No Rest for the Wicked

[Chairdor]

"Get down get down you iddjut!" the gruff man barked at his sniveling comrade. The younger fellow, a Zeltron, fell flat and looked up at the bearded man who he had ridden with across deserts and stars with. The man looked on unmoving for a time from his cover in the rocks, looking out to the barren wastes of Zonju V. Four weeks they had been out here drowning in sweat waiting for their opportunity to strike and now as a dust cloud cleared the horizon, the man's impassive face face way to a wicked grin, his black gums as dark as his intentions,

"Silas," he called out to the Zeltron who rose shakily in response,

"Yes Ronti?" as he rose making sure to stay behind the rocks, the young fellow rubbed his brow a thick cascade of sweat falling to a nearby rock sizzling on impact. After that he adjusted his belt and touched his trusty slug thrower, clean and pure from his nervous maintenance over the course of the weeks.

"Today we take what we've earned," Ronti said giving his face a quick shake to rid himself of his own excess sweat. Silas smiled at his words and said happily,

"Then we get to rest?"

Ronti just got up and shook his head as he lined up his rifle site on one of the beasts of burden pulling the massive caravan of goods,

"No Silas," he said simply as he pulled the trigger and watched the beasts begin to panic, the driver pulling taut at the reigns to no avail before she smashed into an outcropping of rocks below,

"There ain't no rest for the wicked"

Three Weeks Later

Hiro rested his unfeeling feet upon the ground of the world far off in Wild Space. Again he searched for information on Zonju V but he got little in response except figures on estimated population and a few atmospheric graphs. While Hiro on occasion subscribed to the wisdom, no news is good news. Seeing the degradation and villainy run rampant in the streets of the city he had landed in, the droid felt he had found an exception.

Eventually the bot came to a rundown building in the center of town, graffiti and scorch marks covered the sign so he had to cross reference the location listed to ensure that he had in fact arrived at the predetermined location. Once sure he marched to the door, a fortified steel piece and knocked once. A thin slit opened in response and a young voice came forth,

"Who's there?"

"Hiro ma'am, bout the call for bounty hunters,"

A series of clicks were heard as the droid waited patiently. At last a creak was heard and the door whined open revealing a thin looking Cathar in a vest and leather pants, she studied Hiro for a moment before allowing the door to fully open at which point the droid tipped his hat and entered.

"I understand you have a bit of a raider problem," Hiro said nonchalantly looking over the decor of the place, sparse and minimalistic the robot determined this was not a stylistic choice, but rather the owners of the building had no ability to afford these objects.

"You could say that," the Cathar replied, "I'm Verassay and your our first,"

"First what ma'am?"

"First taker...the swoop gangs are too busy robbing old women and no other bounty hunter wants to head this far out rim to collect our measly reward,"

As Hiro looked over the feline female's clothes and noted the destroyed building and sparse decor he concluded something,

"I meant to talk bout that lil Missy-"

"Oh please don't tell me you want more," Verassay said her voice tired and low

"Quite the opposite lil lady, I'll just need money for fuel and parts, when I'm done a course,"

For a moment the Cathar said nothing, then she placed her hands on her mouth as tears came to her eyes,

"Thank you...thank you,"

Hiro merely tipped his hat once more and said, "Don't thank me yet,"

Leaving the local government office the Droid adjusted his hat and mask and looked out to the foggy horizon, in his hand were the list of crimes locations and descriptions of the raiders, a human and a zeltron, noting their look and general area, he readied his silver speeder and prepared himself, taking two by himself wouldn't be easy, especially because they were wanted alive.

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

Walking around the alleys, Tabatha was just minding her own business. She found the rundown building that was asked from someone to find. She knocked on the door. "Who is there?" answered a voice from inside. "Name's Tabatha Warr. Heard about some bounty that I wished to know about." Tabatha answered in a deep tone. Before entering, she noticed Hiro walking out. Having bumped into him, she apologized. "You must be Hiro, right? I am Tabatha Warr."

