• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Chapter 4: Two worlds Collided

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Co-authored by: Ray of Meep (GM), Acewing13, Ikate Keda Studios, TheCountryWarrior

???? A.D., three weeks after the raid on Gluck

Silbern System, Stahl Belt, Nikolaus Otto dwarf-planetary system

The Stahl Belt is the Silbern system's equivalent to the Asteroid Belt of the Sol system, with millions of asteroids orbiting around one AU from the Silbern dwarf star. Of the seemingly infinite rocks, the Nikolaus and Otto dwarf planets dominate the belt, orbiting one another and containing most of the mass of the belt. Magnuski Station was built at a Lagrange point between the two bodies, situated as the industrial and political political capital of the Stahl belt sector and Silbern system as a whole. The massive feat of human architectural engineering was an enormous station of epic portions, carved straight out of an asteroid, with the capacity to example as additional cylindrical slices were manufactured and linked to the existing habitat, separated from the dozens upon dozens of the smaller industrial sites that housed untolds milions of workers.

Eberhard was floating in Magnuski Station's zero-g spaceport, outside Daheim One's airlock, and cursing like a pirate under his breath. His wife crossed her arms next to him as she let him quietly rage on.

"What the fuck, Ulrike? All that time spent mowing down goons and beating the shit out of civillians, and all we get is a halt-order from the bureacracy?! Un-fucking-believable." He burst out in a hushed tone.

Ulrike shook her head. "I'm baffled as well. The evidence is there, we just needed some more expertise to go down the spiderweb. I'd personally go out of our way to hunt down the source, but we have our hands tied. You saw the bill. 1.2 million credits. The exact amount as the total value of those weapons. Whoever's pulling the strings, they know who we are."

Eberhard grumbled. "I hate this so much. This is the kind of thing that keeps law enforcement scared shitless."

Ulrike nodded, "Well, now you know. Which is why I'm keeping our profile low for now while I sort this out with him."

"At least the team doesn't miss out on a paycheck. We got screwed out of our savings though." Eberhard sighed.

"You signed up for this. Are you having any regrets now that you can't retire early?" Ulrike smirked.

"Of course not. I never imagined myself retiring. No money hurts though." Eberhard smirked back.

As the couple chuckled between them, the airlock hissed open as the other Lancers floated out in their armor and with their weapons, but this time in standard GDW space patrol configuration: black with torquoise accents only the the shoulder pads and helmet, unlike the Grau Lancer's own lighter, more colorful combinations.

Joan looked at Ulrike and Eberhard from behind her helmet, pulling at the new armour a bit. "Ya fink a li'el warnin fore 'avin us wears police grade stuff aftah all dat nice stuff would be nice?" She asked, discomfort in her voice apparent. "Ya know ah spends da 'ole mission id dis."

"Given the circumstances, we can't be picky." Eberhard shrugged.

"Could be worse," Beatrix said, much more comfortable in her uniform. "Could be 'wearing' the stripper outfit in public again."

Juan agreed, chuckling. "Better than a janitor on my end, at least people wanna see strippers." He adjusted his outfit, though he was more comfortable.

"Ya kin bofe shut da fuck up bout dat," Joan grumbled, crossing her arms. Her face hidden, but the way she spoke made it obvious she was blushing. "Ah 'ave equal problems wif bofe o' dem ideas, fer astronomically different reasons."

"Aww, you kids are adorable." Ulrike nudged Eberhard with her elbow. "Maybe I should go on a mission with you for once."

"Like I'd let you get your hands dirty." Eberhard lightly scoffed in response.
 
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As the team chatted amongst themselves, a black shuttle flew down the tube and stopped in front of them, an arm extending out and anchoring to the wall. It was of a peculiar, bullet shape with visible RCS thrusters, with air inlets distributed on all sides as well.

"Welp, time to move out, people." Eberhard floated his way over.

"Have fun!" Ulrike added.

