This was supposed to be a one-shot but it became clear by the end that this was getting too long so I decided to split it in two parts instead. So it's now two-shot. Longest chapter I've probably ever written. I pretty much sacrificed my time this week completing this instead of chapter 2 of my thesis paper and this story isn't even finished yet. My project leader is so going to kill me.
Hope you guys enjoy this story anyway! Please forgive me for not being too familiar with Star Wars terms. I've only ever watched the movies, tv shows, and read the recent Thrawn book. That's it. And for those wondering, this is set during KOTOR or The Old Republic era though I'm more familiar with the Galactic Republic planets and ongoings. Sorry if I got some of the lore wrong.
There are few things in the galaxy Raven hated nothing more than being played for a fool.
The mission itself appeared simple enough, perhaps too simple now that she thought of it afterwards, and the reward ample in worth that it managed to catch her eye in the list of bounties posted on the board. The challenge, however, lied in the target's location.
Serenno, a planet in the Outer Rim known for its aristocratic Counts, was rich in resources that made its inhabitants one of the most sought investors in the galactic community. This meant the planet was filled with soldiers protecting the higher echelons and their interests. Her target was some minor noble of a lesser House that appeared to harbor a priceless artifact that her client wanted. It was kept safe in one of the planet's secured banks before being transferred to the noble's personal estates. Security was decent and the area well defended, but to Raven it looked nothing but child's play.
It had been a difficult attempt to smuggle her weapons past surface level security by the docking bay. Her ship had been thoroughly inspected for any signs of suspicious equipment or intentions. She had to bribe a freighter into including her weapons within their cargo until she finished the tedious process of presenting fake documents and notifying the docking personnel of her business.
Once her equipment was retrieved, she scouted the location of the planned heist and waited until nightfall to strike.
At first she didn't question the number of guards, or rather lack thereof, that patrolled the area. She attributed it to the nobleman's lesser status and overconfidence that he managed to procure a priceless artifact from the clutches of the richer Houses without anyone knowing as he boasts about it to his fellow-man in some party. Before he incriminates himself into getting arrested and have his entire household premises searched, Raven would be long gone with the artifact.
By the time she arrived at the vault she began to suspect something was amiss. Her stomach became knotted and an uneasy feeling slowly built in her chest as suspicion started forming at the back of her mind. No bounty was this too easy. She expected at the very least some heavy resistance as she grew closer to the target's location but instead she only encountered more dark corridors and the occasional footsteps of a servant passing by.
Her suspicions were proven correct when opening the door to the vault revealed nothing more than worthless family heirlooms and several stacks of credits that weren't enough to pay for the artifact that was clearly missing. Before she knew it, alarms started blaring across the building and she could hear the sounds of sirens being hailed right outside.
Raven knew that in a normal situation she could fend off the local militia that were now swarming the building with ease. But they were simply too many and only grew in numbers as she hacked the several men she came across when she tried to escape. Finally, after jumping from the terrace she managed to seek refuge in the forest outskirts next to the building. She didn't have much time before they send out search parties so she stole one of their speeders and fled the vicinity as quickly as she could.
Her troubles didn't end there. She learned from the HoloNet news that her ship was impounded along with a warrant of arrest issued for her fake identity. Police scoured the area for days which forced her into hiding in every shelter she could find. She had little choice. With no ship and communications jammed outside the planet, she couldn't contact help.
Finally, after two weeks of being stranded on Serenno and hunted by the authorities and local gangs alike, Raven took the opportunity and hijacked an outgoing freighter that was given permission to leave the planet's docking bay after being grounded for too long. It wasn't until days after her escape that she returned to the Bounty Hunter's Guild and discovered that her bounty had been claimed by somebody else. By then news of her failure at completing a bounty had spread, and while no one has yet to say it to her face directly, she could feel her fellow bounty hunters whispering behind her back, their voices mocking and derogatory.
Humiliation was not an emotion Raven was familiar in dealing with. The cold fury in her red eyes was enough to quench whatever traces of shame she might have felt the moment she learned news of her failure had spread. At the start of her career she wouldn't have cared about this minor discomfiture, but now a professional in her craft she knew that reputation was key into getting the best bounties. Failure only reduced the worth her skills bring. She was determined to find out what went wrong with the operation.
Knowing that returning to Serenno to question the noble was not an option, Raven started with whoever claimed the bounty for themselves. When the Guild informed her that the presenter of the bounty didn't specify the name of the succeeding hunter in the contract sent to them, Raven grew suspicious. It was considered protocol for clients to provide the name of the hunter responsible for completing their bounty, regardless if it was the licensed hunter they hired or not, for the Guild added the details to their archives. Not doing so is uneasy behavior.
