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[river_meimei]

Moon Base Station is, apart from certain restricted-access sectors, built for tourism. Some tourists, like Duo, are just killing time during a layover; others come here, to the cheap hotels or the expensive ones with a real-time video view of Earth, to spend their whole vacation within the base's walls.

There's a casino area somewhere not too far away, but River and Duo have opted for one of the more family-friendly bits instead. It's a shopping area, full of glittering storefronts and small food-court nooks, with an intricately tiled floor and fountains every few dozen meters. Tiny potted trees show off the station's opulence -- this is space, after all, where trees are hard to come by.

River's already found herself cotton candy somewhere.

Comments

[maxwellsdemon02]

"You did not have to come," Duo says, pointing the Finger of Accusation at her.

And then he jumps over the railing.

[river_meimei]

River takes a second to stare blankly at him. Why is that relevant, Duo?

Then she's following after him, vaulting the railing on a slightly different trajectory that will carry her to the floor a few yards away. (Not too very far below, and there's a thug to cushion her landing against his will too.)

Canda, they call it in the High Speech: the distance that ensures that two gunslingers can't be taken out by a single shot.

[maxwellsdemon02]

Some of the smugglers (and minions) are fleeing, not realizing that there are only two people to face, not an entire Preventer assault team.

All the better for Duo and River, because those at the front are starting to realize that no one else is rushing in.

Duo shoots a gun out of someone's hand. (And maybe a few fingers, too.) He wants these guys in too much pain to run away, but alive to answer lots of questions.

[river_meimei]

Duo's aiming for non-lethal targets.

And this is law enforcement and a stalling tactic. The conclusion follows. Okay.



River kicks someone hard in the ribs, yanks him into his boss while he's off-balance, drops and spins and slips a hand into her pocket while she's doing so; her fist comes out weighted with the stunner, and she swings the business end straight upwards into somebody's chin. (It's the sort with a crackling end that jolts the recipient with a stunning shock, not a stun-gun. Luckily, hand-to-hand is something River Tam can work with.)

They're outnumbered, fighting to disable against people who won't hesitate to kill, and time is of the essence; she rolls to her feet, and keeps moving.

[maxwellsdemon02]

That's enough of a distraction for Duo to advance on another gunman and punch him square in the nose. This also makes him have to shake his hand out, but that's no problem, as he uses a knee to drive all the breath out of the guy's lungs.

More bullets clang and ricochet, but they seem vaguely reluctant to aim at each other, despite the earlier argument.

[river_meimei]

Handy! Anything that makes them hesitate in their aim is of use.

Also: River is not hesitating to aim them at each other, when the opportunity presents itself. Either in throws, or in helping a blow (or, twice, a bullet) to swing wide.

However, this is a big room with a couple of exits, and River and Duo are only two people against close to 30 opponents. Not everyone is sticking around to fight.

[maxwellsdemon02]

All well and good, but with those odds, even an expert is going to take a hit or two. Or three.

Or, y'know-

Duo SLAMS into one of the lockers lining the wall, causing the door to pop open. It promptly dumps its contents all over the floor: a flood of screws and drill bits, and several coiled lengths of wire.

Glancing down at one of those at his feet, Duo promptly snatches it up.

"River!"

He concentrates on thinking very loudly about his plan, and rolls away from the guy who threw him in the first place.

[river_meimei]

River's head jerks around.

One wide-eyed glance rakes past Duo, and then she spins to kick someone else in the head (he ducks, but not fast enough) and throws herself into a roll.

[maxwellsdemon02]

Elbowing someone else out of the way, Duo grabs one end of the wire and tosses the roll to River in a fast underhand. "Hup!"

[river_meimei]

River snags it out of the air without looking. (She's not showing off. She doesn't have the attention to spare for that at the moment. She's just purely focused, on the fight and her targets and the need to not let go and kill them.)

The wire is coated with rubber insulation -- useful, since neither of them has anything resembling gloves. River slips an arm through the coil for extra security and grabs tight.

There's a cluster of criminals running towards them -- or, more likely, towards the exit beyond. River sprints forward, one two three four five six steps, and drops fast to crouch on one knee.

[maxwellsdemon02]

They don't drop in perfect unison, but it's close to take out four runners at knee level. Duo whips out a leg to catch the fifth as he tries to go around. Then he shoves a knee in the guy's back and zip ties his wrists together.

"Told you. Should have surrendered."

[river_meimei]

River stays frozen for an instant, poised on the cusp of motion, staring intently over her shoulder at the doorway.

(They didn't get to everyone. There are stragglers in that hallway, stragglers slipping out the other door even now--)

She sucks in a tight breath, fingers clenching for an instant on the wire, and lets go.

In a smooth motion she's on her feet, pulling out her own handful of zip ties.

