Space-time folds over the ship in a blink of an eye. A moment ago it was in the Trellisius system, now, it’s here in the Wiive system, heading for Lowii; the only lively planet in the system.
“This is Bett here, I’ve entered the system and en route to Lowii”
“Excellent, you will find the target in The Real Lowii’s Bar, take a look at the dossier if you need reminding”
“Oh no I’m good, pretty hard to miss a tall, limping Jyl when all of them are normally midget sized. But thanks”
“Contact me when the job is done”
Bett searches for the Real Lowii’s Bar, whether that’s true or not he doesn’t know. No one knows what happened to the guy. But what everyone knows is that the bar serves shitty drinks. The customers it receives is its local community, whoever flies to get a drink from there is either desperate, hiding, challenging themselves or absolutely delusional.
Bett has been there before when browsing for ship parts. Why is he here again? He came across this bounty and decided it to be his last. Five-thousand Rhods as payment. It’s currency used within independent systems. This’ll be enough for him to settle the deposit for his garage, or shipyard as he likes to think. It’s his dream.
He kicks the ship into auto-pilot towards the docking bay closest to the bar.
“This is Betty’s Bet, I would like to request docking clearance, license is F A seven nine W dash sixty-nine; sending the credentials now, over”
“Errr affirmative, give us one moment to confirm errrrr…yeah…ok everything appears to be in order, errr you’ve got clearance to bay seventeen alpha remember standard fee is ten rhods, pay at machine, thanks”
The communication channel is disconnected.
“Sure thing pal”, Bett says aloud, swerves round in his chair to check the bag in the corner. His hand scoops out a collection of silver pieces of rhodium metal. Rhods.
“Got plenty”, he thought.
Then he kicks Betty’s Bet into auto-pilot. She flies down into Lowii’s skies, rattling and creaking till touchdown. Bett suits up into his armour, puts on his helmet and slots those silver guns onto his belt.
The decompression unit opens, releasing all the air, and the ramp lowers for Bett to traverse. The man does as asked and slots in ten rhods into the machine. That’ll give him five hours max, another ten will give five more. Fifty rhods will be for a day (32 hours).
“Fucking rip-off I swear…”
He pays for the ten hour addition, something tells him he’ll need more than five hours. After the bounty he also wants to get some extra parts for Betty.
The ship is docked, Bett is equipped and has covered payment for the bay, it’s time to get the target.
__
A dense smog shrouds the streets and worksites underneath a dark blue sky with hints of purple. Whereas one part of it is a deep orange. Sunset is already here. That’s what his eyes noticed, however, his body felt another thing. A force enveloped around him the moment his foot set out from the building. So strong that it’s difficult to stand still. As Bett focused those sharp eyes onto the smog, he can see it move by light-posts. Then he sees bits of cloth attached to homes waving amidst the air. Thank goodness their are railings along the paths, he isn’t the only one needing support. A poor little Jyl clings onto one for dear life.
Yet people walk by, not giving a shit…they’ve got their own things to worry about. People on Lowii tend to keep to themselves, until two smack into each one another because of the wind. The fucking wind!
Their’s nothing much too Lowii aside from the wind, although its other features are its bleakness, rocky landscape. Actually, their is an iconic feature next to the wind. Scrap.
Lowii is well known to be a mass scrapyard. It’s a dumping ground for failed or dead ships. Salvagers make a living from it. From here he can see ships being carried by other ships, by huge cranes or magnetic tubes. Hulls of starships litter the barren lands. Sparks light up certain dark areas as workers saw, laser, drill and dismantle the current supply of ships.
It is certainly up their on the list of scrapyard worlds, just next to khorre.
Bett struggles up hill towards the bar, lit by a neon light. Aside from the neon, sparks and light-posts; another light source emanates from the worksites. Lakes of glowing coolant. It oozes out from the ships like blood. Workers and visitors have fell in these lakes of coolant, some made it out fine but more have died…either by drowning or ingesting the substance, which led to poisoning.
He wrangles himself into the pressurisation unit of the bar, hits the button to pressurise, then enters the bar. Lighting is pretty dim, tarnished walls, barely working roof fans. A couple dancers (not the best looking either) dance on their poles and about twelve patrons sat at tables and the stools up front. The place consists of Humans, Th’ull and Jyl. All drinking their shitty drinks whilst listening to crappy pop music, and the person singing sounds like she’s doing karaoke.
