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[Kurt Manning]

This is a few posts to create a bit of a short story to explain some of Kurt Mannings past.
Hope you enjoy and feel free to message me any feedback.

Adam Manning stood in the ruins of his home.  Black smoke was still smouldering from some of it. Anger and sorrow mixed within him. A burning breeze fluttered the hem of his long leather coat. Pirates had come in the night they had burnt down the bar in which he lived. They had burnt down the whole town, they had come for money but the town had none.
   Adam ran his hand through his thick beard.
?Manning!? shouted a voice.
Adam turned.
?Manning we?ve found two bodies, ones alive.?
He turned and sprinted to the voice, vaulting over a melted bar stool he came to a halt.
Before his eyes he saw his wife burnt to death, but laid next to her under a fire proof blanket was his son.
   ?Kurtis!? He exclaimed whilst embracing his child.     

Kurt Manning was 16 but his father still treated him like a small child. His dad kept asking if he was alright, and it annoyed him how much his father thought he was week. After sorting through the other buildings they had found a mass of dead bodies. There were so many they decided that the best course of action would be to burn them all. Kurt felt like this was a sick joke, finishing off what the pirates had started.
   
Adam walked over to him.
?Are you alright??
Bitterly Kurt replied ?Yes I?m fine.?
?Kurtis whilst we were preparing everything I found this on your mothers body, I thought you might like it.?
Kurt took the object. He glanced over it. His mothers silver ring glinted in the moon light. A leaf pattern circled around it.
He slid it into his jacket and pulled up his hood.
?Don?t call me Kurtis, its Kurt.?
?Fine, I just thought id let you know that when we?re done here we?re leaving the planet. A few other survivors are coming. We?re going to carry on trading.?
Kurt just nodded.

Harry Hicks lit a torch and walked slowly to the stack of bodies. The survivors stood and watched in silence. Placing the torch at the bottom of the stack he lit the gasoline. The fire quickly climbed into the sky. For many people it showed the sign of a new beginning.

2 years passed and the traders had a lot of trouble over them. With little to no money and not many goods they had little to trade. The crew had to turn to ulterior ways of getting supplies. The motley crew had become close after the lose of there town and had even come to nickname each other;
Adam Manning was known as Captain because it was his trade ship.
Harry Hicks was known as  2H.
Jonathan Tinley was known as Dwarf because of his size.
Samantha Fisher was known as Big Fish.
Emily Fisher, Samantha?s 3 year old daughter was known as Little Fish. 
Kurt Manning was known as Reaper because he tended to use others mistakes as his advantage, ?Reaping what they sow.?
And  Tom Smith was known as Blank as he seemed unsure what to do with out instructions.

Reaper and Blank were the same age and were often left behind to look after Emily.
Though this time Harry was staying behind because they may need to make a quick escape. Harry was the best pilot. He sat in the pilots chair bouncing a ball between himself and Emily.
?So Little Fish what are you today??
?I?m a bird, I fly high in the sky with mummy bird.?
Harry smiled, ?well let?s hope mummy bird gets home soon.?

?Big Fish what?s your status?? crackled the head set.
?All clear down this street Captain.?
?Good, Blank, Reaper what?s the roof like??
?All clear.?
?Good, Dwarf make your move. The rest of you get to the back door.?
Adam swept in to the alley next to the backdoor, a plasma pistol in each hand.
Big Fish sauntered over from the other direction her twin blades flashing under the street light. Kurt and Blank dropped in from a nearby fire escape. Each greeted the others with nods.

Dwarf slid down the vent on the roof. His small body made it easy for him to squeeze down. Once at the bottom he pushed away a panel. Quickly he went behind the security cameras and disabled them, Made his way to the back door and flicked the lock open. Adam stepped into the building. There was no need to speak they had already got every thing planned out. Adam searched around the building looking for any unknown problems. Big Fish and Dwarf stack the stock on to gravity trolleys. Reaper and Blank rush the trolleys back to the ship.

