Private Allies of Circumstance

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon was feeling good about himself. On a recent raid they'd hit a modest profit, and the map to even greater profit. Drakon had given his crew leave to celebrate. Right now he was enjoying a quiet morning after a nights celebrating, he looked around for his robe, to get dressed. As he was doing so he checked on the map.

It wasn't there.

Drakon felt an ice cold fist clench his heart. He started scrambling around the room looking for it. It wasn't there.

"Karabas! Kraken! Drosk!" Drakon swore in three different spacer speak.

Then he noticed his door was ajar. Drakon always slept with his door closed, too many wondering drunk, off their rocker pirates stumbling about the halls. Which meant someone had opened it, which meant they had sliced the lock.

There was only one crew member with the skill, to slice the lock enter into his rooms without waking him and steal the map from right under his nose.

"Oh I'll send him to the deeps to be fish food for the Kraken!" Drakon vowed.

"Ratta Smage!" Drakon roared into the caverns of the ship.

Drakon spent the next ten minutes rousing the crew trying to hunt down whatever sabaac game Ratta could be found at before he lost their prize. Unfortunately, his crew were in no shape but to mumble bleary direction

"Shaid shomthin bout the casino"

Was the closest lead Drakon managed to get from a half awake bleary Nikto.

"Which casino?" Drakon scowled.

"Fortune's Star"

"Leviathan's maw!" Drakon cursed.

Fortunes Star was a Hutt casino. Drakon's pirates were actually decent when it came to raiding, assuming they were sober, but provoking the ire of the Hutt's was both bad for business and bad for health. Not that Drakon wouldn't hesitate to do so. The only thing worse than picking a fight with the Hutts would be to back down from one. The underworld was all about reputation, if someone learned Drakon could be pushed over, then his reputation would be ruined. Still currently his crew was in no shape for a confrontation with the Hutt's security forces.

Drakon's only hope would be to get to the casino before Ratta lost their prize on a bad hand. Drakon quickly made sure he had everything, his four scattergun pistols, two cortsosis swords, wristmounted blades and his two lightsabers..

Then he was running out the door trying to make it to the casino, before all their reward was flushed down the toilet.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

Braze had been hunting the map for three miscible days across all kinds of grimy shadow ports. It was spposed to lead to an old Jedi cache hidden beneath a ruined shrine, a place pirates had begun whispering about as 'treasure'. Braze suspected something far more dangerous they could get their grubby little hands on: kyber, relics, or records that had survived beneath stone for a good reason.

His investigation had led him to Fortune's Star, a Hutt-owned casino where stolen things changed hands often enough to be expected. And tehre he found his target. It had taken only a few rounds of spotchka to convince Ratta Smage to play him in sabacc. One hand became two. Two became several. The wagers grew sweeter, stranger, and more reckless as they passed between them.

By the time Drakon arrived, it was already too late; Braze was collecting his winnings from Ratta with calm, pleased look. Credit chits disappeared into one neat stack. A silver signet ring joined them. Then came a pilfered datachip, a half-crushed packet of spice, and, at last, the folded map beneath Braze's pale fingers.

He smoothed one thumb over its worn edge and smiled faintly.

"Poor luck," he offered, soft as silk. "You should have stopped three hands ago my friend~"

 

[Drakon Teague]

"Sorry mate but I'm going to need that back" Drakon said in an almost seething whisper, pressing his wrist mounted blade up against the Echani's back. "It's nothing personal mate, but that map belongs to the Skull & Bones Pirates, and I'll be having it back thank ye very much"

As predicted, Drakon had arrived too late to stop Ratta from losing their prize in a bad hand. Drakon had been tempted to kill him with an opening salvo, but decided it would be too easy for the map to slip away in the resulting chaos.

As it was Ratta caught his eye, paled as much as a Weequay could pale at any rate, trying to slip away while Drakon's attention was on the prize.

"Ratta you take one more step and I'll hunt you down, feed you to the bog!" Drakon roared in a promise.

