Choked Out

"Adriano, report. What do you see?" Lieutenant Laines spoke lowly with an impatient tone over their radio comm. She laid flat on her stomach atop the neighboring warehouse they were scouting out. Her vision was limited to the windows of the opposing building, but Adriano had a much clearer view of the scene. He was their expert in reconnaissance, his footsteps were silent even in their heavy gear. In the meantime, Kassandra took this time to ready her rifle and gear.

"Chill out sweetheart, I've got eyes on six of em'. They looked armed to the teeth, can't tell if any of em' are supers though." Adriano was able to sneak into the warehouse with them, though far off hidden behind crates. With the aid of his visor, he was able to clearly see everything ahead.

"I told you to stop calling me that. What are they doing?" The distaste for the comment showed clearly in her voice even through the radio static.

"You don't ever give up do you Adriano?" Gutierrez taunted with a brief chuckle. He was ducked outside the warehouse with McGrath, waiting to make their move.

"Like my old man use to say, swing at every ball." Adriano replied slyly as he adjusted his sights.

"Don't involve me in your awful baseball references." Laines retorted as she focused herself down the scope.

"Enough games. Gutierrez, Adriano, Laines. Focus." Captain Cheng sternly cut them off. He was alone on the other side of the warehouse, opposite to McGrath and Gutierrez.

"Yes sir." Laines, Adriano, and Gutierrez all replied nearly synonymous. Almost like children being scolded. They greatly respected their captain, but for the most part didn't share his serious demeanor.

"Looks like they're waiting for someone. Judging by their demeanor, doubt it'll be a friendly meeting." Adriano held a nonchalant demeanor even in these tense situations, which for the most part just got on the nerves of his allies.

"Then we wait. Laines move into position, the rest of you stay hidden until their 'honored' guest arrives." Cheng ordered as he maneuvered himself to a closer stack of crates, now able to see the group within the warehouse clearly without visual aid.

"On it." Laines waited patiently, breathing calmly and silently through her nose as she maintained visual control of the situation. She remained completely still as she awaited further instruction from her earpiece.


"There's a second group, nearly twice the size approaching. They've got that ugly Crimson Fist insignia on their jackets. Looks like the guy in the trench coat is leading them, you see him Kass?" Adriano was always her eyes and ears, if he messes up it'd cost her life.

"Yeah, I've got the shot. Say the word." Kassandra fixed her aim onto the man's shoulder, they all seemed completely unaware of what was about to unfold onto them. The man she aimed onto seemed far different from the rest though, he had a dangerous demeanor. Something about his pretty boy look made her skin crawl, this guy was probably the worst of the worst.

"Hold your fire. Let this play out before we act. McGrath, Gutierrez, get ready to move into position. Things could ugly quick." Cheng had foresight the others lacked at times, and for the most part made the best calls because of it.

The group assumed their tactical positions, out of sight and unheard by the distracted mass of thugs. The gangs gathered in a semi-circle on each side, their respective leaders coming to the front to talk briefly before making their exchange. Seemed like they were striking a deal, both sides exchanging hefty dufflebags. Their contents were unknown for now, but knowing these gangs it was more than likely weapon or drug related. The Fists were notorious for their violence and power in this city, but they had a chance to hit them hard here. It seemed they had one of their Lieutenants right where they wanted them. Jeremy Langely, a highly dangerous and intelligent super human. This man had evaded them for the last time, or so they hoped.

"Looks like they're wrapping up the deal. Captain?" Laines silently and impatiently questioned, her finger itching to take the shot.

"Hold. McGrath, Rodriguez. Are you in position?" Cheng remained concerned about his entire team at all times.

"Yessir, ready to blast some supers." Gutierrez responded with silent excitement.

"Aye. Awaiting further instruction." McGrath chimed in for the first time, usually a man of little words. He and Guiterrez prepped their rifles one last time as they waited to strike.

