out of reach, out of time[open]

[Rhi-Rhi]

If the fucker lived through this, Keziah would have to give Raley kudos for the great escape. She'd never even heard of someone pulling off a stunt like that, and there was no point attempting psychometry to find out (these walls didn't hold thoughts or memories), but however he'd done it, that was a mystery for later.

When everything wasn't going to shit. Tremors racked the Citadel, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and distant roars rent the air as she sprinted from the lead rooms and down a corridor. It sounded like a bloody war-zone out there.

Axiom's familiar presence flooded her mind the moment she stepped outside, and for a second she could feel the dragon's rage and tension almost as though it were her own before it normalized and her mind was once again hers. "He's below you," the dragon snarled into her brain. It hadn't taken long for Liv's chip to ping Raley's location. "Take the lift further up. The other way is blocked from below."

Axiom fed her the location and as soon as she reached that floor, she took off down the hall and her dragon handled the doors, each one unlocking and locking for her as her progress was followed through the cameras. Finally she burst past a heavy door and into a demolished room; city light spilled in through the far wall, where the Citadel had been ripped open and half the floor with it.

"Through here," Axiom growled--but this time it wasn't just in her head. She heard a shrieking roar and the rush of wind and beating wings, and a mass of scales and metal briefly blocked the gap as he wheeled past. "He crossed here, into the shopping center."

Oh, lovely. Civilians. Pissed-off dragons, civilians, and a rogue Pilot with a history of violence...

"I want the mall on lock-down," she 'pathed to Axiom as she climbed over the debris, trusting the message to spread across the collective.

Keziah swung down uneasily onto the makeshift bridge and tried not to look down as she picked her way across--one thing to ride a dragon, another to tightrope walk across a ravine, exaggeration or not--while Axiom watched from above, ready to dive if she hit trouble. But she made it across, sighted the shattered window, and vaulted through it, gun drawn and ready.

Already the lock-down was in progress, siren blaring while an announcement rang out over the PA system. The lights dimmed and the store gates came down as workers ushered passing customers inside while others were herded to other safe rooms by security, fear and confusion in their faces. "Anything on the cameras?" Keziah asked as she made her way in, eyes sweeping the area.

[Anonymous]

Bart had been out of the Citadel when the shit hit the fan. He had no idea there was even a problem until Nuriel's burst of rage and worry slammed into him. It stunned him, grabbing his head, startling the people around him as he staggered slightly.

Nuriel?! What the fuck!!? The Pilot went very cold, very still as his dragon flooded his mind with what had happened. Raley, the little waste of air, had shot Roman. One of his oldest, closest friends, shot and probably dying.

Where. Is. He? His hand went to his back, where he kept his sidearm. Old habits die hard and Bart was almost always armed. Even out shopping for a birthday present for his mother. If the little shit had gone, that meant he could be found.

In the mall with you! Move! Quickly! GET HIM! It was probably very, very lucky for Raley the dragon was far to huge to get into the city. He adored Roman and the rage coming from Nuriel was second only to Scheherazade. Bart could hear the angry bellows coming from above him, though he couldn't tell which dragon at this distance.

The sound was suddenly cut off as a siren blared, signaling the shut down of the mall. He moved toward the door, the crowd smart enough to get out of his way. There was something about him, that even the people that didn't recognize that he was a Pilot made them hesitate to get in his way.

It wasn't long before the mall was dark and the halls empty, the customers all huddling in the back rooms. Come out, come out where ever you are. It was like slipping back into a well worn pair of shoes. Find the shadows, move silently, control the breath.

Now, to find his prey.

[Tally]

Alarms were blaring in the shopping center.  They were working on getting every building surrounding the Citadel shut down and locked up, but it would take some few minutes yet for the main force of military personnel and police to pour into the buildings and take control.  The few that were there did what they could, directing all the stupid cows into huddles at the backs of the stores, away from all the exits.

That's not good.  He could have made use of the chaos.  Thank the gods he was in his Pilot uniform.

"You.  Come with me.  Get that elevator moving."  The young colonel he talked to jumped to obey, confusion writ across his face.  Wondering why Raley couldn't scan his own chip for the elevator.