"We've got a hostage situation in one of the ring sectors still under construction." Eberhard briefed the team as they moved forward. "The bad guys are holed up in a housing complex," he continued while opening the shotgun door, "While there are police already on the scene stalling them out, our job is to ----" He stopped abruptly and frowned. "Sarge, your captain didn't tell me a Chongwu was picking us up."

Joan had already froze, her hand snapping to her side arm. Even the team could hear the audible, panicked whine she gave. Juan looked to Joan worriedly from the corner of his eye, readying himself to do something if she panicked too much. He looked to her, and nodded comfortingly. He semi-unconsciously stood closer to her, not sure if he was feeling protective of her or the tenous peace here.

The pilot of the shuttle looked visibly annoyed at first, then saw Joan with her hand on metal, throwing up one hand in response, another reaching for his own weapon instinctively. "Woah, what the hell!" His ears perked straight up. He was a classic, German Sheperd type, a mix of brown and black fur, armored similarly as the Lancers, with his helmet velcroed to the side of the seat.

Eberhard put up both his arms, one towards Joan and one towards the canine-form. "Stand down! Joan, if you need to sit this one out, the rest of us will manage. You've got thirty seconds to come to a decision." He snapped.

"Not a fan of dogs, is she now?" The Chongwu kept his hand on his pistol, but visibly relaxed otherwise.

"You could say dat," Joan said, her voice extrodinarily tight and she breathed heavily. It was like the effort to remove her hand from the gun was visible as she finally let go, looking at Juan and Beatrix, but also mostly looking at the ground.

"I get that." He shrugged.

"One o' ya wanna get in first..." Joan asked quietly, doing her best not to react to the Chongwu.

Juan nodded, hands still in a ready postition in case shit hit the fan. "It'll be alright. I will bite the bullet, and go in first." He made his way further, giving the bipedal dog a nod of strained respect, before heading into the craft, watching Joan when he sat. He did everything in his power to stoically and motionlessly beam Joan supportive eyes.

Beatrix looked around the group, shrugged, and followed Juan inside. "And here I was worried about offending him by calling him a pupper," she said with a sigh. "He seems much more behaved than the last one we met."

"Ah couldn't see da las' uns teef," Joan grumbled, slowly moving to the vehicle, but quickly getting into it, sitting tight against Juan and quickly stealing his hand, keeping it hidden between her and his legs. He held her hand in their secret embrace, squeezing it to let her know he was there for her, and quite possibly willing to kill this glorified service dog if it came to it.

Once everyone got onboard, the clamping arm retracted, and the air breathers whirrled to life once again, propelling the craft forward and stabalizing it with varying flows in all six directions. Schematics popped up on everyone's HUDs, showing that they were moving from the south pole of the asteroid towards its core. From there, massive tubes jutted out into the hallowed out body, connecting to the spinning rings. The team's destination was a dot on one of the northern rings.

As the shuttle sped along, its blue and red lights blared, forcing other shuttles to strafe to the four sides and evade. There was of similar design in principle, but more colorful, in greens and pinks and cyans, and were smaller and considerably less massive, as they slided and swiveled in the zero-gravity much faster.

"Anyways, I was saying." Eberhard continued his train of thought abrupted by the standoff. "Our primary objective is the evacuate the hostages. There's five in total: three bureacrats, a construction engineer, and an architect who was leading the party around in the complex. The secondary objective is to eliminate all hostiles; scans have shown ten boggies in total spread across two floors. Captain Rain will be rendevousing with us at the site. We are to then split into two groups of three. Bandit, Cowboy, and Bee will be attacking from the top floor, while me, Rain, and, err..."

"Poodle." The Chongwu simply remarked.

"... Poodle, will break in from the first."

Beatrix blinked a few times, looked at the Chongwu to make sure he was serious, grinned and then asked, "Really? Poodle? Awww, are you trying to sound adorable? Cause you're succeeding."
 

