Keta-ki leaned forward from the ship's throne chair, and his claws angrily whisked away the hologram controls. His search had taken him to many planets, and now finally to Earth. Keta-ki's yellow eyes settled on the lushly green, mountainous terrain before him. His mandibles flared some, and chest pulsed with a low growl. If the badblood was hiding there, he would find him, and end him.
Nestled among the rocks were ooman villages, so stealth would be of the utmost importance. Kata-ki rose from the chair, and walked through the billowing white fog to a wall of weapons and masks. He selected a wolf bio mask from the ornate shelves, and placed it over his face. It conformed to the curves of his head and hung on snugly. His claws then reached for a thick leather belt, and he secured it around his waist.
He adorned black armor made from the very hardmeats he had defeated in his chiva years ago. For his weapons, he chose a constricting net, a laser cage, arm blades rather than the wrist blades, a shurkin, and a combi stick, among others. This would not be his first trip to Earth by far, but it would be the first time he'd followed a badbood to the planet. He did not see the purpose of going to earth. There were many other planets with better places to hide, refuel, and find food.
Some badbloods became drifters, hopping from planet to planet for survival. Some badbloods were banished and never seen again, as there were other alien societies that would take them in. Others kept illegally returning to the yautja home planet or meddled with yautja affairs. These badbloods that continued to break rules were the ones that were hunted down and ruthlessly slaughtered. As executioner, it was Keta-ki's job to carry out the badbloods sentence.
His job as executioner was similar to that of a bounty hunter. His reward would be praise and honor, as well as a monetary sum. If he proved worthy at this job, his status would slowly be raised. Kata-ki hoped that his title would be changed from executioner to arbitrator in the near future. Until then, he was just an omen of death.
The craft settled on a high mountain plateau and Keta-ki emerged from the ship into the endless darkness. It was equipped with an automatic defense system that would vaporize any large living creature that dared touch it. The sensory system would only let him aboard, with or without his wrist controls. It was also strong enough to withstand substantial blasts, and so he did not worry about leaving it unattended with a badblood in the area. He steadily headed down the mountainside.
Fireflies danced in his view of the ooman village below him. He would have to search around the ooman dwellings as well, but first he headed for the sparse tree cover to see if he could find any sign of the badblood. Though the tropical vegetation was sparse up in the mountains, there was still places to hide. The yellow eyes behind his mask scanned the ground for any dried blood from kills the other yautja may have made. As he made his way through, he was careful not to produce any noise or disturb so much as a single leaf.
If the badblood heard him coming, he would likely run. Criminals were, more often than not, cowards. So he moved with skillful stealth, pausing at any sign of movement. He tilted his head up, the moonlight illuminating his mask as he examined the treetops. Tiny raindrops fell to his skin, which was peach, with dark black mottling and hints of pink.
He didn't spot any sign of a cloaking device among the branches. He didn't find any footprints on the ground or signs of weapon fire. When he found no visible trace of the badblood in the rainforest, Keta-ki headed towards the village. He followed among the worn paths, his mask penetrating the buildings walls and glimpsing inside. Systematically, he searched for foreign metals, technology wavelengths, and anything else that might give the badblood away.
Keta-ki passed a building with a symbol on the roof that matched a part of the necklace he wore. It was a collection of small objects from kills he'd made, strung together over the metal bands around his neck. It included things from earth as well as other planets. Along with the cross that matched the one on the building, there was also a piece of rock, bones, a carved totem, and other pendants that built up the necklace. He scoured that building as well, but found nothing that he was looking for.
Finally, he decided to cheat. On the previous planet, he had gotten close enough to the badblood to fight him. After long-range guns, it went to shorter range weapons, then hand to hand combat. Keta-ki had been close enough that he smelled his opponent's foul breath as they locked arms and wrestled. The badblood escaped that time, but under his nails from scratching him, and on his blade from cutting him, was DNA that could be used against the badblood.
His wrist controls had already been injected with a sample of DNA, so all he had to do was change his vision mode. It would highlight the tiniest bits of DNA, even from skin cells lost due to touching an object. Keta-ki wandered around the perimeter of the village, and spotted a patch of glowing orange on the trunk of a tree. The badbloods shoulder likely brushed the tree when walking. He followed a subtle trail of highlighted DNA to an ooman dwelling.
The house was small, made from red stacked bricks with a pale clay tile roof. It had a porch on the front where the roof hung over the front door. It looked very plain, except for the glowing orange handprints on the roof, and the door handle. This was the only dwelling the badblood had touched, and it looked as if he'd gone inside. Though a quick scan reveled that the badblood was not present, Keta-ki was compelled to search inside the dwelling.
He wrapped his fist around the door handle and pushed it forward, breaking the frame easily. Keta-ki ducked through the doorframe and looked around. Inside the room was dusted with DNA, as though the badblood had spent considerable time in the room. It was possible that the badblood was repeatedly stealing food from the house, or hiding in an ooman dwelling thinking that no one would search inside. Still, the badbloods presence in the house seemed unnatural.
Keta-ki returned his vision mode to normal and was just about the leave when he heard movement within the house. His body tensed, and his mahogany-colored dreds swung as he sharply turned his head. An ooman walked towards the door, examining the splintered wood. It was a female with darker skin, long hair in curls, wearing a long sleeved shirt and no bottoms. Diagnostics reveled that she was pregnant, and so Kata-ki would sneak from the house without disturbing her further.
He silently walked towards her, aiming to slip out the door right in front of her. The ooman shifted, bringing up the gun in her hands, and shot him. Keta-ki stumbled back, falling over a piece of furniture. Bright green blood spilled down his chest. Cloaked and in the dark, it was almost impossible for an ooman to have seen him.
As she went to pull the trigger again, Keta-ki quickly rose up and out of the way. The bullets hit the broken furniture where he'd just been, then she swung her arms over, aiming for him again. He should have been invisible to her. With a frustrated growl, he smashed his fists into her hand, causing her to drop the weapon. As she backed away, he grabbed the gun off the floor.
He crushed the gun in his palm, and dropped the pieces to his feet. To his surprise, the ooman ran at him and attacked. She grabbed for his sensitive dreads and the decorative hanging beads among them. He blocked her but she was a determined little thing. Her foot jammed into his long metal crotch guard.
She was aiming for his vulnerable spots, as though she knew what he was. Keta-ki quickly recovered from his surprise and thrust his claws around her throat. He lifted her up into the air as her legs kicked under her uselessly. He stared into her eyes as she struggled, one of which was green while the other was half-green and half-blue. However, it was not honorable to kill a pregnant female, even if she was just an animal.
He dropped her to the floor unceremoniously, and she heaved in ragged breaths before shouting at him. He did not speak any ooman languages, so he simply stared at her pink lips. She had seen him even though he should have been invisible. She had attacked him, quite viciously, and not without skill. On a whim, he changed the vision mode and watched her belly light up with orange.