Ask Casany Praxor's Bounty Hunting for Beginners: Book 1 | Part 1 | Chapter 1

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia activated the hidden blades in her gauntlets as she pushed back, kicking the man in the chest. When he staggered back, she stepped forward in his place and slit his throat, watching as he folded onto the ground to make sure he was dead. Once she was sure, Zaia looked up to find the last man standing of the five guards. He wasn’t ready to give up yet, and he had on him two of the staffs. He threw one at her with full force, and as it passed her head she twisted her arm to redirect it back at him. The man looked down, his eyes wide open in surprise as he saw his own blade through his chest.

Then she heard a yell. And it hadn’t come from the guard.

Zaia whirled around to see what had happened, and her body froze when she saw what had happened to Etr. The boy was slumped on the ground bleeding and unconscious, one of his arms missing. Anvil was dealing with the monster that had committed the act, and Zaia could do nothing but stare in horror until she heard the voice in her head.

What are you doing standing there? GO!

Without thinking, Zaia pushed past all the bodies in the doorway and rushed back inside, ripping a curtain from a window. After dropping to her knees in front of Etr, she went to work bandaging the wound, stopping the bleeding as much as she could. The curtain quickly turned red, but there wasn’t much more she could do in the moment. She had to get him back to his ship.

She slung Etr’s remaining arm around her shoulder as she hoisted the boy up over her back. She didn’t even glance at Adenn as she made her way out the door and ran in the direction of the landing platform, her only thought being getting the boy to safety. That was when she saw another group of guards heading her way.

“For kriff’s sake!” she yelled, lowering Etr to the ground as gently as she could before turning on her flamethrower, blasting the men in the face with fire. The group fell to the ground, pleading for mercy as they heard the click of her blaster. But they would get none. Zaia shot each of them twice in the head with no thought of what she was doing. All she felt and saw was red. Red hot anger.

Once they were dead, she went back for Etr and picked him up, once more on her way back to the Spooky Mistress. She would tear that ship upside down to find the medical equipment, even if it wasn’t hers. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too late.

@Timmen @Die Shize

 

[Adenn Rytt]

His scream was terrible, the snapping of Boones seemed instantaneous as the wookiee took Etr and threw him at the arm, leaving behind his arm. I Threw myself at the wookiee, full force. Anvil Was on him before I reached him. Sword in hand and slashing. I did the same and plunged the Sword into it. Zaia Grabbed the boy and ran out theu door. she wrapped a curtain around his wounded arm.
"Tourniquet him, Tourniquet him!"
I shouted, trying to help focus on the wookiee. She didn't seem to hear. And picked him up, racing to the door and no doubt the Mistress.
She ran out of the room and more fighting sounded in the hall. I slashed at the the wookies arms, though my Huntress friend seemed to put a good hole in his bowels with her Slashing. The wookiee pushed us both aside, Holding its bowels and trying to flee before Tripping and falling. A large red puddle formed beneath him. Quickly I picked up the Bounty.
"Bring that things head. My son is getting its fucking braids."
I shouted, dragging the besalisk along. We reached the Spooky Mistress after a few minutes of dragging

 

[Fesseja Rytt]

I had waited at the end of the ramp for quick support. Adenn was usually good for a fewa stitches. And if He was any standard then the other two may need some help. Etr was not a usual case.. had seen a lot of trauma from slavery; lacerations, Blaster wounds, Vibroblade Knicks.. I nearly screamed when I saw him. His arm.. or what was left of it was wrapped in a Curtain.. Filthy. The woman carrying him had a clearly Very destroyed arm per her shoulder. Just by looking at I knew it'd be massive trauma to these areas. She raised a Blaster before she saw the red medic symbol on my Dress.
"Help him, help him"
The woman, Zaia, I believed, had begged. I brought a stretcher to the pair and we placed him onto it, moving the child quickly to the area where my little operating area was, no time for pleasantries. The first thing was to stop the bleeding though from his left side. A Tourniquet seemed To slow the bleeding... he was so pale. and an anticoagulant stopped it. I retrieved him blood and scanned the arms, massive damage was done to the tendons and spiral fractures existed along the ulna and Humerous on both side with the Wrist and hand of the remaining hand being crushed. though in different directions. Something had twisted his arms in different directions. All Fractures were clean and the left arm appeared torn off at the Elbow. The bad news was his cardiovascular was stretched to the point of Rupture in certain areas. He'd need Surgery immediately. I applied a Dose of stabilizing Medications and pain killers brought him back to consciousness. The Boys grey eyes looked up at Zaia, a weak smile came onto his face. He stuttered to reassure her
"I-I-I'm Ok. Honest. I'm ok z-"
He passed out again, his Readings very low.
" I need you to bring him more blood. He's bleeding out internally and he'll need major surgery. He has major trauma to his cardiovascular, Muscular system and Connective tissues"
I pointed to the small Fridge behind her and she retrieved another pint which I added to the other in IV. I cut his Shirt off and tossed it into the waste bin. Next would be to hook up life support before Disinfecting and beginning the work of close the wounds he had and rebuilding a boys Enter upper body.

