Welcome to the Dschungel. [Bounty]

[Neskar A'toll]

The jungle was teeming and thriving full of various types of flora and fauna, both as deadly as each other. It was a large planet; in it was contained multiple ecosystems, in these ecosystems, nearly all wished you dead. A perfect place then, for a bounty hunter and a mercenary of the likes of Neskar.

For this assignment, he had to go to the frozen wastes, north of the planet, to seek out the Atrisian Arctic Tiger. Unharmed. Alive. Those wasn't specifically his speciality but he could adapt. He would adapt, he decided, as he sat in the cockpit of the small craft he had taken to Atrisia. Humidity: 50%. Temperature: 28C. Grrreat. Remind me not to take a holiday here. The craft soared lazily across the clear blue sky, and the emerald jungles zipped below the craft at a great speed. Giant cataracts could be seen out the cockpit window, thrashing wildly and wonderfully, the froth of the pale water almost powder-like, and it smashed against the jagged and harsh tears in the cliffs with vigour and violence, erupting further spouts of water, which continued down the fast-flowing slimmer of a river below, angling and curving in all manners of shape and size, contracting and expanding as naturally as can be. The jungle revealed this as to incite intrigue to passing travellers, and concealed more wonders of a vast amount, so that only those with intrepidness in their mind may find them. This place, he determined, was not where he would find the elusive arctic tiger. Just his luck. And so, with a heavy heart, he tapped in co-ordinates for the polar regions, to determine where and when he would this beast, and how specifically he would bring it in, unharmed. The idea of a stunning weapon flashed through his mind, and he considered it for a moment, but he then realised that the resulting stun may harm the beast more than stun it; it could burn the pelt, reducing the value. That wouldn't be good. Money was all he lived for. He continued to ponder potential plan whilst the craft soared through the steamy air towards the polar caps, and so he waited. And waited. And preyed.

 

[Valarr Vaelaros]

fuck delete fuck

 

[Neskar A'toll]

Huh. The cold winds whipped around outside his beskar'gam, and Neskar knelt near to the ground and examined the tracks with a jaded eye. It had gone this way, but the tracks would soon be swept over by more snow drifts. He had to move quickly in order to catch this beast. And the beast would be large, he reckoned. If the bounty was worth it, he would have to harvest a large beast, as large as he was, or even more. His frame was tall, but he still moved quickly. He would have to. No jetpacks, it would scare the tiger away. He hoped the snow would relent, else this particular beast would be forever lost to him. Well, until he found the tracks again, but that would mean a detour of several days, and he did not want to be stuck on Atrisia for more than one day. He had heard the horror stories. The tracks led up a sharp mound, slick with ice and snow. He would have to find another way around.

And he did. At the side of the mound, an almost stair-like array of ice blocks allowed him to scrabble up the cliff at speed, and with aid from his heat-monitoring buy'ce, he located some major heat-expelling lifeforms across the plateau at the top of the mound. There was no life-forms past this one. This was it, he assumed, the tiger which had eluded him for so long.

 

[Neskar A'toll]

Blood. It smelt, despite the cold. He could smell it from his position. It was there. The tiger. Alive, you fool. Stun it. He instinctively went to the baton at his side, which at a touch whirred with electric volt and current, poised to strike at the tiger which was there. There! In front of him, though he could not see it clearly with the naked eye. Its fur was superbly camouflaged with the winter environment, and it was as still as the ice that stood around it. It was in a large crevice of the glacier, that was large enough for two grown men to stand side by side, and it saw Neskar. But it did not know that he could see it. Just how he wanted it. He was completely still, gripping the electric stun baton, as long as any sword when elongated, and was silently stalked, running his eyes through his visor at the beast. He could see it. Infra-red vision. A necessity when hunting. And it was stellar in this occasion. The beast was a scorching red to the pitch black of the ice around it. The tiger was as big as he, though it almost seemed scared of him. It should have been. Two days and two nights of stalking this very beast. Little sleep. Constantly moving. The hunt was always on. And he had found it. And now it was time.

He lunged. The baton pierced the air, as did the roar of the tiger. The beast dived at Neskar, claws flicked out with a killer instinct. And it became a blur. The two rolled with each other, exchanging deadly blow for deadly blow, tit for tat all the way, but the beast let down its guard for one, perilous moment, when it hung on the very verge of ending Neskar's life, poised above him, teeth bared. But the beast did not see the baton. The stunning weapon was thrust upwards, into the ribcage of the beast. It juddered violently, and went limp, falling on top of him with a heavy crunch. Neskar cursed, but carefully carried the subdued body of the beast back out of the crevice, and to the waiting ship. The bounty was done, and the credits would be delivered.