RPG - Stolen Bride (Page 2 of 8)

Sorry, but as the man once said: 

"He who breaks the law, goes back to the house of pain."

Seriously, though.  The Forum Rules are there for a reason. 

http://www.bobafett.com/boards/misc.php?action=rules

Banned for multiple reasons, and thanks Jodo

I think the problem is that people are wiating for a GM figure to step in and make something happen. Once Mel posts things may get better.

Kane opened his eyes toward the silent gray ceiling.
"You know what just occured to me? You're flying around with no idea where we're going."
"Where are we going then?"
He shrugged and stood up, walking toward the controls.
"First of all, I'd like to know your name miss."
"Tanuka."
He vaguely smiled, tapped the metal part of her face with his index, and quietly hit the sensor jammer he'd had installed a while back.
"We're on a mission to save a Twi'lek bride...from Hutts of all things. Most of the galaxy's bounty hunters have gone after her. If we do get anywhere I'll split the four million credits with you. Other than that, I'd like to think about a plan of action."
"Don't touch my face again..."
He sighed.
"By the way, we're going to Nal Hutta, once you've set the navicomputer flipped the only red switch. If we ever make it into hyperspace I"ll show you to your room."
He picked up her bag and walked out of the cabin. After stowing it in one of the compartments with his flask and then pulling a medium sized box off the wall and pushing it into the cabin with his foot. Unfortunately, he had nothing to do besides that.
"Where are you from? I'm from a small moon in the inner core myself." Kane
"Treshna-6"
He poked his head in to the cabin.
"Where's that?"
She looked at him with one sand colored eye, the other side of her face now covered with her hair.
"A long way off from your small moon in the inner core. Think of a desert planet far worse than Tatooine and where the sun's light is few and far between."
Slowly, he moved back into the cabin. He always enjoyed watching the star lines when a ship jumped into hyperspace. Although the moment was spoiled by the bad vibe flowing around the room.

The great hall emptied with surprising speed; the hundreds of hunters, now officially on the hunt, squeezed themselves through the great double doors, nearly trampling the Twi'lek guards when they swung the portals open. Vorn was among them- staying behind the mob would draw unwanted attention to him- but he stayed toward the back, his shuffling gait too slow to match the most eager of the hunters as they sped out of the palace.

He appeared to be looking down at his feet as he moved, but in actuality Vorn's eyes were darting all around the room as indiscreetly as possible. All the youngest, the "newbies", they were called, were already out of the room, but the more experienced hunters knew there was no need for such a rush, and were lingering behind the mob. Vorn caught sight of an interesting pair, one wearing an Ubese enviro suit and the other in all black, talking with Kar'bil as they walked out together. That's right, take blue boy out of my hair for now. I'll be seeing him later, and more than likely the two of you with him. He didn't much like the looks of them- they were obviously among the more seasoned of the hunters, and that could pose a problem- but as far as he was concerned there was nothing he couldn't handle. A pair of minor inconveniences is all they truly were.

His eyes darted again, picking out a few faces he had seen around the galactic underworld: Freeda, a rodian who had tagged a famous smuggler, purely by accident in Vorn's opinion; the Quellik twins, a pair of Gotal brothers who had been around for awhile, but were still nothing special; Reena Narb-

Vorn tripped over his own feet, stumbling for a moment before falling face-first to the palace's marble floors. One of the guards moved over to help him up, but the man shrugged him away with a snarl, pulling himself up and shambled along at a faster rate. Had he been under any other disguise, that fall could have given him away, but fortune favored him this time: nothing unusual about a dirty drunk stumbling around. Dumb luck. Not his style.

He chanced another glance behind him: that was Reena Narb, no doubt about it. Her lightsaber hung on her belt and glinted in the palace's artificial light, drawing his glare almost maddeningly. He forced himself to turn forward again, and branched off to follow a crew of Weequay hunters moving to a different docking bay. Staying far enough behind, he was able to duck down an abandoned corridor with no one at all to observe him.

He let his heart slow and took a deep breath. Reena Narb.

