18+ The Hunt

[Baneloth]

This is the IC post for my roleplay, the Hunt. For the OOC, and rules, please go here: http://skyrimforum.com/threads/the-hunt.32641/

Applications here will not be accepted

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Eight years after the events on an Aldmeri star destroyer, war has come to the galaxy, with the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion waging war across dozens of star systems. This conflict creates opportunities for the shadier organizations in the galaxy. However, one such organization has begun dabbling in something twisted. The organization has been stealing from both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire.Warships from both factions have been unable to pinpoint their base on the permanently dark planet known as 'Shadar'. Bounties have been placed on the organizations leader, known as Surek. However, no bounty hunter or assassin that has gone in alone has come back out.Ever. The Bounty Hunters Guild has set a rendezvous point on the planet Cyris. A frozen iceball, and the homeworld of the Nords.

 

[Baneloth]

Cold didn't even begin to describe Cyris. The planet was a freezing ball of ice, with the occasional ice coated forests, fields of ice and snow, with temperatures cold enough to fuse flesh to metal. 'The guild could have chosen a warmer planet to set a meeting point on' Derek Varastian thought to himself, glad that his bodysuit, under his armour maintained a comfortable level of heat to keep him from freezing. On his HUD, the temperatures showed a whopping minus forty five centigrade. He was in the capital city of Whitefall, and the Nordic natives walked past him in heavy clothing, and the guards were adorned in grey armour, with heavy fur collars, and slits for eye pieces. Noticing a tapcafe, he headed inside, respecting the sign above the doors that read: No helmets. The Redguard bounty hunter chose a table where he could have an impressive view of the cafe.

He was waiting on his adopted son, and bounty hunting partner, Kyle Varastian. The younger man wouldn't be hard to spot. As far as Derek could tell, he was the only bounty hunter currently in the city, never mind the building. Ever since the horror aboard an Aldmeri destroyer in deep space, Kyle had stayed with Derek aboard his ship, the Nomad. The redguard had grown to care for the orphaned boy, and respected his skill with a blaster. Over the past eight years, the two had formed a partnership, doubling their intake, and becoming more efficient at hunting down bounties.

"Where is that boy?" He grumbled.Though, at twenty one, Kyle was hardly a boy any more. Glancing around, he noticed several of the patrons had stopped their conversations, and were watching another, taller man, in the same green armour as Derek walk through the cafe to get to Derek. The older man smiled up at his adopted son. The man had a shock of black hair that looked like he'd been walking through a wind storm. The start of a beard shaded his chin. "Hey, son. Get lost?" Chuckled Derek, motioning for him to take a seat.

Kyle sat, and shrugged, grinning. "The port authority wanted to charge extra for my landing fee. Then they identified my ship. They were less greedy after that" he looked around, frowning. "Anybody else show up yet?" Derek shrugged. "Not unless they arrived before me. And are staying covert" Kyle let his hand slide to one of blaster pistols at his side, ready for trouble. Derek knew that the two pistols were far from the mans' most lethal weapons. The redguards' spiked guantlets, were less than useless in a ranged fight, but in the enclosed spaces of a tapcafe, he'd have a better chance than any opponent. Or most, anyways. "The guild contact hasn't shown up either?" Derek frowned. When a bounty was listed, a bounty hunters would usually recieve a notice. Sometimes, the client would contact the hunter personally. If a contact needed to meet hunters' face to face, it usually meant a huge payout. But then, the contact was usually at the designated meeting place hours before the hunters arrived. The fact that neither the contact, or fellow hunters had yet arrived was...troubling. "I'm sure he's on his way"

 

[T. Rakinson]

Upgrade session complete.

Wow that feels better, thought 15 as the prosenthetic Arm finished adding the shielding. It was designed to help the Hyrdrogen fuel cells from freezing up, an expected effect of Cyris's climate. As his artificial feet pressed down and reajusted themselves to the ground, Source 15, started making his way to docking bay 07. The frigate he was aboard was titled Compelling tribute, was two and a quarter miles long from Bridge to engine, and as such he had a good 20 minute walk to get to the right bay.
As he walked down the corridor many people stared at him in numerous emotional stages, shock, surprise, awe, in some instances even jealousy. it's not them who should be feeling jealous. He stood a good head above even the tallest of the dunmer staff, but as he watched them all from his state of limbo he was reminded of what had happened to him in order for him to earn such an appearance. Noticing some faces he had seen on the Earien battlefield, he almost missedQuickly stopping at the armoury to pick up his Ordonance and energy shielding.

He noticed one of his fellow S.O.U.R.C.E. soliders arming themselves up further down the hallway. SOURCE 34 seemed to be arming a plasma launcher, perhaps they were being deployed to a battlefield. He concentrated his mind on a sentence, and the words 'GOOD LUCK' appeared on his visor. His fellow solider showed a similar reply on their visor; nobody came to the armoury unless going on a mission. As his fellow SOURCE left the room It made 15 think of all those had died during transition. some of those men and women had been part of his platoon pre-soul trap. Sometimes he wished he had been one of them, the things he saw in that war were much more terrifiying than the prospect of death. This kept running through what passed for his head all the way to docking bay 07.

