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Post by Circe on Mar 13, 2019 18:19:06 GMT -6
"I hadn't even really noticed." Rei answered as legality wasn't something that tended to be something she often concerned herself with. She wasn't surprised that there were races though, the cops were as crooked as they came on Hanshen 5. Easily bribed and even more easily bought off. Rei could sympathize with the desire to have money and be able to afford some of the nicer things in life, but more importantly she could see how even playing by the right rules got you screwed seven ways from sunday.
"The big races are rigged anyway, the odds calculations put an unsponsored racer winning at 0.16 percent." She said, finding herself wishing she had more on herself than what she had been sleeping in. Then again, the city tended to turn a blind eye to the out of the ordinary. The cops were over worked, underpaid, and had long since stopped caring.
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Post by demikara on Mar 13, 2019 18:23:34 GMT -6
"Trust me, the street side ones are too. I'm no stranger to people trying to intimidate me into losing." Or trying to recruit her to their gang. You had to be strong to be a soloist here. Rachel wasn't about to give in either. They may try and force the issue, but she'd sooner throw a race than she would join them and she had made it clear. That didn't mean it was safe.
The question here was whose enemies had the two on edge. Rachel's or Harkov's? Something was fishy, she just wasn't sure what. She kept low to the ground though, just above ground vehicle height, and kept an eye out for trouble. Maybe if she took the long way around, it'd be safer. She'd do that, try and shake any possible tails. There was no reason to take the same way twice after all, and every reason to be suspicious.
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Post by Circe on Mar 13, 2019 18:38:16 GMT -6
Rei thought for a minute, running the suggested odds through her head. Most races had between 20 and 25 participants, but only three placements if you were talking about the legally sanctioned races. The underground ones where an anything goes, mele bash, that could either make or break a racer's career. From what she could tell, just from a few educated guesses, that this wasn't a terribly lucrative business if your team wasn't winning. "We're going to have company soon." Rei said suddenly as the images crashed their way through her head. She really didn't like when that happened, and would have gladly traded anything for not having to deal with whatever this was. However this most recent vision didn't tell her when or who, just that they were coming dangerously close to it's event horizon.
"Take a detour and climb in altitude. Loose them in the fog."
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Post by demikara on Mar 13, 2019 18:42:44 GMT -6
"Got it." She shot up and into the fog, taking the long route. They'd have to double back soon, but this hidden in plain sight trip was probably the best she could do. Or rather, hidden by the fog and smog of a city. Rachel was incredibly glad for her helmet. She'd usually fly above it, or as above it as you could get, but they needed the cover it'd provide. The biker kept the in the fog, then swore vividly at the pop of a gun going off, the bolt just missing them by a hair. "Shit." That was close enough she had no doubt who it was for.
Right. Evasive maneuvers it was. "Hold on tight!"
Rachel increased the powers to the shield and changed the shape with one hand, bringing it in tight against the two as she took off significantly faster than she had been. She'd like to see those idiots try and keep up with her now. She was no slouch when it came to speed or maneuvers. Harkov on the back meant she couldn't pull any of the more insane tricks she knew that would shake them, but she could still manage plenty.
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Post by Circe on Mar 14, 2019 17:16:06 GMT -6
Harkov meanwhile instinctively reached for her coms link and found that it wasn't there. Swearing vividly, she realized she had taken it off to sleep, wanting to not be bothered by Specter's random bits of chatter in the night. Sometimes she swore that the AI was slowly even madder than it already was, but she couldn't exactly blame it; given that at one time it had been a person. Though who, Rei didn't really know or care to know right then and there.
"Fuck... this is not what I signed up for!" Rei complained as the bike jolted forwards with it's sudden burst of speed. "Get us to the hotel if you can, I can get reenforcement from there."
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Post by demikara on Mar 14, 2019 17:26:08 GMT -6
"Got it!" She could get them there. Zigging through the streets, she dropped low suddenly through a hail of plasma bolt. One sizzled through the shield, missing Harkov by a hair. The woman twisted this way and that, not keeping to the same heading or altitude to make hitting them as difficult as possible. The maneuvers meant they weren't going full speed, but this would probably lose them faster and they couldn't actually return fire right now.
