[Author's note: I want legitimate contributions to this story. Anyone who adds silliness or destroys the storline will have their posts removed, and may be banned from this forum section.]

CHAPTER 1 - Mince dropped the two freeze cubes into his drink and listened to the fizzle of the liquid. He cupped his hands around the glass and felt it chill in his grasp. He hadn't had a Correllian ale without freeze cubes in as long as he could remember, and the strong drink just didn't taste the same without them. He raised the glass to his dry lips, and drank it slowly, savoring the flavor. He relaxed, enjoying is stay at the bar. Times had been good for a smuggler, with all the new restrictions the Empire was putting out. Now there were far more different kinds of things to be smuggled, from blasters to slaves...but Mince was no slaver. He had spent less of his time getting work at Nar Shaddaa, instead shipping loads of spice on the Kessel run. Now he was home, and ready for more work. Mince got most of his jobs from sitting in bars, much like the watering hole he was in now. Smuggling was, however, still quite a dangerous buisness, and nobody could take chances in his profession and live to gain from them. A sad smile crossed his face as a memory glimmered in his mind…but he shrugged it off, concentrating again on his drink. He finished the ale and got up to leave just as a short, nervous Rodian entered the bar, asking the patrons near the door if they had seen him. Mince sighed and followed it out into the streets of Nar Shaddaa. He grabbed the creature around the neck and pulled the struggling alien into an alley. The shadows disguising his features, Mince carefully studied his potential employer. The Rodian rubbed his neck for a minute, starring at Mince with his big black eyes. Finally, he began to speak.

"You are Reval Mince?" The pale green alien asked him quickly.

"That I am, but you better do some talking, or there won't be enough left of you to get to know me."

The creature motioned to the bar as he spoke, in heavily accented basic. "Come, I must talk to you…return to the bar."

Mince followed the Rodian into the bar, keeping his eye on the creature. From his first assessment he had identified no obvious weapons, except a holdout blaster in a holster on the alien's upper arm. This Rodian didn't seem dangerous, but Mince was one to know that appearances are nearly always deceiving.

"First" the creature began, "My name. I am Cralus Var, perhaps you have heard of me?" Mince shook his head.

"Anyway, I am a famed hired gun, an excellent assassin."

"Really? What does an assassin want with a spacer like me?" Mince sneered.

"A lot" Cralus said, with still no readable expression on it's face. "I have…acquired a bounty on my head."

"Can't you fend off a few bounty hunters, being the great assassin that you are?" Mince said, with a dangerous tone in his voice. "I don't have time for this…"

"Listen to my tale" the Rodian insisted, "I'll pay for your time if you are not interested."

"My time is valuable" Mince said, a smile crossing his features, "But I'll listen…"

Cralus waited, obviously for effect, then began "I took a job for a Hutt, knowing of the dangers that presents. I was commissioned to silence a member of another Hutt's court, a traitor that was leaking information to another clan. I took the job, and did the deed, but things got messy. I had the entire section of guards on me, all armed and out for a kill to please their master. In the fight…I swear I had nothing to do with it, the old Hutt died. I was trapped, and a stray shot that deflected off the wall behind me hit the fat slug and killed him. It was his own guard that shot him! I hadn't even fired my blaster yet, relying on brains rather than ammo to get outa there." The Rodian paused, sipping his drink, then continued... "I was, of course, blamed for the death…and my employer was so outraged that he ordered a bounty on my head…an outrageous bounty." Mince motioned to a waitress for another drink, all while half-heartedly listening to the alien's story. "Such bounties are dangerous, they attract the most ambitious of Bounty Hunters, but I was doing alright, that is, until…"

"Boba Fett" Mince interrupted, "You got Boba Fett on your tail and you need to catch a ride somewhere where he won't find you" "That about sums it up." The Rodian said, downing the last of his drink.

Mince leaned back in his chair with a smile. He took a large swig of his drink and laughed.

"You're joking, right?" Mince laughed. "I've got enough problems without getting on the wrong side of some bounty hunters."

