Heklor Hunting

[Jaster Awaud]

Planet Heklor
Conglomerate Outpost; Alicade
12 days, No transmission.

Jaster was ahead of that large combat fleet Jaster was leading, a single MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser, 2 Ulur'uur-class Frigate, and two Voyeur-Class Corvette. He had set up a Trade Outpost on this planet over four weeks ago, their last transmission spoke of a beast like monster that they were having problems with. Their request to the defense agency was to assist with the creators disposal so that cargo and vessels were still on time through the system. Yet 12 days ago, the outpost went dark and no transmission was broadcasting. After the 10th day, Jaster decided to not waist any more employees with this situration and brought in contract mercenaries. Most rookies, easy to pay, disposable if needed.

His fleet arrived in the system without fail, commandos and crew rushed wound the ships to their designated posistions. Jaster stood at the bridge of the Star Cruiser and looked down to the large green and blue planet. He had travels the Galaxy from one end to the other several times in his lifetime. This planet was cursed for death, many had tried to control this planet, none had succeeded, yet none were like Jaster.

He turned his back to the screen showing the planet and made his way to one of the hanger days that were locked down. There he meet up with some of the Mercs he hired, [member="Ydrin"], [member="Arrik Terran"], [member="Malcom Renolds"], and a [member="Kenna Raine"]. Little was known about them, that was the way Jaster liked it, difficult to trace back to him or his company, but still able to do jobs for him.

"Hello, my name is unimportant, just that I pay you, if need be you can call me Mr. J, I will be briefing you today about your mission to the planet below, is that understood?"

 

[Malcom Renolds]

Malcom had been standing in the hangar going over system checks on all his equipment making sure everything was in the green and working properly. The time found he and his slave [member="Kenna Raine"] about to help handle a job for an unfamiliar person on an unfamiliar rock. While this would normally make the Mando think twice, the pay was good for what was so far spoken of.

It also seemed like an easy enough job to break Kenna in on her first real mission outside of their hunting expeditions to his cabin on Mandalore. Another interesting point worth noting was it appeared as though they would be working as part of a larger group. His eyes panned back and forth between the people, trying to gauge skill levels and equipment being brought in.

It wasn't long however, before there host arrived for the debriefing. Malcom stopped what he was doing, standing up in a more formal position. This Mr. J may not be a military superior, but as Malcolm's employer, that was good enough for him. "Yes sir." And a simple nod was all the reply he'd give to the initial statement and question. Now was the time for listening.

 

[Anomalie]

Arrik was nervous, those small jitters you never really get over. The kind that you get just before something horrible happens. He knew for a fact that it wasn't going to happen, these guys were skilled, top of the line bounty hunter and mercs. A rogue Jedi amongst them with some skill would be a help to them surely. He grasped the handle of his saber. Exactly as he created it, fit for his hand. He always felt better when he had his weapon in hand.

What was a rogue Jedi apprentice doing with all these mercs? A man had to make credits, and his saber skills could get him far enough with these folk. It was easy credits, go here, kill this, take your stuff and go. A quick in and out job so he had been told.

To add onto that he figured he would be doing some good by clearing out whatever trading Post they were getting dropped off at. Doing good, helping people, what Jedi are supposed to do. Of course Arrik had discarded his robes long ago, now dressed like a common mercenary wearing cobbled together armor. A black cloak draped over right shoulder down to about hip level, hiding the hilt of his blade.

The man who identified himself as "Mr J" seemed like your usual merc kind. Not personal. Hiring people who are easily expendable and easy to cover up should they die. He looked about him, assessing who he was going to be risking his neck with. They seemed like an adequate group. Though, admittedly, it was unlikely he would take up this work again after he finished the mission and got where he needed to go.

He kept to himself while he tied his hair back into a ponytail. He hadn't come here to make friends, in all reality he would be hunting someone here down in a few years after taking out a bounty on one of their heads. The dog eat dog world of free lance work, not exactly what he had in mind when he left the temple...but... A man has to eat.

 

[Kenna Raine]

It wasn't everyday that she got to work with other merc. It was normally just her and her master doing missions. This was good though and would give the young woman the chance to work with others. If she were to ever learn to be successful at missions Kenna would need to learn how to play well with others that were not her master.

