OOC:

Reserving the bounty for the 35 hours while I work on it.

Bounty: 155 000
Level: 3 (2100 Words+)
Completed by:
Names:  Moria Orlan
Details:  Wanted for several cyber hackings on Tadath. Deliver her to RHA HQ alive.

Note: Will send the bounty entrance fee (15,500) within 24 horus or so.

Drac shifted uneasily in his chair. He'd received quite a bit of leave after Nazgul had completed its last mission, several weeks too much. There'd been the usual carousing with the other Nazzies, but now he was bored. And if there was one thing Drac hated, it was boredom. Not a good quality for a fighter pilot to have, I admit. Ah well, none of us are perfect. So now he was sitting in the command chair of the Cry of Victory, having just finished inspecting his ship. It was still pretty much new, and relatively untested. That rankled him too. Some action would be nice, if only to see what the Imperial Customs Frigate was capable of.

In an effort to find something to do, the Mon Cal started flipping through the Holonet channels on his datapad. Even that seemed to offer very poor possibilities. Water parks on Rheagent and fleet tours at Vectra really didn't do much for him. The first option paled compared to his home planet, Dac. The second was a regular occurrence for him -something he did every mission.

The Mon Cal was about to give up when a small, nondescript ad caught his eye. It was for a company called Roworth Hunters. Intrigued, he queud up the company's homepage and sat forward in sudden interest. Bounties. Bounty hunting wasn't something he'd ever considered before, mostly because he wanted no part in the hunting down and murdering of sentient beings. Enemy pilots were one thing, but someone who was on the run? No.

What really caught Drac's interest, though, was a particular listing. It was for one Moria Orlan, who had apparently been going on some hacking excursions on Tadath. A foolish idea, that. Breaking the law so blatantly on a planet swarming with stormtroopers. Still, the bounty specifies that she's to be captured alive, which is good. And what self respecting criminal is on alert for Mon Calamari coming to capture them when there're plenty of stormtroopers around who'd just love to do it anyway?

Sitting up, Drac made his decision. He thumbed the ship's intercom system, "Captain Teskil, please come to the bridge."

The only other person on the bridge at the moment, the Navigator, leaned over, "Sir, you gave the Captain leave for the week if you remember."

Drac stifled a grimace, "That I did; Thank you for reminding me...well, no matter. He can enjoy his leave and we will go ahead. How quickly can we be away?"

The man turned, consulted the terminal at his station, then returned his attention to the ship's owner, "About four hours, sir. We just need to top off fuel and ensure the crew's aboard."

Gazing out the front viewport for a moment, Drac shook his head, "I'd like to get under way faster than that. How long will it take to get a skeleton crew of you, our Weapons Officer, four crewmen, and our two engineers together?"

"Umm...two, two and a half hours. Is that fast enough, sir?"

"Yes," the Mon Cal nodded, "That will work."

"I'll get right on it then, sir." The Navigator spun his chair around, sat, and turned back to face his terminal.

"Make sure you inform Captain Teskil and the others remaining on leave of the situation." Once the man confirmed the order, Drac sat back and chuckled to himself. Captain Teskil, a Quarren, would not be pleased that Drac had simply pre-empted the ship and flown away on a limb. In fact, he was sure he was in for a lengthy lecture on why ship owners should respect their Captains' positions and responsibilities. A typical Quarren, the Captain was not a great fan of Mon Calamaris in general. Still, he did a good job. Good enough to make up for a few pointed comments and occasional sarcasm.

Standing, the Mon Cal jerked his head aft, "I'll be in my cabin if you need me. By the way, what's our ETA to Tadath?"

"With prep time and the run up to jump speed...about eight hours, sir."

"Very good. Carry on."

-----

In his cabin, Drac looked around and took stock. It was a small space, but was the largest cabin on the Cry of Victory. What else could you expect from a ship of this size? It was well appointed, though. It even looked like home, as much as any quarters did, now that he'd moved his personal possessions into it. The small closet held several jumpsuits, including the grey one he used when piloting Krakana - the E-wing itself was hard docked on top of the larger ship. The rest of the cabin contained his weapons locker, a data terminal, his bed, and a small refresher station. A desk sat in one corner so that he could conduct business from the cabin, a holoprojector mounted on its top.

Moving to the weapons locker, Drac opened it. Inside rested his small arsenal of weapons. There were many different kinds, but he knew that this mission would require low profile equipment. The Sat'skar sword, for one, would be far too obvious to carry. His set of grenades were similarly inappropriate, though for reasons of collateral damage. The E-11 might work well, but was a bit too bulky for stealthy work. No, this op was best suited to his two FSK-7 combat knives and his DC-15 blaster pistol. He pulled those three weapons out and laid them out on his desk.

A prissy voice piped up behind him, "Master Drac, why are you arming yourself? Is the ship about to be attacked?!?"

