Dark Matter Ascension

Jace had been sitting in the bar for an hour before he spotted the woman walk in. He had take up a booth seat, and was sampling the odd smoke-emitting device. After a single puff he determined he hated activity. Ollie had explained that they had something akin to a minor hallucinogen in the mix, but Jace’s NICIF filtered the toxic substance immediately.

Plus, it tasted foul.

“Well,” the cat-woman said as she got onto the seat across from him. “You do your job?”

Jace nodded, “We showing our cards here?”

“This is Gold Paw territory.” She held up her hand-paw, and Jace could see a small tattoo with some type of golden ink on the ‘palm’ of the hand. “This establishment is one of our legitimate enterprises.”

Jace nodded and pulled out the two pouches, sliding them over to her. She poured them out onto the table and began splitting the gemstones by size and type, creating a small grid before looking up. “This all?”

“They had more,” he said as he kicked up his legs and her eyes went wide at the technology-based prosthetics. “But I’m not in the business of bankrupting random families I know nothing about.”

She sighed, “Well, that won’t do.” She scooped the gems into the bags, “Sorry, but the Gold Paw have a reputation to keep.”

Damn. “So, I’m no longer under consideration?” he asked.

She pursed her lips, “You are an Aspirant…and now that I’m not as drunk and looking at you more clearly, you’re not a Yittka, either.”

“Human, from Earth,” Jace replied as he crossed his arms. “Tier 6 Aspirant. You sure you can throw such a valuable asset aside?”

She smirked, “It’s a tier 6 world. Outside of the city walls? You’d be challenged mightily.”

“She is right,” Ollie whispered in his ear. “There are enormous dinosaur-like creatures out there. Very dangerous. It is why the world is rated so highly. A massive jungle planetoid.”

Jace smirked, “But not many Tier 6 threats in this city.” He tapped the table with his fingers. “If I had a mind to, I could blow up this entire building,” he snapped his fingers for dramatic effect, “Like that.”

Her eyes went wide at that statement. “Oh…well…let’s not be hasty here. You might not be as ruthless as we usually scout for. But…how open are you to beating up rivals?”

“Depends,” Jace replied coyly as he interlocked his hands behind his neck. “I’ve killed hundreds of thousands of people.” Which I hate, but its good for intimidation and it’s not a lie.

Her face went pale: well, as pale as a cat-person’s furred face could go. “Oh…so…would you…hold on. Let me go get my boss.” She got up, walked over to the bar, chatted with the barkeep for a moment, and then went upstairs. At the same time, the barkeep made a weird, low-volume whistle. The various Yittka who were sitting around roused to a semblance of attention as they all looked over at Jace, and a large, lion-like man went to stand guard at the door.

Jace chuckled, “Really? Trying to intimidate me?”

The barkeep crossed his arms, “Just making sure nothing unfortunate happens. No one is making any rash decisions.”

Jace just shrugged and was content to wait. A few minutes passed in a tense silence, and the woman came down the stairs with the other very-drunk female from earlier in the dormancy period. She sat across from Jace. “My associate mentioned that you have a unique skill set the Gold Paw guild could use.”

“Yes,” Jace replied. “If I had a mind to, I could render you all incapacitated with a single look.”

“Please,” one of the Yittka who was standing with a hand on a cutlass said with a chuckle. “With a loo-”

(Terrifying) Augmentation, do your thing. Jace looked over at the man, and he immediately fell to his butt screaming in terror. Frozen in place. Casting his gaze over the room, he saw the terror effect take hold of each of them. Turning back to this leader, she seemed unaffected. She’s Tier 6 then. Alright. Disable the effect. He cracked a smile, “Yes, with a look.”

“A fear aura? Fascinating.” The woman leaned forward. “I’m called Copperpaw. Third in command of the Gold Paw thieves’ guild. We don’t normally go for the non-ruthless types…but we could make use of someone with your obvious talents. And, we pay handsomely.” She put her palm on the table, and the brown, Civilian mark flared with light. It swirled into a vortex and then shot out into Jace’s Cosmic Power Symbol.

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[Stardust Acquired: 50]

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“For the gems,” she said with a smile. “Your split. But if we are going to continue this partnership, I need a bit more…sign of your commitment.” She snapped her fingers, and the woman that Jace had been talking to produced a map that she spread out on the table. Ollie immediately overlaid the map that he projected into Jace’s vision, and the woman continued. “We have some Jesters in our territory. Oh, right, you’re new here. It’s a rival thieves’ guild.” She pointed to a spot on the map, “They’re on the edge of the Cotton District, and have taken up residence in one of the shops. We need to send them packing.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You want me to scare them off?”

“And teach them a lesson,” Copperpaw replied as she smiled, and her long teeth were on full display. “Break some bones, but don’t kill them. Should be perfect for a softie like you, eh? You’ll know them because they are missing their front-left tooth.”

Jace stood up, “Give me thirty minutes.”

She blinked in surprise, “You plan to go now, at the end of the dormancy window? People are waking up and the wakening window is going to begin.”