He had the colonel send them both toward the ground floor of the building, some 200 floors down.  Not that he expected to make it that far.  He wouldn't use the elevator at all but he had to go for speed here.  The undercity was his only shot at getting away.

Raley paced in the elevator.  The colonel stood ready, waiting for an order and alert to any danger.  A good Aedolis soldier this one.  Didn't ask questions, didn't hesitate.

Suddenly the elevator jolted to a stop and the lights went out.  They spent a few seconds in perfect black before the red emergency lights popped on.  As soon as he had the light again, Raley sprang to the button panel and smashed it out with the butt of his handgun.  They'd only gone down fifty-three floors.

"I'm locking you in here once I get out," he said.  With his thumbnail he peeled a way a portion of a wire he'd pulled out at random from the elevator panel.  His thoughts sailed into the elevator's digital mind and told it to go down one floor, open its doors and then go into its lockdown.  They'd be able to flag his position this way, but it would take them a couple minutes.

The next floor down was all dark, and Raley edged out of the elevator cautiously.  The doors closed behind him.  He'd not be able to use that one again.  Gods, he wished he knew where he were.  If there were a transport station attached to this floor he could shoot his way out and steal a ride.

Slowly, little by little, he extended his thoughts outward...and snapped them back in when he encountered another mind field.  Shit.  There was a Pilot nearby, maybe two floors above him.  He pulled his thoughts in tight, making himself as hard to find as possible.  Ironically enough, it was a technique Rosales had taught him.

Now...any transport station would be on the west side.  He kept to cover and moved slowly, listening with his ears instead of his mind.  This was a godawful place to be caught in a standoff.  Too many entry points they could come at him from.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Keziah's telepathy wasn't especially good. It was passable, enough to get through the program (though her psychometry had qualified her for the program more than anything else), but she still made sure to use what she had. Extending it outward like little feelers, as far as her meager range would allow, she tried to get a sense of the area and its inhabitants. Thoughts flooded her brain every time she touched an unshielded mind, but what she was looking for was resistance.

"Hey, you!" she barked when she caught sight of a nearby security guard that was busily ushering some stragglers along. He straightened when he saw her uniform. "Seen any Pilots come through?"

The guard pointed a finger toward the elevators. "Yes, ma'am. Just took the elevator down."

Keziah touched his mind and felt the veracity of his words, but could get no more than that. It was either Raley or someone on her team, but either way, it was more to go on than hunting in the dark.

She left the guard behind and sprinted around a corner, heading toward the closest elevator, and he hadn't gotten too far when a familiar form caught her eye. She could recognize those tacky clothes from a mile away: Bart!

"Pilot Hamilton, sir!" she called, catching up with him. "He took the elevator!"

And no sooner had she announced it than she felt Axiom invading her mind. "Go down fifty-four floors. A flag just went up. Someone overrode the system lockdown."

And who was a technopath?

"C'mon!"

Jogging past Bart and reaching the elevator, Keziah scanned her chip, but the first one didn't work. Shit. She moved to the next one, scanned, and bingo. The doors slid open and once Bart was in, she punched the floor number.

Now if this damned thing would just hurry.

[Anonymous]

"Fabel." Bart nodded when he saw Keziah. He had worked with her during the war, he liked her style, she wasn't stupid. Knew how to take her time. He moved after her, entering the elevator, "Fuckin' Sade."

His hands clenched into fists, angry that his best friend was either dying or dead because of the fucking traitor. He was going to kill him. Rip him apart for what he had done. "Shoot to kill. He ain't escapin'."

The doors slid open and Bart stayed pressed against the wall, scanning the area with both his mind and his other senses. His psionics were never very strong, so he had learned to use his eyes, ears and all the other senses. Gun held ready, Bart carefully stepped into the room, keeping his gun ready.

Now the hunt began.

[Tally]

Fuck oh fuck oh fuck.  In the silence of the lockdown the noise of the elevator doors opening and closing rang loud.  At least one person was in here with him, and he was assuming it would be a Pilot.  They'd gotten to him faster than he'd hoped.

