The Hunter's Serenade Ch. 01

The rhythmic thuds of boots and armor rang in the dark maroon hallways of King Gornu's Palace. An ominous imposing bounty hunter strode silently behind two Hyraxian honor guards. The bounty hunter was clad in black plated tactical armor with various orange symbols and accents; a matching hooded cloak hung off the imposing figure's right shoulder.

The guards stopped as they approached a set of grand-looking doors built on an intimidating scale. As the gates slowly parted, the Hyraxians opened a passage for the armored figure. The imposing hound-like sentries near the entrance couldn't help but portray visible unease at the figure's commanding presence.

Once inside, the bounty hunter observed his employer leisurely perched on a large satin bed, surrounded by several of his alluring concubines as he puffed some Spice.

"Oh oh oh! Sev!" King Gornu bellowed, taking a big puff from his Spice hookah. "I'm glad to see that you have returned so soon. Can I safely assume that the job is done?" he queried rubbing his fat green belly.

"Yes, the job is complete," the bounty hunter responded in a bereft tone. With deliberate motion, he swiftly unveiled his cloak and produced a mysterious brown sack fastened to his waist. As he offered the pouch to the rotund king, Gornu raised his bushy brow in curiosity. He signaled one of his servant girls to retrieve the sack from the paid hunter.

A red-maned concubine, adorned in seductive crimson attire, gracefully rose to her feet. Obediently striding to the bounty hunter, she cast an alluring presence in the fancy chamber, the air thick with Spice.

As the slave girl drew closer to the armored hunter, her presence strangely resonated with him. His aggressive V-shaped visor fixated on her, peering deeply into her very being. Her siren-green eyes seemed to conceal secrets. His eyes widened under his visor, triggered by a sudden sense of recognition.

Grazing her fingers on the sack, she was met by his gloved hand grasping her delicate wrist with a vise grip. A sharp gasp escaped her lips, her eyes locking onto the hunter's menacing visor. Perplextion and fear spread within her as her eyes gazed into the black void of his visor. She sensed something, a sense of familiarity and dread swelled, causing her stomach to churn.

"Do we have an issue, Sev?" Gornu began in a threatening, yet cautious tone. "May I why you have your hands on my property??" The bounty hunter who was known to King Gornu and many across the galaxy by the name of Sev, remained unresponsive. His focus on the slave girl's presence remained unwavering. Sensing the growing tension in the air, the king slowly sat up into a more postured position.

Before the situation could escalate further, Sev released his grasp from the girl's wrist and redirected his attention back to the more-than-plump lord.

"There's no issue, my lord," he answered coolly. "It's just that your ...concubine seems a little familiar..." Sev pointed out in a slow and suspicious tone. The redhead redirected the gaze of green eyes to the floor, wary of uttering a single word.

"Ho oh oh!" Gornu bellowed with pride. "She is one of my new prized possessions! I just got her recently! Gaha!"

"Is that right?" Sev quietly muttered to himself, his suspicion lingering under his breath.

"Emma! Come, bring me the sack," Gornu summoned the red-maned slave girl with a commanding tone. Sev's suspicions were proven correct right then and there about the girl. The bounty hunter couldn't help but shake his head in disapproval. "Never thought she would end up in a place like this," he reflected inwardly. He knew Emma well. As well as an adversary could, at least. She had always been a pain in the neck to deal with since she had often taken out contracts that were directly opposed to the interests of his own employers.

Sev wasn't sure exactly how he felt. On the one hand, it was gratifying to see her in her current predicament; Emma had cost him quite a few jobs. Yet, he was curious how she had managed to get herself caught like this. But he had no time to acquire the details: he just wanted to take his reward and depart this hell hole of a planet as quickly as possible.

Accepting the sack from his slave's trembling hands, King Gornu unsealed it in leisurely fashion, only gradually revealing the gruesome sight within. As Gornu peeled back the fabric, the severed head of one of his rival Spice cartel lords appeared. Its appearance sent a shiver through the room: its lifeless eyes were rolled back in their sockets; a tongue lolled out of its slack mouth. A sizable hole located precisely in the middle of the forehead strongly suggested the method by which the demise of the king's rival had been achieved.

The king's grin widened, radiating satisfaction, as he observed the macabre trophy with satisfaction before calmly sealing the sack. "Gaha! I am immensely pleased with your work, Sev. I should have brought you into my service far earlier!" Gornu boomed with delight, taking another puff of Spice.

