The pinging noise roused him from the light nap he'd been taking after leaving the main shipping lanes to take a roundabout course towards his intended destination. Taking the time to stretch in the molded leather, reclined pilot's seat, Jason finally opened his eyes, taking a long look at the main HUD that overlaid his view through the reinforced window out of the front of the ship. As he had programmed it, the ship was telling him that they were about to leave warp, or sub-light as it was sometimes called, having arrived bear his final destination, but wanting to take the last stretch of space on his impulse engines. Tapping a button on his seat, the back slid smoothly upright, allowing him to tap the flashing button on the console laid out in front of him which disengaged the warp core, the warp field disintegrating and dropping his ship on the nearest 'safe' distance to the peculiar planet where his target was supposed to reside.
The ship drifted to a stop, the braking thrusters aiding the agile Delta Flyer in its smooth deceleration, while the bounty hunter took his time to take in the view ahead of him. Such a strange place this... Rhydin was. He took a moment to go over the facts of this mission once more, though he was largely flying blind, so to speak. Though he knew most of the information had been disseminated to him through the back channels that he was forced to use on such occasions as this, there was more to it then the black and white lines that were drawn for him. He knew it and it tickled the wrong flags for him that he wasn't being told everything, but he only had himself to blame.
Jason had been a bounty hunter for a very long time, not as long as those born into it, like the legendary Fetts, but definitely longer then any of the others that he had grown up with. The only way to have been in the job this long was to not become attached. Beyond his ship and those few things that he carried inside of it, including his two astro-droids that aided him when it came to taking on other ships head to head, there was nothing anyone could use against him. It also meant that he would be called upon to take on so called 'rebel' factions that were politically too hot for the more public armies to go after. He also had the best track record for taking his bounties alive where others had failed to take them dead.
That was part of the dilemma that this contract presented him. There was a team of six rebels down there and only two of them were to be taken alive. The other four had to be killed with proof of death upon delivery of the two captives. Luckily he'd refitted the storage area to allow room for three sleep chambers, so the two alive wasn't a problem. He didn't kill outright. Well, to clarify, there was never a such thing as needless violence when it came to his work. Clean, crisp and not even a ripple on any radar when he struck, he'd earned more then a few clich? names in his time. He didn't actually ascribe to a single one of them, he didn't need some fancy name for anyone to know it was him, his work spoke for him. When he struck he preferred that there was a zero body count situation left behind.
But the client had been very specific, the entire six person team had to be neutralized, with only two of the women being taken alive and returned to the client. That was personal. But, there were always the rules, and he fell back on his top three at times like this. Number one, a deal was a deal, it didn't change. Two, no questions about the deal, the less you knew the better off you were. Finally, third, always get paid half upfront. There were other rules but they applied to taking care of the job, not its initiation. He'd taken the job, which meant accepting the parameters. If he'd had a problem with them, then he shouldn't have taken it.
That settled into his mind, he mentally shook off his doubts, gripping the dual joystick navigation system, which was the signal for the ship to power up the impulse engines. As it leapt forward like a hungry cat hot on the trail of its soon to be kill, he stretched a finger to the console in front of him, engaging the stolen cloaking device, a small smile coming to his lips. Despite his reputation as not caring about the size of the bounty he was hunting, the almost obscene amount of credits that this one job was going to make him may mean an early retirement for him... Rule number 10, never think about the money about to be made. He grunted, even flinched slightly at the half remembered sting that had followed that rule being spoken all those years ago.
Running his thumb up along the inside of the right control boosted the engines form their normal sixty percent up to ninety, the inertial dampers giving a small shiver at the surge of power the rumbled through the ship for a brief moment. Then all was smooth sailing once more. The HUD in front of him overlaid the visible planet with a digital scan, the two astro-droids automatically adjusting for the additional power in the flight path by repositioning the angle of entry and vectors for his intended landing zone. He didn't bother with hailing the main port for permission to enter the defense perimeter. The cloaked ship would hardly cause a ripple on even the most sophisticated and sensitive of radar systems, and this was far from that. Shooting past the outer markers, he allowed the droids to guide his path around the stronger of the detection satellites.
The Droids began their preparations for the entry into the planet's atmosphere, bringing up the heat shields and urging him to slow down to maintain their cloaked state throughout the descent into the atmosphere. A warning indicator was finally flashed, beside it the various details of the strain on the ship and various other pertinent facts, warning him that following his current course of action was not good for what he had set out as part of the mission, that stealth was paramount in this. ?Fine,? he growled, mostly to himself, but a similar rub of his thumb in the opposite direction along the inside of the control stick brought the engine's power back to fifty percent, well below the limits of the heat shield to handle their descent without any visible or infrared signature to be found by.
