The Final Bounty

Vayr, the Silver Brute

Written by Dethnus on 13 Jun 2017 04:18.

Four bounty hunters are left stranded after their mutual enemy lures them into a trap. Their ships lost and allies dead, they must work together to survive and exact their revenge.

Vayr growled at the bleeding man before him.
Kelad Jur was a wiry man with legs made for running. And running he had done. It had taken two days to finally catch the little runt. If he wasn't worth nearly fifty thousand units, Vayr would have not even bothered.
"They better take him like this..." Greymane muttered as he grabbed their mark to hold him down.
"You bastards!" Kelad squirmed fiercely even without his legs. Almost admirable, had he not been pathetic to begin with. "How could you do this to me! I didn't know she was the matriarch's daughter, I swear! Please, just-" He began to scream as Hammer started applying the plasma coagulant.
"Don't bother speaking to the captain," Greymane told the man he held. Kelad still screamed, though, so Greymane grabbed his mouth to silence him. "You're done for, my friend. Somebody find his legs!"
Wartooth and Dog left to follow the orders. Vary just watched them go, thinking on how long this paycheck would last them. Food, alcohol, oxygen, ammo... The list went on. Hell, just catching this bastard cost them two batteries for the plasma rifle Dog carried. Recharging those was expensive. But...
Dog and Wartooth returned with the legs and wide grins on their faces. Vayr smiled, too, as soon as he saw the vaulting boots on Kelad's feet. Those would fetch a nice sum of units on the black market. Nearly as much as the bounty for Kelad. Vayr nodded to the men to let them know they had done well and started to head back to the Cerberus. It was time to find the next job.

~~~~~~

The Cerberus was an old, outdated flagship, refitted with aftermarket engines and weapons. Though it could not hold it's own in a dogfight, but it could chase down damn near anything. Add in the full size rail-cannon it had and you had the perfect ship for chasing bounties.
It had been nearly a decade since Vayr had started bounty hunting. A decade of fighting to eat. In all that time, he had realized the thrill of chasing a challenging target. Having to use every ounce of his brain to outsmart the mark and trap him. Having to capture them alive only added to the enjoyment. Yet, it seemed these last few years had produced no bounties worthy of his personal attention.
Kelad had been a job of necessity. Vayr had let Greymane and Wartooth lead it, even. Well, until he realized the bastard was good at running. Vaulting boots, though? For some peasant who had an affair with the magistrate of Jordan's daughter, he was using something nice. Still, it didn't make it a fun fight. It wasn't a clever escape, just some idiot with tech running away.
"Captain, we got the Magistrate on the screen."
Vayr nodded to Wartooth and walked into Cerberus. They had docked on a cliff as to avoid paying the fair. Nice weather, though. The main room of the Cerberus was full of men stripping themselves of their gear. The stench of sweat and booze was thick, with some traces of the plasma coagulant they had used on Kelad. The mark was in the corner with his legs, whimpering. Vayr ignored them all and continued to follow Wartooth to the cockpit.
On the screen was a woman with a shaved head.
"Magistrate."
"Captain Ack-"
"Vayr."
The magistrate frowned. She had obviously not been pleased about being interrupted. But Vayr was from off the planet, so he knew he was free from her wrath. "Yes, Vayr..." She leaned back a little. "Your... compatriot tells me you caught the scoundrel, yes?"
"We did."
"Very good work, Captain," she said blandly. Ungrateful bitch. "Now, he should have some CR-133 Vaulting Boots on his person. I will need those returned, Captain Ackearose
Vayr sat down in his chair and leaned back, looking the magistrate dead in the eye. What was her real name again...? Serash? No. Oh, wait, that's right. "He had no tech, Seerish."
The woman's eyes went cold. Calling any member of the government here by their first name was akin to saying you were equal to or better than them. It was actually amusing to see the woman squirm. To her credit, she stayed calm.
"Well, then I can only pay you half the bounty, I'm afraid."
"Full payment, or I let him loose."
"That technology was half the reason I wanted him captured. You only got him, so-"
"Full, or I let him loose." Vayr stood up, reminding the magistrate of his immense size. Not even Wartooth matched Vayr in that regard. "The bounty was for Kelad Jur, alive. You said nothing of any tech."
The magistrate stared at Vayr for the longest time, her green eyes locking onto his silver ones. "I'll have the units transferred as soon as we have Kelad."
The screen went black.
Wartooth laughed. "Nice, Captain," he said, sitting in one of the three chairs in the cockpit. "That bitch will never know what happened to them."
Vayr nodded. "I'll keep them on me until we get to the fourth-"
The screen lit up with a call. Wartooth pressed a few keys on his monitor and shook his head. "Their hiding their contact point and ID. No way of hacking without waking up Jumper."
Vayr shook his head. "Put it through."
The screen brought forth the image of a woman in a nice suit. She had no distinguishing features, though. An accountant or something? The hell was some company contacting the Hellhounds for?
The woman looked to Wartooth, then to Vayr, where she lingered. Obviously his silver skin and hair and... well, everything, had her curious. "Captain Vayr, also called the Silver Brute, I presume?"
Vayr looked at the woman. "What gave me away?"
She ignored his jab at a joke and continued. "I have a job for you from-"
"How much does it pay?"
The woman gave him an odd look. "I'll go over that after giving you the details. Please wait until-"
"Depending on the pay, I won't even need to know the details, woman," Vayr sneered. He was tired and this bitch was trying to order him around. He hadn't even got any booze yet. So, Vayr lifted his right arm, showing off the metal limb. "Cybernetic maintenance ain't free. Tell me the pay."
"... Very well. The pay will be three million units."
Vayr smiled for the first time in a long while. "Now I'll hear the details."

Next Chapter: Jasper, the Lone Smuggler by Jsimmons17

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