Fighting in the Forever Frosted Forest

Though Lucius doesn't have enough physical strength to flip Bus [1] or fix the arrangement of Bus [2] and [3], he was capable of moving them by using his deflective aura. He placed Xavier under the windshield of Bus [1] and then placed Valerie in between Bus [2] and [3]. He then activated his ability, "Aura Snap", and his aura had resonated with his shields. Thus it flipped Bus [1] right back up and had given a considerable distance between Bus [2] and [3], making the drivers be able to maneuver themselves from the accordion fold. And then retrieved Valerie on the road.

Bus [1] is nonoperational, and neither does Bus [2] or [3] have spare tires. I guess the drivers did not think that they would be attacked by people who would target their tires since they only contain civilians; they had only prepared for us Soon-to-be Hunters to protect them from the Grimm.

"It seems that all the commotion is happening at the area where the SDC Trucks are, the one who had set up all this must be aiming for those trucks", he thought as he was helping out the civilians.

He immediately instructed the driver of Bus [3] to continue forward since the bus had only suffered a large dent and that with the current situation, the authorities, some ambulances, and some mechanics are needed. Bus [3] continued forward and Bus [2] had placed itself at the side of the road with considerable distance from Bus [1]. By the way things look, any vehicle could pass now.

The road now being free could surely be seen by the SDC Trucks. He then attached one end of the tow cables on Bus [2] and he placed the other end on the ground. Lucius then rested on the opposite side of the road ((Where the other end of the tow cable was)) from Bus [2] because using "Aura Snap" continuously  takes a toll on his stamina. He simply waited for SDC Trucks to pass and had set up a counter-measure if ever the attacker would try to chase after it.

((OOC: Notice how Lucius did not retrieve Xavier from the road))

Alex watched as the attacker stood across from him, standing still because his tow line was cut. "Sorry, mate, but I rather dislike sharp, pointy objects being pointed at me. That and fire. Let your friend back there know that." He heard, and dropped down to a lower crouch, ready to strike.

Suddenly, the attacker started charging towards Alex, and at the last second, dropped into a slide. Alex reacted quickly, but not quick enough. He slashed his gauntlet blades at the attacker, but his momentum allowed him to slide past Alex. However, even though Alex's intended attack missed, he managed to cut the double spike line that was fired at him.

He quickly turned around to face the attacker and threw a special red dust-covered throwing knife at the corner of the truck that lead to the doors.

OOC: It would seem to anyone watching, that Alex missed his throw. In fact, Alex meant to do that, because the "specialness" of the throwing knife is that its a motion detecting explosive one. The explosion isn't too big, but the force is concentrated enough to blow a person back without doing that much damage.

((OOC: To clarify again, Diadem uses 5mm steel cables as its main line. Even superpowers/dust/kitchen sink considered, the amount of slicing going on is getting a tad dubious (there's a reason I don't even bother with pistols).))

Alton rolled up after sliding under the blades of the guard and watched his restraint cable sliced in half in mid-air. The guard's gauntlets had cut through the steel wire like nothing. "What are their weapons made of?" Alton thought, gasping as a knife whizzed by his ear and embedded itself with a thunk in the truck to his rear. However, the knife isn't what had him shocked - it was the sight of the pyro's motorcycle flying towards him.

As far as Hunters went, Alton wasn't much of an athlete; not compared to the other fighters he'd seen. Once, during a tournament, he'd watched a girl jump thirty feet into the air just so she could throw a spear in a dramatic fashion, and she didn't even break a sweat. Alton relied on his tools and technique to keep in fighting shape - Diadem was just an extension of his mechanical skill, after all. But when he needed to most, such as in situations involving dodging runaway motorcycles of doom, Alton could will himself to escape.

And he did. Mostly.

Alton leapt over the motorcycle, arching his back in some semblance of control, but was sent spinning after a sickening crack. His left arm had dangled and impacted with the bike, and the rivulets of pain shooting from his arm told him that something had just broken, be it Diadem or him… or both. Alton landed on his back in a thud, facing a very-startled looking guard, with the pyro visible in the distance behind him. "Nitroglycerin? They're made of nitroglycerin?!?

”I told your friend I don’t li-” Alton was cut off by a sudden explosion from behind. A quick glance confirmed that the knife that had missed him earlier had, oddly enough, exploded, leaving behind a small hole in the truck and throwing the bike several yards. Alton stared, then turned back to the guard. Bringing Diadem up, Alton noted with a mixture of satisfaction and dismay that the plating on the top of his forearm had caved in, and blood was dripping from the rupture. Worst, though, the grapple line was damaged – he could probably still fire, but reeling line back in would be impossible. But that was an inconvenience. His guns still worked.