Ratta froze, seemed to get a considering look on his face for a moment then went for his blaster. Drakon cursed shoved the Echani out of the way, quick drew his scattergun pistol from his chest and blew Ratta away. The casino patrons scattered at the violence a few shouts and screams going up into the air as they did so.

Drakon whirled to face the Echani who had swindled his prize. drawing his two Cortosis swords as he did so. Echani could be tough customers to beat in a fight, normally Drakon would look forward to a fight with one, right then however he was much too irate.

Heh the irate Pirate.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

Braze went very still, feeling the sharp blade point pressing against his back. His hands lifted slowly, palms open and devoid of any weapons, having already surruptiously slipped the map into a front chest pouch on his harness.

Then Drakon moved suddenly away, turning his attentions upon his own traitorous crewmate, blowing him away in the center of a Hutt-controlled casino.

The moment the pirate turned his fury toward his own crewmate, Braze dropped low and sprang hard to the right leaping for hard cover. The scattergun cracked through the casino, loud enough to rattle glasses, as Braze had caught the edge of the sabacc table, tipping it over with a sharp crash senidnd cards, chits, and spilled liquor in every direction. He vanished behind it, then slid farther back behind the duracrete half-wall that separated the booths.

"Let's not be so hasty, friend!" Braze called from his crouched position, keeping his head low as his eyes searched for the nearest routes out and mapping out the change of which exit was the least difficult to get to, keeping an eye on Hutt security, and anything heavy enough to stand between himself and another scattergun blast.

Braze had previously escaped the Tatooine Planetary Penitentiary after false crimes had been levied against him by Karkosuchus , and he had no desire to become tangled in another unfortunate circumstance with the 'law'. He had been actively trying to keep a low profile as he pursued his goals. If he had not found an unlikely ally in Diodoros , the pirate king who had been his chain-gang mate in the slammer, he probably would not have survived that hellscape.

Unlike the lesser cartels and syndicates scattered across the galaxy, the Hutt Cartel was not something Braze would ever sneeze at.

Drawing his saber would surely turn this den of vipers and villainy into an all-out problem. For now… attention seemed to rest more squarely on the man wielding a blaster in the casino.

"The prize is mine fair and square~ What ever buissness the two of you had doesn't involve me!"

He then he then threw a chair over the half wall to one side oposite the direction he was going to scamper looking for the next space of hard cover.

 

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon scowled and snarled at the man. Drakon's force abilities could be sporadic at best, being half trained having been far from his knighthood when he was captured as a padawan and put in the gladiator pits. He'd barely survived one death match after another, he had the scars to prove it. Drakon had learned his force abilities the hard way each fight experimenting with new abilities that would help him win, help him survive, he didn't know any so called advanced abilities like battle meditation and he sure as shit wasn't about to become a force ghost after his death, nor could he unleash a force storm like a powerful sith, but in person combat, Drakon excelled. Drakon was a survivalist first and foremost, a pirate a close second. Right now this man was infringing on the piracy aspect.

Unfortunately, Drakon's force sense was picking up something, a familiar presence. Drakon frowned was tempted to ignore it, but then he knew only a fool ignored his instincts. Without taking his eyes off of the man, Drakon concentrated on the feeling, until it realised.

Jedi!

Drakon growled. The Jedi had abandoned him to the pits. While they toited their grand philosophies of defenders of the innocent they'd left one of their own to slavery and death. Drakon had no sympathy for Jedi. The only reason he hadn't become Sith is their sophistry, fundamentalism, religiosity and fanaticism seemed just a tedious.

"Your Jedi tricks ain't gonna help you now" Drakon declared, while he eyed the man. They were clearly looking for an avenue of escape. Drakon couldn't let that happen. He thought about sheathing his swords and drawing his lightsabers instead but then ports and casino's like this one didn't take kindly to those who wielded lightsabers in the colours he had green and blue. Drakon was just as good with his swords, better even and the cortossis in the blades might come in handy against a Jedi.

