A Ghost in the cShell (Dashal/Daxton)

[Daxton Bane]

Deathstick smoke slowly wafted to the ceiling as the gamblers silently poured over their cards. The game had been going on for half the night, and a small fortune had already changed hands several times. Kopra Loren, a highly successful merchant from Morje and rumored to be part time drug lord, had the biggest pile in front of him. A pair of human females clad in veils which hardly afforded them any privacy massaged his shoulders as he looked at his hand and signaled the dealer to shoot him another card.

He was here to talk business with a certain information specialist whose services were for sale as his underworld contacts had informed him. The heavily modified blaster on his hip, advertised that he wasn't an easy man to be trifled with.

Maybe another hand and if he didn't show up well he could cash in his chips and look for some other entertainment to keep him occupied.

@[member="Dashal Vance"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

The bar was called the Glorious Hole in the Wall, run by Bothan who was rumored to well connected with the Black Suns. Well stocked shelves filled with expensive liquor from over dozens of worlds guaranteed no matter what your poison was, you would find it here.

A human band was performing in the common area, while more privately inclined individuals could access one of the floating booths. Games of chances, back door deals, the occasional interspecie mating all was welcome and everyone turned a blind eye.

Kopra Loren's booth was not only well provided with food and drink, the perimeter was protected by a motley assortment of freelance mercenaries and former soldiers for hire. Even other criminal lords gave the group a wide berth, many still recalling how the last man who crossed him, was brutally murdered along with his immediate family in broad daylight.

From his slicked back hair to his jeweled fingers and fine suits, Loren was the very image of a prosperous merchant, and rightly so. His ships made very lucrative runs when cargo was needed to be delivered discretely and without drawing too many questions. Plus he knew which hands to grease so that the authorities rarely ever gave him a hard time.


The only way one got access to the booth was either by invitation or if you owed him money. Usually in the latter case, he send vicious goons to remind the delinquents of the penalties of having him wait.......


@[member="Dashal Vance"]

 

[Dashal Vance]

For over a Galactic Standard hour, young Dashal Vance had already been addressing the need to show off his skills with various women in the self-same bar. The dance floor was his calling, and it normally was one of his favorite ways to unwind. This however wasn't a mission of dance till you drop, this was surveillance. Generally the types he dealt with had some sort of holo-net record and boasted some interesting secrets he could exploit if the need arose. This particular potential client was one of the rare few that didn't have a digital footprint that would make Wookie's jealous. The old fashioned way however seemed to work just fine, allowing the boy to induldge in dance and disguised drinks to keep his 'lost in the haze' game face apparent. He'd watched him enter, sequester a booth to himself and the army surround it with a variety of grimaces and glares among their respective faces. Did they practice those faces? He had been wondering for the last quarter hour.

He wouldn't however make him wait too long before he approached, the idea was the wheel and deal, not piss off a crime boss with henchmen all ordered from the same virtual catalog of villains weekly. A break in the music, as the band took five in favor of house tunes gave him the needed reprieve. A semi-saunter drew Dash closer to the lineup of suited muscle of which he approached with a smirk touching his visage. From within the tented pavilion serving as Loren's personal booth and gambling table, the voice of a rather inquisitive busy-body could be heard behind the veiled curtains. Apparently someone was more interested in his muscle than what they were ultimately guarding.

"So do these suits come stock, or are they accessories?" Dash mused at one of the henchmen as he pulled up a holo-screen from his tech gauntlet and punched a few numbers. "You're J-47, aren't you? You guys also do those modeling jobs for ematch? Didn't I see you with a playful Zabrak talking about your love of nerf-herding?" Vance said getting angered snarls from the likes of Loren's guards. "They teach that face at the academy?" He tried his best to look tough and give a growl, but it certainly lacked that low and rumbling timbre. One of the men grabbed his neckerchief and pulled him close. Both hands came up in a surrender position. "Easy big-boy, I've got an appointment with the boss-man, might not wanna hurt the merch." He gave a chuckle as the annoyed face of the muscle shrugged and tossed Dash right behind the curtain and towards the table with a grunt.

"Boss, Osik's here."

@[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

Daxton's face had been shaped into a more humanoid form more suited for his Loren persona, the first thing that comes into mind when one looked at him was snake oil salesman, a very successful one at that. Oil slicked back hair, the silver tinted glasses even in the dark of the club, the very expensive custom made spider silk suit and the requisite platinum bling on all ten of his fingers, all practically screamed underworld mobster.

The practiced smooth smile as his guest approached bore no warmth and was more for show than anything else. A half clad human female pulled back a chair for him to seat in and then pour him a drink of his choice as soon as he was relaxed.

"Glad to see you made it here safely, no problems I trust, hmmmmm?"


@[member="Dashal Vance"]

 

[Dashal Vance]

And relaxed he was, both feet propped up onto the table as one arm slung over the back of the chair. A cavalier and charming smile radiated towards the woman who had ushered the chair out and poured a cup of Jawa juice. Dash wasn't hard to please, and he was still quite young to really get into the hard drinking mannerisms of some of the older illicit types. Teal eyes shifted towards the finely dressed man baring down on him with silver shades and a voice that spoke of both brevity and authority. He didn't strike him as someone that would be without an entourage, and he certainly didn't disappoint in that area. Lifting up the cup of Jawa Juice, he took a swig and licked his satisfied lips before he gave another sidelong glance at the help before focusing them on Loren. Right finger point capped with his thumb in a motion to indicate a blaster gun, pointed at the female groupies he kept nearby.

"I like your style." Dash said with a smirk, as his attentions were certainly more interested in the girls than it seemed to be on the actual job, but they hadn't discussed terms or details. "Oh you wanna do the formalities?" He asked with a raised brow and a smirk forming on his face while he accessed a holographic display on his left wrist gauntlet and pulled up a traffic report for the planet and a holo-vid of the report for the last two hours, giving Loren a front row seat. "No one's died yet, but your mileage may vary." He said with a simple shrug and deactivated the screen. "So you asked for the SRLC, and here I am. So if those aren't all the cards you're holding.." Dash pointed at the Sabaac cards laid out on the table between them. "...then let's talk whatever traditional cooked fowl they have on this planet." Dash never really beat around the bush, or did surface conversations when it came to business. He liked to cut right to it.

@[member="Daxton Bane"]​

 

[Daxton Bane]

The smile that Loren gave could have just as easily belonged to a shark, and would just as been as warm. So enough of the dancing and straight to business, was it? Good the Sith liked being direct as well.

With a snap of his fingers, the game was over and the other players rose to give them privacy. As soon as they were alone, he declared, "I like you. I can see a bright partnership in our future. The job I have at hand might prove interesting to one of your talents. Are you familiar with the Coruscant Shipping Network? I want you to build a backdoor so that my ships can deliver their cargo without drawing too much attention of the authorities or the Jedi. Can you do that?"

@[member="Dashal Vance"]