"Phantasy Fox Online"
Mission One: Hunter's Story
"That was the worst mission for hire ever!" Tomato grumbled. She pocketed her reward, and exited the Hunters' Guild. As she headed towards the shop the horrid events of the day's mission played over in her mind.
* * *
"Thank you, for helping me, I used the last of my money to post this job." The Girl said, as she and Tomato stood outside the guild, "I just need you to accompany me from the forest to the Central Dome."
If only the job had been that simple.
Soon the young fox found herself running through the muddy waters of Ragol's forest, frantically shooting behind her. Her client, a young Echidna, fired her pistol as well, though it had little impact on the two's success. Normal monsters weren't chasing them, though; these things looked almost like humans, only with blue skin. "Tell me this," Tomato growled, firing behind her, "Just who are you, and what are those?"
The Echidna stopped, quickly followed by the hunter.
".Well, you see, they're not really monsters." she said meekly, "In fact, they're more like hunters. They've been hired to make sure I don't reach the Dome."
Tomato facefaulted, "If you knew there were going to be this many Hunters after you, why'd you only hire one low class hunter like me?"
"Like I said-" the two ducked, narrowly dodging a laser beam, "I couldn't afford a high class mercenary. My colony, under Central Dome, is a very poor one. I spent the last of my savings hiring you."
Tomato sighed, "This is the worst mission-for-hire ever."
* * *
As she finished spending her reward on restocking supplies, healing her numerous scratches and burns, and feeding her precious Mag, Sato, Tomato did the math on her calculator. "Letsee." she thought out loud, walking back to the warp to the sleep decks, "1,000 Maesta for Monofluids, 600 for Monomates, 10 for the hospital," she continued walking punching in more buttons into the calculator, "300 for the Telepipe, 100 to get that sword appraised, and 675 for a replacement MechGun, and the reward of 2,500 Maesta. That comes to a profit of." she pushed in more buttons, and hit the equal button, her jaw dropped, "Negative 185 Maesta?!"
*Trip* "Hey watch where yer goin' squirt!" spouted a woman. She stood up, and noticed that Tomato wasn't standing, and her discarded calculator. She picked it up, ignoring Tomato's pain. She looked at the calculator, "Negative 185?" She laughed, "This isn't your money, is it?" She joked. Tomato looked up, and nodded. The stranger looked at Tomato, and laughed, "Wow, you're a pretty lousy hunter, aren't you?" Tomato sighed, and got to her feet. "So what if I am?" She looked the girl over. She was an orange- red echidna, scantly dressed at that. On her hips were two swords hilts, obviously turned off (like a Light-Saber). She too was a hunter, and from the looks of it, a very high class one. "So what if I stink at this Hunter gig," Tomato snapped, "I'm just doing what I like to do, and that's all that matters!"
The echidna laughed, and tossed Tomato her calculator, "Aye, well, if enjoying it is all that matters, then a l'il squirt like you shouldn't be worrying about money, should she?"
"Don't call me squirt!" Tomato snapped, stomping passed the echidna "Get out of my way!" She disappeared through the warp. The Echidna smiled, "I didn't know foxes were so temperamental." She shrugged the encounter off, and remembered her task at hand. 'The Hunters' Guild!' She thought, 'I was supposed to meet her there. Hope she isn't too mad.'
* * *
"Damn it, where is she," cursed a hedgehog, " The new jobs are posted in a few hours. if we don't register, all the good jobs'll be taken!" the door to the guild hissed open, and sure enough, their stood the echidna, scratching her head. "There you are!" The hedgehog sparked, "We were supposed to meet here an hour ago!" The echidna replied with a blank stare. The hedgehog raised her fist, and yelled, "Hey! Are you even listening to me!?"
The echidna smiled slightly, "Sorry, who are you, mate?"
The hedgehog grumbled under her breath, and smacked the echidna on the back of her head, "I'm Orange, you moron!"
The Echidna stared at the rodent for a moment, scratching her head, deep in thought. She smiled again, "Oh yeah, Orange! I didn't recognize you," She replied, "You stuffed your bra again, didn't you?" Orange blushed, and punched the echidna in the arm, "Shut up!" The Echidna chuckled, and began walking over to the guild's desk, she winked at the attendant, and asked "Eh there, new jobs up yet?" Orange rushed up to her partner, and pushed her away from the window, "NO WAY! Last time you picked the job I got killed!"