She had learned how to seduce men and get her master's targets out in the open for him. Every job she did for him got him richer while she got more experience. Kenna would have hoped for a little spending cash for herself but never really asked instead was just happy for the experience. He did far too much for her as it was and she liked the dresses that she got out of her her outings. What else could she really ask of him?

As they waited for their client to arrive Kenna's eyes glanced to the others around her. They looked harmless enough but Kenna knew that looks could be deceiving. She had learned though her years to always be on her toes.

Once Mr. J arrived Kenna could only nod in agreement that she understood. She was eager to get started on this job and show what other skills she had been learning under master Malcolm's tutelage.

[member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

Jaster stood at the front of them all, Mercs, a special breed of soldiers who used their talents as killers to the fullest for profit. Jaster served as a Merc for several years after his exile, even security for transport ships for longer. That was how he got into this line of work, transport and trade was one of his talents, and he was so good he build a small empire. To see the rookies finally up to play the missions was interesting.

Jaster always had a soft spot for placing stock in new talent, it was how he always returned with more money. Rookies were easy to pay, and working to improve them kept them alive, and in his favor. Such as new Gangs or Pirate Raiders, Jaster always through money at them to see where they would go, and they always stayed around to become big shots. At that point Jaster moved on to newer talent, to improve them as well.

Now it was a new batch, and Jaster didn't particularly like the looks of them, but then again he never did like other people. He wasn't in the buisness of making new friends, he was loosing a lot of credits every hour that outpost wasn't up and running, so they were costing him money as they stood there. "Good to see your motivated, let's move on to the mission at hand, we have confirmation that the outpost you'll be landing in is deserted and most of the equipment is non-functional, I've got word from the higher ups, so if you find equipment that works, it's yours if your survive,"

A brown insect like creature walked up to Jaster and handed him a datapad. With four glowing gold eyes it starred into the background, holding that 1,000 mile stare, nothing breaking its concentration. Jaster read the datapad and looked back at the group, "Thes here are Mantanites, geneticly modified soldier, they will be on the ground and scouting the area, and like cockroaches, they are expendable," Jaster pulled out a blaster and shot it in the abdomen, it only dented its outer shell of armor, "they are not easy to get rid of, they will contact you they find trouble, but their main objective is to find our supplies, yours is to fine our missing employees and bring them back to the outpost for medical review, there are a total of 5 missing, and the rest are dead, or injured in our medical bay, any questions?"

 

[Malcom Renolds]

"Yes sir. I got a few actually." Malcom quickly spoke up after the brief debriefing. "What exactly came in and wiped out this outpost? Are they still in the area? Do we have leads on where the missing personnel is? And what kind of resistance are we to expect in our search?"

Normally he was more of a take it as you guys kind of person. But in this case there was almost no tactical information being offered up and all. It was making him feel rather....expendable. Like the "roaches" standing nearby.

You shouldn't get him wrong. Malcom was almost always up for a good scrap. But he did have Kenna along with him and this was to be her first real field assignment. Malcom didn't want her thrown into a firefight she wouldn't be able to handle.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Kenna Raine]

Kenna had been taught at a young age to not ask questions and just do the job. It had never been her place to question the wants or needs of her master. As such she grew up as a hard working, rather quiet slave. She would listen to others but her masters never cared to know about her. The young woman had always figured it was easier that way.

Malcolm on the other had had encouraged her questions and curiosity of her duties. He felt it was important for her to understand what she was to be doing. This was becoming increasingly important now that he was taking her on actual missions.

The details of the mission were brief and left much to be desired. He had given them no actual details on the situation down below. Kenna was happy that her master had asked those questions. They needed more information because as of right now it seemed they were walking into a death trap.

"I have a question as well sir. What type of condition should we expect the employees to be in? Could they potentially be dangerous?" Kenna wanted to get as much information as she could before going down there. It was important for her even to speak up at times.

[member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Malcom Renolds"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

Jaster looked to answer all their questions, sending a team with bad Intel was what got them killed, then again it would also save him money. Yet he couldn't have word spred that he sent good people to their deaths just for some savings, bad for buisness.

"Well Intel is still kinda weak, who your up against is more of a wide variety of either rebels or deadly creatures on the planet, it's still somewhat unknown but our scouts are still searching the area for tracks or evidence to narrow in on the list of suspects, as for the outpost employees, Trade Conglomerate Staffmembers are suppose to have tracker beacons located in their transit cards in case of kidnapping and other sorts, only problem is that these people have lost their cards and we can't trace them, otherwise we wouldn't need you, the cards were found in somewhat of a trail heading North East of the outpost, the last on located almost 100 meters before the trail went cold."

