Cain Morgan swayed from side to side as the hover van bumped its way through the city of Displincia. He had never seen so much space in a vehicle. It managed to house himself and two Vaxorians. Both of them were fully kitted out in their Hyper-Titan mech suits.

They were originally designed for the few Vaxorians who wanted to fight in the Eternal Wars against the Ivarozzans. Since the peace treaty, most of them had been reserved for the exclusive use of the Vaxorian government. But when you worked for Rutan Kaarzee, you were offered the best money could offer.

Cain smirked. He didn't need a mech suit to hold his own. He wasn't some simple Vaxorian.

"What you laughing at, rust bucket?" grunted Jir'kov, the weedy Vaxorian with glowing pink ears. He sat tucked away in his Hyper-Titan mech with a smug look on his face. Cain wished he could use his full power. If they knew what he was capable of, they wouldn't dare talk out of turn. Since becoming one of Rutan Kaarzee's bodyguards, he'd had a lot of abuse thrown at him. The Vaxorians couldn't accept having a human among their ranks. Not as an equal. They saw it as an insult.

Cain didn't care what they thought. They were Vaxorians after all. To them, being a human meant your place was in the slave field. Especially a human who was seventeen years old. But Cain was different.

"Oi," said Vir'dix, the other Hyper-Titan clad Vaxorian with the yellow fins. His mechanical hand tapped against Cain's cybernetic knee. "Jir'kov's talking to you."

"Well, I'm not talking to him," said Cain sternly.

When he signed up to be a bodyguard to the wealthiest man in the city, he hadn't realised he would be working with such pathetic simpletons like this. Vir'dix raised to his full height so his mech suit towered over Cain. "You'll talk when you're spoken to, human."

Cain stood his ground. At full height, the Hyper-Titan was still over two feet taller than he was. But they didn't scare him. The mech suit had been designed to do the work for them. With Cain's training, he was more than just a human with a cybernetic upgrade. He could take them out without even running out of breath.

"Why don't you climb out of that big pile of bolts and we will see who will be talking to who in the end."

Vir'dix laughed. "Are you really trying to make out like my use of a Hyper Titan is what makes me powerful?"

"Why don't you get out of it and we'll find out?" said Cain.

Vir'dix looked over to Jir'kov who also broke out into laughter. "Alright rust bucket, pull another one," he said. "I could rip those cybernetic limbs off of you with ease. Then you wouldn't even be able to go to the toilet without a nurse to wipe your arse for you."

The two Vaxorians wheezed with laughter. They had been making a big deal about his cybernetic attachments since the day he had taken the job. They didn't like the amount of power he had been granted. As a human who wasn't brought up on Displincia, Cain had managed to escape the life of a slave. Instead, he was adopted by an Ivarozzan family, which had proven difficult given the fact humans were seen as the weakest species this side of the galaxy.

Cain looked from his cybernetic left hand to his human right. There was some truth in what the Vaxorians were saying. There had been a time when his limbs were ripped off, when he had no control. He was lucky to be saved and rebuilt by the most unlikely of people. That was something he had been grateful for ever since. Not only did it mean he was more powerful than your average human. It also meant he could stand up to morons like these two finned freaks.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Without warning, Cain reached his cybernetic arm into Vir'dix's mech suit and yanked him out. The little Vaxorian squealed as his body detached from the armour. Cain placed him on the floor. Now Cain had the high ground.

He pulled back his cybernetic fist and launched it into the side of the van. Vir'dix held up his hands to prevent the blow from catching him in the face. Cain shot him a grin. "Care to laugh at me again?"

Vir'dix looked over at Jir'kov who placed a mechanical hand on Cain's shoulder. "Alright rust bucket, you've proven your point. Let's not let Rutan catch us squabbling."

Cain sat back down as Vir'dix scrambled back up and climbed into his mech suit once again.

"No need for that kind of behaviour," he snapped. A last ditch attempt to maintain his dignity.

They spent the rest of the journey in silence. The van trundled on through the night and pulled up in a back alley.

The doors swung open and they stepped off and made their way down the dusty street. Homeless Vaxorians littered the area. Cain didn't look down. They marched past them in search of the person they had come here to see.

Passers-by turned away as they walked along the cobbles. It only took one look at the crest they wore on their shoulders. It bore the sign of three Ivarozzan claws which split to form the letter K. Everyone knew this meant they worked for the Kaarzee clan.

Life working for Rutan Kaarzee meant a different type of day everyday. Sometimes he would simply wait with Rutan at his prized casino in the Gambling District as he played and cheated his way through games of Take or Terminate. Most of the time, he'd been on watch duty with the two knuckleheads.

The Kaarzee clan were the most influential family in the galaxy, hence why their youngest son, Rutan, needed access to so many bodyguards. Cain cringed the day he'd met the little Kaarzee member. He was a fully grown adult Ivarozzan who hadn't grown past four feet. But what he'd lost in height, he'd made up for the other way.

He was a self-entitled brat who thought more of himself than he deserved. Cain hated the fact he'd chosen to work for such a vile little man, but this was the only way he was going to stay safe.

While working for a family as important as the Kaarzee clan, he hoped to evade the people who were chasing him and his sister. Hiding in plain sight. This way, he was able to give Jessca a nice place to live while also remaining close to a person even the people who wanted him wouldn't cross. Because no one wanted to mess with the Kaarzees.

The surrounding homeless people scarpered. Vir'dix reached down with his Hyper-Titan fingers and launched someone into the air. A young Vaxorian, who couldn't have been much older than Cain himself, flailed around in the sky. "Rutan tells us you still haven't paid up, Ben'din!"

"I will, I will," said the Vaxorian teen, tripping over his words. "I promised Rutan by the end of the week! I'll get some pocket money by then."

Jir'kov laughed. "You hear that, rust bucket? He reckons a bit of pocket money will be able to cover it."

Cain shrugged. "He's a Vaxorian, isn't wealth like your middle name?"

Jir'kov scowled.

"Thing is Ben'din," said Vir'dix. "We don't want to break you up into little pieces, mate. But the thing is, Rutan's given us strict orders to come back with the money he's owed or one of your fingers in a box."

Ben'din whimpered at this.

"So what's it to be, squirt?" finished Vir'dix.

Ben'din looked over at Cain.

Cain looked away from him.

"I c-can't g-give you what I d-don't have," murmured Ben'din.

"That's a real shame," said Jir'kov, a sick ring of delight in the back of his throat. "Yeah, yeah, cause our friend rust bucket here is going to have to deal with you."

Ben'din cried out as Vir'dix slammed him against the brick wall. He scrambled around as Jir'kov squeezed tighter. Jir'kov looked at Cain. "Go on then, rust bucket," he snapped. "Get it done."

Cain tried not to think about what his sister Jessca would think of him if she were here to see this. Violence was never the answer. But in this world of kill or be killed, he had no choice.

"Please," wailed Ben'din, his high-pitched voice hurt Cain's ears. Cain walked over to him.

"No! Please!"

Cain tuned it out. He couldn't be emotional. Couldn't be compassionate. If he wanted to keep them safe, he had to make the right decisions. He reached forward with his cybernetic hand and closed his eyes. The poor Vaxorian squealed as his finger snapped clean off and the deed was done.