‘That’s… Certainly unfortunate.’

  ‘So I've been told.’

  Mr. James still sat on the rock, his sake bottle now empty. Hannen was busy clearing up the bodies, taking their claws to sell later. The other two stood around the rotund Greenlander.

  Hannen picked up the third Skin Spiders body and threw it in the river. ‘So there’s no cure?’

  Mr. James stared towards the empty horizon. ‘If there is, it ain’t one any southern doctors know about.’

  ‘Even so Mr. James,’ Hannen said, pausing to pull the claws from another spider. ‘Throwing your life away before it's over is a foolish thing.’

  He smirked. ‘Thought it’d be nice to go out sounding like a hero or something I suppose. If I’m gonna die anyway, might as well die remembered by someone.’

  Standing by the apparently dying Greenlander was Bick with her arms folded. She clicked her tongue. ‘That’s fine and all, but I almost died with you.’

  A side glance upwards was all he gave her. ‘I didn’t ask for you to try and save me.’

  ‘The fu-’

  A loud slump broke their argument before it could begin. Hannen had thrown the largest of the Flesh Spider corpses between the group, causing Wrinkle to fall backwards. It got the attention of both of the Greenlanders.

  He held a smile, but it looked strained. ‘This just happened to be the first beastie we ran into, but trust me there's plenty to be scared of out here. You pay me to keep you alive,’ he paused leaning into Mr. James. ‘If you’re not alive, I haven’t done my job Mr. James, and I always do my job.’

  ‘Are… are you threatening me to live?’

  Hannen’s smile widened. He didn’t reply, instead he stood up to drag the body away.

  ‘Arguing is as pointless as it is dangerous out here. If young Bicks sources are correct you’re all in for a lot of Cats and tech. With Cats comes better treatment Mr. James. Head north, talk to better surgeons and doctors, you may yet live.’

  The two bickering Greenlanders grew silent as their guard threw the last few corpses away, an attempt to stop any more predators coming their way. Bick was still angry with Hannen, leaving them to find weeds to fill his pipe with, but she couldn’t argue with his logic.

  ‘Uh.. Hannen, sir. I-I don’t think I’m cut out for this.’

  Hannen looked behind him as he disposed of the last body. It was little Wrinkle, trembling. He smiled tapping the poor Hiver's shoulder.

  ‘No one really is, but if you survive this, which I’ll make sure of, you may never have to learn.’

  Producing a hesitant nod, Wrinkle turned back to the main group, followed soon by Hannen who clapped his hands. ‘Right, we’ve wasted valuable time. You’ve paid me for six days and I’m sure you don’t want to have to renew the contract. Everyone ready?’

  Begrudgingly, the others slowly prepared themselves, the merchant groaning as he stood. He grabbed his bag as did the others and then they carried on their walk until the sun set.

  The group managed the rest of the day without any other incident, aside from a bit of light bickering. Hannen could feel Bick's glare searing his bony back, but paid it no mind. It was his job to keep them alive, not to make friends with them.

  It wasn’t until late into the second day that anything happened. In fact, it was starting to get dark by the time Hannen stopped them again.

  ‘What- What is it this time?’ Mr. James asked, panting. He may have been unfit, but from the way he clutched his chest the Shek theorised this was more related to this disease he suffered from.

  With a simple nod, the entire group knew exactly why they had stopped. Close to the distance they could see what was presumably their destination. On a large outcropping, a huge ancient lab lay.

  ‘It’s real… Thank Okran its real,’ Bick sighed.

  Hannen glanced in her direction, then looked back pointing a finger at the base of the lab. ‘That’s gonna be the first problem.’

  They followed his finger to see a patrol of Security Spiders, marching like a military unit. They moved together, foot by foot, making a route around the building. Corpses littered the layside by them, beasts, people and other Security Spiders.

  ‘So we just gotta get past them? Can’t we just time it right to climb the ramp?’ asked Mr. James.

  A plume of smoke escaped Hannen's lips, his pipe now sitting in his right hand. ‘Even if we do, they might spot us before we can break the lock to get in. Have you ever plundered an ancient lab before? Any of you?’

