Audio Note APP V3.0 Status: Recording . . .http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~rwp/stradwin/docs/icons/glyph_record.gif

"It's been seven days since I arrived on Rhy'Din. That should make it February 3rd, 2016. That puts me at almost two weeks since I went AWOL from UTRA. The chances of Hunters in pursuit of me is only going to go up. I ran into a young Hunter, a female, had to be fresh from her field tests. She knew jack about playing down her identity in the field. I relieved her of her potions kit and her senses. Didn't need a hot head tracking me back to my room in the Red Dragon Inn. I'm going to have to go out and make a spider hole soon, this area has too many Hunters and other potential dangers gathering throughout the daytime and night time.

I've finally procured another cellphone, evidenced by this audio log I am keeping. My other phone was discarded into a fresh water tank at UTRA to throw their GPS trackers off a bit. A phone though is easy to replace, my MPC though isn't so easy to find in this town. Since I had no presence of mind to storm the Engineering Corp and face a wave of death by various implements, I have no blue prints to make another one so easily. I've been trying to cobble one together but my attempts just end in a cobbled collection of junk.

I never knew that saving my life from explosive seperation of my head from my neck would also cut me off from access to casting magic through my casters. The mana batteries will do the trick for now, but unless I can find more processed mana or a way to process it, my casters will be useless soon. This predicament though has been rather encouraging for my Spark. Such a wonderful shift of mind and reality. I can see things shift, change, shrink and harden as if life and mana were compacting into moving parts and coursing electricity. Like that blue dragon I met in the Red Dragon Inn. Titanium scales upon a steel shell that moved with an eligant head adorned with armor piercing titanium-steel all powered by a thrumming core of electricity and gears.

Dragons. Dragons are a big key to gaining mana. They don't just use magic, but as that blue dragon told me, they are magic, it's in their blood and my Mana Weave Sight confirmed it when I gazed at that dragon body. I need to find a dragon, capture it, bleed it dry and see if their blood really does contain processed mana. If it is correct I can combine the blood with glyphs and create magical effects, or find a why to generate electricity from the blood. Time will only tell but I can't exactly start tangling with mythic beasts based in a rickety room.

I speculate I have about twenty vials of regenerative potion to keep my body going. If I knock off a few more Hunters, I could extend that supply a bit longer. That tactic though is going to run old and be predictable. I may have to start hitting supply shipments. Until then, I need more gear and a better base of operations. I've located a few alchemy shops that I could rip off. Most of them are are backwater rip offs though a few are high end, top notch. The real jewel I found is going to take work to break into but I should find some good gear to help things out and hopefully a way to make more regenerative potions. Until then, it's going to be rough sailing for a while. Sam signing out."

Audio Note APP V3.0 Status: Replay?

((The actions of poorly planned robbery are courtesy of this thread: Mercury: Rise and Fall with Sunlight Thank you Ammy for letting me use part of the post here.))

Samantha had decided to pay a visit to this alchemist shop she heard about from a blue dragon named Icer and take a look around for a night time venture she was planning. Her green canvas overcoat was worn keeping her casters and potions concealed. The sight of an all glass building made her rethink a night raid. There was no way she'd be able to move about unseen in the shop unless she expended one of her few remaining Dimmer Potions. She crossed the street and pushed the glass doors open.

Ammy was hip deep in piled up books. She was slowly inventorying her library in the Alchemist's Fire as she figured out her orders to help stock the new complex when it opened in a few more months. The glass shop was open and a few customers were among the glass display cases browsing her wares and artifacts. She looked up from her inventory list hearing the chimes from the door first followed closely by a supersonic whistle only her and her staff could hear. She gazed at the entering customer; someone she'd never seen before on her trips around Rhy'Din and that did little to ease her suspicions. Ammy left her task, stood and walked for the woman in the green overcoat. "Hello there. Welcome to the Alchemist's Fire. How may I help you?" she asked, gauging the woman and her coat.

Sam saw a dog like anthropomorphic woman approaching her and she flinched a bit. She wasn't expecting a greeting right away, much less from a monster and thought quickly. "Potions. I'm looking for potions." Sam said hastily.

Ammy noted the haste in the woman's words. "Potions you say. Well we do have a wide selection. Any particular types you need?" she would wave for the woman to walk up to a display case near the main counter.

It had been some time since last momma Icer had visited her sister's shop. Taking a not so well travelled route took a little extra time, but it kept her away from the crowds.

"Uh, regeneration potions if you have them; maybe even some reagents. I have a list." She said to the dog woman and walked for the display case the she'd been waved to. She casually unbuttoned her coat, feigning being a bit warm with it on inside the shop. Her eyes shifted around catching a count of five customers and at least two other people she assumed were staff members behind the counters. This could go sour but if she needed shields and hostages she had a variety.

Ammy let the woman walk ahead of her and she raised her hand to catch the eyes of the two girls working for her. She held up just her pinky finger and put her hand back down. "Regeneration potions" Don't get a lot of requests for those as they are tricky if taken without supervision. May I see your list of reagents ma"am?" she walked with the woman to the glass display case, golden eyes noticed the unbuttoning of that coat. The two girls behind the counter saw the Red Alert signal from their boss and politely went out to dust the shelves. They worked their way to each customer and softly told them to exit the store discreetly for their safety. Once the five customers were gone, the girls went outside to sweep the patio for customers to drink and read on. The watched nervously as their boss handled an armed assailant with ill intent.

Sam hadn't seen the hand signal nor thought that the dog woman was alerted to her casters under her coat by supersonic alarm. She withdrew her list of reagents she'd hoped to lift tonight when she broke in. She offered it to the dog woman.

A nod to the pair of girls sweeping as she arrived at the shop, talons clicking lightly upon the cobbles.

Ammy took the offered list of reagents and was relieved to see the shop empty now of customers and staff. She did stiffen a little seeing Icer arrive outside and glanced at the woman politely then at the list of reagents. Her heart thudded with a twinge of suspicion. The list looked very familiar to one Wren sent to her for his potions. Could this lady be a Hunter" "Hmm. I have some of these available. I'll have to order some of the more uncommon kinds. Could take a week." she said casually to the woman and turned to start getting reagents from the common bins for customers.

The girls outside saw Icer and quietly waived for her to stop and not go in. They made gestures with their hands of guns and a nod to the only customer in the store left alone with Ammy.

