Backwater Bounty

*"I dont think retirement suites me all that well."*

-Carthos Namka to Nat Wethame

## About:

**"Backwater Bounty"** is the first episode of High Moon: Season One. It takes place in 4003 AA on the Galactic Frontier Colony world of Eszra, and follows Bounty Hunters Nat Wethame and Eram Tereve as they track down a retired Wildlife Trafficker and Star Pirate named Carthos Namka for the Starline Wildlife Society.

## Summary:

After landing the SS Lancaster in Eszra's main colonial town of Kalindo, Nat Wethame and Eram Tereve decide to visit the town's Marshal, Mick Heverow, for insight on where Namka might be. Realizing that the two Bounty Hunters were working for the Starline Wildlife Society, Marshal Heverow quickly led them to the Edriga Farmlands, where there were recently reports of illegal poaching and other suspicious activity. Heverow tells Nat and Eram to survey the White Bear Trading Post, as a lot of people are constantly in and out of the establishment.

When the two enter the trading post, they first question a group of Aatani Hunters playing a drinking game by the bar. When asked if they know anything about the whereabouts of Carthos Namka, the entire group of hunters laugh hysterically with drinks in their hands. Nat and Eram don't realize the group's humor until the bartender behind the tables fills them in, saying, *"these guys work for em." T*he laughing from the group of Aatani quickly stops, and the tension builds as everyone grabs for their weapons. A large fight between the hunters and the two Bounty Hunters ensues, leaving the entire Trading Post in disarray, and most of the members of Carthos Namka's Hunters dead on the floor. Nat and Eram ask the last survivor of the hunters once again where Namka is hiding, and he marks his hideout on their map.

Once they get to Namka's Farm, Nat and Eram begin searching the perimeter, finding Eszran Bears and other animals locked up in cages within the barns. When Nat checks the upstairs to the farmhouse, he's tackled out of the second floor window into a pile of hay by Carthos Namka himself. A shootout by the barns begins between Eram and Namka, leading the fight into the cage rooms. Eram is eventually able to ambush him, but knocks one of the cages open, freeing two Eszran Bears onto the farm. This causes both Eram and Namka to flee into the field of Agasha, hoping to each lose the bears chasing them both.

Nat eventually regains consciousness from the fall and chases after Namka into the Agasha field as well, and finds him wrestling and eventually taking down the bear chasing him. Namka uses the dead bear as cover for the oncoming fire from Nat, and eventually throws a Bolo at Nat's feet. As Nat struggles on the ground, trying to break free, Namka grabs out his Rotary Pistol and aims it at his head saying, *"I don't think retirement suites me all that well."* But just as Namka is about to blow Nat's head off, Eram (with the bear chasing him not too far behind) tackles him to the ground and knocks his gun into the mud. A small fist fight amongst the crops transpires, with Nat still struggling to get out of the Bolo, and Eram eventually leaps out of the way right as the second Eszram Bear emerges from a shrub of Agasha, sending the rabid creature straight into Carthos Namka. As the bear mauls Namka to death, Eram quickly picks up a still tied up Nat and makes a run for the farmhouse before the Bear notices they are still there.

After spending the night at Namka Farm, the next morning the two Bounty Hunters gather what's left of Carthos Namka and put him in a crate. They then travel back to the town of Kalindo to thank Marshal Heverow for his help again, before boarding the SS Lancaster and making their way to the Starline Wildlife Society Headquarters on Vervada 7.