Private Where the Whiskey Drowns

[Wes Perell]

Wes strolled down the street, taking in the bright lights and people milling about. He had experienced a busy past few days on Coruscant. He had met with an old contact in the underworld recently. While Wes was experienced with technology and hacking, he certainly didn't have the capabilities to withdraw large amounts of money discreetly. The contact did, hence why he came here. Nearly all of his financial assets had been frozen as a result of the mess he had found himself embroiled in. With a significant amount of money from one of his investment accounts in his hands, he had what he needed to get off Coruscant. He wasn't sure where he was going, but with news of the scandal making headlines around the galaxy, he figured he'd get out of the core. He heard that there'd been a small bounty placed on him for his fraudulent dealings which was slightly concerning. He thought he might head for the Tingel Arm, but no matter what--anywhere had to be safer than this place.

While laying low was probably the proper move given his circumstances, Wes couldn't resist exploring a little bit before his shuttle departed the next day. So he had decided to roam about and found himself in front of the Dealer's Den. He promised himself he wouldn't gamble. If there was one way for a man of his nature to draw attention it was that, but a few drinks couldn't hurt. So he strolled inside and went up to the bar where he ordered a Corellian whiskey mixed with soda. He glanced over at the gambling tables for a brief moment, before he headed for a booth. He picked one with a good view of the place and took a seat. He had a view of the door, so he could see anyone who entered. Plus more importantly, he also had a good view of the dancers. He sipped his drink and leaned back, relaxing. It had been a stressful past few weeks and he was eager for the chance to just enjoy life and chill, even if it was just for a night.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

One level below, Coruscant

A chime went off, a small nuisance beep at first but it got louder, that is until it became annoying. Finally, he answers after getting fed up with the noise. Looks like a bounty has been issued, apparently for fraudulent procurement of finances. This client had the common sense to provide an image.

The earnings were small but still, a bounty is a bounty, and it is reported to be here on the planet which cut the workload by a fraction. Pulling up the details of exactly who was it he is hunting, and all the conditions attached: Alive and intact.

Diocletian scoffed. Not being able to have any fun with his prey took the excitement out of the hunt for him, but he needed the money so he agreed.

However, this flags up another problem and it's a concerning one and it, unfortunately, involves The Hornet, it’ll be a very snug fit. Space has been a niggling issue that has been thrown into sharp relief.

Luckily he did have his eye on a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle he had found recently as he needed a larger ship, The Hornet is a decent Starfighter but the size of his trusty fighter began to be a problem he could not ignore.

Time is money and there is no time for idling or overthinking about ships, if he remembered correctly there is a Turbolift somewhere to his left, which would get him into the Gambling District.

Diocletian was suddenly very thankful for his helmet because some Sleemo Karker used the Turbolift as an impromptu lavatory and it smelled pungent, he punched in the level number and it rattled upwards, hopefully, without incident. The last time that happened he had to wriggle out between two floors to get free.

As soon as he got to a level without incident, Diocletian stepped into the milling crowds and pushing his way through somewhat indignant passerby's, not impressed at being elbowed aside, not that the Ubesian cared, he is busy and in no mood to deal with anything else but hunting down his quarry.

Let the hunt begin.

 

[Wes Perell]

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Wes was now a few whiskies in and he'd moved from his discreet booth to the railing where he watched the sabacc table with a few other patrons. He'd worn all black in an attempt to fit in with the dark environment. The outfit was about as lowkey as it got for him. He had been watching the table intently for a few minutes now. Most of the players seemed more drunk than he was to be quite honest. The Aqualish at the end of the table was playing particularly poorly. According to his estimate, the guy had lost over half his credits in just a couple hands. He also couldn't help but notice the sabacc pot growing larger and larger after each hand. It was tempting, too tempting.

He strode down to the railing and over to the bar where he ordered yet another drink. Then with his better judgment properly drowned out, he headed for the counter where he bought into the sabacc game. Wes was cheerful and friendly as he set down at the table. No point in being rude to the people he planned on stealing plenty of credits for. Plus the alcohol had certainly helped to lighten his mood. In all honesty, Wes wasn't too worried about getting caught. He had shortened his hair in recent days and stopped shaving. Plus his outfit was more discreet than what he usually wore. It felt good to be at the table again. It'd been a while since he'd played sabacc and even longer since he'd played without cheating. The table felt like home.

