It's early morning of the 26th and Jessica has only been at work for a few hours. As always, what would otherwise be a pitch black night is illuminated by the splendor of Litae. The service road is narrow and maintained (Not by Jessica, that's for sure) well enough to provide a walkable path towards the small, fenced in security shack. Large snow banks flank each side of the service road where the snow has been pushed aside, and trees
#FreedomFallsDam – October 22, 2017
Yan Sun arrives at the dam eventually. As on previous visits she's a little ways down the road by a taxi, making her way up to the gate with paper bag in hand, glancing toward the camera and displaying the bag of food, shaking it slightly with a small smile. She's wearing full winter clothes, and doesn't seem to have brought anything else with her.
The distinct sound of snow crunching underfoot can be heard from behind as Yan Sun passes the last tree before the security gate. Before she has a chance to turn around, gauntleted fingers grasp at her throat from behind as a second hand reaches for the wrist holding up the paper bag and wrenches it behind her back roughly.
Jessica whispers into Yan Sun's ear. "Now I kill you and take allll of the foods for myself." she taunts menacingly.
Yan Sun jumps at the noise, but she doesn't have time to turn before she feels the hand around her throat, briefly eliciting an incoherent shriek as she tenses up. She barely notices the food being taken. When she hears Jessica's voice she relaxes. "Gah... don't do that!" she mutters, sounding both annoyed and relieved.
Jessica gives a loud, entertained snicker as she releases her grip on Yan Sun and shoves her forward from behind. "Ahhh!" she shouts, mocking Yan Sun's shriek. "You are such a pussy. What if someone was really trying to kill you, mmm!?" she asks, "You are just going to let them eat my foods!?"
Yan Sun stumbles as Jessica pushes her, just barely keeping from faceplanting by pressing a gloved hand into the snow as she falls to a knee. She stands up, brushing the snow from her jeans without saying anything. She heads towards the gate, sulking slightly.
Jessica frowns as she fails to get the intended reaction out of Yan Sun and follows behind her. "On the dam, stupid." she instructs, obviously in a particularly 'Jessica' mood as she clasps a hand on Yan Sun's shoulder to direct her towards the spot that has become her favorite in Freedom Falls. "You are going to be all grumpy tonight? Yes?" she asks, nudging into Yan Sun from the side with an armored shoulder.
Yan Sun shoots a glance at Jessica when she's directed towards the dam. "'Thanks for bringing me warm food in the middle of the night.'" she says, making an annoyed grimace, but it's obviously little more than surface level judging by the smirk that tugs subtly at her lips.
Jessica stomps along beside Yan Sun, the thin layer of snow along the service road crunching underfoot. She lifts the bag and tugs it open, burying her face in it with a big whiff. With a pleased expression on her face she looks back to Yan Sun through a grin. "Thank you for not making me have to kick your ass for not bringing me warm food in the middle of the night." she decides, purposely being difficult.
Yan Sun purses her lips and nods slightly. Yep, that passes for gratitude from Jessica. A quiet snicker escapes her and she mirrors Jessica's earlier movement, bumping into her shoulder as they head down the road.
Jessica meanders over to the side of the dam as they reach it and sets the bag on the handrail as she leans beside it, looking down into the water rushing underneath. "You are rested, yes?" she asks eventually, glancing over to Yan Sun. "We have to go to the stupid wedding early." she frowns. Of course Yan Sun doesn't have to go, but Jessica has long since made her presence a hard requirement.
Yan Sun joins Jessica by the handrail, looking more at her than the water. She furrows her eyebrows slightly at the question, blinking hard to dispel what lingering fogginess the cold hasn't rid her of. "Uh, yeah... I got some sleep. Before your message woke me up." The last part sounds slightly pointed, but she's quickly distracted. "Early-... oh, because of the...?" she trails off, gesturing with a finger at Jessica,
Jessica gives a few nods through a scowl, seemingly needing to be frustrated over the job despite the lengths she went to get it. Because of course she does. "And still they make me work this stupid time tonight. Gah-... They are idiots." she decides as she reaches into the bag and feels around for her food. "Is fine if you are not wanting to go, though." she offers with a grunt as her tongue lulls out of the side of her mouth
while she struggles with the bag due to her gauntlets. A portion of the bag tears as she pulls her burger free and she sets her dinner down on the railing. Success! She gives a shrug as she begins to remove her gauntlets, tossing each one haphazardly onto the ground. "Plenty of other people for me to fuck in closets." she continues. "Maybe one of the asari-..." she slowly looks Yan Sun's way as a thought occurs to her and
she gives a wiggle of her eyebrows, though there's little movement in her right brow, "Maybe... all of the asari!"
Yan Sun raises an eyebrow as she listens to Jessica, an unamused look on her face. "I said I'm coming!" she exclaims, coming off a little more defensive than intended. She reaches for her burger, but stops and furrows her eyebrows as she backtracks. "We're not-... at your bosses' wedding. No." she says with a grimace, turning her focus to her burger as she starts to unwrap it.
