TVTyrant
June 3rd, 2011, 06:55 AM
Although its not much to contribute. Just a story I have been writing recently. Pretty much a piece of crap.
Its Science Fiction with some elements of shit if you care to know.
ACT I
Faux jogged through the tunnel, Shizuna following closing behind him, their boots tapping along the steel grates that made up the floor. The ship shuddered as more rounds hit against the exterior. The pair picked up there speed, sprinting towards the small doorway. Faux leapt through the air, his boot connecting with the door, crushing it open. He swept the small, gently bending hall with his weapon, and gave Shizuna the sign that the coast was clear. “Left or right?” Faux asked into his mike. Shizuna looked at the small tablet strapped to her arm.
“Left.” She answered decisively. They scurried that way, picking up the ringing taps of guards pursuing them as they rounded the bend towards the engineering room. Faux began to worry. Most of the clearance doors were open, and their pursuers had stopped following them.
“Slow down” he breathed into the mike. They slowed to a walk, carefully pushing towards their destination.
“Whats wrong?” she asked, already believing to understand the answer.
“Something’s not right.” Faux moved forward trepidatiously, listening to the hum of the ship and the commotion above and below them. “We haven’t been greeted properly. They’re waiting for us”. She looked up at him. The mask that was his helm covered his eyes, but she could sense his worry. She reached into her jacket and produced two small firearms.
“It’s that room ahead” she said, her voice full of worry. “You have the charge?”
“Of course I do” Faux replied, pulling the explosive from his belt. He set the timer to shorter than he would have liked before. “It would be best for you to stand behind me.” Shizuna hid behind his enormous frame as he tossed the explosive towards the door.
“How much time before it explodes?”
“None.” The charge detonated, blowing apart the door and throwing Shizuna from her feet. Faux sprayed rounds from his weapon into the small room, crouching to cover her as she tried to regain her senses.
“Why the hell did you do that?” She cried out angrily, regaining her posture and rolling into a combat position. She looked into the dust and saw a group of Imperial soldiers point weapons from their positions of cover.
“That’s why.” He said calmly, tucking behind a metal beam before the soldiers could fire. She did likewise on the other side of the way and shot him a stiff glare. Faux shrugged and shot a burst of fire from his weapon, splitting a soldiers head apart. Shizuna fired her handguns around the cover, attempting to suppress her opponents as Faux used the camera affixed to his weapon to pick them off. The soldiers covered themselves more carefully.
“It’s best for you to surrender!” one called out. “We have reinforcements coming behind you, and we would like to keep you both alive.”
Faux looked into his friend’s eyes, saw the fight in her. “We accept your demands” he called out, tossing his weapon into the chamber. Shizuna’s mouth was agape, stunned by her friend’s willingness to surrender. “plan f” He whispered into the mike. She lowered her weapons and tossed them into the entry of the room. The head soldier moved forward, kicking the weapons into the room.
“Come out of that cover!” he demanded, waving his weapon angrily. The two came out from behind the pillars, their hands up. The Imperial Fire Team’s backup sauntered in behind the captives, pointing weapons towards them. Shizuna watched as the sergeant moved towards her, and while she could not see his face through his helmet, she knew his thoughts. He took one hand off his weapon and cupped her chin. “At last we have caught the terrorists who have plagued our operations in this sector. Shizuna Enid, your reputation for being both beautiful and dangerous is understated. But now we have you in our grasp.” He moved away, signaling to his men. “Take them to the brig. The Visari will love to see them.”
Shizuna’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Visari, he’s on this station!?” The Sergeant looked back at her, and slugged her in the torso. Shizuna coughed in pain.
“Terrorist trash.” The Sergeant snarled. “How dare you demand information from me. Take them away now!”
