Part 1: Bounty in the Warland

In far distance corner of the Warland, the lone human ran toward his vehicle. Bernard Kreeger was a simple man; who managed to land on a fortune of fake ID’s to Big Town. He did what any other simple man would have done; tried to sell them. It was his own mistake; he wasn’t a rookie con-man. He wasn’t a con man; PERIOD. He just saw his chance to make some money, since money was so hard to come by these days. He just hoped he could reach his land rover.

His own salvation lay in the trunk; something he purchased from a rogue war-dealer long ago. If he could get to it, he might be able to hold out the people so intent to bring him back to the Enforcers. His own dumb luck; Enforcers don’t venture out into Warland. That’s the territory of the bounty hunters. “STOP RUNNING, KREEGER!!!” A voice echoed behind him.

“Leave me alone, Wade!” the weary man said, running down the old highway toward his vehicle in the distance.

“It’s not my fault you were trying to pass out fake ID’s to Big Town!” the bounty hunter grunted as he got his grappler ready to fire, “Now stand still and take your punishment like a man!”

“You go to Shingle, Lorn-Kisser!” Kreeger kept running.

Wade fired his grappler. The cylinder shot out of his cannon and exploded out into a wire net. The giant net flung itself over the con-artist as he screamed; hitting the highway. The bounty hunter ran up to him to secure him as fast as possible. He was greeted by a blade to his arm. Wade fell after in pain as Kreeger got toward his feet; net and all. The hunter grabbed his gun and kept running. The con-artist wasn’t much further from his land rover. Wade didn’t know what weapons he had in there or if he was just using it to try and escape. Either way, he had to get him off of the Warland and back into Low Town. Then Wade’s thoughts were interrupted by the heavy and long strides of his Lorn companion. “BUDDY, GET HIM!!!” he screamed.

The Lorn known simply as Buddy had been Wade’s best friend since they were both young. Technically, Wade was the kid and Buddy was the hatchling but it’s all the same. At the present, their job was bounty hunting. It paid their rent fees and kept them eating. It also helped them to have something even more successful; a reputation. As soon as they grabbed Kreeger, it would be another notch in their career to one day find a resident in Big Town.

Kreeger got toward his vehicle and quickly got the trunk open. With desperation, he grabbed the long, dark red cylinder and frantically got it open. The moment the lid popped off; he started to dump the contents out on the road. The moment Buddy saw the creature that Kreeger was unleashing on them, he scooted to a halt and then quickly ran back toward his friend. “AMOEBA!” the lizard alien screamed in his gruff voice, “AMOEBA!!!”

Wade looked in shock at the biological weapon heading toward his friend. The dark blue blob wasn’t really a giant amoeba; it just looked like one. That’s why everybody called them that. The creature was probably in the stasis container for quiet a while and Buddy looked like the best meal it’s probably seen in years. The Lorn ran as fast as his massive legs could take him but the Amoeba was gaining speed. Wade knew the one thing that could take it was an incendiary but he wasn’t sure if he could throw it into the creature and not get Buddy caught in the blast. He only had a few seconds to make his decision and luckily his third best friend saved him the trouble.

The Amoeba was taken by the genetic lightning that came from the Blue Zoner named Mikhail. The bald man ran up and fired the electricity from his palms again, striking the blob. It didn’t hurt the blob in the slightest; it only gave it a more tasty meal to look for besides the Lorn it had been chasing. Mikhail launched his electricity again, and then started to run back toward Kreeger. As he did, he was bringing the Amoeba right back toward him. “FILTHY BLUE ZONER!!” the con-man screamed as he got into his vehicle.

“BUDDY!” Wade said, tossing him the incendiary.

“Gotcha, Jonny!” he said, as he pulled the pin and then hurled the fire bomb toward the Amoeba.

With his Lorn strength, the incendiary soared through the air like a missile and landed easily the biological creature. Within seconds, the bomb went off and bathed the Amoeba in fire. Mikhail jumped out of the way as the creature flew apart in fiery junks; mostly landing on Kreeger’s vehicle. The con-artist screamed as he struck a nearby wrecked vehicle from his inability to see. He quickly got out and went back to running down the highway.

Wade leaped over the remaining of the burning Amoeba and ran a few more feet toward Kreeger. He then stopped, pulled out his .45 pistol and fired. The bullets struck the ground near the con-man’s feet and caused him to immediately stop and throw up his hands. He wasn’t too keen on being taken back to the Enforcers; he was even less thrilled of being shot with a gun from an age no longer applying to Earth. “A slug thrower?” Kreeger stammered, “You’re a sick bastard Wade.”

“Shut your hole, Kreeger.” Wade kept the gun on him, “I should shoot you in the foot for sending a damn Amoeba after us.”

“Hey. I’m going to the camps for life now. What would you do?”

Mikhail placed on his grounding gloves and took each of Kreeger’s hands and placed them in cuffs. “How about not break the law to begin with?” the bald man whispered.

“Great, now I am being touched by a Blue Zoner. I’m probably sterile by now.” The con-artist grunted.

“We got a long way back to Low Town, Kreeger.” Wade said, putting his weapons in his combat vest, “I wouldn’t advise making fun of Mikhail’s condition. He doesn’t like it.”