"Aye, I said I was sorry about that, mate!"
Orange ignored her, and looked at the job postings, "Here's one," she read off the board, "missing data android, reward of thirty-five thousand Maesta, plus any relics we might find. That'll be simple!"
"I dunno about this one, Orange," said the Echidna, getting up, minus the accent, "But your missions always get us closer to death that my picks do."
Orange rolled her eyes as she signed the two hunter's names, "I guess you got tired of that Australian accent, didn't you?"
"Aye, lassie!" replied the Echidna, in a Irish accent, "I got a wee bit tired of meh old speaking voice, if ye catch me drift."
"Oy." Orange muttered.
The attendant smiled, "Miss Orange, the warp has been readied for you two."
* * *
"Man, I'm beat." Tomato groaned, lying on her bed, "All that work, and I've lost money. I shoulda stayed on that rotting planet. but nooo Tomato had to get on Pioneer 2, and become a Hunter! I just had to make a name for myself on the new planet." She buried her face in her pillow, "And then Pioneer 1 blew up, and my entire savings account with it!" She sat up, "And with all the chaos created by that crash, I can't log into my bank account!" Her stomach grumbled, and she sighed, "I don't want anyone to know, but these missions are my only way of making money and buying food." She was silenced by the gurgling on her stomach, "And right now, I'm not doing either one." She collapsed on her back, and tried to catch some sleep. She looked up at the ceiling. It was cracked, and leaking. 'The A- Class Hunters get government jobs and they get better bunks than low-class Hunters.' Tomato thought, 'If only there was some way to get recognized by the government, I'd be able to eat my first legitimate meal since the Pioneer crashed!' She sat up again, and looked at the door, 'Well I won't do it by sitting around here!' She jumped from her bed, and left her cabin.
Tomato made her was back to the Hunters' Guild. For some reason, the area was busier than usual; there were hunters lined up outside the door, and going all the way around the deck. There were hunters lined up that she'd never seen before. Several were challenging one another for their spots in line. "What's going on here?" Tomato asked, getting at the very end of the line, "The guild isn't ever this busy." One of the hunters looked back at her, and scoffed, "Obviously, you're one of the stragglers who doesn't take on a job until later at night."
"'Later at night'?" Tomato repeated, "But we're in space! How do you tell time?"
The hunter sighed, "Newbie hunters." He went on to explain, "You're obviously still used to living on Earth's standard time, are you not?" Tomato nodded, "Well, while that's all good for civilians, the government and the clients of the guild use the Beats clock to tell time." He hoped that'd be enough, but it obviously wasn't, "Oh man, you really are hopeless. Well, the Beats clock is closer to the cycle of day and night on Ragol. Right now it's about 6:30 in the AM, your time." "Why does time have anything to do with the jobs?" The hunter looked at Tomato like she was stupid. He was half right. "Don't you know what the government researchers learned about the habits of Ragol's monsters? About this time on Ragol, for the next forty-five of so beats, the monsters aren't as deadly. That makes it the perfect time for clients to commission hunters for odd jobs. They'll pay lots more to avoid any monsters if they can."
Tomato's jaw dropped. She'd been approaching this whole hunter thing from the wrong angle. 'That's why that annoying Echidna was going to the guild so late at night. erm. early in the morning.'
"Now that you know," said the hunter, "you'll most likely never make it in time. They rarely ever get enough jobs during peak Beats to get everyone work."
"Then why are you here?"
"I can hope, can't I?" He sighed, as the line began moving.
* * *
"Chotto Matte Orange-chan (Wait a minute Orange-chan)!" The Echidna gasped, now speaking Japanese, "Kore, Kore wa- (This, This is-)"
*Smack*
Orange smacked her companion, "What is it?"
"Itaiyo! (OW!)"
"Stop speaking crude Japanese." Orange shouted.
"Fine then," The echidna replied, "I think I found the target!"
"Be quiet!" shushed Orange, "Those mutant bear things are still after us! What is it?"
