Private Borrowed Without Permission

[Shai Maji]

Nevarro/Nevarro City​

Afternoon/Clear Skies​

Shai's ship touched down and shut off in the open space outside Nevarro City, with the Shistavanen marching through its halls towards the exit. Her satchel was on her along with her hand cannon of a pistol. To say that she was livid was a bit of an understatement. She was supposed to receive a shipment of weapons from a contact that she was planning on throwing at the Union to help out with the inevitable battle that was starting to build. It wouldn't be long before she got the call to gear up and join with the rest of the force to retake Mandalore. So she was pressed for time to get this shipment. The only problem was that her contact thought it would be smart to cross her and instead hold onto the shipment to sell it to another guy. That's what brought her to Nevarro. She was supposed to meet the guy here but word was that he hadn't left the planet yet. That was perfect for her. The only trick was to find out where he was and where her shipment was.

She walked through the ruined town, glancing around at the people. She hadn't been to the planet in a while which was rather fun for her, given her newer look compared to the twig she was the last time she came to the planet. The people that seemed to recognize her were rather taken back by her new appearance. With a small smirk she marched proudly through the streets towards the cantina. Reaching the door, she tugged at her tank top and adjusted her satchel before entering the building. Smoke hung in the air and the voices of several dozen people filled her ears along with the music playing from a jukebox off in a corner. She made her way through the people towards the bar counter and rested her hand on it. "Pint of beer, please." she asked simply as she dropped a credit chip in front of the bartender. He quickly brought her a tall glass and she calmly picked it up for a tender sip. With a satisfied sigh she licked the foam off her lips and turned to look around the place. She didn't see the scumbag in the crowd but that was to be expected.

She leaned back and sipped further at her drink as she glanced around the place, trying to figure out who to ask first. She didn't know who he dealt with and she didn't know even if his crew had a way to distinguish themselves. The more she thought about it, the more she started to worry that she wouldn't be getting the shipment back...

Adi'ka Awaud Caden Evesa Venku Bralor

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

The attention in the cantina was suddenly drawn to the entrance. A newcomer was entering the shady speakeasy of this forceforsaken volcanic dustball in the middle of nowhere.

And it was a newcomer who certainly draw attention: a being clad in black Mandalorian armor with red markings and ornage highlights. Clearly visible under a grey checkered camouflage cloak sprinkled with the everpresent volcanic dust of Nevarro.
The Mandalorian was small and petite, even in armor. But a compressed modular assault repeating blasterrifle with underslung grenade launcher was attached on the back.
The armored figure was at first glance not a human. The legs ended in bootclad feet which seem to belong to some kind of animal and of the T-visored typical helmet sprouted two segmented long appendices, clearly not only a sensor array, even if the old patchwork armor was visibly augemented with technological gadgets. Of note were rocket boots instead of the typical jetpack.

With graceful, smooth and silent movements the alien Mandalorian headed straight to the bar. The mercenary did not look around as it was so typical for these enigmatic one-man-armies. The sage of Madalorian equipment knew of course that their advanced HUD showed them all that was going on around them.
At the bar the petite figure throws a handful of credits on the counter. "Oya, a Corellian whiskey and some information! A scumbag is hiding a cache of equipment destined for us Mandalorians on this dustball. I want to know where he is."

The small Mando did not see in the direction of Shai Maji, but she had the feeling of being watched nonetheless.

 

[Shai Maji]

As Shai combed through the crowd and figured out how to approach the situation without arousing suspicion, someone else entered the cantina. They were clad in Beskar'gam and packing one hell of a weapon as they approached the bar. A bunch of questions ran through her mind but primarily she was concerned over the fact that a Mando was openly walking around like this. The situation only worsened once the midget opened their mouth and completely blew her plans out of the water. Cringing, she ran a hand over her face and downed her drink before she walked over to stand next to the Mando. "Refill, please!" she called to the bartender as she slid her glass towards him. <"For the record, sis, your approach is really..."> she started in Mando'a, glancing at the Mando and then around her. "Crap, what's the word..." she muttered, tapping her finger against the counter as her multilingual brain utterly failed her. "Umm... kahan..." she fuddled with the Huttese word.