He was hidden from view of the elevator by a curve in the layout of the building.  In the middle of this curve was an intersection, a wide open space with plenty of cover if he were facing some grunts.  It wouldn't be enough to evade a Pilot.  He had to cross that space to get to the eastern side.  From there he'd be able to access the hover terminal and jack one of the cars to get him down to the undercity.

Within reach was a massive display of robotic pets.  They ran in great variety—dogs, cats, birds that actually flew, wolves, deer—more than he could identify at a glance.  Most of them were life size, and all were currently functional to display the hoops their AIs could jump through.  Their design was robot-chic, lots of transparency and white and illuminated trim.

He used his knife to pry a panel off of a robot tiger and got hold of a wire.  They could connect to each other wirelessly and interact.  This could be it, his best chance.  He gave a simple set of instructions to the tiger then stood back.

It roared—a pretty impressive sound—and found the next nearest pet and woke it up.  Then they both found the next nearest and woke those up, and in a matter of seconds the entire display of them were flying, running, and leaping about the mall.

In the din of noise and flashing lights and movement Raley took his chance.  He darted out and made for each spot of cover.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Sir, we need him alive," Keziah said, slipping into telepathy as the doors opened. "He's not escaping, but we need to find out how he did this and why. I know Roman's your friend, but we can't drop the ball on this. More people are at risk, here."

She slid along the wall, following after Bart, listening and watching the area with all her senses. Sade couldn't be far from here. "He'll be executed anyway. You could probably be the one to do it." Just keep the man calm. He was angry and hurt, and understandably so, but they needed Sade. If he died now, everything he knew would die with him, and what if this was only one small part of something far bigger--and deadlier?

That was when she heard the roar.

What. The. Fuck.

She got her answer. The area exploded in sound, roars and barks and squeaks and chirps, the clamoring, clicking sound of plastic pounding on tile. A white, robotic bird soared by and she had to duck to miss getting pegged, and a second later and several cats and a bloody deer came bounding across their path.

Who was a technopath?

"He's here!" she said, and shoved off of the wall--and caught sight of a shape slipping away toward cover. With a curse, she aimed and fired off a round--and shot a tiger through the chest instead as it leaped in front of her, the thing dying in a shower of sparks and twitching mechanical parts. There were too many of them to get a clear shot.

But she could at least clear a path.

"Bart, go! I'll cover you!" Only one of them needed to take the guy down.

[Anonymous]

Bart knew Keziah was right. He took a moment, struggling with his anger, his rage, pushing it away until he was in that calm place. He gave a small nod, not trusting himself to speak just yet.

There wasn't much opportunity to when suddenly mechanical creatures burst out around them. Bart swore, dodging the antlers of a suddenly vicious fake deer. A shot between the eyes shattered its computer and the creature dropped, sparking.

It was times like this he wished he had some abilities that could cause massive damage. He couldn't put robots to sleep. But it didn't really matter. Raley made his move and Bart spotted him. Leaving Keziah to deal with the robots, Bart ducked between them, closing the distance between him and Raley.

Aiming quickly, he let off a shot, aiming at Raley's leg.

[Tally]

Raley snapped his telepathy out like a whip, another trick from Roman.  Too fast to read anything more than broad impressions, but also too fast to get caught up.  He just wanted to know who was out there.  Just his luck, Bart was there.  Keziah too, he thought.  He hoped so, he could take someone like her.  He'd be in way deep shit if Alaric or Gabriel were here, though wouldn't that be funny?  One of them fighting him for reals?  He was sure they'd just love a shot at him.

With the robot pets providing distraction and cover, he ran for a giant potted plant first, angling away from the elevator.  Just as he reached it, the pop of gunfire sounded, a sharp pain speared through his lower leg, and half the pot shattered.

He stumbled, kept his momentum, and slid around the corner of an accessory shop where he whipped around, gun on aim, ready to pull the trigger at the first hint of movement coming around that curve.  He backed up slowly and got to his feet, eyes before him at all times.  He risked one glance down.  The bullet had hit the pot and nearly missed him, only grazed his shin.  He could still make it.

