18+ The Hunt

When the Psyrakons had finished their meals and drinks and headed off to get some rest, Rex procured their plates and dumped them in the sink, thankful that both had "licked" their pates clean. Hot water would melt the left grease and a few drops of Dawn would easily clean away the traces, leaving a rather lovely tropical smell.

If Simus and Jessica had stuck around long enough, they might have enjoyed it. Either way, Rex enjoyed the silent satisfaction in washing dishes; it gave him time to multi-task by setting his body on "auto-pilot" and scouring his memory banks for upcoming tasks and things that need to checked on.

It was also one of the many occasions Rex would've wished he had nostrils and cilia to perceive the soothing fragrance. Good thing he wasn't programmed to have a desire for anything aside from being assigned to work and completing it.

That's where he took pride in his handy-work; domestic or violent, Rex was known to be clean, precise, and discreet with any and all task he was assigned to, given the correct authorization.

Pre-set coordinates for Therin provided Rex with a decreasing timer of nine hours, fifty-four minutes, and forty-eight seconds in his upper right peripheral. Sufficient time to run several diagnostic checks and maintenance updates, clean and reload the torpedo launchers and laser batteries, air out the engine room, restock the deep freezer in the kitchen, work on his combat module, and fulfill Baroth's request of re-warming the tater-tot casserole and serving it with a glass of concord grape juice.

Normally an odd request, but Rex wasn't designed for judgment as his developers feared it would impair his ability to deliver quality service to his buyers. Though the memory of how Baroth had acquired Rex was absent, he provided the service he was programmed to and took pride in it since.

On route to the cargo hold, he popped in the med-bay momentarily to check on Oracle and Baroth, but decided not to interrupt. Oracle seemed more quiet than usual, irregular behavior, especially for her. But Rex calculated it might worsen the atmosphere and headed on his way to the cargo hold to begin his full-body diagnostics for the Hustler, humming an excerpt from Ragnar The Red along the way.

Oracle watched the screen, even after completing several medical scans and monitoring the live vitals for seemingly countless hours, on watch for the slightest increase/decrease in heart pulses or the smallest spike in activity on the board. His diagnostics had been minimized for ease of access and convenience in monitoring.

He was stabilized, finally, and had plenty of time to rest. Oracle made sure of that. Now he got the easy part: sleeping it off until, like always, he grew restless and became an amateur escape artist. Luckily, Oracle had taken the liberty of preparing a sedative for that. She giggled to herself, remembering the last time he was on bed rest and tried to escape. He escaped alright, if only in exchange for the cold floor and another three hour nap.

She smirked, tilting her head to the side as she peered through the glass of the medical monitor at Baroth, flat on his back, sound unconscious.

She thought back to the stories she found, by her own research, adventures in a primitive age. Adventures including Baroth and his "bull-headed" tactics and battle wounds. How he survived so many millennia without the proper equipment or technology perplexed Oracle, piqued her interest. She still hadn't found a valid, reliable result. Maybe he'd spill eventually, if she pushed enough.

But maybe it didn't matter either. He was here and together they'd made decent credits and had decent adventures of their own.

He'd freed her from an end she wasn't ready to face. Though, he himself would never know the truth.

Stubborn bastard, i'll give you that..

But something pried her attention. There. Upper left corner of the screen, first tab. His brain activity? No that couldn't be right. She extended a finger and maximized the tab, reading the flashing vitals and multicolored shroud encompassing the cerebrum. She checked, double checked. Dreaming? It wasn't too uncommon, but it had caught her by surprise.

She pushed the monitor aside, hung by a single mechanical arm bolted into the wall, and rolled over to Baroth's side, placing a hand on his.

A moment of silence passed before she said it.

"You know, I wish I could dream sometimes too.. Lucky bastard.." She mumbled in finish, rolling back to her place and pulling the monitor back down.

A few hours later the Hustler flickered out of hyperspace, lagging behind the others, and redirected for Theren's surface. Once within the appropriate distance, the vessel was hailed by an Imperial ATC officer and assigned a hangar to land in. Fifteen minutes later, Baroth's boots clanked on the metallic floor as he made haste to catch the others, helmet stuffed under his armpit, gun clamped to his back magnetically.

