Kal's smirk was faint but unmistakable as he eyed the woman before him. "Didn't think anyone else would bother with a job this small," he said, not hiding his surprise. But Kal recognized her—the renowned hunter Lyra Nyx, part of an infamous group of bounty hunters known for their ruthless efficiency and advanced tech. She was rarely alone, but here she stood, her silhouette emerging from the shadows.
"You here alone, Nyx?" Kal asked.
Lyra stepped forward, her expression unreadable. "Are you?" she replied coolly, slipping out of the darkness with a hand already resting on her blaster. She warned, "I'd leave now if I were you. This job is important to me."
Kal raised an eyebrow. "I've come a long way for this one. Guess neither of us is walking away without a fight."
In one swift movement, she leveled her gun. "Then we settle it here."
Kal was just about to reach for his own blaster when a sudden, cold sensation pressed against the back of his head, and a red dot appeared on his chest, blinking from a sniper positioned somewhere far in the forest. The sniper's precision spoke volumes—this wasn't just any shooter. Whoever it was had calculated the distance, angle, and every minor factor to keep Kal at their mercy.
Kal chuckled, raising his hands slowly. "Alright, you've got me. Impressive setup for a 'small bounty,' wouldn't you say?" He kneeled, surrendering with a grin.
Lyra looked at him with cold amusement. "Maybe next time, Kal." She snapped a set of magnetic charge cuffs on his wrists. They emitted a soft hum, their electromagnetic field crackling to life, binding his hands firmly. "Stay put," she ordered.
The sniper's laser stayed trained on him as Lyra and her teammate moved inside the cave, ignoring his question about why a small bounty mattered so much to them. As they disappeared into the shadows, the guard left to watch over Kal whispered, "We should've just gotten rid of him. He's a loose end."
Lyra looked back with a cold glare. "I have my reasons. Focus on the task."
Left alone, Kal wriggled his shoulders, hoping to shake loose a gadget from his vest that might free him from the cuffs. He cursed under his breath as he searched for anything functional—his equipment scrambled from the earlier EMP.
Suddenly, a strange hum echoed from deep within the cave, followed by a blue light that pulsed through the dark entrance. Before Kal could react, a powerful discharge erupted from within, sending shockwaves through the ground. Dust and debris spewed out in a forceful gust, throwing Kal several meters backward. He landed hard, dazed, but as he looked down, he realized the cuffs had been deactivated by the pulse.
"Nice timing," he muttered, glancing around. His bioscanner had gone haywire, showing erratic readings.
He had barely pulled himself to his feet when he noticed the sniper's laser dot hovering on his chest again. Instinctively, he ducked behind a nearby boulder, his mind racing. From miles away, the sniper began firing with precision, each shot close enough to clip him if he made the slightest misstep. Kal knew he was up against a professional—each round hit mere inches from him, chipping away at his cover with deadly accuracy.
Grabbing a nearby rock, he threw it to the side. The sniper's shot hit it dead center, vaporizing the rock in a burst of dust. Kal didn't have time to marvel at the skill as he noticed a lone Maelar, one of Telorian's peaceful native inhabitants, wandering down the path, oblivious to the danger.
Kal's heart pounded as he broke cover and sprinted toward the Maelar, grabbing him and pulling him to the ground. He tried signaling to the creature, but his translation device was still down from the EMP. Gesturing frantically, Kal managed to communicate enough to convince the Maelar to take cover just as another shot hit dangerously close.
Knowing he couldn't stay exposed for long, Kal weighed his options and decided to head into the cave for a chance to regroup. He pulled a tactical smoke grenade from his vest, tossing it out to create a thick screen between himself and the sniper's line of sight. Without looking back, he sprinted through the smoke and into the cave's entrance, dodging a series of shots that barely missed him.
Inside, the air was thick with dust and the echoes of the recent explosion. His footsteps echoed as he followed fresh tracks leading deeper. The smell of scorched metal and the lingering hum of residual energy from the EMP told him that something important had been triggered here. As he advanced, he saw the faint flicker of lights farther down the tunnel, signs that Lyra and her team were already searching for their quarry.
A sudden movement caught his eye—a figure darting out from a side passage. Kal pursued, his boots pounding against the rocky ground as he tried to close the distance. Up ahead, he heard Lyra and her companion coming toward him. The cave shook violently, and Kal barely made it to the entrance before a massive explosion erupted, sending rocks and debris tumbling down in a furious landslide.
Kal dove out just as the cave entrance collapsed behind him, sealing off whatever lay within. As he stumbled to his feet, he looked back in time to see Lyra and her teammate pulling themselves out of the rubble, their expressions furious.
A fleeting movement in the trees caught Kal's eye—a masked figure sprinting deeper into the forest. The person's speed and agility were uncanny, vanishing into the shadows as swiftly as they had appeared. Kal didn't waste a second and took off after them, but not before hearing Lyra's exasperated growl behind him.
"We're going to find whoever did that," she hissed, brushing dust off her jacket. She looked at her teammate, who was now examining Kal's discarded cuffs lying on the ground.
He grinned darkly. "We should've just disposed of him when we had the chance."
Lyra's eyes narrowed. "We'll get another opportunity. Soon." She raised her arm, signaling to the sniper far off to move positions. They regrouped, eyes scanning the tree line as they began their hunt.
Kal knew they wouldn't give up easily, and he would need every ounce of skill and every advantage to stay one step ahead.