Jessica unwraps her burger and puts her back to the railing. As a bit of sauce runs out of the burger, she swipes it up with her finger and licks it off. "Mmm." she hums with a nod, entirely dismissing Yan Sun's words as she inspects her food. "Of course we are." she decides before taking a deep, hungry bite into her meal. "We are-... We are leaving soon!" she explains loudly with a mouth full of 100% local space cow meat between
Yan Sun keeps her thin cloth gloves on as she starts in on her burger, chewing in silence at first, but as Jessica speaks she almost chokes for a moment, coughing a couple of times. "No! It's a wedding! And you have a job to do!" she insists, definitely not considering the idea as she looks away from Jessica. Nope. Not at all.
Jessica scoffs, rolling her eye as she looks to Yan Sun, her focus temporarily taken away from her burger. She holds her stare for a moment, not buying her bullshit. "I am verrrry good for doing multi-tasking, kitty cat. I can do my job and you at the same time." she deadpans with a shrug. "Is fine."
Yan Sun 's gaze darts briefly to Jessica before looking out across the river below, eating her burger in silence and refusing to acknowledge her even as her cheek seems to turn a little redder than it already was from the cold.
Jessica gives an entertained snicker as she scoots along the railing until she's right beside Yan Sun, confident that, as always, she'll be getting her way. "You see?" she asks as she scarfs down another bite of her burger. "Why you are getting all red? Mmm? Maybe you can lie to yourself, kitty cat, but you can not lie to me. You are a freaky pervert. If you will not admit it, then I will admit it for you." she shrugs. She gets
Jessica briefly distracted as she notices some more sauce on her knuckle from her sloppy eating and she goes about licking it off. "And once I am done with my burger? We are going to go inside so I can have some dessert." she informs crudely, reaching out with her free hand to slap Yan Sun right on the asscheek.
Yan Sun continues to ignore Jessica to the best of her abilities, but something she says causes a brief moment of stinging discomfort, different from her previous embarrassment, but her mind has no time to fall down that rabbithole as she's abruptly brought back to the here and now when she feels Jessica's slap, jumping slightly and letting out a surprised noise as she fumbles, very nearly dropping her burger. As soon as she
has the burger under control she adjusts her grip and takes another bite, acting like nothing happened, although her body remains considerably less relaxed.
Jessica is unable to contain the grin that makes an appearance in response to the reaction she gets out of Yan Sun. She feeds off of embarrassment and discomfort.
Off in the distance, a vehicle can be seen turning on to the access road to the dam. Given the lack of light out here aside from that donated by Litae, even though the truck is a good distance away the headlights make the vehicle's presence known. Not that the loud engine needed any help. The large wheeled hunk of metal slows down and begins making a three-point turn, but the narrow nature of the access road causes it to push through the
Jessica rolls her eye as she shifts in place. "Goooooo." she urges the truck, eagerly hoping to avoid actually doing any work. "Is everybody in this town fucking stupid?" she mutters as she jams the last- rather large- bite of her burger into her mouth for safe keeping and tosses the wrapper over the side of the dam and into the river. She wipes her greasy hands on her chest plating a few times before activating her omni-tool.
As it projects the holographic display in front of her, the nearby camera feeds come into view. She enlarges the camera nearest the truck to watch it. The camera must be mounted on a tree along the access road.
Yan Sun takes a short moment to notice the truck, still distracted, but as she does her gaze follows the headlights. She looks to Jessica as she speaks, moving over to her side to catch a glimpse of the camera feed while taking another bite from her burger, watching curiously.
The vehicle is a van of sorts. Like many of the vehicles on Aite, it's customized and adapted to the rugged terrain. Also like many of the vehicles on Aite, it's a damaged, dented dumptruck on wheels. As it finishes its three-point turn, rather than exit the service road it simply continues down it, backing up.
Jessica furrows her brow as she studies the camera and struggles to chew such a large bite. When the truck begins to back down the road, she pinches at the image and expands to zoom in, but the angle makes it difficult to see much and she quickly swipes to the next camera. She swallows hard, wincing as the food has a rough time going down due to its size. "Gooooooooo!" she urges again in almost a whine as it seems more likely
Yan Sun furrows her eyebrows, looking confused, and perhaps mildly uneasy. "What are they doing...?"
Jessica shrugs her shoulders. "I don't fucking know... They are probably drunk maybe?" she muses with a sigh as she adjusts the camera to get a better look.
