Returning Lost Cargo [Bounty]

[DaBomb]

Pzob

Target: Mika, Runaway Slave​

Athena's ship began to land down on the nearest shipyard. As her landing gear pressed against the metal floor, she began to walk out of the lowered walkway. Giving a quick survey, she could immediately tell this place was shady, not a kind of place you'd want to be unarmed or alone. Looking through her logs, once more she again reread that the save was not on the ship when it took off. Meaning that the slave must of escaped while being transformed to the ship. She knew she could of escaped anywhere between when she was at the Hutt's palace, of right before she got on the ship. Cracking her knuckles, she walked to the first place she'd go if she was a slave. The police station.

As Athena neared the police station, she found constantly met with looks that were either filled with fear or hate. A bounty hunter, wearing her type of armor was not usually met with happy arms. Reaching the station she walked in the door and went to the woman behind the desk. "Hey beautiful, can you help me with something?" The secretary blushes and responds. "Well, it is my job to help you, ya'know..." She has a sense of humor, something she liked in a person. Athena gave the woman a smirk, amused by her comment. "Good, i'm looking for somebody that might of been here." Athena brings out her data pad. "Has she been here? Her name's Mika." Athena questions as she shows it to the woman, who squints to see the small image. "Yes, she was here a couple of days ago. She came here afraid out of her mind, asking for protection. We tried to calm her down and told her that we'd have an officer escort her home, but she did't really care, as she ran out of the door before we could question her further. The woman look up from the screen. "Why?" The secretary asks with a raised eyebrow. Athena snorts and gives a sly smile. "Why? Cause she's a convicted criminal and I need to track her down."

 

[Sierrien]

Scared. If there was a word that more fully encompassed what Mika had been feeling since she had successfully escaped her forced slavery, that was it. Even going to the police hadn't worked; she had gone in, and then they had started asking her question after question. Her attire was clearly that of a slave, not to mention the brand and the collar she was wearing as well. She had started to suspect that even the police could be bought out by the Hutt who owned her; that thought had permeated her mind as they asked her every question they could think of. They hadn't seemed very keen on actually being helpful to her, rather just asking who she was and who she belonged to and how she had escaped. So, the first chance she got she had fled the police station as well. That had been a couple of days ago now; she had since discovered that there weren't many who would want to help an escaped slave. She had been forced to live off what she could steal; a cloak that she could use to hide her slave attire and could use to cover her face as well. A blaster, which she had managed to steal as she made her escape in the first place, was her only possession of any worth. But she might need it if anyone came after her, so she couldn't sell it for the credits.

She hadn't thought this through enough. Not at all. She had simply seen her opportunity to escape, and fearing that it was the only one she would ever have - she had leapt at the chance. Looking back at it, she wasn't sure if it had been wise. If they caught her now, she'd be punished severely at best. Probably killed once they had tired of her, too. She sighed as she sat in an alley, her cloak wrapped about her form tightly, except for an arm that was holding a stolen piece of meat. It was the first she had eaten today, so she was going at it somewhat ravenously, though at the same time trying to pace herself. If she ate it too fast, she'd upset her stomach and perhaps end up puking it out. She didn't want that; couldn't afford that. So eating as slowly as she could manage was what she was doing, as well as looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone else in the alley. For now, she was alone. She'd have to get moving soon enough, she was never safe staying in the same place, but for now she took the moment to rest.

(Edit: Just so anyone reading is aware, I am NPCing Mika for this thread, a slave from the bounty boards!)

 

[DaBomb]

The Secretary gave her a shocked look and made a grab for the phone. Athena grabbed her hand before she could and leaned in close. "I need this to be on the down low..." Athena whispered. The woman nods and walks toward another officer. After a brief whisper is exchanged, the man walks out of the door, talking to a group of thugs outside. The secretary comes back and sits at her desk. "We'll be using our 'badgeless' detectives for this." Athena nods. "Do you have any idea where she could be?" The secretary nods and points in front of her. "She ran all the way to the slums, she may still be there if you're lucky." "Thanks, beautiful." Athena winks, making the secretary blush once more.

The slums were even worse the the shipyard. There was trash littered on the streets, homeless people taking up the side walk. It was a sad place to lice in, luckily she wasn't one of these people. Walking past several dark alleys, seeing several cloaked figures hunched over in them. With s sigh she walked into the local bar, the best source of info this kind of place was going to give. Walking through the doors she went directly to the bartender and ordered a drink. As she was handed a 'liquid hammer' , she stopped the bartender. "Have you seen this woman?" She asked while showing the man the datapad.