”Y’know, I can forgive your pyro friend back there for trying to fry me, and I could even forgive you for doing that ‘point-weapons-in-my-direction’ thing I told you I dislike so much. But that? You really tried to off me with an exploding throwing dart?” Alton got to his feet, eyes narrow. ”That just 'aint right.”

Before, he’d been shooting to intimidate. Keep heads down, discourage resistance, seed confusion. At most, put a bullet in a leg and confiscate weapons. This guy, though? He'd live. But only barely.

Standing behind the attacker and deploying the Metalhawk's dual-bladeed wing form partway so it became a V, Hunter brings his sword to the attacker's neck, just as the guy was standing up.

"Do not move. You are under arrest with the charges of attacking three buses filled with innocent civilians, attacking five Huntsmen, and attempting to rob two Schnee Dust Company trucks, all in broad daylight. Now, the way I see it, you have four options.

One: Surrender to us and be taken into custody.
Two: Defeat all five of us and take the Dust crystals.
Three: Fight all five of us and die.
Four: Run and escape with your life."

Hunter saw that the the others were running "You have little chance of victory against five very skilled Huntsmen. I would highly recommend you pick the first option. Otherwise..." He pressed a button on the Metalhawk and both ends of the sword blazed to life. "My friend Metaruhōku will cut off your arms. You have twenty seconds to comply."

Alex saw the attacker stand up. He was furious. The attacker started to say something, but was cut off by Hunter, who had put his weapon right next to the attacker's neck, like a pair of scissors. Alex instantly raised one blade, and threw yet another special explosive throwing knife at the truck. This time, however, he threw one at truck [5] and another at truck [4], just in case.

"I suggest you take the man up on his most generous offer." Alex said, slowly backing off, but raising War to prepare to fire.

With a blade against his neck, Alton knew his options were as limited as the man-with-a-thousand-flaming-things said. Alton raised his hands and, with the air of a good sport who'd just lost a duel, stepped back. "First off, I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't like sharp, pointy, and or burning things pointed in my direction, let alone my throat. Second, option two intrigues me..." Glancing at the truck, Alton continued. "In that it shows just how little you know about what I'm actually doing. Dust crystals? Really?"

There was no winning this fight; perhaps against similarly equipped foes, but the pyro was too fast to pin down and as long as he was standing his comrades would be in the fight, too. Alton turned his head to face the guards once again, dropping his arms to his sides.

"Option Five."
"Take what I came for and run like hell."

In that instant, Alton's arms were not lowered, but rather aimed at the ground - in the blink of an eye, a smoke bomb launched and detonated, filling the area with smoke. The pyro's sword could still be seen in the haze, and Alton fell backwards into a roll, tucking his head to avoid whatever plans the pyro had had for his jugular. In the same motion, he launched a spike line at where the truck was a moment ago - only to be greeted by an explosion. Reeling in the line, Alton fired again - this time without detonating a knife-mine. With his off hand, he fired the last functioning line on his left arm, detonating the knife he'd seen the second guard throw on the second truck.

He didn't have time to search the truck. Scrambling through the now-gaping hole created by two fair-sized explosives, Alton grabs the first thing he sees - a manilla folder resting on top of a crate. No time to crack anything open to grab Dust. He leapt from the truck and rolled underneath, firing his right gauntlet at the forest on the other side.

((OOC: That image is totally not foreshadowing I swear))

OOC: Wouldn't the detonation warp the metal for the spike line? Especially if you ARE shooting directly at it...

OOC: Not necessarily. First of all, it's a free-flying object in projectile motion with low mass. The explosion would simply bend the wire (which is what they're supposed to do, otherwise we'd just use solid metal blocks), but an explosion that would physically distort the wire would be of the scale to kill everyone in the convoy. Maybe Xavier would live.

OOC:
Nevertheless, it's time we finished fighting.


IC:

"Smoke!" Hunter brought Metaruhōku straight down, hitting nothing but dirt. "Don't let him get away!" Activating his glasses' Heat-Tracking mode again, Hunter scanned around for the attacker.

"There! Truck 2! He's grabbing something!" Hunter sprinted towards gauntlet guy, fully extending Metaruhōku, shouting "Stop!" as the attacker fired another cable into the forest.

Hunter swung his sword fifteen times at the fleeing figure, shouting two words. "BLAST. BURN!"

