This Ain't No Cup of Tea

[Kay-Larr]

Bakura was one of those neutral planets that Kay often found refuge, either for meetings or to just get away from all the trouble she had gotten herself into, both in the political circles and outside of it.

She had taken a break from rescuing slaves herself, though her shell company was still up and running and doing it's work. Slaves that were once being sold at auctions were being bought up and then released on different worlds of their choosing. It was good work and so far they hadn't been discovered.

This week Kay needed a break. The Republic was suspicious of her and her activities, even spying on her on occasion. That was....okay she guessed. But it would be far better to have them on her side than to be facing her enemies on more than one front.

A small cottage in one of the vast forests was where she liked to go. There she could ponder on everything that has transpired as of late and work on different solutions to her problems. She sat in a cozy chair by the fireplace, a cup of Sapir tea cradled in her hands while an old holo-movie played out before her. Kay had no ship of her own, so there was none around to be found. So it was quite peaceful. Having time every now and then to unwind was never a bad thing.

[member="Bat"]

 

[Bat]

Bat was rather enjoying his trip to Bakura so far. Normally, he didn't feel very comfortable traveling away from Tatooine, but this trip had shown him some interesting things he hadn't seen in person before. Foremost among those things, was a forest. He had seen trees before in person, and had even see collections of them scattered about, but this was the first time he had seen a true forest.

It was a beautiful experience as the light glared down, illuminating the place majestically . Bat stopped himself with a forced cough, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Husk wasn't watching him too intently, that would have been embarrassing. The cybernetic giant seemed to be scanning the horizon slowly, watching for allies of the quarry.

The quarry was one 'Lady' Kay, who currently was taking residence in a cottage about twelve-hundred meters from their current position. It seemed to be a quaint place and Bat almost felt a tinge of regret at the damage he was going to have to inflict.

He wiped away the feeling, shrugging the KK-Chaab blaster off of his back. It was a fancy new weapon developed by Merc Weaponry that he was looking forward to trying out. It had a longer range than the Ar-Jurkad which was strapped against his back. Despite the additional range of the Chaab, this was a much longer shot than most he had made, which was why he was still a few hundred meters within the maximum range of the blaster.

Husk was taking cover behind a large and foreboding tree directly to the right of Bat, that way a stray glance wouldn't reveal the huge cyborg who didn't possess the ability to crouch. Bat clenched his fingers against the Chaad, feeling it's weight and predicting it's damage at work on the cottage. He went prone, moving against the dirt and grass gently. His fingers pressed against the anxious trigger and he scoped in on the cottage.

He would wait another couple of minutes to rest his weary body, just in case he needed to act when the shot was finished, though he doubted it. The pair had been tracking Kay ever since she had made planet-fall, moving diagonal to her position which meant having to travel through rougher woods than the pathways already set out.

"One more minute." He whispered under his breath.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

As she watched the comedic holo-vid, Kay couldn't help but get a bad feeling. Was it foreboding? She wasn't too sure. For a moment longer she sipped her tea and then put it down, before getting to her feet and heading over to one of the windows. It was open to let in the breeze, but also so that she could listen to the birds as well. They weren't as noisy as usual. Hmmm. She picked up her binoculars, which were usually used for watching wildlife, and looked through them, slowly scoping out the forest. For a brief second she thought she saw a figure through the leaves. Kay adjusted the lenses and even squinted her eyes to try to help her see better. And there he was. [member="Bat"] seemed to be watching her, only not through peaceful means like she was. He was looking through a weapon.

A cold chill ran down her spine. Quickly she moved from the window, grabbed her satchel, slipped the binoculars inside and then ran out the back door. Her satchel had everything that she hoped she needed; a blaster, extra clothes, food and water rations, her small kettle, tea cup and pouch of tea. She had enough to last her a few days. Hopefully it was enough.

Kay's plan was simple. She had a good enough head start as the man was at least a kilometre away. So all she had to do was lose him in the forest. Of course she had no idea that she was outnumbered two to one.

 

[Bat]

Bat was finished resting and was preparing to fire the shot that would net him a healthy paycheck. With a click, his Sonar eyepiece activated, just in case he got into range for it to really be useful. It was amazing what technology did, and this specific piece especially made it easier to hunt targets.

It was rather curious how she was looking out of her window however, almost as if though she knew they were there. It was unlikely, there was no report that Kay was a Force sensitive, which meant she had probably just wanted to view the nature surrounding the cottage.

Then she had started to hurriedly escape the cottage out the opposite side. "She sees us, swing around the far way and prepare to cut her off." He rapidly ordered Husk as he shifted his aim slightly upward. She was running through the forest, but he didn't intend to let her have a clean getaway. It was a bit harder to aim through the trees, but he would have to do.

