"The hare's not getting out of that anytime soon," Hayabusa reports to Aquila as he flies over the building where Rob is interred.
"Good," Aquila replies over the radio. "Any sign of the others?"
"None of the badger, but the wolf and the lynx are heading away from the Palace as quickly as they are able," Hayabusa replies.
"Then what are you wasting time for?" Aquila yells. "Stop them leaving the city!"
"Yessir."
"Here! Wheels!" Maria calls, sliding to a halt; Xander overshoots and doubles back to join Maria at the bike store she just spotted. "Ooh! This one's cute!" she adds, heading straight for a stylish baby blue model.
"We're escaping a city under siege, and you want to take the one that falls apart every time it hits a puddle?" Xander questions. "We take these," he declares, pulling up a couple of off-road models; he then finds the locked cupboard with the keys, wrenches the door off, and picks out the sets for the two bikes.
"Fine," Maria sighs, catching the set of keys Xander tosses to her. "But once this is over, I'm coming back for that blue one!"
A few moments later, the duo rides away, making the most of their newfound speed.
Hayabusa pursues the two Scarves as they ride away. Must stop them; how many do I have? Six; should be enough.
"We're almost there!" Maria cries out, hope brightening her voice. "Just a mile to the city limits, and we're free!"
"Don't get cocky, little one!" Xander cautions. "As my father always said: 'It's at the moment of victory you're most vulnerable to defeat.'"
"Nonsense!" Maria yells back. "I can see the-"
The road ten feet to Maria's right explodes as Hayabusa's impact grenade strikes the tarmac; shielding herself from the debris, she almost swerves directly into a parked lorry.
"Head down, speed up!" Xander calls; a second later, the road in front and off to one side of him explodes as another grenade hits; he skirts the edge of the hole and continues.
"Who's throwing those?" Maria yells, a mixture of anger and fear fuelling her riding; a third grenade hits a parked car, showering her and Xander with lacerating glass and shrapnel.
"Who cares? Keep going!" Xander yells back as the fourth grenade hits several feet in front of Maria; swerving to avoid the hole, she falls back behind her friend.
"Bit hard when the road keeps-"
The last two grenades strike together between the lynx and the wolf; the detonation throws them clear of their bikes. Maria tumbles down the road as Xander smashes through a bus shelter; as the dust begins to settle, the two Scarves come to a rest, unconsciousness.
Hayabusa hovers over the two casualties for a full ten minutes before he's sure they're never going to move again; satisfied, he radios the news to Aquila as he departs.