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His ship was already ready when he arrived at bay 07. As he went up the ramp to the ship, a few passing officers gave him quick salute's. Not bothering to wave or salute back, he made his way to the cockpit and pressed his metallic fingers against the flashing spheres on the keyboard. small screws appeared from the inside of his fingertips and dug into the now open & accessable sphere's control accessors. Twisting his left middle finger he closed and locked the ships door. Now twisting his right index finger he turned on communications. He knew where the slip-space sphere feature for his ship was located, this was his third time, but Comm's officer Grayn started his usual chat.
'Well well! Who do we have here but my old friend the war machine! where are you heading off to this time?'
Deciding a file call out would speed up take-off, 15 pressed his Right thumb deep into the socket and a wire sprung out. Some people might have thought that his usual inability to speak would make him desperate for conversation, but instead it made him feel calm and collective, not being able to blurt something out that he'd regret later. Being as quick as possible to avoid sounding rude, he plugged the wire into a smaller socket located near his soul-lock.
'Good- he stared at his built-in watch, It was automatically specified to the nearest planets time period:- morning grayhound, data file 0394561, planet location Cyris, mission class bounty hunter. can i go now?'
'Wait mister, im not done with you yet. you never told me how your last mission went! I need information!'
Silently groaning to himself, for his last mission had most certainally not been fun; that is to say from 15's perspective, he decided to come up with a postponer.
'I tell you what grey, you let me take off without anymore questions and ill tell you both my stories when i get back. we'll have it over a cup of coffee, eh?'
Deep in his limbo 15 smiled, this was a running joke of theirs, with Grayn being allergic to caffeine and 15 not being able to drink at all. Up in the relay office Grayn grudgingly started the countdown.
'10,9,8,- Oh whos got time to count! '
With a rush of the thrusters the Ship zipped forward and firmly locked onto the slip space add-on.
'you have a nice flight, war machine'.
'Oh shu- the ship lurched forward at 3678mph off the speed of light and went faster and faster as it headed towards the Co-ordinates of Cyris.

 

[Drahkma]

"Allendis! Whatever they're paying you, I'll double it! No, triple it!" Corvis Allendis sighed inside his helmet, and shook his head. The Silencer had a holding cell, and it was currently occupied by an Imperial con artist that had pissed off the wrong people. Albin Kesus was miserable, and talkative. The more certain he became that Corvis was going to turn him in, the more urgent and loudly he spoke. Sitting at the controls, Corvis brought a palm to his face. 'I should have just shot him. Or cracked him over the head a couple of times'. But the contract said alive, and the Breton bounty hunter was a man of his word.

"Allendis! You listening to me!?"
"Not really" he responded. Even if he had been taking the mans' offer seriously, the Nord merchants that Kesus had ripped off were offering a very tidy sum of credits for him to be brought back, alive, and relatively unharmed. The ship shook slightly as it entered Cyris' atmosphere, and for once the man actually went quiet. Sighing, the Breton shook his head, and ran a hand through his short, hazel brown hair. He'd caught his bounty two days ago, and the man hadn't stopped trying to convince him to release the man. He set his heading for Whitefall city, the planets' capital.

A landing pad was empty, except for several men that waited in thick clothing, along with nearly a dozen bodyguards. After shutting down the Silencers' engines, he put on his helmet, and checked his pistol. This wasn't the first time he'd been double crossed by an employer. He made a point of meeting people in full armour, and at least one weapon. He deactivated the security field surrounding Kesus, cracked him across the jaw with his open, gauntleted hand, and then grabbed the mans' shoulder, activating the boarding ramp as he did so.

Shoving his bounty down the ramp, he noticed several of the bodyguards placing themselves in between Corvis and his employers. 'A little nervous, guys?' he thought smugly. "Albin Kesus. Delivered alive, as instructed." The merchants glanced at each other, and one stepped forwards, several high denomination credit chips in his gloved palm. The Nord nodded at him, and dumped the credits into Corvis' hand. If the man noticed that his hand was on the butt of his pistol, he didn't say anything. "Pleasure doing business" drawled the Breton, leaving the platform. Heading down the street, he noticed a tapcafe, and looking inside, noticed a pair of bounty hunters at a table. 'Interesting. I guess those rumours about the big job are true' he stepped inside, keeping his eyes on the two men.

 

[Andre Marek]

"Brrr. Could this place get any colder? Look at this, my lips are blue and we've barely been here more than five minutes." Skylar hunched her shoulders and stuck her hands in her pockets. Cyris was definitely not on her 'top five planets to retire to' list. It was supposedly summer right now too. I'm gonna call bullplops on that I think. It was minus forty here in the windswept capitol of Whitefall and while her ballistic vest did a pretty good job of stopping bullets and blaster bolts, it did little to keep her warm. She pulled her cloak, borrowed from the equipment locker on the Judicator, tighter around her shoulders and squinted against the glare from the snow.

Beside her, Aden Marek, the owner of the Judicator, looked like he hadn't even noticed the less than tropical temperatures. His armor was sealed against vacuum and had built in environmental conditioning. This blizzard was a walk in the park. "Don't look at me. I been telling you for years now to get some proper armor." His voice emerged from his helmet. Skylar could tell he was amused, even through the voice projector. "Environmental controls are just one of the many, many perks of sealed armor. Besides, what are you gonna do if you get hit somewhere other than where that vest covers? Like the ass?" Skylar just batted her eyes at him, "Mmm... I don't know." She said slyly, "It hasn't happened yet. If I have my way, it'll stay like that too. Now where is this place.... Its a tapcaf right?" The place in question was the location of a meeting between members of the Bounty Hunters Guild to receive details for a contract. Usually Skylar wouldn't have had anything to do with something like this. She wasn't a bounty hunter after all, she was an agent of the Empire. However, this hunt was different. Imperial assets had been disappearing and no-one seemed to be able to stop it. That was where the Guild came in. They were the ones to call on if you wanted something, or someone, found. And Imperial High Command wanted her to tag along. That was where Aden came in. He wasn't a member of the Guild officially but he was a bounty hunter, and a good one at that. Skylar had known him for a very long time and had gone to him immediately when she'd been tasked with this Op. He was far more likely to be able to get in on this than she was. Aden had initially said that "asset retrieval" as he'd put it, was a job for the Legion, not someone like him. It had taken some convincing, via a checkbook, to get him on board but he was here now. And Skylar couldn't exactly say she minded having him along either.

