The stench of poverty flowed through the streets in the bronze quarter, the dwellings around these parts may once long ago been luxurious and even lavish, however that was clearly long ago he thought to himself. These days this part of the city was rarely visited by the majority of the offworlders that have come to call Taenarum ‘home’ temporarily or otherwise. Thick with first, second and even third generation refugees this area had succumbed to the plight of crime and squalor that often accompanies such an exodus and resulting influx of so many lives forced to occupy such confined living quarters. Between the older buildings there were shabbily constructed shanties that had grown as did the population, and everywhere there were the signs of neglect and lawlessness. It was not a nice place to be.  

Few took notice of the shadowy figure that walked the twilight streets, clad in a dark faded ferbosium bodysuit with several mismatched pieces of combat-scarred armour – only half hidden under the worn dark navy jacket - it was clear to most this stranger had seen and dealt in death. A rifle slung across his back, a bulky sidearm and his hand resting on the hilt of his blade the few that did take notice quickly thought better of it and began to search for a new much easier, less well armed mark. His helmet was nondescript, though any survivors of the Galen-Tiese systems might recognise its makings, it was all but meaningless to the rest of the universe. The figure turned off the main street and made his way down a small alleyway between two towering blocks, grimacing as he was again assailed by the stench of filth he wished he’d brought an airtight helmet instead of his openfaced one. Before him he could see his destination, a small drinking establishment built again rather poorly and cheaply with only a non-functioning neon sign to give away its presence. ‘The Dead End’ it was called, ‘Ironic’ - thought Sinval to himself as he trudged down through the filth towards the shanty. Along the way he passed piles of rubbish and even a pair of corpses, not long dead by the look of them, practically naked and stripped of everything of worth he guessed. He didn’t linger on the thought of their fate for more than a few moments, cruel as it may have been. 

Steeling himself he removed his sturdy Draxentine sidearm and entered the premises, pushing open the wooden door with his free-hand before his eyes took in his surroundings as rapidly as he could. There was one central room with two other doorways, the leftmost behind what was once the bar, now covered in rotting food containers and rancid chem paraphernalia. He summarised that the first door would likely lead to some kind of small storage room, the other door though looked like it might more-so lead into another room judging on its more central position. He was surprised by the lack of any guards of hired thugs of any sort, but then again this looked like it’d been converted into ramshackle living quarters of sort as he took count of the several bedrolls scattered about the room – it didn’t exactly look like a high class operation to say the least - no wonder the job was for so little money he reflected sourly. 

He took a step forwards and at that moment the second doorway opened, emerging from it a rather muscular human thug who took more than a few moments to realise Sinval was even there. He cried out in a guttural street language and scrabbled to pull his own weapon free and scramble backwards at the same time. Sinval quickly fired a single shot which took him clean in the skull, sending his body thudding backwards as he saw several more figures looming through the doorway and returning his cries. Vaulting forwards he closed the distance and threw himself against the doorway for cover as they returned fire, several light rounds whizzing past before embedding in the wall behind him. He waited patiently for a lull in their shots and counted two shooters and tried to determine their rough positions based on the sounds he could hear. His moment came and he whipped around the corner and rapidly fired two shots at each of the men. Before they could even react the shots found their marks and they crumpled to the ground. “Amateurs…” he mumbled to himself as he made his way cautiously through the room towards what he figured must be the final doorway based on the size of the place. As he did suddenly someone on the other side opened fire and sent a rapid hail of shots towards him. He lunged to the side though he did feel a round ricochet off his shoulder guard and he gritted as he again lunged into cover beside the doorway and landed with a thud. He quickly held his gun against the door and blind-fired several shots which tore through the wood, he continued to fire until the shots stopped. Again taking the first opportunity he pulled the door open and quickly glanced through ready to fire if necessary. The small room had offered little cover to his foe and his shots had found their target. Laying writhing on the carpet was the unmistakable Feilond criminal he had been sent to kill, his ‘distinguishing’ appearance proof enough of that.

Sinval took a few steps more into the room as he drew up above the reptilian Feilond and kicked the machine pistol away from its clawed grasp. “Waaait… I’ll p..p..pay you!” it croaked feebly in Humanitas. He wasted no time as he levelled the gun to its skull and fired another round, its grey scaled head half exploding as he executed it without pause ending its pitiful life. He took a few moments as he removed a small bio-sampler and took a sample of its blood to verify the kill before he again slipped it into his pack and turned to leave. Back in the main room with the bar he took again a few moments to cautiously check the other door, but he recoiled as he pushed it open as he discovered it had been converted into a toilet of sorts - or so he quickly gathered from the stench. He hesitated before leaving, he recognised he had been fortunate that the majority of the Feilond’s gang were obviously out elsewhere likely terrorising someone. Though the bounty was only for the leader, the thought of leaving so many armed thugs alive didn’t quite sit well with him. After a few moments thoughts he dragged the bodies of those he had killed and dumped them in the room with the Feilond. As he left he carefully set a tripwire attached to the doorway which would trigger a pair of heavy fragmentation charges. It seemed overkill somewhat but it was one way to ensure the returning gang members would be eradicated whenever they did return, their godsforsaken shack with them. 

As he made his way out and back towards more civilized parts he pondered on why he felt the need to leave such a fatal gift for whomever would return – not that he felt morally it was wrong in anyway. He had come to think of criminals like that as the worst sort in this life, cowards that would take things only from the weakest and least fortunate in society. Truth be told it was an opinion that had heavily been branded on him from childhood, the old Tolok Mathiti mantra of ‘the only good criminal is a dead criminal’ ringing in his mind. Of course the Tolok Mathiti had thought that about dissidents and sometimes even intellectuals of any kind, when it came down to it. He realised it had been a long long time since he had thought about home and he let his mind wander as he walked the streets back towards the more central districts. Though he did so from experience his eyes continued to dart around and his hand continued to rest on his blade. He longed to spend some of what he would earn from this bounty on a quiet meal somewhere, but he knew already the money was earmarked for the god-awful accommodation he had been forced to rent. 

With a sigh and the grumblings of his stomach, he decided at the very least to get some street food from a vender in the central markets. With the thought of at least a meal of some kind in mind he put one foot in front of the other and made his way towards his destination. At least, he thought somewhat bitterly, he had one way or another made this world a better place, if only slightly.