It was admittedly a bit distracting to look at her. The woman who had introduced herself as Eymali smiled back, the little pincer claws that surrounded her mouth wiggling in such a way that Jerry was sure communicates one emotion or another if you understood Yauya body language. Still the mix of horror movie monster with standard galactic good looks and prerequisite jaw dropping curves was… interesting to say the least.
“Where did you say you heard about us again Ms. Eymali?” Jerry asks, trying to keep his part of the brief conversation up.
“Oh from my little sister! She married a human, a fellow by the name of Herbert, along with her ninety nine new sister wives, he’d told her about human pets a bit, and showed her your new website when she asked for more information or pictures. She mentioned it to me at one point and I thought I might see if you could clone me something a bit.. Exotic. In the dangerous sense. Extinct and dangerous.”
Syl nods. “Well that’s not an issue provided we have cloning tanks that match the size of whatever creature it might be at some point in its development. We can decant the clone straight into stasis for secure and safe transport.”
“Excellent. You see I had been looking for a good boutique cloner and just haven’t found anyone I can trust with my commission so far. You see I’ve come into possession, at great personal risk, of the genetic code of an extinct super predator from my people’s homeworld of Awauynis. To hunt the Nagala, the Razor Maws, was the traditional way to be confirmed as a huntsmistress, the title I currently seek. I set myself the challenge of becoming the first truly traditional huntsmistress in centuries to best prove my capabilities to my lodge.”
Syl nods. “I see. Yes I think that should be perfectly within our capabilities. Do you have the genetic code handy? I can do some checks to ensure we can fulfill your request to your satisfaction.”
Eymali hands over a data stick, and Syl steps behind the desk to access the shop’s main frame.
“If you don’t mind me asking miss, what does it mean to become a huntsmistress?”
Eymali’s eyes light up and her pincers move in such a way that they enhance her smile. Seems everyone liked a chance to talk about their culture.
“Oh not at all! To be a huntsmistress in our culture, and the culture of our sister species the Dzedin-”
‘Of course the aliens and predators are actually super close friends in this wacky galaxy…’ Jerry thinks to himself.
“-Is to stand forth as both a leader, provider, and protector for our communities. Every Yauya or Dzedin is theoretically a huntress of some grade. Huntsmistresses traditionally provided community leaders or the mistresses of bodies of soldiers. There has never been a Yauya war lady that wasn’t a huntsmistress first, and the war arts are just as foundational to our craft as the arts of stealth, trapping and so on. It’s also an excellent spot to set forth on the ‘mating hunt’, which was the traditional way we sought husbands. Such things are now mostly done for fun. For example my sister I mentioned? She and her sisters have been taking their hubby to a place called Defenestration Nation specifically so they can run around and chase each other, with the prize for capture usually being some kisses or something.”
“So why bring back the, was it a Nagala?”
Eymali nods. “Simply put, I wish to honor the old ways. No one’s tried it previously as no genetic samples were available… and even if they were, few are those who want the Nagala returned to nature. They killed many Yauya over our thousands of years of civilization, and are one of the reasons we have our natural gifts of invisibility and stealth. To be seen was to be butchered.”
Mikasa chooses that moment to come out from behind the main desk, stretching as she shakes off the nap she’d just been enjoying before the little puppy races over to greet Jerry and the new person with a tiny bark!
“Oh what an adorable little creature!”
Eymali reaches down and gives Mikasa a gentle pat.
“So soft too! No wonder humans keep such things as pets? What’s its name?”
Jerry smiles. “Ah, her name is Mikasa.”
Syl looks up from the computer, a question clearly occurring to her "What does Mikasa mean anyway, darling? Oh and Togo, your old dog. What did his name mean? I’ve been meaning to ask but I keep forgetting because we’ve been so busy!"
Jerry drops down to give Mikasa some affection before pulling a tennis ball out of his pocket and lightly tossing the toy across the room, sending her off at a sprint before looking up to find the women in the room were giving him their undivided attention.
"Is it a reference to the early history of these creatures perhaps? You said they evolved from pack hunters... wolves right?" Syl follows, prodding him a bit.
