Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5543592-20190809183250/@comment-5543592-20190901165908

The Vertibird doors slammed shut, and it took to the air, Tanaka guiding them out of the hanger. Out the left side windows, they could see the other Vertibird on the ground down below, idling.

“They haven’t taken off yet.” Tanaka muttered.

“You’re telling me.” Josey said.

As the last of what appeared to be everyone filed aboard, Cable looked both ways down the hall just to be sure.

At the hallway's far end, through a dark hole in the wall, a slim hand appeared, and grasped the edge of the torn metal. She made a fist and the wall bent in it.



Shrike pulled herself out, grimacing as she was pried free of the heavy, steel rubble, stepping into the hallway of what had been the living quarters.

Her armor was melted, unrecognizable from what it had been. Fire extinguishing foam matted her hair and clumped to her in random places.

She was, of course, completely uninjured. The set of her jaw and arch of brow read 'I am very unhappy.' She locked her gaze on Cable, and started down the hall towards him.

"Holy fuck." Cable squeaked, stumbling towards after the others towards the Vertibird, slipping onto the ground at one point in his haste.

Shrike gripped her chestplate and pried it off, tossing it to the floor. She reached up to her shoulders and tore off her pauldrons too, her hood falling away with them. She frowned at what had been her pulse glove, pulled it off, tossed it aside. She kicked off her charred boots, walked barefoot on the shards of shrapnel. They didn't cut her.

Cable dashed to the Vertibird, flailing his arms, and threw himself onto the cabin floor, landing with an "Oof!" He scrambled the rest of the way up. Josey looked down at Cable, in askance of what the boy was doing

Cable caught his breath, faced the cabin. “She’s coming!” Cable shouted, his voice cracking.

That settled it for Josey, they’d waited long enough. He faced Priors and twirled his finger in the air. “Get us outta here.”

"Roger that." Priors said, laying into the control stick, and the Vertibird jolted, taking off. It's tail swung out as it shot into the sky, jets propelling it rapidly upwards at an angle.

Shrike appeared below, through the gap in the side of the warehouse, craning her neck back to look up at the Vertibird. She frowned thoughtfully, and then started to jog after it. The jog turned into a sprint, and then Shrike was dashing after the Vertibird, a look of intense concentration on her face. They were still close enough to the ground that they could see her well enough.

"Ain't no way..." Josey muttered, looking out the window. “Can this thing go any faster?” Priors engaged the engines completely, the jets going from vertical to horizontal, and the Vertibird hummed as it picked up speed.

But Shrike was picking up speed too, each lunging step covering the distance equivalent to a man's height.

Josey leaned out of the cabin door, gripping one of the onboard railings, to look back at her. “No. Fuckin’. Way.”

The Vertibid’s shadow raced across the desert, Shrike right beneath it. Each stride became a leap, covering twenty feet each jump, as she built up momentum, keeping pace with the Vertibird.