The red alarm light pulsed, bathing the cluttered workshop in a sinister, intermittent glow. Each pulse cast long, dancing shadows across the metal carcasses and scattered tools, turning the garage into the beating heart of imminent danger. Outside, the sound of heavy boots on chitin and guttural voices barking orders drew closer. The reptilian bounty hunter, with scales that shimmered like spilled oil under the Bazaar's light, pointed a claw directly at the garage door. His group, a motley crew of mercenaries—an insectoid with four arms holding blasters and a stocky, rocky being whose skin looked like granite—spread out, surrounding the location. Leo's blood turned to ice. There was no escape.
The mechanic, Griz, didn't panic. He let out a low growl, a sound like grinding gears, and two of his four powerful arms reached for a massive, custom-built plasma wrench that was bigger than Leo. It wasn't a tool; it was a weapon disguised as a tool.
"Fifty thousand is a lot of credits," Griz rumbled, his small, intelligent eyes flicking between Leo and the approaching hunters. "Enough to upgrade my entire forge. But..." He hefted the wrench, its power core humming to life with a crackling blue light. "...handing a fellow grease monkey over to the Syndicate dogs? Bad for business. Bad for the soul."
He looked at Leo, a grim smile on his wrinkled face. "This is going to cost you extra, kid. A 'hazard fee'."
Before Leo could answer, Griz acted. With one of his free hands, he slammed a large, red button on his main console. The heavy metal shutters of the garage door slammed shut with a deafening clang, plunging the workshop into the dim light of welding torches and exposed power conduits.
"That won't hold them for long," Griz grunted, pointing with the wrench to the back of the workshop. "There's a service hatch back there. Leads to the under-levels. The guts of this beast. It's dangerous, full of vermin and old tech, but it'll get you out of the Scrapyard."
He tossed a small, beat-up hover-platform at Leo's feet. It was little more than a metal plate with a single thruster and two handlebars. "Take this rust bucket. It's got enough juice for one short trip. Get back to the Crossroads, get my power core. And don't die. A dead client can't pay his fees."
"They'll hear the engine!" Leo protested.
"That's the point!" Griz grinned, his teeth glinting. He turned to a massive, unstable-looking engine mounted on a test bench, with cables and tubes coming out of it like exposed organs. "Time for a little distraction."
He cranked a dial on the engine all the way to the red, then kicked a lever. The engine roared to life, a sound like a dying star, shaking the entire workshop. Alarms blared from Griz's console, lights flashing in emergency patterns.
Outside, Leo could hear the bounty hunters shouting in confusion, their attention drawn to the catastrophic noise.
"Go! Now!" Griz yelled over the roar.
Leo didn't need to be told twice. He jumped on the hover-platform, which wobbled precariously, and sped towards the back hatch. He pried it open and plunged into the darkness below just as he heard a massive explosion from the front of the garage, followed by the satisfying sound of angry reptilian shouting.
The under-levels were a claustrophobic nightmare. A maze of pipes, conduits, and biological machinery that still pulsed with the faint life of the colossal space beast. The air was damp and smelled of mildew and organic fluids. Strange, multi-legged creatures skittered away from the light of his platform. He navigated the treacherous tunnels, following the faded signs for the outer docking rings, the hover-platform sputtering and threatening to die at any moment.
He finally emerged in a deserted cargo bay, the main dome of the Bazaar visible through a massive viewport. He had made it. He was clear.
He looked for the portal Jett had used, a specific energy frequency he had memorized. He found it near a quiet docking port. It was a shimmering tear in space, waiting for him.
As he was about to pilot his rust bucket into the portal, his smartphone, which he thought was useless here, vibrated. It wasn't a system notification. It was a direct, peer-to-peer message. A feature he didn't even know existed.
The sender's ID was simple: KAEL.
He opened it, his heart pounding.
Kael: I know you're coming back, amateur. The tow is almost here. But they're slow. I'm getting bored. Let's finish this, just you and me. The winner takes the core, the win, and the right to walk away. No tricks. No forest. Just skill.
Leo stared at the message. The hunt had become a direct challenge. Kael was waiting for him. And this time, there was nowhere to run.