She watched as he turned his helmet to give her a sideways look before responding, "Right, as usual." He pointed ahead of them. "There it is." Skylar spotted the place now. A small, inconspicuous tapcaf overshadowed by a snow drift so big it threatened to envelope the whole building. Looking more closely she was able to make out the sign above the door. She elbowed him in the ribs as they crossed the street, "Ah, Aden? It says 'No Helmets'. Looks like you're gonna have to slum it with the rest of us."

He grunted as he also looked up and noticed the writing, "Hmm, what's these guys problem? I need my helmet."

"Not right now you don't. I'm sure you can manage without it long enough to get through this meeting."

"I'm sure I can. Doesn't mean I have to like it though." He mumbled even as he reached up and lifted the grim mask off his head, the seal disengaging with a faint hiss. Holding the helmet under one arm, Aden ran his finger through his hair but otherwise still didn't react to the bitting wind, much to her annoyance.

As the two of them pushed through the doors and stepped inside, Adens hand immediately went to his pistol. He didn't draw but he kept his hand rested on the grip, finger just outside the trigger guard. Following his gaze, Skylar saw that they weren't the first ones to arrive. Sitting at a table on the other side of the room were two men, one older, one younger, both wearing scared battle armor of the same color. Partners? I guess we'll find out. She glanced at Aden before striding towards a table not too far from where they were seated. Aden followed, sitting next to her with his back to the wall and a frown etched on his face. "Lighten up would you." She whispered, before turning to give the younger boy an alluring smile and a wink, "It's not like they're shooting at us."

"Yet..." he mumbled back.

 

[Simus]

Jessica strained against the throttle as she struggled to control her commandeered starfighter. She was losing altitude and was fast approaching Cyris' capital city of Whitefall. If she didn't land in the next...seventy seconds she would crash into the city and possibly kill some people. As she struggled for her life she took the time to think over her recent escape from Vladamir Mengsk and his chop shop here on Cyris. This was her third escape from that man in her young life and this one honestly wasn't measuring up to the others. For one thing she was a complete mess. Mengsk had practically cut her head open in the name of "science" so he could reset her datavault and make her happy and docile again. Despite advances in medicine in the last thousand years, the human brain was still a relatively mysterious organ so when Mengsk was surprised that a dangerous and improvised surgery had gone awry and damaged her motor skills instead of her free will she just rolled her eyes and told him "I told you so." That, along with many other snarky remarks was why there was a nice big scar across her throat. It was the only way, Mengsk decided, to shut her up. They both knew she would heal in a matter of months, if not weeks, but she was getting on his nerves. Now she couldn't speak and she couldn't write but on the bright side the scar across her throat complimented the nasty crisscross of pink scars on her now shaved head very nicely. Already she missed her hair and was eager for that to grow back. If it grew back at all.

As for her actual escape it went off without a hitch. The guards were easy to deal with, as usual, she had taken a ship and she had been able to evade or destroy every X wing Mengsk had sent after her. The only problem was her own X wing had taken several hits and was down to two engines. Weapons, shields and navigation were gone and a leak in her fuel tank had ensured that she was running on empty. Just as her smoking ship entered the city boundaries she activated the landing gear and looked for some place she could do an emergency landing.

Oh crap, why did steering have to go out right now?! She thought. plops, plops, plops. Well let's see. Standard landing bay, that's out. Turn around and land in the tundra, that ship's sailed. A long, semi deserted street right in front of me? I suppose it'll have to do. This beasts machine spirit is D-U-N done.

Her X-wing barreled straight toward a relatively quiet street and she braced herself for a belly landing. The good news was the day was still early so there weren't many people or speeders out yet. Those early birds that were out saw the out of control ship and became very motivated to get out of its way. Alarms went off all around Jessica as her steering gave out and she veered to the left, coming in lopsided. She gave everything she had to steer back to a level position but it was no use. She was going to come in sideways.

Well Jess, looks like you've done it now...

She turned on her ballistic protection augs and her skin hardened into a bullet-resistant mono molecular mesh. It was great for stopping bullets but had never been tested against impact stress before. Theoretically it should work. Even if it didn't all of her vital organs were reinforced with the same material and her bones were infused with adamantine so they were nearly impossible to break. So what was the worst that could happen?

The X wing crashed into the street by its long nose and immediately poll vaulted up into the air again right towards a stampede of running civilians. When it landed, sideways, the sheer force of it ripped off the landing gear and caused it to crash into a parked garbage truck on its left side. Its folded up wing foils sliced right through the truck, then through the speeder parked behind it but the force of crashing through so much metal caused the wings to be ripped off at the engines. The X wing was flipped up into the air, Jessica struggling to stay conscious, and crashed into an overhead billboard, causing the other wings to be ripped off. The now bare fuselage crashed and rolled along the street, creating lots of fresh pot holes as it went until it ran into the front of another parked truck like a spear. Just across the street from a lovely little tapcafe.

