DMHK8

=Chapter 8=
==Dead Man's Hand: The Kowloon Job==
DropShip Ante-Up
Final Approach, Malibu
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
13th April, 3054
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Joker felt the impact of the DropShip landing through her 'Mechs command couch, and instantly flicked the switch to disengage the umbilicals and restraints holding it in place. The rugged Loki OmniMech, the pick of the equipment they had looted during their escape from Tamar, flexed beneath her as the reactor went from standby to full power in an instant, her screens filling with information. In a stark contrast to the ancient and much abused Phoenix Hawk she had piloted previously, she didn't have to kick any of the screen to get them to work, but insisted it was at near perfect operational levels.
<<"Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. Communications online.">> the computer, still using the same 'Bitching Betty' voice that had been part of the Mackie program, announced, <<"All systems nominal.">>
"Ace of Spades to all Cards." She called out of the units encrypted frequency, "Sound off."
"Ace of Clubs, ready." Aung reported from the heavily modified Archer to her immediate right.
"Eight of Spades, ready." Scilicorn's Wolverine II saluted from across the Mech Bay.
"Eight of Clubs, ready." last but by no means least, Kelso reported from her rebuilt Shadow Hawk.
Joker smiled to herself: to an outsider, she knew her unit probably looked like a gang of fools, delinquents and pretenders. But, she new from experience, once the shooting started, there was no one else she would have trusted to have her back.
"Okay, so standard triangular deployment, just like we practiced in the simulators. I'll go down the slot, Jay, you take the right, Emilio and Bobbie, the left." she ordered even as she started towards the descending ramp, "Keep it nice and tight: nobody start anything until I give the word. We have to play this one by their rules."
A chorus of conformations echoed over the radio as the Dead Man's Hand marched out into the storm.
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