When his employer had given him the nickname Vorn, the crime lord had no idea how fitting the comparison was. The idea was that it compared the man to a Vornskyr: stealthy, moving in the shadows, striking hard and fast without the prey even noticing. It seemed as though he couldn't be surprised: any twist of events, he had a plan for it, one that generally led to even bigger and brighter results than the original would have. All this was true, and Vorn prided himself on it all. There was, however, one thing his employer had not known that made the comparison a perfect fit:

All vornskyrs were known to have an instinctual hatred of Jedi.

Vorn couldn't really say what it was about them that he hated so much. He wasn't out for revenge; no Jedi had ever done anything to him. Though he was never admit it, it came down to pride. he had trained, and he had worked, trying for years to become the best that he could possibly be. He honestly believed that he had accomplished that: when it came to skill in his trade, no one was superior. he was the best he could ever be, and that made him one of the deadliest sentients in the galaxy. The problem was, he could still never be as good as a Jedi.

He's come to this realization a few years ago, building on all he had ever heard about Darth Vader. He could kill a man without touching him. He could cause pain with a glance, stories said; he could destroy planets with his mind, he could become invisible, he could kill the Emperor if he wanted to. It was obvious that these stories were not all true, but they had to based in something. It all fit with the documented evidence of the Jedi of the Old Republic. The Jedi were special, and Vorn refused to accept that.

Why should they be special? Why should they be able to do instantly things that he cold never dream of doing? he ahd the ambition, the drive, the years of experience, but they still ruled everything. It just wasn't fair.

As soon as he could get away from home, he went into Jedi hunting. The Purge was just about over by then, but he'd still been on a crew that had gotten a few kills before it was commonly accepted that the Jedi were wiped out. Only then was he satisfied: finally, he thought, those willing to work for power will get it. No more automatic advantages. I'm number one again.

This view of his was dashed when he first learned about Reena Narb. There were those who doubted whether she actually had any powers, who thought that she'd just taken a Jedi's lightsaber and proclaimed herself an illegitimate Jedi heir, but Vorn wasn't willing to take that chance. If there was even the slightest chance that she could be a Jedi, she needed to die.

He'd been monitoring her actions for years now. Every time she tagged a bounty it went in his memory banks, hoping he could determine her position so he could go in for the kill. She proved to be a tricky one, though: every time he got a fix on her position, she wouldn't be heard from again until days later, and then she'd appear on the opposite side of the galaxy. It was maddening: there was no rhyme or reason to her actions. Nothing she did made sense, nothing seemed logical. It was as though she followed a higher path, one he couldn't see, and that infuriated him even more. He would be the one to bring her down, if he did nothing else in his life.

And now she was here, on this hunt. He had seen her , only paces away, in her bronze battle armor, infernal lightsaber glistening from her belt. it was all he could do to stop himself from flinging himself on her and cutting her throat. No, time for that later, after this part of the job is done. Work first, pleasure later.

He glanced around again; no one was anywhere near his little alcove in the little-traveled portion of the palace. That's the trouble with grandiose buildings; you can't possibly use it all. Plenty of space for a little fly on the wall to hide.

He unhooked his blaster rifle from his belt brought it up to his chest. Peering intently at it, he found what he was looking for: a little latch on the sight, something no other rifle in the galaxy had, as far as he knew. He flipped it, flipped the identical ones on the barrel and the grip, and the gun split along the middle. He knelt down and opened it up: rather than the gas chamber and powerpack one would expect to find, inside this weapon there were multiple objects of curiosity, each one tiny and non-descript. He took out a nozzle to a spray bottle and fixed it on the flask he wore on his hip. He spritzed once, twice, three times, all over himself, a chemical that completely eliminated the musky alcohol scent that had been part of his disguise. He picked out a pair of pliers and a box of common electrical components, sticking them in the pockets of his armored uniform.