An arch of an eye ridge, though soon Icer slid closer to the door. Not entering just yet. Making sure that her talons didn't click this time.

"I can wait on the orders. That won't be a problem lady." Sam saw quite a few potions of use to her in the display cases. While the dog woman was occupied, Sam glanced around more and noted the shop had weapons, spell scrolls and artifacts that looked easy enough to use. She withdrew from her coat a single caster and set a stun spell to whir up in the primary processors and a bolt of lightning to whir up in the secondary processors. She held the caster up to the back of Ammy's head. "Do what I say and you won't be hurt." Sam said.

Ammy heard the whir and smelled the ozone of manna being processed into a spell pattern. Hearing the woman behind her, Ammy sighed a little. She raised her hands to be in plain sight, back to the woman still. "If you leave now, I won't hurt you ma'am. I'll even let you take some things. No one is in here to stop you or to get in your way. Just really think carefully about what you're doing ma'am."

Icer would notice Sam in the store holding a gun like device to the back of Ammy's head. An eye twitch, and soon the little, well, maybe not so little hippo sized dragon was slinking behind Sam, nostrils flaring. Oh this would go well!

"Shut it mutt. I want you to grab that basket over there and load it with all of those potions." Sam nudged the dog woman's head with the tip of her caster. "I'm the one holding you hostage here with a fully loaded lightning spell. So don't give me any more lip." She said with a set tone in her voice.

Icer's tail soon aiming to wrap around Sam's leg while the woman was distracted.

Ammy saw Icer's reflection slinking in on the many glass walls of the store and hoped the assailant wouldn't. "Right. Right. I'll get the basket..." she collapsed to the ground to get clear of the caster when saw Icer's tail snap out to wrap around the woman's legs.

"Hey! No funny busi.....What the hell?" Sam looked down to see a strong tail around her leg. A blue scaled tail; the dragon; the one that told her of this place. Was it a trap" Sam turned and fired blindly in the direction that the tail trailed off hoping to hit a body with a high powered stun spell. The crackle and sizzle of lightning was heard as it was next to being fired.

Wings shuffled, but the spell had just missed! Tail starting to constrict.

"Icer! Watch out. The woman has a Hunter's Caster." she shouted to Icer. She rolled onto her feet, paw out to the woman. "Sola" An intense beam of sunlight flared out to impact the woman. If it hit, that coat would catch fire and Sam may get 3rd degree sun burns on her left side of the body.

Sam gasped feeling that tail constrict. She caught Ammy rolling away from her and realized that this was not good at all. Hearing the word of magic Sam realized she'd just pissed off a mage. Sam dropped to the floor like Ammy did, feeling hair singe and an ear blister from that narrowly missed beam of intense sunlight. She pointed blindly and fired the lightning bolt at Ammy and then dropped her caster to pull out a small hand gun. She aimed for Icer and started firing hoping to get the dragon off of her leg. This raid had gone bad and now she just wanted out of the shop to regroup and replan.

One or two bullets may have bounced off a tough scaly hide. Tail starting to lift, still coiled around the woman. Another caused a hiss as it hit her wing.

Ammy had no way to duck from that lightning bolt. She howled as it tossed her back into the library of the shop, books came raining down on her. The girls watching in grim silence outside were wide eyed with fear seeing their boss hit hard. One of the girls ran off for the 27th division of the Watch Offices just a block or two away from the Alchemist's Fire.

"Let go you damn dragon." Sam fired a few more rounds at Icer and scrabbled for her caster again. Fingers grasping it, she'd set a fire ball to whir up into it at full charge and aimed at Icer. "Let go, or I burn you to ash." She snarled at Icer. "This wasn't how it was supposed to happen."

"You think so?" Icer said. Wings flapped and flared and soon jaws parted to aim a frigid blast at the woman.

"Crap." Sam fired a blistering ball of fire at the dragon while trying to kick the tail off of her leg. This was going to hurt no matter what.

Ice fire and fireball met, causing a blast that sent both flying back! Though her tail would not release!

Sam's caster went flying from her hand to clatter somewhere behind her in the shop as her head was slapped to the floor from the kickback blast.

"Tula thusum iritai." words rumbled from the library as books shifted and thumped from the pile that Ammy was emerging from. Her limbs jerked a bit and her fur was singed. From the corners of the shop, four stone statues of warriors rumbled and ground to life. They all gave out silent hisses of awakening. Their joints made loud grinding noises as they moved for the embattled Samantha and Icer.

Sam shook her head a moment to clear the daze and saw stone statues moving for her; she definitely pissed off a mage, and now a dragon. She reached into her coat and pulled out a vial of yellow ooze and drank the vile liquid. She gave a gasp and twitched once. Then with the might of a titan began to work at uncoiling that tail from her leg, the Adren Juice going into overtime in her Hunter's body.

A rumbled hiss, definitely in a bit of pain, though jaws soon snapped out at the woman.

Hope was limping fast in pursuit of a girl that worked at the Alchemist's Fire. She was responding to the call for aid as the store was being robbed at magical gunpoint' Reaching the store, she'd seen lightning arc behind the glass walls and a fire ball erupt to cancel out ice breath. It was going to be one of those days. She withdrew her gun and moved to the door. "27th Watch Division. Everyone Freeze!"

Freeze"! Another icy breath aimed. Whoops! At Sam of course.

As Sam was entangled with Icer, the stone golems closed in on Sam, stone swords raised to strike at her.

Somewhere in the midst of giving the dragon a titan like punch to the face if it landed and seeing swords of sharp stone ready to slice her to ribbons, Sam heard the cop and groaned more. She rolled a little to avoid the first stone blade and grabbed for something looking like a tongue depressor that hung around her neck on a leather cord. She snapped it and teleported for a brief moment from the dire predicament of dragon and stone swords to the library section of the shop behind the dog woman. She'd grapple and attempt to hold her hostage, one arm around the dog woman's neck if possible.

The stone golems missed their target. Two of them froze, coated in ice and charred some by the fire of of Icer's ice-fire breath. Ammy was still a bit stunned from the lightning bolt and didn't realize she had the woman behind her until she felt that arm around her neck.

Icer's nostrils flared, though she lay there a moment as if stunned from that punch to her head.

