Yes, We're After a One 'KeCholo'

[Julian Valentine]

MOS EISLEY, TATOOINE

Chalmun's was as good place as any to get shot. You kept your head down and you drank quietly, unless you were looking for trouble. Julian Valentine wasn't here for trouble. He was here to find a cargo hauler. An old freighter pilot that went by the name of Lanz Beloi. And he had found him.

"Yeah, my old rig does some serious knots, I'm tellin' yah, Valentine, if it weren't for tha' fact I'm flyin' a big old beast, that ion drive could outdo any racer. 'Course, she ain't legal, and she is modded to all heck, but hey, whatever gets the job done I 'spose," Lanz said, downing half his drink.

Julian smiled. He just needed to buy that ion drive, the KR-TB would soar faster than most with a drive like that. Sudden commotion turned his head, some new kid on the block was looking to make a name for himself. A bounty hunter. He said something to the alien under the likes of being under arrest, but he didn't have time to finish his sentence when the crook gunned him down.

"How much is he worth?" Valentine hiked his thumb at the tailed creature, "Not worth it," Lanz said, "10,000." Julian shrugged, that was spare change. The alien was quick on the trigger, but so was Julian. He would keep an eye on him. "So how much for the drive?" Julian made his intentions clear, Lanz frowned. It wasn't the thought-type of frown, it was are-you-karking-serious type of frown.

Then his eyes widened, "So that is the only damned reason you've called me out here, Valentine!?" he spouted, finishing his drink and slamming his drink down on the table, "Get karked, arsehole." The old man stood up and stormed out of the building. He was about to pursue when he got a call.

A target. 1,000,000cr. Suddenly the alien didn't seem so worth it, even if it was a pretty penny in his pocket. Julian was still on his datapad, listening to the Arceneau Trade Company associate as he detailed the bounty, and sent forward a link to the holonet post. "You still listening Valentine?" he asked him through the datapad. There was silence, "Yeah, I'm listening." He ended the call.

With his eyes on the alien as he sat back down on his seat, and the corpse of the young kid being dragged into the alley behind Chalmuns, Julian unholstered his pistol under the table. His finger scraped against the trigger and he was just about to fire into his back when...

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

Sparrow had followed a bounty to Tatooine. It was only a small reward, 10,000 credits. Any amount was a good pay out to Sparrow. She wouldn't be able to chase the larger rewards on her own until she had more experience, she was fresh out of being trained. Her eyes were trained on the alien that the bounty had been placed on. She watched as another bounty hunter presented himself to the criminal, declaring that he was under arrest. Half of the bar was watching the commotion unfold. It wasn't exactly unheard of for somebody to be shot in Chalmun's but it still turned heads when it did happen. Everybody focused their attention back to their conversations. That was, everybody except Valentine. She spotted him in front of her, staring down her target. She considered getting up and saying hello, though they weren't exactly the greatest of friends, they had worked together before. She watched the body being dragged into the alleyway behind the bar, staring holes into the back of Julian's head as she watched his fingers extend towards the trigger of his blaster.


"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sparrow now stood beside him, her hand on his, preventing hi"m from pulling the trigger. "A measly 10,000 credits is pocket money to you." Sparrow's hearing was better than most. Her cybernetic enhancements allowed for her to hear at a much greater rate than those around her. She had been listening to Valentine's received call on his datapad. A target with a 1,000,000cr bounty on his head and he was chasing her measly 10,000, there was no way she was letting him have the alien. "You see, it's not exactly fair.." she shot her blaster into the back of the alien's head, pausing for a moment as the thud of his body hitting the ground sounded, "if you get all of the bounties now, is it?

 

[Julian Valentine]

Something pressed down, or rather someone, on his hand and he could unholster his blaster. He craned his neck around and up, staring at the cyborg bounty hunter. "You again," he muttered in agitation, not that he disliked her, just that she had stopped him. But she was right, and by guild creed, he couldn't interfere. He watched her pull the trigger. His neck snapped around and the alien slumped to the floor. There was a hole where a brain should be.

"Nice shot," he said, but before Lanz fully fled, he cried out to him, ignoring Sparrow for a moment, "500,000!" Lanz stopped in his tracks, he didn't turn around, but Julian knew that reaction. The call me and we can talk reaction. A bit too content with himself, he smirked as he offered Sparrow a seat. His hand reached under the table and he thumbed a button.

The table was suddenly showered in a basking glow of light. It flowed around them, creating a form of curtain. Not many cantinas had them, least of all backwater worlds like Tatooine. But this was Mos Eisley, half the business was conducted in cantinas, and you needed privacy when you talked business. He laid his wrist on the table and flipped over his wrist, a hologram projected onto the table. It was a bounty.

