[ IP ] Bounty Hunters

The buggy crested the dune with a roar and splutter before coming to a shuddering halt. Turbo groaned before jumping onto the sand and scurrying into the shade beneath the vehicle. The buggy was nothing more than a stasis pod and engine strapped to four wheels via a suspension set. Turbo began checking over the engine, he knew what was wrong with it. The fact it was exposed meant the air intake was clogged with sand, but life along with several ass whoopings from Dozer had taught him to check everything, plus this new body's fingers were twitchy and needed something to do. 
 
 Sticking his head out he called to his companion. 
 
 “ You gon na help? ” 
 
 “ Nope. ” 
 
 Turbo grumbled to himself as he began cleaning the air intake. He told Dozer that he could do this job by himself. All he needed to do was stun the target, strap her into the coffin on the buggy and ride that cash train back to the Shadee admin hub. Dozer disagreed, he just saw Turbo as a junk-rat and since all the other crews were out on jobs he had hired a freelancer. Turbo hated freelancers, they had no loyalty and he hated this one more than most. She was rude, ungrateful and refused to help and she had a dumb name, Lex or something stupid like that. 
 
 Finishing off he quickly hurried out from under the buggy and clambered back on, not wanting to spend too much time on the roasting sands. She held out a flask of water as he sat back down. Eyeing her suspiciously he took it and gulped down the contents before firing the buggy back into life and praying the air intake was the only problem. He was met with a satisfying roar as the engine started back up and lurched forward. 
 
 The journey continued in silence as the smudge on the horizon grew larger until it resolved itself into a massive building. The two of them looked at each other in confusion that such a large building was so far away from any other settlement, however the words ARAKAKI DEFENCE scrawled up the side and the buzz of ships and shuttles, like bees around a hive left them in no doubt this was the right place. 
 
 Lex shut down the buggy, to the annoyance of Turbo. He did n't like people touching his stuff, much less freelancers. They came to a halt sinking a little into the sand. Lex swung the sniper rifle off her shoulder. Turbo hated that about her as well. This world, like most of the Aegis Expanse was outside Union Authority and had its own rules and regulations. Dozer had purchased this freelancer a weapons pass and he suspected paid most of the cost for her new body. While he was labored with, what he guessed from the track marks on his arms was an ex-tweaker. 
 
 “ There she is. ” 
 
 Lex sat back down and reached for the go switch on the buggy. Turbo's hand shot out and flicked it before she could. Turbo could n't see anybody, just the buzz of dozens of personal and cargo shuttles flying around the building from one landing pad to the next. He refused to ask Lex where she was, he did n't want to give her the satisfaction of pointing him out so he sat in silence. 
 
 The building grew larger and larger as the buggy sped towards it the engine going flat out. 
 
 “ Slow it down. ” 
 
 Lex ordered as she got to her feet. Turbo wanted to ignore. He could n't stomach taking orders from a freelancer. Reluctantly he obeyed. If the mission failed then Dozer would give him another ass whooping and he did n't want to spend another month in the sickbay. 
 
 Lex trained her scope on the target as Turbo gentle turned the buggy so it was driving parallel to the building. The target was a dark haired, olive skinned woman, wearing a white lab coat and cream trousers. Her clean clothes stood out among the grubby orange and blue overalls of the workers coming and going. One hand was fixed tightly around the handle of a silver briefcase, the other she was using to shield her face from the sand and dust that was kicked up by the dozens of shuttles. Sand and dust that, as they were now close to the building began to obscure Lex's view. More than once she lost sight of the target in the sand cloud. It was only the light of the sun shining off the silver briefcase that gave the target away. 
 
 Taking a deep breath Lex gently rested her finger on the trigger. Increasing the magnification she was able to see the confused look on the target's face and smiled. While Turbo was busy fitting together the buggy Lex had contacted the woman and pretended to be a rival to Arakaki Defence Corp interested in buying secrets. Arakaki knew she was selling them and had hired a Private Security Group to deal with the problem. Resting her sight's on the woman's chest, Lex made sure the rifle was set to stun. 
 
 Gently squeezing the trigger a large transport thundered overhead shaking the buggy with its powerful engines. The stun bolt flew off wildly into the air before dissipating. 
 
 “ Shit! ” 
 
 Lex swore, ignoring the small chuckle from Turbo as she took to one knee to steady her aim. It took her another moment to find the target again in the dust and sand. Now she was running away as fast as she could, hand still clutching the briefcase. Ignoring the computerized voice warning of weapons fire Lex sighted between the targets shoulder blades and hurriedly pulled the trigger. She watched through the sights as the blue stun bolt sailed through the air and crashed into the target. 
 
 Workers around the now stunned target quickly scattered, running in through the nearest doorway or hugging the side of the building to make themselves seem small. The computerized voice sounded again over the PA system warning of weapons fire. It urged all lawful citizens to get to safety and the perpetrators to cease and desist else countermeasures be deployed. They both ignored it as Turbo pushed the buggy up to maximum speed. Pulling up alongside the target Lex jumped off the buggy before it came to a complete stop. Turning the woman over and brushing the sand off her face she ran a basic Ident scan to confirm her identity. Once that was done and she was happy with the results she began dragged the woman towards the buggy. 
 
 “ You gon na help? ” 
 
 She asked looking at Turbo sat on the buggy sipping on a water flask. 
 
 “ Nope. ” 
 
 Was his reply as he finished the flask and picked up another. Huffing at the heat and sand Lex dragged the woman beneath the buggy. Punching a four digit code into the coffin pod it opened with a hiss and a small cot with straps was lowered out. Heaving the woman up Lex swore and cursed Turbo for putting the pod in upside down, knowing he had only done so to piss her off. 
 
 Finally with the woman was strapped in and pod sealed shut Lex activated the stasis protocols and the hard part was over. Allowing herself a moments rest she wiped the sweat from her brow before sliding out from under the buggy and clambering back on top. 
 
 “ Punch it up! ” 
 
 She commanded taking her seat. 
 
 “ What about the briefcase? ” 
 
 Turbo offered pointing at the silver case that lay half buried in the sand. 
 
 “ Forget it. ” 
 
 Lex panted as she snatched the flask out of his hands and kicked the buggy into life. 
 
 As the buggy sped away from the building Lex allowed herself to relax. It was a job well done, however unhelpful and pissy Turbo was. The ride got jittery as the buggy sped over an outcropping of rocks. There was a large jolt and Lex suddenly found herself flying through the air, the water flask sailing across her vision. When she landed it was not with a small clang onto the hot metal surface of the buggy as she expected but with a soft thud in the sand. 
 
 Clinging onto his seat for dear life Turbo turned and checked on Lex. She was gone. Looking around he saw that she had been knocked clean off the buggy and was lying in the sand, her figure getting smaller and smaller as the buggy sped away. Turbo chuckled to himself. 
 
 “ Dumb Freelancer. ” He said smiling at the prospect of a greater share of the reward as he high-tailed it back to Shadee.
