Chapter 3 To Slay An Acklay
Talyeer rocketed over miles of mountainous terrain up to his parents abode. Tucked away high in the granite crags, the Taibur clan’s hut was hidden from all but the best explorers. Dry, gray dust floated behind him as he skimmed over a small plateau. Setting down next to a solid wall of sandstone, he launched his grappling hook to the top of the cliff. He tugged, securing the grapple against the rim of the ledge. Placing his feet solidly onto the wall, he ascended to a small protruding rock. He passed his through the rock, and input a series of memorized codes. Taking his hand out of the hologram, he climbed through his window into his room. He then accessed his armory via retinal scan, DNA check and fingerprint. The vault opened with a hiss and he compiled the armor he had stripped and put the weapons on a rack. When he counted all of his winnings, he had thirty nine sets of armor that fit him, twenty eight assorted weapons, a number of fuel cells for his jetpack and over one thousand credits in standard Concord Dawn electrum plated. That was a pleasant victory over them. They won't mess with me in the future. Talyeer picked out his best sniper rifle, assault rifle and automatic pistol and grabbed a handful of fuel cells and concussion grenades. Well, I'm ready to go. He flew over the mountains and dropped off near the crash site of the zoo freighter. Well, so far so good... no sign of that acklay, yet. Talyeer advanced toward the entrance of the complex with light feet and quick heart. He entered the mouth of the carved out entrance of the lair and noticed scorch marks on the walls of the compound. Eh, that's odd... He continued into the den and saw dried blood of green, blue, red and orange shades dashed along the wall. He heard short, quick steps with a faint clicking echoing after them. Talyeer darted down the corridor and rolled through a passage way and felt something wrong he hit the ground and rolled to the left side of the corridor as spears intertwined where Talyeer just was. Few, that was close. His breath echoed around him, increasing the sense of danger. Suddenly, he heard a bloodcurdling screach right behind him! He twirled around bringing up his sniper for a one shot kill. The acklay towered over him and his finger hit the firing stud, ripping through the acklays foreward bicep, making him tumble over. Talyeer ignited his jetpack and glimpsed a pair of men running up behind the acklay. Next time, I aim for the head.