"Hah... Haaa.... Hey..? The Mind? Fuck you."

  Rumor was starting to get a while lot more respect for fictional characters than he ever had before.

  How the hell did anyone survive in Tatooine!? In the last 36 hours, Rumor had acquired almost as many wounds as in all his life in The Quarter, and most of them were far more serious.

  "I mean... Haa... I get run outta town... By a bunch of thugs who put a hole in my chest... And then I... I almost immediately have to fight six grown-ass lizards who want to eat me!? What the actual fuck, you fucking body-less fucking cunt!?"

  Maybe Rumor had been repressing a little more anger than he initially thought.

  He felt he was justified. He had barely escaped from the Krayt Dragon Gang with his life, only to almost get ripped to shreds by a bunch of lizards.

  He now had 12 more [ Dorsal Spines ] to go with the previous 3, but that didn't exactly make him feel good about the claw marks on his thigh and flank.

  The only good thing to come out of it was that he only had two more species to hunt to complete the [ Desert Predator ] achievement. And the way things were going, it wouldn't take long before he ran into something else trying to kill him.

  No, Rumor had to find somewhere to sit down, rest, and recover his HP. But it couldn't be out in the open, in the middle of the Dune Sea.

  Slowly, his gaze came to rest on the rocky formations in the distance. They looked close, but he knew they must still be hours of walking away.

  Better get started.

  ------------------------

  Many hours later, as the two suns crested over the horizon, Rumor was still walking. But back in Mos Espa, three hovercrafts, loaded with 6 thugs each, were zooming out of the city.

  In the leading vehicle was Alo'Reme and his posse. They all had angry red welts dotting every inch of exposed skin on their bodies, which might help explain the murder in their eyes as they tracked Rumor.

  "Pass it around. When we catch him, that bastard is mine. Mine!"

  -----------------------

  [ Krayt Dragon Gang member Ay is trying to track you. Temperance check... ]

  [ Your temperance attribute is lower than Krayt Dragon Gang member Ay. He obtained some clues. ]

  Rumor blinked at the messages. Then he redoubled his pace towards the now much closer plateau.

  The hunt had started.

  ----------------------

  Another important event was taking place at the same time as Rumor and Alo'Reme's game began. Although, it was unlikely either of them would have cared if they knew.

  On the other side of Mos Espa, a little ways away from the town itself, a sleek silver spaceship landed.

  It was the kind of ship that was far too luxurious to pass within three star systems of Tatooine originally, but the passengers didn't have much of a choice.

  Their ship had been damaged during their brave escape from the planet of Naboo, and, unless they could find a model T-14 Hyperdrive, they wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

  As the ramp was lowered, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn stepped for the first time onto the sands of Tatooine. Looking at the lawless city in the distance, he hoped against all hope that somebody had what they needed.

  ----------------------

  "Aahhh... Alleluia!"

  Rumor dropped onto the shade like a sack of potatoes. It had only been a short 2 hours since the suns had risen, but he already felt like he had lost half of his bodyweight in sweat.

  Taking a water flask from his inventory, he allowed himself two large gulps. He wanted more, but he didn't have that many supplies, and who knew how long he would go without being able to restock.

  After resting for half an hour, he started looking for the best path to climb the plateu. He didn't want to get cornered into some dead-end ravine.

  If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that it wasn't a completely vertical climb, more like a very difficult hike.

  Like everything else in this god forsaken planet, the rocks were orange and red. It seemed to be some kind of sandstone, and kept breaking under his fingers whenever he tried to haul himself up, forcing Rumor to advance at snail pace.

  After half an hour, he looked back to realize he had made almost no progress. Sure, he was about 20 meters higher and 100 meters deeper into the plateu, but that was basically just a tumble away from going back to the starting point.

  Worse of all, he was still in full view of the desert. He would be target practice for anyone who wished him harm - which was just about everyone.

  With the periodic messages from the system reminding him the Krayt Dragon Gang was still tracking him, Rumor urged himself to go faster, but it was a delicate balance between being quick and being safe.

  By the time he heard the distinct sound of engines rumbling in the distance, he had made some headway. He was about halfway up the plateu now.

  A quick glance over his shoulder, shielding his eyes from the glaring suns, confirmed three dots in the distance, and growing quickly. Dust trails whipped in their wake.

  It couldn't be anyone but his pursuers.

  "This won't do."

  Looking up, Rumor knew he wouldn't be able to climb much higher before the vehicles arrived. So, instead, he started looking around for a better position to either hide or ambush them from.

  The enemies would send some of them trekking after him, while others would take the much faster hovercrafts to go around the plateu and find a better path to get to the top. That way, Rumor would be caught between the two groups.

  At least, that was what he would do if he was in their shoes. They had the numbers and mobility advantage, no reason to throw it all away.

  What all that meant was, that if Rumor didn't want to die like a cornered rat, he had to get rid of one of the groups.

  The tester felt his lips curling up in an unbidden smirk. This would be a game of strategy, not a brute force chase like last night.

  "Come on then, friends. This isn't too bad or a place to let you rest forever."

  ...

  "Are you sure he's there?"

  Alo'Reme eyed the plateu with distrust. The place was a veritable maze, with countless nooks and crevices Rumor could be hiding in.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  And, as if that wasn't enough, Alo'Reme knew Rumor wasn't the only soul around. As a someone who had lived in Tatooine their whole life, he was very much aware this was exactly the kind of place Tusken Raiders liked to hide in.

