thanks fellas! :)
and i like the sig a lot myself :D

@ Pottsie: he was being sarcastic about that, as usual ;)

@ iggy: well, i have the story written in a short form (very, very short form) in a planning notebook that i keep. ever since i started using a notebook to plan out my fics, writing has been easy going for me, so i shouldnt have much of a problem, but i still write the two fics after at least a day's gap between the last chapter that i wrote, so that i don't confuse the plots and dialogues.

"Yes meatbag...get a breath freshener..."
Too funny. It's a fun story to read.

@igyman--I actually got some really good ideas from people when I posted it a chapter at a time. I tried some different things based on some of those comments and they made it a better story. I couldn't write the whole thing and then post it--it'd be way too long for people to read all at one time and make comments.

You, misunderstood me, Jae, I didn't mean post the entire fic at once, I meant write all the chapters somewhere before you post, that way you've already done most of your work and you only need to fine tune your remaining chapters based on the readers' comments on the first few posted chapters.

LOL!! I was laughing when HK decided to spout his comment at the most inopportune moment. I actually got a few stares. Well I guess HK still has his sense of humor. I liked this entanglement and I am sure HK does as well since he gets to blast some meatbags in the process.

thank you all! i'm still trying to make HK the classic comic relief of KotOR and i'd say i'm doing pretty well :D.
and remember when i said the Rebellion will play a minor part in this? well, make it major ;)

Eric sat in the lounge aboard the Scorcher and contemplated his next move. As he sat there thinking, HK walked in, minus his customary blaster and plus a screwdriver. He sat down next to Eric and got to work on his left arm.

“So, what now?” HK asked as he carefully removed the panel and began replacing the severed wires. “Any plans for the future?”

Eric scoffed and leaned back in a relaxed pose, though he was still thinking hard.

“I doubt I can get good dough as a smuggler anymore,” he said. “Jabba used to tpay the highest. The other rates are so low, I might as well deliver them on foot.”

He fell silent for a while, then his face lit up as he remembered something.

“There’s one person I know,” he said, and looked up at HK to observe the droid distractedly. “He apparently helped in the destruction of the Death Star.”

HK paused and looked up, waiting.

“He was one of my teenage buddies, Han Solo,” Eric said, a fain smile on his face. “Apparently he’s with the Rebel Alliance now.”

“So you plan to join him?” HK asked as he finished connecting the last wire and started fusion-welding his damaged forearm plate.

“Not as active or deep in as he is, of course,” Eric said. “Maybe just as a shipper. They pay well and I'll be doing something worthwhile as well.”

“Whatever you say,” said HK skeptically. “Any idea where to start?”

“Han once gave me a holocomm unit,” Eric said vaguely. “He told me to leave him a message if I needed him. I doubt he still has it, but it’s our best bet to searching all the isolated planetary systems in the Galaxy.”
************************************************** **********************
Eric occasionally regretted that message he had left to Han and this was one of those moments. The icy winds of Hoth nipped at the exposed bits of his face, pinking the flesh. He sneezed violently and sniffed.

“I hate this place,” he muttered to HK, who was standing beside him and was covered in a thin layer of ice. “Did I mention that?”

HK sighed and electronic sigh and nodded.

“My memory banks recorded you saying that phrase one hundred and seventeen times since we landed here initially.”

Eric rolled his eyes and sneezed again.

“It was a rhetorical question.”

“And I gave you a rhetorical answer,” HK replied. “The actual figure is much larger.”

Eric chuckled. Or he might have even been shivering, you could never tell when someone was under that much clothing.

“Let’s go back inside,” he suggested, followed by another sneeze. “Before I catch a serious cold.”

They made their way inside to Eric’s ship and boarded the warm, temperature-manipulated vessel.

“Ahh, I love this warmth,” Eric exclaimed as he pulled off his various coats, thermals and other items of clothing.

Eric and HK had been working for the Rebel Alliance as cargo shippers for the past 6 months. They were making urgent deliveries to Hoth for supplies like construction materials, food, first aid, and so on, punctuated by the occasional race with Han’s Millennium Falcon, which both of them won in turns. Eric wasn’t a very big fan of the climate, but the finances were good and steady, so he decided to live with it. Just as he slumped on his couch and was about to switch on the HoloNet, an alarm blared through the large hangar. It was instantly annoying and irritated Eric, but he kept his calm realizing it was a Red Alert. He pulled his winter wear back on in a hurry and ran out, to see a group of suited up pilots in a circle around Princess Leia. Eric hurried over and listened to her briefing. Just as she was done and everyone dispersed, however, one of the Lieutenants came up to him and cleared his confusion.

