The Adventures of SEARCH
Chapter 1: A very peculiar setup.

Adam rechecked the address that was written on the letter. His brown eyes cocked in confusion as he switched his attention from the letter to the run-down building that was in front of him. It was about 2 stories tall, with gaudy bright green paint. It was windowless, as any other building on Pioneer 2, and had a large sign that read SEARCH, which was hanging on by only a few screws.

"What the hell were you thinking dad?" Adam messed with his hair as he stuffed the letter his father had written to him into the pocket of his combat suit. He debated to himself weather or not he should go inside. His saber swung at his side as he paced in front of the building.

"Can I help you?" Adam wheeled about, and nearly tripped over himself. Standing before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was a Newman, marked by her pointed, long ears. Her eyes were a deep hazel, sharp and piercing. Her skin was slightly tanned, her hair a dark red, which fell down over her ears. She wasn't wearing the skimpy clothing that was usually adorned by other Newman women, well, it wasn't as skimpy. It consisted of a black halter top with crimson designs splashed across it, and crimson pants that gathered into combat boots. "Hello?" The woman said, becoming cross as Adam drooled idiotically as he examined her. A quick kick to the face woke him up however.

"YOWCH! What was that for!" Adam held his hand over his nose, which sustained most of the force from the kick.

"Well that's what you get pervert!"

"PERVERT! I'm not a pervert!"

"Then why were you staring at me!"

"I wasn't staring!"

"Yes you were!"

"Uh… Raze? You really shouldn't scare away this one too…" A voice chided from behind the fuming girl. Raze turned around to reveal another player in the arena. He wore the type of armor that would be associated with a RAmar, and it was very… yellow. He also wore a black mask over his nose and mouth, only revealing his eyes, which drooped slightly in the corners, giving him look of constant relaxation. His hair was blonde, and the right side of it sloped down covered his right eye. "Terribly sorry, but Raze here is easily offended."

"Oh shut up Dax." Raze crossed her arms and stared venomously at the Ranger. He merely smiled in response. Well, his eye looked like he was smiling.

"Anyways, I suppose you're here to sign up and join our sorry little band, right?" Dax examined Adam, judging his combat capabilities based on first impression. Adam retrieved the letter from his pocket.

"Well, not really… I got this letter from my father, and it had this address on it's back… but that's it…" Adam handed the piece of paper to Dax. He weighed the small piece of paper in his hands, then he held it up to a nearby light, tasted the paper (after turning his back to the other two and removing his mask for a split second.)

"Um… what are you…" Adam started. Raze picked up almost immediately.

"Dax used to be a detective." She whispered.

"What do you guys do here anyway?" Adam began to ask but the analysis was complete.

"Hm… well, first off I'll state the obvious and say that this method of communication is very strange for today's technology."

"Duh." Raze broke in.

"On that note however…" Dax continued, "Besides the fact that it is very strange to begin with, it is strange overall." Raze and Adam stared at him. Dax smiled again. "When I say this, I mean that the paper itself is very strange. I cannot determine what it's made of, its origin, or anything about it… very frustrating." Raze and Adam continued to stare at him.

"And you licked it for that?" Raze asked, criticizing his results.

"Unfortunately." Dax shuddered. "Well, let's head inside, maybe Mr. Roland would know more about it." Dax lead the others inside the building.

Inside the SEARCH building was the exact opposite from the front. The first room in the building reminded Adam of a waiting room in a Doctor's office. Complete with the old woman behind the window and mysterious door to the interior. No magazines though.

"Hello Mary." Raze greeted the wizened old lady.

"Hello Maze, oh and good evening Das!"

"Err… It's Dax." Dax said, his eye smiling again.

"And it's Raze, not 'Maze'." Raze said, annoyed.

"That's what I said dear! Oh! and who's your friend?"

"Oh him? He's… well I don't know." Raze shifted her attention to Adam. "You. What's your name?" Raze pointed her finger at Adam accusingly.

"My name is… Adam Kili-." Adam shut his mouth. It was taboo to mention his last name to hunters.

"Adam what?" Raze moved closer to him accusingly. Adam got the sense of being interrogated.

