The Lone Gunman

[lostamigo]

1. [The mercenary who helped out in the fight against Sapphire Eyes and her goons shows up. And he turns out to be a hulking metal colossus. One who's wearing a long coat, for some reason.]

Hello. I am Daniel, an independent contractor. Or merc, if you prefer. Your commanders agreed to hire me, and I'll work for Unity Group now. I always wanted to do that; I think that's my most prestigious boss yet. If you don't trust me, check my website. It has credentials.

There are two things I'm asking in return. First, don't touch the Gun of God and Apostle's Armory. I'll handle them. The rest of Steel Wanderer is fine for touching. Second, I'm looking for my friends, Maggie and Bobby. If you've seen them, let me know.
...I'm also asking for payment, but your commander covers it. So it's technically three things.

2. [The website in question turns out to be embarassingly amateurish - like something out of Geocities, or Japanese internet. It even has a midi song playing in the background (a theme from some old western movie). But there are recommendations from previous people Daniel worked for, and they have only good things to say. And it seems he never took any morally questionable jobs, only honest ones like protecting settlements or convoys.
Feel free to comment on the website to other people or to Daniel.]

3. [Steel Wanderer kneels down in the hangar. It looks like the mech's only visible weapon is a hugely oversized revolver - the Gun of God Daniel mentioned. The cyborg is here too, operating some kind of console, connected with a cable to Wanderer's shoulder-mounted Apostle's Armory system. The console is full of switches, and screens showing unlabelled charts that mean nothing to an untrained eye, but Daniel doesn't look lost, and operates it with confidence. Finally, he presses a button, the Armory starts to buzz, and after a few seconds, it spits out a mecha-sized bullet on the hangar's floor. Only then Daniel notices he has company.]

Yes?

Comments

2)

[broken_frightener]

[Daniel would hear laughter. Loud, biting and definitely unpleasant. The source was a group of cyborgs. Unlike him though they retained more human features and were uniformed. But that aside the tallest one with the mechanical eye was looking at his website.]

"Look at this pathetic bullshit. Protecting the damn sheep like they meant something. Oh Baa baa baa. Thank you for helping us Mister Sheepdog sir. Here's a pat on your head, a bone and a dollar for helping us out!"

[Remille shook her head at her twin's comment, but the small smirk on her face clearly showed her amusement. The others merely chuckled and nudged each other.]

"Waste of good cybernetics if you ask me. If they wanted real fighters they should have just called us!"

[lostamigo]

...Yes, I do that. Problem?

[Daniel approaches the group from the back.]

You think it's pathetic to protect those who can't protect themselves? You won't impress anyone with that edge.

[broken_frightener]

"The Frighteners aren't meant to impress people. We're meant to put terrorists, dissidents and other assorted scum of the Earth into their graves."

[This time its Remille who speaks up, her arms folded as she regards Daniel with contempt.]

"Silencing threats proactively is a better solution than simply running to where weaklings bleat for salvation."

[lostamigo]

Doesn't that mean I have work because you're not good enough at your job?

[broken_frightener]

[Oh if THAT didn't stop the mocking chuckles and laughter from the Frighteners... you didn't have to be a psychic to feel the sheer hate and anger radiating off of them.]

"You walking scrap heap... do you KNOW WHO THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING TO?! We're the Ninebreaker's elite team! You aren't even worth the dirt under our boots!"

[Boyle storms over to grab Daniel by his coat. He of course cannot lift Daniel, though his augmentations do let out an audible whine from the attempt and there is a straining noise from the fabric.]

"You stop looking so FUCKING SMUG!!!"

[Nevermind he can't see Daniel's expression either. The other Frighteners look equally as irritated as they stalk forward with ill intent.]

1

[herodrawing]

Nice to meet you mr Daniel! I am Hitachi Izuru!

[Izuru seems shocked for some reaason, and this is because...]

You are just like Major Kagura!

[lostamigo]

You're one of those Princes. I heard about you.

...There's someone else like me here?

[herodrawing]

Ah. Hehe...

[For some reason, whenever his fame is mentioned Izuru always feels embarassed.]

Yeah. There is the Major, I think you'll see by yourself.

[lostamigo]

You're a celebrity, kid. Almost.

And I'll need to talk to your Major. I thought I'm the only one.

[herodrawing]

She's actually... ah, nevermind!

[Izuru realizes too late that Kagura may not be happy with everyone knowing her little secret. Change of topic, change of topic.]

Really? But we weren't in that many interviews at all... it doesn't really matter but I wonder who is the most popular from the team now.

3

[mc_of_mcs]

...That's a big gun.

[lostamigo]

Has to be. It's the Gun of God. I don't think something small would do justice here.

[mc_of_mcs]

So, how'd you get your hands on it in the first place?

Going by that name, it must've been one heck of a quest. Even worse if you made it yourself.

[lostamigo]

I didn't make it, no. It was given to me.

I can't tell you by whom. But I can tell you this: there's likely more than one Gun of God.

[mc_of_mcs]

But only nice guys can use these...right?

As a goddess, I wouldn't be handing things like these out to just anybody if I were in charge of 'em.

1

[itbelongsinamuseum]

You're a robot...I guess I'm not the only one who's got stuff to explain now.

[lostamigo]

Cyborg.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Okay. Not actually a wizard. Just got a magical, or rather divine, relic randomly.

[lostamigo]

A divine relic. A weapon of a god? I'm pretty familiar with those.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

The god himself...Or the power relic he sacrificed his life to create in order to grant his power to a champion.

[Her expression quickly faded.]

It's pretty much an accident that I'm that champion.

1

[dolorous_sensei]

Gun of God?

[lostamigo]

That's the weapon my mech uses. Though it's not God. Neither am I.

[dolorous_sensei]

Apostle's Armory?

[lostamigo]

The system that creates ammo for the Gun of God. I am not an apostle, either.

[dolorous_sensei]

So it's all just pretension? Or...