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"That's what my co-workers called me when I was brought in." Poodle shrugged, "The name stuck."

"Still adorable," Bee said, before shaking her head. "Gotta love the military's way of making nonsensical code names."

"Names aside," Joan said, sounding as if she had calmed down a little. A peek at her vitals said otherwise, but she sounded calmer. "So we're 'eading in, save da 'ostages, no keepin anyone alive? Or is dat an if da oppor'uni'y is dere?" She asked, face still well hidden behind her visor.

Juan inwardly smiled that Joan at the very least was trying to be cordial, squeezing her hand again to encourage her. "Yeah, we taking Prisoners or are we focusing on captves? Need to know how liberal we can be with bullets."

Poodle stayed silent. Eberhard replied, "Rescuing the hostages is priority. You have permission to kill on sight otherwise."

"Right," Joan said, leaning her head back for a moment, returning Juan's squeeze. "Den dats wha' we'll do. No sense puttin ourself in 'arm, dun nago'iate wif terrorist in the like," She said, looking between Beatrix and Juan. "We're all good? Bee, yer arm working propah now?"

"Yup," Beatrix said, flexing her left arm, before patting the riot shield on her back. "Reinforced the shield some and added a quick relase as well."

Juan smiles, and looks over his team. "Then we're set. Let's kick some ass and save it too."

After a full half hour of speedy travel through the entire central spine of the station, the shuttle passed a massive airlock and stopped at a four way intersection of tubes. This section of the station was underlit, and plumbing and electrical wiring were still exposed.

"This is where we part ways." Eberhard exited the shuttle and opened the trunk, revealing three jetpacks. He pointed to one tube, with part of its panelling removed, revealing the section of the ring that it connected to. "The complex to target has been marked on your HUDs. You are to descend down onto its roof and wait for our signal. Poodle and I will take the conventional route downwards." He thumbed an elevator compartment designed for passenger crafts. "Good luck." Poodle, on the other hand, eyed his rearview mirror and simply nodded.

"Ooh, we're going skydiving!" Bee said, rubbing her hands together before picking out a jetpack. "Should of said that earlier, Cobalt."

"Gone be an 'ell of a jump," Joan said, looking at where their LZ was supposed to be. "We 'ave 500 metahs ta git ya da same speed as da outah barrel," she said, looking at the jet packs. "Wif da air, we gonna 'ave ta 'it 200 clicks 'orizontal. We even gonna 'ave gravity till we touch da ground?" She asked.

"If I remember right," Beatrix said while putting on the jetpack, "the wind is going to be helping somewhat to get us up to speed. Need to make sure we don't get slammed into the buildings before then, but that's where these things will help a lot."

"Dat doesn't answah mah ques'ion," Joan said, securing her pack as tightly as she could. "A fink is gonna push us in da direc'ion of spin, but we aren't going to be affected by gravity til we 'it da ground" She explained, looking around. "Making dis a 'ole lo'ah 'eadache."

Juan secured his jetpack, not terribly used to one but he knew how it worked. He was not good at the sort of math that went into these thoughts, the physics required to plan this out. But he was damn good at winging it. "We can make it though right?"

"Ah've landed on ships going fastah," Joan said, looking down, then at Beatrix and Juan. "Follow my lead if ya needs tah," She said, kicking off the ledge and beginning her decent.

The "descent" quickly became disorienting as soon as the team left the central tube. Without anything to hold them in place, they could see the entire city scape rotate beneath them as they initially flew in a straight line towards one side of the spinning ring, as if they jumped down a bridge falling onto a moving train. At the current velocity though, they were going to miss the target as it flew beneath them as their faces skidded across the ground at more than a hundred kilometers per hour.

But then the wind kicked in, dragged along by the inner and outerwalls of the rotating ring, and the jetpacks released large sails that caught the air while also activating their thrusters, attempting to match the speed of the traveling ground. It seemed it was moving slower as the lancers moved closer, getting a better view of the rooftops.

