Humble Beginnings...

[Caligula]

There were many stories telling of warmongers leading galaxy-wide campaigns in attempts to control everything. They all shared similar features; crazy looks in their eyes, delusional plans, and utter lack for collateral damage. In some regard, Rika was a lot like that when she needed blood or energy.

The young Jedi would easily provide Rika with enough energy for the next 7 days. And depending on how strong she was, she might not even feel it. The vampire queen continued to saunter towards the girl when the man's gun became apparently clear. She heard his threat and registered it as naive. She stopped moving for a second and shifted her gaze to him. Her eyes covered every inch of him before falling on his gun. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent a small push of Force energy towards the gun. It wasn't enough to throw it from the man's hand, heck it wasn't supposed to. The push was meant to activate the weapon's safety. A quiet click that would more than likely only be heard by the wielder was the only indicator that the weapon's safety was on.

With that taken care of she refocused on the Jedi. "What is going on," Her voice poured out like silk, lulling everyone who heard it, and believed it, into a false sense of safety. "Is that you and I need to talk." She smiled again, this time presenting a welcoming grin instead of her crazy/curious smile.

 

[Jaz]

The woman had an oddly beautiful voice. It was smooth and gentle. Eris felt her muscles relaxing, almost involuntarily. She sighed and looked at the woman. Something about her invoked fear but something else invoked security. Suddenly, the chaos seemed to subside, and all because the woman spoke. Eris took a moment to register what had actually been said.

"Yeah, yeah, talk..." Eris said. Suddenly, cynicism rose inside her. She furrowed her eyebrows and scanned the woman, trying to figure out what she was about. She met her eyes and immediately, the skepticism melted, replaced by both intimidation and serenity. She took a few deep breaths and watched the woman closely.

 

[Jahn]

More talk. More gun waving.

Jahn was about ready to get out of here. He had to make sure Shiri was okay. It probably wasn't the best idea to hang out around dead bodies with a blaster in your hand either. Hell, maybe he'd get lucky for once and the guy brandishing his weapon and yelling would take the heat for this mess. The lad merely shook his head as he reached his blaster hand around to the back of his waist, preparing to holster it. But before he could move another inch a red flash lit up the immediate area as a blaster bolt barely missed its mark, whizzing past his head and drilling into a wall in front of him.

For a few seconds afterwards he froze up, from shock most likely. A few inches to the left and the insides of his head would be decorating this alleyway. Luckily he regained his composure long enough to break out into a sprint. It didn't make any sense to turn around and shoot, not yet anyway. The top priority now was to get out of the shooter's line of fire. "Move!" he shouted at the rest of the group as he ran towards them, motioning for them to follow suit. Whatever issues they had with each other would have to wait unless they wanted to get pumped full of holes. Multiple volleys of blaster fire were launched in his general direction. From the sheer volume there had to be five gunman at least. A bolt flew past his shoulder, grazing it deeply just as he neared a corner. But once he rounded it Jahn slammed into a closed shutter door. "Damn..." he cursed internally, putting his back to the wall as blaster fire continued to tear through the alley.

His head was spinning. He'd never been in an actual firefight before so he was having a bit of trouble thinking straight. Jahn attempted to peak his head out of cover but a blaster bolt hitting the corner and exploding put a stop to that idea quickly. Whoever these people were they didn't want to talk. All they were concerned with was putting him in the ground (and possibly the others present just because of circumstance). The lad's breathing hastened slightly as he tightened his grip on his blaster pistol. He wasn't calm and collected by any means. A kid under heavy fire hardly could be. But despite this fact his hand was steady. He may have been cornered and outgunned...but he wasn't going out without a fight! Jahn did the only sensible thing he could do at the moment and stuck his hand out and around the corner, blindfiring a couple of bolts at the attackers. Hopefully one of the others had something up their sleeve because he sure didn't...

 

[Caligula]

Rika was about to move forward with her plan when the situation changed dramatically. She was reaching her hand out to the child when her heightened senses detected the danger a second before it happened. Her frightening glare focused on the direction of the bolts and she shifted her entire demeanor into a battle situation. She took a stance, keeping her feet loose and her body moving as she, using her natural agility combined with her Force enhancements, made quick adjustments to dodge any bolts that came close to her. Her glare was permanently focused on the hidden gunmen as she seemed untouchable.

