The Molch Vornid War brought many mercenaries and guns for hire to the Molch sector to earn a living or get their kicks on the field of battle. Of all those, the most famous shots to participate were, of course, Los Viejos.
Hailing from Texmex 3, Los Viejos moved their herds of Landgrubs across the deserts, and while on the trail spent much of their free time target-shooting with their Foal Peacebreaker pistols, which fires a cartridged plasma round without any recoil. So accurate are they with these powerful longranged pistols, even when firing from the hip, it is said by some that they have never have missed anything they shot at. Whilst the accuracy of this statement has been questioned, the accuracy of Los Viejos has not, and all sentients live in fear of a duel with these small but formidable creatures.
At first it was the Vornids, merciless botanoid pirates, who called on Los Viejos. Showing up on Texmex, through a Kark interpreter they offered free passage and buckets of cash if only Los Viejos would sell their services to the Vornid cause. The hovering skimmer idled over the desert as nearby vaqueros gathered to hear what their chief, Armadil, was talking about with the sharkman and the silent, strangely undulating planet creatures.
As they gathered near they heard Armadil ask what the war was about.
The Kark hemmed and hawed a bit and then got down to business. The Vornids despised ugliness and there were no creatures in the galaxy uglier than the Molch. They all looked different, the Kark offered, but each Molch was exceptionally hideous in its own special way. The Kark went on to say that he himself had fought in two of the campaigns against the Molch because the pay was very good, and they were indeed quite difficult to even look at without vomiting up one's shrimpcakes in disgust.
"Si, that sounds awful indeed," responded Armadil very politely. "What have they done to harm your employers?" He removed his sombrero and fanned himself with it.
The Kark responded that the Molch had done nothing, as far as he knew. They seemed harmless creatures, but could unleash deadly psychic attacks when provoked, because they have very powerful intellects. They also had huge rock monsters that they animated straight out of the earth itself, again seemingly with their minds, and these creatures were maniacal in hunting down and hammering anyone who would harm the Molch. This part of the conversation seemed to make the Kark very uncomfortable, and it was apparent to Los Viejos that the Kark had had firsthand experience with these animated rock creatures.
Hailing from Texmex 3, Los Viejos moved their herds of Landgrubs across the deserts, and while on the trail spent much of their free time target-shooting with their Foal Peacebreaker pistols, which fires a cartridged plasma round without any recoil. So accurate are they with these powerful longranged pistols, even when firing from the hip, it is said by some that they have never have missed anything they shot at. Whilst the accuracy of this statement has been questioned, the accuracy of Los Viejos has not, and all sentients live in fear of a duel with these small but formidable creatures.
At first it was the Vornids, merciless botanoid pirates, who called on Los Viejos. Showing up on Texmex, through a Kark interpreter they offered free passage and buckets of cash if only Los Viejos would sell their services to the Vornid cause. The hovering skimmer idled over the desert as nearby vaqueros gathered to hear what their chief, Armadil, was talking about with the sharkman and the silent, strangely undulating planet creatures.
As they gathered near they heard Armadil ask what the war was about.
The Kark hemmed and hawed a bit and then got down to business. The Vornids despised ugliness and there were no creatures in the galaxy uglier than the Molch. They all looked different, the Kark offered, but each Molch was exceptionally hideous in its own special way. The Kark went on to say that he himself had fought in two of the campaigns against the Molch because the pay was very good, and they were indeed quite difficult to even look at without vomiting up one's shrimpcakes in disgust.
"Si, that sounds awful indeed," responded Armadil very politely. "What have they done to harm your employers?" He removed his sombrero and fanned himself with it.
The Kark responded that the Molch had done nothing, as far as he knew. They seemed harmless creatures, but could unleash deadly psychic attacks when provoked, because they have very powerful intellects. They also had huge rock monsters that they animated straight out of the earth itself, again seemingly with their minds, and these creatures were maniacal in hunting down and hammering anyone who would harm the Molch. This part of the conversation seemed to make the Kark very uncomfortable, and it was apparent to Los Viejos that the Kark had had firsthand experience with these animated rock creatures.
"So what is the war about again, jefe?" persisted Armadil. "I still do not understand, for I am but a simple vaquero."
"Who cares," responded the Kark, a bit impatiently, "the pay is good. There is much excitement to be had." The Kark winked at them, but Los Viejos continued to stare at him blankly.
The Kark took a deep breath and went on.
"As I said, the Vornids hate ugliness and want to exterminate the Molch ... because they are ugly. They want to wipe out the ugliness as apparently it is too offensive for them to suffer to exist. I myself do not care, but it is warpay and it is good."
"But the Molch are famous for their philosophical thoughts," volunteered a vaquero who had been listening. He took a holo-tab out of an empty bullet loop from his belt and held it up. It was one of the journals that the Molch had sent into Federation space and which were best sellers all thoughout the galaxy. Other vaqueros muttered in agreement, the little sombreros nodding up and down in the audience. Each of them remembered, at one point or another in their lives, sitting around a camp fire at night while out on the trail and listening to the poignant thoughts of the Molch about life and existence in a way that moved the simple vaqueros deeply, making them look up and see the stars in an entirely different way.
"I am very sorry, my friend," Armadil said, "but we will have to decline your employers' generous offer. Please tell them for us. On second thought, we will let them know ourselves." With that, all of the assembled vaqueros pulled their pistols from their holsters and began shooting, rapidly blowing the skimmer and its contents to bits with small plasma rounds. They then dug a pit and buried the skimmer, its crew, and the money, which they refused to touch as precio de sangre, and began assembling to journey to the Molch sector. They would participate in the war, that much was certain.
Bob Olley has made us four poses of the dreaded Viejo gunmen in 15mm scale. They should be available to fight in the Molch/Vornid War, or any of your sci fi combat missions, in spring of 2011.
Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqeGxMgVOHI
Brilliant stuff. I can imagine winning every game with these guys by forcing my opponent to die chuckling :-)