Well, that was fun. Jessica thought as she realized she was still alive. In fact, not only had she sustained no damage but she was securely strapped into her comfy leather seat. Her controls were long gone and her canopy was cracked but she herself was okay.

Wow. Red Sabre X-Wings have a really, really good crash test rating. I'm going to have to find whichever techpriest built this ship and give him a big hug. She thought. She unstrapped herself and yanked the manual override to open the canopy, not bothering to try the controls after what she'd been through. The canopy cracked open and she was able to easily push it the rest of the way. The freezing air of morning Cyris enveloped her body and it was that point in time that Jessica remembered all she was wearing was a blue patient gown with no back. Holy crap! It must be at lest ten below zero out here! Thanks a lot Mengsk for taking my bodysuit, and my rifle, and my plasma pistol and everything else I had. I know I didn't have a proper checkout but last time that happened all you did was try to kill me! You didn't make me freeze to death! Oh well. I've got extras of everything stored on the Judicator. Assuming Marek and that ladyfriend he sometimes goes with haven't decided to sell them or something. Knowing him, he's around here and he'll find me once he hears about my little entrance. It's not every day you hear about a flaming aircraft in the middle of the street so he's bound to be at least curious, right?

Jessica climbed out of the canopy and landed rather ungracefully on the ground. She turned off her ballistic protection augs and tried to stumble away. She only now realized that shock and exhaustion had caught up with her. Her legs were like jelly and the super cold air around her made her pale skin turn pink almost immediately. The stress of the landing had drained her bioelectric power and her head hurt so much from the cold air licking at her sutures that she couldn't concentrate on activating anything. A thousand knives stabbed her body as she hobbled along, desperate to get inside to avoid freezing to death. She began to realize she was not at all fine from the crash as bruises her adrenaline had kept her from feeling began forming all over her body. She was weak and so tired, but she couldn't die out here. Not with all these people looking at her and too stunned to do anything. She undid the back straps of her gown to wrap her head in it but her hands were so cold she dropped it. Now she was stark naked in public with no hair, no ability to talk and in danger of passing out and freezing to death. She heard an ambulance round the corner as she burst through the doors of the tapcafe. She collapsed in the open doorway as the warm, welcoming air hit her face. She took deep, slow breaths and cried tears of relief, along with soft, painful squeaks and gasps from her damaged vocal cords.

 

[T. Rakinson]

Slip-space disengaging in 3...2...1... Add-on disabled.

If he could have retched, then 15 would have. Unfortunatly Virtual presence devices were not aloud such satisfaction, so he had to content himself with remaining dizzy for a few minutes. As his mind came back into focus he saw the slip-space sphere float off into the distance; There was a tracker on it so he could find it later. As he re-adjusted himself in his seat he saw what looked like a giant iceburg floating in space.
'Welcome to Cyris planetspace' said a feminine voice in his earpiece.
15 was about to tell Grayn to shut up with the announcments when he realized it wasnt Grayn, he had gone out of communication range several million miles back. This must be a recorded message. Deciding that landing on the planet was the only way forward, 15 directed the ship through the atmosphere, trying to cause as little momentum as he descended. fortunatly the planets cold atmossphere stopped any potential fires, and once he landed at one of the local ports The ship had only took minor damage.

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An hour later, 15 was trudging down the snow swept streets of Cyris. he hadnt thought his entrance would have been eventful, but he couldent have been more wrong. He'd called the looks on his comrades funny, but some of the civillians looks were all-out hilairious. Fortunatly the Small blizzard that was starting blocked off field of view through his visor, and the civillians were spared of their embarrasment. Mostly.

The tapcafe he was due to meet his contacts in had a surprising addition in the doorway. A young girl, human but unrecognizable, lay on the doorway, and most of the cafe's patrons stepped over her as they left and entered the building. Perhaps they thought she was a beggar, she had the clothes for it. It took a moment for 15 To realize that she was naked.
S.O.U.R.C.E soliders had gone through numerous surgical procedures during training, and hormone removal had been among them. The idea was that SOURCE soliders shouldent be infatuated by the opposite Sex while on missions. It didnt matter anyway, It wasnt like their artificial bodies could do the dirty deeds. Still, seduction could lead to them revealing important secrets; and who would want that to happen? 15 didnt find human's attractive anyway.

Deciding to bring the girl inside so that she would be awoken in a more comfortable enviroment, he picked her up, and realizing she was still conscious started carrying her over to a table. He recieved a few grateful nods from those about to leave amongst the continuing stares at both him and the clothless girl. After wiping his visor clean from all the snow and checking to see if his weaponry hadnt frozen up, he pointed a finger at the girls skull and let a small electric charge run through his finger and onto her, enough to wake her up but not so as to hurt her.
As she opened her eyes and squinted to adjust to the new enviroment, the words DO NOT PANIC. I AM DOCILE. flashed across 15's visor.

 

[Blackwhite1223]

The Vigilance set down on its' landing gear on one of the free landing zones. From what he saw, a few ships were already in position, and judging by a cloud of smoke, something had already occurred. 'Hopefully I'm not too late' he was no expert on bounty hunters, but he didn't believe every time they met ended in a fire fight. However, something must have happened, judging by the sounds of ambulances. What he didn't hear, were explosions and blaster fire. "I suppose I'm not too late, after all" he said to himself.

