Post by Soldier 76 on Jul 20, 2016 18:56:58 GMT
Operational Hazards
Must be that bad luck follows the lucky, after 3 times running into Jesse inconsequentially, he was about to get stuck. Maybe it wasn’t their fault, he was stuck in a fire fight with talon agents. Maybe it was all just a big coincidence that he’d bumped into this again. He was starting to feel like someone else wanted him to follow this thread.
Annoying not being sure if you were doing what you wanted to or being pulled around by puppet strings. He reloaded and fell back, hand out pushing the injured Archer back with him. “If you can’t pull that string, you get back, take this,” he barked and dropped his sidearm into the Jap’s hand. “Jesse, I’m about to launch some Helix rockets, use the bang to get out of there, I mean it this time.” He wasn’t about to have disobedience in this. They were vastly out numbered, and pinned down with an injured man.
“Right, you got it, 76.” The cowboy fanned his hammer, and the moment he had a brief cover of smoke from the rocket launch, and the explosion afterwards he rolled back and sprinted to cover nearer Morrison. “What next commander?”
“You help him, pressure on that wound, and we keep moving back. We’ll split at those two alleyways, regroup at the statue down town, I’ll try to draw them to follow me, so you and Hanzo can get out of firing range,” he replied, firing a few shots of suppressing fire. “I can hear sirens, the police won’t know which side to shoot at. On my mark.”
“Gotcha, come on fella,” said the cowboy hoisting the archer up, arm supporting him. Hanzo didn’t say anything, this had gone down hill so fast, shock would set in if they weren’t quick. Jack put something in Jesse’s hand.
“Biotic field, get him stabilized when you can; right, go now;” Morrison said as he launched another set of helix rockets, pulse rifle on full auto to break up the group trying to make a move on their position. McCree nodded and keeping his head down hustled with their injured comrade to the alleyway opposite the one Morrison was moving towards. The old Soldier kept up the aggression till his clip was emptied and he had to reload.
The bait seemed to work as the talon agents went after the threat of 76, as the Police began to arrive, the operatives pulled back and vanished into the night. Morrison took a moment to catch his breath, silently wondering if he could simply disappear again for a while. No not this time, wasn’t like McCree could bring Hanzo to a hospital. A bunch of wanted men, with one of them bleeding to death. Great.
76 took the long way around, meeting the pair at an alcove near the statue of the omnic guru who’d been assassinated. Made a matyr rather than a tragedy for some. He knelt down and looked over the wound, perhaps it wasn’t as serious as he’d figure, clean through one side to the other. Shoulder wouldn’t be the same, but they didn’t have time to think about that. Biotic field had stopped shock setting in, so he wrapped the whole thing in bandages, McCree keeping a look out for authority or Talon. “Well you’ll live, can’t say yet if you’ll pull that bow string again, but we can’t stay here,” he grumbled. Tourniquett in place he helped the man up, and with McCree they weaved through the dark corners till they arrived at the seedy parts of town. Hustling up the stairs of the rather poorly maintained building, they got to the flat McCree had rented.
They left the archer to lay down in bed, while they figured out what to do next. 76 pulling his mask off and running his hand over his face. “This went more than bad, Jesse, this was a tragedy; you call this an op? You’ve got a man down, no back up and no exit strategy. What did you think was going to happen?” snapped the old salt in quick succession.
“Things were going fine till-”
“Till you let your arrogance get the best of you.” The soldier didn’t even let him finish. “Well now you might get to watch first hand how arrogance gets the people around you in trouble. Did you even think about Hanzo in your glory run?”
“I well…I…figured-”
“What did you figure? That the archer was going to follow you into battle? That it was going to be like a western flick with the cowboys and indians taking down the marshals? What did you figure?” Jack snapped. He sighed. “You’re lucky you’re not both dead, you’re lucky I was watching your back.”
“Well and why exactly were you watchin’ our backs? First you say you don’t want nothin’ to do with it, next thing you’re here again, findin’ us this time if you don’t mind me saying; which is it?” McCree tried to argue.
76 shook his head. “Changing the subject doesn’t change the fact you almost got your teammate killed. I’m here cause someone keeps leaving me breadcrumbs that lead to you; I’m starting to doubt lucks got anything to do with it,” he said and sighed, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed.
McCree went quiet, searching around for a cigar in his clothing, just chewing on it for now. Didn’t have the will to light it just yet. “…well…thanks for havin’ our backs, I screwed the pooch on this one; my intel was shaky, figured it was good enough, things went south…” he said and pulled his hat off, tossing it aside for now. “Do ya really think he’s gonna die?”
“I’m not a doctor, didn’t look like there was any shrapnel in the wound, but we need supplies, or it’ll get infected. I can’t say one way or the other, I’ve seen guys recover from worse and die of less, it’s a crap shoot,” 76 replied. “Won’t know right away, stable right now, gives him better odds.”
The atmosphere took on a heaviness, as the two man went silent. This went far worse than it’d ever gone before. This wasn’t just missing the target. They could have all been dead. If Jack hadn’t been so good at his job, there’d be a pair of corpses for the police to find. “I’m sorry, Jack…” McCree said softly.
