Star's End

[Mew Master]

This is a story I'm doing for a contest to win some major money, about 5000 dollars to be exact, and I'm hoping I can get some feed back on it. Well, enjoy!

Prologue

For as long as humanity has existed, curiosity has fueled their expeditions. Such curiosity has ignited the spark that lead to space colonization. After inter-planetary colonization had been perfected in the year 4359, according to the Roman Calendar, people headed towards the stars. And what they found shocked their home world.
Of course straying away from earth and towards distant planets meant interactions with extra-terrestrial life. Such life had significant changes for the human space expansion plans.
Several members of the original expedition documented planets that seemed to have a much simpler life-style then those on earth, as well as humanoids who resembled humans. Several solar systems had similar characteristics, if not similar inhabitants, that confused some of the early pilgrims.
Other systems had technology that stunned the earth party. Technology that made their once "state-of-the-art" interstellar vehicle a prehistoric "hunk of junk." Such advances scared some earthlings, but inspired others.
Because of this information humanity began to split into two factions: Those who are technology based, and those who turn down technology, for a simpler life, with not so simple mysteries.
The anti-techs, as the later was called immigrated to the planets with wonders that are beyond description, the main one could only be described in one word: Magical. As improbable as it may seem, magic does exist, if not on earth, then on other planets and their histories, although not called the same thing.
The history of Gerthea, one of the main planets with magical abilities, tells of a "Source of Gera", Gera is the word they and many others use, in place of "magic". Where as we define those who use magic as "magicians, wizards, and witches" the inhabitants refer to them as "Darvors", a term that doesn't define the sex of the user. "The Source of Gera" is a force that lives in all living things. "The Source of Gera" dwells in a region of a galaxy that is only reached after thousands of years in the rotation of the entire galaxy. Those planets, whose orbit in the galaxy crosses through the "Source of Gera", enable the inhabitants to be in tuned to it when they are born, and better able to tap into it. Thus there are bloodlines whose abilities through Gera are more in-tuned than others, until the next meeting of the "Source of Gera."
The others, "Technoids" traveled towards the center of the galaxy, and nearer to the technological advanced planets and civilizations. Such technology greatly advanced the techs and much of the human race back home on earth. Cloning was a possibility, even being able to bring back species long extinct on earth and other planets. Genetic tampering was not allowed. Any deterrence from the original genetic code, meant life in prison. Cybernetic implants were another quantum leap in human technology. Small nano-techs that attach to the skin, muscles, and nerves that increase natural abilities. The nano-techs could be strengthened by the user's own will during stress and the adrenaline that is pumped into their system during such times.
At first the differences between the Technoids and Darvors where barely distinguishable, but centuries later, egos and tempers flared.
Simple discussions between the two became raging arguments and soon, it was feared the universe was on the verge of an Interstellar Civil War, which would drag entire systems under. Before war could be declared the diplomatic approach was tried first. Delegates from both sides of the issues, mostly those who wished not to go to war, secretly met and came to an uneasy agreement.
But even now, two and a half decades later, tempers are still high, and there are those who wish for a war. And wish for it to leave both sides crippled, and leave room for their entrance.

Star’s End: Bounty Head

Space. Outer space has been the last territory to be conquered. After the rush to claim this area, advances in interstellar travel had a large growth spurt. Faster and more efficient ships had been built, spurring on races between companies to see what the fastest ship in the universe was. There was one ship, however, that was still the fastest of all.
In the bleakness of space a silver ship floated, stuck in the time delay between hyperspace jumps. The ship was triangular, with the center core running from one of the points and ending perpendicular with a side. This side was where the engines were placed, giving the ship unsurpassed engine efficiency. Towards the front of the ship the cockpit could be noticed, yellow tinted windows allowing the pilot to see where they where going. Two gun mounts were hidden on either side of the point as well as patches on the edge that could be removed by motors and reveal the missile pods. The other two angles were different as well as the most unique feature of the ship.
These angles were a pair of sliding blades that could be extended and almost become parallel with the base where the engines are fixed. So unexpected were the blades that many ships had met their end on the receiving end of a very close pass.
This was the Star Falcon, the most advanced and fastest ship in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Inside were several cabins and room for almost half a dozen people to live comfortably. Currently, one of the inhabitants, the owner of the ship, stared out his window and admired the sea of stars.
His bright green eyes scanned the stars and caught hints of novas of every color. Blue hair had several strands that suck in front of his eyes, but he didn’t mind. Currently he was wearing baggy gray pants with red patches over his knees and boots were still on his feet. He had on a light shirt, quite different from his usual gray chest armor.
This man was sitting inside his own room, a cot-like bed resting against one wall and sets of drawers inside the wall on the opposite side of the small room. A cloak was hung up on the wall, and a holster hung right beside it. A staff was leaning in the corner and a pair of octagonal sai lay on the floor.
He was sitting on a stool, his right foot propped up on one of the pipes that ran through the Star Falcon and the other was propped up on another part of the stool. His left elbow was resting on his leg as the right hand was busy typing on a computer terminal. He had been typing when the beauty of the stars outside his window had caught his eye and then decided to admire them for a few moments.
“Kei! Kei Kiaka! Where are you?!” a feminine voice shouted through the halls of the ship.
Kei Kiaka had been staring at the stars for a good ten minutes before the woman’s voice rang through the Star Falcon like a gun-shot. So surprised by the sound, Kei fell over backwards and landed hard on his back.
“Ouch… that hurt.” Kei commented.
The door to his room slid open and the woman who had shouted for him stood there, arms crossed and an enraged look on her face. She wore boots that stopped just under her knees and leggings that went up and stopped past her mid-thigh. The rest of her attire was made up of a revealing body suit that started above her chest and covered her torso down to where it was cut off at her crotch. In all it resembled a bathing suit except that there was an area of a diamond shape removed so her navel showed. She also had on a thin shirt that covered her chest and ended in short sleeves.
“Kei,” she said. “I’ve been shouting at you for five minutes now. If you don’t eat, I’ll get the feeling that you don’t like my cooking.” she glared at him with her brown eyes. Her red hair flowed with every slight movement she made.
Isha Taoya stood in Kei’s doorway, waiting for an answer.
“Sorry, Isha, but I was kinda busy.” Kei replied. “Not that your cooking isn’t bad,”
“Oh quit it.” she replied. “Jared and Ji are already waiting.” Isha walked out and the door slid closed behind her.
Kei flipped up into a sitting position and sighed. “If we don’t hit a civilized planet soon, I’m not sure if the three of us can take Isha’s cooking for much longer…”
Kei Kiaka may own the Star Falcon but Isha Taoya was a terror when anyone insulted her cooking skills, even though she was the worst chief in the entire universe. Kei and his partners, Ji Omon and Jared Kard, were literally being tortured, being forced to eat Isha’s meals.
Rubbing his head, Kei headed out of his door and made his way to the kitchen. Where the torture would soon begin.

Ji Omon and Jared Kard sat at the table inside the kitchen as Isha continued to move around, getting everything ready to eat, humming as she did.
Jared Kard was a man who you could sometimes tell what he was thinking, and the look on his face told that he would rather face the Tenchoid Military Force instead of eating Isha’s dishes. Jared was taller than Ji, and even taller than Kei at 6’6”. With a lighter build, Jared wasn’t wearing his usual leather jacket with his gizmos and weapons. His pants were baggy, but were just hanging loose because the pockets were empty. Jared’s foot lightly kicked the base of the table as he tried to ready his stomach for the onslaught of Isha’s food. His hair was a light brown and eyes were blue.
More composed than Jared, Ji sat with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in his usual “depressed/not caring” look. His eyes were red and contrasted with his black hair and his ears were elongated because he was an Elvin Sapien. Ji wore lose, white clothing and had wrapped some of it up around his fore arms and shins because of the repairs and maintenance he did on the ship. He still had his special gear that allowed him to see the small circuitry of the Star Falcon, resting on his forehead.
“Is there any way we can get out of this?” Jared whispered to Ji.
“Not unless you want to be a part of Isha’s next recipe.” Ji replied
Kei walked in and saw the look on Jared’s face. “So, what’s the mystery ingredient today?” he asked, a smirk on his face.
“Watch it Kei Kiaka.” Isha warned, yielding a frying pan and pointing it at Kei. “Any more comments like that and you aren’t eating.” She turned and continued to work on the meal.
Kei sat down next to Ji and Jared and the three of them waited for the inevitable.
“Do you have any more meal rations Ji?” Kei asked in a low tone.
“You asked me that last time and the time before that. No, we wasted them all after she served us our first meal.” Ji replied.
Kei and Jared sighed at Ji’s response.
Ji may have seemed like the pessimistic type of person, but he was really only realistic. Having to remind Kei and Jared of this fact several times. Kei and Jared already knew this, but enjoyed bugging Ji just the same.
Finally Isha served out the meals for everyone and took a seat across from them. She started eating energetically while the other three just stared at their bowls.
Each having a bowl in hand they tried the food, secretly praying that it would taste better than last time. They were mistaken.
“Blech.” Jared commented. “Do we have to eat this?” he whispered.
“If you want to have any energy, then we have no choice.” Ji replied, and even his calm disposition had been rocked by the taste of the food.
“Kei, can’t you use some of your Darvor hocus-pocus and improve the taste just a bit?” Jared asked again.
Kei forced himself to eat. “Sorry, but not even Darvor magic can fix this. Gera give me strength.” he replied, eyes rolling up, and forced himself to eat a bit more.
Then there came a beeping siren through out the entire ship, stopping the meal. Kei, Jared, and Ji stood up instantly.
“Okay, now we can get back into hyperspace.” Kei commented and dashed out the door.
“Better get the information on the planet system we’ll arrive at.” and Jared was gone.
“Have to make sure the engines are still operating at 100 percent.” Ji left, and then Isha was the only one left alone.
“Hey! Get back here!” she shouted.

