Slev Torrent- Tansental- Otto's Lost And Found
Slev finally made it back home after his last bounty had completely spiraled into multiple side quests and a whole lot of violence. He let out a deep sigh of contentment as he slipped into his bathrobe and grabbed a cup of 'coffee' from the ship's kitchen. Trudging his way back into the main commons room, He had made a few modifications to his ship's interior designs. Quite a few of the engraved walls had movie posters plastered over them. He had even printed out some art from a few of his favorite fantasy novels. The doorway into the cockpit had a massive, homey banner depicting the small rolling hills and homes of the shire pasted above it. Gathering his robe around himself, he plopped onto the plush green recliner he had bought on his way back to the ship and kicked his legs up.
Slev opened up. The “Do not fuck with” files he and Reaper had been compiling for a while now. It was probably time to really focus in and decide who he was going to try and recruit. The last week of blood and bountys should have been plenty to distract from the real job he needed to work towards. Slev had narrowed it down to three key roles he needed filled.
He needed a damn fine pilot for the escape and anything else he might run into. Slev was competent enough to get around fine, but he had literally never been in a space battle in his life that wasn’t part of a simulation. Second up on his list was to acquire another hired gun. Him and Chitters were certainly a force to be reckoned with, but he wanted at least one more person when it came down to the fighting. He didn't think Chitters would quite understand the need for covering fire.
Finally, he needed a con artist of some kind. A shuckster that could bamboozle and lie his way through problems. Slev wasn't good at that, especially with the galaxy’s overall view of humans at the moment. He had intimidation or bribery in his diplomatic arsenal, and that was about it. For better or worse, he already had the perfect person in mind for that role. When he was training with the guild, they sent him on the equivalent of a hazing ritual.
They assigned him a bounty they damn well knew he wouldn’t complete but would certainly teach him a bit of humility. Alister Rook, a Chango 'buisnessman' had fleeced an entire government out of the better part of their road maintenance budget. He had literally sold them some bridges after posing as a very influential contractor, and then disappeared after the initial deposit payments were made. Fun fact about the Chango species they can all shapechange, extra limbs, and extra eyes sure why not. perfect voice emulation they have that down too. They were utter nightmares to hunt down. Slev hadn’t fully grasped that yet.
Slev had tracked Alister down to a paradise world called Oroborum it was all waterfalls, casinos, and pleasure cruises. It started out as one of the best trips of Slev's life and quickly devolved. Slev almost got him on a ferry ride across a pristine lake. Alister wasn't even hiding his form he was an amorphous blob reclining in a sunbathing chair draped in gaudy jewelry. Slev was trying to figure out how to properly restrain a shape-changing blob with the tools he has on hand when Alister turned into some aquatic alien Slev had never even heard of and jumped off the damn ship.
After that, it was a game of cat and mouse, where more often than not, Slev was the mouse. Disguised as a waiter, Alister had served him a meal laced with laxatives and his distinctive calling card at the bottom of the plate. A smiling blob was drawn with its hands full of credits. While Slev was stuck in the lavatory, the devil broke into his room and stole all of Slev's cash on hand and covered every bit of clothing he had in this awful bright green dye. The next day, Slev had stalked through a half dozen casinos, sure he was just about to reveal his disguised prey. Instead, he walked out, missing his sidearm, and had a large sticker pasted to the back of his armor. His sidearm was laid on his new hotel room bed with a note that said, “Truce?”
Slev pulled himself away from his reminiscing as Otto puttered up the steps into the common room. Chitters scurried along a wall behind him, springing over to his favorite perch in the jaws of a dragonlike carving.
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Slev looked at his friend. “Hey Otto, are you here for movie night? Give me about another half hour to go over some bounty hunter stuff.” He waved away the files on the screen.
Otto started speaking surprisingly in galactic instead of Terran “Human, I would like to be put on your crew for this job.”
Slev nerviously chuckled, "What do you mean, Otto? Im just going to go hunt down some lowlife small timers over in the proxima cluster. I think you would be bored.”
Otto looked at him pointedly. “No human, The Job. Arimis Corprate espionage..most importantly the teleporter technology.”
