He eyed the men wearing hoods that were tan-colored and wore metal armor.

“Are you by chance the Dusty Walkers?” he asked after hearing some of their thoughts.

“Who wants to know?” one man asked. He wore a black respiration mask that covered his entire face.

“A drifter, a lost colonist, looking for work,” Kayden said as he leaned against the bar.

“What colony?” the Walker asked.

“Colony…Ven Zog of the outer rim, the one that got overcrowded and forced people out. I have nowhere left to go, and I am out of supplies for my ship,” Kayden said.

“That’s tough luck. It’s even tougher out here, think you got what it takes?” the Walker asked.

“I’m good with a sword, and pistol, or a rifle,” Kayden said as he flaunted his rifle. They reached for it, and he put his hands on it.

“I’m not parting with it, I’ll kill a man before I do,” Kayden said sternly. The Walker backed off.

“It’s good you’ve got your own weapon; we don’t have many to go around that are in good shape. The space debris has gotten worse over the years,” the Walker said.

“I’ll earn my keep, I’ll scavenge if I get a place to stay,” Kayden said. The Walker nodded.

“We’ll take you on a job now, see how useful you are,” he said as he gathered his men, and the three of them plus Kayden exited the watering hole. They walked over to their ride, which was a small beat-up ship. Kayden didn’t say a thing as he boarded it with them.

“So, what’s a human doing in space?” another Dusty Walker asked. He had a black respirator mask over the lower half of his face that revealed three green eyes. He had soft blue hair to his chin and pastel blue skin. Kayden sighed as he probed his own thoughts to think of a quick backstory that would sound believable.

“I was abducted as a child,” Kayden fibbed.

“That must have been hard for you to adapt,” the Walker said.

“Yeah, it was kill or be killed where I grew up,” Kayden said.

“So, you’re not just a colonist?” the Walker asked.

“Technically, I used to be a bounty hunter, but it’s hard when all the aliens out there are stronger than you,” Kayden said. The Walker grabbed his shoulder and laughed.

“I could kill you where you stand, you puny human!” the Walker said. Kayden grinned.

“You wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of taking me along with you if you wanted to kill me. I have nothing of value on me,” Kayden said.

“You’ve got me there,” the Walker said as he took off his mask and revealed two sets of nostrils—one normal one and another on the sides of his nose.

“I’m a Sargasian. I had no place left to go either. My people left me alone on my planet when they migrated to the Citadel. The name is Rio,” he said.

“That’s rough. How’d you end up out here?” Kayden asked.

“Reaper killers picked me up and put me into slavery, but I escaped and ran into the Dusty Walkers. I’ve been with them ever since then,” Rio explained.

“I hate reapers. They’re all filthy animals,” Kayden said. Rio shushed him.

“Be careful who you say that around!” he exclaimed.

“The Dusty Walkers support reapers?” Kayden asked.

“Some of them were reapers once, but they somehow got cured along the way,” Rio said.

“Noted,” Kayden said. As the ship landed, Rio led Kayden outside the ship and into the Dusty Walkers’ encampment.

“I never caught your name. What is it?” Rio asked, and Kayden paused.

“It’s…Kay,” Kayden said as he couldn’t think of a different name on the spot. He was never really that creative with names. Heaven help him if he had children. As they entered the Dusty Walkers’ hideout, Rio introduced him to multiple members and tried to teach him the hierarchy. Kayden immediately saw his target sitting across from him on a bench cleaning his rifle and wanted to pounce.

“Is that Abel Nightwing?” Kayden asked, and Rio jumped.

“H-How do you know about him?” he asked.

“A rifle like that has to belong to someone special, and I read the wanted posters,” Kayden said. Rio sighed with relief and led Kayden to another ship.

“We’re going to scavenge for a few hours, but in one week, we’ll have a heist. Would you be in on something like that?” Rio asked.

“Will Abel be coming?” Kayden asked.

“Yeah, he’s going to be our cover,” Rio said. Kayden replied with a grin. He went on the next ship and went to the ruins of an enormous but well-aged and hollowed ship and was handed a blow torch.

“Harvest sheets of metal no bigger than this,” Rio said as he made a size with his hands. Kayden nodded and started going to work.

“I bet I’m not even getting paid that much for this guy,” Kayden grumbled to himself as he lit up the blowtorch and went to work. Hours later, he made several cut pieces of metal, and another Walker came by and inspected them.

“Not bad, newbie,” he said. They packed up and returned to camp, and Kayden bunked with Rio. Kayden found some privacy for the first time that day. He went to the bunking quarters and took the bottom bunk.

“I’m too heavy for the top,” he said, and Rio raised a brow.

“You’re probably just over 90kg,” Rio said, and Kayden grinned.

