Kiro arrived back at the skeletal airship wreck, the desert wind howling through its broken ribs.
He climbed inside, the groaning metal protesting under his weight. "This place is falling apart," he muttered, as a section of corroded bulkhead crashed down behind him.
Pressing deeper, he found the engine room. Jackpot. The space was a treasure trove of salvageable parts: conduit, reinforced plating, and several intact generator cores. He also found a heavy, well-preserved V50 motor. He began loading them into the blacksmith's scrap caddy, the device humming as it magnetically secured the parts.
KIRO: "Nice."
CLUNK. WHIRRR.
A red light activated in a dark corner.
SECURITY ROBOT: (A glitchy, monotone voice) "Intruder located. Protocol: Terminate."
It opened fire. Kiro dove behind a console as energy bolts scorched the metal around him. Before he could counter, more shadows stirred. Ten more humanoid security bots lurched into the dim light, all in various states of decay—missing limbs, torsos riddled with holes, their movements jerky and unnatural.
Kiro didn't wait. He became a whirlwind of motion, weaving through their slow, predictable attacks. A punch shattered a cracked optic sensor, a kick crumpled a leg servo, a throw sent two crashing into each other.
The last robot, missing its lower half, dragged itself forward, its voice box crackling.
LAST ROBOT: "Must... report intrusion... to Eco-Net... Continuity Server..." It let out a final, sad burst of static. "Server... status... dead. Eco-Net... offline."
Its lights died.
Kiro let out a breath, wiping grime from his face. He hefted the now-full scrap caddy and made his way back to the entrance.
As he emerged into the blinding sun, he froze. Parked near his ship were three rugged hover-cars. Leaning against them were a group of scavengers, their eyes locked not on him, but on a massive, four-legged beast they had tethered to a vehicle a creature with crystalline spines and a maw of grinding stone teeth, snarling against its bonds.
The wreck wasn't empty. A small scavenger gang was already there, unloading equipment from a convoy of hover-vehicles two cars and two self-driving trucks.
Their leader stood on the hood of the lead car, next to a massive, growling sabertooth cat with brown fur and wickedly sharp teeth. The leader was a mountain of a man, armored in plates of pitted rock-metal, bald with a vivid red 'X' tattooed across his face. His crew wore lighter versions of the same gear.
SCAVENGER LEADER: "Boys, this rig was marked to be ripped apart for a year. Today's the day!"
Kiro landed with a soft thud in the middle of their operation. Every head—human and beast turned toward him.
SCAVENGER LEADER: "You. This place is illegal to scavenge. Get lost. Or else." He pulled a massive cleaver from his back. With a click, the blade ignited, sheathed in roaring flames.
KIRO: (Rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh) "Ugh, what a pain. Why do you have to order me around? Now I have to beat you up. Veyra's gonna scold me..."
SCAVENGER LEADER: "Hand over all your loot!"
KIRO: "Shut up and just fight already."
The leader snarled and gestured to his men. "Fine. You'll see why you don't go against us! Teach him a lesson, boys!"
Five scavengers rushed him. Kiro didn't break stride. He ducked a wild punch, swept the legs out from under two others, sending them crashing into a third, and finished with a single, concussive punch that launched the fifth man back into a truck with a sickening crunch.
KIRO: "Sorry about that."
SCAVENGER 1: (Moaning on the ground) "My ribs... I think they're broken..."
SCAVENGER LEADER: His face twisted in rage. "Let loose the pet! GET HIM, SABER!"
The sabertooth roared and shot forward, a blur of muscle and fur. The remaining scavengers scrambled out of the way. The beast took a mighty swipe with a paw that could shred steel.
Kiro didn't dodge.
He simply reached out and caught the massive paw in mid-air, stopping the blow dead. The impact echoed dully.
The entire clearing fell silent in utter shock.
Kiro gave the paw a firm, up-and-down shake.
KIRO: (Looking the confused beast in the eyes) "Good boy. This is a handshake. Now... sit."
The sabertooth, utterly bewildered, let out a confused whine and slowly lowered its haunches to the sand.
The Scavenger Leader's flaming cleaver drooped in his hand, his jaw hanging open.
The leader's face twisted with fury. He hit a button on his wrist. A sharp electrical crackle erupted from the sabertooth's collar, making the beast yelp in pain and giving Kiro a minor, surprising jolt.
KIRO: (Eyes narrowing) A shock collar. That's how he controls it.
SCAVENGER LEADER: "Do your job, Saber! Teach him a lesson, NOW! Or else!"
Enraged and in pain, the sabertooth lunged again, swinging its other massive paw.
