HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD:

Much time has passed. Bored out of his mind, Obsidian browses the Gunner network to find a job to keep himself busy. As he browses, he is immediately disappointed by the limited options, letting out a groan. Small assassinations, some escorts, and a few intel missions. None of them caught his attention. So, Obsidian gets a bright idea. Obsidian charts a course for somewhere called Trenor. His ship blasts off. About an hour later he arrives at his location, docking and walking to the library.

Obsidian remembers when he first met Zi. He was sitting on a street resting against a building when she approached him. “Hey big guy, what’s a sharply dressed fellow such as yourself sitting on the side of the road? I mean that literally, the metal on your coat looks deadly.” She giggles

Obsidian didn’t respond, or acknowledge her for that matter. She kneels in his face with curiosity. “You alive there, you look half dead already friend.” She waves a hand in his face.

“Who the hell are you?” Obsidian asks in a harsh tone.

“Well, my name is Ziyander Rauch, you can call me Zi. I’m a reader for the H.G.A. And you.” She asks politely

“I don’t have a name as of now. What is this H.G.A?” the nameless man asks.

“I’m glad you asked friend. The Hired Guns Agency is a place for people to earn good money, and build reputation, simply by being skilled. If you’re a good tinkerer you can find some mechanic jobs. Good a safeguarding, escort mission. And if you’re a good killer, assassinations too. But it doesn’t hurt to be good at multiple things.” She says proudly

“I’m looking to build up influence, can I do that through the H.G.A.” He asks half listening

“Of course my friend, we’ll spread your non-existent name throughout the great void.” She proudly motions.

Obsidian finally looks Zi in the eyes, the black of his goggles lens conveys no emotion, yet he seems intrigued still.

“How can I join.” He asks

A shining smile creeps up Zi’s face. “Well, my friend you’re in luck. I’m in the business of looking for a partner. My previous page kinda… let’s say he’s permanently retired. I’ll be your guide from here on out. Is that cool with you? Friend.” She puts out a hand.

“I may be open to the idea. Too many things have changed in this day in age. I’ll heed you, for now.” Obsidian shakes her hand.

“Well then---(ooh strong grip)---first things first. Let’s get you registered. You’ll need an identity after all. I’ll take you to the nearest Library. It isn’t too far.”

Obsidian remembers the usefulness of the Libraries. He walks in and feels the calm environment wash over him. It seems to annoy him. There is a reading area, which is for public use. There’s also a bar area for the patrons, and the registration desk is busy as always. Obsidian heads to a computer, where two guys are chatting on a lounge nearby.

“Ha! Yeah, that’s pretty lame. Ay, what’s that job you were assigned? (The one by the books gave you.) I want to hear about it.” Cutting in on a conversation between two well-equipped Page hunters

“Oh, that one, uuuuhhh---It’s some kind of demo job. Some Eternal Monarchy-owned re-purposing factory needs to get destroyed.” Says the page hunter smoking a cigarette.

“You think you can handle that.” His buddy nudges his smoking partner.

“pfft, please, all I got to do is find the biggest battery and strap a bomb to it. Although I doubt, they have anyone that can hang with me.” He says confidently while tapping his cigarette in an ashtray. The duo have a hearty laugh.

Obsidian overhears the conversation, and smirks. He waits for the smoker to leave, and follows him out, stalking the man for a few meters without him noticing before teleporting them both to an unpopulated area. The page hunter keeps walking before noticing the scenery has changed. He looks around before cautiously noticing the man behind him. The man in black has a strange smile. The pager slowly reaches for the shotgun attached to his backpack.

“This your doing?” The page hunter asks

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Obsidian says, not breaking eye contact, to the point it’s creepy.

“Hmmm --- ahh!” Suddenly, Obsidian teleports right in the man’s face spooking him. The man jumps back and pulls his shotgun.

“I get your job, and you get to live. I will give you a portion of the pay. Out of courtesy.” Obsidian strikes his deal

“Hell no --- who do you think you are?! Actually, who are you!!” The pager yells

“Obsidian----I will give you 40%, and I get to do all the annoying work. Doesn’t that sound good?” Obsidian informs

“Oh, you think you’re a tough guy. We’ll see after I put you in the ground.” The pager says with hostility.

“Don’t try, I’m being very patient. How about 30/70? I don’t need the money, just the rep.” Obsidian continues

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The man blinks as he lulls over the deal. He lowers his shotgun to his hip and thinks, making sure to keep his guard up.

“This job comes from the Books, the top brass. If I give it to you, you will get us both in big trouble. I was going to put a squad together so if you wan—”

“No.” Obsidian interrupts.

“Huh --- wha --- you, I don’t understand! It’s my job, I need to be---” The pager gestures his confusion until he’s interrupted.

“I’m going to give you one last chance. Give me the job, I don’t need anything else, keep giving me the runaround and I will kill you.” Obsidian says, his weird smile fading away.

The pager glares at Obsidian, he looks to his shotgun, deciding if he should kill this funny guy, but when he looks up, a hand cannon is jutted in his face.

“Whoa!---You’re insane!” He yells

“Last chance.” Obsidian says coldly

“Fine! I swear if I get thrown in the pit, I’m coming for you! I want 20/80.” The pager pushes his luck.

“Deal”. Obsidian says quickly

“Well all right then, deal.”

The two shake hands, and Obsidian teleports them both. Flying off in his ship, the pager he struck a deal with watches him take off. The pager gave Obsidian the commission details and his information so Obsidian could contact him after it was over. Obsidian charts the course in his ship's console, and he boosts off to the Shattered Nebula. Once he’s out of orbit. The watching pager makes a call.

“Hello, this is Dominick, I’ve got something.”

