Down below

[Anonymous]

Normally she did her hunting topside, on the ravaged, ruined surface of the planet. But pickings had been a little scarce and after that weird earthquake and the monsters coming up from below, subterranean bounties had gone up. Way up.

So Finch was down in the tunnels, the unexplored and settled areas of the complex that housed the city. They weren't all man made tunnels either, some had been created by massive beasts that connected with the labyrinthian corridors already there.

A light mounted to her head, she crept through the tunnels, holding her spear tightly, eyes peeled and listening carefully for any sign of life around.

[Anonymous]

Someone was watching her. A figure shrouded in the darkness of the tunnel, taking cover behind some debris. No light emanated from this figure, which explained why it had been undetected as she rounded the corner.

Then suddenly she could hear a male voice though it seemed mechanically adulterated as if through a radio or behind a closed faced helmet.

"Don't be alarmed. If you understand me, I'm going to walk in front of you. Don't try to stab me ... I mean you no harm."

A moment passed and then he stepped into the beam of her light.

The figure was tall at just a couple inches shy of 7 feet. One hand was up with palm out in a soothing gesture, while the other hand held a compact sub machine gun looking weapon with a silencer. He held the gun down and away, but with this finger near the trigger in case he needed to use it. Clad in a black mesh armor adorned with plates to cover vital areas; it was unlikely her spear would do much before he could pull his weapon up.

Looking further at his appearance, his shoulders was a frayed brown and gray cloak of sorts which was meant to conceal his armored nature from a distance. The figure's head was also hidden in a black helmet with an orange visor. The opaque visor hid his face and eyes from view.

[Anonymous]

When the figure approached, Finch frowned, puzzled as to what he was doing down there and why he was so skittish. He was the tallest person she had ever seen and had a little too much flair for the dramatic, but she wasn't sure she should be afraid of him. Generally, this far into the tunnels, humanoids were just other bounty hunters.

"Uh...what...are you doing?"

[Anonymous]

Her rather calm response was unexpected. Few could face the unknown popping out of darkness and just shrug it off. Intrigued, the man underneath the armor eyed her up and down for a moment taking notice of her myriad of scars, her ensemble, and her weapon. A good looking woman, though wastelander for certain. She was still no doubt a veteran of her trade, however, a huntress.

In a different time frame, or a different land they wouldn't have been so different. Regardless, he didn't have the time for proper introductions.

"Making sure you don't try to impale me and ask questions later. Do you know these caverns? Cooperation could net you a useful reward if you do."

That opaque visor stared at her, gun still lowered.

[Anonymous]

"Uh....yeah. I mean, a little." Finch frowned, head cocking as she studied the man, "You...aren't from around here, are you?" She had just assumed that he was another bounty hunter from Teinar, but she was starting to doubt that.

Where he was from though, she had no idea. There wasn't really many places to be from, "Did you come down from one of the stations and get lost down here?"

[Anonymous]

"Good, let me pull up the charts..."

The man kneeled down and lowered a small device to the ground as she asked about his origins.

"Home is where your feet are. Your people call me Steel, though you're free to call me what you wish. I'm a consultant, contracting high level jobs for interested parties, though usually from Cancer."

He looked back down at the small oval device he placed on the ground and turned it on. Immediately, blue streams of light shot a couple feet into the air where they started to form outlines. Shortly a holographic map of the underground laboratory that became Teiner, appeared. Rough estimates of the Teinari people's additional construction was then added, and then the projector started adding new tunnels. Steel then used his hands as if he were touching an animate object and moved the map down to focus on the caverns below Teinar.

"Many of these tunnels are made by some manner of beast. My best estimate puts us somewhere down here, but ... hey turn your head lamp off for a minute so you stop distorting my image here."

[Anonymous]

"My people? Uh, wow." Finch gave a short laugh, "Why to be a charmer. I love being treated like some savage." Finch flicked her head lamp off, looking at the map, "What are you doing down here then? Are you hunting it?"

[Anonymous]

"Savage?"

What was it with women and insinuating details out of thin air. She was obviously from Teinar, and they were a rag tag people. Well with women you had to just be quiet or take what you got. At least she seemed to roll with the punches even if he didn't remember having thrown one.

Of course Solaiel Relens, the man who really was behind that armor couldn't tell her who he was, where he was from, or why he was there. Steel was the persona he took in this field and he'd play the part every step of the way.

"Don't flatter yourself there darling, you're not savage enough. I'd date a woman from Teinar before one on Cancer hands down any day of the week," added Steel with a hearty chuckle. "To answer your question however, I'm here to retrieve a package. The run of the mill creatures running past here are easy enough to dispatch if they don't get the drop on you, but this creature was different. Damn thing was four meters tall, solid muscle with a hide that just absorbed our ammunition. Killing it would be a secondary objective, but one i'll do if the opportunity presents itself."

[Anonymous]

"What are you talking about?" Finch gave the man a weird look. He was saying a whooooole lot of crazy. "Uh, are you trying to ask me to help you kill that thing? Because I am way not equipped to take something like that on."