Raven tracked down this client to Coruscant, who revealed to be a human senator. When questioned by her of this unusual breach in protocol, the man evaded and rattled on about how it didn't matter who killed whom because they were all of the same breed of killers anyway. Her patience thinned out as the politician continued his endless tirade. She resorted to slamming his sleazy form across the desk, the edge of her red gleaming vibroblade held against his throat, threatening to slice him open and throw his entrails in front of the Galactic Senate Chamber itself.
The senator struggled pitifully and quickly relented and pleaded for his life, promising credits and riches untold if she spared him. Raven felt disgusted. She wanted nothing more than to follow up on her threat for wasting her time and be done with it, but she needed the information. When he revealed who it was that completed his bounty, her disgust turned into scorn.
Gormon Tusk, a Devaronian bounty hunter, was a familiar face in the Guild community. He had once been a respectable figure, accomplishing hundreds of contracts back in his day and even fought against Republic troopers during the Old Wars. His name was feared and revered by victims and fellow hunters alike. Now he was nothing but a shadow of his former self. A washed up hunter who did odd jobs and the cheapest of bounties to sate his drug addiction. He had lost a leg during the war and was never the same since. Still, he continued his profession as a bounty hunter, certain that his reputation was all he needed to remain successful.
He and Raven had crossed paths from time to time. Gormon was envious and derisive of her growing reputation as a bounty hunter, and always complained whenever she received the bigger share of a bounty they both participated in. Raven in turn was annoyed at his arrogance and mocking of her skills because he assumed she was part of the "fresh breed" of hunters intent on stealing their jobs from under them.
It was enough for Raven to know that her failure in this bounty was nothing more than a fluke. Unsatisfied but less disappointed with herself nonetheless, she had been about to release the senator. But the politician was too rattled by her threat and had blurted out additional information that made Raven pause.
Apparently, Gormon was the one who came up with the idea of the bounty and planned to use it on the more popular bounty hunters to diminish their reputation. He proposed it to the senator, who owed him from a job back then, and together they weaved this plot to discredit the bounty hunter who took in the contract. Gormon himself informed the Serenno noble of her arrival and aided the local authorities in confiscating her ship, leaving her stranded on the planet. He also started the rumors of how she failed her bounty among the Guild community. In his arrogance, Gormon decided to claim the bounty the senator made for himself, trusting the senator not to disclose any information regarding his part in the plot. It was the senator's decision not to include the Devaronian's name in the contract that was forwarded to Guild.
At first, Raven was left stunned and a little more than impressed at the lengths the old Devaronian was willing to do to discredit them. But then the full implications of what was told to her sunk in, and it was all Raven could do not to slit the senator's throat open and throw his body off his own office. Instead she glared him down with cold, venomous eyes. "Mention this to anyone else, and I will make sure the Senate learns of every dealing you've ever made with us and expose your worthless hide to that snake pit before personally parading your corpse in front of them."
Raven had been on edge since then. Only several light years away separated her from slicing Gormon's other leg and shipping his miserable hide off to the spice mines of Kessel for choosing her as the victim in his little game. There was little anyone could do to stop her from fulfilling her task. Save for her brother, who sarcastically reminded her of the Hunter's Creed that the Guild so regularly enforced on its members.
"You know, for a bunch of sellout mercenaries that Guild is pretty uptight on their rules and regulations. Makes the security of most planets I smuggle into look like they're being handled by malfunctioned droids," Qrow remarked lazily, taking a swig of his drink.
"Gormon violated the Creed and nearly had me killed because of it," she groused, fingers tightening around the mug of beer. "By Mandalorian rights this should've been settled already once I get my hands on him but-"
"But this isn't Mandalore and you don't have proof that he did it," he finished. Raven shot him a pointed look. "Don't look at me like that, sis. We both know that despite how much of a pitiful wreck Gormon dragged himself into he's still experienced enough not to leave any tracks behind that could implicate him. The word of a corrupt senator means Sithspit to the Guild without any concluding evidence."
Raven frowned, fuming as she peered into the dark amber liquid of her drink. "You know I won't just let this slide by."
"And I'm not asking you to," Qrow snarked. "But I'd rather prefer not to find my sister's face wanted across the HoloNet again or posted along the Guild's bounty list for a couple of thousand credits. I'm just saying that you need to think this through before trying to get yourself killed. It'll be pretty lonely for me once these little meetups of ours stop becoming tradition and I lose a drinking buddy."
Raven rolled her eyes, finding it ironic that her smuggler brother would advise caution in dealing with this situation. Especially if the rumors she heard were true regarding his repeated encounters with a white-haired Echani woman who turned out to be some Republic Special Forces lieutenant. There wasn't an ounce of subtlety in that hot mess. But she appreciated the unspoken sentiment nonetheless.
