Manhunt (open)

[Karl Valten]

Bespin
Jurvex Sector

Bespin, a peaceful, well-faring planet within the Imperial Sovereigny borders, hung like a tranguil orb of blue and white swirling together. Once a place where independent entreprenuers made a living in gas mining, resorts, and casinos; it was now run by loyalist imperials, contributing greatly to the sov's wealth.

Somewhere just outside the atmosphere. two surges of energy, almost iindistinguishable unless you were looking for it, heralded arrival of ships emerging from hyperspace. The first rift revealed a single Phoenix Hawk-class Light Pinnace. The old ship's design was akin to the Firespray-class vessel used by the bounty hunter Boba Fett. The second rift strangely yielded no craft at all.

In frantic, scattered movement, the Light Pinnace dropped into the atmosphere of Bespin, ignoring all hails from traffic control. The ship continued its erratic movements as it headed directly towards Cloud City, as if trying to avoid a predator close by. A trio a security cars scrambled from the local port and moved to intercept the rogue craft.

Before the security cars could reach the "target", a two pairs a green laser bolts shot out from what seemed like open air. The flash from the blasts iluuminated a second ship for a split second, one much larger than the Pinnace, before it faded into nothing again.

The energy bolts flew true, the first pair knocking out the shields, while the second pierced the engine housing. With flame and smoke billowing from its engine, the craft plummeted down towards the cityscape. Not, knowing how to respond, the pursuing cloud cars halted immediatly. A transmission for "nowhere" sent them fleeing at top speed to the port.



Down on the city street itself, pedestrians of all races looked to the sky as a burning craft sped directly towards them. The quicker, or luckier, ones were able to get out of its way before the ship plowed into the durasteel street. A hideous screech echoed for several blocks as the ship careened across the ground. Finally, the vehicle came to a rest in a croweded bazaar. A few concerned onlookers ran to the mangled wreckage in hopes helping those inside.

A lone figure staggered from the wreckage, shoving the good sumeritans away as he hurried away from the crash.

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae sighed as she smoked a cigarette and stared at the old piece of paper with writing barely legible, but her attention was drug elsewhere when she heard screams from people on the street, most yelling warnings to get out of the way. Frowning she glanced up to the sky to see an aircraft tunneling towards those who stood around peering up at the sky with curiousity, like she was, but it didn't phase her.

In mere seconds the craft was down, sparks flying everywhere until it skidded to a stop, a few people being hit by pieces of the air craft. The screams of horror filled her ears and it was insane not to go towards the mass of people gathering around to find passengers unharmed.

Jesimae had to allow her ears to stop ringing and her excited senses calm down. When a good moment passed, and when peopel began to chatter about movement inside she had to make her way through the crowd, cigarette hanging off of her lip as if she were the first true rebel.

Once she was near the edge of the mass was humored to find a man crawling out of the rubble, black faced with smoke and pure determination on his face. People watched, amazed that he survived and began to stagger away, an unseen injury causing him to limp, which didn't surprise her one bit considering the impact of the crash. Jesimae was curious, curious as to what happened and curious as to why he was so quick to become one with the crowd.

[Karl Valten]

Security Center

Lieutenant Hals stepped from his cloud car, his white stromtrooper armor clashing with the bright red of the car.. Without even bothering to completly power the vehicle down, he moved towards the the captain's office with a scowl on his face. He only slammed his fist on the door twice before barging in.

"Sir, why did you call us back. That ship crashed into the city and theirs anot..."

The Captain, a stout, porcine man, held up a hand to cut the lietenant off. The nervous look in the man's eyes shut Hals up. The captain waited for the rest of the security car pilots to show up before he spoke.

"We have a bit of a problem, our jurisdictions been over-ridden."

Confusion passed over the three pilots. Hals ventred to speak.

"What are you talking about?"

"The second ship is a Spectre."

Hals leaned back, perturbed. "Frell."

The younger of the pilots still looked completely confused. He had little experice in matters off of Bespin. The second turned to him. "He means the Inquistion sent one of their lackeys."

Captain Perot rubbed his temple. "And there's a Crimson Guard squad with him."


Crash Site

A shadow passed over the plaza. Several bystanders looked up, but the only thing they could see was a slight shimmer in the air. Before anyone could make sense of the incident, the Spectre dropped its camoflague. The ship hovered directly over the plaza. With a pneumatic hiss, a ramp extended a good two and a half meters of the ground. From inside the ship, six armor-clad soldiers dropped to the ground. They were fully cased in a deep crimson battle-suits, the only identifying feature was a sovereignty crest on the left section of the breast plate. The most notable feature, however, was that each soldier carried a disrupter rifle. As soon as they hit the ground, the soldiers fanned out around through the confused citizens.