"ROOOOOOOAAR!" bellowed a creature. From the sky dropped a lumbering monster, nearly eight times the two hunter's size, combined. It had blue- orange fur, and huge fist. Its breath was hot enough to be seen, even in the hot humid jungle. And it landed right behind the two.
"Tell me, Orange-chan," the Echidna said, smiling, and not turning around, "There's a huge lumbering beast behind us, ready to pummel me and you into a pinkish pulp, isn't there?" Orange turned her head stiffly, to confirm this fact. She caught a glimpse of the beast, and quickly turned back around. "Yeah, there's definitely a huge lumbering beast behind us, ready to pummel you and me into a pinkish pulp."
"I thought so."
* * *
Several hours- or rather, beats, later, Tomato and her new hunter 'friend' stood in front of the counter, waiting for the attendant to post the latest batch of jobs. Tomato saw one that caught her eye - coincidently, the first one she saw. "I'll take that one!" she exclaimed. The other Hunter looked at her, as the attendant read the job, "Mission: Distress Call from two mercenaries who were attacked in the forest. We received a call only two Beats ago: 'Like help! We're kinda stuck. There are these totally bogus bear thingies that are all messing up my good vibes! Send someone, like, money so isn't an object!' Hmm. this one might get a little rough for you, Tomato," the attendant smiled, "Are you sure you want to take it?"
"Yeah." Replied Tomato and the other Hunter. Tomato glared at the hunter; "This is my gig!" she spat. He grinned, "Obviously, you've never done a mission against a rival Hunter have you?" He stretched his arms, "I'd be glad to help you, I'll even give you a small cut of the reward-" "NO WAY!" huffed Tomato, "Just because I'm clueless to what my job is, and what'll be my reward, I'm not some newbie hunter!"
The attendant typed something into her computer, and turned to the two, "The Warp is ready. You two can head down to Ragol now."
Tomato glared at the Hunter, and rushed to the warp.
*/Loading/*
* * *
Ragol was definitely different from how Tomato knew it. The planet looked completely different in the morning sun. It seemed so beautiful, so serene. She finally saw what must've been the first sight the people on Pioneer 1 must've saw. before they were mauled to death. "Sato," she said to her Mag, "Locate the source of the distress call." She walked through the area, with no trouble whatsoever. Either the monsters were all dead, or they really didn't appear in the early morning. Paths that'd normally taken her an hour to clear were now so empty she was free to explore the area without care of attack. She was busy picking through several crates of supplies when Sato came back, "Tomato, I've found the source of the distress signal. You'll never guess who it is! Please follow me!"
The two followed a winding path through the forest, traveling for a bit, until the Mag stopped. Funny thing is, it didn't tell its master to stop. Tomato kept running, without looking around, until she bumped into the furriest blue barrier she'd ever run into. She fell over.
"Aye mate," mutter the Echidna, sitting next to a hedgehog, "You really are a clumsy one, aren't ya?" The two were stuck in a circle of the Blue-orange monstrosities. Tomato rushed to her feet, and recognized the insult. "You? YOU? You sent the distress signal?" The Echidna shrugged, "Well, we are in a bit of a mess, aren't we?"
The hedgehog shook her head; "We were on a mission, when we were ambushed." She held up a blue piece of metal, "We were able to recover this government probe, but now they've circled around us. I don't know what they're waiting for, but they're not moving, and we can't slip through the cracks."
"I'm sure you can, Orange," the Echidna smiled, "If you're worried about squishing your boobs through that small space, there's no need to worry-"
*Smack!*
Orange sighed, and looked at Tomato pleadingly, "Please, get us out of here, and we'll cut you in thirty percent of the reward!"
Tomato looked at the hedgehog suspiciously, "How much is this mission paying?"
"Thirty-six." Groaned Orange.
"Hundred?" Sighed Tomato
"Thousand." Corrected Orange.
"That'd be about 12,000 Maesta, wouldn't it?"
Orange nodded, "Now help us out!"
"Wait a tic," Tomato grinned wickedly; "You said that's a government probe, right?"
"Yeah, it's the government's," Orange said, "What're you getting at?"
Tomato's fox-like instincts kicked in, "Okay, Orange," She said slyly, "Here's what I want. I want 12,000, and I want to join up with you and get government jobs."
