Turning Point -Warhammer 40k Fan Fiction

Chapter 11 - Bounty

         When she arrived at the small garden in the courtyard of the Lord Governor’s mansion, four other bounty hunters were already present and conversing with the Lord Governor himself.  She took a deep breath to help stem the rise of anger she felt welling within, and continued to walk forward to join the meeting already in progress.

         “Ah, you must be Arinna Tam.  I see that you got the message for the earlier meeting time.  Unfortunately, the time tables involved have progressed.  Please, join us.”  The Governor, adorned in expensive purple robes made of some sort of exotic silk, pointed to an open seat at his left hand side.  As she approached closer, the Governor’s eyes suddenly widened and a small grin sprawled across his face.

         Seeing a loose button at the top of her tight green bodysuit, she quickly clasped it to prevent any more unwanted stares from the Governor and the other men present at her exposed cleavage.  Nodding in feign respect to the men assembled, she walked over and took the pro-offered seat.  She held her tongue, even though she was exceedingly upset that she had not been notified of the time change.  Had she failed to instruct her operatives to vigilantly keep watch of her rivals, a common practice she felt to be essential in her line of work, she would not have become aware of the three other bounty hunters all traveling to the mansion ahead of schedule.  But since she had tracked their early arrivals, she had hastily dressed and rushed to the mansion.  For a contract this size and the terms involved, every minute was essential.

         Without a great deal of insight, she already knew that the Lord Governor was a short, pompous man with a huge ego.  Caring little for politics, she had nonetheless read a briefing earlier on his somewhat storied career.  The short, long haired noble born man had basically inherited his position, not doing much of worth or notice outside of his family’s heritage.

         Arrogant and greedy, she also noted that he had quite an appreciation for gladiators and the more vicious blood sports the local arenas provided.  Several times charges had been brought up against the man, only to have his name cleared after the accusers retracted their original claims or disappeared all together.

         “I want to thank you all once again for acknowledging this summons.  As the details will be forthcoming, I would like to take this moment to remind all present of the level of secrecy and clearance that this contract and meeting implies.  Those retained for the contract will be subject to the jurisdiction and strict adherence to Imperial policies.”

         “Excuse me, those retained?  I was led to believe that this was an open contract,” a large and heavily scarred man spoke out from Arinna’s left.  She recognized the gruff voice of Jhanto Harnon without even having to look at his repulsive face. 

         Jhanto was easily her greatest rival and competitor.  Having both been in the bounty hunting profession for many years, they had crossed paths on more than one occasion.  After harshly turning down several of his sexual advances, the rivalry had blossomed.  Three years ago, he had nearly killed her when they both arrived to claim the same mark at a crowded restaurant.  He walked away unscathed as the victor, and she vowed to someday return the favor tenfold.

         “Well, Mr. Harnon, as will be explained to you, while vast resources and expenditures will be utilized for the contract, only three of you will be brought on fully.  One will be kept in reserve in case of … difficulties.”  The Governor put his best politician’s smile on to accentuate his statement.

         “Well stated, Lord Governor.  Now if I may have the floor, I’d like to address the roles for this mission.”  A tall and lean man in spotless dark blue uniform joined in from behind the group.

         “Ah, yes, very good Interrogator.  Gentlemen, may I introduce Interrogator Harris Falten of the Ordos Hereticus.”  Arinna noticed that the Governor bowed a bit deeper than he was probably used to for the Interrogator.  The bounty hunters gathered merely nodded collectively to show their begrudged respect.

         “As the Lord Governor stated, three of you will immediately be activated for the mission, with one held in reserve.  Orders will be given separately, and under no circumstances will they be shared with anyone else, even the colleagues present.”  The three male bounty hunters laughed when he referred to them as colleagues.  Arinna was still far too angry to find humor in anything at the moment.

         “Interrogator, will there be a stipend for manpower and materials in advance?” the handsome and exquisitely adorned bounty hunter across from Arinna asked.  She had heard of Algon Herne and his exploits, but never met him in person.

         “Each will receive a preset payment according to their orders and the duty required.  My Lord Inquisitor has already taken a look at each of your dossiers and has assigned each man their payments and orders.”

         “Well I guess that leaves ya out little lady.  If ya do get an itch to see some real action, just let me know and I’ll send ya a holo of me at work.”  Jhanto gave Arinna a vicious grin.  The two other bounty hunters seated across from him chuckled at the statement.

         Fighting to keep her face from becoming red and matching her long hair, she responded through gritted teeth, “The only thing I would learn from a holo of you at work would be how to negotiate for a whore.  Besides, any real danger and you’d get yourself killed.”  Jhanto’s smile faltered as the other men grinned in response.