Simus and Jessica in tow as well, having sobered up from jet-lag and digested alcohol, and better for it. Baroth had indulged in a guiltless glass of Argonian Whiskey, along with last-minute splash of cold water to the face. He'd decided to do away with the Caffeine X.

As far as he was concerned, he had all the sleep he'd need for a while.

Plus, he was already dying, and he didn't need to die any faster.

He stopped short of the group, all but Skylar and Aden, in time to catch Lyssa's suggestion of finding an inconspicuous base of operations.

He gave a greeting nod, then one towards Lyssa.

"Last I remember, the Empire didn't give two pl*pss about the underworld. We could start there. I know a few people, might be able to store us discreetly. Assuming they all haven't been gutted. If I'm right, then the Empire also keeps the surface a polar opposite: shiny and clean, to a noticeable degree." He looked between Corvis, Lyssa, and Dah'Sharra. "Unfortunately, your barbeque with those Imperial Intelligence agents won't lend us much of a lease here above-ground. Empire's almost as paranoid as the Dominion, so I'm sure they've got eyes all over the place."

He shrugged. "No offense, of course. pl*ps's gotta happen sooner or later, and it happens to us all."

(If any of this seems off or if I legitimately made a mistake, don't hesitate to tell me and i'll fix it right away. The hyperspace situation had me a little confused, so if I got anything wrong, just give me a holler. Not literally.. I'm frightened by loud sudden noises.. AGH! Damn remote..)

"Jess?" Simus said softly. He was sitting on her bed and had a warm wrinkled hand on her bald head. She was wrapped in her blankets and sound asleep. "Hey Jess? Oracle says we're half an hour to Therin. Why don't you start waking up."

Jessica stirred and let out a few reluctant breaths, her throat still too damaged to make much noise. She rolled over onto her back and gave Simus a silent, pleading look. She'd slept for almost nine hours but she was still tired. Simus felt good, only needing seven unbroken hours to be fully recharged. He had spent the last two exploring the Hustler. "C'mon you." He said with a tender smile. "Get up and walk around some. It'll help you wake up and you'll feel ready by the time we land."

Land. Tearing through the sky and into the heavens on a ship with no sails, no rudder and machines Simus hadn't even imagined. One that was taking him to another world, possibly completely different than the one he just left, and this was just as ordinary as hopping a carriage to Markarth from Whiterun. It was more than enough to make a man like Simus go insane but he had always been quick to adapt to a new situation. It was the only way you could survive a lifetime of war.

Jessica was up a few minutes later. She took her time waking up, not bothering to dress or even put her comlink in her ear until they were ten minutes out. Therin was a warm, Nirn-like world about the same size, gravity and climate variations and this time of year the Imperial City, Therin's capital named after its namesake on Nirn was cold, gloomy and rainy. A far cry from the hot, humid and dusty desert of Blacklight. Again, Jessica opted for civilian clothes to avoid attention and picked out a black t shirt and light blue skinny jeans. A pair of white long underwear under this would keep the cold out, especially in the undercity, and a purple rain jacket, matching knee high purple rain boots over her jeans and a small, clear plastic umbrella would keep her dry. She made sure her wig was straight then zipped up her jacked and put her hood up, adjusting the strings so it fit tightly around her head. Her boots were cute, comfy, looked very nice over her jeans but didn't squeak when she walked. She was glad she had had the foresight to buy all of this in Blacklight but surprised that a desert city would sell such cute and extensive rain gear. Probably for the swampy parts of the planet but it was still a surprise. Plus it was all on Skylar's credit card so paying her back would be the first thing Jessica did with her share of the fifty million.

Fifteen minutes later the Hustler was in the hanger bay all the other hunter ships were in and Baroth was in a hurry to catch up. He was practically running to the others with Oracle leading him and Jessica and Simus barely keeping up. How the hell did someone who was bleeding out barely ten hours ago run so fast? This universe had a wealth of legal and not-so-legal pharmaceuticals to pick you up after a curb stomp but some things still defied belief.

Everyone else was on the ground floor of the hanger bay, by a pair of doors leading to a checkpoint to the rest of the spaceport. The first stop for anyone going through would be a large multi-level promenade with all manner of bars, restaurants, shops and "Therin Souvenir Establishments" with all sorts of clothes, postcards, trinkets and other overpriced junk aimed at tourists. Jessica had always been amazed at the crap she had found in some of those places and even more so at the fact that people payed good money for them when they really shouldn't.

