Jay'Col stood to attention at his post, assigned to him by the human guard of the Astral Astoria. "86th floor, Administration Level 7" he thought to himself, a silent sigh appearing and dissapearing again. Jay'Col smiled at the concept that this was better than his past though, shuddering to himself at the same time.

The Humiliation... The Sneakery....

Jay'Col gripped his force pike, trying to forget what had happened. Jay'Col's officer was about to enter his patrol area.

"hows the day, Marine?" the officer asked.

"Fine sir, no violence to report" Jay'Col sternly replied.

Peace is short, however....

"I already told you, I don't know where he is!"

The speaker took a step backward. His frail alien form was one not suited to encounters of this nature. On his homeworld of Sullust, his people were more inclined towards economic advancement than close-combat fighting, especially when confronted by one as menacing as this bounty hunter.

The form that now advanced on him was as different from the alien as a Wookiee was from an Ewok. Towering well above two meters in height, the sheer bulk of the human - or part human - dwarfed the alien. His eye shone with the light of a predator on the hunt, and his muscles - what few real ones he had - tensed with each refusal from the little creature.

The cyborg bounty hunter stepped forward to match the Sullustian's retreat. "Look, in about a minute I'm gonna start tearing off limbs. Now, I was told by several reliable sources that this guy has hired you on several occasions. So you know where he is, and you're going to tell me. Immediately."

Cendar Robutha already had a headache, and for a man with only about half an organic head, to make it worse was quite a feat. His target had led him on a chase through the entire galaxy, or so it seemed, and now on the neutral Astral Astoria Cendar was being stonewalled by an alien less than half his size. Something wasn't right with that.

The Sullustan, already ready to wet his pants, did something very stupid. Very stupid. He squealed and took off down the hall. Had he known anything about the bounty hunter facing him, he would have known that was a very stupid thing to do, but Cendar's name wasn't very well known in the galaxy. Not like Boba Fett's or Beff Pike's. At least not yet.

Cendar lifted his arm, and what appeared to be bolts of electricity shot from his synthetic fingers. This feat scared the crap out of most people, since the electricity was similar to the feared Sith lightning. But Cendar could neither feel the Force nor use it. Instead, the electricity was created by a small generator installed in his robotic forearm and emitted through tiny holes in his fingers. The range was not far, but it was enough to give the alien a good shock.

The Sullustan went down, stunned. As it writhed from the pain of the short burst, Cendar calmly strode over. Leaning down, he asked, "Now, are you going to give me a location, or do I have to wring it out of you?"

As he bent down, though, Cendar made one mistake, one simple mistake, but it was enough to cause a very complicated problem. He didn't look down the side hallway. Had he done so, he might have seen the Astoria guard at the other end, and the problem might have been avoided. As it was, the Guard, were he looking, could see the Sullustan fall and the cyborg lean over him.

Jay'Col charged his force pike. "you are under arrest by the warrant of the anti-violence act of sector 84!" Jay'Col shouted, leaping with full coyn strength, smashing Cendar with it.

Cendar barely heard the pounding of the Coynite's footsteps in time. As the force pike swept downwards (why the alien was swinging it instead of simply prodding him into unconsciousness Cendar didn't know), the bounty hunter whirled out of the way and allowed the full force of the blow to strike the already-stunned Sullustan. With impact, the tiny alien slipped from half-consciousness to a full blackout with no more than a slight grunt.

As the pike swung back towards him, Cendar caught the shaft and pulled, dragging the Coynite towards him. His left hand shot out in an attempt to force the black-furred creature to join the Sullustan; however, his robotic hand met the organic strength of the Coynite, and they stood in deadlock for a moment.

In that moment, Cendar realized that even his bionic strength would not be enough to overcome the being with which he grappeled. So instead of utilizing brute force, which undoubtably was his greatest asset, Cendar attempted to twist the alien's hand far enough around to force it to its knees. He failed.

Instead of the alien's hand moving, Cendar was pushed backwards. He lost his grip on the force pike and fell as it swept over his head. Rolling as he hit the floor, he scrambled to his knees just as the pike came forward once more. This time it struck him full in the chest, toppling him and causing a temporary paralysis.

He was just beginning to regain the use of his arms by the time Jay'Col had shouted that he was under arrest. He let his breath out slowly, hoping that his circuits would come back online by the time he was handcuffed, but this was not his lucky day. The Coynite rolled him over and had him bound in moments. Cendar cursed under his breath. There was only one thing left to do.

