Adenovirus 423 DC Armory: Command Center

Audibly sighing, Art sheathed his weapon in his pocket before leaning back onto a nearby wall with a light grin.
"Luck ain't a thing. If it existed, you woulda run out of it the moment this began."
For a moment, he relaxed his muscles despite his suspicions, keeping one leg ready to jump at a moment's notice. Shortly after, he began to stroll about the office, checking for potential weapons in the drawers, and under the rug as well as retrieving his missed throwing picks before approaching Jacob from behind.
I'm losing my edge again. These things just aren't working... maybe it's time I take up a gun.
With sarcasm, Art questioned him, "You packin' any heat?"
He turned for a moment to glare out the window at the voices, "We should hurry, they're getting riled up. Casey might not be able to keep them outside for longer, especially with this many people."
Without hesitation, he attempted to zip-tie the leader with a quick movement and to pat him down for any weapons.
 
"I'm fine," Robin grumbled, pushing himself up and getting to his feet. Evidently, his pride was injured more than he was. He glared towards Jacob, shaking his head before turning towards the door. There were voices outside, then yelling. "You guys have this, right? I'm gonna check on Casey," he said quickly, making for the door.

Outside, Casey shook his head at Mechanica again. "If we'd done that, he'd have had time to get away, or destroy evidence. I trust Asha, she's got it handle-"

It was then that Dickens kicked off his scene, cutting him off. Casey scowled, about to interrupt when Val's gunshot did it for him. He swore with surprise, taking an involuntary step back just as the door flew open behind him and Robin rushed out, wide-eyed. "What's going on?" he exclaimed, having obviously heard the gunshot.

"Everything's ... fine," Casey answered after a moment of hesitation. "Let's everyone stop waving guns around. Nobody's going to shoot anyone, okay? Dickens - and the rest of you - Trys doesn't have anything to do with this, so back off! Mechs, I get what you're saying, but this is the way we had to do it."

Robin nodded, although his hand hovered near one of the pistols at his hip, eyes locked on Mechanica's gun. "It's done with. Asha's dealing with Jacob now, he knows he's busted. We've got recordings of his radio transmissions and once I get my hands on his gear, I can prove it was him who sent them."
 
"Then call a meeting. Everyone here is ready to take down whoever attacked Jacob. You are lucky I got here first, despite what you may thing. I use non-lethal shot first. But I will switch if I have to." She warned Robin, her gun never once having moved. She understood why they had done it, But she still did not agree with how they had done it. "If all of you come with me to be detained, then there is less of a chance of a fire fight. Jacob will be taken too. You can present the evidence, the right way. But just attacking him in his office without telling anyone else has already caused infighting and riots. Parading him through the compound is going to get someone killed, unless all of you are taken. No one will know what happened. Not yet." She explained, still not having moved. Even the gunshot behind her had not fazed her. She had heard the scuffle behind her, and she thought about stopping it, But since it was taken care of, she could keep her attention on Casey and Robin.
 
"That's not your call to make," Robin scowled back at her. "You don't have the authority to make that call and you're the only one risking a firefight right now by waving that thing in our faces. Like hell we're letting you 'detain' us."

Turning his attention from Mechanica to the rest of the gathered gang members, Robin raised his voice. "Hey, all of you! Listen up! Asha's taken Jacob into custody to answer for sending her and her whole team to their deaths by colluding with the north. We've got evidence of him sending them coordinates over the radio. You all know us, and Asha, better than to think this is just a selfish takeover. Me and Casey have about as much interest in running this show as we do in jumping off the monument, so we've no reason to do this if it weren't to save lives from a traitor. So everyone calm down, and if she ain't gonna do it, can someone please stop Mechanica waving her gun in our faces before she makes mistakes we'll all regret?"

The gathered crowd murmured in response to Robin's little speech. The boys did have enough of a reputation to make many of the onlookers reconsider the situation. Both had been happy in their places for years now, and owed a lot to Jacob. Until today there wouldn't have been a question about their loyalty. Asha's name caused some ripples too - as one of the gang's most well respected field team leaders, she held a lot of influence when and where she chose to use it.

Nobody immediately moved to address Mechanica's gun, but the initial anger and confusion of the crowd seemed to have dulled to uncertainty. Jacob had changed in recent weeks, after all. The boys' story wasn't as unbelievable as it might have been last year.

At Robin's side, Casey flashed him an appreciative smile. "Always were better with crowds than me..." he murmured.

"I just have the experience of loving the sound of my own voice, I guess," Robin answered with a small grin.

Casey gave a short laugh, but cut off, turning his attention back to Mechanica. "Please, Mechs. You've got the initiative over there. This isn't going to turn into a firefight unless you pull the trigger. So just ... put the gun down, okay? You trust us, and Asha, right? We're friends."
 
