“The drop ship should land in the slums at zero, zero, forty-three tonight, they will make the deal, and leave at around zero, zero, fifty. They are not expecting trouble, as it is a standard deal, but they will have armed guards nonetheless,” the grumpy Rhygian bartender said.

Kalahastian sipped his purple Ferentisian wine with care as he listened to the Rhygian. The bar he was in was immaculate, with several floors on top of each other, overlooking the main area. There were round red marble-like pillars along the walls. The walls themselves were painted with moving frescoes of forests, figures danced slowly inside the paintings. There must have been hundreds of guests inside the large establishment this night.

Kalahastian had activated his sound dampening field. Without the field, he wouldn't be able to hear what the bartender was telling him over all the cackle of the people and the classical music that played.

Rhygians were a tunneller species with small claws around their neck. They were used to dark and cramped environments. Kalahastian knew this Rhygian was grumpy, because the claws around his head were slightly extended, indicating stress and agitation. The bartender served two drinks with his two main arms, while he held a piece of cloth with his third and poured more wine into Kalahastian's glass with his fourth arm before moving away. He came and went as he served customers, each time he came to Kalahastian, he leaned in and talked to him silently. Kalahastian pretended like he was not listening and instead looked out over the dance area. Just in case someone was watching them. But Kalahastian figured that if he was being watched, everything was already done for. His little game was therefore perhaps unnecessary.

“And remember, Kal, the client wants case number four. Nothing else, don't get sidetracked looting.”

Kalahastian sighed. “I have sixty years of experience with this, you will not find me looting unless I see some more of this Ferentisian wine. Give me a flask as a to go present and I will be out of your claws in no time,” Kal said.

“Ah yes, I forget how old you really are behind that young grey skin of yours. How long have you been on dragon blood?” the bartender gave Kal a flask.

“Long enough to know when to loot and when not to.”

Kal got up from his barstool and headed towards the exit. He powered off the sound dampening field. The city instantly greeted him with noise, flying cars roaring outside, people talking, and music. As he exited the bar, he felt the rush of the outside air, it was slightly chilly. His red leather jacket's collar automatically tightened slightly.

Outside were tall round skyscrapers all about, they were adorned with patterns, gilded details, pillars around them, and statues in alcoves on their walls. Kal stood on a walkway that was near the top of a skyscraper, some metres away flying vehicles zipped past with great speeds.

Kal looked at his wrist bracelet and pressed a button to summon its holographic interface. Then he pressed a few holographic buttons to summon his vehicle. He waited for a few seconds before a vehicle that had been automatically circling the building came down to the fence of the walkway. Kal walked towards the vehicle, the fence opened up a section of itself nearest the door of the vehicle. The vehicle was a Khysian Sportsmayster Five Hundred, a two-seater with enough engine roar to make the neighbourhood upset, it was painted metallic red with gilded decorations across its hood and sides, its form reminded people of a flower bud. It was the only possession Kal did not want to sell. As he approached his vehicle a guy stood near it and took a selfie in front of the hood. It happened sometimes.

“Like what you see?” Kal asked the stranger.

“Holy Void, it's the first time I see a Sportsmayster Four Hundred in reality, it's yours?” the stranger asked.

“Five Hundred.”

“What?”

“It's a Sportsmayster Five Hundred.”

“Oh right, well it looks like a million credits, you must be taking care of it.”

“You want a ride somewhere?” Kal asked and looked at the time.

“You are not for real, man, you serious?”

“Sure, just don't puke on the leather seats when I lower the dampeners.”

The young guy seemed dazed at first, but as Kal got into the vehicle's driver's seat, the guy seated himself in the passenger side and put on the belt.

“Ready for this?” Kal asked.

Before the young guy could answer, Kal lowered the inertial dampeners and zipped away. The vehicle went up into the main traffic lane and flew next to skyscrapers so fast that they became like a solid wall. The lane before them extended as far as the eyes could see. The young guy screamed and his face colour changed from normal blue to pale blue. Kal pushed a few buttons and descended into a slower traffic lane.

“Are you alright?” Kal asked the passenger.

“Are you kidding me? I have never experienced speed like that before. One more time?”

“You must be young if you have never seen a Sportsmayster or experienced such speed. What is your real age?” Kal asked.