"Don't worry about the body," he nodded his head in the direction of the alien, "No one will try anything with me around." It was half a lie, it was Chalmun's after all, people here were stupidly courageous, but the name Valentine and his iconic hammerhead helmet had a reputation in the Outer Rim. "Bounty is on Hion the Herglic, 500,000. Hion is CEO of Darkwater Security, and he's offered me a million credits if I capture who posted this, but the poster is anonymous."

He saved audio of their conversation, linking it back to his Judicial-class prison ship, Surrender, where the young Yee would begin his work. "But I've got a boy who's a real wiz at slicing. He'll find out soon enough. You look like you could do better than 10,000. I'll give you a 10-percent cut. How does 100,000 sound?"

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

The bubble formed over them, allowing for Sparrow to study the hologram in peace, zoning out the loud background conversations that could so easily become overwhelming to her. The bounty a reward of 500,000. Julian had been offered double to capture the individual who posted it. A deal that Sparrow could happily get in on. She studied his face as he spoke. He was more than happy to speak business but had never seemed to be the type for small talk. Lucky, neither had she. Julian offered her a cut of the job, 10 percent. She could easily turn this trip into ten fold of the profits by helping Valentine capture this bounty. Sparrow was careful to keep an eye on her small bounty. She saw a few edge close to him, looking to claim it for themselves. She merely stared at them, warning them off. Her cybernetics could often make her look more threatening than she actually was.

Hion The Herglic. She had no idea who he was, nor his reputation but if he was willing to pay out a million credits, it was a deal she would take. "I'd never turn down a chance to ten fold my bounty collectings. What do you know so far?"

 

[Julian Valentine]

"I know nothing, yet," he emphasized the last word, "Nothing on the Holonet can't be tracked. You're stupid if you think you can hide. It's the Bounty Board, not the My Little Jawa board. People do this all the time, they all get found out sooner or later. Then it's just a matter of tracking down the man."

He peered over his shoulder and deactivated the curtain of light. Those who looked like they were about to peck the body jumped pack and scurried to their chairs. "Grab the body, haul him back to my ship. We can ID him there, then we'll just shoot him out the airlock once you get paid." Valentine stood up from his chair and made a move for the door.

As he walked, he fiddled with his datapad, "Yee? You listening? You found a base location for that post yet? You give me the location and I'll begin my way there, and all we need to do from then on out is get his name." The rest was a piece of cake, easy slicing that even Valentine could wrap his head around. A whole lot of checking spaceports for registration codes, cross-reference customs reports or just civilian information. Once they had a name, everything would fall into place, but getting a name sometimes could be a bit tricky.


[member="KeCholo"]

 

[KeCholo]

''Bounty was posted at a small cantina on Tatooine. Outskirts of Mos Eisley, you're actually really close. Shouldn't take you much time to get there, bounty was posted a few days ago so don't think you'll find the guy there. Bounty was posted anonymously as well, the holonet account was created at the cantina, so I can't track it anywhere. Only time it was used in in this cantina...'Pirate's End' is the name.'' [member="Julian Valentine"] 's friend on the other end of the datapad waited for a response.

Somewhere in space a Duros chuckled, his plan had no holes in it, the Herglic would pay one way or another. He twirled his blaster while a grin spread across his face. You can do a lot of things in this galaxy, but screw with him wasn't one of them.

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

Sparrow listened as the plan came into place. Valentine spoke over his datapad, asking for details of their wanted man. Their first step was finding out who it was, after that it wouldn't be the hardest thing in the galaxy to track him down. Sparrow was saving up for a ship to call her own, and this job's reward would definitely add up.

She watched as the veil was lifted and those nearing her earlier bounty slithered back into their seats. There was no way she was letting go of this one, either. No harm in collecting a little fee on top. Valentine had allowed her to store the alien's body on his ship. Sparrow thanked him for giving her a place to store it. If he hadn't of and she had to carry it around she would have looked awfully suspicious. "Where abouts is your ship? With all these people watching him, it'll be good to have some safe keeping." She stood to leave, hauling his body over her shoulder, ready to once again work with the genius that was Valentine.

 

[Julian Valentine]

The alien dialect of Yee responded on the datapad, and Julian stopped and frowned. That wasn't like Yee to say that - I can't track it - Yee had tracked just about every single bounty Julian had been on, even the famous Lady Kay, and she had been a real sore to follow. Without a ship, or a schedule, tracking Lady Kay was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. At the end of the day, Lady Kay was found, boxed and delivered.

