" YOU BLOODY WELL WISH, GIRL. " maggie smiled in turn, the kind of sideways, lopsided grin that showed off her fillings, and thought [ not for the first time ] that ramya would do herself well on salvo with a mouth like that in a crisis. her gaze flicked loosely over the damage; nothing the medics couldn't fix if they won, and maggie didn't lose. she didn't lose and she didn't abandon her people, even if they were only hers for a little while. [ this game could take a lot of things, but it wouldn't take her integrity: it wouldn't take her way of waging war. ] " 'course i do. who'd'you think you're rollin' with? we get 'round that ridge, get some medicine in ya, n' i get to show those eggs how this old girl's meant to be handled. "
she cut an affectionate look to her own well-loved mastiff, a near perfect match to the one she had at home, hung up at talon hq. the thing about a shotgun, any shotgun, was that she looked like an amateur's golden ticket. when you got into the mechanisms of the thing it demanded more skill than most people were prepared for - though most people, of course, were not mad maggie.
" kia rite, " she said, shifting into a low crouch. she tracked the squad bearing down on them, or rather, gearing up to try. they had to get out of that apartment block first. god, but this was a ridiculous place to hold a bloodsport. " gonna need ya t'run when i say. "