Much Ado about That Thing
A warm summer breeze and bullets in the air — Maya was made for this. She had ducked behind a wall next to the statue of some person who had probably been important during some part of Nossis’ history. She grinned while reloading her revolver and occasionally looking for potential threats.
This mess started innocently enough. WARD Culture department, whatever it was called, wanted some old relic and Maya had been assigned to lead a team to get it. The artefact was some old helmet that hadn’t seemed important to the Anatami. But it turned out that was the wrong assessment and all hell broke loose! A once pleasant square in Nossis had turned into a minor battlefield around the pedestal bust with the helmet on.
First, Athena and her soldiers showed up to defend this chingadera reliqua; then Val cast some spell that messed everyone up! At least one of Maya’s team of WARD security was hiding somewhere with a gashing wound from Athena’s glaive! It wasn't a good sign that Sonya was off somewhere. Maya had a lot of affection for the girl, but staying safe wasn’t the merc’s strongest suit.
There was a loud cracking noise as stone was shattered nearby. “¡No mames!” That thunderous smash could only mean Tyr had joined in the chaos, which meant smashing covers. Cover like the wall she was behind. She swung around, firing as she ran for the closest building. She didn’t even try to hit him, just forcing the huge guy to take cover himself.
“Hey, nice shooting! If you wanted to miss.” Finally, Sonya on comms! “Anyway, I’ve got the thingy in my sights. Well, mostly in my sights. Mz McGee is better at blowing shit up than hitting the right target.”
Maya wasn’t sure if Sonya’s relationship with her rocket launcher was healthy, but it was effective. “We’re here to collect it, not blow it up.” She tapped her revolver. The temptation to claim the mission had gone south and the relic had been blown up was big. And an accurate enough description, really. “Let’s call that as Plan B.”
“Aw!” Sonya’s disappointment was short-lived as her attention moved on. “I’ll blow up this statue of some ugly dude instead, I guess, since someone seems to think it’s enough cover to hide behind.” There was a giggle and a loud explosion before Sonya spoke again. “Say hi to Athena from me!”
“What?” Maya had circled the open area of the battlefield. She was hunched behind a crate, firing past it to deter anyone from getting close. “What to you—” Maya barely had time to get out of the way before the glaive landed. “¡Joder!” Not enough swear words for one day!
Having missed with her surprise attack only made Athena more determined. With clenched teeth, she dodged Maya’s shot by running up against a wall and spinning her glaive to get enough angular momentum to get back. “Why,” Athena grunted, “do you people always try to destroy?!”
The glaive pinned Maya’s hat to the pavement — way too close to her head. “She asks and then destroys my hat!” She just needed a moment of calm to aim. “I just wanted a pretty souvenir to look at, not showdown!”
“Ha! If you just wanted to look,” Athena crouched and swung her weapon to force Maya to hump and break concentration, “you could have asked.”
That almost made Maya pause enough to get her legs cut off. “Fair, I guess.” Some maneuvers are difficult to pull off and extremely dangerous if you fail — this was one of them. In one motion, she turned around to Athena, holstered her revolver and reached out with an empty hand. “Hi Athena, can we borrow the thingy out there to look at?”
The glaive stopped a split second before it would have impacted sharpshooter. Athena locked eyes with her in slight disbelief. “Why? What do the people of Earth want with this armor?”
“Wish I could tell ya.” Maya shrugged. “Apparently it looks like some thingy from our history. Not my department. I was just asked to bring it in intact.” She picked up her hip-flask and unscrewed the cork with a questioning look towards Athena.
“There was a vision. Of someone not from here, destroying the symbols of old.” Athena briefly glanced toward some gunfire in the distance. It took her a moment to come to a decision, but before Maya had time to say anything else she rook off towards the center of the square. A cart became a short-cut as she leapt towards the pedestal everyone seemed to fight about.
“Did you have a pleasant talk?” Sonya’s voice in Maya’s ear sounded enthusiastic. “Because she’s taking the thingy.”
“Let her!” Maya had drawn her weapon again in order to provide Athena some cover fire, and took down Pionier’s drone as it approached. There were too many people around! “Distract everyone else!”
A happy squeal from a nearby rooftop was the only warning before flames and rubble devastated half a building next to the square. Over the radio, Maya could hear Sonya singing some Lizzo before she had to move her hand to the trigger. The colorful mercenary was clearly feeling good.
Athena had no trouble getting back from the now bare-headed bust, as everyone else was trying to avoid possible explosions. “This helmet belonged to a legendary hero, Aekilesh. Do not lose it.”
Maya nodded and studied the old object. It certainly seemed to belong in a museum, even if restorations had been made. It even had a plume. “Of course. I think dividing everyone’s attention will console Sonya when I ask her to retreat.”
