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"It might be a good idea," Mike said. "But for now, let's just wait and keep an eye on him. No sense stirring up anyth–oh for pete's sake, he's headed our way."
Sure enough, the man himself had left the tavern and was walking towards the along the shore.
“Of course he is. Since that’s just our luck, isn’t it?” Tanrial huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
The man stopped when he was about a yard away, touching the brim of his baseball cap respectfully. "Hey, didn't mean to scare you out. I heard you three are trying to wage war against somebody?"
Tanrial narrowed her eyes, “Yeah… why’d you ask?”
He shrugged. "Curious. Can I ask who you might be fightin'?"
“This guy called Ryker. it’s a long story but let’s just say if we don’t stop him then humans won’t exist anymore.” She said, putting a hand in her pocket.
"Hm. Sounds like a noble cause." The man stuck his hands in his pockets. "What kinda force are you up against here? Just one guy? Or are there others?"
Mike stepped forward. "Look pal, why exactly do you want to know all this? Why do you care?"
"Oh, I don't mean to make a big secret out of it. I'm a mercenary. I was wonderin' of you'd like some help, is all."
“Is that it? You’re just a mercenary? Sorry but we’re just being careful.” She said, shrugging.
"And don't mercenaries usually travel in groups?" Bernon asked.
"Usually, yeah. But I'm freelance. Didn't get along too well with my old buddies." He smiled and offered his hand to shake. "I'm Rick, by the way. You?"
“Tanrial, this is Bernon and Mike.” She said, shaking Rick’s hand.
They also shook his hand with varying degrees of wariness. Rick wasn't much taller or broader than Bernon and Mike, but he seemed to loom over them slightly.
"So," Mike said. "I expect you'll want some kind of payment. I should warn you that we don't have any money."
"That's fine," Rick said amiably. "All I ask is a share in the spoils of war. Think they'll be any good?"
"Probably," Mike replied after some thought. "If you're interested in scientific or military-related stuff."
"Sounds sellable. I think we have a deal."
(off to bed, seeya ^^)
"Well, that solves that then. Now we just have to wait for the others to arrive, if the letters are delivered safely." Tanrial said, rubbing at her neck.
(Seeya ^^)
"Who else is coming?"
"Well…..we don't exactly know who will show up," Bernon said, "but we sent messages to Tanrial's hometown, her people, a faction of The People's Army, and a couple of the Southern Clans."
Rick tilted his head. "Oh, which clans? The Gator Boys?"
"Uhhh…." Bernon winced. "No. The Pikes and the River-Runners, actually."
"Oh, well, the River-Runners ain't gonna come, I can tell you that. They stick to the Mississippi. But the Pikes–you might have more luck with them."
"And are they good fighters?" Mike asked.
Rick smiled. "I've never met a Southerner who wasn't. What about your folks, Miss? They any good at war?"
"You could say that. They've had centuries to prepare for a fight, adding in general blood lust yeah, I'd say their pretty good at it." She said, shrugging a shoulder, "I doubt they'd miss a chance to fight in a war."
"All right. And how many are we up against? How advanced is the enemy?"
"Ryker has a sizable task force," Mike said. "Maybe a hundred soldiers, plus the ability to last through twenty years of siege if necessary. Oh, and they have roughly two dozen kids with superpowers, although one of our goals is actually to rescue them."
Rick whistled. "Sounds like this is gonna be quite the party. How'd you make this guy your enemy, anyway? Did you used to work for him?"
(ahh dangit I have to go T.T And I may not be back on tonight, soryyy)
"Well, Bernon and I didn't. Mike was sent to retrieve a machine that coincidentally, Bernon had. Bernon found me, Mike found us and long story short we decided it wasn't for the best to give the machine to Ryker left him a fake and ran for it…" Tanrial explained, crossing her arms.
(Damn, don't worry about it, seeya!)
"Oh, a machine? What kind of machine?"
Bernon was about to answer, but Mike cut him off. "Listen, no disrespect, but I don't think we can trust you enough to tell you everything just yet. Sorry, but mercenaries aren't known for their trustworthiness. In fact, I have some questions for you now. What exactly made you spit off from your group? I thought the Southern Clans valued family above all else."
Rick sighed. "Family don't always know what's best. You may have heard of my brother, Johnny Stonehand?"
"Oh, we've heard of him," Bernon muttered.
"He's a good man and I love him, but…. he's had some hard losses in his life and it's been messing with his leadership skills. I didn't like the path he was taking the Gator Boys down, and since he wouldn't listen to me, I ducked out a few months back." Rick shrugged. "That's the long and short of it. I can understand if you keep secrets from me, we've got no reason to trust each other yet. But if you change your mind about filling me in on that machine, lemme know."
"Of course, we'll be here for a while yet so we've got lot's to discuss. We'll definitely let you know what's going on when the time comes." Tanrial said, giving Rick a smile.
He smiled back nicely. "Thank-you. Guess I'll leave you guys to yourselves now." Turning, he walked back toward the tavern, whistling a tune."
Mike gazed at his retreating back. "Well. Seems like we dodged a bullet there."
"At least we know he's not going to kill us or anyone anytime soon." Tanrial crossed her arms.
"True. I think we have enough enemies right now without adding any more."
Bernon glanced at the lake. "Well, shall we do some training or some scouting next? I think both are equally important."
"Scout first, train after. Or while, depends on the training." Tanrial shrugged, placing a hand in her pocket.
Mike nodded. "Okay, sounds good. After we go scouting, I want to show you guys a little combat technique I learned that you might find helpful. It's for chaos management, so you don't get overwhelmed or sluggish in the middle of a big battle."
"Gotcha," Bernon replied. "Let's go then."