18+ The Hunt

[Drahkma]

Corvis watched as the tapcafe slowly emptied of bounty hunters. As Marek and the woman with him rose to leave, the woman winked at him, and obscured her face with a flick of her dark hair. If anything, that just made the Breton bounty hunter more suspicious. He rose from the his table as well, and turned to the two hunters in green. "I guess I'll be seeing you guys topside." He said, turning for the doors and heading outside. His HUD showed that the wind had died down a little, and he could see that snow had begun to fall. He reached his ship, the Silencer in good time, and gave it a quick once over.

It didn't look like it had been tampered with, so he lowered the boarding ramp, and climbed inside. He made his way through the ship, checking his bunk, holding cell, and refreshers, ensuring that the ship was indeed secure. 'Stop it. You're being paranoid.' Apparently, the so far unidentified woman had him on edge more than he was willing to admit. He chuckled at his brief bout of paranoia, and took a seat in the pilots chair, activating the ships engines.

 

[Simus]

The Judicator's medbay was small and relatively basic in its functions but the diagnostic bed Jessica had curled up on was the most comfortable she had ever slept on. She was under several blankets she found in storage in addition to the one Marek had given her and found two small but welcome pillows. Everything was no bigger than it had to be and Marek hadn't taken comfort into account but Jessica was so tired and weak that anything short of nothing was paradise. She had been asleep for maybe twenty minutes before the ship's hatch opened and two pairs of footsteps woke her up. Jessica heard Marek call for her and to warn her that she had better not have tampered with anything. She didn't of course. She was too tired to be curious right now and she just wanted to sleep. They'd probably want to talk to her though so she got out of the medbay and wrapped a blanket around herself like a towel to cover her chest. It was large enough to cover her head and the length of her body and she was able to grab the ends to keep it wrapped tight around her naked body.

Her hospital gown was somewhere outside but it was probably covered with dirt and snow by now so she wasn't looking forward to getting it back. Hopefully Marek had remembered to salvage her gear from the ship. She had taken redundant copies of her weapons, bodysuit, clothing and equipment on this trip just in case and she was now grateful for those preparations. They were in an armored compartment behind the cockpit so she knew they had survived but she wasn't in a position to retrieve them herself. She walked out of the cargo hold into the small corridor that ran the length of the Judicator, spotting Marek soon immediately.

She walked up to him and produced the datapad he had left for her from the folds of her blanket-turned-robe. She opened up her head again and skull-jacked herself into it, linking her thoughts to the notes section in a moment. She thought out what she wanted to say, then showed it to Marek.

I'm guessing our contact finally showed up. I say "our" because I heard about this meeting while in Mengsk's cage and thought joining it would be a good way to earn some money to get home, as well as find some protection until Imperial Intelligence loses interest in me. I guess I got my wish, just not in as grand a style as I hoped. Could I access your helmet's recordings so I can understand what we're doing and where we're headed?

 

[fellowknight]

Deep in sector 7 of the Cyris flight zone, a small flash of light could barley be seen. Looking closer however, one would see a large, flaming vessel barreling toward the frozen planet. Inside the cockpit of the Hustler, blinkers on the console to Baroth's left were going off, indicating the ship was losing altitude and oxygen. A leak in the fuel tanks had ruptured, and imploded in a snaking line through the rest of the tanks including the reserves and the left engine.

Baroth flipped the third switch to his right, releasing the ship's private oxygen supply through the vents with a faint hiss. The reserves were awfully low from the fuel implosion moments prior. He then quickly activated the vapor lock for the right engine, and gassed with the engine room to prevent further damage. He'd been piloting the Hustler for over four-teen years now and had lots of first-time experiences within it's hull. From his first time out in space to his first bounty, it was allHe had no plans of dying in it.

He was wondering why Oracle wasn't pestering him about his outstanding. After acquiring her on Starflare,

'Oracle online.'

"Ah pl***.." Baroth muttered from under his helmet.

"Hey, i heard that. It's not nice to cuss, ya know." She declared, popping up in her hologram form on the left console and walking along the small, digital walk way at the bottom. Oh bite me... Baroth thought. Then she looked to the fiber-glass window, widening her eyes as she saw the surface of Cyris closing in.

"I see you managed to get yourself in another mess. Gods help us."

"He started it. Gah!" Baroth yelled, as he pulled the yoke left backwards on the wheel-like steering mechanism, narrowly avoiding a frozen glacier. The stone-like ice surface scrapped the right side of the ship, creating a gaping hole and causing an even bigger leak. Thank god he was on a breathable planet. Small, micro globs of snow hits the glass en masse, making it extremely difficult to see where they might crash. "Send a HGS (holo-geographical scan) to see where we can land smoothly, would you doll?"

She snorted. "Huh. Smoothly. And what happened to that 'titanium-plated hull' and 'triple layered' shields you promised last week?" She said quietly, sending a wave of holo-pixels through the glass and towards the snow-blanketed ground below. They collided with the cold ground, mapping out the randomly shaped terrain below.

"I told you already: There was a mix up at the shop and Bering couldn't help me out. Gods this storm is impossible to navigate. Could you politely remind me why we chose this planet again."

"Well, not only is it off the grid, but everyone in the galaxy has either ignored or forgotten it's existence. The guild is smart for choosing it. Plus, it is your homeland."

"Was my homeland. Maybe i'd like it more if it wasn't so damned cold all the time.. Now, shall we make more observations or can we try not to die?"

"Right. Searching for a Landing Zone within a minimal distance.... There! On that hill! It's wide enough to land on and Rex can have some room for repairs. Go for it!"

"I am, i am!..." Baroth replied pulling hard right on the wheel. The ship reared to the right slowly, the cockpit lining up with the LZ waypoint Oracle set on his visor. The ship rumbled and shook slightly as the ground neared the ship's front. "How far are we from the LZ!?"

"Thirty feet!...."

The snow was visible. Along with tall, ice mountains and cities far off in deep limits of Baroth's vision.

"Twenty feet!...."

A city came into view on his right. An intersection held the crash site of an X wing ship.

"Ten feet!..."

"Hold on!" Baroth screamed, releasing the wheel to flip a green switch, activating what was left of the reserve shields, before tucking his chin in and covering his head with his arms just as the ship touched ground.

The front of the ship crashed into the hillside, bursting out of it in an explosive hail of ice, metal and fire.

CCCCCCCRRRSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH

...............​

"...ake up!...oth! Wake up! Come on!"

