ic Unsportsmanlike Conduct - ic

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Cain leapt out of the hole in the wreckage. Slung over his back was a still smoking Laser Rifle. He had in each of his hands a fairly large cage with some small dark creature inside of it. Only Starshot saw him flee quietly and at a very high speed. The Tyrant and Gear were both too focused on each other to see the fleeing Cain.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

For a split second, Starshot was torn. The Sky Tyrant or Cain?

 

If had not just seen his Alien Friend casually throw off a rampaging Sky Tyrant charge as if he was made of carbon laced Nuetronium, he would have stayed with him. But his burning desire to catch Cain, combined with Gear's apparent invulnerability tore him another direction. If nothing else, Starshot was decisive. 

 

"Cai's getting away!" he yelled, jumping from his tree and over a fallen one like a panther. He was faster than any human had a right to be, but not every human has been pumped full of DNA splicing vectors and cybernetic enhancements. Cain would not get away, he swore. 

 

Mid stride, he brought up his rifle, pumped a web catridge into place, and fired. Electrified with plasma, it unfolded as it ejected, creating a glowing spider web sailing straight at Cain...

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Cain had no idea what hit him. The web shell wrapped around him slamming his arms into his sides and tangling his legs. He grunted and slammed face first into the mud. He writhed and cursed into the mud but couldn't manage to get himself free. 

 

Meanwhile, Gear took a massive swipe at the Tyrant, only to have it dart just beyond his reach. Before the Xobron could bring the hammer up to defend himself he found the sky Tyrant on him. The razor sharp jaws closed down hard on the Xobron and he let out a pained groan. 

 

"Stupid Jungle. Stupid giant bats." He managed as the force of the blow slammed his skull into a tree. His view went bright white as the Tyrant readied itself to finish off it's prey. 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

He couldn't resist a pump of the fist as Cain went down. It was a perfect shot on a perfect enemy. 

 

Bullseye!

 

He was interrupted in his celebrations by the crash and bang of Sky Tyrant against trees and, more pertinently, Gear. His duty to his ship - guest now swam back. 

 

Gods! I hope...no...he is made of steel, that one!

 

He spun round and sped back to where he had come from, leaping over a strange armoured squirrel thing the size of a goat who paid him no mind, chewing peacefully on a purple leaved flower. 

 

His gun came up again. Too big for a web-shot...he concluded, and flicked on the plasma ejector cell. Another blast of crackling yellow energy hummed through the Jungle, slamming into the Sky-Tyrant...

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

As Cain struggled on the ground Starshot's rifle came to bear on the Sky Tyrant's skull. The bolt of plasma struck right at the base, and plowed right through the beast. There wasn't even a death cry as the creature collapsed. The bolt scorched the tree right above the Xobron Bounty hunter's head as he slouched down. 

 

Greasy Gear pushed the massive corpse off him. He was covered in mud and his own sticky blood. Not a great day, but he'd been in worse scrapes. He managed a smile. Pay day would be coming up if he wasn't mistaken. He'd made it out without becoming lunch. 

 

"After the bounty I guess?" Scoffed Cain. "Well Starshot? How much is that price on my head? I happen to be working for someone who can double it, triple it maybe. I just have to deliver the baby Sky Tyrants and I'll make sure you're recompensed." 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Pleased with himself, Starshot stepped forward, flicking his helm back up and the safety on his plasma rifle. Still charged, but he could do with replacing the pack. 

 

"Cain, you blood sucking piece of pig dung" he sneered. "I was never in this for the money"

 

He prodded Cain with a boot. "But you have my attention. You might wish you hadn't. Tell me why in the seven hells you are trading in Baby Sky Tyrants" he demanded. "You saw they nearly ripped you in two. They would have, if me and my friend here hadn't taken them down. Perhaps we should let them"

 

Satisfied the immediate threat was over, he shouldered his rifle. 

 

"Gear" he called out. "You alright? Our mutual friend seems to have a dangerous business..."

[Kolohehonu]

PC

 

Gear felt a twist in his stomach. Yeah he'd known about the business and how wrong it would all eventually go. 