Drakon rushed forward with a touch of Force Speed. Aiming high and low, his left hand cutlass sweeped up and across at head height, while his right hand cutlass swept in at waist height. Drakon was hoping to end the fight quickly before casino security showed up.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

Braze was fast and flexible, but he had to utilize a touch of Force Speed just to keep up with the irate pirate. He leaned back first, his feet following as he hopped away, catching a nasty cut that slashed across his chest, and his boot laces being snipped. He staggered back and pushed a chair from behind himself, shoving it between him and Drakon Teague .

One hand pressed to the front of his chest, trying to staunch the blood quickly soaking through his shirt as he moved away. Pale jade-green eyes stayed transfixed and unblinking on his opponent's belt, better keeping track of both hands and feet through his peripheral vision. He let out a pained hiss as he moved toward the exit.

"Jedi? I have been called worse by prettier men," he tried to quip through a pained wince and gritted teeth.

One hand slipped into his jacket pocket, and a small bag was loosed setting free a plethora of metal jacks and marbles, scattering across the floor as he staggered back toward the exit. He slammed his way through the doors and made his way out into the streets.

 

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon felt vicious satisfaction as he felt flesh tear under his blades. The cutlasses had served him well for many years, in many ways he preferred them to a lightsaber one of the reasons being the tangible physical effect of flesh rendering from their sharpened cortosis blades.

The feeling was followed by disappointment when Drakon realised he hadn't done as much damage as he would have liked.

Drakon scoffed at the kids come back,, and he was a kid Drakon realised, he'd have felt bad for slashing a kid up except the kid had valuable property. Property Drakon sorely needed, or at the very least desperately wanted. For Drakon those two things pretty much meant the same thing.

Was that jacks and marbles? What was the kid thinking? Drakon huffed a chuckle, maybe this would be easier then he thought.

Which was right when casino security showed up. They didn't waste time asking for his surrender. Drakon upturned the games table and hid behind, as the half a dozen thugs opened fire. Sheathing his swords, Drakon drew the two pistols from his back holsters, waited for an opening, jumped up and in rapid succession sent six shots three out of each of his scatterguns at the thugs. Unfortunately that just about overloaded his pistols, they had maybe one more shot each before they needed a recharge. Drakon triggered the recharge with a cocking mechanism at the top and put them away.

"Shark infested waters!" Drakon cursed as he realised the kid had gotten away.

Drakon put on a burst of Force Speed and run right into the kraken jacks and marbles stumbling along and crashing into a roll. Scowling he got up, with blood in his eye and a woozy head. Snarling he took after the kid who was quickly getting away from him down the street.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Drakon Teague
Judging by the sounds of blaster fire from within the casino, Braze had made the right decision to run off.

He was not planning to slow down as he made his way toward the port, moving as fast as his little legs could carry him. He had to stop, however, panting heavily as the wound in his chest bled through what remained of his shirt. He dipped into an alleyway behind a convenience store, tore open the ruined fabric, and reached for the trauma spray he carried with him.

The hiss of it against the open wound made his breath catch with stangled pain.

Braze leaned back against the wall and slid down with a low groan, fumbling to apply a bacta patch and gauze with bloodied hands. His vision had started to blur at the edges; he had lost far too much blood, and he needed to stop it sooner rather than later.

It did not help that he had left a trail behind him, little crimson drips and drops marking the path straight to where he had tried to patch himself up.

 

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon followed the trail of blood, and overshot the alleyway with his burst of Force Speed. Drakon growled as he cut off the force power, to backtrack and make the tight narrow turn into the alleyway.

Drakon smirked when he found the kid. Finally the blasted little blighter was caught, as easy as a fish in a net, now all Drakon had to do was collect the map and be on his way.

"Give me the map an' I'll let you bleed out in peace" Drakon offered with a snarling throated smile.

Drakon heard a shout, behind him, he leaned out of the alley to take a look.

"Orca's teeth!" Drakon cursed.

More casino thugs were barging their way through the street looking for the man who had shot up their casino. Drakon was outgunned, outnumbered, alone and isolated. He needed to end this quickly and get back to his ship, off this shadow port.