Adam swept back to them, ?Right that?s enough. Fill that one up and then let?s get out of here.?
Dwarf picked up one last box. Unknown to him it was propping up some other boxes. They fell; a lamp was knocked over and broke through a window.

BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP 

The alarm rang.
?What a stupid place to put a lamp,? Shouted Tinley over the alarm.
 ?Go!? shouted Adam.
He threw his second pistol to Big Fish.
Dwarf jumped on to the Grav Trolley. Kurt grabbed the handle and started running to the ship along the quickest route.   
Adam and Samantha split off down different alleys. They started firing plasma into the air.

A police squad was unfortunately passing and heard the alarm going off. They ran over to the building and saw plasma being fired in to the air. A couple stopped to search the building the other two broke off each following the trails of plasma.

Kurt did his best to run pulling the trolley. He came across Blank coming the other way.
?Leg it!?
Blank dropped his trolley and ran other way.

Samantha ran still firing into the air. A shot just missed her shoulder and clattered into a bin near her. Looks like the decoy worked she thought. Tapping on the pistol she set it to overload. Throwing it over her shoulder it exploded causing a cloud of dust to cover her retreat. In the confusion Big Fish swung around the corner into a doorway. 
Using a twin blade she removed the lock and slid inside.

Adam looked over his shoulder a single policeman was following him.
He turned around the corner with such speed his coat cracked the air. He holstered his pistol. The policeman saw the criminal turn the corner. He followed but could never remember what happened. A fist flew through the air and hit him square in the face.
Manning landed a perfect punch using the speed that the officer had while turning the corner. He rubbed his knuckle. ?Sorry.?

Kurt made it back on to the ship. Blank and Dwarf secured the cargo.
?Where?s the Captain and Big Fish?? shouted Hicks
?We ran into trouble.? Replied the young Manning.
A dark figure appeared on the ramp.
?Is every one here?? asked Adam.
?No mummy?s not here yet,? Moaned Emily.
More dark figures began to appear near the ramp.
?Take off 2H!?
?What Captain? Big Fish isn?t here.?
?Just take off. Kurt, try and get a link with her.?
  Hicks turned on the primary engines and took off with the ramp still open.
Kurt typed away at the computer, ?Big Fish can you here me??
?Loud and clear.?
?Where are you??
?I?m hidden in one of the buildings??
Adam took the controls, ?Can you get to a roof??
?Yeah I think so.?
?Hurry and get up there.?
Adam cut the link.
?2H fly low over the roofs.?
Blank looked over the edge. ?There she is!?
Kurt grabbed one end of a rope ladder and secured it to the ship. Tinley grabbed the other end and threw it down the ramp.
Samantha held onto the end as it came into her grasp. She slowly pulled herself up while the others dragged up the ladders. Once she was safely on bored Hicks closed the ramp and cruised into space.

[Kurt Manning]

2 Years Later

The ship came into rest on the landing dock. The setting Sun glinted off the ships cockpit. Lowering itself the ramp clunked to the ground revealing a cargo hold full of oddly shaped boxes. Adam Manning strode down the ramp, his black leather coat flapped behind him. A sinister looking bald fat man greeted him; a look of greed tinted his eye.

Manning cleared his throat, ?I have the goods do you have the money.?
?I have 30,000 credits for you.?
?30,000! The agreement was 80,000.?
?Yes but your late.?
?By an hour!?
?Fine 60,000, but that?s my final offer.?
?Hell no, 80,000 or nothing.?

The man laughed, an evil smile crossed his lips.
?Nothing then. Most won?t buy that stuff for fear that it?s stolen, and even the less morally inclined will pay no more than 50,000. If you?re looking to make a lot of money then your best off becoming a bounty hunter or a prostitute, nothing pays more than them two jobs round here.?

Adam turned away from the man; his coat cracked the air with the speed of the turn. Anger burnt up inside him and he stormed up the ramp, his boots banging along with his heavy footsteps.

Manning dropped down into his chair. He slammed his fist down on to the dining table. ?Dam it!?
Samantha slid into the chair next to him.
?It?s ok Captain, we can find another buyer,? She said while comfortingly putting her hand on his shoulder.
Adam lowered his head and sighed heavily.
?No he?s right we won?t find someone willing to pay more than 50,000 anywhere near here.?

