Alive. There is no word better fitting the situation, nothing that would personify the thrill and chill that courses down his spine and back up. Imagine exhilaration, now multiply it by a thousand times... you're almost there. Luck.
It had been done only an hour earlier but results would be felt for a time yet. The mark had been a political figure for one of the galaxies major leading factions... the hit had been surprisingly easy. More and more these days the rich and political eleet seemed to be letting their protection slip, relying more and more on reputation.
Imagine the crudeness of it and yet the simplicity in action.
He'd done little more then pick a lock, override a few primitive and out-moded security devices, scale across the ceiling, concuss a pair of armored sentries, then move onto the target itself. Just like the old days, only, the old days never paid this well. Nor did they often afford him a little personal joy.
The feeding had been a bonus for the hitter, just a little thrill never mind a calling-card.
A life of gluttony and feeding off of the misfortunes of others had made the mark plump with luck and life, so much that it seemed ready to leak out of its pores. It hardly even noticed as the hunter stalked up to its sleeping bunk, nor did it stir when the hunter slipped a long, thin needle under its flesh. Only when he moved to feed did the body stir, its eyes flaring wide open in sudden fear but, its body had refused to respond... it had been paralyzed. Terror had filled its eyes while the hunter ate his fill of what the mark had so much.
Special requests had been implied by the client, a request that made quite a mess of the room but would surely earn a bonus.
When finished the hunter had slipped out along his own pre-planned escape route without notice. Nor had he been noticed upon arrival. From entrance to departure, he was an unknown variable... Nothing he had done would leave anything that could be traced back to him, though the authorities would certainly pick up on the nature of the job. There wouldn't be much room for discussion... A Bounty Hunter of some sort had pulled this job
From start to finish, the job had taken no more then 10 minutes and, had left a headless corpse sprawled across its bedchamber... blood puddling on the floor. So easy was the job, and so confident was he in its act that he had watched from a tapcaf as the authorities had arrived. He watched as they questioned any potential witnesses, and even offered an opinion or two of his own. They knew, and would know, nothing.
Once pleasantly satisfied he had strolled out of the tapcaf for a wander about the city, riding the high of his own kill. Euphoria followed his steps as he boarded a small untraceable shuttle that had been fitted with a special, stolen transponder. After stowing the clients 'special request' in hidden compartment he'd slipped into the pilots chair of the small couriers shuttle and, with haphazard attention to detail, flew the ship out of the planets orbit.
Once sufficiently far from the planet he activated a pre-set message beacon, routed through countless system devices, even if it were traced, the trail would end here... in the middle of nowhere dangerously close to a polar black-hole.
"The job is done. Requests filled. Expect delivery."
Just one more dead Hapan diplomat in a sea of scum.
It had been done only an hour earlier but results would be felt for a time yet. The mark had been a political figure for one of the galaxies major leading factions... the hit had been surprisingly easy. More and more these days the rich and political eleet seemed to be letting their protection slip, relying more and more on reputation.
Imagine the crudeness of it and yet the simplicity in action.
He'd done little more then pick a lock, override a few primitive and out-moded security devices, scale across the ceiling, concuss a pair of armored sentries, then move onto the target itself. Just like the old days, only, the old days never paid this well. Nor did they often afford him a little personal joy.
The feeding had been a bonus for the hitter, just a little thrill never mind a calling-card.
A life of gluttony and feeding off of the misfortunes of others had made the mark plump with luck and life, so much that it seemed ready to leak out of its pores. It hardly even noticed as the hunter stalked up to its sleeping bunk, nor did it stir when the hunter slipped a long, thin needle under its flesh. Only when he moved to feed did the body stir, its eyes flaring wide open in sudden fear but, its body had refused to respond... it had been paralyzed. Terror had filled its eyes while the hunter ate his fill of what the mark had so much.
Special requests had been implied by the client, a request that made quite a mess of the room but would surely earn a bonus.
When finished the hunter had slipped out along his own pre-planned escape route without notice. Nor had he been noticed upon arrival. From entrance to departure, he was an unknown variable... Nothing he had done would leave anything that could be traced back to him, though the authorities would certainly pick up on the nature of the job. There wouldn't be much room for discussion... A Bounty Hunter of some sort had pulled this job
From start to finish, the job had taken no more then 10 minutes and, had left a headless corpse sprawled across its bedchamber... blood puddling on the floor. So easy was the job, and so confident was he in its act that he had watched from a tapcaf as the authorities had arrived. He watched as they questioned any potential witnesses, and even offered an opinion or two of his own. They knew, and would know, nothing.
Once pleasantly satisfied he had strolled out of the tapcaf for a wander about the city, riding the high of his own kill. Euphoria followed his steps as he boarded a small untraceable shuttle that had been fitted with a special, stolen transponder. After stowing the clients 'special request' in hidden compartment he'd slipped into the pilots chair of the small couriers shuttle and, with haphazard attention to detail, flew the ship out of the planets orbit.
Once sufficiently far from the planet he activated a pre-set message beacon, routed through countless system devices, even if it were traced, the trail would end here... in the middle of nowhere dangerously close to a polar black-hole.
"The job is done. Requests filled. Expect delivery."
Just one more dead Hapan diplomat in a sea of scum.