[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color][/h3]
[b]Level 5[/b] - (4/50) EXP (+2), [b]Level 4[/b] - (14/40)
[b]Location:[/b] Dirty Road
[b]Word Count:[/b]1040[/center]

Well this was disappointing. Nobody bothered to offer the Courier a ride in their kart even when he had asked the group as a whole. Ratchet would have let the wasteland wanderer ride with him but the Blue Falcon he had chosen was built for maximum speed, and that meant compensating by dropping space. Just himself, and of course occasionally Clank, were overfilling the thing with no room on the sleek design for a rider on the chassis. A bit dismayed, the Courier resigned himself to riding with the rabbids, though not before spotting that box of rifle ammo produced by Princess Peach that nobody else had seen fit to snag. He grabbed the rounds and boarded the truck, ready to fire into any oncoming enemies with his Ratslayer rifle… If he could survive the annoyance of the rabbids’ singing.

[color=orange]”Woohoo! Now this is what I’m talking about!”[/color] Ratchet cried out, following behind Bowser’s big car in his kart. It could go faster, he just knew it! He wanted to push the pedal to the metal and take full advantage of the Blue Falcon, so he did! Feeling the wind blowing through his fur, Ratchet sped passed all his fellow heroes and into the thick of things with the marauding bandits and their ramshackle cars. 

[color=orange]”Only five? We could take them all on!”[/color] Ratchet pulled down his goggles to protect his eyes from the rushing wind. Clank appeared, taking the wheel of the Blue Falcon kart and piloting it. 

“Do not underestimate our opponents, Ratchet. Remember that most of the people Galeem has brought to this world appear to be heroes of our own calibur.”

The Bombuilder materialized in Ratchet’s hands, to which he said while cocking the gun, [color=orange]”Long as we’re together little buddy, there are no heroes of our calibur!”[/color] The enemies began unloading their chain guns on the lone kart, so far ahead of its allies. Clank’s programmed piloting skills coupled with the Blue Falcon’s inherent speed kept them safe from the errant bullets, albeit only barely. A projectile whizzed by uncomfortably close to Ratchet’s long ears.

One of the unarmed buggies came careening toward them. Before it got close enough to ram them Ratchet fired off a proximity bomb, which narrowly missed the target. Still the explosion knocked the buggy off course, so they were safe from being rammed. “You appear to be aiming as though we were flying a ship in the weightlessness of space,” Clank chimed in.

[color=orange]”Yeah, I’m not used to shooting from a vehicle with gravity. I won’t make that mistake again.”[/color] He brought up the explosive lobbing gun for another shot, this one landing directly under the buggy as it tried backing up. The resulting explosion flipped the car over onto its top, no doubt killing the driver in the process.

[color=orange]”Thanks for the fun! I had a blast! Hahahaha-WOAH!”[/color] Ratchet had to duck back down to narrowly avoid a spinning blade of death as the largest of the cars nearly took him out. [color=orange]”Alright, that was too close for comfort. No more Mr. Nice Lombax!”[/color] Ratchet readied his gun for another shot.

“Pardon me Ratchet, but if I may interject. My time is almost up and I will have to recharge.” Ratchet looked down at Clank, then back to the largest, most dangerous enemy car. It had already moved out of reliable range.

[color=orange]”Gotcha. Don’t worry about it, little buddy. The cavalry is here.”[/color] Clank vanished as Ratchet took the wheel just in time to drift out of the way of a chain gun volley. Without a copilot he could shoot, so there was only one course of action: retreat. Thankfully the rest of the group had closed in the distance so the enemy fire wasn’t entirely focused on just him.

As Ratchet sped back to regroup with the others, the Courier unplugged his ears (the only solace from the annoying as hell rabbids), explosions having caught his attention. Running to the edge he spotted what all was going on: enemy vehicles slapped together by what looked to be ramshackle chicken wire and duct tape. Good lord, even [i]he[/i] could build a better junkyard scrap car than those things! Let’s see, Bowser was spitting fire into the fray, no surprise there. Bowser’s son deployed a bunch of footsoldiers, that was new but ok. And the funny looking wizard guy just grew the Centurion into a giant, well that’s [i]fucking delightful.[/i]

The Courier readied his rifle and took aim, only for a bump in the sandy road to throw him off. Gah! He readied himself again, only this time an errant rabbid bumped into his knee. [color=tan]”GGGRRRR!”[/color] He glared at the small creature which instantly backed off nervously in a cartoonish manner. [color=tan]”Fine. Time to bring in some heavier duty firepower anyway.”[/color]

Courier Six slung his rifle over the shoulder and went to work climbing up to the top of the truck’s cab. He almost lost his grip as it swerved once but that was no problem. He hoisted himself all the way up then crouched down. His striker, the robot Bastion, appeared in its sentry turret mode. [color=tan]”Fill any enemies full o’holes, Bastion! Protect the truck and Bowser’s car to keep’em off my back.”[/color]

Bastion immediately went to work, firing at whatever was closest to the rabbid’s trailer and Bowser’s car. For all intents and purposes this caravan was protected by its own personal automated sentry of death. Meanwhile the Courier was finally able to take aim, proper aim, with his Ratslayer. The target was the buggy with the tire blown off as the easiest target. Time slowed to a near still as VAST activated.

[i][color=tan]Target vehicle engine. Probability of hit: 98%. Unlikely to do a whole lot of damage that way though. The windshield is visible. Alter target, driver’s head. Accounting for range, firepower, size of target, and windshield barrier: 71%. I’d easily bet on those odds.[/color][/i]

Two bullets shot out from the Ratslayer and time resumed its normal pace.