Speranza was founded nearly 200 years ago by a fellow named Giralmo Speranza. It later became the sanctuary for many refugees from maverick attacks around the Middle East. Giralmo Speranza was a man who had lived in Area Zero for a long time, until he moved out to establish this city. It was once a thriving city until the Legion government was set up. It became a back-door city-state, and, isolated, faded into history...

Now, only a small number of townsfolk still remain. The Armani Guild have taken up residence here, and manage and maintain the town.

Price finally arrived after a day's worth of travel, at the gates of the old city. Revving down the engines of the Ride Chaser, he parked it beside the first ancient building. He jumped off with Zexen slowly standing on his feet.

"I never thought I'd feel the dirt again," he said, shifting for a moment. That was a looong trip.

"Stop complaining, we've arrived back at Speranza," Price took the stairs down into the little valley, where below the town was alive with activity. People were all gathered around the fountain, whether they are conversing or just enjoying the weather.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7jhnVdLz50 theme , sound familiar?)
Price and Zexen approached one out of the blue, one wearing the Armani crest... a bird of prey on their shoulder.

They were talking to a young woman in a long dress, but she backed away when he eyed Price. His eyes became larger, with blue irises right on Zexen and Price. "Price, you've returned?"

"Where is she?" Price asked with a sudden anxiety, he held out a hand, pointing at him.

"Where's who?" Zexen questioned him. He hadn't seen Price like this since he met him yesterday. Price is hiding something from him.

"Heh, I had a feeling this was going to be the first thing out of your mouth," the older man said. He turned around, and beckoned them. "Venite in questo modo, Price. I'm sure she'll be just as anxious to meet you, too."

Zexen began to follow, but Price stopped him, holding up a hand. "This is me alone, but there is someone here for you to meet too."

Zexen raised a brow. "Just tell me where.."

"Urai should be up on the ridge, painting as usual." Price said.

"Urai..? So the Fey's are still alive?" Zexen was excited to meet his only child-hood friend after he left this place. "I'll gladly do so.."

He began to walk away, then it turned into a run out of the small courtyard. Back to a small home at last...

"Oh my god, Price. You won't understand how happy Miss Robles will be to see you." The older man opened a door to one of the buildings, and inside it seemed built into the hill- Because inside was an even larger complex, with rooms, a dining table, hallways, and even a big holovision set.

"You have no idea how happy I will be to see her," Price said with a smile. He'd gotten him and Zexen out of the frying pan, now, after an entire decade... He'll finally have his love again...

"Urai!" Zexen shouted, jogging up the hill towards the little club-house on the horizon. The guy seemed to be scoping something out, with binoculars. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Zexen. "Zemaru? By the maker, you've been gone almost four years, right?" They seemed to be in agony, remembering something. "Right?"

Oh, yeah.. Zexen lowered his head, feeling a little sadness. Urai has memory awareness issues.. "Something like that, man." He held out his arm and Urai took it with great joy.

"Dude, I thought you died. Honestly, the way everyone spoke about you.." He closed his eyes. "But I never believed them!"

"Who told you that?" Zexen asked him with suspicion. He could bet it was the Berkely Twins.

"Ugh..." Urai held his head. "Damn, man.. I can't remember."

Zexen patted him on the shoulder. "It don't matter, man." He looked out at the plains, where he was using binoculars. "What were you looking for anyway?"

"Stallions." Urai let him use the binoculars, and here Zexen could notice his friend was dressed in rags. He felt so terrible, wearing his expensive Legion outfit out here. He let his mind drift to the word.

"Stallions?" Zemaru took the binoculars and put them up to his face, peering over the great plains. His jaw dropped. "You mean actual.. horses?

Out on the grassy green hills, were majestic four-legged animals. They were so fast and graceful, and had beautiful white manes and tails made of almost mystical hair. It was something out of an old documented book.

"I see what you're saying." Zexen smiled, handing the binoculars back.
-
"Maria?" Price had been very excited, standing up from his chair in the small room. He had switched to a normal outfit, bearing no look of the 'Captain' he was only hours ago. He embraced the thin woman with blond hair, and they drew close together. It was felt through the air, the love.

"Price..." She was at a loss of words. "He didn't tell me you were here."

"I thought you should see it for yourself, Miss Robles." The older Armani had prided himself. He folded his arms, watching the scene with a smile.

"I thought you were gone forever, Price." She started swaying with him, moving her arms up around his neck. "I was afraid."

"There was nothing to be afraid of," Price continued holding her dear.

