[IC] Trylin Blues (Sci-Fi Space Western)

[Arthanus]

Chapter 1: No Man's Land

19/04/2284
2156hrs
Settlement Omega 25

Gabriel's current target Bruticus Finch had an apartment in this settlement. The man was worth 4000 credits dead, not a bad pay check but was it really worth all this effort? Gabriel hadn't seen any sign of life in this settlement at all everyone was gone. There were no signs of struggle though items were scattered around as if they had just been dropped and left. Gabriel had heard rumors of Settlements that had been disappearing or dropping off the grid as of late, but he hadn't heard anything about this settlement being on that list. "What a waste of time..." He said out loud while ha made his way to Finch's apartment. When he arrived he was not surprised to see a similar scene as everywhere else a book dropped on the floor but no sign of struggle "Tsh... Doesn't look like I'll be getting paid this time...." Gabriel then walked out of the Apartment a bit disappointed.

----------

23/04/2284
0946hrs
Tryliin geostationary orbit, aboard the Marlkindine Co. Headquarters Station

“...No luck so far, sir. It appears we're having trouble with the local raiders, they're well fortified and showing no si-”
“I'll send another thousand men, plus equipment and supplies. We can't afford to slow down now. I expect you to be on the first ship down once we secure the area, Doctor Hendres.”

The man wore a three piece suit, fashioned in the older style of industrial Earth, around the early 2000's. His face was sharp, and his hair had begun to slightly grey. He was slightly wrinkled, and had bags under his eyes, obviously from staying up late into the nights due to work. He smoked a cigar, rare in these days of instant gratification via nicotine air injections, and continued to stare out the viewport, blinking slowly and observing the Markindine Fleet formations drifting to and fro. Beside him, a much older man, balding and bespectacled, wearing the classic uniform of a Markindine research director, anxiously stood beside him, trying to stand straight but finding it difficult with age. It appeared that Yanda Markindine was growing impatient. After a lengthy pause of time, Doctor Hendres spoke again:

“I must warn you sir, that the data is only preliminary. It does seem to indicate that what we are seeking may be more intriguing than previously thought, but still... There is no way to be sure. I must advise against running straight into the fire like this. We should acquire assistance from S-GAF Science Division, a lot of the other species have been studying this particular phenomenon much longer than our corporation and it's subsidiaries combined... The data would prove invaluable.”

Hendres paused, and observed the motionless Yanda for what seemed like an hour. Then, in a low voice that surprised Hendres, politely inquired: “Doctor, do you know what our most profitable export is?”
Puzzled, Hendres brought up his PDA, and looked through the various files. “I believe this quarter it was our Banshee - Class Light Assault Walker, which sol-”

Yanda chuckled lightly to himself, and turned to the aging scientist. “No no no, not by a long shot,” He turned, and walked down the bridge, placing his hands behind his back, with Doctor Hendres close behind him, “no, our greatest export is much more than that. It is the ideal we uphold, how we are viewed by the other races, what they believe we stand for.” He continued to walk along, absorbed in his speech and paying Hendres little notice. “We represent the might of humanity, that we are top dog. When the K'yaSynth threatened to bring the galaxy to it's knees, it was humans who led the charge against them, and ground them into dust. And in the soldier's hands, carrying those fine men and women like glorious chariots made of fire into the galaxy's finest hour, were Markindine weapons. Markindine battleships and tanks. It was all made by our family. By my father...”

Yanda placed a hand on Hendres shoulder, and began to walk back to the main view port. “I wouldn't be half the man I am today, were it not for you. We have had our disagreements in... Ethics, before, but I have always known best,” he released his grip, and turned to face him, “and I know, very well Hendres, that humanity is slipping. We're losing that power. Our image. But this planet holds the key. It is our greatest triumph, and our biggest threat.” Yanda motioned out the window, and smiled, staring at the yellow surface of the world which lit up his face.

“And you're going to help me, Hendres. Like always, you are a brother to me. I look out for you, and you look out for me. And this morning, you changed everything. What you discovered is truly what we needed to regain our status, our supremacy...”
Yanda turned to face the doctor again, placing both his hands this time on Hendres shoulders, and looked intensely into his eyes. “...And for that, Doctor: I thank you.”