 

[Sierrien]

Her 'meal' done, Mika stood in her quiet alleyway. Her eyes glanced around, ensuring she was alone - besides the regular homeless bums who tended to be in these parts, at least - and gathered her cloak around herself some more. The hood was brought up to cover her head, though anyone seeing her from head on would still get a look at her face. From behind or the side, it was hidden, and even from the front it gave her a bit of shadows to hide behind. Hopefully it would give her enough time to figure out what her next move was, before any kind of pursuit caught up to her. She had to find out a way to make some money, or steal it. She wasn't sure yet what she was going to do. Time, yes. She had already said that was what she needed, and she knew it to be true. Yet it was all she could think about. Her mind went through the decisions she had made to bring her to this alley again and again, even as she moved to the back of a bar and started picking through the dumpster behind it for food that didn't look like it had gotten bad.

She didn't find anything today, which caused her to let out a sigh and turn away from the dumpster, her eyes moving towards the entrance to it. Perhaps she should go inside and see if anyone wanted to buy her food? Usually that didn't go to well, unless she was willing to show a little leg and lead them on a little. She didn't really like to do it, but sometimes she was too hungry not to. Today wasn't one of those days. So instead of turning to go inside, she brought her hands up to adjust her hood just as she went by the front door, giving a brief flash of her face and hair to those inside inadvertently. Her feet carried her away then, the cloak helping her to somewhat blend in to the crowd. It was a nondescript black one, which meant it wouldn't be too unusual to see someone else wearing one, though perhaps not in this exact part of the city.

 

[DaBomb]

The man shrugs looking at the woman with a blank expression. "I may have, why what's it in for me?" Athena smiled within her helmet, she loved it when they asked that. She knew she couldn't touch him and cause a stir, so she had to go through the diplomatic route. "You've obviously heard of the Local Hutt, Ingoo?" The man nods and gestures someone to come fill his position. Walking out of the behind the bar counter, he gestures to an area where they can talk. "What about Ingoo?" The man asks in a hushed tone, away from the main crowd of people. "The person i'm hunting is a runaway slave, who is very dangerous, and the Hutt wants her back. I'll tell him that you helped me and he'll see it as personal favor..." Athena noticed the man looked doubtful "And 500 credits." "Deal."

After the negotiation, the bartender talked to a few of the people in the bar, while Athena sat down and enjoyed a drink. She hoped that this detour would pay off and not negatively affect her attempts to capture the slave. Taking a swig of her whisky, she was tapped on the shoulder by one of the employees. "She was just seen walking by the bar in a black cloak, wha-" Before the man could finish, Athena put her helmet back on and marched out the bar, looking for a woman with a black cloak. Seeing many that fit that description, she began walking up to those wearing black cloaks, and tapping them on the shoulder, so she could see their face.

 

[Sierrien]

Luckily for her, she hadn't come to a stop outside that Cantina, so as Athena went around and started tapping on people's shoulders and looking at their faces - sheer luck would keep those faces from being Mika's. She might have been better served by slowing down, as she would have learned then that someone was after her - or at least had a chance to learn it. As it was, she didn't even notice that someone was on to her black cloak trick, and she just kept on walking away from the Cantina. She's likely circle back around lately; this was one of the better places in the slums she had found. At least all the homeless people here didn't try to accost her or.. worse. For the bounty hunter's part, she would likely quickly run out of people in black cloaks in the immediate vicinity; would she see Mika before the woman turned in to an alley in order to go up to the next street?

Whether she did or not, Mika had a location in mind - the place she tended to sleep the nights away, actually - but it would take her a while to get there. So she was walking at a brisk pace, and looking like she knew where she was going with her cloak up over her head. It meant she couldn't always be looking behind herself to see if she was being followed, but she at least had the sense to double back a few times, and when she could she would wait at corners and peek out to see if anyone was following her. Whether she was successful in spotting someone following her or not would certainly have an impact on what she did next.

 

[DaBomb]

Athena cursed as the last person with a black cloak was examined. None of them was her, either she had somehow gotten away, or hey fed her wrong information. With a face filled with fury, she began to walk back to the bar when a voice spoke to her in her helmet. "Did you not notice the woman walking into the alley?" "...What?" "The woman you're looking for, she walked into an alley over there, I didn't know you ha- "Why didn't you tell me?" "I'm sorry, Mistress, I thought you knew..." Athena turned back around and rushed to the alleyway, her metal boots making a thud each time they hit the ground.