The Echidna poked her head from the living cage of fur, "No way squirt!"
"Then I guess you won't be needing that probe will you? I'll just wait for the monsters to finish you off, then claim the money." She began walking away, breaking Orange's heart. She could've sworn the monster to her right just moved! "No wait!" she cried, "Okay we'll cut you in on our gig, and Thirty percent!"
"Make it fifty percent, and we'll talk."
"Okay OKAY!" Orange cried, "just get me outta here!"
"Yer such a crybaby, Orange." The Echidna sighed.
Tomato looked at the beast. There were six. "What do I need to do, exactly?"
"Jut wake them up and cause a distraction," Orange explained, "And while they chase you, I'll get them all from behind."
'Holy friggen hell!' Tomato thought, but she said, "Right. Toss me that probe!"
"With pleasure, mate!" The Echidna agreed, tossing the blue scrap heap over the blue wall and into Tomato's arms. "What do I do with it now?" Tomato asked as she caught the item.
Orange began searching through a bag, "I don't know! Run defense for all I care!"
The statue like beasts sprung back to life, and did an immediate about face, and were now all stomping towards Tomato. "This was easier than I thought." Tomato said, half panicking, and steeping backwards, "But these things are starting to creep me out!"
"Just wait till they start breathing fire!" The Echidna chimed, now free from their bondage.
"Breathe Fire?" Tomato twitched. She took off running towards the doors. She reached it, and thinking it would open, she blindly ran into it.
Orange pulled a bottle from her bag, unscrewed the bottle, and drunk it. "Alright, I'm ready!" She said, springing to her feet. She sped over to the Fox, hand held up her hands, with her fingers in a gun-like fashion. "Please do not look directly into the flame!" Orange ordered. Tomato didn't really need to take the advice, as she'd already covered her eyes in horror of being pummeled by the beasts.
"Rafoie!" Orange yelled.
Suddenly, an orange-red glow enveloped the six monsters. A second passed, and the glow turned red, and exploded, in a firebomb that engulfed the beast. When the smoke cleared, there appeared to be nothing left of them. ".What the hell was that?" Tomato shuddered. She was covered in soot from the explosion. Orange smiled, "I'm a Force user, sweetie. I mostly just shoot fireballs at anything that moves. we needed you to take the probe while I blew up the monsters from a safe distance."
"Oy." Tomato muttered, falling back.
A few minutes later, after the three cleaned themselves off, Tomato held up the blue and gray probe, and asked, "Just what is this thing?" she wiped some dirt from it, "Kinda looks like those Chao things from Earth."
"Yeah," Orange replied, "This was an Omachao probe. from Pioneer 1."
"Pioneer 1?"
"When Pioneer 1 set out, they wanted to try and introduce some of the Earth's native species," The Echidna added, pulling a twig out of her hair, "Pioneer 1 brought a colony of Chao, and released them into Ragol's environment. This Omachao probe was integrated into the colony to track them from the ship without disturbing them."
"But this thing isn't on."
"Yeah," the Echidna continued, "When the ship crashed, we had no way of knowing what had happened. The government was hoping that this probe would have some sort of information on that day." She took the Omachao from Tomato, "But after the crash, for some reason, all computers on Ragol's surface stopped, dead in their tracks."
Orange stood up, "Well let's get back to Pioneer 2 and get our money."
"Yes! Food for me!" Tomato agreed, she turned to the Echidna, and scratched her head. "Um. who are you, anyway?"
The Echidna smiled, "Jeez, it's been eight pages, and finally someone asks my name..." She turned around, and tossed an item into the bushes. It exploded in a blurry white light, "This'll take us back to Pioneer 2."
"Hey, you still didn't tell me your name!"
The Echidna vanished into the warp, without replying.
"That's Karrot for you." Orange said, shrugging, entering the warp, followed quickly by Tomato.
To- Be- Continued.
Chapter 2 Teaser!
Tomato: . I'm confused. What exactly do all these hunters do for the government that the soldiers can't do? But everyone seems to be getting into the act! Karrot, Orange, even royalty seems to have been employed by the government to explore Ragol. Even. Androids? What the hell is going on here?
