plot: home 2011 *backdated to 2/26*

[lt_blade]

Five days..

Five days since they woke up. Five days since they started on this mission to save their realm (again). They should have woken up by now: five days into this and Sonya had to almost daily shove back the worry that maybe they were going to be stuck here-no, it wasn't for her, it was for Lipton. He shouldn't have been here, this wasn't his fight, and most of all, he had a wife and kid back on the island. Least with her and Scorpion, they didn't have anyone back there waiting for them, especially in way of kids.

Their time spent traveling wasn't long, not by comparison, but it was by no means easy. Physically, because every so often they would run into a band of mutant or centaur warriors, and mentally because nearly everywhere there were remains of people having had their souls already taken. Sonya was only grateful that they hadn't lost anymore people. Indeed, just before they left for the journey, they'd actually..according to her story..gained two more warriors: Kitana and her friend Jade, both 'former' assassins for Shao Kahn. Liu Kang and Nightwolf were willing to give her a chance, but Sonya couldn't bring herself to really let her in so easy. It was true that the damn video game booklet said that Kitana was now on their side-but how could much could she really put her faith in that book, especially when Kitana herself wasn't too keen on giving details as to 'why', only asking that they trust them. It was only because they needed the 'manpower', and out of respect for Nightwolf and Lui Kang that Sonya kept her mouth shut, but she wordlessly kept an eye on the two women.

It was evening on that fifth day when they finally reached the city, the fortress of Shao Kahn jutting against the dark purple sky.  For once, they didn't stop to set up camp as evening set, as Kitana had told thm that the security around here would be extremely tight. If they were to find shelter anywhere it would have to be within the city. Centaurs were the hardest to defeat, but they were also naturally claustrophobic, and so a building would offer some protection.

Sonya was past caring about physical comfort. Several days of on and off fighting and her body was already bearing bruises and scrapes. Nearly all of them were bruised up, and that wasn't counting the exhaustion that was threatening them.  She had to put faith in that their endurance could carry them through all of this-for every one's sake.

Comments

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

The plan sounded exactly the same at this point. It was a good sign. By not reminded Sonya or telling the others he knew how this turned out previously, Scorpion believed that he was helping to ensure victory for the side he was currently supporting. The thought of letting this knowledge slip to Lipton to boost his spirits did not even occur to him in his inhuman form.

Scorpion simply stood and readied himself. He looked forward to more fighting. If he could not avenge himself on the correct people, he could at least let someone feel his fury.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

Sonya managed to hide the disappointment when they reached the city. As dark as it was, the earthquake and merger had not only caused the destruction of the city (which was to be expected), but also resulted in several fires going every few yards or so. The shadows created would help them blend in, but the light they gave off still put them at risk.

Jax motioned for them all to get some cover, just in time for a patrol of centaurians to pass by them, the sounds of their hooves a dead give away. For herself, Sonya hugged a nearby wall around a corner, using her clothing and cap to blend in. If they were going to find shelter, it'd have to be fast.

Maybe it was a change in the wind, or maybe a straggler, but Sonya just barely had time to react as she quickly dove herself and Jax onto the ground and just barely missing a blast of metal shooting in their direction. Looking behind her, Sonya quickly got to her feet just as Sub-Zero froze the mutant who attacked them.

The ice ninja shouted at them to watch out, just as the commotion sent a squad of centaur warriors came charging at them.

"Suppressing fire! Try to stay together!" Jax shouted, getting his rifle ready. The centuars heads and necks seemed to be their weakest part, and suppressing fire was less 'revealing' than saying 'aim for their heads'.

Somewhere in Sonya's head, she shut down. As she fought and dodged the enemy, the physical discomfort became only a passing thought, while the drive to fight started feeding into the adrenaline that seemed to be a part of her by now.

One of the centaurs grabbed at her arms and tried to shove her into a brick wall. Sonya responded by kicking up against the brick, flipping herself up and twinsting so she was nearly on the creature's back, her sleeves tearing from the force of his grip on her. Before the centaur could react, Sonya cut into his neck with her knife, sliding to the ground as the beast bleed to death.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Even after his year in the ITF, taking cover under actual fire had caused Lipton to slip back into old patterns of reaching for his helmet and having calls for Easy on the tip of his tongue. But now, five days into this war over a world that wasn't his own, he'd acclimatized to fighting with ninjas and all the rest.