"Don't worry, brother." Raven emptied her drink and stood up. "I won't be the one making a mistake this time," she promised, striding past his seat without so much of a backward glance.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Qrow muttered to himself. He lifted the mug to his lips and frowned when he found it empty. "Hey barmaid, make this one a double!"
~0~
Much as she disliked to admit it, her brother was right.
The Bounty Hunter's Creed were the unwritten rules all bounty hunters associated with the Guild are expected to adhere. Repeated failure to do so would result in the termination of one's license and given restriction to the most bountiful contracts the Guild has to offer. Another addition that the Guild included in recent decades were the rebound contracts; essentially once a bounty hunter is excommunicated the Guild immediately opens a kill contract for the newly made ex-hunter. They claimed that it was a solution for rivalries formed during their time as members to settle old scores. As no bounty hunter is allowed to take arms against a fellow hunter. But in reality it was an attempt for the Guild to eliminate hunters they deemed far too dangerous that aren't under their jurisdiction.
Raven obtained her license years prior and was very familiar with the unofficial code of ethics most bounty hunters claimed to follow. She herself mostly deferred to its law, as it reminded her of the tenets in the Codex her old instructor in Mandalore often recited during training. She never found the need to break it, and had even participated in the capture of several ex-hunters in the past who ultimately did so. Their fate was not kind and were made the basis of the Guild's ruthlessness and how they dealt punishment to foolishly arrogant hunters who seek to bite off more than they could chew.
But Raven was not doing this out of personal glory. Nor to settle petty feuds used as false means to kill one another. No, this was to send a message to those like Gormon. That the burden among their ranks of bounty hunters were not to be tolerated. The weak die, the strong live. Those have always been the rules.
However, Raven also knew that pursuing Gormon out in the open was not the sensible move. Through the Guild's eyes, he was nothing more than a washed up hasbeen and a cripple lucky enough to scrape by the lowest bounties he took to accepting. And Raven was not in the mood to explain the part he played in her flummox of a contract. She ultimately decided to take the subtle approach and bide her time, not willing to make the same mistake and undervalue the danger he presented.
Even her fellow bounty hunter warned her of caution. "Tusk is not to be underestimated," Traask hissed. The male Trandoshan was about the closest thing Raven had to a colleague. "I've been on several hunts with him before. His skill with a blaster may have faltered since then, but his instincts remain ever sharp. You don't want to be in his sights when he lowers those horns, Branwen."
He provided her with the necessary intel she needed on the Devaronian to plan out her strategy. It was agonizing, to see his face throughout commonplace bars or clandestine meetings her fellow hunters held when proposing a group bounty and resist pulling out her blade to run him through. Months waned by where she was forced to focus attention elsewhere and ignore her thirst for retribution.
Finally, opportunity arose when she heard of his current whereabouts in Corellia. According to several sources, he stationed himself on the core planet recently to aid the local crime boss in dealing with a few unruly upstarts. She knew by reputation that the Corellians were well-known for their engineering corporations and smuggler dens. The Guild has had scarce transactions in the past with clients in that sector. Those that were hired mostly dealt with minor excursions, and so garnered little interest in the going-ons within the planet.
Raven didn't hesitate on provided chance.
~0~
A pair of red eyes narrowed slightly towards the nondescript farm house a distance away from her position by the treeline. Rows of cultivated farmland remained visible even from this distance. Herds of cows wandered the fields to graze and eat. A large barn house dominated the east side of the area, providing plenty of space for harvested wheat and animals to shelter when the night comes.
Her ship was grounded a few clicks away from the farmland. Raven spent most of her time either waiting on the ship or scouting the area ahead for possible entry points suitable for her attack. She learned days prior that Gormon's duty was to deal with several tenants that owed credits to the crime boss. Knowing it would be an easy job, Gormon predictably took his time and lazily spent days set on completing the hassling.
The inhabitants in this homestead were among the last in his list which gave Raven ample time to prepare. Only the family who owned the farm had the slight possibility of being among the casualty Raven was going to inflict on Gormon and his men. From what she gathered there were two children who occasionally left the house to run around the fields and help with the menial work that is normally present with farming. A dark-haired woman she assumed was their mother maintained the actual dealings within the farm on a daily basis.
Raven believed they were the only people living in the farm until a blond-haired man arrived at their doorstep the day before. She couldn't get a clear visual on his appearance from the macrobinocular eye slits of her helmet because of the distance she had to maintain from the area, but he looked vaguely familiar to her. He embraced the woman and led her inside the house which blocked any view of him to Raven. In any case the man, whom Raven assumed to be the husband, and his family meant nothing to her but provided distractions. She didn't cater to needless killing, finding it sloppy and unprofessional in her line of work, but she wouldn't shed a tear if they get caught in the crossfire.
As night fell, Raven lay perched at the bottom of her ship's loading ramp, sharpening the edges of her deactivated vibroblade. The thick canopy of trees surrounding the ship hid her from any bystander that might be glancing her way. She looked to her right as TR-R4, or Terra, her repurposed techno-service droid laid out the necessary items she required for tonight.