“I'm not on the dragon blood, if that's what you're asking. I'm twenty one.”

“What is your name, boy?”

“Versis, and yours?”

“Kalahastian, call me Kal. I am on the blood.”

“So, how old are you then?”

Kal looked at the young guy and smiled. Then they went up into the main traffic lane again.

*

Once Kal had dropped off the young guy he looked at his bracelet's time, he had to be down in the slums in about two hours, plenty of time to get ready. Kal flew to his apartment complex, parked his vehicle inside a sizable white and well lit garage near the top floor. He parked next to an old black painted sedan. He took the elevator to his apartment that overlooked a small part of the city.

The city was Dy Ferentise, built around the supermassive black hole that was in the centre of a galaxy. The city was known as one of the endless three. It was astronomical in size, and had a network of artificial stars orbiting its topside, while its belly was open to the black hole beneath. One could not count the lives lost and created every standard time cycle in Dy Ferentise.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Inside his spacious apartment stood wooden decorated furniture. On the walls were frescoes from his service in the military. They depicted worlds he had been to and their flora and fauna. Kal was especially fond of one wall depicting purple waving grass.

Kal went to a bookshelf and lifted a human skull inside it, triggering a mechanism, the shelf opened and revealed a small room. Inside the room stood a suit of armour, weapons, and a matter separator, a bladed weapon that looked like a short sword, but that could also be transformed into a spear. The blade was able to cut through almost any matter or energy when enough force was used. The armour had a set of metal straps around the waist, they went down to just above the knees, like a skirt. Behind the armour, on its back, was a mobility pack that allowed the user to traverse in zero gravity, and hover around in the air. The helmet had a black tail of hair on its top. The whole armour was painted black.

Kal put the armour, mobility pack, one rifle, and his blade into a large black duffel bag, then he exited his apartment and headed back to the garage. He opened the trunk of the black sedan that stood next to his Khysian Sportsmayster and put the duffel bag there. He entered the sedan and lifted off the ground.

Kal put in the address he was going to, Kereb's Corner One Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty Five. It was a lower slums area. Where heaps of scrap had collected at the bottom of the skyscrapers.

As his black sedan travelled through the city, he looked at his holographic screen emanating from his bracelet. He looked at the picture of a woman with obsidian black skin and blue spots on it, she had purple hair. As he stared at the screen he felt longing and sadness. If there had ever been a partner for him, it was her, no one else mattered. As he had tried dating others, he had found himself comparing them all to her, the way she talked, the way she moved, the way she knew when he had a bad day, the way she would run her fingers through his hair, the way she would sneeze like her brains were flying out. None of them were her. He closed the screen with a sigh.

His vehicle landed on top of a pile of scrap and he exited his sedan. Kal looked up, the round skyscrapers around him seemed to reach as far up as the eyes could see. He went around to the trunk of his vehicle, opened it and grabbed the duffel bag, he emptied it into his trunk and started to suit up into his armour.

Equipped and ready he noticed a small boy in rags stand further down the scrap heap and look at him with wide eyes. Kal opened one of the rear doors and looked around. He found a packaged food bar and grabbed it. He showed the bar to the child and then tossed it in the boy’s direction. The kid quickly grabbed the bar from the ground and ran away.

Kal placed large metal sheets over his vehicle and decided to find a hiding spot. He folded down his helmet’s black visor, then kneeled near some rubble and trash. After what seemed like an hour at the time zero, zero forty-three, a large spaceship descended into the slums and landed in the middle of an intersection, crushing the scrap beneath it.

Soon after another spaceship landed further away. Both space ships had ramps that lowered and out came several guards from each ship and two dealers, one from each ship, with hover cases behind them.

Too easy, Kal thought as he snuck towards the ships and their dealers. He came to a range he felt comfortable with and folded up his rifle. He aimed at a guard near a ramp and fired a burst. The guard was clustered with explosive rounds that sent body pieces all across the ramp.

