Taric Taiservi"Well, I guess I'll have to tell him in person. Head to the Baron's location, taking the railgun, carbine, Thermal blade and first aid kits.
[6] - Taric calls up transport the Republic's offering, and is surprised when it turns out to be an actual private shuttle. He was expecting some rusty, crowded public hovership. They're not messing around. He drives his bike just outside the city borders and to a walled government launch pad. As an afterthought, he drags the thing inside the shuttle as well. You never know what you might need on a mission like this.
The pilot doesn't speak much, and the shuttle is soon on the way. It travels at a speed Taric is sure is illegal. The landscape flashes past in a blur. Taric begins to feel sick from staring at it for too long and has to turn away. He stares at the wall for the remainder of the trip.
[6] The pilot finally begins to slow down, and Taric spares a quick look outside. The ship is struggling on inside a blizzard common to this part of the planet, her shields getting battered by howling winds and shards of ice. The people here wear reinforced suits and masks every time they go outside at this time of the year. The pilot pushes the craft on, towards the city in the horizon. Taric tenses for a while, wondering if the pilot is skilled enough to land in this weather. Just after he convinces himself he is and relaxes, the pilot mutters a curse in disbelief. Taric turns to look, and the shuttle explodes in noise. Every single alarm goes off at once.
'What the shit?' the pilot screams. It's quite startling after his previous silence. 'Oh fuck.'
Taric doesn't waste any time, rushing to the cockpit to see what's wrong. The expression on the pilot's face is enough. Taric doesn't need to look out of the window and see the black blade-like hull of the Baron's personal starship to realize what's going on. He's found his target. Or, if he has to be honest, his target has found him. The ship's guns jut out from her sides, tracking the shuttle. How the hell did it get so close without the pilot noticing?
[6] 'Can you do anything?' Taric asks the pilot. He doesn't react, and Taric repeats the question with an accompanying punch. The pilot snaps out of his stupor.
'Hang on.' he mutters, checking something on the arcane control panel in the cockpit. 'The storm's messing with our systems, so it should be doing the same to him. I don't know if I could get us away, but I could try. But if I'm not fast enough, those guns will turn us both into slag.' He pauses, looking at a blinking icon on a monitor. 'Or, we could listen to what he has to say. Your choice, I guess.'
Taric TaiserviHP: 75/75
Equipment: Zuche 4 Railgun
(1/1), RUS2 Accelerator Carbine
(13/14), First Aid Kits (4/4), Thermal Blade (6/8)
Funds: 16,000¤
Known Perks: Focus Improvement PackageFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: 'The Black Baron' (Old Regime)
Akhain Gazhorn"What kind of money are we talking here?" He was less cautious now, treating this like a job offer. He was still alert, but more open now.
[1] - 'That will be discussed later. I do not wish to rush you, Mr Gazhorn, but please make your decision quickly. We both have something else to do.'
Akhain GazhornHP: 75/75
Equipment: Zuche 3 Cloaking Device (6/6), Zuche 20 Shock Mine (4/4), RUS2 Accelerator Carbine
(14/14), Thermal Blade (8/8)
Funds: 500¤
Known Perks: MultiVision Ocular ModificationFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: Father Kosh (Old Regime)
SystarBuy two Aurora clips and a Thermal Blade, then go accept the judge mission.
[4] - Systar makes his purchases and turns his attention to his missions again. He messages the senders of the judge-mission that he'll do it. Some time later, he receives more information. Judge Tegarr lives in an apartment in the heart of the Old District, though he's often in the courtroom or in the 'bowels of the city', consorting with known criminals and dragging innocents to jail.
The addresses of the first two places are included, but with extra payment, they could locate him if he's on the streets.
SystarHP: 75/75
Equipment: Thermal Blade
(5/8), Aurora Revolver
(6/6), Gravity Trap (2/2), Zuche 3 Cloaking Device (4/6)
Funds: 28,800¤
Known Perks: AugeanTech LightningBolt PackFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: None
GaosaronGao shook his head, yawned, and stretched. Maybe he had needed the sleep, but what a waste of time! The computer was still on, so he checked his inbox for job offers.
[5] - Gao forces himself up and online, checking whatever job offers he's received. There are three.
The very first is old, from what is obviously
a front for a crime organization. Offering 10 000¤ for tracking down and killing what seems to be one of their rivals. This 'Three-Cogs' apparently has an army of gangers with him and is holed up somewhere in the Industrial district.
Number two is from
an old friend. Tarur Ratrik needs Gao's help with a mission he's received, finding what he thinks is a bio-weapon or such on a research facility up in the asteroid ring. His employer didn't give too much info on the job, but he's paying 30 000¤, which Ratrik is willing to split with Gao.
The third has been sent by
the new government. They want someone to infiltrate the manor of Boka yl Vsiri and locate some kind of information sphere there. They want stealth and secrecy, and no collateral damage or deaths and are paying 25 000¤.