Finally she gave up with a sigh and leaned against the counter to face her. "Your execution sucked." she stated flatly. "Kark Mando'a, I can't translate for shit today." she muttered just as her refill arrived. She slapped some more credits on the counter for the bartender as she looked at him. "Just keep quiet about what she said." she ordered him and he took the credits with a nod. "You can't just stroll in with your Beskar and start shouting about the stuff! In case you didn't notice, people like these don't like Mandos all that much." she scolded her with a voice matching the volume around them. She took a long sip from her glass and looked her over. "How the hell do you know about the shipment, anyway? The top dogs send you to help out?" she asked her with a more relaxed voice.

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

The little Mandalorian look up to Shai and asked also in Mando'a: "Where is your amor, ner Vod? If you would wear it you would not have to worry about these shabuir. They may not like us as long as they fear us." The little one tapped at the helmet. "And we also could talk without these shebs eavesdropping."

The small fist bumped slightly into the shoulder of the bigger woman as a typical rough greeting amog warriors. "Nevermind. Su cuy'gar! Name is Adi'ka Awaud. Speaking of eavesdropping. I learned of the shipment as I sliced my way into the radio traffic of this ashball. They really should pay more for encryption security, it seems."

The word Adi'ka was gendernautral but Shai had the feeling this little guy was a female.
"Do you need any help? I am willing to help you. Two Mandalorians may be overkill to these hut'tuuns, but why should you alone have the fun?"

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai shot her an annoyed look as she answered, hoping that typical Mandalorian stubbornness wouldn't be an issue with this situation. <"These shebs are all packing heat and outnumber us..." she glanced around for a quick moment and looked back to her. "... twenty to one? More?>" she stated in Mando'a as she leaned closer. <"Plus we're probably the only two in this parsec who can speak Mando'a so stop worrying about eavesdropping."> she continued before taking another long swig.

The Mando introduced herself at least and continued to explain how she found out about the shipment. Shai raised an eyebrow at the explanation, giving an impressed hum. <"Okay, nice move. I'll give you that."> she admitted with a shrug, resting both elbows on the counter. As the girl offered her assistance, Shai noticed the reflections of a group of thugs getting up with all of their attention focused on the duo. The four or so thugs were closing in quickly, looking ready for a fight. "I'd definitely appreciate some help, but play nice for now." she quickly stated with a hushed voice as the thugs reached them. Shai felt a blaster barrel against her side and Adi'ka would feel the same. She kept a hard glare on her to emphasize her point as she slowly stood upright. "So ladies, how can I help?" she quipped as she looked at them.

The man holding the gun to her side didn't look impressed and neither did the rest. "You're looking for a weapons shipment, according to your shortstack of a friend here. A shipment that's gonna bring a lot of money in for us. We can't have a bunch of nosey skugs sniffing around our business." the man explained coldly, but Shai didn't seem too fazed. She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it in short order. She was about to say something when they were nudged away from the bar and towards the door. "Hey! Take it easy, mister handsy." she snapped at one of them as they were ushered out of the building and around the corner. "Okay, nice time's over." she quipped to let her companion know before using her elbow to knock the blaster by her side off target. A shot flew past the small of her back but she wasted no time in making room to draw her own blaster with her left hand.

The four attackers wasted no time in trying to overwhelm them, charging at them to disarm them as quickly as possible...

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

Adi'ka only let thr man the point the gun barrel at her, because Shai insisted to play nice.
She had them in her range finder the instant they closed in, weapons drawn.
Dad would be proud. Her temper got not the better of her. Even as her anger rose to boiling point at the insults. Especially her small size was nothing someone should laugh about.

