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| - Conflicting images of Los Angeles flicker across our television and movie screens: Hollywood glamour contrasts with gang violence, year-round sunny skies with smog, fast cars with traffic jams. From what travelers can gather, Los Angeles is a land of style and disaster, movers and shakers and earthquakes. Residents are accustomed to a rhythm that alternates between relaxation and stress, but out-of-towners -- fortunately -- tend to experience much more of the former. The nation's second-largest city (after New York), L.A. is a great place in which to do business or take a vacation. Marvelous restaurants, terrific nightlife, beaches, diverse cultural offerings, Disneyland and easygoing attitudes converge in a vast territory flooded with sunshine and lined with palms. Nearly everyone should see L.A. at least once, though a single trip will hardly be enough to appreciate such a vast area that's jam-packed with things to do. Alley-Viper 910 is on patrol with her squad in L.A. So far it has gone well. As the Alley-Vipers begin to return to the refugee camp with those they have already rescued, the commander point to a building and says, "910, I thought I saw movement by that window. Take 911 and 912 and investigate." The commander wasn't imagining things. There was, indeed, a blur of motion in the window. Sicarius has been stalking the patrol for the past twenty minutes. He moves slowly back from the window, gripping pads on his hands and knees allowing him to climb up the wall of the building's stairwell. He waits in the corner, like an invisible Spider-Man. Alley-Viper 910 moves into the building, the other two vipers covering her. She slowly begins climbing the stairs as quietly as possible, shield held to cover as much of her body as possible, with her gun poking around the side. Sicarius watches as the lead Alley-Viper comes around the corner, and waits quietly. Once the last of the trio has passed, he crawls down slowly and moves into line a few steps behind the pack. The only sound he makes is the tiniest hiss of a well-oiled blade extending. Alley-Viper 910 continues to climb the stairs, radioing her superior, "Nothing so far, Sir." Let's change that, shall we? Stepping up quickly, the assassin flickers into view behind the trailing Alley-Viper. With a quick thrust, he aims his blade at the back of the neck, just below the base of the skull... The Alley-Viper trailing 910 notices 912 stop moving and says, "Hold! What's wrong with you, 912?" Alley-Viper 912 is suddenly lifted bodily from the steps, revealing the assassin behind him. Sicarius tosses the dead man over his shoulder and down to the landing behind him. With a *HUFF* of air escaping from beneath the faceplate, he spins around and charges at the next Alley-Viper in line. 911 yells, "Hostile to the rear" and opens fire on the assassin. 910 spins around. >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Laser . << Sicarius ducks down as 911 opens fire with his weapon, kneeling to one side. He suddenly leaps upward as the Alley-Viper adjusts aim, spinning around so the rear leg touches down on the wall. Kicking off into a back-flip, he aims to bring his knee down on Alley-Viper 911's skull. 911 is hit, and collapses. 910 radios, "We have a hostile, the other two are down. Evacuate immediately. I'll hold it off. Sicarius stabilizes himself with a foot on 911's shoulder as the Alley-Viper goes down. He then looks up, the faceplate reflecting 910 as he unslings his rifle. Those Alley-Viper shields are good for small arms fire, but can they stop a railgun slug? >> Sicarius strikes Alley-Viper 910 with Railgun . << Alley-Viper 910 stumbles backwards as she is struck, and swears. She raises her gun and fires at the orange thing saying, "You shouldn't have messed with us." >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Smg . << Sicarius's armor deflects a couple of the bullets, and his nimble maneuver lets him evade the rest. Weaving from one side of the staircase to the other, he climbs toward the Alley-Viper. As he closes in, he leaps forward, aiming a horizontal knee strike at chest height. >> Sicarius misses Alley-Viper 910 with Kick. << Alley-Viper 910 brings up the damaged shield just in time to block the kick. She lowers the shield and pushes off the step she is on, trying to bash her attacker and knock him down the stairs. >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Slam. << Sicarius traces his left leg back in a 'C' to dodge the kick. With his target's leg extended, he reaches in to grab it, aiming to spin her around and throw her against a wall. >> Sicarius strikes Alley-Viper 910 with Slam. << Alley-Viper 910 gets slammed into the wall and drops her shield. She stumbles a bit, but recovers. She balls up her fist and swings wildly in the direction of her attacker. >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Roundhouse. << Sicarius raises his arm to block the haymaker. It's like trying to hook your arm around a telephone pole. He steps in, throwing up a quick lead-hand jab at the Alley-Viper's faceplate. >> Sicarius strikes Alley-Viper 910 with Punch. << The Alley-Viper's head is snapped back by the blow, and she is dazed. She raises one foot and tries to stomp down on her attacker's knee, thinking, "What the hell is this thing?" >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Stomp. << Sicarius slides his leg back, letting the stomp strike the floor instead. He balls up his fist again for another jab, this one aimed at the Alley-Viper's shoulder. The ten-inch blade extends from the wrist, just above the hand. He jabs with enough force to drive the blade into the brick wall behind her. >> Sicarius misses Alley-Viper 910 with Blade. << Alley-Viper 910 dodges the blade and draws her knife. She studies Sicarius for a moment and slices, trying to hit a spot between the orange plates. She radios, "I don't know how much longer I can keep it occupied." >> Alley-Viper 910 misses Sicarius with Slice. << Sicarius's blade becomes lodged in the wall. Seeing his target's knife come out, he acts quickly. With a twist of his arm, he breaks the weapon off, leaving the rest stuck in the brick. This affords him the opportunity to step back and evade the slash. His hand splays open. He may have lost the blade, but he still has his claws... >> Sicarius strikes Alley-Viper 910 with Claw. << Alley-Viper 910 yells in pain as she is hit, and begins to run down the stairs, ignoring the transmission, "We are clear, 910. Repeat, we are clear." Sicarius lets the Alley-Viper descend the staircase. She can check over her shoulder, but it doesn't look like he's pursuing... that is, until she gets to the street. There's a sound of shattering glass. Sicarius has leapt out of the second-story window, electricity crackling around his right hand as he lands on the street, driving his fist to the pavement. >> Sicarius strikes Alley-Viper 910 with Shock Blast . << Alley-Viper 910 collapses, and doesn't move again. Poor Alexis. Alone, abandoned, left at the cold hands of this unfeeling abomination. Sicarius straightens up as the electricity dissipates. He strides over to the unconscious Alley-Viper and reaches down, easily lifting her with one arm and slinging her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. He turns and starts back toward the Bellum... Sicarius goes to Bellum - Staging Deck.
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