Wes's jovial attitude abruptly stopped as he was dealt cards. He resorted right back to his emotionless self. He looked down at his hand and to find he had the six of flasks and fifteen of staves. Twenty-one wasn't a sabacc, but it was good. In a game of only six players, it was likely best. That notion was enough for Wes to throw more money into the middle to put pressure on the other players. He was going to win and if the other players didn't believe him they could pay the price. At this point, Wes had completely lost track of who was coming in and out of the den. He wasn't even watching the dancers anymore. His mind was focused on only one thing: what was happening at the table.

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

The first thing Diocletian noted with growing disdain was the bright colourful lights flashing in repetitive patterns that made something deep in his forehead throb steadily. Some of the neon lightings were broken in just the right way so that the actual messages were lost in translation. One sign read Hoone Cae instead of Holonet Café.

Shoving his way through the streaming crowns while at the same time determinedly ignoring the myriad of street salespeople trying to get him to buy useless garbage that breaks five minutes after purchase, may it be shoddily made blasters, swords and vehicles or some suspicious liquids that were being passed off as legit, the Ubesian slipped out of one overcrowded street mercantile to the next with even more flashing signage and stalls and even more people wanting you to buy some more useless rubbish, what would he want with a face trimmer, he can’t grow facial hair, nor was he interested in an automated condiment dispenser that doesn't seem to work properly.

<“No way, no dice.”> Diocletian replied rather coldly to a Rodian with a box of what looked like boxes of pills that were some strangely named miracle cure for something or other. <“Get out of my way before I make you.”>

She backed off at the threatening tone in his voice, good.

Timeshare salespeople, miracle cure peddlers and MLM recruiters were some of the biggest nuisances, it is so easy to get railroaded into joining but a pain in the backside to get out of. They just keep coming, one after the other with even more determination in getting him to buy something stupid or useless. Really, why would he need a beard trimmer, he is incapable of growing facial or body hair.

Eventually, Diocletian escaped and wound up in the vicinity of the Den. Looking up he could just about decipher the blinking light.

The crowds became clumpier and more of a hassle to get through, so the only sane option was to duck inside the building, lest he gets rammed up against some slob with personal hygiene problems.

Shaking his head at all the nonsense from outside, he went to grab a well-deserved drink from the bar, he leaned up against it watching what was going on much like a predator looking for prey, the hot spring of a brewing headache began to subside in the saner light of the place.

 

[Wes Perell]

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Wes won his first hand and continued to play. The results from his subsequent hands were mixed. He won some and lost some, but maintained a slight profit on the session. While he occasionally glanced around in between hands, his attention was still heavily focused on the game at hand. He had no idea Diocletian had walked in. Not that he was really worried about anyone bothering him at this point. He'd been in here for a couple hours now and nobody had noticed him. He was feeling confident that his cover was solid, granted that may have just been the alcohol talking. He really only paused from his game to have one of the wait staff bring him more drinks.

They returned with the whiskey that they'd had to make from the bar, near where Diocletian was located. Wes took a sip and stared down at a particularly interesting hand, the demise and The Idiot. When Wes got to take his first turn, he quickly swapped out the demise for the two of coins and protected The Idiot. Under normal circumstances, he would have never made that choice. He knew the odds of him landing a three of coins was less than two percent and if he didn't land that three...well, his hand was completely worthless. In a game where the goal was to get as close to twenty-three, being left with a score of two was certain doom. Anyone at the table would have been able to beat him. But these weren't normal circumstances, he was drinking and he'd played for over an hour without making any substantial financial gains. The sabacc pot had been steadily growing while he played around with lesser hands. If luck existed, he was way too certain it was on his side and this would be his chance to shine.