OOC: Right, but, take, for instance, C4 and, say, a metal frame. Once the C4 detonated, it would definitely bend the metal. As with the knife, you'd have to hit it to detonate it with the wire. Motion detectors, especially in high-end security systems, are made to detect only the necessary things (e.g. humans). They're programmed in such a way that they won't get triggered by a fly or mosquito. The wire may be strong, but it's not gigantic. Also, if you manage to nudge it with the cable, it would probably snap it, or at least veer you off course. In any case, since Wrecker doesn't want me to try to win the dispute, I'll just continue posting.

IC: Hunter had managed to fire fifteen sword beams at the assailant's direction, but Alex wasn't sure that'd be enough. Taking out War, Alex swapped out the ice bullets with incendiary ones, and unloaded three clips of fifteen bullets each into the attacker's fleeing direction, hoping to at least burn some part of the attacker's clothing, or anything they might be holding in their hands ((Just a little suggestion. Maybe the fire catches and you stop it from burning the entire thing, but it burns out the document's signature...?)).

Mao raised his fist as he watched Hunter put a knife to the enemy's throat. This guy must be crazy to believe that he could attack a convoy by himself! In the next instant, the area surrounded truck [5] was filled with a cloud of smoke. You can't be serious...

Mao was blown away as the truck next to him exploded. He coughed as he inhaled some of the smoke from the explosion. Calming down, he thought I won't let him go. Kneeling on the ground, Mao recalled the positions of the two guards engaging the enemy before. I'm sure he wouldn't try to escape into the forest closest to the other two. Hunter has a bike so he would not be able to run either way down the road. Going along with that, there are more guards at the front of the convoy. That only leaves one other option. Mao stood up, shook off the dizziness from the explosion, and ran in the direction which Alton was going to escape.

OOC: Sword. Metaruhōku is the giant sword in my sig.

OOC: Ah, Prinny, I see where you're coming from. Sorry, I should've clarified exactly how precise your knives were, in terms of what would trigger them - I assumed that the grappling hooks would be sufficient in triggering them by proximity.

Alton jolted up as he hit a rock under the snow, rolled twice, then stumbled to his feet. He was in poor shape - his leg was chewed up by the ground, his left arm was bleeding and possibly broken, Diadem was working at half capacity, and Pyro had seen fit to launch more fire into the forest, which had the effect of soaking Alton through with melted snow. In any case, though, he had managed to get away with something, and as far as he could tell he was currently ahead of pursuit. Glancing over is shoulder, Alton could only see bursts of fire and the smoke cloud, which was already beginning to disperse. Worryingly, though, he was leaving a deep - and bloodstained - trail in the snow.

It took a bit of coordination, but Alton managed to start swinging from branch to branch with his one good grappling line, only briefly landing in the snow to catch his breath or tend to his arm. He didn't dare remove the damaged gauntlet at the risk of further injuring his arm; as it was, the gauntlet was a makeshift cast. It might be the only thing holding his arm together, for all he knew. Straightening up, Alton continued to flee through the forest. He could make it to the nearest town, sure; from there, the train, then Beacon. He'd find someone there to analyze what he'd found, if he needed a second opinion.

While Lucius had rested enough, he went to retrieve Xavier but then suddenly explosions and destructive sounds were coming from where his comrades were.

Seeing multiple explosions occurring from where the trucks were and then smoke, Lucius couldn't just sit idly and wait for the enemy. He ran towards the trucks but then a sound within the forest caught his attention. He ran towards the sound and saw a figure of a person who seems to be limping. But with the distance and the speed it was limping, he could definitely reach the figure. He ran towards the figure and the figure became clearer. It was a man who was leaving a trail of blood in the snow.

He then said, "Hey! It's dangerous out here and it looks like you've been through a lot! What happened!?".
He then added, "If you stay out here, you'll die either from the cold, loss of blood, or even become Grimm-food. Come with me to where the buses are, its warmer there and the paramedics will be arriving soon; I hope"

Lucius does not know who that man was but his morals does not allow him to let a heavily injured person alone. He offered his help to the man while trying to lend to him his cloak.

((OOC: Lucius wasn't part of that battle between you guys, so of course he wouldn't know that Alton was actually the person who caused all this))

"Mao! Fall back!" Hunter yelled into the radio while Alex reloaded his gun for the third time. "Alex is shooting out there! Attend to the injured civilians. Lucius, check the trucks to see if they're okay.

... Lucius?" Hunter looked around using the Infinity Lens' Heat-Signature filter. Lucius was running after the cable guy yelling something Hunter couldn't make out.

"Lucius! Stand down! That's not a civilian! I repeat, stand down before you get hit by Alex!"

