3 Days Ago
Location: Unknown

Through the scope of his rifle a deadly assassin observed two figures enter through a doorway. They were in a skyscraper about two blocks away; the sniper was well-hidden in the cold, dark, and rainy night. Hover cars and personal flyers zipped by back and forth through the skyscrapers while the street lights illuminated most of the areas below. But none of that bothered the high-ranking personnel in the tower. A well-placed shot could have easily ended the life of both individuals, but only one of them was the target. The sniper sat calmly, his trigger-finger motionless, his breaths long and quiet. Finally, one of the men left the room, closing the door behind him. The assassin waited... and waited... and waited... about ten seconds went by before he finally began to squeeze the trigger. A loud, far-reaching 'boom' erupted throughout the night. It would have been hard to hear with all the traffic and the rain, but it wasn't exactly quiet.

After observing the man's body through his scope the assassin lifted up his rifle and took a deep breath. Mission accomplished, he thought to himself.

Current Day
Location: Corvais; Alcatone District; Strattix Headquarters

"Identification: John Taylors. Entry: confirmed. Thank you." The robotic voice sounded off and the elevators doors opened up. The smell of a clean office rushed into the confined area and the lone individual stepped out of the elevator and into the room. The office was a semi-circle, on the north-side of the building; the entire wall was nothing but a large curved window, overlooking the bustling metropolis of Corvais below. The metallic-gray ceiling and floor, and the matching desk and chair gave off a sleek, slender, and professional look to the whole office. The chair was facing out of the window, and the figure sitting in it was patiently awaiting his visitors.

"That's the last one, Dax," the newcomer said. "Why didn't you tell me he had a daughter? Now she's going to grow up without a-"

"Does that really matter, John?" The man in the chair slowly spun around. He was an old guy, but not to old. while wrinkled, his skin was relatively healthy. His hair was ash-gray, neatly fixed, and his dark blue eyes still had some gleam in them. "How many fathers have you killed before? How many brothers, sons, and nephews?"

"Yeah well... that's the last time, Dax. I've had enough of these business dealings. I came to you for a reason, and if you can't fulfill your end of the bargain then I can't fulfill mine."

Dax laughed off John's angst. He sighed and started sifting through the paperwork on his desk. "You know how the game works. In order for me to provide the weapons, the funds, and the ordinance you require to fight Gortex, I need the proper business partners to invest in my business. Everything's a game, John, you just have to move the right pieces at the right time."

John shook his head and sighed loudly. "Well, enough with business... let's get back to my previous mission. You said you had something urgent, something to do with Gortex? Did you find a lead on him?"

Dax ignored John for a few moments before finally picking up a small thumb-sized computer drive. "Unfortunately not. But I have the next best plan." Dax held up the drive with his index and thumb fingers.

John looked at the drive for a few seconds before finally asking, "this had better have some coordinates on it."

"It comes with plenty. But none of them are Gortex." John sighed and was about to interrupt but not before Dax hopped up out of chair and leaned forward. "You're not the only one after Gortex, John. Don't forget why I put that gun in your hand." There was a moment of silence as the two individuals faced one another. "This drive... it has very important- very classified files on it. Level 10 access only, but I've already made sure my personal receptionist allowed you that privilege. And it is Strattix-coded, meaning it is only recognized on Strattix drivers."

John took the drive from Dax's hands and observed it for a moment before asking, "what's on it, exactly?"

Dax sat back down in his chair. "You're not the only one after Gortex John, and time is running short. Your efforts have done us a tremendous help, but I'm afraid you can't do this alone. The idea is for you to build a team composed of anyone who could aid you in your quest. That drive there, it contains the names, known histories, and backgrounds of dozens of potential candidates. Not only that, but very important information on potential hostiles, threats, and persons of interest. The fate of the Republic, possibly even the galaxy, rests in the hands of you and your allies."

John shook his head, a bit hesitant to agree to this. But Dax was right, if he really needed to go after Gortex, he was going to need more help. "Alright... I'll get right on it..." John nodded his head to Dax, turned, and walked back towards the elevator. As the doors opened, Dax called back, "John, be careful about opening those files. You may not want to see what's in some of them." By then John had already entered the elevator and the doors began to close...

15 Minutes later
Location: Corvais, Strattix Headquarters, Private Docking Station 3

John sat in the seat of the sleek Phoenix-3, specially-crafted for important missions, given to John by Dax himself. As he prepped the ship for take-off he plugged in the drive to the ship's computer. "Welcome back, Agent Six," the AI said. "Would you like me to decrypt and analyze the files on this drive?"

"Yes, Ellie," John said. 'Ellie' was actually LE-10, an artificial intelligence that assisted John in his travels ever since he began working for Dax Strattix.

"Decryption in progress." As the computer screen show the files being collected and decrptyed, John began to lift Phoenix-3 off the ground. The engines were turned downwardsm allowing the ship to slowly rise. With all traffic clear he engaged the forward controls and the ship began to move forward. As soon as he was sure everything was clear, the ship zoomed towards the traffic of the city. He easily transferred into the stream of other vehicles, zipping through the corridors of the overhanging buildings. "Decryption complete. Assumption: Mr. Strattix has assigned you to become acquainted with 'Candidates List' and assassinate 'Hostiles List'."

"Any recommendations?"

"Closest Candidate: Amynta Lianez. Mixed species. 25. The file implies she lives in an apartment here on Corvais. Assumed talents include medical skills."

"Perfect, set up the best route to get to her apartment. She's first on the list. Anyone we should be worried about?"

"Potential Hostile: Alpha. Hydraxien. 16. The file implies Alpha is a potential threat. He is from Hydra-4, but a genetic mutation has allowed him individuality. If allowed to make contact with Gortex, Alpha may propose an alliance. Having a species like the Hydraxiens as enemies could prove troublesome. Recommend immediate extermination of Alpha."

Hessta stared coldly at the bound man he had been interrogating for the past twenty minutes. Neither one had spoken, but Hessta had been staring at his target with his unblinking eyes and sharpening his scimitar. The effect was quite pleasing to Hessta, as the man had begun to squirm uncomfortably about five minutes ago. Finally, Hessta silently moved closer to him, never once breaking eye contact.

