"Fine. I'm an interplanetary traveler who goes into dangerous places for profit, but with little choice in the matter," said Scott. It was about as close to the truth as he could explain.
She blinked, and then snorted before granting him a flat expression. "Ah, a bounty hunter like me? Why not just say that?"
"It's more complicated than that, but it's close enough to the truth," said Scott.
"A complicated truth, huh?" Samantha rose from her seat then gestured with her hand. "So, what were you doing on Xev-97."
"Would you believe me if I told you that I was fighting zombies, got bored and played a game, then ended up crossing time and space? Oh and it just so happened that I randomly arrived there moments before you found me?"
She looked at him carefully for a moment. "No." Though, after a moment she asked. "What's a zombie?"
"Living dead. People who have contracted a virus that kills them, but it still animates the body. They wander around in a daze and try to feast on the living," said Scott like it was the most normal thing in the world to discuss.
"Sounds nasty." She tapped her chin. "And a little like a fungal spore space pirates used to mind control a team of weapon research scientists at the Nebula Seven research facility."
"That sounds nasty, too," said Scott.
She nodded to him then took a deep breath that threated to make Scott's blood pressure rise. Her outfit really did leave little to the imagination.
"It was. I had to spend three days putting my armor through decontamination before I could come out of it without breaking six federation laws," she said.
It was not long after that admission that Samantha got to the point. "So, how's the pay?"
"What pay?" asked Scott.
"That bad, huh?" she asked with a laugh.
Scott laughed as well. "I'm paid in something like credits I guess. I can spend them on pretty much anything I want, and I'll get it immediately."
"Doesn't sound so bad," she said. She eyed his sideways for a moment. "You can even get things like that weird looking plasma pistol?"
"Easily," he said. "Though, spending my credit on stuff like that makes me poor, pretty fast."
Samantha laughed at what she thought was a joke. "Isn't that the way it is?"
Scott nodded. She really had no idea.
"Tell you what. If you ever need an extra blaster by your side and can pay my price, give me the word."
That brought him up short. Why make such an offer to someone she barely knew. He voiced his question. "Really? You barely know me, though."
"True, but I know money. I like money. Most of my time is spent looking for money, or waiting for money to show up," she said.
"Well, I don't really have that issue. I pretty much have a job to do every day," he admitted with a snort.
"Ok, now I'm interested. You work for an outfit that has steady mercenary work?" The light practically danced in her eyes.
He laughed once more. "Yeah, but it's extremely dangerous work and I get stuck having to do it a lot, sometimes for no real benefit. A few times it works out really well to make up for the crap work, though."
"Danger isn't exactly something I worry about," she said with a grin. "As long as I can get paid and I can live with myself after I get done, it doesn't matter what I do."
"You sure about that?" asked Scott.
She misunderstood his line of questioning and said, "Absolutely. If you can find me some long term, paying mercenary work, I'll take it."
Scott was about to say something but the world and everything in it came to a completely stop. It turned grey, and a bright blue screen flared into life before him.
[Companion Request]
The absurdly attractive intergalactic mercenary [Samantha Jeran] has offered to become your companion.
[Don't get your hopes up! She's all business.]
Approximate Companion Level: 12
Hit Points: [22|22]
Strength: 3.46
Resilience: 3.62
Vitality: 3.21
Dexterity: 4.78
Concentration: 2.45
Charisma: 3.62
[Feats]
[Power Armor Operation: Master]
[Energy Weapon Control: Master]
[Starship Navigation: Expert]
[Negotiation: Expert]
[Powers]
[Sex Appeal I]
[Overload Shot II]
[Notable Equipment]
Starship: Argo-Tech Light Cruiser MK. IV
Power Armor: Epsilon-VI Variable Technology Armor System
- Freeze Cannon
- Plasma Beam
- Lightning Arc Shot
[Recruitment Cost]
Galactic Federation Credits: 40000 credits, plus 5000 additional credits per day
Note[1]: Companion cost related items can be purchased from the [Companion Roster] once a companion has been recruited.
Note[2]: You cannot recruit a companion for a mission until you have built a mission command center and a companion gathering area in your [Home]. Potential companions will be listed in your companion roster until these locations have been created.
[—]
Scott stared at the blue screen hard for a moment then grinned. He could recruit people from these game worlds? That could be useful. Of course, he had to see how much five thousand credits would cost in experience point, not to mention how much upgrading his cell would cost him to meet the requirements.
"Sure thing. Though, right now it's mostly just zombie extermination stuff. If something good comes up, I'll let you know," said Scott, after the screen faded away.
Samantha grinned. "I'll be there with bells on, as long as you have the credits. Speaking of which..."
Scott looked to her and her grin slipped into a flat expression. She said, "I could not possibly work for less than eighty thousand credits, and an additional twelve thousand per day."
"That's a bit steep isn't it?" asked Scott. He had no idea what those credits were worth, but he understood that she was trying to negotiate. The recruitment thing claimed she would work for forty thousand credits.