[Continued from Neo Arcadia: Ruins]

The Hunter airship was still quite distant from the town; certainly not close enough to be seen by the denizens. However, it was not of Jun's intention to expose the airship so blatantly to the population. The blue mechanical whale started to lower altitude into the field below, staying away from the roads. The vessel eventually landed smoothly, at least twenty kilometers away from Speranza. The remaining distance would not be a concern; that was what the motorcycles were for.

"... And that's the plan." Jun said from the cockpit. "Any questions?"

"Not on my end."

Kaira unstrapped herself from her seat and stood up, pulling off her Hunter jacket; she then dug around in her duffel bag for something else to put on over her bodysuit. She settled for a dark green hooded sweatshirt and pulled it on over her head. She didn't have any other Hunter markings on her, except for her assault rifle, but she planned to leave that behind.

Something occured to her, and she glanced at Bowen and Tina as she strapped on her sidearm. "Okay, maybe one. You two want to go in seperately, or stay together? We're twenty klicks from town, so there's plenty of room for us to split up and come from different directions."

[From Neo Arcadia Ruins]

Tina initially shook her head when Jun asked if there were any more questions. She unbuckled herself and stood up. However, she began to grow concerned about her appearance after the other woman, Kaira, donned a different set of clothes; a disguise. Although Tina's attire did not show the Hunter insignia, the orange coloration as well as her handgun could potentially reveal her Hunter status. Tina did not have an extra set of clothes... It couldn't be helped.

Kaira's suggestion had some logic to it. If they split up, they wouldn't necessarily be identified as a group... Instead of speaking, though, Tina simply looked towards Jun, awaiting his answer.

"... Er... well... I kind of need a ride, you know." Bowen timidly responded at the proposition as he left his seat.

"Do as you please." Jun said without turning around. "Just be inconspicuous."

"You ride with me then," Kaira answered. "We'll circle around and head into town from the opposite direction as Tina."

Tina acknowledged Kaira's plan with a nod. "Right, then," she said. "Which direction do you plan on taking?" she asked as she began to walk towards where the motorcycles were stored...

There was a distant groaning, but it seemed faint. The quinine animals froze in place, stiffing in the sun-light. Zexen could sense something was wrong, as could his friend, who was shaking."

"Urai," he began.

"Look," Urai directed his finger towards the horizon, to see five, no, six vehicles moving towards them. They all bore the Four-way crossed swords. They were of no known origin, and had four laser cannons mounted on each making the vehicles a very intimidating force to be reckoned with.

"Holy crap," Urai shouted and began to run away, leaving his 'good pal' behind on the hill.

Zexen felt compromised. "Thanks asshole.." he whispered, and tried to see a better view. What were they, transports?

A red laser smacked him in the chest, causing him to roll down the hill with a thud. His arm fell off to the left and he was moaning from the pain. They burned a hole in his favorite vest. They would pay for that..
-Moments Later-
Price, after spending a while alone with the dear woman he hadn't seen in 10 years, rushed outside upon hearing what happened to his apprentice. Zexen had stood up by this time, but Price continued to check him down. "Zexen, che cazzo? What happened?"

"Look there's.. no time, Armani," Zexen began to panic. "There are armored vehicles heading our way." The crowd gasped, and Price took a step backwards.

"You... are you serious?" He held a fist in his arms. "The damn Legion government has no jurisdiction here, and even then they're going to endanger the lives of these people?"

"Look," Zexen rubbed the back of his head, "I can tell you as a fact, they're not Legion-manufactured."

Bowen felt the question was directed at him. "Let's see..."

"... Hold that thought, all of you." Jun interjected. "I'm picking up something else headed towards Speranza... from the opposite direction." The Hunter stopped briefly to analyze the data. "Six high energy readings...? And the patterns... this can't be right..." Jun said with incredulity as he looked closely at the screen. "... the signals are equivalent to those of large Mechaniloids or heavy duty battle vehicles."

"What the hell would heavy-duty battle vehicles be doing running up on Speranza?"

Kaira walked up behind the pilot's seat and looked over Jun's shoulder. "Can you identify them? You don't think they're raiders or something, do you?"

'Cause that would be just peachy. Dodging a heavilly-armed group of raiders while dealing with Price was exactly what she'd had her hopes set on when she woke up that morning.

Tina didn't make it out the door to the bridge. She turned around and stepped back towards the group.

"I don't think even Raiders are stupid enough to attempt to force their way in and blow their cover like that. They could be Mavericks."

More energy beams were hurdled into the city, and a panic arose. The man who had guided Price around emerged with a blaster rifle and several more of his men carrying seeker sniper rifles, all loading up their guns or getting ready for battle.