She played along and let herself be escorted out of the cantina. The thugs were overconfident, sure that they would be able to kill her, before she could draw her weapons.
Stupid fools they were. A Mandalorian in armor was a weapon. They had to learn it the hard way.

"Okay, nice time's over." was the signal to begin the dance of war. Adi'ka liked dancing.

The perplexed thug with the gun in her side had no time to react as the little agile Lepi jumped high in the air and delivered a roundhouse kick to his face. A sick wet cracking echoed through the soothstained alley as the armored feet connected with flesh and bone.
Using the momentum of the kick the small lagomorph whirled around to deliver another fierce impact in the rips of another charging foe. Another cracking was heard and the man dropped his weapon coughing in agony.
Adi'ka landed again. She had not even drawn her weapon, believing her new vod would want to do this so silent as possible and leaving survivors for the interrogation.

"Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando'ade! Don't mess with Mandalorians!"

 

[Shai Maji]

As soon as the words left her mouth, the girl went on the offensive. After firing a stun bolt into the guy trying to attack her, she watched with wide eyes as Adi'ka completely destroyed the other guys. After a few short moments, sge looked around then glanced back to Adi. "Well then." she quipped with a laugh of disbelief. Though the problem now was that pretty much all of them would be useless. She looked back to the knocked out guy by her feet and holstered her weapon. "At least this dude might still be able ti tell us something." she quipped as she knelt down to pick the guy up. "Let's just tie these guys up before they give us issues later on." she suggested before walking off with the guy on her back.

She found an abandoned building not too far and threw him in there before going back to help Adi with the rest. With everything done she led the way and tied the guy down with some rope she found.

"He's gonna be out for a while so might as well make ourselves comfortable." she muttered as she sat on a dusty old table. "So Adi, where'd you learn to fight like that? 'Cause that was pretty kriffing awesome. " she commented, pointing to the outside of the building.

Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

The little armored figure was hopping from one foot to the other, as if the longing for action was not satisfiied by this short fight.
Adi'ka was glad to tie the goons up to have something to do in her excited state.

She shrugged at the mention of her combat abilities. "First on the streets than by my dad and in the bootcamps of clan Awaud. I am a small and fast fighter and I like to dance. Best training ever. My birth right were very strong legs too, of course."

In Basic and Mando'a both she had a cute accent, even if it was muffled by the Helmet. She took it not off, even if the prisoner was unconscious.

A tiny black droid with red photoceptors didpatched from the armor and hovered to the drugged man. A jolt of lightning arced to the unfortunate and snapped him to a rude awakening.

"Rise and shine, sleemo! My vod here has some questions. Answer them truthfully or your days as a buck are over!"
Intimidatingly she raised her armored boot as if she wanted to kick him where it hurts the most. Her tiny droid hovered by her side menacingly igniting his little arc gun.

 

[Venku Bralor]

It wasn’t uncommon to find bounty hunters and mercenaries on planets such this. Far out of the way, with an ecosystem that only the most extreme species would enjoy, it’s greatest drawbacks for civilized society made it perfect for the scum and criminals of the galaxy.

Despite its large amounts of unsavory characters, finding more than one mandalorian in a place such as this was rare. Which is why the beskar'gam clad togorian took notice when two of his people entered the bar. He had just finished a job, a long term hunt that resulted in chasing his quarry across several planets, and had decided on a drink before moving on.

Watching the two mandalorians at the bar, he was glad for the spur of a moment decision. The smaller one, a lepi if he remembered correctly, began to speak, spouting their intentions at the top of her lungs. In any other person, that would've been a foolhardy move and easily a death sentence. For a mandalorian however, there was little chance they would die, especially with two of them.

It was no surprise when a group of thugs ushered them outside. Finishing his drink, Venku stood to follow. Out the door, through the alley, and to an old warehouse. It was easy to tail them, jumping from roof to roof in the crowded town and slinking through dirty alleys when he couldn't. Few beings ever thought to look up, a fact he made sure to take advantage of.