Suddenly she remembered the child and broke her look away to see how the child was reacting. This breach of sight caused a stray bolt to skim her right calf. Her armor stopped most of the blast but it caused her to hiss slightly and dive out of the line of fire. Thinking on the fly, she scooped up the girl and carried her like she was a baby, running of to find some kind of cover. Her speed was incredible, despite her hurt leg. She continued to dodge bullets, but this time her movements were more deliberate and quick, the previous notion of grace being washed away. She didn't like being shot and whenever it happened, she learned from it.

Rika dodged until she found the nearest patch of cover; a nearby apartment building. "Hold on!" She covered the girl's head and shielded most of her body as Rika threw herself through the window and into the apartment lobby. She landed on her back with the child still in her arms. The area outside was being cut like swiss cheese and Rika had managed to save the child. One thing at a time. "Stay close and I'll keep you safe." She said to the girl, her battle instincts beginning to take over.

 

[Jaz]

Eris looked at the woman's hand, reaching out to her, confused, but not objecting. A red streak caught her eye, and she watched as it buried itself into the wall behind them, then snapped her head back to look at the source. More bullets came. Eris screamed as one passed the side of her neck, missing by mere inches. She felt herself being picked up and carried. She craned her neck to see what was going on, then looked at the person who was holding her. It was the woman again. Either she cared about the safety of a total stranger or she wanted something.

No. Eris told herself. Worry about that later, get to safety first.

She felt a hand covering her head and pressure on her back, which lasted only a minute. Eris felt a small sting as a few shards of glass nicked her. They landed hard, but the woman seemed to have sustained most of the blow. Eris pushed herself to her feet and looked around. Hearing the woman's command, she nodded. They had a moment of safety before a few figures appeared in the window. They lifted their blasters. Eris grabbed the woman's wrist and dove out of the way, behind a counter. She turned her head to the side and raised her forearm to cushion it before she hit the tile. Her eyes darted around the lobby, trying to think. Roughly fifty feet away, there was a door, with a sign that read 'Basement'. The only problem is it was probably locked. Eris started shuffling through the drawers, trying to find something. Her fear had given way to quick thought. She felt a cold metal ring and grabbed it. It was a key ring. On it, a key and a tag that said 'Basement keys'.

"Huh." Eris muttered to herself. "That's convenient." She turned to the woman. "See that door? In three seconds, we sprint to that." She pointed to indicate what she was talking about. "One, two, three."

Eris took off like a shot. Within two seconds she slammed into the door. She staggered back a little bit, holding her forehead. Coming back to her senses, she looked back, then jammed the key into the lock and opened the door, holding it for the woman.

 

[Prudence]

Prudii was confused about what was going on. The girl took off running with another woman. He holstered his pistol and ran off behind them. He slowed down as the girl plowed head first into a door, and then opened it with a key. Stepping inside the held open door he looked about the individuals.

"What the kark is going on ?!"

 

[Jahn]

Ever seen what a blaster bolt does to brick?

Well let's just say the corner Jahn was hiding behind wouldn't be a viable cover option in a few seconds. "Too many of them to fight..." the lad thought to himself, cursing his horrible luck. These goons were probably the first three's backup. If he had to guess they'd hid out somewhere and once the other three didn't come back or report in, they moved on their position to see what had happened. With two out of the three dead and the last one lying on the ground beaten bloody...well...he had a feeling "talking this through" was out of the question. Rika, the young girl, and the blaster-waving mercenary all jumped through a nearby window hoping to find safety. These mooks were definitely out for Jahn's head...but just by being near him they might've also been in danger. They'd seen too much already. It was unfortunate but for however long this thing lasted, they were in this together.

Which meant Jahn had a clear conscience about putting them in more danger as he dove headfirst through the broken window and landed harshly on the tiled floor. "Uff..." he grunted as stumbled back to his feet. This day just kept getting better and better. Upon looking around the lobby he noticed someone at the front desk (likely the owner) staring with mouth agape at the fact that four people had just come flying through his window. Questions were sure to follow but for now explanations could wait. "Shutters?" Jahn asked, the tone of his voice easily conveying the fact that danger wasn't far behind. A few stunned blinks later and the man pointed at a switch on a nearby wall. Without a second thought the boy raised his blaster, steadied his aim, and loosed a bolt into the panel. Sparks flew everywhere as the system was damaged and set into permanent lock mode. Durasteel sheets of metal slammed down over all windows and doors on the first floor. Any business that didn't want to get robbed blind on Nar Shaddaa had a security system. He was just lucky this apartment complex had a halfway decent one. That is...if you can really call it "luck"...

