Two months before the events
Route 66, New Mexico
It was a calm and collected night along historic Route 66. Cold winds from much cooler lands howled through the many rock formations that helped form the surrounding environment. Dust from the distant mountain ranges blew through the empty road that flows through the pass, void of any activity.
However, if you follow the ribbon of tarmac past the gas station, the motel, the garage and the saloon, you will find the massive steel door entrance to the valley's most notorious crime organisation.
The Deadlock Gang.
Beyond the heavy door and within the warm confines of the insanely enormous bunker that is embedded deep into the gorge was a massive horde of goods, weaponry, and anything worth of value were procured - mostly stolen - from the nearby railway that passes by overhead near the diner.
Inside the secretive vault, activity was booming. Gang members were busy hustling and bustling around, moving precious cargo and goods that could secure the organisation's fortunes.
Watching all of this in the bunker was the gang's most infamous leader.
Elizabeth Caledonia.
Most of the gang don't address her as such. Most go by 'ma'am', 'boss', or anything appropriate.
But those in her inner circle tend to call her by a much familiar name.
Ashe.
She glanced at the lively activity around her. Recently, with all the invasions happening worldwide, more goods and weapons were being moved around the states.
But whoever was controlling the railway lines in New Mexico must have been idiots because they were sending valuable cargo their way. So whenever trains come and go over the canyon and above Route 66, they make easy pickings off each passing.
Just in the last two weeks, their profits and earnings have quadrupled. This has had an incredibly profound effect on the crime group, so much so that the extra earnings that the gang received all went to each member's pockets; this not only improved their performance but also increased their desire to go on more missions, meaning they were willing to take on much more risky work.
Ashe didn't mind this. As long as her crew put the gang first, they will be awarded for their commitment and efforts.
After all, they were her family.
Family.
Ashe's eyes thinned as a familiar memory came rushing back at her.
Cassidy.
She shook her head as she tried to get the memory out. Who needed him when you had the gang you now call family right before you?
"Ashe? Ashe?"
Well, at least something to distract her from her recollection.
"Something has been causing a stir beyond the viaduct. We think it's one of those good cargo trains, but our sources say there's no train inbound tonight."
Ashe looked at who had been bugging her. Zeke is one of the Deadlock Triplets.
"Must have been some kind of screwup in the timetable's scheduling. Check it out. If it's just another train, attack it and get the goods. We won't get any richer if you sit around and do nothing, right?"
The triplet understood the order and rushed off.
"Funny though, Frankie doesn't make rookie mistakes like this." She pondered about Deadlock's local hacker.
She and Ashe have been through thick and thin. From not-so-humble beginnings to the night, they huddled together in the diner on that faithful night, forming what was now the Deadlock Gang. Ashe was more than thankful that she had been part of the family. Without her, they wouldn't be where they are now.
Ashe climbed down and went off to see her. A good old chat wouldn't hurt anyone, right?
Zeke and his brothers pulled over to the same area under the viaduct, just right in front of the cafe. It was now very early into the morning, and the energy spent moving crates of valuable goods in the bunker had considerably drained the triplets of their energy.
The brothers, never wanting to be on Ashe's bad side, started to rig the tracks above the viaduct with miniature explosives that would disable the passing trains. However, the explosives were small enough not to take out the bridge's support structure.
Climbing up the support beams and onto the tracks, his brothers, Terran and P.T., got to work on setting up the trap while Zeke was looking for any oncoming trains heading their way.
Usually, they would prepare these train traps right before or during sundown to prevent the train drivers from noticing that the track is rigged at night.
They better be careful with the number of explosives being set up. The last time they did, not only did they stop the train, but it also brought down the whole viaduct. Then again, Ashe was the one in charge of that heist, and she wanted more explosives to stop the train. After all, she briefed her crew, which hacked intel from Frankie, and said that the cargo inside that train was worth more than just a pretty penny.
Sadly, that mission was a bust after Cole Cassidy came in and ruined the whole thing .
And to make it even less sweet, Ashe's former partner and long-time friend never even took the goods himself, apart from the cargo, which Ashe saw with her own eyes. He had essentially sent her and her team back to the base without any spoils.
Zeke sighed. That was long ago, right before the recent happenings worldwide, anyway.
With Cassidy probably doing saving the world stuff and risking his life, he and his brothers are far more busy deepening their pockets.
But first, they need to stop this train.
Just like on cue, he felt the bridge rumble beneath his feet.
At first, it was a weak shake.
Then it got stronger and stronger with every passing second.
"Y'all done?! Train's a-coming!" He warned his siblings.
His brothers had just set the last wire into the detonator. Once that was done, the trio immediately scaled back down to solid ground.
Staying under the bridge, the brothers waited in anticipation for the train to pass overhead.
A second passed.
Then 5.
Then 15.
Then 30.
Then 45.
Time flew by quickly for them, and before they knew it, a minute had passed.
And that's when they noticed the problem.
There was no train.
"Funny that. Thought I felt the ground move." Terran whispered, looking at his brothers.
"Me too," P.T. said. "I didn't even open my beer yet. So I know I'm not drinking on the job." P.T. lightly smacked himself on the side of his head just to make sure that he wasn't drunk.
Zeke grabbed his weapon, stepped away from under the viaduct and went some distance away from it. There, he looked back and looked from one end of the viaduct to the other. There were no signs of any train or anything telling signs that a train was on its way .
As he wondered, he felt another rumble. This time, it was not a weak shake but much more pronounced than before .
Zeke looked over to the viaduct and became even more confused.
There was still no train.
"See anything?" Cried out one of his brothers.
Zeke gave them a confused shrug. Thinking it was a false alarm, he headed back to his twins.
"Must be a false report or somethin'. Let's camp out here and wait the train out."
Just as soon as he said that, P.T. suddenly groaned in pain. His hand immediately went to the source of his discomfort as he started to slump over.
"P.T.?" Asked Terran, who was right next to him, and grabbed him as he fell into his arms. As he was checking on him, he felt something wet on P.T.'s right shoulder blade. Unable to see what the liquid was , he brought up his hand towards the moonlight that provided them with some lighting.
There, he was taken aback by what he saw.
"Blood?" Terran said softly, inspecting his hand. Zeke, who did not believe his brother, grabbed his wrist and saw the stained hand, which was really covered in blood.
"What happened? Who did this to you-"
His question to his stricken sibling was cut short when Terran felt something going through his abdomen. This time, this something gave out a sound, which the trio knew very well.
Suppressed shots.
