I spent the entire trip back incredibly stressed. I didn't know what would happen when I landed, and I needed to prepare myself for any possibility. My pistol and armor, which I hadn't used for a large portion of the week were still easily available at the top of my bag, but it would draw too much attention to myself if I tried to use either of them. I hadn't received any new messages from the unknown number for quite a few days now, so I was unaware of their fate, whether they were busy, or were one of the people with new bounties places on them the past few days.
I finally landed after 10 tense minutes. As I searched for a hover taxi to take me back to my apartment, I noticed several people looking suspiciously at me, including several holding weapons. Despite this, I was able to make it back to my apartment without much incident. There, I checked my security systems, upgraded my weapons, and ate my lunch. The FNN was reporting on the current bounties, including my own. Along with this, they noted that my current location was not known to a large part of the galaxy, something that gave me confidence. Soon after though, my security systems began to warn me of an intruder in the building.
I put my suit on and grabbed the nearest weapon. It was a Xe-38 laser pistol and began searching the nearby area. hearing a crash by the front door, I immediately moved towards it and found that the front door had been smashed open. I turned to a nearby closet and continued to search it. Before I could complete the search, someone grabbed me by the arm and threw me out of the closet. As I struggled to my feet, I saw my attacker. It was a physically imposing figure, although I could not see any features, as he was wearing a mask.
I grabbed my pistol, which I had dropped to the floor earlier, and took aim, but the charged at me again, attempting to stab me through a gap in my armor which was meant to “give me more flexibility” I always knew that was a bad choice. I fired in panic, hitting him in the leg, as I hadn’t brought it up high enough for it to hit any vital organs. He stumbled back, in pain as I fired another shot, hitting him in the head, and knocking him down. I stumbled back towards my apartment's living room and found my medpack, and patched up the knife wound.
After that was done, I grabbed my rifle, and left my apartment, no longer considering it safe. Outside, there were policemen, and other residents crowding around, having heard the gunshots. Although they questioned me, I was able to push my way past them, and leave the building. With nowhere better to go, for the time being, I headed back to Deoxmatis 's bar for the first time in quite a while. Before I left, the FNN reported on the events in my house, reporting my location to trillions across the galaxy, making my situation no better.
I soon arrived at Deoxmatis's bar. Since it was still early in the day, The bar was mostly empty, and I had to wait a few minutes before he came up to greet me. "Tragnor!" He said, surprised. "Where have you been?" I sat on one of the barstools. "Hiding," I responded. "Wherever I thought was far enough away, to get out of the limelight." He handed me a drink. "Seems like that worked out well for you." I nodded. "You still have that room you're renting out?" I asked. He stopped for a moment, before nodding.
The room was quite small, consisting of a small bed, desk, and bedside table. It was placed just over the main bar room. I gave him the first payment for staying in the room and left to get all my stuff again. Once I had moved all my stuff in, and informed the owners of the apartment, I returned to the bar for a night of drinking, while keeping my eye out for other potential bounty hunters that could be looking for me. By the end of the day, I wasn't attacked any more times, and I locked the door before going to bed.
As morning came, I checked my funds and watched the news. This time, they were reporting on five other new bounties, and that I had, for the most part, disappeared from their radar, wondering if I had already been killed. As I left to the bar, Deoxmatis saw me looking at more low scale bounties. "You're going to start doing this again?" He questioned me. I stopped just short of the door. "I have to get an income somewhere," I said quietly. He scoffed. "you have enough for another few months!" I turned towards him, slightly annoyed. "And what happens after that? I'm looking to the future!" I responded, before quickly leaving the room.
As I ate at a nearby diner, I found a nice bounty for 50,000 Credits. Not that much, but the same type of small scale killings that I was looking for. The target was a woman named Rak Ziger, who apparently crashed her speeder while drunk, and killed 30 people. As I searched for information on her whereabouts, I received the first message from the unknown number for five days! The message told me that the person who put a bounty on my head was being searched for throughout the galaxy, but hasn't been found due to unforeseen problems. I soon set out again, having located Rak on the other side of the planet.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