"Would you mind indulging me with a few details about how you managed to execute your assignment?" the fat pig queried, still basking in the success of the job.

"I don't have time for small talk. All that matters is that the job is done. You contracted for the end result, not for the purchase of my trade secrets," Sev replied in a slightly irritated voice. Gornu cocked his brow, his previous smile of satisfaction now briefly displaced by a snarling hostility.

Gornu quickly poured a honeyed tone over his momentary loss of composure. "Hm, I suppose you're right. This job is done, that's all that matters." Gornu slowly nodded, sensing the baleful bounty hunter's impatience. The king snapped his fingers, causing another of his slave girls to appear bearing a suitcase. "Your payment, as agreed upon," Gornu said, with seeming graciousness.

Accepting the suitcase from the girl's hands, Sev unlocked it and cautiously cracked it open, disclosing stacks of unique and rare-looking metal alloys. Closing the suitcase, Sev nodded in approval. "Are they to your liking?" Gornu asked, verifying that Sev was content with his payment.

"Yes, this will suffice nicely. It's been a pleasure doing business," Sev answered, offering a small two-fingered salute. Gornu, relieved that the transaction had ended smoothly, let out a small sigh of relief.

"Hmm, it's been a pleasure... I hope we can do more business. I have no shortage of jobs lined up that require a person in possession of your talents. Just give my bounty liaison a call whenever you desire, ho ho ho!" Giving a slight nod, Sev took one last look at the red-headed girl before departing the king's personal chamber.

As the enigmatic bounty hunter departed, King Gornu reached out and grabbed the red-maned slave girl, his touch invasive. He questioned her, "Have you had any prior acquaintance with that man?"

Emma, with a slow nod, replied, her voice barely above a whisper, "Yeah, you could say something like that, Master. He was an adversary in my former life..." She attempted to recover her equanimity, acutely aware of her master's dominating presence.

-

Back on his ship, the bounty hunter stowed the suitcase containing the valuable alloys in his personal safe. He then settled into the cockpit and initiated contact with his personal AI.

"Kira," he called out.

"Yes, boss? I observed that everything proceeded smoothly. Well done," a female voice responded from within his helmet.

Sev, a hint of vindication in his tone, retorted, "Yes, as usual. I've told you to cease doubting me all the time."

Kira, being well-informed as always, promptly interjected, "Job number 567 has been logged in the database."

"Sorry, Sev. I'm just analyzing the statistics. King Gornu is a highly erratic factor," the feminine AI tried to clarify. "He could have gone back on his word and possibly tried to kill you." Sev shook his head and started to tinker with the controls of his ship as he listened to her explanation.

He paused briefly to contemplate the array of adverse consequences if the mission had gone wrong. Sev was forced to reluctantly agree with his trusty AI that King Gornu was indeed an erratic employer. But fortune favored the bold. What he had been seeking was of elusive rarity nowadays. The rotund warlord had been the only being within a hundred parsecs who had the know-how and the leverage to obtain the Hyperium Alloy.

But after running the whole job quickly back through his mind, Sev nodded affirmatively to himself. He was still confident that he would be able to handle whatever came his way if things were to go sour with King Gornu. He was, after all, one of the most notorious and dangerous independent bounty hunters in the galaxy.

"So, Sev, may I ask why you needed more Hyperium? You still haven't told me anything," Kira queried in a slightly whiny tone. "Your armor is in no need of repair. And it seems safe to assume that you aren't just going to turn around and sell it off, given how hard it was to obtain in the first place." The curious AI listed several increasingly unlikely speculations as to why he had needed to go to such lengths to acquire the surpassingly rare alloy. But to her dismay, the bounty hunter refused to elaborate any further.

Beneath his helmet, Sev chuckled lowly at his AI's curious conclusions. "What's the matter? Have something to share? Come on, please tell me." Shaking his head while still wearing an amused grin, he ignited the ship's engines. A powerful, high-pitched rumble cascaded through the entire cockpit and cabin, signaling the ship's readiness for action.

"I'll let you in on it once we're clear of orbit," Sev informed the AI. He couldn't see her, but he could hear the faint excitement in Kira's response, a small and intrigued giggle.

"Set Input coordinates for the Conclave," he commanded as he deftly guided the ship, initiating the course for their next destination.

