Pursuit by jflaxman on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

“You should be careful what you wish for. Take that business with young Reiner. He was over everything his family had to offer him: a hardscrabble existence in a commune on the desert’s edge, fighting the harsh climate, and worse, with the failing customs and equipment of an almost forgotten world. His one joy was the iron steed he’d painstakingly assembled from the scavenged remains of several machines.

One day he decided to test himself and his minor masterpiece with a solo trip to Lightning Ridge. That was what he told us, but I sensed he wanted something more. He thought he’d really lucked out when he met Tegan on the road. She was his age, all alone, and had an air of innocence he found irresistible. I don’t blame her for her ruse any more than I blame him for falling for her.

Naturally he didn’t know that she’d escaped a Wasteland slaver who had almost tracked her down. Her former master didn’t know she’d worked for Veyon Industries, and had some vital information they were anxious to get back. Reiner learned all this in snatches he caught above his screaming engine, the roar of Marloc’s battlecar, and the thunder of two Gargoyles. At this point you’d think a dust storm would have been the final straw, but it most likely saved his life!”