Finally he drew a knife and dart gun, emptying the shell of the rifle. He didn't like using the weapons; they didn't show all the skill he had so carefully built up. But if he had to if he had to: if his job was about to go the wrong way, he had to fix it, even if it wasn't exactly graceful. Function over aesthetics, of course, but it was always nice to have a little flourish whenever possible.

Armed only with this equipment, he sneaked off down the abandoned corridors of the palace, working his way toward his objective. This was the part he disliked the most: the waiting. It was all necessary, of course, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He would wait a few hours until things quieted down and all the bounty hunters left. No need to muck things up with extra variables.

Huddled in the shadows of a vast columned hallway, he sat perfectly still, listening to the distant sounds of conversation and of starships taking off for their own quarries. He'd be joining them soon enough. For now, he stared intently at the security checkpoint a hundred meters or so before him.

Step two, get into position. Objective complete.

The transport ship Twilight's Edge exited hyperspace over Nal Hutta, the Glorious Jewel of Hutt Space.  While most of the sentients aboard the rusted vessel gathered their belongs, grateful for an end to the long journey, the entity waited in the back of the ship.  Several bounty hunters, apparent by their weapons and cocky demeanor, were aboard the ship as well; several of many who could not afford their own vessels, hoping that this bounty would be their big break. 
Such individuals were not above cooperation for a mutual benefit; in fact, these ones had already conspired and decided together, that leveling the playing field might increase their chances. 
"Landing on Nar Shadda, port H-234." a voice in broken Huttese murmured through the ancient comm system. 
One of the bounty hunters, a hefty individual clad in a pilot's jumpsuit and carrying a large blaster carbine at his side, stood up from his seat, turning to face the entity sitting alone in the back quarter of the ship.  Several other hunters, a variety of alien species and weaponry, did the same, following behind the large human who was now approaching the entity.
He halted two meters away, a smug grin across his face, as the nine other hunters took up positions around the entity. 
"This isn't your stop, buddy." he said, crouching down to see the face underneath the wide-brimmed hat.  He was noticeably suprised at the unnatural darkness surrounding the entity's head, devoid of any visible features, yet maintained his composure. "In fact, you're going to stay on this shuttle, and you are going back to Ryloth.  You understand where I'm coming from?"
His fellow hunters pulled out their weapons.
"This is our bounty." the large man growled.  "And we don't need any more kriffin hunters making things difficult for us.  If you try to get off this ship, we will kill you.  Understand?"
The entity made no motion.
"Krif you, I'm kriffin serious!" he yelled. "Kriffin answer me!"
The large man reached out to grab the wide-brimmed hat, but was quickly met by the clasp of a cold metal hand across his face, pushing him back into another hunter and lifting him off the ground.  The entity had sat up, and towered above the hunters around him.  Underneath the hat, they could barely make out the glimmer of two blue droid eyes, before the entity blew the large mans head apart.
The ensuing spray of blood and brain matter was enough distraction for the entity to reach into his trenchcoat with his free arm, pulling out a long, heavily modified Enforcer slugthrower. 
The other hunters began firing, as the entity threw the shattered body of the large man into the nearest hunter.  In the same second, he reached out with the Enforcer to whip the face of a Quarren hunter, fast enough to send him flying backwards and seperating a face tentacle in a spray of blood. 
The bounty hunters continued firing, as the rest of the ships passengers cowered beneath their seats, but the entity did not appear to be taking any critical blows.  His trenchcoat was peppered with holes...but only along the edges, as he quickly moved to dodge the incoming shots. 
The entity chambered a clip from his trenchcoat pocket, and quickly cleared the distance between himself and another hunter, a human with black hair and startlingly blue eyes.  He came up from beneath, his trenchcoat flaring out behind him, and pressed the Enforcer underneath the human's chin.  He pulled the trigger, and the explosive nova of light temporarily blinded the rest of the hunters, in which time he had slain two more with focused blasts to the head, before the human's headless corpse had hit the ground.
The surviving hunters had enough brains to at least dive for cover; though one Devaronian was fatally slow.  He could only watch in abject terror as the Enforcer first took his arm, then his head, in a shower of blood that elected screams from the cowering passengers.  A Twi'lek lifted a Heavy repeater up over an overturned table, covering the back of the transport in a wave of blasterfire.
The entity moved quickly, running up alongside the wall, and then on the wall, as the blasterfire trailed behind him.  With a quick flip off of the ceiling, he landed on the edge of the table, and grasped the Twi'lek's head, forcibly twisting it from his neck.
Another hunter stood up, preparing to fire a Tenloss distruptor, a blast sure to vaporize any opponent, despite their skills. The entity used the Twi'lek's corpse as a shield, watching as the tenloss blast vaporized the body right out of his hand.  Another hunter prepared to throw a frag grenade, but was intercepted by a trio of razor-thin flechettes that tore his face apart.  The grenade exploded in his hand before he hit the ground, tearing bolted seats from the ground and imbedding flak into unfortunate passengers. 
A tenloss blast burned the air across the entity's back, fatally missing his target as the entity put another explosive round through his head. 
The last hunter turned to run, as if he could somehow escape aboard the cramped vessel, while the entity slowly closed the gap.
  Desperate, the hunter grabbed a nearby Bothan and pulled his blaster to the passengers head, threatening to blow his head off if the entity came one step closer.
The entity kept walking, slowly and resoutely, his Enforcer sheathed inside his trenchcoat speckled with blaster holes and dripping blood. The last hunter pleaded for his life, apologizing frantically, praying to the Force that his life might be spared.  The entity kept walking. 

