Chapter I

Dirty Hands

The hot sun beat down on the dry, arid sand of Lok. The few bushes and plants that did grow looked like they have been dead for several years. Lok was one of the first planets in the Karthakk system to be colonized; however, now it was populated by mainly brigands and thieves that stayed in cities that were scattered all over the desert planet. The hazardous terrain varied from baked deserts to dangerous mountain ranges. It wasn't as deadly as planets like Dathomir or Mustafar but was lethal enough.

Vobe did not particularly care much for Lok or any planet of the Karthakk System. Out of the tens of thousands of planets in the Galaxy, Lok was one he rarely liked to visit. And yet, Lok was now the temporary hideout of Neixack, an escaped prisoner of the Tatooine crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Neixack had become on Jabba's bad terms when he shared privileged information about one of his special operations with Lady Valarian, one of Jabba's most hated enemies. When Jabba sent two of his subordinates to capture him, he proved to be a worthy adversary, killing both of the minions and making a quick escape to Bestine. Vobe knew he would catch him and bring him back to his employer.

The probe droid had tracked Nexiack throughout the galaxy to his desolate planet in the Outer Rim. Vobe knew that there was one major settlement on the planet, so he controlled his starship through the atmosphere until he arrived outside Nym's Stronghold. Nym had been known to be sympathetic to the Rebellion and had let some of the high officials of the Rebellion to hide in his colony while they traveled from hidden base to hidden base.

Vobe disembarked his ship and lowered his swoop from the cargo hold and sped off towards the stronghold. Upon arriving at the colony, Vobe noticed a crowd of people gathered around a body on the ground. The body had been shot several times in the chest and shoulder. Vobe stepped off his swoop and walked to the crowd of onlookers.

"What happened?" Vobe asked with an inquisitive tone.

"Someone just came through, shot this woman and stole her landspeeder," one person says with rage in her voice.

"Where did he come from?"

One citizen replies, "He got off that transport over there."

"Stowaway," he said to himself. "Anyone see what he looked like?"

The citizens gathered around began to describe the assailant which began to fit the description of his mark almost perfectly. "Which way did he go?" Vobe said. "I must find him." Several citizens pointed toward the East. Vobe walked back to his swoop and took out a small spherical droid and pressed a small button on the bottom. The droid whizzed with power and Vobe placed a small disc in the front and the tracker droid sped off to the East. He hoped it would keep track of him long enough for Vobe to get a visual lock on Nexiack. Within a few moments Vobe heard a loud beeping coming from his belt.

"Good work, lads. You found him. Now if he will only stand still," Vobe said to himself with a pleasing look on his face. Nexiack was only two thousand meters away. That should be no problem. Vobe thought as he sped off on his swoop, leaving his ship, The Korregidor, behind.

While speeding to the way to the Nexiack's location, Vobe passed several packs of kusaks which chased him across the barren desert. The small dog-like animals are extremely fast and can chase down any human on foot. They kept up to speed with the swoop but after a hundred meters, the pack slowed down and began to attack a lone vesp who used its spiked tail to swing at the kusaks, injuring one before being overwhelmed by the other three.

Vobe didn't stop to watch. He had a job to do but fighting was the last option. He had been known to talk several previous bounties into surrendering without firing a single shot. Would that happen today? Would he be able to talk him into surrendering?

Vobe had grown up on the desert world of Tatooine. He lived a life like every young boy on Tatooine, helping his parents with their moisture farms north of Wayfar. When he was fourteen years old, he was traveling with his parents to Jabba the Hutt's desert palace. When they had almost reached the fortress, a band of Desert Brawlers appeared from beyond a sand dune and attacked the family. Vobe was able to escape but watched his parents get slaughtered by the gang. He ran as fast as he could to the palace and safely made it inside before any harm came upon him. Because of his father's relationship with the famous crime lord, Vobe was allowed to stay at Jabba's Palace and learn things from any smugglers, thieves, or bounty hunters to come and visit Jabba.

While staying at Jabba's palace, he was taught how to use basic carbines and blasters from visitors to would visit the crime lord's citadel. As he grew older, he continued training under the best carbineers on Tatooine and Corellia. Although he had minimal skills with melee weapons, his strongest skill was with his EE3 carbine. He was small in stature but more than made up for it in his marksmanship ability.

While growing up he began to learn more information about his parent's murder. He informed that it was not a random attack that killed his parents but a premeditated one. This only made Vobe even more determined to discover the man who hired the band of thieves to murder his parents. He would not let his personal feelings get in the way of doing his job. He was almost killed by one of his bounties on Belgaroth, because he kept focusing on his past. He wouldn't let that happen today.

By the time Vobe reached the location the tracker had revealed to him, Neixack had moved eight hundred meters more to the North. Vobe shifted his swoop in the new direction and sped towards his new target.

As Vobe continued to drive to his new destination, he cleared his mind and gathered his thoughts, as well as gets his weapon ready. Neixack had been known to be extremely stubborn and start shooting before saying a word. He had already escaped several other bounty hunters, even killing the well-known Bhaal Kalhoun on Selvaris. But this time, he would not the escape the expertise of Vobe Onoss.

Vobe saw in the distance a small speeder moving on the horizon. That had to be Nexiack. He accelerated and when he came close to the speeder, he pulled out a small pistol and fired into the engine. It began to smoke and sputter slowing down with each second. He began to slow his swoop down and watch the speeder come to a slow halt. He heard Nexiack yell with anger and slowly get out of the vehicle.

Vobe jumped off his swoop and began to slowly walk towards Nexiack. "Well, well, look who decides to stop running."

"If you think you are taking me back to that giant, fat slug, you had better think again," Neixack responded with much anger in his voice.

"I do what I am paid to do, which is to hunt down murderers, assassins, and traitors like you."

"Do what you are paid to do? You kill for a living!"

"I kill those who have done harm to others, physical or otherwise. You can surrender peacefully and live or you can die here and be dragged back to Jabba's Palace. It is your choice," Vobe said with a snarl.

"You can't talk me into surrendering like you did Opo on Thyferra. I am not going to give in like a baby nuna."

"Opo was weak, but you have two options. Surrender and your life will be spared Neixack. I have no regret about killing you. Now, drop your weapon and come with..." Before Vobe could finish his sentence, Neixack drew a blaster he had hidden in his jacket and fired. The shot missed Vobe by a tiny fraction.

Giving a small chuckle, Vobe knelt and as Neixack turned and started to run, Vobe pulled his carbine up slowly, taking his time to aim. There was nowhere for Neixack to take cover in the immediate area. He fired a single shot, hitting him in the lower spine crippling him almost instantly. Nexiack gave a horrendous scream of pain as he slammed onto the ground that would surely alert any nearby animals.

With that one, crippling blow, Vobe sighed with relief that his duty here was almost done. This was bounty hunting. Some preferred extravagant fights that tested their abilities, others like to torture their marks, but Vobe liked quick kills.

Screaming with pain, Neixack began to plead for his life as Vobe slowly walked over kicked Neixack's gun away and rolled him onto his back. "Vobe, please. Please. Leave me here and let the kimogilas eat me. Anything. Just don't let Jabba have his way with me," Neixack pleaded, "I underestimated you Vobe. I beg of you, please don't bring me back to him. He will do unthinkable things to me. Please let me rest in peace. I ask for your mercy."

"This could have been a lot easier. I gave you an option which you foolishly rejected," he said as he coldly fired a single shot that killed the traitor of Jabba the Hutt.