Steel-Jaw Promises

Ridge winced after picking at his bandages trying to loosen the binds, with Rayce scoffing at his reaction as they both watched Vronica addressing their Captain's wounds. Barely a murmur left his mouth, aside from a worn-out sigh.

"The bruising won't last, thankfully" Vronica was applying the last of the aerosol solution on his neck before applying a bandage.

"So you want to run that by us again because it sounds like you're saying that we have to deal with not just an arm's dealer but an assassin who's most likely his buyer." Rayce sat on one of the chairs in their hotel room, as he made his way through his second bottle.

"Jackboot James won't be causing trouble for us..wince...right? we just have to reach him before the buy" trying to put on his shirt and shaking off being tossed about. Almost chewing off his lip in envy as Vronica offered to help their captain, but he would rarely if ever take notice of her.

'Sometimes I wonder which of them is the machine?' watching Vronica and Thella as they tried to stop him from heading out so soon.

"Captain...just, let's hold on for a second. What do we do now? We weren't expecting...well that kind of interruption" Ridge wondered as he tried to unhand the drink from Rayce.

"It's been only two days and we've already seen Jackboot James and Ozrickt in the same planetary system, far too coincidental, especially with the tip about the Fuel Fields...perhaps whatever we are looking for is sensitive to temperature change if he's going to be at one of the coldest places on the moon" Pierce suggested.

"I can see why you might think that but it could literally be anything...perhaps he's just hiding out from everyone that could be looking for him"

"Sure but that wouldn't explain why his companions are so willing to make a huff in the city if it could risk shining any bit of light on what they could be doing" Rayce chimed in, as he turned to Pierce giving a nod.

"...Vronica. Could you give us a list of stuff we've tracked to Ozrickt's smuggling" Thella got onto her feet with a curious look about her. Standing beside Vronica as she presented her findings onto the desk.

"Hold on-on. What was that last one?" Thella lept towards the pair.

"Hmm..what's wrong?" Pierce asked.

"...huh...eh…Captain what was that thing you said about the Fuel Fields fields?"

"That it is the coldest place on the moon, so it must have something to do with what Ozrickt is planning."

"Right and what's the closest planet to us right now"

"Saturn, but there's nothing there except for gas mines and..."

"Yeah...Vronica, could you match any of the recent shipments from Saturn to Titan with the appearance of other shuttles, excluding cargo and personal transport."

"There's are match for thirteen-thousand six hundred and fifty-nine ships"

"All right remove and all the ships coming to or from the Inner-Rim Worlds"

"Six thousand ships sir"

"Hmmm, ship transports traveling to the furthest possible station in the Sol System"

"The Kuiper belt were are left with only forty five"

"Now out of those forty five, how many are owned by a corporation or company group, excluding those."

"Why are you excluding them?"

"Because corporations need to have their transports transparent or risk investigation from the council on smuggling grounds. Meaning their passengers might have to pay extra...a hidden detail but an obvious smoking gun if found" Rayce answered Vronica.

"Twenty three transports"

"Excellent. Now we just have to match the twenty three with the ones that arrive within the last three days"

"Six vessels. All are currently docked at the moment"

"Okay we found the potential ships but what does it mean?" Rayce, finally finishing his drink, asked the pair.

"What we're looking for is anything unlisted that could be sold on the black market. Metallic hydrogen. And Jackboot is a prime customer" Vronica stated.

"Jackboot hired him to smuggle the fuel for him. Sol has some of the most relaxed Silver Council presence in the Orion Arm, but that's due to the Imperial Forces securing it. He probably thought it would be a good place to stop without any Blades to follow."

"Guess that means the tip was likely a request coming from him to Ozrickt, looks like we've been chasing him on his milk run." Ridge joked as he pulled out a data slate before showing the pair something and then handing it over to their Captain.

"We just need to find the location of any 'fuel' deliveries to the Fuel Fields. They're used for storage, find those and we'll find where he's hiding.

Stretching for a moment before getting off his bed and grabbing his jacket.

"Let's get going" Leading the way to the exit with Rayce letting out a sigh before grabbing a half-emptied bottle of booze and walking after the rest of the crew.

The intense buzzing of running pumps and whirling generators meddled together to produce the distinct sound of the Fuel Fields bringing an otherworldly aura to the stretch of land highlighted with emerald hues of the sky above.

A unique clang of overlapping gears that meshed rigidly from the sound of a mucky substance logged between them followed the resounding steps through the facility.

"....hmmm...." A rotating scope flickered with different colors as the mechanical figure craned his gaze over the windy facility.

"What's going on boss–"

"Shush. What kind of flesh sack bullshit are you planning?"

"Please yell a little louder, I don't think anyone heard you?" A jovial voice called out of the machine-like figure.

"Listen here Jackie boy. I can't exactly have my favorite customer being seen by the masses, or it'll be very hard for you to stay my favorite." A lanky figure walked out from behind a hologram, disguising him as one of the many storage tanks. The field deactivated as he met the figure, revealing an ornately decorated ship in its place.

"Ozrickt!"

"Good to see you too pal, how about we step inside for a moment, we've got a lot of business to discuss."