@Die Shize
@Sicadorito

 

[Casany Praxor]

​

The Wookiee was especially fierce even for its kind but his opponent was a dragon twice his height. Anvil cut wide, stabbed center, slashed high, blocked low. Theirs was no dance, there was no finesse, just unbridled aggression and the need to tear one another apart and hack at what was left.

A Mandalorian came up beside Anvil. She didn’t care to recognize who. It was just her and the Wookiee now. His hands swiped. A blade took one off. He roared. Anvil was already behind him, dragging her sword across his belly.

The Wookiee fell. Anvil heard Adenn that time but said nothing, saw only the Wookiee as it crawled on the ground and no longer looked so ferocious. His executioner approached slowly, sword pointed toward face.

She slashed. The Wookiee shrieked, missing a lot more than just a hand now. “Arm for arm,” Anvil affirmed. “Blood…for blood!” She plunged her weapon into her enemy’s throat, meeting his gurgled gasps with a jerk of the blade that separated the head from the shoulders.

When Anvil turned around, hilt in one hand and head in the other, a few gangsters stepped back and also turned around.

Her movements were just as steady as the Mandalorian entered the Spooky Mistress, gore giving a new tint to the red and gold of her armor. She walked forward, found her companions and a Twi’lek beside them, but everyone went ignored save for one.

Through her visor, Anvil could only stare down at that boy, that teen, that young man who had just had his arm ripped from his body. A string of blood dripped to the floor from a blade, more from a Wookiee’s head which Anvil clutched by the braids as she stood in silence.

@Sicadorito @Timmen

 

[Zaia Krodas]

“Help him, please.” Zaia found herself begging the twi-lek standing on the ramp of the ship before she knew what she was doing. When the woman brought out a stretcher, Zaia helped her pull Etr on top of it and followed her inside the ship. Her vision had become like a tunnel, clouded by fear and worry for the boy’s life. She took off her helmet when she heard Etr speak, smiling down at him for a brief moment before he lost consciousness once more. After seeing that, she had to look away and squeeze her eyes shut for a moment.

“More blood,” Zaia whispered to herself when the twi-lek pointed to the fridge behind the place she was standing. Numb, she walked over and opened it, taking out a pint and handing it over to the woman. She hadn’t even noticed that her hands were shaking.

Once the woman took it and got to work, Zaia headed over to a bench nearby, throwing her helmet down at the side. She sat down and clenched her fists to try and stop herself from trembling. You’re not the one who had their arm ripped off. Quit it.

Soon enough Adenn and Anvil had arrived, leaving behind a trail of red splotches from the wookie’s severed head clutched in the hunter’s hand. Zaia hardly saw it. She turned away from Etr and everyone else, facing the other direction instead. She couldn’t bear to look at any of them.

@Timmen @Die Shize

 

[Adenn Rytt]

I had dragged the Bounty with me. I couldn't leave it behind. If Etr died his death would mean something. It had to mean something. he was heavy and smelled like his lounge. I cursed him. I cursed the wookie. I cursed my own hands for not knowing the difference in weight between a dummy round and a real piece of ordinance. Zaia sat, too shocked to even look at anyone... Anvil came and stood silent vigil over him. I tossed the Besalisk into a cell in the Cargo bay and returned to him. Fesseja worked as well as she could to save him. I sigh mournfully
"He exemplified every positive mandalorian quality. And not a single Negative one."
There was a shrine he had built for the mandalorian deity. The Glowing Khyber crystal sat illuminating it two pieces of paper with Calligraphy on it. One was written by myself and the other by him. His read;

Eyes shall not see
Nor ears shall hear
The call of the Manda
Save for he who marches into it.

