NOVEL WEB Chapter 14: Bounty Office
“Please submit for inspection of your ship,” A six-limbed Hextar said when we stepped out. He had an assault rifle on his back, and his arms limbs carried a datapad looking down. “You submitted that you have some materials of some dangerous alloys used in gun manufacturing. Controlled, but we still have to check it out,” He said, and I looked down at his four legs.
Those legs let them move pretty fast in the desert, and I wondered what the world here was like if they could move so fast in the sand. It wasn't something that I had thought about before, and the man looked at Ura. “Please,” He said, motioning to our ship, and he looked at me. “Are you the muscle?” He asked.
I nodded, and he frowned, “Ura, A Rish cat as a Muscle? Someone is going to end up shot just so that she can feel the trigger being pulled.” He said, “Not my business as long as I am not the one being shot, though. Still, keep your cat contained while I am onboard.” He said, and I wanted to snarl.
Instead, we followed in silence as Ura showed him around. It allowed my mind to wander and remember more about my species' description. They were a prosecuted race, but it came with a lot of benefits. I would just have to ensure that I surrounded myself with people who either didn't care or were like Ura. They wanted to try something out and found that they loved it.
The search was brief, and it seemed Ura cleaned out the various illegal things when I was sleeping. With the inspection done, Ura turned to me, “I will have to deliver the goods. Someone should be here soon to pick them up. Do you want to stick around?” Ura asked.
“I think I am going to find a bounty office quickly and see if there is anything quick for me to pick up. I will be back quickly,” I told her, but I could see slight disappointment. “While you are waiting, you can also find a buyer,” I finished, and Ura nodded in understanding.
“Here, take this GPS,” Ura said with a smile, “We don't want you getting lost,” She finished, her smile bright.
I took it and walked away as Ura watched. I quickly typed into the GPS for the nearest bounty office and quickly headed on my way. It seemed that there was a bit of distance to leave the spaceport, so I got walking.
Traveling in a new area seemed so weird. I quickly noticed doorways were a bit thicker and taller in this world to accommodate their species. Seeing the little details that Gabin Corporation put into this world was interesting, and I smiled as I walked along.
I saw so many Hextars, and sometimes some other species moving around. It was interesting to see the settings of this world as I walked till I hit the streets. When I did, I realized that I would need a skimmer to something to move around the city. I saw a sign with AI-controlled Skimmers advertising, so I walked over and jumped into a skimmer.
“Use of firearms inside the car is strictly prohibited,” The car said, “Please state your destination.”
“Nearest Bounty hunter office,” I announced.
“That is within two kilometers. The fee will be twenty federation credits,” The car told me.
“Approved,” I said, and the skimmer or car or whatever it was moved out when it was safe and started to drive. It didn't even take long for us to get there, and it stopped at a large building within sight of the Spaceport.
Getting out of the car asked, “Would you like to take this skimmer somewhere else later, or are you finished with our services?”
“Please stay around. I may use your services after,” I replied.
“Thank you; This vehicle will stay around for an hour at most before leaving.” The car said, and I walked into the building with BHHQ written above it. I walked in armed to the teeth, felt my tail wagging, and tried to control my tail deliberately. I was having a hard time with it, though, and I knew at some point I would need to get it to help me reload and various other activities; having another limb could help with various tasks. I couldn't help but want something that could pick up magazines and tools while I worked with my hands. The help and speed increase was something I desired while playing as I knew that they would eventually have a pro scene.
I walked into a lobby and noticed windows that didn't look very busy. I walked over slowly, noticed Hextars working the windows, and motioned me forward. “Hello,” a more feminine voice came from the Hextar, “This is the galactic Bounty office for the Federation space. Are you looking to register a bounty? Or maybe they are looking to link up with the Major Bounty offices in the Federation space? Or register a kill or capture?” The female Hextar asked, and I shrugged.
“I was a part of the Pervona bounty office and still have a contract with them,” I replied, “I am looking to bounty hunt more widespread now.”
“Ah, Another backwater planets bounty office,” The Hextar said, “Doesn't matter. The Federation Space has made it legal for you to be paired with multiple bounty offices. I know it was because some bigger contracts get targeted by the Empire and the Kingdom if the Criminal is large enough. All galactic bounty offices will then target them if the Federation has to pay. Why not the Empire and the Kingdom's bounty offices?”
I nodded, which seemed like good information, and smiled, “good to hear,” I said, “Do you mind telling me more about how things work?” I asked.
“Sure, I don't mind,” She said, and I wasn't sure if she was sarcastic. “First, accepting bounties isn't something really done here. We offer a tablet that links to bounties, showing you the bounties we believe you can take. They are graded based on prior work and jobs. Warning though,” She said, “Even if you accept a bounty and head after them, the bounty doesn't disappear. We learned long ago that many of these criminals could also kill our bounty hunters. And yes, that is a warning to you,” She added on quickly as if she had to say that many times before. “So you may encounter another bounty hunter on the job. Our rules are that whoever kills or captures first gets the bounty. If they try to kill you for the bounty, you are free to defend yourself. But please try to bring proof that you were defending yourself. That brings me to my next recommendation. Bring recording software to film yourself killing or capturing these people. It will make your life easier and provides a ton of proof that clients cannot try to back out of.”