The shot took Dickens by surprise, but seeing Val there suddenly didn't. The shot though had caused him to draw his own handgun as he felt threatened, but he wasn't going to back down. "We all know Fuck-Up is easy to groom. I mean look at him. He fucks up. All the time. And Jacob always calls him into his office and then he disappears for hours and is back to fixing up buggies... that send us out to our deaths. I mean wasn't it only a few months ago that our guys were attacked because Fuck-Up didn't listen. Lost us a buggy... Jacob might not have actually left evidence of his involvement because he didn't think he'd be caught."

Even if they didn't pursue his claims, he decided causing a bigger dent in Trys' reputation by having people doubt his intentions was damage enough, heck maybe Jacob would try and save himself by accusing Trys as well, if he heard his words. And what wasn't helping was that Trys wasn't saying anything more to defend himself as Val helped him up off the ground. He was going to have a big bruise from the punch to the face. His jaw hurt and there was a bit of blood coming from somewhere inside his mouth. He could taste the metallic liquid.

"I don't want to go yet, Val. I want to stay and see what's going on." Geez, speaking bloody hurt. He glared at Dickens but wasn't going to continue a pointless argument. He said he wasn't involved previously. He wasn't going to stand there and repeat himself or defend himself over something he had nothing to do with.
 
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"Good job," said Asha to Art. She holstered her revolver as Jacob was tied up. "Let's go. You have explaining to do. So do I."

Standing Jacob up, Asha guided him to the doors and nodded for Art to follow. She opened them up to the shitshow she was expecting. There had been a gunshot easily heard from inside the room, and Asha looked around for anyone who was injured. Trys was down the hall holding his cheek, but there was no blood. He was alright, probably hit by Dickens. Val was behind them, rifle in hand.

Ah.

The next thing she brought her attention to was the immediate threat. Mechanica, holding up a gun to them. She took in a breath and braced her diaphragm, letting her voice boom down the hallway. "Everyone. I understand you're confused, some of you are scared and on the offensive. Jacob is unhurt-" She presented the man in front of her, who glared at them all pitifully. "Please, if you'll allow me to explain, just hear me out in the Hangar. I'm calling a meeting."
 
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Art followed, lagging behind slightly. He paused for a moment before exiting into the hallway and quietly closing the door as Asha led Jacob out. He approached from behind them, standing slightly back in a shadow-like position, wanting to be unnoticed. Quickly, he discreetly reached forward and searched Jacob's pockets for the keys before returning to the door and locking it. Absolutely no tampering. Pocketing the keys, he returned to his former position, silent. Wish I could just leave, but that would be suspicious wouldn't it?...
 
Mechanica had not moved. "You all clearly don't know me as well as you think you do. As I have said, rock salt." She shifted her gun a bit. "And all I have is your word. You have presented no evidence against Jacob. Just hearsay." She knew she could possibly be seen as the bad guy there, but what they had done was beyond stupid. They went after Jacob without the support of the rest of the gang. It was already causing more trouble than they could handle, and they had not shown evidence. Trying to calm it seemed to work a little, but suspicions were going to run rampant with theories of who might have helped their dying leader. She watched the entire group after they walked out, then lowered her gun, but did not put it away. "I will trust your story when the evidence is presented. Not before. And if anyone tries anything funny.." She made a show of turning the large round metal piece on her gun and locked it into place with a loud cloick. "I will use lethal rounds. Better safe than sorry." She pointed out and stepped aside to let Asha and the others by her.

She looked down the hall and considered firing off a shot too, at Dickens. He was being just stupid and she wondered if he would fit in better in the north. He certainly acted like them. When Asha and her group moved, so did Mechanica, but she paused by Trys and Dickens, her eyes on the loud bully. "Those who yell the loudest about treason, are often guilty of it themselves." She said loudly enough for just those close enough to hear, then she moved on. She planned to keep an eye on Jacob and those detaining him. If things went bad, she planned to stop it before it got out of hand.
 
"You start shooting people, whether or not you think something's 'funny', it's going to turn into a free-for-all, and the death count'll be on your head." Robin snapped at Mechanica. "I don't know what you think you're achieving here beyond making an already tense situation tenser. How many times do I have to tell you waving a loaded gun in our faces is pointless posturing that's just going to get someone killed?"

Casey frowned at Mechanica. Clearly, what friendship he thought he'd had with the other mechanic wasn't worth much trust to her. It was disappointing. He put a hand on Robin's arm. "Let's just stop arguing here. The sooner Asha explains everything, the better. We ought to go and get the recording, so Asha can play it back."

Robin nodded. "We'll be with you asap, Asha," he called to the girl, before the two of them split off and headed back towards the workshop.
 
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