Four – Leonic

In the present…

"Right chaps, work over," said Brod. His team cheered loudly. "All down to the bar? Two rounds on me!"

They happily went down to the military bar. The interior was like a nightclub. Loud music blared through the entire place, coloured lights flashed, there were several VIP rooms for high ranking robots. Howard and Vince went to the bar, where a female Patch in orange armour stood behind the bar. She looked thrilled to see Vince in particular.

"What can I get you?" she asked in an excited tone.

"Two beers, ta," said Vince. "Commander Brod's treating us. Isn't that right?" he added in a shout to Brod, who was seated with the rest of the team.

"Aye," Brod shouted back.

The Patch got them both two bottles of beer. As Vine drank his, a waiter went up to him.

"Sir, your friend Naboo wants to see you," he said politely.

"Let him in."

"Very well sir." The waiter walked away. As Howard took another sip of his beer he noticed a group of girls talking and laughing as they drank their drinks.

"I'll bet you one of those girls will give you a good beating," said Vince.

"Don't be stupid," said Howard. "You've had too much to drink."

"I have not!" cried Noel, aghast. "I've only had half a bottle!" He slid a pouch of gigas onto the table. "I bet 5000." Howard slid another pouch onto the table as he said, "Deal." He got off his stool and casually wheeled over to the girls, swaying his fists to move. The girls spotted him and muttered something. A Surge in purple armour hovered over. From the side of her head it looked as if it was a bird's head with two buns. Hanging from under her buns were two long white triangles.

"Hey. Er … d'you … d'you want a drink?" stammered Howard. Something about this girl made him feel nervous. She simply smiled and accompanied him to the bar.

The Surge also had a Blocker for her shoulder. On her arm was a green and silver shield with a yellow 'H' on it. This was known as a Heavy shield. Her mini-bot was also an Orbiter 3. Her gun was a pink and white stripped Pallette gun. Her energy field was a yellow double-lined circle with an eight-pointed star touching the edges, called Circler. Attached to her back was a Red Dragon Flag, a rectangular red flag attached to a golden pole with the head of a Chinese-style dragon carved on. Stuck in its mouth was a purple ball.

Howard caught Vince's eyes as they approached the bar. He knew Vince was waiting for the beating. Unwillingly he slipped his arm around her waist. A quick, fierce flash in the Surge's eyes told Howard he had made a mistake. She sharply poked his wrist, forcing him to let go. In one fast movement she slapped him.

"PERVERT!" she yelled loudly. Fortunately the next song was so loud no one heard her. She pinned him to the wall, one hand on his neck, the other twisting his arm behind his back.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" cried Howard. He recognised her voice. "My friend Vince dared me to do that – I didn't mean –"

"Liar," snarled the girl.

"He's not," assured Vince. He had left the bar to join them. She let go of Howard, her eyes on Vince's bandaged thigh.

"How's your leg?" she asked.

"Its OK," said Vince. "You're the nurse, aren't you?" She nodded. "No wonder why we couldn't recognise you! You've changed literally everything on you from when we first met you!"

"I was hoping to meet you again. You really haven't changed," grinned the Surge. "I'm Leonic."

"Vince," said Vince as they shook hands.

"Howard," said Howard.

"Sorry about before," apologised Leonic. "I didn't hurt you too much did I?"

"Not at all. I've had injuries worse than this," replied Howard. He turned to Vince, who was grinning cheekily. "Alright, alright, you've won the bet." He turned to Leonic. "How did you know about our bet?" Leonic grinned.

"Let me just say we had help," she said. Howard and Vince suddenly realised the female Patch must have helped.

"Naboo's taking a while," said Vince as they returned to the bar. "Oh speak of the devil! He's here."

A Ram in orange and yellow armour known as Dusk-Runner approached. His feet were three toes sprawled out. His hips were wide, and his claw arm was a white anchor. On his head was a long orange ponytail. His gun was a rectangular light blue gun with a small dark blue muzzle, known as Proc-Ray. His shield was a Buckler, a small, round black and red shield. He didn't have a shoulder part. His energy field was red dots swirling around called Circler. His mini-bot was a green ball-shaped thing with a jade green propeller, called Mozap.

"Hello bro," said Naboo as he joined them at the bar. "I'll have an orange juice, ta." He paid the Patch several gigas.

"You took a while."

"Got held up by the security. They had to scan me from head to foot. Nearly scared the life out of my Mozap."

"What're you doing nowadays?" asked Vince as Naboo took a sip from his juice.

"Been living rough, me," said Naboo. "Bollo's a real mate, I've been living with him. I'm doing no particular job, just doing what I can get my hands on."

"Are you a level 40?" asked Leonic.

"41," corrected Naboo. "Man, Synapse costs. The price jump from Dusk-Runner to Synapse is just stupid!"

"I'm sure there are job vacancies available in the army," suggested Vince as he drank from his beer. "I think they're looking for a new band of recruits." Naboo choked as fear shot through his face.

"Nah, I don't like the army," he quickly said. "Too rough. No offence, but I'd prefer to keep my limbs together all in one place."

"Awwwww why not?" asked Vince. "It's not like you're going to be purposely put into elite squads. It takes years of training to do so."

"Look, I don't want to," objected Naboo. "I need to go, thanks for letting me in." He drained the rest of his drink and hurriedly ran off.

"Something's up," muttered Howard. "Why does he always object?"

"He does look familiar. I dunno why I think that, but he does," said Leonic. "I'm guessing you might want to know my girl friends since we're one of the few female groups around the place."

"Yes please."

"That Surge also in Cyblade is Irna – she's bit of a softie. You see the Ram in Frost Grappier? That's Eleena – she was originally training as a bomb specialist but she changed paths. The Ram in Synapse with the Raptor wings is one of the few female Air Assault members. She's called Hendra, and her male teammates all fancy her. The other Ram in Synpase is Katrina, she normally deals with patients with big, horrible injuries. The Patch in Firewall is Josie, she's good at keeping patients calm. And the Patch that served you is Georgie, she can handle bar fights and drunken robots very good. Apart from Irna and Georgie, we're all nurses," said Leonic. "We're all single, apart from Irna. Her boyfriend is the Ram in Illuminum – he's just there with his mates – he's called Jayo, and he's a General. You wouldn't want to cross him, he's also vice chairman of wages distribution."

Howard and Vince were stunned by how powerful these girls were. Leonic turned to them, obviously expecting their reaction, and calmly said, "Do you want another drink?"