The three guys stood at a sink by the living quarters of the[/i] Star Falcon[/i]. Each had an extended drink from the sink until only a faint taste of Isha’s cooking remained.
Jared sighed. “Nice timing Kei.”
“Yes, good idea to set the time laps at a point right in the middle of our meal.” Ji added, his composure back.
Kei took a long drink from the sink and wiped his face before replying. “I figured that would work.”
The three stared at each other and then Jared let out a muffled laugh and then Kei started in. Even Ji joined in laughing. After a minute of straight laughing the three headed towards the cockpit of the ship.
“But still,” Kei admitted. “We shouldn’t have run out on her like that. She did spend the time to cook for us.”
“Kei, don’t worry about it.” Jared slapped Kei in the back. “Once we hit Rekeri, we can get a decent meal, and buy her a cook book.”
“She’d throw it right back in your face Jared.” Ji commented. He smiled. “And I’d even laugh at that.”
“I’d pay money to see that.” Kei chipped in.
Jared was almost dumbfounded and Ji and Kei walked on. “Hey! Wait a minute! Who said I’d give it to her?” he wanted to know.

The Star Falcon left hyperspace and the crew found themselves getting close to a planet with green splotches mixed with brown and vast areas of blue. Starships of all shapes and sizes flew around in this area of space. Star fighters to freighters, they all flew around Rekeri, either leaving or just waiting for clearance to land.
“Let’s see,” Jared said as he looked at his nave-computer and sitting next to Kei, Isha and Ji sitting behind them. “Rekeri has about a 706,531 mile radius, has a 80% water surface and 20% of land, and its major industry is the harvesting of its unique Eriak Fish, which I hear is every tasty.” Jared licked his lips. “It is the sixth planet of the Genkar System and is also the third largest planet. Major space ports are those close to the coast, the largest cities as well.”
“Well let’s give them a call.” Kei commented and opened a channel to the space port authority. “Rekeri Space Administration? This is Kei Kiaka of the Star Falcon requesting clearance to land.”
There was a blast of static before a reply came through. “Star Falcon, you have been cleared to land at Dock #342 at Bekara. Coordinates are 43 degrees north and 68 degrees east. Welcome to Rekeri.”

The Star Falcon lowered through the clouds and everyone admired the scene before them. A large expanse of deep blue sea stretched to the horizon as a city could be seen close to the shore on the long expanded beach. Ji spotted the space port and Kei headed towards it.
Large ships were docking, freighters with important cargo that was to be shipped between planets, mostly interstellar trade. Smaller ships, privately owned sped off, leaving the hulking star ships far behind. The door for Dock # 342 opened and Kei killed the main engines and activated the vertical thrusters and slowly decreased their output so the ship descended easily. The three legs of the landing gear extended into their locked positions as the Star Falcon touched down in Bekara.
A ramp extended from under the hull of the ship and Kei, Ji, Jared, and Isha walked down and admired the appearance of the Space Port Docks.
“A lot cleaner than the ones at Hakie,” Jared commented. “Wonder if they have some decent food.” Jared had his leather jacked on and zipped up half-way. He was also wearing his fingerless gloves and his pants were weighed down with most of his weapons.
“I hear the Eriak Fish is a delicacy in this entire system and in other systems as well.” Ji commented. He was still wearing the same clothes but had a sword strapped to his belt. His gear was still sitting on his forehead.
“Maybe we can get a decent meal.” Kei added. He was wearing his cloak, his staff strapped to his back, the holster attached to his belt as well as his sais tucked in there. Kei had his chest armor on now. His cloak went around his shoulders so much of this couldn’t be seen. Kei’s comment got a slap in the back of his head from Isha.
“I fed you three good meals the entire time, and yet all you do is complain.” Isha was irritated with them. She had a single holster strapped to her right leg as they left the ship. “Fine, I’m going on without you.”
Isha walked ahead of them and flagged down one of the transports that would take people anywhere in Bekara, essentially a taxi service for Space Port customers.
“Ya know,” Kei stated, rubbing his head. “She’s cute when she’s angry.”
Jared chuckled. “Yeah. Cute like a rabid Rock Worm. Common, I think I know some good taverns.”
The three of them managed to catch a transport, and Jared directed the driver to the taverns which he was talking about.

Kei and Jared were working on their third serving of the Eriak special. The fish was served, broiled, mixed with lemon-like juices, and with just a touch of fruit to give it an appetizing flavor. Ji was still on his first one, taking his time while Kei and Jared stuffed their faces. It was the best tasting thing they had eaten in days.
“Ahhh, about time.” Jared commented as he finally put down his plate, three fish skeletons resting on the other plates by him. “Any more of Isha’s cooking and I was going to have to buy another stomach.”
Kei was eating his fourth fish. Because he was a Darvor, Kei usually ate more than the other three members of the Star Falcon crew. But even then he ate more than other Darvors, because Kei was also a Technoid.
Technoids essentially had tiny nano-bots that operated inside of the person’s body, repairing damaged tissue, helping battle dieses, and also increasing the strength and longevity of the host. Sometime in the Technoid past, industry had poisoned the air and resources so badly that the scientists needed to find ways to improve the health of everyone, and then clean the environment. The nano-bots were the result, and require the glucose and other sugars to operate.
Darvors, instead of technology, had a source of energy that allowed them to manipulate the elements. The “Source of Gera” as it is mostly called, allows Darvors to tap into its power and create spells and control several elements. But, the “Source” is located in a section of the Milky Way that is only obtainable ever several thousand years. Once someone is born while a planetary system is in this certain area, they are able to be in touch with the “Source” and use its power.
“True,” Kei replied. “Too bad we can’t get Isha to even let any of us cook.”
“It’s like she is punishing us for something we did.” Ji commented, taking a sip from his cup.
“Hell, all we did was save her from Kal Kipyard and that Bio-thing.” Jared retorted.
“It was a Biolizard, Jared.” Kei stated. Of course Kei remembered that. He had jumped in to save Isha when Kal was ready to kill her, and she was working for him. He got caught and so Kal decided to use them as bait for his Biolizard, a bi-pedal reptile with spines, bad breath, and a bad attitude. Luckily, Ji had planned an escape route for them and Jared had a hover speeder ready for their getaway. That was when Isha Taoya had joined the Star Falcon crew, and had proven to be almost more than Kei, Ji, and Jared could handle.
As the three sat and talked quietly, two customers by a table near them hadn’t noticed their arrival. They were unshaven, stubbles of hair sprouting from their jaws, and dressed in old clothing that had been through its fair share of fights. The taller one leaned forward to whisper to his partner. This one had purple hair as well as a dagger tucked underneath his cloths.
“Okay, it’s like I said, Jeric Daemon is looking for helpers with his latest job.” he said.
The other one, slightly smaller in size with blond hair looked at the other with concern. “Are you sure about this Slant? Last time we got busted big time. The Space Force is still keeping an eye on us.”
Slant patted his partner on the shoulder. “That don’t matter Gent,” he said. “Jeric has the best people and can hide us very easily if anyone comes looking. So many haven’t gotten even to trial based on not enough evidence. There‘s no problem.”
Gent lowered his voice as he replied. “But I heard that there’s a large bounty on Jeric’s head. Several Bounty Hunters have already landed here on Rekeri.”
As Gent was saying this, Kei had caught most of the conversation as his sipped his own drink. He smiled and motioned to Ji and Jared about the two idiots sitting by them.
“Don’t worry about that.” Slant replied. “Jeric has enough security that they haven’t even gotten close, and if they do, they end up dead.”
A pair of hands grabbed onto both Gent and Slant’s shoulders. “What’s this about a big Bounty boys?” The voice was familiar, too familiar to Gent and Slant’s ears.
They both jumped and they looked up. “KEI!” they shouted, surprised to see Kei Kiaka standing behind them.
“What are we? Chopped liver?” Jared commented as he took a seat at their table.
Ji had his hand on the sheath of his sword as he stared at the two. He sat down as well.
Slant and Gent had been busted by Kei, Jared, and Ji several times. Mostly because they were idiots and happened to be employed by the bounty Kei and the others just happened to be after. They were petty criminals and the Star Falcon Bounty Hunters seemed to enjoy picking on them.
Kei took a seat between Slant and Gent, the two extremely surprised and nervous to see the Bounty Hunters so soon after being released from jail. “Come on boys,” Kei encouraged. “Tell us. We hate it when secrets are kept from decent working people.”
Slant was the most stubborn of the two criminals. “Why should we have to tell you anything, you Bounty Hunting scum.”
Ji slipped his hand around the handle of his sword. “Should I remind you what nearly happened to you on Grenad?”
Slant and Gent gulped and crossed their legs at the memory.
“Okay, we heard Jeric Daemon was looking for some guys for a job.” Gent stammered.
“What kind of job?” Jared asked.
“Dunno, that’s all we heard.” Gent replied.
“Where were you supposed to go?” Kei asked this time.
“One of the docks on the shore.”
“You have to be more specific than that.” Ji commented and pulled his sword out a little bit, showing off the blade.
“All right. It’s pier 54, near the sea port.” Slant stammered.
Kei, Jared, and Ji looked at each other. Satisfied with their two informants they stood up and got ready to leave.
Slant let out a sigh when he felt Kei’s hand land on his shoulder again. “Garcon! These two gentlemen will get our checks. Have a nice day you two.” He walked out, following Ji and Jared.
Gent and Slant were dumbfounded, and when they were handed the bill, they realized there was no way they could pay. So the manager “hired” them both to pay off the bill that Kei and the others had worked up.

