vision." She sighed. "It seems there's another Remnant out there, one that somehow got her hands on my Jenova cells. She looks just like me... before the sacrifice, that is."
He grunted and waved the cleaned sword around to dry it faster.
"And somehow, she got her hands on some of Rufus Shinra's genes, too. She's made a new entity combining the two materials."
He almost dropped the sword. "What?"
Ami nodded. "I know. I don't know what she has planned for a half-Shinra half-Jenova crossbreed... but it sounds like disaster."
Rude grimly got to work on Dimitri. "Perhaps a greater disaster than even you can know."
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 28, 2006 6:59:12 GMT
nikky nodded and was too tired to even yawn. she closed her eyes and winced slightly. her side throbbed from the running...
kamen thought over things, what he had seen, heard etc. he sighed and slumped slightly, he was tired...
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 28, 2006 7:15:26 GMT
Ami felt the blood drain out of her face. "Why do you say that?"
He began removing the bullets from Dimitri's flesh as Ami held him still. "Think about it, Ami. In my time, I have seen dozens of women lining up to say they had an illegitimate child by some member of the Shinra family. Of course, I can't say whether or not they were ALL lying..."
"Your point?"
"They were queing up to get a share of that family's power for themselves. If this Xima character can back that up with genetics, her power would be unparalelled on this planet until her child came of age... provided, of course, that she did not have to share the inheritance."
Ami looked at him. "As in, she'd have to kill Rufus first... and anybody else who might step up to get their hands on his name."
Rude nodded. "Bingo. The kid is her ticket to ruling this world, if she can play her cards right."
Ami gulped. "My family has always been good at card games."
Rude finished cleaning out Dimitri's and began bandaging him. "her presence explains a few things, anyway... like how Rufus knew where to send his men."
Ami gave Rude a look. "You don't think she and Rufus..."
"No," Rude replied immediately. "My employer has been... indiscreet at times, but even he is not that sort of a fool. But if the two are allied or were allied in some way, it still amounts to the same thing."
****
Reno let Nikky lean on him and leaned on her in return. "Nikky, I just figured something. 'Xima'... that's 'Ami' spelled backwards with an 'X' at the beginning... just like Axel's--" He cut off short, realizing he did not feel like confessing to his very embarrassing last name. "Uh, my last name with the letters s***wed up and an 'X' tossed in," he finished hurriedly. He tried to relax and hoped she wouldn't prod him any further.
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