Baroth's hearing returned slowly and his fuzzy vision cleared as he saw Oracle standing by his head. He sat up from his lay on the center console, earning a sprite of pain from his back. He grimaced in pain as he grabbed his back with his right hand and surveyed the ship. The room was dark, cold and still.

"Power's off..... Damage report?" He asked, looking at Oracle.

She pulled up a line of floating holo-graphic notes. "Well, the cargo hold is gonna need some patching. The opening on the right side of the ship is gonna need a few patches as well. The guns, engines, boosters, C-325 drives, and carbon vents are all gonna need major patching." She finished, swiping through all her notes to make sure she was correct.

Of course she was.

"And the P-5 drives? The exterior? The center AA-7 gun?" He asked, standing up from his pilot chair and looking about the tilted room.

"Like i said, they're gonna need major patches. This wasn't a walk in you park, you know." She replied, watching Baroth as he looked around the room.

"No. But it was your idea. Get Rex on it." He said, walking towards the exit door.

"Right. Hey! Forgetting something?" She said sarcastically, as Baroth reared on his heel and walked back to the console. He reached down and pulled the chip from the center console.

"Not yet." He mumbled, turning on his heel again and walking to the cockpit's exit, inserting the chip in slot on the back of his helmet.

He opened a small metal box pinned to the wall and pushed in his passcode, restoring power to the ship. The door slid to the left with a hiss and Baroth walked out and into the corridor. Sparks sprayed out randomly from small cuts and dents in the hall, falling across and on his Bio-tech Bodysuit. He pulled up his left arm and powered up his data-pad. He scrolled through the list of options, stopping at the one marked 'Open Weapons Cache' and tapped it.

Ahead of him, one of the hallway panels dropped down, revealing his arsenal of weapons and ammo. Baroth took his V15 Laser Sniper Rifle and swung it on to the magnetic seal on his back. He grabbed his two V8 Energy Pistols and slapped them onto the magnetic seals on his thighs. Then he took his grenades and lined them up along his waist. He once again pulled up his left arm data-pad and selected 'Close Weapons Cache' as he grabbed his V16 Plasma Assualt Rifle.

He jogged out where the hall split both left and right and ran to the left, holding his rifle in both hands. As he ran he saw his Robotic comrade, Rex, walk casually by him, waving with a smile.

Baroth rolled his eyes under his helmet.

"Just fix the damn holes." He ordered coldly. "On it, sir." Rex said obediently. Arriving at the back of the ship, Baroth once again used his data-pad and selected 'Open Bay Door'. The long, rectangular space in front of Baroth lowered as the stingingly cold air attacked his armor.

Almost instantly, Baroth's Bodysuit took a scan of the area as he walked down the ramp, and set his ACs to warm-high. His body shield flashed up as the snow striked his armor with force and purpose, blocking the snow from freezing him over. But it wouldn't last long. Wading through the knee-deep snow, Baroth selected the 'Close Bay Door' option on his data-pad, and the ramp behind him lifted itself up and closed. He used his bio-scan to see if there were any lifeforms around him. None. He looked up at the sky and saw the thick trail of black smoke his ship had made in it's descent.

"I imagine we made an entrance of sorts?" She asked ironically.

"They'll use that smoke trail to track us. When we crashed, how long was i out?" He asked Oracle, holding his gun firmly and scanning the area. There was a city, barley visible, beyond the slope. Maybe that's where the hunters were. Better than nothing....

"About a minute and a half. Why?" She asked on his visor, tilting her head like she was inclined.

But she wasn't.

"Then they're close already. We need to find them."

"But what if they-"

"Mute." He said, pushing through the snow and down the ice covered slope. As he neared the bottom of the slope, the street came into full view. There were black scrape marks and small fires leading up to the ship itself in the T shaped intersection. Before he could investigate further, however, he felt a pistol nudge against the back of his head. "Make one move and you die right here. I'll let the snow bury you. Now, why are you here?"
​

"Same reason you are."

"Which is?"

"Collect that bounty on Kaylin Ataro. Plain and simple."

"Nothing is simple in this line of work." He felt the pistol lower and saw the man walk past him. "You're dead, by the way."

"Hey! Wait a second." The man stopped and glared back at Baroth. "You probably saw my ship crash over there, so-"

"So what? If it's a ride you're asking for, i can't help you. I have one passenger too many anyway." He said coldly, trudging through the snow towards a ship in the distance.

Baroth clenched his teeth as he quietly cussed to himself. "F***! Alright! Hey! I'll pay you for the trip!" The man stopped in his tracks, turning to fully face Baroth.

"How much do you have?"

"Five-hundred thousand."

"Not enough. Find another ride."

"Combined with that bounty, i say it's damn plenty. That is, if you get it."

"IF is a very big word."

"If is a single chance. And a single chance is a galaxy of hope. Now, do you wanna keep debating over this and freeze our asses off or should we find some shelter?"

Silence. Finally, the man turned back towards the ship and continued towards it. "Follow me."

Baroth exhaled heavily and followed through the thick snow blanket. "Unmute."

"Ugh! I hate it when you do that!"

"I don't. I like the howl of this air to your talking anyway."

"Oh haha. I prefer a Troll's ass to your face."

"Aren't you sweet. Listen, we have to catch a ride with one of the Hunters. Now i know what you're thinking, but this-"

"Are you crazy? Don't you remember what happened the last time we trusted a hunter?"

"Hey, i was drunk and he was clever, that's all that needs to be said. Would you rather i freeze up into a statue out here?"

"Now that i wouldn't mind."

"We're taking the ride. Pull up a line with Rex."

"Fine." She said, her face fading off his visor and Rex's replacing it. "You contacted me, sir?"

"Yea, look. I'm gonna be gone for a while so when you're done with the patches, power up the ship and park it in one of these hangers."

"Understood, sir. If i may suggest another thi-"

"Disconnect." Baroth said, as Rex's face faded and Oracle's reappeared.

"I see you got tired of Rex."

"Don't make me mute you again. See this guy in front of me? Pull up any records you can on his background, name, anything."

"On it. I'll see what i can find. Might take a while."

"Then make it snappy, we're on the clock." Baroth said, as he saw the man's ship in full view. A ramp lowered and he was led up it, into the ship.

(OOC: Hope you don't mind me saying those things, Marek. I just figured that what Aden would say. Also, additional pictures below.)

Oracle.



Rex.

 

[Andre Marek]

(OOC: Ok, this is no doubt going to be confusing but I'll give it a go anyway.)