The pair of captives walked through the narrow winding halls of the space station. Despite their hands being chained, the soldiers who “escorted” them found it necessary to prod their prisoners with their weapons as the two walked along. Faux searched the room with his eyes, noticing the small escape vessels located directly to his right. He moved his head towards Shizuna’s direction, who gave a subtle okay. Faux looked for one that would come just after a pillar, thus giving him cover. He spotted one just around the bend. Using his massive wrists, Faux twisted apart the binds around his wrists, but kept his arms in their rested positions. Two meters from the capsule, Faux stopped. The guards, surprised, ran right into him.
“Hey keep moving.” One of the guards barked, prodding Faux with his weapon. Instead Faux turned, showing the man his wrists.
“My chains broke.” He said, and struck the guard across the face with his right hand. Using his left Faux pulled the weapon out of the other Guard’s hand, and shot him in the chest. The concussive blast of energy blew the man’s chest apart, spraying both Shizuna and himself with blood. “You had best cover yourself” Faux said pointedly to her as he shot at more guards who were attempting to round the corner. She covered her frame with a beam, and looked at him.
“Promise me you’ll come back for me.” Shizuna said, her voice wavering slightly.
“Of course I will.” Faux answered solidly, ducking into the small escape pod. “If I survive myself.” With that he entered the emergency code, launching all emergency vessels from the ship. It would be almost impossible to find him, and the planet the station orbited would pull in the vessels. Faux knew his tiny pod was not intended for an atmospheric drop, but he believed that his armor would protect him during the fall. As long as he didn’t fall on anything too hard, he would make it.
Shayne’s truck bumped along the gravel road. He put his hand down to his right, making sure his little carbine wouldn’t full off of the bench seat. Music played over the radio, and he took a drink from his beer as he sang along. It had been a long day, and Shayne had worked hard all day. The sun was just setting as he turned down his Uncle’s country driveway.
It was at this point that he happened to be looking toward the sky, and saw and mass of meteor like objects burning apart. “Must be a meteor shower…” he said to no one in particular, stopping the truck to watch one object that was growing closer and closer toward his location. “SONUVA-” he called out and ducked his head down. The object flew right over head and landed in a rice paddy just across the road. Shayne’s Uncle burst out of the farm house’s door.
“What the hell just happened!?”
“I don’t know Uncle,” called Shayne back. “I think it was a meteor. I’m gonna go check it out.” Shayne piled out of the truck, taking his carbine with him. Jogging over to the paddy, he noticed a pretty significant crater in the surface of the mud. Within it he could see red hot chunks of metal, and in the center what appeared to be a broken up vessel of some kind. “Uncle come quick!” Shayne called out behind him. “Looks like some kind of spacecraft!”
Marty stared across the field at his young nephew, who was climbing down into the crater. “Well… Shit. Just give me a goddamn minute to get my boots on!” Marty went back into the house. He pushed a small pistol into his waistband and pulled his boots on, tucking in the laces rather than tying them. His wife rounded the corner of the hallway.
“Whats going on?” she asked worriedly.
“Seems like a ship crashed across the road. Me and Shayne are gonna check it out. Probably some kind of research pod from that station that’s been orbiting. I sure hope it ain’t trouble.” Marty marched off into the dusk, straining his eyes to see his young nephew.
“Uncle hurry up!” Shayne called out just as Marty had fixed his eyes on the crater again. Shayne shuffled through the wreckage, pushing pieces of burning hot metal apart with a tree branch he had found. “Looks there’s a man in there” he said just as Marty reached the edge of the crater.
“Well, let’s try to dig im out then.” Marty grabbed a nearby tree branch, and helped Shaayne push the majority of the wreckage off of the figure. “Touch im!” Marty instructed. “Don’t grab, just touch im. See if hes hot or not.” Shayne did as he was told, tapping the blackened metal that covered the massive, limp figure.
“Seems cool enough to grab…” Shayne said as he reached toward the mass, gripping it by the shoulder and tugging at it. “Holy cow he’s heavy! We’re gonna need a tractor or something to get him out of this pit!”
“Alright” responded Marty contemplatively. “You still got that tow chain in your truck? The one we used on them logs the other day?” Shayne thought about it for a moment.
“Yeah their still sitting in the bed.”