Under normal circumstances they might've had trouble getting back out with durasteel shutters covering all entrances to the building. But with a pack of bloodthirsty thugs not far behind, he had a feeling there'd be a brand new "door" gracing this apartment real soon. He only saw one way of this mess...and he didn't like what it entailed. But as of now it was either that or end up in a gutter...and though he wasn't the luckiest of sorts, he didn't plan on dying. Not today at least. Jahn gestured towards the owner using his blaster. "You know Eysk?" came his question, to which the man nodded in reply. "Get him down here now...and find somewhere to hide." Just like most businesses had security systems, most also had to pay protection money to the Trandoshan crimelord. At least in this slum. They were gonna need some illegal intervention if they wanted to get out of this unscathed...and from the dents being put in the front door shutter...they were gonna need it fast.

 

[Caligula]

Rika has been a mercenary for nearly 2 decades and she's learned a few things in that time. Crowd control? Not one of her specialties. Once she recovered from her initial dive and the pull from the child she was saving, Rika flipped into full battle mode. When Eris told her to run for the door, she ignored the girl. Instead, she gathered herself and stood tall, once again dodging any blaster bolts that came too close. With quick moment of concentration, she sent powerful, precise Force pushes at the thugs near the windows, throwing them back with amazing force away from the apartment. She was officially done with these thugs.

Suddenly a body jumped through the windows and Rika was about to set them ablaze when she saw that it was actually the brown haired boy from earlier. He exchanged some words with the man before blasting the control panel on the wall and causing the security shutters to close. Rika calmed down slightly from the moment of peace they had found and barely noticed the boy telling the owner to contact someone named Eysk. After making the call, the owner moved to the basement to hide. Rika turned and looked at Eris. She still needed the child's energy, but she also had to defend herself until she found a quiet place to do the deed. She looked between the shuttered entrance and Eris before making a decision. She walked over to the child and put a hand on her shoulder. "I need you to hide okay? I can't have you getting hurt." She once again poured out that silky voice to try and convince the girl. She needed the girl to stay out of the way as Rika stayed to deal with the opposition.

 

[Jaz]

Eris watched the woman, wondering why she wasn't coming to the stairs. It was a while, but the woman did walk over to her. Hearing her order, Eris nodded. The tone was effective, but hardly necessary--Eris didn't need convincing. She nodded and ran down the stairs, closing the door behind her. She tried to think of an effective course of action in case it was necessary. She started to run around the room, becoming a mere blur. This helped her focus--well, usually. It helped if she wasn't running into walls.

"Ow!" She complained, staggering around.

It's probably obvious at this point, but Eris was graced with enhanced agility, specifically, speed. She had discovered this a few weeks ago, when she was in the pipe-shaped part of Jenton's ship, and, upon an impulse, ran up the side. She didn't expect to get anywhere, but in one swift sprint, she circled the wall. She knew that was not a fluke or even possible under normal circumstances. She enjoyed showing off.

She looked at the other man in the basement, stopping for a moment.

"I still don't know what's going on, if that's what you're wondering." She said, simply. "I mean, I can gather than all hell has broken loose, but that's about it." She shrugged in mock apology. "Sorry."

 

[Jahn]

Jahn winced as a burning sensation spread from his left shoulder. Adrenaline only helped the pain for so long. The wound itself was pretty deep but it didn't seem to affect his motor functions that much. It certainly helped that it wasn't a direct hit either. Still hurt like a son of a bi-

tck, tck, tck! Multiple dents sprung up in the shutters covering the front entrance. From what it looked like the goons outside were desperately trying to get in. "Those won't last long..." he thought to himself regarding the shutter. Durasteel was tough sure, but it wouldn't hold up against constant blaster fire. Especially from high-powered rifles. This whole situation was one big mess. And if Eysk didn't show up soon, they were all likely to end up in a gutter somewhere. He clutched his wounded shoulder and spoke. "Don't have any more fire up your sleeve, do you?" he asked Rika, only half-serious. Even if she did, there were a LOT more than five guys outside those doors. One person could only do so much against a firing squad. "Otherwise-..." his words trailed off as he noticed a set of doors in the lobby. A turbolift! Of course. "...I have an idea." Jahn gestured towards the basement door with his head. Maybe Rika could take on all these guys...but he wasn't about to stay up here to find out. So without wasting anymore time he reopened the door and headed down the stairs.