"Hey, I'm not a cheap date," she said, her arms out to the side and palms up. She shook her head lightly, which caused other things to shake lightly.
Scott suddenly felt a strange compulsion come over him. It took all of his willpower not to immediately give in to her request. What the hell was going on? It was like his whole body wanted to do something stupid. Finally, he averted his eyes and took a breath. "I was thinking twenty-five thousand, and three thousand a day."
"Ha! Hell no. That's scrub pay." Samantha placed her hands on her hips then leaned forward slightly. After the briefest of moments, she lifted her chin. "I'm worth at least sixty thousand upfront, aren't I?"
Scott's teeth ground together as another wave of raw desire washed over him. It was like his body and soul were under attack. "Th-Thirty thousand."
Samantha's lips spread into a slight grin. She knew damned well what she was doing. Her finger rose to her lips and she lightly pressed down against the bottom one. "But a girl has to eat. Fifty thousand is the lowest I can go."
"Thirty-five..." said Scott, before he loosened the sheet around him to hide how close he was to giving in to her negotiation tactics.
She walked over to him then slipped her arms around his waist. He did not have any inclination to resist her actions. She brushed her nose lightly against his cheek then gently whispered in his ear. "Forty-five..."
"F-forty..." Scott tried to argue her down to forty thousand, but she suddenly lifted her right leg and pressed her thigh against his hip. He could feel a certain amount of warmth pressing just above his previously mentioned bull-like aspect. His mind went blank and the world went black just as he said, "Five..."
When he awoke, he was fully dressed and felt ashamed of himself. Why did he give in to her? It made no sense.
Samantha was nowhere in sight, but Scott's equipment was laid out for him. It was both cle
an and in perfect repair. He got dressed and considered the situation with fresh eyes.
He thought back to what he'd learned before his adventures in zombie land began. Scott mouthed the words, "Parodies of beloved mythologies..." and then lightly rubbed his lower lip. Was that really the case, here? Was this woman who looked so much like a real-life version of a popular videogame character, truly that similar to the original?
"From the games, the Samus Aran I imagined wouldn't be quite like this... If anything, the local knock-off seems more like a fanboy wish fulfillment version of the original than a living and breathing version of her..." he said aloud. He tasted the words on his tongue while considering them. They felt right, but he could not be certain.
Scott considered the fact that they looked highly similar. She was much like a pink Zero-Suit Samus in appearance, though Samantha's blond hair also had traces of hot pink highlights and he'd seen no sign of a beauty mark.
He considered her power suit. There were vague similarities to the power armor that the Nintendo character wore, but the color and style were a little different. Honestly, he was only vaguely reminded of the Metroid franchise at all during the escape from the asteroid. Only the big reveal that the space warrior dude was actually a blond woman with a ponytail caused him to see the similarity.
"Damn, there's a ton of stuff I want to ask her..." Scott shook his head then sighed. It was awesome that he could meet someone who looked, acted, and even equipped herself in such a way that she could make a passing fair version of one of his favorite game characters. In fact, he could barely contain his enthusiasm to ask her questions and only did so for one reason.
"Man, if I start asking about her past she might toss me out an airlock..." grumbled Scott. While he rode on her little ship that looked like a weird cross between a helmet and a crab, it would be best not to go into her backstory.
The allure was too great, however. He needed to tone down his fanboying a little, but he also still wanted to speak with her, further. Scott went to go look for the lady of the ship.
He walked out of the sickbay and discovered that the quarters were a little cramped. The sickbay was near a little cargo area, the place he'd been tossed onto the ship in the first place. The pilot seat was empty in the command center, so he went in the other direction.
Scott found Samantha laying on a single-wide bunk. She was curled tightly into a little fetal ball. For a moment he was on the verge of laughter. He even briefly hoped that she'd fart or something so that he could make a joke about rolling bombs and bomb jumps, but then he saw something that caused his mirth to quickly die.
Tears formed along the edges of her eyes and slid down the side of her nose. She whispered something too soft for him to hear, and her lip started to tremble.
She whispered again, and this time Scott heard a soft tremulous word, "Mother..."
He stepped back quietly, and looked away. It would not be right to disturb her now, so he went back to sick bay and stretched out on the bed. There was much to think about, not the least of which was the disturbing sight of Samantha crying while whispering for her mother.
A few hours passed in silence after that, and they arrived at Hellespont IV. Samantha wasted no time in preparing to disembark, and soon they stood before the star port entrance.
Samantha inclined her head then made a finger gun in his direction. "Remember our deal."
"Yeah, forty-five thousand credits up front and seven thousand per day," groused Scott. He'd never felt so dirty in his life. Admittedly, he'd only had a few girlfriends to date, but none of them ever got the better of him like that. He still could not understand what had happened. It was like the closer she'd gotten to him, the more his brain turned stupid.
"Pleasure doing business with you." She winked at him in a saucy manner then wandered off to do whatever overly talented female mercenaries did when they docked at port.