“Sir, would you mind gunning for one of our snowspeeders?” he asked Eric. “We need one more man.”

“What’s going on?” Eric asked.

“The Imperials have attacked, sir, and they’ve landed five AT-ATs,”

it's a bit shorter, as compared to my other chapters, but i had to get in gear. thankfully, winning two trophies motivated me enough :D. man, vacation kills!
anyway, please post your comments. enjoy! :)

Yeah, you didn't post a chapter in MONTHS! Anywho, good chapter, and nice seeing Eric saying the phrase about that amount of time. :D

Finally a Chapter. I swear HK himself was getting impatient. I'm looking foward to more. BTW, the Chapter was good.

thanks fellas! i'll begin work on the next chapter on saturday.

Ah, so the saga of the Statement/Query/etc prefix free version of HK-47 continues. :D Glad to see a new chapter. Keep it up.

Stop teasing igyman. RC that was a good chapter. You give good descriptin as to the surroundings and what Eric is feeling in terms of being out of work and workng in a snow covered world. I still miss the prefixes on HK but a bigger question came to mind: What does C3PO think of the assassination droid? I would think HK and R2 would get along as much as HK and T3. Good job. I was wondering if you forgot about this fic.

thanks guys. unfortunately, my brain had clogged up. i'm cleaning and getting abck to work now. :)

“Don’t take your eyes off this screen,” instructed pilot Tycho Celchu, the Rebel Eric had been assigned to for this battle. “There’s an optic fiber mounted at the tip of your harpoon gun, so you’ll be seeing what it’s seeing. When I give the command, use it, whatever the purpose may be.”

Eric nodded once and moved the controls around to get a feel of them.

“I hear you, sir,” he said and buckled himself into his rear-facing gunner seat. Tycho nodded and did the same with his. In a few minutes, they were streaking through the frigid, buffeting winds of Hoth.

“Rogue Squadron,” a voice rang through the comm. “This is Commander Skywalker. I need half of you to tackle those walkers with me and the rest of you to take out all the AT-STs you encounter. You’ll find several to the two o’clock position.”

Tycho was an temporary inductee into Rogue Squardon for this fight and was also among the pilots that broke off and headed for the AT-ST forces harassing the escaping Rebels.

Tycho’s lasers fired in rapid fire mode and several AT-STs were destroyed before they knew what hit them. The survivors turned the chicken-shaped heads at the advancing Snowspeeders and a few of them managed some badly aimed shots before taking fatal blows from the Speeders’ cannons.

“These are too easy,” commented Eric. “Are you sure they aren’t diversions?”

In the next second, Tycho’s comm shouted out a piece of advise in Luke Skywalker’s voice.

“That armor is too strong for blasters,” Luke said. “Rogue Group, use your harpoons and tow cables, go for the legs. It’s the only gamble we’ve got.”

“You may be right,” Tycho said to Eric as he tore off his present course and spun around in a wide u-turn back toward the AT-AT vs Snowspeeder fracas.

Just as the duo caught sight of the first AT-AT’s hulking body frame, Wedge’s voice crackled over the comm,
“Cable out, let ‘er go!”

A second later, one of the five advancing walkers tripped. Tycho and Eric watched as the large terror-weapon of the Empire sank to its knees, then bodily to the ground, exposing it’s vulnerable neck. A pair of Snowspeeders swooped down and with a few well-placed shots, turned the downed behemoth into a pile of rubble. The comm was suddenly filled with whoops and war cries.

Eager to try out the new trick, several pilots went for the tactic. Many misaligned their shots, causing the harpoons to go wide. Several others were shot at. One lucky potshot from General Maxmillan Veers’ walker caught Hobbie’s snowspeeder and the fighter began to lurch out of control. Black smoke was trailing it and Hobbie seemed to be recklessly heading for the ‘head’ of said walker.

“What the heck is he doing?” said Eric, shocked.

