A Mythosaur in Keldabe

[Mrrew]

Mrrew stood outside a large shop on Keldabe, known in the city for it's unique custom ammo, and smiled. He'd contacted the owner of Mythosaur Munitions a few days before when he'd seen some of their more interesting ammo types. Specifically the Anti-coagulant bullets. The Guild didn't often have to bring down the monsters they hunted, usually they were to be captured alive. But when they did? It's pretty hard to bring down a Leviothon, or Terentatek, without damaging it's hide. And that's usually what the customer is paying for. What better way to kill one then ensure that it'll bleed out in mere minutes, if the shock of the bullet dosen't kill them? So he had arranged a meeting with [member="Arrbi Betna"] about the slugs. If all went well, he'd be leaving with a supply contract for the Guild.

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna loaded more chemical propellant into the loader with practiced ease and care. He'd been fiddling with a new type of bullet, one that probably wasn't the most orthodox, but one to sell all the same. He just needed to get the design right. He figured he had it, but you never knew.

The door to the shop opened and the little entry bell chimed, letting him know someone was here. He was in full armor, though not out of expecting trouble. He wore it for safety reasons. If a bullet went off or something exploded, he'd be more or less fine.

"Welcome to Mythosaur Munitions," he called from behind the loading machine. "If you need any help, let me know."

He vaguely remembered someone was supposed to come by today, but he kept thinking it was later in the day. He lost track of time easily when working on new designs.

[member="Mrrew"]

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew looked around the shop for a moment. The man in mandalorian armor was probably [member="Arrbi Betna"], the owner of the shop. A very small little shop... He was beginning to wonder just how many slugs they can actually produce. Nontheless, even a small amount of these bullets could be useful. The Togorian strode over to the front desk, looking towards the armored man.

"Are you Arrbi Betna? I'm here for our apointment."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna finished loading the bullet and crimped the casing to the bullet itself. Once done, he stood up, dusted his hands off, and came to the counter.

"Beast Hunter's Guild, right?" Betna asked rhetorically. "I knew you were coming by, but kept thinking that was later on today. Anyways, you're here on the AC-RCO bullet contract, correct?"

The AC-RCO was a good hunting round and helped bring down the animal without having to shoot the critter repeatedly. That said, it paled in comparison to what he was working on now. He hoped he could sell the new bullet he'd just touched up along with the AC-RCO. Especially since it was a simple design that fit most caliber weapons.

[member="Mrrew"]

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew nodded. It felt like he'd been standing there for a week... Nontheless, this contract could be useful for the Guild. he was eager to make it.

"That's right." He glanced over at the bullet making machine, before looking back to the Mandalorian. "It will certainly be useful, if it's as effective as you've said."

If it was, it could take out a Leviothon with one shot... and a lot of time. Very useful indeed.

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"It's highly effective, though obviously for larger game you'll need a larger bullet. For really big game, you'll need more than one shot most likely, but nowhere near the amount you'd need for a standard bullet," Betna pulled out a case from the shelf and set it on the counter. He opened the box and pulled out a few rounds, handing one to [member="Mrrew"] and holding one himself.

"The way the round works is how it's shown in the advertisement, but I figure a more in depth analysis from the guy who made 'em might be more preferable. Now, I only make these for rifle caliber weapons and they're just like any other bullet in handling and loading. The difference is when you hit the target. It's not really designed for penetrating armor, but it'll go through natural armor short of something like a hard carapace or Vong osik. When it hits, it fragments and shreds the impact area, then tumbles through the body. This does two things. First, it causes a lot of shock and trauma to the target. It also keeps the bullet from shooting through a target and hitting someone or something you don't wanna shoot on the other side. Now, there's a vial of anticoagulant fluid inside that shatters when the bullet does. With all that shredded tissue, most critters are bleeding which means a bad wound just turned nasty. With luck, you'll see the target bleed out in seconds to minutes. Bigger creatures may require another shot or two or maybe careful placement of the shot, but it'll still work."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew raised the whiskers over his eyes. It was even better then he'd thought it would be. That kind of bullet could down something like a Rancor easily without causing the kind of exterior damage usually to be avoided when killing things by order. Killing a creature is easy, a rocket will take anything out, but more often then not the client wanted the skeleton, hide, or carpace intact... Which was more difficult. And these bullets were perfect for that. One small bulletwound, and it dies. Perfect. However, he still had to be sure that these things worked like he said...

"What are the chances of a demonstration?"

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"The chances are good," Betna said. He moved over to the loading machine and snagged the item behind it that he brought everywhere with him. He might not always have it on him like the .44 strapped to his thigh, but it was always somewhere nearby.

Betna hefted the bolt action rifle that had founded the Myrkr rifle line and showed [member="Mrrew"] to the back where a short firing range was located. It was just long enough to demonstrate the bullet types, though maybe not for rifle accuracy. For that, they'd have to go out to a bigger range nearby. For this, though, it would be enough.

"Well, I don't have an animal to test it on for you, but what I do have is this," He pulled a ballistics gel block with a type of fluid inside and set it downrange. "The fluid inside simulates blood, specifically of those species that have fast coagulating blood. It starts to congeal on contact with the outside air and it was the standard we used when testing this bullet type."

Betna loaded the round into the rifle and held the weapon out to Mrrew.