Soon the three joined the others. All of them, including Baroth and Simus, were in their combat gear and it made Jessica roll her eyes. Simus had nothing else to wear besides his new armor so she understood that, and he was packing a laser pistol on his hip and she understood that too but everybody else was ready for a fight. They all stood out and would never get through security like this. Corvis and his chrome armor might as well have said "I'm a bounty hunter and I'm here to cause trouble. Please keep a constant eye on me." Jessica, and maybe Skylar, seemed to be the only ones who understood the value of blending in. She listened to Baroth and Lyssa talk as she thought all this but kept quiet for most of it. When Baroth was done she decided to activate her comlink and chime in.

"Can everybody hear me? I took my comlink out after we left and just want to make sure we're still on the same frequency. I for one suggest we don't go to the undercity. We'll find all sorts of trouble there before we find Ataro and honestly I'd stay up here if I were her. There's near-total surveillance, most weapons are banned on the streets, the police can respond anywhere within minutes and most importantly, no one expects someone like her to hide up here. Hiding in plain sight is the best way to keep yourself safe. That's why I'm in civilian clothes now and was on Eregin, unlike the rest of you guys who look like trouble with a capital T. Plus its pouring rain outside and I'm...kind of excited to splash around in some puddles. It's...kind of a thing I do with new rain boots. Like a stress test."

"Uh huh. Right. STRESS test. You don't want to do it because it's fun and purposefully obnoxious." Simus said with a slight but endearing smile. "We are going to need some place to stay though. What about this Academy you keep talking about Jessica? Maybe someone there could help us?"

"Simus, that is the last place I should go. After killing its administrator I really don't think I'd be welcome there. Plus my last visit wasn't so great. Mainly because Marek tried to deliver me like a package."

"Marek did what!?" Simus said, immediately alarmed.

"Don't worry. It was a long time ago." Jessica said reassuringly. "I wouldn't be working with him if he wanted to profit from me. And the deal went really bad. Trust me." She was quiet for a moment as an idea popped into her head and she thought on it. "Then again, nobody really liked Mengsk and him being dead is going to change a great deal about that place. Not the least of which the way I think of it, all my worst memories being from him. Maybe if I can get in touch with some of my old teachers they could help us. They have technology no one else has ever seen, and the best medicine in the Empire. Maybe they can fix whatever Mengsk did to my throat and head if we could get me in there and I could convince some of the medical staff to help. I'd really like it if we could at least try."

Corvis turned as Lyssa and her Khajiit partner showed up, followed closely by the old man, Baroth and the scarred girl, Jessica. Lyssa was saying something about hunting for Ataro, and finding a safehouse of some sort. Corvis agreed with the safehouse. They'd need a base of sorts to work from. He was sure he could seek out a few of his contacts on the Imperial capital. Or maybe Marek knew of a place. In fact, Corvis was fairly certain he would.

Jessica was against going to the underworld for some reason. When he saw what she was wearing, he did a double take. She explained her appearance a minute later. "The thing about being a bounty hunter, kid, a good one, anyways, is that people recognize your armour." He pointed at Lyssa and Mar, remembering she'd said something about neither her or her partner getting along with the Imperials. "It works the other way, too." He tapped the tinted visor of his own helmet. " And helmets do a better job of hiding your features than a wig. Anyone with a half decent facial recognition system will recognize you." Privately, he wondered how much, exactly, this 'academy' of hers would pay for her return. "Where'd Marek and his agent friend get off to? They should be here by now."

Jessica didn't agree with what Corvis was saying. She was still of the opinion that he was an arrogant twat who thought he was invincible and therefore had no reason to hide anything. However, he was also a highly successful bounty hunter. His net page was easy to search for, something else he didn't bother hiding it seems, and a quick glance told Jesscia that this guy knew what he was doing. That meant he was either feared enough to where he could get away with walking around like a giant mirror or tough enough to handle any trouble. She decided to admit her own ignorance and see how this guy backed up his statements. She might learn something.