The van comes to an abrupt stop and both doors swing open. Out of the driver's side, a man hops out wearing a long, black wool coat. He pulls the collar up to protect his neck from the elements as he moves around towards the rear of the van. His short hair is jet black with a neat part on one side. On the passenger's side, a scrawny pale man hops out. His hair is little more than wispy, wirey threads. He's wearing a dark red armored
chestplate atop a long-sleeved ugly holiday sweater, but no hardsuit. The right arm of the sweater is torn off to allow clearance for his bulky, hulking prosthetic arm. If Yan Sun's arm sits on one end of the spectrum and Jasons' are in the middle, this man's lay at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. You'd be more likely to mistake it for a tank part than an arm. He joins the other man at the rear of the van.
Jessica continues to study the camera. The angle and lighting continues to obscure the two men until they round the back of the truck and come into plain view of the camera. Jessica's reaction is instant. Her eye goes wide and she reaches out to her side, shoving Yan Sun in the general direction of the security office. Hard. "Fuck! Run!" she commands, turning against Yan Sun and pressing into her.
Yan Sun 's unease grows as they continue to watch, but she's still caught off-guard by Jessica's sudden reaction. "What? What's happening? Who are those people?!" she blurts out in rapid succession, but she hastily starts to make her way toward the security office regardless at Jessica's urging.
Yan Sun and Jessica are roughly an equal distance from the security office as the van. The pale man grips the handles of the back door and jerks them open. A loud hiss can be heard by Jessica and Yan Sun, even from their position on the dam. A large, dark, sinewy vorcha emerges from the back of the vehicle wearing only a strapped harness. He stands hunched, attention fluttering about until his eyes lock on Jessica and Yan Sun. He gives
another deep hiss, lunging forward into a sprint on all fours, digging his knuckles into the ground with each step as he aims to cut them off before they can reach the office. "Go get 'em Mr. Wiggles!" the pale man cheers with glee.
Jessica stumbles from her haste, nearly toppling over, but catches herself on the railing. "Gah-.. Just go!" she responds, pressing her hand against Yan Sun's back to urge her to pick up the pace. She remains behind Yan Sun rather than taking off without her, however.
Yan Sun nearly freezes in fear as she spots the snarling vorcha darting towards them, but Jessica's urging gets her moving again, doing her best to fight the urge to run the opposite direction. "We're not gonna, we're not-... shitshitshit-"
Jessica continues to sprint behind Yan Sun, right hand against her back. "Go! Go! Fu-... Go!" she shouts. The pale man's high pitched cackling is piercing. Her left hand clasps against the Predator holstered on her thigh as they near the office. The speed at which the vorcha is moving makes it pretty clear that they're not going to make it. Not with enough time for Jessica to stop, open the gate, get inside and close it once
Mr continues forth, kicking up snow with each lunge forward, razor sharp fangs bared as he nears the pair. The pale man is slowly making his way up the access road at a leisurely pace with his ally in tow, cackling the whole way. "Go, Mr. Wiggles!" he cheers, "Get 'em!"
Yan Sun 's eye lights up, rapid-fire thoughts running through her head as she realizes they're not going to make it. She suddenly raises her left arm, the built-in omni-tool responding without typing as it fires of the already queued overload at the charging vorcha, a powerful electrical charge arcing from her arm towards Mr. Wiggles, causing her pace to slow as she recoils slightly from it.
Mr body instantly begins to convulse, denying any commands sent its way by his brain, and momentum carries him face first to the ground with a loud crunch. His body fights back, but the natural vorcha ruggedness is unable to shield him from the overpowering electrical charge. He ends up in a loop of trying to stand up, convulsing through a loud screech, and tumbling right back down.
Jessica nearly tumbles over once again as Yan Sun changes her pace. "Just-..." she begins, but when Yan Sun unleashes an overload at the vorcha, she quickly attempts to capitalize on it as well. She raises her pistol in one hand and takes a shot. Her depth perception not being what it once was, the shot goes wide, embedding itself in the snow bank behind Mr. Wiggles. Her second shot misses as well. The following nine, however, do
not. She's no stranger to the hardiness of vorcha. She squeezes the trigger over and over, each time eliciting a sharp pained shriek from the vorcha. It's not until his body goes limp that she lowers her weapon. She remains in place for a moment, breathing heavily before her gaze snaps to the men moving up the road. Her gun briefly shifts in their direction before she thinks otherwise and lifts her arm. With a few swipes
of her omni-tool both the gate and the office door slide open and she shoves into Yan Sun yet again, urging her inside. "Go! Now!"
The pale man's cackling dies abruptly as the shots ring out. "Mr. Wiggles! Nooooooooo!" he shouts as he picks up the pace. There's a slight limp in his gait. The man behind him, however, shows no reaction to the gunshots and continues at his own speed.
Yan Sun stands frozen for a moment, staring at the convulsing vorcha as shot after shot hits it, but as Jessica shoves her she's startled back to action and runs for the door to the shed, glancing back over her shoulder.
