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This article, Gin Zaki and Malhurax Jenever, was written by Mia Pallas and Emperors Potato, Lord of Dawi and Spuds. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writers' permission. |
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This article, Gin Zaki and Malhurax Jenever, is currently under active construction. The authors, Mia Pallas and Emperors Potato, Lord of Dawi and Spuds, apologize for the inconvenience. |
Malhurax Jenever and Gin Zaki are a very unlikely pair of friends, perhaps unique in the whole galaxy. A Squat, and an Eldar, cast adrift in a universe that would rather they not work together. The two good natured men are known by many names, Bounty Hunters, Renegades, and Traitors. But in truth, they have their own code that they struggle to stick to in the harsh realities of the millennium. Outcast from their own societies, they were brought together by an unbreakable oath made while drunk and in the depths of despair. Together they have found a new life of friendship, riches, and adventure. Although off to a difficult start, they persevere and become quite successful as their reputation precedes them.
Backstory
- Malhurax - Malhurax Jenever was an influential person on his home world. He spoke and people listened. He had good ideas and connections and worked tirelessly to the betterment of the community. He had good ideas and the best of intentions but one day, he was approached by a man who claimed was wrong and needed help. His web of lies was inspired and Jenever fell for it. He began campaigning for his fellow Eldar who had been wronged. The people listened. He was passionate, until one day, the man casually asked for some security information. Jenever soon realized that he had been duped as some of his friends and family started listening to this man and giving him information that was best not shared. Jenever had to take action before it was too late so he went to the home of the man who had duped him and swiftly and mercilessly killed him. He then left his own world, without looking back, and banished himself. At a transfer station, far away from his homeworld, he sat at the bar depressed and miserable.
- Gin - Gin Zaki was naive, an optimist even. While a certain amount of joviality was common in the Zaki clan, none of them had such a bright disposition, and they all knew the sad position of their clan. Barely being a lad when the Zaki clan lost its home, he grew up a cheerful beardling on their ship and always hungered for more adventure. One day he decided to leave his home and go find adventure, to be a bounty hunter and gun for hire despite the discouragement of his family. But he did, and soon found a job. A rogue psyker was building a chaos cult in the darkness of the underhive of a world called Vort, and an imperial noble secretly hired him to take him out. Gin failed, and barely survived the dark hideout of the cult. With his employer furious and without pay, with multiple wounds to boot he couldn't stand up when the cult rose up and slaughtered many before their defeat. He felt guilt. He couldn't even find another job, all were hesitant to deal with squats. He even went to the Eldar, enemies of his people to find a job. He saw their wealth first hand, but was laughed away. Facing defeat, he desperately wanted to return home. But he swore he wouldn't until he made a great fortune before he left. And so he went to a tavern on a backwater world, cursing his fate. He decided to make his family proud he would need to learn from the best, and in the tavern he saw an Eldar taking a drink. The Eldar was dressed in luxurious clothes and an evident confidence. It looked like he had it all, so Gin approached him and purchased a drink. They both drunk more and more, raising each others spirits and learning about each others sorrows. They were both in the depths of failure, friendless, and alone. Though his family wouldn't like him making friends with an "Elgi," in his drunken state he couldn't think about that if he wanted to. As they were both alone and desperate for a new chance they swore oaths to each other, they would be companions to the end and find a fortune together. When he came to his senses he was distressed and mad, why had he made an oath with an Elgi? But, the one thing the two races shared was pride. And so, they began a long career that night.