Hope watched the woman vanish and then reappear to take Ammy hostage. Was this two mages just duking it out' Or was it something worse. She entered the store and kept her gun trained on Ammy and Sam who was holding Ammy hostage now. "Let the alchemist go and surrender. If you cooperate, you'll be left unharmed and taken into custody. I don't know what your beef is with this alchemist but discharging lethal magic within the city is against several laws of common sense."

"Just back away officer. I am leaving and it isn't with you." Sam said to the Watch Officer. "Back exit. Where is it?" She said into the dog woman's ear and tightened her arm around painfully around her neck.

"Easy. Easy." Ammy rasped past the arm cutting off her air supply. "It's in the lab; past the mage glass. Need to say the password for it though." She said to the woman. The stone golem pair that remained was now faced with a quandary. One walked for Ammy and Sam, the other moved for Hope as she held a weapon in their master's shop and it was aimed at their master. Ammy spoke out. "Temu!" The golems crumbled to dust.

Hope eyed the golems then stared at Sam and Ammy as Ammy dealt with the golems. "Running isn't going to solve anything. If you're going to aim at breaking into places and robbing people then you and I are going to have a severe problem. Let the alchemist go and I won't shoot you both."

Sitting up with a grunt, a bit of blood dribbling from her jaws; soon a shake of Icer's horned head, nostrils flaring once more. A deep breath soon taken, bullet riddled wing fluttering a moment. Soon a large icy blast was aimed at Sam's feet.

Sam looked annoyed at the golems and then at the Watch officer. She'd start dragging the dog woman along to the indicated lab wall. From her coat she pulled her spare spell caster and it whirred to life with the smell of fire and sulpher. "Say the password." She told the dog woman, the barrels of the caster pointed at her head.

Ammy followed Sam's dragging pull and spoke as best as she could past the choking arm hold. "Andu. Andu. Andu." Then her feet slid on the ice from Icer's blast. She pulled on Sam as she fell.

Sam slipped and went down with the dog woman still in a head lock as the ice spread on the floor.

Icer snorted. That was for being shot!

A silent and harmless explosion of silvery firefly sparkles deposits a 10 foot tall, Hulk built Minotaur in the middle of the shop. Apparently 'someone" had been in the shower; as evidenced by the shampoo in his hair, the covering of water over all of him, and the fact that all he has on is a towel and a single amulet. He is most certainly giving off that "Pissed offed Diety' vibe as he glares at everyone.

Hope was not new at all to sudden appearances of Minotaur's. The towel though was a new touch. She saw the assailant slide down with Ammy and limped forward as fast as possible, swapping gun out for Tazer and cuffs.

Ammy rolled and tried to wrestle the spell caster away from the woman, throwing in hard elbows at ribs, chest and nose; anyplace soft and sensitive to hit.

Sam felt her nose crunch from an impact with an elbow and pain from ribs separating as the dog woman seemed to throw in jabs that hit harder than she imagined. She fought to keep her hands on her only remaining caster and a large fire ball erupted from the caster, blasting out part of the right side glass wall of the shop. Sam threw a hard punch into the dog woman's face and made a move to get away and out the hole the spell had made. She caught sight of a towering Minotaur and really didn't want to be here right now.

Ammy let go of Sam as her muzzle crunched from that blow. She put her hands to her muzzle and nose, trying to stop the bleeding, her senses dazed from the sharp sting of broken nasal passage ways.

"What is going on here?" The words are more growled than spoken, even as Andu's attention centers on Sam, the only one present he doesn't recognize as family.

"Damn it." Hope said and limped after Sam as the assailant fled the building.

"Andu, get her!" Icer rumbled. Slinking to check on her sister.

Growled words from the Minotaur added more incentive for Sam to make like a tree and leaf. Hearing the officer, Sam ran as hard as she could and tossed a smoke grenade down to lose her pursuer. She'd dart down several alleyways and vanish for the docks.

Hope stopped as she was engulfed in the smoke, coughing and choking. She backed away, her pursuit called off.

A glance at her chronometer announced that night had kissed the midnight mark in Rhy"Din city. Sam was taking no chances this time running into that furred mage again in her own shop. Sam needed those supplies and potions or she was up shit creek without a paddle or a boat. She adjusted her lean against the roof top ledge she was against. It wasn't hard to scale and meander through Rhy"Din upon the roof tops like a fabled ninja. Who ever allowed this city to spring up like weeds was doing a favor to anyone wanting to do mischievous deeds.

Sam lifted a pair of binoculars she'd lifted from a less wary shop owner on her way back into the lion-dog-werewolf den" Whatever that furred woman had been the mage posed a severe enough of a risk to pay more attention to who was in that damn shop. Peering through the night-filter she could see the lights had been dimmed, the furred woman was locking up her shop and casting additional wards upon the front doors. Smart mage, she wasn't letting the run in with Sam be forgotten either. Sam loved a challenge. She ducked out of sight and checked over her gear one more time.

Sam's Snaptrips were at hand for Shocking, Flame, and Moisture and a few remaining ones for Muffle. Her potions were meager. She stared at two of the dwindling Regenerative's she hoped not to have to use, her last Dimness potion, three Smoke vials, one Adrenal Surge and her ace in the hole, a rare Despell Potion for those wards the mage had put in place; if she pulled this off though she'd have more supplies at hand.

Her less stellar, more down to earth equipment was sparse but adequate. She had a makeshift machete cobbled together from a busted exhaust fan blade rigged with a small capacitor and battery to add an electric bite to whatever she struck. Her improvised power gun, Tooth, shot out whirring saw blades. She had two clips of standard hollow points for a .45 she found in a rusted lock box, one grenade, her trusty dagger and a series of light, steel pipes rigged and articulated under her green overcoat like a basic exoskeleton. Her inventory check complete, she popped up from cover and scoped out the shop again.

No one was around that she could see with the night-filter though with the many layers of glass, the body heat of someone could be diffused enough. That glass though let her visually confirm no one was inside. She stowed the binoculars into their case under her coat, took a deep breath and then vaulted the roof ledge to land lightly four feet bellow on terracotta tiled awnings as she worked her way down to a drain pipe, shimmied down it then worked her way down a pile of crates to land lightly on the cobble stones of an alley. The alley was made up of the shop she'd used for a perch and a barrier wall to give privacy to the alchemy shop. Sticking to the darkness, she slunk up to the opening of the alley and peered at the alchemy shop one more time.

