(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(King's Island- Black market)

Several agonizing screams of pain echoed through an empty alleyway as an unlucky bounty hunter lay on the ground while bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds.

"Please please no... more" the man begged desperately as his vision slowly faded.

Pierce!

The hooded figure standing above his collapsed body ignored the cries and once again a blade-like appendage shot forward and buried into the hunter's chest.

Sophie narrowed her golden eyes in fury and with one smooth motion she slashed a dagger across the neck of the hunter.

There was still a trace of shock in the bounty hunter's eyes as he could not believe how quickly his target had counterattacked.

This was the fifth assassin Sophie had encountered in just the span of one week since arriving on King's Island and the situation was only continuing to worsen.

Someone had placed a hefty bounty on her head and killers from all walks of life were tempted by the grand prize.

Fortunately, the bounty only had a basic description of her features but her four blade-like appendages were a dead giveaway once exposed.

Who had done it?

Was it the organization behind the innkeeper she had killed?

Sophie faintly regretted her rash decision but there was nothing she could do now except move forward and try to think of countermeasures.

She took one more glance at the corpse and left the scene with quiet steps.

Sophie's cloak was not large enough to cover her entire body, so she had placed an order with a local tailor for a new one.

Today was the day the cloak would be ready, and it was not a moment too soon.

Sophie stealthily crept behind a pair of Libera enforcers as she made her way to a small shop tucked away behind a noisy tavern.

King's Island was divided into four major regions with a financial group controlling the law and order of each part.

The north belonged to the Canercose group, the south belonged to the Libera group, the west was in the hands of the Sepriena group and finally the Northerium group controlled the east.

It was a chaotic place where blood and gold could be easily found or lost.

The buildings were hastily constructed, and the tense atmosphere caused fights to break out over the slightest provocation.

Planet Xerciam Prime was a new frontier, so the only residents of the city were brave pioneers or those desperate enough to risk their lives for a fortune.

Sophie had already added quite a bit of coin to her storage bag since arriving on the island thanks to the generous donations of friendly passersby.

Of course, these donations were a bit. involuntary but there was no need to mind the small details.

Sophie smiled coldly as she saw the familiar sign hanging on the door of the small shop.

She could not read the words on the sign but there was also an illustration of a humanoid figure wearing a suit plastered on the front of the door.

Knock! Knock!

Sophie rapped her knuckles against the wooden door and a deep voice from the inside told her to enter.

"Welcome back my dear customer," an elderly alien was slowly rocking on a chair near a roaring fireplace.

He seemed completely relaxed as Sophie strode into the room with traces of blood still on her robe.

The tailor was roughly the size of a small child with knobby hands and legs that made him appear weak and fragile.

His head was bulbous and round with eyes that shifted constantly from a peaceful blue to a violent red every few seconds.

"Is the package ready?" Sophie asked calmly.

"You got the money?" the tailor smiled lightly and opened one of his wrinkled palms.

Sophie reached into her storage bag and counted out a series of notes until the tailor casually raised up a hand to tell her to stop.

She passed the money to the tailor who immediately started to sniff the notes with an expression of ecstasy on his face.

Truthfully, Sophie was a bit weirded out, but she waited patiently for the tailor to stop rubbing the money on his body.

One minute passed.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Sophie's patience was gradually wearing thin but before she could politely remind the tailor to hurry up and bring her the cloak, he got up from his chair.

"Follow me," he spoke quietly and gestured for Sophie to walk with him.

The shop was not large, and Sophie could see well worn machines filled with strange thread-like materials and liquids messily scattered around the workshop.

On one of the benches in the back of the room was an enormous black cloak slightly large than seven feet and wide enough to cover Sophie's spider appendages.

The hybrid girl's eyes gleamed as she appreciated the simple design of the cloak and the golden threads intricately woven into the sides of the cuffs.

"Take it and leave my dear customer," the tailor spoke with a peculiar grin on his face.

Sophie nodded respectfully and picked up the cloak.

The tailor continued to watch her figure with an unknown emotion in his eyes as she exited the small shop.

It was a quiet night and the pale moonlight shone down on the nearby run-down shacks and buildings on both sides of the road.

Loud noises and jeers could be heard from the nearby tavern as Sophie made her way through the deserted streets.

She stopped in front of random house and pulled the surveillance detection orb out of her storage bag.

The mantra to always remain cautious was engraved in Sophie's heart.

[Scan Initiated.]

A green light swept over all parts of the cloak as Sophie waited for the results of the scan.

Bleep! Bleep!

Two loud buzzing noises were heard and suddenly the green light shifted to purple which indicated that a tracker bug was found.

The orb emitted a three-dimensional image of the cloak and Sophie saw a suspicious metalloid device no bigger than the size of her fingertip sewn into the back of the cloak.

Sophie frowned in annoyance and used her sharp nails to rip the device out of the fabric with ease.

This would delay her trip back to the hotel room.

Sophie held the tracker device in her right palm and ran towards the Sepriena controlled zone of the island.

She walked along the main road before arriving at one of the popular inns in the area.

Sophie peeked around cautiously to see if anyone was watching her before throwing the tracker over the wall.

Destroying the tracker would instantly alert the parties behind the device that it had been compromised so the best option was to use it as a distraction.

Sophie left the inn decisively and headed back to the hotel where she had brought Lily to rest for the night.

Walking back to the hotel gave her the chance to clear her mind and think about the next steps of her plan to return home.

The recent assassination attempts, and possible surveillance of her location were extremely good reasons to leave as quickly as possible.

Apparently, the war on the frontier region with the Earth Federation was going quite poorly which meant that the chaos was beginning to spread further.

Certain citizens of low social standing were being forcefully recruited and there was a sharp rise in the number pirate groups terrorizing cargo vessels as the government could not afford to spare any manpower.

Mercenaries were being offered handsome rewards to lend their aid to the Unova Syndicate government-led forces.

There were a few groups on the island who were contemplating accepting the government's offer so Sophie planned on trying her luck to see if she could join them.

The tricky part was trying to create an identity for Lily or a role for the little girl when joining the group.

Right now, the only option she could think of was pretending that Lily was her slave or servant.

Mercenary business was hardly the kind of work where one could bring a child.