He pulled up his hooded cloak, crouching down next to the kid.

"Now lad. I've no wish to slit your throat and be done with it, but alas I will if ye make me."

Braze

 

[Braze]

Drakon Teague
Looking faint, Braze raised a blood-soaked hand, palm facing outward before his face. He wavered lightly, the world around him tilting into a slow, sickening spin. If he put up much more of a fight, he would only draw more attention to himself.

Slowly, he reached into the leather pouch strapped across his chest and produced the folded map, drawing it free between bloodied fingers.

“How about we…”

He held it out as though offering it to the man before him, only for a sudden spark to catch at the page. Blue fire licked up from his fingertips and swallowed the map in a hungry curl of heat.

“…parlay.”

His voice came softer then, thin with blood loss, but no less deliberate in his intentions.

“I’ve memorized the map. Take me with you.”

Braze held his hand outward, as if ready to let Drakon pull him to his feet. Injured as he was, he had made one thing clear: if Drakon wanted what the map promised, Braze had just made himself difficult to discard.

 

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon reached out a hand to grab the map. Victory within his grasp. Then the little rat did something that made Drakon believe he was just another orphan brat unloved by his parents and placed within the Jedi Order. Having only met the little brat, Drakon couldn't blame them. Except for the fact if they had kept him, Drakon wouldn't be in this predicament.

The little unloved orphan burnt up the map.

Drakon mouth gaped in shock, then he growled triggered his wrist blade and barely stopped himself from ramming it into the kids throat. Drakon paused for a few moments seething, then he snarled, withdrew the blade and helped the kid to his feet.

"You better not be lying bout that map boy, or I'll feed ye to the fishes meself" Drakon growled as they began to hobble down the alley away from the thugs searching for him and towards Drakons ship.

Drakon triggered his comms.

"Heizt wake your worthless hide up and send anyone whose still functioning to my location now!" Drakon commanded his comms officer.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Drakon Teague
Braze did not flinch as he rested there against the stone, even as Drakon came dangerously close to killing him. He released a slow, soft breath before being dragged to his feet, then hurried after the captain.

It was almoat strange how often the snowy-haired runt brushed shoulders with death, only to slip past on luck and nerve, flying practically by the seat of his pants.

As they ran, he glanced back, drew his own gun, and fired off a few stun shots in retaliation. Several bolts carved past him by a hair, close enough to feel the heat whisper over him, or leave searing grazes.

“If you ever want to see that treasure trove, you’d best ensure I don’t bleed out, captain…” Braze murmured softly.

 

[Drakon Teague]

"Don't you worry lad we've got a doc on board. Decent one too, not just the hacksaws that slice and dice and replace parts with mechanical limbs. Picked him up while he was running away from some debts." Drakon said absent mindedly while he fired two shots back at the casino thugs.

"If this keeps up though we'll be fish food" Drakon muttered non too silently.

Fortunately Drakon heard a sound that was music to his ears.

"Skulll and Bones!" A cry came out.

A Nautolan, A Bothan, A Gungan, a Shistaveen, A Devaranian, A Chagrian came from a side alley blasting. The Casino thugs made an attempt to hold, but rent a thugs were no match for bloodthirsty pirates.

"Heizt, Stiel, Phringe, Jaegar, Buckuh, Corse, Uutlor" Drakon greeted each in turn with a forearm handshake, while the casino thugs ran from an actual fight.

"Our Pleasure Cap'n" Heizt the Nautolan replied.

"Well done. Let's get back to the ship. Keep an eye on the kid." Drakon commanded.

The way back to the ship was smooth now that Drakon had an armed escort of his crew. They arrived at The Bone Pyre Drakon ushering the kid into the med bay.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

A blue ship with a distinctive silhouette was what they were fast approaching.

He would tuck that information away for later, or so Braze thought, as he kept close to Drakon's flank, pressing his free hand to his wound as he ran after the man.

So they had a doctor?

