A dark grey ship that is 16 meters long and 9 meters wide bursts into view from a blurred entry state, coming to what would be considered a screeching halt in space.
Its metallic makeup shimmered in the light of the star it now found itself in the proximity of, as its two parallel front-facing kinetic cannons menacingly pointed forward. Underneath the ship attached to it lay a long silvery instrument that stretches from the stellarcrafts epicenter to a meter past the ship's cockpit.
As the ship came to a sudden and forced halt, a man with murky brown hair and deep purple eyes was nearly thrown out of his sleeping position on the couch as he cursed at himself. "Shit, I forgot to turn on the Impact Guard."
Rylan, having firmly been awoken by the ship's exit out of light-speed travel, let out a groan of relief: "Well, at least I didn't hit anything on the way here; I could have gotten splattered."
Rylan looked out an armored window in the Sarthaches hull, where he saw a meteor implanted with a ship crushed inwardly. "Like that guy," he said jokingly, mocking the unlucky pilot who died just barely out of reach of their destination.
He then walked towards the corridor that leads to the Sarthaches cockpit, so he could get a look at the world below him and his ship, and what he saw left him breathlessly in awe.
The world looked like it was carved from marbled concrete even from in space, where skyscrapers tower past the atmosphere and directly into the starry sea of the void and Stellarcraft were flying to and from them constantly.
Lausgaiegüse glew with the light constantly emitting from every nook and cranny of the buildings making it have a sheen of white-yellow radiance. Just by looking at the city below him, Rylan started to think that he had died and entered an entirely new reality.
"This is supposed to be a crime-ridden world run by gangs?" Rylan asked no one in particular as he couldn't understand just how a place so vibrant could be a cesspit of crime lords and criminal syndicates.
Before Aylward could grasp his bearings he received a hail from the large extravagant gold-plated space station that hovered over the world of Lausgaiegüse, though it was a space station it looked more like a moon to Rylan.
He quickly turned on his TPDA and saw the image of a stout man who looked no taller than 4'0 and had a gout stomach that was comedically large for his short stature.
The man began to introduce himself with his voice coming off with a static sound "I am Garner of the Nightshade Syndicate. You have entered into Lausgaiegüse space if you wish to land on the world you must get permission from the organization that owns any specific region you want to dock in."
"Understood. Names Rylan Aylward." Rylan replied to the goblin-like human calmly.
The projection of Garner's face sneered as his pot belly jiggled as he moved just slightly. "Now that the pleasantries are over you vermin I might be willing to let you land on this station on a certain condition."
Rylan's brow cocked upward just a little as he inquisitively asked "A condition? What would this prospect be?"
Garner's sneer only deepened as he scoffed "Prospect? Arrogant aren't you? I might not tell you now unless hm... what guild are you a part of your ship is so low quality I can't tell."
Aylwards face twists into a snarl at Garner's insult to his ship "The Sarthach is not a low-quality vessel." he breathed out a deep exasperation to calm himself. "Ex-Mercenary Guild. Three years experience."
Garner's scrunched-up sneer eases into a small smirk "Ah a mercenary, and unemployed? Now I know you'd be perfect for what I need."
The short bulbous man then pressed a button that made a light in the Sarthaches controls flash green. "Land in dock seven I'll send someone to inform you of your task, if you finish it properly then I might be able to send you more employment, on the world next time."
With that, the projection of the man vanished into smaller light particles leaving Rylan alone to pilot the Sarthach into the designated docking location as he sighed. "Well, I don't think that could have gone any better."
As he lands the ship in the docking bay Aylward notices a tall muscular man approaching him while he exits the back of the ship's loading dock. "I'm assuming you're my contact with Garner then?"
The bulky man that was now towering over Rylan nodded his head slowly and in a low guttural voice informed the mercenary of his task. "Lythran Irun is your target. He's a rival to the boss and another major player in the Nightshade Syndicate. Major enough to be on this station instead of on the main world, take him out, and then will talk."
Rylan blinked as he took in the information "So I'm being asked to assassinate a high-profile member of your own organization?"
The man simply nodded and left without saying another word, seeming to find that he had said more than enough leaving Aylward alone to figure things out for himself. He watched the towering figure of his contact stride away, the heavy steps echoing in the empty docking bay until they faded completely, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
The task he'd just been handed was as risky as it was straightforward: take out a major player within the Nightshade Syndicate, someone powerful enough to make him question just why Garner wanted him dead, and why he would trust the job to a newly arrived ex-mercenary with nothing but his word on his resume.
Rylan took his handguns from their holsters and checked them to make sure they were loaded and ready for the task ahead, as well as making sure the rails of the barrel were properly adjusted.
The kinetic weapons used these days were rail guns but unstable ones that could detonate if improperly prepared, but they did make almost all armor worthless so the risk was worth the punch they provided.
Rylan revved his shoulders to make them less tense as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked the limited information he could find on his target. "Lythran Irun a Don of the Nightshade Syndicate, one of the four most powerful people within the organization with control over the north-western half of Nightshade territory on the planet."
Aylward sighed. "Well shit, hey have me killing a leader of a nation by Lausgaiegüse's standards." Rylan looked towards the corridor that his contact to Garner had left through and walked his way there. "I'll figure out my plan after I get more information." he said to himself.