He pressed his back into the wall, down a ways from Sonya and using the greater shadow to limited advantage in hiding his bigger frame, but it benefited him in being out of the range of the metal blast. He'd had enough shrapnel lodged into him for one lifetime, that was sure.

When their opponents started to charge, Lipton moved up to lean against to the corner with his rifle up, near to Jax, sighting and shooting for their heads. He'd seen enough horses put out of their misery that way to feel it was somewhat appropriate, even if he hadn't seen enough boys shot through the forehead to know how fragile the skull could be to a bullet.

He dropped one, and in its flailing fall another tripped, prompting Lipton to reaim and finish off the one that was down.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Scorpion went into action immediately. One centaur made the mistake of trying to gallop past him. A line shot out and the barbed blade embedded itself into the creature's neck. The centaur screamed out, and Scorpion changed direction slightly and pulled. It was difficult to discern the chunk of torn flesh from the blood erupting from the severed artery.

A second centaur had thought he had an advantage by charging Scorpion from behind, but was dismayed to find it's strike sailing through thin air. Scorpion shot out of thin air and landed a flying kick to the beast's face. Before it could recover, the fighter unleashed a series of blows that the centaur was unable to recover from. As it fell, a dropped heel to it's skull caused it to lose consciousness before it even hit the ground.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

In the continuing chaos of the fight, it was almost inevitable that the group would get split up.

Along with Lipton, Sub-zero was spent most of his time trying to take out the centaurs before they could sneak charge at anyone. The outside heat was affecting him more than the others, and while he was able to freeze some of the centaur warriors on occasion, he was compelled to pull back or risk exhausting himself further. He found it easier to freeze the ground before him to make them stumble before delivering a killing blow.

"Jax, behind you!" Sonya called out, just as a centaur warrior was about to pummel him with his forelegs. He didn't get the chance to, as her warning was enough for Jax to turn around and deliver a punch strong enough send the creature off his feet, a second one crushing his neck.

One of the other centaurs caught her warning as well and charged over, grabbing her by the back of her jacket before she could react and swinging her into the window of an 'abandoned' shop before she could react. Sonya just had time to yell out as she crashed through the window and onto some shelves. It was only luck and training that she was able to fall in a way that she was still conscious when she crashed, though the attack left her momentarily stunned and her back stung as some shards of glass managed to tear through the back of her clothing. Struggling to pick herself up, Sonya heard before she saw the centaur about to charge into the shop, supposedly to finish the job, and she only had a few moments to come up with a plan.

Amongst some of the debris where she'd fallen, Sonya carefully picked up a screw and held it between her fingers, hoping that the creature couldn't see it against the darkness.

The centaur charged inside, taking in the woman's bluff in her attempted to 'look' defeated. Grabbing her by her jacket, Sonya forced herself to remain still as he lifted her up to his eye level, and holding his fist back to deliver a killing blow. But before he could, Sonya quickly threw her own fist and shoved the screw right through one of his eyes, causing the beast to scream out in pain and let her go, instead trying to find and pull it from his eyes. Unfortunately, the blood and eye fluid pouring from the wound made the thin object even trickier for him to pull out.

Landing on her feet, Sonya delivered a high kick right to the creature's mid section, followed with an upper cut and the sound of a loud crack as the force of the blow broke the creature's neck.

Not giving herself a chance to relax, Sonya ignored the pain in her back as she ran out to rejoin the others, picking up her knife and rifle from where they'd fallen.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Lipton was used to watching the field, watching the boys' backs, keeping an eye on the enemy and ready to spring into action if one of the guys got hit, yelling for a medic and doing whatever he could to help Doc Roe or Spina get the kid to a medic. As much of a loner as he'd been before the war, Lipton had always kept a hellova eye on his family, and that had easily transfered over to his company. Here, it was no different, even if the individuals changed, the tendencies were the same.

Still, he was the one at the definate disadvantage in these parts. Aside from lacking the top-notch hand-to-hand skills, the rest of the fighters had something of a home-field advantage, what with Scorpion's undead ninja guise, Sub-Zero's freezing ability, Jax's part-cyborg arm, and Sonya's bands.

