My end of an art trade with  friskytwotimes
What happens when a mercenary is asked to save a corrupt politician's daughter, and he is offered a large reward? Things start to get crazy.
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Inside the Rockies, Year 2759

These years were odd ones. Human relations with aliens have been created and increased as humanity slowly destroyed its own home world. The lands of Earth were devastated, and humanity did its best to leave. Earth- it was a wasteland, really. Scarred by hundreds of wars, few living creatures have decided to remain on the planet; mostly mercenaries, wanderers, and the lost. Many of these people aren’t human but once were, or never were in the first place. None of them were ever important- except one.
Several mercenaries had taken bases underground, and most of these were discarded war bunkers from the time before the planet got ravaged. A popular location for them was inside mountains, complete with a window made of three feet of blast proof, cement laced hardened glass. Just so that they could watch the world burn. Our hero claimed one of those as his own when he came to Earth.
Meet the Mercenary who goes by the name of Mayhem. He was made to look like the dragons of old Earth myths, complete with working wings, but no fire breathing, seemingly. His scales were mainly red, but a purple colored part ran down his back, alongside his boney spines there that ran all the way up to the top of his head. His body type was quite slim and angular, and he always looked like he was ready to pounce on something, and most likely rip it apart. His always toothy grin helped said effect as well.
His head was decorated in several horns- two long ones that grew back from his head, and several spike-like short ones- one on top of his nose, and the other on his chin. Also, his tail was quite long, and had a tendency of curling a bit. His wings were Red on one side, purple on the other, reflecting the purple patch on his back. He was about six feet tall, and had a tendency of not wearing much, but he had nothing to be hidden. He also loved his meats; if there’s a chance for a good chunk of edible flesh, he’ll take it.
Mayhem was the lonely type of mercenary; he lacked a team, lacked a companion, and due to his long life as a mercenary like that, he didn’t talk much. The odd thing was, Mayhem claimed Earthly origins, and yet looked how he did.
His missions- a grand total of six- had brought him spoils of war; a good selection of armors, weapons, and even a small troop carrier spacecraft which he had stolen in one of the jobs. And of course, he had a pantry full of different types of meat.
Most of his days were spent in the main room of the bunker, just sitting around, eating some meats, and watching to see if anything changed outside his window. Nothing changed much around here. Except that one time...
Mayhem owned an old-style phone, complete with actual buttons. If anyone called him through that, then Mayhem knew exactly who deserved his skills. And today, it rang. Mayhem picked it up quickly, flipping it open.
'You’re one of those mercenaries- Mayhem, I think?’ A hurried voice said on the other side.
'You found me. You may know my name, but I certainly don’t know yours-’ Mayhem started.
'Keith Burkoff, president of Martian colony Epsilon. My military are too worthless for this job, and we need the stealth of a single man- well, whatever you are.’
'What is it that you’re wanting me to do?’ Mayhem asked, wondering why such an important figure was calling him. Mayhem bit off a part from some of the Jerky he had with him as he spoke.
'My daughter, Hope Burkoff, was captured by the radicals that control the Intergalactic Bazaar. She’s only six, you have to help her! I will pay you upon her retrieval.’ Keith replied.
'How much?’ Mayhem asked.
'3 million credits. I can assure you, this is a massive payment.’
'Add some of your best meats to it and you’ve got a deal.’ Mayhem replied, still thinking about meat as he chewed on more of the jerky.
'I’ve heard you were one for meat... alright, I’ll get that prepared. Do you need transport-’
Mayhem put the phone down, knowing he already had a deal. Of course he wouldn’t need a craft; he already had a rather nice one.
Mayhem’s bunker was large and rather expansive, with a variety of rooms- he used some almost all of the time, and others were used practically not at all. He was heading to his armory.
The armory was the most well-armored room in the whole bunker- walls made from three feet of solid steel, the door made like a bank vault’s. Mayhem cranked it open and collected some equipment in the 20 foot square room.
'Stealth... stealth... ah, stealth.’ He muttered, looking among the racks of clothing and equipment he had. Mayhem decided upon a simple suit made from a vest and pants, along with a pistol hidden in the belt of the pants. This clothing was made of a really strong, protective material that can easily block a bullet or laser blast, and yet still looked like civilian garb. His pistol was a simple laser-firing model, with a large battery box that could easily be replaced in a fight. He was set.
