As chaos ensued, the darkness thickened. No matter what the team tried, they seemed to get pushed back. There was no hope. The light was gone. This was their final battle. Their last mark as man before joining the heavens above. It was almost too surreal to fathom. Each so young. Each without heirs. It almost didn't seem fair. Why did the good always die young?

With bodies breaking, minds caving in, and defeat on the horizon, Sycom sounded the alarm. It was time to retreat and save those he could. Few would make it. Hell, he would be lucky is one or two could escape alive. Any who couldn't flee in time would surely be captured, tortured, and destroyed. And like any captain, Sycom would go down with his ship.

Ashes, probably the first to hear the call to retreat, stood his ground. He was a soldier. He couldn't abandon his friends. Although he didn't know any of them that long, he felt closer to them than he did to most people. These people were his life now. They were family.

"Volkov, Shadow, Artemis, Vex, pull out. Once they're in the clear, Sai and Vlad, you follow." His face turned, almost poster-perfect, toward Sycom. Reaching out a hand, he pulled the redhead from the mud. His face, marred with the ferocity of this battle, gazed hard into the horror before him. "Let's make these bastards pay and buy our friends time."

Sycom, with a firm nod, accepted the hand and shifted up. He knew Vex would resist leaving, but he put a stop to that. "Vex, you need to take them to your friends. You know the ones I speak of. Help the others get there. I can't lead them. You can." A heavy hand fell on her shoulders. Eyes teary and a grimace on his face, he pulled his lovely wife in for a quick embrace. "Live to fight another day," he whispered before kissing her while bullets sprayed from the enemies' guns. Much to his luck, the mantis was still alive, and kicking, and easily shielded the kissing couple from hell's rain.

"Go," he whispered before pushing her hair behind her ears. "Help them. Please," he pleaded before picking up his electric baton. "We'll join you as soon as we stop these guys and get Kanra."

---

GM Note: For those of you who would like to kill off your characters and swap them out for another, now is your chance to do so. Everyone else should retreat. Or attempt to. Definitely attempt. You won't make it far because Remy will stop you. But, you know, it's the thought that counts?

AFTER these next posts, we'll actually have our escape. Kiyo, feel free to do your thing. Allison, if you wanted to use Tehra instead of Artemis, you can kill off Artemis during this scene. Tehra can be picked up at the next location. Er, I think that covers everyone.