"Rise and shine sleemo! My vod here has some questions. Answer them truthfully or your days as a buck are over!" The voice bounced out of the warehouse, picked up by the auditory devices in Venku's helmet and relayed to him with the utmost speed. Slinking through the door, his flexible frame contorting itself to slip through the gap, Venku approached the other two mando'ade.

"Su'cuy gar vode" He greeted, "Didn't expect to find any other mandalorians on planet, what brings you here?" He knew of course, but by asking he could get a feel for how much they would trust him with the truth. It wasn't the most accurate reading, but it worked in a pinch. Standing before them, Venku couldn't help but feel he knew them. Though he couldn't say where or how.

Adi'ka Awaud Shai Maji

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

The small Lepi did not look in the direction of the new voice as it was the unnerving habit of the Mandalorians. Her HUD and range finder in the low crest of her helmet showed her even things happening in her back.

"Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur" , she said, "three of us now. So we can declare this ashball Mandalorian occupated territory. I could explain what we do here exactly, but than we have to kill this sleemo here. So he still has a chance to stay alive and with all extremities, if he starts talking."

Adi'ka intimidated the prisoner again with her powerful feet. "That was your cue, sleemo. Talk!"

 

[Shai Maji]

Adi gave her explanation which piqued Shai's curiosity quite a bit. "Dancing, huh? I can definitely see how that can help out." she commented, glancing around then back to her. She seemed much better prepared, though, as a tiny droid came from her and woke up their prisoner. "That's gonna save us a lot of time." she quipped as she stood back and watched as Adi started with the interrogation. The poor man glanced around in panic, trying to get loose to no avail. Shai merely chuckled and approached the man, gently ushering Adi aside. "In case you forgot what she did to your little group, let me assure you that you don't wanna have her beat you up. Not much will be left of you if she does." she casually spoke as she loomed over the man.

"Now how abo-" she started, but was cut off when a third person spoke up. She stood upright and reached for her weapon, quickly relaxing when she saw the T-visor and armour. <"Sup man. Pleasant surprise seein' another one of us."> she greeted in Mando'a. She looked to Adi as the little Mando spoke up again. The Shistavanen scoffed at her comment, but let her get the threat out of her system before approaching the thug once more. She glared at him with her hands on her hips, thinking of what to do to get the guy to talk. Finally she sighed and looked at the new arrival. "A shipment of weapons I was meant to deliver to the Union was swiped by some sleemos on this dustball. This guy and his friends tried to stop us for some reason." she explained to the Mando. Nodding to the thug, she turned to face him. "You wanna take a crack at getting some info out of him or should we simply leave it to her to get it out of him?" she asked with a smirk, glancing at Adi whilst blissfully ignoring the man who was trying to bargain his way out of the situation...

Adi'ka Awaud Venku Bralor

 

[Venku Bralor]

The thug struggled away from the lepi’s beskar clad feet. “Why not? Maybe I can do this without killing him.” Removing his helm, he offered it to Shai. “Hold onto this for me.” Normally he would attach it to his belt, but for this he would need his predatory figure and the buy’ce had a tendency to become clunky at his hip.

The stone floor was cold against his skin and his ribs ached with each motion. Still he kept moving, kept inching away from the weaponized feet of the crazy lepi.

“Why not?” The words came faint and distant, unimportant to the crawling thug. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was his pounding heart and broken ribs. He had to get away.
His escape came to a painful end when an armored paw crashed into the middle of his back, shoving him to the ground as claws pricked his skin.

“Hello little mouse.” A voice, calm and steady. Whiskers tickled his ear, and from his position on the ground he could glimpse ivory fangs out of the corner of his eye. A claw tipped hand brushed his collarbone and picked at the tender skin on his neck. His back shied away from the paw, pressing his belly low to the ground. The hand disappeared, soon followed by the pressure in his back.