The ship shivered slightly throughout its descent, slowing further due to the friction of the heat shield against the atmosphere, but better it then the naked skin of the skip. Once in the denser lower atmosphere, the flight controls changed from space flight to powered flight through an atmosphere. The flick of a switch in his mind did the same for him mentally, and he was guiding the cloaked ship low over the out lands and forests as he sought out the beacon for his contacts here on the planet. The additional information would help him greatly.
So long as it wasn't breaking rule six, he reminded himself darkly. This had that funny taste of a twist being added, but he'd agreed to the meeting as part of the deal, and there was no breaking rule one. At the precise time he was told it would be there, the navigation system locked on to the beacon that was transmitting on a specific secured frequency. He feathered the controls until he was within five minutes of the beacon, settling the ship on its landing pads without even stirring up the dust. Powering down the engines, he made sure everything was secure as he went into the back where his personal area was.
He stripped out of his pants and shirt, tossing them onto the bed to put back on later, he worked into his under-suit and then battle armor. Sliding his helmet into place he did a couple flexibility tests to make sure everything was settled in place properly, then slipped his assault rifle into it's mechanical holster on his back as he made his way into the cargo space. There he unstowed and uncovered his hover bike, taking the time to ensure that nothing had happened to it during the time he had not used it.
Slipping onto the worn padding of the seat, he flicked the switch to get the engine started, and smiled to hear the engine purr to life. Revving the engine a couple times he then thumbed the cargo hatch to open, shooting out of the compartment when it was barely open enough to allow him through, which meant he caught air as he did so. He didn't need to look back to know the door had already halted and then reversed its progress, sealing itself shut and this returning the cloak to its seamless invisibility. Checking the time displayed on the cycle's instrument cluster, he realized he was running a little behind, necessitating the judicious use of the throttle and taking a more straight line approach to there the beacon was guiding him to. Head deal with anyone curious enough to wonder where he had come from when they showed themselves.
The last distance to the meeting sight was taken through the woods, slowing him slightly as he picked up his visual sweeps, checking for an overt trap as well as anyone trying to follow him. This was dangerously close to breaking rule four, but again, he'd already agreed to it. Parking the bike at the edge of a clearing, he settled it onto it's landing skid and slid off, turning to face the other side of the clearing, to meet whomever it was that had the additional information on his targets.
The ship drifted to a stop, the braking thrusters aiding the agile Delta Flyer in its smooth deceleration, while the bounty hunter took his time to take in the view ahead of him. Such a strange place this... Rhydin was. He took a moment to go over the facts of this mission once more, though he was largely flying blind, so to speak. Though he knew most of the information had been disseminated to him through the back channels that he was forced to use on such occasions as this, there was more to it then the black and white lines that were drawn for him. He knew it and it tickled the wrong flags for him that he wasn't being told everything, but he only had himself to blame.
Jason had been a bounty hunter for a very long time, not as long as those born into it, like the legendary Fetts, but definitely longer then any of the others that he had grown up with. The only way to have been in the job this long was to not become attached. Beyond his ship and those few things that he carried inside of it, including his two astro-droids that aided him when it came to taking on other ships head to head, there was nothing anyone could use against him. It also meant that he would be called upon to take on so called 'rebel' factions that were politically too hot for the more public armies to go after. He also had the best track record for taking his bounties alive where others had failed to take them dead.
That was part of the dilemma that this contract presented him. There was a team of six rebels down there and only two of them were to be taken alive. The other four had to be killed with proof of death upon delivery of the two captives. Luckily he'd refitted the storage area to allow room for three sleep chambers, so the two alive wasn't a problem. He didn't kill outright. Well, to clarify, there was never a such thing as needless violence when it came to his work. Clean, crisp and not even a ripple on any radar when he struck, he'd earned more then a few clich? names in his time. He didn't actually ascribe to a single one of them, he didn't need some fancy name for anyone to know it was him, his work spoke for him. When he struck he preferred that there was a zero body count situation left behind.