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro had just revved the engine of his speeder once before he was approached by the woman who oddly enough knew his name, this oddity vanished when he put two and two together, a hard task when your mind consists of zeros and ones, and figured she was also in on the bounty. Tipping his hat at the little lady, Hiro dismounted and let his engine idle for a moment as he walked over to the woman, as he walked he noted the scratches in her steel boots and the scar cross her eye, clearly this had been a gal who seen some wear and tear.

"Well howdy Tabatha Warr, for a moment I thought I had gotten me a reputation," after a moment he brought up a holo of the two raiders, the Bearded man seemed dead in the eyes and his accomplice young and scared, "I'm imaginin you'll be with me in bringing these two crooks in? Now I offered to do it next to free but I'm willin to split what I get off their persons with ya," letting the holo sink back into his wrist device the droid extended his hand,

"So whaddya say? Pardners?"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"I guess we can be partners. So, who are we getting? Two people? One person? And how much is the prize?" Tabatha needed to know everything, who was she out to get and how much was she getting payed to do this. She loaded her revolver, expecting the worst. "Make sure that you have a weapon at hand. What if those two have guns? Be prepared for the worst." Tabatha knew that she was going out with a droid. A bounty hunting droid. She should be careful, should the droid back stab her.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro noted Tabatha's inquisitive nature, she seemed to be a woman concerned with the practicalities in life. Odd a droid like himself seemed to have an inclination for looking past that, but in the end it was either nature or design and no one could blame anyone for it. The droid recalled the data he had on the raiders and attempted to put it in a simple digestible form for the woman as he needed to be brief, every second he wasted was another potential casualty in these criminals large portfolio of strikes.

"Alright lil miss not all at once now, two people marked, man and a zeltron no name or data, just showed up on the wastes one day, happens when your port authority has no authority. Prize for me is helpin goodly people, but well also get all expenses covered on our search and enough creds for fuel and repair once were through, plus half of what they stole to each of us."

When he heard her concern for his weapons readiness he expertly produced one protector revolver and flipped it in his metallic hand. The spin grew quicker and quicker until he lifted his other weapon and began to do the same. Eventually he holstered his right gun then kicked up a rock high into the sky ceased the spin of his left gun and fired a single shot. The rock, split cleanly, fell at Hiro's sides smoking noticeably. After this display he produced another slug being sure his guns were always fully loaded, before looking at Tabatha, both pieces holstered,

"They'll be ready when needed, and I'm sure the two raiders have guns, just as all the men and women who were killed by em were sure, now let's stop some corpses from bein made and clean up this mess,"

Having nothing left to say the droid jumped on his bike and turned to the lady, "Room for one more iffn you ain't got a ride yerself," he offered with a rev of his Silver speeder.

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"A man and a Zeltron, eh? Shouldn't a be hard fight." Tabatha noted that Hiro looked ready for anything. She took care to remember that the raiders were armed and dangerous. "Let's go chase a pair of raiders, before someone else gets hurt." Tabatha was ready. She chose to jump on Hiro's speeder bike. She was ready to put down a pair of dangerous beings.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro felt the slight bump of his speeder noting the Tabatha's weight in his calculated speed and thrust, before he went off he turned about slightly and pulled up a helmet he stashed in one of the compartments below before holding it out to the woman, "Now my whole head is a helmet, so I'm good to go, things get hairy in the waste so I'd advise you to buckle this baby on," waiting a moment he continued, "We're going hard and were goin fast, best hold on cause Silver can buck," with that Hiro revved one last time and began to speed through the busy streets. As each and every piece of refuse, junk, and pedestrian came his way the droid intricately scanned them noting their make and shape and how to best avoid them to keep up his speed.

One particularly large obstacle came in his path, a wall set up purposefully to slow vehicles, Hiro already noted the thugs and killers waiting in the wings of alleys to assault them if the stopped so activating the heavy boosters the droid hit a small bump and flew right over the barricade, the swears of pissed off raiders at his back. Lifting off his hat he cried out, "Yee haw!" as the pair rode on into the wild countryside, where the true danger lie.