Zeke whipped out his weapon as not only he had to get defensive, but he now had to take care of his two fallen brothers, who were now bleeding out on him.
Moving them to the bed of the pickup truck they arrived at the viaduct in, Zeke placed them on the bed. Before he could call for backup, he made sure that his brothers were doing their part and not bleeding to death.
"Both of y'all, hold these cloths onto your wounds."
Zeke jumped from the pickup truck's bed and ran to the cab. He violently swung the driver's door open and jumped into the seat. There, he tuned his radio back to base.
"Anyone back at base, this is Zeke. P.T. and Terran got hit by someone! Requestin' for backup by the viaduct!"
As he waited for a response back from the bunker, Zeke could only hear the static coming from his radio.
Getting impatient, he sent out another distress call.
"Deadlocks! This is Zeke! Respond, damn it!"
All he got was the same dreaded mute response of the radio static. Zeke desperately tried to tune the radio to a frequency that could hear him. He was so distracted by this that he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. Something was scaling the canyon walls beyond the viaduct and the cliffs outside the diner.
Meanwhile, P.T. and Terran lay in the back, still in agony while trying to relieve the pain from their gunshot wounds. P.T. finally got around the initial shock of his wound, got up and slumped against the truck bed. He decided to check on his brother when he heard the soft crunching of rock and stone nearby.
Slowly losing his attention to his brother, P.T. looked over from the pickup bed and saw something that horrified him.
Still in shock and awe, his hand tightened into a fist and slammed it hard against the cab of the truck , alerting Zeke.
Zeke, who was still trying to get the radio to work, suddenly had his attention shaken off by the banging of metal against the cab. He then saw his brother slamming his fist against the truck, looking at the cliffs beyond the viaduct. He turned towards the direction P.T. was facing and immediately got pale.
There, emerging from the cliffs, were a massive number of onmics.
These were not the type that looked like Bars, nor the ones that would easily blend in with humans.
No. These were much more rugged and beefier with their exoskeleton and angular armour; the moonlight shone and reflected off their orange and purple-coloured platings. Their glowing red eyes suddenly made the calm, relaxed atmosphere seem more menacing. If that wasn't threatening enough, the weapons attached to their limbs were so foreign in terms of looks that they made the Triplets' crude and mechanical guns utterly powerless against them.
P.T. and Zeke froze as they stared at the enemy. Then suddenly, the radio in Zeke's hands came back to life with a distant, albeit very static, voice.
"Home base, home base! We need support at the viaduct!" He desperately tried to realy his distress call.
As soon as the transmission was made, the onmics stopped short of where the truck was. Their weapons were still posed at the vehicle, and the triplets were still inside. Just then, out from the canyon, more onmics flew out. They looked similar to the ones on the ground, except they were painted red but still had a similar orange mark. They hovered right above the viaduct and right where the brothers had placed their explosives to stop the train.
Without warning, the hovering onmics fired a reddish beam at the charges embedded in the tracks.
At first, it appears the beam did nothing to the detonators. However, a second later, the charges started to glow and emit red lighting. The glow became brighter, and the lighting became more overwhelming with each passing second until the brightness and energy couldn't be contained any longer.
The charges let off a big explosion that lit up the whole viaduct. The brothers watched as the bombs went off from the truck right below the bridge, forgetting their injuries or the radio. They stared at where the viaduct used to be in the midst of the blinding brightness.
Looking into the blinding light, they were so immersed that when a large chunk of the bridge came falling above them, they could only see and watch their demise as the metal structure collapsed right on top of the pickup truck, essentially ending the trio's lives.
The onmics watched on with their soulless expression at the burning twisted metal that was in the place where the triplets were. With the brothers sorted, the onmics moved inland, following the tarmac road towards the Deadlock Gang's vault.
Ashe sat at the table across from the gang's hacker, Frankie. While she was accessing the hacked network of trains across the country, the leader of the Deadlock Gang rested right in front of her. She lay back in her chair, her legs on the table, and she had an ace cold beer in hand, occasionally taking sips.
Right behind her was Ashe's faithful onmic butler, Bob. Despite his mute stature and the tiny hat that gives him a cute look, it takes one pissed Ashe to turn Bob from a nice guy into a murder weapon. His tough and buff arms hide cannons inside them, turning any unfortunate soul who happens to anger his boss into a fresh corpse.
If his arm cannons aren't enough, his big and imitating size alone should strike fear in all who dare go against Deadlock's leader. He has unbelievable running speed, even with his size, and he could throw anyone up in the air with a breeze.
Don't mess with Ashe, and Bob won't mess you up.
"You said one of the boys saw train a'coming our way? Can't be. There's supposed to be no train tonight. The next one should be late tomorrow afternoon." Frankie checked on the train's schedule.
Ashe retook a swing of her beer. "Not a train, but something coming from the canyon beyond. Thought it might be a train."
Frankie frowned. "I don't like the sound of that Ashe. Tell the boys to be careful."
Ashe looked back at Bob, shrugging at the hacker's suggestion, before taking a sip of beer. "They can handle themselves. After all, wouldn't you like to become richer?"
"We are richer than ever; it just means we need to take some precautions," the hacker said. "We don't want something coming from our backsides, don't you?"
Ashe looked through the beer bottle, watching the fluids inside slosh around. Frankie did have a point, though. While they were getting high with goods and cash, she noticed that the gang's overall guard was going down since striking high.
She was about to say something when the radio on the table next to Frankie suddenly sounded off.
"Guys, check on the viaduct. Heard an explosion there but had not heard anything from the Deadlock Triplets for a while." The lookout's voice noted. "Send our boys to find out what's happened."
Frankie stared at the radio, then slowly turned towards Deadlock Gang's leader, who was still playing with the beer bottle.
"Gonna check that out?" Frankie asked.
Ashe sighed. "Fine." She placed her now empty bottle of beer on the table and reached for her former family's heirloom, where she stole a lever-action semi-automatic rifle—the Viper, which Ashe's former family had christened.
"Come, Bob, let's show that those numpties can't do squat without us."
Bob silently followed his boss, his footsteps making a heavy thump against the wooden floor below.
Frankie watched as the two left, leaving her alone in the room. She then turned back to her work on her laptop. A news article suddenly popped up as she was about to continue her work.
"Ugh, I thought I had this turned off." She said, trying to close down the pop-up.
Then she saw the news article.
'BREAKING NEWS: A massive unidentified ship has been spotted flying over New Mexico.
