Illis was on her knees, looking up fearfully at what she had initially thought were bandits, they were talking about 'bringing her in cold' in rough Orok. Two of them were some form of lizardfolk, one was Elfin, and the other she couldn't tell through their helmet and thick clothing.
“Let's just pull the trigger now and take her head back.” The one with the helmet spoke smoother than the rest.
“I get the body then.” The lizard licked its lips with a grossed tongue.
“You'd eat a Goba, you are grotesque Masskr.” The Elfin kicked her over and pulled his blaster pistol out. A loud knocking interrupted their motion as they all turned to look at the door on the far side of the room. Four shots rang out, enhanced hard ammunition, weirdly from the opposite direction. The four mercs fell to the floor dead.
“Oh shit.” Whatever was worse than them was probably not friendly.
“Illis Mo'Cova?”A voice, made raspy by a helmet communicator, asked above her curled up form.
“Yes?” she squeaked, preparing for the worst.
“Are you willing to come peacefully?” What a dumb question.
“I don't see as I have a choice!” She snapped.
“There is always a choice.” They crouched down over the body on her right side as she peeked out between her arms. He was scavenging the other bounty hunters, this day was just getting better and better.
“Why is all of this happening?” She exclaimed, kicking one of the corpses.
“You have a price on your head.” They answered.
“Fine, sure... but a dead or alive bounty?” What the hell was that about? She hadn't done anything worth a small bounty let alone something that serious. They turned their head and stared at her for a moment. They were wearing a helmet that had a visor designed to give them a better peripheral vision.
“My bounty is for you to be delivered alive. Specifically.” They looked like they were thinking. “Is there anything you require to travel?” They asked.
“Nothing medically but I'd like to bring my belongings.” she stood up and brushed herself off.
“A few changes of clothing, and anything that would be impossible to replace. Time is not on our side- someone wants you dead.” He looked around the room and pointed at a hovercart that was sitting on the floor. “Is that yours?” he pointed at it.
“Yeah, broke the other day, it'll take me a bit to get it running. Why?” She quirked her head at him, he pointed at the dead people. “Oh. Let me pack a bag and I'll get to it.” She was too scared to try and run and there was no way to get out through the back and she figured he knew this. That did raise the question as to how he got in though. That was answered when she saw one of the vent covers swinging on its hinges. If she wasn't so short she might have been able to reach it but anyway she could think of was way too loud to try.
She packed a duffle bag with clothes and a hard case with her most expensive tools, she'd need those on the cart anyway. If this guy was going to keep her alive the least she could do was fix the cart. Whom had she pissed off?
She put her bags on the front of the car, the rest held the gear, their bodies had been dragged away somewhere.
“You work fast.” Her hands were shaking as she opened up the side of the cart, she had to lay down to get a better view.
“Stay down, keep working.” She could no longer feel where they were, which was strange as that was part of her race's schtick. They could vaguely feel the life-force of other beings. “We have company.” She froze, now she could hear a lot of feet in heavy boots heading their way.
“Oh no.” she channeled her panic into fixing the cart.
“Stay low and keep quiet.” There was only one way in and out and they sounded like they were close to it, possibly peeking out. There were burnt out circuits that she would have to solder around. This was going to take a minute and she wasn't sure she had one. There was far off beeping sound, she looked up and saw the bounty hunter holster his pistol and pick up a metal bar nearby, as the grenade soared through the door he hit it back out to many alarmed cries before an earth-shattering kaboom. Silence fell before some yelled.
“That bitch threw it back!” They were speaking a crude version of Elfin.
“Wrong.” Their ironic savior stepped out and fire several shots, and it sounded like they all hit, before stepping back behind cover. He was drawing their attention, hopefully, that didn't bite then in the long run. She doubled her efforts on the repair work with terror fueling her. Lazer blaster hit above her and anywhere visible through the door. No, lasers don't make a sound but it was a regulation that all blasters be made with a device that created a sound when they were fired.
Right now she desperately hated that device and cursed its creator. The firing died down and several people stomped toward the door. Just as they reached the threshold the hovercart came to life and lifted itself off the ground revealing her to three pig-faced Orok.
"Wuh oh." She squeaked, their focus broke and they looked down at her. The Bounty Hunter slid across the entryway with a blade in a spinning motion and they all dropped. Illis tapped a button on the cart and shuffled on her hands and knees away from the door and the cart followed her.
She curled up in a ball and cried, hard. Shots were easily heard but she was having a breakdown so she didn't care. Then there was silence.
"Come on, we need to go, you can ride on the cart." The Bounty Hunter lifted her small form easily and sat her on the cart before piloting it out of her home, that's where she lost consciousness.
Coming too slowly she saw she was in a small room with a light built into the wall, she was burritoed up in a blanket and belted down, checking the buckle she was stunned to see it wasn't locked. The low thrum of a starship's engines told her they weren't planet side anymore.