"Wait for Laines to take her shot, then open fire. You know your jobs. Lethal force authorized, if necessary." He whispered authoritatively into their comm. The team knew each other well, this was far from their first 'rodeo'.

Lieutenant Laines gripped her rifle tightly, her finger clenching the trigger as she gazed down her scope. If all went according to plan, she'd take her shot and her team would move in to help clear the rest and provide distraction for her.

-Guerrero-

Guerrero, "The Warrior," stood with the first group.  He had been hired as muscle, a trump card should things get...hairy.  He had heard little of the true nature of either group, or of what was being traded, and in all honesty, he probably couldn't give two shits.

Dressed in gray camouflage, Guerrero was an intimidating figure, by both his size and the number of weapons on his person. He seemed to have a relaxed hold on his submachine gun, though he knew it could be up in a moment should the need arise.

He was being payed to be fight this Langley character, some meta that led the "Fists" or whoever, should it hit the fan...but it seemed like the trade was going to go smoothly...

Then he heard a hushed voice from a pile of boxes...Slowly the merc began moving towards the pile, peering arounded the pile...coming face to face with a man in full tac gear.

Guerrero cursed loudly in Spanish, throwing a punch at the cop. "We got Blues here!" he shouted. Chaos quickly erupted.

Why couldn't anything be easy...?

Calm and in control, she softly inhaled through her nose and held her breath. Completely steady, she went to take her shot aimed into the man's shoulder. They needed him alive, the rest were expendable. They could not afford to let his knowledge of the Fists dies with him. This shot would hopefully render him incapable of using his seismic powers, or at least weaken the effects.

Just before her shot went off, Adriano's cover was blown by a member of the rival gang. Likely due to his own over-talking, he was now directly in the crossfire and in great danger.  "Raaghh!" A shout of pain from Adriano echoed over the radio, throwing off her shot.

~

Adriano had let his guard down, a rookie mistake on his part. He had underestimated the awareness of these thugs, and now would dearly pay for it. A tall brawny man sneaked up on him, and surprisingly was very quick for his size. On sight, he shouted out his position and decked Adriano in the jaw with inhuman strength. This instantly knocked him down flat on his back where he would lay in a dizzy haze.

~

The shock and Kassandra's own concern for him threw off her aim, the shot instead merely grazed Langely's arm rather than viciously piercing his shoulder. This caused a bloody injury, but it was far from anything that would stop an experienced meta like Langely.

"FUCK!" Langely shouted intensely as he gripped his arm in agony, throwing the entire room into calamity. Bullets flew from both sides, heavily aimed towards Kassandra's heightened position which was now entirely given away. She ducked and covered her head with her arms, laying low until the bullet-fire slowed down.

Langely responded immediately, using his good arm he created a wall made from the warehouse floor. This stood about six feet tall, shielding him and his nearby thugs from any incoming fire. The situation quickly spiraled out of control, one side moved to duck behind crates while the other hid behind Langely and his constructs all the while firing madly at their intruders.

McGrath and Guiterrez moved in from their sides, while Captain Cheng pincer attacked from the opposite side. They surrounded the two gangs, though outnumbered they easily matched them with firepower. Thanks to the ensuing chaos, several from both sides were picked off before they were able to reach cover, easily halving the number of hostiles. They continued to exchange fire, granting Kassandra the time she needed to escape her position.

However, instead of getting out of fire and to cover, she slung her rifle around her back and sprinted across the upper levels through mixed gunfire. Her movements were extremely nimble even in heavy armor, untouched by the hail of bullets that flooded the room.

~

"Haha.." Adriano chuckled as he spat out blood, making attempts to clean his crimson covered mouth as he sat upright. "My sister hits harder than you." He taunted through bloodied teeth, clearly in great pain. Though he was full of shit, Adriano was great at putting up a tough face. Even though in reality, that was probably one of the hardest punches he's taken to the face.