Three more figures emmerged. Two more soldiers wearing massive mechanized assault exo-suits, each toting a heavy weapon. The final figure to land on the plaza was a man nearly two meters tall. The man's black robes clashed with his pale complection. A pair of red stripes running down his tunic marked the man as an Inquisitor.

"Secure the area." as the soldiers complied, Inquisitor Karl Valten turned to scan the crowd.

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae heard the mans voice speak to a few soldiers that were quick to follow the mans orders. By the look of things it seemed that man she was curious about had done something they didn't like but it also could've been other things that involved her. Not wanting to find herself being questioned and harassed she had to make an escape, but by the look of things it was going to be hard to slip by anyone.

She glanced around the busy streets where people were being told to stay put and not to go so far. It was a blockade to see what people saw and to hear their stories. Luckily she had seen the injured man fro mthe wreckage scamper off down a dark and damp alleyway beside a small cafe. Quickly, without turning any odd attention to herself she moved with the crowd until she could find the passage.

Fear wasn't something she experienced frequently but for the first time in a while it was the only thing running around her mind. If they got a hold of her they'd be surprised, if not happy, to find her. Then again she hadn't done anything yet.

Jesimae saw the alley and took her chance after lingering around to check out the scene. When a soldier looked away when someone said something to him she quickly slipped into the shadows, jogging quickly down the dirty alley.

The faster she walked to farther the sounds were and she knew that there was a way to get out of there without being seen or caught. Her boots clapped against the water from an unknown source but the comfort in the sound came to a halt when she heard a groan, especially when she saw it was the pilot of the wrecked aircraft. He was holding his left arm that was bleeding profusely and trying to figure a way out to stop the crimson liquid to stop coming.

Jesimae's heart stopped when he sensed her. His cold and disparage look made her suddenly feel like a five year old who had doen something wrong. His eyes were dark and fueled by a certain hatred and it was easy to see he didn't like the sudden company.

"I-I'm sorry." She staggered, wondering if she should grab the gun that was tucked away in the waist of her pants. Before she could even fathom the thought of grabbing it he had done it quickly before, pulling out his weapon from the waist of his own pants.

[Karl Valten]

Valten stood alone in the middle of the plaza. He kept a watchful eye over the fearful crowd as soldiers interrogated each of them before allowing them to leave. He took in every detail from individuals he looked at: Species, gender, posture, attire, anything that could ferret out his quarry. A cloaked figure partially concealed by the mob caught Valten's attention. The figure stooped over with his hands tightly holding the cloak's hood over his/her head. When the crowd shifted forward, the person stepped with a pronounced limp.

The Inquisitor smiled and silently strode into the mass of people behind the mystery being. He slowly made his way directly behind the figure. As the form took a step on his unstable limb, Valten quickly advanced. A swift side-kick knocked the person's could leg out from under him. The Inquisitor followed up with a blow to the being's back with the broad-side of his arm. Valten ignored the shouts of the people around him and roughly grabbed the prone form, forcefully turning his target around. The hood fell back revealing an astonished rodian. The Inquisitor stepped back finally getting a good look at the alien.

The creature's large black eyes were glazed over and his face snout was twitching uncontrollably. Valten looked at his right leg. Attached to a stump of what was left of the rodian's leg was a rather crudely constructed prosthetic limb. At his belt were several vials containing fine white powder. Damn glittbitters "Get out of here." The Inquisitor looked enraged; he did not like being misled. The rodian stood up and quickly hobbled away, relieved but completely surprised that he hadn't been arrested.

Valten glared at staring onlookers as he walked back to his original location.

"Inquisitor?"

"What?" Karl turned around and snapped at the MAX soldier that had addressed him. Even though the trooper was encased in a nigh impenetrable exo-suit, he still flinched. He motioned towards the wreckage where the second assault-armored soldier stepped was just stepping out from the interior.

"We found three bodies in there, nothing else. The computers offline we can't recover anything."

Valten turned around just in time to see someone duck into an ally while one of the soldiers was distracted. He was wary of another false alarm, but this was too suspicious. Evasion was one thing, but running is a whole different matter.

"Sir?"

"Call in a salvage team to clean up this mess." He took a hasty glance at the thinning mass of people. "Split up and start searching, there's nothing here. Keep me informed."

"Yes sir."

Without another glance back, Valten made for the shaded ally. He hardly made a sound, living up to the Inquisitors' ghost-like reputation. Deeper into the dimly lit path, he could see two figures.

