Grizzly-Bar - Part 3.

“Ace,” Grizzly’s gruff voice barked out as the two padded down another corridor. “Were those friends of yours?”

“No way son,” Ace halted at an intersection and the two caught their breath. “The dock is this way,” with a jerk of his head he motioned to the right. “No, those two are big time trouble. I’ve heard whispers, here and there, but enough to know that where they are, we do not want to be.”

Grizzly nodded in agreement, then he concentrated, something nagged at his mind. “I think I’ve heard something too. Something about an ex-Marine trained as a Drop Marksman, a vicious shot too. I think she had a half brother or something. If anything, the way those two were all grins they were about to enjoy tearing that place apart. Let’s get to the ship and get out of here before anyone decides to blame you.”

“Hey, why would they blame little ol’ me?” Ace tried to look as innocent and as puzzled as he could, but Grizzly saw right through it.

“Cause, when there is trouble, they always do, Ace.” Grizzly scanned the corridors for any sign of threat and then grunted. “Alright, let’s get moving.”

Red lights erupted, at once the lighting went from bright and welcoming to a menacing atmosphere. Alarms sounded and the station’s intercom blared; “Alert, High-Caliber gunfire detected. All available security to the bar.” Ace and Grizzly looked at each other, and Grizzly roared; “Run!”

But as he flexed his legs to do just that Ace’s hand gripped his shoulder, his face gripped with concern and concentration. “Trouble, old friend. Most of the station’s security should be heading for the bar, but there is a small group of incredibly nervous folk headin' this way from behind us. My guess is, we got some recruits heading this way to avoid their first bit of action.” 

Over time Grizzly had come to trust Ace’s instincts about such matters. He had proven to the cyber-armed Ursian that somehow he possessed a unique talent for detecting emotions that bordered on full blown Empathy. So when he warned Grizzly, the ex-marine always considered it as if he had detected incoming on screen.  If a small security squad was on the way, then that would mean riot gear. They would want to disable combatants and limit any chance of damage to the station.

Grizzly would have no such limitations. With pride he noted a tactical advantage and flexed his steel-like fingers, and with a single thought allowed hidden mounts in his forearms to open. Each arm opened, exposing a raised Impact cannon; powerful double-barreled weapons with enough force to send anyone unlucky enough to be at the wrong end flying from their concussive firepower.

“Nervous did you say Ace, well, they should be. The bar isn’t the only dangerous place on this station at the moment.”