Old Town Riot [Battleground]

"You mean a SOLDIER's salary can't pay for all of this?" Tak says rather sardonically in response to GAWAIN's enthusiasm over their immediate surroundings. It certainly wasn't a sight you see every day in Midgar and something to keep note of for the Science department to check out later on. This type of plant growth would normally be impossible, with nine Mako Reactors currently draining every bit of life force from the continent. The Turk elected to kneel down and take a closer look at the flowers. Truly extraordinary, but not exactly what they came for as the glint of bullet casings in the flower bed caught his eye.

He took one of the casings and examined it closely. Standard issue assault rifle ammunition firing in one direction, but the same type of casings could be spotted in two other spots of the church. Each pile indicating the fire direction of each gunman. Four Shin-ra infantry but only three had their rifles? If you looked more casely, handgun casings could be found. So it was that kind of fight. Tak's amber eye continued to scan the room for the story to be told here. Pews had been chewed up by suppressive fire and a pillar was peppered with several magazines' worth of small arms fire. Pretty standard grunt tactics, and it was effective this time. Three major blood splatter origins, one of them much more substantial than the other two. Wait, why were there three if the case was for two runaway SOLDIERs? Ah yes, the report mentioned there was yet another member to this party. That person's heals would have had to be on point to treat a wound that can produce this blood stain. A SOLDIER wouldn't have received this kind of wound from a few grunts.

"I like to believe the recruits we bring in are smarter than...all of this." It was the best response he could give after reading through the situation. Normally being on-site would yield more insight than mystery.

"There is nothing objective about this, and this particular chunk…" He motions to the largest bloodstain that used to belong to Private Benson. The one explanation in a sea of uncertainty. "...was taken out of one of our boys. You have to be motivated for a move like this. Everyone else was fighting for their lives, this guy wanted blood. Something tells me he didn't exactly get what he wanted either."

Having snapped out of his investigative trance, the Turk heaves a sigh while reaching into his coat pocket. From the inside breast of his suit jacket, a honey stick had been produced, unwrapped, and placed between his lips for immediate enjoyment. With that done, he looks over at the second member of SOLDIER that was supporting this operation; Amanda. Really, the all-star lineup that HQ ended up affording was enough to make Tak blush. 1st and 2nd Class: GAWAIN and Amanda de Valliere , respectively. Both were pretty easy on the eyes. 

"What does the lovely Ms. de Valliere think about this? Any of this handiwork seem familiar to you? A friend from the Academy? Maybe even an ex?" Some banter to pass the time while public security did its thing around town. One way to flush out the crazies was to ruin their night, and there were plenty of grunts eager to enforce "law and order". Tak gave approval for them to stop the train to Sector 5 for the night and to increase patrols to make the most out of the locals' misery. They even began setting up a base of operations just outside the church. Anyone willing to hop up on Mako had a hero complex. Well, come get it Hero.

The calamity in Quiet's blood pounded through his body, now, that 'mako infusion', that alien force that powered both Shin-Ra's elite fighters and this one rogue counterinitiative. His electric eyes glimmered with a post-celestial fury. He wasn't going to run away, this time. Something inside of him had changed since last time. No longer would pain stop him. Nor would he recoil from being outnumbered and outgunned. He considered himself the unstoppable force, looking for an immovable object.

He might just find one.

The bulky psuedo-SOLDIER was only mildly surprised when the Turk walked out and addressed him, rather than regular Shin-Ra troopers. This momentary shock was immediately replaced with glee; they were treating him (and the others) with the seriousness they deserved. If Turks were here, it was likely other (no, not other; real) SOLDIERs were also nearby. A smile that could only really be described as a grimace contorted Quiet's face into something less than noble, and his eyes remained humourless. 

It was not that Quiet was totally incapable of humanity. But when that battle lust overcame him, when that mild, almost imperceptible whispering started up in the back of his head, there was no human to be found there. Instead, he at first became a spider, all fangs, poison, and an intellect alien even to himself. 

Quiet did not respond to Takeyoshi Urabito with words. That strange smile still playing on his lips, he raised his sword, which gleamed despite the low light of the underplate, and continued to advance towards the church, his white overcoat billowing behind him. 

The ground seemed to rumble as, nearby, a hidden mecha churned to life. Quiet glanced around to it, saw that it was coming towards him. He loosened his body into a self-taught stance, prepared to take on this new combatant, but the robot didn't seem interested in him. An eyebrow quirked. Maybe he wasn't going to have to (attempt to) be a one-man army. 

Well, that was that.

Quiet would pick up speed, following behind the seemingly allied 'bot. His eyes were locked on to the Turk, but he knew there were likely worthy combatants just within the church. His blade was hungry. His feet pounded as he rushed towards the Turk, aiming to use the robot as cover to close the distance and get within melee range. 

Leonhardt