"I-I'm sorry." The voice sounded distinctly feminine. He saw the woman take a step back, giving Valten a view of the man as he was drawing a weapon from his waist. The Inquisitor intinctly drew his own disrupter pistol. Sighting in the the male's gun-hand, he fired a single shot.

The wide-ranged beam lanced forward, striking the wrist just below the palm. Instead of burning a hole as a regular blaster would, the blast vaporized the man's hand and weapon entirely, leaving only floating specks of charred ash behind. Valten smiled at his work, unfazed by the man's shriek of pain.

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae jumped at the sight and the sound of the guns easily distinguished sounds. The man screamed and suddenly dropped to his knees in pain, holding his arm where his hand once was. She couldn't move, immobile and frightened at who would be behind her. But when she thought about running away it was only normal to think that this person could do the same to her legs. Hopefully this person wouldn't dare ask who she was and why she was in that alley. It was a sure thing that whoever stood behind her followed her as she dashed into the dark alley.

"I don't know whether to be thankful or fearful of you." She spoke in a voice that was all too shaken; even one with less than perfect hearing could easily see her fear in the way her body shook.

She waited for a reply, praying the person would supply one, but if he, or she, spoke Jesimae was afraid it would be the dreaded questions she definitely needed to be asked. Criminals weren't prosecuted very generously anymore and the thought alone of being punished for her murderous past caused her to panic, more so than whatever that person behind her was capable of doing.

She prayed mentally for the person to say something, that something being questions of her well being.

[Karl Valten]

Karl smirked. It was all too easy to see the woman's fear. He stepped from the shadows and slowly walked several paces to where he could get a good view of both the renagade and his quarry, all the while keeping the disruptor trained on them while his other hand disapeared into the folds of his cloak.

"That all depends on you, my dear."

The pale-faced Inquistor turned from her to face the bent over man. The woman seemed to distraught to be much of a threat, but he still kept the gun pointed at her. Removing his other hand from his cloak, Valten aimed a device that looked like a scaled down sport pistol at the man and pulled the trigger. A tiny dart flew from the muzzle with a hiss, imbeding in the his target's neck. The paralyzing poisons inside would keep him incapacitated for several minutes.

"Running from the legal authorities is a felony within Sovereignty Space."

Valten knew that she most likely had nothing to do with the man, but she might have information about lower-levels of society in Cloud City. However, instilling and reinforcing a person's fear is an effective method of prying information from a subject.

"However, since you are not my target, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae moved her mouth to speak but found no words to describe her situation without somehow getting herself into trouble.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." The man looked around failing to reply right away. Jesimae found it hard to speak with a man who looked like he could kill someone in a second, possibly her.

"I was just, uh, the crash...it frightened me so I jogged down here to escape any possibility of injury. I waited in the shadows until I felt it was safe but ran across this man." Jesimae looked at the injured man who was now immobile.

"Here I was just taking a stroll, like any normal person, and I saw him and he tried to shoot me for no reason." Before she could say anything else the man slit his eyes, a smirk forming at her stupidity.

This man wasn't bombarding her with questions and already she was screwing up her story. Jesimae didn't know if it was nerves from the crash, fear of being hauled off to be killed, or if it was due to the man who looked dark and dangerous but all too attractive for her own liking. If only he'd stop smirking.

"I mean..." She tried to think of a way to fix the problem but could only think of things to make her situation worse. The man nodded lightly and raised an eyebrow, Jesimae somehow knew a remark was going to be made.

[Karl Valten]

Karl almost laughed. Fear was causing this woman not to think straight; and the look on her face said that she knew it. Her illogical babbling and posture gave Karl enough information to know that she was hiding something.

"Yes off course. Any normal person person would undoubtbably take a stroll by themselves down a dark alley for safety."

The smirk on Karls face didn't vanish, as he gestured to the temporarily paralyzed figure slumped on the ground."

"Just like this normal person here that was just about to graciously paint the wall with your brains."

He looked at her again, it was obvious she was afraid of being arrested or killed, and probably expected that to happen. She had most likely commited some sort of crime that would merit a decent sentence...but at the moment that was of little concern to Valten. He had bigger fish to catch.

Karl ignored the woman and crouched down by his quarry, pulling a small cylindrical device about the size of human thumb from his cloak. The man turned his eyes warily towards him

"Trevor Fenrir isn't it? I am Inquisitor Karl Valten. You and your friends have become quite a nuissance to the Sovereignty.