I approached it and Knelt down in silent prayer. Stopping only a moment to Remove my piece of parchment before continuing.

 

[Etr Wyara]

I Have loved until death
I have served until death
I have fought until death
I have died unto life.
It was the first poem I learned in Mando'a. Adenn said it exemplified every Mandalorian virtue.
"We are created when we are told. We learn how we are told.. We march where we are told. We fight when we are told. But we only die when we are called. This is the way."
I wanted to repeat in response. But everything was mixed and mangled, even my thoughts.
Pain
Fear
Sadness
Exhaustion
it all felt like I was being hit all at once by everything. Then it felt like a string that had been tied to me snapped. It all seemed to slip away as the world did. It grew Dark then bright. At first I was cold but then it seemed like a warm frost Formed on my entire body and now I had no sensation of clothing. I felt no more need to breathe. I felt no more pain. It was like something which had been broken, broken from all my life, had been repaired. That I was now a repaired item.

I held out my left hand and someone else's seemed to reach out and grasp it. It pulled me in and suddenly I was in a field. The air was Warm like water that ebbed and flowed like a tide. The grasses danced like white feathers with small violet flowers that broke the Snowy Sod. It smelled like fresh rain and roses. The land stretched on forever and the Sky was a perfect shade of azure. A woman with eyes grey as steel and soft as goose down smiled at me. Her beautiful blonde hair seemed to go to her waist. She wore black Beskar'gam painted with Falling pedals, Orange in color and no helmet.
"It's been a very long time, H'rapr. I missed you so much."
She came close and embraced me. She was as warm as everything else but it felt like our souls fused.
"Buir"
The word slipped out almost accidentally. It was as if it had been a forbidden word till now. It felt unreal, like I couldn't have deserved such a perfect ending. There couldn't be such a simple resolution.
"I know. It's so simple how it feels, isn't it?"
The women said, her arms wrapped around me.
"Am I Really?"
I thought I would panic but the fear never came.
"Am I Really dead?"

 

[Fesseja Rytt]

The battle to save Etr was quickly becoming a full scale war. Upon opening the chest cavity it was apparent. Knicks and tears Adorned his cardiovascular system like Holes in a sieve. The Mechanical Medical surgeons assistant had trouble keeping up with scanning and sutchering. We stopped his heart to make repairs and opened a Drain for the pooled blood. It sounded worse than was when the life support system went crazy with alarms. The fact that a fee cups of blood spilled onto the floor from the drain looked aweful. When the heart and lung bypass machine kicked in the alarms stopped and I continued to work to save him. Blood loss was a serious issue and I kept calling for more which the assistant obliged.

Once we had finished with the Cardiovascular trauma the next step was to repair the bones. An Osteosynthetic procedure was used to repair the Fractures to the various bones and sockets. It would be easier to list the bones I left to heal. bacta was applied to Encourage healing.

The last part was a long part which was basically reconnecting all Connective tissue, Joints and even a repair to 3 slipped disks in his spinal column. Most of the work was done to the Assistant but I would do the work that needed less precision. By the time we were halfway through you would have thought I was performing a vivisection for an academy Textbook. I recorded everything and would later write on the work to submit it to a medical journal.
the effects of a Wookiee's aggression on the adolescent human body.
seemed appropriate. I approached the others when I was finished
"He seems to be stable. I have done all I can. We should be thankful he is a healthy, 15 year old. It will be up to him now'

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Anvil might have stood there like a statue for time on end, might have embodied a warrior of old, an ancestor who carried sword and skull in either hand and both were the trophies of the defeated. Is this…who I am? It was a question to be answered at another time. She had a blade to clean, a head to stake and a Foundling to worry about first.