Adventures
- The First Job - Gin and Mal were fresh from the bar, and generally didn't like their lot. Sure, they didn't hate each other, but it was undeniable one was an Eldar and one was a Squat. The fact they were bound together made it even worse. But they had a job to do. And no hard feelings for each other, except the indignity of Malhurax to have to work with a squat. They went in search of their first mission. Searching through the system in the great realm of Sanctus, they found a planet called Snorrhold. A world of wheat, ice, and fire. And it had a secret rot. Its greatest city, Snorgoldren, had a hidden infestation of nurgle. Mal and Gin went looking for jobs, and soon found one. A tall human named Gurd Kilgarsson came to them, he appeared to be one of the world's nobles. He promised a vast payment if they could return his ship to him. His small ship was infested with nurgle rot and was left in a field, fully functional yet completely locked to prevent the poxwalkers from getting out. Gin and Mal just needed to purge it and fly it back. The two accepted, and went to find the ship. Coming across it in the wheat fields, their battle began. Bursting open the door with his family's wrench, Gin stepped in with Mal behind him. It seemed all clear. Then, they realized the poxwalkers...were on the roof. The monsters dropped down directly on top of them, hacking at them with broken shards of the ship or old pipes. They failed to hold them back, both nearing death suddenly Mal had a plan. Using all of his psychic might, a very hard thing as he was untrained, Mal pushed some out of the way. He made a dash to the pilot's room, and Gin followed, the monsters to slow to keep up. They looked at the many buttons until Mal saw the one he needed. Lock. A door slid down and locked them off from the rest of the ship, trapping the monsters. They both nearly passed out, but managed to pilot the broken ship even as the banging of the monsters grew louder, it was a miracle the ship made it. They arrived in the city, and called for Gurd over a vox. Gurd sent some of his households men to the ships entrance, and at the same time, Gin and Mal unlocked the door separating them from the Poxwalkers and the household guard burst in through the back. Their combined fire defeated the poxwalkers, and cleared the ship. Gurd was...disappointed. It was completely covered in Rot and near unsalvageable. He cut them a deal. He wouldn't pay them, but they could keep the ship. Gin and Mal eagerly accepted their new vessel, and named it...The Salvage.
- Killsaw the Ambot - The two friends were fresh off the near failure of their first job. Now with some money, the looked for a hive to go advertising in. Gin discovered a world called Kuras, a hive world with vast oceans that were harvested for rare metals day and night. It was known for its crime scene, and was surely a good place for two mercenaries to set up shop. Malhurax and Gin were exploring its underhives when they came across a horrific murderer scene. A man had been drilled open, clearly standing no chance against whatever had attacked him, even in his heavy armor. Gin had no idea what to make of it. But Malhurax saw signs of the killer. Heavy indentations in the ground like heavy footsteps. They followed them through the dangerous, winding streets until they mysteriously disappeared. They had to figure out what was going on. And Mal had a idea. They had heard news of a large party of the planets nobility in the upper levels, and they decided to sneak in. Breaking in secretly to the party through some vents, they dropped down...they stood out greatly amongst the nobles. At least Mal was somewhat disguised and could be mistaken for a human, but Gin was obvious and squats were not normally invited to parties. With all eyes on them, Gin announced proudly: "I'm Gin and he's Mal! Anybody want a bounty hunter?" Security came after them, grabbed them, and tossed them out. But as they sat in the streets, a noble, near completely obscured by a coat came out. He asked if they were the hunters from the party, and they were. He gave them exactly what they wanted, information on what they saw. According to this noble, a criminal named Lord Boyard, supposedly a imperial noble from another world was dealing violent Ambots. Disguised as normal labor Ambots they were actually abominable intelligence killing machines. One, deemed Killsaw, was loose in the city. He told them if they could kill Killsaw and present proof, he would reward them greatly. And so Gin and Mal set out to do so. They spent weeks exploring the streets, finding signs, until they came across a midnight meeting of a gang. It seemed like they were making a deal with a shady figure, and as they payed up, the shady figure left...and out of the darkness stepped killsaw. Mal suggested they must have just bought or hired him, Gin didn't care, he just wanted to kill the thing. Together they swung into battle, lobbing grenades at the gang and preparing to take on the ambot! The battle barely had begun before it almost took off Mal's arm with a well placed swing of its killing saw. The fight was hard and nearly fatal for both of them, but the two thought of a plan. Gin charged up and smashed its knee in with a mighty blow from his hammer, the Zakker, and Mal hopped onto Killsaw's back, jabbing his own blade into it. The bot went haywire, and nearly exploded before Mal could leap off. It collapsed to the floor. Sawing off a horn, they had just the proof they needed to collect the reward. They had killed a mechanical monster...but something was off. As they turned it in the noble thanked them. But as they walked off, they looked back, and he was gone. They had a feeling this wouldn't be the last they hear from Lord Boyard.