 

"I'm, well fine is a stretch." Gear said. He had just been beaten down by a Sky Tyrant. It was not a good day. "You can train Sky Tyrants as beasts of war, or so I'm told. They also make luxury pets." He'd never had one, but they certainly made quite the impression. 

 

"Who are you selling to?" Gear asked. He knew the answer but didn't want to hear it. 

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

"Doesn't matter." Cain spat into the mud. "What matters is they are willing to pay. Just take me to them and I'll let you in on the deal." 

 

The two caged Sky Tyrants began to mewl helplessly. They looked scared and hungry. Gear looked down at them before kicking Cain in the gut and smacking him upside the head with a tail. The guy was absolute scum.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Easy, soldier" said Starshot to Gear in response to the boot. It was deserved, assuredly so. But Cain was helpless and Starshot remembered the horrors of WW2 on Terra. When blood was up, justice quickly became injustice. Humanity quickly became inhumane. He felt a shudder down his cybernetic spine. He gave a gently warning arm in front of Gear. 

 

"Don't think I wouldn't kick him myself. But that way, madness lies". 

 

He thought about Cain's words. 

 

"In any case, he is a liar. Anything he tells us will be of uncertain use. Possibly even dangerous. Can you get anything from his electronic records? Maybe his communications? Find out where this line of blood goes?"

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

"Have you heard of the Rel? The Rel Imperium?" Cain smiled up at Starshot. He pulled himself to his knees. "No? Want to know the reason for that?" 

 

"They're time travelers. They manipulate the timeline and history to pull off all sorts of crimes." Gear stated coolly as he started working on downloading the data off the shuttle. As much as he'd like to know if Cain was selling straight to the Rel, he didn't want to spend unnecessary time in this jungle.

 

"Not surprised." Cain nodded. "Buncha aliens like you blue in it." Cain said. "Two million and a new gun to deliver those baby tyrants." Cain paused and gulped. "If the Rel don't receive those tyrants, they'll wipe me from the timeline." There was a flash of The Carnivore's Cowardice right for a moment. 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Erasing you from the time line would be good" said Starshot, bluntly. But would it? These Aliens seem dangerous. Meddling with time itself....who knows what that could lead too...

 

And Gear seemed to know them. Know them as crooks. 

 

"We all must die. But at least we will have been"

 

But not even that if the Rel had they way. 

 

"What do you know of these Rel? How do you know them?" he asked Gear, shifting to slight suspicion. The alien had been beyond reproach so far, and he was inclined to trust him. But suddenly a chasm had opened before his feet. 

[Kolohehonu]

PC 

 

What to say? Gear pulled the data stick out and shoved it in his pocket. The truth wouldn't do but some of it might. 

 

"The Rel are from Xobron. My homeworld. I had a lot of friends in that gang. I made a lot of mistakes for my friends." He stoped. "My past is past." Oh how he wished that was true. "For now we should get out of here and decide what to do somewhere everything isn't trying to kill us."

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

So now comes the truth behind the truth...layers and layers, like an onion...

 

He shook his head, slightly disappointed. "You could have told me you know. Should have, even. Although I understand why you didn't" he said, scratching his scar. 

 

"Everyone's got a history"

 

The scar reminded him of that. 

 

"And everyone's history is in their past. Even if the echoes are in our future". 

 

With pulled out an injector gun from his belt and stabbed Cain with the needle. "Relax, scum. Just something to keep you quiet..."

 

A little knockout drug, just to keep him sleepy for now. The ATV had hunting cells which could keep him locked up. With that, he hauled Cain over his shoulder. 

 

"Back to the ATV. We can hold him there, figure out our next move....I'm not liking the Rel...."

Edited May 16, 2017 by Supercape

[Kolohehonu]

PC

 

"Didn't know Cain was working directly for the Rel." Gear said. Which made the whole situation feel even worse. "What do you want to do about the Sky Tyrant bodies?" He asked, he'd imagine the hunter would want some kind of trophy. He'd mentioned teeth earlier, and those did seem like they'd be worth having. 

