Mos Eisley Spaceport
Fierce thumping of boots filled the alleyway void all living beings as a group of well-armed soldiers moved through it in a tight-knit formation, creating wall of armor and flesh around their employer. Clad in the fine robes, the bothan merchant stumbled as he tried to match the phase of the bodyguards around him. His frequent panting nor terrified rambling did not deter the soldiers from their duty, each keeping an eye out for any signs of danger, the circle as a whole covering all directions.
The group halted as they approached a sealed security door and at the behest of the commander, two soldiers moved to the door. The first one to the door, began to insert the passcode as the second covered his back as the oppressive atmosphere weighed down on them. They all knew it, something was out there and today they were it`s chosen prey.
The commander spared a look towards their employer as the merchant Hragel tried to regain his composure. A hour ago he was comfortably asleep within the confines of his estate, surrounded by armed guards and state of the art security systems.
He had been violently yanked from his slumber as the entire estate had been shook by a thermal explosive. Followed by fire from a long barreled rifle, each shot found it`s mark and his men on the outside retreated to the estate`s main hall for cover. Whatever security cameras remained in the main hall after the blast, displayed a meshed image of a bounty hunter storming the lower floors of the estate with his blasters blazing.
The pinpoint accuracy of the blasters fell the stunned guards in the hall and when chances to stop the relentless hunter slimmed as it tore through the estate, Hragel abandoned his luxurious estate with his remaining guards. Silent and menacing, the hunter gave chase.
The hunter, clad in a combat armor, that had been ravaged by the elements, silently stalked the group. His entire face covered by a helmet of skeletal appearance with only two black, reflective visors staring back at his prey. Strapped across his back was a long-barreled sniper rifle and the two blasters, that had been utilized for deadly effect in the main hall, were holstered on his waist. His armor and equipment may have changed, but the nature of the hunter, Nebael remained ever the same. He spared few words and even less mercy for his prey.
Hragel had known the risks of the smuggling business and had underestimated the animosity his push to the local market had caused, but his mind the bothan had reasoned, that he could solve any dispute sensibly, in a businesses like fashion. Yet this was not business, this was outright war by an unknown and relentless assailant.
The armored door slid open, triggering the trap laid on the other side, which incinerated the two guards by the door. The group staggered back from the explosion and before they knew it, a flash bang was dropped to their midst from above. The blinding explosion, that ensued staggered everyone. In succession to the explosives, a shot to the head fell the commander of the guard. Nebael descended from the rooftop with his blasters spewing rapid fire at the guards, felling two of them as they staggered back still suffering from the effects of the flash bang.
As the rest of them attempted to offer some form of resistance, Nebael was already in motion, firing his pistols without any pity or regard. He shot the guard closest to him in the fact before proceeding to kick another`s rifle out of his arms and punching him on the torso. Nebael grabbed the stunned guard by the collar and deployed him as a human shield as the rest of the guards opened fire.
Nebael returned fire as his human shield took the brunt of the enemies blaster fire. The four remaining guards fired inaccurate shots towards their foe while attempting to fall back towards the door in an orderly fashion. Nebael`s fire caught two of them in their chests, stunning them for the moment.
Nebael pushed his laser torn human shield forward as he dropped to one knee, minimizing the chances of being hit. Two of the guards fell from shots into their abdomen. As a finishing touch Nebael aimed his blaster pistols at the two staggering guards and shot each of them in the knee`s, sending them sprawling into the ground.
Having dealt with the primary threats, Nebael turned to pursue his target, who had slipped past the security door over the scorched carcasses of his guards. With icy calm Nebael executed the two remaining guards with his blasters. All that remained was the target himself.
Upon entering the hangar, the bounty hunter found the bothan hurrying inside the freighter docked there. Nebael released a torrent of fire from his blasters, that pierced the bothans left foot and lower back as he was running up the ramp. The fire was far from the surgical precision he had displayed before, but it sufficed since the prey was immobilized.
Slowly Nebael made his way to the fallen bothan, who persistently crawled up the landing ramp, scratching and clawing to hold onto his pathetic life. Grabbing the bothan by the injured left foot Nebael tossed the merchant off the ramp onto the floor below. As Nebael jumped beside the bothan, the merchant pulled blaster from his robes and aimed high, the shot gracing Nebael`s helmet.
Amused and slightly angered, Nebael stomped onto Hragel`s hand, crushing the wrist under his foot. The bothan squinted in agony as the bounty hunter applied pressure on the wrist, forcing him to relinquish his hold on the blaster.
"Wait! I can pay you more than whoever`s employing you! 1000 credits!" Hragel begged as any reasonable being would have, if they thought they had a chance of persuading their aggressor otherwise.
"No." Nebael responded with a sterile voice, reminiscent of an automaton as he aimed the blaster at Hragel`s face, who instinctively raised his free hand up as tough to protect himself from the shot.
"3000!" The bothan exclaimed in agony.
Curiously enough, the bounty hunter halted, tilting his head as though he was contemplating his options. "I´ll take that under consideration." Nebael stated calmly, but the barrel of the blaster remained aimed at the bothans face and Hragel could have sworn, that behind that helmet, the bounty hunter was smiling
"Wait! I´ll give you every credit I have on me right now! Here!" The bothan reached into his robes and pulled out datapad containing bank account information on Tatooine. "You can have this, it`s more than my hide is worth. 5000 credits, but in return I`ll need something from you.... a name." The bothan bargained with a frenzied look in his eyes.
"5000?" Nebael uttered, surprised by the offer as he knelt to take a hold of the datapad. After carefully skimming through the datapad and finding the contents to his satisfactory, Nebael nodded. "Dravit, he`s the man you want."
"The rodian?" Hragel uttered with a shred of disbelief, but soon realized, that Nebael was still aiming for his head with the blaster. Hragel stared in silence at his own reflection in Nebael`s visors as he reached for the blaster on the ground, realizing, that no matter he might have done the outcome would have still been the same.
Nebael shot the bothan point blank in the face, twice. After holstering his blaster, Nebael grabbed the bothan by the shoulder and placed him over his shoulder. All that remained for him to do was to collect his due reward.
Nebael stepped out into the alleyway littered with dead guards and a few scavengers, who had appeared on the scene, but fled as soon as they caught sight of the bounty hunter. Fear and respect, the two walked hand in hand, either way once Nebael walked through the bustling streets of Mos Eisley with Hragel`s corpse slung over his shoulder, after today they would all remember his name.