You sigh, as the jukebox changes to a more
rocky tune...
"What a waste of a good drink…"
With a more immediate problem right in front of you, and your weapon in a bad angle, you take the next best thing to get this one danger out of your face. You reach for the bottle of vodka she left on the counter, part of your mourning the waste of a perfectly good drink, before smashing the thing straight into the side of Lupara's face. T-doll skulls might be stronger than most, but getting hit by another T-doll pretty much evens it out again. Glass shards and alcohol went flying as the bottle shattered, causing the doll to recoil. No doubt that'll disorient her for a while, which leaves you with the secondary danger.
You turn to your right, already in full swing, aiming to fire at Bizon before she has a chance to fire at you. But your bullets only pierce the air as the white haired doll is already rolling over the counter to take cover on the other side. She slips off the other end before you have a chance to redirect your aim, getting into cover.
With no time to waste, get your feet up onto your stool, preparing to kick yourself off and rain down fire from above. But then you heard the cracking of glass, and noticed a doll with her face full of it, and one mean look shot your way. Lupara pulled the trigger and blasted a hole right through the counter. Shredding the wood, the shot made short work of your stool, and would've messed up your legs if you did not have them up.
The stool crumbled, and you fell with it, your back hitting the ground. Maybe you'll be pulling out splinters later, but right now you've got no time to catch your breath. Looking up, you see the ceiling, a slowly rotating fan, and the barrel of a gun emerging to look over the counter. And with that shotgun being a sawn-off, it'll have its angle on you very soon. So despite the splinters littering the ground, you perform a side roll towards the counter. The second shell just narrowly missed the spot you were at just moments ago.
You hit the side of the bar, which let you know you broke line of sight once again with the counter above you. And knowing that the two shells of her shotgun have already been shot, you've got a window of opportunity while she reloads.
As you lay on your back once more, you lean back with your feet above your head, and spring yourself upwards, kicking straight through the wooden counter with great force. You hear Lupara's yelp as your boots leave a mark and wooden splinters on her face, great pain befalling her previously smug visage twice now.
You proceed to roll back onto your legs and finally stand on them again too. But before you could go and actually start shooting at the dazed shotgun, her companion decided to finally show her face. Bullets flew your way, so you duck behind your side of the counter again. But as bullets keep piercing its weak wooden construction, you're forced to retreat behind something more durable. That's when you notice that the tables are actually metallic, and therefore much better at stopping enemy fire. So you dive to one and flip it, just in time for a breather. Now there's both cover and distance between them and you.
"Fucka… think she bent my jaw!"
"Stay focused! We cannot allow her to escape!"
"Damn straight we ain't!"
Everyone seems to be taking this moment to reload their weapons, but you take this breather to do something extra. You're outnumbered by extraordinary dolls, one having information you're very interested in. You need backup. While there is a risk of attracting unwanted attention, be it Griffin or even Sangvis, you still let out a signal to your allies, Ots-14 and Ouroboros, that you're currently in quite a pickle. Hopefully they arrive swiftly and before anyone else.
For now though, you've got to hold your own. The sooner you act, the less time they'll have to devise a strategy against you. A pincer movement in enclosed spaces would be unpleasant. So to counteract their efforts a little, you put your E-war module to good use and disrupt their comms.
"You two want a piece of me that badly?" you call.
"We just want to make sure nobody else gets a piece. A necessary precaution."
You reach under your poncho, looking for that little something that'll get their eyes off of you. Not frag, not incendiary, but stun grenade. Only one, but that's all you need. You hook the pin with your palm, trying to remember their last positions.
"Y'know, I kinda felt sorry for ya at first, but now I'mma leave ya in more pieces than anyone would care to stitch back together!"
A smirk crept up on your lips. You thought only SF liked to talk long enough to their detriment, but here are those two, giving away their positions by talking. You've got them right where you want them. With one swift movement, the pin is pulled, but you're not throwing the 'nade just yet.
[ ] "I'll say this only once: stay the hell out of my way!"
[ ] "How about I'll take a piece of you instead?"
[ ] "I'm sorry, the person you're trying to call is currently exercising her right for freedom. Please leave a message after the BANG!"
[X] Write-in: ...
You threw it with just the right timing for it to most definitely hit at least one of them, and the loud flashing sound came immediately after. You gave them as little time to react as you could, and as little time to respond as you could, immediately heading out of your cover. Weapon raised, you fire away at their small formation. But although your bullets connected with something, they did no damage, for a shotgun always tanks what's thrown straight at her. Little Lupara might be blinded, but the trademark shields of the SG type T-dolls were positioned to take whatever she couldn't see. The shields hung from mechanical arms extending from her spine, similar to those of other shotguns you've met, but the shields themselves seemed to be two open suitcases with armored coverings. You could not see what was inside them, but the outside stopped your bullets like any other shield. And with Bizon hiding behind her, you'll have a hard time getting even a single hit in. Seems you'll have to get up close and personal.
