Battle's Aftermath (part 3)

Probe

I hear the insane Tarin growl as he leaps at the startled Nattias.

Oh, I don't blame Nat for asking the dwarf to yield, though some would say back Home that he should have run the dwarf through and be done with it.

Part of what I like with these people is that they have a sense of honor that I find appealing, especially after seeing an decided absence of it back Home in many of the nonMilitary people (there were some out there, but it was rare).

By Gates, he even had his sword halfway ready, just in case.

It's obvious to me, however, that he's tired and that he didn't expect the dwarf to shake off his fatigue so quickly. So Nat's sword is only halfway up in defense as the insane Tarin analog lunges at the former king's throat.

Whip.

SLAAAAMMM!!

This world's Tarin blinks in shock as his twin's face dents the steel bars of his jail sail (sorry....jail cell.....that's Alliance slang who's derivation needn't be gotten into at the moment).

The insane dwarf collapses to the floor, and moans. Funny how dense a dwarves head is, else the little guy would be buzzard bait right about now......

A large part of his left cheek is disfigured, for it's obvious that facial bones have broken under the impact of collision.

The Avatar's reflexes are the best ones Alliance credits can buy (if they were for sale back Home....civilian tech has been frozen at levels of a few years before the Enemy struck....since all research and development of new tech and such has been focused and funneled to the Military....to be better able to fight the Enemy). Frankly, it doesn't matter whether AI pilots it or human pilot it, the response time is the same.

Either way, this is good for Nat, for I doubt that the dwarf would have been gentle with him if I hadn't been ready for such a contingency.

I whistle as I take out restraining cuffs (the type that even this Avatar unit couldn't break) and slap them onto the unconscious, mad dwarf.

I then let "our" Tarin out of the holding cell (which is set up in a similar manner to a 20th century cell in it's layout...except for lack of plumbing) and toss the loony one into the cell. The locals can decide what to do with him later (and I hope that they hang him).

That guy wasn't, by all accounts, somebody I'd trust with a dead cat before his finally snapping. Now, he's just begging for a noose......

1. As the combatants recover in Walants, people are talking in Ethiopia........

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