Alan had an idea. A reckless, silly, stupid idea, but why not? He felt the impetuousness of his 18-year-old self and the knowledge of the future compel him. He waited another few minutes keeping his eyes on the entrance to the energy compound till he spotted a human in a suit. The 5th member of the party he'd been spying on, returning.
He quickly left his hiding spot and walked deliberately past the 4 other men. He put on his most arrogant smile and waived, attempting to look as self-important as possible. “Hey guys, you must be Earthlings too. Well, except for you big guy! I think you might be an armadillo.”Alan offered his cheekiest grin.
“Move along stranger.” One of them said threateningly.
“All right, all right.” He looked deliberately at the entrance to the energy supplier. “I get it. I’m in a rush too, got to get ahead while you still can.” He arrogantly dismissed the four, “I know how important it is to get ahead of the competition.” He winked and walked quickly to the security shed outside the complex. There was an audible silence from the crew before one of them shouted.
“Hey stop! What do you mean by that?” It was the big scaly guy.
Alan kept on walking. Moving deliberately, ignoring them, he headed for the security shack.
The men looked at each other nervously, clearly uncertain about the newcomer. The second in command had a grim look as he considered the newcomer as a risk to what his boss wanted, a threat to his monopoly. If his boss found out someone else had gained a generator while he hadn’t...well, he wasn’t about to find out. In that instance, he made a fatal decision. “Get him!”
At that moment everything had gone according to Alan’s plan. Hearing the words Alan sprinted the last few steps as 4 men pursued him. Each pulled out a weapon, 2 assault rifles, a pair of sub-machine guns, and a massive energy club from their rings. Shots rang out as Alan leaped to duck behind the security checkpoint.
As he landed, he felt a hot sting in his thigh. Trying to stand up, his left leg buckled. He examined where he felt the stinging, and it looked as though a bullet passed through his leg. With some effort, he leaned against the wall and propped himself up. “Well, that went splendidly.” He quickly removed a nanotube for healing and injected his leg, the healing effect working quickly.
Trying to ignore the blood running down his leg, he peaked around the corner to see the 4 men spreading out, guns pointed in his direction. Removing his energy pistol, he leaned out briefly to return fire. Though he missed, it slowed their advance as they scattered, giving him some time for the nano healing to work.
On the other side the reptilian guard dove into the shed to take cover. Simultaneously, the leader ran up toward his comrades, “What do you think you’re doing ?!” his heavy Spanish accent yelled.
“It’s another human trying to purchase a generator, Carmen! We’ll take care of it quickly and get out of here.” The subordinate quickly explained.
The suit wearer, Carmen, immediately grasped the situation. “Fine, let’s get it done quickly, we don’t need to alert the authorities” He withdrew a pistol. The five men moved forward.
Well, that worked, Alan thought. In Cosmos, all combat was allowed, and on most worlds somewhat tolerated. However, in Mairkness it was bad for business.
ROOOAR!!!
A heart-stopping bellow sounded from the security shack at the same time the Dinoguard emerged wielding an oversized energy repeater, shocking the other combatants. He launched a rapid assault blasting away one of the humans in a moment. The four remaining humans reacted by diving for cover and attempting to shoot the guard. Scores of bullets flew only to meet an energy shield, stopping the projectiles instantly. Seeing their lead-laden assault fizzle out, two of the remaining team members broke off toward Alan. The armadillo behemoth, wielding a club, and the well-tailored leader, Carmen, came after Alan sprinting toward his cover. Alan fired a few shots at the armored guy only to see the shots fizzle against his skin.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Can’t get past my armor huh?” He swung his club wide, smashing into the side of the building leaving himself wide open.
“How’s this!” Alan didn’t hesitate, he pulled a painful amount of energy through his system, and directly punched the armored opponent, hoping to shock him. At that moment 2 things happened. Unfortunately, the scales nullified his energy transfer significantly, preventing the scorching energy from penetrating. Instead, the energy in his hand condensed, writhed a moment, and unexpectedly discharged launching the giant backward. “What on Eart…!” Alan didn’t have time to finish before waves of pain began to push through the adrenaline. He grasped his now burnt hand and forearm screaming and writhing on the floor.