Scott stood there for a moment as she walked away then sighed. It was possible that he'd never see her or that skintight suit again. After she left his sight completely, he snorted then looked at the other sights that the star port offered.
The port was filled with all manner of strange looking people. It was a kaleidoscope of various colors and shapes. There were fish people, cat people, and various human looking people. Some of them looked more like slugs than people, but they seemingly held conversations like regular folk.
"The hell do I do now?" he asked himself. He had no money, only one contact, and she expected him to give her money. Worse, he had no idea of where or how to change that.
The game screens that he received on occasion until now told him that he was still considered to be part of the game at least. Other than that, he was at a loss regarding what to do.
Eventually, he shrugged it off. There was nothing else to do, so he headed toward the space station proper. The moment he crossed the threshold to the interior, the world froze as it had done several times before. A blue screen popped up.
[Hub-Location Unlocked]
You have unlocked the free space port [Hellespont IV]. You may return here in the future when you wish to spend your free time between missions. You will have to create a [recreation room], and a [recreation door] in order to make use of this location.
--
Note: You have now completed the opening scene for this world-setting. As the only champion to have reached this setting through a warp zone you were granted a unique chance to recruit a high quality companion. This chance will remain yours alone for thirty days. If you fail to recruit your companion properly, another champion will obtain the chance.
You will now return to your previous mission. Would you like to return to your [Home] first to remove your current status effects?
[Current Status Effects]
Minor physical injuries – 2 EXP
Excessive Arousal – 5 EXP
[Yes | No]
[—]
"Excessive Arousal? How...?" Scott slapped his forehead after he realized the truth. "Of course."
He had not been a gullible sap who could not withstand the interest of a beautiful woman. She used one of her abilities on him to make him more suggestible to negotiation. "Damned sexy ass mercenary. She got me."
A lot of things made sense now. He would need to find a way to defend against that in the future. Admittedly, he was not even mad that she did that to him. If anything he wanted her to negotiate harder in the future.
He made a silly face then clicked the 'no' option. He doubted that he would become aroused by zombies, and he saw no reason to go through restoration twice.
The glowing door opened before him and he strolled through without a care for who might be watching. It wasn't like he knew any way to make the door pop up where he wanted it to, anyway.
Scott stepped into total darkness. The word 'Loading...' appeared before him. He smirked at it briefly then watched as it started to blink. He was also delighted to see that while the world loaded various still images also appeared before him. There were captions that told him various tips and bits of lore about the world of Dead Men Walking. "Ah, good old loading screens..."
"Wait! What's that?" asked Scott as he leaned forward to read one of the image captions. "So I can take items back to my cell..."
[Protip]
If you purchase storage items for your home, you can use them to store and call out items from your linked item inventory. Don't be afraid to buy a storage box, or a closet, just because those items seem a little expensive.
[--]
"Better look into that." he said to himself just before the loading screens faded away. The door of light rose up and he was once again faced with a journey to destroy the undead.
Scott stepped out into the parking lot of the strip mall then took a deep breath. The scent of death and decay returned to him like an old friend. "God I hate this place," he said in a cheerful tone of voice.
Pistol at the ready, he began the grisly task of finishing off the undead. A lit
tle time passed as he combed through the buildings. He searched out of the way places for both zombies and possible treasures. Unfortunately, he had not found a single treasure item since the pistol. It became obvious after a while that they were supposed to be well-hidden and random. Though, there might be other factors involved in their appearance.
Zombie after zombie fell, but no new treasures or random warp zones appeared before him. Eventually, his task was done for the day. Scott went back to his [Home] and took a deep breath of stench-free air. He nodded to the empty walls that greeted him. Life in his happy little hell had obviously returned to the monotony from before, but at least this time he was not badly hurt after his mission. Though, to be honest his lack of injuries had more to do with the medical technology of the Bounty Star world-setting than anything else.
He strolled over to his status menu then went through restoration. His equipment and his body were restored for six total EXP. Five points spent for his body and mind, and a single point spent to restore his gear.
"Time to see what happened while I was gone." Scott chuckled softly at his own statement then smiled. It was nice to have gotten a break from the zombie apocalypse, even if he came close to death once more.
[Mission Score]
You have completed your sixth daily mission. Congratulations!
[Someone's been a busy little boy, neh?]
Grade: A
Base Reward: 10 EXP
Total: 40 EXP
Elimination Bonus: 294 EXP
[Settings Bonus]
Zombie Killer Route: Nothing to say here. You killed some zombies. Woot!
Grade: B
Route Bonus: 20 EXP
Special Bonus[1]: You unlocked a warp zone to [Bounty Star]
Special Bonus[2]: You unlocked the hub-zone [Hellespont IV]
Bonus: 1000 EXP
--
Special Elimination Bonus: You met interesting space pirates and killed them.
Bonus: 27 EXP
--
Side Quest Bonus: You completed the escape from XEV-97 side quest.
Galactic Fist of Legend Page 10