"Price, we've got some kind of force attacking the outer areas of Speranza!"

"I kinda noticed that, sir!" He was thrown a rifle and looked over it, with his frown dying for a moment. "Who are they?"

"They're Grade-A military Personal Carriers with 12 inch cannons, that's enough to take out a Titanium wall."

"You're joking," Zexen said while quickly standing up. He limped over, even though he felt fine.. or so he wanted them to think.

"Zexen, I don't think you're going to be battleing any time soon," Price ushered him behind.
-
The Personal Carriers began unloading and soldiers jumped down from the hovering tanks. They all charged towards Speranza, chanting a growing battle cry. Some were beginning to take up firing positions between trees, crouch down into a mass of rocks for cover while others were proceeding over the hill.

"Oh, my, god," Price flipped backwards, and took cover immediately beside a shack as the fireworks had started. Zexen was quickly pulled inside the Cavern entrance by the City guardian, who was prepping his own weapon.

"What the fuck are they? Legion's military isn't this sufficient!"

"... I can't gather specific data from this distance. There is only one way to know for sure." Jun eventually responded. "Go to Speranza as planned and tell me the situation as soon as you arrive. Worst case scenario, don't play heroes; stay away from trouble. Understood?"

"Right. Screw splitting up, we go in together." Kaira glanced at Tina and Bowen in turn, then headed back to the cargo hold.

She had no idea what was going on now, but the situation definitely looked bad. The shitty thing was that the group was in no position to help; they had four people, three motorcycles and a banged-up airship with limited firepower. Kaira was now less worried about Price and more about the fact that dozens of innocent people were liable to get hurt or killed.

The cargo bay was mostly empty as she entered it, the large space making the motorcycles seem rather tiny. Normally she would be pleased to be using them. She had a thing for motorcycles, and the quick ride to circle around Speranza would've at least been entertaining. There wasn't much time for fun now, however.

Ignoring the bikes for the immediate moment, Kaira strode to the starboard side of the hold and started working the controls for the loading ramp and the bay door. Light flooded into the hold moments later, accompanied by a pleasant breeze as the door began to rise.

"Nice out here," she said to nobody in particular. "Too bad we don't get to enjoy it."

Tina quickly made her way to the cargo bay and pushed her motorcycle down the now open ramp. She heard Kaira mutter a remark about it being 'nice out there.' Tina had to agree wither her; it was a shame that such a crazy series of events could happen on such a day. When she looked off into the distance towards the town, Tina couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. What would be waiting for them once they arrived...?

"It looks like we're going to be fighting in-doors. We can't repel the attack that easily," Price had been backed into a corner with the armed men around him. He popped a canister into the back of his weapon, and straightened the barrel up to seal the ammo in.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_cuRfSGHpA )
Two soldiers trudged up the slope with large cannons. Once on the hill, they were aiming down their sights.

Price was faster. He nailed the first one in a three-shot burst, traveling up his chest. The armed soldier dropped the weapon and rolled backwards down the hill and his cannon dropped. The other had began to fire when he was hit in the shoulder, the cannon's energy beam went off course and burned a hole right through the fountain in the center of the town.

"Okay, we need better ground than this!" Price ordered. It was time he took his place as a Captain yet again. "Let's go!'

The soldiers reluctantly followed behind him, all falling back. They only hoped the rest of the town wouldn't be slaughtered.
-
Zexen had been shoved into a closet with a young lady, lights off. Normally, this would be some sort of teenaged game the kids would play in which intimacy was in play. However, the girl was frightened and clung onto him for dear life. He had no idea how to react.

"Uhh, what's your name?" He said impulsively, backed against the wall by her. An explosion rocked the wall, and her hold around him tightened. He was now having difficulty breathing.

"My name's Luce!" she screamed.

OOC: If you'll introduce NPCs, post their profiles in the NPC topic using the appropriate templates.

------

"Here, Kaira!" Bowen quickly brought out Kaira's motorcycle, handing over the woman's helmet as he approached. He was already wearing his own, of course; he was no stranger to hitching a ride with his female partner, which is the reason a sidecar had been added to it. "By the way, I know I say this a lot, but please try to drive safely..."

With a grin, Kaira took her helmet from Bowen and strapped it on.

"I always drive safely," she countered, climbing onto the bike. "Yep, I am in complete control of the vehicle at all times. Whether the vehicle stays on all three wheels at any given time is irrelevant!"

She turned the key and cranked the starter, revving the engine as it roared to life.