The mans lips slowly moved, fighting agianst the drugs.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae watched the man, or Karl Valten as she would like to call him. The newfound prisoner on the ground was trying to speak to him as he let the questions flow freely, trying to get him to say something to prove his guilt, kind of like how she was about to a few moments before. It was apparent that this Karl Valten was too enthralled with the man on the ground than her, but she somehow felt immobile, the man on the ground looking vaguely familiar.

She had done some dirty deeds in the past, killing those who either deserved it or not all because of her greed and lust for the spray of human blood on her face, it was like she was addicted to hearing people pray for their lives and even more addicted to the rush she received, but that was long ago.

Her stupidity to get envolved with a conspiracy in the government, trying to assassinate some heavy hitters who were trying to clean up the galaxy, her job to was to ensure that it never happened. She had killed an important man, so important there was a galaxy wide search for his killer, even bounty hunters were after her, her own friends even.

Her running off, leaving many people left alive and having run off with a lot of money she had a new group of people searching for her, especially the government who were narrowing down the suspects. It was a sure thing to assume that this Karl Valten had heard of her somewhere along the line, she was a murderer paid to do hits, too bad she had suddenly become the one being plotted against.

Jesimae bit her lower lip and slowly backed up, thinking she should make a run for it, but decided to slip off slowly, hopefully he wouldn't think she was running from him because if he found out her information on other government hits, even if he found out her name, she'd be in deep.

[Karl Valten]

The Inquisitor was well aware of Jesimae's attempt to sneak away quietly. Not much could escape the senses of an Inquisitor of the Sovereignty, they were trained to notice every miniscule detail; such as the slight change in the air as Jesimae backed up and the disturbance of water as a foot slowly slid through a shallow pool. He did not react to her at all; there would be time to deal with her later.

"Mr. Fenrir if I had a credit for every time I heard that line, I'd be wealthy enough to buy the Sovereignty. Let's stop this nonsense and get straight to the point."

Valten stared straight into Trevor's eyes with the cold, unwavering gaze of the Inquisitoriate. The man tried to turn his head, but the drugs kept him still. Valten held up the cylindrical device in front of his quarry's face.

"You and your cohorts are charged with High Treason, Terrorism, Piracy, and Possession of Illegal Arms. You will be lucky if you get away with a lifetime prison sentence.....Here's what's going to happen. I am going to ask a question and you will tell me what I want to hear."

Even though Fenrir was drugged and under the infallible gaze of an Inquisitor, he showed admirable willpower. "You're not getting anything from my. We're trying to free the Sovereignty from Tyranny."

Valten laughed, "Ah, yes, the old, 'rebellion for freedom to anything' bit. Do you know what happens when rabble like yourself are allowed to do as they please? You end up with chaotic, war-torn hell-holes like on Anobis."

"Here's the other part to our little game. If I don't like the answer you give my, you lose an eye."

Valten flipped a switch on the cylinder. I tiny needle sprung from the center and slowly brightened into a glowing red-hot spear of metal.

"Now, where are your little friends hiding out?"

Trevor kept his eyes focused on the thumb-sized torture device that was slowly getting closer and closer to his left eye. He struggled against paralysis to swallow nervously. He cried out just as the burning needle got within a centimeter from his pupil.

"Central District, the Tibanna warehouse on level 13C in Mauston Tower."

Valten slowly brought his hand back and analyzed Fenrir. The man was pale, sweat dropped down from his brow. Valten searched his mental map of Bestine.

The Central District is the tourist hot spot of the city. They could easily blend in with the crowed and level 13C is isolated enough to dissuade attention. Only thing is, the entire tower was recently hulled out to clear space for a new Casino. There's no possible way that the terrorist group could be housed up in that complex.

Valten smiled at the man. It had been a good ploy, but Valten had kept himself up-to-date on the entire city. "Wrong answer." The Inquisitor thrust his hand forward, jabbing the device into Fenrir's eyeball. The fluids inside instantly boiled as the burning needle touched broke through the corona; as a result the unfortunate terrorist's eye literally exploded. Any other sound around was drowned out by the man's shriek of pain that reverberated down the dark alley.

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae flinched at the sounds and before she realized what she was doing she ran the other way, by Karl and the man who screamed for dear life. She had to get away from the torture she was watching and she had to get away from the past that suddenly creeped up on her. She knew of the casino, knew about how she used to do deals there, it was all too frightening.

The one thing she knew was that if Karl didn't kill the man himself, she'd have to get out an old friend and do some deeds that needed to be finished.