Claiming herself, the Mandalorian snapped out of her daze, set her prizes on a table and rushed toward the operation. She wanted to help however she could, knowing battlefield medicine as well as any warrior, but ended up mostly in the way and outperformed by the ship’s surgeon. So Anvil backed up, watching Etr while stepping away.

She found Zaia. The woman looked tired, and who wouldn’t be after a fight like that? There was no prayer that Anvil could offer, hardly any words, but what all of them needed right now was spirit. “Vod,” she addressed simply, debating whether to reach a hand out. The glove and plate were covered in blood, though it was not her own. “You did good out there. Fought hard and true. We live to fight again.” What else can any of us ask for?

Moments later, Fesseja approached with the results of the surgery. Anvil took a breath, steadied its exit, felt relief. She surely was not alone. “He’s no boy. He doesn’t get to be. Not anymore."

That wasn't his choice, wasn't hers, wasn't anyone's. Except maybe whoever stole more than an arm from him before we ever stole a Besalisk. "He may not be a man yet but he is a Mandalorian. He will make it." She spoke behind her visor, and it too was bloodied, streaks of red and green against the glass. Is this…who we are?


@Sicadorito @Timmen

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia looked up at Cas when her friend spoke to her, a hint of tears brimming in her eyes. She couldn’t see the woman as Anvil anymore, not now, not after she’d seen what this deceptively-simple kind of job could twist someone into. She was about to respond when Fesseja walked over and gave an update on Etr’s condition. After hearing that he was stable, thank Kad, stable, Zaia felt the tears that had been building up earlier spill over onto her cheeks. Unable to say anything at the moment to thank Fesseja for the miracle she’d gifted them, Zaia used one of her hands to half-heartedly wipe her face, resulting only in a bloody streak where glove had come into skin. Etr’s blood.

After taking in a couple breaths to steady herself, Zaia looked back up at Cas.

“It wasn’t worth it,” she whispered, so quietly that even someone standing right beside her would have to strain to hear it. “It wasn’t worth it.” The credits. This had all been for credits. At the cost of what? A young man’s arm, and nearly the life that he had in front of him? The cost of breaking the moral code she’d been taught since she was able to speak in killing the guards she’d already blinded? This isn’t right.

“He is going to make it. He has to,” Zaia echoed Cas with a sniffle, then wiped her face again after grabbing a tissue. “He has mandokar.” She meant it too. Looking over at Adenn, she smiled softly. “You should be proud of him. He was so brave.”

@Timmen @Die Shize

 

[Adenn Rytt]

I reached the Last prayer I knew. I was left to meditate while the surgeon worked to save Etr. I thought much on the road that brought us here. I cursed this Fate. The fate of mandalorians. When Fesseja came out and announced the fruits of her efforts I gave a great sigh of Relief and tears of Joy rolled down my face.
"He has mandokar.... you should be proud. He was so brave."
I nodded,
"Hes a survivor alright. Always has been. In past generations we would take a blood oath at the end of our Verd’goten. He's bled more than a few thousand for this clan. I could ask no more of him."
I walked into the the Armory and fetched a helmet
"There were few good sets left when I found my clan's Beskar'gam on display in a crime den. Just this Helmet and a suit. We smelted the rest."
I placed the helmet on the table next to his bed.
"He's a man today. I've seen a good number of kids in my own generation Earn their Right to be called a mandalorian. But I've never seen someone earn it like him."

 

[Etr Wyara]

"Is he here too?"

Father felt like another word that was.. forbidden to me. Not that adenn was not my friend, my teacher, my mentor and even in the law my father. But there had been a relationship to us unlike a father and son. I was too old to call another father and he was too young for me to be considered his son. Or so I thought.

"He's waiting just over the hill. We have been waiting for you though we had hoped it wouldn't be so soon."

She turned from me and began walking. I couldn't follow her. My feet were stuck in place. My mother turned to me, sadness in her eyes.

"You're not ready yet, are you?"

I shook my head.

"No ma'am. If I can God back, then I should. I have more to do. The missions not over yet."

She nodded understandingly

"This time it's An option. The bridge back there has not been broken. Next time maybe not, so take care to fight and preserve your life."

She smiled again, A rear rolling down her cheek.

"Your father will be thrilled to hear what a warrior we had. When you return here, we hope to hear your stories, the good and the bad."