It was near mid-evening when she started to hear voices coming from the main road leading towards the farm. Rising from her perch, she sheathed her blade and stalked close to the treeline to study the oncoming party.
There were six men in total; two carrying standard blaster rifles while the other three packed more heavy duty equipment. From the night vision setting of her helmet, Raven could detect armor beneath their clothing. Raven found it odd that they were heavily equipped in armor and weaponry against a young couple who managed a farm. At the front of the group, taking the lead was a familiar red-skinned Devaronian. Gormon was speaking to one of the men in heavy garb, laughing with him over something he said.
Raven watched as they slowly made their way towards the barn house and stopped to take stock of their equipment and exchange last minute instructions. By then she returned to her ship to get ready. Forgoing her usual white helmet mask and shallow-cut red and black clothing with light armor because of its distinct appearance, Raven donned the standard Mandalorian body armor she brought with her instead. That way no one from Gormon's group would be able to pinpoint her identity from any other Mandalorian mercenary.
By the time she finished equipping her weapons and trailed towards the farm, Gormon and his men already entered the house. From what bits and pieces Raven could see through her helmet, flashes of light briefly shone through the windows of the house before going dark. She lay crouched in a field of Nysillin plants close to the house and surveyed the area before her.
Gormon left one of his men guarding the front yard. The human took little care in his sentry duty, shifting restlessly from one foot to another, his blaster rifle tucked into his armpits while he fidgeted with his communicator. He didn't notice Raven creep closer to the left of his position and hid behind a tractor. She motioned for Terra, who came along with her, to provide a distraction.
The diminutive droid rolled leisurely towards the sentry, who didn't take notice of Terra until the crunch of gravel beneath the droid's wheels became distinctly palpable in the continuous silence provided outside.
"Somebody out there?" There was curiosity and a hint of steel mixed with his voice as he pocketed his comm device. He gripped his rifle and shone the light towards where the sound came from. His posture relaxed upon realizing it was a harmless droid.
"Hey scrap metal, what are you doing out here?" He tucked the rifle to his side and crouched in front of the uncomprehending droid while it waved its arms flailingly. "What rabble are you going on about? I can hardly understan-"
A quick palm strike to his neck immediately incapacitated the guard. Raven caught him before he dropped on the ground and dragged his unconscious body to the side of the building. After ordering Terra to guard him, Raven switched to infrared and glanced around the house. She counted several forms on the ground floor, the lighting making it difficult to identify which target is which. Peering upwards, she could detect a solid form standing in front of two lesser forms in what looked like a small room.
Raven activated her jetpack and flew towards the roof of the house. Minding the position of the three forms on her view panel, she carefully made her way to the window closest to where they were located. Activating the magnetic clamps on her gloves, Raven crouched on all fours and slowly made her way down the closed window. The man was one of Gormon's and he was standing guard in front of an open door where the two lesser forms of the children laid still.
The window Raven entered through lead to an empty hallway just across to where the guard stood with his back towards her. She crouched on her knees and carefully padded towards the unsuspecting guard.
"Listen kid, you wouldn't want to wake your sister up now don't you? Now be a good girl and just mind your own damn business or I'll be forced to shoot you," the guard warned to someone in the room.
Raven couldn't hear her reply but the guard chuckled in amusement. "You've got spirit, kid, that's for sure. Maybe when this is all over I could convince the boss to bring you two with us. Would be a shame to leave you kids behind once we've dealt with your parents."
The bounty hunter stood directly behind the guard, still blissfully unaware of her presence. Over his shoulder, Raven could see he was talking to a young girl with blonde hair, glaring defiantly at him while laying a protective arm in front of another girl sleeping in bed. She briefly glanced away from the enforcer to suddenly meet the blank T-visor of Raven's helmet. Her eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips.
The guard didn't miss the gesture and turned halfway to his left, raising his blaster in a ready firing position. But Raven was expecting it. She used the enclosed space to her advantage and grabbed the barrel to stop him from aligning the muzzle on her. Quickly she headbutted him, the steel dent of her helmet smacking his forehead with a grunt and disorienting him long enough for Raven to pull him in a choke hold.
He tried to resist but Raven was well-practiced with the technique and rendered him unconscious in seconds. She carefully laid his motionless form on the floor. Glancing up, she met the wide-eyed lilac gaze of the blonde girl, her fingers tightening over the fabric of the blanket covering her sister, making the girl squirm in her sleep. Raven raised her index finger to where her mouth would be if not covered by the helmet, signaling for her to be quiet.
The girl nodded multiple times, her gaze shifting to one of fascination as she realized Raven wasn't going to hurt her. There was something familiar in that look that Raven couldn't identify, similar and alien at the same time. She shook her head, as if to break away from her musings. Now was not the time to let stray thoughts wander.