         Turning her attention to Falten, she asked, “Interrogator, surely your master has been given ample time to decide based on skill sets and mission history?  I’m confident he would find me more than a match for my competitor’s here.”

         “Ms. Tam, is it?  I assure you Miss Tam that there are no competitor’s here…” Falten began, but was cut short as Jhanto stood up and moved forward aggressively.

         “Face it, Arinna.  It’s time to get the job done and the Inquisitor’s already chosen the best men for the job.”  Jhanto made a point to stress ‘men’.

         “If I could just ex…” Falten again tried to interject.

         “And how exactly have your last two jobs gone?  I hear you’re having trouble finishing.  Strange, it seems to be the same story coming from the local brothel,” Arinna taunted, knowing that the last two contracts Jhanto had taken ended in total failure.

         “You Emperor-damned harlot!  I’ll take your tongue before listening ta’ more of this filth!”  Spittle escaped his lips as Jhanto yelled in rage.

         The Interrogator was about to interject himself between the two bounty hunters when he felt resistance on his right arm.  Turning around, he found the shorter Lord Governor tugging at him, his face full of exhilaration.

         “Let them handle this the way that their kind do.  We don’t want to mess with the natural order of the guild,” the Lord Governor explained in a rising whisper to Falten.  Seeing the bloodlust and excitement on his face, Falten gave up with a sigh and watched the large scar-ridden man approach the smaller red haired woman.

         “Merrin’s not here ta save your ass this time, little woman!”  Jhanto balled his hands into fists and approached, ready to strike.

         “Merrin’s not here to save you from me, Jhanto.  Now shut up and make your move.”  She stood calmly still, not moving to adopt an offensive or defensive stance.

         The big man rushed at her straight on, swinging his right arm forward in an arch above his shoulder.  Waiting until the blow that would land to the left side of her face was an inch or two away, Arinna quickly shifted her weight backwards and dodged the heavy strike.  Jhanto involuntarily spun to the side as the momentum of his missed punch could not be stopped.  Arinna set her feet and quickly countered with a snap kick to his abdomen.  Trained and practiced in melee combat, Jhanto easily absorbed the blow by tensing his stomach muscles and exhaling in a loud fashion.

              Reacting quickly, the big man swung his right arm across his body in an attempt to catch Arinna in a backhand.  This time she didn’t even try to hesitate and ducked down well before the blow could land.  Rising deftly, she threw a right cross of her own that caught Jhanto square on the chin.  Jhanto stumbled back a few feet and shook his head.  Murder in his eyes, he displayed for the group a grin so evil that it could instantly kill a priest.

         “I hope ya got better than that, bitch!”

         “For you, I’ve got so much more.”  Arinna raised her hand and beckoned the scarred man to continue.

         Long since the skirmish at the restaurant a few years ago, Arinna had taken the time to studiously learn the man’s fighting style.  Knowing that Jhanto had some formal training in the Imperial Guard Academy, she had retained a retired martial master from an Academy to teach her.  His style had evolved over the years into more of a street brawl fashion from dozens if not hundreds of individual melees, making it a deadly and powerful technique.  Arinna planned to counter this with a light and quick strike set of moves combining not only the martial style of the Imperial Guard, but also several other foreign techniques.  Through diligent practice and plenty of in the field experience, she had patiently waited for this very moment for the last two years.

         Jhanto feinted a left hook, drawing Arinna to slide to his right a bit.  Thinking she had taken the bait, he shifted his thrust and drew up to deliver a right upper cut underneath her guard.  Recognizing the move for what it was, she changed direction until she was outside of his upward thrust.  A powerful straight right to his left temple staggered the big man for a moment.  Before he could recover, she continued with a flurry of punches to his ribcage and abdomen, ending the series of strikes with a spinning back-kick to his left knee.

         The bounty hunter toppled under the barrage of Arinna’s strikes, falling face first to the ground from the final blow to his knee.  He chipped a tooth as he impacted with the hard stone ground of the garden’s courtyard.  Spitting out a fair amount of blood, pure rage lifted Jhanto once again to his feet.  Arinna was waiting for him.  Before he could even lift an arm to block, several savage blows to his solar plexus and head floored him once again.

         Gasping, the large bounty hunter used his arms to crawl forwards a bit where he was seated earlier.  Underneath the refined and expensive wooden chair was the gear he brought with him.  Reaching out, he grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out of the scabbard.  Glinting in the harsh morning light, Arinna recognized the danger and took a few extra paces back.  Jhanto preferred to use standard metal swords, and as Arinna knew first hand, he kept his favorite weapon very sharp.