  There was a hesitant chorus of headshakes. He turned to Bick. ‘Not even you? Even though you proposed this whole thing?’

  She shrugged. ‘Everyone’s gotta start their adventuring career somewhere right? Besides that’s why I hired you.’

  After a few seconds of staring at the scientist, Hannen smiled and turned around. ‘You may be smart, Bick, but you might be naive too.’

  ‘Excuse me? I’ve been outside the city before unlike this guy,’ she pointed at the merchant. ‘I know what it's like out here.’

  ‘But,’ Hannen replied, raising a finger in the air. ‘You don’t know what it’s like in there.’ His finger changed angle to point at the lab once again. ‘I’ve been in a few ruins, even a few Ancient Labs, but judging by the design, that's no ordinary lab. That’s a Tech Lab.’

  ‘What’s the difference?’ Mr James inquired.

  ‘Best tech and scrap you can find pretty much. Maybe even a few AI Cores, but about double the damn Security Spiders.’

  ‘Th-there’s some inside too?’ Wrinkle shrank back, practically shaking in fear.

  Hannen sighed, one hand on his hip. ‘If I knew it was a Tech Lab, I’d have suggested grabbing some mercs or Tech Hunters from the Waystation.’

  Bick scoffed in response, folding her arms. ‘Mercenaries cost cats. We already paid enough for you.’

  ‘We?’ Mr James interjected.

  ‘Point is, you were supposed to be equal to a mercenary squad weren’t you? Certainly costs as much!’

  Another cloud of smoke blew from the shek’s lips. He showed no signs of anger, his expression neutral. ‘I am equal to a mercenary squad, might even be worth more, but that doesn’t mean I can take on an entire lab of Security Spiders,’ he paused, thinking for a moment.

  ‘Might have an idea, gonna be a risk and seriously slow down our progress, but it’s an idea.’

  The other three looked at him and then at each other. ‘And?’ Bick asked.

  He turned and smiled. ‘Anyone wanna be bait?’

  A hush fell upon them, but faster than anyone else, the merchant stepped forward. ‘Obviously it's gonna be the dying old man.’

  Hannen tipped his straw hat towards the man, then ushered them on. ‘Your role is gonna be simple. Once we’re through the security gate, you’ll poke your head round the entrance to the lab and get their attention one at a time. I can kill one at a time.’

  They began a slow walk towards the lab, so as to not attract attention.

  ‘And the patrol below?’ Bick asked.

  ‘Just need to distract them, say, with another family of Skin Spiders?’ he phrased it like a question, yet pulled out a spider leg and waved it about. It stunk, which somehow his ragged coat hid. A retched smell, like how a beast that feasts on festering corpses should smell.

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  ‘I hate to keep asking questions, but Skin Spiders are not something I’ve ever researched. How is a smelly spider limb going to help?’

  ‘Ooh ooh! I know!’ Wrinkle piped up, his hand raised. ‘So Skin Spiders seem to have incredible scents, and whilst they’re happy to hunt their prey, they’re even happier to find the already dead!’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So they smell the corpse of another Skin Spider right next to another ripe corpse, and they’ll think it's a free meal.’

  One of three seemed quite slow to catch on, whereas the other two nodded instantly. Mr. James held a hand to his chin, then snapped his fingers. ‘So we’re gonna make a corpse near the Security Spiders and make flesh and metal fight?’

  Hannen shrugged. ‘More or less.’

  A little confusion set in for the rotund merchant as their guard stopped moving once again, his gaze turned upstream, towards a single Garru, a pup, lost and drinking water.

  The Shek stared for a moment, then with a sigh, walked towards it. ‘Stay here,’ he demanded of the others.

  Even if any of them were uncomfortable with the death of an innocent animal, they wouldn’t have said anything. If a beast wasn’t bait, then one of them would have to be.

  A few minutes later they heard a beasts scream, and then silence. Hannen walked around the corner holding the small Garru, still almost his size. He held a grim look, a man not happy in his work, but completely willing to go through with it.