The game went around the table as other players made their decisions. When it came back to Wes, he didn't need to think. He was drawing and praying for that miracle three. Instead, he found himself holding the eleven of sabres. He silently cursed his luck. It was a stupid play to be frank and he knew it. He tossed his cards towards the dealer and stood up from the table. He was clearly frustrated, it was a rare show of emotion. Wes likely wasn't finished playing, but having lost a significant amount of credits on that hand he needed a break. He'd head for the refresher and then maybe get more to drink before he gave it another go.

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

Finally, the blinking light-induced headache subsided into a barely noticeable twinge. Now he can focus on the job at hand. Hunting Bounties. Diocletian declined to join any of the tables, his knowledge of the Sabacc game was severely lacking, he knew only the barebones basics of how it is played. He left that to the patrons as he'll get absolutely lost within the first ten minutes of the game, to him every card looked identical.

You could give a whole boxset of Holovids on how the game was played with annotations, Ubenial sign language and a booklet and Diocletian would still not get his head around it.

He absolutely would rather be here in this hole in the wall than back outside being pestered by Salespeople, it took every ounce of willpower not to run them through with his Vibrosword. That would chuck any ounce of discretion out of the proverbial airlock in a heartbeat.

So he settled on watching each table carefully. Movement at the farthest Sabacc table caught his attention, his cold gaze fixed on the lone man heading towards the Refreshers, his gut was telling him that this could be who he was assigned to capture, he got up from his spot on the bar and heading towards the direction of the Refreshers, making sure not to be noticed because that'll give away the fact he's been tailing someone then the element of surprise would be lost.

Too easy, he thought as he stalked towards the target, his concentration broke when he found himself getting snarled up in a patron jam, where a group of people clump together in a Cantina or another public space in the most infuriating manner possible. Apparently one of the dancers' dances lured a group of 19 patrons, who were drawn to her like one giant magnet and he ended up getting stuck within it, booze sloshing as they marched.

Oh vey, The Ubesian thought in irritation at the sheer stupidity of the situation.

After what seemed like forever he pushed his way out, ignoring slurred complaints from the few he pushed onto their backsides. Whatever, they'll live, that's a courtesy he was willing to give right now as he had something important to do and he had no time for gawking at a T'wilek or any other dancer for that matter.

Finally reaching his spot in the far wall where he was in an optimal position so he can both remain unnoticed by anyone and still be able to observe the Sabacc table in question.

 

[Wes Perell]

Wes was lucky enough to stroll into the refreshers just before the crowd formed. Not that he minded the crowds, it was why he had came to a place like this. The more people milling about the easier he could hide. He only spent a few minutes in the refreshers, because he didn't want to miss too many hands. He just needed a second to compose himself and hopefully play better. Afterwards, he emerged and moved his way through the crowd. He'd had plenty of experience with crowds, so navigating through it wasn't too much of a challenge. He went to the bar and ordered a Corellian reserve. The bartender eyed him over before pouring the drink. Wes put plenty of credits on the counter, more than enough to cover the cost of the expensive drink. Frugality wasn't his strength and while this one night out wouldn't burn through all of the credits he'd obtained earlier, between the drinks and sabacc, his bill was certainly getting rather large.

With his high quality brandy in hand, he headed back over towards the sabacc table he had been playing at earlier. He carefully made his way through the crowd, determined not to spill the drink. His attention continued to be very focused in on what he was doing. Under usual circumstances, he might have noticed the Ubese. They weren't a particularly common sight, but this den was full of a wide variety of people, so it wasn't too unusual to see one. As he walked back over to the sabacc table, the Aqualish he had been playing with made a comment about taking a lot of his credits in the previous hand. It was clearly meant to be a joke and under different conditions Wes might have brushed it off, but at this point it only enraged him further. He needed to get his money back and then some.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

A loud voice rang out across the Den.

"There was a line, the left side was mine, the right yours."

"You ordered the same thing I did."

"My whiskey was on MY side, you drank it on Purpose!"

"Liar!"

"Pit almighty you Humans are so pedantic and always wanting to start arguments....."

Diocletian inwardly grimaced in irritation as his line of sight was obscured by two idiots arguing over who drank who’s drink, the usual song and dance. Diocletian rolled his eye at the whole thing, why bother trying to start a fight when you can’t even walk in a straight line without falling over your own feet.

