Futuristic Amazing Space (1x1)

[Moldie]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by highway A01 - AX-4993 - 5206-06/10​

It was her third day on the road. The little money she had had now taken her to her home planets largest moon. It was a barren and dull landscape, and the road seemed never ending. She’d been able to score a ride on the back of a truck passing by. The wind blew through her blonde frayed hair exposing two black horns protruding out of her forehead, quite small, not really what anyone would consider modeling material. She sat next to a pair of hay bales resting on the rusty back platform of the truck. It steadily hovered down the road with a mellow buzzing of the engine. Driving the truck was a bulky orc, tattooed from his ankles to his neck. She’d been riding with the truck for a couple of hours, but suddenly they stopped outside a lonely and a tad downtrodden gas station. The orc turned his head and looked back at the girl through the cracked rear window, “This is where you get off kid”. The abruptness caught her off guard, “What?”. The orc sighed, “I said this is where you gotta get off, sorry.”. She looked around her and out onto the empty plains, the sky was clear blue and in the far distance a large space station could be seen. With little effort she stepped over the edge and down onto the sun bleached and dry pavement. She began scratching the backside of her head as the truck kept on driving away towards the horizon. She was tired, and forgot that it might've been polite to thank for the ride, but she paid no mind. The station has a few cheap repairs coating it’s roof, and one could already see it was a rather dirty place just from looking at the exterior. She thought she’d ask the clerk where to go next, but only took a few small steps towards the building before spotting a familiar sign with tired eyes. It depicted a horned figure crossed out with big red lines, “NO GOATHEADS”. With a heavy sigh she turned away from the establishment, trying to spot anything else of use. Close to the edge of the stations ground stood a couple of vending machine-esq contraptions, she recognized them too. She carefully approached one of the machines hoping no one would spot her. As she stood before it it’s interface automatically lit up. The screen was busted, with a long scrac running straight across it, as if someone had punched it. Large text appeared on the screen, “SIGN UP FOR FREE TODAY; JOIN THE MERCENARIES ASSOCIATION: ENTER ID TO BEGIN”. The girl looked down upon the emanating screen for a few seconds before it hit her, she could sign up right then and there. It was something she had dared to think about while she was younger, when she and her father would see groups of bounty hunters pass through the market. She slid her hands down her pockets trying to get a hold of any money. There wasn’t anything but the dull scrambling of a few lonely coins. Instead she drew a small card out the pocket of her jeans jacket adorned with various labels. She looked back at the screen and thought for a few long seconds. “Eh, What the hell…”, she pressed the card into a slot by the keyboard attached to the machine. It buffered for a bit before lines of text blasted across the display.


“Processing… Processing… Processing… :request accepted: 5206_06_10
ID scan proceeding; . . . . . . . . .
federal_civic _beauru_issue:5205_01_13

name: MINTA THAZRAN . . .

ethnic_sector: M.O:FD F.O:FH - S.O: HD-HH

date_of_birth: 5185_01_12 . . . (21)

criminal_record: NO INFORMATION

registered: 817-264-832-845-000-372-664-526-618-846-555-376 - FOT-SALL
. . . . . . . . .”


Suddenly the text disappeared and a long document of very small letters appeared. It took a small while before Minta realized she needed to scroll down. It took a substantial amount of finger sweeping before she got the end of it, she was now left with an option on the screen, “I accept the terms of service as listed above”. Once again she looked around her, slightly hesitant. Then again, this was supposed to be a start of something new, now that there wasn’t anything to return to. With a stubborn and decisive expression she tapped the box. As she accepted the machine played a short audio clip of a celebratory whistle followed by some final text, “WELCOME TO THE MERCENARY ASSOCIATION”.

OnyxMule

 

[OnyxMule]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10​

The three wrapped bars marked “Penchola” made small rustles and thuds upon impact with the counter. The man who had dropped them looked to be deeply inside his own thoughts, not paying much attention to the whistling cashier who was in the back, looking for something. His night-dark eyes were statically fixed onto nothing. A breeze leaked in through the sliding doors of glass as some kind of feline left the building. The man closed his eyes as the cold touch of the wind made his neck hair rise as it touched his grayish olive skin. When he opened them again, the store had been replaced by a vast mountainous landscape.
He stood at a clean white terrace, looking down at a far-stretching river valley and distant waterfalls. The wind was wildly blowing his sooty brown hair. The light of the setting sun mildly shone upon his face, making it easier to distinguish his dark-brown irises in his otherwise pitch-black eyes.
Behind him he could hear the fairly busy colony getting ready for the night’s rest, but something was off. He turned his head around and noticed Cara Blighan, a colleague, approach him with one hand holding up a phone by her ear, and the other compulsively twirling her necklace. She didn’t meet him with a smile, like she used to. Instead, she handed over the phone.
“It’s from Foythorn,” she said. “I’m sorry.” He took the phone, closed his eyes and lifted it to his ear.
“That’ll be twenty creds,”
He opened his eyes again and discovered that he was back in front of the counter of the small store. The man was stunned for a brief moment. The chubby snouted vendor was patiently waiting for him to act. The man shook his head and blinked. He then slid a card out from his sleeve and put it on a marked space on the counter. An image with his face appeared together with a rolling text.

NAME: KONON POMP

SPECIES: FOYTH

AGE: 34

VERIFIED

“Thank you for shopping at Warzart’s,” the vendor muttered monotonously and handed over the Penchola bars. Konon nodded and unwrapped one of the bars as he went out in the sun through the sliding doors. He was met by the same arid planes that he had left. One thing had changed however. He wasn’t alone anymore. A woman was standing by the kiosk that he himself had previously used. He looked down at the unwrapped chocolatey bar and then back at the woman. He approached her.
“Penchola?”