Shit, this is why she tried to keep her head down. Look at what being a good samaritan got her. She must have been seen at the hospital and now she had to deal with gang violence that she couldn't do more than run from.
The ride was not smooth or comfortable, but she swerved as she circled around Harkov's hotel, shooting up to the tenth floor and the right balcony. "We have about two minutes max." She hoped the back up wasn't much farther than that. And that the other wasn't going to go hide in her room and leave Rachel stranded. She dropped the shielding so the other could get off, close enough that she'd be able to slide onto the balcony.
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Post by Circe on Mar 14, 2019 18:07:57 GMT -6
"That's all I need." Rei said as she jumped off the back of the bike and ducked into the room for a moment. Two minutes to grab her things and run was more than enough, considering that she only ever had the utmost of basics with her when she stayed dirt-side. Quickly combing through the room, she found what she wanted; her ear piece, side arm, and a small bag. She was also a bit more reasonably dressed with a jacket and boots on now. "Alright ski bunny, let's get rid of our unwanted guests." Harkov said as she racked the plasma pistol. The gun produced a high pitched whine as a chamber on the side started to glow a errie and deadly looking blue.
"Specter, can you get the shuttle in to provide cover?" She asked as she pressed a stud on her earpiece before sliding the helmet back on.
'It will take roughly 5 minutes for the shuttle to reach your location... providing that the authorities protocols are overridden.' The AI explained, causing Rei to frown. Five minutes wasn't something she felt either of them exactly had, and shooting from a moving platform was something she wasn't expecting to have to do. "Fine.. fine... I see how it is you piece of shit." She muttered as she swung herself back onto the bike.
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Post by demikara on Mar 14, 2019 18:13:59 GMT -6
"How long do we have?" She shot into the sky, keeping an eye out. And...there. They didn't see her just yet, and she activated the shield carefully. "They'll look-" up eventually and they had just been spotted. With a curse, she took off, trying to keep steady so that the other could manage to get at least some shots off. This was going to be chaos. One gun against a gang of them. Hopefully Harkov was a good shot.
The other side began firing and she swore again, dodging it. How the hell was she supposed to keep the bike steady and make certain the other could get off a shot and dodge the incoming fire? This was one hell of a test of her skills.
Hopefully back up would be here soon. "Tell me your back up can track us!" If they could she'd manage some better maneuvers and get them out of the city, or to the outskirts at least. If they were stuck in one area, everything just became that much trickier.
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Post by Circe on Mar 14, 2019 18:23:38 GMT -6
"Five minutes." Rei said uncertainly, she could see through the HUD projected into her eye from the ear piece that Specter hadn't been lying when it said that the authorities protocols needed to be overridden. But now it seemed that they were mostly cleared to move the shuttle on an auto piloting frequency that would take it not far from where they currently were. Thankfully with the planet having a booming tourism industry, small shuttles making deliveries on auto pilot weren't out of the norm.
"As long as I'm here, backup can track us." She told the other as she lined up a shot on one of the offending parties. If she took out one of their levitation coils, they'd be struggling just to make it to the ground in one piece. Squeezing the trigger on the plasma pistol, the bright blue bolt hurtled away from the pair and towards their opponents. "And little judicious marksmanship never hurt us... just them." Rei added before firing off another bolt, this time aiming for the rider.
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Post by demikara on Mar 15, 2019 15:20:29 GMT -6
"It hurts us if they hit us." But she was not playing a stationary or even lazy target. With confirmation that back up would be able to find them, she increased her speed and moved further from the hotel. The racer was keeping them mostly level, well, she was keeping the bike mostly level at least, even if their altitude had a tendency to change. Harkov's bolt hit both the levitation coil and the rider and that much tension eased off her frame.
Well, there was no way she'd be staying in the area after this, that was for sure. One man down meant they'd be gunning for her blood regardless of them attacking her first. It'd take a bit to close up shop and get everything packed to move out, but hey. Basically everything she owned was at the shop anyway, so there was that.