However, it didn't move slow enough, or rather, the team didn't move fast enough by the time they made their landing. High-end military training allowed them to hit the first rooftop with their feet and backs, but they then skipped across a couple more platforms at several meters per second, their jetpacks crushing and cruching underneath them, before they came to a relative skidding stop atop a rooftop that was defenitley not the destination.

"... Cowboy, you guys still alive up there?" Eberhard asked with audible concern through the comms.
 

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Joan groaned, getting to her hands and knees, hand on her head. "Yeah..." She coughed, looking around to the rest of her team. "Just 'ad da ground pulled ou' from undah our feet," She said, getting up and disconnecting the now destroyed jetpack. "Sound off! Are we all good?" She asked, checking over her rifle, to make sure the barrel wasn't bent.

"Whoo!" Bee replied, laughing as she brushed herself off. "That was fun. Oh, Bee's ready to go, all limbs functional. Knew I should have taken another lap."

Juan groaned, but stood up shakily and disconected his pack. "Holy shit that sucked, Bandit still reporting alive, despite our best efforts."

"Good," Joan said, approving her weapon and clicking it to her back for the moment. "Ah'd 'ave an 'ard time doing dis wifout you two," She said, getting back on the radio. "All free of us are good," She said. "Dough, we're gonna need a minute ta git back inta position. We're a bit off course."

"Roger that. We're breaching in 10 minutes. Get over there ASAP." Eberhard replied.

"Understood," Joan said, before switching to TEAMCOM and beginning to reorient herself with the map in her hud. "We're... A dis'ance away from da LZ, let's get movin, an keep ou'ah sight, yeah?" She said, starting to walk across the roof. "Ah 'ope none o' ya are worried bout roof 'opping," She added, backing up to get a running start.

"No time to learn like the present," Beatrix said, getting out of her teammate's way. "Doesn't look too bad though."

Joan was the first to cross the first gap between rooftops, followed by the rest of the team moments later. Without weather, the buildings were basically boxes but with rounded edges. Currently quite a few of them were simply metal frames with automated 3D-printing frames surrounding them and applying concrete. They seem to have been shut down now, and the supervisors evacuated, given the current hostage situation.

Now on the ground, the team could see upwards. Buildings in construction lined the entire inner wall of the ring, but the sky view was dominated by the central tube, which was spotted with powerful, variable lights that simulated day-night cycles, with now being mid-day.

After a few more jumps, the Lancers landed on the target building. It was one of the more complete buildings, the concrete walls and roof all there. Airlocking windows were still being installed. There were a few skylights already in place, and those that weren't were barraced up with sheet metal and plastic.
 

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"Glad the gymnastics are over," Bee said, pulling her shield from its carrying case. "Back to what we're best at."

Joan nodded, shouldering her rifle again and heading to the edge of the building. "Well, we kin go down da apples, or, we kin breach da windah," She offered, looking at the team. "We're in position, jus' tryin ta figure ou' 'ow we're gonna git in, yeah?" She said over COM.

Juan wasn't fond of this construction at all. It was cool, sure, but it hurt his head to stare up and see the world wrap around him, a ring of metal and buildings. Juan tried to ignore it as he looked at their situation. "Is there no way to get in quietly?"

"Define quiet," Beatrix said, pulling up the building layout on her PD. "Could kick out the boarded up skylights or windows to get in, but that'll be heard. Could rig up one of the entry points to blow and make a distraction while we go in another way."

"Not a bad idea Bee," Joan said, looking over the ledge. "Oi, Cobal', we're gonna need a few ta git our breach ready, Will letcha know when we're ready," She said before looking at Bee and Juan. "Bandit, ah need ya ta git a breach charge on da winda, 'ave it set ta go off wif da ovah charges. Bee, ya set one on da skylight, ah'll git one on da other one. We're gonna git dis undah way, in dey ain't gonna know wha 'it em yeah?" She asked.