~

Unholstering her pistol mid-sprint, she vaulted over the railing into the chaotic firefight. She landed before Adriano's position, tucked away behind some crates. She found him trying to sit up, still recovering from the attack made on him. Standing several yards from him and his attacker, she lifted her sidearm and pointed it towards the brawny thug. "Hold it right there meathead!" She barked out authoritatively as the hammer clicked back.

"Unless you feel like breathing through a tube, I suggest you put the weapons down and your hands up." She fearlessly threatened the burly man who had attacked her ally. If he so much as blinked in a way she didn't like, she'd open fire. Though she felt and seemed in control, this man was an anomaly. This was extremely dangerous.

As his first target collapsed and hell broke out, Guerrero had heard the shot, had heard Langley shout, had seen the wall rise from the ground.  That would explain his presence, then.

The merc joined his temporary fellows in firing at the sniper...until more people in tac gear rushed in.  A few of his employers died in the ambush.  Sighting down his Vector, Guerrero opened up, trying to pin them down until he figured a way out.  He wasn't  paid enough for this mess.

Swapping to a fresh mag, the fallen man decided to taunt the contractor.  Turning, Guerrero to aim.  He hesitated at the sound of a woman behind him.

The large man raised his arms, flicking on the safety of his weapon. Slowly, he turned to face the woman. Expectedly, she was smaller than him. By the rifle on her back, he guessed she was the marksman. Careless to let herself miss like that.

Guerrero smirked as his eyes came to rest on the woman's 9mm. Most anti-personnel weapons were useless against him.

"All right ma'am, I'll put my gun down. Hold your fire," the mercenary rumbled. Carefully, he eased the Vecto down, letting it rest beside him.

By now his knees were bent. Using his position, Guerrero lunged, rushing the woman. Drawing his Bowie knife from his left side, slashing at the cop's right wrist.

This is too easy..He's up to something.

"That's up to you." She retorted intensely with fierce confidence.

Though his words and body language seemed compliant, she felt uneasy as the burly mercenary slowly turned to face her with his hands up. With her focus entirely trained on him, she anxiously awaited any sudden movements.

That mischievous smirk made her uneasy, it told her he was planning something. After following his eyes, his next course of action was more predictable. This guy was not giving up that easy.

The sub-machine gun was eased onto the floor with a soft metallic clang. Almost immediately, their attacker sprang from his kneeling position. This man was incredibly fast, no wonder he caught Adriano off guard. Too fast for her to move out of the way, she barely had the time to pull the trigger. A shot was fired off into his charge, but it did not slow or deter him.

The slash came towards her firing hand, likely intending to disarm her. Though given little time, with her reflexes and experience she was able to react to the high speed assault. She moved to block the slash with top of her gun, but he struck with incredible force that it forced her entire body to shift. Her handgun fired off again, but this time aimlessly into the air as it was forcibly flung from her grip.

After being disarmed, without hesitation she swung her left arm upwards to strike his jaw. With a mighty fist balled, she intended to back hand punch the much larger man. This was to give her breathing room, and to gauge his reaction which would determine her next course of action. Close quarters combat was something she had much experience in.

The Warrior was pleased he had managed to disarm the woman.  While the 9mm had not really hurt him in any meaningful way, it still stung...

As he closed on her, though, the cop began to fight with her hands.  Her form was good.  She had obviously been well trained.  But as her fist connected with Guerrero's chin, he found her strength...lacking.

With his free right hand, Guerrero grabbed at the cop's wrist, attempting to pull her into a trip over his leg in order to try pinning her with his knee.  If he could get the chance, one quick thrust would end her...

Except then this team would be after him.  But perhaps he could use her as a hostage; a chance to get himself out of the mess he was in...

Carden was sitting maybe a block away from the sound of gun fire they were cracks in the wind in this now cooler city as the winter edges it way back, pushing the lovely summer back. "Finally something to do.", Carden got out of the car he was sitting in, rolling the windows back up. Once out he stared at the building he heard the faint sound of gun fire come from, and moved to the trunk of the car, opening it and reaching into the trunk, pulling a helmet out. Placing it on his head he spotted several heat signatures rapidly moving around, gun fight for sure. Carden then removed the helmet and placed it back into the car's trunk.