Even so, his watching eyes had been elsewhere when Sonya was tossed, his head only snapping around to the crash of shattered glass.

"Sonya!" He leapt from around his cover and sprinted over to the window, rifle up to get a few shots off on the way, both to clear a path and keep any oppertunistic centuars from getting ideas. Over the spiked remainder of the window he could see the creature lift a prone Sonya, but Lipton couldn't get a clear shot. He kicked away the spiked remainder of the window, and had just gotten a foot on the sill as she drove something into his eye and clawed her way free.

"Need a hand?" He said, almost ironically, despite the mess of battle around them, and after glancing over his shoulder to make sure there was no imminent charge, he offered her his hand.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Scorpion took a moment to survey the field. He had two goals. He had to assist both Sub-Zero and Sonya. Sub-Zero had fallen back near the other Earthrealm warriors, while a centaur had began attacking Sonya.

He materialized inside the shop just as the door began to be kicked in. The centaur kicking int he door was some kind of officer since he was shouting out commands as his forelegs crashed in the door. Scorpion was ready.

He had pulled off his mask and revealed that his human form was merely an illusion. There was a flaming skull where his head should have been, and as the centaur officer burst in, Scorpion breathed hellfire on him. The hellfire consumed the officer's entire body. It screamed as it fell to all four knees, as more than just flesh burned.

Scorpion simply replaced his mask. He was satisfied that the screaming corpse was now blocking the doorway. Turning, he saw that Sonya had successfully repelled her opponent and that Lipton was offering her aid.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

Sonya had to give it to Shao Kahn, the bastard knew how to train his armies: divide and conquer after all.

It was only a few minutes since she'd been split up from the guy, but that didn't mean she wasn't relieved to see him alive. She also wasn't surprised to see Scorpion appear in the middle of the room, after all, it wasn't like her own entrance was a quiet one, and it was only sheer luck and timing that she'd survived the enoounter.

She almost accepted the offered hand when another centaur-there must've been a back entrance to the shop-crashed his way through the shop. Sonya figured he would've heard his comrade's screams even over the dinn of the battle and went in for reinforcements.

If that wasn't a 'oh shit' sort of moment (she saw that she and her friends could easily be surrounded in the building), the sight of Scorpion's 'eyes' glowing with fire definitely was. His 'aim' was focused and accurate, but damn if the centaur wasn't a big target and the fire didn't spread.

It was almost sad how used she was becoming to the smell of burning and rot, because she was more concerned about getting out of the area rather then the sight of the centaur turned extra crispy.

Quickly, she accepted his hand and climbed out of the window, immediately heading towards some sort of cover, her mind working on a plan. As high as her adrenaline was up, they couldn't keep fighting like this-there could've been other enemy combatants in the area and they were only a small group.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Well, that flame busines wasn't something you saw everyday, but it just underlined Lipton's earlier thought that he was definately out of his league around here. That, and gave him some eerie flashes of memory of D-Day and the C-47s engulfed with flames and containing the other stick barrelling towards the ground. He hadn't seen anyone burn to death up close, but he'd imagined it against his will plenty - and here it was in reality, with just a few extra hooves and hellfire. It wasn't a sight he cared to look on twice.

He ducked down and followed Sonya to cover, rifle up and ready, knowing Scorpion could damn well find his own way. That whole skull debacle was something he didn't want to currently consider.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

As a centaur charged towards Lipton and Sonya, Scorpion jumped off the roof of the building and kicked it over. When Scorpion was on the battlefield, one had to be ready for an attack to come from anywhere. This centaur would pay for that lesson with its life.

Scorpion rolled and was quickly began stamping its head to the ground repeatedly with his feet. The thing flailed, trying to reach him with its arms, or get up, but Scorpion afforded it no opportunity. Blood began to splay across the ground.

Before he could finish it off for good, though, others were already coming. He stepped away from the centaur that would simply bleed to death and shot forth a line and caught another centaur in the chest.

"Come here!"

Scorpion pulled the rope towards him.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

As much as she knew that Scorpion could take care of himself, even hellspawns could be defeated-and even if he wasn't strictly 'on their side', he was still an alley and an important one at that.