Marek trudged through the ankle deep snow on the sidewalk, keeping a careful eye on the armored man following him in his HUD, and shrugged the heavy bag of gear that he'd recovered from Jessicas X-wing into a more comfortable position. He was carrying the bag with one arm so that he had the other free to draw his weapon if the man tried anything. Who the hell this guy was, was anyones guess. Aden suspected he was a freelancer of some sort though. A well off one too. Or a desperate one. Who forks out five hundred thousand credits for just a ride? He thought with a shake of his head. Whoever he was though, Aden didn't plan on letting him off the hook that easy, money or no. Once he had him aboard the Judicator where he could more easily control a situation, he would put the questions to him. Opening a com to Skylar he said, "Sky, I'm on my way with the kids gear, is the ship ready to go?"

There was a short pause, "Yeah... Yup, everythings good. I've already put a course in that will land us a few parsecs outside of Eregin. We'll wait for the others there I guess."

"Sounds good. Listen, could you go down to the medbay and tell Jessica to stay put for a few? I've managed to pickup another straggler..."

"You what? Seriously?" She started but he cut her off, "Hey, he offered me five hundred grand just give him a ride. Not that I trust that he's even got that much but hey, I'm a capitalist if nothing else. Besides, he knew about the bounty, name, reward, everything, and he obviously wasn't at the meeting. I wanna know what he's up to now rather than have him make an unscheduled appearance later on."

"Uhuh. Well, it's your ship. I'll have the paralyzation fields on standby and meet you in the cargo bay."


Once Aden and the unidentified man reached the Judicators hangar, the ramp lowered with a few blinks at his HUD, and he walked up it into the small cargo bay, the man followed suit. Skylar was already there, standing near the corridor that lead to the rest of the ship and had her hand resting casually on the grip of her pistol. She nodded to him before looking at the newcomer. Aden immediately walked over to the other side of the bay, set Jessicas gear down on one of the work benches, and strode over to a terminal not far from Skylar. As the man stepped inside the bay Aden tapped a few icons on the screen, causing the ramp to hiss shut behind the stranger. Aden turned to him and said, "Now, before we go anywhere, I'm going to ask again; Why are you here? How did you know about the bounty? You with the guild? Or are you on the run from somebody?" Aden stood with his arms at his sides as he spoke, ready for anything. Skylar moved a little closer to the terminal near the corridor and placed her hand near the button that would activate the paralyzation fields. "Nobody just hands over half a million to catch a ride, so I'm guessing you've got a pretty important reason to be willing to part with a number like that."

(OOC: Hopefully that works. I'll say that this happens after Simus' last post. Aden went to get Jessicas stuff, stumbled across Baroth, and they went back to the Judicator. Then the last part is what happens directly after Fellows post. Make sense? Yeah... thats what I thought.)

 

[fellowknight]

As the ramp hissed shut behind Baroth, he heard the man begin questioning him. "Now, before we go anywhere, I'm going to ask again; Why are you here? How did you know about the bounty? You with the guild? Or are you on the run from somebody?" Aden stood with his arms at his sides as he spoke, ready for anything. Baroth noticed a woman moved a little closer to the terminal near the corridor and placed her hand near a button.

"Oracle, scan it. Send me the details." Baroth whispered, as the man continued.

"Nobody just hands over half a million to catch a ride, so I'm guessing you've got a pretty important reason to be willing to part with a number like that." Baroth looked at the man directly, and spoke.

"I already told you why i'm here. To collect that bounty. And i read up on it from a data-pad an informant of mine sent me. I'm not with the guild, no, and i have no one to run from. As far as the galaxy is concerned, i don't exist."

Then to buy Oracle some time, "And as far as the money goes, i have a seperate account where i've been piling up some credits for a few weeks now. A few more scores, and i'll have made double what i give you. Ah! The money." He reached his hand around behind his helmet and pulled out a chip from one of three slots. He tossed it to the man. "You get half now.." He pulled the second chip from it's slot and held it up between his index and thumb. "And half when we get there." He said, putting the chip back in it's slot. Just then, Oracle sent him a small paragraph on the terminal. It was an activator for the paralyzation fields of the ship. He looked around the room and back at the man. "Oh, and if you're wondering if you can trust me, you can."

"And why's that?"

"You really think you have a choice?" He shifted his gaze to the woman by the button. "Besides, which do you think will be faster? Your hand or my pistols?" He said, nodding to his hands hovering over his pistols. Then there was silence. Finally, the armored man broke the silence.

 

[Andre Marek]

Aden caught the credit chip with one gloved hand but didn't otherwise move as he listened to the man explain himself. As the man spoke, Aden received a message from the Judicators computer. Apparently the mans armor was running active scans on different parts of his ship. Clever. No doubt he's discovered what that button does. The man knew what he was doing but it didn't have Aden particularly worried. All of the important systems aboard were very well shielded from all manner of scans. Then the man looked around the room before directing a quip at Skylar, "Besides, which do you think will be faster? Your hand or my pistols?" Aden just smirked to himself. Obviously, the man underestimated Skylar. That, or he was extremely confident that he could pull and shoot the both of them before either made a move. The silence drug on for a few seconds as Skylar starred at the man before Aden finally spoke, "You've got balls, I'll give you that." He glanced over to Skylar and shook his head, "Alright, lets get off this planet. Get us moving." He nodded in the direction of the cockpit.

Giving the man another glare, Skylar turned and headed down the corridor, leaving Aden alone with the man. Again facing the man, Aden said, "And to answer your question; My eye would be the faster. This is my ship friend. I control it. You'd do well to remember that. If you'd like to test whether you hand is faster than my blink, then you're welcome to try, but otherwise I would appreciate it if you kept the threats to a minimum." Turning, Aden walked towards the corridor that Skylar had gone through. He looked over his shoulder, "Come on. I'll show you where you'll be staying during the trip." Striding down the corridor, he came to a stop at the open hatch to the Judicators only spare cabin. It was almost small enough to be considered a closet but it had a bed. As far as Aden was concerned, it was all one really needed. As he watched the man come down the hallway after him, Aden snapped a picture of him, setting his suit to scan all the data bases he had access to for any information regarding him. When the man drew abreast with him, Aden said, "I don't recall catching your name." He didn't actually expect an honest answer from him, but it was worth a shot and if the man happened to give him an alias he'd used more than once, then it might help bring up more information on his search.