[Mew Master]

“Who? Jeric Daemon?”
“That’s right Bob. We need to know who he is and why he’s hiring.” Kei replied.
Robert “Bobby” Young looked at Kei over the vid-link. Bobby was slightly smaller than Kei and the others, and his rounded face showed it. His face was clean-shaven, yellow eyes scanning the keyboard as he typed, and black hair moved as he followed the typing with his head. He was wearing a shirt, but only the area from his chest up could be seen on the screen. Several other light sources reflected in the background of his hacking terminal. Robert Young was the most famous name in Underground Hacker circles. Able to hack through any system Bobby has gained a reputation with both legitimate and illegal computer terminals. He hasn’t been arrested because any evidence of hacking was deleted long before anyone noticed. Bobby was even hired once or twice by the Technoid Military to “fix” their computers after a random hacker had hacked through their system and caused major problems. He had fixed the problem in five minutes.
“Well,” Bobby replied after a minute of typing. “It’s like this,” The picture of Bobby that had taken up the full screen shrunk until it filled one quarter of the screen and slided into the lower right corner. A picture of Jeric filled the other quarter above Bobby’s image as the remaining half of the screen started scrolling down words. Past allegations of Jeric’s past. “Jeric is supposedly a dealer in rare works of art. He works as a merchant, selling the items to the highest bidder. But there have been several strange co-incidents. He was on Jarek when the Akland expo was visiting. The night before the expo was to be allowed to public viewing, several rare works of art were stolen and no one was charged or even arrested. Jeric left the following day, claiming that his ship had been loaded and left for Hared. There was also a rare item expo as well. You kinda see the connection?”
“So he deals in rare works, steals them from expos, and then sells them?” Jared asked.
“Exactly,” Bobby replied, still typing. This time a picture of a golden idol holding a large green crystal. “This was one of the Akland items on display that was stolen. It showed up a month later in a pawn shop on Verad. The estimated price of the item is near 6 million Credits.”
Kei and Jared let out low whistles.
“But if Jeric hits rare artifact expos, why is he here? I haven’t noticed a single notice of any display being planned.” Ji commented.
Robert typed some more. “Because the item he may be after is the Ocean King’s Trident. It’s native to Rekeri and hasn’t left the undersea city of the Rekerian’s, the original inhabitants. They’re Anthromorphic Tellurians and basically look like humans with fish heads. Secret negotiations between the Rekerians and the land natives have finished in the past week and the Trident is scheduled to arrive today at the museum in Bekara.”
A picture of a golden trident, engraved with jewels and silver appeared in place of the last artifact. It was beautiful to look at.
“What’s that?” Isha’s head popped in and looked at the trident, awed by it.
The others jumped at her arrival.
“When did you get here?!” Jared shouted.
“I’ve been here for a while, you guys just didn’t notice it.” she replied. “So what is this? A new Bounty Head?” She looked at the picture of Jeric Daemon.
“We don’t know. We ran into Gent and Slant in a tavern, and overheard them talking about Jeric.” Ji replied.
“Those two?” Isha let out a disgusted reply. “Why do they always have to pop up?”
“Don’t worry about it. I hear they’re busy working off a large debt.” Bobby stated.
Kei smiled. “Yeah, they’ll stay out of trouble for a while. But Isha does have a point. Is there a bounty on this guy?”
“You’d be surprised. Several police forces are after him for petty thefts and unpaid parking fees. But the highest bounty is one of the people he sold art to. Turns out he makes fakes of the art he steals and sells them off as the originals. The guy’s tricky.”
“So? We’ll just have to be sneakier.” Jared replied.
“Oh, one more thing. Turns out that he also has a taste for beautiful women.” Robert’s picture filled the screen again. “Good luck guys.”
“Thanks Bob,” Kei replied. “We’ll give ya a share of what we cash in.”
“That should just about cover this call. Later.” The link with Robert was cut-off.
Jared held his chin in his hand. “Now, where can we find a beautiful girl?” Ji and Kei wondered this too. An inspiration came to all three of them and the looked at Isha, evil thoughts on their minds.
“Uh, don’t look at me like that guys.. Guys? Hey!”

“I can’t believe you talked me into doing this,” Isha muttered as she and Jared stood on Pier 54. Isha was wearing a short skirt that showed off her legs and a baggy jacket that held her blaster, strapped around her chest. She also wore sunglasses so it would be harder for anyone to recognize her.
Jared was wearing a different jacket, this one reached the ground and covered up his pockets on his pants, this one held more weapons than his leather jacket could. He also had a hat and large sunglasses to cover up his face. “Hey, we agreed to eat your cooking for a month, so we’re getting the bad end of this deal.”
“Keep commenting about my cooking and you’re gonna hurt before this is over.” she glared at him.
“Cut the chatter you two,” Ji warned over the small earrings that Jared and Isha were wearing. Ji was standing on one of the buildings on the wharf, looking after Jared and Isha with binoculars and keeping an eye on them. “If anyone finds out who you really are, our chances are scrapped.”
“You’re Jan and Dash Tamari, brother and sister. Work with it.” Kei added from the Star Falcon’s communications room, he had a connection with both Ji, Jared, and Isha. Jared and Isha both had their transmitters disguised as earrings as Ji had a hand-set to talk to both them and Kei, as long as they were within a 30 mile radius.
Jared and Isha walked up to a large warehouse, two bulky Killaks, Minotaur-like creatures with strong upper-bodies and horns acted as guards on either side of the double doors. They walked up to the Killaks, new personalities ready.
“What do ya want?” one of the Killaks asked in his burly voice.
“We’re hear ‘bout the job offer from a Mr. Daemon.” Isha stated, her voice and accent even changed.
“He ain’t seein’ no girl or guy at all t’day.” the other one replied.
“Common fellas,” Jared said. “I’m sure Mr. Daemon would see us.”
The Killaks looked at each other before smiling and cracking their knuckles. “If you don’t leave now, we may havta hurt cha.”
Isha and Jared narrowed their eyes as the guards made their move.

Inside, the warehouse was illuminated with several hanging lights. Creatures of all kinds, reptilian, mammalian, and even human stood, carrying weapons. There were also some who had their whole arms, legs, and even faces replaced with cybernetic enhancements. One thing was for sure, these were all cut-throats who wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Jeric Daemon sat in a chair at the end of a table, dressed in a white suit. His eyes were a light blue and his hair was a darker shade of blue. The table was sitting in the center of the warehouse, under one of the hanging lights. Jeric’s men stood around the boss, making sure that no one would get to him. Hanging off of Jeric, three women in tight-cut dresses laughed as he spoke and complimented him. Because they were forced, more or less, to stand, they had to lean over, allowing Jeric glimpses down their dresses.
Then there was the sound of a struggle outside the doors. Someone was fighting, but the sounds stopped as soon as they had started.
Everyone watched and waited even after the sounds had stopped. Jeric’s hired hands raised their weapons and prepared themselves incase the police had managed to track them down.
Suddenly, the door was blasted in and two figures stood in the glare of the light. A man and a woman. The man held the two Killaks Jeric had hired as guards, he had to have been a Technoid. Only Technoids could carry heavy weights such as that, whether they had just the nano-bots or other enhancements. He was dressed in a long coat that reached the floor and dark shades and a hat that hid most of his face. The woman was wearing a leather jacket as well as a short skirt that showed off the long legs she had. She was wearing shades as well.
“Knock knock.” the woman said.
“I think these are yours.” The man threw the Killaks down onto the floor inside the warehouse. The man and woman started walking towards Jeric.
The two then found themselves surrounded by all of Jeric’s men, weapons raised and ready to fire at his command. But Jeric was impressed.
“Very impressive, not many could take out two Killaks like that.” He motioned for his men to stand down, but keep their weapons ready. “What can I do for you?”
“We’re heard about you needing some extra help with a job.” the woman replied.
“Hmm, what are your names?” Jeric asked.
The woman stepped forward. “I’m Jan Tamari, and this is my bro, Dash.”
“Yo,” Dash said, barely moving his head.
One of Jeric’s men holding a Pulse Rifle shouted at the two. “What makes you think we need any of your help?!”
Jan narrowed her eyes and stared at the man from over the top of her glasses. Faster than anyone could have seen, she pulled out a Laser Blaster from the inside of her jacket. One shot knocked the Rifle from out of the man’s hands and into the air. Everyone watched as several more shots kept the rifle in the air for a minute. When the gun finally fell to the ground, it was burnt and scared beyond any possible use except as scrap. Jan slid the gun back into her holster.
Every single one of Jeric’s men were dumbfounded, except for Jeric himself. He snapped his fingers and the women around him were lead away by two of his hired hands. They would be used as entertainment for his men while he concentrated on this new catch. Jeric smiled.
“Most impressive.”
“What about this guy?” another asked, this one a Reptite, or reptilian-human.
Dash slipped a hand inside his trench coat and quickly tossed something at the Reptite who had just spoke. The Reptite caught the object and stared at it. It was cylindrical, silver and had several holes inscribed on it. Then metallic vines erupted from the cylinder and started to wrap around the surprised Reptite. The vines snaked around his arms and legs until he fell, unable to move.
Once again the men, including Jeric, were surprised.
“Aha! A Swarmer Drone, but it’s different from any model I’ve seen.” Jeric exclaimed.
“I made it.” Dash replied, not saying much.
“My Bro’s a wiz when it comes to Technoid weapons and stuff.” Jan replied. “So, do we get hired or not?”
Jeric folded his hands and tilted his head down. “Indeed, you both are impressive, but,” He stared at him with his cold blue eyes. “Can we trust you?”
Jan responded like it was the most charming thing that she had ever heard. She walked right up to Jeric and bent over, to whisper in his ear, making sure he could get a look down her own shirt. “Now, now Jeric, can I call you that? There are always people who you can’t trust. But if you hire us, after we get what you want, I’ll make it worth your while.” she blew a bit into his ear. Jan stood up and looked down on Jeric, waiting for an answer.
“Fine, your special services may be required to be able to get this item.” he looked at Jan with a smile. “And after.”
Jan smiled back. “All depends what we’re after.”
Jeric chuckled. “Yes, it does.” He stood up and went towards one of the crates in the warehouse and snapped his fingers. Two of his men rushed forward and removed the crate so that everyone could see a pinned up map of Bekara, a red circle around one of the buildings. “This,” he pointed to the circled building. “Is where the Ocean King’s Trident is being delivered as we speak. When the artifact is in place, we shall strike at nightfall and then leave in the morning. You two,” he pointed to Jan and Dash. “Will be in charge of taking out the Mech-Guards that the Rekerians have sent to protect the trident. While the rest of us concentrate on getting the trident out of the museum.”
“But why the Trident of all things?” Dash suddenly asked. “Surely there are other things that are worth much more than a simple golden fork.”
Jeric was almost surprised by Dash’s sudden utterance of words, but smiled. “That, my good man, is my little secret. We’ll meet behind the museum at dusk, be ready. Understand?”
Everyone gave some sign that they were ready.
“Good. As for you two,” he motioned towards Dash and Jan. “You two are dismissed until tomorrow night. Sleep well.”
Dash and Jan walked out of the door that they had kicked in earlier, leaving Jeric and his henchmen alone. One of Jeric’s men looked at him, and he nodded. Then two men left the warehouse, following Dash and Jan.

