[GW2] "Loose Ends" (Wragg's story)

[Sroth]

((First written quite a while ago when Wragg was first an engineer. It was re-written back in May after he had changed to thief with a different backstory. This is how he came into the company of the Hammers, and is the only story I wrote for him. If you want to know more about his backstory, you'll have to ask him (I suggest in a tavern with several pints of ale)  Enjoy!))

The heavy box swayed little as it was dragged along by two plodding golems. The seats weren't particularly comfortable, but that's what happens when you rely on non-asuran builders; standards depreciate exponentially. Brinmaff Puzzlemap, an engineer of diabolical contraptions and a master of devious, brain-burning puzzle-traps, was a member of the small caravan on its way to a small charr fortress deep in old Ascalon territory. He was an older asura, years of work, success, and failure outlined on his skin in discolored patches. On his left hand, three fingers were of metal and wires, a reminder of an accident he suffered years ago. Many things were different all those years ago, many things he never thought to see return. And yet, here he was, next to a new apprentice, and his old hammer amulet swaying from his neck.

"I think you'll find the charr engineers fascinating, even if a bit puerile compared to our fellow asura," Brinmaff said to his young apprentice in a thick raspy voice.

The young asura nodded, his ears flapping wildly, "I look forward to it. Even you must admit, these cat people are capable of delightfully ingenious designs."

The master engineer simply murmured, "Hmm," reluctant to agree aloud. Charr engineers were frequently dangerous and unpredictable, looking for new ways to kill with their mechanical monstrosities. Not that asura weren't capable of the same, but they did it with more ingenuity and cleverness, rather than loud brutish construction. "I once knew a charr engineer, Vurgan Gearfang, a cat both clever and stupid, who always found ways to take good ideas and ruin them with increasingly terrible ones. We used to have a rivalry going," he mused, staring at his pendant. "But that was many years ago now. I wonder if he ever attends these sort of events."

"Who was it again that we're seeing today? Ugrinok..."

"Ugrinok Bloodspark. A boorish and ugly name, even by charr standards. At least he didn't name the damned invention after himself. I wonder if he knows about asura advancements in that field. The charr can sometimes be woefully behind the curve."

The small chariot suddenly came to a stop, and the golems drawing the vehicle began to speak, "Unknown--obstacle, identify--yourself--or--violent--counter-measures--will--be--deployed." Two loud bursts erupted in the air and the golems fell silent. Brinmaff and his apprentice got out, ready to face whatever dangers were waiting. Two other asura had poked their heads out of their carriage to see what was going on as well.

"What is the meaning of this?" said the old tinkerer with an aggravated sigh. Before the caravan were several humans, bandits by the look of them, each with weapons drawn. "Question withdrawn, clearly you mean to rob us."

"Even better, we're getting paid to do it," said one bandit, laughing madly.

"Paid? By whom?"

"A charr, Fanggear or something. Said he lured out some asura for us, an easy target for the picking. We just gotta kill you, old man." The cutthroat could barely speak as he laughed out the words.

Brinmaff stared blankly at the bandits. It was no surprise that some one was trying to kill him, but it was surprising to hear who. "Your stupidity is beyond words. You do realize Gearfang hired petty bandits to complete the task so that he would not be implicated, and not only have you explained the trap, but also have named the man responsible."

The bandit paused, then replied, no doubt red-faced behind his mask, "So we'll just kill everyone and it'll be fine! Hahaha!"

"I won't allow it," said the young asura, stepping for ward to shield his master. "Your crimes alone make you guilty enough for sentencing, but your acts today ensure that you will all be punished, and I intend to punish you!" From his waist, he drew a sword, and said, "Prepare yourselves, judgement will be sw--"

The lead bandit discharged his gun, nailing the little creature, killing him instantly.

Brinmaff's ears lowered in disappointment. "That was my apprentice," he said, brushing off bits of blood from his coat.

"So sorry old man, but now you all gotta die."

"Hold it!" cried another asura, standing on the roof of the carriage.

"Now what," roared the bandit in frustration, reloading his gun.

The asura produced two pistols and pointed them at the outlaws below. "Relinquish yer weapons or else."

"Can't you count, runt? You're outnumbered."

"If ye give me a moment, I can factor out the unnecessary variables an' achieve a more balanced equation."

The bandits exchanged glances then looked up at the pistoleer. "What?"

"Prepare to die!" The bandits fired their guns, but the asura leapt from the carriage and rained bullets on his targets. When he landed, he jumped again, dodging the return fire as he tossed a smoke grenade at their feet. The explosion hid the battle behind a veil of smoke, and just as it cleared, the lead bandit turned to see a gun pointed at his face and his men reduced to grave fodder. "Math is so much more exhilaratin' when it involves explosives and gun-play." The brigand froze, expecting a loud bang followed by darkness. They instead heard the sound of applause. The bandit and asura saw Brinmaff clapping.

With a laugh, the master engineer said, "Well done. You do put on a show, boy. What's your name?"

"Wragg, Stormsail pirate... formerly." He casually twirled his pistol, removing it from the bandit. The bandit started raising his own gun, but Wragg quickly fixed the pistol in position, grinning widely. The bandit, already sweating heavily, started shaking nervously.

Brinmaff nodded. "As you may have caught, I have recently found myself without an apprentice; my last one was rather insufficient in areas where you seem to excel. Would that opening be of interest to you?"

Wragg looked at the old asura inquisitively, "What kind of apprenticeship are we talkin' about exactly?"

