Chapter 1 [Xcution is not Dead]

The return on the jobs being a rather hefty sum of money that would be needed for him to get out of the small financial hole that he has worked himself into by melting down some of his tools and spare parts to make random things like his most recent project. A rather fancy cross shaped belt buckle that has a hollow portion in the center that lets a liquid blade and handle pour out the top and bottom. From that he is able to harden the two portions and in a jiffy have a rather surprising weapon come from nothing but some clothing. Flipping through the pages he finds a few pages with maps, the legend in the bottom showing that every three inches represents ten miles. Another page has a inverted color photo of what is labeled as the 'Cesar Mines'.

These mines, after some quick reading seems to be the center of a series of vanishing campers, one camper vanishing every year for the past five years with the only leads being some rather deep gouges in the earth that were thought to be the works of a massive even with the opinions of a bear expert saying that they could never leave those types of marks. These gouges, while much larger than a bears general claw size and the spacing in between them more than three times the largest bear in record, are also deeper and over ten feet in the air marked on territorial trees. Every few years when the rumors start to die down that there is some kind of monster in the woods nearby kids will start daring each other to go camp in the woods or sneak in and spend the night alone as a show of courage. While yes brave, these decisions lead to the children almost always being present in the forest on the sixth anniversary of the last disappearance.

Getting to a three page report Gage tries to scan over it lightly but too much detail is necessary in the paperwork. He is going to have to sit down and actually read it on the couch. Tapping all the papers into a neat stack he tosses them onto his coffee table, heading to the kitchen to make himself a pot of coffee.

Using his favorite mug, a converted old World War II steel drinking cup with the handle re-welded on he adds his creamer and sugar, stirring the coffee in the mug with the tip of his finger and Soul Communication. Flopping onto his couch he scoops up the paperwork again, flipping through it one page at a time making sure to read all the info as he goes.

Page one through three are maps, the first of the country with blue dots for the origins of the missing people. The second page was a zoomed in map of the county with six dots of the last known locations of the missing people. The third page is a zoomed in map of the mines from above with several main entrances and a single smaller entrance half hidden by a mountainside with a good amount of brush and overgrowth nearby to hide any trails. The fourth and five pages following have a general rundown on information that previous 'agents' have acquired in the town on the situation. Finally in the back of the packet is a target summary, running info on the suspected possible beasts that could be at the core of the issue.

In an effort to maintain full disclosure 'Xcution' has provided information on your target, believed to be a Hollow Wyvern Class, the full information provided in the following.

Flipping through the pages a bit more Gage gets the rundown on his hollow, a species of hollow that lives in deep caves called 'Lightning Worms'. Their hide is thick and flabby with a white color as opposed to the natural black of hollows along with the fact that they keep their skin moistened like anfibians to assist with conducting electricity. Their skin itself is slightly transparent so veins are visible through the surface in different locations all over the body. A long prehensile tail has a special orifice in the tip that can open up in a similar fashion to a suction cup and cling either to the ground or to cave ceilings, allowing them to ground their bodies to the earth and not be damaged by electrical shocks that they produce.

Out of their mouths they have large sharp teeth in a circle similar to a leaches but in deep rows down to the back of the mouth as a shark has. Their toes and single digit appendages at the tip of the wings are not clawed but instead have small suction cups so that they can walk around on ceilings and walls without having to worry about falling or cutting something up. With such a great reproduction rate this particular hollow has had the need for eyes fade in matching with their choice to live in cold wet caves and mines so that their eyes while still there are nearly blind, only able to see the most basic shades of greys and whites. In contrast to this however their noses have developed to superb levels allowing them to hunt in the dark with near perfect measurements of distance and accuracy from scent alone. The hollow mask that is so common with all hollows is represented by a single row of vertebra running from mid back up to the face where it creates a round plate over the top of the face with no eye holes.

This Hollow at its smallest has been found to be as little as one hundred and ten pounds while at its largest can be up to 12 meters or larger. Metallic weapons should be avoided at all times with this creature as it has an electrical aura that can arch over to any nearby wielders should it charge up and release it. Additional information has not been confirmed as true so will not be provided until further investigation. Threat level Four.

The very last page of the papers is a printed out copy of a plane ticket timed for later that day, to fly him out to a small Russian town called Khilkovo about an hours helo ride from Samara. Picking up all his papers Gage heads back upstairs and grabs a quick weeks worth of cold weather clothes, boots and his new belt buckle. Tossing all of it into his backpack he crams everything in and zips up before heading out to grab a bite to eat with his new bundle of money and a few spare materials to have something to do while he is on the plane traveling from place to place or waiting for his flight.

It is quick time, the food that he manages to get down being hot enough to leave his mouth burnt and scalding. Checking in at the front desk at the airport he checks his bags, tucking his small trinkets bag into the top pocket of his backpack he tags his bag and heads to the plane gate, checking through secruity shoes in hand. At the gate Gage sits with a small sketch book in hand legs crossed and pen in hand. Doodling for a good while Gage ends up burning through about four pages before he finally gets to a final sketch design that he likes. Picking out his favorite he draws it one more time adding in some measurements and a few notes here and there to annotate some of the more key features of the item.