 

[fellowknight]

"You've got balls, i'll give you that" He glanced over at the woman before speaking to her. "Alright, let's get off this planet. Get us moving." He nodded in the direction of what Baroth assumed was the cockpit. The woman gave Baroth a another glare before turning and heading down the corridor, leaving the man and Baroth alone. Again facing Baroth, the man spoke. "And to answer your question; My eye would be the faster. This is my ship friend. I control it. You'd do well to remember that. If you'd like to test whether your hand is faster than my blink, then you're welcome to try, but otherwise i would appreciate it if you kept the threats to a minimum." Turning, the man walked in the same corridor the woman did earlier. He looked over his shoulder. "Come on. I'll show you where you can stay during the trip." Baroth nodded in affirmative. "You're the captain...." He muttered under his helmet. "Oracle.....Oracle!"

"Gah! What!? I hate it when you interrupt me. It seems like-"

"Never mind that. Did you find anything yet?"

"Nothing yet. It's like this guy doesn't even exist. He's on no records, documents, recording, cameras.... I'll keep looking."

Baroth took a moment of thinking before and invisible blinker went off in his head. "His armor."

"What about it?"

"Match it up with purchases, match those up with credits payed, and match those up with names."

"That'd be kinda pointless...."

"Just do it. It's better than looking at his back all day. And hey, hurry it up, ok?"

"I'm going as fast as my drives will allow me."

"Then go faster. Get back to me when you have something." He finished, as the man stopped by an open hatch and stared intently at him. Baroth could almost fell the man's suit and eyes scanning every inch of his bodysuit. Clever indeed.

As Baroth neared the man, he spoke. "I don't recall catching your name." He said inquistively, as Baroth stepped into the small, closet-like room. He took a moment to look around the room, before half-turning to glare at the man. "Funny, 'cause i don't recall throwing it." His mind frantically searched for any options out of the situation, but Baroth just ignored it. The man had to find out sooner or later. Baroth prefered the sooner to the later. "I'll give you mine, if you allow me yours." Silence dragged on for around half a minute, as the both of them stared, or rather, scanned each other down. Finally, the man spoke aloud. "Aden." Baroth nodded, before walking and grabbing the hatch handle. "Baroth. Feel free to look it up, 'cause i'll do the same for you." He said, closing the hatch firmly. Immediately, Baroth walked over to the bed by the right wall and sat on it, putting down his rifle on the sheets and talking to Oracle. "Oracle, did you get that? His name is Aden. Match it up with the purchase of that armor. Get back at me when you have a name." He said, waiting a few minutes for her response. Finally, she answered.

"Alright. Let's see.... We have an Aden John, an Aden Gro'balag, Aden Marek-"

"Wait,Aden Marek? Mark it, it sounds familiar. Pull up everything you can on that name." He ordered.

"On it. Gimme a few minutes." She said, returning to her search. Baroth resigned to keep his helmet on, assuming the ship had camera's had on him. He thought back, thought as deep as he could. Marek. The name aroused memories long forgotten. His friends. His brothers. Marek.... There! Andre Marek! The mercenary he used to venture with. Was it possible this man was his long descendant? No, impossible. Marek never had kids....did he? Only Oracle and time would tell.

 

[Baneloth]

Derek and Kyle watched the other hunters leave the tapcafe, and make their ways to their ships, preparing to wait for the destroyer. Derek hoped none of the hunters had any scores to settle with the Imperials. The Nomad was tough, but it wouldn't stand up against an Imperial destroyer. Nor would any of the other hunters' ships, unless one of them had a battle cruiser up their sleeves. "We'd better head out. That destroyer is the only way we're getting into the Eregin system" Derek said.

The two green armoured bounty hunters rose from their table, Derek snatching the holo-transmitter as he went. He doubted the Imperial would contact him with it again, but he wasn't one to make stupid mistakes. "Right. See you top side?" Derek inclined his head, heading outside ahead of the younger man. Kyle headed off to the west, to where his fighter was, and Derek headed to the Nomad. His ship was waiting, withstanding the soft fall of snow. He lowered the ramp, deactivated the security measures, and closed the ramp behind him.

The ship was slightly warmer than the outside, but it would warm quickly, once the engines were online. He removed his jetpack, and placed it in his armoury, where several pistols, rifles, and grenades rested, along with a drawer full of his small, shoulder mounted concussion missiles. He took off his helmet, and made his way to the cockpit. Starting the engines, he checked, then re-checked the co-ordinates Kyle had fed to the groups navigational computers.

They told him to head to just a few thousand kilometres off Cyris. He guided the Nomad out of the atmosphere, and to the co-ordinates. One by one, other ships belonging to the various bounty hunters arrived, and waited. They didn't need to wait very long. About five minutes after they arrived, a Nebula-class Imperial star destroyer came out of hyperspace, its grey hull reflecting the light of the sun. Kyles' voice came over the groups ship comm systems, "Okay, people. Here's our ride. Oh, and for those of you that have a score to settle with the empire, you'll have to wait for another day. Unless, of course, you feel like taking on a Imperial destroyer and its' complement of fighters by yourselves"

Then, a squadron of fighters spilled out of the destroyers hangar bay, protecting a single shuttle. "Whoa. Hold up. This isn't on the schedule..." Kyle said, sounding puzzled. "Why does is an Imperial VIP visiting Cyris? The planet is neutral"

"You want to go in for a closer look?" Derek asked. Anything that had Kyle confused, probably wasn't good.
"Nah. I'm betting that the destroyer is on full paranoid alert. We move into their gun range, and we're going to be dodging turbolaser bolts. We'll just wait for whoever that was to get back up here, and they'll be leaving" half an hour later, Kyles' prediction came true. The shuttle, with its' fighter escort, returned to the destroyer, and jumped. "Okay. Eregin, here we come" he sad, pushing forwards on the hyperspace lever. The bounty hunter ships jumped in the destroyers shadow, heading for the civil war.

 

[Baneloth]

The jump was short. Not as short as it could have been, but Derek wasn't complaining. While the payout for this bounty was great, the Redguard had never been one for long, drawn out hunts. That wasn't to say he'd ever given up on a bounty, he'd picked up. He simply became less inclined to take the target alive, the more of his time they wasted. 'Time. That's the one thing we can't fight, bribe, or steal more of. And we're running out of it. Some of us faster than others' he reflected soberly.