"No, it's a reference to the military history of a country called Japan. Togo was a great admiral of their seagoing Navy, and his flag ship was the Mikasa. The ship known as Mikasa is still around even though Togo died a very long time ago, and I visited her while I was stationed in Japan for a time with my country's military."
It was something Syl had said that caught Eymali's interest however, and she leans in to interrupt with a raised hand.
"Wait, I want to hear about all that too, but first... humans bred pets from pack hunters? Really and truly? When my sister mentioned that, I thought her husband must have been teasing her!"
The big man rises, heading towards the desk with Mikasa trailing in his wake.
"Really and truly, wolves predated on humans at one point, and still do sometimes in extreme wilderness. Our other most popular pet is called a cat, and it's a small ambush predator. While we've bred them to suit our fancy, we can't really say we domesticated them like we did dogs. The leading theory is that cats more or less domesticated themselves. They took up residence near human settlements, and preyed on rodents that tried to raid human food storage. Eventually humans noticed that service was valuable, and started feeding the cats when rodents were scarce, and letting them inside during inclement weather."
Eymali's eyes sparkle. "That's amazing! I might have to get a cat when I get back from the home world. If you're selling them to non-humans."
Syl exchanges a look with her husband who shrugs. "I don't see why not, we have a file prepared with care instructions and how to synthesize food for them and the like. They have some specific dietary requirements. We also have a veterinary manual in galactic trade, but based on everything else out of cruel space so far, standard axiom healing techniques in the event of illness won't be a problem."
"How wonderful, I always wanted something a bit more exotic than a Purriz. A little huntress in my apartment sounds like just the ticket."
Jerry suppresses a shudder. The knowledge that the Purriz, which looked like a damn facehugger, was a completely harmless scavenger that couldn’t hurt someone if it tried did not make them less weird.
"Tell you what Miss, you end up buying these Nagala?" He looks to Eymali for a nod of confirmation before continuing, "And we'll give you a cat of your choice on the house on your successful return from your home world. Considering we'll quite possibly get regular contracts for the Nagala after that from other huntresses, it's the least we can do to celebrate your success with you."
The Yauya woman stops dead in her tracks, blinking a bit as her pincers go wild for a second before she turns to Syl.
"Does he know what he just said in most hunting cultures?"
"He's human, I think we can assume not my dear, we don't know you, but I'm sure we could manage dinner sometime if you..."
The only ‘he’ in the room resists planting his face in his palm and groaning.
"What did I do?"
Eymali blushes, unable to meet his eyes, her body fading from view slightly for a few seconds before becoming coherent again.
"It ah... you've set a challenge, and offered a reward. By many traditions, especially if made to a woman from a man, that's more or less... how do you say..."
Syl takes pity on the other woman who's clearly overheating slightly and gently takes over the explanation.
"You pretty much just proposed marriage or accepted a proposal, and set conditions for what she needs to do to prove her suitability or worthiness as a wife."
Now it's Jerry's turn to blush.
"What's the reddened skin mean?" Eymali asks, watching intently.
"It means he's embarrassed." Syl giggles.
Jerry opens his mouth to respond to what she just said, when the door of the shop slides open. He turns to greet the new potential customers, and his greeting dies in his throat.
Six heavily armed aliens clomp into the building, weapons at the ready. Two Horchka leg breakers, a Rabbi sporting four different kinds of pistol in her hands. Then an armored Platen, a woman who liked somewhat like an Armadillo if you squinted, who'd augmented the all natural armor her Momma gave her with metal plating and added a plasma cannon for good measure.
The final pair were two long tailed Desert Nagasha, the six armed snake women had full body paint even on their arms, which apparently meant they were out for blood, and they were as heavily armed as the rest of their friends.
"You, Yauya. Beat it, or you're dead."
Eymali shares an almost mournful look with Syl and Jerry and quickly vanishes from view, her loud footsteps clearly disappearing as the door opens and shuts again.
"Take it, you ladies want something from us?"
Jerry dead pans, desperately trying to get a proper read on the tactical situation as his hand inches towards his concealed pistol.
"All the cash you got in this shit show, we heard you've been trading with them not Trets, getting regular visits from all sorts of important types, and we know they're fucking loaded. So clearly you’ve got some decent coin around, we just thought you could share some with us.."
