Osprey was tired of war, of orders, of himself.
His mind felt more machine than man. Of course he'd be distracted by Aspera;to feel was sin,but to feel was human.
I'm just so tired, he thought,but I must stand by him.He has no one else—and I am his last piece of humanity.
As Osprey monologues he digs deep within himself finding the determination he needs to get out of this situation.
Aspera interrupts as she sees how conflicted Osprey is. As she stands up to Mori she asks "Why are you here?"
Mori simply gestures towards cutting his neck with his thumb implying "to kill you."
Osprey responds. "President sent him, he caught wind that Mr. N went behind his back. Likely "Ghost" told him.
Aspera trembles in fear. "Elite Guard Rank 4 for the President "Ghost"?" or-
As Osprey gets annoyed "YES obviously." Tsk this is a problem how can i get out of here. Even if I do there's a chance Ghost is lurking somewhere I'm not confident with my chances.
As Aspera sees Osprey worried she assumes he needs to buy time so she butts in asking telling Mori "Hey emo anime looking kid!"
Mori confused, 'Im 32 years old....'
Zinn held in his laughter knowing Mori's chestnut haircut made him look like a cliche anime villian.
Aspera locks eye contact with him.
"Mr. President sent you to kill us? Why?" She pleads "We follow his every order regardless of belonging to Mr. N's faction. Even though we supply them with men, weapons, gear? We give them 50% of our funding? And they thank us by calling us terrorists on live TV?" Even though they are working with those terrorists behind the scenes? Now your hunting us down to kill us after everything—"
Mori snaps "Don't play dumb. Mr. N knew what he was doing the moment he stole Liam from Greenland. Hes trying to get the up on the President so he has an advantage once he triggers a Presidency Battle."
Aspera: "Presidency battle…"
The Presidency Battle is a sanctioned event held every four-eight years, where the President and the Front-runner for the election, each select ten fighters to represent them.
These two teams clash in a series of one-on-one battles. The leader of the winning side becomes the President.
Used only in extreme cases, it's a brutal, decisive path to power where victory means rule, and defeat means erasure.
Aspera bites her fingernails 'And in this case Mr. President is scared that Mr. N, the front runner, has been recruiting combatants behind his back, hence why stealing the human weapon Liam from Greenland territory without permission is seen as treason.'
Mori thinks 'Something's wrong here, they're not going to surrender, I have to fight here, I thought I had them but Zinn ruined it.'
Mori makes a hand signal signaling Zinn to get out of this area of effect and rendezvous 900m south down the street.
Zinn sweats as he apologizes stating " Wait you're going to use the god stick again??? I heard the destruction and thought we were done?"
As Osprey taps on his watch, he calls for backup, realizing now is the only chance he has to get away. Osprey thinks.
'There was an error, Mori's weapon is AOE, area of effect damage and destruction.
He wouldn't call his allies to come help him, meaning that fellow "Zinn" arrived on his own accord. It's likely all these guys are REZOS (factionless hired killers) so they don't have any professional coordination or tactics between each other. So him being here wasn't a part of Mori's plan..
Osprey quickly comes to the realization For Mori to defeat us he would have to use an AOE ability which would also damage his teammate and I assume that wouldn't sit well with the rest of the team, that means-
As Mori thinks for himself we see a side by side of both him and Osprey.
Mori:"This means I have no choice here"
Osprey:"This means he has no choice here"
THey both think at the same time: "The attack wouldn't be lethal enough."
Osprey: "His teammate fucked it up for him"
Mori: "My "teammate" fucked it up for me"
Mori thinks decisively as a sniper Osprey is far far faster than I am, He's elite and his sniping depends heavily on running repositioning as quick as possible. He's fast as FUCK i cannot catch him... unless.... lol.
As Osprey grabs Aspera he smashes through the window as he sprints at full speed.
Mori scoffs, did you bring the car Zinn?
Zinn: "Yeah I got you-"
Mori smiles. "Okay bet-"
As they run left to the street Mori's smile turns into a frown "Wait Osprey's vision is too good to let-"
"Fuck."
As they hear a huge explosion outside Osprey hit the gas tank of the car as it blows up.
Coughs*
Zinn: "Oh.... damn he really does have a good bow arm."
As the towering unit of muscle cuts through the wind for ten minutes straight, he runs at full speed. Osprey had covered over eight kilometers.
The 6'5" unit sprinted with the five-foot Aspera effortlessly cradled in his arms, as if she weighed nothing. His feet drove through the mud, splashing against the Riverlands as he moves like a storm given form.
She trembles in pain, in fear, in insecurity, shaking at the thought that everyone was right about her, right about her character.
In a world where the strong rule, her intellect felt like it was nothing. She was a ranged fighter, not enough on the job experience, all these excuses came crashing down on her. Why did she choose this line of work? Does she even deserve her title as #10? Why… just why—
Osprey cuts off her train of thought as if he was reading her mind. "You're still young, this has nothing to do with your gender. Or your combat prowess"
As Aspera hesitates she tries to speak.
"Now is not the time to show weakness Aspera, I cannot comfort you. You simply have to trust me here." Osprey mumbles
Osprey flicked his wrist and activated his watch. The air shimmered as hard light projections flickered to life around him weapons, armor, tools of war. He selects all the equipment he needs asking "Tell me what you think this is. Why were being attacked"
Aspera takes a deep breath as she calms down saying
"I-its likely the President sent a group of Factionless fighters to assassinate or attack Mr. N the moment our new human weapon Liam left. Meaning that there's people and students in danger. Students who lives are ours to protect. That's our job.
As Osprey gets triggered he says "So you know what this means. With the election coming up."
As Aspera's eyes focus, anger begins to boil in her stomach. "They think they can make fun of us like this? I'll make sure they regret it."
Osprey pulls his cloak tight around his shoulders as he holds the door open for Aspera. She gives him a nod before stepping onto the stairway, heading back up to the top of the wall to keep watch.
She sees the look on Ospreys face not the look of pure rage but the look of sadness washing over him.
As Osprey flashes back to all the time he spent with Mori he sees himself, Mori, Mr. N and 5 others as teenagers celebrating a great event.
Aspera yells from the top of the wall "Don't die."
Osprey looks back at Aspera as he smiles his eyes change as he hyperfocuses
We see a vision of him and Mr. N as they both say.
'He who trusts the ceaseless wheel will never die.'