Unbeknownst to Alan, the calm deliberate step of Carmen could be heard, the fine Italian leather giving a faint squeak as he approached. As he drew nearer, pistol leveled, Carmen briefly threw an irritated glance at his shoes, as if he were reminding himself to throw them out when he returned home.
“Sorry, it’s only business.” The man spoke using the well-worn cliched line, which Alan barely registered.
Alan could only groan, as he lay there. His only consolation was that when he died, he’d still have just enough time.
Shots fired.
Alan, arm incapacitated, pain racking his whole body, didn’t register the bullet. He looked up only to see the melancholy look of the primly dressed Carmen. His white suit had several evenly spaced holes, and his gun was no longer raised but had fallen to the ground at his side.
Carmen spoke, “What a shame.” more to his suit than anything else before he collapsed.
A few moments later, Alan felt someone grab his arm. He wanted to struggle, but couldn’t move. A slow hiss was heard and Alan felt a cool wave move through his body. The icy sensation swept through his body steadily, relieving the pain as it went.
Slowly opening his eyes, he panicked slightly as he caught the fearsome face of Frank, the dino boss of the energy depot. Looking over him. In one hand he held an energy rifle, and in the other a small capsule for pain relief.
“Your species is sure goin' to have a rough time if this is how they're going to play the game,” he grunted, as he hauled Alan to his feet, while simultaneously shoving the pill in Alan's mouth.
Alan nodded, unsure if he'd be able to stand if the scaly hands holding him up let go.
“Your Hu-Man stupidity keeps surprising me more and more. It’s laughable to attack on Mairkness, we’ve set the rules here for maximum penalty if you’re an aggressor. We don’t let anyone ruin our business.” He grunted and motioned his guard to pick up the loot from the other fallen humans
The Guard spoke up, “We get twice the loot.” He grinned maliciously.
“And it doesn’t help when someone tries to shoot one of my favorite customers, either” Frank chuckled.
Alan sat down on a fallen crate. The medicine finally kicking. The nanobots had finally stopped the bleeding of his leg.
“Thanks, Frank," Alan to a halted breath, "I’m glad you count me as one of your valued customers.”
“Well...that still, remains to be seen, but if things turn out alright then I don't mind calling you that for good” Frank smiled. Somehow, when Frank smiled, Alan got this sinking feeling that Frank was looking at prey.
“Did you end up selling him a generator?” Alan couldn’t help but ask. He was both curious and eager to change the subject.
“Of course not! I let him know that I’d only sell to him if he offered twice the cost! Of course, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d sold you the last one I had available and he still didn't have enough money.” Alan blanched at the revelation. “You should have seen his face, but they nearly bled me dry of my VE stores.”
Alan clenched his fist. They hadn’t been able to get a generator in the first place! His only consolation was they’d have a 24-hour ban from Cosmos, at minimum for being the aggressors. He then heard a muffled shuffle.
Turning they saw the armored giant trying to crawl away. Before Alan could say anything the Dinoguard walked over and picked up the club and bashed the armadillo twice across the head. Then reached down to retrieve whatever dropped.
Alan’s stomach turned as he realized what the giant might have overheard. Frank, unaware of Alan's worry, pointed to his ring and initiated a transfer. “Here’s a few hundred credits. We’ll call it your share of the spoils. Also, those nanobots will stop the bleeding, but you’ll need real medical attention for your hand.”
Alan still held his hand. The flesh had ripped itself from the tops of his fingers, and burn marks raked his forearm. He didn’t try to move it, as he was sure his wrist had been broken in multiple spots.
A few minutes later he was on a transport and Alan was whisked away toward the medical center. An hour and 100 credits later his hand was put back together, without even a scar. Amazing really.