"Target destroyed."
Jyn Layner smirked as the wanted ship she had just eliminated slammed into an asteroid, leaving a great amount of charred debris spinning off into the deep black abyss of space, the destruction confirmed by her ships AI. This was her job, and she enjoyed the hell out of it. After graduating from the Pilots Federation, she set her sights on becoming the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, which was a goal she almost accomplished, until she was sabotaged three years ago and left for dead in deep space. Luckily, she was rescued by the Federal Security Service, but it took her those three years to recover from her severe injuries. After the recovery, she took things easy in resource sites, using her Anaconda, a large, military grade all-purpose ship, which she had outfitted with numerous weapon placements and modules, making most targets easy targets, chipping through their shields piece by piece with pulse lasers, and then tearing the hull off with kinetic weaponry. She was extremely fond of her Anaconda, as it made her life extremely easy, but sadly, as a big ship, manoeuvrability went down the drain.
Each day, she would patrol high risk resource sites, eliminating wanted ships. In turn, she got her pay, and kept the miners active there safe.
Her Anaconda shoved a piece of debris to the side as her ship sluggishly pulled itself past icy asteroids. She paid attention to her scanner, as this is where she could spot thermally active targets. Suddenly a small icon blipped onto her sensors, but it appeared as if the ship was attempting silent-running. The powerful sensors onboard the Anaconda were no match for this antique ship, however, and she soon scanned it.
It was suddenly revealed that the Hauler had a bounty of one-million credits.
The Anaconda tore around a bright ice asteroid, its thrusters pushing it forward with an almighty force. Its hardpoints deployed, large weaponry extending from the hull of the ship. Locked onto a small Hauler, the Anaconda slowly pivoted its nose until it was on target. The poor silent-running capabilities of the small cargo freighter were no match for the powerful sensors of Jyn's ship, which allowed her to lock on with ease. By the time the Hauler realized what was happening, it was too late. The Anaconda was now in range, and the Hauler would soon be no match for the Anaconda's weapon capabilities.
This was her first big one in a while. An unarmed Hauler, with no shields and a million-credit bounty? Too easy... although it was unusually suspicious for such a poor ship to have a big bounty. Never-the-less, if her computer wasn't playing with her, this was an easy bounty.
She slowly pulled back on the throttle and hailed the Hauler. A couple rings went through, before the communications channel finally opened. "Surrender now, and maybe we can work out a deal… I don't really want to blow your puny Hauler out the sky, now." Jyn spoke with an unpleasant tone. It was unusual for the Jyn Layner to have such an attitude towards an unarmed vessel, but wanted ships were generally frowned upon by the bounty-hunting community. An unarmed Hauler was no exception.
Suddenly, an old, husky voice emerged from the other side of the link. "Please, don't shoot me… I don't want any trouble." Jyn had heard enough of such conversations that she was able to tell what was an outright lie, so she responded with a personal smirk. "No trouble, hm? So why do you have a million-credit bounty on your registration?"
"I can explain, please. It was accidental, but I trespassed into a federal military area! By mistake!" Jyn scoffed audibly into the communications link, and retorted, "How do you trespass into a marked federal area? Look, old man, let's just get this over with." Before she could pull on the joystick, she was interrupted again by the Hauler's pilot. "I am looking for something very special, but it seems that all the information I get given leads me to military areas. I believe it is some kind of false information… Look, they could be listening to our communications right now! Let me board!" Jyn was surprised by the sudden request of boarding, but she considered it for some time before agreeing. What damage could an unarmed Hauler and an old man do?
The Hauler slowly began to turn towards her Anaconda, accelerating towards the nearby docking port. Jyn smoothed back her scarlet hair, sighing to herself. She could have claimed the million-credit bounty, but instead decided to allow this old man to board. Maybe it wasn't too late… until she realized the Hauler had docked with her starboard port. She huffed again, grabbing the pulse rifle from the side of her console. Standing up swiftly, she approached the bridge door and began her descent down to the starboard docking port. It had been some time until she stretched her legs, and this sudden bout of walking around surprisingly did good for her. Soon, she found herself at the starboard port. Walking cautiously, she approached the door where the Hauler had docked, and slowly unlocked the door.
As the door slid open, an old man, dressed in a white Remlok space suit, standing there with his hands behind his back. He had a distinct silver goatee, with silver hair brushed back. Quite smart for an old man. Upon seeing Jyn with her pulse rifle, his eyes increased in size. "Now, now… no need for hostility already…"
"Why are you on my Anaconda, again? Here for a cup of plasma?" The man sighed slowly, and began to talk slowly. "For a young girl, you sure do have the witty retorts." Jyn growled slightly in her throat, as she was no-one for subtle flattery, hence why she spends most of her time on her ship, alone. The man chuckled slowly, and continued, "Well, a cup of tea would certainly be more pleasurable, but… I'm here to ask for a favor…" Jyn swiftly interrupted him, already annoyed that he was asking more than her. "Already? A favor? and I don't even know you yet!" The old man frowned at her angry reply, and soon he continued after some thought. "Fair… how about we get to know each other first?" "I don't even want you on my ship to begin with," Jyn said, with a frown.
The old man sighed again. This was not off to a great start. "Look, let us just talk calmly about this situation. It's important, what I have to say." The old man folded his arms and glared at Jyn, who was thinking slowly, with the pulse rifle in her hands.
Soon they were sitting in the relaxing room of the Anaconda. Jyn had outfitted her Anaconda to be her home-away-from-home. There was barely any reason to return to a station, unless she sustained extreme damage, because her ship had two excellent economic-class cabins, just for herself, as well as a living room and kitchen specifically designed for space. Due to the Anaconda's size, this was possible, due to the sheer scale of the ship allowing for military and utility modules alike, but also personal and living modules.
The old man took a sip of the terrible tea, but didn't complain, as he was used to such quality. Jyn would have rather bought terrible tea than the expensive tea, anyway. After the old man had finished a sip of his tea, he put it down on the table and pondered for some time, before speaking. "So… the bounty I acquired by meddling in a federal zone… but I am looking for something."
Jyn sighed. "You already told me that. What are you looking for?" The old man sighed and thought for some time, creating an easier way to explain it to Jyn. "I'm looking for a mythical device… One so powerful… I plan to sell it, of course, and split the profits between whoever helps me…" It was a moment of silence as Jyn digested what the old man had just said. "And you need my help… why? I bounty-hunt, not treasure-hunt."
"Exactly, you're a bounty hunter. Flying an Anaconda, that tells me you had some sort of skills that helped you reach this class of ship… I could use people who could fight… I can tell this journey may be quite… bumpy…"
"Bumpy? Because other people are looking for it, right?" "Exactly. You're quite smart." The old man soon regretted his statement as Jyn scowled at him. "So, propose I join your crew and help you find this device, so we can both profit together!" Jyn thought this through for some time, a painfully long time that put the man on edge, until she slowly nodded.
Soon they were both in the bridge, and Jyn sat in her helms seat, registering the old man's name and commander ID in her crew database.
Odin Mayers has joined the crew.