"Understood, boss. Inputting coordinates for the Conclave," Kira obediently answered.

Lifting off from the landing pad, the ship executed a swift ascent, hurtling upward into the planet's turbulent atmosphere. It sliced through the layers of thick, orange-tinged clouds that shrouded the skies over Abogon. The vessel quivered under the strain of the rapid ascent, but the seasoned bounty hunter barely registered the turbulence, maintaining an unwavering focus on the next item on his to-do list.

Breaking free of the planet's murky atmosphere, the vessel swiftly entered the inky expanse of space. With a confident nod, Sev relinquished control of the ship to his capable AI and settled back in his seat, ready to make the jump into the vast cosmos.

"Coordinates for the Conclave locked in. Jump space drives primed. Temporal harmonics stabilized. Engaging quantum inhibitors..." Kira relayed the vital systems check, going through the routine procedures with precision. "Are you ready, boss?" she inquired. Sev gave an affirmative nod in response.

Kira continued with an air of readiness, "Initiating faster-than-light-speed jump sequence."

Kira began the countdown, "Launching in three... two... one..." In an instant, the ship surged forward at incredible speeds, piercing the fabric of spacetime. The view through the cockpit window transformed into a mesmerizing tunnel of cerulean streaks of light as they hurtled through the enigmatic realms of jump space.

As the ship translated across the surreal hallucinations of jump space, Sev couldn't help but shake his head. An uneasy feeling lingered in his mind and an expression of mild irritation flitted across his features. The abrupt transition and the characteristic whiplash of jump space travel were sensations he had never quite gotten used to, no matter how many faster-than-light-speed jumps he'd undertaken.

Still pensive and vaguely out of sorts, Sev rose smoothly up out of his seat and paced pantherishly over to his well-organized weapons locker, where he began offloading his equipment. With well-practiced motions, he fluidly but methodically unburdened himself, one piece of gear at a time. Unbuckling his utility belt, he laid it out carefully on a nearby workbench. He unlatched his ammunition pouches and performed a brief munitions check. Only then did he begin to unholster the varied assortment of weapons that had served him so well.

As he continued to unload his gear, Kira gently prodded Sev's memory, "Um, boss? Didn't you say that you were gonna explain why you needed all that Hyperium?" Sev nodded in response to her reminder.

"Right..." Sev uttered, his voice carrying a thoughtful undertone, as he finished the soothing task of polishing his trusty railgun. Glancing over at his cozy-looking bunk that was shielded by an opaque curtain, he said, "The Hyperium, it's for her."

"For her?" Kira repeated in a confused tone. Then, recalling something important, she exclaimed in realization. "Oh, right. Of course. Duh. I forgot she was still here. Is she still asleep? Why don't you go check on her, boss?" Sev headed his AI's suggestion and strode over to his bunk.

As he drew the curtain gently aside, a woman came into view, her appearance giving the impression that she was unclothed beneath a loosely draped blanket. Her disheveled, pixie-bobbed black hair gracefully framed her face, and her lips were softly parted in the midst of tranquil slumber.

"How the hell does she sleep through all of that?" Kira wondered aloud in reference to the turbulent journey their vessel had undergone, escaping from Abogon's atmosphere and jolting into jump space.

"How am I supposed to know? She's always been a heavy sleeper," Sev remarked, scratching the top of his helmet.

"Right, and how sure are you that you want to go through with this?" Kira asked, alluding to something unstated. "Will she even accept your offer? I know you've known her for a long time but, well, she doesn't really seem like that type of girl. Are you really that into her?"

"I'm certain. She is one of a kind..." Sev replied, his tone filled with deep sincerity as he cast a glance at the peacefully slumbering woman.

"Huh, whatever you say, boss. This is a tradition of your people, so I'll support you no matter what," Kira assured him. Sev nodded, taking a moment to gaze at the sleeping woman beneath him and appreciate her beauty and elegance.

Sev had always been a lone wolf, and he rarely sought out partnerships with others. He preferred to operate solo, relying mainly on his trusted companion, Kira. This had been his confirmed mode of operation for a long time. However, everything had changed the moment he first crossed paths with Serina, the woman who now slumbered serenely aboard his vessel.