"Go ahead and line up a shot and give it a try."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew smiled. He had a shooting range in the back of his shop... Smart. The Togorian inspected the rifle for a moment, looking it up and down, before raising it to long down it's barrel. His shoulder relaxed for a moment as he looked down the sights, into the center of the block, and fired. The bullet hit the center of the block an intsant later, splattering the red fluid across teh back of the shooting range. Mrrew slowly lowered the rifle and watched. It was supposed to congeal on contact..? Either it was a faulty soulution, or these bullets worked wonders. It was flowing like a waterfall.

Mrrew smiled again, showing several large fangs. "Perfect." He handed [member="Arrbi Betna"] back his rifle, before turning towards him. "The Guild is interested in a supply contract."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Wonderful," Betna said as he snagged the rifle back from [member="Mrrew"] and guided him back to the shop itself. "Now, I only have a limited supply of the bullets, but this shop is sponsored by Mandal Hypernautics. The more you guys order and the more you guys use, the more reasoning you give me to hand to the CEO of MH and get more production going. That means more bullets made and more bullets supplied."

Betna pulled some paperwork from under the counter and set it and some pens on the countertop.

"Now, by signing this and filling out the information you'll be agreeing to pay for a supply line of the AC-RCO rounds and designating the delivery location. You can change the location whenever you'd like by just comming me the new location address, though you'll have to plan in advance as it'll take a bit to reroute the shipments."

Betna waited for Mrrew to sign the documents and scratched his cheek.

"And, actually, once you're done with that, I might have a brand new bullet you guys might like. Something with a little more... bang for your credit, as it were."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew scanned the contract for any ridiculous clauses, before giving a satisfactory nod. Everything seemed in order. The Togorian glanced at the pens... The largest one was the size of his pinky finger. He made a mental note to start bringing his own pens... He ran into this a lot. Mrrew glanced up at [member="Arrbi Betna"], then back to the pens. Finally, with a sigh, he grabbed the largest one, and scrawled a signature in the general area of the siagnature line. The end result was unreadable, but hey, he signed it. With an annoyed stare at the paper, Mrrew dropped the pen, and looked bakc up to Arrbi.

"I'll send you some coordinates for where to deliver them... Our headquarters is a ship in neutral space, Near Sneeve. And as far as 'more bang for your credit'... Explosive rounds?"

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"That works. We can send them to a general area for pickup, too, so whatever works for you in the end."

Betna then slid the paperwork into a large envelope and shuffled it away. He'd file it later after the appointment was over. At [member="Mrrew"]'s mention of explosive bullets, Betna nodded.

"You're going to run into critters, creatures, and occasionally people that are between you and the quarry, plus any military use to put them to, so I've been tinkering with an explosive round. It's a pretty simple design. Lead case, fuse, detonite, and the rest. Very easy to make into most calibers, though anything really large is superfluous really. The smaller the round, the less explosive power, but even a little bit goes a long way. I've got a prototype set up that I was going to test after you headed out, but if you guys are interested, I can test it with you present. If I can get a contract settled for the bullet before it hits production, I can hand it to the MH CEO and request larger production of the round."

 

[Mrrew]

Hmm... Explosive bullets would certainly be fun, but they were impractical. If the Guild needed to deliver something dead, ten to one it was needed intact, so the hide or carpace can be used. That's the only reaosn anyone ever wanted a dead animal. And if the hide or carpace exploded, they don't get teh credits. He might buy some for personal use some time, though. "Though I'm sure those would be extremely useful in many cases, they wouldn't be in Beast Hunting. Sorry to turn you down. The anti-coagulent bullets, however, will be extremely useful. Anything else while I'm here?"

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Your call," Betna said with a shrug. "The hunts I've been on I occasionally run into things I don't wanna waste my hunting ammo on, like the natives or the occasional enemy soldier, but it's up to you guys. Other than that, nope. You should have the first shipments ready to go in a week or two."

He was a bit disappointed that the exploding bullets weren't a selling point, but to each their own. He'd tweak the design a bit and see if another group wanted the ammunition. Worst case scenario, he'd just slip it into MH production and see what happened.

[member="Mrrew"]

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew nodded. He was about to shake the Mandalorian's hands, and end the meeting, but...

"Ah, before I go... Do you take custom orders? If you can make complicated explosive bullets, and slugs as advanced as the anti-coagulent bullet... What about something that used electricty in one way or another- a stun slug of some kind? Maybe a little harpoon or something if it can't fit in a bullet? I could cover costs- as well as sign a supply contract for them right away, if they're up to par. Tranqs are great, but they take awhile for larger animals... It took ten minutes for a certain dragon. Something that could stun an animal faster while the tranqulizer is kicking in?"

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna thought for a moment before speaking.

"At this time, the only other rounds I make are for hunting small birds, which is a small gauge shotgun shell for a revolver, and the Ori'shuuk, which is a bullet that does two to three times more lethal damage than a standard hollowpoint. That said, I have concepts in the works and I've produced weapons and other odds and ends as well. If any are produced, I'll give you guys a head's up on it and see if you guys want a supply."

[member="Mrrew"]

 

[Mrrew]

Fair enough. He would certainly keep an eye out for any useful new slugs from Mythosaur Arms, though. These anti-coagulent bullets would certainly come in handy. He looked forward to the first time he'd use one.

"Very well." The Togorian smiled, and lifted a giant hand to shake [member="Arrbi Betna"]'s. "A pleasure doing buisness with you."