Her musing was cut short by a beam just skimming the outer layer of her outfit over her arm and she swore vividly as she palyed bait and acted like it had hit, dropping rapidly to see if she'd have any takers.
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Post by Circe on Mar 15, 2019 16:29:34 GMT -6
"Tell me something I don't know!" Harkov shouted over the roar of the turbulence and wind on the back of the bike. After the first shot it seemed that the offending parties had largely backed off, not expecting Rachel to have an armed passenger. Especially one that could actually hit something, instead of just taking pot shots. "One down." She remarked as she checked the charge on the pistol. It would last long enough if she was careful with her shots, cartridges were difficult enough to come by, and wasting them wasn't an option.
As the bike dove chaotically through the layers of city and traffic, Harkov swore. There was no way she was going to be able to get off any more shots, she was too busy trying to stay seated on the bike. "Are you trying to kill us for them?!"
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Post by demikara on Mar 16, 2019 10:50:10 GMT -6
"Just hold on!" She leveled off in the middle of traffic and joined in the slower traffic, hoping to lose them in a crowd. "Look, a bit of camouflage for you to catch your breath." The traffic was thick enough it might be a minute for the rival gang to see her. Besides, she had a feeling Harkov might appreciate the slower pace. "It'll take them a bit to see us, so long as I keep something between me and them." And she planned on it too. Her arm already ached like hell. The shot had been close enough she was sure she had burns.
The other shouldn't worry too much though. This wasn't the first time she had to outfly a gang. It was just the first time they had gotten so close. Usually she was damned impossible to catch and so far they hadn't figured out where her shop was. If they could lose them, then she could take Harkov there, but that was dependent on them losing the gang.
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Post by Circe on Mar 23, 2019 17:22:09 GMT -6
"Just long enough to change cartridges.." Harkov grumped as her hands fumbled with the mechanisms on the pistol. The cold of the marine layer that covered the city made her shiver and her hands stiff. Rei had planned for the tropics, and to disappear after her last encounter with a local planetary government. What she hadn't planned for was a gang shoot out, limited time and supplies and going through as many energy cartidges as she already had. "Ride is about two klicks off.. think you can make it that long?" She asked Rachel as she finally slammed home the new cartridge into the pistol's housing. "I'm done sky diving for awhile, if you know what I mean."
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Post by demikara on Mar 23, 2019 17:42:24 GMT -6
"Oh good. I think I'm done racing for awhile myself. I might have to find a new planet." It wasn't like she couldn't be found on this one. She had stayed low so far, but hey, that could change and it looked like it had. "Closing down and packing is-" She swore vividly as a bolt skimmed the bike, and broke out of traffic, shooting into the sky, careful not to lose her passenger. That was going to be a bitch to fix later. A quick glance showed four men on her tail. Two klicks. She could do two klicks. She just had to make it.
"Hold on." She said and began darting so they'd be harder to hit. She couldn't do any serious maneuvers. The other was too vulnerable and it wasn't just her. Another bolt came close enough she snatched her hand back to her, definitely injured now. Great. Now she needed the hospital. And a new suit.
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Post by Circe on Mar 29, 2019 16:39:47 GMT -6
"Yeah? Well bitch about it later Ski Bunni.. our ride's here." Harkov said standing up from her seated position on the back of the bike. Balancing precariously on the back of the bike, a large shuttle came to a stop beside them, effectively blocking much of the small fire they'd been drawing from the rival gang. "Open sesame Specter!" She shouted above the wind that whipped around the pair on the back of the bike. "You can keep going and I provide you cover, or..." Harkov said to Rachel unsure of what she wanted to do.
She didn't wait for a response, but instead jumped nimbly across the gap between the two vehicles and landed inside the shuttle. Rei was more than happy to expend a little fuel if it meant not having to sit on the back of the bike while it did acrobatics. It was one thing to be the person performing them, it was another thing entirely to be the passenger. In some ways, this had given her a whole new appreciation for what any previous passengers she'd had on a shuttle had had to endure at times. But, there was just no avoiding aggressive or evasive maneuvers if the situation called for them; that's why they tended to hire her after all. But mostly it was because her price was reasonable, at least as far as individuals in her line of work went.
"Your choice kid!"
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