Jesimae panted as she ran as fast as she could, trying to escape the inquisitor was going to be hard and it was going to be even harder when he realized how big a catch she'd be for him and how he'd love to take her in and give her the punishment she deserved.

But she had to do something first, she had to go home and figure out who had been captured and who could turn her in.

[Karl Valten]

Karl turned from the moaning man to watch Jesimae run down the alleyway. He would have to keep an eye on her lest he lose a possible suspect. He wasn’t sure how, but the woman defiantly had some stake in what was going on. And anyone involved in this matter was a threat to the Imperium.

The Inquisitor took a moment to speak into the comm-link in cowl of his robes, before turning back to his prisoner.

“Captain, there’s a possible suspect heading out of the alley on the east side of Tarkin Plaza. Human female, dark hair, haggard appearance, and scared beyond belief. Have two of your men tail her and keep me informed on her whereabouts. Be aware that she is armed, a hand-gun of unknown type. I’ll join them shortly.”

Valten knew he didn’t have to worry about the troopers. The Crimson Guard soldiers of the Inquisitoriate, know as the Red Terror, where the best anti-terror force any government could hope for. They were cold, ruthless, intelligent, and effective.

Valten brought up his torture device again as he crouched next to Fenrir. The man was still paralyzed and couldn’t even cover his mangled eye with his hands.

“This is you last chance, tell me where your hideout is or you lose your other eye.

The subdued man whimpered and answered in a terrified, pain-filled voice.

“Port Town…. level 6…..the abandoned manufacturing plant.”

The terror and defeat in the man’s remaining eye told Valten all he needed to know.

“My thanks Mr. Fenrir.”

The Inquisitor stood up and put away the device. He nearly laughed as the man sighed in relief. Without a single hint of emotion, Valten drew his disrupter and calmly shot him in the throat. Karl relayed the information the Crimson Guard squad as he walked away from the shrieking Fenrir, the bonds holding his atoms together slowly breaking down.

[Jesimae Phoenix]

Jesimae ran quickly, knowing if Karl was smart he'd inform members nearby and she had to think fast. The gun she had was a custom made weapon, she hadn't named it but it was powerful enough to kill a man with one single shot. It was unique and not many people knew what the hell it was when they saw it, but it was Jesimae's favorite weapon simply because it struck fear into anyone's heart.

She turned the corner of the alley and was surprised to see two armored clad men looking around for her, their weapons in their hands and faces veiled by their protective helmets. The armor shined brilliantly in the city lights and she could tell their rank by the color. She was having trouble standing considering she nearly slipped on a piece of food that had been drug out into the streets by vermin living in the alley. Her soft gasp obviously got their attention since they both stopped conversing and glanced to the right to see her. They immediately called out to her but she was too busy figuring out what to do to even understand them

"Stop now!" One of the men screamed as she turned around and ran quickly the opposite way. She heard their footsteps and she even thought she heard one of them prepare to blast her but suddenly an old friend kicked in, adrenaline and instincts. She grabbed the black shiny handle out of the waist of her pants and flicked her wrist, the long nose of the gun spinning once and locking into place. She saw the platform to allow people to board ship and other means of transportation, she ran and quickly jumped off the edge and turned, falling towards the ground, she shot the instrument three times, hitting one of the men in the chest. He screamed and fell to his knees, a burning sensation coming over him.

Crimson fell out of three holes in the armor that steamed from the hot object that pierced both the suit and his flesh. His fellow soldier had to stop and bend down to see if he was alright but got no response, his friend had just been killed by an odd and deadly weapon unlike anything he'd seen. A stench filled the air and out of the hole fell an empty casing that held a dart. The woman had killed him with a deadly poison that took over the body in seconds.

Jesimae felt a pain in her back the moment she hit the hard ground, she opened her eyes and saw the edge of the platform at least six feet above her. She pushed through the pain and stood up, stuffing her gun into her pants again before she gasped for breath and ran towards the stairs where people exited off of the air craft. She heard people talking loudly, wondering what she had done and what she shot at. When she jumped up and grabbed the edge and pulled herself up she saw people, both human and alien, scatter away, some people screaming by the blood that oozed out of her right arm. She felt a sting and realized she had scratched herself on the way down doing a stupid stunt.

She looked to the right of the area to see the guard running towards where she had jumped, finding nothing but a small pool of blood. Jesimae realized she was leaving her identity behind in a single pool of blood but there was nothing she could do now. She swallowed and ran to her left, turning a corner leaving people frightened and wondering what happened. A few people watched her rush off and jump into a cruiser, some how starting it and getting the hell out of dodge. The guard rushed towards where people watched in confusion some in fear.

