First Reply Antique Dealers

[Pal Veda]

“There’s nothin’ here,” Pal reported through his wrist comm. He looked around the desolate peak as the cold wind cut across his face.

Skrrrrrr…”Wh—-“ Skrrr….

“I said there’s nothin’ here!” Pal repeated.

Skrrrrr. Just more static.

“It ain’t here!” He yelled back over his shoulder, foregoing the comm to shout at his companion approaching from the path below. Of course it wasn’t here. These Jedi and Sith are all the same, sending him on wild goose chases, promising big pay days, then their old maps turn out to be completely useless. Or worse, they lead straight into some half-assed trap set decades earlier. And this time, it required him hiking almost ten kilometers up a mountain in temperatures that barely rose above zero at midday.

Pal cursed and kicked the side of the frozen rock jutting up in front of him in frustration. Snow and broken ice fell to the ground, revealing a large symbol on the stone beneath. “Well now,” he said under his breath, bending over to examine the carving, quickly clearing the remaining slush with his gloved hand, “what do we have here?”

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

ANTIQUE DEALERS

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"You don't have to yell." Voice raised so it carried in the icy wind. Much lower, she added in. "My ears ain't broken."

With her bodyguard droid in tow, the pair was slowly approaching the peak with Pal Veda .This wasn't the first bounty hunter Persephone had worked with. Drifter - Darryl had been her last and despite his smart-ass attitude they had gotten the job done. Raked in a very healthy amount of credits as well - most had gone to Darryl. Yet it was all worth it to the teenager, gaining experience while also having her back watched.

A shiver ran through her as she approached where Veda was knelt down. Head tilted to look at the logo, a small frown. It was hard to tell as it was half broken and cracked. Not a surprise given their location.

"Symbol of the Dagoyan Order? It would track. Mountain. Quiet. Would give all the Jedi all the time in the 'verse to come up here and pretend they were solvin' the problems of the universe..."

A small pause.

"We may be getting closer."

 

[Pal Veda]

The kid was smart, but a bit spicy. He wouldn’t expect anything less from a Dashiell.

“Bunch of borin’ ole monks sittin’ around in circles, freezin’ their butts off. Yep, that tracks.” Pal slid off his pack and dug out a data pad. The mark looked familiar, but he wasn’t exactly the expert when it came to ancient languages and symbols. He did a quick scan of the cracked emblem and ran it through the database. “Looks like a partial match to what we found in Halsoun.” She was right. Of course she was right.

Pal held up the data pad and did a quick 180 degree scan of the area in front of him. Not a ton to glean from it other than no hot spots or obvious signs of life. They would have to do this the hard way. He estimated the plateau-like peak to be no more than 250 square meters. Divide and conquer.

“Let’s take a look around. See if we can find what we’re lookin’ for.” As the words left his mouth, an ear-piercing screech caught his attention. Pal’s hand instinctively gripped his holstered blaster as he scanned the skies to identify the origin — a large raptor circling overhead. They were a little too big to be prey, or at least he was. “Head on a swivel, kid” he reminded his young companion, loosening his hold and lowering his gaze to meet Persephone Dashiell . She may be out here on her own volition, but he was sure ole Judah would come for his head if anything happened to her.