I nodded, “Okay. Is there any recommended hardware and software that you prefer?” I asked.
“Listed in the tablet that we will give you. Next, let's move onto ranks,” The Hextar said, and I nodded again. “We rank by three separate systems. First is the rookie ranks. Inside the rookie ranks, you will make less money, and the jobs will tend to be easier for criminals to deal with. In galactic space, you would be surprised how many there are. Still, this is called RF rank. From there, you can move to the maximum RD rank. It goes RF, RE, and RD rank. Meaning Rookie F rank, Rookie E rank, Etcetera. RD rank is the rank where you leave the rookie leagues and become a veteran. This means you are a fully certified Federation approved Bounty hunter with some privileges that entails. Trust me, they are useful, but I will not get into them now. From there, you go back down to a VE rank, meaning Veteran instead of rookie now. Then you can go all the way up to VA rank. This rank is the final stop in the ranking system until you enter the Galaxy hunter rank. These ranks are filled with bonafide Bounty hunting monsters. They are the best the Federation Bounty hunter offices can handle, and they made low-class criminals shake in their boots, terrified. Just don't cross one, honestly.” The Hextar said, “Still, A lot of this will be explained on the tablet. I just have some time to kill.”
“That is interesting,” I said, thinking it was a slight change from just f to a rank with S tier mixed in. “I am still interested in joining,” I told her, and she nodded.
“Perfect, then please fill out the forum on this datapad, including fingerprints. We will also have to do a background check on you,” She said, “that should be about ten minutes to complete, but it can be longer. We are more or less checking our database to see if you have a bounty on your head,” The Hextar said, and I nodded.
I took the data pad, and I got to work inputting the information I knew about my Character before heading back and the Hextar taking it. She smiled and looked it over and, after a bit, looked up at me, “Okay, with this little information, I will have to take a blood sample as well, just in case,” The Hextar said, and I offered my hand. She rolled her eyes, I thought, but I wasn't sure about their alien faces and pulled my arm forward and pressed something to me. I didn't feel a pinch, but the spot turned a little sore.
“Okay, With that out of the way, I can hand you this for a deposit of five thousand Federation credits,” What I assumed to be a female, Hextar said, and I looked at her. “I thought that was for free?” My tone made it a question.
“I never said it was,” the Hextar said, her tone overly professional, “But this is a fully functional tablet for our organization, and you honestly wouldn't believe the number of newcomers a year. You pay five thousand credits just for this, and that is nothing. Starting up as a bounty hunter is expensive but lucrative,” The Hextar said, and I guess that was right. Otherwise, why would my character enter an agreement like the contract I was bound by?
Suddenly I was a little poorer with a notification, and she handed me the tablet, “This is keyed directly to the bounty hunter offices galaxy-wide in the Federation. Some bounties can even be handled directly through the tablet if you bring enough evidence of the deed. Don't try to doctor evidence. Trust me, we will know. If you fake evidence, you will be banned from all Bounty hunter offices Galaxy-wide, and a bounty will be placed on your head. Unless you come and serve a minimum of one year for every hundred thousand credits stolen through fake evidence.”
I raised my eyebrows at that. If you had a million credit bounty, that was ten years, and it was exponential from there. I could see how seriously they took it. “Seems you understand. If your paperwork comes through, the tablet will tell you. It will then also open access to all the basic functions, and you will be a bounty hunter for the Federation. You no longer need to stay here as the process will be working in the background, and we don't need you here for it.”
I nodded and left. I had questions, but the Hextar seemed to have lost her patience with me at some point.
I stepped out, got into the car I came in, and asked it to send me back to the spaceport. It didn't take long for me to get back and for me to find the spaceship Ura owned. I had forgotten the name since we hadn't said it much since she told me the name, and it was written anywhere. I chuckled at that thought, and I pressed the button on the outside.
“Are you the buy- Ah, Sleepy Wonder back already!” Ura said excitedly. “Come on in. The buyer should be here soon!” A second later, the ramp started coming down, and I headed up.
“What happened?” I asked as I entered, looking for Ura at the Bridge, “I thought the buyer was going to be quick?”
“They are on their way,” Ura said as I entered, turning to me. “I am just finding someone for our other cargo now,” She continued, “I may have started a bit of a bidding war underground,” I frowned, and she waved her hand. “Not many smugglers are brazen enough to ship here, and I think the authorities have been cracking down on them.”
“As long as authorities do not catch us,” I told her, and she nodded.
“Thinking the same thing. I don't have enough money to make it as a pirate yet,” Ura joked, and I chuckled a little.
Suddenly another buzz happened, and Ura pressed a button.
“Hello?!” Someone said on the other side, “We are here to pick up the cargo of materials!” They announced.
“You are potentially at the right place!” Ura said and pressed a button, and I got up with her.
It was time to act like the muscle of this ship.
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