"You aren't going daft on me, Yee?" Julian spoke back, "You're smarter than this, kid. Slice into the security cameras of that cantina. We know the post time and date, trace back the cameras and look for people on their datapads. Shouldn't be too many, and we'll number it down from there." He turned to Sparrow, he whistled and motioned for her to follow.

Mos Eisley was primarily and most importantly a spaceport. It wasn't so much a town as a collection of domes, cantinas and shopfronts. Once they had their man, Yee only needed to access the local network and follow him about Mos Eisley until he left. Once they got a visual on the ship, they could slice into the spaceport records, find the registration numbers and cross-reference that with other spaceports. Sooner or later, they'd get a ping.

Julian was walking towards one of them domes, lost in a thick train of thought. As he lightly jogged down sandstone steps, the sight of an old KR-TB came into view. It's odd shape resembled a hammerhead shark, much like Valentines own helmet. The ramp was low, and a small Ugnaught named Boltz was doing repairs. Sparrow may have seen the tiny pig creature last time her and Julian met.

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

Sparrow's heart sank marginally as Julian's slicer replied that he was unable to figure out who the poster had been. Disappointment clouded her face. She didn't know how hard slicing was but surely it couldn't be too hard to find a person. The galaxy was huge but everybody had an electronic record. It was near impossible to become a hide from society. They walked through the huts towards Julian's ship with her bounty over shoulder. She wondered if those who saw her carrying the alien questioned her strength. she had three times the strength of your average person. For her, slinging a body over her shoulder was an easy as chucking a bag over it. Rybcoarse had been well worth the pretty penny she had spent on it.

"How hard can it be to find this one man? Everybody leaves a footprint somewhere, right?" she questioned Valentine. Sparrow was greeted by the sight of Julian's ship. She saw the pig like creature that she had seen last time working on it. They weren't the most attractive of species' but if Valentine had hired him to work on his ship, he couldn't have been too bad at what he did. She hadn't caught his name last time, merely greeting him with a nod. She turned to Valentine, asking him where she should dump the body. She pulled a large cloth from her side bag, covering his head with it. She wasn't the closest with her partner but she wasn't about to get alien blood all over his ship. she hiked the body back up on her shoulder, making his positioning more comfortable and stepped inside Valentine's ship.

 

[Julian Valentine]

"Not very hard at all," Valentine remarked, "You're right. Everyone leaves a footprint. The poster may have sent the bounty anonymously, but nothing is anonymous. You can't just imagine a post, it requires numbers, and numbers is Yee's middle name - I wish, but he is damned good at what he does. He'll find the account of the poster, and the credentials used to create the account. I've also told him to check security cameras at the time and date of posting, we know the location. The noose is tightening, but it's our jobs to drop the floor."

Valentine scratched his neck and motioned her on board, "First door on the right, it's a small linen closet, but the ship is being refitted and we only use it to ferry myself and Boltz from planetside to orbit, so we don't keep anything in it - shove him in there." He lit up a cigarette and followed her on board, Boltz came clanging after them. His small toolbox was making a loud racket as he ambled down the corridor. "I don't think this guy is on Tatooine. Hion doesn't seem like the type of guy who would sit around on a backwater planet. I reckon our John Doe is just a wee-bit paranoid, so he must have posted here and jumped ship." He paused for a second, "Could be a Jane Doe," he shrugged.

He squirmed past Sparrow in the tight corridor and took the flight of stairs up. The KR-TB was big enough to need stairs, small enough it didn't need an elevator. He walked up onto the higher gantry and moved for the cockpit, barren of nothing but the essentials. Heck, there was only one seat, and it was stripped of any cushions. Boltz was sitting on the floor waiting for them to take flight. Sparrow could join him, or stand. Valentine took to the pilots seat, spooling up the engines and activating ion drives and deflector shields. He got clearance from the port to launch.

 

[KeCholo]

Yee responded and told [member="Julian Valentine"] that the security camera's connection had been severed, perhaps a virus or even a physical wire break. He then sent him a list of datapad numbers and their owners:

2865142 Geyro Jurdino
4785182 Fazba Urtio
1581285 Gorifarzy Juart
1281288 Kerton Revom
1528518 Heyp Wiskro

Yee then told Julian that the posting was done four days ago, three hours after mid day.

 

[Julian Valentine]

"You're going soft on me, kid," Valentine said to Yee, "Check the times of creation for those accounts. Take the names and cross-reference them with local population consensus data and spaceport customs, as well as the largest spaceports in the sector. Find one that sticks out and get into the account. See what it's been posting."

