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Zatch sat back and continued to listen as the advertisements finished playing and the news came on.
“In recent news, Bofffle Arms Inc. branch in the Stone Nexus has come under yet another lawsuit. The origin of the lawsuit was the use of a PC 1.43 shell in the murder of Gordon Slyx, a vendor of labor resources in the Herva District. Apparently, Mr. Slyx was one of the four head vendors in the Herva District. Last year, he attended three fundraisers and…” The Jourden reporter droned on in a monotone voice. The Jourden, a humanoid race, are known for their technical prowess, and also possess a voice that is said to always be monotone, no matter how great the emotion was. They are very prone to infection, thus, they usually wear body suits and environmental masks, which usually completely block their faces along with their facial expressions. They make the best players at games which require bluffing.
“*giggle* They are hilariously suited for giving the bad news. Oh here’s our stop!”
“…Do not forget what we came here for now…”
‘Yeah yeah yeah, I’m not about to forget what I came with 500 Kule to buy.’ Zatch thought as he exited the tube car onto the station platform. He strolled along until he reached the stair and proceeded through another air lock. Air flooded in and Zatch was able to breath. Thus, he stepped out into the artificially created atmosphere of the Herva District. The air held a metallic scent to it, much unlike that of a natural atmosphere. The Herva District was one of the three main districts in the Stone Nexus. Together, the three districts housed around 95% of the population, and the rest of the debris was dedicated to the numerous factories and labs that had made the Stone Nexus the great shipyard it was. The Herva District, a spherical piece of debris about 8 miles in diameter, was the central vending location in the Stone Nexus. In this district, they sold everything from Vitameals to Cruiser class weapons.
The tube car station was near the center of the Herva District. Many of the legitimate vendors sold their goods near the central plaza of the Herva District while many vendors sold lucrative, if a little illegitimate goods on the outskirts of the Herva District. Zatch walked through the station with a carefree attitude. He even stopped to buy a Vitameal. It was a synthetically created meal due to the fact that there wasn’t enough land with a suitable atmosphere to grow the necessary amount of food to feed the people of the Stone Nexus. A company, seeing the opportunity to make money monopolized the food market with their synthetically created Vitameals.
‘Mmmmm, still tastes like Ramen.’ Thought Zatch to himself as he strolled through the plaza, breathing in the metallic air. The air was full of vendor’s shouting out their wares. It was the battlefront of money making, and boy were the combatants vicious. Using dirty tactics and scantily clad poster girls, they did their utmost to push their wares upon the passengers who exited the station. Zatch just strolled on carefree, this was not the place he was going. For 2 miles, the vendors bombarded him with promises of discounts for things he didn’t need.
As he continued on, the voices of the vendors faded into the distance and the atmosphere began to become increasingly quiet. This was the Thiefs’ Ring, a ring of about a mile in thickness. This was the dividers between the legitimate vendors and the illegitimate. In this region resided the lawless. The lazy. The desperate. This was Zatch’s favorite part of the Herva District.
“… Someone’s following us….”
“*excited giggle* It is time for fun then?! YESSS.”
‘Quiet you two. We aren’t here to make a scene.
It the mysterious person who was tailing him was quite good at hiding their presence, however, not well enough. He or she had been following him ever since he bought his Ramen. Zatch disappeared around the corner and continued on his journey.
The person followed quietly to gather information. The operation to kill the seemingly innocent Zatch would commence later that day.
Mercenary Captain PoV
At the TCS (Tube Car Station), a muscular man with a scarred face followed by three other men of his build exited the vehicle. Each of them carried a large duffel bag as they strode confidently through the Herva Plaza. Ignoring the vendors, they walked with a purpose, a cold determination in their eyes. The determination of killers. The three followers split up and dispersed among the crowd while the scarred man walked in a straight line. He walked in the most efficient route to the edge of the legitimate district and to the border of the Thieves’ Ring, an action that denoted a familiarity with the area. He waited at the border and checked his Gronium black watch.
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A person emerged from the dark, dressed in rags, but still careful enough to hide her face. The scarred man looked at her with a large amount of disdain.
“Well thief? What’s the location of the target and the whereabouts for the last 5 hours or so?”
“He passed through the Thieves’ Ring quite quickly and immediately headed for the outskirts. He attended a silent slave auction and bought a wolf demi-human family consisting of an old father and mother, a young good looking daughter and a small son.”
A flash of disdain flashed across the mans face. Demi-humans originated from the Fiend Century. The Fiends relied heavily upon biological warfare not because they were limited to it, but because they were GOOD at it. One of the viruses they released was specifically tailored to humans. The virus was airborne, foodborne, waterborne, and sexually infectious and nearly unstoppable. The virus had a 75% fatality rate and most of the scientists examining the virus to find a cure were killed. The amount of destruction and death it potentially could cause was comparable to the Bubonic Plague which wiped out approximately 75% of Europe’s population and destroyed society as they knew it. Without a way to successfully make a cure, the scientists turned their attention to boosting the immune system. Thus, instead of allowing that to happen, the Demi-Human program was enacted and the majority of humanity were fused with the DNA from different domestic animals. The new DNA changed the humans to where they would no longer be affected by the virus, but still retain their humanity. Through generations of reproduction, the animalistic features reduced dramatically, and the only indicators were usually a tail and ears for the corresponding species.
“He then led the family to a warehouse on the south edge of the Thieves’ Ring. I couldn’t get closer than that without being discovered. I have someone watching the warehouse and they have not reported any activity or exiting of people.”
The man showed a smile and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Good work. Now for your payment… hold on.”
He reached into his hand towards his back pocket, but instead of pulling out anything of monetary value, his hand streaked out with a knife. It plunged into the girl’s stomach and she fell over, clutching her abdomen.
“Sorry about that. Loose ends and all. Unfortunately I don’t have time to watch you bleed out. So enjoy your last moments. That knife should be suitable compensation though, it’s quite expensive.” The man smiled and walked off to get changed into his work clothesm leaving the girl to bleed out.
30 Minutes later
The men met in front of the aforementioned warehouse I their work clothes. Black environmental suits with extensive amounts of inflexible armor plating. They had the corresponding helmets that had visor which would adjust quickly according to the luminescence of their environment, allowing them to see in any conditions. Each was armed with a G-7 EC Auto Rifle, a standard weapon among the mercenaries of the galaxy. It was capable of firing thirty separate charges that could range between harmless stun to lethal force. The burly scarred man in the front listened carefully to the door, and liked what he heard.
There were loud sensuous female moans intermingled with the groans of a man.
A smile danced across his face.
He made a simple hand gesture and muttered
“Begin the Operation” into the suits comms.
The smile remained upon his face as he thought to himself
‘Caught the bugger with his pants down huh? This is easy money.’
How wrong he was…