“Eh, typical Hobbie,” said Tycho casually as he fired at the visor of one of the nearer AT-ATs. “Watch the finale.”

Eric kept his eyes glued to the front-view screen at his side and watched as, at the last possible moment, Hobbie’s canopy blasted open and a pair of T-47 Snowspeeder seats came flying out.

“That’s how he got his nickname,” explained Tycho as he brought the speeder down and headed for the legs of the walker.

“Ah, does that a lot, I guess,” Eric said, relieved that Hobbie at least knew what he was doing.

“Ready,” said Tycho suddenly, all business. Eric obeyed and vigilantly checked his scopes. “Activate harpoon!”

The leg of the AT-AT came into clear view and Eric pulled the trigger of his gun. The unit shuddered and a sharp, long harpoon shot out of the barrel, trailing a thick, strong cable made of titanium alloy. The speeder swerved as Tycho maneuvered the fighter in tight loops around the walkers’ legs.

“Cable out,” Tycho said and Eric cut the cord that was whipping out, winding around the walker’s legs. The gigantic machine took another step, and went crashing down as it’s comrade had a few minutes ago.

“Good shot, Eric,” congratulated Tycho.

Just as they were heading for another walker, General Rieekan issued an order through the comm.

“All non-Rogue Squadron pilots return to base and board the transports or use your ships immediately. The final stages of evac are in progress. Get going.”

“I guess that mean us,” Tycho said as he broke off the run and headed to base.

“Aww,” said Eric, feigning disappointment. “I was just getting started.”

“You still have time, hotshot,” Tycho said with a chuckle as he cut power to the engines and brought the speeder to rest in the freezing hangars of the Echo base. The pair got out of their fighter, shook hands with a parting farewell, and walked their respective ways.

excuse the shortness again, but as i said earlier, i'm just getting back into the groove, and i've been suffering from cases of depression too, so, yeah.
HK isn't there in this chapter, but he'll be there in the next one. this was mostly flight combat and HK firing a harpoon would have looked lame.

Yeah, he would have simply get out of the Snowspeeder and shoot the heck out of the meatbags. :xp: Good chapter although.

Good chapter. If you ask me, the length is good, it's not too short. Keep it up.

Good chapter. If you ask me, the length is good, it's not too short. Keep it up.

And it's not too long either. Good Chapter. I'm looking foward to more.

thanks guys. the next chapter might take some time as my exams are coming up, so i may not be here often enough to check your fics that much either, just telling.

That was nice. I like how you incorporated parts of ESB into your fic. You read my mind because I think the two-legged walkers looked like chickens. My brother calls them chicken legs. That goes to show you what we think. Good job but what of HK?

he's in Echo Base. i decided to follow your advise and show him interacting with 3PO. i hope you enjoy it when it comes ;).

Sorry to resurrect an old Thread, but RC, are anymore Chapters going to be written for this or Galactic Conquest II?

yes, its finally here. now, as a warning, let me tell you that this is the first time im writing since maybe...5 weeks, so please excuse any crappiness and i want everyone to be extra critical on this chapter to get my sorry writing a$$ back into shape. and take this as a gift to you , JM12, iggy and Pottsie :)

EIGHT

“Oh hello,” rattled a golden protocol droid as it approached HK. “Nice to see another droid here.”

“Then what do you call this R2 unit trailing behind you?” HK asked, in a mood for some fun. “A trash can on wheels?”

R2 beeped violently and rocked sideways.

“Shut up you silly little droid,” HK snapped.

“Really, there’s no need to be rude. We were just trying to be friends.” C-3PO complained.

“Really?” said HK, humoring the protocol droid. “Well, do you enjoy using one of these?” He held up his custom made blaster.

“Goodness me, no!” exclaimed 3PO in a shocked tone.

“Do you even know how to use it?” HK asked.

“I have never handled a weapon in my duration of service, and I certainly don’t plan to do so. I am a protocol droid with the primary purpose of human-cyborg relations. I speak in over…”

“Want to be friends? Learn to shoot meatbags.” HK interjected and walked away, mechanically chuckling to himself. He walked up the entry ramp of the Scorcher and climbed up to his workshop level and got to work on lubricating his ice covered joints.

“You certainly have a way with other droids,” came a voice from the main deck.

