[center][color=tan][h3]Courier 6[/h3][/color]
[b]Level 2[/b] - (15/20) EXP
[b]Location:[/b] 1-1, Ancient Gardens->Scrapyard
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1251[/center]


Damn. These rabbit creatures had spunk, Courier 6 had to give them that. Despite the heavy lead they had, he at least expected to be able to catch up quickly. Wasteland courier and all that. Sadly, this was not the case and they maintained a healthy lead way up ahead. The good news was that he didn’t have to worry about losing stamina or falling short on breath, since the robot (Blazermate he think it said was its designation?) kept pace with some sort of hover tech and locked a beam onto him that not only cleaned up his wounds quite nicely, but kept him healthy and in tip-top shape. If nothing else, the Courier felt confident that he would at the very least outlast those weird rabbit creatures. With the backup provided by both Zer0 and Ratchet joining him, the Courier was confident there would be nothing to worry about. 

[b]BOOM![/b]

The air distorted nearby in a straight path, and suddenly the rabbit holding the hat simply no longer existed, the white hat getting picked up by another as they continued their frantic fleeing. The Courier instantly recognized both the sound and the effects of what had just happened. One of his companions, it seemed, was sporting an anti-material .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifle. Those weapons were designed to destroy the engines of tanks, and here this guy was shooting little rabbits with them?! The air shear [i]alone[/i] would have put that white hat, and by extension Kirby, in danger! Whoever it was using that kind of overkill would need a stern talking to about proper gun control and safety, yes they would. But of course that would need to wait until after the Courier had caught up to, and brutally murderized, the little rabbits ahead of him. Preferably with point blank shotgun blasts.

Another minute or two of sprinting at top speed (thanks, Blazermate! I’ll be sure to get you a good oil change when I can!) and the Courier made it to a new section of this patch-work quilted world. Technological marvels could be seen for a great distance all around and across a fantastical racetrack. Unfortunately most of those technological marvels were talking on two legs and shooting anything that moved. So, you know. There was that.

[color=tan]”Robots?”[/color] the Courier muttered under his breath. [color=tan]”Haha! Robots! I love robots! 50 bottle caps says I could dismantle any of those metal monsters out there! Haha! Maybe I’ll get you some upgrades, eh Blazermate? And uh… You too, Zer0, if you’re a… Um… A robot. Are you a robot? Whatever, doesn’t matter.”[/color] Utilizing his V.A.T.S., and thankful for Blazermate’s healing beam keeping his stamina maxed out, Courier 6 surveyed the area in far greater detail in far less time than anybody could normally calculate the risks. 

The robots were embroiled in a bitter battle against the rabbit creatures, both sides showing off an impressive array of weapons, though the rabbits had more variety to the robots’ superior firepower. Some of the rabbits appeared to be large (for their species) brutes, carrying heavy blocks to smash with. Some had energy weapons, which seemed to be barely effective (ha! Score one for conventional firearms! Take that, energy weapon nerrrrrrds!). Others appeared to possess healing packs similar to his stimpacks, or Blazermate’s healing beam. Damn, those guys could make the whole thing a pain. Another variant still were hopping around on… Were those springs? Ha, how cartoonish! 6 absolutely loved it! Then he spotted another larger type of these creatures, these ones carrying tower shields and shotguns. Ah, they were rabbits after his own heart, he had to admit.

 After a couple minutes (from his enhanced perspective, while merely no more than four or five seconds in real time) of surveying the chaos down below, the Courier took notice of the rabbit squad in possession of King Bowser’s dapper white hat, now atop one of the larger of the creatures as they were suddenly surrounded by attacking bots. An ambush. That didn’t bode well for Kirby, since the robots would be killing indiscriminately. Meanwhile, blocking the path to the castle Bowser had been so keen to reach was a series of turrets with a single individual maintaining them. That could prove to be a problem.

The best way to deal with this situation would be for the entire group to gather together in a turtleshell formation, circled around one another as they slowly made their way through the battlefield until they were close enough to deal with the turrets. Diving headfirst into an ambush to save Kirby would be a complete fools’ errand, practically suicide under the present conditions. So that is exactly what the Courier did. He was being paid to make sure Bowser and Kirby made it to the castle. The Courier [i]never[/i] missed a delivery.

6 didn’t bother waiting for the rest of the group to get their with him. He didn’t bother voicing his plan aloud to the few that had already come ahead with him. Instead he let out a loud [color=tan]”YEEEEEHAW!”[/color] as he charged forward, shotgun in hand. Either Zer0, Blazermate, and Ratchet would follow, or they would not. What they did was of no concern to the Courier. As for Bowser, Michael, the centurion guy, and all those others still behind? They were on their own. He saw the opportunity and he had to take advantage of it now, before the battle formations changed. Waiting meant that the route he had mapped out in his head through his V.A.T.S. observations would be rendered obsolete, and he’d have to battle through the hordes to get to Kirby.

No, that was unacceptable. The Courier ducked, dodged, and weaved between the most exposed flanks of rabbid and robot alike into the rightmost area, where the squad of rabbids had been ambushed. He jumped into the fray, right behind one of the Omnics with a particularly large gun arm, tearing out a series of wires behind the robot’s neck, sending its combat protocols into a frenzy. Bullet after bullet burned through the gun chamber as the Courier held the largely defunct robot in place, manually manipulating its movements to gun down several of its own kind. One, two, three, four fell to the friendly fire before his puppet lost power and shutdown.

[color=tan]”Couldn’t last any longer than that? Aw, dammit.”[/color] He held the hunk of metal up in front of himself as more of the robots, Omnics and others alike, turned their attention to him to fire. Having a metal shield in place was a great deterrent for bullets! The Courier poked his shotgun out from the side and blasted another two robots, bullets tearing holes in his duster as they narrowly missed his skin.

[color=tan]”I c’n see yer not evil, rabbits, just varmints! Give me the hat and I’ll save yer sorry asses! If you don’t, then you all take a dirt nap too!”[/color] [b]Blam![/b] Another robot down, but the Omnic he held was too damaged to be used as a shield anymore. He tossed it aside and rolled behind some scrap for cover, while turning his radio back on. The sounds of bullets flying through the air were punctuated by the smooth singing of Peggy Lee performing [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2VTulxEDig]Johnny Guitar.[/url]