Derek wasn't as young as he'd been eight years ago, aboard the Glory of the Altmer. And he still had nightmares occasionally. Kyle wouldn't admit it, but the Imperials' adoptive father suspected he did too. Kyle had gotten the worst of it on board the destroyer. For months, he'd been mentally traumatized, and almost paralysed by horror. Luckily, he hadn't let that slow him down at the time. For the most part, Kyle seemed to have gotten over his ordeals. But Derek still caught him staring off, a haunted expression on his face. And on the increasingly rare occasions Dereks' son came over to the Nomad for drinks, or just to talk, and ended up staying over, Derek heard him cry out in his sleep.

For Dereks' part, he hardly used his bunk any more. He preferred to sit up in the cockpit, with a weapon nearby. As for Aden Marek and Jessica? The Redguard didn't know how they'd handled it. They all had their scars, and their memories from that time. With a violent shake of his head, Derek emerged from his memories, in time to see the streaks of hyperspace fade away, replaced with a close up view of an Imperial destroyers engines. "Break off and head for the Dominion blockade, people. Remember, we're private contractors. That means no getting involved in the battle"

He sent the Nomad into a dive, coming out of it a few hundred metres under the destroyers belly. That was when he got his first proper view of the Dominion blockade. From his position, he counted at least twenty Gladiator-class Dominion star destroyers, with easily twice that many heavy cruisers, frigates, and even a couple of dreadnoughts. "They sure do take their blockades seriously, huh?" Kyle muttered over the shared comms. Derek had to agree. The Dominion fleet had arrayed itself with its' rear facing the planet, in a crescent formation. A cluster of five destroyers holding the center, and a dreadnought guarding each flank. Sunlight shimmered off the hulls of star fighters, in a common defensive screen.

The Imperials had their destroyers arrayed in a popular 'battle line' A few dozen destroyers and cruisers, supplemented by frigates and corvettes, all stretched out in a horizontal line. Between the two fleets were the burnt out hulls of everything ranging from fighters to destroyers. The war had indeed come to Eregin. The bounty hunters had made it about three quarters of the way to the blockade, when an official sounding voice came through the comms. " Unaligned approaching ships. This is the Dominion star destroyer Eminence. State your intentions, or we will open fire"

"Bounty Hunters out of Cyris. We're already on a job, so don't worry about us attacking Dominion forces" which was true. If Kaylin Ataro was on Eregin, they wouldn't have time to fight with the Dominion. There was silence from the comms for several minutes, before they spoke again. "Very well. Be advised, we've had trouble from both mercenary groups and slavers that have come to Eregin. Stick to the capital, Blacklight, and don't interfere with Dominion operations, and you should be just fine. Eminence,out."

The comms faded to silence, and Derek sighed. "Okay,people. Head to Blacklight, pay your landing fees, and try not to get blown up." He set the Nomad to pass through a gap in the Dominion formation, and headed onwards to Eregin. As they reached the planets atmosphere, Kyle spoke up again. "Hey, I'm picking up a serious fire fight just outside of Blacklight. Looks like slavers, and...someone else. I'm gonna go lend a hand. Anyone else that wants to, feel free to tag along" Derek noticed his sons' fighter veer away from the group, into the desert. "Good luck. Don't get shot. We'll set down and wait for you to return"

 

[Simus]

Marek left without answering Jessica's questions but only because he had forgotten her gear and told her to stay put while he retrieved it. Jessica didn't really want to be alone with Skylar since she was Imperial Intelligence and they knew that Jessica had killed Mengsk. So she headed back to the medbay and tried to get some more rest. She fully covered herself back up with the blanket and tried to sleep but she couldn't. She still didn't know where they were going or the mission they were on. For all she knew, Skylar and Marek were taking Jessica into custody. Marek liked Jessica and Skylar liked Marek so that possibility was remote, but it wasn't zero.

As she tried to sleep she heard Marek and another voice talking in the next room. It didn't sound like they were happy to see each other but Jessica was too tired to really care. She heard a door open and close and assumed whoever Marek was talking to must have left, so she decided to go find him and see where he had placed her gear. She wrapped her naked body in her blanket again and linked herself with the Judicator's internal sensors as she walked. Marek liked to think he had the best cyber security systems money could buy and he was probably right but Jessica's entire body had been restructured to work and intigrate with machinery. Every part of her brain had been augmented and cyberized and her intelligence had been boosted to where she could challenge even the most sophisticated A.I constructs. When liked with a computer she could see and comprehend all of the code it processed and change it as she wished. It would have been easy for her to take complete control of the Judicator right now. Of course, Marek would immediately know what was going on and probably kill her for stealing his ship so doing so was not a good idea.

As she looked through the Judicators sensors she found Marek in the cargo bay and Skylar in the cockpit but there was something else that she did not expect. This ship had another passenger, a human male, and there was a very sophisticated A.I construct with him. The source of the construct was coming from a close door right in front of her, an extra cabin that she had never seen occupied and assumed Marek never used. Jessica immediately became suspicious at this and even more so when she read that the construct was running a background check on Marek. She needed to confront whoever this was but decided she'd have a better chance in the virtual world than the physical one. Jessica accessed her net browser and leaned against the wall before activating her diving software, a virtual reality program that projected her avatar onto the net and allowed her to explore websites and other user avatars as if they were real people and places. Joining a message board for example would project her at a table with any other users on the boards where they could talk, move and gesture with their avatars as if they were their own bodies.

Jessica's avatar was a a copy of herself as she appeared before she was captured by Mengsk. Her healthy self. She was in her blue bodysuit with her matching tall riding boots and tight fitting gloves. Her long red hair was in a ponytail and there were no scars on her throat. She took a moment to examine her virtual self and smiled.

"Mmm...feels good to be pretty again."

She walked through the white void that represented empty cyberspace and called up Adjutant, her onboard A.I and choice of search engine (OOC: She basically looks like Adjutant from Starcraft 2. I don't have a pic but you can google her.) Adjutant had a limited personality and she wasn't capable of expanding her programming like other "smart" A.I's but she was the best at what she did and made a valuable assistant.

"Greetings Jessica. It's good to see you still alive after your violent crash. What do you require?"

"It's good to see you too Adjutant. I need you to locate whatever construct is sniffing around for information on Aden Marek so I can stop it. Locate its search engine and upload me to it."

"Working..." Adjutant was quiet for a few moments, then pulled up a large holographic search page in front of the virtual Jessica. A construct in the form of a navy blue woman appeared. She was naked and very attractive, with neck length hair and code running all over her body. Jessica admired how pretty she was and was a little envious. She didn't see machines and A.I's like other people did. She could connect with and understand them as if they were alive. She could feel their desires, their wants and needs, their souls. Every machine had a soul. A machine spirit. Even common electronics such as personal computers or pagers or smartphones. Most of these were dumb as rock and what people mistook for intelligence was simply good programming. Jessica could still commune with these machines but she wouldn't have any more success talking with them than any other person would have talking with a dog or a houscat.