[Arthanus]

23/04/2284
1132hrs
Exile's Den, Oasis

"I am not paying you the bounty, He isn't dead, he isn't captured he is gone. We don't pay out for gone. And you already got paid for the tip off of the "Lost" Settlement that should be more than enough." The bartender said to Gabriel who was standing at the bar negotiating. "Come on Mack we both know he isn't coming back, And it's not even a private bounty the cash is coming out of the Government's pocket." He said back calmly, "Hell if by some chance he ever appears again I'll make sure its a short lived revival." Gabriel continued. Mack sat at the bar for a bit before putting down a credit chit. "Here the deal, I'll pay you out, but you have to go pull the bounty of the wall over there. His name is Drac, of the four who have taken on the bounty one has ended up dead and the other three abandoned the contract within a day. He leads a small gang who have come to Trylin to try and make it big. Normally I would let nature take its course, but he has had one of his people come into my bar and sell out my clients. I want him dead, and I want the snitch here to answer to me." Mack said with a snarl. It didn't take Gabriel much thought before he grabbed the chit. "Easy deal I get paid to take another job and get paid again." Gabriel said with a grin walking away from the bar and making his way to the bounty board studying it for a moment before pulling Drac's poster from the wall then making his way out of the bar.

It had been about an hour since Gabriel had taken his new job and he could already feel a sense of unease. Someone was following him, watching him as he made his way though on of Oasis' Market streets. And it wasn't long before Gabriel felt an annoyingly familiar sensation the barrel of a gun in his back. "Turn down the next alley the boss wants to have a word with you" The man behind him whispered trying to be inconspicuous. Gabriel didn't put much of a struggle and complied wanting to see just what the Drac had in mind. Not long after Gabriel was lead to meet with Drac Although he was only at Gabriel's chest the Alien was able to raise itself to Gabriel's eye level. "Welcome Mr Phoenix, So I heard you were looking for me. I think we should have a bit of a chat." Drac said only to be meet with a grin from Gabriel. He had been moved to a deserted side street and by the looks of it Drac's entire gang of 12 had shown up to this little event to intimidate Gabriel. If he had all of his equipment Gabriel wouldn't of even let this show go on as long as it had, but only equipped with his Pistol and Knife this called for a but more caution on Gabriel's part. His hand slowly made its way to his pistol's grip "Yes, I think a chat would be nice." he said continuing his grin.

[Athol]

To say Gerad was in a bad mood was to put it politely, not that most other species would have noticed. Garundin’s had a reputation for being a surly lot, so they’d have just assumed he was behaving like normal; but this was different. He’d just spent the past four hours walking back to Oasis after the hovertruck he’d been using had been blasted to shit. It’d cost him a fair chunk of his limited credits and much time modifying it for his own ease of use, and now it was a smouldering slag pile out in the desert.

He’d been planet side for a few months now, and between odd jobs to keep the credits flowing in, he’d spent much time at a relatively close exposed bit of the strange archeotech, trying to see if he could figure out anything about it; so far he’d been no more successful than anyone else, but that was no deterrent, like any other Garundin he was patient.

Now, however he was on a bit of a warpath. He’d been working at his usual site, when another vehicle approached. He’ been cautious but since it didn’t appear to be a Skull Taker’s ride, he kept working instead of just engaging as soon at the vehicle came in range, that proved to be a mistake; there were no warnings, no threats, a duo just dismounted and opened fire at him, lobbing an explosive charge at his truck at the same time.

Fortunately for the duo, Gerad had been at the bottom of a depression and was not able to bring any of his rather potent ‘guns’ to bear, the only weapons he had at hand where some homemade pheromone grenades that he’d put together as they seemed to be somewhat effective in dispersing, at least small packs, of ‘hoppers’. He lobbed a few of those at his attackers, causing them to remount their ride and retreat in the direction of Oasis.

Seeing as he need to go back there anyways, he’d followed, managing to make the trip with only a few minor scuffles with some wildlife. Once back inside the settlement, he began sampling the air with his armour, using the pheromones to track his attackers through the place. Too many species without a highly developed olfactory sense, the ‘tag’ was almost unnoticeable, to Gerad, it was a ribbon of brilliant light. Following the trails, they rounded a corner to where he could hear a rather insistent conversation.

"Welcome Mr Phoenix, So I heard you were looking for me. I think we should have a bit of a chat."
"Yes, I think a chat would be nice."

