Private Red Sun

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

A backwater planet on the outer rim. Anna wouldn't have gone so far here if the bounty amount wasn't so enticing, just for a capture of a relatively non-dangerous target. Wanted for kidnapping, Atin Tracinya; upon examining the dossier it turns out he was the unarmored Mandalorian that went after her on that bar.

"What a coincidence."

After the last business with Phalanx Defence Solutions, Anna managed to lay low for a while with the help of the Enclave. The bounty on her head had already fallen off significantly, but it's still a hefty amount so she couldn't just go anywhere without a plan.

"Hmm..." It seemed this guy wasn't a good person after all. A bounty this big for kidnapping? This time, she was extra prepared to not get taken by surprise, bringing extra hidden weapons. Leaving her custom gauntlet fighter, the Red Raven began to make her way towards the nearest settlement, where he was last sighted according to the intel.

Perhaps she'll get some payback for the last time they met. It's not like kicking him in the side was enough.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

Unsurprisingly, Atin had touched down on the planet for work. Never did he set foot on a planet for anything else. A solid punch to the jaw from a Rodian had him reconsidering that habit though. Did getting your head checked for a concussion count as work? He must need an appointment either way if he was wondering that in the middle of a fistfight.

The next blow came in just as hard as the first, but slow enough that Atin had time to block it, taking it on the shoulder. Without armor, it hurt more than Atin would've liked. The third though, was easy to see coming. Maybe the Rodian had just gotten over-confident, but the wide swing gave Atin plenty of warning to block and catch it. A step and a turn was all it took to throw the Rodian over his shoulder and onto ground with enough force to knock the wind out of him. A punch to the temple (whoever said payback didn't hurt was a talking bantha dung) and the Rodian was out cold and in cuffs.

"Sorry 'bout the mess," Atin said to the bartender, and old, fat twi'lek who stared at the Mandalorian more so out of astonishment than anything else. The sound of metal clinking against the counter top drew the bartenders eyes away for a moment, to the credit chits Atin had tossed his way. The door hissed open and shut, and then the Mandalorian was gone.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya
​

Where would you go for information, other than the go-to drinking place in the settlement? Locating one wasn't hard. As the huntress made her way to the building, someone exited carrying another person. People get thrashed this early in the afternoon on this planet? The drinking culture must be hardcore.

Stepping inside, she would open her mouth and ask the bartender before stopping as soon as she saw the mess that the bartender was taking care of. The gears in her head were turning for a while before Anna pieced what had just happened in the bar. A bounty hunter was just doing their job here, so that means...

"...Wait a minute,"

There's no reason for that guy to be in this crap planet, too. He was definitely also on a job. Quickly rushing outside, Anna tried to chase the person that left this establishment a moment ago, believing him to be her target. Fortunately, he hasn't made it far yet. Her right hand quickly grabbed the blaster strapped on her thighs, before firing into the sky to grab his attention and hope he stopped to turn around.

"Hold it right there."

The blaster sound also attracted a lot of people coming out of the building, watching as the scene unfolded. "Atin Tracinya, wanted for kidnapping." Anna paused, pressing the mode switch on her blaster before continuing. "Dead or alive."

 

[Atin Tracinya]

Unconscious, handcuffed, and with his feet bound together, the Rodian wasn't going anywhere. Even if he did wake up. Besides, the squirming would alert Atin as he slowly dragged the green-skinned alien through the mostly streets back towards his ship. A few people gave him curious or shocked stares, but for the most part, no one got in his way. In fact, they crossed to the other side of the road, afraid to get involved in whatever was going on.

All except one, at least. The sound of a blaster going off made Atin's slow walk come to a smooth but sudden stop as he audibly groaned in annoyance. "Oh, for f-, can't a job ever go smoothly..." the muttered under his breath.
"Hold it right there." That voice. Atin's brows furrowed for a moment. He recognized that voice. "Atin Tracinya, wanted for kidnapping. "Dead or alive."
"Oh you've gotta be fething kidding me." Atin dropped the Rodian's legs with a thud, turning around to face his 'fellow' bounty hunter. "Anna Carden. You owe me for that speeder you stole." The man's eyes raked up and down the Mandalorian's armor. Freshly painted. "Did someone in your aliir finally guilt you into getting rid of the chit paint job?"

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

As expected, the loud blaster sound stopped the man in his tracks, before he slowly turned around and left the poor Rodian on the ground. Was she dragged the same unceremonious way when they last fought?

"Anna Carden. You owe me for that speeder you stole."

Of course she remembered the speeder, the huntress left it on that ever-raining planet before escaping in her own fighter. "I'll pay it back if you come quietly." She quipped. If he surrendered nicely, she might actually compensate him with a fraction of the credits that the commissioner would give her.

"Did someone in your aliir finally guilt you into getting rid of the chit paint job?"

He brought up the paint on her armor again, but this time she learned Atin's tricks to provoke her into making sloppy moves. "One more remark about my armor, your other set of ribs will suffer," She lowly growled, trying her best to not just jetpack-tackle him with all her might. Despite clearly being a moment of conflict with a blaster present, the onlookers kept on watching. Anna motioned with her head, taking slow steps while keeping her blaster toward the man's center of mass.

"Put your hands in the air before I hit you with stun blasts."

 

[Atin Tracinya]

"One more remark about my armor, your other set of ribs will suffer," Anna growled, before threatening Atin with some stun bolts. Silence, for a moment. "Ya know, I owe you for those broken ribs, too." Bacta hadn't made the searing pain in his side lessen as they'd healed.

"If you wanna take me in, you may as well shoot me. Those stun bolts aren't gonna be enough," Atin shrugged after a moment. "At least, not a this range. And frankly," Atin lifted the Rodian by the collar, holding the limp lizard before him. "Hostage. Meat shield. You know the drill." C'mon, the Mandalorian thought to himself. I'm giving you every reason. Prove everyone wrong. Prove me right. It was a gamble. A huge one, and one Atin honestly wasn't sure to do about if it turned out to be true but...he had to know.

"Pull the trigger, Raven. Come get your mark like the Hunter you are!"

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

"Hostage. Meat shield. You know the drill."

"You want to play it like that, huh." Anna looked through her targeting interface. There was no angle to hit Atin from, and no amount of stun bolts would hit the person behind the meat shield, honestly. She could always switch to the long rifle, use the lethal bolts to pierce through in one shot.

But that's not how she operates.

"Pull the trigger, Raven. Come get your mark like the Hunter you are!"

"Dank farrik." She wasn't sure how he would react if she kept slowly walking towards him looking for an angle. He could have already hidden his weapon behind the hostage's back ready to fire at her in a close range. The huntress had no time to think, and so she decided to do the one thing that worked against him last time.

Putting the jetpack's thruster at maximum, Anna quickly accelerated and propelled forward toward the pair at high speed, with the intent of cannonballing through. With her elbow to the front, she braced to impact the Rodian. The only way Atin was going to dodge in time was by releasing the lizard. Or maybe he's foolish enough to try and soften the impact.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

Every step that the Raven took, Atin mirrored. One step, two. Around and around. By the time the two had finally stopped moving, Atin had tucked his blaster beneath the Rodian's arm, a little hidden crook from which to shoot from. Something Atin hoped wouldn't become necessary.

Did a Mandalorian in a full suit of beskar being propelled at you at mach 5 warrant shooting though? It was a pretty hard question to answer, and one Atin was woefully prepared to as Carden launched herself at him like a blaster bolt. So, Atin did one thing his instincts and past experience told him. Duck. Atin fell backwards, pulling the Rodian to the ground with him just as Carden zipped past their head, and then rolled atop the Rodian, both to keep the possibly still unconscious man subdued, but also to keep eyes on the red-painted projectile-person.

"Time to go," Atin hauled the Rodian up, half-carrying the man as he began to sprint down an alley, away from his pursuer. "Great, one mystery solved, a thousand others and an angry Mandalorian woman to go," Atin cursed.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

Anna was really confident that there was nowhere for Atin to dodge out of her bullet maneuver before realizing that people don't fall into the same hole twice. He just pulled the Rodian with him and laid on the ground backward, essentially nulling her surprise attack just by sleeping.

"Grrr," She growled, trying to change direction and braking with her legs, kicking up a lot of dust into the air. Usually, this move always connects so she never had to consider learning how to properly stop from an overdrive jet boost. When she finally stopped and turned around, the pair were already gone, with a silhouette behind the smoke and dust going into an alley.

"MOVE, people!"

The huntress dismissed the people who were still on the scene while running toward the alley entrance, only to stop and instead opt for an approach from above to avoid tussling in a cramped alleyway. Taking to the sky, she once again searched for the man with her rifle, this time relying on the targeting interface in her helmet.

Atin couldn't run as fast while having the Rodian with him, so he was once again in her sights. Aiming down, she prepared a stun bolt and fired upon him with her sniper rifle.

Ah, yes. The sniper rifle's 'stun bolt'. A lot of people testified that they prefer to just get hit by the normal blaster bolt instead.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

The cloud of dust gave Atin ample cover as he dashed, or more accurately, hobbled away from the Raven, even as she attempted to halt herself and turn. Carrying his Rodian mark, Atin was slowed, severely. Even putting all his strength into every movement, it was still an effort to take even a single step. And the roar of the jetpack behind him told Atin that the Raven was shooting for him.

The man risked a brief look behind himself, but only a brief cloud of dust lingered in the air where he'd expected the Raven to be. Atin was not so foolish as to assume that meant that his pursuer had simply disappeared, and his eyes immediately shot to the sky. Against the narrow strip of grey, cloudy sky, it wasn't hard to see the red armor and flare of Carden's thrusters. "Dank farrik," Atin cursed as his eyes began to search the alley way for a door, anything to duck into.

There.

Atin pushed, driving his legs faster towards the door, skidding to a stop, nearly slamming into the dumpster. His blaster went off, destroying the control panel. The door hissed, sliding open and-

The Raven's stun bolt slammed into Atin's body with more force than anyone could have predicted. Instead of just knocking him onto his ass, the stun bolt rocketed the man to the side, and his body crumpled against the dumpster, before falling limply to the ground beside the captive Rodian, a trickle of bright red blood flowing from the back of his head.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

"Got you,"

Upon hitting her mark perfectly on his back, the huntress quickly descended and stowed her rifle, pulling out her sidearm while walking toward the man on the ground.

"Now get up before I..." She kicked the side of his leg while pointing her gun towards him, but there was no reaction at all. "... hey?"

It was then that she noticed the bleeding coming from his head.

"Dank farrik."

She quickly turned his body upright, hands reaching to his face to check his pupils, shining with the flashlight on the side of her helmet. After realizing that she just had given him a concussion with a potential brain injury, Anna quickly tried to carry him on her side, leaving the Rodian behind. If she could bring him to the ship, emergency medical supplies are available there for her to quickly treat the wound.

Thankfully, her custom fighter wasn't landed far from here. To save time, she took off into the sky using her jetpack. It took extra thrust to even get off the ground, but it was better than dragging this guy around with her small body. Barely landing safely, she set Atin slowly on the ground her ship as she climbed inside to grab a box.

The huntress applied bacta spray to the back of his head, before proceeding to wrap a bandage around to stop the bleeding. After she deemed the procedure enough, Anna took a bedroll out of the side compartment of her ship, resting the man's head above it. Waiting for him to show some signs of consciousness, she stripped him of his weapons.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

A dull throbbing.

It thrummed, sending tendrils of pain out from the back of Atin's skull as came too. A soft groan escaped his lips, and he shifted. The metal, warm from his own body became bitingly cold as he shifted. Atin tried to lift his head, but all his strength seemed to have been sapped away. He lifted a leg, his boot finding some purchase and rolled to the side. A touch to the back of his head, and he felt the rough texture of cloth. When his fingers came away, the faint warmth and wetness of blood went with them.

What happened?

Ah, thats right.

The Red Raven. Anna Carden.

He was on her ship now he guessed. Probably off to get delivered to the family of that girl he'd extricated. Piss poor pay, that one had been. But no one else wanted the job. Good deeds never go unpunished it seemed.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

Around thirty minutes passed. Anna was still keeping her eye on the unconscious man, leaning on her side while tapping her feet on the ground occasionally. She was almost daydreaming before a small groan returned her focus, and Atin was already moving around ever so slightly. The Raven sighed in relief.

"I wouldn't try to get up yet if I were you," She slowly walked up to him, slowly squatting to his side. "Not fatal, but still serious. Don't worry, I have all day." The huntress placed a water container on the ground near him, before getting up.

Making her way to the cockpit, she switched the power of the ship before inputting commands into the interstellar flight computer. Checking routes, safe hyperspace lanes, and the destination, she ignited the engine and let it warm up.

Walking back outside, she leaned once again near the ship ramp.

"We'll probably stop by a doctor first before I bring you in..." The huntress let the man know. If the bacta spray didn't do the job, there might be a high risk of complications happening during the travel back to the bounty commissioner. Delivering a cold dead body isn't exactly her preference.

"... who did you kidnap, anyway? A princess? They put like, gazillion credits on your head, you know." She asked.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

Boots echoing off metal flooring drew Atin's attention, who did his best to look in the direction the sound was coming from. "I wouldn't try to get up yet if I were you," she said as she knelt down by his side. Of course, immediately upon hearing that, Atin tried to get up, only to groan in pain as white light lanced through his vision.

Giving up for the moment, Atin collapsed back onto the floor with a thud. The water can being place next to him at least had him turning to carefully sip from the container. Even that was a painful still, though not blindingly so. He hadn't realized how dry and cracked his throat had become, but the effort it took to drink didn't permit the Mandalorian more than a few sips before he felt the need to lie back down with another groan.

"We'll probably stop by a doctor first before I bring you in..." Carden said as she returned. Atin hadn't realized she'd left, but huffed a response. "... who did you kidnap, anyway? A princess? They put like, gazillion credits on your head, you know."
"Crown princess," Atin amended, a hint of pride in his voice. It was a difficult job, and it'd been clear from the start why most hunters had passed it up, but it turned out greasing the right palms and saying the right things to the right, sympathetic people could help make things go a whole lot smoother.

Too bad the job hadn't paid enough to repair the damage his ship had taken during the escape.

"And I didn't kidnap her." Atin added, letting his eyes shut. The cool darkness didn't hurt as much as the blinding ship lights. "She hired me. Not that you'd care."

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

"Crown princess,"

"A crown princess, great."

Anna rolled her eyes. That explained the hefty price on his head. She was turning back to walk toward the cockpit before he added that he didn't kidnap her.

"She hired me. Not that you'd care."

"Why would she-" Flabbergasted, the huntress paused, processing his words. There's no point in lying about that. The gears in her head turned and turned, as Anna tried to connect the dots with the information that she had. The client was never disclosed, and that big of an amount of credits could only mean one thing. Royalty. "... she wanted to escape?"

One thing still didn't make sense, though. "If they want to know her whereabouts, why would they put a Dead or Alive bounty on your head?" Not that it mattered to most bounty hunters, even if they knew the real story. Job's a job, and money buys silence.

"Kriff it. We're changing routes. I'll get someone who can patch you up." She turned and quickly made her way inside her cockpit, entering a new route on the flight computer.

He was lucky she took this job, meaning no other bounty hunters would come. For a while, at least, before the deadline expires, and she's considered failed. At that point, teams might be looking to pick it up due to the tantalizing amount of reward.

Unless they were already sending hired men in the first place.

The ship took off with a loud noise, before gaining altitude and eventually leaving the atmosphere.

 

[Atin Tracinya]

The confused noises coming from the Raven had Atin rolling his eyes from his reclined position on the floor of the ship. Against his better judgement, a snarky comment was on the verge of being released into the world when instead Carden just asked another question. And then made a surprising statement. "We're changing routes."

If she were looking at Atin right now, she would've noticed the thoroughly surprised look on his face. "Are you sure you're not the one who got hit in the head? Are you brain-damaged?" This time, Atin forced himself to at least prop himself on his arms and look at Carden properly. "You're backing out of the contract?" She already had a price on her head from one Hunter's Guild, but backing out of a contract and pissing off yet another? It was one way to quickly cut off any friends and resources she had to help keep herself alive.

And by extension, Atin at the moment.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya​

"Are you sure you're not the one who got hit in the head? Are you brain-damaged?"

Ignoring the mockery, her eyes were scanning the horizon. "Nope," Upon confirming that they were not followed or spotted, Anna powered up the hyperdrive.

"You're backing out of the contract?"

She paused for a while, noticing the implication of what Atin just said. As a bounty hunter, it's pretty much taboo to abandon the contract halfway, and would definitely set yourself and the target for another open contract. "It just doesn't feel right," The huntress sighed, pressing the button to jump as the hyperdrive came online, before walking back to the holding deck while waiting for the jump to complete.

"Don't worry," Her hand went inside her back pocket, pulling something out. "I'm backed by the Enclave," She showed a recognizable insignia. "The Mandalorian Enclave."

"If we lay low in the Enclave territory for a while, there's no way they are going to risk waging a war with the bunch of us."

Putting the insignia back, she told him her plan while leaning on the ship wall. Soon, the bright lights outside of the ship subsided.

"We're out of the system."

Anna Carden

 

[Atin Tracinya]

Atin's eyes flickered with recognition as the Red Raven flashed the recognizable insignia of the Enclave at Atin. They wandered up to the woman's face, narrowing ever so slightly. "I haven't seen that sigil since I was a child," he murmured. "My family, we were Enclave." His father, his mother, Atin himself, had all been born into the Enclave. Lived and fought for it.

Only his parents died for whatever credits their armors were worth.

"I can't go back," Atin said, lock-jawed as he tried to sit up further. "Not without my family's armor." If it had been melted down and smelted into something else. "And its not like the Enclave stopped me or any of the other hunters coming after you. Not with a bounty as high as yours. Heh, the guilds might actually band together for once, just for your head." Wouldn't that be something? At the end of the day though, sarcastic or not, there was still some hint of truth to what Atin said. No matter who was backing Carden, there would always be some young, foolish hunter, eager to make a name for themselves.

Anna Carden

 

[Anna Carden]

Atin Tracinya
​

She stopped as soon as Atin revealed that not only he was familiar with the sigil, but the man was also part of the enclave. Probably even before she was adopted as a foundling.

"Then the more reason for us to—"

​

"I can't go back,"

"—Why?"

"Not without my family's armor."

Anna almost wanted to refute it, but he was absolutely right. The armor is their religion. Coming back without it is a big dishonor and insult to their culture.

Then, the conversation regarding the Enclave's capabilities came. "Well, they have their reason." She couldn't exactly reveal that the Enclave was preparing their strength for a war against the Galactic Alliance, and that she didn't want them to be concerned with trivial matters such as her bounty. "And it's not like the other hunters know I'm part of the enclave. The only Mandalorian hunting me was outsiders like you." It's not like she flashes her insignia to everyone she meets.

Tapping her beskar boots several times against the metallic flooring of the ship, Anna turned to the man after some deliberation. "Alright, say you got your armor back." There was no guarantee that the armor was still wherever he lost it—it might be already melted, scrapped, or worse, used against their own kind.

"Are you coming back to the Enclave?"

 

[Atin Tracinya]

"Well, they have their reason."
That was possibly the most non-answer answer that Atin could have possibly imagined. The corner of Atin's lips quirked downwards as he frowned at Anna, her vague explanation only creating more questions.

The frown was even worse when she called him an 'outsider'. The man wanted to refute the claim, say he was as much a Mandalorian of the Enclave as she was, but the fact of the matter was, she was right, and Atin knew it. It was why he'd never returned to Enclave space, despite having escaped from captivity years ago.

The metallic tapping of Anna's boot against the floor had lulled Atin in a stuporous state, lost in his own thoughts, so when she suddenly spoke up again, Atin's eyes snapped to her. All to pay attention to one question. "Alright, say you got your armor back, are you coming back to the Enclave?"

Atin looked down again as he thought. Would he go back. He wanted it, more than anything. That much he knew. The Enclave was his home, but a part of him recoiled. The shame, the wounded pride. Would he be welcomed back? Was he even really Mando'ade anymore?

"I...I don't know," Atin finally answered after a moment. "I don't know. I just know I need to get my family's armor first. I'll figure out the rest after that." Atin groaned as he forced himself to stand, leaning against the bulkhead as he did so. "Just drop me off at the first planet with a spaceport. I won't be chasing you anymore, Raven. We can call ourselves even then."

Anna Carden