Home To Hunt
Chapter 001 – Making Ready To Hunt
"How long has it been?" A garbled electronic voice asked from behind him as he stared out the window. "I know you have kept count."
"10 years," He replied without turning around. There wasn't a point to denying the question; his former teacher could read him like a book. "10 years since I have even been on this continent, let alone in Sydney."
"Will you be alright?" His former teacher asked, showing uncommon concern.
"I will be fine," He said. "I have hunted on my homeworld before. This will be no different."
"We shall see," His former teacher declared before turning away and leaving him to his solitude. He was grateful for that as he told himself again that this hunt would be no different from the others that he had participated in. And yet he wasn't convinced.
His name was Ronin Sandhair and he was a Human/Yautja hybrid; he was a predator.
#HTH#
Ronin stood before the table that held his weapons and armour. He was garbed in only the loincloth that all the Yautja wore when they hunted. It had taken him sometime to become accustomed to that but he had. Just as he had become accustomed to what he now looked like.
Standing 209cm and weighing almost 180kg, Ronin was small by Yautja standards but still easily dwarfed the majority of Humanity. He could easily lift a fully grown man with one arm and throw him across the room if he so wished. His skin was now a olive green colour and much thicker, just like a Yautja's. His feet hadn't changed much, only growing larger. His hand's, however, were a different story.
They were larger than before, with thicker fingers that each now ended in a claw. While grateful for the abilities those claws now gave him, Ronin still remembered when he looked down and saw them for the first time; and the realisation that he would never be normal again.
The last few changes were, thankfully, much harder to notice. His hairline had remained the same and he had grown out his hair and twisted it into rudimentary dreadlocks. His eyesight was still as keen as ever but was now shifted more towards the infrared end of the spectrum. Not as much as a Yautja's but still noticeable. The last change was his teeth. His canines had grown much longer and sharper. He could actually bite through his own skin with them if he needed too. And yet, if he kept his mouth shut, you would never notice.
Shaking off the memories of the days right after his transformation, he hurried to prepare himself.
First came the net bodysuit that help to regulate his body temperature in various climates. Over this went various pieces of armour. Armoured boots, greaves, skirt, chest plates and pauldrons were all that Ronin wore so as to preserve as much of his speed as he could. An interesting by-product of his transformation; he was faster than a typical Yautja, but not as strong. Lastly came his equipment harness.
For weapons, Ronin carried what he once considered quite the assortment of extraneous and exotic weapons but had since become his standard load. His right arm had traditional wristblades fused to it while his left had his computer and self-destruct. Also built into it was a net launcher. On his back was his Plasmacaster, which fired over his left shoulder, his customised medkit and his combistick. He had a large dagger in his right greave and another on his left hip. His right hip held a custom-made plasma pistol that his teacher had had built for him; a little reminder of home. Another reminder were the 6 grenades he carried; 4 plasma and 2 smoke. Lastly, a pair of shuriken on either side of his spine and several spools of all purpose wire.
The last piece of equipment that Ronin picked up was his helmet. It looked similar enough to a Yautja's that his prey would never know the difference, especially with his dreadlocks flowing out from it. Putting it on and connecting it, Ronin linked his computer with the ship's and updated his map of his chosen hunting ground; his former home.
"Spartan, I'm ready to be dropped off," Ronin communicated through his helmet to his former teacher.
"Do you have a preferred choice?" Spartan asked from the cockpit.
"The tallest structure in the city will do," Ronin asked, silently hoping nothing had changed too much. "I can make my way from there."
"As you wish," Spartan replied and Ronin felt the ship adjust course. "Prepare for release."
Ronin left his room and descended into the bowels of the ship until he came to the descent room. Gabbing a cable from the roof, he attacked it to is harness before standing to one side. He felt the ship stop and a hatch in the floor opened up. Without hesitation, Ronin stepped through it and fell through the open air as he dropped to Centrepoint tower below him. Once his feet touched down, Ronin disconnected himself and the cable retracted into the invisible ship above him before the ship itself pulled away without anyone in the city the wiser.
Looking out at the environment around him, Ronin felt his blood stat to rise in anticipation of what was to come. Unable to resist the call of the hunt, Ronin roared into the night air, challenging all beneath him to face him.