"Stay in this room and do not go out under any circumstance," the helmet's filtered voice ordered sharply.
Before the girl could respond, Raven closed the door.
Quietly, she made her way down to the first floor of the house. The staircase ended next to the front door, now a pile of broken wood spilled across the floor. She could make out chairs and tables positioned around the room, the angular frames of photos hanging on the wall were difficult to make out in the dark. Somehow Gormon managed to disrupt the electricity powering the house before they attacked, leaving the place in a relative state of darkness. Shards of moonlight littered through the windows remained the only source of guidance for visual sight.
That posed a problem for Raven, her helmet view could only provide so much alternatives to counter against dark enclosures. If she needed to act, night vision couldn't be relied on to uphold a clear line of sight. She opened a comm line to Terra and ordered it to locate the area's generator and restore power to the house.
Just then, she heard a smack that sounded like the butt of a rifle making hard contact with flesh followed by a low grunt of pain. Raven tracked the sound coming from what looked to be the kitchen. Along her way she passed by one of the men that accompanied Gormon lying face down on the ground. She checked his pulse for any signs of life and found none. A charred hole visible from the center of his back showed her that whatever killed him managed to pierce through the both sides of the armor plating he wore.
Raven aligned herself to the wall by the entrance to the kitchen. By now she could hear snippets of conversation coming from the room.
"You shouldn't have brushed your nose into things that don't concern you. Else the boss wouldn't have gotten paranoid and have us taking care of business with your family. Should've stuck to your machines, mechanic."
"Oh yeah?" Came the coughing reply. "And let him blackmail my boss into giving him a share of our pay while running his business dry? Ain't gonna happen, buddy."
"A shame," Gormon's mocking voice interrupted. "You could've spared us all a quiet evening if it weren't for your meddling. Talon wants me to settle this quick and clean, but in return for killing one of my men I think we deserve a little fun first."
Raven peered into the room. Moonlight from the open kitchen windows provided enough visibility for her to determine the shadowy figures of the inhabitants.
Gormon continued punching the blond burly man in the stomach, his arms held behind his back by Gormon's lackey while the other two stood watch a few feet away. The woman Raven spied on several days earlier lay prone at their feet, wrists and ankles secured by stun cuffs and her mouth gagged to prevent her from screaming as she helplessly watched her husband get beaten into near submission.
"I hear you have children. Fine little cubs from what my men told to me," Gormon added in a conversational tone as he connected another punch across his jaw. "They will make for fine little projects once we get them trained and shipped to the slave market. You can be rest assured that they will be well provided for once they get used to their new... living quarters in the future."
When the woman heard that, she struggled forcefully against her binds in protest and tried to growl through the gag.
Gormon turned to look at her and guffawed. "A feisty woman you have. Ain't she, Rykker?"
One of the men kicked her in the side. "She's dangerous, sir. Took down Clement as if he were nothing. We ought to shoot her down now when we still have the chance."
The woman took down the guard by herself? Raven thought with a frown. From what the bounty hunter could determine, she looked sturdy enough from all the manual labor farm work provided but able to take out a battle hardened soldier in heavy armor? Doubtful.
Gormon scowled at him. "You'll not question my decision. She's more useful to us alive than dead. If you don't keep quiet I might even let you have a turn."
"Enough!" The man held captive finally shouted. "Do whatever you want with me but don't hurt my family. They have nothing to do with my mess. Leave them alone."
"How touching," Gormon scoffed. "But Talon wanted no evidence left behind. Luckily for them they're worth of value. You, however, are not."
The Devaronian panted, nearly out of breath from the exertion of his punches. He leaned heavily on one leg, clearly favoring it over the other. His face turned to a ugly grimace when too much pressure was applied on his prosthetic.
"You alright, sir?" Rykker asked uncertainly, exchanging looks with the other men.
"I'm fine," he gritted, pain visible in his voice. "Just get over here and finish this. It's time we head back home with our prize." He limped away from the husband and stopped a few feet from Raven's position, his back turned. Shrugging, Rykker stepped forward, unholstering a blaster pistol from his jacket and aiming it on the husband's forehead.
Before he could pull the trigger, Raven acted. She stalked into room, raised her forearm and shot wrist darts at the two men closest to Gormon. They let out cries of surprise, hands suddenly grasping their unprotected neck where the darts made contact. Rykker dropped his pistol in a moment of shock.
The husband, sensing the opportunity, immediately slammed his head back against the face of his surprised captor, breaking his nose and the hold on his arms with a grunt. He turned, grabbed the disoriented soldier by the head with both hands and, with what remaining strength he could muster, slammed him hard against the wall before slumping forward against the counter.
"What the–" Gormon started.