Turning, Drac looked at the speaker and sighed, "No, Threepo, we're just fine. I'm just going to go after a bounty, that's all."

"A bounty?" The 3PO didn't sound at all reassured, "But that's dangerous, Master Drac! You could be killed! Or you could have to kill someone else. That would be just dreadful."

"No, Threepo, I don't think that's going to happen. This bounty's alive only. I'm not supposed to kill anyone. Here, look over the information...while you're at it, please access my personal account and wire the requisite funds to the company."

Now having a task, the 3PO focused and finally seemed to calm down, "At once, Master Drac." Leaning over, it began pecking at the keys on the terminal.

-----

It didn't take too long to get outbound, and Drac easily got his flight plan approved with Vectra flight control. After they entered hyperspace he returned to his cabin. Upon entering he glanced around for Threepo and found the droid standing near the bed, "Threepo."

"Yes, Master Drac?"

"Please go to Passenger Cabin 02 and clear it of all movable objects...also, remove the processor from the datapad located in the room and similarly disable all other comm and holonet access. Also reprogram the door to open only from the outside and to require manual operation. Disable all door automation for that cabin. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. May I ask why?"

"I'm going to need somewhere to keep the prisoner once I've captured her. That cabin has its own refresher, so it's ideal."

As soon as the droid left the room the Mon Cal got into bed and set his alarm to go off twenty minutes before they exited hyperspace.

-----

Drac woke with a start, slapping at the alarm beside his head. He'd slept uneasily, still slightly uncomfortable with taking a bounty. Still, it was money he needed. He'd do a bounty or two so long as it didn't require a lot of unnecessary killing.

It was the work of just a few minutes to pull on a nondescript grey jumpsuit and cover it with a light knee-length cloak of a lighter grey. The cloak was long enough to hide his blaster, now resting on his right hip. His knives went into holsters on his left wrist and inside his right boot. Now armed, he was ready to go. He left the cabin, heading for the bridge.

Stepping onto the bridge with ten minutes still to go until the ship exited hyperspace, Drac used the time to re-read the details on the bounty, including the info on the areas Ms. Orlan tended to frequent. Satisfied with his plan, he closed the program just in time to stand and monitor the ship's exit from hyperspace.

Almost immediately the ship's comm unit beeped. Drac routed it to the main pad, then stood straight as a uniformed man appeared on the holopad. The man said, "This is Tadath flight control. We read you to be under VE command, Cry of Victory, but you're nowhere in our records. Care to explain?"

Drac saluted, "Petty Officer 1st Class Dracule Mihawk, VE Navy, Nazgul Squadron. I'm here on leave, control. Cry of Victory is my personal ship, whose use is donated to the VE."

The man appeared to be checking a data terminal, "That checks out here, Cry of Victory. Welcome to Tadath. Your landing coordinates are forthcoming."

The image was about to fade when Drac cleared his throat, "Control, I would like to request permission to land in my personal E-wing and leave Cry of Victory in orbit."

The man turned and consulted someone out of range of the holocam. Turning back, he nodded, "That's acceptable. Appropriate data should upload to your ships' networks in a few moments. Control out."

-----

Another hour found Drac walking slowly down a street in Sianat near the spaceport. It was a middle-class area. Wealthy enough to have easy holonet access, but poor enough to be low profile. Just the sort of place this Moria Orlan tended to hang out. Glancing down the street, the Mon Cal spotted exactly what he wanted: A slightly rundown tapcafe that sat on the border between this section of the city and an older, run-down area. Time to enact his plan.

Walking in, he took the room in with a glance. It was a relatively tough crowd, as things went. The easily intimidated tended to avoid systems like Tadath, so any place that did see shady business tended to be filled with a little tougher brand of scum. One end of the bar was open, though, and he headed toward it. Seating himself on a stool, he looked at the bartender. The bartender, a Twi'lek, came over and spoke with a gravelly voice, "What do you want?"

Drac lowered his voice a little, but not so much that it seemed faked, "How much for a lum?"

"Four ICs," the Twi'lek sneered at him, looking at him with an expression of contempt for anyone who didn't know the standard price for such a drink.

"And how much for some information to go with the lum?" Drac lowered the volume of his voice to prevent anyone from overhearing easily.

The bartender leaned on the counter now, interested, "Sorry, I don't know any information. Not any you want to know, anyway." Twenty ICs hit the table, "Well, maybe I do know a little. What'll it be?"

"I need to find someone who can alter records for me...remove certain things from the public eye."

The Twi'lek rubbed two fingers together absently, "I don't think I remember anyone who'll do that..." Click. Now a hundred and fifty ICs lay on the counter...for a moment. The twi'lek scooped them up with one taloned hand, "Go out the back door," he gestured out toward an alley, "Someone will meet you there soon."

Drac stood, ignoring the glass of lum in front of him, and walked out of the room at a casual pace. As soon as he got into the alley he folded his cloak around himself and removed the safety from his pistol. Then he stood there in the shadows, waiting.