Good, they did not have protection fields, amateurs, Kal thought. Then he fired at the second guard who had barely lifted his rifle up. That foe met the same fate as the previous one. A chunk of meat rolled down a sheet of scrap. The rest of the guards now knew where Kal was firing from, so they all opened up in that direction. Kal changed position and quickly fired on the dealers themselves, one of which was hurriedly carrying a case towards one of the ships. The dealer fell as half his body went up into a red mist. The second dealer hid behind the cases. The guards quickly changed to fire on Kal's new position. Then they stopped. They were changing magazines, all of them, at approximately the same time. They had all come there with the same rifle type and they were all changing magazines at the same time. At the same time. Amateurs, Kal thought again and lunged out from his position with his blade drawn, he turned it into a spear and ran towards the nearest guard who fell backwards before Kal had even reached him. The enemy was trying to fit a new magazine into his rifle, but was struggling. Kal ran his spear through the guard's mouth, then pulled it out as blood spurted out from the opened jaw of the downed man.

The dealer behind the cases screamed. “It's a freaking Black Tail! Run!”

Five of the seven guards left ran to cover, two remained in their positions and fired on Kal, projectiles impacted his armour, but he remained steady as his protective field soaked up most of the impact force. Kal quickly ascended into the air with his mobility pack and then descended down on one of the guards, piercing them in the stomach with his spear, he withdrew his spear and saw the enemy trying to crawl away. Kal focused his efforts on the other guard who shot at him point blank. Kal simply turned his spear around and let it slip in and out of the foe's skull. Then some of the other guards in cover started to fire on Kal. He quickly calculated a killing route and followed through. When he had dispatched three of the last guards, the remaining two came out with their weapons raised above their heads, without magazines in them.

“We yield, please, spare us!” one of the guards yelled.

The last dealer tried to run away with one of the cases. Kal reformed his spear into a sword and sheathed it quickly, then unfolded his rifle and shot the dealer in quick succession. He folded the rifle and put it on his back. Then he walked over to the guard who was still trying to crawl away, Kal kicked him to the side and unsheathed his blade, he let it slip in and out of the groaning man's head. He then looked at the surrendering guards. They had not moved and still held their rifles above their heads.

Kal walked over to one of the cases. It read zero five. He walked over to the other case that read zero four and picked it up.

“You guys should reconsider your career options,” Kal told the surviving guards.

A bright flash of light fell upon them all.

“So should you, Kalahastian,” said a male voice from a loudspeaker on a descending ship from where the light came.

There was something familiar with the voice, but Kal could not quite place it. He was not going to remain in place and find out who it was. Kal quickly activated his mobility pack to fly away towards his vehicle. He used his visor to zoom in on his sedan a few blocks away. The kid with rags was near it with a group of adults. They looked like they were picking his vehicle apart. Kal swore. So much for generosity, he thought.

Then a tractor beam captured him in the air. He swore again. Who had a spaceship with tractor beams? His mind raced for options, while he was stuck where he was. The spaceship landed and the tractor beam pushed him hard into the ground. A ramp on the ship lowered.

“Kalahastian, or rather Kal, as it were,,” said a young man's voice.

Kal heard the voice clearly now, he moved his head in its direction and saw who it was, the young guy, Versis, whom he had given a ride earlier. Versis wore a grey suit with gilded decorations. He was escorted by two Black Tails in grey armour.

“You!” Kal yelled as he recognized Versis.

“Yes, Kal, me. You have committed a crime today,” Versis said.

“That's not right, this operation was sanctioned by the guild!”

“You should always double check operation status before you commit to the operation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will let you see for yourself,” Versis said and waved his arm.

The tractor beam holding Kal in place powered off and he was able to open his bracelet's holographic interface. He checked his mercenary guild page and looked for his operation. It had been cancelled and given a red status, which meant avoid at all cost. It had been given this status a little more than two hours ago.

“That is bollocks... I was not given a notice or anything! No messages! Give me a break!” Kal yelled.

“I would, if you had not killed a government asset,” Versis said and pointed at the first dead dealer, “which means that your ass belongs to my ass.”

“Come on, this is a setup, you were in my vehicle, this is all a setup!”

“Chance is crazy, is it not, Kal?”

“You are not twenty one, not a chance. What age are you?”

Versis smiled and told the two Black Tails by his side to bring Kal along. The Black Tails disarmed him and shoved him forth towards Versis.

“What will happen to me now?”

“Like I said, your ass belongs to my ass, and my ass belongs to the Spherian war machine, which means that you will likely end up back in service again. By the way, your apartment has been confiscated along with your vehicle. All your property belongs to the Spherium now.”