Mayhem’s next destination in the bunker was his small ship bay. Of course, there wasn’t much in it, so there was no need for it to be a normal bay. One wall was a solid iron door, the rest was reinforced concrete. In the center was the stolen troop carrier that he had, all ready to launch. Mayhem jumped in, made sure he had some money on him, and opened the bay doors. Thus, with a few switches flipped and buttons pressed, he was quickly blasting through the atmosphere.

The Intergalactic Bazaar was actually a space station with the code-name “Fg487kQ”, but it was called the intergalactic Bazaar due to the giant market that it had become, populated with all types of species selling all sorts of items and oddities. It was mainly run by a faction of humans, though- the Solar Militia, as they were called. The main human empire owns the Solar Militia, and they are its backup fighting force. This fact struck Mayhem as odd- Martian colonies were under the Human empire’s control. Something seems a bit fishy.
The Bazaar was located in the orbit of Jupiter, and its massive twenty mile length made it easy to detect. It kept gravity in most sectors with most of the area of the Bazaar being inside the four rings that circled the main rod-shaped body of the station. But, of course, the docking bays were set up inside the rod, not the rings.
Mayhem arrived there quickly due to a wormhole- it was created when he requested travel to the Bazaar, most likely by someone at the Bazaar. Humanity didn’t actually build that tech, but they bought some off of the original species who did, allowing quick travel in between any two points, anywhere.
Once he exited the wormhole, the Bazaar could be seen a short distance away, wouldn’t take long at all to get there. Gave time for Mayhem to think about things.
This colony on Mars- it must not like the rest of the empire; perhaps it wants independence, thought Mayhem. If I attack and leave a lasting mark, perhaps Epsilon will claim responsibility? But wait, I’m saving a child... If the child even exists, perhaps it was a well thought up trick to get me to start a civil war. But then, Epsilon would most likely loose; it may be large, but they’d have to go up against several billion soldiers from other worlds, all working for the human empire. So what’s the president’s intentions?
Mayhem took a bite from a stick of meat he brought with him- it helps him think.
A child called Hope. Mayhem saving Hope. Ironic.
Mayhem landed his ship in the bay, and pushed out of it. A human, surprised at what came out, paused for a second before moving Mayhem’s old ship to some of the storage racks.
'You wouldn’t happen to have a map of the Bazaar, would you?’ Mayhem asked the man.
'Go down the hall. Should be a map of the whole place there.’ He replied calmly. Mayhem didn’t even thank him before pushing down the hall- zero grav was hard to deal with sometimes.
The mercenary dragon finally stopped on the map and studied it. The fourth ring was off limits to normal civilians- He hardly counted as normal, now did he? Problem was, there was just a single access route, and it was always guarded, from what he could tell. So how was he going to get in quietly?
The jail cells were on the fourth ring. Of course- cause a bit of trouble, and then break free when they try to put him in a cell. Easy. But first, may as well check out the Bazaar.

He entered the third ring, just below the off limits one. Entering was simple enough- each ring was attached to the zero grav main rod by four hollow beams. Every short while, these beams would pass slowly by an airlock, which would be open for about thirty seconds. You pass through this, and walk down the beam. As you get further down the beam, gravity increases, trying to shove you down the the floor in the ring. When you get to the ring, gravity is about a third Earth’s normal, not enough to hurt but enough to keep vendors’ items on their shelves. All the vendors had set on the outside wall of the ring, not allowing you to see the massive amounts of businesses around the curve. And of course, the sounds and smells...
All around were people shouting about some product, trying to sell this, or bargain off that. There were sounds of beasts from hundreds of different worlds, being sold off as food and/or pets, and there was always the sound of people. However loose one’s definition of the the word “people” may be. There was always the smell of something good cooking in the air in the Bazaar, no matter where you went. And, of course, this meant on your definition of good.
Plenty of species brushed past Mayhem as he wandered the Bazaar, including another dragon-like creature. They eyed each other as they passed.