Tina slid her visor down over her face. It latched into place with a click. Her eyes and nose were covered by the visor. Tina revved up her yellow motorcycle and looked over to Kaira and Bowen. She nodded to them and began to drive forward. The air kicked her ponytail up as she began to accelerate. There was no time to lose...

The militia of the city was quickly beaten into submission with the superior firepower of this new threat. The soldiers began making long formations of lines in the town square, where a man in black armor and a cape strode down the hill from one of the transports.

"Find me the Armani's and all allies. They are an enemy to our country!" He commanded, holding his arm out to the left in a signal.

"That's what I'm scared of!" Bowen replied as he hopped onto the sidecar and buckled up; his life was now in Kaira's hands.

Kaira promptly accelerated after Tina; she decided to give Bowen a little bit of a break and didn't bother to pop a wheelie in the process.

Handling a bike with a sidecar on it, she noted not for the first time, was a lot different than a regular motorcycle. Turns had to be significantly more wide, and the vehicle took up about three times the usual amount of space. It was nothing she hadn't done before, but she always had to take a minute to get used to not being able to lean into turns.

Fortunately, the road didn't have a lot of sharp turns. Keeping up with Tina therefore wouldn't be a problem. Kaira just hoped there was still a town left to search when they arrived.

Tina glanced in the rear-view mirror on the handlebar. Kaira and Bowen were catching up. That was good; they all needed to be together. Tina could see thecity up ahead. The detail in the buildings became more evident as they approached. It was only a matter of time before they were finally within the city limits and near the source of the commotion.

As it appeared more of the oddly shaped tanks were in the horizon, but what else was seen was truly baffling. The militants were attacking the structures here completely leveling them using large blue and red laser batteries. All around were the black-suited soldiers, all making a move towards the occupied town square where they all stood at attention.

Back at the square, the fountain had stopped flowing water and began to dry up as they pried open the doors of every building, all marching in and performing a large search.

"Hey- This door's a passage!" An eager warrior pried the door from its hinges and marched inside to see a large corridor, that split off into two wings. There were civilians running left of the hallway. As they were spotted, five other men came in to join the soldier who discovered this passage. As soon as they all marched inside, two distinct beeps sounded.

"Wait-," one warned, when the corridor exploded in a fury of high calibur detonators. The entrance had caved in on itself, trapping the five men inside the smoken ruin.

"Hey, guys.. activate IR? I can't see a thing all of a sudden." He said to the rest of them, only to see a small blade ignite and pierce one of the men. Quickly, the blade dispatched the other four with ease, and it slowly angled towards him.

"Surrender to the... Royal Mediterranean States.." Was all he said, while backing up and reloading his rifle in utter darkness. Wait, no- he tripped on some rubble. He lost grip on his rifle, where was it?

The blade came down on him, and his world joined the darkness around him.
-
"You're choking me, Luce.." Zexen coughed, noticing the crack of the door suddenly lost its light. The explosion must've been just outside, which was frightening. Had the enemy got inside already? He could immediately hear the blaster fire and the dispatching of the soldiers, hitting the ground.

Footsteps came towards his door, and Luce gasped. He put his arms around her and shushed her. He readied his own hidden blade...

The door opened to the darkness, and there was a tall figure waiting for them. It reached inside and clicked a button. Lights flared on, showing the angry face of Price Armani.

"Oh my god, Price! You had me convinced I was a goner," he groaned, letting go of Luce.

She looked at Price, and back to Zexen. "You're an Armani? Please help us, then!"

"I just did," Price thumbed at the rubble. "I just bought us some time. May be a few minutes, but we can't spare any of them. Let's go!" Indicating that the enemy would probably find a way in faster. He also had more worrying him, the words that soldier had just spoken.. The Royal Mediterranean States were out of their jurisdiction to launch such an assault on a sovereign city, but it didn't matter now that they were here. Diplomacy and politics would have to wait, because right now survival is all that's needed.

"Is there something you aren't telling me, Price?" Zexen asked him while rushing Luce out and down the slightly illuminated path.

"I'll try to explain it to you afterwards," Price nodded and rushed down the hallways. "The squad regrouped with the Curator of this museum, you know, the man we were talking to earlier."

"Right, right.. so are we heading in their direction?"

"No, you two are heading with the rest of the evacuee's," Price said as he picked up the rifle dropped by one of the enemy soldiers and cocked it up. "I have to help out on the other side, not you."

"What's your deal, Price?" He demanded to know, while still fast paced towards the left wing. Ever since yesterday morning, there seemed to be some tiny tension hidden behind Price's preemptive attitude."You don't trust me anymore."