  They watched as he grabbed both bodies and crawled towards the lab, getting as close as he dared. He then jumped in a ditch as soon as none of the robotic Spiders were in range to hear it. With all his strength he threw both corpses over the edge of the ditch, then hid down deep in it as soon as he heard the thud of corpses hitting rock.

  ‘Thankfully I never neglected my strength training,’ he mused to himself.

  Then, a sound he had hoped he wouldn’t hear yet hit his ears. The skin crawling noise of the mechanical guardians piston powered legs stomping towards the newly placed corpses.

  One crawled just to the edge of the ditch in which he lay. He could hear it, right near him. He readied his sword. He could beat one or two, maybe even three if he had a blunter weapon. Katana’s weren’t exactly built for slicing through machines.

  Then, it faded, satisfied with its simple curiosity, back to the mindless march of the ancient machines. Hannen let go the breath he had been holding in. He wanted to save his energy until the lab.

  After checking around for any more prying mechanical eyes, the poet headed back for his little party. Wrinkle paced and Mr James was already back on the drink. He could tell Bick wanted to say something again.

  Wrink spotted him first. ‘So?’

  He looked back. ‘So we wait until some spiders turn up. Or until night falls. It’s still a bit risky if those walking cans aren’t distracted, but at least at night we got cover in the shadows.’

  Mr James grunted. ‘Suns still high. Plenty of time to get a pleasant buzz.’

  Hannen grinned. ‘Just make sure you don’t get too drunk to run Mr. James. I plan to keep my promise.’

  Not as much time passed by as most would have assumed. Shun may have not been as populated as some other areas, but there were enough Skin Spiders around to cause issues for the average traveller.

  When he spotted them crawling over the hill, Hannen gestured at the others to stay low, hide behind rocks, whatever they could. Around ten of the beasts appeared in total, immediately heading for the plateau which held the lab and the Security Spiders.

  Two very different types of Spiders were about to clash and they had to sneak around that chaos at great haste. Which meant they had to move quickly. Hannen pushed them along behind the spiders, tailing them at just enough distance that the corpses would still take precedence.

  Then it happened. The chaos broke loose perfectly. The Security Spiders cared not that these beasts only wanted to feed. All they knew was to protect, defend, to kill. So they charged the blood sucking beasts. Mechanical limb against flesh. Teeth grinding against claws. A mess of blood and oil amongst the scream of pistons and death.

  ‘Ain’t no chance they’ll notice us. Run for the ramp,’ he whispered to the others.

  The party did as he instructed, though Mr. James was slow even for a Greenlander. More and more of the deluge of limbs fell limp and silent, down to two thirds, a half and then less. They were cutting it close, but with some encouraging shoves from their guard, the merchant finally made it up the ramp.

  Hannen hastened to catch the others at the top of the ramp after making sure they hadn’t been followed by either side of the battle. The pile was becoming difficult to distinguish at this point.

  ‘Uh. Hannen?’

  He turned back from the carnage to the other three standing at the top of the ramp, Mr James leant over, hands on knees. It was Bick that called out to him.

  ‘What?’

  The Greenlander motioned towards the gate. ‘It’s already open.’

  This got the attention of the other two as well. Mr. James cursed. ‘Shit. So you’re telling me someone beat us to it? All this way and we get nothing?!’

  Headed by their guard, the whole group stood in the arch of the open gate. Several bodies were scattered around the floor that circled the lab itself. From their weapons and outfits, they seemed to be Tech Hunters, or some equivalent. A whole set of machines lay with them, different parts ripped out of them to keep them nonfunctional.

  ‘Tech Hunters never travel in big groups. There’s no way any survivors of this lot would go in there solo right? Doesn’t that mean they just cleared out a good chunk of the security for us?’ Bick asked with an excited grin.

  I’m not so sure,’ Hannen replied, kneeling next to one of the bodies. Something about it was off, but he wasn’t sure what. This situation seemed off.

  A group of Tech Hunters would know even better than him how dangerous a Tech Lab was, it was their entire living. So would they really just send a normal patrol to take care of it? If they were scouting they wouldn’t have tried to take it on. No, there was something wrong here.

  ‘We should leave,’ he concluded, standing back up straight.