Sam did her best to shake the nerves that something wasn't right, that she felt self doubt rooting into her belly. Such signs of cowardice should have never affected her as a Hunter. Granted she could hold her own and her sense of tactics and raw mettle got her far in her ratings at U.T.R.A. but blind bravado and a barge full of mojo was not something she had employed often. Guile, stealth, seduction, misdirection, her true abilities hadn't been employed during the botched robbery. Now though' She was the Cheshire Cat of prowling and mischief.

Seeing no one moving up or down the streets, no sign of any guard posted at the alchemy shop, Sam made a straight dash to the porch of the shop and slid to a halt. She felt the pressure differential of an active spell humming with energy before her. Sam's left eye blinked and she brought forward her Mana Weave vision and the porch lit up with gold yellow strands of spell energy woven into an intricate yet subtle alert spell. Even the glass walls hummed with magical energy and wards. Clever dog but not clever enough for a cat burglar; Sam brought out her Despell potion and flicked five drops at the central nexus of spell energy. The porch ward flickered and then faded as if the energy had been drained, the spell unbroken, as if the spell expired from age. She moved on to the front doors and hissed a little to herself. The porch was just a taste of how that dog woman thought.

Before Sam, woven before, behind and even inside of the glass doors were warding spells that fed off each other, set to trip, alert or fry her if just one spell loses energy or is undone. A frontal assault wouldn't do, however, the far wall she had blasted during her botched robbery held simple fortification spells to make the fragile replacement glass act like steel and stone. Sam grinned and moved around the exterior wall of the shop. Once she reached the patched portion of glass, she flicked some more Despell potion from the bottle onto the glass. It lost the magical luminance it once held and became normal vulnerable plate glass once more. A sharp rap upon the glass pane with the butt end of her dagger rewarded her with a tinkling crack and grainy crackle as the glass broke inwards into a series of rough glass beads and razor sharp slivers. She wasted no time slipping through the new entryway and into the shop.

A sigh of relief was given as Sam noticed the troublesome stone statue guardians were not present in the shop. Quickly she moved to snatch up several leather packs from a sales rack and slung the straps over her neck and left arm to allow them to dangle by her side. Sam began to stuff various alchemy reagents into them, her eyes wandering to the darker wall of glass that she remembered the dog woman referred to as her laboratory. That'd be next on her list in two shakes of a lamb's tail, but first, she'd spied some scroll cases, potions and several magical artifacts anyone could wield near the shops library. She broke the glass display on those cases and began to empty them of the valuable potions and artifacts within those cases.

A small flurry of claps echoed in the store. "My, my, my. You have been a busy little rat in my sister's shop. Quite a taste for valuables." A light, cold voice said behind her. Sam froze midway as she was taking out a delicate scroll tube. How did she miss someone in the building" No one was here before"

"Clever of you to disarm the alert spell on the porch. Judging by how you avoided the heavily, yet weak looking glass doors tells me you aren't a normal thug here to steal and hawk my sister's livelihood. The fact you went for one of the glass panes my sister left intentionally weak tells me you can see the lay of magic and spells. Your selection in stealing reagents for health potions as well as grabbing anything a novice could use tells me you have full intent on using what you've stolen. So let me make this clear, miss. Remove the packs and say a small prayer to your gods that I might show a sliver of mercy." the cold voice said with no emotion.

"I hear an "Or Else" in that frigid tone mister." Sam said keeping still. "Are you going to offer to not hurt me if I leave everything and go peacefully like your delusional sister?"

"Delusional is a good description for Ammy." the cold voice was given faux emotion by the whisper of metal on leather and wood, the distinctive sound of a blade being drawn from a scabbard. "I am not delusional. I simply wish to insure that any blood spilled when your head splits open will not ruin my sister's wares."

Sam reached for her .45 semi-auto pistol and barely heard the male move behind her. She dropped the scroll to shatter into dust and lay back flat on the floor as she saw the glimmer of a katana blade strike sparks on her exoskeletons collar guard. It would have been a guaranteed strike that would have vented her skull wide open. She had only the twinkling of an eye to consider the blade glimmering in the light of lanterns before it shifted, fluidly from a downward slash into a plummeting thrust to pin her to the floor. Sam rolled and felt metal strike and slide off of the exoskeleton guarding her ribs. She just missed getting her heart and lungs ventilated. She rolled up into a crouch and regarded her attacker and was dumbfounded. He was a short man, not some furred beast, and he moved fast.

"Do Ryu Sen." the man said. He gave her no time to rest or think further as the man stepped in, dragging his blade through the floor boards and blasted her with a storm of splintered wood. Sam gasped and back pedaled, un-holstering her gun and shielded her face with a sleeve of her coat, wood splinters thudded into the canvas material. She lowered her arm and snapped out three shots at him. The man moved like fluid water, his katana dancing in the dim candle light and sliced her bullets in half, none of them touched him. She could just see black kimono that the man wore and his eyes glowed blue. He had brilliant red hair and a left arm of metal as well.

"A thief with a gun; how very original. I hope your gun fires faster than the average .45 semi-automatic pistol; otherwise, it is a waste of ammunition." The man started to stalk forward, his blade, oddly reversed with the sharp, lethal edge along the spine and the cutting edge thick and dull. She could see no nicks or cracks from the strikes he'd made. Given whom the man's sister was Sam registered that the blade was probably be-spelled.

Sam darted into the reading area and behind a book case. She holstered her gun, heart thumping along as if in a marching band. How did she keep running into these freaks" She tucked her gun back into its holster and ferreted out a Stun Snaptrip and a Muffle Snaptrip. The man was going to be a very big problem if she couldn't put him out of the picture quick. Light footsteps on a loose floorboard let her know he was on the other side of the book case. A sharp, small crack of wood and the world went from whispered breathing and tense silence to a muffled hum as Sam became nearly silent in everything she did with the snapped Muffle Snaptrip.

She withdrew her machete and held the Stun Snaptrip across pointer and index finge, her thumb at the ready to snap the thin wood as she edged towards the rear of the book case to catch him off guard. A moment to breathe, to rally her nerves and she rounded the end of the book case and was faced with carpeted floor, rows upon rows of magic tomes and no katana wielding lunatic. It took her mind only a second to recall this was a three dimensional battle ground and glanced up to the top of book shelf. A glimmer of blue eyes and a streak of red hair is all she caught.