She walked to me again and hugged me, I embraced her too now. She had a familiar scent. One I hadn't smelled in a long time. I closed my eyes and a distant pain returned like and felt like I was wrapped in cotton wool. The need for air forced my airways open as I took as big a breathe as I could. Fesseja was listening to my heart. The wires and various medical equipment seemed endless.. on the table next to me was a black helmet, Not smelted like the others but In perfect condition. I smiled at it.

"Black field with Orange petals."
I thought happily.

 

[Fesseja Rytt]

He gasped back to life and I nearly jumped out of my skin. The boy seemed gave a look around then at the Machinery he was hooked up to.
He lifted his left arm and viewed the stump.
"We will get you outfitted with a proper prosthetic as soon as I feel your bones are up for it."
Etr would need time to recover. This trauma was very great to him. I called for Adenn to help me move him into the "bacta tank" which was something resembling a very tall steel tub. filled with bacta. It was fabricated by Adenn. This and the Surgical assistant was a better compromise than having to choose between either a bacta tank or a medical Droid. Adenn came in quickly, the others in toe and assisted me and we carried him over and lowered him into the goo. He lead in recline with his head above the liquid. I turned to the others;
"Does anyone else need medical attention?"

@Die Shize
@Sicadorito

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

She couldn’t understand it. Why the tears? Why was Zaia crying? Was it Etr? She didn’t know him. Neither woman did. True, what happened to that boy before and after he lost his arm was terrible and tragic. But it’s not our place to cry. We don’t cry over lost limbs or dead brothers and sisters. We don’t cry when our families fall. We don’t cry!

Earlier, Anvil had wanted to place her hand on Zaia’s shoulder, console her, empathize with her. Now I just want to hit her. What the younger woman was not wrong about, though, was the bravery of that boy. It led them to taking down the enemy. And what an enemy he was. We stopped him from doing to others what was done to Etr. We'll use these credits to fuel the cause. We stopped a monster. We won!

Anvil’s fingers curled into a fist. Wasn’t worth it!? Then it was Adenn’s turn to weep. What pack of i’kaads did I sign up with? Rytt echoed the conviction of what Etr was: Mandalorian. No boy. Not anymore. A warrior. A man of war. Survivor. His father kept talking but Anvil’s thoughts droned out his speech.

“He is…” she feebly agreed that the boy had become a man. He is…a man…a man… Her fingers unfurled and hung loose. Thankful that Fesseja offered an immediate distraction, Anvil capitalized on it. She found Etr’s one arm with one hand, supported his back with the other, lowered him into the tank.

“No,” the hunter shook her head. “I don’t need anything.” Not from you. Not from any of you. With that, she gave Etr one last look and turned to leave the room, wiping a hand across her visor to flick a whole other kind of goo away.

If uninterrupted, Anvil would head to the cage where they were keeping Goran Vell. She had more than words to give him. A newly formed fist would make sure of it.

@Sicadorito @Timmen

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia watched Adenn place the helmet of beskar on the table by Etr’s bed. There was no one she could think of that deserved it more than the young man did. Just as the thought flitted through her mind, she saw that Etr had woken up. When she saw him awake, she went over to see how he was, and what was in front of her now seemed much more promising than it looked like before. She didn’t say anything though, instead watching in silence as the others carried him over to the bacta tank. Fesseja offered medical treatment for anyone else who might have needed it, but after seeing Etr, Zaia didn’t know why anyone would want to take her up on that offer.

She headed back outside to pick up her helmet, cast aside on the floor. She didn’t put it back on though, instead holding it in her hands as she had done the first day she’d met Casany at the bar. She stared down at it, wondering just how long it would take her to scrub the blood off. It was ironic, really. For someone who trained pretty much her entire life to prepare for violence that often ended up with messy deaths or injuries like these, Zaia still couldn’t stand the sight of blood. Not her own, not others’.