Carden smiled and looked at the nearby street pole and transformed into electricity and disappeared into the pole. He flowed through the electrical lines and went straight into the warehouse. The electric lights above that hung several feet off the ground was his gateway into the building. He then reformed out of the light socket and struck the floor of the warehouse like a lightning strike, reformed. Carden gazed around and spotted multiple targets, already being shot at, well. Rather Carden was in the center of the warehouse so he was being caught in cross fire. He spotted a bullet hurling at him and he caught it in mid air. Tossing it aside.

Smiling, he looked at where two people were fighting. In response Carden turned into his gas like form and reappeared near them smiling, "How do I get into the fun?". He watched as this large guy was fighting a girl and raised a brow, "Now that's no way to treat a lady, is it now gentlemen?". As he spoke Carden gazed around the building and already sent out electric pulses to get a sonar like reading of the room, spotting people and the entire building and area like one large blueprint.

Much to her chagrin, the punch had little to no effect. The bulk of man seemed to absorb the punch with his jaw, completely unmoved and unnerved. It felt like punching a brick wall, her fist stopped dead.

"What the hell.."

Even if she didn't pull her all into it, he still should've been shaken by that. The disbelief showed in her expression, startled and frustrated by the lack of effect her jab had. Though many would be discouraged by witnessing such endurance, Kassandra remained focused and confident in her abilities.

However, before she was able to withdraw her arm, he swiftly grabbed hold of her wrist. With one mighty yank, her smaller form was thrown like a rag doll towards him. There was no time to react, she was violently tripped up over his leg. It all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment she was standing, the next she found herself flat on her stomach eating the pavement. Her whole body hurt, the trip bruised her up and the fall busted her lip, but no amount of these little injuries would deter her.

Immediately, a knee dug into her back in attempts to pin her. She only had access to one arm, the other having still been in his grip was pinned beneath the burly man's knee.

"Nnnggh!" She growled through gritted teeth as she writhed and flailed underneath him, but to no avail. Physically escaping this pin seemed out of the question. This was highly uncomfortable to say the least, and her attempts to escape only escalated the pain. Things seemed grim, but she remained unshaken and continued to fight.

~

Adriano was able to shake off the punch and wipe away most of the blood, he now stood tall with his gun drawn at the man who knocked him down. From his point of view, he saw his partner struggling beneath the larger man to escape. Before he could even utter a threat, what seemed to be an electrical cloud descended onto their position. Whatever it was, it interfered with their radio communications. The scrambled warnings from the rest of the team were mostly unheard.

From this electrical current, much to his surprise, a man formed. Adriano's eyes widened, but he immediately reacted by aiming his weapon towards the newcomer. "I dunno' who the hell you are." He paused to spit blood out onto the floor. "But you chose a bad place to stick your nose, cloud-boy." Though he seemed confident, on the inside he was genuinely terrified for Kassandra and himself. In secrecy, he activated their emergency distress beacon located on his belt.

~

Thing seemed to be quickly going to hell, Captain Cheng felt they were quickly losing control of the situation. The newcomer, a meta with seemingly electrical based abilities, had cut them off from the rest of the team with his flashy entrance. The electrical currents seemed to interfere with not only their radio communications, but their distress beacons as well. Cheng, McGrath and Guiterrez were all together focusing on capturing their primary target, mostly unaware of the distress that the others were in.

However, even in radio silence Cheng had a feeling his team was in trouble; call it inution.

"McGrath, go."

He instructed McGrath to break formation and head to their last known position. Immediately, the large bearded Irish man gave a nod of recognition before he broke away and sprinted towards his allies in need.

