Here is a link to the first entry in this universe.  It is entitled “represent“, and introduces the protagonist that I imagined one day.

http://www.anomalousdata.com/PermaLink.aspx?guid=00a2cbb5-1d0b-45aa-8bc6-9478aaa102a4

Well, here goes...a continuation of the story:

     In the old movies Ape liked so much, energy beams screamed through the air, like cerulean and magenta banshees.

     He couldn’t help but reflect, as he waited for the perp’s charge pack to run out, that the people of the past would be slightly disappointed by the combat of today.

     Energy beams were colorless, and more or less soundless, and odorless for that matter, at least until they hit something.  Then they left the faint whiff of ozone.  Really, they made some noise, not unlike the hissing noise of projectiles.  Maybe a little more crackle to them though...and of course, they never got around to making the pa-twinging noise of projectiles either.

     No, the weapons they imagined were definitely flashier, he mused, as he watched the puddle of cooling metal form beside him.

     He’d had to drop his shield before he even got to the girder he was currently crouched behind.  Shields were pretty resistant to energy weapons, but somehow this guy seemed to have more juice in his hands than the average down-ender.  Some of the molten shield material still clung to Ape’s armor.

     The girder was getting pretty hot.

     Ape was beginning to think that maybe Detective Scripture and the others would get to this guy before he depleted, when the punishment of the beam stopped.

     Was the perp. depleted, or was he finally getting wise to the futility of repeatedly shooting a steel girder?

     Only one way to find out, and that was why he’d put himself in the point position.

     Gathering his legs under him, he picked his target and launched himself horizontally across a small gap between his girder and a stack of crates.  He wasn’t sure what the crates had in them, and he was pretty sure they were useless cover.  Didn’t matter, he didn’t plan to be there long.  A tuck and double roll brought him past the crates and a split second of frantic scrambling gained him a few more feet forward, and the cover of another girder.

     One look over his shoulder showed him smoking crates before his helmet caught some bleed-over from a shot that had only been partially blocked by the new girder. 

     Nope, their guy wasn’t depleted.

     His stat patch on the inside of the helmet showed it was fried.  One more hit like that and they would bury his body with a fused lump of what was left of the helmet, and what was left of his head.

     He dumped it, and hunched over to make better cover of the girder.

     “Sarge!  Hey!  Sarge!  You wanna join this party, or what?”  Pearl Scripture’s voice rang out from the perps last know position.

     “You got him nailed down, Scripture?”

     “Sure thing, he dropped hardware as soon as he knew we all had beads on him.”

     Ape got up and picked his way through the down-ender debris.

     “How’d he know you…?”

     The question died on his lips when he saw the molten sheen on the deck around where the down-ender was standing, weapon on the ground, hands in the air.

     Ape’s team didn’t take their eyes off the perp, but he could see by their grins that they could imagine the look of satisfaction and approval on his face.

     “Alright, look sharp people, this is where we actually have to close on him and get him wrapped up.  We don’t celebrate until we have him in reclamation.”

     “You sure you want to reclaim him Sarge?  This is the guy that’s been putting all the heat on our streets lately.”

     “Cut the chatter, Barry.”  Ape’s voice said; don’t tempt me.

     They were all green, but Barry was the one that really worried him.  He talked and walked and swaggered like a pro.  Those were the worst guys to have watching your back; so busy talking the talk and walking the walk they forgot to do the job.

     But the first one had gone well…very well.  This bunch of green sticks had just performed flawlessly on their very first hot op.

     Half the team holstered their energy weapons and switched to projectiles.  Ape closed on the guy and wrapped him up nice and tight; cuffs, collar and ankle bracelets.  Patted him down too, looking for triggers.  He wasn’t taking any chances knowing what this guy was into.

     It had been a foregone conclusion that they were going to have to down him in order to bring him in.  Having him still breathing and walking on his own was a coupe unlooked for by Ape’s fledgling team.

     This was going to look fucking good at the top of his resume.