There he is, a tall, abnormal Jyl conversing with the bartender. Bett strolls up, grabs a stool and takes his helmet off. Getting comfortable before the show.
“Hey there, what can I get ya?”
The bounty hunter browses the collection and orders for a shot. Last time he had those were on Casanova. Seven years ago. Bett didn’t know if he had become soft to the shots, but he’s certain that Scarlet is in the bar. Red hair, even the figure is the same as her’s. Until she turns round and shows a face that is most definitely not Scarlet. Been three years since he’s seen her. It was great, for a time. Even lived together. They both knew it was just the money and sex. Eventually, it wasn’t enough, and she went down her own road.
Bett’s debts were settled however. Scarlet did help. But the break-up…it scarred his heart and the bounties from then on; have took his mind away from it.
“Another”, he demands.
The bartender obliges, then he sizes up the rough-bearded man. Perplexed.
“If you don’t mind me asking sir but…are you Bett the bounty hunter?”
“Oh shit he said it…”
The Jyl, his target, tentatively regards the hunter. Bett glances and readies himself, but before he gets down to it he glares at the bartender.
“Yes, I am the Bett, now if I were you I would get down!”
Bett unbuckles his holster, whips out the silver guns and starts blasting.
__
What he doesn’t expect is the Jyl to evade at such an astounding speed. His target spins round and flips up tables for cover, then brandishes a gun of his own. Further unexpectedly, a group of men set their sights on him and to his horror…they let loose. Bett rolls back over the bartenders desk and snatches his helmet whilst mid-flight.
“Oh my god!”
“Keep your head down”, Bett orders the panicked bartender.
All the other patrons had got up and left. Their screams must have caught the attention of security. But Bett can’t worry about that now. It appears that his target got some goons in case a hunter, such as Bett, ever decided to try it. The Jyl had scurried out the bar.
“Shit”
Bolts of plasma flash by, hitting all the drinks and destroying the furniture. Bett takes in a deep breath, focuses, and counts five men. Lined together. The hunter jumps up with both guns primed and fires. His right gun shoots the man furthest to the right whereas his left does the same to man on the left. Until both guns narrow down to the middle guy.
Frightened eyes glare down to his dead comrades. Then the man’s arms jump and freeze in the air.
“p-please…don’t kill me I-I had no idea. I’ve got a family and kids…”
“Sorry bud, not taking that chance”, Bett unloads a volley into the guy. His body joins the row of wannabe mercenaries.
The hunter exhales deeply and takes a moment to collect himself. He grabs a portion of rhods and lays them out across the bartender’s desk.
“For the trouble…and the drinks”
Bett examines his wrist-pad (he’s got him tracked) and discovers his target has gone to the nearest worksite. Which means he must hop-scotch across those coolant lakes and rummage through splinters of wreckage. The hunter holsters his guns and leaps out from the bar; chasing after this guy.
__
To his surprise, he does catch up to the guy. Fortunately the wind had calmed as well. Which allows Bett to trek down with ease across wonky panels, girthy pipes and over broken railings.
“How the fuck did he get over there?”
Good thing the man’s got something up his sleeve. A cable shoots out from under his wrist and attaches onto an arch of metal that’ll allow him to swing over the lake and to the guy. He pulls out a gun and maims him in the leg. The Jyl cries in agony.
“AHH YOU BASTARD!”
“Sorry bud, nothing personal”
Bett aims at the man, preparing to fire and deal the last blow. His gun hums with power, eager to explode.
BWOOOOOOOOM!
Above them a massive starship hovers, taking over dark sky with its green, piercing lights. A Confederacy vessel. Smaller ones follow suit and begin to position themselves into a formation.
“Oh for fucks sake, not now! WHY!? Of all fucking times they have to come whilst I’m here”
“Not again…p-please, I don’t want to be a slave again!”, cries the quivering Jyl.
“Don’t worry about that, I can help”, Bett sticks his gun in further and the Jyl’s arms fly up in the air.
“Woah woah, h-hold on now…how much they paying you?”
“Five-thousand, why?”