"Be advised, we're breaching in five minutes." Eberhard came through the comms.

"Alright, let's not leave the boss waiting," Bee said, taking her breaching charge over to the indicated skylight. "So, which one are we actually going to use?"

"Eh, probably dis un 'ere," Joan said, looking at Beatrix. "Ah mean, dey all gonna look at da windah yeah? Den we drop in on dem, 'ave a laugh, everfings dandy," She chuckled, shaking her head as she planted her charge. "Bandit, ya 'oldin up all fine in dandy ah 'ope," She said, looking over to where Juan was. "Need some 'elp?"

Juan set the breaching charge as instructed, not talking too much. "No, I've got it. This is closer to what I'm used to, if a bit," he looked up to the world above, "fantastical. Ready to breach with the others."

No more than a minute after Juan placed the last breaching charge, Eberhard commanded. "We're at the backdoor. Misson go in five... four... three... two..."

The final countdown was replaced by several simultaneous explosions, sending metal and plastic shrapnel into and out of the house from multiple sides. As planned, the Lancers threw themselves down into Joan's skylight, while Eberhard and the rest of the police force swarmed through the backdoor. There was a guard in the empty room that the Lancers landed in. Bee deflected a flurry of small machine-gun fire with her shield, causing her once-injured arm to ache slightly, while Juan gunned the assailant down. Below, there was the roar of gunfire, shouting, and a growl mixed in somewhere.

"Hopefully that's just Poodle being tough," Beatrix said, frowning at her left arm before refocusing on the room's exits. "We're going to the rooms without exterior entrances, right?"

"Right'cha are Bee," Joan said, sweeping the room carefully. "Breach wif non-lefals, careful of yer shots in target identification is a priority," She added, moving to one of the interior rooms.

The schematics pointed the Lancers towards the main hallway of the second floor, then a secluded room down it. A quick kick on the room's door busted it open, which was made of simple plastic with a metal frame. Bee was the first to enter, where she found a hail of gunfire waiting for her. The shots were enough to crack the shield even with glancing blows, and ricochet bit at her armor, forcing her to backup right into Juan and Joan, after she caught a glimpse of a man laying prone out of one of the room entrances wielding a machine gun.

"What the hell was that?! That didn't sound like rifle fire!" Eberhard commented through the comms.

"Stupid piece of shit has a machine gun," Bee said, frowning as she looked at her battered shield. "Cowboy, toss a frag or no?"

Joan growled in annoyance as she pulled an offensive grenade off her bandolir. "Naw, shrapnel will 'urt da 'ostages," She said, pulling the pin. She held the spoon tight, quickly peaking around the corner. "Dough, a choke like dis 'as it's consequences," She said, releasing the spoon. 1... 2... She tossed on three, letting it bounce on 4 as it sailed towards the gunner.

"YOU CRAZY---" He didn't finish his insult before the grenade blew up with a bang, right in his face as he tried to stand up and back off. The combined heat and shockwaves threw the gunner into the room and the now-scorched machine gun out, skidding across the floor.

Joan quickly stepped into the door, rifle poised to shoot any further threats that might be in the hallway. "Yeah, ah know ah am," She said in an irritated tone. "Bu' ah ain't got time fer yer nonsense."

"Hey," Bee said, readying her shield again as she walked into the hallway, her pistol off to the side. "Don't get in front of the shieldbearer."
 

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"Ah," Joan said, shaking her head. " 'ow could ah ferget dat?" She said, stepping behind Beatrix. "Lead da way Bee." The other woman nodded and slowly walked towards the doorway the machinegunner had occupied, ready to take out anyone that pointed a gun at her.

Twin pops of a rifle sounded behind Joan as she repositioned. In front of her and Bee was a goon with two bloody holes in his head falling to the ground, with Juan behind them with a cold grip on his metal.

