A cold hunt.

[Riley Reese]

Planet: Vandor

Location: The Lodge, Fort Ypso.


Nordak Wilcon laid down his sabacc cards and gave a hearty chuckle. "Look at that! It must be my lucky day!" He reached into the center of the table and raked a large sum of credits into an ever growing pile. With a sigh, he leaned back and beamed at the group around him. Luck did seem to be on Nordak's side this night, considering the amount of credits he had gained in the past few hours. He had credits to burn though. As a wealthy nobleman from Serenno, who had made his fortune in the shipping industry, a few creds such as this was nothing to be to concerned over.

There was one problem though, the man at the table wasn't Nordak Wilcon. The portly man sitting at the table really was named Jaron Crass. A former employee of Mr. Wilcon's. Crass didn't take his firing very well and took to stealing from Wilcon before disappearing into the Midrim. Steal he did, on top of several thousand worth in credits and some personal effects of Nordak's. Crass managed to steal his former bosses GX-1 Legacy space yacht, one of Nordak's prized possessions.

Crass celebrated his newly earned credits with gambling and drink, completely unaware that he was being watched. Unbeknownst to him, a bounty hunter had already tracked him to this frigid planet, and was watching him from across the room. In all honesty, he wasn't hard to find, not while piloting that yacht or using his former bosses name.

Riley sat at the corner booth, watching the man through the t-shaped visor of her helmet. Her dark gray poncho covered her armor and blasters. She looked as if she had fallen asleep using her poncho as a blanket. Sleep was something she could almost do, the room was warm compared to the blistering cold outside and her target was going nowhere in a hurry. She needed to fix that somehow.

[member="Cassus Demici"]

 

[Cassus Demici]

Tatum had just touched down his ship, Alpha Zed, on the peak of one of the spiraling mounts, much to his charge's complaint, and they had trekked down the way to the sleepy village built into the hillside. Cassus wore his simple white cloak, followed by Med's bare chassis, and Persephone wearing one of his old fluffy coats he had forced her to put on over her trendy leather jacket. She had her music playing in her earbuds and was a little on the moody side today. But he couldn't blame her. They'd begun having shared dreams, nightmares at times. The most recent string of recurrent dreams involved a stony structure of some kind, ancient markings, symbols carved into stone, pillars reaching a great height to hold an ancient ceiling under a tall mountain. But the entrance was hidden, and deep below the ground, and there was an indescribable sensation of pure energy and power. They came in flashes of visions, images, disjointed, sometimes out of order, but pieced together by Ashla she hailed them as premonitions. She attuned to the force and prophesized this was the next step for the pair, scrying their path to Vandor-I, the Force had ancient secrets to tell them in the envisioned place.

As luck, or fate, depending on who you asked would have it, Cassus's Uncle had contacted him and the Order calling in a personal favor. The Sith who currently occupied Serenno couldn't care less that someone had stolen from his close associate, even if it was close to a small fortune, enough to feed the hungry and an entire system for years. Local authorities on Serenno had no jurisdiction beyond the D'Astan sector and he had already hired a dozen or so of the best Bounty Hunter's for the job. But he knew his Uncle. For full measure, he had contacted Cassus for his reliability and unfailing success in whatever he endeavored. Cassus would normally not take favors, and the Jedi Council on Kashyyyk neither condoned nor condemned taking this action, but agreeing it was already on the way to investigate these visions he and Persephone had been having, left it to his discretion on whether to appease his Uncle. Cassus's loyalty to his family, although he had sworn away any former connections he had before the jedi, was still hard to deny. His Uncle, as wicked as he could be, was still the man who in part raised him, for better or for worse.

They had entered the local tavern seeking warmth while their lodgings were being prepared. Their plan was to rest and begin the trek tomorrow, or at least that's what he told his pseudo-apprentice. He knew she would want to come when he told her about the family business he would be dealing with on the trip, and Cassus needed little sleep lately. He would work the night to deal with this thief and be ready to the trek tomorrow, if he worked quickly he'd even get in an hour or two of rest.

The bar was nice and toasty, Cassus had somehow convinced Med to wait by the entrance while he and Persephone were seated at a table close to the bar. There were some sabaac players in the corner, friends drinking afrer a hard day's work, and a woman pretending to be asleep. Something was amiss, he definitely felt that much. He thought he'd have to spend the night questioning villagers to get a lead on where to begin his search for the thief, but he'd seemed to luck out and walk right into what he was looking for. . .

[member="Riley Reese"]

 

[Riley Reese]

Riley turned her attention to the trio that entered the building. The first two were hard to miss, as they stood taller than the average human and towered over the young girl with them. She watched as one of them hung back by the door, while the taller of the three and the girl sat down at a nearby table. They were cautious, or just being prepared for anything.

The sounds of angry voices from the sabacc table drew her attention away from the newcomers. Crass seemed to have one another large bet, much to the dismay of his opponents. He gathered up his creds, laughing heartily all the while. He shoveled all his winnings into his coat before clapping his hands together and slowly standing up. "Well gentlemen. This has been a productive day, but I think I'm going to retire for the night."

Carr steadied his balance before making his way towards the exit. Not without incident as he bumped into another being. He apologized to the man then continued his journey to the door. Riley happened to notice that the man Carr bumped into paused to study his face, as if he recognized him.

Whistling to himself, Carr stepped out into the freezing weather and began to make his way down the street. In his blissful state, he was unaware that someone had exited the building several minutes later. The hunter tailed him at a distance as not to draw his attention. She needed him to reach a less populated area, unless she wanted to draw unwanted attention.