"Nice work, Officer," he said as he lay on his stomach. "You're a pretty good hand with that weapon there. One has to wonder what you're doing working here at the Astoria. You could be making some darn good money on the other side."

Jay'Col looked at the cyborg now on his feet, handcuffed.

"dont think i havent considered it" Jay'Col murmured, putting feetcuffs on him and pushing him against the wall while he picked up the Sullustan.

"Considering i ashamed my entire clan" he sighed to himself. "what did you have in mind?" Jay'Col asked.

"Well," replied Cendar, now on his feet, "first I remove these handcuffs."

What the coynite couldn't have known was that Cendar's implants weren't just offensive. A personal shield is a funny thing. Most people use them only for defensive purposes, usually to stop a few blaster bolts while they get under cover. What these people do not realize is that the shield has another purpose.

As he spoke, Cendar activated the shield generator enclosed in his bionic arm. Barely missing his other hand, the shield activated, slicing through the metal of the handcuffs like they were made of flimsy. His arms whipped around, bringing the edge of the shield to where it singed the hair on the coynite's throat.

"Secondly," he continued from his new position of advantage, "you drop your weapon." If the coynite didn't respond, Cendar wouldn't kill him - he wasn't completely ruthless - but he would destroy the force pike. Getting stabbed wasn't fun.

Jay'Col looked into the cyborgs "eyes". "Damn" he muttered, lowering his force pike to the ground.

"So, any idea how you could help me?" Jay'Col smirked.

Cendar smiled as the coynite dropped the weapon. "Sure," he said. "I can help you out." Deactivating the shield, Cendar hefted the coynite's weapon. "Hm," he commented. "Not very well-made. Or at least I've seen better.

"How can I help? Well, first I'll require you to help me. You're going to pick up that Sullustian and carry him back to my room. We need to interrogate the little thing." Cendar's forms of interrogation were not traditional or clean. Unless the creature talked, it was very likely that it would lose a limb or two.

Cendar waited for the coynite to pick up the alien, then he started for his room. It wasn't too far, only one floor up and a couple hundred yards away, so they arrived fairly quickly. Only a few creatures noticed them, but for the most part they were ignored. The observers thought the alien had drunk too much and the guard was delivering him back to his quarters.

As they walked, Cendar introduced himself, "I'm Cendar Robutha, bounty hunter extraordinaire. Or at least that's what I aspire to. You?"

"My name is Jay'Col, I am Coynite, of no profession" Jay'Col smiled, striding along with the unconcious Sullustan slumped onto his shoulder. The small creature weighed nothing to Jay'Cols hulking form.

"So, what are we going to do with this creature?" Jay'Col asked Cendar quietly, stepping into Cendar's dormitory. Section E of the 103rd floor was, in a few words, a scrapheap. Brown rust lined every doorway, contrasting to the beaten grey walls. A Twi'lek stood by one doorway, offering what people call "earthly pleasures." Jay'Col and Cendar walked straight past her and into Cendar's apartment.

The apartment reflected its guest; mysterious and rough. Jay'Col had never feared much, but Cendar brought up a new feeling inside him. A dark feeling.

"Here we are" Jay'Col smiled.

"So, what are we going to do with this creature?" Jay'Col asked.

Cendar chose his words carefully. The walls of the Astoria had ears, and he didn't want to give anything away. "That Sullustian has...information that is very useful to me. Information on a job that I was assigned and that must be completed. He's hiding something very valuable, and I need to find it."

As he finished speaking, they reached Cendar's quarters. Cendar took a deep breath, the smells of his apartment assaulting his nostrils with a pungent yet familiar smell. They entered, and the massive blast doors slammed shut behind them. "Dump the creature on the bed," Cendar ordered as he headed for the small fridge. He pulled out a brandy and offered some to Jay'Col.

"Now," he said, sipping from a glass, "Let's see what this thing knows." He withdrew from a pouch on his leg a small syringe and injected it into the Sullustian's bloodstream. The creature stirred, then opened its eyes to see the grim face of his tormenter staring down at him.

Cendar smiled and said, "I can speak more freely here. There aren't any bugs. This alien has information to the whereabouts of one Dweku, a Rodian I have been hired to...eliminate. If the little creature cooperates, we won't have any trouble. If not," he withdrew a small vibroblade, "we can start removing fingers. So, what'l'it be?"