"Ryu Tsui Sen Zan." the cold voice spoke. A glint of a wickedly sharp metal point came down at Sam and her face. She gasped and swiped in an upward slash with her machete, the makeshift fan blade no match for the reverse katana and it sheared into two. The impact however and the electric bite of the battery was enough to alter the man's drop path allowing him to gash her right shoulder with the tip of that blade down to her right elbow. She bit back a scream of anguish and let a pained hiss escape between pressed lips. Pain swelled through her arm like a summer heat wave as she felt blood slick her forearm and wrist.

Sam tried to move, tried to roll, back pedal, anything to get distance from the man, but she heard a clink of metal on metal. The bastard knew she had armor on and had slid his blade under the frame of the upper arm guard. She was trapped by him and with no hesitation Sam snapped the Stun Snaptrip into action at point blank range causing the man to grunt deeply and lean into the book case, a few heavy thumps sounding out magic tomes dislodged from their slumber on the other side of the battle. She grappled with the man's hands on the tang of the katana but the stun spell held his fingers locked tight upon the leather wrapped wood handle. Her fingers dove under her sliced coat and unlatched the upper right arm guard. The steel tube cage caught in her coat sleeve and she pushed off of the book case with a foot to help dislodge the cage; green canvas ripped and tore, steel on steel rang as the arm guard slid along the katana blade and thumped to the thinly carpeted floor. A swath of red followed her and flowed from her arm as if the man had picked apart the seam on a wineskin to spill out its crimson essence.

Staggering away from the man, Sam grabbed a Regenerative potion and thumbed open the cork stopper. She swallowed down the bitter mixture that tasted like milk starting to turn rancid. She hoped enough of the potion was still viable to put her arm back together instead of just speeding up the rest of her abnormally healed injuries into a cascade of degradation and reversal. She felt the burn from within like a reactor going critical rush upward through her veins to clash with the burn of cut nerve endings, severed muscle fiber, nicked bone and split skin. She almost stumbled and took a seat on a chair by a table with platters of cellophane wrapped cookies. This is what she got from taking someone else's formulary for a Regenerative U.T.R.A. potion. Her body was a bit out of synch with the unique ingredients added to the formula.

The sound of a book case collapsing and the thunderous rain of paper and hide made her jump. She pulled Tooth from her belt and held it one handed in the direction of the library. The heavy looking crossbow out of an industrial nightmare wavered a moment and then a high pitched whine and whir kicked up as the heavy duty, diamond dust coated blade spun up to full velocity.

A glimmer of blue in the darkness to the left of the downed book case made her jerk a moment and Sam let fly that spinning metal disk of death. It flew with a greedy whine of hunger to devour and cut anything in its path. Shredded paper flew as it missed her intended mark and buried deep into an Elvish Dictionary. She didn't see any more movement in the darkness of the library section and decided not to push her luck. Her arm partially mended, the blood stemming and pooling under pale, delicate new skin, she moved for the front door, most of the supplies she wanted in the blood spattered leather packs slung over her shoulder. She headed for her entry point, but the glass on the floor was gone and the wall whole again. She struck at it with a boot and winced as it felt she'd kicked a mountain. How was it mended so quickly' She caught sight of a white furred tail vanishing around the corner of the privacy wall. She'd been caught, again, and was trapped inside with a man that seemed deadlier than a mage or a monster.

"You thought we wouldn't be prepared for you a second time" Foolish woman. You're a good fighter, but it's time to end this battle little bird." the cold voice spoke behind her.

Sam spun and raised Tooth. She let fly a half spun saw blade at the man when she saw him. He swatted it out of the air with his katana. Sam snapped Tooth back onto her belt and pulled her sole grenade from its pouch and stepped back, left forefinger snagged in the pin.

"You fight pretty well for a short man, but I am not ready to leave empty handed again. I have no other way but forward to go in my life. So unless you want that beasty of a sister to watch her shop explode and have to scrape her brother up with a sponge, you'll deactivate the door wards and let me go." Sam said, pulling hard on the bluff. Her grenade was by no means a high explosive one that the Demo team used often in bad situations. She could still make a huge mess though and possibly take him out too.

"For one with a motive to go forward in this mad plan, death seems like a completely illogical choice. None the less . . ." the man squared up his stance facing her and sheathed his sword. ". . .when someone chooses to attack my sister and draws blood on her, I am often called in to finish what she failed to do. My sister can kill with ease but she is delusional. I on the other hand, killed for a living and enjoyed every bit of it." he licked his lips and put his left foot forward.

Sam just stared at the man with deep amusement. He had to be insane to just stare at death and laugh. He reminded her of Turner and how that psycho ended up getting with one way options. "Your sister's loss then."

She wanted her finger to pull that pin. Wanted to hear the deafening explosion of a fragmentation grenade going off at close quarters. Wanted to feel the sudden sharp bite of obliteration and then nothingness wash away the despair and raggedy web of tangled nerves, pain and meaningless existence U.T.R.A. had ground into her. What she heard was his damn voice.

"Kuzu Ryu Sen." He was a blink in her eye, a waiver of shadow and flesh in the light. Nine flashes of that blade happened all at once. She felt her body poked, bruised and abused as he hit her like a freight truck all over her body. She heard and felt steel pipes crush and crack and break. Her exoskeleton the only that saved her life and just by a hairs breadth; she wasn't sliced open and bleeding from simultaneous cuts, but she was bruised deeply, battered and had a few separated ribs and a severe concussion. The fact she was still standing was amazing. The man was behind her, her fragmented and disoriented senses could tell that much pass the thundering haze of pain. The grenade was still in her hand too and the pin not pulled.

"Hmm. You live. Fate is on your side." The man said in his cold voice. She felt him come up behind her; calloused fingers touched her bare neck and then her hand holding the grenade. He removed the explosive and tossed it away from them, out of play. He circled her slowly now, blue eyes judging, weighing, stripping her down to bone and soul. "I can see why my sister underestimated you at first. You cloak yourself in fragility but in at your core, you're quite the monster. Quite the harbinger of doom to anyone caught in your pretty webbing. You are like me, a hunter of the living, yet you still have your wings." He sheathed his sword and stared deeply into her eyes. "Yes. You have a sense of destiny about you. Mhm. A path that you will wish you never took until it takes its payment in blood. I've seen that path. Walked that path. None can dissuade someone on that path. Only the road can show you the truth."