It is not clear what this ship is. However, various outlets say this could be another potential invasion by the rogue onmic group called the Eye. While this group was responsible for the destruction of Talon's Headquarters and its facilities around the globe just a few days ago, other sources say that the Eye is just a rebranding of Null Sector, the same onmic group responsible for terrorist acts and destruction across the world. Before being known as the Eye, one of their known actions is the surprising invasion and uprising of New Orleans in Canada.
Authorities have advised the emergency evacuation of various towns and cities, though they have not stated the reason why or who the ship belongs to. Citizens are to remain calm and cooperate with the authorities during the evacuation.
Please stay tuned for future updates.'
Frankie wasn't stupid to put the pieces together.
Onmics heading towards New Mexico?
Silence from the Triplets?
Frankie slammed her laptop shut and headed out of the room. She grabbed a nearby pistol on top of the many weapon crates they had seized from their various heists. She cocked back to check the chamber, made sure it was loaded, and then quickly rushed her way out to find Ashe.
Hopefully, she wasn't too late.
Ashe and Bob strolled outside the gang's bunker. Most of her boys spent their time relaxing, drinking, and working on their motorcycles in the town complex.
Now, though, they were huddled behind the metal gate that leads out to the viaduct. Meanwhile, Bars, the gang's only onmic, was busy trying to tune the radio and get in touch with the Triplets.
"What are you fellas cuddling up here for?"
"Look at the smoke that is rising beyond these doors." Said the onmic, pointing at the smoke above the canyon.
Ashe walked back to the town complex before the metal gates. Since the gates were inside the tunnel, she had to move a distance away to see the smoke rising above them.
As soon as she saw the smoke, something was very wrong.
The Triplets knew how to rig the tracks and the viaduct to stop trains. The only time they had to destroy the viaduct was when a very important armoured train was coming, and their detonators wouldn't stop that type of train, so Ashe just ordered the destruction of the bridge instead.
But even with the destruction of the viaduct before, the smoke from the wreckage of the viaduct was not visible from the town complex.
Ashe watched the smoke rising higher and higher into the air, the orange fire from where the viaduct was adding to the certainty that this explosion was much bigger than the Triplets planted.
Someone was involved. She could see why the boys were huddled up behind the metal doors.
Ashe pulled the lever on her rifle, ready for a gunfight if needed . Her sidekick checked on his armaments, making sure that he was loaded. She wanted to get this done and over with.
"Ah, I see that you boys were waiting on us." She was referring to herself and Bob, who was standing behind her. "Let's get this done and over with."
The giant doors were activated by Bars. The huddled gang and their leader watched as the doors opened slowly, revealing the gas station's surprisingly quiet atmosphere, which was located around the corner of the viaduct.
The gang, already suspicious of their surroundings, steadily stalked, guns ready, on the ribbon of tarmac leading towards the bridge.
Approaching the corner before the viaduct, the gang stopped, ensuring everyone was there together. With a nod to go forward, the first member came out of the corner with his gun up and ready to fire.
In front of him was an onmic, staring right at the burning twisted metal scrap heap of what used to be the bridge. What caught his attention from the sight was the front of a truck that was sticking out from the wreck.
Whatever happened to the Deadlock Triplets, this onmic had something to do with it.
His gun was still raised as more of his buddies came to his sides, all with the same intention as him.
Ashe was on the far right when she saw the lone onmic.
With her gun raised at the lifeless droid, she nodded at one of the guys to check the onmic out.
The guy slowly crept forward, still aiming his gun at the onmic. He observed that the onmic still didn't show any signs of movement. The next thing he knew, he was right behind the onmic.
"Hey." He whispered towards the droid. Still no response. He then decided to reach out and touch the onmic.
But that's when all hell broke loose.
A shot rang out.
The guy suddenly found himself falling to the ground and in a lot of pain.
He could see a trail of blood in the air as he fell.
He got shot.
Ashe could only watch as one of the gang members lay on the cold, hard road as he bled out to death.
But before she or any of the gang members could retaliate, the lone onmic turned around at the fallen member. It took a mere second to look at the pathetic sight of the human's life slowly fading away from the gunshot wound straight to the chest.
Without any warning, it raised its leg into the air and, with all its might, sent its heel straight into the guy's skull. The impact against his head was so strong that the Deadlock Gang standing some distance away could feel the tremor from where they were standing.
The other Deadlock members and Ashe were dead silent. They had just watched an over-the-top execution of their member.
Their eyes were permanently glued to the lone onmic, who was now facing their way.
Then something appeared behind the onmic and the smoke bellowing from the destroyed viaduct.
Specs of patterned orange lights peered through the cloud of smoke. When one light appeared, another two showed up. And that number is only duplicated.
The lone onmic was not alone.
And soon, an army of onmics appeared right behind it, both on the ground and in the air, with their guns ready to fire at the gang.
The gang looked at the vast number, each member pointing in a different direction at different onmic.
Ashe, who couldn't keep quiet any longer, took action.
"Shoot them! Shoot all of them!"
The once quiet and peaceful valley had turned into a full-blown skirmish between the Deadlock Gang and these rouge onmics. But thanks to the latter's vast numbers compared to the dozen gang members, the Deadlocks soon found themselves on the back foot, losing ground as the main group retreated into the back metal door to the Western Town Complex while a small group stayed further back, providing cover for Ashe, Bob and some of the Deadlocks.
The small group of the Deadlocks that provided cover then took refuge in the small gas station right before the metal gates. At this moment, as they took cover, the onmics started launching multiple mortar rounds towards the building. These projectiles flew right into the air before making their way back down. The rounds rained on top of the gas station, piercing much of the metal roof. The already weakened shelter was now exposed to the elements, which made it vulnerable to the flying onmics above it.
More mortar rounds were fired as if they weren't done with their assault yet. With most of the roof destroyed, the rounds then started punching all the way beyond the concrete ground at the base of the building, going all the way underground, making contact with the underground gasoline tank that holds the gasoline for the gas station.
As soon as the round pierced the ground, a massive explosion engulfed the gas station. Ashe, Bob and the rest, who were focusing on the fight against the omnics, suddenly had their vision entirely blocked by a vast blinding light, followed by the massive rush of wind and heat that came blowing their way with such ferocity that it felt like they were in an oven preheated over a thousand degrees. Ashe and the rest had to cover themselves from the intense heat and the surge of wind that was now batting them.
Ashe removed her arms, which were protecting her from the wind and heat, she saw the ruins of the Gas Station in front of her, or what remained of it.