"You have two options." His voice was harsh and the 's' was just slightly extended, Hessta usually toned down his Yuan-ti accent to make it simpler for people to understand him. "The first: You could stay silent and force me to use these," He raised his scimitar with ease "Which, while giving me a good round of fun, would make my employer very unhappy." He smirked "After all, no one likes to collect money from a dying man. Or, if you would prefer to keep your face as it is, although a little surgery wouldn't hurt, you could give me the money you owe and I can go on my merry way." Hessta ran a finger along the edge of his blade and flicked his forked tongue out "Your choice."

The man was obviously afraid, Hessta smelled his fear and could sense his rising body temperature, and after a few moments, the man looked away and Hessta frowned. He inched his way closer and put the blade of his scimitar on the man's arm, putting almost enough pressure on it to draw blood. The man gulped and struggled to get his arm out from under the blade.

"Okay, okay! Don't kill me!" Hessta smiled and the man spoke again "The money is in my account, if you let me go I can get it out and come back."

Hessta hesitated for only a moment before he slammed his arm under the man's neck and pushed him and the chair he was tied to up to the wall. His voice was deathly quiet and his accent came through clearly "Do you think I have never heard that before, Sscum? I am not the fool you take me for." He glared coldly and bared his fangs "Here iss what'ss going to happen now: You are going to give me your account number and passsword, I am going to take you to the nearessst checkpoint, and I will tesst your information by withdrawing the money you owe Madame Giran." He put the blade of his scimitar under the man's chin "If it doess not work or triggerss an alarm, I will have to take the money in the form of flesshh." Hessta knew he wouldn't have to follow through on his threat, because the man immediately nodded and spoke in a panicked, fearful tone that Hessta always found amusing.

"Yeah, okay! P-Please don't kill me! You can have the money, just let me live!"

Hessta dropped the man and smiled "Excellent." Once again, his accent was hidden and he dragged the chair onto his ship.

---

Madame Giran smiled at the pile of money in front of her. She turned to Hessta and furrowed her brow slightly "You're sure this is the full amount?"

Hessta shrugged "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

Madame Giran laughed "Oh, excellent work! You know, that pest avoided the last three bounty hunters I sent after him, I should have called you sooner." She winked "I guess it's true what they say: If you want it done right, get Hessta Kerso to do it."

Hessta forced a smile and slithered to her desk "Of course. My pay?" He held out a hand and Madame Giran laughed again.

"Always business with you, Kerso! You should learn to have some fun!" Hessta didn't move and she sighed, opening a drawer "Fine, fine. Here you are, just as I promised." She handed Hessta a small computer chip and pointed to it "That program will allow you to go undetected by almost any starfighter, although the bigger ones are a little trickier to fool."

Hessta nodded and turned towards the door "It's good enough for me."

Just before he left Madame Giran smiled and tossed him some money from the pile on her desk "Here!" He caught it easily and she smirked "Go get yourself a girl or something!"

Hessta forced another smile and left, rolling his eyes as soon as the door was closed. He muttered under his breath "Humans."

As soon as he got onto his ship, he installed the chip Madame Giran gave him and took off, eager to test it out although he didn't once forget his reason for getting it. Hessta flew off towards Corvais and smiled.

"I'm coming for you, Gortex."

Going through space a pack of viscous pirates were setting up an ambush. There was a criminal on the loose supposedly going through the sector but the pirates sources weren't exactly reliable but all else fails they could just raid any ships coming by. Normally the band of scoundrels wouldn't go for a bounty but this particular bounty had been put out by one of Gortex's more trusted of goons which meant there would likely be a hefty reward.

After waiting a few hours nothing had come through except a few traveller with nothing very valuable on them and a few cargo ships. The pirates were getting restless and were beginning to think their info was sour. But just as they thought that and were about to leave a strange cargo ship came passing through. The pirates quickly closed in on the ships position and stopped the ship. As they went to board the ship they all began running over the only facts they had about the criminal in their heads.

He supposedly had a claw for a hand blood as cold as death itself and emotionless eyes. Some of the lower grunts of the pirates were scared for the fact that this guy managed to do something to Gortex and get away with it but most of the other pirates just saw it as another loose end he needed tied up. When boarding the ship on a near by asteroid where the criminal was told to land they searched the ship from top to bottom but all they found was quite a bit of money and a deactivate, cloak wearing droid.

The pirates took the droid and money aboard their ship and re-set up in the sector as some of the brainier pirates began to try and access the droid's data banks but as they began to try and open him up the robot sprung to life. The pirates pulled their weapons on the droid but the droid quickly disarmed the two nearest to him, one by punching him in the gut and the other by crushing her wrist with his hand. A third egghead fired a ballistic round at him which hit him in a already damaged piece of his chassis which penetrated into the robot. The robot quickly spun in a circle spraying his icy cold alloy over the man stunning him just long enough for the droid to draw his own gun and fire at the man killing him.

The droid fought his way through the pirates onboard the ship, about fifty not very well trained warriors until he got to the main deck where the leader was holding up. The droid walked into the main deck slowly as his metal feet clanked on the floor. The pirate leader aimed a high caliber, completely illegal, rifle at the droid with shaking hands "what are you?" The leader said with a shakey voice trying to sound brave "me? I'm Midas." He said as he quickly ducked under where the rifle was aimed and leapt at the leader using his upgraded legs to make the massive leap. The leader shot narrowly missing the droid and puncturing the hull of the ship while Midas flung the leader at one of the near by windows shooting him off into space. Now Midas began to get blown out I to the reaches of space. Now floating, the calm robot took out his gun which he had holstered and began firing in the opposite direction of his ship which gave off enough force to send him flying towards his ship.

After around ten minutes Midas got back to his ship and hoped aboard getting into the back where he began to use a plasma lighter to weld a sheet of metal onto his chassis after he fixed up his insides to the best of his ability. Now with a fixed up body he began flying off again, to wander and plunder.

The Star Vampire sailed through space, smooth and quiet as an owl in flight. Despite the speed that it was racing forward at, its unique propulsion system made it a ghost's shadow in the void of space. Inside the cockpit, though, the sound of abrasive electronic music pulsed rhythmically. The Star Vampire's teenage pilot, Kiril Genome, diligently attended to its controls and instruments, smoothly maneuvering between obstacles on the race course.