"Landing complete.  Welcome to Nar Shadda."

The entity stopped.  He turned around, and grabbed the locked crate he carried with him, hoisting it onto his shoulder with one hand.  The passengers slowly came out from their hiding, and the last hunter could only stare in awe as the entity brushed past him, indifferent to the conflict that had taken place before. 
The entity was the first to disembark, exiting the ship into the busy streets of Nar Shadda, walking into the darkness with the crate upon his shoulder.

A quick sketch of my bounty hunter: : D

The entity stopped. 
Kane quickly apologized.  "Sorry...excuse me sir."
He and Tanuka tried to step around, but the entity moved again to block their path, his bloodied trenchcoat fanning out behind him with the wind.
"Is there a problem, sir?" Tanuka asked, as her arm slowly moved towards the blaster at her hip.  Kane tensed, preparing for a confrontation.
The entity reached into his trenchcoat.  Kane pulled out his blaster pistol, but the entity put out his other hand, gesturing that he was not attacking the two bounty hunters. The entity pulled out a small, grey box with a tiny keypad attached by a frayed cord.  He quickly typed in a message, and held it out for Kane and Tanuka to hear.
"You are...Hunters, yes?" the tiny box crackled.
Kane looked at Tanuka, and turned to relpy. "I guess you could call us that.  What's it to you?"
The entity typed again. "I saw you on...Ryloth--you are after same--Bounty, yes?"
Kane thought back to the day before, stuggling to recall the faces in the crowd...and remembered. "Yeah, I saw you too." 
"Perhaps it might be---to our benefit---for our parties to cooperate in this hunt." The entity typed.
Kane moved out of the way to advoid a drunken Weequay, who was stumbling down the walkway.  The entity did not budge, and the Weequay brushed past his arm roughly, spilling gin across the entity's trenchcoat. 
The entity's arm moved faster than Kane could follow, and connected with the Weequay, sinking into his face for one terrible millisecond. The alien went flying backwards, a trail of blood imposed against the Huttese sky, and landed several yards away, his neck twisting with a sickening noise that echoed down the hallway.  He did not get up.
After a long pause, Kane finally replied.  "What could you offer us?  Why should we join forces with you?"
The entity typed again. "I trust that was a signifigant--demonstration--of my abilities.  Believe me...I am capable of far more.  Should you agree, I will lend my--services--...towards meeting our common...goal. Should you refuse, I would have no choice...but to kill you.
Decide."

