Bounty Hunter Anon

by Sunny Solaire

Setting a Trap

"Tell me about these." You hold up the death stick he gave you in your other hand. "Who did you get them from?"

Flash just stares up at your blaster pistol, still horrified. You lift the pistol up and tap it on his head a few times to get his attention. He gasps and looks you in the eyes as you shake the death stick in your hand and raise an eyebrow at him.

He gives a nervous chuckle. "Heh... Wow! You... You got me good, Sunset! I mean, I shouldn't be surprised a hot Mandalorian girl is so-" You remove the blaster from his head and give him a good smack across the face. "Ah!" He cries out and falls to the ground, holding his cheek.

He looks up at you and you press the blaster against his head again. "This can either go really well for you, or really well for me. Patience isn't my strong suit, and I'm already taken, so you better choose before I choose for you."

He just looks at you with an expression of both fear and slight anger as he holds his bruised cheek.

Again, you hold up the yellow death stick he gave you. "Tell me everything about these 'special' death sticks."

He pauses for a moment before exhaling. "They're... They just feel better than regular death sticks! They're stronger. They-they give you more of a high. They started popping up here about a week ago, and they've been going around fast." As he talks, you notice that he goes into a trance and relaxes as he starts to shut his eyes. "They feel incredible. They're almost hypnotic. The taste, the feeling, the sensation, its all just so... awesome..."

He stops talking and goes limp. He snores once.

"Did..." You blink once. "Did you seriously just nod off?" You smack his cheek a couple times to wake him back up. "Hey."

He gasps and looks up at you like nothing happened. "...The thing is, the good feelings get shorter after a while, but they also get better. Way better. It's basically a 'quality or quantity' battle at that point."

You hold up your hand. "Alright, stop. Where did you get them?"

Flash visibly strains to remember for a moment. "There was a chick who was handing them out to people here almost every day. It was great, but I hadn't seen her around here before that."

"Was her name Aria?" You ask.

Flash shakes his head. "No, it was something else... 'T' something... Tricky?"

Your eyes widen. "Trixie?"

Flash snaps his fingers and points at you. "Trixie! Yeah, that's it!"

You slowly lower the blaster from his head. Trixie is involved with these new death sticks. How? Why? They were on Nar Shaddaa and now they're here on Malastare. What the hell is going on?

You look back at him. "Do you know where she was going? Where her ship was parked? What she looked like? Anything."

Flash shakes his head. "No, she kept to herself. She would show up about the time the sun went down. She was here yesterday, but I never saw when she left."

"Damn it..." You say under your breath.

You're going to have to check the cameras to find out where she went. There's bound to be a terminal somewhere in the back. You holster your blaster and activate your suit's personal beacon via your gauntlet to let Anon know you need him. You'll check out the security footage in the meantime.

Flash clears his throat and sits up. "So you're not going to blast me?"

"No Flash. You've been very helpful and I'm grateful." You prepare a non-lethal dart. "Word of advice though, real quick. These death sticks, do you know why they're extra spicy?" He shakes his head. "They're filled with a neurotoxin that literally disintegrates your brain within a very short time. Do you understand me? You WILL die very, very soon if you keep this up." He just stares at the drug as you point your gauntlet at his neck. "They're called 'death sticks' for a reason, genius. It's a filthy, disgusting habit and they make you look like a filthy, disgusting person. When you wake up, rethink your life."

You press the button on your gauntlet and the dart shoots into his neck. He gasps and grabs his neck before his eyes roll back and he goes completely limp in an unconscious heap on the ground.

You stand up and put your helmet back on. Placing the death stick in one of your belt pouches, you shut off the lights, unlock the door and slip out of the closet and back into the main room of the bar. You stick to the edge of the bar and scan for the bartender behind all the patrons, who are continuing with their socializing.

Your comms flicker and Anon speaks in your ear. "Sunset, what's going on?"

"I just got a huge lead on Trixie." You say. "She may not even be smuggling chak-root at all. It sounds like she's dealing that same type of death stick that Adagio was involved with."

Anon pauses for a moment. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yeah." You reply. "I got a tip from a junkie who said he got his fix from a girl named 'Trixie'. It can't be a coincidence. I'm going to see if I can get the security footage on the bar's terminal to clarify what he said."