"Scarlet, please tell me a target's location, from now on." "Request acknowledged, storing in data banks for future reference." The voice shut down, making Athena sigh. She began to regret giving that A.I. too much emotions. Though she loved Scarlet's personality, it constantly kept her from her full attention. Turning the corner and running down the alleyway, following the target in the black cloak. She would have to catch this woman, before she escaped again, or worse, someone else got her...

 

[Sierrien]

It was good she had gained a bit of distance from the woman following her - that she still hadn't discovered was following her. Unfortunately, spending so much time worried and stopping to look behind herself made her stand out a bit to anyone who had a wider eye on the streets. And it was usually not good to catch people's eyes down here, especially when you were trying to flee from a powerful crime lord who was willing to pay to get you back. In these parts, bounty hunters were plentiful, and they came in all shapes and sizes. Some did it for the money, others for the thrill of the hunt, and some because they were dark, miserable bastards who wanted to take a little piece before turning over slave girls to the Hutt who wanted her back.

Mika turned down another alley, but only made it about halfway down this one before two mean looking men stepped out in front of her. One was a human, the other a Zabrak. She came to a stop, staring at them in their menacing clothes and noting how they were well armed, though none of them had a gun out. Mika turned around to run, only to have two more men step out behind her - this time, a rather large human who seemed to be the leader of this little mercenary group and a Trandoshan on this side. She came to a stop as the large man called out in a dirty, lecherous voice. "Hello there sweet pea. We're gonna have some fun with you before we send you back to that hutt. Quite a bounty on your head; he won't mind if you're a little.. used."

 

[DaBomb]

As she was running down the alley, she frantically looked around for the back cloak. Realizing that she had lost her, she punches the alley wall, leaving a large crack in some of the bricks. "Scarlet, scan the area for another bounty hunters. We still have time to intercept them, if someone made off with our target." A couple moments of silence signified that she was working on it. "Only two other bounty hunters accepted the Hutt's bounty. One is a couple kilometers away from here and the other is a block away, in an alley way." "Thank you Scarlet." "I aim to please, mistress." Athena grabbed both pistols out of their holsters, and turned the safety off, then put them back, in their corresponding holster.

Athena darted to the alleyway, pushing past people in her way, not caring who she hit. After reaching the alleyway, she took a sharp turn, and saw the black cloak. Unfortunately for Athena, this woman was surrounded by a group of men. This seemed odd, as most of them were decently sized and they would only need one, at the most two, in order to subdue her. After a couple moments of silence, her eyes widened with realization of what was about to occur. She quietly walked to the group of men, until she was behind the biggest one. Cracking her knuckles, he tapped him on the shoulder, and as he turned around punched him directly in the jaw, as hard as she could.

 

[Sierrien]

It wasn't looking good for Mika as the four men closed around her, a panicked look having taken over her face as she froze up. She had a blaster, but didn't even think to use it. The two men behind her grabbed at her, tearing her cloak away and leaving her in the slave 'outfit' she had first escaped in - which truly didn't cover much of her at all - and then grabbing her arms to hold her still. She let out a scared shriek, but that wasn't what caught anyone's attention. Instead it was a new arrival - who had just tapped the leader of this little group of lecherous, disgusting pigs on the shoulder. Or rather, it was that after he turned around to see who was dumb enough to interrupt him now and he was dropped to the floor by a hard punch from a girl smaller than he was - though honestly, not much smaller. Well, he hadn't been expecting it - and really, he still wasn't. His three compatriots had their jaws all drop at the same time as he hit the floor and didn't get back up, though it didn't look like he was quite out cold he was certainly dazed and groaning, his hand moving to hold his newly broken jaw.

The remaining three quickly forgot about Mika, the two who had been trying to hold her still letting go of her completely as all three went for their blasters in unison. There was the stunned moment of silence for all of them before that which would give Athena time to react, but then there was a flurry of motion as they all drew out their blasters. The one closest to Athena fumbled with getting his out its holster as well, but the other two would be decently quick to getting them out, then taking quick aim. They would fire at Athena, unless she was quick enough to take them both down before that- and she had plenty of time to get to cover instead, if she so desired - and the third one, who was actually right next to Athena, would have his own drawn a few moments later. Likely he could have bought his companions a lot of time just by jumping at Athena and trying to tackle her, but he really wasn't all that keen on tackling her. She looked a whole hell of a lot tougher than he did.