Jessica hops backwards through the gate, eyes locked on the pair of men. It's not until she enters the office that she closes both the office door and the gate. She instantly begins pacing. "Fuck! Fuck! Gah! Fuck!" she cusses aloud. "How did they find me!?" she asks aloud. Surely it has nothing to do with the fact that she's about as recognizable as they come. Or that she parades around in a pair of instantly identifiable armor
The cameras are displayed across the terminals in the office. The pale man is hobbling closer as he makes his way up the access road. The vorcha's lifeless body continues to twitch as a bit of electricity still courses through him.
Yan Sun props herself up against one of the terminals, panting as she tries to process what's going on. "Wh-... what's-... who the hell are those people?! What's going on?!"
Jessica shakes her head as she continues to pace back and forth. "That is Bishop and Lucas. They used to-..." she begins, but trails off, "Old friends..." she decides in a panic, pausing and giving Yan Sun a pointed look, assuming she'll be able to decipher the implication. "Fuck!" she growls, taking one step towards the terminal and kicking the chair, causing it to go rolling into the wall.
From the window, the pale man can be seen leaning down over the vorcha. "You fuckin' cunt! You killed Mr. Wiggles!" he shouts, his voice picked up by the camera. He stands up, swiveling in place to look for the location of the security cameras. When he spots the one on the security office that overlooks the gate, he scoops up a handful of snow, packing it into a tight ball before throwing it at the camera. It misses. By a lot. The man
Yan Sun has moved to look out the window, keeping most of herself out of view as she studies the man. "What do they want? What do we-... are they going to kill us?!" she asks in rapid succession as she looks back at Jessica.
Jessica shakes her head a bunch of times, bringing a hand to her forehead. "They-... I don't know, kitty cat!" she admits, "I don't know!" She takes her aggression out on the chair once again, aiming a second kick at it that causes it to tip over. "They used to hang out with my brother..." she explains, her voice much quieter for a moment, but it rises back up in volume as she continues, "They are bounty hunters. They have to be
working for that fuck Cross!" she decides. Her gaze moves to her Predator as she steps over to the window, making no attempt to hide her presence from the men outside, scowl etched into her features.
Lucas remains in view of the window. "Ahhh! 'ere she is!" he says as he spots Jessica in the window. "Look. We got off on the wrong foot 'ere, eh Bam Bam?" he asks as he steps over to the fence. He gives a wide, unsettling grin, displaying a single gold tooth in the front. The rest of his teeth are discolored and yellow. There's a number of small sores on his face and a large plate of metal covers a significant portion of the right
side of his head. The flesh around it has healed unevenly, causing large mounds of scar tissue to overlap the edges of the plating. He looks sick. "I was jus' playin' with ya, yeah? Jus' fer ol' times. How 'bout you come on out an' we try this again?"
Bishop has finally caught up by this point and takes a position a few steps behind Lucas. He glances to the vorcha as he breathes into his hands to encourage some blood circulation as Lucas speaks. Once his partner has finishes, he looks back to the window. "Bam Bam. Don't make this any harder than it has to be. Just-... come on out, love." he requests. He has a way of speaking, as if talking through clenched teeth. "You had to know
you couldn't run forever. I'm sure Cross will take it into consideration if we can settle this without any more violence." Unlike Lucas, Bishop is well kept. Handsome, even.
Yan Sun peeks out the window again, but as she sees the men come closer she ducks back out of view, keeping quite close to the wall next to the window as she looks to Jessica. "What do we-... we need to do something. You can-... you can call reinforcements or something, right?!" It's not hard to see her fear - the vorcha clearly rattled her.
Jessica raises her free hand, extends her middle finger, and presses it against the window in response to their requests. Her attention is pulled away from Bishop and Lucas by Yan Sun's suggestion. She furrows her brow, giving a slow nod. "I-..." she begins, gaining a bit more confidence in the suggestion and a bunch more nods follow. All she has to do is ask and Redrock will come, right? They have to come. It's their job. "Mmm."
Lucas sighs loudly. "Well a'right, then. Ya can't say I didn't try, Bish." he says apologetically to the man at his side. He takes a step back from the fence. "Ain't this familiar, Bam Bam?" he asks, examining the small shack. "You: locked up all nice and tight like with no way out? Bet ya feelin' all safe and sound in there, ain't ya?" he asks as he looks to his hulking prosthetic arm lovingly. A small jet rises out of the bulky
forearm. He continues to look it over for a few moments before it unceremoniously spurts forth flames that rise into the air. His grin widens. "Whaddya say? We 'avin' us a cookout tonight or ya gonna come out an' have a chit chat with your ol' pals?" He follows it up with a few more spurts of fire, each one in tune with a rhythmic, circular gyrating of his hips.
Bishop seems a bit perturbed by Lucas' display and eventually steps forward, slapping the prosthetic arm downward. "Knock it off." he says sternly before looking back to the window. "Bam Bam. Jessie. Please. Don't make us do something we don't want to do." he continues to plead. It's clear he's disappointed with his partner's actions and he's caught between trying to talk Jessica down and not undermining Lucas' threats. "This isn't
Bishop how Martin would've wanted this to happen, Jessie. He wanted better things for you. Come with us quietly and I'm sure we can figure all of this out."
