The Responsible Adults Need To Get Together....

[rix_scaedu]

This follows on from An Educational Experience Goes Completely Pear Shaped and was written to kelkyag's prompt reminding me that I'd left things on more than a bit of a cliff hanger...

The Memorial Park during an unveiling ceremony was, in Mayin’s opinion, no place to be holding a protest over the end of the war. An armed protest involving shooting. She assumed the unknown protesters had the official party pinned down, or at least had intended to. Intention was a fine thing, but she knew that four of their original fifteen were currently out of play, tied up with their own underwear.

Her wartime comrade Reaver was good at making do with the materials to hand. Plus he was still a free agent.

And if all the responsible adults present were doing their jobs then Oberxiao Huhn Jan-li should already have used the military communicator she’d bet her flat’s rental lease that he had in his artificial arm to report the situation to the proper military authorities. Given the lack of appropriate skill sets being displayed by the enemy, she doubted they’d know that a military issue prosthetic would carry a whole lot more around in it than a civilian one, particularly as discharging service personnel routinely had their prosthetics swapped out to keep military communications and weapons out of general circulation.

Even if they did, they might not have twigged what choice pieces of equipment the Oberxiao could be carrying around concealed in plain sight.

Looking at the PR cameraman Sharvon’s feeds, Mayin could see her brother’s friend Georas and the comms guy Hitch, who she knew from her time in the service, sheltering in place behind the speaker system controls. Something about that wasn’t quite right, and Mayin cautiously sneaked a peek over the memorial wall to confirm what she thought. She dropped back down into place swearing.

Her niece, hiding nice and small beside her said, wide eyed, “Aunty Mayin, those are really rude words!”

At the same time Wraith, on her other side, asked, “What?”

Mayin answered her niece first, “Yes, small piece, they are. Don’t you go repeating them now, you don’t need the universe as annoyed at you as it is at me. Wraith, those two back room techs out there have moved that console to hide an access hatch.”

He repeated one of the words she’d used then added, “I admire their steel, but we could use Reaver, those weapons he’s picked up, and your friend you haven’t told me about who’s got his own gear – all about now, thank you.”


This is now followed by The Party Assembles.