The entity approached the specialty cruiser, carrying the large metal chest upon his shoulder once more. 
Moa was the first one to notice the approaching figure, superimposed against the distant Huttese sun, trenchcoat flaring out with the heavy winds blowing across the landing dock.
The Blood Carver turned from the doorway, slowly walking down the deck while seemingly occupied with cleaning a hydrospanner.  The entity reached into his trenchcoat with his free hand, and the Blood Carver responded quickly, bringing a blaster pistol to bear on the entity.
The entity pulled out the grey box, though Moa did not lower his weapon.
"Where do you think you're going, stranger?" he asked, gripping the blaster tightly.
The entity slowly came to a stop, lowering the heavy crate to the ground, and punched a series of characters into the keypad.
"I am--part of this operation now." the ancient speaker whispered.
"Over my dead body." Moa responded.  Tal Rith and Te'dac had noticed the situation, and were now slowly approaching out of the doorway with weapons in hand. 
"Normally I would be happy---to oblige." the entity typed.  "In this circumstance however-----you will either allow me to join your hunt---or I will kill you where you stand."
"Is that a threat?" Moa replied.  Tal Rith and Te'dac trained their blaster rifles on the entity.  "We don't take those lightly here."
"Yes---it is a threat.  Stand aside."
Moa stopped to think. There were thick bloodstains on the entity's trenchcoat...blood that did not appear to belong to him.  obviously a capable fighter...but can we trust him?
"I warn you---I am more than capable of---carrying out my threats." The entity typed. "There is no need to fight---your comrades have already agreed to let me join your venture."
The Blood Carver slowly lowered his weapon.  "I suppose we can take another hunter...as long as you pull your weight." 
"That won't---be a problem."  The entity reached down with one arm and hoisted the chest back upon his shoulder.  He slowly trode up the walkway, the wind carrying his trenchcoat out behind him.
Moa and his comrades slowly turned to watch the entity board the vessel. 
Tal Rith yelled out behind him.  "What is your name?"
The entity stopped on the walkway, pausing for a minute, as if he was somehow remembering...recalling that concept of individuality and humanity that had been lost throughout countless years. 
"You may call me---HUN-89."

(I've got a post coming soon, just waiting for Mel to get back to me...you'll see why. This message will be replaced with an actual post eventually.)

(Maltese, you're going to have to take my character with you for a while...I'm going to Mexico on a missions trip for two weeks.  Don't do anything too out of character with him, okay?

Kar'bil sat in the loading bay of Arcuse's ship, he'd give the two bounty hunters the co-ordinates to the Hutt's suspected hideout. But now Kar'bil was happy to be by himself. He sat cleaning his weapons although he knew that they were already in perfect order. He did it to keep his mind clear. He didn't want to think of the chaos that would break out if his betrothed were to die.

He sighed and lifted his head as he saw Sathik moving towards him. "You know how to use those?" Sathik asked.

Kar'bil snorted. "No, I wear them for decoration."

A smile tugged at Sathik's eyes. "Well they are pretty accessories."

Kar'bil shook his head with a smirk. "Yeah I always thought gun-metal grey went with my eyes."

Sathik chuckled. "Finally, someone with a sense of humour."

Kar'bil let the smile fall from his face as he turned serious. "How far away are we from our destination?"

Sathik scrated his masked chin. "Dunno, you'd have to ask Arcuse."

Kar'bil nodded and stood up.

"I wouldn't bother him at the moment, I've already annoyed him enough with: Are we there yet?" Sathik grinned.

"I see." Kar'bil said as he sat back down. "So why do you were a surgeon's mask?"

Sathik blinked in surprise. He thought everyone knew. "I'm a walking disease, didn't you know?"

Kar'bil leant back, "No I didn't."

"I see." Replied Sathik. "Perhaps I should go back to the cockpit then."

Kar'bil watched him go and suddenly wondered how wise he'd been to join the pair of bounty hunters.