- The Staff of Seripas - The friends happened to have gotten a ride to a nearby system, still down from their first failure. At least Malhurax now had a weapon so he could help out if they were attacked again. The pair walked down the street when they took not of some Sisters of Battle walking toward them. Everyone moved out of their way. Gin and Malhurax did the same but the Sisters stopped before them. Malhurax' knees felt wobbly. One of the Sisters asked them if they had been on the Killsaw job. They had heard about their work. They looked at each other nervously and answered truthfully. Surprisingly enough, the Sisters of the Dawn wanted to hire them for a very difficult and sensitive mission. They were to find the Staff of Seripas and return it to them, three days from now, here. They knew where it was. The Sisters were otherwise engage on a high priority mission but the Staff could not fall into the wrong hands. Gin and Malhurax accepted the job hoping they would not fail this time. They set out, with the instructions from the Sisters. When they approached the cave where the cave where the Staff should be, Gin felt confident and ready but Malhurax was uncomfortable. Something was not quite right. They could not back out, they had to prove themselves. Gin entered first and Malhurax followed quickly and quietly. The inside of the cave was like a maze, they had to choose the right path. Gin started on the right. Malhurax shook his head and followed the path that gave him the most dread. He warned the squat to be prepared. As they walked deeper into the Mountain, his feeling of dread turned to despair. They had not seen one single person, no one seemed to be guarding the staff, which was contrary to what the Sisters had said. His unease grew until he saw the staff in a glass case in the middle of a chamber. Gin and Mal looked at each other and entered. Behind them, the sound of metal hitting stone resounded and the room glowed with small green lights, like eyes awakening. The Eldar and the squat turned back to back and raised their weapons. They were surrounded by dark Eldar. Mal groaned this would not go well. There was not much hope for their mission, unless they got a hold of the Staff. They did not know what it did or how it worked. Both friends came to a silent understanding. Gin turned and smashed the case holding the staff and Malhurax grabbed it and pointed it at one of the dark Eldars. A beam of green light left the staff's jewel and hit the Eldar in the chest and sent him flying against the stone wall. He passed the staff to the Squat who did the same and the dark Eldar facing him also went flying when it was hit with a red light. Another two blasts and all the dark Eldars had been hit. One stood and fidgeted quite a bit, then ran out vomiting as he went, another was bleeding from his eyes, nose and ears. The other one seemed like he was on drugs and the last started acting lost and confused as his armour changed colours. The unlikely duo quickly ran to the cave entrance, grabbing a shuriken pistol from a vomiting dark Eldar, using this opportunity to the fullest. They returned to the City, smiling. They had finally had a successful job. They handed over the Staff of Seripas to the Sisters of Battle and smiled broadly as they received their payment.