At least this was a smart captain, as far as Braze was concerned, but he'd make no mistake about whether or not Drakon would dispatch any of his crewmates that went against him for any reason. That much had already been made plain enough in the casino.

Once aboard and in the med bay, Braze settled, panting lightly as his eyes shut. He found the bench more by staggering feel than any semblance of grace, lowering himself onto it as the weight of his exhaustion finally caught up to him all at once. The room blurred around the edges. Metal walls, medical lights, and distant voices… everything softened and pulled away gently from his senses.

He wanted to lay down and go to sleep.

He almost let himself do just that as his small form slumped over, his hearing becoming muffled as sounds became distant and strange, like they belonged on the other side of thick glass, or some place beyond teh surface of water.

Then he shifted deliberatley forcing himself against the drag of unconsciousness, knowing sure and well he wasn't exactly surrounded by friendlies. Pale jade-green eyes cracked open as he made himself draw a few deeper breaths, trying to pull as much oxygen into his system as he could, trying to keep himself from slipping into the comfort of the velvety black void.

 

[Drakon Teague]

The Bone Pyre made ready to take off from the station, it's engines stirring.

Drakon wanted nothing more than to lie down, smoke a Death Stick drift off to bliss for a few hours, but he knew he couldn't afford to. Not with half the crew still passed out, the other half hungover, and his treasure map locked inside the noggin of some jackass kid.

"Here's the thing kid. You say you're the map. Fine, you better start giving me some coordinates, because if I have to tell the crew Ratta lost the map, I'm gonna tell em who burned it up. That'd be you, and a crew of pirates ain't gonna be merciful to the kid who cost them their treasure."

The Pyre started drifting out into open space.

"Now I don't wanna have to do that, but you gotta work with me here mate. You gotta give me something, or else I can't protect you from an entire ship of bloodthirsty scallywag pirates."

Drakon raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms and waited. He meant it too, the loss of the map was a loss, but he sure as the fathomless depths weren't going down for it. He'd serve the kid up to save himself in a heart beat.

He hoped the kid answered soon however his hands were starting to shake, he was jonesing for his nest hit. It's why he folded his arms.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

Tags: Drakon Teague

Braze flashed him a weak smile.

"The kid who cost them their treasure? If your dead mate Ratta is anything to go by, I shudder to think how loyal your crew may be… after all, what kind of Captain can't keep his men in line?" he mused. "It doesn't look too good if the Captain can't keep the peace either."

He sighed softly.

"You may also want to consider the order of events, friend. The map was lost at the table. Fairly. Then your man reached for a blaster, and you shot him in front of half the room, inside a Hutt-owned casino… I am merely the unfortunate victim of your very public dispute, and the subsequent assault upon the Hutt Cartel's rather fine business establishment. I can't imagine they will be too pleased about those actions."

His gaze shifted briefly towards Drakon.

"And before you say it belonged to you… how unfortunate that the man who could explain the details of that is presently dead on the carpet back there."

Braze let the sentiment of his words sit for a few moments.

"So… Captain… how about you give me some time to rest whilst you figure out how your crew let that map fall into my hands in the first place, and remind them why you're the one in charge? I don't think taking a crew you can't trust to a place filled with treasure will work out too well for you, Captain… not if they start thinking they can walk all over your authority. No, I wouldn't think that'd be too wise now, would it?"

He shifted slightly, careful and measured.

"Fortunately for you… I am available for hire to fulfill the vacancy in your crew that you just created."

His weak smile lingered at the irony of it.

"Once you've gotten your men under control… and I'm feeling a mite bit better… I'll take you to where you want to go. In exchange, I get my fair shares as crew member and navigator on this little venture… savvy?"

 

[Drakon Teague]

Braze

Drakon raised an eyebrow at the kids brass ones. He had them alright. Here he was on the ship full of bloodthirsty pirates and he was negotiating. Under other circumstances Drakon might actually like the kid. Despite himself he was already beginning to. Drakon hid his smirk with some difficulty. The kid was taking an awful lot under assumption.