Mayhem paid some credits to a vendor to get a meat he called “pork”, which was supposedly very rare, from an Earth-descended creature called the pig. Mayhem loved the pork so much he spent a hundred credits on some fresh pork, and some dried pork as well for later. The vendor- a small, rodent like creature- seemed pleased with his patronage.
'This meat... It’s really exceptional, you know. Worth the credits.’ Mayhem said in between bites.
'I’m glad to hear that.’ The rodent replied.
'Tell me, can you hold a secret, and perhaps do a favor?’ Mayhem then asked.
'It depends if you buy more or not.’
Mayhem laid down another 50 credits for a bunch of jerky, which he put in his back pocket while they were still in the packaging.
'What are you asking of me?’ The rodent asked.
'I’m a mercenary, in search of a child that’s supposedly being held captive on the top ring. I was thinking I could cause some trouble, and they would take me past the security gate, thinking they would arrest me- but I’d break free.’
'It should work. How are you going to get out of the plastic ties?’ The rodent, who Mayhem identified as female, asked. Mayhem replied by showing his razor-sharp claws and grinning toothily.
'That should do it. the one big gap in their security is the fact that they don’t search their prisoners until they’re half the way there, so whatever you have with you should be fine.’
'And I won’t loose this spectacular meat. How’d you cook it?’ Mayhem asked. The rodent slipped him a piece of paper with the cooking recipe on it.
'Tell you what, buy some more and I’ll alert the guards, get you where is needed.’ She said. Mayhem put down another 50, but only grabbed one stick of meat. He was already chewing on it.
'Best start running.’ The rodent added, and Mayhem did just that.
'Thief! Thief!’

Mayhem was never much of a runner- he preferred to stand and fight, or at least fly away. But he did have to get caught for the plan to work.
Mayhem leapt a cart, sending bits of pottery everywhere when he saw some guards coming his way. Better make it look good, he thought.
'Stop, scoundrel!’ One of the human guards shouted.
'Scoundrel? Really?’ Mayhem shouted back, the meat stick still in his mouth. He then dodged through the crowds for several seconds until he got stopped by a civilian with a large metal trash can. He got up and found the security guards on him, already cuffing him in the plastic bindings.
'You have the right to remain silent. You will be search once we get to the security sector, and from there you’ll be held within a cell until properly judged and you serve your sentence.’ One of the two guards said. the other tossed away his half-eaten stick of meat, which infuriated the dragon. The guards pulled him to a side door, and into and elevator that took them to the main rod body. They neared the security gate.
The gate was large, with at least a dozen guards striding around at any given time. There were also two gatling guns, mounted within the gate so they can fire on anything outside of it. He passed through easily, and actually noticed a few non-human militia-men within the gate. Odd, why would non-humans work for the human empire?
The guards took Mayhem around the corner, away from the gate and out of earshot of it as well, and it was his turn to act. Using his claws, Mayhem sliced the plastic bindings in half silently, giving him a chance to draw his laser pistol and stun the two guards quietly. He was in.
'So that rodent was right. Best make sure to give her my regards when I escape.’ Mayhem muttered to himself.
If I can find a map, Mayhem thought, I can figure out where the cell with Hope in it is, probably easy. She’s a child, unlikely to be in the normal cells with the actual crooks.
Another guard walked down a perpendicular hall without noticing Mayhem, giving him a chance to sneak up, laser pistol ready.
'Tell me, where’s Hope?’ He asked the guard, his laser pistol aimed at the guard’s head from behind.
'What do you mean?’ The guard replied, and he started to turn around.
'Don’t turn around, otherwise this laser bolt is going into your head. It’s set to kill, so I wouldn’t suggest it.’ Mayhem lied, grinning. It was still on stun.
‘Alright, but I don’t know what you mean by your first question.’ The guard said.
‘Never mind. Just give me a map of this sector.’ Mayhem replied.
‘Alright, alright.’ The guard fumbled in his pockets, eventually finding a digital projector with the sector mapped on it. He handed it to Mayhem, and shivered when he felt scales brush against his skin.
‘Thank you for your help.’ Mayhem said, shooting the guard anyhow. Of course, the gun was still on stun, so that guard would wake up after a day or so.
Mayhem quickly ducked into a nearby closet and took a look at the map. It showed the registered user’s current location, and it also talked.