It was a little dark in the basement, but the turbolift control panel was clearly illuminated. Jahn crossed the room and summoned the elevator, hoping it was already near the ground floor so it got there faster. The way those shutters were holding up, they had about a minute at most before those thugs broke through. Hopefully everyone's favorite Trandoshan crime boss was already on his way. At this point it was really their only viable option of getting out alive. A ding sounded out as the turbolift doors opened, and a slight sigh of relief escaped Jahn's mouth. This would buy them some time at least. "Everyone in." he spoke, standing aside to let the others through. Once everyone was in he'd enter himself and press the button labeled "roof". Anyone could stay down here if they wanted...but with a pack of bloodthirsty gangsters knocking down the front door it didn't exactly seem like the best option. He was sure everyone had questions, but he didn't want to wind up with a back full of blaster bolts. So for right now his priority was putting some distance between them and the enforcers.

 

[Caligula]

Rika growled a bit as Jahn turned and ran into the basement. Coward. She thought to herself as she fought the urge to leap at him and tear him apart. But she had more pressing problems at hand. The gang of angry thugs was trying to crash through the front door and if they did, they didn't plan on making friends. Rika calmed down and collected herself. What happened next would require her absolute focus and skill. First, she reached her hand straight up and used the Force to connect to all the light fixtures in the room. In a quick motion of her closing her fist, she shut everything off and turned the room pitch black. Her night vision instantly illuminated the room for her. It reminded her of her time in the Felucian cave; it reminded her of home.

She slowly extended her claws and lowered her eyes, preparing herself for what was going to happen in the next few minutes. All the while, the shutters continued to get dotted with bullet holes and it wouldn't last long at this rate. Rika smiled evilly. "Come on, I need a drink anyways." She said while licking her lips. If anyone could see her, she'd give off a very sinister vibe. It was almost like watching a demon come to earth to reek havoc.

In time, the entrance to the apartment exploded open, letting light cast a small circle of coverage near the door. A few thugs quickly entered with their guns raised, but they soon noticed the lack of light and became nervous. Little did they realized that Rika was hanging in the corner, her claws keeping her attached to the wall. She watched them with an odd look of satisfaction. It was almost like she was hunting again. She smiled as she waited for a few more thugs to walk into the room. While she waited, she was silently deciding whether or not to play with them a little first.

 

[Jaz]

Eris saw the man run down the stairs and was about to ask what he was doing, but decided not to. He was fiddling with something. She heard a ding as the lift descended into view. Hearing his command, she sprinted in, dragging the other man along. "Let's go, gun nut."

Eris could not see what was going on outside the lift, but something felt malevolent. A sort of violent energy filled the air. Not the energy of action, but the energy and tension building up before a battle. A sudden realization struck her. She looked the bearded man. "Are all the civilians out?" Her voice was frantic. People lived here. She didn't want anyone dying because they had decided to hide here.

 

[Jahn]

A loud BOOM! sounded out from above them as the doors to the turbolift closed. They were coming.

Rika chose to stay behind, for what reason the lad had no idea. She may have been unnaturally strong and possessed other abilities he wasn't aware of, but there was still only so much one person could do against numbers like theirs. Even with the Force as your ally, combating an entire street gang all armed with automatic weapons and coming out on top was unlikely. There was a set of stairs in the lobby if she chose to ascend and put some distance between her and them. She may not have been impressed with Jahn's decision to flee...but if not wanting to meet his end by firing squad meant he was a coward? Consider him craven. He couldn't die. Not yet.

The four of them were stuffed into the lift. Him, the young girl, the gun-toting loon, and the building's owner. As soon as it began moving, Eris asked a question that made Jahn's stomach drop. "Shit." he cursed internally, tightening his grip on his wounded shoulder. He hadn't even thought about civilians. The dark-haired young vagrant was no hero. He wasn't some paladin concerned with saving everyone and rooting out evil...but he still didn't want people dying because of him. These mooks were on a manhunt. They'd kick down every door in this building in their search for him, and something told him they weren't against venting their frustrations on helpless bystanders. A fist slammed into the stop button before they had even ascended two stories. The doors opened and Jahn stepped out of the turbolift onto the floor just above the lobby. "Take the lift up to the roof. There should be a fire escape." Futuristic societies still had those, right? Either way they'd be able to find a way down once they were up there. Hopefully these thugs weren't smart enough to establish a perimeter around the building...