“What a prissy droid that was.” HK replied. “It's self-possessed protocol droids like them that give the whole droid community a bad name.”

“I’m not going to ask how,” Eric replied from below as the engines warmed up to prep for take-off. “Hold on tight.”

In three minutes, the ship’s computer listed all systems as go and the YT-2000 lifted out of the icy hangar and blasted into the air.

“Well, where to now?” HK asked as he marched into the cockpit where Eric was checking to see that no systems were affected by the climate on Hoth.

“Since I’m not an officer in their army, the Rebels decided not to make me privy to their newest hiding place. And knowing their taste, they probably might pick another extreme like Mustafar, or Tatooine. I’d like to die of a ripe old age, and not due to weather based causes.”

“So after six months of ‘worthwhile work’ as you put it, can we finally get back to blasting meatbags and giant slugs?” HK asked hopefully.

“Credits are the determinants, HK, not just target practice.” Eric said. “While I don’t consider myself a bad shot, I wouldn’t kill someone just for the fun of it.”

“You really disappoint me, Eric,” HK said, looking down and shaking his head. “I expected a great deal of brutality from you, seeing how you dealt with all the Hutts we met.”

Eric laughed and went back to his computer screens.

“Sometimes I can never tell if you’re serious or otherwise.” He retorted. “Anyway, you’re the assassination droid. What job would you suggest that’s high paying and yet you still get to kill ‘meatbags,’ as you put it?”

HK was silent for a few seconds, as if he was thinking, or, in his case, consulting databanks, and then replied,
“Bounty hunting.”

“What?” Eric looked up. “I’ll be eaten for breakfast by the likes of Boba Fett, Bossk and IG-88”

“Boba Fett is a Mandalorian, and the time I was created, the Mandalorians were the losers. I know what their weaknesses are, that will not be a problem. Bossk is a mere carnivore, throw a juicy bantha steak in his way and his target is forgotten. IG-88 is a primitive collection of metal and wires.” HK replied confidently.

“But I don’t know Fett’s weaknesses, I don’t have a juicy bantha steak, and IG-88 has killed a lot of civilians for a ‘pile of metal and wires’. Do you want me to commit suicide?”

“You forget that I am a top-of-the-line assassin droid, Eric. I enjoy the work, and you get the pay. Everyone wins.”

“Except for the poor fellow that gets into your targeting scope,” Eric mumbled thoughtfully. “All right, bounty hunting it is, but you do the hunting. I’ll just collect the bounties, I’d rather have a relatively clean conscience.”

“Ah. Humans have such weak staminas. Perhaps you should watch more gory holovids.”

“No thanks, I prefer to keep my meals in my stomach.” Eric replied.

“Tsk Tsk. All that potential, wasted.”

“You are one oddly amusing droid, HK.” Eric commented as he got up and headed to his bunks.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” HK replied as he prepared to power down in the cargo hold. He slung his blaster around his metal neck and with a final self-systems check, powered down to standby more, his ice-blue photoreceptors dimming gradually till the whole cargo hold was filled with darkness.

Don't worry RC, I've missed your writing. Anyway, I liked the dialogue between 3P0 and HK, making the Chapter really good. I'm looking foward to more.

yeah, i'm getting back into shape and will write much more now. at least compared to the past few weeks. thanks for the quick reply man.

We're glad you finally updated, RC. :D

Apparently your writing quality has not yet suffered disuse atrophy... :D

well, thats great to hear. thanks man.
hopefully ill get a 1000 word plus chapter for your continued reading pleasure by tomorrow evening.
sit tight all!

Cool chapter, seems the Hunter Killer Droid is finally getting onto the business of Bounty Hunting.

well, at least somebody got it :D.

It's... alive!! Seriously, I'm glad that this fic wasn't forgotten, but it was a long pause. As for the chapter (you said you wanted criticism), it was... *the moment of anxious anticipation* good. Not many things happened, but the dialogues were very nicely done. When it comes to spelling, I only noticed one tiny mistake - a missing apostrophe at the beginning of HK's comment on protocol droids (the one with self-obsessed in it).

well, thats pretty well done for a comeback, i would say. thanks all! stay tuned.