"Yes, but..." the Rodian stammered.

"But nothing. I'd be a fool to intervene in Fett's matters." Mince said seriously. "I don't think you'll find a spacer around here that'd do that."

"You don't understand..." the Rodian continued frantically.

"No, my friend, you don't seem to understand." Mince said, getting up. He paused for a second, unsure of how to finish off the conversation. "Good luck with Boba Fett," Mince said, putting on his jacket. "You're sure as heck gonna need it."

With that, Mince walked out of the bar and began toward the hangar. He was almost a half-hour off schedule, and the Hutts on Kessel didn't like it when smugglers were late.

The first thing he heard on upon entering the hangars was blaster fire. Two troopers walked by him on their way to the disturbance. They had a duty to investigate these things, but they never really got involved in petty fights. They left well enough alone; better some poor bounty hunter or smuggler dead than them.

He could already see that the troopers, after arriving at the door to the hangar, turned and walked away. Approaching the door, he could see why--Slave I, Fett's ship, was lifting off. Hmm, he thought, I knew that Rodian wasn't going to make it long, not with Fett after him. Mince found his ship, boarded, and prepared for his long journey.

Little did he know that Fett hadn't gotten his man, and that the bounty was still on the run--and stowed away in his cargo hold.

[This message has been edited by Dylan (edited October 08, 1999).]

Mince takes off from Nar Shaddaa not knowing that the Rodian was hiding in his cargo hold. He flys closer to the black hole than even Han Solo would to make up for his lost 30 minutes. He gets to Kessel only 5 minutes late and opens up his cargo hold. He gaspes. He looks down to see none other than the Rodian who he had thought was captured by Boba Fett on Nar Shadda. He imediatly pulls his blaster and aims it straight at the Rodian's head.

"What are you doing in there?" he askes.

"I needed to get away from Fett." the Rodian replies.

"give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now and keep the bounty for myself" Mince says.

"I'll pay you the price on my head and a little extra if you don't." begged the rodian

"Oh really? How can I trust you?", Revel Mince held the blaster closer between the rodian's two large, ebony eyes. He learned from his years of smuggling not to take promises at face value, especially from a man with a gun pointed at his head.

Var gulped nervously. "I'm an assassin, an especially good assassin... it's a profitable business. I assure you to make my safety worth your while,". He paused, "even if you do shoot me, the bounty hunters will surely go after you. Like it or not, you have to help me..."

Mince slowly lowered the blaster as the rodian talked, realizing he was right. There was no "Honor among Bounty Hunters", a bounty high enough would make Bounty Hunters fight amongst each other, and even steal dead corpses just to collect the money. As Mince lowered his pistol away from Var's body, he watched the tiny Cralus hop out of the cargo bay of a civilian (stripped-down) version of a Imperial Heavy lifter. The lack of heavy firepower and only minimum armor and shielding made it a hinderance to hide into.

Cralus Dusted himself off and looked around. "So, what do we do now?", he queried to the huge trandoshan next to him.

"You're the assassin, you tell me..." Mince growled cooly, holstering his blaster.

Cralus Var looked around again. "Well, do you have any friends on Kessel?"

"What, you mean people I can trust?", Mince looked down at the miniscule little rodian.

"Yeah, I need to find a safe house," Cralus responded enthusiastically.

"Nope," Revel Mince nodded his head. Anyone and everyone within earshot of the bounty's price would want in on it. Nowhere was safe for the little Rodian.

"Then I'll need a disguise..."

"Disguise?" Mince responded in disbelief, "I have enough trouble descerning one of your people from another! What are you gonna do? Put a mustache on? If anything, you'll stand out!"

Var looked back up at his brawny protector, "I was thinking maybe a change of clothes, a hat, something to mask my features."

"Either way, there aren't many clothing outlets on kessel, unless you want to look like a slave." Mince looked around in the same manner his Rodian friend had. "I guess I could hide you in one of the cargo containers..."

An annoyed expression crossed Var's face "Exactly how short do you think I am?"