"We don't keep any money on us, save the bare minimum to conduct trade!"
Syl all but spits the words at the other women.
The Nagasha snorts in disgust. "Damn it."
"She could be lying boss." One of the Horchka offers.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The Nagasha considers the thought for what feels like hours before finally lifting two of her plasma pistols and aiming straight at Syl.
"Fair enough, try to keep the man somewhat in one piece. We can share him around and either kill him, sell him or keep him as a sex slave. At least we'll get something out of this run that way."
Unfortunately for the robbers and would-be slavers, Jerry chose that exact moment to strike, he reaches into an axiom pocket and hurls a pair of flash bang grenades in the general direction of the robbers and drops down behind the desk. The world above him erupts in plasma fire as he quickly finds his communicator and triggers the bright red emergency signal button.
"Command post, what's the nature of the emergency?"
"Armed robbery going very, very wrong."
Jerry grunts into his communicator as he snags Mikasa by the scruff and drags the courageous puppy firmly behind the heavy metal cover of the reception desk where he was hunkered down with Syl.
"I think anyway. They're not talking terribly much. Half a dozen hostiles, maybe more outside. Be advised, might be a friendly Yauya moving around stealthed. I'm going to see if I can teach them some manners, but I'm going to need back up and probably a lawyer asap."
"Armed response unit is en route Commander. Just hold tight. Help's on the way. Also routing a call into Centris police for local cops and probably a meat wagon."
"Why a meat wagon?"
Jerry grimaces as a plasma blast detonates above their heads, his EFL pattern shield ring catching any errant bits of flame that might have reached downwards.
"You know something I don't command?"
"I know what type of guns you like sir. Give'em hell."
Jerry snarls and tosses the communicator to Syl. "Keep your head down, the puppy safe, and channel axiom into the ring I gave you if anything dangerous comes vaguely close to you. If the people on the end of that link ask you for information, respond as quickly and clearly as you can, help's on the way."
Massive pistol in hand, he flicks the safety off and begins to push axiom into the magazine. He had a little totem placed under the grip, its entire purpose being to charge rounds with the appropriate additions with energy.
A small bead of sintered silver colored metal holding in appropriately arranged little pieces of khutha had been added to the hollow in the anti personnel rounds. They had next to no effect when used normally, but if you charge the rounds with axiom, they would explode with terrific effect under the appropriate conditions. Conditions such as being surrounded entirely by the natural axiom field of a living being.
The more advanced form of the round was even nastier, using the target's own axiom against it, sucking in a theoretically breathtaking amount of energy in a very short amount of time before turning the chest cavity of the target into a new star for about a millisecond. But the results of those had been unstable at best.
Jerry would just have to make do with more normal exploding ammunition.
"No time like the present for a field test."
Jerry mutters to himself before starting to infuse his body with axiom. Maybe if Eymali did stick around he'd get her to teach him the invisibility trick. It'd certainly be helpful right about now.
Instead, he'd have to settle for speed.
He flings himself out of cover and crosses the room to the left at speeds that would have done the heroes of old school cartoons he'd grown up with proud. Nalsha had warned them about the limits of the visualization method pioneered by the EFL, but it had turned out to be particularly valuable when your visualization was a martial artist manipulating massive amounts of intangible energy to beat the ever loving hell out of everyone in their path while training ever harder to prove that limits were a thing that happened to other people.
The big pistol comes up in under a second, and shooting entirely by instinct without the time really required to line up the shot before he needs to move again, the hand cannon roars.
The 7.5 FK rounds impact the Platen, the "tank" of the gang with the heaviest armor and the heaviest weapons, like a brick through a windshield. A flub of his trigger control pulls the first round down and to the left, and it slams home into the receiver of the plasma cannon, disabling the biggest threat on the field in terms of damage potential..
The second, third and fourth rounds go exactly where they were supposed to. All directly center of mass. They punch through the Platen's armor like it was tissue paper, whether they hit on just the natural stuff, or had to go through her additional armor first. When penetrating armor, the rule was velocitas eradico. Speed kills.