“Alright go bring the truck over. We’ll flip im over n’ pull his big ass out of the hole.” Shayne ran over to the truck, and flipped the engine over. He pulled it around and tossed the chain over to his Uncle, who had managed to tug the body over to a face up position. Just as the pair were hooking the chains up his arms, the body stirred violently.
“Oh shit!” exclaimed Marty, pulling the small pistol he had brought out with him. The figure turned its helmed face to him, seemingly confused. “He ain’t bout to hurt nobody.” Said Marty authoritatively, tucking the gun back into his overalls. “You okay, stranger?”
“Ooh, umm, oom.” Was all the man could manage. Marty looked to Shayne.
“Let’s see bout gettin him into the house.” Together the two managed to pull the barely conscious man into the bed of the truck, and drove him into their storage barn.
The next day Shayne and his aunt Kristen walked into the barn to check on the man. Using a screwdriver, Shayne worked to pop the massive man’s helmet off. After a while of working at it, he managed to crack the air seal and pull it off. He was shocked when beneath he found the hard, scaley skin of a Golililian rather than the figure of a human. The boney crusts of exoskeletal armor protruded from his brows and cheekbones. Kristen poured some of the water theyd brought onto his face, and his eyes opened.
Faux looked at the two human strangers and pushed himself into an upright sitting position. After a moment of looking at each other awkwardly, he opened his mouth. “Hello” he said simply. Kristen smiled and responded bluntly.
“Hello stranger. How are you?” Faux paused to think about it, feeling his bruises and significant physical displeasure that comes from a 1000 mile per hour fall.
“I feel like it would be nice of your lad to help me out of this armor.” Kristen smiled and looked expectantly to Shayne.
“I’ll go fetch some food while you get more comfortable.” She scurried away, leaving Shayne standing there with the massive man of another species.
“Don’t worry kid” Faux said as he began pulling strips of armor off of his body. “I’ve got clothes on underneath.” Shayne helped pull apart the tabbings and folds of the suit, revealing Faux’s massive figure. “The names Faux” the Golilian said as he shed the leggings of the armor. “Are you allies or enemies of the ILian’s?”
“We aren’t really on either side.” Responded Shayne, visibly questioning the reasoning for such a statement. “Though they recently have been orbiting a station nearby. It has a lot of folks pretty concerned.”
Faux looked into the young man’s eyes, and saw an honest good soul in them. “Well it is not a matter of much concern. If you are willing to help me, I can repay you for your work. All I require is a place to sooth my injuries, at such time I will leave you.” Shayne paused to think before responding to the large man’s request.
“I don’t think there’d be anything wrong with it. I’ll ask my Aunt and Uncle. I’m sure they’ll say yes. We sure could use some help around here.” Faux nodded, and watched as Shayne darted off back toward the small farm house. Something was strange about the boy. Something hidden within him that he had only felt once before…
Close to the farm where Shayne and his family lived, there was a small town. It only had a handful of shops, and the most popular one was a saloon. It was a Friday night attraction for many young men in the area, and was one of the few places on the planet where strangers were invited regularly. On this particular evening a guest sat at one of the establishments card tables, sipping whiskey and looking over his hand. He had light brown hair, longer than that of most men in the town, and a clean shaven face when most had a slight goatee. He was of medium build, and strapped to his right hip was a pistol of obvious Imperial issue.
The stranger spent a moment looking at the pile of chips as the rotation came his way. It reached him, and he stared at his cards again for a brief moment. “I fold. Too rich for my blood” he said as he tossed his cards into the center of the table.
“Three straight times you’ve folded.” Said a heavy set man who sat across the table. “I’m here to see some damn money move around, not to watch some stranger fold every round.” The stranger eyed him, placing his glass down.
“Is that some kind of threat?” He asked casually.
“Damn right it is. I came a long way from the Obsidyian system to get here. I’m not hanging around to play a casual game of cards with some buddies. I got better fucking things to do.” The stranger looked at the man squarely, a serious look in his eyes. An older man came into the bar as the two strangers stared at each other, and sat at the bar.