The Ubesian tuned out the ever-increasing volume of the brewing argument.

Fortunately, the bickering idiots and some of the crowds thinned and moved away a bit allowing a temporary breathing space, that's when he spots Wes returning from the Refreshers, ordering another drink and then, went back towards the Sabacc table, doesn't look like the Human is very observant of his surroundings at present, it looked like someone made a wisecrack joke and the Human wasn't impressed by it, even the Ubesian didn't find it amusing, but then again he didn't find most things at all funny anyway. His mother called him a sourpuss more than once.

So Diocletian stayed where he was at least until he was able to single out Wes and get him on his own, which may not be too much trouble. The nagging at the back of his head suddenly and quite rudely reminded him of The Hornet's cramped cargo capacity and the gauntlet of relentless pestering outside. He'll deal with that when he captures his Bounty, not before although he did notice a bright poisonous green sign that read: EXIT to the left of the refreshers, how convenient.

Anything to avoid going through all that nonsense again.

 

[Wes Perell]

Wes sat down at the sabacc table and played a few more hands. They were mediocre. He was able to bluff some opponents off the hand and win once, but followed it up by losing the next few hands and with it quite a few credits. He was playing very average sabacc and it was frustrating. Especially against a group like this, they were recreational players, not professionals.

The next hand Wes found himself staring at the fifteen of staves and seven of swords. It wasn't a sabacc, but it was very good--good enough that was threw more chips into the pot forcing other players to get out or pay more. He was ready to make bank. Then the sabacc overseer signaled a reshuffle. It was typical for sabacc, but in his drunk state, Wes hadn't anticipated it. He was about to curse his luck until he looked down at an eleven and twelve of coins. His luck was unbelievable. He'd stumbled into a pure sabacc and better yet--none of the players would anticipate him having it after the shuffle. He played it slow the next couple of minutes, calling a raise from the aqualish and otherwise sitting tight. The hand ended and he revealed his hand, much to the shock of other players. With smart play, he may have even won more chips, but in the moment, he didn't care. He'd won the normal pot and the sabacc pot. He'd recouped all his losses and won more on top of that. It was a miracle.

He took his winnings to the desk, where he cashed out and received significantly more credits than he'd paid in. In reality, he was lucky. That didn't stop him as taking it as a sign he was a better sabacc player than the galaxy believed though. He made his way towards the exit shortly after.

He stumbled out onto the street. There were numerous vendors out and about trying to sell him items, but he ignored them and started to head towards where he was staying. Drunk and overjoyed at his skill, he was ready to leave Coruscant the next morning. He had no idea he was being followed or that anyone had noticed him. He was smiling as he wandered about the streets, his awareness severely incapacitated by his drunken state.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

Diocletian discreetly followed Wes out the door and into the streets, pushing a few vendors aside, he was a man on a mission, and he had no time to be pestered by anyone again. Despite all the people milling around aimlessly, he could track Wes through the streets without being spotted.

The Ubesian’s concentration was almost lost when he spotted a rather vulgar sign to his left, not that that was anything surprising, after all this isn’t the most glamorous part of Coruscant. This almost cost him his Bounty as he almost lost track of Wes in the streams of people. Undeterred the Ubesian kept shoving his way through regardless.

After a few minutes, visual contact with his target was restored and he pressed on, shoving past a few Rodians who decided to start a conversation slap bang right in the middle of the street. Some people can pick the worst times to be social and this was one of those times. The resulting complaints fell on deaf ears, it is their fault for standing there like an inconvenient blockade blocking his way.

Judging from how Wes was walking, the high-end brandy had severely reduced any awareness or equilibrium he might have had, although Diocletian suspected there were more drinks consumed before this one. No matter, this was proving to be an easy capture, again ignoring the incessant pestering from the MLM recruiters wanting him to join their stupidly unsustainable companies, scented candles, really in a place like this?

<"Move, now!"> He hissed at a young woman who is holding a box of candles to his face, she quickly got out of the way, and he pressed forward. But there were still too many potential witnesses to hinder the required discretion for the job.

