Trials of Beta
Chapter One: Awakening One's Potential
"Beta..." The voice of Lunehhy was soft yet cheerful and full of life, Beta was certain angels had voices like that. The tall brown haired man turned to the shorter, yet far more experienced red headed female, a RAmarl by the name of Lunehhy. Like always she wore a black leather outfit, complete with a green beret which sat atop her head at a slight angle. Her face was war painted again, that could mean only one thing: She was getting ready to go down to Ragol to hunt.
"Yes, Lunehhy?" Beta responded to his friend, a smile playing across his lips. Beta himself wore a long black robe, a dark thin veil hiding the lower half of his face.
"Surprise!" With a flourish Lunehhy produced from behind her back a gift wrapped box, a red ribbon wrapped around it with a fancy bow on top. Presenting it to Beta, Lunehhy waited for him to take it, which he did.
"For me?" Beta asked in mock surprise. This is the second gift she's given him in the past two days, the first being a Shadow Rod. What was she up to? "I wonder what it could be?" Lunehhy rocked back and forth on her heels as Beta meticulously unwraps the present and opens the box. A gasp of surprise sounds from Beta as from the now open box pops out a dark blue Sato type Mag. "A... A Sato? Thank you!" Beta hugged his friend, the Sato Mag recognizing Beta as it's master and moving to float over his left shoulder. The Mag was very cat-like, with pointy ears sitting atop it's spherical head. It's body was slim, with two small 'hands' on it's underside. Completing the look was the bushy, fox-like tail. All in all, the Sato was very cute, one of the main reasons Beta was infatuated with it.
Lunehhy giggled, returning the embrace. "You've been talking about wanting one for the longest, so I went and raised one for you." She beamed with pride.
Beta was overwhelmed. Lunehhy raised it, herself? "You did that, for me?" He asked as he released Lunehhy.
"Of course, silly head!" Lunehhy exclaimed cheerfully, winking at Beta. The Sato chirped, wanting just a little attention, which it promptly received, in the form of Beta rubbing the top of it's head with one finger. It cooed in pleasure, it's tail waging happily, enjoying the attention very much. Beta was so absorbed in bonding with his Mag, he didn't notice Lunehhy sneak off away from him...
Just outside the Residential Area, Lunehhy meet up with the HUcaseal HK-55. The female android, red and black in color with glowing blood red eyes, was resting against the wall next to the entrance to the Apartments. She was Lunehhy's hunting partner, whenever she went down to Ragol, HK-55 was always with her. They were an inseparable team...
"You ready?" HK asked in a flat tone. Lunehhy nodded, her face and expression deadly serious.
"Let's do this thing." She stated as herself and HK headed for the transporter room. They got no more then a couple steps when the voice of Beta rang out behind him.
"Hey! You guys going hunting? Let me come along!" Beta yelled as he ran through the double doors of the Residential Area, Shadow Rod in hand, his new Sato cruising along behind him. Lunehhy turned to look at HK-55, who promptly shook her head.
"No, you're too weak, you'll only be a burden." HK said harshly. Tact was something she wasn't known for. Beta got a disgusted look as he slowed his pace to a halt, standing before the two.
"Too weak? I am not weak!" He retorted angrily. If the android could have snorted, it would have.
"This isn't just a simple hunting mission, this is..." HK started, then halted, as if she decided to not elaborate any further. "Never mind. Just know that you aren't strong enough to be of any help to us."
Beta looked to Lunehhy in despair, who just shrugged helplessly. "Sorry Beta, but it's true. Stay here, you'll be safe. I don't want anything to happen to you."
HK-55 crossed to stand in front of Beta, her blood red eyes locking with his. They were about the same height, "This is for your own good." She said. He didn't even see it coming, HK's balled up fist slamming into his stomach, doubling him over. Stars flashed before his eyes. As he slid to the ground in a heap, he could hear Lunehhy cry out and say.
"Did you HAVE to hit him?" To which HK replied, rather coldly he noted, "He'll survive..." The two kept talking, but Beta found that his world washed over gray as he slipped into unconsciousness...
He awoke a few hours later in the sickbay, a pink haired Nurse standing over him. "Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely concerned.
"Yeah... Who brought me in?" Beta asked, rubbing his stomach and wincing. He had a bruise there.
"Some android. She said you got mugged. There was a Ranger with her too, they left after leaving you in my charge. Do you remember who mugged you?"
Beta blinked. Mugged? Huh? HK! That stupid android! "No... I don't, but I have a good idea. Can I leave?"
"Well, sure. You'll have a nasty bruise on your stomach for a while, but other then that you're in perfect health."
Beta didn't say another word, merely sliding off the bed and reaching for his Shadow Rod. His Sato was there, eyeing him sadly. He rubbed the Mag's head.
"Before you leave, you have to pay us 10 Meseta." The Nurse said.
Beta grumbled under his breath and fished 10 Meseta out of his purse, dropping the coins into the Nurse's open hand. "There you go."
"Thank you! Please be careful!" The Nurse said as he left the sickbay.