He stopped short of the corner and listened. The ones that had shot at him and trashed his stuff were right there, and from the sounds of things they were not alone. Now most species, when confronted with a situation like this, would either back off and try again later or try and get some more information about what was happening just out of sight before they did anything, but Garundins just hit their problems head on and relied on their stubbornness and armour to carry the day, and Gerad was very typical for his people.

Stepping around the corner with his Barrier deployed and his V.L.A. in hand, he saw a dozen or so thugs all facing away from him and glaring at a lone human. "Hey," He said in a rumbling bass. "I don’t know what’s going on here, and don’t much care, but I do have a quarrel with those two." He added, using one of his secondary hands to point out the two ‘tagged’ thugs. "They come with me and I’ll get out of your way."

[Arthanus]

The Insect creature let out a dull hiss staring down Gabriel. "Here's the deal Phoenix, You are going to head back to your little bounty hunter hide out and warn the other hunters to not come after me, or your going to die here. Pretty simple deal." Drac hissed. But before Gabriel could make a smart ass comment an opportunity arose. A Garundin male walked into the alleyway claiming to have a dispute with some of Drac's gang. The appearance of this Garundin drew the attention of Drac and his gang for just a moment. Long enough for Gabriel to make his move. With a one swift move Gabriel drew his weapon turned away from his captor and struck the man in the temple with the butt of his gun. Now freed from his captors Gabriel quickly took two shots at some of Drac's goons and ended with his pistol pointed square at the insects head. "I say the answer is no deal, Now will you be a good boy and come quietly or will I have to settle for the 700 less for your corpse?" Gabriel said with a smirk, "Ohh and thanks for the distraction, I was looking for some sort of opening." He said to the Man who had interrupted the meeting.

Drac was surprised with Gabriel's quick movements and was stunned to see a gun in his face. "Look out Boss!" one of the henchmen said as he tossed a grenade at Gabriel's feet. Gabriel quickly jumped away before a blinding flash erupted from the grande. "Kill them both! I don't want to see their faces again!" Drac yelled as he scurried to safety and his Henchmen started to open fire shooting at Gabriel and Gerad. Gabriel hurried behind the nearest piece of cover he could find before returning fire on the goons taking out two of the henchmen before having to reload. "Looks like Mack is getting this bugs head." Gabriel said to himself as he reloaded his pistol and looked to see of the Garundin was able to make it into cover and how he was fairing

[Athol]

Gerad let out a pained sigh as the lone human that had been being held at gun point, disabled one of his captors and then levelled his weapon at the being that seemed to be in charge of the group. Spirits Below, why’d he have to go and complicate things?

He was already bringing his Barrier into position when one of the henchmen called out his warning; the stun grenade went off, but it had no effect of Gerad as his armour’s systems automatically moved to counter-act the blinding flash and thunderous bang. Weapons fire erupted immediately, but all Gerad did in response was to hunker behind the Barrier a bit, more out of habit than anything else, and return fire. Scattered, light small arms fire was exactly zero threat to Milita armour.

His first targets where the two ‘tagged’ thugs that had wrecked his truck; he’d hoped he would have been able to convince them, forcefully if need be, to compensate him for his loss, but now seeing as he was being fired at, he decided to cut to the chase. The first one was simply trying to run away, so he fired a burst from his VLA into the runners back, burning a roughly fist sized hole in his torso. The second took cover behind a large waste bin and was firing a one handed automatic slug thrower at him, the bullets, spalling and fragmenting uselessly against Gerad’s Barrier. Another burst cut that thug down as well as igniting the contents of the bin.

“Ancestors…” He muttered out loud as some of the others continued to fire at him, despite it having no effect. “This is becoming a pain in the hind quarters.”
The Barrier wasn’t really needed so he collapsed it and switched the VLA to his left main hand and unhooking the hammer from its mounting point between his shoulders. He snapped a few bursts off at targets of opportunity, chewing up the environment as he did, while advancing on the largest cluster of thugs who were in cover. “If you clanless stone-throwers are done wasting ammunition, I promise I won’t kill you.”

