Ask The Bounty and the Slave

[Param Vour]

A slaver underground. That’s all Mytaranor was. There was even a council born from the booming slave trade that happened on the planet. Param was after the head of the snake; she was after the council and it’s hordes of slavers that refused to see the lives they were taking.

Param exited her ship, clad in her hooded tan poncho, black long sleeve shirt and brown, tight leather pants. At her left hip sat an echani war sword, the only weapon on her person. What she would give to wear a dress again. The dyed brown hair she had draped over her shoulders and down her back, kept by pins from her silver echani eyes. They were the only thing to give her away; her skin was tanned, her hair was dyed, and even her clothing was no longer monochromatic.

“I don’t see an appoint for your ship,” the port woman said. She looked both at Param and the datapad in her hand frantically. Param understood. One mistake under the wrong influence could mean death. Param was determined to not let that be a reality. A warm smile spread across Param’s lips.

“I don’t have an appointment, but I really need to see the Mytar Crew,” Param said. The dock woman looked shocked for a moment, gaining her composure before speaking.

“Um, I don’t know what you-“

“Let’s pretend you do,” Param said, keeping her warm smile. Her silver eyes fixed on the woman’s blue eyes and said anything but what Param said. “I need to speak with them, and for that I need to get into the settlement.” The woman was taken aback for a moment, but resigned to realizing Param was much more than she appeared to be and let her through.

Param made her way down the halls, trying to pick up any sense of the Mytaranor Council, or crew, as she had mentioned. They were a secret sort, so she resorted to reaching out with the Force. Slaves where brought, kept, and sold here, and she was determined to end that line. Even if it took scouring the entire planet by foot.

@René

 

[Haela Iskall]

Greed. The whole planet stank of it, from the rampant industrial mining operations polluting the atmosphere to the slaving business behind it. Greed, which made the disgusting council that ran Mytaranor believe it was okay to exploit and sell other sentient beings like they were nothing but cattle. Greed, which inspired dishonorable bounty hunters to abandon the legitimacy of their business in favor of kidnapping innocent civilians and selling them to the degenerate slavers. Bounty hunters like the Trandoshan brothers Trarrsk and Taqzic Ssevvel, who'd abducted over 20 Wookie teenagers from Kashyyyk and brought them here to be sold as workers.

Haela couldn't have been more happy to accept the bounty on the two. They detested the warped perception most Trandoshans seemed to have of hunting, and abducting kids was already a line crossed. Participating in the slave trade was just digging the hole deeper. The Tiefling supposed it didn't hurt that they'd never gotten along with the brothers either.

Maybe that's why they stood with their back to the wall in the Mytaranor Council's complex, peering around the corner with a pistol drawn in each hand while the two brothers taunted her.

"Come out come out wherever you are, Red!" Trarrsk hissed from the end of the hallway, brandishing a chainsword. His brother Taqzic walked slowly next to him, a BM-548 blaster held up and at the ready.

"What's the problem, Trarrsk?" Haela called out in response, their mind searching for a way out of this mess. They hadn't planned for both brothers to be here, and the situation had gotten out of hand quite quickly. "Lost your touch after getting used to chasing defenseless kids?" The Trandoshans were getting closer, and the Tiefling still didn't have a plan. If they were getting to leave this place, they needed to go down that hallway towards the entrance; they doubted they'd be slippery enough to get past both brothers though. Spray and pray say starting to look like the only option left, as bad as it was.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Signs and context clues had brought Param, finally, to the Council complex. It wasn’t the largest complex, but it was still much larger than most complexes that slaving rings tended to stay in. Most liked to hide, or be small enough that wandering eyes would just pass over without a second thought. Not here. These people were proud of this building. Proud of the legacy of torment, pain, and strife that it caused on the millions of people sold and traded as objects within it.

Once inside the complex, Param found herself wandering through the halls until shouts caught her attention. In front of her were two Trandoshans, and they seemed to be looking for someone. It was too late for Param to sneak by unnoticed, as she had turned a corner within ten feet of the two. Both turned toward her, lizard teeth barred in what she could only assume was attempted grins.

“Look at this one!” One said. Parama titled her head, giving the lizard a quizzical look. This one? Who exactly were they looking for and why was Param associated with them? It took only a second to remember Trandoshans had a long history of slaving, especially Wookiees, and that both the two Trandoshans and Param herself were in a complex known for the trading of slaves. Whoever they were looking for was irrelevant now, as it was clear they were slavers.

Param’s thumb pressed against the circular guard of her war sword, unseating the curved blade from the scabbard. Her right hand drew the sword, angling the tip toward the two lizards, her left hand joining her right on the hilt. The quizzical look was replaced by a deadpan, her emotionless silver eyes fixed on the Trandoshan with the chainsword.

“Five seconds,” Param said calmly. “You have five seconds to lay down your arms and rethink your slave-running lives.”