The fighter's radar picked up another ship closing in, and Kiril smiled. There he was, the fool with the guts to challenge the legendary Void Dragon to a private death-race. The next Red-6 Grand Prix wouldn't be for another few months, and so Kiril had taken to accepting challenges from the few isolated loonies that wanted the thrill of racing him. The extra income never hurt.

This guy was really nothing special. A hadron-accellerant engine, electron shields and the usual tricks; EMPs, plasma mines, and a proton lance that he thought Kiril didn't know about. Absolutely nothing Kiril couldn't handle. He had taken a head start at the beginning of their race, but Kiril took the inside track and quietly pulled ahead a few minutes ago. Only now was he catching up.

Kiril pulled back, letting his challenger pull ahead a short ways. He lined up behind the ship, and shifted the Star Vampire into its mecha form. Targeting the other fighter, he charged up the Hydra, and fired its concentrated blast. Surprisingly, the other ship somehow anticipated the beam and swiftly dodged it. Kiril fired a volley of hadron cannon blasts, but these too were dodged. Kiril was intrigued. Either he actually had a decent level of skill, or a sophisticated tracking system. Either way, Kiril would need to deal with him quickly, as his energy readouts indicated that he was now charging his proton lance. The Star Vampire didn't have enough charge in its battery after half a race and several high-power shots to deflect a shot like that and still win the race. Dodging would be too risky in mecha form, so the only choice was to eliminate the other racer before he got his shot off.

Kiril began to punch numbers into the Cor Leonis, plotting several advanced, complicated trajectories. The computer system handled about half of the work, leaving much of the calculations to Kiril. His hands danced furiously along the controls, before finally slamming down to release the chaff missiles. They launched, scattering sheets of thin, reflective metal between the two ships. He then fired the Hydra again, splitting its beam into many, far weaker shots. The lasers hit the chaff, bouncing in many directions. After being reflected back and forth several times, many of the beams zipped toward the challenger's fighter. He dodged each expertly, weaving between the many refracted beams, then slowing and flying straight as though to taunt Kiril.

"You're good," Kiril said to himself, quietly, "But you don't seem to count very well."

The other half of the beams, which had taken more complex, reflected routes, then shot toward the other ship. Not anticipating these beams, it was lanced by the lasers in several directions, and then exploded.

Kiril sat back in his cockpit seat, content with his victory. He set up the online credit transfer to begin (an arrangement made prior to the race to complete their wager should either of them die), and charted a course back to Red-6.

---

After making it back to his hanger-apartment on the ramshackle space station and docking the Star Vampire to recharge, Kiril sat at his workbench with a cold drink. He was half-stripped out of his flight-suit; mostly unzipped with the upper half hanging from his waist and his chest bare. The living arrangements weren't bad; he had room to work and keep his ship, the rent was fairly low, and not too many questions were asked. The otherwise squalid state of the apartment and the area it was in didn't bother him.

He set his phone in its docking cradle and set it to read through the Red-6 bulletin boards for him. It kept him up to date on ongoings in the Deadzone, and was also where challenges to Void Dragon were typically posted. Given that the general public couldn't say whether or not he was actually some kind of experimental robot, much less who he was, thid was the only reliable means of getting his attention. There was another reason that Kiril always listed to the local news, but that was a far more personal matter.

As the synthetic voice on his phone prattled off mostly meaningless information, Kiril tinkered with a few projects lying out on his bench. Experimenting with weapons had been his fancy lately, particularly ones that could run off of an ambient power source.

Kiril fiddled with various bits and bobs as he listened to the news, but grew tired before long. Yawning, he shut off his phone and stripped entirely out of his flight-suit, hanging it next to his helmet. He pulled on boxer shorts and an oversized tee-shirt, brushed his teeth in a dirty mirror, washed his face, and climbed into "bed." It may have been a hammock suspended between two large pieces of industrial equipment and covered in overstuffed quilts and blankets, but Kiril liked it. As Kiril drifted off to sleep, he dreamt a dream he often had: a dream of stars and gods, of men and myths.

The bass thumped in the background as Cyrus grasped an iron free-weight in each hand. He stood up, and walked towards the large window on the opposite wall. Out it he could see the busy streets, hundreds of people walking each and every way, some heading into the busy nightclub which was the cause of the music which he could hear in his apartment away from the establishment. Others wandered down alleys, likely looking for drugs to purchase to make their lives better. He didn't pity those people, this place, Red-6, it could be a total hellhole for those who were unprepared or just not tough enough to live on it.

Cyrus himself was used to it, he knew the ins and outs, what roads not to walk down, what people not to associate with. He was mostly left alone in his simple, cheap apartment. He never needed much space to live in, this worked fine, it was in a bad area of town so the rent was very cheap. He stared out the window but began to pump the weights in his hands, curling them up then down. Doing it to the consistent beat of the music leaking out from the nightclub. After several minutes he stopped, then turned around, his back to the window.

He looked around his tiny living room, most of which wasn't even for living, it was really just a weight room with a television and an old couch. He placed the two free-wights down next to his bench, then walked towards the thick iron bar seemingly jutting out from the wall nearby.

He began to grasp the bar, but stopped, his eye catching something out the window. A group of men, dressed in light combat armor. They stuck out like sore thumbs in this part of the area, probably mercs of some kind. He watched them turn down another route, before disappearing into the crowd once more. Cyrus briefly wondered if those men were employed by Gortex, but he figured they weren't. They look like common mercenaries, not the kind that the crime lord would employ. You'd know those kind when you saw them.

He shook his head, then grabbed the bar again with both hands. He pulled himself up, easily putting his chin over the top of it. He continued along, easily going into double digits. His mind mulling over going into the streets as he exercised, maybe he would actually enter the nightclub. He very rarely frequented a place such as that, the last time he did was when he worked for Gortex, and that was months ago.

He had spent his time since then just doing simple jobs, stuff that put money on the table, but wasn't too risky. Mostly bounty hunting jobs, people on the station wanted another person on a different part of the station brought to them, usually alive. He hadn't put a lot of thought into what to do next. Maybe actually leave this hellhole, or maybe not, he kind of liked it, in a strange way. He was used to the hellhole.