"Where...where did she go?" The soldier asked in a wheezy breath. A woman pointed towards the red cruiser that was dodging other aircraft, her experience in fleeing for a safe haven easily seen. The man cursed and quickly called for more reinforcement. He had to tell the Inquisitor of what happened and to set up a perimeter around the city to find the woman who was as dangerous as man.

Jesimae hissed at the pain she felt in her arm, she flew as fast as she could till she reached the old apartment complex where the filthy and slums of Bespin made residence. She pulled up onto the curb of the building, hopping out of the car listening to a man laugh and tell her how sweet the cruiser was. She had so many things on her mind she didn't have time to listen to him go on about a piece of transportation.

"Take it." She said thoughtlessly, walking by the filthy creature that was strung out on its latest drug find. He laughed and stood tall and saluted her like a soldier would a captain.

"Yes, ma'am!" She gave him a glance that stopped his stupidity; he licked his lips and rubbed his hands together while glancing at the spacecraft. Jesimae knew what he was thinking, how much could he sell that craft for and where could he get some more drugs? She mentally spat at him, disgusted at his kind. She walked into the rugged and dirty building that had once been a part of the booming population and happiness the place once had. Now it was overrun with imperials and people who worried more about wealth than well-being.

Jesimae walked up the stairs till she found the floor below the top level, ironically the level thirteen. She walked down the dirty and trashed hallway, finding her dark gray door. She entered her small apartment, seeing nothing too impressive. She made her way to the bathroom and watched the lights flip on at her entrance. Her appearance in the fogged and aged mirror made her want to scream, her face sweaty and dirty, clothes wet from sweat, appealing features gone in a single instant. She pulled stray brown hairs and pulled it back in a small bun quickly unzipping her leather jacket and revealing a white tank top. She hissed as she pulled the right sleeve off of her injured arm, the material leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"Ahh." She said lowly as she glanced down at the hole in her arm, the soft pale skin being disturbed by the blood, clothing particles, and a piece of aircraft sticking out of her arm. She cursed and noticed it was a small triangular shape, probably off a wing from an older model of aircraft that still took people from A to B. She shook her head when she grabbed the small object with her index and forefinger, on the mental count of three she jerked it out and nearly bit her bottom lip off. She dropped the object into the sink and watched the blood flow down her arm.

In less than ten minutes she had cleaned the wound and trashed the object. She was looking out the window watching a few vehicles fly by, cigarette smoke flying into the air in a mysterious cloud. The paper she had earlier was gone but she remembered what it said: Level Six Jesimae knew that was where the big dogs of terrorism stayed when trying to lay low for a while, but it led to plans of much bigger destruction.

She was going to go there to see if she couldn't find the whereabouts of an old friend. He was a brother to her and he had betrayed their group and paid dearly with his life. She knew he had been killed by other terrorists but she was hoping to find his body, to give him the proper burial of remembrance. But with everything that just happened she knew not only will Karl Valten be searching for her but other bounty hunters and terrorists as well.

"Karl Valten..." She turned away from starting blindly out the window and walked over to a small rectangular device. She flipped the switch with her right hand and watched a small transparent screen pop up. She spoke of his name and waited for the computer to give her the results as she puffed away on the cigarette in her left hand. When she saw it was finished she hit enter and saw a picture of the inquisitor. "No doubt you are looking for me." She said lowly. "Well come and find me." She smirked lightly finding the thought appealing, an old feeling re-entering her body she hadn't felt in many years, not since she quit the business but somehow the thought of fighting with an Inquisitor was appealing, but not half appealing as she found his face.

Moments passed before Karl learned of the news, he could only grin at the thought of her killing someone ruthlessly and without hesitation. "Just goes to show you," He said in a low voice to a few men that stood around him "evil nature, terrorist groups and behaviors don't choose sexes. Evil isn't one sided."

[Karl Valten]

Karl peered down at the body of the Crimson Guard soldier at his feet. The shrouded Inquisitor couldn’t help but smirk at the sight. The Inquisitorial commandos were the best soldiers in all of the Sovereignty. It was a testament to the fugitive’s ability that she had been able not only to evade them, but actually kill one without injury.

The Inquisitor looked up at the seven remaining soldiers left of Squad Arcturus. A hasty search of the area ensured that Jesimae hadn’t doubled back. The squad now gathered at the vehicle platform where she’d made here escape. The surviving soldier of the escapade stood directly across from the Inquisitor, his facial expression hidden by the reflective mask, while the rest of the squad spread out to survey the area.