"You realise if the crew turns on me, they'll turn on you as well?" Drakon replied with a little curiosity wondering if the kid had a plan for that as well.

Drakon shook his head privately to himself.

Whatever. The kid's going to do what I want him to anyway. Let him think he's got the upper hand. See if his smugness survives a voyage with this crew. In the mean time he'll guide us to the treasure easy as a sea lion.

Drakon growled pretending to be angry.

"Fine, you can have Rat's share." Drakon growled "unless you want to explain to the crew why they're getting less bounty. Seeing as I have so little control over them."

Drakon left the boy to stew on that. While he went to deal with the crew.

"Whose the kid?"

He was asked immediately.

"He's our new navigator. Anyone got a problem with that?" Drakon snarled.

There was murmurings of 'All good cap'n'.

Drakon kept the snarl on his face all the way to his quarters brooking no argument from the crew, soon as he was inside he lit a death stick, inhaled deep and drifted off into slumber.

When he awoke the refuges of his high shaking off he groaned, got up to find the kid.

 

[Braze]

Tags: Drakon Teague

​

Braze wasn't going to argue with him. Their shared regard for the fallen crewmate would have to suffice. He knew better than to press his luck; aboard a pirate captain's vessel, as every word added only placed another coin upon the wager.

"Aye, sir… I understand entirely. You and I have developed some measure of rapport, so I suppose that makes us allies of circumstance." His mouth curved with restrained amusement, though respect remained carefully seated within his tone. "My loyalties are yours, O Captain, my Captain… for so long as our purposes remain aligned.I also understand that authority, much like power, has a habit of changing hands, and remains fluid."

With that precarious understanding settled between them, Braze allowed himself to rest. He offered little complaint while the ship's doctor attended to his wounds, submitting to probing fingers, bitter medicine, and whatever other unpleasant remedies the physician deemed necessary. Only the occasional tightening of his jaw betrayed his discomfort.

He did not sleep for long, though what rest he found sank deep. When his eyes opened again, the unfamiliar thrum of the pirate vessel still traveled through the walls and into the narrow berth beneath him. Braze remained there for several quiet moments, listening to the measured passage of boots beyond the door and the muted labor of machinery buried farther within the ship.

Once his thoughts had gathered into something orderly, he eased himself upright and tested the limits of his newly tended injuries. Provided no guard or physician saw fit to return him to bed, he intended to seek out Drakon Teague …

 

[Drakon Teague]

Drakon sighed as he shook off the last refuse of the death sticks. The shipboard lights seemed bright in his eyes so he put his hood up, it took him a moment to find his feet under him as the world swayed back and forth.

Heizt came to his feet where he'd been standing guard lest any of the crew bother the captain while he was at his 'rest'. He put a steadying hand under Drakon's arm.

"Thank ye Heizt" Drakon coughed and whispered as he shivered.

"Best pull it together Cap'n" Heizt almost whispered back softly.

Drakon nodded and took a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders standing up straight and proud wouldn't do to have the crew see him slip. Drakon was sure they knew of his little habit but that didn't mean they tolerated weakness in their Captain.

Drakon marched down to the med bay where he last left the kid.

Upon entering Drakon sized him up.

"Right you want on the crew you're in but you gotta pull your worth. Where's our heading?"

Drakon tried not to focus on how badly he wanted to throw up and sleep off the come down, his fingers twitched ever so slightly, he turned into a fold of his arm and began tapping his fingers impatiently.

Braze

 

[Braze]

Drakon Teague
Braze regarded the man with wide, attentive eyes, studying even the smallest shifts in his posture. His gaze caught upon the twitching of his fingers and the faint tension gathering through his muscles.

“Tired?” he asked curiously.

Then, with little resistance, he offered the requested heading.

“Tell your pilot to clear the gravity well and point us toward Kellux. We’re looking for a dead relay beyond the seventh planet, designation A-Six. Don’t let them plot anything beyond that. The next jump only appears when the system’s binary stars align behind the relay. Miss the angle, and we sail directly into an interdiction field.”