Jahn made his way to the nearby corner and put his back to the wall. The stairs were on the far side of the corridor. If the gangsters wanted to follow him up, they'd have to come up those. And his position meant he had a clear line of sight. Wouldn't do him much good considering all he had in the way of weapons was a blaster pistol...but at least he'd know when they were coming. On the ground floor the squad that had breached the building scanned the room for any signs of life. It was dark. They were nervous. But that also meant they were extremely trigger-happy. There were about eight men in total inside the building, but there were a lot more just outside waiting to charge at the first sound of trouble. Rika might be able to take out a few lot of them, but she couldn't possibly fight them all.

...probably.

(OOC: Sorry for the wait! Was holding off to see if everyone would post. From now on we can keep this moving along. @Caligula @Eris Vesta @Prudii Kyramud )

 

[Jaz]

"May the force be with you" Eris said, hurriedly.

As soon as the lift reached the roof, Eris dashed out. She ignored Gunny--as she had dubbed him--and searched the roof for a fire escape. She saw a metal set of stairs and ran to it. It was broken, leaving nothing past the third step down. She swore under her breath and looked around. She lied down on her stomach to get a better look at the ground. The men were on one side, but spreading. Whatever it was she was going to do, she had to do it fast. There were some canopies, and this building had some ledges that were just large enough to stand on.

As Eris prepared to scale down the building, she looked at Gunny. Would he be able to climb down? She wasn't sure. Climbing down a surface like this, with both flat parts and ledges, was dangerous, even for a Jedi. She tried to think of another solution. The canopies came to mind. Did the movies have any truth to them. It wasn't likely, but there was a flag pole not too far from her. She was light enough to not be injured, but was the other guy?

"Okay, so you've got two options." Eris told him. "Climb down or parkour your way down."

A part of her hoped she had used the word parkour correctly. The rest of her was focused on her next move. She calculated the run up, going as fast as she could and still see the ground beneath her feet. Right at the edge, she launched herself off the roof and fell for only a moment before closing her hands around the cold metal flagpole. She craned her neck to look around. She was a story lower than she was before. Three stories to go, now. There were ledges on this building, too. The next one would bring her down another story. She let go of the flagpole and aimed her feet to hit the ledge. Once she landed, she almost lost her balance, but grabbed the windowsill and pulled herself towards the wall. She looked down again. Below her was a canopy. This was probably a safe distance to jump from. She hopped backwards off the ledge and turned so her back was facing the ground. She tucked her head up and closed her eyes. In an instant, she landed on the canopy. She opened her eyes and looked around. From here, she jumped to the ground. She heard a crack and pain shot through her ankle. She looked at it. It was already turning purple and swelling. She winced and looked around. She knew she couldn't stay here. She grabbed a nearby stick and used it as a crutch.

There were still people in the building. Eris could see frantic faces in the windows. She wanted to help them, desperately. But how could she? She had so little control over the force, all she ended up doing was breaking things. That was it! Eris motioned for the family in the window to stand back and cover their faces. She held her hand out and focused all her energy until the window shattered. The family climbed out and Eris moved on to the next window. She repeated the process several times until all the windows on the first floor were broken.



The wait was getting to Jenton. He had been left in the ship for hours. If he hadn't heard gunfire, maybe he would've stayed put. The world doesn't work in ifs. He ran through the streets, to where he could feel the greatest disturbance in the force. It was an apartment building that was both on fire and under attack. He looked around until he saw that all the first floor windows were shattered. The next thing he saw made his heart jump into his throat. A tiny, blonde girl had just shattered the final window. He recognized her. It was Eris. He couldn't stop himself from yelling her name.

She heard him and ran to him. He braced himself as she threw her arms around him. He returned the hug before holding her out to look at her. She didn't seem to be too badly injured. She was crying, probably from relief and exhaustion, judging by the looks of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Thugs attacked us...me, two men, and some lady. We hid in here, but they followed us." Eris said. "I think my ankle's broken."

Jenton hadn't noticed the makeshift crutch, or the abnormally purple ankle. He looked around and grabbed Eris's hand.

"Let's go." He told her, not trusting anyone else in the area. This whole place gave him chills.

He jogged to the ship and called for a smaller solo flyer to be dropped off at Nar Shada'a for his acquaintance. Then, once that was arranged, he and Eris stepped into the ship and flew off.

 

[Caligula]

Rika had waited enough.

