"No. That was way scarier." The raptors were a whole new level of terror - it's one thing to fear getting killed by an energy beam to the head. It's another to fear being torn to shreds and eaten alive by wild animals. While Howard's not eager to repeat either experience, he'd take the former.

"We dropped the idea of doing 'covert' an hour ago. He's making as much noise as possible to try and drag the fire away from innocent bystanders and let me take a crack at the security system." He glances back at the guy on the floor, who is no longer moving. Howard hopes he's just unconscious. "Would have worked, too, if the douchebag you Darth Vadered hadn't been listening to his iPod at work or whatever."

He follows Rory closely - Rory knows what he's doing better than Howard does, and clearly is willing to defend him, with violent force if necessary. Rory's gone up several ranks on the 'people to hide behind' list. Besides, Howard's work here is mostly done. "We stole a burn unit. Think we got a regen machine. I have a few stickers left in case of emergency."