He just needed Wes to go somewhere with fewer people, which he seemed to have done, the Human had ducked into an alleyway, Diocletian smiled a hidden smile. This a lucky break indeed, no witnesses and no likelihood of alerting CorSec to his activities. That is something he didn't want to deal with again.

If he remembered correctly, this alleyway did have an exit to the far right of where they are now which made it a priority to capture Wes before the Human cottoned on to said exit.

Diocletian was now near enough to strike with a punch to the head.

 

[Wes Perell]

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Wes stumbled into a dark and isolated alleyway. He took a few steps in before he stopped. It took him a moment to realize that this wasn't the way he'd came to the den and that he had gotten off track. He glanced around at his surrounds, but it was much darker and harder to see than on the main street. There weren't bright and flashy signs lighting up the surroundings. Best that he could tell, the only thing that had any business wandering down this alley was waste collection droids. He did notice a few lights a ways down the alley to the right, it looked like there might be an exit there. He didn't bother venturing father forward to explore that though. He figured it would be best to just get back onto the main street and head back to the hotel the same way he had came.

He turned around and saw an interesting looking man standing behind him. The man was quite close to him. Under different circumstances, he might have found his clothing odd, but not right now. Wes had no experience with Ubese and didn't recognize the armor. Plus he'd been wandering around crowds with weirdly dressed people all night. Despite coming face to face with his follower, he was still unaware of the situation. He gave a slight smile of acknowledgement to the man and then attempted to walk past him and head back out on to the street. He was still focused on finding his way home.

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

Diocletian didn't smile, what was the point, Wes couldn't see it even if he dignified the Human with one. He moved to block Wes's exit routes, this is far too easy, even so, he still needed to have his wits about him though. Capturing anyone in a small enclosed space had its own set of issues, lack of space was just one of these things that are now glaringly obvious, not ideal for melee weaponry or rifles so it means if need be a handheld blaster could become rather useful.

Hopefully, he didn't have to waste any plasma bolts on the Human. Also, there could be a very real possibility that Wes is also carrying a weapon of some kind on his person, well you'd be very remiss not to arm yourself especially down here. But time is of the essence and he needed to finish up so he can get paid and move on to the next Bounty without any more trouble and sidetracks.

The Bounty conditions merit repeating at least three more times as to not get the temptation to play with his prey:

Capture only, no killing and no wounding. Although Wes may have a few sore joints from being placed or stuffed into The Hornet's cargo hold. He will absolutely be getting that Lambda-class T-4a, even if it meant he had to steal one if he can't buy one.

Diocletian grabbed at Wes as soon as the Human was near enough to grab at and knock out if his fist lands on the intended target's head mind you.

 

[Wes Perell]

Wes tried to leave the alley, but the mysterious and armored man got in his way. He was still unsure what was going on. While his gear indicated otherwise, he still wondered if this might be a mugger. A low life scum on Coruscant just trying to survive by stealing from people. If this person had followed him from the den, he probably knew that he had a significant amount of credits on him. Still overconfident from everything that occurred earlier, Wes felt like he was more than capable to deal with the threat.

After moving to block his exit, the hunter tried to grab and strike him. Wes tried to dodge the blow, but only did so somewhat successfully. The fist glanced off his head. It fortunately wasn't enough to knock him out, but it still hurt. He staggered backwards and further in the alley from the strong blow. It stung a bit, but adrenaline was starting to take over and the pain didn't bother him too much.

"You don't want to mess with me," he said, issuing one final warning to this man.

As he staggered back, Wes's hand still had time to reach into his dark jacket. He fumbled around for a small concealed pistol he carried on him quite frequently. He wasn't used to dealing with bounty hunters, but he had experienced his fair share of underworld scuffles. He wasn't a violent person, but at the same time he certainly wasn't afraid to put a bullet in this man. Especially if he continued his attack and ignored Wes's warning.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

That failed, strange usually a blow to the head often does the trick, but this Human in his impaired state managed to dodge his punch, more or less. So here he is having to reform a different strategy in capturing Wes.