Sam just stood there, dazed from pain and confusion, the Regeneration burning in her adding to the roiling sea of turmoil in her body. The way the man touched her though, spoke to her, in such a cold, direct, emotionless way had her feeling she was back in basic training being shown her faults, her improvements and the inevitable "Try Again Tomorrow" dismissal. "Kill . . . me . . . you bastard. Dead . . . to rights."

The man stared at her for a long moment then at something past her shoulder with a raised eyebrow asking a silent judgment. Sam heard the breathy growl of the dog woman from over her left shoulder. "I want her dead Mako." the dog woman said.

Mako just shook his head no. "She survived my attacks and you have sworn me to a life not to kill anymore. I have knocked her senseless and few inches from death. If you want her life, then by all means, Ammy, you kill her." Mako's tone was cold and flat still.

Ammy was heard sighing and walking away from them. "I want to, but she hasn't done anything to warrant death. A broken nose and theft isn't worth killing over." Ammy said.

Sam watched Ammy come up to her, look her over with intrigue. The Hunter just wanted to lift her hand and punch her. Ventilate her skull with her knife. Anything to spare her the scrutiny and pity she was seeing Ammy's golden eyes. She had to stand there, wavering and be submitted to it as her mind slowly pieced itself back together. Ammy leaned in and Sam felt and saw the packs opened and looked through, heard Ammy making some humming comments to herself and felt the packs closed up again.

"She's not taken anything of severity or lethal . . ." Ammy pinched the bridge of her muzzle. ". . . let her go Mako. I warn you though, ma"am, show up here again to steal and I will kill without another thought. I will only give second chances rarely but my brother is right. You have a peculiar path before you." Ammy then left Sam and Mako and vanished behind the wall of dark glass.

"Right then." Mako said and he walked behind Sam and she felt a juggernaut love tap her skull as the lights went out.

Sam would wake up with a massive migraine in a bed she knew she didn't have. Eye's cracked open; she recognized the ceiling panels and soft lantern glow that filled the night shrouded room. She knew she was back at the Red Dragon Inn. She willed herself to sit up and quickly puked what little she had in her stomach over the side of the bed. Her eyes saw the packs on the floor, untouched and full still. She gave herself permission to lie back for the day and just sleep off the rest of the Regenerative still running in her system.

Just three miles down the shores from the docks of Rhy'Din, would be found the massive ship graveyard that doubled as a junkyard for Rhy'Din as well. 6 square miles of derelict ships, rust rotted freighter hulls of metal or wood, old vehicles, wagons and even debris from the many years of devastation the city just soaked up like a sponge sat here like a tetanus play ground. Old cranes stood sentry among the piles of metal and rust, their cables corroded and their engines forever silent. The caw of crows, vultures and the occasional barking pack of scavenger dogs could be heard as the sun shown down on the yard, making the ripples of heat seen in the daylight like ripples of water. Somewhere out here, there was the sound of a song playing, very lightly over something much rusted reminding anyone that entered of nails on a school room chalkboard.

Elodie had the night off from the Kitten's Playpen, so what does she do' More work for her first job. She had promised Wren that she's work her ass off once she got back from the visit with her mother, but she figured why not scope out couple of the areas that Hope had listed, and see what she could scrounge up before hand. Or at least that was what she told herself as she was sliding into her armor, and readying herself to come out tonight. Now that she was there at the old ship graveyard and junkyard duo, creeping about on the edges, she was filled with apprehension.

What if she was walking into a great big trap of some kind" And it only seemed to grow, the longer she lingered on the edges, thinking of every possible thing that could go wrong, before finally, she pulled in a heavy sigh. With a roll she squared her shoulders, pulled her caster from the holster it resided in up underneath her jacket and started moving, It wasn't long before she found a rhythm of sliding through the shadows in a way that would leave her rather unseen for the most part.

The Caw of crows and vultures had her eyes darting up every now and then, their calls instilling uneasiness deep in the pit of her stomach. The warbling music on the other hand, was what she followed deeper into the mess of broken down cars and everything else imaginable, her motions slow, and movements cautious....as she had no clue what to expect, or what that Quicksilver woman could have done to the place if she was hiding somewhere.

Sticking to the shadows was a good thing unless tripwires were strung like spider silk in the darkening corners of rusted hulls and dead cars. Echo just may feel a slight tug on her boot as a trip wire was pressed, should she not realize this, it will snap. Further in the junk yard something grating could be heard, like teeth on metal.

Elodie paused when she felt the tug on her boot, and the fact that her boot was caught. Near immediately, she froze, and tilted her head...listening. The metal clanking....well that didn't bode well. and she figured she would find out what it meant eventually. Just in case there was anything else rigged with it, she eased herself back, careful not to break it. Then she stepped over, and while cursing and wondering what that sound was, she started inching forward again, and less so from the shadows, given that they seemed to be trapped.

The trip wire snapped back with a distinct click as the trigger device was set to get either nudged or broken. Echo would hear a grinding groan as heavy sheet of metal rocked forward, out of concealment, its edges ground to razor sharpness on all sides. Should Echo not be nimble the Hunter may be sliced in half like paper on a paper cutting board. The grating sound she'd heard went silent should she survive the trap.

Well maybe Elodie wasn't inching forward just yet, but listening, waiting, and well she took half a step back too. The wire had tipped her off that something was coming, and the groaning gears was just enough of warning that she managed to twist, and fling herself aside so that she just narrowly missed becoming two parts instead of one. She tumbled, and rolled, before coming back up into a crouch, where she froze again, heart thudding a little in her chest as she surveyed the surrounding area.

The razor sharp sheet of metal toppled behind Echo, crushing an old Studebaker. The crunch and crack of glass and rusted sheet metal filled the air as dust and dirt kicked up around her, making it hard to see past her hand. It was eerie quiet, the birds had all flown off from the crash, and the grind of teeth on metal was heard again.

Elodie glanced over her shoulder, and watched as the hunk of sharpened metal crashed, and metal screeched and crunched. And the dirt and dust that it kicked up had her grumbling, while that second set of creaking had her listening, despite the dust. She aimed to pinpoint the direction of the sound, before she'd move to roll away from that direction, and keep from whatever that creaking promised from getting her. Though, blindly stumbling around in a cloud of dust didn't help her much.