"Oh, I hope you're nice as I remember you." She got herself loose and headed for the closest privy. She almost didn't make it, sitting there on the cold metal toilet in that tiny cramped room she notices the tracking bracelet for the first time. It was an old one, retrofitted with newer tech, her nerd brain started making plans for a new power source and better coding to keep it from being hacked too easily.
She shook her head to stop herself, she got carried away too easily on this stuff. Finishing up her business she washed her hands and opened the bathroom door to come face to face with her saviors mask. She let out an 'eep'.
"Are you feeling better?" They may have been genuine but it was hard to tell through the speaker on their helmet.
"Yeah, little groggy, but fine. I'd thank you for saving my butt back there but you are taking me to a mystery fate so you know." She shrugged, Her standing height was just a hair under four and a half feet tall and he was bending at the knees to meet her at her level. Weirdly it didn't feel patronizing like it did when everyone else did it.
"Good. Food is over there." He pointed at the small kitchen area. "Stove is broken." He gave her a heads up before spinning on his heel and walked away.
"So I can just wander around?" she scratched one long, green ear. "Confused." Sighing she plopped herself down on the half couch and tried to figure out why she had a price on her head. Nothing. She hadn't stiff anyone on a bill or stole anything... that only left terrifying possibilities.
It didn't take long for the silence to start eroding her mental stability and she started working on his broken stove.
"What are you doing?" He had somehow walked right up behind her without her knowing. Through the bathroom door was understandable but she should have felt something.
"Waah!" She jumped, scared by his sudden appearance. "Give a lady a little warning! I'm fixing your stove so I don't go crazy." She snapped at him, he stared at her for a long time which made the fear rise in her through.
"Thank you. We'll be traveling for four more days." The gratitude was so surprised she almost didn't hear the second part. Was he warning her that she would be bored? This guy was weird on a whole other level.
"Seriously? Where are you taking me?" She put her fists on her hips in an attempt to feel intimidation.
"Caku, on the planet Nacuau." They answered, very much to her surprise.
"Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you a mean bounty hunter?" She challenged him, it was a bad idea but she had to know what his game was.
"You are a none violent bounty and a guest in my home. Manners dictate certain allowances." He was suspiciously classy now and she didn't like it.
"Oh... You go by old school rules. Like really old, old school." She had only ever heard fairytales about the distant past. Children's stories. this time he didn't reply, he reached past her for an opaque bottle and left her to her thoughts.
"Right, I'm going to die." She decided to finish her repairs on the stove simply because it was something to focus on that wasn't existential dread and dark thoughts.
“Let's just pull the trigger now and take her head back.” The one with the helmet spoke smoother than the rest.
“I get the body then.” The lizard licked its lips with a grossed tongue.
“You'd eat a Goba, you are grotesque Masskr.” The Elfin kicked her over and pulled his blaster pistol out. A loud knocking interrupted their motion as they all turned to look at the door on the far side of the room. Four shots rang out, enhanced hard ammunition, weirdly from the opposite direction. The four mercs fell to the floor dead.
“Oh shit.” Whatever was worse than them was probably not friendly.
“Illis Mo'Cova?”A voice, made raspy by a helmet communicator, asked above her curled up form.
“Yes?” she squeaked, preparing for the worst.
“Are you willing to come peacefully?” What a dumb question.
“I don't see as I have a choice!” She snapped.
“There is always a choice.” They crouched down over the body on her right side as she peeked out between her arms. He was scavenging the other bounty hunters, this day was just getting better and better.
“Why is all of this happening?” She exclaimed, kicking one of the corpses.
“You have a price on your head.” They answered.
“Fine, sure... but a dead or alive bounty?” What the hell was that about? She hadn't done anything worth a small bounty let alone something that serious. They turned their head and stared at her for a moment. They were wearing a helmet that had a visor designed to give them a better peripheral vision.
“My bounty is for you to be delivered alive. Specifically.” They looked like they were thinking. “Is there anything you require to travel?” They asked.
“Nothing medically but I'd like to bring my belongings.” she stood up and brushed herself off.
“A few changes of clothing, and anything that would be impossible to replace. Time is not on our side- someone wants you dead.” He looked around the room and pointed at a hovercart that was sitting on the floor. “Is that yours?” he pointed at it.
“Yeah, broke the other day, it'll take me a bit to get it running. Why?” She quirked her head at him, he pointed at the dead people. “Oh. Let me pack a bag and I'll get to it.” She was too scared to try and run and there was no way to get out through the back and she figured he knew this. That did raise the question as to how he got in though. That was answered when she saw one of the vent covers swinging on its hinges. If she wasn't so short she might have been able to reach it but anyway she could think of was way too loud to try.
She packed a duffle bag with clothes and a hard case with her most expensive tools, she'd need those on the cart anyway. If this guy was going to keep her alive the least she could do was fix the cart. Whom had she pissed off?
