[h2]The Day Before[/h2] ”Steady...” He said under his breath. ”Just take the bait...” His eye twitched as a droplet of sweat travelled past it. He lay motionless but for the brief, minute movement of his hand correcting the sight of his rifle. The beast was big, the size of a good size elk. Only its front legs terminated into raptor claws, its head was that of a large bird, and its body that of a oversized turkey from hell. The Hunters Encyclopedia identified the species as Giant, Black Feathered Hell Beak. A subspecies to the common Hell Beak that grew to the size of a dobberman and possed a nasty beak that was drooling posionus sludge. They ate anything it could find but a gun and some patience saw the pests of in short order. Giant Black Feathers however, were tough. The hide under the giant plumage was tough like tire rubber and about as thick. They were anomolies, rare and big problem for Junkers who generally salvaged around areas that the Black Feather preffered as its territory. The bird may be nasty. But it was just a oversized hen in the end. IT stopped, then lowered it head to bury its beak in the rotten, spoiled meat laid before it. He waited a breath more, thne squeezed the trigger. The loud boom echoed as the Crystal went critical inside the bulletshell. The massive, steeltipped bullet punched right through its abdomen, the wounded bird screeach in and weering around. But he squeezed again. The next bullet went clean trough its oversized eye, blowing its brains out the other side. He rose from where he had been lying among rust, oil and sludge. The black of his clothes had been perfect to blend in with all the industrial wreckage this time around. He trodded down and grabbed his blade. He couldn't carry the thing. But he could bring unrefutable proof. He grabbed it by its beak, carefull not to cut itself on the razorlike sides. Then he began to hack around the edges. It took a good ten minutes to tget it off, but soon he had the oversized beak in a bag slung across his shoulder. A thirty minute hike, and taking a lift with the local farmhand back into town for another 20 minutes, he had returned-As he walked inside door of the Local Guild Office, he noticed alot of hushed voiced. Slamming his prize onto the counter, the current bookie raised a eyebrow. ”That the chicken?” The redhaired, tattoed to the maximum, woman spoke. He noted she had the Guild Insignia tattoed on her shoulder. A lifer. He liked her allready. ”One giant Hell Beak less.” He confirmed. ”Why are people so quiet” He sweeped his hand to indicate the hushed conversations. ”Talbot just Closed the Hunters Bulletin...” She said, her voice dropping into a hushed whisper. As if to prove a point. ”What, Why?” The giant killer eyes grew wide. ”He said we will see tommorow” Her voice was almost conspiratory. [h2]Saturday Morning: Ambrosia Western Gates [/h2] ”Hnngh” He grunted as the man on the podium proclaimed their new ambitions. ”This is gonna go be big.” He noted to the woman from yesterday that stood beside him. Like him, she was decked out in full gear. Her magitech rifle slung across her shulder. He noted with some respect, that it was a ”Lightning gun”. Like a massive, quickfiring shotgun of magic lightning, it was used to do alot of harm to alot of things in a quick and brutal manner. She was a exterminator, no other hunter would find a use of such a wreckless firearm. ”Shieeeet” She moaned. ”I am gonna be up in my neck with work. That railway is gonna run riiiight trough Jewel Snapper territory.” She rubbed the back fo her head. Jewel Snappers were slow, big and magically capable turles. Harmless if you let them be. But they would be in the way and bite at everything stationary. ”Not to mention all the fucking pests that is gonna flock to the worker camps. Shiiieeet” ”Hnn. I think I am gonna like this.” He mused. ”What?” ”Real Big Game out south. L.A has some real nasties. We driven the worst away from Ambrosia, but there is gonna be many worthy kills out there.” ”You Giant Killers are all the fucking same. Goddamn Size queens.” She mumbled. ”And you exterminators are all foul mouthed” He shot back, neither looking away from the podium. Both were grinning like mad. There was money to be made, things to hunt and a brand new path to follow.