~

With her free hand, she dug into the front part of her utility belt and withdrew small pellets. Hopefully, her constant flailing and struggling would distract him enough for this to work. With her cheek against the floor, she growled out through her teeth as she forced her body up against his superior strength. She barely moved at all, but it was just enough to allow one side of her body the tiniest bit of freedom. Thanks to her high flexibility, with this opening she was able to toss the pellets from her pinned form over her shoulder and directly towards his face.

The pellets were filled with noxious gasses, designed to knock out or slow down supers. A normal person would be incapacitated instantly, and could even die if overexposed.

Guerrero jerked back as the pellets came at him. He had no idea what they were until they struck him, burting into a thin cloud of knockout gas. He gasped instinctively and immediately knew he had screwed up.

Trying to back up, Guerrero had to release the lady cop.

Already his vision swam as the drugs took hold. "Dammit," he grunted. By now, the edges of his vision had faded into black.

He gripped his knife tightly: the numbness in his fingers created the sence that his grip was failing. Guerrero was panicking. His eyes darted about, scanning for an exit. If he passed out, that was it; he was captured.

Locking eyes on the nearest metal door, the mercenary charged...as best he could. The result was more a sluggish shuffle. "Dammit," he slurred again, affraid he'd pass out too soon. He scooped up his Vector on his way.

Kassandra struggled to rise to her feet, feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder which caused her to growl out through her teeth. During the struggle against his strength, she had dislocated her shoulder. Though she hadn't realized til she tried to stand. One arm hung lifelessly at her side, the other withdrawing a second pistol from her belt. She didn't bother recovering her other gun, keeping her attention trained on her initial attacker. The pain was awful, but bearable. Thanks to adrenaline and her stubborness, it'd take more than that to take her out.

~

Adriano backed her up with his focus on the other meta, who seemed to ignore his threat. The man quickly revved up with electrical energies, his eyes seemingly focused on Kassandra. Adriano saw this and immediately reacted, his finger squeezing the trigger several times. The electric meta was quickly filled with bullets, but was durable enough to survive the initial attack. With a swipe of his hand, a mighty current of electricity blasted into Adriano. This knocked him out cold, though not before he fired off one last shot directly into his skull. They both fell over, nearly in unision. One in a bloody mess, the other just knocked out.
~

"Danny!" She cried out with concern. This drew Kassandra's attention away from her initial attacker, giving him a chance to slip away. "Hold it!" She barked out in a huff as he ran off, presumably trying to find a way out of this mess. "Damn.." She muttered under her breath, gripping her shoulder tightly with gun in hand.  As quickly as she could with her injury, she scurried after him.

~

McGrath moved to help the two of them, but was quickly cut off by one of Langely's seismic creations. A thick wall of earth was thrown up, cutting him off from them and that half of the room. This left him exposed and out of cover, immediately he was swarmed with a hailstorm of bullets. He rushed to find cover behind a large metal crate, but not before taking serious damage. Blood rushed from several bullet wounds on his body, he was pinned down and in trouble.

Captain Cheng and Rodriguez couldn't get to him without being shot themselves, their team was pinned down and in a bad position. They traded fire as much as they could, but Langely gave the thugs far too much of an edge. This wasn't supposed to be like this, Langely was meant to go down first..

~

Gritting her teeth, she moved with great pain in each step but would not let it deter her. She chased after him, hoping to trap him before he found his way to the exit. The door he was aiming for was in sight. "I said stop!" Kassandra stopped dead in her tracks, shooting while moving in her current state was impossible. Though it had little effect last time, she had to try. Initially, a single shot was fired off towards the fleeing man who was quickly approaching the exit.

The bullet made contact with the mercenary's shoulder, turning him around.  The dazed brute stumbled, stopping dead as he ran into the wall.  Turning to face the woman, he saw she had aquired a new pistol.  And it seemed she had a twin sister...Well crap.

Guerrero took aim with his Vector, holding the weapon in his left hand; his non-dominant hand.  That combined with his double vision made aiming meaningless.  Predictably it missed.  Not-so-predictably, the bullet hit one of the other thugs in the neck; he bled out quickly.  He would have to aim better next time...