[maxwellsdemon02]

It takes a little while to further subdue and tie up more than ten people, but Duo is an expert, and River is a quick learner if nothing else. They glance at each other before breaking for the door on the far side of the room. They may be leaving unfriendlies behind them, but they would have already been shot at if there was much of a threat.

[river_meimei]

Also, any direction involves the risk of unfriendlies at their back. So they might as well.

This hallway has more in the way of discreet crates and storage shelves, but other than that is about the same as the last one.

[maxwellsdemon02]

They're sprinting around a corner when Duo suddenly puts the brakes on, dodging around a smashed crate. Seems whoever is ahead of them developed a few brains and is trying to make pursuit more difficult. They must be right behind a kitchen of one of the many restaurants, considering there are bok choy littering the floor.

Still no sign of resistance.

[river_meimei]

One bonus of all the stuff scattered about, at least, is that River can take the opportunity to scoop up a few items on the run.

There's nothing too useful -- this is a casino storage area, not an armory -- but hey, everything can be put to use. The main limiting factor is her pocket space. (This is a disadvantage to not wearing her duster.)

Around another corner, and another, and then the hallway abruptly dead-ends into a door.

Presumably the resistance is on the other side, since there's still no sign of them in here.

[maxwellsdemon02]

There was another door a little ways back- should they turn back, or keep going? Hang on, that's yelling from inside. Never mind. Busting through the door yields them another maintenance bay, this one apparently for small shuttlecraft. It also doubles as a loading dock for incoming shipments. Duo wonders briefly if this is how they all got in, or if they're just playing follow-the-leader to escape.

He doesn't have much time for pondering though, considering that a woman in a white evening dress is firing a huge pistol at him, and she's really quite a good shot.

"DUCK."

Duo gains a hole in his suit, but thankfully not in his skin. He dives for cover behind a forklift.

[river_meimei]

River hits the deck an instant before Duo -- being psychic is very handy sometimes -- but doesn't manage quite as good cover. Her roll takes her behind a single crate, big enough to hide her only while she's crouching.

"Her," she says sharply, though Duo may or may not be able to hear over the noise everybody else is making. "Got bondsmen."

She leans out just far enough for an instant's glimpse, retreats, and twists into a different crouch that allows her to snap one arm up long enough to throw one of the objects she scooped up on the hallway.

There is now a leafy green bok choy hurtling straight for the white-gowned lady's head. Think fast, madam!

[maxwellsdemon02]

Duo spares River a dubious look. Seriously?

But something flying at your head is something flying at your head. And the woman ducks back to avoid the flying vegetable before she notices exactly what it is.

This gives Duo the chance to lay down some covering fire.

[river_meimei]

River doesn't bother to give Duo a smug look in return, but there might be the ghost of one on her face for a second anyway. Worked, didn't it?

Also, ooh, somebody dropped a gun. River takes the chance to dart out and grab it.

Back behind the crate, she ejects the clip long enough to check how full it is -- three-quarters or so, fortunately -- and slap it back into place. Now random scavenged projectiles aren't her only distance weapon.

[maxwellsdemon02]

With two guns against them, and not wanting to stick around anyway, the smugglers make a slow retreat towards the air lock.

Duo assumes they must have a shuttle on the other side, and the bay must be pressurized, because none of them are wearing suits.

"Let 'em go!" he says to River, finally catching up to her. "Take who we can here, then we'll get them in the shuttle. They can't do a cold-take off that fast."

[river_meimei]

"No alarm clock," River says, which (to judge by the intent look on her face) is probably comprehension. "Okay."

The majority of the group have made it to the air lock by now, but not all. There's a good handful of wounded (and occasionally unconscious) people scattered around the floor, and a few more limping towards the shuttle more slowly than the rest. This isn't a group that necessarily helps each other, it seems -- not all that surprising, since it's really the remnants of three or four mistrustful groups.

Wounded does not necessarily mean unable to fire. All the same, it's time to judiciously begin the process of restraining them with more zip ties.

Even if it slows down their pursuit of the others, it's better than leaving wounded, angry, and armed enemies at their backs.

[maxwellsdemon02]

After wrestling a few more guns out of the hands of angry men and women, Duo and River advance to the (now open) airlock doors. Once again, they have to be wary of any resistance.

"Wasn't that last guy wearing a snake around his neck at the meeting?" Duo says to her in an undertone. "So, where'd it go?"

[river_meimei]

River tosses him a quick grin. "It's warm between the rooms. He's very happy."

[maxwellsdemon02]

Duo's eyes get wide. "Oh shit, the vents?"

He looks torn for a moment, before his face sets into an expression that clearly states 'Not My Problem'. Snakes are illegal to import without specific licenses, along with many other small animals, for that exact reason: they get into the works. But he has bigger fish to fry, and at least snakes don't chew on wires.

"Come on." The first set of doors is open, and they move through, into the small, airtight room. Just as Duo palms the controls to open the other door, there's motion behind them. Someone is opening the door to the maintenance bay.