“If anybody should hate the Hioceans, it should be you, Blue Zoner.” Kreeger spit as they walked back toward the bounty hunter’s vehicle, “Perhaps you remember what made you what you are. I’ll bet even your parent’s crystallize corpses are still in the hospital where you were born.”

Mikhail stopped him and then stared at him. His soft blue eyes glowed briefly. Kreeger’s lips flickered a bit, wondering if the bald man was going to electrocute him. “Wade’s right. It’s still a long drive.” Mikhail whispered, “I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.”

Wade slung off his grappler and put it on the side mount of his vehicle. Mikhail shoved Kreeger toward the vehicle, making him grunt as his stomach collided with the side of the transport. The con-man then made a whining sound as Buddy picked him up and set him inside the vehicle. The moment he sat down, Wade took another chain and secured his cuffs. It was a little of a rough go of it but job well done.

Mikhail came over with an old worn down duffle bag and set it on the hood of their transport. “We found his stash, Jonny.” The bald man told him.

Wade walked over and took the duffle bag; unzipping it. Inside were various fake ID’s, creds and Hiocean money. The bounty hunter took one and looked at it. He’d seen a few in his time; the only different was, the thumb print was green; not yellow. Kreeger might have been able to pass these off, telling the Low Townies that the ID’s just simply old. However, it was one of the reasons that Hioceans changed the color every year for the express purpose of keeping track of fake ID’s. Wade sighed, because it reminded him of his father and buying a vehicle tag every year. However, that was way before the Three Year war. Back before Wade lost both his mother and father. The bounty hunter sniffed, zipped up the bag and tossed it in the back next to Kreeger. “Not bad, Kreeger.” He said, getting in the driver’s seat, “You might have been able to get a hefty stack of creds before the Enforcers iced you.”

“I guess we’ll never know now.” He muttered, completely depressed.

Buddy sat up in the trunk area; modified to act as a seat for him, behind Kreeger. Mikhail got in the passenger’s seat while Wade stared the vehicle up. He glanced up at the remains of the plaza before him. The wind had destroyed most of it, as did the war. On the far corner of the plaza was a Mexican restaurant. To the side was a dry cleaners with all its windows smashed. However, it was to his left that caught his attention.

It was a destroyed Screen Time Video store.

Wade remembered raiding the video store when he was trapped in the mall for three years with Buddy. It kept him sane. It kept him from missing his family. He even remembered his mother taking him to find a copy of Treasure Planet. He remembered loving the space age take on the classic story. He never realized that the space age would destroy the type of life he and his family were living. “Wade, you okay?” Mikhail asked.

“Jonny thinking.” Buddy said, “Thinking of long ago.”

“Yeah, just thinking, Buddy.” The bounty hunter smiled, as he pulled the transport out of the plaza structure, “Now I’m thinking I want a Low Town burger. Wrangling fake taggers makes me work up an appetite.”

The Sci-Fighters : Prologue

It was always joked that 2010 would be the year we make contact. Well, the Earth was visited by alien life but not in the way they were hoping.

The Hioceans and the Lorns had been at war for a while. It was over the same things that war was always fought over; land rights. One planet had decided they needed room to breathe and they chose another planet where they thought the life on that world was primitive and easy to subjugate. It was the first mistake the Hioceans made. The Lorns weren’t bred for war but they weren’t defenseless either. They fought back and managed to hold back the Hioceans.

But the war was taking its toll. The Lorns were gaining ground and the Hioceans were straining the budgets of their military just combat them. Then in order for them to get aide in getting toward the Lorn home world, they needed to set up a base on a far distance world. A backward world in the Terran system known simply as Earth. However, what the Hioceans didn’t calculate was that the Lorn’s thought the same thing. They quickly established a base on that distance world as well. The Hioceans landed in North America and the Lorns landed in Australia. Using their advanced weaponry, they began their war on Neutral territory.

Earth became the galactic Gettysburg.

It took 9 months for the Earthlings to determine if they would repel both alien invaders or join sides with them. The Hioceans didn’t seem to care for the humans either way. The Lorns didn’t care either but when they were in heavily populated areas; the giant lizard aliens didn’t hunt them down. They kept their focus on their true enemy. It didn’t stop the humans from dying in the conflict thought. Like helpless villagers in the Vietnam War, they were caught in the middle.

Three years went by and the war was over. The Lorns won but it was by default. The Hioceans had used up their economy fighting a war for a planet they needed their people to live on. The new chancellor of Hioceana funneled his own wealth and found another suitable planet with only animal life. It was a new beginning for the Hioceans and the chancellor made the peace gesture by offering the Lorns a peace treaty. Both worlds accepted the terms and agreed to one thing in particular.

Earth was their second and greatest mistake. The Hioceans and Lorns agreed that their soldiers on the planet would remain there and help the people of earth rebuild their world. If they liked what they saw in 80 years, those soldiers and their families would be allowed to return back toward their worlds.

Humanity began to rebuild itself; allowing the Hioceans and the Lorns to become integrated in their societies they have left after the three year war. It began twenty years ago and humanity is still struggling with their new alien neighbors . . . . . . . .

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