He took a deep breath, eyeing his quarry through the scope as his hands caressed the Chaab. He released half of the breath in the same moment as his fingers pressed gently into the trigger. The loud crack of the blaster and the recoil pounding into him was additional evidence that the weapon had fired, though the red bolt sliding through the sky on course towards Kay was better evidence.

He had been aiming for the hip, a debilitating and disabling injury, but one that would keep her alive should it hit and make him a fortune in the same shot. Still, it was a long distance, and there was always the chance she would suddenly move.

Bat could only hope.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

With a recoil like that, the sound of the Chaab firing echoed, giving her enough of a signal to veer sharply to the right. Seconds later, that red bolt zoomed passed on her left. Bounty hunters. Either that or he was Sith, or part of the Cartel. Or maybe he was from something else entirely. Regardless, [member="Bat"] was heavily armed and distance was her greatest advantage right now.

She continued running in that direction, her mind going over her memory of the layout of the land. There was a lake not far off, which meant less tree cover. Kay had to change direction again in order to get to the denser forest with uneven terrain. But first she'd wait until after he fired another bolt. Of course there was no guarantee that he would.

 

[Bat]

It became obvious very quickly that Bat had made a dreadful mistake in planning. He had planned on taking out his target from a distance, and then going in to collect his bounty. However, that plan had relied on the target not seeing him from over a kilometer away. Now that she had taken notice and begun a retreat, he was stuck too far away to chase reliably, and with far too much cover in between to make a truly efficient shot.

Husk would be heading towards the nearest civilization, but he traveled at walking speed, which meant it could take him a while to get there. It was likely that the quarry would still head that way, but he needed to make sure that Husk beat her there. He couldn't make a direct shot on her, but he could certainly herd her.

A subtle shake of his head was followed by the re-adjustment of the Chaab on the quarry's forward and left. He didn't quite take as much time on his breathing with this shot, and instead simply rapidly pulled onto the trigger. The shot, though inaccurate would slap into the ground roughly in the area he had aimed, quickly followed with a second shot in the same direction.

The loud cracking of the Chaab was scaring away the birds, he realized as an afterthought. Hopefully, it would do the same for his prey.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Both bolts indeed hit the ground a couple of feet away. It was enough to make her jump and question the direction that she was thinking of heading. So she switched again, only moving to create more distance between them.

She was needing time and she was growing tired, her pace itself slowing down. Finally Kay found what she needed. A great big tree. She ran around to the other side of it and began climbing up, the limbs being nice and thick to hold her weight. Sure she might be cornering herself a bit, but she had the advantage at having the higher ground. It wasn't as though she didn't have a weapon either.

Once she was thirty feet in the air, she sat down on a branch and brought up her satchel, taking out her water bladder and having a few sips of it. Then she put it away and brought out her small blaster, set to stun as always.

Now it was the waiting game. Whomever was after her, she would be able to see them down below once they had passed her tree. Hopefully luck would continue to be on her side.

[member="Bat"]

 

[Bat]

Bat threw the Chaab onto his back, not bothering to reload it as he knew it had seven shots left anyways. As soon as it was on his back, he began to sprint downwards his hill and in the direction that Kay had gone, following his quarry at his top speeds.

As he ran, he looked about through the various trees, and behind them, his sonar kicking into play as he reached within two-hundred meters of any solid object. He saw a couple of squirrels sprint about in a tree, and for a brief moment was reminded of the beauty and peace of nature, and also of it's frailty.

It took him several minutes of running before he noticed her. She was up in the trees, and while a normal person would have missed her completely, the Sonar on his eye alerted him to her presence quite quickly. He stopped about forty meters away from her, looking at the ground and huffing as he caught his breath.

He spoke into his comm, loud enough so that she would hopefully be able to hear.
"Zeta. Potentially lost the quarry, sorry about that, Husk."

Of course, it was all for her benefit, so that she would hopefully lower her guard. Zeta was code between the pair of mercenaries that whatever the following statement was, it was false. Though, it was a self-created code and probably not one that Kay would know. Hopefully.

A minute passed, his hand slinking over to the Jurkad resting on his shoulder. It didn't have the range or the high power of the Chaab, but it did have a full auto mode that made it highly lethal at close quarters, or when you just needed to spray. He flicked it to this setting, looking up into the treeline, directly at her, her figure outlined for him upon the Sonar.
"So. Pal, how you want to play this?"
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay froze as she heard [member="Bat"] speak, holding her breath so that she could make out what he had said. He lost her. Good! She let out her breath slowly as she knew he was still nearby. Hopefully he was leaving. But she didn't dare look, instead she only listened. And decided to wait. Nightfall would probably be as good time as any to escape.