"Truth is, how can I with what happened with the Guardians?" He slipped by mistake. He hadn't wanted to voice his opinion to Zexen like that, no. It came out brash and rude.

"Whatever, I'll see you when you're done playing hero," Zexen turned the corner.

"I wonder if the situation can really be as bad as the radar hinted." Bowen commented during the trip as he felt more at ease. "Even if Price is there... wouldn't it be overkill to send heavy armed vehicles after just one guy? And why would Mavericks attack a backwater place like Speranza anyway? If it's in the radar, it's in the radar, but it doesn't make sense at all."

"I have no idea who could be behind this action," replied Kaira. "It doesn't really make any sense. Raiders wouldn't attack a city en masse like this, and neither would mavericks. They're too disorganized to pull an offensive of this size, so it's gotta be someone else."

Kaira furrowed her eyebrows, and twisted the throttle a little harder as she shifted gears. "No guarantee they're after Price, either."

She tipped her head forward, focusing on her commlink to set it to the local Hunter frequency. "Tina. As soon as we get close, let's ditch the bikes and move in on foot. We don't want to give ourselves away, and we have no idea what's going on in the village."

"Roger that," Tina replied. She twisted the throttle and began to increase her speed as well. Tina believed that ditching the bikes would leave them vulnerable and easy targets for whatever was waiting for them. However, she understood Kaira's concern and ultimately agreed with her. Going by foot would allow them more cover and draw less attention to them.

Meanwhile outside, the troops were beginning to search the outskirts and the other large areas of the town. Particularly, the big armored Commander from the square was taking interest in a small underground water system where civilians and militia were trying to escape using small escape boats. Many were being sunk by the tank brigades, and the survivors were being netted out and taken prisoner, all accounting.

No reports of Price, yet... They had to keep searching for the blasted Armani's.

When roughly two thirds of the distance between the airship and Speranza had been crossed, Bowen drew his binoculars to catch a glimpse of the city. Hopefully, this would give them some preliminary insight on the situation... which it did. And the prospect did not seem good.

"Son of a Raider..." He said with a baffled tone. "The place looks like a bleeping warzone... are those soldiers right outside...? Wait, their uniforms... I can't believe it!" He exclaimed while putting the binoculars down. "Kaira, tell Tina to stop right now!"

Kaira hit the brakes, the bike skidding to a halt underneath them. "Tina, hold up, something's wrong."

As she turned to look at Bowen, she flipped up the visor on her helmet. "What's the matter?"

Tina caught the remark and hit the breaks. She turned the motorcycle around and drove back to Kaira's and Bowen's position. Tina stopped when she arrived on the left side of Kaira's vehicle and manually turned the motorcycle around. The Hunter rested her right foot on the ground and waited for the two to elaborate.

Price had regrouped with the older man, quickly coming across a large corridor where the militia were taking cover around debris. Meanwhile the squad leader had ducked behind the corner.

"Where's Maria?" Price asked quickly, with a rushed concern.

He stared at Price with large eyes, and a grim expression. "They've got her captive, Price..-

"What?!"

"Let me finish!" He hissed. "We're trying to get her back as we speak-" A blaster bolt flew by them and smacked the wall, leaving a dark mark on the old wall.

"I think you should have told me sooner!" Price raised his voice, peering around the corner from his location. A blaster bolt marked one of the militia in the corner, sending him into a sitting position. However, at the end of this hallway were dark armored soldiers, trained and armed. If there was a place to take cover, they were using it. The weapons being used were frightening, using no recoil whatsoever while being fired. A trail of blaster fire painted the wall with more black splotches, and another one of the Speranza personnel went down, this time in agony.

"If you want to help me, Price," he threw a small communicator at him. Price flipped the switch on, and attached it to his fore-arm.

"Va bene, Uncle," Price nodded and pulled something from his pocket. It was a red and black sphere with a rectangle formation. "Now, watch this. I doubt they're ready for this kind of resistance." He angled it perfectly, threw the grenade straight into the center.

It hit the floor, and one scrambled to go throw it back. It began beeping as he gripped it and tossed, however the beeping still stayed. It exploded, stuck to the enemy soldier's hand. It took out the other seven, leaving one who fell over trying to crawl away. He was shot in the back, and ceased his struggles.

"Show-off," his Uncle rushed around the corner with the remaining three men and Price who was in no mood to acknowledge the joke.
-

"We just had a flat-line in the underground hallways," A black soldier handed the communicator to The heavy shadowed Commander. He took it and listened to the report, and then gripped it with no delicacy. With his Legions still moving in behind, and the tanks firing in the background, he muttered one thing while unsheathing his saber.