You pull out one of your machetes and go on the offensive, charging the shotgun and the SMG. By the time her eyesight would return to her, you're already running over tables towards her. Her face, scarred with shards of glass and wood splinters, flares up in shock. You fire as your approach to keep her shields preoccupied, then jump as you get close enough. Pellets miss as you fly above them, and over Lupara too. You land just between the shotgun and Bizon, who also just regained her eyesight. Now this might seem like a tight position, because it is, but also one you can deal the most damage from.
With your machete in one hand, you aim a stab at the opposing SMG, one she was prepared to parry with her reflexes. You know she would be around as fast as you, but that's also what you were hoping for. She blocked your attack with her weapon, a loud "clank" echoing as your blade gets stuck in the space between her gun's barrel and the cylindrical magazine, stopping your attack but also sacrificing her ability to retaliate for the duration of this stalemate. You smile, as that's exactly what you wanted.
Lupara was in the process of turning around, but you were prepared to counter her. Frankly, part of you was wondering whether this'll even work, but you'll just have to trust your equipment. That equipment being the wing shields you were trusted with by Benelli, repaired into a functional state after yesterday. In their current state, unconnected to your spine and still riddled by parapluie, they wouldn't be able to protect you. But when they are extended manually, the pack quite the punch. And one click was all it took for the metal wing to spring out from under your poncho, hitting Lupara straight into her (lacking) chest. The impact sent her flying back, and you attempted to fire off a few rounds her way, but she blocked those with her shields before landing behind the counter. At least she was temporarily out of the way, so you could focus on Bizon.
The slightly taller doll took advantage of your split focus, reaching with one hand for your collar and trying to throw you to the side. You can't do much against it with your preoccupied hands and smaller frame, but before she throws you off, you manage to pry off her magazine with your blade. Guess that fancy cylindrical design wasn't so practical.
You stumbled and hit the counter with a heavy thud. The sound of your impact is followed by a click, her gun trying to shoot air. You turn back with a smug look, transforming her confusion into anger. As you raise your gun, she knows she doesn't have enough time to reload her gun, so she charges you instead with great speed, pulling a knife from a thigh scabbard. You jump onto the counter into a handstand to avoid her slash, then last behind it to dodge another slash. Afterwards It's a knife fight, and while she was bigger you had a bigger knife. Though between two SMG-type dolls, the motions may seem more like a blur than well timed parries. Actually, somehow this reminds you of a little song floating around in your memory...
"Oh, I have all my fingers
The knife goes chop chop chop
If I miss the spaces in between
My fingers will come off~"
Disbelief mixed with frustration took place on Bizon's face, her concentration was great yet not enough to break through to you, though it still kept you from breaking through to her. But conveniently, you've got just the thing for that. Time to take a page out of 45's book and make her head spin. As your E-war module does it's work, you notice her eye movements becoming sluggish.
"Oh, chop chop chop chop chop chop chop
We're turning up the heat~
And if you hit your fingers
Then your hand will start to-"
"AH!"
Finally, you land a solid hit on her hand, severing two of her fingers and breaking the grip on her knife. You were actually aiming at her wrist, but she was resilient. You continued the E-war attack, planning to take another slash, when you heard the snap of a shotgun barrel.
Right, this is where she landed after all…
You spot Lupara charging your way with her gun aimed your way underneath her shield, so you jump and split your legs to let the shells pass under you again, though there's no stopping the rampaging shotgun in her tracks. Her shields ram you, but she does not stop in her stride. You try to reach around and hit her as you're taken along, be it by shooting or slashing her. But eventually you reach the end of the counter, and you're sent crashing through it and a table behind it, feeling the splinters for yourself this time.
The impact left you a little shaken, but so it did with Lupara, who crashed into another direction. Deciding not to be a sitting duck, you roll to the side, hiding beneath some of the tables that are still intact, preferably metallic.
The battle is starting to become taxing on your body, and although you landed some good hits, you're still outnumbered. You start considering other options… seeing as this place's construction is largely wood, one good incendiary grenade would create quite the hellfire, forcing everyone into a flight or die situation. Would help you escape, but also pretty much ruin your chances of catching either of them alive. If only you had backup…
But then, something about the situation changed. You noticed a signature approaching, unidentified and unaffiliated. Could be Groza and Ouroboros, which would turn the odds in your favor and allow you to maybe capture one of them alive. Though it could also be that other T-doll that is with them, the SMG with the display mask, which might be too much for you to handle or even escape from. Only thing you know is that it's approaching fast, really fast…
Considering the possibilities, you need to decide what to do right now.
[X] Set the place on fire. Bizon and Lupara will die or flee.
[ ] Try to weaken Lupara.
[ ] Try to weaken Bizon.
[ ] Stall by attempting to negotiate.
[ ] Write-in