The underground storage tank had now been destroyed, leaving a vast crater. The resulting explosion ultimately displaced most of the ground and its surroundings. Small fires scattered in and around the crater burned off the petroleum inside the tank.
The building was reduced to its skeletal concrete structure, and the explosion blew off most of the gas station's exterior.
With everyone still in shock and awe, Ashe took the first step back into the Gas Station area, her gun still aimed in case the onmics came back for more. She signalled for Bob and the rest to remain behind as she inspected the ruins.
Approaching the destroyed building, she looked around for anyone who was still alive. She carefully moved into what was once the inside of the gas station. Most of the front was gone entirely, only the surrounding walls, torched ground, and the rubble from the explosion.
As she kept on looking, she finally found someone. But going closer to the person, she took in a sharp inhale.
It was someone, but not anymore.
It was now a body.
Through the dark, she could make out the gore state of the body. Half of the bloodied torso was gone entirely, only illuminated by the flickering flames nearby.
Ashe looked away from the dreadful sight. She immediately regretted downing that beer earlier with Frankie because she could feel that beer and her early dinner rushing back up from her stomach to her mouth.
Gulping down her contents, she was more determined to find out if anyone else was still alive.
They were all family to her.
Then, she could hear heavy footsteps nearby, stamping against the rocky ground below them.
It was those damn onmics.
Wasting no time, she rushed back to the metal gates to the Western Complex before any of those droids came for her.
Now, in the safe arms of the town, Bars activated the colossal metal gates to be shut. Ashe watched on at the burning carnage as the gates closed, sealing them away from the onmics for now. After the metallic clang of the doors shut, Ashe stared blankly into the distance.
"Ashe, you alright?" Ashe felt a hand on her shoulder. She immediately spun around and, without any hesitation, aimed the gun at the source of the voice.
Looking down at her sights, she saw a wide-eyed Frankie with her hands in the air and a couple of the Deadlock Gang members utterly shocked at their leader's action.
Ashe's heavy breaths slowly died down as she lowered her rifle. Bob rested his hand on her shoulder, where Frankie had placed her hand earlier.
"I'm fine, Bob." Ashe gulped, looking over her shoulder at her faithful onmic.
"Sorry to scare you like that, but something just came up in the news," Frankie said. "They said some ships are coming over the state of New Mexico. They're not sure what it is, but-"
"It's Null Sector." Ashe knew the enemy. She and the gang had heard their invasion campaigns, most notably in Canada, Brazil, and Sweden.
"Not exactly. Whoever these Null Sector guys are are not calling themselves that." Frankie said. "It's the Eye."
Ashe now looked at the gang's hacker with a puzzled look.
"The Eye? What kind of stupid name is that? And how'd you know this?"
"Um, Ashe, Frankie?" Bars intervened, now looking at their new potential problem.
Ashe and Frankie broke eye contact and turned to face Bars, who was facing the metal doors, protecting the gang from the onmics.
Red lasers danced quickly on the doors. The onmics began to pierce through the tough metal.
"You guys! Get back now!" Ashe's voice broke as she shouted at the Deadlock member, staring at the lasers.
Sensing that their leader was right, her members started heading away from the metal doors.
But it wasn't fast enough.
Without any warning, the metal gates blew right of its holdings, sending the heavy doors right towards Ashe and Frankie.
Luckily, Bob was there and had enough time and reaction to act. Thanks to his extensive and tough figure, he managed to deflect the doors from heading towards Ashe and Frankie.
However, Bars and the few others that were closest to the metal gates when it blew off weren't so lucky.
The metal gates flew towards the retreating groups at such a speed that there was no time to react.
They were simply cut down.
Ashe, Frankie and Bob looked on at the bodies; people that they once knew were dead.
They then stared at the entrance to the West Complex. Onmics of various shapes and sizes were slowly making their way in, both on land and in the air.
At this point, Ashe was beyond pissed.
The Deadlock Gang, her family, had lost so many memorable and recognisable people in just mere minutes thanks to Null Sector, or The Eye, whatever they are called.
She wasn't going to stand around and see these worthless droids destroy her life's effort, full of triumphs and anguish, go down the drain.
Ashe sided-eyed the rest of the Deadlock Gang behind her.
By this time, the whole Deadlock Gang had been activated and was in the town complex, prepping themselves after Bar's self-initiated Mayday call.
She then turned back to the onmics. If they want a fight, they will get it.
"Go get them!" Ashe yelled, her war cry echoing through the complex. Her gang cheered and began firing at the invading forces.
Blurry.
It was all blurry.
Ashe blinked a couple of times, trying to regain her vision. For a moment, she thought she was going blind.
Through her fuzzy vision, she could only make out the colours orange and black dancing about in front of her. The orange varied in different shades, going from a dark glow to a blinding light.
Sight wasn't helping her at the moment , so she tried to focus on her other senses.
Right now, she could feel the rough bits of torn-up tarmac right under her fingertips.
Frustrated at not knowing what was happening, she curled her fingers into a fist , rubbing her eyes to see what was going on .
By this point, her vision had been restored.
First, she noticed she was in a crater in the middle of the complex.
She then looked around her and saw complete devastation.
The West Complex, the gang's getaway place, was in shambles.
The Salon, once the venue for countless bar and drink nights, was fully engulfed by fire and destruction.
Right across the street, the garage used to store many of the gang's vehicles was no longer there—it had been completely demolished.
Then, as if that wasn't enough, her hearing came back.
And it was full of anguish.
She could hear the screams and cries of various voices. Some were very loud and recognisable, only to be cut short by a gurgle, silenced by those onmics bastards.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could see her lever-action rifle right next to her.
Grabbing it, she prepared a couple of bullets to get a clean shot of the onmics that were too preoccupied with taking her gang member's lives away.
But before she could pull the trigger, shots rang out above her. They were loud, meaning that they were right next to her.
She looked up and saw her faithful old pals, Bob and Frankie, providing cover fire as the former onmic butler picked Ashe up.
They made a beeline straight for the Deadlock's vault. Once inside, Frankie activated the metal gates to seal themselves away from The Eye, though given their destructive power, it could only buy them so much time.
Ashe wanted to look for anyone who was still alive in the war zone, but her head told her otherwise, at least until the fighting was over.
Inside the gang's vault, the trio took cover within the messy loot crates spewed about. Right before the invading onmics came about, the gang was so busy taking stock and inventory of all of their latest earnings that they had no time to organise the place. They just did their business in whatever space they had. They would tidy up once they were done anyway.