The lobby of the apartment was filled with at least 8 gangsters and that was a good warm-up number for Rika. She waited until they were spread out in the lobby before retracting her claws and dropping to the floor. She landed silently, causing only a minor thump from her boots hitting the ground. The moment she did she bolted forward with her claws extended. She rushed past two gangsters, swinging her arms at chest level before running to the other wall and reattaching herself to the wall. The two gangsters she had rushed past fell to the ground in a bloody heap, much to the fear and dismay of their teammates. As the gangsters reacted, Rika moved again. This time she ran in front of the group, mustering up a bit of concentration for one big Force Push which sent the rest of the gangsters flying back against the entrance. She took this brief passage of time to find another dark corner to hide in.

Guns began to fire as the thugs recovered and began to panic, sending dozens upon dozens of rounds to polka dot the room. Rika moved to dodge the rounds that came near her and at the same time continued to move to a better vantage point. She was a shadow in the pitch black room, a ghost that struck without anyone knowing until it was too late. The gangsters would see an occasional flash of red and white from when her armor passed in front of the light from the door. Wherever she was seen, the bullets flew and littered the area. She found herself constantly moving to dodge the shots as they kept getting closer and closer to her. Every time she's take out a gangster, three more would replace him. She had already taken down nearly 15 gangsters but they were flooding into the room now, each one carrying guns and letting the bullets fly. She couldn't keep this up forever.

After taking down another 9 thugs, Rika retreated to the staircase which led to the upper floors. She was getting exhausted; constant dodging and moving was taking a toll on her body. She still had yet to consume her weekly energy supply and was starting to feel the fatigue. She even felt like her claws were beginning to dull from cutting through all the bone, armor, and muscles. Her breathing was heavy and growing more rapid. She crouched on the stairs as she waited for the other gangsters to follow after her. "They, they just keep coming." She huffed as she glared at the space in front of her and prepared another part of her game plan.

 

[Jahn]

Jahn's heart was pounding. Wouldn't yours be if you were a kid with an entire gang coming for your head? His right hand was shaking along with his blaster, a result of his expected anxiety. But despite it all he stood fast. Certain death was now surely closing in on him up those stairs...but he couldn't just run. She wouldn't have. His eyes closed tight as his thoughts went from present to past. If she were in the same situation he was in now, she'd take it all on herself. Anything she could do to help others she'd do it. Even if it meant her life.

"...?!" His concentration was broken as a ridiculous volume of blaster fire was unleashed on the floor below. He couldn't just hear the gunfire, he could feel it. Screams and panicked cries were peppered in here and there, but most other sounds were completely drowned out by the weapons going off. From the sound of it there were WAY more assailants than even he was expecting. This of course did not bode well for him. Apparently not for the white-haired woman either, as soon after the blaster fire began she came bounding up the stairs, covered in blood and out of breath. Without giving it too much thought he left his covered position and made his way over to her. "You hurt?" he asked as he knelt down next to her. There was no way he could tell. Too much crimson. Hopefully she could still move...because if they wanted to get out of here in one piece she was going to have to. Hurried shouts echoed up the stairwell from below. They were regrouping.

Jahn shook his head, cursing in his mind. He had some semblance of a "plan"...but it wasn't exactly foolproof considering he had just come up with it only minutes ago. Part of it involved them getting up to the roof. And if they didn't want to die on a set of stairs, it looked like that was where they were heading anyways. "...it's me they want." Jahn muttered as he stood up from his kneeling position and tightened his grip on his blaster. Eris had evacuated the first floor but the rest of the building was still full of occupants. Unless he drew their attention directly...they were going to tear this place apart looking for him. "Go." he spoke, gesturing towards the end of the hallway with his head. There was another stairwell there that went up a few floors and had a rooftop exit. That was where this was going to end. One way or another.

The dark-haired youth peered over the top of the stairwell and loosed several bolts downwards. Most of them missed. The thugs were filing up the steps at a fast pace, and the shots startled a few in the front, causing some others behind them to fall. One was hit in the leg and tripped as well. But it didn't delay them for long. They returned fire of their own, taking chunks out of the small wall at the top of the stairs. And just like that? They continued to ascend. Jahn took this as his cue and ran down the hall, taking cover on the inside doorway to the second stairwell. He could see the entire corridor from here. And soon enough he was sure to be staring down a storm of gunfire. All he could manage to think about was the wall he had his back to.

He hoped it was sturdy...