Diocletian smiled a cold smile, hidden behind his mask. Sounds like a challenge, well it is now. All discretion flew out the window as the first plan didn't seem to work so onto the backup plan of stunning Wes instead as there is a setting for that on his own blaster he in the heat of the hunt forgot about.

<"Apparently you are not in any shape to threaten me, Human."> He replied, voice cold as ice. Every fibre of his being is resisting the urge to ignore the Bounty conditions and play a little with the Human. Finally beating back that instinct he primed his weapon to stun, it was all very remiss of him not to do something like this first.

Quickly drawing his blaster set on stun he aimed and fired at Wes, this is the least violent solution he could think of on the fly at this point as he knew he would have to resort to crippling the man.

 

[Wes Perell]

Wes still felt a slight pain from the hunter's blow. He had been in his fair share of fights and knew how to take a blow, even in this condition. He listened as the man responded. He didn't entirely comprehend what the man said, but he took it that he wasn't complying with his demand to stand down. His icy tone alone suggested as much. Clearly, this person wasn't as cheerful and easygoing as Wes. It was a shame. Perhaps in a different life they could have been friends. Unfortunately, he would have to pay for that.

"You should've listened when you had the chance," he said, chuckling.

His voice was dripping with overconfidence at this point. His mind still hadn't comprehended that this wasn't an ordinary street thug. He pulled the blaster out of his cloak and fired a handful of shots at the man. Due to the small size of the blaster, it wasn't particularly powerful or accurate. It was only meant to be used as a last result. Most of the shots he fired missed and the few others were unlikely to pierce any strong armor. As he fired the shots, his focus was solely on what he was doing; he barely noticed the hunter draw his weapon. While he may have been able to partially dodge a punch, dodging a blaster's stun bolt wasn't in the cards. The hunter's pristine accuracy resulted in the blast hitting him in the chest and he crumpled onto the floor of the alley.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

A few of the shots did hit him, they hurt more than they did any damage, Diocletian hissed an expletive that was barely audible over the clamour of the busy streets. But thankfully his stunner worked and Wes went down. Why did he not do this in the first place? No matter, Wes is stunned and unhurt. The trickiest part is to get the Human back to The Hornet. Lifting Wes over his shoulder, Diocletian took the back alleys to avoid crowds of curious denizens and CorSec patrols. Obviously, he had to tell a few lies here and there to prevent unwelcomed questioning.

After traversing the catacomb-like alleys he reached the Turbolifts, pressing the down button towards the lower levels he wondered idly if the 'stand off' would have been better if there was more fighting but Hunters cannot be choosers. Chosiness gets one killed or out of a job, sometimes in reverse order.

So the rest of the walk to his ship is rather uneventful, although when he arrived the Ubese now faced that same problem that had been nagging him rather snidely about; how is he going to fit someone like Wes into the cargo hold without either sawing limbs off or stuffing Wes in with a bit of force which could also damage his prize and ship.

So the latter was the less tiresome option so after a while, the Bounty was in the hold all limbs intact, there is going to be some very sore joints for Wes as there had to be a bit of awkward positioning of arms and legs.

Slamming the hatch closed and securing the latches, the task is complete and Diocletian is ready to head off towards the Bounty Office off-world and claim his payment. After taking off from where he had hidden The Hornet, he set the Hyperspace drive to the desired coordinates and took off his helmet once the atmosphere was suitable enough.

Those scorch burns hurt, they hurt enough to warrant minor medical attention while in transit.

 

[Wes Perell]

Wes started to awaken as the ship started to take off. The stun blast had only subdued him temporarily. He didn't remember a whole lot of the encounter and his head hurt--a lot. He'd hit his head pretty hard on the alley floor when he fell from the stun blast. He reached up to feel it and was almost certain it was bruised a bit. It wasn't a major injury, it would heal eventually, but right now it left him in a lot of pain.

