The referenced album title of Part 39.4 was Between II Worlds by Nero.
[s2_31.5: Part 39.5] Overkill
<22121122>
Sunday, November 22th, 2212
<10:49:38_>
<vohl square ii: short fwd_>
<race: lap 61 of 88_>
01. TUR847.1.13.329 (#13 | Leon Turner | F0-RA8/00191)
02. ARD889.0.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r3)
<timberwolf | muzzy_>
"Quake."
The wall of asphalt shot forward, following the track. What it left behind was a clean track, free from any mines or bombs. A smile appeared on Gareth's face as he loosened his tightened grip on the controls. He twitched his hands to the left, then turned the controls all the way to the right. The maneuver caused the craft to turn in a rather aggressive way. His mindset changed back to the one he had when the race began, as he attempted to make full use of the advantage given to him.
His lap time had immediately improved, as he was able to use the whole track without having to worry about mines or bombs... until the quake had passed through Leon and he was free to begin laying them down again. But the damage was already done. The combination of having his mines and bombs destroyed, and being slowed down from the quake damaging him was all it took to bring Gareth so much closer to the black and orange craft.
"Tch, damn it." Came the response of the Crinale pilot.
As he got back up to speed, he decided to refrain from placing so many of the explosives on the track, only putting as much to let Gareth catch up to a certain extent, effectively laying dormant until the final lap, where he would launch his counter-attack to ensure his victory.
For the first time since the massive amount of mines and bombs appearing, Gareth could see the craft putting them out. His hands were twisting the controls so quickly it seemed like they were snapping between only 3 directions: left, right and straight. The blindingly fast movements synced up with his craft's equally fast handling, propelling him along that much faster. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't close enough to Leon that missiles or rockets would be effective, only another quake.
The laps were flying by, there were not that many left remaining. The higher that number grew, the more tension filled the air, not just in the two warring pilots' craft, but the audience spectating. Everyone was aware that, because of a lack of actual combat between them, there would be some massive tactical strategy that was waiting to be unleashed. Of course, they were right, but they did not know that.
The final lap had come, it was almost time for the final phase of the two Crinale pilots' strategy to be carried out. As that final lap was raced, Leon allowed Gareth to close the gap between them ever so slightly, as he recalled the details of the plan once more in his mind...
"You cannot afford to lose on our home course," Lucia began, "So here's what you do: Keep ahead of him, let him think up some strategy of passing you. Then, before he puts it into action, pull your airbrakes open, let him pass, then fire a weapon into him. Pass him and keep the lead. Don't leave it too early or late, you must only do it at the final lap, near the end, at just the right moment."
"Hold up, I remember something similar..." Leon interjected.
"Exactly. Kyoko, or Tarah, I guess I should call her now," She rolled her eyes. "She did a similar tactic, I just took it and made it into an actual strategy. No-one would think to intentionally slow down, so the tactic creates a lot of confusion that takes a long time to recover from. But still, if you leave it until too late, he will definitely fire a weapon at you first. That will cause you to lose."
"Wait, what about you, then? Aren't you going to win?"
She looked down, and then away. "I can't say anymore on that matter. It's not something you need to know."
They were nearing the end, the final chicane series followed by the final longer corner was nearing, closer and closer. The time had come for that counter-attack to begin. As if mirroring the Omega Harbour race prior, Leon had slammed his airbrakes open. The heavy craft's speed dropped quite dramatically, allowing Gareth to pass him to fire the final weapon up his sleeve...
------------
Preispodnyaya, Russia.
10:51:28
A stroke of luck, skill, and teamwork had brought all 13 individuals to their destination, behind a rather heavy set of doors. Under normal circumstances, that door would be barricaded with approximately 30 high security electronic locks. Every single one of those locks were rendered useless with the effective blackout imposed by the group of people now standing close to the door. However, there was one last hurdle. Or more, two.
Two guards were standing outside the door, who looked like their sole purpose was to keep watch at all times. Looking at one another, two of the COs each brought up what looked like a pistol, close to their chest, their fingers on the trigger while they held it securely with both of their hands. After a brief nod, they moved as quickly as they could, as if they were professional combatants.
CO-09 spun out from behind the wall, aiming the pistol at the guard to the right and firing two shots in quick succession.
Just as blindingly fast, CO-12 rolled from the same wall, and in even quicker succession, fired two shots at the guard to the left.
The guards had attempted to retaliate by aiming their own assault rifles at them, but all they could manage was moving it to face them, before getting hit, which caused them to fumble with the rifle as they were rotating it. Had it not been for the strap around their bodies, the next thing they would have done would be to send the guns flying as they lost their grip along with their consciousness, but because of said straps, all the action managed to do was to make the guns soar in the air for about half a metre, then swing down back to their bodies as they hit the end of the strap's length. While that was happening, they had started to collapse themselves, and were soon unconscious on the floor.
The two gave the rest of the team the okay with a single hand gesture, allowing them to navigate the short hallway with ease, right up to the door. Brandon had looked down at the guards and the bloodless floor, and noticed they were still breathing. They had, of course, been shot with fast-acting tranquillisers, not real bullets. But the more important thing, the door. The final obstacle between the group and OE-0, (Crinale) Original Enemy-0, was pushed open as easily as a heavy door could be opened.
The 13 people entered the room and found Viktor Antonov sitting there, looking quite surprised, despite the fact he still had a helmet on.
"Y-what?! How were you able to get this far?! G-!"
Before he was able to call the guards, the rage inside Lucia immediately and rapidly built up, upon seeing his form. She could wait no longer. She didn't care for what the others were going to do, or what they would think of her for doing what she was going to. She lunged at him with a large amount of speed and nimbleness, her light form almost tackling the large man to the ground. While her attack alone was not enough, a sigh came from CO-02's mouth, who gave the order to 09 to fire a live bullet at him. Usually, he'd shrug it off, but his loss of balance meant that the bullet was just enough to bring him crashing to the ground.
The panting, teeth-gritting Lucia pulled a rather large dagger from her pocket. Pulling the hard plastic sheath from it, she spoke the last words the man was going to hear.
"An eye for an eye. You ruin my life, I'll ruin YOURS!"
"Lucia, w-" Someone spoke, but they were cut off.
BAM! Holding the knife with one hand, she thrust it into him with the other, pushing it from the base. The blade sliced cleanly through the bulletproof helmet, deep into the man's head.
BAM! Pulling it out, she slammed it into his head again.
BAM! And again.
BAM! And again.
BAM! Her stabs became faster and faster, until she had stabbed Viktor's head exactly 23 times. He most likely would have died within the first three, but yet, she had used that specific number. She was also mumbling while she was stabbing him, almost as if she was counting the number of stabs. No-one had time to stop her once she had started to speed up her stabs, but nevertheless, Viktor Antonov was clearly dead. And yet, something about the whole scene, the way it was, just seemed... off.
"...Uh, doesn't something look wrong to you?" Brandon asked.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked. "You mean with Lucia?"
"No, Viktor. Something about this, right now, seems very... wait a minute..." His eyes had widened upon realising the horrible truth.
Lucia, who had looked back at them when they started speaking once again, looked back at the body, and then... pulled out the knife embedded into the recently deceased's skull. It was then that she had seen it. She had realised what was so very, horribly wrong with the situation, and the evidence was right on the weapon.
Although, a more accurate description would be that it wasn't.