- Decoy

Gus ignored the protests of the others as he left the building, knowing nothing that they said could change his mind. He opened the door and dashed across into the building across from the one they were currently in. He swept the building, clearing each room one after another as he progressed upwards towards the roof.

His plan was a simple one. If he climbed onto the rooftops, he would be able to see any of the attackers that were coming to their position. Of course, any who were approaching from the rooftops would likely be able to see him as they approached as well, but that suited Gus's plan just fine. Once they saw him, he would be able to attract their attention and, as a result, divert it from the Blood Knights and the other Reapers. If he could hold that attention for long enough, by becoming a significant enough threat to the attackers, he would be able to give them a window to escape from the area.

The most complicated part of his decision was the why. Throwing his life away was the last thing he wanted to do, but when he saw the sheer numbers that the attackers still possessed. He knew that they would not escape with everyone alive without a diversion, especially with their lack of proper weaponry, so he opted to be the diversion himself.

Once his mind was set on the plan, the choice of diversion became clear. He wouldn't ask someone else to risk their life so that he could escape, because why should he lead if he was not willing to sacrifice for those he led? Plus, there was the added bonus of EXP. With every enemy that he managed to take out, he would take a step closer to his next level. Even if he was still uncertain about being the diversion himself, the fact that the system existed and gave him a chance to grow stronger would cement that decision.

Thankfully, the building he had chosen to enter was completely empty. While it showed signs of people living in there now, there was currently no one else in the building but him.

'I won't be putting anyone in danger from here, at least,' he though, as a sigh of relief slipped out of his lips. That sigh of relief quickly turned into a sharp intake of breath as he realised that the people living here were likely to have been caught in the massacre that took place at the rally, especially if they were not at home in the aftermath.

'Can't think about what might or might not be. Got to keep my head focused. Got to make sure I do what I can to get the others out safely.'

In the corner of the ceiling on the upper floor was a small hatch. After clearing all of the rooms in the upper floor, Gus slowly pushed open the hatch with the barrel of his weapon.

'I guess I have to pick my engagements carefully here,' he thought, becoming aware of the weapon he held. 'I actually have no clue what weapon this is, and have no reserve ammo for it.'

Now that he saw it, he noticed that the weapon was not a Repeater. 'Not that I should have expected it to be, considering they're built for cost efficiency. And the way these guys are acting, I can't see them skimping on cost.'

Overall, the weapon looked very similar to the Repeater that Gus was familiar with. The only difference was in the minor parts of the weapon, which definitely made a difference once they were noticed.

'Perhaps it's just a newer generation of the Repeater that we haven't been told about yet, or it could be something inspired by the Repeater. It could always just be a modded Repeater, in all honesty.'

A small ladder came tumbling out of the hatch, catching Gus by surprise. After taking a moment to calm himself down, he tightly gripped the ladder and made his way up onto the roof.

'Maybe this was a bad idea, after all,' he thought as he made his way up. It was as though that sudden shock of the ladder had woken him up to the insanity of his plan, and made him realise just how much of a mistake he was making. 'Oh well. No going back now.'

Filled with caution, he pulled himself up onto the roof. He spun his head around quickly, looking in all directions as quickly as he possibly could.

The rooftop was made to be a small, seated area. Although there was not much, there was a small amount of wall on the roof that he could use as cover. While he could not see many, he could see some of the attackers already in the residential area. It was clear they had the same plan as him, as they seemed to instantly head to the roof in search of the two squads and Mileena Aliti.

As soon as he saw them, he activated his comm device. "I'm on the roof, and I can already see them on the rooftops. If you're going to move, either do it now or wait until I can lead them away from the area."

Without waiting for a response, he cut the feed and raised his weapon, facing the group of enemies he had seen on the rooftop. He took a deep breath and dropped down behind the wall, before squeezing the trigger.

'Here goes nothing,' he thought.

After he fired a few times, he immediately began moving, running to the edge of the roof and leaping across the small gap onto the next one. Unlike the roof he was on, this next one had nothing on it.

'Can't stop here. Got to keep moving

Stumbling as he landed, he raised his weapon and fired of a few more shots without stopping. Regaining his balance, he straightened up before making the jump across to the next one.

*Would you like to be told of system notifications immediately, no matter the situation?*

'Uhm, sure. Whatever.' Gus assumed that the system was trying to make sure he was not distracted by the notifications, but the way it did it felt a little bit counter productive.

*Enemy Eliminated.*

*Reward: [100] EXP.*

Glancing over as he landed, Gus could see that they were now aware of his position, and were relaying it to the others through loud shouts and comm devices. Taking a quick look around, he could see that more were coming onto the rooftops with every passing second.

'Here we go,' he thought.