"It's Corvis, right?" She knew his name already but they hadn't really talked much so she wanted to be polite. "I'm not sure I understand that. If you're a bounty hunter then you're in the business of finding people in order to kill, capture or rescue them and then deposit them or their bodies for a profit. Assuming you're successful and your reputation grows you start to gain recognition. This would theoretically make it easier to get work but harder to complete it. You develop your own 'brand name recognition if you will' and while it makes employers more likely to hire you for a job your targets would have an easier time avoiding or hunting you. Sticking out like you do would make that even harder considering people can see you from literally a mile away. The benefits of such a display in a dark, dangerous environment such as the Undercity are that you're less likely to be messed with but anyone you hunt knows exactly what you look like and therefore can avoid or get away from you. In a well-monitored metropolis like the city up here, you're constantly being watched and would have to deal with hordes of police or military units if you so much as litter. How do you get around that?"

No one answered the question of where Marek or the agent had gone. That didn't bother Corvis too much. After all, if Marek had, for whatever reason, dropped out of the hunt, that meant a bigger percentage for him. The scarred, bald girl, he thought her name was Jessica or something like that, challenged his ability to get around in the Imperial city. "Kid, the difficulty of the hunt is what makes it interesting. And I always get my bounty. Dead or alive." He gestured to his armour. "Having them know what I look like either means they'll give up quietly and make my job easier, or they put up a fight, and I settle for claiming the bounty dead."

"As for up here..." He chuckled. "You think the Empire gives a damn about a few bounty hunters roaming around?" He shrugged. "Sure, your common citizen might get a little nervous, and the cops don't like us hunting here, but the Empire relies on hunters to take care of the scumbags that lurk around the edges. And, the potential trouble makers, like Ataro." He turned his attention to the others. "There's a bar I know around here. Classy. Ataro might have been seen around there. Or someone might know about her."

He pointed at the Khajiit woman. "You wanna come with? Could be fun." He glanced over at Jessica. "You can tag along if you like kid. Learn how it's done." With that he turned away from the main group and started off on his own. He had a few ideas, besides the bar, for where he might get some intel on his target. But barkeeps usually knew alot, especially when the bar was so close to the spaceports.

The Khajiit woman shrugged. "I'm always up for a little fun." She fell in beside the bounty hunter, letting him lead the way to the bar. She wasn't sure, exactly why he wanted her along. She wasn't the most inconspicuous of companions. Even though she hadn't brought her sniper rifle, the armour she wore was unique. Too unique for people to forget her after seeing her in it. And Khajiit weren't very common off their homeworld, anyways. But if things did get dicey, she could shoot her way out of a situation as well as any of the other hunters. "So, this bar we're heading to. You sure they know anything about the target?"

Derek didn't interfere with Corvis' plan to visit one of the nearby bars. It wasn't a bad idea, all things considered. The only problem was that, if something went wrong, they didn't have any safehouses they could use to go to ground at. And leaving Theren without any intel on Ataros' recent whereabouts would make the job harder. He turned to the others, "so. Any other ideas? Besides standing around here, waiting for Ataro to find out we're here and jump off world?"

Kyle shrugged. "I could hack into Imperial local databases. See if the local space ports have any records of arrivals from Eregin." He went quite for a few moments, and Derek guessed he was remotely accessing the spaceports records. A little while later, he sighed. "Never mind. If she did put down here, she hid her planet of origin well. Unless we want to search ships for traces of sand, we're out of luck."

"Pass." Derek said. "Maybe Marek will have some intel for us when he gets here. Skylar said he'd been shot up pretty bad, and I can't think of a reason to shoot at him unless he knows something somebody else doesn't want him knowing. For right now though, we should get out of here. The Imperials are probably nervous enough with a group of bounty hunters standing around." He started moving, sending a short message to Mareks ship, detailing where he'd landed, and requesting that he or Skylar called him when they landed.

The bar Corvis had in mind, was a shabby looking place, with blaster marks scarring the front door and and one of the windows had been sealed off by a steel shutter. The name had once written in neon letters over the door, but all except an E, G, and M had been blasted away. "Keep your eyes open." He muttered, and stepped inside. Like most bars, the place stank of stale ale, vomit, and a bit of what might have been blood. There was about a dozen patrons in the bar, most of them too interested in their own drinks to take much notice of the pair of bounty hunters. Then, if you were smart, you knew to mind your own business in a place like this.