Storming back to his two room Apartment, Beta threw his Shadow Rod at the far wall across from the door in fury, this outburst causing the Sato to make a soft whimpering sound. His blood boiling, Beta's fists clenched and unclenched themselves seemingly without his knowledge.
"Stupid Android. I'm not weak... I'll show you! I'll become stronger, I may only be just a Force, but I'm still a Class A Hunter!" He proclaimed outloud, then crossed through the living room into the bedroom, throwing himself onto the bed, tearing off his veil with one hand in the process and tossing it mindlessly aside. Crossing his arms over his chest, Beta stared hard at the ceiling, anger and contempt twisting his face into an unsavory frown. His mind was busy at work, coming up with ways to make himself stronger.
I can't use the VR Unit anymore... Maybe I should go down to Ragol? Yeah, go down, get some first hand experience... But by myself? No, not by myself. I should hire someone to go with me and help me train... In fact, that's what I'll do! I'll go down right now to the Hunter's Guild and hire someone to train me!
His mind made up, Beta swung his legs over the side of the bed and got hurriedly to his feet, stooping and snatching up his veil to put it back on his face. He had about 30 thousand Meseta in the bank. He could hire someone at 700 Meseta a day, and would be able to train for well over a month. Already his frown was gone, replaced by a grin as he ran out his Apartment, Sato in tow. Beta abruptly halted midway down the hallway, something coming to his attention unexpectedly. He turned to look at the Sato. "I think I'm going to give you a name... How does Kilala sound to you?"
The Mag cooed curiously, then bobbed up and down happily, making cheerful chirping sounds, giving it's approval of the name. Beta's grin widen. "Kilala it is then." He said as he rubbed the top of Kilala's head with his index finger for a moment before he resumed his original task of running down to the local Hunter's Guild to file out the form needed to hire a Hunter.
The Hunter's Guild was a large, spacious room, with some tables for Hunters to come and sit and talk amongst each other. Directly across from the automatic door was a bay view port, allowing the Hunters to gaze upon the surface of Ragol. Standing behind the counter was a single blonde female dressed in blue, she was gazing out the view port on Ragol. She was the person he had to talk to, and so he crossed the room to her. As he neared, the receptionist noticed him and spoke up, reciting her line.
"Enrich your life! This is the Hunter's Guild, welcome. We can assist yo-" She started, before Beta simply shook his head, cutting her short.
"I'm looking to hire a hunter." He said flatly. The receptionist blinks, then oohs softly.
"Very well, you'll need to fill out this form. Put down your name, a brief description of the job, as well as how much you'll pay, and then return the form to me." She stated as she withdrew a form and a pen for Beta from under the counter. Passing these over to the FOmar, the receptionist resumed idly staring out the bay view. Slightly perturbed by the fact that they were still using pen and paper in this day and age, Beta found an empty table and began to fill out the form. Within moments he returns the form to the receptionist, who smiles and thanks him.
"Please come back. The Hunter's Guild helps to enrich your life!" She said as Beta left the Guild room. It was her parting line.
It would be four days before Beta would receive a reply to his job offering. It came in the form of a Simple Mail, the Hunter's Guild alerting him that someone was willing to take the job, and that he should come down to the Hunter's Guild to meet the Hunter. And so here he was, in the Hunter's Guild, a HUmar standing before him.
"You Beta?" The blue haired man asked. He wore full body blue armor, modulated to allow for maximum mobility. His blue hair was short, coming down to his neck. What Beta noticed most about him was the scar over his right eye. Judging by the way he carried himself, this man must be a very experienced Hunter.
"Um... Yes, I am. And you are?" Beta asked hesitantly.
"Alex D. So I understand you want someone to help you train?"
"Yeah. Basically, I want you to train me to fight. I can use magic, but I want to know how to fight." Beta said, "Think you can handle that?"
Alex chuckled, his shoulders rising and falling. "Yeah, I think I can. So, shall we start?" With a nod, Beta followed the HUmar to the transporter. The thick blast doors which separated the transporter from the rest of Pioneer 2 rose up as the two men neared it. The guards posted outside it stood unwavering. They were the first line of defense in case a monster somehow managed to get to a transport pad on Ragol and came up to Pioneer 2. Although the chances of that actually happening are extremely rare, it was always better to be safe then sorry. "Where to?" Alex asked as he stood next to a computer.
"Hmmm... Put us down anywhere." Was Beta's response as he himself went and stood on the large, circular pad in the center of the room. Blue rings of light rose from the edge of the pad, disappearing into the ceiling. He was very nervous, and excited too. This would be his first time going down to Ragol. Without another word, Alex D. selected a destination and stood on the transporter pad. The console chimed and Beta instinctually closed his eyes as his body was converted into pure energy and shot down to Ragol, were a smaller pad waited, reverting Beta back to his solid matter form. The trip took the span of a blink of an eye. Technology was simply amazing.
Beta looked to his left, making sure Alex was okay. The older hunter was already off the pad, striding into the wilderness, his blue Photon Saber out and ignited. "Huh? Whoa! Wait!" Beta called out as he ran to catch up to Alex D.