Once the prisoner was secured Rekt did indeed head for the slag pits. It sounded like the place to be, and there were unlikely to be too many random people he might accidentally shell.
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"Sounds like a plan. Good one? Who knows! Let's find out." Rekt clambered back aboard his armour, the machine whirring back to life. "Will return for feedback on cannon hit later. Would like full description, please."
"Likely places where they'd be?" Rekt asked.
Rekt sighed, putting his hammer and saw back before trying to work out what he could remember of the Brotherhood of Ash. Other than they seemed to be a bunch of edgy teen boys. Who else would think such a name would be a good idea? Recruiting women would be nigh impossible, which a lot of teen boys would find awkward.
"Release upon Steelbone's safe return, sure." Rekt started rummaging through his tools, looking for things to do if the guy tried to negotiate. Rekt could negotiate too. Left or right foot, for example.
"No profit in killing you. Maiming, sure. Sends a message. Next person speaks up real fast if they see you wheeling around on cart because we cut off everything from the waste down. But anyone can kill someone. Children do that. Not enough to scare people." It was probable that Rekt didn't really get that his mindset was atypical and that death probably scared most people, but he was being honest. There wasn't any real reason to kill the guy. "Of course, if we don't find our charge then we have to turn you over to his family, let them decide what to do with you. Probably gonna be in a burny mood. You know Dwarfs. Ooooh, betcha they dip you in molten slag iron, make you into art! Slag iron waste product anyway, so double use!" The little Goblin seemed to approve.
"Could be useful if replicated," Rekt agreed before hitting the Assassin again.
Rekt, who cared relatively little what it was once it was out of play, finally got to slap the man with a coin purse until he woke up.
Rekt looks at the pill. "Probably for suicide. Can't be too fragile, or he'd be dead by breakfast. Should remove it before it can be used. Have pliers."
Rekt double-checked the man for fun stuff as requested, then slapped him awake with a bag of gold. It seemed to be the theme he was going for.
"Gold alone, no. But the choice between gold and pain is harder. You're not betraying, brain says. You're getting paid. Choice between crushed hand, crippled for life, never work again and 200 gold is hard."
Well, getting hit with a cannon shell was never good for people. Clambering out of his armour with practiced ease, Rekt looked at the man for a moment. "Two ways of doing this," he said to the others. "Pain or gold. Suggest both carrot and stick. Anyone got a chair?"
Rekt considered. On the one hand, it was probably overkill, and the man might have important information on him. On the other hand, it would be really, really funny to shoot him with a cannon. On the other, other hand there was still probably some people around who might get hurt. But on the other, other, other hand was a giant cannon. Rekt lined up his shot, focusing his own mind to rapidly calculate the trajectory and arc, noting the wind by the flight angle of a passing bird and a thousand other details. He couldn't do it with every shot, as he'd been told it was psionic might that allowed this tactic, but it was occasionally useful to use it.
Opening the door in the direction the gunshot had come from, he thought, and looked through. "Mr Assassin? I am here about those shots fired."
Rekt moved to the third floor door. If it was the only way out he'd be blocking it, at the very least. He was good at blocking doors.
After his experimental tug Rekt spotted the roof access. "Oh, that will be easier." The heavy suit turned and grabbed the hatch, opening the thing if it was unlocked or swearing at it if it wasn't.
Rekt tried to pull the roof up again but it stubbornly insisted on remaining nailed down. "Need to pump up pressure and add more gearing," the Blue muttered in annoyance.
Rekt looked down and grinned. He reached down and tried to rip a chunk off the roof.
The Goblin swore. "Mr Assassin, please stay there. I wish to test this cannon on you." He hadn't managed to hit anything living yet, after all.
"Can't see where the shot came from," Rekt said sadly. "Want me to move down, run away with the client?"
Scanning the area for where the shot came from, Rekt whistled tunelessly and prepared to shell the location if he could spot the sniper. One shot probably wouldn't do much, but a second would be a slight.
Rekt considered the problem for a moment. "Could probably scare them off with a quick shell. Probably won't reduce them all to thin red smear." Rekt's voice made it clear he was willing to take the risk for an excuse to fire the main gun.
Rekt snorted as Rune made an interesting smacking sound on the pavement. Since he called for Slime the Goblin kept his position above, and continued to try and keep an eye on what was happening below.
