Chapter 1: Tyler Schoditsch

I looked down at the dead bodies and all I see is loot. Whether it's food or weapons, it's all caps to me. The only difference today is that I wasn't the one to kill them.

Stretched in front of me lied the aftermath of a slaughter. Two dead Brahmin lay in front of a patch of burnt ground, of which I could only assume used to be where a wagon once stood. Dead corpses litter the ground around it, already picked for any valuable items.

While walking over to the next body for pay-out, I saw in the distance a few yards down something twitching. Is it a survivor, or some unlucky bastard still bleeding to death? Either way, he was the last and only one I hadn't searched yet. Before I knew it, I stood over his jerking body to find him alive.

I got down on one knee and, while getting as close as possible, asked him, "Who did this?"

The man was in his forties and was clearly an alcoholic; even with the blood and gunpowder in the air, the stench of vodka encompassed every breath. He, along with a destroyed liver, had several gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach. Clutching an open wound, he's only able to spit out one word.

"Guardian…" The man said with a spray of blood.

"Damn it." I whisper under my breath as the old man confirms what I had already assumed. I didn't think I would get any more information from this guy, so I took out my Python from its holster around my waist. With gun in hand, I flipped out the chamber to make sure all six bullets were in and flipped it back. With a calm hand, I pointed the pistol at the slaver to see his panicked eyes in my sights.

"… Don't…" He pleaded

BOOM! A hole the size of my fist now made up what used to be the left side of his face.

Now there was nothing left to do but leave. I had gotten what I needed and now had my bait. As I stood up to leave, I couldn't help but notice something else a few feet away. The sun was reflecting off of something but I couldn't tell what. I slowly walked over to where the light was and looked down to see what had caught my attention.

It was slave collars. Six of them. All piled up together in a group.

I stood there staring for moment, bewildered by what I was seeing, before screaming out, "Motherfucker! The little shit' is releasing them!"

After cursing at the sun for what must had been an hour, I headed off back to the slaver base. It wasn't long before I was walking to the front door to meet one of my favorite friends; the bouncer. I showed him my bounty contract, gave him my revolver, and started heading inside.

"Don't start trouble now." The bouncer grunts. I flick him off.

As I'm walking through the never ending rooms and catacombs to get to my employer's room, I see the usual going on: lap-dances and open sex in the relaxation rooms, videos of snuff films and porn in the video rooms, and alcoholics at the bar drinking themselves hammered. While normally I'd be in all three, today I had to go to a different room entirely; the Prince's room.

After shuffling my way past the dance floor, I somehow managed to make it to the stairwell. Things were much quieter up on the second floor, but unfortunately, the bouncer guarding the Prince's room was just as annoying.

"Ah… I guess you're here to see the boss, right?" He mocked, flapping the diseased hole he called a mouth. "Well, he told me to tell you that if Guardian wasn't dead this time to not even come in."

He smirked and looked behind me. "I see no one. So you can take yourself and that piece-of-shit revolver you call a gun back home to mommy."

I look around a little in relief and say back to him,"What?"

"Didn't you hear me you faggot? I said," Barking, he puts his face inches away from mine, "the boss doesn't want to see you. So take yourself and that piece of-"

He blinks and my gun is in his mouth. He stops talking.

"Now…" I said, taking a second to collect my thoughts. "When I said what, I meant, shut the fuck up. Now let me through or, I guarantee you, you will be used as fodder for the dogs tomorrow." I cock the gun and, with it, I push the two of us through the curtain to the next room.

The Prince's throne room stood before me, large and lavish. A chandelier of two people having sex hung over a heart-shaped bed to my left. To my right, a projector played a movie I couldn't see. Pictures of pre-war celebrities wearing glittery clothing decorated the walls. Behind the projector, being fed grapes by two naked slaves, sat the Prince on his throne.

"What the hell is going on?" He screamed in his high pitch voice, noticing me. As he got up, I could see he was wearing a stainless white tuxedo and fedora. His dark skin and jerry curls made him look like one of the celebrities on the posters behind him. The Prince made it too easy.

"Well Col. Sanders, it seems one of your cocks got out, and by the look of it, a small white one." I said back to him. The boss waved his hand, fury in his eyes, and I took my gun out of the douche's mouth.

"You leave. You stay," The Prince ordered, pointing to the guard and then me. In a fit, the asshole bouncer leaved to go back to guard duty. I stayed while the boss circled around the room, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna cut the bullshit out and get right to the point." He stopped and looked right at me. "I have lost four caravans in the past month and almost thirty slaves. This one prick has lost me tens of thousands. I hired you because I heard you were the best. Tyler Schoditsch, too good for Talon Company and too good for slavers. I signed you for five thousand caps and three weeks later… what? Nothing, that's what."

I stared unflinchingly into his eyes. "This is different. I know his M.O. now and also how to catch him."

The Prince raised an eyebrow, "Really? Tell me."

I took a breath and began.

"He is ambushing them with a Gobi campaign scout sniper rifle from a distance. If he's unable to get them all, he somehow is able to get close to them unseen and finishes them off with an AEP7 laser pistol before destroying their caravans with a frag grenade. It's always the same bullet wounds, always the same burns, and always the same explosive aftermath. I've also figured out what he is doing with the slaves and why he's stealing from you."

A brief look of surprise passed his face before it turns back to anger. "I know why he's doing this. He's taking the slaves and selling them to make money. I already-"

"No." I interjected. "He's not reselling them. He's freeing them. That's why I haven't been able to find a buyer or lead that way." I walked closer to him. "You see, the guy is some kind of do-gooder pussy. He's freeing them because he thinks it's the 'right thing to do'. Because of that, I'll be able to catch the dumbass."

The Prince pursed his lips in contemplation for a few moments before walking back to his throne. Crossing his legs, the Prince pressed his hands together, looked up, and asked, "What will you need?"

"Slaves… Several."