“Good. Enough damage has been done.”
This mess started innocently enough. WARD Culture department, whatever it was called, wanted some old relic and Maya had been assigned to lead a team to get it. The artefact was some old helmet that hadn’t seemed important to the Anatami. But it turned out that was the wrong assessment and all hell broke loose! A once pleasant square in Nossis had turned into a minor battlefield around the pedestal bust with the helmet on.
First, Athena and her soldiers showed up to defend this chingadera reliqua; then Val cast some spell that messed everyone up! At least one of Maya’s team of WARD security was hiding somewhere with a gashing wound from Athena’s glaive! It wasn't a good sign that Sonya was off somewhere. Maya had a lot of affection for the girl, but staying safe wasn’t the merc’s strongest suit.
There was a loud cracking noise as stone was shattered nearby. “¡No mames!” That thunderous smash could only mean Tyr had joined in the chaos, which meant smashing covers. Cover like the wall she was behind. She swung around, firing as she ran for the closest building. She didn’t even try to hit him, just forcing the huge guy to take cover himself.
“Hey, nice shooting! If you wanted to miss.” Finally, Sonya on comms! “Anyway, I’ve got the thingy in my sights. Well, mostly in my sights. Mz McGee is better at blowing shit up than hitting the right target.”
Maya wasn’t sure if Sonya’s relationship with her rocket launcher was healthy, but it was effective. “We’re here to collect it, not blow it up.” She tapped her revolver. The temptation to claim the mission had gone south and the relic had been blown up was big. And an accurate enough description, really. “Let’s call that as Plan B.”
“Aw!” Sonya’s disappointment was short-lived as her attention moved on. “I’ll blow up this statue of some ugly dude instead, I guess, since someone seems to think it’s enough cover to hide behind.” There was a giggle and a loud explosion before Sonya spoke again. “Say hi to Athena from me!”
“What?” Maya had circled the open area of the battlefield. She was hunched behind a crate, firing past it to deter anyone from getting close. “What to you—” Maya barely had time to get out of the way before the glaive landed. “¡Joder!” Not enough swear words for one day!
Having missed with her surprise attack only made Athena more determined. With clenched teeth, she dodged Maya’s shot by running up against a wall and spinning her glaive to get enough angular momentum to get back. “Why,” Athena grunted, “do you people always try to destroy?!”
The glaive pinned Maya’s hat to the pavement — way too close to her head. “She asks and then destroys my hat!” She just needed a moment of calm to aim. “I just wanted a pretty souvenir to look at, not showdown!”
“Ha! If you just wanted to look,” Athena crouched and swung her weapon to force Maya to hump and break concentration, “you could have asked.”
That almost made Maya pause enough to get her legs cut off. “Fair, I guess.” Some maneuvers are difficult to pull off and extremely dangerous if you fail — this was one of them. In one motion, she turned around to Athena, holstered her revolver and reached out with an empty hand. “Hi Athena, can we borrow the thingy out there to look at?”
The glaive stopped a split second before it would have impacted sharpshooter. Athena locked eyes with her in slight disbelief. “Why? What do the people of Earth want with this armor?”
“Wish I could tell ya.” Maya shrugged. “Apparently it looks like some thingy from our history. Not my department. I was just asked to bring it in intact.” She picked up her hip-flask and unscrewed the cork with a questioning look towards Athena.
“There was a vision. Of someone not from here, destroying the symbols of old.” Athena briefly glanced toward some gunfire in the distance. It took her a moment to come to a decision, but before Maya had time to say anything else she rook off towards the center of the square. A cart became a short-cut as she leapt towards the pedestal everyone seemed to fight about.
“Did you have a pleasant talk?” Sonya’s voice in Maya’s ear sounded enthusiastic. “Because she’s taking the thingy.”
“Let her!” Maya had drawn her weapon again in order to provide Athena some cover fire, and took down Pionier’s drone as it approached. There were too many people around! “Distract everyone else!”
A happy squeal from a nearby rooftop was the only warning before flames and rubble devastated half a building next to the square. Over the radio, Maya could hear Sonya singing some Lizzo before she had to move her hand to the trigger. The colorful mercenary was clearly feeling good.
Athena had no trouble getting back from the now bare-headed bust, as everyone else was trying to avoid possible explosions. “This helmet belonged to a legendary hero, Aekilesh. Do not lose it.”
Maya nodded and studied the old object. It certainly seemed to belong in a museum, even if restorations had been made. It even had a plume. “Of course. I think dividing everyone’s attention will console Sonya when I ask her to retreat.”
“Good. Enough damage has been done.”
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