Later that day, as night fell on Rekeri, Isha and Jared were sitting inside a lighted tavern. Getting some food while trying to relax after their encounter with Jeric Daemon. Meanwhile, two of Jeric’s men were spying on them and reported back into the boss.
“We followed them to the Gluten Fish tavern near the spaceport.” a Reptite said into the communicator. “They haven’t moved since dusk.”
Jeric’s voice came over the comm. “Keep an eye on them. If they do anything funny, kill them both. Take the guy’s weapons if you do, at least they should be of use. Report back once you’ve found out were their ship is.” Jeric’s side of the line cut off.
The Reptite put his communicator away and brought out his laser pistol, the man with him pulled out a rifle of his own. They watched the two shadows that were Jan and Dash, waiting to make their move. The alley was darkened by shadows and lack of any street lamps, so a glowing sword immediately caught their attention.
The sword slashed down and sliced both of their weapons into two pieces with the first slash. The Reptite and man started backing up when someone grabbed them by the sides of their heads and did some skull bashing. The Reptite and Human’s heads knocked into each other and they were both knocked unconscious.
“Looks like you weren’t kidding,” Kei Kiaka stepped out from the shadows behind the two bodies. “They were being followed.”
The glowing sword stepped forward and Ji Omon was holding on to the handle. “I never kid, Kei.” Ji replied as he turned off the energy field on his sword. “I saw these two follow Isha and Jared out of Jeric’s warehouse and told them to come to this tavern, remember?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry I musta been looking for something edible in our fridge.” Kei replied, rubbing his head innocently.
Ji sighed. “Let’s go and tell them it’s time to head back to the ship.” The two of them headed into the tavern with Isha and Jared already waiting.

The Bekara Museum sat silhouetted in the moonlight the very next day as Isha and Jared made their way to the back door. Where Jeric’s cronies would be waiting. A single flash, small and short, barely noticeable, told them that everyone else was in position to get started. They headed down an alley into the blackness.
Isha and Jared almost stumbled around in the dark until someone farther in the alley set up a dim light.
“Jan, Dash. Where the hell are Brute and Terale?” someone demanded.
“They got caught up, something about Jeric’s orders.” Isha replied, her voice different.
“Damn them, they always manage to get out of doing a job.” the man replied. “Yo, Dash,”
“Huh?” Jared replied.
“Don’t suppose you have a gizmo to get this lock open, do ya?”
“Maybe,” Jared walked up to the door and studied the lock. A Level 3 Security Lock? he thought. Should be simple to bypass. Main thing is making sure the code is entered perfectly. Let’s see… He rummaged through his trench coat in the dim light and finally found what he was looking for. The Security Lock, Level 3, was a simple device that used coded cards that employees would enter and have the computer scan the code for their information and personal data. If the four lights stayed red, access was denied, if they turned green, all was clear. Higher Levels also had difficult things like Eye and Hand scans that were harder to bypass.
Jared pulled out a small rectangular machine with several buttons and a thin piece of metal at one end. He slid the thin metal inside the slot for the card, waited for the lights to light on. All were red. Jared started pressing the buttons, watching as the four lights one-by-one turned from red to green. The huge metal door let out a hiss of de-compression and caved in a touch. Two of the heavy built men came forth and pushed the door open, leading the way fro their entrance.
“Open sesame.” he commented as he pocketed the device.
“Nice work, now you two only have the Mechs to worry about.” the man said as everyone stood aside, waiting for Jared and Isha to enter.
They went inside, leaving the others outside in the alley, and walked for 7 yards until they realized they were inside the museum. Beams of moonlight streamed through some of the large windows on the roof, allowing some perception of where the visible obstacles were laying in wait. Objects obscured in shadows made them freeze until their eyes continued to adjust and they realized that they were only stopping for glass displays.
Jared searched his coat again and pulled out the same sunglasses he and Isha had worn the other day. He handed one pair to Isha and then put the other on himself. As the glasses covered their eyes, they started to see things in multiple shades of green. Jared had done a little technical work and changed the sunglasses into night-vision glasses. He turned and made sure Isha was wearing hers. Motioning, he lead her through some of the more secure areas.
One area was blocked off from the rest, laser beams criss-crossing the floor and the air. In the center of the patchwork of laser beams sat the Trident they were after, sitting vertically inside a glass case. This was going to be a challenge.
There was no way to alter every single beam without setting off the alarm. There has to be a control box close to the exhibit, but where? Jared looked around, searching the walls, but even his modified shades couldn’t penetrate the darkness of some corners. He felt Isha pull on his coat and he turned to look at her, or more correctly, what she was pointing at.
There was the control box for the display, sitting inside the wall between two spherical objects, just resting on either side of the wall. They were all in shadows so Jared thought they were just extra sets for artifacts. He quickly walked towards the wall. Something bugged him though. Jeric had said that the Rekerians had donated some robot guards to help protect the Trident, and Jared hadn’t seen any kind of Mech playing guard. They may have been hidden through the laser beams that they had seen around the case.
He stepped in between the giant spheres, pulling out the same machine he had used earlier. Nearing the control box, he could tell it was a level higher than the one for the door. This one required a hand-print identification.
Blast it, he thought. I hate these things. Usually it takes longer, and we’re already on a time limit. He pulled out an attachment to place over the rectangular area for the hand to go. Jared was too busy setting up and activating the equipment, that he didn’t notice a nearly silent mechanical whir.
“Ja-Ja-Jared,” Isha whispered and stuttered.
“What?[i/]” he whispered back, not wanting to be interrupted.
“[i]Jared, we’ve got trouble.” she replied.
Jared tilted his head up and glanced over his shoulder. The spheres that had been on either side of him were gone and two sentinel mechas were in their place.
The Mechas had a single spherical body and extending appendages. Their heads were short and thick cylinders that rose out of the main body. The hands had two pairs of mechanical pincers and the feet only had a spread set of tripod prongs. Jared recognized the robots as Roller Mechs. The Mechs essential job was to sit and idle until something intruded and initiated their attack programs. They were able to roll and chase down their targets and would not stop until the target had been neutralized or destroyed. Now Jared and Isha were their new targets.
“Damnit!” Jared shouted and jumped back as a Mech thrust its arm for him. The arm slammed into the equipment Jared had been using to deactivate the security system, so much for that plan.
The other Mech locked onto Isha and started stomping for her. As it reared an arm back, Isha jumped up and aimed a kick for the cylindrical head. Her foot hit hard metal and she fell back on the floor. The Mech’s arm thrust for her and Isha rolled along the ground, the claw missing her by mere inches. Rolled onto her feet, Isha looked back up as the Mech stomped for her again. She started on her feet, getting away just before the Mech thrust its arm into the floor again, missing her again by only inches.
Jared took a run and slid under another thrust from the Roller Mech, also sliding in between the Mech’s legs at the same time. Landing on his feet, Jared reached inside his coat for something to take out the Mech without blowing it up. He pulled out a Swarmer Drone and tossed it towards the Mech, hitting it square in the back. The metallic vines wiped out and started to wrap around the arms and legs of the Roller Mech, starting to disable it. The Mech, however, didn’t want to be captured and retracted its head, arms, and legs back into its spherical body. Now the Swarmer Drone was only wrapped around a sphere, with nothing to keep it on. The Mech started rolling, brushed off the Drone, and headed for Jared.

Isha ran along a set of isles, sets of artifacts everywhere. She came to a cross-way and stopped. There came the rolling sound of the Mech, hot on her heels, but she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. She glanced down the other ways of the intersection, searching the darkness.
There! At the end of one of the intersections was the Roller Mech, its appendages tucked into its body. It started rolling, and Isha pulled out her Laser Blaster. She fired several shots at the rolling Mech, hoping to hit something vital. Her blasts just ricocheted off of the Mech’s body, reflected and hitting other areas.
“What?! Damn!” she commented as the Mech gained speed and rolled towards her faster.
Blaster still in hand, Isha waited for the Roller Mech to get close. The robot covered the distance quickly and was now only a few meters away from Isha. Quickly, she leapt up, used her left hand to push off from the Roller Mech as it past under her, and flipped through the air. Several aerial flips and she landed, her left knee touching the ground. Isha spun around and aimed for her next shot.