“I was raised on a planet before the colony that made my bone density thicker than normal. I weigh more than that. I don’t want to destroy your bed,” Kayden said. He thoroughly thought the night through in case he transformed back in his sleep, it hadn’t happened to him in a while, but the possibility was still there. He didn’t want to crush Rio in the middle of the night and blow his cover to boot. He’d feel bad twice over.

“Fair enough, the bottom is yours. I’d hate for you to crush me,” Rio said. He lied down, and to his surprise, the bed didn’t squeak under his weight. He started to wonder if his transformation lessened it, because, at ten-foot seven—322 cm, he weighed 230kg. He had thicker bone density but was solid muscle as well. He could lift his own spaceship; he had before in the past. He wondered how he’d gain an opportunity during the heist to get away with Abel without harming Rio and the Dusty Walkers and decided to sleep on it. As he woke up the next morning, he traced his eye and split it while no one was looking and was relieved to see that he was still six foot something and not in his original form. He stood up, picked up a rifle, and noticed that Abel was standing just a few feet from him.

“Is that rifle just for show?” Abel asked.

“Is yours?” Kayden replied. Abel scoffed.

“See that glass in the bar on the top floor above that woman’s head?” Abel asked. Kayden squinted his eyes to look.

“Yeah,” he said. Abel turned around and aimed his rifle, and not long after fired it, and the glass shattered. The woman gasped in surprise and looked around as the Dusty Walkers got flustered. Kayden lifted his rifle and shot the glass right next to it, and shot through two glasses in the process that were diagonal to each other.

“You’re good with a rifle, huh? Well, so am I,” Kayden said. Abel growled as he walked up to Kayden, who was strikingly much taller than him since he was only five foot four—162 cm, and he turned red in the face. Kayden grinned and put his rifle on his back as Rio approached him and backed him up.

“He’s the new guy, don’t mind him, Abel!” Rio said apologetically.

“Tell the bastard to stay out of my way,” Abel said. Kayden winked at him, which pissed him off even more as they parted.

“Do you have a death wish!?” Rio asked Kayden.

“I’m not afraid of him. Being good with a rifle isn’t hard,” Kayden said, sure of himself.

“No one can beat Abel Nightwing!” Rio exclaimed.

“That’s because he’s killed all his competition,” Kayden said. Rio gasped.

“That’s not true!” Rio exclaimed. Kayden went to his wristband, plugged in a few buttons, and generated a list of names crossed out next to Abel Nightwing’s picture.

“The law wants him for a reason,” Kayden said as he showed Rio the list.

“Holy zyster bricks! We’ve got someone that dangerous watching our backs?!” Rio demanded, and Kayden raised a brow. Zyster bricks was a term for alien feces—an alien known as a Tersar whose waste came out in rectangles similar to brick shapes. It was an unpleasant phrase used as a swear word.

“What do you mean?” Kayden asked.

“He’s our lookout while we take on the heist,” Rio said. Kayden chuckled.

“Someone is definitely going to get shot. Potentially even die,” Kayden said, and Rio sweated.

“Are you saying you’re any good with that rifle?” Rio asked.

“Damn good, thank you,” Kayden said with confidence.

“…I’ll arrange for you both to be our lookouts if you promise not to start any more trouble with him…” Rio said, and Kayden lifted his hands and smirked.

“I won’t be an inconvenience,” he said, and Rio sighed with relief.

“I’ll go talk to the guys, stay here,” Rio said. and Kayden nodded as he stood there. He waited patiently until he heard someone approach him from the side, and he grabbed the assailant’s arm and flipped him with his metal arm—which turned out to be a her, and she spun around to land on her feet. She was a Sargasian with soft blue skin, purple eyes, and pink hair in a braid to her back.

“You’ve got good reflexes! You could hear me coming up on you?” she asked.

“Like a cargo train,” Kayden said.

“For a human, you’ve got good hearing,” she said.

“I’ve done some training,” he said.

“Is that why you’re so well built?” she teased.

“…I’m rather unique, you could say,” Kayden said. The gang of Dusty Walkers approached him with Rio in tow, and they sized Kayden up.

“Very well, he and Abel will be our cover, but from two different points…I don’t want them slitting each other’s throats,” the Walker said, and Kayden’s hearts sank. Cyril had two hearts—they were on the left sides of their chests right next to each other, similarly placed as a human’s. Kayden was trying to set them up together so he could easily take Abel into custody.

“Do you have two good vantage points or just one?” Kayden spoke up, not wanting to be separated from his target and allow him to get away.

“Well…” the Dusty Walker started.

“If there’s only one vantage point, there’s no point in splitting us up. I won’t cause any trouble for Abel,” Kayden said. The Walker looked Kayden up and down, then sighed.

“Fine. Be on the lookout to make sure the guards don’t come back for us when we enter the cargo train at the stop,” the Walker said, and Kayden nodded.