Tayla sat at the bar, swigging her cheap beer that tasted like somebody brewed in a metal barrel in their garage. The untalented boy with greasy uncared for hair wailed into the microphone somewhere in the back, some whiny song written to a girl about how his testicles exploded in his face when he saw her, and how he wished she would wrap her mouth around him. Some guy with a pink neck on the opposite end of the bar was rubbing up some girl with bushy curly hair. Then when she threw her drink on him he got aggressive and packed a punch across her jaw. A general sprawl broke out as people leaped to the girl's revenge. Tayla rolled her eyes and looked back down at her drink. She realised she had finished it. She scratched in her pockets for a coin and couldn't find another. She pushed herself away from the bar and strolled out the bar. Some guy that reeked of alcohol stepped infront of her. He leaned down and pressed his cold blue lips against her ear, she couldn't make out what he said through the slurs but she knew she didn't have time for it. "Back off pal, I'm too good for you" Tayla pushed him back and saw he was that cocky guy with one eye from a few nights ago "You" she hissed. The corner of his lip twitched up and she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward the exit of the club.

The bouncer stepped out the way as Tayla literally threw the guy out the bar and he landed in the street and staggered for a bit. "Come now baby don't be like that" he slurred and a car zoomed blowing it's horn at him. "Ah fight me ya bas-" the guy stumbled back tripping over himself. Tayla stormed over to him, grabbed him by the throat and carried him, slamming him into the wall. "I told you, stay out." Tayla looked up at the man with slitted eyes. "B-baby give me tonight, I can make you -" He was cut of by her chocking him and gurgled. "Don't try that with me, pig" she snarled and pulled back her arm. The man tried to pry her fingers off his throat and she released him slightly, only to slam her fist square into his jaw. Two teeth flew out his mouth as his head was tossed back and hit the wall. She let him fall and the man fell backwards and slid down the wall. He regained a bit of conciousness, he punched out towards Tayla and she ducked. She she rose to strike back she drew her sword and in the other hand formed a fist. Her long katana slid easily out the expensive alien-leather sheath and became an extension of her arm. Her fist flew straight and true straight into the man's nose. Shattering it and driving it back into his skull.

Now Tayla held the immobile man at the end of her sword. Passer-bys were staring them. "Tell your buddies we have no space for shit in this neighbourhood. And if they don't believe you give me a call." She let the man fall on the ground and crawl away with one hard kick to the stomach. She sulked off down the road, the streetlights gave the road an orange glow and when the street was at last empty she broke into a run and spread her wings. Taking off was difficult but once she was in the air it was easy to glide between skyscrapers and over the streets. The city looked quiet at night, the majority of law-abiding citizens safe and warm in the beds. Away from the slums. In the industrial area of the city was a broken down warehouse. She glided down to the parking lot and fell onto her knees. Sliding the noisy wooden door to the side she uncovered her old, trusty ship, outdated, old, falling apart but she'll get you from A to B. Hopefully.

Inside the ship a computer blurted out the days news and weather report while Tayla pulled on her over sized T-shirt and boxers. CDs and books lay everywhere and Tayla tossed a pile of take away boxes off her "bed' before falling into it. The bed was really several cheap mattresses she had acquired over the years with a few blankets, a pillow and an old soft toy from her childhood. She lay there in the dark, some politician slowly saying the same thing over in several different word orders over the radio, and wondered. If she really did get to Gortex? Would life really improve? With her eyes closed she imagined two realities, one where she would end her life tomorrow morning and one where she would be back on her home planet: her mum, brother and pets running around happily. And she would feel the warm sun on her face, and she'd discuss boys and clothes with her friends and her mum would welcome her home with a smile and a warm plate of never ending food. But of course she neither could happen and with heavy shoulders, she drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.

Current Day
Location: Corvais, Amynta Lianez's Apartment

"...and you would be a most welcomed addition to that team. What do you say?" Six looked across the table at the young woman, only 25. Her Lucern heritage had gifted her with beautiful, vibrant green eyes. Her name was Amynta Lianez, and Dax Strattix suggested her medical skills could prove to be a valuable asset to the team. Unfortunately, things didn't seem to be going so great.

"I... I just don't know, mister. I'm not sure I'm ready to handle that responsibility," she said. Six could hear it in her voice; it was a pretty big responsibility - trying to keep such an important group of people alive.

Six sighed and looked down on the table, whistling for a moment. "Well," he began, "I won't bug you about it anymore than I should. I understand your reasoning, and I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye m'am." After saying their goodbyes, Six left on a good note, but was disappointed he could not persuade his first recruit. Maybe she'd come around later. It would have been nice to have at least one pretty face around, he thought to himself.

Sighing once more out of disappointment, Six walked over to the Phoenix-3, determined to find the next possible recruit.

Location: Skyways of Corvais

"Go ahead and write Amynta down as inactive. Afterwards, give me a status update."

'Ellie' scanned the files once again, trying to determine the best possible targets for Six. After a few seconds she responded. "A cluster of targets can be found within Deadzone, specifically Red-6. Should I set a course for Red-6, Commander?"

Six thought for a few seconds. It was a good distance, and he'd rather stay out of Deadzone for the time being. "Anyone on the outer rims of Deadzone? I'd rather stay out of any conflict until I have some help."

"Potential Hostile: Hessta Korso. 35. Yuan-ti. Bounty hunter, mercenary, blade-for-hire."

"Uh... Ellie, I'm specifically looking for allies, not enemies."

"Hessta is not flagged as Hostile, Commander, only Potential Hostile. With the correct approachment, I believe Hessta could be convinced to join you."

Six thought about it. Could he risk it? He was unsure about everythign to be honest, but he had to start somewhere. Besides, a soldier-type would be an acceptable first-addition to his team. "Alright," he started, "set a course."

Ellie whizzed for a few seconds. Finally she responded. "Last known coordinates placed him within Madame Giran's territory, but I am unable to track his ship now. It is strange, as I was tracking him just twenty minutes ago. Give me one moment Commander." There was a time of silence as Six whizzed by all sorts of flying ships, vehicles, and skyscrapers. Finally, Ellie began again, "video records seem to indicate a ship similar to Hessta's heading towards Corvais. I can scan the ship's appearance and attempt to locate him on corvais' security cameras."

"Do what you gotta do," replied Six. He casually whizzed on through the city, eager to get started.

"Finished, Commander. Setting approximate coordinates now based on simple logic. Manual flight must be enabled, as my systems will be unable to track him without proper readings. His ship is not visible on any radar, although it is visible to human eyesight."