Slev was stunned. He was trying to keep the octopod out of that whole mess for his own safety and hadn't said a word about it. Heck, the little guy was passed out drunk for the meeting. "Otto, how do you know about all of that, you do realize how stupidly dangerous this is? If Cerberus gets even a hint of what I am planning, I will be dead inside a week.”
Otto thoughtfully brought a tentacle to his face. "First, I have a listening device on your armor, you are my friend, and I wanted to help if you got into trouble and I could. Second, if you died, I needed to know so I could leave the planet. I have made many many enemies lately. Third, I have assessed the risks involved and deem them wholly reasonable if you would be willing to let me research the teleporter they will give you. Fourth, I can offer mechanical repair services, hacking and basic armor smithing all of which you will need, especially repairs with the alarming frequency with which you are shot.
Fifth, I calculate that your odds of survival rise dramatically if..." Slev put a hand on Otto's head, cutting off his rant.
Slev knew from experience that this list would be at least fifty items long, so he was going to head that off before this became the next half an hour of his life. "Alright, buddy, congrats you are in! Can you please take the bug off my armor?”
Otto shook his head. "No, I think it raises my probability of survival substantially. If something kills you, I should definitively be evacuating the area.”
Slev shrugged. Giving up the little mad scientist was probably right, and Otto was worth his weight in gold when it came to anything technological. The two of them settled in to go over the rough outlines Slev had placed for putting a crew together. Since Otto just wanted the teleporter as his reward, they still had the three blank contracts. Overall, Otto agreed with Slev on the team composition and even brought up a good idea for the pilot search and one questionable idea.
There were a half dozen starship racing sports across the galaxy, some of them even armed. Anyone doing that professionally was at least in the upper percentiles of competency. The other idea...Otto had pointed out how active pirate captains that were still alive were laughably good at both the flying and the fighting parts. Slev shelved the pilot idea for the evening and flicked on some bizarre alien soap opera that Otto loved and Slev was starting to get pulled into. Chitters made his way down to poke at the floating images on the holotable, eventually settling onto Slev's legs and nearly toppling the entire recliner. The three of them passed the rest of the evening watching soap operas and brainstorming ideas about how to assault a planet completely under the control of a corporation. And eating some shockingly good takeout soup they had delivered to the ship. Slev was going to savor a few well-earned days off before he left Tansental to begin the recruiting drive.
Boletela The Ancient -Tansental-
Boletela had spent his last few days wisely. His new sycophant, Uradon, had turned out to be a surprisingly capable creature. They had visited the other remote security stations that had more of the human's battles on file. Boletela found it elucidating this creature was but a hatchling of a warrior. often making mistakes or acting too boldly, but it held a raw and lethal edge to it at all times. Most importantly, the human seemed to properly relish his battles. Boletela could recognize the sheer, unmatchable ecstasy of a battle well fought. He had also learned some of how the Human fought and of what to expect in their coming battle.
Uradon had alerted him, as the human was suddenly doing something insane even by its standards. Boletela heartily approved of what the human was doing. It had entered itself into an exhibition match against what everyone else thought were hopeless odds. Obviously a calculated gamble. In one fell swoop, he could publicly prove his dominance over the lesser warriors of this world and force those who thought themselves beyond him to kneel. Boletela was sorely tempted to join the young warrior at the site of the battle itself and show this world who they should truly kneel before. But the years had taught him patience. He would watch, wait, and learn, and he would strike the human in its burrow where it would least expect it. The human was the most interesting prey he had had in a century but even it was not worthy of a duel.
Boletela The Ancient -Tansental- Otto's Lost And Found
He was finally here, his claws dug deep into the metal of the rooftop. Below him, no more than 100 feet away, his ship laid a pristine gem in the middle of the scavenged filth of Otto's Lot. And there it was again finally, his hearts were all pounding with a drumbeat of blood and fire in anticipation of a worthy hunt. Boletela Spread his wide Sinewy wings a patchwork of rebuilt flesh and nanomachines. The winds from the swamp buffeted his form for a moment as his pupils dilated. Boletela placed one foot on the edge of the rooftop and primed his entire body to pounce from on high. He froze like this, body tensed, and waited for his prey to emerge from his ship. He hoped so deeply that the human wouldn’t disappoint him.