The 7.5 FK round’s incredible velocity was designed to penetrate the best ceramic body armor on Earth at 100 meters or more. It wasn’t a surprise that it made short work of armor not made to handle kinetics and natural armor plate at near bad breath distance. Once penetrated, the explosive rounds quickly made one hell of a mess, bulging out the Platen’s armor panels in weird places as her internal organs were shredded. Then the plasma explosion burned what was left.
The armored alien had been dead before she even had time to register shock. Part of Jerry wanted to cheer, but the rest of her crew didn’t stumble in the slightest in the face of such extreme force in response. The next bandit up is the more “human” of the multiarmed gunslingers in the room. The Rabbi was just as fast as the files said they were, axiom visibly flooding her limbs as she snaps off a series of plasma and laser shots at Jerry, which he gamely replies to with more of the powerful 7.5mm rounds.
Most people would be at a disadvantage when down to just a pistol, but the Field Pistol was not just any pistol. The ideal of the US’s ancient offensive handgun program finally realized, the monstrous beast was all the primary weapon a well trained shooter needed, and Jerry was more than well trained.
A laser grazes his thigh enough to leave a burn through his low profile armor and he grunts in irritation at getting his flesh seared. The pain might have helped more than hindered really.
With more adrenaline pouring into his bloodstream, a near miss to the Rabbis’ head instead catches another plasma weapon right in the housing and it erupts into a small vortex of flames. The severe burn opens the alien to a double tap that leaves her slumped onto the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.
'Six up, two down.' Jerry thinks to himself, as the scent of ozone from a near miss of a laser rifle fills his nose. He quickly relocates, and scans the reception room. Syl is still hunkered down behind the desk. She'd empowered the shield ring, then shaped it into a dome to keep herself and Mikasa safe. Luckily he had the bad guy's complete attention. He was the active threat, and the active pay day after all.
He raises his pistol again, about to drop a round into the rear most of the Horchka when a sudden distortion glimmers behind her. A violent blur of motion leaves a suddenly very visible knife blade in the alien's throat, as the unseen warrior gags the Horchka’s mouth, yanks her head back and opens the alien thug up like she was fileting a fish.
Jerry smiles to himself, he'd suspected Eymali hadn't left, and he was very happy to be right. Cutting and running didn't seem like a normal pattern of behavior from what he understood of the Yauya, but taking an opportunity to set up an ambush? That checked out perfectly.
The distortion that is Eymali begins to climb up the walls in a way that would make her Dzedin kindred proud. It looked like she was going for one of the Nagasha, she probably needed a distraction. Grunting to himself, Jerry slides into a good position and activates his shield ring before exploding out of cover and racing at the nearest alien, the last of the two Horchka.
The tusked woman bellows in response, counter charging Jerry with her head lowered only to find him planting an axiom infused hand on her forehead, using it as a springboard to get airborne. He puts a little extra axiom into his momentum to help his rotation so he’s directly above the Horchka. Six rounds of 7.5 FK hammer home into the Horchka's back from above, scattering the contents of her chest cavity a few feet in front of her across the floor.
Another push of axiom and he's on his feet, reloading as he reassesses just in time to see one of the two Nagasha in the middle of her death throes, massive rents sliced into her body from seemingly all angles before a final gash had been placed across the snake woman’s throat.
The remaining Nagasha swat at something invisible that had just opened a decent sized gash on her side. Eymali was in trouble! He couldn't tell for sure, but it had sounded like she'd actually taken that hit. If she was even slightly stunned, the next few seconds could prove fatal.
He had to protect Eymali. Had to protect Syl. Had to protect Nadi and their clutch. Had to protect Mikasa. His well trained mind flutters through tactical options as the Nagasha reels. There was only one thing to do.
He charges forward again, putting every drop of axiom he could grab into his mobility, leaping into the air and grabbing onto the collar of the Nagasha's body armor. Before she can respond, his pistol is tucked under her chin and speaks a final time, splattering the serpentine alien's brains across the ceiling like Jackson Pollock's version of the Sistine Chapel during his red phase.
Suddenly exhausted, Jerry kicks back off the serpent's corpse before it collapses, and comes to a rest near the door, pistol still covering the entry way as he tries to draw in axiom to recover.
"Syl?"
He gasps out, working hard on remembering to breathe with his heart pounding in his ears.
"Eymali? You girls okay?"