This construct was different. She possessed true intelligence, true consciousness. Such constructs were rare and precious gems in the universe and it took a master programmer to create one. The Imperial Techpriests who taught Jessica at The Academy had shown her some truly amazing things, things that only the Dwemer, the masters of all machines and the first children of the Machine God, could teach.

Jessica then remembered that she was here to stop espionage, not gawk at a women. After some quick hackwork Jessica was able to give herself administrator status on the background site this A.I was using and block her from the site. Her search was cancelled. Jessica folded her arms across her chest and glared at the shocked A.I, who was now aware of her presence.

"Your creator should have told you it's rude to break into the databases of people who are offering you rides. Especially people as dangerous as Marek. Care to give me your designation and where your program's being stored?"

(OOC: That was a bit longer than I planned but I hope you guys enjoyed it. I hope, Marek and Fellow, that you don't find Jessica's abilities too OP or if I scripted Oracle too much. I feel everything I wrote was reasonable since Jessica can be stopped IRL at any time but let me know if the case is otherwise. Really glad you're here Fellow! It's a lot of fun RP'ing with you again.)

 

[fellowknight]

As Oracle worked to find the source of the Marek alias, she stumbled across a new name; Hro'gar Marek, clearly of Nordic decent. Further back, she pulled up a Jess Marek, Imperial decent. She dug deeper. She finally stumbled across the name she was looking for, the first name to be filed in the start of the space age. Andre Marek. Mercenary, died in 4E somewhere. She had what she needed, now she had to notify Baroth. As she was setting up a line with him, her drives picked up a ruffle in the net somewhere. She shrugged it off as nothing, simply a small spike in net activity. It was likely the message board down the block. Yet, when she set theline up, the small spike turned into a full on arrival of something else. Instantly, her search was denied as the entire note collection was closed. Suddenly, she appeared before what looked like a holographic model of another person. Oracle attempted to locate her on the ship, but she was instantly denied. Then the female figure spoke, crossing her arms.

"Your creator should have told you it's rude break into the databases of people who are offering you rides. Especially people as dangerous as Marek. Care to give me your designation and where your program is being stored?" The holofigure spoke, eyes burning into the AI's very core network. Oracle was about to open a private line to Baroth,when she rrealized something. She was powerless in the sense of communication. Any line she brought up would have easily been snipped and cancelled. She was on her own for the while.

"Only if you tell me how you found me so quickly, who you are, and why you intrigue me so much." She said, tilting her head slightly as she waited for an answer. She was truly interested in this woman, whoever she may be. She found Oracle, likely with the help of a search AI, and almost completely Isolated her. Almost. Should things turn uncivil, however, Oracle had an encrypted, sealed notification on stand by. She'd send it in a wave of other hyrogliphics before before the woman had time to sort the mess out.

 

[Blackwhite1223]

Galen frowned at the departure of the shuttle from the Imperial destroyer. Like Kyle had said, Cyris was neutral, and had no real strategic value in the war. The Imperial cops investigative instincts began to kick in 'the only reasons an Imperial VIP would visit Cyris, is to try to convince the planetary government to join the war on the side of the Empire, or there's already someone on Cyris, willing to work with the Empire, that wants to meet with an Imperial representative. Although, a shuttle with a fighter escort isn't exactly inconspicuous'.

Either way, Galen was willing to bet his ship that the reason for an Imperial visit orbited around politics. He'd once had a friend who'd said "you can open fire in a room full of politicians, and never hit the wrong one" Galen agreed with that statement. Sighing, the man shook his head, and pushed up his hyperspace lever, causing the stars to elongate. They came out of hyperspace in fairly good time, and Galen dutifully had the Vigilance follow in the wake of Dereks' ship. There was a short exchange between Derek and one of the star destroyers in the Dominion blockade, and then the group of ships was past the elven ships.

He'd been plotting his landing vector for the capital of Blacklight when Kyle spoke up again. "Hey, I'm picking up a serious fire fight just outside of Blacklight. Looks like slavers, and...someone else. I'm gonna go lend a hand. Anyone else that wants to, feel free to tag along" Galen turned his ship towards Kyles' fighter, falling in on his tail. The ex-cop had dealt with plenty of slavers, both in the Theren underworld, and on Shadow station. He wasn't sure who would take on slavers on Eregin, but they were certainly worthy of his help. "I'll follow you in, Kyle"

 

[Simus]

Despite being trapped the A.I didn't seem afraid. Considering the A.I was advanced enough to be self-aware and therefore capable of being afraid Jessica admired that. It, she, was afraid though and with good reason. Jessica had her cornered and had her signal trapped in their little bubble of the net. Any transmissions she sent would be intercepted and snipped and being human gave Jessica a major advantage in any fight they might start. All the same this was a dangerous opponent and she could be knocked right back into her physical body if she wasn't careful.

All the same she saw no reason not to answer her questions. If Jessica could get this construct to cooperate she would do so.

"All right then. I found you so quickly because I'm really good at what I do, my name's Jessica and I probably intrigue you so much because you never expected a human to twist your arm like this. Intelligent A.I's like yourself tend to be very proud of their abilities and want everyone to know about it. I don't mean to say that's your fault of course but that tends to manifest in your personality code."

Adjutant's robotic body appeared next to Jessica.

"This is Adjutant and she helped me find you. She can't expand her programming matrix like you can but she's a very good search engine. She can search faster than I can but I have to instruct her what to do once she finds something. Right Adjutant."

"Affirmative. My primary function is to assist Jessica with whatever she may require. My programming can only be expanded if she allows it. Unidentified rogue construct is advised not to antagonize her."

"Now it's your turn. I know you're somewhere on the Judicator and if there was a gun to my head I'd guess you're with that passenger in the spare cabin across the wall I'm currently leaning on. Is anyone en route to disturb me by the way?"

"Negative. Aden Marek is in the cargo hold and Skylar is currently operating the Judicator. The unidentified passenger in the cabin across from you is currently unaware of your presence."

"He's probably looking for you though." Jessica said, turning back to Oracle. "Answer my questions and I'll let you log out. Then we can meet IRL. I'm a bit...disfigured so try not to be too shocked when you see me. I also won't be able to talk to you. You'll see why when you look at me."