The grinding of teeth on metal stop and soon was replaced with a shrieking whoop-whoop. A half eaten transmission to a truck was hurtled through the dust cloud and impacted the dirt 5 feet from where she'd been. More whoop-whoop's were made as the grinding of teeth on metal began again.

Which made Elodie very glad that she had decided to move when she did, because she wasn't sure how well her armor would have protected her from a flying transmission. When the Whooping repeated, and the grinding gears resumed" Well, there was another string of curses, before she simply picked another direction in the dust that was away from the whooping and grinding, and booked it, trying to put distance between her and the danger, that was hopefully stationary to that one area.

As Echo booked it through the dust to find cover, she'd feel a string go taught against her boot. The whooping stopped and the yard went silent as the dust began to settle. Meanwhile in the derelict ship, the Shepherd, in the middle of the shipyard, Samantha heard the crash and the whooping and grimaced. Sounded like someone was going for her bait. She started her final strip down and bug out, gathering what was left of her gear to wrap up and load onto her bike.

The second wire caught Elodie's foot, made her stumble, and tumble to the ground. She simply aimed to land and roll, and not end up ass over end in a heap on the ground. It was the best she could do considering the fact that she had been too busy trying to get away from dust, and launching transmissions, to keep an eye out for more....trip wires. Which she would be doing from now on. As she moved to her feet again, she listened, waiting for another creak, or some other noise that gave a heads up.

As Elodie snapped the wire and tripped, a double barrel shotgun, stuffed inside the wheel well of a Watch paddy wagon fired off, just missing her head, perhaps peppering her armor with buck shot. As she got to her feet, she'd hear an audible click under her foot, a sound basic training would suggest was a possible mine. The whoop-whoop started again and rounding around the prow of a rotten wooden barge was a grotesque, squat looking creature about 4 feet high, muscles bulging and fitted with robotic legs, robotic arms, a pulsing spark of energy for a heart and the top of the once humanoid head had steel plates riveted to it. Little LED lights glittered along the metal plates on the head and it drool from lower jaw that seemed bolted on to look like a fat, shrunken version of T130 terminator. The eyes of the creature were a bright LED Blue and pulsed with the beat of its sparking heart.

Maybe it was just good luck that ended with Elodie getting nothing more than a peppering of buck shot, but then again, luck seemed to normally run good for most hunters....sometimes. As for the click she heard when she stood, it had her freezing again. That wasn't good. "S***." The word was growled, before her attention shifted towards the creature that was rounding the corner. The glowing lights and the pulsing of the eyes were eerie. "Awh Man, you are seven levels of ugly." Then her eyes moved to dance between the creature, and her foot, and whatever was underneath that had clicked. The gears in her head were churning like crazy, a plan coming to mind that was all based on guesses and praying the creature didn't lumber. "Yo. Ugly, over here." she waved one of her hands wildly, making sure that it definitely aware of her location and that her foot stayed solidly where it was. Her caster for the immediate moment was shoved back into her holster.

The creature grunted, and stared at Echo with long ribbons of brown, rust flecked drool running from its metal jaw. Its blue eyes seem to blink a few times and then it gave a ghastly green and ran for her, its robotic legs geared and suitable to let it run like a normal man. Its robotic hands reached out for her, intent on playing with a new toy with inhuman strength.

Elodie stared back at the creature for a moment, taking in everything about it, until it actually ran for her. With a breath sucked in, she waited until the creature was a little over five feet away. And once it was" She moved to twist and leapt off for the side. She landed hard, and grunted, but kept flattened against the ground, in case her hopes of something explosive were fulfilled, she didn't want to be caught by the blast, and thrown, and even if it was a booby trap" She hoped that it caught the creature with the way she had timed it. She could hope, right?

Echo had hoped and guessed well. As she leapt, she heard another click alerting her to a delay timer on the mine. Her spin and hard land to the ground got her out of limb rending grip of the creature just it took her spot atop the mine. It began a whoop that turned into a shrill shriek as its robotic legs were blown off and the shrapnel caught heavy into it's already heavily assaulted body, lifting the creature up about a foot to crash into a pile of wire and further bent iron pipes. It thrashed a moment, squealing in base pain and terror, the plates on its head sparking wildly before the spark of its heart burst the containment field and set the whole mangled creature ablaze starting a black, greasy smoke to lift into the air, the smell of putrid meat roasting filling the yard.

Elodie had taken a risk, and it had paid off well. She realized that when the heat and force of the blast washed over her, tugging hungrily at her hair and clothes. It wasn't until after that she dared to lift her head, and peer towards the creature as it squealed in pain and terror, before the erratic pulse of its heart ended with it bursting, and the creature caught fire, sending thick greasy smoke into the air. She couldn't help but stare for a moment, immensely grateful that it was not her that had been blown up like that. She pulled in a deep breath, steadied herself, and tried not to gag with the stench that was rolling off the remnants of the creature with the smoke. Then she scanned the rest of the area, before she started moving again. This time careful to keep an eye out for....well anything suspicious.

Well aware now of what awaited the Hunter should she be tardy in vigilance, Echo would make her way to closer to the source of the screeching song playing over the PA. It was coming from a large, rusty freighter with a hole in the side that had been obviously cut bigger and cleaner with tools of some sort. The music was coming from inside and the occasional clank and muttered curse came from within.

Now that Elodie knew what she was looking for, it was easy to maneuver around, and avoid setting the traps she came across. Though her quiet footsteps slowed to a slow crawl, as she took in the rusty freighter that was blaring the screechy song. The clank and muttered curse that she heard occasionally from within was heard, but she didn't go barreling in there, because she was certain who ever it was, was very aware that she was somewhere there, if not in several pieces. So she moved quietly, working her way until she had found a vantage point that gave her a glimpse at the insides, in a way she hoped wouldn't leave her visible to whoever it was.

Echo was able to seem bits of lighting showing a figure with the light behind it, making the features hard to see. It was whacking away at something with a heavy hammer, causing sparks to fly from the hammer hitting metal. The curses seemed to be coming from the figure as it'd miss a spot and hit a large piece of metal piping again with its hammer. This was seen inside the freighter ship. Surrounding the ship were stacks of old cars and various piles of scrap metal, making the ship the center of a W pattern. The PA couldn't be seen playing the screechy song.

Elodie watched, making notes of what she could see, which really wasn't much, because the lighting, and everything else was working against her there. But she had time, so she was content to lurk and wait to see if the figure moved around, or took a break soon, so she could hopefully keep her location to herself and not alert whoever it was that she was there.

