Chapter 4: The More Things Change
"Who are these people?" Goliath asked.
One of the Iron Grenadiers snorted contemptuously.
"You been sleeping under a rock, ugly? We're the Iron Grenadiers- some of the toughest soldiers of fortune that've ever graced this world! And you're in our way!" he proclaimed.
"Don't brag about us, Sawbones." one of the Grenadiers piped up.
"Shut up, Psi-Spy! We've got a job to do, and these…things aren't going to stay in our way!" came the reply.
The six drew their weapons and readied them.
"Open fire!" Sawbones ordered.
A barrage of laser beams, shotgun shells, and gyrojet rounds were fired at the gargoyles and missed, damaging some portions of the castle's masonry.
"You do realize this isn't going to look good on the performance evaluations!" Sawbones griped.
"Bite me!" Goshawk replied as she fired her pistol.
As if on cue, the rocket hit a loose bit of stone, sending it toppling towards the ground.
"Whoops." Psi-Spy deadpanned.
"All units be advised- we have a disturbance at the Eyrie Building. Watch out for falling debris." the police dispatch ordered.
Elisa Maza nodded as she turned off the car radio and emerged into the crowd surrounding the Eyrie Building.
"NYPD!" she exclaimed as she flashed her badge.
Just then, the bit of masonry dislodged by the rooftop gunfight hit the street, scattering the crowd like tenpins.
"What have we got h- oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Elisa grumbled as she surveyed the stone.
What could possibly be strong enough to leave claw marks in solid stone? she thought.
"You got the discs, Metal-Head?" Sawbones asked.
"Yeah, I got the stinkin' discs. Now let's get out of here!"
The helicopter flew close enough for the Grenadiers to board, and then it flew off into the night.
"What sorcery was that?" Goliath asked.
"Trust me, it wasn't sorcery." Liquidator replied.
Owen clucked his tongue.
"Why were they here? What did they want from us? And why attack tonight?" he asked.
"I think I know why- the discs." Xanatos answered.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
If you're wondering what a gyrate is, it's a type of gun that fires miniature rockets. You may be familiar with it if you're a fan of Warhammer 40,000, in which you know it as the bolter. Granted, the gyrojet weapons of Earth-H aren't nearly as powerful (the 40k bolter is in .75 caliber). As for why the gyrojet never caught on in real life- the weapons built suffered from severe design flaws, and the weapon was rendered a footnote in firearms history. As for their presence on Earth-H, we can just say that Destro and his company ironed out the design flaws and call it a day.