Rekt focused on trying to keep the massive suit of armour above the streets. But it was not subtle, and required a lot of concentration as the little Goblin kept his focus on the controls and the building ahead, choosing the strongest and most sturdy rooftops. The last time he hadn't Rekt had ended up in lady's bathroom. It had been just awkward for everyone.
Would Rekt be able to swap Piloting his suit instead of Acrobatics?
"Made with quality steel," Rekt replied with a grin, slapping the armour with a solid clung! noise. "Think of it as a family product! Should absorb the damage from a fall, and will not be the first time I've fixed it if something goes pop."
"In an emergency, climb aboard," Rekt gestured to the massive suit of armour. "Fast and strong, also cannon. Should be able to flee."
"Non-lethal," Rekt muttered, apparently tasting the strange words and idea as he did. "Should be simple. Rocks not a problem. Unless they throw exploding rocks." Rekt studied the map. "Method of transport? Horseback, palanquin, carriage,other?" Horseback would be easiest to simply ride away from trouble if it occurred, a carriage could provide great cover in a fight and a palanquin...well, the whole point was the thing was utterly impractical. It would say something about there new employer.
"I am very noticeable, so will go high." Rekt grinned.
"I am Rekt," the little Goblinoid announced from the top of his machine. "Pilot and creator. Long ranged artillery for our group. A little healing alchemy, too. Mostly I have a cannon and other people do not, which leads to occasional unfairness in fights." He grinned. "I make other things too, now and then."
Rekt grinned in amusement as he failed to roll well. It didn't matter - 5gp was only 1/4 of a shell. If he really wanted to make money be'd go count cards. No one expected a Goblinoid to be able to pull that one off, hah! For now, though, he span again. The clicky noise was soothing.
Rekt wasn't great at gambling. He simply did it for fun occasionally. Still, he wasn't looking to loose too much money, so he simply went for roulette.
"No need to cheat," Rekt reasoned as they went on there way. "Just let 'em get goooood and sloshed. Then they can't blame you for winning. Hells, probably won't even remember the cash come morning if they're on the good stuff. Purple Worm Tequila leads to exciting nights and many apologies for where your pants were found."
"Not smart to drink and gamble. Good way to lose cash hand over fist." Rekt shrugged. "Casino 21 sounds like a place to fleece rich idiots. Buy more ammo."
"Other families are as likely as everyone else. We might have to ask the assassins to form an orderly line for there chance at his back, or dinner plate, otherwise they'll be tripping over each other." The tattooed Goblinoid grinned. As the others discussed a walk he shrugged. "Sure. Nothing better to do until the bullets fly and the bereaved cry." Taking one of the brews, Rekt looked at it curiously. "Drank wood alcohol once. Probably a mistake. Woke up trying to re-invent gravity." Rekt considered for a moment. "On the plus side helped with build the shields, so all is well that ends up with me not blind." He slipped back behind the armours controls, the massive machine coming to life once more as delicate fingers flew across the controls. Behind the controls Rekt could be seen grinning, which was not uncommon in giant robot pilots.
Clanking up to the others in the massive suit of armour,Rekt laughed at the question of who would want to kill the man as he came out the hatch. "Yup, he's Steelbones. You best have a good, long piece of wall for that list, Jahg. Plenty of competitors would like to see them taken down. Plenty of customers, too. Good steel, crappy prices." Rekt banged the armour with a clang to emphasise the point. "Then there's political rivals. Bet they think 'better us than them in charge', although they'd be dumb to do it. Steelbones have plenty more they can toss in, now with extra sympathy vote! Less likely to be a family member out to gain influence. Rest of the clan would be really, really...annoyed...by killing him off before he gets voted in. Then again, maybe that's the plan. See sympathy vote for details!" Rekt laughed again. "Should be a fun way to earn 20gp. Four shots before it becomes unprofitable." The massive suit of armour fired shells, after all - which did not come quite as cheap as powder and shot.
If there was one thing that was a pain in the ass when you didn't stand taller than three feet tall and had what could cheerfully be referred to as noodle arms then it was shopping. Rekt wasn't weak for one of his kind - far from it, perhaps - but compared to the people who lugged this crap around he was lacking in...physical. Just generally physical ability. If there was one thing that made shopping easier, however, it was a 8ft tall death machine that could carry all your stuff for you. The iron machine stood gleaming outside the shop, massive hand to its side, shield held in front. It's bronze chased armour gleamed in the light as Rekt loaded it with the supplies he was buying, making sure he wouldn't need to go shopping while guarding. |