‘Corporal Jerry, your heartbeat is registering in a different location to this map. Are you feeling well?’ It chimed.
Mayhem didn’t answer as he studied the layout of the complex. Once he made it to the ring- he wasn’t there yet- he would wait for gate four, this would take him near the “Special” cells- Hope was most likely in there. But, of course, Gate four is going to take the longest to wait out for.
Mayhem closed the map, and then listened for commotion on the other side of the door. None- he pushed it open and exited into the main hall, where he pushed off until he got to a large room with the gate in the center of one of the walls. It closed as Mayhem arrived.
'Gate 1 Departing’ An automatic voice spoke.
'Of course.’ Mayhem said. He turned around when he heard some commotion coming from behind. They’ve arrived.
Several shots were fired, but Mayhem pushed out of the way. The were using bullets, the idiots! They could shoot out an oxygen line!
Mayhem switched his pistol to the kill setting, and fired a few bolts at his attackers. Two died, one got inured.
'Gate 2 Arriving.’ The automated voice said. Just then, one bullet bounced off of a wall, hit another wall, and actually took out part of the glass. Mayhem had to get into the shaft before it closed.
'Gate 2 Departing.’ The voice chimed as Mayhem rolled in. Just in time too, as he saw the guards get sucked away into space. He grinned at the guards as they died, one by one.
So Mayhem had to cross the outer ring, but how? He decided to get out on the ring’s next stop in the rod, and then wait for the rest of the gates.
When the next stop came around, he leapt out into a similar room that duplicated the first one, but this one was full of seven guards. Mayhem stunned them all and hid the unconscious bodies from sight, and then sat down and waited.

Gate four arrived quickly, and left just as quickly. Mayhem walked in, frightened a few guards inside and then he quickly knocked them out with several swift blows to the head. When he exited out of the bridge, he tumbled into gravity and almost on top of some guardsmen. They fired at Mayhem, but to no avail- all they did was graze him with one bullet before he was behind cover. The firing was relentless, knocking off parts of the crate all the time.
'Certainly is a lot of them.’ Mayhem mumbled to himself, taking out a white-painted gas grenade. The gas inside the grenade was a powerful sleeping gas, but it didn’t effect him. Also, the gas was very thick, and created good cover.
Mayhem primed the grenade and tossed it over his shoulder, into the crowd of guards. Slowly, the gunfire stopped. Mayhem peered around the massacred crate he was hiding behind- a good dozen guards were out on the ground. No one else there not snoring like a baby.
Mayhem then realized that there was a hallway behind him- the prison cells. Worth a look.
Mayhem took a few bites from some of his jerky and walked in.

There wasn’t much in the cell block. Just four cells, three empty. The fourth had a pink play mat covering the cold metal floor, several brightly colored toys laying around, and a small bed in the corner. There was also a six year old human girl on said bed, creating a fake discussion between two stuffed animals.
'You wouldn’t happen to be called Hope, would you?’ Mayhem asked the little girl, crouching down to her height. The girl noticed him and wasn’t even scared by his looks.
'Oohh, a draggy!’ The girl said happily, clapping her hands. Mayhem noticed her low quality fake, replacement arm. Did the men here do that to her?
'Yes, yes. Are you Hope, little girl?’ Mayhem continued.
'That’s my name. I’m six and three fourths!’ Hope replied. this almost made Mayhem laugh.
'Well, I’m Mayhem. You pops asked me to get you back to him. Let me just get this door open.’
'No, I don’t want to go back to Daddy! No, please!’ Hope cried out, pulling back into the corner.
'And shes got good reasons not returning.’ A voice said from the doorway into the cell block. Mayhem turned to see a non-human empire officer standing there, too guards by his side. The alien in the tightly fitting suit was mammalian- well, covered in fur, anyhow. Looked like a cross between a lemur and a lynx, really.
'Alright, explain. Why is she inside the cell?’ Mayhem asked.
'To hide her. Can we have introductions, first? Seeing as you’re the skilled mercenary who single-handily took out half of my security force. Most call me Captain Chaos.’
'Odd, for I’m usually called Mayhem.’ Mayhem said.