Jaster posted data of the trade outpost on a datapad before sending the info out to the rest of the team on their own datapads, "All we need is confirmation of their bodies so their next of kin can be notified, after that, the higher ups have decided to... Depopulate the surrounding area once you are finished."

 

[Anomalie]

"...if the beacons aren't on them and remain stationary that means one of two things. They lost them, or they were taken off and left there. That doesn't sound like a mindless non-sentient." Arrik stated quietly from his slot on the bench. He really didn't care what it was, rebels or beasts he would kill them all either way. It was a question of how he would need to kill them.

The mention of depopulization didn't exactly make him feel better about the mission nothing really did honestly. Whatever happened. They'd be taking down rebels trying to nuck up trade, or violent non sentients. It didn't make it any easier. But he would do what he was getting paid to do.

He looked over at the two he would be working with. Both of them seemingly mandalorian in nature. The girl seemed a bit more nervous and jumpy, the man seemed calmer. Maybe a trainee and her master? He almost smirked when he thought of his old master back at the temple. Almost.

She was dead, and even on a mission like this he could end up joining her if he didn't focus on the job at hand. He turned his head back to Mr. J and the other two Mandalors. As long as he made it out of this cakewalk a few credits richer he didn't care.

 

[Malcom Renolds]

Malcom began making mental notes of all that was being said. Intel was practically non existent. At least they had a heading, he thought to himself. Still what else did they actually know?

His sonic amplifiers picked up on what the man in a cloak said. Malcom's eyes narrowed as he thought about it.

- Abandoned outpost...could be animals or rebels. Not conclusive.
- Damaged equipment...more than likely caused by rebels in a firefight, or animals being shot at. Still not conclusive, need more data.
- Weak trail heading north east...could be a game trail suggesting animals.
- Cards lost randomly along trail till finally all were dropped...could also suggest animals as the cards may have fallen off while bodies were being drug away. Could suggest rebels however. Could be leaving a trail of cards to taunt or lure into a trap. Hmm.
- Client not expecting survivors. This would not make any sense if they employees had been captured by rebels. You don't take prisoners if you don't mean to use them for anything.
- Scale of attack...seems a bit much for animals. But possible if given the right specie habits.

Theory? Wild animal attack most likely. But scale of attack would indicate sentient involvement. Possibly animals used as part of larger strike to soak up damage and weaken defenses before rebels moved in to finish the outpost off? Need more data...

Malcom tilted his head slightly in a curious manner. "Were there really no bodies of any kind found at the outpost? No personnel, rebels, or animals? Just a bunch of empty buildings and damaged equipment? And was there blood on the trails where the beacon cards were located?"

The seasoned hunter had already begun devising how he wanted to go in. Considering the serious lack of intelligence and numerous possibilities this so far could include, stealth would be their greatest ally in his opinion. So going in at a slow and methodical pace would probably be wisest. At least till they had a better handle on what they were dealing with.

[member="Arrik Terran"] | [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] | [member="Kenna Raine"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Kenna Raine"] [member="Arrik Terran"]

Jaster looked around the room, they were asking questions, but some of them were more difficult to answer as their was still a chance they could be captured by the rebel, Binadamans. A small conflict had arisen between a small group of the species who lived on the moon that orbited Hecklor. They made claims that the world was under their Goverments athuraty, some lost colony was landed on the planet, but because of the pluage, none survived. In that understanding, the conglomerate sanctioned the landing, as the planet was not inhabited by intelligence beings, at least none found. Jaster knew that if any political faction found they were stomping on another species rights, it would be a PR disaster. Proving the Bombing had to happen soon, before more political harm could arise.

Jaster looked at them, he couldn't send them in blind, otherwise he would be blamed in the underworld for their deaths. "Bodied were found, but I'm affraid you don't understand the conglomerate, they hire from every species, even from local near by worlds, picking out who was rebel and not would take time, time we don't have, officially your hunting a creature that kidnapped our people, unofficially, kill everything that doesn't have a Conglomerate Patch on them, even if they might be employee, tag them with a transmitter and move on, our teams will pick up the bodies."