Mission One: Hunter's Story
"That was the worst mission for hire ever!" Tomato grumbled. She pocketed her reward, and exited the Hunters' Guild. As she headed towards the shop the horrid events of the day's mission played over in her mind.
* * *
"Thank you, for helping me, I used the last of my money to post this job." The Girl said, as she and Tomato stood outside the guild, "I just need you to accompany me from the forest to the Central Dome."
If only the job had been that simple.
Soon the young fox found herself running through the muddy waters of Ragol's forest, frantically shooting behind her. Her client, a young Echidna, fired her pistol as well, though it had little impact on the two's success. Normal monsters weren't chasing them, though; these things looked almost like humans, only with blue skin. "Tell me this," Tomato growled, firing behind her, "Just who are you, and what are those?"
The Echidna stopped, quickly followed by the hunter.
".Well, you see, they're not really monsters." she said meekly, "In fact, they're more like hunters. They've been hired to make sure I don't reach the Dome."
Tomato facefaulted, "If you knew there were going to be this many Hunters after you, why'd you only hire one low class hunter like me?"
"Like I said-" the two ducked, narrowly dodging a laser beam, "I couldn't afford a high class mercenary. My colony, under Central Dome, is a very poor one. I spent the last of my savings hiring you."
Tomato sighed, "This is the worst mission-for-hire ever."
* * *
As she finished spending her reward on restocking supplies, healing her numerous scratches and burns, and feeding her precious Mag, Sato, Tomato did the math on her calculator. "Letsee." she thought out loud, walking back to the warp to the sleep decks, "1,000 Maesta for Monofluids, 600 for Monomates, 10 for the hospital," she continued walking punching in more buttons into the calculator, "300 for the Telepipe, 100 to get that sword appraised, and 675 for a replacement MechGun, and the reward of 2,500 Maesta. That comes to a profit of." she pushed in more buttons, and hit the equal button, her jaw dropped, "Negative 185 Maesta?!"
*Trip* "Hey watch where yer goin' squirt!" spouted a woman. She stood up, and noticed that Tomato wasn't standing, and her discarded calculator. She picked it up, ignoring Tomato's pain. She looked at the calculator, "Negative 185?" She laughed, "This isn't your money, is it?" She joked. Tomato looked up, and nodded. The stranger looked at Tomato, and laughed, "Wow, you're a pretty lousy hunter, aren't you?" Tomato sighed, and got to her feet. "So what if I am?" She looked the girl over. She was an orange- red echidna, scantly dressed at that. On her hips were two swords hilts, obviously turned off (like a Light-Saber). She too was a hunter, and from the looks of it, a very high class one. "So what if I stink at this Hunter gig," Tomato snapped, "I'm just doing what I like to do, and that's all that matters!"
The echidna laughed, and tossed Tomato her calculator, "Aye, well, if enjoying it is all that matters, then a l'il squirt like you shouldn't be worrying about money, should she?"
"Don't call me squirt!" Tomato snapped, stomping passed the echidna "Get out of my way!" She disappeared through the warp. The Echidna smiled, "I didn't know foxes were so temperamental." She shrugged the encounter off, and remembered her task at hand. 'The Hunters' Guild!' She thought, 'I was supposed to meet her there. Hope she isn't too mad.'
* * *
"Damn it, where is she," cursed a hedgehog, " The new jobs are posted in a few hours. if we don't register, all the good jobs'll be taken!" the door to the guild hissed open, and sure enough, their stood the echidna, scratching her head. "There you are!" The hedgehog sparked, "We were supposed to meet here an hour ago!" The echidna replied with a blank stare. The hedgehog raised her fist, and yelled, "Hey! Are you even listening to me!?"
The echidna smiled slightly, "Sorry, who are you, mate?"
The hedgehog grumbled under her breath, and smacked the echidna on the back of her head, "I'm Orange, you moron!"
The Echidna stared at the rodent for a moment, scratching her head, deep in thought. She smiled again, "Oh yeah, Orange! I didn't recognize you," She replied, "You stuffed your bra again, didn't you?" Orange blushed, and punched the echidna in the arm, "Shut up!" The Echidna chuckled, and began walking over to the guild's desk, she winked at the attendant, and asked "Eh there, new jobs up yet?" Orange rushed up to her partner, and pushed her away from the window, "NO WAY! Last time you picked the job I got killed!"