The bartender, on the other hand, had been watching the new arrivals since they'd walked in. Corvis made a beeline for the bar, trusting Dah'Sharrah to watch his back. He reached the bar, noticing that one of the barkeeps hands had disappeared out of sight. "I don't want any trouble." The man said. Corvis leveled his blaster pistol, drawing a bead right between the mans eyes. "Then drop whatever you've got under the bar, and put your hands here I can see them."

The barkeep scowled, but did as he was told. "Good. Got some questions for you. Know anything about a Kaylin Ataro?" He brought up the womans image. "Seen her around here?" The barkeep stared at Ataros' face for a few seconds before shaking his head. "No. But I know someone else you can ask. Granek Ponzretti. Local gang kingpin." Corvis didn't lower his weapon "Where's he hang out? The undercity?"

Despite the barrel of a blaster pistol stuck in his face, the bartender couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Don't be stupid. Ponzretti lives in one of those fancy condos. He's rich enough to keep the Imperials looking the other direction. Probably has some dirt on a bunch of officials too."
"You have an address?" The man hesitated, probably wonder how long he'd last if the gang leader found out he was helping bounty hunters. "You didn't get this from me, okay?" He scribbled an address on a napkin, and slid it towards him. Corvis folded it and stuck it one of his belt pouches. "Thanks." He lowered his blaster and turned to his companion. "We've got a lead at least. Should probably get back to the others."

Despite the inertial dampeners working at full power, Skylar still felt a ghost of vertigo as the Judicator snapped out of light speed over Theren. She was immediately confronted with thousands of ships filling the atmosphere of the city-planet. The Judicators sophisticated friend-foe system began the task of identifying and highlighting all each of them; Red for military ships and possible threats, green for civilian, and yellow for unidentified. Skylar ignored most of them and made for the atmosphere.

She had only just closed comms with the Imperial flight controller when a message popped up on the HUD. She tapped her forefinger on it and listened as Dareks voice came over the comm requesting that either her or Marek make contact as soon as they'd set down on Theren. No sooner had Dareks voice faded away, did Skylar feel the cold barrel of a blaster on her temple. She froze, one hand poised halfway to her own pistol.

"My, my, an Imperial agent caught off guard?" Mareks voice echoed from behind her. Skylar rolled her eyes and reached up to swat away Adens blaster. He didn't try to stop her but instead slid into the copilots seat.

Glancing over at him, she saw that he was bare chested but apparently no worse for wear after his stint in the med bay. "Not off guard. I just know you." She flashed a grin at him, "I was just about to take us in to hanger bay G-5115... unless of course you have a better idea?" She knew full well that Aden had a private safe house on Theren but she didn't quite know how to get there. Skylar also had resources on Theren. Maybe even more than Marek or the other hunters but it was mostly government and was of little use to them. She didn't press him about what kind of trouble he had managed to dig up; He'd divulge that information when he was good and ready.

"Yes I do actually. I have a safehouse in the mid levels of section D35 of the residential district. It has it's own hangar too so we can set down there, but there isn't room enough to fit all the others ships. They'll have to get there on their own. Assuming they are all still on the hunt that is." While he spoke Aden tapped away on the navigation screen, highlighting the route for Skylar. As per usual Adens preferred route was full of switch backs and detours designed to throw off any pursuers.

"Imperial HQ, this is Skylar. I have a location for Aden Mareks Theren safehouse." She held up her wrist comlink and put on a phony accent as she toyed with her companion. Imperial intel had been trying to collate a list of safehouses for all possible threats for a while now in order to keep tabs on them and Mareks name was certainly on that list as were a few others from the hunting party, including Darek and Corvis.

While Skylar flew the course set by Aden, he opened a com channel to Darek, "Varastian, it's Marek. I hear you're on Theren and looking for a place to stay. Once you have a moment feel free to stop by. I'm sending you the coordinates now."

It took about twenty minutes to reach the safehouse. Even though she'd never been there Skylar brought the Judicator into line with the hidden hangar like a pro, setting the ship down as the doors closed behind them. The whole hangar was designed to to look simply like another building from the outside. It even had a small lobby if someone were to try the front entrance but past that were only locked doors. For the most part the hangars interior looked similar to any number of military hangars in imperial space and knowing Aden, Skylar thought that the choice had been deliberate; if someone were to stumble onto it they would likely think it was part of an Imperial safehouse and would likely bang out in a hurry. it was smart really. For a second she thought that the inside of the hangar, all sterile purpose and total efficiency, as what the inside of Adens mind might look like. She grinned but kept the thought to herself.