Without breaking stride, Raven closed the distance and pulled her own blaster to shoot at Rykker, who now realized his mistake by dropping the pistol and raised his rifle to aim at their escaped target. He let out a pained cry as the searing burn of the blaster bolt impacted his shoulder, staggering him onto the floor.
Gormon, upon realizing the shot fired on his guard came from behind him, quickly turned and raised his arms in a defensive stance. Confident that his armor would be able to protect him from incoming blaster fire, he blindly charged forward to meet the intruder. Instead of dodging or retreating back to the door, Raven twisted sideways, letting him rush past her. She grabbed the scruff of his neck and slammed the butt of her blaster against his back where the neck and vertebrae meet.
Momentarily stunned by the unexpected burst of pain, Gormon stumbled. Raven abruptly pulled him towards her, the crook of her elbow surrounding his neck in a vice grip, securing him to her. She pressed the barrel of the blaster hard against his horned temple.
"Drop it." Her filtered voice barked in a tone that would brook no argument. The remaining guard froze in his tracks when he realized he was the only one left standing among their group, fingers tightening around the rifle held in his hands. Rykker groaned in pain, hand cradled against his injured shoulder as he attempted to sit up.
"My business alone is with the Devaronian, neither with any of you or your boss. Leave now and you might just make it until daylight. Stay and you'll end up like the others once I've dealt with this one." Raven tightened the pressure she had on his neck.
"What are you waiting for?" Gormon croaked, clawed hands grasping helplessly against the armored gauntlet clasped around his throat. "Shoot him you fools!"
The guard hesitated, glancing back at Gormon then to her faceless helmet. "Those darts are laced in Neurotoxin. Within an hour your nervous system will slowly combust and destroy itself from the inside out. The nearest medical station is about a mile's walk to the main city. If you run then you might just make it in time for an antidote," she said coldly.
Without hesitation he dropped the blaster and rushed towards Rykker, barely managing to carry him out the back door.
"Bunch of backstabbing runts, the lot of you," Gormon growled at their retreating backs. "Not an ounce of honor within your system!"
Not as if you had any in yours to begin with, Raven wanted to sneer.
"And what of you, Mandalorian?" he challenged. "Your kind speaks of honor in battle yet you catch me unawares like a coward eager to steal a well-earned kill."
"Keep quiet if you know what's good for you."
Gormon snorted. "And what good is that for? I know a bounty when I see one. You're either here to kill me or bring me back alive to your employer. So bloody get on with it. Which is it going to be?"
He's even more fatalistic than I thought. What a disgrace. In truth, Raven was mildly disappointed. She had expected more of a fight coming from the Devaronian, despite her misgivings about his battle prowess. Traask's warnings seemed to prove fruitless.
"Not that it matters, but either dead or alive would suffice. As long as you live long enough to get what–"
Raven was cut short by a sharp feeling of pain bursting from her leg. Gormon capitalized on her brief moment of contemplation to raise his one leg and stomped the cybernetic prosthetic hard on her foot. On most occasions her steel toed boots would protect any impact from causing pain but the mechanically enhanced footwear shattered through it like sheet metal.
She released her hold on him in a reflexive motion, her arm suddenly twisting and folded behind her as she was turned and shoved on to the counter. Raven gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. The helmet absorbed most of the blow but her head still felt rattled from the impact caused from being slammed into hard surface. She struggled to break through his hold but Gormon leaned his prosthetic heavily on the ankle of her still painful foot and nearly provoked her knees to buckle. The pain of her arm trapped behind her back threatened to snap when he increased the pressure.
Her other arm attempted to reach for a weapon, but he repeatedly continued to slam her forehead on the granite counter. Successfully disorienting her from gaining enough focus to think of a countermeasure and frustrating her even further. He leaned forward, and Raven could feel his charred breath hovering over her shoulder, pressing himself over her to prevent her from flailing wildly.
Then all at once his weight suddenly lifted from her shoulders as if pulled by some invisible force. Raven slumped forward, knees bent slightly on the counter. Her face contorted to a grimace, cradling her leg and flexing her stiff arm to ebb the flow of blood. From the corner of her eye, the blond man struggled with his choke hold around Gormon, who was attempting to gouge his eyes out with his claws. The Devaronian broke free and turned around just in time for the heavy fist to make contact with his face.
Gormon staggered back, cursing as he covered the bloodied lip with his fingers. The blond man tried to finish him off with another punch but this time Gormon was ready. He ducked and charged, driving his shoulder towards the husband's midsection and forcing him to the wall. Gormon then proceeded to headbutt him, his horns making the blow more effective. He delivered a series of quick punches, the adrenaline pumping in his veins causing the blows to be wild and unpredictable. The blond attempted to block the hits with raised forearms but they were simply too much.
