by K. A. Kerr
Tarik - Entry Level Warfare
By K.A. Kerr
Copyright © 2015 K.A. Kerr
All Right Reserved.
To the Trippel Family and their lost son. Your welcoming compassion towards myself and my family will not be forgotten. I pray that your son has found peace.
Contents
1 - Rewards
2 - The New Jimmy
3 - Assessment
4 - Hard lessons
5 - A Bad Habit
6 - Brothers
7 - An Observer
8 - Loss
9 - A Monster
10 - Battle assets
11 - One of Us
12 - To Native lands
13 - Well That’s New
14 - Major Decisions
1 - Rewards
* * *
Tarik took the pulse rifle in his hands. The GR-638 was a machine built for close quarters combat. His preferences chip transferred all his relevant information and changed the stock and sights to suit his firing style perfectly.
"I'm not sure that I like the weight of the front sight post." He said. "What else do you have that humans can fire?"
"Depends on how many points you have available to spend." The dealer stated.
The dealer was a Sornain, a squat bear looking creature with deep red eyes, standing on its hind legs at about four feet tall but weighing over three hundred pounds. Known for their skills in negotiations Tarik was sure that he would show him the most expensive weapon he had, with the intention of either setting him up to be robbed after leaving or taking all of his points. Tarik needed something reliable but fairly priced if he was to survive as a contractor on the outer territories.
"Just show me." Tarik said, trying to get out of this shady area while he could.
Tarik could handle himself but when dealing with other species it was best if you didn't get attached. As most species did not have any sense of morality, well no type humans would recognize. That always seemed to be the problem with aliens, everything about them was alien. Tarik thought it amusing just how wrong early humanity was about other intelligent beings. Nearly every mold was broken, the things they thought impossible were not just possible but likely. When dealing with the numbers involved in the universe anything was possible, compound that with an infinite timeline and anything will happen.
The dealer grabbed a rifle from under his counter; it was like no other he had ever seen before. The rifle was flat black with a wide point midway through the stock that he couldn't fit both his hands around. There was no front sight post and the trigger was shaped like a bell the size of his thumbnail. It was familiar and strange at the same time. It felt more like a blend of both a hand blaster and rifle more than one or the other. It was almost like it was designed to be both. The black lacked any shine, it was frightening, and he felt like he could get lost in it. It was like he was staring into the void itself. As he was inspecting the rifle he heard the door open behind him.
Glancing back he saw a Gorrex walk in; similar in size to a human the Gorrex resembled a mix between a wolf and a chicken. With his feet displaying three toes with 5 inch talons, it walked to a position several feet behind him and slightly off to his right. His two fangs yellowed as he glared at Tarik.
No doubt the owner had signaled the Gorrex, Tarik grabbed the rifle trying not to show any concern. Animosity between Gorrex and Humans was still high even though their war had ended nearly forty years ago. The Gorrex were first encountered a century back. During the first encounters Gorrex acted as if humanity were nothing but nesting insects. The Gorrex did not even acknowledge humans on the first outlying systems, they simply maneuvered around them setting up their own bases, when they finally moved to a populated human world and killed several people humanity started with warning shots. After that the Gorrex finally agreed to meet. One of the only species to display outright hostility towards humans their leader dismembered our ambassador then ate him on video, which he sent back to the fledgling human systems on all networks. Humans having little presence besides the five systems they claimed as settlements and the three mining systems for resources went to war with guerrilla tactics quickly wearing down five small Gorrex systems. When the five systems closest to the Human Domain were abandoned the humans quickly asserted their claiming rights. The Human domain doubled in size before the Gorrex could even confirm it was the humans who were attacking them. Now with only eleven systems the Gorrex were in a tight spot. As the war raged on neither side was able to push the lines beyond that. The Gorrex still viewed our tactics as cowardly and bemoan their fallen systems. Ten years after the peace treaty had been signed the Kami started their raids, now allies of opportunity the Humans and Gorrex fight together within the coalition.
As his preferences implant sent the rifle his details he visually searched for the rifle on the network. Only a partial match returned but his shock was too much to keep his mouth shut.
"This is a Kami rifle?" Tarik exclaimed.
The shop owner stared at him with his beady eyes unsure how to take his new speech pattern. Figuring his question was rhetorical he looked behind Tarik to the Gorrex.
"Maybe if the humans had more courage and fought on the front lines more of you would recognize the weapon of enemy.” the Gorrex half growled.
Ignoring the comment, Tarik went on the network to find out more about the rifle. The rifle fired both energy pulses and traditional projectiles via an improvised ammunition port. The improvised ammunition port allowed the Kami to fight in nearly any environment, if you were on a rocky world simply put in some rocks, if you were on a comet just put in some ice, in either case ammunition was literally everywhere. The customizable velocity setting would allow you to fire in low-to-null gravity without launching yourself; they also helped to ensure you wouldn’t puncture a hull. The rifle also had some defensive abilities; a null field sweeping shield capable of stopping any projectile in a thirty inch radius. When active it may look like you're walking with an open umbrella but it was effective enough to not be made fun of. This was complemented by the self-destruct, after the shield had absorbed too much energy it would become a suicide bomb for the soldier helping to wear down the overwhelming force. Crude but deadly Kami rifles were rare, not as rare as Kami bodies which would set you up for life if anyone ever managed to recover one, but rare enough.