Samantha looked thoughtfully into the air for a moment. ?Maybe we should do what he said, look into the jobs that are more likely to pay.?
?Big Fish you can?t go into prostitution you have a daughter.?
Annoyance ran across Samantha?s face, she lightly slapped Adam on the cheek.
?No you moron I meant the bounty hunting.?
  Manning raised an eyebrow. ?You know my position on murder. We don?t kill people unless it?s in self defence. Death just divides people, tears families apart.?
?Captain we don?t have much choice. The ship?s falling apart, were running low on food??
?NO! I?ll get Reaper and Blank we will take the goods to the fat gits shop and see what we can make on it. You just check the channels for any trade jobs.?

Samantha nodded and quickly removed herself from the room. She new better than to argue with Captain, even if he was just being stubborn. It not like they would be going to murder some innocent people, also not all bounties involved killing, sometimes it was mere displacement jobs. They needed a fair amount of money and they needed it soon.
?Mummy.?
Samantha looked up to see Emily coming over to her, a big smile on her face.
Harry was sat on the floor behind her, a wrench in one hand and a screw driver in the other.
She bent down and picked Emily up. ?Has 2H been showing you how to fix the ship??
?No he says he?s just trying to get it to hold together.?
Samantha smiled. ?How?s the old girl holding up??
?Barely,? Replied Hicks. ?So much of it needs replacing. Little Fish was just watching to make sure I don?t catch on fire? Again.?
?Well I was going to say I should probable hire you as a baby sitter but maybe you should be paying her for her help. Seriously though thank you for taking care of her.?
?No worries Big Fish, but to be honest most of the time it?s Reaper who looks after her. I know he hides in that hard shell of his but when he?s with her that boy almost seems happy.?
A small smile stirred across Samantha lips. ?Anyway I?m off to the closest bar. Gonna have a look at the job bored.?
?Captain won?t like you doing that. You know he always likes to be the one who sorts everything.?
?Yes well I?m only going to give him a little push in the right direction. You don?t mind looking after Emily for a bit longer do you??
?Of course not, but you might want to grab Dwarf, he?s been itching for a drink for awhile.?
Nodding Samantha leant down and gave Emily a big kiss on the cheek. Casually she strolled over to the hatch leading to Jonathan Tinley quarters. She tapped her knuckles on the door 3 times then shouted ?Beer!?

[Kurt Manning]

Fisher and Tinley made there way through the hectic streets. Shabby market stalls selling little trinkets were set up all around them. Fisher pressed her way past them Tinley darted behind her dodging the many people streaming to buy portable shields. He doubted very much that they would work more than once. They reached a red bricked building with an authentic looking wooden door. Fisher placed her hand on a button marked open, instantly the wooden looking door slid side ways into the wall.

   Marching forward they entered the bar coming to stop at the security desk. A group of gruff looking men were just walking through a metallic archway. The screen above it read ?Clear to continue.?  The gruff men then made there way down a small corridor and out of site. Fisher turned to the guard who met her gaze but said nothing; he merely tapped a sign that sat on his desk. Tinley leaned forwards and read the sign out loud:

?Please place all weapons in a locker provided, Step through the archway and submit to a scan. Any hidden weapons or liquids will be confiscated and the patron may be removed from the building at securities discretion. Thank you and enjoy your stay.
 Regards, Mr Tiber.?

Samantha approached a locker and deposited her knifes. She hadn?t brought any types of guns as she had assumed that they would not be needed. Also the Captain had always discouraged there use. Stepping back she removed key card and pocketed it.
 A clanging noise of glass against metal could be heard coming from behind an open locker door. Tinley shut the door and took the key card. Samantha raised an eyebrow.
Tinley looked at her with a defensive expression.
?I thought I might get thirsty on the way.?

 Separately they step through the arch. The screen flashed ?Clear to continue? twice and they both made there way down the hall way to the bar.