Gaosaron el-Anaula Ra'VantahinHP: 75/75
Equipment: Widowmaker Shotgun
(6/7), Golgo Mechanical Blade, NTT Inferno
(26/26), RUS2 Accelerator Carbine
(13/14)Funds: 28,000¤
Known Perks: NovaCore Electronic ModificationFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: None
Subject 971Pursue, and hit him with the flaregun when possible.
[4] - 971 heads over to the door and peers in carefully. The door opens to a large hall with a few long tables. Dust hangs in the air, and little light is filtered in through the windows. Stairs lead down to a basement and the house continues through a doorway in the wall. [1] Fashuk is nowhere to be seen. Naturally, 971 only needs to take one step forward for the smuggler to jump in from the doorway and [2-1=1] almost drop the pistol on his feet, turn around and flee again.
[6]vs[1] For once, 971 is faster than his target. He crosses the distance with two mighty leaps and tackles Fashuk into the ground. [1] He struggles to keep 971 held down, and this escapes quickly with a knee to the crotch. The bounty hunter staggers after him. The pair enter a square, carpeted room with cushioned seats set in the ground. Various pipes and devices are scattered around the floor. 971 recognizes a few black market stimsims and drugs. The smoke in the air is somewhat intoxicating, and both combatants begin to lose their focus.
EnemiesBy the far wall, Close RangeFashuk il-MaldasHP: 23/30
Equipment: Thermal Blade (5/8), Aurora Revolver
(5/6)Known Perks: Inexperienced Fighter,
Hard To FocusFaction: Sikhet Federation
---
Subject 971HP: 33/75
Equipment: Flare Gun (4/4), Zuche 13 Gravity Trap (1/1)
Funds: 1650¤
Known Perks: AugeanTech FlexiSpeed Aid,
Hard To FocusFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: Fashuk il-Maldas (Sikhet Federation), Fashuk's Files
ZaraFind the exit, and run activate stealth, and shoot any guard I see, but keep running.
[5] - Zara activates the Cloaking Device, [4] and runs for the door. [3] Turning from a corner, he comes face-to-face with a Republican Guard who seems confused at first, but then begins to raise his weapon. Zara turns around and takes a blind turn before the man can fire. He's lost all sense of the archive room, and the soldier is straight behind him. [2] Naturally, when he finally finds the door, it's guarded by yet another trooper.
[2+2=4] The Guard following Zara fires blindly, [Dodge:1+2-1=2] but the path through the towering archives is very narrow, and he has nowhere to escape to. [Damage:18] The bullets dig into his back, [3] but he's already returning fire. [Dodge:2-2=1][Damage:40+12=52] The poor man takes a faceful of shotgun slugs and is thrown several metres down the path.
[1+2=3][Dodge:2+2-1=3] Zara ducks, seeing the door guard raising his carbine as well, but still catches a few bullets into his shoulder. [Damage:16-12=4] Zara charges onwards, [3] and forsakes the shotgun for the Mechanical Blade. [Dodge:3-2=1] Zara slams the whirring mechanized sword against the Guard's helmet, [Damage:15+9=24] which cracks but doesn't give in. The guard pushes Zara off him and takes a few steps back towards the stairs. Escape is within Zara's sight. He'll have to deal with this last obstacle quickly.
[1] The Guards notice the wipe and stop it before everything is destroyed. Hopefully, atleast the files Zara's employer wanted gone were wrecked.
Enemies Unknown, Not In RangeThain yl SahulHP: 12/40
Equipment: RUS2 Accelerator Carbine
(12/14), Combat Knife
Known Perks: Training From Hell In the doorway, Close RangeNoah yl TerraHP: 16/40
Equipment: RUS2 Accelerator Carbine
(13/14), RUS8 HE Mine (1/1), Combat Knife
Known Perks: Training From Hell ---
ZaraHP: 30/75
Equipment: Widowmaker Shotgun
(6/7), Golgo Mechanical Blade, Medkit (1/1), Zuche 3 Cloaking Device (5/6)
Funds: 20,000¤
Known Perks: AugeanTech LightningBolt Pack,
InvisibleFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: CSC Database
BurrowBurrow struggles with yet another alien machine, trying to get it to open. Despite all his years as a mercenary in the outside world, he has never grown good with computers. After a good fifteen minutes of hacking away at the thing, Burrow manages to open up his inbox, a black market connection and a news site.
BurrowHP: 75/75
Equipment: Funds: 20,000¤
Known Perks: AugeanTech LightningBolt PackFaction: Bounty Hunter
Target: None
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Kaguro, in case you need to know, the list of starting equipment for the backgrounds is on Page 5. More info on everything is on the second post of the first page.
And yay, 971 and Fashuk now have an excuse for their incompetence!