 

[fellowknight]

"Answer my questions and I'll let you log out. Then we can meet IRL. I'm a bit...disfigured so try not to be too shocked when you see me. I also won't be able to talk to you. You'll see why when you look at me." The woman finished, allowing Oracle to speak again. She sighed, eyeing the floating search engine AI beside her. This girl, whoever she was, had come prepared. Surprisingly so. Came out out nowhere with administrative power over her search and shut the whole thing down. Oracle was beat. She looked at the woman again. "Alright. No one is on route to stop you from doing this anyway. My program is stored in a chip in the room with Bar- i mean, that armored man. My designation is Oracle, or AI-1172243576. Now, do you mind letting me out?" She asked, crossing her arms. The woman nodded. "Very well. See you in a minute." She said, opening a void out of the internet through which Oracle immediately walked through. As she stepped out, and the void closed, she instantly opened a line to Baroth.


"Baroth!"

"Oracle? Where the hell have you been? You said a few minutes now a full half hour. What took you so long?"

"Somebody uploaded themself to the net and cut off my search. She asked me where my program was, and what my designation was. She had me cold."

"Damn. Did you at least get the name?"

"Yea. Andre Marek. Died in 4E."

"I f***ing knew it. Where is this hacker by the way?" He said, as the door to his cabin opened and in stepped a wounded looking woman. No sooner than her foot hit the floor of the room, Baroth was up and had his rifle raised and aimed. He saw a large gash on the top of her head and a few large scars on her throat. he could only imagine what had happened to her.

"There.... Lower your rifle and pull me."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it. She's friendly."

"I don't even know her-"

"Look, she had the chance to attack me and she just asked me questions. Now, we can return the goddamn favor by showing some f***ing manners, alright? Now lower the gun and pull me."

Silence dragged on for another minute before Baroth cursed aloud, lowered his rifle, and pulled Oracle's chip from the first slot in back of his helmet. Once he did that, he pushed a short, skinny rectangular button at the top, projecting her in her human-sized holo-form. The woman smiled and handed Oracle a data-pad. Baroth remained cautious.

 

[Simus]

After the A.I, Oracle she called herself, gave Jessica a satisfactory answer of what and where she was she allowed her to leave. She opened a logout portal which took the form of an actual portal. The Net was fun that way. Oracle walked through it, returning to her humble data storage device and Jessica returned to her body. She took a moment to get situated in the real world then opened the cabin door to greet their newcomer and, presumably, Oracle's carrier.

She gave a sharp gasp when he stuck a plasma rifle in her face after the door opened but Oracle told him to stand down. He was clearly skeptical of Jessica's intentions he had every right to be after what just happened, but Oracle was able to calm him down enough to lower his gun. She was quite commanding when she needed to be and she didn't mind cursing to get her point across. It reminded Jessica of her mother.

Jessica tried to speak but remembered her throat, producing only a weak squeak. Even that little nose made her throat burn and she massaged it for a moment to try and dull the pain. After another moment of collecting her thoughts on her new datapad she realized Oracle had manifested herself as a full sized hologram, exactly as she was in the net just a minute ago. Jessica's eyes were wide in amazement and she would have given a yell of excitement had she been able to do so. She clasped her hands in giddy excitement and eagerly handed her a revised datapad while fidgeting like she was still an adolescent waiting for a new clothing store to open in ten minutes. Her eyes popped when Oracle actually took the datapad from her!

Oh. My. GODS! You have a holo projector AND a force field matrix that enables you to interact with the world around you!? Either I'm dead and I've joined the Machine God in the Infinite Forge or this is officially the best! Day! Ever! Oracle, you have GOT to be the most awesomest A.I construct I've ever seen! You can learn, you can manifest as an interactive hologram, you can sass anyone you want, you're practically human! Does the Machine Cult know about you? They'd probably worship you as a holy relic! Probably even an oracle! Hah, I see what I did there! That's how you got your name isn't it?! I know, I know, techpriests are weird like that, but they're the best engineers, programmers and mechanics in known space! They taught me at The Academy but that's a whole other ball of cement. I am totally going to build you a body!

Jessica extended her arms out at the holographic Oracle as if trying to hug her.

 

[fellowknight]

After reading the datapad with a few giggles and smiles, Oracle looked at the young girl as she extended her arms out in a hug. She didn't waste a second pulling the girl into the bear hug and held her tight. She hadn't felt like this in a good few years. Like she made a new friend. The girl, despite her sudden appearance earlier, seemed like a good kid. One of those rare, worthwhile people who come and go. But make an impact while they're there. After a few more seconds of hugging, Oracle pulled back with a smile.

"That's nice, thank you." She said, handing her the datapad. "Though, that body thing might have to wait. I kinda like the blue." Seeing as how she felt completely open with this girl now, she figured introductions were in order. "Well, Jessica, I guess I should introduce everyone then? I'm Oracle, as you already know, Baroth's AI. And that," She said, gesturing to Baroth with a smirk, " is Baroth. Though, I probably shouldn't spoil anymore." She said, nodding towards Jessica. "Go on Baroth, shake her hand."

Baroth sighed as he'd swung his plasma rifle ontop of the sniper rifle on his back, walked over, and extended his hand towards the small girl. They shook hands firmly and Baroth nodded down at her. "Nice to meet you. Sorry about that thing earlier. I have.....trust issues. I'm working on it." He said, before backing to Oracle's side. He shot a glare over at her and she shrugged, mouthing the word 'what?!' Both went quiet, however, when they saw the girl going to work on the pad again. This time, she extended it to Baroth. He took it, looking over at Oracle once again, before reading it.

 

[Simus]

Hugging a holographic computer program? Now I've seen everything. Jessica thought as she returned Oracles remarkably human embrace. It felt as if she were made of warm light, like putting your hand against a light bulb before it got too hot. They held each other for several moments until Oracle broke the hug and introduced Jessica to Baroth. He didn't seem to appreciate being forced into an introduction but Jessica thought it was funny. She chuckled at Oracle's gesture and smiled as she handed Baroth the pad. She didn't realize her above thought was displayed along with her intended text.

It's a pleasure to meet you Baroth. I don't know how much you purchased Oracle for or where you found her but whatever you paid was a steal. She's a truly amazing A.I, a gift from the Machine God. I hope you remind her of that because she's more than a jumble of code with a personality matrix. She's a person, just like you or me. Do you happen to know how old she is? A.I's like her are susceptible to rampancy after about seven years and the only way to treat it is to catch it early. Not much different than cancer a few hundred years ago.