"Armani."

"You'll have to see it with your own eyes..." Still baffled, Bowen handed over the binoculars to Kaira.

"It looks like Speranza is under siege by the military... But they're not Legion soldiers; that's the Royal Mediterranean uniform...!"

"What."

It wasn't a question, but more a flat statement of disbelief. Kaira took the binoculars from Bowen and lifted them to her eyes, zooming in with them as far as she could. Sure enough, Royal Mediterranean soldiers were swarming the town ahead of them.

"What in the name of sex, drugs, and rock & roll are they doing laying siege to Speranza? I am awake, right? I didn't bang my head getting into the airship, leading to this very vivid yet completely senseless hallucination?"

Kaira lowered the binoculars and handed them to Tina. "Cause I have to say, if this is real life then what the fuck, am I right? This situation makes less sense than a metool in a strip club."

Tina took the binoculars and looked through them. She didn't know which was less believable; what she saw or the profanities that had just escaped Kaira's lips. Tina bit her lip slightly before she lowered binoculars and handed them back towards Kaira.

"This is insane," Tina responded. "What in the name of the Almighty would cause the States' own military to attack one of its own towns?! You don't suppose there's a military coup happening right now, do you?"

The hunters would soon find two large tanks headed right for them, seeming to tail in behind. The turrets were all switching around and relocating, trying to get a fix on them.

"LEAVE," blared over an intercomm. "THIS IS NOT YOUR FIGHT."

"What the...?!" Bowen looked behind his shoulder to see the tanks circling around and maneuvering behind them. He knew they would be way in over their heads if they proceeded. "Man, this doesn't look good... we gotta bail out of here pronto!"

On some level of her electronic consciousness, Kaira wondered exactly how in the hell two tanks had managed to sneak up on them when they'd approached Speranza from the opposite side as the Mediterranean troops.

Another level was mentally comparing their chances against two tanks with only a handgun and a couple of rifles.

The third level in this mental cluster was laughing her ass off at the second one, while the fourth spent a few moments amusing herself with an image of the two motorcycles being chased through the forest by the tanks, with comedic musical accompaniment.

Kaira herself spent about two seconds marveling at the chaotic inner workings of her mind before she kicked the bike into gear again. "We came all the way out here for nothing? Jun's gonna be pissed."

Without waiting for a response, Kaira popped the clutch and spun the bike around, throwing rocks across the road as she turned herself and Bowen back toward the airship.

"You have got to be kidding me," Tina growled. She quickly followed Kaira and Bowen. There was nothing they could do there. They would have to get Legion to back them up at this rate...! Just what the hell was going on here?!

A laser blast scorched the hill-side near the bikes, the tanks had fired off a warning shot. They seemed to be veering off, now, and back to the fight.

Inside, the pilot seemed to be watching them. "They won't be finding anything to salvage here," he muttered. Behind him, the co-pilot had to ask.

"Why'd you fire at them?"

"It was the only fun I've gotten all day, come on. This totally beats the simulations, too."

"Whoa!!" Bowen shouted in terror as the tank fired towards them. They were retreating, so why did they attack?! Either way, there was only one thing to do from his position.

"Jun!" The Hunter yelled through the communicator. "You won't believe it! Speranza is under attack by the Royal Mediterranean and I'm not joking! They just fired at us as we turned back!"

"... Believe it or not, I believe you." Jun replied through the comm. "And I also know why they might be there; but first, what's your status?"

"We're OK... so far!" Bowen replied with one hand on the communicator and another holding firmly onto the sidecar. "But if those tanks fire again, we're screwed...!"

"I think we're pretty screwed now," Kaira retorted. She gunned the throttle, wanting as much distance between them and the tanks as she could get, as fast as she could get.

"That bastard...!" Tina yelled in response the tank's blast! "If only I had that weapon..." she said to herself under her breath. She stayed as close to Kaira as she could. She didn't want anything to do with the tanks at this point. Unless she had the legendary weapon, she would be helpless.

Price and the remaining crew made it down several hallway stretches with little resistance. Maybe two or three so far, it was really odd at this point. He reloaded yet again in the dark tunnels, when he decided to ask. "Do you think we're going to hit a trap?"

"Ambush, perhaps. With no fight at all, they have to be sealing off other access and entries," His uncle replied. "If that's the case, then we won't reach the civilians at the sewage exit," he responded. He made a hmm noise, and then slowed his pace. "Price, what happened to Zemaru?"

