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Burning Skies Saloon
Yiski:
*Roland turns to Liu.*
"Well, I do not mind coming along, but I do not want to impose."
"Nonsense. You're practically family already."
"Well, then I suppose it would be rude to decline, so I will be happy to go along."
"Splendid!"
--Abandon House in an Unknown Location--
*There's a group of ten individuals huddling over a table with different types of building blueprints and city layout.*
"You sure this plan will work? I mean we are trying to rob a bank in the most heavily fortified city in the world."
"No worries. I've got a few friends who'll lift any probable chance of lockdown."
"Also, if we cause the diversion at the Council building, there'll be no one guarding the bank."
"I get that, but what about getting by all the flak and merc batteries? All the money won't do us good if we get shot a few hundred meters away."
"Don't worry, we'll be escaping through the west."
"You want to escape through the Gauntlet?! Have you gone mad?"
"With our squids hovering over the ground, they won't be able to get decent shots."
"And the mine field?"
"Since the failed invasion, they've had to bring back most of the mines for inspection. Something about them being old and unresponsive."
*This group had plans tomorrow.*
Yiski:
--NARRATOR--
The rest of the evening was uneventful. Zill was stuck at the docks for the whole day. Luckily, Jun'ko decided to surprise him during the late afternoon and the two subsequently spent the night on Then It Was Fixed Again.
Back at the saloon, Ny-Lee, BdrLine, and Liu stayed after closing to figure out when it would be the best time to for the family get together prior to the wedding. With most of the details worked out, BdrLine and Liu left for his place.
Roland and Ny-Lee said goodnight to Yiski before heading upstairs. While the couple were in their room, Ny-Lee attempted to get Roland to divulge his surprise, but Roland was adamant in his resistance. Eventually, her "encouraging" turned into "activities" which led to "sleeping."
Despite the new saloon materials, it still wasn't thick enough to block all sounds in a dead silent main floor. Yiski laughed and headed into the back for his room to get rest and silence. He wasn't going to head to the Armory tomorrow, figuring the gunsmiths can figure out the rest on their own.
Meanwhile, the ten individuals were finalizing their plans for tomorrow.
--NARRATOR END--
--END OF DAY 75--
Yiski:
--START OF DAY 76--
--NARRATOR--
Yiski woke up happy and refreshed. He was glad he was able to work a new propellant which reduced the mercury's tungsten round's recoil to almost zero. When Yiski walked out to the main floor, he saw he was the first up. He walked up to the window when...
*BOOM*
"Skies, that can't be good because it's not me causing it."
Yiski grabbed the standard rifle because it was equipped with the tungsten rounds. By the time he was almost out the door, Roland rushed downstairs and call over.
"Yiski, what is happening? We thought we heard an explosion?"
"You did and it wasn't caused by me. Grab Blood Bolt off the wall and bunker down here. I'm goin' out."
Yiski left the saloon and started heading for the area where the explosion occurred by following the smoke. When Yiski arrived, he noticed he was at the Council buildings and noticed there were swarms of Elites and Regular guards. Yiski approached an Elite and showed him his Commander's symbol.
"What happened?"
"Sir! Early this morning there was an explosion. We're unsure if this is the work of saboteurs and unsure if there are more bombs."
"Lockdown the city and get the batteries up and running. I'll be heading to the docks."
"Understood."
Yiski leaves and was en-route to the docks. While passing through the City Center...
*BOOM*
Another explosion goes off, but it's louder and nowhere near the Council. Yiski sees the smokes and realizes it's the bank.
"Flak. The first was a diversion!"
Yiski stops a citizen and tells her to run to the Council building and grab a few guards because the bank is getting robbed. The citizen runs off and Yiski runs off to the bank.
When Yiski arrives there's smoke, rubble, and a huge hole at where the bank's doors should be. Amiss the chaos, Yiski notices a few individuals leaving the bank with large satchels and armed. Yiski ducks behind a stone statue, aims, and fires. Yiski gets three shots off and takes out three of the armed robbers. The shots pierced their bodies and were lodged into the bank's structure before igniting the signature red smoke.
The remaining seven robbers immediately duck behind some of the rubble and fire at Yiski's position causing Yiski to pull into cover.
Meanwhile the robbers were yelling at each other.
"Shit, we lost Henry, Joe, and Junior! I thought you said there'll be no guards!"
"No, I said there'd be very little. Huge difference."
"Yeah no shitting!"
"Both of you shut up. It only looks like one guy." He gets up to shoot at Yiski. "I mean what can one guy do to...urk!"
The others notice suddenly his head had a fist-sized whole before falling down.
"Dammit! The hell are we going to do now? This guard is clearly a marksman!"
"No worries. I got these."
One robber pulled a two grenades from her side pouch.
"Give me cover!"
She then proceeded to lob both grenades into Yiski's cover. Yiski saw both grenades roll to his left side. Luckily for him the grenades were thrown early and he had a few seconds to kick both away...
*BOOM* *BOOM*
...But not far enough. The explosions cause Yiski to be knocked down and hit his head against the ground, causing a mild concussion. When the robbers thought they had their chance, the started bolting for the docks. Yiski managed to get some bearings and took a look at the fleeing robbers. One robber caught his particular attention and he said almost inaudibly.
"Lauren?"