Mika meanwhile would be backing up quickly once her arms had been let go of, and seeing the men going for their guns would quickly turn and start to run away. She didn't have a location in mind to flee to now, she was just running away as quickly as she could from what might have turned in to a firefight behind her, or some kind of fight. She wanted no part of it, but it looked like a good time to escape from it to her! She didn't even stop to retrieve her cloak, not wanting to waste the precious seconds that would take nor risk someone noticing or shooting at her.

 

[DaBomb]

Athena quickly grabbed the person next to him and twisted his arm, disarming him from his weapon. She then spun him around and held him in front of herself and used him as a blaster sponge, stopping the bolts from hitting her. She then pulled out one of her pistols and began firing at the men, who had for some reason, no thought it'd be a good idea to get into cover. Putting several bolts into their bodies, she watched their smoking bodies fall to the ground, dead. She then snapped the neck of the one she was currently holding.

She began to run after the slave, quickly spotting he, now that her cloak was gone. "Hey, stop!" She yelled at the woman, with a pleading voice. Athena quickly took out one of her pistols and set it to stun, then ran to a faster pace, trying to catch up to her, or at least get within shooting distance.

 

[Sierrien]

Mika wasn't having any of it - when she looked back, she saw that the woman who had saved her was in the middle of taking out all four of the men who had accosted her. Yet all that did was cause her to slow a bit, so that she could see what happened. The two who had tried to grab her were shot, and then she saw the giant woman break the neck of the one she had been using for cover. Her jaw dropped - but then the woman was running after her, and calling out for her to stop. That wasn't likely to happen - people only helped you in the slums if they wanted something from you. And considering the woman's gear and skill - there was a good chance that what she wanted was to bring her back to the Hutt she had escaped from, for whatever amount of credits he had offered for her return.

So instead of stopping, she turned and continued running away, trying to keep the distance she had gained between them by ducking down alley after alley, trying to get around corners before she was seen so that the woman would have to pause at each intersection and decide which way to go. The blaster she had stolen was in her hand, because she had seen the one the woman was holding as she chased. Thinking quickly, and not really making any distance between her and the woman chasing her - in fact, probably losing a bit of distance - she quickly ducked in to a nearby clothing shop. Before she was spotted by anyone inside - which was only the proprietor, but he was busy watching some show on his holonet - she moved to hide in a clothes rack, planning on trying to jump out and get the drop on the woman chasing her, so she could make the woman leave her alone.

 

[DaBomb]

Athena already determined that the woman wasn't going to stop. They never do, they always make it hard on the Bounty Hunter. Sighing to herself, she suddenly lost sight of the woman, as she ducked down into the crowd and turned a corner. Cursing she continued to push people out of the way, trying to catch up to her target. Once she reached the corner, she scanned the area and didn't see the woman again. Walking down the road she looked past each corner trying to see if her target was hiding from her. Realizing that she had lost her target again, she punched another hole in a nearby wall.

After she calmed down, after taking a couple deep breaths, she began talking to her A.I. "Scarlet, have any droids or cameras picked up our target?" "Checking local video drive and the memory cores of droids within a kilometer radius." After moments of silence, a beep is heard. "A ship repair droid, saw the target walk into a clothing store." "Thank you Scarlet." With a sigh of relief, Athena walked to the directions that were sent to her, on her HUD. Walking into the doors of the store, she walked down the isles of racks, keeping an eye out for her target.

 

[Sierrien]

It was a good thing she had managed to at least put a bit of space between herself and the woman chasing her - or was she just waiting outside, Mika wondered? - as that gave her time to catch her breath. It was quicker than usual due to her mad dash through the streets. Still, she hadn't recovered enough to be breathing completely normal when she heard the tall woman entering the store. Mika made sure to keep her breathing steady and low, and would even hold her breath as loud footsteps started to move down the aisle she was hiding in.

The proprietor didn't even notice Athena he was so engrossed in his Holonet, so she was free to wander at will. When she was partway down the second aisle though, with Mika holding her breath until the woman passed and letting her go a few extra feet, the slave girl jumped out of the rack with her blaster held up and pointed at the Amazon who had been chasing her. "Don't move!" She let out loudly, her blaster held in both hands though her arms had a bit of a nervous shake to them. "I dont want to shoot you, but I will if I have to. Drop your weapons!" Her voice wasn't all that powerful, but she was counting on the blaster in her hands, the five feet of space she had left between them and hopefully having gotten the drop on the woman to carry her past that.

"Even I won't miss from this range."

