Chapter 5: The hunt begins-
"Im listening.."
The crate was cube shaped and no larger than the size of a typical female lothcat. The human hauled the crate onto the dusty desk before him, he placed one hand firm on the desk, with the other hand possessively wrapping itself around the small crate. He leaned forward intently, gritting his teeth. Ahsoka failed to feel intimidated, firstly, she was armed and could defend herself, and secondly, more interested in how someone like him had even gotten hold of such a valuable resource. She pouted in his general direction, but she was convinced that the shadow of her hood covered her facial expressions, because she didn't see any reaction from the man.
His breath stank of smoke and deathsticks, as he ever so slightly pulled open the crate, revealing 8 shining crystals. What surprised her was the variety of colours that gleamed in the shadows, it felt so strange for Ahsoka to observe such a beautiful object down in a shabby, run down area like the underworld. There was three green, two blue, one red, one yellow and one orange crystal. What was most odd about the crystals is that the orange one appeared brighter than all the others, and her montrals could have sworn she heard it whispering to her, as if half screaming and half soothing her.
Her eyes remained fixed on the orange crystal, as the vendor finally broke the silence, "I see you have taken an immediate interest in one of them, tell me..." he leaned ever closer, putting more strain on his right hand, "How much do you think its worth..?". Ahsoka broke her gaze from the crystal, and looked back up into his eyes, to be honest, she didn't know how much they sold for down here, but she presumed it would be quite a lot. She shrugged in response. The man noted her reaction, and replied: "I'm feeling generous today, why not I strike a deal... 100,000 credits..." Ahsoka's eyes widened behind her hood, instinctively biting her lip. 100,000 credits.. she thought ...that's enough to pay my rent for a year!
The idea was ridiculous to her, 100,000 kriffing credits for something that couldn't even function without a hilt, outrageous. She was so caught up in her own pool of thoughts that she didn't notice the man had added a long "Or...….." to his sentence, followed by a series of clicking noises that she was positive radiated from his jawline. She snapped her attention back when she noticed him scanning her silhouette, before summarising "Yer a bounty hunter 'int ya?", she nodded in reply reaching for the hem of her blaster to check its presence was not amiss. "I could hire yer… How 'bout this... Yer meet me at the 'smugglers haven' club on level 2358 tonight, and we can discuss business there", he reached into the crate and picked up the orange crystal, "I'll keep this reserved as your payment..." he flicked it with each of his dirt encrusted fingers, almost as if he was doing a durability test; checking for it to be shatterproof - which, of course it was; before depositing it back into the box and sealing the cap on top.
Ahsoka was sure a small grin had appeared on her face, because her voice came out a slightly higher pitch than she had anticipated: "Deal, ill meet you on level 2358, the 'smugglers haven' club." She turned to walk away, but just as she was nearing the door, she stopped in her tracks, in a patch of light that had come through the dusty windows, her hood tilted to its side and her shadow followed, finally adding, "It was a pleasure doing business" and she walked out the warehouse.
Now she had the tools to begin her hunt, she hired a speeder for 24 hours for 1000 credits at the docking station on the landing platform, and joined the lane going deeper into the underworld.
By the time she had reached level 50, the atmosphere was thick and polluted, and sunlight did not reach this place. It surprised Ahsoka that it was even habitable down here, the atmosphere was so dense that she could hardly breathe. A few dim lights illuminated the docking platform, but aside from that, she was in complete darkness. The only way she could tell there was life forms crawling in the shadows was because she could feel them through the force.
The darkness was really unsettling for her, and it put her a little on edge, so her hands glided towards her blaster, and she carefully removed it from the sheath. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her body, allowing only the muzzle of the blaster to protrude from it, to serve as a warning that may deter attackers away. Her grip tightened in slight anxiety around the handle. All she could hear was the soft clanking of her footsteps that bounced off the walls of the boarded up, wrecked windows.
Her montrals picked up the sound vibrations of someone trying to sneak up behind her, so she pivoted on her heel to face the stranger, pointing the blaster. The stranger was a tall male trandoshian, who froze in place, knowing he has just been caught out, he snarled and pointed his vibroblade at her, "Who are yyooouuu?" he hissed. She aimed her blaster at his arm, knowing she could disarm him at will if she needed, which reassured her slightly. Her eyes didn't leave the vibroblade, as she proceeded with a snippy remark "Ill kill you if you take one step closer to me sleemo, bounty hunting buisness."
He growled at her "Who arrre you looking forrr?", she adjusted her blaster to shoot-to-kill and took a step back, hesitantly, she pulled the holodisk out of her cloak, flashing up the image of the blue skinned nautolian, "Seen him?" she questioned. The trandoshian hissed once again, "Your the 8th bounty hunter they've sent looking for him." She could now sense a second person moving in the shadows, from what she could tell, it was from her right. Tucking the holodisk back into her belt, she sent a quick glance at a flickering lamppost on her right, and out stepped a blue skinned nautolian. The bounty. "Prepare to join them in the afterlife." the nautolian snarled. His voice was unusually deep for someone his size, he was pointing a bowcaster at her, and the force was screaming at her to move. She was outnumbered two to one. But she couldn't help but smile to herself, I like those odds.