"How much?" He asked the dealer.
"Twenty seven thousand points." the dealer said, expecting to find out just how much this robbery might net him.
Tarik was shocked it did not cost more; the shield should have cost him fifteen thousand easy. He was either being baited or there was something wrong with the rifle that he couldn't expect the dealer to disclose.
Tarik performed a quick diagnostic of the rifle everything checked out. It even had a full charge on the shield. He did a net search to see if the diagnostic could have been tampered with. Turning up nothing he saw an article about the safety hazards involved with Kami rifles. Diving deeper into the article he found the reason most suspected that few rifles had ever been recovered. The best theory was that the self-destruct would not only detonate because of energy absorption but also in the proximity of too many coded enemies. How many enemies and the priority given to each race remains a mystery but taking this rifle to a market while activated would be a very bad idea.
Probing the rifle he could see that some of the base code had been altered but by who and what the new code said he would need several hours to decode and find out. Kami troopers were stupid grunts as far as anyone can tell; operating alone and securing small areas until they could be backed up by larger patrol ships. What happens after that is a bit of a mystery as once it has been claimed by the Kami i
t was either destroyed in their retreat or masked by the shield the patrol ship operated.
“What will it be human? Either purchase it or leave, as you can see I have other customers.” the dealer stated flatly.
“I’m not sure I can afford that, think you can knock it down to twenty three thousand?”
“The price is the price here; I do not haggle with lower beings.”
The Sornain was acting strangely, normally shrewd negotiators he must still being trying to figure out how much he could take from him. It was either that or he was trying to impress the Gorrex. Tarik wondered if this wasn’t all part of the Gorrex’s plan, calling humans “lower beings” was more their style.
Tarik brought up a legal counselor program to see if outright robbery was illegal here, at the same time he activated his personal recorder to capture evidence if it were. Being directly interfaced with the program and operating at the speed of thought; the apparent lag in the conversation shouldn’t raise too much suspicion.
“Is robbery a crime on this world?”
“Robbery is illegal on this planet; if you suspect you are going to be a victim of a crime I can alert the local authorities.” The program went on like a buzz in Tarik’s head. “I see that you have activated a recording device, be aware multiple other recording devices are active within the building. I would advise against informing the authorities now as a false report comes with stiff penalties.”
Tarik had to think. Why would they have active recordings ready to transmit if they were going to commit a crime? Just then his attention was called back to the Gorrex.
“The scent of human is disturbing me, finish your business with the human [untranslatable name]. They smell disgusting when they are still alive. I much prefer the smell of cooked human; although they still smell like [untranslatable] at least you know you're going to feast.” The Gorrex shifted displaying his red tail feathers. Obviously this was an older male who more than likely was a veteran of the war. Asserting his dominance through body language was normal, Tarik was just glad he wasn’t spraying the walls.
“This one does smell familiar though” he continued obviously trying to goad him into a fight “I must have slaughter one of his kin, they are filling but I wish they didn’t taste so much like rodent.”
The Gorrex was pushing him hard. He did not believe this particular Gorrex had slain and eaten his kin. However most of Tarik’s family did fight in the war, all of them who left did die so it could be true. Tarik was green when it came to the galaxy but he wasn’t completely naive.
“Legal counsel, is assault legal on this world?” Tarik queried the program. Did they just want him beaten to the point whereas he gave up his points?
“Assault is illegal on this world, however if parties challenge each other they may assault one another without recourse.”
“What are the rules of a challenge here?”
“To initiate a challenge one party must issue said challenge and the other party agree to that challenge. After acceptance the initiating party may attack at will, the accepting party cannot initiate the first attack or they will forfeit any rewards that are to be gained and will be put to death by the initiating party’s closest kin. The accepting party is permitted to defend oneself during the first attack. Being an off worlder you are not permitted to initiate a challenge, that right is reserved to citizens of [untranslatable] and tax paying members of the packs.”
“What happens if I refuse a challenge?”
“Refusal of a challenge comes with a penalty of ten thousand points, after which the refusing party would not be permitted in any establishment but a transportation office and is then exiled from the world.”
Okay, so either fight or sulk back to Sol a poor man.
“What about weapons?”
“Challenges are normally unrestricted in regards to weapons. Most challenges end in death for one party and at times both.”
“What are the potential rewards you had mentioned?”
“The winning party will inherit all of the losing party's assets less the funeral costs of 100 points.”
