The city streets were dank and grim. Skyscrapers, like tombstones reaching to the heavens, stood on either side. It was sort of like a hallway--yeah, the gateway to Hell, thought Shinsen. The light armor he wore made a small shuffling noise as he walked the street. Dust filled the air from his left flank, a hundred meters (give or take) away. He flicked his body in one sudden motion behind a small piece of debris, left from the bombings the day before.

A heavyset man with a rather intimidating rocket launcher began to form from what used to be a concrete wall, and then a smaller, wiry one beside him, armed with a light rifle. Shinsen couldn't help but groan. His hands fell to his weapon, a B78 of goblin design. It fell from his shoulder on a strap to meet his hands, one on the barrel and one on the trigger. He tensed as the smaller began to speak.

Two words. Were they "Ru ros?" Whatever they were, the larger man growled a few words at the smaller, delivering the effect of silence upon the landscape. Shinsen pressed the "Panic Button" on his gun (goblin engineering's trademark) and tried to disappear. Too bad he didn't have that talent.

Shinsen took a deep breath and lay on his stomach. He pictured the large man—that would be the target of his shots, if he got the chance to fire them. He'd aim for the head and pray for a miracle…these territorial disputes with humans were getting out of hand. Seeing a few units come around the corner in response to his distress signal, he saw a prime chance. He clipped a small, mechanical tube to the bottom of the gun's barrel and lifted himself to one knee. Quickly, to maximize the time he had, he brought the gun's scope to his eye and flicked a switch on the attachment.

There was a small sound of metal being propelled at high speeds…and that it was, out of the "tube" that was his grenade launcher. In the ensuing explosion, the remains of the grenade began to spin, spewing out smoke from its top. He took the time to sprint behind different cover—good timing, considering how fast his former shield fell apart when a Gnomish rocket hissed towards where his head would have been.

Despite all their effectiveness, it just didn't have that quality of "boom" that goblin explosives had. Snapping himself to the job at hand, his eyes flicked to the mobile unit coming down the street—they'd be here in a matter of seconds. Before the dust cleared, he ducked to the side of a building on their side of the street. His heart was beating like mad, but it was hard to grimace with tusks in the way, so there he sat, mouth strung between a frown and a blank look. The smaller man took a few long steps forward, revealing himself to Shinsen's aim. Adrenaline denying any thoughts that might have once came to him, he pulled the trigger.

The man's body crumpled before the onslaught of the bullets. A surprised look lit the human's face as he fell. He could hear the larger man's steps thumping to his comrade's corpse, but the movement fell short of Shinsen's view. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his face. "He must be viewing the angle of the bullets. He knows I'm here…" he thought. It would come to a close-range duel—one of them would turn the corner, guns blazing, to find the other and kill him. He stood up…the odds looked rather equal. He had an automatic weapon which would not require much aiming, but his foe was bulkier, obviously under the influence of Gnomish technology.

Then it came to him. He took a few steps back, slowly, then quickly. His enemy burst around the corner, hoping to find Shinsen running, back exposed. He wasn't so lucky, and orcs weren't so cowardly. Changing directions, Shinsen sprinted to his enemy, surprising him. The effect was multiplied by the butt of the gun smashing into the man's groin… bowling over, he made a prime target, but Shinsen knew he'd be back with guns blazing before he'd have the time to kill him. Instead, he slapped a small, glowing stick to him, and ran. The human stood, and before he could rip it off, he fell.

A bullet had been placed promptly between his ears. A sniper from the response team had seen the flare and done his job in the only way he knew how. Shinsen's steps began to slow, as did his heartbeat. He walked to the team, made a pant of thanks to his savior, and took an AV3C vehicle to the base camp. Stranglethorn Square was a dangerous place.