My eyes fluttered open, disturbed by the sudden change of brightness in my room. The source of the light was my tablet, attached onto the closest wall to my bed with grav-nets. This particular tablet turning on only meant one thing – I was receiving a job.
I lazily lifted my front right arm and rubbed both of my eyes gently so that I didn’t accidentally hook my eyelid with a claw or two. It was a lesson learned the hard way in my juvenile years. Once I got all of the eye gunk out, I lifted the blankets on my bed and heaved my legs over the edge, sitting up and facing my tablet.
“Fuck.” I muttered, looking over the details on the tablet. The job was from some non-profit animal conservation group, and their jobs were always annoying. How did they get the money to hire mercenaries like me, anyways? Weren't they non profit? I scrolled further down, skimming the unimportant pompous words that this group liked to use. It seemed like this animal conservation group wanted me to take down some poachers in Sector D-157. Sector D-157 was a pretty secluded region of space, with not a lot of terraform-able or populated planets, and it was a pretty good way to sneakily use tunnels without anyone knowing. I’ve taken down pirates there a few times a couple years ago.
I’ve also taken on a few poacher jobs before. They weren't too difficult, those bastards were barely armed, and all they did was abduct exotic creatures from tough to access or off-limits planets. They would then sell those creatures on a black market or to wealthy individuals for consumption, pets, or whatever rich people do with weird animals. The reason why these kinds of jobs were annoying was that poachers tended to travel in groups, and it got difficult to deal with them all. Their cargo was a bit difficult to secure, too.
Ironically, the non-profit animal conservation group didn't actually care what happened to the poached creatures in the poachers’ ships. All they asked for was the deaths of the poachers onboard. Straight up destroying the ships was a little too cruel, even for a mercenary like me, so my game plan usually entailed boarding one of the ships violently, and nicely convincing the poachers on the ship to tell me whether there are any sapient or notable creatures in their little fleet. Sometimes poachers liked to steal sapient creatures from uncontacted worlds, and I’d feel bad if one of those little guys got blown to smithereens.
Alright. I stood up, stretching my four arms while simultaneously yawning. I popped my elbows, my knuckles, my wrists, and also threw my arms around in an arc, both ways, to pop my lower back. After every joint was properly stretched, I made my way to my bathroom, turned the sink on, and washed my face with recycled water. I examined myself in the mirror for a while.
I’m a Togumo, a relatively rare race within the Hoshidara Galaxy. Our planet reached its breaking point centuries ago, so now we’re scattered across the stars. It was not uncommon to see us working as mercenaries, soldiers, or pilots. Togumo tended to take a lot of physical or active professions because of our athletic, predator nature. We had four arms, two eyes, two legs, a thick tail, and were relatively tall, averaging about 2 meters tall. I was on the taller end, standing at a proud 220 centimeters. Togumo also had skin shades ranging from baby blue to violet, me being the former. I ran my clawed fingers through my somewhat wild, black, neck length hair, and fiddled around with my sharp, knife-shaped ears a bit. I filed the claws on my six toes down to a dull point to make sure they didn’t snag on anything. I made sure to brush my teeth thoroughly, these sharp points require good maintenance. I peeked at my scar on my cheek that I got years ago - was on the wrong side of a buzz knife wielded by an Anri soldier - and I also took a look around all the other scars crisscrossing my body. Being a mercenary is far from the safest occupation in the Hoshidara Galaxy, but it paid well.
I’ve been a solo mercenary for quite a while now, I got tired of being fucked out of shares by incompetent partners who wouldn’t know the business end of a Xilashi rifle. Besides, some mercenaries liked to double-cross their partners. Getting shot in the back is one of the last things on my bucket list. A few incidents in the past have taught me that friendly fire isn’t. If I had three or four of me, then I’d have the best merc squad in this sector. But since there’s only one of me, I was restricted to jobs that I can handle by myself. This poacher job shouldn’t have many complications. In, then out.
Back in my quarters, I pulled off the sweaty, stained tanktop that I slept in, and replaced it with a fresh tactical bodysuit. Then, I grabbed the light armor that was strewn over the carpeted floor I outfitted my room with. I pieced together the battered armor with practiced efficiency. My body armor protected all of my vitals with some lightweight metal alloy that was still strong enough to resist weak projectiles and stop most melee weapons. My joints were relatively unarmored, I liked having freedom of movement, utilizing my six limbs as much as possible. I highly prioritized agility, although that may be my Togumo ancestry talking. I pulled on my clawed boots, they snugly fit around my real claws and made it easy to climb surfaces. I carefully put my gloves on, making sure they didn’t get hooked on my claws. Lastly, came my helmet, perfectly tailored to fit my head and take an impact without flying off. With a transparent visor, of course, only idiots used closed masks with cameras. One EMP and you’re blind. 360 degree vision didn’t matter if you can’t fucking see. They did look really cool though.