Fifteen minutes later a figure approached him, slight and thin. The person stopped about four meters away and spoke in a nice alto voice, "I hear you need a job done."

"Yeah, I do. I knocked off some weapons from a stormy armory and I need the records of my visit to...disappear. I also need the security locks on the weapons cases cracked so I can open them without damaging the merchandise. Those are on my ship.

The figure seemed to ponder the proposition for a moment, then said, "Two thousand for the records, five hundred for each box. I'll take the two thousand now."

Drac shook his head, "I'll give you five hundred now, and the rest once you've finished with the boxes."

The slim silhouette shook, and Drac thought she might be laughing, "Fifteen hundred now, no less."

"One thousand now, five hundred when we get to my ship, and the rest when you're done. Final offer." He loosened his blaster in its holster, hoping she'd take the offer but ready if she didn't.

"...Deal. Take me to your ship, I can use its computer to hack the records system. Only one stop involved, then we're both free and clear." A hand extended, palm up.

The Mon Cal reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of ICs. He stepped up and laid it in the proffered hand, then gestured out of the alley. The figure nodded and followed him out. In the light it became clear that his gamble had paid off, Moria Orlan was his hacker.

As the pair walked toward the individual hangars, they talked about nothing at all. Later Drac couldn't even remember what was said. Whatever it was had just been a cover for the reason they were walking together. It was also a distraction. He was sure she'd never seen him press a button that transmitted the order to Cry of Victory to come down from orbit and land beside his fighter.

-----

"What're you trying to pull?" Orlan had stiffened, surprised to see only a single E-wing in the spacious hangar. She turned, reaching for a holdout blaster.

Drac threw up his left hand, palm out, "Wait. My ship's coming in in a few minutes. Don't worry so much. You think I wanted my cargo sitting around for the stormies to inspect all day long?"

Orlan relaxed then, appeased. She turned to look at the E-wing again, "Is this yours, too?"

"Yeah," Drac silently drew his blaster from its holster, "A friend I've flown with for a while gave it to me for services rendered."

"I'm impressed. This is a pretty advanced fighter...odd that I've never heard of such a successful group. What gang did you say you were with?"

"Oh, you've probably heard of us. I never did say, though." Something in Drac's voice must have warned her. Orlan turned, reaching for her blaster again. She stopped when she saw Drac's already leveled, "Now just relax. I'm not going to hurt you if you don't make it necessary."

The young woman cursed at him, long and loud. He didn't catch much of it, but he distinctly heard "fish","bounty hunter", and "nerfherder." He shook his head slightly, "That's not very polite. Now, just back over into that corner where I can see you." Orlan slowly, angrily backed into the corner furthest from the door. "Oh, and by the way. You wanted to know who I'm with. That'd be the Vast Empire Navy."

Another string of curses started up, now slightly changed from the first. "government fish" appeared, and "kriffing" was added to "nerfherder" as well.

A minute later a dull roar sounded out and began growing as Drac's ship came in for landing. Two minutes later it was down and the hatch opened up. The Mon Cal's Weapons Officer and another crewmember stepped out and walked over. Drac gave them a nod, then gestured toward Orlan, "Search and disarm her. Don't be rough, though. Once you're sure she doesn't have any more weapons or hacking tools on her, take her to her cabin. And crewman?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Once she's in there, guard the door. Let's not take any chances.

"Aye, sir."

Moria tried one last thing, "Please, just let me go! I'll pay you. Whatever the bounty is, I'll pay you half again!"

Shaking his head, Drac replied, "With money that probably wasn't yours to start with? Sorry, no deal."

Fifteen minutes saw Krakana safely docked atop the bigger ship once again and the prisoner safely stowed in her cabin, free to rage against the complete lack of any tools she could use to escape. Drac, once again in his command chair, pointed up, "Take us up, Navigator. Let's deliver her to Rheagent HQ."

"Yes, sir.'

-----

Another six hours later Drac met several members of the VE Planetary Security outside his ship. His "guest" was present as well. She stared at him venomously as she was led away. He couldn't help watching her go, but shrugged in the end. She would get what she had earned and it was as simple as that. This way, at least, he helped out the VE and didn't have to kill to do it.

Walking back up the hatch, he made his way to the Bridge. His Navigator was there, checking the comm system. The man turned, beckoning the Mon Cal over, "We've got a message from Captain Teskil. He sounds...agitated."

From the look on the Quarren's face, frozen in the paused record of the communication, that was quite the understatement. Drac couldn't help but chuckle, "That he does, that he does."

OOC:

I need to get on a different PC to do the word count, but I'm assuming it's pretty well there. Lot's of buildup, I know, but I felt my first run at bounty hunting deserved some detailed prep.

Word Count: 2893 (Word 2003)
Edit is addition of word count.