"Let's discuss this privately." With that, the master drew a gun from under his coat, and with a quick shot fired from the hip, the bandit flopped over with a new hole in his head. Wragg, still holding his pistol pointed at empty space, stared down at the corpse, eyeing it curiously.

"Nice shot, old man," said Wragg, holstering his pistol.

"That's Master Brinmaff Puzzlemap."

The two were able to repair the golems well enough for the caravan to continue.

...........


Knowing that the engineering demonstration was a ruse to lure Brinmaff out, the caravan detoured to a small outpost instead where they camped under the hum of a charged asura pylon.

"So," started the master, poking the campfire with a stick, "Where were you headed today?"

"Nowhere in particular. I had a... bad accident recently. Tryin' to find my former crew, that not bein' an asura krewe by the by, and get back to the open sea."

"Yes, a pirate, as you mentioned earlier. Yet you are considering my apprentice position." Wragg seemed to struggle to find a reply, but remained quiet. After a moment, Brinmaff asked, "You use guns and explosives, do you make them yourself?"

"A bit. I like to make some funny explosives, do things the enemy wouldn't expect. Don' always work, though. But I did make me pocket cannons."

"Pocket cannon?"

Wragg took out his pistols and gave them a flashy twirl. Brinmaff's brow slowly scrunched in confused surprise. "They're guns," he finally proclaimed.

Wragg put them away, almost insulted. "They're not guns, they're pocket cannons. Completely different. Me own design."

"A true engineer can fight with many sorts of advanced weapons. Why... pocket cannons?"

"Because guns and grenades are much more fun!" Wragg whipped out his pistol and shoved it in Brinmaff's face with a wide grin, the old master instinctively drawing his own and pointing it at Wragg before he released what was going on. The crackling fire was the only sound for what seemed to be several minutes. After a brief pause, Wragg lowered his gun and cackled madly.

Brinmaff put away his weapon, and replied, "You're a few static-clamps short of an ion array, aren't you boy?"

"Life's more fun when she's unpredictable," said Wragg with a surprising amount of life experience coming through his words. Brinmaff suspected much of that came from his time as a pirate.

After a thoughtful pause, Brinmaff replied, "That's why the apprenticeship interests you, isn't it? You've lived as a pirate and know what sort of things you can expect if you go back to that life. But you have no idea what awaits you by joining me." Try as he might, there was no way for him to say it without a hint of superiority.

Wragg eyed Brinmaff carefully. "So, what is awaitin' me if I go with ye?"

With a sigh, Puzzlemap answered, "Turns out I need to speak with an old colleague. I hope you brought enough ammunition."

"Always," replied Wragg with a sly grin full of yellow teeth that twinkled in the fire light.

...........


The constant clank and scrape of metal echoed through the roughly constructed metal tower. Smoke spewed from the top like a giant metal cigar ever puffed on from below. In the heart of the dingy iron beast worked an old charr, gray in fur and black in demeanor. A cry of metal sounded as his door was pried open. "What is it?" the old charr called behind him.

"Sir, there are two asura here to see you."

"Asura?" replied the charr in panic. His eyes bounced back in forth in thought. "Let them in." Silently, he reassured himself that it couldn't have been who he feared. Slowly, he nodded to himself, convinced he was safe, and turned back to his work.

After a moment, the guard returned. "Sir."

The old charr turned to face the asura, relieved to not recognize the puny creature in front of him. "Who are you, runt?"

A voice called from the door, as another asura stepped in. "That's my new apprentice, you deficient feline."

"Puzzlemap?!" cried Gearfang. "What are you doing here?"

The guards started to raise their weapons, but Wragg held them at gunpoint. "Hold it right there, mouse-munchers."

Brinmaff continued into the room. "You really must be slowing down with old age, hiring such dimwits. Your bandits not only failed, but conveniently detailed your plot, a fake demonstration put on by the no-doubt fake Ugrinok Bloodspark, as well as name you as their employer. My only relief is that there is no charr engineer named Ugrinok Bloodspark."

One of the charr spoke up, "Actually, I'm Ugrinok Bloodspark." Brinmaff merely looked at him with disgust.

Gearfang buried his muzzle in his hand. "Those worthless scum. At least tell me you killed them for me."

"Of course we did. I don't like to leave loose ends. Speaking of which, it's time I tied up this one."

"That was my thinking as well, but you can't kill me. It's not your style, Puzzlemap."

"I have no intentions of killing you." The old master walked further in, approaching a large console.

"Where are you going? What do you think you're doing?"

Wragg turned a gun on Gearfang. "Would ya kindly not move?"

Brinmaff started removing panels and digging into the machine. "Your infantile designs are so susceptible to sabotage it's both amusing and tragic." After a few moments, he started his way to the door. "Let's go, my boy." Wragg slowly backed away, pistols held on the charr.

"Help me, you fools!" Cried Gearfang, running towards the mess of a control panel. "Help me figure out what he did, we have to fix it!"

The two asura exited the creaking tower unhindered and retreated to a safe distance. By then, loud clamor was rising from the structure, and flames bellowed out of the top.

"He'll see to his own demise," said Brinmaff, watching with seeming apathy, guarding his emotions. Wragg watched as charr started fleeing the rumbling tower. As he started to raise his guns at them, Brinmaff stopped him. "Let them go. We're here only for Gearfang." The noise grew louder and the flames bigger, until the entire building and its surrounding area were engulfed in a catastrophic explosion that sent shrapnel flying. Smoke that once plumed from the top now covered everything, leaving a massive cloud hanging in the sky above. Brinmaff turned to Wragg, smiling, "Now then, about that apprenticeship."