'Mayhem, Chaos, and...’ The officer and the mercenary looked at the little girl behind bars. '...Hope. That’s irony for you.’ Chaos said. 'Alright, I’ll do my best to explain any of your questions.’
'Can we first get her out of there?’ Mayhem asked. Chaos tossed him a key ring.
'Blue-ringed key. You do the honors.’ Chaos replied.
'Well, Hope, looks like you’re not going back to pops at the moment.’ Mayhem said. He unlocked the door, and held out a hand. 'Don’t worry, this “draggy” won’t hurt you one bit.’
Hope cautiously took his hand. 'Are you sure?’ She then asked.
'Positive. Come on.’ Mayhem said as he followed Chaos, Hope in hand.
'President Burkoff isn’t known for kindness, you may know this.’ Chaos started. Mayhem nodded. 'Recently, he’s conquered two other colonies, Beta and Gamma. Killed everyone in them who wouldn’t follow his reign as a dictator. We’ve been trying to save who we can from his madness, and this included his daughter.
'See her false arm? She suffered a Martian virus when she was only three, and the majority of the infection was in that arm. Instead of paying the price for the antidote, he decided to pay a third of that price by chopping off her own arm and replacing it with a low quality false one. We would replace it with a high-quality one with all working fingers, but we don’t have anyone who makes them on this ship.’ Chaos said. Mayhem listened intently while chewing on some more jerky. 'What in the world is that that you’re eating, anyhow?’ Chaos asked.
'Beef jerky. Quite good, you want some?’ Mayhem replied. Chaos shook his furred head, and then he offered a piece to Hope. She took it happily.
'We’ve already rescued a good three hundred people from his twisted colony, and we hope to save the rest in an attack on Keith Burkoff. Tell me, how much did he offer to pay you for bringing Hope back to his hell?’
'3 million credits.’ Mayhem replied.
'The empire will pay you four if you help us in the attack.’ Chaos said.
'Well, Chaos, you have a deal.’ Mayhem responded.

Mayhem was shortly on a troop carrier with some of the empire’s military, heading towards mars in a similar fashion to the way he arrived at the Bazaar. Chaos was next to him.
'Will Hope have a good home to go to after this?’ Mayhem asked.
'Believe it or not, she’ll be coming to mine.’ Chaos replied. 'She already expressed interest in me, my family, and Hope is actually good friends with my son.’
'You... You have a family?’
'A mate, a son, and a father who lives with us. Is that surprising?’ Chaos asked.
'You didn’t seem the type.’ Mayhem said. Chaos laughed loudly, confusing the human soldiers.
'Do you have a family, Mayhem?’ He asked after a few moments.
'Not as far as I know.’ Mayhem responded.
As they spoke, Mars appeared in the viewports quickly. They could see Colony Epsilon- a massive gray circle in midst of the red, standing out like a sore thumb.
'Mystery vessel, turn back at once. No visitors are allowed in Epsilon.’ A voice said over the radio.
'Hold on to something, everyone! This’ll be rough!’ The pilot shouted. Suddenly, several energy shots flew past the viewports, and the ship started rolling to avoid attacking fire. Mayhem barely held on as the pilot expertly avoided fire and landed in the biosphere that the colony was under.
The colonies on Mars were all set under an energy orb each, and each colony was about two miles wide. The ground there was grey, covered in metal and buildings dotted the area. The majority of the colony was underground, though, although the biosphere kept the area under it supplied with oxygen. When the crew landed, the soldiers piled out, with Chaos and Mayhem exiting last.
'Feel free to use the kill setting on that gun of yours, Mayhem. The men who fight back aren’t worth saving.’ Chaos said. Mayhem already had a meat stick in his mouth and his pistol set to kill. Chaos has a very organic looking rifle of some sort- must of been from his own species.
The area they had landed in was a park type area, complete with a statue of a man in the center.
‘Burkoff. His ego is ridiculous.’ Chaos mentioned, staring at the statue.
‘So that’s him, huh?’ Mayhem asked. The statue was of a man with too much power. Ornate officer’s clothing, a hand raised to his forehead, but sideways in a demented salute. He had a short beard as well.
Both Chaos and Mayhem turned when gunfire broke out behind them inside of one of the buildings. Then it exploded.
‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!’ Mayhem shouted, aiming his gun towards the explosion. One soldier staggered out, on fire. In response, Mayhem and Chaos ran over to try to help.
'Suicide... bombers...’ The soldier croaked out before he died.
'This isn’t good.’ Chaos said.
'Death to the Empire! Glory to Burkoff!’ Both of them heard from somewhere.
'Mayhem, get ready.’ Chaos said.
'Death to the Empire! Glory to Burkoff!’ Another shout said, this time from a different part of the park.
'You do the same.’ Mayhem replied, still chewing on more beef jerky.
'Death to the Empire!’ A man shouted as he ran at the two. He was wearing normal civilians clothes coupled with a massive coat. He had a detonator in hand. Mayhem shot him in the chest, and he exploded in a gigantic fireball.
‘Glory to Burkoff! He will live forever!’ Another shouted as he ran towards the two. Chaos shot him down, burning away a few trees in the process.
'Death to the Empire! Scum of the Galaxy!’ A third cried. Mayhem and Chaos both shot him down. This continued on for at least two dozen more bombers, until there was no one left for them to fight.
'Burkoff should be in that palace he’s built for himself, down that way.’ Chaos said, pointing down a large street. Mayhem peered down it- a palace made from red stone was at the end.
The pair dashed down the street, towards Burkoff palace. Perhaps they could take Burkoff down quickly.
Right before they reached the point where the road opened up, a large Martian exploratory vehicle- a MEV- blocked it up with its thick steel armor. The ten feet of metal daunted Chaos, but not Mayhem. The dragon grabbed Chaos from under his arms and flew up to the roof of the MEV. Mayhem dropped him there, landing alongside.
'Glad I brought you along.’ Chaos remarked. They leapt off the other side of the MEV and kept running towards the palace, guns firing at them. The automated doors on the palace were shutting.
'Get in!’ Mayhem cried, dashing in between the massive double doors. Chaos rolled in, almost loosing his tail in them. The ended up in a dark room. A massive, dark room.
'Mayhem. I thought you would be trustworthy to whoever paid you the most. I wanted my daughter back.’ A voice said in the darkness.
'Burkoff, your daughter doesn’t want to return. She’s happy where she is.’ Chaos said.
'And anyhow, the Empire’s paying me more.’ Mayhem added.
'Well then, I better terminate the contract. Actually, how about I terminate you?’ Burkoff replied, and the lights switched on. The square room the pair were in was vast- At least 500 feet on any side. Pillars lined the walls, and they were the only cover. There was an elevator in the center, and it was active. And coming down.
Mayhem spotted the mech’s legs first. And slowly, the rest of it was revealed.
The mech suit was basic, and not military. Actually, it was a simple freight loader. Painted bright orange, its only armaments were its two gigantic pincher claws and its only protection was an impact-proof casing around the pilot. The arms and legs were a simple frame- made out of strong material, sure, but they still had wires hanging from them.
'Haha, you can beat me with your puny firearms!’ Burkoff laughed, running at the two. Mayhem and Chaos rolled in opposite directions, away from the charging mech. When they got back up, they were both already firing.
'Aim for the wires in the legs! We should be able to cut one if we fire upon it enough!’ Chaos shouted.
'Exactly what I was about to say!’ Mayhem replied.
The mech ended up colliding with the wall, cracking it. Chao’s crack shooting severed a wire in one leg, and Mayhem’s powerful blast blew it off. The mech fell down, sparks flying.
'So you are good...’ Burkoff laughed. He started cackling very loudly.
'He seems insane.’ Chaos said.
'Probably is.’ Mayhem replied. They walked up to the mech, but stopped when one of the arms flinched. Then it flipped over and started crawling towards them.
'Fire!’ Chaos shouted, and the two fired off tons of rounds into the torso of the thing, until it stopped.
'He’s dead, it seems.’ Chaos remarked.
'Well, we’ve won, though.’ Mayhem said.
'Shall we discuss payment?’
'Wait, who’s going to lead the colony now?’
'We’ll evacuate everyone willing, and clear out anyone who still clings to Burkoff’s rule. Once the colony is cleared, we’ll take it apart for components. The evacuees will be moved to a planet of their choice.’
'Good enough. Now let’s discuss payment.’