“Well why don’t you just deal em if you’re so set on being serious.” Said the stranger, returning his right hand to his drink. The bigger man snorted, and grabbed the pile of cards, tossing them to the men who sat around the table, five a piece. The men anted, and betting began. When it came to the stranger’s turn, he looked the bigger man square in the eye. “All in.”
“Oh what kind of fucking bullshit is th-“ he began before being interrupted by the barkeeper.
“Hey you better watch your dang mouth in my saloon fella.” The bigger man quieted. The next few men folded, bringing the rotation to the big man.
“Alright, I’ll call your bet.” He pushed his own pile of riches into the center of the table. The stranger grinned, and laid his cards on the table.
“Four kings.” The bigger man looked at him in astonishment. He pushed his own cards onto the table, revealing a pair of 8s.
“No way” the big man started “you must’ve been cheating.”
“How could I be cheating you dealt the damn cards” the stranger laughed.
“You kept em in your sleeve!”
“How could I have done that? My sleeves are rolled up.” The big man pushed away from the table angrily, reaching for a large dagger tucked away into his sash.
“The man is right.” Said the old man at the bar, facing away. “You dealt him those cards. Put your knife away and get out of here.” The big man looked over, mouth open in annoyance.
“Look old man, I don’t know who the FUCK you think you are but you better keep your FUCKING MOUTH SHUT!” The barkeeper reached below his bar for a shotgun, but the old man looked at him and shook his head.
“I wish no quarrel with you, stranger. I just want to be able to enjoy my beer in peace and quiet. And you happen to be disturbing that.” The younger stranger, still sitting at his seat, unbuttoned the strap that fit over his pistol and slowly began to slide it out of it’s holster. “That won’t be necessary.” Called the old man from the bar, who had turned towards the large man and pulled his hood down. The stranger, surprised that the old man had even noticed him pulling the gun, sat still watching the situation.
“What won’t be necessary?” Asked the bigger man drunkenly, pulling his rather substantial knife from his sash. “I guess I’ll have to teach you some fucking manners.” The oaf dashed towards the old man, waving his blade threateningly. Reaching the man, he swung it in a slashing manner, only to feel his elbow caught, and to find himself flipping through the air against the opposite wall. The old man faced towards him, pulling a short curved blade from his waist, which exploded in blue light.
“I do suggest you make your way out of the system, before this encounter gets any more serious.” The old man stared at the scared oaf calmly, his face outlined against the blue bright burning blade. The large man gathered himself, picked himself off the floor, and ducked out of the building. The old man pushed his sword back into his waistband, and took a seat at the poker table.
“I’m sorry that I stepped in like that, but I had grown tired of that man bullying the people who regular this saloon.” The light haired stranger looked at him and smiled.
“Well thanks for the help old timer. Can I ask your name?”
“Karras. Karras Shepherd. And you?”
“Most call me Terrence.” Terrence thought contemplatively for a moment, and reached for his glass. The old man nodded his head, and shuffled the cards, passing them to the men seated at the table. They all stared at him for a moment, which caused him to laugh.
“Don’t worry I haven’t looked at the cards” he chuckled. The men picked up their cards, assembling them the way one does as they assess their luck. As the men dropped bills into the center of the table, the barkeeper walked over and dropped a filled beer down by Karras.
“On the house” he said and then slunk off back to his duty.
“Thank you” Karras responded simply and looked back to the man seated across from him. “So, Terrence, what brings you to this world?” Terrence looked at the old man, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to lie to him so easily.
“I’m looking for someone” he said. “An Imperial prisoner who escaped from their cells not too long ago. He has a lot of important information that I’ve been interested in for awhile now.”
“I see” Karras said softly, drinking deeply from his glass. “What does this man look like? I hope he wasn’t the man who just fled the system.”
“He’s a Golilian” said Terrence, staring deeply into the old man’s eyes. “And I must find him before the ILian’s do.”
