[h3]Cheshik Essan[/h3]
The Hunter

"These fields...it remind me of home, Hsskor. Smell of open field, wheat and game as far as eye could see. Good childhood. Made me Trandoshan I am today. Fierce, unforgiving, loyal, proud. Should never have been bounty hunter. Had no choice. Federation and republic forced hand and had to kill for money. No bigger regret."

"I miss my son."

____

(All dialog translated from Dosh language.)

"There, son. See dewback? That is your prey. See how she chooses and hisses?"

"Yes...she is scarred and missing eye but she is so small and young...I feel sorry for her."

"Do not. She has persevered through dark times and came out strong. She is right for you. Go."

The sun hung low in the air on the Trandoshan homeworld of Hsskor, basking the vast wheat fields in a deep amber. The sky was clear as the four foot tall Trandoshan youth charged a black dewback youth with ropes in hand. His father, Cheshik, watched from a distance with a metal spear in hand, ready to help if his son needed it. He however knew that his son would not need it as he was like his father. Brave in the face of any danger and incredibly ambitious. 

Mounting onto the dewback, the son threw the ropes around the large reptile and slotted a metal bar in her mouth that sat in the back on the gums. He reared it as it thrashed and tried to throw him off. He gripped of for dear life as it tried to roll him off, but he persisted for over an hour with his father's constant encouragement. Finally tired, the Dewback plopped down, exhausted and unable to move anymore. From a backpack, the son procured a small capsule and stuck it into the Dewback's mouth. It was a treat to reward it for it's hardships. The son looked over to his father as the skies darkened and saw him talking to another three armored Trandoshan warriors with heavy slug thrower carbines on their back.

______

"Getting sentimental again, you overgrown lizard?" yelled the devaronian from the other side of the repulsorcraft.

Cheshik was looking down to a picture of his son he had taken the day after he had been drafted into the military. His son was next to his newly tamed Dewback, looking happy but miserable in the eyes. This was the last time his son would be happy. 

Cheshik and a group of seven were traveling through the old metropolis Navrok on Cartao in the Prakla system. They were on their way towards a small base on the outskirts of the city where their target was holed up. They were starting to come up to a low hanging tunnel for speeders that passed through a mountain.

"Listening to me, scales for brains?!" The Devaronian yelled again. Cheshik stood in the craft going 200 miles an hour and took a step at the Devaronian, gripping his neck and holding him up. One of the other mercs tried to stand up, but a Kaminoan woman put her hand on the merc's shoulder and held her back. "Not smart." She said simply.

The Devaronian struggled and kicked as hard as he could, but Cheshik's grip was borderline legendary and the Devaronian was dead far before he hit his head on the top of the tunnel at 235 miles an hour. 

Sitting back down, Cheshik looked at the picture once again and put his feet up where the Devaronian once sat. "I am here for you, son." He said to himself. "This is last job then I can go home."

"How is he?" The Kaminoan said. "You never told me when you went to see him last month."

"He does well." Cheshik said, smiling in his own way. "The Rishi teach him ways of warrior and adapt to how he cannot fly. He often does better than other students in martial might. He fails at the schooling however...." Cheshik said, sniffing a bit. "Just like puhpah."

The other mercs all let out a conjoined "Aww" for Cheshik and laughed. The group he was in was one of the better ones in the galaxy that was far from what most people hear about mercenary groups. They weren't ruthless or devilish in any way, save for that dead devaronian. They were all just trying to get by and make enough money to support their family. After spending two years with them, they were almost like family to Cheshik as well.