“I can double that, if-if you can give me a ride off this world away from, them. I’ll give you my life savings…deal?”
“How the fuck you made that much?”
“Does it matter!? Look will you or won’t you??”
The hunter remains still, the gun- steady. He lifts his head to look at the ships, wherein a new flock of vessels arrive, not Confederacy, but independent pilots; they open fire. All hell breaks loose. These pilots bear no chance against such a military force, then again, it’s their shithole they’re defending and this gives Bett the time he needs.
“Deal…but if you fuck with me your dead”
“F-fair enough to me”
Bett and the Jyl go the long way round (which is likely how this bastard got to this point)
__
The two of them reach the station and behold…it is ablaze. Security forces lie deceased, some still live, and are fighting. Bett and the Jyl attempt to evade the crossfire as best they can, but a couple of Confederacy soldiers fire upon them.
“Get your head down!”
They use the rows of seats for cover, it’s not much but it does the trick just about. Giving Bett the opportunity to line up shots. However, he can’t fight them indefinitely. Their weapons, armour and sensors are high tech, plus the rigorous training. A lift flickers at them from across the distance.
“Come on, to the elevator!”
Plasma bolts whiz by them as they dash, churn and sprint again. Bett throws in a couple of blasts to suppress them. Astoundingly, to their own amazement, they made it. Bett jabs the floor button. Nothing.
He jabs again, again and again. Metal footsteps boom closer and closer as well as their alien voices.
“Fuck sake…”, Bett pulverises the controls.
“What’re you doing!?”, the Jyl bellows. The lift suddenly shudders and starts moving up.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The elevator freezes in its tracks, lightless, and quiet…till he spoke.
“What now?”
Bett removes the top panel of the lift, brings down a ladder and climbs; the Jyl follows after him.
“I’m going to use my grapple, so, ugh I hate this as much as you do but…hold onto me”
The Jyl awkwardly wraps his arms round the hunter. Together, they serenely fly upwards. Finally coming up to the level that Bett’s ship resides on.
__
They get comfortable in the ship, fasten their belts, Bett primes the engines and the weapons seeing the hangar bay’s doors are, damaged.
“Have you heard of Astrellis? If not, that’s where we’re going. Right, once I blast those doors apart I’ll put us into silent running. Hopefully they won’t detect us until we phase”
PEW PEW PEW! BOOM!!!
Betty’s Bet soars out from the bay and straight through the sky. Bett maneuvers from left to right, dodging debris that is hailing down from space. A hundred or so ships find their graves amidst the countless layers of scrap.
Indeed, he was right. The Confederacy fleet does not see them. Or maybe they do, yet they are so preoccupied with the resistance at hand.
Bett gives the fleet and the planet some distance before phasing, just to be safe.
Astrellis covets the cockpit’s view-screen in a snap. Bett removes his helmet. The Jyl turns to see the rough bearded man he had seen earlier. The two stare.
“I’ve done my bit…”
“We haven’t even landed yet, I can’t accept that!”
“Look bud, who’s got the guns?”
“Ugh, fine”
The Jyl brings up his wristband, the two connect. The Jyl transfers his account. Whether that’s his only one or he has more, Bett cares not when he sees the funds. The guy wasn’t lying. This should be enough to cover for his ship garage, his retirement.
“You know, some of these funds came from the dead. People I killed, when I was a meager grunt in the Confederacy army. So don’t think that money is clean. Most of it came from one, beautiful woman surprisingly. Human. Red-haired…”
Bett’s eyes glare into the vast darkness yonder Astrellis. His jaw clenches, his hands tighten into fists. The blood in those veins turn hot. And when his eyes fixated onto the Jyl, a smirk crosses the guy’s face. Whether Bett is making it up in his mind, or the guy actually has a smirk on his face. That’s when he cares. Before the Jyl could utter another word.
POW POW POW POW POW!!!
With shaking hands, he lays his guns upon the ship controls. The hunter burrows his head, taking deep breaths. Then he returns to stare at the darkness yonder Astrellis. He breathes in and out again. His fingers scroll across his wristband.
“This is Bett…”
“Are you alright, I was told Confederacy forces attacked the system?”
“Yeah…the job’s done. Will be sending you the proof”
Bett cuts the call off before the man could inquire further.
Back to the Nav-System