[member="Cassus Demici"]

 

[Cassus Demici]

Cassus had just received his Regellian draught from the bartender when he watched the show the clown of a man made out of the bar with his now expanded illicit fortune, and as predicted, his unknowing stalker slipped after him like his shadow, silent and intent. He never really got to do anything mindfully more, besides his brief respites of meditation, he was always on the run. And tonight was no different. He grabbed his chilled glass and threw the entirety of its contents down in one motion. Persephone just stared at him oddly. He motioned for Med to come to sit with her.

"Take her to the hotel after she's finished her meal," he instructed the droid as got up. "Stay with him." He told the girl.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'll be right back, there's something I need to do."

Persephone continued to watch him suspiciously. She knew that something he had to do was something she would be interested to know.

But before any more questions could be asked he left the lodge. He looked about himself outside, raising the hood of his cloak. He looked for the woman the pursued the man, not their shared prey. Closing his eyes briefly he sensed her determined spirit and followed the trail. It was going to be an interesting evening.

[member="Riley Reese"]

 

[Riley Reese]

Riley kept her distance from Carr as he wondered down the street, stumbling here and there. She could hear him whistling and sometimes catch a few words carried by the wind as he tried singing a tune. For a man who had recently stolen a ship and several thousand in credits, he wasn't exactly subtle.

Carr walked for several more minutes before finally turning down a small side path towards his ship. The snow covered turned to durasteel as he stepped onto the landing platform. He stopped and stared at the yacht for a moment in deep thought. His current state of mind had caused the security codes for the vessel to slip from his mind. Cursing to himself, he dug around in his credit filled pockets for the paper that had the codes on it for this exact purpose.

"Looks like you need a hand." Carr slowly turned around to face the woman behind him. His face paled some and his words seemed to catch in his throat. "You're a wanted man, Jaron Carr. So why don't you make it easy on yourself and come quietly."

[member="Cassus Demici"]

 

[Cassus Demici]

Cassus stalked from rooftops, jumping from one to another with ease. his giant stature in the night a shadow that stoked fear in the few straggling villagers who were still up, he made his presence scarce, and invisible to those he hunted. Cassus grabbed three nutrition capsules from his belt and crushed them bare in his mouth as he leapt. He had not had the chance to eat all day. He guessed the figure pursuing the thief now was a bounty hunter hired by either his Uncle or Baron Wilcon directly. He only hoped to intercede to assure there wasn't something else lurid abound. Someone could have been circling about like a vulture Jaron Crass's theft to make easy pickings of his loosely kept loot. Or someone from the bar could have decided that his sabaac skills were just a little too sharp.

Whatever the case Cassus now closed in on them, leaping to a cutting of the adjacent rockface that overlooked the final confrontation of the cat and mouse he has be espying.

They figured flashed in an overhead street lamp.

"Looks like you need a hand." Carr slowly turned around to face the woman behind him. His face paled some and his words seemed to catch in his throat. "You're a wanted man, Jaron Carr. So why don't you make it easy on yourself and come quietly."

Cassus jumped up and fell down several feet from the interaction, just behind the woman, with the agility and grace of a diver only granted to those trained well in the force. His tall brooding, hooded figure was ominous in the chill night. His dark cloak just outside the purview of the street lamp, he was covered in shadow.

"And just who might you be," his deep voice echoed in the lot at the pursuer of his pursued.

[member="Riley Reese"]

 

[Riley Reese]

Riley quickly turned at the sound of the voice from behind her. She hadn't expected anyone to sneak up on her, let alone someone the size of the man standing behind her. Then she recognized him, he was one of the three from the lodge. Which meant there was a possibility of more two more showing up.

She sized the imposing man up before speaking. "Riley. I'm the bounty hunter that was hired to bring this man in. Who are you exactly?" There was no need to draw blasters, yet anyway. She didn't know this man or if he was even after Carr.

[member="Cassus Demici"]

 

[Cassus Demici]

Cassus looked down from behind the hood that his the upper galf of his face and tried to get some sort of sense through the force of the woman standing between him and his prey. He felt no life in many systems of her body, the greater part of her limbs and eyes were cybernetically altered. He didn't get a sense of any malevolence from what there actually was of flesh.

"I am Cassus, Jedi Knight," He stated plainly. "Who hired you?"

[member="Riley Reese"]

 

[Riley Reese]

A Jedi knight. That was one thing Riley hadn't expected to have followed both her and her target. Maybe Carr had drawn attention from somewhere else as well. "I was hired by Nordak Wilcon."

"Hey Wilcon!" Riley turned to see tthe Rodian from the lodge heading down a different path towards Carr. He was accompanied by several other beings, most of whom Carr had won money from. "We want our credits back you cheat!"

"Great. More people." Riley thought. She should have struck sooner. Then again, Cassus might have been there the whole time. Her eyes drifted to Carr as he began to fumble around in his pocket, trying to find the lock codes for the ship. Riley's eyes panned from Carr, to the Rodian and his group, then to Cassus.

"I..I'm not going anywhere with you people!" Carr yelled. To Riley's surprise, and most everyone else's, Carr pulled a holdout blaster from his pocket. He fired a shot at the Rodian and his friends, causing them to scatter. Then he fired several shots at Riley and Cassus. Riley dove behind a cement pillar as a bolt went screaming past her. Carr sprinted to cover just as the Rodian and his friends returned fire at Carr, Cassus and herself. What was supposed to be a simple bounty had now gotten a little more complicated.

[member="Cassus Demici"]