He searched for a place where the message had said the contact would meet him. Normally, Galen Marxus wouldn't have left Shadow Station for any reason. His absence would simply allow the gangs to terrorize more innocents. However, several of the more powerful gangs on the station had begun working together, in order to destroy Galen and the good he'd done. So, the ex-cop had left the station, in order to get more funding, and perhaps recruit others of a like mind to his cause. Then a man had contacted him, and given him instructions to go to Cyris, where a high stakes bounty hunt was about to take place.

Normally, Galen wouldn't have associated with bounty hunters. However, he was low on credits, and he'd a man by the name of Derek Varastian that seemed to have some morals. He'd kept tabs on the man, and wondered whether or not he would meet up with him. He shivered as the cold wind whipped across his face. 'Well. No one will come all this way to interrupt a meeting' . No spy Galen knew of would risk freezing to death for information on the Bounty Hunters' guild. Which brought up another problem: He'd met several bounty hunters on the Shadow station.

If any of them recognized him, they'd know he wasn't a bounty hunter. He doubted they'd be overjoyed to see him. Shrugging, the Imperial approached a tapcaf, seeing the cause of the commotion on Whitefalls' otherwise silent streets. An X-wing had wreaked havoc on several parked vehicles, and was almost certainly no longer space worthy. A strange creature, half-Dunmer, half...droid, perhaps, knelt over a young woman, that appeared to be naked. Well, she was naked, in fact. 'A good way to freeze to death' he thought. Concerned about the womans' well being, he drew his pistol, just to be cautious, and approached. "Miss? Do you need help?"

 

[Simus]

Jessica saw the message that appeared on the hulking droid's visor and nodded, showing it that she understood that it was friendly. It helped her to her feet and then she saw another man, a former lawman she thought she recognized from Shadow Station, come forward and ask if she needed any help. She looked at him and nodded. She pantomimed unscrewing a bottle and then drinking from it, then put her hands to her naked sides and moved them as if she was turning out her pockets. The she pointed to him, opened her mouth and pointed into it with her right index finger several times. Pantomiming wasn't her greatest skill even with her augmentations and she didn't know sign language, so she hoped that she was sending the message that she was hungry and thirsty and didn't have money to buy anything. She then stuck her throat out so her scare was prominent, just in case the man or droid didn't see it. She then waited for a response.

Aden must be around her somewhere. Maybe he can help me. Of course, he and I aren't exactly best friends so he could just ignore me but I've got to try. These guys seem okay though and there might be others who can help me. Darek maybe, or Kyle. It's been a few years but they probably remember me.

 

[T. Rakinson]

A gun aimed 15 was nothing new. That brand of pistolry would need several shots into him in order to break his energy shielding, but it slowly dawned on him that he was just looking out for the young girl. As he looked over, he noticed the girl was wide awake now, and while she was getting up she saw him stare at the man: perhaps these two had past connections, or maybe the man was looking for her. whatevr the case, his reason for coming to the tapcafe had not been this, and if the girl hadnt started making wild gestures with her hands he would have turned away.

As he watched her perform a series of strange actions 15 wondered if the girl had gone mad. In training he had learned 5 different languages, including sign language, but these actions made no sense at all. he picked up on the idea that she was thirsty, but after that it made no sense whatsoever. Why couldent she just talk?

And then she showed the scar.
15 had seen a lot in his lifetime, but the scar looked rather... grotesque, not to mention fresh; it showed up bad against the girls pale skin. Whoever had done that had clearly done it against the girls will; this was probably the reason why the girl was mute.
Unfortunatly his Medical kit was back on the blitzer, but this other man (who was still subconsciously aiming the gun at him) may have parked closer to the cafe. Still eyeing the pistol, 15 turned his visor to the mans direction and changed his message to DO YOU HAVE A MEDICAL KIT NEARBY? He then started turning around the whole cafe so that all watching the scene could read it.

 

[Simus]

Jessica saw the message flash across the droid's visor and shook her head. She pointed to the shattered remains of her X-Wing and the subsequent rubble, torn metal and small fires it had started. She then grabbed a spare napkin and rolled it up tightly. She brought it up to her throat, held it there, then lowered it and pointed to her throat. Then she pointed to the napkin then started moving her mouth up and down rapidly, as if simulating talking. The she ripped the napkin tube into three equal parts, set aside the middle part and put the top and bottom half back up against her throat, leaving a space in the middle the size of the middle piece she had removed. She held it there for several seconds, put the pieces down and swished her hands across her chest as if to signify "no good." Then she shook her head and pretended to talk again. She then looked to the droid to see if he understood, as well as anyone else in the room that might be watching.

She also pantomimed drinking out of a cup again, then clasped both her hands against her throat in an exasperated manner, indicating that she was very thirsty. She also pantomimed eating off a plate with a fort to indicate that she was hungry.

 

[Andre Marek]

It took all of Adens self control not to bolt upright and accost Jessica Psyrakon in front of everybody. Not to mention, shooting the few people that were attempting to 'aid' her. Beside him, Skylar put a hand on his forearm and started to say, "Isn't that... " but Aden was already moving. The other hunters were doing a poor job of, whatever it was they were trying to do. Jessica didn't seem to be able to speak and her gestures were somewhat hard to interpret, but one of them could have at least been decent enough to give her something to cover herself with.