He reached a lift and pressed the call button, the small, flickering display flashing as it descended to his level. When the doors slid open, he stepped in and keyed for the "General Commons" deck, figuring that blending in with the station's usual crowd would give him a better sense of its layout and maybe, if he was lucky, some leads on where to find Lythran.
The lift came to a halt with a chime, and the doors opened to reveal a bustling deck. The Commons was sprawling and dimly lit, a network of narrow hallways and open seating areas where merchants, well-dressed thugs, and some uniformed staff that had an emblem of what looked like multiple gang sigils emblazoned onto them right under their left chest.
The place was filled with the scent of stale food, various alcoholic stenches, and something that could only be described as burnt ozone. Rylan's eyes scanned the crowd, quickly assessing the people around him, cataloging potential threats and places to avoid.
As he made his way through the throng, he noticed a small group of rough-looking individuals seated around a table in the corner, their voices barely above a whisper. He caught fragments of their conversation. Some small bits about Nightshade, the name Lythran, and a place referred to as "The Greykeep." Rylan slowed his steps, leaning just close enough to listen without drawing attention.
"Lythran increased the security at the Greykeep again." A gruff voice complained coming from a man with hazel eyes, a scratchy beard, and hair that was dyed blond and sleeked back with some type of gel. "He's been getting so paranoid lately, doubling the guards, building more turrets, the whole place has become a complete fortress!"
One of his companions sneered "The boss has his panties in a wad I'd say. Who would be stupid enough to take out a Don of Nightshade? The Steelhand Syndicate? They are smaller than us and have to deal with their so-called vassals The Nine Rings? They don't have any stakes in the Oversector so why would they even try? They only care about profits and there's nothing they could gain from offing the old bat."
Rylan listened closely as he sat at the other end of the bar counter where the gang members had been sitting drinking their beverages. He had ordered a drink to blend in, potent enough not to draw attention, weak enough not to debilitate him. He kept his face straight, not letting a single muscle twitch with any sign of interest as he ingested the valuable information.
Aylward now saw this task as a test for Garner to gauge if his services were efficient, after all, if he died or got caught on the first mission alone would that not make him useless in this apparent crime lord's schemes? He finished his drink and got up feeling he had gathered all the information and more that he needed. Nightshade, Steelhand, and the Nine Circles. The three criminal powers of Lausgaiegüse most likely.
As Rylan walked away he felt a gaze boring into his back, he didn't look to see where or who it was coming from and pretended that he couldn't notice it despite his instincts telling him to turn around. It would be unwise to do so, he had the element of surprise that his tracker had lost and he planned to take advantage of that.
After a few more tense steps, he veered into a side hallway, deliberately slowing his pace to give the pursuer time to close in. He could feel the weight of his handguns on his hips and his heart pounding in his chest as he rounded a corner and ducked into a recessed alcove, pressing himself against the wall. Moments later, he heard footsteps approaching, the barely-there sound of someone skilled at moving undetected.
As his pursuer just about passed the alcove he hid in he yanked them into the side hall he was in and pushed the hooded figure against the metal walls of the station. Through the force of Rylan's actions, the cloaked figure's cowl fell off revealing his sharp piercing blue eyes, angled nose, and a cocky grin on his pale angular face. "Oh you're better than we thought." his voice came off as light and wheezing despite Rylan not putting much pressure against his throat.
"Who. Are. You." Rylan growled in a commanding tone as he pressed the barrel of his handgun against the man's skull, finger just barely off the trigger but ready to instantly pull it if the lanky man made any movement he didn't like.
"Garner's not the only one looking to recruit talent around here," he rasped. "You're new to the station, and that makes you... interesting."
Aylward's eyes narrowed as his finger gently brushed against the trigger of his handgun. "Not what I asked."
The man grinned even more wildly seeming to be getting a kick out of his predicament. "Azran. All you need to know is that there are many more...prominent figures in play in your little mission oh so big and scary merc~" The man teased Aylward despite having a gun planted right against his temple.
"More prominent figures than a Don of the Nightshade Syndicate? Doubtful." Rylan said pulling his gun back into its holster finding this man in front of him delusional.
"From what I understand there are three major syndicates in Lausgaiegüse and none of them have the means or want to be in conflict with each other, so do pray tell who would be a more prominent figure than them?" Rylan asked in a mocking tone his face contorted into a displeased scoff.
Arzan's smile fades into a cold neutral look. "I'm afraid that information isn't worth my life, at least not with your current lack of a track record. You'll understand soon enough that Lausgaiegüse has more, much more, to it than Syndicates. The so-called criminals and gangs may be the most visible and known force but they aren't everything here."
Rylan gave the man a stern look but decided against threatening the man's life any further, he could tell that Arzan had already given him everything he was willing to, and how he acted before was more than enough to make the mercenary understand that Arzan would rather die then spill any more information than was already given.
Aylward sighed in defeat as he looked at the man in his eyes. "Leave, I don't doubt you have your ways of contacting me again Arzan. Considering you seem to have some backing of someone or some type of organization it would be a waste to kill you. If you have some good-paying jobs I might take them on, but for now, I'm currently after prey already."
Arzan smiled and walked away disappearing into the crowd of the main hallway and leaving Rylan alone in the alcove as he tried to piece together just what the hell had been going on today. "Damnit day one and I'm already entrenched as deep as I could go into Lausgaiegüse politics."
He shook his head and walked off into the crowd himself uncertain of what this new organization wanted or how killing Lythran would help them.