Chapter 31: Kane Arc Part 1: Hunted Hunter
I don't own star wars
Tattooine, It has been a while… like maybe almost a mouth? Intergalactic travel was weird sometimes. As I descended the ramp of the Scarlet Rebel with Milky, Yura and Short-round I smiled at Newt who waved us off. "You sure you can handle being all alone for a few hours?" I asked watching her with a half smile on my face. Somebody after all needed to stay with the ship. Yura was going to hang out with a few of her girl friends in Torga's brothel, Short-round was going to sell a few of his trinkets to the local droid shop and Milky was going to buy groceries. I myself was going to meet up with Torga and collect on a few outstanding receipts.
"Seriously Aiden?" she replied, her eyebrow rising skeptically as she viewed me, "I'm more worried about you… don't run at anything with just a knife." She waved her hand playfully before closing up the ramp behind us. I chuckled, she really wasn't going to let that go. Yura, Milky and Short-round hopped into the landspeeder we rented. Honestly, with the amount of money we spent on them, I was beginning to believe we should just buy our own… but there was no room for one on the ship so that was a poor idea in the long haul.
"Want a ride?" Milky asked in the driver's seat, but I shook my head. They were going all the way across town and while my walk while nothing short it still would've been out of the way for them.
"Nah it's fine." I said turning to head toward Torga's office. "Walking will do me good anyway."
"Okay… see you in a few hours." Yura said, and they waved me off as the speeder blasted away. brushing the sand from my durasteel chest plate I kept going, armed with only my blaster pistol I headed off.
The streets seemed pretty clear today on the way to the office, a few kids and some jawas hurried by laughing and chattering as I walked on through the streets. I was about 20 minutes into my stroll when my holo-com rang.
"Hello?" I asked, looking at it and seeing Urai-ken without his helmet. You couldn't tell on the com but he was a blacked haired fellow with brown eyes and a stern look that he always seemed to have on his face, but he looked just a little sterner than usual today.
"Aiden!" he said, sounding a little desperate, "Listen to me. Where are you right now?!"
I stopped walking to look at the com, resting under a shady awning, "Like 20 minutes from the office…"
"You're on tattooine!?" he shouted, incredibly nervous as he ran a hand through his hair, "Do you have your CC? (contract com)
"No Yura carries that…" I replied, "Listen we can talk when I get to…"
"Aiden! Shut up and listen! There is a bounty on your head." He said firmly, "100,000 credits for you alive…"
I stared at him open mouthed, then after a moment of processing, "…You're fucking lying." I laughed disbelievingly.
"Aiden, listen. Every hunter on tattooine is going to try for it!" he said firmly, "Torga can't keep them from that kind of money! You need to get off planet until he can get it canceled!"
"Who's got the price on me?" I asked, still not believing him. I haven't pissed off anyone nearly enough to get a price that high on my head, "Who's paying out? Hell who's put you up to this Urai?"
"Aiden this is serious!" he replied, "Get back to your ship, now!"
"Was it Yura? I bet it-" I bumped into something massive and muscular and stumbled back, "Oh sorry about that-" I began, but stopped as Blackjaw Gryst the massive trandoshan had me dead to rights with his double barrel rifle. He 'grinned' at me, at least I assumed it was a grin.
"Hello runt…" he said coldly. His fingers flexing on the trigger of his custom made gun.
"Aiden? What's going on?!" Urai shouted over the holocom.
"…Yeah, Urai? I'm going to have to call you back, could you contact the girls for me? I think I'm about to fight for my life now."
"What?! Aiden! Don't hang up!" he shouted as I silenced the com and shoved it into my pocket, and raising my hands in surrender.
"Okay, Blackjaw… now I know we have had a few hiccups in our brief relationship." Blackjaw snarled at me, his lizard lips curling angrily. "But I hope we could settle this inevitable confrontation like gentlemen."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Blackjaw replied, either annoyed at my words or legitimately confused.