Even though a squadmate had been slain, the trooper gave no indication that he even cared about the crimson-clad body at his feet. That was the way the Inquisitoriate worked, once killed, you did not matter. You were just another corpse of the trillions that preceded. The only reason Karl hadn’t yet disintegrated the body is that the fallen soldier might have a clue that could lead them to the killer.

Piercing eyes scrutinized a trio of metallic darts resting in the Inquisitor’s palm. “Tell me again what happened.”

“The suspect emerged from the alley as stated, Inquisitor. Upon seeing us she immediately fled, ignoring all orders to halt. When Hallek prepared to fire, the woman drew her own side arm. Weapon is of unknown type. Dark gun-metal in color with an elongated revolver style muzzle. Hallek was struck by three of those devices. I continued pursuing the suspect and lost sight of her as she jumped off the boarding platform. The suspect escaped in a red Cloud Cruiser, a newer model Storm VI.”

The Guardsman paused, considering his next words. “I have never seen a projectile weapon able to pierce our Combat Armor.” Spoke the man, voice conveying fascination and disbelief. As an after thought the soldier straightened to attention with as much conviction as possible. “I will take full responsibility for the suspect’s escape and the loss to the Squad. I have failed.”

Karl couldn’t help but laugh at the trooper; he sounded so much like….an army regular.

“Soldier, you’re taking too much to the curse of honor. I can’t have that weakness in my warriors.”

The Inquisitor looked back down at the darts resting in his open palm. It had to be a poison of some sort; these minute things wouldn’t even be able to kill a sick Thyferran Pheasant on their own. But how could the poison by that fast acting? Even when injected directly into the blood stream, most poisons would require a few minutes to overcome its victim. Whatever this was, it had been able to strike down the Inquisitoriate’s elite in mere seconds.

Not to mention create this big of a mess. It seemed as if the entire body had bled from every imaginable opening. Mouth, eyes, ears, it didn’t matter, it would take hours to clean up the scene, and even more to restore the armor.

Karl crouched down next to the corpse, oblivious to the horrid stench, and scooped up some of the dead man’s blood. In a single movement, the Inquisitor snapped the lid on the vial and tossed it, along with the darts, to the soldier.

“Get to the ship and run these through the lab.” Karl returned the trooper’s salute and watched him turn to carry out his orders. “Oh, and Julka, when you’re finished, go find someone to torture. I don’t need you unnecessarily depressed.”

The Inquisitor smiled in anticipation as Trooper Julka disappeared. If the tests went well, he might be able to discover what specific toxins were used in the darts. On an isolated city like this, there were only so many places one could find certain chemicals. Finding where the poison came from would be a decent lead to find Jesimae.

“Inquisitor, I found blood.”

Valten’s head snapped in the direction of the voice. His eyes fell on the captain, who stooped over the edge of the boarding platform. The officer turned towards Valten, the smile on his face shown through the reflective visor.

“We have our killer.”

[Jesimae Phoenix]

"What the hell does that mean?" Jesimae let out an angry sigh as she leaned off the mahogany desk where she stared evilly into the eyes of an old friend, a friend who had as many problems as she did. The sleek blonde hair was too perfect for her liking as was his whole appearance in general.

Edel Ninden was once a friend of her family, an adopted brother, and someone she desperately wanted to marry when she was younger but his betrayal to her brother, Jabari, had allowed her to grow such a hatred towards him that it was practically unspeakable of the things she wanted to do to him. Jesimae would have gladly stayed far away from the man she despised but she needed information on her brother's whereabouts and information on what kind of lethal intoxicants he had sold her a few years back before Jabari ended up dead.

"It means that if you keep it stored in a place where it is room temperature it'll grow bacteria and cause more damage than intended." The fluent and impeccable speech made Jesimae cringe at the very sound of his angelic voice, she'd prefer those with a touch of toughness and such a powerful assertiveness that she could do nothing but be passive at every demand. She shrugged off the thought considering now wasn't the time to be thinking of the type of men she went for nowadays but her mind had to be with her brother, well her brother's body that is.

"No, when you sold it to me you never said anything about room temperatures, I haven't killed a man in more than two years! Especially not a member of a squadron." The man in the crisp professional outfit that spoke of his success laughed lightly, Jesimae finding this situation not as wonderful as if had been a few hours ago.

"Don't stand there and try to tell me you didn't like the feeling? Come on, even you know old habits die hard." Jesimae clenched her jaw the thought of the way she felt so alive after killing a man caused her such an urge to do it all over again that it was hardly inescapable.