"Wait here. I'll be back." He said to Skylar as he shoved his helmet over his head and strode towards Jess and the others. How in all the hell does this girl manage to wind up in situations like this so often? Aden wondered with amazement and more than a little anger, She's gonna get herself killed. At this rate she'll get me killed too... As he passed one of the tapcafs tables he grabbed a mans heavy fur coat from the back of a chair. The owner of the coat bolted out of his chair and reached for the garment but shrank back into his eat as Aden's impenetrable visor turned to glare at him. Walking up behind Jessica, he wordlessly placed it around her shoulders, ignoring her surprise and that of the others. "Jessica," he said quietly but with enough force to make it clear that he wasn't at all happy, "I see you've kept your talent for getting in trouble. Lets get you out of here."

He watched as she tried to speak then gave a weak cough before pointing to her throat. Then he noticed the scars and his anger spiked even more. Aden didn't need to ask who or what. Mengsk... You bastard. I'll gut you, you pathetic maggot.

Aden just nodded to her before looking up at the hulking robotic creature standing in the doorway along with the other armored man. "You've done enough. Move it or lose it." he growled. Without waiting for a response, Aden simply scooped Jessica up in his arms and walked outside. He wanted to get her back to the med-bay. He began jogging and said, "Hold on kid. The Judicator's in the first hangar. We'll get something warm into you and then you can try explaining how the hell you ended up crashing an X-wing in a street on Cyris."

--------------------------------------------

Skylar stared after Aden. How the hell am I supposed to deal with these guys now? She thought, sighing with frustration. She glanced at the man and the... droid? They looked ready to go after Aden. First things first then. Standing, she sauntered over to the pair, casually resting a hand on her blaster pistol in case they tried anything, "I wouldn't worry too much about them guys. They have some history. I'd be more worried about why the Guild contact isn't here yet." She glanced over her shoulder a the two men wearing green armor in the corner, "Unless one of you gentlemen happens to be him?"

(OOC: Simus, maybe it would be best if you changed that bit of back story so that Aden had no idea that she'd been captured again. I think it would make a bit more sense than Aden letting her get captured while under his watch and then just going "Oh well" and leaving her.)

 

[T. Rakinson]

"You've done enough. Move it or lose it."
One fist, one fist was all it would take... but 15 restrained himself. when he'd agreed to go on this mission he knew he was going to meet some stuck- up people, and the man was a perfect example of what 15 had been told to expect. As he clothed the girl and carried her out into the streets, 15 turned to watch them go; partially out of concern for the girls well-being, but because one of the first lessons he had learned in training was know your enemy. The bounty hunter soon dissapeared out of his field of vision, and as 15 turned round again a women, the one he recognized as the mans partner, started talking.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them guys. They have some history. I'd be more worried about why the Guild contact isn't here yet." She then turned her head round expectantly at two green armour-clad men in the corner, who 15 had not noticed during his rush to get the girl inside."Unless one of you gentlemen happens to be him?"

That was a start at least; now he knew who he was meeting, or at least some of them. He walked away from the doorway so that he stood near the questioning women without coming off as too intimidating. He quickly let a word spring up on his visor, quickly replacing his medical request.
BOUNTY?

 

[Simus]

Tears of both relief and guilt trickled down Jessica's face as Marek carried her out of the tapcaf and toward the Judicator. She'd never been so happy to see him in her life, especially considering she really didn't know he'd be here. She just figured he would and hoped they'd run into each other by happenstance. It was by happenstance that she had crashed her, in this city, at this time of day. She was just looking for a place to set down, find a working ship, do whatever was necessary to get it and get back home to the Dragon's Talon. Then she'd recover and join the hunt for a terrorist group that's been disrupting both the Empire and the Dominon. Now she had found one of the most resourceful bounty hunters she'd ever met who could lead her to the very hunt she sought. She couldn't believe her luck!

He was mad at her though, that was abundantly clear. She felt guilty for putting him in this position yet again, even if the last time was years ago. Aden was scary when he was mad and that added fear to her current guilt and self pity, thus producing more silent tears. She held herself close to him as he carried her away and tried to move her shaved head so his body shielded it from the howling wind. The scars crisscrossing it were screaming in agony as they were cut by the wind and her breathing became sharp and heavy for it. Without the ability to moan or scream it was all she could do to take the edge off.

Once they reached the Judicator and Aden put Jessica down in the medbay she grabbed his armored hand and kissed it. Then she gave several grateful nods as if to say "thank you." He had noticed the scar across her throat and probably thought the medbay could fix her vocal cords. Theoretically it could if it had tissue reconstruction software but a large part of Jessica's vocal cords had been surgically removed. Even if they were fixed right now it would be several weeks before she could talk again and there was still the matter of her brain damage. She did not relish the thought of trying to explain all that but she would do the best she could. After all, Marek had saved her when he could have easily let her die, again, and she was in his debt.

 

[TheShadedOne]

Dah'Sharra had come to a come to the conclusion that bounty hunters were all insane. Or, at least, they enjoyed freezing their asses off on backwater planets that nobody on either side of the damned war had any interest in. Then, it was a good place to dissapear, or conduct a meeting that nodoby else was supposed to know about. The khajiit assassin decided to thank her friends in the guild when she got back in contact with them. Technically, she was a bounty hunter. She'd hunted down and captured several people in the past for credits. She simply enjoyed delivering them dead more.