Besides, they couldn't just remain here. Sonya heard before she saw a group of tarkaten warriors and joined Lipton in taking a few down with her arm bands, wanting to save ammon.

An idea wasforming in her head as the creatures were killed, and she quickly started giving the rest of her ammo to Lipton, before tearing off bits of fabric from her shirt and stuffing them in her ears, motioning for Lipton to do the same. What she had in mind was crazy at best, suicidal at worst-but then what assignment in the army wasnt?

Sonya pressed a button on her comm link. "Jax! Round up Liu and the others." To hell with rank. "Get the way for them clear!"

These creatures were preditors, she thought to herself. Preditors used to moving about it very little light.

She turned to Lipton, pulling a stun grenade from her webbing. "Lip, in five seconds, cover your eyes. As soon as the flash fades, we make a run for it towards the streets."

Sonya released the pin towards the army of centaurs coming at them from the street before quickly shielding her eyes with her forearm. The sounds of centaurs yelling out in frustration and pain following the grenades effects alerted her to the fact that-atleast part of-her plan had worked. Now came for the hard part.

"Let's move!." She grabbed Lipton's arm and shoot out from the alleyway into the streets, and through the centaur army, using her rifle as a melee weapon against any possible attacks.

However, it seemed that the beasts could teleport and vanished as soon as the grenade went off, leaving the area free for them as they ran out. Even when they reappeared, the disorientation from the weapon meant that she and Lip could get away if they ran fast enough.

And it was amazing how fast one could run knowing there was a hit squad after them.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Lipton accepted the ammo - gladly, as his own was getting low - but curiously, as it meant she wouldn't have much left herself, and watched as she made earplugs for herself. More curious then ever, Lipton didn't hesitate to do similarly when she gestured for him to do so, and listened to the subdued sound of her communication as he sighted over the barrel of his rifle as she called to Jax. It wasn't the usual chain of command, but he didn't give it a second thought given the current circumstances. He took down two tarkaten warriers straying towards them, the sound muffled.

"Yessir," He nodded, doing a final sweep then ducking obediently down and squeezing his eyes shut as his internal count dropped to zero. The crack of the grenade and the shouts of the centuars prompted Lipton into throwing himself to his feet, grasping Sonya's forarm back as they leapt out into the street, careful not to sleep on the blood and gore that resulted from their diverse and varied form of warfare, but Scorpion's latest kills in particular.

Releasing Sonya, he slapped where his knife was tucked with his left hand, relived he still had it with him and hadn't lost in along the way. He steadied his grip on his rifle as he ran, well aware of the dangers of a misfire, and tried to look around and find the others without slowing his pace, hoping they too had made it out.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Scorpion was in the midst of battle and didn't hear the plan. He was busy inflicting pain on the enemy. He at least saw Sonya throw the grenade and had a moment to brace himself. As a creature of the Netherrealm, Scorpion was not fond of the bright light either. But, he was at least able to recover faster than the enemies around him. With one more flash of flame, he was suddenly by Sonya and Lipton's side as they ran for it.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

Sonya was actually counting on Scorpion to be able to teleport, and her reasoning for not telling him was because he was too far away-and she sure as hell wasn't going to shout it so that the enemy could hear her.

She continued to run, thinking over a place to hide. According the map (roughly of course, as the merger changed the landscape) and the area, Sonya figured a safe place to be would be one of the vacated apartment buildings above the shops. It would provide shelter and she didn't think the extermination squads would look into a building they already cleared.

She nearly ran into Jax as he came across a corner, skidding to a stop just before she collided with him. Noting that he was alone, Sonya accessed that he was successful in getting them close enough to Kahn's fortress.

That didn't stop the fact that there was an army out for them.

For his own part, Jax moved the others aside and faced the army, addressing them without turning his head.

"Brace yourselves-Blade, hit the switch." Jax then quickly struck the ground with a metal fist, the force of the blow so strong that it actually made a small earth quake in the direction of the invaders. Combined with the speed of their chase and the already rough terrain, the force of his 'attack' was enough to send most of the warriors to their feet and trip the others who tried to stay steady.