Jessica's eye goes wide, her attention instantly pulled from her omni-tool the moment Lucas begins to showcase the mounted flamethrower. A knot forms in her throat as her mind runs through what's about to happen. There's no way Redrock would arrive before this place became an oven. She's seen it before. She looks to Yan Sun almost apologetically, the faintest signs of remorse in her eye. "I can't-.... We can't-..." she begins,
but shakes her head. The omni-tool interface dissipates and she squeezes the grip of her pistol tightly as she steps over towards the door.
Yan Sun peeks out the window again as she notices Jessica's expression, and hears the roar of the flames. She stares in silence until Bishop starts to speak. When Jessica steps towards the door she grabs her shoulder, trying to turn her around. "What are you doing?!" she blurts out in a very loud whisper, staring at her.
Jessica aggressively swats at Yan Sun's hand, shrugging her hold off. "They are going to kill us!" she shouts as she spins around to face Yan Sun. There's tears welling up in her eye. For reasons that should be obvious by now, Lucas' threat seems to have really hit its mark with Jessica. She looks.... afraid. That confidence she usually wears like a suit of armor is cracked. She swallows hard, shaking her head a bunch of times.
Jessica "I am not letting this happen!" she says, giving a glance down to her pistol before turning back to the door. She reaches out, pressing the interface. The door slides open.
Lucas' grin only widens as the door opens. He takes a few steps back from the gate. "Shit. They really did do a number on ya, eh? Face is all-..." he draws a circle around his own face with his left hand. It, too, is a prosthetic. But it's much more humanlike in nature. It's still made of a crude metal, however. "...buggered up, innit?" he finishes, as if he has any room to talk.
Bishop breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of Jessica. He pays no mind to Lucas. "You're doing the right thing, love." he encourages as he takes up a position behind Lucas. He places both hands into the pockets of his long, warm jacket.
Yan Sun stares at Jessica, clearly at a loss. When she opens the door she curses under her breath, peeking out the doorway. The blue glow of her eye, and left hand, is still visible. Indeed, the overload burned the palm of her glove away. "Jessica... you can't go with them!" she whispers, her head briefly turning to her before going back to the pair outside.
Jessica gives one last apologetic glance back at Yan Sun, her expression nearly cracking before that cold veneer returns to her and she steps out into the snow. She stares harshly at Lucas as she marches to the gate and opens it up, now at the mercy of the two bounty hunters.
Lucas raises his hand to point at Yan Sun. "Uh, uh, uh! I see you in there!" he calls out. "I ain't 'bout ta let no funny business go down! You get out 'ere too!" he instructs.
Jessica's scowl falters briefly as Lucas' attention shifts to Yan Sun, but she manages to keep it together for now.
Bishop takes a deep breath, releasing a puff of steam into the cold winter air as he looks from his old partner to his late best friend's sister.
Yan Sun takes a deep breath, doing her best to bury her fear as she steps outside, tentatively catching up to Jessica. Her cybernetics remain lit up, her gaze occasionally darting slightly as she uses her AR HUD to try and see if she can access Lucas' prosthetics remotely.
The snow around Mr. Wiggles has melted, replaced with a black scorch mark in the dirt. Yan Sun is able to see that there is remote access available for Lucas' prosthetics. But contrary to what the low tech nature of them would imply, it seems that he actually knows his shit as they're quite secure.
Lucas looks Yan Sun over. Top to bottom. "Well what 'ave we got 'ere? Eh? You're quite a looker, ain't ya?" he asks through a grin. He stares intently at Yan Sun for a number of seconds before he suddenly shoots a jet of flame into the air and jumps in place as if startled by his own action. "Oh my." he continues, looking his prosthetic over, "I swear this 'as never happen to me before!" he apologizes with a high pitched cackle, very
Lucas much amused at his own joke. "Maybe we should take this one with us, too. 'at's a good plan, innit, Bish?" he asks as he takes a single step towards Yan Sun.
Jessica visibly startles as Lucas' flamethrower spurts another burst of flame. But when he starts towards Yan Sun, she steps in his path. "No!" she shouts before Bishop can respond to Lucas. "Leave her out of this!" she continues, "She has nothing to do with this, mmm? You-... You promise to let her go and-... And I will come." she nods. Her gaze moves to Bishop.
Bishop remains silent, jaw tightly clenched. He pulls a pair of black, leather gloves from his jacket pocket and slowly tugs them on before adjusting the collar of his jacket once again, the cold seemingly getting the better of him. He opens and closes his fists, working the chill out. The look on his face is one of disgust.