[Arthanus]

Gabriel watched as the Garundin practically walked through the gang's fire not caring and blasting through two of its members without a second thought, causing the gang to nearly forget Gabriel as he reloaded. Even when its shield went down Gerad still was able to shrug off the small arms fire as Gabriel peaked out from cover to pick off another member of the small gang. So when Gerad taunted them and gave them the promise to live they quickly stopped firing then turned to retreat. Gabriel raised his gun to pick off some of the fleeing members but refrained from doing so coming out of cover and moving to the one who had originally held him at gunpoint who was slowly starting to get back up.

A swift kick to the jaw stopped that effort sending the man rolling on the floor. Gabriel then pulled out a pair of plasma restraints in order to hold the man captive before pulling out his comm system. "Mack, I have your snitch bagged up for you. come pick him up. The insect got away though, if you can get the location of their base from this guy before you rip out all his teeth." Gabriel said as soon as the small holo-projection of Mack showed up not really giving Mack the time to speak or even respond before he cut the line.

With that business settled Gabriel holstered his gun and walked over Garundin "Thanks for the save big guy, that would of been a lot harder to get out of that mess on my own." Gabriel started off, "But I have to ask what did those two lumps do to piss you off?" he asked while pointing to the two that Gerad had shot down knowing he had called them out with his first arrival. After the explanation Gabriel thought for a moment, "I could defiantly see how that would piss someone off, but it does give me a bit of an idea. You are a walking tank, sorry but I don't have any other words for it, hoe about you help me out with capturing this bug, then I'll either buy you a new Skiff, of I'll pay to get yours repaired if possible." Gabriel offered, knowing well enough the bounty for Drac wouldn't be enough for either option, but it would hopefully give Gabriel a contact to call on later if some bigger job came up and Gabriel would need some heavy firepower. "I'll give you a bit to think about it. I won't know where they are hiding for a little while anyway." he said while holding out a card with his comm frequency written on it. "Just hit me up when you decide. Ohh and the name is Gabriel Phoenix, Bounty Hunter. Its a pleasure to meet you." Gabriel said with a small grin. Playing nice wasn't his strong suit, but even he could do a bit of acting when it benefited him.

[Athol]

’Big Guy’? Gerad thought. Why do humans always think they’re so funny? Looking up at the human, he holstered his weapons before taking the proffered card. “Therak oz Gerad nil Mizol.” He replied, keying the comm code into his gear. “Gerad, since you humans tend to shorten everything anyways.” He rumbled; as he spoke, he began to rummage through the possessions of the dead for anything of value. A few credits here and there, personal doses of a couple of types of narcotics, and a fist full of cheap weapons, all in all a pretty poor showing.

“I have no need to think of it. Truth be told I am very low on credits and repair work only pays so much.” The credits he pocketed and the narcotics he left in a pile, sure they had value, but it was not something he knew much about and that just made them more hassle than he was willing to deal with. Most of the guns where not worth much of anything either, but a couple at least had some useful bits.

With one such weapon held before him, he set to work dismantling it for components with his tool studded secondary hands, while returning to where Gabriel was standing. “Though I find I must ask you Mr. Phoenix…do all your bounties get the better of you?”

[Skull]

"Oh, look!" Ojan, one of the little twin bears yelped, pointing at the bodies strung all over the street. "Free stuff!"

His brother Ulri nodded with much enthusiasm. "We won't be coming back empty-handed after all!"

The armored fur balls swooped in like vultures, creating a pile of weapons and accessories. Ojan and Ulri did not acknowledge the two bounty hunters at first. The twins were too focused on the task at hand, shuffling about with a sense of urgency. Others will come, they always do, and the bears wanted to make sure they left nothing behind. When they finished, Ulri finally introduced themselves.

"Oh, hai." Ulri perked up with a smile, shouldering his rifle as he approached them. "I'm Ulri, and this is my brother Ojan."

Ojan's back was turned to them. He was too busy tallying up their loot pile, but managed a half-assed nod to show that he was listening.

"We're gainfully employed by The Great Gunsmith, Ence!" Ulri waddled over, glancing at their captive, then back at the two. "Looks like you got a good bounty on your hands!" Ulri really didn't know that for sure. He was just trying to be nice.

"Well, if your weapons need fine-tuning, upgrading, or heck, you need a new gun all together..." Ulri's voice trailed off, observing the hunters' weapons, then gave a facial reaction that suggested there indeed was something wrong with their firearms, "Come to Ence's Weapon Forge just down the street on Firebrand Avenue. It's the shack with a neon sign that has our faces on it!" Ulri said. Ojan nodded, back still turned to them.