Cas had left the room, and Zaia went back to the bench where she was before, putting her helmet back on when she heard the muffled sound of landing punches coming from where the cage was kept. Truth be told, she’d completely forgotten about their bounty, Goran Vell. Seeing Etr like that was… she didn’t know how to describe it. On one hand— Zaia winced inwardly at her choice of words, there had been loss, there had been pain, and not all of it physical. But on the other was the side that she’d forgotten about. They’d captured a criminal, a man who’d committed unspeakable crimes against more than just Etr. Sure, it hadn’t gone the way she’d have wanted it to, but this profession was never going to be all sunshine and rainbows. So many had warned her about it, and she’d always ignored them. But did she have a choice? Violence was all she knew. And even that she couldn’t handle.

Glancing back one more time at Etr, Adenn and Fesseja without saying a word, she headed back to the Winged Pike. She had a feeling that Cas was upset with her, and she couldn’t blame the woman. But that was something she would deal with another time, maybe after each of them received their share of the bounty. Right now she needed some time to think.

//Exit character//

@Timmen @Die Shize

 

[Fesseja Rytt]

With the other two seemingly uninterested, Adenn was clearly not Injured and Etr having another 3 hours for his bacta session I left to my Quarters to change out of my blood soaked Attire and into something clean. I removed the Holodisk for Future reference and stored it in my desk.
<exit character>

 

[Adenn Rytt]

There was a feeling of incredible guilt lingering in the room from the whole ordeal of Etr becoming so seriously wounded. I couldn't tell if it was mine, someone else's or A mixture. Violence was all we knew. I had seen and known death all my life, even at age 27 death was a fellow traveler. A member of my Crew. It always had been. the hardest part was accepting it. But was a father supposed to demand death as a possible outcome for a child? To be a Mandalorian the answer was a begrudging "yes". I stared at the man resting in Bacta. I was grateful to have him. I stared at the man I heard Casany beating on The Bounty. I couldn't stomach to smell it anymore than I had on my way back. I just hoped she didn't kill it. I would head to the Cockpit to set up for take off.
<character exit>

 

[Etr Wyara]

The bacta was cool was soothing on every limb and Expanse of my body. I Took hold of the oxygen Tube and took a breathe. I watched as the other left one by one. Except for adenn who seemed to watch me thoughtfully through the viewing port. When he knew I'd be ok he turned and left the room.

My world seemed to have changed. I had seen the Manda and heard it's call. I would never again doubt it. But then I thought more and more on what I nearly died for. Money? For Zaia? Because some wookiee got bold? No. I died for the Honor of having served. I would like to think If I were called again I would answer. But then I reflected on what my Mother had said. Was a life worth so little as to be given away at the first need? Would my Life, having been given away for those around me, be worth more later down the road? Or would it be worth less than now? All questions seemed to stop when I wondered who Was I to weigh the value of a life? I had an answer though it was against my personality: I am a Mandalorian. Our entire vocation was the taking of life. And though the weight of a life, pound per pound might be something to Ponder in the future, I knew mine would be worth preserving.

<exit character>

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

-CRACK!- Leathered, iron knuckles found the Besalisk’s jaw. Its other side. Found his stomach. Broke the nose.

“Y-You’ll sure…you’ll surely…get paid less for this…b-bounty hunter…BITCH!”

-CRACK!-

“You’re dead or alive, hut’uun!” The hunter’s helm smacked into his forehead. Blood spattered on the visor. “You’re lucky it’s the latter!”

By the time she was done, Anvil had no idea what was left behind in that prison cell. It was breathing, she knew that much, but barely. It was her bounty, she had called for it, but it wasn't her decision. That was Etr's now. Dead or alive.

The hunter emerged into a ship suddenly cold, even though her blood was boiling, and it was all she could do to leave it and enter her own.

The Winged Pike was silent. The two women inside it did not speak. The cockpit was empty as far as Anvil was concerned. She found her quarters, took off her helmet, set it on a bench, saw her naked face in visor. Is this…is that…

Seizing a glass, Casany Praxor put it down, trading it for the whole bottle of vodka. She slumped down on the side of her bed and guzzled. Am I… Beside her was that book, that brown leather book. Casany Praxor’s Bounty Hunting for Beginners.

She opened it, picked up a pen to write in it, but the pen became a flying dagger and the book became just another severed arm to throw against the wall.

[EXIT CASANY PRAXOR]
[END THREAD]​

@Sicadorito @Timmen