"We had a disagreement, and I told him to evac with the first group," Price said without much eagerness. He had to help evacuate and rescue Maria. "Look ahead."

Ahead of them was the water system's exit, but what was baffling was the disappearance of the enemy soldiers and his own that had been waiting there.

"No way," the Older man whispered. He held up finger gestures, signs to wait. Then he formed two fingers and pointed out there. He wanted someone to do some reconnaissance.

In an instant, the third trooper had ran along the wall, pressed against it like a frightened feline and just made it to the sunlight. He peered up at the fencing above them, he could hear the combat but could see not a single trace of threats.
-
Zexen had snapped. I didn't even mean to do it.. but damn it, he just set me off. He had rendezvoused with the first groups like he was told, and the girl he had 'shared body warmth' with earlier had blended into the crowd. He wondered if he'd even see Luce again, when three quick chirp-beeps sounded and the lights all broke, glass and electrical sparks flying around for a moment. The entire group stopped, in dark silence.

Just as he had thought, the girl appeared out of the darkness and latched onto his arm, shivering uncontrollably. It made him very uneasy himself, but he tried his best not to shake. He had no weapon to even defend himself at this point.

If I had a biometal, this would all be so easy..

"Stop whining and return quickly. We'll discuss our next course of action then."

Jun immediately ended the call and shifted his attention to a parallel channel. "It's just as you said. The Royal Mediterranean is here."

"After Saiban's recent speech, it was easy to connect the dots." Another male voice replied; it was surprisingly gentle, but it still carried a firm tone. "However, he couldn't have taken action so quickly, let alone with the artillery you described... That was far too fast."

"We can't do anything to stop them." Jun added. "The army will crush them and anyone else in the town."

"They still have a chance." The other man responded calmly. "Did you send the distress signal?"

"Yes." Jun affirmed. "Legion will likely intercept it, then order the platoon headed to the camp to investigate the situation. There is a chance the Guardians may also receive the signal, but I doubt either of them will make it in time; according to the others, the army already laid siege in the town."

"You've done everything you could." Said the other man. "Now it's up to that man to at least stall them out."

"What?" Jun questioned in surprise. "Are you sending the one I'm thinking of to face the army by himself?"

"I couldn't stop him if I tried." The man remarked. "Try to monitor the situation and keep me updated."

"I will." Jun perked his face towards the window, getting a look at the road. He could eventually see his colleagues approaching in the distance. "I must break contact now." Jun said quickly before ending the transmission.

------

In the opposite side of Speranza, a large bird Mechaniloid suddenly became visible to the Royal Mediterranean troops. The sunlight shined on its blue and silver frame as it rapidly approached. It could easily be mistaken for a Maverick, were it not for the fact that on closer inspection, it was serving as the mount for a bulky humanoid wearing a full battle armor. He firmly held onto his trusty pole weapon with one hand as the other maintainted its grip on the bird. Neither seem intimidated by the presence of the military...

Kaira made a face at Jun's comment as the call disconnected.

"I think being shot at by a tank is perfectly legitimate grounds for whining!"

Still, the airship was in sight and they had planning to do. She would have to worry about annoying Jun in response later.

She slowed the bike quickly, then pulled around behind the ship and revved the engine as she guided it up the ramp into the cargo bay. She wasn't going to worry about strapping it down for the moment; if they were going to leave immediately, then Jun wouldn't have said anything about figuring out their next move.

"Alright, let's see what Grouchy McJerkpants has in mind. It better be good."

Tina frowned but also drove her motorcycle up the loading ramp. She stopped at the top, shut the engine down, and propped the motorcycle up with it's kickstand.

It took a moment for it to fully click, but innocent lives were currently being lost in Sperenza. Was another war going to break out...? She couldn't help but feel hopelessness. But the reality was that nothing they could do would help, even if they really wanted to. After all, they were still there for a bounty...

I know being a Hunter isn't supposed to have easy, ethical situations, she thought. But an entire city is being leveled, and we can't even find out why.

------------------------------

A flock of white songbirds flew over the city. One of the birds at the rear of the flock slowed. It tilted its head down. Its eye seemed to dilate and shrink several times as it stared at carnage below...

The rest of the troops ran along the wall, with Price at the back and his Uncle towards the front. There really was no resistance waiting them...
"Alright, the civilians should've already ran through here. We're going to meet up with the final crowd, then we're taking an airship out of here."

"What about AA?" The third trooper asked him, as if he were mad. "The anti-aircraft cannons would rip us to smithereens."

Price found a way he could be useful. "They were bombing the city earlier, were they not?" He asked, formulating the idea.