Jared jumped to the side as the Mech rushed past, kicking up dust and pieces of the floor. He skidded to a stop and found himself backed up against a wall.
“****. Not good.” he mumbled, glancing behind him. He looked forward and the Roller Mech had turned and started spinning for him once again. Jared stood his ground, an idea running through his mind.
The Mech was a few meters away, closing the ground fast. Instead of jumping out of the way, Jared jumped up as the Mech was just a few feet away, then he flipped in mid air and used the wall as a brace to jump away from it. The Roller Mech slammed into the wall, over half of it’s spherical body stuck inside the concrete.
Jared landed and looked at the Mech to make sure it was stuck, and wouldn’t get out for a while. Then he heard the sound of Isha’s Blaster going off somewhere deeper in the museum.
“Damn, if she breaks anything, everything is screwed up.” he mumbled and started running towards the shots.

Jeric’s men still stood outside the back entrance to the museum, sounds of fighting and laser shots meeting their ears.
Someone walked up into the group of men and looked into the blackness. “They already inside?”
“Yeah, they may have taken out one mech already.” the leader of this group replied.
“Did they disarm the security system?”
“Not that we can tell.”
The new man thought. “Damn, release the smoke charges. Even if they did manage to get the system off, the mechs will send out sirens to the police just the same. We’ll go in once the charges have finished.” he replied.
Three men pulled safety clips from several canisters. Instantly smoke started to pour from the tops and they threw them inside. Soon the place started to fill with a smoke barrier.

Jared ran along an isle, looking for any sign of Isha anywhere. He turned a corner and was surprised to see the girl sitting on top of the other Roller Mech, her Blaster back in its holster inside her jacket. Twisted metal lay around the remains of the Mech.
“There you are,” Isha commented. “I was debating on whether or not to go help you out.”
“I did find,” Jared replied. “I just figure it would be a good idea to make sure you didn’t break anything. Looks like you did.”
“This?” she motioned towards the wreckage around the Mech. “It’s only the steel supports for the ceiling. I timed it so that it would fall on this thing because my Laser shots kept bouncing off of it.”
Jared chuckled. “Well that was fun. Now we better finish what we were… HUH?!”
Around the pair, smoke started to fill the room, blocking their vision and their breathing. It started getting thicker.
“Damn,” he commented. “They’re using the smoke charges.”
“Looks like they got impatient.” Isha added as they ran into the smoke, trying to find their way back to the case of the Ocean King’s Trident.

[Mew Master]

Jeric’s men rushed into the museum, making their way through the smoke with help from goggles that allowed them to see the heat of their environment. Quickly two men reached the case, running through the laser beam security system, setting it off. At the control box, it was smashed quickly, cutting off the alarm after a few seconds of sounding.
“Hurry it up!” the head man ordered. “We don’t’ have all night, the cops will be here in a few minutes!”
The two men at the case started to lift the glass over the Trident as carefully as they could without setting off another alarm. They almost had it off when one of them dropped, knocked out cold. The other stood, dumbfounded and looking at his fallen friend. When he looked up he saw the heat signature of another person without any heat-sensory gear. Something hard locked onto his bottom jaw and he was lifted and flipped over, away from the case. He landed on top of his friend, the wind and consciousness knocked out of them both.
Kei Kiaka twirled his staff after he had used one end to hook under one of the men’s jaws and flip them away from the case. He stopped twirling it and tried to look through the smoke for any others that might show up. Someone walked up behind him and placed a hand on Kei’s shoulder. It was Ji Omon.
“I haven’t seen Isha or Jared anywhere.” Ji commented.
“Those two can handle themselves, just so long as we don’t let Jeric get the Trident.” Kei replied, scanning the smoke.
Kei and Ji had snuck into the museum after finding out from Jared and Isha what Jeric’s plans were. If Jared and Isha couldn’t stop Jeric from getting the Trident, Kei and Ji would make sure he didn’t get away. They saw five shapes starting to form from the smoke.
“Let’s go.” Kei said, smirking.
“Hmm.” Ji replied, his sword raised.

Isha and Jared ran through the smoke, their glasses not working the way they should. They rounded a corner and saw someone walking a few meters in front of them. It was one of Jeric’s men.
Isha took a running start and got ready to jump kick the guy in the back of the head, but before she even jumped, the guy doubled over and fell forward. She and Jared stopped and watched as Kei Kiaka walked through the smoke to make sure the guy he attacked was out cold.
“Kei!” Isha shouted.
Kei looked up and saw her and Jared.
“Hey Ji! They’re over here!” he shouted behind him, into the smoke. The figure of Ji Omon materialized from the smoke. Now the four members of the Star Falcon crew were back together.
“Where’s Jeric?” Ji asked, looking around.
“Jeric never showed up.” Jared replied.
“Yes he did. He entered with the rest of his gang.” Kei replied.
“Maybe he ran off, the chicken.” Isha commented.
“I don’t think so.” A shiver ran up Kei’s neck. Something was wrong, that was the usual warning for Darvors about upcoming trouble.
Then the sound of shattering glass filled everyone’s ears and they all looked back where the case for the Trident had been. A wind picked up, blowing the smoke away and the four of them looked up to see none other than Jeric holding the Ocean King’s Trident in his very hands, and standing on the shattered remains of the display case. Wind swirled around his body as he held the Trident in the air.
“Now I have it. The Ultimate Power of Rekeri. The power to level every city to rubble. It is finally MINE!” Jeric exclaimed as he stared at the Trident in his hand.
“Hold it!” Kei shouted at him. “You ain’t getting outta here with that Trident!”
“And I suppose you’re going to say something heroic, like: Over our dead bodies.” Jeric replied, an evil smile on his face.
“And what if we do say something like that?” Jared asked, stepping forward, taking his hat off.
“If you insist,” Jeric replied and pointed the Trident points at the four of them. Wind blasted from the tri-points and slammed into Kei, Ji, Jared, and Isha, knocking Isha and Jared into the air. The two of them slammed into a wall, the cracks of bones breaking under extreme pressure as they hit the wall. Jared and Isha were out-cold so they didn’t feel any pain. Kei and Ji were being buffeted by the winds but they still stood their ground, Ji used his sword as a brace as he slammed it into the ground, and Kei was using a wind manipulation spell to redirect the greater force of the wind away from him and his friends.
Jeric finally stopped, his enemy’s forces halved and the remaining half was weakened already.
“It really has been fun playing with you all, but I’m afraid I must go.” The wind picked up again and a twister started to form around Jeric, his henchmen being picked up by the winds and caught in the tornado. The twister broke through the roof and shards of glass were thrown by the gusts of wind, cutting Kei, Ji, and the unconscious bodies of Isha and Jared. The tornado disappeared as it flew through the newly created sun-roof in the museum, leaving the Star Falcon crew battered, bruised, and beaten.

The next day the Bekara Museum was a mess. Display cases had been smashed in, rare artifacts destroyed, and the repair costs to the building itself was already in the thousands of Credits. Kei and Ji, who had been there with the bodies of Isha and Jared when the police forces arrived, had been taken to the police force HQ and questioned. When the surveillance recordings of the museum had been found and retrieved they showed that Kei and Ji tried to prevent the theft and were allowed to leave, but not after being forced to spend a night in the jail for breaking and entering. The Space Port had been shut down in an attempt to stop anyone from getting off-planet with the Ocean King’s Trident onboard. So far Jeric had not been seen since the night of the break-in.
Jared and Isha had been taken to the hospital and examined by the doctors. Both had several broken ribs and various lacerations due to the flying glass. Both were in serious condition.