So she dug into her satchel and brought out a small packet of a ration bar. Kay set her blaster on her lap while she opened the packet and began to eat. If she was going to stay up there for a while, then she wanted to at least be comfortable.

Her mind raced as she ate. Maybe she should go to the town and hire a ship out? But then maybe that's what the hunter would be expecting? Hmmm. The sun was still high in the sky, so it would give her plenty of time to go over her options.

 

[Bat]

Bat continued to watch the quarry in the trees, a glance down at the Jurkad reminding him that it didn't have a stun option. That meant that he was probably going to have to shoot Kay somewhere non-lethal. It would have to be a debilitating wound, one that made it hard to fight back or to run away.

He didn't quite want to cripple her completely however, that would make it slower progress moving back towards town. The hip shot, while effective in keeping a target down, was almost too effective without Husk here to help hoist her away. Another look up at her showed her apparently nibbling on something, based on it's size it might have been an energy bar of some sort.

If she was eating it meant his ruse had worked, he had the advantage and he felt pressure to use it. Soon. He lifted the Jurkad upwards, taking careful aim upon Kay's left calf. He heard a voice, and felt a bit surprised to find it was his own. "Sorry." It came out, like a whisper upon the winds. He clicked the Jurkad to semi-automatic.

His finger pressed backwards, and the Jurkad lurched into his shoulder with it's minor recoil. The bolt of red light soared through the trees, much like how a hound seeks a fox.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Bat"] was much closer this time when he took the shot. So when the sound of the bolt being fired was heard, a half a second was all that it took for the shot to hit it's mark. Kay didn't have time to avoid what she didn't see until it was too late. She cried out and dropped her ration bar, grabbing onto her calf around the wound as if that might stop the searing pain from travelling up her leg. Of course it didn't. Outside of being stunned or hit by a tranq dart, she had never been shot before. And it HURT!!

Kay grit her teeth and took a moment or two before she called out, "Okay, I'm coming down!! Just control your trigger finger!!" She closed her eyes for a moment and banged the back of her head lightly against the tree trunk. Great...Just...great.

At least the bolt seared the wound, but it would still need to be cleaned. Slowly she made her way down, only willing to put weight on her right leg as she descended. Once she reached the bottom, she turned and sat against the trunk, once more inspecting her calf. "You wouldn't happen to have any alcohol on you, now would you?"

 

[Bat]

Bat watched for a moment as a lone ration bar fluttered through the trees, he continued his examination of it for a brief moment before an opportunistic bird swooped in and stole it away from the ground. Then he heard the noises of pain, a cry and a call of surrender. He looked back up into the tree, watching Kay as she held onto her leg and then slowly climbed down.

He watched her sit down, the Jurkad in his hand now resting gently against his shoulder. He had a good feeling that he wouldn't be needing to shoot her anymore, especially since it was unlikely she'd be running. For a brief moment he thought about offering an apology out of courtesy, but bit down on the feeling, this was work and he needed to be rough.

Still, her request for alcohol to clean her wound penetrated the thin and rapidly set up layer of toughened mercenary mindset, and his mood noticeably lightened. "I don't carry alcohol on jobs, it's sort of a requirement to see straight." He looked at the leg wound and quickly determined that it would probably need cleaned, if for nothing but to make sure he was paid extra for bringing in a living target.

"You don't want to put drink on that, makes the disease chances worse." He offered, a vague memory of an old and long-passed crew mate aboard the vessel where he grew up flashing to mind. "Name's Bat. What did you do to get such a high value bounty, Kay?"
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Does it really matter what I did, [member="Bat"] ?" Kay got to her feet, or rather her foot, and then adjusted her satchel. "There's a lake with a stream about a ten minute's walk from here. I can make it at about double that. Then I can tend to my leg, if you'll let me. I'd rather like to remain in one piece if you don't mind. It might make me less grumpy."

Kay didn't really wait for a response. What was she going to do? Run away? So she started to hobble towards the lake. "A hiking stick would be great about now..."

 

[Bat]

Bat gave a light shrug, the Chaab on his back giving a light metallic bounce as it was bumped. "Suppose not." He motioned for her to walk before looking around the nearby undergrowth for a walking stick of some sort.