- The Stone of Mercy- The Merry Two were contacted by an Inquisitor, Thorgrim Franz, who was also a fellow Squat, in order to retrieve a very important relic that had been stolen from their Vault in Holy Terra. The item in question was called the Stone of Mercy. Rumours had it placed in Vano, which was a planet that the two had never been to before. They understood the importance of retrieving the item in a timely manner and returning it to Inquisitor Franz swiftly and in good condition. Gin was highly motivated to help out another squat who believed in doing what is right. The Merry Two set off for Vano. When they arrived there, they were taken aback by the culture of the planet. There was a very clear difference between those who were noble and those who were not. The disgust on the looks of the Nobles when they saw the two approach, was hard to ignore. People fought to the death in small rings, even children, surrounded by nobility, just to get a piece of bread to eat and the nobles gambled and laughed and enjoyed "the show". Malhurax and Gin were determined to get off this hellish planet as soon as they could. The men noticed the unlikely two and lost interest in the fight. The two left the area as fast as they could and headed for the address provided. They waited for nightfall when they entered the building without any issues. They had to search the house to find the Stone of Mercy. As they went, from room to room, they looked at all the amazing collection of weapons and artifacts that were hung on walls or in glass cases. When they entered the bedroom, they realized that this was the home of one of the nobles they had seen earlier when they first arrived. Malhurax was disgusted. He left the room and returned to the den, where he took down a long thin sword from the wall and took it with him. Gin had gone to the library where he finally found the Stone of Mercy. He took it out of the glass case and an alarm sounded through the house. Gin pocketed the stone and readied his hammer and ran to the front of the house. Malhurax also ran for the front of the house but was stopped by the owner. Malhurax would have preferred a clean escape. Did this man, laughing while watching two children fight for the death deserve to take one more breath? He did not feel an inkling of guilt when he sliced him with his own sword. Gin was met by two armed guards. He hammered one before he could react and dodged an attack from the other. At that moment, Mal arrived and together, they fought the last guard and quickly left with the Stone of Mercy and a new sword. They returned the Stone of Mercy to Inquisitor Franz. He rewarded them greatly. Gin and Mal asked the inquisitor if he could investigate the planet of Vano because what they were doing there "just isn't right." The Inquisitor promised to investigate and the Merry Two left for another adventure.
Loot
Mal
- Chainsword'- To Malhurax' great dismay, he acquired his first weapon while on the Killsaw job. Such a crude and loud weapon was beneath him but he needed a weapon to defend himself and his friend Gin. He carried the Chainsword only rarely after the mission as he had acquired a light weight, more sophisticated and less messy weapon during the Stone of Mercy job. He much preferred to use the antiquity than the chainsword.
- Shuriken pistol- The acquisition of a shuriken pistol took place when the Merry Duo were hired to retrieve the Staff of Seripas. Mal took it off the body of a violently sick dark Eldar as he left the cave after a successful mission.
- Samurai sword- During the job on Vano, Mal ripped an elegant looking sword off the wall of a noble's home in order to kill the noble who turned out to be a heretic. He also used the sword to defend Gin from 2 guards that had been called upon during their escape. This is by far, Mal's favoured weapon.
Gin
- The Zakker - A large, Squat-Made powerhammer and the apex of Zaki craftsquatship, this hammer has been handed down by generations of the Zaki clan. Gin is its most recent heir, and has taken it further from the rest of the clan as it has ever been before. Emblazoned with a skull on its front and golden wings on the back, its hilt is the finest ever made by any squat, at least according to the Zaki's. Bragging aside, it is a very very powerful weapon, more powerful then even the standard thunder hammer of the astartes. Its wielder is of course vastly less skilled, but the hammer makes up for it. Its devastating arcs can shatter all but the greatest armor, and it is more valuable then Gin's life. Thus, he treasures it greatly, and this weapon is sure to never leave his side, even though it is at least twice his size.
- Brimstone Pistol - Another rare piece of Zaki ingenuity is the Brimstone Pistol, a pistol that shoots beams of molten flame. Emblazoned with the image of a golden dragon, or at least that's what its crafter, Bory Zaki, said, it is a very valuable piece of equipment. While not the only one of its kind it was a unique design to the Zaki family, and one that made them great profit before the shame. Few still survive in their treasury and few are still being produced, making Gin's quite rare. It is strong enough to simply melt through most enemy armor, though cannot go very long range without drastically losing accuracy and power.
Quotes
By
- "That’s the last of them Zaki. Get up now, time to collect!”
“You know Mal, I’m pretty sure those were explosive barrels.”
“They didn’t explode, did they?”
“Not this time, no.”
“Seems like they weren’t explosive barrels then, ey Gin?"
- —A exchange between the crew after hiding behind explosive barrels, and nearly dying
About
- "My Grandson? With some washed up bony El-gi two feet taller then his own good? Bah! This is the worse news I've heard of since Brogi ejected himself off the ship! Funny story that is, see...wait! You're trying to trick me! Let me ramble off instead of focus on you! I won't let that happen! I....go get me a beer."
- —Great Great Great Grandfather Bory Zaki, to Gin on his return to the Zak-pick.