"That you, Keziah?" he yelled.  The hover station was behind him.  Fifty feet he guessed.  Too far to make a run for it.  He backed up steadily, side-stepping to the middle-aisle stands for decent cover, hyper alert for movement over there.  "Thank the gods you're here, babe!  There's been some kinda misunderstanding!  Bart, man, this is crazy, huh?  What's the lockdown for?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Raley's words threw her. Up until this point, she had been able to distance herself from the situation. She wasn't really hunting down Raley--she was hunting down a traitor, a criminal, a murderous and faceless psychopath, and she would take him down just as she'd taken down others. She'd been able to put herself in that detached state of mind that let her do awful things for the greater good. It helped that, up until this point, she hadn't really been able to see Raley, or hear him.

But then he had to speak, giving the faceless monster an identity.

Her candidate. Hers. The one she'd mentored all those years. She'd known Raley had issues. She'd known he wasn't right. She'd known he was violent and had done some horrible things. But she'd always had hope for him. She'd gotten along with him for the most part, had difficult moments, but he'd made it and she'd been proud of him and--

And here she was now, hunting him down so he could be put down.

Her stomach twisted and she faltered--but a worse thought replaced it. She knew him. She knew he would kill her, too.

"You never were stupid, hon," Keziah called back, putting the steel back in her spine and keeping her eyes on the spot she'd last seen him, ready to take the shot should the opportunity arise, "And neither was I. You know. Now put the gun down and your hands up. You're just gonna make this worse for yourself. It's over, Sade. Let's not draw it out."

[Anonymous]

Bart just waited, letting Keziah talk to him. That was her mentee and he would give her the chance to talk him down. Though he hoped that would fail. The little fuck had just shot his best friend and Bart wasn't really in all that charitable a mood.

[Tally]

Raley backed up, step by step.  He could practically feel the hover station behind him, his chance, his freedom.  Forty feet now.  In the middle of the mall's broad isle ran a row of merchant stands.  Cell phone kiosks, stalls selling sunglasses and purses and the like.  These were his cover.  He retreated until his back hit one of them and then had to dart out and around it to get behind the next one.

Keziah was there, but Bart had gone silent.  Cold sweat prickled at Raley's temples.  Where was Bart?  There was only one way for them to get at him and that was from the front—or so he thought.  So he hoped.  If anyone came up behind him or if they found a way around he was fucked.  No way out, just fucked.  His technopathy couldn't help him anymore, not with them this close.  Even if there was something around that could help him it took several seconds to communicate his needs to any device—seconds that would get him killed or worse, taken alive.

"Ah, babe.  I can't do that.  See, I think you two intend to shoot me."

But he wanted to know where Bart was.  And maybe, just maybe, he wanted to hurt him a little.  He felt crazed, loose.  He wasn't pretending anymore.

"I shot Roman, Bart.  He was standing right in front of me.  I shot him in the back. Did you know that?  Four times."

[Anonymous]

Bart was fine with Sade talking. He was moving as well, working his way around Sade. Let him focus on where Keziah was. Luckily for Bart, this mall had a number of little passages. It meant having to take his eyes off Sade, but he trusted Keziah to keep him there.

Ducking through a chocolate store, Bart found the back exit, carefully opening the door so he wouldn't alert Sade. Carefully rounding a corner, he got sight of the target again. The kid was focused on where Keziah was and Bart lifted his gun, took aim and shoot at Sade's kneecap.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"That's up to you, hon," Keziah called back, keeping her voice calm. Just keep him talking. Keep him focused on her.

And pray that maybe, maybe he would give up.

Yeah right. She knew better. But no matter what he'd done, she still didn't want to see her student get killed right in front of her. The Pilot in her needed him alive to interrogate; she needed him alive to talk to, wondered where she went wrong and if there was something that could have prevented it, needed to know the why. Raley had problems, but this?

"C'mon, Raley," she continued, ignoring his words and the sick feeling they sent through her. "It's over and we both know it, but the ending's up to you. You're in control here. Just put the gun down. It doesn't have to go like this."

[Anonymous]

(Dropping thread due to lack of a response)