  ‘What, why?’ Bick asked.

  When she turned around, her question had been answered for her. A group that looked the same as the ones on the floor stood at the entrance of the lab, hands trained on their weapons.

  ‘I knew they weren’t Tech Hunters,’ Hannen grumbled, gripping his own blade.

  Mr. James turned to Bick, and grabbed her by her collar. ‘Did you set us up you bitch? What’s going on!’

  She looked shocked, her jaw agape. ‘Wh-What?’ The scientist couldn’t react.

  Hannen waved them away. ‘Stay back. It wasn’t her. Who was it that gave you the map?’

  She looked around. ‘I- I don’t know. It was just a Tech Hunter in a bar.’

  ‘Did they also tell you to hire me?’

  The woman blinked. ‘How- How did you know?’

  Hannen pulled his blade from its sheath. ‘I’m sorry to you all. This is likely my fault.’

  ‘Oooh. Always taking the blame, aren't you little brother?’

  A voice from behind them, from inside the lab itself. Hannen recognised it, how could he not?

  ‘Thorn.’

  A Scorchlander appeared at the doorway with another group of the fake Tech Hunters. She had an odd outfit on, it looked like all separate armour parts stitched together all with the same symbol on. A hammer on fire. She wore a shiny looking guardless katana on her waist.

  ‘You think I did all this purely to catch you, little brother?’ She smirked.

  He smiled back. ‘Father said you’d already killed three of our siblings. I was just curious when my turn would be.’

  Her smile disappeared. ‘If they couldn’t even beat me it was exactly what they deserved,’ she growled.

  ‘Hannen. What exactly is going on? Is this your fault?’ Bick asked, panic in her voice. Behind her Wrinkle backed away, trying to get as close as possible to any corner as he could. Mr. James stood braced, his eyes narrowed in a grimace.

  The Scorchlander Thorn sighed. ‘Unfortunately, I’m not here for him, he’s just a bonus. I was hired, for you,’ she pointed at Bick.

  Mr. James looked at her again and then back to Bick. ‘What? She’s just a scientist, what do you want with her?’

  ‘Sorry, but I’m not here to have a conversation, merchant. I’m here on a job and hopefully to take that precious hat that fools always wearing.’

  Hannen squeezed the rim of his straw hat and backed up a few steps.

  ‘We need to try and run. She’s as skilled as I am, no way I can fight all of them at once,’ he told the others.

  Thorn clapped her hands together. ‘Oh yes. Please do run. This whole ambush thing was purely for the client. There’s no challenge in it.’ She held her arm out in front of the others.

  ‘Mi-Miss Thorn this isn’t what,’ one of the other ambushers tried to talk, but she held a finger in front of their lips.

  ‘Shh. Shh, if you talk back to me again, I’ll throw you in a pit of half starved Blood Spiders, understand?’ she turned back to the group. ‘Well… Go on then, run.’

  Hannen hesitated, but shook away his fears. He had a job and the best chance he had of fulfilling it was to do exactly as Thorn said.

  ‘What are you waiting for? RUN!’ Thorn laughed as she darted forwards pulling her blade as she did. Hannen blocked it, sparks launching as their katanas collided.

  ‘RUN!’ He yelled as he kicked Thorn away darting for the group guarding the ramp. They all brandished their various weapons, but were far too slow for the speedy Shek. He cut down two immediately with a swift motion of his blade leaving a small gap for the others to escape through. His sword shot up to block the attack of a large sabre that tried to swing for Wrinkle.

  Thorn fell back, clutching her stomach, but laughing. ‘That’s it! Survive for me! Survive so I can enjoy this hunt!’

  The poet spun around swiftly as the last of his party made it through the gap. His dodge caused two of the fake Tech Hunters to slash each other. Hannen took one last look through, spotting the rest of the ambushers who had begun their charge. He had to distract them, he had to keep his charge alive. It wasn’t chivalry, it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. It was the only thing he had. Integrity.

  ‘After the girl, you two, come with me for the Shek,’ Thorn pointed at two of the Hivers in her group with a grin. ‘This is gonna be a long night,’ she concluded.