"Well…" I began slowly, eyeing his hands on his rifle, "…You holster your gun, I don't touch mine. And we settle this unarmed…" then, trying to provoke him just a little further, "I mean I did beat a professional Gamorrean brawler… are you saying you're too scared to do what a pig did?"
His lizard face twisted into an angered snarl. Honestly, I hoped he would take the bait. Insulting his honor? Trandoshans don't like that at all. He approached me, and pressed the double barrel blaster to my chest. Glaring into my eyes… "…I am not scared of a scrawny runt like you…" before I could react the butt of the rifle slammed into the side of my head and I was on the sand, bleeding from a small wound on my face.
I quickly realized fighting a big angry Trandoshan was a lot different than fighting a Gamorrean.
I cringed in pain as the sand got into the cut and burned like fire as his massive clawed hand grabbed me on the back of my neck and pulled me to my feet as he hit me again with his first with a powerful haymaker slamming me into the wall of the alleyway.
I grunted from the blow, he had a lot of power in that massive frame there was no mistake. But I managed to recover myself quickly and before he could properly pin me to the wall I ducked his follow-up attack and slammed my fist into his open side... and promptly cursed as my hand throbbed in pain as I hit a piece of his armor.
I felt the sudden shock of pain as he smashed my face, I left myself open after punching him. Slamming me again to the sand before reaching down and picking me up again easily before plowing his fist into my face once more. I was like a fucking rag doll in his hands and it wasn't fun… So…
My foot shot up between his legs, and it literally hurt me more than it did him. Guy apparently had balls of durasteel but they still tingled at my low blow. Blackjaw howled in pain and scrambled awkwardly away as I recovered myself again and shambled out into the open so I couldn't be pinned down against the wall again. Barely able to keep my fists up I couldn't help but notice that fighting Blackjaw as a lot worse than the Gamorrean. Blackjaw glared at me, as the pain between his legs lessened enough for him to get out a primal snarl and charge me.
I couldn't move out of the way in time, catching me and tackling me to the dirt he straddled my chest and began pummeling my face. I managed to block a few and return a couple of hits to his face… but who was I kidding. I was certainly not prepared for today… all I could do now was cover my head and try not to die to Blackjaw's rage, hoping he would remember that I was to be brought in alive…
But suddenly the vicious pummeling abruptly stopped.
"What the fu-" he began but was interrupted by someone ramming a fist into his jaw slamming it shut and sending him sprawling off me into the sand.
"Back off Blackjaw." Came a familiar feminine growl. I moved my arms to view the Amazonian goddess that was Isana, two of her arms holding pistols on Blackjaw as he stumbled to his feet, "Aiden? Are you alright?"
"Been better but…" I steadily got to my feet, wiping blood from my eyes as I looked at her skeptically, "Thanks I think? Unless of course, you're here to collect…"
She eyed me briefly before her other two arms drew pistols on Blackjaw, "No I'm not… I owed you one from Nar Shaddaa… I'll keep Blackjaw off you. get back to your ship."
"Damn you Isana!" hissed Blackjaw only to be hit with several stun blasts from her pistols. He made a noise like a sick tauntaun and collapsed to the sand twitching slightly from the overload.
"Go on I'll cover you…" she replied, giving me a faint smile, "I'm sure there are other idiots willing to try to catch you."
"I owe you dinner." I smiled back at her and pointing affectionately, "You're awesome Isana, name the time and place!" I replied and dashed off towards my ship as she turned to face the twitching Blackjaw. But once I was out of sight I paused and opened my com calling Yura and heading towards Torga's brothel instead. I needed to get the girls and Short-round. My safety could be second to that.
"Yura!" I shouted as she appeared on the com, she seemed to be digging something in the sand, "Did Urai call you?"
"Yeah I heard!" she looked at me and scowled, "What happened?"
I waved my hand dismissively as I quickened my pace, "I'm coming to meet you, then we go grab Milky and Short-round."
"Aiden I have the speeder, I'll come get you!" she commanded angrily, "Start heading towards the market to meet Milky and I'll grab Short-round and meet you there…" I scowled angrily but her idea was sound, turning in place I ran towards the market.
