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Saigan
Mar 2, 2004, 11:15 PM
Body Count
A PSO Fanfic by Stephen Huxman

Chapter 1:

The current state of unrest in Pioneer 2's Hunter's Guild could not be worse. This unrest was also not caused by any normal cause for unrest either; there have been no tragedies for a week (that's a long time for the Hunter's Guild), no one had gone missing, no one had discovered anything out of the ordinary? The cause for unrest was in fact two Forces who had been making their presence known-to the women of the Hunter's Guild.
Saigan and Zelgadis? they didn't look to be brothers but they acted like them. Most often the two FOmars could be found at the Body Count, a caf?or Hunter's Guild members only. Saigan was a tall handsome Force in a black robe with long reddish-brown hair tied into a ponytail, small glasses sitting on his pale face. Zelgadis was equally handsome, just as tall, but instead sporting a blue robe and dark purple hair thrown back haphazardly, he had a darker complexion than most and stranger still? a cat's tail.
On this day, despite their combined good looks neither was sitting with a woman, much like any other day. Zelgadis had already attempted to introduce himself and was rewarded with a bright red handprint on the side of his face? Saigan was still laughing at him for it too.
"*Snerk* Hehe-you told her you're a tentacle monster in bed-*PHHT* Hahaha-ha-ahem?" he stopped himself as a tall attractive purple haired RAmarl came through the door of the Body Count and sat herself at the bar. Saigan looked at Zelgadis with a grin.
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow and smiled in confirmation, "hell yeah dude. She's not tough looking like that HUcaseal that slapped me either."
Saigan nodded in appreciation of that fact and made his way to the bar where he nonchalantly took a seat next to her and ordered a soda. Out of the corner of his eye he took another look at his "prey" she was wearing mottled gray camo and her purple hair was done up and fanned back down the back of her head. He accepted his drink with a smile and checked her out over the rim of his glass before setting it down, "those are some nice guns m'lady?"
The glare that followed his comment may have frozen his drink, he never got the chance to check though- before he knew it his glass had shattered to the percussion of gunfire.
The RAmarl kicked his seat out from under him and took a seat on his chest pointing a very old looking gun in his right eye, "thanks- this one here is a Yasminkov. It's the 9000 model, ever seen a gun like this?"
Saigan swallowed his heart and managed to squeak out an answer, "no? what's it do?"
She smiled wickedly, "these are ancient weapons, before the creation of photon weapons guns used to blast lead from the chamber using small charges of gunfire in the ammunition. This model happens to be fully automatic? do you know what that means?"
Saigan shook his head no and caught Zelgadis laughing into the arm of his robe. The RAmarl took out another Yasminkov 9k and put it in front of Saigan's other eye, "it means that if I hold the trigger down for two seconds your entire skull structure will be replaced by searing hot metal bullets."
Saigan blinked taking in the threat wondering if his already pale skin had gone another shade whiter. She stood up, finished her drink and left. Saigan simply blinked again and glanced over at Zelgadis who was now rolling on the floor clutching his sides.

"That may have gone better if I had gone with your tentacle line Zel."
Zelgadis nodded and stifled another giggle, "hey, while you were busy wooing her I got a message from your friend at the lab. She said that there was movement detected in Pioneer 1's old Central dome structure, the quest to investigate was just posted. Nice big reward of 10k too, wanna check it out?"
Saigan gave his friend a thumb up and the two entered the Guild just in time to see the deadly serious RAmarl disappear into the Telepipe Station, Saigan frowned and ran to the desk only to stick his face in front of the pretty clerk's. "That RAmarl, what quest did she just accept?!"
The woman smiled politely although she did appear to be taken aback? "Central Dome investigation?"
Zelgadis leaned against the counter and winked at the clerk. "Might we sign up for that one as well?"
The clerk blushed and took their Guild Card numbers for confimation... "go-good luck Zel..."
Zelgadis waved and dragged Saigan to the telepipe, the two stood there for a second waiting for the transport device to activate. Saigan glanced at his friend? "she seems to like you."
Zel glanced at him, "who? Rio?"
Saigan cocked his head, "you know her name?"
Zel nodded, "well yeah, we had-" the telepipe cut his explanation off as the two disappeared into a pillar of energy.