Mince was about to respond, but was cut short by a bolt of enrgy zipping by him and hitting the landing strut of his ship. "Find cover!" Mince shouted as he spun around, drawing his pistol and firing at a bounty hunter laying prone over a hill looking down on the heavy lifter. Cralus made a quick break for the inside of the ship, dirt being kicked up through the blaster fire hitting the ground next to him.

Mince, all the while, was trying to make out the sniper has he fired his pistol in the general direction. The hunter was obviously wearing some kind of camoflauge, so making him out would be difficult. Just then he had an idea. He shouted over to Cralus, who was currently cowering in the cargo hold, "Var, get me the Infrared Goggles from the cockpit!"

At first, Var ignored the order, then slowly worked up enough courage to walk up to the cockpit and reach for a pair of IR Goggles under the pilots seat, he tossed it out the rear hold, and went back to cowering. Mince sidesteped over to the mask, firing up at the snipers perch all the way. Meanwhile, the hunter was busy aiming his sights toward the fuel cells. The sound of blaster bolts impacting the hull of the ship, the loud ping, coupled with Cralus Var's fear was almost unbearable.

Mince crouched down, no longer firing, as he reached for the set of IR Goggles lying on the red Kessel dirt. He lowered his pistol a second to don the night vision mask, then proceeded to activate it and re mount his weapon. Mince dove out the side of the Cargo ship, blaster in hand, squeezing the trigger, sending energy bolts flying out towards the now visable enemy. One bolt caught the sniper on his shoulder, another impacting the side of his torso. The Bounty hunter moaned in pain and rolled down the hill opposite of the cargo ship. Mince examined the scene around him, looking for any more bounty hunters out to get his employer. When all seemed clear he dismounted his IR goggles and clipped them to his belt. Mince then climbed up the hill to examine that wounded bounty hunter.

Cralus, curious as to the blaster fire stopping, crawled out the cargo hold slowly, thinking Mince might have taken the snipers bolt. He slid a small BlasTech Sharpshooter out of his holster hanging from his waist. He dropped to his feet and spun around, scanning the area for the sniper. When all seemed clear, he stepped out of the shade of the Heavy lifter shuttle and proceeded to find his employee. He slowly scaled the hill where the sniper had perched, still scanning the area for would be bounty hunters. Once he reached the top he found Mince kneeling over a wounded Human. "well, what do we have here?" Cralus snickered.

Reval Mince was less then amused, busy stripping the bounty hunter of any weapons, armor, tracking devices, anything useful. He handed Cralus the sniper rifle which previously had been his enemy, some ammo clips, and a camoflauged flak jacket. "Use these, much better then that dinky sharpshooter you got there,". Mince himself strapped a belt of flash grenades on while holstering a powerful secondary pistol the wounded sniper had for defense. Mince then pointed to a small plateu a few hundred feet away, "there's a mining colony and a market town that way, I'll pick-up my spice there and return it to the ship. Once I have my cargo bay filled, we can head back to Nar Shaddaa and find a safe place for you,". Mince then remembered something, as he pulled the helmet off of the little Human's head and handed it to the even smaller rodian, "You'll need some head gear if you want to survive the trip there and back, they'll be aiming for the brain,"...

The two flickering forms in the display of the macrobinoculars finished their conversation, and one of them returned to the ship. The rear cargo door slowly opened, revealing the mount for an atmosphereic speeder, probably a swoop. The two forms mounted the vehicle, and roared off twords Botsward Hed, a small market village on a nearby mesa. This was most unusual, figured the Trandoshan who gripped the macrobinocs tightly in her grasp. Most unusual. Mince wasn't a particularly social smuggler, he was more of a loner. What was he doing with a companion, while on a run? Cressla clipped the binocs back on her belt, and watched as the sleek form of the swoop grew smaller in the distance, a great cloud of dust swirling in it's wake. She chewed the mouth piece of her resperator, deep in thought, before shouldering her rifle and mounting her own swoop. Perhaps Mince could use a little more company, at least until she could figure out who his little friend was.