Right now, though, Ashe was utterly frazzled. She had just witnessed the death of her family and her fellow gang members, the gang's facilities and, before you know it, her life's work.
"It's my fault." Whispered Deadlock's hacker.
Ashe slowly turned and faced her.
"What? " the Deadlock's leader asked at the hacker's sudden confession. She refused to believe her. "What are you on about?"
Frankie looked at Ashe, then at Bob, who was also giving her a look, and back at Ashe.
"I'll show you." Frankie's head gestured at the two to follow her.
The three snaked their way through the vault. They then came across a line of unmarked crates located right next to Frankie's room.
"Bob, can you help with the crate cover? It's been opened already, so be gentle." Frankie pointed towards the nearest box.
The big onmic obliged, opening the wooden crate with relative ease.
Unbeknownst to them, there was a figure slinking about amongst the scattered crates.
With the crate open, the three peered inside.
Ashe's eyes widened while Bob just stared.
There, lying inside the crate, were two lifeless onmics. Just two normal onmics that looked like Bars or someone you would meet on the street. The only noticeable exception was that the heads had some purple spikes poking out of it.
"What is this, Frankie?" Ashe asked. She wanted to know how this was related to the invading onmic force.
"They just came in this morning after we raided the nearby warehouse. These were heading towards an unlisted facility deep in South America." She explained. Frankie stepped into the crate, careful not to step on the robot corpses. She then lifted one of the onmic slowly by the head.
"Browsing through their memory databanks, these folks were originally from Canada, smuggled their way here thanks to scavenger hunters. Whatever this mysterious facility wanted, I only wanted to see if they had anything worth value, so I brought them here and kept them."
She sighed, lowering the onmic back into the crate.
"Being lifeless, I never thought that they would be anything to the Eye anymore."
Ashe just stared at the lifeless onmics in the crate. She loved and respected Frankie's brilliance and her ability with technology. Without her, the Deadlock Gang wouldn't be where they are now.
But she couldn't shake the feeling of anger that she may be the one that caused all of this mess.
She wanted to say something to her, and that was the first thing that came to her mind. But before any words left her mouth, she sensed they were no longer alone.
Something or someone was here.
Ashe turned from the hacker to the back to the sea of spewed crates; she took her rifle and fired a warning shot, staring Frankie and Bob in the face.
"Who goes there?!" The leader screamed into the vast number of crates. Her emotions were now at an all-time high. She had lost most of her gang members thanks to the Eye. She was most disturbed by Frankie's revelation and was now looking at losing everything that she started. She was done playing around now.
Then the voice spoke out. And it didn't help settle her mood.
"Hey, now. There's no need to be so unfriendly to a good-looking face."
Frankie stifled a giggle at someone who had just come out from behind the crates: Cole Cassidy, an ex-member of the Deadlock Gang and a former close friend of her and Ashe.
Ashe, meanwhile, was not impressed at Cole's presence, even at such a critical time.
"Damn it, Cole. What the hell are you doing here?" Ashe angrily said. "Did you bring those machines here with you?!"
Cole only raised his hands innocently. "Whoa, whoa. You think I brought the Eye to you? You have been drinking?"
Ashe was in no mood for Cole's antics. She got right up to the cowboy's face, and to show she was not fooling around, she aimed her rifle right under Cole's chin.
"One. More. Word." Was her warning to him.
At this point, the gang's hacker decided to intervene.
"Guys, guys. Enough." Frankie got in between the two, pushing them away from each other. "We are not going to get anywhere with this. Literally, we are trapped in the bunker, which made me wonder." She then pointed to Cole. "How'd you get in the first place?"
"Had the taskforce drop me not too far from here without alerting the Eye. The moment I heard that they crossed over to New Mexico, I knew I had to come here." He then overlooked the contents in the crates that had just been unboxed. "And boy, was I right."
"Hey, look, I'm sorry that I took some onmic corpses. But they were marked for some unknown facility somewhere in South America. I had to take it. It could be hacked or sold for the right money."
Cassidy looked on at the lifeless onimcs. "Right."
Just then, a loud explosion came ringing from the vault doors.
"They must be after these onmics!" Frankie exclaimed. "Must be after the information they have in their heads or something ."
"Wait, how'd you know this?" Another explosion rang out before Cassidy could question anymore. This time, its vault doors creaked under the pressure. "You know what, never mind. We need to secure this cargo!"
"For what?!" Ashe demanded. "You planning to steal under our noses again, huh?"
"Take it as for the better. This intel could help end this fight against the Eye. The faster we end this, the faster you won't see me ever again."
"Then let me help. The onmics are too heavy to move," Frankie said, looking at the multiple big crates. "I may be able to hack into these onmics instead. You have to give me some time."
Ashe looked at the Deadlock's hacker, confused. "Who's side are you on?"
"I'm on yours, but we are not going to get this out alive if we bicker, are we?" Frankie looked into her leader's eyes. "Please, don't let it end like this." Her eyes softened; she was understandably upset at the situation the Deadlock Gang was in now .
Ashe looked at the hacker, then looked down and sighed. There was no way to win this argument with her.
"Fine." Then she looked back at the cowboy. "But once we are out of here, you better not hand us in."
Cassidy was busy with his lighter, trying to reignite his cigar. "Wasn't planning to."
Ashe just shook her head at Cassidy. "Alright. Get hacking, Frankie." She then turned to her onmic and the cowboy. "Bob, Cole. Help me buy time for Frankie."
Frankie moved back to the carcasses of onmics in the crates and immediately began hacking her way with her laptop. Ashe, Bob, and Cassidy made their way towards the vault's doors, which had already started showing signs of structural failure.
"Get ready y'all. This is going to be messy."
With the overwhelming number of onmics varying in size and function pouring through the Deadlock Gang's vault doors, Cassidy knew that they wouldn't last very long against the invaders, even with the help of Bob's massive armaments.
They were now in the middle of the vault, significantly pushed back by the Eye's relentless assault.
"Frankie! How much longer?" Cassidy ducked behind the cover of crates , gunfire and explosions ran in front of him and Ashe. "We're not gonna last long out here!"
"Just a few more seconds!" Frankie was busy inputting the last line of codes into her laptop. She carefully read every line of code before pressing the 'Enter' key. She watched on the screen as more lines of code were generated.
"There! It's done!" Frankie quickly unplugged the wire from the lifeless onmic's head.