They left the ship and took an elevator up a few levels before Aden, now fully armed and armored again, indicated they'd arrived. Both of them stepped out of the elevator but Aden had his hand on his pistol, ever wary and proceeded to do a sweep of the entire safehouse. Skylar followed a few steps behind but let him do his work without interruption. The safehouse, she found out, was designed as simply another luxury residence, in similar style as most of the other homes in the area. It was laid out over two floors. They had entered on the first, into a large living room, complete with leather coaches and massive in wall monitor set in the far wall. Underneath the monitor was a wide, open fireplace. Along the left wall were floor to ceiling windows that ran the length of that side of the safehouse. For a moment she thought Aden had made a terrible design flaw in making such a large section of the house glass but when she questioned him about it he quickly allayed those fears, "Those windows are actually high strength ballistic composite, over a foot thick, and programmable to display various interior states to anyone looking in from the outside. It would have looked far more conspicuous if this had been the only building on the block with a solid permacrete wall instead of the windows. Besides, no one looks for a bounty hunter in a neighborhood like this."

Once he had swept over the rest of the safe house and returned, Aden explained a little more about the place. "So, obviously, the living room is where we came in. Behind the wall that houses the monitor and fireplace is the rec room, complete with a bar and pool table. Opposite the rec is the office/library. Then there is the kitchen and behind that the dinning room/briefing room. Next there is a spare bedroom. Upstairs is the master bedroom and another spare as well as a small armory."

"Damn Aden, you've been holding out on me." She said with appreciation, "The others are gonna think you've gone soft if they find you holed up in here Aden." She sauntered over to the couch and flopped down on it, content to wait till the rest of the hunters showed before asking the obvious question of what Marek had found out.

Corvis and Dah'Sharrah were off to interrogate the barkeep, but that still left Lyssa, Mar, Baroth, Simus and Jessica. Which still left Derek wondering what, exactly they should do, considering they had no leads as of yet. He was about to suggest heading deeper into the city, but before he could, a light in the corner of his HUD flashed, indicating an incoming message. Mareks voice filled his "Varastian, it's Marek. I hear you're on Theren and looking for a place to stay. Once you have a moment feel free to stop by. I'm sending you the coordinates now."

"Copy that." Marek didn't mention what had happened, or the intel he'd picked up. Maybe it was best he didn't blurt it out over the comm. "We're on our way. Or...some of us are, anyways. Don't know what Baroth and co. want to do." He glanced at the co-ordinates, then opened a private link to Kyle. "You wanna double check these coordinates, son?"

Kyle whistled. "Hide in plain sight. Nice. And bold. You want to bring the whole gang?" Derek stared at the others. He wasn't sure Marek would appreciate him dragging everyone to his secure safehouse. On the other hand, he and Kyle couldn't just leave them to wander the Imperial city on their own. "I'll give them the coordinates to the place. They can find their own way there. Get us some transport, will you?" He tapped Jessica on the shoulder. "Marek and Skylar are back. They're at a safehouse right now." He handed her a datacard. "Give it to Baroth if you want. And, your uh-" he glanced at the older man. "Simus. I'll send them to Corvis, too."

He turned to the other two hunters. "Lyssa. Mar. Mareks back in town. Got a safehouse. Transmitting the coordinates to your helmet systems." When he turned around, he noticed an air taxi coming in for a landing. "Transports' here." Kyle said,waving to Jessica and the others. "See you later." The two green armoured men climbed into the taxi, and Derek gave the driver an address several blocks away from the safehouse. They walked the rest of the way, doubling back several times. Marek would be furious if anyone brought unwanted company to the safehouse.

They used the front entrance, walking into a pleasant lobby area. At the other side of the lobby was another set of doors, locked. Marek let them in a few moments later, and the pair of them walked into what Derek guessed was the first floor of the place. It was impressive, and looked like it had cost a small fortune, if the furniture was any indication. "Impressive place." Kyle said, removing his helmet and looking around. "I like it."