Skull Valley Shootout

Dust rolled over Skull Valley.

It was a quiet night, but it couldn't last. As a pair of bandits knelt down in overlook over the meeting space below, eyes pressed to the scopes of their energy rifles, their partners below fumbled with gold bars. The kind of raw currency that hardly saw use on Earth in this day and age, but that still retained high enough value to be worth its weight in -- well.

They had purchased a suite of stolen equipment from a military facility on the outskirts of West City. Malfunctioning turrets that they would patch and use to guard their own encampment, and a trio of hovercars outfitted with a new model of unguided rocket launcher: tipped with high-yield energy to threaten even ki users. Ever since panic had spread over the Earth in the wake of its succession of attacks, weapons that could be leveraged to fight back against monster and alien alike had come into high demand.

It should have been a simple transaction, but you don't make a Skull Valley trade when you intend to honour your word. The bandits knew what was coming, and so did their contact: a Tuffle woman, as short as most of her race, with styled blonde hair. She didn't have the look of a warrior, but they weren't stupid. They could detect her energy through their scopes, and while they didn't have a number to put to her face, they knew it would take more than a shot or two to bring her down.

It was one of those indescribable impulses. Why, when everyone involved knew it would turn to bloodshed, did they still insist on carrying on as if it was business as usual? Why did the Tuffle make a passing comment about police patrols just pass the perimeter, and why did the bandit leader remark about the recent drought conditions? Small talk before a fight. Meaningless air, but it set the stage. Everyone could feel what was coming down to their bones, and yet there was a civility to it.

As civil as double-crosses could be.

"That should be all of it," the Tuffle told the bandit leader, as her scouter began filtering through the various targets lining up around them. She had her Caduceus Suit on, but its defensive capabilities weren't active. That much would have been a give-away, however obvious the coming fight would be. "A truck-full, like you asked. I know that's not a scientific measurement, but it should be close enough. Maybe even a little over."

The handful of bandits on in the dip of the valley searched through the equipment, one wire eat a time. It was as if they were expecting the hovercars to be scrap or the turrets to be mock-ups. Probably evidence of a trick played upon them in days past, by some other unfortunate trader. But, that was why she was really here. She didn't approve of this type of bandit or their ilk, preying upon whomever they pleased with no rhyme or reason. They were shepherds of nothing more than chaos and unrestrained greed.

They were the exact type of people she wanted out of the picture. In the process, she would do the Earthlings a favour, but she knew that she would never receive thanks for it.

"Appreciate the business," the bandit leader mumbled back, as he nodded to his right-hand man. An obvious signal.

As the last gold bar was tossed into the passenger-side seat of the truck she'd moved the equipment in, she gave a small nod. A gesture of courtesy, as if their trade had been concluded. But, as the gun-men on the ridge of the valley took aim, and the bandits in the dip grew tense, Jujube knew that the time to dispense with the formalities had come. With the kind of speed that only a ki-user could muster, she whirled her arm blaster around and shot the bandit leader dead between the eyes.

Her rocket boots flared to life, and she shot into the sky. In moments, Skull Valley was alight with yet another fire-fight. The inevitable had come again, but this time Jujube would leave the world a little more peaceful than before.