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

Tabatha buckled up as hard as she could. She also noticed the thugs and killers in the alleys. She kept a steady hand on her revolver, should those raiders fire. When the speeder jumped the wall, she heard the swears of pissed off raiders. "Nothing better than a couple pissed off raiders. Should have killed a couple of them while I had a chance, don't you think?" With a smile, she held on as the pair rode into the countryside, where danger was waiting for them.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro was about to smile under his gas mask hearing Tabatha's comment, but the process was conflicted by the rest of her statement. As the pair rumbled deeper into the barren wilds, the land so dry not even the tiniest of beings could eke a living out of, his logic processor went over what she had said for a time. He looked out to see the endless dirt drift slowly, the only movement for miles, and finally found a proper response for her talk on how they should have handled the men before they vaulted to the freedom of the desert.

"Lil mi- Tabatha, I reckon- naw, I know I don't agree with ya, those men were just scruffy lookin fellas, till they fired their bullets at us, they didn't deserve our bullets at them, only thing they deserved was our pity for bein stuck on this god forsaken world,"

Hiro went over that last phrase he used to described Zonju V god forsaken it was a strange thing for a robot to think of a god, even if it existed it was not his creator. In fact, Hiro didn't know who his creator was period, a hidden craftsmen crafted by a hidden craftsmen, or as some theorists say, random chance. Hell, maybe that's how Hiro wound up in the wastes, little bits of metal fused together over millions of years, a lightning storm came by and poof. Highly unlikely, but then again, so was everything in this universe in the grand scheme.

As the pair continued to ride, the speeder soaring over the cracked earth and sturdy rock outcroppings, the droid spotted a trail of smoke in the distance. Instantly his optics scanned the area and zoomed in on the area, no signs of life were made apparent but to be safe he stopped the speeder on the top of a ridge overlooking the smoke. Hopping off he got his gear off Silver and looked to Tabatha. Then walking to the ridge lip he looked down on a destroyed caravan, corpses of men, alien, and beast intermixed in charred agony their goods if not taken were smashed and burnt,

"Seems we weren't quick enough for these pilgrims,"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"Hehe, you can say that again. I wouldn't give a damn even if they shot at us." Tabatha laughed when Hiro called the place god forsaken. It was the kind of place that Tabatha would be looking for a bounty. When Hiro went to the ridge, Tabatha got off the speeder and looked for herself. "Damn. These guys are fast. They probably killed everyone and took everything. We should keep searching." Tabatha was shocked at the sight of the wreckage and corpses.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro noted the woman's concerned for the innocents, the slaughter was severe the droid knew, but there was no time to dally, the corpses were fresh so the trail was hot. Looking down with his thermal vision he noted a small trail heading into the hill. Knowing the sound of a speeder approaching would alert his quarry and send them slipping off into the unknown, he lifted his hand and gestured Tabatha to follow him as he began to descend the ridge. The going was slow and at times treacherous, but the bot managed to keep his footing and his hat despite the occasional gusts of harsh hot wind. As he descended slowly he spoke to his partner,

"So, theres plenty of work to be had in the galaxy, lotsa bounties in the outer rim and core, what brings you to wild space lil missy?"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

Tabatha did as the droid asked. She followed him through the path. She almost lost her footing once, but reacted quickly. As she was asked the question, she remembered the one thing she loves doing: smuggling. "I know. Lots of work around the galaxy. But I love smuggling and bounty hunting. I like to be around the Outer Rim, that's where the best bounties come by. Especially with those Hutts. They will pay anyone for anything."

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro was fine with people searching the galaxy for good work and good pay, but his thoughts of this Tabatha lowered when he heard of her willingness to skulk with the Hutts of all people. As he moved down the steep slope, the smoke from the carcass fires blew towards the pair, but thankfully diverted at the last moment sparing his smuggling partner the horrid drench of decay. After a last bit of footwork, the droid was able to descend to the valley floor so he could properly scan the trail left by the raiders,

"Seems they went into an unmapped district, which ain't hard, half this rock is unmapped." Hiro noted before walking on making sure to keep a large berth between him and the wreckage. As he walked Tabatha's words gnawed at him until he was forced to speak once more, "Miss Warr, how much work have you done for these Hutts? And while I'd be alright with your discretion, what kind of jobs?"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"I haven't worked for the Hutts just yet. My family has, but I haven't. All I know is that they will pay top credits for any jobs." Tabatha said. She only has heard of the Hutts, yet never worked for them. She swiped her finger across the ground and surveyed it a bit. She found a rusty combat blaster rifle. She dusted it down and took a little smell. "This gun is brand new. Someone was here. I have a feeling that the raiders had it and got shot, forcing them to drop it. They probably headed in the mountains."