@René

 

[Haela Iskall]

"Look at this one!"

Haela had been only seconds away from turning the corner and pressing down the triggers on their blasters until their ammo ran out, but it sounded like someone else had caught the brother's attention. Maybe the distraction provided by the newcomer's presence would be enough to surprise the Trandoshans? The Tiefling sneaked the slightest of looks around the corner, barely making out the figure of a woman threatening the two slavers with her hand on a sword.

Now this Haela could work with.

"Five sssecondsss?" the Trandoshan, Trarrsk, hissed in reply. Both brothers made a horrible raspy sound that the bounty hunter could only assume was laughter, looking back and forth between each other and the woman in front of them. "Aww Taqzic, Look how cute it is—!"

Given the tone with which the newcomer had given her warning, the Tiefling doubted she'd be hesitating; and with the Trandoshans' attention on her, they were free to blitz them without warning from the other side. Haela's pistols had already slipped into the hoslters that hung from each waist in favor of drawing the thermic greatsword they carried on their back. They now held the advantage, which meant they could afford to go for quieter kills.

Haela whipped around the corner, running at full speed before dropping into a half-kneeling slide and slashing at Taqzic's hamstrings before spinning back up to a standing position in front of the Trandoshan and driving their sword firmly through his chest as he fell to the ground. Assuming the newcomer had dealt with his chainsword-wiedling brother, the bounty hunter turned to face the woman with their sword held horizontally at shoulder height in a ready stance.

"I have to presume you're not here to drop off any slaves if these assholes didn't recognize you." Haela stated in a wary tone, yellow eyes gesturing over to the Trandoshan brothers. "But then again, you can never be too careful. What's your business here?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

How cute it was. Param’s expression didn’t betray her disgust with the two lizards. It stayed a perfect deadpan, her silver eyes fixed on the chainsword wielding Trandoshan. Their laughter and taunting had cost them their five seconds. More than that, it had cost them any advantage they may have had.

A Tiefling appeared from behind one of the Trandoshans, using a thermic greatsword to cut his hamstrings and end him with a thrust through the chest. Param was amazed at the speed with which they could wield a greatsword like that. The largest weapon the Echani had were their double-bladed ritual brands, and Param had always found those to be a little too unwieldly for her liking. Still, there would be time enough to admire the beauty in a swift, and silent strike.

Param lunged forward, driving her curved sword upwards through the arm of the chainsword wielding lizard just as he raised it up. Before he could even roar, scream, of squeek, Param ripped the blade downward, then twisted her arm. A slash upwards followed by a quick slash downward cut the second brother down in a matter of a couple of seconds. Param watched the light fade from his eyes as he looked up at her and bled out, wondering if he still thought it was cute covered in his blood.

A voice took Param’s attention, her silver eyes meeting a pair of yellows. The Tiefling, despite helping a moment ago, looked ready as ever. The wary tone and the questioning made it clear. Trust hadn’t been earned yet. Param was okay with that, it was mutual. For all she knew, the Tiefling was just another slaver who happened to be rivals with the two Trandoshans.

“I’m here to put an end to the industry, not add to it,” Param said bluntly. Her expression was still deadpan, and her sword was still in her right hand and ready at her side. “I was hoping to cut off the head of the snake alone, and let the rest fight themselves to extinction but I ran into them.” Param’s silver gaze fell to the Trandoshan brothers. “And you?”

@René

 

[Haela Iskall]

Haela listened to the newcomer's explanation with an unflinching expression, only slightly lowering their sword as the woman alluded to killing who the bounty hunter could only assume were the council members who ran the planet. This turn of events was certainly a lucky break, and one Haela didn't intend to waste with needless hostility.

"We share a similar goal then." the Tiefling responded as they lowered their sword completely. "These two were working some kind of private contract for the Council here." they explained, gesturing towards the dead Trandoshans. "They abducted roughly twenty Wookiee teenagers and brought them here, so I'm being paid for their bodies and the safe return of the children." Haela sheathed their sword on their back, their gaze returning to meet the other woman's silver eyes. "Not that the incentive to kill slaving scum wasn't enough, but might as well get paid for what I'm good at." they added.

The bounty hunter crouched down, checking to make sure both Trandoshans were really dead; thankfully, neither had a pulse. Haela stood up and took a step back, snapping a few quick pictures of the scene with their EZPhone as proof the job was done in case they weren't able to come back for the bodies later. After all, the kids were more important.

"You know, I'm not one for any of that fate nonsense, but we're both here to stop some slavers, right?" the Tiefling began. "So let's make the most of this opportunity. I'll help you behead this organization, and you help me get the Wookiees and whoever else we might find back home where they belong. Sound good?" they asked. extending an ashen-colored hand to seal the deal.

"Oh, and you can call me Haela."

@TheDudeMike