--NARRATOR END--
RearAdmiralZill:
-Port tar Barrel-
Zill rose quickly at the sound of explosions. He got onto his Galleon deck and used his spyglass to see the bomb sites.
Looks like the Council building and the Bank. My guess is a robbery, and we're the closest dock.
Zill gives a shout from his main deck and signals the workers and garrison.
"I want all of you moving batteries and watching all entrances for an armed group. All ships here are now on lockdown. Muster and weapons you can and turtle up."
In an instant, the workers and few soldiers bolted into action. Jun'ko rushed out of the chambers with a rifle ready to go.
"An attack?"
"Looks like a robbery of the Bank. Make sure my squid is ready to fly just in case."
"Never a dull moment my admiral."
She grins and takes his keys for his warehouse. Zill takes stock of his position. He started regretting shrinking the garrison so low, but it was up to them and dockworkers now. He got on his armor and loaded his pistol, then headed for the main entrance to the Port.
Yiski:
--Bank--
By the time Yiski got more stable, three guards arrived and saw Yiski's bloodied face. One of the guards help prop up Yiski.
"Commander you're in need of medica..."
"Can it. We're goin' to the closest port."
"Commander you're in no..."
Yiski gave the guard a soul-piercing stare. While Yiski's face was bloodied and still bleeding, his expression was one of anger and spite. Given the stories and rumors of Yiski circulating around since the Birdmen incident, none of them were willing to have his anger unleashed on them. The guards reluctantly helped Yiski move toward the docks. Yiski gave orders to one.
"Get this information over the military channels quickly."
--Saloon--
Roland and Ny-Lee were standing behind the bar. Roland had Blood Bolt aimed at the door and Ny-Lee had her pistol and knives.
Suddenly, there was a radio transmission.
"Attention to units. Bank robbery in progress. Suspects are assumed to be six individuals heading for Port Tar Barrel. They are considered armed and dangerous. Commander's orders are to first capture. Barring that, eliminate."
Ny-Lee turns to Roland who has turned white.
"What's wrong?"
"We have to get to the docks."
"What?"
"You heard. They hit the banks."
"What does that..."
Under the possibility the weddings bands were taken, Roland told Ny-Lee what he and Yiski were up to within the past few days. While Ny-Lee should have been ecstatic about having handmade wedding bands, she was now equally furious at the possibility of losing them. The two left and headed for the docks.
--Port Tar Barrel--
Zill heard the radio transmission before setting up and felt better about the reduced garrison. Including him and Jun'ko, there were only eight other defenders with him. When Zill and the others near the entrance, they found themselves under fire from inside the docks.
"Flak! Get to cover!"
"Zill, who's shooting at us?!"
Zill looked over and noticed a few workers were laying down suppressing fire. Consequently, Zill and the defenders were out of position and pinned to a side of the docks, leaving the entrance wide open.
"Damn traitors. If we all live, I'll suggest the damn firing squad for them."
The sudden turncoat assault caused the normal workers to panic and abandon setting up any of the batteries near the port.
The robbers approached the docks and heard gunfire. They quickly made it to the entrance and noticed more of their group were pinning down Zill's force.
"Fuck! There were guards here too!"
"Don't worry, they're pinned. Now shut up and get to our squids!"
"What about the help?"
"They were always expendable."
As the robbers got on, they noticed a problem: During the firefight, the help neglected to unchain the ships when lockdown was declared. A few robbers got off and tried to undo the chains. Zill saw all this and cursed to himself. He again regretted having so few defenders on him. He then noticed one of the turncoats fell over and burst giving off red smoke. The turncoats scattered into their own cover.
"Love, I believe that's a direct hit. You're getting better at sniping."
"I guess. Still doesn't feel right though."
Roland and Ny-Lee managed to get near the dock entrance and spotted Zill and company not pinned and returning fire.
"I thought I said stay at the saloon."
Roland and Ny-Lee turned to see a bloodied Yiski with three guards in tow. Roland was about to speak to Yiski's condition, but Yiski put up his hand and explained the current situation preempted his need for treatment. Roland then explained the possibility of the bands being in the robbers' possession.
Eventually, the new combined forces managed to take out the turncoats and two robbers who successfully undid the chains. Yet, the last four robbers found themselves surrounded and out gunned.
"This is Striker Commander Yiski. You have two options. 'A' surrender and we might not put you under a firin' squad. Or 'B' you don't surrender and you die."
One robber thought to herself. "Yiski? It can't be!"
"So, how long has it been Yiski?"
"Well, if you forgive my concussion, it should be eight years, Lauren."
Some of the robbers were now contemplating surrendering, but Lauren planned to escape. She manages to convince the other three to throw over the stolen goods. Yiski called over.
"Am I assuming this means you're surrenderin'?"
"Not exactly."
"Don't be stupid..."
Suddenly, the port filled up with massive amounts of tar which debilitated the team. Lauren managed to activate the tar near the engines. She then took the helm and roared out of the port. By the time the tar cleared, Lauren had already cleared 3 km and heading toward Eilius.
Roland rushed to the bags and searched for his parents' deposit box number and found it among the other goods. Roland gave a huge sigh of relief. Yiski was glad, the bands weren't taken, but now was another concern.
"So how about that trip to the triage?"
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