"Where is the nearest exit?!" Cassidy shouted back at the hacker, flinging his magnetic grenade at the nearest onmic, exploding once it latched itself to the sorry target. He returned fire to the other onmics, who happened to be caught in the nearby blast.
"Back through the weapons room!" Frankie answered. She immediately bolted towards the locked doors which led through there.
The weapons room was a small room that housed the Deadlock Gang's arsenal of weaponry that was either gained from clashes with other gangs around New Mexico or stolen from various heists over the years.
This room also led out to the Western Complex without heading through the main vault doors. This was easier for those deep within the vault who didn't want to walk all the way to get to the Town Complex. The only issue is that it didn't lead out to level ground but up to a catwalk that overlapped the town.
Cassidy may have not stepped around the vault of the Deadlock Gang for a while, but he still knew his way around.
"Echo, bring the ship around for extraction near the vault doors on the catwalk. We got guests!" He reported to his comm.
"Roger that. There's a heavy onmic presence in the area , so you need to move fast for extraction. One minute out." The A.I. replied, overlooking the Eye's onmics now forcing their way into the Deadlock's vault.
"Bob, Ashe, Frankie! Let's move! We are leaving!" Cassidy made his retreat back from his current position behind before the onmics blew up the crate that he was using as cover.
Cassidy, Ashe, and Bob ran away from the massive horde of onmics crowding the vault, returning fire as they retreated into the weapons room.
Frankie, who was already inside, shut the doors the moment Bob squeezed his way into the doorway.
The gang was silent for a brief moment , trying to catch their breath. But it seems that their problems weren't over yet.
The onmics saw the gang enter through the room and began to barge their way in. Unlike the heavy and chunky vault doors that prevent anyone from entering, the room's doors were much smaller in scale. They were designed to keep any outsider from entering the vault, not to keep an onmic army at bay. The groaning of steel from the doors and ceiling, coupled with the distant explosions, was soon made aware by the gang.
"Oh shoot. Let's go now." Cassidy said, quickly heading towards the open catwalks. He guessed that the onmics were so preoccupied with the forceful entry of the vault that, somehow, they had missed this opening.
Nevertheless, he was thankful that they weren't hampered by the invading force yet.
Cassidy went out first, followed by the big moustached onmic follow suit out. The last were Ashe and Frankie.
Then, out of the blue, a violent explosion rocked the room. And it was soon clear that the room that Ashe and Frankie were still in was not going to last long. As soon as they made a dash for the catwalks, another violent explosion rang out. This time, the metal girders in the ceiling couldn't bear the force of the explosions and gave way to the loose, heavy rocks.
The next thing Ashe knew, the whole metal ceiling collapsed and started raining rocks and debris on her.
She managed to roll out of harm's way. She turned back to see the massive rock pile that now covered the weapons room in two. At first, she didn't think much of it. She was thankful that she got out safely. But then it hit her.
Frankie. She was right behind her when the ceiling gave way.
"Frankie? Frankie!" Ashe stared at the rubble before her. Cassidy and Bob turned back to see Ashe starting to dig her way through the rocky pile. They didn't need to be told what happened, and the two also helped Ashe scoop the rocks out of the way.
A second or two later, something emerged from the pile.
Frankie's head.
She coughed, gasping for air as her face was finally free. She was buried neck-deep in the landslide of rock.
"Frankie!" Ashe cried out. "Bob, help move this big rock out of the way!"
The onmics didn't say anything as he immediately used his vast, massive arms to scope the enormous boulder on top of the pile, hoping to get Frankie out of the rubble quickly. But then, another explosion rang throughout the room, sending more dust and rock down on them.
And to make matters worse, Cassidy's message from the incoming extraction ship was not great.
"Cassidy, I'm approaching the Town Complex now, and I'm getting a lot of hits from the Eye's onmics. The ship won't last long if you are not there by the catwalk now!"
"No, stop!" Frankie coughed as she pleaded with the desperate cowgirl. "Stop it, Ashe! Stop!"
Ashe didn't respond to her or Cassidy, who rested his hand on her shoulders, only for her to shrug him off. "We got to get you out!"
"Ashe, listen!" Frankie looked at the cowgirl with a sad smile. "These onmics won't stop coming until they get what they want," she panted as she took in another breath.
"Take my laptop," Frankie gave in the last of her energy to force her hand out of the rubble. In her hands was the laptop she used to hack into the corpses of the onmics. "During my hacking, I've found out those onmics had tons of datafiles embedded into their new-head spike purple thingies. Figured it could be useful."
Cassidy was the one closest to her hand and carefully pried the laptop off her. With the computer in safe hands, Ashe, Cassidy, and Bob watched over the hacker as she struggled to breathe, thanks to the continuing rain rubble above.
"There's not much time. I also programmed the lifeless onmics to self-detonate their power packs. Alongside a couple of explosives that we have lying around, it's been wired at the last minute when you were busy. Should be able to deliver a powerful blow to the Eye." Frankie wheezed. "Now go."
Ashe shook her head in disbelief at what Frankie had done. "No, no, you're not going to go out like this." She pleaded. "Bob, get the rocks off her!."
While Ashe's butler did what she commanded him , Cassidy could hear the distant whine of engines from the catwalks outside. Rushing out, he saw the dropship hovering not too far out in the distance above.
"Cassidy, I'm coming in hot! We need to go now!" Echo said from the dropship. Cassidy watched as the dropship took on gunfire from the hordes of onmics that were outside the vault. The ship still remained intact thanks to the light shield that encompasses the whole ship, but he knew it wouldn't last long against the Eye.
"Ashe, Bob! The ship is here! It won't last long against the Eye! We need to haul now if we need to make it out of here in one piece!" Cassidy rushed back into the weapons room.
"Go Ashe. You will be fine." Frankie's bloodied face softened as she looked right into her leader's eyes, glassy as tears were threatening to spill out. Just from the looks alone were thousands of unspoken words wanting to spill out, but with such limited time against them, she didn't know what to say.
"Bob, get her out of here. You and Cassidy better take good care of her." Bob nodded, then scooped Ashe from where her heart was.
"Frankie! Bob, put me down!" Ashe screamed as Bob took his owner away from the crumbling weapons room. "Frankie!"
Ashe watched helplessly as the rocks came raining down on Frankie and the rubble. The onmics detonated the weapons rooms relentlessly. She got one last glimpse of the hacker as Bob rounded a corner along the path to the catwalks.
Now outside, Bob sees that the ship is hovering above the catwalks, but not without any danger. Onmics are shooting gunfire at it. The dropship absorbs most of the damage, thanks to the light shield protecting it.