"Adam… Kiling. Adam Kiling." Adam said quickly.

"Kiling?" Raze asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I know a Kiling." Dax said. Adam cursed in the back of his mind. "Bill. He used to work with me back in the department with me. Was he a relative of yours?" Dax winked quickly at Adam so that Raze didn't notice.

"Yes, he was my uncle." Adam said quickly.

"Hm…" Adam prayed that Raze would buy it. "Whatever." Adam mouthed 'thanks' to Dax, he nodded in response. They continued through the door, down a hall way with multiple doors. At the end of the hallway was an elevator.

"Um, what do you guys do here again?" Adam asked once more, even more compelled to know the answer.

"Well, SEARCH is one of the first established independent Hunting Guilds." Dax explained as they stepped into the elevator.

"Independent Hunting Guild?" Adam asked as Raze pushed one of the buttons. The elevator responded by closing it's doors and moving downwards. "Is this thing going down?"

"Yes. Essentially IHGs are micro versions of a hunter's guild, in the way that we take missions, and the hunters that go on the missions are paid for it, with a small percentage going to the guild itself though." Dax explained.

"So, if this essentially the Hunter's Guild, then why are you apart of SEARCH?" Adam asked.

"Because the Hunter's Guild is for amateurs who think they're doing everyone a favor by existing." Raze said passionately. "Essentially SEARCH is for more elite Hunters. Our missions and quests are a little more meaningful and pay a lot more than the Hunter's Guild. We're also independant from the military, unlike the new Hunter's Guild." Raze had a look of distaste.

"Plus we take a lot more on-ship missions, protection jobs, helping the police in various cases, bounty hunting…"

"Assassinations?" Adam asked. Dax looked Adam in the eye with a blunt seriousness.

"Maybe." Dax turned about again as the doors slid open. Adam was stunned for a few moments.

The room before him was absolutely immense. It was multi-tiered, with 3 independent levels. The first level consisted of white tile with a red pathway that led from the elevator to a flight of stairs. They had chairs set out on either side of the path, after a quick count, around 10. The pathway ended with a flight of stairs that evened out at the second level. It consisted of a walkway which was perpendicular to the stairs, and ended with doors at either end. Near the doors and next to the walkway were two semi-circle platforms that jutted out and each had a chair and view screens in front of them. In these chairs, busily typing on their keyboards, were twin RAcasceals. The one on the left had a blue chasis, while the one on the right had a red chasis. Their 'hair' was both done in a ponytail that hung on the back of their head. Behind them were twin staircases, which led up to the third level, which had another walkway, which was parallel to the second level. In the exact center was another semi-circle platform, which had more view screens then the twins, but behind them sat an elderly man.

"Ah, good evening Dax and Raze, who's that with you?" The old man said getting up and moving rather quickly down the stairs, very quickly for having a prosthetic leg. The old man had the look about him of the warship captains from the old war. He kept his short white hair in check and had a proud mustache that drooped over the corners of his mouth. His gait was proud and had a grace to it, and was not hindered by his prosthetic left leg and crutch. His eyes were gray and piercing, the eyes of a seasoned solider that knew the battle field too well. He was wearing dark green robes and his prosthetic leg was fashioned around the design of a leg of armor, and was red. The crutch matched his leg.

"Good evening Mr. Roland, this young man here received a letter from his father with the address for this building written on the back of it. I thought that you would be able to discern its importance." Dax stiffened when he addressed Roland. Adam compared it in his mind to a soldier addressing a superior, but it seemed more out of respect rather than chain of command.

"A letter you say? How strange. Alex Roland. Nice to meet you Mr…?" Roland held out his hand in greeting. Adam accepted the gesture, and regretted it, as Roland crushed his hand in his surprisingly strong grip.

"Kiling. Adam Kiling." Adam answered after being released by Roland's grip.

"It's okay Adam; you can tell Roland your real last name." Dax stated, feeling Raze's icy glare on the back of his neck. Roland looked at Dax in puzzlement, then at Adam.

"My real last name is Kilik." Raze and Roland's eyes both widened. Dax's eyes reflected a knowing.