Ch. 8 - Back in Action

[Tori]

(Don't feel bad. I'm getting married Saturday, and honeymooning for a week. Liz is down the way and probably a little busy being the groom's sister)

"Tank and his goons ain't shit. We housed them once. Another shagcat'll make sport of 'em."

Tori contemplated this a little longer. She cleaned her plate, starting with eggs, shoveling with biscuits, then raiding the sausage, and some back bacon.

"Alright, Shep. The cat-hater is on Tony's tail, but we got our mission... Whaddya wanna do 'bout it?"

[Takota]

Takota smiles and turns as Tori bats at his tail. "You really should pick on Janxi. She's the one who attacked you." he comments feigning innocence. Of course that doesn't stop his tail from 'accidentally' brushing the side the smaller cat's face as he turns to take a seat next to her back at the table.

[Janxi]

Janxi's ears perked. "I heard that, Takota!"

She refilled her own plate, this time just more fried eggs, and a few more toast points. She rejoined the table and doused the eggs with more hot sauce.

"Yeah, assuming Tony doesn't come for us, what's the drill?"

[Takota]

"Well you did." Takota says in a playfully accusing manner to Janxi. He then applies himself to clearing off his plate again.

[dakota]

"Great, so you three go from killing machines to the kindegarten class with the flip of a switch?" Scope said with a chuckle.

"Easy bud," Shep warned," let them have their fun, I don't think any of us will be having much fun on this one." He then intentionally nudged Tori again to make her miss her mouth. " Didn't know you could miss a target that big, T-bag." Trassk started to laugh

[Tori]

"Y'all wanna take on any one or all-uv-us kittens any time, an' we'll be your Huckleberry," Tori's tail now swished with mirth, not annoyance.

Without thinking, she instinctively batted at Shep, blocking his "strike." It was unwise to mess with a feline during chow, unless someone fancied stitches. She gave a light growl of annoyance.

Parry [dice=20+10]

She rolled Shep into a head-pin:

Strike [dice=20+9]

And treated him to a nip on the back of his neck, like a mama would give a naughty kitten.

Strike [dice=20+9]

Damage: 0, pulled and just nip intended. No intent to harm, other than to serve up a shagcat, "Leave me alone, I'm eating" message.

Then, she let him up. Unless watching closely, none but the other shagcats would be wise to her lesson. Tiny little canine needles left little more than four tiny red spots.

"I ain't missed nuthin' I've ever aimed at, Shep." She then rewarded her most wayward "kitten" with two sandpapery licks to his nose, now purring as she finished her breakfast. "You gotta remember, yer dealin' wif someone cloned to kill."

(Add 6th sense to my rolls iffen ya like. I'm back!)[rand=7378723578636133796496907595854393742705739053818090468197969547]

[Mierin]

Sam simply chuckles as she watches Tori's reaction to what shep did, not interfering. Shep had pretty much asked for it, so she continued eating.

[dakota]

"I can roll him over so you can paddle his bottom too, Tori?" Det offered.

"Janxi or Tak mebbe, but not you while I have a vibro can opener." Shep said, picking up and putting his cap back on. " And it's not smart to be too rough on me, I'm the only one with that old swamper's hot sauce recipe." The XO grinned

Scope looed across the table at Sam, " He's always this annoying? I thought it was just a hazing."

[Janxi]

Janxi giggled at Shep's sudden predicament. "Don't go pokin' a shagcat wif a stick, 'specially when she's eatin'. That weren't rough. Ask yer buddy's man Glass Jaw 'bout Tori when she gets rough."

She finished her meal and licked her paws in a very feline way. "I think it's time to go to work."

[Tori]

"Naw Det, he got tha point." Tori finished her own meal. "An' sorry Shep. We're evolved from wild animals, ya know. Hope I didn't gitcha too good."

Cats seemed to compete in an unspoken competition to see who could be the cleanest. Once Janxi started to preen, she followed suit. "I know that's right, Jay-Cat. Let's go to work."

[dakota]

"Good thing I'm done eating, this would ruin my appetite." Shep grumbled as he got up from the table. "I'll meet you at the landing pad in time to go."

As Shep left, Scope leaned in to look at the others. " What's eating him? He barely ate anything and I've seen pregnant women have mood changes slower than him."

"I think it's Tacky's fault." Det said jokingly. " Shep was getting all the attention from the shags before our tomcat showed up I bet."

"You can beat him later, Takota." Scope said, shaking his head before looking to Sam," Really Cap, any idea what's eating the old fart?"

[Tori]

"I shouldn't've embarrassed him like that. It's mah fault and I'll apologize proper-like, iffen ya want, Six."

Tori rose from chow and took her tray to the KP area. She waited for Janxi and headed back to the squadbay. The little cat checked her rifle, then the attached shotgun. She covered her armor with a 3D camouflaged "chicken suit" that made stealthy cats even harder to spot. She then added her pack, with new, full corpsman's kit, added her knives, one in the boot, one on her right side. Her detkit came next. She slapped on her paired vibroclaws, one vembrace on each arm. Last came her ammo belts and pouches. Both bow-case with quivers and swim fins were attached to her pack.
She spent time tightening everything down, and checked Janxi's armor, weapons and carried items. Both cats wore Naval dive armor. It was as strong as dogboy or even crusader, and as quiet as the two. Unlike Dogboy, it was fully environmental, possessed some nifty optics, and some stealth features. Hers was painted in the Navy's digital woodland pattern. Best of all, and especially difficult with the camouflage pattern, the only death's head symbol on her suit was the subtle shape of the pauldron. She didn't exactly look CS in it.

"Alright Janx. I think I'm five-by-five. Let's go see some rats about a stolen gun."

[Janxi]

"Nah, Tori. It muss be sumthin' else. But makin' nice won't hurt none."

She followed Tori back to the squadbay, and followed her partner's steps. Free from the burden of a radio, she grinned and strapped the long case that held Sampson onto her pack. Camouflaged, all weapons checked, bombs, grenades, and her toolkit to repair anything from a radio to a truck were also present. She Checked herself, then checked Tori before pulling on her 8-point.

"Let's fox 'em up!"

[Takota]

Takota watches as the others leave waiting a moment before responding to Det and Scope.

"Well it could be my fault. I'm a cat after all, cats have tails and tails are sexy. Especially long, fluffy ones." is his comment to Det. He does not know Shep well enough to know what, if anything, might be bothering him.

The leopard knows he should head back and get his gear but it might seem like he is just following the others around. Not that he would mind doing that but they might want a bit of time to themselves once in a while also.

Staying at the table Takota relaxes a bit watching to see who comes and goes into the chow hall.

[Mierin]

Sam shakes her head at Tori and says, "No, that's not necessary. He had it coming." Glancing over at Scope, Sam shrugs and finishes eating. "I'm not sure, but I guess I should find out." Sam gets up and follows Shep and, once they can talk privately, asks, "Something going on, Shep?"