Finally, Gormon held him by the collar, bloodied knuckles raised back to deliver the finishing blow. Tired but refusing to back down, the blond man grasped desperately at the hand gripped tightly around his throat. Slowly he began to falter, his vision turning dark, eyes rolling to the back of his head from the lack of oxygen. He closed his eyes and waited for the strike that would knock him down for good.
The blow never came. He hesitantly opened his eyes to find the Devaronian clutching his arm with an agonized cry.
His now severed arm that is.
Raven appeared from behind him, beskad unsheathed and gripped in one hand, blood dripping off the blade. The Mandalorian was furious– at herself, at Gormon, at how quickly the situation turned against her because of a minor misstep on her part– she didn't know. All she could comprehend was that Gormon nearly bested her for a second time and that didn't sit right with her.
She grabbed him by the contours of his shirt and threw him over her shoulder straight through the dining table next to them. With an ugly crack, the table broke unable to sustain all the weight, leaving Gormon hapless and stock-still on the floor among shattered pieces of wood.
Gormon croaked, groaning as he clutched his side, feeling several broken ribs. "Bloody good fight that was," he managed.
Raven panted heavily, hands still shaking as the tremors of the fight started to fade. She could already feel the slow lurking of exhaustion threatening to overtake her after the grueling brawl. But she couldn't take her mind off, not just yet.
"You're a worthy opponent, Mandalorian. Cunning and brutal when you needed to be. Had I been in my prime, you wouldn't have lasted long."
"Somehow I don't doubt that," Raven grudgingly admitted.
Gormon snorted, though it came off more as a wheeze. "If nothing else this would be the better way to go out. Grappling with the likes a trained Mandalorian warrior and nearly overtaking him. The boys'll be remembering this for decades."
Don't be so certain about that.
"Well, you've earned your bounty, Mandalorian. Seeing as you haven't killed me yet I'm guessing your employer wants me alive. No matter, I know how this goes. Let it be said that Gormon Tusk didn't go down without a fight."
A deep chuckle slowly echoed throughout the room, the voice filled with dark amusement. Raven didn't realize until later that the sound was coming from her as she tried to stifle the low rumble vibrating in her chest.
Gormon stared at her with wide eyes, confused and more than a little unsettled.
"You always did like to fall back to your delusions of grandeur don't you, Gormon?" Her voice suddenly snapped, now devoid of any trace of humor.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Who am I?" Raven repeated aloud, mockingly. "If I explained it you piece by piece your brain might not be able to comprehend all what I have to say. So I'm going to cut the chase and do this instead."
She dropped her beskad, the blade clattering lightly on the floor, and raised her hands to take off her helmet. Revealing an unruly mane of long black hair flowing past her shoulders. In the darkness, her eyes glowed an eerie red that glared like that of a jai'galaar, the shriek-hawk, before it pounced on a cornered prey. There was no mistaking her distinct appearance, facial features only she and her brother inherited from clan Branwen.
"Branwen?" he choked, incredulity sipping from his tone.
"Surprised, Gormon?" she replied. "Believe me, I was too when I found out you were responsible for that mishap back in Serenno. Didn't realize you still had it in you to pull off a clever trap like that. Your only mistake was choosing me as the victim in your little game. I regret not doing this any sooner."
"So that's how it is. Then what are you waiting for? At least I died knowing I managed to stain the great Raven Branwen's reputation," he spat out, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to stand up, his limbs shaking in protest against his attempts. Defiant to the very end, she could respect that.
"Kill you?" Raven leveled him with a smirk. "No, that would be merciful. And yours wouldn't be a clean death even if it were to happen now. You would like that, won't you? To be killed in battle, an honor bestowed by your gods as a final act defiance in your old age. But, no. You're going to be an example, Gormon. Especially to all those in the Guild who share your ilk. Once they see what happens to you, they'll know what awaits them when trying to mess with the better hunter. Whatever friends you have won't be able to save you. In fact, they'll hardly even recognize you."
Raven stepped in front of the fallen bounty hunter. Gormon managed to get back on his feet, leaning heavily on his prosthetic as he tried to maintain balance on his good leg.
"I don't think you need to be conscious to know what I have planned for you," Raven whispered. "You'll find out soon enough. But first," she whipped out her blaster and fired rapid shots on his cybernetic foot until it cracked and groaned under Gormon's weight and crumbled to floor like heated scrap metal.
His surprised cry was cut short by Raven grabbing his horns and slamming him hard against the wall before falling unconscious.
Just then, the ceiling lights in the kitchen suddenly blared to life. From the window's view, she could see the lamp posts surrounding the farm slowly lighting up providing an excellent view of the area. It seemed Terra was successful returning power to the generator.
Raven pressed her comm link to contact the droid. "Terra, scan the perimeter and make sure there are no stragglers lurking near the area. Once you're done come by the house and help me bring Gormon to the ship. His other men will be left behind for the civies to deal with. I'll deal with the farmer and his–"
"Raven?"