"Let's hope this 'Hessta Korso' plays nicely..."

Six would try to find him pull up beside him and attempt to open communications to him in order to meet up.

Hessta had been flying in well appreciated silence ever since he left Madame Giran's place. Most other mercs and bounty hunters in the area knew his ship so they usually left him alone. He smiled in satisfaction when he zipped past a patrol starfighter and wasn't noticed. He thought to himself Madame Giran's program must work better than I had thought. Finally he neared the skyways of Corvais and smiled a little more devilishly until a strange starfighter began to approach him. He could tell that whoever was in that ship wanted his because whenever he made a move, the other ship copied it.

Hessta snorted in anger and considered pulling away faster than the other ship could follow or simply attacking it but with a roll of his eyes, he slowed down and the starfighter pulled up beside his own. Within moments his ship was hailed and he pressed a few buttons to answer.

Before whoever was in the other ship could respond Hessta spoke with an impatient voice "Who are you and what do you want?"

3 days ago- Abraxis-4, Cargo ship, Outside Corvais Airspace

The ship was mostly empty, the only sounds left were the clang of chitinous feet moving across the metal floor and the whimpering of the man in front of him. For days Alpha has been stalking the crew of this ship, moving to places unseen and picking them off one by one until it was only the captain. Giving as much of a smile as a creature with no lips could, Alpha grabbed the man by his head and lifted him up to Alphas eyes. Turning the man in inspection, Alpha found what he was looking for and extended a feeler from the center of his claw before having it enter the mans neural implant. Giving the limb a twist or two, Alpha tapped into his vast psychic power and took everything that the man knew, leaving the once proud captain nothing more than a mewling babe. With nothing left to give him, the man was of not use to Alpha...well he still had one more use. After learning everything he could from the crew, Alpha returned to the hanger of the massive ship and added the captain to the massive grave that had become the center piece of the hanger.

The massive room had been turned into a nightmarish work of art as bodies were stuffed inside vents, limbs formed nonsensical symbols, viscera was draped along pillars, and blood literally coated the floors. However the most unsettling thing was the heads. Each head had been meticulously been placed so that each heads pair of eyes faced a single spot in the ship. That spot just so happened to be the captains now decapitated head, well decapitated would be to nice a word. Ripped off would be more accurate, placing the captains head down in the center of the collective gaze of the others Alpha was annoyed to find that they didn't have enough collective energy to call out to The Kraken. Giving a huff, Alpha crawled to a dark corner of the hanger and sat down. This meant that he would have to wait for someone to actually respond to the distress beacon that the captain turned on. Closing his eyes, Alpha went into a stasis like sleep and waited.

Present Day, Abraxis-4, Cargo Ship, Outside Corvais Airspace

Alpha's sleep was disturbed by the entrance of a what looked like a troop transport of sorts. However that wasn't as important as the memories that flooded Alpha's mind, the captain called them "Black Moons" and they apparently worked for someone named Gortex. Whoever this Gortex is, he was a threat to his family and no one hurt Alpha's family but themselves. The men all piled out of their ship and faltered at the sight Alpha had created, but only for a moment before continuing on in their extermination. Curious, they seemed to face Alpha no matter what direction he moved. Upon closer inspection, Alpha saw that in the center of the group was a small, weak looking man with an array of machines strapped to his being.

Taking aim, Alpha unleashed painful death upon the tech man. However Alpha missed the shot and instead hit the man if front of him, causing his chest to messily melt as the maggots exploded on his armor. Gunfire roared at Alphas location as they pinpointed his hiding spot. Thankfully only several bullets connected with his armored hide and they flattened harmlessly on it. With the men now closing in on Alpha, he realized he couldn't take them on in a gunfight. The switching to armor piercing rounds could attest that. Giving a look around, memories not his own told him to destroy the terminal on the other side of the Hanger. If he did, the lights would go out and the doors would close. This would give him approximately 15 seconds before emergency power returned and lite up the hanger once again.

Jumping out into the open, Alpha let loose several bursts of maggots at the terminal. The first missed but the second and third hit and after about a second the hanger was bathed in darkness and a flashing red light. With his only chance in sight, Alpha made his move. In a sprint of explosive speed, Alpha brought his Talons down on the closest two mercs and impaled them both in the chest as if their armor were tissue paper. Before shaking them off, Alpha was able to fire a burst of maggots at another merc before using his powerful legs to leap high into the air and land on the last soldier.

When the lights came back on it was only Alpha and the tech man. The man began to run before he slipped on the blood that covered the floor and scrambled to rise from his fall. In all truthfulness, Alpha found the whole display amusing. With a muscle spasm, Alpha's flesh hooks erupted from his chest and impaled the tech man and began to drag him screaming towards Alpha. Grabbing the tech man, Alpha was disappointing to find that he did not have a neural implant and had to resort to doing this the old fashioned way. Tearing the mask off Alpha extended the feeler before plunging it into the mans eye and into the brain. Twitching once, twice, and a third time then nothing. With the small amount of time he had with the tech man before he died, Alpha found out that Gortex was in fact planning something for his people. Who ever this team was, they were specifically made to hunt down his kind. Unfortunately for them, Alpha actually learned how machines worked.

Looking at the chaos that was around him, Alpha gave a grunt of disapproval at the mess the mercs made of his heads. Meticulously, Alpha moved the heads back into position with the addition of the mercs and was happy to find that he finally had enough residual power to summon his ship. Flaring his own power with the combined power of the stare, Alpha sent a psychic message that only his ship would pick up. With The Kraken on its way, all Alpha could do was wait and continue to decorate with the new bodies he had just acquired.

"Who are you and what do you want?" The voice emitted a very Yuan-ti-like accent. This was definitely Hessta. Six had worked with a group of Yuan-ti enforcers a few years prior. Apparently, a group of rogue Yuan-ti fled their home planet and earned themselves a hefty bounty in Republic space. Six accepted the bounty and was working with the Yuan-ti enforcers, but when Six attempted to take them alive he was met with harsh criticism as the Yuan-ti openly executed the targets. Six has had a negative appreciation to the Yuan-ti ever since, and vice versa. They were capable, agile, warriors and they used traditional weapons such as swords or scimitars.

"This is Agent Six, I have a very special deal to discuss with you." Six ensured his pistols were still holstered on his sides before exiting the craft. When Hessta exits his craft Six would ask, "I've been handed a very important mission. Your skills would prove useful in that endeavor, and the reward would be substantial. Would you be interested?"

