(Jom Gabbar Tavern, Keen-arra City, kisArra)
Aquaria IV was, to put it bluntly, perhaps the most hostile
terrestrial planet to any and all life that wasn’t covered in ever-molten lava
(that would be the ironically named Dante, in the Inferno System). Called
kisArra by the natives, travelers commonly referred to it as the Sandpit. Of
course, there were no true natives of kisArra, since sentient life never
developed on the desert planet.
Which is not to say that there were no people who were born,
lived, and died without ever leaving the surface of kisArra, or that there
weren’t living creatures native to the world. The nomadic Freemen were a tribe
of outcasts from the Terran Empire who had come here centuries ago, fleeing
through the Gateway before its uses were completely understood. They had risked
everything to escape the Empire’s growing persecution, and had found a desert
world awaiting them. They managed to create a life for themselves, living in
the desert, practicing their strange religion, a combination of Sunni and Zen
beliefs.
When a group of six walked into the bar, wearing
Freemen-style desert suits, most just assumed that they were Freemen. Which
meant that most of the people in Keen-arra were not pleased to see them. To the
city-dwellers, Freemen were little more than bandits, wholly uncivilized since
they chose willingly to live in the deserts. Some of the local toughs, drunk
off the cheap liquor (pure water was the most expensive drink on the planet),
decided that they would show these native scum who was boss.
That plan got changed quickly when the newcomers shifted
their cloaks, and the crowd could see that all but one of them were female. Of
course, their plan still involved showing the natives who was boss, but only
involved beating the shit out of the guy, while taking the women someplace more
‘comfortable’.
The toughs got up, and started heading for the group, when
they saw the man placing his hand on the hilt of a weapon. Looked like they
were going to get some fun before they played with the girls! Grinning to
eachother, the two humans, four gauz, and three ihm males got ready to play.
Which is when everyone heard the distinct sound of the bolt slamming home on a
long gun.
Arv k’Tea (AKA: Kiki)
Felisan Female
Level 20
Titles: Armorer, Guardian, Scratch-Builder,
Customizer, Sniper
|
Sitting at the back table, with a big ass rifle that looked
like you could hunt tanks with, was a little slip of a thing, dressed all in
black. She was a Felisan, a species that looked for all the world like a
furry-lover’s dream come true. And when she spoke, it was in a clear,
commanding voice. The fact that the gun was set up with its bipod on the table,
pointing at the toughs helped with the ‘commanding’ part. “Now, we were all
here having a nice, friendly drink. And so long as everything stays friendly,
Kilo here won’t have to get loud. Now, is there going to be a problem?”
As the focus of the toughs turned to the new participant,
the man in the ‘Freemen’ group carefully stepped to the side, so he was no
longer in the same line as the big rifle’s barrel. One of the ihm, the biggest
of the lot (and probably the leader, but definitely
the drunkest, as he had no fear of the rifle pointed his way) snarled at the
Felisan. The big lizardman was clearly aching for some sport. “Keep out of
this, bitch. We’re just going to show these scum what we think of their lot
here. Don’t be getting involved if you don’t want to be part of the ‘fun’ later
on.”
That last was accompanied by a rude gesture with the ihm’s
hips, and the laughter of his friends. Unfortunately, both the gesture and the
laughter were cut short when a mighty roar came from the back of the bar. There
was a moment of silence as the ihm stared at the fist-sized hole in his chest,
just before his heart fell down into the open air, and he collapsed. Behind
him, there was a brief cloud of red mist, as the bullet had continued through
the ihm’s body, and the now-vaporized head of the gauz male standing behind
him, and the door to the bar, and buried itself quite messily inside the engine
of the transport the toughs had parked outside before they began drinking their
fill.
As the two remaining ihm began to growl, there was a snap
and a buzzing sound along with a flash of light. In an instant, the two ihm
howled in pain and shame as they suffered the most humiliating thing an ihm
male could, having their tail cut off. The toughs looked at the man holding the
glowing energy blade in one hand, and a psyber pistol in the other. The girls
all had assault rifles in their hands, and were aiming them at the remaining
toughs.
Then the man spoke for the first time since he entered. His
voice clearly wasn’t one of the Freemen (the accent was all wrong), but it was
hard to place beyond ‘Terran’. “The lady said to keep things friendly. Now, I
would suggest you all get very friendly with the outside air. Otherwise we’re
all going to have to be a mite bit unfriendly.”
The toughs looked at eachother, and at the ihm, who were
clearly the leaders of this muscle-brained group, and decided that they’d had a
day of it. When they reached down to grab their fallen friends, though, the man
stopped them. “Uh, uh, uh. You’ll be leaving them right where they lay. The
lady’s got first pick of their loot. When she’s done, you can pick up the
bodies in the street.”
The two ihm tried to grab their tails, and the man pointed
his gun at them. “And you two leave those tails. You want them to try and get
them reattached? You gotta pay for it. Strip off your gear, and toss it in a
pile. You can grab the tails when you’re bare-scaled and walk out of here with
your friends to find a medic. Or you can leave them, but you know a replacement
is going to cost enough that you’ll be without your tails for over a year. Your
choice.”