Apparently however I wasn't needed as I found Milky just as she was ripping the head off of a very familiar black droid. She glared at Bedlem's head sourly and spied me. Suddenly looking very relieved, "Aiden! What happened to you!" she quickly approached me still holding Bedlem's head and caressed my face with her free hand, "…Oh force. Aiden does it hurt?"
"It's not as bad as it looks." I scowled then eyed Bedlem, "… Ah Bedlem not you too…"
"I attempted to detain one of your flesh slaves to draw you out…" the black droid replied, its visor eye flashing slightly, "…I chose poorly."
"Indeed." Milky snarled at the droid, "…Didn't see me coming at all." She added, smiling dangerously at me just as Yura arrived in the speeder with Short-round in the back working apparently on Yura's blaster pistol, adjusting a new scope and barrel.
"Get in!" she commanded us so Milky and I promptly did so, me in the front seat and Milky in the back with Short-round.
"Oh neat!" he said spying the droid head still in Milky's hand as Yura sped off, "Boss can I keep it?"
"…Don't give it a gun. Then sure." I replied, remembering our track record so far with droids.
"I disapprove of this…" Bedlem replied mechanically.
"Sweet." Short-round laughed ignoring him, and shoved Bedlem's head into his sack just as stunner blaster fire roared rapidly over our heads. Two landspeeders were now following us, on filled with four Duros and the other three weequay.
I aimed my own pistol behind us and firing, trying to deter them from firing back. "Fuck me…"
"What? now?!" Yura and Milky replied with rather diminishing smiles.
Ignoring them I eyed Short-round, "Anything in your pouch buddy?"
Short-round shook his head and handed me Yura's pistol. "Nothing for this boss!" I began firing rapidly, keeping our pursuer's heads down as Yura tried to lose them in the twists and turns of the city.
Then there was a blast and an audible pop as our speeder took a hit to one of the thrusters. It began smoking dangerously and we began to slow. "Fuck!" I hissed as we were quickly losing speed. "Okay…" I grumbled, thinking quickly, "Okay listen…" I eyed the three of them, "They're after the bounty on my head. So I'll draw them off, hitting the alleys until I get out of town. You three get to the ship and pick me up in the desert alright?"
"Aiden, that is a stupid plan!" Yura replied angrily, her eyes filled with concern for me as I handed her back her recently modded pistol.
"It's the best I got!" I replied firmly, "Two guns between the four of us to their seven. I'll draw them off! Okay? This is for the best, just meet me outside of town!" and giving her a brief kiss, and her pistol Incase she needed it, I leaped from the speeder and shot into a tight alley. One of the Duros pointed angrily at me and shouted a command to the others and they followed, as I expected they would, letting the girls and Short-round get away.
Firing over my shoulders blindly at my pursuers I darted in the alleys randomly trying to lose them and for the most part, it worked. Until I actually left the safety of the twists and turns, the weequay land speeder barely missed me as I dodge it and dashed across the street into another selection of alleyways as they got out of the speeder and gave chase on foot.
I got to admit it was kind of a rush being chased. Ducking and dodging as stun blasts smashed against the walls around me as they fired, I could feel my adrenaline pumping in excitement rather than fear. In some sick twisted way this was acknowledgment that I was good at my job, so good that I've pissed someone off enough to put a price on my head. I was almost out of the alleys and the city, I had been running for what felt like forever as I ducked out of the alleys and just kept running. Then everything went sideways… and upside down, and a 360 spin… essentially I was in the air before the pain registered, but the Duros speeder had skidded to a stop against me and sent me flying…
I think it was merely a miracle that something wasn't broken. But the hit took a lot out of me… as I lay there in the sand, my body seemed to be reacting to my brain's previous orders and tried to crawl away, to keep moving and running… but only parts of me seemed content in doing that, the other parts wanted to wallow in pain.