Six kept his right hand over his pistol, ready to pull at any moment.

Hessta crossed his bulky arms as "Agent Six" walked into the area between their ships. He raised his eyebrow and internally rolled his eyes as Six kept his hand over the pistol at his side. Although to be fair, Hessta could reach both his scimitars in the blink of an eye from where he was standing. He looked the man over a few times and raised his eyebrow as he spoke with a stern voice, masking his accent.

"I am a mercenary. This means I will do almost anything if the price is right. Unfortunately I'm afraid I have some personal business to attend to before I can take on any new assignments, Agent Six." He shrugged slightly as his glare grew a touch stronger "But I do have a few minutes to spare, if you would tell me a little more about this mission, and exactly what kind of 'agent' you are."

Fold your hands Child played softly through through the space ship when Laika woke. The city had been awake for some time and the ruckus from the surrounding factories was what woke Laika. She blinked sleepily and slowly and stared at her clock while her brain struggled to make the connections. She jumped out her make-shift bed hastily as she realised she was close to being late for work. After she leaped to her feet she was suprised to find herself on the floor again: that night she had slept on her wing and now the lifeless limb hung numb by her side. She cursed and using her other 5 limbs to balance out the weight of her one inactive limb she staggered to coffee-making machine at the back of the ship. While the water boiled she yanked on an old stained pair of nylon pants and her usual leather crop top.

Before she could slurp up the coffee she reached for the large tin container next to the tiny fridge and scooped out a teaspoonful of orange pugent powder and stirred it into her coffee. All the liquids on this planet did not have the right chemical balance for her body to process it so weekly she mixed the powder into every drink and sprinkled it on every meal before consumption so she digest it comfortably.

Then she slammed the filthy mug down and grabbed a bag on the floor as she ran out the old raggedy ship. Once in the parking lot she broke immediately into a sprint and beat her large wings one-two-THREE-one-two-three-FOUR-one-two-THREE-one-two-three-FOUR and she was in the air beating hard to gain altitude and speed. Turning in a tight circle over the factory she checked no-one was entering the warehouse where she hid her ship and angled her course for the down town ghettos.

Some pink alien with slimy skin, an overly big and overly wet tongue and small beady eyes gurgled at her from the behind the counter to which she responded in the same wet-croaky language. She stashed her bag in a compartment and pulled on a lumo yellow apron. Behind the building was a large scrapyard filled with rusting ships, cars, boats and a few androids in various sizes. The newest addition to the mass of metal was a new ship painted blue with green smoke erupting from the engine. After putting a code into the box on the side of the ship a large panel opened up and revealed the engine room. A large box filled with wires, pipes and metal boxes. After quick inspection Laika took down a list of parts in the notebook in her apron pocket. Then she jogged off the ship and into the forest of rusty metal. She had to scratch through several Hector-500 car models to get the correct pipping, and took apart a Venus-6.1 to get to the shield mechanism. And dropped all the parts outside the ship in one pile. Then she sat down with a scrubbing brush and a bottle of spray paint to de-rust the parts before taking out the broken and replacing the ship's parts with newly cleaned second hand parts.

When she finished she was given permission to take the ship for a test spin. Laika shut herself in the cockpit and woke the computer system, with a hum the metal monster woke and they shot off into the cosmos. For the size of the ship it had very little power and Tayla really had to push the ship to reach 2000 km/p/s. After a disappointing sprint through the cosmos she turned around and turned the ship back for the mechanics shop back on the dusty grey moon it came from.

She gave the keys back to the disgusting pink slob and he spittled more instructions at her. As she turned to go back to the scrap yard the little creature reached out one large slimy paw and ran it up her leg. Laika tuned around and with a crack raked her fingernails up the creatures arm drawing a thin line of blood. "What about your wife Herman, it would be an awful shame if she found out your filthy habits again wouldn't it?" The blob drew back into his chair and faced the door of the shop, his cut slowly oozing clear blood. She sat against the wall just inside the scrap yard and listened for when the next customer came. Across the yard two thorn-birds scratched in the dirt, their high pitched clucks filling the yard. And she cursed Gortex once again, for the countless time, she cursed him.

The Yuan-ti individual exited his craft, folded his arms, and gave Six a quick look over. "I am a mercenary," he began. A mercenary was exactly the sort of person Six needed. "This means I will do almost anything if the price is right. Unfortunately I'm afraid I have some personal business to attend to before I can take on any new assignments, Agent Six. But I do have a few minutes to spare, if you would tell me a little more about this mission, and exactly what kind of 'agent' you are."

Six realized the Yuan-ti wasn't as hostile as Dax had expected and so rested his arms a bit. He too folded his arms and began slowly pacing to his left, overlooking the impressive starcraft that Yuan-ti was piloting. "My services belong to no agency, mister Kerso. 'Agent' is merely a title given to me due to my working relationship with my employer, a name I don't feel all to comfortable giving out until I know you're ready to help me. My mission concerns Gortex, the terrorist-mercenary leader who is responsible fro several attacks within Republic and Federation space, as well as repeated aggravations within Deadzone. And before you ask, mister Kerso, no - I am not a poiliceman of any sort. My loyalties do not lie with the Republic nor the Federation; I work alongside my employer - not for him. If you join me, you will also be given that same amount of freedom." Six thought for a moment to ensure everything sounded right. "Oh, and if you're truly committed to my team mister Kerso, I will try my best to help you with whatever personal problems you have. I can't have my team hanging onto threads, so the quicker we deal with loose ends the better."

By that time Six had finished his pacing and had walked in a full circle around Hessta, back to his own ship. He slowly leaned backwards, allowing his whole body to lean on the ship in a smooth, calm, and relaxed yet anxious position. He folded his arms and awaited Hessta's reply.

Hessta had been listening with a bored expression but as soon as Six said "Gortex" he straightened up and listened very closely, studying Six's mannerisms and speech to gauge him better. Six finished and Hessta unfolded his arms, slithering only slightly closer to Six as he spoke.

"You're after Gortex?" He glared for a moment as he considered telling Six to back off and the only person that was going to hunt down Gortex was him but he stopped himself. Hessta coldly calculated whether joining Six would be beneficial or inhibiting, but after a second he realized even he wasn't going to be able to take down Gortex on his own. He sighed and smirked maliciously "Well then, Agent Six, I think an agreement between us can be made."

