The group of FESWAT at the corner table in Callahan's had grown somewhat as more eliminated members trickled, or were carried in. Auger had just finished
recounting his team's escape from a group of Hunter class Heavy Gear when a waitress arrived at the table and plunked down a fresh pitcher.
"compliments of tall, dark and edgier than thou over there," she said, pointing to an un-helmeted man in silver and bronze tactical dreadnought
armour.
F and Auger grinned and raised their glasses in salute. The Space Marine smiled and returned the gesture before turning back to his conversation.
"What was that about, Furry?"
The two glanced at each other and F held out his glass. Auger sighed and started pouring. F waited until the glass was full, "Well, before we got split
up our groups ran into him in one of the lower level corridors." He paused as Auger began to snicker. "Alright, I ran into him. Literally.
You'd be surprised how quiet someone in that much armour can be."
"Anyway, I've got both my hands full, that dinky little airsoft thing in one, sword in the other, and he doesn't give me any time to draw
something heavy enough to deal with his armour. He's got a nerf-bolter in one hand and boffer chain sword in the other and I've barely got time to
roll to my feet and parry as he charges at me."
Pausing to take a sip of his drink, F grimaced at the memory. "And let me tell you, you don't want to parry a chain weapon if you can help it. Damn
near ripped the sword out of my hand. So I'm back pedalling frantically, dodging swipes from his sword, when Grey and this joker," he indicated Auger
with a tilt of his head, "make into the corridor behind him. Can't imagine what took them so long."
Auger shrugged unapologetically, and F resumed speaking. "I figure I've got to keep his attention so they can do something, so I start talking. I
say to him 'It may look like I'm in trouble, but I'm an Engineer, I know how to handle this.' And he just gives me this look, right through
his helmet and says, 'Oh, and how is that?'. My reply, of course, is 'More gun.', which is when Grey opens up with that Bullgut of hers. He
takes all six rockets full in the back and is stuck standing there, wrapped in tangler string."
A new voice broke in while the rest of the table was snickering. "Last we saw of him we'd found a hand trolley and wheeled him over to a recovery
point," said Abigail as she pulled up a chair. "'Though, isn't the Bullgut more of a rocket launcher Furry?"
"Yes," said F, "but the principle still stands." He gave Abigail a once over. "I take it the alliance with the pirates and ninja is
over?"
She shuddered and reached for a glass. "Yeah, they both stabbed me in the back, the idiots," she said before taking a long drink. "You'd
have thought they'd have noticed I was about to throw a foamer grenade, or at least moved away from me before trying to finish each other off."
"I was wondering why your armour was so clean," Auger said. "It's all shiny and squeaky like a new recruits." He leaned too far back
to dodge a retaliatory swipe and tumbled from his chair. The rest of the table broke up as Abigail and F hauled him up off the floor.
--
"Who's the freak in the tights?"
"Haven't been in Gotham long, have you kid?"
--Batman Beyond
recounting his team's escape from a group of Hunter class Heavy Gear when a waitress arrived at the table and plunked down a fresh pitcher.
"compliments of tall, dark and edgier than thou over there," she said, pointing to an un-helmeted man in silver and bronze tactical dreadnought
armour.
F and Auger grinned and raised their glasses in salute. The Space Marine smiled and returned the gesture before turning back to his conversation.
"What was that about, Furry?"
The two glanced at each other and F held out his glass. Auger sighed and started pouring. F waited until the glass was full, "Well, before we got split
up our groups ran into him in one of the lower level corridors." He paused as Auger began to snicker. "Alright, I ran into him. Literally.
You'd be surprised how quiet someone in that much armour can be."
"Anyway, I've got both my hands full, that dinky little airsoft thing in one, sword in the other, and he doesn't give me any time to draw
something heavy enough to deal with his armour. He's got a nerf-bolter in one hand and boffer chain sword in the other and I've barely got time to
roll to my feet and parry as he charges at me."
Pausing to take a sip of his drink, F grimaced at the memory. "And let me tell you, you don't want to parry a chain weapon if you can help it. Damn
near ripped the sword out of my hand. So I'm back pedalling frantically, dodging swipes from his sword, when Grey and this joker," he indicated Auger
with a tilt of his head, "make into the corridor behind him. Can't imagine what took them so long."
Auger shrugged unapologetically, and F resumed speaking. "I figure I've got to keep his attention so they can do something, so I start talking. I
say to him 'It may look like I'm in trouble, but I'm an Engineer, I know how to handle this.' And he just gives me this look, right through
his helmet and says, 'Oh, and how is that?'. My reply, of course, is 'More gun.', which is when Grey opens up with that Bullgut of hers. He
takes all six rockets full in the back and is stuck standing there, wrapped in tangler string."
A new voice broke in while the rest of the table was snickering. "Last we saw of him we'd found a hand trolley and wheeled him over to a recovery
point," said Abigail as she pulled up a chair. "'Though, isn't the Bullgut more of a rocket launcher Furry?"
"Yes," said F, "but the principle still stands." He gave Abigail a once over. "I take it the alliance with the pirates and ninja is
over?"
She shuddered and reached for a glass. "Yeah, they both stabbed me in the back, the idiots," she said before taking a long drink. "You'd
have thought they'd have noticed I was about to throw a foamer grenade, or at least moved away from me before trying to finish each other off."
"I was wondering why your armour was so clean," Auger said. "It's all shiny and squeaky like a new recruits." He leaned too far back
to dodge a retaliatory swipe and tumbled from his chair. The rest of the table broke up as Abigail and F hauled him up off the floor.
--
"Who's the freak in the tights?"
"Haven't been in Gotham long, have you kid?"
--Batman Beyond