"100'000 credits!" yelled a weequay, gasping for breath and a stitch in his side as he approached me, "We've hit the jackpot boys!" my hand scrapped closer and closer to my blaster as the duros and the weequay cheered at their good fortune… and probably my pain.
A duros cruelly stepped on my hand just as my fingers brushed against my blaster, he sneered at me. "You lose boy. Just accept it." cringing from my crushed fingers I managed to give him my silent feelings with my other hand in the universal gesture of 'fuck off'. He raised his boot and prepared to stomp on my face…
"Gentlemen!" came a voice that I didn't recognize but carried dramatically over the air and silenced the cheers. I looked at the owner of it, a cyborg from the look of it; dressed in full durasteel gear that would make Urai and his sister jealous. He had a rifle on his back and a pair of pistols at his side, his ashen white hair and cybernetic eye drawing attention to his aged face. "Congratulations on a job well done. And while I'd hate to do this to you…" he said politely and seemed like he meant it as he eyed me on the sand before turning his attention back to the seven men. "But I've had a contract on him for awhile…"
"Piss off old ma-" the blaster fired so quickly you would've sworn the bolt came from nowhere and the duros above me dropped with a smoking hole in his forehead.
"I wouldn't!" he suddenly shouted as the others tried to ready their weapons as several more blaster rounds rapidly slammed uncomfortably near their feet. "...He was very rude…" the old cyborg viewed them all coolly, "…My name is Knights, Ozjin Knights…" The name meant nothing to me but a few of the Duros and weequay suddenly looked nervous. "And as I've said, I've had a contract on him for a long time… you can of course fight me over that… or…" he tossed a small bag onto the sand in front of them, spilling out a paltry sum of credits considering my reward. "You can take that and buy yourselves a good time. It's enough for a reasonably good one…"
"He's worth 100'000 credits." Snarled a Duros angrily, feeling emboldened with rage and greed, "That's not even a tenth!"
"Okay well how much are your lives worth?" Knights asked calmly, "Are they worth a good time in a cantina? Or Torga's brothel?" his hands slowly lowered to his pistols at his waist, "Or are they worth nothing at all?" they all looked at each other and came to a majority decision…
Fuck he was fast… they stood no chance at all, it was amazing. Before they could raise their weapons at him, five blaster rounds were fired leaving all the Duros dead along with two weequay… the last one standing looked at the smoking corpses of his partners, the only one not to raise his weapon. Then he carefully picked up the credit bag and waved it politely to Knights.
"My life is worth about this much…" he said rather bluntly, turning to strip the corpses of the dead men and tossing weapons and gear into one of the speeders, "He's all yours…"
"Smart man..." Knights replied as he approached me. "We haven't been formally introduced…" he said to me, picking up my blaster and apparently attaching it to his waist by some sort of magnet as he bound my arms and legs, "Ozjin Knights…" he repeated again politely, as he easily lifted my body from the ground with on hand as he carried me on his shoulder.
"Aiden…" I replied flatly, letting him carry me off. "…You've really had a contract on me for a while?"
"Well funny story…" he began casually, ignoring the terrified onlookers as he carried me through the city. "I was hired for a big retrieval job some time ago, and you were on the list. But my true employer told me it was more fun to watch you mess with Tuuba's businesses so she asked me to wait as long as possible. So naturally, my current client got impatient and simply put you on an open contract…" he then gave me a very knowing grin, "…Now of course she owes me more money. From my old contract and this new one; so everyone wins."
"I don't quite think that's true…" I mumbled sarcastically as I felt an itch on my nose that I just couldn't scratch, just as my holocom began to ring. "Shit…" I mumbled, he took the holocom from my pocket and looked at me very pointedly.
"Send them away from us." He said simply, in a very no-nonsense tone, and with an incredibly dangerous look "…I don't like killing women Aiden." He held the com close to me, adding casually "…Don't make me." and answered it
Yura's face appeared on the com and she smiled hopefully at me, "Aiden where are you!? Are you alright?!"
