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Chapter 4
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RE:SAVE
Paladin Royce stuck a cigarette into his mouth. He lit the end of it, took a long drag, and stared off over the balcony's edge as he exhaled the dark smoke.
The glowing lights of a nighttime Omni City were overwhelming. Up there, he could see them all between the throngs of flying cars. He could see all the smoke and rabble and noise. All the noise, all the life of Omni…
He almost hated it.
His HUD pulled something up. A list of news articles sprung into the center of his vision.
[Palindrome Unmasked and Killed]
[Palindrome's Identity Revealed]
[Palindrome – Woman in Disguise]
[The Issue with Masculinity, Palindrome's Perspective]
As if we need any more postulation on this damn issue…
The cigarette was finished. He let it fall from his lips over the balcony, down into the chaos of Omni.
But, then – even I hadn't known. She never even told me her true identity. To all of her cohorts and peers, she was just 'one of the guys.' To me and the rest of the Warden-rank Paladins, he was…
"Royce." said a woman's cool voice.
He lifted slightly from the railing, turned to look into the party he had stepped out from.
[https://i.ibb.co/s559gbj/who-is-this-person.png]
"Are you ready to go?"
Ω
"Shiiiiiiiiiiit!" Zark stood in the clearing before his own burning ship. The smoke was billowing fiercer than ever, the flames were flaring and glowing vibrant orange…
And he could see the woman's face refracted through the blue-lensed cockpit.
"We have to stop her!" cried Seiko.
"Oh,” he turned to her in alarm, “surely you jest!”
Seiko took a surprised step back. “Huh? Who even talks like that?”
Then he pulled his plasgun, immediately turned it on the barely hovering ship, and opened fire.
“Stop!” Seiko threw herself at the gun and knocked its path astray.
“What are you doing!? There’s no better way to stop the ship than getting it to 0 HP, is there?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t just kill her!”
“She’ll respawn, it’s fine!” He took aim again.
Seiko frowned. I don’t have any skills for this, do I!?
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She lunged for the gun.
[Success]
It was easy to wrestle it out of his hands. She took it away, cast him one disgruntled glance before she slid it into a pocket of her robe and dashed at the ship.
Dammit, thought ‘Zark,’ I knew I should have spent more time leveling up my Strength!
Rié spun the ship. Oh no, you don’t!
It could only manage a few feet from the ground, but that was just enough to get the front cannons aimed at Seiko as she ran forward.
Damn it all, I don’t need your auto-targeting!
The ship began to fire repeatedly. The pulsed thuds inside the cockpit were half as loud as the sounds of those plasma shots slamming into the ground, igniting purple fires in the dirt and grass.
But Rié wasn’t just missing; Seiko was dodging.
How many Reflex Saves can this bitch succeed!? I’ve got to hit at least one!
Another shot recoiled through the hull. Seiko was still rushing, still weaving between and around every heavy blast.
And then the trigger began to click dry.
I’m out! No, go up! Go up!!
Seiko leapt up, her bare feet patted down hard onto the ship’s glowing window. She knelt down and tapped the glass hard with her gun. Her voice was muffled as she called, “Hey! Open this thing up, you’re only going to hurt yourself! Can you even understand me — Woooooaaaaaah!?”
The ship suddenly lurched forward, sending Seiko into another Reflex Save.
[Failed]
No!
-25 HP!
She slammed down hard, grunted out all of her lungs’ air in a single gasp. Then the ship thrust forward, nearly atop her, reeled back again like an animal getting ready to stomp its front legs forward, crush its prey beneath its own weight…
And Rié pushed that throttle as far as it would go. The whole ship plumed thick chokes of smoke as the thrusters screamed out hisses of immense pressure. The metal was beyond hot. The ship would be in a critical state, soon.
I just need it critical enough to stop flying!
Seiko scanned the exposed bottom of the shuttle, first with her eyes, then with her HUD. It pinpointed all vital weak spots, indicated her odds to make any shot successfully…
The coolant line!
[Odds: 15%]
Well damn if it isn’t worth a shot! Or three!
Three shots screamed out of her gun, then three more, and more and more until her gun had become incredibly hot in her hand, and until it stopped firing anything at all. Finally, she thought it might be a good idea to open her eyes.
HP: 0/100
She gave an intense and dramatic fist-pump. Yes!
And then, in one meager, anticlimactic sputter of gas and heat…
The ship’s lights died. And then,
KRNCHHHHHH…
The ground shook as it slammed back into the ground.
Zark wiped the sweat from his brow. “Tough job…” But she did better than I ever could have done… Just who is this girl…?
But the longer he looked, he was beginning to piece it all together. Everything was falling into place; the appearance, her strange personality, her strange name…
Her skill, her unwillingness to surrender, her… her resolve!
Zark — Talyn — finally knew.
Seiko… is Palindrome!