Yan Sun scowls at Lucas, all the while poking around his defenses for a weak point, loading up a program to try and crack the cybernetic's security. The burst of flame causes her to flinch, but when Jessica steps in front of her she's quick to shake her head. "Jessica, no! Screw that!" she exclaims, stepping forward to stand next to her, her gaze moving from Lucas to Bishop. It seems clear the former isn't going to be reasoned
Yan Sun with, so she focuses on Bishop. "You-... you don't have to do this... what's this about? Credits?"
Yan Sun's probing returns results. But there's no telling how long it might take for her program to bypass his security measures and access a wireless link. The program begins flooding him with junk data.
Lucas shakes his head at Jessica's request, but is easily distracted when Yan Sun speaks up. "This is jus' 'bout goin' home, sweets. Ain't nothin' personal. Jus' the way things go. Ya gotta adapt or get swallowed." he answers for Bishop.
Bishop's clenched jaw only tightens. He establishes eye contact with Yan Sun, but quickly looks away.
Jessica's scowl turns to Yan Sun and she presses a hand across her chest, shoving her back. "Shut up!" she shouts at Yan Sun. Her gaze leveled back on Lucas, she pleads once more with him. "I go. She stays. Yes? Is good deal."
Lucas snorts loudly. "Fuck off. No deal. You!..." he glances to the vorcha, pointing at him with his prosthetic arm, "...killed Mr.-fucking-Wiggles! So now I get to hurt somethin' you love!" he reasons.
Jessica snaps back instantly, almost reeling back from the assertion that she has feelings for Yan Sun even in the face of death. "Love!? I don't love her! She is just-... a plaything!"
Lucas rapid fires right back, the two practically shouting over one another at this point. "Yeah? Is'at so?" he asks, spreading his arms wide as he looks about, as if looking for something that may be meaningful to Jessica. "Oh, ya love that tree over there? Is'at it?" he asks with a gesture to a tree. The tree Jessica ambushed Yan Sun from, to be precise. "What 'bout that one? Eh?" he continues, singling out another tree. "Of course
ya don't. Cuz they're fuckin' trees! So fergive me if I ain't got much to go on out here. So-fuckin'-sorry. That means the Japanese chick is gonna get it." He glances to Yan Sun with an insincere apologetic look, "Sorry Japanese chick."
Yan Sun's program does its thing and, suddenly, she's granted access. Her HUD is flooded with a number of options. Flamethrower. Shield generator. Omni-blade. Heatsink ejection. Firing mode, implying a built in long range weapon system.
Bishop's eyelids flutter with frustration, as if he's hearing nails on a chalkboard as he lifts the tail of his coat and pulls a Predator out as the other two argue.
Jessica lifts her pistol, displaying it for Lucas. "Then maybe I am just going to shoot you, mmm!? Is what you want, yes!?" she threatens.
Lucas is quite clearly unbothered by the threat. He leans a little closer, weaving his head from side to side as if anticipating her shot as to dodge it. "Do it! Do it, then! Eh? C'mon, ya dumb cunt!" He stands up straight again. "Ain't gonna get ya nowhere. Do ya even know how a fuckin' shield generator works!? Fuck yer dumb!"
Bishop pulls a suppressor from his pocket and aligns it with the barrel of his gun. Once the magnetic rail system pulls it into position, he gives it a twist to lock it in place. It seems he knows how a shield generator works. In one swift motion, he presses the suppressor to Lucas' head and squeezes the trigger. A spray of red hits the snow before Lucas' body does and a few drops blowback, catching Bishop on the cheek.
Yan Sun 's scowl turns to Jessica when she keeps trying to push her deal, but she's unable to get a word in as the shouting match between Lucas and Jessica escalates. Lucas' comments towards her causes a brief look of confusion amid her fear and frustration, but as soon as she gets access to his cybernetics her attention turns to her interface. She lifts her left arm, just about to press a button on the interface that
materializes when Lucas drops dead. She blinks, standing frozen for a moment before her gaze turns to Bishop, arm still in front of her, not quite having caught up with what just happened.
Jessica winces, neck craning back in response to the whisper that slices through the air. She blinks hard a few times, her gaze traveling to Lucas' body that has just slumped to the side before her. It takes her a few moments before she's back in the moment and she stutters backwards, raising her pistol at Bishop. "Why-... Gah-..." she stammers, looking to Lucas once more, "What you are doing!?" she asks in confusion.
Bishop, much like Lucas, doesn't seem particularly threatened by Jessica's actions. He counted the shots. He knows she has one left. Maybe two in these temperatures. Not enough to eat through his shield. He wipes at the small amount of blood on his cheek with his pinky and stares at it for a moment. His gaze travels to Lucas briefly, but he immediately looks away as if upset over what he just did. He rubs his pinky and thumb together
until the blood is spread so thin across his leather glove that it's no longer visible. "I owed Martin." he says as he dismantles his sidearm and tucks it away, replacing it with his omni-tool. "Now we're even, I think." he adds as he steps over to Lucas' body and snaps a photo of it, paying little attention to the firearm leveled on him. He takes a moment to examine the photo and then pokes at his omni-tool a few times before
tucking it away in his pocket. "Are you both alright?" he asks, his gaze moving from Jessica to Yan Sun. His tone is even and calm despite his obvious unease at what just happened.
