Rock and Stone!

Prologue

"Don't even think about it, ye leaf eat'n, Elf lover!" Mallet's distorted growls rolled out through his thick blonde beard at the stunted old goat in front of him - Doza. An aged, portly dwarf who's spent so much time in the Space Rig, rumours have many believe he was around during its construction. His reputation as the team's senior Driller holds him above all others. It's a rare sight to see such a miner at his age. 435 orbital revolutions. Hell, the average human life expectancy is only 75. Doza is old and highly skilled. Weathered by countless dives. He's seen more action than all his crew-mates combined. But like every dwarf, he has a flaw; Doza is impulsive. Not one to think – just do. Maybe because of age, or perhaps over time he outgrew patience to stop and consider his actions –who knows. No one can say. Any dwarf that could tell you is long gone. He's outlived them all. Being an interplanetary miner doesn't come with the expectation of a safe long life; but it's a rewarding one for many who sign up. Doza's impulsiveness has never gotten anyone hurt, or killed. Not even himself. He's never broken the rules and the dwarven code. But now, in quite possibly his last moment of impulse, Doza is about to break perhaps the most important rule of them all............don't mess with another dwarf's beard. 

"Ye touch one hair, and I'll spray ye dusty brains across the deck, Grandpappeh!" The next warning came at Doza more calmly than before, although the undertone of malice could be felt. Doza was too slow witted to acknowledge such threats as real. Mallet stood leaning over the Space Rig Forge work-bench with one of the braids from his beard caught in the mineral grinder shaft tube opening. Mallet hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing on account of his over-confidence as the only Engineer on-board. While feeding minerals into the Forge and collecting parts from the shelving to the right of him, Mallet whisked his large thick golden chin-jacket across the bench and completely forgot to switch off the mineral grinder, resulting in one of his braids being sucked in by the tube's vacuum and caught in the lip of the grinder tube hatch. Luckily, the emergency shut-off switch triggered, locking the braid within the tube. Mallet spat and cursed before Doza heard him and came rushing over to see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't pain Doza saw in Mallet's face –it was fear and panic. After seeing Doza, Mallet's expression immediately turned from panic to disappointment. Disappointed that of all dwarves onboard, it had to be Doza that showed up.Doza didn't hesitate to help. Standing on the other side of the work-bench, Doza had a firm grasp of the poor dwarf's braid. A mighty long thick piece stretching about a foot in length. Mallet had three of them in total that he took good care of. His beard was his life, unlike Doza who was hairless like the day he was born. He never cared for having a beard. He always believed (as a Driller) it only got in the way of him and the precious stones he was working for. But not Mallet. Not any other dwarf for that matter. Standing there with the braid in his left hand, Doza intended to cut Mallet free so he reached in a pouch hanging from his waist belt and pulled out a small metal tool, pressed the button above his thumb and a purple laser shot from the base to a metal receiver at the tip. A laser cutter that resembled a small hacksaw – about eight inches in length.Before Mallet could even see what was in his hand, a strong purple glow could be seen coming up the side of the work-bench. Mallet knew straight away what it was. Before Doza could cut him loose, he stopped just inches from the length of hair. The purple laser softly crackling – waiting. In that moment, Doza saw Mallet's sidearm pointing straight up from Mallet's left hand. Mallet cocked the hammer before his final warning. He wasn't bluffing. He would've done it too. "Ahh, calm down, ye wet wun." Doza casually boasted. "Umma just disconnect the pipin' anna ye gonna have ye precious bred oot an ye can gaw back te forgin' ye clap gezmos. Kip ye pubes, but ye fixin the pipe, ye knaw. Next time, watch what ye doin or at least tuck et en te ye pants or somethin." Doza pulled the braid taut, causing Mallet to grunt in pain and lean further forward over the workbench. With a seering heat smell of melting steel and sizzling cracking noises, the laser cutter slices through the brackets of the tube and set the panicked Engineer free. 

Straightening himself up and checking over to see if any hairs were singed, Mallet gave Doza a split second thankful look before turning to a glare. "Yer lucky, Pap." Mallet grumbled, still glaring. "Aaand, yer wulcum!" Doza bounced back with a proud grin and a pat of his belly. Walking away, Doza mumbled a long forgotten tune to himself while Mallet watched him leave. Standing there, he murmured something to himself and carried on with his work, completely ignoring the tube still stuck in his braid.