I usually work on it every night between 12 and 4 AM. If you decide to take the time to read it, I'd love some crit.
Its Science Fiction with some elements of shit if you care to know.
ACT I
Faux jogged through the tunnel, Shizuna following closing behind him, their boots tapping along the steel grates that made up the floor. The ship shuddered as more rounds hit against the exterior. The pair picked up there speed, sprinting towards the small doorway. Faux leapt through the air, his boot connecting with the door, crushing it open. He swept the small, gently bending hall with his weapon, and gave Shizuna the sign that the coast was clear. “Left or right?” Faux asked into his mike. Shizuna looked at the small tablet strapped to her arm.
“Left.” She answered decisively. They scurried that way, picking up the ringing taps of guards pursuing them as they rounded the bend towards the engineering room. Faux began to worry. Most of the clearance doors were open, and their pursuers had stopped following them.
“Slow down” he breathed into the mike. They slowed to a walk, carefully pushing towards their destination.
“Whats wrong?” she asked, already believing to understand the answer.
“Something’s not right.” Faux moved forward trepidatiously, listening to the hum of the ship and the commotion above and below them. “We haven’t been greeted properly. They’re waiting for us”. She looked up at him. The mask that was his helm covered his eyes, but she could sense his worry. She reached into her jacket and produced two small firearms.
“It’s that room ahead” she said, her voice full of worry. “You have the charge?”
“Of course I do” Faux replied, pulling the explosive from his belt. He set the timer to shorter than he would have liked before. “It would be best for you to stand behind me.” Shizuna hid behind his enormous frame as he tossed the explosive towards the door.
“How much time before it explodes?”
“None.” The charge detonated, blowing apart the door and throwing Shizuna from her feet. Faux sprayed rounds from his weapon into the small room, crouching to cover her as she tried to regain her senses.
“Why the hell did you do that?” She cried out angrily, regaining her posture and rolling into a combat position. She looked into the dust and saw a group of Imperial soldiers point weapons from their positions of cover.
“That’s why.” He said calmly, tucking behind a metal beam before the soldiers could fire. She did likewise on the other side of the way and shot him a stiff glare. Faux shrugged and shot a burst of fire from his weapon, splitting a soldiers head apart. Shizuna fired her handguns around the cover, attempting to suppress her opponents as Faux used the camera affixed to his weapon to pick them off. The soldiers covered themselves more carefully.
“It’s best for you to surrender!” one called out. “We have reinforcements coming behind you, and we would like to keep you both alive.”
Faux looked into his friend’s eyes, saw the fight in her. “We accept your demands” he called out, tossing his weapon into the chamber. Shizuna’s mouth was agape, stunned by her friend’s willingness to surrender. “plan f” He whispered into the mike. She lowered her weapons and tossed them into the entry of the room. The head soldier moved forward, kicking the weapons into the room.
“Come out of that cover!” he demanded, waving his weapon angrily. The two came out from behind the pillars, their hands up. The Imperial Fire Team’s backup sauntered in behind the captives, pointing weapons towards them. Shizuna watched as the sergeant moved towards her, and while she could not see his face through his helmet, she knew his thoughts. He took one hand off his weapon and cupped her chin. “At last we have caught the terrorists who have plagued our operations in this sector. Shizuna Enid, your reputation for being both beautiful and dangerous is understated. But now we have you in our grasp.” He moved away, signaling to his men. “Take them to the brig. The Visari will love to see them.”
Shizuna’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Visari, he’s on this station!?” The Sergeant looked back at her, and slugged her in the torso. Shizuna coughed in pain.
“Terrorist trash.” The Sergeant snarled. “How dare you demand information from me. Take them away now!”
The pair of captives walked through the narrow winding halls of the space station. Despite their hands being chained, the soldiers who “escorted” them found it necessary to prod their prisoners with their weapons as the two walked along. Faux searched the room with his eyes, noticing the small escape vessels located directly to his right. He moved his head towards Shizuna’s direction, who gave a subtle okay. Faux looked for one that would come just after a pillar, thus giving him cover. He spotted one just around the bend. Using his massive wrists, Faux twisted apart the binds around his wrists, but kept his arms in their rested positions. Two meters from the capsule, Faux stopped. The guards, surprised, ran right into him.