Saigan blinked and glanced around him, they were standing in the middle of a deep forest on Ragol's surface but the telepipe back was no where around.
Zelgadis noticed too, "that's not right? Where'd the pipe go?"
Saigan frowned, taking in his surroundings. It was getting dark but the old dome was incredibly close. "I didn't think you could pipe in so close to the dome without a Ryuker already set up? oh no!"
"What?"
"I forgot to grab Omachao!"
"Your deranged mag? I've got him?"
Zelgadis held out his hand and a red cube the size of a man's head materialized, "he was drinking at the Body Count while you weren't watching."
Saigan grabbed the cube and hit the switch to open it, there was a little flash of light and an odd looking Chao doll came to life in front of him. It was floating sideways, "great. How much did you drink?"
Omachao smiled and lazily settled onto Saigan's shoulder, "just a camel or dot?"
Zel snickered, "your Mag's broken man?"
Saigan frowned, "it is so on when we finish this. He's going to groups again."
Zel laughed at this as well, "your Mag went to group therapy?"
"I don't want to talk about it, the landing site should be right through these trees. There's only one gate between us and the dome? let's just get this done quickly.
Zelgadis nodded and followed Saigan into the brush.

"Why'd you stop, Saig-"
Saigan held up his gloved hand to silence Zel, he pointed into the clearing that marked Pioneer 1's landing site. Zelgadis followed the direction of the finger into the clearing; some odd creatures that he had never seen before were resting in a large group. They looked like over sized turtles? they seemed to be separated into two different colors, some other creatures included an extremely mutated version of a praying mantis that looked to be a more lithe version of the grass assassins found in the caves under Ragol's surface.
Zel looked over at Saigan, "those don't look like the standard Boomas that wander around this area?"
Saigan shook his head and pulled out his BEE transmitter, "Lab? This is Saigan? is Arisenta there? Put her on."
"Hi Saigan, did you take the quest?" asked a pleasant female voice.
Zel smiled, "when do I get to meet her?"
Saigan elbowed him in the side and watched Zel double over cursing under his breath.
"Who was that?" asked Arisenta.
"No one, we've run into some native wildlife that doesn't match anything on record? They're bigger than Boomas and way uglier. Is there anything classified that you can let me in on? Most of them look like big turtles."
"Turtles? Oh- what you're looking at are Bartles and likely some Barbles. If there are any insect like ones of the same sizes around those are Tollaws? use a wide variety of techniques and you should be good. OH! Saigan? do you want to do me a big favor?"
"Samples?" he asked quickly.
"Pretty please?"
"Deal? see you soon." He said shutting off the BEE.
Zelgadis looked up, he appeared to be done with his agony. "So these aren't anything new?"
Saigan shook his head, "the creatures of this planet seem to be in a constant state of forced evolution, the biology department is still trying to figure out the cause."
"Why didn't you know about this? You're a senior science officer in the lab aren't you?"
"I work in the technology department, we're separate areas. I just happen to have enough clearance I can look at the Biology lab's files if I need to." He said standing up, "ready to make some noise?"
Zel grinned in anticipation before the two threw out their hands sending balls of fire, bolts of lightning and streams of ice in a torrent towards their unsuspecting enemies. None of which fell in the first volley. The two forces glanced at each other, everything near them had been completely reduced to dust by their power? everything except for the beasts that were now bearing down on them.
Zelgadis smiled, "sweet? they're stronger than your garden variety too!"
Saigan laughed, "it's about damn time we got a challenge!" With that the two broke into a full-blown run in opposite directions casting spells of destruction as they went. Monsters that were too slow never reached the aggressors and those that got too close were rewarded with a blast of power from point blank range, within a minute all of the creatures had been slaughtered in the dazzling fireworks show.
Zelgadis lay down against the Bartle carcass that Saigan was collecting a sample from. "I think we've reached the highest point our magic can go?"
Saigan nodded in agreement. "Nothing seems to ever survive in our wake, I can't remember the last time we even visited the infirmary."
Zelgadis frowned at the thought of that. "Which is a damn shame because those Newearl nurses are something else?"
Saigan smiled and nodded in great agreement, "almost makes me want to get seriously injured?"
"Oh- it's you."
Saigan and Zel both glanced over the pile of bodies, the purple haired RAmarl was standing on the other side, an Anti Android Rifle slung across her back.
"It's your mystery woman Saigan. Hey babe, what's up?" asked Zel going back to his rest.
Saigan grumbled something under his breath, put away the sample and turned his back on the RAmarl. "Not my type."
The RAmarl smiled, ?that?s a relief.?
Saigan winced at Zel showing that her response wasn?t the intended one. Again he rearranged his face and spun to face the new arrival, ?well, it looks like we have a decision to make. Zel and I are continuing to the dome regardless, you can go home or help us out and we split the reward three ways.?
?Deal, I?m Alexis by the way.? She said on her way past to the gate.
Zel stood up and dusted himself off, ?Cold? I?d say she?s exactly your type.? He commented giving Saigan a pat on the back.
Omachao simply rolled over in his sleep, ?pineapple dance? *yawn??