"Not interested, do you have what I want or?" Pulling out a pistol and aiming it at Ozrickt's head, while he was still facing the ship. Ozrickt let out a chuckle before turning back to him, in complete surprise, he rushed for the gun when there was a bang.

Elsewhere several vehicles scoured the Fuel Fields, while Vronica updated their GPS periodically, she noticed the sudden bang catching her attention.

"Everyone, There might be something going on in the East. I am calibrating your navigation system if you are the nearest one to that location."

"Right. Call for backup and maintain a safe distance." Was all the rest of the team heard before one of them raced off into the distance. Vronica tried to implore them to wait, but pretty soon they were unreachable, passing into a veil of static that put her on edge.

"Happy..." Rayce whispered to the Pygmy as they watched their leader head off.

"Jacky Boy, if you are going to start slagging steel, our business might conclude with no one being happy" A tiny plume of smoke puffed out from Ozrickt's jaw, shining with a golden sheen.

"Hmmm." The recursive sound of the cyborg's cogs clicked for a few seconds, with his pistol still aimed at his head.

Taking a sudden step back after watching Ozrickt who merely spat the bullet out, with a jolt of static running along his metallic jaw before the illusion of flesh was quickly restored.

"Now let's be gentle-borgs about this, and start talking credits"

His eyes with a red beam as he heard those words

"100 000, as agreed"

"Whoa Jackie boy. and not a cred short. Seems like I can always count on our business." Checking the incoming credits on his micro-slate displaying the transaction on a digital window.

"And here is your access key. It'll bypass the cloaking around the storage vessel" Passing the cyborg a data card along with the location of his purchase.

"Though, how would you like to make back half of that?"

With a cloud of dust fast approaching the Fuel Fields. James understood what was asked.

"Blades gonna cost you extra" Pulling out another pistol from out of his coat.

"Ahh, you've got me smiling more than my wives today" Tapping him on the shoulder as he entered the disguised ship as it began to start its engines.

All the while, the cyborg's gaze focused on the image, changing with each layer of enhancement and filtering bringing the object of his gaze becoming clearer. An instruction was sent to his gun, changing the state of the ammunition as he let out heavy shots through the dusty air.

The rounds went screaming through the air before Ozrickt could realize that the cyborg had opened fire, the glowing plume borne of the explosion lit up his ship as it tried to take to the skies, but as he was about to lean into his seat, a strange object caught his eye.

The cyborg watched for the flaming wreckage only for the mangled scrap to be flung into the air, winding over him in a warring cry of crumbled metal that smashed into the craft that lost its veil of shimmering light as it tried to take to the skies.

The pile of mangled steel and rubber knocked the ship's engines apart, with them flying apart in a frenzy, the chaos sent the fuel containers colliding with one another as it tried to stay afloat before driving itself into the dirt.

'The fool should have paid me half in advance. You know I don't like killing blades, your kind are like pests, no matter how many I step on, more come crawling out to annoy me." James kept his guns trained on the direction the craft came charging in. Convinced of something that couldn't be seen through the dust-swept Fuel Fields.

"Either way, I'm not leaving without your head, so why don't you make it easy on yourself" Firing off into the distance. The sound of gunfire rushed through trench-like space, with his target refusing to budge.

Taking his insistence to mean action on his part, he began walking towards him, following a faint heat signature, with the glowing orb that followed every step he took, growing more vibrant through the night-fallen fields.

Tracking their charge as they tried to hide before the fuel stores. With each shot he took, he got closer though never actually making its mark.

"Let the Maker's Word guide me" A silent prayer gave him a moment of calm as he rushed out of his ditch, catching a stray bullet into his arm, the round buried itself into one of the tanks.

Jumping down the ditch, the cyborg notices his visor fogging up with the temperature sensors warning of a drop all too sudden. Trying to push the fog out of his way, the vapor formed icy crystalline formations built up in his cogs.

"Must've pierced one of the fuel tanks, the cryogenics is messing with my optics and cogs. Lured me into a trap did you…" Trying to track the heat signature that had all but disappeared behind the frosty veil for vapor.

Before the servos in his legs clanged after an echo of something striking his frame. Quickly putting his sights on the source, he barely caught the past mist of vapors.

Through the gray mists more of these strikes came out, glinting steel sparked against his metallic frame. Partly lighting up Pierce's masked face. Trying to grab at him, his limbs reacted far too slowly.

With the cold overwhelming his electronics, the sound of warning chimes alerted his cooling systems to seize to prevent a complete shutdown.

"Tch, screw this. Your bio body won't last all that long in the cold. When you've frozen to the bone, I'll come dragging your corpse behind my ship." Heading on his way, his steps became far more rigid as he noticed the bent struts and cracked cogs.

'I got what I wanted, I'll deal with him later' Summoning his ship, with its arrival, driving the winds saturated with fuel moving closer to the burning wreckage. A mangled cable secured itself to him before he took off, under the high beams coming from the arriving transports.

But the danger wouldn't subside as Pierce understood shivering with the biting cold, he moved through the twisted maze of steel and sparking cable ends huddled nearby. With the familiar shine of gold, he knew that he found what he was looking for.