*Penchola is a brand of nutri-bars. Its main ingredient is peneber, a leaf similar to eucalyptus endemic to Foythorn.

Moldie

 

[Moldie]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10
​

Stuck in the thought of what she’d done, she was once again caught off guard by the approaching figure. His harmless gesture startled her a tad. She looked up on the man who stood more than a head taller then herself. Minta didn’t recognize his race, but she found there was something familiar in his lamp black eyes. She looked down on the offering he was handing out and instantly felt a spine shivering growl of the stomach. She hadn’t ate anything since some time before hitching the ride. The striped bar was completely foreign to her, but she had cooked and eaten some pretty obscure things in her past. Her stomach promoted her once again, and she didn’t even consider letting her trust waver. She gently grabbed the wrapped bar, “That’s real nice-like of ya...” in her gratitude her strong accent showed through with vivid colors. Unbenounced to her, the interface transformed into a list with the label “CURRENT AVAILABLE CONTRACTS”. Well, it wasn't much of a list as there was no more but a single file on it. With a firm tug she ripped the striped wrapper open and quickly chomped into the slab. She was pleasantly surprised to say the least, although she wasn’t exactly a gourmet taste tester. “Oh damn, what is this stuff?” she excitedly asked the sage colored man in between her chewing.

OnyxMule

 

[OnyxMule]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10​

Konon had unwrapped a second bar and stuffed his mouth with about half of it. He had noticed an odd feature in the woman’s face, namely a pair of horns. Small, but noticeable. He decided not to comment on them, since he had been previously told that it is rude to point out odd features in other people. He couldn't really place her distinguishable accent either.
“Penchola Regular. It’s chocolate and peneber, mixed with about a dozen barely unhealthy substances,” he answered between chewing. Penchola would probably be like any other candy bar if it wasn’t for the peneber in it, which was considered a very nutritious food, for Foyth at least.
His attention then moved to the kiosk, where a screen he hadn’t been presented to earlier had shown up. “Available contracts?" Konon pointed at the screen.
“What’s that?”

Moldie

 

[Moldie]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10
​

Stuck thinking about the texture of the food, and not really understanding what peneber was she ignored what he said about “unhealthy substances”, “Huh, I dunno bout’ that, but stuffs good…”. Minta noticed how the mans attention turned towards the machine beside them, and for a second her heart stopped and she nearly choked on the Penchola fearing he was going to point out something she’d done wrong or worse. She slowly turned her head towards the kiosk, and was promptly relieved to see that none of her personal information remained on-screen. Instead there was a short list, and just like her new friend she had no idea what it was. “Damn-heck!” she exclaimed in a eureca styled fashion before continuing in a slightly less exaggerated tone, “I haven’t the slightest idea.” which right after she mashed the last piece of the chocolate bar in her mouth, leaving a few specs around it.

OnyxMule

 

[OnyxMule]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10​

Konon was slightly amused by the woman’s odd exclamation. He was still fascinated by the informal way people from outside the Foyth Space generally spoke. Then the excitement filled him. Was this what he was supposed to do next?
“I think you should check it out. It certainly looks interesting,” he said, trying to curb his enthusiasm. He had no idea what direction his life was going to take next, nor what he would prefer it to. He had been wandering without direction for days, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted to. And now he had ended up here, by a lay-by in the middle of nowhere, together with this woman who seemed to have signed up at the same kiosk as he had barely ten minutes ago. Maybe this was his next adventure?
“Konon Pomp, by the way.”

Moldie

 

[Moldie]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10​

Minta smiled at Konon, “Well that’s a name and a half! You could've been the governor if i didn’t know any better!” She was just happy a positive conversation had come her way, as a contrast to the cold and harsh figures she’d met earlier. “I’m Minta, Thazraaa…n…”, in her excitement she in her own words “spilled the beans”. She knew to be conscious of her last name outside of home. In an attempt to steer the conversation elseways she turned focus onto the kiosk. She looked onto the notification seeming to be the single contract available in the region, “Sure does...”. With a light movement she swiftly tapped the tab. One again it buffered on.

Insects ambiently screeched from within the shriveled up tufts of grass around them, and the slightest warm breeze passed them by. With an electronic pling the machine was done processing. A short document showed on screen:


“ AX 4993 - 5206.06.08 - Louiespot

(LOCAL)

Signed - lt. Petros Haris Christos

O’l mongrels gon and done herself missing again, get er’ back home to Louispot and i got a cred or two for yus. She answers to betty and nothn’ elsewhat.

Certified and signed 5206.06.09 by state official: Court martial Cila Heyledd - City of Lacin


[ ACCEPT ] [ BACK ]
“


Minta looked back at Konon, “What you know about dogs?”.

OnyxMule

 

[OnyxMule]

Mercenary Outpost 112 by Highway A01 - AX 4993 - 5206.06.10​

Konon looked at Minta with narrowed eyes.
“What an exotic name,” he stated. “Thazraaaaaaaan.”
There were a lot of things popping up that were new to him, which fueled his excitement further. This place had given him more than he had hoped. He was finally exploring grounds that were new to him, and this girl, what was she? He couldn’t recall seeing a human with horns before. A truck horn bellowed in the far distance and Konon’s thoughts returned to the situation at hand. He suppressed his mildly improper interest in Minta’s origins.

“Dogs? Well… not much.”

Moldie