Sonya, meanwhile, just barely caught on to what he was getting at and quickly knelt onto the ground, bracing herself for the tremor. When Jax mentioned the switch, she flipped an 'option' on one of her wrist bands and shot out another set of rings at the centaur and tarkaten warriors. It was just as well that she was already on one knee, as the recoil was a lot more powerful with this one and she nearly fell over.

The effect was different. Normally the power rings weren't powerful enough to take on centaur warriors, but whatever Sonya did-they didn't just hit them full on but surrounded the lot of them in a giant sphere (Sonya would've theorized it was because they were grouped close together). The Outworlders only had a moment to struggle before the sphere collapsed within itself-and reduced its 'captives' to piles of bone and blood.

Jax didn't leave her any time to catch her breath, but grabbed her shoulder and helped her up.

"Come on, there will be more on the way if we don't find shelter soon."

With that, he lead the group over to an abandoned building, the doorway to it leading to a darkened stairwell and what Sonya could only assume was an apartment.

Sonya just had a few moments to catch her breath, when she had the urge (or paranoid instincts) to look over her shoulder. Such instincts usually saved her life, but when she gave into the urge, she didn't see any signs of the enemy.

A frown crossed her features. She was usually good about these things, but maybe the invasion just had her on high alert.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

As ambiguous as Scorpion was these days, it was still a hell of a relief to see him appear at their side. As they came to a panting stop, Lipton gave the ninja a quick nod - he may understand that Scorption just had business on the mind, but old human standards of intereaction were hard to quell intirely.

He turned back to Jax, waiting for orders, and promptly ducked down when the call came, hand braced on the ground and knees bent into a crouch. Even then with all the magic - it was only fair to call it that, at this point - around here, he didn't expect the impact to be quite that severe, and one of his knees dropped to the ground as he was thrown off balance. He loooked up just in time to see the awful sight of the centuars destruction - he'd never seen anything like it, and even numbed as he was to death and gore, it was still a horrifying sight. He pushed himself to his feet, checking his rifle as Jax and Sonya got to theirs, and moving into the stairway after them when they led the way.

"Nice moves." He commented briefly to Sonya, sure to keep quiet in case the apartment wasn't so abandoned after all.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Lipton's gesture caught Scorpion's eye. He thought it was good that Lipton had shown him a sign of respect, but did not think much else of it.

He watched the Earthrealm technology with interest. This was a powerful weapon, but he had seen it before. Things were going very close to plan, but a number of small details that were different. These differences gave Scorpion reason to not get complacent that their fight was already won. Shao Khan could still prevail in this timeline. He thought it had been wise to not coach the Earthrealm warriors. False confidence or trusting wrong details could end up in the loss of Earthrealm. He did not particularly care about the fate of Earthrealm except for the fact that he needed to keep his vows to Sonya and Sub-Zero.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

Sonya remained outside, looking around and unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. The adrenaline was still sharp in her system, so much so it gave her the strong urge to spit out the taste of it, but it only seemed to linger at the moment, rather than settling as it should have.

Lipton's compliment made her check her bracelets, frowning a little at the low power charge-it would take them a while to recharge from that sort of blast.

"Tax payer dollars at work," she replied. "And being owed favors from tech savvy ninjas helps."

The outline of a man slowly appeared in the distance, two blocks from where the group stood, near a sky scraper. Against the darkened sky, a red glow emanated from where his left eye should've been.

Sonya's jaw near hit the pavement as she recognized the man, the same one who was her 'fellow prisoner' for all those weeks in Outworld, the same one who was responsible for the deaths of so many of her men. It took her a moment to let a few more details sneak in: one, he didn't look to be bearing any signs of injury in spite of being out in the open and the merger five days in, two: he simply didn't 'look' like he'd been fighting for days on end.

It was a statement of how close he was to her, because Sonya suddenly realized that Jax had his hand on her shoulder.

"Sonya," It was hard to tell if he was warning her or being concerned. "I know what you're thinking, but it's not possible to hunt him down at the moment. You're a mess and we can't loose"

If it wasn't for the fact that shouting would alert anyone to their surrounded, Sonya felt she would've verbally lashed at him regardless of rank. it was true what he said: days of fighting and sustaining injuries were taking their toll on her and she was certain that at any moment the soreness and pain would take over, but she had lost too many chances at taking her enemy out. She could recover when she's made sure the guy was dead.