"Aw, don't try to pass off that angelic crap on me. I know you, Jesimae, you loved what you did the only reason you quit was because you got too good at it and too many people were looking for you."

"I stopped because it was too much." Jesimae might've been lying and Edel being correct, but there had been a slight yearning to start anew with her estranged brother who had quit being a bounty hunter when his luck began running out. It was only a matter of time before she knew hers would be at the end of the line as well and she wanted to spend as much time with her last link to her family when all had perished but suddenly old feelings for blood and money came rushing in, knowing that she had been under the radar for long enough.

"That's right try to tell yourself you didn't like the feeling of being God, if only for a moment." Edel sighed and stood up, Jesimae's heart pounding inside like a drum. He knew her too well and he liked to use his knowledge to his advantage.

"Jesimae, don't keep running from your past it'll only come up and bite you in the end. Embrace it, do what you want to do and if you're smart, you'll never get caught." He walked over to her and smiled, rubbing her left arm too casually for her liking knowing what he meant, knowing that he remembered how bad she liked him.

"Enough with your stupid ideas, Edel, tell me what you gave me." He drew in a sharp breath when his advancements didn't work, he had never been good at flirting or seducing women. He quickly backed off and turned around and began to walk around the lavish office.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's a formula my company and I have created and the ingredients are only known to me. It works wonders though, doesn't it?" He laughed and Jesimae was quick to realize that she didn't need to stay any longer, his suffocating upper class ethics beginning to take a toll.

"Fine." Jesimae reached over and grabbed her leather jacket and headed towards the door, passing the tall thin man who looked like a child could beat him up. He turned and raised his left eyebrow as she opened the door to head on home.

"Oh, Jesimae," His voice made her squirm at the sound. She closed her eyes for a second praying he'd be brief. She turned and saw he was grinning slightly.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about Jabari, I'm sure his body will turn up somewhere."


His words had wounded her deeply, like a dagger through the heart. It confirmed her belief that she knew Edel had something to do with it, she wasn't sure what at that point but she knew he had information.

Jesimae left his corporate office and headed home, millions of questions rushing through her mind. She felt betrayed by those close to her and felt alone more than ever. She knew it was a bad idea to speak to Edel but he was a ring leader when it came to crime and she had to get as much information as she could about her brother, too bad it brought back memories she had tried to avoid.

She pulled her jacket close to her as she got out of the cab and paid the driver before turning around to head to her apartment. She felt a chill overcome her and when she turned the corner she knew why. The building was swarmed with soldiers trying to get information from the tenants and she was sure her apartment had been ransacked, as if she had a whole lot to actually tear apart.

Jesimae hid behind the corner of a building, peering over the corner seeing a few familiar people from the apartment talk to men in colored armor, she had glanced up at the only window in her apartment to see someone moving in the shadows. No doubt, she thought, Karl Valten was trying to get as much information on her as he could and it somehow pleased her to know he was in her apartment. Of course she knew the dangers it possessed.

Karl sighed, angered that he was unable to find anything her bedroom, if he'd even want to call it that. He slightly felt a bit of grief for the way she lived but he knew it was unprofessional to think of such things when he was trying to find her and find out about the things she had been doing the past five years, if she had been the bounty hunter a few soldiers had been speculating on.

"Inquisitor," A soldier called out as he gave the room where the large mattress lay on the floor with sheets and pillows sprawled all over. "we think you should come take a look at this." He let out a sigh and turned to walk towards a small closet.

"This better be worth my time." He mumbled under his breath as he pulled open the small door. His eyes lit up and he couldn't believe his eyes.

"She practically owns her own arsenal!" The soldier let out a light laugh. Karl frowned and looked deeper into the dark closet to find a black bag hidden underneath a few blasters and explosives. A man was calling out for him but he ignored it and simply asked the soldier standing beside him to see what they needed.

For a moment he was left alone and he took it to his advantage. Karl bent down and opened the bag to his surprise it wasn't anything dealing with weapons or death, nothing that would give him an indication as to how well she knew weapons but it gave him a glimpse at her as a person and not a killer.

He pulled out a bundle of papers that was of no value at that moment he pushed a few pieces of clothing aside along with an empty knife case but the thing that grabbed his attention was an old photograph that was beginning to roll on the edges. He frowned as he flipped it upright seeing it was the young woman standing in a grassy field with a tall man bearing a close resemblance, hugging one another. He turned it over and read the description:

Jabari and Me, the only man I ever truly loved.

Karl frowned and glanced back at the picture, he knew that this was good at least he could contact what he figured was her brother. He would know for sure what she was doing that made her so suspicious and how she knew so much about weapons.