It was spoken in whispered shock, faint enough for her ears not to recognize had it been not for her paranoid state from confronting Gormon. Immediately she turned and raised her blaster at the voice that dared breath her name. Her eyes suddenly greeted blue, bright and clear as the Mandalore sky after a long winter's turn.
There stood the husband, half-frozen in a crouch while he stared at her with those all-too familiar eyes. Raven didn't want to admit it but meeting his gaze both unsettled her and shot an unwelcome heat through her veins.
"Tai?" An uncertain voice called out.
Raven, finding the man's gaze a bit too intense for her liking, shifted her attention to the woman who now lay unbound next to the blond man. Her cuffs were now deactivated though she continued to rub her wrists after being restrained for so long. Eyes like molten silver glanced back and forth at her husband and Raven in confusion.
Her voice was enough to break the man's attention on Raven. He shook his head as if coming off a trance and immediately embraced the shorter woman in a hug. Startled, the woman could only pat his back and exchange whispers with him that Raven couldn't hear.
Not that Raven was paying much attention herself. The name that escaped from the woman's pink lips brought back a flurry of memories. She remembered a dingy room in some apartment in Zeltros, of tangled sheets and heavy breathing and moans escaping from her as she let herself go for the first time and spent one of her best nights with a blond cocky smuggler after a successful joint hunt.
She remembered repeatedly throwing up a month later, how her brother was concerned at her sudden shift in moods. Flashes of a white room and sitting next to a terrified man wearing a white coat as he slowly explained her predicament. Nine months later she recalled tracking him down. She laid sweating in bed as Qrow sat next to her and quietly informed that he found him. He offered to deliver her himself, but she refused. Whatever responsibility she might be forcing onto this man, he deserved to know it was her who carried out the deed. She gently laid down the small bundle in front of his doorstep, a carefully written note attached to the basket. Fingerless gloves lingered and brushed over the tuft of blond hair escaping the linen wrap before pressing the buzzer and quickly hiding from sight.
She watched as the door opened, his handsome face peeking out, looking around in confusion at finding no one outside his door. He was about to close it when the bundle suddenly cried. Blue eyes quickly glanced down and seemed to freeze at the sight of the bundle carefully wrapped in the basket. For the longest time he just stood entranced at the small bundle making whimpering sounds outside in the nocturnal breeze. Slowly he crouched and gently carried the babe from its basket, cradling it in his arms. He quickly glanced around the area and picked the basket with him as he shut the door.
Raven watched all this unfold. Once the door shut she stood up from her perch, turned and disappeared into the shadows.
The visage of the small girl with blonde hair and purple eyes came rushing back to the forefront of her mind. How familiar the angle of her jaw looked and the hair a brighter shade than her father's. Things were finally clicking into place upon their identity and Raven could only blurt out the first thing that made sense to her this entire evening.
"Taiyang Xiao Long," she muttered quietly.
The man raised his head from the woman's shoulders and stared at her as if she were a ghost. His eyes held a mixture of awe and apprehension. Raven figured she must look like a mess. Covered in grime and sweat, hair sticking out in all places after being cushioned under a helmet for too long, armor battle worn and faded in color. Her Mandalorian ancestors would consider it a badge of honor, but to Raven it felt nothing but added weight on her shoulders.
"Tai? Do you two know each other?" The silver-eyed woman asked. She glanced at them both curiously, as if trying to figure out their relation to one another. Her voice did not contain the tone of suspicion or envy that Raven thought she would feel upon realizing her husband is somehow familiar with the mysterious woman that suddenly appeared at their doorstep.
Taiyang cleared his throat uncomfortably, obviously at a loss. "Uh, yeah. Summer, this is Raven Branwen. Raven," he glanced at her, their gazes meeting once more. Delicately, he placed his hands on the shorter woman's shoulders, rubbing them reassuringly. "this is my wife, Summer Rose."
Summer followed her husband's path and focused her gaze on the stock-still Raven as realization dawned on her face. There was no hint of malice or threat under that silver-eyed gaze but Raven felt like repressing a shiver. It was as if she were being mentally assimilated by Summer Rose while she assessed her, a knowing twinkle in her eye.
For several long moments nobody spoke, seemingly aware of the silence that stretched on for the past hour or so but unwilling to break the implicit vow of stillness that they somehow agreed on. Finally, it was Taiyang who decided to break the impasse.
"How about we all sit down for a while," he suggested wearily. "Does anyone want tea?"
The next chapter will probably answer some questions and hopefully finish this entire meeting. What do you think? A bit sloppy? OOC? I wasn't sure how to describe Raven's thoughts since we've gotten so little of her in the show so far. Hopefully that will change this volume.