 

[DaBomb]

Athena laughed as she heard the sweet voice behind her. Turning around, she looked the woman up and down. "Wow, you're much more beautiful in person, that Photo does you no justice. She then begins to slowly walk toward the woman. "If you hadn't noticed, i'm wearing a Durasteel bounty hunter suit." She says in an amused tone, knocking on her chest plate. "And that pistol would have to hit me about ten times before it even left a mark." She pulls er pistol set on stun out of the holster, but doesn't point it at the woman. As she is standing right in front of the woman she leans in. "How about you make this easy, so I don't have to bruise that pretty face of yours." She whispers, hoping that she'd do the smart thing.

 

[Sierrien]

She blinked in surprise when the woman simply laughed, and then even started to walk towards her. Her eyes went wide and she stepped backwards as well, trying to keep the distance between them. Durasteel could stop blaster shots? She didn't know if it was a bluff or not. Her eyes moved to the blaster as it was drawn, then quickly back to the amazon's face. Wait, had that been a comment about her being beautiful? She hadn't quite caught it, being caught up in the moment. Now that she was looking, this bounty hunter was beautiful too - and also not wearing a helmet. Durasteel couldn't protect your face when you weren't wearing a helmet...

Her arms started to rise to point the blaster at the woman's face then, but before they made it all the way the shaking of her arms became more apparent, and then they dropped down all the way so they were resting against herself and the blaster was pointed at the floor. Whatever else she was, this woman had saved her from a dark fate in that alley, and she couldn't repay that by shooting her in the face. She didn't deserve death. So Mika stood there with the gun pointed at the ground, her head downcast as tears welled up in her eyes to slowly fall down her cheeks.

"They'll kill me if you turn me in.." She let out, her voice clearly choked from her tears.

 

[DaBomb]

Athena takes a step back when the tears started welling up in her eyes. Something she certainly didn't expect. Not knowing what to do in this situation, she instead walked up to her and gave her supportive hug. "Shhhh, it's fine. You're a prized slave, they'd never think of ever hurting you." I say in a soft tone, giving her a supportive pat on the back. "Not that you would have to worry about that, I don't have any intentions of returning you, anyway." I whisper in her ear. "I have a proposition for you, if you want to hear it..." I whisper, waiting for her response.

 

[Sierrien]

Mika's shoulder's slumped even as the woman came up an hugged her - which she had to admit, she wasn't expecting. She didn't know, though. Even if she was prized before she ran away, they would have to do something horrible to her just so that no other slave ever got it in to their head that it was a good idea to try and run away. They would be caught and killed, or at best simply tortured enough that they'd wish they were dead, before being left alive as a living warning to never try and run. She sniffled as the woman patted her back, and then blinked in surprise. Wait, she wasn't planning on turning her in to the hutt? She shifted on her feet, leaning slightly in towards the woman as hope bloomed in her heart, despite her head telling her that this could easily be a trap. Still, she was desperate - she had to know what this proposition was.

Her head nodded quickly as she sniffled, though her tears had at least been short circuited for now. "Wh-what is it?" she asked, her voice still soft and broken by emotion, her eyes wide and staring straight ahead as Athena whispered in to her ear.

 

[DaBomb]

Athena was glad to see that the slave would listen to her. She honestly didn't thin it would be this easy, then again the bounty card said she was a low threat level. "I won't give you to the Hutt, i'll decline the bounty offer and put my services up for free, to repay your value to him. In exchange, you will be my servant. I won't ask you to do anything you'd be uncomfortable with, all I ask is you do basic chores around my ship, deal?" Athena whispers in her ear, looking around if anyone was listening.

 

[Sierrien]

Mika heard the offer, and her form shifted lightly against the woman who was still hugging her. She wasn't sure what to say about the offer. It was almost too good to be true - going from being a slave of a powerful, evil hutt to just one single woman. That was much preferable, especially if all she had to do was basic chores around a ship. Unless this ship was freaking huge, or unless this woman was just lying to her to make her more pliable.. this was basically the chance of a lifetime for a slave girl like her. She only really had to consider if she should trust this woman - and she couldn't really do anything about it if the answer to that was 'no'. So her choice was a clear one, to her. "Yes, deal. Please... yes." She smiled softly, her tears no longer flowing down her cheeks, though she did still let out a sniffle.

The proprietor had looked up at them in annoyance a few times, but seeing that neither of them looked keen on actually shooting, he went back to his holonet show. They looked to be alone in the store, still.