The inside of the dome had taken on an almost cave like appearance as opposed to that of a Pioneer structure. Zel took a furtive glance at the ground; heat from magma bubbling far beneath lit up the room. ?Wonder what did this? you?d have to be a damn dragon to need this much room for a bachelor pad.?
Saigan nodded and pointed to a far corner of the cave, a big red eye was watching them, ?yes, you would have to be a dragon.?
Alexis stepped forward between the two of them, ?this warrants using my big gun??
The three prepared themselves as the beast stepped into full view with a massive roar.


Chapter 2:

"Patient's name?"
"Zelgadis."
"Section ID?"
"Whitill."
"Class?"
"FOmar."
"And you are?"
"His friend, Saigan."
The Newman nurse nodded a thanks as she finished punching information into her computer. Saigan smiled at her and made himself look obviously interested in her, "is that all?"
She glanced at Saigan with a slight hint of interest, "depends? did anything else need addressing?"
Saigan smiled charmingly, "would you allow me to be forward with you miss?" She nodded, now he had certainly piqued her interest. Saigan raised an eyebrow approvingly, "I find you to be quite attractive and would like to take you to dinner so we could get to know each other better."
"Hmm? I don't know. I think I know your type Saigan?"
Saigan nodded, being outrageously handsome does have a drawback? he thought to himself. "If I can get you to laugh will you consider it?"
She smiled, "sounds like a fun game."
Saigan stood up with a wink, "really? Cause I know some other fun games!"

"What happened to your face Saigan?"
Saigan glared at Alexis with one eye over his swollen cheek. "My mouth started speaking without running it by my brain first."
Alexis chuckled to herself and ordered another drink, the Body Count caf?as remarkably quiet today. The only other customer was a tall red combat HUcast lounging in the corner. "What happened to Zelgadis anyway? I didn't think to worry about him, that dragon turned out to not be so dangerous."
Saigan smirked and chewed a bite of his burger. "It fell on him."
"You're kidding, how did that happen?"
"He saw that you were using a Baranz Launcher and could resist comment on your nice big guns. Zelgadis ignores his surroundings while he's attempting to court someone."
Alexis glared at Saigan, "are you two brothers or something?"
"No- why do you ask?" he said forcing a weak smile.
"The both of you are failed pimp FOmars, and you ask me why I ask."
Saigan laughed and checked out a FOmarl that just entered the room, "we're both fans of fine art is all."
Alexis glanced over her shoulder to see what Saigan appeared to be inspecting; she turned back to him after confirming it was a woman. "I will shoot you someday."
Saigan nodded watching his target sit down, "I don't doubt that."
Alexis downed the rest of her drink and stood bolt upright like she'd forgotten something. Saigan nearly fell out of her chair, "what, now?! I haven't done anything!"
"Not that you fool, did you warn the nurses about Zelgadis?"
Saigan thought about it for a second, "Oh no? I didn't!"
The two burst through the doors of the Body Count and ran headlong through the streets of Pioneer 2 before crashing into the medical center; no one was immediately available. "Saigan, where's the infirmary?"
Saigan pointed to one of the doors in the back of the room, "we may already be too late."
Alexis nodded and approached the door, "here's hoping we aren't." With that, she kicked open the door.
Saigan almost doubled over laughing at the site that awaited them, Zelgadis, complete in hospital gown was clinging to one of the nurse's legs, his tail waving madly in the air. The nurse he happened to have attached himself to was desperately trying to beat him off with a clipboard, the other three nurses that were present were pulling on his legs in a futile attempt to get him back in bed. Zelgadis was cackling like a madman.
Alexis pulled out her Yasminkovs and walked up to Zelgadis and squatted down placing one of the cold guns under his chin. "I think you must be all better now Zelgadis, you're being released."
The look that Zel shot back could have melted ice, he started crying and his bottom lip shot forward in a pout.
Alexis grimaced and pushed the gun into his throat, "what is THAT look for?"
"I'm? so?happy! Please don't take me away from the pretty girls!"
Saigan stepped forward and patted Alexis's shoulder, "Zel, we have our own pretty girl-" He was cut short as the other Yasminkov was forced into his mouth.
Alexis glared once more at him. "Finish that sentence. I dare you to."
Saigan's eyes teared up almost immediately? "mmmmph?"