Obsidian reads the details of the mission. Simply put, he needs to: confirm with the Revolutionary commander on Ivan-IV and destroy the re-purposing factory in the clack district. As he crosses sector borders, he charts his autopilot for Ivan-IV, where his targets and soon-to-be clients are located. After zooming through space, he enters an asteroid field. Numerous fields like this one plague the Shattered Nebula, it’s filled with dead ships, and space debris alike; remnants from an old war. Obsidian passes through a gigantic warship carcass with the emblem UXR, a massive ship that looked formidable in naval combat, but now more wreckage for the trash fields. He flies through the massive hole in the middle of the warship.

Obsidian console begins beeping.

Suddenly, a giant space-faring mech appears right in front of Obsidian’s ship. The mech raises its large rifle and fires plasma beams at Obsidian's ship. Shocked but not unprepared, Obsidian teleports his ship out of the way, giving him some room to act.

“What the hell’s a G.K.A.M.U doing out here.” Obsidian curses

The two crafts engage in a rapid dogfight as the mech remains on Obsidian’s tail. Obsidian maneuvers around the debris field with incredible speed, trying to shake the zippy mech. Obsidian spins his ship around and fires its guns at the mech, however, it darts away into the debris field. Obsidian smacks his teeth, sick of the games. He summons a helmet and takes off his goggles. He puts the helmet on and puts his ship on autopilot, as he teleports to the roof of his ship. Obsidian summons a massive plasma cannon. He lets it charge, click, and shift into its firing mode, revealing a giant barrel.

Obsidian aims it forward, but the KAMU is not in his line of sight. The KAMU itself swings around trying to attack from behind. The cannon, now at full charge, fires the massive beam into space. The KAMU uses this as a chance to attack, but suddenly, a portal opens behind it, and the beam blasts a hole through its back, killing the pilot instantly, leaving nothing left of the waist. Several other portals redirect the beam and strike the mech a few more times before it explodes and leaves completely unrecognizable space junk. The beam dissipates, and the cannon clicks back into its neutral state and is sent back to where it came from. Obsidian goes back into his ship and cruises to his destination.

Obsidian flies into the pitch-black night of Ivan-IV. He notices three blips on his radar and groans in frustration. He reaches below his console and pulls out a wide hard drive. He opens his console, showing the main insert drives, buttons, and wires. He pulls out an old drive and puts in a new one.

A blue and purple G-KAMU flies alongside two fighter jets.

“Whossss our target.” Says a hissing voice coming from the left jet's comms.

“Not sure, but it has an Empyrean signature. Treat it as hostile.” A determined voice speaks from the KAMU

“Yes, sir.” Says both jets.

“Wait, the signature changed. It’s a hired gun.” Now a strong voice comes from the right jet.

“Then it could be our merc, but stay on guard. If he doesn’t pick up our comms, he’s ashes.”

The three flyers boost off to meet Obsidian’s ship.

The three come into the window view. Obsidian decides to hold his trigger finger and takes a breather. The three pilots fly right past him. Obsidian relieves, but of course, it’s short-lived, and the flyers come back around to hang beside Obsidian’s ship as he curses.

“Halt, what purpose do you have flying these skies.” Says the mecha pilot

Obsidian bangs his head on his dashboard. He raises a hand to his console and patches through the communication.

“I’m here for the client Amir Caldor. There’s a factory in need of annihilation.” Obsidian states in annoyance.

A brief pause

“Are you Dominick Flay?” The KAMU pilot asks

Obsidian thinks that he should lie to make things easier, however that would make claiming the rep more difficult.

“Dominick couldn’t make it; he sent me in his place.” Obsidian replies honestly

“That doesn’t make sense. Pull over so we can see your identification.” The KAMU flies in front of Obsidian’s ship

Obsidian groans.

They land in a secluded ruin. The KAMU pilot stays within his mech, and the jet pilots exit their fighters. A pair of reptilian twins, one with a crystal arm, inspect Obsidian’s credentials.

“Why would our hunter ssssend you? You only have a chapter 8 licenssse.” The crystalline arm of the first twin blinds Obsidian, as the man hisses his words.

“I recently joined the agency, but I was able to convince him to ally with me.” Obsidian reasons.

The second twin speaks “So, you’re inexperienced in this business. How did we know you didn’t kill our merc for the job, I’ve heard it’s not uncommon amongst you page hunters.”

Obsidian rolls his head.

“You’re just going to have trust that I didn’t. He should’ve sent a message to your commander. Patch me through, and once he confirms me for the commission, I’ll get the job done.” Obsidian says confidently

The twins look at each other.

“We do not know if you ssspeak the truth, but we’ll give you one opportunity. One moment.” Says the crystal-armed twin

Soon after a moment, one of the twins brings out a communicator.

“Here’s the commander, make it quick.” The other twin hands Obsidian the communicator

“Is this the C-8 hunter, I was told of? I got a message that there was a transfer of jobs. However, due to the nature of this business, I’ll give you 10 seconds to explain why I shouldn’t get rid of you and find someone else I can trust.” A smooth voice is heard on the other side.

“Amir Caldor. All I need is 15 minutes. And I’ll have the factory down in flames. I don’t need to meet you in person, I only need your word.” Obsidian says firmly.

“I see, I’m aware that chapters don’t equal one’s skill. And you were endorsed by our original client. However, I don’t trust inexperienced men with big jobs.” Amir doubts

“I’m more than experienced”. Obsidian says sternly

“Obsidian Praw, huh? All right, you sound confident, I’ll humor you. You do this in under 15 minutes, and I’ll make sure to remember you.” Amir metaphorically shakes hands on this bet.

Obsidian smirks.