Jace went to the door, “I won’t be seen.” Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3). He heard the gasps and curses from behind him as he pushed aside the lion-man guarding the door and stepped outside.

Copperpaw was correct, the street was beginning to wake up. People were starting to enter the district, and Jace correctly assumed that this was a type of shopping area where different businesses were set up. Most likely the proprietors lived up above the shops in the second or third floor. But people were entering the district as shoppers and patrons of the various establishments.

He walked unseen down the road, following the map Ollie put up, and spotted a group of kids who were running across the nets above with small satchels on their hips. “Ollie, kids are supposed to be in Khrox, right?”

“Yittka have a very weird life cycle. Two years they are considered children, and then their adulthood is another eight years, before they are middle-aged and stay that way for sixty years. Then, they slowly get older, and generally die off at their early 110’s.”

“That’s such a weird thing. Two years of being a kid?”

“It is how their biology classifies them.”

Jace shook his head and kept walking down the street, eventually coming upon the building on the map. It was a barber shop of sorts, that advertised fur-clipping. He waited until he saw a patron go in and slipped in behind them.

The room had a small counter against the wall with a few menus with listed prices, and six benches. Four Yittka were chatting: all men, it seemed: and the patron began talking with a fifth, larger man about services. Right, Jace thought. Don’t want to harm the innocent guy.

Thanks to the conversation, he was able to determine than all but the customer he had followed in were missing that tooth Copperpaw had described. Okay. Time to go to work. He drew his sword and made sure to hold it so that he would strike with the flat of the blade.

Going up to the first Yittka, he pulled his arm back and then delivered a wicked, crushing blow against his shins. The cat-man yowled as he collapsed onto the ground. Jace broke his other leg, and then moved to the side as his victim cursed.

“What happened?” another one of the Jesters asked as he ran over. Jace smacked both of his shins in rapid succession as well, breaking them and adding to the incapacitated people on the ground.

“We’re under attack!” he screamed out as he went down, and the remaining three drew weapons that were strapped under the tables and began scanning the room. The customer ran out of the door, shrieking and calling for the guards.

“Where?”

“I don’t see anyone?”

“This isn’t good.”

Jace walked over to each in turn and broke their shins, forcing them to collapse to the ground as they begged, whimpered, and pleaded against their invisible assailant. He deactivated the Dark Matter Cloak, and they all went silent as they looked at him. He activated the (Terrifying) Augmentation, and they quivered in place. “The Gold Paw guild sends its regards. Get out of their territory.”

Reactivating the Cloak, he stepped outside and went back. Less than thirty minutes, he thought as he arrived at the door within minutes. The street was far busier, and the sound of alarm and booted feet tromping in formation came from the opposite direction: back where Jace had just been. Pushing his way inside the room, he saw that nothing had changed in the twenty minutes he had been gone.

He sat down opposite Copperpaw and the unnamed woman, and deactivated the Cloak. Both jumped as he kicked his feet up on the table, “Done.”

“That…was fast.” Copperpaw snapped her fingers and one of the lower-ranked members dashed outside. “You understand, trust but verify.”

Jace nodded, “I get it. All of them had their legs broken, and I sent them a message that they are not allowed in the territory. Guards were being called for.”

Copperpaw looked to her companion, and the other female nodded before speaking. “I’m Silverclaw. Second in command. I think we would be very open to a partnership.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, “What are you really here for? Not just making Stardust, I’m sure. If that was the case, then you would have just pillaged the vaults in the Commerce Quarter that old all of the merchant’s precious items.”

“One moment.” Jace reactivated his Cloak so he could speak to Ollie. “What do you think?”

“You either play it close to the chest, or tell them why you are here. There are pros and cons to both routes. I would say honesty is the best policy, but if any of these are aligned with the cult, then you are making a big target on yourself.”

“They seem more interested in money and loot, not…what was the cult doing to try and open this rift to the Astral Verge?”

“Sacrifices.”

“Well…they might need the money to buy sacrifices. Does Graskorn have a slave trade?”

“Indentured servitude.”

So they might be using the money to buy up the worker’s contract, and then that’s how they are getting these sacrifices. I should play this close to the chest. He deactivated the Cloak and looked at Copperpaw, then Silverpaw. “I need Stardust. I have to get more powerful.”

“Fair,” Silverpaw replied as she placed her palm on the table, and Stardust flew from her Civilian symbol to Jace’s. “For the hit job.”

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[Stardust Acquired: 75]

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Copperpaw slid out of the booth and stood up. “Well, our next big job isn’t until tomorrow’s dormancy window.”

Jace nodded and stood up, “My Wayfinder will keep my apprised of the time. I’ll be returning to Khrox.”

“Or,” Silverpaw said as she stood up, “You could go and have some guilt-free fun.” She smiled broadly. “I know a merchant family who has been screwing over their clients. Since you’re a softie, you could just steal from their vault in the Commerce Quarter. Of course, giving us a split for the intel is expected.”

Jace shrugged, “I don’t mind making more Stardust.” And if it’s going to make me more ingrained into this guild, then it will be worth the time. Plus, if they’re screwing over clients, it’s a bit of justice, in a way.