Meanwhile, on the docking pads at Botsward Hed, Mince finishes bolting down the swoop.

"There is the matter if payment, by the way." He said, eyeing the strange looking figure next to him.

"Payment is no issue. I lifted a few relics from the palace of my hutt friend, such as the better part of his Krayt Dragon gemstone collection." The rodian shuffled uncomfortably through his new camo-cloak, down to a pouch on his person, which he opened and breifly revealed the contents to his employee.

"That'll do." Mince stammored, awed by the valuable gem stones. This run seemed pointless, in the light of such easier profit at his fingertips, but Mince suspected doing normal activities would attract less attention. He considered briefly just killing the rodian and taking the stones, but a low growl interupted his thought. He turned to see a tall female trandoshan, rifle raised and aimed at his chest, standing about five feet away.

"Long time, Mince." She spat. "Getting into lots of trouble lately?"

"You know it, Cressla...but I'm kinda in a hurry..." Mince grunted, as he looked around for his employer. The rodian was gone, leaving him staring down the barrel of a particularly big rifle, held in the claws of an unhappy-looking old friend, who obviously didn't follow him all this way to catch up on old times. This job would prove interesting after all...

Cralus slid silently along the hull of the parked speeder, drawing a holdout blaster and circling around the two Trandoshans. He ducked low, making his way behind the larger of the two. Aiming the blaster squarly at the back of the big female, he set it on stun, and fired...to no effect. Cressla began to turn around, bringing her rifle to bear on the rodian assassin. Mince tackled her from behind, and she snapped off a shot as she fell, burning a hole in a nearby building. She snarled, throwing him off almost immediatly, but the big female trando was distracted just long enough for Cralus to fire twice more. Her reptilian eyes rolled up, and she fell to the ground with a solid thud.

"Friend of yours?" Cralus asked, sliding his blaster back into his sleeve and kicking the rifle from the Cressla's unconscious grip.

Mince looked down at the corpse. "Yeah, you could say that. Come on, let's get my shipment and I'll tell you about it on the way back."

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"What makes a great warrior? Many say size and strength. Do not listen to these fools. The true keys to being a great warrior is speed and stealth, as a cougar stalks its prey. The strongest warrior can be defeated by a quick stab to the heart by an unseen enemy. With speed and stealth as your ally, your foes will be vanquished and enemies will be destroyed"
-Kaer Benoar
Togorian Master
of Tijh Tribe

They walked back towards Mince's ship to make the spice delivery. "Cressla and I used to go back a long way," said Mince. "A long time ago, before the Empire placed all these restrictions on trade, I used to smuggle rather exotic goods. Blasters and slaves weren't needed as badly as they are now. I smuggled wild beasts for the entertainment of some rich patron, or I would smuggle in rare metals used to make even more rare goods. It was unlawful to smuggle these goods to anybody without the proper permit. So anyways, Cressla used to be my partner in crime. She would help me get around customs officials and the like. Well one day a Hutt appraoched her with a job opportunity. She instantly deserted me to work for the Hutt. I was angry of course, I had lost a valuable partner. So, through subtle means, I would track her and create little "accidents" for her. I thought she would be convinced that working for the Hutt wasn't worth it and come back to working with me. Well, it worked exactly the opposite. With each "accident," she grew more determined to stay with the Hutt.

One day, a crewmember on her ship caught me trying to disconnect some wires to the engine cooling system. I killed him, but he alerted the enitre ship. When Cressla found out what I had been doing, she was outraged. She was ready to have me disposed of. However, she spared my life for some unknown reason. She did promise that she would hate me forever, and I would never talk to her again. Well, now she's lying back there on the ground out cold. Oh well, make a few friends or lose a few, what's the difference?"

By this time the two had reached Mince's cargo ship. They climbed aboard, and headed off to deliver their cargo of valuable spice...

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-Kane, NOD

[This message has been edited by Ric_Olie (edited May 29, 2000).]

Whoa my old name is on here! (BountyHunter)

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