I b allseeing_spydr (\(\;;/)/)

This is the first scene in Darkshield, kind of a teaser since I'm not planning on posting the rest of UGF online, but I like it and I might post a couple of drabbles with these characters so I'll stick it up. Not edited, but I don't think I made any major blunders.

Shabbily clothed humans shuffled along an equally shabby market lane, populated by rundown stalls, second rate wares, and ‘shop keepers’ who probably hadn’t gotten their products legally. Nearly anything could be found here, as long as you weren’t looking for anything new, or even quality. That had its own place in a slightly classier part of town. Not that the planet Ratha could ever really be considered classy. It was home to the scum of the Central Planets, as well as a few halfway decent folk, but they did their shopping elsewhere.

One of the grimier sellers eyed his current customer suspiciously as the woman looked over his wares, a selection of rather sad fighting knives, a few still sporting a coat of blood denoting the ends of their previous owners. The man scrubbed a dirty hand through his dirty hair and played with his own weapon, a better blade than the ones he sold, but not by much.

The woman, notable as being somewhat clean, glanced up suddenly, her eyes widening at something behind and to the side of the stall. She stumbled backwards a few steps and moved hastily away into the crowd.

The seller spun around, his breath hissing out through his teeth as he realized what the woman had spotted. He gripped his knife for a moment, but thought better of the action, slipping it hastily back into its sheath and making to grab his wares out of sight.

“Relax muchacho,” said a quiet voice from the shadows. “I’m not here for you.”

Not much could be seen in the dim light of the shadows of the alley behind the stall, but not much light was needed to see that the man wore the uniform of the Central Planets Enforcers, the local long arm of the law. No one would dare to wear an Enforcer’s black leather jacket, pants and gloves unless they had the shield to go with it. This one had the extra addition of a visor that fit across his eyes, visible because of the glowing line along its edge. Beside him, at about waist height, twin points of green light glowed.

The Enforcer stepped forward a bit more into the light and the seller took in a rather handsome bronzed face framed by straight black hair that fell just beyond muscled shoulders. The seller shivered at the feeling that he was being intently examined; a feeling all the more disturbing with the visor hiding the Enforcer’s eyes. Others had noticed the man’s presence now. The crowd was unobtrusively thinning and select bits of merchandise had miraculously vanished into thin air.

The knife seller tore his eyes away from the Enforcer as something shifted in the alley way behind him. He took a sharp step back with a curse as it moved fluidly to stand beside the man, light glinting as the metallic plates that made up its body shifted silently.

The seller liked dogs, but this was a monster, a robot made up of small of articulated metal plates to form the shape of a dog that stood four feet off the ground. It examined him with glowing green points of light that served it as eyes. The fearsome head turned to the left to look down the market street. It stared for a moment before the humans heard the first commotion.

Two men came full tilt around the corner, jostling through the crowd, shoving people and goods out of their way without discrimination. A moment later it was clear what they fled. Right on their heels was a second man in the Enforcer uniform of black leather. He was running full out, and gaining on his prey, despite having to jump over everything they knocked into his path.

The Enforcer next to the knife seller stepped to the side slightly and pressed his back to the side of the stall, out of sight of the fleeing men. The robot crouched, watching them silently. As they drew almost level, the dog leapt with an almost unnoticeable sound of working machinery, landing among screams on the other side of the street.

The man in the lead saw it and swerved with a yelp in the direction they wanted him to go; toward the knife vendor’s stall. The hidden Enforcer stepped out smoothly in front of the runner, his arm held out straight at eye level. The man didn’t even register the Enforcer’s presence before he struck it, his body continuing on while his head’s progress halted, laying him out flat on his back.

The second fugitive saw his partner fall and faltered for a moment. It was all the second Enforcer needed. Jumping at the man’s back he bore him to the ground, grabbing his arms and forcing them behind him so that he could slap on a pair of heavy cuffs.

The first Enforcer straightened from cuffing his own victim and smiled at his partner. “You’re enjoying that way too much.”

The second man looked up with a vicious grin. His eyes were a startlingly light grey in a tanned face, his black hair cropped short. “I’m entitled,” he countered. “Next time you do the running and I’ll find a nice hiding spot.”

The long haired Enforcer chuckled as they both hauled their respective captives to their feet. The knife seller watched warily as the robotic dog approached them, moving far too silently and gracefully for his liking. That thing was dangerous; he felt it in his bones.

The seller jumped as a voice issued from the beast’s muzzle; a rather attractive female voice at that. “If you two are quite finished, I think we’ve caused enough of a scene here.”

The long haired enforcer gave another low chuckle. “Alright, let’s head back. I left the car in one of the back alleys,” he jerked his head toward the deep shadows where he had first appeared. Hauling their cursing captives with them the Enforcers and their monster vanished back into the shadows.

Shaking his head at the insanity of law enforcement and robots, the knife seller turned once more to supervising his wares as once again the market crowd gathered.