A Hunter's Pride

Chapter 2: the hunter

Angrily you munched another crisp as you landed the Milano on a sand dune on some Outer Rim planet. Almost to weeks had passed and you hadn't even been able to get near him. Stress eating was the order of the day. Whoever this Thei'ra was, he was better worth all this effort.

As soon as you stepped outside the ship, hot and dry air overwhelmed you and immediately you turned around the get a bottle of water. When you learned one thing from being a bounty hunter, it was to always take water with you on a hot planet.

You took out your binoculars to take a look around, but everything you could see was sand. Yet your tracking device told you that he had to be here somewhere. With a sigh, you made your way over the sand dunes in order to find something special. After a few minutes of walking, you spotted something in some distance. It looked like a crack in the ground, but you couldn't make out very much. At first you wanted to approach it, but then you realized you hadn't much water left, so you turned around and decided to explore it when it was cooler.

It was getting dark outside when you finally stepped out of your ship again. Over your head, the stars already shined and to your surprise, this planet seemed to have at least six moons. Quietly, you went in direction of the crack. If the bounty was on this planet, he'd hide there, for sure.

After half an hour, you finally reached the crack, which was, to your surprise, a giant canyon. Small paths led along the walls and deep down, the sound of water could be heard. Carefully, you started to climb down the stone wall, which seemed to be very instabile. Af few times your feet slipped and it was pure luck that you didn't fell into the deep canyon. You didn't dare to lock down, concentrating on your hands and feet only. It was a big relief when you could feel ground beneath your feet again. You landed on one of the ledges and looked around interested. The only thing you could do now was to follow the path it made, but in which direction?

Suddenly, a loud clacking sound could be heard on your right. Your head snapped in the direction, but it was already too dark to see anything. With drawn blaster, you slowly went towards where the sound had been, trying to make as little noise as possible, but even after ten minutes you couldn't make out the source of the clacking. So you put your blaster back into your belt an continued your way, but you were still alerted.

A few minutes passed and to your surprise, you came to a staircase. Once you were on the top your jaw dropped. In front of you was a giant temple carved into the stone. Two giant doors blocked the entrance. They were old, but you could see the modern technic behind it. Probably someone used that place as a hideout and installed an automatic door system. When you climbed down here you didn't expect that.

Suddenly, a clicking noise could be heard directly behind your back and you froze.

"Don't move." A robotic voice said.

"Wasn't planning on it." You hissed in return, waiting for something to happen.

"Put your blaster on the ground." the voice commanded and you slowly knelt down to place your weapon next to your feet, before straightening up again.

"Now put your hands somewhere I can see them."

Your raised your hands above your head.

"Easy there." You said carefully, only to feel the could metal of the person's blaster in your back.

"Quiet!" The voice hissed and you let out  an annoyed sigh.

There it was again, the thing that ruined your entire mission. Only this time, it couldn't be considered your fault.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked and a challenging grin spread across your face. No matter who it was, you wouldn't back down that easily.

"Who are you?" You dared to ask and behind you, the person huffed.