The woman had a reputation of being both ruthless and cunning. Dah'Sharra wasn't sure how many of the hunters that had already arrived knew of her, but she would be surprised if they did. She went out of her way to keep a low profile, most times. Being as succesful as she was, came with making a lot of enemies. None of which had suceeded in taking her down, yet. Most of her fellow hunters had some code of honour, and few of them would go after another hunter, despite what they thought of them personally.

If that hadn't been the case, the Khajiit was sure there'd be dozens of bounties on her head. When hearing about the meeting on Cyris, she'd headed for the planet, wondering what kind of payout would force some of the most dangerous people in the galaxy to work together. Or threat. Dah'Sharra had a keen danger sense, and now it was screaming at her to get off planet. However, she was low on both credits, and apparently, common sense.

A tapcaf drew her attention. Or more accurately, a man carrying a scarred, naked woman out of the tapcaf caught her attention. 'She's not bad looking....but bald and scarred isn't really my type..' the Khajiit thought, turning her gaze to the man carrying his naked burden. Almost definitively a bounty hunter. With that armour, he'd need to be a bounty hunter, or merc. And no merc groups were operating in this sector, as far as Dah'Sharra knew. She guessed there would be other hunters inside. 'Interesting place for a meeting' . Probably the only place as well, considering the capital was almost all Nords. Who didn't like outsiders.

She inclined her head slightly to the passing man, and went inside, eager to warm her frozen ears and tail. Her under suit might have kept the covered parts of her body warm, but her ears, nose, and tail felt like they'd been plunged in ice-water. She noticed several dangerous looking people, who were all eyeing each other, probably expecting trouble. The Khajiit took a place near the counter, where she could watch the occupants, and the door.

 

[Baneloth]

Derek and Kyle both watched the proceedings in silence. Neither of them were overly pleased with the growing group of hunters. Most bounty hunters were fiercely independent. Which meant most of the group would end up shooting each other before they worked together. Or maybe that's what was supposed to happen, and the last hunter standing got the bounty? Dereks' musings were interrupted when the shriek of tortured metal outside the tapcafe broke the mellow sounds of conversation.

Both bounty hunters were too experienced to leap to their feet, but they did jerk around in their seats to watch an X-wing tumble into a hard landing, even if it remained relatively intact. "Well, someone failed their flight course" chuckled Kyle, watching as emergency vehicles arrived on the scene. While he spoke, Derek returned his gaze to the occupants. One was a Breton, in silver-grey armour, who looked less than pleased to see other bounty hunters here. The others were another Breton, wearing a ballistic vest, and tan pants, with black boots. She didn't have the look of a bounty hunter.

Then there was a man in armour that was Aden Marek. 'No surprise he's here.But I don't think he's the type to take partners' the redguard bounty hunter mused. Yet, that was what the two seemed to be. Or at least friends. Perhaps friends with benefits. The door opened yet again, and a...droid walked in. "Well. This is new" muttered Derek, elbowing his son and nodding towards the droid, who was carrying a naked female that looked vaguely familiar. Also, she was bald and scarred. Behind the droid walked a man that Derek knew, and saw as a friend. Galen Marxus, the ex-cop that he'd met on Shadow Station.

The man seemed concerned for the girls well-being. Which made sense, seeing as she was naked, and it was freezing outside. Derek was surprised that she hadn't lost a few fingers or toes. Or her ears. Marek shoved himself away from the position he'd taken, and snatched the girl up, before storming back outside. That in itself was a revelation. In the short time Derek had known the man, Marek had shown little to no real emotion, and he certainly didn't care about people. Not publicly, anyways.

Kyle had been young when he'd first met the bounty hunter on the Dragons' Talon, but he too was looking slightly puzzled. The door opened once more and an attractive Khajiit woman in layered armour plates stepped inside, and promptly put her back to the cafe's counter. 'Smart. She can see the whole room, and the door, like us' then, you didn't get very far in the bounty hunters' life by being stupid or naive. I'd be more worried about why the Guild contact isn't here yet." The woman in the vest was saying. Then she turned to where Derek and Kyle sat. "Unless one of you gentlemen happens to be him?"

Derek shook his head, but Kyle was busy eyeing the womans...assets. Scowling, the older hunter gave his younger counterpart a shove. Blushing slightly, Kyle self-consciously ran a hand through his untameable hair. "Uh..no. They usually arrive before any hunters get here. I don't know what could have delayed him"

 

[Andre Marek]

Aden removed his helmet and gave Jessica a serious look. He didn't know exactly why she couldn't speak, but judging from the extensiveness of the scars across her throat, it was a serious problem and not one that could be fixed with just a little medi-gel. His med-bay was well stocked, but it was equipped more for quick, patch up type jobs. He doubted he had the necessary gear to fully fix the poor kid. Again, he found himself imagining what it would feel like to wrap his fingers around Mengsks neck and squeeze, ever so slowly.

"Just a minute kid, I'm gonna get you some liquids." He walked across the cramped room and out the door to the passage that ran the length of the ship. You could walk along it when she was landed but inflight you had to use the ladder located on what was now the ceiling. He went into the next room, which happened to be the storage room and galley, and went over to the conservator. Pulling open the door, he retrieved a small greyish ration bar that was actually compressed nutrients. Everything a person needed to survive all in a tiny, prepackaged bar. It wasn't the tastiest thing ever but Jessica needed nutrients right now and this was the fastest way to get them. Next he grabbed a cup and stuck it under the coffee brewer. When it was full, he walked back to the med bay and set the ration bar on the table beside Jessica and handed her the coffee. While she took a sip of the coffee he reached into his belt and pulled out his data pad. Once she lowered the cup he thrust it towards her with 'notes' application open, "Since you can't speak at the moment, maybe you can try writing it down. I want the full story. How on Nirn are you on Cyris?"