“It’s not me you should apologize to,” was all he got in response.
Must be that bad luck follows the lucky, after 3 times running into Jesse inconsequentially, he was about to get stuck. Maybe it wasn’t their fault, he was stuck in a fire fight with talon agents. Maybe it was all just a big coincidence that he’d bumped into this again. He was starting to feel like someone else wanted him to follow this thread.
Annoying not being sure if you were doing what you wanted to or being pulled around by puppet strings. He reloaded and fell back, hand out pushing the injured Archer back with him. “If you can’t pull that string, you get back, take this,” he barked and dropped his sidearm into the Jap’s hand. “Jesse, I’m about to launch some Helix rockets, use the bang to get out of there, I mean it this time.” He wasn’t about to have disobedience in this. They were vastly out numbered, and pinned down with an injured man.
“Right, you got it, 76.” The cowboy fanned his hammer, and the moment he had a brief cover of smoke from the rocket launch, and the explosion afterwards he rolled back and sprinted to cover nearer Morrison. “What next commander?”
“You help him, pressure on that wound, and we keep moving back. We’ll split at those two alleyways, regroup at the statue down town, I’ll try to draw them to follow me, so you and Hanzo can get out of firing range,” he replied, firing a few shots of suppressing fire. “I can hear sirens, the police won’t know which side to shoot at. On my mark.”
“Gotcha, come on fella,” said the cowboy hoisting the archer up, arm supporting him. Hanzo didn’t say anything, this had gone down hill so fast, shock would set in if they weren’t quick. Jack put something in Jesse’s hand.
“Biotic field, get him stabilized when you can; right, go now;” Morrison said as he launched another set of helix rockets, pulse rifle on full auto to break up the group trying to make a move on their position. McCree nodded and keeping his head down hustled with their injured comrade to the alleyway opposite the one Morrison was moving towards. The old Soldier kept up the aggression till his clip was emptied and he had to reload.
The bait seemed to work as the talon agents went after the threat of 76, as the Police began to arrive, the operatives pulled back and vanished into the night. Morrison took a moment to catch his breath, silently wondering if he could simply disappear again for a while. No not this time, wasn’t like McCree could bring Hanzo to a hospital. A bunch of wanted men, with one of them bleeding to death. Great.
76 took the long way around, meeting the pair at an alcove near the statue of the omnic guru who’d been assassinated. Made a matyr rather than a tragedy for some. He knelt down and looked over the wound, perhaps it wasn’t as serious as he’d figure, clean through one side to the other. Shoulder wouldn’t be the same, but they didn’t have time to think about that. Biotic field had stopped shock setting in, so he wrapped the whole thing in bandages, McCree keeping a look out for authority or Talon. “Well you’ll live, can’t say yet if you’ll pull that bow string again, but we can’t stay here,” he grumbled. Tourniquett in place he helped the man up, and with McCree they weaved through the dark corners till they arrived at the seedy parts of town. Hustling up the stairs of the rather poorly maintained building, they got to the flat McCree had rented.
They left the archer to lay down in bed, while they figured out what to do next. 76 pulling his mask off and running his hand over his face. “This went more than bad, Jesse, this was a tragedy; you call this an op? You’ve got a man down, no back up and no exit strategy. What did you think was going to happen?” snapped the old salt in quick succession.
“Things were going fine till-”
“Till you let your arrogance get the best of you.” The soldier didn’t even let him finish. “Well now you might get to watch first hand how arrogance gets the people around you in trouble. Did you even think about Hanzo in your glory run?”
“I well…I…figured-”
“What did you figure? That the archer was going to follow you into battle? That it was going to be like a western flick with the cowboys and indians taking down the marshals? What did you figure?” Jack snapped. He sighed. “You’re lucky you’re not both dead, you’re lucky I was watching your back.”
“Well and why exactly were you watchin’ our backs? First you say you don’t want nothin’ to do with it, next thing you’re here again, findin’ us this time if you don’t mind me saying; which is it?” McCree tried to argue.
76 shook his head. “Changing the subject doesn’t change the fact you almost got your teammate killed. I’m here cause someone keeps leaving me breadcrumbs that lead to you; I’m starting to doubt lucks got anything to do with it,” he said and sighed, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed.
McCree went quiet, searching around for a cigar in his clothing, just chewing on it for now. Didn’t have the will to light it just yet. “…well…thanks for havin’ our backs, I screwed the pooch on this one; my intel was shaky, figured it was good enough, things went south…” he said and pulled his hat off, tossing it aside for now. “Do ya really think he’s gonna die?”
“I’m not a doctor, didn’t look like there was any shrapnel in the wound, but we need supplies, or it’ll get infected. I can’t say one way or the other, I’ve seen guys recover from worse and die of less, it’s a crap shoot,” 76 replied. “Won’t know right away, stable right now, gives him better odds.”
The atmosphere took on a heaviness, as the two man went silent. This went far worse than it’d ever gone before. This wasn’t just missing the target. They could have all been dead. If Jack hadn’t been so good at his job, there’d be a pair of corpses for the police to find. “I’m sorry, Jack…” McCree said softly.
“It’s not me you should apologize to,” was all he got in response.