Sev had been well aware of Serina long before they had ever become properly acquainted. Both were renowned as among the top independent bounty hunters in the galaxy, and their reputations often preceded them. Sev's path had crossed with Serina's on numerous occasions during various jobs. However, their respective employers had typically found themselves on opposing ends of the spectrum, leading to a professional rivalry between the two. Despite the conflicts, a deep-seated mutual respect had developed over time.

Their encounters took a turn for the better when a job that Sev had undertaken resulted in the demise of most of Serina's employers. While she wasn't thrilled to find out that she had been involuntarily unemployed, she had at least been spared from sharing their fate as she had been engaged in a different assignment at the time. When Serina was left with no other options and nowhere to go, Sev extended a kind gesture as a way of making amends, recommending her proficient services to his own employers. Serina, though initially skeptical, ultimately accepted the offer, forging a new partnership that would alter the course of their bounty-hunting careers.

In the wake of their alliance, Sev and Serina started collaborating on various jobs, and this shared experience deepened their connection. Sev found himself acknowledging the benefits of working alongside another professional, despite his previous dedication to operating solo. Admittedly, they had to weather some initial tension due to their differing approaches and techniques but, with time, they had managed to overcome these disparities. As they adapted to each other's strengths and methods, a natural synergy developed, transforming them into a formidable and highly effective bounty-hunting duo.

Over the course of their partnership, there were inevitably moments of downtime between missions. However, they tended to gravitate back to each other's company. Eventually, one thing led to another, and they found themselves sharing an intimate connection. Sev wasn't one to actively seek out romantic involvements, especially with someone he considered a professional companion. But Serina was different: he was attracted to her determination and self-assuredness. In fact, it was she who took the initiative; it was a bit awkward, at first, given their professional history. Yet, as they continued to spend time together during their moments of respite, it became clear that their bond extended beyond the professional sphere.

As Sev continued to gaze upon Serina's peacefully sleeping form from behind his visor, he failed to realize that her piercing amber eyes were now wide open and mirroring his stare right back at him. "Whatcha staring at, tiger?" Serina playfully quipped in a raspy voice.

As she slowly sat up, the blanket loosely draped across her chest slipped down and her perky D-cup breasts sprang out of cover. Still shaded by his helmet, Sev's eyes were naturally drawn to her alluring mammaries. Reaching over, he plucked up the blanket and raised it back over her chest.

"Oops! Hmm, thank you. You are such a gentleman," Serina chuckled warmly as she took the blanket into her own grip. Scanning her surroundings, she scratched her head as if she were not yet fully awake. "Hmm, what's going on? Where are we?" she wondered, as she yawned.

"I had to pick up a bounty from Abogon. We just took off from there and we're currently in jump space," Sev informed, deliberately withholding their destination for now. Serina's eyes shot open in surprise.

"Abogon?? How long have I been out?" the pixie-haired bounty hunter exclaimed, sounding a bit bemused.

"Hm... you've been in bed since we left Novus..." he responded, his gloved hand idly rubbing the chin of his helmet. "I'll never figure out how you manage to sleep through all this," Sev continued, his voice carrying a quiet chuckle.

"Hey, if you grow up on Terminus, you can sleep through anything. And after what you put me through last night, you can't blame a girl for sleeping in," Serina chuckled, teasingly. Sev shook his head at her brashness. "But let's not dwell on that," she said. "How did things go with King Gornu? It's been quite some time since my last visit to that wretched planet," she inquired, curious about the outcome of Sev's recent mission.

"It actually went surprisingly well," Sev replied as he took a seat on the side of the bunk. However, his thoughts quickly turned to a particular encounter that made him quietly chuckle.

"What's so amusing?" Serina inquired, moving closer to her armored companion and idly fiddling with his chest plate.

"Remember Emma? 'The Autumn Fox'?" Sev asked.

"Yeah, of course I do. What about her?" Serina responded, growing more curious.

"It might sound kind of crazy, but she's now one of Gornu's slave girls," Sev revealed. Serina's amber eyes widened in surprise.

"No way..." Serina exclaimed, her tone reflecting her astonishment. "Heh, she had it coming to her. That arrogant bitch... well, it's a shame I couldn't get to her before that fat bastard. Hm, but I guess her current fate is rather befitting," she voiced her thoughts aloud, her grip inadvertently tightening on one of Sev's harnesses. Serina had her own history with Emma. As with Sev, Serina and Emma's employment had often led to them working against each other. However, unlike Sev, Serina had developed no mutual respect for Emma.