RC is alive again. Great chapter. That conversation with Goldenrod and R2 was amuzing though I think HK would have been better off calling R2 a bucket of bolts. Still glad to see that he kept the meatbag phrases. His logic concerning Mandalorians and humans is amusing. Glad you're back and keep at it.

thanks, JM12, i'm working on the next chapter now. i'll just proof read it and post it maybe today evening or tomorrow morning.

The Trandoshan looked unsatisfied as he sized up the person standing in front of him. He looked to be thinking, which was rare for his species. Tarrk was the officer in charge of getting new recruits for the League of Independent Bounty Hunters.

“You don’t look like bounty hunter material to me,” said the Trandoshan. “Maybe a desk job on Cosuscant will give you all the excitement you need.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Eric growled, making his voice as deep as he could and scowling. “Give me a shot and I’ll prove it to you.”

“Besides,” chimed HK. “I am the most advanced piece of kit that a meatbag brain could develop. The two of us are an excellent team.”

“Whatever you say,” said Tarrk, still unconvinced. “I’ll hand you your first assignment, but first you need to place your thumbprint on a statement that absolves the LIBH of any harm you may come across.”

“Alright,” Eric agreed, and placed his thumb on the datapad that Tarrk handed to him, but not without carefully reading the fine print first.

“Okay, so here’s your first target: a Rodian named Fargo,” said the Trandoshan as he handed them a datapad with all the information they would need about the target’s lifestyle. “He owns a private AI software company on Corellia and lately he’s been sending artificially intelligent R2 units and other such models to us in an attempt to record our secrets to sell to the Bounty Hunters Guild: a rival community. Your mission is to take him out and wipe his personal computer of all plans, research files and anything related to the work of AI. Good luck.”

“Thank you,” replied Eric, taking the pad and glancing through it. “How do we contact you once the job is done?”

“Set your broadwave transmitter to the frequency listed in your pad and send four signals through that. Once done, somebody from our group will meet you here on Polis Massa. You will receive your payment once you give us a bit of proof of your kill.”

“Alright, we’ll set off now.” Eric said with a nod. Tarrk nodded back and walked off. Eric and HK did likewise towards their ship.
************************************************** **********************
Corellia was a very nice place to be in if you were interested in pleasure instead of business, but the Hunter Killer droid and his smuggler companion were now fixed on locating a certain Rodian named Fargo.

“So, where do you reckon we should start?” Eric asked HK as they walked through the urban streets.

“I need a computer terminal. Once I get my hands on one, nobody can hide from me,” replied HK.

“Trouble is, we can’t just walk into a HoloNet Cafй and hope to hack into the databases of private companies. We’ll be tracked in no time.”

“There are plenty of homes around here, I should believe?” HK suggested.

“I’m not gonna break into anyone’s house.”

“It’s the cheapest and easiest way of getting what we need. If we get traced, the person who lives there gets caught.”

“Yes, and we ruin the life of someone we don’t even know.”

“Life is like that. It’s a hunt or be hunted galaxy.”

“You must be getting some perverse pleasure in saying that, aren’t you?” Eric said as he looked around.

“As you say,” HK waved it away. “Shall I deploy my scanners and find a vacated spot?”

“Okay,” Eric finally agreed and watched as HK’s photoreceptors flashed alternatively between blue and green and the droid swiveled his head 180 degrees from right to left and back.

“There,” HK said, pointing around 145 degrees from his right. “As I understand, that’s an office building of a telemarketing company and they have the night off, so the security will be on relative minimum.”

“Okay, so we get in, get to a terminal, get what we need and get out.” Eric said. “And try to take as less time as you can.”

“That will depend on how fast we can get in and out as my skills on the computer terminal will get us through that in no time.”

“How modest,” Eric remarked as they approached the building under discussion. When they reached the door, however, the news was not very good.

“A numerical lock,” HK reported, staring at a keypad set into the wall, numbers glowing bright green through their translucent silicone covers. “I have no idea what the limit for these codes are and under those circumstances, there could be well over a billion possible codes.”

“Okay, so let’s try another building,” Eric said, starting to walk away.

“No other building in the immediate area is unoccupied,” HK reported. “And the sooner we get rid of the Rodian, the more we get paid.”