Kei and Ji walked into the hospital and asked for where their crewmates were staying. Two floors higher in the Emergency Care Unit of the hospital, they found them, still being examined by doctors. Jared had several bandages around his chest and arms, as well as some on his face. Isha was in a similar condition except one of her arms was in a cast.
As they stood looking in from the doorway, Ji commented, “That could have gone better.”
“Don’t remind me.” Kei replied and they entered.
The head doctor noticed them and stopped them from entering any further. “I’m sorry, but only relatives and friends are allowed in here.”
Kei, annoyed, replied, “We are friends doc. We work with them!”
“Where is your proof?” the doctor asked, not convinced.
Kei was getting very annoyed and was ready to tell the doctor off when Jared woke up.
“That you Kei?” He pushed himself up, only wincing a little. “What took ya?”
Walking past the doctor, Kei replied, “A night in Jail for Breaking and Entering. How you holding up?”
Jared swung his legs over the edge of his bed, he was dressed only in shorts. “Meh, it coulda been better. They wouldn’t believe me when I told them I was a Technoid and I would heal from all this in another day or so.”
“You should not move!” the doctor shouted. “You could re-open your wounds too easily. Lay back down!”
Ji grabbed the doctor’s shoulder and stopped him from moving forward. “He knows what he’s talking about, doctor.”
Jared stood up and started to remove the bandages off his left arm. As he removed them everyone could see a fresh flesh wound still there. Slowly, the wound started to heal. It healed slowly but then sped up until the cut was gone, not even a scar remained. He continued to rip off his bandages but left the ones around his chest because broken bones took two or three days to fully heal.
“I’m ready to move, but I don’t think Isha will for a while.” Jared commented looking at her body, laying on a bed near the window.
Kei walked up to her, emotions running through him. It was hard for him to see her in this condition, even after how much she boasted, she was still only human, not even Technoid or Darvor. Isha was as mortal as anyone could be, and she looked the part, especially now as she still lay unconscious. Kei walked over and took her hand, it was limp, but still warm.
“Damn,” he commented. “If only I could have stopped him, I’m sorry Isha.”
“You jerk.” she mumbled. Slowly she turned her head towards him and opened her eyes. “If I could move I would hit you for talking like that. You are an idiot. Can’t Darvors heal?”
Kei was dumbfounded, he had almost forgot through his emotion rush. Darvors do heal, and the strength of most Darvor spells come from the strength of the user’s own heart. He smacked himself on his forehead.
“Duh!” he said. “I forgot.” Kei stood up and held out both of his hands, open palmed, towards her body.
“Wait!” the doctor shouted. “What are you doing to my patient?!”
He was grabbed by both Jared and Ji, stopping him from interfering.
“Chill out doc, this won’t hurt her a bit.” Jared commented.
Kei closed his eyes and concentrated. His hands glowed as small, sparkling, particles came from his own hand and moved through the air to Isha’s body. Her body absorbed the particles as they rained on Isha’s entire body.
She could feel a cooling sensation and the pain easing from her body. Isha let out a sigh as more particles were absorbed into her body and it healed. The cuts sealed up without so much as a scar, the ache in her head and arm withered away, and she could feel her rib cage begin to repair itself.
After five minutes of absorbing the energy Kei gave her, Isha opened her eyes and the only pain that remained was a slight pain in her arm, which was still broken.
“Great, now I just have to wait for this to heal.” She jumped out of her bed, re-energized, only to find everyone staring at her. “What?” She looked at her body only to find she wasn’t wearing a single thing. Annoyed, she blew on her fist.
Kei, Jared, and Ji, as well as the doctor, waited in the hall. Various bruises and bumps on their heads and body. Jared was still clad in his shorts as they waited for Isha to get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later, Jared was getting his boots on as the Star Falcon crew tried to come up with a plan to get the Trident back, as well as nab Jeric.
“So no one’s seen him at all since two days ago?” Isha asked.
“No one’s willing to say that they’ve seen him, let alone tell us where he is.” Ji replied.
Jared struggled with his right boot and finally got it on. “What about Bobby? Maybe the master hacker can track him down.”
“We tried. Bobby hasn’t been able to even find a Credit transcript for any kind of ticked or purchase. He’s even checked the satellite images. Nothing.” Kei replied, shaking his head. “It’s like he’s disappeared off the planet.”
“Which is impossible, because the Police Force has shut down the Space Port. So we’re stuck here as well.” Ji added.
Kei was going to add something when the door to the hospital room opened. The four of them looked back and saw Rekerians enter the room.
The Rekerian’s had fish-like heads and their eyes were a green tint. Dressed in dark blue robes, four Rekerians entered the room, closing the door behind them.
“Kei Kiaka?” one of them asked, a bright orange and white colored Rekerian asked.
Kei turned and looked at them face on, curious as to how they know his name. “Yeah?”
“We wish to speak to you, alone.” they looked at Jared, Isha, and Ji. “It has to do with the Ocean King’s Trident.”
“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to my crew as well, or just don’t bother telling me.” he replied.
The Rekerians mumbled to each other in a strange bubbling sounding language before the orange one turned back and faced them. “Very well,” it said. “If you are sure you wish for a Technoid to listen in on matters concerning only Darvors.”
“Jared’s my friend. Anything you say to me, he has a right to hear as well. Even if it does involve Darvor matters.”
“Very well. We know why the man named Jericished to posses the Trident you all tried to protect.” The Rekerian had everyone’s attention. “The Ocean King’s Trident is a magnifier for Gera powers.”
“A Magnifier for Gera?” Kei asked, surprised. “How?”
“When our race started to become civilized, a weapon was forged that would bestow on the yielder powers to control the skies and the seas. For prosperity and longevity. We have learned recently, in the past hundred years to be exact, that the Trident was actually magnifying the ability that a person has to channel through Gera itself. It took extensive testing with Darvors who had strong and weak powers over Gera.”
Jared stood up, “Wait, wait, wait. I may not understand the Darvor society fully, but Kei told me that the ability to be able to control Gera was based on bloodlines. How can someone, who doesn’t even have the slightest idea what Gera may be, be able to throw typhoons at us? Kei would be able to sense when any Darvors close, right?” He was trying to make sense of the situation.
Kei nodded, but had to think. “Usually I can tell when other Darvors are near, but I didn’t sense anything about Jeric except until my seventh sense went off a second before the glass shattered and we found out Jeric had the Trident.”
“But even then you didn’t sense that something was strange about the wind that hit you?” the Rekerian asked.
Kei shook his head. “Even then things were getting hectic. I can’t remember what I sensed or felt, except that I used a Wind Move spell to stop the brunt of the gusts from hitting us head on. Even after the spell, the winds were still strong.”
“Jeric is a Darvor, although he is such a weak one, others can barely sense it.” the Rekerian continued. “We ask you to please retrieve the Trident, for if anyone except those who have a true understanding of Gera posses it and use it, they will go insane and destroy themselves and possibly the Trident.”
Kei thought for a moment. It was a long moment before he looked at the Rekerians. “How much is that Trident worth to you?”
The Rekerians stepped back in shock, before they huddled and discussed it.
“If you manage to bring back the Trident, we will gladly pay you 100 billion Rekeri Credits for its safe return.” They waited as Kei thought it over.
Kei smirked as he thought. “We’ll do it for 30 million Credits, no more.” The Rekerian’s looked somewhat relieved. “The rest is personal. Jeric almost killed two of my friends, and now he’s trying to tarnish what it means to be a Darvor. I won’t stand for either.” Spinning on a heel, cloak around his body, he walked around the Rekerians and stopped at the door. “Common team, we’ve got a maniac to stop.” he smiled at his friends.

Back at the Star Falcon’s communications room, the crew talked to Bobby again, the fourth time in two days.
“You wanted me to call you as soon as I found something, right?” Bobby asked.
“Right. So did ya find anything?” Jared replied.
Bobby pulled up a satellite image in the corner of the screen. “Something interesting at least. See this?” A white circle appeared around an area of Rekeri’s large sea. The image magnified and a cigar-shaped object appeared out of the sea. “This has been anchored at sea ever since the break-in, four days ago. Records showed it leaving the sea port about half an hour after the police arrived at the museum, just beating the order to hold all ships and star cruisers. That might be your best bet.”
“Where exactly is it?” Ji asked.
The map enlarged, the ship highlighted to stand out from the gray pictures. “It’s about 237.4 kilometers North by North East of Bekara. Way too far for you guys to reach in regular sea-speeders. You’d run out of energy before getting halfway there.”
“So what do you suggest?” Kei wondered.
“Good thing you asked…” Bobby replied, a smile on his face.

On the open sea, storm clouds began to build on the west horizon as the sun started to set. Drawing closer towards a cargo ship anchored in the middle of the sea. This cargo ship had several burly men under Jeric Daemon’s employment, moving around, and checking the sky and sea line for any sight of pursers.
Inside the hold, Jeric sat on a seat as the other men rested against crates that packed the inside of the ship, the Trident in his hand. A small holo-screen gave everyone updates on the latest developments back on land.
“And still no word as to the whereabouts of the Ocean King’s Trident,” the media man stated. “Several people have been arrested, but were released when no evidence was produced directly connecting them with the crime. The Rekerian Ambassador stated that his people were doing everything in their power and have even contacted a number of Bounty Hunters to travel to Rekeri and search for the Trident and bring the ones responsible to justice. In other news, the…”
“Turn it off.” Jeric ordered, and one of his men got up and shut the screen off. “It doesn’t matter how many Bounty Hunters they sent for me. I’ll just blow them all away! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Outside, on the deck, Jeric’s henchmen walked along the top of the ship, keeping their eyes open. There was the usual splash of waves against the bow and most of the men had gotten used to it and continued on their rounds.
On the port side, a head looked over the edge onto the deck. Kei watched as the guards left in charge walked past before he scrambled onto the deck and hid behind a set of crates. His eyes scanned either side of the walkway he was on, and let out a silenced whistle.
Fist Ji, then Jared, and finally Isha climbed aboard the ship from their little boat that had been hidden by the dark of night. They waited between the wall and crates until a guard came walking by.
Isha, although still having her arm in a cast, lifted her leg up and kicked down, hitting the sentry between his neck and shoulder. He lost all consciousness and Ji and Kei grabbed him before he fell against the deck and made a sound.
They waited in silence for several moments before finally etching out the details of their plan.
“Okay, Bobby said the ship’s computer systems are mostly located inside the bridge,” Kei whispered. “But there should be a terminal where you can re-route the main controls. That’s your department Ji.”
Ji nodded.
“Now, Jeric may be down in the main section of hull, so that’s going to be the hard part. His guards are walking around everywhere so we may have to take them out before we can find the doorway.” Kei looked around the corner and saw a guard exit from a door on the side of where the bridge is. The guard went around in the opposite direction where the Star Falcon crew were hiding. “Or it may not be that difficult. You can handle a few dozen guys, right Ji?”
Ji smirked. “Don’t ask such insulting questions Kei.”
“Okay,” Jared commented, reaching into his leather jacket and pulling out a Flash Charge. “Let’s go crash a maniac’s party.” Lightning flashed in the sky as the storm neared.