Yan Sun is still standing in place, looking stunned over what just happened. She slowly lowers her arm, just looking as Bishop walks over and snaps the picture. At the question she blinks again. "I-.... wh-... y-yeah..." she stutters, her voice quiet. Her gaze darts back to Lucas' body, but she's quick to look away, glancing at Jessica instead.
Jessica glances to Yan Sun, brow furrowed as she holds her aim on Bishop. "Wha-... No! We are not 'alright' you fuck!" she berates him. "We were friends! And you do this? Mmm? You come to me for that fuck, Cross? Mmm!?"
Bishop gives a couple of nods to Yan Sun. When Jessica speaks up, he lets out another deep breath, the steam clear as can be in the cold winter temperatures. "No we weren't, Bam Bam." he corrects.
Bishop shoves his hands back into his pockets, but acknowledges her with a bow of his head. "Jessica." he corrects. "We were never 'friends'. Martin was my friend. This tosser-..." he nods towards Lucas' body, a small amount of blood having pooled from the hole in his head by now. He gives Lucas' foot a kick with his boot. "...was my 'friend'." He bites down hard, his jawline bulging from the pressure as it sets in what he just
did. "And now I'm going to take my 'friend' a mile or so out into the woods-..." he sucks a breath in through his nose as he looks to the treeline beyond the security office, "...to be fed on by the local wildlife. So maybe a little appreciation is in order?"
Bishop shakes his head. "I didn't bring him, Jessie. He was coming with or without me. I was just hoping-..." he shakes his head, biting down once more. "I don't know what I was hoping. Maybe he'd have a change of heart when he saw you? He'd-... I don't know. It doesn't matter. He's dead." He continues to ignore the gun aimed at him as he crouches down beside Lucas.
Yan Sun 's stunned expression starts to give way to a frown as she listens to the exchange, watching Bishop. Her gaze falls to the snow a few times, but as he crouches down next to Lucas she looks back to Jessica, carefully trying to place a hand on her arm and guide the gun down. "Come on... I don't think he's going to hurt us." she says quietly.
Jessica's gaze snaps to Yan Sun as she feels her hand on the gun. But she complies, allowing the pistol to be lowered. "You do not know him like I do. He is a fucking snake. No loyalty. He just shot his own fucking friend in the head." she spits, the comments obviously directed insults at Bishop despite being said to Yan Sun.
Bishop bites back on his anger, retaining his composure despite the frustration bubbling up. He examines his old friend for a few more moments before looking up to the pair of women near the gate. "It's only a matter of time before more come for you, Jessie." he says- ignoring her venomous remarks- though his gaze is on Yan Sun as it seems like she's the only one he might get through to right now. "If he found you, others will, too. I
don't plan on being around much longer. I've got some loose ends to tie up, and then I'm getting off this rock. I recommend you consider doing the same, love."
Yan Sun frowns at Jessica, but when Bishop speaks her attention turns to him. She nods. "We are." she says, answering for her. After a moment's thought, and another glance back at Lucas, she adds, despite Jessica's words, a quiet: "Thank you."
Jessica seems to have no interest in expressing any gratitude. She looks to Lucas' dead body and then pointedly to Bishop one last time before she turns on her heels and starts back towards the office door.
Bishop nods to Yan Sun, her gratitude not going unappreciated. Though it's hard for him to express his appreciation too much when it came at the cost of an old friend's life. Regardless of his personal feelings towards Lucas, the scumbag was loyal. In his own way. "Martin would want you to be happy, Jessie." Bishop calls out to her, unable to leave things on such a sour note. "He'd want us all to be happy. We owe it to him to
Jessica stops in place as she reaches the office door. She considers turning around, but instead merely bites down and stomps through the door, disappearing out of sight.
Yan Sun lets out a heavy sigh although the previous, tense situation still has her a bit on edge. Her gaze lingers on Lucas' body for a while, a queasy look crossing her face before she looks back to Bishop. Unsure what to do, she nods a few times and turns to hurry after Jessica, feeling a need to check up on her.
Jessica has sat the chair upright and is seated atop it, one booted foot perched on the edge of the seat as she uses her other foot to rock the swivel the chair back and forth. Her pistol is sat on the console. She's just staring out the window, paying little mind to Yan Sun's return.
Bishop remains beside his friend for a few more moments befor he begins the thankless task of cleanup. He sets off down the access road as he decides to bring the truck closer rather than dragging Lucas' and Mr. Wiggles' bodies down the long dirt road to load them up.
Yan Sun glances back at Bishop before closing the door, her frown lingering. "Hey..." she says, her voice still sounding a little shaken as she looks back to Jessica.