But the client had been very specific, the entire six person team had to be neutralized, with only two of the women being taken alive and returned to the client. That was personal. But, there were always the rules, and he fell back on his top three at times like this. Number one, a deal was a deal, it didn't change. Two, no questions about the deal, the less you knew the better off you were. Finally, third, always get paid half upfront. There were other rules but they applied to taking care of the job, not its initiation. He'd taken the job, which meant accepting the parameters. If he'd had a problem with them, then he shouldn't have taken it.
That settled into his mind, he mentally shook off his doubts, gripping the dual joystick navigation system, which was the signal for the ship to power up the impulse engines. As it leapt forward like a hungry cat hot on the trail of its soon to be kill, he stretched a finger to the console in front of him, engaging the stolen cloaking device, a small smile coming to his lips. Despite his reputation as not caring about the size of the bounty he was hunting, the almost obscene amount of credits that this one job was going to make him may mean an early retirement for him... Rule number 10, never think about the money about to be made. He grunted, even flinched slightly at the half remembered sting that had followed that rule being spoken all those years ago.
Running his thumb up along the inside of the right control boosted the engines form their normal sixty percent up to ninety, the inertial dampers giving a small shiver at the surge of power the rumbled through the ship for a brief moment. Then all was smooth sailing once more. The HUD in front of him overlaid the visible planet with a digital scan, the two astro-droids automatically adjusting for the additional power in the flight path by repositioning the angle of entry and vectors for his intended landing zone. He didn't bother with hailing the main port for permission to enter the defense perimeter. The cloaked ship would hardly cause a ripple on even the most sophisticated and sensitive of radar systems, and this was far from that. Shooting past the outer markers, he allowed the droids to guide his path around the stronger of the detection satellites.
The Droids began their preparations for the entry into the planet's atmosphere, bringing up the heat shields and urging him to slow down to maintain their cloaked state throughout the descent into the atmosphere. A warning indicator was finally flashed, beside it the various details of the strain on the ship and various other pertinent facts, warning him that following his current course of action was not good for what he had set out as part of the mission, that stealth was paramount in this. ?Fine,? he growled, mostly to himself, but a similar rub of his thumb in the opposite direction along the inside of the control stick brought the engine's power back to fifty percent, well below the limits of the heat shield to handle their descent without any visible or infrared signature to be found by.
The ship shivered slightly throughout its descent, slowing further due to the friction of the heat shield against the atmosphere, but better it then the naked skin of the skip. Once in the denser lower atmosphere, the flight controls changed from space flight to powered flight through an atmosphere. The flick of a switch in his mind did the same for him mentally, and he was guiding the cloaked ship low over the out lands and forests as he sought out the beacon for his contacts here on the planet. The additional information would help him greatly.
So long as it wasn't breaking rule six, he reminded himself darkly. This had that funny taste of a twist being added, but he'd agreed to the meeting as part of the deal, and there was no breaking rule one. At the precise time he was told it would be there, the navigation system locked on to the beacon that was transmitting on a specific secured frequency. He feathered the controls until he was within five minutes of the beacon, settling the ship on its landing pads without even stirring up the dust. Powering down the engines, he made sure everything was secure as he went into the back where his personal area was.
He stripped out of his pants and shirt, tossing them onto the bed to put back on later, he worked into his under-suit and then battle armor. Sliding his helmet into place he did a couple flexibility tests to make sure everything was settled in place properly, then slipped his assault rifle into it's mechanical holster on his back as he made his way into the cargo space. There he unstowed and uncovered his hover bike, taking the time to ensure that nothing had happened to it during the time he had not used it.
Slipping onto the worn padding of the seat, he flicked the switch to get the engine started, and smiled to hear the engine purr to life. Revving the engine a couple times he then thumbed the cargo hatch to open, shooting out of the compartment when it was barely open enough to allow him through, which meant he caught air as he did so. He didn't need to look back to know the door had already halted and then reversed its progress, sealing itself shut and this returning the cloak to its seamless invisibility. Checking the time displayed on the cycle's instrument cluster, he realized he was running a little behind, necessitating the judicious use of the throttle and taking a more straight line approach to there the beacon was guiding him to. Head deal with anyone curious enough to wonder where he had come from when they showed themselves.
The last distance to the meeting sight was taken through the woods, slowing him slightly as he picked up his visual sweeps, checking for an overt trap as well as anyone trying to follow him. This was dangerously close to breaking rule four, but again, he'd already agreed to it. Parking the bike at the edge of a clearing, he settled it onto it's landing skid and slid off, turning to face the other side of the clearing, to meet whomever it was that had the additional information on his targets.