"Aye, I said I was sorry about that, mate!"
Orange ignored her, and looked at the job postings, "Here's one," she read off the board, "missing data android, reward of thirty-five thousand Maesta, plus any relics we might find. That'll be simple!"
"I dunno about this one, Orange," said the Echidna, getting up, minus the accent, "But your missions always get us closer to death that my picks do."
Orange rolled her eyes as she signed the two hunter's names, "I guess you got tired of that Australian accent, didn't you?"
"Aye, lassie!" replied the Echidna, in a Irish accent, "I got a wee bit tired of meh old speaking voice, if ye catch me drift."
"Oy." Orange muttered.
The attendant smiled, "Miss Orange, the warp has been readied for you two."
* * *
"Man, I'm beat." Tomato groaned, lying on her bed, "All that work, and I've lost money. I shoulda stayed on that rotting planet. but nooo Tomato had to get on Pioneer 2, and become a Hunter! I just had to make a name for myself on the new planet." She buried her face in her pillow, "And then Pioneer 1 blew up, and my entire savings account with it!" She sat up, "And with all the chaos created by that crash, I can't log into my bank account!" Her stomach grumbled, and she sighed, "I don't want anyone to know, but these missions are my only way of making money and buying food." She was silenced by the gurgling on her stomach, "And right now, I'm not doing either one." She collapsed on her back, and tried to catch some sleep. She looked up at the ceiling. It was cracked, and leaking. 'The A- Class Hunters get government jobs and they get better bunks than low-class Hunters.' Tomato thought, 'If only there was some way to get recognized by the government, I'd be able to eat my first legitimate meal since the Pioneer crashed!' She sat up again, and looked at the door, 'Well I won't do it by sitting around here!' She jumped from her bed, and left her cabin.
Tomato made her was back to the Hunters' Guild. For some reason, the area was busier than usual; there were hunters lined up outside the door, and going all the way around the deck. There were hunters lined up that she'd never seen before. Several were challenging one another for their spots in line. "What's going on here?" Tomato asked, getting at the very end of the line, "The guild isn't ever this busy." One of the hunters looked back at her, and scoffed, "Obviously, you're one of the stragglers who doesn't take on a job until later at night."
"'Later at night'?" Tomato repeated, "But we're in space! How do you tell time?"
The hunter sighed, "Newbie hunters." He went on to explain, "You're obviously still used to living on Earth's standard time, are you not?" Tomato nodded, "Well, while that's all good for civilians, the government and the clients of the guild use the Beats clock to tell time." He hoped that'd be enough, but it obviously wasn't, "Oh man, you really are hopeless. Well, the Beats clock is closer to the cycle of day and night on Ragol. Right now it's about 6:30 in the AM, your time." "Why does time have anything to do with the jobs?" The hunter looked at Tomato like she was stupid. He was half right. "Don't you know what the government researchers learned about the habits of Ragol's monsters? About this time on Ragol, for the next forty-five of so beats, the monsters aren't as deadly. That makes it the perfect time for clients to commission hunters for odd jobs. They'll pay lots more to avoid any monsters if they can."
Tomato's jaw dropped. She'd been approaching this whole hunter thing from the wrong angle. 'That's why that annoying Echidna was going to the guild so late at night. erm. early in the morning.'
"Now that you know," said the hunter, "you'll most likely never make it in time. They rarely ever get enough jobs during peak Beats to get everyone work."
"Then why are you here?"
"I can hope, can't I?" He sighed, as the line began moving.
* * *
"Chotto Matte Orange-chan (Wait a minute Orange-chan)!" The Echidna gasped, now speaking Japanese, "Kore, Kore wa- (This, This is-)"
*Smack*
Orange smacked her companion, "What is it?"
"Itaiyo! (OW!)"
"Stop speaking crude Japanese." Orange shouted.
"Fine then," The echidna replied, "I think I found the target!"
"Be quiet!" shushed Orange, "Those mutant bear things are still after us! What is it?"