So now the three found themselves at the Body Count for the third time that day, Saigan and Zelgadis being forced into good behavior by the watchful eye of Alexis. Zel was practically twitching, now that the two were being good the number of women entering and leaving the caf?ad almost tripled.
"This? isn't? fair?" whined Zel as yet another cute HUnewearl sidled by him.
"That's too bad," stated Alexis. "I'll teach both of you manners AND patience. Plus there's a client who's meeting us here, she's extremely well bred and I can't have to two of you humping the lags of every female who walks by." Zel pouted again and slouch down like a five-year-old about to have a temper tantrum.
Saigan allowed himself to laugh aloud at this for a moment and glanced at Alexis curiously, "wait a second? when did you take an interest in keeping tabs on us? In fact, when did you decide to even hang out with us?"
Zel sat up now interested in the conversation. "If you're attracted to me just say so, even if your embarrassed about your feelings we can just skip that part and go back to my place to-"
CRACK
Zelgadis twitched for a minute as he put a hand to his head where Alexis's gun had struck him and passed out. Saigan raised a brow and sipped his drink, "was that at all necessary?"
Alexis nodded and placed the gun on the table, "I think I need to leave this out around the two of you.
Saigan nodded, "so? why are you here with us? Fighting the dragon together was a strategically acceptable thing to do, it made all of our jobs easier. But why are you sticking around like an old friend."
"As much as it will boost your ego to say this I don't know any Forces near as powerful as you or Zel. I saw your fight near the dome; those creatures never stood a chance. Even experienced Hunters like myself would have had to take their time? even make multiple trips to clear out those beasts. You and Zelgadis simply ran in and annihilated them without breaking a sweat."
Saigan nodded, "there's more than that. I may act it sometimes but I'm no fool."
Alexis nodded and continued, "most Forces spend their entire lives becoming cool and collected to bolster their abilities. They exude an air around them that almost demands respect? the two of you are the opposite. You're loud, lack charisma, and juvenile? but you have more power than you know what to do with."
"You're wrong?" stated Saigan looking away from her. He was watching the door. Alexis glanced up, waiting for his response. "I'm not so sure about Zel but I was one of those Forces that you spoke of. I commanded a lot of respect; it also helped that I'm one of the head lab chiefs in the technology department? I could simply make a request and it would be taken as if it were an order from Tyrell himself."
Alexis nodded, "why'd you change then?"
"It wasn't fun?"
Alexis stopped eating to listen more closely.
"One day we got a new assistant, it was shortly after those Hunters killed that? thing in the ruins. Her name was Aris; she was a HUnewearl and had apparently been injured shortly before the battle so she missed out on the glory. I asked her how that could be a reason to work under me in the tech department? did you see that article about creating androids that could breed?"
Alexis nodded.
"I was the one who wrote that thesis. Aris believed in my work more than I did and thought that if she was one of the people who could give artificial life the ability to procreate she would get to taste some of the glory. Glory that she missed out on due to her injury.
"One day, she told me out of the blue that she loved me. I was baffled by this new kind of attention and asked her why. It was because my charm was leaking through the respect I had. That was her reason, she convinced me to drop the wall of seriousness for her so she could meet Saigan, not Saigan the FOmar. That's who I am now, Saigan. Not Saigan the force, just Saigan."
Alexis nodded and checked her watch, "the client should be here any beat now. So what happened with you and Aris?"
Saigan didn't so much as blink as he gave his response, "she's dead."
Alexis nodded once more and glanced at the door, "the client is here."
Saigan looked up in shock, "what's this about?"
Alexis smiled, "you asked why I've been hanging around you and Zel? I was hired to find you and keep track of you so she could see you. It's rude to distance yourself."
Saigan gulped, Arisenta, the woman he had spoken to over the BEE was standing at the door of Body Count looking for him. She was an extremely attractive HUcaseal with a human face and red hair. Her body was black, red, white and suited for fighting. Immediately he dived under the table, "Alexis, I may have to kill you for this."
Alexis ducked her head down to speak with him, "she didn't tell me why to find you? Is she a stalker?"
Saigan shook his head, "I don't see her as one, just someone who happens to be in touch with her emotions to the point where it's painful."
"Broken heart?"
Saigan shivered, "I mean physical pain. She forgets that she's a fighter first and hugs with the strength of one."
"Alexis, I thought you said he was here with you?"
Alexis reared back and greeted her client with a guilty smile, "oh hi Arisenta! He said he'd be back in a minute." Alexis gave Saigan a swift kick to get moving, but no sooner than he had turned around Arisenta took his seat? and his point of escape.
Damn! I'm trapped! Saigan gave himself a mental kick for not running in terror at first sight of her. It wasn't that he didn't like her, but the first time they tried to get cozy she hospitalized him. When she tried to hug him and apologize? he was hospitalized again; it was a brutal circle. One that he had escaped from a few weeks ago, he even called her via BEE to explain and keep in touch with the lab and he thought she was fine with that. Evidently not.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Saigan on 2004-03-16 15:03 ]</font>