"Lancers, what's your status?" Their boss asked as they stormed into the windowless room. Inside was a body, scorched and their head broken into several pieces. Next to the pooling mess of flesh and blood were a man and a woman, kneeling, bond and gagged by metal zipties, whimpering and wide-eyed at the aftermath of the sudden violence.

After double checking the corners of the room, Beatrix keyed her mic and said, "We've got two hostages and four downed hostiles. Do we know how many hostiles there were? Over."

"Ten," Joan said, her eyes staying vigilant. "In five 'ostages," She added, holding her finger up tp her helmet as if to tell the hostages to shut the fuck up. "We're gonna gitcha outta 'ere, but are da ovah 'ostages up 'ere, er down stairs. Just shake yer 'ead if dere up 'ere," She ordered over her helmet speakers.

The two hostages shook their heads. Eberhard replied through the comms. "We've got the other three civillians downstairs. Rain's escorting them out. Seems that there are a couple more boggies unaccounted for. Keep on the lookout."

"Rog," Joan said to Eberhard, before someone shouted in the hallway.

"DEATH TO THE XENOS!" There was a plink, and a grenade similar to the one Joan threw bounced right next to her. Almost instinctively, she strided, stepped out, and threw the grenade back in the direction it came from.

But it was a bit too late. Joan's visor spiderwebbed under the hail of shrapnel and her heated armor seared her skin. The blast threw her right down the staircase behind her, only for her to stop after a few bumps to the head. Both Bee's and Juan's visors lit up red at the corner, showing Joan's heart rate spiking up and down.

"Contact, contact!" Bee yelled into her mic, waving the hostages into the corner of the room out of the line of fire. "Bandit, you got eyes on anything?"

Juan's eyes got narrower and narrower as the events unfolded before him, feeling a deep rage as he heard Joan's pain. He could see the bastard by the corner, and with gritted teeth he lookied down the sights, and began firing to pound straight through the enemy's cover and into the bastards body.

Joan was still broadcasting as she started wheezing, feeling around with one of her hands as if looking for something. "Ah'm okay, Ah'm okay," She wheezed, repeating herself over and over again, wheezing between each repeat, forcing the words out as she aimlessly searched the floor. Her hand landed on her rifle and she grabbed it, using it to get up but falling over in the process as her leg gave out, her gasping getting heavier. Panic was rising in her voice as she started fumbling with her helmet. "Ah can't see nuffin," She whined, struggling to deal with the locking clips.

"Coming, Cowboy," Beatrix said, holding her shield out to deflect any other surprise attacts as she ran to her teammate.

Juan kept his eyes up. He wanted to run to Joan, to make sure she was okay, but he had to stop himself. Bee was the actual medic, who better to keep Joan alive? He got on comms to Cobalt, his voice calm but with an edge of concer threatening to snap through the facade of machine soldier. "We have one down, Cowboy took the lesser end of a grenade, medic is moving to secure. She's still with us, but she's effectively blind for now."

"Roger. I see you on the staircase. Poodle, secure the first floor." Eberhard replied coldly but quickened.

Bee held back a groan when she saw the damage to Joan's armor, but put her game face on as she put her shield down at the top of the stairs. "Hold still, Cowboy, hold still," she said, popping the helmet's locking clamps to get a look at the other woman's face. "Going into shock," she said under her breath, "Lots of bleeding. Fuck." She keyed her comm as she dug into her bag and said, "Need a medevac for Cowboy, stat. Lots of bleeding and probably internal wounds." She then pulled out a couple of tourniquets and started applying one to Joan's wounded leg, eliciting a strained scream through her . "Bandit, need some help down here once you have everything secured."

Juan moved over, still looking around but focusing mostly on their medic. "What do you need me to do?"

"The 'ostages," Joan whimpered through a mix of passion and confusion, her good arm once again trying to use her rifle to get up. "Guys I can' see ya," she said again, sounding like she was about to cry.