Jessica glances Yan Sun's way. Her expression is blank for a few moments before her brow furrows and that telltale 'Frustrated Jessica' look is plastered across her face. "What you were thinking, mmm!?" she scolds Yan Sun. Just a bit of that patented misdirected Jessica fury that Yan Sun should have come to expect by this point. "You almost fuck everything up!"
Yan Sun blinks. "What...? I wasn't going to let you just go with them!" she exclaims with spread arms, lingering adrenaline giving a bit more force to her voice than intended.
The tail lights shine through the window for a moment as Bishop backs the vehicle up until it's just outside of the security office. He turns the van off and hops out, moving over to Mr. Wiggles first. He begins the slow process of dragging the heavy creature towards the back of the van.
Jessica scoffs loudly as she looks up to Yan Sun. "Go with them!?" she repeats. "I was not going to go with them! Don't you even know how a fucking shield generator works!?" she asks, repeating Lucas' words with a frown. "I am thinking that maybe no! I have one shot left! One!" she leans forward, reaching for her Predator. She rotates the weapon as if that explains anything. "I get close and then I shoot him! Mmm!?" she
explains. "And then I-..." she stammers, perhaps removing a bit of the credibility in her plan, "...Uhh.... Then I hit Bishop!" she kicks out with her foot that was on the edge of the seat. "And-... hit him until he is dead! And we win! You see!? I was having it all under control!" She furrows her brow as she studies Yan Sun. "You are thinking that I was going to give myself up...!? For you!?"
Yan Sun 's frown returns as she listens to Jessica's... questionable plan. She seems about to say something, but the last question causes her to go quiet. She stares at her for a while before looking off to the side as she crosses her arms. After another moment she looks back to Jessica - it's clear by her expression that she doesn't quite buy it. "Yeah." she says simply.
Jessica's frown only deepens at being called out on her bullshit. "No!" she corrects. "If you think that then-... you are even more stupid than I think. And I am thinking you are pretty stupid!" she says through a scowl, falling back on bullying tactics when the bullshit doesn't work. She lowers her gaze to her pistol and fiddles with it for a moment before setting it back on the console and folding her arms across her chest as
Yan Sun 's gaze falls to the floor. Even if she doesn't believe Jessica the rather aggressive denial still stings. She opts not to push the issue, joining her in looking out the window at Bishop instead. "Friend... of your brother's...?" she asks, doing her best to thread carefully.
Jessica nods silently. Her movement little more then a bow of her head. And for a moment, it seems like she's going to leave it at that. "Best friend." she finally says, an obvious bit of anger regarding that fact after what just happened.
Yan Sun remains silent for a while, uncertain what to say as she looks out the window. "I... guess it was only a matter of time before someone came for you..." she finally says, her voice quiet.
Jessica shoots a glare Yan Sun's way, perhaps misidentifying her words for some sort of blame or criticism. But she says nothing. She merely continues to watch Bishop drag the vorcha's body through the snow and load it up into the back of the van. Minutes pass, and her scowl slowly fades away. Without even looking to Yan Sun, she says: "I am sorry..." It carries the same, frustrated tone as her previous attacks, like it's meant
Yan Sun nods slightly, a sigh the only thing that fills the silence from her end. She leans against the wall and slides down until she's sitting, her legs feeling weak. She stares at the floor, saying nothing.
Jessica continues to watch Bishop in silence. He moves on to Lucas' body. It takes him a number of minutes before he's able to even commit to moving the body. There's no real visible emotion on his face, but there's no doubt that he's struggling. Finally after minutes of silence pass, Jessica climbs off her chair and takes a seat beside Yan Sun on the ground, though she still says nothing.
Yan Sun glances to her side at Jessica. After a moment's thought she places a hand on her arm, mumbling a quiet "Thank you..." as she looks at her.
Jessica looks down at Yan Sun's hand and just gives a short nod in response as she continues to watch through the window. There's not much to be seen from this low angle. Every now and then the top of Bishop's head comes into view, but that's all. It's not long before the bright glow of the tail lights shine through the window once again. It's only now that Jessica shifts her arm to grasp Yan Sun's hand in her own. Despite Bishop
being gone, her gaze is still focused intently on the window. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me." she says in nearly a mutter. "I-... I am going to be better."
Yan Sun gives Jessica's hand a squeeze, a faint, sad smile tugging at her lips as she nods. She reaches over with her other hand, placing it on Jessica's hand and running it up and down her lower arm. She considers saying something, but instead just offers another nod, turning her gaze to the window as well.
Jessica intertwines her fingers with Yan Sun's. For a while, she seems content to just sit here. But, as tends to be the case with Jessica, it's not long before that guilt and sense of responsibility cascade away. Or, at the very least, that she covers them back up with her cynicism. "You are still not getting out of our closet date." she says with a pointed glance to her side.