A Different Part of the Preserve, Still Saturday Afternoon

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira got a mission from some guy who shouted a lot, what the hell. But hey, it would be proof that she was a badass and maybe there would be some loot when all was said and done, so she grabbed her modded out Hyperion gun, her wrist launcher, and a whole mess of explosives, called up a friend, and set out for the Preserve.

"Remember, we split whatever we get, 60/40. I got the job, so I get the extras," Mira said. Cade was a pirate. She felt that she needed to be very explicit about the pay here or he might try to cheat her.

[OOC: For the pirate and the Goliath.]

Comments

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade was a pirate, he'd absolutely try to cheat her. "If you get shot, I get more if I take you to the clinic," he countered.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"We'll see how bad it is. If I can limp, I should be able to make it to the clinic," Mira said.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I will probably not shoot you again if that's the case."

He was all heart!

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"Clearly I made a great decision picking you for this job," Mira said, rolling her eyes.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"They'll sing badly rhyming songs about our adventure," Cade promised.

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

"FRIEND?! NEW FRIENDS!"

The Goliath's rhyming scheme left something to desire as it ambled into view from behind a large tree, a giant trunk strapped to his back.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"Huh. The shouting guy actually described that thing perfectly," Mira said as she loaded a grenade into her wrist launcher. "That's the Goliath. Trunk and everything."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Do I even want to know why there's a trunk?" Cade asked, easing his blaster from its holster. "Is it like a favorite blanket for giants?"

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

The Goliath gave a seemingly friendly wave with its really large guns. "IS THAT A GIFT FOR ME?" he bellowed. "I LIKE GUNS!"

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"He's too friendly," Mira told Cade. "I'm not going to enjoy doing this."

She raised her arm, aimed, and fired a grenade at the Goliath's head.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"You're a bad person and should feel bad," Cade told her, nodding.

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!"

Why indeed, Mira. WHY.

Then the grenade kasploded into the Goliath's face. "NO! I KEEP MY BRAINS THERE--" Well. That's when it kasploded.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"It's not a lethal charge and you had a helmet. You'll be fine," Mira called out.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I'm feeling totally reassured, myself!" Cade added.

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

There was a little chunk noise.

Then the helmet popped off the Goliath's head. Daintily.

"You shouldn't..." he mumbled, though through what, who knew? He seemed pretty headless without that thing. And stumbling around like a drunk. "Shouldn't..."

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"Okay, I didn't do that," Mira argued. "The fact that he's still talking without a head proves that there was something wrong with him before."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Something was really karking wrong with him before," Cade declared. "What exactly needs to happen with this guy?"

He hadn't really been listening much past "60/40 loot split."

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

A small chunk of... something... (Probably brain.) pushed up out of the mass of headlessness on a tiny, tiny string of... yeah, that couldn't be neck anymore.

The Goliath's entire body went red.

"--YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!"

And then he leaped forward, both guns still in hand. "I'M GONNA PLAY STICKS WITH YOUR HEAD!"

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"I was told to take the helmet off! That was it!" Mira called as she dove to the side. "The guy didn't say anything about this!"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Were credits supposed to pop out instead?" Cade asked, diving the other way.

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

The Goliath fired wildly in Mira's general direction. "YOU'RE GONNA BE SCREAMING!"

And then he just bodily hurled the guns at Mira.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira rolled out of the way of the shots, then scrambled forward under the guns, firing at the Goliath with her explosive shock pistol as she ran past him. "Cade, I have an idea, but I need him to be distracted for a minute!"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I can do that!" Cade said, standing up and aiming Bantha's double-barreled (http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060404184408/starwars/images/1/17/Cades_Special.jpg) Rawk chopped special at center mass. "Hey, ugly!"

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

The Goliath spun around. "THAT'S JUST ONE MORE THING FOR ME TO SHOVE UP YOUR ASS!"

Then he leaped up and launched himself at Cade.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira swung her satchel around and pulled a few mines out. They were very hard to spot on the ground and while none were strong enough to be deadly, if you happened to stumble through several, you really wouldn't feel good, and that's not even factoring in the kind of shrapnel that would end up in your legs.

Of course, Mira was skilled enough not to set them off, and each one only took her a couple seconds to plant and arm. "Just keep that gun out of your ass for half a minute and we'll be fine."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"That's practically my personal motto," Cade called back between punches and kicks and oww that was going to leave a marks.

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

"I'LL KILL YOU SLOWER FOR THAT, DICK--!"

Yeah, even if the Goliath was getting his fair share of punches in, he was still gonna yell. And punch some more. Harder.

He had completely lost interest in Mira.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Now that she was pretty well set up, Mira decided to get the Goliath's attention back. She turned and fired a concussion grenade at his back.

"Don't forget me! I'm the one who took your helmet off!"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Cade grunted as he took another punch. "Blame her."

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

The Goliath let out a not-exactly-coherent gargling growl of rage and spun around. "YOU! LET ME! PLAY!"

And then he came barreling straight at her.

It wasn't like he was the most observant kind of guy.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira turned around, drew her gun, and shot a few more, um, electric explosives at him as she fled the blast radius. "Sorry, I'm not much for playtime."

[pandora-baddies.livejournal.com]

Explosives... going off... around him...

"That... won't... stop... ME!"

... That wasn't actually true. Going by the way he was literally coming apart. "...it's so... 'lectric... I feel... the stars... dying... ..."

He keeled forward, crashing forward into his own little crater.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira walked over, pulled the trunk off of the Goliath, then threw an adhesive grenade to make sure he wasn't about to move from his crater.

"Thanks for your help, Cade," she called out. "You doing okay? All your organs still where you had them twenty minutes ago?"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Cade said, standing up with some difficulty. "And scars are sexy, right?"

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"Depends on what they are. But since they're not messing up that pretty face, I'm going with 'yes,'" Mira said. "Do you need a hand, or do you just want to see what we're getting out of this? 55/45, by the way. You earned it."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I get the 55? That's really sweet of you."

Nice try, Cade.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

Mira cracked the trunk open and looked at what was inside. "Okay, 50/50, equal partners. You can have half the stuff in here."

There were two grenades, along with some kind of pistol and a stuffed bunny rabbit. Like, a toy, not taxidermy.

"And since the last thing I need is more grenades, ones I didn't build? You get those."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I'm not even gonna laugh too loudly about the bunny," Cade said, scooping up the grenades.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"You do and I'll give you another grenade. But that one will be armed," Mira said, holding the bunny up to give it a closer look. "It would've been nice if the prize for this test of badassness had been more badass, though."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's pretty clear they've been karking with us for a while," Cade said, making a face.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"And the shouting guy really was pretty sketchy," Mira said. "Well, we still took out a threat. Good job by us."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Need a beer?" Cade offered.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"Not really, but I'll still take one if you're buying," Mira said.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Think they take grenades as payment or will that end me in the pond?" Cade asked.

[notapredator.livejournal.com]

"That would be the pond. Fine, I'll pay for one round. You earned it," Mira said. "And maybe if you're still holding up okay after that, I can find another way to thank you for your help."

At least that way she'd get something good out of this whole experience.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade grinned. "Sounds like an excellent plan."

After a few beers, he wouldn't be feeling any pain.