[Mew Master]

Inside the hull, Kei, Jared, and Isha quietly walked behind crates as they tired to get closer to where Jeric was seated. The three peeked around a crate at Jeric who was gloating about the Trident and its power that it gave to him.
“With this Trident as my weapon, I shall truly become a Darvor. My Good-for-nothing parents tried to explain to me that I didn’t need to posses the ability to control Gera, while they did on a regular basis. Such damn hypocrites!” Jeric shouted.
“Boss?” his second-in-command asked. “Are you sure you’re all right? Ever since you got that Trident, you’ve been acting crazy.”
Jeric glared at the man who just spoke. “Crazy?! You dare call the future Darvor Emperor, CRAZY?!”
Jeric pointed the Trident at the man and a blast of wind sent him flying straight into the interior of the metal hull. The blow had broken some of bones and sent waves of pain through his body. He slumped on the metallic floor.
“Now,” Jeric pointed the Trident at the man again, this time sparks of electricity danced along the points. “Experience my True power.” The man could only sit and watch as a single bolt of lightning arched towards him, the flash was blinding as it headed straight for him.
“Light Bolt!” someone shouted. Out from behind some crates a bolt of yellow lightning intercepted Jeric’s attack and nullified it with a large thunderclap echoing through the hull.
Jeric and all of his henchmen stared at a set of crates where the attack had come from.
“Show yourself! I demand it!” Jeric shouted, rage in his eyes.
Out from in between sets of crates, a figure disguised in a cloak that hid their face and most of their body, save for their feet which were in gray boots, stepped forward. They faced Jeric, never revealing their face.
“Who are you?!” Jeric demanded.
The person didn’t respond. They just stood there.
“I asked you a question!” A blast of wind buffeted the person, only managing to blow the hood up and over the face so it could be seen. Jeric looked at the face, the blue hair, and bright green eyes. “You,” he said, the calmest he had ever been. “You, I saw you with the rest of those losers at the museum.”
“My name is Kei Kiaka.” Kei looked at Jeric. “I’m a Bounty Hunter.”
“Kei Kiaka?” Jeric said, searching his memory because the name rang a bell.
“Losers?!” retorted Isha as she and Jared stepped out and stood beside Kei. “Who are you calling Losers?”
“Give us the Trident and we may go easy on ya.” Jared added.
“Who the hell are you two?!”
Jared and Isha reached for sun-glasses and slipped them over their eyes. They looked back at Jeric with big grins on their faces.
Jeric recognized the two now. Their outfits were different, but it was Dash and Jan. The brother and sister duo who went to him about the break-in job. He smiled. Then he started laughing. Quietly at first, but then it became an insane howl as it echoed inside the ship.
“Looks like I didn’t give you Bounty Hunters enough credit. Looks like you tried to set me up from the start. Now look at you. You’re stranded in the middle of the Rekerian Ocean, trapped with someone who can shoot lightning bolts from his weapon. You are foolish.” Jeric commented.
“Well you know that old saying: Keep your enemies close.” Kei replied. “’Sides, the three of us are more than enough to take you and your goons on.”
“Really?” Jeric replied as he walked forward. “Because now I remember you Kei Kiaka. The son of a Darvor mother and a Technoid father. Yes, I know all about you. You were shunned and ridiculed because of your parents. A hybrid that never should have been. A freak.”
Kei just stared at Jeric, he was used to this kind of talk, but it still set the fires of rage inside his heart.
“But my parents,” Jeric continued. “My parents were idiots. On my home planet they actually encouraged your mother’s bond with that Technoid playboy. But I know the truth; your mother was a whore!”
That was it. Moving faster than anyone could see, Kei reached for his holster and pulled out his strongest weapon, the Katsana. It was an energy weapon, blue in color. There were three segments after the main barrel. At the other end of the grip was a regular projectile weapon, as well as a segmented band covering wires that connected both the Energy Pistol and the gun.
Kei had the Katsana pointed directly at Jeric’s forehead. “Don’t you dare talk about my mother like that.” His voice was cold and unemotional.
Jeric wasn’t scared, he was amused. “HA! What is the hybrid going to do? Try and kill me. You may be a Bounty Hunter, but all of your bounties still have their heads in one piece.”
Jared had enough and drew his own weapon, a Starburst Pistol. It was silver and had a long barrel. Smaller and easier to hide than his favorite weapon, the Shoulder-Mounted Cannon.
“Shuddup! Keep it up and we’re gonna kick your asses from here to the Core!” Jared warned.
Isha didn’t draw her weapon, but was going to fight with her feet and only working fist.
Jeric’s men drew out their own various weapons and he held the Trident triumphantly in his hand.
The two sides stood there, ready for action. Waiting for the first ones to move. Kei watched Jeric and saw his eye twitch, and he moved.
The next few seconds erupted into chaos. Kei dashed off to the right, his Technoid speed allowing him to move a bit faster than anyone could react. He also hoped to draw fire away from Jared and Isha. Jared leapt into action, aiming and shooting the weapons right out of the henchmen’s hands, blasting them to pieces or into the air. Isha, although she had a single broken arm, jumped right into the fray. Jumping into the air she came down, foot right on one guys’ face as she landed. After landing she spun around and kicked two others in the groin, forcing them to double over. Isha’s free hand landed several consecutive punches on others.
Jeric was ignoring Isha and Jared, and went after Kei. He unleashed a lightning bolt at Kei, who had just jumped and rolled behind several crates. The bolt blasted some crates to pieces and lit others on fire. He watched the crates and the shadows for any sign of his adversary.
Kei was sitting against a crate that Jeric had missed. He held his Katsana in one hand and several big bullets in the other. These bullets give me the chance to send a blast of pure Gera energy at whatever I shoot at, he thought, staring at the bullets. But the charge time is so long. I could charge up now and then shoot. If he’s not there then I would waste a shot, but if I stand and charge while he’s in front of me, he’ll get off an easy shot. He pocketed the bullets and grabbed some regular bullets from his belt pocket. Have to go with the regulars until I can find an opening. He loaded the gun on the bottom of his Katsana and then got ready to move.
Kei jumped out and looked where Jeric should have been, but the crime boss was gone. Stealthily he moved along the crates, ready to shoot at anything holding a giant fork. He stretched his Darvor senses, maybe he could find Jeric among the crates, but even that was a long-shot. He didn’t feel anything before, so why should he now.
There came a spark behind him and he spun, left arm raised. The bolt of electricity struck his electro-shield, strapped to his left hand, and diverged around a spherical shield. Kei was pushed backwards and slammed into a mountain of crates.
Dozens of crates slammed down on top of Kei, and he was buried, more or less, alive. Jeric watched the sight of dozens of crashed and broken crates forming their own mountain on top of his most annoying Bounty Hunter yet.
Using some crates as shields, Jared and Isha waited behind as they were being fired at by some of the henchmen that Jared’s aim had missed. He looked out past the edge and saw Kei get buried by dozens of wooden crates.
“Damn, if he sets those things on fire, Kei’s gonna roast alive.” he commented as laser fire just barely missed his head. Jared held onto a Flash Charge in his hand while the Starburst Pistol was still in his other. “Hey,” he asked Isha. “How’s your arm?”
“Which one?” she replied, annoyed at his seemingly stupid question.
“Your throwing arm.” he replied.
Isha grabbed the flash charge from Jared and pulled the safety with her teeth. “Just watch,” She lugged the charge into the air.
The time delay on the Charge was about five seconds and Isha had timed the toss so the flash would activate a few meters above the men firing at them. The flash was so bright, she and Jared had to cover their eyes, and it even blinded Jeric.
“Kei! NOW!” Jared shouted.
The mountain of crates began to shake, faintly at first, and then Kei Kiaka burst out from the crates. His Katsana was in his hand and the three segments of the main barrel were spinning, a red glow coming from the areas between the segments and a red aura around Kei‘s body.
“Ha!” he shouted as pulled the trigger.
Jeric wasn’t totally blinded by the Flash Charge, but he wasn’t prepared for Kei to attack him like this. Out of instinct, he aimed the Trident towards the sound of Kei’s shouting and sent out a bolt. Kei’s Katsana sent out a beam of pure Gera energy towards Jeric.
The two attacks met and a chain reaction resulted. As the different energies collided and mixed, a violent explosion was the result. The explosion sent Jeric one way, and Kei the other. Jared, Isha, and Jeric’s men were also effected by the tremendous sonic wave that resulted from the attacks meeting head-on.
Kei landed hard on his back, the Katsana still in his hand. He managed to sit up and see what had happened to Jeric. The door to the deck was opened and rain was pouring inside the open doorway.
He got to his feet, exhausted from putting so much energy into the Gera energy blast. It was a long shot, but he was hoping the shot would hit Jeric and at least get the Trident out of his hands, but Kei had been wrong. As he walked towards the open door, he saw Jared and Isha, moaning slightly from the pain of being tossed around like rag dolls in the resulting shockwave. Jeric’s men were out cold, and wouldn’t move for a while.
Now Kei only had to get the head man himself, and they could go back to Bekara, get paid, and continue moving. He walked, legs somewhat stiff and not willing to listen to his mind.
Kei stepped out onto the soaking deck that was still being rained on. The boat was being rocked back and forth from the force of the raging sea and storm. Lightning flashed almost ever second, continuous thunder echoed everywhere. It wasn’t long until Kei was soaked through his cloak and even his other clothes and he looked long the deck for Jeric.
A blast of horizontal lightning hit him square on and he was blasted to the bow of the ship. Smoke pillowed from his clothes as he lay on the deck, trying to get his composure back. Kei heard the sound of Jeric’s footsteps as the enhanced Darvor walked towards him.
Kei struggled to his feet, getting blasted by lighting didn’t help matters.
“You are stronger than you look Kei Kiaka, I’ll give you that.” Jeric commented as he stopped. “But I won’t let you live through this. Your body will be electrocuted and cast into the sea, a fitting end for a freak like you. Maybe your whorish mother will wise up and kill herself after she realizes you’re dead.”
Kei was pissed now. Ignoring the pain, he popped the back of the main Katsana blaster. The used bullet popped out, smoke pillowing from the expended capsule. He replaced it quickly and closed the barrel. Holding the Katsana in his hand he pointed it at Jeric once again.
“I told you before. NEVER Talk about my mother like that, or else I will kill you.” Kei glared at Jeric through the pouring rain.
“You won’t kill me Kei,” Jeric replied, pointing the Trident to the sky. “Because I will kill you first! Behold my power!” Lightning danced all around the ship as waves crashed into it, threatening to capsize it.
Kei pressed the trigger on his gun and he felt his Gera energy being drained from his body and charged up for the main bullet. Before the Katsana went off, he threw it into the air. The Katsana spun in mid air, undercharged Gera energy flowing through it, and having unseen consequences.
A single bolt of pure lightning blasted from the sky, the strongest the storm would produce. It headed straight towards the sea, but was diverted. The bolt struck the Katsana, still spinning in mid air. By some struck of luck or karma, the main barrel of the Katsana pointed down, right at Jeric, giving the lightning a path to travel.
Pure electricity ran through the Ocean King’s Trident and transferred itself into Jeric’s body. Jeric let out an inhuman screech as his body was electrocuted. Kei stood his ground, covering his eyes and face from the blinding light and heat of pure lightning. Jeric’s flesh burst into flames as the lightning continued to flow through his body, but he was already dead. The bolt finally ended and a large thunderclap followed instantly, almost knocking Kei off his feet.
Kei’s weapon fell onto the deck of the ship, energy spent and the weapon was smoldering. Jeric Daemon’s body was engulfed in flames, the terrible smell of burning human flesh met Kei’s nostrils, and he held his nose. The drenching rain got harder and it put out the flames on the corpse, that was still clutching the trident in it’s scalded hands. It was burnt beyond recognition, no one could identify the body.
Kei walked over and grabbed a hold of his Katsana in his hand once again. He looked at the burnt remains of Jeric Daemon, and glared at it.
“I told you I would kill you if you insulted my mother like that.” he mumbled to himself.
He was ready to holster his Katsana and try and pry the Trident from the burnt body’s dead fingers when the ship lurched.
A giant wave rocked the ship, tipping the side with Kei and the body towards the raging sea. The corpse slid along the wet deck as Kei struggled for a handhold.
He watched as the body slid along the deck and almost fell off the ship, if the Trident hadn’t caught on the railing, stopping it’s trip into the brimmy deep. Kei let out a sigh, but it was too soon as another wave hit the ship and the Trident and the body washed overboard.
“The Trident!” he exclaimed and let go of his grip and jumped into the raging sea after it.
Kei felt thousands of diggers hit his skin as the cold sea surrounded him. The sea rolled in every direction as he forced his eyes open. The salty water burned his eyes but he didn’t close them, he just stared, looking into the dark blue abyss below him. A glimmer of gold and he kicked his feet, heading downward after the flickering golden object.
He recognized the disfigured remains that had once been Jeric Daemon, floating down into the sea, but he also saw something else. A large shape with moving tentacles was even darker than the abyss behind it. Kei reached the corpse and started to pull on the trident, hoping the electrocution had weakened the grip, but he found out wrong. The grip was still strong as he pulled. Then he saw the body move.
A badly burnt hand grabbed his wrist, and Kei looked at the face. He could almost see it scream, but he heard nothing. There was no way it could be alive. Then a long thing tentacle wrapped around the burnt body of Jeric Daemon and started to pull it and Kei down farther into the deep.
Kei struggled to pull the trident free but it was no use. Even with his extra strength, he was running out of air, and wouldn’t last much longer. Just then he realized he had the Katsana still in his hand, maybe he could fire it and break free.
Kei aimed the Katsana at the arm around the Trident and pulled the trigger. Red energy flowed through the Katsana from his own aura, and a pure beam of red Gera energy blasted forth, slicing through the arm and also acting as a kind of propulsion, forcing himself back up towards the surface. The hand around his wrist slipped free, and Kei watched as the burnt corpse was dragged down and down into the sea, to be food for some creature that will never be seen by intelligent eyes.
He flipped and started heading to the surface, following the flashes of lightning that continued to light the sky. Kei wasn’t going to make it, he had used what little energy he had to charge up his Katsana and no longer had any left to even kick to the surface. He could feel the effects of little oxygen taking effect. Kei looked up at the surface as he started to sink. So this is how it ends… he thought. I drown, end of story. I only wish.. I only wish that Jared, Ji, and especially Isha, make it back safely…
In the dimness of the ocean depths, the Ocean King’s Trident in Kei’s hand started glowing a bright white light. The light began to surround his own body and the sea started to move around him. Circulating and moving faster and faster, Kei’s body spun around inside the cyclone, trapped.