Silence, and an unnatural stillness remained.

Something batted against his inner thigh. A tail, clothed in an armorweave sleeve, though the thug was unaware of this. Before his eyes appeared a paw, tipped with deadly claws and clad in an armored boot. “I’m curious, little mouse. What caused your FOOLISH attack on my kin?” The monster’s voice lilted with unshed humor. As if the idea of something such as him attacking a mandalorian was funny. In a way he guessed it was. After all, what was a human like him - with his fragile skin and weak bones - compared to these metal monsters?

His only response was a whimper as he flinched, sending pain flashing through his spine. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” Now it did laugh, a chuffing noise that sounded all too animalistic for his sanity.

Spots danced across his vision as he was kicked over and his back shoved into the cold stone. Once again a paw pressed down on him, balanced ever so gently on his neck as razor sharp claws tapped against his skin, poised to rip and rend and tear and spill his blood on the unforgiving earth.

“A pitty,” A face appeared before him. It’s golden eyes bore into him as the muzzle parted into a cheerful smile, revealing long ivory fangs. “I quite enjoyed your foolish bravado.”

In that moment the thug could not help but feel that this would be his end. Pinned beneath a luminous gaze that alluded to a hunger without end and a monster without any sense of right or wrong. One that would find no more pleasure in consuming him than it did any other source of food.

Another whimper - a desperate plea - fled his lips and died in the air between them. The monster didn’t care. Instead it shifted its weight and he choked on nothing. When the pressure lightened - although it did not disappear - he found the muzzle only inches away from his face, ivory fangs displayed in all their terrifying glory. It studied him, eyes moving with languid effort from feature to feature before resting on his throat.

Finally the golden orbs moved away and began studying its own claw tipped hands, uncaring and unbothered. “I am feeling... generous, little mouse. Tell me what I wish to know and I will let you live.” A sandpaper tongue scraped across fangs and muzzle. “Speak quickly, for my patience is not endless.” To accentuate this point, claws flexed, puncturing skin and sending five small droplets of blood trailing to the cold stone below.

“No! Please….” His Adam's apple bobbed and sweat rolled down his face. “I’ll talk.”

The smile morphed into something wild and cruel. “Splendid!”

“First question, why did you attack my kin?”

Pinned beneath that gaze, it was a struggle to speak, but he did. Somehow, through some miracle or another, he did. “We heard that long eared freak mention a stolen shipment. My boss panicked and ordered us to attack.”

“Ahh, the naivety of blind loyalty… or maybe it was hubris? Nonetheless, what would cause a thug such as you to freak out to the extent of attacking a mandalorian.”

“I- we- he stole the shipment.”

“I see…. And does the mouse know where this shipment is?”

“I- I-” “Well? Spit it out, or this cat really will have your tongue.”

“We sold it! Some hutt came through looking for high quality weapons and took the whole stock.”

Now the claws really did rip into him, spilling blood to the floor and making him spasm with pain and the ever present need to get away. “Now now, don’t struggle little mouse. You’ll only make it worse.” He was going to die.

“Now tell me, do you know the name of this buyer?”

“N-o. But I do know he was dark purgha hkak- purple! And he had, he had these silvery tattoos in the shape of a moon o-n his chest!” The foot disappeared, leaving the man to curl into himself and press his hand into his bleeding neck.

Venku Bralor made his way to Shai and Ad’ika, leaving a trail of a single, bloody footprint as he walked. He paid no attention to the crying human behind him. The thug would live. He had avoided any major arteries with his claws, though there would always be a scar. Stopping before the caninoid, he took his buy’ce from her hands. “You heard the man. We have a hutt to find. I don’t recognize the description, so unless I’m mistaken he shouldn’t be too important among his species.”

______________________
Adi'ka Awaud Shai Maji ​

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

Adi'ka erected her ears and was for a moment silent. Then she said: "There is exactly one hutt of this description on this planet. His computer security is slightly better than usual on this backwater ashball. It costs me a few seconds more to slice in their system.
If you want the data I could send it to you."