"Keep her down, she's moving way too much," Bee said, finishing off the leg tourniquet and grabbing another. Juan nodded and moved to push Joan down, a bit harder than he wanted, and held the squealing and struggling woman down. "The hostages are fine, Cowboy. Sorry for adding more pain, but at least it means you're alive." With that dark comment out of the way, she started applying the other tourniquet to Cowboy's damaged arm.

Juan took the chance to talk to Joan, his voice low and as calming as he could make it in this situation. "Stay with me Joan, we're trying to help you but we can't have you moving around while we do it. Just focus on my voice, focus on me."
 

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Joan reached around with her hand, setting it on Juan's helmet. "Ah fink ah'm 'urt," she said, bleeding from an impact cut over her eyebrow. "Juan, ah can't 'elp wif da 'ostages," she panted.

Juan held her hand, talking back to her. "Shhh, shh, they're a-ok, you did it, we've got them! But we need to get you back home alright? You're gonna be alright." Juan had very little to add, doing his best not to look at her wounds and tear up. She was going to be alright, she had to be! All he could do was follow the medic's orders.

Eberhard came up the stairs and visibly winced and knelt next to Joan. "Bandit, you and Bee get Cowboy out of here. I'll go clear the second floor." He then stood up and stepped up the stairs.

"One sec," Beatrix said, finishing the tourniquet off and pulling out a syrette of morphine. She then shifted around and stuck the syrette into Joan's good leg. "Hope that helps, Cowboy," she added, before going back to her bag and pulling out a foldable stretcher. "Come on, Bandit, let's get her out of here."

Juan helped Beatrix carry Joan on the stretcher, talking through comms to Joan to comfort her. He kept his eyes up as they moved.

Joan had "relaxed" significantly sure to the morphine. "Juan..." She groaned, her good arm twitching as if to grab something. "Don' let Jacob see me like dis... It'd break 'is 'eart..." She whined, the drug kicking in.

Juan talked to her, his voice soothing and calm. "I'll take care of it Joan, don't you worry."

It took less than a minute to get outside. They were surrounded by policecraft with a couple of ambulances. A trio of hostages were sitting inside one of them, huddled in weighted blankets. A couple of medics stormed over and helped Juan and Bee get Joan onto the other one. One of them took an electric saw to cut Joan out of her armor, while the other strapped instruments to her now exposed body to take vitals.

The medic sighed in relief. "Her vitals are down because of the morphine, but she'll be fine otherwise. We just need to get her to a hospital to treat her burns and shrapnel wounds."

"Thank goodness," Bee said, popping her the seals on her armor before taking the helmet off. "That was a fucking mess and a half."

Juan said nothing, he just watched Joan's status like a hawk. The doctors had said she'd be fine, but he watched regardless.

Eberhard came out with the other three hostages and herded them up to join the others. They had their restraints cut at this point, and medics were attended to them. He shut the ambulence doors just as Poodle marched out with a screaming terrorist, with his own metal zipties bounding him.

"You bitch! Sub-human! You should be locked up in a cage and muzzled!" He growled. Poodle rolled his eyes and whispered something in the terrorist's ear, then kicked him in the leg and forced him to kneal besides one of the cop cars, keeping a pistol aimed at his head. The terrorist stayed quiet afterwards.

"You tell him you're a guy?" Beatrix asked, looking over at the Chongwu with a small smile.

"Heh." Poodle shook his head. "You wanna know?" He gestured her over.

Bee shrugged and walked over, helmet attached to her belt. "So, what'd you say?" she asked.

"That I'd be more than happy to act like one and bite his face off." He replied in a low voice, then chuckled to himself.

"Poodle! Cut it out." Captain Rain scolded.

"Roger that boss." Poodle's ears flopped backwards. "Anyways... she'll be alright?" He asked Bee. She replied by laughing.
 
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