[Mew Master]

Isha, Jared, and Ji scrambled for hand holds inside the main bridge of the ship as it continued to be rocked left and right every second.
Isha held her stomach. “I think I’m gonna be sick…”
“Out the window,” Jared replied as he held onto the console.
“At this rate we’re going to be rocked apart,” Ji stated as he tried to hold onto the wheel of the ship. “No way we can make it!”
Several flashes of lightning illuminated the storm outside. Isha looked and she saw something huge coming towards them. “Oh, my god.” she mumbled.
A huge wave, four times larger than the biggest wave to hit the ship started baring towards them, its thunderous roar hitting their ears.
“There’s no way we’ll survive that,” Ji admitted as his eyes opened wide at the sight.
“Oh damn. That is one big wave.” Jared admitted, awed by the sight.
The three watched as the wave got bigger and closer with every second. Just as they started to feel the beginning of the tsunami wave affect them, something burst from the frothy sea. A giant water spout reached the sky had erupted between the ship and the tsunami wave.
“A water spout?!” Isha exclaimed.
“Hot damn!” Jared added.
Ji was just speechless as he continued to watch with wide eyes.
The water spout stayed between the ship and the wave, almost protecting it. To everyone’s amazement, the cyclone sliced through the wave, splitting it in half, and saving the ship from certain death.
After that last wave, the sea began to calm itself, all except for the water cyclone still raging off the ship’s port side. The sky cleared as well, the appearance of a beautiful dawn morning.
Jared, Ji, and Isha ran out onto the deck to watch the spout as it continued to remain stationary beside the ship. To the east, Rekeri’s sun began to rise, shedding light upon the spout. Isha watched it for several minutes as the sun reflected off of the spinning water’s surface. She saw something, someone, inside the center.
“Look! It’s Kei!” she shouted, pointing.
“What?!” Jared exclaimed, and looked closer. “****! It is!”
Ji looked as well. “Damn. He’s alive!”
The cyclone started to slow down now, the water returning to the sea. The center of the spout exploded and Kei Kiaka was blasted into the air, and started falling towards the ship. He landed with a thunk, the Ocean King’s Trident in his hand and a burnt human hand still attached to the Trident. In his other hand was his Katsana.
They rushed to his side to see if he was okay. Jared flipped Kei onto his back and he started coughing up sea water. Kei coughed for several seconds before he actually started breathing.
He opened his eyes a bit and saw his friends kneeling around him.
“Hey guys, what’d I miss?” he asked with a weak smile.
Everyone, even Ji, was close to tears, but they were already streaming down Isha’s cheeks.
“You, you jerk,” she sobbed before lunging forward and hugging Kei close and tight with her good arm. “I thought we had lost you,” she continued to cry. Ji and Jared wiped their eyes, glad to see Kei alive and in one piece.

Kei sat on the railing at the front of the ship as it plowed through the waves. He could already see land ahead and was just passing time by watching the world go by. The Star Falcon’s crew had been through a lot in the past week, and he recalled how it all started, trying to get away from Isha’s bad cooking and ended up in the middle of the ocean on a cargo ship. Not all bounties had as much danger as this.
The Ocean King’s Trident was sitting in the bridge with Ji, Jared had rounded up all of the TKO’ed men on board and tied them up in the hull, a little bonus for bringing in everyone involved with the break-in at the museum. Everyone except Jeric Daemon himself, he was probably in the digestive system of some creature Kei didn’t want to think about.
It had taken two days to get back to land, they had to return the ship after all. Kei had the sun in front of him as it set in the west. He watched it as it started its lazy decent to begin another night. A slight gust of wind blew by and his hair moved to dance in it.
There came a footstep and he could tell Isha was walking towards him.
“You alright Kei?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” he replied. “Just some bad images that are going to be stuck with me for a while. I don’t know if I can swim at all after this.”
Isha stood beside him, behind the railing, her good arm clutching the railing. “We were really worried when Ji told us he saw you and Jeric’s body go overboard after the wave rocked the boat. I almost didn’t want to believe him and thought you would pop up just to give me a scare.”
Kei smiled. “It would be funny, but I wouldn’t do that. Not to those I care about.” He pulled out his Katsana and opened the shell loading. He expected a shell to pop out, but there was nothing there. Nothing except the empty barrel where the shell should be. “What the hell?” It was the first time he looked at it after he had used it to blast off Jeric’s arm to get away. This was strange, he hadn’t thought about changing shells after using a bit of his energy to set up a trap to blast Jeric using his own weapon. Then underwater he didn’t realize that he had a used shell inside his Katsana, so it shouldn’t have gone off at all.
“What is it?” Isha asked, looking at the empty gun.
“I had a single shell in here after I managed to get Jeric, but it was used. Then I used it underwater, it shouldn’t have gone off like it did.” Kei replied, moving the problem over in his mind.
Isha thought for a second. “What about the Trident? The Rekerians said that the Trident was a Gera magnifier. Maybe when you gripped the Trident, it gave you a power boost and let you fire your energy blast.”
“Maybe… and maybe your cooking is the best in the universe.” Kei felt like being sarcastic for some reason and Isha knew it.
“What?! After all the complaining you do, you finally decide to compliment my food after you almost get killed?! Why you!!!”
With one well aimed punch she knocked Kei off the railing and overboard again. Kei had managed to grab onto the edge of the deck at last minute and stopped himself from falling over. Isha, satisfied with her latest work, turned and walked towards the bridge, leaving Kei there to think about what he had a habit of saying.

And so a tale of perhaps the greatest Bounty Hunting team is told. Ji Omon, a systems specialist in all kinds of computers and star ships, Jared Kard, a weapons expert with different kinds of models for every kind of weapon, Isha Taoya, a woman whose fighting skills are better than her cooking, and Kei Kiaka, a Darvor and Technoid hybrid with immense power. These four are capable of becoming the greatest team of Bounty Hunters the galaxy has ever seen, if only they can stop arguing with each other. This is a single story of Star’s End.