The armored small mandalorian take off her helmet as she was sure no outsider could see her. It was some sort of politeness to show her face to the big predatory vode who were so open with their faces. It was new to Adi'ka. It was not normally the way of Clan Awaud.

The carnivorous aliens saw a cute whitefurred head with big soulful eyes and long ears. the girly face seems to long for caregiving. A intoxinating dry scent of prey and predator at the same time tickled the fine noses of the feline and the canine mandalorians. Very exotic.

Adi'ka began to sniff too and her tiny nose made cute twitching movements as she did so.
For the big predatory mandalorians it seems like the lepi was tasty and cuddly at the same time.

Her high voice was so different from the distorted helmet modulator: "Do you want the name of the hutt and the strength of his security as raw data? Or should I summarize?"

 

[Shai Maji]

The new arrival took off his helmet and handed it to Shai, who studied him for a second as she rested his helmet against her stomach. Wordlessly she watched him as he went to work on the man, tossing him around and clearly doing a marvellous job of scaring the crap out of the thug. A low unnerving chuckle escaped her as the Togorian made his joke, but she kept to herself for the rest of the interrogation. She did play around a little with his helmet, though, trying to put it on. But it was quite clear her own muzzle was a bit longer than his.

After a few moments he was done with the man and she held out the helmet for him to take back. Shai opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when Adi spoke up first, admitting that she knew about someone matching the Hutt's description. "If he was on this planet, I doubt he's still here." she commented as she glanced between the two. "I know the dude, his name got around between the other Hutts. Argotta or something like that if I remember correctly. From what I heard he's small time trying to go big. The other guys didn't like him all that much, though, he was trying to muscle into their operations." she explained to them as she eyed the both of them. Adi decided to remove her helmet as well and Shai blinked in surprise at the sight of the Mando's face. "Kark me, we got a whole petting zoo around here." she quipped with a snicker.

"If you can dig for some info on where he is and what he's packing, that would help out a bunch. Last time I heard of him he only had a few small operations going, but that was before I dropped off the map. He could have grown a bit in the last year or two. One thing's for sure, I'm gonna have a word with him over stealing my stuff." she commented, looking at Adi. She looked back to Venku and gave him a tap against the arm. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked with a smirk.

Adi'ka Awaud Venku Bralor

 

[Venku Bralor]

Stopping before the hyena like woman, Venku accepted the buy’ce. The other two began to talk as the togorian placed the helmet back on his head. While they may be comfortable keeping theirs off, as far as he was concerned they were still in enemy territory. One lucky first shot and he’d be cooling off on the ground with a blaster bolt between the eyes.

“Let’s hope he didn’t mess with the wrong hutt, or we’ll never get these weapons back.” A small time slug they could deal with, but Venku wasn’t so sure they could handle the crime boss that killed him. At that point it would almost be easier to leave the goods.
"By the way, what's your name?" Shai’s voice reached him through the red and orange helmet. With a blink, Venku switched on the external mic. “Venku, you?”

Nearby, the thug cried out in pain as his broken legs jostled a loose piece of metal. He was determined to get out, he had to give him that. Speaking of, “I suggest we move locations. We may not have to worry about an attack, but this place isn’t secure and it’d be a pain for this Argotta to know we’re coming cause some lackey overheard our conversations and decided to tell the boss.” Perhaps it would be better to go ahead and kill the cripple. He’d have to do that before they left. “I got a ship we can use and it has access to most galactic criminal records. One of the perks of having a CSI license. If this guy has a record or the right kind of bounty on his head we can get stuff from there. Though more likely than not it won’t be anything about his current associates.” Not unless they got lucky. Or unlucky more likely than not. Usually only the big shots had a list of associates. He’d need some powerful friends and that wasn’t exactly the bething.