"Briggs," She tried to regain a hold of herself. "I understand your concern and why, but if you think a fight with Kano is personal, it's not." Not completely. "This is the same guy I was told to hunt down, I wasn't allowed to do my job at the tournament, and in Outworld it was all survivial. Now, when we find out that the fucker turned on his own realm to save his skin and you won't let me take him out because of my own safety. Come on, you should know by now what I'm capable of."

Jax frowned, knowing indeed what she was capable of, even when wounded. It was true that Sonya was a skilled warrior and had a lot of endurance, but she was a mess and Kano looked like he'd had a long rest. But he also couldn't deny that Sonya earned a shot at him.

"This will be off the record." He said after a moment, making sure his rifle still had some rounds in it. "We're going with you."

Sonya shook her head. "This is my fight, what I was supposed to do on Shang's island. I know I can't expect a fair fight from him, but it's something I have to do."

He shook his head. "You may fight him, but if anything happens," They couldn't deny the possibility. "I'm taking him out myself."

She gave a short nod before hurrying after her quarry, Jax and the others following her. When she finally got to the sky scraper, Sonya motioned for the others to stay behind, looking over at Lipton a moment-and silently asking him to trust her on this- before she stepped inside the building.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Lipton kept his eyes on the man in the distance as Sonya and Jax debated the issue. He thought he knew who the man was, even if he couldn't remember the name at the moment, but even if he didn't know some of the reasons why he would have known the man was trouble. Lipton couldn't see him all that well in the dark, but he caught the red gleam of an eye, some sort of metal on his face, and that he was big - mostly, he just looked mean. He sighted him with his rifle - too far, but he could give it a shot. He knew better than to do so without asking, Sonya's reaction told him this was personal even if he didn't know a bit more about it than that.

He'd just been about to get the first word off his tongue when the man moved into the safety of the tall building. He swallowed the curse that wanted to take its place, and settled for following the group towards it together when the issue was decided. He wasn't terribly fond of letting Sonya fight him - hell, she could more than hold her own, but she was pretty damn banged up and exhausted, just like the rest of them were, and his old ingrained instincts that made him want to keep women from harm (in this case, further harm), were kicking in.

But he knew people, especially people in wartime. Sonya was determined, even if it was a fight to her own death. He may not like it, but he knew better than to try to talk her out of it. It didn't mean he couldn't still have her back, he decided, and kept close until she went to head in alone. He nodded, face solemn when her eyes met his, hands tight on his rifle.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Kano. As expected.

Scorpion knew Kano was no match for the group together. His purpose was to lure Sonya out to a one-on-one battle. Her honor would demand that this be so. Scorpion expected her to pursue Kano at any cost. Scorpion thought that Jax's comments were misguided at best. Sonya understood the needs of honor and vengeance much better than her ally. Scorpion saw Lipton's hesitation and turned to speak to him. If anyone understood Sonya's intent, it was Scorpion.

"This is a matter of honor and vengeance, Carwood Lipton. Despite my vow to protect and fight alongside her, it is not either of our places to intervene in this fight. This is her choice, and she will either die or prevail by it."

As they continued, Scorpion moved alongside Sub-Zero and gave the young man a nod. For now, Scorpion could focus on protecting him while Sonya and Kano determined their destinies.

[lt-blade.livejournal.com]

Jax glared at the ninja but said nothing as Sonya headed up the stairs. What he said was true in a fashion, it was about the honor of the team, and he would have to be an idiot to not see that Sonya wanted revenge as well: that didn't mean he liked the idea. As for her dying, it was a risk all soldiers took, he just hoped it wouldn't be over this sort of fight.

For her own part, Sonya was for once glad that Scorpion had reverted to his hellspawn self: she wasn't sure he would've been so willing to let her go otherwise. He was still strict about honor, but even she had to admit that her current physical condition left the outcome of the match not in her favor. But it wasn't about her, not totally: this was the same man had a criminal record a mile long and then some. Even if her fiance wasn't the one killed, how often had she attended military funerals of soldiers he'd helped to kill, soldiers that were also brothers, sons, and husbands.