~

Muffled by the sound of the firefight and the walls of the warehouse, the revving of an engine could be heard.  Then came screaching tires as the engines grew louder and louder...

...Until a bulky black van with a red stipe along the sides came crashing though a wall near the Agent known as McGrath.  It plowed through a pair of thugs before slamming into one of Langley's earthen barricades.

Out stepped a boyish young man; blond, handsome and confident.  He scanned the building quickly, using his Berretta to kill a nearby thug who must have decided he was an enemy before quickly holstering it. "Hey, boss!" Dirk shouted.  "I found the A-Team van.  Let's say we 'get' while we can?"  He pulled his Carbine out from under his seat, switching the safety off.

Dirk began a sweep to find Guerrero, happening upon the wounded McGrath.  "Ya know?  I could kill you, but I won't.  No sport to it..."  The smaller merc returned to his search, picking off any thugs looking to avenge the comrades he had already killed.

Solid shot, she had him just where she wanted him. Though even in his dazed state, he was still a serious threat. A flurry of wild bullets blasted towards her, she immediately reacted by throwing herself out of the gunfire, her back slamming against a nearby crate. One eye forced shut from the pain, Kassandra let out a load groan of anguish. Luckily for her, he accidently killed what could have possibly been his own backup. A sigh of relief escaped her as the thug bled out on the floor just across from her. That could've ended poorly for her.

"You're trapped and pinned down! Drop your weapons, now!"She barked out from her cover, doing her best to hide her own pain with loud confidence. During this time, she attempted to relocate her shoulder. This might be her only chance, can't risk anymore backup in her current condition.

Just as she snapped it back into place, a loud crash rang through her ears. It sounded like someone crashed through the wall, likely more gang members. In a hush, she attempted to communicate with Captain Cheng to warn them, but her radio gave nothing but static. "Captain? Can anyone hear me? We need to get out of here." Her efforts were in vain, she scoffed in frustration as she returned the small radio to her utility belt. Nothing was going right today.


~

McGrath coughed up a small hint of crimson, his body feeling weak as blood oozed from him all over. Though he seemed to be in critical condition, he was slowly recovering. Any normal man would have been long dead with the amount of injuries he had sustained. McGrath however, was far from normal. The only superhuman on the squad, McGrath is capable of sustaining incredible damage and recovering from it with little drawback. There was a reason he was the frontman.

Though he was still out of it when Dirk found him, he wouldn't let himself be easy prey. As quickly as he could, he gripped his rifle and pointed it towards the smaller blond haired man. "You don't have enough bullets.." He coughed up more blood, but held a fierce expression on his bearded face. There was no fear in him, ready to accept death as he tightly gripped the trigger awaiting a response. To his surprise, the young man left him and kept his word. Mercy, this was something he thought foreign to thugs like him. McGrath exhaled a sigh of relief, readjusting himself to sit more upright. He held his rifle tightly, awaiting for another to try the same. Doubtful another would show the same 'kindness'.

~

A fresh clip was pulled from the back of her belt and silently reloaded into her gun. With a deep breath, Kassandra peeked around the corner to see if her current target was still there.

Dirk strode through the madness around him, dismissive of both thugs and agents."C'mon, Boss.  Where are you, you big, dumb bastard?"

Dressed as he was in military camo, it was fairly easy to understand the thugs error as some turned their weapons on Dirk.  The nearest goon was pulled in front of the merc and and kindly played meat shield, dying as two bullets entered his heart.  Dirk pulled the trigger of his M4, killing the shooter with 3 bullets of his own.

"Why do they keep attacking me...?" he mused.

~

Meanwhile, Laine was seeking cover.  Taking advantage of her distraction, Guerrero turned, slipping out of the doorway he had singled out before.

His drug addled body stumbled into a nearby dumpster, pushing it a good couple of feet. The black border that ringed his vision grew more severe. Guerrero tripped as he tried to shuffle away before he got his feet back under himself. It would likely not be long now...