 

[Simus]

Jessica took the coffee and nutrient bar with undisguised gratitude. She was parched and hungry and she was weak from her hard landing, as well as the mutilations that passed for surgeries. She shivered even inside the Judicator's sealed hull but the coffee helped. She looked up at Marek and noticed that he had taken off his "bucket" for her. Now that was a sign of trust. Aden Marek took his helmet off for almost no one. The only people who saw his face were trusted associates or people who were about to die. There were also his friends but they were very few. The only ones Jessica knew of were a dunmer agent from long ago, Marek's partner and casual lover Skyler, Mengsk, Jessica's parents and Jessica herself. That was probably everyone still breathing.

She smiled at his show of trust and took some time to look at his beautifully sculpted face. The face any male model would kill to have. He handed her a data pad and asked her to write out what she was doing on this frozen ball of ice and what in Oblivion happened to her. Jessica knew she wouldn't be able to type but she needed to show him that so she tried anyway.

Thaot ahonet ahopaenno eho$%@ Hehlehh ,bur kek! ooh shiidaahhhE!%$

She showed him the gibberish and sadly shook her head but then she had an idea. She couldn't speak and she couldn't write but she could still think. If she could still think, then she could use her datavault to think out messages. Or she could use Adjutant, her on board A.I assistant, to speak for her. She decided to try to think out the messages first. she pressed a tiny skin tag on the back of her head and a small compartment in her skull opened up, revealing a datastick. She reached around her head and grabbed the datastick, now much easier to find considering her hair was gone. She pulled it out and it revealed a thin white wire at the other end that was spooled in her skull. The wire continued to lengthen as she pulled, soon giving enough slack for her to plug the datastick into the pad and let her read it from a comfortable position. The datastick's business end reshaped itself to fit the datapad's open port and she plugged it in. After a few seconds of load time the datapad synchronized with her brain and she was able to think out her thoughts. After about a minute of deleting, revising and polishing she handed her report to Marek. The pad was still attached to her skull so she could revise her writing.

Let me know if you can't read this or if it comes out garbled. I'm still determining how much brain damage I suffered from my "operations."

I came to Cyris two weeks ago to look for my parents. I found a lead on them that suggested they would meet me here. I asked Captain Ria for a ship and a leave of absence and she agreed. I'm a full-fledged Red Sabers mercenary now, but you've probably been watching me so you probably know that. When I got here Mengsk was waiting for me. He had sent the lead as a lure and he was able to trap me in his labs a hundred miles from here. It was stupid, I know. I'm sorry for being naive but that seems to be a theme. He tried to "resocialze" me. Turn me into a docile, obedient lobotomite. He's responsible for my cut up head and my lack of hair. I don't know exactly what he rearranged in my head but whatever he did I can't write anymore. I know the words but I just can't...transfer them? Write them out? I'm not sure exactly. Something just blocks that transition from thought to pen. He also cut my throat after I mouthed off one too many times. My vocal cords have been partially removed. They can be fixed with any medbay or surgical droid that can do tissue reconstruction but even if they were fixed today I'm not sure if I'll be able to talk again. It'll be awhile even if everything goes well.

Long story short I was able to escape, retrieve my ship and inventory my gear which is still inside its mostly intact storage space in the fuselage. I was pursued by TIE interceptors and took a series of hits. All of my pursuers are dead but my X-Wing was falling apart. You know the rest.

Before I left I made sure that I would never be captured ever again. Mengsk is dead. He tried to take in single combat and he lost. I gutted him like a fish, slammed him to the floor and put a bullet in his head. His brains splattered my face Marek and I enjoyed it. It never felt so good to kill someone. Do you know what that's like? To finally end a long chase with a smile and a shot to the head? It feels good. Killing doesn't scare me anymore. Marek...Aden...I think I enjoy it. I think I'd like to hunt and kill people for a living, then make a profit on their corpses. Being a mercenary is no longer enough. I want to be a bounty hunter. I want to be just like you.

Jessica looked up to Marek and rubbed her scarred head, tired of all the thinking she just did and anxious to hear Marek's response.

 

[Drahkma]

Corvis growled in annoyance. The situation was going nowhere fast, and it was painfully clear that they bounty hunters would be stuck on the ice ball that was Cyris until the contact stopped taking their sweet time, and decided to show up. The man grabbed his helmet from the table where he'd set it down, ignoring the irritated glare of the employees, he used his HUD to hack into Whitefalls' port authority database. He searched for ships that had been tagged as suspicious, or pilots that looked like they were trying to blend in a little too hard. Noting. 'Of course. Any good contact knows to keep a low profile. Or bribe the port officials' "Please tell me this is the right tapcafe. I'd hate to think we've been sitting on our asses for nothing" he directed his words to one of the green armoured hunters, seeing as they seemed to have some idea as to what was going on.

 

[TheShadedOne]

"Please tell me this is the right tapcafe. I'd hate to think we've been sitting on our asses for nothing" Dah'Sharra shot the man an irritated, slightly amused glance. "What's wrong? Have somewhere else to be?" She smirked. Although she did find it rather strange that the contact hadn't arrived. She glanced at the droid and the green armoured man, both of whom were still standing at the table, the man still with his pistol out. 'You'd think they've never seen a naked woman before' "Hey, you guys, are you still with us?"