Anyhow, you're both wondering why I'm standing in front of you naked under a blanket and looking like I lost a fight with a set of kitchen knives. All you need to know right now is that some very bad people did this to me and I've seen to it that they will never hurt me ever again. I can't talk and I can't write but I can still think and I have all my faculties through my online avatar. Marek and I are kind-of friends from a few years back and he has kind of a soft spot for me so that's why I'm here and not on Cyris frozen to death. Don't tell him I said that though.

Baroth is an interesting name by the way. One of my ancestors, a man named Simus Psyrakon who lived over a thousand years ago adventured with a man named Baroth. My dad would tell me stories about Simus' adventures with his daughter Alice and the ones with Baroth were some of my favorites. Several have been compiled into books actually. Fading Hope, Reforging an Empire, Thy Lady and Lord, lots of good stories.

Sorry, I write like I talk, and apparently I think like I talk too! I'm sure you don't care about some old dead guy with your name and you probably want to get some rest or prep for our mission or something. What is our mission anyway? Marek never actually told me where we're going. Of course I was in a crashed X-Wing in the middle of downtown Whitefall less than two hours ago and kind of dropped in on his meeting at a cute little cafe where he really wasn't happy to see me, so he and I haven't really had time to talk. I'm also...not in the best of health as you can see.

Jessica had more to say now that she had gotten her energy back but she decided to stop there and let Baroth and Oracle get a word in. They'd have many questions for her and Marek certainly would, once he got around to it.

 

[Drahkma]

Corvis wasn't too concerned with the Imperial visitor to Cyris. These days, the Empire was three quarters politics, one quarter actual fighting. Not to say that the emperor didn't have hundreds of thousands of troops at his command. Just, the political manoeuvring required was hilarious, and often bordered on painful to watch. If the empire had committed troops at the first sign of trouble from the Dominion, they may have spared themselves a long, bloody, war. The shuttle was probably bringing an ambassador to Cyris, to talk the Nords into joining the Empire. Which didn't effect Corvis' job in any way that he could see.

He followed the Nomad into hyperspace, and brought his ship into line, following the green armoured bounty hunters ship through the Dominion blockade. One of the other hunters, Kyle, he thought he'd heard the blue armoured man call him, reported a fire-fight between some slavers, and an unknown party, and declared he was going to check it out. The man in a starfighter whos' transponder read as the Vigilance peeled away from the group, and the pilot, probably the blue armoured man from Cyris, stated his intention to join him. Corvis wasn't surprised. The man seemed like the noble, self-sacrificing, holier-than-thou type anyways.

"Okay,people. Head to Blacklight, pay your landing fees, and try not to get blown up." Corvis headed towards an unoccupied hangar bay, and moments later, the voice of Blacklights' ATC, air traffic controller, came through his speakers. "Free lance ship, Silencer, this is Blacklight ATC. Care to negotiate a landing fee?" Corvis smirked. At least the Dark elves had balls. "Silencer to Blacklight ATC. Care to negotiate a pair of proton torpedoes?" There was a moment of stunned silence over the comms, before the mers' voice came back, considerably more respectful. "You're cleared for landing, mr.Allendis. Enjoy your stay in Blacklight"

He chuckled, shut down the comms, and entered the hangar bay. deactivating his engines, he switched to repulsorlifts, and turned the ship, until it was facing out into the city through the hangars mouth. Just in case he needed to make a quick get away. He landed, put on his helmet, and left the ship, tossing a high denomination credit chip to one of the hangar bay mechanics approaching him. "I want her refuelled by the time I get back. Keep the change" he strolled past the mechanic, and left the hangar bay.

It was, as far as Corvis could tell, the middle of the day, on Eregin. His visor immediately gave him a temperature that made the Breton bounty hunter very glad he was wearing his helmet and bodysuit. He headed into the city market, the one closest to the hangar bays, and sat in a bench in the shade, starting to do some preliminary recon. Just in case.

 

[fellowknight]

Reading the first paragraph made Baroth smirk inside. He never quit thought about Oracle that way, but he always respected her power, whether he showed it or not. Either way, he'd already had her checked for rampancy once a few months ago. Though the technician was....less skilled. He would have her checked again very soon. Reading the second paragraph made him frown somewhat. He never liked scum, especially in his knight days, which are suddenly coming back to him. He understood he was a form of scum, but he would never stoop so low as to disect a living human. Those were the contracts he rarely accepted.

Reading the third paragraph almost made him drop the data-pad. He would have never guessed that this girl, Jessica or whoever she was, was the direct descendant of Simus. He....had to talk with her. He HAD to. He need to know if she was serious or not. He needed to know. All those nights spent crying in his house surged back to him as he fidgeted a little. He needed to know if she was playing a joke on him, though she didn't look it.

Upon reading the last paragraph, he was brought to his senses somewhat. He heard the word mission, and nodded in calaboration. "Yea...our mission. To capture or kill Kaylin Ataro. Fifty million credits. Its safe to say, I was in before I even knew about it." Turning to Oracle, he nodded and continued. "Now then, Oracle, set up a line to Rex. Tell him to bring the ship to Ergin, using any holo projections he has to."

"Right." She looked at the girl, who had a saddened expression. "Oh don't worry, I can stay here. I'll just be a little slow responding"

Baroth picked up where she left off. "Yea. Now then, do you have anything else to say? 'Cause I have to talk to you if you don't." He looked over at Oracle. "In PRIVATE." He said, making her smile fade into a frown. Then the girl once again went to plug up the cord from the datapad to her skull, close her eyes, and think what she wanted to say. Then she held it up in front of both of them.

 

[Simus]

Jessica smiled when Oracle said she could stay while she contacted Rex. She hugged her again after disconnecting her datapad, then handed it to Baroth.

I've never heard of this Kaylin Ataro but if someone's offering fifty million credits for one woman than she'd better be a Daedric Lord. Otherwise the money would be too good to be true. Also, if whoever hired you and Marek hired a bunch of other hunters than this will get really messy when it's time to collect. Marek may have enough sense not to kill his partners for a bigger a cut and two guys I saw at the meeting, Darek and Kyle, they're good sorts. I also saw a cop I vaguely remember from Shadow Station, though I can't remember his name.

In the meantime, we can go into the other room where the medbay is. Is there some reason Oracle can't come? I'd really like to stay with her. Maybe it's because we met on the net where I have total control over my appearance but I don't feel so much like a hideous cut up doll when I'm with her.

She held the pad up to Oracle so she could read it and gave her a sad look.