Game of Betrayers: Squad Jam 3

The Secret of the Arfa-Sys

Sinon didn't actually believe Kotone's accusations. Yes, it is believable -- if she discounted that thought, that would be ignorance on her end, considering what just happened a week ago and the previous winter. But she doubted the legitimacy of the  message even when the suspect, the woman in the black leotard and red eyes, survived a shot of the anti-tank PTRD-41 rifle with her lightsword.

But when the woman stepped down to the central courtyard, took aim with the SPB Rapier MK2, and with extreme precision, shot Jaymes in his left knee from 1200 yards away -- maybe even more -- Sinon's jaw slacked. While a machine gun might possess the power to send a bullet that far, that's far beyond the effective range of any machine gun in GGO.

Her eyes remained on the woman as she entered the ship's interior from the central courtyard to regroup with Team Betrayers. Because of this, she didn't notice the movements of the three teams entering the There Is Still Time.

With T-S still where they are,  ZEMAL eliminating DEVA, then eliminating themselves with a friendly-fire craze after they defeated Tomtom, only LPFM, SHINC, and MMTM enters the cruise ship. The latter team enters first, down to four members after their sniper sacrificed himself to the water to hold David back and give his comrades a chance to enter the boat.

Following them is SHINC, also down to four members after losing the PTRD-41 and its operator to the water.

Llenn made it first for LPFM; after clearing the sizable, burned out hole, she turned back. Right behind her is Fukaziroh, her dual MGL-140s hefted up on her shoulders and chanting something. Kureha sprints right behind her. Given the Crimson Princess' speed, she could have passed Fuka long ago, but her concern for the limping captain of Crimson Squad holds her back. Brave or foolish, Jaymes stays on his feet, undeterred by his temporary injury. But it keeps him from moving as fast as he should, and it doesn't look like either he or M will beat the fast-moving seawater.

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Kureha

"You can do it, M and Jaymes!"

"What, no words of encouragement for me? I feel so left out, I'm gonna sulk now."

"You got plenty of time, Fuka! I'm worried about Jaymes and M!"

Right beside Kureha, Fukaziroh turns around to look at the limping Jaymes and the encumbered M. "Good point... Hey, guys, do you want me to end it all for you? I can shoot you. It's cooler to get blown up than to drown don't you think?"

"Fuka!" both Kureha in her face and Llenn in the comms shout. The grenadier gawks and gets defensive.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood with a joke. I'm not gonna shoot him. We're almost there, Kureha! Ei-ho! Ei-ho!"

"Riiiiight." Kureha takes another glance towards Jaymes, who continues to move despite the leg injury. It happened out of nowhere. When M noticed the armored gunman was moving away, he gave the call to move towards the ship. Right before Jaymes could move, she heard him scream through the comms and the echo in the air. Someone shot him from the ship, but it wasn't the armored man.

As for why they targeted his leg rather than going for the kill, that's a mystery for later.

Kureha and Fukaziroh make it to Llenn's position just outside the ship a couple of seconds later. The partially sunk hole was created by burning through the internal and external layers of thick steel. Llenn cleared the area of enemies, but Kureha lifted her Draque L Shamai and did another sweep of the LED lit hole. Once she reconfirmed no one was around, she lowers her SMG and turns to the smaller ladies, then to the two men. "Jaymes, M, hurry up!"

"Go in!"

"But--"

"There's no point if we all drown!" M's right, there's no point to the girls drowning while waiting on the men that's between 250 and 300 yards away from the ship. Though he isn't saying anything, she can tell Jaymes wouldn't want them to go out like that either. He'd say that it goes against the squad's creed, but in truth, the gamer in him won't allow Llenn, Fuka, and Kureha to fall waiting on the helpless men.