Mythlands: THE HEIST

Part Two: A welcoming Bouquet

Old Mythlands Custom - Tired and thirsty travellers, especially those in the desert regions, are traditionally offered a welcoming bouquet and a friendly greeting. Of course in times of adversity, this custom has not been strictly observed and other forms of greeting, often dictated by expediency, have replaced this custom.

The trooper peered through his binoculars at the wrecked streets beyond the barrier. 'We got incoming. Better call the duty Judge.'

A second trooper snatched the vision scope from him. 'How did they get past the rad screens?'

'Checking readouts. They're clean ... at least six, coming in from the northern desert.'

'If they're not mutants or scavs, how the hell did they get through the forbidden zones.'

'Don't know, don't care. Protocol is to report to the Judge on duty.'

His companion snorted. 'You mean the Commander? He's not a real Judge. There's only twelve of em left, so I hear. Just because the Chief Judge appointed fifty new ones and gave high ranking to the Commander, don't make em the real deal!'

'Yeah well the Commander was the one who invited them here for the defence of the city and a damn good job too. Whatever you think of him, he was the ranking civilian official and he had the good sense to send out a request for help. The Judges or what remained of them, when their land was over-run, responded and helped us organize in the wakes of the first attack and their newly appointed Chief Judge has made our city an autonomous safe zone.'

His friend glared at him. 'State the obvious will you Trooper Exposition!'

'No more than you Trooper Recap. Now alert the Commander!'

*

The aforementioned duty Judge got the call moments later and struggled from his bed. His struggles continued as he squeezed his furry bulk into his black nylon body suit, pulled the specially made heavy boots up and straightened his knee padding. He then clipped on his belt with golden buckled insignia and reached for his two massive golden shoulder pads - one grooved while the right side one shaped like a giant eagle.

Next came the padded gloves and then he reached for his golden chest badge, which was attached to his chest by a length of chain that started at his neck collar. Then finally he strapped his side arm on and placed his plexi glass helmet over his head and called into Central.

'Get me Joe.'

A female voice at the other end sounded irritable. 'Show some respect please. He's Chief Judge now and you know very well he hates being called by his first name. If you must ignore protocol then call him Dre ..'

Judge Bear cut her off. 'Anderson, shut up and get Joe online. I'm responding to a call out from the north barrier. We've apparently got a group of rad free on the approach.'

'Scavs?'

'Could be. I'm told they're cleaned up and they got through the anti scav protocols set up in the Loony Town buffer zone. They approached the barrier openly and called up. I want Joe ... the Chief to authorize sending you down here to do a full psi-scan for surface intentions.'

'I'll ask but you know the Chief - he favours caution over anything else when it comes to protecting the security of Vega City One. He'll probably order a full burn.'

Judge Bear groaned. 'I really wish I Hadn't let Joe convince me to rename Myth Vegas. Hold on I've arrived ... Recap, hand me your vision scope.'

Recap handed it over and Judge Bear focused on the newcomers. 'That redhead looks familiar ... blonde with them and ... a cat, maybe two and there's a tall guy behind that ... what the fuck!'

Anderson's voice crackled in his ear. 'Judge Bear? LB? What's up?'

The former Little Bear's feature's creased into a look of absolute rage as he recognized his former boss. 'It's the fucking Hare! The bastard's still alive!!'

'Copy that. Checking files for the terrorist known as The Hare ... got a vague report of his death in the battle for Emerald City. Debunked after a positive sighting a year later ... rumoured to be leading a scav gang in the desert but reported wiped out in a routine Xano bombing on dateline ...'

'Shut up Anderson. Your precious reports got it wrong. That slippery bastard starts everything off and gets my dad killed and somehow he still gets to breathe! No fucking way.' He unclipped his side arm.

'Judge Bear ... comp shows your weapon has been activated. Stand down! Repeat, stand down!'

But Little Bear had deactivated his comms and his finger was on the trigger.

Down below, The Hare saw a bulky figure that appeared to be waving at him. He waved back.

'DIE!!!' Judge Bear's finger squeezed on rapid fire mode.