Eric sighed and came back up to the panel. Not taking his eyes off it, he brought out a small screwdriver from his survival belt and began work on removing the panel. Once done, he pulled it out to reveal the mess of multicolored wires snaking out of its rear face. With an expert disposition, he clipped a few wires with a small penknife. Stripping the plastic insulation from some, he crossed three pairs of different wires and the durasteel door calmly slid open.

“Hotwiring is the key to survival for a smuggler,” Eric commented as the pair made their way into the building. HK marched up to the security guard’s console and punched in some commands. Conversing with the computer via his input keys, HK’s mechanical fingers were almost a blur on the surface of the terminal. He accessed the city’s data files and searched for all information regarding a Rodian named Fargo. The system spent the next 0.15ths of a second scanning and displayed its results.

“We have a match,” HK announced. “Fargo Laquisst: Chairman and Owner of Elements Microsystems, specializing in AI technology. Apparently his office is just a twenty minute walk from here.”

“Alright,” Eric said. “Get the route and let’s move.”

20 minutes later they were staring up a tall building with a neon signboard in the front screaming ‘Elements Microsystems’.

“Time to get to work,” HK mumbled.

Good chapter, and with a cliffhanger! I should try that. :D

Good chapter, and with a cliffhanger! I should try that. :D

Agreed. RC is finally back with a vengeance!

hehe. yeah, i sure am. thanks guys. i gotcha hanging on the edge of your seats now, dont i? :D

A telemarketing company in the SW universe, heh heh, very good RC. :lol: A very good and amusing chapter. Keep it up.

w00t! just noticed: 1000+ views! kewl!
thanks iggy, im glad you enjoyed it. now all i need is JM12's and Jae's seal of approval :D

Hey RC. That was a good chapter. HK is putting to use his logic that it is to hunt or be hunted in the galaxy. You are either predator or prey. That bounty hunter guild thing was a nice touch.

thanks JM :) the bounty hunter guild was inspired by the Bounty Hunter Wars series.

to all: i'm moving over the weekend to i don't know how often i'll be able to access the net, so if i can ill get up one more chapter tomorrow, otherwise i may get one up on tuesday or wednesday.

Ah, no worries, plenty of things to do while a new chapter isn't coming out. Good luck with the moving though.

ok, i managed to scrape this out. here you go. i'll be moving tomorrow so i might not post at all for the next 4-5 days. depends. but when i return, there will be a chapter waiting, and i mean it this time :D.

TEN

It was late night so Eric did not expect anyone to be present in the EM office building at the time, but HK mildly surprised him by reporting that he scanned several sentients in the top levels of the buildings and one of them was a Rodian, located in the Chairman’s office. Needless to say, their target was close. Now Eric panted as he climbed up the stairwell of a neighboring building, struggling to keep up with the untiring assassin droid trumping up the stairs in front of him.

“Why didn’t we just take the turbolift?” Eric gasped, ready to kick himself for not asking this question earlier.

“If you had paid attention to the notices posted on the walls in the Ground Floor, you would know that this building is scheduled for demolition in 3 days. All power has been cut.” HK replied, not looking back.

Just then, Eric stumbled and barely managed to save himself from going over the rail and falling 35 stories by grabbing HK’s strong metal right arm.

“That explains the lack of light,” Eric muttered as HK helped him up and he regained his breath and balance.

“Shall we move?” HK suggested impatiently. Groaning, Eric yielded.

“What’s the rush? If he’s so busy he won’t leave his job behind and go home.”

HK did not reply to that and continued climbing. 15 stories later, Eric was in agony and felt blessed that they had reached the terrace of the building. He flopped on the ground, hyperventilating and grasping his cramping thighs.

“Here, let me help,” HK said and ejected a tiny syringe needle from his right index finger. Surgically inserting it into Eric’s elbow joint vein, he injected a solution into the latter’s bloodstream. Within 10 seconds, Eric’s muscles relaxed and he began to breathe a bit more properly. Getting to his feet, he thanked the droid.

“What was that?”

“Hyper-oxygenated blood plasma,” HK said. “Whoever heard of an assassin droid with medical supplies stored in it? But since it was there, I treated you.”

“Okay,” Eric said, stretching out his muscles. “Thank you. I’m just not used to such vigorous exercise.”

