STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Hunter

"No, doesn't sound like fun at all. How long does it take for that to go away, or will I need to actually get properly treated at some point?"

"I'd advise a few days of rest, but...eh...you've got that deadline to meet. The Guildmaster gets pretty pissy when you don't meet deadlines..."

The deadline is your least favorite part of the Bounty Hunters Guild. The Guildmaster, a particularly unpleasant Trandoshan lovingly nicknamed Ripper (Destroyer of Internal Organs!), demands a certain fee be paid to him so that you can keep making a living. That way, he can make money without having to hunt. The better you are, the less bounties you have to pull in to meet the deadlines (though most kiss-ass hunters or crazy-psycho-killers bring in many past the requirement). It also keeps you guys all in the green.

If you don't make the deadline, you lose your liscense and he puts a bounty on your head. In the days of the Republic, completely illegal. But now? The Empire doesn't dabble in the affairs of bounty hunters except to use them to hunt terrorists.

Still, Ripper likes you. You've probably got the smallest number of bounties to drag in for someone of your skill.

But Tib's case wasted a lot of your time. You tracked him for a damned long time, but the money was too good to give up on someone like him, and both Ripper and Makrus pushed you towards it.

"Yeah, I know...I should be close for that, though, especially as I got Tib alive and in one piece. And then after I'll take a short break. I'm pretty sure even the Guildmaster will realize that I'm a lot more useful when fully healed." Rylis replies. "And at the very least...I can get some rest while traveling. Better than nothing."

"You'd better catch one soon, eh?"

"I'll be fine. Has anything new and interesting come up that you've heard of while I was chasing down Tib? Or just more of the same old waste of time stuff that there's too much of?"

"Blah, there haven't been many interesting ones to pick at, not since you took up the Tib case. Been doing merc work. You've heard of that Fett fellow, yeah?"

"Of course." Rylis replies, rolling her eyes. "Is he nabbing as much as the good stuff as he can, then?"

"You'd better believe it. He doesn't have a deadline in his part of the Guild, but you know he's got several dozen down. The man's more machine than IG88! Oh, hang on..."

Makrus falls silent for a second, then returns just as quickly.

"Sorry, had to grab my soup. I haven't eaten in a few days. Damned war-that's-not-mine. Anyways, there's a new bounty up that the Fettster hasn't taken yet." He makes a low whistling noise. "Worth quite a bit, too."

"Aren't you generally the one who has more common sense of the two of us?" Rylis says, rolling her eyes again but this time in amusement. "Worth a lot, huh? What're the details?"

"Ever heard of the Nobog Corporation?"

"I've heard the name, yeah."

"It's a big corporation from Ela Nobog. Lots of business dealings on that world. The Nobog Corporation specializes in the shady ones, lots of illegal activities there. Covers everything up with legal fronts, like funding hospitals on Spiridos and charities and mushy stuff that the Empire loves."

"And naturally the Empire turns a blind eye to the illegal stuff so long as they get their cut of the profits, I'm sure..."

"Most of the time, true. Not with the Nobog Corporation. Looks like someone decided to impede on Imperial agendas and then someone else blew it wide open. That someone else got the Corporation in BIG trouble with the Empire, and now they're in big trouble themselves. I'm sending you the file..."

A bounty appears on your screen for...whoa, that's a LOT of credits. Way more than Tib was or...well, maybe anyone else you've ever brought in.

"Kyle Ragnor. Heard of him?"

"Wow. I haven't, though I feel this one is going to be worth my time..." Rylis says, looking through the file. "There's no way I'm letting Fett get his grubby little hands on this one."

"Thought as much! From what I heard, Fett's busy with another one right now, so this Kyle fellow should be yours for the taking, eh?"

"Oh, he's going to be mine all right..."

What exactly is in this file? 😛

My apologies, Christmas parties and work don't mix well with updating RPGs. My bad.

The file is actually very detailed. It lists numerous crimes to Kyle's name (assault, exporting and importing illegal goods, etcetera), but you can tell right away that this is a vendetta, not a bounty. They're offering money for you to kill him stone dead, not just bring him in because he did a bad thing.

It mentions that Kyle is in possession of a starfreighter known as The Last Laugh, a heavily modified Corellian freighter, with bulk armor and additional weaponry. They specifically want the ship returned.

Lastly, it mentions that Kyle is a remarkable marksman with a pistol.

Also, obviously, a description of him. Oh, and that he's working for the Hutts on Nar Shaddaa, smuggling whatever it is that those fat slugs need smuggled.

...

(no mention of the bug in there? 😛)

"This seems to be more of an assassination than a bounty to capture, to me..." Rylis comments to Makrus as she reads through the file.

What bug? It specifically says that Kyle travels alone, actually.

"Well, they put up the contract, so it's still a bounty," Makrus replies. "May not be very much like one in nature, but hey, it's good money."