Syl rises from behind the reception desk, her eyes wide at the sheer scale of the destruction her husband had wreaked upon those who would threaten her. Her face goes through a variety of emotions. Shock. Horror. Her eyes darted around the room before finally coming to rest on Jerry.
The sheer brutality of the violence was a lot for a woman who'd never truly been in danger before. She'd told him about her life after all and he could read it across her face like it was a billboard. No trouble more significant than a giggling escape from a police officer after shoplifting a bottle of alcohol with her sisters and friends.
It was a far cry from being caught in the middle of a strong arm robbery where her new husband proceeds to hand out the kind of violence you normally needed an Apuk on hand for. She was incredibly lucky, and sheltered and now she was getting a very visceral tour of just how desolate the harsher side of reality could be.
Syl unconsciously pulls Mikasa a bit closer to her gargantuan bosom as her emotional state finally settles on what Jerry knows to be a look of intense arousal even by Volpir standards. Shock at what he could do, at what and who she'd married... and a deep seated understanding that her husband would fight a one man war against all comers to protect her and their family.
All that translated into some part of her foxy mind as a deep, eager, passionate thirst. If it wasn't for all the blood, Eymali possibly being hurt and the imminent arrival of reinforcements, Jerry was fairly certain she'd pounce him onto his back and ride him ragged right the hell now!
Finally something clicks in the Volpir's mind and Syl remembers she actually needs to respond. She delicately clears her throat, and helps Mikasa wave her paw like she was an infant waving to her father with her mother’s help.
"We're here darling. What about Eymali?"
Eymali decloaks and starts pulling herself free of the leader Nagasha’s coils.
"I was hoping you'd take a bit longer so I could get out of these coils without you seeing me, but if you're worried about me..."
The huntress grunts with exertion, finally slipping out of the Nagasha's coils.
“Damn bitch managed to get a lucky hit in, just flailing around, didn't actually know where I was for a proper blow. They’re all lucky I just had a damn pocket knife. Seems I’m going to start carrying something a bit more substantial... like my honor blades.”
The alien huntress takes a moment to spit on the the Nagasha’s charred remains.
“Hmph. Pathetic bandit trash.”
She saunters over, clearly far more comfortable with battle and its after effects than Syl is.
Jerry crosses to his wife and pulls her into his arms, the puppy happily nuzzling into Jerry’s chest where it’s trapped between them. The Volpir woman grabs him by the collar and violently yanks him down for a hard, passionate kiss.
“Seems Ms Syl is fine too.” Eymali opines from her position nearby with a wry smile.
“I was so scared! You’re okay? Both of you? All of us?”
Jerry notices Syl adding Eymali to the ‘us’, involved, and in a far more personal way than just looking after one’s customer. She had risked her life for them after all, and that sure as hell counted for a lot for Jerry, and it seemed to count for a lot for Syl too.
“Right, ladies, let’s get back into the main facility and lock this place down, Nadi must be freaking out from all the noise. But first... Eymali.”
The huntress looks to Jerry with a nod of acknowledgement.
“You got hurt protecting this family, you didn’t have to, you could have walked away. I think that earns you a seat at the table."
He quickly glances over at Syl, his intent clear to his first wife who nods her approval.
"I think you just earned that proposal for real. Come over now and then before you leave, we can have dinner, talk. Then once you complete your hunt, bring the beast's head back as proof that you have completed your task."
Eymali nods slowly, considering all of that before offering them both a shy smile. "You have my word Jeremiah of Earth, I will earn the title of huntsmistress the old way, then I shall return here, and make an offering to your wives and to you, that I might join their number."
Any further conversation is cut off by the sounds of shooting and sirens outside. Jerry quickly herds the girls back behind cover. There had been incidents on Centris since the Dauntless had arrived where bad girls had pulled some shit where they pretended to be local cops before. No reason they couldn't again.
Instead of alien shock troops or gangsters however, a human infantryman calls into the building
“(Thunder!)”
To which Jerry responds; “(Flash!)”, leading to a squad’s worth of back up from Jerry's company piling into the room, which finally lets the big man relax, slumping into Syl and Eymali's comforting support.
“Took you bastards long enough... someone get a goddamn mop.”