Managing to maintain my composure I briefly considered telling her my location, and attack him with my ship… but the way he took out those other bounty hunters. They had him outnumbered and outgunned and he killed them effortlessly… this way they stayed safely away from him.
"Yeah I'll meet you on the north side of the city. Love you." I added and for half a second her eyes widened faintly in surprise before replying rather coolly… "We love you…" she said, turning the com off. Knights nodded thoughtfully and tossed the com lazily into a nearby trashcan that was immediately beset by jawas just as he turned towards the hangers on this side of the city.
"…I'm not stupid you know…" he said flatly. I nodded, agreeing with him. "I imagine they know you've gotten caught?"
I shrugged, accepting my position as he entered a massive hangar with what looked like a warship inside, big enough to house something massive in its hold. "Compensating?" I asked as his arm beeped slightly and the ramp automatically lowered.
"I have a few ships depending on the need." He stated calmly, "At the time I received your second contract I was on Danthomer catching my last beast. This is my… third ship? Deathtrap."
"Fun name…" I mumbled as a massive unconscious rancor was bound tightly with multiple electrified leashes to the ship. "…Holy fuck how did you catch that?"
"I fed it drugged laced Dunas…" he said flatly, setting me down comfortably in a cage before locking it electronically and with a padlock. "I fed the Dunas several capsules filled with tranquilizing agents that would dissolve in the rancor's stomach once they were eaten… it took quite a few Dunas to get that done. Rancor stomach acid is the strongest in the galaxy so it took very little time."
"That's… actually really smart…" I said admitting to the brilliance.
"You don't get to my age in this job without being smart…" then eyeing his cybernetic arm absently as he headed towards a nearby workbench he added, "Well… alive at any rate, intact is up for debate." He pulled an injector from the table and applied a strange blue capsule to it and approached me. "I'm afraid this will probably be the last time we talk…"
"…At least you're upfront about it…" I mumbled eyeing the injector warily, "What's in that?"
"A powerful tranquilizer, by the time you wake up I would've already turned you in." he kneeled close to the bars and eyed me for a moment, "If you survive her with your mind intact Aiden I would be impressed."
"You're being awfully polite to me considering you're about to sell me like cattle." I replied, blinking thoughtfully at him. "But at least you're better than the assholes who hit me with a speeder."
He shrugged, "I'll toss you into my bacta tank after you're unconscious." He pressed the injector to my neck through the bars, "Goodbye Aiden. It was nice talking with you…"
Then blissful, rapturously sleep… where I even dreamed of Yura, Milky, Scarlet and Newt as my eyes closed instantly and my head slammed against the bars of my cage, ringing my head as the world went dark…
Bonus scene
"Aiden got caught…" Yura said sourly as Milky gasped covering her mouth.
Newt stood at the door to the cockpit scowling, "How do you know?"
"He told me he loved me over the com…" Yura replied gripping the levers of the ship tightly, "He never does that…That is a 'if I don't see you again' sort of I love you."
"…We need to find him." Milky said coolly, getting up and pacing the cockpit. "How do we find him? Short-round?" she looked at me, "Did you ever put a tracer on Aiden?"
I shrugged, "Never thought about it… I'll make sure next tim- epp!?"
Milky lifted me bodily from the ground glaring at me, wearing her scary face and tears threatening to flow from her eyes. "Next time?!"
"Milky…" Newt replied calmingly, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder, and getting her to drop me back to the floor "…I got a few connections. Just give me one second." Pulling a com from her bodysuit and making a call, after a few moments of waiting she spoke again, "Where is he Dad?"
Rolling her eyes angrily, "No! I'm not calling to congratulate you and Rella on her pregnancy! Who the fuck took Aiden and where is he going?!" she roared, stomping out of the cockpit. "And what the fuck Dad?! She's my age!"
"…Congratulations on your sibling…" I noted sadly, absently fiddling with Yura's blaster. Sometimes I just needed to get my mind off things, and this was a fascinating distraction. The mumbling droid head could wait until later... I wonder how the boss would feel about a ship A.I.
End of Chapter.
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