As Echo was watching the figure, Sam was in the helm of the Shepherd, spying on Echo with her binoculars. The rookie was learning. Bright girl, but she still had a lot to learn. Putting the binoculars away, she fired up the high powered power cells on her exoskeleton frame and her magneto bracers began to hum around her. She had to brace hard against a bolted down console as she reached for several old cars and sent them hurtling for Echo and more importantly that stack of cars and debris behind her. Echo may be able to risk pan caking to avoid the cars or try bolting for the entry to that freighter.

Flying cars were about the last thing Elodie expected. Though maybe she should have not been surprised given the fact that she was in the center of a junk yard in Rhy'din and there were things that could actually do that here. The crash, clatter, and screech of groaning and bending metal, the dirt and dust it kicked up, had her bolting, not for the insides of the freighter, but across the span of the mouth, and to the other side, where she hoped to be out of sight of her assailant, and out of sight of sight from whoever was inside. Though it was possible that he had spotted her as she streaked across the opening of it. Once there, she leaned up against the freighter, and pulled in several deep breaths in an attempt to keep her poor heart from beating its way out of her chest, hazel eyes dancing about vigilantly now, thanks to the flying cars.

The hammering stopped in the freighter, so did the music.

Seeing her initial plan fail, Sam hunkered down and watched with binoculars again, her escape route ready and only five seconds from her bike.

The freighter was deathly quiet.

The quiet that followed the calamity caused by the cars, had Elodie's attention shifting back towards the freighter, and had her moving to flatten against the outside of it. She didn't dare to risk a peek inside, as she was quite certain that whoever it was, had begun the steps that would bring him out to investigate the sound.

As Echo flattened herself against the side of the hull, she'd hear rhythmic scraping of metallic scales on sliding on metal deck plates. A metallic his was made and a heavy thunk of metal hitting metal was heard. A roughly assembled robot or part of it was sent rolling though the open entry to collide with the newly collapsed and stacked junk and derelict cars. Wrapping around the edges of the cut hole appeared, long, tapered, sharp, metal claws followed soon by a metal, serpent like head that stared at Echo with red glowing eyes. An articulated red metal tong flickered at her and it slithered out of the freighter, all 50 feet of robotic snake thing with steel scales and hypodermic needles for spines along its body.

Sam, grinning, seeing that her other pet came out to play, left her post, slid down the ladder and moved to her motorcycle. She quietly rolled the bike with the last of her gear away from the Shepherd while Echo was hopefully occupied with mechanical death.

There were a lot of metallic sounds coming from the inside of that freighter, and it was enough to cause worry in her, because it definitely sounded bigger than her, and....Whatever thoughts were running through her mind completely blanked when she shifted and turned her head towards the opening to find.....a gigantic metallic serpent thing. "Aw hell." the word was squeaked as she stared up at the creature for a moment, , the will to do anything but stare gone for a moment, before she took a step back. Then another.

The movement from Echo may not have been wise. It hissed again, a maw of razor sharp needles flashed in the fading light. The creature coiled and then sprang forward with a clink and hiss of a releasing spring. Teeth snapped out hoping to catch limbs. If not the mouth, maybe the sharp, metal claws could catch and latch onto the Hunter if not careful. Then there was the hypodermic needles now glistening with something moving by her at a fast enough speed to saw wood.

Elodie would blame it on the fact that they didn't teach you to deal with things like this in the academy. And well, she was certain that she would be having nightmares about it eventually. As she stared up at the creature her hand moved to free her caster from its holster again, only this time seconds after it was in hand, the cyclers whirring a humming as whatever she was cooking started charging. She was able to avoid it's snapping for her by scrambling out of the way, and just barely avoiding those needles on the side that threatened to saw into her like it was nothing. The only thing she couldn't escape was those claws. She may have even momentarily forgotten about them.

The snake like robotic creature seemed to pay no attention the whir and hum of the caster as it found purchase of its claws into her armor, perhaps going deep enough to start drawing blood. It reached with its other hand and was slowly coiling around, getting ready to constrict upon her with those needles in seconds. Its maw was wide open and ready to snap her head off. Somewhere in the distance a motorcycle was heard starting up then vanishing into the night.

From the sharp gasp and the whimper that escaped Elodie shortly after it worked to dig its talons into her armor. With a slew of curses, that may have even had a lacing of fear in them, she twisted, working the beast's claws deeper into her, but avoiding for the moment, the attempts that it made to snap off her head. She kind of needed that attached to make it out of this living! She paused for a moment, to catch her breath....and realized that the creature intended to wrap around her like a snake. Which had her focusing a touch more on her caster, and fueling it. She only needed a couple more seconds.

The bite missing, it closed its coils in more, she may feel needles prick for her calf muscles and thighs as it tried to rake at her face with its free hand.

Elodie hissed at the needles that she felt starting to prick at her legs and thighs as she twisted as it tightened its coils around her, as if that would make it slow down on the constriction. A couple more seconds passed, before she lifted her blaster towards that snapping head, and pulled the trigger. A crackle and a pop followed the arch of lightning that made its way for the beast just as it swiped for her face, which the most she could do, by the time she noticed the movement, was to turn her head to the side and pull back, so that the brunt of it caught her along the side of her head, and not as bad as it could have been, had he caught her face full on. They left deep gouges on the side of her head that gladly bled enough to stain her blond hair dark.

The lightning burst from the caster burst full into the face of the snapping serpent as it closed those teeth over her spell caster with a sickening crunch and snap. The head exploded, flinging hot, glowing metal shrapnel from the neck, some sizzling past Echo's head. The scratches to the side of her head were standard lacerations made by sharp metal. The needle pricks though, from the now slack and slouching coils of metal would be concerning. She'd feel fire burn from the punctures to her calves and thighs that'd vanish, burn again, vanish and burn again as her bodies Brewster system cycled fast to counteract the nerve toxins and poisons in the robotic snakes needles. This was only the minor worry as her nervous system would be heavily dazed by jolts of mild shock from her lightning bolt attack, her field kit armor absorbing most of the elemental punch, but the amount of metal snake around her conducted enough shock to make her feel she got jump started by a defibrillator three times in a row. The snake was mostly collapsed and unmoving now; hydraulic fluid leaking out of its obliterated head and neck joints.