not sure if anyone still reads this, but new chapters are coming, been really busy with my final year of school. sorry.


Chapter#4: Urban Flight.


The wooden stool creaked below me as I sat down. Silence permeated through the bar as I sipped down some ill quality liquor, that by all accounts refused to cleanly free itself from the confines of my glass. Looking to the bartender I asked quite plainly for another to which I received and responded by slamming it down before placing the grimy glass back on the table.

"Sooo Mr… Freeman, never seen you before, accents… strange I can tell you're not from these parts."

"Lotta shit happened in the last two weeks." I responded blankly. Killed a lot of people, don't give half the shits I should, lost my second job of a week, leveled a city, launched two rockets, and might have turned Lamar into a unique statistic…

"Well how about you start with that unique armour, odd as it is most people don't come into a bar in full plate save for the guardsmen."

"Its for environmental protection" I responded matter of factly.

"You fighting off bears with it or something?" The bartender asked chuckling.

"Yeah" I laughed back "something like that." After weeks of so little food it should have occurred to me that liquor would hit hard, but by this point I could feel myself slipping away.

"Thought you'd hold drink better" the bartender said looking me up and down.

"Haven't eated for a while" my face felt numb and words spilled out wrong when I spoke.

"Ah I see" the bartender turned to serve another patron, "stay out of trouble alright."

All I managed to respond with was a little nod as I got up.

I looked through the nearest window to the high moon half obscured by smoke and traded in some floor money for a room. Walked up the stairs clinging to the rail for dear life and opened the stained wooden door to a small room with a single straw mattress bed. didn't bother taking off the HEV, instead dropping the gravity gun to the floor next to the bed, collapsing into a dreamless sleep.

It was about noon when I came to, sun illuminating the room. I got off the bed and slung the gravity gun over my shoulder and made my way downstairs, the bar was more populated than it had been the night before, likely due to the Borealis situation calming down.

The regulars who had been absent, eyed me off, not quite sure what to make of me, and to be honest I didn't particularly care until a burly one got up and blocked my path, beer mug in hand.

"Who are you fresh meat?" His breath reeked of liquor and tobacco and his voice was harsh and low, as he spoke some patrons made their exit from the bar, others simply focusing on the surely intricate stains on the rough hardwood floor.

"Dr Freeman'' I sighed with slight dismay trying to get past.

"No no, you're staying here." The drunkard laughed, shoving me into the table with one of his callused hands, "I don't like your tone!"

I looked at the man with disdain, as his friends got up. Oh fuck me sideways.

"May I please exit sir?"

"Yeah yeah so long as the next round is on you, and you remember how things are around here you'll be free to leave," A small smirk found its way onto his lips.

"Sir… I have no money, how do you possibly expect me to pay for another drink let alone the next round," as the words left my mouth one of his friends inched closer.

"You know I hate nothing more than liars." His friend was about three feet from me now, and as he spoke I activated the HEV systems.

Orange text scrawled across the modified lenses of my glasses, slightly chopped up as the one cracked lens reflected light off the displeasing noticeable imperfection, the familiar voice of the suit spoke for the first time today the borealis power surge seemingly unmuting the startup sequence that the mark 5 had seemingly lacked: "Welcome to the H.E.V. Mark five protective system.

For use in hazardous environment conditions.

High-impact reactive armour activated.

Atmospheric contaminant sensors activated.

Vital sign monitoring activated.

Automatic medical systems engaged.

Defensive weapon selection system activated.

Munition level monitoring activated.

Communications interface online.

Have a very safe day."

The familiar buzz of the movement assistance motors mellowed after initialization, there were four men now, no not men, four hostiles, best not to start humanising them now that they had forced my hand.

"Whatcha got there?" the closest man growled as I maintained a deadpan look.

"Nothing important" I replied dryly, waiting for hell to break loose.

"Maybe we can sell that suit of yours for the next round" the man suggested sneering, "whaddya say?"

I looked him coldly in the eyes with a deadpan stare "I'm going to kick your ass."

Time slowed as the man to my left who had slowly approached prepared to strike with a beer mug. His face was faintly scared in places, pale almost yellowed skin and eyes showing the price of living in a bar, he wore leather work overalls lightly stained with blotches of wood varnish. His swing narrowly missed as I moved aside, table blocking any real retreat. I watched a bead of sweat slowly roll down his face as I reached to my side and grabbed my crowbar. I swung it in a sweeping arc to the side of his head, watching as the bare steel turned red as the painted grip. The man collapsed onto the table, I collected myself and stared down the two who were now rushing me, while the leader hung back with the now screaming patrons. I jumped up onto the table behind me without effort as the HEV servos did most of the work. The first to reach me attempted to climb up after me, a well aimed swing broke his neck. The second actually hit me when I jumped down to run, sinking a hook into my gut, damaging his hand far more than me. he blocked the first swing of the crowbar with an arm, I undoubtedly broke it, the second ripped twin gashes through the bridge of his nose, and the third cracked his skull like a walnut, spattering crimson blood across the gray of the HEV's arm bracers. I secured my crowbar to the suit before I made a break for it, the entrance of the establishment drawing ever closer. The leader of the group tackled me through the open door and railing sending a cascade of shattered railing veneer to the ground, we both scrambled to get up, dust converting the blood splattered on me into a grimy red tar.

"Think your some fuckin hot shot?" the man groweled, "ill fuckin beat you bloody."

"Calm down," I groaned, "you're embarrassing yourself you drunk bastard." my colt python found itself in my hand as I prepared to finish things.

"Fuck you!" The man raged, raised the battered mug and took a swing at my face, the last of my suit power reducing the impact with a few blue sparks.

I fell backwards towards the ground and raised iron sights to the man's head.

Mid Thirties, brown eyes, slightly olive skin with a bushy black beard.

The man's head exploded out the back painting the street red, he toppled over much like a metrocop excluding a mask.

I collected myself and bolted down the street, bystanders moving aside so as to not impede my progress. Twin roars sounding from the top of the town wall as I vanished into an alleyway. I considered what had happened as the adrenaline high subsided, I felt nothing.