Cassidy was impatiently waiting on the two as he stood near the ramp of the ship .
"Come on! Let's go, Bob!"
Bob immediately propelled himself at speed towards the cowboy. His footsteps shook the catwalk as he ran straight up the ship's ramp, followed by Cassidy close behind.
"Echo, we're good to go!" Cassidy shouted toward the cockpit, giving the A.I. a thumbs-up.
The A.I. nodded, and with almighty heavy, the airship took off into the night sky.
Meanwhile, back in the rubble, Frankie lay where she was, now buried in a pile of rock that was ever-growing in size. Though in a rough sport, she was more than happy that her leader got out safe.
To keep her mind at bay, she thought about her life.
She had a rough childhood, growing up in a neighbourhood badly affected by the First Onmic Crisis. She was thankful for the family and friends she grew up with. Their community shared resources, ranging from food to medicine.
Then came the time when she sold her services to become a hacker for the sake of her family. That is where her story as a hacker started.
First, it was the Diamondbacks. She enjoyed the pay there, though she was not satisfied with how Marco, their leader, ran things.
After leaving, she was contacted by an unknown individual using—of all things—a puzzle. That's how she met Ashe, alongside Bob, Cassidy, and Julian in Cutthroat's Trout. Despite the lack of equipment, she agreed to join them on the condition that they receive equal payouts.
After their formation, they did and pulled off a successful heist against Arbelest shipment, Ashe's parent's company, which also became known as the Brisco Incident. That was also when she would receive her first payday in the gang, sending the money back home.
They still stuck together even after a failed heist, a ruined birthday party celebration, a temporary parting of ways with Ashe and a rescue mission.
As she had told Ashe before, family isn't always defined by blood but rather by those who stick together through thick and thin.
She loved the Deadlock Gang. And she still does.
Too bad it came to such a tragic end. At least she'll go off with a bang.
She closed her eyes. She could feel the rigged onmic corpses were about to go off.
It was time.
She felt a single tear running down her cheek.
This was for her family and home.
"Thank you."
Closing her eyes, she accepted her faith.
Ashe, Bob and Cassidy looked down at the Deadlock's vault, onmics still surrounding the place. They could hear an explosion going off but couldn't see it since the vault was within the cave of the mountain range.
Then, a massive explosion took place where the vault was located.
However, a bigger danger was exposed when the huge fireball was briefly seen before a white mushroom cloud concealed the fireball.
The crew within the ship looked on with widened eyes as the white mushroom cloud grew bigger and bigger and was soon approaching their ship at supersonic speeds.
The cloud soon evaporated, but that didn't stop a barrier of air from hitting the ship, sending it hurling through the air.
Ashe hung onto Bob's massive figure while Cassidy held onto one of the nearby seat restraints to stop himself from flinging around the ship or, even worse, being thrown out of the ship.
After a few moments of heavy turbulence, Echo thankfully managed to bring the ship under control before the airship collided with the nearby rock formations of the valley.
With the airship now stable, Ashe, Bob, and Cassidy could see the destruction of the Deadlock Gang's former headquarters.
A lot of good people are trying to make a living through illegitimate means.
Where good memories were made amongst other members, where family and friends were bonded for life, and where the lost had a home.
Now erased from the face of the Earth.
Ashe watched the massive fire that was now burning. What was once her life's work, family and home. Every worthy memory was now flooding her mind. Her face was blank, watching the flame flicker brightly into the early morning night.
Bob didn't say anything. He watched as his owner and friend went through a considerable amount of grief and sorrow right now, watching her collapse onto her knees on the ship, still overlooking the destruction of the gang. Memories came rushing back, seeing his owner going through the emotions of angst as she had in the earlier stages of her life.
And he could do nothing but see her suffer.
However, there was one thing he could offer her.
Without any hesitation, Bob gently grabbed Ashe by the arm and brought her into a tender yet reassuring hug.
Ashe said nothing as Bob gave her one of his overbearing hugs, which he would give her when she was in great distress.
A few seconds later, the emotions she had tried to suppress came gushing out. Raising her arms, she shakily hugged the only person who had been there throughout her entire life.
Bob watched as Ashe shook violently, brawling her eyes onto the onmic's clothing. Though muffled, he could feel the raw emotions that were coming out of her.
Tears of misery. Tears of despair. Tears of anger. Tears of regret.
He patted her on the back, smoothing her as he stroked his big hand to comfort her.
Cassidy watched the fire get smaller and smaller as they flew further away. He looked at the burly onmic with dejected and glassy eyes. It is hard to deny that he, too, had great memories of the place and the folks. He never thought that he would see the demise of the Deadlock Gang in such a violent manner.
As much as he wanted to mourn, the world was still in greater danger, thanks to the Eye. And there would be bigger tragedies than the death of the Deadlock Gang if they weren't stopped.
Getting up, he marched his way to the cockpit, not before giving a sad nod towards the onmic, showing that he, too, was going through some loss.
Sitting in the jumpseat of the ship, he quietly lighted himself another cigar, with Echo quietly piloting the ship back to the taskforce H.Q.
It was quiet in the cockpit for a while, with the occasional puffing and inhaling of Cassidy's cigar. Echo decided to break the long silence.
"You okay, cowboy?" She tried to brighten the mood with a bit of conversation.
"Yeah," Cassidy muttered.
Echo could tell he was still feeling grief-stricken. Though she wasn't new to emotions, they were still foreign to her . As an A.I., she couldn't yet understand or know how humans experience these feelings.
"You got anything from the vault?" Echo whispered, trying to move to a subject. She leaned to Cassidy as close as possible without trying to alert Ashe or Bob, who was still quietly mourning in the back.
Cassidy looked back at the two before taking a hit of his cigar. "Yeah, we got something." He showed her the dusty laptop in his hand.
"Want to take a peak?"
Cassidy looked at the laptop; it was the only thing on which he had a connection with Frankie, an old friend and hacker from way back.
A lot of memories with Frankie, back in the good old days.
He wiped the dust off the laptop with his robotic hand. Then, he took a look at his artificial limb, his hand lost during the Overwatch days.
This wasn't the first time he had lost. And it won't be the last. But he'll be damned if he won't do anything about it. There was a time and place when to mourn and when to fight. Right now wasn't the best time to talk tactics.
"We'll examine it once we're back in base." He sighed, taking another hit of his cigar. "No mood for it now."
