Business As Usual

The Bazaar  - The Warren

Bustling. That one word describes this large and crowded open area that covers very nearly the entire length and width of the ruined skyscraper, and dull concrete and steel walls rise seventy-five feet above the floor. A thick web of catwalks and ramps begin around twenty feet up the walls, making it nearly impossible to see the ceiling from the floor. The lighting is dim, the only source of illumination being the bewildering array of luminescent signs that indicate an equally bewildering number of shops and stalls, many of them set into the walls above the floor and serviced only by ramps and walkways.

An amazing variety of trinkets, foodstuffs, and other small and generally cheap items are available from the vendors on the floor and the first few levels of walkways. As one moves higher up along the walls, the shops begin to get seedier. The top level of walkways and the vendors on it deal mainly in goods anywhere else would consider illicit. From the top level of catwalks, stairways lead up to the section of the Warren known as Level One.

A gaudy sky-blue sign over a doorframe on the floor proclaims 'The Expanse - Bar and Casino'. Bright blue-white light spills from the entrance.

It is a calm day in The Warren's bazaar. People go about their business, fiends inject their evening dose of whatever poison they favour, people smoke cigarettes and drink coffee and generally, all is well. That is, until there is a *CRASH* of someone smashing through the front door. A rather big, muscular man glances over his shoulder frantically, pushes himself up and begins to sprint into the crowd. A few seconds after, Lucius, in his duty gear, tails the man with a scowl. "GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!"

The lunite is heading in the direction of the Expanse with a young man in tow, at the sound of the crash, Ryan turns in the direction of the big muscular man and glances back at the boy, "Wait here." He begins running on an intercept course.

Seth smirks, clearly getting some pervers kick out of the scene, he moves after Jeff ignoring the lunite's suggestion to wait as one hand slides not to one of his two guns but to his back pocket where he keeps his knife. The shiny polished blade revealed an instant later by a twirl of his wrist. He doesn't rin rignt into the fray though.

The running man, brown eyes wild with madness, moves into a random crowd of people, who don't seem to particularly find anything notable about his presence. Quickly, the man draws a pistol, and rather suprisingly, what looks like a standard fragmentation grenade. This, however, definately does prompt the people around him to take note - they look at him in terror and begin to shy away. Lucius himself stops pursuing his quarry as soon as he becomes visible, raising his rifle to his shoulder and letting his eye fall through the iron sight. The man yells, "You let me the FUCK out of here or I'll fucking blow everyone up!" He begins to move with the crowd, as if to accent his point. For the moment, he is too caught up to notice either Seth or Jeff approaching, hand grasping the pin of the grenade.

As he runs, Ryan draws his pistol, he pushes his way through the crowd, and gets a fix on the man, he pulls the pistol up to his eye, as though taking careful aim.

Seth doesn't push his way through the crowd, he just slips into it, a wolf blending in with the sheep it's almost disturbing should anyone happen to notice him do it. As one of the crowd the lanky teen doesn't so much move towards the man with the grenade as let the man move towards him.

There is very little that Lucius can do in this position. Either he can fire a shot at the man's head, taking him out but then leaving the fact that a grenade will explode in the middle of the bazaar.. or he can let the man go out, and save some patrons' lives. The man continues to watch the motionless armoured figure in front of him, thumb massaging the pin. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry the fuck up." What did this guy do, anyways? Lucius answers, "I can also put a bullet through your throat. You're not the only one with a bargaining chip, chump." A pause. "I'm gonna set you loose in Shadowheart." He still doesn't notice the presence of Jeff or Seth in the crowd, beginning to back away. "Start moving and my hand won't be forced." Adds the Warren guard.

"That won't be necessary," says the voice of the lunite, the man himself putting away his pistol. The artificial voice carries with some force. "This gentleman will simply put away his grenade and then go about his business." "His mother would be most upset with me if I let him die here."

Seth, however doesn't put his knife away, though lost in the crowd it's probably hard to spot it as he keeps it close to his leg even when he finds himself almost pressing up against the man with the grenade. "Grenades are so messy... the splatter's much to quick... specially this close in you don't even get to watch it." The teen all but murmers the words almost as though the idea of bloodsplatter is erotic.

"Oh yeah, bigshot? Well, I'll agree with that. I'll put away my grenade if you lower your guns and then I'll get the fuck out of here. And I ain't never gonna see any of you again." The man grits his teeth, for the moment not moving from the position of stalemate. Mutually assured destruction? Sure. As Seth rolls up, however, his pupils dilate, filling up the inside of his eyes like dinner plates. His heartrate noticeably increases. "Yeah.. well.. You fucking try anything and the grenade will blow YOU up!"

Over about thirty feet away, Lucius does not relent on his grip of the rifle. His right index finger further moves up the trigger, ready at a moment's notice to fire.

Seth's interference noticeably angers the lunite, however that's only clear looking straight at him, his voice is as emotionless as ever, "Put your guns down." The lunite's voice is cut short and clipped as an order. "There's no need for more death than usual today."

