Three weeks later…
I was in the Nal Hutta Swamps, making a reputation on me. Lucky for me, I did it within those three weeks of hard work. I finally got Nem’ro’s attention. My hired crew who were going to help me get into the Great Hunt; Braden, Jory, and Mako. Together, we were a great team. Braden was a pony, his was old but not old enough to not have any fight left in him. He was leader of the team as well. Jory was a griffin, he provides heavy lifting and security to our base of operations and every good too. Finally, Mako was a Pony with Cyborg Implants. She was intelligent, well-informed, and very crafty. And I was the main attraction of the team. We have been trying to get a reputation up and going and it was working too. I had finished killing a mad pony who was the greatest quick-draw artist and I headed back to our apartment until I see Braden and Jory on the ground, dead. I ran over to them to check their vitals but they came up negative.
“Damn it!” I shouted in rage. “Whoever did this is going to pay…dearly.”
I got up to look down at my two partners and friends. I heard some hoof steps.
A familiar female voice said “Hey, old-timers, I’m…Jory, Braden!”
I looked to the voice and see Mako. Mako was a brown Earth Pony with Cyborg Implants, her mane and tail was jet black, and her eye color was brown. Her CM was a hacking symbol and I still had my helmet on but I had a frown on my face. She came over to me quickly.
Mako asked “What happened? Is the old pony…?”
“He’s dead with Jory. Whoever did this, I’m going to make them suffer for what they have done.” I said before activated my helmet’s communicator “T3 and Soundwave, get over here. I need you to hack into the security system to find out what happened. Soundwave, you are coming because I need to identify our killer.” I said on the communicator.
I ended the communications and looked at the sad Mako. She was crying over Braden’s body. After a few minutes, she got up and began to walk around until she stopped.
“Wait…you had something to do with this!” Mako shouted, accusingly.
“If I did, you’d be dead, too. Not to mention, I wouldn’t be this angry!”
Mako stepped back. She can somehow feel the rage coming off of me, I wasn’t faking it at all and I did point out a good point.
Mako replied “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It’s just…I’ve been with Braden for years. I know you didn’t have any reason to hurt him. I just can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Listen to me when I say this. Whoever did this, I swear to you, when I find out who did this, they will pay with their life and whoever else is working with him! This killer is going to know the true meaning of the word fear!” I vow to her, to reassure that whoever did this was going to die a painful death.
Mako smiled at what I said. We heard gears whirling and we looked and see T3 and Soundwave coming into the room.
“T3, hack into the terminal and replay video of these two dying.”
T3 began to slice into the terminal and began to decrypt any video and began to play it so we can see it on hologram. We see two figures, both ponies, walking into the room.
Braden said “Move and you’re dead. Now, if you know what’s good for you, you’re gonna back out, nice and slow.”
One of the strangers said “Oh, I know precisely what’s good for me. Winning the Great Hunt won’t merely be good. It will be splendid. When I win, the entire world will know the name Tarro Blood and I’ll charge extravagant fees for my services. Won’t I, Sedyn?”
Sedyn, the other stranger, replied “The highest in the world. Only the filthy rich will be able to afford you.”
“Tarro Blood? I’ve heard of you. Nearly got crippled by the other Ponylorians at the Great Hunt ten years back.” Braden said.
Tarro replied “Ah, yes. That. An unfortunate bit of history. This time, I plan to win. Of course, that will be simpler if my competition doesn’t include rivals beyond my fellow Ponylorians. The Centaur Vibroblade Master from Ord Mantell? Gone. The Griffin Builder fond of explosives? Gone. That just leaves Phantom Lord to remove.”
Jory said “Then your mission is a failure. Your quarry is not here and now revealed, your hunt is failed!”
“You misunderstand. The rules forbid killing competitors before the allotted hour. Thus, the promising up-and-comers I mentioned are very much alive. I simply eliminated them as threats. And how does one allow a charging gundark, Sedyn?” Tarro replied
Sedyn said “Blast his legs out from under him.”
Tarro replied “Destroy the upstart’s so-called crew. I’ll be outside, innocently unaware.”
Tarro began to walk away, his back turned.
Braden shouted “Jory! Shoot to kill!”
Braden and Jory pulled out their blasters to fight but Sedyn shot Braden first then shot Jory.
“Too late, old pony.” Sedyn said coldly.
Sedyn killed Braden and Jory on the hologram then the hologram ended.
Mako said with a hint of horror “Heartless monster…”
“Now we know our killer. Soundwave, search his name and give me everything we know about him!”
Soundwave’s blank screen face began to look through files. His tentacles connected to the terminal when T3 left the terminal. Using the hologram systems, he revealed the file on Tarro Blood.