More troubling than that though were his surroundings. He was wedged in a tight and dark space. He wasn't usually claustrophobic, but being stuck in here certainly made him feel that way. He could feel the ship moving a bit, so he was certain he was in a vehicle of some sort. Whether it was a speeder or a spaceship, he wasn't sure. He tried to shift his weight and move around, but it was difficult. His legs were already starting to feel numb due to his cramped condition. He tried to feel along the sides of the compartment he was in for and openings or ways to get out, but he couldn't detect anything. All the hinges and latches were likely on the outside.

Feeling like his other options were exhausted, he decided to bang on one of the walls on the compartment and started shouting "Help!" He had no idea if anybody would hear him or help, but it was worth a shot.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

The streaks of hyperspace flew by in a monotonous dance, each star streak the same as the last. Diocletian had just finished tending to the scorch marks left from Wes's handheld blaster, they won't scar but they will hurt for a few days. He had to admit the whole hunt has been rather fun when he thought about it.

If he heard Wes banging, he didn't show it, he is not about to pop out of Hyperspace to deal with a captive, that will be done at the Office. Restraining Wes won't be a challenge, Diocletian has got plenty of heavy-duty ties in a pouch on his belt, next to the retractable Vibroknives and the thumb-sized things he has forgotten the name of.

He stiffened as he put a hand in his pocket and pulled out three scented candles. Fething Gundarks he actually ended up buying something, strange he doesn't remember buying them.

Oh marvellous, those salespeople have done it again, they got him to buy something utterly inane. The Ubese had to laugh at that, they are getting better at pestering, either that or he slipped a bit.

His computer beeped alerting Diocletian to the proximity to his destination, it didn't seem to take any time at all. So now the landing procedures have been engaged to make a decent landing although there is another alert flashing at him, something about rough atmospheric turbulence.

This is nothing The Hornet couldn't handle, it's been in far worse than atmospheric turbulence and only needed some repairs.

 

[Wes Perell]

After a few moments of banging and shouted, Wes gave up on anybody coming to help him. Either there was nobody around to hear him or those that were around were completely uninterested. He dejectedly sighed before trying to find a way to comfortable rest in his tight space. He didn't feel good no matter how he sat. The darkness also didn't help. He couldn't see anything and it was disorienting. Part of him wanted to sleep, but he knew that was unlikely given how uncomfortable of a position he was in. The likelihood of him sleeping was further decreased as he felt a noticeable shift in the ship's flight pattern. What had been a very smooth flight until this point changed drastically. The ride became much rougher and his discomfort was increased even further as his joints banged against the side of the tiny compartment he was in.

Perhaps the one positive of this journey was that Wes was much more aware than he had been earlier. His head still hurt, but the intoxicated state he had been in previously had worn off. It was possible he would be able to put up more of a fight now and get away. He tried to feel around and see if he still had any weapons on him that might be useful, but it was difficult for him to tell given the cramped quarters. Weapons or not, he was unhappy about the situation and he would give it his all to escape when he got the chance.

Diocletian Kahmen’’a

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

After punching in an often rehersed sequence into the dashboard in preparation to land Diocletian steered The Hornet to the nearest landing pad, the Bounty Office is north from here. Soon he landed the ship and took a moment to wonder how to get Wes to the Bounty Office without any hiccups and a prolonged chase through the local town.

He pulled out three zip ties from a compartment above his head, they are useful when physically crippling a captive isn't possible or allowed. Binding was the only compromise the Office and the Ubese were willing to agree on. Usually, these are Bounties that were wanted alive and unharmed.

<"These ought to do the trick."> Diocletian says after a long silence.

This also leads to another problem, what if Wes is no longer incoherent? The best bet, if that is now the case, the plan is to unlatch the hold and grab the Human quickly and restrain him long enough to bind his arms together.

After a few minutes, The Hornet landed with a less than graceful bump and Diocletian put his helmet back on as the cockpit filtered in the atmosphere from outside. Once completed he opened the canopy and jumped out heading for the cargo hold door.

Unlock latches and grab Wes in a firm grip and hands bound with zip ties and that was hopefully the plan, if that fails, stun Wes again. The latches to the hold door were unlatched one by one with a loud clicking noise and a few rays of light began to shine through.

<"C'mere.">