"Can't miss it." Ojan chimed in.

Ulri inched over to Ojan and grabbed a good portion of the loot pile onto his arms. Ojan picked up the rest, and together, the twins slowly stepped away from the scene, eyes peeled for potential robbers.

[Arthanus]

Gabriel gave a bit of a grin at how fast Gerad agreed to his offer. "Well if you got the skills for it, Bounty Hunting can be pretty lucrative and there is always work, if you are looking for a career change that is." He said after Gerad's comment about cash. Gabriel watched as Gerad dismantled the weapon the Garundin seemed to have many talents, something very handy for a potential ally. Then Gerad made the comment about Drac getting the better of him. "You know, that was actually the first time I have ever been approached by a bounty to negotiate before. So that was a fun experience, otherwise no my Bounties don't normally "get the better of me" he answered before noticing some others come into the alley.

As the two bears rushed into the alley to loot the dead Gabriel almost drew his weapon again but stopped after he realized who they were. Ojan and Ulri two humanoid bear things with a combined bounty of 1.5 million credits. A tempting offer, but even that was not worth the trouble it would be to take them in. But even aside from that the attempt alone would pretty much wreck the relationship Gabriel has with one of his contacts. "Hey you two, you know if Ence is done with the mods to my rifle yet? I am going to need it soon enough." He asked giving the bears a few moments to recognize one of their customers.

[Athol]

“I may as well give it a try.” Gerad replied in reference to Gabriel’s mention of a career change. “Like I said, my account is getting pretty light. I came here really to study the artifacts, but I am making little progress. Perhaps a break is in order…”

As he was speaking, he found his attention drawn to an approaching duo, and like Gabriel, Gerad found himself readying his weapon for just a moment before realizing the newcomers were not hostile. “Offal pickers…” He muttered as he watched the armoured furballs gather up anything with the remotest value.

Replying to Ulri’s mild distain for his weapon with a dismissive ‘snort’, he glowered through the armoured faceplate of his helmet. He’d seen the sign, and their boss, before, but had not had any business dealings with the machine, though it sounded like Mr. Phoenix had. As the loot laden duo made to leave, Gerad walked over to the one individual who had been restrained and gripped the man by the back of his jacket, hoisting him off the ground with ease. “We should see that this one tells us where his boss ran off to.” He stated. “Given that you required my intervention to remain breathing, I believe forty percent of the insect’s bounty is a fair deal.”

[Skull]

The twins perked up at the human's question about his rifle mods. Ojan pretended to not hear it and kept walking forward. Ulri awkwardly turned around, and when he did, accidentally dropped pieces of his pile onto the ground.

"Oh, so you are a customer! You, you looked familiar." He did not. Ulri could not tell humans apart, but nodded enthusiastically nonetheless. "I'm sure your order will be ready at the allotted time he gave you." Ulri was satisfied by his default customer service answer and began picking up the pieces he dropped.

"Hurry up!" Ojan shouted. He was already down the street. "Boss is already pissed as is!"

"You shut your mouth!" Ulri barked. He turned back to the human and the garundin, holding the other human like he was a travel bag. "This sector is going to swarm with vultures soon. I'd get out of here quick while you still can!"

In that moment a loud thud was heard, followed by the clang of several metals falling onto the street. Ulri turned back and saw his brother Ojan on the floor, his loot pile scattered about him. A large torros towered over Ulri's twin, arms crossed, horns pointed, and snout fuming.

"Watch where you're going puffball!" Its yell could be heard miles away.

"Stick your horns up your ass, bullshitter!" Ojan shouted back, his yell barely within earshot. What he said next, however, didn't fall onto deaf ears. "Your kind belongs on the street, not the sidewalk!"

"Oh, jolly stupid." Ulri sighed, running to save Ojan from an impending shitstorm.

[Arthanus]

Gabriel watched as Gerad picked up the bound thug. "Don't worry about making him talk Mack will take care of that. That one there is a special pick up for him." he said before giving the little bear a nod knwoing all to well that her fir ball didn't recognize him by the look on its face. Turning back to Gerad "In fact I believe Mack will be here to pick up this little morsel soon enough." he added beckoning for Gerad to let down the thug.