Sathik leaned against the inside of the entry to the cockpit, and crossed his arms, watching Arcuse at the controls of the Morbis Fere. Sathik exhaled, took down the cloth mask from his face to hang loosely around his neck and absentmindedly chewed off the loose fibers on the edge of his worn, armored black glove. The orphaned killer in front of Sathik adjusted controls with practiced fluidity.  The ship had become an extension of himself, and another powerful weapon in the hunters’ familiar arsenal.
       
“How’s our guest?” Arcuse asked without looking behind him, as he finished up the routine logistic and maintenance checks of the complex and severely lethal ship.

Sathik just laughed, a slow, horribly sadistic laugh.

“He didn’t know who I was. I had half a mind to be offended.” The black-haired killer finally elaborated as he absentmindedly scratched the faint scar under his left eye. The scar was a dim reminder from a long and bloody battle in a battledome where his own knife had been dragged along the side of his face. Sathik pulled the dark faded black of his mask up under his darker eyes, “So, what’s the plan? Do you want me to put his highness in the holding cell now or later?”

“Not yet,”Arcuse assured.

It wasn’t far too long until the Morbis Fere arrived on Nal Hutta.

The motion activated lights in the hangar bay added little illumination as they activated in the wake of the three hunters as the disembarked from the deadly Skipray.

Sathik was armed heavily with his shotgun balanced over his shoulder, and was talking animatedly to the hooded Twi’lek next to him, “Yeah, and it would have been funny as hell for the five seconds I was alive.”

Kar’bil couldn’t help but laugh. The Twi’lek was outfitted in a black hooded cloak to hide his face. It seemed only moments ago Sathik was telling him to hold still as he drew artificial tattoos on his face and head, and threatening to draw humiliating obscenities if he didn’t. stay. still. It was important that no one on Nal Hutta would be able to identify the noble blooded Twi’lek. One captured clan heir was bad enough.

Arcuse walked ahead of the two toward the ominous hangar door ahead. Also armed and on edge, it was clear that the hunt had begun.

The azure-skinned Twi’lek was beginning to feel more “at ease” around the professional killers. The trip through hyperspace had been nerve wracking as he found himself entirely at the mercy of two very unmerciful beings. It was a learning experience he would not forget.

“What was that?!” Kar’bil demanded in outrage, holding his bleeding nose as he picked himself up off the metal grating of the ship.

“A surprise attack.” Sathik said clearly.

“And how fair is that!” Kar’bil asked seething with anger at the injustice.

“I don’t know,” Sathik shrugged and cracked his knuckles, “Ask the other guy that when you’re dead.”

Kar’bil stared thoughtfully as the lesson sank in. He was about to enter a world ruled by no rules. A world where the first one to pull the trigger was the one who lived. A world Sathik and Arcuse had learned by heart, and if he was smart–and lucky–he would live. Kar’bil had lived his life in a world ruled by law, order, and etiquette, but he learned the ways of this new world quickly.   
“There are other ways to teach someone to fight dirty,” Kar’bil couldn’t help but point out, wiping his face with his arm, and standing a little straighter.

“I’m not much of a teacher,” Sathik shook his head with a slight laugh, still wearing a sadistic grin—which very quickly disappeared as Kar’bil suddenly launched out a strike of his own and caught the dark-haired humanoid in the side of the head. Sathik cried out in pain, doubled over in absolute agony from the blow, and sucked in air between his clenched teeth.

“Are you alright?” Kar’bil panicked, thinking he had hit the bounty hunter too hard, and stepped forward to help him. Kar’bil flew back with a loud crack as Sathik sucker punched him in the jaw, and broke into laughter as he sat stunned on the ground.               

And things with Arcuse had been...different.

Kar’bil watched in awe and horror as Arcuse systematically took apart and put back together his favored E-11 so quickly it was hard to follow the movement of his arms and hands, while he was  looking off to the side, completing the process by feel alone.

“What does he do? Sleep with that thing?”  Kar’bil leaned over to Sathik in a frightened whisper.

“He would if he slept.” Sathik stated.