Sagasu
Mar 3, 2004, 04:30 PM
Interesting start, keep writing.

MQuantum
Mar 3, 2004, 06:55 PM
Oooo, a good mix of comedy and seriousness!

Also a good writer... Hmmmm... Stick around, my friend, and keep it up.

Also, a few mistakes in punctuation, and ALL YOUR " AND ' AND ... ARE BELONG TO US!

MS word does that, you can edit and change those to normal, or just type in the submit post screen. Good luck!

Saigan
Mar 4, 2004, 06:05 AM
Oops, looks like I did miss a few errors. Thanks for the compliments as well.

Zelgadis
Mar 4, 2004, 08:53 PM
Didn't want to say anything....but I was noting that as well...you need to start writing chapter. 2. ^.^ *wonders about the rest of the cast*

Saigan
Mar 5, 2004, 07:33 AM
Chapter two should be up either tuesday or wednesday. I'll aim for tuesday, but unwanted interruptions do a great job of keeing me from writing.
Anybody who read this play episode 3 online? Just curious.

Saigan
Mar 9, 2004, 07:54 PM
And it looks like it will be up today. Incoming chapter 2. There's actual character development in this one, so not as much room for humor. still, let me know your opinions.

Saigan
Mar 16, 2004, 06:05 PM
Finally put chapter 2 where it belongs. My computer's been acting like it's got the plague. I'm trying to write chap 3 as we speak... providing my OS doesn't crash... AGAIN.

Sagasu
Mar 16, 2004, 09:57 PM
You might want to post the chapters seperatley, it helps readers from having to sort through a long line of chapters instead of just looking for the one at the bottom of the page http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime2.gif

But hey, your doing great job any ways, keep it up http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif