Two Killers, One Target

[Daniel Tresk]

Well, I never thought Cato Neimodia would be this terrible.

Daniel had just managed to get himself across the border from the One Sith, and surprisingly, he managed to get a contract rather quick. While he doubted he would ever be able to go back to Coruscant thanks to those dark-sider tyrants, he found that this place wasn't much better. The Grand Republic always liked to spout that in their space, every single being had an equal opportunity at a great life. However, if you took one look at Cato Neimodia, you would question that.

On the world, only the richest of the rich could live here, and anybody poorer worked as an impoverished servant. Despite the chaos that reigned in the galaxy, not much had changed on the world since the days of Vader. Dan didn't mind the inequality at first, as it was assured that he would have a hefty payment for his services. The hitmans outlook changed when he actually met his client.
While his client wouldnt reveal his or her name, they somehow managed to act like a total snob. How can you never meet someone person, yet already despise their very existance?

Dan shrugged off his thoughts, as he focused back on his target. He was currently in one of the servants living quarters, taking aim at his target. Apparently, the reasoning for killing this man was over some lover's quarrel or something like that. Daniel didn't really care however, as he was mainly in it for the credits.

"Yes, stand right there..." Daniel muttered to himself as he prepared to take the shot.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Cato Neimoidia, a plant occupied by the richest of the rich, a planet on which great cities were built upon bridges instead of on solid ground. The thought of not having any solid ground to build upon always frightened Kalous--he had been here before during his playing days in the Grav-ball league--but then again his hometown was entirely underwater. It was amazing what modern technology could accomplish when conventional methods were too inexpensive for the super elite of the galaxy.

There was a time when Kalous was on his way to becoming one of these exorbitantly wealthy few--a time that had long passed--and as such he still knew a few people on this planet that could help him with the bounty that he had just been handed. It was a private contract--open to only those whom were invited to it--that he was somehow able to get by pure luck. His luck, however, was simply the notoriety he had begun to garner after the last few jobs he had completed. This job, however, required the mark to be dead for the bounty to be rewarded--something new for Kalous to undertake.

"Okay, here we go," he exclaimed to himself as he began to scale down the side of the building that his bounty was situated in.

The grapnel that Kalous had attached to his left gauntlet was quite handy in a majority of situation and this just happened to be one of them. As for how he found the location; that was a simple matter of looking through the local holo-pages for the address of the registered comm frequency. It was quite shocking how little one so rich cared about other people knowing where they lived. It was almost as if their wealth had blinded them to the fact that they could become a victim of the less fortunate. This less fortunate man--Kalous--was just one with the means and opportunity to strike a deal that could end with him becoming richer than he ever dreamed he could be as a bounty hunter.

Jump, slide, jump slide; Kalous rappelled down the building until he was at the top of the transparisteel window that separated the outside world from that of the bounty he desperately wanted to collect on. He was ready--prepared with his blaster rifle in his right hand--to swing down and burst into the room with as many blaster bolts as he needed to to get this rich bounty on his plate. Patience was key, however, and he simply decided to wait for the most opportune moment to strike. There would always be a distraction...

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

Danie silently waited as he watched his target converse with his guests. Most of the Neimodians there were grinning from ear-to-ear and drinking wine with little caution, except for one woman sitting next to the host. While she was smiling, even Daniel could that she was just putting on a show since company was around. As the other party-goers became inebriated and drunk, the woman began to openly wear her scowl, as she shouted at all the people around her.

For all he knew, she could've been Daniels client, but as he pondered this, he slowly turned his gaze upwards. Through his scope, Dan had a crystal-clear view of a Nautolab sitting on top of a window. He gaped as he saw the weaponry the mysterious intruder was carrying. While Dan came prepared, as he carried two vibroblades, some grenades and an SMG, he was vastly under-equipped compared to this man.

While he wanted to shoot the Nautolan then and there, he knew he might attract the attention of his mark. So, Daniel turned his scope to the target and fired. While his sniper might've been silenced, the sound of breaking glass shattered the still air. Dan calmly watched as the guests screamed in terror as the host writhed in agony and collapsed onto the table. The Neimodian writhed and shrieked in pain, as the others looked on in horror.

While that was good enough for Daniel, as he slid down and remained out of sight, the mark had survived the shot.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Crash! That was the word that Kalous' mind used to describe the window shattering below him. From where the shot came from; Kalous had no idea what had caused the window to break but he did know he had to react quickly before any defensive countermeasures became active. When the sound of the glass shattering hit his senses Kalous pushed of of the side of the building with both feet--his blaster rifle facing toward the wall--before allowing himself to drop down and inside the building. He attempted to disengage his grapnel device, but by the time Kalous had recovered inside of the building, it was too late.

Security measures had begun to take over--heavy durasteel plates sliding where the windows used to be in the room--and all of a sudden Kalous became trapped with his target and a room full of other very rich people. It didn't take long for Kalous to realize that his target had been wounded--probably by whatever broke through the glass--by his yelps of pain and anguish. It was as if someone was trying to make his job easier, or harder, depending on how you looked at things.

"Don't move," he exclaimed as the rest of the inhabitants began to shriek in fear. "Someone needs to turn off these security measures before I start getting angry!"

Kalous was bluffing, of course, because he wouldn't dare harm anyone he wasn't paid to. It was true that his moral system was heavily negotiable but he wouldn't shoot a potential client when he didn't have to. The fact remained that he was trapped in this room--perhaps even the entire building--because someone had decided to take a shot at his target. That also meant that Kalous--yet again--wasn't alone in this hunt. Even now his senses became more aware to that potentiality.

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

Daniel was quietly putting his sniper rifle in its case, when suddenly he heard the sound of screaming and shouting echoing off the metal barriers of the building across from him. " What could...The vapin' Nautolan! SITHSPIT!" He cursed, as he rushed out of the building. The bounty hunter, once out of the dirty hovel that the servants lived in, gazed on the building that held his mark, and heard terrified screams and authoritative commands, coming from presumably his fellow intruder. While durasteel plating may have been sliding down all entryways, it was rather slow. He broke a small window that hadn't been shut out yet and rolled into the building.

Dan fell flat on his face, in what presumably was the maintenence room. Janitorial equipment lined the walls, while a couple electrical boxes lay by the actual entrance. The bounty hunter briskly stood up and walked over to one of those boxes, and tore it open. 4 wires lay inside, colored red, green, blue and purple. He didnt even bother selecting a wire, as he ripped them all out. The lights slowly dimmed before fully shutting down, and the power outage left the security measures half-completed.

Daniel slammed open the door and rapidly ran up the stairs. The screams got closer as he approached a large metal sheet. While it seemed fully closed, a small crack remained open. 'Yes! That's what I'm talking about!' He thought to himself. Dan grabbed two grenades off his belt, a flash bang and a smoke grenade. After that, all he had was a regular explosive. He tossed the flash bang with all his might through the opening, and then slowly rolled the smoke grenade in.

Hopefully, this stunned all people inside, and would allow Dan to sweep in and eliminae his targets.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Trapped, that was the only thing that filled the depths of Kalous' mind. He was trapped like a fish in a bowl and without any recourse to finagle his way out of it. There he was--in a room filled with rich and entitled people of various species and origins. His mind began to slip from the challenge of the bounty to what he could do with all of the funds from the combined people in this room. The problem with Kalous was, of course, that he wasn't a criminal. He was hired to do a job--not an exactly law-abiding job--but it was a job that was inside of a gray area. This gray area belong to a debt collecting crime boss that had hired Kalous to capture this rich scumbag and bring him--or his funds--to clear his debts.

it was with the screams and yells of pain from the injured target that brought Kalous back into reality. He knew he had very little time to find a way to escape with the police on their way. The local security force was extremely well supplied and trained to enforce and protect these affluent citizens of the city that was built on a bridge. It would be minutes--if Kalous was lucky--that would delay the security force from arriving to shoot first and ask questions later. It was when the security measures seemed to halt that Kalous was given a shred of hope in escaping this dreadful situation.

"Up, up up," Kalous quickly exclaimed as he pulled his bounty to his feet by the back of his collar.

With the security measures halted it was obvious that there was someone else after this bounty--after all the shot had to come from someone--but now it was also obvious that they were both trapped in the same building. This realization came at just the right time--as a flashbang was sent rolling into the room through a squeeze that was tight enough to milk a bantha--and Kalous threw himself and his bounty against the wall. It wasn't just the wall that Kalous was using for protection, no, it was the bookcase that was large enough to cover their profiles that satisfied the Nautolan.

Flash, bang, bang, went the first grenade that blinded the room and sent everyone into a frenzied panic. At that moment, Kalous raised his blaster rifle to point at the thread of a crack in the durasteel door that the attack had to have come from. That was when the second grenade rolled in and unleashed a smoke screen in the room. Kalous wouldn't allow [member="Daniel Tresk"] to find a way through the door, however, as he began to fire off controlled bursts toward the opening in the door with his blaster rifle. He didn't know how long he could hold off whoever was coming but he had to hold them long enough to figure out how to get out of this mess without harming any of the other innocents in the room.

"Not today, buddy!"

 

[Daniel Tresk]

Daniel laughed like a delighted lunatic when he heard the screams from inside. It wasn't from the fact he had inflicted untold suffering on his mark, or trapped the Nautolan in a locked room, but merely the fact that he had trapped the two people he wanted dead in one room. He slowly approached the door, and tried to squeeze himself through the hole, only to find it too small and narrow. "Chit, of course it's big enough for a grenade, but not for me! ...Well, that actually is a pretty big difference." Daniel muttered to himself. However, right as he stood up, a blaster hit him square in the foot.

The bounty hunter let a yelp of pain escape his lips, only for him to bite down on the inside of his cheek. His tastebuds were flooded with the taste of blood and iron, as he pressed his fist against the cold walls to take his mind of the pain. Daniel scowled as he heard his fellow criminals voice bellow out from the room. He ran back from the door, after he wedged the last grenade he had in the crack. Dan covered his ears as the explosion shot shards of plate metal out. While durasteel was extremely tough, he only used the finest of weapons on his missions. Daniel rushed in, as stray blaster bolts whizzed by.

It hurt him to put pressure on his foot, but his worth it for the chance to shoot the Nautolan. Dan whipped out his SMG, and while he was extremely inaccurate with it, he hoped that he would land a hit. Daniel fired off blindly into the haze, as a steady stream of lasers illuminates the thick cloud of smoke in the room.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

While Kalous was still fairly well protected by the bookcase which he hid behind; he was surprised at the shock and awe tactic that his opponent had decided to employ. This brash charge was something that took a few moments for Kalous' own mind to recognize--as he had written off the idea was preposterous considering his own steady stream of fire toward the doorway--but this moment of hesitation allowed for blaster bolts to whiz by. These bolts didn't all go harmlessly by Kalous, however, as one grazed the side of his helmet--singeing one of his tendrils--before he decided to employ a drastic maneuver of his own.

"Hold your fire," Kalous exclaimed as he grabbed one of his thermal detonators with his left hand.

Slowly, Kalous waved the explosive out toward the center of the room--still in his hand while the majority of him remained behind cover--to attempt to elicit compliance from [member="Daniel Tresk"]. This was a gamble that he had hoped would work well enough to get at least one of the two out of this engagement alive. The best thing about this whole moment was the realization that Kalous didn't have to bring in his bounty alive--as he was worth almost as much dead--but he had wished he didn't have to kill the stupid, rich, man.

"See this? This is death in the palm of my hand," Kalous began as he pressed his thumb to the activation switch. If his thumb were removed from the switch without reinitializing the safety it would explode. "Now, do me a favor and drop your gun as I can feel about as safe as you do now."

Kalous was only peeking one of his eyes behind the corner of the bookshelf--the bounty still bleeding all over the wall--so that he could see what the other hunter would do. Using his tendrils he would be able to sense the emotional state of the man opposite of him but he wouldn't put anything past the man who decided to charge straight into blasterfire in order to make a point. If the other hostages weren't so terrified they would surely be screaming at the top of their lungs due to their probable doom.