“Hey keep moving.” One of the guards barked, prodding Faux with his weapon. Instead Faux turned, showing the man his wrists.
“My chains broke.” He said, and struck the guard across the face with his right hand. Using his left Faux pulled the weapon out of the other Guard’s hand, and shot him in the chest. The concussive blast of energy blew the man’s chest apart, spraying both Shizuna and himself with blood. “You had best cover yourself” Faux said pointedly to her as he shot at more guards who were attempting to round the corner. She covered her frame with a beam, and looked at him.
“Promise me you’ll come back for me.” Shizuna said, her voice wavering slightly.
“Of course I will.” Faux answered solidly, ducking into the small escape pod. “If I survive myself.” With that he entered the emergency code, launching all emergency vessels from the ship. It would be almost impossible to find him, and the planet the station orbited would pull in the vessels. Faux knew his tiny pod was not intended for an atmospheric drop, but he believed that his armor would protect him during the fall. As long as he didn’t fall on anything too hard, he would make it.
Shayne’s truck bumped along the gravel road. He put his hand down to his right, making sure his little carbine wouldn’t full off of the bench seat. Music played over the radio, and he took a drink from his beer as he sang along. It had been a long day, and Shayne had worked hard all day. The sun was just setting as he turned down his Uncle’s country driveway.
It was at this point that he happened to be looking toward the sky, and saw and mass of meteor like objects burning apart. “Must be a meteor shower…” he said to no one in particular, stopping the truck to watch one object that was growing closer and closer toward his location. “SONUVA-” he called out and ducked his head down. The object flew right over head and landed in a rice paddy just across the road. Shayne’s Uncle burst out of the farm house’s door.
“What the hell just happened!?”
“I don’t know Uncle,” called Shayne back. “I think it was a meteor. I’m gonna go check it out.” Shayne piled out of the truck, taking his carbine with him. Jogging over to the paddy, he noticed a pretty significant crater in the surface of the mud. Within it he could see red hot chunks of metal, and in the center what appeared to be a broken up vessel of some kind. “Uncle come quick!” Shayne called out behind him. “Looks like some kind of spacecraft!”
Marty stared across the field at his young nephew, who was climbing down into the crater. “Well… Shit. Just give me a goddamn minute to get my boots on!” Marty went back into the house. He pushed a small pistol into his waistband and pulled his boots on, tucking in the laces rather than tying them. His wife rounded the corner of the hallway.
“Whats going on?” she asked worriedly.
“Seems like a ship crashed across the road. Me and Shayne are gonna check it out. Probably some kind of research pod from that station that’s been orbiting. I sure hope it ain’t trouble.” Marty marched off into the dusk, straining his eyes to see his young nephew.
“Uncle hurry up!” Shayne called out just as Marty had fixed his eyes on the crater again. Shayne shuffled through the wreckage, pushing pieces of burning hot metal apart with a tree branch he had found. “Looks there’s a man in there” he said just as Marty reached the edge of the crater.
“Well, let’s try to dig im out then.” Marty grabbed a nearby tree branch, and helped Shaayne push the majority of the wreckage off of the figure. “Touch im!” Marty instructed. “Don’t grab, just touch im. See if hes hot or not.” Shayne did as he was told, tapping the blackened metal that covered the massive, limp figure.
“Seems cool enough to grab…” Shayne said as he reached toward the mass, gripping it by the shoulder and tugging at it. “Holy cow he’s heavy! We’re gonna need a tractor or something to get him out of this pit!”
“Alright” responded Marty contemplatively. “You still got that tow chain in your truck? The one we used on them logs the other day?” Shayne thought about it for a moment.
“Yeah their still sitting in the bed.”