She put her bags on the front of the car, the rest held the gear, their bodies had been dragged away somewhere.
“You work fast.” Her hands were shaking as she opened up the side of the cart, she had to lay down to get a better view.
“Stay down, keep working.” She could no longer feel where they were, which was strange as that was part of her race's schtick. They could vaguely feel the life-force of other beings. “We have company.” She froze, now she could hear a lot of feet in heavy boots heading their way.
“Oh no.” she channeled her panic into fixing the cart.
“Stay low and keep quiet.” There was only one way in and out and they sounded like they were close to it, possibly peeking out. There were burnt out circuits that she would have to solder around. This was going to take a minute and she wasn't sure she had one. There was far off beeping sound, she looked up and saw the bounty hunter holster his pistol and pick up a metal bar nearby, as the grenade soared through the door he hit it back out to many alarmed cries before an earth-shattering kaboom. Silence fell before some yelled.
“That bitch threw it back!” They were speaking a crude version of Elfin.
“Wrong.” Their ironic savior stepped out and fire several shots, and it sounded like they all hit, before stepping back behind cover. He was drawing their attention, hopefully, that didn't bite then in the long run. She doubled her efforts on the repair work with terror fueling her. Lazer blaster hit above her and anywhere visible through the door. No, lasers don't make a sound but it was a regulation that all blasters be made with a device that created a sound when they were fired.
Right now she desperately hated that device and cursed its creator. The firing died down and several people stomped toward the door. Just as they reached the threshold the hovercart came to life and lifted itself off the ground revealing her to three pig-faced Orok.
"Wuh oh." She squeaked, their focus broke and they looked down at her. The Bounty Hunter slid across the entryway with a blade in a spinning motion and they all dropped. Illis tapped a button on the cart and shuffled on her hands and knees away from the door and the cart followed her.
She curled up in a ball and cried, hard. Shots were easily heard but she was having a breakdown so she didn't care. Then there was silence.
"Come on, we need to go, you can ride on the cart." The Bounty Hunter lifted her small form easily and sat her on the cart before piloting it out of her home, that's where she lost consciousness.
Coming too slowly she saw she was in a small room with a light built into the wall, she was burritoed up in a blanket and belted down, checking the buckle she was stunned to see it wasn't locked. The low thrum of a starship's engines told her they weren't planet side anymore.
"Oh, I hope you're nice as I remember you." She got herself loose and headed for the closest privy. She almost didn't make it, sitting there on the cold metal toilet in that tiny cramped room she notices the tracking bracelet for the first time. It was an old one, retrofitted with newer tech, her nerd brain started making plans for a new power source and better coding to keep it from being hacked too easily.
She shook her head to stop herself, she got carried away too easily on this stuff. Finishing up her business she washed her hands and opened the bathroom door to come face to face with her saviors mask. She let out an 'eep'.
"Are you feeling better?" They may have been genuine but it was hard to tell through the speaker on their helmet.
"Yeah, little groggy, but fine. I'd thank you for saving my butt back there but you are taking me to a mystery fate so you know." She shrugged, Her standing height was just a hair under four and a half feet tall and he was bending at the knees to meet her at her level. Weirdly it didn't feel patronizing like it did when everyone else did it.
"Good. Food is over there." He pointed at the small kitchen area. "Stove is broken." He gave her a heads up before spinning on his heel and walked away.
"So I can just wander around?" she scratched one long, green ear. "Confused." Sighing she plopped herself down on the half couch and tried to figure out why she had a price on her head. Nothing. She hadn't stiff anyone on a bill or stole anything... that only left terrifying possibilities.
It didn't take long for the silence to start eroding her mental stability and she started working on his broken stove.
"What are you doing?" He had somehow walked right up behind her without her knowing. Through the bathroom door was understandable but she should have felt something.
"Waah!" She jumped, scared by his sudden appearance. "Give a lady a little warning! I'm fixing your stove so I don't go crazy." She snapped at him, he stared at her for a long time which made the fear rise in her through.
"Thank you. We'll be traveling for four more days." The gratitude was so surprised she almost didn't hear the second part. Was he warning her that she would be bored? This guy was weird on a whole other level.
"Seriously? Where are you taking me?" She put her fists on her hips in an attempt to feel intimidation.
"Caku, on the planet Nacuau." They answered, very much to her surprise.
"Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you a mean bounty hunter?" She challenged him, it was a bad idea but she had to know what his game was.
"You are a none violent bounty and a guest in my home. Manners dictate certain allowances." He was suspiciously classy now and she didn't like it.
"Oh... You go by old school rules. Like really old, old school." She had only ever heard fairytales about the distant past. Children's stories. this time he didn't reply, he reached past her for an opaque bottle and left her to her thoughts.
"Right, I'm going to die." She decided to finish her repairs on the stove simply because it was something to focus on that wasn't existential dread and dark thoughts.