He found one relatively quickly, a sturdy enough one, but one that he didn't think would be an adequately heavy weapon should it come to that. He handed it over rapidly, nodding. "Deal. Get walking." He spoke roughly, his momentary compassion spent in the couple of acts he had performed.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

She took hold of the stick and put it to use right away, allowing her to quicken her pace only slightly. "Thank you..."

For a good five minutes or so, she said nothing to [member="Bat"] at all. She was too busy formulating a plan for escape. It might work. Maybe.

"I didn't do much to get this bounty. I've just rescued a lot of slaves from the Cartel's clutches. So they want to keep me busy trying to avoid bounty hunters in a bid to stop me....It hasn't really worked."

She stopped walking and leaned against the stick as she lifted her leg up to inspect the calf. "We're halfway there. I need to rest for a minute or two if that's okay?"

 

[Bat]

As they walked, Bat bore his eyes into Kay's back, trying to keep away all of the little distractions: The birds chirping, animals playing in the trees, and leaves swaying about in the wind. It was difficult, but he managed by drawing his mind to the jackpot waiting at the end of this hunt. He'd need to find a way to tell Randy about the sudden credit influx, hopefully he'd figure out something by the end of the day.

He listened to Kay's reason for her bounty, and for a brief moment contemplated whether what he did was moral. At the end of the day, this was a good person who was being fought by bad people. If he worked with the bad guys, did that make him a bad guy too? He tabled the thought for further discussion at a later date. "Tough luck. Suppose I was finally the one to catch you."

She stopped suddenly and he felt himself clutch the Jurkad; still pointing upward, a little tighter. Then she just looked at her damaged leg and asked permission to rest, and the tenseness eased slightly. He looked around for a moment, nodding to a large rock a few meters away. "That's fine, I'm in no rush."
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

For the moment [member="Bat"] was the one to catch her. It wasn't as though he was the first to attempt to cash in on the bounty. There have been a few. She had been caught a couple of times and had either escaped or was let go. Bounty hunting wasn't quite so easy of a job.

She walked over to the rock and then propped her leg up on it, elevating it so that it wouldn't swell up so much and that helped to alleviate the pulsing pain. The idea of the cold lake was sounding quite good right now.

"No rush? That's good...Otherwise I'm sure that you'd be carrying me right now. Did you come alone? I heard you send a message out and there's no one else here that I can see."

 

[Bat]

Bat leaned into a tree opposite of Kay, taking a moment to look around him at the world. It was much more green than Tatooine, but in a way he missed the long, rolling dunes of sand. The way that the sand gleamed in the sunlight, it was home. It reminded him of good memories, and occasionally some bad ones, but it was home all the same.

He pulled his attention back to Kay, casting an examination over her as he considered whether it was worth it; the hunting and the injuring. The idea of the bounty definitively said it was, and another moral tabling was added for another date. "Not quite sure I want you all up on top of me like that." He took a moment to consider various ways that sentence could be taken before continuing, "Too easy for you to grab at my weaponry." Actually, that could be taken a few ways too.

He groaned, this was why bounty hunters didn't talk to quarry. "Anyways. I was speaking to my partner, Husk. He's sort of my trump card for if you get away." Bat bit down on his tongue for a moment, rubbing a hand over the bridge of his nose through his mask.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay felt a bit awkward standing there with her leg raised up. But it wasn't as though she was anywhere in public. The muscle around her calf was starting to stiffen up. She massaged it a little, even though it hurt. She kept her back towards [member="Bat"] so that he couldn't see her eyes tightly shut.

"Not sure that I would want to be on top of you either.." Of course any other meaning for those words went way over her head as she was busy trying to get herself better enough to walk more, and distracting herself from the pain by chatting with her captor. Your partner is your trump card in case I get away? How do you mean?"

She slowly lowered her leg and then started to hobble towards the lake again with the aid of the walking stick. At least she had some sense of control in this situation. She could lead him anywhere, but chose to help herself out first.

 

[Bat]

Bat continued to watch Kay as she went about messing with her damaged leg. He had been hit before, and could attest to the painfulness of such a wound, it made it harder to walk too which was why he was alright with all the stops. Still, it was a worthwhile trade for having a huge advantage should she try to escape by running or fighting.

She asked about Husk, and; seeing that she was already injured, decided to elaborate. "Ye, he's my trump card, big hulking giant with a cannon big enough to level houses." He stopped at that, figuring that she would understand why Husk would be his trump card with such decent advantages.

He was slow though, if there was one thing that always bothered Bat, it was how slow Husk moved. He shook his head, stepping back into step with Kay as he strode to her side as opposed to behind her. "What about you, you've got to have a trump somewhere or else the measliest little hunter would scratch you."
[member="Lady Kay"]