“Alright go bring the truck over. We’ll flip im over n’ pull his big ass out of the hole.” Shayne ran over to the truck, and flipped the engine over. He pulled it around and tossed the chain over to his Uncle, who had managed to tug the body over to a face up position. Just as the pair were hooking the chains up his arms, the body stirred violently.
“Oh shit!” exclaimed Marty, pulling the small pistol he had brought out with him. The figure turned its helmed face to him, seemingly confused. “He ain’t bout to hurt nobody.” Said Marty authoritatively, tucking the gun back into his overalls. “You okay, stranger?”
“Ooh, umm, oom.” Was all the man could manage. Marty looked to Shayne.
“Let’s see bout gettin him into the house.” Together the two managed to pull the barely conscious man into the bed of the truck, and drove him into their storage barn.
The next day Shayne and his aunt Kristen walked into the barn to check on the man. Using a screwdriver, Shayne worked to pop the massive man’s helmet off. After a while of working at it, he managed to crack the air seal and pull it off. He was shocked when beneath he found the hard, scaley skin of a Golililian rather than the figure of a human. The boney crusts of exoskeletal armor protruded from his brows and cheekbones. Kristen poured some of the water theyd brought onto his face, and his eyes opened.
Faux looked at the two human strangers and pushed himself into an upright sitting position. After a moment of looking at each other awkwardly, he opened his mouth. “Hello” he said simply. Kristen smiled and responded bluntly.
“Hello stranger. How are you?” Faux paused to think about it, feeling his bruises and significant physical displeasure that comes from a 1000 mile per hour fall.
“I feel like it would be nice of your lad to help me out of this armor.” Kristen smiled and looked expectantly to Shayne.
“I’ll go fetch some food while you get more comfortable.” She scurried away, leaving Shayne standing there with the massive man of another species.
“Don’t worry kid” Faux said as he began pulling strips of armor off of his body. “I’ve got clothes on underneath.” Shayne helped pull apart the tabbings and folds of the suit, revealing Faux’s massive figure. “The names Faux” the Golilian said as he shed the leggings of the armor. “Are you allies or enemies of the ILian’s?”
“We aren’t really on either side.” Responded Shayne, visibly questioning the reasoning for such a statement. “Though they recently have been orbiting a station nearby. It has a lot of folks pretty concerned.”
Faux looked into the young man’s eyes, and saw an honest good soul in them. “Well it is not a matter of much concern. If you are willing to help me, I can repay you for your work. All I require is a place to sooth my injuries, at such time I will leave you.” Shayne paused to think before responding to the large man’s request.
“I don’t think there’d be anything wrong with it. I’ll ask my Aunt and Uncle. I’m sure they’ll say yes. We sure could use some help around here.” Faux nodded, and watched as Shayne darted off back toward the small farm house. Something was strange about the boy. Something hidden within him that he had only felt once before…
Close to the farm where Shayne and his family lived, there was a small town. It only had a handful of shops, and the most popular one was a saloon. It was a Friday night attraction for many young men in the area, and was one of the few places on the planet where strangers were invited regularly. On this particular evening a guest sat at one of the establishments card tables, sipping whiskey and looking over his hand. He had light brown hair, longer than that of most men in the town, and a clean shaven face when most had a slight goatee. He was of medium build, and strapped to his right hip was a pistol of obvious Imperial issue.
The stranger spent a moment looking at the pile of chips as the rotation came his way. It reached him, and he stared at his cards again for a brief moment. “I fold. Too rich for my blood” he said as he tossed his cards into the center of the table.
“Three straight times you’ve folded.” Said a heavy set man who sat across the table. “I’m here to see some damn money move around, not to watch some stranger fold every round.” The stranger eyed him, placing his glass down.
“Is that some kind of threat?” He asked casually.
“Damn right it is. I came a long way from the Obsidyian system to get here. I’m not hanging around to play a casual game of cards with some buddies. I got better fucking things to do.” The stranger looked at the man squarely, a serious look in his eyes. An older man came into the bar as the two strangers stared at each other, and sat at the bar.
