Acidic. That's the only word that comes to Atin's mind as she steps off the small, overcrowded shuttle. She had spent the trip down squished between a Gamorrean and Twi'lek. Looking at the acidic yellow sky, she'd rather be squished.
The heavy and surely, toxic, smog burns her nostrils and mouth. She already knows nursing a hangover is gonna make this day worse. Winding her way through the busy spaceport, a layer of acidic grim cover everything. The desperation so heavy you can smell it, or that's just the pollution from the Hutt's disgusting factories.
Atin passes every form of degenerate scum in the galaxy, spice dealers, slavers, smugglers. Shielding her eyes from the overly bright sunlight, she doesn't remember the sun being this bright on Nar Shaddaa. The planet above this miserable excuse for a world.
Entering the "Poison Pit", an aptly named excuse for a cantina. Several men eye her as she enters the squalor. Resting her hand on her blaster she shoots them pointed looks. She reviews the datapad again and finds the back room where she's supposed to meet Braden.
Finding the back room, Braden and his team of a Nikto male and a young human female are already there. "See if you can't get that security network running, Mako," Braden says to the woman. Her short dark brown hair is pushed back with a twisted headband, making it looked almost spiked in the back.
"Sure thing, Braden," she answers with a cheerfulness in her voice, "We'll be—hey now…" She stops mid-sentence as Atin enters the room.
"Hey indeed," Braden greets, turning around to face Atin, "Team, this is the girl we're pinning all our hopes on." I offer a smile, professional smile. "Best shot I've ever seen and nerves of steel. She's Great Hunt material all right." He continues to brag. "What do ya say, hunter? Ready to meet your team?"
"My team," Atin unsure, she and Tomin were a team. She's never met anyone in the room other than Braden, briefly the night before. Braden smiles, she's not sure how he can smile knowing that Tomin was murdered yesterday. But she maintains a professional demeanor, ready to get to work. Braden rambles about needed support, structure, and intel for the Great Hunt. Things you need on every hunt.
"Let's do thing official like. This is Mako, a little genius I picked up years ago on Nar Shaddaa. She provides intel and tech," he nods her direction, with an approving look. Mako blushes ever so slightly, but nods trying to hide it. "Hope you're as good as the old man says," she says wishfully. Braden looks at the Nikto.
"And the big bruiser is Jory. He handles the heavy lifting and provides security for our base of operations," Braden explains, the Nikto waves friendlily at her. "Atin, nice to meet you both. Let's get to work," she replies, ready to get in the field and work out some of her anger.
Braden brings our focus back to why they're all on this miserable Hutt world, "We're here because the Great Hunt has been called." The Great Hunt.
Atin recalls the stories of the Great Hunt Tomin told her as a little girl. It's the deadliest competition in the galaxy, hunters compete against, their targets, local law enforcement, the environment, and each other, for fame, glory, and riches.
"Little Mako, is the most rabid fan of hunter history this side of Geonosis," Branden explains, "And even she doesn't know exactly what the Great Hunt entails." That's the thing about The Great Hunt, it's kept secret. For many reasons, the main one being for about half the galaxy, it's illegal. The Mandalorians are notorious for operating the hunt. Mako rattles off names knowingly.
Braden orders Mako to scan all the bounties on the planet. "I'm on it, Braden. One nasty character coming up…" she answers turning her attention to the console. Her cybernetic implant reflects the overhead light. From what Atin can tell, Mako's had it a while, probably got it implanted when she was young. She hums as she scans the various bounties on the miserable world.
"Check this out… Vexx: Corellian, Champion quick-draw artist, wanted for robbing fifteen Imperial military pay stations." Braden mules over what Mako tells him about the potential target.
"Of all place to get credits, why would a sane being rob an Imperial pay station?" Jory scoffs, leaning forward slightly. Atin silently agrees with the bruiser, Imperials are a different kind of trouble.
"Perfect. This Vexx is either a madman or a glory hound – and he's obviously dangerous," Braden says hopefully. Part of Atin wonders if Braden is still sane.
Mako informs the group, the Vexx has a safe house in town, "Right in the heart of the madness. That'll be fun." A dark humor casts a shadow over her last warns Atin about a turf war going on between two hutts. Making the town a proverbial warzone. Atin nods and leaves to find the safehouse.
Atin ducks behind a heavy durasteel barrier. Popping up she releases a stream of blaster bolts at Fa'athara's gang members. Two of the gang member fall to the ground dead, blood seeping out where her blaster bolts landed. The last one fires a small missile at her hiding spot, destroying it.
"Of course these chakaar's have missiles," she grunts, shielding her head from the falling debris. She fires another stream of bolts at the massive gangster. His head flies backwards and his body slumps to the ground. She pushes her red hair out of her face and cautiously walks towards the body. Rummaging through the pockets, she relieves the corpses of any medpacs and credit chips they may be carrying.
Vexx was expecting trouble, he's hired extra muscle to guard his supposed safe house. Atin makes quick work of them and searches the house for any sign of her quarry. Finding an encrypted datapad on the table; she figures the slicer, Mako, would have better luck cracking it open then she would.
"Vexx, you really shouldn't leave valuable lying about," she mutters to herself. Exiting the safe house back into the harsh yellow light. Atin makes a beeline for the Poison Pit.
Entering the back room, Braden's got the team set up in she hears Mako complaining to Jory about wanting to go on more mission. "My blaster aims, pretty good," Mako insists, "Anything's better than sitting around with you and our gear. No offense, big guy." The Nikto is nonreactive to her impatient statement. "Hey, look who's back," she greets eager to see what Atin dug up, "How'd it go out there, girl? Find anything?"
"Vexx left a datapad," Atin answers, handing the slicer the datapad. She takes a seat across from Jory as Mako tries to slice into lead. Braden returns from Nem'ro's palace, Mako quizzes when we get an audience with the Hutt overlord. "I've laid the groundwork, but we're not there yet," he replies, promisingly, "What've you got?"
"Datapad from Vexx's safe house. Cracked the encryption in record time!" she quietly brags, "Check out that last entry…" she points out a receipt for a shuttle leaving Hutta today.
"Our boy Vexx keeps detailed records," Braden says impressed, "There's a receipt here for a shuttle ticket her bought today. We'll have to move fast." Urgency fills his sentence and Atin's hunter instincts sharpen in expectation of the hunt. Atin is already on her feet as Braden asks if she's ready.
"I'm always ready," she answers, looking for a good fight. Hoping this Vexx will put up a fight before falling. Braden smiles at her answer approvingly. He instructs Atin to bring back Vexx's ID tags, anything else she's welcome to keep. Jory wishes her luck and a speedy return as she leaves.
Atin fights her way back to the dingy spaceport. Every blaster bolt she releases finds a new home inside its victim's skull. She uses her anger and grief as a weapon, imaging that every filthy gangster that gets in her way killed Tomin. But only killing the man who killed Tomin will satisfy her desire for revenge. Entering the spaceport, she swears to whatever stars, gods, beings listening, she will avenge Tomin.
Notes:
Chakaar - corpse robber, thief, petty criminal - general term of abuse [Mando'a]