Then as the bears tried to leave one of them ran into a Torros starting to cause an incident. As the groups started to make noise Gabriel looked over and gave a chuckle. "Might want to stand back this is going to get messy. Those two bears are worth 1.5 mill for a reason." He warned as he started to step back. But before the violence began there came a deep growl from behind the Torros. "Move Now!" Mack growled, as the large lizard like creature stood with two bounty hunters in tow.

Hearing Mack's voice Gabriel let out a sigh. "Well shit is about to turn to hell..." he said while moving back into cover again and pulling his gun. "Word to the wise you might actually want to take cover here. Mack has a tendency to get messy when Mack gets personally involved." He said as he pulled his gun ready to use it if needed. "Hey Ojan, Ulri back up the bull will be out of the way soon. And Ence might not appreciate it if you start a war with the Bounty Hunters." Gabriel warned the two bears, Ence was a good weapon smith and didn't want the Android to be drawn into this.

[Athol]

Gerad replied to Gabriel’s comments about their ‘prisoner’ by simply shrugging and dropping the unconscious man back onto the ground. As the two furry scavengers got into an altercation with an ill-tempered Torros…was there any other kind?...he gave a little amused ‘snort’ when he was told to take cover.

“Nothing short of a dedicated anti-armour weapon is a threat to Militia powered armour.” Gerad added with more than a touch of pride in his voice. Moving over to the human, he looked questioningly at Gabriel. “Some questions just occurred to me Mr. Phoenix. You said you’re a bounty hunter yourself did you not? You stated those two small ones are worth 1.5 million credits, so why are you…or we…not apprehending them?”

He fell silent for a moment, drumming the fingers of his false-hands on his abdomen. “Has the machine…Ence…paid to ensure its assistants remain unharmed?”

[Skull]

Naturally, Ojan blamed his brother for the current kerfuffle. Had he watched where he was going, they'd have zigzagged out of this hot mess and be divvying up whatever reward Ence was willing to offer. Ojan carefully placed his scavenged weapons off to the side before he swung out his own. He whipped around the rifle over his shoulder and pointed it directly at the Torros. The gun whirled to life with plasma energy veining throughout its body, casting a powerful, vibrating hum, as a small holo interface winked in front of Ojan's targeting eye.

"Get moving, bull," Ojan warned, aiming between the Torro's horns. "Or you'll end up in pieces at the food market."

Just as the Torros was ready to pounce, a voice called out from behind him. Its tone was far more intimidating than Ojan's, even with a gun pointed to his head, for the bull scampered away without objection. Ulri looked up as he was picking his weapons, noting two bodyguards flanking a large lizard man. Not just any lizard man.

"Mack? What the hell are you doing here?" Ulri questioned, to which Ojan slapped the back of his head, pushing his twin brother forward.

"Shut up, Ulri! Just get to Ence's!" Ojan turned to Mack. The lizard wasn't quite as big as the Torros, but he was still intimidating nonetheless. Ojan wondered why he'd even need bodyguards to begin with. Nobody would be stupid enough to mess with him. Ojan shouldered his weapon, backing away toward his weapons pile. "Mack, we've got no problems with you. We're on our way to see Ence. You know how he is if you keep him waiting...so, we'll just be going now."

[Arthanus]

Mack just grinned as the Torros quickly moved out of the way "Damned bull needs to watch where he is standing." One of the Bounty hunters commented as Mack's gaze fell to Ulri and Ojan with Ojan attempting to move his brother along. Mack nodded at Ojan disregarding Ulri's question. "Send my regards to Ence." Mack said letting the two bears go on their business before walking into the alley.

Gabriel almost laughed at the concept of trying to capture the twins. "Ever heard of the concept of "More trouble than its worth"? Well those two are exactly that." Gabriel said as Mack walked up looking at the two of them. "Now who is this Gabriel? You don't usually work with anyone. Much less a rookie who doesn't even take cover from the Hellfire Cubs" Mack gave a bit of a joke before motioning for his two Bodyguards to take the prisoner. Mack reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit chit. "Here is your payment of for the trator. I'll let you know when he talks." Mack said tossing the chit to Gabriel who caught it coming out of cover.