Jaster turned to his datapad and brought more Intel up to show the team, ",this is a PR disaster, the TC isn't technically aren't basted here, negotiations between the moons inhabitants and the organizations are still happening, we are assuming it's the rebels, using the employees to blackmail us, we can't let that happen, but it is still unknown to us if it is them or not, so be on guard, we are giving you 48 hour to complete your task before we bomb the 10,000 meter area, we can't have proof we were here."

 

[Anomalie]

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

Arrik shot the man a look, so it was clean up...there were going to be going after rebels who would be exposing a cartels dirty work. Arrik knew he was going to be getting into some dirty work, a job that he might not like doing...but...he needed the credits. Needed a way to get off this rock and find a way out.

"We'll get it done, sir."Arrik stated calmly as he shifted so that cloak moved to cover his right hip. The hilt of his green saber was stocking out slightly, something that would've been hard to pick up on if one hadnt been paying close attention.

The rogue jedi would have no problem cutting through a couple of the weaker binadamans. They wouldn't be a problem, but finding people who would take him after he did such a thing...that would be an issue. The young man paced quietly, this q and a session was making him anxious to get off the ship and start hunting.

The sooner he got done with this the sooner he could leave the sooner he could get out of this and be on his way.

 

[Kenna Raine]

The more she listened the more clearer the whole situation was becoming. They were the clean up crew essentially and the corporation was giving them 48 hours to clean up whatever was down there. It seemed as if this Mr. J didn't have too many details on that so it seemed. They were just going in circles so it was best, in her opinion, to just get on with it.

As she listened her eyes went from person to person that were going with them. There was only one person that Kenna could trust here and that was Malcolm. The others she assumed would stab her back just make a few extra credits. Hopefully they could work as a team for a days without doing so. Kenna didn't know how much her boss was getting paid for this little mission but she sure hoped that it was a lot.

She had no more questions of Mr. J and any she did have she knew that he wouldn't be able to answer so there was no point. It was time to get this party started and see what awaited them. Whatever it was, Kenna knew she could handle it.

[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Arrik Terran"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

Jaster knew a lot more then what he was letting on, after all he was the president and leader of the Trade Conglomerate. Nothing happened without him signing off on it. This was a blacksite, a outpost where he sent his enemies to be tortured and then eventually let into the wild were the pluage got to them. It was true though, Jaster didn't have legal permission to be here, and it did double as a trade outpost, so in reality he wasn't lying, just bending the truth, as always. His missing employees were in more then the number he offered, but he needed his operators back, they had Intel he needed, and would get at all cost.

He looked around, they seemed to be content with their answers and Jaster was tired of making up lies on the spot. He moved on, "With no more questions I'll assume you understand, 48 hours people, I don't exactly pay you to stand and look pretty, you'll be taking your own vessels to the surface, can't have TC property seen holding mercenaries."

Jaster headed out of the room, his droid body guards protecting him as they followed.

 

[Shae Kalin]

As Jaster walked away, another figure came walking down the ramp of Malcom Renold's ship to join the group, her piercing blue eyes following this 'Mr. J' warily as he departed. She had seen corporations come and go, and so many of them did horribly distasteful things like the things she had heard from the briefing. She was almost glad she had opted to stay on the ship going over final checks. In fact, she had half a mind to not accept payment on this job. Oh she would do her duty and protect her team, but any money earned off this would be... tainted, and she wanted no part of it. "The ship is ready to go, Captain," Shae informed Malcom as he and Kenna boarded, her tail sweeping out around her paws as she turned to follow them back up the ramp.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Kenna Raine"] [member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Malcom Renolds"]

 

[Malcom Renolds]

Malcom didn't like the situation. Something was fishy. The man new more than he was telling them proven by the fact that with more questions which were all fairly similar, more and more Intel kept telling out. The clock on their search didn't bode well for their health either. The Mando half wondered if they would be see an "accidental" early dop of those bombs while they were still out there.

Still, even with the concerns, there wasn't a while lot in there that he heard that would be much of an issue for them. Especially if it was just animals they were dealing with.

Seeing Mr. J leave, he turned on his heels and headed back to his ship with his crew. Time to see for themselves what this was all about.

The trip the designated LZ was a quick one. As the loading ramp lowered, as a blurry figure the shape of a large spiky dog charged out from the ship. Urz what quickly followed by the even more difficult to see mando in his active camoflauged armor, heavy sniper rifle at the ready and scanning for any signs of hostility in the area. They'd first make a sweep of the buildings. Check for salvage, and any signs that rebels or the predators may have returned to pick the bones so to speak.