Echo silently nodded before resuming her duty as a pilot. As urgent as it was, she wanted to look and inspect the data inside the laptop. But for now, she wasn't the one to make the call, and she had her own work to do .
Still, she felt hopeful that he and Ashe would bounce back.
Cassidy handed off the laptop to Winston and Sombra, who worked their way through the content of the files the moment they arrived back in Gibraltar. And apart from a small debrief with Winston, things were a blur for him, for his mind only focused on one thing.
Ashe.
Ever since he came back with the former gang leader and her onmic bulter, she had been pretty distant from the rest of the taskforce members.
It wasn't like the members of the base treated her like some sort of scum criminal. She was one, of course, but the members approached her with a warm and friendly tone, with a hint of caution in case she may be overcrowded with emotion . Cassidy thankfully reminded them to be gentle with her, especially after all she had been through. He made this reminder very clear, most notably with the Junkers, who were known for their brash attitude.
It was a cold sunset when Cassidy took another smoke break. He went and stood by the cliffs that oversaw the Strait of Gibraltar. It was one of the few times in his life that he felt at peace as he watched the many ships sailing through. The setting sun was just another wonder to behold. Its light shining against the restless water, sparkles of lights bouncing off the surface made the ocean like one of those fancy sparkly floors he often sees in bars.
But as he was about to take in his first puff, he realised he wasn't alone.
Not too far from him was the cowgirl and her onmic. Ashe hugged her knees, flinging bits of pebbles off the cliff while Bob sat quietly beside her, keeping her company.
He kept quiet as he took a seat right next to Ashe.
Both didn't say anything. Cassidy took a hit of his cigar while Ashe just kept flinging stone down to the waters below.
With a breath of smoke out of his mouth, he offered the cigar to his former partner-in-crime turned teammate. Without saying anything, she accepts the gesture, taking in a few hits of the cigar herself before returning it to him.
The three watched the sun continue to set as the sky above soon became a slowly darkening shade of blue, with some stars beginning to shine their way through the early night sky.
Before he knew it, he already finished his cigar, reaching the butt of it. Briefly looking at it, he flings it off the cliff, breathing out his last smoke.
"We'll get 'em." Cassidy silently spoke. "For the Deadlocks. For the triplets. For Bars. For Frankie."
He stood up with his back turned on her, preparing to walk away. "I promise."
Cassidy then took a few steps when he heard her speak.
"Cassidy."
He stopped only a few feet away.
"Thank you." She said.
He looked back to see Ashe still continuing to throw the pebbles as before, not even to look at him. Her expressionless face didn't smile nor show any hatred for him, but rather a monotone tune of gratitude.
With a slight smile, Cassidy continued his way back to base.
Ashe turned her attention back to what she was doing earlier. Picking up another pebble, she turned it in her hand, watching as the pebble flipped and twirled between her fingers. She then flicked it upwards and watched it drop into her palm.
Then, suddenly, she thought of why she was here in the first place. She closed her fingers on the pebble; remember, she was doing this for everyone she lost back on Route 66.
"Family, huh." She whispered to herself.
Ashe proceeded to throw the tiny rock off the cliff with a massive swing. Watching the rock fly into the distance, the fire within her, the desire to hunt down who took down the Deadlock Gang, her family, roared to new heights.
From that point on, she will help end this whole Eye fiasco, one way or another.
And nothing will stop her from laying waste for those who get in her way.
Ashe aimed her lever-action rifle at the two.
"Give me a reason why not to put a bullet right through both of your heads." She cocked on her lever, making sure she had a bullet loaded, waiting for them to peer out of cover.
"How about some good old reasoning?" John asked back, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
"You sent us a wild goose chase because of that damn bomb. Then you got us captured by the Eye, and now you have sent a whole country to hell because of you two idiots." Ashe shouted. "What reason are you going to give will make me believe in you?"
John looked at Vale, finding what to say to the angered cowgirl.
"We want to get home." Vale mustered up a response.
Ashe did find it odd to get a response. Still, she didn't let down her guard.
"Home?" She scoffed at the British girl. Her mind instantly went back to the Deadlock Gang's hideout. "And where's that?"
"Sojourn's right. We don't belong in this world." Vale said. "But we are not leaving this place without fixing our mess. All we need to do is get back into that command ship and self-detonate that bomb."
"Yeah. She's right." John added, peaking his head up at Ashe. "We just need to borrow one of the evacuating ships."
Multiple shots were fired as they ricochetted off the bodywork of the car, scaring John back to cover. This time, it was Bob who fired his armaments.
"Please! You have to believe us!" Vale begged. "We want to make this right. After that, you won't see us again!"
Ashe narrowed her eyes at the cars the two were hidden behind. She cocked the lever on her rifle, still aiming down her sights at one of them while Bob aimed his armaments at the other.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream filled the air, followed by the sounds of a panicking crowd.
Ashe, Bob, John, and Vale looked up. Raining from above, they saw incoming onmics dropping down from the sky, landing very close to the evacuation site. Out from these huge metal canisters, they spawned new onmics.
The Eye's onmics that landed closer to the evacuation site immediately began to fire upon the civilians and onmics that were trying to escape from. A small team of soldiers and police officers that were deployed there and assisting in the evacuation pulled up their firearms.
Knowing that they wouldn't last long, Vale, out of instinct, rushed out of her cover and headed towards the evacuation site.
John wanted to reach out to her; he didn't want her to be all alone. But then, something caught from the corner of his eye.
"Hey!" Ashe called out, aiming at the running Brit down her sights.
She then felt a sudden rush of wind that just zipped past her left ear. She then turned her attention to John, who had just happened to apparently just fire his bow at her.
"Wrong move, darling." Ashe aimed right in the middle of his forehead. "And it was a miss."
"I didn't miss."
Cocking her head slightly to the left, she looked back and saw that an Eye's onmic had just appeared on one of the abandoned cars behind her. Somehow, both she and Bob were so distracted by the two that they forgot they were in the middle of a much bigger battle.
And by miracle, he struck a Nulltrooper right in the middle of the chest; the body was sent straight, falling backwards onto the ground.
"Let's call this even for now," John said, now no longer wanting to joke around anymore. "Head for the evacuation site and help my partner. Get those civilians out of harm's way. I'll handle the streets. Go!"
Ashe really wanted to kill this man, but they now had more significant issues.
"You better get them good." Ashe and Bob started to run towards the evacuation zone. "Or I'm gonna kill you and your partner."
"Better count on that." John aimed for another onmic in the other direction, never leaving his sight for the cowgirl.