“Well why don’t you just deal em if you’re so set on being serious.” Said the stranger, returning his right hand to his drink. The bigger man snorted, and grabbed the pile of cards, tossing them to the men who sat around the table, five a piece. The men anted, and betting began. When it came to the stranger’s turn, he looked the bigger man square in the eye. “All in.”
“Oh what kind of fucking bullshit is th-“ he began before being interrupted by the barkeeper.
“Hey you better watch your dang mouth in my saloon fella.” The bigger man quieted. The next few men folded, bringing the rotation to the big man.
“Alright, I’ll call your bet.” He pushed his own pile of riches into the center of the table. The stranger grinned, and laid his cards on the table.
“Four kings.” The bigger man looked at him in astonishment. He pushed his own cards onto the table, revealing a pair of 8s.
“No way” the big man started “you must’ve been cheating.”
“How could I be cheating you dealt the damn cards” the stranger laughed.
“You kept em in your sleeve!”
“How could I have done that? My sleeves are rolled up.” The big man pushed away from the table angrily, reaching for a large dagger tucked away into his sash.
“The man is right.” Said the old man at the bar, facing away. “You dealt him those cards. Put your knife away and get out of here.” The big man looked over, mouth open in annoyance.
“Look old man, I don’t know who the FUCK you think you are but you better keep your FUCKING MOUTH SHUT!” The barkeeper reached below his bar for a shotgun, but the old man looked at him and shook his head.
“I wish no quarrel with you, stranger. I just want to be able to enjoy my beer in peace and quiet. And you happen to be disturbing that.” The younger stranger, still sitting at his seat, unbuttoned the strap that fit over his pistol and slowly began to slide it out of it’s holster. “That won’t be necessary.” Called the old man from the bar, who had turned towards the large man and pulled his hood down. The stranger, surprised that the old man had even noticed him pulling the gun, sat still watching the situation.
“What won’t be necessary?” Asked the bigger man drunkenly, pulling his rather substantial knife from his sash. “I guess I’ll have to teach you some fucking manners.” The oaf dashed towards the old man, waving his blade threateningly. Reaching the man, he swung it in a slashing manner, only to feel his elbow caught, and to find himself flipping through the air against the opposite wall. The old man faced towards him, pulling a short curved blade from his waist, which exploded in blue light.
“I do suggest you make your way out of the system, before this encounter gets any more serious.” The old man stared at the scared oaf calmly, his face outlined against the blue bright burning blade. The large man gathered himself, picked himself off the floor, and ducked out of the building. The old man pushed his sword back into his waistband, and took a seat at the poker table.
“I’m sorry that I stepped in like that, but I had grown tired of that man bullying the people who regular this saloon.” The light haired stranger looked at him and smiled.
“Well thanks for the help old timer. Can I ask your name?”
“Karras. Karras Shepherd. And you?”
“Most call me Terrence.” Terrence thought contemplatively for a moment, and reached for his glass. The old man nodded his head, and shuffled the cards, passing them to the men seated at the table. They all stared at him for a moment, which caused him to laugh.
“Don’t worry I haven’t looked at the cards” he chuckled. The men picked up their cards, assembling them the way one does as they assess their luck. As the men dropped bills into the center of the table, the barkeeper walked over and dropped a filled beer down by Karras.
“On the house” he said and then slunk off back to his duty.
“Thank you” Karras responded simply and looked back to the man seated across from him. “So, Terrence, what brings you to this world?” Terrence looked at the old man, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to lie to him so easily.
“I’m looking for someone” he said. “An Imperial prisoner who escaped from their cells not too long ago. He has a lot of important information that I’ve been interested in for awhile now.”
“I see” Karras said softly, drinking deeply from his glass. “What does this man look like? I hope he wasn’t the man who just fled the system.”
“He’s a Golilian” said Terrence, staring deeply into the old man’s eyes. “And I must find him before the ILian’s do.”
I usually work on it every night between 12 and 4 AM. If you decide to take the time to read it, I'd love some crit.