Julian ended the call, for now, and swore aloud. He brought his fist down onto the console. Who in the kark was so damn paranoid they would cut the security cameras on Tatooine? Unless they were expecting someone to go after them, or they're a damned prophet and can tell the future.

The KR-TB took to flight, facing almost entirely vertical as it rose higher and higher. Of course the gravity generator on the ship prevented anyone from being thrown around, good thing Boltz had made sure to fix that a week prior. His mind clicked for a moment. He turned on his communicator, "And Yee, those datapad tags, check those numbers. You might find a location of purchase - or at least a production location"

Valentine was no amateur of hunting by any means, but it had been coincidence he remembered that number tags had meaning beyond their appearance. He hadn't always been a bounty hunter, and prior to being a stormtrooper, he had been a factory worker. He had been a meat processor. Every box that came through had a number tag, and for those with the industrial knowledge, you could locate where that box came from.

The call was severed just as he heard insistent typing. Yee was a bright kid, but he was forgetting the core basics. Valentine shouldn't need to remind him. He'd have to make sure the teen wasn't taking deathsticks. Damn, he thought, Lady Kay was easier than this - at least she didn't have paranoia.

The KR-TB was climbing through atmosphere now. The hull became white-hot and flames danced along its belly. Then they broke through and into orbit, the blue curtain slowly yielding to the blackness of space dotted by an impossibly numberless void speckled with stars. It always amazed Valentine. Always.

 

[KeCholo]

Yee called Julian back and told him the holonet account had been created on location and just over an hour before the bounty was placed. He cross-referenced the few datapad numbers to find out that the owners were mostly locals, one or two were freight haulers just checking in for a quick drink. None of them had a clear motive to place a bounty, especially on Hion. Not to mention the number of credits involved seemed beyond reach of these men and women. Whoever placed this bounty was experienced and covered his tracks well.

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

Their target was a hard man to track. He had cut the surveillance feed and hidden his identity to the best of his ability. It would not be impossible to track him. They would eventually find their target, though he was one paranoid individual. How would somebody have anticipated to have changed the security feed. Sparrow had no idea how forward thinking they would have to be to cover their tracks that much, for such a minor bounty, as well.

Sparrow reveled in the feeling that came with soaring through the atmosphere. She loved it so much that if she had her own ship she would have considered running it on and off planet just for the feeling. Though,it would be tiresome and unrealistic. Sparrow sank back into her chair, thinking over what she could do with the reward from this job. If they could ever find their target, that is. He sure didn't make claiming the bounty easy. Sparrow broke from her thought to the sound of Yee's voice coming through the datapad. All of the information he provided seemed to yield them no result and no closer in finding them. She had not heard of it being this difficult to track somebody in the past. This bounty would be a challenging one. Her brows furrowed when she looked towards Valentine, "does this mean we're fresh out of ideas? How does somebody hide this well. It just doesn't make sense."

[member="KeCholo"]

 

[Julian Valentine]

"Not out of ideas, no," he commented, adjusting thrusters, "John Doe is just leaving shallow footprints, the type corporate giants and politicians leave, or paranoid schizophrenics." He began to hail the Surrender, "Willow, this is Valentine. Make it planetside pronto, there's a cantina called Pirate's End. Offer some creds to the barkeep for information on any strangers using a datapad in the cantina during the date and time of our targets posting. Ask for appearance." Tatooine was a backwater planet. Not many visitors. Locals were like family, albeit estranged, and strangers were outcasts. They could be spotted a mile away. Once they had an appearance they needed only to slice into Mos Eisleys customs office and locate anyone with a similar appearance.

He cut the transmission and craned his head to look at Sparrow, "We know who it isn't, and that is far better than not knowing at all." His HRD was a shining example of persuasion. Programmed as per Valentines requirements, she could use force, bribery or seduction for the information she needed, and her mind could calculate the most likely outcome of each tactic based on species, gender, behavior and mannerisms. Whatever that barkeep knew, he was spilling. One way or another. Damn, you had to love computers, even if Willow did look human, she was the furthest thing from it.

They were fast approaching the Surrender, an immense prison frigate formerly belonging to the Fringe Confederacy, now in the hands of Valentine thanks to the Black Market. The blast doors of the hanger split apart and a BT-7 Thunderclap emerged and made a direct path for Mos Eisley, it was Willow. He reversed thrust by ten-percent, then fifty, and ninety, slowly approaching the hull. He cut the engines and allowed it to drift momentarily before readjusting for landing, the gears dropping down and taking the weight of the KR-TB. The blast doors closed.