"ROOOOOOOAAR!" bellowed a creature. From the sky dropped a lumbering monster, nearly eight times the two hunter's size, combined. It had blue- orange fur, and huge fist. Its breath was hot enough to be seen, even in the hot humid jungle. And it landed right behind the two.
"Tell me, Orange-chan," the Echidna said, smiling, and not turning around, "There's a huge lumbering beast behind us, ready to pummel me and you into a pinkish pulp, isn't there?" Orange turned her head stiffly, to confirm this fact. She caught a glimpse of the beast, and quickly turned back around. "Yeah, there's definitely a huge lumbering beast behind us, ready to pummel you and me into a pinkish pulp."
"I thought so."
* * *
Several hours- or rather, beats, later, Tomato and her new hunter 'friend' stood in front of the counter, waiting for the attendant to post the latest batch of jobs. Tomato saw one that caught her eye - coincidently, the first one she saw. "I'll take that one!" she exclaimed. The other Hunter looked at her, as the attendant read the job, "Mission: Distress Call from two mercenaries who were attacked in the forest. We received a call only two Beats ago: 'Like help! We're kinda stuck. There are these totally bogus bear thingies that are all messing up my good vibes! Send someone, like, money so isn't an object!' Hmm. this one might get a little rough for you, Tomato," the attendant smiled, "Are you sure you want to take it?"
"Yeah." Replied Tomato and the other Hunter. Tomato glared at the hunter; "This is my gig!" she spat. He grinned, "Obviously, you've never done a mission against a rival Hunter have you?" He stretched his arms, "I'd be glad to help you, I'll even give you a small cut of the reward-" "NO WAY!" huffed Tomato, "Just because I'm clueless to what my job is, and what'll be my reward, I'm not some newbie hunter!"
The attendant typed something into her computer, and turned to the two, "The Warp is ready. You two can head down to Ragol now."
Tomato glared at the Hunter, and rushed to the warp.
*/Loading/*
* * *
Ragol was definitely different from how Tomato knew it. The planet looked completely different in the morning sun. It seemed so beautiful, so serene. She finally saw what must've been the first sight the people on Pioneer 1 must've saw. before they were mauled to death. "Sato," she said to her Mag, "Locate the source of the distress call." She walked through the area, with no trouble whatsoever. Either the monsters were all dead, or they really didn't appear in the early morning. Paths that'd normally taken her an hour to clear were now so empty she was free to explore the area without care of attack. She was busy picking through several crates of supplies when Sato came back, "Tomato, I've found the source of the distress signal. You'll never guess who it is! Please follow me!"
The two followed a winding path through the forest, traveling for a bit, until the Mag stopped. Funny thing is, it didn't tell its master to stop. Tomato kept running, without looking around, until she bumped into the furriest blue barrier she'd ever run into. She fell over.
"Aye mate," mutter the Echidna, sitting next to a hedgehog, "You really are a clumsy one, aren't ya?" The two were stuck in a circle of the Blue-orange monstrosities. Tomato rushed to her feet, and recognized the insult. "You? YOU? You sent the distress signal?" The Echidna shrugged, "Well, we are in a bit of a mess, aren't we?"
The hedgehog shook her head; "We were on a mission, when we were ambushed." She held up a blue piece of metal, "We were able to recover this government probe, but now they've circled around us. I don't know what they're waiting for, but they're not moving, and we can't slip through the cracks."
"I'm sure you can, Orange," the Echidna smiled, "If you're worried about squishing your boobs through that small space, there's no need to worry-"
*Smack!*
Orange sighed, and looked at Tomato pleadingly, "Please, get us out of here, and we'll cut you in thirty percent of the reward!"
Tomato looked at the hedgehog suspiciously, "How much is this mission paying?"
"Thirty-six." Groaned Orange.
"Hundred?" Sighed Tomato
"Thousand." Corrected Orange.
"That'd be about 12,000 Maesta, wouldn't it?"
Orange nodded, "Now help us out!"
"Wait a tic," Tomato grinned wickedly; "You said that's a government probe, right?"
"Yeah, it's the government's," Orange said, "What're you getting at?"
Tomato's fox-like instincts kicked in, "Okay, Orange," She said slyly, "Here's what I want. I want 12,000, and I want to join up with you and get government jobs."