Seth turns his head just slightly to look at Jeff with an almost 'told off puppy' look, Jeff may notice another element to the look as well it's similar to their last lesson. The teen says nothing further but does look back to the man with the grenade and smile.

As the standoff continues, the crowds begin to thin away from the four people, leaving the area near empty. People still watch from a distance; albeit a safe one, where if a grenade fell the shrapnel wouldn't be able to reach them. All eyes on them.

The man is really unsure of what to do. His only shield, the large crowd of people, has now been negated by the involvement of three hunters. However, Seth is now within critical range of the grenade; if it were to explode, he'd most likely be vapourized with it. And again, another trump card is there; there is a knife very close to his vitals. "Alright.. Alright, I'll put the fucking grenade down. But your gonna have to show me some trust, you're gonna have to let me through." He gets ready to slip the pin back into its hole, completely, but does not do so yet.

Meanwhile, Lucius's bead on the man doesn't waver. "You go first; you're cornered."

"Exactly," says Ryan. "So let's give the man some breathing space." He glances at the boy, "And I mean you too Seth, give the man some room." And also get the fuck away from the grenade.... "Put your gun down."

Seth glances down at his knife with a smirk in his lips but doesn't take his eyes completely off the guy with the grenade then he glances to Jeff and slides back away from the man, apparently doing what he's told - for now.

Lucius's eyes narrow, teeth gritting under the cover of his thin lips. "As long as he's holding that gun, mine doesn't move." He shifts his body so that only his armoured sides are facing the man, making sure he shows the least amount of himself as possible. "Put the pin back into your grenade and start getting the fuck out of here." Meanwhile, he whispers something into his comm.

The man, body relaxing as Seth moves away, does as he's told and slips the pin back into the grenade, sealing it up so that it won't, in fact, explode. He slips it in his pocket and consolidates his hold on the pistol, aiming squarely for Lucius's face. Then, he begins to shift towards the door, eyes constantly shifting.

Jeff Ryan nods, though he still looks angry, his hand is inside his robes again.

Terrance moves out at an unhurried pace, completly unaware of any hostile ecounters in the bazaar, holding a small jade carving designed to look like Sanctuary, but resembling a whale with wings more then anything.

Seth twirls his wrist and slips the folded up knife back into his pocket, somewhat reluctantly it would seem then his eyes latch onto the unsurspecting person that is Terrance. The boy licks his lips almost suggestively and he starts to slide through the crowd once more - apparently the boy's 'fun' isn't over that easily.

All seems to be going well, as the man heads out and breathes a sigh of relief. Immediatly, without consulting the others, Lucius follows, assault rifle continously raised up throughout the experience. "Irrumator." He mutters, bitterly.

Jeff Ryan glances at the boy simply to make sure he's safe and doesn't catch Seth's 'playful' look. He then starts after Lucius.

Entryway  - The Warren

This bunkerlike concrete structure abuts against the ruined skyscraper known as the Warren, apparently an addition added onto it. The entryway is around sixty feet wide and thirty feet from the massive steel door that leads out to the street and the slightly smaller one that leads further into the Warren. The open space is curiously empty, save for a sign on the wall and a posted notice by the door into the Warren proper. A steel door with an unceremonious 'Authorized Personnel Only' engraved into it is off to one side.

Sensing Lucius's presence, the man shifts around and points his .45 at him, still backing away. "What the fuck you gonna do, man? We had a deal; you shoot, I shoot." Lucius grins ferally, motioning with a finger up towards the third level of the Warren and what looks like a shadowy portion of the building which juts out. "See my friends up there?" Momentarily confused, the man looks upwards.

Jeff Ryan uses the distraction to draw his own pistol and moves up behind Lucius, "And his friends back here too..." A smile is playing on the lunite's face.

Nothing is really visible up there. The man simply tilts his head, his progress stopped by curiosity. "Eh?"

Lucius looks at him squarely through the iron sights. "Catch." Then, his finger pulls back the trigger, sending three 5.56mm bullets arcing towards the man. In utter terror, he lets fly a .45 slug, returning the favour.

As the shots start flying Jeff automatically lets loose with his own small pistol, it's clear that the man is already dead and Lucius also goes down from the bullet from the .45. Putting his own pistol away Jeff moves to check out Lucius.

As the firefight starts, the sharp crack of a machine gun starts up from the third story perch, the weapon opening on our muscular antagonist. Unarmoured and rendered utterly hopeless by his situation, the man's body is riddled with holes as he goes down; in fact, his body is ripped open by the barrage and does not stir from its ever expanding puddle of blood.

Lucius goes down with a grunt, the sole .45 bullet hitting him in the left arm; the force of the impact is stopped much by the armour he wears, but there still is a flesh wound under. "Too slow." He grunts. Another night on Tomin Kora, another death, and another of the shady planet's lessons: Trust no one.