This time, Kiro didn't catch it. He simply leaned back, letting the paw whisk past his face, then stepped in and drove a single, precise punch into the beast's jaw. THUD. The sabertooth crumpled to the sand, out cold.
Kiro knelt, his fingers finding the cruel collar. With a sharp tug, he tore it free and tossed it aside.
KIRO: (Looking at the fallen beast) "Poor thing. He's been putting you through hell." He stood, his gaze locking onto the leader, now blazing with cold anger. "Come at me, you coward."
SCAVENGER LEADER: "GET HIM! ALL OF YOU!"
The remaining scavengers looked at their unconscious comrades, their leader's flaming cleaver, and Kiro standing unharmed over a knocked-out sabertooth. They backed away, then turned and fled, scrambling into their hover-vehicles and peeling away into the desert.
"You'll pay for this!" the leader screamed after them, left alone.
With a roar of pure rage, he hefted his flaming cleaver and charged, his heavy armor making him slow and ponderous. He took a wide, fiery slash.
Kiro jumped over the arc of flame. As he landed, he dropped low one, two landing two rapid jabs to the leader's face, buckling his armor. Before the man could react, Kiro finished with an open-handed slap across the helmeted head. The CLANG echoed, and the leader dropped like a sack of rocks, his cleaver extinguishing as it hit the sand.
The sabertooth began to stir with a low groan. Kiro cautiously placed a hand on its head, and it nuzzled into his palm with a weak, grateful rumble.
As he calmed the beast, the wind began to pick up, whipping sand into stinging clouds. On the horizon, a massive, dark wall of dust was advancing a sandstorm, brewing directly toward Scrap Town.
Meanwhile, back in Scrap Town...
RAIJI: (To the innkeeper) "Where do I find this 'sword thief'? Who is he?"
The woman paled, wringing her hands. "Oh, you don't simply find him. He finds you. They call him... the Sword Thief."
RAIJI: (A dark grin on his face) "So he's a thief who specializes in swords. No wonder those thugs wanted yours. It is a nice one." He patted the hilt of Baneblade. "I bet he couldn't even lift it properly."
VEYRA: "What else do you know about them? We're new, and we just made enemies."
The woman Sahara glanced nervously at the door before leaning in, her voice dropping.
SAHARA: "This info... it's not normally free. But you saved my sword, and my hide. So, listen close." She pointed a finger downward. "In this city, we have the Bandit Boys. Young, ruthless, 16 to 25. They're the street-level muscle." Her finger then swept toward the desert outside. "Out there, you have the Scavengers. They control the open sands. Same level of threat, different territory."
VEYRA: (Nodding, piecing it together) "Like a fractured mafia. Are they trying to consolidate? Build something bigger?" mybe too take on a king.
SAHARA: "Kinda. But it'll take years. This area the Scrap Town region is the weakest territory on the frontier. Everyone's fighting over the crumbs. The Sword Thief leads the Bandit Boys, but even he has to report to someone higher up. Don't know who." She shook her head, a look of profound weariness in her eyes. "It's all just layers of violence on top of more violence."
SAHARA: "So be careful. Your friend might be stronger than the Sword Thief, but even he can't go against all of them. But... good luck."
RAIJI: (A confident, almost eager glint in his eye) "Sure, we'll try. And we're not alone. We've got an extra... sidekick. He's strong, too. I can take them."
VEYRA: (Letting out a single, dry cough) "Is that so?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
RAIJI: "But I think I'll rent a room here. In case they come back. Guys like that don't back down easy."
VEYRA: "I'll join you. Two sets of eyes are better than one."
Meanwhile, in the desert...
Kiro was sitting comfortably on the back of the unconscious Scavenger leader, idly petting the now-loyal sabertooth.
KIRO: "Who's a good boy? You are." He vigorously rubbed the beast's belly, eliciting a contented rumble. "So," he said, tapping the leader's bald head. "You up yet? Who are you, even?"
The leader groaned. "I'm part of the Desert Bandits! The Scavengers! Don't mess with us! Let me go and... and pay 10,000 scrap!"
KIRO: He looked at the sabertooth. "You want a meal, Saber? Your old owner?" The beast licked its chops. The leader's eyes went wide.
KIRO: "He must give us real info first. Talk."
LEADER: "Ok, ok! What do you want to know?!"
KIRO: "Take me to your leader. I want a good fight."
LEADER: "I can't! I don't even know who the boss is! At my level, I report to a messenger we call 'THEM Desert Rats. They deliver the message up the chain. I don't know who's at the top! It's a secret!"
SLAP. Kiro cuffed the back of his helmet.
LEADER: "Ok, ok! It's true, it's a secret! But... I saw a man once. Not the leader. They call him 'Iron Black Hand.' He's bad news. His face... I don't know. He always wore a mask."