Kar’bil stepped into the filthy Nal Hutta street behind the two bounty hunters. Across the way was a flashy dive called “Kubba’s Palace”. He wasn’t exactly sure why they were here and he had become increasingly more and more anxious once they had reached planetside.
                                       
The three hunters entered the loud cantina that was hazy from assorted smells from the fumes of alcohol, spice, and sweat. At first it had been impossible to notice the bleached and transparent wraith of a human girl sitting alone at a metal blaster scarred table, and yet it was somehow impossible that she could have been missed among the crowd of dirty patrons.    

“Whatever you do, don’t look at her eyes.” Sathik warned Kar’bil in a low voice.

“Hello.” She said in a quiet voice that pierced the very soul. Long pale blonde hair framed a pale face with fair features. Under her almost white eyes were two dark blue spots like paint on a doll’s face.        

“Lady-sai,” Arcuse bowed politely. Sathik crossed his arms and didn’t look at her, watching the potentially dangerous crowd around them, and Kar’bil followed his example.

“I know what you want. Every bounty hunter in here has been thinking all about it.” She said softly. Kar’bil angled his head just to see what she looked like, it was hard to focus his eyes to look at her, he blinked, and suddenly the more he looked at her the more she looked like...

“Tresh’san!” He cried out and stepped forward in shock. How could he not have recognized his betrothan?!

“Sathik!” Arcuse barked out, and his partner quickly and violently grabbed Kar’bil and walked away with him to the other end of cantina. Kar’bil glanced behind him only to see it was not the familiar Twi’lek girl he knew, it was someone else. A strange and yet familiar laughter rang inside his skull.

“What was that?” The azure clan heir asked, not sure whether to be confused, angry, or both.

Sathik ordered two exceptionally potent drinks from the bartender, leaned back to check on Arcuse through the crowd and turned to Kar’bil, “She’s a force sensitive,” he almost spat the word. There were very few of those that Sathik liked, “She can’t levitate or fight to save her life, but she likes to screw with your head.”

“She...looked so much like her...” Kar’bil held the crimson drink in his hand, but didn’t drink it, stil thinking of the one he had left his home world to save.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What does she make you see?” Kar’bil asked curiously and looked up at the hunter.

Sathik gave the Twi’lek a look as though it were painfully obvious, “Your mother.”

The safety switch on Arcuse’s firearm clicked loudly as it was switched off. The lovely force sensitive horror laughed nervously at the sound, and the experienced hunter felt a wave of relief as she ended her subtle assault on his mind. If she wasn’t the perfect informant, he would have killed her long ago. Her powerful mind prevented anyone from seeing or hearing what they were saying, and she could take by force of will any knowledge or memory in those around her.

“The Hutt’s are having their annual party soon. It is very important to the balance of power and the inner workings of the Hutt clan.” She looked Arcuse in the eyes as though his dark visor was completely transparent, “This particular party will be very special, and additional security will be hired later tonight for the occasion.”

They know there will be bounty hunters. Echoed within Arcuse’s mind where no one else would hear it.

“The try-outs will be held in a lower level Nal Hutta Exchange outside of the Gherilijic palace in a few hours. It is a private VIP party for the major Hutt players with a taste for violence before the official festivities and business to begin.”

Lose. The fight.

“It shouldn’t be too hard for someone of your skill to be hired.”

They will not hire someone they can’t handle, and they will make up for the lack of skill in numbers.

“Once you are hired, who knows? Maybe you will get a glimpse of the entertainment.” The pale blonde smiled emptily. Arcuse nodded, stood graciously with a respectful bow and turned to leave. For a moment too long his body paused and was held against his will.

“And what about my payment?” She insisted like a spice user needing a fix, and her voice dragged seductively  “You always  have the loveliest  nightmares.”

You won’t even know I’m inside your head.

“Help yourself,” The orphaned hunter sat across from her like an archaic gunslinger in a duel on a dusty street, and challenged darkly in his rasping voice, “if you can.” The cantina suddenly faded into silent nothingness and was empty for an eternity.

“Damn you.” she half hissed and released her hold of him, pouting like a child denied a particularly precious plaything.