Mack then turned to Gerad looking over the Garundin, "Now as for you, I understand you take pride in your armor and equipment, but you should listen to Gabriel. He may look like a clumsy meatbag, but he has lived through more than I even care to know about. Also always remember no matter how good the armor..." Mack's tail whips around poking into a gab in Gerad's armor. "There is always a chink and one stray bullet could end your life." He explains before his tail falls back into place. "But you do have spunk. Gabriel take care of him, show him the ropes and take him with you when we find out where the bug is. After that if you still want a job come find me." Mack said and Gabriel sighed, "Right, right I had already made a deal with him already. Alright Gerad lets go get the rest of my gear and meet up with Ence. Despite the bears not knowing my order it should be done by now" He said holstering his pistol. "Just let me know when I can take care of that bug problem Mack." He said again waving while starting to walk off toward Ence's shop

[Athol]

Gerad snorted at Gabriel’s comment about the twins. “You are using inferior tactics or gear then.” He replied matter-of-factly; mentally started to rough out how he would bring them down, though first he’d need some specific information on their species.

Those thoughts however, were put on hold as this ‘Mack’ individual approached. “I would take cover if I thought there was a need too.” He muttered, reflexively attempting to bat away Mack’s tail with one of his false hand. The implication that any of the down and outers that lurked on Trylin had the firepower to pose a genuine threat to him or his armour, got under Gerad’s skin. Blasted sky gazer…

He snorted once more, and brushed some invisible specks of dirt off of his armour. “All right then.” He said finally with a bit of a huff. “Let’s go see this Ence machine and get your equipment. I want to extract what is owed me from the insects carapace sooner rather than later.”

[Skull]

The market was at its usual best today: loud, annoying, and uneventful. Frequenters frequented, browsers browsed, and hagglers haggled. Nudged between an exotic carpet vendor and an air conditioning repair store was a small gun shop. It has a large neon fixture of two bear heads sharing a dialogue bubble that read: Ence's!

The owner sat behind the counter, tinkering around with weapon modifications per usual, half-listening to Dotax like always. Dotax was a short, scaly Cradeenes. He was also a bounty hunter; The type that let's everyone know they're bounty hunters, especially when no one cared to ask in the first place. Dotax dropped by in the morning to pick up his power rifle. Dotax paid, left, then came back in 120 minute intervals. Everytime he came back he asked Ence to add something else. Lime green tiger-striped grip holders. New papyrus fonts for the holo interfaces. Gold and pink camo paint schemes. A decal of a Cradeenes pin up model laying on the barrel side. Ence dutifully obliged without a single complaint. Internally? He wanted to shoot Dotax in the head with his own stupid-looking gun. But good paying customers were hard to come by these days, and if there's anything Dotax was good at, it was spending money at Ence's store.

"So, I go in there and hip fire all five of those bad hombres, square in the chest. And, not to brag or anything," Dotax said, grinning as he leaned over the counter to let Ence in on his secret. "But I did it with both eyes closed. Literally. Easiest bounty ever, I tell ya." The Cradeenes slapped his thigh, clearly entertained with himself as he let out a hearty chuckle.

"Exhilarating." Ence said, flatly.

Just then, the shop door flew open.

"Boss!" Ojan called out, panting frantically.

"Look what we got!" Ulri said, finishing his brother's sentence. Before they dropped their piles onto the counter, Ence scanned each part and material, analyzed their condition, model, and make, all at the blink of an eye. Something was missing.

"Where's the gunship circuit boards?" Ence's voice was stern.

Ulri pretended to shuffle through his pile with a confused look on his face, but Ojan had no intention of running that farce with Ence.

"Scavengers got to it before we did." Ojan said, deflated. Ulri punched his brothers shoulder for fessing up. "All that was left was the frame, maybe some scrap metal here and there. But hey, two bounty hunters cleaned up shop down the street from here. Left this stuff lying around. Not a complete loss, right?"

Ence put Dotax's power rifle down and stared long and hard at the twin bears.

"No, not a complete loss. Those gunship boards are out there somewhere. I'm pretty sure the scrap merchants off Sandlot's Ridge know a thing or two about their whereabouts. Of course you can forget the whole thing all together, and I'll pay you less than a quarter of what was originally offered for those boards."

Ojan and Ulri sighed in unison, hanging their heads low as they made for the exit.

"We'll be back..." Ojan groaned.