Into the storm

[runmakitarun]

As the last of the team files through the door Makita closes it firmly behind herself and leads the way over to the window. Down in the square below twelve people move purposefully through the snow.

The six women are mostly unremarkable. One stands out as being exceptionally tall, one is short enough to almost look like a child, and hair of various colors and lenghts and styles can be seen escaping from their warm hats. The six men, however, stand out. The smallest is six and a half feet tall and looks to weigh at least 270 pounds. All twelve of them move with the smooth grace of practiced killers.

Makita doesn't bother whispering as she points them out, "See how they move in pairs? Each sorceress has her Guardsman a few paces behind her. You can see that even in a group they're thinking in twos. When we hit them, I want us to concentrate on splitting as many pairs as we can. They operate much less efficiently when their teams are broken up."

"There's another square like this a few blocks down. If they're headed of our HQ, then they'll have to go through it. If we move fast we can get there first and set up." She shoulders her rifle and looks at her team again, "Let's keep it fast and quiet."

So saying, Makita leads the way out the door, heading toward the rear fire escape for the building.

Comments

[slayer_fray]

"Right."

Mel feels the need for no other words, and follows Makita closely, hands free and swinging.

She might not look like she's trying to be quiet or sneaky or anything other than out for a stroll, but her movements are silent anyway. It's just instinct.

In the plaza

[theredstars.livejournal.com]

As Miho's blade flicks out, the guardsman's eyes widen in sudden shock, and then pain. He won't be underestimating her any longer, but that's mostly because he's only got seconds before he bleeds to death in the snow. Blood spills down to stain his armor and pool across the surface of the snow, and even though he's a dead man he strives to complete his mission. The massive man stumblingly spreads his arms and throws himself clumsily at Miho.

To the east

[theredstars.livejournal.com]

The sorceress who's guardsman Mel just blew up shoots a momentary look of intense rage at the... flying girl. Then she turns and sprints to eastward. Her hand darts into her coat and comes out with a small cylinder. She pulls the pin, mumbling to herself, and her eyes glow bright white.

Then, abruptly, she spins in place to reveal that she's holding a massive glowing silhouette. It looks like a really large auto cannon, and there's a cruel smirk on her face as she yells, "Come on then!"

To the west

[theredstars.livejournal.com]

After Makita took down her first target, the sorceress started to chase her. But with all the other combat going on, there's a shift in direction. The witch cuts an angle and begins moving west quickly. She needs some space before coming back to kill the ambushers. The sorceress moves with the long, ground-eating lope of someone who actually knows how to move in the snow as she leaves the plaza.

To the north

[theredstars.livejournal.com]

Despite the sudden outburst of violence, one pair of Reds manages to get through the entire initial ambush untouched. The sorceress and her guardsman are close to solid cover and move immediately into an ordered withdrawal. The guardsman fires a few bursts into the plaza in order to try to suppress any ambushers, but he's mostly concentrating on covering his charge as they run north, mostly managing to keep cover between themselves and the plaza itself.

To the south

[theredstars.livejournal.com]

When the mines Krauser planted go off, everyone in the plaza can feel the reverberations. Of ccourse the Reds are used to mines, and they know that most of the damage gets done by shrapnel so their shields are supposed to keep their sorceresses alive even in a minefield. But the alleyway is tight and the mines build up enormous overpressure which has nowhere to go.

That much pressure would disorient anyone, and even the Reds haven't found a way to shield against that. Anyone standing inside that alley would need at least three or four minutes to figure out what's going on. Krauser didn't give anyone those few minutes. When he steps out of the alley, there's one less Red sorceress in Bahamut.