“Don’t mention it,” HK said as he surveyed the opposite building and looked for the best line of fire. He shifted positions along the waist-high wall till he was satisfied with his aiming. Going down on one knee, he began adding components to his custom blaster. He added an elongated firing chamber to the stock short one and screwed in a one inch long silencer to the end of that. He removed the scope and replaced it with an infra-red scope and swapped out his blaster pack to a more lethal projectile-laser based ammunition. Eric watched with wonder as his companion worked and finally set the sniper rifle on the edge and put his photoreceptors to the scope.

“You are a walking army, HK,” Eric commented as he crouched down to watch the droid’s handiwork.

“That statement is my pride and joy,” HK replied. “I strive to maintain it.”

“Well, you don’t need to try very hard,” Eric chuckled.

HK set his scope and brought the crosshairs on the blue-red-white-green-yellow infra red image of Fargo and held it to millimeter accuracy. His metal index finger snapped back and the blaster silently recoiled, a bright red bolt escaping without a sound from the end of the barrel. It pierced the glass window of the Rodian’s office, shattering it, and hit the Rodian dead center in the back of his head. The inertia of the projectile in the bolt’s core knocked him a meter forward and he ended up flipping forward over his desk to the floor, dead. Finally, HK zoomed in with his built-in scopes for telescopic vision and took a holograph of the scene in Fargo’s office.

“Another job well done,” HK remarked as he dismantled the extra components of his blaster and carefully put them away. “Now lets go haggle over our credits.”

“Haggle?” Eric echoed as they made their way down the stairwell again, though slowly this time. “Isn’t the price usually fixed?”

“It is,” HK admitted. “But a few hundred extra credits won’t harm anyone.”

“I don’t think they’ll be impressed enough with just one kill to hand us that much, HK,” Eric said skeptically.

“No, but a blaster in the face might prompt them enough.”

“Do you want this to be the shortest jobs of our career?”

“No, I was just joking. But persuasion might do the trick, and smugglers usually have a great skill in that.”

“Damn right we do,” Eric said, grinning.

The rest of the long journey down was spent in small talk and the trip to the spaceport was uneventful. Within 15 minutes of reaching the spaceport, they were off, back to Polis Massa.
************************************************** **********************
“So you say this is the legendary HK-47 unit that a Sith Lord of the Old Republic hand crafted,” said the figure across Tarrk the Trandoshan.

“Yes, there’s no doubt,” Tarrk grated back in his gravelly voice. “Its vocabulator has not been changed and we have been able to match its speech patterns with records we managed to dig up. In addition, it appears it’s body frame has been rebuilt. There are several minor structural differences in its frame and color scheme. But it’s as lethal as it has been rumored to be. It made very short work of Fargo Laquisst.”

“Hmm, this is very interesting,” the figure said. “No doubt we shall have nothing but profit with it serving in our Guild. Maybe I can even personalize it as my bodyguard.”

“The droid is largely independent, sir,” Tarrk replied. “The human it’s with is only its friend. It has been calibrated to feel emotions as well, or so I gather.”

“Nothing a memory wipe won’t handle,” the figure replied. “But what do you mean ‘emotions’?”

“With several slicers working together, I managed to retrieve a scrap on information from a private call its fabricator made to one of his acquaintances. It seems he developed an integrated circuit which would enable droids to feel as humans do.”

“Highly improbable,” the figure commented. “But interesting, nonetheless. Lets wait and see as the duo of man and machine climb our ranks.”

Another good Chapter RC. I'm looking foward to more and good luck with the moving. Will there be any updates on Galactic Conquest II too?

thanks, Pottsie and Jase.
GC is presently on standby, since i just got back to writing, i want to take it relatively easy. i'll try to update it on christmas and new year. :)

Good one, RC. :) Keep up the stuff!

Very nice, RC. The assassination scene was done really well. The only thing I would have added would be an extension of HK's ''Don't mention it.'' comment. I would have added ''Really, don't. I have to maintain my reputation.'' or something like that. (feel free to use it, if you want.)

Great chapter man, just seemed a little fast.

Keep it up anyways!

thanks, all!
@ iggy: i made that line very short to somewhat highlight the fact that HK wanted to get underway with the assassination :)

Nicely written. Somehow I get the feeling that HK isn't one for persuasion but you made that clear with the suggestion of the blaster to the face. A good read as always RC. Hope the move goes well.