Recruitment

The shanty town was alive with activity. Like inside the hives themselves, the activity around the base of the massive hives never ceased. Josam was always amazed at the tenacity of his fellow wasteland inhabitants. No matter how severe the chemical storms, no matter how sudden the acid streams appear to consume the unwary, the people who called the ash wastes of Necromunda home always survived – and it was like they were out to prove there was some sort of normalcy in how they conducted business. Guilders from within the hive to sell luxuries or just weapons, nomads to barter whatever treasures the wastes had given up, and even the shanty dwellers themselves to sell filtered water and food. As Josam passed by a small Guilder’s stall a visor caught his eye. Urartu had been generous in the sharing of their loot from their last foray into the hive itself, and Josam found himself with a few credits just itching to be spent.

“Hey Boss. I’ll catch up with you a little later.” Josam called after Urartu who was already disappearing into the crowd. Urartu just lifted his hand to acknowledge him without turning around. With a grunt to himself Josam turned back to the table that had caught his eye.

The stall was small, and the Guilder unusually slim. He had the usual accoutrements various weapons and ammunition, trinkets, but the visor stood out among the displays. It was a simple little thing, small ovals with padding to completely cover each eye, but something about it spoke to him.

“How much,” Josam asked turning to address the Guilder.

“Twenty guilder credits.”

He said that without blinking an eye, Josam thought to himself. “Well good luck with that. I tell you what, I’ll give you ten and we can call it a deal.”

“Done, but I would like to make you an offer in exchange for my generosity.” The guilder paused to gauge Josam’s reaction. Not detecting anything one way or the other he proceeded to tell him of another client “with connections” that could use the skills of a sniper, preferably an ‘outsider’ and one with a taste for tech.

Josam had to think about this one. “Would the payment be in guilders or in tech?” The guilder rubbed his chin briefly and inferred that he believed it to be in tech. “Then you can tell your friends that they have themselves a sniper. I’ll return in a day or two and we can work out the details.”

Slipping his new visor over his eyes he stepped back into the bustle of the street market. With his credits spent and no idea where Urartu had gotten himself off to he just wandered the market. There was nothing else that really drew his attention but it was somehow un-nerving – so many people all in one place. Granted even Nomads were known to pull together to weather out a storm, but he just wanted to be out among the wastes once more. Lately Urartu had been obsessed with the hive, always delving into the chambers within to search for archeotech. And it had been fruitful, especially the last trip. So much so that Urartu gave him guilder credits to spend anyway he felt like. But Urartu had also become more detached, less inclined to socialize with his men, and more obsessed with restoring his clan. Why should he tell Urartu about this guilder wanting to hire him for a job? Who knows, if things work out then he could strike out on his own and make a name for himself.

“Josam!” Urartu’s call broke through his reverie and Josam turned around to see his boss moving through the crowd.

“Come on, I’ve got a lead on some more archeo.”

Great, another trip into the hive. “But boss, I thought we’d get a night in town to rest up,” Josam replied.

“You’ll get plenty of rest when you’re dead – and out here in the wastes that shan’t be much longer. Say hello to Shuvah here. He seems hell-bent on joining up with us, who am I to say no.”

Great, another mouth to feed. “Better pull your own weight runt,” was all Josam offered up and the three of them headed back out into the wastes to gather up the rest of the ‘Ghost Soldiers’.