Finch wasn't sure what to make of all this and she just gave a shrug, "I suggest looking for a group with more firepower. I can't afford the bullets for that." She grinned and waved her ax, "That's why I am using this baby."

[Anonymous]

Steel paused as he tilted his helm up to gaze at her for a few moments in silence. She was an odd one, but it was obvious she felt the same about him. This wasn't unusual for him, but Teinar always did amaze that man as it wasn't so far from home after all.

"No, I'm only equipped for CQ... uh what I mean to say is i'm not equipped either," added Steel hastily towards the end of the sentence. He had to simplify his conversation with her to get down to the point in an understandable and efficient manner.

"I'm here for a package that my team has. I need to find my team to do so. Can you point to where you think we are on the map?" However, as he looked back down at the map a sudden thought struck him.

"Wait a second, why would you be this deep in these tunnels with melee weapons if you know you can't survive a run in with larger creatures?"

[Anonymous]

"Because I'm not hunting them, duh." Finch rolled her eyes. Really, the guy was slow. She studied the map, then pointed out their spot, "Here. We're here. Though, this is wrong. This tunnel here goes east, not south."

[Anonymous]

Duh? She was certainly, no powder puff. She either had balls of iron or a brain the size of a small nut. Solaiel had watched these creatures for a while now observing their behavior. Light sources seemed null due to their lack of sight. Noise and smell however, seemed heightened and to trigger them. They were certainly quite hostile or territorial. His sealed suit provided him with protection against their sense of smell, but none of his team had seen the large one that bum rushed them.

Then again, she obviously had been around the block a few times to survive this long. It would have been a tactical error of judgment to not assume she knew better than he did in these caves. With that thought he decided to just drop the subject and move on.

"Really? Interesting, let me recalculate that, yes ... updating," added Steel and suddenly the holographic image of the map changed the direction of the tunnel she indicated from south to east. An arrow then applied itself to where she indicated them to be currently. Oddly his hands never touched the projection device, nor was he keying information in on any devices period.

"Hmm, I lost my team here in this chamber then," replied the armored figure as he indicated a chamber a couple levels below them and a small distance away to the north. "The creature chased me, so its likely the team is still there. Can you get me there?"

[Anonymous]

"Depends. What are you offering?" It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but Finch wasn't rich enough to pull jobs like this for free. And while the guy had some sweet gear, not of it would fit her, so it was useless.

"The creatures are pretty easy to avoid if you know how to use your eyes and ears."

[Anonymous]

"I suppose that depends on what you're interested in, but I did have a certain gift in mind though," added the armored figure as he reached to the pack on his back and pulled it off to sit it on the ground. Still on a knee in front of his holographic map, he began to rummage through his pack and produced a small device with a strap behind it that made it look like it went around one's head.

"Here try it on...  night vision, much better than a headlamp. Especially if you were to find something of value down here and some two legged friends decided to take it for themselves as you were trying to leave. The power source will last throughout our life times and its pretty durable. Could be valuable in Teinar even if its not your style I suppose."

[Anonymous]

Finch brightened and she pulled her headlamp off and tried on the goggles on, "Ooooh. Man. These are nice. Well, for these I think I can get you there. As long as things don't get too hairy." Still wearing the goggles, she grinned, "Alright then. Pack up and lets go."

[Anonymous]

He couldn't help but smile behind his closed face helm. It was humorous seeing this woman who was clad in what he assumed to be Teinar fashion, but wearing tactical night vision goggles. Granted, Solaiel certainly wasn't complaining as the headlamp would no longer interfere with the visuals of his visor.

"I'm glad you like them, and don't worry about hairy as that's what I'm here for. I need you for the navigation."

Reaver hated sitting there and negotiating with her, but the worse thing would be inefficiently navigating the caverns by himself and making wrong turns. For all he knew his team could have been getting wiped out while he was chatting her up.

After fastening the pack shut again, he then hoisted it over his back again when he noticed two red blips on his heads up display in his helmet. Motion sensors had tracked two hostile creatures moving out of a nearby cavern. Naturally 'Steel' stood back up, and shouldered his silenced submachine gun as if he had seen something (as she obviously couldn't see the display inside his helmet).

"Two targets, danger close, 9 o'clock ... show me your stuff boss," whispered the armor clad man loud enough to be audible but not so loud as to project down the cavern.

[Anonymous]

Finch shrugged, not bothered by the monsters nearby. She held a finger top her lips, then grinned and headed along the tunnel. They just had to avoid the ones, Finch wasn't going to take him that way anyway. Avoiding the tunnel, Finch moved down the hall, confidant and quiet.

There were a number of good monsters to hunt down here, to bring in a sweet bounty. But she didn't have the fire power to take on the big ones and if Steel wanted speed, fighting took too long. Turning down another tunnel, she led Steel deeper, "We can talk now. I'll let you know if we have to go silent again."