So that’s the game they wanted to play. Get him all worked up ready to fight and then split the purse after he was dead or intimidate him enough that he walks away but still poor. Given the scarring around the Gorrex’s talon’s it was obvious this particular creature was extremely deadly. Being one of the few species who would stand a chance against a human, Gorrex were fast and could disembowel a human with those talons. If the talons didn’t get you their beak would with a row full of wolf like teeth. They had a natural defense of a thick coat fur with a waxy coating. They did have several weakness though, hollow easily breakable bones, incredibly delicate nerve endings along the entire backbone and short arms that could be ripped right off given enough pressure. Gorrex were natural strikers but would be demolished in a grappling match, the trick was out maneuvering them to that point.
“... you hold down the young humans like this one with your fore claw, careful not to cut too deep or they will leak [untranslatable] everywhere. You have to wait for them to empty their bowels and bladder or you're going to have a mess when you butcher them…” The older Gorrex was explaining to the dealer, obviously enjoying himself.
Squaring his shoulders, Tarik turned to see the Gorrex. Inexperienced he was but a plan had formed and he was going to have to execute it immediately if he was going to get out of this alive.
“Got something to say [untranslatable]?” The Gorrex said while digging the talons of his left feet deep into the floor.
“Just thinking how familiar this all sounds, my brother used to tell me about trying to fry up pieces of Gorrex. The butchering was much the same but the meat, what little there was on those skinny bones, was inedible. Something about the disgusting parasites you have built up in your body spoil what's left too quick to get a decent meal.”
The Gorrex shook its tail meant to display his numerous red feathers. The dealer activated a diffusion screen behind him protecting him from the back of the counter to the very rear of the store.
“Why not set down the rifle young one while your elder shows you a thing about respecting your superiors.”
“I’ll set down the rifle, but I have yet to see anyone superior here.”
Tarik placed the rifle down on the counter behind him and half turned ready for the Gorrex to issue his challenge.
“I hereby issue a challenge human, do you accept?”
“I do.”
“Good, let us commence then.”
Getting right down to business the Gorrex was just waiting to kill. Tarik stood ready to defend the first attack, letting his body show that he intended to shift forward to take the attack head on. Gorrex assumed all Humans were arrogant and Tarik wanted to play on that.
The Gorrex leaned forward about to spring off with his talons and bared his teeth which turned green to signify excitement; he was now salivating in anticipation. His upper body tensed, pulling in his short forearms. This Gorrex was skilled and powerful, just the look of him told you he relishes bringing pain and death to others. He pounced then, head forward but swinging so that his talons were coming directly at him.
As soon as the back legs made the rotation and were trained on his chest, Tarik grabbed the rifle from behind him. Knowing the Gorrex couldn’t see what he was doing from that angle. He was careful not to pull the trigger and forfeit the match; he activated the shield and leaned backwards in case this didn’t work.
As Tarik brought the rifle around and began his lean, angling the tip of the rifle to where the Gorrex midsection will be when he reached the position Tarik was previously in. The Gorrex noticed the change in posture, not wanting to relinquish he first strike advantage but unable to change his momentum he turned his beak to his left aiming for Tarik’s exposed neck.
The Gorrex came down missing his mark but because of Tarik’s movement it got him deep in the shoulder. As the Gorrex sank his teeth into him, the shield Tarik had act
ivated sliced right through the neck of the Gorrex; decapitating him on the spot.
The severed Gorrex head snapped open and closed once more gouging deeper into Tarik's shoulder. The head then fell to the floor with a splat. It rolled around and started snapping open and closed again. The body however continued its talon first charge with purple blood squirting from the neck clear across the room. Not slowing down the talons gripped the edge of the counter and started to run vertically up the protective shield the dealer had activated. The body walked up the field and with enough force it took 3 steps on the ceiling where the spurts of blood then turned into a steady stream before dropping hard onto the floor, with a loud crack of multiple bones and still kicking did a full turn on the floor then finally coming to rest. If he weren't so damned scared and in pain he probably would have laughed.
Tarik stood stunned, mouth agape at what just happened. He needed to think quickly!
“Legal counsel, did I break any laws in this establishment?”
“No. Everything that has transpired was legal. Would you like me to process your claim for challenge reward?”
“First send the recording to local authorities to cover my ass. Then submit the reward claim.”
“Complete. Local authorities acknowledge the file and confirm that no crime has taken place. Your reward of twenty one thousand one hundred sixty points less one hundred points for funeral services has been processed.”
Snapping his jaw shut with the realization that he just nearly doubled his available funds Tarik sobered quickly. He needed to get out of this place now but he also needed to leave an impression with the crooked dealer.
Tarik turned to the dealer. “The weapon has been heavily used” He casually reached into his left pocket grabbing a handful of wound sealing packets applying them to his shoulder he went on “I think twenty thousand points will be suitable, deal?”
The Sornain said nothing, it just stared at the gruesome scene that lay before him and nodded twice. Almost in agreement the Gorrex head snapped twice.