The thug cried out once more, soon followed by the high pitched whine of a blaster bolt as a new hole erupted between his eyes. Venku holstered the gun. Dead men tell no tales.

_______________________________
Adi'ka Awaud Shai Maji ​

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Sounds of a solid plan". the small bounty hunter said. "But I have a ship on my own. The Parsniper Mork, a good old Krayt. We could fly sync. It is always better to have a second ship as backup as I learned a while ago."

The Lepi was stunned and caught totally by surprise by the murder of the helpless thug. She was certainly no holy jedi and loved violence, but that killing seems unnessecary and on top of it it angers her.

"Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?", Adi'ka shouted, "I promised him his life if he would cooperate! He cooperated! You stain my personal honor with such fierfek!"

Venku Bralor
Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

The Shistavanen smirked at his name and gave a casual two-fingered salute. "The name's Shai. This little furball is Adi'ka." she introduced herself and Adi, casting a glance over to her. The man on the floor kept groaning, earning the occasional glance from Shai but she knew he wasn't going anywhere. She focused on Venku as he explained his plan to them. "That CSI license might come in real handy for this type of thing. Plus I'm feeling lazy, you can do the flying. I just hope you got the cargo space, that shipment wasn't exactly small. Otherwise we can take my Wrangler. Just copy your CSI stuff over then we're set." she commented before glancing at Adi as she spoke. "More ships also draws attention. Besides..." she trailed off with a smirk as she dusted a shoulder off. "I can organize one easily enough for us if ther-" she was cut off as a shot rang out, causing her to immediately focus on Venku and the prisoner as her left hand reached for the grip of her blaster.

She shot him an angry glare but rested a hand on Adi's shoulder to calm her down as her own hand let go of her pistol. "He couldn't be trusted to keep quiet." she spoke gently as she patted her shoulder, hoping to calm the Lepi down. "Anyway, what's the plan now? We all tagging along in one ship or splitting up?" she asked them with annoyance clear on her face.

She looked back to the body on the floor and sighed, glancing at Venku. "Well at least loot the kriffer! you never know what handy stuff they got on them." she commented, gesturing to the body.

Venku Bralor Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Venku Bralor]

Of all the reactions Venku could have expected from his companions, anger and disgust was not one of them. They were mandalorians, and killing came with the job description. To find that Shai disliked it was more than a small shock. Still she was correct. Might as well loot the body. Not like he was using the items anymore.

Crouching beside the corpse, Venku went through his pockets first. His hands came out with a tangle of worn red string and aa slowly blocking bounty puck from some bounty or another. Nothing useful or valuable. With the pockets thoroughly stripped of their lint, Venku turned his sights to the bags and gear around the man's hips. Judging by the old old vibroknife hung from his thigh, he would have a lot more luck here. The handle of the knife was worn, smoothed over by long use but other wise in good condition. The knife and its sheath found their way onto his own belt for the time being. “It’d be best if we took your ship, mine’s not big enough for a large cargo.” He'd traveled along for the longest time, never needing to worry about carrying more than himself and a guest or two on occasion.

Inside the first pouch were bundles of credits, organized by worth and tied together with more red string. A small comm was fished out with it, likely keyed to the old holopad on his other hip. “We’ll need to stop by my ship. I have to grab some gear if we want to access the records.”

With the pockets and waist picked clean of any valuable, or worthless in the case of the pockets, items Venku turned to the last possible source of profit. The man’s gauntlets were old, scuffed up and scarred from blaster shots but like the rest of of his gear they were obviously well cared for. While the armor was useless to him, they would fetch a decent price with a fresh coat of paint. Something fluttered to the ground as Venku removed the second gauntlet, landing near the pool of blood around the corpse’s neck.