 

Gear carefully grabbed the two crates with Sky Tyrant babies in them. Honestly, being some spoiled pet or even a beast of war seemed like a better fate than being eaten alone on a world as terrible as this. In any case it seemed like the Xeno had room for them. "We'll need to sort these out too." 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot gave a smile that was grim but joyous. 

 

"Well, I am a hunter. And I do like a trophy..."

 

He reached over and pulled out a giant sabretooth from one, after much wrenching and wrangling. His cybernetic hand almost went into overdrive from the effort. But out it came. 

 

"I fancy a necklace" he said, pocketing the tooth into his belt. 

 

WIth regards to the two babies, he was less sure. "As for those ones. I'm a hunter, not a slaver. Animals belong in their home. The wilds. To live by tooth and claw and sinew. Its true, I do capture animals that are endangered, or needed for medical research, although I am not overtly fond of it. But there has to be some purpose to captivity other than a pet..."

 

Or worse, a weapon....

 

"But whilst I may not like the taste of it, we should bring them along. They may be our key to the Rel. We can work out the details on the Xeno. I hope you can come up with a good plan..."

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Getting back to the Xeno was not a difficult process. Well, no more difficult than travel on Za'ak was. Gear had felt fairly satisfied with tossing Cain into one of the cells. Which just left what to do next.

 

Gear worked on the... acquisitioned data. He had worked on the ride in the ATV, using all four hands to type and his two tails to help clean up the mess he had made earlier. The data wasn't too shocking. Mostly it was logs of kills. There were also financial records. A few of these came up relevant. Kills asked for and paid for by the Lor. A few hunter's who had had "hunting accidents" Cain had tampered with the guns. Then this job. Two baby Sky Tyrants to be delivered to Business Master Cor'del'aret'than Zal'tex'mer'dorman. 

 

"That's bad. The longer the Xobron name, the more accomplished they are." Gear pointed out the long name. "No middle name, he may or may not be legitimate and just a front man for the Rel." 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Gunmonkey and Starshot were taking the Xeno out of orbit to the tune of German Opera. He got up from the cockpit leaving his co-pilot in charge, destination: Just get out of this system...

 

"Coming right over"

 

Whilst most of the Xeno was essentially a Yacht class design; luxury, comfort, and so on, the Engineering section, including the workshops, were more functional. Still good, but without the leather backed chairs and stuffed animal heads. Whilst Starshot liked a whiskey and a game of Zabraxian chess, he sometimes felt more home in the functional parts of the ship. 

 

"And that's a long name" he muttered. 

 

"Well done. At least we have a name to go on" he said, expressing confidence in Gear. He didn't much understand the data that his friend had collected. "The next problem is how to find him. Any ideas?"

 

 

 

 

[Kolohehonu]

PC

 

"Well we can ask Cain." Gear said. "He might have a drop point. We can drop these and be done with it." He didn't want to deal with the Rel. The less contact he had would make this all the better. 

 

"We should in any case head back to Lor space. That's Rel territory, well its nearer to Xobron. And I want to collect that bounty."

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot flicked on the intercom "Monkey! Set course for Lor space...somewhere reputable"

 

"Awww...reputable my hairy backside" said Gunmonkey back, although he complied. 

 

"Pick a planet when we get there" he said to Gear. "I tend to spend more time out of Lor Space than in it"

 

"In the mean time..."

 

He took Gear to the holding cells, where Cain was safely (or at least, he hoped safely) locked away. As it went, it was not a bad cell - they were designed for holding live captures, and did their best to make it homely. It even had a nice view of the stars. 

 

"Cain. I hope you are enjoying yourself" said Starshot, leaning against the omni-glass wall that separated them. 

 

"Seems to me you are out of cards. The Rel will be deleting you any time now. Unless you tell us how to stop them...."

 

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

"Well I can tell you that one!" He hollered back. "CoVic station! Bugtown. You can try to figure out where I'm supposed to meet my contact or you can let me make my delivery." 

 

Cain sounded so very smug. He seemed like he thought he would win regardless of what they did. 

 

"Ain't that frustrating Starshot?" Shouted Cain from his holding cell. "Just gotta let me do this or watch your bounty and target disappear." 