Before they did though, the team should probably wait for the other man that was supposed to be working with them. Strength in numbers and all that. Besides, he suspected the cloaked figure to be a force user of some kind with the way he was holding what was assumed to be a hidden weapon.

[member="Shae Kalin"] | [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] | [member="Kenna Raine"] | [member="Arrik Terran"]

 

[Anomalie]

[member="Shae Kalin"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

The young Jedi followed quietly behind the mandolorians on the lz. His hands hung at his side. The one had seemed to notice that he was a force sensitive fellow and that his cloak covered his saber. But it meant little, they couldn't be turning each other in for credits right now. They needed to finish the task at hand.

He cleared his throat and walked forward, the world was quiet. Eerily so. If these rebels were hiding in wait...the were doing a good job. He felt nothing along the lines of powerful presences near by and relaxed the tension from his shoulders.

"alright, so...where are we headed first? We've got fourty eight hours to wipe out everything that moves...and that's not alot of time. I don't like this either...but...credits are credits."

He thought about spreading out, but that would only serve as a challenge to their small party. They couldn't take on an entire tribe of these rebels alone, and if they died it was more trouble and surviving members might be docked pay. Is arms uncrossed and his right went down on the the hilt of his blade, covered by the black shoulder cloak.

This was supposed to be a cake walk...Arrik certainly hope that's how it ended up being.

 

[Malcom Renolds]

"Well. I'm not particularly satisfied with the answers we got. I feel we were left out of the loop on a few things, and I doubt I'm the only one that thinks this. And considering they are going to be saturation bombing this place in 48 hours after giving us orders to kill practically anything we see whether we find them or not...I doubt they are overly concerned about actually finding anyone alive." He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck as he scanned the area fairly quickly before continuing.

"So I'm thinking we sweep the buildings. Look for any salvage and answers we don't know already. Once that is complete, then we move onto the trail heading north east to look for more sign." He gave a look around the group. "Does that sound acceptable to everyone?" He was used to simply giving orders with his crew. But with an outsider working along with them, he wanted to at least let the man voice an opinion. Though if Malcom could guess, the man was probably a little under experienced when it came to this sort of thing. Still, that didn't mean he could simply order the man around.

The situation still didn't sit right with him. He could feel something was amiss, but couldn't put his finger on it. At least with doing the sweep of the buildings, it would buy them a little time to get a feel for the territory. That way they weren't just jumping into the unknown. And who knows, maybe they'd stumble on a new piece of intel "accidentally" left out.

[member="Arrik Terran"] | [member="Shae Kalin"] | [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] | [member="Kenna Raine"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

"That is satisfactory, Captain," Shae answered as she melted out of the shadows, coming up from behind Arrik and breathing in his scent. Mmm, this one smelled so good, so strong in the Force... He would probably taste so good! "If we can find one of the scientists, even a dead one, then I should be able to help Urz track any scent trails left behind by who or whatever did this." Then she moved closer to Arrik, almost touching him as her breath grazed his ear.

"Mmm, if you die, can I eat you?" she asked Arrik with a hint of a purr. Shae was not above a little 'accident', except maybe on this world where it was already so dangerous, they would need every hand they could to have any chance of completing this mission. But there was nothing wrong with being an opportunist, right?

[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Kenna Raine"]

 

[Kenna Raine]

This whole mission had Kenna on edge and it wasn't due to it being one of her first with others than the crew. It was more based on how everything seemed to be unknown. Mr. J didn't seem to know much about any of the mission or what they might come across. Even worse was that if they didn't get out of here within 48 hours they would be bombed. The whole thing smelled fishy but she trusted Malcolm. She knew if and when shit the fan he had her back along with Shae. Kenna trusted that at the end of the day they would get the job done.

"Sounds good," she nodded glancing around at their surroundings. It would also be good for them all to stay together as a group. They didn't know what was out there and despite being warriors it was nice to have backup. It was needed with so many unknowns. She much rather be safe than sorry.

Kenna's eyes widened as she heard Shae ask about eating people and she took a step back towards Malcolm. The last thing that she wanted was to be anybody's lunch. She wanted this mission to be over as quick as possible.



[member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Arrik Terran"] [member="Shae Kalin"]