He slithered a little closer "I will join this 'team' of yours but I do have a few conditions that would be...Beneficial to everyone involved if they were acknowledged and respected." He glared and straightened up as he towered over Six "I am my own master, and I expect to be treated as such. I expect my privacy to be respected by everyone I will be dealing with. But most importantly," Hessta's glare grew colder and he dropped his voice as his accent came through "When we find Gortexss, he. Iss. Mine."

Hessta backed up to his own ship and softened his expression, smiling coldly but civilly at Six. He extended his hand towards Six and raised his eyebrow "Do we have a deal?"

The door appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sitting flush against the hangar's "north" wall. It was an odd door, to be sure, and not simply because of its miraculous appearance. No, this door was a thing unheard of in this day and age, wooden and thick and worn. Well used, yet with a quality of agelessness about it. The frame around the door was no less odd, etchings and engravings tracing lines about its surface that lent it a distinctly archaic (or possibly arcane) feeling.

"Hello?"

The man who stuck his head out the door was also somewhat odd, wearing a vest and slacks that seemed to have been taken directly out of a nineteen-forties detective novel, with his white sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He looked to have been doing something else, perhaps mixing recipes or concocting potions, judging by the door he had arrived in and the white powder covering his hands.

"Anybody here?"

He swept his eyes over the hangar and they caught sight of the gory mess that still lingered, along with the large monster standing in the center of the room inside a circle of heads.

"Oh dear..."

He pulled his head back inside the door and it closed for a moment, then re-opened to admit his entire self through and into the hangar, now wearing a knee-length dark blue coat and holding a cane in his left hand. He walked cautiously, though not with fear. A confident stride, yet ready for whatever surprises may lie in store. As he moved, he reached out with his mind as well, supplementing the observations of his mundane senses with that of the arcane. Not unexpectedly, the stench of death was almost overpowering, clinging to every atom in the room like some foul disease bent on corrupting the very nature of the area. He'd felt worse though, and simply strode on, none of his disgust showing on his face. When he reached the exterior of the circle of heads he stopped, unsure of what the creature would do if he broke the perimeter. He'd had too much experience with the arcane to believe this was simply a display, and simply the arranging of the heads in such a manner spoke of intelligence. As did the brief touch of Mortimer's mind against that of the creature. Not enough to be considered a threat, more of a mental handshake than anything, if the creature was even capable of perceiving it.

"Nod if you understand me."

It was clearly evident that the creature was responsible for the bloodshed here, and had it been another man confronting him there may well have been no attempts at reasoning. Most would simply have opened fire, but Mortimer was not most men. He abhorred killing, though he had been known to make exceptions for mere beasts, but this creature had displayed intelligence. He could not simply destroy it, no matter what atrocities it had committed.

Six watched the Yuan-ti as he spoke, watched the emotion flicker across his face in mannerisms almost entirely alien to his more human-centric experiences. He'd have to make a point of learning how to read this one, though for now the tone of voice and vocal inflections were a pretty good indicator. When he finished and held out his hand, Six pushed off his ship to stand wholly on his own two feet, but didn't yet uncross his arms.

"I can't promise you the first shot at Gortex. My list is full of people with a grudge against him, and most of them want his head as badly as you do. I'm not going to pretend to be their master any more than I am yours, so if one of them beats you to it, that's life I'm afraid." He took another step forward and uncrossed his arms. "That said, a team needs cohesion. I need to be able to trust that when the shit hits the fan, you can be relied on to follow my lead. You're not going to be any use if you can't be a team player, so I need to know now. Will you be able to follow orders during our missions? If not, you can go your merry way, no hard feelings. If so, you're still your own man off the clock. One hundred percent. That's the best I can do."

If the Yuan-ti accepted the offer, John would nod and grasp his hand firmly (and briefly) before retrieving a datachip from his jacket pocket and handing it to the other man. It would contain the coordinates for the meeting place on Red-6, as well as a timeframe for when the meeting in question was to take place.

Hessta's eyes flashed with anger for only a fraction of a second before he nodded and said "Well then, Agent Six, it seems we are now partners." Then he shook Six's hand, noting the firmness of the human's grip. He raised his eyebrow as Six pulled the datachip out and he took it with the tiniest smirk. Hessta spoke coolly and professionally as he put the chip in one of his belt pouches.

"I assume then, that this chip contains the other beings that have 'a grudge against Gortex,' as you said?" He shrugged very slightly and turned back to his own ship "Very well. Am I right in thinking that you want to handle the negotiation of their recruitment? Because if you didn't," Hesste turned his head almost completely around "I still wouldn't care. I'll meet you on Red-6, Agent Six."

Hessta closed the door between their ships and popped the datachip into the Shuriken's control panel. He looked at the long list of coordinates and decided it would be better to let Six decide which poor fool to recruit next. He made sure to follow Six as soon as he got started and as he flew towards the Deadzone, his face became grim and he thought to himself.

This means I will have even more things to go through before I get Gortex. He smiled briefly and coldly No matter. Gortex will pay for what he has done, even if I have to kill Agent Six to do it.

Six let out the breath he'd only just realized he'd been holding once Hessta was in his ship and on his way. That could have gone a lot worse. It was a good thing the lizard was willing to listen to reason. SIx was fast, sure, but he hadn't been very far outside the range of those swords. In all likelihood, he figured he would have gotten one (maybe two) shots in before a gun became useless and there were pieces of Six strewn all over the floor. Good thing it hadn't come to that. He needed this team to work.

Climbing back into his own ship, he settled down into the pilots chair and queued up the provided list of assets and target. "Ellie, show me the asset closest to our current position."

"One moment." The ship went silent for exactly one second before her voice chimed up again. "It seems the nearest active asset is less than two hundred parsecs away in the Perinni system. It will take us approximately seven hours to reach its location."

Six, who had been scrolling through a list of recent cinema releases while Ellie talked, froze when he heard the last part. "It?"

"Yes, Sir. The asset is an automaton."

"Huh..." He leaned back and brought his hand to his chin in thought. "Does it have any particular habits? Any programming quirks I should know about?"

"None reported. Its current behavior suggest a desire to accumulate wealth, at the expense of Gortex's holdings."