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

A smirked overcame her face, Valentine's confidence was contagious. She knew it was only a matter of time before they found out who it was. Both Willow and Yee were a lot better at their jobs than anybody had given them credit for. Once they found out who it was, it was simple to track them. They need only find out the current location and it was as simple as that. Valentine had been known for his skills, and Sparrow had been new but she was still experienced in her long range weaponry. She didn't have the founding partner of The Red Ravens teach her for nothing.

Sparrow felt the unfamiliar slight shudder on impact as the ship landed. She held fast to the arms of her chair as they landed, it was a feeling she would need to get used to. She was all too ready to step onto solid land. She felt relief as she stepped onto the hard floor of the ship hanger. She held her hands to her knees she she bent over and breathed in fresh air. Just because she had cybernetics didn't mean she couldn't have a bit of anxiety about flying from time to time. She turned, waiting for Valentine to embrace the cool air of the hanger, "you're going to have to show me where there's an armory," she shouted into the hole of the ship door she'd walked out of.

 

[Julian Valentine]

"Follow the bulkhead to the left, there's a maintenance access corridor, quite large, can't miss it," Valentine replied. The armory featured products from the Arceneau Trade Company, and a large amount of items from the Black Market. With his sponsorship with the ATC, he had discounts few others had. He bought items at production cost, rather than consumer.

Boltz ambled off the ship, followed by Valentine. The Ugnaught was quick to scurry away down the avenues of the vessel, making a beeline for the cafeteria. Julian would follow Sparrow to the armory, nothing more than a storage facility. A large room filled to the brim with wooden crates, some of them had been peeled open to reveal rows of grenades sitting gently in their containers, others held countless amounts of ammunition.

"Take what you need, but any weapons and unused grenades I expect to be returned," he spoke sternly to Sparrow. The ship creaked and moaned, a constant noise that never faded. "We'll be making a jump when Willow returns and we've got an ID, until then, do what you may and will." His mind drifted for a moment, wondering what Willow was doing. Possibly beating information out of the barkeep by now. "So, Sparrow, what is with the gizmos?" he asked and motioned to her cybernetics.

 

[Sparrow Hadley]

Sparrow waited for Valentine to take the lead. It was easy enough to follow his instructions but she was always fond of company rather than solitude. They walked through the corridor towards the storage shed where the weapons were held. She had definitely not expected an less than what she was greeted by. Valentine did not seem a man to do anything by half. It was well-stocked alright. Sparrow almost salivated at the idea of stocking herself up. She settled for a couple of blasters, hooking some into holders on her hip and near her ribs. Julian didn't seem to be the generous type when he stated that any unused grenades or ammo was expected to be back in the armory. Sparrow was hoping he wouldn't say that, and she was sure that he would notice if she tried to sneak any off planet with her. Like a spoilt child, she rolled her eyes when he turned his head away. "What now, boss?"

 

[KeCholo]

The information from the bartender would return to [member="Sparrow Hadley"] and [member="Julian Valentine"]. The barkeep said he had an upright datapad station that many people used, upon asking who was there that day he couldn't pick anything super out of the ordinary. Maybe a man that didn't show his face or two, but that wasn't uncommon as the man's cantina was infamous for being a hot spot for criminals.

 

[Julian Valentine]

Willow hadn't gotten back to them for over an hour now. As he imagined, she was probably beating the living kark out of the cantina owner for some information. She didn't give up and go home, that is now how she was programmed. Valentine could only wonder and guess at the going-ons while the radio was silent. Then a beep came, but it was Yee, "Aye, boss, bounty has been updated to 200,000c - I'm already on it." Valentine didn't need to ask or tell him, the kid was bright, he would jump down that rabbit hole and follow the code. Where-ever this acquisition was when he updated the bounty, Yee would find out. In a digital galaxy, you couldn't hide forever.

"What now, boss?" a voice spoke up, and he turned to Sparrow. He had almost forgotten she was here. "We wait, so get some sleep, or play a hologame, or watch one of those new holodramas Coruscant is churning out." He returned to his quarters. They were large and spacious, and he thought back on Ghorua, another Herglic, a friend of his. He had given him this room for various bounties in the past, but even then the room was still quite too small for such a large creature. He sat down on the bed and activated his communicator, "Yee, jump into any local security cameras outside that cantina. Date back to the posting of the bounty, cross-reference faces with foreign visas and Tatooine citizenship. Once Willow gives us a few descriptions of any noticeable outsiders, we'll use that with the information you get me to find our Doe."