The trandoshian quickly leapt forward, but she was faster, he sliced at the air where her neck was just a second ago, and had a surprised look on his face. Obviously didn't expect me to act fast, she thought to herself. The nautolian sent a few shots at her head, which she dodged by swerving her head from left to right. Once again, the trandoshian was trying to attack her again, after his momentary lapse in concentration. She rolled out of the way, as he sliced the trashcan she was stood against, causing a piercing screech against the metal. "You'll have to do better than that" she teased, earning her a determinated death stare from the bounty. She aimed the blaster at the trandoshian's left leg and squeezed the trigger twice. The first shot missed but the second hit its mark and sent the trandoshian flying forwards as a result of losing his balance. Her attention shifted towards the nautolian as he jumped on her, knocking her blaster out of her hand, the two were reduced to hand to hand combat.
Punches were exchanged, Ahsoka received a brutal punch to the abdomen and she returned it by sending her own fist at force enhanced speed towards his neck, sending him stumbling backwards into a brick wall. He gasped for air as she had smacked him in the windpipe. The trandoshian steadily limped on his good foot, and nearly successfully flanked her, cutting her across the back. She groaned in pain, clenching her back as she swerved towards the lizard humanoid. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the pain, she kicked him in his bad leg, causing him to crumble to the floor. He hissed in agony as the vibroblade dropped from his grip, and she caught the handle in her left arm. Her patience was beginning to wear thin, as she witnessed the nautolian dragging himself to his bowcaster in the corner of her eye, presumable for one final desperate attack. She was determined to not keep switching targets, so she thrusted the blade fatally deep into the Trandoshians chest, causing him to howl in pain, before the pain grew so overwhelming that he was silenced. Her hands where sprayed in oily blood.
She turned to face the bounty, clutching her stomach, he had his bowcaster in his hand and his face was twisted in anger. He squeezed the trigger and the shot brushed past the tip of Ahsoka's shoulder, giving her a painful burn of her own. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming, she knew that she would be dead soon if she didn't move closer to him, she glanced at her corellian destroyer that lay a few feet away from her on the ground. It was now or nothing.
Reaching out with the force, the nautolian began to claw at his neck, any confidence he once had vanished; he was being lifted upwards and choking on thin air. Her hood was still up, but her cloak was torn in placed from when it had been stepped on. Dust littered her clothes and she felt desperate for a shower. He began gasping "P-please, h-have m-mercy!".
Ahsoka used her free hand to pull the tranquiliser dart out of her belt, and threw it at the nautolian. Upon impact, the tranquiliser set to work, swiftly invading his body, letting go of the force, he fell limp to the floor. She used the force to summon the 'destroyer' back to her, fastening it back into its sheath. She kneeled down and unstrapped a pair of cuffs from her belt, tying the arms behind the bounty's back and clicking it into place. She stood back up, straining all her body weight onto her arms and legs, she picked up the bounty and carried him back to the speeder. Drawing from the force, she kept the pain of blood seeping through her back at bay, and did her best to ignore the burn mark on her shoulder. Nothing that won't heal, she muttered under her breath.
Tying him to the passenger seat, she ascended the platform, heading the to co ordinates of a pike safehouse.
As she got there, upon arrival she was halted by pike guards, demanding for ID and her business reasons for coming there. She untied the Nautolian from her speeder, grimacing in pain as she aggravated her shoulder from carrying him. She lay him before the guards, showing them the holodisk and demanding payment.
"One moment.." one of the guards said, before picking up the sedated nautolian in his arms and walking off. He returned a few minutes later, with a credit chip, valuing at 10,000 credits. He handed her the credit chip and before she knew it, she was on her way back to the creed safehouse.
Upon arrival, Onyx greeted her "Hey kid, I take it you delivered the bounty?", she nodded, clutching her stomach, before shrinking into a chair at the bar. Onyx sat himself beside her, intently inspecting the nasty slash across her back and burn mark on her shoulder. He pulled a small bandage out his belt, Ahsoka saw this, and allowed him to wrap it around her shoulder, feeling his fingers ice cold as he traced the mark with the bandage, slightly gasping at the sudden pressure being applied to the burn.
She didn't stay too long after, but after today she was certain of one thing. She was now officially a bounty hunter (or a mercenary, depending on the viewpoint) , starting with a new beginning into a promising new life. One which allowed her to taste freedom, and let her choose her own morals. Ahsoka had no doubt her feelings, she used to feel conflicted and unsure about this path, but now it felt great. Like she actually had a sense of belonging.