 

[Chairdor]

The droid was gladdened to hear the woman had yet to work for the Hutt's, but that was equalized with some disappointment when he heard the willingness in her voice when she mentioned their pay. Shaking his head he looked out onto the wastes and said,

"It ain't what it pays Tabatha, it's what it costs ya,"

As he was saying this the young smuggler discovered a blaster rifle lifting it he inspected the markings and noted it was heavily modified to be useful in close quarters. After a moment he threw it back to the dirt and nodded in agreement with her assessment, as he headed into the hills, he leaned forward slightly, always keeping his head on a swivel. They were on the wrong side of a fire fight if the crooks decided to jump them now. Not only was the sun in the pair's eyes but there was no cover to be had for miles. Eventually Hiro got to the crest of the hill and as he walked over he noted a sign that the trail was still hot. Kneeling slightly he lifted up a handful of credits, part of a larger pile in a chest that had been partially buried as it was dropped. While this was a good sign that the raiders had in fact been here, it showed the droid something,

"They're ridin," he said aloud, knowing now how the two had managed to cover such a swatch of targets and haul off all the valuables before anyone could respond. With no need for secrecy any longer, he clicked his wrist sending a homing signal to his speeder. As it began heading to the pairs location he looked to Tabatha again remembering her fixation of credits. Throwing her the handful he picked up he said,

"Ya know missy credits come easy to the Hutts, but every cent from them is dirtier than a dingo in a mud pit,"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"You can say that again. I ain't paying no credits to work for them, I work for free only. But with good rewards." Tabatha spoke in a softer tone. She knew that a fresh trail of leftovers means someone is near. Until she heard blaster shots. "We're being gunned at!" She shouted. She looked up and saw hitmen near the middle of the trail. Tabatha ducked for cover and pulled out her revolver.

 

[Chairdor]

It seems Hiro made a slight miscalculation when he saw the signs of riding off, while the bearded man had obviously fled, the Zeltron he traveled with was left behind. He charged at the two of them weapons drawn, but the droid could see without even using his binocular vision that the fellow was wounded, and badly so. His run was a series of enraged hops upon a leg that looked badly burned and torn from a stray blaster shot. As a last gambit Hiro fell into line with the fellow and walked straight at him. The man aimed directly at the droid for a moment, but as he wasn't concentrating on his footing he didn't see the small hole before him. Tripping on his bad leg, he fell to his knees and began to weep. Seizing the opportunity Hiro shot a sonic blast from his mouth, muffled by his mask. Directly at the mans head.

Sonic waves rippled through his ear canals and he roared in pain for a moment then, his sense of equilibrium lost, he simply fell off the trail and began to roll until he came to a stop by a boulder, instantly unconscious. Hiro beckoned to Tabatha and began to walk down the hill,

"He's wounded do you have any medical supplies?"

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

Tabatha came down to Hiro. "He's a raider. Why should we help him?" She questioned Hiro as to why she should help a raider. He was a raider, he didn't care about anyone. Why should Tabatha care about him? She wasn't willing to help anyone who would try to shoot her.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro looked to Tabatha and recalled the images of all that death by the caravan, it was true this man had taken part in that slaughter, he had quite possibly cut these people down without reason or fair chance to merely be captured. The droid did not process that as a reason to let this man die however for two reasons, one, he was to help all those that needed it. Two, this bounty required the pair to be alive,

"They're needed alive for us to get the reward," Hiro offered up, noting Tabatha would most likely respond to that. As he said this he applied pressure to the Zeltron's gashed leg and thought of his options.

 

[Sophia McLaren-Cobb]

"Aye, I see. I carry a couple of bandages, but I am no medical expert, so I am not really sure this would help" Tabatha applied a few bandages to the Zeltron's leg. She wasn't really aware whether they were asked for dead or alive, but just followed the droid.