Another day in Nighthunter

[Er'in Tenel]

Er'in paid almost rapt attention to the spell, it was quite obvious that her mastery of that particular aspect of the Force didn't need too much work, she asked the bare minimum of questions to clarify points and seemed not to need notes to memorize it from seeing it performed.

"Not exactly my foremost talent..." She paused. "Although..."

This wasn't a solar yacht - but she remembered all those wild rides, those insane chances and those skin of the teeth victories over better racers.

She reached up to touch Velok's shoulder - she was terrible at mentalism, but with touch she could convey the impression. The pure, hotblooded instinct of a huntress - although with more the flavour of an exhilarated racer than a predator.

There.

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

The escape pod blasted free of the injured shuttle and soared over Port Nighthunter's market. Velok caught a glimpse of what he'd seen in his mind's eye: a small group of bounty hunters, a portable missile launcher, and the top of an old building. Without compunction, he rammed the pod face-first into all of the above.

Inertial compensators blunted the impact and the tumbling crash that came next, but not by a lot.

In due course, rubbing his neck, Velok emerged from the pod. They'd taken the top off the building. Doubtless a handful of unintended casualties had taken injury that wouldn't heal anytime soon, but better that than a bombardment. And nobody would fault the Whiphids for losing an escape pod while under attack.

"Stretch out, find our hunters. What do you feel?"

 

[Er'in Tenel]

Finding the hunters was harder at first than she had suspected, in part because she had enjoyed that wild ride a little too much. She really needed a fast little ship.

The pain and anguish drew her attention, but a little bit of her suggested that now was the time to apply control to the Force, to reach down into her own desires to see their attackers dead - and she did want them dead - and pull on it, shape it, give the vision focus.

"Four dead... caught directly in the impact. There..." She gestured beneath them. "Two injured... their pain is drawn, fixed. The spell took hold, they won't live long. But one of them made it to the stairs... the one with the daughter."

Cassia. The daughters name was Cassia. He loved her, distantly. He took this job to provide for her. A cold man, a hard man, but a fair one. Too bad for him. Too bad for her.

She paused. No. She'd make sure the daughter didn't become a slave. Cruelly altruistic? Perhaps. But freedom was freedom.

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

Velok sat heavily on a pile of rubble. The building trembled just slightly when he did. "I have whiplash," he said offhandedly. "I'm in significant pain. Let's put your pragmatism to the test. Consider it a final installment in your payment for today's education. Find him, exert leverage as necessary..."

He fished in his robes and withdrew a small bag of large Huttese coins, which he tossed to Er'in.

"...and hire him. Unless his involvement in hunting me is personal, in which case, kill him. But the lone survivor of a team this size going up against me and my associates...he could be skilled, he could be lucky, he could be well prepared, and we have uses for all of the above."

 

[Er'in Tenel]

Er'in looked at Velok for a moment as she caught the coins.

"Better to kill him. Less loose ends. But... I accept your wisdom, master."

She bowed her head - actually the first time she's done that without resentment to a senior Sith, then pads silently down the stairs in pursuit of the man. There is the sound of abrupt blaster fire, the crack hiss of a lightsaber, then the echoes of conversation. Tense conversation. Then the noise of a physical struggle, a bark of disbelieving male laughter and finally, the sound of footsteps.

Then Shia and a hard, cruel looking man with a face of scars but a heart that... well... spoke of survival at any cost, came up the stairs, his armour battered and broken, but he seemed wise enough to accept the support she was offering, given she'd apparently broken his leg for him when he objected to the final deal.

"This is Garvin Rossath. Garvin, I think you know your new employer."

The man didn't look disbelieving - he looked more like this happened to him every few years, after all, professional bounty hunter is a risky profession. He did however glance at the escape pod and shake his head in disbelief.

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

"Don't blow smoke up my tail, Tenel. It's a judgment call and a risky opportunity, not proven wisdom. And I'm your employer and service provider, not your Master. No Sith nonsense, please. Just call me Velok."

As she returned in due course, bounty hunter in tow, Velok left off massaging his neck and stood to his full height.

"Hello, Mister Rossath. Let's you and I have a word."

Maybe half a kilometre away, another Whiphid ship came down through the ash clouds, this one a jagged frigate. It landed outside the port's walls, crushing an unwary silooth. Carapace and ichor splattered everywhere.

"If our arrangement continues to suit your needs, Tenel, please board the ship and select a berth to your liking. Mister Rossath and I will be along shortly."

 

[Er'in Tenel]

"As you wish."

Er'in's response rather encompassed all of what had passed, she let go of the injured man gently and turned towards the freighter. This was going a little further than she had immediately planned for, but no matter.

She walked down the stairs, stopping only to pause and telekinetically lift a pile of debris from the injured man trapped beneath before disappearing into the streets to send her droids (and her shipment of rare minerals) back on their own, before making her way to the frigate.

Maybe this ship would smell a little less of wet fur, but that was, in fairness, unlikely. Besides, she'd learned when her house fell that luxuries were to be enjoyed, not relied upon.

[member="Velok the Younger"]