The ihm considered, and then began grumbling as they began
piling their gear next to their tails. They weren’t happy, not in the
slightest, but more than one patron in the bar had to stifle a laugh as they
watched the two powerfully built aliens stagger slightly as they tried to keep
from falling over without their tails to balance them. When they had stripped
to their scales, the two picked up their tails, and followed after their
friends.
By this point, the Felisan had quietly looted what she
wanted from the two she had killed, so the man and one of his companions picked
up the ihm, while another two of the women grabbed the gauz, and threw the
corpses through the doorway like sacks of wheat. Turning to the bartender, the
man transferred some credits, and shouted, “FIRST ROUND’S ON THOSE GUYS!” The
prospect of a free drink went a long way to improving the impressions of those
in the bar about the recent ‘unpleasantness’. The bartender, knowing that the
barflies wouldn’t be able to stop at the single drink, gave only a cursory
scowl at the hole in the door, before letting it go. There’d be enough people
coming to hear the story (and buy drinks) in the next week that the door would
pay for itself.
The Felisan moved back to the table where she’d been
sitting, her rifle still on the table in the booth. Unsurprisingly, the six
moved to join her at the table. They were each holding drinks, with the man
holding two, one of which he put down in front of the catwoman. “Thanks for the
assist. That would have ended up a lot bloodier if you hadn’t put some shock
and awe into them.”
Looking up at the man who still had his suit mask on, Kiki
considered, and then waved for the group to sit with her. “You were certainly
more capable than I expected. You could probably have taken them all.”
The man nodded. “True. But there would be a lot more damage
than some blood stains and busted door. And it would have been difficult to
keep from dragging the rest of the people into it, which wouldn’t do anyone any
favors.”
There was a pause, as he looked ‘Kilo’ over. “This is a
beautiful weapon. Don’t see too many high level people using slug throwers once
they can afford the psyber guns.”
Kiki grimaced. “Psyber guns are nice for not having moving
parts, sure, but they’re vulnerable to dampening fields, EMPs, and other
nastiness. Plus, you can do a lot with ballistics that you can’t with energy
weapons.”
One of the women laughed. “Like having your shot go through
the first two guys, the door, and into a vehicle outside.”
Kiki grinned at the one to talk. “Yeah, something like that.
Of course, close quarters isn’t really what Kilo is designed for, but sometimes
a big sound and a bigger hole makes more of an impression, you know?”
The man nodded. “I used to be Navy, before I was a Nomad. Missiles
are nice, but there’s something about a big gun that just speaks to you. So, if
I was looking to get a rifle like Kilo, where would I go looking?”
“Hah! You wouldn’t. There’s only one Kilo, and I built him
myself from scratch. Some repurposed parts from older weapons, but mostly made
new on a fabricator and assembled by hand.”
That got the man’s attention, and he began taking off his
mask, breaking the seal that kept the desert out of the suit, while keeping the
moisture in, for recycling purposes. Kiki’s nose twitched at the common stench
of ‘suit smell’. The Felisans were quite nimble, especially with their fingers,
but the enhanced sense of smell didn’t always do her any favors.
The man noticed, and shrugged. “Sorry, just got in after a
week in the desert. Big hunt. Could have used a beauty like Kilo on our side.
Anyways, if you scratch-built a weapon like that, I might have a proposition
for you.”
Kiki groaned silently. How many people just wanted her to
build the biggest and baddest guns they could get, without any appreciation for
the workmanship involved? She was about to decline, when the guy continued. “My
crew and I are often moving from place to place. Sure, we know enough to
maintain our weapons, but if we need a rebuild with new parts fabbed, or
something new? Then we’re rookies. I don’t like leaving my crew’s lives in the
hands of our best effort if there is better around.”
That got her attention. A leader that thought about the good
of his crew was pretty rare, especially amongst Nomads. Now that she got a
chance to look at them without their masks, the guy and one of the women looked
pretty familiar… “What is the proposition, and who might you be?”
The man grinned, and said, “Well, the proposition is pretty
simple. I reckon that the reason you’re here on this dustball instead of a
cushy core world is that you’re not looking to break into the top tiers of the
business world, but instead to have fun while honing your craft. I’ve got a
ship, and we’re set to be moving out soon. Would be great to have someone to
maintain, and hopefully upgrade, our gear. We’ve got a kick-ass mechanic,” the
knelfi girl blushed at that, “but she’s best with vehicles, not weapons and
armor. Sure, she could slap something together, but it wouldn’t be the same as
having someone who knows the job do it.”
“You have my attention.”
“Great! So here’s the deal. Fly with us. Passenger, but
paying your way with work, helping out by maintaining our armory, and supplying
any new weapons and armor you can come up with. You get to see the stars, we
get gear that will keep us breathing so we can keep doing jobs and making
money. And if you decide that it is time to settle down someplace and start a
shop, or a family, or whatever, you just let us know, and we’ll see if there isn’t
some way to help.”
Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/
Volume 3 - Wyrmwood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072QKVBYV
Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4
Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Book II - Choson Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X3LL9D
Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF
The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T
LitRPG facebook group:
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