Well, I'd better get started on this job. The sooner I got this done, the sooner I could be at a space station bar. I made my way to the cockpit of my ship. My ship was an A Class Scout ship, equipped with some aftermarket weapons, drive, and other goodies. It was a small, kite shaped ship, with wings on four sides. This ship was optimized for long runs without docking, allowing the small crew inside to live on the ship for months at a time, if needed. This model was usually used for space exploration. I found that it was adequate for combat as well. I sat down in the pilot’s seat and started the undocking sequence.
“Control, this is AS-Leviathan, docking bay 29, requesting permission for undocking and launch.” I said, in a monotone voice like a passenger ship captain.
“AS-Leviathan, Captain Saka, we read you. Docking bay 29 is good to go.” Control replied. “Safe travels, pilot.”
Sounds of whirring and clanging filled my ship as the docking compartment moved sideways, then upwards. The trapdoor above my ship opened as my ship was lifted up, revealing the inside of the gyroscopic space station. Gyroscopic space stations are the most common type of station, and they could be confusing at first, but were easy to get used to. Just had to keep in mind that everything was all around you, and one spacecraft accident would send you careening into an office building or a school. Once the docking bay was completely set up, I lifted off, pushing up on the throttle. Once I cleared the docking bay by 400 meters or so, the thrusters adjusted from being vertical to horizontal. All that’s left to do is to aim for the slit of the space station that serves as the entrance, exit, and airlock. I passed the semi-permeable force field with no issues, and directed my ship towards the tunnel that leads to Sector D-157. Despite having an annoying job from an exhausting employer, I’d still have fun dealing with these poachers.
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A few hours later, I arrived at my destination, Sector D-157. This is where the poachers should be passing through, so I laid in wait. My signal transmitter would let me know when they show up, so I made sure to check my equipment while I waited. My flechette gun was locked and loaded, my heat knife was fully powered and sheathed, and my sidearm, a low caliber pistol, was firmly in its holster. I was ready. My gameplan was to hijack the first ship that comes through, because usually it was the scout ship. It didn't always have the best cargo out of the mini fleet, but sometimes poachers liked to switch it up. If I managed to disable the crewmembers and get some information, I could usually just attack the next ships on sight, depending on what they’re carrying.
My signal transmitter chirped, letting me know that my first target was emerging from the tunnel I was waiting at. I armed the energy harpoons. A gray, medium sized, disk-like ship emerged from the lightless mouth of the tunnel. It was a typical Anri cargo ship. As soon as I checked its designation to see if it's the poachers, I opened fire, surprising the cargo ship. The two energy harpoon shots hit the disk square on, and the ship drive was temporarily disabled. The gray cargo ship continued to fly in the same direction it was moving, but they couldn’t control it at all. I pushed up on the throttle and brought my ship parallel to the top of the Anri cargo ship, and violently breached the airlock, producing loud wrenching noise that reverberated throughout my ship. I slung my flechette gun over my neck and across my chest, and jumped into the Anri cargo ship.
My armored claws hit the metallic floor with a loud CLANG echoing through the hallways. An alarm blared from invisible speakers. Stealth wasn’t an option, the Anri poachers already knew they were under attack. In fact, there was an Anri poacher right in front of me, quivering as he raised his cheap, low energy beam gun. Ugh. I hated the Anri. They were unsettling and made my skin crawl every time I looked at them. They were insect-like, with 4 legs supporting their abdomen and 2 arms on their chitin-plated torso. The Anri looked like they were constantly rearing up, thanks to their long abdomen. They had clicky, tiny, mandibles and disgusting compound eyes that made my throat retch. Definitely one of the ugliest species in the galaxy.
“TOGUMO!” the Anri poacher screamed. They aimed their dinky little pistol towards me, center mass. “DIE!”
A nasty grin contorted my face. The Anri couldn’t see it, though. I raised my arm and shot them in the torso with my flechette gun. It tore through their weak chitin plating and ripped through their chest. They didn’t even manage to get a shot off. The Anri poacher collapsed on the floor, in a pool of greenish brown blood. Ew. But I really did love my flechette gun. It didn't cauterize wounds like beam weapons, and the impact of the flechette could also deal with some armored enemies. In this case, it was very effective against a squishy target.
I swiveled my head, making sure no other Anri were around me. Looks like the one I shot was the only one who made it to the breached airlock in time. I’d still take this engagement carefully, sometimes these Anri packed hard hitting weapons. I needed to be fast though. I swept the hallways with trained precision, decimating the poachers whenever I came across them. They were poorly trained so they weren’t much of a challenge. None of their weapons posed a threat to me, either. I was too good at my job and the Anri poachers were terrible fighters. The only challenging fight was a small shootout with some Anri poachers using perpendicular rooms as cover. Every time they peeked from their doorways I got a little closer, until I was right up in their face. All four of them received flechettes to the face. After a few more minutes blindly sweeping the hallways, I peeked around a corner and saw a hulking figure. Fuck. I flicked my tail in annoyance.
