DMHK14

=Chapter 14=
==Dead Man's Hand: The Kowloon Job==
Militia Proving Grounds
Malibu
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
14th April, 3054
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The wall exploded outwards, bricks, glass and dust flying everywhere, as the mercenary Archer tackled Henry's Nova like a Rugby winger. The force of the two impacts forced the air from his lungs, and he could feel at least two of his ribs crack as they were forced against the harness holding him into his command couch.
Realizing that he was effectively being carried over the bigger Mechs right shoulder, he pounded on its broad back with his arms, denting the armor with every strike. On the third attempt, he evidently hit something important, as the Archer lost its grip. He fell to the ground, the mercenary tripping over him and crashing into the side of a smoke stack, the remains of which proceeded to collapse on top of them even as they struggled to rise. Looking through a section of his canopy that wasn't covered in pink paint, Henry could see that his opponent was buried under far more debris, but the Archer's greater physical strength and the greater range of motion of its arms was allowing it to dig itself almost as fast as he was.
It soon became a race to see why could untangle themselves the quickest, but Henry was suddenly distracted by the sound of music echoing off the nearby buildings. Looking round, he saw a sight that he knew would stay with him until the day he died, and he surely hoped that his gun cameras were recording, because otherwise nobody would ever believe him.
The mercenary Shadow Hawk and... WVR-7H came down the middle of the road, arm in arm, actually dancing a pretty decent attempt at a tango.
In perfect time to the music, which he now realized was coming from the Shadow Hawk, Henry watched as it spun its partner out, the 7H leveling its autocannon and firing a burst that ripped into the right shoulder of Shelby's Conjurer. There was an explosion, and the Mechs right arm fell to the ground, forcing her to height to remain stable as the center of gravity shifted drastically. They moved back together, and the 7H somehow actually dipped the Shadow Hawk, which reached out above its head with its right arm, the medium laser spearing Linda's Kit Fox through the center as she attempted to jump between two buildings. The safeties on the lighter machines reactor kicked in, forcing the pilot to eject before it crashed uncontrollably into the side of one of the factories, then fell to the ground before exploding.
Seemingly unphased by the deviation they had brought, the two mercenaries danced off down the road and out of sight.
Henry looked round, and the Archer actually raised its arms as if to shrug, before it resumed digging itself out of the debris.
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