  "He's there, boss. And he can't be in a good state. It's already unbelievable he managed to get this far with how injured he was yesterday. I won't be surprised if we find him dead in some ditch."

  Ay, the best tracker in Alo'Reme's group, didn't try to hide the glee in his voice. He was one of the thugs on whom Rumor had set the blood ants on, so his hatred for the tester was at an all-time high.

  "Someone like that wouldn't die to easy. Alright. Ay, you take half the men and go in after him. I'll take the rest and go around to cut his way out. Flush him our way."

  "Got it, boss."

  Soon after, Alo'Reme had taken the hovercrafts and was contouring the plateu. When he looked back, Ay and the others had already disappeared.

  There was another reason why Alo'Reme had chosen to take the long way that he hadn't told Ay.

  He could feel the eyes watching their every move. Whether it was Rumor, the Tusken Raiders, or somebody else, he didn't like it.

  ...

  Rumor watched the group split up from a crevice not that far from them. Exactly as planned.

  It took only a little while for one of the gangsters, a Rodian with a bandana, approach his hiding spot. The thug was staring straight ahead, trying not to slip on the loose rocks and break his neck.

  Big mistake. He should have been looking up.

  Adjusting his position a little, Rumor raised a watermelon-sized boulder. Just as the gang member was passing beneath him, he let go.

  CRUNCH!

  The sound was almost more sickening than the sight of blood and brain matter splashed painting the plateu's walls. But Rumor was used to it.

  He waited for a while, but other than the notifications confirming he had attacked and killed an enemy, nothing else came.

  Damn. He had been counting on the reward being something he could use. But it seemed like the system recognized this whole pursuit as one big battle.

  He would have to make do with what he had. One down, 17 to go.

  Keeping his body as low as possible, even crawling at some points to stay out of sight, Rumor made his way to the spot where he expected another of the thugs would be passing by soon.

  "I swear if that fucker's already dead-- We better not be climbing this shit for nothin'!"

  "Shut up, you want Ay to rat ya out to the Alo'Reme? Ya saw how they were when they came back last night. And they even got chewed out by the leader. They are pissed."

  "Bah! Serves them well. Always so arrogant just 'cause the leader favors Alo'Reme a little. Not so much anymore, heh?"

  It seemed like there was some division inside the Krayt Dragon Gang's ranks. That would have been useful to know if he had been planning to ingratiate himself to them, but not so much when he was their enemy.

  Shaking his head, Rumor pulled out his knife. He let the first alien pass by him, and dropped down on top of the second.

  "Argh!"

  His Ottegan blade sunk deep into the soft flesh between the neck and shoulder of the alien, and the man collapsed, taking Rumor to the ground with him.

  That worked for him. Instead of wasting previous moments trying to pull out the knife, Rumor launched himself at the first alien, who was still in the process of turning around.

  His head smashed into the gangster's ribs like some mockery of an American Football play, and Rumor hugged the man's legs, bringing him down with the tester on top of him.

  He rained down punches and elbows on the face of the alien, each bringing about a more sickening crunch of flesh meeting flesh. Messages flashed in the periphery of his vision.

  [ You attacked Krayt Dragon Gang member... ]

  [ You attacked Krayt Dragon... ]

  [ You attacked... ]

  [ You attacked... ]

  [ You attacked... ]

  [ Krayt Dragon Gang member Oshu? has died. ]

  Rumor only stopped when he heard the notification saying the thug was dead. Then he let his fists drop, panting hard, and took in the carnage he had created.

  The alien, Oshu?'s face was a bloody mess, not a feature distinguishable. His occipital bones had collapsed, his nose caved in, and his teeth had all been broken.

  Even to Rumor, who did it, it was a ghastly sight. Looking away, he got up and turned back to the second alien.

  The man was still alive, but only barely. The moment Rumor jerked out the knife buried in his flesh, there was a spray of blood and a death message.

  That made three.

  The next hour passed much like a game of hide-and-seek. Twice Rumor saw the 'seekers', but wasn't in a good spot to take care of them.

  His next chance after he very patiently waited near his first kill. He rightly assumed that, if the Krayt Dragon Gang members lost contact with each other, they would tend to congregate to where they knew his victims had gone.

  Gambling on that fact, he went around collecting rocks and loose boulders, forming a precarious pile. When three thugs appeared, led by none other than Ay, although Rumor didn't know that, he kicked it over.

  It was like a mini avalanche of two dozen head-sized rocks. Far from enough to kill anyone unless they were very unlucky, but one of the alien's fell down with his shin grotesquely broken, and the other two would be nursing some heavy-duty bruises on their legs if they survived.

  Which Rumor was determined to make sure they didn't. Forgoing his stealth approach, he aimed at the confused and shell-shocked gangsters, and opened fire.

  He felt gleeful when one of them took two blasters to the chest and crumbled to the ground with smoke rising from their body.

  Ay was lucky that Rumor aimed for his companion first, so he managed to duck behind a large boulder, although he still got grazed on the ribs.

  Firing a couple shots to make sure Ay stayed down, Rumor took careful aim at the alien with the broken leg, and shot him in the head. Then he quickly scurried away.

  He didn't want to get bogged down here.

  After several minutes of silence, Ay finally felt safe enough to raise his head. He clenched his fists, his whole body trembling in rage, at the gruesome fate of his deceased companions.

  That damn human was toying with them!

  5 down. 13 to go.