It was a Xilashi, likely a mercenary hired by the Anri. The Xilashi were bipedal, huge, with tough, leathery, natural armor that could stop bullets and resist beams, and had giant fists that were not fun to be anywhere near. They had really stumpy legs, making them really slow, thankfully. This one was probably four or so meters tall, and half as wide, taking up a lot of the space in the hallway. I was going to have to get creative for this. Luckily, there seemed to be no Anri around, so I wouldn’t have to deal with them at the same time.
“I saw you, Togumo. Stop killing my employers.” I heard the Xilashi’s booming voice come from the other end of the hallway. His voice was rich and deep like the bark of an old tree. I assumed this Xilashi was a he because the Xilashi women were bigger than the males and very rare to see.
“I need to get paid. You should look into finding better employers!” I called back, while formulating a plan.
“Guess I’ll have to kill you.” He said, and sighed. He seemed reluctant, but confident. I’d be confident if I was a Xilashi too. Those guys were intimidating.
I used a little mirror to peek around the corner, this time. The Xilashi had his Xilashi rifle raised, which was a problem. That thing could take me out in one shot. However, since it was a railgun, it took forever to reload or cool down or whatever railguns did. I had to bait out a shot to engage him.
I scuttled into the hallway, with my flechette gun in one of my hands. As soon as the Xilashi mercenary spotted me, and raised his heavy rifle to shoot me, I popped off shots in bursts, aiming for his eyes. The Xilashi didn't wear helmets or armor, their culture thought it was cowardly. He raised one of his hands to cover his eyes, and let loose a potshot. The bullet screamed over my head and crashed into the opposite end of the hallway. Stupid. I was actually flabbergasted at how easy it was to bait out a shot. I hadn’t even meant for him to fire that early. I closed the gap while still aiming for the Xilashi’s eyes. If I hit him in the eye I could kill him, but the rest of him was too armored to do any real damage. I wish I had brought my beam rifle. Instead, I had to use my heat knife to inflict a fatal injury.
I dropped the flechette gun and closed the distance, running on all six limbs. I hooked my claws into the smooth, white, hallway walls, and launched myself at the Xilashi, heat knife in hand. The Xilashi noticed that I stopped firing, and uncovered his eyes. He saw me pouncing on him, and with a wide sweep of his massive hand, managed to grab me midair.
Shit! This wasn't good. He’s going to crush me to death!
“Idiot!” The Xilashi bellowed. “I'll crush you!”
He started squeezing, making my armor push against my flesh. I had a force field built into my suit, so I wasn’t going to be crushed immediately. I fumbled with my heat knife, holding it in a reverse grip in one of my unpinned hands, and hacked at his meaty fingers. It was no use. It carved deep gouges in his fingers but he kept holding on. It was like being constricted by the ancient tree vines of my home planet. The Xilashi’s other hand started to move towards me, probably to disarm me, or crush my head. I had to get out of this, fast. I activated the flashbang cell I had on my helmet, causing the Xilashi to squint his eyes, and loosened his grip on me. With this opening, I chucked my heat knife directly at the Xilashi’s face, hoping it’ll hurt him enough for him to let go completely. The Xilashi’s eyes widened in surprise, as the heat knife flipped, hilt over blade, and then sunk deep into his eye socket.
I fell to the cold floor, released from the vise grip of the brute. I gasped for air as the Xilashi slumped onto the ground. There was no blood, the heat cauterized the wound but also scorched his brain. I thanked past me for splurging on expensive armor and fancy gadgets. I definitely needed to bring along a beam rifle for heavies. I did a quick check on myself, patting my body down. I wasn’t severely hurt, and I didn't think I had any broken bones. My armor wasn’t even broken. I managed to kill the Xilashi before he could crush anything. I retrieved my heat knife from his corpse, snatched my flechette gun off the ground, and made my way to the cargo room. There, I found a terminal with data logs on every creature that the Anri had poached this haul. Behind me were stacked cages and cells containing creatures I’ve never seen, from planets I’ve never been to.
There, I looked over the creature log to see if there were any worth noting or reporting. As I scrolled through, something in particular caught my eye. The species name wasn’t listed, but there was a flag on the log. I checked the description of the log, and the creature was marked as “sapient - high priority.” It was stored in the same cargo hold I was currently standing in, too.
A sapient, huh. I hadn't encountered an uncontacted sapient on poacher hunts yet, but it was likely the Anri had one in their cargo hold right now. I inspected cages until I came across a medium sized cage tucked in the corner of the room. I looked through the bars and saw a pinkish white, bipedal creature with two arms, two legs, and seemingly no natural defenses like claws or armor. It had 2 brown eyes and a soft mouth. I knew what it was immediately. These sapients are infamous.
It was a human.