Mao stopped as ordered to his annoyance. His jaw clenched as he watched the man escape. "Why are we letting him escape?" Mao softly growled into his mic. Suddenly, through his radio, he heard "Lucious! Stand down! That's not a civilian!". Mao turned to watch as Lucious approached the man. Lucious, please. Making sure to stay out of the path of Alex's attacks, he ran in the general direction of Lucious.

As he was offering his cloak to the injured man, bullets started flying from the side where the road was. His cloak caught on fire so the attacker must have been using incendiary bullets. He immediately threw his two shields on the ground and activated his 'Shield Cage', encasing the injured man and himself inside. He then heard Hunter's transmission directed towards him.

"Lucius! Stand down! That's not a civilian! I repeat, stand down before you get hit by Alex!"

As he heard Hunter's transmission he thought 'Not a civilian? Then is he!?'. He was shocked to find out that he is encased in his own Shield Cage with the man who had set up all those traps. He immediately removed Shield Cage then activated his Aura Snap. Combined with the presence of his two shields 'Xavier and Valerie' right beside him, his Aura Snap amplified and had sent the injured man flying deeper into the forest, and then he collapsed due to using his Aura too much.

((OOC: Aura Snap doesn't do any damage, it just pushes physical things away. If Lucius is near his shields, Aura Snap gets amplified and thus pushing things away farther. When Aura Snap was used on the buses, he was far away from the shields thus it only was capable of pushing things away to a short distance; Just wanted to provide some info.))

Hunter saw him collapse. Did Alex hit him or was it the terrorist? "Lucius!" He ran towards his fallen comrade, using Metaruhōku's boost ability to go faster. "Alex, cover me!" By the time Hunter reached him, Mao was already there.

"Scrap, he's on fire! Mao, help me put it out, now!" Hunter began tossing snow onto Lucius' burning coat. Meanwhile, the terrorist disappeared deeper into the Forever Frosted Forest.

Mao watched as Lucius collapsed and swore as he watched the escapee fly off into the forest. "Sure thing!". He helped Hunter to put out the fire, but in the back of his mind, he wanted to go after the man. Hunter should be able to handle this. Surely we aren't going to let him escape, right? It would be irresponsible to do so. The more he thought about it, the more he was tempted to just leave, but he persevered. For now, at least.

The fire was gone, and so was the terrorist. Hunter found a blood trail that must have been from the attacker and took a small sample using a bottle and part of Lucius' coat before it clotted over. Afterwards, he had Mao carry Lucius back to what remained of the convoy. He wondered why Mao looked mad, especially at him. There was no time to find out. The convoy was a mess.

There were 20 casualties. Only 5 of them were minor injuries, while the 15 others required medical help, four of them children. Three of these people had possibly broken bones, while the rest were unconscious. Hunter had no idea if they would ever wake up, nor if they were paralyzed. He didn't have time to find out, though; his boss was calling for a meeting.

"Boys." The boss said. "I'm very thankful for your help. All of you. There is one problem, though." He took out his phone. "We have no signal out here, and we don't know how many passengers have broken their necks from the flip. I'm gonna need two people to go down the mountain to call for help while the rest stay here." He turned towards Hunter. "I suppose I don't need to tell you who's driving down, do I?"

"No sir." Hunter took out his knife and pressed its button. Instantly, the Drifting Ronin pulled up beside him. As he sat down and hand the back panel fold down on him and secure him in place, Hunter asked, "So who are you going to make go with me? Mao? I'm pretty sure a 15 year old can't do much out here."

"That's right. Mao, you're with him." The boss said. "Everyone else, make sure the perimeter is secure. No one in. No one out."

Hunter turned and looked at the boy. "Well? You coming or not?"

Mao looked at the boss, then at Hunter, then to the forest where the culprit had fled, and then back to the boss. He stared blankly for a moment before finally saying "Yes, sir." His voice was filled with defeat and regret. All of this could have been avoided...if he had noticed the trap that had been laid before the convoy. Numerous emotions filed into his head, one by one, and soon his mind became clouded.

Mao took one step towards Hunter's bike and paused. "No. We have more than enough guards for any Grimm, and nobody else should be targeting this convoy. This would have done it when he did. Take someone else." He turn towards the forest and started walking in the direction of the culprit's escape. "My time with you ends here. Keep my cut if you wish. I'm not going to fail everyone again." The assailant, at this point, had become the embodiment of Mao's anger towards himself, the mistakes that he made, and it would be some time before that anger was wiped away from his mind.

((OOC: Apparently, Lucius has to stay unconscious as everything continues to move here, otherwise, it will conflict with some of the plot that had been already established at another thread (The Initiation 2 Thread). Though, when Lucius had fixed the road, Bus 3 had already moved ahead. I'm pretty sure help would be arriving soon at some point))