“The son of Canterlot nobility, Tarro Blood renounced his privileged existence as the heir to a minor lordship in favor of pursuing greater glory and fame as a world-renowned Ponylorian mercenary. Leaving his past behind and taking on a new dramatic moniker, Blood was able to prove that he was no pretender after years of training under a famed Ponylorian champion. Under the guidance of this exceptional tutor, Blood became a feared warrior and the favorite to claim victory in the next Great Hunt. Unfortunately for him, Tarro Blood’s characteristic arrogance and sudden rise to prominence rubbed his competition the wrong way. The other Ponylorians in the competition made it their mission to ensure that he never came close to claiming victory. The resulting defeat nearly cost Blood his life, in addition to his pride, and he remained out of the public eye for nearly a decade, choosing not to participate in the next Great Hunt.” I said, ready everything that the world files held on him.
I began to think about this. So Tarro was going to try another Great Hunt and now he was going to try and kill me, in hopes of trying to stop me from entering. This angers me even further.
“He claims to be a Ponylorian! He’s nothing but a coward!” I shouted with rage.
Mako said to me “Tarro is going to have to wait. You need to make an appearance with Nem’ro now.”
I nodded and left, leaving Mako to give the bodies a proper burial. I began to make my way to Nem’ro’s palace.
I arrived to the front door and got off my speeder. HK-47 was with me and we walked right in. We went to his throne room and when we arrived, we see a lot of things. For a throne room, it looked more like a master room for slaves. There were a lot of different species. Griffins, Centaurs, Ponies, even Zebras. I also noticed that there were some female slaves, who wore nothing but bikinis and panties [They were metal plated, can’t be removed easily without a key] and they were dancing. Two slaves, who weren’t dancing, were on Nem’ro’s stone throne. Two guards went to stop me and I had to stop HK-47 from pulling out his Blaster to kill them. We looked towards Nem’ro and see a griffin punch a Centaur in the chest and a Zebra drags the Centaur away with the Griffin walking with them. Nem’ro sees me and motions me to come forward. I noticed he had someone with him, a Changeling.
The Changeling said “Look, boss. Little tiny pony and rusty bucket of bolts comes to beg for mighty Nem’ro’s attention.”
Once again, I had to stop HK-47 from shooting the Changeling between the eyes.
Nem’ro said “{Translation: Be polite, Carnus. This bounty hunter has been sweeping the filth from my town’s lovely street.}” I reached in front of the stone throne and Nem’ro looked at me. HK-47 was looking at Nem’ro as well “{Excuse him, he lacks manners. You stand in the court of Nem’ro. All you see in Jiguuna is under my authority. Welcome.}"
HK-47 said “Greeting: Hello, mighty Nem’ro. I am HK-47, assassin droid rebuilt by my master here to serve him in his missions. My master’s name is Phantom Lord.”
“Now that we’ve got pleasantries out of the way, let’s talk business.”
Nem’ro said “{Ha! Straight to the point, is it? Then I will do you the same favor. You want sponsorship into the Great Hunt. I can provide that. But why should I? Mako says you are a famous bounty hunter, that hardened ponies run and hide just hearing your name. But Mako says lots of things.}”
“Mako said you’re a powerful Hutt, Nem’ro. Was that a lie?” I scorn back.
Nem’ro replied, calm “{A good lair always sprinkles some truth among the fabrications. You want to prove that you are this fearsome ponyhunter? I will give you that chance. I have targets here on wonderful Hutta Swamps that need elimination. No problem for one with your reported skills. The first head you will bring me is that of a Timberwolf, one of those useless, sniveling natives. You don’t have a soft spot for primitive tribemen, do you?}”
HK-47 replied, shouting “Statement: My master has no soft spot for organics, you overgrown slug!”
“Shut it HK-47!” I shouted at him then turned to Nem’ro. “If there’s money in it, I’ll take any targets.”
Nem’ro replied “{A true mercenary. You’ll do well with Nem’ro. The Timberwolf sold us this swamp for trinkets. Now they take up arms against their rightful masters. It’s disgusting. One Timberwolf dares call himself Huttsbane. He raids my holdings and hides in a swamp village. Place his head on my floor.}”
“Head on floor, got it.”
Nem’ro added “{Kill huttsbane’s followers, too. But leave their heads in the village. Go now.}”
Carnus said “Be careful, little bounty hunter. Huttsbane once blasted into other palace. Killed pile of captains and murdered a mighty hutt!”
I began to turn around and walk away with HK-47.
“That didn’t go as bad as I thought. Now to make truth in my reputation. Are you ready to hunt, HK-47?”
HK-47 replied “Commentary: Master, I was created to hunt organics and slaughtering them all.”
"True. Now, lets go hunt some Timberwolves."