"I guess that's why Dax picked it. I wonder why a machine would have a grudge against Gortex..."

"I am unable to provide an answer to that query."

"Forget it, Ellie. Just plot us a course and queue up a movie to watch on the way. Something with lots of action and a bit of romance. And a good sex scene. Always gotta have a good sex scene."

"Yes, Sir."

The ship lifted gracefully off the platform and rocketed towards orbit, leaving Corvais well in its wake as Six headed off to find this mysterious automaton with a hatred circuit. He'd just need to stop off and borrow one of Gortex's freighters first...

---

Nine Hours Later...

The freighter Six had "borrowed", a ship by the name of "Frisky Business" according to the registry, had been forced to drop out of FTL to navigate a nasty stretch of asteroid cloud/neutron star cluster along a particularly dangerous route. The route was ostensibly a shortcut for freighter captains such as those Gortex had hired to fly this ship, and while it did shave almost a whole day off the travel time, the risk of pirates at this particular juncture was almost one hundred percent. It also happened to be smack in the middle of this Midas fellows most recent hunting grounds in the Perinni system. Six himself sat in his own ship, docked in the cargo hold with the canopy wide open, feet propped up on the primary instrument panel as he polished his favorite pistol. Well, one of them at least. The Frisky Business lumbered along at a snails pace as it navigated the asteroid cloud, its single cannon working overtime to keep as many asteroids off the shields as possible.

"Now we've just gotta wait..."

After a long day of work in the dry, oily and hot mechanics yard, Laika sat at a new bar she found, gulping down the cheap beer her measly pay could afford. Next to her sat a canvas bag filled with boxes of cereals, pasta's and a couple of cook in minute meals. She sat deep in thought, she had another of those dreams last night. She could barely recall the images: a boy with the same three tentacles as her clinging onto a rock pillar, laughing, his small vulnerable wings outstretched and he called for someone. Then another image of a large man, his wings tense and trembling, his silhouette illuminated against harsh white lights. Then a flash of a woman, a beautiful woman with full dark blue lips, screaming something at her, tears streaming down her face, her ears flat against her head and her tentacles are tense and tightly curled. Who is she screaming at? Is it me? Where am I supposed to go

A smash to her right brought her back to her senses, an orange waitress with long claws instead of hands had frozen next to her, the eyes on the end of stems protruding from her chest fixated on her. When Laika looked down she saw why, the waitress had tripped over her bag and dropped 3 large mugs, one was apparently full of acid as the floor began to dissolve. The same orange skinned alien that ran the joint flew out the bar yelling something in an Earthly tongue and descended on the broken glass like it was gold. Another orange waiter ran in with a broom and asked Laika something in English, she stammered and stuttered trying to remember the language and pronunciation. The waiter asked again in the guttural language Laika was used to speaking at the yard "Do you need a towel?" Laika looked confused "What?" The waitress looked down, so did Laika, to her shock. The glass had shattered and cut open her leg. Blue blood oozed out slowly. Laika swore loudly and leaped back, her wings that were hanging neatly behind her before snapped out, knocking over several people and sending many dishes flying backwards. The Waitress ran off, her stemmy eyes bobbing. Laika was frozen, she stared at her wound, comprehending when this had happened. The blood was leaking into her sock and into her boot. It was silly she realised later on, but she couldn't look away from her blue blood seeping out the wound, pumping was a better word. The waitress came back into sight, a flabby faced creature with small eyes and a tiny mouth following her. They disinfected her wound and bound it.

A family that Laika had once repaired their ship for were sitting in the restaurant and insisted on buying Laika a good dinner. She agreed thinking of the money she could save with the meal. The family had three parents and five children scurried around the table, screeching and playing. At first they discussed how the cost of Tikki metal was going up which meant food imports would go up in price, then they discussed the life of some famous person. After first course was served and the children were fed one of the parents left to take the children home. She didn't notice before but the creatures were simply shadows from the waist downwards and floated, their black cloaks hanging shapelessly.

Second course was ordered and the conversation darkened, Laika now listened earnestly. Before she sat quietly, listening and pitched in an opinion when asked. One of the planets on the out skirts of a nearby galaxy had declared war on Gortex, and it was rumoured he was heading towards the dead zone. Laika was shocked to hear this, she dreamed of someday repaying Gortex for what he did to ruin her only chance at life, but she never had a lead on him. Never knew how to find him, or where to begin. Now that she had a general direction she she felt purposeful. The conversation progressed, and she asked the family the name of a place where she could a new radio connection for her ship, they didn't ask explanation and eventually she plucked up the courage of asking where exactly she was. She was on a small planet named Palentine in The Virgo system.

Laika struggled to stay in the air on the way home. She was the heaviest she ever was, the family seemed to have stomachs and wallets the sizes of planets: the food kept coming, each time it was a new more extravagant course. So instead of finishing everything Laika flew away with a weeks-worths of take aways. Her wound was numb and it felt unusual not feeling the wind in that particular spot.

Laika had to stop twice to rest on her way home. Flying with multiple bags in hand and a full stomach summed up to a weight she'd never carried before. Yet she did not mind, for once the suburbs did not look gloomy and the wind felt warmer than usual. She's always assumed Gortex was on the other end of universe - as far away as her fading memories. Now he was close-by and reachable. But how? I can't go alone, that's suicide. Going with the others would be a group suicide, potentially even genocide. She never did find out what happened to the other Tribes.

When she reached the warehouse, it was late in the night and both moons were out, glinting merrily. She left the food where it needed to be and got to work. By the morning on the next day, she had compiled a full list of everything her ship needed and every calculation of how she could go without each part.

Midas cruised along the sector while humming a song that sounded like a fax machine but in some messed up way sounded like music to him. As he cruised along he soon came upon a freighter barley lurching along throughout he asteroid field. This was a treat as not many big rig freighters came out this way but regardless of it being quite an anomaly Midas sped as quickly as his cruiser could go and went up alongside the freighter and began talking through the coms "Hello there sir slash madam slash other. This is an automated trading vessel in order to acquire wears for employer. please give a yes or no through you communication device if you wish to partake in the offer" Midas said in a robotic tone. Normally Midas's voice sounded like a normal persons voice with a slight robotic tone but luckily that phrase was hard wired into him and sounded exactly like a normal automated machine.