The Echidna poked her head from the living cage of fur, "No way squirt!"
"Then I guess you won't be needing that probe will you? I'll just wait for the monsters to finish you off, then claim the money." She began walking away, breaking Orange's heart. She could've sworn the monster to her right just moved! "No wait!" she cried, "Okay we'll cut you in on our gig, and Thirty percent!"
"Make it fifty percent, and we'll talk."
"Okay OKAY!" Orange cried, "just get me outta here!"
"Yer such a crybaby, Orange." The Echidna sighed.
Tomato looked at the beast. There were six. "What do I need to do, exactly?"
"Jut wake them up and cause a distraction," Orange explained, "And while they chase you, I'll get them all from behind."
'Holy friggen hell!' Tomato thought, but she said, "Right. Toss me that probe!"
"With pleasure, mate!" The Echidna agreed, tossing the blue scrap heap over the blue wall and into Tomato's arms. "What do I do with it now?" Tomato asked as she caught the item.
Orange began searching through a bag, "I don't know! Run defense for all I care!"
The statue like beasts sprung back to life, and did an immediate about face, and were now all stomping towards Tomato. "This was easier than I thought." Tomato said, half panicking, and steeping backwards, "But these things are starting to creep me out!"
"Just wait till they start breathing fire!" The Echidna chimed, now free from their bondage.
"Breathe Fire?" Tomato twitched. She took off running towards the doors. She reached it, and thinking it would open, she blindly ran into it.
Orange pulled a bottle from her bag, unscrewed the bottle, and drunk it. "Alright, I'm ready!" She said, springing to her feet. She sped over to the Fox, hand held up her hands, with her fingers in a gun-like fashion. "Please do not look directly into the flame!" Orange ordered. Tomato didn't really need to take the advice, as she'd already covered her eyes in horror of being pummeled by the beasts.
"Rafoie!" Orange yelled.
Suddenly, an orange-red glow enveloped the six monsters. A second passed, and the glow turned red, and exploded, in a firebomb that engulfed the beast. When the smoke cleared, there appeared to be nothing left of them. ".What the hell was that?" Tomato shuddered. She was covered in soot from the explosion. Orange smiled, "I'm a Force user, sweetie. I mostly just shoot fireballs at anything that moves. we needed you to take the probe while I blew up the monsters from a safe distance."
"Oy." Tomato muttered, falling back.
A few minutes later, after the three cleaned themselves off, Tomato held up the blue and gray probe, and asked, "Just what is this thing?" she wiped some dirt from it, "Kinda looks like those Chao things from Earth."
"Yeah," Orange replied, "This was an Omachao probe. from Pioneer 1."
"Pioneer 1?"
"When Pioneer 1 set out, they wanted to try and introduce some of the Earth's native species," The Echidna added, pulling a twig out of her hair, "Pioneer 1 brought a colony of Chao, and released them into Ragol's environment. This Omachao probe was integrated into the colony to track them from the ship without disturbing them."
"But this thing isn't on."
"Yeah," the Echidna continued, "When the ship crashed, we had no way of knowing what had happened. The government was hoping that this probe would have some sort of information on that day." She took the Omachao from Tomato, "But after the crash, for some reason, all computers on Ragol's surface stopped, dead in their tracks."
Orange stood up, "Well let's get back to Pioneer 2 and get our money."
"Yes! Food for me!" Tomato agreed, she turned to the Echidna, and scratched her head. "Um. who are you, anyway?"
The Echidna smiled, "Jeez, it's been eight pages, and finally someone asks my name..." She turned around, and tossed an item into the bushes. It exploded in a blurry white light, "This'll take us back to Pioneer 2."
"Hey, you still didn't tell me your name!"
The Echidna vanished into the warp, without replying.
"That's Karrot for you." Orange said, shrugging, entering the warp, followed quickly by Tomato.
To- Be- Continued.
Chapter 2 Teaser!
Tomato: . I'm confused. What exactly do all these hunters do for the government that the soldiers can't do? But everyone seems to be getting into the act! Karrot, Orange, even royalty seems to have been employed by the government to explore Ragol. Even. Androids? What the hell is going on here?