         “Now we’ll see who lives and who dies,” the big man said, laughing in between as he used the chair to help him to his feet.  The surrounding spectators stared at Arinna to see how she would react.  The Lord Governor giggled almost like a child in the anticipation of seeing some real blood drawn.

         Realizing that she had been searched and relieved of her weapons upon entering the mansion, she laughed audibly at how Jhanto must have anticipated such an encounter.  He most likely bribed or enticed the staff to allow his sword through.

         “What’s so funny, woman?  I don’t think ya’ll be laughing so hard when I’m skinnin’ ya alive.”

         Scanning the area quickly, she took a few more steps back and replied, “That pathetic little toy doesn’t frighten me.  You’re just making things worse for yourself.  I give you one chance to surrender and save yourself a lot of pain.”

         “My sword has tasted your blood before, and it craves more.”

         Arinna braced herself as he charged with his sword pointing towards her heart.  Knowing that if her timing was off by a moment or two that she would feel the cold blade pierce her body, she used the fear brimming in her mind to sharpen her instincts.  As the blade drew almost a foot from its mortal target, Arinna began her move.  She grabbed the chair from behind her with her right arm and used all of her strength to speedily swing it up between Jhanto’s blade and her chest.  As the sword pierced the hard wood seat, Arinna moved to the side and changed the angle, trapping the blade between the seat and legs of the chair.  She swiftly pushed all of her weight down to force the chair and the trapped sword towards the ground.

         Jhanto screamed in pain as his wrist cracked from the contorted angle of the maneuver.  Letting go of the handle, he reached over with his other hand to support the wilted and broken one.  Continuing, Arinna kicked Jhanto to the ground.  Pulling hard, she freed the sword from the chair and held it up to her face for a closer look.

         “It’s a shame.  Such a beautiful weapon should have an owner that knows how to use it.”  Watching from the ground, fear surfaced in Jhanto’s eyes as she moved the sword through the air in a complicated and practiced fighting maneuver.  In the background she could hear sounds of approval coming from the Governor.

         “Do you see what I mean, Jhanto?”

         Propped up on one arm, with his broken hand across his stomach, the big man whimpered agreement.

         “I said do you see?!” she yelled impatiently.

         “Yes!  Yes!  I see what ya mean!  Now put the sword down, we’re even!  You’ve broken my ribs and my hand.  Are you happy now?”

         “Not quite yet…” she started.  Quicker than he could think to reply, she thrust the sword at his head and swiped it away in a flash.  Confused at what she had just done, the big man laid silently for few seconds before she held the sword back down in front of him.

         “I think you’ll at least half-see what I mean now.”  She laughed as the scarred-man screamed in horror.  Reaching up to his face with his good hand, he wailed in agony as his fingers dipped into the cavity where his right eye used to be.

         Shaking her head, she dropped the sword with the eye at the tip of the blade to the ground.  Standing, the other two bounty hunters nodded gravely in respect and approval.  The Governor clapped joyfully as the encounter came to an end.

         Disgust evident on his face, Interrogator Harris Falten shook his head and took a deep breath. 

            “Well I guess that settles the matter then.  Tam, you will be the third team leader, and Jhanto will be forced into reserve.  That is if he can find proper medical attention in time.”

         “Don’t worry, I’ll have my staff look to him,” the Governor said in an almost too happy tone.  He motioned to some of his guards in the distance.

         “Bitch took my eye!  My eye!” Jhanto screamed as he rolled along the ground. 

         Several of the Governor’s staff grabbed the big man from under his arms and carried him away.  Another man picked up the bloody sword with the eye at the tip and followed behind them.  It was a few more minutes before his pained curses faded into the background.

         “Well, with that bit of unpleasantness behind us, I will dispense with the orders.  Here are your data slates with the appropriate information for what you will need and where you will start your search.”  After passing out the three data slates, Falten continued, “You will each be briefed separately tomorrow morning.  Right now, I would like to introduce your liaison and commander of the mission.  You will report all findings and coordinate your efforts though him.  He speaks for me, which in turn speak for the Inquisitor himself.  Treat him with the upmost respect.  Ah, speaking of which, here he is.”

         Having arrived silently behind the group, the assembled crowd turned around to face the man the Interrogator was speaking about.  Although not very tall, the dark and flowing black suit the man wore gave him an air of malice.  A red glow emitted from the metal artificial eye grafted onto the left side of his face.  His flesh was pallid, and he seemed immensely uncomfortable and irritated.

         “Thank you Interrogator.  I look forward to starting the mission and doing the Emperor’s work.”  His voice sounded a bit pained and hoarse.

         “Gentlemen, may I present to you Corporal Trent Johnson of the Imperial Guard, on special assignment for my Lord Inquisitor Ahriman Tycos.”