 

"Starshot, I may be able to make something to keep Cain from getting away. As much as I'd love to just make it a remote detonator on a plasma grenade I should be able to make it nonlethal." Greasy Gear said. 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"I don't get frustrated, Cain. I get determined" he answered, bluntly. Such was war. One had to cut ones losses every now and again. The best soldier, the best general, knew when to retreat. 

 

He switched off the sound and darkened the glass to the cell, so Cain could not hear them. 

 

"It's a plan" he nodded at Gear, thoughtful. "Non lethal would be my request to you, although I share the sentiment. I'm not a killer though, and I guess you aren't either, even if you do feel like it at times" he offered. 

 

"As for CoVic station. I rarely go there. I have heard of Bugtown ...where the Nameless hole themselves up?" he asked. 

 

"I don't have much of an opinion on them, one way or another. Could be friends, could be enemies, probably somewhere in between" he mused. He rubbed his jaw. "Damn thing, diplomacy. I get on better with beasts..."

 

He flicked on the intercom. "Monkey! Set course for CoVic station. Bugtown. And try to stay out of trouble this time. I remember the last time...."

[Kolohehonu]

GM 

 

The trip to CoVic the wouldn't take long. A week at most, but that was plenty of time for Gear to build something. It wasn't going to be as elegant as he wanted, but that was the cost of it. It didn't take long to draft up the design, a simple harness with vibration charges. Still, it wasn't bad, it would be fairly easy to conceal and would go off if Cain tried to go more than a hundred feet from Gear. It would have been so much easier to make it a plasma grenade blast, but hey if Cain managed to stay up, Gear would probably just use the grenades anyways. 

 

Actually building it under that time constraint was quite a rush job, no time for any ornamentation, which broke Gear's heart. If he was going to lose sleep and rest over this it should at least look good. That was pride talking though. It more needed to work and not get seen. If it was noticed, well the jig would be up it could all go very badly. 

 

"Hey Starshot I finished. It should just rattle his bones until he passes out. Very painful, but very effective." Gear yawned exhausted holding up his handiwork for Starshot to examine. It was a simple harness of black fabric with a dozen small silver disks. "Should fit under his shirt. He tries to run and it goes off." 

 

 

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot examined the device. "I have no problem with painful. If it goes off, that's Cains responsibility, and my sympathy for him is paper thin" he ventured. 

 

"I appreciate you keeping him alive. If he runs, we should have some questions to ask him..." he muttered, holding the harness in his cybernetic hand and fondling it. He didn't really understand it. 

 

But he trusted Gear who had demonstrated exceptional expertise in these things. More than Gunmonkey whom was, in his estimation, one rung up from "liability". 

 

"A tracker would be nice, too, just in case he does get away" he suggested, thinking this would be a relatively easy addition. 

 

"In the meantime, best prepare for docking with CoVic. Do you know the place?"

[Kolohehonu]

PC

 

"I'm shootin' him if he runs. Set to stun and all." Gear said. That was far more his speed. He'd hit him hard if he got the chance. He couldn't really beat on any Rel thugs. But he could hit Cain. "He's not gonna get away." 

 

"I've been to CoVic. Mostly to collect on bounties and all." He shook his head and wiped grease off his goggles. "Never Bugtown before though. Seems like a good place for illicit activity, it's out of sight I've heard."

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

As the Xeno started a smooth arc into docking, Starshot considered the situation, he felt a little tense, a little out of his comfort zone. He rarely dealt with crooks, but after fifty years piloting around the galaxy, they were not unknown to him. Especially when he was working with Zaul. 

 

And there was a problem. 

 

"Truth is, Gear, I was not always the man you see before you. I had nearly fifty years as a unwitting servant of a thief, scientist, and hunter called Zaul Zeno. He saved my life, after a fashion. My body is more than flesh and bone, as you can see" he explained. "But my name still has a bad history, from when I did things for Zaul I really didn't want to do. But when the alternative is getting your spine fried, your options close down" he said, grimly. No man could take pain like that without breaking at some point. He always knew that, and didn't even try to prove that fact wrong. 

 

"That bad history might not serve us well" he explained. "I think we should not advertise the fact we came in the Xeno, and I think its time for me to be someone else. Might be better still if you do the talking"