"Good work." Anon says. "I'm already on my way to you."

You shut off the comms and head to the bar, weaving your way through the crowd of people until you reach the counter. Hopefully, you won't have to 'persuade' the bartender to help you out like you did with Flash. No, you'll just give him a little scare.

You slam your hands on the table and the Gran bartender jumps in surprise as you stare at him behind your visor. "Hi there. I need a small favor."

---

You're currently making your way out of a cantina close to the racetrack. After dealing with frustrated bartenders, suppliers and a few drunks, you finally got some good news from Sunset. Sounds like she found some dirt on Trixie.

You push your way past the patrons and make it out of the crowded cantina. Sunset's beacon is blinking on your HUD. She's not too far away. About a mile or so. All you see are a couple of taller buildings among numerous smaller ones in between you and her. You could probably see her from the air very easily.

You jog past a few other bystanders and press another button on your gauntlet. Your jetpack launches you into the air and you make your way toward Sunset's location. The city streets whiz by below you and a few of the bystanders look up at you and point. You easily move around the taller buildings and continue your flight. After a few minutes, you descend toward a cantina. Sunset's beacon is coming from within.

You land in front of the entrance and head inside the building. You move past a few patrons until you see Sunset behind the counter. She's alone, and she's looking at a terminal on the back wall. As you make your way over to her, you also notice that the bartender is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had ran off, or he tried to give her trouble and she dealt with him. Bad move on his part.

"Find anything good?" You ask as you walk up to her.

She turns to you for a moment before looking back to the screen. "Not yet. I'm going over the footage from the security cameras. Flash said she was in here last night."

You cock your head slightly. "Flash?"

"Oh." She chuckles. "He's my junkie admirer. He's been taken care of."

You go behind the counter and look at the terminal over her shoulder. On screen, you see nothing out of the ordinary. Drinking, cheering at the podraces being broadcast, a sexy dancer or two, the usual.

She quickly points to someone on the screen. "That's Flash."

He's a young human. He's got friends with him and he seems to be enjoying himself. Sunset speeds the feed up a little, but you keep watching Flash on the screen. After a few minutes he gets up and walks over to the edge of the screen, out of the camera's view. Sunset presses a button and the screen switches to another camera. You see Flash again as he walks over to the bar's back wall. He stops for a moment and stays still. It looks like he's just waiting there for something. Then, you see someone else walk up to him. A female.

"There." Sunset slows the feed down to normal speed.

The female comes from below the screen so you can't see her face. She and Flash exchange words for a bit longer before he smiles and takes something from her.

"Come on, turn around." Sunset whispers.

He laughs and puts what you assume to be death sticks in his shirt before he walks back to his friends. The female stands and watches him for a little bit longer before turning around and walking beneath the camera again.

You smile as she inadvertently reveals her face, just for a moment. "It's Trixie."

"We've got her." Sunset says, pumping her arm softly in victory.

"Did Flash say how long she had been dealing here?" You ask.

"He said the death sticks showed up here about a week ago." Sunset replies. "He also said Trixie had been here almost every day at sundown." Sunset pushes a few buttons on the terminal and exits to the main screen. "She's probably got a ship. No doubt she'll try to make a getaway when she realizes she's been caught."

You nod. "I agree."

Sunset turns to face you. "I'll head back and check to see if the spaceport has any records on her or her ship."

"Sounds good." You say "I'll stay here and wait for her to show up."

You both turn around and leave from behind the counter. One or two patrons were giving you strange looks for being back there, but you ignore them. The two of you move through the crowd of people and exit the bar.

Sunset looks at you as she walks. "I'll be waiting for your transmission."

You nod at each other and she heads back to the spaceport. She won't have to wait too long, hopefully. The sun will be down in about an hour or so. Across the street, you spot a building that overlooks the bar. You activate your jetpack and fly up to the roof. Once you land, you survey your surroundings and then sit down, watching the bar's entrance below for any sign of Trixie.

You take a deep breath. "And now we play the waiting game..."

Author's Note:

Flash Sentry.

Death sticks.

A typical cantina.