"Yeah, so?"

"They were shooting blind." Price reminded him, and smirked. However, it didn't appear his logic caught on with the third man.

"You wanna fly that low? You're crazy."

"No, you idiot." The second finally interjected. "He's saying we can use the artillery beacons to our advantage and take out the AA gun they've deployed." He backhanded the third on his neck, and nodded. "Yo, Price.. that's pretty risky. You sure you don't want one of us to try it?"

"Leave it to me," Price had already thrown his rifle up above the wall and climbed out of the reservoir. Once he got to a crouching position, he could see the Anti-aircraft all by itself. He went prone, crawling towards the thing. Beside it he could see an operator, calling in artillery strikes. How convenient.

The aircraft cannon was locking onto a large bird mechaniloid in the sky. Price didn't have enough time to double-take. It began firing at the thing in the sky, using precise penetration shells.

Seeing his opportunity, Price dropped his rifle and sprinted towards the guy. His hood was already up, revealing his identity. His plasma blade had already extended, ready for a kill or maim. The operator was far too slow, turning at the last second to collide with the assassin. Price rammed the blade into his gut, almost flipping him due to the speed.

He fell with a moan, and Price took the monitor from him. This was indeed odd, where were all the soldiers? He took the radio and called it in. "Enemy have captured AA gun. Strike it now!"

He realized he should've been running away while this was happening, so he threw the radio down and smashed it. That would be convincing enough for the RMS to begin their bombardment. Already now, Price could hear the rocket propelled artillery whizzing down behind him. He heard it collide with the AA gun and explode. A piece of debris hit him in his back, a tiny metal chunk. He grunted and picked up his rifle, slowing down. Soon the enemy soldiers would be back to investigate. He slid down to find the group waiting.

"You actually did it, holy cow." His Uncle said. "Now we can make it to the ship."

"What about Maria?" Price demanded, stifling down the empty drain with them.

His Uncle returned a glance. It was a very uneasy look. "Price.. you need to understand what we're in right now. We've got to rescue the civilians, first."

His open hand turned to a fist, but he nodded.
-
Zexen was tensed up, with the leech on his arm. At the end of the hallway, red lights appeared. They were laser-dots of the enemy soldiers, aiming against the walls and such.

"No, everyone duck down." He whispered. At that instant, he dropped to laying on the cold floor, everyone else following in his footsteps. The lasers darted through the hall, but not a single one hit the civilians. Even the two flank soldiers were covering, but didn't fire off. It would have been a genocide if they even fired off a single shot.

"There's no one in this hall. Keep going," one of the enemy men said. They all moved down the other, footsteps deafening from the civilian party. It was a close call, nearly cost them death. If it weren't for Zexen's sudden timing, they would've been shot to death.
-
"Our Anti-aircraft cannon was just fired on," reported the field Lieutenant to the Dark-clad Commander, who was already walking up the hill to investigate. "We were deceived into firing on our own. Bastards.."

"Look behind you, Lieutenant," was all the Dark Lord said. Behind him, as the Lieutenant turned to see, were a few airships parked on a large helipad. "They won't be getting far. Now, for that object in the sky.." He clicked a button on the side of his helmet. It zoomed in on the armored crusader with a pole.

"I see it, too!" The Lieutenant was already zoning his scopes in with a sniper rifle. "But we don't have any AA to shoot it down!"

"There are still several E.M.P. rocket propelled launchers nearby. Use them," He nodded, and heavily inspired, leaving a long and chilling noise like an oxygen-mask.

"Sir," he nodded and walked back to the squad waiting behind them.

Bowen removed his helmet and climbed out of the motorcycle after Kaira. He locked the vehicle again before returning to the cockpit. "Alright Jun, what's the plan?" He asked while returning to his seat.

"We're going to oversee the place and find out what's going on." The fellow Hunter replied.

"... What?" Bowen widened his eyes with incredulity. "That's your brilliant plan? Did you forget what we said about bleeping tanks firing at us?"

Jun retained a neutral look. "Did you see any anti-aircraft artillery?"

"Nope." Bowen responded with a calmer look. "But it's not like we had enough time to take a good look, you know."

"We don't know for sure that Price isn't there." Jun explained. "We'll stay out of reach and keep an eye on the town until we're sure that he is gone. True Hunters can't give up their bounty so easily."

------

"Orehawk." The burly man in armor spoke as his mount zoomed closer to the town. "Scream them down!"

The bird Mechaniloid opened its beak, and from it a high-pitched sonic scream was unleashed at the soldiers!