Sonya took a deep breath and steeled herself up as she started to rush up the stairs. Whatever physical pain she felt made no difference, she could acknowledge it after the bastard stopped breathing.

Back outside, Jax and Sub-Zero took watch. Judging from the height and lack of power around the area, both knew that it would take Sonya awhile to reach Kano, let alone come down from the fight-if she came down at all.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Lipton met Scorpion's inhuman eyes in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything. He'd learned long ago that if there was nothing productive to say, then it was better to not say anything at all. It wouldn't be helpful to point out the far greater likelihood of Sonya dying rather than prevailing, or that personal vengeance went against the good of the unit. He still remembered the brutal and wild way Guarnere had attacked those Krauts on D-Day, taking his brother's death in the war out on them and ignoring Winter's command. They'd survived, but it could've ended with them all killed.

Lipton understood why Sonya went, knew there was no stopping that kind of determination, but he didn't goddamn have to like it. He joined Jax and Sub-Zero in keeping watch, rifle at the ready and part of his mind constantly wondering after Sonya.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

Scorpion did not need to rest, at least in the way that humans rested, so he went out as well to help keep guard. He stood near Sub-Zero.

Scorpion remembered vaguely when he had been the image of Hanzo Hasashi on the island. He would engage in small talk. That was where one would discuss trivial things that did not matter, for the sole purpose of interacting. Strange. Was it better to be a specter here? He could be more focused, more powerful, and unconcerned of all things besides what mattered to him. Sub-Zero and Sonya.

Hanzo would have reacted differently to this situation. Scorpion realized this. The result may have been the same, but he would have felt more. But, Hanzo was dead. It was foolish to think of such things. It would be impossible for Hanzo to be alive during this time. But the memories and memories of having feelings were with Scorpion now. He turned his head up towards the top of the building. He determined that if Kano defeated Sonya, he would take him to the Netherrealm and make him suffer.

[(Anonymous)]

Jax resisted the urge to pace around, instead keeping his energy on watching the area. Not that the two ninjas couldn't take out any freaks themselves, but it was something to focus on.

He then caught Lipton's look of concern. Sonya may've not felt the need to explain her actions, but as her superior, he felt compelled to.

"If this were any other time, I wouldn't have allowed her to go. But Kano has escaped from nearly every high security prison, or had his men bribe or blackmail lawyers to keep him out. Her and I thought we left him in Outworld, but seeing him now-the only way he could have survived was turning his back on Earth." He let out a sigh. "As much as I hate to say it, Sonya's right: if we don't get him now, it's another chase across the globe. She's defeated Kano before, under worse circumstances, and after Outworld-if anyone deserves to get their hands on the guy, it's her."

There were times-like now-when he almost felt the need to defend the enemy from her.

[niceofyoutoask.livejournal.com]

Standing watch between two ninjas and a guy with a mechanical arm, Lipton decided tiredly, was a good way to make yourself feel inadequate. He supposed this meant that he would be the bait the next time a herd of some carnivorous demon creature came at them - but that was only his exhausted sense of humour. His beautiful wife and equally stunning daughter and unborn child were waiting for him back home, and he was determined go get back to them.

Lipton turned slightly to meet Jax's gaze, listening carefully, but his exhaustion was really starting to sink in now that they were in a bit of a lull. Nothing he couldn't handle, but he could feelhis thoughts slow down a little. "Well Sir, if I'd had a chance to personally hunt down and get Hitler, I think I would've also taken it."

He realized as he said it that he may have just given away his whole man-from-the-past-and-different-world charade, but was somewhat mollified by the fact that, firstly, Hitler seemed to be a universal-enough bad guy that he could just have been being anachronistic, and, secondly, the fact that he was from a different world and time shouldn't be that much of a mind-splitter when they were dealing with wars between worlds, magical weapons, demons, and Scorpion didn't seem to actually have a face.

[get-over-here.livejournal.com]

"It is good that you understand. And I doubt she could have been stopped."

It was at this point that Scorpion decided the man had earned some respect.

"You have done well so far, Carwood Lipton. Most humans would not have lived this long. The others have had much preparation for this."

He gave then man a nod, but then went back to scanning the perimeter for signs of activity.