Curious fingers snatched it from the floor, holding it before him to examine. The piece of flimsy was yellowed and dog-eared, with the bottom corner stained red with blood. On its front was a picture. A young boy stood in the frame, he had brown hair and an easy smile. Behind him stood a red headed woman dressed in a Spacer’s jumpsuits with a jawline that matched the boys. She cradled a child in her arms, no older than two at most. A man stood beside her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders while the other wrested one the boy’s left shoulder. A bright smile lit up his scarless and youthful face. Venku fliped the picture over. On the back was a date, only four years ago, and a message stained by fat round water marks- tear stains.
“Now and Forever ~ Alice” All stories came to an end, but not all of them were remembered. What had caused this young man to become the corpse that lay at his feet? He would never know, no one may ever know. That, out of everything, seemed the saddest part.

Venku bent down to gather his new belongings with a sigh, distributing them among his person. “We better get moving. Where’s your ship parked? I can go grab the stuff and meet you there.” If his words came out slower as he set the picture back in the man’s pocket, then who was to know it was from some small trace of guilt and not the contemplation of a plan.

Adi'ka Awaud Shai Maji

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

"Walking in, killing my prey, stealing my loot,.. like an Ugor chakaar...", the black clad small Mandalorian sneered with barely contained rage. "If you wouldn´t be a vod - even if you are a shabuir of a vod - your blood would right now mix with that of the prisoner on the floor! Verd ori'shya beskar'gam." Adi'ka trembled visibly in her armor and dormant red lights flashed to live along the beskar, as targeter and tiny droids awakened.

Then a deep inhaling of air was to heard and the trembling Lepi calmed down. With ice in the voice Adi'ka said to Shai Maji: "I will follow you with my ship. Call me by comlink when you are in trouble. I promised you my help and you will get it. I will not break a promise twice a day."

"And tell the chakaar: Ni dinu ner gaan naakyc, jorcu ni nu copaani kyr'amur ner vod!"

With these words the Mandalorian Lepi turned and looted the unconscious other goons and left a pile of half the stuff for Shai on the floor.
Whitout another word she walked away. Soon the sound of blasterfire and a beastly cry of rage echoed in the distance as Adi'ka vented steam.

Venku Bralor
Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai watched as Venku looted the guy, taking note of all the things he had on him. Sadly there was nothing informative or substantial, merely personal effects. The Togorian agreed to flying with Shai and she gave a nod. "No prob. Though if we can't complete this job, you're paying for fuel. I need these credits." she quipped as she folded her arms. She glanced at Adi as the Lepi chewed Venku out. "Hey, hey." she started, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. Okay? This won't be the only kill on this trip, I can assure you that. Besides, there's still the other guys." she tried to preserve the peace. Fighting amongst each other wouldn't help anyone in this situation.

Adi reassured her that she would help and Shai gave a nod, watching her leave. With a raised eyebrow she cringed and looked back to Venku. "You heard her." she quipped with a nervous chuckle. "I'll talk to her later, see if I can cool her off a bit." she admitted. "I do need to bring it up, though..." she started as she studied the Togorian. "I saw the surprise on you. I don't care about the 'honour' or whatever the kriff her issue is. I just don't like killing. In my line of work it's bad for business to have a pile of bodies trailing you. And I simply don't like seeing someone's life taken. At least this can be justified, he would have snitched us." she explained softly to him, giving an apologetic look. A cigarette was slipped between her lips and lit as she turned to leave. "Let's get out of here. My ship's at the landing pads just out of town. Just look for a Wrangler that looks like it's falling apart." she spoke over her shoulder as she walked out of the building, turning to make her way through an alley.

Soon enough she was by her ship and starting it up. All that was left now was to wait for Venku. In the meantime she played with her comms systems to tune in on Adi's ship. "Furball, this is Shai. Come in, over." she spoke as she hailed her ship. Through her viewport she glanced around to find Venku. "Hey Baby. Go to the loading ramp and look for a Mando. If you see him, tell him to come aboard." she ordered her droid who gave a beep in confirmation before rolling away.

Venku Bralor Adi'ka Awaud