Sector 1, Harburg City, Planet Hamburg
20/11/822 AS, 02:04 AM
Lia rubs her temples tiredly, parking near the end of an alleyway in Sector 1. She sighed and ran her hands through her curled hair, debating just what was going on in the city tonight, there were authorities littered all around the city.
It was a miracle Lia had even got as far as she had, but she merely enjoyed she could get some downtime tonight and opened up a bottle, sipping it to herself but cocking her head about 15 minutes later. It sounded strange, like a loud banging, and ruckus sounds...
Amelia looked out the window towards the alleyway preparing to drive away in case something turned sour.
Nika was out of breath as she cut around a corner, finally breaking sight to the pursuing officers. She vanished into a small hut hanging on the side of the St. Pauli Tower, dangerously cracking under its own weight. The slums near the ground were never a good place to stay, crashing and falling houses were a daily sight. She wouldn't have much time anyway, since the police would find her hiding spot very quickly.
A quick leap brought her to the portable terminal that she had set up in the corner. One press of a button and the pre-formulated message to Freya was sent. Aware that she wouldn't have enough time to take the terminal with her, she disintegrated the hard drive and electronic parts with a few precisely placed bolts. The Kanzler was on Hamburg. She'd have to be quick. Tomorrow she would strike.
Turning around, she searched for the keys to the hoverbike the Kerzen had promised her, and cursed the inability of their mothers to give birth to intelligent children as she didn't find it. Into the slums then. Deeper down. Closer to the surface, try to get the police to leave the chase be. After all, the Unioners would probably declare themselves responsible for it. After this, she'd have a talk with Rorken. A serious one. Involving a gun.
A quick leap brought her in the next alleyway. A dark, unlit hover on the side of it, flickering lights and a group of people gathered around a burning barrel, drinking the probably worst schnaps she'd ever seen. She could smell the biting odour here, on the other side of the alley... But that was exactly the place where she'd find a hiding place.
"Oy! Where d'ye think y're goin', missy?"
The tallest figure around the barrel had turned around to her. A bull of a guy, musculous, but untrained. One-on-one, she'd probably able to take him on. With his friends however that was far more unlikely. Especially not in a jumpsuit that crackled with every move. Fire and leather really did not get along well... So she'd have to be nice. A shootout would only draw attention here, and those people were about to see her face anyway. And she'd have to stay undercover at least one more night...
"Nowhere...", she replied, forcing a grin on her face. "Just looking for a warm place to stay for a few moments. After that big bang everything's going to shit a few levels up. "
She sincerely hoped those people were drunk enough to mistake her for an actual citizen of the Tower - after all the chaos caused by the explosion had really affected everyone here, even the lower levels.
Lia continues looking around curiously for minutes on end, exasperated from the dragging night, she curses softly and slumps down in the chair tired of hearing these noises. She was almost ready to leave for home, before the noises she had been hearing came to life right beside her.
Right beside her, someone jumped into the alley, a poor female in a burnt, crispy jumpsuit that looked like they had run through an oven and out. But this wasn't any individual jumping through an alley, it was someone Amelia Thiel knew quite well, Annika Haupt. Amelia had known that Nika had been out the past few nights on her mission, but as she appears in front of her, Lia is shaken to the core on just what to do. It only really gets worse, with someone she had seen popping Synth Weed lumber out of his little bonfire spot and stopping in front of her long life best friend. Lia jumps to a quick few thoughts, and quietly, glad she had the lights off, bends down and starts rummaging through a compartment, pulling out a device she thought she'd never use...
This particular device was never of use to Amelia, but she had decided to get a hold of it a few months before Nika arrived, with crime rates near her gigs rising on a steady plane. Amelia pulls the small, solid titanium pistol out from her drivers compartment, shakily holding it in her hand.
Amelia takes a loud route, popping open the door, kicking it open to its full length with a loud satisfying kick. She sees both heads turn towards her as she steps out of the hover-car, shakily pointing the pistol towards the lumbering hulk over her best friend, a tenacity in her eye, and she grits her teeth trying to maintain her ground.
Hello Teufel, now back off my best friend!
Nika watched in horror as the situation escalated even further. She had intentionally left her gun in the holster, to avoid a firefight that would only alert her pursuers... but what had happened had happened. Even worse, the woman that just jumped out the hover was one of the very few people that she actually shied away from endangering. Just great.
With a quick, trained move she pulled the gun from her holster at the back hip, and pointed it at the man speaking.
"Well shit. I was hoping to solve this without a gun. You and your friends back off. I will be seating myself in that hover, and you'll keep your mouth shut, otherwise the Kerzen are going to get you. Clear?"
The threat worked. Mentioning the Kerzen usually helped her - and the situation couldn't have been any more fraked up anyway. Leaving a trace to a militant movement more or less wouldn't hurt, especially since it drove attention away from her. With a nod to Lia, she entered the car, waiting for the younger woman to take a seat and close the door. A few moments, then she finally broke the uneasy silence.
"Not that I don't appreciate the help, Li, but next time you threaten someone with a gun, you should turn the safety off. Wanna get us out of here, then?"
Amelia watches her friend dash into the car quicker than she herself has seen her move before, She quickly puts her hands on the wheel, hearing a sound equivalent to the screech of tires as she heads off, trying to remain as calm as she can and putting her pistol back into the Compartment on the passenger side, turning her head to Nika with a wild look in her eyes,
And what exactly was I going to do besides pull my gun out? Let my friend sit there and get sat on by that massive oaf? Listen, I know you have a mission here Nika, but don't think I won't stand by if even you get yourself into something you can't worm your way out of. Besides, for all I know the Polizei could be tracking us, are you going to be the one scrapping this hovercar so we don't get caught?!
Amelia sighs and relaxes slightly, coming off her slight fit and focusing on actually getting back to her home, and actually keeping Nika safe, a duty she'd felt for all the years she had known Nika.